"And… over." looking over the ledge with what I could only assume was a miserable expression I hooked one of my hands tightly onto the ground as I dragged myself up and onto the ground. My efforts to get to ground level in a reasonable amount of time in my exhausted state led to my hands being scuffed and fingernails chipped after I had to practically claw myself up in some spots. However, the use of Ten while I climbed sped things up and was the best I could manage without draining myself.
By the time I neared the top, I stopped hearing the sounds of fighting nor did I hear the faint noises of Melody's flute. Which nearly screwed me over during my climb, as a small feeling of despair or hopelessness welled up inside of me prompting me to let go of the wall for a moment. Though the large explosion afterward and the dampening of the rain allowed me to regain my senses.
Looking around for any signs of her I still kept up my guard in the chance she lost. Though I was willing to bet she at least routed her opponent seeing as his Hatsu isn't exactly combat-oriented.
"Ah… Magenta is that you?" hearing her voice coming from way over I moved across the ethereal piles of rubble that were in various states of dissipating as I got closer to the origin of her voice.
"You seem to be in well enough condition." nodding toward her as I greeted her I still continued to scan the surroundings wearily. As we stood there watching our surroundings slowly disappeared leaving only the ruined remains of our surroundings.
*sigh* releasing a breath I had been holding I turned to Melody with a slightly inquisitive look now that the danger has subsided for now. There were a few things I needed to confirm before I moved on to help wherever I was needed tonight.
"So how did you find me? From what I can tell it wasn't En nor your Hatsu… Anyways, that's not really important right now. Did you kill him or did he get away, and have you seen Killua anywhere?" Shooting off various questions I began to investigate the cleared-up surroundings as I forced myself to manage Gyo in my eyes as I peered through the darkness and thick rain.
"I just have rather sharp hearing… and I should be able to lead us toward your friend Killua as I can faintly hear his pulse. I noticed it is quite… subdued and measured? As for the Troupe member, I do believe I killed him, at least indirectly." Pointing toward a pile of rubble just a small distance away I noticed the dark muddy puddles were dyed with a darker swirling liquid mixing in. Which I noted to be blood when I walked closer to the presumed death site of Kortopi.
"I guess he is dead if the dissipating structures are anything to go by… as for Killua you probably have an idea if you know his last name." Staring at the blood for a little bit longer I gestured for her to lead us toward where I assumed Killua was.
Along the way, we shared a brief recounting of our battles and learned a bit more about each other's skill sets in the process. Melody, while quite pleasant had only a professional relationship with myself and Killua and was Kurapika's friend, not ours. Regardless it was nice to build a more comfortable relationship as we worked together.
"Oi, Killua you up there? In one piece and all that?" cupping my hands around my mouth I shouted toward the upper floor of a ruined building. According to Melody, he was up there yet we did not know what sort of shape he was in. Annoyingly though the stairwell was no longer present and unless I wanted to go climbing again I had no easy way up there.
"Magenta what happened to you?" without any sounds preceding his appearance he made his way toward a window facing us. And from the glimpse I got he seemed roughed up but most likely wasn't in the worst state he has ever been in.
"Damn! You get the license plate of the car that hit you?" seeing him up closer as he jumped out the window and met us on the street I noticed various bruises and wounds bandaged together with ripped-up remains of his shirt underneath his torn raincoat. That and his right arm was hanging by his side with what looked like a scrap wood splint attached to it.
"In fact I did, but it disappeared with all the other copied objects after I killed the holder of the Hatsu." Giving me a cheeky grin in return he elbowed my side using his good arm as he recited off what I assumed was a license plate number. However, I stopped listening to him near the end of his sentence earlier.
"Wait. YOU killed the Nen user… and YOU killed the Nen user. The same Nen user who made living clones of the rest of the Troupe that massacred the city the day before right? Fucking hell… Killua did you notice the person you were fighting being almost inexperienced with fighting and not using large-scale attacks unless cornered?" Interrogating the two and receiving subsequent nods I began combing my hand between the wet mop that was my hair as I began pacing back and forth on the street.
"Yeah… Im willing to bet Killua killed a clone while Melody fought the real deal. Additionally, I would not be surprised if he substituted a clone at some point in your fight and scampered away. So I don't think we can confirm that kill, though the other spider is a safer bet to consider dead as he was proficient with his Hatsu and a lot more emotive than the clones I saw the day before." Creating a hypothesis I shared my idea as we finished summarizing our situation. But as we were about to move on to planning our next steps I received confirmation of my hypothesis as numerous buildings shimmered into existence over in the distance.
"Huh, I was right…. Nice."