A/N: Fair warning to all of my sweet readers.~ From here on it will start to get real serious. War is no fun and games so expect some deaths of some kind and a lot of fighting! I thought I'd point that out before you continue reading past this point. 

\o/ Ta-ta!

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Inside the base of Vince Bodaodai, rooms full of soldiers stood in rows in front of the evil scientist himself. The blonde's hands stuffed in his pockets, medical mask covered his mouth, and gleaming red eyes were glued to the combatants. On his side, stood General Servine Allarie, as usual... His head was wrapped with that bandaging, with a few strands of brown hair poking out. "Men, I have woke you up this early because the enemy is soon to come at our doorstep," Vince announced before swatting his arm out to his side. "Warn everyone else about the attack, we all need to prepare and wake up!" He finished, watching all the half-asleep fighters before him. With his words, the soldiers nodded with groans of acknowledgment. They marched out of the room chatting amongst themselves and complained of how early it was.

Allarie turned toward his Leader, kneeled on one knee, and held his head down. "Sir, tell me... When are we to expect them to attack?" He asked muscly, waiting for his leader to respond. Silence met both of their ears until the said blonde broke it.

"Obviously, before dawn... If I know Netero correctly, he would pick the time where everyone is at their weakest, giving his side more of a chance to win. If he chose night, everyone would be too grumpy and still have energy left for the war....yearning to go to bed. Morning, everyone will be too tired to move right away, their brain cannot function properly after first waking up. Before dawn.....everyone is half asleep, reducing their awareness and thinking process. Having them wake up at this hour before dawn, will give them a little bit to wake up more... Thus, Netero's plan will clearly fail, in trying to catch us off guard when we are at our most vulnerable," Vince replied easily as though he had reviewed his methods over and over.

Allarie sat there, understanding his motives now. He stood, bowed then straightened back up. "As brilliant as ever, Vince.~ Shall we watch for them, at the peak of your base?" He asked, making Bodaodai turn his head toward the exit of the room.

"Yes, it would be wise. A keen eye on the lookout is preferred, seeing that it is Netero and his army we are watching for. Lend me one of your corncockle flowers, so we may communicate...it will take away the time needed when you need to find me and inform me." That was all his leader said in return. The General nodded, gradually walked over to Vince, and popped out his purple flower. He handed it to Bodaodai, only to have him take it and place it in the pocket of his lab coat.

"I shall tell you when they arrive, Sir Vince Bodaodai.~" He said whilst bowing to his waist, then vanished from sight and left the blonde alone in the room.

Vince just remained in his spot, having hidden thoughts about Servine. Hmhmhmhmhm... Dear Allarie, it's a shame....really... That you have forgotten who your family was. If you found out, you would be devastated... Your loyalty is important to me, Servine... So, I won't let you find out until you've become disposable. He mentally spoke with an ominous aura around him and chuckled to himself; soon, he too left the room.

~~~Elswhere~~~

Out near the ocean's edge, countless boats resided on top of the water. Every one of them was filled with war combatants, some looked like mercenaries, rookies, rogues, everyday civilians, and forest dwellers; while everyone else appeared as if they got out of a war already... Big burly men with beards, muscles, scars, and unkempt hair littered about the boat. Ruby, Hisoka, Rui, illumi, Sikiyona, Black Shifter, Neon, and the rest of the Zoldyck family stood in the same area as each other; not wanting to lose sight in case they couldn't find one another.

Ruby looked so tired, her twin didn't look fazed by the sleepiness, Milluki looked like he was about to pass out and Hisoka.....was out cold on Ruby's shoulder. Sikiyona stood close to Zeno, neither of the two appeared affected by lack of sleep. Silva wasn't fazed at all, though Kikyo was. His wife's back was leaned against the railings, on the side of the ship...sleeping. Illumi acted like nothing was wrong, he just sat next to Rui who was playing with a couple of flies. Cheadle Yorkshire was sleeping on a bench, next to Neon and Black shifter.

Both partners weren't affected by the lack of sleep. Neon kept staring at Milluki, blushing profusely and unaware that Shifter saw her. He shook his head at her, understanding that she liked the boy. Milluki and her both looked about the same age, thus he gave her a gentle shove on her back. Feeling a force push her forward, Neon looked behind her and saw her partner nod once, gesturing for her to go talk to the boy. "Thank you, Shifter!" She beamed with the most beautiful smile and flushed cheeks ever, bowing in appreciation.

"Take your time, it'll be a while before we get to the Island... I advise you to tell him how you feel, I've noticed you would talk to him over your computer. Your face would be red every time you were in some sort of chat room with him," Hearing his words, Neon began to panic, comically sweat, turn tomato red in the face, and stutter in her voice.

"W-w-w-when did you s-see that?!" She thought she was being stealthy with talking to him across the internet. She rose her hands and frantically shook them in defense.

"It was when I passed your office one day, you were on your computer typing up a storm. When you left to go see what Sir Netero needed, after him calling for you over the com... I looked on your screen and Milluki was in the chat room with you," He explained, making Neon lower her head in shame. "Now, go on. Be best to tell him now, then to wait it out after the war. If he dies or you die, you would regret not ever telling him how you've felt ever since you saw him. You love him, don't you?" He asked, seeing her nod shyly he sighed and patted her head softly. "Then go, stop wasting time and go talk to the boy..." She nodded once more, turned around, and dashed over to Milluki.

Ever since I met Harris, he's acted like a father to me...when business wasn't between us. At times, I would accidentally call him father haha!~ Neon, aka Nomu Kohiri, mentioned in her head. Running up to Milluki, his back was to her, and didn't notice her behind him. She took a quick breath, face red and hands now clasped in front. She felt so nervous, she could feel her heart beating so fast that she feared it would burst out of her chest.

Milluki heard someone behind him, he turned his cold gaze over his shoulder and soon got smothered in the face by blushes. He saw Nomu, acting nervous and not realizing that he was looking at her. S-SH'ES NERVOUS?! He mentally gasped, not used to someone acting like that around him when it involves love.

"M-M-Milluki... I-I..." Nomu kept stuttering, not looking him in the eyes. HIS EYES ARE SO ATTRACTIVE, EEEEEE! I CAN'T I CAN'T LOOK AT HIM! She voiced in her mind and felt overwhelmed by his gaze.

It was Milluki's turn to get overwhelmed, he got run over by her cuteness. He loved how shy she was around him and every time she would look in his eyes, she'd turn her head away with an innocent smile. "Hm...?" He questioned, knowing full well that she was trying to confess. He knew this since he watched countless anime in his room about a girl having trouble confessing. "You like....me?" His question made Nomu freeze in embarrassment.

How did he...-? She panicked in her head, hazel eyes as wide as ever. She decided not to ask about it, she simply nodded shyly and continued to keep her eyes off his. "I-I... I.... L-Love...you!" She faced him now, clenching her fists and making Milluki's features go shocked. Seeing that she wasn't lying, he thought no one would like him that way. Her sweet and soft voice rung through his ears after hearing those words.

He was so much taller than her, he found it cute that she was so tiny but never expected her to like him back... "I-..." He was about to say until he stopped and looked straight into her hopeful eyes. He leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and finished. "Love you too, Nomu... When we first saw each other, I ran because...well, it's not because that you asked me to... It's...because I thought I had seen an anime girl in front of me... You look like one at least..." His face was so dark red out of embarrassment, that he thought it would pop. Now Nomu's face was the same color as his, deep red.

He kissed me! HE KISSED ME! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! She mentally squealed, animated hearts flown above her head and popped lightly as he got a ways above her. She had covered her features with her tiny palms, trying to hide her face.

From the distance, Shifter or...Harris as Nomu called him, kept shaking his head left and right. Looks like he loved her back, after all that time of her being too scared to tell him... All she needed, was a little push. I swear, sometimes I think of her as my own kid... Me being thirty-four years old, I should be a father by now anyway. Huuuuuh... Shifter depressingly sighed in the end, after talking to himself in his mind. It feels as if it was just yesterday, that Netero introduced me to her. he added, recalling the distant memory of when she was younger.

Over to the twins, Ruby moved her eyes over to see Hisoka. He was still asleep on her shoulder, though feeling his muscled arm against hers, made her face flush. She kept a stern expression, not wanting to show how much she actually liked the feeling. Every time she'd feel his arms on her, she could feel his muscle too and it would always tend to get to her. She leaned her head on his, shut her eyes, and fell asleep on him too. From afar, Rui noticed it and started cooing dramatically over how cute they were.

"Onee-chan is so adorable! Illumi-kun, look! Aren't they just the cutest couple?!" She screamed out, her eyes closed and hearts fluttered above her head. Illumi looked over and saw Hisoka sleeping on her, as well her sleeping on him. In the middle of her antic, he got behind her and sat down. Looking up to her, he grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap, making her gasp in surprise. "Illumi-kun?!" she shouted with her face as red as ever, he held on to her tightly and refused to let her go. Getting close to her neck, she felt his breath on her and made her heart thump hard. "I-Ilumi-k-kun..." she mumbled with a red face, never expecting him to do that! Illumi, the one man that would NEVER express emotion...let alone feel them, showed affection to her.

Perhaps Hisoka was right... He told me that doing this, is considered Romance... The way she is acting, I can tell that it is to her liking... She tends to stiffen when I put my face in her neck...or my face close to her skin, it is quite odd... he mentally stated in his monotonous voice and sported a black vest that was buttoned up, with a long shirt underneath. His attire looked completely different than the green one he always wore. His family not too far away watched in astonishment. Silva and Zeno both had widened eyes, they've never seen him act in such a way.

Hisoka slowly opened his eyes upon hearing soft inhales and exhales on top of his head. He smiled to himself, knowing that she fell asleep on him, and used his hand to hold her head up. He moved his head out of the way with his palm on the side of her scalp. Staring at her, he gazed upon her sleeping face then rolled his eyes down to her lips. Inching closer and closer, tempted to kiss her dark red lips. Unfortunately, the said hawk twin groaned in her sleep, gradually opened her eyes, and came in face to face with her lover. Before she could even react, he stole that kiss he was so eager to take.

Her eyes widened, pupils shrunk and reality came back to her instantly then shut her gaze, accepting it. She was getting used to his contact, unlike before when she'd try and abuse the poor joker. He backed his head away, looked into her hawk irises after she opened them, and smirked slightly. "You're getting used to it...~ It's about time, my sweet gem.~" He mused, liking the fact that she's gotten more comfortable with him.

"I-It's...I... J-Just..." she stuttered and tried to find an excuse, however... None occurred, so she just sucked it up. "Shut it..." She kept stumbling over her speech with blood rushing to her head and making her look away. A frown and squinted eyes were evident on her features. Her reaction caused the joker to laugh, he loved that about her.

"Now and always will be, my dearest Tsundere Ruby!~" He admitted with light laughter, amused by her embarrassment.

"I- I said, shut it!" She barked, white comical angry eyes looking his way. He laughed more, louder in fact. "W-why....did you... N-never mind..." Through another stuttering breath, she spoke, trying to figure out why he had kissed her in public.

He stopped laughing and peeked over at her, feeling accomplished once more. "I haven't kissed you in so long, Ruby...~ Better to cherish what time we have before we head out into battle. The fight and plans will be on our minds too much and will leave hardly any room for affections..." He said in reply, making Ruby grow a distant look in her eyes.

He's right... When it comes to war, things must be taken seriously... Relationship stuff can't be in there until after it ends... She muttered in her head, thinking about the lack of contact she'll have with him, being separate from Rui, having to fight literally to the death, and seeing all kinds of people die in the war.

"My sweet... If you over-think things, you'll stress yourself out.~ You're worried about your sister and losing us both in the war. I know you way more than you realize.~" She heard him speak, her mouth still flat but her eyes widened a bit. "I do have a surprise for you, afterward. Illumi and I both planned some things and discussed something really important. He and I decided to surprise you and your sister with it after the war ends... I know you'll love it.~" Informing her, he saw her faintly blush at his words and nod. "That's one thing you can look forward to, during the war...~" His chuckle met her feathered ears after he spoke.

She nodded, a slight smile on her lips as she looked down at the space before her. "Alright... I'm looking forward to it, thanks..." After she answered, her eyes locked onto his and they both stared at each other for a moment. Though, someone yelled from afar catching the attention of both her and the joker... Along with everyone else on the boat.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, WE'RE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF! GET READY, IT'LL TAKE AN HOUR BEFORE WE GET THERE! BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS YOUR FAREWELLS, THE PEOPLE ARE PROUD TO KNOW YOU ALL WILL FIGHT FOR MANKIND! NOW, ENJOY WHAT TIME YOU'VE GOT LEFT, FOLKS!" A tall man that stood close to seven feet, shouted. He was shirtless and covered in big muscles, had shoulder-length blonde hair, tan skin, and a beard that hardly extended past his neck. A tattoo could be seen on his shoulder, a braid on one side of his head that dangled past his cheek, and long baggy pants. He wore brown sandals and his trousers were black. "IF ANY OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, COME TO ME; I AM CHONZ IVAN!" He exclaimed with a booming and strong voice. His fierce green eyes seemed piercing and nearly strict, which was adorned with light wrinkles on his face giving his age away.

The sound of a horn went off and the boat started moving. Chonz walked out of view, making his way toward Netero who stood close to a weapons crate. The boat was the size of a cruise ship, filled with weapon crates, food crates, cooks that would fry up anything for a soldier, and healers that sat on the sidelines. The flooring was made of tan-colored wood, which appeared polished and shined like marble. "The...hell...?" Ruby's voice echoed, scanning the many people that resided on the boat. She only passed out for a couple of minutes and now...it had way more people on it! "Gang leaders, prisoners...punks?! Why are there so many bad people on the boat?!" She yelled out and stood up, only to be patted on her shoulder. On her side, stood Netero and Chonz.

"Of course! They may be bad people but they'll fight to stay alive you know! Their own race is being threatened, so of course, they're gonna join us, Ruby haha!" The elder chirped, shut his eyes, and smiled. Chonz, who neared seven feet tall, reached a hand out to her for an introduction.

"I'm Chonz Ivan, nice to me you Ruby! Netero told me about you and your twin, I was shocked to hear about what happened..." Ruby stared at his outstretched hand and hesitantly reached for it. They both issued a handshake, with Hisoka stepping closer to her from behind. "Ah, and you must be Hisoka Morow!" He offered his hand over to the man, in hopes of another handshake.

"Indeed...~ I heard from Netero, that your a championship wrestler and a previous war hero," He stated and Ruby looked at them both.

Strange, I sense caution in him...as if Chonz was an enemy. Though, we're talking about Hisoka here... He could have many things running in his mind to make him cautious like that. Hell, for all I know, he could be jealous about how Chonz being around me... She mentally said with a sweatdrop on her head before Hisoka's sharp gaze met hers.

"Yeah I am, Netero and I go way back too... He saw my many victories as a wrestler, haha!" He laughed, soon Netero intervened and said...

"We better head off!~ I have a lot of things I need to discuss with Chonz, enjoy your remaining time!~" He laughed and walked off, having Chonz follow behind with a friendly smile plastered.

Ruby quirked a brow at the guy then looked back over to her lover. "Hey... What was up with your caution?" She asked with slight irritation, only to get kissed out of the blue by him and get smirked at.

"Because I wanted to show who you belonged to.~ Even if it is an old man, I'll keep my Ruby gem unscathed...~" Replying, he was making the bird twin blush deeply and really did care either, it was satisfying to see.

~~~Later~~~

An hour passed and all the boats docked at the ocean's edge on the island. Everyone that was attending the fight, became awestruck by the massive size of Vince's base. It could be seen from miles away! The base was vast but not as big as the island itself. The whole island was nothing but sand and cliffs, not even hiding the base! The sun was barely up and wasn't enough to call it a morning.

It was still dark out too and the chill of the wind that billowed everyone made them shiver. The base looked like some big black factory, two long cylinder towers in the base reached out to the sky a long way. Smoke could be seen wafting out from the top, making a volcanic looking fog above.

It was dark and yet the land could be seen easily. Light barely illuminated the surroundings but just enough so the enemy could be spotted. "ALL SOLDIERS WHO FIGHT ON THE FRONT LINES, FOLLOW ME! HISOKA, RUBY, BLACK SHIFTER, RUI, ILLUMI, AND ZENO; YOU ALL GATHER OVER HERE CLOSE TO THE SOLDIERS AND PICK MEN TO JOIN YOUR INFILTRATION!" Chonz demanded, having the said people walk over to the ridiculously large amount of men. Ruby, Hisoka, and Shifter were the first to pick.

Shifter, being the most trained in combat, stepped ahead of Hisoka and Ruby. He looked at them all, contemplating about who would be preferred to join. "Ruby, I believe we should have about ten soldiers with us, not counting ourselves," He suggested, making the said hawk twin nod and step up to his side. Her piercing eyes scanned the many fighters before her, sensing out their emotions.

She sensed about five men with confidence and the urge to fight. Raising a finger, she pointed to each of those five soldiers, gesturing for them to join. "Alright, the rest of you... I'll let either Hisoka or Shifter here to decide, rather you are good enough to fight. I'm not that good at telling who's strong and who's not, I'm only good at sensing your emotions..." She turned and faced the said two, now passing Harris.

Hisoka watched from behind Shifter, who remained in his spot. "Alright everyone, release your nen! Let me see how strong your auras are!" Harris shouted, making the men in front of him disperse their nen. Hisoka smiled at them, they had good auras but...some were stronger than the others. He walked up by Shifter, took out one hand from his pocket, and pointed to the next five combatants. "You five are stronger, I would love for you to join us.~" He mused, seeing them look at each other and back at the joker. They nodded and joined their side, having Hisoka look over at Ruby from behind him.

She nodded, stoically gazing at his eyes. "NEXT, RUI, ILLUMI, AND ZENO! YOU THREE PICK YOUR MEN!" The said people walked up to Ruby's group, Rui watched her twin pass her by and read her emotional aura.

She's scared...but confident too. Worry fills her also, probably over the selected men Hisoka and I... No... Everyone... She's worried about everyone here, she's not the halfhearted type to only worry about certain people... Nee-chan... Rui spoke with concern in her head, knitting her brows together in the process. She only got one glance from her twin, they were full of thoughts and worry.

They stopped and stood in front of the same large group, her twin and her lover once faced. Rui and Illumi both stood by each other gazing at the many fighters that were left. "Rui, read their auras... I'll judge their strength," Illumi asked of her and made her look up at the assassin. She nodded, looked back over, and viewed their colors. Zeno on the other hand spotted quite a few strong combatants and walked up to the two. "He pointed to eight people, saying "You will join us, stand here please..." he spoke with confidence lacing his voice.

The selected eight walked past the old man and began conversing with one another. "Illumi-kun... I see about, six others who are strong-willed and practically fearless!" She said and pointed out to the said, six guys. Illumi looked at them, then walked over to them. "Show us your nen..." He demanded with his emotionless gaze. As if on cue, the said six did exactly that. Turns out they all had great nen, good enough to fight, to say the least. He nodded and turned to walk back over to Rui, using his index finger to gesture them over. "I believe we have enough, Rui..." He plainly spoke as he stood in front of his lover. She nodded and her face was no longer that happy and carefree feature.

"NOW THEN, THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE RANGED FIGHTERS, GO TO SIKIYONA AND SILVA! THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ENHANCERS, JOIN SIR NETERO AND I! THE INFILTRATION LEADERS, COME TO ME, I HAVE EAR PIECES FOR YOU!" Chonz announced, having them make their way over. The twins stood side by side while Hisoka, Illumi, and Zeno all stood behind them. "Here you are... Rui, your team will be communicating with Cheadle Yorkshire," Chonz handed Rui, Illumi, and Zeno their communication earpieces. He faced Ruby's team now and handed them theirs. "Ruby, your team will communicate with Milluki Zoldyck, the two coordinators will be in hiding, so they won't get harmed by the war..." He explained and kept his eyes upon them, watching them all nod.

"Now... Where do we go from here, since we picked out our soldiers?~" Hisoka asked Chonz, making the said man break contact with Ruby.

"Ah, forgive me! I failed to inform you that! Once the enemy is distracted by our ranged attackers, we'll need Ruby to take care of the flying combatants that threaten us. Rui, since you can fly too, why not help your twin out? It'll make things go faster. Once the sky soldiers are taken care of, Netero will let you know when to sneak around the battlefield. You all must stay hidden until further notice, so that way the enemy side can't spot you and point you out! They'll also be just as distracted by our enhancers and ranged nen users, to even notice anything or anyone else out of the ordinary." He explained with a stern face still evident on him.

"Ok... Where do we wait then?" Zeno asked from behind Ruby, catching Chonz's attention and putting his arms behind his back.

"You will hide under the cliffsides on the side of the island. Milluki and Cheadle will both give word from Netero when to sneak around the island and get into those routes! Make sure you blend in with your surroundings within the bushes on the cliffsides. Cover up any tracks left in the sand, mask your scent and hide your nen from being detected by others! Don't forget, the enemy side is full nen users, mutants on top of that; they're not just your everyday soldiers. Now... Dismissed!" He finished with a grand shout, making the leaders vanish. All but Hisoka, Ruby, Illumi, and Rui stood there. Zeno went ahead and scoped for a good hiding spot, or so Illumi figured; the men had followed Zeno, too.

"Let's go, Ruby gem.~" Hisoka chirped with a passive smirk. She nodded, faced him, and flew into the air. "No! Don't fly yet... You must stay on foot if you wanna remain hidden!" With Chonz's words, she fluttered back down to land and nodded.

"Hisoka, for us to catch up to Zeno, you'll have to carry me. I'm not as fast as Rui or Illumi," At knowing what she just said, her cheeks burned red only to push it aside just as quickly as it came. Without any warning, Hisoka picked her up, made her gasp, and vanished out of sight, leaving the other two behind. "Illumi-kun! Let's go!" She fluttered her wings at blinding speed and stayed just an inch above the ground so as to not be detected. He nodded then he too disappeared, followed Rui.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!~ Don't forget to leave a comment, I'm always happy to hear from my readers! \o