Ill-Fated (Phantom Troupe x Reader) [Soulmate AU]

4.

Authors note:  A little bit of a shorter one today. But it's better than nothing :)

Your uncomfortable position partially obscured your vision. Being carried in like a sack of potatoes meant you could see only the dark green of Phinks's jacket and the overwhelming smell of his cologne. Yet you could still surmise that a few incredibly strong presences surrounded you. Twisting your head from side to side, you strained to get a good look at your surroundings. 

The building you entered must have been a church in a distant past life. Now, it stood abandoned, creating a perfect hideout for the most dangerous group of people you've ever encountered. Rubble and garbage littered the floor. Windows that were once probably beautiful stained glass were now either broken or dirty. Boxes of what you assumed was stolen merchandise were piled against one wall of the large room. Most pews were completely rotten through, ensuring no pious churchgoer would ever sit on them again. The building smelled like wet wood and stone: it smelled aged.

The world shifted around you rapidly as you were set down on the ground. Trying to get over your dizziness, you didn't have too long to adjust before noticing an especially large man speedwalking toward you. This guy was huge, overly huge. Much bigger and more muscular than any human being you've ever seen in your life. He had a rugged look to him. Long, dark grey hair spiked up from his head with an unnatural defiance to gravity. Sideburns and a rugged stubble framed a square, manly face. His green eyes shone excitedly, his lips stretching into a wide smile. It was as if he was excited to get his hands on some limited edition merchandise as he walked briskly toward you and Phinks from across the hall.

"This her, Phinks?"

"Yeah."

The man smiled even wider as he reached you. Now that only a small distance separated you, he looked down at you, and it was only at that moment that you realized the vast difference in strength between you two.

"Hey, soulmate." He said, with that excited wide smile still on his face. Breaking eye contact, your eyes shot nervously around you.

A few other people were present in the room, but not too many. You guessed quite a few of them were away. A girl with thick-rimmed glasses sat on one of the rubble piles, passively observing you from afar. Meeting your gaze briefly, she only averted her eyes and returned to the book in her lap. A large guy with stitches all over his face sat against the wall quietly, joined by a much shorter individual with incredibly long grey hair. Nobunaga had found his place amongst the other members as well and was now leaning against the wall, observing his tall compatriot and you with a small smile. A woman with pink hair stared you down with cold blue eyes from across the room. Her gaze was sharp enough to cut through you, and once you made eye contact, you decided that it might actually be better to look at the large man in front of you. At least he didn't look like he wanted to slit your throat... Yet.  

"So, Phinks, is what they say true?"

You assumed he was referring to the Nen rumor. The rumor that made you so concerned about the Phantom troupe looking for you in the first place. Thinking of it now, you took note of your own Nen, which felt stronger than before. Still not strong enough to take any one of them on in a fight. Especially not the man in front of you. If his muscular frame was imposing, his overwhelmingly large Nen made him all the more threatening to you. 'He must be an enhancer.' you thought.

"See for yourself, Uvo!" Phinks said with a smirk, pointing to himself in a cocky manner. 

Uvo gave out a hearty laugh before rubbing his hands together as if he were about to dig into a most delicious meal. On a typical day, you would have spoken back by now, maybe even fought back. You weren't usually one to allow yourself to be walked over by those around you, but then again, this wasn't a typical day. This was the day you had been dreading for years, and unlike a typical day, you were surrounded by a group of overpowered murderers who probably saw you as little more than a possession. The events of the day made it hard for your brain to catch up to what was happening around you, so you maintained a blank expression on your face as you examined the features of the giant man's face. 

Suddenly, you felt yourself get lifted up off the ground into a bone-crushing embrace by the tall brute. The reaction of your body was immediate. A flurry of heat raged inside your body like a voracious flame for the second time that day, and an unmistakable burn emanated from the mark on your lower back: the large spider with an "11" on its abdomen. It seems the man felt the same as he held you to his warm, broad chest with your feet still off the floor like it was nothing. His Nen, while large before, grew ever bigger, like a fire fed by gasoline. 

Uvogin relished in the scorch that raged in his body, engulfing him whole. The girl pressed into his chest seemed so breakable in comparison to his gargantuan form: he enjoyed the disparity in power between the two of them. He enjoyed even more the feeling of his Nen growing in strength while he was beside you. His wild eyes found the knowing gaze of Phinks, who no doubt had experienced a similar flurry of sensations just a few hours prior. Uvogin knew that now that he had tasted this intoxicating power, he could no longer be satiated to live without it.