In a candy shop, the cheerful cashier hands over the candy bar to the smiling kid. Paying quickly, the kid runs away.

"Next!" The cashier calls.

His eyes turn serious at the next customer. The hooded person's face is down. Instead of putting a piece of candy on the counter, he throws down a stack of bills carefully tied together. The cashier looks at the money and nods.

"I'll keep my eyes open." The cashier says, quickly gathering the money.

"Good." The hooded person says, revealing a man's voice. "Many other people in this town are also on the lookout."

"Is there a reason why we have to be more vigilante?" The cashier asks.

The man nods. "One of our lower bases got taken out. We are increasing security." And with that, he leaves the store.

In the alley next to the store, the man meets up with a few more people, their silhouettes waiting.

"I checked with everyone." a women's voice says. "They are all well suited to deal with intruders. At worse, we will be the first ones to know if anyone suspicious enters here."

"Good." Them man says approvingly. "We're all set."

"Um..." another man's voice rings out. "If you don't mind me saying Master, I believe we can do more than that."

"Really? And what is that?" the man, revealed to be the master, asks.

A smirk goes on the other man's face. "Well...being on the lookout is all well and good but... instead of just waiting for the intruders to show up one day..."

"... I believe it will be best if we simply lure them to us."

"Wait... so we DON'T get to beat them up!?" Natsu exclaimed.

Erza sighed. "Natsu, we already explained this many times. Instead of engaging in battle with every single elite member of the SIA, it will be far more convenient to simply take out their power source. After all, that's the reason the guild is so powerful in the first place."

"That's all good Erza, but Natsu might actually have a small point." Gray said. "How can we expect to invade a base and not run into the enemy? We're going to have to fight."

"We won't have to if we do it right." Levy said. "If we know the layout of the base, we can sneak around it and avoid enemy contact." She looked at Kurapika. "Will we be able to know the layout?"

Kurapika nodded. "We will."

"Great! When do we leave?" Gon asked, already enthusiastic, as he had been ever since the last invasion.

"At the longest, in a few days." Erza said. "But don't forget, Gray, Natsu, we're going on a job today."

"Huh!?" Killua exclaimed. "This close to the actual mission?"

"Just because we have a bigger goal, doesn't mean our money suddenly makes itself." Lucy said, walking in with a piece of paper. "I found a good one!" She looked at Wendy, who was eating nearby. "Are you coming Wendy?"

"Thanks Lucy, but I think I'll sit this one out." Wendy said. She had more or less recovered from her ordeal in the last mission, but she couldn't shake away a strange feeling she was having. It was a cold feeling she would have whenever she even tried to use magic. She hadn't told anyone yet, but it made her afraid to do any magic for the time being.

"Okay, suit yourself. Let's go!" Lucy said.

"We won't be long." Erza said to the Hunters. "We'll come at latest, tomorrow morning."

And with that, they were gone.

Kurapika picked up the Archive lacrima he kept with him. "I'm also leaving now."

"Really? Where?" Gon asked.

"I need to get closer to the enemy base so the Archive can pick out the layout of the base. Right now, we're too far away, so the Archive only knows the location of the base." Kurapika explained.

"Wait, you're going into enemy territory already?" Leorio asked. "You shouldn't go alone."

"It's better this way." Kurapika said. "One person will attract less attention. Plus, I won't get too close. Just enough to know what we're dealing with. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm leaving now since it's a bit far from here."

And with that, he was also gone.

Leorio sighed. "I hope just because he has his own stakes in this, Kurapika doesn't forget that this is a team mission."

Gon and Killua nodded uneasily. It was true, Kurapika had recently found out that a pair of his clan's eyes were in the main base of the SIA. They knew Kurapika meant well, but they hoped that Kurapika didn't forget about the mission as a whole. Luckily, he had proven before that he wasn't that type of person.

Killua shrugged. "Oh well, that's that." He looked at Gon. "Let's go practice more."

"Got it!"

"Wait, so it's motion sickness?" Gon asked.

The wizard team had gotten back from their job but to the Hunter's surprise, Natsu was pretty much out of commission for the time being, the reason being a six hour train journey.

"It's a Dragon Slayer thing." Wendy explained. "That's one of the reasons I didn't come. I used to have a spell for it, but it stopped working recently."

"Don't worry. He'll be okay soon." Erza said. "This won't jeopardize our mission."

The guild door opened again.

"Kurapika!" Gon said. "You're back!"

"What happened, did you get the base layout?" Leorio asked.

Kurapika shook his head. "No, I couldn't get close enough."

He put his hand up before the room could explode with questions. "Let me explain."

"So there is a town... as a barrier?" Killua clarified.

"Yes." Kurapika said. "Basically, when I arrived at the location, there was a town, similar to Magnolia, in the middle of the mountains. It looked extremely out of place and I didn't want to enter it."

He conjured the chains on his hand and took out his Dowsing Chain. "So instead, I took out the Dowsing Chain and pointed it at the direction of the town, without getting noticed. It started to react like crazy. The chain's primary focus is picking out irregularities in a person's speech or actions."

"That could mean two thing." Killua pointed out. "Either the SIA is in the town themselves, or that they have hired spies or magic users to patrol the town. I'd aim for the second option given how powerful the guild is."

Erza sighed. "So trying to enter would mean instantly getting attacked or spotted by the SIA."

Gon appeared to be in deep thought throughout the entire conversation. He finally spoke. "I don't think that's the case."

"Why not?" Killua asked.

"Well..." Gon began. "They're spies, right? So they would only be able to look for suspicious behavior or magic using out in the open."

Gon pointed to him and Killua. "Killua and I are kids and we don't attract much attention. We are also skilled at Zetsu, so nobody can sense our aura. Plus, Killua has been trained to hide and be out of suspicion since he was young."

"I think you're getting somewhere Gon." Erza said. "Basically you're saying, there is no one better than you two to try to get close to the enemy base."

Gon nodded. He looked at Killua. "What do you say? Let's do it!"

Killua sighed. "I never signed up for this but..." He grinned. "Of course!"

Immediately, preparation were being made.

"I'll give you two my Archive lacrima. If you guys can get close enough, it will pick up the information." Kurapika said.

"Yes, and-" Wendy began.

"We'll give you two a communication lacrima to communicate the information." Lucy said.

"About that, I-" Wendy tried.

"You two can leave in the afternoon. Spend the morning to get ready." Erza said. "The minute we get the information, we will figure out a way for the rest of us to get in."

"For the information-" Wendy began to say.

"Cool, this is so exciting!" Gon said. "Let's prepare!"

And soon, the entire guild hall between to bustle with activities, leaving the words Wendy wanted to say alone with Wendy.

"Wait, Gon..." Killua remembered. "If the journey is long, we'll need money for food and stuff. Do you have any?"

"Oh no..." Gon groaned. "We don't..." He then perked up. "That's fine, I'll just go fishing and that will be our food!"

Killua sighed. "We only have two hours, so be quick."

"I only need one, don't worry!" Gon said confidently, racing out of the guild hall. He'd have to find his way without Natsu, but he felt like he had a grasp of the area by himself.

He didn't. Soon, Gon found himself in the forest, unable to remember which way the river was. He groaned.

"Okay fine, is there at least any fruits around here?" He began to look around.

As he was about to reach for a bush, he stopped cold.

A strange paralyzing energy made his feet freeze, and he couldn't move.

"This is too easy." a low women voice behind him said.

Very slowly, Gon turned his head around.

Yet all he could see was the silhouette of this person, before the world went dark.