♪
Narrator: After challenging meruem to a contest
in order to buy time,
pouf was outside the palace scattering scales
on the citizens who had not yet been hypnotized.
Shaiapouf: I must hurry,
or lord meruem will remember what he should not.
( Crowd murmuring )
Man: We haven’t moved forward at all.
What the hell’s the matter? What’s going on up there?
Man #2: Shh! Keep quiet, all right?
Man #3: What are you talking about?
The soldiers stopped way behind us.
We can talk all we want.
Man #4: I heard all senior officers
have collapsed one after another,
like puppets whose strings have been cut.
Man #5: There haven’t been any warnings
about stepping out of line lately.
Man #6: I keep hearing loud noises
coming from the palace. Something isn’t right!
Man #1: Wait. You think it’s a...
Man #2: A coup d’état?
( Crowd gasps )
( Crowd sighs )
♪
( Shaiapouf groans )
After giving the king 6/7 of my body,
i’m significantly weaker. I’ve lost so much power.
The scales aren’t scattering as well as I would like,
and I don’t see any of pitou’s puppets around anywhere.
Does that mean the battle with the boy
is so intense that aura cannot be spared on puppets?
Surely not.
Based on his appearance,
I can’t imagine he would be that strong.
I cannot use my segments while scattering my scales.
Even so, I need to hurry
and kill the woman while there’s still time.
I’ll do whatever it takes.
This is my chance. There won’t be another!
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
♪
( Footsteps )
Ikalgo: I need you to go and find all four women
and bring them back here.
Palm: Are you telling me that they didn’t run away?
Ikalgo: Yeah.
And you better tie up their hands and blindfold them.
I can’t let them see me.
No time to explain.
Palm: I understand. That makes sense.
By the way, why did you bring him along?
Welfin: Hmm? Huh?
Me, a messenger?
Ikalgo: Go tell the king,
or at least go find and tell the royal guards
that the woman’s in the underground warehouse.
Let them know that we’re looking to negotiate a deal.
Do that, and you’re free.
( Welfin sighs ) This is probably a trap, right?
And that’s what i’m gonna tell the king.
Say anything else, and he’ll get suspicious.
Ikalgo: Fine.
( Welfin thinking ) Wait.
The fact that i’m doing the enemy’s bidding at all
may be enough to anger the king.
Ah, i’m not about to dig my own grave.
All right. I’ll give it a shot.
Ikalgo: Can you drive?
( Welfin scoffs ) A lot better than you.
Palm: It’s absolutely critical that he carries out his mission.
It means i’ll lose pouf, but I should keep an eye on him.
Ikalgo: Palm.
It’s fine.
Welfin, once this is all over, you’re free.
Welfin: Huh?
Ikalgo: Then go find gyro.
Welfin: Huh?
( Growls )
Don’t press your damn luck, or i’ll murder you!
Don’t you dare speak his name! What do you know?!
Just who do you think you are?! Huh?!
Ikalgo: I know that, zaiqahal.
( Welfin gasps )
Huh?
( Shuddering )
How...
How’d you know about...
My old name?
I never told anyone.
Ikalgo: I don’t know mine,
and I don’t expect I ever will, but we were friends.
Welfin: We were friends?
Ikalgo: From before.
( Welfin gasping )
Ikalgo: The ants are our enemies,
enemies of the ngl.
Am I wrong?
( Welfin groans )
Ikalgo: Bloster’s forgotten his past,
but he was one of us, too.
Take him with you.
Welfin: Hey, ikalgo, tell me. How do you know?
( Ikalgo gasps )
Wait. What do you mean?
Welfin: You just said you wanted me to find gyro,
but the only reason you’d say that
is if you knew he was alive.
Ikalgo: Yeah, that’s true, but I...
Don’t know if he’s alive.
I just know he has to be.
Welfin: Eh?
Ikalgo: We "survived," didn’t we?
So I know he wouldn’t let himself get digested.
( Welfin growls )
( Buzzer blares )
Damn it. Damn it.
Damn it!
( Menthuthuyoupi groans )
I really hope you’re sure about this, pouf.
It’s already been ten minutes,
and I don’t see any sign of pitou returning.
( Coughs )
♪
Welfin: Get out.
Untie yourselves, and use the truck to escape.
Once you’re outside, you’ll realize what’s going on.
( Engine starts )
As much as I hate to admit it, ikalgo’s right.
Gyro wouldn’t die for nothing, not the gyro I know.
Fine. The ants are our enemy.
I owe him for giving me a wake-up call,
so i’ll be his messenger.
( Buzzer blares )
Menthuthuyoupi: Huh?
Stop!
( Brakes squeal )
( Welfin grunts ) Eh?
♪
Wait. Sir youpi?
Look at that. I already found a royal guard.
Sir youpi, please,
I need to get a message to the king immediately.
Menthuthuyoupi: Hmm?
Menthuthuyoupi: The underground warehouse?
Welfin: Right.
Menthuthuyoupi: They want to make a trade?
That woman for all their captured allies?
Is that what you’re telling me?
Welfin: That’s right. Go and tell the king at once.
He’s gonna want to know about it.
Menthuthuyoupi: Got it. You can count on me.
I see. We’re having a contest,
so I don’t really need to tell the king.
If this is the kind of thing pouf was expecting,
well, he’s even smarter than I thought.
( Coughs )
All right. You can go.
Welfin: Sir!
Menthuthuyoupi: Once he’s back,
I need to tell pouf about this.
♪
( Coughs )
Still, I can’t help but wonder
what the hell pitou is up to right now.
( Welfin groans )
Chimera ants are the enemy.
Gyro’s enemy, our enemy.
( Growls )
Sir youpi!
Menthuthuyoupi: Hmm?
Welfin: I have a question for you, sir!
Menthuthuyoupi: What is it?
Welfin: Do you have any memories from your former life?!
Old memories, like before you changed?!
Menthuthuyoupi: Huh?
You’re kidding. Of course not.
I’m youpi, the royal guard,
and that’s all i’ve ever been!
Don’t ask me stupid questions.
Welfin: Sir youpi.
Menthuthuyoupi: What? I told you don’t--eh?
Hmm?
Welfin: If you try to attack me, i’ll fight back.
I have some questions for you.
You have five seconds to answer.
( Menthuthuyoupi growls )
( Welfin growls )
Menthuthuyoupi: I wouldn’t push my luck if I were you,
you stupid punk.
( High-pitched whine )
Meruem: A game.
♪
A game.
Something is missing. I’m sure of it.
( Sighs )
( High-pitched whine )
Yes.
I remember. I was playing someone.
♪
Someone who, try as I might,
I have yet to defeat even one single time.
- ( High-pitched whine ) - ( Winces )
( Shaiapouf groans )
That took much longer than I expected.
I’m certain pitou has returned by now.
I hope the king hasn’t grown impatient.
Where’s youpi?
Where has he run off to now?
( Gasps )
What in the world?
( Gasps )
Youpi.
No, it can’t be.
Ikalgo: Hmm?
Palm: All right, we’re okay now.
Ikalgo: What do you mean? Palm?
Shaiapouf: Sire! Lord meruem!
Youpi has been killed, sire!
The enemy must be far more skilled than we ever thought.
Meruem: Where’s pitou?
Shaiapouf: What?
I don’t know.
Meruem: In that case,
I suppose it’s all right for me to begin.
Shaiapouf: Eh, please wait, lord meruem!
The situation has changed.
It’s too dangerous. The game is--
meruem: The game is off?
( Shaiapouf gasps )
Meruem: Then that means I have won.
You will tell me everything you know.
( Shaiapouf gasping )
Meruem: Is that what you want?
♪
Ikalgo: "We’re okay now"?
What do you mean by "okay"?
Palm: Killua has come to believe
that this girl here is very special to the king.
But as for the royal guard, they are still quite divided.
As we know,
pitou tried to save and protect her,
but pouf, on the other hand, tried to kill her.
Ikalgo: Hmm.
Palm: To put it another way,
she’s a double-edged sword for the king.
Ikalgo: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That’s too hard to believe.
The royal guard’s command would never break down like that.
It’s impossible!
Palm: Is it?
All right, but what about us?
How do you explain our situation?
Wouldn’t you say that it’s impossible
for soldier ants to side with humans?
( Ikalgo groans )
Palm: Adding humans to the gene pool
has led to many events
that would be impossible for normal chimera ants,
so then can you be certain i’m wrong?
( Ikalgo groans )
Palm: I’m sorry. All i’m saying
is that the royal guard can be loyal to the king
and disagree with each other.
They aren’t mutually exclusive, after all.
Some of them think they can aid the king
by protecting the human.
Some think they can do it by killing her.
Both of these reactions make sense.
Ikalgo: I guess. I’ll concede that point for now,
but you said that we’re okay,
so how do you know that?
Palm: 20 minutes have passed
since the initial wave of en,
and the king hasn’t killed us.
We haven’t even been captured.
That’s why I think we’re okay.
Ikalgo: Hmm.
Yeah, I still don’t get it.
What the hell is going on here, palm?
Palm: When en was first used,
I was carrying this girl on my back.
If the king had noticed that,
i’m sure he would have come straight to me,
but he didn’t, because she was wrapped in my hair.
It might be possible he didn’t realize
I was carrying another person.
Make sense so far?
Ikalgo: Hmm. I gotta admit it sounds logical,
but I still don’t quite see your point.
Palm: My point is that, if she’s covered,
the king can’t locate her with his en,
she’s invisible to him.
( Ikalgo gasps )
Wait a minute!
You’re saying let knuckle and meleoron die
rather than make an exchange?
Palm: Of course not. We will offer to make a trade-off,
and then we’ll try to buy as much time as we can.
To accomplish that, we must hide the girl
in a place where the king cannot find her.
Ikalgo: Buy time? How long are we talking?
Palm: Until the king is dead.
Ikalgo: Hold on.
What in the world is she talking about?
Sure, he’ll die, someday, but when?
If we knew that much, there wouldn’t be a problem.
You still haven’t told me why we’re okay,
so come on! Give me something!
Palm: The king will die soon.
He doesn’t have very much time left.
( Ikalgo gasps )
♪
Palm: In just a few hours, the king will be dead.
( Breeze blowing )
( Footsteps pattering )
Palm: Let’s go deeper.
We need to find a place
where only you and I will be able to find her.
There. That should do it.
All that’s left right now is the negotiation,
and we’ll have to be very careful
not to push him over the edge.
( Ikalgo sighs )
Palm: I know.
What we’re doing is ruthless.
( Ikalgo gasps )
Palm: We’re no different from the ants.
No...
We are far worse.
♪
Shaiapouf: Pitou. Pitou.
Where are you?
Pitou!
( Gags )
( Gasping )
♪
( Singing in Japanese )