~Chapter Ten : Phase Three Part Two~
~Start~

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Two hours have passed and the boys were still a little pissed about what happened hours ago. Leorio was losing patience. Then, he stood up, forgetting how pissed the three boys are earlier and screamed in frustration.

"Oh, come on! It's been two hours already! What if everybody have already found different routes!?" Leorio yelled.

Kurapika glared at him. "Shh!" He said as he pointed to you, who was sleeping peacefully beside him. "Try to talk quietly, Leorio and calm down. Complaining won't help." Kurapika said.

Leorio rubbed his head. "Sorry, but what if no one arrives before we reach our time limit?" Leorio said, lowering his voice down. "Only an idiot would still be at the top of the tower!" He said.

Then, suddenly, a sound of someone tapping the stone above them was heard. "Quiet, Leorio." Kurapika said as he looked up along with Killua and Gon. Leorio stopped complaining and looked up as well.

They all listen carefully to the tapping. Kurapika turned to you and shook you awake. You slightly opened your eyes.

"Huh...? Kurapika?" You said, sitting up.

Kurapika smiled at you. "Wake up, looks like someone is gonna drop soon. Listen." He said as he pointed above them. You listened carefully and heard someone tapping the stone above the room all you are in.

You widen your eyes and stood up. "You're right!" You said as you grab your bag and placed it back behind your back. You turned to Kurapika. "Thanks for waking me up." You smiled.

Kurapika smiled back. "It was my pleasure."

The two of you walked where you heard the tapping along with Leorio, Killua and Gon. You all waited until finally a certain someone fell in.

You looked carefully and realised it was Tonpa. "Tonpa-san!" You and Gon exclaimed.

Tonpa turned around. "Good grief..." He said.

The others except you and Gon had an unsatisfied look on their face. "Oh." Killua said.

"It's the old man..." Leorio said.

You all gave Tonpa his wristwatch and he put it on. "Alright." He said and just after that, a random wall opened, revealing a door.

You all walked towards the door. "Oh, I see. The door appeared once six people puts on the stopwatches." Kurapika pointed out.

""At this door, select O to open, X to not."" Gon read.

"Decision already? Well, the answer should be obvious." Leorio said as he lifted his wrist to press a button on his watch while the rest of you did the same.

Once everybody pressed button, the screen appeared that five pressed O but one pressed X.

"Eh!?" Leorio said. "Who pressed the X button?" Leorio asked as the door opened.

Tonpa looked at him, apologetically. "Ah, sorry, that was me. I accidentally pressed the wrong button..." Tonpa said.

A vein grew on Leorio's forehead as he grab hold of Tonpa's collar. "Don't screw with me, old man! How can you accidentally pressed the wrong button!?" Leorio yelled.

"Like I said, it was an accident!" Tonpa defended.

You tried to calm Leorio the best you can so he doesn't start anything. "It's okay, Leorio! Let this one slide!" You said, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah. It doesn't matter, the door opened anyway!" Gon said.

"It does matter!" Leorio yelled. "This guy will purposely choose the wrong button everytime!" He said.

"Leorio, this isn't the time to bicker." Kurapika said.

"That's right. Even if he keeps pressing the wrong button, the rest of us just need to press the right button." Killua said as he started to walk outside the door, Gon and Kurapika following after him. You smiled and followed them too. "Majority wins after all!" You said as you looked behind your shoulders and turned back around.

Leorio let go of Tonpa's shoulder and sighed. "Fine..." He said.

Tonpa grinned and walk along. "Alright!" He said.

"Damn..." Leorio muttered.

All of you walked outside the room only to meet another question just outside of it.

"Another question already?" Leorio said.

""Where do you want to go? O for right, X for left."" Gon read.

Once you all pressed a button and screen showed that there's four people who pressed O and two people who pressed X.

You smiled. "Ah! What a guess!"

"Eh!?" Leorio exclaimed. "Why did you pressed right!? Normally, people would choose left, right!?" Leorio said.

"True. But studies proves that people who are lost unconcsiously choose left." Kurapika explained.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I didn't really feel like we're lost or something...I mean we just started." You thought

"Oh, I've heard that before!" Killua pointed out.

"Wait! The numbers don't add up! Which path did you choose?" Leorio asked.

"Right." Kurapika said as he continued to walk.

"Right." Killua said as he followed.

You sweatdropped. "Ehehe...I didn't really think about why I choose to go right but I choosed to go right." You said as you smiled and followed Kurapika and Killua.

"Y-You guys..." Leorio said

"That's why they chose right...To outfox the examiner. If the examiner knows that people tend to go left, he would've put a harder obstacles on the left path." Tonpa explained as he waved his finger on Leorio's face and continued to walk.

"So we're just simple-minded!" Leorio said, as he stomped angerily.

""We"?" Gon repeated, questionly.

**********

All of you kept walking after that. This part of the tower doesn't seem to have many obstacles yet. Then, after walking for almost 20 minutes, you and the others finally stumbled in a different room.

"What's with this room?" Leorio asked, looking around.

"Look there." Killua said as he looked over to the other side of the room.

You all looked to what his looking and saw five people and one that is behind them covered in brown sheets with their hand in shackles.

"The applicants arrived. Remove the shackles." One said.

Just after he said that, his shackles was unlocked. You all watched as he removed the sheet from his body, revealing to be a mascular man.

"I'm finally free." He said.

You all watched while Leorio gulped. Then, a the guy on the megaphone, Lippo, spoke again, making all of you look around.

"Allow me to explain." Lippo started. "Across from you now is the trick tower's prisoners."

"Prisoner...?" Kurapika said.

"The hunter exam commitee has officially hired real-life criminals as examiners." Lippo explained. "You will be fighting the six of them. The fight will be one-on-one but the each of you can only fight once." He continued. "You are free to use any methods you like. There are no draws. A win is declared when one admits defeat."

"You may pick the order. It's a majority rule." The prisoner said. "Secure three wins and you pass. The ruled are simple." He finished.

"Tch. Another majority rule, huh?" Leorio said.

"Well, I like straight-forward rules." Killua said.

"However, the actual fights will not be quite so simple." Lippo interrupted.

You sweatdropped. "He's not finished yet?" You thought. "I don't know if I can keep all of this in my head..."

"The prisoner's sentenced will be reduced by one year in every hour they delay the applicants here. So in other words, they're here to buy time." Lippo said.

"I understand now. We need to reach the goal before our seventy two hours rans out." Kurapika said. "So time will be critical during these fights."

"Right. Okay, I'm up first. Choose your combatant." The guy said.

"What do we do?" Killua asked. "He said we can use any method so we that means everything is fine."

You put your hands on you chin and think. "Hmm...I could go but I don't think I can stand such big and scary figure." You thought and sighed.

"We don't know what they're trying to pull here..." Leorio said.

"There's too much stake without knowing how many things they have in they're sleeve." Kurapika said. "With that, I shall..."

Kurapika tried to say but interrupted unexpectedly by Tonpa. "No, I'll go." Tonpa said.

You widen your eyes along with others. "Tonpa-san will do it? Maybe he felt guilty about picking the wrong choice earlier..." You thought.

"I'll act as a guinea pig to discover what they're up to. Consider this as an apology from earlier." He said.

"Tonpa, are you serious?" Leorio asked.

"Sure. Besides, you guys don't actually trust me, right?" He said. "Do you really want me to be the tiebreaker when the match is 2-2?" He said.

"Well, you have a point..." Leorio said.

"Then, it's settled then." Tonpa smirked.

"Tonpa, you're..." Leorio said.

Then a bridge appeared and slowly connected itself on the ground across. Tonpa drops his shoulder bag on the ground and walked to the bridge as well as the prisoner across.

"I-I didn't expect Tonpa to volunteer..." Leorio said, suprise.

"He just called himself a guinea pig..." Kurapika said.

"Will Tonpa-san be okay?" Gon asked.

"Probably..." You answered. "...Or atleast, I think so..."

"Now, let's determine the method Of the combat." The prisoner said. "I proposed death match!" He said.

All of you widen your eyes. "Death match?" Gon exclaimed.

"Fight until one dies?" Leorio said.

"No..." Kurapika started. "Don't let him provoke you!"

"Well?" The prisoner said.

Tonpa stand for a moment then, spoke. "Very well..." He started. "I accept!"

You all were shocked. "Eh?" You and Gon exclaimed. "He's really...Serious...?" You thought.

The guy posed into a fighting style. "I commend you for your courage!" He said.

Then, the atmosphere suddenly changed into a tensed one. The whole room felt so intense now. Tonpa then, made all kinds of pose, as well as the prisoner. Then, the prisoner charged at Tonpa without warning and jumped. He was about to punch Tonpa when Tonpa raised his hands. "I..." He started.

"...I Give!" He said.

Just after that, the whole intense atmosphere was quickly gone. You and the others who were watching Tonpa, stood there, blinking in confusion.

"Ha?" Killua said.

"What?" Leorio said.

"Did he just said he give?" Gon asked.

"Maybe he said "Give me a sec"?" Leorio answered.

"No, I'm pretty sure he said he give..." You corrected while Gon, Killua and Kurapika nodded in agreement.

The guy landed on the ground without hitting Tonpa. "What did you just say?" The guy said.

Tonpa looked up. "You win if I admit defeat, right?" He said. "I give up! I lose!" He said as he laughed nervously.

You can feel Leorio snapping behind you. You swetdropped. "Oh, boy..." You thought.

Then, the prisoner just laughed while holding his head. "All right...I win in this round." He said as a point appeared on their screen.

"If we win three more times, you lose. You won't be able to advance or turn back until the seventy two hours is up. Should that come to pass, our sentenced will reduced by seventy two hours." He said as he turns away laughing.

You pouted, feeling a little mad. "He's not even sure if they're going to win...He's so full of himself..." You thought.

Tonpa came back while scratching his head. "What a disgrace..." He said. "He look stronger up close." He defended.

Suddenly, Leorio grabbed Tonpa's collar. "Bastard!" He said. "You just confirmed all my suspicions! You really are a worthless piece of trash!"

You swetdropped. "I felt like I don't wanna stopped Leorio this time...But then again, we would've waste too much time if he accepted for real...so I guess he kinda picked the right choice here." You thought as you tried calming down Leorio.

Tonpa then explain his real intentions and the tradition he's doing every year and how he feel pleasure whenever he'a seeing someone's failure. You narrowed you eyebrows.

"You bastard!" Leorio yelled as he prepares to punch him but Kurapika put his hand on his shoulder. "Stop, Leorio!" He said.

"But..." Leorio tried protest but Kurapika just shooked his head. "They're job is to buy time by letting us fight amongst ourselves." Kurapika explained.

"But you know, Tonpa-san probably picked the right choice though." You said, smiling. "We would've lose so much time if he accepted for real."

"Exactly." Killua suddenly said. "But in my prediction, he would've broke the old man's throat so he'll have a hard time saying defeat and he'll torture you slowly without killing you in the remaining time." Killua said, smirking at Tonpa who looks sick.

"T-That's right!" Tonpa said.

"You look sick." Leorio pointed out.

Then, another prisoner's shackles were unlock. The prisoner took off his sheet, revealing a tall shoulder length haired man whose one eye is being covered by his bangs. He doesn't seem to be so strong though...

"I'm next, who will be my opponent?" He said.

"Who's going next?" Killua said, he looks uninterested.

You think about it. "I think I'll go!" You thought but when you were about to raise your hand. But Gon beat you to it.

"I'll go!" He said, cheerfully.

You sweatdropped. "I guess I'll let him do it..." You thought as you smiled.

"Are you sure?" Leorio asked.

"Uh-huh!" Gon said, positively.

"The guy doesn't look so strong though." Killua said.

"But we can't let are guard down. He's still a criminal." Leorio reminded as Gon put his backpack down and walked towards the guy.

"I know..." Gon said.

You smiled. "He'll be fine! I'm sure of it!" You said. "He never accept a lose!"

"True..." Killua agreed.

The two of them stopped at the middle of the room and stared at each other. After a while, the guy spoke up.

"Now then..." The guy started. "As you can see, I'm not very strong and doesn't like matches with our lives on the line." He said. "Or rather, I don't like physical activities like running, jumping or stuff like that."

"Well, I enjoy physical activities but I'm not very good at using my head." Gon said, honestly.

"I thought so." The guy said. "So, I thought of a game that doesn't require mental or physical activity." He said.

"Game?" Gon questioned.

Then, the guy took out to candles from behind his back. "Yes. We both light this candles at the same time and see who's candle goes out first." He explained. "Is that okay?"

Gon smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Uh-huh! I can work with that easily!" He said.

The guy smirked. "Okay..." Then, he opened his three remaining fingers that is holding the candles, revealing that the candles doesn't have the same size. "You decide which candles you want to use. O for the long one, X for the short one."

You all widen your eyes, shocked and suspicious on why this guy wanted Gon to choose when he knows very clearly that the shorter one will go out first.

You heard behind your back Leorio and Kurapika facing a real dilemma. The prisoner sat down on the ground. "Take your time." He said. "Unlike all of you, we have plenty of time."

Gon turned around. "Hey, which one do you think I'll choose?" Gon asked.

Everybody thought for a while. You sighed and turned to face Kurapika and Leorio. "How about let's just choose the long one?" You suggested.

Leorio and Kurapika looked at you. "Why is that?" Kurapika asked.

"Because, even if he put a trap on the long one, the long one will still goes out pretty slow rather than the short one." You said. "Plus, Gon is actually a pretty fast thinker. He'll do something about it for sure."

Kurapika thought about that and closed his eyes. Then, he snapped them opened and turned to Gon. "Gon! You decide!" Kurapika yelled.

"Eh? Me? Well..." Gon said as his put his finger to his chin.

Killua turned to Kurapika. "You sure about that?" He asked. "He doesn't think anything through."

"Even if he doesn't think this one through, let's just trust Gon's instincts." Kurapika said.

Killua hummed. "Instincts, huh?" He muttered.

You all turned back to Gon who was thinking. After a while, he smiled and pointed to the long one. "I'll go for the long one!" He said

"Why?" The prisoner asked.

"Because a longer candle will burn a longer time!" He reasoned, smiling.

Back at the at the five of you. Leorio, Kurapika and Tonpa stood there, wide eyed and sweatdropping. Killua just stood there with an I-Knew-It look. And there's you who was smiling the whole time.

"Told you he wouldn't think this through." Killua said.

"See? Even Gon picked the long one!" You said.

They all sighed as they pressed the O button. "Let's just trust Gon, here..." Kurapika said.

The prisoner gave Gon the long one and they walked near the torch and light the candles at the same time then, stared at each other.

Killua looked at his stopwatch. "Normally," he started. "How long would it take for a candle to go out?" Killua asked.

"About five to six hours maybe?" Kurapika answered.

You widen your eyes "Five to six hours!?" You thought as you sighed. "There's no way I can last that long..."

Then, a large gush of wind blew from below all of you. Gon slightly covered his light to prevent it from going out. You put your hands to your skirt to not fly up.

Gon was looking back and forth between the guy and his candle. The guy seems to noticed and chuckled. "What's wrong?" He asked. "If you don't pay attention to your candle, it will go out easily."

Gon narrowed his eyes. "Because you're planning on something bad, aren't you?" Gon said. "Otherwise, your candle will go out first."

The guy smirked. "I won't do anything." He said. "After all..." He trailed off

"I've already taken steps." He continued.

Just then, the fire on Gon's candle suddenly became stronger. "Uwaah!" Gon exclaimed.

You gasped as well as others. "Look! Gon's fire suddenly grew stronger!" Leorio said.

"He probably put a hidden gunpowder inside the candle or something." Kurapika said.

"What do we do? If this continues, Gon's candle will go out in a matter of minutes!" Killua said as you nodded.

"Hey! That was dirty!" Leorio yelled at Gon's opponent.

But the guy just kept smirking. You looked at Gon and noticed that he just stopped panicking of how hot the candle is, instead, he's just looking at it now. You widen your eyes for a slight second and smiled. "I bet he just thought of a plan." You thought as you relaxed a little.

Then, Gon grinned widely at the guy, making the guy raised his eyebrow in confusion. "If the fire is stronger..." Gon started as he put down the now tiny candle. "Then a little breeze won't extiguish it!" Gon said as he ran with fast speed towards the guy.

And before the guy knew it, Gon blew off the fire from his candle. The guy widen his eyes as he realised Gon just extiguished his fire from his candle. Gon turned around to look at his candle, he noticed it's still has fire on it so Gon grinned widely and turned to the guy with a peace sign. "I win!" Gon declared.

Gon walked back to all of you with a victorous smile. You smiled at him. "Nice job, Gon!" You said as you high-fived him. "I knew you can do it!" You said.

Gon high-fived you back. "Really? Thanks!" He said as he scratched the back of his head, with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

Then, without a matter of losing time. Another prisoner shackle's being unlocked and falling to the ground was heard.

There, at the other side of the room is a mascular blue skinned man who looks like frankenstein came into the view and walked to the middle.

Kurapika stood infront of all of you. "Okay, I'll go next." He said as he walked towards the guy.

Then, the guy removed his sheet to reveal a big mascular body. But it didn't seem like so fearful... He then, suddenly laughed evilly. "I'm next!" He said as he laughed more.

"That's one freaky body." Leorio said.

"And face too..." Killua added.

You all listened on how he killed nineteen people and how he wanted a death match against Kurapika, who was standing there, calmly.

"Very well." Kurapika said, calmly. "I accept." He said as he took off his outer cloth. "Let us begin."

The blue guy opened his mouth in agape. "Also, no weapons are allowed." He added. "We'll fight using our bare fists."

"I see..." Kurapika said as he got his bokken swords from behind his back and threw it down next to his cloth on the side. "Anything else? If not, I would like to start."

The guy stood there for a second and suddenly inhaled deeply. He grunted making his muscles look stronger and bigger.

"Hey, is Kurapika gonna be okay?" Leorio said, a little worried. "That guy looks dangerous."

Killua put his hands behind his head while Gon placed both of his hand on his sides and you crossed you arms over your chest and closed your eyes, eyebrows narrowing as if thinking deeply. Then, you sighed loudly. "Ah~ It's weird..." You sighed.

Everybody turned to you. "What is?" Leorio asked.

"Usually, when I see people that big and looks strong, they would send shivers down my spine but...This one doesn't seem to do so." You said.

Gon looked at you. "Really?" He said and smiled. "That's strange...I'm feeling the same. He just doesn't give me chills." Gon said.

Killua smiled at both of you. "Right. Same here." Killua said, joining the two of you.

Leorio looked at the three of you in disbelief. "W-What's up with you, kids..." He muttered as he swetdropped.

Then the blue guy jumped into the air and tried to land a punch on Kurapika but Kurapika skillfully dodged this, making the blue guy hit the floor instead of him. The floor grew a large hole on where he punched it.

"Wow..." Said Tonpa.

"He made a hole on the floor with his bare fist!" Leorio said.

You, Killua and Gon just stood there. Killua has his hands behind his head with a bored expression. Gon was just standing there with a serious expression. And you, watching the whole scene with a calm expression.

After successfully dodging the blue guy's attack, Kurapika was crouching down with his arms covering his face. Then, the blue guy smirked and turned around.

There, you and the others and worst, Kurapika saw it. A tattoo of a spider with twelve legs.

"I recognized that..." Tonpa said. "That's the symbol of a group of evil thieves. The phantom troupe!" Tonpa said.

"Is that true?" Gon asked Leorio.

Leorio nodded. "Yeah." He answered. "They're famous. I heard them straight from Kurapika."

You widen your eyes and looked at Kurapika and the tattoo of the man. "Spider with twelve legs...I don't really remember if Yumi-san told me anything about that." You thought. "But, Tonpa-san said their thieves and the way Kurapika looks right now...Could it be that this 'Phantom Troupe' stole something precious from Kurapika?" You thought.

The blue guy laughed evilly. "What's wrong? Cat got your tounge?" He asked Kurapika. "I'm Majitani, one of the phantom troupe's four kings!"

"Consider the first strike as saying hello." Majitani said. "This is your last chance to surrender. I'm still willing to-" he stopped when Kurapika looked at him.

You can't really see because he's facing away from all of you but you can see a faint glow of red...no, more like, scarlet.

Then, Kurapika suddenly disappeared, making Majitani sweat nervously and wonder where he has gone to. Then, before he knew it, Kurapika grab hold of Majitani's face and hold it up as Kurapika clenched his hand into a fist, preparing to punch him.

"Wait! I get it!" Majitani tried to talk. "I surren-"

He was cut off when a strong, hard punch landed on his face and onto the ground. He landed on the ground in his stomach, unconsicious.

Everybody widen their eyes, even you and Gon while Killua just whistled as if expecting this to happen sooner or later.

Kurapika stood over him with his eyes hiding behind his blonde hair. "Consider this as a warning..." Kurapika started. "First, A real phantom troupe member has a number on their tatoos. Second, they don't count on how many people they've killed. They just simply don't care. And third..." Kurapika looked at Majitani who was lying on the ground.

"Never mention that troupe's name to me again. If you do, I'll kill you..."

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~End~
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A/N :
Holy Shicks...I just put a whole spoiler in this chapter, didn't I? I forgot to mention that there will be spoilers along the chapters. Anyways, please don't hate me! If you know Hunter X Hunter (2011) you should not care about how many spoilers I put up, right?....RIGHT!? Okay, sorry... Anyways, thanks so much for reading and what's this? 2 chapters in 1 day? You're welcome.

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"Awesome new person who got candies :

• KilluaZ_10

**Please Wait Patiently for Chapter Eleven**