The second opponent dropped his cloak, revealing an older man with sad eyes and a moustache. Leorio immediately recognised him as he gasped. For the first time, he showed his affection towards his teammates.

"Killua, I don't think you should fight this match, let's come back next year."

The said boy only ignored him.

"Hey! Killua! I mean it!" He tried again in urgency.

"You know him, Leorio?" Gon asked.

"That's Johness, the worst mass murderer in Zaban City." He frowned in worry of his newly made friend as he recalled the details of the silverette's opponent from the news. "His victims' bodies were thoroughly dismembered and none of them were left in less than 50 pieces."

Reiko snorted at this, "That's my kind of guy." But he doesn't feel that strong.

Leorio jumped at the girl's sudden interference. She feels like a ghost— a demon. "A-Anyway, he plucks the flesh of his victims off their bone with just his fingers! It's that powerful." As soon as he completed his sentence, he remembered how the girl ripped her opponent's flesh with her bare hands as well. He guessed it wasn't so extraordinary now.

As both fighters faced each other on the platform, Johness said, "I have missed... the feel of human flesh..."

"So how do you want to fight?" Killua asked coolly, his face giving off nothing; no anxiety, no sign of panic— nothing.

His opponent's face showed how upset he was. "You got the wrong idea, kid. I don't care about the exam or any pardon. I just-"

Killua interrupted the man, catching something he didn't quite understand. "What pardon?"

He frowned at the delaying of his fun, but granted the silverette an answer before his brutal death. "We are criminals and our prison term decreases the longer you stay here."

Hearing this, Reiko felt furious. She had completely forgotten about their time limit. She looked down to her write timer, it showed: 66:18:43. They had 66 hours left, and they were clueless about what would meet them after this round. She wasted approximately 3 hours playing with her opponent, earning them who knows how much time off their term. How could she be so careless? She had allowed her sadistic side to get the better of herself. It was disappointing.

The Zoldyck's opponent raised his hand, "Now..let me just tear you to pieces to feel fresh chunks of bloody fresh in my hands and hear your screams-"

"So the loser dies." Once again, Killua cut off his sentence. He was getting impatient as his bloodlust pulsed in his veins.

"Right... You-" This time, he couldn't finish his sentence.

Killua had already stepped past him with the mass murderer's heart in his hand as blood oozed out from his chest. A smile stretched Reiko's lips, her eyes showing just a glance of bright red. She was starting to like this boy. What made her grew more interested towards him was what he did next. Johness stared at his younger opponent in disbelief; weakly reaching out in urgency, wanting to beg for his heart back. Too bad, his heart was crushed in the assassin's hand; and he was smiling as he did so. The murderer's body dropped onto the cold floor as he took his very last breath.

"That's two wins for us." Killua announced and returned to his side. The ravenette looked at him with an amused smile, he was looking at her too. No words or gestures were exchanged between the two, just a staring contest that didn't break until the tallest guy interfered. "Just who are you?"

"I'm from an assassin family, the Zoldycks."

"WHAT?!?" Both of the two older guys were shocked, but the girl was more delighted.

"The Zoldycks? They are the top assassin family." She said, finally joining in the group and not standing in a corner alone. This action caused Leorio to step further away, not just from her, but from Killua as well.

"Y-You won't k-kill me i-in my sleep.. right??" He questioned breathlessly.

Killua replied cheekily, "Maybe, maybe not." He was back from his darker mood. "Anyway, we need to stop stalling and send the next opponent."

Kurapika nodded in agreement. "That's right, time is gold here. I'll go next." As soon as all of them turned to the stage, there was a large figure standing there, ready for the next match. He proceeded to strip off his cloak. Apparently, he's the last bulky person from their group, a blue man too. To Reiko, he looked like a joke, procuring a snort from her.

He pointed to the 19 tattooed heart shapes on the left side of his chest, "See this? It's my number of kills. I'm glad I get to even it up today." His opponent looked at him with utter disinterest.

"Name your contest. I'll accept your choice."

He was taken aback by his insipid reaction. "Just so you know, I like my kills violent. I love blood, pain and spilling guts."

"Shall we begin?" Kurapika said, already taking off his outer layer of clothing. He hated his opponent's small talks, he wants nothing but wasting time here. Who knew what the examiner has in stored for them.

Upon spotting the wooden sword Kurapika owns, the man quickly pointed out that as prisoners, they were only permitted to fight with their fists. So weapons were not allowed. He accepted his condition, throwing his wooden swords aside.

Finally, the blue frankenstein tried to strike the blonde. Kurapika swiftly dodged it and hopped away, landing behind him. When he looked back, he caught sight of his attacker's 12-legged spider tattoo on his back. He stood still in his spot, staring at the tattoo as mixed emotions filled his mind. Kurapika's eyes changed to a bright scarlet colour as his body started to tremble. "That.. That tattoo..." He whispered.

The frankenstein got up, speaking with pride. "I am Majitani, one of the members of Phantom Troupe. If you admit defeat, I'll let you live."

The triggered Kurta sped to his opponent, grabbing his chin and slammed him to the ground. Everyone from his team were amazed at his strength, none of them knew of his abilities. The force was so strong, Majitani was immediately down.

"First of all.. the real phantom troupe tattoo has a number inscribed on it. Secondly, they could care less about the people they've killed." He looked at the body of his opponent, hoping he bears it in mind. "Lastly.. Never ever mention the troupe again, or I promise I'll kill you."

He immediately walked back in silence after picking up his clothes and weapons. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down from his outburst. For the third time on this day, Leorio backed away in fear from a friend. "Are you okay? Is it safe to be near you right now?"

Kurapika sighed, "You're fine as long as you don't pull a prank like that. To be honest.. I lose my rationality whenever I see a spider, any spider." He sat in a corner and sulked. "Perhaps that's a good thing.. It means my rage hasn't died yet."

From the sidelines, Reiko paid extra attention to the revenge seeker. His eyes were filled with determination. Only at this moment that she realised they were similar. They were both obsessed and desperate to have their revenge. She thought maybe she should stick with this group more, Killua and Kurapika had her interest. Although having friends isn't her thing, it would be a new experience to be around people.

Leorio and Gon looked at each other, not knowing what to do to cheer their friend up. Gon suddenly perked up, realising something. "Hey! We just won 3 rounds, does that mean we can move on?!" He beamed as he said so, enthusiastic to go on with the exam.

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Dedicated to -gormless0cell- for voting and commenting on this story!

Wow, I updated again. 😂 Is nobody going to say anything about my active updates? 🤔 Previously all I've received was "Pls update!" And now literally nothing lol xD

Anyway, since nobody interacted with me on Twitter, setting a poll there would be pointless. So instead of coming up with names, I would like YOU to suggest a cool nickname for an assassin/murderer(whatever you want to call it) in the comments section. ❤️ I'll pick my favourite one and I'll definitely give you the credits when the name is mentioned.

~Joelle

Published: 20 April 2018