I woke up to the sound of someone on the P.A., "I sincerely apologize for the long wait. The airship will be arriving soon at its destination shortly." I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes and looked up to a to see a blushing Killua.
I looked down to see that I was in between his legs with my arms wrapped around his waist and my chest on his crotch. 0op-! "Dude, at least buy me dinner first." I said smirking. "Ha Ha Ha. Just get off." Killua laughed sarcastically.
I got off and stood up, stretching and then tapped his shoulder three times with my pinky and left to change my clothes. Wait, both Gon and Killua still owe Nee and I food! Ehh. I'll save it for when we see something that looks good since I don't know what some of the foods are like here.
Time skip
We were now standing on this big ass pilar thing. "Ah-ahem!" Mr. Bean called out to all of us. "Everyone, this is the site of the hunter exam's third phase. You'll be competing here at the top of the Trick Tower."
Trick Tower? "Excuse me. Did you say "Trick Tower"?" An applicant asked. "In order to pass this phase, you must reach the base of the tower alive. The time limit it 72 hours. And with that, the exam's third phase will now begin. Good luck to each and every one of you." Mr. Bean instructed before he left.
"Now what? Are we supposed to climb down?" Leorio asked clutching his briefcase with his right arm and his left hand clutching my back. "There's no way in Gehenna I'm gonna climb down that!" I said was we all looked down the side of the pilar. I was currently clinging to Leorio's left leg, looking down.
"Well, I hope not. That would be suicide." Kurapika stated as he also looked down. Just then a guy walked to the edge next to us and laughed, seemingly hearing our conversation. "Sure, for most guys. He then started to climb down.
"Oh my dad!" I yelped as I pressed my face to Leorio's legs so I wouldn't see the man fall, hopefully he wouldn't. "For an expert rock climber like me, this is gonna be a piece of cake." His voice got farther and farther away from us.
"Oh, wow." "Look at how fast he's going." Killua and Gon said out loud. "Yeah, Michael. Look at how fast he's going." Killua said walking up to me and playfully tugged on me. "AAh! NoNoNoNo! Killua, no! No-AAAH!" I yelled while he kept tugging. "Come on. He's already so far down. You're gonna miss him." He teasingly said, still tugging.
Just then we heard wings flapping and Killua stopped his tugging. We all turned in different directions to locate the noise. Then I whipped my head to the right of Leorio and nearly caused him to fall.
"That way!" I pointed and everyone turned to see these flying monsters swooped down and grab the poor mountain climber off the side of the pilar, taking him to who knows where, with him crying for help.
"Still want me to see?" I sarcastically asked Killua who glared at me and I pinched his shoulder, making him yelp. "Uh, so I guess we can't climb down, not this way at least." Leorio said, still stunned. "Yeah.." Kurapika agreed, also stunned.
Time skip
"Yo!/Kurapika! Leorio!" Both Gon and I called out for the said males. They ran in our direction and stopped once they were in front of us. "What is it, guys?" Kurapika questioned.
"Look at this. We found a trap door. Check it out." Gon pushed down on a the trap door to open it slightly. "What do you mean 'We'? I was the one who nearly fell into it." I crossed my arms pouting while Nee just chilled on Gon's shoulder.
"I see. So the only way that we can reach the lower levels is by turning over theses stones." Kurapika concluded. Leorio then came up to me and patted my head, "Okay! Good job at nearly falling in." He laughed then asked, "Now what do you say we head on down?"
I just pouted some more. "'Kay, but I'm sorta confused." Gon said gaining our attention. "Why? What is there to be confused about?" Leorio asked. "There's one and another and another and another and another one over there. There's a lot of 'em." Gon pointed to all the trap doors.
"That many?" Leorio was puzzled. "Six hidden doors located in the same area. Sounds a bit suspicious. No doubt about a few of them are traps." Kurapika said and concluded.
"From what I can tell, each of theses trap doors can only be used one time." Killua said making Leorio gasp. "We saw somebody fall through one earlier, like how Michael almost did," "Hey!" "But when we tried to open it, it wouldn't budge an inch."
"Judging by the door size, only one applicant can go through it at a time." Kurapika said. "Which means only one person can use each door. It's beginning to look like we're all gonna have to split up." Killua concluded while raising his pointer finger.
"So we decided that we'll each pick a door and see how it goes." "And no hard feelings if one of 'em's is a trap. How about you guys? What are you gonna do?" Both Gon and I explained then he asked them for their opinion.
"Works for me. Seems like luck is part of the game or something." 0of! Mine ran out a long time ago. "No objection here. That settles it." They both agreed to our idea. "I call the one that almost took my life." I said as I shooed everyone away, taking Nee from Gon.
Everyone got to their trap doors and said their good-byes, then would jump in on the count of three. "One." "Two.." Killua, Gon and I counted down. "Three!" We all shouted then we jumped and fell down, landing in the same place.
We were all confused. "That was certainly a brief farewell." Kurapika said as he dusted himself off. "Yeah, no kidding. I don't think any of us expected all those doors lead us all to the same room." Leorio agreed.
"Hey, what is it, bub?" I asked Nee, walking to where he magically was. There was this table thing and it had theses weird looking bracelets. Gon approached us, curious as to what we found. Sorry. What 'Nee' found.
""The six who drop into this chamber must find their way down together by consensus of the majority."" Gon read the screen. "Wait six?" Leorio asked. "They even left us these weird ass bracelets too and there's six of them." I lifted two up and showed them.
Kurapika took one from my hands and examined it, "These aren't bracelets. Theses are wrist timers." He corrected me. "Wait so like a watch?" I asked to which he nodded. I let out an '0oh' sound in understanding.
"They also have buttons marked "X" and "O"." Killua added. "Do you think it's possible that we won't be able to leave the room at all until someone drops in and joins us down here?" Kurapika asked as they all looked up at the trap doors.
"Very good." "AAH!" I yelped and hide behind Leorio from the loud sudden sound of a male's voice. "Who's there?" Leorio yelled and got in a protective stance, holding me. "My name is Lippo. I'm the prison warden here." "Huh?" I questioned, but was ignored.
"Not to mention your examiner for the third phase of the exam." Mr. 'Lippo' said. "Did he say "Prison Warden"?" Kurapika questioned.
"We've gone to the trouble of preparing multiple routes through the tower, and the one you've chosen is the path of majority rule. If you want to pass— and I'm sure you do— cooperation is the essence of success. One person acting selfishly could derail the entire group, and of course you won't be permitted to start until you have six members present. That's it, gentleman! Best of luck." Mr. Lippo finished the turned off his mic in our room.
"What if Nee puts the bracelet on? Wait, did he just call me a dude?!" I asked them shouted, holding the extra watch. "He's too small to wear it let alone hold it." Killua says, shutting down the idea. "I'm offended that you would think so lowly of Nee. He was able to—" I was cut off by Nee putting a plant into my mouth to shut me up before I said something.
I just chewed the plant, not caring of what it was, and walked walked away from the confused males, sitting at a corner with my back facing them. "Sto0pid school sending us on an assignment. Sto0pid ground breaking. Sto0pid me for panicking and almost burning Bon. Sto0pid.." I grumbled angrily while Nee was patting my lower back and waving the males off.
We waited for 37 minutes and the males were getting concerned that I was still the whole time. Not moving an inch, just still. Like a statue. Nee was just exploring my backpack the whole time.That little fucker..I swear, I'm not a good influence on him cause look at him now.
Leorio and Kurapika came up to us with concern, asking Nee if they could speak to me since he stood in front of them, holding a mechanical pencil as a weapon towards them. He nodded and walked to me, poking me with the pencil.
I wrapped my tail around the little Greenman and moved him away from me, without moving my body. "Go away. I angy." I spoke. "We came here 'cause we were concerned. Are you ok? Was it something Killua said?" Leorio asked.
I turned around confused. "Nah, he good. I just got angry at Nee who put a fucken plant in my mouth!" I shouted turning to the Greenman. He just looked away crossing his arms. "And stop going through mah stuff or I'm telling your mother!" I yelled and grabbed my stuff.
The two males were stunned for a few seconds then laughed. "You had us really concerned there for a second." Kurapika said, stifling a laugh. "She sure did." Leorio said, laughing. "I did what now?" I asked tilting my head.
"Wait, she's not mad?" I turned around to look at Gon. "Who's not mad?" I asked. "We all thought you were mad at Killua." Gon clarified. "I was mad?" I'm continuing to get more confused. They all just laughed at me, even Nee is laughing! "What's so funny?!"
Time skip
It's been a little while longer and I was napping on Kurapika's lap while he looked through my drawing journal, occasionally complementing a few of them.
"Oh, come on!" Leorio shouted. "Jesus!" I yelped as I hugged Kurapika, closing my eyes, as he covered my pointed ears with his hands looking at Leorio.
"We've been sitting here for two hours! What if everybody else already found their way down? What are we supposed to do, huh?" He then slammed his fist to his palm, "We cant be the only ones stuck at the top. We'll look like total idiots!"
"Calm down, Leorio." He then motioned to me, who was still hugging him tightly with my eyes closed. "Complaining won't help." ""Calm down"? What if nobody else shows up before we reach the time limit, huh?" Leorio groans in frustration but he was quieter than before, letting me calm down and letting go of Kurapika.
Hearing a sudden noise, I whipped my head looking up gaining the attention of Kurapika. A few seconds later they also heard it and Kurapika hushed Leorio. "Do you hear that sound?" He asked the male who just then heard the same sound as we did.
The tapping got louder and I walked, following the sound on all fours, looking up. It then stops and the trap door opens slightly. I then leapt away, as to not get hurt by the falling figure, and landed in Leorio arms.
"Wow. Good grief." It was Mr. Tompa! "Mr. Tompa." "Oh, great." "Look who it is." Killua and Leorio let out a sigh in complaint while Gon was just surprised. We then explained to him what was happening and gave him the last bracelet.
"Okay." He said placing his bracelet on. After that a wall moved to reveal a door with a sign on it, startling me. We all walked up to it with me still in Leorio's arms, bridal style, and Nee sitting on my lap. "I see, so the door must be programmed to appear once all six timers are put on." Kurapika concluded.
Gon started reading the sign, ""At this door, select 'O' to open, 'X' not to open."" "Using majority rule already? All right. At least the answer is obvious." Leorio said and asked me to press the 'O' button on his wrist watch.
The door showed five 'O's and one 'X', angering Leorio. How do I know this? It's 'cause his grip on my arm and leg tightened. "What?! Fess up. Which one of you jokers hit the 'X' button?" He shouted asking me cover my ears. He did apologize tho, so that was nice.
"Heh, that was me. Sorry about that. I guess I pressed the wrong button." Mr. Tompa apologizes. Leorio sets me down gently and then grabbed Mr. Tompa's collar, yelling at him, "Stop screwin' around, old man! What, are you blind or something?" I hid behind Killua who stiffened at my touch.
"I said it was just an honest mistake." Mr. Tompa said. "How in the he'll do you press the wrong damn button?! Huh?" Leorio yelled again. "It doesn't matter. It's okay. The door's open now." Gon said trying to calm the tall male down.
"It does matter. He pressed the wrong button on purpose. He's trying to sabotage us." Leorio complained. "Let's go. We don't have time for petty bickering."
Third POV
"Yeah, he's right. Let him keep pressing the wrong button if he wants to. The rest of us just has to press the right one." Killua agreed with Kurapika while walking out of the room, carrying Michael. Michael had climbed up Killua's back and was now getting a piggy-back ride from him.
"Oh look another one." Michael said pointing, as she noticed another sigh with the 'X's and 'O's. "Seriously? I didn't think we'd get another question so soon." Leorio said his thoughts. "Can someone read it? Can't see with Killua's crazy hair."
"You can get off if you're just gonna complain!" Killua growled at me. ""Which way did you want to go? 'O' for right. 'X' for left."" Gon read, not liking the feeling of seeing Michael being so touchy with Killua.
"Right or the left." Leorio said, mostly to himself. Everyone clicked their answer on their wrist watch, Killua had put Michael down so he could vote. The sign showed four 'O's and two 'X's.
"Huh?! Hey why would you wanna go right? You always go left. What's wrong with you?" Leorio questioned them. "That's true. As research has shown, people who are lost or find themselves at a crossroads tend to chose to go to the left much more frequently than the right." Kurapika said.
"It is?" The young girl asked, earning a nod from the blonde male. "You know, I think I've heard that before." Killua somewhat agrees. "Hold on a second! The numbers just don't add up. Which direction did the three of you pick?" Leorio questioned pointing at them.
"Right." "Right." Killua and Kurapika said as they walked to the right. "It's like I always say, "Hug the right wall."." Michael said, also walking to the right, holding onto her backpack straps with Nee rest on her head, also nodding.
Leorio groaned and called them little monsters then Tonpa spoke up, "Going right makes a lot of sense. The examiner will never see it coming. If they've seen the same research that those two have, I bet that they've made the left path way harder." He then walked away.
Leorio growls then looks at Gon, who was just there, then stomped off, "Okay, so we're both simpleminded, so what?" "We?" Gon questioned as he follows.
They entered a room where with a large platform in the middle with a voting screen. On the opposite side of them, there were people wearing and covered in brown clothes with cuffs.
"See that? Over there." Killua pointed out making all of them look at the mysterious people. The one in front spoke up, "The applicants are here. Unlock my hand cuffs." His cuffs fell with a loud 'clunk'. "Here we go." The mysterious male said rubbing his wrists.
He then took off the cloth that was covering his face, revealing a bald-muscular male with scars on his head. "There. Now let's get down to business." He said while walking closer to the edge.
"Gentlemen, let me explain." "Hey! I'm a girl! Damn it!" Lippo started then Michael called out, who was eventually ignored, "You've probably already noticed that some of the prisoners of the Trick Tower are standing before you."
"They're prisoners?" Kurapika asked pulling Michael closer to him. "Not just prisoners. The hunter exam committee has also officially hired them on as examiners. In this phase you'll you'll be facing all six of them. The fights will be one-on-one, with each person fighting only once."
Michael and Leorio put their things down as he continues to explain, "Use any style you like, there will be no draws. To be declared the victor, your opponent must admit defeat." Lippo says through the speaker.
"You can decide which of you will be the first contender, and this is majority rule, which means you have to score four wins in order to pass. The rules are simple." The same prisoner said, lifting up four fingers.
"I'm gettin' real tired of this." Leorio says as he places his hands on his hips. "Meh. Seems pretty straightforward to me." Killua says with Michael nodding in agreement.
"Well, the fights themselves will be anything but. For every hour the prisoners keep you occupied here, their sentences will be reduced by one year. In other words, their goal in this phase is to literally buy time." Lippo explains it more.
"I understand. We're on the clock, and if we don't reach the goal of getting out of here in 72 hours, we fail. So as you're fighting, remember, time is of the essence." Kurapika says as he looked down to his wrist watch then at his group.
"Okay. I'll fight whoever's first. Now who's it gonna be?" The prisoner, Bendot, asked. "Now what? He said to fight however we want, so I'm guessing that pretty much means anything goes." Killua asked, looking at his group.
"Everybody be careful. No telling what they'll try to pull."Leorio said looking at the prisoners cautiously."True. So that means some of them could be fights to the death, right? Damn." Michael mumbled to herself.
"Without knowing what's up their sleeves, there's far to much a stake. Given that I'll-" Kurapika was then interrupted by Tompa saying he'll go first. "I'll be the guinea pig, see if I can figure out what they're up to. Consider it an apology for earlier."
"Hold on. Are you serious?" Leorio questioned the older male in front of him. "Sure. You guys don't trust me yet, and I know I've given you plenty of reasons not to. If the score ends up being three-to-three who do you want going in there to break the tie? 'Cause it ain't me." Tompa says.
"That actually makes sense." Leorio attempts. "Good. So it's settled then." Tonpa says as a very narrow walk way slides out. He then walks onto the platform for his fight. "Still sounds kinda suss. Not gonna lie." Michael says as she observes the male.
Michael's POV
"Aw hell no! I ain't walking on that!" I cried realizing the walk way. "You just noticed that?" Leorio asks as I cling onto his leg.
"Now then. Let's determine the method of combat." Prisoner Bendot discussed. I zoned out and moved my items to a safe enough distance from the edge. "Nee. I swear to dad, that if Shiemi saw your behavior, she would use my head as a flower pot."
"I..give up!" Tonpa yelled, gaining my attention. "The fuck did he just say?!" I asked as I ran towards the group. "Did he just say that he gives up?" Gon questioned, sho0kith.
"Uh, maybe he meant, "Give me a sec"." Leorio said, also sho0kith. "What did you just say?" Even Mr. Bendot man was questioning. "I said I admit defeat. That means you win, right? So I give up. I lose." Mr. Tonpa says as he was down on his hands and knees.
Mr. Bendot prisoner man laughed and signaled a won for them and a lose for us. "If we win three more rounds, that's it. You all fail the exam. You can't advance and you can't turn back. You'll be stuck here for the next 72 hours. Until the exam is over, and if that happens, our sentences will be reduced by a grand total of 72 years." He laughs walking away.
Tonpa comes back and Leorio immediately started yelling at him. "Bro, chill!" I said as I pulled Leorio's arms back, letting Tonpa go in the process. In doing so, Tonpa revealed that he was a rookie crusher and did it all of those years, explaining the amount of tries.
They kept arguing as I held Leorio back, by pushing him backwards, until Kurapika told Leorio to stop. "We're wasting time fighting each other. That's exactly what they want."
"Just think about it. If their goal was to kill as much time as possible, then the move that Mr. Tonpa made was actually the right one." "Yeah, she's right. That bald guy looks ex-military, probably a mercenary. If you'd fought with him, he'd have started with by crushing your larynx."
"Making it pretty hard to give up if he can't speak." "Then he'd have tortured him without killing him for as long as he liked." Both Killua and I explained, giving each other high-fives.
"Well so much for that plan, I guess. I was gonna take my sweet time torturing the guy until the clock ran out." Mr. Bendot said then another prisoner walked next to him saying everything was going to be fine.
He revealed himself to be, what looks like a teen. The fuck you in for? "If we defeat three of the next five, then victory will be ours." "All right, we need to will four rounds. It's the only way we'll be able to advance." Kurapika told us.
"So who wants to go next?" "Me! I'll give it a try!" Killua asked to which Gon answered. "Well the next opponent doesn't look too strong." Killua says examining the prisoner walking to the platform.
"I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you. He's still a hardened criminal. No telling what he's capable of." Leorio warned, while Gon passed me his backpack. "Yeah, I'll be careful."
"You better be or else I'm throwing your bag over the edge." I threatened, to which he just smiled then also walked onto the platform.
Tompa's actions have placed us at a serious disadvantage. Our next opponent is Sedokan. As for what exactly he plans to do in this match, it's anybody's guess.