Kalluto slunk behind his Phantom Troupe comrades as they threw open the front doors and barged into the arcade. He wasn't sure why they were here, but he was almost certain that the combination of Phinks, Feitan, Shalnark, and anything remotely competitive was a recipe for disaster. Violent, explosive, disaster.

Still, he was a part of the Troupe now. He had to try and behave as they did.

Shalnark led the way, his boyish face split by an even bigger grin than usual. "Here we are guys! Give me a minute." He walked smoothly over to the coin machine. A few seconds of fiddling later, and coins began pouring out of the machine like blood from a severed artery. Kalluto shuddered. Why was that the image his mind had immediately gone to? Maybe he'd been spending too much time with Feitan.

As impressive as the sight was, hundreds of coins pouring onto the floor was, of course, quite noisy and drew the attention of one of the employees.

The lanky, long-haired young man rounded the corner, looking annoyed. He stopped in shock, however, when he saw the small mountain of coins piling out of the machine at Shalnark's feet, who turned to smile at him. "Oops!" Shalnark said, rubbing the back of his head. "I may have gone a bit over board."

"What are you guys doing?" The employee cried.

Phinks grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles. "You'll walk away if you know what's good for you."

The employee looked bewildered, but before he could make his decision, Shalnark swooped in and poked his antenna into the young man's neck.

A fat, balding manager peeled around the corner, panting. "What the hell is going on over here!"

The young employee turned toward him, smiling. "Oh, no problems sir! Everything checks out here. There was a big problem in the back though, here, let me show you." He was perfectly positioned to block the managers view of the coin machine.

Kalluto coldly watched Shalnark type furiously away on his phone behind his back, as beads of sweat trailed down the unfortunate man's face.

The manager glared suspiciously, but eventually acquiesced, grabbing the employee and dragging him away with a huff.

Good decision, Kalluto thought, you'll likely never know how close you were to death just now.

As if to emphasize this point, Kalluto heard Feitan let out a disappointed huff. "I wanted to kill someone."

Shalnark rubbed the back of his head. "Oh well! I'll go get my antenna when we're done. Now." He gestured to the pile of coins, standing almost as tall as Kalluto. "Let's play!"

Several hours at the arcade had gone, according to Kalluto, quite predictably. Feitan and Phinks had taken turns challenging Shalnark to various arcade games. And Shalnark had beaten them handily in all of them. Eventually growing frustrated, the pair had left Shalnark to play a solo game, preferring to partake in what Kalluto was sure was the fastest paced game of air hockey ever played. A quick use of Gyo confirmed to Kalluto that Feitan and Phinks were using Shu to reinforce both the paddles and the puck, protecting them from their destructive rage. If they hadn't, the game would probably have been reduced to dust within seconds.

Kalluto simply watched. He had never had much interest in these games, unlike a few of his brothers. Or perhaps because of them. Milluki was an insufferable winner, and even Killua could be quite annoying when playing video games.

Illumi, of course, disapproved of their existence.

Kalluto's attention drifted to Shalnark, face creased in concentration as he sped through another level, chasing a particularly tough high score. Kalluto momentarily let his eyes unfocus, gazing at the bright colors on the screen. It looked pretty like that, nothing like the garish, cheesy reality of the game.

He was only unfocused for a second, he was sure of it. But that was all it took. A hard, unnaturally sharp finger poked him in the back of the head. Kalluto came back to earth and whipped around to find Feitan, a malicious grin peeking out from his bandanna.

"Daydream?"

Kalluto just glared and rubbed the back of his head. "Truth be told, I'm a little bored. I think my time would have been better served staying behind and training."

"Of course you're bored." Phinks was there now, leaning against a machine on Kalluto's other side and puffing on a cigarette. "You've just been moping around all day."

"I haven't been moping." Kalluto huffed.

"Yes." Feitan said. He put his hands in his pockets and slouched over in a very un-dignified, un-Zoldyck manner. "This is you all day." Kalluto was almost certain that was a lie. He may have leaned over a little bit during the duller moments of the day, but that was it!

Kalluto sniffed and turned up his nose. "Better than getting all worked about losing to Shalnark for the tenth time today."

"Didn't see you try."

"You're right, Fei," Phinks stooped over Kalluto, leering from above, "Little Kal can't talk when he was too scared to even face Shal."

Kalluto forced himself to stand straight, and not shrink in between Feitan and Phinks' stares. They were his comrades, he would not be intimidated by them!

"I wasn't scared. I just didn't want to."

"Oh." Phinks grinned. "Well if you're not scared why don't you take him on? What do you say Shal." Phinks called to Shalnark, who was leaning back in his seat, having just finished the game.

"Well, as long as Kalluto wants to play. I don't think we should force him." Shalnark gave one of his signature perfect grins. Too perfect, Kalluto thought, like he had practiced for ages to get the movement just right, but a crucial part was still missing.

Kalluto's family weren't exactly big on showing emotion, but even so, there was something about Shalnark's smile that unnerved him.

Still, he recognized what this was. His months with the Troupe had allowed him to learn their ways. This was a challenge, and, win or lose, he couldn't back down now.

"Fine." He strode forward, trying to project confidence. Nonchalance. "Let's get this over with. Once I win we can finally leave this place."

Feitan and Phinks whistled and whooped, but Shalnark only smiled again. "Deal! I'll even let you choose the game."

Kalluto made a show of scanning the rows of machines, searching for the one game his eyes had picked out hours ago. "How about that one?"

Kalluto led the group over to a pair of machines featuring a mischievous looking gorilla and a little man dressed in red. "We'll each take a machine and play through. Whoever has the higher score at the end wins."

"That sounds fine to me." Shalnark said, sitting down at a machine. "Shall we start?"

Kalluto nodded and sat primly in front of his own screen.

"Hey, you think he's got any shot Fei?"

"Against Shalnark? He has a better chance at beating you at arm wrestling."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I was insulting him not you, idiot."

Kalluto ignored them, and looked across at Shalnark. He nodded. "One, two, three, go." They inserted their coins together, and began.

And, as their two character icons sped through the levels, Kalluto found he was holding his own. He could sense the shock from the other Troupe members, but he pushed down his thoughts and focused on the game. His fingers twitched and jumped, and the little red man danced this way and that, avoiding the pixelated barrels, and making his way to the top of the screen.

As he finished another level. Kalluto spared a moment to glance sideways. He was somewhat satisfied to see Shalnark's ever-present smile wiped from his face. His brow was furrowed, and his pale green eyes were staring intently at the screen.

Phinks and Feitan had noticed as well, and had predictably turned their attentions toward this new show of weakness. "Oh ho. Shalnark, what's wrong, not looking too good." Phinks said.

"The little brat giving you trouble?"

"Man, that's got to be pretty frustrating for him, huh Fei. I've never seen anyone in the Troupe beat Shalnark at video games."

"Very frustrating, I think."

"It's nice to see that smug look finally wiped off his face though, isn't it?"

"Very nice."

"It's no problem." Shalnark's easy smile returned. "You're pretty good at this game, huh Kal."

The truth was that Kalluto had spent hours playing the game. Milluki had bought it, played it once, and immediately gotten disinterested because the princess they were meant to be rescuing "Wasn't busty enough." Kalluto and Killua had played it instead, and it was one of the few games that Kalluto had truly enjoyed during his childhood.

But he didn't really want to tell Shalnark all of that just yet. "Oh not really Shalnark, it just seems pretty simple, that's all. I must be getting lucky." Kalluto said, with his most innocent face.

Shalnark's smile got a little more strained as Phinks and Feitan cackled behind him. "Well, let's see if your luck holds up. On to the next level."

Kalluto's luck did, in fact, hold up. And as they approached the last few levels, he gained a small lead.

Shalnark let out a frustrated sigh.

"Shoot, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice Kalluto." Quicker than Kalluto's eyes could follow Shalnark's right hand had left the controls, delved into his pocket, and come out with one of his antenna. Is he attacking me? Kalluto thought. Would he go that far to win a game? Kalluto barely had time to register his fear before Shalnark plunged the antenna, not into Kalluto, but into his own leg.

"Autopilot engaged." Shalnark began glowing with golden aura. His blonde hair flowed upwards in the sudden wind created by the sheer outpouring of aura. Kalluto felt himself being pushed away, but held on tightly to the controls. He just had to make it to the end of this level!

But Shalnark's hands were a blur, the character on the screen was moving faster than Kalluto thought was possible, and before Kalluto knew it, Shalnark had passed him and finished the level.

"Mission Complete." The mechanical voice sounded from Shalnark's phone as the glow receded. Shalnark's hair flopped down around his head again, and he let out a big sigh, before wincing. "Ah, that hurts. Did I win?"

Kalluto whipped his head around to look at their screens. Shalnark had edged him out by just a few points.

Shalnark sank into his seat in relief, then winced again. "Ow! Damn Kalluto, how'd you get so good at that game."

Kalluto sank into his own seat, exhausted and disappointed. "My brother and I used to play it. It was one of my favorite things to do with him."

"Well isn't that just touching." Right. Phinks and Feitan were still here. "What the hell Shal, why'd you go and do that?"

"Well, I had to win Phinks." Shalnark waved his hand. "I'm tired now. Let's go home."

Phinks groaned. "Oh, now you're going to be whining the whole way about how much pain you're in. Well it's your own fault, don't coming crying to me for help!" He sighed and turned to leave with Feitan. "Honestly, activating that power over a stupid game. Good job for pushing him that far Kal, even if he is a complete idiot."

Kalluto stood and began following them, but then stopped and turned around. Shalnark was groaning as he rose from his seat. "Thank you for the game." He said with a bow.

Shalnark gave him a tired smile. Perhaps it was his imagination, but Kalluto thought it seemed a little more genuine than usual. "No problem, it was a lot of fun! I haven't had a challenge like that in a long time. I should be thankful to you."

Kalluto nodded, took a breath. He had to ask. Shalnark was the Troupe's best Manipulator after all. "Do you think you could help me develop a technique like yours? It's quite powerful."

Shalnark's smile widened. It almost touched his eyes.

Almost.

"Sure Kal. Only, I'm gonna need a couple days off after that game. I won't want to do anything but lay about and rest."

Kalluto nodded, and offered his shoulder for Shalnark to lean on as they walked out of the arcade. Playing that game had reminded him of his true purpose here. He had joined the Troupe to get stronger so that he could find his brother, not so he could play silly games and get involved with their shenanigans.

Although, if those shenanigans were necessary to get his comrades to help him, well, so be it.