1st Exam: Part 1

"This is the building for the first exam," a man in a robe and turban gestured towards a small resteraunt building.

Apathy quirked an eyebrow. She figured it would be the grand building next to the resteraunt but the man guided her inside, which wasn't any different from the outside. In truth, the man was the kiriko, transformed, to fit into human society, but he still had that sly look on his face. The diner was small, and only two people were employed. An old, balding man worked the kitchen while a young woman (most likely his daughter or close relation) served as the waitress.

"Welcome," the old man exclaimed, cheerily. "What'll it be?"

"The steak combo," the kiriko answered, which made the old man go stiff.

"Grilled or boiled?"

"Grilled, over low flame," the kiriko answered.

"This way," the young woman led Apathy into a windowless room with a table loaded with food. The young woman left and the kiriko stood at the door way.

"Good luck," he smiled, "you'll need it." Then he left.

The long-haired girl immeadiatly seemed to change into a different person as she squealed, and then dove into the food. The room slowly descended, like an elevator. Just as the girl finished her meal, the door opened to reveal a completely different room.

A long, wide tunnel was filled with hundreds of people, both men, women, old, and young alike. Everyone stared at her as she slowly walked into the tunnel. The heavy atmosphere loomed over her as she searched around the crowded area. A short man, with no ears, nose, hair, or neck handed her a round badge with the number 406. A scream drew her attention and she pushed through the crowd. A man was on his knees and both of his arms were chopped off. There was another man standing across from him, in an interesting costume, with a spade and club on the front of it, and a heart and diamond on the back. His pants poofed out at the bottom, but were wrapped above the ankles by long white strips. His shoes looked fitting for elves, as they curled up to a point at the toe. His hair was green at gelled up so that it defied gravity.

"Behold," he said in an humurous manner. "Now you see them, now you don't! You should be more careful. At least apologize when you bump into someone."

"Number 44-Hisoka, the magician," the deep voice drew the girl's attention to a stout, husky man with a square nose and brown, slicked back, hair. He was speaking to a young boy in green clothes and spiky charcoal hair, a tall man with sideburns, black hair, and a suitcase, and a blonde haired boy in blue clothes and dangling earrings. "He seemed like a shoo-in last year, but then he attacked an examiner he...um, didn't approve of and was disqualified."

He sounds like Malevolence, but with a sense of humor.

She can hear you, you know! Don't get her angry, idiot!

No, I don't think he's like Malevolence. He's more like...

like?

like brother.

"Brother," the word escaped her lips.

Suddenly, Hisoka had a girl strapped onto his back like a baby koala. "You seem like an interesting guy," she giggled into his ear and his thin slits of eyes opened in surprise. He had not noticed her.

"Get off of me," he ordered, irritation itching at the back of his throat.

The girl ignored him. "That's some funny lookin' hair you got there, Hisoka-nii! It's green! I know! From now on, you'll be Asparagus-nii! Brother Asparagus! How fitting! I'm a genius!"

"Get off of me now, or I'll kill you," Hisoka growled.

"Ah! You're just like brother!" the girl sighed, still latched onto him.

Hisoka made the motion to rip the girl's head off, but she disappeared. "Uhn-uhn-uhn! You've gotta play nice!" she shook her finger. Hisoka looked in front of him to find the girl standing there. Many people were watching, stunned that someone was teasing Hisoka and living. However, Hisoka didn't lose his cool. In fact, he laughed aloud, and then bent over so that he was eye level with the girl. "What's your name?"

"Ecstasy!" she smiled broadly. "But you can call me Stasy!"

He raised himself back to his full height. "I look forward to taking this exam with you, Stasy," he smiled and then walked away.

Stasy turned to see the stout man and others gaping at her in amazement. "Hello there!" she smiled sweetly and walked over to them. "My name's Ecstasy, Stasy, for short. What's yours?"

The others were too busy gaping to answer. The young boy walked up to her, though. "My name's Gon! Gon Freaks! This is Tompa-" he gestured towards the stout man "-Kurapica-" towards the blonde "- and Leorio." towards the tall black-haired guy.

"It's nice to meet you, Gon and company!" Stasy smiled broadly.

Before the others could respond, a purple-haired man with a mustache and no mouth spoke up above the crowd. "As of now, registration is closed. The Hunter Exam will now begin!"

A serious of whispers and gasps came from the examinees.

"Follow me, please," he continued and then began to walk down the tunnel and everyone followed him. "I am Satotz, your examiner for the first exam, as well as your guide to the second exam."

Soon, the pace began to pick up.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Leorio quirked, looking around.

"As expected, the pace seems to have quickened," Kurapica thought aloud.

"So this is an Endurance Test, huh?" Leorio wondered aloud.

"Endurance Test?" Stasy cocked her heard to the side. "That sounds like fun."

As they continued running along, a boy with spiky white hair whizzed past them lazily on a skateboard. This didn't leave Leorio too happy.

"A SKATEBOARD?! That's cheating!" Leorio screamed.

"How so?" the white haired boy asked.

"He said this is an Endurance Test!" he retaliated.

"No, you said that," Gon interrupted. "He only said to follow."

"Whose side are you on?!" Leorio screamed.

"Leorio, screaming only wastes energy," Kurapica sighed, sounding more and more like a tired, old mother every minute.

"I think I'll run for a bit," the white haired boy said as he hopped off his skateboard and ran on the other side of Gon, since Stasy was on his other side.

"I'm Killua," he said.

"I'm Gon," said he.

"I'm Ecstasy," the girl spoke up, feeling sort of left out between the two boys.

"Ecstasy? That's a weird name," Killua thought aloud.

Stasy's eye twitched, but she sustained her smile. "Killua's a nice name, too. It has the word 'kill' in it. That's starting to give me an idea."

Killua shot her an icy glare, and she returned it with her smile still plastered on her face.

Three hours passed and examinees began to drop like flies. The course changed to an ascent of stairs, and the three kids came up in the lead.

"So, Gon, how old are you?" Killua asked.

"Me? About twelve," the wide eyed kid answered, then turned to the girl beside him. "What about you, Stasy?"

"I'm a little bit older than you guys," she answered. "I'm thirteen. Always have been."

"'Always have been'?" Killua inquired.

Stasy just smiled.

"So, Killua, why do you want to be a hunter?" Gon intercepted, picking up the conversation.

"I don't want to be a hunter," Killua retorted. "I'm here for the exam. I heard it was pretty tough, but so far its boring. What about you?"

"My dad's a hunter," Gon began, a dreamy look in his eye. "I want to be just like him."

"What's he like?" Stasy asked.

"I don't know."

There was silence and then Killua burst out laughing. "You're funny, Gon!"

"Really? I was raised by my Aunt Mito as a baby so the only memory of my father is a picture of him. But recently, a man named Kite came, and he knew my father. He seemed more proud of my dad than of himself. He told me a lot of stories about Ging, my dad."

"That sounds nice," Killua seemed to roll his eyes, but didn't. "What about you, Ecstasy? Why are you here?"

"Me? I got lost, and found myself here in this tunnel!" she smiled broadly. The other two stared at her in shock. "I'm just kidding! Actually, there's something I'm looking for."

"What's that?" Gon asked.

Stasy's smile softened, and she didn't seem to be looking in front of her, but far off into a dream. "The greatest treasure in the universe. A place where I can be accepted. I'm searching for a family."

"A family?" Killua wondered. "But before when you were latched onto Hisoka, you said he resembled your brother."

"You're sharp," Stasy smiled. "Yes, I had a brother. He's the only person from my past that I can remember. I loved him dearly, but..." her smile fell slightly, but then she brought it back, even brighter than before. "but now he's gone."

"I'm sorry, Stasy, but how's your brother similar to Hisoka?" Gon asked, baffled. "You seemed to really admire your brother. Why would he be like Hisoka?"

"Oh, its that merciless way they kill people! I just love it! They both don't give a damn about how other people feel! They also have this murderous aura about them, that just sends chills down my spine! It gets me so excited, I just feel like I could take on the whole world after just one cold look from him!"

Gon and Killua looked at each other, then they turned to Stasy and said in harmony, "You're a weirdo."

A bright light protruded down from the end of the tunnel and they were soon out in the open air. They stopped to catch their breath as the examiner stood before them, not even breaking a sweat. Stasy looked up to find a massive marsh spread out before her. A heavy fog covered the distance, so she wasn't sure how big it truly was. A million sounds of animals echoed from deep within its boggy trees.

"The milsy wetlands, also known as 'Swindler's Swamp,'" Satotz explained to the examinees. "This will be the next phase of the first Exam. There are many creatures hiding in there that will trick you in the blink of an eye and eat you before you can catch your breath. If you are deceived, you're dead. So stay close, and stay focused."

Clank! The examinees swung around to find a large, metal wall blocked the tunnel from which they had come. There was no turning back now.

"He's lying!"

Everyone turned towards the direction of the shout and found a bloody man walk towards them from around the corner of the building that held the entrance of the tunnel. "He's not the real examiner! I am!!"

Gasps rang throughout the crowd as people began to look back and forth between the two "examiners."

"An imposter?"

"Then who-"

"What is he?"

"I'll show you," the examiner-to-be declared as he raised his arm to show the limp body of a monkey, but it had ahuman head. "He's one of the wetland cretures! The man-faced ape! They eat human flesh, but since their too weak on their own, they trick large groups of human and lead them deep into the swamp. This time, they're after the entire Hunter applicant pool!"

Before anyone could let out gasps of shock, the face of the man who had previously been speaking before had a couple of cards in it. The man fell dead upon the floor, but the man-faced ape that was supposedly dead began to move and it leapt up, trying to escape. However, the card thrower wouldn't let him off so easily. Hisoka thrust a single card into the air, and it decapitated the monkey. Everyone turned back to find Satotz, holding three cards in between his fingers.

"I see," Hisoka chuckled. "He's the real thing. Examiners are hunters who do this without pay, at the request of the judging commitee. A simple hunter would've been able to dodge my attack."

"The next attack on me, for any reason, will be grounds for immeadiate disqualification," Satotz snapped at Hisoka. "Understood?"

"Sure," Hisoka chuckled, shuffling his cards.

"Now then," Satotz spoke to the other examinees, "to the second phase."

He began his quick pace again and headed deep into the swamp. At this point, only 311 hunter examinees remained.