Throw him a monster, and Killua would kill it in the matter of seconds. Put him in a room full of traps, and Killua would gracefully avoid each of them. After all, that was what he expected when he first walked into the room. Not this. Who would think that solving a question about science correctly would determine whether or not he would be able to walk out of this room alive? He certainly didn't.
The whole room was flooded with cold, icy water that has now reached past his ankle, water pouring in from huge pipes lined on the yellowish wall. Once they drown to death, it's time up – that's the time limit given for them to solve three freaking questions. Killua could dodge any blow aimed his way, and he could effortlessly kill anyone who'd want to take his life but he was still human after all – drowning could certainly kill him, effectively, he might add.
Killua watched his other group members, taking in the sight of Gon's head looking as if it was going to explode, Tonpa giving up all together and waiting to see the others would come up with an answer, Leorio's expression suggesting that he knew the answer, but couldn't remember it under these circumstances and Kurapika remaining silent, but seemed to worry about about the cold water that was fast arising. Here's the question that has caused panic through out the entire group : State one organ which has cells with more robosome than others.
What the heck ribosome even was? Killua wasn't stupid but he wasn't fond of learning such things that would become of no use in his life. Well, he was wrong about that – it would definitely become useful had Killua studied these stuff. "I learned this in Biology, damn it! Why can't I remember?!" Leorio said as he tugged on his hair in frustration, the look in his face completely gave away his panic. Gon put a hand on his chin, thinking so hard that his head was smoking.
"A tongue,"came an answer from Kurapika. A soft chime from the speakers signaled that the answer was correct, and the group was allowed the luxury of heaving a relieved breath. It was then that the question that made their heart stop beating filtered through the speakers : Based on your answer on Question 1, find the organ and place it on the table in the middle of the room. That's when hell broke lose.
An eerie silence passed between them, and just as the words sank in their heads, the five of them started to panic. Killua wasn't afraid, he could always kill someone and take their tongue without so much like breaking a sweat. So he placed his hands inside his pocket, waiting to see what would happen – who would kill whom first.
The room they were currently locked in was spacious, considering their little number, and the walls were yellow and lined with huge pipes that poured the cold water in. The floor was gray cobblestone under the cold water, and huge boxes and junks were placed at one corner of the room, taking much of their space.
The water has now reached his mid-calf, which was past Tonpa's knees, soaking his designer jeans wet and Killua found it hard to walk through the clear liquid flooding in. There was a table placed at the center of the room, a shiny knife carefully placed on it.
Four pair of eyes simultaneously darted towards the knife sitting on the table at the center of the room and almost instantly, two men jumped in to take a hold of it. Leorio and Tonpa faught for the dangerous weapon, Leorio winning the battle due to the advantage of height he had over Tonpa.
Gon didn't seem as if he wanted the knife, he looked like he was thinking of something else entirely as Leorio held the knife in his hand, eyes carefully watching them one by one. Kurapika seemed to lack the willingness to fight for the only weapon in the room, but was cautiously preparing to defend himself from it. Tonpa's expression twisted into something angry and ugly, he glared at the shiny blade of the knife in Leorio's hand as he stood in guard.
"Sorry guys, I really don't want to do this but you know I have to," Leorio said, and for a second, Killua thought he saw worry flash in his dark brown eyes. The five of them had unconciously formed a circle, four pairs of eyes watching the knife in Leorio's hand in caution, while the tall man in suit regarded each of them carefully as he tried to decide who should the unlucky victim of his weapon be.
The water level was steadily rising, reaching past Killua's knees now. Tonpa was struggling to keep his head above the water, standing on his toes as he held his head up, sweating bullets despite the coldness of the water. Gon seemed almost unfazed by the dark, cold liquid and was frowning, Killua almost thought he was trying to smell something.
What was he doing, perking his nose up as if trying to detect a strange smell, anyway? Killua didn't know the answer to that, but he wasn't willing to spare some time to ask. Kurapika seemed ready to fight, if Leorio decided to hold a grudge towards him because of the conversation they had earlier, the water level now reaching a little past his waist.
Killua tried to think of every scenarios possible. Killua decided that it would be the best if Leorio kill Tonpa, the man was going to die earlier than the rest of them, anyway, because the water was fast arising, having reached past Tonpa's chin. If Leorio ended up choosing Killua instead, he'd kill the tall man and get his tongue.
But if Leorio decided to choose either one of the other three, Killua would be saved from the trouble of dirtying his hands and exposing his identity as a Zoaldyeck. Killua shifted his gaze to Gon, then to Kurapika – Killua couldn't place the emotion that burned in his chest but he just hoped Leorio wouldn't pick either of them. Let it be Tonpa instead.
"I guess it'll have to be you, Tonpa," Leorio said, and Killua didn't miss the sigh of relief Kurapika heaved at the corner of his eyes. The soon-to-be-dead man immediately backed off, trying his hardest to wade through the rough water before giving up and trying to swim instead. Leorio's movement was slowed down due to the water that surrounded them, he struggled to even get past Killua through the roughness of the liquid pouring in.
"Help me get a hold of him!"Leorio said as Tonpa swam under the floating table, but not before holding his breath. If Killua was watching this from afar instead of experiencing it first hand, he would've laughed at the cartoonic sight. This scene almost reminded him of an old silent cartoon, in which a grey cat struggles to catch a tiny mouse.
Before any of them could react towards that order, Gon spoke up, effectively stealing away all of their attentions, "I smell blood". Three pair of eyes soon stared incredulously at the young teenager, and was soon joined by Tonpa's eyes after having gained the courage to rise his face from the water. What the heck does that have to do with anything? Killua's nose was highly sensitive towards the coppery scent of blood, but he failed to catch the smell of it.
Was Gon being serious or was he just using a topic diversion to save Tonpa from being killed? "What do you-" Leorio intended to ask, his guard down due to Gon's sudden statement, but was sent into an abrupt halt when he felt his hand being forcefully gripped. During the amidst of confusion, Tonpa has somehow stealthily made his way towards Leorio, his hands reaching out to snatch the knife away from the other man.
They fought for the weapon again, but Tonpa won when he gave a nasty blow, right between Leorio's legs. Killua chose to remain still as Leorio groaned in pain, a string of curses making its way out of his mouth. "Sorry guys, I really don't want to do this but you know I have to," the short man obviously mocked, an insane look in his eyes. This was successfully turning crazy – everyone was fighting for their lives and was suddenly willing to end others.
It was almost funny, Killua thought, that the same kind of people who would say that murder is wrong, wouldn't hesitate to kill when it comes to saving their own life. It was one of human being's many hypocracy – one should never resort to taking other's life under any circumstances, they would say, but as the thought of death waiting for them take over their mind, anyone would change the rules, making it okay to kill.
Killua distractedly wondered, if things were different and they weren't battling to save themselves, would Leorio and Tonpa hate him for being an assassin? "Stop! The question asked us to find a tongue – it doesn't necessarily mean that we need to hurt each other!" Gon said, occupying the space in the middle of both Tonpa and Leorio, holding out a hand towards each of them. The rest of the group watched him questioningly – what was he trying to get at? What there is to gain from this?
"The scent of blood is dulled by the water pouring in, but I noticed it. Don't you think it's weird that this place is filled with boxes and junks even though our capturers have definitely made thorough preparations for this game? I think, if we try, we can find a tongue among these rubbishes!".
The silence that followed was nullified by the sound of water pouring into the room from the huge pipes, and Killua tried to rationalize his thoughts. He couldn't detect the smell of blood, no matter how hard he tried, but it might be that it was overpowered by the flooding liquid surrounding them, like the dark-haired teenager said.
When Gon started to search for an almost impossible thing to find among the scattered junks and boxes that was floating about, Killua went to join him without thinking. What was it that he had to lose if he tried searcing for a tongue among these rubbishes? After all, now that Killua actually give it a thought, what Gon said did make sense.
The people behind this twisted game was painstakingly thorough in their preparations – they even made sure that it was impossible even for someone with exceptional abilities such as Killua to just kick the door open. They have all the resources in the world and yet, they left some rubbishes behind? If the room was completely empty with only the table at the center of the room, it would've created a better visual as a scary, brutal game, like the ones Killua had played a few months ago. Their pursuers wouldn't be so sloppy.
Kurapika had moved to join the two of them in search for a tongue, but Leorio seemed to hesitate before joining. Tonpa was still holding the knife as if he was ready to kill someone, walking in closer to the rest of them and trying to slash any throat he came across to. When he aimed for Kurapika, he received a powerful kick from the blond and was sent back to the middle of the room.
Killua looked everywhere, inside those boxes, among the floating rubbishes, but found nothing. What if there were none, and they were just being stupid by searching for something that simply wasn't there? Killua shook his head, dismissing the thought as soon as it came to him – what did he have to fear for?
If it turns out that what Gon said wasn't true, someone would definitely kill someone else – it was only a matter of whether he had to do the dirty job or not for Killua.
Killua spared Gon a glance, watching the simple-minded determination burning in his round, amber eyes. Killua almost made the decision to stop searching when he heard Kurapika gasp, he turned his head towards the blond just in time to see him drop the box he was holding.
The box fell into the water with a splash, sinking all the way to the floor but it's content floating back watched as Kurapika backed off, running into Killua by accident, and the silver-haired teenager looked past the blond's shoulder to see what was wrong. Floating near the surface of the rough, cold water was a small child, no older than five, her wide, horrified pair of misty grey eyes stared right into Killua's, and he didn't need to inspect her any longer to decide that she was dead.
Her skin was grey-ish pale, marred by bruises of all colour, black, blue and purple were among them. Her long brown hair flared around her head, swaying inside the cold water. "How could they do this to a child?" Killua heard Gon's voice from his side, and it was not long before the dark-haired male moved to his side.
"You were right, Gon!" Came Tonpa's useless observation, the older man struggled to move towards the poor little girl. Killua didn't miss the discomfort in Leorio's expression as he moved closer to hold the corpse as Tonpa cut her tongue out, nothing near disgust, but more of hesitation. Killua watched as they cut her tongue off, before wading through the strong current towards the floating wooden table to complete their quest.
Four of them had to hold the table down while Tonpa placed the tongue on top of it. Killua noticed that most of them were holding their breaths as the loud chime that sounded from the speakers signaled that they have cleared yet another question.
The water level was now dangerously close to his shoulders, and the silver-haired teenager could tell that Tonpa was having trouble staying afloat. The final question that was going to decide whether or not they get to live any longer sounded through the speakers : There are three keys inside the room, and only one of them could open the door. Find the right one before the time's up. There was the sound of slapping, and Killua turned his head to see Leorio, palm on his forehead, seeming to badly regret something.
"I found two keys just now but I threw them away!" He admitted, and Killua felt annoyance throb through his veins as the little time they had to spare ticked by, as if unaware of their current predicament.
Killua almost felt satisfied when he witnessed Kurapika forcefully punching Leorio on the side, the tall man in blue suit bending down in pain as he groaned. "Idiot," Kurapika muttered, eyebrows twitching in annoyance. Before any fights could take place, all of them began searching for the keys, holding their breaths and diving into the water that has now reached past Killua's chin.
The time's almost up, Killua could see the despair in his teammates' faces as they searched for the keys, occasionally swimming back up for oxygen. "Found one!" he heard someone announce, but it was hard to tell from under the water. Killua didn't bother to give any respond towards that statement, and continued searching instead. There was a 66% chance that the key they'd found wasn't the correct one.
During the span of his sixteen years old life, Killua had never gone through something so life-threatening. Sure, the punishments and training he received ever since he was but a little kid were brutal, and one could easily die from them but he never felt as if it could end his life.
Now, as he dived in and rummaged through the black bin bags of rubbishes, Killua decided that this was the dangerous situation he'd ever been in through out his entire life – and Killua was pretty sure that there was more to come his way in the future, as long as he was still there.
The silver-haired teenager manipulated his fingers into a set of claws, and swiftly tore one of the black bin bags open, watching as its contents burst out into the water, as if in slow motion. When he caught something shiny at the corner of his eyes, Killua wasted no time in confirming it as one of the keys and quickly grabbing it.
Killua swam back to the surface, glad to have oxygen kicking into his lungs once again. The water was now only a few inches away from the ceiling, and Killua decided that if the key Killua was holding wasn't the right one, they would all die before the final key was found. He swam towards the wooden door, and dived in for the metal lock that kept the door from being easily opened.
Killua wasn't religious, but as he reached out to push the key into it's hole, the silver-haired teenager prayed for it to be the right key. Relief flooded through him as he turned the key with a loud click, and he almost reacted belatedly towards the door that was immediately pushed open by the strong water.
The occupants of the room was instantly shoved out of the room along with the water pouring out, and Killua ended up coughing on the floor, oxygen kicking into his lungs all at once. He lifted himself from the floor, standing on his feet and raking a hand through his wet silver hair.
Gon was helping Leorio up, his dark, once-spiky hair sticking to his forehead and Killua almost didn't recognise him. His thin green shirt was sticking wetly to his chest, revealing a perfectly toned, muscular torso. He smiled when he noticed that Killua was watching him, and Killua returned a sincere smile for the first time in his life.
It was crazy, but maybe because his usual life lack challenge – a fact which any sane person in this world would deny – Killua felt as if he'd just been reborn, as if his life has just started when he almost died just now. Killua had to admit, he felt much more alive than before. Tonpa was still holding the knife he'd gained earlier, making it obvious that he was keeping it for future use. Leorio had discarded his dark blue coat and the white dress shirt underneath, now topless and squeezing his clothes dry. Kurapika's hair was darkened due to it's dampness, but he seemed more cold than anything, rubbing his palms together but was unsuccessful in trying to heat himself up.
Killua noticed with slight surprise that they wasn't the first one to get out of the room – four other groups were warily watching them as they tried to make themselves look more presentable. The air around them was gloomy, and their expressions were grim as they sat meters away from each other, seemingly shaken more than anything.
Killua immediately noticed the dead body that laid on the floor with it's stomach cut open, and didn't miss the few other teenagers whose skin were as pale as snow, and was shaking terribly – Killua was willing to bet that the other groups weren't as lucky as them to have found an alternative way to answer the second question. It was too bad they didn't have a Gon to think of the weirdest way to solve a problem for them. Killua almost felt sorry for them, but immediately pushed those feelings away – they were going to become his enemies soon and he might have to kill them, depending on the situation.
"Why do they seem sad?" Gon questioned as the five of them claimed one corner of the chamber as theirs, his voiced hushed as they sat in a small circle. Killua shifted his gaze back towards the others, trying his best to ignore the loud sobs and whimpers.
"We would've probably ended up just like them had you not figured the second question out, Gon," Kurapika answered, refusing to look at the rest of the males that was inside the chamber. Gon took the hint, nodding and looking sorry for those who had to go through what they had successfully avoided. When the voice they were waiting for blasted through the speakers, silence enveloped the whole room – even the ones who were loudly crying and whimpering didn't dare make a single sound.
"Congratulations! Seems like 24 of you made it to the second level". Killua took it as his cue to turn towards the only door that was still shut – looks like there were ones who'd rather die than kill. "The staircase that leads to the second floor will be opened in five hours, so in the meantime, all of you are allowed to enjoy yourselves!
There are food being served at the other end of this floor, so you are free to do what you want," the cheerful voice of their capturer announced, but everyone remained still, unmoving. When the speaker seemed as if it wasn't going to be blasting with noise any time soon, all of them remained in their spot, as if expecting that a pack of lions would come out from one of those doors and eat them.
A few long minutes that seemed like hours passed between them, before Gon got up on his feet and stretched his stiff limbs. "I'm hungry. Let's go to the place they mentioned!" he said cheerfully, most probably unaware of the eyes watching him warily. Killua immediately followed the suit, standing up and pocketing his hands before calmly walking to Gon's side
. "Gon, are you serious?! They could probably kill us if we go there!" Leorio said, and Killua noted that he looked much younger with those ridiculous sunglasses off. Gon tilted his head, as if trying to figure out what the big deal was, before saying, "Well, I just want to check it out. I'll come back and tell you if there's nothing dangerous, okay?".
Killua hummed in agreement – he could last four days without any sleep but a growing teenager like him couldn't live without food. Plus, Killua was immune towards any kind of poison, so there's no harm in trying their food out.
Killua just wished they had chocolate – the life-threatening game he'd just participated makes him crave for chocolate. While Leorio seemed to hesitate, Kurapika stood up and decided to join them.
"They wouldn't kill us now if they want us to participate in the next level,"he concluded, and Killua decided that it sounds possible. Those people wouldn't think it was fun to kill them with a method as simple as poisoning, would they?
And with that, they were joined by the others, while the remaining stayed in their spot. As he walked back down the dark corridor they'd been in earlier, Killua wondered, what kind of twisted game would they be facing on the second level? Would they be as lucky as they were just now, or would most of them die instantly?
Author's Note : I have decided to change the rating because I'm just being careful. Thank you to all the reviewers and followers. I'm still unsure about posting another chapter because not many is reading this story - I'm actually planning to abandon it. If you like this story, however, I hope you'd send me a review so that I know. I will only post the next chapter if I get enough review. Also, thanks to boketto-muffin for alerting me about my paragraphs being too long, I really appreciate it.