Hey everyone! Sorry that the next chapter is up so late :( I had some tests at school (-.-). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologize for any mistakes or confusions.


Disclaimer: I don't own HxH, I only own my OC/'s. Also, I definitely don't support any violence whatsoever. I just enjoy writing about HxH.


Journey Into The Unknown 7 Heartbeat? x Six People? x Last Choice!

"After 50 hours, the door will open again and you can move on." Lippo, their examiner for the third exam told them over some loudspeakers in the room, where they had to wait for 50 hours.

"50 hours? I'm sorry." Leorio apologized, as he sat on the sofa.

"Don't worry about it. All we have to do is to get to the bottom floor within the remaining time." Kurapica said, putting his bag down, then asked Killua:

"Killua, what kind of technique did you use?"

"I can't really say it's a technique. I've only taken his heart. But I did a small modification to make the hold easier." Killua answered, and adjusted his fingernails into claws., making everyone look surprised.

"What a reliable guy." Leorio said, stunned.

"Awesome!" Gon grinned and had sparkly eyes.

"Yes… good thing he's on our side…" Kurapica thought.

"And you, Nero?" Kurapica asked her, looking at her. She said nothing for a few seconds, thinking if she should tell them about that technique or not, then decided to answer at least most of it.

"That technique is called 'Blood Step'. I came up with that it after seeing someone using acupuncture. I injure my targets inside. I can crush, of course, the bones, but also, the organs, the blood vessels and even the nerves. In Jigsaw's case, I crushed his lungs, his heart and his carotid artery and also a few of his bones."

"She's hot… but why are hot girls always so scary…?…" Leorio said, gulping.

"… Should I show you how scary I can be ?" Nero suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"N-No, thanks!"

"I think that's amazing!" Gon said, having wide eyes and Kurapica simply nodded, not knowing what else to say, but thought:

"It's a good thing that both are on our side."

~~~Later~~~

Nero and Kurapica took a nap, and had to keep their cool because Tompa started snoring, Gon won against Leorio over and over, playing Rock, Paper Scissors, and Killua played a game.

After a few more hours, Killua and Gon were playing the same game, Tompa still slept and snored, while Leorio wanted to strangle him for it and Nero and Kurapica drank tea, while talking with each other.

And surprisingly, or not, even if both of them were usually more of the 'quiet type', they found it very easy to talk to each other. They shared many interests, liked the same books, authors, and more.

"May I ask were come from?" Kurapica asked her now and she said, as her elbow rested on the table and her head in her hand:

"I'm from Sunleth Waterscape." she answered. He looked at her, then said, after hesitating for a few seconds:

"I'm sorry. It was insensitive to ask." but she stopped him with a wave of her hand, then said:

"Why? You couldn't know that."

"I don't understand their conversation anymore." Killua said bored.

"I couldn't understand them to begin with." Leorio added.

"Seriously…" Kurapica shook his head in disbelief.

"What he means is… I'm a war child. 15 years ago a war took place in Sunleth Waterscape. The city Rain Vale was almost completely destroyed and the war ended 12 years ago. However, my parents were killed, and gramps adpoted me."

"I'm sorry." he apologized again, and Nero sighed.

"Geez, stop apologizing. Anyway, did you hear about Sunleth Waterscape's secrets?"

"Yeah, it has many hidden secrets. And if I remember correctly, that is reason the war even took place in the first place." Kurapica answered, placing a hand on his chin, thinking.

They were so deep in their conversation, that they didn't even notice Killua's and Leorio's stupid grins, which they had while observing the two of them…

~~~After the 50 hours had passed~~~

"Damn it, when are we going to reach the exit!" Leorio asked annoyed. As they still ran around.

"Do you remember how many floors we came down?" Killua asked.

"Too many." Nero remarked.

"Let's hope that we are going down. We could be tricked and go up instead." Tompa said, and Nero refused to listen to him.

"We should hurry. We only have one hour left!" Nero said and speeded up.

A little later, they came to another door, having to decide if they wanted to open it or not. Like the other times they voted, it was 5 votes against one, again.

"Cut it out already…." Leorio said angrily, gritting his teeth, then grabbed Tompa by his collar.

"We're really sick of you pestering us!" Leorio yelled at him.

"Wait a second. I pressed 'O' to enter." Tompa objected.

"Stop lying" You are the only one who would vote against us!" Leorio yelled, but Gon interfered:

"No. I pressed the wrong button by mistake. I'm sorry Leorio." Leorio looked at him, then let go of Tompa, saying:

"I see."

"Wait. You need to apologize to me." Tompa told him.

"I said that because you did the opposite of what you should do since the beginning. So I have absolutely no intention to apologize." Leorio answered.

"You don't have the right to say that to me. Because of you, we lost 50 hours." Tompa said with a spiteful grin.

"Enough!" Kurapica tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to him at all.

"Angry people need a hug… or sharp objects…" Nero remarked sarcastically, while leaning relaxed against a wall.

Meanwhile Leorio and Tompa got ready to fight each other, but the others interfered. Gon jumped between them, saying:

"Stop this! Let's only think of going ahead!"

"Gon's right." Killua agreed, then added, while he and Nero already walked inside the next room where a lot of weapons could be found.

"The exit is not far away."Suddenly Lippo said over the loudspeakers inside the room:

"There are two doors to choose from. 1: All six of you can go, but it is a longer and harder pat, or 2: only three of you can go, but it is a shorter and easier way. Choose 'O' for the longer path and 'X' for the shorter one. The shorter one will open once thee

people are chained to the wall. Oh and also, the longer path will take 45 hours to reach the goal, while the shorter one only takes three minutes."

All of them were quiet for a second, but then Leorio said:

"I'm going to press 'X', without having any intention to stay here. I'll be one of the three that goes on. The examiners even prepared weapons for us."

They looked at him, but then Gon said, looking directly at him:

"I'm going to press 'O'. Since we all made it this far together, I want to finish this with the six of us."

"Hey, we have less than one hour left! We have no other choice but to choose the short way. The only question is who's gonna pass. I have no intention of quitting this game, so if nobody wants to give up… I'll have to fight. "Killua said.

"But, Killua-"

"Wait. This might be a trap. A shorter path just sounds fishy." Tompa suddenly said.

"I know what you're thinking. If we choose 'X', then you'll be one of the two that will be left behind." Leorio said, eyeing him suspiciously and Tompa twitched.

"The who is the other one? It's true that if we fight, I have no chance of winning, but who will be the other one? Gon? Kurapica? Killua? Nero? Gon, Kurapica and Nero are friends and you met them before the exam, so will Killua be the one that will be left

behind? But… can you do that?" Tompa asked Leorio provoking, Leorio snapped and grabbed him by his collar once again, then said:

"You sure don't learn!"

"Wait! I want to pass this with everyone, so we can't leave out just one person!" Gon interfered, tyring to calm them down.

"Are you still saying that? What other choice do we have?" Killua objected.

"Then let's think about a way!" Gon shouted.

"Che! Kurapica, Nero, what about you?" Leorio asked the two annoyed, who kept mostly quiet until now.

"I'm picking 'O'. Like Gon said, there might be another way." Kurapica answered, thinking of a solution.

"I agree. And I've already pushed 'O', so it's no use arguing with me, anyway. And I want to pass with all four of my friends." Nero said shrugging.

"There must be a third way… And I don't really care if I'm staying here… well gramps would be more than mad, but… I want these four to pass."

"Hey, what about me?" Tompa asked irritated. Nero looked at him, then turned her head away, again, letting out a 'Che'.

"Like I said before, I'm ignoring things I'm not interested in."

Then, Tompa suddenly said, chaining himself down on the wall:

"I'm out. I'm going to press 'X'."

"Hey, what are you going to pull! What's the catch?" Leorio asked Tompa annoyed.

"It's just a simple calculation of pro and cons. Because of the remaining time left, we can't choose 'O', but if we're picking 'X', then I have no chance of winning. In other words, this exam is over for me." Tompa answered.

"Of course we'll believe you… What a fool." Nero thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes, as she looked at Tompa's chains

"What should we do, Gon, Nero?" Kurapica asked.

"There is always a third way. We just haven't thought of one yet." Nero said annoyed, still thinking.

Meanwhile Leorio looked at the timer and said:

"Only 45 minutes left. We have to pick 'X'!"

"No! There must be another way!" Gon objected.

Then Leorio and Gon started arguing, but Kurapica shouted, stopping them:

"Cut it out, you two! The time is running out while you are doing that! Also, this is the Majority Path. Once it's decided, we have to follow that rule. If I have to fight, then I will fight. BUT… It's useless to try to make us kill each other and use that to your

advantage. In other words, your plan to profit while others are fighting isn't going to work. At least, I will not let it pass by!" Then he shot Tompa a glare, making him flinch.

"What are you talking about?" Leorio asked and Killua snickered.

"Someone was bound to discover that fake play of yours, old man."

"You should really put your handcuffs on." Nero said way too calmly and shot him a glare.

"You pretended to put on the handcuffs, wanted to make us fight and then attack the ones that get injured from the fight." Kurapica explained. Tompa snapped and grabbed and axe, being busted, then attacked Leorio, who drew his Tanto.

Tompa smashed a bit of the ground, missing Leorio, who jumped out of the way.

"Stop this! We don't have the time for this!" Kurapica yelled. Meanwhile Gon looked at the smashed floor, and had an idea.

"TIME OUT!" Gon shouted, as he jumped between Leorio and Tompa.

"Out of the way!" Tompa yelled at him, but Gon said:

"Everyone wants to pass, so let's all pass together."

"Shut up! I've hand enough of your childish reasoning!" Tompa said, being pissed off.

"I've figured out how the six of us can pass." Gon said, ignoring his shouting. Tompa laughed and wanted to strike with his axe, but Nero already hissed, with a dark expression:

"If you try to hit someone unarmed, I'll have to hurt you. You advise you should listen to him. He gritted his teeth, but flinched, then Gon told him, with straightforward, honest eyes:

"If you want to pass, believe me."

Tompa calmed down and all of them pressed the 'O' button, picking the long way.

"We have left then 40 minutes left." Kurapica pointed out, looking at the timer.

"What are we gonna do?" Leorio asked, while Gon picked up another axe.

"Use this!"

"I see!" Kurapica said, getting what he meant. Nero helped Gon, who was meanwhile tried to break the wall to the shorter way with the axe.

"If there is no way, we'll make one." Kurapica said, smiling confidently.

After a while they broke through the wall, but the time was about to run out, having less than 3 minutes left.

"The guy said we need 3 minutes for the short path." Killua pointed out.

"If we hurry, we might make it!" Kurapica said. Nero placed her hand on her chin, thinking, then her eyes met Killua's skateboard and both, Nero and Gon shouted in union, while pointing at the skateboard:

"Killua, that's it!"

Nero took a wooden board, where some weapons were hanging at, then placed it on the skateboard. After that Gon tied the wooden board down on it.

Gon sat in the front, being the one who had to navigate their self-built vehicle, having Kurapica to his right and Killua to his left. Nero tried to balance out the middle, and Leorio and Tompa sat in the back, not really happy with the situation.

"Awesome! How did ya think of it?" Killua asked them.

"The path is going downhill, so I though that this might get us to the goal in time." Gon answered and Nero remarked jokingly:

"And I just didn't want to walk.""Maintaining the balance is hard." Kurapica said, as Gon shouted:

"Left!" They tried to balance the bora, and leaned to the left.

"How do you know the way?" Killua asked Gon.

"The forest on Whale Island at night is much darker." Gon answered, while Leorio and Tompa just wanted to cry.

"I think I'm feeling sick." Nero sighed.

"Don't throw up on us!" Killua said, disgusted.

"I mean seeing this picture of misery behind me." Nero snorted annoyed, jerking her thumb over her shoulder, pointing at Leorio and Tompa.

"Remaining time: 30 seconds!" Kurapica told them. However, a few seconds later, they could see the end of the long floor and reached the goal right before the time ran out.

The slid in a stop and Leorio and Tompa started laughing like mad scientists.

"They've lost it…" Kurapica sighed and Nero agreed, nodding while staring at them with a blank face.

"Idiots…"

Then the gate opened and they could finally step in the open, again.

Gon stretched himself and Kurapica said, while Leorio just sat on the ground, having the same expression as before and Nero waved her hand in front of his face, having a bored expression:

"Really, that was a one in a million chance bet. My hands are covered in blisters."

"Yeah, it was really close!" Gon agreed, grinning.

"But how did you notice?" Kurapica asked.

"I thought of it when I was watching Tompa break the floor." Gon answered, then Killua walked over to Gon, pointing at his skateboard, then said:

"The wheels are all bumpy now because of that. What are you going to do about that?"

"Sorry, Killua." Gon apologized rubbing his head.

"No~ I'm not going to forgive you." Killua told him, but it sounded as if he was amused.

"What the…? Oi, Dr. Dolittle? Geez, you can't just stop thinking and never start again." Nero grimaced annoyed, as she tried to call Leorio back to reality.

"Hello? Anybody home?… Che!"

*SMACK*

"Ouch! Damn you little…!" Leorio yelled irritated, rubbing his head.

"Welcome back in insanity." she said sarcastically and walked over to Kurapica, who watched Gon and Killua.

"His mind focused on that extreme situation and he was faced with a two choice decision, yet he broke through that, and was able to come up with an idea to deal with the situation. Gon is really amazing."

"I agree. Even though I am already a Hunter, I couldn't think of that. I would have smashed the door at some point, tho'." Nero agreed, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, grinning slightly. He laughed briefly, then said:

"But we would have gotten disqualified for that, right?"

"Oh… yeah… I knew their must be a catch." she joked deadpan, then shrugged. He chuckled slightly and smiled at her.

*Thump*

Huh…?" Nero looked questioning at herself, placing a hand on her chin, being in thought.

"What the hell…? My heartbeat… Maybe lack of sleep?" she thought, but then snapped out of her thoughts, as they saw Lippo.

"Gentleman-" Lippo started, but raised an eyebrow, and Lippo corrected himself, seeing her annoyed expression:

"Lady's and Gentleman… Congratulations on escaping the Trick Tower. I am a Backlist Hunter, and the 3rd exam's examiner, Lippo. You have only two more trials: the 4th round and the final."

2 rounds left…

~~~Later~~~

"And about the fourth round…" Lippo said and flicked his fingers, then a woman showed them a box, and Lippo added:

"I'm going to have each of you draw lots from this. There are as many cards in there as candidates. I will have each of you draw from this boy in the same order that you escaped from the Trick Tower."

"Well then, Hisoka, please go ahead!" the woman said and Hisoka drew a card. After all of them had a card, Lippo continued to explain:

"Thos numbers represent your candidates numbers. And these numbers determine… the predator an the prey. In other words, the object of the fourth test is to steal each other's number plates. And the exam candidate whose number you matches he

number you drew, will be your target! If you succeed in taking your targets number sheet.. 3 Points! If you keep your own numeral sheet… 3 points! The other sheets are only 1 point. To pass this test, you need a total of 6 points. You may do whatever it

takes to get 6 points. You will stay on Zebil Island for one week. It'll take two hours until we reach it."

~~~A little later~~~

Nero walked around the ship, looking at the number sheet she had drawn.

"Geez, I should have payed more attention.." she mumbled and sighed stressed out. Then she looked up, and saw Kurapica, who rested his arms on the ships rail and looked at the ocean. Se walked over to him and bumped her head on the ships rail.

"Do I disturb you?" she asked, but he answered.

"No, of course not. I was just thinking about something."

"About the 4th round, huh?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's not like it is a game like cops and robbers… it's simply a-"

"A manhunt." Kurapica finished her sentence. She eyed him, then grinned to herself.

"What is it?" he asked her, looking at her questioning an seemed slightly embarrassed that she stared at him. His expression made her chuckle briefly, then she said:

"You don't seem do be nervous."

"Well…" he started, then showed her his late. Her eyes widened, then she grinned evilly and said:

"Fufufu~ you sure are lucky to be able to give that pumpkin-head a good beating." Then she laughed quietly and evilly.

"And who is your target?" he asked, smiling to himself while looking at her. She gave him the sheet number she drew and said unenthusiastically:

"I realized it the moment I drew the number sheet."

"Huh?"

"I have no idea who my target is."

"Yo." someone suddenly said. They turned around and found Leorio, who had a suspicious smirk, while looking at them, which Nero decided to ignore.

They talked about the forth exam, and suddenly another one said:

"Manhunt? That's a nice way to put it."

Their faces fell and they said annoyed in union:

"Tompa…"

Then Tompa said some things about the other candidates, then added, looking at Hisoka, who already grinned sadistically:

"And I forgot the most threat. Everyone must be praying that they aren't Hisoka's target."

"You know, you really are multi-talented. You open our mouth and piss me off at the same time." Nero pointed out deadpan.

~~~Later~~~

"Now please leave the ship in the same order which you escaped from the Trick Tower. The next person will begin two minutes after the first person goes ashore." the woman from before said.

As Hisoka left, Kurapica pointed out:

"You're better off starting early…"

"Yeah, that way you can observe the other candidates." Nero agreed, but sounded rather annoyed, since they had to wait .

Then Gon left, saying:

"Well, Leorio… Kurapica… Nero…"

"We'll see you later." Leorio said and Kurapica nodded.

"Be careful, and come back with 6 points." Nero grinned and winked at him. He nodded, grinning back and left.


Yoosh! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wanted to say something about Sunleth Waterscape.. I picked that name from Final Fantasy 13, which I'm currently playing LOL The name Rain Vale just came through my mind^^

Anyway, please give my review button a hug^^ :D See ya next time (This time earlier, I promise^^)