Disclaimer: HunterxHunter belongs to the one and only Togashi Yoshihiro. But…. (evil laugh!)

However, my evil plans have never been successful.

Have a nice read and give my review button a hug…as usual. Finally, chapter 10 is up. Never thought that I could last that long!

SmileRen: No, because I follow the 2011 version. She tormented Leorio over the death of his friend? Oh my…

IcyIce5421: Thank you!

Nispedana: I'm trying to improve, thank for the advice. But "traditional" set of grammar? I'm confused…

Angelic Fluffle: One finger? What's wrong? Anyways, thank for the support! And since Lyra is well-trained assassin and I'm not good at describing battle scenes, I hope you'll enjoy it. And if you have any suggestion for edition, please tell me.

Task 10: Third Exam III

Leorio boasted:

"Okay! I'll finish up the job. Toss that guy out, and send in your next competitor!"

"Do you even realize that your opponent has already shown up?" asked Lyra, yawning. Leorio's battle… why did she have the bad feeling?

Leorio's opponent laughed lightly, said in a feminine voice

"We can't do that."

"What's that?" Leorio asked in surprise

"We can't move him yet." The female criminal stepped onto the platform, coming near Majitani. "Because his match hasn't been settled yet."

"The match hasn't been settled?" asked Leorio. "What do you mean?"

The female touched Majitani's pulse, said:

"He is still alive. He was only knocked out." Everyone tensed. "Did you forget? This was a death match. The fight doesn't end until one of them surrenders or dies. He's still alive, and he hasn't surrendered." She giggled.

Leorio clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Tsk… damned technicalities!"

"But she's right!" Killua admitted.

"Agree." Gon nodded.

"I see." With that, Leorio turned to see Kurapika, demanded. "Hey, Kurapika. Go finish off that worthless trash."

"I refuse." Kurapika replied immediately, much to Leorio's surprise. "The fight is over. He has already lost his will to fight. I won't fight someone who's lost."

Leorio yelled at him:

"Screw that! Then what do we do? They're claiming that the match hasn't ended."

"Lets him handle that! Once he wakes up, we'll have our answers."

"Hey, but we don't have much time left." Leorio reasoned.

"I have no intention of killing him." Kurapika raised his voice.

"Come on, you…"

But Killua cut in Leorio's words.

"Hey… if you don't want to dirty your hands, I'll do it."

"Killua." Gon and Lyra both said. Surprise for Gon and warning for Lyra. But the boy just ignored them as he observered Kurapika

"You haven't killed anyone, right?" Kurapika nodded "Are you scared?"

"I have never considered if murder is frightening. But this is a one-on-one battle. You aren't permitted to interfere."

"Okay, then…" Killua shrugged, but continued on. "But we're working as a team, you shouldn't be so selfish."

"You do say useful things sometimes." Leorio told Killua in glee. "Keep it up!" And he turned back to Kurapika, who was unfazed and having a I-have-made-up-my-mind face. "Don't you understand that you're screwing up our chances?"

Kurapika still calmly responded.

"Sorry, but I won't change my mind."

"You stubborn fool…" Leorio growled. "Fine, the majority rule…O to kill him, and X to leave him alive. Ready and…" He was about to press his buttons, but was interrupted again by a dagger. "What are you doing?"

Lyra glared at him.

"Are you stupid? This won't work. Don't be like an old hag, Leorio. I think you're more mature than that."

"Sharp tone as ever." Killua smirked.

"And now shut up, or I'll cut your tongue, both of you." She looked pointedly at Killua and Leorio.

"No, you won't." replied Killua confidently.

Lyra decided to ignore him as she knelt down in front of Kurapika. Blue met green. She asked him seriously:

"Are you sure you're not going to change your mind?"

"Yes." He nodded curtly. For her, it was enough.

"Good." She stated. "We'll wait until that guy wakes up."

"And I thought you were sane!" Leorio shouted at her.

"I'm sane, thank you." Lyra retorted. "But Kurapika here is being a noble prat, you can't force him to do what he doesn't want."

"Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?" asked Kurapika

"Which do you want it to be?" said Killua.

"It's not time to joke!" Leorio roared and others winced. However, Tompa spoke up in his 'professional' tone.

"Different people have different circumstances and ideals."

"No one asks your opinion." Leorio snapped.

"Hey, the majority rule implies that you're asking everyone's opinions!"

"But we aren't doing that rule, thank you very much. Not now." Lyra replied coldly. "Don't ever think of sulking, Leorio." She scowled. "If the team breaks down, we'll fail!"

"We can't wait for this guy forever. Where did your brain go, Lyra?"

"My brain is always in my head, mind you."

"Whatever!" He turned back and sat down at the corner. The girl let out of a sigh. Honestly, she didn't believe in herself when she said that. Because he was a criminal, after all. You can't trust a criminal. And mentally, she quite agreed with Leorio. Lyra looked at her watch again, they still have 60 hours. And she didn't know if Majitani was planning to sleep until the time was out.

No matter what, it was hard to look that the bright side.

Killua and Gon exchanged their glances. The boy came near a sulking Leorio, suggested:

"Hey, it's quite possibly that he's already dead."

Lyra raised her head immediately, eyes wide. Leorio peered over, admitted:

"Damn, it's too far away for us to tell." And he requested to the prisoners. "Hey, we want to check his body."

"What's that?" The female asked.

"He could be already dead."

"I already told you, he's only unconscious." She said, sound irritated.

"Never trust a criminal." Leorio retorted. "I can't take your words for it."

"Then, let's make a bet." She suggested slyly. "On whether he's dead or alive."

"What would we wager?" asked Leorio.

She laughed darkly:

"Time. We'll settle our match through a betting game, a gamble. And we'll use time, rather than chips." And she explained the rule. "Look at the monitor on the wall. We each have 50 hours. However, we only can wager multiples of ten. We continue placing bets until one of us has no hours left."

"A match where we gamble time…"

"We'll take turn deciding what to bet on. If you end up with zero hour, your time limits will also be shortened by 50 hours."

"And if you end up with zero hours?"

"Our sentences will be extended by 50 years. If those terms are acceptable, I'll check if he's alive."

Lyra called to Leorio:

"50 hours, so behave yourself. If we lose the bet, you'll face me."

"You can't threaten me like that!" yelled Leorio. "Besides, that chick is whack. She's willing to rick extending her own sentences."

"Consider your answer carefully, Leorio." Kurapika advised. "If you lose, we will have less than nine hours to escape the tower."

"You shouldn't talk." Leorio said to Kurapika, who folded his arm in response, in an accussing tone. "After all, it's your fault for not finishing him off."

"Fine!" Kurapika turned his head. "I won't say another word."

"Hey, we shouldn't fight amongst themselves!" exclaimed Gon, while Killua shrugged his shoulder, meaning 'I give up'.

Leorio declared:

"Alright! I accept!"

"Actually, we have no choice but accept." said Lyra, and Leorio sent her a dirty look.

"Okay!" The female criminal said. "I'll choose the bet, so you can decide how many times we'll wager on whether he is dead or alive."

Leorio frowned for a moment, and decided:

"I bet ten hours that he's alive."

"Very well, then let's check." She said as the bridge showed up and both of them silently walked to the arena.

"You're being pretty cautious." Kurapika said, sounding approving.

"Weren't you going not to say anything?" Leorio smirked, which earned him a look from Kurapika. Even if I'm wrong, as long as we confirm his death, Kurapika has won his round. Leorio told himself. If he's only unconscious, I'll just kick his ass.

He bent down to check the imposter's pulse.

"See, he's only unconscious." The hooked female said in bored tone.

"So it seems."

Gon exclaimed happily:

"Leorio has the lead."

"This is bad." Killua said quietly, enough for everyone to look at him and listened. "It's possible that he isn't going to wake up."

"What do you mean?" asked Kurapika. Lyra sighed. Kil is always too clever for his ages.

"Remember when that woman walked near the guy on the floor?"

"What of it?"

"I thought then that he was already dead." He narrowed his eyes, watching the criminals. "But on second thought, they'd obviously prefer him to alive but remaining unconscious. If he doesn't wake up before the test ends, it shortens their sentences by 72 years."

"So if he doesn't wake up…" Gon said worriedly.

"That's my point!" Killua nodded.

"That has been their attention all along." Kurapika agreed.

"Honestly, since the opponent is a girl, you guys should have let me go." Lyra sighed, wondering if she still had any breath after the third exam. "Leorio's turn to bet, I believe."

As if to respond to her statement, Leorio said:

"How about we bet on whether he's truly unconscious?"

The opponent made a surprised sound, while Killua smirked:

"I see."

"Well, I bet twenty hours that he's really unconscious. But how do we confirm that?"

"Easy." Leorio said as he carried Majitani over the edge of the platform and put the body in standing position. "I'll just toss him off the edge. If he's actually unconscious, he'll fall to his death."

"Are you insane?" The woman asked mockingly. "His match hasn't been settled yet. We can't accept those terms."

"Don't worry." Leorio answered confidently. "If he falls and dies, we'll forfeit the match, which give you two wins."

She seemed to think for a moment, and finally said:

"Ok, I accept. But then I'm changing my wager. I bet forty hours that he isn't unconscious. Everything I have left."

"Heh, little sneak." Leorio smirked. "Finally showing your true colors. Then… I'll let go of him!" The moment Leorio released his grip from the imposter, he opened his eyes immediately, and struggled to keep himself from falling.

"Woa! Wait! I'm awake! I'm awake!" and before he could fall, Leorio caught him. With that, Majitani ran away from the ring.

Lyra muttered: "Too bad that he didn't fall."

The opponent stated, sounding impressed:

"You knew he was awake."

"I actually aspire to become a doctor. All I had to do was check his eye movement."

"However, you only have twenty hours left."

"But now we have a 2-1 lead. Now, it's your turn. What do you want to bet on?" Leorio pointed at his opponent, sounding more confident than ever.

"Very well." The opponent replied as the iron cuffs and lifted her hood, revealing a petite woman with pink hair in pigtails with yellow ribbons and magenta eyes.

Despite not seeing Leorio's (perverted expression), Lyra suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Oh no…" She said, trying to find words to describe her feelings.

"I know what you're trying to say, sis." Killua said. "That old guy is probably dancing on the inside."

"I have bad feeling about this." said Kurapika.

"You don't need to remind me that." The redhead face-palmed. "I told you guys should have let me go instead…"

"Let's bet on this." She started. "Am I a male? Or a female?" Leorio looked taken back. "What's wrong?"

"No." Leorio said quickly.

"Perverts are known everywhere they go, even for their opponents." Lyra muttered.

"Fine!" Leorio said. "But how will you prove if I'm wrong?"

"Oh, right. I'll let you examine every part of my body." Leluto said slyly. "Until you're fully satisfied."

Lyra stated quickly:

"I refuse to know him."

"Leorio will bet she's a man." Kurapika pointed out. Killua nodded melancholy.

"Huh? Why?" Gon asked, and Lyra wished she could be clueless as him.

"Ok, I've decided." Leorio's voice resounded determinedly. "I bet ten hours that you're a man."

"I knew it…" (Kurapika)

"Pervert… I'll kill him." (Lyra)

"Dirty old man…" (Killua)

And Gon was still clueless. "Eh? How can you guys know?"

"Even if I screw up, I'll still be able to do a little 'exam'. Let's be frank: I don't want to lose!" Leorio thought, having a very matching expression to his thoughts perfectly. And that was what Killua was trying to explain to Gon. Making a note to ask Killua about this later, Lyra gazed Leorio's back with murderous eyes. If looks could kill, he'd lay under the surface now.

"I get it." Gon nodded his head.

"You'd better not." Lyra spat.

The criminal simpered:

"Too bad… I'm a woman."

"R-Really?" Leorio was really, really good at pretending to be panicked and surprised.

"Would you want to check?" Leluto asked, placing her finger on her lips.

"For sure!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kurapika immediately covered Gon's eyes with his hands, while Lyra covered Killua's, much to his dismay. She glared at Kurapika:

"Close your eyes, too!"

"Yes, sir… ma'am!" She is scary…

And Leorio looked like he was going to die of happiness.

"I'll kill him, I'll kill him slowly, resurrect him and kill him slowlier…" Lyra murmured.

Tompa sniggered:

"He's gonna to lose. Leorio doesn't have anymore secrets for his opponent. He has absolutely no sense of gaming. Leorio always bet so that he limits damages at the maximum. During a bet, somebody who's incapable of making an abstraction of his previous defeat can't win."

"What did I tell you?" Lyra glared at him. "If you talk again, you'll face me."

"Your turn." Leluto reminded her opponent. "What do you want to bet on?"

Leorio seemed to think.

"Whatever, I'll just go with luck!" Leorio bellowed, holding out a fist. "Let's play rock-paper-scissors!"

"He's being risky… no stupid. That bet's hard!" Lyra slapped her forehead.

"Rock-paper-scissors is hard?" Gon looked at her in surprised, but Kurapika explained instead. (and possibly seeing her in no mood of explain.)

"While rock-paper-scissors has simple rules, the game itself is quite complex. If you consider the game from a probability standpoint, there is only one-third chance of losing. However, if your opponent can predict your reasoning and control your reactions, defeat becomes much more likely."

"In other words, simple-minded Leorio will be at a disadvantage." Killua added.

"OK." Leluto accepted. "I bet 80 hours on my victory."

"8-80 hours?"

"Does that bother you? We bet the number of hours we want, no? But don't worry. If you lose, you'll only lose 10 hours." And the two went silent. At the same time, they clenched their hands.

Result? Leluto won.

They lost 50 hours.

Lyra sighed.

"Finally, my turn. I'll end it quickly." She said, eyeing her opponent as the man stepped onto the arena.

"Be careful." Gon said.

"Nah, don't worry. She knows how to end it quickly." Killua said as Lyra reached the ring. Her face betrayed no emotion at all.

"Really?" asked Leorio.

"Just watch." Killua said, folding his arm behind his back.

Her opponent chuckled:

"Can't believe it, a young lady is going to face me." And with that, he disposed his cloak, revealing a tall man with black eyes, cold like dark tunnels. She suddenly trembled. His eyes reminded her of that place.

Damn it.

"Well, even if I'm young lady, I can handle you." She retorted coldly.

"No, you happen to be my favorite type of victim. The name's Ashley."

"Lyra."

Leorio whispered to Kurapika:

"Are they talking politely?"

"I have heard of his name before, though." Tompa said. "His style is finish his victims quickly. There are rumours of his surprising speed."

"She has countered many ones who were terrible than him." Killua shrugged.

Lyra took off two of her daggers, threw one of them to Ashley, said:

"I won't kill you, but you can kill me, quickly. I don't have time, so don't argue."

"You've got some attitude." Ashley smirked. "Do you believe that you won't kill me before I kill you. You don't even want to defend yourself?"

"Don't get it wrong." Lyra replied, totally uninterested. "I just don't want to kill you. We'll play a game. If I stab your first, I win, if you cut my neck first, you win."

Leorio shouted:

"You're being insane!"

She ignored him, asking her opponent.

"Well?"

"You're naïve. When you face your opponent, don't ever say such things as 'I won't kill you'. They'll kill you if you don't kill them."

"I'll do it when absolutely needed." Lyra said. "But you're not worth it."

Ashley smirked at her:

"So… I just have to cut your neck?" Lyra nodded curtly. "1… 2… 3…"

Within the blink of the eyes, blood spread in the space, much to their surprise.

"What… happened?" Leorio and Ashley asked the same time. Killua was humming a strange tone.

"She didn't kill him, did she?" Gon asked, impressed.

Lyra twirled her dagger in her finger, said:

"I didn't hit any vital spot, so you won't die, I won the game."

"Yes…" Ashley weakly said. "I surrendur…" And with that, he left the arena. Your daughter… has grown up… Catherine.

As Lyra made the way back to her group, Leorio was staring at her in antonishment, which annoyed her immediately.

"What's wrong? I just… well… find a way to deal it quickly."

Killua, however, raised his voice a bit, sounding disappoving.

"He's right. You're naïve. And I thought you have learnt more than that."

"I have learnt enough, Killua. It's your turn, and end it as quickly as possible."

"I won't spend time talking to my opponent politely." The boy shrugged. Lyra just sighed in response. Kil and his personality… However, out of the corner of her eyes, Lyra saw the group of criminals flinched as the final one was removed his handcuffs. (Except Ashley, who was taking care of his wound.)

And she could understand it as he removed his cloak. Leorio recoiled. Gon asked:

"You know him?"

Leorio turned to Killua:

"Killua, forget the victory! You don't need to fight him."

Killua raised his eyebrows:

"Why not?"

"Johness the Dissector." Killua's opponent was a man with bulging muscles and emotionless stare. "The worst mass murderer in Zaban's history. He chose his victim randomly. It was a famous care, 146 people, young and old, men and women, met with brutal deaths by his hands. The victims had one thing in common. He murdered all of them with his bare hands." Leorio took a deep breath. "He was known for his iron grip, the power in his finger."

Johness flexed his arms and clenched his fingers. His voice was cold and low:

"It's been long time since I touched human flesh."

Leorio continued:

"You don't have to face that monster, there's always next year."

Killua, however, totally ignored his warning, walked to the arena with relaxed expression on his face.

"Killua!" Leorio called to him. "Hey…!"

"Don't Leorio!" Lyra said, gazing Killua's back. "He'll be fine!"

"How in heaven's name that he'll be fine! It's a monster he is going to face!"

"He'll be fine!" She repeated impatiently, turning her attention back to Killua.

The two opponents stared at each other blankly. The boy asked nonchalantly:

"How are we settling this contest?"

Johness chuckled, sounding very intimidating.

"Contest? I believe you're confused. This will be an one-sided massacre. I have no interest in the exam or any offer of amnesty." He smirked. "I just want to hear you scream."

"Really? Okay." Killua replied without any fear and hesitation in his voice. "Then the loser is the one who dies."

Lyra face-palmed. Typical Killua. She knew it, he took part in this exam to find fun! Honestly, she didn't know he even managed to come.

Johness seemed surprised, but answered anyway:

"Yes, that's right. I'll tear your body apart and…"

He didn't have a chance to finish his words, Killua was on the other side of the platform, and much to the criminals' surprise, holding Johness's still-beating heart with his hands. Johness just frozen in shock, looked at his stained red shirt. His eyes widened as he tried to reach Killua:

"Give... Give it back..."

But Killua just smirked at him, his eyes almost… soulless. Without warning, he crushed the heart with his hands. Johness stopped moving, dead.

Killua pocketed his hands, said:

"Four wins, two losses. We pass, right?"

The man who had fought Tompa said:

"Of course, you can go."

"By the way…" Killua continued. "You must be itching for some action, since you didn't get to do anything." His expression turned evil. "Want to play with me?"

"I'll abstain." The muscle man said nervously.

"Oh, okay." Killua shrugged, and turned back to his group.

Leorio asked, still in shock:

"Who is he?"

"Oh yeah, you guy don't know." Gon said easily. "Killua comes from an elite family of assasins."

Leorio repeated:

"Eh? A-An elite family of assasins?"

"You heard him." Lyra mumbled. Killua, of all thing he could do, he chose to tell this to Gon.

"You!" Leorio fingered at her. "You know Killua from the beginning! Are you from an elite…"

"No." She cut in.

Killua said:

"I'm back." Leorio cringed. "What?"

"Well… nothing. Good work, Killua!"

"Killua Zoldyck…" Lyra growled. "You ran away, didn't you?"

Killua just blinked innocently.

"Did you say Zoldyck?" asked Leorio.

"Yes, I did." Lyra replied. "And thanks to you, Leorio, we have to wait for 50 hours!"

After that, they had to enter a small room. The loudspeaker announced: "You'll have to spend the next 50 hours in this room. Wait until the door opens,"

The room wasn't like what Lyra had expected. There were sofa and TV and books. At least, they could feel comfortable.

Kurapika suddenly spoke:

"Killua, can you tell me how that technique works?"

"Technique?" Killua asked in surprise.

"The one you used to instantly remove his heart."

"Oh, that wasn't even a technique." Killua replied simply. "I just ripped it out. But…" He smirked, lifting his hands as his fingernails changing into claws. "I manipulated myself a bit."

"WoW!" Gon exclaimed.

"Mass murderers are still only amateurs. I used to be a professional, even she was no match to me!" He gestured to Lyra, who hated to admit that he was right. "But my old man would have done better. When he removes a heart, you won't even see a drop of blood."

"How reassuring." Leorio said. "And you?" He turned to Lyra.

"I… just moved." She shrugged. "And thanks to you, we have to spend more than two days here!"

"Why do you have to bring it up?" Leorio groaned.

"Because it's the truth!"

Ignoring the bickering duo, Killua and Gon started to look for any kinds of entertainment.

Kurapika gazed them, thinking. As long as they're on our side…

This chapter drove me crazy! My fingers hurt! I haven't typed that long for a long time!

Anyways, enjoy it, give me reviews!

Lea.