They waited outside the exam room for another two hours before Hisoka's remains were brought down from the arena. The copies had vanished after Chrollo had dismissed the abilities he had used, but the pure chaos had kept the staff from being able to reach Hisoka at all. The remaining spectators needed to be evacuated, and dozens had needed medical attention. They were more pressing than the dead fighter lying in the rubble below.

Winry felt her throat close all the same as the staff wheeled the stretcher with his corpse past her and Machi. The white sheet draped over him was splotched with red as the blood seeped through. One wheel on the table clacked rhythmically as the stretcher went by.

"I've been hired to heal his injuries, post-mortem," Machi said, brandishing the contract Hisoka had signed with her before the fight.

"I'm not going to mince words, lady, but there isn't much left to heal of him," the attendant said. "You're welcome to try, though."

Machi only gave a nod and the attendant stepped aside, allowing both of them into the exam room. Winry followed Machi in, the knot in her stomach growing tighter with every moment.

Would she have done this — betrayed him to Chrollo — if she had known that Chrollo was going to ask for a battle to the death? She wasn't sure. But she had a feeling that Hisoka wouldn't have wanted it any other way regardless. He had died chasing his dream; the opportunity to fight Chrollo Lucilfer. She remembered well how, even back when they had first met, he had bought all of the items she'd bid on at the Bull Market as his way of saying thanks for protecting Chrollo's life on the airship. This was all he had ever wanted and she was certain that the only thing he'd have changed would be that he would've won. Or, maybe...just maybe...it would've been disappointing to him if he had.

Hisoka's mangled form was still under the sheet. She could trace the shape of his head, shoulders, and torso. Then, lower, his remaining leg and foot. Machi approached the table solemnly, and closed her eyes for a moment of silence before yanking the sheet off.

"God," Machi murmured, looking away.

Winry's eyes stayed on him, soaking in his battered remains. Almost every inch of his exposed pale skin was discolored with dark mauve and indigo bruises. The meat of his face and lips had been blown away. The slice across his throat was the only clean wound on his body. Now that he was dead, Texture Surprise didn't seem to have remained intact to hide his automail. The steel was dented in places, but otherwise seemed underharmed.

"He doesn't look as bad as I expected," Winry said in earnest.

"The copies swarming him must have had a cushioning effect against the bombs," Machi deduced. "He may have suffocated first." A pause. "What's that?"

She pointed at his arm.

"That's a mechanical prosthetic called automail," Winry explained shortly as she turned her back on Machi to fill a basin with clean water. She returned with a pair of sponges and handed one to the other woman. Machi didn't inquire further as she accepted the sponge Winry held out to her, and together they began the tedious process of cleaning his remains.

Machi began working with her Nen stitches while Winry started on the things Machi wouldn't be able to fix. The external bruises began to fade under her hand as Machi stitches his throat back together. The atmosphere was solemn and heavy while they worked, unspeaking to each other unless they had to. With her eyes closed, Winry felt herself swimming through Hisoka's limbs, healing the fractured bones she found. There was nothing she could do for his missing arm and leg. She left his chest cavity for last, leaning over him with her palms flush against the firmness of his chest. The internal damage was nothing short of stunning. Organs had failed, pummeled too hard to take, and she navigated them carefully, fixing what she could. Blood had flooded the chest cavity; she found and repaired each leak, mourning as she did.

Hisoka was dead.

Moments they had shared flashed through her mind, intruding on her even as she tried to push them down. How he'd come to her under the guise of a soldier and warned her against Fuhrer Bradley. The night she'd done the test and learned her Nen type. Them killing Scar together. Each memory brought remorse with it.

Winry flung herself backward away from the stretcher, ripping her Nen ability away from Hisoka's body as quickly as she could. Machi jumped back as well, a needle pinched between her fingers and eyes wide as she looked between Hisoka and Winry.

"What is it?" Machi demanded. "What's wrong?"

"His heart—"

Machi's head whipped around to look at Hisoka, sucking down a breath. The fine hair on Winry's arms and the nape of her neck rose.

"Impossible," Machi murmured, staring wide-eyed. "His aura is returning!"

Already Winry knew the answer.

"Nen that intensifies after death."

Hisoka sucked in a shallow, ragged breath, his chest rising high before falling as he exhaled. Then he drew sucked in another lungful of air. Winry's jaw went slack and she took another step away, horrified. He had used Bungee Gum to restart his heart — she had found it there as she healed him.

He coughed and blood misted in the air. Winry couldn't move, couldn't speak, as she watched as he sat up, blinking. Then his head turned to look at her.

"Was I dead just now?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, mouth bone dry. "Totally dead."

"Fighting someone of Chrollo's caliber..." he murmured, "It's difficult to win under the opponent's ideal conditions. Reality is harsh."

"If you've learned your lesson," Machi cut in, "be sure to pick your battles next time."

"Nen Gum, recreate the missing flesh!" he commanded. Winry had no further left to back away, and she watched with Gyo, stricken, as a new hand pulled itself together at the end of his stump. A rubber prosthetic. "Same with the right leg!"

His demeanor was misleading. She felt sure of it. The amusement in his tone felt all wrong. She didn't speak as a new leg formed from his Gum, and then he glided his automail over each of his new limbs, covering them with Texture Surprise.

"All healed," he said, looking directly at her as he smiled.

"Then you don't need us," Machi said as she turned away. "We're leaving.

"Machi. It's the reverse."

"Hm?"

"I've decided...not to pick my battles. Not with the Spiders."

Hisoka lunged off the table, wrapping his arms around Machi. Winry saw him restraining her with Bungee Gum — there wasn't a moment to lose. Winry leapt forward, slamming her elbow into Hisoka's throat. He let go of Machi as he fell back and Winry slid her hand down Machi, cutting through the Bungee Gum. She didn't give Machi time to free herself as she grabbed Machi by the back of her shirt and shoved her out the door.

"Warn the others!" she ordered, slamming the door behind her. Hisoka was already back on his feet and Winry did the only thing she could think of — she ran her hand down the seam of the exam room door, sealing Hisoka in the room, and her with him.

Chrollo glanced down as his phone began to ring loudly over the volume of the television — it was still reporting on the fight. Helicopters were flying around the building and, at the base, a fleet of ambulances was still busy escorting the injured to hospitals. The rest of the Troupe was celebrating around him, but they all glanced back at him as the sound of his ringtone cut through the air.

"Yes, Machi? Are you finished downstairs?" he answered.

"We need help, urgently!" He rose to his feet at the panic in her tone, and gestured for the rest of the Troupe to stop. The room went silent except for the television in the background. "Hisoka used Bungee Gum to restart his heart, and he's out for revenge. Winry sealed him in a room but she's in there with him. We have to help her!"

"We're coming," he said simply, hanging up to glance at the faces of the Troupe. "Hisoka revived himself." His eyes strayed to the table of delicacies the staff of Heavens Arena had brought up to his suite. "There's no cake. We need a special order to place on the center of the table. Bring me his head."