Alright, I'll get this over with quickly: I did, in fact, fall asleep on the airship ride to Trick Tower.

I was tired, okay? It's been so long since I last slept that I just took the opportunity.

Leorio, bless him, he fell asleep almost instantly, propped up against the wall. Kurapika covered Leorio with a blanket then tucked himself into his own. And, there was me, who was just standing there awkwardly and watching.

"Are you going to nap as well, Bella?" he had asked.

I'd nodded, lowkey hoping for Kurapika to tuck me in too, but that never happened, so I found myself lying on the cold floor, trying not to be overly conscious of the two very handsome guys only inches away from me.

All things considered, it wasn't so bad.

Anyway, I ended up knocked out for the entire trip. At least Kurapika was courteous enough to shake me awake when the airship finally arrived.

All of us spill out onto the top of the tower, and Beans (I can never grow tired of looking at him) gathers our attention with a clearing of his throat. "Everyone, this is the starting point for the Third Phase. This is the top of the Trick Tower. You'll pass if you're able to reach the bottom alive. The time limit is 72 hours."

And just like that, the phase begins.

It only takes a small while for Gon and Killua to locate the ring of trapdoors, and not much longer after that for all of us to pick one each and throw ourselves down them with hasty goodbyes.

"That was a very short goodbye." Kurapika says when we all land together, standing up and brushing off his clothing.

"Despite choosing different doors, we all ended up in the same place." Leorio mutters. He's hit the ground pretty hard, so his beautiful face is a little reddened from landing headfirst.

We collect around the small display in the room, where five bracelet timers rest on a podium. "From now until the end, the five of you will continue by following what the majority wants" reads the illuminated sign. I grab one of the timers and snap it on to my wrist, the others following my lead.

"Let's get straight into it, then." I say cheerfully, mostly because I want to get out of here as quickly as possible. It's dark, dirty, and smells like a rat's nest, so the sooner we get through this, the better.

"If you wish to leave this place, you'll need to work as a team." the examiner's voice suddenly booms at us from above. "If you do things on your own, you'll never be able to leave. I wish you good luck."

With that, one of the panels on the wall slides up, revealing a door with an "O" and "X" marked on the display. "To open the door, press O. If not, press X."

"So, it's the majority from now on." Leorio comments, reaching for his own bracelet. "Shouldn't be a problem as long as we all agree."

I press the O on my bracelet as well, and the five of us push into the room behind it. The next room asks to choose between left or right, and the rooms after that follow the same patterns. As we walk, I'm slowly starting to realize what's coming next: the fighting.

Here's the thing- I don't know shit about combat. I mean, what, I took karate lessons for like a month back in elementary school, but I doubt that'll help me any now.

But, if we're following the script of the episode, I'm here in place of Tonpa (you can refer back to chapter 4, where I made him leave after he ended up swallowing some of his own laxatives). And if I remember correctly, Tonpa forfeited immediately in his match- so, all I need to do is mimic him to keep the story on progress.

When we arrive at the open area where there is a large fighting platform in front of us, I shiver when I see the cloaked, handcuffed figures. The guy in front's handcuffs click off, and he removes his covering with a flourish. And… he looks hella strong.

I gulp. Okay, I'll just do as Tonpa did- give up immediately. Or that's the plan, anyway. It feels a little strange to willingly be imitating Tonpa, but then again, everything about my current situation is a little strange.

"All of you, listen up. The people standing before you are all prisoners of Trick Tower" Our creepy escape-room-operator-examiner-guy speaks up again over the speaker system. "At the same time, they've been hired as examiners by the Selection Committee. You will now battle with the five of them. It will be a one-on-one battle. Each person can only fight once…"

For some reason, everyone turns to look at me with concerned faces. I guess I don't exactly give off the most badass fighter energy, but come on.

"You can determine the order as you'd like." The first prisoner says to us. "And, the outcome depends on the majority rule. So, if you can win three times, you'll pass."

"Straightforward enough." says Killua.

"Every hour they keep you here, we'll take one year off their sentences. Their goal will be to waste as much time as possible," our examiner informs us.

"I see." Kurapika says. "This test is a fight against time."

"I'm Bendot, and I will be the first one up," our first opponent says shortly. "Make your decision quickly."

"Me! Choose me! Pick me!" I raise my hand in the air frantically. Better get this over with quickly. "I'll go first!"

All four of my fellow teammates stare at me blankly.

"No." Leorio says firmly. "We don't know what they'll come up with. They might play dirty. Besides, can you even fight?"

"Leorio's right, for once." Kurapika nods. "Bella, you could get seriously hurt. So, I'm going to-"

"Nope, nope, nope." I say, crossing my arms. "I'll go first."

I kind of expect them to just let me go, but I'm surprised by Leorio grabbing me by my shoulder. "Hell no, Bella. Let Kurapika go, at least."

"No, you see, I have to go-" I can't formulate any words because I'm thinking about Leorio's hand on my shoulder and it's causing my brain to go all mushy. "Since I'm the self insert, I have to go first-"

"The self-what?"

"Excuse me! Mr. Examiner! Extend the walkway, please!" I shout. "I'll be going first!"

"Bella, stop-"

The floor rumbles, and a long, skinny pathway extends out from the side of the platform. I try and move towards the newly formed bridge, but Leorio's grip doesn't let me budge.

"I'm going to go first!" I repeat. "I have a plan-"

But Leorio pushes me back and climbs across the walkway, leaving me utterly stunned in place.

"Actually, you'll be fighting me!" Leorio announces to Bendot, cracking his knuckles. He plants his feet firmly on the fighting area, his back facing us.

Oh… something's definitely not right here.

This didn't happen in the anime.

I look around at the remaining three who stand on the edge with me- Kurapika, Gon, and Killua. Kurapika has the slightest trace of worry on his face, but Gon and Killua seem entirely unbothered by the turn of events.

Meanwhile, I'm a little terrified. This is uncharted territory. What's going to happen to Leorio? I'm pretty sure that he can't fight this guy any better than I can. What if he gets hurt? What's going to happen to the rest of us?

Have I… messed things up?

"Leorio, forfeit!" I call out. "Please! Trust me!"

"Nah, Bella! I'm going to show this guy!" But his voice wavers, and we can plainly see the way his legs tremble.

Bendot grunts. "How about a deathmatch?"

"Don't accept, Leorio!" I bite my lip and try to close my eyes, but I still peek through the slits because I just have to know what's going to happen.

"Sounds good to me."

It all happens rather fast. In one move, the fighter sends Leorio tumbling across the floor tiles, dust coloring his button-up shirt a dull grey. I let out a choking gasp as Leorio struggles to push himself up, only to collapse back down again and clutch at his stomach.

"Forfeit! Forfeit already!" I scream. It physically hurts to watch him get beat up like this. Bendot is approaching again, fist readied.

"It's not worth it, Leorio!" Kurapika shouts, genuine worry etched on his face. "Give up! We'll take care of the rest."

Leorio sputters and coughs, then, in a garbled voice, cries out, "Okay, I forfeit!"

"If he forfeits, that means you win!" I call out to Bendot. "So stop!"

Bendot is holding back a laugh, a frustrated hand held on his head. "All right, then. I win this round. If we win another two rounds, you guys lose. You won't be able to proceed nor turn back… and the rest of us will have our sentences cut. Sheesh, all that talk just to forfeit..."

I dash across the walkway and kneel next to Leorio. I try and help lift him back up from the ground, but I'm around half of his size, so I don't end up very useful. Kurapika joins me and we both support Leorio back across the path and to the others.

"Are you okay, Leorio?" Gon asks once we've got him leaned up against the wall.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He mutters, rubbing at his nose. "Damn it…"

Well, he doesn't look fine. He's covered in floor dust and clearly wincing at where Bendot got a hit on him. I feel terrible just looking at him- this wasn't supposed to happen! If only I wasn't such a simp for Leorio, I could have forced myself to go first and forfeited immediately, but he was too damn handsome and…

"I'm so sorry, Leorio!" I bow in front of him. "The thing is, you weren't supposed to go- that was supposed to be me, I was just going to forfeit the match, and then-"

Killua interrupts me in the middle of my rambling apology. "Who's going next?"

"Ooh, me! I'll go!" Gon waves his hand. "Bella, I'll make sure to win this one."

I nod miserably, watching the confident green boy head for the arena.

I sit down next to Leorio and curl my knees up to my chest, too worried to appreciate his usual good looks. Now I'm just thinking ahead. WIll this mean I have to replace Leorio in the match against that pink haired chick who plays rock paper scissors? And then what?

"Leorio, why did you go into that fight?" I ask.

"I don't know, I just don't think I could stand by and watch a little girl get mauled to death by a criminal." He replies, looking dead serious.

Leorio, your heart is too good for this world.

But he's called me a little girl, and I'm dying to tell him the truth- that I'm not actually a scrawny child named Portabella, and that I come from a world in which he was supposed to be fictional. But the words get swallowed up by the expression on his face, which looks so sincere.

"I'll go watch Gon fight." I say weakly, and stagger back to my feet.

xXxXx

When Kurapika finally delivers a sucker punch to the bright blue Phantom Troupe imposter, the dread loaded in my stomach seems heavier than my own body weight.

The dread only gets worse as Kurapika takes a seat next to Leorio, slumping into a crouch. His hair sweeps over his eyes like the emo boy that he is as he speaks of vengeance and spiders.

From the opposite side of the opening, I see a smallish cloaked figure step towards the platform, and I clench my hands into fists.

But before I can even take so much as a step, Killua moves forward, placing his skateboard down on the floor. "So, it's my turn, then."

"Ah, wait!" I yelp, and jump towards Killua, arms outstretched.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting, trying to tackle a trained assassin, but the results end up pretty obvious: Killua easily evades my jump and grabs my wrist, confining me in place.

By the way, for a killer, he has some pretty soft hands.

"Do you really think you can fight?" Killua says, quickly glancing at me up and down. "I can end it in a few seconds, and we'll be able to move on."

I shake my head rigorously. "Well, I can't fight, but I have to go before you."

"Bella, don't do it." Leorio says from against the wall. Killua raises his eyebrows doubtfully at me.

"Can't you all just trust me for once?" I snap, ever so slightly irritated. I'm not exactly mad at them- after all, I love these four to bits and pieces- I'm more so mad at myself. Somehow, I've managed to mess up the canon events already, just by being here.

Since I get no response, I go ahead and march across the little bridge to the fighting platform. This time, no one tries to stop me. Hopefully, I can get this over with quickly… and canonically.

"Oh my, I'm going up against a little girl." The convict has a high pitched voice, and I can just about see her pink-toned feet under the cloak as she heads over to the fallen blue guy that Kurapika knocked out. "But, they haven't decided the last match's outcome."

Oh, that's right. I forgot about that.

She bends down. "He's still alive. So, I suppose our little fight shall have to wait."

"Hold the phone, pink chick." I firmly hold out a hand. "I just want to get this over with. Take off your handcuffs, and let's get to the bargaining."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, girl, come on. You know what I mean. This guy isn't dead. So, let's just get to the gambling thing already."

"Well, well. I didn't know that you'd already be informed of my intentions. That's rather interesting."

"Hey, Bella, what does that mean?" Gon asks, confused.

"Um, no need to worry. I got this." I give him an awkward thumbs up. "Okay, let's just start. Can you wake up this guy here?"

"Why should I do that?"

"So he can forfeit his match, and Kurapika can get the point." I say impatiently. "Well?"

"Would you like to bet on it?"

"No, not really." I reply, and shuffle over to the lifeless blue body. He's pretty scary-looking up close, so I'm hesitant as I use the toe of my combat boot to nudge his massive arm. "Yo, dude, I'm kinda in a hurry, so-"

"What are you doing?" Pink girl says, sounding surprised. "Wait-"

"What's this guy's name again? Majitani?" I deliver another small kick. "Yo, Majitani! Get up! Or Kurapika's gonna rock your ass again!"

The blue limb shivers, and all of a sudden he rolls away from my foot. "Okay, I get it, fine! I lose. You guys get the point!"

As soon as he says this, the digital display on our side flickers from one win, to two. I catch a glimpse of Killua, who has an odd look on his face, and Leorio, who looks utterly baffled. At least Gon gives me an encouraging grin.

My opponent faces me now, and her handcuffs clunk to the floor at once.

When she rips off the cloak covering her, I'm at first genuinely impressed with her hair. I think ours are similar shades of horrid pink, and I'm distracted by the immense volume it has. If I thought Gon's hair ignored gravity, this girl is on some next level stuff.

She clears her throat. "If you're so intent on a quick battle, Iet's set up some rules, shall we? They'll be quite simple."

The smile she gives me seems confident, but there's a sense of unease in the way her eyes flit back from Majitani to me. Maybe I shouldn't have been so abrupt about it…

"We'll be betting with time." Pink girl tells me. "Fifty hours each- and we'll use increments of ten. The first to use up all of their time, loses. If it's you, your team will get a fifty-hour penalty."

Next to us, a display lights up, showing 50 / 50.

"Okay, sure, sure." I think I understand what she means. "So, what exactly are we betting on, again?" I remember, in the anime, Leorio was betting on whether or not Majitani was still alive, but since I've gone ahead and dismissed that issue, we'll probably be betting on something else.

"You and I have a similar hair color, don't we." She comments. "So, let's make a wager on whether or not my hair is naturally this color."

Uh… what?

"Well? Do we have a problem?"

I touch some of the hair in my tampon-tied ponytail, thinking. I don't necessarily have to get the answer right- actually, I should probably pick the wrong choice. That way, Killua can still have his fight after me, and if I want to keep things moving along according to anime, we need to lose those fifty hours in the waiting room.

"No, that's fine. I agree to the wager. But, how can you confirm if I'm right or not…?"

She smiles, eyebrows arched, "I'm sure we can think of a method."

The way she says it sends a gross little shiver through my spine- after all, to her I should look like a thirteen year old- but I move the thoughts out of my mind. "Okay, fine, let's do this. I bet all fifty hours that you dye your hair."

There's a few gasps from my teammates, and I cringe slightly, knowing I've probably just purposefully cost us fifty hours. It's pretty obvious that this girl's all natural.

She smirks. "Oops, I'm sorry. My hair is naturally this pink. Just like yours!"

The display changes, and my fifty hours drop down to zero.

"I was hoping to play some more. Such a shame that we finished so quickly." Pinkie says. "Well, would you like to confirm the wager?"

"No, thank you." I shake my head.

"Come on, Bella, you should at least confirm!" I hear Leorio shout. "I'll do it for you!"

"Pervert." I hear Killua mutter, and then Leorio retorts back angrily.

"No, no, and no." I say. "She gets the win. We'll take the fifty hour penalty."

I hear sounds of protest from Leorio as I trudge back across the walkway, embarrassed to face them.

"Sorry, guys…" I tell them, drooping my head.

Kurapika sighs. "We still have one more chance."

"That's me. I'll be back soon." Killua shoves his hands in his pockets and brushes by me.

"Are you sure you can even win?" Leorio asks him. "I should have won my match, then we would be done by now."

"Oi, Gon, this guy is pissing me off." Killua complains to the green boy, irritated.

"Eh, ignore him," Gon says, holding up his hands.

"We don't even know what kind of contest it'll be. But, if it's doing math in your head, I'd totally surrender." Killua mumbles, looking aside kind of bashfully. It's pretty cute, but a lie- Killua, I know damn well you can do math in your head. I've seen the Chimera Ant arc.

"Right, it depends on the opponent! We might still have a chance to win." Leorio says, perking up a bit. But when the said opponent begins to step towards us, his tone completely changes. "Hey, don't fight that guy, Killua!"

"Oh? Why?"

"That's Johness the Dissector. He was the most notorious killer in Zaban City… there's no need to fight that psychopath! We always have next year."

Killua, of course, doesn't listen, and starts walking across the platform.

And of course, Johness gets his ass handed to him.

Well, actually, it's his heart, which Killua rips out from his chest and drops into the man's limp, dead hand.

"That's three wins and two losses for us." Killua says to Bendot, returning his hands to his own pockets as he stands next to Johness' corpse. "We can move on, right?"

"Yes, you've won." Bendot replies, uncertain.

"Come to think of it, are you feeling a bit restless after your lame match against Leorio? You could come here and play with me for a bit."

Bendot swallows. "No thanks. I'll pass."

"What is he?" Leorio mutters as Killua strides back towards us.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Gon says. "Killua's from an elite family of assassins."

"Whaat?"

After all is said and done, I take a deep breath. Things are okay. Somehow, we're back on track with canon, although with a little mix-up along the way.

"Bella." Kurapika startles me out of my thoughts.

"Ah! Uh, yes, Kurapika?"

He's narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "I get the feeling you have something you're not telling us."

"Haha… what?"

"How did you already know what your opponent would use against you? And why would you lose, on purpose?"

"Bella lost on purpose?" Leorio says.

"Well, you see… I actually…" I don't know what to say. I can't tell them the truth- that I know what's going to happen next because I saw it in an anime- so I struggle to come up with some cover-up of a lie, but I can't think of anything.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Gon says. "Maybe Bella has her reasons. Right?"

Well, I do, but I don't think the reason is exactly what you're imagining, Gon. Still, I nod along with his words.

"I'm sorry… I lost on purpose so we could have the extra time to rest, especially with Leorio's injury." I blurt out.

I feel a pat on my shoulder and peek to see Kurapika, gently resting a hand. My heart does a little squirmy dance as it always does when I end up in these situations.

"Alright, then. I understand."

I get the feeling that he really doesn't believe me. And yet, as we head into the newly-opened resting room to wait out our fifty hours, my heart's still beating like crazy.

I swear, these guys' hotness will be the death of me.

Notes:

I was thinking up ways to start diverting from canon, and here we are.

Another thing: I'll be honest, the entire reason I made Bella "thirteen" is so I wouldn't be tempted to pair her up with anybody. Because the temptation was oh-so strong. But that felt, somehow, awkward...

Zevil Island is next, and holy- I think I know how to tackle it, but we'll see.

Thank you again so much for the reviews- NaniXD04 and, of course, Rubber and Gum.