Here it is. The long chapter where the pieces finally start coming together.

While they wait, Killua lends Gon his skateboard, while taking the fishing rod for himself. Ryn sits in the corner, mumbling about wasting time, while Adella makes conversation with the boy on the skateboard. It's clear the two of them are rather taken with each other, thick as thieves even after so little time together.

As the two-hour mark hits, Ryn groans. "Seriously? How much longer are we supposed to sit here? It's been two hours!" She rises, banging on the wall. "Hey Lippo! Can we…"

A panel opens to her right, finally dropping in the final applicant. The man groans, slowly sitting up and turning to face his peers. His face goes white as he sees them. "Oh no."

"Tonpa." Adella growls.

Ryn just grabs the last wristband, tossing it to him. "Come on. We can start now. Majority rules, we follow the crowd. Now, press O to open the door so we can move."

All five look down at the band, pressing the corresponding button. The numbers flash on the screen, 4 for O, and one for X. One to keep the door closed.

All eyes go to Tonpa, who smiles sheepishly. "It was an accident, sorry."

Adella doesn't seem convinced, but anger will get her nowhere. Instead, she follows Ryn and the boys out into the hall, where they are faced with their second choice.

"Left, or right?"

Adella frowns. Part of her wanted to say left, but wasn't it that most people would go left if faced with this choice? Maybe right would be better.

Once again, the ratio is four to one.

"That's okay! I'm sure left will be fun too!"

All four pairs of eyes turn to Gon this time, the sole one to pick left. "Let's get going! I can't wait to see what the next choice is!"

As Gon runs ahead, Adella turns to Ryn. "Are we sure I can't keep him?"

"No!" The answer is immediate.

The quintet continues on, the halls of the tower narrow and boring, with no windows or doors. At least it was simple enough. Finally, the hall ends at a drop, into a room with three entry ways, all cut off from one another by the deep chasm before them. In the center stands a platform, as if it is meant to serve as a ring to fight in.

"I don't like this." Killua whispers, especially as he spots what's in the other entry across from them.

Five figures, all shackled and hooded, stand just inside the darkness.

A speaker crackles to life. "Gentlemen, ladies, let me explain. You have probably already noticed that some of the prisoners of Trick Tower are standing before you. They will help serve as examiners. You will fight against all five. One-on-one fights, no draws, any style you wish. To be declared the victor, your opponent must admit defeat."

The clanking of shackles turns the group's focus back to the prisoners. One of them has been released. "Because this is majority rules, you will have to win three out of five fights to pass."

Lippo speaks again. "For every hour they keep you here, one year will be taken from their sentence. Their goal is to literally buy time."

Adella rolls her eyes. She and Ryn would barely take any time at all. But the others…

"I'm fighting whoever's first." The prisoner yells. Ryn and Adella glance between them. What to do?

"I'll go!"

The group is shocked as Tonpa steps forward. "I'll be the guinea pig. See if I can figure out what they're up to. Consider it an apology for earlier."

The two women frown, not buying it. But letting the loose cannon go first meant a better shot at victory later. "Fine. Go on."

The floor rumbles as two bridges extend towards the center ring. As Tonpa meets the prisoner, the bridge withdraws, leaving them stranded.

"Now then, let's determine the method of combat. My choice would be a battle to the death. What do you say?"

Tonpa chuckles. "Very well. To the death then!"

"He's gonna throw it." Ryn whispers to Adella.

"Of course he is." She responds. Hence why they had let him go first.

And in fact, as soon as the man moves, Tonpa kneels, giving up immediately. The once black screen over the prisoner's side flashes, a one now sitting in their box.

"If we win two more rounds, that's it. You fail the exam." The prisoner gloats. He was clearly happy with the turn out, if not slightly disappointed.

"He was going to crush his throat so he couldn't give up. To be fair, that was pretty smart."

Adella looks down at Killua, shocked he'd put that together. "How did you…"

He cuts her off, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "So, who wants to go next?"

Gon immediately raises his hand. "Me! I'll give it a try!"

Adella grabs his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Besides, the next one doesn't look too bad!"

He was right. The man is weaselly and greasy, but not very threatening. Still, if he was locked up here, that had to mean he was bad news.

"Just… be careful?"

Gon nods, patting Adella's hand. "Promise!"

"He will be fine." Ryn assures her as Gon makes his way across the bridge to the center platform.

"Now then," the greasy prisoner starts. "As you've probably noticed, I'm not terribly strong. I don't enjoy much of anything that requires strength."

Gon frowns. "I love that stuff much more than anything that requires thinking."

Ryn snorts out a laugh, trying to hold it in. Adella elbows her in the ribs, annoyed she isn't taking this seriously.

"Thought so," the prisoner states, "that's why I've come up with a game. One I think we will both enjoy."

"What is it?" Gon asks, curious to see how his match will end.

The prisoner chuckles, reaching behind him to pull out two candles. "Simple. We each light a candle, and whoever's goes out first is the loser."

It seemed too easy, but Gon was a child, and a dumb one at that. He beams at the man, as if forgetting he was a prisoner. "Seems okay to me. Let's do it!"

The prisoner chuckles. "Alright. Which candle would you like? Use majority rules to pick. Press O for the long candle, or X if you would rather have the short one."

He moves his hands showing the candles are not the same size as they had thought. One was much bigger.

"He has to have tampered with it." Adella frowns, not liking that she can't do much right now to help Gon.

"It's possible he tampered with both, let's just let Gon decide. Gon!" He looks back at the group. "You pick!"

Killua looks up at the two women. "Are you sure? It's just, he doesn't think things through."

Adella nods, agreeing with him. "Yes, but we will overthink it. It's Gon's fight anyway, let him decide.

He nods, accepting their judgement, turning to his new friend. "You heard them. It's your pick, Gon."

"I pick the long one! It will burn longer!"

Ryn groans. Of course he would. Gon really was bad at logical thinking. But, as Gon has asked, the group presses O, giving Gon the long candle.

"Okay, looks like I get the short one. And you get the long one."

He tosses Gon the candle as one of the braziers lower to allow the two to light their candles. For a few minutes, nothing happens. The candles burn strong and true, the only problem is the updraft from the cavern below.

"Keep still Gon! Don't move or it will go out!" Adella offers in support. Ryn can tell she is nervous, even with Gon not being in immediate danger.

'Yeah, definitely not mothering them, Del.'

The prisoner laughs. "Not that it will matter much. I came prepared."

As soon as he says that, Gon's candle erupts into a much brighter flame. Adella gasps, worried more for Gon than the win. "Gon! Set it down!"

"Already on it!" Gon sets his candle on the ground, smiling. His smile causes the prisoner to falter. "Now that the flame is stronger…" Leaving his on the ground, Gon lunges at the man, stopping just in front of him.

Before he can react, Gon has blown out the other man's candle, securing the win. Adella laughs, happy to see Gon can in fact use his head.

As the bridge reconnects the two sides, Adella pulls Gon into a hug, happy to have him back safe. "I am so proud of you! That was amazing!"

Gon beams up at her, babbling excitedly as Adella soaks it all in.

"Very sweet, but can we get a move on?" The next prisoner calls out, already at the center platform. The group looks up at him. He is tall, taller than the others they have fought, and very broad. What skin they can see is colored blue.

Killua moves to step forward, but Ryn knows Adella may have a heart attack if the other boy fights right after Gon. "I will." She interrupts.

Killua and Gon both look rather nervous, after all, she is going up against a rather intimidating prisoner, but Ryn has seen worse.

Ryn is worse.

As soon as she reaches the platform, the man's shackles drop, and he pulls off his hood. He's an ugly creature, rather disfigured and disgusting.

Ryn wrinkles her nose. This man was atrocious.

He laughs, loud and annoying. "Do you see this, little lady?" He points to his chest, where nineteen hearts sit in five rows. "I've killed nineteen people so far, but it's such an uneven number, it kinda bugs me."

He chuckles. "I've been looking forward to meeting number twenty for a while. I only do this if our lives are on the line. You hear me, girlie? It's all or…"

Ryn yawns. "Okay, whatever. Can we just start?"

The man scoffs, unimpressed at her toughness. "It'll be a death match. You sure you want to hurt that pretty face?"

Ryn scowls, hands on her hips. Adella hurriedly reaches for her back pocket, pulling out her phone. "Oh, Chrollo will love this!"

Killua and Gon glance at each other. It was obvious Ryn wasn't exactly normal, but Adella being excited to watch her fight this man? It didn't make sense. After all, Gon hadn't been in danger, and she had been a wreck. Now her friend was in trouble, and she was recording it?

The blue man seems shocked. "Wait, hold on. No weapons allowed. Even as an examiner, I'm still a prisoner who can't carry weapons."

Ryn shrugs. "I won't need it. Stop stalling."

"Yeah, but…"

Ryn rolls her eyes, sighing. "Fine. Here." She pulls out her own knife, and a few random cards, placing them down.

"Better?"

The man chuckles, taking a deep breath before basically inflating himself. "I think it's time to show you my secret weapon."

Ryn holds up a hand, face contorted in disgust. "There are children here, please keep it in your pants."

Adella laughs, loud and long, unbothered that Ryn is antagonizing a high-level prisoner. "Oh, that was so good."

"I don't think these two are fully there." Killua whispers to Gon.

"Fully where?"

"Nevermind."

The man roars, leaping for Ryn, who dodges easily. His fist lands in the concrete, punching a hole into the floor.

Tonpa gasps, clearly worried, though that was less about Ryn and more about what the man could do. What if he somehow got to them?

The man pulls his fist from the floor, turning his back to Ryn.

The group gasps, seeing the black ink etched into the blue skin.

"Is that…"

Tonpa nods at Killua's question. "A spider with twelve legs. The mark of…"

He can't finish, now actually worried for the woman in the center of the room.

"What? What does that tattoo mean?" Gon asks. He was clearly not in the loop with these things, having lived on Whale Island all his life.

The prisoner laughs, turning back to Ryn, laughing maniacally. "Name's Majitani. I'm one of the Phantom Troupe's four devas! That first strike was…"

Suddenly, both Ryn and Adella begin laughing. "Oh! Oh no! Oh my gosh, Ryn! Did you, ha ha, did you see that!"

Ryn wipes a few tears from the corner of her eyes, still laughing. "Oh god, you really… Oh, you thought that would work so well! I almost feel bad."

Adella holds up her phone. "Wait! Wait! I want a picture! Chrollo will die!"

Majitani watches the two women in shock. Why were they not scared? Didn't they know who the Phantom Troupe was? The most vicious group of killers in the world, and they were laughing?

Ryn finally rights herself, brushing a few final tears from her face as she once again takes her spot in the ring. "Oh, okay. Um, sorry Maj, but that's not cutting it. Everyone knows a true tattoo will have the number in the center of the spider's back."

Majitani looks taken aback. "What? How do you… How could you know that?"

Ryn just smiles. "My men. Let's just say they know a lot, and so I know a lot. Including how to kill."

Majitani takes a step back as Ryn finally begins moving. "Wait, wait!"

Before he can say anymore, Ryn is on him, a punch to the throat and a kick to the head sending him sprawling on his stomach. She considers him, groaning on the floor, before leaning down.

"What to do with you?"

"Hey Ryn? Can we speed it up? I want to beat the boys."

Ryn glances at Adella, a smirk working its way across her face. "I thought we weren't here to beat them?"

Adella makes a noise of complaint as Ryn laughs, leaning back over Majitani, who finally understands what he's done wrong.

"I surrender! I…"

"Not good enough."

Maj screams as Ryn digs her nails into his back, pulling skin from muscle. As the piece of skin with the spider emblem on it peels away, Adella places a hand over Gon and Killua's eyes.

"Baka! I've seen worse! I want to watch!" Killua complains, pulling her hand from his eyes.

Gon also tries to pull Adella's hand away, but she manages at least to keep him from seeing the worst of it. She doesn't, however, keep his screams from them.

Ryn laughs as she finally pulls the skin away, looking at the now bloody tattoo. "Nice, a souvenir. Thanks."

Majitani groans in pain. "Please, I…"

Ryn tsks at him, unamused. "Now, now. I thought spiders didn't beg."

With that, she leans down, grabbing his neck and twisting hard. A sickening crack echoes through the room as bone breaks, and Majitani goes limp.

Ryn smiles, looking at her handiwork before skipping over to the others. "Two down, one to go. Del, would you like the honors?"

The brunette nods, offering her congratulations to the woman as she passes.

Tonpa looks ready to die on the spot. Who were these women who could laugh in the face of spiders and kill so easily?

Adella makes her way to the center of the room, glancing at the now dead man on the ground. "Gross." She grimaces, looking towards the prisoners. "So, who's next? We have one more point to get, and I'd like to finish this now."

After a moment of hesitation, the smallest of the group steps forward. As the manacles drop to the floor, the figure pulls off their hood, revealing the first woman of the group. "I don't plan on fighting you. I have a better idea."

Adella frowns, folding her arms. She wouldn't have minded fighting, but if her idea was…

"I suggest we gamble with the remaining time. We each have fifty hours, and we gamble them away. You win, you are free to go, and fifty years are added to our jail time. Sound good?"

Adella seems shocked at how simple it is. The woman smirks, clearly believing she has the upper hand. But the smile fades as an evil grin spreads across her competitor's face. Adella seems pleased. "Deal. Shall we shake on it?"

The woman hesitates, but moves forward, shaking her hand. At least the two women had manners.

Adella steps back, grin firm in place. "I bet I can get you to do whatever I want, just by telling you to."

The woman seems shocked at the absurdity of the wager, laughing high and long. "That's your bet? Oh dear, I highly doubt you can get me to do anything. You want to adjust that bet?"

Adella shrugs. "Okay. I bet you I can get you to do whatever I want without touching you and just telling you to do it. Better?"

"What is she doing?" Killua hisses. This would be too easy for the other woman to win; Adella had clearly lost her mind.

"Very well, if you really want to do this. I bet all fifty hours you can't get me to do anything."

Killua groans, annoyed. Adella seems to have expected this; however, and merely chuckles. "Fine then. Rip his head off and roll it to me."

The woman scoffs, nose wrinkling in disgust. "Like I would ever…"

Her eyes widen, arms unfolding as her body mechanically walks over to Majitani's corpse, leaning down to twist his head clean off of his body.

"Ew, ew, ew!"

"Leroute! What are you doing!" The men behind her cry, shocked and disgusted at the scene. Squealing, Leroute kicks the now decapitated head over to Adella, who stops it with her foot.

"Thank you!" She turns, looking to her friend. "Hey Ryn! Want his head?"

"No, I already have the tattoo."

Adella shrugs. "Fine." Kicking it hard, she manages to make it splat against the far wall, dropping into the chasm below. She throws her arms up, grinning madly. "Goal!" She turns back to Leroute, standing there in terror at the woman who had somehow gained control over her body. "Thanks for playing!"

Adella makes her way back to the group, their three wins secured. "Well, that was easy, now how do we…"

"Hey!" Killua cuts them off. "You in the back! You were promised a fight. Do you want one?"

"Killua!" Adella grabs his arm, yanking him back from the edge. "These are criminals. You can't just…"

He shrugs her off. "Yeah, and I'm not scared." He looks back to the prisoners. "Well?"

The man stands, shackles falling from his wrists. "If you insist."

Adella tries to grab Killua again, but Gon stops her. "He will be fine! Killua is from a family of assassins! He can do really cool stuff!"

Adella frowns, looking at the boy walking to meet the biggest prisoner yet. "How many families of assassins are there?"

Gon laughs, clearly thinking it was a joke. "You're funny, Della."

Ryn looks between Gon and Killua, that answer she couldn't quite grasp earlier finally coming to her. "Listen to the kid, Del. Killua will be fine."

"How do you want to do this?" Killua asks as the bridge pulls away.

"You've got this all wrong. I don't care about reducing my sentence, or the exam. I just want to hear you scream."

Killua shrugs, unfazed. "Fine, we can fight until one of us dies."

Adella winces, reaching for Gon. "Don't watch this."

"He will be fine! Promise!"

Adella just shakes her head, looking to Ryn. "I really hope you two are right."

The prisoner reaches towards Killua. "Soon, I'll tear your body apart with just my bare hands. You…"

The man gasps as Killua passes right by him, winding up behind the now frozen man. The room inhales as the prisoner looks down, blood seeping from the hole in his chest. He turns looking for the boy, who holds his still beating heart in his hands.

The man gasps. "That… That's mine…" He stumbles forward, reaching for Killua, only to fall as the organ in Killua's hand stops beating.

Killua stares at the man for a second before placing the heart in his cooling hand.

"Hold on!" Adella asks as the group joins him, now free to continue. "How the hell did you…"

"If you think that's impressive, you should see my old man. Doesn't even spill a drop of blood when he does it." Killua grins, placing his hands behind his head.

Adella frowns. "A family of assassins huh?"

Killua shrugs. "Yeah, no big deal. You may have even heard of us. The Zoldycks."

"You're a Zoldyck!"

Ryn grabs Adella's shoulder, pulling her back. "Del, get a hold of yourself. This isn't the time."

Killua shrugs. "So, you do know about us. I assume we've done something to you to warrant that response?"

Adella scowls, pulling from Ryn's grip and leading the group towards the new path. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Tonpa, now at the back of the group, reviews the situation. The two women were obviously either assassins themselves or trained to the level of one. The white-haired boy was actually an assassin, and a Zoldyck at that.

And then there was Gon, who wasn't an assassin, but was doted on by the group, and who had an uncanny ability to sense things. And all of them rookies. This was the ideal group to crush, but even Tonpa knew when he was outclassed.