Gon stalked down the arena hallways on the 388th floor. His mood was dark and brooding, his face a mask of violence. His fight was today, which was a good thing. He hadn't been able to sleep at all last night after all that stuff with Killua and Leorio… and without a fight to look forward to today Gon probably would have completely lost his mind.

But his fight wasn't enough to satiate this hunger within him.

This all consuming rage.

No, he needed something better. Something substantial. Something worthwhile.

He needed revenge, and he needed it now.

So that was why Gon had ordered the woman at the sign up desk for the 389th floor to look up who was challenging the man who had hurt Leorio. She found the information for him, Gon hovering over her desk like a reaper of death.

The man was on the same floor as Gon now. Because Gon had "interrupted his battle" to "take his opponent away," the man had been moved all the way up to Gon's floor in compensation.

It made Gon so incredibly livid.

Why did that guy get rewarded for what he had done?!

He'd screamed as much at the lady at the desk, and she'd just held her hands up defensively in front of her. She had pleaded with Gon, telling him that the Spiders ran the Arena, not her. She was just an employee. Gon had decided to spare her. Because she had helped him out. He had told her as much.

She had told him who the killer's next challenger was, and even his current location.

That was where Gon was approaching at this very moment.

He whipped around a corner, and saw the dude walking the hall out in front of him.

The man was a scrawny looking guy, a Leopard-Cryptid with spotted skin and a pair of fluffy ears and a tail. According to the lady at the desk, he relied heavily on his Sorcery in battle. He didn't have much physical strength, but his Magic was very powerful. Gon would have to really get the jump on him to be able to threaten him, or so the lady had said.

But that didn't matter.

The Cryptid was Gon's prey.

And Gon was the predator.

The predator was always stronger than the prey. And in Gon's case, he wouldn't even have to use his Ren.

He'd had Zetsu on this whole time, hadn't turned it off since he'd turned it on to fool Killua. If he'd left it on, his Ren would have fed off his rage and lashed out at Killua.

No.

Stop thinking about Killua.

With a hint of a growl, Gon leapt forward. He landed silently right behind the guy, and looped his arm threateningly around his shoulder, wrapping his fingers around the guy's throat. The Cryptid squeaked in surprise, feline instincts sending him jumping into the air.

But Gon was there to hold him down, so he wasn't jumping anywhere.

"Hey, who're you–"

"-Disobey me…" Gon interrupted in a dark tone, trailing off as he squeezed his fingers into the man's throat, demonstrating how he could puncture the guy's jugular with his fingertips alone.

The Cryptid audibly swallowed.

"Take a walk with me, huh?" Gon asked, words friendly, but voice a dangerous song of violence of death.

Gon started walking, and the guy walked along with him. He was trembling now. Not a very leopardly thing to do, but Gon understood.

If he had been threatened by himself right now… then he would have been pissing himself too.

"Some people… are evil," Gon snarled into the guy's ear, making him flinch and shrink away. But Gon held him in place by the throat. "And those evil people need to be eradicated from this world. There's someone I need to kill. And you're the only one with ties to him."

The Cryptid whined low in his throat. "What do you mean, I didn't do nothing I swear–"

"-Shut up," Gon barked into his ear, violently squeezing his throat hard enough to fracture the bones of his neck. "Did I give you permission to speak?!" the hybrid snarled, leaning around the side of the guy's head to get all in his face.

The Cryptid shook his head, tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

He'd wet himself by now, and was leaving a disgusting trail of stinking feline urine behind them.

"That's what I thought," Gon growled, and then continued his speech. "There's someone I want. Someone I need. He must die. You understand, don't you?"

The guy gave a shaky nod.

"The man you are fighting today. Benjamin Hui Guo Rou. I want you to switch fights with me. You'll do that for me, won't you? I hope that's the decision you make. Otherwise…" Gon felt his eyes turn dark and smoldering. He leaned around to give the Cryptid a sinister smirk. "I'll just have to kill you."

The leopard dude shook his head frantically. "Yeah! Swap with me! Please!"

Gon chuckled low in his throat, the laughter dissolving into a psychotic cackle. He had tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. The hybrid slung the Cryptid onto the ground before him, where he stood up cautiously, staring at Gon in horror. He then scrambled away, leaving Gon to his psychological breakdown.

"I'll kill him, Leorio," Gon giggled to himself, bent over at the waist and squeezing his midsection for purchase. Drool was slipping down his chin, and tears were watery and silver in his eyes. "I'll fucking kill him. I'll do it, Kite. Not this time. They won't get away this time. Not evil, no. I'll kill him. Yeah, then it'll all be okay."

Gon choked back a sob.

Evil.

An image of that horrid scene in the warehouse flashed against the backs of his eyelids.

No. He'd never be fooled by evil again.

He'd root it out at the source.

He wouldn't fall prey to it anymore.

Gon pushed Leorio through the lobby. The Goblin was perched in a wheelchair, and the hybrid had taken it upon himself to prevent him from having to push himself around. Leorio had been fully healed thanks to the Sorcerer working at the hospital. He'd gotten special treatment since he'd been on the verge of dying. Nothing, however, could fix his broken spine.

Some wounds could only be healed through time.

Gon… knew that firsthand. His heart squeezed, and he clutched his hand in his jacket. The hybrid gritted his teeth, tears threatening to poke their silvery heads once again. His side felt so… cold. He felt… half empty.

Someone was missing.

A silver haired someone. A someone with cerulean blue eyes veiled by a curtain of fluffy bangs. A someone with skin pale as the moon itself and a grace greater than any. A someone who…

Gon shuddered when he recalled the sight of that infant being slowly covered up by shovel-full after shovel-full of sand and dirt.

No.

A person who Gon didn't need to think about!

A person who he wasn't worried about…

A person who his heart didn't cry out for…

"Is that… Killua?"

Gon stiffened at the sound of that name, and glanced down at Leorio. The Goblin was staring up at one of the televisions in horror. Gon followed his gaze, and his stomach immediately turned.

Sure enough, there he was. In all his Dragonite glory. Though "glory" was a strong word.

Killua's assassin mode was fully activated, Gon could see it through the screen. He was wearing a dirty and rumpled assortment of mismatched street clothes, with no shoes on and matted hair. He had these awful bags under his eyes, and this terrifying look in those ocean blue depths.

Those orbs were crazed… swirling maelstroms of rage and hate and pain.

But the most chilling of all…

Glee.

Joy.

Even as tears streamed down his face, he grinned a horrid grimace of a grin as he ripped his opponent to shreds. There was barely any Blood Magic in use at all. Just Killua tearing that poor humanoid limb from limb, popping their eyes out of the sockets and tearing off their ears. He slung them about by their hair, and bit large and bloody chunks out of their body. He plunged his clawed hand into their chest, and ripped their ribs out one by one. They were still alive, even as Killua slowly ripped their spine up and out.

It was horrible.

Gon recoiled, face contorting into one of disgust.

The hybrid glared, and looked away. He pushed Leorio away from that television, and continued his journey for the elevator.

Gon couldn't forgive Killua.

No, never.

He couldn't believe he'd been so close to something like that. A creature of such brutal destruction and murder. He couldn't believe that he'd considered that thing his best friend. He couldn't believe that he'd… that'd he'd…

No.

That wasn't important.

Leorio peeked up at Gon as they stood in the elevator. He'd never seen the hybrid look so… broken? Leorio was really worried about him… and not to mention about Killua! What the heck was going on?! Before the hospital and that blur of a match they'd all been together… and now Gon was like this and Killua was just gone?

Gon was refusing to tell Leorio what was up with Killua.

And whenever he'd ask… the hybrid would just start shaking with rage and promising that he'd kill that Benjamin guy. But Leorio didn't care about the Benjamin guy. This had happened… because Leorio wasn't strong enough. Not because the dude was a ruthless killer. This was just how Heaven's Arena worked.

Who Leorio was truly worried about… were Gon and Killua.

There was nothing.

Nothing but that animal of a man in front of him.

Gon couldn't hear the roar of the crowd. Couldn't hear the announcer's excited cheers. No, there was nothing but him. And Benjamin Hui Guo Rou. He looked like a fucking beast. He was human, with disgusting pale skin, ripped with muscles but so stretched and milky that every vein was visible. His blonde hair was waxy colored and limp. Not to mention his face.

His nose was enormous, his jaw abnormally sculpted and his cheekbones concave in the most distasteful way. It looked like the face of a male lion, but smushed up into the skull of a human. It was disgusting. His eyes were tiny beads, barely visible around that vast expanse of milky skin.

He was not pale like the graceful moon over the ocean… but pale like the milky bones of a slaughtered infant. His eyes were not the clear and expressive blue of a summer night sky, but the empty and washed out blue of a baby's spit-up stained burp cloth. His hair was not fluffy and soft like a Light Angel's feathers, but limp and rigid like strands of dried grass. His form was not lithe, slender yet muscular in all its enrapturing beauty, but an unorganized block of meat. A glorified sack of blood and gristle.

Gon hated him.

This was what evil looked like. This.

This hideous, animalistic freak of a human. This creature that stunk of sweat and fast food grease. This egotistical prick that knocked heads for fun, that slung women up against walls and violated them till he got his fill. With thick sausages for fingers and beady, ignorant eyes that stunk of unintelligence and dirty desires.

Yes! This was what Gon was on this Earth to kill!

This was the picture of evil!

Not angelic features, ethereal beauty, and graceful steps. Not slender fingers and corded muscle. Not sparkling eyes and words of kindness. Not gentle brushes of warm fingertips against Gon's… not warm embraces and nights spent sleeping and laughing by fireplaces, embraced by trees taller than the Arena itself.

How could… How could someone like that be evil?!

How could someone as wonderful and admirable as that be a devil in disguise?!

No! Gon refused to accept it!

Killua wasn't–

Killua wasn't like that! He wasn't evil!

This man was evil!

Not the man who Gon held dearest… not the man who Gon would have died for. Sold his soul for. Endured a thousand years of torture for.

"No!" Gon choked out, shoulders shaking with a sob of rage. His face contorted, teeth gritted and lips pulled back. Eyebrows drawn and angry but eyes wide and wobbling. He lowered his stance, limbs trembling with the need to tear, to destroy!

Not Killua! Gon would kill this man, this horrible evil man! That would make the evil go away! This was what he was supposed to hate! This was what he was supposed to rip apart. Not– Not Killua! Killua was separate from this creature… from this disgusting filth.

After this, everything would be alright again!

He'd make the pain go away, he'd take his revenge!

He'd avenge Leorio, and then it would all be okay!

It would all be alright!

Right?!

Wouldn't it be?!

He wouldn't have to go home to an empty apartment?!

He wouldn't have to stare at the empty spot by his side!

He wouldn't have to watch the sunset alone, and dream of a fishing trip that was no more!

Because THIS would solve ALL Gon's problems!

Killua was NOT the problem here! Killua was the GOOD in the world, the LIGHT in Gon's eyes! Never, never the darkness!

With a shriek of uncontrollable rage, Gon charged the lion of a man before him.

The sack of disgusting flesh was barely able to throw his Ren shield up before Gon had shattered it with the force of his charge. The hybrid's Blood Magic was not clear colored, but a raging and foul black. The inky pallor of his aura when it was laced with rage and pain.

Gon snarled, his horns shooting three inches longer in a violent burst of biochemical. He headbutted the lion faced bastard directly in the face, gouging those beady eyes out as he screamed in pain.

Gon didn't let up, socking him hard in the gut, and twisting his fingers through the flesh and muscle, reaching in for the gooey intestines beneath the skin. He pulled that slimy pink mass out like tissue paper in a gift bag, slinging it all over the ring with splatters of blood and torn muscle to go along with it.

Blood smeared across Gon's face, and he burrowed a hole directly through the man's stomach. He crawled out the other side, and caught the fleshy mass before he could fall to his knees.

Slicking his hand with neurotoxin, Gon slathered the thick substance all over the lion-man's face. He rubbed it into the skin of his cheeks, made it drip into those tiny, empty eye sockets. He even shoved it down his throat, stuffing his hand all the way into his mouth and into his neck.

The guy choked and gagged as his throat was ripped and expanded, and he began to seize up and shudder like a vibrator as the toxin took effect. His death was prolonged, his body was trapped in a paralysis of suspended life. His brain would not shut off until Gon ripped it apart. And he'd feel. Every. Excruciating. Detail.

Gon ripped his hand out of the guy's disgusting cavern of a mouth, and then immediately grabbed his dick in his fist. He ripped it clean off, and shoved it into the guy's own mouth to stifle his screams.

The hybrid kicked his legs out from under him, and proceeded to tear him apart in the most unimaginable way possible.

Leorio watched on from the stands, horrified.

When watching Killua behave like this… Gon had acted so disgusted.

Yet here he was doing the exact same thing, the irony completely lost on him.

What the hell was going on with these two?!

If the second hand pain of watching a man get torn apart before his very eyes wasn't enough to make him cry… the expressions on Gon and Killua's faces as they tried to bury their pain in violence was more than enough to make Leorio sob in the stands.

Where had everything gone so horribly wrong?

Kurapika, what the hell was he doing?! Was it worth all this madness and pain?!