"Alright, this is as private as we can get. I'll start by saying I don't anything about my Aunt, nothing about her organization, or anything useful. In all honesty, Kurapika probably knows more than me, but I doubt it's a lot more. Evira and the Tao Long are a mystery, and as for last night, I only have guesses."

Kurapika sighed, nodding his head in understanding, "You're right. They're no normal criminal organization. They go to great lengths to hide all information concerning themselves. Anyone who tries to investigate the Tao Long usually disappear. I was given... a courtesy visit by an elderly man named York, who asked me to stop my investigations..." he glared at the floor and clenched his teeth for a moment before continuing, "From what I found, they keep pockets of select information available, while ruthlessly stamping out any other sources. They then monitor these sources to track down investigators, as they did me. This was why I was so eager to... question you James."

A mafia that actively uses counter-intelligence strategies... Well, that's... not good... these guys aren't dumb mobsters. They sounded closer to rogue military turned criminal…

With the exception of Gon, everyone's faces became grim as each of us stared at Kurapika. Our memories going back to the force that Evira expelled over the phone. Things were not looking up...

Gon frowned, head on a swivel like a meerkat as he observed all of us.

"What's wrong you guys?"

I sighed, drawing Gon's attention to me.

"Remember that feeling Hisoka had when he, uh..." I wrapped a hand around my throat.

Gon's eyes flashed with recollection, and his face grew just as serious as the rest of us.

"I remember. Is that what your Aunt did to you guys?" he looked up at the ceiling as curiosity hit him, before coming back to look at me, "Isn't that what you did to that prisoner?"

My eyes went wide-eyed with surprise. What surprised me more was that Killua and Kurapika were looking at Gon with surprise. They all felt my ass-level Ren? That shit was garbage compared to someone like Hisoka. Gon and Killua felt the clown's Ren from more than a dozen meters away.

Ren, ren... Fuck, am I even using the term correctly? Is it the output of your emotions through your Aura, or is it the physical enhancement of the body by expelling your Aura? Is it temper as in temper tantrum or to temper metal?

Well, that's what we're here to find out. Time to ride on the magic school bus. Let's drag them out of the dumps and learn some shit too.

I clapped my hands and tried to emulate Gon's endless optimism, in an attempt to change the atmosphere from the funeral parlor to celebration party. We didn't clear the Third Phase yet, but we swept those matches. Morale should be high, not low!

"Come on, we can't focus on my family's strength! We just won our matches! The five of us can think up something! Plus, I still have to explain Nen!"

Leorio spoke, looking at me like a kicked dog. Anger clear in his voice, "I don't know what Nen is, but unless you have an entire continent's worth of resources, we're at a huge disadvantage! I think we might have no choice but to meet her..."

I frowned slightly. I can't blame the Leorio for being pessimistic. He took the brunt of it last night...

Gon kept looking around, confused.

I twirled my left hand counterclockwise, "We need to go back, Gon wasn't there. Alright, let me explain."

It took us around fifteen minutes to explain everything that happened last night. From how the four of us capturing Anita, to Evira watching us like from a continent away. Then fucking us up with mere words, threats, and Aura. Gon's face went from confused, to rapt attention, to shock, to anger, then ending in upset. It was a roller coaster of emotion for him.

When we finished, he turned to Killua and spoke to him, concern in his voice.

"Is that why you looked upset when you came back to where Mr. Netero and I were playing?"

Leorio and Kurapika looked surprised at this information. I guess Gon didn't tell them.

Killua nodded and spoke, his face annoyed, "Yeah. But that's not the reason I didn't want to play anymore! " Hrm, seems like they argued when they met each other again, "We weren't gonna' beat him, Gon! No matter how long we tried."

Gon lifted a finger and spoke, completely leaving our conversation, "Yeah! But I had a really good idea!"

"It wouldn't have worked, Gon! That old man's way too strong!"

Gon frowned and closed his eyes, squealing, "Aww! But you didn't even listen to it!"

I smiled and shook my head; and so did the Kurapika and Leorio. I still don't know how Gon does that. I sighed, but... I needed to be a walking Adderall pill to the living antidepressant and ADHD that was Gon. I reluctantly spoke, snapping my fingers to get the kids to focus, "Hey, back on topic. The teacher hasn't finished yet, I still gotta' explain Nen."

Killua rolled his eyes, "Like you're a teacher. You don't even know what you're doing."

I pointed to myself, "Yeah, but I took notes."

All four of them looked at me, completely unconvinced.

I shrugged and smirked, "I'll show you."

I walked across the room, nearly tripping on Killua's leg because I'm smooth like that, and went into my bag. It was laying in between my propped up Stick to its left and the entrance to its right. By accident I knocked over Stick, because it's just seemed like one of those clumsy days. Eh, that or a mild concussion.

I opened my bag and pulled out my laptop and its charger. After placing it down on the table, I plugged it in and turned it on; start-up music playing that would make Bill Gate's head spin with copyright infringement. I opened up the word processor and showed them the notes I made about Nen. Everything I complied from my few hours this morning.

At the top of the page was 'NEN OF THE FLAMES = NEN | HOW?'

Underneath was

'TEN', 'ZETSU', 'REN', 'HATSU', each on their own line with all the information I had next to them, as well as my interpretations of their names and all my (limited) research I found online.

Underneath it all were my ideas on what Aura could be; as well as the descriptions of all the powers I've seen, that had to be Nen. Excluding Zhulong and my real past, of course. I was about to sound crazy, but I didn't want to sound bat shit crazy. They'd probably tie me up and take me to nice little asylum if I said all that.

Alright. Time to see how smart Kurapika really is.

I spun it around to show all of them. They crowded around the table and stared at the screen, intrigued. I tapped on the screen, specifically Ren.

"So, I'm positive Evira and Hisoka used Ren. But before I jump too far ahead, let me explain what I know about Nen."

While they looked it over, I stood tall and prepared myself for disbelief. I got disbelief on their faces as they read my notes. I still don't believe most of the shit that has happened to me. They looked up at me, faces twisted in disbelief. I rubbed my hands together, gave them a shit-eating grin, then gestured to the group in the universal hand gesture 'Hold onto your butts, I haven't even started yet.'

"Soooo... I don't know if you guys know about Nen of the Flames... The guy I learned it from explained it as a philosophy, or set of mental exercises. He said it built up your willpower, but he also used it to teach me how to visualize seemingly unrelated, discrete pieces of knowledge to create a complete system. Like combining the fundamentals of engineering to build a bridge, a house, or a monument. Or how physics, material engineering, aerodynamics, and aviation make up flying a, uh..."

Kurapika and Killua nodded, completely on board with my explanation. I had lost Gon and Leorio when I said 'philosophy'. I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling in irritation, before shaking my head and thinking up a better explanation.

I turned my stare back down to everyone, lifted my left index finger in the air, and spoke, "I'm trained in several fields; but the old man taught me how to have my own style. After two days of meditating on Nen and other things, I put together all my hunting, fighting, survival, and other knowledge into something practical and structured. Instead of just running around, confused, like a chicken with its head cut off."

Killua lifted his right index finger into the air with a smirk, "I'd say that's still your style. Your too reliant on hoping for the best and you get your ass-kicked 'cause of it."

My eyes unfocused as I stared at his body language. I slowly moved my eyes to my left hand. I stared at my finger in horror. Oh god, it's begun! I'm turning native!

After a moment, I realized I was grabbing my hand like Jim Carrey or something. I glanced back to them. They stared at me like I was insane. I stared at them with an accusing look. They did this to me...

I squinted and frowned. I slowly dragged my hand down and moved on to the best of my ability.

"...I'm a work in progress... Anyways, with the Nen of the Flames I learned to visualize things very clearly. Panza described it as the way a painter sees things: you see what you need to do, put a solution together with what you have, and then you do it. He was right."

The fact I was possessed by a ghost... that most definitely helped to reinforce the training. Probably left an imprint on me or something.

"Any questions?"

Of course, Kurapika had some. He raised his hand. It's adorable how formal this world is.

I smirked, feeling facetious. I stared at the blonde with steely eyes, pointed at him with my right hand, and called out in an exaggerated, southern preacher voice, "You, in the back, my brother! What is your question?!"

They looked at me strangely. Oh man, I'm gonna' love being a troll in this world. They don't even know what trolling really is: they're not ready for a troll from the twenty first century.

Well, if I pass this Exam, that is. No, I will pass. Gotta' stay focused. Gotta' keep grindin'...

"From your explanation and notes, it sounds like Nen of the Flames is the precursor or foundation to learning actual Nen..."

I pointed at him with a smile. It morphed into a nodding grin, then I started twirling my index fingers around each other in anticipation and build up to...

Nothing. He just stared at me. Blankly.

Ok, I misread that.

He stared at me, confused, before shaking his head with a ghost of a smile.

"You thought I would continue explaining it, didn't you?"

I squinted and frowned. I turned away, whispered a quick 'maybe'. I crossed my arms, deepened my frown, and closed my eyes in annoyance; mimicking Brianniasa of all people.

"Alright, fine. I don't know anything about actual Nen, but your theory sounds correct. Hisoka said I was talented. So I'm basically accessing this stuff intuitively. As flattering and awesome as that sounds, I'm like a kid who's on training wheels hopping on a rocket-propelled motorcycle. I'm a danger to myself and society."

Leorio raised his eyebrows, "That's, uh, oddly specific," he looked down and wrapped one of his big hands around his jaw, "Is that why you were acting so strange when we were fighting the turtles? I'm pretty sure you jumped five meters at one point..." then his eyes widened and he looked at me in shock, "Wait, that was you using Nen?! No wonder... you were completely out of control..."

I nodded and realized that's probably why Kurapika waited to ambush me. He saw me whoopin' chuggin', ruggin', huggin', cocksuggin', whatever them fuggin' tortoise-nuggin', luggin', motherfuggin' things were called with my uncontrollable Ren. The blonde came to the very wrong conclusion he couldn't beat me in a fair fight.

Kurapika turned to Leorio and raised a finger, "That's a common misconception. They're tortoises since they live on land, turtles live in water," Leorio's eyebrows twitched slightly in response, Kurapika turned back to me, "and if that's the case, it would not be in our best interest to learn Nen. Not when we're in the middle of the Hunter Exam."

He frowned as he continued, "Yesterday, you had deteriorated to where it was simple for me to capture you. We still have to descend this tower. If we all end up in a similar state to yours, we would be putting ourselves at an extreme disadvantage. To say nothing of the dangers of playing with forces we have no comprehension of..."

I guess we were thinking along the same lines. Damn it. He's not wrong though, but...

I turned to Killua. He reluctantly looked back. I gave him puppy eyes. He stared at me like I was a weirdo, then sneered.

"Paprika's right, we don't know what we're doing right now. If your condition was caused by being unable to control Nen, we can't afford it backfiring on us. We don't know what's down this tower, let alone the rest of the Exam. I'd be able to pass, but I doubt you guys would. I say we hold off for now."

Kurapika and I gave a him flat look, for different reasons. I doubt cocky Killua even remembered Kurapika or Leorio's name. He has a surprisingly bad memory for things he doesn't care about.

Kurapika, uttered, supremely annoyed, "It's Kurapika..."

Gon spoke up, his eyes full of spirit as he nodded, "Yeah, but we can still learn about it! It'd help us fight someone who has it!"

He brought up a good point. Killua raised an eyebrow at Gon and frowned in thought. Kurapika chewed it over as well, while Leorio rubbed his chin and looked up at the ceiling, thinking...

I did none of that. I narrowed my eyes on Gon. He was... surprisingly... suspiciously eager to learn something that could get him killed... but Gon never lies... but...

He looked at me, then tilted his head. After a few seconds of non-stop eye-contact, he looked at me as if I was a weirdo. Then, for only an instant, he looked slightly away before making eye contact again.

There!

I hovered a finger next to Gon's face. He moved his face away from the offending digit and gave me a weirded out eye squint.

"Huh? Hey..."

"You're hustlin' us..." I said, my eyes narrowed on him like a two-bit Noir detective.

He looked away and spoke from the side of his mouth. THERE!

"No, I'm not..."

His words weren't a lie, but he was up to something, "He's hustling us! You can't hustle me! I out-hustled a hustler! You can't hustle a hustler who out-hustles hustlers! Ergo, you can't hide from my powers of observation!" I said, wiggling my finger mere centimeters from his face. I wish I could have said, 'bitch' or 'motherfucka' like Samuel L. Jackson, but Gon's only eleven, so...

Gon squeezed his eyes shut, crossed his arms, and pursed his lips in annoyance; a child-like face of denial appearing in a second. He mumbled some words, "Nu-uh, I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout..."

Killua gave him a flat look, "You just wanna' learn about it so you can practice it anyways, huh?"

Gon pressed his fingers together and frowned, "It just sounds really awesome…"

Whelp. Gon's not a liar, but he can be deceptive about his intentions, jeez.

Killua frowned and poked Gon on the forehead, "Idiot! What if you can't control it, huh?"

"It can't be too bad if James could learn to control it!" Gon said, yell back in child-like anger.

Killua was having none of it though as he poked Gon on the forehead, "Idiot! Just because any idiot can learn it doesn't mean it isn't dangerous!"

Hey... wait a minute. These two…

I pointed at the two, then at Leorio while pointing at myself, "HEY! DON'T DISMISS ME LIKE I'M A COMMON LEORIO!"

Leorio stood up with a fist in front of him, jabbing a finger towards me with the other. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "HEY! WHAT ARE TRYIN' TO SAY, HUH?! I'M SICK OF BEING THE BUTT OF YOUR JOKES!"

Pandemonium was unleashed.

Kurapika quietly stood up, picked my laptop, and sat back down on his couch. He studied the words as Leorio and I argued. He hummed and mumbled to himself as Killua lectured Gon with stiff pokes to the forehead.

Kurapika walked to the corner of the room where the bookshelf was to pick out a book; which was about the time I had Leorio in a headlock because he called me a 'squinty, foxfaced dumbass'. Kurapika walked back and ripped a piece of paper from a book, flipped it over, and started scribbling things down. That was at the same time Killua started chasing Gon around for sticking his tongue at the boy assassin; twin grins on each of their faces.

As the madness continued for twenty minutes, Kurapika dutifully read and studied my notes while Wrestlemania and an impromptu game of Tag happened all around him. The blonde said something and turned around, only to find me holding Leorio above my head like I was going to break him in half like Bane did Batman. I had a large vein popping above above my right eye, a massive frown on my face, and my eyes narrowed to their maximum. Leorio was trying to escape out of his doom, his face a mask of frustration and worry as he flailed around, but I was way too strong for him. I was gonna' throw this overgrown teen through the couch for calling me a 'curly-head, cherry-colored asshole'.

On the other side of the room, the two were having the time of their lives. Gon was ready to jump off the couch to avoid Killua, while the Cottonball Kid was doing his best to block his way. They were both laughing and giggling. The kids somehow found pillows and were using them as both shield and projectile. At one point they hit me with one, so I told them to hit Leorio while I had him a full Nelson. They had fun with that for a bit before going back to attacking each other. The two boys had massive grins on their faces as they enjoyed themselves, not a care in the world.

Kurapika coughed loudly. We all froze and stared at him, our faces filled to the brim with sheepish surprise.

Leorio spoke, wiggling in my grip like a turtle on his back, "What?"

Kurapika gave us a flat look before speaking, "I said, I think I figured it out. At the very least, I have some ideas."

The four of us looked at each other and shrugged. I put Leorio down, who patted himself down. I groaned in very real pain as I realized I got carried away wrestling Leorio. We all gathered around Kurapika, who pointed to a paper with a lot of notes in beautiful handwriting and a very nicely drawn person with Aura flowing around him. My god, Kurapika was talented as fuck. Jeez, can you stop... you're making all of us mere mortals look bad.

He tapped his figure and began lecturing.

"Your notes were... interesting James, but detailed," I forced myself to take it as a compliment, "though I don't believe 'Aura' is 'magical-shenanigans'," I was joking, you dick, "I believe it may be some type of vital force the body creates, manipulated by one's willpower, or Nen-riki. The way you describe the feeling and from your transcription of Hisoka's explanation, I'm almost certain that's what it is."

He leaned back slightly and took his eyes away from his notes to look at us, "And, while you don't know how your 'Aura' was activated, I believe I do. The only clues are: you were exposed to Nen for quite some time and Hisoka 'unlocking' all your 'Aura Nodes', meaning they were only partially open before. This leads me to believe that exposing a person to Nen will eventually lead them to accessing their Aura. The speed of which depends on the intensity of the exposure."

That… makes sense. Now that I remembered Panza taking over my body, I recall it felt like a full-body, buzzing shock of electricity. After that, every day I progressively became more tired. My body had realized I was sick and it tried to get me to sleep to conserve my Aura and energy. At the same time, it was trying to figure out how to unlock the rest of my Aura nodes to stop me from dying. Instead, I kept pushing myself through my 'fever', so to speak.

Well, none of that went how it was supposed to. Sorry body.

Deep in recesses of my imagination, I could hear my body tell me to go fuck myself.

"It would be dangerous for us to be exposed to 'Aura'. James is the only one who can use Nen, and he lacks training or understanding of how to use it. He could harm us by accident. Even if he didn't, he might not be able to open all our 'Aura Nodes' correctly, or we may not be able to control our 'Aura'; in either case, we would suffer the same condition he was experiencing. There are simply too many unknowns."

I shook my head. The way I see it: if we learned how to use Nen we'd have a major advantage over the competition. Between the two of us and Killua, I'm sure we can figure a way to stop any ill effects.

I stared at Kurapika seriously, answering back, "We'll be fine. I managed to figure out how to get into Zetsu, which is a state that allows you to suppress your Aura. If not, I still found out that Aura is influenced by your emotions, physical state, and stress. All ya' gotta' do is stay calm..." I said, doubtful of even my own argument.

He shook his head and replied with his own counterargument, his brow slightly furrowed in mild annoyance, "That only further proves my point: no matter how powerful Nen may be, we still have an exam to pass. It's unreasonable to assume any one of us can maintain our composure over the course of the Exam. More importantly: it's still unreasonable to believe we are as talented as you are, James. We may not be able to control it as intuitively as you."

He closed his eyes and sighed, before continuing, "We have less than sixty-nine hours to reach the bottom. It would be reckless and dangerous."

Kurapika had a point... He tried to put me through a tree in anger, and he's the most composed. Besides, in terms of talent, who knows how much of an outlier I am…

I sighed, all the air leaving out of me as I deflated like a balloon. Fair enough. I just wanted them to have all the advantages they could get…

But jeez, now I know how it felt to be at the other end of Pairo's argument-fu… I was trying to help…

Kurapika read my face, sighed, and then nodded. He leaned back over his notes and placed his right pointer finger on the paper.

When he spoke, he looked at my discouraged face and softly smiled, "All though... that doesn't mean we can't help you. Even if we can't, the information you provided is valuable, and will be useful for the future. Here, I translated the four principles of Nen of the Flames. These seem to be the meanings for each of the principles."

He pointed to the notes next to the figure he drew. Zetsu was still 'Suppress' or 'Null', but he had translated the other words from the original meanings.

Ten meant 'Envelop' or 'Shroud'. Ren didn't mean just 'Temper' but 'Refine' or 'Enhance'. Hatsu basically stayed the same, going from 'release' to... 'Release' or 'Act'. Not very useful.

Kurapika continued, "If the Ren is the expelling of Aura to enhance one's physical strength and can transmit emotions and intent," he moved his finger down, "And Zetsu is the complete stoppage of one's Aura by keeping it inside one's body, which further intensifies one's sensitivity to Aura..."

He moved his finger to Ten and tapped it, "...Then I suspect Ten is the intermediary between the two: a state that protects and holds aura around one's body," he dragged his finger down to the Hatsu, "and Hatsu is to en-act or release abilities by using the other three in conjunction. Though... I'm skeptical... I find it hard to believe the abilities you describe in your notes to be real."

I looked at, him wide-eyed, like he slapped me in the face. If the abilities I described are real?!

I turned to Leorio and pointed at Stick before speaking, "'Ey big boy! You wanna know how I became so badass in only three months? OK! Magic! 'Whole lotta' magic! My... screw it, my Aunt Flole has some ability to imbue things with healing! I'm assuming! 'Cause every time I got hit by Stick over there I healed faster and had so much energy! It even healed broken bones and damaged organs FROM TWO TWIN IDIOTS!"

I tapped my rib cage, on one of the various strange bumps on my rib cage from them being fractured by Kalvin's punches. Then immediately rehealed. An dull, audible, hard noise rung through the air; like knocking on a piece of wood covered by thin cloth. They stared at me my torso with discomfort. I had fractured various bones over the course of three months, not just my ribs. I became so fucking tough via repeated blunt force trauma to my everything.

They all looked at me with wide-eyed awkwardness. Kurapika and Leorio only heard bits of this last night, mostly the running...

I continued barreling forward like a madman. A dam breaking from finally being able to tell someone.

"But it only worked so much, 'cause even when you train non-stop you need to rest, ya' know! Then I took naps in an oasis thing that Briannaisa conjured up from thin air, palm tree included. It felt like I got a full night's rest and healed me! OH WAIT! Before that I'd eat magical super food that gave me so much energy and I couldn't stop eating. Then this tiny blonde woman would shoot rubber bullets at me, OR CHUCK GIANT LOGS AT ME! AND THEN A GHOST POSSESSED ME AFTER I FOUGHT A BUNCH OF FUCKIN' MONKEYS, IN THIS CREEPY-ASS WHITE FOREST THAT PROBABLY GAVE ME FUCKIN' SYMMETROPHOBIA..."

They looked at me like I was crazy. I'm not crazy! This world was crazy! You were born into this, assholes! I never asked for this! I felt like a Lovecraftian protagonist!

Leorio walked over and patted me on the shoulder. He spoke gently, "That'll do pig, that'll do."

I did a dry spit take as I stared at the now cheeky looking Leorio, a smirk and dot-like eyes on his face. How dare he?! He doesn't even know what he's saying!

Killua spoke, a smirk on his face, "James isn't completely crazy. My family and some of the Butlers have strange abilities. So, he's only mostly crazy."

I gave him a half-lidded glare as his smirk grew. His eyes and lips always got weird when he was being playful, like a cat. He continued.

"One of them can even shoot coins like machine guns. Even trick shots!" Killua ended with his eyes closed and a finger in the air.

Gon shot up, "Wow! That's so cool!"

Killua nodded, the smile on his face of a kid showing off, "Yeah! My Grandpa can even make dragons! I can tell him to show you if you ever come over my house," he said, then turned away and looked up at the ceiling, a frown and hand on his chin as he continued, "but I really don't want to go back home..." he sighed.

Kurapika looked down and grabbed his chin, mulling over it. He nodded and replied, "Neither of you are lying, and as far-fetched as it sounds, I have read articles of people with unexplained mystical and psychic powers. There was a man by the name of Moritonio who performed feats of magic that are still unexplained to this day..."

Leorio just pushed his sunglasses up and shrugged, taking everything in stride... Fuck your tiny sunglasses, Leorio...

They had just done a complete one-eighty in nothing flat...

I tapped my chin while frowning. Slightly salty(read: very salty) that everyone was suddenly very nonchalant about this. Even if I snapped at Kurapika for not believing me, that's what I expected, I wanted disbelief! That was normal!

I sighed and rubbed my face. I'm so conflicted... What does it matter what I want? Jeez...

At least they believed me. And it felt good to get it off my chest, like a giant weight was lifted off of me. It felt freeing and nice. Still, a very subdued response for realizing they were potential wizards. I guess when you got honest to god dragons and trees a mile high, everything else isn't that impressive...

...I sighed and slumped forward. I guess I'll just accept this crazy, crazy world I'm in.

I gestured to Kurapika and spoke, my voice defeated, "What else did you figure out?..."

He raised an eyebrow and gave me an incredulous look that lingered on me for a moment. He then shrugged and nodded. When he answered, there was an analyzing look in his eyes. It was a look I imagined scientists had when experimenting on lab rats.

"In your notes, you wrote you haven't left Zetsu since you met Hisoka, but you used Ren when you fought that prisoner, didn't you? I felt something when you did..."

Leorio nodded, then added, "Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but it felt like danger. Nothing like your Aunt, though. Kinda' like that feeling when you being chased by someone or something."

Gon looked at Leorio, "Really? It kind of felt like the first time I met a Foxbear. Scary. But from far away..."

Kurapika nodded at Gon, "Yes. As though a great danger was present, but the distance between us muted it..."

Killua looked at them with dull eyes, but they didn't notice it. I guess he felt it the worst because of the needle...

I cupped my chin and nodded. I guess they were all sensitive to Aura, but at different levels. So individual sensitivity and distance play an important role. The strength of Aura decreases the further away it travels...

Kurapika interrupted my train of thought, "If you could leave Zetsu for a moment, I have an idea…" said the blonde scientist to the beet-colored guinea pig. Ugh…

There was something in his eyes that was off-putting. It was well hidden, but there was an intensity in his stare. The Kurta was voracious for knowledge. He thirsted for more power and strength. He wasn't the only one. Gon's was entranced, and the only time I've seen Killua this interested was when there was chocolate around. I almost regret telling them about Nen.

The only one who didn't look at me with some form of greed, ironically, was Leorio. His eyes were serious and cautious.

I sighed and looked down at the floor. For now, I needed to focus…

I nervously loosened my body, moving and shrugging my shoulders in circles.

With a nervous breath, I raised my head and shook my arms out. I began relaxing my mind and body. I let myself fall to a natural, comfortable standing position. My state of Zetsu slowly unraveled as Aura escaped my body. First by a trickle of smoke, slowly increasing in volume and flow, until it was a torrent. It wasn't the explosiveness of Ren, but it scared the shit out of me. Considering it was my life floating away, I had reason to be.

But… having Aura flowing around you felt amazing. Mentally, it felt like waking up from the best damn sleep of your life with the exact amount of coffee for that extra kick. It feels weird at first, but you get used to the 'dunked into maple syrup' feeling. The only thing ruining it was the trail of white flowing out of my body, almost a literal example of my mortal coil being shuffled off.

I looked at them, nervously, through the white haze of Aura. They couldn't see anything, but I think they felt it by how their faces looked. I licked my lips as nervous sweat ran down my forehead and palms. I nodded.

"Ok Kurapika, now what?" I said, urgency and slight panic creeping into my voice as I could feel myself become more exhausted by the second. Yesterday had left me more than a bit traumatized. Yet, I was excited

Kurapika nodded and looked at me calmly. When he spoke, it was in a gentle but commanding voice.

"Now, try to visualize yourself enshrouded in Aura. Don't let it escape away from your body, but do not take all of it into your body. Use whatever image in your mind that best encapsulations that idea. Focus on it."

I nodded, trusting Kurapika's brain to have made the correct idea. I closed my eyes and visualized my body. In my mind's eye I was in darkness, my eyes closed, aura flowing through me and flicking around me. I imagined my body encircled by an aura. My image was a cheap convenience store capsule toy thing or a kinder egg. Just a giant oval surrounding my body.

I felt my Aura swirl and move around. First into a giant bubble, then slowly into an egg shape. But it felt wrong. This wasn't how it's supposed to be...

An image flashed in my mind. I remembered the thin membrane on Hisoka and Satotz.

The mental image of myself shifted, the egg shape of my Aura slowly being shrunk down on to my body. It felt like I was molding a piece of clay, or smoothing a piece of stone to make a statue. It was so... engrossing. It controlled me...

First the top of the egg slowly formed around my head like a helmet as I 'pushed' it down to fit my body. One side lumpy, the other side somewhat smooth and round. I'd move to the other side and did the same until each side of the Aura around my head was as close as I could get it my skin. I found I couldn't get it skin-tight as what I saw Hisoka or Satotz, it was broader. Thicker.

...

I moved on, shaping and molding the Aura down my body. Letting it flow through, from the top of my head down to the bottom of my feet. I was getting sucked into the process. I could 'feel' my Aura move and warp to my will and thoughts. It moved and changed, feeling like living, weightless clothing being formed around me. A warm, pleasant breeze swirling around my body.

...

My eyes slowly opened to find a thick layer of Aura flowing around my body. It was thicker than's Hisoka, approximation: two and a half centimeters, or an inch thick. That annoyed me, so I started focusing on shrinking it to be flush against my skin. But when I did, I found it difficult, and my Aura became a lot darker. It became a deep translucent white, instead of mostly transparent white. I found it took too much concentration to keep thin, so I stopped and let it go back to normal. My Aura immediately expanded out and back to an inch in thickness.

...es

Man, that's really irritating. At least I can see without everything being covered in white... Nah, I want it to be as thin as there's. I glared at my hand, concentrating on every intricate detail of the movement and shape of my Aura as it swirled over my body...

...James

I flipped my hand over and brought it close to my face. I started pushing the Aura down more and more... Trying to make it like a plastic sheen on my skin like theirs...

"James!"

I snapped my head up to the person. It was Kurapika, who was looking at me with slightly concerned eyes. When I did, I saw everyone was looking at me with different looks of concern. I was confused.

"What?" I said, finding that my voice sounded like I snapped out of a haze. I blinked, my eyes dry and my mind tired for some reason. Whoa... I can just barely see the Aura escaping from the top of their heads. Almost imperceptible. If I concentrate, maybe...

"James..." I blinked, quickly snapping out of it as Killua answered, his eyes analyzing me, "You were standing there with your eyes closed for close to ten minutes. Then you just stared at yourself for another fifteen minutes. You didn't respond. No matter how much we tried to get your attention. And you just stared at us, blankly, for about a minute."

I scratched my chin and frowned, embarrassed.

"Sorry. When I'm really interested in something, lose track of time. It felt like no time passed at all," I said, removing my hand from my chin and went back to looking at it. If I could manipulate my Aura, can I change its shape beyond a force field? What if I try... yeah, I can make a little pimple thing on the edge... what if I...

"JAMES!"

"What?! Why are you yelling?!" I yelled back, maybe a bit too hard. I looked down to see everyone looking at me with slight glares. The offending yeller, Killua, was glaring hard at me.

"You just stared at your hand for another five minutes!"

I blew out air, "You can't see it, but I'm moving my Aura! Kurapika was right about Ten, it's flowing around me like a giant suit. I'm not dyin' anymore! I can even move my Aura around a bit..." I looked down, "What if I..."

"No!" they groaned.

Damn it. Fine... I'm my worst enemy when something piques my interest... But it's so interesting... I mean if you can move a little of it around, maybe I can move most...

Nope, stop. I've been told I'm a workaholic, but really, I just have addictive personality traits…

...but this wasn't like that. It's just that, Kurapika's a good teacher, Nen's got me really, really interested though, and I'm talented so I could... No, no. It's not a good time, I could really fuck myself up if I don't know what I'm doing...

...but I can control my Aura now! Nothing bad's gonna' happen now. I mean, this is real-life magic! And it comes easy to me... I'm so good at it! So what if started controlling it so I...

A comic book hit me in the face, snapping me out of my thoughts. I rubbed my nose and stared at everyone. They were all giving glaring at me again, disturbed. I sighed, frustrated.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

They all nodded like I asked if water was wet. I sighed.

Kurapika sighed as well and spoke, "For your own good, I recommend you stay in Zetsu and recover. You can practice Nen after the Exam."

But... magic!... and it's so tempting and easy to control...

He looked at my attempt at a sad, puppy dog face and was completely unswayed. Probably didn't help my face naturally looked like I mugged small children for fun. I wouldn't be surprised if my puppy dog face looked like a snarling dog. Not a fox.

He shook his head and continued.

"On top of protecting yourself from yourself, it's better to keep your ability to use Ren a secret for now. No one else outside this room knows you have it.."

I slumped forward and frowned, my jaw jutting out. Like an Orc from World of Warcraft.

Which is, uh, heh, a game I got addicted to...

Maybe he's got a point…

I frowned and sighed. I am the oldest. That means I have a responsibility to be somewhat of a good role model.

I left my mind and stared at the seventeen-year-old telling me what to do, then the rest of the kids in the room. I adjusted my suit, coughed into a fist, and gave them all a dignified look. Time to turn these frowns upside down.

"Alright. After some consideration, I've brilliantly realized, all on my own, and no input from anyone else, that I have to protect myself from myself and refrain from practicing with my Nen. And all of you should refrain from trying to access your Aura, least of which you end up failing the Exam or worse. Thank you all for listening to me."

Kurapika looked at me with dull eyes, his voice dry as the desert, "Gee, such a mature, humble, and original conclusion. However did you come up with it?..."

I cupped my hands against my chest, opened my mouth, fluttered my eyes at Kurapika, and feigned flattery. That just annoyed him even more.

Killua looked at me with a frown, annoyed by my facetiousness. He blew some hair out of his face and spoke.

"Since it's a bad idea to practice Nen," he said that while glaring at me, then Gon, "or open our Aura Nodes and we don't know much about it, are we done here? I wanna' go back to reading manga with Gon."

Leorio pointed to my laptop and answered Killua's question with another question.

"Can't we look stuff up on the laptop?"

Kurapika shook his head, "I tried. There's no signal."

Leorio rubbed his face before answering, "Hmm. Can't we hook up the laptop to the internet?"

I replied, looking at Leorio in confusion, "How? There're no ethernet ports around here. Even if we did, we have no ethernet cables."

Leorio's face was dismissive, "You said you went to school for computers, right? Can't you, I don't know, do... something? You hacked the laptop. Just hack a connection!" he said with a wave of his hand, like I was a peasant.

I stared at him dumbly, my mouth wide open and a disbelieving smile on my face. No matter where I go, I can't escape the technologically inept. Must I always be the IT? Never the programmer?

"Eh? Why are you staring at me like that?" Leorio said with an eyebrow raised.

"'Cause, I can't do that? I ain't god, I can't magically hack anything and everything," though that does sound cool, "besides, we're in a prison, and I just checked the wireless connections on the laptop; this place must be shielded because it ain't gettin' a connection from the satellite hookup. And there're no wireless networks around."

"So," Killua began, though by the petulant tone of his voice, I knew what he was gonna' say, "we can't look up any more information and we can't learn Nen. Great!" He put both hands on his head, leaned back, and dramatically (and childishly) laid back on the floor. He kicked his feet in the air for even more dramatic effect.

Gon, sitting down with hands on his ankles, leaned over to blink at Killua. Then he spoke with exuberance, deciding to lead Killua astray from our topic of discussion.

"Hey, can I use your skateboard!"

Killua looked up from his concrete bed and spoke with a shrug, "Sure, as long as I can use your fishing rod."

I rubbed my face, annoyance also firmly in my voice.

"No, we're not done yet. Tell them who your brother is, Killua."

"Oh yeah," he looked up, which from his laid-down position was straight at a wall, and then answered, "well, he's Gittarackur. The guy in green with the needles on his head. You guys should avoid him if you can, even if you have to forfeit the Exam. He'll kill you without a second thought. Hmm... I forget what number he is."

"He's three-oh-one," I said, looking at him expectantly. He looked back at me, confused.

"What?"

I started communicating via facial telepathy and body gestures. Since our conversation was entirely contextual, basically charades, everyone else was confused.

The needle in your head!

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. I don't want to tell them.

OK? But what about my aunt? I telegraphed by miming a triangle around my head and then a telephone.

He shrugged again. Meh...

Fine! I gave him a dismissive wave of my hand as everyone just stared at us, unsure of what to make of my miming.

Gon quickly got up and grabbed Killua's skateboard, as well as his own fishing rod. Leorio raised his hand, his face serious.

"That's great that you learned Ten, Nen, or whatever; but that still doesn't help us with your Aunt," he turned his head to Gon, "and you haven't told us what you and his Aunt talked about, Gon."

We all looked at Gon, all four of us tense. But Gon was either immune or oblivious to our moodiness as he walked back to where he sat with Killua, his new toy and his fishing rod in each hand.

Gon sat down and looked at Leorio with a wide-eyed 'O' face. When he spoke, it was with genuine surprise, "That's right, I forgot! She told me she knew how to find my dad. All I have to do is talk to her in person."

Leorio leaned forward as he replied back, his protectiveness and anger coming out in his body language, "Did she threaten you, in any way, Gon?"

Gon shook his head, his face blank and confused that we were all tense. He furrowed his eyes.

"She didn't threaten me. She just told me she'd tell me how to find my dad. When I asked if I didn't have to see her, she just said it'd be fine. She said, 'the offer is always on the table.'"

The four of us looked at each other, letting out a breath we didn't know we were holding. That came as a relief. We all thought she'd threaten to burn down his house or something.

Leorio leaned back into his couch, relief on his face like the rest of us, "That's a relief. That doesn't help us fight Evira, but that's at least she doesn't want you, Gon."

I looked at the floor, thinking. I turned to Killua, who was frowning, then Kurapika. The blonde was staring at me, already making the connection before me. He spoke what I thought, though not all of it.

"She has nothing to gain threatening Gon, and nothing to lose giving him an offer."

And she would go from a potential enemy or ally, to full-blown enemy.

I looked down at Killua, who was looking at Gon, conflicted. He looked... almost envious.

I frowned. I knew why, but he had no reason to be.

Shaking my head before turning to Kurapika, he looked at me expectantly. He wanted me to speak.

I made a face and sighed. We weren't the leaders of this group; no one was. But, outside of Gon, I had somehow grown closest to all these rugrats. And I already promised them and myself I'd help pass these brats…

They'd listen to me without argument, which was funny since I argued the most...

I crossed my arms as my face became serious.

"Since three of us have no choice... after the Exam, if nothing happens, we'll all go to York New City. Are we in agreement?"

But that wasn't a question.

They all nodded, their eyes determined.

Afterwards, we relaxed, rested, and had a good time. I smoked everyone in this world's video games…


Around thirty-nine hours later and we looked and felt like shit. We were covered in dirt and grime. The number of challenges, traps, and bullshit we had to go through was absurd. At one point we were running away from a giant boulder, Indiana-Jones style. But we had made it.

The final choice.

As we stared at the choice in front of us, it annoyed me.

We stared at the two metal doors, in a room brick room filled with melee weapons of all types. The door on the left was marked with a big red 'X' and the door on the right was marked with a big red 'O'. In between the metal doors was the creepiest statue I've ever seen. A woman coming out the wall with spikes all over her. Man. What the fuck.

We had stayed sixteen hours in that break room. I will not lie, it was one of the best sleep I ever had; even if all I had as a futon was a blanket and I slept on my side the entire time. I didn't even have to be in half-sleep, half-guard up like I was on the airship. We ate, had fun, rested. We went slow and safe down the Tower, but it still was a hellish, tedious thing.

I had a fresh bandage wrap on my head and my right wrist felt stiff, but outside of typical soreness, I felt well-rested. The swelling on my chest and back had gone down a lot from applications of frozen soda cans.

But, after we left the room, it took us thirteen and a half hours to get to this point...

The choice was simple:

Press O for the long and difficult path that all of us could take, but would take a minimum for forty-five hours to complete.

Or X for the short path and easy path, which would only take THREE MINUTES to get to the goal. But only three of us could go through. We had to shackle two of us to the wall with manacles that hanging from the stone surface.

We only had about thirty-eight hours left on the timer. But it seemed obvious.

I shook my head and looked at the rest of my group. The other three looked distressed. I could see a spark in Gon's eye. I bet he had the inkling of an idea, the same as me. He turned to me, saw the twinkle in my eye and smiled, our thoughts in agreement. We spoke at the same time as everyone looked at us.

"X!" I said.

"O!" he said.

"Huh?" we both said, confused.

Gon shook his head, "No, we need to go down the right path."

"No, the left path. Trust me. We ne-, wait, what am I doing? Come here," I waved Gon over. He looked at me for a moment, confused, but ultimately nodded and walked over.

I squatted down and told him to whisper his plan in my ear. He nodded and did. I cupped my chin, looked up at the ceiling, and nodded.

"That's better than my plan," I clapped my hands, turned around, and pointed at the other three, "Alright, let's pick 'O'!"

Killua, Kurapika, Leorio looked at me, not at all confident in our decision.

We nodded, a smirk on my face, and a determined smile on Gon's. Killua and Kurapika shrugged, while Leorio looked confused. Killua and Kurapika probably arriving at our conclusion and trusting us, and Leorio never arriving at our conclusion but trusting us. One thing I know, Killua trusted Gon and I, while Leorio completely trusted Gon. No way they would doubt us.

We all pressed O. The door opened and the two of us in green grabbed weapons off various racks on the wall. I handed an axe to Kurapika and a pick-axe thing to Leorio. Gon handed Killua a mace. I had a spear-axe thing while Gon had an axe. They followed us into the 'long and difficult path'.

Gon and I slammed our weapons into the left wall. The rest of our group smiled when nothing happened in repercussion. We tore down the mother-fucking wall between the two paths.

About an hour later, we slid down a metal slide (that hurt my ass) and into a dark hallway. A moment later, a grinding sound echoed through the darkness, and light poured in as a stone door slid up. We walked out of the darkness, one by one, and into victory. We heard our names being called out by an announcer on the P.A. system.

"Kurapika, number four-oh-four, is the seventh to pass. Killua, number ninety-nine, is the eighth to pass. Gon, number four-oh-five, is the ninth to pass. Leorio, number four-oh-three, is the tenth to pass. James, number one hundred, is eleventh to pass."

"Time elapsed, forty hours and fifty-three minutes."

I smirked as I stepped into the massive, round, stone chamber. Bright torch, pot, things were held up on poles; illuminating the entire chamber. Positioned in a way to make an invisible square near the center of the room. There were six other people in the room.

Fifty-three, Pokkle. Three-seventy-one, Goz. Three-zero-one, Gittarackur. Forty-four, Hisoka. Two-nine-four, Hanzo. Three-eight-four, Geretta.

Well. It seems all the favorites are in this room, but there is plenty of time left for plenty of people to come. Considering there are thirty-two doors, they're guessing thirty-two people will, at most, pass this phase...

I sniffed as I held in a sneeze and rubbed my nose. Dusty slide... I guess it's time to settle down. We still got thirty-two hours to go as Killua complained about the slide hurting his butt. It hurt my butt too, but I ain't gonna' say that in front of the rapey clown, man...


About thirty hours went at a snail's pace. Not helped by the fact I was getting mean mugged by everyone not on my team or named Hisoka. Oh I knew why, but they can go fuck themselves. I glared back at them half the time, the other half sleeping, eating, trying to avoid interacting with my team, and think.

Thinking, meditating against a wall like Piccolo (it made me look like I was brooding instead of meditating. I needed to keep my act up), sleep, memorize my opponents: their faces, numbers, assumed strength, and skill. If they were gonna' give me dirty looks, I'd do the same and then some.

Those were my thirty hours.

Well, at least my irrational (or rational, given my background) social anxiety and shyness were dead. Being surrounded by people who potentially wanted to kill you for more than a day does that to a person...

That's also the reason I tried to separate myself from the rest of the four: so they wouldn't be completely associated with me. I didn't want them to get caught in the collateral damage. From what Mayer told me, there was usually some battle royale component; either in teams or individually. And a lot of people were gunning for me.

Todo, Anita, Hanzo for some reason, the Amori brothers, Sipe- I fucking helped her, what the fuck...

As I said, everyone was gunning for me...

Even if that wasn't the case, I'm still reserved around strangers. I didn't want to to talk in a room full of people of I don't know. But, every time I tried to separate myself, the other four would notice and subtly prevent me from doing so. After a while, I just gave up and stayed close to them. Nodding, grunting, and barely talking...

Twenty-seven applicants have passed, including a guy who stumbled through the doors... and then promptly fell on his face and died. So twenty-six.

That happened a few minutes ago. Now, all of us were standing outside of Trick Tower. The fucking mountain this prison was on was so tall the ocean looked close.

We all starred at Lippo, the Examiner we only knew by voice. A short, bespectacled man in black and grey clothes. He had a mohawk with hair color similar to my own, except his was darker and more purple in the light, whereas mine refused to stay a consistent color of beet. At times, my hair was pink in bright light. Why couldn't my hair have just stayed black?

More disturbing, to me anyway, was seeing someone who had similarly shaped eyes to mine. Yep, definitely squinty, but whereas his were perpetually amused looking, mine was a perpetual angry glare. So, I guess my eyes were like coyotes or wolves? Anything but a fox.

Jesus, that's how my eyes look in motion? No wonder people kept their distance, they're frightening to look at.

He addressed us with his hands behind his back.

"Congratulations on escaping Trick Tower, everyone. All that remains now are the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase."

My eyes widened as I felt a mixture of euphoria and excitement spread from my stomach to the rest of my body. I smiled. We were so close...

Hanzo spoke, the tall Ninja saying what was on everyone's mind.

"Only two more..."

Lippo pointed his right thumb over his shoulder, towards an island far, far away. But just looked close because we were so damn high. He continued, the white shine on his glasses and a perpetual smile making the atmosphere ominous.

"The Fourth Phase will take place right over there on Zevil Island. Now, let's proceed."

He threw his right hand up and snapped his fingers. A bald man with a yellow jumpsuit dragged over a box on a metal cart. There was a hole at the top of the box...

"To begin with, I will need each of you to draw lots now."

Everyone started muttering and questioning the reason. Pokkle spoke up, "Draw lots for what? What will that decide?"

The mohawked Examiner just smiled and answered, amusement dancing in his voice, "Hm. Who you hunt, and who hunts you."

At those words, the atmosphere changed from ominous to deadly. My eyes narrowed...

There was only one way to identify the candidates, other than by name and appearance, that is...

I reached up to my chest like I was scratching an itch, unclipping my badge. I continued scratching, as though I was really itchy. Subtly, I slipped my hand under my suit and placed my badge in my suit pocket. I kept scratching, trying to get my team's attention.

Leorio was completely oblivious to my actions, too focused on Lippo's explanation.

But Kurapika realized what I was doing since I'm not spontaneously itchy for no reason. He made to look like he was adjusting his bag, quickly taking off his badge over his heart and slipping it in.

Since Gon and Killua were behind me, I could only hope they got my hint.

Lippo continued, gesturing to the box to his right, "In this box are exactly twenty-six numbered cards. Which means, that one of the number cards will correspond with your badge. Now, each of you will draw a card in the order you exited the tower. All right. Which of you was first?"

I raised my hand. My mind was racing a mile a minute. I didn't really have a question, only something that sounded like a legitimate question... I needed to kill time...

Lippo pointed at me and spoke, somehow smiling even wider as his eyes narrowed on me, "Yes?"

I think he knew what I was doing, but he was humoring me. He hadn't pointed out I put away my badge. He found this whole thing intensely amusing. Good.

I began acting, really laying on my accent.

"Yeah, so what if we pick our own number, huh? Does that mean we get a pass?!" I said loudly and with a sneer.

Lippo chuckled, "You have no reason to worry about that. Though, from the looks of it, you don't seem like much of a hunter... Afraid of a little camping?" Everyone laughed, but not all. Still, excellent. I guess most of them forgot I noticed the monkey on the first day of the exam. Four days of struggles will do that...

I'd love to say I was such a good actor that my face turned red on command, but it didn't. Somethings are just primal, like turning crimson when a group of people laughs at you. So it wasn't too hard to react as I wanted.

I whipped my head around, lifting my right fist up while pounding Stick into the ground with other, and began yelling, "Hey! Fuck you all! I don't need ta' hunt any of ya' bastards! You all ain't shit! I'll fuck you all up with my bare hand and my club! Just stay still and don't move, or come to me! I don't care! I ain't hiding!"

They really thought I was a dumbass gangster, especially when they heard I called Stick a club. Jokes on them, I bet they don't even know it's called a Suburito, and I'm smart as fuck...

Except for my group, Hisoka, Gittarackur, Siper, Anita, and Hanzo; the rest of the candidates looked at me with dismissive smiles and chuckles. Leorio grabbed me by my jacket and turned me to face him.

"Calm down, all right!" he said. I looked down to see his tag gone. A quick glance told me Gon and Killua had their tags off as well, while everyone else was still laughing at my stupidity. Anita, Siper and Hanzo put their badges away in the blink of the eye, while Hisoka and Gittarackur didn't care. They were too strong to bother.

I pushed Leorio away and made a show of crossing my arms over my chest with a sneer, block where my tag would be. I pulled off an angry pout very well with my face.

After everyone settled down from laughing, Hisoka walked up and pulled out a card. He was injured on his right shoulder and the left side of his waist (not that it affected him...). After that, each of us came up in the order we passed. Guess which guy went eleventh?

When I went up to take my lot, I made a show of being as angry, loud, and stupid as possible. I had my arms crossed in front of me to hide my chest, Stick in my hand. Complaining about every little thing. Doing everything in my damn power so they wouldn't notice my missing badge, ergo notice I'm not raging moron with less than two brain cells. I had to wait until when everyone realized...

While my outside appearance was obnoxious, brash, and angry; on the inside, I was bursting with excitement and anticipation. I reached in, pinched a card, and walked back to the rest of my group. A few minutes later, the last person drew. That's when Lippo spoke.

"Very well. Now if you would, please go ahead and remove the sticker..."

I pulled back the sticker and saw the number two-eight-one. Agon. The short fencer. I pretended to look confused, like everyone else.

Lippo gave an amused grunt and continued, "The number you see is your target."

Everyone muttered and went for their badge. I pretended to do the same, really hamming up my gasp. Everyone was staring at one another, doing their best to pick up on what the number was underneath people's hands. I did the same, but instead of memorizing their numbers, I analyzed them; trying to see who knew their targets...

"This box has recorded the number that each of you drew. Each card was tallied and then stored in memory. So if you like, you're free to dispose of the cards. It makes no difference at this point. The objective is to steal your target's ID badge."

Hmm. I expected us to capture each other. The blue Amori brother had different conclusions.

"Oh good. So we don't have to kill each other, then," he said with a sigh.

I was relieved as well, but not by much. Because I had a feeling...

Lippo stared at them and spoke, "The method is up to you. Procure the badge however you see fit. But if you kill your target, you can take their badge easily."

Yup. There we go... Hisoka's gonna' have a field day. Fuck the badges and pretense, might as well make this a real battle royale, tch...

The red Amori brother answered, "Yeah, that sure sounds like the fastest way to me."

Blue Amori answered his brother, voice trembling and reluctant, "So that's how it's gonna be?"

The big, yellow one replied, elbowing his brother, "Come on, there's nothing to be scared of."

Ya' know what? Blue one, you're all right. I won't break your bones like your brothers, even though I should...

I'd be paying them a visit: I had questions for them and a promise to keep...

Lippo raised his hand and spoke, "Listen carefully!" he lowered his arm and continued, "Collecting the ID badge of your specified target will earn you three points. Understand? Your own badge is also worth three points. And all the other badges are worth one point. In order to move on to the Final Phase, you will have to collect six points."

He raised his hands, displayed six fingers, then continued, "So during your time there on Zevil Island, gather enough badges to collect six points or fail the Exam. Only those who do will clear the Fourth Phase of the Hunter Exam."

I clenched my jaw and frowned deeply. I turned around and looked over everyone, Stick resting on my right shoulder. I wanted to smile, but I couldn't. Had to play the part...

I've been waiting a long time for this.

To finally hunt.


Author's Notes:

Hello dear readers! I hope you all are doing well and continue to do well!

James has finally accepted the madness of Hunter X Hunter; mwahaha. He won't be crazy, but he won't whine so much now that he accepts how the world is. But that doesn't mean he accepts that's how the world should be. Let's see how that goes for him.

Beethead now has Ten, Ren, and Zetsu in his arsenal. Now that he's no longer in a half-awakened state and is starting to learn Nen, things get interesting. He's also piqued the other's interest. Let's see if the five actually keep their promises about not trying to learn Nen. But let's consider, for a second: did they verbally promise anything? Who's the only person who doesn't lie, but is disingenuous at times?

Anyway, if you're wondering why James hates foxes: it's because one of the people he's based on got bitten by a fox when he was younger and hates them. I did not know this at the time when changing Jame's face to balance with the other four and to juxtapose him and Hisoka. Both about the same age, both tricksters and mentors, both red-headed: but whereas Hisoka can be represented as a Japanese Kitsune(in all those contotones and meaning it implies), James is an American Coyote.

It's also the reason why James screams like a baby when alcohol wipes are used on cuts and hates cherries. It's weird, I know.

By the way, the person who's idiosyncrasies James is cursed with got real angry and went on a tirade at me when I described James as foxfaced. As in, James angry. I find this fucking hilarious. He'll never read this story too, hehehe...

Lastly: I've been waiting a while for Zevil Island. Time to show you how much of a Living Disaster James really is, how much canon can be derailed, as well as to show where his combat talents really lie...

Everyone stay safe, healthy, and happy! If you are missing some of those things; I hope you get them and then stay safe, healthy, and happy!

See you next chapter! Rondo out!