A/N: Jikola thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you like the story as it progresses and I promise the plot will become a whole lot better, especially York New!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 15

"I wish you all good luck!" Beans waved cheerfully at them as the airship took off.

They were now at the roof of the Third Phase examination site, Trick Tower. They were supposed to reach the base within 72 hours but looking at the large empty space, they were at a loss of what to do.

The three kids looked over the edge and Killua whistled low at the height.

"Do they expect us to climb down?" Leorio asked, feeling slightly sick when he followed the children's example. "That would be suicide." Kurapika replied reasonably, backing away as well.

"For normal people, yes it would."

They all turned at the voice behind them and saw a well-built man wearing a smug smirk. "But for a professional rock climber, this is nothing!" he continued, marching past them and going over the edge. In less than five minutes, he was already able to scale roughly a quarter of the wall's height.

"Amazing! He really is fast." Gon awed.

However, the moment was short-lived when they heard loud whooshing, like the sound of beating wings.

"Birds of Paradise." Renée muttered, much to the others' wonder.

Suddenly, large bird-like creatures attacked the man at the wall, and he, unable to do anything, was taken away by them to be eaten. "I guess it really is impossible to climb down." Killua said.

A few minutes passed by and the five had no such luck of finding a way down. Kurapika noticed that the number of applicants have decreased since they first arrived. Noticeably, Hisoka's presence was nowhere to be found.

"Geez why is it so hard to find a way down?" Leorio complained beside him. Just as he said that, Gon and the others called them. "We found a way down!" be hollered at them.

Renée and Killua explained how they saw one applicant step on one tile and it flipped over, dropping him inside. "We tried using it again but it seems that you can only use it once." the red-head continued.

"I thought you found us a way down?" Leorio asked again.

"We did. Here, here, here, and two more there." Gon said pointing at the tiles around them.

"They're too close to each other, don't you think? Could some be traps?" Kurapika wondered aloud. "We think so too. That's why we decided to each choose a tile. If one of us springs a trap, then no regrets." Killua butted in. "I see. I have no problems with that." the blonde stated. "Yeah! Luck is also part of the game!" the other male said determinedly.

They then decided by rock-paper-scissors. After positioning themselves, they looked at each other in farewell. "I'll see you guys on the other side." Renée said to which the others grinned. In the count of three, they stepped on a tile and it flipped over.

The red-head landed gracefully on her knees and she heard other footsteps as well. There was also a yelp and a loud thud, followed by a groan.

The lights flickered on and she found herself in the same room as her friends. Gon and Killua grinned goofily at each other and she laughed at their faces.

"That was a short goodbye." Kurapika smiled.

The speaker crackled and they turned towards it, waiting for the man on the other side to speak. "Welcome to Trick Tower! I am your third phase examiner as well as this prison's warden. The path you have chosen is the Path of Majority Rule. If you look behind you, you will see a watch which indicates how much time you have and as well as the required buttons to press in due time. Use these buttons in order to decide for you using the majority rule. Well, good luck." a voice said and then it went quiet.

"Prison?" Renée asked, slightly confused.

Gon distributed the watches by the corner and they each put one on as per the instructions. As if on cue, the wall shifted next to them, revealing a door. "Press O to open the door, X to keep it closed." they all read. Without hesitation, they all pressed O.

The door opened and they advanced. After a while of making simple choices using the majority rule, the five found themselves at a fork. "Press O to go left, X to go right. Geez, it's too easy." Leorio huffed. They all pressed a button and the screen indicated 1 O and 4 X.

"Ah! Why!? Don't you usually go left during these situations?" he exclaimed, reluctantly following them through the right path.

"It's true that when one is lost, he tends to go left when at a fork." Kurapika confirmed, not looking at him.

"But the examiner might've also known that and purposefully made the left path harder. You should learn to think sometimes." Renée smirked much to the male's irritation. "Sorry I'm simpleminded!"

After walking a little longer, the tunnel opened to a large space. There was a tunnel across from theirs and at the center is some sort of arena. Filling the rest of the space was a deep, dark, and cold abyss. They noticed five cloaked figures in the tunnel across theirs and watched in silence as one of them stood up. The other figures were huddled together, away from the one that stood, almost as if they were scared of him.

"Remove my shackles, please." he said.

A loud clang resounded throughout the area as the man rubbed his wrists. He proceeded to take off his hood, revealing a tall man with straggly black hair and a deep scar running down the right side of his face. He smirked, making the contours of of his face look more wicked.

The speakers crackled once again and the voice from before spoke to them. "The men before you are criminals that have done a lot of heinous crimes and are now under years of jailing. In order to pass, you need to win 3 matches out of 5 against them and if they win, their sentences would be reduced for 72 years. Their sentences would also be reduced according to the time they hold you so time is of the essence in these matches. And another thing, the duels may vary from death matches to ones that test mentality. Also, one person can only have one match, so best of luck to you all."

After the instructions were said, the man boldly stepped forward and looked at them pointedly. "My name is Xing. Convicted of human trafficking, rape, murder, kidnapping, and theft. I'll be the first to go. Which one of you shall fight me?" he announced smugly as if his crimes were honors. This angered Renée so much that she stepped up immediately while the others discussed the order they were supposed to go.

Killua noticed this and he grabbed onto her arm. "What are you doing?"

This caught the others' attention and they looked at the red-head that was a step away from the path that emerged.

"He looks strong Renée. I don't think you should fight him." Kurapika tried to reason out. "And didn't you hear his crimes? He's the real deal!" Leorio warned.

Gon just stared at her back and he saw how hard her fists were clenched and he knew that nothing they said would change her mind. Renée listened to their reasons though all she heard was an annoying buzzing in her head. She turned towards the others and smiled warmly. This caught them all off guard and they halted from convincing her to stay.

"Haven't you boys any manners? Ladies first." she smirked, broke free of Killua's grip, and ran towards the arena. "Good luck Ren!" her brother called out to her.

Once they were inside the ring, the man eyed her and he found that she was a familiar face.

She challenged him and stared him down as he shamelessly scrutinized her form. Xing's eyes landed on the sword at her side and it all came together so he threw his head back and laughed.

"I remember now!" This time, Renée threw him a confused look making him laugh again.

"Of course you don't remember. You're that girl we sold! I wonder how you got that sword though." he grinned, his dark eyes shone with mischievousness.

"What about my sword?" she asked hesitantly, gripping the hilt instantly.

"No need to be defensive now. I just remember that that was supposed to be mine. If only that scum Tasha Godfrei didn't cheat me." This piece of information confused the girl further.

"Tasha? How do you know Tasha?" she asked, getting angry again.

Xing laughed once again, mocking her. "As I thought, you're with him now right? That man, I can't believe he's playing around with merchandise now."

"What are you talking about?" the red-head asked again, feeling fire spark inside of her.

"Mm. I love that look. I propose a death match and don't worry, I'll tell you all about Godfrei, while I slowly peel off your flesh." he said, licking his lips.

Without warning, he charged at her, his hands aiming for her throat.

Renée ducked and grabbed onto his hand and the scruff of his shirt and threw him over her shoulder.

Killua whistled as the man landed on the stone with a thud.

"Didn't think she was THAT strong." Leorio muttered, sweating a little.

Gon only nodded slowly. He didn't know either because he hasn't seen her this angry before.

The man got up once more, the smirk never leaving his face. "You're quite strong."

"What did you mean about what you said regarding Tasha?" Xing lunged towards her again and decided to punch her head-on. Renée saw this and she dodged towards the left.

Pain shot through her nose as she recoiled, realizing that he had feinted and kicked her instead.

"Ren! Are you okay!?" Gon called from the side. She gave him a thumbs up even though blood poured heavily on the ground so she had to cover her nose, but still it trickled on.

The man laughed maniacally, seeing the blood. "This is wonderful! That old man Godfrei never let me do anything with children like you. I'm happy he's gone."

In a fit of rage, the red-head punched his face.

Angered slightly, Xing made a move to choke her but she avoided his hands.

Well she intended to knee him in the gut, but when she lifted her foot, the force caused her to slip.

Yes.

Of all the things to have happened to her, she just slipped on her own blood, saving herself from being choked to death.

Renée landed painfully on her side, and turned around quickly so as not to be taken advantage of. However, when she looked back, the man was gone. She blinked in confusion and realized that he must have tripped over her form and fell into the abyss.

A loud buzz was heard and she looked at the screen. It was 1 - 0, in their favor.

The red-head got up, fixed herself, and walked back silently while holding her nose. Once she got back to their side, Leorio immediately took her and examined her nose. She glared at him because he grabbed her so suddenly that it hurt.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not like I asked you to fight that madman. The bridge of your nose is broken. For now, all I can do is clean it and put some ointmen and a bandage on it so it doesn't get damaged any further. I just hope we can find some ice soon."

Renée stayed still as she watched Gon and Killua talk about who'd go next. They assessed him and said that he looked weak so the islander decided to go.

"Good luck Gon!" she called out as he went.

END OF 15.

A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long for me to finally update. A lot has been going on in school and at home so I've been pretty occupied. I'm also sorry for the lame chapter. I honestly didn't know how to end it.

I also plan on skipping the rest of the fights and proceed to their 50-hour stay. So here's the breakdown so you wont get confused:

Renée won; Gon won; Kurapika won through Leorio's bet; Leorio lost; Killua killed Johness because he suddenly attacked them before leaving.

I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter but I hope it can be within this month. Again I am so sorry for this.