Third Exam: Part 1

Killua was budding. More rather something was latched onto him. That something being a girl named Love. People were noticing this, especially Gon.

"Sta-I mean...Love," he poked her arm which was around Killua's hip. "You can't stay with him forever. I mean...he's gotta go to the bathroom sometime."

"I know!" Love chimed. "And I'll go with him!! I can help him-"

She couldn't finish her sentence because Killua just punched her in the face and walked away from the bloody mess, red with embarassment. Love sat in a bloody mass on the floor. It was so worth seeing his cute, embarassed face.

"Love," Gon slowly walked towards her. "You really shouldn't tease Killua like that." He might actually kill you one day.

"What's wrong?" the girl sat up straight, unaffected by the deadly blow she had just been dealt. "Jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous of him?" Gon asked straight-faced.

"Not of him," Love smiled slyly. "Of me."

"You? Wha-"

"Sorry for the delay," the intercom interrupted him. "We have arrived at our destination."

Everyone looked outside the windows of the humongous blimp. Beneath the airship stood a rock tower of unascertainable height. Clouds hid the bottom, wrapped around the tower in puffy, white rings. The building had smooth edges and no visible openings. It was a perfect cylinder from top to bottom. The contestants were presently oblivious to its purpose.

Once the airship landed itself upon the flat expanse, the examinees impatiently filed out and gaped about them. The three youngsters lounged around near the edge.

"Wow!" Gon gawked. "I can see for miles up here!"

"Really?" Killua shrugged. "I only see clouds."

"You just have bad eyes, honey," Love giggled, also peering over the edge.

"Hey, when did I become 'honey'?" Killua growled.

"That's no way to treat your fiancee, sweet-heart!" Love made a kissy face at him, which only gained her a kiss from his fist.

"Stop deciding these things on your own," he roared and then slunked off with Gon.

"Aww...boys have no sense of romanticism," Love whimpered, but still followed them in high-spirits.

Everyone hushed as the short bald man with no nose or neck cleared his throat. "We are at the top of Trick Tower," he announced. "This is where you enter the third phase. As for the test itself, the examiners have informed me that you have 72 hours to reach the base of Trick Tower alive."

Murmurs rippled through the 40 remaining applicants. They turned back to see that the Hunter Judging Commission had already boarded the airship and were leaving as they gawked.

"Begin your descent!" a speaker boomed from the blimp. "And good luck!"

Everyone looked about themselves, no inkling as to where to begin. The sides where smooth and nearly impossible to climb, plus there were no doors or windows...within visibility.

"There must be a hidden door somewhere," Kurapica surmised, glancing about.

"I think you're right," Love spoke about as she looked around. "See, the crowd has been thinning without us noticing."

"Twenty-one, twenty-three," Leorio counted. "Only twenty-three left?! Where did everybody go?"

"There must be multiple trap-doors," Kurapica concluded.

"Leorio! Kurapica!" Gon called out to them as the two boys came running over. "We found a trapdoor!"

The group followed and were led to a spot near the west side of the tower. They all stood around in a circle.

"There are five in all," Leorio pointed out. "All grouped close together. Interesting..."

"No doubt there are traps under most of them," Kurapica spoke his thoughts.

"And it seems they can only be tripped once," Gon informed the rest.

"Why?" Love asked.

"We saw someone fall through one over there," he pointed over his shoulder. "But when we tried it, it wouldn't budge. Guess its one door per applicant. Guess we're all on our own."

"NOOOOOO!!!" Love wailed as she glomped Killua. "Fate can be so cruel!! I can't live without you my swe-" Punch!

"Gon and I figure we'll each pick one, and if they're traps, oh well," Killua suggested to the others as Love lay smoking on the floor. "How about you guys?"

"Aw, why not?" Leorio shrugged. "This may be a test of luck."

"On the count of three," Kurapica led. "We all hop in. Guess its so long for now."

"See ya on the ground," Leorio waved.

"Ok," Gon and Killua chimed.

Love was still wailing on the floor next to the remaining trap door.

"One, two...THREE!"

They leapt through the trap doors, falling for about a second before they reached hard ground. They looked around each other to find themselves in the same room, contrary to their previous expectations. Killua and Gon gave each other thumbs-up, while Love lavished Killua in kisses, only to earn herself another punch in the face. There were no other visible openings, but a placard was on the wall above a table with five curious wristbands.

The Path of Majority Rules

The five who drop into this chamber must find their way down together by consensus of the majority.

They looked down at the little blue wrist timers. They had a clock ticking down their 72 hours by the second and two buttons marked X and O. They each put one on.

"Very good," a little speaker box from above jutted into their bewilderment. "There are many ways down, each route with different requirements. This is the path of Majority Rules, and it cannot be traversed by one man alone. Cooperation will be the essence of success. Good luck with that endeavor."

A grating noise resonated from the left and they all turned to see a piece of the rock wall move to reveal a door. On the door was a sign that read Open this door: O - Yes, X - No

"We have to agree on this already?" Leorio complained. "Well, its a pretty obvious choice anyway."

Everyone looked down to their wrist timers and all pressed O. The door swung open and they ventured through to meet a wall. To their left and right were bars barracading the way. Ahead of them read another sign.

Which way?

O- Right

X- Left

"This could get monotonous," Leorio sighed.

"Yes, if we can't even go five feet without having to take a vote," Kurapica grumbled.

Everyone made their choice and the results appeared on the sign. O: 3, X: 2. The bars to the right slowly rose up and out of the way.

"Right?" Leorio shouted. "Look, in a maze, you wanna go left! I want to go left! I need to go left! Right makes me nervous!"

"Behavorial research shows that people who are lost unconciously tend go left," Kurapica explained.

"I've heard that too," Killua piped in.

"Screw research!" Leorio fumed. "Which did you pick?"

"O," Killua and Kurapica chimed happily.

"Are you nuts?" Leorio growled.

"I just picked whatever Killua picked," Love held her hands up defensively before Leorio. "I never heard that rule either. I'm as ignorant as you!"

"Humph! Fine!" Leorio grumbled, his tail between his legs. "So we're naive, so what?"

They walked through the right tunnel in silence. The stroll was long, but they finally reached a dead end. The maze opened out into a large chamber that seemed to have no floor. In the middle of the chamber was an arena lit with torches. Across the room were five cloaked figures in chains. A camera next to them whirred around to one of the cloaked figures.

"The examinees are here," the mystery person spoke to the camera. "Unlock my handcufffs."

"Unlocking," the camera droned.

The metal cuffs on the cloaked figure fell off and clanked on the hard floor. The figure removed his cloak to reveal a muscular bald man with various scars on his head.

"The committee has selected us as your taskmasters!" the bald man shouted across the chamber to the five hunters-to-be. "My name is Bendot. You five will challenge the five of us. We will battle one-on-one, each going only once! Decide for yourselves the order you will go in. Win the majority of the matches-best of five-and you may pass. The rules of combat are simple: fight anyway that suits you. There will be no draws. To be declared the victor your opponent must admit defeat, or die. Will you accept this challenge? Vote now! O for yes; X for no!"

"Hah? Another freakin vote?!" Leorio shouted. "Do we have to do this every time? I've heard of voting early and often, but this is just ridiculous."

They all pressed the buttons on their wrist bands and the results appeared on the screen of a sign on the wall. O: 5, X: 0.

"You're on!" Leorio shouted over to the bald man. "Let's rumble!"

"Very good," the man stepped forward. "I'll take the opener. Pick your contender!"

The group of five examinees huddled together, whispering among themselves.

"Ok, who wants to take this guy?" Kurapica whispered.

"I don't really care who I fight," Killua shrugged indifference.

"Me neither," Gon agreed.

"Same here," Love chided in.

"I want the easiest one, and that definitely doesn't look like its him," Leorio gulped down a lump in his throat.

Everyone turned to him, eyes open in accusing half slits. "Weakling," they poked fun at Leorio all at once.

"Hey! I am not!" He rasped back.

Apparantly, Bendot was getting impatient because he yelled over. "Maybe the little blondie might wanna take a stab at it. Or the spiky-haired kid, or maybe even the little silver-haired one. He looks like he'd be fun to knock around."

Love's ear twitched. Her hands closed into fists as she broke away from the huddle, an ominous aura radiating from her.

"Anyone who touches Gon, I'll kill, however," she looked up, and her brown bangs no longer covered her fierce eyes. She was a totally different person. "ANYONE WHO TOUCHES KILLUA, I WILL TORTURE FOR ALL ETERNITY!!! YOU'RE ON, PUNK!!!"

The bald man smirked. A little bar of rock slowly made its way from beneath the five challengers of both sides over to the arena in the middle. "Only the contender may cross."

The brown-haired girl leapt onto the moving bar, but was too impatient for it to reach the arena and leapt the rest of the way there. Bendot waited to reach the arena and when they were both there, said, "How shall we do this? My choice would be a fight to the death. We go until one of us admits defeat, or dies."

The four at the other side of the chamber gasped. 'Surely, Love wouldn't agree to that,' Killua thought to himself. 'She couldn't bear dying without me.'

"I wouldn't have it any other way," the girl declared back.

Killua looked up in surprise. 'Seriously?'

"Just so you know," the girl pointed her finger at the bald man as her long brown hair whisped about her. "The name of your killer is Rage! Let's fight!"

"'Rage'?" Kurapica and Leorio wondered aloud. "But I thought her name was Stasy."

Killua and Gon looked over at each other, not sure if they should spill her secret or not. Gon nodded and then Killua sighed. "She has schizophrenia. There are nine personalities in all. The one you first met was Ecstasy. The one she was using until just recently was Love."

"That explains her clinging onto you," Leorio murmured.

"The one we see now is Rage," Killua frowned. "Only one of her bad personalities. Let's just hope Malevolence doesn't escape."

"Malevolence?" Kurapica asked, worried.

"She's given them all accurate names," Killua sighed as he leaned against the wall and looked up at the fight. "Malevolence, as you can guess, is the worst one."

Silence fell heavily upon the group and then they turned back to watch the fighting begin.

"Well, let's begin," Bendot lunged forth for the ready Rage.