News of Jun tearing up Tartarus was starting to spread. She'd been downstairs for three days now, only leaving her post to use the bathroom or buy food. She'd stayed awake the entire 72 hours she'd been downstairs and still had the 250 million Jenny. The amount of fighters willing to challenge her had diminished. Other floor masters didn't even bother, figuring the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. They didn't need 250 million Jenny from a crazy woman.

Even Killua and Gon had heard something about the Red Queen fighting at the gates of Hell and while Killua wasn't particularly enthused with trying to go downstairs to watch a dangerous fight, Gon was already taking the elevator.

The elevator opened on the basement floor, and the two were greeted by a woman. "I am sorry Killua-san, Gon-san, but Tartarus is restricted to fighters in the 200's with five wins or more," the woman said before they could even step out of the elevator.

"Five wins?" Gon said with a frown. "We weren't planning on fighting, we just wanted to see what all the commotion was about," Gon said, but even Killua didn't believe his tone. Of course Gon had come down to see someone strong and fight them, if he were granted a match. The woman didn't seem to believe him either.

"Sekihara Jun's fights are probably too intense for boys your age to handle," the woman advised.

"It's Jun?" Killua asked, furrowing his brows. "She's the one fighting down here? The Red Queen?"

"Yes," the woman said. "She has been fighting in a tile for three days. She has already killed over thirty people."

"We know Jun!" Gon said.

"Everyone knows Sekihara Jun," the woman said. "She is a floor master. Notorious for her gruesome fights. She's one of the only fighters to win her position with ten K.O.'s in the 200's. All ten were bloody deaths, thus the nickname: Red Queen."

That was news to Killua. Those stats were even worse than Hisoka's. "We're her friends," Killua tried. "We had lunch with her the other day."

The woman frowned. She wasn't sure whether or not to let these boys through. She remembered Jun telling her that if people came saying they were her friends, then to let them through. But what would Sekihara Jun be doing having friends? Especially being friends with such cute, young boys.

"Go ahead," the woman said, deciding to just listen to what Jun had said. If the two boys weren't Jun's friends, then they were the ones going to get into a world of trouble, not her.

Gon and Killua raced down the tunnel, excited to be in the underground arena. Besides the three rings, Jun was still sitting in her tile. She was having a French fry, and as the boys got closer, they noticed that her skin and hair were flecked in dry blood. The tile and the earth around it were also covered in dry blood, but there were no signs of any bodies. The arena staff probably removed them as they piled up. She wasn't fighting anyone now, and there didn't seem anyone too enthused to fight her either.

"Jun-nee!" Gon called as he approached, and Jun turned at the sound of her name.

She offered Gon a broad smile. "Oh, hey, little ones," she said, standing up. She stretched her legs out, as she seemed to have been sitting for some time.

Killua opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, as Gon beat him to the punch. "What are you doing down here?"

"It doesn't seem like you to fight out of your own free will," Killua added, to which Jun laughed.

"I have an official match in a few days," she said, and pulled tickets out from her pocket, handing it to the boys, Gon's eyes sparkling. "So I'm here training."

"Training? I thought you don't train," Killua said.

Jun shrugged. "I have a friend to impress," she told him. "So I have to fight well or I won't be rewarded."

Killua, of course, had no idea what any of that meant, but he knew he didn't have to say it for Jun to know it. She was cryptic on purpose. Anything he asked wouldn't be answered.

"Can we fight you?" Gon asked. "I'd love to help you train!"

"Sure," Jun agreed instantly, clapping her hands together. "I've been waiting for you to ask!"

"Oy," Killua warned, stepping in front of Gon. He glanced around quickly, analyzing the situation. "You have rules."

Jun smiled. "I do."

"What are they?"

"A one-on-one. You can fight me for as long as you like. If you knock me out of this tile, I give you 250 million jenny," she said brightly, Gon and Killua's eyes widening at the amount of money. Killua realized why the ground was covered in blood. It was a lot of money, so it probably meant that a lot of people fought her.

"What's the highest percentage you've used?" Killua asked.

Jun smiled as though she knew he was going to ask. "Twenty this morning, but it's because I'm pretty tired. I've been here three days."

"Okay," he said, blinking as he glanced around, trying to concoct a plan. Even he was anticipating fighting Jun. He wanted to see how far he had come in training with Wing. "If we fight you, I have a few conditions of my own."

"Shoot," Jun said, making her finger into a gun to point at Killua.

"One: Gon and I fight you together," he started. "And if we win, then we get 250 million Jenny. Each." Jun opened her mouth to say something, but Killua beat her to it. "And we get to choose the percentage you use against us."

Jun closed her mouth, pausing for a moment, a thin smile creeping up her lips. "Okay."

Killua blinked a few times. Gon clapped his hands, excited, and made a move to step into the ring, but Killua pulled him back. "Wait," he warned. "That was too easy."

Jun laughed. "I'm the one that wants to fight you," she said. "So I don't mind. Your conditions are fine by me. Except Gon fighting. I'll still give you 250 million jenny each if you can beat me on your own, Baby-chan."

Gon frowned. "What? Why can't I fight you?"

Jun hummed, thinking. She did want to fight Gon. The boys had been training together, and she wanted to see the fruit of their training, together. She knew that they wanted to tag team against her as well. "I can fight you," she told Gon, tapping her nose. She pulled out her phone. "But I have to call someone first, okay?" Jun hopped off the platform and when she was a considerable distance away, clicked her speed dial.

"Yes, princess?" answered the voice on the other end.

Jun paused for a long time, tapping her nose, thinking. There were a lot of ways she could phrase this, and a lot of things she could say. But she knew Hisoka. Better than she knew anyone. They'd already had that conversation in the alley where he'd fractured her jaw. But this was different, right?

However, even if there was a 0.000001% that Hisoka would let her fight Gon, she didn't want to upset him. He was all she had. She wanted to fight Gon, but it wasn't worth losing Hisoka. Jun took a breath. "Nevermind," she said finally.

"Have fun," he sang, and she clicked off her phone, placing it on the outside of the tile near her folded haori. She hopped back into the ring.

"I can't fight you," she told Gon. "Sorry, little one."

"Why?" Gon asked again.

"I made a promise to a friend," she said, smiling. "You understand."

Gon paused for some time before nodding and stepping back. Jun turned to Killua. "Are you ready?" she asked, gesturing to the ring.

"Why?" Killua asked this time. "This is too easy. You're letting me choose your percent. How do you know I won't just choose one percent, beat you, and take the money? We're only fighting in the arena to get money."

Jun laughed. "Because I know you, Baby-chan," she said. "You want to see Berserker Queen," she added. "And I'm going to tell you that if you want to see Berserker Queen, then you have to go over forty percent. I know you're not here for glory. But you wouldn't come down here if you didn't want to test your strength."

Killua clenched his jaw. Everything she had said was 100% correct.

"You and I are the same, remember?" she added brightly, as though reading his mind. "Now, what are the conditions for our fight?"

Killua swallowed a lump in this throat. "One-on-one, you lose if you're out of the ring. No weapons. I choose the percentage. 500 million jenny if I win."

Jun smiled. "And if I win," she said, tapping her nose. "You get to choose your left or your right eye." Jun pointed to her eyes for emphasis. She gestured to her sword stabbed into the tile. "Because that's the one I'm going to take from you."

He chewed on his lip. He had been taught never to engage an opponent he didn't think he could beat. It was the first rule in assassination. "Fine," he said, nodding.

Jun smiled and pointed a finger at Killua. "Then if you're ready, Killua," she started, surprising him by using his name. "Berserker Queen."

The air thickened, like Killua was standing in a burst of sulfur, burning his eyes and drying his skin, but at the same time, drowning him in an abyss of immeasurable strength. Like that time in the hall where Hisoka blocked them from going into the 200's, or that time he faced Illumi at the Hunter Exam, Killua felt that if Jun simply stuck out her hand and touched his cheek, the skin would melt right off his face. He tightened his jaw to keep from shaking. Jun's eyes had almost completely turned black.

Killua swallowed a lump in his throat. "Forty percent," he told her, and Jun smiled.

"Forty percent," she echoed, putting her fists up as Killua stepped into the ring.

He side stepped immediately as Jun's fist came hurtling at his face and ducked as she whipped her leg at where his head should have been. She could have knocked his skull completely off his neck if it had landed

He thrust his palm up and forward towards her sternum, but she deflected it with a flick of her wrist, deflecting his next punch sideward as well. It was like she was swatting a fly, but it completely threw Killua off balance and he leapt back and away from her as far as he could. She covered the six feet distance between them in a second and Killua whirled around as she aimed her speared hand towards his face. He threw another punch and she flicked her wrist again, throwing him off balance.

Killua clenched his teeth. It was as he thought. Jun didn't take hits; she deflected them. It was why she had managed to stay in Tartarus for so long. Killua knew that Jun was more than capable of stomaching a few hard hits without moving an inch, but it didn't seem to be her style. She didn't take anyone's hits and all of her hits were meant to kill, or at least send someone hurtling out of the ring.

Killua didn't fancy himself too much of a close range fighter. He was well combatted in martial arts, but he didn't often engage in pummeling matches, which is what he had stumbled into when he'd stepped into the ring with Jun. He preferred killing someone and leaving, but Jun seemed to like the chase and so enjoyed and thrived in close range battles.

Killua bent backwards, avoiding another punch to the face, and used the backwards momentum to land on his hands and fire his feet up, aiming for Jun's forearm. She even deflected that, offsetting his handstand. He quickly shifted his weight and landed on his feet, fists up. He needed to be able to either take her hits or defend against them; he wasn't going to be able to dodge them all.

But Jun was laughing, and she put a hand on her hips, dropping her stance. "You're quick," she praised, smiling. "You adapt really well."

"You don't make it easy," Killua told her, not dropping his guard for a moment. "Your style is annoying. It's not fit for an assassin."

"I get that a lot," she laughed. "I like you, Baby-chan. You're smart and you're strong, so I'm gonna give you a hint: I'm an enhancer."

In a second, she was right in front of him, a punch flying towards his face. Killua threw all of his strength into his hand to thrust his palm up and deflect her punch. But Jun had anticipated it, and was already throwing a second uppercut. He threw both of his hands downwards to catch the punch and was lifted off the ground for a few feet but he managed to stay in the ring.

Even though she was using only ten percent more strength than the last time they'd fought, Killua felt like her power had doubled. He'd blocked both of those punches, but he already felt winded. She swung her leg out and he leapt over it, whipping his hand out for a chop to the neck, but she deflected it with ease, sending him back to the earth, almost pushing him out of the ring.

The fight was so one-sided. Killua spent a lot of energy simply dodging her attacks without landing a single one of his own. She was in a different league entirely. Jun came in for another punch and Killua dodged. He tried for a feint to her face, and to his complete surprise, she fell for it, making a move to deflect his hit, letting him have a clear shot to her solar plexus. He took it. Killua weighed all of his power into a thrust palm to her solar plexus and Jun took the hit, sliding back a few feet. She knelt over and coughed up blood.

Killua was in shock. He'd done it. He'd landed a hit. On an enhancer! Her specialty was a fortified offense and defense, and so it made sense that she was adept at close combat.

"Shit," she said, wiping her lips as she stood up. It was the first time Killua had ever heard her curse outright. When she looked back at Killua, it was like he was looking at someone completely different. Instead of the innocent competitiveness that Killua was used to, Jun's face was twisted with malice. "Now I'm fuckin' pissed," she snapped, taking on a rougher accent. "You will bow down to the queen."

She disappeared and the next thing Killua knew, he took a kick to the temple, sending him crashing into the tile so hard that he bounced back up. Jun slammed her fist into his stomach, sending him back to the ground, denting the tile. She stepped on his chest and leaned down to stare, Killua dazed with the beating he'd just taken. The kick to the face and the punch in the gut felt like he'd been slammed by a freight train. He didn't even know if he could stand after this.

"Oy, oy, is that all ya got?" she asked, flicking the hair from his face. Killua recognized the same cheery voice as Jun's, but the words coming out of her mouth didn't sound the same at all. "I thought ya were going to take 500 million from me but you're just shit."

Killua raised his hands to try and pry Jun's foot off his stomach, but she just pressed harder. She whipped around, pointing out a finger at Gon. "Oy, stay there, you," she hissed at Gon, who had his fists clenched and shaking. He looked like he was going to dart into the ring and slam his fist into Jun's face. "If ya move another fuckin' inch, little one, I'm gonna slit this kid's throat right here. So, unless ya wanna be one Zoldyck short, I suggest ya stay the fuck back."

She kept her eyes on Gon until she was sure he wouldn't move, and turned her eyes back to Killua. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Killua poured his strength into a final hit, knocking off her foot and leaping back. He was breathing hard, his body shaking. Who the hell was this person? It definitely wasn't the Sekihara Jun that had started the fight.

She darted at him, thrusting out her palm, and Killua managed to dodge by a hair's width. She whirled around and landed a square slap to his face, and he dug his heels into the ground to keep from flying off the tile. He couldn't lose now. He'd lose more than just the match if he fell out of the tile.

He threw a punch, but Jun deflected it hard, bruising his arm as she landed another punch to his cheek. It was like taking a sledgehammer to the face. He didn't move, and instead advanced, pushing forward with a series of hits that Jun either deflected or dodged. He'd managed to back her to the outside of the ring and put his fists up for one final punch.

Jun cackled, throwing her head back. "Ya think ya got it in the bag? Well, you've got another thing comi—"

Killua's punch was quick and sharp and aimed right at Jun's solar plexus again, but she caught it this time, and lifted her hand to finish the match. Gon saw it for a brief second; something seemed to click and Jun blinked for a second, looking down at Killua. Her eyes changed back to blue and she caught him as he fell, completely passed out.

"Baby-chan?" she said, brushing his hair back. She placed two fingers at his neck, feeling for a pulse, and let out a sigh of relief. She pressed her lips together, pulling her sword from the earth. "I'm so sorry, Baby-chan, a deal's a deal—"

"Jun-nee," Gon said, pointing, and Jun looked to where Gon had been looking at to see that when she'd caught Killua, her heel had stepped out of the tile. She laughed weakly, falling back to sit and allowing Killua's body to lay over her lap. Tossing her sword aside, she covered her eyes with the back of her palm as Gon approached cautiously.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Please take him somewhere to get fixed up, okay, Gon?"

Gon nodded, picking up his friend. Killua was breathing lightly, sleeping. He'd passed out from fatigue. He knew that the injuries Killua had taken from Gon were some of the toughest hits he'd had to endure, but Gon knew that Killua would be alright.

"Don't forget the money," Jun said, tossing Gon her haori. "250 million. I'll give you the other 250 million if I see you again. Or I'll just send it to your room."

"We'll see each other again," Gon said with a grin, which seemed to surprise Jun. After how she'd acted earlier, she was sure that the boys wouldn't want to see her again. "We'll both be at your fight, Jun-nee! Please come to ours, we're due for a match tomorrow!"

"What? Why didn't you say so? I wouldn't have fought you if you had another match!" Jun said, furrowing her brows in concern. She glanced at Killua. "I did a bad thing."

Gon waved her off. "Killua will be okay," he promised her. "You went easy on him."

Jun pressed her lips together. Gon had seen through her completely. "Don't tell him," she said.

Gon laughed. "I won't."