The team recruits Tsezgurra, Raphael finally revealing a secret since it's beneficial to do so.

Hisoka was minding his own business when Raphael approached him, a single card in his hand.

"And this is for…?" The man looked at the Contact card, "Who exactly am I talking to?"

"Please tell me you have Tsezguerra in your book."

"No?" He couldn't recall a single person named that, nor why the kid would assume he did so.

"The game goes by vicinity, so if you walked past him, his name would've registered in your book."

"Is that so…" So that's your ploy, "Why my book? From the way you spoke, it sounds like you already know him. Which means, he's most likely in your book, too."

"Well, given I haven't spoken to him in a while, you can reject contacts with other players."

"And he won't reject me, because?"

"You aren't a name he has come by. He'll think you want to offer a trade."

Hisoka looked from the card back to Raphael, "Okay…" He held up his card, Gon and Killua getting closer. That boy could've at least pretended he wasn't interested in his list of names.

The moment Hisoka saw the spider's names, he ran his finger across the list, jumbling up the letters to spell different names. When Raphael's finger hovered across the new names, he gave no reaction.

The boy hadn't noticed he had altered the book, nor did he look like he's pretending like nothing had been changed. "Would you look at that, I do have Tsezguerra."

Raphael's eyes flicked across the page, noting the disappointment in his friend's reaction. Killua hadn't found what he was looking for. Out of instinct, his eyes flicked across the page once more, checking for any inconsistencies. There was one.

He caught a glimpse of one name that seemed abnormal. Someone named Shalnark. But he had no idea if that name would be meaningful to Killua. For all he knew, it was a useless name to his friend. Should I tell him…? Raphael barely cast a glance towards his friend. No, he might interrogate the man immediately after hearing that name.

He assessed the possibility of Killua reacting negatively to the news. If it was a name he's looking for, how would Hisoka react? Would he lie? Would he bend the truth… kill them? No, he doubts that.

Killua, I'm sorry. I can't say anything yet. I'll tell you later. He shoved the card in Hisoka's face, using that as a distraction, "Call Tsezguerra, let's hope he's willing to team up."

"Okay…" Hisoka found himself smiling at the disappointment on Killua's face, "Contact on. Tsezguerra."

The moment the teen heard the man's voice, he took over the conversation, discussing details about the Patch of Shore. He didn't get far before the man stopped him.

"Wait, Raphael?"

"Yes. Tsezguerra, listen to me. We found the Patch of Shore. But, we need to team up to get it. Are you in?"

There was a long pause of silence, the man eventually speaking up, "Teleport to me, we'll talk about the details in person."

"~"

"So it seems like you were busy doing other things…" Tsezguerra flashed the teen a smirk, "Give me all the details."

Raphael explained all the details about the quest, making sure to leave out the most important detail, the one about the pirates being real people.

"That's pretty good. But there's nine of you already, couldn't you make up the points that way?"

"Three of us are for buffers, we need fifteen, and only six of us can score points."

"So you know about my team, that gives us an advantage of ten points, with the three buffer members." Tsezguerra gave a nod towards Asta's team, "So we would only need to get two more players to join. What do you propose?"

"We hit Masadora. With the bombers around, plenty of players would want to leave Greed Island. We have a choice from a massive selection of players to fill those last two slots and retry the quest as many times as we like."

"So as long as we don't fail more than two times, it's possible to complete… And how exactly strong are they?"

"Beatable…"

"Only beatable? That doesn't sound reaffirming."

Raphael grinned from ear to ear, "If you're in, I reveal something I found out."

"No, we're doing this our way…" Killua stepped closer to the man, "Prove to us that you aren't weak… show us your Ren."

Raphael looked mortified, the reaction making Tsezguerra burst into laughter. He hadn't anticipated that would be used against him. But their team was good to be on the more cautious side, to subject him and his team to prove they weren't weak players, "I'm sure Raphael could vouch for us…"

"He vouched for us, and you still failed us on the private test. Prove to us, you aren't weak…"

The man flashed a grin, using his aura to propel himself into the air, grinning down at those below him, "I assume this is more than enough to prove-"

He found himself stopping when Killua and Gon repeated the process, surpassing him on their first attempt.

They floated above him, beating even his record. What kind of training have they been doing? And if they were able to beat his record, did that mean even Raphael could shatter his…

Raphael made no move to beat his, or the boys' scores. He merely remained on the ground.

When the man landed, he could only lie about the situation, hoping the teen or the others didn't catch him in his lie "Seems like you need a bit of practice…"

When the boys landed, Gon was already challenging Killua, ready to prove that he can beat his score.

Tsezguerra could only look at them in disbelief, even when Killua barely glanced in his direction to tell him he 'passed' the test.

"This is normal for them…" Raphael found himself smiling, even as a twinge of anger crossed the man's face, "Just let them be." The boy waved towards the two boys, Killua hovering above Gon who was still, desperately trying to surpass his friend's height.

"So, how do you score points?"

"A game of sportsmanship…" Raphael brought the list out to wave it at the man, "But I know something else about the pirates…"

The teen turned towards his friends as they landed, "Gon and Killua, you're gonna want to hear this too."

"Sure, what?" Killua stepped up to his friend, ignoring Gon whining at him to try again. No matter how hard his friend tries, he's got the advantage. He witnessed the whole process, and saw every step Tsezguerra made.

While it's true that Gon will beat him, if he keeps practising… eventually, Killua didn't want to waste time attempting it over, and over again. So he opted to use Raphael's question as the perfect distraction, "What do we need to know?"

"The pirates are developers."

Killua, Bisky, Tsezguerra and his team were the only ones that weren't surprised by the news.

Killua saw it coming. There were too many hints and while the teen tried to hide it on several occasions, he kept revealing little secrets that contradicted those times.

Gon, however, wasn't quite sure what the teen meant by that "Developers?"

"The game designers, programmers…" When Gon's brain fizzled, he sighed once more, "They built this game. Did you not notice the boxing ring? The symbols? It's Inscription, a type of Nen programming. It's the same as what's on the inside of the ring. Plus, their reaction to getting kicked in the nuts. He was over-expressive, reacting to the pain rather than it being a scripted event, at least when compared to other NPCs. All the pirates… have to be humans."

When Gon was too surprised, Killua intervened, "Duh, their acting is too obvious to not be a coincidence…"

"Really?"

As the two boys bickered in the background, Tsezguerra frowned, "So they're not programmed monsters? This could be problematic."

"Not necessarily." Raphael was quick to flash them a smirk, "If we know that they can react with normal human emotions, we can catch them off guard. They won't expect us to smack their egos around…"

"Speaking of which…" Raphael snapped his fingers at the boys, drawing their attention once more, "It's a secret that's supposed to remain, well, secret. I just brought up that the devils are real people as a benefit to us." The teen then drew the group's attention back to the list, "Let's look at the boxer. He delivered a long range hook punch to somebody's chin, correct?"

"Yeah, which means we need an emitter to hit him harder before he can attack."

Raphael shook his head. No, the pirate would always win in that case. He was hitting them with his direct fist, "Oh Asta, my poor noob."

"HUH?!"

"You fuck 'em up at close range. He needs to be at a range to use his Hatsu, but if you're all up in this man's business, he can't attack. Which means…"

"An easy win…" Teszguerra hummed in understanding, "So we need to match people with sports they can beat normally, and still be cautious enough to watch for any cheeky attacks. That's doable. What about the other games?"

"We didn't get much intel from the other games, except for two. But I know the one I fought, I would still win. As long as he doesn't have a warping ability that changes the position of my ball, I'm good." Now, if he has an aim bot, he's lost. Can't aim if you're constantly being blinded."

Hisoka raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by blinded? I suppose you could make those little shadow clones of yours cover their eyes."

Raphael shook his head, "I'll just Blash Bang them. Blind them with a bright light so they can't see anything, then boot their ball into the ground. Instant win."

Hisoka kept his mouth shut. Raphael's Hatsus plays on the properties of both light and darkness. Does that mean he can't use them simultaneously?

His abilities do seem contradictory from the beginning, but that would technically, in-turn, bolster their individual strength. Hmm… His abilities would fall under multiple categories. But which one is he more dominant in? And how is he creating them?

With what he knows so far, it seems like he mostly Transmutes his aura with light or dark properties. But he's not whimsical, prone to deceit, nor is he fickle. He's definitely not a Manipulator, he doesn't fit their profile. None of him screams Conjurer or Enhancer either… which leaves only one option. Emitter…

If he is an Emitter, he's stretching himself thin. His abilities touch on both Manipulation and Transmutation, mostly transmutation though. He's using multiple categories for the foundation of his ability, but shows no signs of hitting what he deems Memory Overload, at least not yet. He'll have to wait and see how true that statement is. For now… he'll just watch from the sidelines.

Raphael felt a shiver go up his spine, the way Hisoka's gaze dug into him. He was judging him, accessing his skills from just his words. The teen offered a smile, hiding his true feelings from the inquisitive-gaze he was on the receiving end of, "Like I said, an easy win for me. Now for the other two games."

Raphael went on to explain the games Asta and Kazsule participated in. Explaining the process of how the Pirate's abilities worked. Asta frowned as the teen went over every detail she missed. Unconsciously, the boy was making her feel so inferior, even though she knows he didn't intend to come off that way.

Once everything was done and dusted, now came their plan of attack. A way to beat every pirate, including the possibility of any abilities they may have.

"This is bad…" One of Tsezguerra's party members, Barry interjected, disrupting the discussion about the pirate's abilities, "Team Genthru is up to ninety-seven cards."

"If we're going to stop him from winning, we need to get this card…" The boy's expression hardened "Now. And then…" Raphael looked towards everyone "We have to somehow steal all of Genthru's cards he's hoarding…"

With a nod, the group agreed, preparing for the battle ahead.

"~"

The group overlooked Razor's sports training grounds, well-prepared for whatever that game master and his development had planned for them. This was a: failure is not an option for them, moment.

If they fail to get this card, Genthru will continue to terrorise the players on Greed Island until he can get it. And by that point it'll be too late. He'll have already collected ninety-eight, the Wild Alexandrite.

"We cannot afford to lose here…" Tsezguerra warned the group, the two extras for stand-in, having no idea what is at stake.

"Now let's score us a difficult card!"

"~"

Razor reintroduced the players to the rules, acting like an NPC. But by now, everyone important already knew it was a ruse, just a way for them to implement a difficult quest without being too obvious.

Like last time, boxing was first. There might be a method to the Razor's madness, for him to test the player's physical prowess before deciding the next match. When the pirate leader made the call to start, Barry merely looked at the boxer who chuckled from his match up.

He was acting cocky, even though he had no idea what he was in for, "I'll send you packing."

We'll see… Raphael thought to himself as Barry continued to get ready.

"Fight!"

The pirate barely had time to react, his fist going up as Barry got in his face. He thought he'd have time to knock him out, but given how close he was, he barely pulled back his hand out of the spatial wormhole.

He got punched right in the side of the face, his guard going up to protect his face.

Barry tapped his guard multiple times, aiming only for his gloves. When he was completely focused only on defending his face, he alternated one fist, slamming his Nen fuelled fist right into the pirate's chest. This opened him up for a fist to come colliding into his wide open face.

Barry smacked him time and time again in his face, the pirate unable to bring back his guard.

It was just overkill at this point, Killua and Gon cheering on as Barry rearranged the poor pirate's face. He only stopped when he was unconscious.

With the pirate knocked out, Razor held the player's hand up, "The winner is Barry!"

This was going to be smooth sailing, Rodriot and Kess scoring another point in their respective match. They were well onto their way to scoring their new card. With three wins under their belt, that left five more points.

While Gon and Killua were cheering, Raphael barely caught the leader telling the other pirates something, "You guys toss your matches."

Wait, why? Why on earth was Razor telling his allies to give up, unless there was another event that happened if they reached seven wins? So they did need an actual team of fifteen strong players for the card. This was rigged from the beginning, "Guys, we have a problem…"

"With three wins, I doubt it…" Killua smirked at the boy.

"Razor just asked the others to throw their matches."

"Oh, you heard me? That'll make this easy…"

"Wait a damn minute!" Bopobo yelled, causing Razor to barely glance in his direction.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sick of listening to your orders. I'm doing things my way now!" He threw his hat down in frustration, turning to glare at the red-haired boy, "Hey, asshole! We're taking this outside!"

"Why?" Raphael found himself slowly turning to the pirate, barely keeping an eye on him "Did you get a thrill from having your nuts caved in?"

"N-No!" He was a little caught off guard from the kid being so direct about his intentions, "I'm going to crush you for fucken kicking me in the nuts! Then I'm going to kill the other boy for humiliating me with a cheap win. I'm done playing by the stupid rules of Greed-"

"I'm warning you Bopobo…" Razor's eyes met the pirate's, "Do not finish that sentence…"

"What are you going to do about it?!" He threw his hands out in exasperation, "Look at you! You're surrounded by us. We can easily kick your ass by the mere numbers surrounding you."

"Is that so…" Razor found himself smiling as he looked away, a hand pressed against his chin, "That would go against your agreement. If I didn't know any better…" He barely glanced at the pirate, "I'd thought you'd want to be thrown back in the slammer…"

Slammer? Wait, he's not one of the developers? Was I wrong about my assumption? No, Razor is definitely a Game Master, that much I can tell. Then the pirates aren't all developers. Maybe only some of them in the background are…

But that wouldn't make sense. Bopobo said Razor is surrounded… by what? If slammer is an indication, all the pirates are convicts of some kind.

"Fuck you! I'm done with this stupid game!"

He called it, the only ones now surprised by the man's yelling were the two random players they hired as a buffer.

"If anyone else is with me, we can crush that bastard. And then we can use a ship to-"

Razor pooled aura into his fingertips, a ball of aura forming into a ball. From the moment he created it, to the moment he threw it, Bopobo had no time to finish his sentence, let alone react to the attack.

The ball collided with the man's face, his head popping like a grape from the impact. There was nothing left of the man's head, his skull rupturing along with some of his neck.

The body fell to its knees with a heavy thud, only for the rest of the body to hit the floor soon after, sending a splatter of blood across the ground, blood pooling from what remained of the neck. Razor warned the rest of the pirates, "Does anyone else want to start a mutiny…?" When everyone shook their heads, he let out a sigh, "I did warn him about speaking on the taboo subject. But it seems like most of you already figured it out."

Razor's eyes met the players, "Or did someone tell you as well?"

"A bit of both…" Raphael offered a shrug, "I warned them in preparation for this fight."

Letting out a sigh, the man pressed a hand against his head, "Great, now the news is going to spread like wildfire. In any case…" He smiled at the group like he hadn't just killed someone seconds ago, "I'm up next. Oh, and can someone clean up this mess."

"What about our point?" Killua pointed at the body.

"A point?!" One of the two random players was freaking out, "He just killed someone. How are the rest of us supposed to fight him?"

"As we explained earlier…" Tsezguerra turned to the scared players, "We agreed you guys wouldn't have to pitch in. If the ten of us can't win, the rest can forfeit without fighting."

"Are you sure…?"

"Absolutely…" Raphael interjected without turning around, continuing to face Razor, "There's still seven of us…"

Killua pointed at the body once more, "There are seven of us that can score points, and we're gotten four points already. Bopobo agreed to a match, and we won by default, so where's our fourth point?"

"Right…" Razor looked at the boy with a smile, "Give it to whoever." He dismissed the concern with a wave, "Not that it matters much…"

"Matters, huh…" Killua smiled impishly, slowly turning to his teammates to point at one individual, "Asta, your point."

"How dare you pass off Raphael's point to me. He was clearly ready to throw hands with him."

Killua shrugged, "A free point is a free point, at least you get to be somewhat useful."

Asta grew red, ready to throw hands with the boy, smiling mischievously after insulting her. He was like a cat resting its paw against the cup right on the edge of the table, ready to push it at a moment's notice, "You're lucky I haven't used your face to mop the floor clean!"

"I'd like to see you try…"

"Quit bickering like kids." Raphael shut down the argument before hands were thrown, "What do you mean by our points don't matter. Wait…" There were fifteen devils, there had to be a hidden mechanism, a way for the game to cheat the system, just like the Zoltan had, "There's still a way for you to win… isn't there?"

Razor's smile grew wide from the older teen realising their predicament, "There is. The next game is dodgeball, eight VS eight…" Aura left the man's body, humanoid puppets being created in the process, "Winner gets eight points."

Raphael looked in awe, this was something he wished he could pull off. The amount of aura that left the man's body was minuscule, in comparison to how strong Razor still was. He planned on defeating them on his own, with puppets he controlled.

The fact he was still so strong on his own, meant this wouldn't be an easy fight.

No wonder nobody has gotten this card, because Razor was the pinnacle of strength. A one-man army who, not only, was able to maintain all the Emission abilities running on Greed Island… he was going to fight all eight opponents on his own while doing so.

He probably demoralised every team that tried to take him on.

Fuck, he'd love to meet the other Game Masters, just to see what they were like.

"I've got my eight, so you need to pick the eight you'll field…"

With each puppet created, there was a theme. They wore the same clothing as the other pirates, with only a few, minor changes. The first being the number on their face, the second being their bells. The number on their face matched the number of bells on their head.

What made them vastly different from each other, was their body type and height. And since they were numbered, their strength must be somehow ranked.

Six and seven looked strong, but three did not look stronger than one. It might be random, some being faster, rather than stronger than others. This was dodgeball, after all.

Since Killua gave the point to Asta, that left them to find someone else to field from either Asta's team, or one of the randos… or seeing how Razor could use conjured players, he could use his Mirage ability. But unlike that man's total strength, the Mirage would come nowhere near the puppet's strength.

Although on the other hand, his Mirage did have the perfect ability for dodging attacks. And with his further training involving Manipulation, courtesy of Bisky, he may be able to pull off new kinds of stunts.

"You still need one more on the field! There's no way any of us could survive an attack from him."

Raphael released a portion of his aura, showcasing his ability Mirage, "If he can use puppets, so can we."

Razor smirked at the shadow standing next to the kid, "I didn't say there were rules against it."

"Good!" Gon piped up, "I didn't want to put them in harm's way. We agreed to beat the game with just the ten of us, and that's what we'll do. If lives are on the line, we should only play with those willing to fight. So, thanks Raphael! Raphael's Mirage should be a good substitute to put on the field, correct?"

"Like I said, no complaints from me…" Razor agreed to the terms.

"But I do want to know something." Razor questioned him without words, the boy going on to question the man's previous actions, "I want to know… Why did you kill one of your allies, Bopobo? Why is Greed Island's secret worth killing over?"

"Hmm…" Razor tilted his head slightly, thinking the words over, "Burglary-murder and rape-murder." Gon's eyes widened at the news, "Eleven cases so far."

"Wait, you guys hired death row convicts to act like NPCs, why?" Raphael couldn't believe his ears. How many of the living NPCs he ran across should've been rotting in jail? Besides, how exactly were all the Game Masters making sure they stayed in line? Well, the pirates close to Razor were scared of him…

But the ones on the outside, what was their incentive to stay in line?

"If they want to lessen their sentences, they have to work for it. Also, if a player kills the NPC, no harm or foul. We'll just replace them with another…"

Tsezguerra opened his mouth, "Razor is a Game Master. That's why the pirates are able to be kept in check."

"A Game Master?"

"A founder who created Greed Island…"

"Then…"

"All the pirates are real death row criminals."

"And to think I felt a little bad for kicking Bopobo in the nuts. Well, his arrogance made it easy. Now I think I should've let Killua pull off his original plan."

"And what's that…?" Asta flashed a cocky grin.

"Burn his face off by lighting the alcohol on fire."

She was mortified to hear this. Maybe she shouldn't be picking a fight with the kid anymore.

Razor held out his palm to the group, "Not only did he disobey my orders; he attempted to instigate an escape. And I can't exactly let him off the hook for that, now, can I? His execution was completely justified. Not that any of this matters…"

Razor bounced the ball, "Since this island is isolated from the rest of the world, we're free to run this game however we please."

"Wait a second…" Gon piped up, excited about the possibility, even though a part of himself knew the answer would be no, "Is Ging here? Is he on Greed Island?"

Razor's expression shifted for a moment, now looking the boy over. He did have a slight resemblance. Did Ging's so-called prophecy actually come true, "Oh, this makes sense now. You must be Gon…"

"Yeah!"

Razor's expression widened, his aura glowing with excitement, far different to Hisoka's. His raged from an exciting challenge ahead, a deal he must have made with Ging…

"Gon, I think you should've lied."

Razor chuckled, "Too late for that now. You see, I was told if I ever come across you, Gon. I was instructed to not go easy on you. By none other… than your old man."

Gon slowly flashed a smile. This was a challenge for him, and he was determined to win against the odds stacked against him.

Seeing the imposing figure, the two extras ran screaming, even though they knew they wouldn't have to fight him. To be fair, his aura was pretty terrifying to look at.

Raphael's aura flickered slightly, causing Goreinu to speak up out of concern "If you're not up for the task, I can count as three. You're not the only one who can create Nen Beasts." Aura glowed around the man, dispersing into two figures.

Two different coloured Gorillas, one with the cockiest grin they ever saw.

But Killua held up his hand, stopping the man from wasting his time. Clearly, there was a difference in the strength between Goreinu's gorillas and Raphael's Mirage. But if there's one thing that makes a huge difference, Killua trusts the teen, and not the random stranger they picked up.

They don't know how strong Goreinu is with, or without those gorillas around. Plus, he can only take one onto the court, so without the other around, the solo gorilla might be pointless to field.

However, Killua does know a little about how the teen's ability works. And considering its property is the opposite of light… a shadow can be altered under the right circumstances.

"While I'm sure your gorillas could be considered powerful Nen Beasts. Raphael isn't exactly weak… right?"

Raphael gave a nod. Razor wasn't going to hold back that much was certain. He was an imposing figure to be reckoned with…

But Gon was still his friend, and he'll regret not being there to assist him. Besides, if he tried to get out of this fight, Bisky would probably smash his face against the floor until there's nothing left of him…

His aura grew, desperately trying to match the man's newfound vigour. He knew he was no direct match for the man, but together, they should stand a chance.

"I'm good. I never expected Razor to go all out." Tightening his fist, the Mirage did the same, "But I've never been more certain of anything. My Mirage will be more than enough to assist us."

"Good…" Razor's smile grew, "Now that we've agreed to whom the eight-on-eight will involve, it's time we get started." With his hand, he gestured to the section of the building, ushering them towards where they'll be playing dodgeball.

A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me