A Different World (HUNTER X HUNTER)

UP X AND X DOWNS

Everyone watched as the shackles of another prisoner were taken off. The prisoner took off their cloak to reveal a skinny haired man with hair that almost reached his shoulders. Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua looked at each other, wondering who should go next.
"I guess I'm up next!"

Gon yelled, a little too enthusiastic for the tense atmosphere. Everyone could almost facepalm at the joyous boy. On the other side, the skinny man smiled while watching Gon go towards the stage. The skinny man then spoke out,
"My name is Sedokan, there is not much to look at. I don't have speed and strength so how about we play a game"
"I'm not too good with thinking heh..."

Gon commented shyly as Sedokan pulled out two different sized candles,
"It's a pretty simple game. We each light up a candle and try to blow out the others. Whoever keeps their candle lit most will win. I'll let you pick. X for the short candle and O for the long candle"

He explained to Gon, but something was on,
"Any normal person would pick the longer candle, but it could be something laced with something flammable"

Leorio pointed out as the rest of the group were thinking,
"Ill allow you to discuss about it, kick it around."

Sedokan huffed out while plopping down to the floor, waiting for the group to pick,
"When presented with an obvious answer, suspicion begins to pile up. Thus, creating a psychological impact towards the wrong answer"

Kurapika muttered, while Leorio commented,
"Crap, he's got us good!"

(Y/N) stared at the scene in front of her. If it was her choice, she would pick the long candle wether it's messed with or not,
"Gon! Pick what you think is right. It's your round, you should make the decision"

Kurapika told Gon, who gave a small nod. He turned to Sedokan,
"Alright, well I'm obviously picking the long candle!"

Gon choose happily, as the rest behind me lowered their heads in disappointment. He didn't give it a single thought Killua thought what everyone was thinking while voting O. Sedokan stood up and lightly threw the long candle to Gon's hands. They both moved at the same time towards the flame on their corner of the stage. They lit it up almost at the same time as they walked back, that's when everyone felt the big gust of wind blow by. This 'game' wasn't going to be easy at all. What didn't help was Gon's candle suddenly bursting into flames,
"Dammit so it was laced!"

Leorio yelled as everyone watched wide eyed,  Sedokan began to laugh while watching Gon's candle shrink and hot wax melt into his hands. There was no way to prevent this, Sedona would have switched the candles, he had four candles prepared. Two were laced and two weren't. Gon had at most 20 minutes while Sedokan had a full hour. He watched Gon's face switch his expression from surprise to a big smile. Sedokan was confused as he saw Gon put the candle to the floor,
"Since the fire is so strong I doubt some wind will put it out!"

Gon says confidently as his direction turns to Sedokan. At incredible speed he ran to his direction, Sedokan flinched at the fear of impact only to see Gon stop and blow out the small candle in his hands.
"I win!"

Gon yelled in excitement. This earned the team a point, now they needed two more wins to move on. Gon smiled as he returned back to his group. Sedokan walked back to his team hunched back and disappointed,
"That was a cheap trick Sedokan"

The man, who could not see but very well acknowledges his groups lose, commented. A large built man came forward, his shackles were removed as he tore off his brown cloak. Revealing his weirdly built face and heart tattoos on his chest. His most noticeable features was the large metal piece attached to the left side of his face along with a black bruised left eye.
"Alright who's up next!"

He yelled while sort of waving his arms in the air.
"Scary"

Leorio commented while Kurapika stepped up, volunteering to fight. The man laughed while watching Kurapika step into the stage. The man felt the need to point at the little heart tattoos on his chest,
"19 hearts, that's how many people I've killed. It's an odd number I want to count you in to make it 20, how does that sound?"

He spoke in a bold tone it made (Y/N) almost gag, she disliked people who talked big but couldn't fight. Kurapika didn't express anything, the man then began to explain the rules,
"I want a fight to the death"
"Okay"

The man was taken back at Kurapika's answer,
"I well... n-no weapons as well!"

Kurapika said nothing to the second rule, he removed his robe and any weapons on him including his wooden swords and some ninja stars. The man stared wide eyed at the amount of weapons Kurapika was carriying with him and how unfazed he was,
"Shall we begin?"

Kurapika asked as the man was confused by Kurapika's unfazed manner. The man nodded as the speaker was ready to announce the match,
"Begin!"

The man jumped high and was ready to punch Kurapika, who dodged just in time. When the man hit the floor he left a small crater, showing his strength. However, he was only able to create such an impactful punch was the metal arm that replaced his bones, hidden away with his blue skin. That wasn't what caught everyone off guard, it was the 12 legged spider tattoo on his shoulder,
"The 12 legged spider... could he be part of the Phantom Troupe!?"

Leorio questioned as his eyes were glued on the number-less spider. (Y/N) clenched her fist in fury, it was obviously fake but it angered her to know this man was painting himself to be a member to boost his confidence in fights. She looked at Kurapika, who stood still but maybe unhinged. The tattoo definitely angered him, now this was going to be a real fight. The man stood up and saw the mood in Kurapika do a complete 180,
"Oh this? It's not surprising to see you fazed on it, but it shows I'm a member of the infamous Phantom-

Before he could finish, Kurapika took a grip on his lower jaw and held him up. Kurapika punched the man in the face, making the man fall to the ground,
"Listen up. One, each member of the Phantom Troupe has a number on them. Second, the Phantom Troupe would never bother to count how many people they've killed. Three, don't ever talk about the Troupe to me."

Kurapika muttered loud enough for the man to hear, he slowly walked back to the rest and sat down on the ground, next to (Y/N). Everyone stared at Kurapika, not knowing what to say. Kurapika explained,
"I... apologize for losing myself there for a minute. I knew it was a fake but the sight of spiders make me lash out"

Everyone looked at each other and Gon even whispered to Leorio,
"I think we should avoid having spiders around Kurapika"
"No kidding"

Leorio responded. (Y/N) stared at the ground, even if she wasn't an official member to the Phantom Troupe it felt awkward to be there.
.
.
.
Hisoka walked into a fairly dark room, but his eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room that was lit with small candles that barely gave any light as he noticed a familiar man sitting on the other side,
"Hisoka... I've been waiting. Unfortunately, not to test you. I'm out for revenge"

The examiner looked up to reveal his scratched up face, he stood up and pulled out two rounded knives,
"Since last year I've thought about killing you, it's time I make that happen"

The examiner declared, Hisoka smiled and laughed out,
"You haven't improved, what a shame~"
"Damn you!"

The examiner roared as he spun and threw his rounded knives at Hisoka, who jumped to dodge them. The blades came back like a boomerang, grazing Hisoka's left wait and right shoulder. The examiner pulled out two more only to his surprise, Hisoka caught his rounded knives and spun them in the examiners special technique. Hisoka wasted no time to charge at the examiner. The candles that lit the room were blown out with the wind Hisoka ripped through to move fast.
.
.
.
Hisoka was allowed to leave the room and he gladly walked into the hallway. He left behind a headless body and a body less head. Another win, the examiner could not compare to Hisoka's power against him.

______________________________________
Ahhhhhh School is so discouraging and for what'? Anyways  this is again a shorter chapter and I'm sorry. I wish I could have a schedule like in the beginning but school is so unexpected and I hate that. I'm also removing the images of the chapters, I'm sorry if that gives a notification.