Chapter 09: Phase IV (Part 2)

Accelerator, Misaka and Killua continued to walk around the island in utter boredom. They slept, they walked for a bit through the forest, they sat down to rest or whatever, they searched for food and ate, they continued to walk some more and for Accelerator, who had thought the third test was boring, it was hell.

This was much worse than sitting around in the Trick Tower for those three long, boring days. He should not have completed the phase this fast. He should have taken the long way through the tower, where he would have been able to kill some more of those prisoners and continue to walk around until he managed to reach the basement, but did he do it like that? No, of course not. He had to go, be as great as he usually was, jump from the tower, land on the ground easily, make a huge hole into the tower and so he had already reached his destination.

At least he had some fun torturing those three idiots, but even they were quickly dead. He should have controlled his temper better, but they were just so annoying, seriously asking him to play twister with them! The audacity of even asking this warranted the death penalty, which he swiftly carried out. The little bit of torture was not even worth mentioning. He should have left them alive longer, far far longer.

And then the waiting began and there was nothing to sit on only the cold, hard floor. So he made a deal with the prison warden, information for a couch and something good to eat. That was all easy accomplished and he continued to wait on the couch for other participants to arrive. Those examiners sure were stingy and cheap; they should have at least installed a television in this room. It was just too boring, sitting there all alone with only one's thoughts as company.

At least Misaka and her new friends managed to get there pretty fast. Now at any rate he had her and the others to watch, it was a poor substitute for a television, but somehow he had managed to survive those three days. And now exactly the same was happening again!

Here he was walking around this forest utterly bored. He had, because he liked to do things quickly and efficiently, gotten his target's badge swiftly and now had nothing further to do for the seven days they got for this test. He could have passed the exam then and there, even through not all participants were on the island, but who cared? They apparently and did not let him pass immediately. He had to continue to remain here like the rest of the participants, because the others could manage to get their badges back or they could lose theirs. Not that either of them was happening to him.

He had to sleep on the hard forest floor - if he was lucky he would find some moos to lie down, this was a bit better - and got a slight backache because of it. How Misaka and the other brat managed to remain in top condition out here, he did not understand. He stopped Last Order mid-sentence with a death glare when she tried to imply that he was either an old man or turning into one - hence the white hair - or just too spoilt. The other brat even dared to snigger at that.

As for food, they were also always eating the same. Fish, berries, nuts and maybe a bit seasoned with a few different herbs they found. Nothing else. He would have killed one of those fluffy, rabbit-like creatures, but after the first two sound attacks at his ear from a miserable Misaka, who did not want him to kill those adorable creatures apparently, he decided not to. Even though she could not touch them because of the electromagnetic fields around her body, she loved those furry things and would not let him harm even one of them. Killua would also have no problems with killing those little creatures, but did not because the brat did not want to upset Last Order. So fish was the only meat-like thing they were allowed to eat.

Honestly, he missed the chips and the couch.

Leastwise he had some entertainment watching those brats running around. They had already found a way to lessen their boredom. They were a bit busy studying the different plants and trying to find out if they were edible and thank god, they all were or Misaka would be already sick. Killua was immune to whatever poison there was, but could detect them instantly nonetheless. Family tradition, he called it. Accelerator knew it must have been part of the training his family put him through for becoming an assassin. The brat had to be able to life through torture and poisons and not talk about his secrets, if some lucky sod managed to capture him.

He thought the whole thing was supposed to be the most difficult exams in the world. Here they would decide if one was fit to be called the elite of this world, the best of the best. This was the feared Hunter Exam, in which thousands died and most likely would die in the future, but right now it felt more like going camping into the woods while having forgotten to take the right camping equipment with them. And just as boring. He could not really understand people who did this willingly in their free time.

There were trees – sarcastically seen as interesting, but to him tree was tree, if one was different from the other, he just did not care, even if Misaka tried constantly to tell him the difference - and there were flowers - with lots of different names he did not care to remember, but they were blue, white, red, violet and yellow, nothing more - and at last they were the animals running around - annoying little creatures he was not allowed to eat.

Before this trip he was not that annoyed by the brat's ability to catalog these kind of information into her brain after having it read only once, but now he cursed himself having her let read lexicons when they first went to the library in Zaban City. She knew about most animals running around here, the whole names of the flowers and trees, and it was both interesting to hear even though he did not care for the information and irritating since she just did not stop talking.

Brat number two seemed to be excited to hear about these things and listened to her attentively, while Accelerator thought about better times. Times were he could just watch TV to lessen his boredom and listen to new music, those he had on his iPod like music device was great, but after repeatedly hearing it for the three days in the Trick Tower and another two days on this island, it was getting boring. He thought about finding one of the candidates running around and torturing him for the next three days, but for that to happen he had to find one first. They had not met or seen anyone here, even though the island was not that big. They should have at least met one person here, but no, nobody.

Where they already dead? He had thought about this possibility. There were a few stronger 'hunters' in the exam like the weird magician and the pincushion guy, the rest was better than the ones already out of the exam, but in the end of the day they were just easy prey. But he did not think that they would have been taken all out, he did not know why but it was just a feeling. Today he was feeling extremely benevolent, maybe if he found one he would just hurt them a bit but let them live. Yes, today he would be nice.

His watchers would probably be happy too if he did not torture the other participants. Instant death and torture until they died were two different things. Accelerator was aware of them for some time now, but ignored them mostly since they were just following them around the forest. He did not particularly like such people and felt a little bit paranoid, but still had fun with them.

They were good at their job, hiding and stalking them, but not that well. Black suits tend to stick out in the greenish foliage of the forest if one was not careful enough. Killua knew that they were following them since the beginning, but did not say anything as well, since they did nothing else but watch them and Misaka was not aware of them when he asked. From time to time just for a bit entertainment Accelerator would take some stones, snip them with accelerated speed into their direction and let them squeak and try to dodge them. At least he could laugh a bit at their misfortune on this boring day.

If he was honest with himself, it took some time until he noticed someone else following their little group.

"Oye, are you aware that we are being followed?" Accelerator asked the brats who were running slalom through the trees. Killua perked up and stopped.

"If you mean that our stalkers have multiplied, you are absolutely right." Killua answered calmly. He was far better then him at sensing the presence of other people.

"Should we do something against them?" asked Accelerator. A little fight would be good right now. It would certainly lighten his mood and he would even be nice. He was feeling well today.

"Misaka is already bored with running slalom around the trees and wants to do something else. Shall Misaka beat them up, asks Misaka as Misaka tries not to look suspiciously around and warn Misaka's stalkers." She said while hoping from one foot to the other excitedly.

"Well then, let us visit the rats that dared to follow the cats." Accelerator said as he turned around and walked towards the badly hidden people on the ground. "Misaka, Killua." Both perked up when they heard their name. "Let's make this a contest. The one who manages to beat most is the winner."

"Will there be a price for the winner?" Killua asked. Bratty child.

Accelerator send a mock-death glare at the second brat, "Do I honestly look like someone who would how some price hidden away on my person?"

"Be nice, big brother, and do not worry Killua. He meant this as just a friendly contest. No price, just showing off, says Misaka as Misaka tries to defuse the tension."

"No price?" Killua asked again.

"No, nothing. Just go, brat." Accelerator said while nodding his head into the direction of the rats. Both of them stood besides each other waiting for a signal. Accelerator rolled his eyes.

"Ready, steady, go!" he screamed the last part and the brats took off towards the badly hidden people. Immediately they were gone from his sight and Accelerator let out a tired sigh. Sometimes being an older brother not to one, but now two, little brats who were constantly on a sugar high and had the energy of a nuclear bomb was exhausting and troublesome.

"Finished!" he could hear both brats scream at the same time from the tree line a few meters away from him. He sighed again and walked over to where Misaka was dancing around happily waving her hands at him. Accelerator looked at the three figures lying beneath their feet – they were currently standing on top of those stalkers, Misaka digging her heels into their backs while Killua kicked them a bit for good measure – and recognized their faces immediately. Those were the three brothers – what were their names? Imori, Umori and Amori? – from which they had taken the badges and then left lying near the boat. So they had gotten up again and followed them around to get their badges back. Well, too bad.

"And who won?" Accelerator asked as he looked up from the three brothers to the brats.

"It was a draw." Killua said unhappily. "We each knocked out one and the last one together." He finished with a pout.

"Well," Accelerator sighed, "This whole thing is getting annoying again. Did they have any badges on themselves? Or other useful things? You are allowed to search through their clothes, they are not going to say no."

"They are unconscious." Killua commentated.

"Not going to, not able to, it is the same thing in my book." Accelerator shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, let's look, states Misaka as Misaka begins to search through their stuff." They found out a few interesting things, Killua was supposed to be the target of the youngest, weakest looking of the bunch, while the other two already had the cards of their targets, apparently some other weak-ass participants. He stopped Misaka before she could tell him how they all looked like and who they were, but he did not care.

They lost against pathetic opponents; which meant that their targets were even weaker than those he already considered weak and Accelerator was in no way interested enough to remember their faces or names. He hefted the other two badges onto his cloak – he was beginning to look like an idiot with all those badges – but maybe it would bring them more attention and a few interesting fights. One could still hope, but first they had to get rid of the brothers for at least the time they would spent on this island, another three days. He did not want to deal with them again. They already got two chances. One when they got onto the island and another one right now; two chances were just enough and he was still feeling generous today. Nothing bad would happen to them, well, at least not that bad.

Accelerator walked over to the biggest one and laid his hand onto his thigh. One second later they all heard a loud crack, which was followed by an even louder scream from the eldest.

"Ah! You bastard!" he screamed, "What the hell have you done?" Ah, he was awake again.

"Broke your bone. It was the easiest way to stop you from following us. I was lenient the first time, so the second time screamed for some worse punishment, do not you think?" Accelerator explained smiling creepily down at him.

"You bastard!" the oldest continued to scream, but Accelerator ignored him. The man should be thankful that he did not torture them to insanity because of his boredom and should just shut up. He stood up and walked to the middle brother, who was still lying unconscious on the forest floor.

"W-what are you doing? Go away from him!" screamed the eldest in fear and started to crawl towards his brothers.

"Also breaking the bone. After all, all three of you followed us."

"Y-you monster!" Another two loud snaps and horrifying screams later, Accelerator and the brats were on their way again, leaving the now-injured brothers lying in the forest.

They found another river again, fished for food, ate it, continued to walk, took another nap and walked some more. Midday turned to afternoon, which turned to night and they once again sat in front of a small fire, roasting their fish. They did not talk much, if then only about how the Hunter Exam sucked and was just too easy and far too boring, when they were interrupted.

Accelerator did not feel anyone near them, but Killua had far better senses in that department and stilled mid-conversation. The hairs on his neck stood up a bit and he started to look around suspiciously. Three metal stars came flying from one of the trees to their right. He pushed Misaka out of the way while Killua jumped to his feet and also dodged the metal projectile. Another three were fired at them. Accelerator stood before Misaka able to redirect them slightly so that they would not hit them. He could have reflected them back or slowed their speed until they dropped before his feet, but he did not want to show off that much. It would be good if nobody knew his full powers. It would be funny to see their faces, once they realize that he could do so much more.

Killua of course jumped into the direction the metal stars came from and started to fight the person. Accelerator saw a flash of red and knew whom they were up against.

"It must be the bald ninja, states Misaka as Misaka looks closer at the metal stars. Misaka watched the TV show called 'Naruto' back home and there were also ninja throwing around those metal stars, explains Misaka as Misaka tries to make out the figure hiding in the forest."

"The bastard is fast, I must admit." Killua said as he jumped down from a nearby tree and walked over to them.

"He is gone?" Accelerator asked him.

"I think so, if not, then he is pretty good at hiding." Killua answered.

"That exactly is the ninja's way. They must hide in the shadows, ready to assassinate their targets in the night with wire and those metal stars or some of these awesome jutsu, and if this is a strong target the must battle them in an ultimate battle of good and evil! Long live Naruto, screams Misaka animatedly." She started to dance around wildly.

"I never ever let you watch this much TV." Accelerator stated as he looked at her incredulously.

"Well, he seems to be an assassin like me. I used to do this kind of thing too." Killua said with a shrug.

"He attacked all of us even through only I had all the badges, maybe to get you away from me. He obviously wants one of the badges on my cloak, I wonder which."

"Who knows? If he really needs it, we will see him again." Killua stated. Accelerator looked at them for a few moments, before turning around and raising his voice.

"Oye, bald ninja. I do not like being attacked and I also would not like it if you take my little sister hostage as bargain chip. So let's make a few things clear. It does not matter to me that much if I pass the Hunter Exam and if you once again try to attack my little sister, I will kill you. I will break every damn bone in your body and then as finishing touch reverse your blood flow. Even if it is between the Phases and I would be disqualified. I do not care. Understood? So if you want something from me, then it would be best to come and talk to me face to face, not attack like some coward and creep from the shadows. And bring something good to eat, if you want to negotiate with us." Accelerator turned towards them again and sat down by the fire and continued eating. Both looked at him stunned, but also sat down and finished their food.

"Do you think he will attack again?" Killua asked.

"If he is intelligent enough, then no, he would not. He is only one person, while Killua is a trained assassin, Misaka can control lightning to a certain degree and I have a power he is not be able to understand for now. I am a complete unknown, while he only knows bits and pieces about you two. That one attack was a test to see how we would react and as you can see, we are all uninjured and you immediately ran into the directing the attack came from. We are good and he knows it, so if he has some brain, he will come to us and talk." They continued to eat in silence and laid down to rest.

The next day started bright and early, there was no way to escape from the annoying rays of the sun that woke them all up. Well, he could stop them, but then he would have to let the brat do around unsupervised and he would not do that. They went towards the river to freshen up, before they saw movement from the corner of the eyes. The bald ninja with the red cape and weird eyebrows stood before them holding something grilled and good smelling in his hands.

"Apologies for my attack last night, I just wanted to see if it would be possible for me to steal the plate. Here I offer you this good and self-made food as apology." He handed some of the food over to Accelerator without any threatening gesture.

"Is it poisoned?" Accelerator asked.

"No, it is not. I know you have no reason to trust me, but even though I am a ninja, I still have honor."

"Okay, Killua will be our taster."

"Poisons do not really do anything to me anymore, but I still know if there is something in it or not, exactly like I knew that number 16 had put laxatives into the soda cans." The ninja looked surprised, but nodded and gave them the rest of the food. They all sat down, Killua tasted everything and gave them the okay to eat. The food was good, thank god not again fish, and once they had finished the started to negotiate.

"Which one do you need?" Accelerator asked at last.

"Number 198." the ninja answered.

"Your target?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Accelerator said neutrally.

"Okay?" the ninja looked surprised.

"Why not? Do you want to fight me?" Accelerator asked.

"No, no, it is okay. I just did not think it would be so easy."

"You do not have any of us as a target and it was not ours, so why not? It is not like we need this one."

"Thanks." And with that the ninja vanished into the forest again.

And life in the forest took its normal route. They continued to go through the forest, even met the bound forms of former number 16 and the ape man, who were curiously surrounded by little squirrel-like creatures, which seemed to have quite fun annoying those two. One look at them, they screamed at them to unbind them, Accelerator chuckled before turning around with the brats and continuing going on their merry way.

Finally the seventh day arrived and they walked towards the place, where they first entered the island. Accelerator could not wait to sleep in a normal bed again and eat normal food, but somehow he had managed to survive. He would be happy to be away from forests generally for at least another year. He also did not want to hear anything about camping or fishing for the next year. Those were taboo words now.

They continued to sit on the shore gazing towards the ship in the distance. Some minutes from now they would finally get off of this boring island and hopefully towards civilization. Last Order looked up when she noticed he ship neared the coastline again.

"I think it is time." Killua said from the side.

"Finally." Accelerator grunted as he got up from the ground. He could not wait to get off this and sleep in a normal, comfortable bed and eat normal, not self-made food.

"The Fourth Phase of the exam has just ended." They could hear Khara's voice loud and clear all over the place, probably because of hidden speakers. Let's see what she wanted with them. "Will all the applicants please return to the starting point at once? You will be given one hour of extra time. If you do not return during this time, you will fail the exam. Furthermore, you are not allowed to exchange tags after reaching the starting point. Anyone caught swapping tags will be disqualified." She said in a happy tone. Accelerator looked around. Some of them were already here like he himself, Last Order, Killua and Hisoka. They waited for some time before others arrived. The pincushion guy, the bald ninja, the old kung-fu master arrived in the next half hour and continued to wait silently with them.

The little wooden bridge was laid out again to get from the coast onto the boat. Khara walked with a notebook and a pen over onto the island, before looking curiously at the people standing there.

"Then we will now check the tags of everyone here!" She stated cheerfully.

"Number 407, Accelerator-san." She could see the cards onto his cloak. Together he had eight points, more than enough. Number 407, 198, 89 and 362.

"Number 406, Last Order-san." She showed Khara her badges, number 406 and 53.

"Number 99, Killua-san." The brat coolly showed her his cards, number 99 and 199.

"Number 44, Hisoka-san." The cards revealed number 384, 80, 281 and 118. Oh, he did not have his original with him. Someone else had to have it, possibly Gon? But he was not really sure. He had no idea how such a naïve, little brat could have won against the magician; it should have been impossible.

"Number 301, Gittarackur-san." Number 301 and 371.

"Number 191, Bodoro-san." Number 191 and 34.

"Number 294, Hanzo-san." Number 294 and 197.

"So seven applicants have passed?" She asked. On cue they heard a rustling behind them.

"Oh?" She exclaimed surprised. They all turned around to look at the tree line. Gon, Kurapika and Leorio appear.

"Gon." Killua said excitedly from beside Accelerator.

"Ah, three more arrive at the last second." Killua gave Gon a thumb up which was returned by Gon with the same, before Gon looked seriously at the magician. Hisoka smirked darkly. Accelerator was not sure if he really wanted to know what happened to those two.

"And now for the last few members…" She stated.

"Number 404, Kurapika-san." Number 404 and 16.

"Number 403, Leorio-san." Number 403 and 246. It was incredible that he managed to get this far in the first place.

"And Number 405, Gon-san." He showed the numbers 405 and 44. Oh, so h had managed to defeat the magician? Or was he so benevolent that he gave the little brat his badge, since he could get the others fairly easy? Who knew?

"These ten applicants have passed the Fourth Phase of the exam!" she said with a dramatic flair as she pointed her hand at the zeppelin above them. Finally away from the forest!

They got onto the airship and waited by the windows. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Accelerator and Last Order stayed together for now. It would be interesting to hear, what had happened to the others in this week.

"Pathetic…" Everyone turned towards Leorio, "I needed the two of you to do everything for me in the Fourth Phase. I promise I will return the favor. So… thanks." Leorio said blushing slightly as he tried to not look into the direction of Gon and Kurapika. Well, now that was not really surprising at all.

"I have an announcement for all applicants. The chairman wishes to interview the remaining candidates." Beans stated through the speakers.

"Interview?" Leorio asked.

"When your number is called, please come to the first reception room, on the second floor. We will start with number 407, Accelerator-sama." Accelerator shrugged his shoulders and walked over to their destination, Last Order following behind him.

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the mentioned room. Accelerator knocked, opened the door when he heard a 'enter' from the other side and looked curiously into the room. It was in an old Japanese style.

"Well, have a seat." Isaac Netero said while comfortably sitting on the other side of the table.

"Is this the exam's Final Phase?" Accelerator asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it is not. It may be related, but in the end I will just be asking a few questions to satisfy my curiosity." Netero took out a notebook and a pencil. Accelerator sat down at the dark blue cushion on the floor and waited.

"First why do you want to become a Hunter?" The chairman asked.

"Mainly because of the Hunter License. Through it there are just so many things possible, travelling around the world and killing other people without getting into too much trouble." Accelerator replied neutrally.

"I see then I will move on to the next question. Which of the other nine applicants are you keeping an eye on?" Netero asked while taking down notes.

"That pin cushion guy, I think he is number 301, and the magician Hisoka, number 44." The others were not really that noteworthy, well, "And maybe a bit the brat, Killua, number 99." He was not that bad either. The chairman nodded happily.

"One last question, which of the other nine applicants would you least want to fight with?"

"Number 406, Last Order. She is my little sister, I would not want to fight her."

"Ah, I understand."

AN: Finally. It took me some time. My motivation for everything Hunter X Hunter related was zero for a while now and I just could not finish this chapter, but now at least after so much time, it is done. Hurray! Now we will be at the Final Phase. Who would you want to battle and who not?