Sew Up Your Mouth and Go To Sleep: Episode Four

Episode Four: Framed x For x Murder

It was late the next day when we finally arrived at the 3rd testing site. I only listened for a bit, finding out we had 72 hours to get to the bottom of 'Trick Tower' to count as a pass. Strolling over to the edge, I looked straight down. "How interesting that drop would be…" I mused, picturing the corpse at the base of the tower, nothing but a bloody inkblot on the hard soil below. Eyeing the other contestants, I vaguely wondered if I could get away with shoving someone off the side of the tower, just to see what they would look like when they make impact with the hard ground.

"That's a creepy smile…" Killua pointed out, walking over to me with Gon trailing after like a faithful puppy. "What are you thinking of that could cause a creepy look such as that?"

"What do you think, say, Tonpa would look like if I shoved him over the side?" I asked, speaking loud enough so that the giant tub of lard could hear. "It would probably paint a lovely picture the moment his fat ass goes splat." I grinned, eyeing the large man as he shrunk away from my gaze.

"Now Senka, you shouldn't be trying to scare Tonpa-san. He's been nice to all of us." Gon scolded me like a mother would their child.

"By nice, you mean trying to get rid of us rookies, then he's a fucking saint…" I mumbled, making Killua snicker at my sarcasm.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Gon's head tilted a bit to the right, as he eyed us both curiously, before shrugging his shoulders. Shortly after, a man claiming to be the 'greatest rock-climber in history' started climbing down the side of the tower.

I looked up, seeing large violently red, babies with wings flying. "Well, he's a goner." Just after I said that did one come swooping down, clamping its shark like teeth around the man's body, before soaring off again with its meal. "That way is out… Though I do wish to test out a theory with Tonpa as my victim…"

"Senka, you're a sadistic guy, aren't you?" Killua coughed at Gon's words, causing tears to rim his eyes as he looked at me before looking at the green clad preteen. I, on the other hand, just stared at him blandly. Just how blind is he, really? I think my gender is pretty obvious, even with this prepubescent body of mine.

"Killua, don't make me pull out your precious voice box." I stated calmly, narrowing my eyes at his giggling form once Gon left the two of us alone.

He stopped giggling, only to cast me a sly smirk. "I'd like to see you try, dude!" Killua then started giggling like a schoolgirl all over again, as if he said something real witty. Rolling my eyes, I glanced around, only to narrow my crimson hues when I took notice that there were fewer contestants standing with us.

Tucking my hands into my pants pockets, I strolled around behind Gon, quickly finding five different entrances to the Tower. "Kurapika! Leorio!" he shouted, calling the other two over to us.

"What is it, Gon?" the blond one asked, as they closed the short distance between us.

"Look." Kneeling down, Gon pushed on one of the tiles. "I found a hidden door."

"I see now. So we can descend by flipping the stones."

"Okay! Great job, Gon! Let's head on down!" Leorio complimented the prepubescent boy.

"But I'm confused."

"About what?" Gon went to point out all five trap doors. "That many?"

I proceeded to tune them out as I went over to one of the doors and gently pressed my foot against it. The door did not even budge from the pressor. 'What the hell?'

"Let's go, on the count of three."

"I guess this is goodbye for now."

"We'll meet up again, at the tower's base."

"Let's go… One!"

"Two!"

"Three!" they all shouted, jumping down on their doors, while I walked over on mine, only for them to disappear while the one I stood on stayed flat.

'Someone is fucking with me. I know, for a fact, that no one used this entrance!' glowering, I glared at the dumb door.

I landed on the balls of my feet, cradling my skateboard against my left side, as we all dropped into an empty room. Old man Leorio had landed on his face, as comical as it was, while Kurapika and Gon landed similarly to myself. "That was quite a brief farewell." Stated Kurapika as he brushed dust off his blue and red tabard.

"Oh, so all the doors led to the same room…" complained the old man, while I silently scanned the room. Gon, on the other hand, stood up and walked over to a sign.

We all followed while he proceeded to read the thing. "'The five of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal.'"

"Five of us?"

"Look… There are five stopwatches." All of us grabbed one after Gon did.

I noticed the weird buttons that were also on the device. "There's an 'O' and an 'X' button." I stated, frowning a bit at how odd it was.

"Could it be that we won't be able to leave this room until another person drops in?" questioned Kurapika, fastening the watch around his wrist.

"But—"

"That is correct!" a speaker cut me off, making me glare at it. "My name is Lippo. I am the prison warden here, as well as the Third Phase examiner. Multiple routes through this tower have been prepared. You have chosen the path of majority rule. Cooperation will be key if you wish to clear this phase of the exam. One person's selfish behavior can derail an entire group. And you can't start until you have five members. Best of luck, gentlemen!"

"We can't move on until someone else arrives? What do we do?"

"We have to wait, I guess…"

We looked up, staring at the tiles above us, hoping that someone would fall through. "We would've been able to move on if Senka's door opened…" I mumbled, frowning at the wall as I crossed my arms.

"Maybe his door opened up to a different path?" Gon suggested.

"Tch. I doubt that, with how close our doors were to each other."

We waited and waited. During that time, Gon handed me his fishing pole, while I handed him my skateboard, which he proceeded to learn how to ride before being able to go in circles with it.

"Oh, come on! It's been two hours… What if the others all took different routes? Only a fool would still be at the top of the tower!" Pops shouted, annoying me.

"Calm down, Leorio." I yawned loudly, covering my mouth, as Kurapika scolded the other male like a wife would their husband. "Complaining won't help."

"But… What if no one shows up before we reach our time limit?"

I heard someone tapping on the final door, causing me to look up as specks of stone fell. "That sound…" shortly after he mentioned something about it did the tile move, dropping two people down into the room.

"Itai…" Senka rubbed her sore hip as she got up, her large hood still obscuring her face. She removed her sword that was strapped to her waist, and proceeded to check on it. "Thank God! Looks like you are good for something, Tonpa!" using her heel, Senka dug it into the side of the fat old man, making him cringe in pain as he stumbled to his feet.

"Good grief…"

"Tonpa-san."

"Oh."

"It's the old man." Aside from Gon, none of us were pleased to see Porky Pig in the room with us.

"Ah! And Senka, too!" without warning, Gon rushed over to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her in a huge bear-like hug, causing him to lift her off the ground a few inches.

"I-Idiot! Put me down this instant!" she shouted, her body going rigid in his hold. While this was going on, Tonpa took it upon himself to snap on the stopwatch.

"So…" drawled out Killua, coming up on my right while Gon stood on my left. "What took you so long on getting down here?" he asked, sounding disinterested.

"Apparently I don't weigh enough for the trap door to function…" I answered, frowning. "I'm guessing 36 kg isn't enough to trigger them…"

He started snickering at my 'misfortune'. "Are you serious?! Bwahaha! Sucks to be you!" Without looking at him, I slammed my fist against the backside of his skull. "Itai! Itaiiiii~ What was that for?" he whined, rubbing the abused portion of his head.

"For being an ass. I thought I'd knock the shit out of you…" I replied, following after Kurapika as we came across a platform in the center of a large room. Below us was nothing but pitch blackness, as air rushed up, teasing the brim of my hood along with my bands.

"Wh-What is this place?" wondered Leorio.

"A fighting arena." I answered, making them turn to me. "I can smell traces of blood from that platform, possibly from former applicants." I pointed at said platform, just as my crimson orbs locked on a group of shadowed figures on the other side of the room.

"Look over there." So Killua noticed them, too.

"The applicants have arrived. Remove the shackles." As he asked, the shackles the man that was speaking fell off, clinging loudly as the hit stone. "Jeez…" he complained, rubbing at his wrists. The weird robe he wore followed the shackles. "I'm finally free." He was a large – yet weak – man with tan skin and scars.

Fixing my gaze on one of the other hooded figures; I lost interest about whatever the speaker was blaring about. As I thought, it was a case of one-on-one fights, starting against Tonpa and Scarface. Typical Tonpa… The obese piece of shit gave up the second the fight started, causing me to kick him in the gut once he came back over and removing his watch. He grunted in pain, casting me a heated glare, before getting into a fight with the old man-teen. Following that pathetic excuse for a match, Gon went next.

The green clad preteen's opponent was a scrawny man, with oily black hair that partially covered the left side of his face, by the name of Sedokan. We had to choose which candle our teammate got to use. Either the long one or the short one. However, either or could have been tampered with. Because of this, Kurapika thought it is best to rely on Gon's instincts instead of bickering about it like children. Gon, the simple-minded fool, chose the long one and we all backed him up on his choice.

Shortly after they lit the candles, Gon's started burning more quickly, while I frowned as another gust of wind greeted us from the bottom. He was down to a stump of wax with a large flame. Setting it on the floor, Gon rushed up to his opponent and blew the weaker flame out; gaining a win for us. "Oi. Sedokan, was it?" I spoke loud enough that the opposing team wouldn't hear me. "Next time you switch candles for a tampered one, I'll gladly cut off your fingers and shove them – one by one – down your throat… Understood?" he visibly paled, his legs shaking, as he went back to his team.

"What was that about?" inquired Killua, his hands tucked behind his head.

"Personally, even with my own background against me, I despise cheats. It did not matter what candle we chose, he would have switched it out for a fixed one anyways. If Gon hadn't found out a way to win, it would have been a lose-lose situation for anyone else." He nodded in understanding. Kurapika decided to fight next. I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms, keeping my eyes trained on the remaining three of the opposing side.

His target was a strange blue-skinned male with odd body modifications attached to his disfigured face, with 19 little pink colored hearts on the left side of his chest. Basically, he was nothing but one giant fraud. Not once in my, extensive, criminal history have I heard of a mass murderer named Majitani. "That's one freaky body…" Leorio said what we were all thinking.

"And face…" chimed Killua.

"Yet it is all fake, like a hookers' body." Nothing against prostitutes, after all I knew a few, but the fakeness of their bodies repulsed me to no end. Why would any man want to fuck a doll? If they really wanted to do that, it'd be less expensive to just buy one of those humanoid-sex toys.

"Look here!" The fraud pointed at the hearts, "I've killed nineteen people, but it bugs me that nineteen is such an uneven number. I'm so glad I've gotten to meet number twenty."

"I'd slit his throat and be done with it… that sound is repulsive to my sensitive ears…"

"I insist that we put our lives on the line. I won't accept some half-assed contest. Blood! Entrails! Agony!"

Killua looked over at me, looking bored. "You're looking a little green, Senka…"

Smiling slightly, I jabbed my elbow against his ribs, watching as he bit down on his lip to prevent any sound of pain. "That man's voice is making me nauseous…"

Majitani kept going on and on with stipulations, all of which Kurapika agreed with. He tossed off his tabard and dropped his weapons, completely ruining the freak's plans as they fought. Cringing in disgust, I watched as the blue-man flexed, making his fake muscles ripple.

"Is Kurapika gonna be okay? This guy looks dangerous…" worried Leorio.

"Yet looks can be deceiving…" I muttered, looking off to the side. Even Killua looked like he thought the same thing.

"You don't need to worry." Gon popped up next to us, looking sure of himself. "Because when I look at him, I don't get chills." He explained, arms loosely crossed over his small chest. I was right, he had animal-like instincts if he can tell that much.

"What does that mean?" none of us clarified for the wannabe-doctor.

"Time to show you the ace up my sleeve!" Majitani jumped high in the air. "I'll see you dead!" Kurapika jumped out of the way, easily avoiding Majitani's surgically enhanced blue fist. It left a giant crater in the ground. Removing his face, the blue freak show turned around and flexed his shoulders, showing off a large black spider tattoo; one that its main body was in the shape of a skull.

"A tattoo of a spider with twelve legs… That's…" I raised an eyebrow, staring curiously at the taller male as he spoke in wonder.

"Yeah, I recognize it." The pig-man spoke, making my bloody gaze cut over to him. "Anyone aspiring to become a Hunter has heard of it." His tiny pupils shook in fear. "That's the symbol worn by members of that notorious band of evil thieves, the Phantom Troupe!"

"Where have I heard that name from?" I asked aloud, putting a finger against my chin as I looked up at the ceiling. "Guess it is not all that important…" I shrugged. The air grew tense as the blond male slowly rose, his whole body stiff.

"What's wrong?" taunted Majitari. "Cat got your tongue?" he giggled. "I'm Majitani, one of the Phantom Troupe's four kings!"

"Eh? He's got his wires crossed… That doesn't sound at all accurate…" I am sure that the term 'Four Kings' was a nod to another group of bandits that were strictly a group of four that claimed to be 'Kings'.

"Consider that first strike my way of saying hello." Kurapika gave off a completely different aura, almost as if he became a different person in general. "This is your last chance to surrender. I'm still willing to… Huh?" the smaller male's head shot up, cutting off the prisoner who looked startled at what he was seeing. "Wh-What's wrong with you?"

Kurapika ran forward, getting into the blue-man's blind spot, and tightly grabbed his lower jaw. "Oh, this looks good…" humming, I grinned as Majitani fidgeted.

"O-Okay! Wait! I get it! I surrender!" I doubt anyone else heard him as our blond haired teammate drew his right fist back, and then letting it fly, sending it against Majitani's glass jaw as he smashed the prisoner's skull against the arena's floor.

His – once gray – eyes had changed into a brilliant scarlet color. As Kurapika jumped back, the freak's body bounced against the stone like a rubber ball, before laying still on his front. Whistling lowly, Killua grinned, obviously impressed with that punch. It was silent for a few moment, as we all watched on. "Consider this a warning…" Kurapika spoke in a low voice. "First, a real Phantom Troupe tattoo has the member's number on the spider. Second, they don't bother counting how many they've killed. Third, never mention the Troupe again. If you do, I'll kill you." He promised, scaring mostly everyone around us.

"Well, saw that coming from a mile away." Shrugged Killua.

"Yeah… Sure you did…" I rolled my eyes as he glared at me, sticking out his tongue like an immature child that did not get to have sweets before dinner.

"Are you okay, Kurapika?" inquired Leorio.

"Yeah, I'm not injured." He replied, walking back to us.

"Also, is it safe for us to be near you?"

Kurapika grabbed his head, sighing heavily. "From the moment I saw him, I knew he was weak. And mentally, I knew that tattoo was a fake." I took note that his eyes turned back to being gray. "But as soon as I saw that spider, everything in my sight turned red…"

Leorio looked exasperated. "Well, I can't blame you."

"Actually," his pale skin gained a pink hue to it, "to tell the truth… Even when I see a real spider, my personality changes, and I enter a frenzy." I frowned, not finding this to not be the least bit amusing.

"You should have told us sooner…" Kurapika walked passed us and sat down in the tunnel, resting his head against his drawn-up knees.

"But this means that the rage in me remains as strong as ever. I suppose I should be happy."

"We should keep Kurapika away from spiders." Gon whispered loudly to the taller man.

"Definitely." He agreed, giving a shallow nod. "Okay! I'll secure our victory!"

Leorio went against a female prisoner with brilliantly pink hair that reminded me of a type of medicine, pulled up into two large pigtails by yellow ribbons, using time as betting chips. This all happened because Kurapika would not kill Majitani, leading to Killua and I to offer to do it for him, which he refused, stating that it was a one-on-one fight, and our interference would give us a loss. We both dropped the subject and it got us to where we are now. Rock-Paper-Scissors…

"Rock-paper-scissors? And what the hell is that?"[1] I asked, frowning at the fact that I did not know.

"You really don't know?" Kurapika inquired, sounding shocked.

"I pursued strength! I do not have time for your trivial games!" he rolled his gray eyes, letting out a deep breath of air, before explaining it to me like a mother would their child. "Hmph… Pitifully simple…" I scoffed, smirking as I crossed my arms. [2]

"Says the person that's never played before…" drawled out Killua with a smirk of his own.

"Fine, then let us play, then…"

"Whatever." I frowned as we began, always throwing the same signs. Growling lowly, I threw out scissors, just as he did the same with rock. "Ha! I win, you lose!" he laughed, pointing at me with a smug grin.

"Luck. That is the only plausible reason." I spat, glaring at one of the walls.

"You look like a drowned out cat with such a sour expression!" he giggled, just as Leorio lost us 50 hours of time. In response, I flipped him the bird.

"It's finally time for the second to last round…"

"Guess I'm off." Killua tucked his hands away and started crossing the bridge.

"What? Killua?" the white haired child looked back at the worried man-child.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dammit! I really needed to win my round…"

"Gon… This guy is totally pissing me off!" he complained while the other child stood between them.

"Now, now."

"Don't give up before we even know what the contest is." Killua shouted, before pouting slightly. "Well, if it's something like mental math, I'm surrendering." He muttered, trying to make it so none of us heard him.

"That's right! Depending on the opponent, we still have a chance!"

As they talked, Killua's opponent stood across from us, completely disrobed. He was of medium height with a bulky build, his messy golden blond hair swayed as he walked forward, digging a chunk of stone out of the wall and throwing it. "Killua gets to have all the fun…" I whined, a bit put out. It was none other than Johness the Dissector. He was sort of a legend in the underworld, when it comes to mass murderers, because he killed with his bare hands. Killua ignored Leorio's warning and met Johness in the center.

"How are we settling this contest?" the twelve-year-old inquired, looking disturbingly cheerful.

"Contest?" rumbled Johness, his deep voice reverberating off the walls. "I believe you're confused. This will be a one-sided massacre." His right hand twitched, itching to tear the assassin apart. "I have no interest in the exam or any offer of amnesty. I just want to hear you scream."

"Really? Okay. Then the loser is the one who dies." The boy calmly stated.

"Yea, that's right." Johness confirmed, curious about the boy as he reached forward. "I'll tear your body apart." Killua wasted no time once the larger man began speaking, simply walking towards him – to me, anyways – and ripping out the blond's still beating heart with his sharp talons, and wrapped it in a brown cloth, where it continued to beat. "Wh-What?" he looked lost, wondering what was happening to him as he turned. "I'm so cold." His hand grasped his chest; beefy fingers grazing the gory hole in his chest. Killua grinned, looking like a satisfied cat that finally got the old lady's pet canary, as he fully displayed the cloth covered organ.

"That's… mine." Johness fruitlessly wandered over to the grinning child, trying desperately to get his heart back to be placed in his chest, where it would belong. "G-Give it back." His body pitched forward, arm out stretched, as it finally gave a final pump. Almost like he was offering the old lady her dead canary, Killua gently set the cloth covered heart in its owner's hand. The score was now 3-2, with us leading.

"Who is he?" Leorio inquired as the other made his way back.

Gon looked up at him, realizing what he was talking about. "That's right. You guys don't know."

"Huh? Don't know what?"

"Killua comes from an elite family of assassins." I spoke before Gon.

"Eh? A-An elite family of assassins?" the man-child looked between Gon and I in disbelief.

"I'm back." Killua declared, tagging me in. "Have fun with your opponent, Senka~"

Rolling my eyes, I strolled out and changed places with him.

"Tch… What's with all these kids? And a woman-child none the less!" a Cheshire like smile curled my lips; easily recognizing the owner of that voice. "A fight to the death with no surrendering… Sound good to you, kid?" he asked sarcastically, like he normally would.

"That's fine… But let's make it a bit more fun… Say if I win, we get five hours back… Sound good to you?" I altered my voice a bit, making it sound more raspy than it could be.

"Fine. However, before we begin, I want you to remove your hood!" he demanded, pointing a beefy finger at my vest. "I want to memorize the face of my victims."

"If that's what you want… Magister… Though I think it'll be the other way around…" I unzipped the vest and shrugged it off, even removing my red shirt as well; kicking both articles of clothing to the side. Rotating my shoulders, I gave him a coy smile. "How long has it been, Magister?"

His beady black eyes widen as he stared down at me, easily towering over my 4'11" form with his own 6'7" one. Like Johness, Magister was bulky, but also incredibly hairy to boot. Wiry black hair covered his arms and face, falling down to his shoulders in tangles from not taking care of it. "Sen… ka…"

"It's been, what? Eleven years since we last met face-to-face?" I tilted my head to the side. "That's when you and the others left me to the dogs… Poor choice on your part, after all… You wouldn't be in here if you hadn't betrayed whatever kind of trust we had."

"Y-You little bitch! It was you who set me up?!" he screeched, foaming at the mouth in disbelief.

"Is it really all that surprising? You let it slip about your druggie whore of a lover. I just happened to find her with her true lover – her drug dealer, none the less! – and framed you for their murders! And do you know what the real kicker is?" I asked, chuckling as his whole body shook in rage. "She was a mother. The little babe was wide awake when I killed them…"

"B-Babe…"

"Oh, but don't worry… He wasn't yours but the dealer's. He's a cute kid."

"DEMON SPAWN!" Magister charged, fist raised in the air as he knocked me to the floor, his porky hand slamming over and over into the right half of my face. I simply stared at him, crimson eyes glowing as he continued over and over, before throwing me to the side, as if I was a rag doll. "I am going to end your pathetic existence once and for all!" I slowly started getting up, just as burning embers rained down over me. Looking up, my crimson eyes widen as one of the bowl torches came crashing down over me, easily covering my tiny body as the fire and hot embers did their thing.