Killua and I tensed up when Ikalgo pointed his gun at us, thinking he would shoot more fleas.

"See ya!" The octopus exclaimed and released air from his gun, escaping from us.

Killua and I followed him, me using my wind ability to keep myself in the air. Killua grabbed Ikalgo's gun and stuck the suction cup on the rock, and I stopped using my wind ring and stuck the other suction cup on the rock, holding on to the tentacle.

"Hey. So we meet again." The ex-assassin said, being unenthusiastic.

"Yeah. I guess we have. Long time no see." Ikalgo chuckled, rubbing his head with one of his tentacles.

"I have a question."

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

"Why didn't you dive underwater to escape? You would have an advantage in the water. Unless—"

Ikalgo stammered and sweated nervously.

"Don't tell me you can't swim."

"Killua! He's an octopus, and octopi can swim quickly!" I retorted, opposing his deduction.

"I said don't call me that!" Ikalgo shouted angrily.

"Anyway, I think the only reason is that if you go in the water, your underlings will tear you to shreds no matter who you are. They are attracted to the smell of blood. Your wounds are bleeding, so that must be why you didn't go in the water to escape." I explained, and Ikalgo sheepishly grinned.

"Well, I suppose—" He replied, and suddenly, his eyes widened. "Not yet. We're still fighting."

"Who are you talking to?" Killua asked him.

Ikalgo panicked.

"Oh, right. You guys can communicate telepathically. Your boss is the guy who was flying over us, wasn't he?"

"Now hold on a second. Uh, you see...I guess you could say that's what I might be doing...Yes, we're still fighting!"

I stared at him with suspicion. So that flying ant was his boss after all...

"Let's make a deal. If you tell us about his ability, we'll spare your life. You have ten seconds to answer." Killua told him.

A part of a tentacle fell in the water below us, and the marine Chimera Ants went crazy with the smell of blood they picked up. I had a distorted face just from watching them chomp it down in no time.

"Eight seconds left."

I looked up to see Ikalgo sweating more, on the verge of tears. I gave him a cold glare to get him to answer.

"Six seconds left."

He still didn't answer. What information of the flying ant's ability was he trying to hide from us? What would happen if he were to share that information with us?

"I wanted to be reborn as a squid. I would have given anything to be a whiplash squid. If you think octopi and squid are the same, you're wrong. Octopi are ugly. Squids are squideriffic. I think they look divine!" He explained, being dramatic.

I stopped glaring at him and gasped. How...how could he call his own kind ugly? It was just like calling your own success a failure.

"Two seconds." Killua didn't care about Ikalgo's wish to be a squid, as shown in his indifferent tone.

"I'm sorry. I can't betray my friends." With that said, Ikalgo broke his gun and let himself fall towards the ant-infested water, smiling with pleasure. "I just hope that in my next life, I will be reborn as a squid."

Killua gasped and threw his yo-yo down to catch him. Another part of a tentacle fell in the water, causing Chimera Ants to go crazy over the smell of blood. I saw Ikalgo dangling over the water with a shocked face.

"Wh-why?" He stuttered.

"'Cause I think you're cool. In a different world, we could have just been friends." Killua said and smiled, making the octopus tear up.

"You're not ugly. You're perfect just the way you are. And you shouldn't end your life because of how you look to others. It's not fair to everyone close to you. I think you deserve to live a beautiful life as our friend." I added, smiling as well.

That made Ikalgo tear up even more, and he wiped his eyes with his tentacle. Killua flung him over to the other side of the cave, right before a shark-like Chimera Ant attacked both of us. Its teeth dug into my left side, and I could feel agonizing pain rushing through it. I clenched my teeth and grunted in pain, trying not to scream.

"You let your guard down! I bet you didn't think fish could jump, huh? I'm gonna crush you and that rock behind you!" The shark ant laughed, biting deeper into my side.

I clenched my teeth harder to try to endure the pain. I could see Ikalgo looking at us with a panicked expression. I noticed Killua didn't get seriously injured, which was a good thing to know.

"Come on! Scream for once! Or else this won't be fun!" The shark ant complained. "You guys are in a lot of pain to talk, aren't you?"

"Much better." Killua sighed, confusing the ant. "Scum like you are much easier to kill."

He effortlessly killed the ant with his claws and jumped from rock to rock until he managed to land on the ground safely.

"Windy Roar!" I chanted after I jumped off the rock Killua and I were hanging on to, and a strong gust of wind kept me up in the air until I landed on the ground beside the boy. The pain was still there and my side continued bleeding. I grimaced and clutched it, trembling with fear of losing so much blood.

"Lynn! Are you okay?! You're bleeding too much!" Killua cried.

"I'm fine. Let's just get out of here." I told him, my voice sounding rough.

A digital game sound played in my head, and the next thing I knew was that my left hand was pierced by something. I slowly moved my hand to see...a fish? Wait, something was not right. Then, another fish pierced my stomach, and I rasped. I turned my head to Killua and saw that the fish had hit him as well. He looked at me and gasped.

"What the—?" He widened his eyes at me, thinking that something bad had happened to me.

"Huh?" I stared at the pattern of a dartboard on his body. What the hell was going on?

A third fish struck us at the same place where the second fish did. I could feel a lot of pain already.

A voice laughed in my head, making me tense up.

"108 points! You guys have no idea what's going on, do you? Oh, and you guys should be hearing my voice in your heads. If you guys can survive long enough, you'll figure out what's going on."

The fish disappeared, and blood started oozing out of my new wounds. A sudden realization hit me.

The fish must be made out of Nen. But why can't we sense them coming at us?

More fish stabbed me in my right shoulder, left calf, and right thigh. They disappeared, and not too long after, three more stabbed me in my right ear, right knee, and right side of my chest. I was getting angry and frustrated as well as Killua.

"Well, have you guys determined anything about these attacks?" The voice taunted us.

Oh God, my body hurts like hell. Wait, he can only throw three fish at a time. Which means...

I looked down at the pattern on my body and Killua ran over to the water to see his reflection.

"I get it. Your power involves darts!" He deduced before he got stabbed by another fish.

I only remembered a little bit about darts. All I knew was that the game started with a certain number of points and the goal was to reach zero. So that was what their ability was based on.

"That's right. But figuring it out isn't gonna help you much. That's because my Nen fish darts have no physical form at all until they pierce your flesh, so blocking them is impossible." The voice explained, and I growled in frustration. "By the way, boy, your left shoulder is worth 54 points. I have a special dartboard that's linked to various parts of your body. For example..."

A fish pierced his right elbow. "Your right elbow is worth 27 points."

Another one pierced his right hand. "Your right hand is worth 18 points. 99 points for you! And you..."

I got stabbed in the left elbow, left forearm, and left hand. "12 points for your left elbow, 4 points for your left forearm, and 8 points for your left hand. Meh, only 24 points for you."

I breathed heavily, enduring as much pain as I could. I'd never been this injured my entire life. Not even when I was fighting Feitan, the god damn murderer.

"What's wrong, you two? Why can't you guys scream? Are you guys dead already? The game's just getting started!"

Three more Nen fish pierced my right foot, right shoulder, and right elbow. Then, a fish pierced my stomach, and another one landed almost on the same place where the other one landed. The third one landed on my right calf.

As even more Nen fish stabbed me in my right forearm, left calf, and the left side of my chest, the pain kept increasing as well as the bleeding from all the wounds on my body. I was feeling very weak. So weak that I would pass out on the spot. But I forced myself to keep standing on my feet and fight the shooting pain.

When I got stabbed in the stomach again, I fell on my bottom, more blood oozing out of the wound. I tried to get back up, but another Nen fish stabbed my left thigh, making me fall down again. My left forearm got stabbed by the third one.

Killua started using his electricity and closed his eyes, much to my dismay. What was he doing? I knew he couldn't catch the fish darts because the voice told us that they didn't exist until they came in contact with us. And he lost a lot of blood, too, so it wouldn't be long before he could die, before I could die.

His left ear and right calf got stabbed by the fish, and a moment later, my right foot, left forearm, and the left side of my chest got stabbed.

He put his left hand in front of his forehead, and a moment later, he grasped the fish dart as soon as it materialized. I gasped and my eyes went wide. The boy put his hand in front of my forehead, thinking that another one would pierce it. He used his electricity, making me feel uncomfortable. My heart pounded and my breaths became uneven. I didn't know if I could even survive one more dart, but if Killua could simply grab it using his insane reflexes, I would live. I just got to believe in him.

"You ready?" He whispered.

I closed my eyes, inhaled through my nose, and exhaled through my mouth. Then I abruptly opened them, my expression now full of confidence in the silver-haired boy.

"Yeah." I eventually replied.

He grunted in response and waited for the right moment to catch the fish dart. The electricity sparked in his hand, me trying to stay calm.

You better catch it, Killua. Or else I'll kill you.

Closing my eyes again, I waited and waited, then suddenly, I felt a slight pain in my forehead, and I opened my eyes to see Killua's hand gripping the fish dart right in front of it. He did it. He caught the dart!

I gaped at the boy in bewilderment. He removed the dart from my forehead and snapped the sharp point off. Then, he grabbed one of Ikalgo's tentacles and removed a suction cup. Next, he stuck that suction cup to the fish and gave the fish to me. Finally, he repeated the steps and stuck the other fish to his forehead. I did the same thing and realized what we were doing. I collapsed on the ground along with Killua to trick whoever was attacking us repeatedly into thinking we were dead.

Killua, you have saved me as well as yourself. Thank you.

I was eating fruits with Gon, and Meleoron just sat across from us watching. I noticed he didn't eat anything yet.

"Do you want to eat some fruit or not?" I kindly asked.

To my surprise, Meleoron stuck his long tongue out, grabbing one of the fruits and gobbling it down.

"Whoa!" Gon exclaimed.

"Do you mind if I ask you guys something?" The chameleon asked.

"What?"

"What is it that made you guys decide to trust me?"

"It wasn't that we trust you. We just didn't know why you were following us, that's all. And you swore you weren't lying, right?"

"Huh? That's it?"

"What? Isn't that enough?" I asked, this time more innocently.

"Hell no! Liars make promises all the time! It doesn't mean anything! A promise is something you should never trust!" Meleoron protested.

"So you were lying to us?" I asked, surprising him.

"I'm not like those other guys! I don't lie! I only tell the truth all the time!"

"Then we're good." Gon said and took a bite of his fruit. Meleoron sighed, sitting back down.

I finished my fruit and threw the core back, then I grabbed another one and started eating it. Much to my pleasure, it tasted so good.

"And besides, if you're lying, that'll make things easier for us." Gon said.

"Easier? How so?" Meleoron asked.

"We won't show any mercy. Both of us will be free to kill you right here and now." The boy declared, his voice sounding cold.

"Not only do we kill you, but I'll also give you a beating and tear you apart. Literally." I added, my eyes looking emotionless.

Meleoron shivered. What I just said, I really meant it.

I heard someone laughing as they came out of the water to check on us.

"Wow! You hit them right in the forehead. What a shot!" A feminine voice exclaimed.

I slightly opened my eyes to see two fish-like ants telepathically communicating with their boss. They didn't know I was still alive.

"That's great! You and I can be Assistant Squadron Leaders now! Yay! Yay! Yay!" The two ants cheered and gave each other a high-five, right before Killua decapitated them. Their heads fell on the ground, and I sat up to see them look surprised.

"What? But how did you...How can you guys possibly be alive with a dart sticking out of your heads?" The male ant asked.

Killua and I took out the fish darts from our foreheads, revealing the suction cups.

"These are suction cups from an octopus." Killua said, and the two heads were shocked.

"No way. How in the world did you guys manage to do that? No—I mean my darts are perfect! It's completely impossible to block them!" The male protested.

"Yeah, but I didn't block them. I grabbed them. I waited 'til the last moment, right when it materialized at my head. I could tell from what you were saying that you could hear my voice, but you couldn't see me. I had plenty of time to break off the ends of the fish and replace them with suction cups." Killua explained.

"Just hold on a minute! No one, and absolutely no one, has reflexes fast enough to catch a dart! Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, you're right. If I hadn't known where the darts were going to hit, I wouldn't have been able to. But luckily for me, I knew exactly where they would hit, and I was totally right."

They gasped in shock, and I smirked.

"I could tell that you were doubling out, and that meant you had to land the last dart somewhere in the outer ring, which is worth double the points. So the game you were playing was 01-501. You start with 501 points, and the goal is to reach zero. Those are the rules used in a professional tournament." Killua continued explaining.

"What? I never told you about the rules I was using!" The male ant protested.

"I knew as soon as I figured out your ability was based on darts. Don't you remember? You landed a double four on me and her. The game starts by hitting the board's outer ring. That's a double-in, a sign that you were confident in your skill. Players like that will always play by the official rules. They tend to seek public recognition if they have the talent and confidence. After that, I just had to do the math and endure the pain. I subtracted your points from 501 and waited until both of your scores were under 40. At that point, I got ready, and I placed my hand in the 40-point area, my forehead. After I caught one dart, I did the same with her and caught the other one. That's just all."

The two heads gasped again. I could assume that Killua used his electricity to increase the speed of his reflexes. That was probably how he managed to catch both darts without losing concentration.

"How long have you been playing darts?" The male ant asked in shock. I stared at the boy in admiration as he was about to reply.

"I mastered the game at the age of six. I had counted down from 1,440 points as a part of my early training."

He's...really amazing. I have no idea he is an expert of darts. If he didn't know about the game one bit, we would have been dead by now.

"You were being too cocky!" The female ant yelled at the male ant, and they started arguing as we stood up and started walking away from their heads weakly.

My legs were being too weak to keep me standing on the ground, and I collapsed, breathing heavily. Killua collapsed a few seconds later.

Dam...mit. I...can't move! What the hell...is going on?

I felt blood starting to exude from every wound on my body. A puddle was formed around me. I tilted my head up to see Killua with his blood pooled around him.

Am I...going to die here? Without...even apologizing to Lizzy? What will she do if she finds out I...have died? Will she ever forgive me?

I thought about all of our great times together and our success of our goal. I thought about my parents, Grandma Millie and Miri, my friends Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, how they helped us complete our goal.

Grandma Millie, Miri, I'm sorry. I never got to come back home and tell you that Lizzy and I avenged Mom and Dad. I will join them in heaven and reunite with them. You guys will never hear my last goodbye. How heartbreaking can my final exit be for you? For all of Pharage? For all of Dolphin Island?

My ocean blue eyes met the boy's, and he shared the same painful expression I had. I felt my heart pounding as I knew what I wanted to do before I died.

Killua. No, there's still time left. If I could just...move...closer...

Forcing myself to use my remaining strength, I dragged myself along the ground, straining a lot to reach the severely wounded silver-haired boy. I reached out my right hand, wanting to feel the warmth of him one last time.

"K-Killua..." I gasped, urging him to grab my hand.

"Lynn..." He said my name, his voice weak.

Killua tried his best to extend his right arm to reach my hand. Both of us struggled to move as we were losing more blood. I dragged myself a little closer to him while his arm was spread out. He moved closer to me, barely breathing. We gave it our all to grab each other's hands until fortunately, my fingers were on top of his hand. We looked at each other's eyes and intertwined our fingers. His hand felt cold, and mine, too.

There was something I wanted to say to him, so I made sure to say it loud and clearly.

"Killua?"

His eyes relaxed, nearly closing them. "Yeah?"

"I..." I paused, my blood mixing with his as it continued to ooze out of my body. "I...want to say...that I...that I..."

He slightly widened his eyes.

"I...lll..." I couldn't make myself say the next two words. I had to say it. I was dying along with my best friend, who was waiting for me to say those words to him.

"I lll...lo—" I was interrupted by something wrapping around my waist. Squishy tentacles. It was Ikalgo.

"Octopus." Killua said weakly.

"Don't call me an octopus!" He yelled for the third time before lifting Killua onto his head and running away from here.

"Huh? What...are you doing?" I asked in a soft, weak voice.