The arena had never looked more surreal.
From above, the battlefield seemed like a stage carved from insanity itself. Crimson drapes floated mid-air, gravity-defying and soaked with the scent of blood and perfume. The sky shimmered in deep purples, and a thousand laughing mouths formed in the clouds. Spotlights blinked to life across this twisted theater, each one searching for its star performers.
A single chime echoed.
The Multiversal Announcement System buzzed:
"Let the game begin: Hisoka Morow vs. Shogo Makishima. Prepare yourselves, for your fate has been sealed."
Hisoka stood near center stage. His presence was flamboyant yet suffocating. His cherry-red hair swayed gently, and his eyes, wide and childlike, glimmered with a lust for the unpredictable. His fingers toyed with a deck of playing cards, flicking them across his knuckles like an experienced showman. Each card held the weight of murder.
He inhaled deeply. "Mmm~ what a delicious stage. Will you entertain me, I wonder?"
On the opposite side, Shogo Makishima stepped forward in composed elegance. White suit pristine, his posture regal. He carried no weapon but radiated quiet lethality. His smile was subdued, intellectual, as though he had already read the ending of the play and simply wanted to enjoy the steps leading there.
"Entertainment... it's a rare pleasure. Let's see if you can offer something beyond mere chaos."
They moved not an inch further. Instead, they studied one another. Two predators. Two anarchists. Each forged in madness but dressed in poise. The arena itself responded to their aura. Flowers of glass bloomed from the floor. Pages from unread books spiraled upward like snow.
Initial Exchange
Hisoka vanished in an instant, leaping to the chandelier-like tendrils in the sky. His aura surged—Bungee Gum. Hisoka's signature ability, a compound of rubber and gum, allowed him to manipulate movement, impact, and deception.
He yanked a hidden thread attached to the floor and shot back down with the speed of a missile. But his target was no longer there.
Shogo had already moved.
Makishima stood behind him, holding a shattered shard of mirror, raised like a scalpel. Hisoka twisted mid-air, barely avoiding the strike. The shard grazed his cheek, slicing a playful grin into his already eerie expression.
"You're good," Hisoka purred. "You smell like danger."
Makishima did not respond with words. Instead, he kicked a nearby pillar, sending a domino effect of falling monoliths across the arena. Each strike was calculated, each step deliberate.
The Mind Duel Begins
Unlike previous battles of sheer might, this one unfolded like a psychological opera. Each trap laid was both literal and symbolic.
Hisoka flung cards laced with aura-enhanced threads, setting invisible snares. Shogo, in turn, used his unparalleled intellect to read the rhythm, dismantling each trap through manipulation of the environment—dislodging light beams, triggering false reflections, and altering paths with simple physics.
They weren't just trying to kill. They were trying to understand each other's core.
Shogo whispered into the air, his voice amplified by the arena: "Isn't it fascinating how people only discover who they are in conflict?"
Hisoka giggled. "Mmm~ yes, yes! And the moment they die... is the moment they're most beautiful."
They clashed.
Blades of glass, cards sharper than razors, and threads of aura intertwined in a ballet of death. Hisoka launched himself into the air, tethered by Bungee Gum to erratically swing across the arena like a human pendulum. Each motion was chaotic yet controlled.
Shogo met each assault with counters—not by strength but by manipulation. He redirected attacks with redirection physics, used Hisoka's own velocity against him, and nearly stabbed him twice in the throat.
Arena Evolution
Suddenly, the battlefield transformed. The crimson curtains fell, revealing a shifting labyrinth of bookshelves, mirrors, and abstract sculpture. Walls rearranged themselves like a Rubik's Cube. The entire stage responded to their escalating intensity.
Hisoka leapt from shelf to shelf, giggling.
"Come find me, little mouse."
Makishima stalked silently, picking up a glass pen, etching words onto reflective walls: Cogito ergo sum. The words glowed, and with a sudden blast, Hisoka was forced out of hiding, disoriented by his own distorted reflection.
Makishima appeared again, whispering: "I think, therefore I am. But who are you when you're not thinking?"
Spectators' Roars
Hunter x Hunter Universe: "Hisoka... he's dancing like a devil!" "First Gon, now this?! This isn't even a Nen battle anymore… it's something else!"
Psycho-Pass Universe: "Makishima's in. After Kogami... now him!" "How do you scan a monster without a hue?"
Death Note Universe: "This is chaos. Like if Light and L fused into performers."
Tokyo Ghoul Universe: "They're both ghouls without needing to eat flesh."
Betting Table Update
New Universe: Crimson Thread Bettor Name: Ryntha the Weaver Betting On: Hisoka Morow Wager: Her entire fashion empire, woven from sentient silk Potential Win: Eternal youth and thread-weaving control over the multiverse Loss: Her identity will be absorbed into the next thread spun
New Universe: Cognetica Prime Bettor Name: Professor Y5-Theta Betting On: Shogo Makishima Wager: His multiversal knowledge vault Potential Win: Access to the forbidden library of Omega thought Loss: His consciousness will be trapped inside a recursive data loop
Other Bets Kurapika: Betting on Hisoka. Wagering the chain of judgment. Ginoza Nobuchika: Betting on Shogo. Wagering his Sibyl access.
Total Pot: 12,270,000 soul-credits
Final Room
The two stood now in a room of silence. A single chair. A single book. A table with a red apple. Hisoka licked his lips.
Makishima picked up the apple and took a bite. "Do you know what this symbolizes?"
Hisoka chuckled. "Mmm~ sin?"
Makishima: "Temptation. Knowledge. Death."
He hurled the apple. Hisoka caught it with Bungee Gum, only to discover it was a bomb. The explosion didn't injure him but dispersed hallucinogenic gas.
Visions twisted.
Hisoka saw Gon bleeding. Makishima saw Sybil System applauding.
But both smiled.
They had already planned for this.
Cliffhanger
The arena's heartbeat quickened. Reality flickered.
One final act was upon them.
The curtain hadn't yet fallen, but the stage was soaked in blood and paradox.