The heavy metal gates opened slowly, rumbling the ground underneath it.

"Will everyone who passed the first phase please enter?"

The owner of the voice that beckoned them in was a pretty young lady, perhaps 20 or so years of age with bright turquoise hair and green eyes. Behind him, stood a very, very large man who was in need of a better-fitting shirt, well, arguably, Rukei thought Menchi needed a better-fitting shirt as well.

"Welcome," she greeted them, "I'm Menchi, the second phase examiner."

"And I'm Buhara," the man added, "the other examiner."

She took a moment to take in her surroundings. There seemed to be hundreds of clean stations for cooking. She glanced between the stations and her examiners.

Cooking. Their next phase would involve cooking judged by the gourmet Hunters in front of her. Seconds after she made her conclusion, a loud growl heard by every applicant caught their attention.

"W-what was that?"

"W-was that his stomach?"

Menchi tilted her head upwards to look at the giant man. "You must be hungry."

"I'm starving," he complained.

"So there you have it," Menchi stated cooly while getting off of the couch, "Phase two will involve... Cooking!"

She was right.

"Wait, cooking?!" A man in front of her exclaimed. Who was he again? She glanced at his number plate, 225. She remembered, Todo the Wrestler. "We're here to take the Hunter Exam!"

"That's right," Menchi continued, "Your challenge for the second phase is to create a dish that suits both our palates."

The same man glared at the two, "And why do we have to cook?"

The lady smiled proudly, as if she was waiting for this question. "That's because... We are gourmet Hunters!"

She was right on the mark.

Loud laughter and snickering followed shortly after causing her to glance around. She wondered what was so funny. Didn't they research the different kinds of Hunters before taking the exam? They would have come across the name before. Then again, in the back of her mind she knew that Gon barely knew a thing about Hunters and he was whizzing through the exam.

She also wondered why everyone was being so uncooperative.

All they had to do was follow the instructions and kept silent, they would probably have been fine. She wasn't so great a cook herself either but if they listened to the Examiner, they probably would be able to whip up something good enough to pass. Why can't they just follow orders?

She could see the irritation written all across Menchi's face, reporting to her bad news. With a mocking tone, one of the applicants, the same 225, asked, "And what will we cook gourmet Hunter-san?"

The young lady scowled, huffed, and sat back down on the couch. "Buhara."

"The main ingredient is pork!" The man announced, seemingly unaffected by the jeers.

"Pork? As in pig meant?"

Ignoring the obvious, hopefully rhetorical, question, Buhara went on, "You're free to use any species of Biska Forest pigs. You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork and you only pass if we both find it delicious."

"And we will evaluate more than just taste," Menchi wrapped up the directions, lethargically waving a little sign marked with a 'X' and an 'O'. "Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking, got it? When we've both eaten our fill the Exam will end."

"The Exam's Second Phase begins now!" Buhara yelled, using his giant stomach as a very effective gong. The storm of applicants rushed out the walled area searching for their ingredient.

"Catch a pig and cook it. This is way easier than the first phase," Leorio commented, glancing from side to side.

"That would be nice if it's true," Kurapika commented.

"I sure hope you're right," Rukei muttered, straining her eyes through the green foliage. She doubted there were many species of pigs in the forest or maybe they were very hard to find to increase the difficulty.

Gon sniffed at the air, like a bloodhound, and suddenly hopped off the hill, sliding down it's edge. She trusted Gon's sense of smell, so she hopped down after him and Killua.

She tried to stop herself when she saw two distinct obstructions in her path but failed as she slammed right into Killua's back. Moments afterwards she felt someone slam into her, a glance back told her the person was Leorio and following him Kurapika.

"Warning next time?" Rukei requested sardonically, glancing over the white hair of the boy in front of her.

Killua's reaction was similar, granted much louder and more expressive. "What the heck, Gon?!"

"I found them," Gon stated randomly. She looked over the two's heads and shoulders, very much finding large pigs, taller than her, maybe even Shichi, chewing on bones.

Bones?

Rukei stood up carefully, her eyes not leaving the carnivorous pigs. Unfortunately however, they hadn't been as quiet as they had hoped, catching the pigs attention.

"RUN!"

She dashed ahead, ducking under branches of trees and jumping over roots, as the herd ran after them, smashing the trees aside, unharmed. It was not until Gon had exploited their weakness, their foreheads, that the tide began to turn. The applicants began to take them down, one by one, the squeals of dying pigs filling the forrest.

Rukei spun the paint gun back into her holster as the pig fell over dead. Stunning it frozen was easy and all she had to do was slam the butt of her weapon into it's head to finish it off. She hefted it over her shoulders, now going over the much bigger problem at hand.

Cooking. Shichi said her junior's fried rice was pretty good, but that was about the only thing she knew how to make. She highly doubted that even her fried rice would be able to pass under the criticism of a Gourmet Hunter. Rukei hadn't cooked with pork very often... She looked about her station. Maybe she should just put it over a fire and see how it goes...

As Menchi shot down applicant after applicant without even tasting anything, Rukei began to question herself and the pig in front of her. Watching the next person receive an X for their untasted dish, she knew average wasn't going to cut it. And she was proven right when Menchi flipped the sign to show the X after looking at her dish. However, Buhara chowed it down happily, not that that made her feel any better. Just as Rukei got back to her station to start over, Menchi stood up, announcing Phase 2 to be over.

Everyone had failed.

Rukei wasn't quite sure how she should feel, but right now, she would settle for feeling really ticked. She understood Menchi had been provoked but that simply proved Menchi's inconsistency and impetuous nature; something that they did not need in an examiner. She must have had instructions from the chairman too and they must have already agreed on the level of difficulty. Why can't she just follow orders?

"Stop screwing around!" #225 yelled indignantly, "You asked for pork so we risked our lives to-"

"I said to prepare pork in a manner we both found delicious!" Menchi interjected harshly, "None of you made anything remotely delicious! You all did the same thing. There was no effort made!" She huffed in a tired, annoyed manner, "Just when I thought someone tried, they only changed the appearance! No one attempted to emphasize the the flavor. I'm positive that none of you took cooking seriously!"

The brunette couldn't truly counter the point. She didn't do much to change the taste of her dish, rather she just gave up. But she didn't what more she could do from there, she had no experience or proper training-

"In other words, you people don't have the guts to try anything new."

She grit her teeth together, flaring up at her examiner's stinging remark. What was this woman talking about? Rukei had-!

Rukei had... The girl's eyes fell downcast. The reason why the examiner's comment had stung was because it was true. Trying new things and coming up with something Rukei hadn't done; she had never done.

#225 and the examiner exchanged a couple remarks, before the applicant lost his head and attempted to attack Menchi. Buhara's giant hand however, slapped him into the wall, leaving a crater there where the man was thrown.

"Buhara," Menchi called sharply, standing up, "Don't interfere."

The larger man sighed. "But if I didn't you would have killed him, wouldn't you?"

With Menchi's 'maybe', Rukei realized how pissed Menchi really was, more so when the woman began to juggle the knives she had been hiding in her hand. "Let me clarify this. We frequently venture into the dens of ferocious beasts searching for ingredients. Every Hunter knows some form of martial art. You lack focus and willingness to experiment," she stopped throwing the six spinning knives, catching three in each hand with ease and grace. "That alone disqualifies you from being a Hunter!"

"That being said," a voice, that sounded to be from a speaker of some sort came from above, broke in. A large aircraft hung over them, with a very familiar crest on the sides. "It would be excessive to fail every single applicant."

"The Hunter's Association...," the brunette murmured to herself. Seconds later, she was brushing away dust from the impact of an old man who had jumped out of the airship and landed on the ground, unharmed. "And the chairman... Netero."

The old man laughed, ignoring the exclamations about his impossible jump. "Well, I work behind the scenes. I only take action when there's an issue, like now. So, Menchi-kun..."

The woman nodded, "Yes, sir," she replied, a familiar response to Rukei. Menchi seemed so subordinate like now only showing the height of Netero's position, though the brunette was already very aware of it.

"You failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?" The older man questioned.

"No, sir," the woman admitted, "I lost my temper when one of the candidates insulted Gourmet Hunters and I made the exam harder than necessary."

Rukei was surprised that the woman admitted the fact; she almost admired that about Menchi.

"In other words, you were aware that this exam was unacceptable?"

After a moment of silence, Menchi replied in shame, "Yes, sir. When cooking is involved I tend to lose control. I'm unqualified to be an Examiner. I will resign so please redo the Second Phase."

Was Menchi asking for a second chance on their behalf? The younger girl blinked.

The chairman gave an approving nod, but brought up the upcoming problem as a result of Menchi's decision. "But it would be difficult to find another Examiner on such a short notice."

"I apologize..."

As if struck with a brilliant idea, or having finally given the chance to lay it out, the man brought up a finger. "Then how about this?"

-

Rukei let the slight smile come across her face as she jumped over the crag, diving over the cliff with a twist; the rush of the wind from falling was thrilling. She grabbed onto the web, yanking her a bit upwards with the spring. Shortly afterwards, she felt the web tense from her companions also grabbing onto the thick threads. Other applicants followed their example, the web beginning to sag a little.

Applicants began to let go of the web, grabbing hold of eggs, expecting to be lift up by the wind, only to continue their path downwards. She felt a straining sensation from the web she held on. Rukei glanced at the ends in a concerned manner. How much longer would it hold?

"Gon, can you sense the next one?" Rukei asked tentatively, feeling the makeshift rope in her hands grow thinner and thinner.

Killua who hung beside her spoke moments following, when they could hear the web slowly fall apart. "Not yet?"

"I can't wait for the updraft!" A man cried, letting go of the web and plummeting into the ravine below, along with some others who had grown nervous by the breaking web.

The silver-haired boy tried again, this time more forcefully, "Gon?"

"It's gonna snap!"

The same moment she thought the rope was at it's end and they were all going to follow the fate of those before her, Gon's call immediately had her releasing the rope and feeling the rush once more. She grabbed onto an egg, and barely a second after, she was carried up by the updraft. Rukei was soaring and the feeling had her in high spirits again, the small, almost unnoticeable grin returning.

This is kinda fun.

-

Rukei hesitated for a moment, glancing at her friends as they bit into the egg. They seemed to like it, so she supposed it was safe to eat. She gave it another look before following their actions. She was surprised to find how good it tasted, unlike anything she had ever eaten before. She supposed victory was also part of the intangible seasoning that spiced the egg for her as well.

Rukei and all her friends had passed phase 2.