Into x the x Maze

Kurapika didn't like the airship. For some reason, wherever he went, he felt off. He had split off with Leorio a few minutes after the airship departed to go sort out his thoughts while he went off doing god knows what. The man couldn't help but feel that there was something off about Gon. The boy always seemed cheerful, but Kurapika was no stranger to the look in his eyes. Even though the boy hid it well, Kurapika could detect the sense of loss radiating from the boy. The Kurta couldn't help but feel bad for the boy, and despite his hate for the Troupe, he felt the urge to help his new friend. He had nothing better to do, so he decided to see what the boy was up to.

"Let's spend the next two hours practicing Ten!" Kurapika could hear Gon shout through the wall. Kurapika curiously walked over and opened the door.

"Ah! Kurapika!" Gon chirped. Kurapika was surprised that neither of the boys showed any sign of surprise at his sudden appearance. "Come here! You should learn this as well!"

"Ah?!" A tick appeared on Killua's forehead. "I had to beat you in a race to learn this! How come he gets to learn it for free?!"

"Killua, your aura is fluctuating," Gon pointed out.

"Shit!" Killua closed his eyes. Kurapika had no idea what they were doing, but Kurapika had a feeling he would find out soon.

Gon bounded over to Kurapika and placed two fingers on his forehead. "Watch this!" With a bright flash of light, white tendrils started to flow off the man.

"What is this?" Kurapika, keeping a calm façade. He wanted to look strong for the boy, believing that he needed a role model like Kurapika. He doesn't know exactly what the boy has suffered through, but Kurapika felt like if someone older than him stayed strong no matter what, then Gon would follow under his footsteps and become stronger himself.

"It's your aura!" Gon said. "I'm teaching Killua how to use it!"

"Thanks, but I don't need it," Kurapika said. He didn't need some gimmick to kill the Troupe.

"You will," Even Killua stiffened at Gon's change in tone. Kurapika stared into the boy's eyes, dumbfounded. Gon's eyes shone with more wisdom and pain than Kurapika could fathom. "Every member of the Phantom Troupe are masters at controlling their aura. Taking them on without the ability to use Nen is like taking on an army with nothing but a handgun."

"How do you-" Kurapika's eyes flared red, causing the white tendrils to seep out faster.

"Ah! Kurapika!" Gon's eyes returned to its normal hue of kindness. "Your life force is seeping out of you! You need to control it!"

Kurapika didn't need to be a genius to deduce what would happen if he couldn't control his life force seeping out of his body like a waterfall. "What do I have to do?"

-

Gon took out his scanner and tapped on it. Kurapika and Killua were both meditating to familiarize themselves with the concept of their aura. He switched to the messages app. He had someone he needed to talk to, but he decided to sort though the messages he already had first.

Ging: I heard you beat the old man at his little game, huh?

Gon: Yep! Netero-san is really strong!

Gon was surprised he didn't have to wait long for a reply. Usually, it would take Ging at least two days to get back to him.

Ging: I won't disagree with you on that. Say, do you know what Nen is?

Gon stiffened slightly. He knew Ging was always straight with things, but wasn't that a little bit too direct?

Gon: A hunter stopped by Whale Island a few years back.

Gon didn't want to lie to his father, but if Ging knew about Gon's previous life, he might try to get as much information about the Dark Continent as he could with no regards for Gon himself. There was a short pause before

Ging: I see. Kite and I will be having words soon, then.

Gon sighed in relief. He would let Ging believe that Kite taught him Nen for now. He hated manipulating his father and Kite, but it was the best thing Gon could come up with at the time. He sighed as he sat down to meditate as well. Maybe if he searched within himself, he could find more of his old abilities. There was one Gon was rather eager to have, and the sooner he got it, the better.

-

"I don't understand why you insisted on coming with me," Ging put a hand through his messy hair. "There's nothing for you at the exams."

"I'm not coming for you," Cheadle huffed. Ging suppressed a snicker. Cheadle was always like this, assuming whenever he said something he would be flirting or whatever. Ging didn't know why the girl was like this, but he thoroughly enjoyed teasing his partner. "I want to see this son of yours myself. If he can beat Netero, he's obviously really powerful."

"Whatever you say," Ging stared out the window. According to his son, he didn't get Nen until he went to heaven's arena. How could have Gon learned Nen this soon? It made no sense. Had Gon lied to him? That also makes no sense. Gon is as bad of a liar as Ging, which is saying something. There was clearly something up, and Ging had every intention of finding out.

"Ging!" A smack in the face spurred Ging out of his stupor.

"What was that for, Little Pup?" Ging asked, rubbing his cheek. "Is the sight of me too much for you to contain yourself?"

"S-shut up!" Cheadle's cheeks tinted red. Ging was sure Cheadle knew that he was talking about her anger issues, but he wasn't one to complain. "It's just that you weren't listening to me!"

"Whatever you say," Ging deadpanned.

"Asshole!" Cheadle shouted, causing Ging to laugh. Maybe being sent to the past wouldn't be so bad, after all.

-

Silva sighed as he sat on his bed. He looked at his phone and the messages that had been sent to him. No one was supposed to know this number except his family. Each of them had multiple phones so they could separate their work contacts and other contacts. Although most of his family gave out their personal number to people like friends and comrades, Silva made sure only his family knew of this number.

Gon: Hello, Silva-dono. My name is Gon Freecss.

Silva: What do you want?

Gon: Nothing right now. I just wanted to start ties with the Zoldyck family. Something tells me we will be seeing each other sometime in the next few weeks. Hopefully, we can talk in person then.

Silva sighed as he put his phone down as the door opened. "You called, Silva?" Xeno's voice filled the large bedroom.

"Yes," Silva said, standing up from his bed. "Help me gather as much info on a man named Gon Freecss as you can."

-

Gon hopped out of the airship and basked in the sunlight. The airship had just landed and Gon was happily awaiting the next phase of the hunter exam. Gon took one last look at his scanner to check his abilities.

Name: Gon Freecss

Age: 12 (56)

Nen type: Specialist

Nen Abilities: Lightning, Bungee Gum, Manifest

'Yatta!' Gon cheered in his head. Manifest is a conjuror ability where the user can transform into different things using Nen. Gon didn't find need for it in the Dark Continent, but now Gon could use it to transform into an older version of himself without closing his aura nodes. Of course, he would be much weaker than when he faced off against Pitou or god forbid as strong as he was in his prime. His physical strength will be weighed by how much of his aura he channels into his transformation and he will have to use even more Nen to make it look as if the amount of aura he had skyrocketed. It would be a tough technique to pull off, but with enough aura and given that his opponent would underestimate him, Gon was confident that he could pull it off after a bit of training.

Gon tuned out Bean's summary of the third phase, as he already knew about it. The screams of agony that came from the fool dumb enough to climb down didn't even phase Gon anymore. "Hey, guys!" Gon called out to his friends, beckoning them over.

"What is it?" Killua asked curiously, walking over. Gon noticed that Killua's Ten was solid, even when he was doing things like walking and talking. Kurapika was having some problems, but his determination and grit kept the aura from collapsing.

"Watch this!" Gon channeled a bit of aura into his leg and stomped the ground, causing the tile with the four of them to flip over.

"A little warning before you do that!" Leorio exclaimed, a tick appearing on his forehead.

"Come on!" He beckoned them over to the five watches. He grabbed one and beckoned for the others to get one as well.

As the others put on their watches, the tile flips again, revealing none other than Hisoka. "Hisoka!" Kurapika and Leorio shouted in alarm, preparing to fight.

"Ah! Hisoka!" Gon chirped. He and Killua were too busy arguing about whether Gon's fishing rod or Killua's skateboard was cooler. "That's perfect! We need 5 people to continue!"

"How would you know that?" Kurapika asked. Kurapika would normally not argue with his friend, but Hisoka always put the Kurta on edge.

"Because there are five watches!" Gon said, tossing Hisoka the final watch.

"Thank you, Gon-chan," Hisoka's best attempt at a sweet smile still looked like the smile of a homicidal murderer.

As Hisoka put the watch on, a door appeared in front of them. "Welcome to Trick Tower!" Pro Hunter Lippo's voice appeared through a screen above the door. "For your first task, you must vote whether or not you want to go through this door."

"Well, there's only one way to go," Kurapika said, pressing the O button on his watch.

"Agreed," Leorio remarked.

"Sounds fun!" Gon chirped, knowing the outcome.

"Why not?" Killua shrugged.

"As long as I'm with Gon-chan," Hisoka said, pressing the O button.

As all five voted, the doors open, leading to two more doors. One on the left and one on the right, with an X on the left door and a O on the right door.

"It seems we must vote on which side to go," Kurapika stated.

"My gut is telling me right!" Leorio said, pressing the O key.

"Most people usually pick right," Kurapika said. "I think it might be a trap trying to trick our instincts."

"Kurapika's smart, so I'll trust him," Gon chirped. He still wanted to face off against the prisoners. He wanted to see if Killua and Kurapika could instinctively use their Nen in combat without prior teaching.

"Eh, why not?" Killua said, pressing the X key.

"Sounds fun," Hisoka chimed.

"Creep," Leorio muttered under his breath.

"At least I accept who I am," Hisoka shot back, causing Leorio to stiffen. As all the votes went in, the left door opened, leading to a large room with a flat surface in the center and five cloaked figures on the other side.

"Ne, let me go first!" A man shouted. "I want to tear them limb from limb!"

"Fine, fine," Another man said, sighing with exasperation.

Gon, who recognized the voice, tried hard not to change the tone of his voice. "Kurapika, do you want to go first?" He asked.

"I-I guess…" Kurapika sweatdropped. He wasn't the best under pressure from the boy, so he cracked. He stepped up onto the platform as the cloaked man followed suit.

"Hmmm what to do…" The cloak man mused to himself. "I know! What about a death match with no weapons?"

"Whatever I must do," Kurapika's eyes steeled with determination. "I will do."

The cloaked man threw his cloak aside, revealing blue skin, a botched face, and nineteen hearts tattooed on his chest. "I am Majtani! I've marked myself for every person I've killed!" The man turned his back, revealing a spider tattoo. "And I am part of the Phantom Troupe! You better not fuck with me!"

Suddenly, Kurapika's aura burst forth, his eyes going scarlet. He had his Ten activated this whole time, but the amount of emotion and rage that the spider brought upon him forced his aura to strengthen, unintentionally using Ren in the process. He dashes for the man with the intention to knock him out or put him out of commission, but as soon as his fist connected with the zombie man's face, Majtani's head exploded.

"A pitiful faker like you could never be a part of the spiders," Kurapika practically chewed out and spat that last word. He turned from the corpse and walked away, the intense aura subsiding. "Don't ever bring them up in front of me again."

"W-what the fuck was that..?" Leorio fell back as he felt the intense aura, unable to stand the high amounts of such a commanding aura.

"That," Gon started, "Was Ren."

"Interesting," Hisoka said, licking his lips as his aura fluctuated in excitement.

"Don't," Gon shot Hisoka a serious look. Though he didn't send out any killing intent, Hisoka knew that Gon wouldn't be afraid to take a swipe on the magician's life if he tried to egg Kurapika on. "Now. Who's next?"