Card No. 000

By Gozilla

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Hi there!! Thank you so much for those of you who reminded me of the healing power of the card "Archangel's Breath" (actually I have total missed that ... Sorry!!).

Hongwen: Thanks for the idea! It is a good idea to amend the story and make it more reasonable. I will see if I can find some time to change the story or write a totally different story. Hope you won't mind if I borrow your idea ...^-^... Please bear with the inconsistency for the meantime (cos' I have to prepare for the exams in Oct).

Thanks again for all your reviews!

Gozilla (26 Sept 2003)

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Thanks to those of you who read and/or reviewed the story!

Bejiita-san: Thanks a lot for the review! I hope you will enjoy the second half of the story. ^-^

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!

Please excuse my poor English. ^-^

Reviews are most welcomed!!

Enjoy!!

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*crap* - thoughts

"crap" - conversation

(crap) - author's note

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A/N: I have just finished reading vol. 17 and I am crazy about it!! I think I will go mad for having to wait for at least 3 months before the next volume will be available!! So I have decided to make my own extension to the story, especially about the mysterious Card no. 000.

Warning: Major spoilers if you have not read up to Chapter 175.

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Chapter 2: Explosion x Wishing Stone x Friendship

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"Gon!" Killua yelled, "Move away!!" as he spun towards Gon at lightning speed.

"Nani?" Gon said in confusion before being pushed away violently by the white-hair boy, away from the hand of the bomb devil.

Killua, on the other hand, did not have enough time to get away from the hand of the bomb devil. At the very instant the hand of the bomb devil touched his right shoulder, a violent explosion came off. The wave of the explosion sent Gon rolling far away from the spot.

When he finally stopped rolling and regained his balance, Gon realised what happened. "Killua!!!" he yelled and rushed into the huge cloud of the smoke and debris created by the explosion.

In the chaos, Gon could see nothing but smoke, which had a sickening smell of burnt flesh. Suddenly, his foot kicked a soft object on the ground.

"Killua?" Gon said as he kneeled down to take a better look of the object. It was not his friend, but the battered body of the bomb devil. The explosion was so strong that it killed its initiator.

Gon looked at the body, despite the fact that they were enemies, his eyes filled with sadness for the death of the bomb devil.

Increasing worried, Gon stood up and continued his search for his friend. "Killua!" he shouted over and over again, hoping that his friend would answer.

As the cloud of smoke and debris slowly disappeared, Gon was able to see his friend, who was lying on the ground not far away from him, unmoving.

"Killua!" Gon yelled as he rushed to the stilled boy of the white-hair boy. He stood in shock and inhaled deeply as he finally saw the conditions of his friend.

The white-hair boy lied faced-down on the ground, his eyes tightly closed, unmoving. The explosion gave him a large, nasty wound on his right shoulder, virtually blown off half of his shoulder. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, which was pouring out from the wound.

Hesitantly, Gon put his shaking hand on the white-hair boy's neck. He was slightly relieved when he felt a weak pulse.

Frantically, Gon tore his jacket with his teeth and the uninjured hand. He used it to cover the boy's wound, trying desperately to stop the vigorous bleeding, "Hang on! Killua, please, hang on!" But he received no response.

"Gon, is that you?" came a female voice from a distance.

Gon shouted towards to origin of the voice, "Biscuit!! Come quickly!! Killua's hurt!!"

Biscuit rushed to the two boys. Her face went pale as she saw the bodies and blood, "Gon, what happened?" she said as she kneeled beside the white- hair boy lying on the ground, inspecting his injuries, "I saw the cloud of an explosion on my way back after defeating my opponent. How can you two be so careless with the bomb devil?"

"This is bad." she murmured as she gently turnover the white-hair boy's body, "Why are you guys so..." she could not finish the sentence as she saw tears rolling down the cheeks from Gon's eyes.

"It was my fault." Gon murmured, as more tears rolling down his cheeks, fists tightened, "I should have been more careful. I should have known better than to turn my back to the bomb devil. I should be the one to take the consequences of my carelessness, not Killua."

Biscuit looked at the crying boy, not knowing what to say. She knew how much the boy regretted for his carelessness.

"Stop blaming yourself, Gon." came a light whisper, barely audible.

"Killua!" Gon shouted happily, his eyes still filled with tears, "How are you feeling? I am really sorry for being so stupid. I am so sorry. I should have been..."

"I am fine." Killua said weakly, slowly opening his eyes, "It is not your fault. So stop blaming yourself. So stop crying like a baby."

Gon looked at his friend, a smile returned to his face, and wiped away the tears, "Hai!"

Biscuit looked at the sweating paper-white face of Killua, *This is amazing. Such a violent explosion is powerful enough to kill anyone in an instance. Yet, he is still fighting to survive in such great pain. But I doubt if he could last any longer.*

"By the way, Gon." Killua turned to look behind Gon and Biscuit, "I think you should check your book. If I am not having illusion, I think it is glowing."

Gon and Biscuit turned and looked at Gon's book, which was lying on the ground and glowing.

Gon got up, walked towards the book, and picked it up hesitantly. He opened the book and turned to page one of the "Required Card" section.

Inside the book, apart from the 99 "required cards" they have collected (including the ones from the bomb devil's book), a card had appeared out of thin air and occupied the card space for "Card No. 000".

Gon looked at the card, a big smile developed on his face. Excitedly, he turned and holding up the book, "Killua, Biscuit, look! We have got card no. 000!! We have gathered all the required cards!!"

But Gon's smile slowly faded away as he saw Biscuit tried desperately to stop the bleeding of the wound on Killua's shoulder with her nen. Killua, on the other hand, was breathing heavily. His eyes tightly closed as he winced for the pain.

"Killua." Gon said as he rushed towards his friend and kneeled beside him, "Killua, how are you feeling?"

"I told you I am fine." Killua replied weakly, only managed to open one eye, and he was sweating hard, "I will be OK. Don't worry."

"Damn it! Killua, stop telling lies, would you?" Biscuit yelled. Gon looked at Biscuit and Killua in confusion.

Biscuit continued, "Listen Gon, Killua is very seriously injured. He is going to lose his right arm if he is not sent to a hospital immediately. But as we are in the game, it will take more than an hour before we can take him to a hospital. To make things worse, we have only one 'Departure' card with us. We need to find at least one more 'Departure' card so that one of us can take him out of the game. And we don't have any time to find it."

Gon looked at Biscuit in disbelieve before turning to his best friend, "Killua, is that ture?" Killua looked away and avoided the eye contact with Gon.

Gon looked down to the ground, his eyes filled with sadness and pain, "So, what are we going to do?"

Silence.

"Gon." It was Killua who broke the silence. He ignored the excruciating pain from his right shoulder, trying to change the subject, "What is that Card No. 000 anyway?"

Gon looked at the sweaty pale face of his best friend before turning to the book. He had not really looked at the card in the first place so he had no idea what kind of power did it possessed.

Gon opened the book and read the description of the power of the card, "Card no. 000, the card of 'Wish', also known as the last 'Required Card' required for the completion of the Greed Island Game. The owner of the card has two options:

1) The owner of the card may use this card to call the Game Master and
present this card to him. He will then announce the official completion
of the game by the owner of the card.

or

2) The owner of the card may use this card to make a wish. The content
of the wish must be enforceable within the game (i.e., within the
boundary of the Greed Island). The cost of making such wish will be the
other 99 'Required Cards'. The 99 cards will be withdrawn from the
owner's book upon the realisation of the wish."

"A wish?" Gon murmured, some idea struck him, "Killua! We can use the wish to heal you!"

"Gon, don't be stupid!" Killua protested weakly, with determination. His eyes, which used to shine with liveliness, becoming dimmer and dimmer, "Have you forgotten why you entered the game at the first place? Do you remember how hard it was to gather all the 99 required cards? We may not be so lucky to do that again. Not to mention that, if we can't complete the game, you may never be able to find your father!"

"But, Killua," Gon protested, "if we don't use the wish to heal you now, you will probably lose your right arm for the rest of your life!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am fine!" Killua shouted, he tried to sit up but fell back heavily due to the great pain from his shoulder. He curled on the ground shivering from the pain. He bit his lips so hard to stop himself from screaming for the pain that it started to bleed.

"Killua!" Gon and Biscuit shouted in unison.

"Gon, listen." Killua said with a shaking voice and looked straight to his best friend's eyes, "Both you and I know that finding your father is the most important thing for you. Completing this game is a golden opportunity for you to do so. Don't give it up."

Gon looked at his best friend, his eyes waved with emotions. He stood up, decision made, "Killua. You know that I have been following your advices all the way since we met in the Hunter examination. But, I am very sorry, not this time. I am going to make the decision this time."

Killua and Biscuit looked at Gon, surprised by the determination in his tone and on his face.

"I am really grateful to you, Killua." Gon said as his eyes softened, "You have always treated me as your best friend and you always put my matters at top priorities. But I want you to know that I am also treating you as my best friend and that you are very important to me."

Gon lowered his head, almost whispering, "It is true that I really want to find my father. He is my ultimate goal and he will probably be for the rest of my life. However, I cannot sacrifice my friend's life for this. I will not."

Gon's head shot up and looked straight to Killua's eyes, determined, "Killua, I will not let anything bad happen to you just because you want to help me to find my father."

Killua looked at the determined face of his best friend, surprised. His eyes then softened at his best friend's words, "Gon. I am so glad that I have you as my friend. Thank you..." his eyes slowly closed as he slipped into unconsciousness due to the massive blood loss.

"Killua!" Gon and Biscuit shouted. Biscuit shook the white-hair boy's body, "Killua! Wake up! Don't sleep! Please..." as tears were threatening to get lose from her eyes.

Gon looked at the unconscious form of his friend and stood up, holding his book. He took the Card no. 000 out of the book without a trace of hesitation and shouted, "Gain!"

The card turned into a colourful shiny stone of the size of a tennis ball.

Gon looked at the stone, holding it tightly. He closed his eyes and whispered with his most sincerity, "I wish Killua would be healed."

A blinding light shone from the stone, straight up to the sky. Gon's book, now empty, fell to the ground. A ray of light shot from the sky, straight down to the still body of the white-boy lying on the ground.

When Gon and Biscuit could finally open their eyes, they saw Killua was still lying on the ground, eyes closed and unmoving.

They looked closely at the body of the white-hair boy. Their faces developed a cheerful smile as they found the nasty wound on Killua's right shoulder, together with the injuries on his hands and the other wounds and bruises, were healed.

Biscuit carefully checked the pulse of the boy. It was still weak, but stable, "He is going to be fine. He just needs some rest."

"Gon." Biscuit looked at the cheerful face of Gon, "Are you sure you are not going to regret this? You wanted so badly to find your father and you have put so much effort to complete the game. Now you have to start all over again."

"Hn." Gon nodded as he carried the sleeping Killua on his back and looked at Biscuit, with a confident smile on his face, "I will never regret this. Although I am not as smart as Killua, I know what are the most important things for me. I am sure this is the right decision. By the way, thanks to you, Killua and I have learnt a lot and I am certain that we will complete the game very soon."

Biscuit looked at Gon, smiling, *I knew these two boys are invaluable treasures.*

They started walking towards the forest, leaving behind a once colourful and very important stone, now simply gray and plain, on the ground.

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The End

I hope your enjoyed the story. Please review and comment!