"Show me rock!"
Goku stood to the side idly, hands behind his head in a relaxed position. Next to him stood Killua, Alluka, and his son, who watched as Gon performed his technique. Killua and Alluka, knowing about his jajanken, (although the latter always found it really cool when Either of the boys used nen) were less invested in the show as Goten was, who paid close attention.
"Jan…Ken…" Gon extended his middle and index finger, the aura coating it becoming as sharp as any knife. He then swung at a large boulder in front of him, the weight of his body shifting as to put more power behind the swing.
"Scissors!"
As soon as he finished his swing, the upper half of the rock quickly slid off and fell to the ground harshly. Goku whistled, very much impressed.
"Wow! That's really cool!" Goten complimented, amazed at the technique.
"Yeah! That technique relies a lot on precise control." Goku said knowingly. Having performed a similar technique when he and Vegeta had transformed into Vegito.
"You managed to increase the length of the blade and charge it faster. Nice Gon!" Killua complimented him, Alluka at his side giving him a thumbs up and a look of awe.
"Thanks guys." Gon nodded bashfully at the compliments.
"So how about Jajanken: Rock?" Goku inquired, interested in seeing the final variant. Gon nodded, and leaped backwards before taking a battle stance.
"Okay…" Gon let out a smile. as he began to charge up. "Show me rock…"
The attack was shown and a huge crater was made. The four of them ascended into the sky to avoid being hit by the giant dust storm. Alluka, who couldn't fly yet, held on tightly to Killua.
"I managed to make it much stronger than before!" Gon explained, peeking his head out of the enormous hole he had created. "It takes a little more time to charge than my other attacks though…"
"That could be a problem." Goku noted, landing. "Unless you can dodge while you attack."
"It's really hard to maintain it." Gon admitted, jumping out of the hole and landing right next to Killua. "But I have managed it before."
"That's good! Can't wait to see the techniques in action!" Goku nodded approvingly. " Anyway, thanks for showing me! I gotta get goin now! Lot's stuff to do."
"Wait, hang on dad!" Goten said, surprised at the suddenness of his father leaving. "Don't you wanna see Tera?"
"Sorry Goten, but I'm busy with something. Maybe some other time." Goku waved, a sad smile on his face, before proceeding to teleport to who knows where.
Goten sighed sadly, Alluka patted his back gently. "Oh well. Guess he couldn't come…" He said, disappointed.
"I'm sure he has his reasons." Killua said, throwing out a small amount of comfort.
"I guess." Goten shrugged it off, shaking away his disappointment. At least the three of them decided to stay. "Oh well. C'mon guys! Let's get moving then."
As they began to head toward the nest, Killua placed his hand on Gon's shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
Gon nodded, and Killua turned back toward the two younger children. "Actually Goten, can we catch up later? Me and Gon wanna do some training just to see how much we've improved."
"Oh… Okay." Goten said, Alluka turning her head just as quickly. "Is it gonna take a while?" He asked, really wanting them to come.
"Nah. We'll probably only take a few minutes." Killua reassured them. "We'll catch up to you guys in no time."
"Well alright. We'll see you guys later then!" Goten said, turning his back to them. "Cmon Alluka, let's go!"
Alluka looked at them, and was put at ease by their smiles. They waved at each other as she made to follow Goten. "Don't take too long, okay you two?"
"We won't." Killua responded.
"Have fun you guys!" Gon cried out as they left.
The two children eventually made their way to a rocky terrain, filled with giant rocks and small mountains. They began hiking their way to higher ground, eventually jumping to a small branch growing on the side of a rock.
Goten grabbed Alluka's hand and pulled on her when she seemed like she was about to lose her balance.
"Alright! I think I see the nest from here." Goten said, looking into the distance. Alluka, carefully balancing herself on the branch, peaked from behind Goten who's shoulder she was gripping.
"It's so big…" Alluka said in awe. The nest must span several feet at most.
"Hey." Goten said, getting Alluka to look at him. He grinned at her. "Want me to fly you to the nest?"
Alluka gasped excitedly, her mind taken off the height of the tree branch before nodding fiercely. "Yeah!"
Alluka then climbed into Goten's arms, wrapping her arms around him fiercely. Goten bent his knees and let his ki envelop them both.
But before they went to the nest, he decided to have a little fun…
"Alright, umm…" Alluka spoke up, confused by the delay to what she thought would be a slow flight. "Goten I'm reAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" Alluka screamed in an amazing mixture of excitement and terror as Goten blasted off into the sky.
Goten laughed as he did a bunch of twists and turns in the air, laughing mischievously as he did so.
The look on Alluka's face, he noted, was priceless.
After flying for several minutes, he finally began to slow down, until eventually, he made himself land on nest softly, turning to giggle at Alluka's bulging eyes.
"I hope you enjoyed the ride folks! That was for a limited time only!" He said, bursting into laughter.
"You JERK!" Alluka cried out, starting to giggle herself, albeit more out of nervousness and fear but still happy from the adrenaline. She slapped his head hard, which only seemed to make him laugh so hard he started to hold his stomach. "Next time a little warning would be nice!"
"Haha… Okay, okay. Sorry." He apologized, placing her on the floor, before proceeding to wipe his eyes.
He held his hands up as she zoomed in on him, a playfully angry look on her face. "You're a punk arentcha?"
"Hehe. Maybe~!" He teased her. "But don't pretend you didn't enjoy it! I saw you smiling for a moment there."
Alluka lightly bopped him on the arm, grinning. "Whatever. So this is where the nest is right?" Alluka redirected her attention to the gigantic home of Goten's dino friend.
"Yeah! This is the place." Goten said, begging the trek down the wooden fortress, slowly jumping from stick to stick. "The nest is just a little further down. Let's go!"
"Right." Alluka nodded, following him closely.
In a matter of minutes, the two could see the large dinosaur den as they eagerly trekked through the large terrain made of sticks.
"Wow! Is that her?!" Alluka said, catching a small glimpse of a creature peeking its head out of the wooden home.
"Yup!" Goten chirped running toward the small creature. "Hey Tera!" He cried out, getting the baby's attention.
The baby pterodactyl growled happily, trudging toward Goten as fast as it could. Which was to say, not that fast. Goten held out his arms and caressed the baby gently, Alluka slowly approaching from behind.
Upon seeing her, the creature hid behind Goten's body shyly, making Alluka slow to a stop.
"It's okay Tera… Alluka is really friendly! She won't hurt you."
Alluka slowly approached Tera, the young creature shyly keeping its head down as Goten petted it in an attempt to make it more relaxed.
Slowly, Alluka lightly touched Tera's head, the small grazes becoming more gentle petting. The creature sniffed Alluka's fingers but ultimately pushed itself back into Goten's embrace.
"Oh. Did I do something wrong?" Alluka said, frowning worriedly.
"Oh not not at all!" Goten quickly assured, holding up his hands. "Tera's just really shy! Don't take it personally!"
He went back to petting at, as the creature peeked out of his shirt to glance at her. "Trust me. It took me a few tries to get her to open up! And I'm really good with animals most of the time."
"Oh…" Alluka backed off and sat down alongside him. "Alright."
The two sat there, Goten patting the young Dinosaur's head while Alluka simply watched the creature in fascination.
"Can you tell me some facts about Pterodactyls?" Alluka asked, curious to see how much her friend knew about the species.
"Yeah, sure!" Goten said enthusiastically. "Hmm let's see…"
Goten took a few moments to think about the various pieces of trivia to see which ones would interest her the most. Eventually he came up with 10 of his favourite ones.
"Anyway, these are my top 10 Pterodactyl Facts!" Goten said, ready to begin with the list.
"Okay, shoot!" Alluka said, listening.
"Okay then, number one! Even though they're the largest flying animal they come in a range of sizes. The smallest one is about the same height as a sparrow."
"Really? Wow…" Alluka sighed in awe. 'I wonder why there's such a massive size change…' She wondered to herself.
"Number two, they can live up to 10 or 25 years."
"Number three, the word pterodactyl is just a nickname. Its full name is pterodactylus."
Alluka nodded, fascinated by trivia.
"Number four, It's part of a group of creatures called pterosaurs."
"Number five, their diets consist mostly of fish and other smaller animals."
"Number six, pterodactyls are diurnal."
"Diurnal? What's that?" Alluka asked.
"Oh, it means that they're mainly active during the day." Goten explained. "Anyway number seven. A young pterodactyl is called a flapling."
"AWW! That's cute!"
"Yeah." Goten laughed. "Number eight, Pterodactyls don't lay that many eggs. They only lay about one or two at a time."
"Number nine Pterodactyls are usually read to leave the nest after about three years."
"And finally Number ten! They, along with dinosaurs, were revived by Dr. Senbei Norimaki and his team in Age 742."
"Revived?" Alluka asked, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you know?" Goten looked at her curiously. "Dinosaurs went extinct thousands of years ago."
"Really?!" Alluka's eyes widened in astonishment.
"A huge meteorite hit the planet, causing major shifts in weather patterns. A lot of the animals during that time couldn't adapt so they went extinct."
"Man…" Alluka sighed, looking over at Tera, who hid back into Goten's chest from the gaze. "What made them want to revive the Dinosaurs then?"
Goten shrugged, "Beats me. Guess they just wanted to see if they could?"
'Curiosity is a pretty big factor that leads humans to commit several good and bad deeds.' Nanika pointed out, making Alluka nod. 'Take our family experimenting on us to see how our powers worked when we were younger as an example.'
Alluka shuddered at the various 'experiments' their family made them go through., making Goten give her a look of concern.
"You okay?"
"Oh yeah! Umm. Just cold you know..?" Alluka grinned nervously. It wasn't technically a lie as Alluka did find it rather chilly.
"But wait…" Alluka changed the subject. "How would they adapt to the modern world? The oxygen levels were really different back then weren't they? It's how alot of species from the past went extinct.``
"That's right!" Goten nodded. "Trunks told me once that thanks to that, a lot of the first experiments died quickly. They ended up giving the Dinosaurs some genetic enhancements so that their bodies could be more suitable for the real world."
"Wow…" Alluka sighed in amazement.
"You know, I have a lot of books on Dinosaurs that give out all sorts of cool facts! If you want I can lend you a few to read whenever you aren't training." Goten offered.
"Really? Thank you Goten!" Alluka said, ecstatic. As she leaned in to give him a hug, Tera chirped in surprise, making her back off. "Oh… um… Sorry Tera." Alluka said sheepishly. Goten laughed gently, petting the small pterodactyl comfortingly.
"Don't worry about it. Like I said, it takes a while to earn her trust. Isn't that right Tera.~" Goten cooed, the dinosaur sniffing his shirt while attempting to munch on it.
Alluka lied down, staring into the cloudy sky, her hair softly moving along with the wind. " You said her parents are hunting right now, right?"
"Yeah. Usually they're out for about an hour or two." He noted, trying to pry the baby from his shirt. "They have to get a lot of smaller animals since they're so big. On a few lucky days, they manage to kill another Dinosaur and get here earlier but…"
He looked off to the side, frowning as an unpleasant memory crept into his mind.
"Well the last time they did that, One of them ended up pretty beaten up. So they're trying to play it a bit safer now, you know?"
"Oh… Which one ended up hurt?"
"The dad. After I investigated I found out that they fought a T-rex."
"Oh man…" Alluka winced, not wanting to know how much that would've hurt Tera's dad.
"He recovered though so everything worked out in the end." Goten quickly reassured her. "Gohan and I patched him up after his mom came to us for help."
"Oh." Alluka sighed in relief. "I guess that's goo-"
"Hey guys!" Gon cried out, Killua following closely behind him.
"Oh hey!" Alluka greeted me. Goten stood up, placing Tera down. The young Dino hid behind his leg, looking at the newcomers shyly.
"It's about time you guys got here! Come on and take a seat." Goten invited
The two boys gladly joined them, Killua sitting next to Alluka while Gon approached Goten, looking down at the creature hiding behind his leg.
"Hey. Is this the little dinosaur you told us about?" He asked, eyeing her curiously. Goten nodded, turning to Tera and picking her up to show off to the group.
"Tera… Say 'hello everyone! I'm Tera!'" Goten moved her around playfully, much to Tera's confusion.
"Aww! What a cutie!" Gon cooed, leaning in slightly while respecting her privacy. Killua peeked from where he was sitting.
"(Boy or girl?)" Killua whispered to his sister.
"(girl.)" Alluka answered, smiling gently. "Goten shared some really cool Dinosaur facts with me! I bet you guys would love to hear them."
"Hey cool! Can you tell me a little about them?" Gon asked, interested in the species that he had never seen (alive) in their world.
"Sure!" Goten said, sitting back down, Tera waddling toward his back again. How did training go? Did you guys have fun?"
"Yup, we sure did!" Gon said, making sure to remember what happened during their little meeting.
They had quite a few preparations made after all…
Gon and Killua settled in a fighting stance, both of them studying each other intently before quickly activating their aura and rushing at each other. They proceeded to exchange numerous blows, all of them being blocked or dodged.
Gon jumped in the air, evading a sweep kick from Killua and somersaulted on top of him. He turned midair and closed his fist, letting his aura coat it, before quickly feinting and performing a spin kick.
Killua, caught off guard, was sent flying off to the side, before quickly regaining his balance. Upon looking back up, Gon was nowhere to be found.
'Behind me.'
He sensed Gon easily thanks to his training, and ducked underneath his friend's punch. "Looks like you've become less predictable." Killua noted.
"And your senses have gotten better! Your En is much bigger than before." Gon said back, bouncing from the floor and attempting another kick at his friend.
Killua's head moved to the side, Gon's boot grazing his cheek. He grabbed onto his leg and threw him to the side.
Gon was sent crashing into several trees, making them break, before catching himself. He latched his hands to the floor and made dust fly everywhere as slowed himself down.
Gon stood back up and coated himself in En, knowing that Killua would take the chance to hide in the trees.
'I can't sense him anywhere…' Gon thought to himself, impressed with his friend's stealth. 'He's probably using Zetsu too so that's gonna make this harder.'
Seconds passed, Gon felt his body fill up with anticipation. He cursed at his inability to hear Killua's footsteps.
It was dead quiet.
'Flying won't help either, he's too well hidden. But I can't just stay here.' Gon thought to himself, still looking for any signs of his friend. 'I have to do something or he's gonna get the jump on me!'
He settled into his stance and prepared a strategy. "Show me rock!"
He had no doubt in his mind that this action would likely confuse Killua. As he charged, he figured that this had a 50% chance of either making Killua come to him, or keep him away. In either scenario, Gon had already thought something up
'Alright Killua. What are you going to do?"
"Jan!"
Just as the words had come out, Gon felt a massive burst of Aura behind him approaching rapidly.
Gon smiled confidently. Looks like Killua had fallen right into his trap...
He dissolved the Jajanken and narrowly managed to move to the side, Killua scratching his cheek and with his fist.
The silver haired boy did not let up and jumped high into a tree. Using the surface of its thick bark as a propeller, Killua bounces toward his best friend at incredible speeds attempting an axe kick.
Gon used Ko on his arms and blocked the attack.
Killua was thrown back as Gon extended his arms from his guard. Killua backflipped onto the ground before launching himself into a brutal assault.
The two once again collided in some high level martial arts, fighting one another into a stalemate while doing their best to manage their aura into different parts of their body.
Deciding to take this up a notch, Killua ducked beneath a spin kick and sparked a bit of electricity in his fingers, before grabbing onto his friend by the shirt and pulling him toward him.
He struck Gon with an electric covered fist, disorienting him and sent him skidding back.
He quickly dashed toward him once again, not letting him recover and unleashed a barrage of punches.
Gon suddenly caught one of his fists and then placed his other hand on Killua's shirt and then head butting him.
Killua quickly backed off, both of the boys latching onto their head in pain.
"I decided to use my head for once!" Gon said cheekily before using Ken.
"Tch. Dork." Killua stifled a laugh, following suit and using his own ken. "You recovered quicker than I thought you would."
The two charged and sparks began to fly as the two exchanged a flurry of fists and kicks, the dust beneath them being blown back by the blows.
Killua struggled to with countering and deflecting Gon's attacks
Killua was sent skidding back and blocked one of Gon's blows. He jumped high into the trees with his opponent giving chase, insinuating a game of cat and mouse.
'As much as I hate to admit this, my Ren isn't as strong as his. His nen status as an enhancer puts me at a pretty big disadvantage and I don't have the natural physical strength to really make up for that anymore... '
He thought back painfully to their dodgeball match against Razor, remembering the bloody and bruised hands that came just for holding the ball to let Gon punch it with his jajanken.
He jumped from a tree branch just before Gon threw a punch his way. He used his new found flight and rose toward the sky as quickly as he could manage.
He turned just in time to see Gon catch up to him and the two 'stood' face to face.
"Man. You know before we came here and met these guys I never thought I'd fight anyone while flying!" Gon said, excitement practically written all over his face.
"Yeah." Killua peered down at the ground. "This will definitely give us more mobility when we're fighting the old man."
Gon nodded, before pointing lightly at him. "I wasn't all that sure that my Ja-janken would really bait you into coming out."
"You have really good senses. I didn't want to risk it and it was a good opportunity for a hit." Killua shrugged, throwing his hands behind his back. "Sides' you're also really unpredictable. It led to me thinking that you probably had something in mind in case I didn't come out."
Gon laughed as Killua had read him like a book before raising his fists and letting his aura burst. "I guess I'm not really all that surprised. You always were the smarter one out of the both of us!"
Killua blushed lightly, waving off the compliment. "Whatever man… Let's just practise a bit more so we can catch up to those two alright?"
"Sounds good to me!"
Gon then disappeared into thin air at incredible speeds before reappearing behind Killua and performing a sidekick aimed at Killua's torso.
Killua ascended, managing to dodge it before catching Gon with an elbow strike to the head, sending hurdling down.
Gon managed to stop himself, positioning himself for a Ja-Janken attack.
'Let's see if we can pull this off.' He thought to himself while staring Killua straight in the eyes, daring him to attack him.
'Show me rock.'
Killua charged straight at Gon attempting to stop him before he could complete the attack. Gon manoeuvred himself backward, ducking and dodging as many of his attacks while enduring a few strikes that managed to hit.
'Jan…'
His eyes widen as Killua manages to grab onto him, pulling him in and shocking him yet again. Stunned, the attack dissipated as Gon briefly lost control of his senses.
Killua seemingly disappeared after flying upward at incredibly high speeds before coming down and landing a kick on Gon's face.
Gon was sent plummeting down, the ground beneath him cracking from the harsh landing and dust flying everywhere. Killua landed close to where Gon was, holding his electrified fingers close to him, ready for another shock.
"Alright." He spoke, only seconds later. The electricity in his fingers disappeared. "I think that's enough." KIllua said, smirking as victory had been achieved.
"What?! NO!" Gon cried out, desperately trying to recover from the numbness in his body and stand up. "Just give me a few seconds! I can keep going!"
"In a real battle, enemies aren't gonna wait for you to recover." Killua said, rolling his eyes. "Sides, we need to talk strategy if we want to stand a chance against Goku. Afterwards we need to hurry and catch up to Alluka and Goten."
"Just a few more minutes! Just a few more!"
"Nope!" Killua said, flicking Gon's head, making the boy cry out dissatisfied. "By the way, you really shouldn't have let go of your ren. Your aura is really powerful so by keeping it up, you were forcing me in turn to use mine as well."
"Well yeah but then it wouldn't have been fun!" Gon puffed his cheeks. "I wanted to force you into using your zap attacks so that I could improve." He explained, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
"I didn't even get you to use godspeed…" He pouted, similarly to how a two year old child would pout upon not receiving cookies.
"Yeah well too bad so sad." Killua smirked, knowing how much it annoyed Gon when he couldn't make enemies fight at full strength.
"Anyway…" Killua said, getting back on track. "I'm not gonna bother giving you any kind of hope. Fact is, we cannot beat Goku. No matter how hard we've trained. No matter how hard we continue to train. He's gonna thrash us."
"Yeah…" Gon sighed, acceptingly. "I figured as much, but still!" He looked at Killua with a stubborn look in his eyes. "I want to at least land a hit on him! A punch, a kick, anything!"
"Well alright." Killua said, not surprised. "In that case, let's consider the fact that Goku will definitely still hold back. That won't be enough though." Killua said, finally revealing his plan. "I'd say, to have an even bigger chance, we should finally start experimenting with conditions."
"Conditions?" Gon's eyes widened, remembering the term. "Like Kurapika's chains, right? Or Kite's Crazy Slots."
Killua nodded before he sat down beside Gon cross legged. "I've already had an idea for a new technique. But it's gonna require some pretty serious conditions for it to give me what I need."
"That sounds cool! Maybe I can create some limitations for each of my Jajanken moves. I'll call it…" He paused dramatically. "The SUPER Jajanken!"
"..."
Killua took a moment to pinch between his eyes at his friend's 'special' naming scheme. "Right. So… What did you have in mind for it?"
As soon as the question had left his mouth, his friend seemingly began to overheat. His ears emitted smoke and had the expression of a highschool student who had encountered a question too hard to answer on his homework. Killua sighed, having somewhat expected this.
"Never mind. We can talk about that later." He said, exasperated. At least it would get Gon thinking until they met up again for that week of training together. Although knowing his best friend that probably wouldn't do much good.
Gon bashfully rubbing his head. Before gesturing to his friend. "What about your technique?"
"I've been thinking about…" Killua paused, trying to find the best way to explain it. "Well, basically it's an enhanced version of Godspeed."
"Really? God speed is already pretty powerful though." Gon pointed out. "I was honestly really surprised when you told me it didn't have any conditions. Well I mean besides perfect aura control and a large pain tolerance."
"Not powerful enough…" Killua said, shaking his head. "Especially not in this world. It can definitely help me out run most people in our world though." He took a moment to gather his thoughts and then got back on topic. "Anyway, the conditions for my technique are as follows…"
"Number one: This, let's call it a 'transformation', can only last for about a minute."
Number two: I will be experiencing an intense amount of pain. It might even make me pass out before the minute is up.
Number three: I can only use this technique when I am hopelessly outmatched. It can either be used to escape or give me a chance to succeed. It depends on the opponent.
Number four: Once the effects of this ability runs out, I'll pass out for about an hour. I won't be able to use this ability again for an entire day.
Number five: I have to use Godspeed before I can transform.
And finally number six, which is by far the hardest requirement, I need to be struck by lightning."
"Oh man!" Gon exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers. "How in the world are we gonna get you to use it against him then?!"
"I've been thinking about that." Killua said, ready to explain. "Goku seems pretty eager to fight someone when they're at their best. Especially since he'll be testing us as our teacher. Maybe, if we manage to set the fight in a location where there's a thunderstorm, that could give us a much higher chance."
"While I distract him, you can fly into the storm. That's a great idea!"
"You're just excited cause you get him to yourself for a while, aren't you?" Killua smirked, making Gon bashfully look down.
"Also, before I forget, I wanted to ask you about Alluka." Killua looked down slightly, conflicted on the decision he was to make. "Be honest… Umm."
"Do you think we should let Alluka join?"
Gon furrowed his eyes, confused. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't we?"
"Because sh-... I just feel worried about letting her fight, you know?" Killua confessed, lamely. "I mean, she's only been training for a couple of weeks and yeah, she HAS improved, but not really enough to fight him! You know just as well as I do that Goku is completely brutal in a fight!"
"I mean…" Gon scratched the back of his head. "I'm sure Goku can hold back even more for her. Besides, if she really wants to fight, who are we to top her?"
"I'M her big brother." Killua emphasised.
"Well, yeah." Gon raised his hands slightly. "But wouldn't it be kind of an insult to have her train all this time, just to not have her fight in the end?"
Killua remained silent at that fact, looking at the ground in slight shame. Gon placed his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"If you're really that worried, just tell Goku. I'm sure he'll agree to hold back a little more with Alluka. Besides, during the week, we have more than enough time to teach her nen, don't we?"
"We would probably only have enough time to activate a few of her aura nods, at best. But not really enough to make that much of a difference." Killua shook his head. "And even if Goku does agree, that wouldn't stop him from accidentally using the strength he uses on us on her by accident. She could be seriously injured!"
"Hmmm." Gon was stumped, placing his thumb underneath his chin, trying to think of something.
"Oh! I know." Gon raised a finger, a metaphorical light bulb dangling above him. " What if we tell Goku to take Alluka on separately! Alluka will definitely understand that she needs more training, so a one on one with Goku could let him focus more on gauging her improvements without having to alternate his strength with us!"
Killua nodded, smiling at the idea. "That way, the two of us don't have to worry about protecting her during the fight. And we'd be free to use our new moves without worrying too much."
"That's right!" Gon stated excitedly. " Not only that, but then she won't feel left out."
"Alright then." Killua nodded, his decision made. "Now that we've decided what to do, let's head back to the two of them. We don't wanna keep them waiting."
"Ok!" Gon said, following after Killua as they both blasted off into the sky.
Eventually, they made their way to the two by easily sensing where they were, as well as with both of their superb tracking skills.
The four sat as Goten explained what he knew about pterodactyls, and even talked about a few other species. The three visitors paid close attention, Gon and Alluka in particular very interested in the trivia being told by Goten.
The young pterodactyl kept giving Gon small glances, interested in the older boy. There was just something about him that the young dinosaur found… intriguing.
She couldn't help but want to get closer, but was also very wary of the other two. Even if they didn't seem that bad.
Goten took notice, catching a small glimpse of this.
"I think Tera's curious about you." Goten said to him, slowly nudging his small friend forward. Gon followed suit, studying the creature with an analytical gaze.
He held out a hand, offering Tera a sign of trust, to which the creature took, sniffing and giving it small licks.
"I didn't know you were so good with animals Gon!" Goten grinned, impressed.
"Out in the wild, it's all about survival." Gon began to explain, not feeling offended as Tera backed up a bit, still taking in the sight of him. "If you show your no threat though, it can be good and bad. Bad cause, depending on the animal, they might decide to eat you."
Tera shyly lowered her head, letting Gon touch its skin lightly. "Good because that means you have the chance to make a new friend." He said, gently petting it.
"Yeah!" Goten said, looking at Gon with admiration. "Hey Gon! Alluka said you really like animals too. I have a lot of books about animals if you're interested!"
"Sure! Sounds fun." Gon eagerly agreed. "By the way, do you know what your dad's up to? Killua's been telling me he's been leaving the house a lot after he finishes training him."
"I'm not really sure…" He said, scratching his cheek.
It wasn't a lie. While he knew that his dad was out preparing the tournament, he didn't know how or what he was doing to set it up.
Still, it must be something pretty big if it was taking several days of work to get everything ready.
"He's probably just going around training with his friends. He really likes testing them and himself whenever he can."
That was actually a pretty good excuse. It wasn't uncommon for his father to leave for several days at a time in order to alleviate boredom. Usually though, he either went to King Kai's place, Capsule corp to duke it out with Vegeta, or sometimes would go to Gohan and Videl's house on his off days to train with him.
In the cases where he visited his brother, he usually let him tag along for a family training session.
Your dad sure loves to fight, huh?" Killua asked, inquisitive. "Does he do anything else?"
"He's really good at hunting!" Goten. "He doesn't have any trouble catching anything for dinner whenever we're running low. Usually it only takes him a few minutes. And that's just because of how much we eat." Goten told, chuckling.
"Has he ever taken you camping before?" Gon asked, intrigued.
"A few times." Goten said, being able to count on one hand how many times they'd gone together. "We usually prefer a simple fishing trip. Or sparring."
Suddenly, he remembered what he had told Alluka a few days ago. "Hey, you know I was actually wondering if you wanted to come with me and dad on a fishing trip sometime? We could arrange something if you guys are interested."
"Yeah! We'll do it after the fight." Gon cheered on the idea.
"Sure." Killua nodded, smiling.
"I'm not really good at fishing…" Alluka admitted, having been offered before. She didn't like the idea of killing animals, even if it was for survival. "Can I just watch?"
"Don't see why not." Goten shrugged. "In fact, maybe mom can teach you how to gut the smaller fish while we catch more."
"Oh yeah. That sounds fun…" Alluka said, trying her best to hide the idea of fish guts with a grin.
"Yeah Alluka. Seeing fish guts is always fun." Killua leaned in, putting an arm around her shoulders. He let a mocking smirk escape him. "You're gonna have fun gutting all that fish aren't you?"
"(Shut up…)" Alluka smacked her brother lightly on the arm.
"It's not as bad as you think!" Gon consoled, "Just be sure to wear an apron if you don't want to get dirty. Doing it enough times will make you get used to it."
'I don't think that's something I want to get used to…' Alluka sweat dropped.
"Has your dad always been a radish farmer?" Gon asked, having been told by Gohan during his stay.
"Not always. It's actually a pretty recent thing." Goten chuckled at the memory of his mother basically wrangling his dad into the job.
"Before that, we mostly got along with Grandpa's money and the reward won at that one tournament dad participated in before they got married."
"Speaking of which, how did THAT happen?" Killua shoes in. "No offence but your dad doesn't seem like the type of guy to get married."
"Killua! That's rude!" Alluka cried out.
"Oh no it's fine!" Goten said, trying to calm her down. "If anything it's actually a pretty funny story."
This earned a curious glance from all three of his new friends, prompting him to continue.
"Well you see, dad and mom met when they were like, 11 or 12 years old and my mom started to have a huge crush on him." He began. "So she made him promise to marry her when they were older." He snickered, trying to continue.
"A couple of years later, they both entered the world martial arts tournament. Mom tried to remind him about it, but he completely forgot about her because they hadn't seen each other in such a long time!" He laughed a little, but couldn't help feeling sorry for his mom.
"It took a while, but, since dad made the promise, he stuck to it after he finally remembered her. And … yeah. That's pretty much it."
The three of them stared at him, Alluka smiling at how sweet that sounded while Gon chuckled at the silly story. Killua wore a deadpan expression.
"So he literally only married her because of a promise they made? When they were kids no less."
"Well he did have a few dates with her before but… Yeah pretty much." Goten said sheepishly. Ironically he remembered his mother telling him that with each date they had together, which gave her more time to get to know him, it only made her fall in love more and more with his father, whereas his dad…
Well not so much.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know what a date was and thought it was some kind of sparring session." Killua snarked.
"He actually did think that. He also couldn't tell the difference between a boy or a girl until he was twelve."
Goten laughed when he saw his friend's collective jaws drop.
"You cannot be serious." Killua muttered.
"Well to be fair…" Goten adopted a more solemn expression. "He grew up in the forest alone for most of his childhood."
"Really?" Alluka asked, frowning. "Didn't he have someone to take care of him?"
"He had his grandpa at first. But he passed away when he was really young." Goten recounted, his heart aching slightly for his father.
"That sucks…" Killua said, a pang of pity hitting his heart.
"At least he made it work right?" Gon said, optimistically. "I mean, he definitely seems happy with his life."
"Oh yeah." Goten said, completely assured. "My dad's the kind of guy that's really good at rolling with the punches. He never let anything get him down for long."
"He is pretty carefree isn't he?" Killua smiled, having gotten to know the man during their training session.
Goten nodded fondly.
The four friends sat for the rest of the afternoon, Goten telling them several tales his mother and Gohan had told him about his father. Killua Alluka and Gon listened with great interest before counting some tales of their own all the while they played a little with Tera.
After about two hours since they had gotten there, Tera's parents returned and all of them headed back to the house.
Author's note
This is actually the first time I've written a battle between nen users. In the manga and anime, the characters are always trying not just to go at it and fight each other, but also outthink each other and stay several steps ahead.
I really admired the choreography of those fights and studied Gon and Killua's individual fights with opponents throughout the series intently in order to produce what I think would happen if they spar while using their nen. I hope I didn't disappoint!
I'm sure most of you have figured this out by now but there's no way in hell the kids are gonna be able to make Goku go all out. Not even close.
But let's not forget that nen spells can often result in some pretty overpowered feats if they have the skill and conditions to back it up.
Killua definitely has enough to power up god speed. And the ideas I have for this technique are… Honestly I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.
Let's just say you're gonna be in for a shock. ;)
That's all for now. Hope you guys have a beautiful weekend and I'll see all of you in the next chapter of
Dragon Hunter ZX!