[The Hunter Exam: Phase 1]

Running. The sound of hundreds of people running. Each foot fall added to a collective rumbling as the passing group of examinees trampled over the vast expanse of grassy unyielding earth.

The only other thing to be heard in the dense forest was the occasional blood-curdling scream of those too slow to keep up. 

To make matters worse, the deeper into the thicket the hope-to-be hunters ran, the thicker the fog around them became. Before long, the only thing they could see beyond ten meters in front of their faces was an inescapable wall of white haze. 

“Hey, I don't see Kurapika and Leorio around anymore...” Gon mentioned as he covertly scanned the group of runners around them. 

“Well if they're smart, they already broke off from the main group like we did.” remarked Killua

“If not, they're probably already dead by now...” The white haired assassin added with a tone of cold indifference. 

“Mmmm...nah, knowing those two they're probably fine~” Gon asserted with an optimistic smile

Killua peered over at Gon. He could tell that there was genuine confidence backing up his words. 

Though Killua had only met the spikey haired islander very recently, he could already sense an unquestionable aura of assurednesss about the other boy.

“Well...anyways, so far I've counted around fifty people in this group.” Killua noted. 

“I wonder how much longer this forest goes on for...” Gon wondered aloud as they continued their perilous trek forward. 

Another fifteen minutes went by and there still didn't seem to be any end in sight. 

“H-how much longer could it possibly be!? We've been running for ages!” Gasped a clearly exhausted older man towards the back of the group. 

 “If you didn't think you could handle a little running, you should have headed back up that elevator gramps.” commented an impolite younger man next to him who was wearing red tinted sunglasses

“Haha yeah~ If you run out of steam now you're pretty much dead~” Sneered another young man sporting black hoodie along with a black bandanna covering his mouth and nose. 

The comments did nothing but cause the exhausted gentlemen to become more anxious. It didn't take too much longer before he began falling behind from the rest of the group.

“H---hey! ...wait.. p-please! S-slow down! Don't leave me behind!!. Please!!!!.. Wwaaaaaaaiiiiiiittt.....!!” The fatigued senior cried out before vanishing out of sight behind the wall of white vapor.

After a few more moments, the group heard a pained, agonized scream as some sort of snarling beast caught up with the unfortunate straggler. 

“Heh...Another one bites the dust~” Cackled the runner with the black bandanna

A couple of minutes later something unexpected occurred. 

“Oh hey, check that out...” Killua alerted. 

The group began to slow down a little as something unusual started to appear from within the fog ahead of them. 

“What the heck is that...?.” One of the men questioned cautiously as he swung around a bow & arrow from behind his back.. 

The 49 examinees came to a complete halt as a strange one-story structure came into view. The mostly featureless building was long, white, and rectangular. It didn't seem to have any doors, just a couple of small hexagonal windows. Along-side it was a three foot stone pedestal holding up a vibrant blue orb. 

The random almost lab-like structure seemed entirely out of place in the foggy forest. 

“Think it's a trap..?” Someone in the group questioned skeptically. 

“Not sure, but there's a sign over there with the hunter emblem...” A stoic man in a white karate robe pointed over towards a wooden sign set up next to the stone pedestal. 

No one in the group seemed to want to get any closer. 

“Hmm, what do you think Gon?” Killua gestured towards his new friend 

“I kinda want to check it out....” Gon answered plainly. 

“Huh, really?.. Are you sur-...H-hey!” Killua shouted towards the green-booted boy as he began walking forward. 

The others in the group watched anxiously as Gon made his way right up to the sign

“Hmm... lets see..” Gon muttered as he leaned over. 

“Well, what does it say???” A burly shirtless man shouted impatiently. 

[“Greetings exam participants!”]

[“If you are reading this, that means you've reached the half way point of the first phase]

“Half way??? That's impossible! We've been running non stop for hours!” A teen wearing hiking gear nearly collapsed on the spot. 

[“The building before you is the site of an optional trial.”] Gon continued to recite.

[“Upon successful completion of this challenge, participants will automatically move on to the second phase of the hunter exam.”]

A few murmurs began to erupt from the group. The prospect of not having to run the rest of the way sounded incredibly tempting for most of the exhausted men. 

[“Those who wish to participate please grasp the blue orb on the adjacent pedestal.”]

[“Participants will be teleported to the trial area”]

“That's all it says...” Gon finished. 

“...So it's essentially an optional short cut.... hmm...” Killua closed his eyes and began to contemplate. 

“Heh! Sounds like a lucky break to me!” The man in the black bandanna sneered as he walked over and roughly pushed Gon aside. “Move it shrimp!” 

“H-hey!” The shove nearly knocked Gon on to the ground. 

“Wait! You don't even know what this 'trial' will entail! For all any of us know, it's even worse than this forest!” A cautious man wearing a turban yelled out.

“Exactly, this is the hunter exam. There's no way they'd just plop down a shortcut unless it came with a huge risk.” Killua added. 

“EEHH shut up kid! If you're so worried about a little challenge then you should just run back to mommy. Don't you have something better to do like collecting bugs or something?!” The seedy young man remarked snidely. 

“Ugh....Whatever~” Killua crossed his arms behind his head and sighed. The young assassin knew the lowlife wasn't worth the effort. 

The group watched as the hooded thug reached down and grabbed the orb. The young man was teleported away instantaneously. 

Silence broke as the group began to chatter amongst themselves. 

“Should we do it?” “Is it worth the risk?” “This all still seems really fishy...” 

“What do you think Gon, wanna go for it?” Killua walked towards the green vested boy.

“It sounds like it might be fun~” Gon answered with a tone of eagerness. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he had already made up his mind. 

“Well, if you're going then I guess I'll give it a shot too~” Killua smiled as they both walked over to the pedestal. 

“On three~” Gon stated.

“Ones, two... THREE~” Both boys slapped their hands down on the orb simultaneously. 

The rest of the group was still considering their options when a large hulking shadow suddenly appeared in the dense fog behind them. 

A loud, unexpected roar was all it took for the entire group of men to go rushing towards the pedestal, each fighting to get their hands on the green orb. 

----

After a bright flash of warm light, Gon and Killua opened their eyes to find that they were standing in the middle of another wooded area.

“Wait.. is this the same forest??” Gon questioned as he looked around at the dozens of unfamiliar trees looming over them. 

“No, The trees are a completely different species from the ones before. Also, there's no fog here.” Killua noted as he carefully analyzed the area. 

“More importantly though...... check out the sky...” Killua added as he pointed upwards. 

Gon looked up. 

There were three unnatural looking light sources beaming down through the tree tops, almost like multiple white suns. The sky itself was completely white. 

“Wah?? W-where the hell are we??” Yelled another participant who had just randomly appeared next the boys. One after another, the rest of the group began popping into existence like heated popcorn kernels. 

“Hey look there's another sign!” Gon pointed out. 

The group walked over as Gon started to read. Apparently he had taken on the unofficial role as sign reader. 

[“Greetings trial participants~ Welcome to the Garden of Jotun! The goal of this trial is simple! All one needs to do in order to pass is to search and find the hidden exit pedestal.]

[Each participant has two hours to reach the exit. Your individual time limit is dependent on the exact moment you began the trial. Once again, those who complete this trial will automatically pass to phase second and will be given opportune time to rest before the following phase begins.”]

“So we just gotta find the exit? Hah! Navigation is my specialty~” The young man with red tinted shades commented boastfully. 

“Yeah, like I said earlier, this'll be a cake walk~” The guy in the black bandanna touted as he boldly began walking into the thicket of trees. 

“Man, some people are such idiots~” Killua commented loudly. 

The hooded thug stopped for a moment and turned towards the insolent boy.

“WHAT was that??” The clearly pissed off delinquent started walking towards the white haired assassin. 

“Well, maybe you haven't sensed it yet, but we're not the only ones in this forest. All I'm saying that it's dumb to go mindlessly searching without coming up with solid a plan first~ ” Killua explained with a condescending tone. 

“You calling me stupid, brat???” The delinquent's eyes were like daggers as he came to a stop right in front of the the long sleeved kid. 

Killua's pose remained relaxed and non-threatened.

“Hmm.....I guess you could say that~...” Killua sneered sarcastically. 

“You little.....!!!” The delinquent snapped as he extended his right hand towards Killua's upper shirt.

“AAAAGGHHH~” A horrified scream suddenly erupted from the other side of the group. 

Everyone turned their attention towards the screaming man to find that he was being held in the air by what looked like a two-story tall centipede. 

The group looked on in shock as the monstrous insect's pincers tightened around the man's abdomen like a vice. The struggling hostage let out one final guttural shriek before the pincers ripped him clean in half.

Chaos broke out as the terror stricken men scattered into the thicket of trees. 

“N-next time I see you you're toast brat!!” The hoodlum threatened before running away. 

Killua sighed. Had there not been a distraction, he would have happily lobbed off the idiot's head. 

Having already taken its first victim, the giant centipede turned it's sights on Killua, who still had yet to run away.

“Well, I guess we should get going huh Gon.................Gon??~” Killua looked around to find that his new friend was no where to be found. 

The centipede began to charge towards killua; its many legs stabbing violently into the earth like pick axes. 

Killua was about to launch himself up to the tree tops when a familiar fishing lure suddenly shot out from a leafy branch to the right. The fishing line skillfully wrapped around one of the centipede's large antenni. 

The line jerked back, ripping the grotesque feeler straight from the bug's giant head. The creature recoiled violently before storming off back into the maze of trees. 

“Whoa... nice..” Killua seemed genuinely impressed as Gon jumped down from his hiding place in the trees. 

“That was a trick I learned back when I had to deal with tentacle creatures on whale island~” Gon proudly exclaimed. 

“Cool, you should let me borrow that thing sometime” Killua pointed towards Gon's rod.

“Sure! But first you gotta let me try your skateboard!” Gon cordially agreed as they leapt up to a sturdy tree branch together. 

“Deal~” Killua nodded back earnestly as they darted into the forest. 

“So what do you think that thing was Killua? I never seen a bug THAT big before” Gon asked as they both rapidly hopped from branch to branch. 

“Not sure, but I have a feeling it's not the only one” Killua replied. “Over there, look....”

Both boys came to a stop as they caught site of what looked like a parade of car-sized ants on the forest floor below. 

“Wooow, this place is amazing. I never knew that there was a whole forest of giant bugs!” Gon gasped. 

“Yeah.....me neither” Killua couldn't help but feel that something wasn't adding up. His family had intel on all sorts of bizarre places, but he'd never heard of a forest of giant bugs....

Between Killua's eyes and Gon's natural instinct, the duo eventually came across a small circular clearing nestled deep within the thicket of endless trees. 

A sparkling green object immediately caught their attention. 

“Killua look there! That's gotta be it!” Gon shouted excitedly as he jumped down from the tree tops.
 
Their suspicions were confirmed as they approached the source of the glimmer. There, atop a familiar stone pedestal was a radiant green orb. 

“Wow, we really found it. That took a lot less time than I thought~” Killua almost sounded a bit disappointed. 

“Hey, do you think anyone else got here before us?” Gon asked.

“Well, there's only one way to find out I guess” Killua answered as he extended his hand over the green orb.

Gon nodded in agreement. 

“Three....two....ONE!” 

-----


When Gon and Killua opened their eyes, they found themselves in an small, empty, white room. 

“Now what?...” Killua pondered as he looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room other than them. 

“Oh hey, look over there!” Gon pointed out an electronic message board on the wall.

[“Congratulations on successfully completing the trial!! Please wait here and rest. You will be automatically transported to the location of the second phase as soon as it is about to begin.”]

“Yeaahh!! We did it!!!!” Gon jumped into the air in his usual upbeat kind of way. 

“Huh... I guess I was wrong after all. That actually WAS kind of easy~..” Killua commented as he crossed his arms behind his head. “Might as well rest our legs while we can~” he added. 

“Oh hey Killua! Mind if I try out your skateboard while we wait??” Gon requested as he took off his backpack and laid it down next to his fishing rod. 

“Huh? Oh yeah sure...go for it.” Killua responded as he placed the board down on the floor and rolled it over to Gon. 

Gon stood up and stopped the board under his left boot. 

“Thanks! I've never ridden on one bef- GaAH!!” The over eager islander immediately lost his balance as he attempted to stand on it. The four wheeled slab rocketed out from underneath the him, sending him flat onto his back. 

“Oooowww~” Gon groaned as he rubbed the back of his head in pain. 

“Heh... well, you have fun with that..” Killua snickered as he reached down and grabbed Gon's fishing pole. 

“Hmm....” Killua walked a good distance away from Gon before casting out the line in a few random directions. With each cast the young prodigy began exhibiting more and more control of the lure's trajectory. 

“Huh.. you know, this is actually kind of convenient. Killua muttered to himself as he flung the lure at the vacant wall next to him. To his surprise, the lure remained stuck in place upon hitting the flat surface.

“Huh...?” Killua realized that hook must have somehow latched on to the edge of one of the wall's many tiles. 

After giving the pole a good yank, the tile popped open to reveal a mysterious hidden panel embedded into the wall. 

“Ooo~” Killua's eyes glimmered with cat-like curiosity as he stepped up to the newly discovered panel. Inside of it was a shiny blue button. 

The curious twelve year old glanced behind his back to see that Gon was still busy attempting to preform some sort of flip trick on his board. 

“(Eh... what's the worst that could happen?~)” He thought to himself before turning back around and pressing the button with his right thumb. 

Killua jerked backwards a little as the top-half of wall in front of him began to silently rise. As it slowly ascended, an entirely different room behind the wall came into view. 

Curious to investigate, Killua walked up to the remaining three-foot high partition separating the two rooms and glanced over it. 

The newly revealed room beyond the wall appeared to be the home to some sort of secret indoor garden. Every square inch of the floor was covered by a carpet of some sort of dense green flora. Strangely though, there didn't seem to be any flowers or common looking plants, just a thin, patchy layer that kinda of looked like countless heads of tiny stalks of broccoli. 

Other than four small hexagonal windows on the left and right walls, the room appeared to be completely closed off. Killua was quick to recognize that the windows were the same shape as the ones he'd seen on the strange white building before they entered the trial. This must have meant that the waiting room he and Gon were currently standing in was actually inside that same building.

“Wait a minute......” Killua whispered as he looked up at the ceiling of the secret room. Up above, there were three familiar ceiling lights illuminating the green undergrowth below.

Killua's eyes grew wide with realization as everything finally clicked. The giant bugs, the white sky, the multiple suns. Everything he'd experienced during the optional trial made sense now. 

The blue eyed twelve year old returned his gaze back down towards the carpet of vegetation on the floor beyond the wall. 

Those weren't heads of broccoli sprouting from the ground.... those were tiny trees!....
And this wasn't just some random in-door garden....
It was 'The Garden of Jotun!!'

(“huh.......That first pedestal must have shrunk us and transported us down there...) Killua concluded.

It was then that Killua remembered that he and Gon were still the only ones so far who'd managed to find the exit pedestal, meaning that the rest of the group was still.......

Killua squinted his eyes, attempting to see if he could actually spot any of the tiny men running around in the blanket of little trees. If those trees were really only about an inch and a half in height then..... that meant the people still taking the trial probably weren't much bigger than a centimeter tall.

The young assassin anxiously gulped as he realized how small and vulnerable he and Gon had been just a few minutes ago. Having to deal with giant bugs was one thing, but at least they didn't have to confront any giant huma-

“Ahh! Killua! Watch out!!” Gon's voice suddenly shouted out from behind. 

Killua's train of thought was immediately broken as his blue skateboard randomly flew right past his head. 

“!!!?” 

Killua watched with a knot in his stomach as the board rocketed all the way across the secret room before landing down onto a portion of the tiny trees with a unceremonious thud.

“Gah..Sorry! My bad! I was just trying to--- Whoa hey!....When did this other room get here???~” Gon suddenly appeared along side the his new friend. 

Killua didn't even have a chance to explain before Gon quickly lifted himself up and over the partition. 

“G-!!..” Killua choked on his words as he watched Gon's large green boots crash down onto the fragile terrain bellow, instantly flattening countless trees.

“Huh.. that's odd.... The floor in here is covered in some weird undergrowth.. ” Gon muttered as he casually rolled his boots from side to side, creating a satisfying crunchy noise. 

“W-wait..!..G-gon that's not...” Killua tepidly started to explain. 

“Huh? What is it Killua??” Gon asked as he began walking forward towards the fallen skateboard on the other side of the small room. 

Crunch after crunch, Gon's boots began obliterating entire acres of the miniaturized forest with each thoughtless step. 

-----

-Meanwhile down below-

“Ughhh, where the hell is this stupid thing?!” Yelled frustrated teen wearing thick black gloves. He was walking along-side two other trial participants who he had teamed up with. 

“Dude, quit bitching. Probably no one else has found it yet either.” Assured the young man wearing red shades. 

“Yeah, well I don't really want to become bug chow man. Did you see what happened to that guy back there?!!” 

“That thing just caught us by surprise, it's not going to happen again. Big or small, a bug is a bug. Next time we see one we just gotta squash it~” The third group member wearing a blue vest smirked as he pulled out a large wrench from his utility belt. 

“Yeah yeah, just keep your eyes peeled, we'll be fi-...”

The trio stopped in their tracks as they suddenly noticed a rhythmic trembling under their feet. 

“Hey...Do you guys feel that..?” asked the young man in the red shades. The other two nodded anxiously. 

It wasn't a continuous quake but a series of consecutive ones that were starting to become progressively more intense. 

The leaves of the trees surrounding the trio began to shake as the tremors grew more and more violent. 

“G-guys, what the hell is happening?!” Cried out the gloved teen as he struggled to stay balanced atop the trembling earth. 

Before either of the others could respond, something enormous in the distance came into view through the treetops ahead of them. 

The trio watched with growing anxiety as the upper half of a colossal humanoid form began to rise into view like a living colossus.

 Though they had only seen him once or twice since the hunter exam began, the trio immediately recognized the approaching giant as the kid who had been reading out the signs from earlier. 

“....What in the.....?!” The confusing situation was unfolding too quickly for any of the young men to make sense of it. 

The three just stood their totally speechless as the gargantuan young boy took up more and more the sky overhead. The entire area of forest around them began to darken over with shadow. The not-so-distant quakes were now accompanied by deafening crunches.

The giant kid appeared to be looking downward with an unsettling look of amusement on his face as he loomed almost directly over the area of forest where the tiny confused trio cowered. 

It was only when Gon's bare knees came into view that the trio realized they should probably take some sort of immediate action. 

However, the notion of self preservation seemed to come just a bit too late as the treaded underside of a massive green boot suddenly swung directly over their heads. 


The shadowy forest around them darkened further as the enormous rubber sole abruptly began to rapidly descend.

The three tiny onlookers finally broke their silence by releasing a series of terrified, short-lived screams. 

CCCRRUNCHH

-----

“Hehe, the floor in here is so crunchy~!” Gon commented as he indulgently pressed his foot down on to a random patch herbage in front of him. 

“Y-yeah, I can see that...” Killua replied warily. He couldn't help but imagine the countless unheard screams coming from the turfy landscape as Gon continued to nonchalantly trample it. 

Having finally reached the other side of the room, Gon leaned down and grabbed the skateboard, only to immediately begin his trek back towards Killua. 

Killua noticed that Gon's once thoughtless steps were progressively evolving into deliberate stomps. The boy actually looked like he was making a conscious effort to avoid his previous footprints and was now purposely targeting undamaged spots that would produce a more satisfying crunch under his boots. 

There was something about watching it all unfold that Killua found strangely.... amusing? 

Killua had only known Gon for a little while, but he was pretty sure the boy didn't have a murderous bone in his body. Telling him that he may have just potentially just snuffed out dozens of people under his boots didn't quite seem like the right thing to do. For Gon's sake, Killua decided to just stay quiet about it... at least for now. 

“Alright, no more messing up!~” Gon assured himself as he climbed back over the partition to the waiting room. Killua watched as the underside of Gon's boots became momentarily visible. Dirt and dozens of mashed up trees were caked in-between his treads along with some other unidentifiable debris. 

The flustered Zoldyck turned back towards the once pristine 'garden', which now had an unsightly trail of large boot prints trampled across it. The sight gave his stomach butterflies. 

Having returned back to the waiting room, Gon immediately began practicing on the skateboard again. 

Feeling like he should distract himself from the swirl of these strange new feelings, Killua decided to just sit back and watch. 

“Alright...here I go...” Gon took a deep breath and focused. His posture tensed up as he attempted to flip the board under his feet. 

“Wu..WaH!!” 

 During the mid-air transition, Gon's right heel ended up catching the back lip of the board, sending it flying straight up into the air. The board rocketed upwards, colliding with some sort of cube-shaped device embedded into the ceiling before crashing back down to the floor. 

“Ow..ow..owwww...” Gon grimaced in pain as he laid sprawled out on the floor. 

Killua let out an extended groan before getting up and walking over. 

“Idiot..you better not have broken it...” Killua hissed as he reached down to check his skateboard for damages. 

“Is it okay???” Gon asked.

“Ehh, seems fine...” Killua replied.

“No, I meant the thing in the ceiling...” Gon muttered guiltily as he stared up at the box-sized cube. It looked like the impact of the collision had fractured a circular black lens on the bottom of the device. 

“Eh, It's probably not a big deal.” Killua shrugged before handing over the board back to Gon. 

“Look, if you want to start doing tricks and stuff you gotta get the basics down first. Also, you probably wouldn't fall as much if you weren't wearing those clunky boots.” Killua explained. 

“Oh... huh, I guess that makes sense.” Gon replied. 

Following Killua's instruction, Gon reached down and began to unzip his boots. One after another Gon pulled out each of his bare feet, both of which were still tender from all the running they had been subjected to. 

 The young islander tossed his green footwear to the side and stepped back on to the board barefoot. 

“Alright, so try holding your arms up like this; it will help you with balance” Killua explained as he reached around Gon's chest to fix his posture. 

Neither of the boys seemed to notice as the device in the ceiling began to spark. 

-----

-Moments earlier-


“Finally...we finally found it....” The white robed martial artist sighed with relief as he walked into the hidden clearing of the stone pedestal. He was accompanied by two others who he had teamed up with during the trial.

“Damn, thank god that's over....” Added one of his partners. “The centipede was one thing, but once that giant spider started chasing us, I was really starting to regret taking part in this."

“It's weird how we were never able to find out what all those crazy earthquakes were about though.” The other man mentioned. 

“Well we should probably just consider ourselves lucky we didn't have to find out.” stated the martial artist as he walked up to the pedestal. 

“???”

As the robed man stared down at the green orb, he noticed that it had a strange fracture on it. Deciding that it probably wasn't worth mentioning, he turned back to his two partners and shot over a thumbs up. 

“See you guys in phase two!” 

Upon grasping the orb, everything vanished. The forest clearing, his companions, the pedestal. They were all immediately replaced by empty space. 

“Wah?....AAAAaaahhhhhh!” The man screamed as he suddenly found himself free falling through the air.

He looked downward with confusion and terror at the world below him. The view was confirmation that he was in fact plummeting a considerable distance; comparable to a fall from the top floor of Heaven's Arena. 

Perhaps just as unsettling as the unexpected sky-dive though was what waited for him down below. It looked like a massive tangle of white fluff. He could do nothing to change his trajectory as he dove straight into the enormous bed of whiteness. 

-----

After helping Gon nail down the basics, Killua took a few steps back and watched as the boy began attempting to preform a simple ollie.

Killua quietly watched until felt something small like a grain of salt land in his hair. 

Not giving It much mind, the boy nonchalantly brushed it out with his right hand. Only about a moment later he felt another tiny presence land in his hair, nearly identical to the first. 

“What the..??.” Killua looked upwards with annoyance to see if the ceiling was flaking off dry paint or something. 

Killua noticed that he was standing directly under the device Gon had mentioned earlier. He also noticed that it's broken lens was shining an odd green glow that it hadn't been earlier. The strange light only seemed to last about a second before fading to black. 

“Huh.....?” Just as Killua was starting to reconsider the purpose of the odd cube, he felt yet another tiny particle land on his upper left cheek. 

“wah?....” Killua reached up and wiped at the unknown speck under his index finger.

 He pulled his hand back to find a red splotch smeared across his finger tip. 

“The hell...??” While he was staring at the splotch, something else caught his eye. Something incredibly small was dangling from a strand of hair in front of his face. 

Killua's eyes focused in before opening wide in disbelief. There, dangling from his bangs like a droplet of water was a tiny man! 

Killua gulped as he carefully began to reach up towards the little guy. 

The tiny terrified martial artist seemed to notice as the two house-sized finger pads began closing in around him. Panicking, he ended up losing grip on the strand of hair. Seeing that he had fallen off, Killua quickly darted out his hand and snatched up the little man with a full open grasp. 

“Jeez, relax, I'm not trying to hurt --...” Killua opened his hand, revealing a new red splotch smeared on his palm. 

“-- you..........” Killua fidgeted guiltily before wiping his hand against the side of his shorts.

It was all too clear what was happening now. The lens that Gon had broken must have been responsible for the teleporting mechanism. The others were being teleported into the waiting room just as they had, but the device was no longer resizing people the way it was supposed to. 


Killua peered over at Gon, who appeared to still be totally clueless as to what his clumsiness had inadvertently caused. It was probably still for the best to just leave him ignorant about the whole thing. In the meantime however...

Killua looked back up at the cube just in time to see the green glow return. This time he actually saw with his own two eyes as another grain-sized person materialized mid-air. 

Backing up a few steps, Killua extended out an open hand to catch the next unfortunate bastard. 

The twelve year old's keen blue eyes tracked the falling particle right until it landed softly into the center of his palm. A big wicked smile spread across the boy's face as he recognized the little person's hooded, black attire. 

-------

The hooded delinquent screamed as he plummeted through the air. He had been secretly shadowing the other three men since the main group dispersed. Everything seemed to have been going according to plan right up until he touched the green orb. 

Before he could piece together what was happening, he landed with a soft thud on to a massive, fleshy surface. 

“W-what the hell is this crap?! WHE-....” the delinquent cut his rant short as he turned around and looked up

Looking down at him like a looming billboard was a familiar young face.

“Luckyyyyy~” Killua smirked menacingly as he lifted his hand up closer to his face.  The boy's giant eyes focused in on the puny helpless asshole standing in the palm of his hand. 

Just knowing that he could easily crush the guy on a whim made Killua's heart pound. 

A powerful torrent of warm air shot out from Killua's nostrils as he exhaled, nearly toppling over the puny man.

“W-what the hell is this you little punk?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME??” he screamed. Killua was only just barely able to make out the tiny voice.

“Little? Eh.... I really wouldn't say that's accurate anymore, especially coming from someone your size~” Killua grinned, flashing his pearly white teeth. 

“Yeah...K-keep talking big while you can brat! Once I figure out what's going on here and get back to normal I'm gonna-” 

“Sorry to break it to you, but you might actually be stuck like this...” Killua explained. 

“W-what?! The fuck are you talking about??!” 

“It's too bad. There's no way you'll be able to continue the exam the way you are now. Guess you're disqualified haha~” Killua smirked.

“L-LIKE HELL I AM! I PASSED THE TRIAL! I'M GOING TO PHASE TWO!” 

“Oh, I know where you're going... but it's not phase two though..” Killua responded coldly as he began reaching down to pick up the tiny man. The frightened hoodlum tried evade the massive finger tips, but it was a totally futile effort. 

Killua effortlessly pinched the back of the man's hood and lifted him up into the air over his face. 

“Yeah.....you're way too small to be a hunter, but now you're a perfect candidate for my stomach~” Killua's abdomen suddenly squelched behind his shirt. 

The tiny man became frantic as Killua began opening his mouth under him. One or two tendrils of saliva appeared draping across the boy's tongue and pallet as he opened wide. 

“W-wait...WAIT WAIT!! STOP!! I WAS JUST KIDDING!!! PLEASE DON'T!! STOP!!!!” The puny dangling man ripped away his bandanna and started to grovel. 

Though Killua had never once had the urge to eat a living person, the opportunity before him just seemed too good to pass up. Seeing the tiny douchebag plead for his life just made him want to do it even more. 

“Itadakimaaaaasu~” Killua called out happily before releasing his pinch on the tiny hood. 

The little black speck screamed as it fell into the large cavernous mouth. His cotton black clothes became immediately soaked by the warm translucent saliva as he landed on the steamy surface of Killua's enormous tongue. The giant tasting muscle was like a horrific slimy fly trap that refused to let go. 

“PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T REALLY MEAN ANYTHING I SAID!! DON'T DO THIS!! LET ME OUT!!” The pleading delinquent extended an arm towards the entrance of the enormous mouth, calling out to the fading light in desperation. 

“Mmm~” Killua hummed as he closed his mouth and began sucking on the puny morsel. It was a surreal experience to feel an actual person flailing around on his tongue. If he hadn't already known, he would have just assumed the guy was a grain of cooked rice or something. 

Just as the young assassin was beginning to tilt his head back to swallow, he noticed that the transporter overhead was beginning to glow green again.

The twelve year old's blue eyes gleamed with sinister intent as he re-positioned himself directly under the white cube. 

Killua wasn't the type to turn down such an easy opportunity to trim down his competition...

-----

-Meanwhile-

“Hey everyone look! There's something sparkling over here!!” 

“Look! He's right! We found it! Look it's the pedestal!” 

Around thirty five exhausted examinees cheered in unison as they came running towards the green pedestal from every direction. 

At some point during the trial, most of the group apparently reunited. Most of them seemed to realize that the benefits of working together made way more sense than taking on the trial solo. Not only were the lesser bugs easier to dispatch, but having more eyes made finding the pedestal a much simpler task. 

“Hey, how much time do we have?” called out a voice as they began to crowd around the pedestal. 

“No worries guys, we should be fine, we should all have another ten minutes at least” Another called out as he glanced down at his stop watch. 

Since there wasn't any rush to finish, none of the men seemed to mind forming an orderly line. 

Having been the first to spot the pedestal, a teen wearing a blue sash was given the honor to be the first to touch the orb. The eager youth stared down at the fractured green orb with eyes of pride and accomplishment. It was his first year attempting the hunter exam, and it was really starting to feel like his dreams of becoming a hunter were really within his reach. 

Extending out his hand, the bright eyed teen grasped the green orb. 

------------------------------

Spotting another speck materialize beneath the lens, Killua tilted his head back and opened wide. The corners of the boy's mouth curled into a cruel little smile as he watched the tiny particle begin its descent. 

-----

Time seemed to compress for the little teen the moment he realized that he was falling towards the black abyss of a giant twelve year old's mouth. His once bright and hopeful eyes dimmed as the horrific details of the glistening maw became more visible.  

 There was nothing he could do but scream as his body landed on the gooey slope of Killua's broad tongue. His clothing immediately became soaked with the sticky substance, trapping him to the hot rosy surface. He looked up with helpless dread as the others began falling in after him. 

“NOO!!!!!! EVERYONE!! STOP!!! DON'T TOUCH THE ORB!!” His cries of warning were unfortunately unheard by those still in the forest. The line continued to proceed forward without pause. By simply touching the green orb, the oblivious men were essentially sentencing themselves to be consumed by the voracious youth waiting on the other side. 

One after anotherb they cleared the harrowing trial, only to end up becoming insignificant crumbs, destined for consumption. 

Killua watched with twisted amusement tiny men just kept on coming; Five, ten, fifteen; at some point he just stopped counting. He didn't even have to move as the transporter conveniently deposited them right in like a candy dispenser. 

Though barely noticeable, Killua could feel all of their tiny movements squirming across surface of his tongue. He could hear his own pulse pounding in his ears as he savored the rush of their futile struggles to escape. 

The drumming of his heartbeat was almost loud enough to drown out the chorus of horrified cries as the dozens of men slowly slid downward towards to the entrance of his throat. So many stories about to end in his stomach~

“Hey Killua, what are you doing??” Gon's voice suddenly spoke from behind. 

Killua nearly choked as he closed his mouth shut and quickly spun around.

“.....” Killua just stared back silently with a huge blush. 

“Um.... are you eating something???” Gon questioned. 

Glck~ 

“Um...N-nope..” Killua replied.

“Heyyy!! You just swallowed! You're hiding snacks aren't you?!” Gon seemed almost betrayed. 

(“Snacks??”) Killua then remembered that Gon was STILL somehow oblivious to everything that had been happening. 

The white haired assassin looked down at the floor behind him and noticed that a couple of the newly transported tinies had fallen directly to the floor. Due to their size, none them seemed to have been harmed by the landing and they all appeared to start running away in random directions. 

Turning back to Gon, a new idea began to form in Killua's head. 

“Alright fine... I'll let you have some, but I want you to close your eyes and guess what it is~” Killua smirked. 

“Oh, Like a game??” Gon smiled. 

“Y-yeah, a tasting game...” Killua confirmed. 

“Wait...you're not going to trick me and give me something gross right???” Gon's eyebrows furrowed with suspicion.

“No, I promise~ ” Killua assured. 

“Mm......alright I guess I'll play..” Gon hesitantly caved. 

“Sweet, just close your eyes and open wide~” 

“Err...arlight..” Gon followed the instructions and closed his eyes. The boy opened his mouth wide and extended out his tongue. 

“Yeah, just like that....” Killua tried to hide his amusement as he turned back around and quickly plucked up about five of the fleeing men with assassin level precision. 

Turning his attention back to Gon, the mischievous boy carried the first tiny man over Gon's awaiting tongue. 

“Here, I'll just give you a crumb so it's not too easy to guess~” Killua explained. 

He could feel the little guy fighting for his life between his fingers before dropping him down on to the hot wet surface. 

The tiny man screamed as the tongue immediately receded back into the dark void of Gon's mouth. 

“Mmmm~” Gon hummed as he closed his lips and began to taste. 

Killua held his open palm up to Gon's face so the other tiny men could watch up close. 

“Mmrrym...... Killua, it's too small... I can hardly taste anything...” Gon muttered as he roughly dragged the insignificant particle across his pallet. 

“I guess it kinda tastes a little salty, but I can't really tell.” Gon concluded before dismissing the puny flavorless crumb with a single gulp.

“Can I try some more?” Gon asked innocently before sticking his tongue back out for another round. 

The comment made the men in Killua's palm bolt away in horror. 

Killua grinned as he began tilting his hand over Gon's tongue. 

Their pleading went completely unheard by Gon's ears as they were sprinkled across his enormous tasting muscle. 

Feeling several presences register on his taste-buds, Gon immediately pulled back his tongue. The oblivious boy's salivary glands began to activate as the tinies squirmed around in his mouth. 
 
“Mmm~, Killua, I still can't tell. Just tell me already!” Gon asked as his tongue pinned down and battered the unwilling morsels. 

Killua watched intently as Gon spoke. Each time his mouth opened a bit he could see the puny beings struggling for their lives in the sticky wet darkness. 

“Haha, it was just a couple of flax seeds, Gon.” Killa lied.

“Waaahh?! No wonder I couldn't get it! I've never tasted those before!” Gon replied before casually gulping down all the particles in a single glob of saliva. 

Killua bit his lower lip as he watched Gon swallow. It wouldn't be very long before the tiny men were totally digested by Gon's speedy metabolism.

“Wow, I still can't believe no one else has finished yet. What do you think happened to them Killua?” Gon asked as he glanced around the vacant room. 

“Uh...not sure, I guess they just ran into some trouble...” Killua replied slyly as he turned back around. 

It became immediately apparent that while he was busy with Gon, all the newly transported participates had been falling straight to the floor behind him. Most of them had scattered out in different directions across the vast plane of white tiles. Some had even managed to cover a distance of a five or six feet from the center of the room.

“Uh...Hey Gon, since we still got time, wanna play one more game??” 

“Huh? Another game?? Sure!....” Gon agreed, clearly wanting to make up for losing the last one.

“How about we make a competition out of this one...” Killua suggested.

“What kind of competition?” Gon already seemed fully invested. 

“How about we help out with the 'ant' problem in here~”

“Huh? Ant problem??” Gon asked before peering down at the tiled floor. It only took the boy a few moments before he noticed what Killua was referencing. 

“Huh, I didn't even notice...” Gon innocently muttered.

“Okay so, how about..... whoever squashes the most wins~” Killua diabolically declared. 

Without even responding in agreement, Gon walked right up to the first puny speck he could see. 

----

The tiny man fleeing on the floor looked up with confusion as a shadow suddenly enveloped him. Not only was one of the two giant boys suddenly standing over him, but the kid was apparently staring directly down at him. 

The man stumbled backwards in terror as he watched the giant smiling youth lift his right knee up revealing the bottom of his enormous bare foot. 

https://imgur.com/a/MtFdlk2

The unnamed man pleaded for his life as the enormous fleshy sole came down directly over him. His cries for mercy were proven utterly futile as the bare sole slapped down flat against the cool tiled floor. 

Gon smiled as he felt the sensation tiny form instantly collapse beneath his foot. 

(“One~”) 

Gon began his score count; already searching for the next 'ant' to stomp out. 

The other miniaturized men on the floor bolted away in horror as they each came to realize what the giant boy was beginning to do - He was actively searching for, and squashing them beneath his titanic feet.

-----

Gon's eyes darted playfully across the tiles as he proceeded to stomp out another...and another...and another. No speck caught in his sight was spared.

Killua simply just watched on in morbid amusement as Gon innocently walked around and systematically snuffed out lives of the tiny men like they were actual ants. 

“And that maaaakes....twenty-eight~” Gon called out just as he finished stomping down onto the final fleeing speck he could see. 

“Hehe....Sorry Killua, but I think I got them all~” Gon stated as he lifted up his right foot behind his back and gave it a quick glance. His broad, supple sole was now speckled with dozens of tiny red splotches. 

“Haha... yeah, guess you beat me~” Killua smiled knowingly.

 DING DING 

[“The Trial period is now over! Those who have passed will momentarily be transported to the starting point of phase 2.” ] Called out a booming voice from an intercom. 

“Wait... so we're really the only ones who passed??” Gon gasped in surprise as he sat down and began to pull his boots back on. 

“Haha yeah. I guess that trial was too much for them after all~” Killua responded as his stomach gurgled.