Secret Spider (Phantom Troupe! Gon)

8

Thanks to the stampede the boys were running from, and caused, a majority of the contestants have gotten their meat.

Bad news is that nobody was getting the thumbs up from Menchi. Every single serve to her ends up on the floor without her even trying a bite.

“Your fire was too strong.”
“You practically burned it.”
“Where is the effort?”
“I’d be dead if I’d eat this.”

All things she said to each one who served them the same pig on a platter.
Though Buhara was having a pleasant time devouring each pig, Menchi was beginning to lose her temper.

“I never really knew how to cook a giant pig before.”
Gon pouted as Killua wasn’t paying attention to his pig as he roasted it, practically turning it into ashes.
“Eh, so what we can’t satisfy her appetite? This is a bunch of hoopla.”
Killua groaned.
“And we went through the trouble of getting them.” The black-haired boy crossed his arms as Killua laughed at his childish attitude.

“That’s it!”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the furious Menchi.
“I’m stuffed. Therefore, no one passes!”

This caused an uproar of complaints. One even broke his kitchen area in fury.
“This isn’t funny! You said to prepare pork and we-”

“None of you made anything remotely delicious! I said to prepare pork in a manner we both would’ve eaten and no one made it close. This phase is over.”
She announced in a stern tone.

Gon tilted his head in confusion about how a girl like her could be this strict. He didn’t feel like going back to the Troupe empty-handed because he couldn’t cook. He could already hear the teasing made back home from Phinks and Feitan.
He covered his face with his hands to hide his embarrassment.

“Don’t tell me you’re crying over a dumb cooking test, Gon.” Killua place a hand on his shoulder and shook it a bit.
“Of course not! Just…confused haha.” Gon raised his head to look at his friend and gave a reassuring smile.

After a few minutes of Menchi’s ranting about how they all should take cooking seriously and how Gourmet hunters should be respected, even sent a man flying, an elderly man landed in the center of the area. 
Menchi’s now calm state introduces the man named Netero to the contestants. The man in control of the Hunter Exam.

“I realized my temper has gotten the best of me but I lose control when cooking is involved. I am unqualified to be an examiner.”
She bowed apologetically.

“Now don’t jump to conclusions now.” Netero began.  “We cannot find another examiner this instant so how about this, you continue being the examiner for phase 2 but you will be participating in the test you assign the contestants here. Is that fine?”

Menchi lowered her head and gave a grin.
She knew exactly where to take everyone.
.
.
“Woooahhhh”
Gon peered over the cliff, admiring the long webs over the dark abyss underneath.

"Careful Gon. We don't want you falling in."
Kurapika nervously chuckled as he grabbed the back of the kid's backpack to drag him away from the edge of the cliff.

"She jumped right in though! I want to see."
He pouted.

Menchi has taken the contestants to the top of Split Mountain. She seemed excited to show them the demonstration of what they needed to do, eagerly jumping off the cliff.
Remarks coming from the others commenting on how crazy she is.

“Look. She’s just hanging on.” Leorio mentioned, observing her strong grip on the Spider Eagle webs.
The group watched intently with suspense. No one made a single sound nor moved an inch.

Gon, who was still held on by Kurapika protectively, felt a small breeze of wind hitting his face coming from below.
That’s when they all watched her let go of the web reaching for the sack of eggs and falling to the abyss.

“Is she…”
Leorio muttered with a hint of worry in his voice.
“She must know what she is doing.”
Kurapika nodded to himself.

The group felt a powerful gust of wind, closing their eyes in instinct.
“Woah!” Gon laughed, feeling get pushed back by the wind.

Menchi came back flying up and landing safely where everyone else was.
“See how easy that was?” She rested a hand on her hip and raised the Spider Eagle egg.
“All of you must come back with an egg in hand.”
She smiled proudly.

Gon began to shake his backpack off and stretched his legs.
“You seem enthusiastic.” Kurapika chuckled.

“Mhm! This is what I’m talking about!”

“It’s like a circus performance, don’t you think? With all the acrobats and rope.” He tilted his head.
“Circus?-Oh yeah! Yeah! Cuz I’m in a group haha yeah!” He chuckled nervously.

“You’re a clown?”
Killua laughed from the conversation he overheard, making Gon blush in embarrassment.
“Hah!? No no!”
“I knew you were hiding something from me!” The white-haired boy continued to laugh while Gon tried his best to explain but all that came out were stutters.
.
.
“Wow, it appears we lost a few soldiers on the way. “
Leorio whistled.
The quad has made it safe and sound back on the top of the mountain with their eggs in hand.
There were only about 42 applicants left.
“They should’ve been patient with my signal,” Gon stated, inspecting his egg with interest.

"I mean I'm not complaining."
Killua shrugged, chewing on a bite from his boiled egg.

"I guess but c'mon! We gotta call dibs on rooms and food in the blimp."
Leorio called out, gathering all his belongings and making his way towards where the remaining competitors would be resting until the next phase.

"Leorio, have some patience!"
Kurapika yelled, following him behind.

Killua nudged Gon's arm, signaling that they should get going as well.

"That egg wasn't enough for me. How about we sneak into the kitchen?"
Killua gave a mischievous grin to Gon as they both situated themselves on a nearby bench with a window in front.

"Now that you mentioned it, I am getting hungry myself."
Gon nodded.
"Let me find a place to put this down. I'll even find a room for us."

"Alright but if you take too long, imma have to go in without you."
Killua shrugged and turned his body to fully look through the window.

Gon walked away from where Killua was.
Sensing that he was alone, he moved his backpack to the front, reaching his hand in for a certain item.
Taking the phone given to him from Shalnark out of his bag, he wasn't paying close attention to his surroundings.

He bumped into someone, his phone dropping out of his hands but there was no thud of it hitting the floor.

"My my, careful there, Gon~. Shalnark wouldn't be very happy if he knew you cracked the screen already."

"Oh! It's just you."
Gon sighed in relief, Hisoka being the savior of his phone.

"What? Scared you ran into the Kurta?"
The jester smiled.

"You know too?" Gon said a little too loudly and slapped his hands over his mouth, looking around just in case.

"Going to tell your big brother?"
Hisoka chuckled and bent down a little, his shadow casting over Gon.
The boy huffed and looked away.
"Just give me back my phone."
He stuck his hand out, waiting for the device.

Hisoka looked at him for a bit, keeping his smile plastered on his face.
"Fine fine~ Just don't say anything bad about me."
He placed the phone in the boy's smaller hand and ruffled his hair before leaving the him alone.

"It's like he teleports everywhere."
Gon mumbled as he fixed his hair.

Walking into an empty room with two clean beds, he plopped his backpack on the bed and dialed Chrollo's phone.

After a few seconds, he picked up.
"Chrollo!"
Gon raised the phone to his ear enthusiastically.

"Guess what?!"