༺♥༻

To say Valentine Nitsune was afraid of herself would be the biggest understatement in the world.

Her family always had a personal trainer to help the children of each generation strengthen themselves and their abilities for missions.

When she was seven years old, the young girl couldn't control the darkness within her when her brother was knocked to the ground with a bloody nose from the trainer punching him in the nose when Jaxon miscalculated the man's strike and what had happened caused the trainer to quit that very same day.

Seeing her brother on the ground with a bloodied forehead had caused something to snap within the rageful child and she would have killed the man had her sister Akari not intervened, knocking the girl unconscious.

Valentine had punished herself by locking herself in her room for weeks, occasionally getting food brought to her by her brother and Jaxon tried everything he could to bring her out of that depressed state she was in, but she had only turned her body away, ignoring the boy until he left.

And now, standing in front of Knuckle once more, the young Nitsune wasn't afraid that this mission would cause her to lose more than herself but she was afraid that if her friends saw the hideous side of her that they would immediately ditch her and never want to see her again.

But for the time being, Valentine pushed down those fears and only stared at the man in front of her with a harsh stare, her Ren powerfully bursting around her body; covering the girl in a glow.

'Hey Knuckle!',Gon yelled out as Killua, Jaxon and himself made their auras appear, his eyes burning into the man's,'It's on!'

'Right, then bring it on!',Knuckle exclaimed with his arms crossed over his chest,'I can take on the four of you at once'

Eyes of gold glistened with anger at the man's taunt and the way he underestimated them, causing Valentine's fists to clench as her head slightly tilted down, the veins in her hands bulging through the skin.

'You think you're better than us, but I don't give a damn',Killua stated,'We're still more than happy to accept'

Simultaneously, the four's aura all exploded with strength and harshly spiked, flowing with an immense amount of power.

'Killua, Valentine, Jaxon... let's do this!',Gon exclaimed.

'Alright-!'

'You don't have to tell me twice-!'

"-Let's go!"

Bursting forward with amazing speed, Valentine disappeared as they all charged towards the man and decided to try and attack from different angles.

Gon decided to go for the higher range while Killua struck from below and Jaxon's fist swung forward, heading for the man's stomach.

Jumping into the air, Knuckle evaded Killua's attack and latched his hand around Jaxon's wrist to stop his strike, moving his head to the side as he evaded Gon's kick.

Twisting his leg up, Knuckle kicked the blonde boy away from him; knocking the wind from Jaxon's lips momentarily and sent him flying further than he meant to, but he kept his mind on the task at hand.

What he wasn't expecting though, was the harsh kick that smashed into his back and took away the man's breath for a moment as he choked slightly, spit flying from his mouth as his eyes widened in surprise at the strength in such a small girl.

But Knuckle had caught his breath much quicker than Valentine had expected and she wasn't prepared as a hand wrapped around her ankle, throwing her into her brother's arms, knocking them both to the ground.

Blocking Killua's kick with his own, Knuckle turned around as Gon went to throw another hit his way, but he grabbed the boys fist and twisted it harshly, causing the green-haired boy to grunt in pain before a shout of shock left his lips as he was thrown into Killua; who stopped them both from falling.

'Give me a break. I could keep playing with you kids, but I just don't have that kind of time'

Slowly raising to her feet with shaky and harsh breaths from the rage that filled her body, Valentine shook with the very emotion as the color of her left eye was split as a black symbol spread across the iris, staining the beautiful color.

"Neither.. do I!",Valentine managed to say through her angered state and she slightly kicked off the ground as she sped forward.

Seeing her speed caused Knuckle's eyes to widen in satisfaction and a grin spread across his lips as the girl headed straight for him, readying her attack.

'That's what what I'm talking about. Ha!'

But alas, the man had blocked their attacks and even though Valentine had landed an attack more than once, she eventually wasn't able to land any more.

A harsh hit struck the four and Valentine flew back, only stopping when she knocked into Killua and the two fell to the ground, his arms wrapping around her so she wouldn't hit the ground when they landed; small groans of pain leaving their lips as their arms scratched along the ground, rocks digging into their skin.

'Oh come on, is that really all you've got!',The man yelled at them.

But what neither of them realized, was that a man dressed in purple was watching them from the shadows.

Slowly rising to her feet, Valentine held out her hand and pulled Killua up from the ground when he placed his hand in her own, before the two nodded at one another, turning towards Knuckle with similar glares on their faces.

Gasped breaths left Valentine's lips and she wiped the sweat that fell down her forehead, before she moved her right foot back, her head tilting down slightly.

Bursting forward with a greater amount of speed than before, the young girl appeared in front of Knuckle's face and a grin stretched across the man's lips as she reeled her fist back, sweat glistening as it ran down her face, before swinging towards his face with a yell of determination.

This girl... even when she was tired and all of her stamina was almost gone, she still didn't give up and her determination to beat him didn't waver.

Now this was what he was waiting for.

༺♥༻

Every muscle within the young blonde's body burned and ached with pain as dirt and sweat covered Valentine's skin, her body swaying slightly as Jaxon helped her stay on her feet with his arm weakly wrapped around her as Killua and Gon used sticks to help them walk.

Every step she took sent a shock of exhaustion through her veins and Valentine panted slightly, her once bright eyes slightly darkened with fatigue.

Without their knowledge, the four didn't realize that there was a man hiding within the shadows and it was clear to anyone that he was targeting them.

A grunt left Killua's lips as his body shook every time he took a step forward and sweat glistened on his skin as his hands tightened around the walking stick in his grasp.

'No use. The way we are now, we don't stand a chance'

Agreeing with the silverette, Gon nodded to himself and looked between his three friends, his eyebrows furrowed.

'Yeah, I'm pretty sure Knuckle isn't using all his strength. Maybe half'

'Yeah, probably'

'But we don't have a choice, we got to fight him'

Looking towards the Nitsune twins, Killua looked down at Valentine and panted lightly, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

'Hey Val, I've got a question'

With a hum leaving her lips, Valentine turned her head and stared into the beautiful azure eyes that stared into her own, the boy's gaze seeming to glisten the longer he stared at her.

'That ability that you use to teleport by sound, would you be able to teach Gon and I how to do it? If we could all do it, that would make it much easier to defeat our enemies together'

Eyes widening immensely, Valentine looked towards her brother with a frown on her face and she watched as Jaxon looked down at her, his lips pursed tightly together.

With a small sigh leaving her lips, the young blonde turned back towards her silver-haired crush and slowly shook her head, guilt filling her veins as her eyes softened.

"I'm sorry Killua, but.. it's something only a Nitsune can achieve. The ability has been in our bloodline for generations and unless your of the Nitsune bloodline or a descendant, you won't be able to use it successfully without it tearing apart every muscle in your body"

With a hum leaving his lips, Killua nodded in understanding and smiled slightly, reassuring the blonde it was alright.

Besides, he thought the ability was unique and fascinating.

Just like the beautiful girl beside him.

༺♥༻

The sun brightly shone through the windows of the building and the sound of the boys Ren echoed throughout the room.

The two boys; Killua and Gon, watched in fascination as they looked at the Nitsune twins and small gasps of awe left their lips.

Swinging his leg forward, Jaxon threw a kick at his sister and a small grunt of pain left her lips as his hit connected with her shoulder as she stumbled slightly, watching as his fist swung forward; determined to bring her down.

Leaning to the side, Valentine grabbed her brother's fist as it soared by her face and she placed her other hand underneath his arm, grabbing his elbow as she turned, flipping him over her shoulder.

A grunt filled the air once Jaxon's back hit the ground and he squeezed his eyes shut, before a sigh of frustration left his lips as he opened his eyes, glaring up at his sister as she chuckled slightly.

Placing her right hand on her left shoulder, Valentine rolled her shoulder slightly and a small grin formed on her face as her t-shirt moved along with her, her muscles flexing slightly as she untensed them.

"You caught me off guard for a second there, Jax",Valentine admitted and held out her hand, helping her brother up from the ground once he placed his hand in her own,"If you had tried to swing a bit sooner, then you definitely would've beaten me"

With his eyes glistening, Gon clapped for his sister-like friend and watched as she turned towards them with a look of surprise on her face.

'That was awesome, you guys!',The green haired boy exclaimed and watched as they flushed with embarrassment at the compliment,'I could tell you guys fought together a lot! Your moves were almost in sync even though you two were against one other'

With a small chuckle leaving his lips, Jaxon shrugged slightly and placed his arm on his sister's head, watching as she looked at him with an annoyed look on her face.

'Well Gon, we did go on a lot of mission together and so, our moves always had to be in sync in order to defeat our enemies'

Humming slightly in understanding, Gon went to say more but was interrupted when Biscuit stood up and clapped her hands together, causing the four to turn their heads towards the woman, before noticing the feast on the table.

Which Zeus was already digging into his own plate stocked full of rodents and other meaty delights.

'Help yourself',Palm told the children.

Eyes glistening with hunger, the boys all rushed towards the feast and sat down, clasping their hands together.

'Thank you for the food!'

Watching as they began to chow down, a small smile formed on Valentine's face and she slowly shook her head as she chuckled softly, before sitting down beside Biscuit as she sipped at her warm drink.

Picking up a piece of shrimp, the young girl held her chopsticks above her plate so that none of the crumbs would fall onto the floor and she bit into the food, the delicious flavor bursting across her tongue.

'What do you think?',Palm asked with curiosity and looked between them, watching as the boys ate expeditiously.

With a small smile on his face as he ate, Gon turned towards the woman and held his chopsticks on top of his bowl.

'Mmm! Everything's real good'

'Not that, we only have ten days left'

With a small sigh leaving her lips, Valentine picked up her own cup of steaming hot mint tea and raised it to her lips, slowly sipping on the drink.

'It looks to me like you're two-thirds of the way through your training which is meant to make you all strong enough to force Knuckle into using his full power in battle',Palm stated and Biscuit seemed to tense up once she realized that the woman knew exactly what was going on.

With a shocked look on his face, Gon turned towards Biscuit and furrowed his eyebrows.

'Is that true, Bisky?'

With a drop of sweat slowly falling down the side of her face, Biscuit ignored the boy's question and only raised her drink to her lips, sipping from the cup.

Turning back towards Palm, a bright smile formed on Gon's face and he tilted his head slightly.

'It'll be alright',The green haired boy reassured the woman,'We're going to beat him before the deadline'

A scoff left Palm's lips and her grip tightened on her dress as her body seemed to shake with rage, causing Zeus to glance at the woman out of the corner of his eye as he slowly inched away from her, getting closer to Jaxon's side.

'But how can you be so sure?',Palm asked, causing Gon's eyebrows to raise in shock,'The situation clearly hasn't improved at all'

Small gasps left Killua, Valentine and Biscuit's lips as they all froze and watched the two, cautiously waiting for what would happen next.

'You said before that you wanted my opinion, so fine, here it is',Palm calmly replied and her dark aura filled the room,'You have no chance of beating Knuckle. They didn't even give you enough time. Lately, I find that I can calm myself by staring at my knife, and that can only mean that I'm getting dangerously close to losing it. If you ran away right now, I probably won't hunt you down and kill you'

With a deadpanned expression on his face, Jaxon slowed his bite of food and turned towards the woman with a look in his eye as he swallowed his food; a look that none of them could identify.

'You know, lady, you're a very judgmental person'

With wide eyes, Killua and Biscuit slowly turned their eyes towards the boy and began to wonder if he had a death wish.

But what had greatly surprised them, was the way Valentine seemed to jump across Killua and wrap her arm around her brother's neck, keeping him in a headlock as he struggled to get free, rapidly hitting her arm as he begged for breath.

"Shut up, you idiot! That sarcasm of yours is going to get us killed!"

'Val.. entine, let go.. you're going to.. kill me! I can't.. breath.. damnit!'

Watching as Gon began to calm down Palm, Killua wrapped his arms around Valentine's waist and pulled her off of her brother, watching as Jaxon dramatically gasped for breath, placing his forehead on the ground.

Putting the girl down beside him, the silverette chuckled at the glare she directed at her brother and Killua slowly lifted his hand, placing it in her hair as he slowly began to rub her head.

Eyes widening as color began to coat her cheeks, Valentine quickly looked up at the boy and watched as Killua softly smiled down at her.

༺♥༻

The stars seemed to glisten brightly in the night sky and Biscuit looked up at the teens from her magazine, looking towards the clock.

'Okay, that's three hours!'

Stretching out her limbs, Valentine ran her hand through her hair and looked up at the clock, a surprised look on her face.

It was quite surprising how much easier holding their Ren, for three hours, had gotten over the past ten days.

'Oh, already?',Killua questioned and stretched out his arms, still withholding his Ren.

Stretching out his legs, Gon leaned side to side and agreed with the silverette.

'Yeah, that seemed fast'

Smiling slightly, Biscuit looked up at the five and glanced at Zeus, almost laughing when he bobbed his head with small shrieks leaving his beak as he withheld his Ren.

'Then I suppose I'll give you a break, take thirty minutes',Biscuit told them.

Disabling her Ren, Valentine looked towards Biscuit confused and tilted her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows.

"But we're supposed to be going to fight Knuckle soon, aren't we?"

Closing her magazine, Biscuit smiled at the girl and looked between her students.

'I'll allow all of you to go once you're fully rested',The woman told them and lowered the magazine into her lap,'You can take him'

Gasping in shock, the students all perked up and looked at the woman in surprise.

'The Chairman's deadline is fast approaching',Biscuit told them,'Just over a day left. So this may be your first and final chance!'

Nodding in agreement, Valentine looked towards with boys with a look of determination and she watched as they turned towards her as well, all of them nodding towards one another.

Staring at her students, Biscuit knew that if they all give it everything they had and accepted the outcome no matter what happened, identifying what they were missing, then the training would be successful.

༺♥༻

Flaming balls of beauty that were the stars brilliantly glowed in the night sky and lit up the darkness with a beautiful azure hue.

Determination flooded through their bodies and their auras largely grew and spiked into the air around them as their Ren combined, glowing brilliantly.

Glancing up at Killua, soft eyes of gold connected with his own and Valentine slowly nodded, a message hidden within her eyes.

They could do this.

'You four mean business tonight'

Looking over at her brother, Valentine's eyes connected with his own and Jaxon gave his twin a small grin, causing her own smile to slowly spread across her lips.

Staying in the back with Killua, the three had let Gon face the man first and Valentine stretched her arm out, placing it behind her head as her eyes narrowed at the scene before her.

'Before we start, I wanna know where your partner is hiding',Gon stated.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, a frown formed on Knuckles face and he titled his head to the side in confusion, staring at the boy with a curious look in his eyes.

'What? Are you talking about Shoot?',Knuckle questioned and watched as Gon nodded, agreeing with his question,'Why do you want to know about that? You're about to get the crap knocked out of you, kid'

'Because we need both of your tiles'

A deep laugh left Knuckle's lips and he slowly shook his head, an incredulous look forming on his face as he stared at the boy, placing his hands on his hips.

'You're just messing with me, right?',The man questioned the boy and looked at the three teens behind him; to see if he was joking, but he noticed that they only looked at him with serious expressions,'If you can beat me, I'll answer your question'

With his arms crossed over his chest, Killua slowly tilted his head to the side and his eyes glistened with cockiness.

'We might not get a chance then, not if your laying unconscious',The silverette stated.

The four immediately noticed that Killua's words had angered the man and a small smirk slowly spread across Valentine's lips, the arm behind her head coming to cross over her other arm, her arms crossing over her chest as her hip cocked to the side, leaning her weight on one leg.

Tilting her head to the side, Valentine's eyes gleamed with a teasing glint and a small chuckle left her lips at Knuckle's expression as she glanced towards Killua, watching as he looked down at her, their eyes connecting.

"Looks like you touched a nerve",Valentine stated in a teasing tone.

As they stared at one another, she watched as a grin spread across Killua's face and his eyebrows raised slightly before he sent her a wink, causing her cheeks to blaze with color as his eyes glistened at her reaction.

Making a fist, Knuckle hit his other hand with it and looked between the teens, veins popping out of his skin in anger.

'You just went too far with that little joke'

Taking a deep breath, Gon brought up his Ren and got into a fighting position, a small battle cry leaving his lips as his aura spiked, exploding around his body with power.

Deciding to charge forward first, Knuckle jumped into the air slightly and prepared to attacked as he raised his fist, but shock filled his body once Gon disappeared.

A grin formed on Valentine's face once she saw it and thought back to a few days ago.

Standing in front of the boys with her arms crossed, Valentine looked between them and took a deep breath, tapping her foot slightly, the wind blowing back her hair.

"Okay so, even though you guys won't be able to do exactly what I do, you can still use a burst of speed to confuse your enemies into thinking that you've disappeared. Giving you guys an advantage for a short moment to at least try and give you a winning chance"

Uncrossing her arms, Valentine held them by her side and she tilted down only slightly, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

As she bursted forward with amazing speed, the young blonde reappeared behind her brother and swung her leg forward, knocking him off his feet.

Landing on the grass with a solid thump, Jaxon stayed there for a moment and stared at the sky with a small groan as a pain spread up his back.

'Why am I always the one to get thrown around like a frisbee?'

With a small chuckle leaving her lips, Valentine stood in front of her brother and held out her hand, helping him up from the ground.

"Because Jax, you're the only one who can keep up with my speed. If I had used either of them as an example, neither of them would've been able to brace themselves before hitting the ground so that they didn't get hurt"

Thinking it over for a moment, Jaxon slowly nodded and looked at his sister with an impressed look on his face, crossing his arms over his chest as he grinned down at her.

'Good point'

With a small smile on her face, Valentine crossed her arms over her chest and looked towards her friends, looking between them.

"Alright, who's first?"

Appearing from behind Knuckle, Gon swung his fist forward and watched as Knuckle turned towards him, appearing from behind him this time.

'Here!'

Looking behind him out of the corner of his eye, Gon watched as Knuckle's fist swung towards him and turned around, holding up his arms to block his face as the man's hit connected, sending him back a couple of feet.

'Gon!',Killua yelled out in concern and looked down at Valentine, noticing that she was watching the battle with a calculated look in her eyes.

Feeling the hit vibrate throughout his body, Gon tightened his fists and glowered at the man, his eyes narrowing as his eyebrows furrowed.

If he hadn't used Ken then Knuckle's punch definitely would've knocked him out cold.

'Four or five more warm-up punches and I'll get serious',Knuckle told the boy and rotated his shoulder, warming himself up,'So, you better watch yourself kids. Cause I get warmed up pretty damn fast'

With a grin on his face, Knuckle's Ren covered his body and he clenched his fist, staring at the children.

Speeding towards Gon, Knuckle sent three hard punches towards the boy and sent the green-haired teen flying in each direction he hit, appearing behind him rather quickly.

Flipping himself upright, Gon landed on the ground and slid back, digging his hands into the dirt to slow himself down, but ended up falling slightly.

Small grunts of effort left Gon's lips as he slowly stood up and a wince covering his face, wiping the dirt from his skin.

With a grin spreading across his lips, a crazed look filled Knuckle's eyes and he chuckled slightly.

'Come on, let me see that technique',He stated,'That "Show me rock" thing? Well, not like you can use it. Not with it being as flawed as it is anyway'

Furrowing her eyebrows together, a confused looked formed on Valentine face and her lips parted in surprise.

Did Gon's technique really have a flaw.

'A small word of advice: If you do try that attack, then you're going down',Knuckle told the teenager and a chuckle left his lips.

Slowly walking towards the boy, Knuckle watched as Gon clenched his jaw and stared at him with an angered expression.

'Don't go thinking you can use it in a one-on-one fight',Knuckle stated and paused, holding up two fingers,'Your signature technique.. currently has exactly two major flaws'

༺♥༻

~In the future of Scars;

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔡 𝔤𝔲𝔶, 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔴 ℑ'𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔡 𝔤𝔲𝔶"