I was back to fully clothed after Leorio's examination. I now had gauze and bandages wrapped around my head. Apparently, my wound on the back of my head reopened and so I was suddenly bleeding on both sides of my noggin'. It looked like I had brain surgery done on me.
At least Zetsu helped me recover faster than normal, 'cause Leorio said it'd take a week to heal my sprained wrist. Now that my adrenaline was fading, my body was aching all over. I was getting weird pains all over my body, like the giant bump on my shin from kicking a man in the face. Shit, that's on top of the bruises knuckles on both my hands from punching his anvil-tough head...
How did I get hurt hitting a person? God damn...
Whatever, I might feel like doo-doo, but I won. Now we had to decide who goes next, but that wasn't much of a decision... It was easy who wanted to go next since he kept waving his right arm in the air...
"Hey guys, let me give it a try!" said the only other person in our group dressed in green.
We huddled up again. As we did, I gave Gon a reluctant look, one with a massive eyebrow raise. Everyone else was also giving him similar looks. Not that we didn't trust Gon, but his opponent didn't seem like someone he'd be a good match against. Gon wasn't dumb (I'd like to say far from it, but eeeeh...), he's was a kid after all, but his intelligence was more in the realm of intuition and instinct. Hell, he had more intuition then I did.
Just that... I don't know, shit; I trusted Gon, but I couldn't see the next prisoner fighting Gon in a fistfight. If Gon had fought my opponent, I wouldn't be as concerned. But he isn't. The woman looked and felt weak so, if I had to guess, it'd be a battle of wits...
Leorio mimicked my eyebrow raise as he spoke with a frown.
"Are you sure?"
Gon nodded, "Yeah."
Killua looked over his shoulder for a moment, glanced at the woman, then turned back to our group and shrugged.
"She doesn't look strong. And we have the lead. I say let him go."
Leorio rubbed his chin, his eyes hard and his face serious.
"She's still a hardened criminal. No telling what she's capable of. That's why I should go next. She might use, ehem, underhanded tactics someone as young as Gon... why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Kurapika, Killua, and I were staring at him with disbelief on our faces.
He was so full of shit.
Gon was looking between the four of us, confused.
"What's wrong?"
Killua gave Leorio a sour look, "Dirty old man, I don't trust you to fight."
I raised a hand, "Seconded."
Kurapika nodded with eyes closed, "Third."
I clicked my tongue. When I spoke my voice was filled with sarcasm, "Oooo, three to one. So close. Better luck next time."
Leorio raised and fist and did the one thing he seemed better at than being a doctor: yelling.
"Hey! I know how to fight too! Why don't ya' guys trust me?!"
The three of us not cursed with simple-mindedness or dark hair looked at each other. We communicated via facial telepathy and half-lidded stares. We came to a consensus as we sighed in unison. Since I was the dumbest of the three, and more than willing to be dumb, I took the lead.
I walked over to Leorio, a hand over my mouth like a grieving widow, my eyes filled with exaggerated disappointment. I placed a shoulder on the taller fellow and led him over to the edge of the ledge and raised my left hand towards the arena. As though presenting Leorio something.
"Look in the distance, Lennie."
Leorio frowned and looked at me strangely.
"What?"
"Never mind. Do me a favor and look at her."
He rolled his eyes and did what I said. He stared at the lovely pink-haired woman for all of thirty seconds before his cheeks turned red, nostrils flared, and a big dopey grin erased all signs of intelligence from his face.
I patted him on the shoulders and led my junior back to the rest of the group. He had much to learn.
"That'll do pig, that'll do."
"Hey, who're you calling a pig?!"
Kurapika, ever the serious one, sighed and clutched his forehead at our stupidity. No doubt because he was the only adult between the five of us at the tender age of seventeen. That's surprising because I coulda' swore I was older than him.
I chuckled, I was in good spirits after winning my match.
Killua rolled his eyes spoke for the two of them, "You're both idiots. Can we decide already?"
Gon frowned and nodded, "I still want to go next. I'll be fine, promise!"
I twisted my mouth, not unkindly. I didn't feel comfortable with Gon going next but... I wasn't gonna' veto him out right either, even if I wasn't comfortable with it. I rather have Kurapika or Killua go next. That way we'd have a big enough lead that we'd really need to fuck up to lose. Like I said, I trusted Gon, but... in this situation it felt like this wasn't the right choice.
But Kurapika was persuasive, his voice confident as he spoke.
"If Gon says he'll be fine, then I trust him. While I have my concerns, the point of this trial is to trust in our comrades, correct?" he said rhetorically, but not condescending.
Killua smirked at me and pointed a finger in the air before speaking. Why the fuck does everyone here do that?
"You gotta' admit, he's got a point. Besides, we're already ahead."
Gon nodded, "Yeah, and that means Kurapika and Killua could fight anyone really strong!"
My eyebrows furrowed as my lower lip covered my upper one in an attempt to reach my nose. My face scrunched into an impressed, resigned frown. I can't argue with all that. And it's not like I'm in charge. I'm just being cautious. I shrugged and nodded.
"Hey," we turned to Leorio, who was pointing to himself. He practically had dots for eyes, "what about me, huh? Why are you guys talkin' like I can't take on someone strong?"
Killua, as brutal as always, nonchalantly said, "'Cause you can't."
I winced at that point-blank, shotgun-blast-to-the-face bluntness. Killua's been showing his real side ever since he hung out with Gon and Evira unmasked his personality to the rest. He's a guy who doesn't mince words. I'm used to worse and having fun, but I also enjoy vitriolic friendships. Some people (read: many) people aren't used to that.
So, being the adult, I tried to soften the blow from Killua's Old Yeller execution of Leorio's ego.
"Honestly, Gon is physically stronger and faster than you, Leorio. He's wrestled bears, man... Look, they'll probably use a physical fighter on their third match, then it's a toss-up from there. You can fight in the fourth match, though I hope not. I mean! Er, not because your bad- ya' know what? Forget it..." I finished with a wave and sigh.
Leorio's face stayed the same, unimpressed by my eloquent argument.
Kurapika grabbed his chin and chewed my words over. The blonde nodded, looked back up, and replied.
"That does make sense. That way, even if Gon is somehow defeated, we have a good chance of winning the third and the last..."
Leorio turned to Kurapika and gave him a dirty look, "Hey!"
Gon nodded before speaking decisively "Ok, I'm going!"
He placed his rod on the floor and removed his backpack, before calmly walking into the arena. As he did, I stared at the pink-haired woman and analyzed her. She wasn't strong, I've seen and fought ungodly strong women, but I could see it in her eyes she was definitely a trickster. A controlling, manipulative person.
When Gon entered the Arena, the stone bridges retracted. Through the vibrations and sounds of grinding stone, I shouted to the kid some advice.
"Hey, don't fall for any tricks, ok?! She's gonna' be as underhanded as possible."
Gon nodded as he stared at the woman in front of him. As the stone bridges finished retracted from the arena, the prisoner shifted her weight to her right side. She had her right hand on her hip in a confident, dismissive manner. When she spoke, it was in an amused tone.
"As you can tell, I'm not a fighter. We will settle our match through gambling. Betting time instead of chips."
Our team looked at her with trepidation. This was bad.
"Look at the monitor to our left," a black monitor next to the arena lit up into a scoreboard, "we'll each have fifty hours with which to wager. And bets can only be placed in ten-hour increments. We bet until one of our clocks reaches zero."
"We'll take turns deciding what to bet on. If your credit reaches zero, you will have fifty fewer hours to escape the tower."
Gon titled his head, "Ok. But what if I beat you? Do you lose fifty hours?"
She chuckled then spoke, "No, fifty years will be added to our sentences."
"OK. That makes sense."
"Hm, well, do you agree to the terms of the match?"
I raised my hand in the air, shouting.
Time to complain like an annoying middle-aged lady at a restaurant.
"Wait a minute! Gon, tell her you don't accept the terms yet!"
Gon turned to me, blinked in confusion, then spoke, "Uh, ok. I don't accept the terms yet?"
Everyone looked at me with different levels of, 'Ok, now what?' as I smirked. I adjusted my suit.
I had to be presentable as Gon's rule lawyer and agent.
Don't fuck with me, little lady, I've been gambling since I was thirteen. Be it Dominoes with the Dominicans on my old street corner, to poker and Cee-lo. I won't let her hustle Gon. What, she thought she would take advantage of a bunch of kids? Fuck that shit.
I cleared my throat and pointed at her with my left hand before speaking, "Alright, first off, how are the wagers going to work? Do you guys take turns or what?"
The woman narrowed her eyes at me, but her smile grew as well. Yup, she had established some rules, but not all of them. She'd either change the rules that weren't established or negotiate them later. That happens all the fucking time when you're getting scammed.
Fuckin' shady gamblers.
She spoke, "One person sets the bet, while the other sets the ante."
I made a loud buzzing noise with my mouth. Everyone looked at me confused, except Killua. He just found me annoying as always.
"That's not gonna' work. It's too simple. I have a better system."
My teammates looked at me strangely, while the woman prisoner gave me a condescending look. She spoke up,
"Your friend here is the one who decides the terms of the match, not you."
"Tch. Hey Gon, would you let me decide the terms of the match with bubble gum head over here? All you have to do is agree."
That raised her eyebrows. She was good enough to read me, so I left her a message through my eyes and face.
You can't stop me from helping my friend. I can manipulate the rules indirectly.
Her eyelids narrowed slightly, but it was unnoticeable to anyone else who wasn't staring directly at her eyes.
Gon looked at me and nodded, "Ok. I trust you."
I quickly smiled at Gon for trusting me, before going back to staring down the prisoner. I don't know how intimidating I looked with bandages wrapped around my head.
The pink-haired woman flashed a look of annoyance so fast I'd have missed it if I wasn't staring her down. Tch, blame the rules of the Exam. I came here in good faith and open arms, like the new kid in school. Instead, I get slapped around all day yesterday and the day before that; I got my proverbial and not so proverbial bookbag, lunch, and candy stolen by this Exam.
Had that not happened, I wouldn't be such a pedantic asshole right now.
But I was a gracious asshole, so I smiled at her as I spoke, "Alright! I'm not changing things too much, it's just that your rules have a lot of holes in it..."
She flashed me a dangerous smile. I matched it with a grin of my own as we glared at each other. I continued.
"Anyways, once you've made your bet and you both agree to it, it can't be changed. Once the initial ante is committed to, it can't be changed. The minimum amount for the initial ante is always ten, no matter what. You can bet higher, but you can't bet zero or back out of the bet once both sides have agreed to the bet. If you do, you automatically lose ten hours."
I waved my left hand and continued, "The players can raise the ante, but players can also refuse to match the raised ante. If a player refuses to match, they lose their time wagered and you two start back with a new bet. That way, a person can back out of an unfavorable bet, but they also lose their initial ante. Last, the new bet is placed by the person who set the ante and you guys keep switching."
She was annoyed... but amused. Being the gambler she was, she was enticed by the restrictions.
These were pretty basic rules. But these rules favored her... because otherwise she'd reject them and haggle for rules. And that'd probably take longer than the match.
I can imagine she knows the art of bluffing, strategized betting, and an intimate understanding of probability and statistics... while Gon was an eleven-year-old Tarzan kid with short-shorts on.
This was lopsided as shit...
But, with these rules in place, that also meant there was some structure:
She couldn't completely hustle the shit out of Gon with made-up rules or bullshit on the spot. She wouldn't be able to back out or change any bets at the last second. And the match would eventually conclude, even if we lost. If these matches lasted an hour or two, we'd still have roughly twenty hours to get to the bottom... maybe...
While I was giving the world a confident facade, inside I was sighing with frustration. There wasn't much I could do without actually being the one fighting. This was all I could do for Gon. I just had to trust the kid would pull something out of his tiny green shorts.
And, on a serious note: the kid needs pants. At least shorts as long as Killua's.
Pinkie nodded.
"Ok, that sounds reasonable. I accept," she said with a smirk.
Gon nodded as well, "Me too."
To my right, Killua sighed loudly. He spoke with impatience in his voice, "Finally. Can we get this started already?"
My face scrunched in annoyance as I gave Cottonball a withering look.
"Hey, I'm just making sure Gon has as fair a fight as possible."
Kurapika looked at Pinkie before turning addressing me. "All we can do now is make sure she adheres to the rules and trust that Gon will win."
We all nodded. Even if we had some reservations, we did trust Gon. Without question.
Honestly, it was strange.
Gon had that unquantifiable 'it' that transcended the norm. That intangible thing that was you couldn't describe in words. That person or friend that you just want to follow around because of their charisma or personality. You could tell he was someone who could do the impossible.
Gon was just like Killua, Kurapika, and shit, even Leorio: brimming with talent. Kurapika was the brains of the group, Killua the skill and experience, Leorio the heart and decency, but Gon was at the center. An unstoppable, honest, straightforward, charismatic force. He bound us together.
I sighed as my cynical intelligence spoke. That's all nice and good... but the gambler gods prayed on the straightforward and honest. And doesn't give a fuck about charisma.
Let's see if he's as unstoppable as I think he is.
Because fifty hours were on the line...
Leroute and Gon stood in the center of the arena. Gon stared at her as he normally did, with wide eyes and a flicker of curiosity. The only thing different was the slight frown on his face. He was excited when he saw James fight and had really wanted to be next.
But now that he was in the arena and heard how the fight would be... he wasn't regretting his choice per se, that was impossible for the youth, but he was feeling the foreign sensation that normal people feel: the pressure to do well. Had this been any other opponent, he'd only care about doing his best and enjoying himself.
Unfortunately, the simple binary choice of victory or defeat had been complicated by fifty hours being put on the line. It took the simple pleasure of win or lose away from the boy. James' fight had shown things would not be as straightforward as Gon would like.
There were rules within rules, and tricks within tricks. It was off-putting to the Freecss.
Plus, it was all really boring and confusing.
The prisoner was the first to speak, "Believe it or not, I have a soft spot for kids, but my sentence is on the line. Sorry."
Gon nodded, a smile on his face as he spoke directly and sincerely to her. As he always did.
"That's OK, I won't be holding back either!"
The prisoner smiled as her eyebrows rose, taken back by his naiveté. She saw no malice or hatred, even though she was a criminal. More than that, she was blindsided by how earnest Gon was. He wasn't lying.
Her smile shrunk slightly.
"If you give up now, the rest of your team can still win two more matches and you don't risk losing fifty hours. How about that?"
Leroute didn't know why she said that. She had no reason to help or suggest that course of action to the boy. In fact, the opposite would be better for her.
Gon shook his head, "Nah. I don't want to. And my team is counting on me, so I can't give up!"
The green child scratched his head, twisted his face in thought, and looked away.
"I've never really been all that great at using my head... And, we have to get down the bottom of the tower..."
He scrunched his face as he thought. After a minute, his face lit up, and he turned back to the prisoner.
"I know! Why don't I give you twenty hours, and you forfeit! That way, we have still have plenty of time to get to the bottom of the tower; while you guys get twenty years off!"
Gon's team groaned out loud. In the distance, James was grabbing his bandaged head and yelled a short, screeching, "No!"
Kurapika spoke up first, his voice full of disbelief, "Gon, these people are hardened criminals. Sentenced to worst crimes imaginable. What you're doing is reducing their punishment..."
Gon tilted his head at Kurapika, "Yeah, but James told us no one in Trick Tower has less than a hundred years. That mean's they'd still be in prison for seventy years. That's still a lot of time. And, we'd get a win!"
The rest of Gon's team frowned, mostly from how childishly simple and undeniable the logic was. Even James, the most argumentative of the five, was quiet. Disbelief on his face.
With sweat practically rolled down Kurapika's head, he replied, "I-I suppose that makes sense. I cannot deny the logic... It is a reasonable and quick solution. But, Gon, it's eighty years. Not seventy..."
Gon sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and laughed at his mistake.
The prisoner inserted herself into the conversation, her voice full of amusement, "If it helps, not all of us are serving our time here have committed 'the worst crimes imaginable'. My name is Leroute, and I'm here because of gambling crimes, and for aiding and abetting poaching. They increased my sentence because I kept escaping all the other prisons they put me in. I'm only here in Trick Tower because it's inescapable."
James groaned as he rubbed his face, "No! She told us her name, and she hasn't done anything that bad! She's humanized herself, damn it! Stay nebulously evil!" he pointed his finger at her and stared at Gon, "Don't fall for it, Gon! That bi-, that witch is evil! She's the Wicked Witch! Beat her ass! Show no mercy! Drop a house on her!"
His four team members looked at him with surprise at his outburst, as well as because of his strange word choices.
Killua, on the other hand, had caught that he almost called the woman a bitch. He looked at James with half-lidded eyes and sarcasm lacing his words "Wow, good save..."
James gave Killua a hushed 'shut up' between clenched teeth.
Leroute closed her eyes and chuckled, though she didn't like being called a 'Wicked Witch', or almost a bitch. When she opened her eyes, she held disappointment in her eyes as she stared at the young Freecss.
"Like I said, believe it or not, but that's the truth. I appreciate your kindness. Unfortunately, I cannot accept your deal. Even if I wanted to, I am obligated to fight. And, if I win, I stand to win more time off my sentence than twenty years," she said, honestly.
Gon nodded with a smile, "That's OK, I understand!"
Leroute felt guilty... She stared at Gon and saw that he didn't care if she was a criminal. It confused her, but the boy had a way of swaying people with his unfailing sincerity and genuineness. It made her slightly nervous, and she didn't know why. She had years of practice reading and manipulating people. Her ability was such that she could practically read minds. Given all that, something was off.
The pink-haired woman understood from a simple glance that the child was direct, straightforward, honest. He would be easy to control.
But why was something off? He was just a child. A simple-minded one at that.
Leroute didn't know what it was. She turned her gaze to the group. Was it the red-haired man trying to control the outcome by placing stricter rules on the match, or the fact the group was close to figuring out the 'trick'? Maybe the blonde one had a plan?
She ignored the old, black-haired man and the white haired-child. He seemed average, at best; while the other was just a child...
But she thought the same of the boy in front of him, that was, until she stared him in the eyes.
Leroute turned back to Gon, trying to figure out the issue. It felt like she was staring right through him: he was genuine, childlike, and as dumb as he appeared. No deception. As transparent as they come.
So why did she feel like she was staring at a tiger instead of a frog?
No, it couldn't be the boy. He was just a child, and it was too late for his team to stop her. She smiled at her opponent and continued, burying the trepidation and focusing on the task at hand.
"Now that that's settled, how about I start off the betting?"
"OK."
She smiled.
Her strategy was simple: waste their time.
What the five Hunter Candidates didn't know was that the fifty hours gambled would be counted separately if it surpassed the seventy-two hour time. If she could waste the child's time for long enough, the prisoner's sentence could be reduced past what would normally be possible. While highly unlikely, she could reduce her sentence by a grand total of a hundred and twenty years.
That was why the Prisoner's penalty for losing this match was so severe. Originally, the other prisoners were to waste the Hunter candidates' time, and Leroute would have gone fourth to win an extra fifty hours. Had that happened, the prisoners serving the least amount of times for lesser crimes (Majitani and Leroute) would be freed. While the Bendot and the other prisoner would still have their sentences substantially shortened. The worst prisoner would still be stuck in jail.
Had they failed, well, they would just be back to the same amount of prison time as before.
James' victory had ruined that for the prisoners and had forced Lippo to adjust the lineup to make it more competitive. Much to the chagrin of Leroute.
Leroute had worried she would fight the blonde one, the brains of the group. If that had happened, she knew she would have lost. She had seen it the moment she glanced at him.
But it seemed fortune favored her. Instead, she had this child.
Now to test the boy and see if her assessment was correct. Then, how malleable and impressionable he really was...
"How about I start first?" Leroute said with a hand to her chest, "What if I bet you, 'You can't hold a handstand for an hour?'"
Gon himself tilted his head in confusion, before giving a thumbs up and a smile.
"OK! But are you sure?! That's real easy! I'll just bet all I have and win!"
Gon's team groaned. James had his face covered with both hands, while Leorio and Kurapika were slumped forward, sighing. Killua was looking at the ceiling, unsurprised exasperation on his face.
Leroute smiled with her eyes closed at the boy's response. It would be simpler than she thought. She quickly placed a hand in front of her mouth as she feigned surprise.
"Oh! I hadn't thought of that! Thank you!"
Leorio yelled, having none that, "Hey! You already placed a bet, you can't back out now!"
Killua answered with a sigh, "She didn't place a bet, she asked Gon first. So, technically, it was a suggestion."
The Zoldyck punctuated his statement by putting his hands behind his head and frowning. He found this boring compared to the first fight. Leorio sighed and frowned himself, before placing a hand on his head in annoyance.
She tapped her bottom lip as she pretended to think, then feigned inspiration. She turned around and pointed to a thin, slender prisoner veiled in a brown cloak.
"I know! Let's bet whether that prisoner is a male or female."
"Ok, but how are we supposed to know?" Gon said with a tilt of his head.
"The prisoner will reveal themselves, of course. Won't you?" she said, calling out to the faceless person.
The prisoner moved out from the gloomy tunnel and into the light. The veiled criminal made a motion that was a nod.
"OK!" the boy said, before placing crossing his arms and putting a hand on his chin in thought.
After a minute, he gave a determined nod and answered,
"OK! I bet fifty hours that prisoner's a man!"
His team screamed in protest and horror. Leorio yelled, "Damn it, Gon! Did you even think it over!?"
Gon turned his head around to look at Leorio, then back to the veiled prisoner, confused.
Leroute smiled and nodded. She had everything she needed. He had incredible intuition and confidence, but was reckless and didn't think things through. With the rules in place, she could back out of the bet and only lose ten hours. The man in the green suit had ruined his team's chances of victory with his rules.
"Well, that's too much for me! I forfeit my bet."
The rest of Gon's team sighed in blissful relief. With a quick, loud buzz, the scoreboard changed to '40:60'. That relief quickly changed back to outrage as Leorio yelled out to Gon, giving him a piece of his mind.
"Damn it Gon! Be more careful! What if that prisoner was a girl, huh?! We'd have lost fifty hours!"
Gon looked at him, confused, "But I could tell it was a man. The way he moved gave it away. He also had hair on his feet, too."
The other four looked at Gon in surprise.
James shrugged.
"You do you Gon, just make sure you're next bet is a good one."
Kurapika nodded, following James' in encouraging Gon, "We trust your judgment. Go with whatever you feel is right."
Gon smiled, "Don't worry, I have a really good one!"
He turned around, a smile on his face, but determination in his eyes.
"I bet whether or not Leorio is a teenager!"
Leorio immediately started yelling, "Give me a break, Gon! There's no way I- MHFAH" his sentence was cut off as his face was smushed and pushed away by James, who stepped forward with a fist raised.
James began yelling, even louder and even more outraged than Leorio. He stared Gon straight in the eyes.
"Damnit, Gon! I thought I just told you to make your next bet a good one! That bet sucks! You're an idiot! You're gonna' make us lose!" James yelled, ending with a sneer.
Gon scrunched up his face and gave James a child-like frown before answering, "Nu-uh! It's a good idea and I'm not gonna' make us lose! You're an idiot!"
He followed his comeback with a squat and tongue out at James. The beet-haired man's face was red as he frowned and shook his fist in rage.
Leroute grinned, feeling like a snake ready to strike.
"I accept," Leroute said, a smile as always, "I'll bet ten hours he's an adult."
"Ok, then I'll bet all the hours I have!"
James screamed, shooting his hands forward as though beating someone over the head with a large object.
"DON'T BET EVERYTHING WE HAVE! MAKE THE BET LOWER!"
Gon turned around, "I don't wanna'! It's too late, anyway! Nyyyy" he said, followed by closing his eyes sticking his tongue out again.
Leroute felt triumph, but something was off. She ignored it. The boy was being honest and hadn't lied yet. And his group was outraged...
Besides, there was no way he was a teenager...
She realized it was far too unlikely for her to waste the boy's time for seventy-two hours. And the prisoners would lose, eventually...
The gambler inside of her spoke: There was no better chance than this.
Leroute laughed, "Ok, I bet everything I have as well."
Gon opened his eyes wide as an enormous smile grew on his face, which slowly morphed into an even larger grin. James lowered the angry fist he was waving, his lower jaw slackening as he shifted his gaze to the woman. The rest of Gon's team else looked equally dumbstruck.
Jame was the first to speak, "Oh shit. She fell for it?"
Killua nodded, eyes wide with disbelief, "I can't believe that worked."
Kurapika nodded, surprise still plain on his face, "It did..."
Leorio grinned and pointed two fingers at the woman, his face the picture of undignified victory.
"Oh yeah! You made the wrong bet, lady! I'm nineteen! Making me a teenager!"
Leroute stumbled in her spot, before rallying back, "T-that's impossible! You look like an old man!"
Leorio's grin was even wider than before as he pulled out his wallet and showed his driver's license, "I'll ignore that comment since we won..." he tapped his finger on his card, right where the birthdate was, "March third, nineteen-eighty! Officially eighteen, almost nineteen! Woo!"
James whooped and double high-fived Leorio, before Leorio wrapped a left arm over James' shoulder and started kicking his feet. James shrugged, followed his lead, and copied the teenager's celebration; giant grins on both their faces as they cackled stupidly. Leorio introduced James to a new celebration dance, while James encouraged Leorio's poor sportsmanship. Truly a match made in hell.
Leroute looked at the two of them with barely restrained anger. She turned back to Gon with a glare. But it disappeared the moment she saw Gon's grin. It was different from the two-giant man babies'. A genuine child-like grin, without malice or spite.
"I had a feeling you'd bet that Leorio was an adult. Hehe..." Gon said, giving her the victory sign.
Leroute closed her eyes and shook her head, a small smile growing from the boy's exuberance. She should have listened to her gut...
More importantly, she should have taken Gon's suggestion...
The moment Gon came back to our side; I grabbed kid and sat him over my shoulder. He laughed in joy as he sat around my neck. Even though my body protested in pain, I didn't care. The kid did it! He deserved a shoulder ride.
"See Killua? Flying by the seat of your pants does work!"
Killua rolled his eyes before pointing to Leorio and answering, "It only worked because you got him to shut up at the last second."
"I can't believe she thought I was that old," Leorio said with a sheepish, sad rub of his chin.
As I passed by Leorio, I squinted at him, my eyebrows twisting in sheer confusion as I spoke, "Do you not know how old you look?!"
He growled as I kept parading around Gon, who kept giggling.
Kurapika smiled as he spoke, "I'm happy it worked out, but when did you two plan this out?"
I stopped. I turned up to look at Gon, who looked down to meet my gaze. We both shrugged before we looked back at Kurapika. We spoke in unison, the only two people in green standing around like Master Blaster from Mad Max.
"We didn't."
Kurapika looked back at us, even more dumbstruck. I elaborated.
"I didn't know he was gonna' bet Leorio's age, but the moment he did, I sold it like I was giving a sales pitch to the angels. Tonpa, bless his fat little heart, gave me the advice to lie like I believed it. Shoot, I got angry like I did."
Gon nodded, his body swaying on my shoulders from the force of his head nods. He answered cheerfully.
"Yeah, I just had a feeling she'd think Leorio a lot older than he was! That was why I was surprised when James got mad at me!"
I nodded, continuing, "Considering what Gon did on the first bet, I had a feeling he was gonna' keep betting the farm on every bet. I thought we were doomed. But, when Leorio was about to reveal his age, I realized we could hustle her. By the way, sorry for calling you an idiot, Gon."
Gon giggled, "It's OK, I know you didn't mean it! Besides, I called you an idiot too, so there isn't any reason to apologize!"
I laughed as I hopped up and down slightly, "Woo! The Green Machine wins! Two-zero! The rest of you in other pigments need to step it up."
Kurapika chuckled, while Killua frowned. His inferiority complex was acting up again. Cottonball smirked and pointed to himself with a thumb before he spoke.
"Big deal. Wait until I get in there."
I walked over and flicked Killua's ear with my right hand while holding onto Gon with my left.
"Aw, look who's a jealous jelly belly, widdle baby wanna' piggyback-ride too?"
I nearly toppled over as I scrambled away from Killua trying to punch me in the gut. The fact we were on a small ledge didn't stop him from chasing after me, it also didn't stop me from running away. Shit!
"Gon, hold on! Gah!"
"Why d'you have to tease him, James?!"
"Come back here, you morons!"
Kurapika sighed with a small smile on his face at our Three Stooges routine. Leorio just laughed with his arms crossed.
The atmosphere on the other side was far different.
Majitani yelled at the rest of the prisoners at the top of his lungs. They already lost two rounds and still had three to go. The candidates had taken out their second-best fighter and supposedly their smartest combatant. The mercenary had lost to a stare and the so-called gambler had lost because of a simple trick! She didn't even follow the plan!
Though he certainly didn't believe it either when he found out the oldest looking one on the Hunter candidates side was really a teenager. Not that the blue prisoner would admit that...
Majitani, ever the braggart, bragged.
"You're all useless, so I'm going next! You all need to be shown how it's done!"
Leroute rolled her eyes. It's not like she cared. She had underestimated the boy and accepted the loss in stride.
On the other hand, Bendot didn't agree. He stood up to his full height and met Majitani's eyes, shaded underneath the brown veil. Majitani was an enormous person, made even bigger by rampant modifications to his body. But whereas Majitani looked dangerous, Bendot was dangerous.
Majitani, ever the coward, cowered.
The earpiece in each of the prisoners' ears flared with a static hiss. They stopped in place and looked up at a surveillance camera in the corner of the hall they were in. Lippo's voice filtered through the tiny earbuds in each of the prisoner's ears.
"You will not be going next, Majitani. Your tactics won't work when they're ahead like this. No. Sedokan will go next."
The prisoners nodded as the thin, veiled prisoner walked into the arena. No one even asked why the prisoner deep in the hallway didn't go next. They may be criminals, but even they wouldn't wish Johnness on anyone.
Once Sedokan entered the arena, he threw off his brown cloak. His hair was brown, greasy, and long. His face was thin and sleazy, with eyes that looked simultaneously cocky and tired. A wide, soft smile was on his face. It added to his overall slimy appearance.
When he spoke, it was airy, almost a whisper. As though a part-time ghost, part-time con-artist. It was filled to the brim with arrogance.
"I'll be your next opponent. Please, talk amongst yourselves and decide who will go next."
Kurapika shook his head and spoke up, his voice confident, "No need. I will be your opponent."
A few seconds later, and Kurapika was in the arena. Calm and confident as always, he sized his opponent with a glare. This wouldn't be a hand-to-hand battle. They had expected the larger prisoner who was still hidden beneath their cloak. Instead, they received another battle of wits.
While Kurapika lacked Gon's raw intuition and animal-like instincts, or James' knack for quick thinking: he made it up with plan, after plan, after plan. And he already had several, even before the rules for the match had even selected. His mind was always asking questions, always preparing, always thinking of the situation in front of him from different angles. His mind was voracious for knowledge, constantly trying to find the optimal solution in the sea of suboptimal choices.
He had the fortune that James' and Gon's match had shown him the kind of murky waters to expect, and how to create the outcome he wanted while trapped on this stone island. It didn't matter the type of match, what mattered was his opponent. And the rules...
And from a single glance, Kurapika knew the brown-haired young man was a deceiver.
Now he needed to anticipate the deception.
The prisoner smirked before speaking, "Like your friends' opponent, I'm not strong at all. I don't enjoy fighting, or running, jumping, anything physical, really. So, I came up with a game."
Kurapika's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "Ok. What is the challenge you are proposing?"
"A simple one. One that doesn't rely on mental or physical activity."
The prisoner pulled out two candles from behind his back, where his waistband would be. One was short and the other long. Kurapika's eyes narrowed as a thought came to him. The prisoner continued.
"We each light a candle at the same time and whoever's candle goes out first is the loser. All right?"
Kurapika closed his eyes and spoke, "Before we continue, would you humor me? Would you please take off your shirt and turn around?"
When Kurapika opened his eyes, the prisoner still had a smile fixed on his face, but his eyes were nervous. He chuckled, trying to play it off and regain control of the conversation.
"I don't see the point, so I refuse. Now, if you would decide which candle to choose. Sele-"
Kurapika's voice brokered no argument, "I suggest you do as I say, for your own good."
The prisoner's half-lidded eyes widened in mock surprise.
"Oh, and why is that?"
"Because the rule for these matches state we must win by forcing you to admit defeat. We don't need to decide the means of combat. That's optional. Isn't it?"
Everyone in the room's eyes widened at that, for different reasons.
Sedokan chuckled, trying to play it off, but it came off as a little too forced. To Kurapika, it was obvious as air raid sirens what it was: proof that his hypothesis was true.
"Don't be a fool. You heard Lippo, we have to dec-"
Kurapika frowned, his voice steady and unwavering as he lectured, "You're the fool. Without James' insistent questioning of, frankly, everything, I would have taken these matches at face value. But there is only one rule and the means of combat are a formality. Or, as a con artist or a magician would practice: a simple misdirection for the real trick."
From his monitor room deep in Trick Tower, Lippo smiled. The blonde had figured the trick to the matches, huh?
If the candidates had wanted, they could have ignored the means of combat and simply tortured prisoners until they admitted defeat. The only rule Lippo stated was to get the prisoners to admit defeat. Everything else was assumed and up to interpretation.
Lippo did warn them the fights would be anything but straightforward. Lippo chuckled as he remembered what James said: the Examiners did think themselves clever.
Killua whistled, while James nodded his head in respect. Gon, who was now back on the ground, was grinning with surprise and amazement. Leorio had a large smirk on his face.
When Kurapika began walking towards the Sedokan, the prisoner realized he was in big trouble.
"W-wait a minute! I was being deceptive, my apologies!"
Kurapika stopped three meters in front of the prisoner. With a frown, Sedokan pulled out a third, shorter candle. He placed the long candle in his left hand on to the floor and presented the two shorter ones.
"I tampered with the long candle so as to increase the rate in which it burns. Originally, I expected you to pick it, which would have given me the victory. On the off chance you picked the short one, all I had to do was switch it with the tampered, short candle. No matter what, I'd have won," he said, with resignment in his voice and a frown.
Sedokan looked defeated. He held a large frown on his face as he stood there with his shoulders slumped forward. Inside, he was anything but.
'All I have to do is convince them to use the two shorter candles. Then, I'll use sleight of hand to switch out the candles so he gets the tampered one.'
Kurapika pulled his twin bokkens from underneath his tabard and continued walking towards the prisoner. Sedokan took a step back in shock. When the prisoner spoke, it was in fear and disbelief.
"W-wait a minute! You haven't even heard my other suggestion!"
Kurapika continued at the man, more weary than angry, "I don't need to. I can tell you're lying. Besides, you did not humor me, so why should I humor you?"
Kurapika raised his weapon as he approached his opponent...
"W-wait! OK! OK! I'll take off my shirt!" Sedokan said with his two candles held up as shields. Kurapika pulled back his arm, his mouth set in a line as his eyes held surprise.
Sedokan sighed and reluctantly pulled off his shirt. He turned around to reveal a fourth candle stuffed in his waistband, pressed against his skinny body. He pulled it out, turned around, and laid it down next to the other tall candle.
Kurapika lowered his weapons and nodded, his face stone serious as he spoke with authority. He brokered no argument.
"I'm willing to fight you in a fair match, but do not try me again," the Kurta warned with a point of his weapon before stuffing them back underneath his tabard before continuing, "Now, give me the two smaller candles."
The brown-haired prisoner stared at Kurapika for a long minute, before closing his eyes and sighing. He nodded his head and reluctantly handed them over to the blonde Kurta. When Kurapika took them in his hands, he looked at them with curiosity burning in his eyes. He lifted them up and down, squeezed them tightly, and then nodded. He turned around and place them down next to the longer candles on the floor.
He then walked towards the prisoner again
Sedokan looked at Kurapika with suspicion and fear, but the blonde sighed and spoke.
"You can relax, I won't harm you. I just need your shirt," he said with an arm outstretched, demanding the piece of cloth.
The prisoner sighed in relief and nodded. He picked up the shirt from the floor and threw it over to Kurapika, who began tying up all the openings and turning the shirt into a bag. A few seconds later of testing, he nodded his head and placed the candles inside the newly made cloth bag.
He turned to the prisoner and spoke, the bag in his right hand and his other with an index finger in the air.
"After I shake the bag, I'll place them back down on the ground. We won't know which candle is which. This gives us a fifty percent chance of selecting an incorrect candle. Fair?"
Sedokan spoke up, "Since you'll be handling the candles, it's only fair if I select first."
Kurapika frowned but nodded.
Sedokan smiled. Fair.
The prisoner had made the candles himself. He knew that the tampered candles were heavier due to the accelerants he used. All he would have to do is to see which candles settled to the bottom of the bag and choose the lighter ones on top...
Kurapika spoke, his voice final, "Then we are in agreement? Do you accept?"
The prisoner nodded, "Yes. I accept."
Kurapika nodded. Then turned around and shook the bag. The prisoner's eyes widened in surprise. After a few seconds, and while still facing away from the prisoner, Kurapika took out the candle and placed them on the floor.
One by agonizing one.
The prisoner's stomach dropped.
He had been unable to view the shape of the bag to determine which candle had settled to the bottom. And from what the prisoner could tell, Kurapika had also taken the candles out at random, making the order in which they came out of pointless for determining which candle was which.
Sedokan began to sweat as he looked at each of the candles. All of them looked identical except for their height. A grimace grew across his face as he realized victory was slowly disappearing...
No. He realized he could still win. His opponent wouldn't let things fall to chance, he just needed to figure out the trick. The prisoner breathed in and smiled nervously. With narrowed eyes, he moved his gaze to Kurapika, who was walking around the candle and to his side of the arena. The brown-haired man concentrated as hard as he could read his opponent...
The blonde slowly turned to face the prisoner.
As he did, Kurapika stared at the tall candle all the way on his right. He lingered on it for a split second too long before quickly staring back at Sedokan. He tried to hide the surprise in his eyes and did it well, but Sedokan saw it.
Sedokan's smile grew wider. He spoke.
"Now that's done, I get to choose, right? I pick that one," he said with cool confidence as he pointed to the candle on his far left. For a split-second, Kurapika's face faltered. The brown-haired man's smile grew even wider as half-lidded eyes filled with triumph.
'Now he has no choice but to choose the smallest candles! No matter what choice he makes, I win…'
"Then I choose the small one at the end," Kurapika said with a resigned, defeated sigh.
They both traveled to their chosen candles and picked them up, then turned to the large torches that illuminated the arena and walked over to them. Silently, they both lit their candles at the same time. What was there to say?
The combatants walked back to their original spots, candles flickering as precious time ticked by. Kurapika's team mates looked on with agonized patience. After a few minutes, Sedokan couldn't help but gloat over his defeated opponent.
"You know, you were quite clever. I almost fell for it. But your face revealed it all."
Kurapika's eyes widened in response, his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Then Kurta the softly smiled.
Almost on cue, Sedokan's candle became an inferno. The prisoner looked down at his candle in shock, then in abject horror: he realized what had happened. Even with the intense heat of the flames, his body felt cold and numb.
Kurapika was the picture of reserved victory, "I had a feeling you would try to use my body language to anticipate which candle I would pick. So, I used it to make certain you would pick the candle I wanted you to pick."
Sedokan's eyes were wide with disbelief as he spoke, "H-how did you do it? And if you knew which candles were which, why pick one of the smaller ones?"
Kurapika held his candle tightly to his chest as suspiciously powerful winds shot up from below the arena. He was becoming tired of these games. When he spoke, it was with annoyance.
"It wasn't difficult. When you handed me the smaller candles, I immediately felt the difference in weight between the two. At that moment, I used my fingernails to mark the untampered, lighter candle."
Kurapika closed his eyes and continued, "James' rules for the last match were strict so as to prevent a person from backing out from a choice. Instead, I did the opposite: I created rules specifically so you would have less pressure to think over your decision. And between the four options, the choice was obvious. All I had to do was make sure you picked the right candle. While I don't have James to assist me with acting, it gave me the idea to trick you with my body language..."
Sedokan frowned as he spoke, "That's why you chose the small candle. If I assumed you picked the untampered long candle, I'd have changed my decision and might have noticed the marks on the shorter candle..."
Kurapika nodded and opened his eyes, "Yes. That was also why I placed it on the other end of the row of candles. Your attention would be too focused on the longer candles instead of the shorter ones."
Sedokan sighed as he dropped the candle to the floor and settled in for the few minutes it would take for the candle to burn out. There was no point in fighting his fate. He realized he had lost the moment his opponent was this man.
When Kurapika crossed the bridge and back to our side, I was clapping my hands (a pleasant golf clap because of my hurt wrist. It also fit Kurapika, go figure). Gon was laughing and cheering while Leorio had a grin the size of a country mile on his face. He was the first up to Kurapika, giving him a double high-five. Killua had his hands in his pocket as he observed us like the giant, anthropomorphic cat he was.
Kurapika's formal-ass was reluctant to high-five Leorio, but ultimately did while fighting a smile. Killua just shook his head, also trying to fight back a smile on his face as he watched us, as though above it all.
I was below it all, so I rubbed Killua's massive ball of white hair while Gon and I laughed. Immediately I jumped back as I avoided his knee-jerk cat reaction of hitting me with the closest available limb. I ran around Gon, bravely using the child as my human shield when I realized I was suddenly playing extreme tag with Killua. Gon continued to laugh as Killua kept telling me to stay still. But, all that yelling from Leorio must have damaged my hearing, because I was very bad at following directions.
The sound, vibrations, and movement of a walkway extending from the left side of the arena snapped us back to reality. We stopped our merrimaking and stared at the arena. A wall slid up, grinding against whatever mechanisms pulled it up, revealing a new passageway.
In my head, the Legend of Zelda Secret Sound played. I guess not completely back to reality.
Lippo's disembodied voice came out from over the speakers, his voice all business.
"Please cross the bridge. On the other side, you'll find a small room you can use to rest. I had expected you all to lose more time than a measly few hours, so take it as a reward for your performance. You will not get another break until you reach the bottom.
Though, I suggest you don't spend too long. This is a tall tower, after all."
We looked at each other and shrugged, before crossing the bridge one by one.
A few minutes later, we were in a surprisingly nice room. I imagine this was a renovated prisoner's room from the concrete walls and floor. There was a fridge to our immediate right and a chair and a cabinet to our immediate left. Two sofa chairs on either side of the walls, a glass table the middle of the room. Lastly, to our far left was a bookshelf and to our far right was a TV.
I placed my stuff down and immediately wandered to the television as I realized I hadn't watched anything in more than three months. Fuck everything else.
We all meandered around the room, making ourselves comfortable. We beat the prisoners in less than three hours. I think we deserved a reward.
Kurapika sat on the tiny couch on the right side of the room, while Leorio hogged the left. Gon and Killua decided comic books were the shit and started sharing one. They had it laid out on the table in the middle of the room.
The de facto brains of this team spoke up, his legs crossed, and his left arm over the couch like he owned the place. Or how he probably always lounged around. AKA Mr. Dignified Worldwide.
"We should rest here for a moment before continuing."
Leorio nodded in agreement, both arms over the couch and taking enough space on it to block car traffic. When he spoke, contrary to his body language, he was serious.
"I think we should rest here for the day. We have plenty of time."
We all turned to him in surprise. I was sitting hunched over on the floor, caught off-guard at the sudden important discussion of time management. I decided I could be serious on the floor, so I stayed on the floor. I went from sitting, to doing my best impersonation of a reclining Buddha.
Kurapika uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. He gave Leorio a questioning look before speaking.
"Why is that?"
Leorio scratched his face before answering, "For two reasons. First: James is pretty beat up," he turned to me, "You really shouldn't even be moving. Even if you're tougher than normal, the amount of abuse you've taken over these three days should have put you out of commissions."
I stared at him with a frown as everyone looked at me. I shrugged.
"It's from the training I got."
Leorio nodded before answering, "That's the second question: about your family. You said you only had three months of training. Unless you've used certain performance-enhancing drugs, or are exceptionally talented, I can't see how that's possible..."
My lower eyelids tried to meet my top ones as I squinted and pursed my lips, in no uncertain terms, looking guilty as fuck. I turned my eyeballs to Kurapika, knowing exactly what would happen next.
"Yes. We postponed our discussion about your Aunt for a later time. This would be as good a time as any."
My squint had become a nigh-closed eye stare. My eyes passed to Gon.
"Yeah! I never got to tell what his Aunt told me!"
My eyes closed in consternation. I really don't want to talk about my made-up background. I feel like I'm playing D&D. Besides, we had to get down to the bottom of this giant prison...
I sighed and laid onto my back, which was immediately a terrible idea as I groaned and turned back onto my side. Alright, maybe Leorio was right about his points. No matter how much you try to wring out three months of training, three months is still just three months. And it was showing.
Physically, I was far better than the average person on the planet... but if you put Kurapika, Gon, or Killua, through my training they'd probably advance by leaps and bounds. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Leorio would improve faster than me.
I mean, no matter how you try to slice it, running more than a hundred kilometers is not fucking normal. No matter how much he considers himself normal.
Leorio can complain he's just 'Average McNormal-Guy' all he wants, but no, no he is not. Not at all. Like the Maury meme, the fact his body looks like Michael Phelps' determined this to be a lie.
My deep, unpleasant frown faltered as I sighed and bit the bullet. As I opened my mouth, a thought struck me. I laid there with my mouth open like a ventriloquist dummy. My eyes danced as I saw the opportunity that presented itself. This was a good as time as any, in fact, no better time.
Killua frowned, "I think he's broken."
Gon crawled over and waved a hand in my face. I harmlessly swatted his arm away. I spoke, half annoyed and half excited.
"Killua, Kurapika, can you guys find all the hidden cameras and hidden microphones in here?"
They looked at each other before turning back to me, confusion on their faces. I had the perfect response.
"How am I supposed to talk about my family, who are a bunch of criminals, in a prison? With a Hunter who is a prison warden?" I said with a shrug.
They all nodded as we all got up and followed the direction of people with K-names. After something like forty-five minutes, we found several listening devices and two hidden cameras. We also ripped out the obvious camera in the corner. We didn't tear apart the TV (which probably had a listening device in it) since the obvious solution was just to play the TV loudly.
Everyone settled back into the positions they were in before we dismantled the room. I stood in front of them, both hands on my hips as I spoke.
"Alright, well, this is as private as we can get. So, we'll start with my Aunt. After that, we'll talk about Nen."
Everyone leaned closer, but the person paying the most attention was Killua.
I paused for a few seconds as I collected my thoughts. How do I lie to them about myself, and about how much I should say about Nen?...
I'll just be as vague as possible about my background, but Nen...
The four of them have already felt Aura. And Mayer's already gonna' kick my ass anyways...
Fuck it.
I spoke.
