Third Exam: Part 2
Brown hair zig-zagging back and forth like a copper head waiting to strike its prey. Rage charged ahead at the bruiser, Bendot, who also ran towards her. They collided in a fury of fists and kicks. Rage was holding out surprisingly well, considering she looked a third the size of the large-built man. He made for a punch, but Rage twirled out of the way, and his charging fist ran straight into the floor, creating a huge crack in its rocky surface.
"He certainly fights as strong as he looks," Kurapica gritted his teeth. "One hit with that punch and her little bones won't hold up."
"However, Rage is holding up surprisingly well," Leorio pointed out. "It seems like she's the one leading the match."
"She is dodging quite well," Kurapica admitted. "But you can't win a match with just dodging."
Kurapica was right, and Rage knew it. Dodging this bruisers attacks were getting redundant and she was in a firey hot mood and ready to kick some ass. She stopped as Bendot missed her once again. Her agile hands latched onto his shirt and she flung him over her head and slammed him into the floor. The crash echoed through the chambers as the spectators watched in awe of this small girl's surprising amount of strength. However, Bendot was not down for the count. He grabbed onto Rage's ankles, and pulled her feet out from under her. The bald man stood up holding Rage by her ankle.
"Ha ha ha ha!" he laughed briskly at the brown-haired girl's futile attempts to break free from his monsterous grip. "That was a nice move, but you can't beat me."
"We'll just see about that, Baldy," Rage grumbled, and she brought her fist back. It glowed brightly for a second before she shoved it into Bendot's stomach. He keeled over and in the act, dropped the girl. She fell to the floor, but got up again, standing victoriously before the man. "You're a hundred years too early to fight me, Mr. Clean," she declared viciously. "And a million years too early to even touch Killua!"
Bendot looked up and spit in her face. "Don't get on your high horse, brat!"
Rage's frame shook in anger. "HOW DARE YOU!!" She roared, picking him up by the collar and punching him squarely in the face, blood splattering on the floor. However, her anger was not yet satiated. She wanted more. More blood, more pain! She wanted this man to DIE! She punched him again and again and again, until her breathing became heavy and Bendot's face had swelled.
She was about to punch him one more time until she stopped mid-way, as if she had just woken up. She stared at the bald man's beaten face in horror until her quivering frame eventually dropped him and she ran away, screaming.
"I'm done! No more!" she cried neccesantly. "I admit defeat! He wins, just let me go back!"
The screen above the cloaked figures stage showed flicked to a number one and the bar paths came back. The sobbing girl ran back to the astonished group and she brushed past them and hid in the dark corner of the blocked doorway. Killua knelt down next to her. "What was up with that?" he whispered, almost annoyed.
"I..I nearly killed someone, Killua," she gasped through sobs. "I nearly took away someone else's life..again. I nearly..."
Killua sighed and stood up. He patted her back. "Just rest here, okay?" Then he walked back to the others, but didn't say a word.
Bendot slowly got up, wiping the blood off his face and chuckling, retreating back to his spot. "Two to go," he laughed. "And then you'll have no choice but to fail the exam."
The cloaked figures chuckled among themselves. One of them looked up to the camera. "I'm next. Cuffs off please."
The camera obeyed, and the dense pieces of metal fell to the floor. A thin man removed his cloak and looked over to the examinees. He had jaw-length, greasy black hair that covered his left eye, although his visible eye wasn't too pretty to look at.
"Listen up," Kurapica whispered to the others. "I overheard them. They have a real stake in this."
"They're actually prisoners?!" Leorio gasped after Kurapica explained to them.
"Yes," he replied. "And I surmise that the longer they hold us off, the more their sentences will be reduced."
"So who want's to go next?" Killua posed the question.
"Oh! Me! I'll go next!" Gon was nearly jumping with anticipation.
"You sure about that?" Killua asked.
"Yep!" Gon smiled broadly.
"You know," Killua shook his head. "As bad as I spell things out, you never blink. Does anything faze you?"
"Sure, but this next guy doesn't look so bad," Gon pointed out.
"Hmm...he's still a criminal, though," Killua sighed, glancing over at Gon's opponent. "He's no bruiser like the first guy, anyway. Take care, alright?"
Gon nodded his head and then made his way over to the arena.
"As you can see," the skinny-framed man gestured to himself. "I'm not much to look at. Strength, speed...they're not my thing."
"I'm not into 'em myself," Gon chatted idly with the serial bomber named Sedokan. "I like action over thinking."
"Do you, now?" Sedokan smiled. "Then here's a simple game that'll suit us both." The black-haired man whipped out two candles in his hands. "We each take one, light it and try to keep it lit. First one snuffed loses. How's that sound?"
"Simple enough," Gon perked. "Ok! I'm in! Let's do it."
"Good," Sedokan smiled. "Well then..." He removed his fingers to reveal that one candle was shorter than the other. "All of you pick a candle. As you see, you have a choice of sizes. Pick O for the long one and X for the short one. I'll wait."
"It's a trap!" Leorio rasped. "The long one is the obvious choice, but there's gotta be a catch."
"No doubt there is," Kurapica agreed. "Though the catch might be in picking the short one."
"That gets us no where fast!" Leorio sighed.
"I agree. What we have here is a 'disparate choice.' When someone is presented with an obviously biased choice, suspicion mounts and the decision making process seizes up. Moreover, the psychological impact of a wrong choice in this circumstance is much greater than in situations that seem genuinely random."
"Discuss it, kick it around," Sedokan told them as he sat on the ground idly. "Turn it inside out, examine every angle. There's no rush, believe me."
"Rats!" Leorio cursed. "He's got us."
"Gon! Listen!" Kurapica shouted over to the boy in green. "You decide! Choose a candle and then we'll vote accordingly. Second-guessing is useless, so we'll depend on your instincts."
"My choice, huh?" Gon looked over to Sedokan. "I pick the long candle."
"Are you sure?" the greasy-haired man asked.
"Of course! The long candle will burn the longest! It's a no-brainer."
The others looked at each other. "Oh well," Leorio gave in. "In for a penny, in for a pound." They all pressed the buttons on their wrist timers and the screen showed up a O: 5.
"Here you go," Sedokan tossed the white candle over to Gon. "Long one for you, short one for me. We light our candles at the same time."
They walked over to one of the four torches and lit their candles simultaneously. The game begins! They stood their for some odd minutes, each candle wavering in the drafty air of the chamber. Both opponents had to keep a close eye on their candle. But suddenly! Gon's candle starting flaring up, burning brightly.
"No regular candle does that!" Leorio shouted with indignation. "It's been spiked with an accelerant! It's already down to a stub! It'll only last a couple of minutes. The long one was the wrong choice after all."
'Wrong,' Sedokan giggled to himself. 'I had four candles. The 'disparate choice' was just a way of hiding my real trap. You assumed one would be a trick candle. In assuming that, you also assumed the other would be safe. What you didn't know was that I had an oil-soaked one of each length.'
Gon smirked at Sedokan, which confused the ex-bomber. The little boy set his candle down on the floor. "This is burning so fiercely, it'd take a hurricane to blow it out."
Sedokan was only allowed a small gulp before Gon zoomed across and appeared in an instant in front of the skinny man and he blew out his candle with a simple breath of air. "Heehee! I win!" Gon held up two fingers in a V for victory.
Sedokan stared at the little boy in surprise as the screen above Kurapica and the others flicked over to 1.