The man in black followed the trail up a hill and found Ben sitting by a rock holding a knife to a blindfolded Claire's throat. On the rock, was a picnic, complete with two goblets and a bottle of wine.
"So," Ben spoke courtly, "it now comes down between you...and me."
The man in black advanced toward him until he saw Ben slightly pierce Claire's neck.
"Keep coming, if it's her death you wish."
The man in black took a deep breath before walking slowly towards them as he spoke. "Let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain. You've come to take what I have rightfully stolen."
"Perhaps there can be...an arrangement?"
But he stopped in his tracks as Ben grabbed Claire's arm and pushed the knife further.
"No arrangement! And you're killing her!"
The man in black knew he had to plan this carefully if he wanted her out of this alive.
"Well, if there can be no arrangement...then we are at an impass."
"Indeed we are. You see, in terms of physical combat, I cannot compete with you. And when it comes to challenges of intelligence, you are no match for me."
The man in black tried to be impressed. "You're that smart?"
"Let me put it this way, you are familiar with Albert Einstein? Charles Darwin? Sir Issac Newton?"
"Yes."
"Compared to me...all idiots."
"Really?" the man in black asked, as though he was impressed. At last he had an idea. "Then I challenge you...to a battle of wits."
"For the princess?"'
The man in black nodded.
"To the death?"
The man in black nodded again.
Ben smiled and put his knife away. "Very well, then. What is your challenge?"
Knowing that Claire was safe, the man in black walked over to him, keeping a calm expression. "First pour the wine."
Ben obliged and filled both goblets as the man in black sat across from him, pulling out a small vial of some kind of powder. He removed the lid and held it up to Ben.
"Inhale, but don't touch."
Ben took it and took a small whiff.
"I smell nothing," he said as he handed it back to the man in black.
"What you don't smell is iocane powder. Odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the world's deadliest poison."
Ben raised his eyebrows, as he understood where this was going. "I see."
The man in black took both goblets and turned his back on Ben so he wouldn't see what he was doing. Finally, he placed both goblets back on the rock, one in front of each person.
"Now where is the poison?" the man in black asked. "The battle of wits begins. It ends when you decide and we both drink. The winner takes the princess away...and the loser dies."
Ben smiled and chuckled. "So simple. All I must do is calculate what I know about you. Are you the sort of person who'd poison his own drink or his enemy's? Now, somoeone as clever as you seem to be, would hide the poison in his own cup, because he'd know that a complete idiot would reach for what he was given. Since I'm not a complete idiot, I can clearly not drink from your goblet. However, I already made it perfectly clear to you that I'm not a complete idiot. Therefore, I can clearly not drink from my cup."
"So...you've decided then?"
"Oh no. Iocane, you see, originated from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is infested with criminals, and criminals are not used to being trusted, just as you are not trusted by me. Therefore, I can clearly not drink your wine."
"Quite the intellect you have," the man in black mused.
"Wait till I finish!" Ben snapped. "Now...where was I?"
"Australia."
"Ah yes! Australia. But you must have suspected that I knew the powder's history. So I can clearly not drink my wine."
The man in black simply shook his head. "You're just stalling."
"That's what you think! By defeating Eko, you have proven how strong you are. Perhaps you poisoned your wine hoping that your strength would save you, so I can clearly not drink from your glass. But by defeating Sawyer, you have proven how much you have studied. And in studying, you've learned how fragile a human being is. So you would've kept the poison as far away from you as possible. So I can clearly not drink from my glass."
"You're trying to trick me into giving away the answer," the man in black said calmly. "Well it won't work."
"Oh no. It's already worked! You've given the answer away when you started this! I know where the poison is!"
"Then choose!"
"Very well! I choose...WHAT IS THAT?!"
"WHAT?" the man in black asked as he looked behind him, while Ben quickly grabbed the goblets and switched them.
The man in black looked back at him, looking confused. "I didn't see anything."
"Oh?" Ben could not help but grin. "That's strange. I could've sworn I saw something. No matter."
The man in black noticed Ben's grin and narrowed his eyes in suspiscion. "Something funny?"
Ben quickly forced away his smile. "Um...yes, but...I'll tell you later. For now, let's drink. Me from my glass, you from yours."
And with that, both men picked up their respected goblets. Ben held his glass up, waiting for the man in black to drink his, which he did. Once he was convinced that the man in black thought his was safe, he drunk out of the one he knew had to be safe. Finally, they placed their respected goblets down.
"Guessed wrong," the man in black announced.
Ben started laughing evilly. "No! You think I guessed wrong! That's what's funny! I SWITCHED GLASSES WHEN YOUR BACK WAS TURNED! YOU IDIOT!"
"You sneaky bastard!"
"Yes! You fell victim to one of the world's most classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a landwar in Asia, but only slightly less known is this: DON'T MATCH WITS WITH A GENIUS...WHEN YOUR LIFE IS AT STAKE!"
And Ben kept laughing until he was completely silent and fell back dead.
The man in black smiled in satisfaction as he got up and removed Claire's blindfold. She looked at him in suspiscion and fear as he undid her bindings.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"No one to be trifled with. That's all you need to know."
Claire looked over at Ben's dead body and pondered what just happened, as she did not see what had transpired but heard.
"So, all this time it was your own drink you poisoned."
"No. They were both poisoned. I spent the past few years working on an immunity to iocane powder."
And with that, he pulled Claire to her feet and lead her away.
Meanwhile, Locke was observing the area where the man in black defeated Eko. Only Eko was no where to be found.
"Someone large was beaten here."
He went back to his horse and mounted it. "There will be great suffering in DHARMA if she dies."
And with that, they took off.