The Third Phase of the exam is taking place at Trick Tower, a prison for long-term prisoners. Kirahki, Gon, and their friends have chosen to partake in a five-on-five battle with some of the prisoners. The next round will pit Gon against Sedokan. What will happen in the upcoming battle?
Sedokan is a scrawny guy with greasy, brown, shoulder length hair. "Now, then... as you can see, I am not tough. I don't really enjoy fistfights or other physical activities, such as running and jumping."
Gon looks disappointed. "I do. But I'm not too good at using my head," he says honestly.
"As I thought... so I came up with a simple game we could both play."
"A game?" this catches his attention.
"Yes. It doesn't rely on either mental or physical activity. We each light a candle at the same time. The one whose candle goes out first is the loser. What do you think?"
"Yeah! That's easy to understand." Gon gives the guy a thumbs up. "Let's go with that."
"Okay. In that case..." Sedokan holds up a short candle and a long candle stick. "Decide which candle you want to use. Press O for the long one, or X for the short one. This will be determined by majority rule."
"We have to choose one?" Leorio asks. "This is a trap! Normally, you'd choose the long one, so he must have done something to the long one!"
"That would be a safe assumption." Kurapika explains, "But it might be a trick, and he's actually tampered with the short one. When presented with a clearly uneven choice, people become suspicious and hesitate before deciding. What's worse, if you make the wrong choice, the resulting mental anguish would be much greater than if the problem had offered two fair options." Awe Kurapika, he always has an answer for everything.
Sedokan sits on the floor. "Take your time. This may be majority decision, but you're free to discuss it. We have plenty of time left."
"Hey which one should I choose?" Gon calls back to us.
Leorio's stumped, "Damn... which one should we take?"
"Gon, you decide!" I yell back to him.
"We'll abide by your decision," Kurapika agrees. "Choose the one you think is best."
"Are you sure about this?" Killua asks. "He never thinks anything through."
"Instead of wasting time fretting over what to do, let's rely on Gon's instincts," Kurapika assures him.
"I get to choose? Okay! Then I choose the long one!" Gon doesn't even hesitate.
"You want the long candle?" the scrawny man asks.
"Because a longer candle will burn for a longer time!" Gon seems pretty sure of himself.
"He's just taking it at face value?" Leorio asks dumbfounded.
Killua sighs, "I knew he wouldn't think this through."
"I trust him." I say pressing the O button. Everyone else fallows suit.
The results show on the screen:
O 5 X 0
"Okay... you get the long one." Sedokan throws him the long candle. "I'll take the short one. Now, we light our candles together." They walk over to the torches in opposite corners and light their candles at the same time.
"Normally, how long would it take that candle to burn down?" wonders Killua.
"About five to six hours?" Kurapika calculates. A breeze blows up from the darkness below.
"A strong gust of wind is coming from below," Leorio notes. "That means we should watch our step... No time to relax, huh..."
Killua pulls me away from the edge. Jeez, I'm not that clumsy.
"Hey! Look at Gon's candle! The flame suddenly became stronger!" Leorio's voice is full of anxiety. Gon's candle is melting at a much faster pace now.
"He must have hidden gunpowder, oil, or some other highly flammable substance inside, to make the candle burn faster!" Kurapika deduces.
"Hot... hot..." Gon's dancing back and forth as the hot wax touches his fingers. Come on Gon! I know you've got this.
"At this rate, his candle will only burn for another two or three minutes," Kurapika worries.
A big smile crosses Gon's face. "If the fire is stronger..." He places the candle on the ground. "Then a little breeze won't extinguish it." He runs toward Sedokan and blows out his candle. He grins back at us. "I win!" He holds up a peace sign.
I high five Gon when he comes back from the ring. Leorio congratulates him, "Good job, Gon! Now we have a win!" I grimace thinking about my match."Once Kurapika and I win, we can advance!"
Killua grits his teeth as Kurapika steps forward, "Alright I'll go next."
Majitani, 108-year sentence, multiple crimes, including fraud and blackmail. "Next is my turn." The prisoner unmasks himself to reveal... a horribly ugly face. He has a blue body and a scar over one of his eyes.
"That's one freaky body..." Leorio says with a mixture of disgust and fear.
"And face..." Killua adds unimpressed.
"Look here!" The blue man is pointing to several small heart tattoos on his chest. "I've killed nineteen people, but it bugs me that nineteen is such an uneven number. I'm so glad I've gotten to meet number twenty." He does this really strange laugh that lasts longer than it should.
"Now we have a serial killer?" Leorio seems a little startled.
"I insist that we put our lives on the line. I won't accept some half-assed contest. Blood! Entrails! Agony!" He does the weird laugh thing again. "I propose a death match, where we fight until one of us surrenders or dies. However, don't expect me to stop when you surrender and beg for your life!" And yet again with the weird laugh. I'm more annoyed with this guy than I am afraid of him.
"Very well. I accept." Kurapika says taking off his tabard and throwing it to the ground. "Let us begin."
Majitani looks a little tense. "Hold on. I forgot to mention something. No weapons allowed. We'll beat each other to death with our fists. After all, while I may be hired as an examiner, I'm still a prisoner. I'm not allowed to carry weapons."
"I see. I understand." Kurapika nods tossing his swords on the ground as well. "Anything else? If not, I'd like to get started." Majitani notices Kurapika's calmness and tries to psych him out by making his muscles look bigger.
Watching him bulge his muscles, Leorio seems a bit uneasy. "Hey now is Kurapika going to be okay? This guy looks dangerous," his voice is shaky.
Killua has his hands resting behind head. "In what way does he look dangerous? As far as I can tell, this guy is just a blowhard who doesn't have the guts to hit anyone, let alone kill anyone."
"You don't need to worry," Gon confirms. "Because when I look at him, I don't get the chills."
"What does that mean?" Leorio questions.
I sigh at the simple man. "It means he'll be fine. This guy is all talk. He's the one who's really afraid."
"It's time to show you the ace up my sleeve! I'll see you dead!" Majitani rushes at Kurapika but he jumps out of the way, dodging it, and Majitani ends up hitting the cement. The ground cracks and breaks where he punches it, sending pieces of rock flying.
"Wow, he made a hole in the floor with his bare fist!" Leorio says impressed. Killua still just looks bored.
The ugly blue guy turns around deliberately showing off another one of his tattoos. It's a black spider with twelve legs. Kurapika freezes, but I don't think it's out of fear...
"I-it can't be. That's... the symbol worn by the members of the notorious band of evil thieves, the Phantom Troupe!" Leorio actually knows something I don't, for once.
"Really?" Gon asks.
"Yeah, definitely. They're famous. I heard about them straight from Kurapika," He says as sweat drips down from his face.
"What about them?" I ask. Why am I the only one who's confused about this situation?
Gon looks at me as he's rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Oh yeah... I forgot..."
"Forgot what?" my voice drops almost two octaves.
Kurapika slowly stands up.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? I'm Majitani, one of the Phantom Troupe's four kings! Consider that first strike me saying hello. This is your last chance to surrender. I'm still willing to..." Majitani freezes from sheer terror. "What's wrong with you? Huh?" Kurapika disappears into thin air. "What?" He looks around confused.
Kurapika grabs him by the face and holds him up in the air. He balls up his fist... then punches him right in the jaw causing his head to hit the floor and he bounces off the concrete. Killua whistles admiring the power behind the punch. It knocks the blue bozo out cold.
Wait are his eyes... are they red? So does that mean... he's like me?? I angrily look at Gon. "You knew?!?!" *He sweat drops.* "You knew this whole time and you didn't tell me?!?!" My own eyes flash their hidden color.
"I was so excited when I saw you... I-I just forgot."
"You forgot?" I smack him on the back of his head. "That'd be like me 'forgetting' to mention that I met your dad!"
His eyes widen. "You met my dad?!" He asks all excited.
"Consider this a warning..." Kurapika is talking to Majitani's unconscious body. "First, a real Phantom Troupe tattoo has the member's number on the spider..."
"No!" I growl at him. "But how could you just forget?"
He hangs his head. "I'm sorry, Kira. It honestly slipped my mind. I meant to tell you..."
"Second, they don't bother counting how many they've killed..." I can hear the hatred lining Kurapika's voice.
I want to be angry at him, but he looks so sincere. He was always bad at remembering things, especially if he gets distracted by something else. I sigh giving in. He is my brother after all. "Is there anything else I should know? Does anyone else have scarlet eyes?"
"Not that I know of," Gon shakes his head and wraps his arms around me in an apologetic hug. I wonder what Kurapika would think if I asked him about my eyes?
"Third, never mention the Troupe again. If you do, I'll kill you." I can feel the seriousness of Kurapika's words. He picks up his stuff and walks back to our group. This must have something to do with what he didn't tell me during the first phase.
"You okay, Kurapika?" Leorio asks him slowly backing away.
"Yeah, I'm uninjured," He confirms. Is it okay to ask him about it? He was so angry...
"Also, is it safe for us to be near you?" Leorio takes a few more steps back.
"From the moment I saw him, I knew he was weak. And mentally, I knew that tattoo was a fake. But as soon as I saw that spider, everything in my sight turned red... Actually, to tell the truth... even when I see a real spider, my personality changes and I enter a frenzy." ...Maybe I should wait...
"You should have told us sooner..." Leorio says nervously.
Kurapika leans against the wall. "But this means that the rage in me remains as strong as ever. I suppose I should be happy."
"We should keep Kurapika away from spiders," Gon whispers to Leorio.
"Definitely," He nods his head vigorously. "Okay! I'll secure our victory!" Great now our odds rest with Leorio? I have a bad feeling about this...
Kurapika has defeated Majitani. Another win, and they will clear this trial. How will Leorio handle the next challenge? Will Kirahki finally get some answers?
