The Otonari's Last [Draft, Discontinued]

VII - the Middle of the Third Phase

"Let the fight begin!" the prisoner announces. He launches himself into the air, pulling back a fist to strike Tonpa.

"I...I give!" Tonpa shouts, kneeling down and bowing.

"What?" Leorio blinks. Tonpa's opponent touches down in front of the kneeling man, no damage done to our supposed 'teammate.'

"Did he just give up?" Gon asks.

"I knew it!" I shout, pointing at Tonpa. "I knew he would surrender! You filthy, cheating, traitorous -" I'm cut off by Kurapika's hand once again.

"Maybe he meant 'give me a sec?'" Leorio responds hesitantly.

"What did you just say?" The prisoner stands over Tonpa.

"You win if I admit defeat, right? I give up... I lose!" Tonpa laughs nervously, and the prisoner chuckles.

"Alright. I win this round." A small black square above the passageway that the prisoners sat in lit up, revealing the number one. "If we win two more rounds, you loose. You won't be able to advance or turn back. You'll be stuck here until the seventy-two hours are up. Should that come to pass, our sentences will be reduced by seventy-two years." The prisoner laughs as he walks back to his hallway.

"Man, that was a disgrace," Tonpa says as he walks back to us. I lean back against the wall, my eye unable to stop twitching. "He looked a lot stronger up close..."

"Idiot!" Leorio yells, grabbing the collar of Tonpa's shirt. "You just confirmed all of my suspicions! You're a worthle-" I cut Leorio off by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Leorio, I understand where you're coming from, but internal conflict will only waste more of our time. Trust me, if we had the time...this man would be in much worse condition than if he had fought that prisoner." I smirk at Tonpa, who looks at me with a fearful expression.

"Tch." Leorio releases Tonpa. "You're lucky Ara is here."

"You remember what happened when I first met you guys? How I told you that there was a laxative in the juice Tonpa was trying to give you?" The boys nod. "Tonpa does that sort of thing every year, from what I heard. He destroys rookies, sometimes so badly that they never take the exam again. That's how he got the name 'Rookie Crusher,' now isn't that right, Tonpa?" I glance at him.

"H-How do you know that? You didn't s-seem to know anything about me when I approached you," Tonpa replies nervously.

"Let's just say that I can read minds," I answer slyly. Winking at the two youngest boys' awed expressions, I turn back to the arena and set my bag on the floor next to me, along with my gun. "I'll go next." With no objections, I walk across the bridge and wait for my opponent. A muscular looking man steps forward, his shackles falling to the floor. He pulls off the cloak that covered him, and I tilt my head to the side.

"Hey, I met your friends earlier!" I say to him, grinning.

"Ara, you need to surrender! That guy was one of three people that destroyed an entire city!" I glance back at Leorio, who yelled at me.

"I know, silly!" I shout back, smiling. "I knocked the other two unconscious before I met up with you guys!" The boys' eyes widen and they gape at me. I giggle. "That's right, you guys haven't seen me fight yet, have you?" I turn back to my opponent, who stares at me with his eyebrows raised.

"You defeated Isamu and Takumi? I guess I can't underestimate you, then," his deep voice calls out. I smirk.

"You shouldn't have even thought of underestimating me."

"Then let's see. We'll continue until one of us surrenders, is knocked unconscious, or is dead. Let's begin!" I dash forward, aiming a quick uppercut to his chin to see how he would react. He blocks easily, and I back away quickly to avoid his punch.