Chapter 41 Free For All Part 3

With unstoppable speed, Zack dodged the incoming horde of greedy applicants trying to attack him for his newly acquired 50-point armband. His quick movement was so instantaneous that those gunning for him crashed into one another.

Zack laughed joyfully, high in the sky. As he came back down, he ended up kicking the mohawk applicant in the face, snatching his armband while he did. "Aww, only 1 point," he said.

The ogre-looking applicant's face was flushed red with anger as he stumbled over the downed applicants that had crashed into each other. Without a single care for them or their wellbeing, he stepped on the bodies with a wild look in his eyes.

"Whoa now, tubby, don't hurt yourself," Zack remarked.

The large applicant smiled his yellow-toothed smile at Zack, and this actually made the spiky-haired boy cringe. "Eww, dude, have you never heard of a toothbrush?"

The rotten-mouth man laughed. "Haha, very funny, kid. Now hand over that armband."

The big troll man rushed forward like a bulldozer, swinging his butcher's knife, wanting to cut something, anything, as long as it was Zack. But he never got the chance to. Zack leaned back, completely dodging the assault. He gave the big man his own slash, and it landed, cutting him across his face.

The man screamed in pain as blood leaked from his face. Zack stood straight, putting his hands on his hips, looking at the troll wiggle and cry as he kept screaming, "My face, you little fucker, you cut my face!" over and over.

Zack only stared at the sad, boring display right in front of him. "Stop being such a drama queen. From my standpoint, the cut's an improvement."

These words stung the man more than the cut. While gritting his yellow teeth, he said, "You little... shit," as he once again swung his weapon at Zack.

The young man was getting bored; this wasn't turning out as fun as he thought it'd be. But he decided to play with the doughboy for a while, he thought as he readied his weapon to block or parry the incoming attack.

Something caught his eye, or really, the lack of something. His armband, the black armband he strapped to his left arm, was gone. He was completely caught off guard as the large, ugly applicant swung his knife again. Zack reached out with one hand without looking and blocked the blow. He sporadically looked around.

"Where the hell did it…" He lost his train of thought as Zack's eyes quickly scanned the crowd of fighting applicants. His eyes landed on a little girl with pigtails holding a black armband before she merged then disappeared into the crowd. She shot a look Zack's way, smiled giggling at him, then she disappeared into the sea of other applicants.

Zack cocked his head to the side, his eyes wide. He was filled with rage but couldn't help but crack a smile. "You little…" As he said the words, he chuckled, before he chased after the sneaky thief.

With all his strength, Zack pushed the troll-faced applicant back. He stumbled, struggling to get his balance back, but before he could, Zack landed a straight kick in the middle of his stomach. The man almost vomited as he was sent back, landing on the downed applicants he had just stepped on.

Zack didn't laugh or make a quippy comment; no, he simply ran after the little sneak that snatched his armband.

After a brief moment, the applicants that Zack cut and kicked got to his feet. His face was red, not just from the blood but from the pure rage burning inside him.

"I'll gut that fucker like a fish," he said as he ran in the direction of Zack. And he wasn't the only one. The mohawk applicant that took a kick to the face had finally got back to his feet. The quick attack happened so fast that his body was in shock, but now he was up, spitting handfuls of bloody teeth out of his mouth. His eyes started to bulge as he grabbed his own rental weapon, a combat knife.

"I don't care anymore…" he spoke as blood dripped down his lips. "I don't care about passing this stupid ass exam anymore. I just want to kill him, that's all I want."

With a look of a serial killer, the mohawk ran full speed, following after the troll-faced applicant, aiming to follow him all the way back to Zack.

And watching this entire ordeal was Jake. He'd been knocked back by the large applicant when the exam had begun, but the funny thing was, he didn't even notice him before he made himself known. The large ogre knocked Zack back into some other applicants, but Jake was able to snap back quickly.

But when he did, everything started falling into place. When Zack took his armband, Jake was confused; he didn't understand. But as he snapped back, looking in Zack's direction, it all started to make sense. What Jake saw was maybe 12 or 13 applicants, including the one that knocked him back, all rushing Zack each seemingly ready to kill if need be to get those 50 points while seeing this Jake's stomach started to turn each of these applicants he hadn't noticed them Jake realized that he was so absorbed in the fact that he would have had huge target on his back when the exam would start that he did notice the target had already been painted on they would have killed him from the very beginning and he would be none the wiser Jake's knees shook he started to sweat.

'I could have died that's why he took it from me he….' Jakes thoughts were jumbled mixed up all turned around.' He saved me… again' confusion filled Jake as he realized that this guy some dude he didn't know before today had already saved him more than once as the confusion melted away it was replaced with shame as his thoughts went back to when the two locked eyes back in the first phase. Though Zack didn't want help Jake didn't know that he couldn't read Zack's eyes like he mentioned he didn't know, all he knew was a guy that saved and helped him in the first phase, a guy who just saved his own life only moments before this was the guy, he was willing to let die in the first phase for all he knew.

The shame of his former actions weighed Jake down his body felt heavier then lead as he was being crushed by this guilt that same unfamiliar voice spoke to him. 'What will you do now boy?' That was all it said and the question sunk deep in his soul as his body felt just a bit lighter as Jake gripped hard onto his katana his stomach settled his knees stopped shaking, his eyes if one was taking a look at and read them they were filled with determination, but at this exact moment it wasn't to pass the exam or for his mother it was to pay him back Jake wanted to pay Zack back.

As the mohawk applicant was running after the ogre Jake shot off running after him. 'If I do anything I'll make sure to have his back' and Jake meant ever word of that but sadly he wouldn't be apply to as Jake had freshly broken into a run, he felt his momentum stop immediately he felt his free hand not holding his katana being pulled as he turned to look at what was holding him up. He saw another applicant grasping tightly to his arm while holding him back with one arm the applicant attacked with a weapon in the other. 'You're going nowhere, that armband of your is mine!' He said as he swung his weapon at Jake.