Part 13: Versus: Bunny

[BGM: Silence]


Bunny left the room with a confident smirk.

Damn. I was hoping we wouldn't get to this stage. But fair play, Bunny. You challenged me.

Yeah. So I'm protected by the 'no interference' clause, right?

Sure, sure. Neither Horse or Dragon is going to attack you.



That doesn't explain why they're not dealing with the others, though.

Why would we?

Huh?

You moron, we're not eager to work with a psychopath like you. If Bunny wins this, he gets control of you, and by proxy, us.

In that case, the group can all survive together and you can go die on your own fuckin' dime.

Heh. Yeah, you got me. I realized the flaw in my plan the moment I challenged Dragon.

Got the feeling this might devolve into a last-man-standing gamble fest.

And you know what? That actually sounds interesting. It's been a long time since I've actually been this excited about something.



So come on, Bunny. You challenged me.

Which means I get to pick what we play.

Bring it. If it means stopping an evil-doer like you, I can handle anything!

Now that's what I'm talking about, Bunny!

Evil-doer, huh? How ironic.

Hm?

Well, no matter.

[BGM: Metal Horse]


If it's a gamble-off we're in for, we should play some of the classics, don't you think? I'll challenge you to a game of classic Texas Hold'em.

You're confident because you play against Bowen a lot, aren't you? I'm not sure if you were aware, but I've also played with Bowen quite a bit.

Oh, I'm aware. And I know you can't beat him.

He's my boss. I let him win.

Is that so?

Of course.

How noble.



So let's set the rules. I wanna keep things simple. Standard card things, we each draw 2, 5 community cards in the regular order, yadda de dah, nothing weird there. We'll each take 20 chips. The ante will be 1, and it'll increase every, uh, 12 rounds.

That all sound fine to you?

Of course. There's nothing to dispute in those rules at all.

One thing I'll ask is that the spectators-

He gestured over to our group.

-stay a good distance from us, and they stand to our sides. I don't want anyone sneaking a peek at my cards and sending signals.

But of course. I don't want any outside interference.



It was almost fascinating how completely they had isolated the rather large group of people standing around them. In this moment, the principal actors in this story were Bunny and Dog. Everyone else was just to the side.

Dog went over to the vending machine and grabbed some stacks of chips. Then he sat at a table and started splitting them up into two groups of 20. Meanwhile, Bunny thoroughly shuffled the cards.

Let me be clear. Unlike most people here, I have some card experience. Don't think you're going to be able to pull anything.

I'll eagerly use the 'cheaters get executed' rule.

Don't worry, I wouldn't try something like that against you. I'm not that dumb.

Good. Then let's get started.

And just like that, they began to play. They played life-or-death Hold'Em with an audience of nine.



What do you think's going to happen?

I don't know.

Not a very interesting answer.

Sorry.

Do you think Bunny has a shot?

He certainly has a shot. He's got the experience at least to stop Dog from cheating. And Poker's a game that can be won with one good stroke of luck. Bunny's definitely good at concealing his emotions.

I'm sensing a 'but'.



But Dog chose this game. I'm guessing he's really good at it.

He was really good at it. His face, despite being fairly expressive, was utterly inscrutable. Unlike Bunny, who stayed silent and maintained a determined expression, Dog liked to chat a lot. He'd constantly say things like 'This hand's really good' or 'God, this sucks!' It was impossible to tell when he was being genuine or when he was trying to manipulate Bunny. He seemed to alternate between the two with incredible irregularity.

More than that, he'd bully Bunny out of hands with big raises early on. But he'd also sometimes fold to absolutely nothing. It was just hard to get a bead on him. It certainly seemed to annoy Bunny, but early on the effectiveness of this strategy seemed questionable. Bunny slowly gained a lead through the first half of the game.

When Bunny led 26 chips to 14, Dog put in 10 chips on the flop. Bunny, who had trips, called. But Dog had two suited cards which matched the two suited cards in the flop. If a Diamond showed up on the turn or river, it'd be his win. The turn came, and it was the Jack of Spades.

But a Queen of Diamonds came on the river. Just like that, Dog gained a 24 to 16 lead.



The game didn't go much better for Bunny after that. He lost minor squabble after minor squabble until he only had 7 chips left. When the flop came down, Dog looked mischievous.

Ooh boy, I really shouldn't give you this sort of charity. But I don't want the game to end.

He put in 7 chips.

Come on, I'll gift you 7 chips.

…

I'm serious, no strings attached! I've got absolutely nothing, so if you go all-in you can start your comeback.

You really like to bully other players when you play Poker, huh? Well, you picked the wrong hand to do it with.



Bunny pushed all his chips to the center.

I'm all in.

Great!

Dog flipped over his two cards. He had a Queen of Hearts and a Queen of Spades. That matched the Queen of Diamonds in the pool. Bunny's face immediately flushed.

[BGM: Silence]


…

What's the matter? You don't happen to have a 5 and a 7, do you? Oof, if you all-inned with a two pair, just for your opponent ot have three of a kind, that'd really suck, huh?

…

What are you hesitating for? Show your cards!

Bunny lay his cards on the table.

Horse. Knock over the card deck.

What?



If you knock over the deck, mix those cards up with mine, we won't be able to know the outcome of this round. We'll have to do it over again.

And why would I do that?

Because Dog doesn't have the victorious personality.

[BGM: Mousetrap]


I do.

The entire room went silent. What? What was Bunny talking about? I looked over to Dog, and saw him trying to hold in a smirk.

Bunny, what are you talking about?

It's just what I said. I have the victorious personality.

Then why is Dog doing all of this? Why'd he try to get Horse and Dragon to grab our tablets?

He's probably got the defeated personality. It's mostly the same, but with one real caveat. The only person who can survive with the defeated personality is the victorious personality.



Essentially, Horse, Dragon, if Dog wins you're dead anyways.

No way...

Yes way.

So if you're going to die anyways, knock over the deck and help me win!

Bunny snapped, shouting at them. But neither Horse nor Dragon moved.

What's the matter with you two? Don't you get it? You're already dead! And if you're already dead, you should help me survive, damn it!

Heh. You really don't get it, do you?

What?!

Sure, they can't work with me anymore.



But why would they give up their lives to help you? After all, you just admitted to having the victorious personality.

You two can actually win and live with me!

They can't live if they get executed knocking over that deck. And besides, they want the group to live. So if they're going to make a move against me, it's not going to be when you're challenging me.

Oh, Bunny. This is honestly such a disappointment. If you'd just played things a bit smarter, both of us could've survived. I was in the perfect position, if you'd just realized...

No, but that wasn't the type of victory you wanted, was it?

…

[BGM: Silence]


Well, quit stalling. There are two more cards to draw. Who knows, if you get lucky, you can still win.

With a trembling hand, Bunny moved to pick up the top two cards off the deck. He placed them face down next to flop cards. Generally the turn and the river weren't revealed at the same time, but Bunny had already gone all-in, so there was no need to delay. He left them on the table, face down.

He was paralyzed. It was like he couldn't turn them.

Scared, huh? I guess I'll do it for you.

Dog casually leaned over and flipped the cards.



A 3 of Hearts and a King of Spades.

No!

Woof, rough luck buddy. But that's Poker for you.

Enraged, Bunny lunged at Dog.

He didn't get far, however, before a mechanical sound activated, and he fell to the floor, writhing in pain. He started scratching at his neck, to no avail. The knives in the collar were piercing his skin, choking him.

I had to turn around. I didn't want to watch someone die. I wasn't the only one who averted their gaze. After a bit, I didn't hear any writhing. Bunny... I wanted to feel bad for him. But why did he hide his personality from us?



Christ, that was graphic. I'm gonna need to drink a lot to forget that.

Dog's words were like a magic spell that undid our group paralysis. Immediately, Dragon sprung to action.

'We can get out together', huh? You want to work with me?

Shit!

Dog scrambled to run into a different room. Dragon chased after him, and even though she was faster, the starting distance between the two let Dog get into a room before she could catch him. It was a matter of seconds before that blasted announcement played.

Attention! Dog is currently attempting to tame Ox. During this challenge, the Round's timer has been paused. Know that any participant that in any way interferes with the challenge will instantly be executed.