Magic Trick

"HELLO, EVERYONE! WE'RE YOUR COMMENTATORS, FURKAN STYLIANOS AND SHAMIL MARIYAM! WE'RE BACK TO BUSINESS WITH OUR SECOND MATCH OF THE DAY! HOPE YOU ALL HAD GREAT LUNCH!"

Of course, the commentators are back to give us their thoughts, which basically we can see what's happening. 

"Hi, Jia. I only want a fair battle," Ton said.

"Of course," Jia replied.

"Don't move," Ton commanded.

He brought out a native instrument, which I think is common in Thailand. It's like a violin made of two thin sticks and strings. He then played eerie music using that instrument and… one by one, the bombs in the ring are exploding!

"What's happening here is that the sound waves from that instrument are making the bombs explode. This means that they can move freely into the ring after the bombs have exploded," Furkan mentioned.

"That's just fair. However, this is not as similar as the earlier battle that Fei used the laser wall to his advantage," Shamil added.

After all the bombs have exploded, Ton moved towards Jia and attacked her with the fiddle of the instrument he's holding. Good thing Jia pulled out a whip-like vine and tangled the fiddle. She then tore the fiddle into pieces, but Ton was fast enough to hit her with the instrument itself on her back.

"This is called [saw duang]," Ton said. 

"Thanks, but I don't really wanna know," Jia slapped Ton's face using a big leaf. Ton catapulted to the edge of the ring.

Although the fiddle he's using was broken, it wasn't a problem as he produced a new one. He then played another ominous tune, and…

"Aaaaaah!" Jia screamed. "Gramms! Mom! Dad! Fei! Haru!"

Jia was oddly hitting nothing with that vine, as if she was fighting air. What is happening here?

"The music I am playing creates an illusion that makes her see a terrible vision. When she hears the music, I can control her, and…" Ton moved closer to her and kicked Jia on her abdomen. Jia sprung to the edge of the ring, still screaming. 

Jia stood, still screaming. "Dakarai! No! Please don't take him! Please!"

I looked at the side and Dakarai was there, looking frantic with worry. Unfortunately, he can't do anything as Jia is currently in a battle. It is just fair, though.

Ton played a different tune this time. It was foreboding, like something bad is about to happen. 

"Oh, I think it will give Jia another vision, worse than the previous ones," Shamil said.

"That's for sure. The music Kittichat is playing right now sounds really creepy," Furkan added.

"Noooooo!" Jia lie down on the ring and she was, like, having a seizure or something. It's as if someone is attacking her, like raping her. Then, she was petrified, all of a sudden. She was shocked. 

"She's down!" Ton shouted.

"Very well. Five… Four…" Jang-mi stopped counting when the block where Ton was standing exploded. Ton somehow jumped and not hit with the explosion but he was unable to hold the saw duang and it was included in the explosion.

Jia, on the other hand, looked sane and stood up. "You—"

Jia wasn't able to continue her line when Beketi appeared on the large screen. "Oops! I forgot to tell you, wonderful fighters! Every two minutes, the location of the bombs change. So, new explosions, coming up!" 

"Shit," Ton whispered.

Jia then took some seeds from her pocket and scattered them on the ring. She then performed a chant and those seeds turned into gigantic tree without leaves which branches extend towards Ton. However, Ton produced another fiddle and played eerie music that shattered all trees that Jia grew.

Jia controlled the shattered pieces and used them to attack Ton, but Ton's foreboding music turned them into ash. Ton then again created another sound that made Jia choke as if she was being strangled. Another illusion once again by Ton!

She put her hand inside her pocket and threw seeds, but they just became roses. She wasn't able to control them to attack Ton because she was under his illusion. 

"Oh, no, Jia…" I sighed. 

"That Ton guy looked really gentle but on that ring, he's a monster," Ellis said.

Jia got rid of that imaginary strangulation, and this time, when Ton's music changed, she was trembling, holding her entire body as if he was freezing. 

"Whoa, what's happening? Jia is terribly shivering," Furkan announced.

"Well, I think this is just an illusion created by the sound Kittichat was playing. We can't disqualify him as he's not really using ice to make her quiver like that," Shamil said. 

Jia lie down again on the ring, shivering. Jang-mi was about to count, but then, when Ton moved further, a bomb exploded! Now, Jia was back again to her own sanity.

"Ton! Not again!" Jia shouted as she walked towards Ton, but she wasn't able to evade the bomb on the ring. The block exploded, making her spring to the center. Her legs were bruised because of the explosion.

"Damn those bombs," Jia said.

"I told you. I only want a fair battle," Ton said as he played again another eerie music, making the bombs explode. Jia squinted and scoffed.

Now that the bombs are out of their way, they can now fight. Jia scattered another set of seeds on the ring. This time, the seeds didn't grow as trees, but they became sunflowers. The sunflowers ejected light beams really quick, but Ton's menacing music developed a shield that absorbed all light beams. 

"You're good," Jia said.

"Good enough to defeat you," Ton uttered.

"We'll see," Jia ran towards Ton and right now, they're doing hand-to-hand combat. 

"Oh, it seems that our participants don't only excel on their own powers. They can also fight well using their hands, arms, and legs!" Shamil said.

"That's right, partner. Although I must say, Kittichat has a different style than our previous competitor Songsuda. This is Muay Chaiya," Furkan said. "This style is more on grappling, pushing, and throwing, which is different from the common kickboxing we know as Muay Thai."

"Impressive, partner!" Shamil praised. "It seems that the fight is getting more intense, but take a closer look at Jia."

When Shamil said that, I did focus myself on Jia. What I observe was… something was glaring, as if there were gold dust when she moves. What was that about?

The combat fighting took another two minutes, such that they almost moved around the entire ring. Each of their defenses was getting stronger than before. No one wanted to lose!

Until…

"Oh, shit!" Jia catapulted because she stepped on a block with bomb. I believe another two minutes has passed. 

"Let me get rid of those bombs," Ton said as he played the same bizarre music to detonate the bombs, but…

Jia chuckled. "You think I haven't figured out what you're doing?"

Ton was startled. "What do you mean?"

"Fair battle, your face," Jia clenched his fist and the bombs exploded one by one. 

"How did you do that?" Ton asked.

"While we were fighting, I scattered pollen on the ring. These pollen grains went directly to the bombs below, so I can control them. I know I have been under the illusion of your music, and the only way to destroy your music is through the noise caused by the explosion. This is your tactic, that's why you explode the bombs before you control me with that terrible sound," Jia explained.

"Yaaaaas, bitch, yaaaaas!" Ellis shouted, clicking her fingers!

I stood up and clapped. That's why she was sort of glaring before. "Way to go, girl!"

"What an analysis from our contender from the Manhattan team, Jia!" Shamil shouted. "I didn't really notice that! All along, I was caught by Ton's sincerity of having a fair play."

Furkan then said something about what happened. "Well, technically, this is still fair, as he was not violating any of our conditions. I must say, what a strategy he has been doing."

"Fine, fine," Ton scoffed. "You got me. I was being kind the entire time, Jia."

"Kind? Really? How? After you fooled me with that kindness you're saying, I'm not falling for that shit anymore," Jia strongly uttered. 

Ton chuckled. "Okay, sure. But the next tune I'm playing, I'm pretty sure you're gonna lose."

"Bring it on," Jia dared. 

Ton played another scary tune and suddenly, Dakarai appeared on the ring. Dakarai was confused about how he got there. Ton then placed his fiddle on Dakarai's throat.

"Accept your defeat, Jia, and I will let go of him. But let me warn you. One wrong move, and your tall, dark, and handsome boyfriend's throat will be ripped in an instant," Ton threatened.

Jia gasped, but then… "This isn't real! You can't deceive me with your illusion."

"Well, let's see if this is an illusion," Ton said, as he pushed the string towards Dakarai's throat. It bled lightly. Dakarai groaned in pain and was looking at Jia with a face that says, "Save me!"

"Whoa! Look at that! It seems that Ton has held Jia's boyfriend, Dakarai Karam hostage on the ring!" Shamil said.

"Jia must decide now! She won't want to happen anything to her boyfriend!" Furkan shouted.

Oh, gosh. It is real! Even I can see Dakarai on the ring, just an inch away from death under Ton's hands. 

What would Jia do now?