"Contestants, here's your first question," Nicky began. "What does the number of stripes on the current United States flag represent?"
Micheal buzzed in speedily, a pink light shining on his podium from above. "The original 13 U.S. colonies."
"Correct! Micheal is on the board with one cent! Next question: what is the fifth element in the periodic table?"
Micheal buzzed in again. "Boron," he stated.
"Nice, right again!" Nicky announced while Micheal's score moved up to one dollar. Shit, Eric thought. He needed to move faster. He could've gotten that question.
"Okay, now, in the popular game Pacman, what are the names of the four ghosts."
Eric knew this. He slapped the buzzer hard and managed to get it before Micheal could. The light began shining but unfortunately it wasn't over him. Apparently, Brian had managed to be even quicker. "Uh, Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and uh Linky?"
"Ooo, sorry, we were looking for Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde," Nicky informed Brian. "Don't worry though, it's only the third question."
Brian's meter grew and moved up to halfway before the first tick mark as Nicky continued. "Alright, next question. What is the capital of Finland?"
This time, Eric had to get it. He slapped in as hard as possible, causing the buzzer to jiggle rapidly. It worked, and he finally had that precious pink light surrounding him. Once again, the blonde tried to speak, but nothing would come. Just squeaks echoed throughout the stage. Horrified, Eric looked up at the timer in front of them. He had 5 more seconds to answer. He had to do this, he had to!
BUZZ! He couldn't get himself to speak. "Aww, time's up honey. The correct answer was Helsinki, let's see what happens now."
Eric watched in horror as his meter grew to 3/4 of the way to the next tick mark. Any more incorrect questions and he'd be changed. "Alright, we've answered some questions. Now let's do a physical challenge. For those willing, you'll see three weight sets behind you. The one able to deadlift the most wins. Each contestant will get two tries and if they aren't able to lift their weight past their heads, they forfeit that attempt. So who's doing the challenge?" Nicky asked.
Eric stayed silent as the other two men buzzed in. There was no way he'd beat them in a challenge like this. Besides, at this point, he wasn't really much competition, so he doubted Micheal or Brian would punish him. The other two contestants took their places by their bars. "Alright, Brian, you're up first," Nicky announced.
The bald man quickly added about 150 pounds to his bar. Then, with ease he lifted it into his arms and over his head in a matter of seconds. He then dropped it after Nicky nodded, causing the audience to cheer. "Beat that. Those scrawny arms won't do jack," Brian taunted.
Michael simply smirked. He proceeded to slide on well over 180 pounds on the bar. He then lifted that amount with ease, causing Brian to visibly shift uncomfortably.
"OMG, that's so hot. Micheal just lifted 185 pounds!" Nicky exclaimed. "Now, since only two contestants are in this, Micheal, you'll have to go again."
The brunette's smile dropped. "Wait, what? I just lifted, I won't be able to do more than that right now," he protested.
"Sorry, those are the rules. If you can't lift a higher amount before the clock stops, you'll be forced to keep your score of 185. Though it looks like Brian is totes ready to beat that," Nicky teased. With no way out, Micheal proceeded to solemnly add another ten pounds to each side of the bar. He looked up at the ceiling as he got into position, seemingly unsure of himself for the first time in the night. Then, he proceeded to lift the 205 pound weight. The struggle was clear on his face as he used up most of his strength getting the bar to the first position. He pushed and pushed, inching slowly towards the goal. Just as Micheal almost made it to the top, he began pausing in his progress. He couldn't lift it any higher it seemed.
"HAH, what a fucking weakling," Brian yelled. Yeah, it was a good idea for him to opt out of this challenge, Eric thought to himself.
Unfortunately for Brian, that taunt was all Micheal needed to push himself. He pushed himself past his limits and rose the bar above his head, the crowd cheering in the process. He then dropped the bell, his arms wobbling in the air.
"Oh yeah, that was hot AF. And you did it in a suit, too. Nice!" Nicky stated. "Alright, Brian, your turn."
Now it was Brian's turn to be unsure. He quickly applied about 210 pounds to the bar, not at all expecting that he'd have to go this far. He then proceeded to get into position and lift. He started out fast, allowing the momentum to bring him a little further. With a little bit more effort, he managed to get the bar into the first position. He then began struggling to make his way to the top, breathing loudly. Still, he was doing better than Micheal, and the brunette noticed. In fact, it was clear that the affront to his superiority was getting to him; so much so that he took action. Just as Brian was about to win, Micheal kicked a weight that was lying in the floor over to the bald man. The action caused Brian to go off balance, forcing him to drop the weight before he could win.
"What the fuck?! This fucker just tried to kill me. He fucking cheated, but this little shit tried to kill me!" Brian yelled.
"Hey, sorry, there was no rule against that and unfortunately, that means that Micheal wins," Nicky announced, slowly moving away from Brian, who was fuming.
"I did not lose you fuckers! You wanna fucking go?" Brian asked Micheal, who seemed proud of his actions.
"Micheal, would you like raise Brian or Eric's meter?" Nicky quickly spat out, knowing the answer.
"Brian. Definitely Brian," Micheal answered with a shit-eating grin. Brian was about to pounce on the guy, but as he got ready, the meter representing Brian grew past the first tick mark and a pink light shone over Brian, calming him down.
"Alright, computer, time to twink!" Nicky yelled, causing the light over Brian to glow even brighter. Interestingly though, there didn't appear to be any physical changes to the man. When the light diminished, everyone was anxious to see what had changed.
"Huh, I dunno why but I really don't want to fight you anymore. I don't really wanna fight anyone really," Brian stated curiously.
"It seems like our computer decided that Brian no longer needed all that anger and violence in him. Now, our man is a pacifist," Nicky explained.
"Pacifist," Brian said to himself. "Yeah, I can get behind that. My girl will definitely like it."
Nicky simply smiled. "Alright then, let's get back to the game!"