A/N: The first mission of the game!

Episode 1

Part 2

"Ok, let's think this through logically. Who's missing?" asked Wisdurm, the logical one of the bunch.

"Well Waluigi obviously, and Lemmy and cleft…" announced Daisy.

"Wasn't there someone with a compass? Funky was his name was it?" asked Toadsworth.

"Great! How are we ever going to make it through the forest now!?" growled Kirsty.

"This is your fault!" shouted Kammy towards Rani.

"My fault!? How is it MY fault!?"

"If you hadn't run off we wouldn't have been separated!"

"You ran too!"

Rani: When Kammy started verbally attacking me, I felt honestly frightened. I feel sorry for Lemmy if that's what he deals with at his castle every day.

Meanwhile, Lemmy was running deep into the forest.

Lemmy: I had no idea where the others were or even if I would find them, but I knew I had to make it to the hotel.

"Damn it! Which way is North?"

Lemmy looked at the sky, hoping for an inkling of indication of which way to go, growling in frustration.

Lemmy: The problem is, the forest looks the same in every direction, so I couldn't even retrace my steps back.

"This way, Cleft dude!" shouted Funky to the silent player. The two had run off in the same direction when the group split. Funky, still grasping the compass, glanced at the sky before running off with cleft hot on his heels.

Cleft: Following Funky in that forest, *sigh* I don't know. He seems like a nice guy.

As they were running, a sign on a rock happen to catch Cleft's eye.

"…Funky…" called out Cleft softly. Funky skid to a halt in surprise.

"Woah dude! He speaks!" said Funky while he flashed Cleft a smile. Cleft, meanwhile, pointed to the sign.

Free exemption from the first quiz! Follow the path!

"I dunno dude, this seems mighty suspect."

Despite Funky's lack of confidence, Cleft forged ahead, following the signs. Funky had no choice but to follow.

Funky: Something about this, gives me this weird vibe… dude.

"…Well it wasn't ME!"

"Of course it was you, insolent fool!"

"ME!? I didn't even TOUCH the tape recorder! You grabbed onto it first!"

"You despicable little brat! How dare you accuse the great and beautiful Kammy Koopa of being the mole!"

"Shut up focus on the ask at hand!" shouted a frustrated Wisdurm, but Kammy and Rani ignored her.

Wisdurm: Hmph! They're wasting time! Night is going to fall and then where are we going to be? Shouting can't get us money in the pot or a bed on our backs.

Daisy: They've been fighting for over half an hour now. Kammy is such a… and she's the one who started it! She is totally the mole!

Funky and Cleft continued to follow the signs leading to an alleged exemption. With each passing minute, they were lead deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Woah Cleft there, were going South-East dude. We need to turn around dude!"

Cleft pondered these thoughts for a few minutes and then finally agreed, nodding his head. Funky and Cleft started sprinting to make up for the lost time.

"Do I go this way, or that way…" mused Lemmy to himself. The hapless player lost deep inside the forest.

Lemmy: At this rate, I'm starting to doubt if I'll get out of this forest in time for the first execution, let alone by the end of this challenge.

"Maybe if I go here…"

"…so therefore the only possible conclusion is you!"

"WHAT!? But… You! GARGH!"

"Great, are you two done yet? Let's get on with this!" with that last statement, Daisy walked off by herself into the distance.

"Wait!" shouted Wisdurm at her, but it was too late.

Daisy shrieked as she was flipped upside down, hanging from a tree by her ankle.

"Help!" she cried out pitifully.

"Well um, anyone got a knife?" responded Rani, trying to be helpful.

"Ugh!" complained Kirsty as she went over to the tree hung player and started attacking the rope with her nail file.

Cleft ran after Funky to the North. He heard a branch snap as he looked around the forest, hearing the sounds of birds.

Cleft: Not many know, but I watch birds on my spare time…

Cleft heard a shout and then a thud as he quickly turned around. Looking about, he realized that Funky was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey!" shouted a voice, seemingly coming from the ground itself, "Down here!"

Cleft then remembered what had happened to Waluigi. Putting 2 and 2 together, he came up with 5 and carried the L. Afterwards, he realized that Funky must have fallen into a hole too.

"Take the compass Dude!" continued Funky, as he threw it out of the hole. Cleft ran to where it landed and picked it up, and started to run away. He was a good 5 minutes down when he recalled the sign mentioning an exemption offer.

Cleft: I don't even know where to begin. I'm separated from the others… no clues on the mole… I need it badly.

Cleft stopped and turned around.

"Hip hop! Tallyhoo now!" said the enthusiastic Toadsworth after Kirsty freed Daisy.

"Ugh! That was NOT fun!" she said.

"No doubt it wasn't. Now let's get moving." replied Wisdurm, growing even more impatient.

Rani, however, pointed out that they didn't even know which way to go. A short discussion ensued which ended as Toadsworth remembered something.

"By my grandfather's marmalade, I do believe that we might not be entirely without direction! They used to say to me when I was a spore, yes, that the sun always rises to the west!"

Rani: I thought the sun always rose in the East...?

"But we want to go NORTH old geezer!" mocked Kirsty back at him. Wisdurm was quick to respond, however.

"If the sun is to the west, then that means that if we keep the sun to out left, we're going straight north."

After a brief look around, the players decided to head in a direction, hoping that they were correct.

Lemmy stepped cautiously as he tried to avoid any traps that lay in his path. As he was walking, he heard rustling in the bushes to the side. Panicked, he jumped behind a tree for cover. As he watched, he noticed a familiar figure step out of the bushes and start heading opposite to him.

Lemmy: Why was Cleft going in the wrong direction?

As he stood there, Lemmy wondered if he should follow, but he decided not to. Instead, he continued going in the same direction.

As Cleft tried retracing his steps, he found himself hopelessly lost.

Cleft: Why did I decide to go back…

He looked around in confusion as he thought he heard something, but he decided to shrug it off. Walking on, he finally found what he was looking for: a sign referring to the exemption.

Follow the signs for a FREE exemption!

Cleft followed the signs, each one pointing to the next.

Free exemption!

Exemption this way!

Follow me for an exemption!

Eventually the signs led Cleft to a sheltered cave on the outskirts of the forest. The ground was rocky, and it was starting to get dark outside.

"Enter cave to receive exemption…?" Cleft read aloud. Stealing his will, he took a bold step and entered. Then he took another, and then a third. As he was searching the walls, everything suddenly went black.

"What the…!?" cried out the poor player as he realized that something was blocking the entrance of the cave. He ran back towards it as best as he could, but he couldn't find the exit. Cleft was trapped.

Cleft: It was then when I realized that I'd been tricked.

"Land ho!" Shouted jolly Toadsworth as the players noticed an end to the forest. A beach lay directly ahead of them.

"Great! Now all we have to do is fi-"

Daisy was interrupted by Kammy, "YOU FOOLS! This is where we started the game!"

The players paled as they realized she was right. It appears that the players made a wrong turn.

"You idiot toad!" scream Kammy at Toadsworth. He merely ignored it.

"Calm DOWN!" came a voice a reason, "If we're back at the beach where we started then that means we went south instead of north. Now we know to keep the sun on our right. If we do that we can get straight to the hotel."

Despite grumbling, the players agreed with Wisdurm's logic and ventured back into the forest. Little did they know that time was running out fast…

4:05 PM

"Surely I'm near the exit…" muttered Lemmy. He ran fast and faster, dodging trees, bushes, and the occasional vine. He could see the forest beginning to thin. "I'm almost there…!" he thought to himself. With a final burst of speed, Lemmy ran farther and farther. Eventually, the forest ended. "I'm out… I'm out!" whispered Lemmy to himself in joy. He followed the obvious road for several minutes before arriving at a hotel.

"Congratulations on getting out!" shouted a voice. Lemmy looked around before noticing the tall man in the trench coat.

"Congratulations Lemmy. I am your host, Silex. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said.

"He-hey…" said Lemmy, panting from his run, "did I make it in time…"

"Yes, you had 23 minutes to spare."

4:37 PM

It was then when Lemmy noticed something off, "Where are the others?" he asked.

Silex' reply shocked him: "You're the first person to make it here."

Lemmy: How did I make here before the people with the compass!?

The sun was setting over the remaining players in the forest. Kammy, Wisdurm, and Kirsty were still full of energy, but Rani, Daisy, and especially Toadsworth, were all exhausted.

"We don't have much time left. We need to keep moving." explained a clearly frustrated Wisdurm.

"We're too tired!" puffed Daisy, "Look at Toadsworth!" Wisdurm looked at the player in question, doubled over and gasping for air.

"No point in all of us not making it. You go on without us." suggested Rani. And with that, Kammy Kirsty, and Wisdurm ran off into the distance.

Lemmy grew exceedingly anxious as time passed.

"10 minutes left," announced Silex, making Lemmy even more uneasy.

"come on… hurry up…"

4:50 PM

The trio continued running through the forest at full tilt. Wisdurm tripped, knocking into Kammy who fell off her broom and landed on Kirsty. The trio shrugged it off and continued running.

Meanwhile Silex was counting down the minutes.

"5 minutes left."

"4 minutes left."

"3 minutes left."

With each passing number, Lemmy fidgeted more and more.

"2 minutes left."

"60 seconds."

Lemmy stared into the distance, hopeful. He then noticed movement and gasped.

"Over there!"

He got up and started yelling while the host continued his countdown:

"30 seconds remaining."

A/N Oh! It's so close! Coming down to the wire! Do they make it? Or will they have to sleep outside?