Chapter 1: "Cloudy with a Chance of Blizzards"
The next morning, Sting was rudely awoken by a loud chime, followed by a PA announcement.
"Ahem, Gooooood morning everyone! It is now 7 AM, meaning Nighttime is officially over!" Monokuma announced.
Is this going to be a normal thing, too? Sting asked himself as he got up and left the dorm.
It didn't take him long to find where most of everyone had gathered, given it was the loudest room in the school. It was the dining hall, as everyone was clambering about Xina, who was in the hall despite the arsine poisoning she had yesterday.
"Simple: I got myself a dose of good memes!" Xina explained, "I'm telling y'all, if memes can cure cancer, they can definitely cure a little arsine poisoning!" Yentoulis gave her a funny look.
"Memes aren't some cure for all illnesses, Rainbow," Yentoulis said, "Arsine is a pretty nasty gas, and just because you feel better now, doesn't mean you're cured."
"Whaaaaat? Do you not understand the power of memes, my dude?" Xina asked, "Memes are the embodiment of all things good! They can-" she stopped suddenly and fell onto her knees, clutching her abdomen in agony.
"Aw, crud…" She whispered, "I think I overdosed on memes…Yento, I don't feel so good..." a "oh goddamnit" slipped from Yentoulis's mouth as Xina sat down a placed her forehead on the table, clearly not feeling any better. Meanwhile, Ellis nervously approached Anna (whom was reading her demonology book), having heard that she was apparently the Ultimate Occultist.
"Umm…" Ellis started, unsure how to talk. Anna closed her book and looked at him with this look that screamed "leave me alone".
"What do you want?" She asked harshly.
"Uhh… Do you really do Occult stuff?" Ellis asked.
"Are you fucking serious?" she mumbled, "Of course I do! What tipped you off, the OCCULT pants I'm wearing, The pentagram shirt, My demonology book, or the very fact that my talent directly ties to occult shit?"
"That… I'll have to get used to. My grandma, may she rest in peace… She outright banned anything which dealt with the occult." Ellis answered back, "Yeah, she was highly religious." Anna's look changed at that.
"Well, yeah, you'll have to get used to it...pretty quickly at that, since there's two people here with talents regarding the paranormal and the demonic," she began, "and damn, a highly religious family member banned that in your house? I'm surprised it didn't drive you to look into the occult. Lucky you, I guess: got the nice side of extreme religion." she cringed after she said that, as if it awoke a memory she had buried.
Marissa shook her head. "Seriously? Why should religious zealots always talk down about our hobbies? Atifact is highly hated in certain religious circles, thanks to them thinking we're summoning demons and the undead." She ranted. "I been playing this game since I was 10, and I haven't summoned that psycho Ted Bundy, so I have that going for me. Seriously, they should learn to deal with it."
"Jeesh, Even a card game can get crap for having demons and undead in it?" Kuro interjected, "What the hell has this world become? Next thing you know, fun is gonna be banned for being unholy or some stupid crap like that." Ellis seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable around Anna, most likely because of all the peeps who were dissing religion.
"I think we're making Ellis feel really unwelcome." Marissa said out loud.
"At least religion memes aren't banned, right?" Xina blurted, "Everyone loves memes, regardless of what the source material is...right?
"And you may have jinxed yourself." Mecca retorted back. Xina groaned. Sting couldn't help but find notice some people were not here, namely...Rex and DM.
"Hey," Sting spoke up, "Did anyone happen to see Rex or DM? They're not here."
"Neither is Chatter Thumbs or Fire Head, Emo," Diane added, "But knowing Rex, he's probably just lost. The guy can get lost somehow in a straight corridor: I just know it."
"So what if he got a little lost? Boo-F'in hoo." Steph agreed as she entered the dining hall.
"Oh god…" Scarlet mumbled, "Getting lost is still pretty bad, y'know! That's usually how murderers find their victims! And let's not forget that we're stuck in a killing game of sorts..."
"Who would honestly be fucking stupid enough to kill on Day 2?" Diane asked sarcastically, "We could pin them down fairly quickly. All in all, I'm 99% sure Metal will be fine." as if on cue, Rex stumbled into the dining hall, followed by DM, who seemed a little irritated over something.
"Yo!" Rex called out, "did I miss anything?" Diane and Steph groaned.
"Oh, nothing…" Steph grumbled. "Except for that blue-maned idiot's self concert."
Indeed, Mecca was now partaking in a little singing to pass the time.
"Life really sucks for us! Here in Hope's Peak!" Mecca sung out. "Murder, Distrust, Psycho Bears... Steph's a total freak~!" Xina snorted, clearly trying to suppress laughter, as it might make her pain worse, but it wasn't working all that well. Steph gave Xina a dirty look.
"Don't even encourage her, rainbow," Steph warned.
"Hey, you try finding a word which rhymes with 'peak', buddy." Mecca pouted.
Drake couldn't help but release a slight smile at the two's singing. DM sighed, taking a glance around the room.
"So it seems almost everyone is here…" He noted, "now, where the hell is Vic-" He was cut off by a sudden "INCOMING!" before getting slammed into by Victor, causing DM to fall over.
"Sorry," Victor said, "Didn't see you there till the last second…" He gave off a nervous laugh.
"Not even day 2, and this happens," DM growled as he stood back up, "Be more careful next time!"
"Regardless, we came here for a reason, correct?" Anna asked, "Perhaps you could bring us up to speed on what we're gonna do next?" DM adjusted his glasses, before speaking.
"Indeed there is," DM noted, "Now then, where do we start-?"
"I dunno." Sting shrugged back.
"I was getting to that, Sting," DM remarked, "Patience. Anyways, we already know what the vents have in store for those who try to escape in that route, but we can't let that destroy us. There's bound to be another solution to this puzzle of a killing game we find ourselves in. So, I propose we split up and look for an escape or clues to what might be going on."
"Wait a second, DM, can I ask you a question?" Diane asked, "Who in their right mind made your unstable ass the leader?"
"Ahem!" Yentoulis cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Stars, but who would you rather have as a leader? Someone who can lead a group around, much like our Dungeon Master here? Or someone who will end up with us meeting our ancestors at the end of the day?"
"I believe you're missing my point, Gears of War," Diane retorted, "Did you happen to miss his mental breakdown yesterday, or are you as ignorant as Rex?"
"Hey!" Rex exclaimed, "what did I ever do to you?!"
"Never mind you," Diane said, waving him off, "My point is, we have far more sane people among our ranks, yet we choose to follow the one who is at a questionable mental state. It's quite curious." DM just shook his head.
"Well then, if you're so concerned about my quote on quote 'mental state' who do you wanna choose to lead? Mecca?" DM asked back, looking at Mecca.
"What, me lead?" Mecca questioned. "You're asking the wrong person. Mecca rather follow, my good man!" Then a sudden, really off-key singing started going off.
"WOULDN'T IT be nice if we were older, then we would-i don't really know the rest of the lyrics!" Xina sang, very badly at that. Some people just looked at her funny.
"Please don't tell me that in Xina's universe, you can get high off of memes, too…" Scarlet groaned.
"Just ignore her," DM said, turning his attention back to Diane, "So, are we done with this argument, or not?" Diane just huffed.
"Fine then," She started, "Go ahead and continue to follow his lead. But don't blame me if you all end up dying." She got up and left the hall, apparently fed up with DM.
"Well, Jiminy Crickets," Victor sighed, "Not even Day 2, and already someone's being picky about how we go about things: Great. Who's gonna be like that next, Steph?"
Steph growled at Victor. "I shall not disclose that question. Conversation CLOSED." Victor jumped a little.
"Wait, what?!" He asked, "Well, then, if you're not gonna answer, how can we trust you? We have no idea when you're gonna betray us and join Diane, and you definitely seem like the type that will, so you could've at least-"
"Victor, control yourself!" DM commanded, "I get it, the possibility of betrayal is a daunting thing to think about, but jumping to conclusions isn't going to help." Victor shut up after that. DM sighed.
"Now with those pointless side banters out of the way…" DM stated, "Are there any requests on who will partner with who?"
"Uh, may I partner up with Marissa?" Ellis asked out loud.
"Yeah, can I?" Marissa asked as well. DM thought about this.
"Fine, you guys can…" He said, "And I doubt Diane's going to return, so we can exclude her from the grouping. Though, I can't help but worry about what she's up to."
"Why not we just get the strongest people we know to drag her back here?" Victor suggested.
"I highly agree to that." Sting nodded in response.
"Yeah, just say the word, and Mecca'll tie Diane up and drag her back here!" Mecca declared.
"Fair idea, but who the actual hell is strong enough to drag around a woman Diane's Size and build?" Scarlet asked, "Let alone subdue her if she does fight?" The room fell into a silence.
"Well, shit…." Anna said, "That's a point I'd rather ignore, but one that is hard to ignore as well." She pointed at Rex and Drake.
"And I highly doubt either of those two can or are willing to drag Diane around," She added.
"Well, any other ideas, genius?" Victor asked, "You brought up the problem, maybe you have a solution?"
"W-well, Who said force was the solution to every problem?" Scarlet responded, "Why can't we just talk to her?"
"I dunno; she kinda rubs me as the mean type." Omelette predicted. "That, and… I think she's ripping on a far-more superior pop artist."
"Well, why not I go talk to her?" Scarlet responded, "I can guarantee, through years of journaling experience, that a big name personalities will almost always listen to their fans!" Before anyone could object, Scarlet sped off, in the general direction Diane had stormed off, leaving the room once again in a silence.
"Goddamnit," DM cringed, "Why can't anyone stay here until I finish hearing pairing requests and setting up teams?" He shook his head in annoyance.
"Beats me." Omelette shrugged.
"Anyways," DM continued, "Does anyone else have a person in mind that they would want to travel with-"
"I wanna go with Mecca!" Xina blurted, "She's super fun and also likes memes! We're the meme duo!"
Mecca grinned, as she wrapped her arm around Xina's waist. "Ah, we're bound to have a good time, huh?" Xina gave a stupidly big grin.
"Oh, boy I should've seen that coming…" DM muttered, then cleared his throat, "Anyways, since there are 16 of us, That would mean we can have either 4 groups of 4, 8 groups of 2, or 2 groups of 8. Since we need to make sure no one kills while we're searching for alternative solutions, Partner groups are eliminated. Not only that, we need to cover as much ground as swiftly as possible, groups of 8 people is not an option, either, as 8 people are hard to manage. So, our best option is going to be 4 groups of 4, meaning those who put down requests for partners will have to tolerate two randoms. Is that okay with you?"
Omelette smiled. "Fine by me!"
"As long as they are not total scrubs, I'm a hundred percent chill with randoms," Xina stated, "they say randoms provide the funniest memes!"
"I'm about done with this meeting, so sure, I don't give a fuck about who gets paired with me," Anna stated.
"I honestly don't care, as long as they don't try to kill me!" Rex said, a little too enthusiastically.
"Uhm, Rex, can you not say stuff like that?" Kuro asked, "if we keep mentioning it, it's more likely to happen."
"So if we just pretend everything's fine except we're trapped in the school, no one would kill?" Victor asked, "like hell that would work! We still have to account for a teddy bear and a fennec fox running around-"
"I'M NOT A TEDDY BEAR!" Monokuma yelled, suddenly appearing on the dining table.
"GAAAAAH!" Victor yelled, "What the hell? How did you-?"
"I can hear you, y'know!" Monokuma explained, "Don't think for a second that just because I'm not there doesn't mean I ain't gonna hear your trash talk!"
"...Trash talk?" DM questioned.
"Wait… Can you actually hear us even in the shower?" Omelette spoke up.
"That's, uhm, a super weird thing to ask…" Kuro stated, "do you talk to yourself when you're in the shower or something?"
"Says the man who deals with the paranormal," Anna butted in, "and so what? Usually people sing in the shower, so I'm pretty sure Omelette was meaning that, you dingus."
"Well, uhm...I best not answer that," Monokuma answered, "That would be super creepy if like, I did that, now wouldn't it?"
"Yeah…" Omelette responded towards Monokuma. "Riiiiiggghhhttt…"
"Like you aren't creepy enough as is, Monokuma," Ark said, as he entered.
"Geesh, are you kidding me? We're in the middle of something!" DM said, annoyed, "Could you have picked a better time to come other than now?"
"Woah, easy, Game Master," Ark said, "For one, blame Monokuma for causing a ruckus over being called a teddy bear, and secondly, it appears that a certain someone here thinks they're fine, when in actuality, they are not…" He looked over at Xina.
"Whaaaaaat?" Xina asked, "what are you talking about, you misty fox? I'm fine, trust-" She crumpled to the ground, again in agony.
"Thou shall relax; you're still reeling from that Poison status infliction from yesterday." Marissa suggested.
"Alright, you shits, what the hell have you been doing without me?" Diane said as she returned to the dining room, Scarlet following close behind.
"Ahh!" Mecca grinned. "We were only talking about hot boys. The hottest there are! Even hotter than any of the Paul bros, who I deem as ugly." Diane took one look around the room, and then shot dagger glares at Mecca.
"Yeah, you totally were doing that…" Diane said sarcastically, "Then how the fuck can you explain Mr. half bear and the fennec fox being here?"
"Xina!" Scarlet yelled, as she saw Xina in pain. She raced up to her.
"Xina, by god, are you okay?" Scarlet asked, "Is there still arsine in your system?"
Xina, saying nothing, reached behind her back and put on a golden crown with a pink topping, adorned with large, white spots.
"All hail Xinette!" A loopy Xina declared.
"Xina, now is not the time to be making jokes!" Scarlet said, "Do you even realize you were poisoned by Arsine?"
"Huh? Poison?" Xina asked. "Like that rock group?"
"She's losing it…" Marissa stated.
"I'd say so, too," Rex noted, "When you confuse something very bad to a rock band, you've gone off the deep end."
"A shame, but I can't say I didn't see this coming," Yento noted. Sting shook his head.
"Why can't my lost Talent be Ultimate Poison Control Specialist?" He lamented. DM let out a hard sigh.
"Great, just great," He said, "can someone please guide her back to her room? It doesn't matter what she says: clearly, she's not well enough to help us on this."
"I'll do it!" Mecca volunteered, before approaching Xina, who was still wearing the stupid crown on her head.
"Alright, I believe we overstayed our welcome," Ark noted, "I'd best be going: But I should warn, there is going to be a major event here soon, so keep in mind that, as Monokuma is not the one who likes to constantly remind people." He left at that, dragging Monokuma with him using his misty tails. And with that, everyone went off their own way, As DM decided the meeting had been sidetracked too many times, and it would be better if everyone tried again tomorrow.
:::
With Sting, he was wandering around campus, wondering how he's going to kill the extra time he had on his hands. He walked into the gym, and a sudden voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Yo, Sting!" it shouted. Sting looked around, and after a while, he found the source: Victor was up on the rafters...somehow.
"...How the hell did you get up there?!" Sting inquired.
"Heh, that's called being the Ultimate Parkourist," Victor replied.
"Whoa, you're quite the acrobat." Sting noted. "Much like one of my dad's friends."
He soon done some thinking, and shook his head.
"...Naaaahhh. I can't be the Ultimate Acrobat. Besides, my dad was a circus clown when he met mom." Sting confirmed.
"You still have no idea what your talent?" Victor asked, "Dang, dude." After shuffling around on the rafters for a while, Victor went back to his previous spot, where he was more visible to Sting.
"Hey, uhm, I hate to ask, but uhm…." Victor said, "you don't mind uhm, lowering this net here? Someone raised it while I was up here, and now I'm uhm….kinda stuck here. I mean, I could get off of here if I wanted to, but I'd rather not add another tally to the number of times I've broken something."
Sting nodded, as he went over to the net, and lowered it for Victor. And with the net lowered, Victor climbed down from the rafters using the net.
"Phew, thanks, bud," Victor said, "I was worried I would be stuck up there for way longer. You know how much it sucks getting stuck somewhere and not having a way out, right?"
"Tell me about it. Me and my family used to travel in the circus before it shut down." Sting responded back. "I would usually get stuck up top on the Ferris Wheel, so I have that going for me."
"Yowch….Must have been terrifying," Victor said.
Sting shrugged. "Eh, you get used to it after a while."
"Wow, really?" Victor asked, "That takes guts, y'know, especially if say, you were afraid of heights or something like that. That probably wouldn't be me, though: I'm more used to heights as well."
Sting did some thinking. "It's the view, isn't it? The view from high up takes the fear away."
"I agree," Victor noted, "Sometimes it's really cool to see everything from a bird's point of view."
"I highly agree. The world looks way different from high up." Sting nodded back. Victor looked at his non-existent watch, and tapped it.
"Oh! Would you look at the time!" Victor noted, "I'd better get going. Well, see you around."
"Laters!" Sting replied back, as the two of them departed.
:::
As Sting left the gym, he heard faint noises coming from the game room. As he got closer, he realized it was...chanting? Whatever it was, Sting's curiosity grew, and he opened to door and looked inside. He saw that it was Anna doing the chanting, and even had lit candles and a demonic circle drawn on the floor. She was looking at a page in her book, and hadn't noticed Sting yet.
"Um… Hey?" Sting greeted himself. Anna screamed, not anticipating the newcomer.
"Have you heard of knocking?!" Anna asked, annoyed, "And, how long have you been standing there, anyways?"
"Just a few seconds." Sting answered back. "Anyways, what you doing?"
"Well, what do you think I'm doing?" Anna asked, "Should be pretty clear what's going on, even if you've been here for only a second!" Sting looked at the rather...odd setup behind Anna.
"Uhm, Calling upon a demonic figure?" Sting guessed, "Ah, let me guess! The demon you're trying to call up is… Who, exactly?"
"You mean Condor, the Demon Beastmaster?" Anna answered.
"Condor?" Sting asked. "Is he some kinda bird?"
"Oh for the love of God, no he's not, you moron!" Anna said, "he's a shadow demon, a special type of demon. But it appears for some reason, he can't be called here...I may have to try calling another demon."
"I hope blood won't be involved…" Sting responded back, shivering a bit.
"Wellllll, I can't say all rituals don't involve a little sacrifice…." Anna said nervously, "uhm, before you get any funny ideas in your head, I use my own blood, and my own only! I'm not gonna be that guy who kidnaps people and sacrifices them to some demon! How crazy do you have to be?"
"Well, at least you aren't like those two creeps who wanted to sacrifice people to Satan." Sting answered back, shivering in fear. "The thought of that just sends shivers down my spine…"
"Geesh, sounds like you had a couple run-ins with occult members, huh?" Anna asked.
"I did hear about this one lesbian girl who encountered one." Sting answered back. "She liked cherries and body piercings… Though I can't recall if she had a lower back tattoo of cherries or not."
"Yikes," Anna said, "I do pray she made it out okay."
"From what I recall… She did." Sting reassured. Anna sighed.
"Guh, sometimes I really hate the people who associate themselves with the Occult," Anna said, "Like, half of the time, people claim to be occultists when they do such heinous acts, as if it's some get-out-of-jail-free card. NO! Don't even think of dragging us down with you in the mud! We're not like you!"
"Easy there, Anna…" Sting instructed. "Yelling won't get us anywhere."
"I think I've ranted long enough with you," Anna said, "Now, if could please, leave this room. I've got a ritual to do, and I'd prefer if you weren't present."
Sting nodded, as he left the room, leaving Anna to her own devices.
:::
It was late in the day, as Sting was wondering around the academy, when he could feel someone staring at him.
"Omelette, you can come out, now." Sting said out loud, without turning around.
"Awww, how you know it was me?" Omelette replied back, almost giggling a bit.
"Who else would glance at butts from a distance?" Sting asked back.
"Alright, you caught me." admitted Omelette. "But what can I say? Your posterior ROCKS!"
Sting chuckled a bit as he turned around. "Heh, I get that a lot…"
"So… What caused ol' Two-Face to have you admitted here, huh?" Omelette asked. "We know you have an Ultimate, we just gotta find it, and unlock it."
Sting stood there. "I… don't even know why I'm here…"
"Ah, amnesia." Omelette answered back. "Perhaps if it'll help, I can help knock some sense into your noggin? See if that'll unjam the gears in your system?"
Sting shook his head. "Nah, I'm sure it'll come back in no time…"
It was too late, as Omelette was already close to Sting's ear.
"YO! STING'S MEMORIES! COME OUTTA HIDING! I'M PROBABLY SURE THAT CRAPPY REMAKE IS CANCELLED!" Omelette shouted right into Sting's ears.
"Ow!" Sting stepped back. "That was your idea?"
"Hey, it worked for that other Protag in another academy." Omelette shrugged. "I think?"
"Well, I still don't remember my talent, and I now have some ringing in my ears." Sting replied back.
"Well, considering you have eight earrings in your ears…" Omelette noted. "Still, sorry for shouting in your ear like that."
Sting smiled. "It's cool. Still, if you wanna try that again, ask for their OK first. Alright?"
Omelette nodded back with a smile. "In either case, I should go. Perhaps sneak a peek at Scarlet's butt?"
She soon sported her usual grin.
"I think she digs me."
Sting let out a chuckle. "Probably. Well, see ya later, Omelette."
:::
"Well, that was...certainly something," Sting said to himself. Suddenly a chime played, and a nearby monitor cracked to life, showing that Ark was on the screen.
"Attention, all students," Ark began, "As much as I'm sure a lot of you would rather stay up and continue your activities, unfortunately it has to come to an end for today, as it is now Nighttime. Certain rooms will now be locked, and the water is shut off." Before he could continue, Monokuma appeared and shoved Ark out of the way.
"Good night, and don't let the bedbugs biiiiite~." He said, before the PA shut off.
"What bedbugs?" Sting asked himself, before he departed to his room, removed his hoodie and shoes, and slumped onto his bed, before going into a deep slumber…
:::
Ark's Cinema
"While Monokuma screws around, throwing philosophical talk around as well as some random nonsense in his theater, I tend to watch over the students, make sure they don't hurt themselves. Uhm, not like, actually be in their rooms watching them sleep, that's creepy! But rather, thanks to the cameras installed in their rooms, I can look around and see if there's anything that needs my attention. And it appears a student hasn't gone to their rooms yet, but for now, I will have to stay out of this: at least, until the student calls my name…."
:::
Inside Xina's room, Mecca was sitting in a chair, as she watched the Meme Girl. It appeared she was still a bit loopy.
"Umm… Mecca thinks that meme is deader than those guys at the end of Raiders." Mecca said out loud.
"Whaaaaaat?" Xina asked, "What do ya mean Shrek memes are dead?"
"Dude, even Mecca here keeps up with the latest memes, and I think the last time someone done a Shrek meme was… Hell, a pretty long time ago." Mecca answered back.
"Some… BODY ONCE TOLD ME THE WORLD WAS GONNA TELL ME, I AIN'T THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED!" Xina sung out loud extremely badly.
"And that song is ruined forever." Mecca said out loud.
Xina soon noticed the Super Crown on the bed and placed it upon her head again. Looking down at her body, she was disappointed.
"...BOOOOOO!" Xina jeered. "Why are my badonkadonks still small? How come I ain't in a rainbow colored dress? Where's the accessories that comes with Xinette?"
"Perhaps that Super Crown is defective?" Mecca asked, hoping to calm Xina down.
"Are you kidding me?!" Xina asked, annoyed, "Goshdarnit, I was told that this was the actual Super Crown! Where's someone who can verify whenever this thing is real or not?"
"Mecca is not sure herself, sadly." Mecca replied back. "Still, if you truly want to bring out your inner Xinette, then I be happy to help, once we're outta here."
"That'd…."Xina started before pausing, "That'd be amazing. Hey what if we asked politely for one of the headmasters to let us out of here?"
"That wouldn't work." Mecca shook her head. "Remember? You tried to escape once, and it ended up with you getting gassed to near death. I'm talking about when we're free for realsies."
"Yeah, but that's when we tried to force our way out," Xina noted, "I mean, one of them looks nice enough, uhm, what was his name again?"
"I… Think it was Ark?" Mecca answered back. Suddenly, there was a tornado of mist right there in Xina's room, and once it dissipated, Ark was there.
"You called?" Ark asked.
"Yeah, Mecca was wondering when we would get outta here so Xina can get a true Super Crown transformation." Mecca answered back. Ark thought on that for a moment.
"Well, it's a rather...strange reason to want to flee this place," Ark noted, "but, you two seem nice enough. Perhaps-" Ark was cut off when his hand suddenly whipped up and smacked the mask off, cause the fur to turn black.
"Oh, Mecca doesn't like this…" Mecca said.
"Nay!" Ark 2 shouted, "You know the rules: Kill, and you can escape! And I am not letting my brother bend the rules for ANYONE, Ya hear me?!"
Mecca nodded.
"Although…." Ark 2 said, thinking, "Heh, I'd thank you, kind ma'am! I just got the perfect idea for something special y'all will get at the dawn's chime!"
"You're...welcome?" Mecca said, nervously.
"As for what it is: Well, you'll just have to wait!" Ark 2 said, "Cause it wouldn't be a surprise if I revealed it here, now would it? Now if you'll excuse me: I've got VERY important things to take care of! See your sorrowful face later!" He laughed as he left, grabbing the mask on the way out, leaving Mecca and Xina alone.
"Sorry, Xina. I tried." Mecca shrugged. Xina didn't respond: she had fallen asleep, albeit not a steady one, as she was sweating bullets and breathing rapidly….