Episode 5 (Part 6)
The Laundry Race Challenge: Three players, Peach, Blooper, and Luigi, are instructed to finish washing their laundry before the other two players arrive at the laundromat. By answering questions correctly, they are allowed to transfer quarters into their possession using only their mouths. What they don't know is that if they do complete their task, no money would be added to the pot. The other two players must try and stop them in time. One player, Lakitu, would have to retrieve answers from around the town in order to free the other, Toadette. Once freed, Toadette must locate the laundromat in time and stop the other three from finishing their laundry. If she prevents the other three from finishing the washing, 20,000 coins would be added to the team pot. If, however, all laundry loads are completed before they could be stopped, the pot would receive no money.
"If I remember correctly," Blooper said, "I'm in Room 801." Peach nodded.
"And I'm in Room 786," she remembered. "How about you, Luigi?"
"Erm, 787," Luigi said reluctantly. He eyed the clothes on the ground, then looked at the washing machine.
"Adding all the numbers up, let's see," Blooper said. "We get nine plus seven, sixteen plus eight plus six...I lost count."
"Um, I think it's a fifty two," Luigi said quickly. Peach and Blooper both looked at him.
"Correct," said McHallyboo.
"How did you add that up so fast?" Peach asked him. "I always thought math was your least favorite subject."
"I can add really fast, but that's it," Luigi replied to her. "You know, the regular adding stuff that everyone knows how to do."
Peach: It's just so odd how Luigi can come up with these answers so quickly. Sometimes I think that he already knows the answers to these.
With a correct answer, it was once again time to retrieve more quarters for the washing machines, and Peach was up. However, she was unwilling to do so and forced Blooper to take her place instead. With less anxiety than last time, Blooper easily retrieved five quarters from the canister and into the bucket.
"I hate you Peach," he muttered, drowning out the taste of coins from his mouth. They now had twelve quarters.
"We're going to a make it!" Luigi said happily.
Enclosed and alone, Toadette was typing in random answers to the first question.
EL BAKERRIOI
EL BREADISMO
LA PANADERIA
However, there was something that she would have discovered if she looked closely at the objects around her, where she was sitting. A mug with pens sat next to the computer, all labeled with the company "SHUT OFF". If Toadette were to press the power button of the computer and shut it off, her door would be opened automatically and she would be free to leave and warn the others ahead of time. Lakitu slammed into the door of the bank and ran in.
"Toadette!" he spoke, running up tot he glass. "Do you hear me?"
"Do you have the name?" she asked back.
"There was a bakery called, 'La Plungeria'. Type that in." Toadette click on the first blank and typed in Lakitu's answer.
"Is it 'plunger' as in the tool that plumbers use?" asked Toadette. "P-L-U-N-G-E-R-I-A?"
"Yep." Toadette typed the name into her keyboard.
L-A P-L-U-N-G-E-R-I-A
All of a sudden the monitor beeped, making Toadette jump back with surprise. The screen fizzed into a hypnotizing green, and a new question with a number two at the start of the sentence appeared instead; Question 2.
"I got it!" Toadette spoke into the microphone. "Okay, here's number two, so listen carefully. It says 'Located outside of the Bob-omb volunteer fire department is a statue, in remembrance of the hero Kaul Maury."
"Kaul Maury?" Lakitu repeated in question form. "Are you pronouncing it correctly?" Toadette rolled her eyes.
"Just ask for a fire department," she said. "Because then the question asks, 'What day did he die?' According to these blanks, you need the month, day, and year." Lakitu nodded, holding up his fingers to count of the needed information.
"Karl Maury," repeated Lakitu. "Okay, I'm going now!"
"Hurry up!" shouted Toadette. Lakitu left, slamming into the door as he exited.
"What is the birth day of the first player executed," McHallyboo read, "minus the birth day of the second player executed?" Blooper nodded his head slowly.
"I think I remember Rawk Hawk's birthday being on...May 30," Peach said.
"I swear that it's on the 29," argued Blooper. "It's not on the thirtieth."
"May 30th is correct," Peach said confidently. "I'm right, you're wrong."
"And I a think Doopliss' birthday was on October 14," Luigi told them.
"It's the twenty ninth," Blooper grumbled.
"I conclude the answer to be 16," Peach said to McHallyboo. He shook his head.
"The correct answer is 15," the host corrected. "Doopliss was born on October 14, and Rawk Hawk was born on May 29." Blooper hissed with annoyance.
"I told you!" he shouted. "God, why didn't you listen to me?" He and Luigi looked at her.
"I didn't know," Peach said meekly. The cost was a quarter from the bucket, leaving eleven left in the container. Additionally, they were given a three minute delay until the next question.
Blooper: Peach could well be the Mole. I told her that the answer was May 29, but she didn't listen to me.
"Ready for Question 5?" They all nodded.
"What was the occupation of the third player executed?" Luigi jumped up, literally, with the answer.
"Hair salon owner!" he exclaimed. McHallyboo chuckled.
"That's incorrect. Nah, only kidding. It's time to get more quarters." This time, Luigi was sent, and he was twice as fast as he was before. Grabbing a mouthful of quarters into his mouth he ran back and spat them into the metal bucket. They now had seventeen.
"Yes!" Luigi said. "Let's start the laundry!"
"We're aiming for twenty quarters," Peach reminded them. "Better safe than sorry." Blooper shook his head as they continued to their next question.
"How many washing machines are in this room?" McHallyboo asked them for their sixth question. "Oh, and I want to tell you one more thing. You cannot move from the spot you're in, right this second, or this question will be lost. Got it? Blooper, no cheating." The three players all planted their feet into the ground and looked around, craning their necks in the attempt to catch all their machines in view.
"Hello," Lakitu said to an elderly Bob-omb lady that was about to enter into a restaurant. "Can you tell me where the fire department is?"
"Why are you asking me?" she questioned. She stepped away from him and entered the building, leaving Lakitu helpless and by himself.
Lakitu: Oh my, I'm an old lady! Hum! You ask me a question? Impostrous! Why are you asking me? I'm just a spoiled, Bob-omb old hag lady who has nothing to do but eat all day and tell people to screw off.
Lakitu asked three more people, but all replied negatively. Finally, after six minutes, he spotted a bulletin map in the center of the town. Located just around the corner of where he was standing was the fire department, and he continued to walk until he reached it. The building was larger than any other building in the town, but what made it stand out even more was the petite garden that stood in front of it, with the statue of Kaul Maury placed in the center. He leaned as far as he could, over the flowers, to take a glimpse at the epitaph:
Through sacrifice he contemplated
To set his soul emancipated.
Lies KAUL MAURY;
A true defining of heroism and altruism
parted December 28, 1969.
"Thirty four machines!"
"Is that your final answer?" McHallyboo asked.
"No!" Luigi said suddenly. "Erm, I could have promised that a...there are thirty six. There were two at the entrance." Peach looked at him then looked at the host.
"I believe Luigi," Peach said. "Thirty six." McHallyboo nodded with a strange look on his face.
"Correct again," he said. Peach and Luigi hugged each other, and Blooper secretly mumbled something under his breath that nobody else could hear.
"Okay," said Peach. "Since this is our last time at getting quarters, I'll think it's only fair that I get this time." Blooper nodded reluctantly, and Peach ran at the start of McHallyboo's ten-second countdown. With a wide mouth she stuck her teeth into the quarter container and grabbed a mouthful before running back, dropping two quarters along the way. Three made it into the bucket.
"You suck!" Blooper couldn't help saying. Peach wiped her tongue on her sleeve and hit Blooper.
"I got three quarters on my first try," she said, continuously wiping her tongue on a napkin she had picked up. "You only got two, so there! You're the one who sucks."
"And I think we can start the laundry now!" Luigi realized. "Come on, let's go!"
"Hey, just a second," said the host. "Once who start loading the clothes into the machines you cannot answer any more questions. I would double check if you have enough quarters." The three players quickly decided that they indeed had enough, and opened the doors of the washing machines to stuff in their clothes.
"Eww," Peach said, letting go of a pile of clothes in her hands. "Something's wet! Eeeww!" Luigi and Blooper backed away from her and laughed
Peach: I made the other two put all the clothes in. Socks, wet clothes, and undergarments, and all this clothing that belonged to everyone else that I didn't want to see.
"This isn't what I think it is, is it?" Luigi said silently, holding up a pair of jeans in the air. Everyone including McHallyboo burst into laughter.
"That was from that Bell game," Peach said, her eyes rolling at Luigi's stupidity. "You know, when we had to crawl across this dirt-mud ground under 'dangerous' razor wire." They finished stuffing the lavish amounts of clothing into the washing machines, and discovered that they had retrieved more quarters that they needed to. Using five machines, they used fifteen quarters. McHallyboo gave them the laundry detergent (for free) and the washing began.
32 minutes left
"Look," the host said, pointing at number of minutes displayed on every one of the five machines. "Thirty two. That's a clue, to start your day."
"We already saw enough clues for this episode," Luigi pointed out. "One in the rooms and one on the table this morning." The host ignored him and started to walk away.
"The rest is up to you," he said, heading towards the entrance of the laundromat. "Remember what you have to do." The host left the three players to themselves. The rest of the task was in their hands.
"Well, we have thirty two minutes to wait," said Peach. "Which is also is a bad thing. We need to finish before Toadette and Lakitu come here."
"I think that Lakitu and Toadette are up to no good," Blooper told the others. "They're probably scheming something behind our backs all this time. But what puzzles me is why they want to arrive here and make us lose."
"Maybe," said Luigi, "they'll win exemptions if they do." Peach nodded slowly and looked at him, and so did Blooper.
"I think that they don't know," Peach thought.
Five minutes passed. Lakitu took longer to find his way back to the bank than he had taken locating the statue.
"You have it?" said Toadette.
"Yup," spoke Lakitu. "Karl Maury died on December 28, 196...5."
Toadette quickly typed in the answer to the second question, making sure that the answer fit perfectly into the blanks.
D-E-C-E-M-B-E-R 2-8 -1-9-6-5
"It fits, but I hope it's correct," she replied, pressing the "Enter" button on the keyboard. Nothing happened for a moment of time, until the screen flashed red and the letters vanished. Toadette sat still.
"It didn't work," she told him. "The page just turned red and reset."
"Must be a glitch," Lakitu said. "Type it in again." Slower than before, Toadette typed in her answer.
D-E-C-E-M-B-E-R 2-8 -1-9-6-5
"Argh, the screen turned red again," she said. "Are you sure that's right?"
"I'm positive," Lakitu said confidently. "December 28, 1965. That's what it said on the statue." But in fact, he was wrong.
Lies KAUL MAURY;
A true defining of heroism and altruism
parted December 28, 1969.
"Third time's the charm," said Toadette slowly. For the third time she typed in the same exact answer. The screen turned red.
"Okay, that is definitely not the right answer," Toadette said with annoyance. "You aren't positive, are you? Come on, admit it." Lakitu paused for a bit.
"Fine, okay, I don't know about the last two digits," he admitted. "Wait, I'm sure it started with 196, but then there's another number that I forgot. Try it out, try guessing." Toadette typed in the same answer with the last blank empty.
"How about 1964?" she guessed, typing it in. She pressed "Enter", but the screen flashed red.
"1966," said Lakitu. Toadette tried it for the answer, but it too failed.
1-9-6-7: RED
1-9-6-8: RED
1-9-6-9
The monitor beeped and fizzled into a green color, then back to normal. On the screen was the third and last question for their part of the game.
"Finally!" Toadette said with relief. "Last question, and we need to hurry. Here, listen to this: 'The town has a motto. What is the motto?' There are lots of blanks for the answer so remember it carefully." Lakitu nodded and left the bank.
Toadette: I thought it was really odd how Lakitu didn't remember the right answer, after being so confident of what the date was. But even I'm forgetful sometimes so it's probably just a mistake.
"Okay, I've pretty much narrowed it down on who the Mole is," Blooper said to the two other players. "Take this as a piece of advice, Peach. Luigi could be your suspect." Luigi looked dumbstruck, and then laughed
"Why would you a think...I'm the Mole?" he said in amusement. "I can't be the Mole! It's impossible."
"If you weren't the Mole," Blooper pointed out to him, "then wouldn't you want people to think you were it? Why are you denying it then?"
"Umm, I like telling the truth," Luigi finished. "Peach doesn't think I'm the Mole, right?"
"I don't think so," said Peach. "I think it's someone else. You know also, Blooper, the Mole is very prone to accusing others a lot." He didn't reply back.
"We have 26 minutes until we win," Luigi said. "We a just need to hope they don't come."
"Motto, motto," Lakitu repeated. Once he had exited the bank he walked around the corner of the block.
Lakitu: I'm walking around the corner and I see that same exact old bob-omb that gave me the answer to that first question. I knew who to ask. If he didn't know the motto of this town then that means nobody else did.
"Hey, it's me again," Lakitu said with a light laugh. The elderly Bob-omb stared at him with wide eyes, as if he had never seen Lakitu before.
Lakitu: It turns out that a lot of bob-ombs look alike, and that it WASN'T the same guy as before. I should have known that.
"I'm on this quest," told Lakitu, "and I need to know what the motto of this town is." The bob-omb wrinkled his eyebrows and spoke.
"Scum up the hot effort," he said in a grand voice. "Scum up the hot effort. You shan't forget it, lad."
"Thank you SIR," Lakitu said, jogging back from where he came from with a satisfied grin. Just a mere thirty seconds later Toadette heard Lakitu entering the bank.
"Already?" she said with surprise. "Tell me the answer, tell me."
"There was this old guy," Lakitu told her, "who says that the motto is...'Scum up the hot effort'". Toadette began to type in the answer, discovering that every blank for the final answer was filled up completely.
S-C-U-M U-P T-H-E H-O-T E-F-F-O-R-T
"Enter," she said, pressing the 'Enter' button. Lakitu crossed his fingers with hope, and Toadette waited patiently. Nothing was happening, until the letters began to flash from every corner of the screen. Toadette stared hard with confusion.
"Lakitu, there are letters going all over the place," she said. "I don't know what's happening!"
"Did it flash red?"
"I don't think so."
"If it didn't flash red, then the answer is correct," Lakitu reassured. "Okay, what's happening now? Do they make out something?"
"Wait," she said. She discovered that the flying letters were made up from the motto she had just typed in as her answer, and they were going into their own positions on the monitor to spell out another message, a message which Toadette understood completely.
S-H-U-T O-F-F T-H-E C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R
"I'm going to shut off the computer," she said to Lakitu, and with almost no hesitation she pressed the button by her feet, turning off the monitor and the computer at the same time. Right at that second, the one-way mirror was triggered. It slid down on command and exposed Toadette to Lakitu, and the outside to Toadette. Lakitu stepped back with a stunned face.
"Yes!" Toadette said happily, hugging Lakitu. "You did it! Yes! Let's go!"
"Only you can go," said Lakitu. "Find the laundromat. Just five minutes down the street you'll come across this map on a bulletin, in the middle of the town. Then navigate from there. Once you're at the laundromat, use this key." Toadette nodded as Lakitu handed her a key he had received from the host.
"But you have to wish me luck," she replied, leaving Lakitu and exiting the building as fast as she could. Lakitu stepped out, then sat down on the steps of the bank with exhaustion.
23 minutes left
"Where did McHallyboo go?" Peach asked with yawn.
"He's always to and fro, and disappearing before our eyes," said Blooper. "But once you get to know him, you see, he's a really cool guy."
"You're talking as if you've known him for quite a while," said Peach. Luigi lifted himself on top of one of the washing machines and sat down, kicking his feet in the air wildly.
"I can't wait to win," Luigi told the others. "I know that it might not be me, but I want to make it to the end."
"I want to make it further too," Peach told them. "I had to change my suspect ever since Birdo disappeared. I feel so-so about this upcoming execution."
"I feel very confident," said Blooper in a quiet voice. And so they sat there, talking about the most ridiculous subjects. All were tired, having only gotten an hour or two of sleep last night. But they were already used to it.
"The bulletin?" Toadette asked. "There's a bulletin somewhere that has a map." The pink Bob-omb pointed towards the end of the road, and Toadette thanked her and ran off. She wasn't sure how far the laundromat was, but she didn't bother to pace her running as she continued her search.
"The map!" she said with excitement, spotting it in the center of the town. There was a key guide on the left side, and she looked for the town laundromat: Number 32. She located the number on the map, seeing the distance between the building and the location that she was currently at.
Toadette: According to the map and the scale it was a mile away. Being the best athlete in the group left I felt confident enough.
"So let's take this into consideration," Blooper said. "We have to finish washing the clothes before they come here."
"Yes," said Peach. "So?"
"Why won't we be drying them?" continued Blooper. Peach laughed and turned to look at the five machines; 20 minutes left.
"Maybe we'll add more money to the pot if we dry the clothes afterwards," said Blooper. "Or, well, you know, maybe we'll get exemptions."
"That's a strange idea," Luigi said. "Do you think it's true? I don't think so."
"Blooper, you can really come up with the strangest ideas," said Peach with amusement. "Drying the clothes and getting more money? Please, this is a game." He shrugged and looked towards the dryers.
"Oh, crap," said Toadette. "I'm lost." Five minutes after she had left the bulletin to find the laundromat, Toadette realized that she wasn't going the right way. From across the road was a slow-moving carriage, and Toadette ran up to the Bob-omb situated on top of the horse.
"Hello?" she said. "Where's the Sunrise Laundromat, cause I'm hoping if you could tell me or give me a map."
"Hop in," he told her.
"Into the carriage? Will you bring me there?"
"To the laundromat, yes." Toadette grinned with relief as she stepped into the horse-drawn vehicle. Then they left, at a slow rate.
As the machines approached closer to their end time, they began to rumble furiously. Luigi got off from one of the machines and stood back in horror. Blooper headed towards the doors and looked outside for any sign of Lakitu or Toadette. He mumbled something so quiet that even he himself didn't fully pick up on what he said.
"Huh," said Peach. "Seventeen minutes is still going to give the other two a big chance to ruin our game. I didn't even finish breakfast. Did you?"
"I can't wait to win the money," Luigi said. "Knowing that, well, you took a neutralizer Peach, I'm really grateful."
"I forgot what a neutralizer even does," she admitted, laughing at the same time.
"Yes, I forgot too," Blooper said without turning around. "I think it keeps you away from any exemptions."
16 minutes
"I really don't mean to rush," Toadette said while sticking her head out the window, "but can you go faster? I need to catch a train." The Bob-omb cracked his whip, making Toadette jump back with surprise and shock. The horses began to stamp off at a faster gait.
Toadette: The poor horses got whipped! I felt really bad about myself until I realized he had not hit the horses at all, but just made the whip sound to signal them to go faster.
"Yes, I think we're going to a make it!" Luigi shouted. Peach and Blooper did not look as optimistic as him, but felt the same way.
"I would not want to have done this for nothing," said Blooper.
"All we have done so far was retrieve quarters and start the laundry," Peach pointed out. "Was that really a lot? It's as if you know we're going to lose." Blooper raised his eyebrows.
"I...I hope Lakitu and Toadette are okay," he said. "I'm really hungry, because I didn't eat any breakfast either. Gee, how many days has it been since the start of the show? Quite a lot, actually."
Blooper: Maybe this game is trying to trick me. I'm here with four others, and now I need to let them know who I am. And at the same time, I have to make sure that the others are defeated, which would make me the victor. I'm going to be here for a while then.
Lakitu, who was alone and silent on the steps of the bank stood up and yawned. Having navigated the town for over twenty minutes, he felt he knew he had mastered the town locations by heart. He headed towards an arcade store and not only did he find it empty of any people, but as he got closer to the games in the back, he saw a familiar scene before his eyes.
Space Clouds and Spikes, Tic Tac Toe Debt, and Ala Boobie's Twelfth Adventure.
"Ala Boobie's Twelfth Adventure," he said out loud. "That name has got to be a joke." For a short minute he played the old-fashioned game until he reached the palace, the Taj Mahal, at the end of the level. A pixel mushroom character appeared on the screen.
"Thank you AlaMar Boobieio. But the princess is in another castle." Suddenly he remembered where he had played this game; on the ferry boat.
12 minutes
"Okay, movie quotes," said Blooper in a more optimistic mood. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. Where does that come from?" Luigi was clueless, but Peach jumped with the answer.
"Gone with the Wind," she said happily. "Oh, I have one. I'll get you my pretty, and...your dog too! What movie is that?"
"The Wizard of Oz," Blooper said. "This one you'll probably get also. You're gonna need a bigger boat."
"Jaws!" said Luigi. "I heard that when I was at Universal Studios. You know, that Jaws ride. The one with a boat...and the fake shark...no?" The other two confused players only stared at him.
"How about," said Peach, "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you. You'll never get that one."
"Come on," said Blooper. "It's from Yankee Doodle Dandy. Take this quote; yo! Adrian!"
"Oooh, I know this one," said Peach. "Rocky right?" Blooper nodded.
"Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape! Where's that?" continued Blooper. "This one is easy cheesy."
"You are extremely lucky that DK is not here," Peach said with a chuckle.
"I made sure that he wasn't one of the players," Blooper said. Peach looked strangely at him.
"I know this is sad," said Luigi, 'but I have never seen any of these a movies you guys are a talking about." Blooper and Peach laughed at him and with him at the same time, as the laundry got closer to its finish. 10 minutes.
As everyone else was cooling off to entertainment, Toadette was in a rush. The game was about to end and it was up to her.
"Sir, you got to move faster," Toadette said in panic. "Just tell me how far the laundromat is and I'll go the rest of the way through."
"'Tis a shame," he commented, "that you decide to do so. But it's a quarter mile from here now. Down past two roads, into 23rd Boulevard or something, something with 23, and you'll go down left an' keep on going till you see it."
"Thank you," she said. Toadette got out her wallet.
"No pay needed," he said quickly, as she smiled and headed off on foot.
"I'm out of quotes," Blooper realized. "Let's see, how much time on the machines?"
"Nine minutes till we win," said Luigi.
"Till we win," muttered Blooper.
"I am very tired," said Peach. "And bored. No offense, but that quote game made me realize that we really have nothing to do. And what are we doing here? Trying to win the pot money that only one of us would win."
"Hey, at least you have a chance at getting the money," Blooper muttered again.
9 minutes
"Does your guys a...mouths feel bitter?" Luigi said. "Do any of you have water?"
"I do," said Peach, only to realize that she didn't have any water at all.
"Did I tell you guys this before?" Blooper said suddenly. "I'm a videographer."
"A person who uses discs and electro-mechanical devices to record moving images?" Luigi said, who was well-informed of what videography was. "Wow, that's pretty cool!"
"And why are you labeled 'Sea Scavenger'?" asked Peach. "I thought you were a sea explorer, not a scavenger."
"I want them to change it," complained Blooper.
Toadette, who had been given a boost from her period of relaxing in the carriage, ran for a quarter mile in two minutes. She came across a map on the side of a restaurant as she looked for the laundromat.
"Number thirty two," she said, using her finger to locate her direction. It was just around the corner.
"I think that we're going to make it," Blooper said. "From when they come, we'll prevent Lakitu and Toadette from coming inside here. They cannot stop the laundry or else we lose, and so that's up to the three of us to do."
"You want us to lock the doors or something?" Peach said with amusement.
"No," he said. "I will prevent them from doing anything. And you guys will help me."
Peach: Blooper wants to make sure that Toadette and Lakitu don't do anything. But from what I remember from the rules, we would already lose if they just simply arrive here.
Exhausted from her travel, Toadette looked up at the name of the store to see where she was currently standing at: SUNRISE LAUNDROMAT. She took out the key from her pocket and proceeded to unlock the door.
"I'm telling you," said Blooper, "that they'll try and make us lose the money for their own good."
"I hate to disagree," Peach argued.
"Oh yeah? What makes you think that persuasion is always good?"
"Because---"
"Stop!" shouted Toadette, running into the doors of the laundromat to present herself to the three others. She had made it, but the game still wasn't over.
And so four victims are to be doomed, but one of them will succeed over everyone else, even over the Mole. But be assured and promised when I say that Episode 5 will finally end in the next chapter.
Also, if you have ever seen the Mole 2 U.S., then you should know the admiral Bill McDaniel. After his five year contract with NBC, he's finally allowed to publish his own book about his "Mole" experiences. Check it out! It's going to be the Number 1 top seller for 2007, or possibly, 2008.
And so the clues are littered:
The Mole, TRaitor Aboard
The arcade game: Space Clouds and Spikes
Even UP you can see THE MOLE, in Room 801
The bakery's name; La PLUNGERIA
The Peach tart cake is an accustomed dish
Haha, happy New Year to everyone! Best wishes from the Mole. Please review and make me ecstatic:D
Execution comes next, and only leaves four.