EPISODE 6!
Apology at the end of this chapter for being so later on hiatus, lol. T_T
Anyways, enjoy : )
EPISODE 6
"Five people remain," McHallyboo spoke, taking a breath. "We are at the halfway point, are we not?" The Mole looked down at the shell they were holding.
"Well, I suppose it is slightly harder now to stay under cover," the Mole replied, looking out at the ocean with a bit of a sad smile. "But...never the less...I am ready for the challenge."
"Good," the host said. His feelings were positive at the Mole's words. "We'll be going somewhere bottomless tonight. Deeper than the game has ever been before."
"Oh?" The Mole seemed interested.
"Only if you are able to do your mission," McHallyboo reminded the Mole. He or she nodded.
"You'll also make a crucial action this episode...completely up to you...that will change the course of this entire game," McHallyboo said slowly. With a small look of apprehension but confidence, the Mole nodded.
"I will not let you down. Not at this stage."
Who is...the Mole?
PLAYER: Dashell
Surname: Knot
Birthday: September 23
Occupation: Sports Agent
PLAYER: Eclair
Surname: Choux
Birthday: June 30
Occupation: Patron/Pastry Maker
PLAYER: Il
Surname: Piantissimo
Birthday: January 5
Occupation: Competitive Athlete
PLAYER: Snifit
Surname: Incognoto
Birthday: December 2
Occupation: Police Officer
PLAYER: Tiny
Surname: Kong
Birthday: October 20
Occupatioon: Retail Manager
The game was down to five people.
Tiny Kong took a stretched out, uncertain breath as she finished packing her belongings within the inn's room. Knowing that the game was starting its sixth round of mental torture, she had two feelings: excitement for being alive, but unprepared dread for the episode to come in store.
Tiny: When Zess faced the red screen last night, I was like..."What? No way". She was my top Mole suspect. Now I'm stuck in...suspect limbo. Did I like this feeling? No.
"I swear, now I'm down to a new list," Tiny groaned. "I might as well start an entirely new journal." She picked up her journal with her left hand. Eclair sensed her frustration.
"Useless," she sighed. As Tiny sat down with contemplation, Eclair turned to the window, remembering Zess in a different way.
Eclair: If Zess had not given me the +1...perhaps I would not have been here. Thank you...and may I play in your honor from now on.
"I wonder who she had chosen as the Mole," Eclair thought to herself.
"I wonder if she voted for someone ridiculous as the Mole," Tiny began. "I mean, I guess I became a bigger suspect from that Lie Detector game...did she vote for me?"
Tiny: Ever since that lie detector moment, I felt that people began looking at me as a possible Mole. But honestly, whatever. I can live with that.
"If I had gotten to her closer...perhaps I would have known," Eclair said resolutely. As Eclair turned to prepare her bag for Episode 6, Tiny's eyes couldn't help but glance over at the bed: Eclair had just written something into her notebook, and her back was turned.
"Huh...?" Tiny's heart thumped. Tiny saw two words in Eclair's open notebook that made her eyes widen with surprise:
Dashell- Number 1.
"Dashell?" Tiny uttered with confusion, as Eclair suddenly turned around.
"I will miss her," Eclair said. Tiny, in a quick movement, immediately averted her eyes.
"Yeah...I think so...too." Tiny gave a little laugh, as if trying to shake off her whole spy work. She turned to Eclair's journal, now closed. Her eyes seemed intrigued.
Tiny: I didn't get it. What did she mean in her journal? Her Number 1 favorite person was Dashell? Little things like these can help me understand the perspectives of the other players better...
"I would like to make peace with one of the players left in this game..." Eclair said, "and see if I can either begin things or end things with him." Tiny looked at Eclair with realization.
"Well..." Tiny Kong spoke, picking up her bag from her bed. "It's the final five. This is the time to confront our fears." When she faced her roommate, Eclair's face was still apprehensive
"But Tiny...who is the Mole?" Eclair asked with worry. "It is bothering me that...certain people I may trust may be it." Tiny faced her with understanding pain, and looked down.
"It's...bothering me too," Tiny nodded. "I didn't think it'd be this hard to decide."
Tiny: All of us...we're all capable of being the Mole. The males, Dashell, Piantissimo, and Snifit, are each powerful people in some way. Eclair and I...we're the only two females left among a group of powering males, and that's something that might not last long. One of us might be left alone to fend for ourself.
"I guess at this stage, with such few players left," Tiny shrugged with apprehension, "We must choose who to trust carefully, right?"
"Or to trust anyone at all," Eclair said, looking down. The two females nodded together.
Tiny: No one said this was going to be easy. All I know is that I'll be trying to survive till the end...no matter how many lie detector chairs I'll have to face.
Eclair: The identity of the Mole will be a mystery until the end of this game. And until then, some of us have to face the torture...that perhaps the ones that are trying to deceive us...are the ones we might be closest to the most.
Dashell and Snifit exited their room, bags in hand, as they proceeded to the end of the hallway. With the new formed elevator and McHallyboo waiting downstairs, they travelled together to their next location. Both of them, still alive at this stage of the game, walked with reflection. They were final players in the dwindled five remaining.
Snifit: To think that there's only five players left and the Mole still walks among us...yikes.
Dashell: Honestly, at this stage of the game, if you don't know who the Mole is and you're still here...you're not staying for long. And that's why I fear for myself.
"Episode 6? I didn't think I'd reach it." Dashell voiced, looking straight ahead at the end of the hallway as the two of them continued on their feet.
"Yep," Snifit spoke, shuffling beside him, his bag heavy. "Me neither."
"That's because you've had three exemptions and a free pass back into this game," Dashell chuckled to Snifit. "That, or you're either smart. And brave for all your risky exemption findings." Snifit, after a sudden pause, shook his head.
"I'm not...smart...or brave," Snifit talked with realization and truth. "I chickened out." Then, Snifit looked down at the carpet ground.
"I'm not brave at all," the fellow in red replied, as if talking to himself. "I don't know why I'm here. I already left the game." Dashell, his mood suddenly changing, suddenly stopped walking as well. His face was hit with melancholy.
"I would have expected other people to be here besides me...like the intelligent Bowser Jr...or even Zess...but, well, here we are instead," Dashell sighed.
"The final five. I...don't know why I'm here either." Dashell paused to fix his shoes; not knowing how to tie them correctly, it was his third time for the morning that he had to stop to do so.
Dashell: As if this game wasn't hard enough...I have to learn simple things all over again. Like how to tie my shoes. Life is just funny like that. Always full of new surprises. Just like this game, too.
"It's glad to be alive and living right now, though," Snifit said bluntly. Dashell gave him a funny look.
"Yes, it is a great thing," Dashell said, as they turned a corner and got the chance to look into the hotel hallway mirror. Dashell took the time to admire his blonde hair, and with another second of appreciation, he took into notice his well-fitted clothes.
He smiled. "And I'm glad I'm human too."
"Hmm..." Snifit murmured, not looking up at him. But it was a murmur of dissent, as Dashell noticed it.
"Last night in the chair...I don't know what was up with that last question, Snifit," Dashell said with perplexed eyes. "It said I was lying, but...I have no idea why it said that."
Snifit: But do our attitudes really align with our hearts? Do they?
"I was telling the truth!" Dashell finished. Snifit seemed like he was going to say something, but stopped, and remained quiet. Dashell continued.
"At least I was able to sabotage in the process by getting that question wrong. And look more like the agent. It's all about trying to look like the Mole at this point, right?" Dashell laughed a little, and then faced Snifit with a new question.
"So, who do you think is the Mole, Snifit? There's only so few of us left," Dashell realized, turning to the player beside him. Snifit returned his look.
"You don't think I'm the Mole, do you?" Dashell asked him, his grin showing. Snifit didn't look up at him when he replied.
"Anyone could be the Mole," Snifit told him in a neutral voice, but he said it with a strong look. "I could be the Mole. You could be the Mole." Dashell nodded.
"Yes...yes indeed." As they reached the stairs to the next floor, Dashell took a breath with interesting thought.
"This episode, I could indeed be the Mole."
"No clue on where we are going next?" Piantissimo asked, in attempt to pry information from the host. "That is absurd." The host, leaning against the door of the elevator, shook his head with a smile.
Piantissimo: Being in the final five myself, I think I have to play the game a little more careful. There's just so little players left. So as easy as it is to trick the others...it's easy to get tricked yourself.
"Well, why aren't we going yet?" Tiny asked with confusion, as the host at the elevator's entrance spoke.
"Because I wanted to congratulate you all for making it to this stage," the host told all five of them. "Five players. The numbers have dwindled to just half of you. Now...it's twice as easy to find the Mole." With agreement, they all faced him uneasily.
"But just who is it?" The players became silent at the host's question.
"Could it be a cool, laidback player...someone who is talking every step in this game with a new image...?" McHallyboo wondered. "A player like...Dashell Knot?" The track runner looked back, lost in words.
"Me?" Dashell stated, giving off a funny look.
"Always changing in this game, is it him? Does his mix of human and Pixl also contain that mix of something more sinister...the mix of espionage? Only time will tell." Dashell only looked back at the host with a raised eyebrow.
"Or how about a princess?" McHallyboo began, as everyone turned to Eclair. "Brought from a far away land, to perhaps just sabotage this game? A ruler of ruin among you?" The princess was taken back, but never the less, she bowed respectfully to the host's words.
"It may well be," she replied.
"Or maybe it's a player who's already hiding another identity," McHallyboo began, turning to Snifit as he became alert at the host's words. "Could someone, who was eliminated from the game but brought back, still be the Mole?"
"Maybe." Snifit didn't say anything else, and subconsciously, his feet seemed to shuffle himself just a little off from the others. The host had targetted him.
"How about a player who displays the best of arrogance," the host continued, turning to Piantissimo, "but might also be the very agent? A little show-offy for a Mole, though."
"Huh." With a little ridiculing scoff, Piantissimo just folded his arms.
"And Tiny Kong," McHallyboo finished, as it was her turn to look at the host. "You're so innocent in this game. You're a blameless player, right?"
"Umm...mostly?" Tiny replied, laughing a bit. But she was uneasy at the host's accusing words.
"But just why didn't you clear your innocence as the Mole in the chair last episode? That just makes you a suspect as well." With a silent stare and at a loss for words, Tiny only nodded slowly. The host then turned away.
"There's five of you. All suspicious. But just one of you is it. Who will be that player to be finally revealed as the agent of this game?" McHallyboo paused.
"One of you five players...is the Mole." Without thinking, all five of their eyes subtly turned to each other slowly one by one. It was the truth: the agent still remained as one of them.
Piantissimo: Dashell, Eclair, Snifit, Tiny, and me. One of us was the Mole.
"Well, shall we get started? Enter the elevator, please. A new destination awaits...if you can reach its surface." And one by one, with McHallyboo's instructions, they all entered the inside of the elevator for the adventures to come.
They were ascending, and rising physically from the ground even more. No one knew where they would end up next...except for McHallyboo and the Mole.
Dashell: Every world was a surprise. Just what was in store for us next in this building?
"The next world is already formed," McHallyboo informed them, among the humming of the elevator.
"I wonder what the 'next world' is," Dashell voiced. "We've been almost everywhere."
"There's still a bunch of places which we haven't explored," Snifit pointed out. "You see-"
Drip! Suddenly, a single drop of water hit the floor of the elevator. All five players stopped talking, as if in a trance from the very formation of water which had materialized within the elevator. Slowly, they all turned to each other.
"Huh?" Another drop hit the top of Snifit's head, as he looked up with perplexity.
"What's...going on?" Eclair asked, and she faced fearfully above her. Suddenly, it was almost as if the elevator ceiling began to dampen, as if soaked with water that was pushing on its other side. The ceiling began to slowly cave inwards, and the players feared for the worst.
"Oh no..." McHallyboo was the only person in the elevator with a smile.
And then, the drops began arriving. Superfluous in count, all the players began to duck and cover their heads at the amount of water that suddenly began to flow from the elevator's ceiling. They all shouted with shock, as it suddenly began to pour water in streams and buckets. The little square that all six of them were in was flooding.
Tiny: It was streams of water coming from the ceiling of the elevator. Filling up our breathing space. It was a nightmare come true, and we weren't even in the other world yet.
It seemed that the only person who was unaffected by the sudden submergence of water that the group was going through was McHallyboo, as all five players tried to scramble to safety in the enclosed space. The elevator was, within seconds, halfway filled with water.
Snifit: We all thought we were going to drown. And then, the doors opened.
All of a sudden, a release of pressure resulted as the water poured out of the elevator, and it took a few moments for the players to stand up from their soaked statuses. The water had emptied out.
But It was all forgotten in an instant, as they took into view their next sight to witness.
Dashell: Were we...floating?
It was a watery blue, as they looked around with stunned eyes and soaked clothes.
"Are we...in...in the middle of the ocean?!" Tiny explained, her mind overwhelmed. She laughed, though her mind filled with awe and disbelief.
Tiny: When we were told we were travelling to another world...I expected at least LAND, however.
"Did we rise through the ocean?" Piantissimo question with perplexity. "This is simply not normal!" He stuck his head out of the box even more.
"Is our elevator all right?" Piantissimo continued, trying to peer at the ouside of the metal container. Indeed, their elevator now had supernatural qualities: it was fixed right on the surface of water and was positioned snugly on the top of the ocean, like a floating mechanical boat. As they just stood there, small waves still caused their feet to get wet, entering into the interior of the box with each small wave from the sea
"Quite a sight, right?" McHallyboo spoke from the back of the elevator, as they turned around. Taken by the odd surroundings, they almost forgot he was there. He seemed overall unaffected, and not even his hat was wet.
"This is unimaginable," Eclair said, as she dipped her hand into the water in front of her.
"It is...real ocean water," she commented. "The temperature is...perfect."
"Umm, are we going to play an entire episode on water then?" Tiny asked, a little doubtful at their environment as she stepped back from the seeping water that was entering the elevator. "Because I don't know how we're going to even...traverse anything. Unless we were a blooper."
"I can't swim," Snifit admitted meekly. Dashell looked at his own arms.
"And...if I can't tie my shoes, I don't think I can utilize these arms either," the human couldn't help but add.
"Well, no worries," McHallyboo laughed, shaking his head. "I have something to present to you all." And then he pointed into the distance of the sea, as the players turned to look.
"That's why we have the S.S. Reward," McHallyboo announced, his eyes sparkling. "All aboard." And in their distance into view, the players saw something with wonder. In the horizon beyond their eyes, all five of them saw mass of wooden material come into view, floating silently to their insignificant existence in the large and supernatural ocean. Grand in size, they could only watch the boat of large proportions sail towards them, as if inviting them into the next game that was in store.
"What a choice this boat was."
"Careful," McHallyboo said, as he helped the last player onto the boat. The ship rocked back and forth, and they were indeed in the middle of the sea. They had all made it aboard the wooden vessel, and awaited the next words of the host.
Piantissimo: We had been brought onto a ship in the ocean. And as great of a view it was, I admit...we knew that in this game, a crazy challenge was always waiting. We had to be ready for it, whether we were or not.
"I'd like to introduce the first game," McHallyboo began right away, as everyone immediately turned their attention to him.
"How do we play?" Dashell said, peering around the top of the ship. The top of the boat was bare, but still a view of beauty and various mechanisms that were mostly foreign to them.
"This game is called, 'Destination Sail," the host informed all of them. "Sail this ship to its destination...and 30,000 coins is yours."
"Money indeed!" The clapping aboard the ship was heard, as they were immediately excited by the large sum of potential money. It was a value worth playing for.
"If you get this boat to that location in time...before the sun sets..." McHallyboo told them all, pointing somewhere undetermined in the distance, "then 30,000 coins will be won."
Snifit: The premise sounded exciting, but it was the logistics and rules I was a bit worried of.
Piantissimo: As soon as I heard the rules of the game, I had a gut feeling this would be a teamwork game...not my forte.
"This gigantic ship?" Eclair sounded, amazed. "This will be...memorable for us." Everyone looked astounded, looking at the vast boat they were all aboard. The ship was now theirs.
"You'll be split into different parts of the boat, and it'll be up to you five to work together to sail away," McHallyboo said with a little smile. The players nodded, ready for their roles.
"Two of you will be on the deck, in control of the ship." McHallyboo spread his arm back behind them, and they all saw the rusty wood of circle, currently unoccupied.
"One of you will be captain, and one of you will be the quarter master," McHallyboo elaborated. "You'll be standing...there." He pointed to the front of the ship, and there was the steering wheel of the ship. They all saw that next to the wheel was something else that didn't belong in an old-fashioned world of sea: a TV monitor.
"A navigator right below this floor will have a map," McHallyboo continued, and pointed to the TV monitor besides the wheel. "The navigator can only communicate through a silent monitor. They cannot mouth words."
"So the navigator has to give silent directions through a TV monitor, on which way the captains have to sail?" Dashell questioned.
"Like charades," McHallyboo clarified. "The captain and the quarter-master must be guided by charades. The two of them themselves have no idea where to sail."
"Great," Tiny commented sarcastically. She looked at the others.
Tiny: I could see the Mole trying to sabotage the encoding or decoding of the communication...and just from my visual prediction, I could just tell that SOMETHING would go wrong. I had to take that role, to prevent anyone from possibly sabotaging it.
"The last two roles is the Ship Carpenter, who is responsible for keeping wood together on this boat," McHallyboo said, a little mysteriously that made the other players wonder. "And...a cabin boy. The lowest rank of all." The players chuckled a bit, wondering who would take that role.
"But the cabin boy won't begin on this boat," McHallyboo began, as everyone turned with wonder to the host.
"Cabin boys have a notoriety for becoming members of a ship by becoming kidnapped," McHallyboo spoke with history. "So your job...will have to be to pick up the cabin boy before reaching your destination." Everyone nodded slowly.
"So...how do we lose?" Piantissimo began. "Like, we have a time limit to the destination, I suppose?"
"Either you don't make it under the hour time limit," McHallyboo began, "or, your boat sinks." All five players, at the host's sentence, had a sinking feeling as well hit them each.
Snifit: I think we were all wondering: if this ship could sink, then our path to our final destination would not be an easy one.
"Well, let's assign the roles of the S.S. Reward, shall we?" McHallyboo began with a wide grin. "I need the Captain, and the Quarter Master. The quarter master will be the decipherer of directions...while the captain will be the one actually steering the wheel of the ship." Almost immediately, Dashell and Piantissimo raised their hands simultaneously.
"I'm a good captain," Dashell began, a voice that showed an excessive amount of confidence. "I'll take the captain role. What do you guys think?" All the others, except Piantissimo, seemed to nod with agreement at the self-assured human.
Piantissimo: He is human, so he is suddenly better than most of us...all right. I let him please himself with the notion.
"Well, if Dashell takes captain, I will be the second captain," Piantissimo stated to the host. "The quarter master, it is."
"All right," McHallyboo said, and he got two similar looking hats from a box behind him. One with a dollar sign, he handed it to Piantissimo. Another hat, looking more professional and holding a symbol of a jewel, was given to Dashell.
"Put them on," McHallyboo said with a grin. "You need to look the parts." Both appearing of captain-worthy status, the other players could only smile with admiration at their appearance.
"You look like a real captain," Eclair said with a little smile to Dashell. "Please...guide our ship well." Dashell gave a surprised look to Eclair.
Dashell: It was the first words she said to me directly since the Lie Detector game...and I don't know why I remember that.
"Next: the navigator role?" McHallyboo began, as the three remaining players turned to each other. After a second of hesitation, Tiny Kong seemed to step forwards from the remaining players, a display of new confidence in her eyes.
"I think I should do it," Tiny Kong immediately said with an additional raise of her hand. "I can be a good navigator when it comes to times under pressure." Both Eclair and Snifit nodded.
Tiny: I sort of suspected Snifit as a possible Mole, so I volunteered for the part of the navigator before he could do it. I think I had a better chance of navigation than him, anyway. I was already prepared to take the leadership role of this challenge.
"Then Tiny, the navigator, it is," McHallyboo began. It was down to the two last players, as Snifit and Eclair faced each other.
"I'll be the cabin boy," Snifit immediately volunteered, much to McHallyboo's surprise. "I feel like you can all steer a ship better than me, everyone else. So I will stay off the ship."
Snifit: I just didn't want to be blamed. If the boat sank or something. Good to stay out of the drama...for at least the second half of the voyage.
The host nodded, as Eclair turned to Snifit.
"Then I will take the role of carpenter then," Eclair concluded. "Though, I cannot say I have any experience with carpentry, I will try my best."
Eclair: You do not usually see a princess with a hammer...but let me tell you that I can probably use it as well as the next burly man on board. Princesses are dainty, but we can do hard work too.
Everyone seemed content. And with that, the roles of each of them for their sail to victory were chosen.
On a plank of wood, the roles of the five players were nailed upon the wooden mast of the flag. Together, they would have to guide a ship to its final destination,
ROLES OF THE S.S. REWARD
Captain: Dashell
Quarter Master: Piantissimo
Navigator: Tiny Kong
Sea Carpenter: Eclair
Cabin Boy: Snifit
"Before you guys begin your ship sail...one last thing!" Everyone turned to McHallyboo.
"You must first form a way to communicate with...these..." The players watched as McHallyboo took out a set of five flags from the wooden create behind him, displaying the arrangement of colors to the players: red, yellow, blue, white, and black.
"You have five flags to talk to each other, without opening your mouth," McHallyboo concluded. "Please form a mode of communication with these flags." McHallyboo began his timer, and the players faced the colors before them.
Snifit: We had to create a code for the flags...but just how? And what code?
"So a charades method to use these flags?" Piantissimo began. "How about semaphore?"
"But not everyone knows semaphore," Snifit pointed out. Dashell grabbed the flag with his hands: Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and White.
"Five flags..." Dashell began. His eyes suddenly seemed to light up.
"Easy: we split these five flags into parts of the alphabet," Dashell said, his face brightening up. "We make red responsible for the first five or so letters...and then blue next, starting at like F...then so on.."
"So are you saying," Eclair began, understanding Dashell, "that waving red three times means the letter C? And waving the blue flag once is the letter F? And-"
"Yep!" Dashell almost jumped up with excitement at Eclair's understanding. They both smiled.
"So we'll make each flag color take five letters of the alphabet? In the order of Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and White?" Piantissimo questioned. Dashell nodded.
"I get it too," Snifit added. "I think this could work."
"Wait...I don't get it," Tiny began, as Dashell turned to her.
"It's just way too convoluted with these letters" Tiny told him, a little hesitant. "Shouldn't we form a more reasonable and simple way of communicating?"
Dashell: It was crucial that Tiny Kong understood how the navigation system worked. She was the navigator, so we had to make sure we all got it.
Snifit: I didn't think the letter system was hard to understand. Most of us seemed okay with it. It sounded like Tiny was stalling for time.
"How about we split the flags first into different nouns, verbs, and adjectives?" Tiny suggested. "Like, before showing the letters, we wave the red flag first to mean that it's a Noun, the blue flag for Adjective, and the Yellow for Verb."
"That might work," Dashell said, turning to everyone else for their opinion.
"Err...wouldn't that be hard to get the words out though?" Snifit began.
"That's true," Eclair agreed. "Adding nouns and adjectives...it may be confusing." Dashell nodded.
"I still think we need a formal way of directing left and right, like DIRECTLY," Tiny insisted, still looking irresolute.
Piantissimo: Tiny was the navigator, so I guess she had the last say on how to use the flags. But she needed to remember that we were the flag decoders, and had to understand what she was saying as well. I didn't get what she was saying.
"Thirty seconds," McHallyboo began, as everyone looked panicked towards the host.
"What do you propose?" Piantissimo wondered. She grabbed the red flag.
"We can keep the letter method..." Tiny began. "But...what about, a direct flag point to the left means left," Tiny began, "and a direct point to the right means right?" All the players thought for a second.
"So two methods of communication," Piantissimo said slowly. "Either letter spelling...or direct left-or-right pointing."
"Yeah. Direct flag points, and letters," Tiny concluded.
"Ten seconds," McHallyboo said. Everyone faced each other.
""So we'll be using both methods of communication. Letter spelling, and left-or-right directions." Dashell said quickly. It was the last statement of the communication decision-making, as McHallyboo waved his hands to signal that time was over.
"Time up! No more discussing. I hope you found a solid method of flag communication." The players faced each other, slightly content.
Dashell: In the end, that was our flag system. I thought that having the direct flag pointing, on top with the letter system, was going to assure us that we would be making it to the end. I was pretty cool with it. Let's hope for the best.
Eclair: For some reason, I was not confident in the method of communication the group came up with. It was questionable with having two different methods in communicating. I think they should have simply stuck with one.
"May I just say one thing before you all sail off?" McHallyboo began, as the players turned to him.
"The Mole will do everything they can in their position to make sure the boat doesn't make it to the end," the host said directly and bluntly, as everyone themselves had a small wave of fear come over them. But they were all resolute in confidence.
Piantissimo: We were not going to let the Mole beat us. We were going to sail to victory. That was that.
"Bon voyage," the host whispered, and the ship was indeed to sail.
Dashell and Piantissimo both faced each other, giving each other a thumbs-up. They were the leaders of the ship, and looked off into the ocean's expanse.
Dashell: The two of us just had to cooperate. If we fought, much like we did in a previous shoe store, then the ship wouldn't make it. We had to work together in this game.
On a television monitor beside them, Tiny was present, the flags in her hands. She held them in the air, facing the monitor directly and giving her own set of thumbs-up to the others.
Tiny: In honesty, I wasn't too comfortable with the letter portion of the communication. But we had no room for miscommunication or mess-ups. Whatever I said to Dashell and Piantissimo, they had to understand everything I delivered to them. And I had to do my job as well. I was ready to give it my best.
Eclair, in the bottom floor of the boat and empty in hand, looked above her in uncertainty but hope.
Eclair: Tiny, Dashell, and Piantissimo...the game is in their hands.. They must get over their differences to succeed.
"I'm okay," Snifit spoke from a walkie-talkie, as Tiny Kong held the walkie-talkie up to her ear.
Snifit: I was put somewhere. All I knew was that I wasn't on the boat with the others, and that I was isolated. It was a strange place. But even though most of what I could even see what darkness, I knew where I was because we were in one two episodes ago...I was in a cave.
"You must reach the destination before the sun sets!" McHallyboo boomed from his megaphone, from the back of the ship. He was to stay clear of the sailing of the ship. The game was in the hands of the five players.
"Ready..." It was a lever that Piantissimo pulled, that made the sails of the boat finally come into view. above them The white sheets billowed above them, as both him and Dashell looked at it in awe and excitement.
"Set..." It was a large gust of wind that blew them their first few feet of distance across the ocean, as everyone tried to keep their balance at the sudden lurch of the gigantic vessel.
"Sail!" Dashell, the captain of the boat, let out a shout, as Piantissimo faced the monitor screen that connected to the floor below. Their boat began to move. It was sailing off.
DESTINATION = 10 MILES AWAY
"Tiny! Directions, now!" Tiny, with a second of delay, began waving an empty hand at the television screen with a look of relief and excitement.
Tiny: I could see them. But I couldn't hear them.
"What is she saying?" Piantissimo asked, his face peering at the screen. Looking at the map at her feet, she began her action waving the red flag wildly, in circular motions and wave-like motions, to her left. She was giving her first action of communication.
"Uhh,..red flag," Piantissimo said, trying to multi-task balancing on the boat and deciphering Tiny's movements. "Red flag, raised...five times? The Letter E?" She continued to wave the flag in her left hand.
"Do you think she's spelling out a letter or trying to direct us a way?" Dashell tried to guess, multi-taking in actions himself as he tried to keep the wheel of the ship balanced in the center, moving left and right slowly. He glanced at the screen.
Dashell: All of a sudden, Tiny began waving the red flag to her left side. And we didn't know whether she was trying to spell out a word...or point a direction.
"What...is she trying to say?" Piantissimo voiced. "She waved it three times...the letter C now?" Tiny, still using the red flag to point to her left, slowly went from a face of contentment to a look of desperation and frustration. The ship was yet to move a correct path.
Dashell: Now I realized how ineffective and practically useless it was to have two methods of communication with the flags. We should have just stuck with one.
"Do they...not understand to sail left?" Tiny spoke to herself from the ship's middle floor. Though she couldn't hear them, she could see them well through her own screen.
"They aren't moving the ship at all..." she said with a groan, and she began to realize from their confused faces that her message was unidentifiable.
Tiny: I told Piantissimo and Dashell that if I were to wave one way, that meant that I WASN'T using letters and was just trying to point them in a certain direction.
With a sigh of dissatisfaction, Tiny suddenly picked up the black flag as well and began pointing. Both outstretched arms holding a flag each were being pointed to the left.
"Perhaps she's trying to wave the correct direction," Piantissimo realized. "Maybe she's not spelling anything...?" Dashell, with a confused face more than ever before, just looked at her.
"Or maybe she's..." They then saw Tiny Kong pick up both flags, and use her arms to point directions to her left.
"Oh..." Dashell looked at the screen even harder. "She seems frustrated."
Tiny: I was making it extremely clear that we had to sail the ship to the left. And for some reason...Dashell just didn't get that. Why not?
"She's obviously telling us to go left," Piantissimo moaned, frustrated himself. "She's not trying to spell out any letters. Look at her! Turn left."
Piantissimo: Thought, if she wanted to let us know to sail left, she should have just made a straight, solid point instead of make circular motions with her flag. I do not know why she was making suspicious waves.
"I think..." Dashell realized, taking in Tiny's actions, "...you're right." With a large breath and with no other choice, Dashell made his first steer as he turned the giant ship to the left. The large mass of the boat lurched to the left as the sails were shifted, and everyone stumbled on their feet yet again. The direction of the boat changed.
Dashell: In the end...I realized that maybe we didn't do well of a job at setting our flag communication solidly with one another.
Piantissimo: It took us almost TEN whole minutes to communicate that we had to turn the boat left. Ten minutes, to decipher the word, "Left". Ay caramba.
DESTINATION = 9.95 MILES AWAY
"Why do we screw up our first chance at being leaders, Piantissimo?" Dashell said with eyes of bewilderment, as their ship took its sail off into the distance.
"Do not look at me," Piantissimo scoffed, looking away and folding his arms. "I am not the captain of this boat."
Snifit, in the dim light, could only hear faint music playing from a part of the cave he was in. He heard dripping on his right, echoing through the rocky land that he was placed upon. On his left, a strange song was playing, as he continued to listen it. It was soothing, and Snifit only listened in silence to the tune playing through the caved air.
"Music..." he whispered, engaged in its existence in the cave. Another sound then suddenly erupted, making him jump and almost fall on the slippery stone ground. It was the beeping of the walkie-talkie as he swiftly pressed its answer button.
"Huh...hello?" he answered, a bit unsurely at first. "Tiny?"
"No," the voice replied, echoing through the cave. "It's McHallyboo. Nice to hear you're alive, even in water." Snifit suddenly froze, as he gulped before answering again.
"Hi," was his reply.
"How are you, cabin boy?" McHallyboo continued in a nonchalant manner. "Doing good? Waiting for your ship?" Snifit nodded.
"You do know that as a cabin boy, you'll be kidnapped onto a ship and be forced to do the lowest of tasks, right?" McHallyboo told him in a mysterious voice. "That's the cabin boy's job, in case you were unknowledged about nautical history."
"That's...fascinating history," Snifit replied, but he knew that McHallyboo's tone of voice did not bode well.
Snifit: I felt a fake tone in his voice. And boy...was I right.
"Well, you can avoid that fate," McHallyboo said, in his same, ill-omened voice.
"I...can?" Snifit uttered, as he heard McHallyboo take a pause.
"Of course. When you get on the boat...you must explode the boat. Win, and send everyone to the bottom of the ocean for me. And a wonderful treasure you'll get if you succeed."
And the ship sails off! Just what do the roles of each of the players truly entail? How will the sail be?! What does Snifit's role actually entail? Will the players sail to victory?
Thanks so much for your reviews for the end of Episode 5 guys! It means SO much to me! I'm so happy to have awesome people like you just...support to the end. OKAY SO YES, MY WORDS TO EACH OF YOU INDIVIDUALLY!
Vivalahomestar: You ask a question, you get an answer! This is my answer: each season has its own such unique dynamic of characters that they're almost each in a different world. Looking back at each season, this is how I view each group. Traitor Aboard: A group of individuals who began off as clueless of each other but generally began to get along. Saboteur's Island: A group of players who started off good, and grew to appreciate each other but never lost that competitiveness. This season...it's a bit of both. Some players have bonded more than ever before, while some players truly hate each other. They're all EQUALLY equal, but if I were forced to pick a favorite cast... I want to say this season. I've really explored the interactions of the characters to more than ever before. Each player is almost connected to every other player in some certain way, and everyone has their scale from 1 through 10 of how much they know and like each other. I'd probably choose Saboteur's Island second: becoming a better writer after my first one, I was actually able to build some solid characteristics within that season. I liked Vivian going from an inferiority complex to a winner, Diddy being the group's leader but being executed earlier on than expected, and Wario's inner conflicts of beginning to like the game. Not to mention Yoshi's subtle tricky side, showing out subliminally at times. Other than that, yes : ) though looking back at Traitor Aboard, I absolutely love the final 6 and look at them as a compact pact! I really liked the contrast between Blooper's, Lakitu's, and Luigi's personalities. Birdo was awesome too. felt bad that I couldn't develop the first three victims enough for Season 1.. And I guess I can truly answer this question once. Anyways, sorry for the ridiculously long answer!
Princess Toady: Haha! I loved your, "Oh, that was explained! Moving on..." Indeed, I actually almost intentionally laid out the chapter that way, in that Snifit's skip wasn't acknowledged at first. I wanted to see which readers would notice it beforehand since it was revealed later. Yay, a good eye to ya ; D Oh, the notes by the Mole! Aren't they important? And yes, I almost did seem to forget that Eclair was back at 0 advantage, so her reaction to McHallyboo saying she has a Plus 1 might have been more like, "Umm...okay, I still DONT have an advantage at all, but whatever McHallyboo." Oh my gosh. Language Barrier! It took me a second to get that, but oh my gosh. We were so sneaky on that. Haha. Good memories. Yus : D
sixthsense6: Ah, I know that feeling too well! Of a Number 1 suspect leaving the game. I can't explain how terrible I was at Season 5 of the US Mole. Liz was my number 1 suspect, BAM, not even past Episode 2. Bobby, BAM, gone at Episode 3. But how are you to ever know sometimes? I'm happy Zess was your suspect actually! A lot of the actual Mole seasons, old ladies are suspected, and I wanted to see how the character dynamic would work in this story. Oh, and did you like the reference I included when Zess was spiraling in the vortex? Hehe ; )
NintendoMLP: Gah, favorite fanfiction author? Aww, thanks! -dies from compliment- Initially early on I just included those dialogue scenes for filler space between missions, but then...I realized they are so much more important than that. You mentioning that Yoshi and Birdo are different species and their relationship going, ah haha! So true. They are sort of in dinosaur shape...but yes, different species indeed. Zess' speech, I liked it too! And hehe, you can say that this episode was a bit of ship between the two lovebird...current humans? Anyways, I really like the way your reviews are formatted, because there are a lot of thoughts to read and reflect on that you wrote! : )
Moley Koopa: Ooh, self-execution! What a theory. I will divulge to you and say that Zess did not actually self-execute, but yes, I like your thinking! I'm surprised I haven't really had a player in my series intentionally or subconsciously eliminate themselves yet. I guess they all like the game and its competetiveness too much, haha. And the chain reaction with Snifit coming back, yes! It really is a thing to think about, isn't it?
Guest: You check...every...day? I'm gonna cry...that's the nicest thing someone's ever said to me before. Yes, I'm like, half-crying. You're awesome too : 'D I can't hide my tears. I can also say that Zess being gone also makes me cry, because she had so much potential and was full of old-age enthusiasm! I'm sad she's gone, but I'm happy in turn it narrowed down your suspects! Hehe. Also, I believe your list of suspects didn't appear, like last time, but let's blame the site for that because fanfiction just doesn't like certain keyboard characters haha -.- Aww, and the end of your review...saying you can wait because college is important...NO, THE TEARS! I CAN'T! I'M BACKKK!
Luigenius: Wow! To hear that from the Luigenius sends shivers down my spine! (lol you're ranked in my head as one of the most vigilant and observant reviewers ever!) so gah, that's good and scary stuff to hear! : D but please, tell me our discovering sometime soon in a review! Or drop hints to them! Pleaaase! Anyways, do you know how curious your review had made me? Hehe. Anyways, a GREAT honor to see you again!
Fanfict1315125: Ah, and away the Zess goes because of her good actions! Isn't that just so brave-willed of her to give away her Plus 1, and it may have cost her place in the game? And I hope you like the new journal entry! Haha I tried to out a little twist of cool design into it.
FireKai: Clues ahoy! Just to put everything into view, this season has just as many clues at the previous seasons : ) also it's funny looking back at Season 1 Traitor Aboard's clues and seeing how obvious some of those clues were. For example, I would have never put a clue in this 3rd season that was similar to the Numbers spelling, "Toadette". That is way too risky and I cant believe I put something like that in Season 1 xD.
Shilo Burbans: Noo! You can't tease me like that! HOW COULD YOU? Haha, it's fine, and awesome to see you again? xD Teasing, by the way, in terms of having a big suspect and just not telling me who it is. But yes, I must say that you're right in that the Mole has cost a crapload of money from the pot, and will from now on. And you're, "NOOOO" in the beginning, I can hear that scream happening in real life when a player is executed, and it gives me shivers. Well done!
PaloozaChu: Ahah, pun included and intended. I love that ;) also, am I just dumb and not getting the Super High School levels reference? Is that somethin I should know? Why am I so unaware right now to your references?! Maybe I'll discover it in your next review, hehe. Also, Im yet to use Hally-Sensei as a nickname in my story! When it comes, I hope you enjoy it as a reference to you! Haha. Cause I totally suck at references.
DavM: Good eye! First of all, in reference to the clues. It's clues that will help you solve the Mole. So I congratulate you on your acuteness! Also, thanks for the tip of redundant words! I take criticism like that with a good heart. Means a lot and I'll def. keep a lookout for those for better writing tips!
PJCanada: Hey hey hey! GOSH DARN. Now I hope I didn't disappoint you with another update delay T_T Just when you come back. I completely missed your existence! Thanks for catching up! Your analyses on each of the final five players is tremendous. It makes me think of them in new light perspectives MYSELF. You also got a lot of things spot-on. Dashell does seem to have that winning factor in him, Mole or not. Your suspicions on Tiny and Piantissimo hold great water, and you aren't the only one who can't place a Snifit finger. Ah, but overall I'm just too glad to see your name! I truly am! Ergh, I hope I didnt let you down with this other late update! T_T Ah...I feel the tears of shame...sigh. -cries into Episode 6's ocean as the players sail across it-
FredtheMontyMole: "leaving probably the five most suspicious contestants left of the whole bunch". LOL. You got me on that. Now you know how I work my stories, leaving the final five of most suspicious to fend for themselves and to be forever suspected by the readers. Your mention of "producers" and how you forget it's a story makes me grin evilly. Maybe producers are telling me what to write in this season? Hur hur. Also, your last blurb...wow. Like WOW. I would pay to watch an entire drama series on that.
AdmiralBobbery: Is it bad to say that your first paragraph made me roll on the floor laughing? No kidding, I felt the love and the hate in one rolled up paragraph, haha! So for that, I compliment you. Isn't this new episode funny though? It's almost like a hybrid of your favorite past players' worlds: Blooper and Bobbery! Blooper on the ocean terms, and Bobbery because of the nautical presence of the ship (and the entire challenge in general). Also, to know that you predicted every single elimination after Bobbery last season gives me mega chills and awe D: that's both incredible and frightening! I bow down to you though, haha. Anyways, ah, always a pleasure talking to you!
Perianth: The forming of Zess' character was one that definitely put me through a loop! I wanted to make her that sour puss, but I just couldn't help but add that spunky grandma side to her. Maybe I was influenced by the Mole characters in real life (e.g. Liz in S5, Kate from S1) and made that lovable yet still reprimanding grandma : ) Your suspect analyzations deserve praise because you go through a lot of details for each character and why they're suspicious! It's also cool to see you compare them to past players, because it gives them different lights as well. Overall, I must admit, I am SO PATHETICALLY behind on the newest Dutch season because I had been trying to catch up on Season 11, 12, and 13, because I'm scared Season 14 has spoilers to the past season! I am so slow, and for that reason, it makes me sad I can't confer with you xD but haha, maybe I'll catch up the next time I update a chapter. I got through Episode 4 of the new Dutch season, but that's about it due to being a loser who got absorbed in the past seasons, haha.
Author XIV: WHERE DO I BEGIN. Your review was AMAZING and thanks for catching up! It's been quite a while since I saw you last, and my, to see that awesome review from you, as well as those awesome episode analyses, just made my heart flutter and it's just...wow. Thanks for all that! Just reading your episode run-throughs gave ME a flashback of each episode (since I had written each of them a few months ago) and it was all a great refreshment. You made me remember fake red herrings I placed and totally forgot about (e.g. the cliff to Zess's birthday, and the 250 coin figurine). The buildup of Dry Bones' character: I MISS HIM TOO! (sometimes I question why I made him so lovable just to execute him). And thanks for saying that Episode 5 was the "getting deep" episode! I really planned for that, and reading back I sometimes smile like a goofball just seeing how the players interacted and how Episode 5 might be MY favorite episode out of all of them so far. Anyways, ah, your words are so awesome! Im so sorry on the delay and it was just tremendous reading your review! : )
Anyways, I would like to apologize INDIVIDUALLY to everyone for going on a small hiatus again! T_T
To make it up for you all, I'm already in the process of writing the next episode part, so I hope I can deliver the rest of the adventures that happen to the players LATER THIS WEEK. Yep, that's right. A two-chapter update in one week. No way.
Anyways, shall we sail to the next chapter?
Bon voyage indeed!