It...is here.
The end. The long-awaited end.
I was waiting to receive a few more reviews before concluding this final chapter, but I know I couldn't wait forever xD
Here...after a long time...and yet finally...is the final chapter of The Mole: Agent's Elevation.
I hope you all enjoy this final word :)
Enjoy!
The Finale (End)
The lights seemed to dim down a bit.
"Aww...it is ending?" Bowser Jr. voiced, sounding a little disappointed. McHallyboo nodded. A year of feelings...and an adventure...was all coming to a close.
"I'm a bit sad myself," McHallyboo told them all honestly. Everyone seemed to share his emotion. But the host then turned to Eclair hastily before the others could say anything else.
"Eclair, I know this is the final season ever, but in tradition to the finale, I always ask the Mole: What advice would you give to a future Mole? If not in this series, in another series?" Eclair seemed surprised to be asked the question, but then, after closing her eyes and thinking quietly for a few seconds, she knew her answer.
"Always know that even though you are the Mole...you are still always a good-hearted person deep down. No matter what you think about yourself during or after your role as the mole, despite your actions as the saboteur...know, truly always, that you are still good." The words of the princess echoed in the minds of everyone in the room.
"Of course," Zess said gently, reaching over and giving Eclair a pat on her arm. The old lady smiled and the princess smiled back.
"To any of the earlier executed contestants: what would you do differently if you could play the game a second time?" McHallyboo asked. Flurrie chuckled softly.
"Trust my instincts more," Flurrie answered. "For little clues and feelings pointed me to the Mole, but I didn't listen to them strongly enough."
"NOT cheat," Bowser Jr said, as everyone laughed, remembering his tempted incident. "It doesn't go anywhere. I'm intelligent enough; I could have just played using my mind and head only."
"Do you regret taking the bribe, Mimi?" Mchallyboo asked her, "And how HAVE you been using the 50,000 coins money you received?" Mimi gave out a flashing smile.
"I regret it...sike! Said Mimi NEVER!" Mimi laughed. "I'm so happy I took the bribe. And I've used the money half on myself for vacations, and half I gave away to the poor areas of Flipside and Flopside."
"Wow, so you actually donated to charity?" Dry Bones asked, wide-eyed.
"I know: stereotypical cash prize winner answer," Mimi sighed, rolling her eyes. "But I suppose helping others is more rewarding than being original, I suppose. Mimi: one point."
"You've truly grown," Zess told her with a wink. Mimi beamed.
"Snifit: after this is all over, I'm afraid we cannot keep you in this world..." Mchallyboo began, and everyone hushed suddenly into sadness. They would, once again, be saying goodbye to the player forever. Everyone looked at their friend sadly. But he didn't seem upset.
"Oh, that's okay," Snifit spoke acceptingly. "I didn't even expect to have been here for the finale ceremony anyways, to be honest...so truthfully, I'm just thankful for everything."
"WE are thankful...for you," Tiny corrected, and everyone around her nodded. "Especially me, Snifit. Just, thank you for changing my mindset of self-executing myself...and thanks for pushing me to not give up until the very end of the game. I couldn't have made it." She smiled at him.
"You were not just a functioning being, Snifit," Dashell continued, facing him. "You were more than that." Dashell smiled, his face sad but thankful.
"You were our friend," the Pixl said. Snifit nodded with thanks back.
"I'm just still so flabbergasted by Snifit," Dry Bones exclaimed, shaking his head and giving the masked figure a pat on the back, "but you're an awesome one, pal. We'll miss you!" Everyone nodded, happily smiling, though it was of heavy bittersweet emotions. They would be saying goodbye to each other...but to Snifit, it was forever.
"Piantissimo, our grand player...any advice to a future player on how to win?" Piantissimo folded his arms.
"I have no idea which strategies that I did worked and which didn't," he said frankly. "Sometime I had to be ruthlessly greedy and take risks to win, while in other situations, being ruthless had almost cost me the game. And at other times, it was when I took a step back and realized the morality of rightness and wrongness inside me and took good actions that I succeeded." Piantissimo paused.
"To win, you must analyze the situation...and take either that move for yourself, or take that move of righteousness and morality. But when in doubt of which one is right to choose...always take that latter path."
"Never thought I'd hear him say that," McHallyboo voiced, shaking his head with a smile. And then, the lights dimmed once more, but this time, more strongly. As if signifying that it was time to leave.
"So now...do we have to say goodbye?" Dry Bones said, his voice cracking just a tiny bit. And with a single word, McHallyboo confirmed Dry Bones' question.
"Yes."
The farewells and huggings between the players for the next thirty minutes in the lobby were overwhelming. There were many tears and several laughs, but most of all, there was the feeling of happiness and the satisfaction of an unforgettable experience well-played. And for the first time ever, there was a small tear in McHallyboo's eye. The game had been played, and was memorable.
But, it was all done. And all gone.
However, as they left, their memories continued.
Flurrie gave heartfelt open invites to each player for her upcoming stage performances in the future. They would perhaps, once again, see each other someday.
Bowser Jr. laughed, seeing the moon as he walked out of the building. He was just happy to see the real moon again, and he made sure to not take anything for granted anymore.
Mimi folded her arms, disappointed that her personal chauffeur had not arrived yet to pick her up. But after a few seconds, she smiled and calmed down. Some things, like jumping off cliffs, were much worse.
Dry Bones fidgetedly moved in his train seat from excited feelings he received from after the reunion was over. He realized he made a lot of friends...and he hadn't been nervous around them.
Zess looked with amazement to the ocean from her boat window heading back to Rogueport, realizing that while she was still an older person, there was still so much more of the world left to see and so much adventure left to fulfill.
Dashell, when he arrived home, couldn't help but think about, for a long time after, two people who changed his life and made him change in personality the most, ultimately for the better: a princess from the Waffle Kingdom, and a human named Dashell.
Tiny reached her jungle and made sure to spend her time for several weeks after the reunion with friends and family. De-stressing and vacationing, it was the best way to reward herself from being the runner-up of a game well-played and done: on a tropical island, relaxing, and surrounded by people she enjoyed and loved. They saw her as a winner. But most importantly, she saw herself as one as well.
Piantissimo returned to his quiet farm, content and humbled. He used the money to help his small town, and five years down the road, he would one day become his farm town's very own mayor. A slightly haughty, yet very good one.
Eclair returned to her kingdom, determined to help others more than ever before. She changed policies for her kingdom. She opened schools and facilities. She spent more of her free time helping local shop owners and businesses thrive, teaching others how to make the most divine pastries, and eventually, recipes that would reach other countries around the world. And while she made pastries daily, she also played her role as a princess every day. Given the role of princess from birth, it was a difficult role for her to play. But not as difficult as playing the role of the Mole.
McHallyboo, after three long games and many, many years, decided to relax. The trilogy was over. Looking out at a waterfall land of nature and sky, he was finally, for the first time in a long time, off host mode. He wanted just two things: to rest, but also have the rest of his days be a very smashing time.
As he closed his eyes with a great smile, he felt accomplished...but most of all, finished.
Just like The Mole: Agent's Elevation.
And that...
is...
The End!
Thank you all, so...so...much. Finally, after a long time, I can say...
THAT'S IT!
Do you want bonus trivia?
Yeah? Huh?
Well, here it is then! =) Enjoy!
Bonus Trivia
1) For the 3rd time, "The Jumping Start" is the name of the first chapter of each story in this series, ending with the final chapter name always being, "The Finale's End". Also, "Three Alive" was the name of every chapter before the final three. In this 3rd season however, this name held a special double meaning: since Snifit was an AI, only three players were actually living and alive.
2) Eclair's history of becoming the Mole summed up: McHallyboo traveled the lands with the goal of wanting to find the most pure being he could discover. He wanted to see if even the kindest of souls could play the deceitful part of the Mole: it was his mission to try and research such possibility and effects. He encountered the benevolent princess of the waffle kingdom and asked for her role as the Mole, in exchange for monetary support for her kingdom, but also the publication of an academic research report about Eclair's psyche as the Mole to help with psychological and social science research and studies in the future.
3) Bowser Jr and Piantissimo's friendship was a reference to them both first appearing in Mario Sunshine.
4)When Piantissimo and Bowser Jr. were discussing about Yoshi in Episode 1, Piantissimo talks about how he saw Yoshi during Season 2, when Piantissimo had a cameo appearance in the second eason. Piantissimo says to Bowser Jr: "Oh, well…I saw the Mole…but I didn't interact much with them...It is not like we got into a duel or anything of the sort. We did not talk one sentence with each other, but I'm sure if we did, we would have had a nice conversation with no qualms or antipathy." The funny part is, eventually, Piantissimo and Yoshi did meet at the end of the season...and they indeed had a duel. Their conversation was tense and very much filled with qualms and antipathy.
5) The little toad boy, who appeared in the snowy bus, and also to claim the baseball in the city stadium, was a real person. He was brought in to save energy for the game. In fact, multiple real actors were hired into the game and brought into the building to play as background characters during the entire course of the game, all in the effort to save the building's energy. Another example of a real person was the person in red appearing to look like Snifit, appearing as Mimi was sent out of the building after her bribe execution, to lessen her confusion.
6) If someone else besides Dashell went through the Tent Change in Episode 5, it would have worked as the following for each player:
Zess: She would have transformed into a Young Woman toad in her 20's
Eclair: Transformed into a Poor Woman of lower social status
Snifit: No mask and a constructed face
Piantissimo: Transformed into a Real Pianta
Tiny: Transformed into a Human
7) Some mature themes or jokes were present, for example, Piantissimo's comment of "Dashell previously lacking something before becoming human" when they were in the underwater hotel. Also, when the final three players are transporting to their cliff for their final mission, the description of the odd scene was supposed to be of a womb: they were being reborn again into the series.
8) At the beginning of Episode 7, which two people are talking at the top of the cliff? Not McHallyboo and the Mole. It was McHallyboo...and Snifit.
9) In the Castle Fortress game in the final episode, there was a bowl of green liquid that they had to knock over to win. This is a reference to the real Mole show, where in US Season 1 in one game called The Fortress, they had to protect a bowl of green liquid from being knocked over.
10) At the dinner table in the farm before the intense Burn, Home, Burn game, there were several references to fires and explosions in the family dinner farmhouse, foreshadowing what would be coming later that night of the barns exploding. At the dinner table, Diddy says, "That darn roulette wheel game came out of nowhere…and blasted me right out of the game!". Piantissimo's mother brings to the table a"red-glazed cake resembled a volcano." Eclair's father exclaims, "Heaven's fire!" at one point. Piantissimo's father says the disturbing line, "Your mother's cake…mphmphh….is quite…to die for, really." And in Dixie Kong's final sentence, she says, "I just couldn't turn down this exploding opportunity to see you succeed in this game."
11) Yoshi's attitude was very different in final mission. Was it because he was told to act this way in his Season 3 cameo, or was his joyful, buoyant personality seen throughout Season 2 just an exaggerated ploy because he was the Mole the entire time?
12) To clue you in on the final episode which suspect each player was going for, at the final dinner table, each food that they were specially described as eating was their suspect for the final quiz.
Tiny: Described eating Fettucine, an Italian pasta for Piantissimo
Piantissimo: Described eating a Macaron, for Eclair.
Eclair: She was eating an Eclair... for her herself.
13) Like every story before, the title of this story had a clue pointing to the Mole. In The Mole: Traitor Aboard, Toadette's initials are the first two letters, and in the image logo, T and R were capitalized, standing for Toadette Rytoad. Saboteur's Island was an obvious reference to Yoshi's Island.
In the very name The Mole: Agent's Elevation, the agent being referred to here was not Eclair. The word 'agent' was a reference to Dashell, a sports agent.
Because Eclair had indeed changed his life for the better in the game, she was Dashell's uplifting. Eclair was the agent's elevation.
And now...final notes :)
Author's Last Message
I remember thinking about the idea of a Mario/Mole fanfiction back in 2008, when I was a middle schooler. Who could possibly make a good Mole? How about Toadette...yes, Toadette! Just how good of a Mole Toadette would be! She would be innocent! No one would suspect her.
This was the incipient thought that started me into making this Mario Mole series over ten years ago. From that, I started fabricating and imagining hidden clues that could point to Toadette. I started brainstorming mission ideas, and other characters, and dramatic interactions and talks the players could have. The mystery, The tenseness of the executions. Then I wrote the first chapter of Traitor Aboard.
I started in 2008. And now, it is 2020. Over ten years of time had passed for this trilogy.
I can't even imagine how different my life was back in 2008, 2010, 2012...myself mentally especially. And yet, when I read the stories again, I feel as if my current 2020 self had written them. It's magical how one's expression of imagination can be somehow timeless.
Anyways, I need to express the drive of what had continued me to write over these 12 years. You guys. My reviewers.
Every. Single. Email I got knowing that I received a new review over the past 12 years had sent a small heartstop and butterlies into my stomach. Every time. I cannot even express that little excitement I received each time I read a new review and took in your words. It kept me going. I felt like I was sharing the same world as you guys, which you gracefully chose to share a part of, and we were all in the same mind, thinking about the same story and sharing the same world. It was magical, and fun.
Overall, I can't thank you enough. Many of you became my friends. Heck, I even hosted an online fanfiction Mole game with some of you. Some of you, I had correspondence with throughout my stories by my replies to your reviews at the end of my chapters. Some of you, I had private message chats with. You're all so amazing. And even to those who never reviewed, thank you so much for coming this far. I am so grateful.
And some of you had grown and traveled with me...for YEARS. That is the unbelievable part of it all. You are amazing. Thank you for sharing this with me. I'm sure, in more ways than one since we began years back, we have changed for the better.
Anyways, needless to say, the Mole series is amazing. You NEED to watch at least one season of the Mole. I recommend either three: The Mole US 1, The Mole US 2, or The Mole UK 2. They are all on Youtube I believe. The Australian seasons were great too and I'd maybe recommend the best as either Aus 3, 4, or 5. If you really want to get personal, I filmed an entire 7-episode game of the Mole at my college as a university student back in 2013. It's called, "The Mole: Rutger's Edition".
Anyways, officially, I will close this trilogy. The Mario Mole series , after 12 years, is officially over. And it couldn't have even started without all of you. If there is a new beginning, it will be somewhere else.
Thank you all, so, so much.
-krisetchers
(If you want to keep in touch, my Facebook name is Kafu Kristian Shoda. My instagram is kaf_ukulele! Send me a message saying you're from Fanfiction! :) )
