The line to the phone is long, linked along by several prisoners hoping to call someone, anyone. And yet, the people they'd call are out of range or otherwise incapable of doing anything to help. But Victoria knows someone else who can help.

"ID.", asks the bean-shaped guard. Victoria hands him her State ID, which he accepts. "You may enter."

She holds the phone and dials her best friend's number. After a few seconds of ringing, she answers with a sigh of relief, "Hey, Jess."

Jessica can almost be heard jumping up and down in joy as she responds, "Victoria, thank god you're safe! Where are you?"

With an awkward pause, she answers, "In a Gulag set up by the Mad Hunter."

"Did he hurt you?"

Victoria grins and informs her, "No, I'm fine, actually. I suspect he's planning on taking me out soon, with some sort of special event in his game show. But I won't let that happen."

"That's the spirit, Vic!", Jessica exclaims with a proud chuckle. "Oh, by the way, the people from the Hospital got here, safe and sound. I've been taking care of them, and they've set up camp upstairs…"

Victoria's face glows as she hears the good news: "That's wonderful! How are Courtney and Taylor holding up?"

"Well, I actually haven't seen them much. I mean, I spot them around but, at times, they just kinda vanish."

Weird… , Victoria thinks to herself. "Hm. I guess I'll check it out when I get home. Hopefully with a lot more people too." She suddenly realizes what that situation is gonna look like; everyone squished together in this little house in the middle of nowhere. "It's gonna get packed."

Jessica explains, "That's another thing too, uh, the house is… how do I put it: transforming? Like the people upstairs are making new floors."

Victoria's intrigued and she'd love to learn more, but she can see one of the guards tapping on his wristwatch, telling her to speed it up. "Shit, I gotta go soon. Uh, one more thing. Call the Brothers, please get them here, with something that'll get everyone out, please? Something big, preferably."

Jessica laughs, though she's still filled with worry at Victoria's current predicament. "Sure thing, Vic. Get home safe."

Ah, she's mothering me again. Victoria adores that about her, and that tone she takes when she does it too. "I wouldn't want to let you down. Take care."

"You too." And so, Victoria hangs up, a renewed hope in her heart as Phase 1 of The Plan comes along nicely.

Whispers rumble throughout the Gulag, speaking words of revolution. The message drifts through the tongues of the Drifters, delivering Victoria's goal to the other unfortunate prisoners: "Tomorrow, we take flight; plumbed from the arena, brought to safety in the ever growing home. We will move as one, and strike as one. We will batter that Hunter, and show this unreal world our human prowess."

All that can be given, and all that is needed, is an understanding nod of the head for the daring trio - Penny, Hannah, Jacob - to know that the word has been spread. As word travels from prisoner to prisoner, so does hope. Phase 2 is a-go…

But not without complications. Bean-Beings, like the guard at the phone, enter through the front gates of the Gulag, from places unknown, to join in the competition.

Penny walks up to one of them, clad in a pink bodysuit, and asks him, "What are your thoughts on the revolution underway, friend?"

The Bean-Being answers with by waving his arms and softly exclaiming, "Woohooooo!"

Having not known what that was supposed to mean at all, Penny nods his head with a chuckle and a smile. "Yeah?"

With the message loud and clear, it reaches the ears it perhaps shouldn't have gotten to. Nosy Partyboy knows now, and so must the Mad Hunter if he's to stay happy and ahead of the curve.

As he marches along an empty hallway, hurrying to the Hunter, a happy voice echoes into his head: "Heya, sport." Partyboy looks to the source - Father Festivity - as he emerges from around the corner up ahead.

Upon looking at the man's jacket, Partyboy is greatly interested in the patterns it possesses; all those triangles and circles, colorfully illuminated against a black backdrop. The boy remarks, "Where did you get that cool jacket?"

Father Festivity lets out a proud chuckle: "My wife made them for me." He skips along, approaching Partyboy. "I gotta say, your jacket's snazzier!"

"Duh!" Despite the Father's friendly approach, Partyboy is on a mission. He steps along, looking forward to exposing the rebellion.

Suddenly, clad in the same sort of pattern on her jacket too, Mother Merrymaker spins out from around the same corner that the Father came from. "Where are you headed?", she asks, a friendly grin on her face.

Partyboy points down the hall, answering, "I'm going back to work. The Mad Hunter needs to know what I know!"

The Mother chuckles, much to Partyboy's confusion. "Does he really? Seems to me like you'd be better off without the old sourpuss."

The Father adds, "Yeah, you've got what he doesn't: a flair for fun."

Partyboy nods his head before telling the duo, "Thank you. Mr. Hunter's been teaching me everything I need to know about these shows!"

The Father scoffs as he plants a supportive hand on the kid's shoulder. "I dunno, kiddo. That guy, I don't buy him. Ya feel me?"

The Mother plants another hand on his shoulder and adds, "We both think you've learned good enough on your own, kid."

The nodding of Partyboy's head slows down as he looks at the two with a suspicious look in his shifting eyes. "What is this?"

The Mother walks along to face the boy, and she offers him a sincere grin as she states, "You're great at your job is all. And quite frankly, we'd like to help you out here."

"How do I know you're not gonna betray me?"

"That's the last thing either of us would want to do. But that Mad Hunter, we don't trust the cut of his jib. He seems like a one-man show, really.", explains the Mother.

The Father chimes in, "We on the other hand, we really know how to spruce things up. Together, as a crew. Wanna hear our plan?"

After a few seconds of deliberating, Partyboy shrugs his shoulders and answers, "Sure."

Phase 3 comes along…?

The night has faded, and a new day has dawned. beam down onto the colorful course, equipped with hammers, rotors, see-saws, monkey bars, trap doors and impending rage. But not for the Mad Hunter, as he looks down at the set from a vibrant vantage point. Sipping on some juice, he bares his proud hunter's grin.

Approaching his side are the Father, the Mother, and the Boy; those who were smart enough to know who the winning team is. "Good morning, my lovely captives! Welcome to the show! As you can see, the entertainment is just fuming to tear into each and every one of you! But, if you can make it in, if you can defy the odds and… just survive, you'll earn the greatest prize of all! Life! You will walk away a survivor, while the rest… don't. Fair odds, right?"

Victoria glares at him, resisting the urge to give him the finger, knowing that his cloudy, soulless eyes are on her. The Hunter can sense the rage in her bones; it is an amusing sensation to witness, as he has grown to learn in his years of toying with individuals. Perhaps she once knew the same.

"Once". Weak! , the Hunter ponders. "Let the timer count us down, and then we shall begin!"

3… Victoria takes a deep breath and smiles, taking in the sunlight, ready for battle.

2… The Mad Hunter cracks his knuckles, determined to crush the not-so-secret rebellion that he's gained wind of.

1… One of the Fall Guys looks into a camera, and waves to it. "Woohoooooo!", he exclaims as a message for his family at home.

GO! No hesitation, no surrender.

As a unit, the competitors run side-by-side, dodging deadly machinations determined to rip them to shreds. The pretty colors only mask the brutality of failure. But the runners know that, just by observing the shaky and careful nature of the Bean Beings, they will not be destroyed by it.

While they were expecting wily machines - and have done a fine job surviving them as is - they most certainly weren't counting on arrows being thrown into the mix. Or rather, fired by the Mad Hunter's hand.

As an arrow narrowly avoids striking Victoria, she can only throw her arms up in the air and shout, "Come on!" Fortunately, there is cover to hide behind, a highly visible shooter, and a mass of targets for him to focus on.

The Mad Hunter can only laugh as he sees the rage boiling in Victoria, as well as the futility in it. She can't save everyone, and he just wants her to know that before he puts one right between her eyes.

But before he can start spilling blood, he feels a tug on his cloak. Partyboy asks, "Can I get a try?"

"Sure!", he says with his toothy grin. The Hunter hands him the bow, and lets the boy take it into his hands.

Partyboy takes aim at a small crowd of three climbing the monkey bars, and he fires… with a weak pull of the string. The Hunter sighs and kneels next to him, "You're doing it all wrong, kiddo."

Before he can help himself back to the bow, the Parents grab his shoulders with a force intending to resist. The Mother assures him, "Let the boy have a try at it. If at first you don't succeed…"

Back on the ground, the crowd regains their united form and pushes onward. It's scary, with a giant river of slime beneath them that will, more likely than not, kill them, but they have to persevere. It seems to be what the Bean Beings are doing, at least.

The finish line grows nearer and nearer, with these damned humans pushing past every obstacle, intuitively and together.

And just as together, the Party Parents have pushed nearer to the Hunter, watching Partyboy perform poorly with the bow still. They'll teach him later. But first, they have to deal with the Hunter.

Which is where Phase 4 comes in… as does an arrow to the Hunter's knee. It seems Partyboy DOES know how to use the bow.

Falling to the floor, writhing in pain, the Hunter screeches, "What are you doing?" He lifts himself up, barely, and glares at the boy. "Traitorous little bastard." He raises a hand, wanting to strike the boy.

Fortunately, he is shoved down to the ground by the Parents. Putting him in a chokehold, the Father shouts, "Don't talk to our son that way!", and the Mother takes her chance to punch the Hunter in the back of his head.

The three Party People quickly dogpile on the Hunter, and they all fall, from the spectator area to the finish line.

Seeing as the runners are narrowly approaching, a sinister idea pops into the Hunter's head; knowing that there can be only one winner, he shall be it. If it means the death of his opponents, then he'll gladly trap himself in his own game.

And so, he jumps back through the finish line, with the three Party People still attached to him. ROUND OVER!

An uneasy silence falls upon the runners, gathered together to reach the finish line, for just a few seconds.

The next second after that, they fall; the course has vanished beneath their feet, allowing gravity to pull them down to the slime below.

Fortunately, help has arrived: "Yoohoo! It's-a us!", gleefully shouts Luigi as he pilots an airship beneath the stage. It's a bit of a hard impact, but it manages to catch each and every one of the runners - human and Bean-Being alike.

As the Brothers check up on the runners, knowing that they're collectively in a lot of pain after landing on wood, the Drifters catch a glimpse of them. Penny asks, "That isn't really-"

"It is.", Victoria answers. She slowly gets up, rubbing her back, and walks over to the Brothers. "Is that everyone?"

Mario nods his head, "Looks-a like it."

Victoria sighs, and notices a Victory Podium in the distance, with a camera aimed at it. On it stands the Mad Hunter… and Father Festivity, Mother Merrymaker, and Partyboy. Disregarding the Hunter, they will stay behind as survivors… but stand together as mother, father, and son. It warms her heart. She looks back to the Brothers and asks, "How have you two been holding up?"

Mario explains, "We landed in-a Subcon. We've been there before-a, but things have-a changed."

Luigi quickly chimes in, "The Wart is-a back, and we need to-a stop him!" After noticing the tired look on Victoria's face, he elaborates, "This-a one should be quick. And besides, there's been-a sightings of a human girl. One with-a wings."

As Mario and Luigi show her a picture of two of the young girl, having taken flight with colorful feathers on her back, Jacob notices and answers, "That's my sister."

Victoria looks over to him and answers, with an optimistic smile on her face, "Like I said, we'll get her back." She promptly shifts her gaze to the world beyond, where Subcon awaits!