Chapter Five - By Any Other Name

Woo, look who's back with another update! I'm super hyped for this story and so I decided I wanted to write this chapter (which is one of my favorites to think about plotting out). Hopefully you guys will like it as much as I do! :D I think it will hopefully make up for any disappointment there might have been over Chapter Four. But before I go ahead and spoil everything, let's throw one thing out there.

While I don't want to say how exactly it comes into play, I will state this as a potential trigger: suicide.

Anyways, time to dive back into this story. Let's see what the Gamemaker has in store for us this time. And yes, I do know two of my other stories need updates, but I'm far too hyped for this chapter to waste the inspiration.

"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?"

~ Shakespeare

Marinette's Point of View

Three days have passed since Kim failed his challenge. The thought has driven me to get little to no sleep, despite Tikki's urging. For once I'm thankful that I have a stay at home job for the most part. It certainly keeps me distracted and busy from the threat looming over me, but not as much as it could. Not as much as I wish it did.

Head aching, I rest it against my desk, only for Tikki to nudge me in the side of the head. "Marinette, the meeting with the rest of your friends to discuss any updates on the Gamemaker situation."

"Crap, you're right." I jolt upwards, shutting my eyes. "And I have to go pick Lila up. She's getting released today. Come on, we gotta go!"

Snagging my bag from the side of my chair, I sprint for the door, only for Tikki to practically shriek - at least that's what it sounds like to my sleep-deprived ears - at me. "Wait, what about me?"

Skidding to a halt, I spin around at the door and wait for the red kwami to catch up and dive into my back. "Sorry, Tikki."

She gives me a shrug, which I take to mean as her forgiving me. Relieved, I make my way out the door and to my car. The place Lila is at isn't too far from my apartment, so it shouldn't be too hard to pick her up on the way to Jalil's house, who was graciously agreed to have us over. It's a little bit out of the way, but I can manage for my friend.

And, as it turns out, I'm completely correct in it being a quick assignment. We're in and out before I even know it. Lila is quite insistent on getting out fast, and once we're in the car, let's out a loud sigh of relief.

"You have no idea how horrible it was to be in there with no way to explain that this wasn't a self-harming incident or suicide attempt or anything like that." Lila says, gesturing to her arm, which still bears the marks of the words she was forced to carve in. I'm assuming those will stay with her for a long time. "They told me it would scar, that there was no way to fix it. Like I didn't know that."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." I respond, not sure how else to express my sympathy, seeing as the closest experience I would have had to not being able to explain my real reasons for something is something she would never understand or accept.

"If it saved Nathaniel, then it's worth it." She basically mumbles the words, but I still pick up on them.

And I can't help myself when I say, "He must mean a lot to you. You're lucky to have him as a boyfriend."

I try to keep myself from sounding bitter and jealous. I really do. However, I can't help the tiny bit of it that slips into my voice. Once upon a time, Lila was jealous of me over Adrien, although at that time she was upset with my alter ego, and I did nothing to make things better. Now, I'm jealous not because she has a relationship with Nathaniel, but more that she has a relationship at all. I would give anything to be in a relationship with Adrien, who I think must have forgotten I exist at this point, even though I work for his father's company.

Lila hesitates for a moment before shutting her eyes and announcing, "That was another lie, Marinette. Like my comments about living in a nice house and owning a car. All lies."

Geez, talk about dropping a bombshell, but I guess I was technically already prepared for that fact, even if I didn't know it. We sit there in silence for a few minutes, and after I check to see that we're only a few minutes from Jalil's house, I ask, "Will you tell him how you feel, once everything is said and done?"

"Has anyone else gotten a challenge?" Lila's change of topic is less than graceful, but I let her get away with it for now. She's had a rough enough time as it is.

"Kim did." I should have expected this to get dredged up, but I still can't bear to think about it. Now I have to tell Lila what happened?

There's a look of contemplation on her face as she considers it. "What did he have to do?"

I sigh, keeping my eyes focused on the road. We're almost there. "It wasn't anything nearly as hard as what you went through, or so we have to assume. I wasn't there for it, but from what he's said, he was going to have to break into a cemetery and find his way through to the other side."

Of course that leads to the follow up question of, "Was going to?"

"He thought he could outsmart the Gamemaker by just walking around." I say, heartbreaking as I remember what this means for one of our old friends all over again.

"Did he do it?" I wish Lila didn't have to ask, could just grasp the underlying themes to my words, understand that I have been trying to tell her without spelling it out this whole time.

Slowly, I shake my head. "No, he failed, and I'm sure by now Max is dead."

"He shouldn't have tried to cheat the Gamemaker. He should have just gone through the stupid cemetery. It can't have been that hard." Lila snaps, folding her arms.

"Please, go easy on him at this meeting." I beg. "He's taking it really hard. He texted me to tell me that it happened and went wrong, so I called him up. I'm as mad at him for trying to outsmart him as you are, but please, we can't tear each other apart. He's gonna need support."

Lila shrugs, but after a moment concedes with a, "I'll do my best."

I nod, stopping the car. "Good, because we have arrived."

Hopping out of the car, I walk around to try and grab Lila's door for her, but she's already hopped out as well. Giving me a small smile, I force myself to offer her one in return.

"Come on, Mari, you don't have to fake it with me." Lila says, shaking her head.

"No," I admit, "but I do have to for everyone else inside. They need a source of optimism."

"Just don't neglect what you need in the process." She remarks with a frown.

I decide that it's probably best not to respond. Instead I lead the way up the stairs and knock on the door. It takes a few seconds, but then the door cracks open and Jalil is peering out.

Upon seeing that it's us, he opens the door the whole way, and gives a tired apology. "I'm sorry about that, I've just been so paranoid that it's going to be me next each time there's a knock on the door."

Before I can say anything, Lila pipes up as she walks inside. "It's fine. Are we the first ones here?"

"No, Ivan and Nino walked, and Kim and Nathalie both parked a bit down the street." He ticks them off on his finger.

As if to add to his point, someone from the other room - I think it's Nino - shouts, "The party is back here, dudes!" Thank goodness someone else is trying to keep the atmosphere light.

Lila makes her way back snickering as Jalil remarks to me, "With you guys here, the only one left is the blonde girl. Her name was Rose, right?" I nod, and then he drops his voice a bit lower to ask, "And how is Lila?"

"Her spirits are a lot higher than I expected," I admit, but then force myself to give him a wide smile, "but that's a good thing."

"Very true." Jalil says with a nod. He gestures down the hallway, but before he can say anything, there's a sharp knock at the door. "Let me get that." He creeks the door open a smidge before mumbling another, "I'm sorry," and pushing it open all the way.

"It's okay." Replies Rose as she steps inside, looking quite nervous in her bulky, brown coat. "Sorry I'm a bit late."

"You're fine, Rose." I say, hoping my voice won't betray me to reveal how tired I really am. "Lila and I only just arrived anyways."

Jalil shuts the door and then gestures down the hallway again. "We're all here now, so let's head on back to see everyone."

We tag along behind him as he leads the way back, and along the way I whisper to Rose, "I really like your jacket." It is a bit big on her, but it's nice all the same.

She shifts, seeming a bit uncomfortable, before whispering back, "Thank you."

"Everyone's finally here!" Nino remarks when we enter the room, and I guess we all just choose to ignore the fact that Chloe has still yet to reach out and make contact on the matter. As I survey the room, I note that everyone else is already seated, not counting those of us to just enter the room. "You can come sit over here with me and Lila, Mari."

"And I saved a seat for you, Rose." Ivan chimes in, and the blonde girl beside me gratefully scurries over.

I'm a bit surprised she doesn't even bother to take off the large coat. It does look nice, but it must be hot. It just strikes me as odd.

Ignoring it, I plop down between Nino and Lila while Jalil takes a seat by the fire, across from Nathalie. However, Nathalie doesn't stay sitting long. She stands up, seeming to prepare to say something, and I take the opportunity to do a brief sweep of the room.

Lila, Nino, and I are all sitting on one couch. There's another one against another wall that is currently occupied by Ivan and Rose. Jalil and Nathalie had the chairs by the fire, and then Kim just stands in the corner. There's a chair off to the side he could sit in, or he could even have sat with Ivan and Rose, so I'm guessing he's just not ready to interact with anyone.

"Well, as everyone is aware by now," Nathalie begins, "Lila was the first to receive her challenge." Lila shifts awkwardly in her chair as all of our gazes turn to her, only for Nathalie to call them back to herself. "She passed, which means-"

Before anything else can be said, Rose stands up. One hand is reached into her coat, and when she throws it off, we're all shocked to see the gun that she holds in her hands. She points it at each of us in turn, it lingering on Lila and Kim more than anyone else. Everyone squirming to try and get out of its path when she does, but then she turns it back on herself, finger on the trigger.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Ivan gapes, reaching towards her, but Rose jumps back.

For a moment, we all are frozen in silence, waiting on baited breath as we watch to see what Rose is going to do.

Then, the poor girl breaks, nearly dropping the gun as she bursts to tears and wails, "I can't do it!"

In a moment I'm up, stumbling to her side and doing my best to offer her a comforting hug. "What on earth happened there, Rose?"

"H-he told me someone from our group has to get shot tonight...I have to shoot someone tonight by eight o'clock..." Rose is a blubbering mess as I nod to Ivan to carefully pull the gun from her hands. "I thought I could do it. I really did! But I can't, and now Juleka is going to die!"

"It's seven forty-five right now." Nathalie says carefully, glancing at the clock. "Something has to be done now."

Rose's Point of View

"What the heck do you want?" I shout into the phone, terrified out of my mind. "Why are you calling me?"

"Because, my dear Rose," The woman's voice on the other end of the line sounds quite pleased with herself, "you are the next player in this brilliant little game we have."

My heart races in my chest, but I try to sound brave for Juleka's sake. "What do you want me to do? I know what you did to Lila. What are you going to make me do?"

The lady laughs at me, shaking her head. "It has to do with that little meeting you and the rest of my challengers," How can she call us her challengers? And why is the Gamemaker choosing to talk to me in this voice? I just want this to be over, "because I know that it's happening. I have eyes on all of you."

I take a deep breath before asking my question again, "What are you going to make me do?"

"I'm sure you've seen the gun in your box by now, beautiful flower. You are going to use that to shoot someone in your group before eight o'clock ends. I suppose there are a few things you should remember when doing this. Some people haven't had their challenge yet. While they might deserve it, if you shoot them, they won't be able to complete their challenge, guaranteeing someone's murder." The thought horrifies me. "You could choose someone who deserves it, like Chloe, but I doubt she'll be there. It'd probably take a lot of work to get to her, as I know Kim and Marinette tried to see her and failed." Besides, what if Chloe hasn't been challenged yet? Then I would be guaranteeing Sabrina's death. Even if I don't like the redhead or the diva, I would never wish that on anyone. "And then there are those who have already had their challenges: Kim and Lila." Kim had his challenge? I had no idea. "Lila was victorious, so it would be rather cruel to shoot her down, especially after what she went through. But Mr. Le Chien? He tried to cheat his way through, and failed because of it. That deserve punishment, don't you think?" Maybe it does, but can I really try to take justice into my hands like that? That seems like the plots of many stories where that person who thinks they can deal justice is the villain. How can I put myself in that position? "Or perhaps you choose the easiest one of all to target. Yourself. Then it is on your own head. No one else has to die and the person you are paired with gets to live."

"I-I understand." I whisper, staring at the gun with shaking hands.

"Good." The Gamemaker sounds so smug. I hate it. "Now let's see if you can actually go through with it."

Marinette's Point of View

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Jalil asks, frustrated. "None of us here want to die, and we certainly don't want Rose to have to shoot herself. How do you suggest solving this situation?"

Then a voice from the corner speaks up. "Have her shoot me."

All of our gazes swivel to land on the speaker, who just so happens to be a distraught looking Kim. He has obviously had no sleep as of late, looking as if he's been destroyed inside. I guess that's what failing this has done to him.

Rose shakes her head. "No, Kim, I can't shoot you. I can't." The distress in her voice is evident.

Why is the Gamemaker doing this to us?

"You have to. No one else is allowed to die." Kim says forcefully. "I failed my challenge. I deserve to die after sentencing Max to die because I thought I was so clever. I was stupid. I was an idiot, and now I have to live with it!" He pants, his voice having gotten louder and louder with each word. After a moment, he whispers, "Please, Rose, put me out of my misery. I can't live with myself anymore. I can't do this." Kim's voice breaks at the end, and his eyes are watering, filled with pain. My heart breaks for him.

"Kim, you can't blame yourself for this." Nino tries to comfort the poor guy, but this just infuriates him.

"Try telling me that after you experience the utter destruction that is knowing you caused your childhood best friend to die." Kim snarls at him.

Lila puts a hand in front of Nino, as if to stop Kim from leaping at him in a rage, although Kim makes no move to do so. "Kim, Nino is right. You can't blame yourself. You made a mistak-"

Kim glares at the Italian, his voice flat as he says, "A mistake that cost someone their life. You have no idea what I'm going through, Lila. You won your challenge. You saved a life. You're a prime example to us all to beat the odds, and you had to stick a knife into your skin. I couldn't even bother to go through a stupid cemetery!" His voice shakes as he turns his gaze back to Rose. "I'm begging you to do this, Rose. Please."

"Give Rose back the gun, Ivan." Nathalie instructs, and I stare at her in dismay.

"Nathalie, we can't let him sacrifice himself!" I exclaim, turning to try and stop Ivan, but he's already done the deed, flashing me an apologetic look. "This is wrong!"

"Marinette is right. There has to be another way." Jalil argues, but nobody is listening.

Rose stands there, trembling as Kim kneels in front of her and Ivan helps her position the gun at his head. We wait, my heart racing as I wonder if I'm really going to let this happen. How can I let him get murdered right before my eyes? Who am I to declare that his life is worth more than whoever Rose is attached to, or vice versa? This is wrong! So wrong!

Finally Rose's hands fall again as she cries out, seeming to almost be in pain. "I can't shoot him!"

Kim rips the gun from her fragile fingers, pushing it against the side of his head and barely trembling. "Then I'll do it for you."

"Kim!" I exclaim, reaching out as if I can somehow stop him, but then he pulls the trigger and in an instant he's gone. In desperation I turn to stare at everyone in the group, shaking with either shock, distress, or fury as I practically shout at them, "What have we allowed ourselves to do?"

"Save someone's life." Nathalie snaps back, pointing to the clock, which has just turned to eight. "He was suffering. Now he's out of his misery. It was like a mercy kill. Now someone else will live."

"We took justice into our own hands. There is a reason humans don't do that." Jalil jumps to my side of the argument, and I'm grateful for the support. This was wrong. What have we allowed ourselves to do?

I look around at everyone in the room. Ivan is staring down at Kim, obviously still shocked. Lila at some point during this latched onto Nino, probably pushed back to thinking of her own experience. Nino has taken pity on her, hugging her in what I assume is an attempt to anchor and comfort her. Nathalie and Jalil are caught in a heated staring contest, both seeming to attempt to burn holes into their opponents heads. Then there's Rose, simply standing there and shaking as she stares down at Kim.

Then a phone rings out, jolting everyone to attention, and slowly Rose pulls a phone from her pocket. "It's him." She sounds terrified, but she puts it to her ear. "Hello?" After a moment, she whispers, "He wants me to put it on speaker."

"Well? Do as he asks." Nathalie instructs, gesturing at the phone.

Rose nods and does as told, hand trembling as she holds the phone out for everyone to hear. The same voice from the first cassette player rings out, sending chills down my spine. "I assume I'm on speaker now, so I'll be brief. I wouldn't want to waste your precious time, seeing as you have a body to hide."

Poor Rose looks too panicked to respond properly, so Ivan takes over for her. "Get to the point, Gamemaker. Rose beat your challenge."

The horrid man snickers as he says, "You are right. She beat it. At least, she would have beat it, if it weren't for one tiny detail."

Fury fills Ivan's eyes as he snaps, "What do you mean? Rose did it. You can't say she didn't!"

"Oh, but I can." The Gamemaker's voice is so condescending that it hurts. "You see, I told Rose that she had to shoot someone in the group. Rose can confirm that that was what I said."

"I killed Juleka!" Rose wails, throwing the phone into Ivan and pulling herself into a ball on the floor.

As I kneel beside her, trying my best to comfort the poor girl, the Gamemaker adds, "And you know what the worst part is? I never said that whoever you shot had to die." Then the line goes dead and all that can be heard are Rose's sobs.

And there we have it. What did you guys think of the chapter? Was it good? Bad? Were you guys expecting my twist on the fact that most of the chapter wasn't from our next challenger's point of view? I was quite happy to do that twist, so I hope it messed with someone out there. :p What do you guys think of the challenge Rose had? What do you think of Kim's suicide? Were you expecting Rose to fail due to the fact that she wasn't the one to shoot him? Who do you think the next challenger will be? What do you think they'll have to do? Do you have any bets on who you think will fail and who do you think will succeed? Let me know in a review. c:

Until next time! You guys are the best.

~ Dagger