I get the Biggest Liar author award! For promising to update LAST WEEK. So, sorry for not updating last week! Hehe. Forgive? : )
Also, one modification from last chapter! The time limit of the game was changed to lasting until the sun sets. The host's line was modified last chapter:
"You must reach the designated destination by boat before the sun sets".
So yes. But just how long is that really? Three hours? Five hours? Their whole life?
Anyways, enjoy the rest of this game! The players sail on...and if you imagined that this game to be just a peaceful mission on a boat, then you are DEADLY mistaken. Things don't stay peaceful for long. Enjoy.
EPISODE 6 (PART 2)
DESTINATION SAIL = 7.2 MILES REMAINING
"Turn right!" Piantissimo reported, seeing Tiny's sudden movement on the screen. It was an hour into the ship voyage, and Tiny was giving her second direction to the captain and quarter master. As Dashell turned, she then began to wave her arms in an X-like pattern.
"Stop!" Piantissimo announced. Dashell let the wheel go as it settled to neutral position. Now in a correct, new path, they sailed on in the right direction. They were heading to Snifit's cave.
Tiny: I was glad they were finally getting my flag signals. I didn't know why they were having so much trouble earlier. Maybe it was the Mole, being extra-active fifteen minutes ago.
Dashell: We created a new kind of flag communication...heck, we did a better job forming a method while mute than we did when we were able to talk.
The ship sailed peacefully for another hour.
"Ah." Letting go of the wheel temporarily, Dashell let out a sigh, as Piantissimo turned to him.
"This game sure is more peaceful than I thought it would be," Dashell said with a relieved smile, feeling the wind blow in his face and hair as he stood at the front of the ship. "This entire game...actually feels peaceful at this moment." He leaned out to watch the waves, splashing at the wooden bottom of the ship.
"A little too peacefully..." Piantissimo commented suspiciously, also looking out as well into the sea's water. "The game of the Mole. You cannot put your guard down." Dashell, still in a relaxed and nonchalant mode, turned to him.
"You have to have your Mole radar on at all times," Piantissimo told him, as if remembering a past player's previous words. "The Mole can be near you at any second. Danger can be near any second." Dashell turned to him, an amused look on his face.
"Well, the only danger I see now is getting seasick and having to jump off this boat because of it," Dashell said humorously, but with a little shifty smile. "As captain, I assure you that I'll sail safely though. There's NOTHING to stop my way. This ship will never sink." Piantissimo couldn't help but snicker at his sentence.
"Well, as long as we do not sink, then-" But then Piantissimo's voice trailed off. His sentence stopped, he spotted something in the distance that caught him off guard.
Piantissimo: Then, in the distance of the ocean, I had spotted something uncanny.
"What is...that?" The two leaders of the boat suddenly stopped talking. Their eyes hit with confused sight, they saw something of massive size in their horizon, of the mysterious ocean. As they watched with unprepared nervousness, it began to sail closer and closer to their very location with every foot of water it crossed.
Dashell: All of a sudden, we saw another ship. And I was suddenly struck with a bad feeling that things would not be good.
The menacing boat sailed closer, and its appearance was that like a colossal boat similar to their very own. But something was dark about it, both literally in appearance and in aura. Both Dashell and Piantissimo gulped as the sailing vessel of darkness got closer and closer to them with every foot that they sailed. Almost as if creating a barricade of timber and wood, the ship blocked the very path they were sailing, and then stopped in place. It floated, threateningly like a warning.
"Oh geez..." Dashell whispered, his mind fearing for the worst as he gripped his steering wheel. It was only until the ships stood in place when they saw the skull and cross-bones on their masts, as well as something else that made their blood run cold: cannons.
Dashell: And I suddenly knew that Piantissimo's line about danger was strangely right.
"Pirates," McHallyboo uttered, in even slight apprehension as well. "You now have an enemy ship." Piantissimo and Dashell turned to face the host in disbelief.
"This virtual world is dangerous..." And the two players both realized at that second that danger was indeed right around the corner.
Eclair turned, hearing footsteps from the very stairs of the ship. It was McHallyboo, almost in a hurried manner.
Eclair: I did not mind being placed in the hull...though it would have been more pleasant to be placed somewhere where I wouldn't be susceptible to possible sea sickness.
"Princess Eclair," McHallyboo said in an elegant voice, coming down to the ship's bottom. "How do you do? Would you like a cocktail?"
"Hello, McHallyboo," she replied, surprised at the host's appearance. The bottom hull of the ship was almost like a large storage area. The host offered the small drink to Eclair, who took it with confusion.
"In short time...on a very likely possibility...you'll have your first mission as the ship's carpenter," he began, taking out a toolbox from behind him and placing it before the confused princess. "I'm just preparing you.
"Preparing?" Eclair asked, looking at the host with wary eyes. But instead of answering, McHallyboo just lifted the toolbox and placed it on a pile of wood that was situated in the center of the floor. Eclair was stunned as he opened it: it was a tool box.
"Let's see...a hammer, a plethora of nails, and all this wood around us," McHallyboo announced, looking around and his arms spreading to the entirety of the ship's hull. Indeed, planks of wood were littered around the dusty interior of the ship.
"Like past carpenters, you have to do your job," McHallyboo said, giving a wink. "And when the time comes...in very short time...you'll know what to do." He proceeded to walk up the stairs, leaving the princess with a hammer in her hand and a mind of caution.
Eclair: I could only wonder: in short time... just what would be happening in such time?
Their ship now faced with another in the large vast world of the ocean, they simply floated in place on water. Dashell and Piantissimo were at a loss for actions, facing the large vessel in the sea.
"What...is happening?" Piantissimo whispered to the captain. But before Dashell could answer back, it was the echoing, strong voice of another high-ranked crew member that was heard. Coming from the gigantic ship, the two of them listened carefully with surprise.
"WE DO NOT TOLERATE DECEIVERS AND MOLES!" the voice shouted, directly from the ship and being heard throughout the entire world's ocean in magnified volume.
"This is not good..." Dashell replied, gritting his teeth.
"Who is he calling Moles?" Piantissimo whispered, irate. Then the voice from their enemy ship continued in roar.
"My name...is Admiral Bobbery. And I do not like trespassers in my land!"
"Bobbery?!" Tiny shouted from below in her part of the ship. She was able to see and hear from the front of the ship, through her own open window, right below the front where Dashell and Piantissimo were standing in place. The dark-themed ship loomed ahead of her as well, right before her eyes.
Tiny: This was...a much younger version of Bobbery. A younger, SCARIER version of Bobbery probably virtually created in the image of his younger days sailing the sea. I didn't like it at all.
"ANSWER ME, OR I WILL SINK YOUR SHIP!" Bobbery bellowed. At this line, both Dashell and Piantissimo froze with fear. They turned to each other, their faces alarmed as they turned back to the ship.
"Flags..." whispered the host. When they turned around to face McHallyboo, they saw him sitting in the back of the boat. In his hands, he held a set of flags each in the air.
"Huh?" The two of them looked at him.
"Talk to him," McHallyboo said directly, holding the flags out. "Only the quarter master. And ONLY in the methods you came up with earlier is what Bobbery will understand. The fate of the boat...is in your hands." Piantissimo looked startled, but he quickly stepped his way over to the host, then looking at him strangely, grabbed the flags from his hand.
"I'M WAITING!" the voice boomed, and then seemed to take a breath. "WHAT ARE YOU: FRIEND...OR FOE?" The voice rippled through the ocean, as Piantissimo immediately grabbed the flags into his hands.
"Okay, uhh..." Piantissimo began. He immediately picked up the blue flag, and pointed it once in the air.
Piantissimo: I honestly think I remembered the colors of the flags in the right order. I can only hope I did.
"F...this is the letter F!" Piantissimo began, as he lifted it in the air. "F!" And for the next sixty seconds, the flag spelling began in silence. Dashell watched him, anxiously waiting for his slow speed in the spelling of whatever word.
Dashell: He was not going at a good speed. I was afraid that the length he was taking...would just upset the captain of the other boat.
Piantissimo: And as fast I could, with my very arms, I spelled in our form of letter-spelling the very word that I was hoping would save our lives: "FRIEND".
The final flag of red was raised four times, and then Piantissimo let the flags drop to the floor. The message was given, as the two of them held their breathes.
"Is he...going to reply?" It was only up to the question of whether it was decoded by their enemy ship or not. There was silence.
"Did they...understand?" Dashell asked, finally daring to turn his head. "What did you spell?"
"Friend," Piantissimo replied, not moving himself. "And...I think...it passed". They stared at the ship in front of them, floating silently on the ocean.
There was silence from the other ship, and it lasted for a few seconds. Time slowly passed, as the two leaders turned to each other. Then, they both, unexpectedly, laughed.
"I think we did it!" Dashell shouted in a laugh, turning to his wheel. "We passed it! Now they know we're their friends!"
"I guess so," Piantissimo said, grinning and shaking his head. "I guess..."
"Fiend?" suddenly came the voice from the enemy ship. The loud roar was almost in a strange mix of whisper. Dashell turned to Piantissimo in disbelief, who looked back with a look of shock as well.
Dashell: Did Bobbery say...fiend? Not friend? What on earth did Piantissimo spell?
"If you are our fiend..." the voice from the boat suddenly spoke, and its voice was almost in a soft voice loud enough for them to hear, "then we cannot have you here."
And then the cannon fired, right into the side of their boat.
Eclair screamed, ducking from the splintering wood as a hole of wood in the boat's bottom was torn off. The blast from the cannon creating smoke, she was left to fend herself against the copious amount of black fog that immediately filled the air. A cannon had fired into the ship.
Eclair: All I could smell was burnt wood and fire...and I believed for a second I would perish.
"Help...!" She coughed as she tried to make her way around the hull of the boat, almost blinded by the thick fumes of the fire. After a few seconds, she looked around with stunned eyes, able to see more clearly. Her eyes immediately caught the gaping opening in the side of the boat.
"A hole..." Scanning her eyes frantically to the box of supplies the host had given her earlier, Eclair finally understood her role. The water began to enter the ship.
Eclair: And then I realized what I would have to do as the carpenter.
"Turn! TURN!" Piantissimo was guiding Dashell to a way of safety. "Let us get OUT of here!" Dashell, with a panicked face, was leading their sail away from the enemy ship.
"Go right!" On the screen, Tiny's face was filled with shock herself, as she led her instructions on a way around the boat.
Dashell: We were under attack. The pirates were attacking us.
BOOM! Another cannon was fired, and Piantissimo and Dashell ducked as the cannon sailed right over their ship, barely missing their largest mast. Their mission at that second was to escape and survive.
"Just get out of here! Anywhere! Quickly!" Piantissimo shouted, pointing towards a direction away from the enemy ship. All of a sudden, it got its cannons ready again.
"No!" Another cannon was fired, blasting water from the ocean into the air. It was such a copious amount that the ocean water splashed into the air that it hit right into the eyes and mouths of Dashell and Piantissimo. It took a second for them to retain their orientation.
"Phffft!" Spitting water from his mouth, Dashell looked behind him. Looking back, he saw that they had already sailed a good fifty feet from the boat. The ship seemed to stay still in place, and the cannons began to cease firing. It took them a few seconds to recover.
"We're escaping from them...we've escaped," Dashell said, almost in an after-attack voice.
"I don't care where we go! Just get us away from that ship!" Piantissimo hollered, frightened.
"They're not chasing us," Dashell said in his almost calm voice again. He then slumped down, then sat down on the wood of the boat. He was both physically and mentally exhausted.
Dashell: I never knew just how brutal that ship attack could be. I was afraid the ship wouldn't make it.
"Being captain is hard, huh?" Piantissimo said, noticing his position on the floor. Dashell slowly nodded, then got up. They faced Tiny Kong, who had an overall relieved look on her face.
Tiny: I found an alternate route to Snifit's cave. And so I was leading them to it...after this attack from ocean's death. We faced our first obstacle of possible death. As long as our ship stayed alive, we'd be fine.
"Well," Dashell said, putting his cap back on and maintaining the role of the ship's captain once again. His eyes glanced into the sun in front of him. Just slightly, it was entering its first stages of setting.
"We'll make it. A small cannon ball isn't going to stop us."
DESTINATION SAIL = 5.1 MILES REMAINING
Another hour passed. In the middle of the vacant, blue water that stretched out for the miles that they sailed, the players were almost stunned to see a formation of land appear in their way.
"Is that the...?" As they sailed closer to it, they realized just how rocky the land really was: it was a large cave placed in the center of the ocean.
"Stop here!" Piantissimo signaled to Dashell, seeing Tiny Kong wave her hands in a wild X-pattern. Suddenly, the boat stalled, and the players realized that there was its own separate mechanism to make the boat pause in place, much like it had done earlier.
"We've arrived to the caves." The boat docked at the edge of the cave-like land. McHallyboo was the first person to stand up with attention.
"This is the halfway mark," he said. and then to the two leaders' surprise, both Tiny Kong and Eclair arrived from the hatch of the ship's, having climbed the stairs to the top.
"Oh! You guys are quite alive," Piantissimo said, joking and surprised to see them.
"It is finally good to feel real sunlight," Tiny Kong said, stretching her arms with relief. "And finally able to talk! Unlike with those annoying flag directions." As she shielded her eyes from the sudden sun, McHallyboo turned to her quickly.
"Nothing about directions, however," McHallyboo reminded sternly, as Tiny Kong turned to him and nodded with understanding. McHallyboo then turned to Eclair.
"Ship carpenter, what is the news concerning the bottom of the ship?" the host asked, as everyone turned to her in worried realization: the ship had been hit earlier. Apprehensive on the news, Eclair spoke.
"I have created a wooden barrier to stop the leaking in the bottom of the ship," Eclair informed the others with a bow, as they seemed to sigh in relief. "The hull below...is approximately one foot in water. But the leaking is secure with wood and nails. There is no more water entering."
"Phew..." Dashell said, scratching his head. Everyone nodded, a bit alarmed. But in total, they were thankful for the carpentry that had stopped the sinking of the ship.
"It just shows just what other dangers may be lurking in these waters," Tiny Kong whispered with an unfortunate shake of her head. "If we faced pirates, just what other dangers stand in store for us later to sink our ship?"
"Snifit!" Dashell was the first to spot the player, making his hops across the rocky ground near the bottom of their ship. The players were relieved to find him, smiling with joy. With no doubt, the cabin boy had found the S.S. Reward.
"How...how do I get on?' Snifit asked, looking a little apprehensive at the ship's bulky size at looking at the others from far below.
"Climb this," McHallyboo announced, and the players moved out of the way as he threw over an object that was on the side of the ship. It was a ladder, and as it fell thirty feet below, it touched the rocky ground below at right to Snifit's feet. Snifit looked up, stunned, but simply grabbed the ladder and made his first rung climb.
"You guys are half-way there," McHallyboo reminded them. "And just pretend I'm not here. I'm just supervising this ship ride. You can't ask me for any help."
"You probably wouldn't help us if we asked you for help anyway," Piantissimo murmured, but McHallyboo didn't hear him. All of a sudden, it was Snifit who finally boarded the wood of the boat.
Tiny: With Snifit here...it was a relief to know that all five of us were safe on board now. We just had to sail to the end together. Without...anyone messing up.
"How are ya?" Dashell asked the arrived Snifit, giving him a pat on the back. Snifit shrugged.
"Just...just waiting for you rescue me," he spoke, in reply to everyone else's faces of lifted mood.
"Good, good," Piantissimo said. "You can help us on the top of the ship! It's rather relieving to have another crew member. Because we are struggling at points." Piantissimo looked at Tiny, who shot back a slight look of annoyance.
"And perhaps, if the ship is attacked again," Eclair said, turning to Snifit with a smile, "then I would someone who is able to help me with repairing. I could use another hand." Snifit nodded, smiling back a bit. But Tiny saw the corner of his mouth fall down a bit, and she frowned, suspiciously.
Tiny: I could kind of feel that Snifit was hiding something...was he? Maybe I was crazy, but I swear that he wasn't as talkative as he could have been. Maybe I was the only one who could see it.
"Well, let us go on," Dashell said with commandment, facing the front of the ship. "We don't have much time." Everyone nodded, and as Tiny and Eclair went back to their stations, Snifit remained where he stood. Piantissimo and Dashell nodded at him.
"Onwards...glad to have you aboard Snifit," Dashell announced. Snifit just nodded, looking a bit down.
And the ship, moving away from the lonely cave in the sea, departed off.
DESTINATION SAIL = 3.8 MILES REMAINING
"No! I'm spelling the word, 'North-East!'" Tiny began, waving her flags to the little camera in front of her. Confused, Dashell and Piantissimo just looked back at her through her own screen.
Tiny: My role was a bit frustrating. You can't really explain just how difficult it was painting words in the air...with half of them not being understood at all by the others.
"Whatever...umm...just turn this way," Tiny spoke, as if the others could hear her. She pointed towards her 10'oclock direction, and after a few minutes, the two above her seemed to understand. They sailed the ship in the north-east direction.
"Finally...!" Tiny sighed, smiling to herself just a little bit as she took her seat in her wooden chair.
"It's funny how they can't seem to understand my directions...are they that difficult?" Tiny wondered, giving out a little laugh and rolling eyes. "Someone up there...is Moley Poley-ing."
DESTINATION SAIL = 4 MILES REMAINING
A few minutes passed by, and Tiny felt the boat move in the same direction.
"Hmm..." Tiny looked out the large window to her side, seeing it open and the air riffling through her ponytails. Then her eyes looked at it in hopeful manner, she stepped towards it.
"Ten miles...we should be more than halfway there," she considered, peeking her head out. The window was of great size, wind blowing into the ship as well as she surveyed to see other signifiers in the sea to point to their location.
But little did she know, someone was stepping her way. Someone had entered her compartment of the ship, and took this opportunity to do what they were told for their exemption.
"Huh, wait, what...AH!"
It was a scream that was overshadowed by the knocking waves on the side, and no one heard it except for the perpetrator and Tiny Kong herself. With a swift motion, Tiny was grabbed and pushed right out of the window, as her body fell right into the water of the now-deadly ocean.
The cabin boy of the ship had come back to the deck of the ship to join the others. Snifit's face showing a blank stare, he turned to Dashell when he arrived back.
"Hey! Did you find anything down there, Snifit?" Dashell asked, turning to him.
"Nothing...sorry," was Snifit's quick and crisp reply. "I...didn't find anything electronic down there or anything suspicious."
"Huh, that's odd," Piantissimo said, facing the screen monitor that connected him to the middle carriage of the ship. It had turned off.
Piantissimo: All of a sudden, the TV turned off. And for about three minutes, we had no access to Tiny. It was strange...and clearly suspicious.
"A cut-off screen," Piantissimo mumbled to himself. "A Moley move. Maybe Tiny did this so that we wouldn't be able to see her ?"
"At least she directed us in the right direction before she was cut off?" Dashell said, a little optimistically.
"Actually, Tiny Kong isn't here anymore," came the voice of McHallyboo, who had a strange look on his face. He had come up from the storage rooms of the ship, as the others turned to him with incredulity.
"What...do you mean?" Piantissimo asked cautiously.
"It seems like there was an accident...and Tiny Kong had fallen overboard out of the open window in her compartment," McHallyboo explained, his voice somber. Both Piantissimo and Dashell had equally shocked looks on their faces. Snifit just looked down, a face of worry on his face as well.
"Wait...she fell...OVERBOARD?" Dashell exclaimed. "But...that is..."
Dashell: Something was not right here. And I knew it.
"Was the ship rocking that much?" Dashell continued, facing Piantissimo and Snifit.
"I...I don't think so," Piantissimo replied. "I just find this news...unfathomable." But as they faced McHallyboo again, all he did was shake his head.
"I hope she's okay right now..." was all Snifit said in a small whisper. McHallyboo nodded.
"She'll be safe...but...you know. In this virtual world, you still suffer the action of drowning." All three players paused at this sentence.
"What do you mean?" Dashell asked slowly.
"You may not actually die in this world...but you feel it. Very closely. Because some of the water in this world...just some of it...is real."
"Really...?" Snifit said, his eyes wide with terror.
Dashell: Was McHallyboo serious? Or was he saying this to just scare us?
"So if you drown in this world...you feel a very realistic feeling of it." Hearing this, the players were silent.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Piantissimo spoke, voice sounding nauseated. "This isn't...what I imagined."
"The thing is, you no longer have a navigator," the host continued, "So for now, I believe we must make emergency modifications and make you all the navigator now." He then took something out from his pocket, and handed it to Snifit.
"This is the navigation device Tiny was using downstairs," the host explained. "It is a GPS system, and it is now yours to use. There is no longer someone to mediate the communication. Consider your job...easier now."
"But how are we supposed to complete this game with Tiny Kong gone, and win the money?" Piantissimo asked, still in shock.
"Only one person needs to be left aboard in the end to win the game," McHallyboo said in a soft voice. "Just one person is needed on the ship to win." It was in a strange voice as well, as if hinting something. But one person understood.
"Indeed." Very slightly, one of the players in front of him nodded with a slight smile. He knew his mission.
The ship sailed on with four passengers. But now, everything was unsettling. With only a few miles to go, the path towards the end of the game now suddenly became wary for the players still alive on the ship.
"This is strange..." Dashell voiced, facing forwards, a stunned look on his face still present. "Someone fell off the boat? Tiny? Things like these...don't just happen." Dashell, with a solemn face, could only think in a face of confusion.
"Disconcerting...but what are we to do? Question it?" Piantissimo, as he looked down at the navigation system in his hands. Then, he frowned, as he faced the electronic screen. In a red dot, it showed their location. In a green dot was their destination. The distances were split.
"Wait...this is odd." Dashell looked over, and his face turned to one of confusion as well as he looked at the GPS screen: indeed, the direction they had originally been sailing was not in right direction of their location of victory.
"Why are we so off?" Dashell questioned, confused.
"Did she make us make a turn unnecessarily?" Piantissimo wondered, as the two of them looked at the screen: they were going the wrong way.
Dashell: All of a sudden, we realized something that Tiny had sailed us in the wrong direction over half an hour ago. We were going in the opposite direction of the final destination. It was a move that seemed suspicious like that, especially on her side.
"I think...I can help navigate us in the right way," Snifit said, approaching them from behind suddenly. "I studied cartography." Dashell looked at him with a smile.
"Cartography?" Piantissimo repeated. "A map studier, you say?"
"Perfect!" Dashell shouted, giving it to Snifit. "Would you like to be our new navigator?" The player turned to Dashell, and saw his smile of hope in him.
"Yes...I will help this boat make it to its finish."
DESTINATION SAIL = 2.6 MILES REMAINING
As the sun began to show signs of setting ahead of them, the sailing players continued to push on. With just a quarter of the way remaining, the disappearance of one of their players still put an unsettling feeling in their heads. But as time had passed, and the importance of finishing their game loomed on them, their anxiousness had strangely lessened by now.
In the bottom of the boat, and unknowledged of the disappearing ship crew, Eclair had made a discovery.
"What are these...pieces of wood?" Eclair had found several pieces of wood lying in the base of the ship, and after finding two of them, realized that there was a connection between all of them: they were puzzle pieces.
Eclair: I had realized that perhaps my part of the game had more importance to it.
"These puzzle piece...what do they mean?" Eclair said to herself, as she fitted it together. Slowly, the seemingly-random etchings on the back of each piece seemed to come together, and she realized that it wasn't a picture. They were words.
An hour had passed, and the sky was getting darker.
"Huh..." Checking the back of the ship, Piantissimo was examining the barrels held in the back of the ship with curiosity. No longer having a needed role in the game, the curiosity got the best of him as he explored the back of the ship.
"Not much time till the sun sets...are we to make it?" he thought to himself, noticing the darkening sky above him. Then, on the floor, he spotted something. His eyes shot up with excitement.
"A green shine...could this be?" Piantissimo said, his hopes higher than usual. But noticing that it was just a single mossy piece of seaweed, he shrugged, laughing to himself.
Piantissimo: Anybody at this point would do anything for an exemption.
"This game may play tricks on your mind..." he chuckled, disappointed. Then for a second, Piantissimo thought he saw another ship in the distance, only to realize that it was just the shadows of the background being formed by the setting of the sun. He sighed, thinking of their earlier encounter with danger.
"No more danger," he said to himself, sighing with a little laugh. He looked up into the distance of the ocean with relief seeing it in its whole.
But he did not see the person approaching from behind him.
Eclair struggled to fit the last few pieces in the mysterious wood puzzle she had found. But determined to solve it, she built it, putting closer to a whole piece.
Eclair: I knew that it was a message on the wooden pieces...and I felt like I was in a race.
"Two pieces left..." Her eyes showing realization, she flipped her piece backwards, realizing that it finally made a perfect fit. Then, she looked around, and saw a piece lying far away from her position. She ran to it, then brought it back to her pile.
"It's...completed." And when she read the message in its entirety, she gasped.
Piantissimo, now leaning across the edge of the boat, was in the vital spot that the person behind him wished to be in. And all of a sudden, the lunge was made.
"What...ah!" Piantissimo struggled, as a figure tried to push him off from the back of the boat's edge. The ship being of massive length from front to rear, the person at the front of the ship could not hear Piantissimo's shouts of help over the continuing waves that hit the base. The struggle was one-sided, and Piantissimo was close to being thrown overboard.
"Why are you...doing this?!" Piantissimo hollered. His head was now leaning over the edge of the ship.
"Because...it's all for my exemption." Piantissimo's eyes were terrified, as he looked up at the exemption-riding player.
"Wouldn't you do this too?" And then, there were just three players left on boat.
DESTINATION SAIL = 1 MILE REMAINING
As Eclair hurriedly made her way to the deck of the ship, there was no more commotion. Snifit and Dashell had already settled back at the front of the ship, sailing their jobs away at the ship's front. McHallyboo sat in his spot near the wooden stick of the mast.
"Oh, Eclair!" the host announced, noticing her. Everyone turned to her in surprise, but her face was troubled.
"What are you doing here on the top of the ship?" Dashell said with wide eyes, mixed in feelings of seeing her. Snifit looked at her, his eyes concerned. Eclair, her face conflicted and facing both of them, took a breath before speaking.
"This ship ride...is not safe," she said quietly. Dashell and Snifit faced her, eyes shocked.
"I had discovered something crucial," she announced, her eyes troubled as she spoke carefully. "And I believe we should all know what it is...at this very second...what the truth is". She faced Snifit, but before she could talk again, McHallyboo stood up quickly.
"Before you announce what you have to say," McHallyboo immediately interrupted, "I must report something else." All three players turned to him.
"What...is it this time?" Dashell said slowly, and then he realized that Piantissimo was no longer on board as well.
"Piantissimo, along with Tiny, has fallen off the ship as well. He has drowned." At this news, the remaining three players' faces filled with horror.
Dashell: And now it became apparent that there was a killer on the ship. There was no other explanation.
"Someone pushed him off!" Dashell exclaimed, his face flabbergasted. "One of you is being offered an exemption to push everyone off this boat!" His face looked of one of terror.
"And it's not just virtual!" he added, looking at the others. "The drowning...it's real to us!" He faced the only two people left on board: Eclair and Snifit.
"Who is it?" Dashell pleaded, facing Eclair."Tell us what you know." As everyone turned to Eclair, she spoke.
"I know who is making this ship voyage...more deadly than it should really be," she said, trying to stay calm.
Then, she pulled something out from behind her back and held it to the players. It was the puzzle piece she had created in the bottom of the ship just minutes ago. But now, it nailed together with her own work, connected through her creation of nails and a hammer. The pieces now a solid, single piece of wood for the others to look at. The message was evident to them to see:
SnIfIt WiLl sInK tHe BoAt FoR aN eXeMpTiOn
"No..." As Snifit looked at the board with wide eyes of surprise, Eclair faced him with fear and certainty.
"Snifit...this is what the board says," she told him, holding it to him to see. "Is it true? Are you pushing these people off the boat?" He was silent, and didn't say anything for a small second. Dashell looked at him, staying silent and stepping away from the two others.
"Answer." Eclair said, almost in a stern but scared voice. Snifit looked down at the wooden floor of the ship.
"It's...it's true..." he began, stuttering. "I mean, it's not true...it's true, but not true!" Eclair lowered the board a bit, puzzled. Taking a deep breath, Snifit spoke.
"I was offered an exemption..." Snifit admitted, looking at the ground. "If I were to ignite the barrels in the back of the ship...and destroy the ship with dynamite...then I would get an exemption." The words were a shock to everyone on board, as they looked at Snifit. They were at a loss of words.
"But I decided not to," Snifit continued, his voice strong. "I didn't want another exemption. I've had too many. It's...not fair, right?" Eclair stood silent for a second. Snifit continued looking down.
"I want us to be happy...not sad and drowning. I guess that's not how this ship sail had gone though," Snifit said silently, keeping his head down.
"I see..." she said, almost at slight peace with Snifit's words. Snifit didn't reply.
"And then instead...you decided to get rid of us one by one," Eclair said, with soft conclusion. But at this sentence, Snifit looked up with a sharp look of bewilderment.
"No...I haven't been throwing people off this ship," he said truthfully. He was now standing straight, looking at her with honest eyes.
"That wasn't my mission at all. I haven't done anything evil on this ship. I wouldn't make some of us feel the feeling of drowning, just for an exemption." Eclair's face turned to one of confusion as well, as she and Snifit faced each other.
"Then who..." she began, her voice filled with dread. "Who is...?"
"Who's being offered an exemption to throw everyone else overboard, you ask?" said a voice that they recognized as their mission's leader. The two of them turned, noticing Dashell at the front of the ship. His hand on both sides of the steering wheel, Dashell was leading the ship down another path, as they felt the boat shake just a little bit. As he turned around, the two innocent players could only face him in looks of trepidation.
"As the captain of this boat...I would appreciate it if you cooperated with me. Not like Tiny and Piantissimo had."
And...a twist to the end of this pre-modern murder boat mystery!
Did you assume the kiler of the ship? And for all of those who had evil thoughts of Snifit pushing people off...hehe! You know he can't physically lift or hurt a fly (or in the case if he was the Mole, then perhaps he could ;)
To reply to you great people : ) Thank you for reviewing after my mini hiatus!
FredtheMontyMole: Your first line sounds like my "end of the chapter" line splurges, except much less corny, lol. I should hire you to do those. Yeah, that communication system methodology, you had a point! But then you saw later how letters became crucial later on in saving the ship's posterior. Also, you almost win $20 bucks but I'll give it to you anyway, even though Snifit didn't get an exemption!
sixthsense6: Hehe! You are like some of the players, starting from scratch again. But that could be a good thing. A refreshed mind can't hurt and might even make you see new things in certain players you never saw before. And waiting to see your suspect eliminated? Hur hur, isn't that just a diabolical method that I've used on many seasons I've watched in real life! (sometimes they wouldn't even get eliminated and make it to the Final 3, and boy was that frustrating).
Moley Koopa: A new "fav-fav", haha I could use that term myself sometimes! I have to admit though, my heart still kind of lies with Dry Bones still. I don't know why I made him so lovable just to eliminate him. I'm so guilty. He'll be in my heart, bones and all. So he's my "fav-fav" (see? I used the term! I told you I'd use it!) And really spiffy theory about Zess' self-execution! In truth, as the author of all-seeing everything, the answer is: she didn't. But if I had thought about it more, maybe I would have made it so that she did, and in a noble manner!
Guest: "Everyone's suspicious!" Oh yes, I love that line! And thanks for thinking the entrance of the world was great! : ) I had no idea where I was going with it. I wrote an earlier draft where they simply rose into the cabin of the ship, but I felt that wasn't the right tough. I wanted to incorporate the fact that their new world was the amazing sea itself, not just a ship. So thus, their sea/near-death drowning entrance, haha. Luigi in the cave?! You just gave me ideas! (unfortunately he wasn't, but wouldn't that been something if he was secretly lurking in the cave, and scared Snifit? Hehe, the thought makes me giggle xD) Oh, and I used the xD face too! Guilty indeed but I like it!
Author XIV: Ah, it's just like catching up to a TV show that's airing! My life is full of watching shows that aired well over 3 years ago (I'm slow like that haha), so I seldom have the chance to actually watch/read something with its juicy cliffhangers! : ) And right? Another exemption would just be like a player spoilage! Giving exemptions to a Mole player every episode is like giving a child a cookie every time they go to bed. One day they won't get one and they'll crash and die...well, that sounded a bit dramatic D: I'll think of a better analogy next time, lol! But what is a good analogy was that "dash into success" and "fall like a soufflé" you concocted...hur hur I DO see what you did there ; )
PuzzlingGamer: Hi! Great to see ya! : ) Ah, you've read both past seasons? You are indeed awesome and hope the Mole didn't attack you in those previous ones! Hehe. Anyways, happy to see you for Agent's Elevation! I'd love to hear your words as the story goes : )
Dark Punxysaur: LOL, your comments are so short but full of passion feeling, Punxy. In truth, well, Snifit didn't exactly get an exemption, so hehe I guess that was solved and hopefully alleviated your feelings for him? Actually, but then again, he turned out to be an innocent guy at the end of this challenge : )
AdmiralBobbery: First of all, I can't help but dedicate this sailing mission to you. Haha! Maybe it's because Bobbery made a slight cameo in this chapter, and it's all in honor of the little cameos I have of past players, for example, Birdo in Season 2 during the Relative challenge. My hats to you : )
NintendoMLP: Your reviews make me smile! They're like looking into your mind. I loved your little thoughts, like how the Mole is RIGHT there in the beginning of the chapter but so far as well, and Dashell's interior complexity on being human. And everyone with their suspicious moments: you are so right on all those! Also, to answer your question about other people on Mole fanfics: I completely encourage them because I am all in the idea of the Moe being spread : ) My only perk and and promise I want others to make when they create a Mole story in the Mario section is one thing: to make the story well-written. I want people going into the story to have a very satisfied adventure reading your Mario/Mole story, full of well-developed characters, good grammar, and like always, great adventure. That's all I ask. As for your idea of a Mole fanfiction, it sounds wonderful and Im sure it'l be amazing! But what sounds even more amazing is your DASHELL/Pixl story. It just...I cant explain how amazing something like that would be. And I would definitely support Dashell's story line all the way.
LuigiGenius: The Genius of Luigi! I owe you a clue! See, if you can contribute this to my status of "Biggest Liar of an Author" award, then you know just how much I deserve it! Hehe. In truth, I will hope to give you guys it soon! But to be honest, you have probably figured out a bunch more than this clue will provide to you : ) so do not worry. Also, about your comments on flags, how weirded out would you be if you knew I know semaphore? ; )
Edit: For time purposes, I had to cut of the reply to the reviews just to get this chapter published on time before I am computer-less for the night! AYYYY SORRy!
If you review on this chapter and I didn't get back to you, I'll SUPER make it up to you in my next reply : ) so thanks everyone who left a review and I didn't get to this time! You're all special!
ALSO if I owe you a certain "clue", sorry for delaying on that! I'll get that to most of you in the expected soon future : )
Anyways, this evil mission of the final five goes on. And just how will it end? Are the lives of Eclair and Snifit in true danger? What about McHallyboo?
The results of this sea-dangerous mission to be revealed next part...along with the players' same yet aesthetically NEW location.