Dum-ba-la-la!
I give you the next part in the game's final episode!
Things...do NOT get an easier from here for the three players. And a game awaits them that might be the worst of all...dare I say it? ...either worse or on par with the apocalypse game.
So where did we leave off?
Tiny: Uhh...like a month ago?
Piantissimo: As if anything like this is new... -snickers-
Eclair: The Waffle Kingdom game left off exactly where a spear was headed right towards the other two, I'm afraid...
Tiny: And we didn't know whether we would be fine and well, or turn into an awful shish kebab! ...but that really was like a month ago.
Piantissimo: Yah, way too long for an update on whether we died or not!
Tiny: Umm, you can't ever DIE in this game...or can you?
Eclair: So we wait excitedly for the results...well, that is, if Tiny and Piantissimo did not get speared by my guard.
Piantissimo: Yeek. I almost do not WANT to see the rest of the mission's results.
Krisetchers: Well, by all means! Let's go!
FINAL EPISODE (Part 3)
If it was not for the last second distraction that hit the eyes of the guard before the weapon was thrown, the long-edged spear would have sailed in perfection destination to its intended targets. But the distraction was enough to spare just a few inches away from the two helpless players.
It was the shine of a mirror's single light, from a valiant princess high above, which altered the direction of the guard's throw of the sailing spear.
"ARRRG!" As Éclair blinded the man's eyes temporarily, the weapon missed and pierced right into the wooden door behind Tiny. Tiny let out a scream, seeing the weapon miss her by just a few inches, its sinister metal shining directly into her face. Then, she looked up with a gasp.
"Look…Éclair!" A second later, she and Piantissimo looked up in awe at Éclair, who looked stunned. They faced her, in relief and elated.
Piantissimo: At the last second, Éclair had used the light to blind the guard. She really did save us from above…thank you, princess.
"Thanks so much, Éclair," Tiny whispered out loud, but then looked to her side to see the guard. The look on the man's face was enraged, and he was now running his direction towards the two of them in a rushing force. Noticing this, Tiny screamed again.
"Quick...here!" In an instant, Piantissimo grabbed her shoulder, and with little thinking, pulled her right through into the wooden door behind the two of them. They had entered a new and undiscovered area of the castle.
"What in the world…"
The two of them gasped when they saw the new ground that they had entered. It was a shrouded section of the castle's interior grounds, but instead of being open area, it was a torturous layout of green walls twisting in and out. The path before them was an arrangement of high walls made of thick grass that only served to confuse them, and as they tried to despairingly jump high enough to see over the tall plants that blocked most of their paths, they realized to their terror that their path to cross was a cloaked area that was not to be run across easily. Tiny and Piantissimo turned to each other with uneasiness.
Tiny: It was a labyrinth from our worst nightmares…a castle maze.
"Let's just...run!" Piantissimo said with panic, and Tiny immediately headed to her left. Piantissimo followed behind her as they ran, facing backwards at different intervals for most of the way down to keep lookout of their impending danger. As they ran and heard in the distance behind them a few guards enter into the castle's inner walls, they both knew with panic that they were being trailed within the confusion of the maze. Tiny took another left, and both she and Piantissimo were now running with fright blindly across the serpentine area.
Piantissimo: It was an era of confusion and panic, for maybe several minutes. It was a winding path that seemed to have no end. As Tiny ran ahead and tried to navigate through the maze, I kept a lookout behind us, making sure we were avoiding any guards who were to come towards our way. But in truth...we had no sense of direction.
"Oh no…" As Tiny reached a large growth of roses blocking her way, she first tried to use her hands to see through them. But after a few seconds, she withdrew her hands with dismay, the sharp flora and thorns forcing her back.
"This rose bush…it's a dead end," she whispered with fear, realizing that the thorns were a permanent hindrance to the remainder of their road. Piantissimo looked panic-stricken.
"It can't be," Piantissimo said with disbelief. "We ran towards the end of the maze! Did we not?" Tiny shook her head in exasperation, looking at the large thorn bush in front of them. In the game of chaos, they had reached an unexpected halt: they had nowhere to go.
"Stop!" yelled a voice from behind them, and they turned around. It was a single guard, and they quickly recognized it as the man who had barked at them at the beginning of the game, at the very front of the castle's entrance. Standing in the way of their only remaining path of exit, he stood and remained in stance with a fuming and belittling look on his face. This time, he held something in his hand that shined in the sun, making the blood of both Tiny and Piantissimo to run cold. Holding a spear himself, the two cornered players could only watch in terror as he began a slow set of intimidating steps towards them.
"You peasants…have transgressed both the law and your social statuses in civilization!" he bellowed in a low voice. It was a demeanor far more apoplectic than he had displayed to them earlier, and Piantissimo and Tiny both took a step back.
"We're not peasants," Tiny replied back, and even though there was fear on her face, she replied her sentence back testily with confidence. "We're people, just like you." She paused, turning to Piantissimo with worry, and then faced the guard.
"Just...let us go," she finished. Hearing this, the guard let out a laugh.
"You truly consider…that I will let you trespassers go scot-free for breaking into royal grounds," the guard added, holding a look of wry humor on his face. "You two are to be suitably punished." Piantissimo glanced around, looking at their surroundings in panicked thought. They were trapped in escape, but as his eyes turned to the rosebush that blocked their path, he stopped for a moment, his eyes focusing on the dangerous flower.
"You could..." Tiny objected nervously, but the guard laughed out loud again and shook his head strongly.
"Such provincials…do not deserve the luxury of pleasure," he spoke under his breath, and he raised up his spear. Tiny gasped.
"And neither do...YOU!" Piantissimo yelled, and he grabbed the sharp rose behind him into his glove, and in an instant, hurled it with full force directly at the guard, who had just a single second to react. The thorny plant sailed heavily through the air, but its destination was right into the face of the angry guard.
"ARRGHHHHH!" was the cry of the guard, as Piantissimo and Tiny looked and stepped back with wide eyes at the incapacitated sentinel.
Piantissimo: I couldn't believe what I had done…but I had to commit such, right?
As the guard fell to the floor in pain, it only took a single second for the two terrified players to hop in terror over the collapsed guard, and continue their run in fear down the path of the maze. They had escaped, and were continuing down their path. The two players were in a state of panic but heavy and new relief.
"That was close!" Tiny yelled, as the two of them continued their run into the rest of the maze."
"That was terrible," was all Piantissimo could say, and as they ran down the length of the maze, he held a conflicted look on his face.
"But we're free and escaped!" Tiny yelled, and she ran with a smile of relief down the green path. "You did it!" Piantissimo shook his head with wide and troubled eyes, and the two of them continued down the tree-lit path.
"Oh no…" All of a sudden, the two of them paused in horror, seeing after just thirty seconds of running that they were at a familiar part of the maze.
"No…how can this be?" Piantissimo gasped, and they knew exactly where they were: before them was the entrance of the maze: the very same and familiar entrance they had entered from.
And standing right at the maze's entrance, in proper formation order and dressed in sugar-coated brown, was the castle's entire military force.
Eclair: Well…we were close. And at this point of the game now...it is all that counts.
They were at a far distance away from their game: away from the castle, high towers, abysmal guards, and mazes which held their perilous and terror-fraught last mission. In the distance, the immense structure of the sweet-walled castle now only looked like another shop on the street they were on. Now sitting at a table in front of one of the most renowned pastry shops of the kingdom, the host and the three players sat with their sundaes, looking out at the distance of the mountains and at most of the orange-brown world of sugar that continued to the horizon.
In the middle of the table, a plethora of chocolate-covered éclairs were laid out for them, given from none other than the princess herself. But as much as they tried to enjoy their desserts, they couldn't shake out the moments of dread they had felt in their past, horror-filled game.
"We were close…SO close," Piantissimo said in a glum manner, taking the largest éclair pastry from the center of the table. As he took another large bite despondently right after the other, McHallyboo could only suppress his amusement.
"Well, close, yes," Tiny said, shrugging. Her face, less bothered than her partner's, seemed more amused than anything else from the results of the game's end. "But…I mean…well…" She sighed, putting her spoon down in her banana sundae.
"We could have suffered a greater fate at the end," Tiny finished, her voice turning optimistic as she forced a smile. "But we didn't." The other turned to her.
Tiny: We lost, but that's not what counts. What counts is that we were getting closer to the end of the game…and I couldn't wait for it. Two missions down…and maybe just one or two more to go until this game was over. But just what else are we going to face?
McHallyboo cleared his throat. "I made it clear to the guards at the maze's entrance that they were to only manacle you with handcuffs and escort you out of the castle's area," McHallyboo mentioned, "and to not harm you in any way. You were safe the entire game." Piantissimo rolled his eyes at the host's statement.
"That angry guard inside the maze looked like he was going to take our heads off," he commented, grabbing another éclair from the table's center. "I do not believe that statement one bit!"
"And that other guard outside the tall tower who threw the spear at us?" Tiny exclaimed, remembering in disbelief. "That was…wow." She turned back to her sundae and continued to eat. Éclair, hearing their statements, sat still in feelings of misunderstanding.
"Hearing your testimonies…of how the guards portrayed themselves in the castle," Éclair spoke, looking at Piantissimo and Tiny. They turned to her.
"It makes me realize for sure that they were not created in parallel to my own world. They were…created very different. My guards are nice, and compassionate...and I would never endorse such behaviors you described in my castle," she finished. McHallyboo nodded, slowly chewing on his own pastry before replying. The players looked at the host with full attention.
"Like I said before…the Mole has created these worlds different," McHallyboo stated, "and mostly, for the worse. That's their message of saying that he or she…still has the power to bring about the presence of malice into this final episode. It's their final gift of attack…into your most precious and personal worlds." As he wiped his mouth, the players felt unnerved once again at McHallyboo's line. Éclair looked at the spoon she was holding, and seeing her reflection in it, she was reminded of the mirror from her tower room.
"Was I meant to use the mirror as a signaling device from the donjon?" she asked, and the host nodded.
"Yes, you were right," McHallyboo stated. "And you used it in more ways than one. You saved the group, did you not?" Tiny's eyes widened as she smiled.
"That's right…" Tiny remembered, turning to Eclair. "You shined that light at the guard's eyes…and he was distracted enough for a second for us to run. You made it possible for us to go on." Hearing this, Éclair smiled and looked down.
"It is my pleasure that I was able to play my part as a leader," the princess stated. Then, Tiny then turned to Piantissimo.
"And that quick thinking with the rose…that saved us too," Tiny said, smiling at the player next to her. "Thank you for saving me with that thinking." Caught off guard, Piantissimo took a second to swallow his pastry before replying, a bit stunned.
"Thanks…thank you," Piantissimo replied, a bit surprised. "I..yes." Then, he waved his hand as if to shrug it off. "It was quite nothing at all. I solely did it to saving my own hide, but whatever…it does not matter." Éclair giggled, as McHallyboo stood up. His hat glowed in the brown sky.
"The day is ending," he stated, seeing the sun set in the distance. Indeed, the light in the world was slightly dimming, and the mountains in the distance did not glow as much as they had hours before.
"Players…it is a pleasure sharing a final dessert with you all in this land," he spoke, and the three players looked at each other quizzically for a second.
"Does that mean…?" Tiny began. McHallyboo nodded.
"We will be entering the third world shortly," the host explained to them, and the three players nodded nervously. Piantissimo individually looked more apprehensive but excited than the other two, and he nodded as well.
"My world," he stated with a nervous grin, and Tiny and Éclair looked at each other a bit with inquisitiveness.
Tiny: Just…what was in the world of Piantissimo? Where…was his origin even?
"Are you ready?" the host questioned, and the players looked at him. For a moment, they were confused.
"Right...now?" Tiny asked in a questionable voice. McHallyboo nodded. The players turned to one another.
"And to the world we go…" McHallyboo mentioned in a slow voice, "right…NOW!"
It was as if his voice loomed into the air like a strong echo, resilient and passing through the land of the kingdom. But all of a sudden, the three players felt an abrupt surge of wind rise around them, as if a sudden hurricane had picked up on their very spot. The players let out shouts, trying to duck their heads onto their table to protect themselves as pieces of paper, ground, and confectionery whirled through the wind. In the distance, the mountains began to deform.
Éclair: The change of my land was brutal, and volatile. And we were subjected to a vortex of no mercy.
The grandiose sugar-covered mountains that loomed in their distance and marked the majestic land seemed to crumble before their eyes. As they stared through the wind in amazement at their sinking horizon, they saw the tops of each mountain deflating, as if they were in the image of tents being taken down. The brown land of their horizon began to disintegrate into a pale color, and the strong golden-brown of the land were no more. As the world began to collapse, the players could only duck their faces in protection from the wind.
"Ah!" It was then that the chairs that the players were sitting upon began to disappear one by one, and the three players found themselves standing in the dilapidating and unrecognizable kingdom. Like a cyclone, the wind around them grew, and the players could only hope for the flurrying to come to an end. They were temporarily blinded by the wind.
And then, there was silence.
The three players shook their heads, at first not comprehending the new environment they had arrived in. At first glance, they knew that it was not as glamorous as their previous surroundings, but it seemed to be at the same time they had absconded in their previous world: at a few minutes just before sundown, the sun in the sky was in its final moments of light and attempted to shine weakly on the ground. But instead of the land being of brilliant gold, the ground below their feet seemed to me patched with two things: grass and mud.
Looking into the distance, the three of them saw green pastures stretch into the horizon, farther than their eyes could reach. Sunflower fields were both to their lefts and rights, and various other plants littered the path of the fence that seemed to border them in. On their left, the players saw a wooden shed, small enough to fit a small family.
Moooo! It was the loud sound of a cow that caught their attention, and the three players turned to see that behind them, fenced off by the white picket fence to their back, was a cow, munching in nonchalant manner and facing them. As they looked forwards and saw the hay barrels that littered the distance ahead of them, a large red structure caught their attention that was placed almost in the center of the fields. It was the barn that made them all know what their new location was.
"A farm…" Éclair whispered, still confused. The barn glowed in the setting sun, shining to all of them.
"My farm," Piantissimo whispered. The two players turned to Piantissimo in a moment of shock and confusion.
Tiny: Piantissimo…a farm?! What?
"This is…your farm?" asked Eclair, turning to Piantissimo. But as she did so, she realized that Piantissimo's attention was fixed elsewhere. They saw that his eyes were solely focused only to the little shed to their left in a stare of trance.
"That cannot be…" Looking as well, the three of them all saw a figure emerge from the shed in farmer's clothing, wearing a purple-plaid shirt and having distinguished beard that made both Éclair and Tiny assume immediately who it was. As the tall man faced the three players, one of them jumped up in excitement, immediately recognizing the image of the person before him. And for each of them, it was an explosion of either elated or inordinately confused feelings.
"Dad!" Piantissimo shouted with glee, and Tiny and Éclair exchanged looks of pure discombobulation.
Éclair: I was…not in a state of understanding our surroundings.
Tiny: This…just got stranger. What in the world was HAPPENING?
"Piantissimo?" A woman emerged from the shed in a hurry, and stood next to the farmer. She gasped, holding a bowl of cabbage leaves in her hand.
"Piantissimo!" the woman exclaimed again, a smile growing warmly on her face. She held the bowl to her chest in a state of surprised elation, and stepped forwards. "Is it really you?"
"Mom," Piantissimo said, in a breath of happy relief. The player ran ahead, first hopping the fence and then walking up to the couple on the farm. In an instant, he had embraced his parents in emotions of surprise and excitement. As the family was reunited momentarily, Éclair and Tiny could only look at each other in a state of pure confusion and shock.
"I…have NO idea what is going on right now," Tiny whispered frantically, looking at the princess. "Why are his parents here? What's the point of this?"
"I wish I knew," Eclair said, eyes equally stunned and baffled. Coming up ahead and walking across the mud path before them in slow steps, McHallyboo began to make his way up to the players' spot of arrival in the land. To the players, he was taking his pleasant time in the warm fall breeze, slightly smiling and almost complacently walking upon the soft clay-like mud that paved most of the land in little steps, until he had slow way up to the players. He grinned.
"Welcome…to the Pinsonneault farmlands," he announced them, opening his arms to the grandness of the pastured around them. "My, the fall weather is beautiful. Just perfect for apple picking." For a second, the players looked at McHallyboo in confusion.
"…Pinsonneault?!" Tiny exclaimed to McHallyboo. "That's…Piantissimo's real name?"
"Indeed, that is our name…and I do not know who or what Piantissimo is," came the gruff but kind-hearted voice of Piantissimo's father, making his way to join the group of players. "We never endorsed that name, son!" Piantissimo sheepishly looked down.
"I think it's rather endearing," came the soft voice of Piantissimo's mother. Piantissimo's mother, from the outside of the fence, also stepped in her way to join the others. "It sounds like a very sturdy name for a very sturdy boy. Is it Italian?" McHallyboo laughed.
Now, it was a group of six: the host, two players, and the reunited family that stood content in the middle of the farm.
"Mom…dad…it is great to see you both," Piantissimo said in a voice of gratefulness, as McHallyboo and the others smiled. But then stifling a gasp, Éclair covered her mouth.
Éclair: But…was it his real mother and father? Or…a creation?
"This is…too weird," Piantissimo said, shaking his head and looking at the others for a second. "I can't believe my parents are here."
"It's about to get even stranger," spoke McHallyboo, and then he turned to behind them. At once, they saw that the land had more individuals who had entered into the world of the building. As Tiny tried to make out the two figures further in the distance, Éclair gasped out loud.
"Oh my goodness…" Éclair paused in shock and delight, seeing a figure walking towards her from the mud path that lay in front of them. She recognized him as the past king of a land, wearing upon his head a crown that shined resplendently in the last bit of sun left in the setting sky. But as he made his way closer, Éclair could see that he was wearing the very same colors of her own elegant dress.
"It cannot be…" Eclair whispered. Tiny turned to her in confusion, seeing the figure as well.
Eclair opened her mouth. "My...father," she whispered. Tiny gasped.
"What?!" And at that second, Tiny recognized the other two people who made their way gradually to their spot as well. Her mouth dropped open, seeing a recognizable ape approach her with a hefty grin, wearing a red cap that resonated memories into both her mind and the mind of McHallyboo. Another person was behind him, and as she looked closer, Tiny saw it was another monkey. Her hair was a shiny yellow, just like her sister's, and she had a hat as pink as the glowing happiness of the group.
"Dixie…and Diddy," Tiny said in a half gasp, and for the first time in the game, the players all felt at home.
As the cool air of the pastures and farm collected over the land and entered into the night, the multitude of people eating and celebrating was large for the game. In the festive barn, the food was plenty, and the people within the abode ate with heartiness. The table was full of the riches of a harvest, with turkey, mashed potatoes, green peas, and butternut squash being the main courses of the meal that filled all of their stomachs to surfeit. The moon in the sky stood over the happy reunion of people who had united below it.
Night was upon the warm and festive farm. As the host, players, and their families ate, it was a moment of pure and unalloyed happiness in the red barn of the green fields.
"I ALMOST made it out of the fourth execution untainted," Diddy shouted with excitement, retelling his story to the rest of the individuals at the table. "But then that darn roulette wheel game came out of nowhere…and blasted me right out of the game!" As everyone at the table laughed at his story, McHallyboo shook his head from the opposite end of the table.
"If you remembered at the reunion, you were destined to leave anyway," the host reminded him with a wink. Diddy, after realizing for a second, scowled at him.
Piantissimo: So we spent the whole day with our families. And it was ending with a feat. It was an unimaginable pleasure.
"I hope you all harvest cake!" came the voice of Piantissimo's mother, and she arrived to the table where everyone was patiently waiting. The red-glazed cake resembled a volcano, hitting the noses of every guest at the table. It was only a horde of positive and hungry emotions that were directed towards the pastry.
"Food…fit for a king, perhaps" Éclair whispering, smiling towards her father. The king of the Waffle Kingdom let out a hoarse laugh.
"Éclair, my dear," Éclair's father coughed, covering his mouth with his napkin. "Let us not forget that I am quite on the looming brim of a heavy stature…I'm afraid my thinner days have absconded far." The princess laughed lightly.
"We actually traveled the very land of the Waffle Kingdom the other day," Tiny brought up, looking at Éclair and Piantissimo. "It was extremely beautiful, King Choux." Éclair's father immediately looked excited, his grey eyebrows rising with joy.
"Heaven's fire! Did you see the magnificent beauty of the castle then?" asked the king excitedly, and as McHallyboo laughed, the three players only stared at the host with distasteful and amused eyes. As the families and their players continued to partake in their dessert, the players couldn't help but have a feeling of gratitude for the placidness of their end days.
Tiny: I thought the end of the episode was going to be full of fear, and nervousness, and just everything scary…but no. It was full of comfort and happiness. It was almost too good to be true.
"I just can't believe I'm back!" Dixie said, nudging Tiny's shoulder. "I mean, I had the opportunity to come back in the last season for just a few days...but again?" She laughed, her hat bobbing.
"I didn't know I'd be connected to so many Mole experts," she finished with thought. Diddy seemed to beam.
"Your mother's cake…mphmphh…" Piantissimo's father attempted to talk with full mouth of the cake, "is quite…to die for, really." Piantissimo let out a little smirk, and then looked down at the table in a small moment of silence.
"Dad…and mom…I still quite cannot believe you are here," Piantissimo said, shaking his head and looking down at his plate. "I can't believe you would actually…come to visit me in this very game. Thank you." As both of Piantissimo's parents gave an encouraging smile to his son, the player faced back in same emotion.
"Father… " Eclair turned to her father besides her, as he turned in surprise.
"It is a blessing that you have traveled all the way this distance here see me," Éclair whispered, facing him with a gentle smile. "Thank you for taking some of your day off…in the kingdom…to visit me."
"Dear, of course." The Waffle Kingdom king smiled back and gently put a hand on his daughter's. Tiny looked at Eclair, and then nodded. She was also thinking the same thing.
"Just…" Tiny shook her head, quietly smiling, as Dixie turned to her sister.
"I'm still in disbelief you would come all the way here, just to see me fail," Tiny said in an amused tone. She looked at her sister with a joking smile, but gratefully.
"Thanks sis, so much…it means a lot," Tiny whispered with a smile, but her sister could see that through her laugh, she was holding back a tear. Dixie put a hand on her shoulder.
"I just couldn't turn down this exploding opportunity to see you succeed in this game…and…" Dixie replied in a whisper herself, "and…beat Diddy at his own game too." As the two Kong sisters giggled out loud, it was Diddy who faced them both in shock, having heard her derisive comment.
"I…heard that!"
As the night fell on the Pinsonneault farm, the players and their families were set to rest. Three separated and identical farmhouses served as shelters for their stay on the expanse and aesthetic field in the quiet, autumn farm. All the animals around the acreage that had roamed vigorously earlier in the day were now asleep, resting in their separate patches of grass and taking break as well. The inhabitants of the three homes slept as well.
In each small house of shoddy but comforting construction, a family slept in peace, away from their regular coursings of life and from any trouble. They were overall happy, not from the joyous events of the game but to just simply be in the company of one another.
They were temporarily away from the contents of the game. But even in a state of relaxation, the growing mystery could not be eradicated, permeating a thought and question in the minds of each player in the game.
Piantissimo: Why exactly were our family members brought into this game in the first place?
In the middle of the night, the field was the color of dark. But walking across the land, Piantissimo, Éclair, and Tiny could only follow their next directions to a distant hill with both confusion and a sidling feeling of anxiousness. The three of them were all brought from their respective homes of peaceful and transitory staying to a distance, far into the world of the farmlands. Upon a grassy hill, almost a quarter of a mile away from the homes of their families was a figure that would have blended into the dark with ease, if it were not for the shine of the moon on his hat's ribbon.
Éclair: We were brought away from our families…into the middle of the dark fields. We were not sure what was happening.
As they made their way to the designated spot, McHallyboo smiled.
"Greetings," he told them. And when he grinned, his teeth shined in the moon with resplendence as well. The three players only looked at him, silent and unknowing in their minds of the next events.
Tiny: It was a strange, sickly, and unpleasant feeling of not knowing what was to come next in the game.
"I hope you are all rested," the host continued, "and...you are all probably wondering one thing."
"Why were our families brought so suddenly into this game?" Piantissimo blurted, and hearing his statement, the other two players could only turn to him in agreement. Together, they faced the host. For a second, the host didn't answer, as if not wanting to openly state the reason why.
"Because they are needed to play this final game," he stated, and it was a sudden fear that they all felt together. The host had said it made them each felt a certain level of heightened uneasiness for their next game. Piantissimo's eyes turned more attentive than the rest.
"N...now?," Piantissimo asked. He gulped, looking at the host.
Piantissimo: And knowing that this was my game to lead…was enough to give me a myriad of nervous feelings.
With little warning, the host took out a device from his mysterious coat, playing with it a little bit in his hands before handing it to the player of the world. Piantissimo grabbed it, noticing that it was a metal device, rectangular and bulky, and he took it with surprise. As they all turned to stare at it, they saw that a trio of buttons was positioned side to side on its front, sticking out to him as if waiting to be pressed.
Tiny: What on earth was that object? And why was this part of the game?
"This device…is the entire game," the host said mysteriously. "One press…and an explosion will go off." The three players stared at the host with confusion at his statement. Piantissimo opened his mouth.
"What…do you mean…by explode?" Piantissimo asked, his voice full of sudden unease. But the host didn't answer right away. Then, he opened his mouth.
"Those…" Without another word, McHallyboo pointed outwards, into the distance of the dark land. For a second, the players did not understand his motion, but even after they did, they could not comprehend the message that the host was delivering to them. It was with no doubt, to their horror, that McHallyboo was pointing to three structures that loomed in their distance. It was the very houses of their families.
Piantissimo: What?!
"No…" Éclair covered her mouth in shock, her eyes becoming wide with horror.
Tiny: Wait…this was impossible. It couldn't be…our houses with our families?
"Wait…what?" sputtered Piantissimo in confusion, and before another word could be spoken, McHallyboo spoke again, this time with force.
"This game is yours…and so are the fates of the people before you," the host spoke, his voice solemn, and the three players faced him all in shock. "You have three minutes to push one button…and then this game is done." He pointed to the left-most button, marked with a scratched number of "1".
"Press the first button…" he began, "and the house of Princess Éclair will be no more." It was a sentence that made all three players gasp, and they each turned to the princess.
"No…" The princess's face turned to disbelief and fright.
"Father…" she whispered, her eyes frozen in fear and looking out into the land.
"This is crazy!" Tiny shouted, looking at McHallyboo with confused eyes. They were struck with feelings of disbelief at his words.
"But our families are in there! What is this?!" But McHallyboo only continued on in his instructions, pointing to the marked button with the number "2".
"And press this button…and you will be exploding Tiny's house instead." At this line, Tiny's mouth dropped open, and her eyes remained in astonished horror. Piantissimo, stunned, could only slowly point to the third button.
"And…the-the…third?" he stuttered, still in disbelief. McHallyboo looked at the button, a distinct number "0" placed on its front.
"Then no bomb will be activated…and 20,000 coins will be added to the pot," the host began slowly, and for a second, Piantissimo let out a confused sigh. But then, it was the host's continued sentence that made his eyes shoot open with shock.
"But…you will be given a -1 on the final quiz of this entire game." Piantissimo's mouth opened, for a second, unable to find words.
Piantissimo: A…subtraction of one point. To the end quiz. On the final episode…how can a player afford that?
"A…a Minus 1," he repeated, in shock. "That...is not possible." But McHallyboo just nodded.
"And if no decision is made on your part," the host continued, staring at Piantissimo in the eye, "then all three buttons will be activated at once. And in punishment…the 20,000 coins will not be granted." Piantissimo looked back at the host, stunned.
"The choice…is yours." Tiny looked at Piantissimo, eyes in shock of the game that had just been announced to them. Next to her, Éclair was positioned, head bowed down in distress and grief. McHallyboo, for a second, didn't say anything as he looked at the players. Then, he spoke.
"The others will be given a time of thirty seconds, in which they are allowed to talk to you…then you must make the choice on your own, Piantissimo," the host ordered. And with that, he turned around, and started to head his way towards the bottom of the hill. Soon, he was out of view, and three players were left alone: unaided in the most controversial moments that could ever be identified in the game.
Piantissimo: They were fake, the family members in the house...right? Right?
Tiny: I couldn't let him do this.
"Piantissimo," Tiny said, going up to him and voice in urgency. "No matter what you do, do NOT press the buttons of our houses…please. Just…for us. Don't do it." But there was no reply from Piantissimo. It was as if he had lost the ability to talk, and was staring blankly at the remote in his hand.
"Piantissimo!" Tiny shouted again, confused. Piantissimo suddenly snapping out of his trance, turned to her.
"I...sorry. I'm listening," he began, but his voice sounded uneasy.
"Please…" Éclair whispered, slowly walking up to Piantissimo. She stood in front of him, and looked him in the eye.
"I cannot bear…to see the image…of my father..." Eclair began softly, and Piantissimo saw that in her eyes, there was a small sense of tears. Piantissimo looked down.
"I know…" he whispered himself. He looked out into the distance, and saw the farmhouses in the distance yet again. In just his hand, their fates sat completely, and so did the families of the two teammates before him.
"But a Minus 1…" he could not help saying. Tiny was also looking out, at the single home that was sheltering her only sibling.
"Dixie…" she said, defeated and with sadness. Then, sensing that time was almost up Tiny turned to Piantissimo.
Tiny: But in this world…in this created world of evil…the choice was his.
"It's...it's up to you…" Tiny said in a soft voice, and though it held dread, she managed to still speak strongly to him. "We know…that whatever you decide…we…we won't…" Hearing her words, Piantissimo could only nod, amidst his frozen state of feelings. He swallowed, thinking about his reply. Then, he opened his mouth to speak, ready to give them his words.
"I-" Piantissimo began, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
"Time's up," came the sudden and undesirable voice of McHallyboo, as he made his way back to the top of the hill. The players turned to him, startled.
"Tiny and Éclair…please follow me," he beckoned, and the two players could only follow the directions of the host.
"Yes…" They each gave a look of worried and fearful eyes, almost pleading in message, to Piantissimo before they headed towards the path to the bottom of the hill. After a few seconds, the host approached McHallyboo, and it was just the two of the left. They were alone on the hill of fate.
Piantissimo: And then the choice...the sole choice of this world...was up to me.
"The other two will seen in fullest view the action that you choose," reminded McHallyboo, adding fire to the exacerbated situation. Piantissimo only hung his head.
"I…I do not truly know what my decision will be," the player said in a silent voice. He faced up, staring at the two houses in the far distance from him.
"You have exactly one minute remaining from this point to make your choice," McHallyboo informed him, and the player looked at him with a surprised gasp.
"You do know that they're not real…yes?" McHallyboo said, almost in another reminder to the player. But Piantissimo's eyes remained fixed, on the remote device he was holding in his hands.
"But the willing choice to kill one of them…is not," Piantissimo said silently. He looked at McHallyboo, then down at the remote. Then, he turned to the houses: the three homes that held the families of the land.
"To explode one of the houses…and know that a family is in one of them...is something that will never be erased from the minds of Tiny Kong and Éclair," Piantissimo said in a soft voice of his own. He sighed.
"Or from my own mind…" His eyes narrowed down with conflict, looking down at the remote.
"But then again…a Minus 1 may seal my fate this game…" He groaned, and his face was full of disagreement. He looked out at the houses once again, and for a moment of a full minute, he was still. McHallyboo looked at Piantissimo, and he could see that the player was in anguish.
Piantissimo: And then...I knew what I had to do.
After deep contemplation, Piantissimo opened his eyes again. He looked out into the night sky, and then he nodded.
"I think I know the decision…that I must take…" Piantissimo spoke finally. He paused.
"It is the decision…I must do for myself." McHallyboo faced him.
"Good," the host said, almost in a little bit of a rushed voice. "Because from this very point…you have just twenty seconds to decide." At this, Piantissimo's eyes panicked, and he faced the remote in his hand quickly.
Piantissimo: But I was still conflicted.
Piantissimo held the remote out in front of him, the device shaking as both his hands tried to grip it strongly. As he finally managed to sustain his composure, he stood still, his eyes still looking out the houses in the far distance before him. Then, he took a deep breath.
"I am...sorry…" he whispered, before shutting his eyes completely.
And then, with shaking hands, he pressed a button.
And in that instant, all four people on the hill saw an explosion before them.
...
Ahhhhh!
Okay, I'll leave the cliffhanger here. You know I like to tease you guys.
See? I told you guys that there awaited a mission as terrible as the apocalypse game!
The final episode...does not ever go easy in the game of the Mole. And neither does this season.
Anyways, thanks for being so patient guys! It means a lot! I'd like to let you all know that I probably won't be able to update for the next 3 or so weeks, due to...relch, don't say it...school tests. LOL I know, sad Dx but at least I'm able to warn you guys ahead of time!
Okay...so since this is the final episode...and I know I won't be updating for just a small while...I feel obligated to reply back to you guys! I'm back! I lied about never replying, lol. Hehe, so take it on! : )
Dark Punxy:I never curse people beyond the grave. I just dust my hands off and say mission accomplished! ...just kidding! Haha, please take that statement facetiously. Pleaase.
Masking What Remains: Thanks! CD's are my favorite...also, did you know that sometimes I play the real Mole soundtrack when I write my chapters, to inspire me while writing missions? It's a little nerdy thing...hehe! And also yes, keep that 1960's style Legend of Korra-like broadcasting style!
sixthsense6: First day of college! That's incredible! So proud of you, Mr. Sixth Sense...ahh, my, has time flown. I'm way past that (terribly) but I remember starting Saboteur's Island when I was in highschool...I can't believe it. Thanks for the
fredthemontymole: Ahhh! I get the Hyrule reference! ...shows how much we are both nerds and onto our useless Easter egg trivia stuff...wow, I have new respect for you. Let's have an easter egg duel-off sometime, hehe. I like your mention of Eclair being scummy, it was as if you still needed to find a bad word for her cause they're all still Mole candidates. And oh oh, your clue thinking! So much good. Thanks for remembering those plethora of clues in the past that pointed to mushrooms and dinosaurs...although some of those Toadette mushroom clues were pure bologna, let me tell you. -flashback of Toadette's bologna lines that subliminally contained mushroom names- Oh, and your Snifit theory...someone has to make an alternate fanfiction of that. Like now. Well, that's saying if it's not true, hur. But just how awesome would it be to see Terminator Snifit in an alternate ending of the story?
NintendoMLP: You! You! Like always, I have so many awesome things to say! I'm going to pick out my favorite parts of your review, hehe...yes, McHallyboo's skills to make smoothies must have arisen from somewhere! I like to think of the man in the blue hat as a surprising renaissance man...he has endless skills, lol. Very insightful analysis on the "accusation" scene on the island between the three players. I like how you went into depth, even pointing things out such the order of their accusings towards one another, or how, "One player didn't deny being the Mole while the others denied it strongly". I'm actually super impressed! I lol'd at "Watch Piantissimo's world be the real world" and also, "You have matters to discuss princess...when you see the real versions of yourself". Haha! Oh man, I always love your little punny comments like those. Thank you for your awesome review and I love length!
heysoup: Haha! Well, I like to think of the civilians of Waffle Kingdom to have evolved over the years to become accustomed to high amounts of sugar. I like to think of it that their body levels had transformed over the years to lower the risks of eating such confectioneries and sweets every day...though that is a crazy notion, haha. Also, when you dropped the pencil and notes on the characters, I imagine the players just being flustered on the ground like, "Why...did a pencil just fall on us from the sky?"
Guest: Hi hi! Yes, the kingdom is made out of waffles! Your questions is awesome...and I laughed at your "How is Eclair so skinny?" comment. I kind of applied my theory above in my reply to heysoup, and hey, it kind of holds water...or sugar...lol. You are like detective on the sabotages of the players, but also spot-on on analyzing their personalities! You are completely right about the small change of Piantissimo's character development...and this has been explored at random times, but most definitely towards the end of the story. I laughed at your comment of calling Tiny ditzy, because she may appear off like that at times during some of the missions. Well, like always, happy to hear your review! : )
fiction idea: I loved your reaction to Snifit's false identity...it was a plethora and many rows going, "WTF WTF WTF WTF"...Which is usually what I do whenever I stumble upon a twist ending in a movie or book. xD Oh man, you really paint me intrigued with your finding of many clues in the story. Why do you tease as such? And haha, your comment of the apocalypse misson and saying, "that's dark...I like it." HAHAA. Yayyy...I guess we both have a dark side. Hopefully we will find the light, lol. Anyways, your Snifit analysis was ah! So commendable. Oh snap, you brought up some points...err, hahaa. I admit you got me on some of them xD but I'll do my best to answer them later below!
Freek Sheet: Aww! That actually means truly a lot to me. To know I have the writing ability to bring emotion to a story or character really does a lot to make me happy. :' D thanks for that bittersweet comment! Hmm, I'm a sucker and cry at the end of every movie where a dog died...yeah, I'm pretty hopeless when to films, hahaa.
Guest: Lol! Oh my gosh...you just brought up a good plot point. Maybe this should have been the alternate ending ; D haha.
FireKai: Firekai! It makes me happy seeing your review after a while later, because it's always nice to see you after the initial wave has ended, hehe. Yes, I'm such a sucker for pointing-fingers scenes...like in movies, they are always my favorite. I don't know if you've ever seen the show Whodunnit (like the knock-off base yet entertaining version of the Mole, haha) and the final three do a scene similar to this! So it was definitely a bit of inspiration since I like those scenes, hehe. Oh man, the Chestnut King! I totally forgot! Let us all hope that he no longer exists in this Mole universe...you see, if he did, I think our poor Dashell may end up getting a terrible beating in the end of all of this ; ] haha. And your mention of the game being like those Zelda missions...AH! Memories of that very one single time I was traumatized in 2nd grade, watching my friend do this...maybe this was an subconscious inspiration hehe, but you're totally right at the similarity!
DaviM: What's up! Thanks SO much for being a new reviewer :) I always wonder which readers out there are reading my story, BUT I never get to know because they never review. So this comment means a lot! Wow, you brought great points on the clues that may potentially point to the Mole. Can't wait to hear more of them as the story progresses closer to its finish!
Questions to Answer:
So some of you threw out some questions for me to answer/clarify! I'm...going to my best to tackle them! xD
When Dashell answered that he didn't say the "Mole" quote in Episode 5, was that actually true? Yep! He pretty much proved he was most "likely" not the Mole at that point. Part of his strategy at the point of Episode 5 was not really focused on making others think he was the Mole...he wanted to focus all attention on figuring out who it truly was.
Where there any dreams that had meaning that weren't related to the machine? Yes! You will figure this out towards the end...but basically, the only dreams that were sure a result of distorted machines was Eclair and Tiny's dreams about Mimi winning money, and Bowser Jr. cheating and breaking into the producer's laptop of the game (revealed at the end of last chapter).
Was 8 episodes planned from the beginning? Yep! I think McHallyboo lied somewhere in the story...when he stated that only seven episodes would exist. This is the most sense-worthy statement, since there are only 7 floors. But he never really specifically said in the beginning whether 7, 8, or even 10 episodes were in store for the players But there was always meant to be 8 episodes, with or without the Snifit malfunction.
In the beginning of Episode 1, when the players arrive, Snifit is stated to ENTER the building. How is this possible, if he was an artificial creation?!
Good question! If you actually look back at the VERY first chapter of the story, when Snifit is introduced...is states him as "arriving IN in the building". There was no indication that he had ever walked through a door, or was ever part of the outside world. He simply appeared and was formed, and entered his way into the other players.
How does the entire scene at the end of Episode 3 play out, when Mimi saw Snifit and they both exited together? Ah, this is a good point! So you kind of got me here...but this is my explanation that will make it all work out: that whole scene, of Snifit seeing Mimi outside the Haunted mansion, and then jumping out together, and even landing outside the building...was simply all a creation that was put into the minds of the six remaining players. We're seeing those events play from the minds of the other players...so even though yes, they physically could not have seen any of these events since they were in the mansion, they were manipulated with a memory so strong that it was as if they experienced it vicariously. It's like watching a baseball game, and someone blocks you just as someone makes a homerun and runs. But your sister tells you ten seconds after what just happened...and that image and memory is in your head.
What would have happened in Snifit never disappeared in Episode 3? Does a 5 vs. 3 snowball fight make sense? And what world would they have encountered? The events would have played out as this: There would have been indeed a 5-player vs. 3- executed player snowball fight. The reason this would make sense actually very well is the tradition of past games in the real-life Mole series: there have been two incidences where a game took place in Episode 4, and the three executed players had to make sure the remaining players lost. One of these was in the 4th US Mole season, where the three executed players had to knock the remaining players off of platforms with coconuts...so the game would have made perfect sense (in the Mole tradition) for a 5 vs 3 game! Unfortunately, Snifit messed that up. Also, yep! The fourth floor would have been re-used all over again. But it wouldn't have been empty at all...it would have been a second continuation into another world from Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Old Door. Why? Because they would have exited the pipe in Fahr Outpost, and walked right into the sewers of Rogueport to continue their episode's level. This is just some little trivia to fuel your mind : )
Why was Snifit treated so real as a player? To mess with their minds? What was even the point of him making it to the final four? The final three were already established after Dashell, was it not? In short...yep. The whole point of Snifit's existence, in most blunt terms, WAS to pretty much mess with their minds. Entirely and completely. Snifit was always meant to make it right before the final 3, to then RIGHT before the finale, he would then reveal himself as fake...all for the pleasure of McHallyboo, television viewers, and and adding to the incredible twistedness of the game.
Umm...Snifit having a heartbeat in Episode 6's underwater game of Minus 1 world? Hello? Okay, I admit, haha you caught me on this. In truth, this is the case. There was no heartbeat ever attached to Snifit. Ever. The game was pretty much set under the pretense in pretending that Snifit was a real player, but it truly was all bologna by the producers. Second question: so the players were guaranteed a money loss from a fictional, non-existing heartbeat?! This really is messed up! Haha, actually, yes, but no. This was a small plot point I also forgot to mention at the end of Episode 7, but with so much to reveal at that point back then, this point got overshadowed: Snifit had the opportunity to turn down an exemption for the money back, and he was rigged to decline it and add the "rigged lost" 10,000 coins...right back into the pot. So this was to balance out the unfairness of the entire rigged underwater game. Yep!
Okay, PHEW! Enough questions, now for the poll results!
Who will be the WINNER of The Mole: Agent's Elevation?
Eclair: 6 VOTES
Tiny: 4 VOTES
Piantissimo: 3 VOTES
And such interesting results on the prediction of the winner!
Eclair: Oh, my...I got first place?
Piantissimo: Last?! Really? Aww, come on!
Tiny: Well, let's just say, these don't mean anything yet!
Next chapter...the players will be introduced to their final mission of the entire game.
And what a mission it will be.
Only three parts remain for the end of this episode...and then it will end. What is in store left? What were the consequences of Piantissimo's choices..and what will the final three players have to face in their last, most challenging, topsy-turvey mission yet?
Stay tuned!