AHHH!
I have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the heartfelt reviews I got…
After not updating for a year...I did not really expect more than maybe 3-4 reviews.
I continuously doubt myself but have to thank all my reviewers and readers for being amazing people that keep everything alive. This story, the adventures, the MYSTERY...and in addition, my spirit as well. : )
LOL I am going to reply to your reviews at the beginning of next chapter! xD lest I don't make this update in time for my promised May 30th.
ANYWAYS!
A pre-warning! My revision of this chapter made the story go from containing around 5 percent drama to like a whopping...90 percent.
Well...it is the final mission, so it should be so, right? xD
Anyways….enjoy the almost-finale!
Episode 8 (Part 7)
...
Flashback Adventure:
29 Minutes Remaining…
...
Sunset lights filled the inside of the hotel.
"Guys...umm...you HAVE to look at this." Seeing the resplendent lights first, Tiny gasped.
Visible from each window, the orange-red rays of the setting sun glowed and hit every tile within Hotel Delfino, making it shine a brilliant color. The floor of the hotel was tiled orange and the lights made the walls and floor appear a blazing, vacation sun. The sun-filled illuminance from outside made the hotel shine.
"A beach…" Eclair realized, looking outside a window and seeing a sandy shore.
Piantissimo: We all could have guessed where we would end up at the end of Season 2, but it was definitely still a sight to be amazed and surprised by.
"So this is definitely Season 2's end," Piantissimo wondered with thought, a hand on his chin. They were no longer in the rotten sewers of Isle Delfino, but at a symbolic location in where three final players had played their final mission.
"Now what?" Tiny questioned. "Where's the game?" Eclair didn't know.
"It's probably downstairs!" Piantissimo called out, already heading down the hotel's steps. "And we must hurry. We probably have just less than thirty minutes left, do we not?" The other two followed him as well in speed, as all three players headed down the hotel's lobby.
"Someone's unusually in a rush," Tiny whispered to the princess, as they followed after him.
As the players stepped down yet another set of stairs, they arrived at the hotel's lobby. The interior was lit, decorated with flame torches which surrounded a tall, ordained totem pole. To their lefts and rights, little tables and hut-shaped stands were against the walls of the prepossessing lobby. Then, they noticed the open set of grand doors in front of them.
"Okay…?" Tiny spoke cautiously, looking at the ajar hotel entrance. "Does that mean we just go through?" From the open front doors of Hotel Delfino, they could see a slimmer of orange light seep into the inside of the majestic structure. It was unlocked and open...as if someone had already completed the game.
"We go through the doors," Piantissimo whispered.
"Wait...what if there's a game around here in the hotel?" Tiny speculated, thinking with a confused but suspicious face. "Look around us: maybe there's a secret, or a clue, or something-"
"But remember: the players of Season 2 WON this final game," Piantissimo explained with remembrance. "So there's nothing for us to fix here. There has to be...something waiting outside." Tiny nodded, realizing the truth. Together, they faced the hotel exit.
"Get ready to see the beach," Piantissimo said, a little excitedly. Then, he pushed the doors fully open.
Immediately, the resplendent lights of the tropical land's sky hit their eyes, and with the luxurious view, the fresh scent of island paradise hit their noses as well. For a moment, each of the final three players were in a trance. They looked at the resort ahead of them, and past the pools and outdoor hotel huts, they were able to see Sirena Beach. Above the land, the setting sky above Isle Delfino was red with magnificence. The view made them all realize that Season 2 was beautiful.
"Who...is that?"
As they stared out at the beach together, they noticed that someone was already standing on the shore. A lone figure stood by himself, as if expecting them to arrive to his location from their journey across the Mole-filed islands and games. The sun at that very second was heavy, hitting the figure's back and making him only the image of a dark and shadowed silhouette. The players could not make out who it was.
"McHallyboo?" Tiny questioned, confused and calling out the host's name at the same time. But then she stopped: it was not the host.
"I do not think…" Eclair realized. She paused, also unsure and confused.
"It's...it's not him. I do not think. McHallyboo is shorter. This person is taller. It's someone else." The players were tense.
"Then it must be a person that we've seen before...maybe," Piantissimo said, but he was confused.
"But who could it be?" Eclair asked,
As they walked across the stone tiles of Hotel Delfino's front, they got closer to the sand of Sirena Beach as well as closer to the person standing before them. Then, as soon as they stepped onto the sand, they were at the same level of height as the mysterious person's standing position. At that second, the sun's light was not strong enough to block out the image of the person before them. Together, they gasped.
Tiny: And then, after we realized who it was, we all thought: who ELSE would have been here to greet us at the end of Season 2?
The deceitful king of Season 2 stood before them. Yoshi.
"Hi, people," he spoke, giving them a half-smile. "I'm glad you all made it. Welcome to the end of Season 2." The three players were in understandably awe.
"The Mole...of before?" Tiny said, the words barely escaping her mouth as she spoke in wonder. Yoshi nodded, still smiling.
Tiny couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Oh my gosh...like…" She shook her head, mesmerized.
Tiny: Wow. Yoshi. The MOLE of the last season. Like, it was really great to see him here, because, duh...he was the Mole of our game's last season!
Eclair: A deceitful figure.
"I guess it's an honor to be in your presence," Piantissimo said. "Thank you for greeting us here." Sticking out his hand, Piantissimo shook the hand of the saboteur.
Tiny: But at the same time, you couldn't help but think…and remember...
Eclair: ...remember that he had sabotaged an entire game single-handedly, unemotionally ruining the efforts of nine other people. He had kept money away from someone's personal living...and he had no concern with that.
Piantissimo: Yoshi was the true paragon of an innocent-looking, duplicitous person. And one of us was just like him.
"I want to congratulate you three for making it to the final episode," Yoshi spoke, his voice accompanied by the sound of the waves splashing behind him. "Eclair….Piantissimo...and Tiny...I truly give you three strong commendation. It wasn't easy, was it?" The players couldn't help but acknowledge Yoshi's statement with a silent nod.
"I should know…" Yoshi continued, slightly looking past the others, at the grand hotel that existed behind them. He let out a wistful sigh.
"I had watched both Vivian and Wario's journeys to the very end. And, well, my own, too. None of our journeys were easy." The three players nodded together, and individually, they couldn't help but feel proud of themselves. They had each completed a hard journey, not just together, but one of their own as well.
"One of you will walk away from this building as the winner of this game, and the winner of almost a fourth of one million coins," Yoshi continued. "A second one of you will walk away with no victory...but with a lot of memories. As the final victim of this game." Then, Yoshi turned around, facing the ocean behind him with a smile.
"And one of you has followed my path quite a bit...and will finally reveal yourself soon," he said, in a strange but resolute voice. He turned around to face the three of them.
"That one of you… is the Mole. And…" He laughed slightly.
"Hehe! I know who you are, however. The host doesn't keep secrets." At this sentence, the Mole of Season 3 could not help but tense a small bit. For a split second, Yoshi looked at this person, grinning and acknowledging the traitor before him. The dinosaur could see past his or her disguise.
"Hmm." And, like a trained, covert Mole, his face went back to being solemn and normal, in a manner so quick that the other two didn't notice the slight exchange of looks between the two saboteurs. Then, Yoshi only clasped his hands together.
"Well, only one season remains for this final mission," Yoshi spoke in conclusion. "And it is...your season. And it will be your job to fix, not other people's mistakes this time, but...your own." The three players looked stunned.
"We know that it will not be easy," Eclair said slowly, "because...nothing has ever been easy in this game. But we do know one thing, Yoshi. We are ready." Before them all, the Mole of Season 2 nodded. The three finalists looked at each other, unsure but hopeful.
"And before I leave...because, yes, my time talking to you counts as time being lost for your final game..." Yoshi continued, as the players could not help but feel the urge to roll their eyes at the saboteur before them, "I want to leave you with a final piece of advice." The waves behind him, for some reason, seemed to become stronger.
"And that is?" Piantissimo asked, questioning.
Piantissimo: But truthfully...should we trust any advice given to us by this fellow?
"It's a piece of advice that a runner-up was given in the first season," he said. This time, the waves behind Yoshi became significantly more audible, and the players looked in stunned silence at the last, large wave that seemed to be frozen in place behind him.
"And that advice is...what?" Tiny asked nervously.. Before Yoshi could speak, they all gasped, as they suddenly noticed the growing tide behind Yoshi.
"The water!..." All of a sudden, it was a tall body of water rising above the edge of the shore that shocked them, as if the ocean itself was a person that was slowly standing up. The three players couldn't help but notice the growing surge from the ocean with a large sense of fear. Yoshi opened his mouth.
Tiny: It was just...coming. Coming towards us with no warning. And we had nowhere to run to if it hit.
"Temptation ruins everything," was Yoshi's final words, and suddenly, it was as if the ocean was being controlled by the hand of the Mole himself. Yoshi smiled, as the huge wave loomed over them in high image, casting a shadow over them all that left the four of them in darkness. Within the blink of an eye, the image of deadly water had reached a height so grand, almost as tall as Delfino Hotel itself. And before they could blink again, the tidal wave crashed down onto them.
None of them had time to cover their faces or shield their bodies from the colossal force of water. They were hit...and separated. Separated for the final three games.
21 Minutes Remaining
Piantissimo opened his eyes.
"I'm...here?!" He immediately realized where he was, and to his mystification, he discovered that he was still on Isle Delfino. It was daytime instead of the orange sunset from Sirena Beach, and the sky was a peaceful, halcyon blue. When he looked to the buildings beside him, he saw the colorful colors of Delfino Plaza's resort buildings. In the distance, he made out the brilliant, golden glow of the shine gate, towering over the little island village. Turning around, he saw that there was a dock near him, jutting slightly into the ocean.
But someone else stood on the dock.
"I'm not done with you yet," Yoshi spoke suddenly, smiling at the player as he turned around. Piantissimo took a step back, stunned at the dinosaur's existence.
"You're...you're still here," Piantissimo voiced in surprise. "What...why are you here?" The two of them stood face to face upon Delfino's Plaza's land once again.
"Remember in Episode 2 when you couldn't push me into the water?" Yoshi continued. As Piantissimo finally realized where he was and at what point in the timeline they were at, Yoshi just continued smiling.
Piantissimo: So it brought me back to one of my first errors in the game. Not anyone else's mistake. MY mistake.
"It was funny seeing you and Eclair slip and fall into the water...but well, heh, I don't blame you for failing," Yoshi said with a little laugh. "And Snifit...poor, innocent Snifit...refused to push me in. I won't forget the look on his face." At these sentences, Piantissimo's mouth opened with shock as his eyes also widened with discovering realization.
"Th...that was...that was...actually you?" Piantissimo stuttered. "It wasn't...a…" Yoshi nodded his head, smiling.
"You failed to push me into the water, in Episode 2…" Yoshi said, hopping a little to the side, as Piantissimo stood his ground carefully at his changing position. "So…" The dinosaur looked at the athlete, and gave a little shrug.
"I'll give you a second chance," Yoshi said, grinning with challenge. "What do you say? Push me in, and win your round." Piantissimo, swallowing slowly, nodded nervously in reply.
Piantissimo: I was battling a Mole...but would I win? Will I really win against this Mole?
Eclair woke up, her hair damp from water. But it wasn't from the water of Isle Delfino.
As she tried to stand up from the wooden flooring she was on, she realized to her shock that she immediately swayed to the side. Her head was spinning and she let out a cry.
"Help...help..." Fearing that she had hit her head and that she was rendered dizzy, she immediately clasped the sides of her head, closing her eyes with fear. But after a few seconds, she realized that even when she sat on the floor in peace, her body still swayed against her. It wasn't disorientation that made her falter: it was the moving floor.
She was aboard a sailing ship.
"A ship...no," she gasped, finally realizing where she was. "No...please no...not this ship." But even as she wished, she knew the truth.
As she realized with dread that her game was upon the ocean from Episode 6, the S.S. Reward continue to sailed towards its end destination. Eclair blinked and knew that she was back in the sixth episode, as the mountainous ship rode across the sea, water splashing its base violently.
"The others are gone...Snifit is gone...it is just me on this ship," she realized and spoke out loud, and then she knew what the final games of their last mission would be: their own games from Season 3.
"This is my error…"
Eclair: But...perhaps I was not alone?
"If this game is taking place now, and we're back in the past at this very time…then…" Eclair gasped and covered her mouth.
"Then he must be here too…" Then, she heard a familiar voice come from behind her.
"Are you going to make it hard too?" an exhausted and frenzied voice spoke. The voice was that of a human...from someone that the princess knew in a heartbeat.
"Because I hope not," the other person spoke. It was Dashell. And face to face, both the princess and Pixl saw each other, for the first time in a very, very long time.
Tssst….Tsst…beep.. It was a sound similar to that of a starting-up computer that made Tiny shoot her eyes open with wide alertness.
The room was dark, but large. Realizing that she was separated from the others, Tiny groaned with nervousness, not wanting to continue. She tried to look around, but apart from the occasional flickering of electricity that perked both her curiosity and fear even more, she saw nothing else but a dark void around her.
"Huh?" The floor she was sitting on was odd, hard, austere, and mostly unusual of all, metal.
All of a sudden, it was the wires that surged through the room that made Tiny jump. Lights began to glow from every corner of the room, and as she looked around, she realized that the room wasn't blank at all. Devices and wires of all colors seemed to spark and go to every spot that she could see. Her mouth was open with disbelief.
In the middle of the large room, a chair sat, the wires attached to it pulsating a blue light, almost as if the chair was alive itself. And all of a sudden, Tiny knew where she was located.
Tiny: Oh no….that chair. That horrid chair. Why was I here?
"Well, look who it is? I'm very glad to see you, Tiny Kong," a very familiar voice said, coming from behind her. It was McHallyboo.
"You?!" Seeing the host himself, Tiny gasped, taking a step back that only brought her closer to the dangerous chair itself.
"What...is going on?" she stammered. Her eyes shifted to the side, as if trying to find a way out. "Why are you here?"
"I just want you to sit...," McHallyboo said calmly. He pointed behind Tiny, and as she turned around uneasily, she realized that he was pointing to the very chair itself. He wanted her to sit down in it.
"You want me to…" Tiny began with surprise. She faced the chair for a few seconds, as if hesitating on whether or not to follow the host's instructions.
Tiny: Should I still trust this host? Should any of us? After all he had put us through?
"Okay..." she said cautiously. A little reluctantly, she made her way to the metallic chair, but then stopped to look at the host again for confirmation. McHallyboo watched her walk to the metallic object, a grin on his face that made Tiny shiver.
"Go on," the host encouraged. Tiny slowly turned back to the chair.
Tiny: I...hated this chair. We all did in Episode 5.
She took a moment to stand in front of the chair. Then, with another sigh, she unwillingly sat down into its hard, cold seating.
Snap! Little restraints sprung out from the sides of the chair, trapping Tiny in place. She struggled for a second, gasping at her sudden state of imprisonment that left her vulnerable. But after a few dire seconds, the player realized that there was nowhere to go. When she looked up from her restraints and arms, she suddenly found herself face to face with the man in the blue hat.
"Heh!" It was the predictable running of Piantissimo that made Yoshi laugh a little bit. The dinosaur jumped to the side, just as Piantissimo reached the very edge of the dock. Huffing, Piantissimo turned to look at Yoshi, who was smiling, dry, and untouched. The player had attempted to knock him into the water but failed.
"Just like Episode 2's attempt to push me off," Yoshi noticed out loud. But distinguishing a slight nuance in his voice, Piantissimo could detect mocking, and his teeth clenched just a little bit. However, instead of showing outward annoyance towards the dinosaur's subtle ridiculing, Piantissimo kept his composure.
"But this time," Piantissimo replied, trying to keep his confidence up, "I didn't fall into the water. And this game only ends if I fall into the water...and it won't happen again, my friend." At Piantissimo's line, Yoshi closed his mouth. The game was not yet over..
"Did you ever wonder WHY you slipped and fell into the water the first time?" Yoshi asked, a small shine in his eye. Piantissimo looked at him, a strange look on his face.
"Because…obviously..." Piantissimo started. Yoshi laughed at his bewildered face.
"It's because you were outsmarted by the Mole," Yoshi replied. And with a few hops, Yoshi made his way to another part of the dock, right to the edge of the dock's long end. Once again, he had planted himself right at the edge of the water, as a perfect target and as perfect bait. But it was just another trap. Piantissimo gritted his teeth again. The Mole of Season 2 was taunting him.
At this point, Eclair was supposed to burn down the sailing ship. She was supposed to utter the words, "Goodbye, Dashell" before sending thousands of pieces of wooden debris into the air. She was supposed to cause the fiery explosion which would end the existence of the grand, floating boat.
But instead, all she did was remain silent. Dashell and Eclair were alone on the swaying boat in the middle of the calm ocean. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Eclair: It was my game. I had to change the past...and change Dashell's mind.
"...well?" Dashell said, his face confused at Eclair's elongated silence. "Are you going to jump off the boat and help me win the exemption?" Eclair took in a breath.
"How could you?" Eclair said loudly, finally telling him for the first time how she felt about him during the mission. "How could you...be so selfish and think only of yourself? To push Tiny, Piantissimo, and Snifit off the boat, just for your own advantage and exemption?"
"I don't care about them," Dashell replied, shrugging and looking annoyed.
"They are not just other people, but they are our friends too! You have changed...changed much than you had in character than appearance!" At Eclair's outburst, Dashell had taken a step back. Then, guilt swept over his face. But after a quick second, it disappeared.
"I...I…" he began, then shook his head.
"I need you to get off the boat and let me get that exemption!" Dashell said bluntly. "As long as you jump off the boat before we reach the finish line, I get the exemption. It's simple! Just...just please, please don't let me have to push you off. It's mine!" Eclair seemed lost at his words.
Eclair: He was unremitting. And he was not backing down. But then I realized something...I could not pacify him by being angry. I had to be different.
Thinking fast for a second, Eclair knew what she had to do to win her final mission of the game: to not blow up the ship and stay upon it until the end.
"The finish…" In the distance, Eclair saw an approaching island: their final destination. They would reach it in under three minutes. But she had to stay on the boat to win.
Eclair was silent for a second, thinking. Then, she spoke quietly, but her face seemed sadder. Her mood had suddenly changed.
"You can...you can push me off if you would like," Eclair said, face calm. At this line, Dashell's mouth opened in surprise.
"It's okay," she whispered. "I won't jump off myself. But...you can push me off." She closed her eyes.
"I will...I will leave it up you," she said solemnly. And at this line, the guilt once again swept onto Dashell's face. This time, however, it stayed for longer than just a quick second.
Amidst all the wires surrounding the laboratory-like room, Tiny sat alone with the host.
"What…why am I here!" shouted Tiny, struggling in her arm restraints which made her a prisoner to the metal chair. "Why…?" But McHallyboo just kept on smiling. Tiny closed her eyes, not able to look at the eerie face of the host. She sighed.
"Why am I here...in this game?" she whispered. McHallyboo didn't say anything.
"I really don't care if we win the money or not," Tiny spoke nonchalantly, but all of a sudden, the wires that protruded from the base of the metal chair began to change color. It was unmistakably, pulsating heavily from the chair, red. McHallyboo wagged his finger.
"Remember: the chair can detect if you're telling the truth or not," the host said, almost in a patronizing voice. "And red...means lying." Tiny stared at the host, her emotions becoming heated and frustrated. She took in a long breath before speaking again.
"You're crazy!" Tiny finally spoke, saying something that she had wanted to say from the first episode of the game. "You're all crazy. All of you! The producers, creators...you. Just all of you. Whoever made this game. And these disgusting, terrible missions. The apocalypse city. The burning farm huts. You're just really, all...not normal!" She looked straight into the host's eyes, as she continued.
"I hate it. I just...hate this game!" The wires suddenly began to emit green flashes, in fast, successive bursts. McHallyboo stared down at the green-colored wires: he could see that all of her words were the truth.
Tiny immediately looked down, almost as if regretting right away everything she had said to the host. But to her surprise, McHallyboo didn't look offended. His smile vanished, but he wasn't angry, sad, or taken back by her words.
"And yet, still thinking all of those things about this game…" McHallyboo replied, his response resonating in the air, "You are still here.." Tiny looked up at the host, her eyes wide.
"Why? What made you go on?" the host inquired. Tiny could look directly into the host's eyes. She paused, thinking, before answering in a whisper.
Tiny: And I had to answer myself: why WAS I still here?
She looked strongly at the host.
"Maybe...maybe there is a small side to this game that I actually like," Tiny said reflectively. "Despite how evil it may be, maybe a part of me in the end...really just wants to actually win."
Again, the swift movements of feet were a blur across the docks. For a fifth attempt, all was a failure as the dinosaur continued to dance upon the wooden dock, not in any proximity to the water. Piantissimo let out a tired breath, then looked up at Yoshi. The dinosaur looked back at him curiously.
"Why are you tired?" Yoshi asked. "Is it from the physical energy you're exuding, or the mental energy of trying to figure out how to knock me into the water?" Piantissimo just looked down at the ground, not bothering to answer his slightly-sarcastic question.
"You're, again, keeping money away from a pot," was all Piantissimo replied with a little bit of annoyance. "You've never stopped being a Mole. As they say: once a Mole, always a Mole." Yoshi thought for a second, then nodded slowly in response.
"I suppose you're right," Yoshi spoke, nodding. "Yes. I suppose you're right." But then he smiled.
"And you haven't stopped being a pompous, arrogant player since Episode 1," was Yoshi's sharp reply. At this line, Piantissimo's face eyes shot up with irritation, and for a second, Yoshi was fearful.
"That is how they WANTED me to act since the moment I stepped into Episode 1," Piantissimo said, vehement and breathing heavily. "Haughty...pretentious...conceited. Full of nothing...nothing but that! That's the display they wanted for the viewers. But no. That...that was not me." He looked down at the water-stained dock, and calming down, he let out a sigh of despair.
"Or at least...not completely, one-hundred percent me," he added, realizing. "I am still indeed, slightly...pompous and arrogant." But he looked up.
"Yet at the same time...it was a lie." He turned to Yoshi.
"I am like you. The Mole. Wearing a mask. And I am not even sure if I've completely taken it off yet, truly."
The water swayed the boat even more heavily than before. The green land in the distance was approaching, and within two minutes, the boat would arrive at its destination.
DESTINATION SAIL = 0.2 MILES REMAINING
The lighter that was in Eclair's hand had dropped to the wooden floor of the ship. The boat would no longer explode...but Eclair's safe placement upon the ship was still not yet guaranteed.
"Dashell, if you must...push me off," Eclair spoke again, her voice resolute. But in her sentence, intense sadness was present. Dashell's face seemed conflicted.
"Eclair…" he began, almost apologetically. The princess' face was stricken with sorrow, but she remained strong.
"I…" Dashell stuttered. They were silent for a second.
"If you want it so much...the exemption...then I suggest you do the actions that are necessary," Eclair said in a silent tone. "But, just know...just know that if you do…" Eclair began to find tears forming in her eyes.
"Just know that it's okay, and I won't be angry at you," she whispered, as a tear finally streamed down her face.
"No…" Dashell, his face twisted in sorrow, only looked at her in silence. He saw the approaching land in the distance, and then he saw her, looking at him with a melancholy but accepting face. The boat would arrive at the final island within two minutes, but Dashell didn't know what to say...or do.
The room around her started to glow an intense conglomeration of red and green. Tiny looked down at the restraints on her arms helplessly. She was trapped, scared, and forced to look at the host again.
"I get it," Tiny said in a submissive voice. "I know. You want me to fix this mistake. By answering that one, simple question." The host nodded.
"Yes," McHallyboo began slowly. Tiny sighed.
"This is the very question that you refused to answer in Episode 5...that cost the team their money and their game," McHallyboo announced. "A question that you need to answer fully before you can go on." For a second, Tiny didn't say anything.
"I...I guess I must answer it," she said quietly. With an understanding but fearful face, she nodded.
"And that question is…" McHallyboo continued, pulling out a card from out of his pocket. But his action was unnecessary. It was unnecessary to pull out a card that had inscribed on it a question which they both knew at heart. A question that every player in the game had asked countless times since their very first day of their diabolical adventure. The one question that epitomized the entire game.
"Tiny Kong…" McHallyboo asked, not even bothering to look at the card. "Are you the Mole?"
Piantissimo ended his speech by facing off into the ocean's distance. It was a moment of self-reflection for him. Having no longer cared about letting the truth out, he felt more relieved. He knew that the game was ending, and that he would be free. And he didn't have to care anymore.
Piantissimo: And all of a sudden...I felt more free.
Facing the sea, he nodded to himself. And then he heard footsteps behind him. Rapid footsteps.
"What!" In the split second that he had turned his head away, he saw in his peripheral vision the body of Yoshi running right towards him, his head charged at the player. The dinosaur had taken advantage of Piantissimo's vulnerable moment, and now, the tables had turned. He was going to knock Piantissimo into the water.
"Goodbye, Piantissimo!" Yoshi shouted, his mouth wide in a smile and tongue flopping wildly. He was running towards him...and about to secure his own victory.
Piantissimo gasped, and with his own athletic reaction time, barely made it out of the way by leaping on one foot to the side. The events that followed were all in a blur of events and actions, but as Piantissimo moved his body slightly to the left at the final second, it was only his left shoulder that got hit by the running force of Yoshi's head. And instead of Piantissimo stepping off the edge of the dock and conceding victory to his opponent, it was Yoshi's flailing arms and boots that were sent off the wooden dock, capitulating the win to the man without the mask.
SPLASH!
The wires from the metal chair glowed green, a strong green that reflected off the shiny walls and glass equipment around the room. The color was caused by the truthful answer given by the female player sitting in the chair of truth.
Tiny had answered her question.
As the colors of the wires died down, McHallyboo nodded with satisfaction. The game was complete.
"Thank you," the host replied. "This game...is done." Tiny let out a sigh, both of relief and weariness.
"Thank you…" she replied, then proceeded to try and stand up. But as she tried again, her face became twisted with confusion and panic. Her straps weren't opening.
"Why am I...still in place?" she asked nervously with apprehension. With wide eyes, she watched as McHallyboo paused for a moment, then walked to the back of the chair with heavy footsteps. Tiny's eyes widened, helpless.
And then, she was transported.
SPLASH!
The front of the ship's hull was about to hit the dock on the island. The game would be over in a few seconds. But one last action had to be done.
Eclair stood on the edge of the ship, her back exposed to the open air and water behind her. When she looked forwards, she saw Dashell take a sudden step closer to her body. The princess, with fear but acceptance, looked back at him in silence.
It would be left to the decision of the other human whether or not she would remain on the ship.
Eclair: It would take one second for Dashell to push me over the edge of the boat for his exemption. And for me to fall. Off the ship, into the water, and into the darkness of what his heart had become
Finally, Dashell stood in front of Eclair, looking at her with a sorry look. Eclair breathed in, softly.
"I…" Dashell took yet another step closer to her, as the ship rocked even more.
"Dashell…you can push me off," she whispered. But she gasped with fear, feeling his finger lightly touching the center of her body's front. Dashell paused. Eclair closed her eyes with despair.
"I…" he started, his voice in pain and looking conflicted. "I…" Eclair winced. As Dashell got ready for his action, she prepared for her end.
"You…?" Eclair said softly, not opening her eyes to look at him.
"I can't do that to someone that I love," Dashell finished. And in an instant, Dashell took his last step towards Eclair and kissed her. For the second time in the building of betrayal, hardships, and life, there was a shared kiss of love.
The ship sailed to its finish. And at that moment, all three games of Season 3 were won.
7 Minutes Remaining...
Darkness.
Eclair opened her eyes. It was an empty void of darkness and black.
"Hello!" she called out, excitedly. "I am here! I have finished! Piantissimo! Tiny! I...I cannot see anyone!..." From seeing an ocean of endless blue to nothing, she felt scared. She tried walking forwards, but she couldn't make out her next steps.
Eclair: It was terrible...I felt hope, and now, nothing.
"I'm here…" Piantissimo''s voice called out from the darkness. Eclair turned towards his voice's direction.
"Piantissimo…" she whispered. Piantissimo grinned, nodding.
"We made it," he whispered. Two minutes passed by.
"Where…" began Eclair.
"There's no point trying to figure out even where we are...we've never known where we've truly been in this game, really," Piantissimo said,
"No," Eclair corrected. "Where is...Tiny?"
Piantissimo's eyes widened. "I do not know," he said, and then from behind him, they finally heard the voice of the third player.
"Guys...oh my gosh! Thank goodness!" Tiny's voice called out, and they heard her rapid footsteps approaching their spots. After she had made her way to them, she let out a shout of relief.
"I just got here, and it was just so...dark!" she explained to them. "Oh my gosh…" She was panting.
"This place is so dark...wait...so where are we anyway?" she wondered, staring at the ceiling. "And why is this place so empty? It's so...so...dead!"
"Are we dead?" Piantissimo asked inquisitively, folding his arms in the darkness. He looked around.
"Did we all...play games?" Piantissimo asked, confused. He looked around, frowning.
"I...do not think the game is over," Piantissimo frowned. "Despite us defeating Season 3." Piantissimo put his hand to his chin, pondering for a bit.
"We had been split up, to play games..." Pianitssimo said, thinking.
"And now we're together again...but why?" Eclair said, baffled.
"Where were you all, anyway?" Tiny asked her opponents. "Like, what did you guys do?" She faced Piantissimo.
"You?" she asked. Piantissimo felt her voice towards his direction, and he cleared his throat to answer.
"Well, in addition to having to continuously battle the Mole in our own game," Piantissimo spoke in a positive voice of victory, "I had to fight the Mole of Season 2. Again. It was a rematch of Episode 2's fight. Whoever touched the surface of the water had to pay the price of a battle lost. Episode 2, Round 2. And guess who was victor?" He smiled.
"You had won...yes," Eclair said hopefully. "I...had won too."
"Eclair...what did you do?" Tiny asked investigatively. "Who did you see?" Piantissimo and Eclair turned to Tiny, a little taken back at her sharp questioning.
"I was on the ship from Episode 6…" Eclair replied truthfully.
"And…?" Tiny continued.
Eclair continued in a barely-audible whisper.. "And I saw Dashell." Tiny and Piantissimo were silent.
"I see…" Piantissimo said, almost softly himself. He turned to Tiny, a little suspiciously.
"And what did you do?" Piantissimo asked questionably. "Where were you, and who did you see? And why did you arrive after us?"
"Well…" Tiny, for a second, didn't say anything.
"I was forced against my will into the metal chair from Episode 5 and had to answer the question that I missed the first time I had played the game," she answered without missing a beat. "And that's that. Like, that's all I did, and then I ended up here...okay...what?" She ended her sentence with a subtle snap. Even though she couldn't see Piantissimo's face, she could still sense his immediate suspiciousness.
"We each played a game, and we are still here, playing," Eclair began, trying her best to quell their talking. "Where are-" But then she was then interrupted by a loud, booming voice.
"FOUR MINUTES LEFT," the voice boomed in echo, resonating and making Tiny, Piantissimo and Eclair recoil back a bit. They couldn't determine where the voice was coming from.
"Four minutes left...to fix last three mistakes." The voice, after speaking so strongly, was then silent. The players faced each other in the darkness.
"What do you mean? There's more mistakes-?" began Piantissimo in a tone of confusion, but then a flash made him shield his eyes. From above them, a floating square of white seemed to have materialized out of the particles of darkness above them. The three players stared in awe, baffled, looking at the cube above them that seemed to be that of a floating image. But it wasn't a simple image that was floating above them: it was a video.
"….what is that?" The events from a specific point in the season played before them, as if someone had been recording their footage with a camera directly next to them. But unmistakably, the three of them could see a figure in the video, standing among a dark forest and wooded trees: Piantissimo.
"What…?" was all Piantissimo could utter, until he realized what was being shown.
Eclair: It was footage from Episode 3, when Piantissimo approached me in the forest and told me about Dashell.
Piantissimo laughed. "I mean, that Dashell dude. I thought I could trust him, but….geez." Éclair suddenly stopped collecting sticks.
"Dashell?" she asked quietly. "What about…Dashell?" Piantissimo only laughed lightly.
"Oh, it is nothing," he said, laughing and swiping the air in a small motion. "It is simply nothing. He's a smart guy." As Éclair faced him concerned, he continued to talk a bit.
"Except for that time during our game of Saboteur Island Sabotage, when he devised that plan to make Dry Bones run for the megaphone," Piantissimo spoke, still looking upward in his direction. "What a foolish plan. I mean, that was all his idea."
"Dashell…he created that plan?" Éclair asked, her voice different.
"Of course he did!" Piantissimo told her. "Why do you seem so interested in that fact, princess?"
"I…" Éclair shook her head, looking down. "I was just wondering. Thank you for telling me, Piantissimo." Her face suddenly changed into one of confusion and sadness, but Piantissimo didn't notice.
The footage then went blank. But the white glow now gave a bright, strong light in the room, and the three players could face and see each other fully.
"That…" began Piantissimo, but now, the other two could see Eclair's face. On the princess' face was a look of hurt.
Eclair: That footage was from Piantissimo and me in the forest. When Piantissimo revealed to me that Dashell had lied to me about the megaphone mission during Episode 2. And from that...I had lost trust in Dashell.
"How did you even know...to say that?" Eclair whispered.
"I can explain," Piantissimo said, and his voice was slightly panicked. He was caught.
"Really?" Tiny said, shaking her head with disbelief at the situation. Piantissimo opened his mouth to speak.
"Okay, I will be clean...I had looked into Dashell's journal the day before," Piantissimo admitted. "He wrote in his journal that he lied to you previously, about the megaphone plan. So I used that knowledge to…"
"To just cause more drama?" Tiny finished, her voice full of annoyance at him. "The game was already stressful enough! Even back in Episode 3! Like, why did you do that, Piantissimo? To make Eclair more riled up? To make us ALL riled up?" Piantissimo was silent.
"And you looked into Dashell's journal...without his permission," Eclair realized.
"I know, and…" Piantissimo seemed lost at words, and then hung his head.
"That's awful," Tiny said, folding her arms and looking away. "You've always played this game slightly like this. I wonder what else you've done."
"I can explain!" Piantissimo huffed. But he paused.
Piantissimo: I just had to come clean. Maybe even for once.
"I thought I could just use his journal to my advantage for other reasons...but then...something evil came over me and I wanted to just win," Piantissimo spoke, his face looking down. "And I thought that in order to win, all I had to do was get rid of the strongest bonds in the game. So that's why...I tried to break yours and Dashell's, Eclair." Both Eclair and Tiny seemed shocked.
"But, after seeing you guys happy together already by the end of the next episode...I knew I just couldn't," Piantissimo admitted. "Because...some bonds in this game cannot be broken." He looked at Eclair, his face full of sorriness.
"I'm...I'm sorry. For doing that."
FLASH!
All of a sudden, the white screen above them emitted a second, immense flash. The three of them darted their eyes away briefly, but then after a second, they were able to look back once again at the white square. On the screen was not a video, but a still image. As the players looked closely at it, they could make out what was being displayed above them: flowing, written words.
"Words?" Tiny exclaimed with even more confusion. "Why words?" The cursive letters seemed to be a zoom-up of a piece of paper.
"A journal page?" Piantissimo realized. As they slowly read the contents of the journal, they gasped.
For why should Piantissimo continue on in this game? He is appalling. His gameplay is harsh and callous. He is unliked by all. And all people, both in and out of this game...are better off without him. He does not belong in either of two worlds.
"I…" was the choked whisper of Eclair. Then, she turned to the clueless faces of the others.
"I do not mean those words anymore…" she sighed, covering her face. "But...I had written them. I..." Along with her, Tiny and Piantissimo were at a loss for words.
"YOU wrote that?" Tiny exclaimed, not believing her eyes. Eclair still kept her face covered.
"Why?" The princess was silent. Piantissimo, whose eyes were still staring at the white screen, had his mouth open in silence and disbelief. He finally spoke.
"...why did you write that?" Piantissimo uttered in a voice of incredulity. "What did I ever do to you, that was that bad, for you to have written something like that about me?" Eclair then turned to Piantissimo, and her eyes had tears.
"It was after the Lie Detector game," Eclair spoke. "You...you asked those….terrible, terrible questions. I remember them...as clear as that night. Why did you ask them to me, though? Why?" Her voice was quivering. Piantissimo was flabbergasted and didn't speak.
Tiny: Everything was coming out. How we truly felt. What we had all been keeping inside. All of us.
"Question 2," Eclair spoke verbatim, reciting the exact words that were asked to her during the Lie Detector game. "Have you ever thought through the course of this game that Dashell was an ominous individual, trying to trick you?" Piantissimo opened his mouth, taken back. She had memorized the line word by word.
"And Question 3: Have you ever thought that Dashell could be the Mole of this game?" Eclair finished. "Those...those two questions that I was forced to answer, while strapped to the chair with restraints and held against my will…" Her eyes looked hurt.
"How could you have asked those questions during the game? Why did you ask them?" For a second, Piantissimo was silent.
"Eclair...I never asked those questions during the Lie Detector game," Piantissimo said truthfully. And at that line, Eclair's face turned to one of confusion.
"I didn't write them either," Tiny piped up. "Like, honestly! I swear on everything I own. And I really don't think Zess or Snifit would have had the heart to write those questions either!" Eclair was at a loss of words.
"Then who did?" Eclair whispered. Then, all of a sudden, she gasped with realization.
"Those questions were by..." she began, and her eyes started to fill up with tears once again. "They were by Dashell, weren't they?" There was no official confirmation in that dark room that they were in, but for some reason, they all felt the same thing: the truth. The truth that Dashell had written those questions for Eclair to answer.
"I…" Eclair looked up again at the white, bright square that existed above them, at the very journal entry she had written. She closed her eyes.
Eclair: It was all wrong. The truth. What I did. Everything...was wrong.
"I...have done the unforgivable," Eclair voiced in a voice of sorriness, her voice more calm. "It was wrong to have written that about you, Piantissimo. For no reason...should I have ever written such an entry about another person in this game." She turned to look at Piantissimo, who seemed calmer as well.
"I do not ask to be forgiven….but I want you to know one thing," Eclair whispered, looking at Piantissimo with a sad countenance. "I want you to know that you truly are a kind, remarkable person. And no words could be as wrong or incorrect as those words that I had written in my journal that day, Piantissimo." The athlete looked at the princess. His face was in surprise, but he did not look as hurt as he had before.
"It's...it's quite all right," Piantissimo said with a nod. "After all, this is the game of the Mole. You're supposed to get riled up. A little mad. Even if you are an elegant princess. So...it's okay." He grinned.
"And...I myself had not been the most kind soul while writing in my own journal. I forgive you...Eclair." He managed a small smile. Eclair, looking down, was able to smile as well.
"Thank you for forgiving me," she said solemnly. She wiped her tears again, and then looked up again.
"For writing that in my journal...those cruel, inhumane words…." she whispered. "I am truly sorry."
Then, there was a third flash.
FLASH!
Everything changed in the square above them. Now, something else was seen above them, floating. It was a green folder, moderate in size but still holding a significant number of pages within it. However, the aspect that made this object different from the others was that it wasn't a screen projection, or a video, or an image being displayed above them. The object was real and physical.
The green folder floated above them, almost mystically. The three of them stared at it in awe.
"What is that?" Eclair asked. The pages seemed to float gently above them in place, swaying and bounding softly together. It continued to hover above them.
"Is it...a folder? Of papers? What?" Piantissimo said out loud questionably.
Piantissimo: Truly, the most suspicious thing of all...was this very moment. This final moment.
Then, the folder fell.
"Watch out!" In an instant, the green folder forcefully fell to the ground at rapid speed. Eclair screamed and ducked, and Piantissimo took a step back, blinking with a questioning glance. However, Tiny caught it in her hands, almost immediately with quick reflex.
"Huh?" Piantissimo and Eclair stared at Tiny, who now unmistakably held the green folder in her possession. Tiny looked back at her two opponents, a bit frozen and stunned at their stares.
"Why do you…?" Piantissimo began. Tiny looked sorrily at the other two.
"I'm not going to hesitate with an explanation...or lie," she whispered, as she gripped the green folder even tighter.
Eclair: Oh no...
"I made a trade. For this final victory." Piantissimo and Eclair were at a loss of words, and then Tiny spoke once more to them.
"I traded half of our team pot's total...for the Mole's dossier."
...
DARN A DARN DARNNNN!
A DARN DARN DARN.
DARNNNNN.
Okay, I will leave it at that. I can't say anything else
...
I will reply to your reviews at the beginning of next chapter xD lest I don't make it in time for this update. LOL!
Anyways.
I will leave it at that.
THE END OF THE EPISODE TO ARRIVE ON JUNE 15TH.