The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition
By: Gomamon
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Episode 2 – The Biggest Ego
Inoue, Yolei/Miyako (Digimon) --- STILL STANDING
Ishida, Matt/Yamato (Digimon) --- STILL STANDING
Jessie/Musashi (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Katou, Jeri/Juri (Digimon Tamers) --- STILL STANDING
Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi (Pokemon) --- EXECUTED FIRST
Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta (Digimon Tamers) --- STILL STANDING
Oak, Gary/Shigeru (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
Takenouchi, Sora/Sora (Digimon) --- STILL STANDING
Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi (Pokemon) --- STILL STANDING
- - -
Sora Takenouchi comfortably rested her head on her boyfriend's broad shoulder. The loving couple found an empty corner for them to hide and cuddle. And they were definitely not shy of displaying public affection – even in front of all those cameras.
"Stop it, Matt!" Sora giggled when Matt started to slobber kisses around her neck. She consciously glanced at a cameraman who was grinning at them. "There are cameras here!"
"Yo, this isn't for kids!" Matt winked mischievously to the cameras. His hand was reaching towards the top button of Sora's pink blouse.
"Matt, I don't want to do anything to embarrass my family." Sora said as she pulled her body away from Matt. She slapped Matt's hand and straightened her blouse.
"Aw, am I embarrassing to you?" Matt asked, pouting a little. "Is that what I am…a very sexy nuisance?"
"Well, no." Sora smiled. She immediately planted her head on her boyfriend's shoulders again.
In a way, Matt was like a security blanket for Sora, because she always felt at ease whenever her handsome boyfriend was around. Sometimes, she really felt like she was the luckiest girl in this world – or at least, Matt did everything he could to make her feel this way. Sora just felt so safe under her boyfriend's tender arms…
May be it was a little too safe…
"I really want it to be the two of us in the finals." Matt whispered into Sora's ear. He grabbed onto her hand tightly for reassurance. "We could exchange data after every quiz…"
"How do I know that you're not the Mole?" Sora teased.
Matt didn't reply back. He just wore a wry grin on his prince-like face, which made Sora feel very discomforting. If love could really make a person blind, was she the most oblivious target if Matt Ishida was the Mole?
"I trust Matt wholeheartedly because I do believe that he's not the Mole." Sora revealed in a confessional. "Sometimes, I do have my usual paranoid doubts, but I don't think he's lying to me. He can't be." She smiled sheepishly to the cameras. "If he is, then I may not know him as well as I thought I did."
But even Sora couldn't be one hundred percent certain that Matt was not the Mole. Sora hated this aspect of the game. She hated how this game forced her to become dubious to everyone, even the person who she felt the closest to. A strictly traditional person, Sora normally viewed trust as a very strong foundation to any relationship.
How could anyone play a game without somebody to trust?
"Hey, guys!" Yolei shouted in her perky and enthusiastic voice. The purple haired girl suddenly emerged from a hallway. "Yamaki is going to start the next challenge."
"Right now? In the middle of the night?" Sora asked Matt in a whisper. Matt just shrugged.
The couple slowly followed Yolei to meet with the rest of the group. Yamaki wore a little 'you're-wasting-my-time' scowl on his face as the couple arrived.
"Okay, everyone's here!" Yamaki clapped his hands together. "For your next challenge, I need three players who don't want to go back to the hotel tonight."
Jessie's hand shot up in the air instantly. She would tell the cameras that the real Jessie came alive during night – or at least that's what she wanted to believe. Misty also raised her hand, hoping to use this night to clear out some of her burdened thoughts. She didn't feel the same since her friend Ash departed at the previous execution. The third volunteer was Matt. He grinned boyishly as he joined Misty and Jessie by Yamaki's side.
"Okay, Riley will be taking the rest of you back to the hotel. The three of you will stay behind with me." Yamaki said as he led the three challenge participants out of the tower through an exit. The trio soon found themselves standing in the empty parking lot at the base of the tower.
Misty wrapped her arms around her shivering body. Even with a thin orange jacket on, she still felt cold as the night wind brushed against her cheeks.
In the middle of the parking lot, there was a black Hummer. Three tiny car alarms were chained to the license plate at the front of the car. Yamaki instructed the three participants to each choose an alarm – and although they looked identical, Jessie made sure she picked the alarm the furthest away from where she was standing. Matt chose the alarm in the middle, so he would be sandwiched between the two women.
"You'll be amazed how many people fly to Canada just so they could stand next to the CN Tower." Yamaki said, smirking impishly. "Tonight, the three of you will have the same opportunity to experience it in this parking lot."
The bullshit detector in Jessie's head was ringing vigorously.
"There are three alarm remotes attached to the car. It's your challenge to stand outside and hold onto the button of your remote until the challenge ends," explained Yamaki. "If you release your finger from the button, a loud alarm may sound, which is the signal of a challenge loss."
A sound clip of the sharp alarm rang for several seconds. Misty winced.
"To keep things interesting, there's no alarm inside one of the car remotes. In another, the alarm will automatically disconnect at two o'clock in the morning. And the third alarm will always be turned on." Yamaki smiled. "If you let go of the button to your remote and the alarm doesn't sound, you haven't lost the challenge yet. Instead, it will unlock the door to your vehicle, and you're allowed to rest inside the car while your team members continue to participate in the challenge."
Matt rubbed his chin slowly.
"It's currently ten o'clock and the challenge will end at four o'clock in the morning. If none of the car alarms is triggered, you'll add $20,000 into the pot." Yamaki looked at each of the three players. "Please press your thumbs on the buttons of your alarm. They'll activate in ten seconds."
The players barely had time to click their thumbs on the grey buttons before Yamaki announced the commencement of the challenge. Yamaki jogged over to where the tour bus was in the parking lot and it drove away. Soon, the three players were left in an empty parking lot, stuck in an uncompromising position as they stood next to the CN Tower.
Jessie sighed loudly. She thought this challenge would involve some wild and crazy activities in a night club or a bar. The idea of standing at this parking lot for six hours didn't appeal to her whatsoever.
"We're going to be standing here all night long," said Misty.
"A one night stand," added Matt with a smirk.
"You know, Ishida. You're only making it dirtier than it sounds like." Jessie laughed, sticking her tongue out at the grinning blonde.
Jessie tried very hard to focus her attention on the dark sky as the time proceeded in the challenge. According to Misty's watch, they were only five minutes into the challenge and her feet were already killing her. May be wearing high heels for this endurance challenge wasn't the best decision, but it was too late for regrets.
Although there were times when Jessie wanted to throw her arms up in the air and yell "This is the most stupid challenge ever", Jessie held on. As long as the three of them didn't let go of the alarm, there's no way it will ring and then, the money would be guaranteed to be added into the pot.
Turning away from another thought of giving up, Jessie suddenly noticed that Matt was staring at her with a grin. His pretty blue eyes were fixed on the aggressive Team Rocket member's face. May be it was her fragmented imagination, but she swore that Matt had gave her a tiny seductive wink.
What the hell?
"Matt, the pretty young thing, is almost as conniving as me." Jessie said in her confessional. She didn't know Matt very well yet, but she knew men well enough that he shouldn't be trusted.
The next hour passed by without much conversation. Misty was growing sleepier, but she managed to hang on in this endurance challenge. On the other hand, Jessie couldn't contain her fatigue and agitation inside. Just like typical Jessie fasion, the long haired diva felt the need to voice in her complaint to the world.
"You know, it would totally suck if we're two hours in this challenge and we gave up, what's the point of staying up this entire time?" Jessie asked.
"If that happened, it would be funny." Matt snickered.
Misty sighed.
No, that wouldn't be funny at all.
- - -
Sora Takenouchi took a tiny sip of tea in the little white mug that she was holding. She sat quietly in a sofa at the hotel lobby, waiting patiently for her boyfriend's return. And although they don't sleep in the same room anyway, Sora had a sleepless night just worrying about Matt's whereabouts. It was twenty three minutes past midnight and surely, he should be returning by now, right?
The brunette always saw herself as a natural worrier. And in this game, where Sora was torn away from her family and friends, she felt more vulnerable than ever. The only person she truly felt safe with was when she's in Matt Ishida's arms.
"I know, I know. It's not healthy to be so reliant on Matt." Sora admitted to the cameras. "But I can't help it. Matt is like…he's like a part of me."
Sora giggled at the cheesiness of her confessional. Although she was often described as mature and responsible for her age, she sometimes acted like an immature little girl going ecstatic over a silly crush.
But in this game of deceit, even the person closest to Sora could turn out to be a big, backstabbing liar. Sora knew about this, but she didn't want to accept the fact. It was too cruel, too heartless, too scary.
"Because it would hurt too much if Matt was the Mole," whispered Sora timidly. She took another sip of tea.
Suddenly, Sora could hear loud footsteps in the desolate lobby. They belonged to the two youngsters Kenta and Jeri, who made a surprising appearance to join Sora on the sofa that she was sitting on.
"Why do we have to wake up so early?" Kenta nagged as he scratched his head.
"Mmm-uh." Jeri agreed.
"It's almost one o'clock!" Sora asked, her motherly instincts kicking in. "Why aren't you both sleeping?"
"Yamaki woke us up," muttered Jeri. "He said there'll be a challenge soon."
"Another challenge?" Sora gasped.
"Yeah, we don't believe it either…" Kenta groaned.
In the next ten minutes, the six players gathered at the hotel lobby, still looking dazed and half-asleep. Yolei yawned loudly as she put on her glasses. Gary slumped onto a sofa and closed his eyes, ready to drift back to sleep. On the other hand, Tracey was grinning enthusiastic, gulping down a cup of coffee with ease. Unlike the other players, he seemed very energetic and keen to participate in the next challenge. Even in the midst of the dead night, the Pokemon Watcher carried a positive aura of an eager child. Bright and chipper, he was definitely the most prepared to perform in this challenge.
"Number one rule of the game – don't let the other players catch you off-guard." Tracey explained in a camera confessional, wagging his finger. "You always, always, need to be in mint condition in case of any surprising events. Never, never panic…at least not in front of the other players." He smiled faintly. "Don't let them see you sweat."
Yamaki was the last person to arrive, carrying a black briefcase and a big blocky die in his hands. On each side of the die, there's a headshot of one of the six players printed on it.
"Yamaki, you're an asshole for waking us up in the dead of midnight." Gary said bluntly. Yolei giggled as she nudged Gary playfully in the shoulder.
"I try my best." Yamaki said. He then held up the big white cube in his hand. "I'm going to roll this die and whichever face lands on top will receive an exemption."
Jeri gasped in surprise when the host made his announcement. Tracey also had an intense look in his face, finding it hard to believe that an exemption will purely be given out just due to luck. Yamaki dropped the die on the floor, watching it bounce and roll around until it finally stopped at…Sora Takenouchi's face.
"Congratulations Sora." Yamaki said, handing her the black briefcase that he was holding in his other hand. "You've won an exemption. However…"
"I knew this 'however' was coming!" Sora laughed.
"Your exemption, as well as $30,000 that could be added to the pot, are contained inside that black briefcase." Yamaki explained, pointing to the briefcase. "In order to keep both of these items, you must make sure that your briefcase isn't opened at any time for the next four hours. You may also not enter into any room in this hotel and you may not leave the boundaries around here."
Sora nodded, her grip on the briefcase growing tighter.
"However, the other players will be spending the next four hours trying to steal the briefcase from you." Yamaki said, as Tracey's eyes lit up. "Whoever opens the briefcase will be able to win Sora's exemption."
"What about the money?" Gary asked.
"No money will be added to the pot if the briefcase is opened. There's a numeric lock on the briefcase and the password is 0-2-3. Remember Sora, you can only keep both of the exemption and the money if nobody opens your briefcase." Yamaki said. "For the other players, you can win Sora's exemption if you manage to open the briefcase and take the exemption card inside. However, you may not make any physical contact with Sora or you're instantly disqualified."
"Wait a second…you mean, if we win the exemption, no money will be added to the pot?" Kenta asked.
"Yes." Yamaki nodded.
"Okay." Kenta yawned. "I think it's stupid to do this challenge. Let Sora keep her exemption. I'm going back to my room to sleep. Good night, everyone. Don't try to stay up too late."
What an idiot! Gary smirked to himself, nodding his head as if he supported Kenta's decision.
"Interesting…is Kenta confident in who the Mole is or does he feel secure due to some other reasons?" Yamaki smiled faintly. "That's something to think about as I leave you for the rest of the night."
As Yamaki and Kenta both departed in separate directions, the remaining players awkwardly remained seated in the hotel lobby, all glancing nervously at Sora's briefcase. Yolei coughed.
"I'm not going to let this briefcase go, guys." Sora said, hugging her briefcase closely with both of her hands. "You might as well go back to your rooms and get a good night sleep."
"That's a great idea." Yolei said, showing no intention of moving away from where she was sitting.
"Look at this." Gary grinned. "Look at the four little mice tugging at the big, fat piece of cheese that you're holding in your arms."
"But the cat isn't about to give it up." Sora smiled.
Jeri sighed softly under her breath. She wasn't actually interested so much in the exemption, but she wanted to watch the interaction between the players in a situation like this. If the Mole was in this group, he or she would have a good chance of tipping their hand in this challenge.
"What's the best way to exploit Sora's weakness, you ask?" Tracey grinned to the cameras in a confessional. "Well, first of all, she's very moralistic – so all I need to do is mention something about fairness and equality, and she'd totally fall for it."
"You know, Sora…" Tracey whispered as he leant in closer to Sora. "Why don't you give us a fair chance at winning this exemption? Hide the briefcase and whoever finds it gets to win the exemption. If nobody finds it, you get to keep it."
"Now why would I want to do that?" Sora asked, putting one hand on her right hip.
"Because you received your exemption by chance," argued Tracey. He waved his hands in the air frantically. "It's only fair. You should give us an equal chance to earn it."
"Why would I want to sacrifice $30,000 out of the pot?" Sora asked.
"I think you should give us a fair chance at the exemption," said Tracey, stressing out the words 'fair' and 'chance' with extra emphasis.
Sora smiled sweetly and shook her head. She wasn't going to give up that easily. If they wanted to take the exemption away from her, well, they'll have to work for it. Nuh-uh…ain't gonna happen this time, my friends. Sora wanted this exemption just as much as the rest of them, and best of all, she had a trump card to defend all of her actions.
"Just go to sleep." Sora said, "I won't let anybody sabotage our chances of adding $30,000 to the pot."
"Damn it, just give it up, girl!" Yolei laughed. "C'mon…"
"Sora, please give us a fair shot at winning this exemption." Tracey said with a quivering voice, almost at the verge of begging.
"I can't help you. I'm sorry, but I've got to keep the money in the pot." Sora shook her head sadly. "It's my duty."
Tracey almost wanted to rip the briefcase from Sora's hands, but he knew that it was against the rules. And since negotiating with Sora was proving to be ineffective, the Pokemon Watcher must learn how to bend the rules. There must be another way to get Sora to leave her briefcase behind. All he needed was one minute – one minute for him to snatch the briefcase and take the exemption.
Likewise, Gary was also thinking in a similar track. He was sketching in his head to create a huge distraction inside the hotel. Gary knew he not only needed to divert the attention of Sora, but he also needed to make sure Tracey, Jeri and Yolei doesn't get anywhere near that briefcase either.
Sora took another sip of tea. She scanned the stern faces of her competitors, each of them wearing their best poker faces. She was in the middle of all their attention, and something was telling her that this was going to be a long, long night.
- - -
It was two o'clock and the players were already four hours into the competition. But by now, everybody was already worn down from fatigue. Jessie had found it difficult to even keep her eyelids from drooping down, but she was kept awake by that blistering pain coming from her aching legs.
"This absolutely blows!" Jessie yelled angrily in the parking lot.
"Hold on, Jessie." Misty mumbled. "Don't you dare give up on us now!"
But it was too late. Once Jessie made up her mind, nothing could make any changes.
"That's it, I'm giving up." Jessie said, releasing her car alarm. "I need my beauty sleep, so don't wake me up with that alarm." She climbed into the vehicle and plopped down on a seat for some sleep. "Good night, twerps!"
Misty grumbled angrily, but Matt was relieved that the alarm didn't ring. The challenge was still on and they haven't lost the money yet. Misty didn't really know whether she should be happy or angry that there was no sound of the alarm. She was also tired and she blamed Jessie for quitting in the middle of that.
"Why is it fair that she gets sleep while we do all the labour?" Misty asked.
"Don't give up, Misty-doll." Matt whispered quietly. "We've a fifty-fifty chance of the alarm ringing."
"Two more hours," said the sleepy gym leader. Matt only nodded.
Another hour passed by and Matt Ishida knew this was the right time to make his proposal to a sleepy and confused Misty. He had planned this in advance and now that Jessie was snoozing, it would be time for him to form his newest coalition in the game.
"My first coalition is with Sora, for obvious reasons." Matt said to the cameras, running a hand through his slick golden hair. "I've her wrapped around my fingers and she'd tell me her deepest secrets in a heartbeat."
"My second coalition is with Yolei. I formed one with her at the CN Tower yesterday," continued Matt. "I had to flirt a little, but her whole tough girl persona collapses when she sees a good looking guy. I winked and flutter my eyelids and bam, Yolei is totally in my control."
"My third coalition partner will be Misty." Matt smirked smugly. "And it's going to be harder because I don't know Misty as well as Sora or Yolei, but hell, all women are easy. I think it's going to be piece of cake."
"Hey, Misty?" Matt whispered as he pulled out a chocolate bar from his jacket pocket. "Here, eat this. I didn't want Jessie to be jealous though, so I didn't take it out earlier."
"Thanks!" exclaimed a joyful Misty, munching on the chocolate bar like a hungry squirrel. Then she stopped when common courtesy dawned upon her, "Oh gosh, do you want to split it in half?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry." Matt waved his hand dismissively and Misty smiled, quickly finishing the last bits.
"It tastes so delicious! I'm totally energized!" Misty giggled, "Thanks Matt!"
"You know…I like you, Misty. I really do, you are such a nice girl," said Matt, with a charming grin on his face.
"Umm…I like you too, Matt." Misty said uncertainly.
"You know what I think? We'd be great coalition partners together." Matt said. "Don't you agree?"
Misty nodded and smile. She finally caught on to where this conversation was going.
"We should work together in a coalition," said Matt.
"What about Sora?" Misty asked. "Isn't she your girlfriend?"
"It's not like I'm breaking up with her when I'm in a coalition with you, right?" Matt grinned boyishly, running his hand through his hair.
"I don't know, Matt. It might be a bit early to be talking about this kind of stuff," said Misty.
"You never got time to build a coalition with Ash." Matt muttered. "And we both knew how that ended up for him."
Matt knew he had hit a weak spot on Misty. After carefully observing the Cerulean gym leader for the past few hours, he figured that she was still upset over Ash's departure. And this gave him the perfect opportunity to strike and win Misty over by being the nice guy.
Nice guy. Matt almost wanted to laugh at the irony.
"I wished I could've made a coalition with him and things might have turned out differently…" Misty muttered. Matt nodded, knowing very well that this was the time to listen and pretend to care.
"You don't want to make the same mistake twice." Matt said, "How about it? We could have a coalition together. Just you and me and nobody else."
"You've got a deal, my friend." Misty finally replied with a soft smile. Matt grinned, patting the girl on the shoulder to reassure her that she made the right choice.
The last hour passed by quickly and Matt told a few jokes to keep things lively. Soon, the tour bus arrived at the parking lot and its horn honked, waking Jessie up from her slumber.
"Did we lose?" She yelled, poking her head out of the window.
"Congratulations, you've won the challenge! You may let go of your alarms now!" Yamaki shouted as he stepped off the bus. Matt and Misty released their remotes and exchanged a friendly hug with each other. Once Misty took her hand off of her button, the car alarm buzzed loudly for a several seconds.
POT: $57,000/$90,000
"Get on the bus, you three. You can catch some shut-eye while I drive you guys back to the hotel. After tonight, you deserve to rest."
"Damn right we did." Matt grinned deviously.
And had Jessie not been so tired, she would have seen that devious grin she was always so wary of. What Jessie didn't know was that while she dozed off, Matt Ishida had charmed his way into forming a secret coalition with Misty.
- - -
At the two hour mark, Jeri had to quit the challenge and reluctantly retreat to bed because she was just too tired to stay up so long (and of course, the other players were urging her to leave – she's one less competitor to worry about). Unfortunately for Sora, the other three players were still there. Gary was walking wordlessly around the living room and sometimes, he seemed to have mysteriously disappeared for more than several minutes (but he always came back). Yolei had left once to get a box of nail polish from her room, and she was now sitting in the lobby, applying some of the nail polish on her right hand. Tracey was writing in his journal, but he was occasionally glancing over at Sora, hoping that she had fallen asleep.
"I think it's very telling to see who stayed up so long to win an exemption." Sora said to the cameras. "They didn't intentions of protecting the pot's money like I was. Instead, they were driven by greed, the greed to win an exemption." She frowned. "I think it's very sad that some of the players want to win an exemption so badly that they forgot that they signed up this game to win money."
Sora took a sip of tea out of her white mug. She must have drunk at least five or six cups for the past few hours. Unfortunately, the rules stated that she couldn't go inside a room in the hotel, so she couldn't relief herself in a bathroom. Needless to say, she was growing very agitated with her fellow players.
"It's been three hours. Don't you know when to call it quits?" Sora sighed. "Just give it up. Please, you're making this challenge a lot harder than it needs to be. We shouldn't be turning against each other like this."
Yolei shrugged. She blew on one of her fingernails quietly. Tracey also appeared to be scribbling in his journal, ignoring what Sora just said. Sora sighed again.
"I can't believe you guys," muttered Sora, glaring. "I had higher expectations of you as people."
Gary rolled his eyes.
"If you ask me, Sora is a bit of a sanctimonious cow. For some reason, she thinks she's the better person just because she's keeping money in the pot while we try to win her exemption." Gary confessed in front of the cameras. "I bet that if things are reversed, she would be sitting in the sofa like the rest of us, preying on whoever has the briefcase in their hands." He smirked smugly. "She's not a saint."
Tracey put down his journal and stretched his arm. Sora looked at him hopefully, but nope, he wasn't going to leave. Tracey grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and he pulled out a small knife from his pockets. He then used the knife to peel the skin off of his apple.
"I'm going to bed," said Gary suddenly. The others turned to him in delight as they watched the professor make his way up the staircase. "Have fun."
"Aw, gone so soon?" Yolei asked with a mischievous grin.
"Two down, two more to go…" Sora mumbled.
Tracey continued peeling his apple slowly and carefully. He had a plan to steal Sora's briefcase, but he knew he had to find some way to make Yolei leave. So, he lifted his feet and pounded his feet on the coffee table. A nail polish bottle fell onto the carpet and splattered all over Yolei's jeans. Yolei mumbled angrily under her breath as she excused herself to the washroom. Tracey just smiled.
Sora sighed in relief. If only she could get the stubborn Tracey to leave, she might be able to have some rest for the second half of the challenge.
The two of them sat silently for a while. The only sound in the room was Tracey's knife, peeling the skin off of his apple, rapidly and uncertainly.
Okay, this was it! The die or do moment…Tracey thought to himself. He knew that if he didn't strike now, he'd never be able to win the exemption.
"SHIT!" Tracey yelled suddenly, dropping his knife and apple to the floor. He wrapped his left hand over his fist and hollered in pain. A few drops of blood were leaking out of his finger and Tracey manoeuvred quickly to cover two packets of ketchup with his right foot.
"Oh my god!" Sora stammered nervously as she looked at Trace's bloody hand. She got up and took her briefcase with her. "I'll get Riley here right now."
"Don't…don't leave me!" Tracey gasped in a mixture of panic and pain. It was almost an Oscar-worthy performance.
A troubled Sora tossed her briefcase to the couch as she ran over to Tracey's side. She leaned over and took a closer look at his 'bleeding' finger.
"How is it?" Sora asked.
"It h-hurts!" Tracey mumbled loudly.
"You need to see Riley," said Sora. She slowly helped Tracey up the sofa as the both walked up the stairs together. "Just hold in the pain, even if it hurts a little."
But before Tracey stomped his foot on the first step of the stair, he ditched Sora and immediately ran back to the couch, where he swooped up the black briefcase from the seat and ran away. Sora gasped, finally realizing that she has been duped.
"That…that lying jerk!" Sora yelled as she started to chase after Tracey. "Come back here, thief!"
Tracey grinned as he dashed quickly into the closest room that he could find. He knew that the rules state Sora couldn't enter into a room, so as soon as he was inside – he was safe from her. In a matter of seconds, he swung open a door and leapt inside. Sora could do nothing more but angrily wait outside the door. She pounded on it angrily and Tracey thought he heard some uncharacteristic cussing coming out of her mouth.
What Sora didn't know was that the room Tracey entered in had two doors, and while Sora was standing by the south entrance, Tracey had already left in the north exit. He was free!
As he looked around at the empty hallway that he was standing in, Tracey decided to stop running and just unlock the briefcase right there and then. He put his briefcase on the ground as he searched around it for the numeric lock. He was so entranced by the prospects of the exemption that he didn't even hear the tiptoes approaching towards him.
And then in one swift motion, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled the briefcase out of Tracey's hands.
Tracey gasped as he looked up to see a dash of purple hair running away. It was Yolei, who just emerged out of the washroom to grab the briefcase out of his hand. She was already running maniacally away from Tracey, her spider-long legs outrunning Tracey quickly and easily.
"Come back here!" Tracey shouted, struggling to catch up to the tall athletic girl. But soon, Yolei was gone with the briefcase, gone with the exemption.
Yolei continued running through the corridors, frantically searching for a room to settle down in. But all of a sudden, the lights went out. Yolei was standing in the middle of complete darkness. She was a minute away from unlocking the briefcase to win an exemption, but coincidentally enough, the power of the hotel shut down at the most critical moment.
Or was it really a coincidence?
Without light, Yolei had no way of finding the lock on the briefcase and solve it. She slowly moved around in the darkness, trying to find her way to a lamp or a window, but neither was in her reach. She then saw a dim light source at a distance room, and a thankful Yolei immediately ran towards it. But as she arrived, she was suddenly ambushed by Gary's tackle, knocking the tall girl on the ground. He pinned her by her arms as he kicked the briefcase away. By the time Yolei got back to her feet, Gary was already gone.
"Son of a bitch!" Yolei laughed. "He…he sabotaged the power!"
Chuckling quietly to himself, Gary whipped out his flashlight from his pockets to shine the light upon the black briefcase. He had prepared all of the essential tools for a blackout of course, since he was the person who sneaked into the basement and turned off all of the power in hotel (with permission from a security guard who's very easy to bribe).
"It's brilliant! It's ingenious! I know, I know." Gary proudly said to the cameras.
He flicked the first notch of the lock to "zero" and the second notch to "four" and the last notch to "three". He tried to pull open the briefcase, but it stayed locked.
"Crap, what's the password?" He muttered.
He swiftly tried through different combinations, adjusting the last digit one by one. After numerous tries, a frustrated Gary started to lose his cool. After going through all of the trouble to turn off the power and stealing the briefcase from Yolei, he had forgotten three simple digits that will unlock an exemption.
"Think! Think!" Gary muttered to himself. "It was zero something…"
Gary quickly went and turned the notches to 000 and worked his way up the numbers one by one.
0-0-1…unsuccessful…
0-0-2…unsuccessful…
0-0-3…un-
"Gotchya!" Sora exclaimed.
Gary shook a little as Sora grabbed the flashlight out of his hand. He then saw Sora, folding her arms across her chest in triumph. Immediately, she snatched the briefcase that he was holding in his hand.
"I thought I'd never find the briefcase unopened, but I did! I got lucky again." Sora laughed.
The young professor cursed at his briefcase and the power went on again. As the corridors lit up, Yolei was running towards the two of them, laughing girlishly.
"Why did you take the briefcase away from me when you can't open it anyway?" Yolei playfully stuck her tongue out, leaning her arm against Gary's shoulder. Gary frowned without giving a reply. He wasn't keen on admitting his defeat, especially not to someone as eccentric as Yolei.
"Nobody wins at the end." Sora smiled sweetly as she walked away. "You should've slept instead of wasting all these hours for nothing."
"She's right. C'mon, let's go." Yolei yawned. After an exchange of goodnights, Yolei and Gary both retreated up the stairs and walked back into their rooms. Sora sat at the hotel lobby again, content with being in possession of the briefcase once more. She glanced at the clock and was happy that there would only be ten minutes left in the challenge. She was confident she could make through this challenge without any problems.
As she sat back down at the couch in the lobby, she finally saw the squashed packet of ketchup that Tracey had dropped on the floor. Sora shook her head and laughed. How could she have been fooled so easily by his over-the-top act?
Suddenly, she heard a cell-phone ring.
This was the first time she noticed that there was a black mobile phone lying on the coffee table. And it was ringing. She let it ring for a few times, but it didn't stop. Whoever was calling, it was directed for her.
"May be it's Yamaki…" Sora said to herself as she picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"
"OH MY GOD! THIS IS AWFUL, SORA!"
Sora was definitely spooked. She recognized that voice. It belonged to Misty, but she didn't sound at ease at all.
"What's wrong, Misty?" Sora asked, immediately jumping into bad conclusions. "Nothing happened, right?"
"We…" Misty seemed to be stammering her words. "We…got into a car accident. Jessie's leg is bleeding like hell and…M-m-matt…"
"Matt what?" Sora screamed into the phone.
"I think Matt might be dead…" Misty said ominously.
From her initial shock, Sora let her guard down and dropped her briefcase. It was only for a few brief seconds, but Tracey managed to leap out of nowhere and grabbed the briefcase from the floor. Reacting quickly, Sora dropped the phone and chased after Tracey, who was unlocking the briefcase as he ran away.
It was too late. Tracey had successfully opened the briefcase when Sora finally caught up to him. The Pokemon Watcher grinned as he looked at the words printed on a green card: exemption. He had won an exemption again.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I knew it would work!" Tracey smiled gleefully as he turned towards Sora, hoping that she would share his joy. But she didn't look thrilled at all, in fact, the colour was just beginning to return back to Sora's pale, ill-struck face.
She looked at the Pokemon Watcher, too stunned for words. The phone call that happened a minute almost seemed surreal. Misty's cries for help echoed hollowly in her head. Matt is dead, Matt is dead. Hearing those cruel words were enough to catch Sora off of her guard.
Sora finally knew what was going on. It was a hoax – a cruel, tasteless hoax manufactured by Tracey Sketchit to fool her into leaving her briefcase behind.
Apparently, she was duped by the boy who had cried wolf, again.
- - -
Misty put down Yamaki's cell phone after putting a heck of a performance. She had an uneasy smile on her face as Matt chuckled softly.
"Who called you?" Matt asked with his eyebrows raised.
"I'm not really sure." Misty shrugged, totally oblivious to how her words did to trigger an event at the hotel. "Tracey told me to say those lines as if it was real. He said something about how it's a part of a challenge or something."
"I hope we won that challenge," said Matt with wishful thinking.
As the trio drifted back to sleep, they didn't wake up again until they finally arrive back at the hotel after a long, long ride.
"Wake up, we're at the hotel." Yamaki announced monotonously. Misty and Jessie slowly woke up, but Matt was still sleeping (and snoring) with his mouth wide open.
"You've won $20,000 in the endurance challenge," said Yamaki, holding up two fingers in his left hand. "But unfortunately, your team members at the hotel failed to add $30,000 into the pot." He held up three fingers in his right hand for emphasis.
POT: $57,000/$120,000
"Now, I'll give you another chance to add money into the pot." Yamaki said slyly, "You'll not be heading back to the hotel just yet."
"Damn it!" Jessie shouted angrily and shook the slumbering Matt in her arms.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"You'll need to complete this challenge before you're allowed to leave the car and walk into that hotel." Yamaki explained. "This challenge is worth $10,000."
Matt dropped his head into his lap and tried to sleep again, but Misty elbowed the blonde to keep him awake.
"All you need to do is figure out which of the six players at the hotel won an exemption," said Yamaki.
"Bullshit!" Jessie yelled in an irritated tone of voice. "One of them got an exemption!"
"Yes and you'll stay on this bus until you give me an answer." Yamaki said. He pulled out his mobile phone and handed it over to Misty. "The six players are informed about this challenge and they may choose to call and assist you. If anybody calls, you may ask them a yes or no question."
"It's six in the morning." Matt muttered sleepily. "Will any of them actually wake up this early just to make a phone call to us?"
"More importantly, are we ever going to eat breakfast? I'm starving!" Jessie wrinkled her nose.
"Not until you finish the challenge," replied Yamaki.
"To hell with the challenge!" Jessie tossed her arms in the air. "Let's just randomly pick a name and go back into the hotel!"
"There's $10,000 at stake." Misty said, shaking her head. "We've to treat this seriously."
"But we don't even know if any of them are going to call us! We may have to wait five more damn hours before any of them calls us!" Jessie argued. "This isn't worth it!"
"Why don't we wait for ten minutes?" Matt suggested. "If nobody calls, we'll make a crazy guess and go back to the hotel and sleep."
"I don't want to wait!" Jessie nagged.
"We already waited for five hours, so stop complaining!" Misty complained, quickly losing her temper. "It won't kill you to wait ten more minutes!"
Jessie just glared at her.
"Jessie acts like a diva." Misty said in a confessional, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Ugh, she dropped out of the endurance challenge and now she wanted to sabotage this guessing game. I think her prissiness might be a way of sabotaging challenges."
A few minutes passed in the car with no action. Matt had once again fallen back to sleep, only to jerk awake again when the phone finally rang. Misty answered it instantly.
"Hello?" She asked hopefully into the receiver.
"Good morning, Misty!" Tracey chirped in his enthusiastic voice. His spirits were still high after winning the exemption from last night.
"Oh, Tracey." Misty mumbled. "Uh…right. Did you receive an exemption in that challenge thingy?"
"Yes!" Tracey exclaimed. That was good enough of an answer to satisfy Misty, so she quickly said goodbye to the Pokemon Watcher and turned off the phone.
"So, what did he say?" Matt asked as the petite girl ended the conversation with Tracey over the phone.
Misty looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. There was an awkward pause that sent shivers down Matt's spine. Just when he thought he had the Cerulean gym leader all figured out, she does something like this to make him all confused again. Misty just blinked at Matt vacantly, giving no reply.
Why isn't she answering me right away? Matt asked himself in his head. What is she hiding?
That one brief pause was able to send Matt into the pits of paranoia. Although he didn't show it on his handsome face, Matt Ishida was already having doubts about his newest coalition partner. What if he made a coalition with the Mole?
"Yeah," Misty smiled and nodded her head, giving no reason for the lengthiness of her pause. "It was Tracey who won the exemption."
"Congratulations." Yamaki said. "You've just added $10,000 into the pot."
POT: $67,000/$130,000
"You may go now," said Yamaki in his boring, monotonous voice. "There'll be no further challenges today, so get some rest and a clear mind before the execution quiz."
"I'm really surprised at Misty's moment of hesitation in the car. She looked like she was having second thoughts about winning this challenge." Matt confessed in the cameras before he went to sleep. "All she needed to do was say yes, but she took forever to utter that word out. I…I don't know." He raised his eyebrow. "It doesn't make any sense. All I know is, Misty is one shady girl and I've got to keep my eye on her."
- - -
While Misty and Jessie slept through lunch, Matt was just too hungry to skip another meal. As he sat inside the restaurant with five of the six players who participated in the other challenge, he demanded somebody give him the rundown of what went on.
"How the hell did Tracey win another exemption?" Matt asked, getting straight to the point.
"Don't even get me started on him!" Yolei exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe he'd do such a thing to Sora! I don't know how you could be so calm, girl. If I were in Sora's shoes, I'd be so upset!"
"It was pretty low, even for Tracey," admitted Sora, resting her head on Matt's shoulder.
"Toying around with another person's emotions is the lowest thing you could do," said Gary, shaking his head in disgust. All of the players seemed to agree with him.
"Why did Misty agree with the plan anyway?" Gary asked.
"Misty said that she didn't know. Tracey just told her to say those lines on the phone, but she didn't know what his intentions are," said Matt.
But the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together in his head. What if Misty had lied and actually knew that Tracey was going to sabotage a challenge? What if the Mole was an accomplice to Tracey's horrible plan? Matt sighed. Oh great, there was even more evidence to support his doubt against his newest coalition partner. What did Matt get himself into?
"We should give Tracey a piece of our minds." Gary joked. "If he's too chicken to eat lunch with the rest of us, then surely, he has something to hide."
"Aw man!" Kenta suddenly exclaimed as he pulled out a tiny red gadget from his pockets. "I forgot to return this to Ash last night!"
"What's that?" Jeri asked, leaning forward to inspect the item that Kenta held in his hand.
"It's like…a thing?" Kenta tried to explain. He snorted in laughter. "I don't really know, but it's really awesome."
"It's a Pokedex," corrected Gary. Being the only person from the Pokemon cast to attend lunch, he smiled at the confused expressions that the others gave him. "It's a device that identifies different species of Pokemon."
"Oh, so it's like a Digivice! I get it!" Yolei explained, snapping her fingers. The other players began to nod in comprehension.
"You know, the Pokemon world sounds so awesome." Kenta said, grinning. "I'd like to be a Pokemon Trainer just like Ash if I had the chance."
"Hey everyone, what's your dream occupation?" Matt asked.
"I haven't decided yet, but the future looks bright for me!" Yolei laughed, flipping her long purple hair behind shoulder. "Computer engineering, perhaps?"
"You're going to be a homemaker," said Kenta.
Sora, Matt and Yolei all laughed in unison. Yolei was snorting milk out of her nose after she heard what Kenta just said.
"Okay, that was hilarious." Matt laughed, pounding his fist on the table. He leaned forward and gave Kenta a pat on the shoulder.
"Good one, Kenta!" Yolei snickered. She almost had to gasp for air to utter each word. "Can you imagine me being a housewife? That'd be the day!"
"That's almost as absurd as saying that Matt is going to be astronaut twenty five years later!" Sora giggled.
"I know!" Yolei tried to control her laughter. "I've aspirations to fulfill and dreams to launch into! Settling down for a family is the last thing in my priority list!"
Kenta and Jeri exchanged nervous glances at each other while Yolei and Matt continued to laugh. Some things might be better off untold.
After lunch, the other players scrambled around, trying to collect their notes before their execution quiz. However, Yolei sat by an empty table in the restaurant, seemingly fixed in a dazed trance. She held a purple glitter pen in her hand as she scribbled across the pages of her journal.
Yolei Oak.
Mrs. Yolei Oak.
Mrs. Yolei Oak Inoue.
She sighed dreamily as she scribbled her signature all over the page in big, bubbly, flowery letters. At the corner of the page, there was a little cartoon picture of Gary and Yolei holding hands together, with Yolei dressed in a wedding dress. The picture was surrounded by floating hearts.
"What are you drawing?" Misty asked, poking her head over Yolei's shoulder nosily. She had just woken up and was eating lunch, while Yolei was there to accompany her.
"Nothing, nothing." Yolei smiled vaguely, closing up her journal. But Misty had already caught a large portion of what was drawn on the page. "I was just daydreaming, it's my favourite activity."
"You're smitten with Gary." Misty sighed, making a face. "I don't get it, what's so attractive about him?"
"It's hard to describe." Yolei grinned impishly. She put her finger at the tip of her chin. "He's…he's just perfecto, you know what I mean?"
"Not really," laughed Misty. "I don't think Gary loves anyone except himself."
"But unrequited love is the most romantic kind of love!" Yolei sighed dreamily, fiddling around with her pen. "One day, I'll get through him. One day."
"You only know him for two days though," said Misty. "Why are you so head over heels for this punk?"
"Love works in mysterious ways," said Yolei vaguely.
"It's a train wreck watching Yolei develop this huge crush on Gary. I've no idea why, but we all know that Gary isn't sharing those same feelings." Misty sadly admitted to the cameras in her confessional. She knew it would kill her new friend if she heard these words, but it was true. "I don't know what she sees in him, but she loves him to death apparently. She's ready to have his babies."
Misty wore a concerned look on her face.
"I really like Yolei, so it hurts me to see her get her heart crushed. She's a fun, energetic girl and she deserves way better than that egomaniac Gary. But it's not my place to judge. However, I don't think Yolei is playing a serious game. She seems to be more interested in finding a boyfriend in this game rather than the Mole." She paused for a moment. "That is, unless she doesn't need to worry about the same things as the rest of us, because she is the Mole."
- - -
The players are sequestered in individual rooms while they took their second execution quiz on a computer – ten questions about the identity of the Mole.
Jessie moved her mouse cursor speedily through a list of answers in the second question.
"I do doubt some of the decisions that Sora makes in the game. How naïve would someone be to fall for one of Tracey's lame pranks? If I was in her shoes, I'd never lose that briefcase. And then I look back at the crazy decisions she made last time and I'm thinking – either this girl is delusional or she is the Mole."
Sora Takenouchi clicked No to the fourth question: Did the Mole receive an exemption in this game?
"My mind is playing all types of tricks on me. I want to trust Matt with all of my heart and I want to believe that he isn't playing me like a violin. But I'm paranoid. I see him…flirting with some of the other women, and I get a bit insecure. I can't trust him. I may be looking for love in all the wrong places."
Gary Oak wore a sly smirk on his face as he read the fifth question: What challenge did the Mole participate in?
"Kenta didn't even try in the briefcase challenge. I don't know if he was being a poor sport or if there is something else up his sleeves. After all, who needs an exemption when you're the Mole, right? You know, these young kids aren't as innocent as one would be inclined to think. They could be very, very deceitful."
Misty Waterflower was answering the eighth question of her quiz. She paused for a brief moment before she clicked on the last answer in the list.
"Coming into this quiz, I'm just overwhelmed with all the choices. My brain thinks that Jessie is the Mole, because she's responsible for so many sabotages so far…but my gut thinks it's Yolei. She is smarter than what she lets herself appear to be. She must be hiding something behind that optimistic smile and bubbly personality. Now the big question: is it Jessie or is it Yolei?"
Matt Ishida licked his lips as he answered the final question: Who is the Mole?
"I don't care who gets executed as long as it isn't me."
- - -
In the hotel lobby, the nine players sat on individual armchairs, looking across at the huge monitor that would mark the death of another player's journey. Yamaki soon appeared, dressed in his gloomy black suit.
"Welcome to your second execution, players. For one of you, your journey must end here. I'll randomly begin typing your names in the computer. When your name comes up and the screen flashes green, you're safe. But if the screen turns red, you're unfortunately the Mole's second victim."
The scruffy blonde sat behind a desk with his fingers on the keyboard.
"Shigeru."
Gary slouched in a lazy posture in his chair. He looked smugly at the monitor, as if daring it to flash red.
S H I G E R U
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
A cocky smirk formed on his face, as Gary chuckled coldly under his breath. He carried so much confidence in his abilities that he didn't expect to be executed tonight at all. This came as no surprise.
"Kasumi."
Misty sat nervously in her armchair. Her hands were gripping tightly around her knees.
K A S U M I
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
She smiled softly as she released her tight grip on her knees in silent joy.
"Juri."
The petite girl smiled weakly at the host. She trembled slightly, not knowing what to expect from the monitor.
J U R I
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
"Miyako."
Yolei grinned confidently. She brushed a few strands of purple hair away from her glasses.
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed green.
Yolei sighed in relief and then she turned around to watch the other players' reactions.
"Sora."
Matt, who sat beside Sora, reached over to hold onto his girlfriend's hand as her name was being typed in.
S O R A
tic.
tic.
tic.
tic.
The screen flashed red.
Sora gently smiled at the monitor, accepting her fate. Matt instantly let go of her hand in a mixture of guilty relief and genuine disappointment.
"Sora, you're the Mole's second victim. You've been executed from the game, please follow me."
Showing admirable sportsmanship, Sora stood up and embraced Matt in a long hug and a longer kiss. The blonde whispered sweet nothings into his girlfriend's ear, causing her to giggle softly. She then gave a quick round of hugs and handshakes amongst the players before she picked up her bag and followed Yamaki out the door.
It was a sad moment for the players, especially for Yolei who began to sniffle. She never thought she'd get emotional over an execution ceremony, but even her usual optimistic grin was starting to fade away from her face.
"Sora is the mother figure of the group. I couldn't thank her enough for the morale support that she added to the group. She's so warm and considerate to everyone. It tugged my heart to see her leave."
Tracey cast his eyes guilty at the floor, ignoring Yolei's emotional ramblings from behind. When he snatched the briefcase from Sora, it indirectly led her into losing in this execution. He realized how he just managed to cause one of the sweetest people to lose in this game. But Tracey didn't feel an ounce of remorse. No, he was only putting his head down so that the others wouldn't see the coy smile on his face. Inside, he was celebrating that he now had an one in eight shot of winning this game. Out of politeness, Tracey just kept his head down as he gave his farewell confessional.
"She was a great leader who put others before her. I respect this wonderful woman with all my heart. I know this group wouldn't be the same without her."
Finally, Tracey looked up to the cameras. A half-genuine smile was slowly replacing the disloyal smile on his face.
"I hope you forgive me."
- - -
The mini tour bus arrived in front of Sora's feet. Her head was held high in the air and a weak smile was spread across her face. Sora had accepted her loss with an unsurprising amount of maturity and class. She always had an admirable mark of sportsmanship that many players praised about her. Losing this game didn't mean the end of the world for her. It was always just a game and she had always planned to walk out of it with her dignity wholesomely intact. Fortunately, she managed to accomplish her goal.
"I'm glad it's me." Sora said, "I think I'd be more upset if somebody else was leaving. They're all remarkable people and I wouldn't want to see anybody else go."
"Even Kenji?" Yamaki baited.
"Yes, even him." She laughed. "I don't care what you say, Tracey is a sweetheart. I think he's just misunderstood by some."
"Are you going to miss your boyfriend?"
"Yes." Sora nodded. "I feel this game is straining our relationship though, so I can't wait to visit Toronto with him again, when we are away from the cameras and the pressures of this game."
A rare smile crept across Yamaki's stern face.
"Did you regret losing the exemption today?"
"Yeah." Sora laughed. "It probably would have brought me more time in the game, but there's no point of crying over spilt milk."
"I'm glad you enjoyed this experience." Yamaki said courteously. "We'll miss you."
Yamaki planted a polite kiss on Sora's left hand before she climbed onto the bus, carrying a poignant smile on her face. The bus doors closed as the vehicle slowly drove away, eventually vanishing into the lonely streets of Toronto.
END OF EXECUTION #2
Author's Notes
Thank you to the reviewers, and let me just say that I'm very happy (and surprised!) to learn that people have read and liked the original Mole series. I'm gloating in pride right now, hehe. As for the new format, I really do hope readers will adjust to it as time goes. I know it is different in fluency, clarity and other aspects, and it is hard to adjust, but I'll try my best to make reading this story as enjoyable as possible. Keep reviewing (and guessing who the Mole is!)
Hidden clues are still subtly in every chapter. It's up to the observant eye to find them…