Champ : I just randomized the first elimination, really. For my first Mole story, everything was pre-determined, for my second one, I also pre-determined things but then I changed my mind... XD

So yeah, for the third one I will just go with the flow... I guess. ^^' XD about your hatred of Flurrie and I will change the chapters' name soon. ^^ Thanks for the review and your suspicions. ^^

Kris : Sorry for Kooper... ^^' To be honest, I'm kind of glad to see that the randomizer chose him, because he is the character that I like the least (among the ten players, I mean). But yeah, it could have been cool to write about him a little more. Oh well, that's just the way it goes... Anyway, thank you for the reviews and your suspicions. ^^

Previously on the Mole, nine players divided into two teams of four and five members, respectively, tried to win up to forty thousand coins, competing in two different challenges, both asking for the players' collaboration. The first team, composed of Noki, Birdo, Mario, Bootler and Pauline, managed to succeed thanks to Noki's generous actions, while the second team, composed of Donkey, Jojora, Flurrie and Toad, failed to win its mission, all because of Flurrie's greediness. In the end, the nine players only added half of the money which was at stake at the time, bringing the team pot to a non negligible twenty eight thousand coins. Henceforth rested, the players will try to win the third mission of this episode. Will they be able to thwart the Mole's plans ?

First name : Birdo

Surname : Ribbon

Birthday : May 15

Job : Fashion Designer

First name : Bootler

Surname : Majordome

Birthday : September 6

Job : Butler

First name : Donkey

Surname : Kong

Birthday : March 12

Job : Glitz Pit's Fighter

First name : Noki

Surname : Delphis

Birthday : August 7

Job : Air Hostess

First name : Toad

Surname : Phalloïde

Birthday : June 1

Job : Gardener

First name : Jojora

Surname : Teeheena

Birthday : December 27

Job : Sculptor

First name : Pauline

Surname : Celeste

Birthday : June 16

Job : Model

First name : Mario

Surname : Mario

Birthday : January 22

Job : Plumber

First name : Flurrie

Surname : Cumulia

Birthday : October 29

Job : Actress

7 : When Two Opposites Merge.

Wide awake since many hours, the players were peacefully resting thinking they would not have to play in another game, as they had already played in two missions. Strangely enough, the nine of them were located in the same room – the hotel's salon – and were not causing a ruckus. They were all relaxing and chatting about the game as well as their usual lives, with more or less everyone, depending of their affinities.

Birdo : Times like this are really rare, you know. I would like it if we had more of those, though. I mean, each day we have some people causing drama – mostly three of them by the way – and it sort of is annoying after a while. We're victims in this story, I tell you !

Bootler : Well, I have come to participate in an adventure. I have to confess that I was not thinking of this, when I signed up for this game. Do not get me wrong, the game is really interesting, and I sincerely wish the citizens of our kingdom would be more interested in it. Each challenge is better than another and I have to say that the host always has quite the surprise in store for us. I am ashamed to say so, but the players are terrible. Not all of them, evidently, but a good part of them nonetheless, and that is the reason why I am disappointed.

Mario : This game has had its ups and downs, but it's still a pretty good game anyway. I'm just a little disappointed in some players' reactions and I wish they would just be eliminated already. They spoil our fun. And that's why from now on, I will stop to get involved with them.

Toad : I'm playing with a bunch of killjoys. They always put on a long face... Sheesh, can't they be happy and smile for once ? I hope episode three won't be like that. Aside from that, I'm still looking for the ideal teammate. I know that some players are really close such as Birdo and Noki who look like they are sisters or something among those lines and Donkey and Jojora who seem to be plotting against Flurrie every time I look at them. I don't want to be sexist, but I really don't want to have an alliance with a girl. I mean, they can be snakes sometimes ! Plus they are really good at sabotaging everything. Not to mention, that if we make the wrong decision on a quiz, you can be sure that they will stay instead of me. Yeah, females are smart like that, they call it female instincts...but to me it's more like divination's powers. Well, let's suppose that I have a coalition going on with a female. What will happen ? She will talk to me about pointless things, she will talk to me about some fashion thingy, she will talk to me about how hard the game is and the list goes on. What I mean is that I won't be able to say at least one word ! Basically, my partner would be talking and I would have to be listening to her. And I don't like when people are intruding like that in your quality time. What do you mean by "you're the one who's hogging everyone's screen-time" ?

Flurrie was reviewing her journal entries, seemingly in deep reflection. "So... Does anyone know when we will be taking that execution quiz ?" Mario shook his head, feeling as clueless as everyone.

"Monty Mole never mentioned it, you know ? It makes me think that maybe-" Mario stopped abruptly.

Bootler raised an eyebrow, watching intently Mario. "Well, do speak, good sir. You piqued our curiosity." Pauline stifled a laughter. "Yes ? What is it you wish to say ?"

"Oh nothing Bootler, don't mind me. It's just that your way of talking is pretty funny and unusual, you know. But don't take that as an offense, I just find it amusing."

"None taken. Well Mario, could you enlighten us with what could probably be the truth behind this mystery ?"

"It's simple, really," started the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, "maybe we will compete in another game soon. I mean, it's basic logic, isn't it ?"

"Yeah, maybe," shrugged Toad. "Anyway, I would like him to get here soon, because it's slightly boring around here." A familiar voice answered his request.

"Then, why wouldn't you try to be snooping as usual ?" chuckled the host, surprising most of the players.

"My god, couldn't you try to refrain from surprising us for once ?" asked Jojora, clearly peeved.

Monty Mole arched an eyebrow. "Well, my species is naturally fast, so I can't do anything about it. It's not my fault that you are all so stressed out."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, we get the point. Even though I saw some of your peers playing a soccer game during which they couldn't move their lazy butts even if they wanted to," smirked Donkey. Monty Mole was clearly offended by the player's statement but tried not to show it.

Pauline : That was sooo uncalled for. Right now, I really want Donkey to leave the game. Him or Jojora, I mean. Once one of them is gone, things will go more smoothly...hopefully.

The players stood silent in the room, waiting for Monty Mole to continue with his announcement. Thankfully, he quickly regained his composure and went on.

"I am here for one reason. The first one being that we still have another challenge going on before the execution ceremony and the second one being that I need you to tell me who, in this game, you wish to be eliminated next. Here, each of you take a paper and a pencil. You have one minute to decide."

Eventually, all papers and pencils returned to Monty Mole. He started to read what each player had written.

"So Birdo... Strangely, you wrote down Mario's name. Any reason why ?" Mario looked flabbergasted and the others were also looking at Birdo, confusion within their eyes.

"Well, it's kind of purely strategic, you know ? Mario is a threat, and if the threats were to 'vanish', it would make victory more easy to reach. I have nothing against Mario, I can assure you of this," she smiled truthfully. Mario let out a sigh and later on, a small chuckle, understanding why she had done this.

Monty Mole proceeded to read the next paper. "Next, we have Jojora who wrote Flurrie. Any comments or thoughts to share ?" She only shook her head as a response. "Okay... Mmmh... Another one who wrote Flurrie. This is Donkey. Do you want to say something ?"

Donkey remained silent for a minute and then began to speak. "Flurrie sabotaged. By sabotaging, she reduced the amount of coins of our team pot which will go to the winner of this game show. I want to win this game and if I win it, the money will be mine. It's only natural for a normal player to want the pot to be full of money, right ?"

Birdo : What Donkey said made me reflect over Flurrie's actions. So far in the game, she only sabotaged our games. She seems rather intelligent, surely more than the majority of us, so my point is that if Donkey noticed that, she couldn't miss it.

"Then we have Pauline who wrote Donkey's name. Why ?"

Pauline smiled. "I just find him disrespectful, rude, annoying and although he preaches to be a genuine player, I can't just forget that he broke many rules and made us lose almost as much money as Flurrie. I was also tempted to say Jojora, because she's almost as bad as him, and Mario, because as Birdo said, he is a threat."

Toad : Disregarding what Pauline said about Donkey's behavior, she's right ! Donkey is always breaking rules... That makes me think, really.

Bootler : I really found this amusing, and I mean it. However, it is unfortunate to see that the other contestants do not seem to understand that it will change almost everyone's perspective of the game and the players.

"Then, Bootler wrote...huh ? Funny, he wrote his own name. Any reason why you did this ?"

Bootler nodded firmly. "We were told to write the name of a player. I am a player, so I had the right to write my own appellation. Not to mention that I would like to reserve the right to keep my feelings and discoveries secret."

Monty Mole looked baffled at the next paper. It was Flurrie's. "Well, well, well... Another strange one. Flurrie, you wrote Bootler's name. Would you care to tell us why ?"

Flurrie grinned. "Well, yet another time, Bootler proved us he was sly. Sly players are threats, wouldn't you say so ?"

"Noki wrote down Jojora's name. Any explanation ?" Noki only shook her head as a reply. "Then we have Mario who wrote Flurrie's name."

"Donkey said it, you sabotage. And you are really suspicious... Although you sabotage, you still make up for it by being extremely good at those missions. Since the Mole knows what they will be doing beforehand, it would explain everything if you were this double agent."

"Last but not least, Toad. You put Noki, why ?" asked the host, seeing as the mushroom was the first player to write down the air hostess' name.

Toad rubbed the back of his chin. "I heard that because of her, the other team had almost lost yesterday's mission. To me, it appears that her decision wasn't smart at all."

"I wasn't asking you for your suspicions, but whatever floats your boat, I guess."

Monty Mole stopped talking, and everyone was waiting for another announcement to be made, but it never came. Somewhat impatient, Pauline asked the question that everyone had in mind.

"So ? What happens next ? Mario and Donkey win an exemption ? Toad, Birdo and myself win an exemption ? Does someone win an advantage or something ? I mean, what was the whole point of this 'revealing' if I may call it that way."

Monty Mole chuckled a little. "There was no point really. We just wanted to spice things up. Now you all know more or less things about everyone's point of view."

Noki sighed a little. "Don't you think it was a little low ? You could have asked us in the first place..." Monty Mole clapped his hands together.

"Who is to say that you would have been truthful if I had told you all that nothing was at stake ?" Mario coughed, showing his dissent.

"I'm not quite sure of Bootler's genuineness," he remarked.

"But you still know a little more about him than earlier, don't you ?" reasoned the host. "Well, we should get going. You know, the next challenge ?"

As he departed through the front door, everyone began to follow him, tons of thoughts racing in their heads. From then on most of them knew who they could trust and who they could not, they had also learned valuable information which they could use in a strategic way.

...

The host led the players to gate four of Pipetown. Just as they were about to pass through the door, Monty Mole asked them another question, which would determine their role in the upcoming challenge.

The host quickly spun around to face the candidates and started his speech. "Before we can go in, I need you to specify some things."

"Let me guess, roles' attribution ?" questioned Pauline, stating the obvious.

Jojora put a palm to her face. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. So, let us know what the roles are so we can start soon."

Monty Mole looked surprised, in a good way, as Jojora did not make a snappy remark for once. At least, not against him. "I need one person who likes to be the center of attention, three who have keen eyes and five for whom school brings back souvenirs. You have two minutes to decide."

Jojora spoke up before everyone. "I squarely refuse Flurrie to be the person who is the center of attention. That seems like a big role and we wouldn't want to lose another game, would we ? That's all I ask."

"I see no objection," responded Flurrie.

Mario raised his hand. "I suppose I can do it then, right ? I'm used to be the center of attention, anyway."

"And so modest with that," taunted playfully Pauline. "I have good eyes so count me in the group of three. We need two other people, who might they be ?"

"I am very sorry to tell you that I will have to settle with the reminiscent players. My eyesight isn't quite as good as it used to be," declared Bootler. Noki joined him.

"Same here, I should be wearing glasses but it's rather annoying so I'm not. What will you do Birdo ?"

"The school thing. I remember the good times I had throwing erasers and paper balls in the classroom. I have keen eyes too, though, but hey, first come, first served !"

"I call keen eyes !" exclaimed Jojora and Toad at the same time.

"So that leaves me and Donkey with the school people, right ?" inquired Flurrie, not so sure about her position.

"I guess..."

Toad announced to the host which person was doing which task. "Mario is the center of attention, Pauline, Jojora and myself are the players who possess keen eyes and the other five who are Birdo, Noki, Bootler, Donkey and Flurrie compose the last group."

Monty Mole nodded and opened the gate, the others following him to their next destination.

...

Donkey : It was so great that we didn't have to put weird clothes on. Last time we were all pretty pissed off at the producers because of the stupid clogs which were killing our feet, but this time we were wearing our casual clothes, so it was all good.

The players stepped out of the warp pipe happily, eight of them wondering what they were going to do, while another was fully prepared for what would come. Monty Mole faced the players, most of them giddy and anticipating the greatness of the mission.

"My, my, I do wonder what we will do in such a place. It certainly is intriguing," reflected aloud Bootler.

Toad's Midway Madness, a small amusement park full of surprises, was where they were all located at this very instant. A lively atmosphere was surrounding the nine contestants, who were all dying to know what was the mission's objective.

"Players, welcome for your fourth challenge which is called 'Split Homework'. Your goal will be, for the lone player, to be the hero and to find the solution to three anagrams. This is the goal basis. For each anagram which is deciphered, five thousand coins will be added to the pot, bringing the mission to a value of fifteen thousand coins."

"That doesn't look too good," whispered Mario to Pauline. "I've never been good with this kind of things. Pauline rolled her eyes.

"Try to be competent in this challenge, I want to win it. It's the fourth challenge and we only won twenty eight thousand coins. An additional fifteen coins would be great to add to our pot."

"The three players with keen eyes will each ride a different attraction. There, they will have to scan the amusement park to seek for letters, which they will have to transmit to Mario so he can unscramble them to find words which will lead to your success. Jojora, Toad, Pauline, there are three of you, and three attractions you need to ride. The first one is the Rollercoaster. Very fast, it can be quite hard to notice the letters if you ride it. But it's also a pretty quick ride, so you will probably not forget the letters before you communicate them to Mario," explained carefully Monty Mole.

"I don't get it. How could we forget the letters ? I mean, we only have to tell Mario what we find once we found it, right ?" questioned Pauline.

"Not quite," answered Monty Mole. "There is a catch to this challenge, you see. You can't say anything to Mario when you are on an attraction. You have to wait for it to stop to talk to him. Was I clear enough ?"

Jojora : Missions during which we are divided are no fun, because then you have to ask people about what they might recall, and you can never trust anyone in a game like this. Whether they are lying intentionally or not, they never tell the one and only truth. Add to this that sometimes they twist the reality because it suits them and you become paranoiac. The only way for me to be sure of something is to see it for myself.

"That certainly answers a lot of my questions," confirmed Toad.

"Okay. Then we have the Ferris Wheel, while it moves at a moderate pace, one ride on it is longer than a ride on the Rollercoaster AND you can only see the letters when you are a little below its top. The last attraction is the Chu-Chu Train. Well, it's slow and as such, it is also a very long ride so you might need a good memory to recall all the letters you will see. You can ride the attractions as long as our virtual chronometers last on their part of the task. Yes, I mean your group Noki, if you were wondering." Monty Mole marked a pause. "Well, before I explain what the last five will do, I would like you three to tell me which ride you will...ride."

Birdo : As far as I knew, I thought there would be sabotage. And not only from one individual. We really needed to act as a group in this mission because everyone was depending on everyone. And let's say that cooperating has never been our forte.

"I call the Ferris Wheel !" yelled the damsel in red.

"I call the Rollercoaster !" chirped an excited Toad.

"Well, it leaves me with the train..."

"Good !" exclaimed Monty Mole. "Now you five, for whom school brings back souvenirs, your task is simple. You have to keep on answering questions that I will ask you. Once you fail to answer one of them, you are out. If more than one person fails to answer a question, you will get to choose who continues to play and who stops. For each question, you will have two minutes to think of an answer. You also have stationery at your disposal so make good use of it. Well, if you are ready, we can start !"

...

Mario was brought to a room, inside a lottery, in which was a board, pieces of chalk, a desk, paper, pens and a walkie-talkie. He sat on a chair and looked at the board.

Mario : There were three lines, I guess one for each riding player. Problem was that I didn't even know how many letters there were in each word... I just had to rely on the other three while I didn't trust them one bit. It was going to be hard.

"So let's see... What if they don't find the letters we need ? We're pretty much screwed in my opinion," he stated, facing the camera. "I don't suspect them so much, but still, they all made at least one mistake which cost us money, and it's only the second episode too. If they all performed so poorly until now, how do I know that it won't continue like this ?"

...

"You know, if I had known beforehand that we were going to one of my places, I wouldn't have volunteered to be a player with keen eyes, just to let the others have more fun. Oh wait. I wouldn't have known that I would have to ride an attraction anyway, so it doesn't change a thing," finally remarked the young player.

Toad was putting on the security when a producer told him that for his part of the challenge, he had to watch for yellow letters on blue panels.

"Wait ! Does that mean that I-AAAAAAAAH !"

But he never had the time to finish his sentence as the rollercoaster began its course.

...

Pauline was slowly making her ascension to the very top of the Ferris Wheel. Comfortably sat in her nacelle, she was amused. While the others were surely panicking at the moment, she was relaxing on a peaceful ride, waiting for white letters on pink panels to appear in her field of vision.

"Life's just so sweet with me, sometimes !" she commented with glee.

...

Jojora was located on the top of the Chu-Chu Train, carefully watching her surroundings. The producers had told her that it was safe and that she didn't need to worry about a thing but to look for black letters on orange panels.

"Ah ! I see a 'E' ! I should write that somewhere..." She paused. "Oh right, we have to rely on our memory, that's just great !" she remembered, her voice full of sarcasm.

Jojora : I noticed that more and more players were giving me the cold shoulder. Actually, it's been a while, but I never really paid any attention to it. You know, I thought it would be pointless to make friends or to at least be in good terms with everyone, but I changed my mind after what Pauline said earlier. Not that I care about her superficial opinion, mind you. Right now, I think that Donkey is the player the least liked, because he is a little less gentle than me. But ! If he were to be executed, everyone would most likely try to avoid me like the plague. Basically, if Donkey leaves and if I still act the same way, I think I won't last long. It's better to be safe than sorry, or so they say.

...

Bootler, Donkey, Noki, Flurrie and Birdo all took seats at the front of the amusement park's entrance, waiting for Monty Mole to start with his questions.

Birdo : That so wasn't what I had in mine when I chose to be part of this group !

Bootler : I must say, this is quite original and unorthodox.

Donkey : I haven't studied for a long time, so I really don't know how it will turn out. I'm counting on Noki and Bootler to ace the competition anyways. Flurrie and Birdo... They aren't the brightest of the bunch if you get what I mean.

"Well, I already told you what you were going to do, so I see no use in repeating what was already said. Let's begin the game, now ! How much make two plus two ?"

"Are you kidding me ?" asked a baffled Donkey, which expression mirrored that of the other players.

Nonetheless, they all managed to find the answer to this rather simple question, and wrote it down on their slate.

"Good," approved Monty Mole. "Now, what is the name of the Mushroom Kingdom's capital ?"

In a few second everyone finished to write their answer. Once again, the host approved their answers and moved on to the third question. "What is the most famous piece which featured Flurrie as the main protagonist ?"

Two minutes passed, and the players revealed their answers. "I'm sorry, but that is incorrect Donkey. You have to leave this area."

Donkey threw a hand in the air. "Whatever !"

Noki : I don't know whether Donkey sabotages or not, but what I'm sure of is that he's always doing it at the most appropriate time. It just feels like it's another one of his excuses. He could be the Mole, I'm sure of that.

"What is the name of the coastal town of the Sarasaland ?" asked the host.

"Is it me or are the questions becoming harder as the time pass ?" questioned Birdo to the others.

"I think you're right," confirmed Noki. "But still, I don't find this too hard..."

"Well... We started a few minutes ago. Hopefully it stays that way."

They all returned their slates and were happy to see that they were right, once again. "What expresses the prefix 'mis' ? I want a complete answer of course."

The players all took their time to detail their answer before showing it to Monty Mole. "Well, it seems like you all did great – wait a minute ! Birdo, you are out. You forgot that it also could express the idea of lack of."

"Oh well, good luck guys..."

Flurrie : It is really bothering me to see that Donkey blatantly sabotages and that Birdo always seems to be the reason why we are almost losing missions. So far, she forgot one little thing during mission one, she tripped on a banana peal and made us lose episode one's last challenge, she practically gave up on the windmill wheel and now she fails at a simple language question. That's hard to believe.

...

Mario was hopping up and down with impatience, slightly aggravated to see that no one had tried to contact him yet. He reached for his journal and tried to recollect his thoughts as he noted something down in his journal.

"I now know that I have to be careful of Birdo and Pauline. If they think that I'm a threat, they will try to give me false information in hope that I leave the game. But that's not going to happen, I'll be extra careful from now on," the red hero explained. He then laughed. "That's sort of weird. You would expect them to want the saboteurs to be eliminated, but no. They want to get rid of a good team player. And what's even more funny is that Pauline and Birdo are really suspicious. At least for me."

Suddenly, Mario sprang up of his chair, a noise coming from the walkie-talkie startling him. "Yes, who's here ?"

"It's me !" responded a familiar voice. Mario smiled and shook his head.

"Right Toad. Do you have any letter for me ?"

"As a matter of fact, I do ! Are you ready ? R, U, L, A, L, M, O, I, and A ! That's all I saw for now. I'll contact you later !"

"Wait ! How will you know that you didn't already tell me some letters ?" Mario stopped him.

"Wow... Good point, I never thought of it that way... But, it's like, impossible to find all the letters at once. I'm not even sure I will get them all. Maybe you will have to guess to find the words we need... There must be some logic behind them, you know ? Well, anyway, I'm off !"

Next chapter, we will know what the outcome of this mission is as well as who is the Mole's second victim. Well, if you leave a review, could tell me what your suspicions are ? It's always fun to see people's train of thoughts. ^^

Until next time ! ^^