Wow wow wow! How can I even thank you all for this amazing beginning!?
So many amazing reviews?! :D and once again?! I did not expect so many...thank you all so much. I cant even! Dx you're all amazing. I replied to all of you at the bottom again :D If you wanted to read it first, you can just scroll to the bottom of the page spoiler free haha!
And also, some of you were new reviewers! :'D literally wanted to cry reading your words! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much each review and word means to me!
Anyways this chapter is a LOT shorter than the first two! The first mission had 5 story lines going on at the same time, so it was so long! In fact, the rest of the chapters normally wont be as long as Chapter 2's ridiculous 8,500 word count Dx. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
Episode 1 (Part 3)
The players arrive at an uexpected location: a regal structure of colossal size. The first exemption comes into play as two leaders must battle against the other eight.
It was the next day, and after a brief, austere breakfast that consisted of nothing more than croissants and coffee, and also after a few exchanging of words with each other at the breakfast table, the players were immediately sent off to their new destination. No longer underground, they were brought up into the sky blue world and were now travelling upon the terra firma. They were traveling by old-fashioned carriages to their next land...wherever it would be.
Wii Fit stretched her legs out, taking up most of the space in the left side of the car carriage.
"So you saw another note by the Mole?" she questioned, looking at Isabelle and Kazooie.
"Yes," Isabelle confirmed, nodding. "Kazooie and I tried to go out. It was at the exit of the cave, and a bit scary too." It was Wii Fit, Isabelle, Dark Pit and Kazooie in one old-styled carriage car.
"So what?" Dark Pit murmured, looking out the carriage window at the passing green land. "It's just a few words on a wooden post. Who cares what the Mole writes?"
"Well, if he or she wants to kill us all, delivering that deadly news to us slowly message by message...well, I'd wanna stay away from them," Kazooie reasoned.
"Pfft. He's not even that scary," Dark Pit said, rolling his eyes and still looking out the window.
"Something a scared player would say, I believe?" Wii Fit added with a smile. Dark Pit turned his head to scowl at her.
"Well, I just hope the Mole...doesn't realllly feel this badly or hostile towards the other players," Isabelle spoke with thought, looking at the others. "Maybe they're actually a kind individual, just having fun! Who knows."
"Yeah! Fun watching us poop our pants from fear!" the red breegul added. "Like I said in the beginning, remember? The Mole's a sadist! Nothing else."
"Or nice!" Isabelle spoke, her voice trying to stay hopeful.
"I can only wonder who it is," Wii Fit thought with a finger on her chin, facing the back of the carriage to see the other two carriages trailing behind them. Many players were still in the other two vehicles trailing behind them...and one of them had the very chance of being the Mole.
The rickety, old-fashioned carriages led on, going over mountains, and then once again, entered a large expanse of forest green. The lush, bright greenery became a darker green color as distance and time went. The land was indeed getting a bit darker, or rather, it was the darker skies that caused the scenery and world to seem less bright than their previous land of fresh world and water. However, the forest greens still seemed to stretch out for miles.
In the distance, they saw their next, immense destination: a castle.
Kazooie: Whoazer...It was the biggest castle I had ever seen in my life. Grunty's puny steeple had nothing on this.
The fortified castle was massive to the players. Consisting of multiple grand towers making up the majority of the fortress, it was protected and tall. Hefty, massive inner and outer walls protected the grand construction, and surrounding the castle itself was a large moat, or rather, a body of water that was as large as a lake itself. Red flags waved from the castle's top from multiple spots, and the four biggest flags waved from the highest part of the castle: the keep.
"My, this is definitely not my castle," Peach voiced, surprised. "It is just too big." But the other princess sitting next to her in the carriage, of medieval background and attire, had a face of full of disbelief.
"This is..." Lucina gasped, her eyes studying the land. Fox turned to her.
"Don't tell me this is your castle," Fox started. "Is it actually?"
"It is one of the many castles in our land," Lucina continued, and they were all surprised at the presence of the land they were in. It was her land.
Lucina: My only hope would be that they would respect my land. Respect it as much as they would their very own.
"All right!" DK roared. "Fire Emblem! I'm down for something epic and full of strong castles and strong swordspeople! Let's get it on! And let's fight this Mole!" Peach covered her ears at the player's loud outburst.
"Strong this, strong everything, you keep on demanding," Peach said with a look of irritation. "How about grace and decorum for once?"
"Not in a land like this!" DK continued. "This place is definitely designed for something else! Something big!"
As the cars continued down closer to the body of the castle, Fox took notice of something located at the very top of the castle, situated on the grand, tall castle keep: a structure that seemed out of place from the rest of the renaissance-looking components. It appeared like a a glass dome with a yellow top, and his sharp eyes could make out something wooden inside of it.
"Is that a-" Fox began with wide eyes, but then the carriage suddenly lurched forwards as the players were caught off guard. The ground become a little rockier and bumpier as it approached towards the edge of the lake. They were now all on the wooden drawbridge that spanned over the moat water.
The carriages continued, through the large gate of the castle land that was opened for their very arrival. They passed by majestic archways that towered over the glistening lake, as if the archways were protecting the waters themselves. As they gradually reached the inner part of the castle, slowly, the carriages then finally came to a stop. Nobody was present within the grand walls of the castle except for them. One by one, the players got out of their carriages and stepped onto the land. They were in the bailey: in the dead middle of Castle Siege.
"Finally." The majority of players turned to see the host exit his own carriage and step onto the land. Right behind him, another player was exiting out as well.
"And thanks for the informative chat, host," Joker spoke in a mysterious voice, coming out from the same door the host had exited. "It was very...revealing." Some of the players looked at Joker with surprised faces, and a few even in jealousy. Lucario then stepped out of the carriage after him.
"If you call a deflection of personal questions revealing, then I'm not sure there's much to it," Lucario spoke, slightly amused.
"Blowing my story," Joker chuckled admittingly. Everyone looked at the young player, rolling their eyes.
"Castle Siege," Smash Host breathed, as if taking in its glory. He formally faced the group of players on the land. "Welcome!"
"I'm a bit taken back that this is my place," Lucina couldn't help to say. The host gave her a nod.
"This is no less than a superb castle," Smash Host began, continuing on and looking at the others. "That's one reason we chose it. This certain castle is usually always under attack. But now, there are no wars going on. It is at a time of peace." He glanced at the players.
"Not for you guys, however. All of you are at war right now at this very moment. With the Mole." The players all looked at each other hesitantly. Indeed, the battle had already begun...against one of them hiding in their very group.
"You are all going to settle down in different locations for the next hour...and ultimately a bit later on in the day...take part in your next mission," Smash Host explained. "First, I need two leaders...and also, two people who know this castle the best."
"If I could say so, I'd like to be a leader," Fox immediately volunteered. The host gave out a smile.
"Mr. McCloud...please stand here," the host confirmed. Fox grinned as he stepped to a spot next to the host. Everyone, though they didn't expect such a swift answer from him, didn't object at all: Fox had been all along and would also definitely play the leader role for their next game.
Joker: Didn't object to him being the leader. As for me, I need to stay back in the shadows. Can't stand out too, too much.
"Another second leader?" Smash Host asked.
"Lucina, how about you be it?" Peach suggested. "This is your castle, no?"
"Oh," Lucina began. "Thank you. Your kindness is noted, Peach." Then she had a thought.
"I may know this castle design the best," Lucina spoke. "I'll volunteer for that second role instead." She went to the host's other side, as Wii Fit turned to Peach.
"You should be a leader, since you're a princess and a ruler of your own kingdom," Wii Fit thought to her.
"Oh, no no no," Peach said hastily. "I do not want a special role in this next game. I would like to relax instead."
Peach: It would probably be tiring! I didn't have all this energy for this stressful game!
"If no one's gonna volunteer as leader, then I'll be it!" shouted DK. The king of the jungle joined over to Fox's side with boosted energy. They would be partners for the next mission to come later.
"Smash Bros veteran power, awwright!" DK roared, giving Fox a strong double high-five. Wii Fit sighed at the display.
"I think an intelligent individual, who can figure out the design of a castle quickly, should volunteer for the last role," Joker thought, and he faced Lucario. "I volunteer either myself or Lucario."
"Lucario, you can do it!" Isabelle said cheerfully, pushing him forwards.
"Huh..." The Pokemon had wide-eyes from the little dog's motion, but he was volunteered anyway. The roles were set.
"The others, come with me," Smash Host instructed, as he gestured and beckoned towards the grand main throne room building of the castle.
Fox: Just what exactly did our roles entail?
The six remaining players walked on, following Smash Host into Castle Siege.
"Whoa...now THIS is a castle," Kazooie commented with big eyes, impressed.
Looking at the intense size of the throne room building, some of them gasped. If it had seemed large to them all from the outside, its expanse was more evident and immense within the building. Almost appearing like a long, grand hallway, the depth of the throne room took them all by surprise. A long, royal carpet was strewn across half of the entire length of the long room. The path that led to the far end of the room was where a large set of stairs was present, leading high up. On top of the impressive set of stairs, a mighty throne chair sat. Overall, the room looked like a glorified church, with a mix of royal and medieval features.
"Those st-st...statues are big!" Isabelle gasped, as they all walked down the long hallway. The vastly-huge marble statues that decorated the path down the long room depicted warriors, and all six tall statues were in different poses. As they continued on, they passed by a table full of antique objects on their left, and even further down to their right, a dinner table was surprisingly laid out with food, plates, and empty goblets. The host brought them to the table.
"What's this?" Joker questioned. "I initially thought we had a mission to play."
"Before you play your next mission, you all must do something very, very important...something much more important than partaking in any challenge or game." He opened his arm to the table.
"Eat lunch!"
Fox and DK were located at the pinnacle of the castle, at its very highest point. At one of the tallest points of the massive construction, they were on the roof of the castle's important keep. On each corner of the square platform they were on, an important flag waved proudly on each stone corner, the four flags in unison waving with pride like an important code. Chewing on foot-long ham and cheese sandwiches, they looked out at the sun, sitting on the tower's edge.
Fox: We had probably one of the best views in the land...no, scratch that. In the world at that moment.
"Not sure which is better," Fox thought, and he couldn't help sighing at the sight before him in wonder. "The water and sunset of Battlefield's background...or being high over a medieval castle and seeing the vast land of centuries before."
"I'm too busy eating...mph, this awesome...mpgghtt...food...to look at it," DK stuffedly mumbled, bite after bite devouring his second sandwich. Once he was done, he finally looked up, his eyes widening.
"Whoa, it's nice!" the ape admitted. "Better than being inside a cramped castle, I'll tell ya that! Hah! I bet the Mole wishes they were here."
"Can't find it hard to imagine why the Mole would want to take over this world," Fox thought out loud. "It's magnificent. Maybe I spend too much time high in the sky, being an outer space flyer and all that. I should land more often." He continued to look out at the land with a small, realizing smile.
"I totally appreciate your philosophical speaking and all that," began DK, wiping his mouth, "but let's start focusing on what the next game could be so we could win. Don't want the Mole to beat us, right?"
"Yeah, partner," Fox agreed, and he stood up, turning around and facing what was behind him. "And especially...I wanna focus on...that."
Turning around, the two of them stared at the large glass dome that stood before them, right in the center of the keep's platform. Reflecting against the sun, the glass dome stood tall, towering nearly twenty feet high and stretching about ten feet in diameter. At the glass's top, a circular, yellow ring-like object was placed upon it, the sun glistening like magical power from the ring's golden, metal surface. It was the same unusual structure Fox had spotted earlier, back when he was on the ground as they were riding their carriages towards the castle.
But it wasn't the glass itself that caught their attention. Located within the glass, almost as if protected by it, was a large, wooden mole.
Lucina noticed two catapults located in front of the forest's edge. She and Lucario were sitting on a grassy patch to eat their lunch in the nice air, but the existence of two massive weapons caught them both a little bit off guard.
"These are here...but why?" Lucina thought, staring at them a little silently. Lucario observed them.
"Two catapults...and there are two of us," Lucario pointed out. "Does that mean..." They faced each other in realization.
"Let's just pretend that they aren't here," Lucina decided quickly, and they both got up and sat down a little bit farther from the wooden machines. They began eating their sandwiches quietly on the grass.
"I never knew how peaceful the castle looked...until sitting from afar, taking in precious time to view it in no rush," Lucina began, staring at it. It was a gigantic, mesmerizing structure, and accompanied with its surrounding moat, water, flags and sky, it was indeed a breathtaking view.
"I speculate we'll be traveling to some of our lands as time goes by..." Lucario thought. "This is yours. Maybe next is someone else's."
"Perhaps," Lucina spoke to him. She looked to him.
"Yet first, we must survive this first episode," Lucina realized, and they couldn't help but look at the catapults beside them with a little apprehension.
"Let's go!"
Joker and Dark Pit started hurriedly drinking the water in their goblets at the long, medieval dinner table. The six players were all in the midst of eating their medieval feast of assorted vegetables, pheasant meat, potatoes, bacon, cheese, oats, fine bread, a whole roasted pig...and a lot of water.
"Go, go, go! Drink it all!" Kazooie chortled, cheering them both on.
"It's not even wine," Wii Fit sighed. "It's water. This can barely be called a challenge." Peach slightly rolled her eyes at the dinner spectacle.
"How old are you both?" Peach said in a half-scold, seeing them battle at the table. "Fifteen years old?"
"Basically," Dark Pit mumbled in a half-sip.
Peach: Oh, children.
"Also, if we went by how many liters of water we drink per day on a daily basis, I would definitely be the winner. Health first," Wii Fit couldn't help saying. Joker slammed his cup down, confidently yet silently on the cushioned dinner mat.
"I won," Joker announced. Dark Pit stopped drinking and folded his arms, mad and disappointed.
"That's not fair," grumbled Dark Pit. "Also there was some weird fruity taste in my water! It was like sour grapes."
"Grapes?" Joker questioned. "The only thing that was in your water was excuses, perhaps." After the brief duel, they were back to eating normally once again. Any sounds they made echoed through the big, grand room.
"This is such a nice, grand dinner!" Isabelle commented, looking at the array of food on the table, "but I am so sad, because I'm already so full!" She looked at her silver plate, still filled with food, sighing.
"I agree," Peach added. "I would love a throne room like this in my own castle someday. And this unique food, too."
"Bread fit for a king," Kazooie nodded, taking a bite from the maslin medieval bread. She looked around the large room they were all in, facing down the rest of the hall that led back to the main door. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Say, we should start searching," Kazooie thought, looking at the expanse of the throne room.
"Are we allowed to do that?" Peach said a little carefully.
"Who said we shouldn't?" Kazooie began with a sly eye, turning back to the others. The players were silent, until Joker slightly agreed, nodding.
"Yes, if there's anything that you shouldn't do," Joker began, "it's to waste an opportunity for an advantage."
"And exactly what advantage is there here?" Wii Fit questioned, eyeing them a bit ridiculously.
"Come on," Kazooie started, beckoning to Joker. "Let's roam this room before anyone...whaa!" She turned around to see with absolute shock that the host was right behind her. Everyone immediately stopped their eating: they were all stunned at Smash Host's sudden appearance.
Dark Pit: Did he...how did he even get...where did he come from?
"Good to see you are almost all done with eating," Smash Host began. "I received the news that you were finished with your food, and getting up to maybe leave, so I just had to come and introduce your next game."
"Um...oh...kay," Peach spoke, as everyone seemed to exchange glances.
"Exactly: we were leaving to go find you," Kazooie lied.
"The next game is a teamwork game...yet it is also a battle game, against each other, " the host introduced, as the players seemed confused but intrigued. "It is called, 'Attack Castle Mole'."
"Is this...Castle Mole?" Isabelle wondered, as everyone looked around them.
"Hidden in this throne room are six secrets," Smash Host explained, as everyone looked at the expanse of the large room with mystery. "There are six secret actions you must perform. If you activate a secret successfully, you'll hear a chime of ringing bells. And in result... two of your teammates, Lucina and Lucario, will receive a flaming stone each."
"A... flaming stone? " Lucario repeated. "Why...oh no. I see." Smash Host, having delivered the instructions to them, nodded.
"Why do we need a flaming stone?" Lucina wondered, but her partner next to her already knew. The host cleared his throat.
"These stones will be your fruit," Smash Host instructed them. "Your fruit...to attack." The two players' eyes widened.
"You two are the Catapulters," he explained. "And in order to win money... you need to destroy... that." He pointed far into the distance, past the green grass, the moat water, and up at the highest point of the entire Castle Siege. At the tower's keep was the glass dome, brilliantly reflecting. At the glass's top, a yellow ring had the sun reflecting from it, making a blinding, yellow beam from the glass like a target. In the glass, they could see the gigantic carving of none other than a mole animal.
"That is your mission: to destroy the mole," Smash Host declared. Lucina and Lucario seemed stunned.
"I...cannot believe it," Lucina voiced, shocked. "This task seems quite dangerous."
"If you hit the glass with one of your projectiles and shatter it, that counts as a target hit, and you win 10,000 coins for the team," the host simply continued. "The yellow ring at the glass' top can be used as a helping target, as long as the sun is still shining and reflecting upon it. If you're able to obliterate the wooden statue itself... which means, destroy it out of recognition that nobody can tell it was originally the figure of a mole...then you win the full game. 20,000 coins to the team." Lucario and Lucina, though nervous about the game, nodded in understanding.
"Oh, and one more thing," the host spoke, putting his finger up. "There's another incentive to destroying that mole and winning the game. If you and the six others in the castle aren't successful as a team in obliterating the target...then the two people at the keep, Fox and DK: one of them will win an exemption."
"All right! " DK roared, sounding excited and hitting his chest. "An exemption!"
"As I explained this morning," Smash Host was reiterating, "An exemption is one of the most valuable objects that you can receive in 'The Mole'. It is a free pass into the next episode. You cannot be eliminated. You don't have to take the quiz, and you move on to the next round. You are safe from elimination."
Fox: The game's very first exemption...and I had the chance to get it.
"Hey! So you said that only one of us will get an exemption if we succeed in our task!" DK suddenly realized, turning to the host. "What does that mean?! Which one of us gets it if we win the game?"
"Random selection of one of you," Smash Host said quickly.
"That is quite the golden, green prize right there," Fox said with a satisfied grin. "But how do we earn it?"
"You two...are the kings of Castle Siege," the host told them. "Or as I'd like to change the name to, Castle Mole. You are the owners of this grand castle. Protect your grand treasure from the flaming stones. Protect the wooden mole."
"And how?" Fox asked, folding his arms and laughing. "With our bare arms? Though we're strong, I don't imagine us punching away these fireballs with them."
"I will leave you with a piece of advice: be creative." The host turned not only to the large carving, but to the generous expanse of the castle keep's roof. The platform they were on was large, and both Fox and DK could even run upon its expanse surface with plenty of room to spare away from the dangerous edges. On each corner of the castle keep roof, a red flag waved, a Fire Emblem symbol evident upon it. Four symbolic red flags in total waved in each corner around them proudly, but that wasn't all. There was, behind the glass pyramid, a metal shed that the two players didn't realize at first. Fox couldn't help but take a step towards the direction of the little house.
"What's inside you?" Fox whispered to himself, facing the shed. He saw a four-digit combination on it, and he was determined to open it.
"The game begins at the trumpet's sound," Smash Host announced to everyone, his voicing being heard through communication devices among each group. "And eight of you have one hour to destroy Castle Mole."
"Or protect it," Fox voiced, folding his arms with confidence and readiness. DK stood at the platform's edge, beating his chest and letting out a yell.
"You can't beat us!" he hollered, his voice echoing so loud that even the catapult shooters across the land heard his voice slightly. Apprehensive but determined to win, Lucario and Lucina held their ground.
"We can't let them win," said Lucario, gritting his teeth. "Not with an exemption at risk." Lucina nodded in agreement.
"It's up to all of us as a team...to beat them," she stated.
"Get ready to play." Where the host stood himself was itself a fascinating spot: though not as high as DK and Fox's location, he stood high upon one of the tallest castle structures of Castle Siege, towering high over most of the grand, enormous castle. He looked over the land, and the game.
"Destroy the castle. In three...!" Lucario and Lucina stared at their opponents standing at the castle's top, hands ready on their catapults.
"Two...one...!" Fox and DK, several hundred feet away and ten stories in the air, looked back at them challengingly.
The air was deadly still...but over the next hour...it would then become deadly itself.
BRRR BRR BRR BRRRRRRRRR!
The trumpet sounded, and the game had begun.
"Quick! The door. There must be something outside this empty room." Both Wii Fit and Kazooie headed towards the immense wooden doors of the throne room, running down the carpeted hallway, past the lit fire torches, and past the gigantic statues, until they reached its wooden presence. They immediately tried to push open the large door, but to no avail. Though there was a single key in the large door's keyhole, it didn't budge or unlock. Ultimately, the large wooden door was what it was: locked and closed.
"Well," Wii Fit said with annoyed disappointment. "I guess there really isn't anything out there. Figures." She turned to an open window a few feet away from her, but it was blocked by bars; it was their only view of the outside world.
"Don't you even remember the rules he told us?"" Dark Pit said to them. "Our entire game is in this room, according to the host! Why do you even want to go out? There's no reason!"
"But look at this deserted place," Kazooie said in doubtful reply to Dark Pit's sentence, looking at their mostly-bare surroundings. "There isn't anything here! What can we even go off on from here? It's so empty!"
"Not necessarily," Peach began, looking interestingly at a table of antiques that was located on the opposite wall from the dining table. She was studying the eclectic assortment of objects laid upon the table: a display of jewelry, coins, and precious diamonds were laid out on its surface. At one end of the table, a scepter and a crown was located, and she went over to it. Joker noticed that positioned under the table, there was an odd, large silver chest. He knelt down to examine it.
"There's a chest...with a lock," Joker noticed, then his eyes began glancing around the walls and the entirety of the throne room. "That means that somewhere hidden in this room...there is a key."
Joker: The throne room was like a large, intricate puzzle. We had to be the puzzle masters.
"Umm, guys?" called out Isabelle, her voice echoing lightly through the room. Everyone turned to her.
"What is it?" Wii Fit asked. The little dog was standing before one of the tall torches that went down the hall of the big room.
"One of these torches...is not lit," Isabelle said, pointing to the tall torch before her. Indeed, among the ten bulky torches that went down the hall, all of them were lit and blazing except for one. The players slowly gathered around it, looking at it with confusion. Nine flames. One out.
"It can't be a coincidence," Joker began.
"A flame died out, so it's a clue?" Kazooie said, laughing. "It just ran out of gas! It's nothing."
"There are six special actions we have to do," Peach thought out loud, remembering the host's words. "Each action we do will give supplies to Lucina and Lucario...but also, we'll hear a ringing chime in the air every time we complete a special task, the host stated. We need to do special actions."
"So would the special action be...lighting this torch on fire again?" Kazooie guessed, and everyone looked at her.
"What?" she questioned, eyebrows furrowing. "Why are you all staring at me?"
"I think you indeed may be right," Peach said, amused, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Then I suppose we must do one thing," Wii Fit commanded, looking at the others. "Get some fire. Step one."
Two kings stood at the castle keep, high in both status and location, intimidating, and playing the roles as leaders and protectors of Castle Mole. As one stood at the edge's platform and continuously let out grunts of dominance, the other was a bit more at work, frustrated yet determined. Fox was trying to open the door of the metal shed.
"There's a four number combination lock," Fox called out to DK after having tried every typical four-code combination he could think of. Fox sighed, stopping. "Hey, any ideas?"
"Why are you trying to open the shed?" DK asked him, shaking his head.
"You don't seriously think our task in this game is to just stand at the castle keep's edge, looking out intimidatingly over the kingdom in a heroic pose," Fox joked, jesting directly at his partner's exact actions. DK frowned, but agreed.
"Okay, okay," DK replied, going over to Fox. The two kings looked at the shed: they needed mental power, not physical power, for their first task.
"Uh...what has four?" DK thought. "A car has four wheels, like the carriages we came on!" Fox nodded.
"There are four people outside the castle," Fox realized. "Me, you, Lucina, and Lucario. Maybe it's the number of letters in our names?"
"What are you even talking about?" DK asked with a confused expression, but Fox was already scrolling the metal dials to make four numbers: 3, 2, 6, and 7. Then after, he tried 2, 3, 7, and 6. Then 6, 7, 3, and 2. Then 7, 3, 2, 6. Twenty-one combinations later, he only sighed with sore fingers. None of them worked.
"Or maybe it's simpler than that."
Hey!" Isabelle had retrieved a sharp metal stick and was handing it to Kazooie.
"Whoa!" Kazooie exclaimed, backing away from the sharp edge with a startled step. "Where the heck did you get that thing?!"
"I removed a metal curtain railing from the low-hanging drapes! And I thought it could be used to reach one of the other torch flames," Isabelle said with a smile. "And then use it to transfer fire to the empty torch."
"The bad thing is, metal isn't flammable," Dark Pit pointed out glumly.
"So we attach something to the end that's flammable!" Isabelle exclaimed. Dark Pit nodded, surprised at her smart idea.
"Peach, do you know where a key would be hidden?" Joker asked Peach. The two of them were focused on deciphering the table of gold and precious jewelry, and as shiny and valuable as all the treasure was to their eyes, none of it was of any help to their current situation. Joker was still kneeling down, eyeing the mysterious, silver chest, locked at its front.
"Usually keys are at doors," Peach wondered. "We perhaps must look for a ring of keys. Or perhaps there's a key near a door somewhere?"
"And perhaps you're right," Wii Fit began, holding a key up to them as she approached their spot. The two players looked at her: it was the key to the silver chest.
"Where did you find that?" Joker questioned.
"It was protruding from the keyhole of the grand entrance door," Wii Fit said nonchalantly. "Obviously it wasn't for the door, so I figured it's for this." Wii Fit handed the key to Joker, and he himself then stuck it into the silver chest's keyhole. He turned it, and a click was heard. The three players stared in wonder, as the glimmering chest's lid was swung open. They looked inside.
"Oh...what's this?" Peach stared down at its contents, then lifted out something carefully. It was a wooden ocarina.
"What a beautiful musical instrument!" Peach exclaimed.
"Hmm…" Joker took out the second object, which was a figurine of a woman in a tunic. He looked at it, thinking hard.
"Well, I didn't know this was a costume party," Wii Fit stated, holding the third object up to her face. It was the mask of a sheep.
"What's the meaning of that?" Peach wondered. "What's the meaning of all of these? What a puzzle!"
"A wolf in sheep's clothing?" Joker thought, looking at the sheep mask. "Just like the Mole?"
"We did it!" Kazooie was holding a long, flaming metal stick, high into the air as it swayed ever so slightly in her wings' grasp. The others couldn't help but stare at the sight, which was in its own way, magnificent. At the pole's end, a torn part of a curtain was tied to it. It was lit, blazing with bright, red fire at its end. Kazooie walked over to the unlit torch.
"Careful!' Isabelle sounded, looking anxious.
"Heh...it's just like lighting a candle," Kazooie said unworriedly, and she touched the end of the unlit torch with the blazing stick.
POOOOFTTT! A large flame shot out of the new torch, as everyone stepped back with surprise. Kazooie held her ground, although startled. The new torch was lit.
And all of a sudden...from above them...they heard soft chimes.
Ring...ring….ring...
"Watch out!"
Two large, black spheres came hurtling to the ground behind Lucario and Lucina, having transpired from seemingly the air itself and with no warning at all. As they stepped back with alarm, they saw that the two spherical objects had hit the earthy ground with strong power, making marks in the grass. Lucina and Lucario only stared at the heavy items that had fallen to the floor just feet away from them, placed right behind the catapults themselves.
"Are these…" Lucina began, a little apprehensively.
"Yes. They are." Lucario looked at the catapult with sharp eyes.
"And now it's time to attack. Time to attack the mole."
Ahhhhh! What will happen in the next chapter?!
Indeed, things get more action-packed in the next chapter xD I do hope you enjoy it!
I will be updating next time Saturday morning/noon, USA time :) I am currently in Japan eating Japanese fried chicken and soba on a daily basis!
Thanks so much once again for all your reviews! :) Stay tuned! The game becomes...a bit deadlier next round. Hehehe.
darksymphony777: You are so great! Thanks for choosing to read my story : ) I am so glad you're joining along for the adventure! You saying the Mole being a "more vocal antagonist"...I wonder who you're possibly referring to ; ) I'm glad you have a favorite for a winner and baha! Nice reference of the Kid Icarus world. I'm so so glad that you stated you're warming up to the story! :D Of course I couldn't hold it against you if you weren't haha, but I'm so glad that you are! : ) Haha, and Toadette makes another appearance! We can always count on our deceitful fungi...girl.
Masking What Remains: Haha! It is so stereotypical for the team to win money at a final announcement...I need to add more moments when the players DON'T win! xD Nice theorizing! Did the Mole play an active role or a passive role in the first mission? Hmm... :) And very good question about whether or not reoccurring characters having knowledge of past seasons! The answer to that...will not be revealed yet. It's a mystery for now ; ) However, more of that answer will be revealed very heavily in Episode 2!
Cavin856: Oh...my...gosh. Okay, when I said you were clever in my last comment to you, I was just throwing that around just on my first impression of you, but now WOWWW! Your analysis is seriously blowing my mind! Your scrutiny and research into the flag colors, mentioning color-blindness, WHAT! Thanks for putting so much work and effort into trying to solve the mystery behind the first mission! : ) You seriously deserve an award! There is one thing I will reveal about your sleuthing: that error of calling DK a "space captain" was completely unintentional and incredibly stupid on my part xD it was due to me pausing my writing at that time at night, and jumping in the next day to that very spot in the morning, so I must have mixed up players and descriptions. -_- Please delete that little part from all your other otherwise incredible sleuthing! xD!
Dark Punxysaur: Nice! :) I like how you're thinking on the topic of "Who's going to be eliminated first?" Besides who's the Mole and who's the winner, that's also an interesting and fun question to tackle : ) Glad you did! Haha, I love your statement of, "Is one of them even the Mole?" True, they may all seem like innocent people...but one of them is not! I appreciate your theorizing on clues and the Mole's messages! I guess the Mole's messages can be interpreted in many different ways :) As you did by theorizing it to be based on two different players!
xXErineilXx: I'm so glad that I'm writing a new story too! : ) It feels great to be back! Good three suspect list! I wonder how far they will go :) Ah what a good twist indeed! In the Subspace Emissary, there was actually a mini twist indeed right?! With Master Hand at the end being revealed to be controlled by a higher power (Tabuu) all along! Haha, sadly, that twist is not in play here...it's just the Mole being their dastardly self :)
Guest: Yay! I'm so glad you like the characters and chatacterization! :) And ahhh! You're so right! This will be the first Mole story you'll be following from the START! :D How exciting! Not just for you but ALSO for me! :) Seeing your thoughts and all! Yeah, Joker, despite his cunning demeanor, still plays the game fairly and doesn't break rules! I guess he will try to get as close to breaking rules as he can? :o hehe~ your line, Once we find out who the Mole is, we'll realise how truly obvious they were all along... I will spoil it now, but you're so spot on right. It is so true :)
amalgamie: I am SO HAPPY you're finally reviewing! :'D It's good to talk to ya! Thanks for joining in on Agent's Elevation before too! :) Your favorite character picks of Fox and Wii Fit are also my favorites too! I thought heavily on Wii Fit's personality: at first she was going to be a generic neutral character...and then I was like No way! I'm making her sassy and boastful and strong xD It makes sense with her being the top of the physical fitness pyramid haha, maybe that can make one a bit prideful hehe. Anyways I look forward to your future reviews! :D thanks so much!
guest kinda: Who ARE you? I gotta know! XD I also have a history of unfinished stories so dont feel bad haha! Or at least tell me another pen name I can refer you to :) I'm so happy that this story is a silver lining to this quarantine we're in! Baha! You got the reference of me pairing Kazooie with DK: DK is also a large brown strong animal and is the closest in resemblance to Kazooie, so I wanted to put them together for that very reason :D hahaha. Im very intrigued about your comment about how this new Smash Host seems iffy and how you liked McHallyboo :) I'll explain more on that later! Wow, good suspect and suspicions layout! You saying sprinkling in statements from/about the Mole that turn out to be just as true once their lie is revealed is soooo right! I'm glad you're keeping that in mind! That is definitely very present this season! :)
MasterParafin: Hey! How are ya! :D I hope everything is going well! Never apologize for being late: I'm so happy for your review! :) I'm a huge Isabelle fan so im glad you are too! And same with Joker with what you mentioned about Japanese art and anime :D! I actually had to watch playthroughs of Persona 5 and watch some of the anime before writing this story: I wanted to include Joker but never played Persona and knew nothing about him! Thus I educated haha :) nice "no suspect" list and suspect list! You wrote good details and reasoning :) I'm dying over your CCC acronym xD And aww! Thank you for saying I still have my Mojo! :) Blushing and smiling here haha
LuiasyLover: Hey! I'm so glad you're a fan! :D Also I love your name! It's a mixture of one of my favorite canon pairings is it not? Anyways dont worry about not having a suspect list yet :) Baha that will be for the end of every episode (so every 4 or 5 chapters I'll ask readers for their top 3). Aww, you're so sweet! Your comment about me having a writing gift...you're just too kind :')
MonadoSpeedy: I was like "Yay, Monado has been spared having to write another long review!" And then I read your DM. xD. If you ever skip a chapter PLEASE DO cause as much as I absolutely LOVE your reviews I'd be happy knowing you can relax for once:D though your long reviews are a big happiness for me! YES! I become SO happy when I see that a person read another reader's review! :DD It builds a small community in a way and connects readers so it's so magical! I literally burst out laughing when I read, Lucario, how can you already have suspects? The game is literally 45 minutes old. LOOOOL! Because the game indeed had just begun and two, we know exactly the number haha. Equally died at "Lucario, you are suspecting everyone now.". I realized on my second read through that...he indeed did. Lmao. "Now they're playing each other's games too!?_ What is this canon!? :P" Hehe, okay the truth is...they all know about each others' existence being from other games. Since the existence of Smash itself is taking characters from many different games, the Smash universe at least in my story is that they are aware that this Smash world is made up of many characters from different universes combined :) and to end this all...what. Why are you spreading false theories? Why are you trying to overlap past, unrelated Mole stories to this one?! This is the start of a new era. This also sounds like the start of a conspiracy, Mr. Monado. I just won't allow it.
The Wise Zora: LITERALLY saw you right before I posted the new chapter! AHHHHH! HELLO! :D I owe you a longer reply next round I PROMISE! I'm literally half a foot out the door but I just couldn't update this chapter without a shout-out to you! =D Like always, you have a good eye for theories and suspicious things! Yes, I love the list! I am either sighing that my Mole is near the bottom of your list in relief or freaking out that the Mole is near your top! :) Haha! I guess time will tell :)