Thank you to everyone who reviewed for the beginning of Episode 6! :)
I always appreciate your words so much, especially after such a writer's block. It really helped me push for this second chapter! Once again, YOU'RE ALL GREAT AND AWESOME!
The bridge game continues and finishes and concludes! :) WHO will survive to the end? And then, the players enter a new location in Hyrule! Just plans are in store? Let us see!
Episode 5 (Part 2)
On a crumbling bridge, the players try to survive...and attempt to determine the real culprit breaking it apart. In the quaint, large town of Hyrule, a sudden date is set.
"WAHHHHHHHHH!" was the final yell of their teammate... as he disappeared into the unseen gorge below them. DK had leapt far yet still fallen...and ultimately failed his third cross across the Bridge of Eldin.
For a second, all five players froze...then quickly began shouting with horror.
Dark Pit: We couldn't believe it. Well, we could, but this was something else.
"DK!" The players ran to the very edge of the cracked bridge themselves in disbelief, frantically looking over the edge...but all was too late. They could only witness in terror at the large body of their teammate disappearing below them, as a shouting DK became smaller and smaller in the near-endless air below them...and finally, becoming ultimately a small, tiny speck that splashed thousands of feet away into Zora's River.
They only looked at the rocky cliffs below them in shock...looking once again around at the humongous gorge below them that encompassed the bottom half of their current world. The walls of the canyon and the water below were all a sight of beauty...but yet, terror. It was as if a large, rocky black hole from the universe, one big enough to encompass an entire planet within itself and able to make its way down to Hyrule, had taken one of their unfortunate teammates. They stared at the world below them, at the magnificent, deadly canyons that made their current universe.
"He...he fell…" Isabelle gasped.
"DK! You big, dumb-headed bozo!" Kazooie wailed, looking tragedy-struck and sad as she stared to the faraway waters and expansive gorge below her. DK was her friend...and he was gone from the game. The large ape had fallen.
Kazooie: All he has to do was...actually try in his jump.
Kazooie sighed. Joker just shook his head.
"Oh...well. He should have jumped...farther," Joker spoke, shrugging. "I really have no other advice for him. Nor am I even in time to deliver such advice."
The five were silent.
"So, how the heck exactly did someone as big and jumpable as DK not cross this gap?" Dark Pit wondered with incredulity. "What in the world? And what does that mean for the rest of us?!"
"Does that mean NONE of us can cross it either?" Isabelle wondered, scared.
"No...no….I am still confident we can," Lucina voiced to the others. She turned to them...then back to the bridge gap before her. "We need confidence...but not overconfidence like DK had displayed."
"His fall was definitely from overconfidence. He did not prepare his jump, it seemed," Joker commented to those next to him.
Kazooie: Overconfidence can make you fall! Thank goodness I don't have to worry about stuff like that myself!
Joker: It was, for sure, a poor jump. Very odd for a monkey of his ability. Whether DK's early fall from this game was an act of sabotage that he purposely decided to commit...we had to decide for ourselves later on.
"We can definitely make this third cross together." The five remaining players nodded. Kazooie shook her head, shaking away her disappointed feelings for DK.
"Okay...WELL...if you guys wanna see how a bird does it...then watch this!" Kazooie readied herself...one talon gripping the ridges of the stone bridge and her other talon in the air behind her. She was ready to run and jump over the gap.
"Three...two...one...go!" Kazooie then sprung up as high as she could over the bridge's empty floor, her body and legs stretching far and successfully to the other side. Her light bones made it clear to the other four behind her that she had an advantage that none of them else had. She landed on the other side...clearing the gap very well.
"I did it! Who hop! Easy!" she exclaimed excitedly, showing off her wings. Everyone stared at Kazooie, faces in disbelief. She had made it farther than anyone had jumped ever before.
"...so unfair," Dark Pit muttered.
Dark Pit: She's an actual fricken' bird. I'm just a 16-year old boy...with wings.
"Okay...I will go next," Lucina began. She readied herself...and jumped second. Landing not as far as Kazooie had, she was able to make it to the other side of the bridge safely.
"And count me third," Joker added, and leapt over the gap in the bridge easily. He landed on about the same spot as Lucina had, and he turned to her with a grin. Isabelle, seeing her other three teammates go over with no fear, decided to jump as well.
"Okay!" She ran and jumped with a little smile of nervousness. And when she landed on the other side, Kazooie, Lucina, and Joker all exchanged glances of nervousness: the small dog had barely made it across.
Dark Pit, the final one to go, took in a breath and jumped. He didn't jump as fearlessly as his teammates, but far enough. On landing, he faced the others, looking startled.
"Scary, huh?" Joker teased.
"No," Dark Pit mumbled angrily.
"Congratulations everyone," Kazooie began. "We move on! Well, except for DK..." She peered back for a second, shuddering at the big ape's fate that had existed below the edge of their platform.
Joker: No more failures. Don't we want to beat the Mole?
Then, they all faced forwards at the remaining pathway of the bridge again and walked on.
"Three more minigames...three more crosses. I wonder how terrible they'll be," Joker commented. "And is the Mole still with us, crossing the bridge again? Or did he fall into the water below?"
"Let's discuss all this potential sabotage and bad stuff about who's suspicious and who's totally not on our side later," Kazooie stated, thinking heavily to herself….but the others could see she was slightly giving her opponents side-eyes. "For now...I guess we just have another darn puzzle to solve."
They continued to walk together, completing their third bridge cross.
"Oh, but the first one was fun!" Isabelle said excitedly. "Actually, the second ball passing one was fun too! ...puzzle wise? If we didn't mess up, it would have been the most great!" The five players walked and continued on down the long, great length of the bridge.
"Yeah...if only someone didn't say their birthday was after "November" while we were in the circle," Kazooie whispered with annoyance and realization, huffing.
"What was that?" Joker asked, hearing her and having perceived every word she said with alerted ears.
"Oh, nooooothing….nooothing at all," Kazooie stated sarcastically, facing away with a smile and speaking more loudly this time. They made it to the archway finally. It was their third game of five. Everyone looked with confusion at what existed under the big arch.
It was a wooden closet, situated and placed strangely upon the bridge.
"What? A closet?! This is a very peculiar object to be on an old bridge..."
"A...closet of...mystery?" The wardrobe sat silently, placed on the stone of the bridge under the arch, and when the players turned to each other with shrugs, they soon grabbed its handles slowly and opened it.
An assortment of items and clothes were revealed, both hanging and on its wooden floor, and their confusion increased even further.
"There's a shirt...jeans…a glove…" Lucina began, lightly touching through the objects.
"A black boot…and scissors here too?!" Dark Pit exclaimed, picking up the scissors from the wooden bottom. Isabelle, being the shortest, spotted with wonder and amazement small etchings on the side of the wardrobe's interior. It was their instructions for the game.
"Look, another message!" Isabelle called to them. Everyone tried their best to peer into the small closet at the tiny message.
Which item of the five inside does not belong?
Take two chances: after, you're wrong.
Joker put his hand to his chin and chuckled. "Okay. It seems we are at an advantage here. All is in our favor chance-wise, even if we just guessed blindly for the wrong object. We have a three-fifths chance of winning, even blindly."
"But let's not choose blindly ," Kazooie sneered, sighing.
"We have to be smart to choose the wrong object!" said Isabelle.
"Wrong? But what is considered as...wrong?" Lucina asked him. They all stepped back to take a good look at the five contents of the wardrobe together.
"A shirt... jeans...a glove...a boot, and scissors. One of them doesn't belong."
They thought for a second
"Obviously, these weird scissors then!" Kazooie shouted, stepping forwards and grabbing them with her wing. "The others objects have to do with clothes and wearing stuff and attire. Look: these scissors have nothing to do with the others. Right?!"
"Okay, that makes sense," Dark Pit agreed. "That was super easy then. Big whoop."
"But, do not the scissors themselves seem...too obvious?" Lucina spoke up, looking carefully at the pair of scissors Kazooie was holding. "Perhaps scissors have to do with tailoring... and are thus related to the other clothing items."
"The scissors seem like the correct answer...but maybe we should remember that Lucina is extremely intelligent and correct often at times," Joker added, giving a sly grin to her. Lucina faced him back, surprised.
"Okay, if it's not the scissors, then what is it?" Dark Pit said with annoyance, looking at them.
"We have two guesses anyway," Kazooie shrugged. "Why don't we just guess the scissors first?! We're wasting time."
Kazooie: Seemed logical to me!
"Yeah, you do have a point," Dark Pit agreed with Kazooie, sighing. "We do have two guesses, after all."
"But what if the bridge crumbles?" Isabelle spoke up fearfully to them. "Oh no!"
"I feel like we're wasting time anyway and it's gonna crumble anyway if we don't make a choice," Dark Pit shrugged, and Kazooie nodded. Everyone turned to Lucina. She seemed silent.
"Uh oh…" Joker began with a grin, as Kazooie smiled and slowly proceeded to put the scissors on the stone ground of the Bridge of Eldin. It was the action of making it their official choice.
"We choose...the scissors!" Kazooie spoke loudly. The five players waited in silence. Nothing happened.
"Well, that must have been the correct—-"
And then with a loud CRsssssshttttt!, the sound of crumbling came about. The players turned with horror as they saw not one, but two squares of the middle of the bridge break away from each side.
As they disappeared from view...everyone turned immediately and looked at Kazooie and Dark Pit with shock.
"Umm...umm…" the red bird replied.
"We...should have thought more," Lucina whispered, wide-eyed with dismay.
Joker: So who do we blame here? It's just so suspicious how strongly Kazooie and Dark Pit wanted to adamantly propose the scissors as the correct answer...but yet, it was just wrong.
Kazooie: Dark Pit totally agreed with me! I blame him! I'm starting to understand the pressure thing DK was talking about. Dark Pit, you little bozo.
"Why are you blaming me for your wrong answer?" Dark Pit groaned to Kazooie. "I was on your side! And this is how you thank me? Ugh."
"I can't take all the blame!" Kazooie replied. "So you have to, too."
"Oh wait, guys,, I think it's weird...the message..! I mean, I could be crazy, but..." Isabelle was ducking and peeking into the wardrobe again, giggling. She looked at the written clue scratched into the wardrobe's inside.
Which item of the five inside does not belong?
Take two chances: after, you're wrong.
"What's wrong with it?" Kazooie asked. "Seems normal to me, Isabelle."
"Why is the word 'two' even emphasized so much in the message!?" Isabelle wondered. "It's even underlined! I really wonder!"
"Probably some weird emphasis error," Dark Pit said doubtfully. "You're really going to focus on a little piece of text?"
"Or perhaps, not an error at all...but an emphasis clue to the word 'two', it seems…" Then, Lucina gasped, looking at the lone glove left in the wardrobe, then at the lone boot.
"What are you thinking….oh...yes, I see," Joker added on, smiling. He looked at the scissors...then at the lone glove on the ground of the closet as well. Then at the big shoe.
"What…?" Kazooie looked unconvinced. "What are you all staring at!?"
"Aren't there supposed to be two shoes and two gloves usually?" Joker said with interested thought.
"A pair of shoes...a pair of gloves…"
"A pair of scissors!" Isabelle cried out. "They're all pairs! They're all associated with the number two!"
"Except…" Everyone looked at the remaining items in the wardrobe: a shirt and jeans.
"A pair of jeans...then...the shirt doesn't belong!" Isabelle went over to look at the shirt, then grabbed it carefully off its hanger. It was officially removed from the closet.
"Oh man, I hate to admit it...your answer sounds a lot more correct than mine," Kazooie sighed. "I give it to you all: you're all smarter than me!"
Kazooie: Well, maybe not. I'm still smarter in some ways! Just not at this particular round!
"Hmm...guess we all suck," Dark Pit said. "We're no help. See ya."
"Don't worry: this was a team effort to reach the correct answer!" Isabelle said to them happily. And when the shirt was placed down on the hard stone of the bridge as a final answer...something else finally happened.
Thud! Before they could continue, a boot from a hidden, concealed flap of the wardrobe's top ceiling fell to the floor of the closet with a loud bang, making them jump back. Everyone stared at the new, suddenly-appeared object. There was a second boot.
"What is this…?" Lucina began. Isabelle caught a note that drifted down from the hidden compartment as well.
"Congratulations," Isabelle read. "Three more crosses and two more games…?... and all who stand at the end adds money to their name. But one person must continue with risks to shoot: a player must wear these two heavy boots…oh no!" Everyone turned to the two black boots in the closet with new worry.
"How can we even guarantee our safety crossing the bridge three more times...if one of us have these on?"
"These can't be that heavy," Dark Pit laughed, walking over to the new pair of shoes and lifting one. "They can't be….ooomph!" Everyone saw the angel fall forwards suddenly from the weight of the boot….as he hit his head on the wardrobe's inner wood. Kazooie laughed.
"Oh no...they are sooo heavy…" Isabelle gasped.
"One of us has to wear those shoes for the remainder of our game as we cross three more times," Joker realized. They turned to each other.
"Even while we jump…" Lucina whispered.
"Don't call me prejudiced or rude, but I think whoever is best at jumping...should wear them," Dark Pit stated slowly, looking at everyone. "Cause they stand the best chance at crossing...even with shoes."
And everyone turned to Kazooie unanimously.
"What...oh, geez, come on, guys!" the red bird sighed, shocked at her teammates.
"I mean, you did clear our previous jump really well," Joker spoke, smiling.
"That I did," Kazooie said proudly.
"We have the most faith in you, Kazooie...even with the shoes," Lucina spoke.
"You're the best player who stands a chance over us all!" Isabelle said sadly, but also agreeingly. "None of us others would survive with them!" Kazooie's eyes lit up.
"Oh...pft...all right, fine," Kazooie decided, going up to the boots herself. Everyone saw the red bird grab them.
"Are you sure? It has to be your choice in the end…" Lucina spoke again. But everyone could see that Kazooie's mind seemed to change. She was smiling.
Kazooie: Time for the bird to show everyone what's up!
"I volunteer as hero of Hyrule!" she said confidently and proudly. As she grabbed them and strapped them on, she stared down at her own feet: her talons were no longer present. Now, it was two thick boots, heavy, dark, and enough to give anyone uneasiness. She took a few steps forward...plodding heavily as everyone watched her take her first heavy steps.
"It's like there're hidden weights attached under these!" she commented, mortified but laughing.
"Felt like that," Dark Pit commented, remembering. "When I lifted one up, it definitely felt like they put metal or something in its base. I wouldn't be surprised if it was completely metal surrounded by leather. Totally cheating."
"Well, pfft, doesn't matter," Kazooie said, beak grinning. "I can make this." Slowly, they all walked together once again to the middle of the bridge. When they reached if, they looked warily.
BRIDGE CROSS: 4/6
The open air in the center of the long bridge was two squares bigger than before, and the players gulped.
"Well….it still looks doable," Joker said, nodding.
"I agree...but any more than this...then…" Lucina began. But she shook her head.
"I will go first." And Lucina, after taking a few steps back, then ran forwards. At her jump, everyone gasped slightly. But the skilled warrior landed heavily yet gently on the other side of the bridge. She faced back.
"I am safe."
Joker went next...and as he jumped, he made sure to put more effort than he did his two previous times over the bridge's edge.
"Phew..." He landed on his feet on the other side with good stance and proper form. He still made it safely as well. Both safe, Lucina and Joker looked at each other.
"Oh no…" And then they faced back to Kazooie with worry and fear. She was next. The other four players seemed to all hold their breaths together.
"Uh...are you sure you're ready?" Isabelle asked the boot-wearing player carefully. Kazooie had the obstacle.
"Yeah...these shoes are not that bad," Kazooie noticed, hitting them against the stone to rest their durability and true weight. But everyone still looked anxious.
Kazooie: I had to show them that the bird was boss!
And Kazooie jumped, the heavy, weighted boots below her attached to her talons...as everyone gasped with worried eyes.
And after a weighted jump... she landed safely on the other side.
"Phew…yes!" She laughed, joining Joker and Lucina... but everyone could see that the bird didn't make it as far as she had before, or nowhere as well as either of the other humans did. Kazooie had fallen startlingly shorter than her previous jumps before.
"Two more…" Isabelle got ready to jump, and Kazooie, Joker and Lucina all exchanged glances...yet again.
"Isabelle...uhh, remember how hard you jumped last time?" Kazooie shouted out to her from the other end.
"Yes!?" Isabelle replied happily.
"Try farther than that," Joker finished. Isabelle nodded, unaware of everyone else's worry. And she ran and jumped….
...and landed right after the cracked bridge edge yet again. Almost, once again, in danger.
Everyone stared at Dark Pit. He seemed to sigh, alone on the other side.
"Coming!" he yelled sarcastically. Dark Pit ran heavily and jumped. The other four stepped back as he collided with the stone flooring on their side. He almost stumbled forwards upon landing...but kept his balance, albeit wobbly.
They nodded to each other slowly. They were all safe. Only two more jumps remained.
And the five players continued on the rest of the bridge walk, not saying much. The gorge...the large, threatening gorge...still existed below.
"Two more games... two more last crosses…"
"With five of us left? We're totally all going to be okay! And win money! We're all gonna make it! We're all gonna make it!" Kazooie sang eagerly and happily, stepping proudly in her new shoes. But to her words... some of the others didn't feel as confidently.
"We're here!" said Isabelle.
Suddenly, they reached the fourth game, and stopped and stared. And looked around under the archway. There seemed to be nothing.
"Well, I guess there's no game," Kazooie commented. "Oh well. Let's go back."
"No, here on the ground, there is a little...metronome?" Lucina realized, picking it up. The music-related object made them all confused. As Lucina picked up the rectangular item, a little note was under the wooden object. Isabelle grabbed it excitedly.
"Look," she began, reading. "It says, 'The beat goes on! Name items in a circle, every three clicks. No repeats; no missed beats: those are the tricks." Everyone faced each other: it was another teamwork game.
"So a rhythm game... based on timed answers," Joker said with a nod and understanding, grinning.
"Okay...I don't get it. Are there more rules?" Dark Pit wondered.
"Oh! Yeah, so on the other side of the paper, it says, 'Categories are...animals, vegetables, Smash items, and Mole Missions. Make four circles to complete the game for you. Mess up the beat...and your bridge gets messed up…too?"
"So...we have to keep on saying answers until we make four circles? Easy!" Kazooie commented.
"I'm not sure how 'easy' that will be for all of us," Joker replied honestly.
"Why do you gotta be so negative towards our teamwork and succeeding all the time?" Kazooie retorted to him, sighing. "Don't you want to, quote you, Beat the Mole?"
"Yes...especially if the Mole could be you, Kazooie," Joker grinned in reply. Kazooie just squawked.
"Uhh...focus...this fourth minigame...how should we play this?"
"Let's all sit down!" The players sat down on the stony bridge flooring, which was thankfully not hot anymore but cool from the weakened, setting sun. They sat comfortably in the circle. Then Lucina put the metronome...in between them all.
It began to tick. Tick...tick...tick….
"So when does it start? I don't get—-"
"Hello players," the metronome began to speak, and everyone's eyes widened at the soothing voice being emitted suddenly by the device. "Every three ticks...an answer is needed. Each player must speak once. Each category round change will be announced by me. The game is done when I stop ticking...after the 4th round is complete.
"The metal stick is talking to us," Kazooie whispered.
"Tick...tick...answer…" the metronome voice continued. "Tick...tick...answer…"
"It's setting the rhythm for us!" Lucina realized out loud in attempt to alert the others to the beat, as everyone turned to it again.
"We gotta get ready fast…" Joker spoke carefully, turning to everyone. The game would begin shortly, to their panic.
"Who's going first?" Isabelle spoke worriedly.
"Hmm, I will," Joker volunteered, as everyone faced him. To his right, Dark Pit held up a 'Number 2" with his fingers. The players in circle order nodded.
"First category...Animals." And then the metronome ticked twice...tick...tick…
Everyone gasped. But Joker was ready with his answer.
"Cat," Joker said, the first player. Tick...tick…
"Mouse," Dark Pit said quickly. Tick..tick…
"Dog!" Kazooie shouted loudly. Tick...tick..
"Horse," Lucina said with quick thought. And then Isabelle was last. Her face was more than panicked...and her eyes too wide. Tick...tick...
"Umm...umm...ahh!" Isabelle yelped, flustered. "I don't know! Ummm, how about-!"
And the metronome made a different count. It was a deep chime, but one that wasn't relaxing or boded well to the players. And simultaneous with its sound...they heard a new sound behind them too: the sound of crumbling. They faced with surprise at the bridge's path to their side...and saw it suddenly losing more of its ground than it had second before. Everyone gasped...then faced Isabelle.
Kazooie: Aww, shucks!
"Oh, I did NOT mean for that to happen!" the little dog cried to them all. "I had an answer, but the timing was just too fast!"
"What happened?" Dark Pit asked, alarmed. "Why did the bridge break?"
"I think we might have taken TOO long…" Kazooie said with an elongated sentence, slightly turning to Isabelle. "Oh well."
"We were off-beat…" Joker sighed, a little disappointed.
"Oh my gosh, in my head, I had a thousand thoughts and couldn't say them in time!" Isabelle explained, still looking flustered and overwhelmed. "But that's not an excuse! Really sorry for what happened...I'll make sure not to mess up again."
"It's okay…at least we know now." But before they could discuss more...the metronome spoke again and caught all of them off guard.
"Round 2; category is Vegetables." Everyone turned to the metal, controlling device...and then to Joker.
Tick...tick…
"Broccoli," he said calmly. Tick...tick...
"Onion," Dark Pit said. Tick...tick...
"Peaches!" Kazooie yelled.
Everyone stared at her.
Tick...tick...tick...tick...
"Wait, what! Why are we giving up!? Let's continue!" Kazooie exclaimed in shock, pointing to the others in line. Nobody said anything.
"We lost already," Dark Pit said, deciding to speak and hitting his face.
"Peaches: my favorite vegetable in the food pyramid," Joker said with a little smile. Kazooie stopped for a second...realizing her error.
"Oh...in my head…. the category was... 'Fruits'," she explained blankly.
"Mmhmm…" Joker replied.
They all heard the bridge crumble again, and they looked nervously to it.
"Can we...stop messing up?" Dark Pit said, annoyed.
"We must be calm and confident with an answer in our head…before we answer," Lucina spoke in reply to him. "Calmness is definitely key."
"Yeah, I agree with Lucina!" Isabelle said. "We have to be calm! I'm afraid that's what messed up my round earlier!"
"Third category…" the metronome spoke. "Starting soon...is Smash Items."
"Dang, this category is harder than before!" Kazooie wailed. And then suddenly, the metronome began for a third time. Tick...tick…
"Super scope," Joker called out. Tick...tick…
"Lip's Stick," Dark Pit said. Tick...tick…
"Warp Star!" Kazooie yelled confidently. Tick...tick…
"Smash Ball," Lucina whispered. Tick...tick…
"P...Pokeball?" Isabelle said nervously.
The ticking stopped. Everyone looked at each other.
"Yay! I think we actually did it!" Kazooie exclaimed. The players looked relieved.
"Phew, finally...for once," Dark Pit mumbled.
And then the final round began. The ticking continued.
"Everyone...remember what the category was!" Lucina called out to them, and most of them knew from when Isabelle first read the instructions out loud two minutes before. A category relevant to their journeys up to their current spot and current day in the game of The Mole.
"Fourth round is...Mole Missions," the metronome called for the final time. And it began sooner than they expected. Everyone became prepared...and the round began. Tick...tick…
"Hole in One," Joker said, taking their first game ever. Tick...tick…
"Electrocution Tower," Dark Pit spoke. Tick...tick...
"Stadium Saboteur!" Kazooie said loudly and fast. Tick...tick...tick…
"Appley Adventures," Lucina spoke after quick thinking. Tick...tick…
"Jump for the Flag!" Isabelle said happily, remembering Lucario, their fallen friend.
Everyone faced each other. They grinned in relief. The game seemed successful.
And then….the bridge began to collapse...one last time. The vibrations of the world shaking couldn't be denied again. And at the same time...the metronome let out its low chime….a sound of failure. They faced back at their exposed bridge with dismay and shock, then to the metronome, then each other.
"What...why…"
"We took all the missions by perfect name!" Isabelle said out loud. "I remembered each name!"
"As did I," Joker added. "I write each official mission name in my journal often, so I would know." The players seemed lost.
"We may have been… a beat off," Lucina whispered. She looked at Kazooie, her face sad and melancholy. "Kazooie...I myself had also prepared to say 'Stadium Saboteur', before you had said it." The players gasped.
"So?" Kazooie shrugged. "How was it your fault?"
"In my hesitation….to think of a different answer...I may have delayed my answer," Lucina began to everyone.
"One tick off…" Joker realized.
"I am truly sorry. I...had caused our final bridge fall."
"Are you sure?" Dark Pit asked. Lucina nodded slowly.
Joker: It is interesting to see into the mind of the Mole...to think if someone like Lucina could be the actual secret saboteur.
Isabelle: To think one tick of a metronome could cause our entire game to fail...should we blame Lucina strongly or not? I made a mistake too! Maybe we shouldn't blame her! Maybe any of us others could be the Mole!
Now, standing up and leaving the metronome behind, the five players walked across the bridge...step by step towards their fifth time to cross...and it wasn't long until they reached its broken center. And the players gasped. They had underestimated everything...especially the new, elongated, transformed gap.
With three extra squares of stoned bridge gone...the cross of empty air to the other side was larger and more haunting than ever.
"I quit," Dark Pit said immediately.
"No! We gotta try!" Isabelle said strongly to him, yet nervously herself.
BRIDGE CROSS: 5/6
"Why is it so big?" Dark Pit moaned.
Dark Pit: Well, I knew the answer. I was just being dramatic. If it weren't for a multitude of actions that failed us last round, then this large gap before us wouldn't have even been large. Three players...Isabelle, Kazooie, Lucina...each one of them would be equally and fully responsible if someone fell now. And that's why I feel like the Mole is female. But gender doesn't matter. I was mad. Mad at everyone...or anyone who could be the Mole.
"I'm gonna go!" Dark Pit declared, ready to jump. Joker stopped him before his rash decision.
"Dark Pit, how about you cool off somewhere first...and let someone else more confident jump as first?" Joker said with a calm voice and a smile, stopping him. The angel looked at him begrudgingly as Joker got ready to jump himself. The bridge gap was larger than it had ever been before. The student took a few steps back...then the masked player jolted to a quick run as everyone watched him run. Then, he leapt off.
"Oh no!" Isabelle squealed. Joker jumped high...and just two seconds later...he made it on the other side, landing a safe square after the edge. He had made it...but less safely than before.
"Safe," he called out to the others. The remaining four looked at each other, less surely. Kazooie looked at her boots.
"I wanna go...but after seeing ONE more person go," Kazooie said cautiously and laughing. Dark Pit readied himself, planning to go after taking a few steps back. He gritted his teeth...then ran forwards. The young man jumped with nervousness as far as he could, pretending in his mind that he still had wings...wings that would save him from a dreaded fate thousands of feet down.
But even absent of wings, his jump was already far enough. As he landed... he lost his balance and fell towards...right into Joker's arms and body.
"Ahh!" They both screamed, Joker grabbing a hold of Dark Pit into his arms at the last second, stopping the angel from losing balance any further and falling either forwards or backwards. Dark Pit was stunned and flabbergasted. Joker grinned.
"Heh...looks like you needed help," Joker shrugged, still holding him. Dark Pit looked up at him, flustered, eyes wide...and blushing. Then, he pushed himself away quickly and angrily from Joker.
"I-I...yeah, pfft," the angel replied, getting away from Joker fully and brushing himself off, embarrassed. His face now looked annoyed, folding his arms. "I would have made that jump smoothly, if it weren't for other losers collapsing the bridge."
"Hey, remember what I said before? Positivity." Joker winked at him.
"How can you do even be positive in a game like this?"
"Here...I...fly!"
"Ahhhh!"
Just at that second, everyone saw Kazooie jump suddenly after. The weighted bird sprung as far as she could over the gap, and in the end, her entire front half of her body, and her large wings too, made it right over the safe line of the bridge on the other side. But...her talons weren't on the platform, and only three-fourths of her body was safely upon the bridge's platform. She squawked with panic.
"Kazooie!" Dark Pit yelled, startled. But before either of them could help her, the red bird hoisted up herself, with all her bird muscle, one of her heavily-weighted shoes with determined strength onto the bridge's surface.
She had barely made it...panting.
'You...truly almost fell," Joker realized, looking at her.
"Yeah…well, I guess that's what naturally happens when you're just too strong and have to take the boot penalty for everyone," Kazooie explained boastfully with humor, getting up and raising her talons, examining the metal-laced boots on her feet better this time. The three safe players stood together on the other bridge's side. Dark Pit coughed.
"One good thing you did was ultimately volunteering to take the boots," Dark Pit admitted. "It made up for thinking peaches were a vegetable."
"Aww, thanks Dark Pit!" Kazooie said sweetly, looking at him. Then, she turned crossly...to Joker.
"I...don't understand just what you may have against me," Joker laughed, seeing her strong expression towards him.
"Oh reaallly!" Kazooie retorted back to him. "I can say the same about you. Because you really seem to have something against the rest of the team! Not helping us...being selfish for yourself only up to now...hmm..."
"Just because I'm beginning to realize how important individual play is in the game of 'The Mole'...does not mean I explicitly have anything against any of you," Joker responded to her, looking at her strongly back. "Mole or not...I'm definitely still on the side of the team, whether I may be helpful at times or less helpful at others." Kazooie, still not pacified by his answer...just eyed him carefully.
Kazooie: I don't know what to feel about him! I guess I can understand why Wii Fit had some antagonism with him.
"Hmm...okay Joker...we'll see about that later on...later on…" she responded with a smile, looking away and ending their conversation. Joker frowned. And at that second...they all turned with surprise to see Lucina in the air, landing with them safely on their side of the bridge. The princess gave them a relieved face. Now, four had made it.
"Okay, I'm last!" Isabelle called to them. The safe players felt a wave of panic swipe over them.
"Isabelle, why don't you first-"
Joker: But then...she had jumped without thinking either.
They all saw the little player let out a gleeful cry as she jumped over the long gap as far as she could: Isabelle had already made her action to cross right after Lucina. It was only a split-second for anyone to react, and the players could barely blink as Isabelle leapt over the three-thousand foot drop, from one end of the shattered bridge to the other.
And a split-second later, Isabelle landed...half of her body now dangling halfway over the ledge. The players gasped.
"Help!" she screamed, terrified.
"Isabelle!" Lucina, closest to the edge after having just jumped, ran to her spot. Isabelle yelped, trying to keep upon the broken bridge end and trying to crawl back upon it. Lucina hurriedly managed to grab both of the dog's hands...as Isabelle slipped further.
"Ahhh!' Isabelle screamed, her eyes wide but relieved of her teammate's action. Lucina had prevented her from slipping all the way off.
"I got you!" Lucina shouted, panicked. But it couldn't be denied that inch by inch, Isabelle slipped slightly further and closer to the abyss.
"Help them!" Kazooie screamed, but Dark Pit held her back, his eyes widening with a look of terror and realization. He gulped.
"One more step...and we all fall," he gulped seriously, and the other two saw just how delicate the edge of the broken bridge appeared. Pieces of debris crumbled off its body...as if the bridge was still in the midst of collapsing slowly. They backed away, cautiously and with dismay.
Dark Pit: It was up to her.
"Please...don't let me go!" Isabelle shouted, and now, her entire body was dangling off the bridge. With a panic-stricken face, Lucina realized that she was the only thing keeping Isabelle from falling to her doom. Isabelle screamed again, as Lucina tried to pull her up. But now...they were both at risk of falling.
"No!" Lucina, using her strength to hold onto the player below her, mustered as much more power she could again to attempt to lift Isabelle up as high as she could possibly bring to safety...but she could only lift so far.
"I...I can only pull you up so much," Lucina panted with alarm. "I...I won't let go! Please don't lose faith: I will save you!" She gripped onto Isabelle's paws as hard as she could again, her eyes troubled and now new with tears. The warrior princess herself was now halfway dangling over the Bridge of Eldin...three-thousand feet about the River of Zora herself. They were both in danger.
And then...with a sudden loosening of strength...Isabelle slipped out of her grasp.
And there was a loud, piercing shriek as the little player plummeted down into the endless, expanse gorge below them.
Joker, Dark Pit, and Kazooie all gasped...then were silent as Lucina moved her body back onto the bridge fully, but didn't move from her spot. The princess was silent too, looking over the bridge's edge still. Then, she stood up ever so slowly.
"Is she…" Kazooie began . Lucina turned around to face the others. There were tears in her eyes...her face frozen with guilt.
"I...tried...to help her," the princess whispered silently.
Kazooie: I can't imagine. Poor Isabelle.
Dark Pit: And... I guess...poor Lucina too. I guess she definitely felt guilty.
Joker: And just like that...we lose another to the bridge.
The air seemed still. Another player was gone.
"There was nothing you could have done!" Kazooie spoke to her, putting a wing on her shoulder lightly as they stood together. "I mean, you tried your best!"
"But...I should have grabbed her more strongly," Lucina spoke quietly, shaking her head. "I...could have pulled her up. But I had failed." Everyone was quiet too.
"Well...we all cross one more time...one last, terrible time….and no one else has to fall ever again," Joker said, the masked man trying to sound as reassuring as he could. The four remaining players looked at the end of the bridge they were on. The final puzzle game awaited, and step by step with heavy steps, they made it fully to the archway on the bridge's opposite side.
It was the last game. They were ready...to end it all. End the game. End the fallings of any more players.
At the opposite archway at the end of the bridge was the last puzzle. It was a table….marble and white. And upon it were just three letters.
SIX
"That's it?" Dark Pit asked. "How is this a game?"
"A table...and three letter inscriptions...a puzzling yet simple game," Joker said thoughtfully, smiling, as they looked at him. "A simple game indeed. After all...the best ones are."
"I wish we had Isabelle here...to find our instructions," Lucina said, smiling a little sadly and her voice still showing she was affected.
"Hmm...it's good you have me then, looking under tables randomly and taking her role of note hunter!" Kazooie spoke to the others, currently in an uncomfortable position and craning her neck awkwardly to look at the second inscription on the table's bottom.
Six players. Six crosses across Bridge of Eldin. This number symbolizes this episode.
But produce a different number. A number from the beginning. A number that will beat the Mole. Symbolic of how many real, genuine threats there have always been against them.
Just what is that number?
"Huh...that's it," Kazooie reported, her head now level with the others.
"Okay, uh….we need a symbolic number," Dark Pit began, but his face was still confused.
"We crossed this bridge….six times," Lucina began, reflecting.
"And six players left…" Joker added. "But alas: we're not looking for the number six. We need another number."
"A number that will beat the Mole…." Lucina whispered. Everyone thought...and then a voice, seemingly out of nowhere, emitted from the air for their game.
"Sixty seconds left." Everyone gasped, looking around.
"Why is there a time limit?!" Dark Pit yelled, wide eyes. "Kazooie!" Kazooie's eyes lit up.
"Oh, hehe," she began, embarrassed. "I forgot to say that at the end of the message, it said, 'You have Ninety seconds'. My bad. ...didn't want you guys to stress is all!" Joker, Dark Pit, and Lucina couldn't help but roll their eyes.
"I think it's crucial to know if we have a doomsday counter counting down," Joker pointed out to her. Kazooie shrugged.
A number from the beginning. A number that will beat the Mole. Symbolic of how many real, genuine threats there have always been against them.
"Real, genuine threats against them?" Dark Pit said, repeating the riddle. "What does that mean? Who is the Mole's enemy?"
"Another number...that is not six…" Lucina thought more and further.
"Hmm?" Kazooie wondered. As the others talked and thought, the bird noticed something else. As her heavy, metal boot hit against something hidden under the table, she ducked down to look at something situated underneath it. It was a bowl of white powder.
"The number is nine," Joker said firmly. "It's the number of players besides the Mole."
"I thought so too…" Lucina began. "In the beginning...and even now...there have always been nine people against the Mole, either in person or in spirit. The nine have always been against them. Always...the saboteur's own enemy."
"Lucky Mole," Dark Pit laughed. "All alone. Like me when I'm outside of this game."
"A difficult life…." Lucina whispered. "I...just can't imagine."
They looked at the marble table and its mysterious inscription.
SIX
"How….do we change that into a nine?"
"You don't know?" Everyone turned to Kazooie with surprise. She was grinning...and holding the ceramic bowl of white powder in her wings. Everyone seemed stunned.
"What do you mean?" Joker asked her.
"Oh, nothing," Kazooie said, smiling sweetly. "This is an individualistic game, like you said, Joker, so I'm not going to help you guys at all. I'm only going to help myself...even if I know the answer. Sorry." She looked at Joker triumphantly and defiantly.
"That's not what I was even trying to portray to you earlier at all," Joker replied, gritting his teeth, slightly vexed. "You're obviously twisting my words, I'm afraid."
"Am I really?" Kazooie replied.
"Thirty seconds," came the timer voice.
"Kazooie, we appreciate your intelligence that you've displayed to us over these past missions...as well as your sacrifice in taking the heavy shoes," Lucina spoke to her, friendlyly and earnestly. "We would appreciate, very much, your intellectual ability, just once more again."
"Hmm... okay...just because you asked nicely and aren't mean," Kazooie said. Proudly, she dipped her wing into the bowl of powder. Everyone looked at the marble inscription again.
SIX
"What does that do?" Dark Pit asked. "How does "SIX" turn into nine?" Kazooie rubbed her wings together vigorously, ready to make a powdery mark.
"Like this." And she used her wing to swipe down strongly on one letter. The white powder blended in with the white of the table, and one letter was concealed. But it left a message...a message against the Mole.
IX
"Nine," Kazooie said proudly.
"Roman numerals…" Lucina whispered in realization. The players were surprised.
"Well, I give it to you," Joker said slowly, subconsciously smiling. "That was an aspect of this puzzle I didn't know."
"I am smart, after all," Kazooie said gleefully.
And then the bridge crumbled once more. It was an inevitable destruction, the minimum damage for their successful mission, so the players looked at it not with failure, but with accomplishment...and with challenge in their eyes. They heard the stone floorings of the bridge crumble out of place and fall to the river far below them for the last time.
CCCRRRRRRRRSHH…. And suddenly, a surprising pedestal rose out of the ground from afar. The players could make out a golden, circular platform rise from the distant other end of the bridge that existed nearly three-hundred feet away from them. But they recognized it immediately. On the side of safety...was their finish line.
"That's...the platform!" Kazooie exclaimed. "We stand on it...we win!"
"Our end…" Dark Pit realized with shock. They all looked at each other.
"Let us cross this bridge….a sixth time."
And together...the four of them walked on the bridge's length for the final time. It was the last cross of the mission as they journeyed over the three-hundred feet of what made the Bridge of Eldin...but now...after six rounds...three-hundred feet were no more. The entire center of the bridge was destroyed...a monumental structure tattered by the Mole.
And with each step they took on the hard, unpredictable stone….they felt that success against beating the Mole became closer and closer. But so was imminent failure. All it would take was one more jump...or one more fall.
They reached the final gap in their bridge...and all took in a breath. Final dread. The collapsed center of emptiness and air was the largest it had ever been before.
Now...it was the final challenge. The final cross.
BRIDGE CROSS: 6/6
They stared at the golden platform at the end of the other side of the bridge. A large gap of missing floor separated them from victory.
"Every one of us that makes this jump over the river...wins the game," Joker began.
"A win for the team," Kazooie nodded. "We can do this! We crossed five times already...we can make this sixth one!"
Kazooie: Literally the last stage!
The four players exchanged glances. The river and gorge existed below...three-thousand feet down.
"It's...it's a pretty big jump," Dark Pit admitted. Lucina nodded as well, looking at the distance to the other side.
"We must have faith. Even though...this is our biggest obstacle yet," she whispered.
"Indeed." Joker nodded...stepping back...preparing himself.
"Are you sure you're not going to think about this and just go?" Dark Pit asked him.
"We think...we fall." Joker nodded...and he stepped back further again. In his head...he knew he would run. He needed to run...in order to survive.
Joker: Here went nothing. Nothing but defiance against the Mole, in my head.
Joker jumped high at the end of his long run. He leapt over the air that separated both ends of the bridge...and he landed right on the cracked edges of the opposite side. He stumbled for a split second, trying to gain his footing on the slippery, crumbling surface of the edge.
"Nnnnph!" he grunted. But with his speed...he was able to beat the danger. Falling onto his hands, he did his best to end his slipping, pushing himself forwards and fast. He safely made it, dusting himself off, and now he was standing up from the ground.
"Cross...success…" he whispered to himself, and the others on the other side couldn't help but smile and feel successful as well.
"He almost slipped…" Dark Pit said, his face a bit worried.
"Five thousand coins!" Kazooie hollered. Now...three more players remained to cross.
"I will...go next…" Lucina began, and she closed her eyes and readied herself. Lucina took a few steps back...and they saw that the warrior princess was ready to jump in the final important moments of their game. Kazooie and Dark Pit stepped back from her as she crouched down and stood quietly still...preparing her jump.
And then, surprisingly swiftly, she ran forwards, as the other two players jumped back with surprise at her fast speed. Lucina then jumped incredibly far, and high, her face fearful but with determination, over the treacherous gap that separated the two sides of the bridge.
"Oh!" With surprise, she realized even herself that she had jumped farther than she had predicted, and more impressively as Joker had just jumped, as she landed on the other end of the bridge on both feet. She turned around.
The final jump had seemed easy for her. But she was successful.
"I...I have made it," Lucina gasped. Joker, next to her grinned.
"It seemed easy for you, princess," he commented.
"No...I still felt fear. It was more difficult than anything."
"Okay...Kazooie?" Everyone looked to the bird who was still yet to jump. She was spreading her wings and surveying the land around, in front, and below her...trying to gauge her last jump across the bridge. She lifted her boot...then dropped it back again. Then did it again.
She seemed to be still, her face staring and blank...with some sort of realization.
"You...uh... okay?" Dark Pit asked her, seeing her elongated pause. Kazooie then just took one breath...and then grinned widely at him.
"Yeah...just promise me one thing," she finally spoke, and turning to Dark Pit with a smile. "Make it across this bridge. Unlike me."
She readied herself, stepping back.
"Wait...what are you saying—-"
Whoosh! Kazooie took four big steps as she ran and leapt off the bridge's edge, as Dark Pit just stared in surprise. She flew as far as she could over the gap of danger.
The bird had made effort...more effort than she could muster or imagine or try in the perilous game of the Bridge of Eldin.
But then...she started to descend.
And even as she tried to extend her wings as far as she could to reach the outstretched hands of Lucina and Joker...it still was futile. But the bird knew.
"GOOOD LUUUCK—AHHHH!" was Kazooie's final scream, her body being sent to the abyss below. Joker, Dark Pit, and Lucina all gasped as their final remaining teammate fell into the world of the endless-seeming gorge below them. And the river was her final landing spot as they saw the speck of red disappear from their eyes...a speck of red that was their alive, humorous, sacrificing friend just a few seconds ago.
The rest were in shock.
"Kazooie!"
"She's gone...!"
A few seconds later, they were all quiet. Just the three of them remained. No one could have saved her.
"She...she sacrificed for us..." Lucina spoke quietly. She looked down solemnly. "She...she took the boots. She took them...for us. So that none of us would have to fall." Joker nodded silently.
"And she knew...she just knew deep down...she wasn't going to make it," Dark Pit said, almost to himself.
Dark Pit: That's what she meant. She knew the boots were going to weight her down too much and cause her downfall...and that there was no way she was going to make the new length. She really DID sacrifice for us. She failed...and at her last second, she kinda even wished me to go on. If Kazooie isn't the Mole...then the Mole caused her to fall.
"Then I have to go on." Dark Pit, with a new, determined face of anger and focus, took many steps back. Joker, unable to stop him like last time, looked concerned.
"Dark Pit, you should think before you—"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" With full force, Dark Pit ran.
And he jumped over the edge of the bridge, still screaming.
It was a sudden impulse decision. Joker and Lucina watched in horror as his body sailed over the three-thousand foot drop...his wings no longer functioning.
And he landed on the other side of the bridge...almost.
"I got you!" Lucina reached out and grabbed him, getting a hold of his arms at the last second. The panicked angel was screaming, legs hanging over the edge and in the air. But Joker came and helped as well, and the two of them were able to pull the terrified angel to safety as he crawled full onto the bridge. All three of them had made it.
After a few seconds, Joker and Lucina stood up, but Dark Pit just remained on the floor...panting and still scared.
"Well...you can stand up now," Joker said to him with a smile. Lucina giggled.
"We're safe…" Dark Pit gasped. "We did it."
Dark Pit: We did it...thanks to Kazooie.
Lucina: Thank you, other players...DK, Isabelle, and Kazooie...for believing we could succeed.
"We...can't forget the others who had fallen," Lucina whispered. "We tried to make the journey together...but we couldn't."
Their eyes turned to the end. The glowing, gold pedestal awaited.
"Well," Joker began, his eyes gleaming and smiling, "Shall we finish this dreadful game?"
The last, remaining players upon the Bridge of Eldin crossed just one last time.
And the game...of six bridge crosses...was finished.
A sizeable settlement existed in front of Hyrule Castle. The largest and most populous settlement in Hyrule, it was a famous location full of old architecture but still bustling very strongly with people and life. Large buildings, small shops, archways, and very busy townsfolk made up the inside of the town. The grounds and walkways of the town were made of stone and marble, and the players could see that their new universe had jumped to the 1600's...an old-styled town, quaint but still beautiful. Shops and vendors selling flowers, food, and other objects lined up the large town's streets, roads and paths, many walkways leading to either civilian's houses, important buildings, or other sections of the town.
Everywhere they looked, civilians were selling, trading, and exploring. For the players, much like the Pokemon world had provided them, the existence of walking and living beings besides themselves gave the players a sense of relief...something they needed...especially three of them after having fallen three-thousand feet off the edge of a bridge.
The Castle Town Central Square was where the players and the host decided to settle together after their mission. The busiest, brightest section of the town, the players looked around in more content, happier moods, relaxed, enjoying the sights of the Hyrule town around them. A fountain bearing the Hylian Crest rested in the middle of the town, while a cafe bar was located in the south-west portion of the square, looking like a perfect place to sit down and relax for a dinner date.
And finally, behind the town, in the distance...the grand Hyrule Castle stood. Its size made the town look small and insignificant in comparison. The players couldn't help but stare at the monumental structure too, the setting sun behind it. It was still bright enough to feel the energy of the world, however.
In front of the fountain, the host began his speaking to them.
"Welcome to Hyrule Castle Town...and you'll all be staying here for tonight," the host told the six players. Kazooie, Joker, DK, Isabelle, Dark Pit, and Lucina all looked at him. "But before I go and leave you all be...I have some news to deliver."
"Official mission results?" Kazooie guessed. Smash Host nodded.
"And your final pot standings."
"Yeah, tell us how we DID, SMASH HOST!" DK shouted excitedly. Some of the other players couldn't help but find humor in their teammate's statement: the ape had taken the unforgettable role of being the first player to fall off the bridge.
"I think we all know just how well you did," Joker jested to him with a smile. Smash Host talked before the large ape could decide to pummel anyone standing around him.
"That fall...was just so horrifying," Isabelle shuddered, and the others could see she was still affected by the fall.
"Hey, it's not all bad: you solved all our puzzles!" DK told her. "I couldn't even do that! All I did was trip and fall in the beginning while the rest of you continued your ways!"
"Yeah, and even a bird like me was scared of that all, so your feelings are justified," Kazooie laughed.
"With three who fell...and three making it to the final pedestal...I award your team with 15,000 coins," the host told them all. He winked...smiling. "Congratulations, players. You crossed your Mark of One-Hundred." The players gasped, realizing.
TEAM POT
107,000 COINS
The mood was definitely happier.
"Wow….I can't believe we reached 100,000 coins!" Isabelle cried. In the city of townsfolk and bustling people, the six players felt the most alive of them all.
"All that birdseed I can buy," Kazooie sighed, shaking her head. "One-hundred seven big ones, guys! We could have a banquet"
"I suppose that is a lot of money," Dark Pit nodded slowly. Everyone took in the money amount together.
"Our value...it is a testament to our teamwork...and our ability to work together," Lucina said with determination in her voice.
"A testament...that we are beating the Mole," Joker said with a grin. The six players looked at each other.
"Uh oh...one of us...was NOT happy that you said that!" DK stated, a bit jokingly...and a bit scared.
The five genuine players looked at each other...feeling successful and more connected than a broken bridge.
And one of them...wanted to tear that bridge between the players apart once again.
The South Road served as the market of Hyrule Castle Town. The road's main street was populated by many food booths, ranging from fruit stands to bread stands. But two players were walking down the road together, almost as a...couple...surveying the scene and everything around them together.
Lucina looked at the towering castle in their distance that seemed to loom over the town. "To think we are in the land of Hyrule...it is a grand place to be."
Joker grinned. "Indeed. The second castle we have come across in this world-traveling, mysterious game. How lucky we are...to have made it far enough to explore so much in person than just in simulations. From Episode 1...to now..." He stared at the road ahead of him.
"The fifth episode of 'The Mole'...just what is left to come?"
Joker: What must we do to make it past this fifth episode? Hmm...just what dramatic things must we do to survive? Shall I do them?
"This town is nice too...how lucky we are to be able to explore it too and be carefree for this night." She looked around her, and then Lucina looked at a row of flowers. "And the flowers...so pretty."
"Oh, they are pretty. Almost as pretty as you." Lucina turned to him with a surprised expression. Joker only smiled.
"Oh, I appreciate your sentence, Joker, however...-"
"Just a small dinner, princess," Joker continued, as she closed her mouth and listened in more surprise. He looked at her, carefully...still smiling. "There was a cafe in the Central Square that looked just exquisite. I admired it and saw it as just...perfect for us." Lucina's eyes were confused...and she was at a loss for words. She thought for a minute.
"Well, I suppose a small dinner would not hurt…"
"Then the date is set?" Joker wanted to confirm, his tone of voice as suave as it could be. Lucina paused, then slowly nodded. She slightly smiled.
"Yes...the date is set," Lucina replied, smiling. Joker nodded once more, and his face seemed more content and satisfied.
"Then we will catch up later. 9 o'clock. I do hope that's a good time for you to be hungry and have a pleasant conversation together. Don't dress too pretty, princess...you may outshine me." He winked and continued down the road, as Lucina stood with a perplexed expression on her face. But then, she simply smiled, and walked away as well from their very spot that they had settled their date. They both had left.
But one person remained.
Peering out finally from behind a set of pottery, not far from the spot in where the two players had stood previously…a red bird sat carefully, shocked.
She had seen and heard it all. Kazooie was still...and stunned in disbelief...thinking to herself about the exchange she had just witnessed before her.
"...A date?" she spoke out loud, thinking to herself in a tone of incredulity and suspicion. Then, her voice got louder, not able to keep in her bewilderment and shock. "A DATE?! In a deceitful game like this? There's...there's just no way. Nuh-uh. No way."
Kazooie: Something was up. And Lucina may had just seen an innocent invitation for a date in this game of "The Mole"….but what did I see? An invitation… a terrible invitation to danger. And for the sake and safety of an over-trusting, naïve young girl like her...I needed to stop. That. Date.
Dun dun dun!? Oh man! As you can tell...there will most definitely be some drama the next chapter xD
What will happen?! Will this planned dinner date go calmly and peacefully...or will fights and arguing take place in a series of dramatic events?! What disasters are in store?!
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing everyone! :)
OH, and concerning Review Replies! CHANGE!!
So...I changed everything! xD My new review reply policy will be this: I will reply to all reviewers almost every time to every reviewer at each chapter end! :D Rejoice! So not much different than before, haha.
But on sparse occasional chapters that I'm too tired or I'm super delayed in updating the newest chapter, I will only reply to the first five reviews on those days. Haha Dx. I'm so sorry! But I promise to make it up to you if I miss one :) After all, you're ALL my inspiration and I don't want to leave any of you feeling left out! :D
But haha like always, just write, "I want to hear your reply!" at the end of any review and Ill definitely reply to it for SURE! xD
Thank you all so much for being amazing reviewers and readers everyone!
The next chapter will come...and some reveals and revelations among the players will definitely come out! What truths will be revealed? Stay tuned!
SakuraDreamerz: I'm so glad you're happy! :D And I'm glad you like the new location! The atmosphere and visuals of Bridge of Eldin were always so beautiful and hypnotic to me because of its sunset...I really am glad too this is the new location for the players :) Oh gosh my history of playing and finishing Zelda games is absolutely horrendous! You've probably played games in the series so much better than I have xD Yeah, oh no DK! The question is, can he swim? Don't worry: living on an island himself, he's very conversant in the art of floating haha :) And then the true question comes down to this: is either Joker or Isabelle the Mole? No doubt some suspicious activities have arisen from them. Just one Mole exists, so if it is one of them, there's one innocent player, and one guilty player. Just who is the guilty saboteur of them all? :O
Masking What Remains: Yeahh! New everything! A new episode really brings a lot of things that we don't expect...and there may be new interactions between the players as well hmm : o It's so interesting to think of the players' original games and their skills! It's also interesting to think of their skills from their original games vs. their skills in the Smash World. So the question is: just WHAT skills exactly do they have in this Mole game? Maybe a mixture of both...which brings us to the big question: could DK have made a better jump to cross the Bridge of Eldin?! Oh wow, that's a really cool thought you have about Wii Fit's self departure! :) Maybe it is better and sweeter to leave on your own terms, than a bitter end of execution. And aww, thanks for your final message about writer's block! I will aim to both be healthy and to beat it! :)
Cavin856: Hello! No such thing as late! I refuse to hear that! Or at least, not even late compared to me xD Yes indeed, You're a master of finding suspicious things and I know you're even more of a master of making great, elaborate, mind-bending theories! :D hahaha! Also, great memory when you say that birthdays have never been brought up before...because ding ding ding! They indeed were NEVER mentioned in-story! So...that brings us to validate and confirm your question very strongly as having reason to be asked: how infrrf did Joker know Dark Pit's birthday? Is there a deep truth to this? Is Joker innocent or not so? This is a mystery in itself. Again, the Joker targeting doesn't stop! You are spot-on with catching the fact that Joker said his birthday was before Isabelle's! Well done with suspicious hunting :) Are these purposeful sabotages...or accidents? Is Joker playing a fake saboteur or genuinely sabotaging as the Mole? And then lastly...the host becomes your target! Bahahaha! Some of his lines are just so suspicious, so you have great reason to single out his line of "The Mole will get you in the end". What does it mean? Does it have meaning? Again, I can't help but shout out these questions to you in reply because you bring up such good ones, haha. Also, lastly, I laughed secretly when you said that "Dark Pit and Joker are behaving oddly towards each other". I really can't comment more on that, can I? xDD Hahaha. Okay, no more questions from me! Anyways, thank you for your great review! :D
Salamander: Thank you sooo much for your review for this chapter! :D and stop...I can't…"waiting pretty much a year each for the last chapters of Agent's Elevation" LMFAO STOP RIGHT NOW HAHAHA! Oh gosh, that was awful. I felt like I owed liability money and lawsuits to all my readers for betraying them that poorly. The only gift is how forgiving and compassionate you readers are despite such writing blocks so thank you :) Yes indeed! This episode will explore two or three more areas of the Hyrule World in its universe and I can't wait to bring the players and readers there :) I have to do my own research on each Hyrule area before fully fleshing them out in my story as locations haha. And yess! I'm glad you thought of the latest bridge mission as "simple" yet still with deceptive difficulties! I really wanted a game that had a simple premise to understand while still being somewhat challenging and also slightly perilous and threatening lol. And lastly, your suspicions: so well explained and great list of many actions as well! You did a well-done job explaining why you suspect DK: game actions such as grabbing the ball first and ultimately being the first player to fall are mission sabotages that support your theory. But even in addition to make it better, you also pointed out something out-of-games: his line of "hidden secrets of hidden families" that you pointed out. Is this just random banter or is there deeper meaning to this line of his? And I love how you put your own writer perspective into analyzing Joker! Would you or would you not make the Mole such a blatant character standing so out in the open? It really makes you think of different writing styles you can utilize and explore :) Anyways, thanks a million for your review!
Dark Punxysaur: Four days is late?! Oh gosh, I don't even want to consider what my four weeks count as! xD Wow, yeahhh! Good clue solving skills with the host's multiple mentions of bridges and discovering that it was the Bridge of Eldin! :D Didn't doubt you'd be able to piece it all together...haha...piece it unlike a crumbling, falling bridge...lol. Again, your smartness solving the first riddle of the Bridge game shows you are da master! The ball-throwing game definitely had an act of sabotage or two, or even three within it! :o Just who made the ball fail the most in that game?! And wow, remaining player predictions?! I love these! :D Let me see your list: DK is dead next, followed by Isabelle! I love how you predict that Joker being eliminated at the Final Four is what you feel! :) I do kind of feel what you're feeling when you state this opinion! He would seem like the kind of character and player to be eliminated before the final round! The final three….Kazooie, Dark Pit, and Lucina...could it be?! Thank you Punxy! :)
LuaisyLover: Hahaha! "Isabelle, SPEAK!" That is just….so funny. I know her character is hard to read, but you pointing it out and how unhelpful and short some of her dialogue is makes everything just so much more funny about it xD The Wii Fit discussion really did shine more light around her and her disappearance! I really didn't realize how dramatic Kazooie and Dark Pit's fighting for the money was until I reread it...and your suspecting of Kazooie cause of a suspicious line! The drama thickens :O "Guh-huh!" (sorry, I love Banjo so much, I had to include that xD) Dark Pit is definitely nose-bleeding, and whether it's a handsome slick-haired gentleman or him hitting his nose on the edge of a bridge, we'll have to see xD ahah. Oh man, Wii Fit's world instead of Hyrule...it would be like, "EXERCISING MISSIONS, DON'T STOP DOING PUSHUPS!" All the players would die, ahahahaa. Kazooie and Joker's reasoning in your Suspects List: A psycho bird, LOL, in a way sorta true. For Joker, "He's a flirt. No more." LMAO, rest in peace, I am deceased xD If only you knew how much TRUER these titles would become at the end of this Part 2 most recent chapter, bahaha….you are indeed psychic.