A new chapter ahoy!
Once again, the words and reviews from some of you for last chapter were able to push me to finish this chapter sooner than usual :) YOU KEEP ME ALIVE! YOU'RE THE INSPIRATION!
You know what has also super pushed my inspiration to beyond words as much as your reviews? WATCHING THE ENTIRE RECENTLY-UPLOADED THE MOLE SEASONS 1 AND 2 ON NETFLIX! :D I…cant believe it's mainstream again...wow wow. Anyways, I relived entire hours of magic over the last three weeks beyond words of happiness. If you have Netflix, I truly recommend to watch the real show :) The show is just speeeeeeechlessly amazing.
Oh! Minor change: so the entire turtle mission was changed to be a one-hour duration, from 11am to 12pm. I figured this was a better flow to the story cause everything was pretty impossible to fit under thirty minutes xD. So small universe change.
Anddd, one more note: I got the impression that some readers who aren't familiar with the Mole series or my past stories...HAVE NO IDEA THAT HIDDEN SUBLIMINAL-ESQUE CLUES POINT TO THE MOLE! This is real :D In every episode, there are at least 3 official hidden clues pointing to the Mole's identity. :) But don't worry if you don't find many: while some of them are out in the open, some of them are just tricky to find! Consider them as just fun on the side stuff, haha. :)
Anyways, thank you again! And enjoy! :) Some big questions arise between the players….again! And the game continues on a bumpy journey of ups and downs. What happens? Haha.
Episode 5 (Part 4)
As carnival games are played, sharks are encountered, and the turtle of Termina swims to sink at 12...each pair of players can't help but wonder about their very own curious partner more and more.
"AHHHHHHHHH! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhh! Ahh…? Oh…it's over. Phew, that was unnecessary."
The giant turtle, after a minute of violently twisting and whipping about, had finally calmed down in the Great Bay. The large shell on the ocean was able to balance itself again on the surface…and the two players upon it, Kazooie and Isabelle, were able to balance as well, though stunned, both feeling as if they had just ridden a wild bull in the sea instead of an ancient-aged turtle. They looked at each other with surprise...then at the dangerous whistle...then laughed out loud.
"I guess blowing that kazoo...was NOT a good move!" Kazooie chortled, wide-eyed and putting the whistle down guiltily. "Heh...heh."
Kazooie: So, when we blew the whistle…the turtle just thrashed about! Not the smartest Kazooie move there. I'll make it up later, no worries.
Isabelle: Yes, it slowed the turtle down, but, but, we almost fell off too! Oh no...
"I think that was like…too dangerous!" Isabelle realized, worried. "Oh, and we lost the plant!" The pungent plant of terrible odor and beautiful purple had tumbled over in the commotion, lost to the depths of the sea.
"Whatever. Just a useless plant," Kazooie shrugged, looking to the water beside her. "Anyways, Isabelle, we have a mission as boat captains, right? That mission? To slow down this turtle as much as possible!"
"And I thinnnk mayyyybe I know another way to slow it!" Isabelle said hopefully and happily, picking up the fishing rod: their last item.
"We can't let the turtle reach its end so soon!"
"No way! We gotta slow it down as MUCH as possible!"
"Slow down the turtle!"
"Yay!"
"Nothing bad will happen."
The turtle sailed calmly and steadily across the sea to the marine lab. And little did they know….in fifty-four minutes…it'd be diving mercilessly to drown everything on board.
Mission: All Aboard the Turtle
Goal: To get all six players upon the turtle in which must be slowed down...or sped up?
11:08 AM - 52 Minutes Until Game Over
On the shore of the Great Bay, the village was thriving in its morning hours, and surprisingly, had tourists from other areas of Termina who had traveled just to the fishing village for its summer festival: it was indeed a special day. But two out-of-place boys were scavenging and searching around the large bay village for what they needed: ten hidden pieces of valuable dark meat chicken. Many island-styled huts and tents now open for business, Dark Pit and Joker, in their running on the sand, had to avoid crashing into any stands as well as any sea-loving Zora civilians.
"Must be important…don't you think…?" Joker wondered, stopping in place suddenly, pondering, "that we are searching for dark meat chicken instead of white meat? Shouldn't we stop and plan…instead of running amuck like the very headless chickens we're searching for?"
"Can you stop randomly stopping every two minutes and delaying our running? You're always doing weird stuff like this in games!" Dark Pit sighed, ducking under a tray being held by a waiter Zora man. "Stop caring about useless stuff!"
"Nothing is useless, Dark Pit," Joker told him with a thoughtful smirk, looking at the large turtle in the distance and standing still. "See that ancient turtle? It's going to save us. And bring us to an island. And we're going to win and beat the Mole. And perhaps figuring out why we're searching for dark meat chicken…instead of white meat…may just be the key to winning this game." His eyes glistened to the water.
Dark Pit stared at him incredulously. "You're soooo weird."
Dark Pit: But still likeable. Not sure why. Maybe he's not the Mole. Maybe he actually is? Argghh.
"Chicken?" The Zora man with the tray that Dark Pit almost collided with turned to look at them both, having heard their conversation. He, along with many others on the land with him, was more humanoid than a fish, but had fins attached to his limbs and a tail at the back of his head. He was holding the tray out to them. "Here's your first slab of meat…congratulations." he delivered politely. "I had to hear you guys say the word 'chicken' in order to give this to you." He handed the tray to the two players, as they were both caught with surprise.
Dark Chicken Pieces: 1/10
"Thank you," Joker replied, staring at the man carefully. "We're looking for nine more pieces. You seem…more trustworthy than five other people I've been playing with for two weeks. Do help us."
Joker: For sure, we knew this sea man wasn't the very Mole, sabotaging our very group for the past fourteen days mercilessly with little compassion. The only question I could think of was: who truly was it? Being the imposter?
"I suggest social interaction…and being good at carnival-esque games…so good luck, truly!" the Zora man suggested, pointing vaguely to the rest of the town. As he walked away, Joker and Dark Pit turned to each other.
"Well… your dream come true," Joker smirked to his partner. "Social interaction."
"I thought these sea creatures couldn't live on land," Dark Pit said snarkily, looking at the species of aquatic civilians walking around them.
"I thought you were an angel who could fly," Joker grinned. "You've been quite flightless this game." Dark Pit turned to him.
"What…OH, SHUT UP!"
Dark Pit: So annoying.
11:11 AM - 49 Minutes Until Game Over
Back in the Marine Research Laboratory that was floating in the middle of the sea, not far from the shore itself, two players gulped while holding a book…silent with new information and new panic. They had just discovered the crucial truth: the turtle would be sinking in less than an hour to come. And then…their entire game would be over. A victory to both nature and the Mole.
"I really DON'T understand…so it's all a TRICK!?" DK repeated loudly, scratching his head. "So Kazooie and Isabelle are not supposed to try and slow down the turtle as much as possible? Why are these rules always so weird and twisty and complicated?"
"This book…" Lucina whispered, holding it firmly. "The informative book about the turtle…had a very glowing, laminated spine…blinking…shining brighter than anything else within the bookshelf….I believe the book was definitely meant to be discovered by us." Lucina closed the book, and also closed her eyes.
"This Mole…destroying our game…they will do everything to make the turtle sink before we reach the last island at 12 o'clock…the fifth and final stop. We have just under fifty minutes. I don't know how strong the Mole is…but they have always had the power to destroy our game."
DK looked worried… but then shook his head wildly, blocking any apprehension on his face. "Then we WON'T LET THEM DO IT! Don't worry, Lucina! Come on…let's put our spirits up!"
"That, we must do." In the inside of the lab, numerous fish tanks existed, and the walls and floors were all blue, glass and wavy water reflecting everywhere. But out of all places, DK walked over to the glass box that held two of their needed Zora eggs, the one he had easily spotted before.
"Oh…" The floor creaked loudly as Lucina walked her way to the box. She stared down, slightly confused.
"Lucina…I don't get this box at all!" DK said, eyes staring at the two trapped Zora eggs inside the case hopelessly. On the outside of the glass box…four squares were upon its front. Lucina walked to it, and DK waited for his partner's next action, looking hopeless. Lucina touched one of the box's front colors. It changed red.
"These screens change color when you touch them!" DK noticed excitedly. "Genius, Lucina!" Lucina pressed down on the screen again…and it changed blue. Then again, and it changed purple. Lastly, it became green on her final touch.
"…it's a color code," Lucina whispered.
"Red…blue…purple…green…why do these colors seem familiar? Haha…hmm…uhh…" DK began, scratching his head. "Why do I get a fishy feeling about this?"
Lucina picked up the book about the turtle, thinking hard. "Maybe there is more we must know. But…still…you must try…"
"You're the only one who can help me win this, Lucina," DK moaned, looking at his partner with a beyond giving-up expression. "Riddles…smart puzzles…I don't know any of this! This box with two eggs is the most important thing right now and we have to win this game! But I can't do it alone: I need you!"
DK: Okay: maybe I'm not the super-smart, confident guy I always display myself as! But hey: I need to try and show it! I want the other players to always see me as confident as smart.
Lucina: DK, unfortunately, seemed to always lack necessary confidence in our vital moments, and I could easily perceive it, unfortunately. Though I desired for DK to have it in him to win on his own in some missions, and not rely on others such as me, I understood, sometimes, his own feelings. Feelings of inadequacy. One of the worst emotions to feel in a game like this. However, of course…if we are both not the Mole...then we must both fight together.
"We will do nothing but our best to unlock it…" Lucina put the book about the turtle down on the table in order to help her partner, and the glowing book was never touched again for the remainder of their time in the lab.
11:16 AM - 44 Minutes Until Game Over
"Oh, this big turtle is just so…adorable!" Isabelle cooed. She was using the fishing rod to distract it successfully from its set path, and after Kazooie had fished for a single, fresh trout, the turtle was now being distracted every few seconds to follow the smelly bait at the end of the fishing line instead, turning its large head every few moments, then getting back on track to focus.
"Yeah…ppffteeeww…thanks to ME for getting your crucial fishing bait for the turtle, my mouth is full of fish…and saltwater," Kazooie sputtered, cleaning her mouth.
Kazooie: The things we do for money! The team better thank me later. Geez!
The turtle sailed peacefully with ease across the sea of Termina. It was still a distance from its first stop, the marine lab, and coupled with their successful turtle distracting, it would be nearly ten or fifteen minutes before they were to even reach the location. Kazooie sighed, enjoying the view with a smile, relaxing…but also, she was speculating new thoughts, a funny facial expression evident in her curved beak. She stared out at the rest of the land they were heading to.
"…Isabelle…You know what I wonder?" Kazooie began speaking suddenly. She was wondering deeply, wing on her chin. "I wonder who'll be the winner of this game…after all these weeks and days. Hmm…"
"It could be someone strong! And also very nice too...like Lucina or DK!" Isabelle thought, nodding.
"Or someone totally underrated, like Dark Pit," Kazooie pondered, chuckling.
"It could be you!" Isabelle spoke to Kazooie cheerfully. "You're really such a great player! You take initiative! You went to spy! That is like, so cool! And remember when we spied on the first night ever in this game to escape the underground lair and to the land? That was so fun!"
"Oh yeah…that was fun," Kazooie chuckled, remembering. "Encountering that darn Mole sign."
Kazooie: So who wrote that Mole sign on our first night in the game? We still don't know the answer to darn questions like that after all this time. Isn't that crazy? But at least the answers are narrowed down. Us six. One of us was that sneaky wooden post writer.
"Oh, Kazooie! You can totally win!"
The bird chuckled, flattered. "HAHA…maybeee. I'm sure some people here would hope it's not me. I'm just going to spend all the winning money on birdseed and buffets. Mmmm…well…that does sound good."
Kazooie: WAS nice to hear Isabelle call me a great player. I'm not a softie, buuut, it wassss just a little nice.
"Oh, same, hmm… I wonder what I'd spend the money on if I won," Isabelle said, confused, thoughtfully. "I think I'd put it towards renovations in my town! The villagers really deserve a lot! Being so great and nice to me all the time. They totally deserve it!"
"Err…but do they really deserve it?" Kazooie asked her, a little slowly and awkwardly. Isabelle turned to her blankly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" the assistant mayor asked back.
"I dunno…just like," Kazooie shrugged, "Okay, hear me out, Isabelle. I feel like you talk so positively about everyone and everything else around you . But is that like how you… really feel? Cause for example, you've complained a lot about your village and villagers before. MULTIPLE occasions on how stressed they make you…so maybe the village and your village are not as good as you always say they are? You tend to overcompensate so much in words sometimes. No offense." Isabelle didn't say anything. Her eyes and face were quietly still, staring at Kazooie in silence. She didn't respond. Her body subtly shook…like an angry person's would.
Then, she flashed a smile suddenly to Kazooie, cheerful in display to her.
"What! I love my town! I have nothing against my villagers! You are SO silly, Kazooie!" Isabelle laughed, her very glistening smile big. Isabelle continued to distract the turtle with her fishing pole, singing and humming. Kazooie just looked at her partner, silently, confused.
Kazooie: Just...how in the hell do we know whether the personalities we've been displaying to each other these past five episodes have even been genuine or not? Maybe...just maybe...some of us are better than others at hiding ourselves.
They sailed on. The laboratory was, now, in much closer sight.
11:18 AM - 42 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
Lucina: Unfortunately, after nearly twenty minutes…we could not produce a single egg of ten.
The researchers, as smart as they were and as much potential as they had in both their abilities and ambitions in the game of "The Mole"…were not at the level of aptness and discernment as many past research scientists in the very same watery lab had displayed and exhibited for years before.
Like in the middle of the sea…they were mostly lost.
DK: Natural failure…or acts of the Mole?
"Are we like…totally MISSING something?!" DK exclaimed, unintentionally and very roughly throwing more books and lab equipment around amidst his messy searching more and more. "Besides the two eggs in the locked colored box…I can't seem to find any eggs! We're losing here to the very Mole!" The lab was ultimately a ruckus of a mess: everything seemed cleared out and thrown to the side, papers on the ground...and fish frightened in tanks by DK's ravaging.
"What do you mean, DK, by, 'We are missing something'?" Lucina questioned him. DK shrugged towards her.
"Well, in all these Mole games...there's always hidden aspects and stuff lying around!" DK sighed with realization. He sat down, leaning forwards, chin resting on the table in front of him in pure defeat, his facial expression seemingly giving up.
DK: At first, I was really not sure WHY the game was frustrating to me! But then…I suddenly knew. Because five episodes in…I was STILL lost and not smart in this game! Awww, man. I thought my brain would get bigger the more episodes I played into the game of The Mole! But unfortunately, nope. Still REALLY dumb!
Lucina: Whether the other players would believe DK and my ineptitude in finding eggs for the first round of the game…I could only assume that they would find me suspicious…but DK, not. And if someone like him is the Mole, scenarios like these are perfect for him to maybe escape suspicion. I…I don't want to judge it like that. It is not correct to think such. But I feel that's how it is in the eyes of the others. DK in failing… his failure is never truly suspicious.
"We...we can never expect to excel at all times," Lucina reminded herself. "Sometimes…we will fail. It is how nature works."
"But come on: this is beyond terrible. Ten eggs…yet we can't even find ONE. The others are REALLY gonna have some heavy opinions of us. Or, maybe even think one of us is the MOLE. Hah! But they can think whatever they want." The conflicted ape stared more despondently at the fish tank in front of him. The family of fish…red, green, purple, blue…following each other in succession.
"I am not sure if..." Lucina then stopped talking amidst her walking towards him. Her foot creaked loudly again where she stood…as she lifted her foot, looking at the odd, tiled floor.
"…oh…wait a second…the…the…!" DK stared heavier with wide eyes at the peculiar fish tank right in front of his eyes. The four colored fish were not changing their lined positions at all as they swam blissfully and methodically through the tank water. Their order of colors in a clear procession was evident to him: red, green, purple, and blue. DK's eyes shot open.
"These…dumb fish are the ANSWER!" he yelled happily.
Lucina turned to him, stunned. "What are you saying?" she asked.
"Look…these fish…" He put his large hands to the glass like an excited chimp. "They're swimming in a line. And they're the colors of the squares in front of the locked box! Lucina, see?" He began running over to the locked box with their trapped eggs, touching the squares. Lucina turned to the fish, then the colors DK was changing on the screens. Her eyes lit up too.
"They're like a family," DK laughed.
"Family…?" Lucina asked.
"Red…green…purple…and blue…" DK was touching the four screens one by one. After just a few seconds, he now aligned the correct pattern.
Pop! The lid opened, and DK immediately grabbed his hands into the box happily, grilling the two valuable eggs out. 2,000 coins were now theirs. DK grinned with a sense of victory: they now had their first two eggs.
Zora Egg Pieces: 2/10
"DK…at the bottom of the container…it seems there's a stone slate with writing…?" Lucina realized, noticing from his shuffling. Confused, DK put his hand back to dig under the foam. Pulling it out and looking at it, the large slab with writing was now revealed to them.
Search for the golden fish. A sunny-side gift will be present to you.
"Gold fish...we need gold fish…but there're so many fish tanks in this lab! Huh? Which one?!" He looked frantically around at the multitude of tanks existing in the lab. "Lucina...we probably don't have time!"
"DK…indeed…we do not have much time," Lucina whispered. And she and DK looked out the small, circular window with a fish design that existed on the wall, giving them one of the only views of the ocean that they could see. The sun shone in, glowing the fish-designed window…and they could only see the beautiful water outside too.
But they could also see the turtle. And it was close to them. Now...swim stroke by swim stroke...it was almost to its first stop.
"Protection…that is what we lack in life. But that is what you gave me."
"No way. I don't agree! But, if you insist so…"
"Why did you help me?"
"Well…I wanted to do at least one good thing in my life!"
"I believe you are always good. I believe…you just do not see all the good you have done. But we had always seen your good."
11:21 AM - 39 Minutes Until Game Over
"Boo yah! Did it again! Who's the best?"
Dark Pit had just picked the right bowl upon the table. A crowd had gathered around the tent they were at, excited to watch him play. It was a carnival-like establishment, and a single stone was hidden under one of three turtle shells and shuffled rather quickly. But the angel's sharp eyes were more than the table host had bargained for. For the third time in a row, Dark Pit had won the Shell game.
"Whahay!" The crowd watching the two foreigners play cheered loudly.
Dark Chicken Pieces: 4/10
"You've won all the prizes for today," the Zora man stated to them, surprised. "Three slabs of dark meat from this tent alone." The gentleman handed a third, last piece of meat onto Joker's tray. Joker looked at it...impressed.
"Any more?"
"Nope...try another tent in this fishing shore village. Another game. They're all aquatic themed, so do enjoy!" The two players exited the tent, much to the crowd's disappointment
"Well, Dark Pit…" Joker stated, as the two of them began walking away from the tent to find another game in the village, "I can't really hide my feelings. You impressed me." Dark Pit stopped in his tracks. He turned around to look at him.
"You're…uh...impressed by me?" Dark Pit began, turning around to him in surprise.
"Yes...why wouldn't I be?" Joker replied, smiling at him. Dark Pit didn't know what to say.
"I...yeah, let's focus on the game," Dark Pit replied, shaking his head. He turned to see a sign in front of a tent. There was a symbol of a chicken on it.
"I guess this is our next stop." As they entered the green tent, they were struck with curiosity. The back-wall of the tent had three flap-covered entryways, appearing like doorways. Three doors greeted them, along with a wide-grinning Zora man. He was holding three little finger-puppets upon his three middle, webbed fingers: two sharks, and a chicken.
"Hello, hello!" he greeted them, smiling mischievously.
"I don't trust this guy," Dark Pit muttered, turning around.
"We'll play this game..whatever it is…won't we, Mr. Angelent?" Joker said immediately as well, smiling, turning to the tend attendant. "After all, we have nothing to lose, right? We're just two lost young boys with no direction in life." Persuaded by his words, Dark Pit sighed and turned around. The Zora man smiled.
"You must choose one of these three door flaps," the attendee told them, motioning to the flaps on the wall. "One of them holds a statue of a chicken behind it. Choose that one...and you win two slabs! However, the other two doors hold dangerous sharks. Choose a shark...and I take one of your slabs of meat you already have!"
"Hell no!" Dark Pit told him, turning around and defending his prizes. "I rightfully earned these four pieces of chicken meat we're holding on our tray!"
"Calm down… it's simply just some raw chicken…" Joker laughed. "Why are you so concerned? And we are clearly working as a team together…the chicken meat is as much mine as it is yours."
"I've gained more money to the pot this episode ALONE already than you have for the past like ten episodes. Don't take my credit, mister," Dark Pit snapped. Joker smirked at him.
"Guess we're not a pair," Joker sighed with a smile.
"Well…we could be a pair if you weren't so vague and suave and not so mysterious all the time!" Dark Pit stammered.
Joker: Ah, he was so defensive. Sometimes funny. Maybe Dark Pit is the Mole himself? I was quite sure that when the others would get back to land, he would brag about how much he had helped the team, and then talk poorly about me and paint me possibly as the saboteur in the beady eyes of the others. Well, go ahead. If you are the Mole, smart angel, then that would benefit you very well, making me look bad. I do not care...mostly.
Joker then set the tray of meaty money on the table. The decision to play the game was set. The Zora man looked at it greedily.
"We'll play. After all, it is better for us to try than to not try at all…right, Mole?" Joker said to Dark Pit with a smile.
"Geez...fine. We'll play." Dark Pit looked at him, irate and unsure.
Dark Pit: The fact that Joker wanted to play this game that gave us a two-thirds chance of losing…was pretty unbelievable and totally pissed me off. My theory was that there were more than ten pieces of chicken meat hidden in the village anyway, and we could have just played other games to gain up to ten. I didn't want to play this rigged one at all. He wanted to. Acting all mysterious, gentlemanly, and smooth in his decisions. Making me think he's just…Joker. But sometimes…I think it could all be an act. Are his overactions a bluff? Maybe it's all just a trick to us. Could he actually be the Mole this whole time? And if he is...maybe I'm screwed.
The man stepped back, and Joker and Dark Pit stared at the three tent doors flaps. One had a chicken behind it.
"Door 2," Joker chose immediately, face unflinching and finger pointing with unjustifiable confidence to the second flap.
"Sure. I hope you have a very logical decision in choosing that door," Dark Pit said sarcastically.
"Oh, but Dark Pit, we are just guessing here! Nothing more…no need for sarcasm towards me," Joker shrugged to him, smiling. "I simply chose a random door and we're hoping it has our chicken..." The Zora man nodded, seeing Joker's hasty choice.
"Well…I'll reveal one of the other two doors first…." The Zora man surprisingly went up to the first door flap, and then, upon unveiling it, a shark statue on a pedestal was seen by the two players. Only two doors remained.
Door 1 = Shark
Door 2 (selected) = Unknown
Door 3 = Unknown
"So either the second door...or the third door...is the chicken," Dark Pit realized, gulping. "And the other is a shark." The attendant smiled, nodding.
"However…I will allow you to switch your choice from Door 2 to Door 3…for the cost of one slab of meat."
Dark Pit's mouth dropped open. "HECK NO! You're gonna scam us out of more meat? I rightfully earned these dead birds!" But Joker just looked at the man…carefully. The college student's smiled, examining sharply the attendant's facial expressions. Dark Pit saw him.
Joker: Gut instinct and intellect made me ultimately hesitate. I could see there was a trick, of course. Or at least… I truly felt there was. But…if there wasn't a trick…well then I guess I'm the fool. A fool to no one else but the mind of the Mole.
Dark Pit: He was literally being so stupid.
"I'd like to…as my final answer…switch my guess from Door 3 to 2," Joker declared. "We'd like to sacrifice one piece of meat for that decision to switch."
Dark Pit was speechless. "Why."
Joker looked persistent, shrugging. "Well, why don't you tell me: why not?"
"You're just going to tell everyone when they get back to land that I made the decision to switch doors and sacrifice the meat, not you! Freakin' Mole."
"I…will definitely not. I will take all the blame in a group. It is the right thing to do. I have morals, shockingly." Joker faced Dark Pit with a smile.
"You're NOT sacrificing my won meat! Stop smiling at me!"
"I thought this was a team effort. The correct phrase is, 'our won meat.'
"What?!"
"Please try using correct grammar, even in this stressful game of 'The Mole."
"I'm gonna…I'm gonna kill you!" They argued for another three minutes like a bickering couple. The Zora man stared at them…lost and wide-eyed during the three minutes.
"Okay…fine…sigh…I suppose the angel wins," Joker smiled calmly to him, stepping back finally. "We remain at Door 2. But when it's wrong…do not blame me."
And the attendee unveiled Door 2.
And there was a shark.
Dark Pit's face was in disbelief. Joker smiled at him, a little triumphantly.
"Well, Mr. Mole," Joker said to him with a little smile, "I suppose 3,000 coins isn't bad of a sabotage. You did very well, young saboteur, losing us money in this game. I look forward to seeing your future Moley acts." Dark Pit just stared at him back, a little guiltily, as Joker exited the tent ahead of him.
"How did you know the slab was behind Door 3?" Dark Pit asked, arisen suspicion in his voice, but talking to no one. But upon happening to hear him…Joker peeked his head back into the tent.
Joker shrugged. "Is everything I do suspicious to you? What if I'm a genuine player, just making genuine moves? You'd feel guilty afterwards thinking it was me, wouldn't you? Thinking…I was the Mole? I thought we were on the same side, Dark Pit. A team. Anyways…we really must go outside. We have a turtle to feed." The masked gentleman then quickly went back outside.
Joker: The dark angel of friendly death. For Dark Pit definitely stopped me from choosing the right door, and we got a shark, not a bird. Well done, dark angel: a great saboteur. I cheer you, if you are the Mole hidden among us six. You are very smart.
Dark Pit: I didn't even want to play this rigged game in the first place. And that tricky way Joker manipulated the situation and scenario to make me look like the guilty one in the end…makes me realize just how conniving he is…and how he could be the smartest Mole to ever exist in our group or ever in the history of all bad, bad Moles.
11:25 AM - 35 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
The turtle finally arrived to the Marine Research Laboratory.
The two turtle captains, Isabelle and Kazooie, had done more than a successful job of a significant twenty-five minutes delaying it to its first stop...almost half of their entire allotted time limit for the game itself. But now…it was finally time to arrive.
"Ready?" Isabelle asked Kazooie nervously.
"MORE than ready!" Kazooie eyed the dock they were to approach. She was ready to jump off the moving turtle.
Isabelle: Uh oh…here we were! Stop 1!
Kazooie leaped and jumped off, talons landing hard, but sturdily, onto the marine lab's wooden deck. She saw the lab building, her eyes frantic but determined with a goal: Kazooie had just two minutes to run until the turtle left.
"Hurry, hurry!" Isabelle screamed, remaining on the turtle
"I'm COMINGGG, GUYSSS!" Kazooie yelled, bolting off to the building. "Whoo hoo! Here to collect some eggs!"
"I'm gonna slow down this turtle as much as I can!" Isabelle said, as the turtle began its circling rotation. Kazooie ran as fast as she could to the lab building, talons hitting and running across the wood of the dock floor as she sprinted to the door of the laboratory…clonk clonk clonk.
"I'm coming! Totally here! DK! Lucina!" Kazooie yelled, running viciously across the watery wood.
Kazooie: I had to get the eggs from them. Easy. Easy!
Kazooie reached the dome-shaped lab. She grinned, then turned the knob of the lab's door entrance.
The door was locked.
"What the…hey…DK! LUCINA! I'M OUTSIDE!"
Inside…the two players who were searching the lab were at a height of despair…but still, shockingly, hope. The goldfish…the one clue they were given…had to be somewhere. But it couldn't be found.
Search for the golden fish. A sunny-side gift will be present to you.
"NO fish are even golden or even yellow!" DK moaned, hitting the water in a tank of thankfully papery fish. "What is the clue even talking about?!"
"Then…it must be another meaning…" Lucina whispered. "What..is yellow? Why does the clue say 'sunny-side up'? Not poached…not boiled…What is…" She gasped. Lucina faced the window of the room. The princess first faced it just to take a glance at the turtle on the ocean. But when she saw the design on the window…it was that of a fish. And the sun was shining through it, and it glowed a brilliant gold.
"The…the goldfish is the window…yellow from the sun," she gasped. She ran her way to the window. DK followed her, confusion on his face.
11:26 AM - 34 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
"We're running out of time! No time for pointless things! Are you sure that's even correct?" he stammered, panicked and seeing her stand up on a table. "We really can't waste time!"
"But we must try." Now able to reach the fish-designed window, she touched it, trying to open it or adjust it. But instead…it sunk slightly into the wall.
Pop! Beside DK, a part of the wall opened. The large ape was wordless, wide-eyed, backing away from the opened wall that nearly hit him. But a few seconds later, it was an expression of wide-eyed excitement.
"No WAYYYY!" he shouted. Behind the wall compartment were two Zora eggs, and his leg had nearly touched them.
"They are there…the window was key indeed," Lucina smiled, getting down from the table she was on. DK picked up the two new eggs from the compartment. Lucina held the two from before. They now had four crucial eggs together.
Zora Egg Pieces: 4/10
"We have only found four…" Lucina still looked a bit disheartened.
"But better than NOTHING!" DK reasoned optimistically, changing their moods.
Then, they heard a shrill yell.
"DONKEY KONG! LUCINA!" Kazooie yelled. The two players' eyes widened, then they both ran to the locked door of the lab.
"What! Kazooie! No way!" DK yelled. He happily started shouting towards their locked door.
"We have four eggs, and…we cannot…open…the door?" Lucina gasped. DK and her turned to each other in discombobulation. The lab door was truly shut and inoperable.
"Ahh…hurry!" Isabelle yelled, and Kazooie turned around with wide eyes back to her own partner on the sea. The turtle was going at a swift speed around the entire laboratory dock.
"What! It's so fast!" Kazooie squawked at the turtle in terror.
"For some reason, I can't…I can't slow down the turtle!" Isabelle gasped. She was using her fishing rod, but its fish was already half-gone at the end of the string-y line. The turtle wasn't slowing down to the disappeared bait. Kazooie looked at the turtle, then back at the locked door with panic.
"The window!" Lucina faced the golden fish that was glaring light to them. She and DK ran over to the table, and then faced the glass above them.
"Let me throw them out!" DK volunteered excitedly.
"No…give them to me…we should drop them carefully," Lucina said, but DK had already gotten his way onto the metal lab table.
"No time for slow, steady stuff, Lucina! No disrespect, but we can't always just be super careful this entire game! We gotta hurry!" Lucina gave him the two Zora eggs she was holding, and now, the ape had all four. He reached up, taking a look through the small window as much as he could. His big body was way too sized for the small table…but he could still see outside. He peered down.
"Kazooie! You THERE?!" To his right, he saw the bird below him, by the door upon the other side of the dock. She turned to him, both shocked and humored, but happy.
"I see your big face!" she said out loud, running over to the slightly-cracked open window. Now, she was directly under his spot.
"Kazooie, I'm gonna drop these eggs down!" DK yelled. "Make sure to—-"
"AHHH! The turtle is going faster!" Both DK and Kazooie turned, stunned, to a new sound. It was a whoosh of water, and they saw the turtle at a faster pace swimming across their very spot. But now…it was heading out of the area of the lab's vicinity…to exit towards the shore.
"The turtle is already heading to Joker and Dark Pit! Hurry!"
"Kazooie!" DK yelled from above her, sticking his fingers out of the window. "I'm gonna drop all four eggs at once!"
"ALL four eggs?" Kazooie responded, frantic. "That's so many!"
"Either four or zero, cause that turtle's gonna leave you!" DK yelled with fear.
"I can't catch that many eggs!" Kazooie yelped.
"Of course you can…you're a BIRD!" DK dropped the eggs, wincing. Kazooie looked up, the four shadows of four spheres plummeting towards her. She shouted with surprise, the eggs finally hitting her as she used her soft wings and feathers to catch as many of them as she could. The first three eggs cradled gently in her grasp, her feathers softening their blow.
The fourth egg splattered on the dock.
"Ah, no!" Kazooie cried over the loss of the egg. "My baby!" She sobbed.
Kazooie: Oh well. Can't be so heartfelt in the game of 'The Mole". We're all here to kill each other anyway.
"Well, three is a crowd. I'm off!" She ran towards the departing turtle boat, which was almost to the edge of the very dock.
"Argh!" DK faced back to Lucina in the lab, looking heartbroken too. Lucina looked worried.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I think we lost an egg…thanks to Kazooie and me."
"Oh…it is okay. Redemption is here." Lucina and DK turned to a glowing screen that activated on the side of the wall, next to the symbolic, unmissable large tank of water that made up an entire wall of the lab itself. A flap opened up above the tank, big enough to fit two people to enter into the fishy aquarium. They read the words on the screen upon the tank screen together:
YOUR TWO TICKETS ARE IN THE WATER: YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE YET
DK gulped. "Guess we'll have to swim for our last round."
Lucina faced DK, her face even more worried. "DK…did you tell Kazooie about how they shouldn't slow down the turtle? And that we only have thirty minutes left to win?" DK's eyes widened in realization and horror. He faced out the window, seeing Kazooie at the edge of the dock.
DK: I completely forgot! And she was almost out of reach!
"KAZOOOOOIE!" he hollered out the window mightily. But Kazooie had already jumped upon the boat. However…she recognized the voice of her friend. The bird turned back to the lab from the floating-away turtle, startled.
"What?! What is it!" Kazooie yelled back, face confused.
"DON'T. SLOW. THE BOAT! SPEED IT UP!"
"Whaaaaattt?!" Kazooie shouted back. "Don't slow down what?!"
"DOOON'T. SLOWWW. THE BOAAATTT! WE NEED TO WIN!" And at that very moment, he was out of earshot. Kazooie faced back forwards, baffled. The turtle sailed slowly on.
"What did DK even say?" Isabelle asked, using the fishing rod to distract the turtle even more, slowing it down. Sitting down on the shell with a confused face, Kazooie thought.
"He said…not to slow down the turtle…" Kazooie remembered, her face befuddled and feelings mixed, "but…huh. Why?" Sitting on the hard surface of the board, holding three eggs from her friend, Kazooie thought harder and harder, her face even more confused.
Kazooie: A true way for us to win this game…or an exemption?
And it was up to Kazooie to decide whether to trust her friend or not.
11:31 AM - 29 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
"YEAHHHHHH! BOW DOWN TO THE GAME MASTER!" Dark Pit had just shot another arrow at a floating balloon of a jellyfish. The little Zora children around him cheered, and the Zora woman attendant happily gave him another slab of chicken meat. He had gotten two.
Dark Chicken Pieces: 5/10
"Okay…there are potentially two more tricky meat pieces in this sea-filled town…" Joker thought, looking around at the various tents on the sand. "Mathematically speaking. You did mess us up last round." They walked on through the village and its people.
"Seems like you would have totally missed all those arrows at our most recent tent if it weren't for me being here," Dark Pit smirked. "You'd have probably shot an arrow at a bird if you were playing, Mr. Masked Thief." Joker chuckled.
"Dark Pit, might I remind you that you couldn't even break the nose of a statue in our second mission at Castle Siege?" the tall student spoke with a little smile and a laugh. Dark Pit stopped in his tracks, angry.
"…argh. Hmph." The two boys continued on.
"Do you know what's interesting about games like these?" Joker told him with thought. Dark Pit shrugged.
"You say the most random things. I don't know."
"That relationships between each other and also our own personalities change when the group gets smaller…" Joker began. "Some people will become closer as friends and will depend on each other more. Others might become enemies as the group gets smaller and the game gets more difficult. So I wonder…those who make it to the final five, or the final three: how will they be acting towards each other?" Dark Pit thought silently.
"Hey! You two over there! Cook your meat to no cost!" a Zora chef greeted to their side.
"No…we're not interested," Dark Pit said to him.
"Are you sure? You don't want to—-"
"We're not interested in you BURNING our meat!" Dark Pit snapped rudely. They walked away from the confused chef.
"Still an angry guy, huh?" Joker joked to Dark Pit. "That hasn't changed."
"Huh? No! I was only mad at him cause he was trying to steal my meat!" Dark Pit complained.
"Maybe you're snarky and angry because you don't put trust in others. You need to put more trust in people…" Joker suggested. "Maybe it'll help you survive. Others have better trust in each other and they've continued on. DK, Kazooie, Lucina…"
"Put trust in someone else?" Dark Pit said with incredulity. "In the game of 'The Mole'?"
Dark Pit: Something I don't think I'll ever do.
11:33 AM - 27 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
Kazooie was silent at the back of the turtle, still staring at the marine lab in the distance that they both recently departed from. As the large turtle creature sailed to the shore, which was not far off, the two turtle players were mostly quiet as the turtle swam to the second stop.
"Do I…trust? Or not trust?" Kazooie seemed to be murmuring, whispering to herself.
"Oh…Kazooie…what are you thinking about?" Isabelle noticed, realizing Kazooie was mostly almost silent besides her strange speaking. The bird snapped back to reality, shaking her head and laughing.
"Oh, bahaha….just nothing!" Kazooie chuckled, turning back to her. "Nothing at all! But just…I'm thinking about DK's words." She closed her beak, silent.
"You said DK yelled for us to slow the turtle down?" Isabelle remembered.
"Yeah…he did…" Kazooie nodded, turning to the hard shell surface of the turtle. "I can't believe he'd tell us to slow down the turtle JUST so he could win an exemption. Geez. Didn't expect that of him. Big bozo." Isabelle nodded, sad too.
"It seems harsh," Isabelle said sadly. "As you theorized, he wants us to speed up the game so he could win an exemption! Right?"
"I never thought DK would be THAT greedy or betraying to me," Kazooie laughed, but then her voice faded mid-sentence. She thought silently.
Kazooie: But…was DK really that greedy? That ruthless of a person?
"But…what if there isn't even an exemption in this game at all?" Kazooie wondered, her eyes wide. "What if…?" Isabelle turned to her, confused.
"What if…what?" Isabelle asked.
"What if DK was telling the truth to help us win the game after all?" Kazooie's eyes widened. "What if DK is not selfish? What if everything bad I thought about him for the past three and half minutes…was really all bad and wrong?"
Kazooie: Maybe the one who was betraying the other one…was me. Betraying our trust.
"Hey…Isabelle?" Kazooie said suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Speed up this turtle. Let's finish this game."
And within seconds, the turtle was whooshing across the water, chasing a fish and bringing the players closer and closer to winning their final game of the episode.
11:36 AM - 24 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
"Okay…nice…" Joker had just successfully thrown a boomerang for the last tent's game. All three cans were knocked down. He smiled triumphantly.
"Congratulations!" Two more pieces of chicken meat were placed on the tray. They had gotten all opportunities for meat. The plate…seemed successful.
Dark Chicken Pieces: 7/10
Joker and Dark Pit met together a few minutes later.
"Looks like you finally contributed," Dark Pit huffed to him, noticing the extra plate meat. "Congrats. I got five, while you got two measly ones."
"I was not the one who caused us to lose our only three lost ones, am I?" Joker smirked to him. "Maybe you're the Mole?"
Joker: He definitely caused sabotage. I will note that down…in my real journal.
Dark Pit snickered. "If I was the Mole though…hypothetically speaking, you all-righteous delinquent…you really think I'd be so pathetic to sabotage just 3,000 coins in a game that's worth a whopping total of 40,000 coins?" Dark Pit chuckled. Joker made a sound of thinking.
"Hmm, fair point," Joker replied.
"The Mole knows there's a lot to lose. They're planning something more than this. Pfft: sure of it."
Dark Pit: Perhaps they were gonna strike big…strike big at the end of this sinister great bay game. The outsider of our group. A second me.
"Then…what exactly is the Mole planning?" Joker spoke out loud in contemplation, smiling.
"Hey…you tell me," Dark Pit grinned. "What are you planning, saboteur?" Joker only laughed lightly, shaking his head.
"WE'RE HERE!" A piercing voice from an ambitious bird, almost a relieving one to the two shore players, entered the vicinity of the shore. The pair turned to see that a boat arrived, or rather, a majestic turtle reaching the shore. The turtle yawned: it was stopped for thirty seconds.
"Hey!" Isabelle and Kazooie greeted the two.
"Coming, coming…" Joker walked with the the tray over towards closer to the water. Kazooie fluttered down to the sand.
"Oh…hi Joker," Kazooie said non-enthusiastically, not particularly fond in seeing the player. "How are your schemes going?"
"As greatly as yours are doing, Kazooie," he replied with a wink, handing over the tray of meat to her.
"Hope you're not trying to seduce anyone else in this game for more further dates," Kazooie murmured.
"What?" Dark Pit asked, face turning red.
"The turtle isn't stopping!" Isabelle called to them. "Ah!" It moved slightly to the side.
"No; my interest to be bombarded by anyone else during private affairs is far gone," Joker sighed.
"Only here to save others," Kazooie said proudly, ruffling her feathers. "I'm the captain of this game, after all."
"Guys…the turtle!" Isabelle called again.
Joker winked to the large creature. "Good luck. The Mole may be upon your back, Mr. Turtle. I suggest throwing them off." He turned to the turtle riders with a smile. Kazooie glared back at him.
"Oh no!" Isabelle said.
"Don't worry turtle," Kazooie coaxed, patting its head as she climbed back on board upon it. "The Mole is just on the shorey beach, trying to get sand in your eyes. Let's get out of here, shall we?" She smiled triumphantly.
And then, the turtle got ready to leave. The second stop was finished. Two more stops and a final trip to the last island remained…and less than twenty minutes remained in their turtley game.
11:41 AM - 19 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
The large tank was to be explored by Lucina and DK. Their tickets awaited.
"Are you ready?" They both sat within an open block square that led right before a clear opening to the water. Each of them had a mouthpiece: up to one minute of oxygen and air. Inside the gigantic tank…fish, sharks, and more unknown creatures swam in a conglomeration of sea life mystery. The water was haunting, but inviting.
"No...not really!" DK moaned. The two players turned to each other, unsure, nervous of the task that was to come. The tank below them seemed almost as large as the Great Bay of Termina itself.
"But we must go on. Two tickets await...and so does a turtle for us if we find our tickets." And then, both Lucina and DK dived right into the tank.
Splash!
Lucina: Under the water...it was a new sight. A new world in which we had to encounter as we traveled the Mole's diabolical game from location to location. Now, we were in a world of no air.
Lucina swam as far as she could to the bottom. DK, the ape being a better swimmer and far more familiar to water than his partner, still seemed frantic as he looked around the floor of the tank, searching for clues. It was full of sand, seawater...and strange creatures that resembled crabs which nipped at his feet.
"Yeoww...blrbrpblrph!" DK tried to yell under the water, only to take in a gasp of water itself. He made a struggling face to Lucina.
DK: Talk about dumb and owned by a crab!
DK began to ascend towards the opening of the tank again with a panicked face, as Lucina continued on, looking within the tank. A school of fish swam to her side, and she swam by them, looking at the colors in awe.
And then a shark passed by her. She almost screamed herself.
Lucina: But that was the answer. The biggest surprise.
On the side of the large shark, two tickets were present. Attached to the side of the shark like parasites, Lucina swiftly grabbed the two sticky, uncomfortable papers off. The shark turned its head slightly, almost in thanks to the princess herself, and Lucina stared silently at it with awe. The big animal then swam off towards the other end of the tank, fading out of view. Lucina began to swim back up.
"Lucina! Are you okay?" DK grabbed her hands with his own large, dryer hands, seeing her emerge from the surface. She was able to climb out out of the opening, and both she and DK sat in the little alcove-like opening.
"I…yes…" Lucina gasped, and she settled down. DK grinned with both surprise and elation: she had the two tickets in her hand.
DK: Talk about strength! I wish I was as strong as a princess.
"A crab at the bottom totally bit me…guess I can't do anything correct in this game," DK laughed.
"The game is not over yet…do not worry," Lucina smiled. And then, they heard the sound of arrival.
"Hey, DK! Lucina! You guys ready to go?!" It was Kazooie, wide smiled and staring at them. Both the sunlight and her entered the large lab. The door was now open. She was there.
"Wahayyy! We're ready!" DK bellowed with happiness. They climbed down the stairs upon the side of the large tank and hurried over to her on the other side of the lab floor. Kazooie just stared at them with shock.
"Yeow! Why are you guys so soaked?!" she exclaimed.
"We swam for…these." Lucina held the wet tickets to her. Kazooie grinned.
"Was sure they'd be no other result: you guys did it! Well…let's go! We got a turtle to ride!"
11:44 AM - 16 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
"Careful…careful…" DK and Lucina proceeded to step upon the large sea turtle. The turtle swayed slightly, making the players' steps more cautious than ever. DK grabbed onto one of the two palm trees that made up the turtle's back shell.
"I'm like, as big as this turtle!" DK said with panic, clutching the thin palm tree with frenzy. "You sure I won't fall off?!" He faced around the shell panickedly.
"Don't worry: you'll get used to the swaying!" Isabelle encouraged happily. "And when the turtle sails, you'll feel so happy and free!"
"Yeah, but don't feel too free and plummet to the sea," Kazooie laughed.
"Ready, everyone?"
"Yes!"
And the four players sailed off on the back of the turtle together. Fifteen minutes remained in the game, but to counter their time, they now had the incentive to speed the turtle. The shore was just in reach. And so was the time limit left to sink them all.
Numerous caves existed behind the bay. The large land of Termina was so vast that forests, rocky mountains, and ocean shores were on multiple parts of the land, expanding far and extensive, almost infinite, yet surprisingly also not far from each other. It was a land of exploration, and exploring was exactly what two young teenagers were doing as they searched a dark cave just East of the village. It was dark, and using two flashlights they had seen at its entrance, the two players searched for what they needed to board a turtle: two damp tickets.
"Where are they?" Dark Pit almost tripped on a rock in the darkened cave.
"Not sure," Joker replied, shrugging in the dark. "But at least we will know that this cave is safe." He smirked.
"Safe?! You're crazy!"
"There are cameras here," Joker pointed, smiling at the recording device hanging next to a stalactite, then back at Dark Pit. Dark Pit rolled his eyes.
"No privacy in this game," Dark Pit murmured, walking on in the dark.
"Hmm…after what happened last night…nope," Joker sighed, trying to step over a difficult wall of rocks. "I cannot seem to make it through this game being carefree, it seems. But I digress: the game of 'The Mole' is not meant to be carefree at all. I am just humoring myself."
"Kazooie interrupted you, huh?" Dark Pit said, almost laughing. "That must have been fun to see."
"She is not the most fond of me in this game," Joker shrugged, thinking. "Kazooie pretends to be mean…but she has good intentions, ultimately. A bird with a good heart. Unfortunately, we have different points of view."
"Geez…you make enemies with everyone in this game," Dark Pit said, rolling his eyes. "Wii Fit…Kazooie…"
"I don't make enemies with them," Joker told him, smirking, his eyes gleaming to him. "You see, Dark Pit…they make enemies with me."
"Maybe they're just good at sensing who the Mole is," Dark Pit teased.
"As the Mole yourself, a brave line to say," Joker grinned.
They turned…and found the two tickets attached to the side of a stalagmite.
"Oh…" They grabbed the two pieces of paper, a ticket each. They could both now board the turtle.
"That was easy," Dark Pit commented, his eyes wide and surprised..
"…A little too easy." Joker narrowed his eyebrows, suspiciously looking around.
"Well, off we go."
"Indeed."
"Yeah, it's not like…AHHHHHHHH!"
Hundreds of purple masses began to descend from the cave's sky. The air was now filled with hundreds of winged creatures, flapping their wings in the dark cave, in the faces and the eyes of the two helpless boys. They were bats.
"AHHH…GET THEM OFF ME….GAHH!" Dark Pit was whacking blindly in the dark.
"Quick…to the light!" Joker grabbed Dark Pit's hand and dragged him towards the cave exit. Tickets in possession, they both ran towards the safety of the land.
Joker: As we'd discover later, Keese are nimble creatures that are considered to be more of a nuisance than a feared enemy. Couldn't have agreed more.
11:49 AM - 11 Minutes Until the Turtle Sinks
The turtle sailed faster across the sea than it had ever before. Lucina and DK grabbed nervously onto the turtle's shell's very odd palm trees, the two of them the most unfamiliar players to the turtle upon the rocky boat. Kazooie was standing proudly at the turtle's front, balanced and confident.
"We'll win this game!" Kazooie said confidently, her feathers flapping gloriously in the wind. "Captain Kazooie will bring everyone to the finish! Don't you all worry!" She blew the whistle extremely gently again, and the turtle swam faster.
"And according to this book…" Lucina was flipping through the shining book about the turtle that she had found at the lab, "blowing the whistle gently indeed is the way to speed the turtle up the most. I am glad we were able to confirm that."
"My suspicions were correct!" Isabelle said cheerfully.
"According to this book…the plant would have been the fastest object," Lucina read, seeing the purple plant on a page. "By feeding a leaf to the fish, it would speed off…faster than it is moving now." Kazooie laughed out loud, shaking her head.
Isabelle: Kazooie blew the whistle and made the purple plant fall! How unfortunately…but something like that...could she have done it purposefully?
"I'm glad you trusted me right away to rush the turtle when I yelled to you earlier from the lab house!" DK shouted gleefully to Kazooie.
"Indeed!" Kazooie lied, the turtle swimming and rushing across the water.
"Yeah! She didn't trust you at first however: it was so funny!" Isabelle said with a smile, holding the tray of chicken and laughing. Kazooie almost dropped her whistle out of her mouth.
"Wait…WHAAAAT?" DK stammered, turning with shock to Kazooie.
"Uhhhhhhhh…" Kazooie glared at Isabelle, then gave a sheepish smile to the ape behind her. "DK: You gotta understand. We're in the game of the Mole. Anyone can be doing anything to win the game…ya know…?"
"But you think your best FRIEND would betray you?" DK moaned. Kazooie looked guiltily towards DK.
"After thinking…no," Kazooie said honestly. "I thought for a few more minutes…and I gave you the benefit of the doubt! I totally felt embarrassed and guilty for not trusting you at first! But then, I did!"
"Well, Hmph, I guess I'm glad you changed your—-"
"Oh no!" The turtle suddenly stopped its fast speeding, and the players stumbled forwards. Isabelle grabbed onto the back of the shell with one hand…but her other hand, holding the tray of valuable meat, moved with motion from the turtle's stop. And before anyone could grab anything…two pieces of chicken meat slid off the tray, the slippery slabs falling off the metal and off into the sea of water. Everyone stared with dismay at the lost chicken.
"Two thousand coins," Lucina gasped.
"Oh gosh, oh gosh…I really did everything I could to save the tray!" Isabelle cried, now holding the tray with both hands with caution. "And I almost lost all the meat and the whole thing…but I managed to balance it as well as I could!"
Isabelle: Unfortunately, the two pieces on the tray's edge just…. fell off! Oh…oh no. I really didn't expect it at all. Slippery meat…just who would have thought!
Kazooie: Feel like the tray would have been safer on the ground than, you know, than being held in the air by Isabelle.
"Well… I guess it's okay…you managed to save the remaining five," Kazooie nodded, looking at the remaining chicken meat. "Better than losing the whole tray!"
"We're almost to the shore anyway…the turtle can slow down now…" The turtle came to a slow stop, back once again at the village on the shore. To the right in the distance, they could make the shape of two players running hastily towards them. Their two final, last players.
"It's almost 12…" Isabelle looked worriedly to the clock seen on a nearby, tall tower on the beach. "It's…11:50…"
"Lucina, haha," DK noticed, humored and laughing, pointing at her book. "What're those funny X-like marks on the back of your book?" Lucina turned her book over to look at the leather back of it. X-marks we're etched on the rectangle surface upon various spots and edges.
"That is odd…I…?" Lucina whispered with a strange face, eyes glancing at the design of marks. "What could this even be?"
"You really didn't see those before?!" DK asked her. Lucina shook her head, looking at DK, who just shrugged.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Finally, the two last players made their way to the edge of the shore, grinning from ear to ear.
"Alright, you fishy boys!" Kazooie shouted out to them, stopping the turtle onto the shore edge. "It's time to get on board! Hope you got your tickets, or the turtle's gonna eat you!"
"Hope the turtle is hungry for the Mole…" Joker and Dark Pit were helped upon the back of the turtle by the other four players. They were stunned by the large shell and its hard surface, but they adjusted to their next location quickly.
With now two more additional players on board, the turtle was at capacity. There was nearly no more room for anything else…not even enough room for barely another egg or a piece of meat.
Isabelle: Uh oh…no we were really crowded!
Kazooie: So the true game begins: don't fall off!
Upon the crowded turtle…all six players turned to each other, precariously yet with determination within the Great Bay of Termina.
"….What time is it?"
"11:50. Don't worry. We have ten minutes left to make it to the hidden island of Termina."
And as a group against the Mole, the six players sailed off on the turtle across the bay to their final destination.
Knowing full-well that the saboteur was among them.
And almost none of them knowing that the turtle would be sinking in five minutes instead of ten.
Whaaaaa! What will be the conclusion of the turtle game?! The mission concludes very soon next chapter, with not much left. Will they make it safely?
In the end of Episode 5...the players go to a last new beautiful Zelda-world location for their final moments, then…The fifth execution! :OO
Which player will finally leave?! ...leaving just the final five in the game?! In fact...who will be the FINAL FIVE of The Mole: Deceiver's World?! Stay tuned!
Please vote on the new poll at the top my profile up to three choices! :D the poll is Episode 5: Who is the Mole? The question remains! Which one of these six players is the Mole?! Poll results will be published at the end of next chapter :D
:D And please leave a review if you can! I would love your words so much! And if you could state in your reviews your Top 3 Suspects and why you suspect them, oh my gosh...how golden that would be :) !
Oh, and for those who may have missed in the other chapter...I will now be replying to ALL reviews published from now on :) It is so worth it replying to you guys all!
The next elimination into the final five comes next! See you soon!
Cavin856: You always find something intriguing! :D thanks for making your reviews always fun with potential mysteries that make even ME wonder! Ah, the ominous confessional of DK about Kazooie betraying him! I guess we can relax in knowing that Kazooie's "betrayal" was just an accidental slip-up, if it was accidental. I love your analysis possibilities of what Joker and Lucina's conversation may have all meant and signified! Does Joker suspect Lucina as the Mole or not? What truths does Joker really have when speaking to her? Him stating suspicions to Lucina could be all genuine, but then again, there's a slimmer of lying possibility! If Lucina is the Mole, then both you and Joker might be on the same track lol. Hahah, I like how you're like, "Kazooie knows too much." I think in just one scene, it was revealed she knew like 10483862 truths and secrets all along xD hahaha. It's also really curious to see what her motivations are if she issss the Mole: does she just have a good heart overshadowing her role in protecting Lucina? :o Hmmm, hmmm. You're perfecto in recognizing the Turtle game as a combination between the Board the Train and Laundry challenges! Nice memory, you're a super fan :D and haha! You're analysis summery at the end ranking everyone's emotions was hilarious and quite possibly true. DK and Dark Pit are quite opposite on the happiness spectrum aren't they xD.
Dark Punxy: Always have counted on you for so long; I always love your reviews and thoughts :) I like how you enjoyed the dinner scene commotion and thought it was insane! Reading back on it, it really was sooo dramatic with many reveals and sentences :o lol at the "jealous boyfriend" line haha. I really love that final four combination you predicted! Dark Pit, Joker, Lucina, and Kazooie…such a great combo, and whether that will be the true outcome to come or not, I really dig it :) The omen of such a multi-part challenge equals sabotage in many parts and potentially ultimately not a lot of money, right? Your prediction is so valid as well xD I have a confession: I never played Majora's Mask either, hahaha! I had to watch multiple hour-long playthroughs of the game on YouTube in order to get a true scene of the Great Bay and write this chapter :) lol it was fun! Oh wow, interesting point about those names being angel names! It's so odd: whether that's significant or not, we'll see later! I forgot if you watched the real Mole series or not! If you haven't yet, then I recommend it so much!
DealthourX: Hello fellow Mole fan! :D May I say it's such a PLEASURE to hear from you! Thank you so so much for finally reviewing! You're making your own Mole story!? By golly, I'm sure you'd be amazing making on! :D You know, you may be even be MORE of a Mole fan than I am, cause I'm yet to even watch the Belgium series myself! x) I'm sure you're Mole expertise will guide you! One strategy I do is do outlines of entire episodes and chapters: that helps organize my thoughts a lot! I am so so not surprised you picked Lucario as your first suspect! If I were a reader who didn't know who the Mole was, my suspect totally would have been Lucarip for some reason, baha! Just because he was so calm and smart, and kind of like the balancer of the group. Okay, and now: Exceeelllent suspects list! :D I loved everything! I really really am super interested in you spotting out how as dumb as DK appears, " there's clearly moments where he shows that he is more intelligent than he lets on. Excellent findings! Is there a truly deeper meaning to this?: o Kazooie having the hardest to get a reading on, yes indeed! It's funny; I will not lie and I will say that I purposely make some players so ambiguous in personality and motives on purpose. You think their character is one thing….but then it's a complete other :o I love the possibilities of Dark Pit either being the winner or runner-up :) It's just a happy feel. And excellent analysis in saying Joker probably isn't the Mole because "the Mole is not usually someone who would want to outwardly show their intelligence like he does". You have a lot of great well-sound thoughts in your analysis of the players! I absolutely love it :) And I am dying and laughing at REDACTED. Ahahaa….are the site bots automatically censoring a certain name (that I don't know)? Maybe it's a specific default setting only for reviews towards this story…..haha ;)
Masking What Remains: I know someone is a true heart fan when they mention things like, "The Laundry Game" :') Thanks for making me cry in knowing you've been a fan since the start! Can't believe how long ago Traitor Aboard was! I was a…middle schooler entering high school?! I can't believe it! Yes indeed, the purple plant turned out to be important! The date was a disaster indeed! Bahaha xD No one in that date cafe scenario could even trust each other…just who can anyone depend on any more? Have you seen the two US seasons fully? They are jus two magical to watch! :) and thank you so much! It's truly the story itself AND the words of reviewers like you guys that push me more and more and more :) Thank you so muchhhhhh truly!
Salamander: Your kind, wise words at the beginning of your review were just AMAZING! Thanks for being inspiring :) I did realize at many points in the past months that I truly had been writing for myself. More actually, I've always been brainstorming future chapters and events in my head due to the excitement of continuing the story…and making those reality by writing them down in full has been so magical. Anyways, motivation Number 2 is all you amazing readers and reviewers so thank you so much :) Isabelle being left out of the date drama: it's so interesting, isn't it! Why out of all players was one person not involved? Whether this means something about her not, we'll see. Ahahaha, I'm dead that you're saying that Dark Pit's infatuation with Joker might be "somewhat understandable" LOL; okay, if I met Joker in real life, I'd probably be infatuated to him too xD Not personality wise at all though, lol, I don't like mysterious, vague guys. The dialogue had to be planned carefully and I'm so glad you saw the nuances and multiple meanings! Who suspects who? And wow yeah, Kazooie's smartness was able to make her discern some things, and proof of that is her line acknowledging DK with "family". And kudos for spotting it before too! So, What is the truth of this though!? Is there a deeper meaning? Or is this all just a bluff? And…LOL. Wow. I am floored that you were so so spot-on about the fishing rod being a carrot on a stick, and being used to both slow it and speed it. Nice job :D though shockingly Joker did not steal from the marketplace…he surprisingly played around fairly…just an act to cover his true intentions? Hahaha.