Well. Well. Well. What do you know? An exact six months! Wow!
…I swear, I didn't plan this at all to be like, "I'll return in exactly six months!" xD It just happened to be by chance xD. What a nice coincidence. If you've followed me before, you know that this is not the first time I've done a big writer's hiatus. And for this…I sincerely apologize. You readers and reviewers are my world. You're all I have! Please try and forgive me for this.
But what was the reason for this hiatus? Oh, man. I wish I could give you all a good reason! But the only reason I could give you is this: life. Ugh, life. Sometimes good, sometimes bleh. Sometimes so so busy...but at other times free and good. Just many, different aspects of life!
But, there is, among a multitude of many other reasons, why I am back. First: A gift from the heavens youtube uploaded all the US Seasons, Australia Seasons, and UK Seasons of the Mole all on youtube after they were absent for years. I spent the past few weeks watching them. Inspiration! The music! The nostalgia! The memories!
Second reason: the weather is getting better. Haha.
Third: the reviews and messages I received over the past few months sporadically asking if I was okay. THANK YOU ALL. You're just amazing. If you follow me on Instagram, you'd see that I'm literally posting every week and I'm doing just all right. So thank you all for asking and keeping me in thoughts. You mean the world.
Anyways…this chapter literally went through 15 edits and chunk re-writes. It changed at least 20 times. And I'm happy with the final result.
I truly hope you enjoy it all! :) The game truly continues! And it's...pretty intense. What will happen? Let's see!
Episode 6 (Part 3)
The players are given two options: a cabin of quiet or a campsite of uncertainty. As a multitude of colors in the snowy, night sky appear…so do the true colors of some of the players in a battle for catharsis.
Like small figurines looking out to the unadorned surface of a child's table in a bedroom…they saw the white snow that stretched endlessly before them. They were on a stable surface, finally. Not cracking…not unstable…not drifting out to sea…but a large, solid piece of white, snowy, never-ending surface that seemed to be another world in itself. In the far distance, nothing could be seen but a valley of beautiful, colossal mountains and hills. Although they were unreachable, they were powerful in image, all making a snow-colored image of heavens.
"The sea..." Lucina whispered. A quarter of a mile back behind them…they could see the icy, blue ocean that had given them so many awful feelings and anxiety: a rocky, teetering game of greed and unexpected emotions.
Dark Pit: Well…that game was a total disaster. Whewwww...crash. No denying that.
"Your game began as 'Rule-Changing Mountain', if you remembered," the host told them. "All you had to do was stay still on a snowy mountain… for three hours…and ignore any vegetables and rule changes. You could have sunbathed. But…you didn't. You couldn't. You wouldn't! The Mole has won, I'm afraid."
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Oh, I just knew that was the true mission of the game!" Isabelle moaned to everyone else with disbelief and wide eyes.
Isabelle: I cannot believe we were all fooled by the Mole...again?! I just wanted a sunny game. Ohh...how many times do we have to get tricked over and over?
"So…as I predicted…the game was very simple," Joker expressed out loud with an exaggerated sigh. "Alas. We failed."
"I wonder WHY we failed," DK moaned, grumbling and staring at his opponents. "Whose fault was it?! You?!"
"Silly players…" Joker said, shaking his head.
Joker: I rarely ever show my true emotions to other people. My true feelings? Are they such a thing? Hmph. I never let them out. So…it was the same in this silly Iceberg game. Little did the others know…I amplified my demeanor of treachery and perversion upon the ice. I pretended to be a villain.
"What?! So you were faking being all evil and terrible and cutthroating and stuff?" DK said, his mouth dropped. "That's insane, Joker! And totally unnecessary, man!"
"Indeed," Joker replied, continuing his answer to the others with a smile and also oversighing again. "I was simply acting like the Mole…causing some commotion…all in order to find the true Mole. By acting like a villain…perhaps the real villain would follow me. But, yes, I admit. My evil nature on the iceberg was all fake and quite exaggerated, really. Only the discerning eye could have seen it." Joker smiled.
"That's so stupid," said Dark Pit.
"I disagree," Joker smiled, his eyes gleaming.
"Why…why fake? And why cause a sense of further commotion among us?" Everyone turned to the princess who had spoken up softly.
Lucina: It…did not make sense to me.
Lucina's eyes were wide to Joker, her face perplexed but also firm in her statement. "There is a Mole among us already…and I'm afraid…perhaps you made their job easier…" The princess looked conflicted, and she looked away from him, an expression of disappointment upon the young woman's face. Everyone looked at her, then at Joker.
"Yeah, what was the point of all that?" Dark Pit asked him.
"Perhaps we all fell victim to the Mole…yet again," Joker concluded to them. "We should congratulate him. We lost again. At this rate, we might as well stop trying." Everyone looked with annoyance at the student.
"Argh! What if YOU'RE the Mole?" DK shouted, and the others could see he was becoming heated in his voice. "Huh? Then you're just congratulating YOURSELF! After all, you were the first one to suggest we even CHANGE into that darn, stupid, super cold iceberg! I'm ONTO YOU! EVER SINCE OUR VERY FIRST EPISODE ONE!" Joker paused…then sighed..
Isabelle: Well, Joker could so totally be the Mole, because we think he's too obvious to be the Mole…but then he could be it anyway! We can't let him slide away and escape if he is the Mole!
"You have a proclivity to throw people in this game…" Joker spoke to DK with a heavy look but also a smile smile. "Is it you, Donkey Kong, who might be the one attacking others this entire time? Even from the very start himself? Throwing Fox McCloud to his doom at the very beginning….and every player after…as the Mole?"
"Arghhhhh!" DK huffed in a roar. "You even SUGGEST I'm destroying this team one more time…and I'll throw YOU out of this game FOR GOOD!"
Dark Pit: The possibility of DK being the Mole scares me. Because he can kill any of us at any second. Snap our necks. But, if he was...why'd they pick such a dumb, loud Mole in the first place? Hmm. One reason. Maybe to make us not suspect him most of the time.
"Well…Dark Pit! YOU started it too!" DK yelled, pointing at the dark angel and yelling. "You bit the tomato! You turned the game into a death match! Are you our traitor within our group? Hmm?!" Dark Pit laughed at him.
DK: I'd be so mad if Dark Pit was the Mole! Super mad! I hope not! Otherwise…I'd be totally cooking his wings after this game with extra chili sauce!
"Why are you blaming me all of a sudden? You were accusing Joker two seconds ago," Dark Pit laughed.
Dark Pit: Am I the Mole? Muahaha. People will never know.
"You turned it into Sudden Death!" DK hollered.
"Okay…but..." the young angel replied, grinning in reply, "Remember: you took the offer from a fish and cost 5,000 coins by getting a Plus 1. How stupid is that? You were literally bribed by a fish. That's pathetic."
"Yes...DK…" Lucina confirmed, speaking up, as everyone looked at her. "It was…a rather disappointing action to witness. DK, you did not have to." The princess seemed to try and hold her judgments in, however. DK looked at them with disbelief.
"But if you really want to find someone to blame…Isabelle was the one who pushed me into the water and started the death game on the iceberg," Dark Pit shrugged.
"What?!" Isabelle gasped, taking a step back. "You're blaming me?!"
"Yep."
"Ohhh, as if! Don't you all start blaming me!" Isabelle replied out loud, bitterly. The little dog stared back at them. "I simply just wanted a happy, peaceful game! You are all much guiltier than me and have caused more havoc individually than anything I ever have!"
"But you literally pushed me into freezing water to my death," Dark Pit muttered.
"Hmm…acting all innocent yourself, little doggie," Joker smiled, looking at Isabelle. "You can easily be the Mole of our group. I can sense it."
"Oh…hmmph!" Isabelle shook her head at him with a little glare.
"We… must not jump to conclusions…all of you…and we must focus on our emotions and suspicions with a clear mind," Lucina began to them all. "We cannot be frantic with our thoughts." Everyone else turned to the princess on the white land, and in silence, knew that she was right. The princess closed her eyes slowly, blocking her eyes from the snow…and her thoughts from everything else. Though tired from the effects of a mushroom, she was still able to speak with thought…more rationally and calmly than the others. "We must… think. And be calm."
"And not cause a ruckus like DK tends to every five minutes in this daunting game," Joker grinned, sighing to himself.
"I'M. NOT. EVEN. CAUSING A RUCKUS!" DK bellowed. "YOU ARE! ARGHHH! STOP RILING US UP ALL THE TIME! With a roar, he banged the plain, white ground…throwing snow into air once again and into the faces of Dark Pit, Isabelle, and Lucina.
Dark Pit sighed, sputtering snow out of his mouth. "Again."
"Oh my gosh…you're all like children!" Isabelle folded her arms, glaring at DK.
"But…who was the biggest at fault here…?" Lucina spoke up with wonder, the princess shaking her head, trying to remember the events of the game they had just played. "Who…started the descent of the mission?" She still felt the effects of a poisonous mushroom…and her mind still seemed dizzy and hazy.
Dark Pit: We always disregard one person most of the time...that maybe Lucina herself could be the Mole. But what if she is? Taking the Plus 1. Pretending to be a genuine player. Faking her nobility. All actions that paint her as innocent. Lucina always tends to avoid blame.
"DK bit the lettuce…and indeed caused the descent of our precious 40,000 coins," Joker corrected with a smug grin.
"So what?!" DK replied with a large frown. "You're all suspecting me for biting a LETTUCE? Haha! For wanting a little bit more of FUN and adventure in this game?!
Joker: A large ape who has always been that one guy always asking for adventures this whole time…but maybe he's just been the Mole this whole time, using that as his excuse for his outrageous behaviors and sabotages. Wouldn't be a complete surprise.
Isabelle: DK could be the one who was chosen to sabotage us all in the beginning! Which would very bad. Since I trust him!
"I have a question for some of you…about your actions and morals." The host's voice was piercing and surprising. Everyone turned to him. They had forgotten he had even left them to bicker amongst themselves as a dysfunctional five.
"Where the hell were you?" Dark Pit asked angrily.
"Making a phone call with the brilliant gamemaster. They prepared an excellent surprise for you all." Smash Host smiled.
"What game?" Dark Pit asked him. But Smash Host waved his hand, ignoring his question.
"Dark Pit…you seem to still be angry," the host spoke. He was holding the remnants of the bitten tomato. "You took a bite out of a tomato. And caused the entire game to become a death match. I'm curious about your morals and decisions in this very game. They seem to change constantly." Everyone looked at the angel. Dark Pit nodded…but looked also conflicted.
"Yeah…whatever," he replied, flicking off snow off his shoulder and looking unbothered. "I did. I know. 40,000 coins gone. Whooo."
Isabelle: I was really so bothered that he looked uncaring that he ruined OUR game. It irritated me. Only the Mole would do that!
Lucina: Dark Pit confessed he was the Mole to me at the end of the last episode. But was it genuine? He always has questionable morals and actions.
"You're the dumbest player here!" DK argued, jumping up happily. "Not ME!"
"Ugh…" Dark Pit muttered. "Tell me something I don't know. But I don't think I'm dumb. Nope. Not really. Not at all." He turned to the host with a smile. "I think I'm just a guy on my own mission."
"Any reason?" the host asked. The angel shrugged. His face was angry, unblinking, but they could see that his emotions looked almost conflicted.
"I don't know," Dark Pit began. "It's normal to destroy each other anyway. You have to be selfish. And care for yourself. So I don't see why I should have done otherwise. That's the game's nature, right? Maybe even our nature."
"Something innate?" Smash Host repeated.
"Yeah," Dark Pit said. "Human nature to destroy each other. Kill each other. And I feel exactly the same way…even outside in my own world. I feel like we were destined to fight and lose anyway." Everyone was quiet at his words. The angel was expressing emotions that they weren't sure whether to agree with or disagree with.
"Some destinies…are not written, Dark Pit," Lucina spoke, stepping up. Everyone turned to her. The Ylisse princess in white looked at the dark angel, then the host, then at the four players around her. "We choose our fates." She closed her eyes.
"Hmm..." Dark Pit looked down.
Dark Pit: Not sure how I felt after being pushed into freezing water, too. Now...I hate everyone again. Totally do. Well…just…not as much as I did before.
"Even the Mole him or herself has an unwritten path, despite how planned their next steps may be," Lucina finished in her speaking. Joker turned to her.
"Speaking like a person who knows," Joker said to her with a grin, glancing at the princess at her words. Lucina looked back at him, smiling a little.
"There are only five of us left," she replied back to him with a smile. "So you accusing me as the Mole…I accept it at this stage with no qualms. It does not bother me, Joker."
"Hmm." Joker put a hand to his chin.
Joker; Lucina is tricky with her words. If she were the Mole, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised either.
"Going back to the actual person who pushed Dark Pit and started the death game herself…" Smash Host coughed further, turning to another player. "It was indeed you…a small dog of small stature…who decided to push a player off into the ice…that was the action that started the entire game of death into motion." Smash Host was staring at Isabelle with a smile. Everyone stared at the surprised dog. Isabelle herself seemed taken back.
"What! Ohhh…fine," Isabelle sighed, the little canine sulking and folding her arms. "I suppose hold me to a small account of what happened. But you must all take into account, however, that if Joker didn't antagonize us all just seconds before… I wouldn't have done any of this and I wouldn't have tried to push anyone off!"
"But… you chose violence over peace," Lucina began with worry, and even a little bit of disappointment in her voice. Isabelle shook her head at her words.
"I just can't believe you're all blaming me," Isabelle whispered with disbelief. "Lucina…you're supposed to be on my side!" Joker smirked and looked at her.
Joker: So innocent…sometimes…we forget she can even be the Mole.
Dark Pit: She definitely can be the Mole. I don't think she's innocent at all. Even when she knocks someone into cold water…she still tries to play innocent. Isabelle has the potential as much as anyone else to be the traitor of our group.
"Lucina…you took a shocking item…a -1," the host continued with a surprised face. "I was...very, very curious...about that decision. It was a shocking one, indeed. Can you explain...why you did so? Surely, it's hard to defend yourself as not the Mole, willingly deciding to take a -1 on the sixth quiz of our game." Lucina nodded...her face calm.
"I must give a simple answer. It was to stop DK and Isabelle…it was to stop us all…all of us…from attacking each other. We needed to salvage our game…" Lucina closed her eyes. "I felt a duty in myself to save the game. And… I fulfilled the duty." Everyone looked at the princess in silence.
"…hmm…but you sacrificed yourself unneededly," Joker pointed out. "You indeed disadvantaged yourself one entire, whole point on the next quiz. There are only three other opponents left, Lucina." He went up to her, looking at her carefully with a smile. "Why did you do it? One could question why a genuine player would even dare to risk a -1 to simply pacify and mollify disturbance." Lucina was quiet, smiling.
"Like I said before, Joker…I am fine with being a suspect of yours," she smiled. "Do not be afraid to accuse me directly instead of indirectly. I may, in fact, be the Mole." Joker raised his eyebrow at her.
"Mindgames. I see." Joker smirked. Lucina looked at him with confidence.
"DK…you sacrificed 5,000 coins for a Plus 1," the host clarified on. "You were tempted by…a large fish. A fishy action indeed, that was." The big ape had a look of guilt on his face as large as his oversized stature. Everyone sighed: 5,000 coins had been lost by him individually.
Dark Pit: He didn't have to do that. Dumb DK.
"Argh!" the monkey said, his voice guilt-ridden. "But, you see, it was all because of how few players there are left! Five people…all smarter than me…and 5,000 coins is so little!"
"Not to me it is," Dark Pit huffed, irate. "5,000 coins could pay my rent for like three months. I'm trying to get a new apartment."
"You sabotaged…and there is no denying that…admitting it will cleanse your mind," Lucina told him, looking at him. DK pouted, looking at the ground, silent.
Joker: A quick move to guarantee money loss. Also, it was disguised as an act of desperation that a genuine player would do. If DK was indeed the Mole, it was a clever move.
"In the final few minutes of the game…there was a final offer. A game-changing offer," Smash Host informed them all. Everyone froze.
"Lucina and Isabelle. You had the chance to sacrifice the last 10,000 coins. For two exemptions." Everyone gasped…and turned to the two female players of the group. Lucina was silent…and Isabelle was quiet, smiling.
DK: What. TWO exemptions?! THIS WAS A JOKEEE!
Dark Pit: Totally overkill. And totally unfair, too.
"Well, WHAT WAS it?!" DK began loudly, almost crying. "What was the final decision?! Just how much was this game messed up in the end!? WHO GOT THE EXEMPTIONS?!"
"I do not know…I had passed out from the deadly mushroom…the decision fell solely…on Isabelle…" Lucina said quietly, and she faced Isabelle. Everyone faced her too. The entire fate of the game lay on her.
"…" Isabelle had a small look on her face, a slight smile…as if she was trying to suppress a laugh.
"TELL US!" DK begged, kneeling on the snowy ground.
"I…DIDN'T take them! Hee hee!" Isabelle beamed with a large smile. "I know you all expected me to take them, but I didn't! I just knew that I couldn't let the game be that unfair. Besides, I wanted to prove to everyone that I could win money in this game!"
"You didn't take them?" Dark Pit said in disbelief.
"…bold decision," Joker whispered.
"HECK YEAH! YOU GUYS ROCK!" DK jumped up to hug both Isabelle and Lucina. "Not only did you guys survive to the end being the strongest of all of us, but you all had the most awesomest morals out of all of us! THANK YOUUUU!" He jumped forwards, hugging them both simultaneously with his large arms. The two female players smiled.
Lucina: I was very surprised, but also very thankful, to hear that Isabelle did not take the exemptions. It would have been unfair for the other players.
Joker: Hmm…turning down an exemption for 5,000 coins. Surprising choice. Could be one more point towards Isabelle being the Mole. Or maybe Lucina "falling asleep" was her way of shifting blame. Lucina could be guilty too.
Dark Pit: It's not that I cared that they turned down the two exemptions. None of my wings care. But…not sure why…but a small part of me felt relieved.
"The pot was increased…as a final result…by 10,000 coins…your new total for this game stands at 140,000 coins."
TEAM POT
140,000 COINS
"This mission…was a very reflective one…it began peacefully, then became volatile and deadlier…due to all five of you…but in the end, you were able to salvage some victory. Just a little." Smash Host nodded. Then…he smiled. It was a destructive smile. "But you still lost 30,000 coins from all your bad actions. Think about it all."
The four genuine players looked at each other with worry. And the fifth person did too...but they secretly had victory in their heart.
"Hmm…true…thank you for pointing that out, host," Joker said with both a mix of pessimism and humor. "We lost, indeed."
"Do not say that. We did not lose," Lucina said with a voice of affirmation to herself and the others. "No. This was not a loss. I refuse to accept it as so. We still won something…albeit small."
"I won a cold shower," Dark Pit said miserably. "Yay. Whoop, whoop."
"Nah, you won more than that!" DK grinned largely to him. "You won an adventure!"
"Yeah…well, I mean, we should look at the bright side…we still got 10,000 coins!" Isabelle squealed out loud. "We did great! Oh my gosh! We didn't totally fail at least!" She beamed gleefully. "Let's be happy for once! Instead of miserable!"
"Hmm…I suppose," Joker said, nodding and looking around carefully at their land.
"I feel like we totally failed," Dark Pit said.
"Nah…at least it was an adventure, and I'm not letting that thought go!" DK shouted with happier moods, bumping Isabelle. "Right?! That's all I ever wanted! Ever since the beginning of this darn game!"
DK: And I wasn't going to let those feelings fade for me. Ever! That's why I liked to play this game!
Everyone looked at DK. He was right: it had been an adventure. A cold, miserable one. But an adventure, nonetheless.
But they all had to remember: it was all just a game.
Or at least, mostly a game.
"Being thrown by you into an icy death… DK…was a pleasure I could not have expected," Joker concluded with a sly smile to DK. "The highlight of my game so far." He gave the large monkey a pat on the back. DK stopped and stared at him.
"Was that…uhh…sarcastic?" DK replied with a gulp, fearing for his safety in the future. "Are you gonna get me back later for that?!" Joker gave him a smile of comfort.
"Not at all, DK…" Joker cheered, chuckling. "This is all just a game. Not at all."
And half of the players smiled genuinely…while the other half smiled nervously. And everyone felt exactly like they should have felt in the game of the Mole: one second smiling and laughing…and the next second in anxiety…knowing that the ice underneath them could crack at any millisecond during their game.
They drove in a van across nothing but white and snow…past many mountains far in their distance…and it seemed like a land of blankness. A land that seems to not have anything written in it. A blank canvass of white, emptiness, and unwritten history. Now, as the five players traveled across the land, it was the first time someone had traveled across its glacier tops for years. Now, they were writing history. Mole history.
A cabin was located almost one hundred miles down the icy tops of the large land. And little did they know…a camping site existed just less than a mile down the ice-frosted road.
When they looked out their van window, their breaths fogged the glass, and they could barely see outside their warm van. The unadorned land and mountains they managed to view gave them many feelings. When their game was over…would it all be blank again? Like a snowy canvas of nothing? Not even excitement? The players were lost…lost in the land…and lost in their own thoughts as well.
Before they made it to the cabin…Smash Host stopped the van. The five players, on his instruction, confused, got out one by one.
"Ah…this spot…will be magical in a few hours," the host said in a whimsical tone of expected fortune and happiness. Though it was not clear where they had stopped it…it seemed like a mini campsite in the middle of the snowy wild.
"Umm….why?" Isabelle asked, curiously looking at him. The players looked around their surroundings. A fireplace, several blankets, three sleeping bags, a container of unknown food, a half-set up tent…and a single metallic telephone…were all that existed for miles around the circle of stones. It was a makeshift campsite.
"Three of you must stay here…while the others will continue to the cabin destination," the host began, and the players all turned to each other in surprise. "But why here, at this campsite in the middle of nowhere? Because tonight…is a special night. At exactly midnight….tonight…" Smash Host's eyes lit up, as the confused players just looked at him.
"At midnight...a spectacular aurora will be in the sky."
"An aurora!" The players now seemed less anxious…and now more excited.
Isabelle: They just sounded…beautiful! And peaceful! Something we need in this game.
Lucina: I was still apprehensive for some reason, however.
"Dang…I wanna see the darn AURORAS!" DK cried excitedly. "Are they gonna be blue? Purple?! GREEN?! PLEASE BE GREEN!"
"I am not sure…I have not seen them myself," Smash Host began pulling out a brochure from his pocket. "But some rumor the aurora to be…magical."
"Could it be?" Lucina whispered, the princess' eyes widening in wonder. "Could it actually hold…powers?" She smiled to herself.
Lucina: A silly thought, I knew. But I could not help but wonder. Some things are beyond our grasps of comprehension.
"Curiosity kills the cat. Would you like to know?" Smash Host asked, smiling, holding a brochure.
"May I see that…thank you…" Lucina grabbed the brochure gently from the host's outstretched arm, reading it to herself. Her eyes read the words, and she became still, silent.
"…Only a select few of us will get to view this stunning aurora?" Joker confirmed in question, his eyes shining, glancing quickly away from the brochure himself.
"Yes," Smash Host confirmed. Joker laughed lightly.
"Ah, well. The aurora is definitely going to be beautiful, for sure…for sure…" Joker began, his sparkling eyes already thinking and speculating, as if the aurora lights themselves were already in his own eyes. "I volunteer myself immediately, and I will not back down…so no use in arguing with me…" Joker declared his sentence with a confident look on his face…and a triumphant grin of victory. "Who else will join me, then? A large monkey, perhaps? A princess of moral, peaceful nature?"
"Ooh, ooh! Me! Me!" DK jumped up, into the very circle of the campsite himself. "I wanna see the auroras! I wanna wish upon a cool star! Umm…auroras are stars, right?" He looked confused.
"DK and Joker…" confirmed the host. "Welcome to the camp. We need one more to join them."
"Heck yeahhh!" The excited ape stepped into the campsite with a grin, slapping the snowy ground, marking his large handprints in the campsite for himself.
"One more person. Who…else?" Lucina asked cautiously, looking around curiously.
"Umm, I feel like we should totally balance the genders!" Isabelle laughed. "It's just fair! Either Lucina or me."
"Wow," said Dark Pit.
"Yes…Dark Pit…you should stay here…" Lucina began, her eyes concerned. "I feel it best… you go back to the cabin. You will be safer there."
"Double wow," Dark Pit said.
"So, umm, Lucina…" Isabelle smiled, "Do you wanna go back to the safe cabin, or spend an unknown night here in these dark, mysterious snowy lands?"
"I…think…yes, I will go to the cabin," Lucina decided, facing the others. "Thank you for the offer. But I will be staying at the cabin."
"A shame, princess," Joker shrugged, turning to her. "Quite a shame. The views will be amazing."
"Well, okay then!" Isabelle smiled again. She stepped over to DK and Joker's side...being the last camper. "I'll be it, I suppose! I hope you don't mind that I don't have any camping experience!"
Campers: Joker, DK, Isabelle
Cabiners: Dark Pit, Lucina
"So, I guess that's it! We're CAMPING tonight! YEAH!" DK grinned largely at his teammates…then scratched his head…still seeming to not understand anything going on. "Soooo…Mr. Host…what time are the auroras and lights supposed to come?!"
"Midnight."
DK: That's SOOO far into the night! I wanted them now! But then I remembered: this game was all about patience! And endurance.
"Meh, whatever… until then…let's prepare for our survival of the night!" The ambitious ape was already picking up the tents, woods, and odd supplies that existed amidst the circle. He was already preparing.
"We could have told ghost stories under the night sky together, Dark Pit," Joker sighed, smiling at the angel himself. "Snuggled under these blankets." Dark Pit looked stunned, mouth dropped open.
"I…I hate ghost stories," was the angel's abrupt reply, red-faced, growling at him.
"I hope you don't tell any scary Mole stories!" Isabelle said with dislike to Joker. "And DK…please try not to fight with Joker tonight. Please? I'd like to sleep and have energy to be ready for the rest of the game tomorrow, okay?"
"Will…we still be able to see the aurora from the cabin we will be at?" Lucina spoke out carefully. "I was simply…wondering…" The host heard and paused at her question…and made a thinking face.
"I suppose why not…the lights take place all over this land of the Ice Climbers'," the host speculated. "But, maybe too far to be affected or anything. Anyhow…we're already behind schedule." He clapped his hands. "We, and the rest of the production crew, will be leaving this very spot. No one will stay. We'll leave no cameras here to record this outdoor camp setting under the sky. The cameras are too sensitive to the aurora lights."
"You…you mean…NO ONE else will be here with us?! That is soooo dangerous!" Isabelle began with a little bit of fright. "And if our fire dies out from warmth, that is our biggest danger! We need producers!" Joker shrugged.
"It seems perfect," Joker smiled. "Please…leave…"
"I'll make a fire!" DK jumped up excitedly with affirmation. "I WANNA make it! I'll make sure the Mole doesn't kill us!"
"Rest assured...everything will be okay." The host smiled…and they looked at him curiously. "The aurora will change everything. It will indeed be…beautiful and life changing ."
And those were the host's last words, as he turned around with a wink.
Joker: Let the night begin.
And within five minutes, the host, camera people, and two players boarded the van once again
And they all left Joker, Isabelle, and DK to face their demons which they would face later that night.
11:54PM…
It was just nearly five minutes until midnight.
The fire between the three players glowed brightly, fighting against the crisp coldness of the chilly air of the snow-filled land. As they sat on wooden logs, wrapped in layers and sheets of blankets that they were lucky to have, they speculated the rest of their night. Throughout the night, the three realized they had nothing else to look at but the vast land around them…the far mountains in the distance…and also the sky. The sky was still dark, pitch black with faint shades of blue. It was devoid of almost everything…with not a single aurora light in sight.
It was silent. Except for one player who managed to still have the energy to yell every five minutes….much to the annoyance of his two campmates.
"AANNYYY minute now!" DK called out with both excitement, anticipation…and impatience. "ANNNYYY…oh man, who am I kidding! We've been in this game for weeks now! I can wait! I can totally wait!"
DK: Man, this game really riles me up and annoys me sometimes! But hey: maybe that's just it. Maybe this entire game is supposed to be a huge test for me! A test of endurance. A test of who I can truly be!
Joker looked at the campsite flame between them all. His eyes sparkled heavily in the bright fire as he stared at it deeply. His eyes seemed to glow like the fire before him.
"The final five players…it is us…" Joker said calmly, and he grinned slightly. "Us five…" His eyes shined in the orange and red.
"As if some of us didn't believe with conceit that they'd be here," Isabelle whispered sarcastically, yet with a cheerful grin from the other side of the fire. "But…why am I complaining? I'm just, I'm just glad I'm still here too!"
"Me too!" DK added on, scratching his head, trying to warm his hands in the fire. "Who knew we'd be lucky enough to survive five red screens each?"
Joker closed his eyes from the bright light…then smiled. "Who are you…DK, Dark Pit, Isabelle, and Lucina?" Both DK and Isabelle turned to him, confused.
"What…do you mean?"
"We all have secrets we're ashamed of," Joker began, his eyes still shining, but he wasn't smiling as much as he was before. "We all have…things we don't tell people."
"Speak for yourself!" DK laughed to him.
Joker: In true wonder…my opponents…who are you? What are your secrets? They all had them. Their strange…eccentric secrets. Maybe some bigger than others. And one of them… hiding the most shameful secret of all…hiding the secret that they were the Mole. A coward, in my opinion.
"But most importantly of all: we all have emotions we hide. We often overcompensate our demeanors…in order to hide who we truly are."
"Man, you have GOT to stop talking all mysteriously and in TOTALLY unnecessary riddles all the time!" DK sighed with agony to Joker. "Come on! Let us be HAPPY! We're so stressed and tense all the time in this game!"
"Ah…but if you were intelligent enough for my riddles…you perhaps would be less vexed, Donkey Kong?" Joker jeered to him with a grin.
DK stood up immediately from his log with a primitive roar. "JOKER, IM GONNA THROW YOU—-"
"Oh my gosh… you men just fight over everything!" Isabelle laughed, rolling her eyes. She was busy roasting marshmallows on her own side of the fire, and popped one into her mouth. "Even without anything in the skies yet, this snowy, icy land is just actually… so pretty and peaceful! I am…even though totally cold…surprisingly enjoying it. It really is already magical!" Isabelle smiled brightly.
"Well, at least we have beautiful landscapes" Joker sighed, throwing a small handful of marshmallows into his own mouth with a grin, "But besides these…we have nothing else. Not even coveted H2O. Alas. We will die."
"Oh my gosh…dehydration?!" Isabelle squealed with horror. "I don't want to die!" Joker laughed. And pulled out a metal box from behind his log. One they had spotted earlier.
"Water. I had seen this box earlier."
"Water!" Isabelle sighed with relief. "We should all sip it NOW! Before our bodies expire! It's just not safe that we went the past seven hours without water!"
"Umm, where's the bathroom?" DK said nervously. "And privacy? I'd have reservations about drinking anything tonight!"
"Maybe you should have reservations…" Joker began with a small hit of unfortunateness in his tone, turning the mysterious box for them to see.
One sip is all you need to cure yourself.
Immunize yourself to all effects.
A drink: 5,000 coins lost
"Oh my gosh…yes! Yes!" Isabelle looked relieved. "We will not die from dehydration!" Isabelle said gleefully.
'You are missing the part where it says, '5,000 coins will be lost', Ms. Leafe," Joker sighed to her. He snickered, much to her confusion. "If you are the Mole…perhaps make it less obvious that you are our traitor." Isabelle laughed, her face countering him.
"You're just jealous that some of us are figuring out that you're the Mole…so you're just projecting it on to other people," Isabelle smiled, rolling her eyes too.
"Perhaps your ignorance to the truth will be your downfall."
"UHhhhh…heyyy…..you guyssss?" DK called out to them from a few feet away. The large ape looking up…directly to the night sky.
"Do you wish for us to DIE tonight, Joker?!" Isabelle replied back in disbelief. "Oh my gosh! You're totally like…maybe the Mole! Always blaming others! When DK and I just seriously want to simply drink water! Who cares about a measly 5,000 coins here, and 5,000 coins there? This is essential! Essential water in the middle of a cold, deserted land!"
Joker shrugged with a tricky smile. "Up to you, however. If you would like to waste money…." He smiled, holding the box up to her. "I was hoping to keep this box away from you both. To not tempt you guys to lose our precious earnings over the past three weeks. But alas…if you are wishing to waste..." Isabelle glared at him.
Isabelle: Always putting blame on other people. I saw his tricks. Kazooie was totally right: he is suspicious! He's totally the Mole, after all.
"Says the guy who threw 10,000 coins here and 10,000 coins there in all of our precious, past episodes!" Isabelle countered with an irate expression. "This is for resources! Very essential resources!"
"Whoa…that's awesome…wow…." DK spoke again in a dream-like state, voice slurring, staring at the changing sky.
"I have never thrown away money like that," Joker laughed, shaking his head ever so slowly.
"Oh, you definitely have…." Isabelle began, flustered. "You see, during a past episode… like in the Mushroomy Kingdom—-"
"You mean, Ms. Leafe, when I actually helped the team by rappelling down into a deep pit?" Joker grinned. He sighed to her. "Perhaps, Isabelle… I'm the only one helping the team. The only non-Mole. Have you ever thought of that? While everyone else…is sabotaging around successful, clever me."
"You…I'm just convinced…you helped the team win during that rappelling mission in order to make it look to us that you weren't the Mole!"
"Maybe you're the Mole, Isabelle."
"I hope you get—!"
"GUYS!"
"What!?"
"It's…ahh…begun..!" DK had been staring at the sky the entire time, and now the other two turned as well. His eyes were wide…almost hypnotized in a deep trance of sleep. And his mouth was drooling, dropped open, in disbelief at its beauty.
"Oh my gosh…" whispered Isabelle, shocked. And Joker was silent too, staring up.
It took just a few seconds…for the once-dark sky to be lit up by almost a hundred different colors at once in the Arctic land.
The aurora lights shined heavily and brightly. The eyes of the three played sparkled as the lights above them reflected in them, and they were in awe. The view, of blue, purple, green, and pink made them stare in silence. They were mesmerized by its beauty. And its power.
And shining against the glow of the colorful lights was one object that all of them seemed to ignore…but would soon not ignore: the telephone.
Nearly twenty miles away…Lucina and Dark Pit could only wait in the cabin as they saw the beginnings of the aurora formation in the sky out their window. The two players were in the cabin…separated from the others…and definitely warmer and safer. Lucina stared at the sky in the distance…her face in anticipation, nothing coming from her mouth but a soft gasp. On the princess' face, it was an expression of uneasiness…uneasiness from their current circumstances….and from their current game as a whole…and for everything that she knew was to come for the future. The Ylisse princess was mostly quiet…thinking.
Lucina: We all choose for ourselves, in this game, what actions we want to take. But what if it was unfair? What if I benefited myself…and others should suffer? It was a choice in which I had to face the consequences for.
Dark Pit was now facing away, in the corner of the room. But he was laughing, snickering to himself in the corner of the wooden cabin. Then he got up…and started pacing around. And he was grinning.
"Do you think I'm the Mole out of us five?" he asked, looking at her. Lucina seemed silent, looking at him, stunned and not knowing what to say.
Lucina: How do I reply to such a question?
"All right, I get it," Dark Pit continued. "You wanted me to come to the cabin with you because you think I'm the Mole, and now you want to interrogate me and ask me questions. Well, sure! Fine! Ask me anything. Let's interrogate each other! Cause I have some questions for you too. We'll fight—-"
"No." The princess stood up and turned around to face him. Her face was firm, but gentle. Dark Pit looked confused.
Dark Pit: What the heck did she want?
"Well…why did you want me to come to this boring cabin?"
"You see…I wanted to protect you," Lucina said to him. Dark Pit was still. His face changed.
"What?" was his short reply.
"It's… because of what you said the night before…when we were in the Hyrulian land of Skyloft," Lucina explained to him, her voice certain and soft to him as well. "You expressed darkness. Anger. Sadness. Emotions of trouble. A plethora of terrible feelings. And you expressed them to me. It was brave of you to express them." Dark Pit was dumbfounded.
"I…I guess…"
"So for this episode…I did not want you to be outside in the cold, Dark Pit, in an unpredictable area, with a state of mind like yours. You need to be safe. Not just physically…but also mentally. Your mental health…it is important." Dark Pit was silent.
"I…uh…" was all the dark angel could reply after some thinking. "Uh…"
"And earlier in the mission, while on the iceberg…you also had dark moments too," Lucina pointed out. The princess closed her eyes. "And for some reason…I feel like I must protect others."
"…protect others?" Dark Pit asked her, his eyes baffled. "...why? This game is full of evil. You need to care about yourself. And yourself only. That's how I've been playing. Pfft. I'm not going to lose." The princess seemed to look to the sky outside the window. She saw the purple, green, and red lights.
"Rather…because the game is full of evil…I feel it is my mission to protect everyone around me…it is one of my many roles in this deceitful game," she stated with certainty. "It is my role, I feel, in this game, to do so. Do you not sometimes feel things?" She looked to him.
"I get it. You're a ruler of another land. Your job is to protect people outside of this game," Dark Pit said, folding his arms, looking at her. "It seems to me you're bringing part of your real personality into this game."
"Indeed…" Lucina thought in reflection. "I cannot help it."
"Well, what if you protect the Mole?" Dark Pit countered to her. "Let's take for example that I was the Mole. Oh shoot. You screwed up. What now? Wouldn't you just be protecting them?"
"Though it may hurt me in the end….it does not matter," Lucina thought. "I will feel accomplished. Would not you?" She looked back away from the window.
"I…" Dark Pit didn't know.
"I have many roles here in this game. To play with honor. Also…to sometimes play for myself. And unfortunately…also sometimes…to deceive. But this…to help others too…this is also one of them also..." She closed her eyes. "You may think I may be foolish. But…this is what I feel I must do." She opened her eyes and smiled.
Lucina: We choose what we decide to do in our lives. Some things…we don't.
Dark Pit: I didn't understand her fully. But for some reason, I was trying to.
"…still don't understand everything you said to me completely," Dark Pit replied, scratching his head. "But anyways…well, whatever, Lucina." He turned away…then spoke one more time.
"Thanks. I...guess. If this decision to get me away from the campsite was to help me." He was quiet this time.
Dark Pit: I didn't think anyone cared about me.
Dark Pit snickered. "You know…maybe you're the actual true Mole and all…pretending to protect others and be good." Lucina turned to him with a small smile herself.
"Do go on," she said with a voice of interest. "I don't mind if people suspect me."
"Faking to be noble. Or rather, not faking…actually being noble…while still deceiving everyone else in this game at the same time. A princess of ruin. Am I wrong?" At hearing this line, Lucina's face changed to a slight challenging one.
"Even if I was the Mole of this game….would that be so bad for you?" she whispered, looking at him with a gleam in her eye. "It is no harm to you at all…if the saboteur is indeed helping you in this game. So consider all options." She smiled and looked away. Dark Pit looked at her, thinking heavily.
Dark Pit: Was Lucina the Mole? I didn't know. It would be up to me in the end to find out. Or until one of us leaves this game forever and becomes executed.
The water dripped in the coffee machine.
"Whyyyy….did you think that pulling me away from the campsite would protect me?" Dark Pit decided to ask, still wondering. Lucina took a deep breath, then turned to him, her eyes a mix of conflicted emotions but serious.
"I did not think it would protect you…I indeed know," she whispered. She opened up the brochure that she had received from the host, earlier in the day, and revealed it to the youngest player. And as Dark Pit read the words himself, his mouth dropped open in confusion and nervousness. Words in the brochure that told the truth about the night were revealed. And they looked out the window with dread together.
The Aurora Lights
Once you are under the clear, sangey lights…and once you stare at its abundance of beautiful, pelth colors …your darkest, truest, most secret, and deadliest emotions will come out.
Avoid the telephone.
Under the aurora…three players were mesmerized and in a death-like trance. DK, Isabelle, and Joker could not stop staring at the lights above them. The ever-changing lights of the Arctic sky continued to flourish and change. Then suddenly…the lights changed from green…to a dark red.
"Wow…" DK, like a child, grinned to the sky, his large eyes sparkling. The large ape was in awe…lost to the snowy sky itself.
"Hmm…" Joker, after a long time, managed to close his eyes, thinking. The always-thinking student was quiet. He was now avoiding the bright colors, an odd expression on his face. He shook his head, looking away with a stare of knowing.
Joker: I…for sure…knew that this was no ordinary sky. I saw it in the brochure. I thought an opportunity of advantage awaited…but alas, there were none.
For a few more minutes, no one said anything under the beautiful, alluring Arctic sky.
Then…Isabelle spoke up with a smile, breaking their silence.
"...you know what?" she began, her face smiling, turning to the two players besides her. Joker and DK turned to her, curious, but nodding and waiting for her response.
"What?" DK asked, not taking his eyes off the starry sky.
Isabelle beamed. "I really want to kill the mayor in my town!" Smiling, she faced back to the sky.
"Yeah…" DK replied dreamily, smiling with half-opened eyes. "I totally understand…?" The ape then faced her this time with wide, unbelieving eyes. Isabelle laughed.
"WHAT?!"
DK: WHAT THE HEEEECKKK?
"All he ever does is steal my credit. I worked really hard for everything! Don't you think it's reasonable to do something to him? I've always wanted to kill him!"
"I…I'm beginning to sense a change of attitude in you, Isabelle…" Joker began cautiously, his eyes precariously glancing at her as well. He had an amused smile on his face...but it slowly faded at her next sentence.
"Let's cut his throat and then kill all the villagers together!"
Joker: It was beginning.
"WHOA!" DK's eyes were wider than ever, almost stumbled backwards at her words. "Let's not kill anyone! How about that?!"
"This aurora…" Joker whispered. His stance changed completely, more alert. He was looking at the dog next to him with careful, different eyes.
"If you guys really, really knew how much I hated my dumb town…oh, you'd laugh so much!" Isabelle giggled. "I just keep on pretending to like my town! But I'm lying to all of you! Kind of how the Mole lies to all of you!"
"Uhhh, that's CRAZY!" DK looked at her, scratching his head. "I thought you always loved your town, Isabelle! You're always like… so happy about everything!"
"Silly DK…you're so silly…" Isabelle laughed. "Why can't you see past the lies? We're both animals. You should be smart. Smarter than humans."
"Once again…" Joker began, raising an eyebrow and staring at the dog. "Your mentioning of animals versus humans—-"
"I really HATE hate hate him!" Isabelle sat down and buried her head down, looking distraught. "I really, really really really hate him! And I really want to KILL him! LET'S KILL EVERYONE!"
"Ahhhhh!" DK got ip to his feet in panic. "Stop with all this killing stuff! I don't know if I should help you or run away from you, Isabelle!"
"Your darkest, deadliest emotions…" Joker whispered out loud. His shook his head with unsettled eyes.
"Oh…that mayor. That…ASSHOLE mayor of my village! And those…unappreciating, disgusting, slothing villagers! AHHH…oh…." She sighed. "I'm going to tell him and ALL these stupid villagers in that town a few good words!"
Isabelle smiled. And she stood up. She eyed the metallic telephone that existed on the other side of the campsite.
Joker: Oh no.
"I…don't think you should do that," Joker began, the student standing up himself and stepping towards the direction of the device…blocking himself between Isabelle and the path to the telephone. He then held up something in his hands: the box of water.
"Drink it," Joker said with forcefulness. "This is the only time in this game I shall ever help a questionable person like you."
"Oh, screw you, Joker!" Isabelle laughed. "Everything you do ever do is to sabotage! You're just…sabotaging this game again!"
Joker shook his head…and thought. Then, he spoke.
"If...you're the Mole…then this is good, no?" Joker continued, slowly starting to smile sneakily to her. "You can cost 5,000 coins…and also, never let your secret out to your town. A secret you can harbor from them forever in disguise. What fun." Isabelle faced him, and then began laughing out loud.
"That's why there are no cameras here!" DK yelled with frenzy. "None of this will be on TV! Just between us and the people we call! Ahhh!"
"If I was the Mole…letting my town and villagers know how I really feel about them is SO worth over just sacrificing 5,000 coins!" Isabelle giggled out loud in reply to him. "So g'bye! I don't want that silly water! Now, let me through to the phone!"
"You can destroy an entire town with your words," Joker said seriously to her. "Is that what you want? How terrible."
"Isabelle…are you sure?! It really all just sounds bad!" DK shouted. From behind them, the big ape was stumbling to their spot. "Isabelle, let me stop you…whoops!" The seemingly-inebriated ape staggered…knocking over an entire wooden tent post in the process….a few logs...as he crashed directly into Joker in a heavy trip.
CRASH!
"Ahhh!" With a yell, both he and Joker tumbled to the snowy ground together. Isabelle giggled.
"Yippee!" Isabelle said gleefully, seeing the two male players on the floor and no longer obstructing her way. "I can get to the telephone now!" Joker looked up at her, snow in his face and dumbfounded. Taking another look, he turned to the metal box: almost all of the water had spilled out of the container in the commotion. Joker gasped.
"Yeahhh! Call them, Isabelle!" DK bellowed. "Wait…no! Don't…I mean…yes!" Taking a moment to shake his head and shake the snow out of his own eyes, DK laughed…then the large monkey stood up high. Then he paused. As if breaking out of his trance. "Or maybe…Isabelle…maybe we should stop—"
"DK…" Isabelle began, smiling sweetly to him. "Have you ever felt animosity towards someone so much…been so jealous of someone…that you wanted to yell at them and tell them terrible things on the telephone?" Isabelle replied. And DK stopped.
"Uh…uh…" DK's eyes were wide, as if about to pop out of his head. He seemed frozen…like a monkey lost in the icy region of their world both physically and mentally .
"…Yes."
"Who?"
"My…my family."
"Family…" Joker looked at him with confusion. But DK just looked down.
"I'm…I'm dumb. I'm NOTHING compared to them!" DK closed his eyes…trying to hold his emotions…but he couldn't. "They're all SMARTER than me. BETTER than me. And it's…it's supposed to be the 'DK' TEAM?! But what damn team even exists if I'm no longer there?! What team would exist if they all leave me behind?!" DK paused, now large tears falling from his eyes. He turned to another direction: to the telephone.
Joker saw him look at the phone. "No…"
"I have to tell them…that I'm worthless and I'm NEVER going to be a winner like them! AND I HATE THEM FOR THAT! I HATE MY FRIENDS! I HATE MY FAMILY!" DK looked down, sobbing.
Joker: For once…I had to be good.
"No… I don't believe you hate your friends and family," Joker said, shaking his head at the entire situation, his thoughts and emotions flying amuck… but his composure still to the ape. "I just believe you're frustrated about everything around you. And you want to take it out on your friends and family members unnecessarily." Joker stared at him in the eyes, grabbing his shoulders. "But it's the wrong decision. They never did anything to you. You only did all of this to yourself."
"STOP COUNSELING ME!"
"But I'm right. Aren't I, DK?" Joker replied.
"I…I…" DK fell to his knees. His emotions were heavy. His shoulders sank. And then he seemed to cry even more, heavy sobs that seemed to shake the mountain in the distance. And for a few seconds after that, they were all quiet.
Isabelle was quiet too….then spoke again.
"Give them a call and tell them you hate them all!"
"YESSSSS!"
"No!"
"Tell them you want to kill them!"
"Stop, you conniving dog!"
Joker leapt up, his large coat waving behind him in the snowy air as he jumped to stop the already-walking DK from picking up the phone.
But Isabelle grabbed the edge of his coat…and Joker was brought down to the ground, his face slamming into the cold snow once again. He groaned in frustration.
"DK…call your family!" Isabelle shouted gleefully to DK, sitting on top of Joker and not letting him get up. "Tell them that you really hate them! And I'll call the mayor afterwards and tell him how much I HATE AND WANNA KILL HIM!" DK turned to them, then to the telephone. His eyes were wide and conflicted.
The phone was in his hand.
"I…I…ARGGHHH!" DK slammed the telephone to the ground. "No! Stop! I still love them! These…these damn auroras! They won't take over me! I'm a good person!" Isabelle stood up, freeing Joker. She then ran up to the ape's spot.
"Fine! Whatever! You're both so…so useless!"
She picked up the telephone…still wired and working.
Joker: And then…before any of us could stop her…she dialed on the telephone.
Brrrrrrng….brrrrrnt…..
"Hello….this is Isabelle…hi! The front desk? Yes indeed…can you kindly connect me to the mayor?"
"Jeez…" Joker listed his face up, shaking his head. His entire body was frosted with cold, icy snow. He seemed embarrassed…and defeated.
"Hi…mayor? Yeah, it's Isabelle. Listen…I just want to tell you something…"
DK ran up to the ground-laying Joker, confused.
"Too late to stop her," Joker sighed, shaking his head. "I thought…I thought this was all just a game. I'm wrong."
"Oh, nothing special, mayor. It's just….I HATE YOU!"
"Are you okay, man?" DK began, picking up the young gentleman with both large hands. "Isabelle pummeled you!" Joker brushed himself off.
"Yes…" Joker began quietly. But his hands were strangely cupped.
"I HATE YOU WITH ALL MY GUTS! I WANNA RIP OUT YOUR INTESTINES AND PUT THEM ON THE WALL!"
"I feel the auroras taking up my mind….it's controlling me…I can't…!" DK clutched the sides of his head in agony, stumbling around. "Im…trying to fight it. But I can't stop it!"
Isabelle howled with laughter. "THAT'S right! I NEVER should have worked for you! You lazy, insolent, DEMEANING SON OF A B—-"
"I feel so whooozy…half of me is awake…but half of me seems in a huge trance still…!" DK continued, shaking his head. "The auroras…dang…they're so strong…I can't stop these bad emotions…"
"I know," Joker said with dismay. "I feel like…they are even manipulating our emotions too…"
"Oh, and you know who put a little bit of the cat feces in your coffee before you left town? ME! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Err, why are you hands…weirdly cupped?" DK questioned, his eyes confused and wide at Joker. The coated man just stopped, silently smiling…looking at the elixir in his hands.
"Because you need this. I'm saving you and your family." And he splashed water directly into the surprised mouth of DK.
Splash!
"SPLRRRPHT!" The ape fell backwards, eyes wide, and he swallowed the costly water that would later save his life and relationships that night.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR! YOU TRICKED ME! You totally tricked me and wasted 5,000 coins! Why did you do that?! I really….why…did…you…do…do..that…for…wow….wow…whoa…I… feel happy…"
As DK just sat back on the snow, lying down, a smile on his face and eyes closed in bliss…Joker just stood above him.
Joker: I was the Mole. 5,000 coins for a splash of water. But…I did it for a good reason. I did it to make the world better. Maybe I had to be good for a night.
Joker, now starting to feel woozy himself, took a step backwards and stumbled. It was a heavy stumble, and he almost tripped into the snow yet again. But, he regained his composure, then he shook his head.
"Goodnight DK…and goodnight me…"
"I HATE YOU, MAYOR! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU! And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…..QUIT!"
"Time to drink and end this," Joker began, turning to the box by his feet him with a smile. And then he stopped. And his smile vanished.
From his step backwards, he had hit the box, and had accidentally knocked all of the water out of the metal box.
"No…" He stared with wide eyes at the empty metal box. "No…"
"HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHA!" Isabelle's roaring howl was the loudest sound in the many miles surrounding them on the white, icy land. The snow on the ground shook with every barked and obscenity she yelled with happiness and glee. She felt free.
But one other sound interrupted her.
"Hey…Isabelle…can I have a turn at the telephone?" It was another player, standing behind her…tall, composed…but not himself.
"Of course! Mayor…see you in hell!" She handed the telephone to Joker with a smile. "Who do you want to call?"
"Just a…friend from my hometown. I've been missing her."
"Sure! I've had my turn already."
And Joker made a call.
Brrrrrrng….brrrrrngg...
"Kasami…is that you?"
But there was no answer. And Joker's heart sank. But he had expected it to be so.
"I just wanted to tell you that…" He paused.
The aurora glistened harder and brighter. And stronger. As if taking over everyone below it.
"I'm…sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I…never really said the words I'd always wanted to say to you." He paused again. As if trying to choose his next words carefully. The coldness of the telephone's metal made him grip it even harder.
"I….know you spent your whole life pretending that everything was okay. Everyone thought you were okay. But I knew the truth. I could see that…you were not okay." He swallowed. And was silent for another minute. Until he spoke again.
His voice cracked. Hearing him, Isabelle stopped, and turned to him with surprise.
"But…I didn't do anything. I didn't save you," Joker whispered, and a tear fell from his eye. Isabelle gasped, her eyes wide.
"I…oh no…" She whispered. She shook her head. The effects of the aurora were disappearing and nearly gone for her…but it was still affecting her teammate.
"That morning…that rainy morning. You asked if you could come over. But…I was a fool. I, of course, said no. I wanted to be alone. I wasn't that outgoing person who you're talking to today. The one who can help someone in need when they truly needed it. The one who was...brave." His hands trembled… as he struggled to hold the phone. Isabelle turned around to look at him, not knowing what to say.
"I see flashbacks…flashbacks of guilt from that morning…like a shadow, always following me. Always haunting me." And in his mind…Joker seemed to be in another world. Isabelle looked at him, her eyes wide and sad.
Isabelle: Even though I didn't know who he was talking to…or what he was even talking about…I still felt the power from his voice. And the pain. The conviction. And from his reaction… and just from his voice…I felt as if I was there, too. It was almost as if I could feel what he was feeling. Not to the same level...but even just a little.
"I heard yelling. Then, I saw other people running…and they were going to a house of a girl. And that girl was you. But…I didn't say anything." He stopped. "I could have yelled. Or helped. But instead…I ran away." He was silent now.
"I was young. And I was a coward. I didn't deserve you. I could have…saved you." Joker nearly dropped the phone…but he continued. The snow fell.
"You…make me who I am today." Joker nodded. He was acknowledging the truth. "Before I met you…I was a coward. Shy. Closed. I couldn't even look another person in the eye when talking to them. But…hehe…look at me now. I'm sure you wouldn't even recognize me...even without wearing my handsome, ostentatious mask." Joker looked to the sky...at the roaring aurora lights. They were going from a dark red...to almost pink.
"Instead of running away from things…I run towards things now. Surprised? I am, too. I'm a lot braver, actually. I'm bolder. A superhero, one might say. I think you'd be rather surprised and pleased to see who I am today." He then, suddenly, laughed to the phone.
"This game. All these silly things I do for the camera. The silly flirtations. If you were to watch me on TV…you would have laughed too. Knowing all of this was fake. Because…there was someone else I cared about instead…and would always care about." He stopped again.
"I could have helped you. But I chose not to. And…I know that if you knew that…you would never want anything to do with me. So I just wanted to let you know how I felt." He paused.
"I never said these words to you, and I'll say them now. I love you."
Far away…not in a wooden cabin…or a frosty wilderness existence…but a room of bright lights, control panels, and conflicted emotions...two individuals sat in a room full of screens, flashing machines, beeping sounds...and very mixed emotions that were palpable to each other.
In the large room, they were silent, having seen and heard everything before them on the snowy campgrounds miles away. One of them had a top hat on. He sighed and leaned forwards in his seat, resting his head on the control panel, sighing. He was tired, stressed, and overwhelmed...and it was mostly from the game he had just witnessed before him.
The other middle-aged individual, though also uncertain...seemed not as bothered. Her eyes glowed against the bright screens. She had a more calm…content…satisfied look on her face.
Clearing her throat, she spoke to the host.
"I hope you don't hate me for putting this game in."
"I could never hate you."
She stopped, silent. She held back her emotions. "I...well...always wanted at some point...in my own game…for there to had been a chance at emotional catharsis," she spoke softly and firmly. "Since I knew that my game never gave me the chance to ever do that…I was never able to express myself. And it caused me hurt for months after."
The top-hatted individual turned to the person next to him. His face was not mad…but full of nothing but understanding.
"You were very emotional during your game…but you never got the chance to express your true feelings at all… indeed…that is something I could agree with," he replied, nodding. "Is that why you wrote this Aurora game in particular?"
"Yes…" The other person nodded. "Emotional healing. As an emergency nurse…I really feel as if it's truly my job to try and heal others all the time. It's a part of me that I'll never give up. So these five players…I wanted to give them the chance to express their true emotions. To heal their emotions. To heal from anything they were feeling."
"Do you think it was successful?" he asked her. The other person paused.
"I'm…not sure. I really hope it was. I really...really hope so. I hope I didn't cause harm. It's…hard to say, actually, but I was hoping we'd be able to analyze the results of this mission in the near future. I'm not sure if the results of this game were good…or bad…but…well…I tried my best. And what's done is done. If it was not good...I'm sorry." She closed the folder in her hands.
T: It was time to go home.
"I'll be going home to conclude my research analysis at my hospital on this entire game. Thank you." She paused. And continued. "But I will say…it was very nice to be back here. I do hope you find another gamemaster for the remaining last episodes of this game. There's...not much else for me to do here."
The gentleman smiled gently back at her. "No one is perfect. You have a good heart. After all these years...that's the one thing that has never truly changed about you. All is well." Then, his face changed. As if a funny thought hit his mind. "And…if you did end up causing more chaos here…well, it isn't quite the first time you've done such a thing, is it?"
The other person smiled, shaking their head.
"Once a Mole…always a Mole. I've never forgotten." And Toadette, smiling softly, left the room.
Me: ...WHATTT?! Even I'm shocked
Readers who've never read any of my previous stories before: Uhh...wait...I don't get it! -looks at reviews-
Readers who have: I do! I DO I DO I DO I DO!
xD And that's that! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! It literally went through 15-20 edits and cut and entire sections deleted and entire sections added.
I promise next chapter will be a lot more simple and straightforward :) The five players will continue a more normal game from there! And then...the sixth execution!
Please review if you can! I need some inspiration! Whaaaa! Haha! And I promise to reply this time! :)
Then again, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't review in spite of my absence. Ugh, what kind of writer am I?
I love you all though :) Stay tuned!