…HELLOOOO!

I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! :D ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE READING THIS! Even if you're the Mole!

So...it's been a while…

I know that I've lost a lot of readers :( I don't know how many I have left. It's my fault! I don't have excuses.

I don't expect many people to still be reading and read this chapter :( but for the number of people who do, I'll be so happy. If you're reading this right now, I am eternally grateful. It's more of a gift than I could ever ask for.

So first off: I have said this on previous instances I had taken a hiatus: I think about this story ALMOST EVERY DAY. Seriously almost every day of the last year!

Though I have betrayed (like the Mole does) this beautiful story by being gone for so long… I am happy to say I have not abandoned it or forgotten about it. That gives me some solace.

IF YOU DO read ahead…it is MORE than a gift to me that I could ever ask for. Thank you.

Anyways, life!

1. I moved to New York City! YAYYY! So I've been busy with stuff and life adjusting a bit hehe. If you come to NYC, I'll treat you to bubble tea and maybe even to the Nintendo NYC center : )

2. A huge reason and inspiration I have uploaded TODAY/THIS WEEK is because…..

THE 2ND SEASON OF THE MOLE REVIVAL IS CURRENTLY AIRING ON NETFLIX! Like the actual show. It's still alive. Wow. Just…it's beyond words of belief after all these years of absence. You have no idea how happy I am to know the show is still alive in this world. I'm actually a reddit moderator for the page haha, as well as the instagram page maker.

Anyways, watch the new Netflix season if you can! It's only 10 episodes and it's all ending this friday with the Mole being revealed in the last 2 episodes left to air, haha.

Anyways…the story! You could say I "worked so hard" on this chapter! Over a WHOLE YEAR! xD haha, I guess you can see that this is my most worked on chapter yet. I hope you're able to enjoy it all and truly enjoy it. :)

Please enjoy this ending :) of course, I had to add more TWISTS AND REVEALS and reveals and surprises. And even worse…now new mysteries introduced. Hahaha. Hating me is a natural sentiment for this :)

The blizzard game has a few final deadly obstacles…and so does before the execution.

Another players leaves and is gone forever and ever.

(Also…perhaps some little Easter eggs to readers of my past stories, hehe.)

ENJOY FINALLY THE END OF EPISODE 6!

Episode 6 (End)

Secrets and revelations are finally unexpectedly opened to the world. Wintery blizzards cause chaos in the game as four players attempt to beat a Goddess...and the air becomes deadly still once again as a player of the Final Five is executed from the game forever.

"No…" the warrior princess uttered sadly. She covered her mouth in cold emotions...and pure disbelief...at the golden box before her.

"Yes," Smash Host replied, eyes sparkling. "Open the box…and your four teammates will each be forced to reveal dark, revealing, personal secrets. Make your choice." Lucina's own blue eyes were stunned, shimmering like the haunting blue screens of deaths surrounding her. Her own hands at her sides were frozen…much like the world she was trapped in. Trapped seemingly forever in.

25 Minutes Left…

Lucina sighed deeply…and then, she smiled sadly. "…for you can not be in true seriousness…in your declaring, Smash Host…to expose secrets of the others…in this game? And why am I not…not surprised at all, you are offering this to me? Your job…to create ruin and tempt…a Mole is not needed after all…" Lucina whispered to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Smash Host began, chuckling defensively with surprise, as if breaking character for the first time in the game.

"What is a host at times?" Lucina added. "A second Mole...it unfortunately seems." Her eyes sparkled.

Lucina: I will play games with him...if he is subjecting me to dastardly games like these.

"Wow," Smash Host replied with a frown.

"And this box of disaster…all for an advantage for myself…" Then, another unfortunate emotion shadowed over Lucina herself. A dreadful emotion. Temptation. Temptation to open Pandora's box.

Lucina: Why…why was there temptation? I felt it. I could not believe myself. Could I see it within the confines of my morals in this game…to open the box and destroy? Destroy the others to advantage myself? For I couldn't…

"If you open this box on the ground…then four forbidden, deep secrets…one deep secret each about DK, Isabelle, Joker, and Dark Pit…will be let out into the open and may potentially be exposed to the world," Smash Host repeated, the explanation unmistaken from his mouth. "And if they don't reveal their secret themself…they're eliminated from this very mission… and Lucina, the exemption becomes closer to your very palms. Move into the final four." Lucina shook her head.

"Oh…" Then she let out a smile…a sad, knowing smile to him. "It is like you are trying to get me to sabotage. And…to tempt me. You always have been. To the others. Now, to me." She faced Smash Host. "If there was no Mole in this game…you would suffice." The hatted man was silent. Dumbstruck.

"If you were the Mole….then you would understand why," Smash Host replied back with a slight grin. "IF, you were."

"Anyone can be it. Even you. Even me." Lucina only looked back at him silently.

Lucina: I was looking at a box…a simple box more evil than anything else in the game. Where did I stand in this game? Did I now have the sudden will to win this game…but potentially risk damaging the others? Should I play with honor and not do it? Or, with honor, should I play the game for those who had fallen before me? Beautiful, kind individuals…who couldn't make it this far? Peach….Lucario…Kazooie….everyone before me. I felt the box's sinister aura. An unprecedented, evil, treacherous…sinister aura. One that Lucario felt perhaps many times when playing this game many times.

Smash Host was standing on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. He smiled slightly towards Lucina, folding his arms.

"…just remember…" Smash Host the. twirled something in his left hand ominously. The thin, rectangular object was red, strong… like the color of blood. "I'll have to give you….this card…at the end of the episode. Do you remember that noble sacrifice you made while on the iceberg in the beginning of the episode when you ate that mushroom to help the others? An exemption nullifies it." Lucina gasped out loud with a new panic: it was her Minus 1.

"My Minus 1…from the Iceberg game when I ate the single mushroom!" she gasped in realization. "When I helped the team…I sacrificed myself." She closed her eyes. "I forgot."

"If you win the exemption of this mission, Lucina, you can NEUTRALIZE out your Minus 1 for the end of this episode," Smash Host confirmed. "You will no longer be close to death. If you are a genuine player…this will be very crucial to survive, will it not be?"

Lucina gasped. "I…do not know. But…you see, Smash Host….part of me wants to survive more…to win for the others…the others fallen in the past…" "

"But you will hurt the other above four while doing so," Smash Host reminded her.

Lucina: But what was right? What was supposed to be done? What did I have the will to do?

"Smash Host…should I…?"

"Betray? This is the game of 'The Mole', after all." The host smiled. "You have to betray sometimes, Lucina. It's all right if you do." He only shrugged, leaning back into his chair.

The Ylisse princess was conflicted, her blue eyes full of fear and panic. "I…must obey my morals at times….but at other times, I must indeed betray…" She swallowed and nodded.

Lucina: I had to retain nobility. Honor. But…if I were to be eliminated this episode from a -1….how could I go on and honor my fallen teammates?

"Eleven…ten…nine…" the computerized-voice continued to count down. Lucina looked around, flustered, facing in every direction and closing her eyes. As if she was in a tornado of snow herself.

"I…I…" Her face was concerned. She was conflicted in her next actions.

"Five…four…three…two…one…"

And then the counter stopped.

"I must…go on." Lucina spoke finally and firmly, as well as tearfully, a small tear going down her face. "I have a goal to win. To go on in this game to honor everyone before me who unfortunately left too early. To continue this game in the end and to make it to the end. And with the removal of a -1…from receiving an exemption….I can go on and succeed. And honor those who have fallen. I will honor them."

Smash Host was grinning from ear to ear.

"Excellent choice." The host paused. He stared at Lucina carefully with a smile. "But…hmm…haha… I just wanted to say… if you were indeed the game's true saboteur…what a terrible, malicious, diabolical Mole you'd be," Smash Host laughed. "Pretending to honor the others who have been executed in the past...in order to sabotage."

"Think whatever you want of me. Whether you believe I am the Mole or not." Lucina paused. "Even if I was the Mole…it is perhaps not…mutually exclusive at all. I may still be doing this to play for the past, fallen others."

"True. But I should not focus too much…I don't know who it is," Smash Host replied, shrugging."

"One may argue that you may already know who the Mole is," Lucina replied with a countering smile to him. "Is it true?" The host was silent.

"That is not true. You make several assumptions about me. But not all of them are true."

"Hmm." Lucina just looked at him closely and softly. Then, she turned and simply faced the golden box she had chosen. And then Smash Host motioned for the resolute princess to go towards it.

"We have a game to finish. Whenever you're ready….goddess…you may open Pandora's box."

Mission Time Remaining: 23 Minutes

The second blizzard was coming in exactly seventy seconds. Joker, Dark Pit, and DK…the thre surviving male players of the game….who had blistered through scorching wintery weather…were getting ready once again for a second attack.

But someone would die to the ferocious blizzard to come…a next victim in the mission of races against a God.

But the three players…all running, thinking deeply…still had time to talk a terrible small discussion before their approaching doom.

The angel of death looked back behind him. Dark Pit stared with blank, dark eyes backwards…his black eyes looking to the graying, darkened skies with disappearing hope. And…even shocking to him…sadness. He saw the storm in the distance… and he gulped. And he felt fear. Growing fear. And sadness. A whirlwind of emotions.

Dark Pit: This weird, terrible game…so full of unwanted things and stress and danger…but also full of weird… fun…and excitement…and happiness…happiness cause of the existence of other certain people…and choices…and then my regular life…back in my own world…full of nothing.

"What do I do next?" Dark Pit asked out loud in a lost voice, turning to none other than Joker. The sneaky, tall player with his long legs turned to the angel, an amused, curious look on his face. He sighed.

"Hmm…hehe." Joker, the cynical thief he was, chuckled in the snowy land as he ran, not bothering to look back at Dark Pit. "Quite silly of a question to ask. We find the third object in Town 3 when we get there, of course." Joker continued to speak to him while still running at a quick pace. "And then we go to Town 4. We beat Lucina. You do not seem to remember the rules well. Too unfocused on something else, it seems?"

"When this is all over…and I leave this game…what do I do?" Dark Pit continued more. "What do we all do? It's like we die."

The question pierced the air in the white, blank land of snow. Joker finally stopped and paid attention to him, eyes different. Even DK stopped in their tracks and stared at Dark Pit for his unexpected question.

"WHHHAAAAAAATTTT?!" DK exclaimed in yelling. "Where did THAT come from?"

"Uh…" The dark angel's eyes widened, feeling guilty, and then was looking down at the snow, feeling different.

Joker: It was a rather philosophical question indeed. By a young player. Too young to think about existentialism and life. And death. Well, metaphorical death. But I suppose I could help him… since I was smart enough.

"I'M RUNNING!" DK coughed out loud, laughing, faking his choking, and continuing to run forwards into the snow. He looked to the beautiful, daunting expanse before him. "I'm not taking the time for this philosophical dark life and death talking! I'm gonna enjoy the snow and view!"

"Getting out of this game feels like death now. We've been in it for so long. What's after this?" Dark Pit continued.

"Geez man!" DK yelled, but he was also chuckling nervously. "Too deep for me, man!" DK slapped his forehead with his apey-large palm, then after a large sigh of disbelief, continued to dash nonchalantly across the snowy land. Dark Pit sighed himself.

DK: Whenever things get too deep or philosophical, or you're required to think too much….I run! And think about banana. Not my job!

Joker: Donkey Kong. Always pretending he's dumb. Alas. Perhaps it is ok; it makes me appear more intelligent in a game like this.

"Well…" Joker said, eyeing Dark Pit with some percentage of concern. "Hmm…" He slowed down a bit in speed. "Do you feel these emotions because we are soon to die in a cyclone of blistering snow in thirty seconds?" Dark Pit didn't say anything for a second, but then he did.

"I just feel like…I don't know...things will be so different…when everything is done and gone…out of this game…" Dark Pit continued on, staring at the white ground blankly as he continued. "And we won't see each other anymore when one of us leaves. Maybe never. Maybe only a few times in a whole year, when we are brought to battle. I wonder how the past players have felt…the moment they were executed. Wii Fit. Kazooie. After we leave…nothing is fun."

Dark Pit: …so…so…empty.

"And I have an answer, I believe," Joker spoke up, looking directly right at Dark Pit. "And it's simple."

Dark Pit looked up at him. "What's that?" he asked, eyes looking ar him.

"We indeed, after this game is all over…will continue to do same, routine actions…the same thing that we used to do before we came here, yes…but this time, when we go back…we will go back with new thoughts and a new mind… a new life…a new persona." Joker paused. He was half smiling…but the student's face was also half-serious, his face in reflection for every second he thought and spoke. "Because, Dark Pit and DK, after this…when we go back…we will indeed be new people…with new knowledge, and new lessons…and that will shape everything else we do for the rest of our lives….even in the small, mundane things we do. Those mundane actions don't have to be mundane anymore. Our minds and thoughts…they will be new. We will live life in the newest way possible. And to the best." Dark Pit looked at him with wide eyes. DK, stopping in his tracks, also did too.

DK: And then…yeah! I understood too! I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD HIM!

"OH YEAH! YOU'RE RIGHT, JOKER!" DK jumped up, his face looking joyous as he cried out happily in a bellow. "Like when I lift a hundred gajillion cargo boxes and barrels every day at my boring job…which is usually so boring!… I can TOTALLY do it with a SUPER NEW mindset from now on, and think about new thoughts and ideas in my head while I do it all…I can do it as A NEW DONKEY KONG!" And the large ape, with a happy, louder voice, had lit up eyes of revelation. "Full of ways to make it fun…thinking in different, intelligent ways…!" He grinned happily, mouth, eyes, and face in revelation. "Wha, thank you, DUDE! Thank you!" He slapped Joker heartily on the back, strongly and swiftly with his heavy hand, with gratitude.

"Still think I'm the dastardly Mole of our group of five?" Joker winked at DK, turning to him. The ape's face immediately turned back to an accusing frown, as if nothing had happened.

"Hey…I'm just praising you for your way of thinking, NOT erasing you off my list of suspects!" DK growled in a voice of annoyance and reminding him. "Still voting for you on this Execution 6! 100 percent!"

"And life doesn't have to be so mundane when you go back," Joker continued to chuckle. "You can still do many new things and try many new things and pick up new hobbies, or…"

"You got accepted to the University of Tokyo," Dark Pit spoke to Joker, turning to him. "At least someone has something exciting to look forward to when they get back and this is all over." At his words, Joker's face suddenly turned still. His eyes were still as well…as if just suddenly different...emotionless.

"Yes…yes, indeed."

Whrooooo… Suddenly, they felt the winds pick up again. But this time, for some reason…they weren't as scared. They felt more ready. Ready for the blizzard.

"It's here." The snow began lifting off from their bodies, as they stared at each other with both tension…but preparation. The ground below them began to shake, and flurries started to float into the air. They looked at each other, and just within a few passing seconds more, the air had become so dense and thick, they couldn't see each other anymore.

And in the distance, as they turned around, they saw, so faintly and so vaguely in the distance, what their worst fears were expecting. It was a large figure in the distance, so big, so tremendous: a snow tornado was coming…already formed. A terrible, tremendous cyclone of roaring winds and sounds had started heading their way.

Joker paused. Then uttered a single word.

"Run," he said.

They began to bolt, even faster than before. They were more prepared than they were before…but unfortunately, they were not prepared enough.

Whoooooooosh…

Joker: Truly…there was really no escaping death.

"It's getting closer!" DK yelled, panicked trying to run as fast as he could forwards. "AHHHHHHHH!" He yelled frantically amidst the growing, louder wind.

Whoooooooooooooosh…

"Calm…stay calm….and…to win, we must stay together….!" Joker shouted. He tried to look through the whirling snow, but he couldn't see.

"The twister…it's HERE!" Dark Pit screamed, as he tried to run more with growing panic. "WE'RE GONNA GET BLOWN AWAY! AHHHH!"

"Be calm!" Joker ordered him, shielding his eyes from the snow. "It's the only way we'll stay….and….brrrrrr….win TOGETHER!"

And then…the blizzard hit them fully.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

They all shouted in anguish as the cyclone finally finished approaching them, having gotten closer and closer each second, now roaring vigorously like an alive being. The storm was now present among them, blinding their vision and freezing their bodies.

And one of them would be frozen so coldly…that it would render them unable to go on.

In a sense…they would be dead.

Mission Time Remaining: 21 Minutes

A small dog…rather flustered and heated with emotions in her small body…sat on the steps of a wooden cabin that belonged to a store selling fake seal meat, icy polar bear statues, and icy mole figurines. Every person that passed Isabelle could indeed tell that she had a very sulky look on her face…one that had remained evidently and powerfully… ever since the precise second she had eliminated herself from the game and had gone her own way away from the three male players of the game.

"Pmmph! Oh…pooie! If only the game wasn't so…so…unethical! Murdering innocent seals? Very unprincipled! I cannot believe this is the very same game I signed up for weeks ago! Condoning murder. I'll say! I just can't…can't…can't with the others!" She was speaking to herself with disbelieving vexation….and also to the camera man five feet in front of her.

"Uh…" was all the camera man replied.

Isabelle: I was out of the game, yes, but I was NOT out of my disappointed thoughts about those boys just about yet! I couldn't believe the others! For continuing to be in that slaughterhouse of…greed! The things people do for money! This game of the Mole really tested your morals and ethics, I would agree on that!

She then turned to her left, spotting a trail of footprints in the snow: two sets belonging to young boys and one of a large animal. Isabelle made a high-pitched sound of further disappointment.

"Leaving me footprints to stare at with fury! The others also didn't have to leave me. Such saboteurs they all are themselves!" She sighed. And then she laughed again in the air. Her face slightly changed.

Isabelle: I then realized…no stress. Oh, joy is me.

"But perhaps I have a little bit of reprieve now! I am away from those boisterous three! And they are stressful! My life is usually so stressful…and in this game too! How unfortunate. Thinking I could escape it all. So…! I'm really glad to relax and be out of this seal-killing mission. I must be positive! Positivity! All positive! Yay!" Her face immediately turned to one of bliss, and she beamed. She turned to wave to two workers carrying a bread-shaped polar bear happily. They waved back. She waved again. Isabelle smiled and beamed to them.

Isabelle: It's just so so so nice to have peace in this game sometimes! You know? I just think it's been many episodes too long! And just, some others may ask, how am I still here? How am I alive after these many trials and tribulations? Oh dear! Maybe…I am barely at all!

Wooosh…! A sound suddenly appeared above Isabelle. The dog seemed startled, but when she looked up, she saw that it was a single piece of paper. A glittering, glowing piece of paper. Its yellow shine was not just from the sun above her, but the paper itself was yellow, resplendent and shining. It seemed beautiful, as it landed almost directly in the curious player's lap. Isabelle seemed stunned.

"Oh…what's this silly cute thing…falling from the sky!" Isabelle said out loud. She smiled, picking up the shining piece of paper that landed on her leg . "What a beautiful...huh…"

Then…her eyes widened. And Isabelle's entire face dropped and was shocked. Reading the words on the slip of paper…she let out a howl. And she got the unexpected attention once again of the other villagers around her with her howl.

It was her secret. Written on a piece of paper. And it was perhaps about to be revealed to the world.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The blizzard roared. Suddenly…Joker found himself lost in the blistering, whirling winds….his cape almost having been torn off the back of his coat. His mask gone from his pocket. He shielded his eyes futilely.

Joker: I admitted, for a second…that it all seemed…rather hopeless.

"Joker…the town's edge…it's right here!" Dark Pit yelled, face in agony at the wind. "COME ON!"

"I can't…" Joker whispered. Dark Pit panicked.

"PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Joker: A hurricane of death brings the truths out from us.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"Where are you!"

"Here!" Then, in the blinding snow, Joker felt Dark Pit grab his hand. Now relying on his teammate, Joker blindly followed the young angel. Covering his own eyes as well, Dark Pit could see just a small slimmer…a small slimmer of the town. A slimmer of peace.

Dark Pit: The town was right there. But it was almost useless. Could we make it? Could we finally win a game again?! Or would we fail…

The struggling angel tried his best to go towards it…but he seemed stuck and trapped in place. To his horror, with every step he tried to take forwards…he was pushed back by the wind…or rather, the wind seemed to be pulling him back. As if it was alive and wanted him back.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"Go on!" Joker suddenly yelled from behind him...and pushed him.

"Ooomph!" And suddenly, Dark Pit felt a heavy push from behind him. He fell forwards, stunned, and opened his eyes. He was out of the blizzard…past the line of danger. He faced back at the ferocious storm: Joker was still in there.

Dark Pit: He pushed me to safety. Joker saved me. But then…he was gone himself.

"NOOOO!" he yelled, wailing. "JOKER!" He stood up in panic and faced the cyclone with a devastated face. "NOOOOO! GIVE HIM BACK! GIVE HIM BACK—!"

And something flew right out of the cyclone and into Dark Pit. From the air, Joker's body flew and smashed right into him. With a yell, Dark Pit fell back. Now…after just a few seconds…the two of them were now on the snowy floor…stunned…but safe.

"What…"

"The cyclone picked me up into the air and seemed to deliver me to safety…" Joker spoke with a look of fake calmness, but of course, relief was written all over his face. He looked to his left and then behind him: peaceful snow.

"We're out…we're safe…we're free…"

Mission Time Remaining: 19 Minutes

Then they heard a yell. A mighty yell from an ape that often called himself the king of the jungle.

Joker: Out of nowhere, we heard a yell of defeat. And then I thought: oh, DK.

"MY FEET! MY BEAUTIFUL, HUMONGOUS, KING-SIZED, PRECIOUS FEET! HEEEEEEEELLLLPPPPPPPP MEEEEE, AHHHH!"

Dk's shouting of pain was evident and clear in their distance in the faraway right…and they turned with surprise to see DK himself lying helplessly and stunned on the floor, right at the edge of their town. The large monkey seemed to be indeed safe out of the blizzard as well…but not out of the snowy woods yet.

"What…happened?" Joker asked, startled at the image of the players before him.

"I…I DONT' KNOWWW!" Like blue, dangerously-oversized ice cubes…each of DK's feet were encased in a shocking, gigantic block of ice each. The glistening, dangerous creations around his feet seemed like squares of glass, like freak-ish artifacts displayed in a museum to gawk at. The boys were stunned. Joker and Dark Pit gawked at the seemingly-painful image in shock, as DK howled in continuing anguish.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" DK continued.

"Calm down," Joker ordered.

"My legs…my feet…" The sad monkey himself could only cry in misery, lying on the floor, and several times he tried to futilely get up and smash his fists on the bricks of ice at his feet…and also giving up soon after. The other two did nothing but stare with stunned feelings at the image of their teammate on the ground before them.

Dark Pit: His feet were frozen in…large cubes?!

"DK! What the HECK happened to you?" Dark Pit asked in shock. "Your feet are literally encased in ice! You look freaky!" DK wailed again, trying to lift his own feet. But after his third try….the strong self-proclaimed king couldn't.

DK: I literally had made it to the safety zone! I DID IT! I was all smiles and grins and was ready to beat my chest….and then something felt wrong. I couldn't even jump..I couldn't even walk! And then I looked at my feet….and oh dang! The hurricane had supposedly and apparently gotten me! I lost to stupid ICE BLOCKS! I thought to myself, "This is the WORST way to end in a mission of 'The Mole!'

"Everyone is going to laugh and say, 'DK got eliminated by large ice blocks!" DK wailed.

"Calm your hubris," Joker sighed, but he snickered.

Joker: It would be quite funny though. I will say it once the game is over.

"DK…still…what exactly happened?" Dark Pit asked, still confused.

"I literally crawled out of the danger zone…and it all seemed fine, but then all of a sudden, felt something REALLY weird and super heavy…and then…my two precious, beautiful feet…gone!" DK moaned miserably, rolling to his side again, but the bricks of cold blue were too heavy and he couldn't. He tried smashing with his fists the two new squares of cold that prevented him from standing up once more. They cracked just a small bit, just one-percent….but nearly to no avail. "I tried seven times!"

"I didn't know the blizzard and winds were cold enough or had winds in correct-enough formation to render limbs to be frozen in place and for blocks of ice to suddenly encase your feet," Joker commented, shrugging. "Perhaps they are stronger than usual. DK sighed with a nod, but also glared at him.

"Well…why aren't you more worried for me?!" he stammered. "Help meeee!"

"Geez…" Dark Pit stepped back from DK's feet, letting go from feeling it. "They're cold as hell! What on earth caused this?"

"My thoughts exactly…ugh!" DK folded his arms angrily, his only two unfrozen limbs. "But hey: I tried my best, right? You all saw me save Dark Pit and Isabelle in the first blizzard thirty minutes before, right? By pulling them to the ground after they were both lifted in the air? Right, right? I did my share of work already! Right? Now, I'm done, and you guys do the rest, my mans." Joker and Dark Pit looked at each other, then nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Joker said, scratching his head and remembering. "We do owe you from before. You relax then…big dude."

"I….still think you might be able to crack your frozen blocks…" Dark Pit added with determination. "If they formed this quickly…they should be able to break quickly as well and not be strong. Why not try again?" With an exasperated sigh, DK once again tried to smash his bricked feet, much like he did when he cracked the iceberg in the beginning of the episode…only for it to crack just only another one-percent. DK sighed miserably.

"Hey… if I get free later… I'll definitely join you guys!" DK said enthusiastically, but then sighed. "But for now, I think I'm eliminated. I can't go on. And that's that. You two…you have to win for us! Stop Lucina! She's gonna get that exemption if you don't reach Town 4 in like…less than fiftee minutes! Hurry!"

Dark Pit: With DK gone, that just caused another 5,000 coins to be lost from the pot. And even more closer to Lucina winning her exemption. And we couldn't have that.

Joker: The situation did seem strange and odd to me, yes, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But the truth was there. A player was going to win an exemption. Lucina. We were all against her. We had to stop her.

Whoosh…

The three already-confused players looked up to the sunny sky in the show land and saw that it wasn't a blizzard…but the sound of three sparkling objects blowing in the wind. They were pieces of paper….gold, yellow, shining…inviting. Falling to them. Teaching them.

Joker: And out of nowhere…simply a mystery from nowhere…another surprise hit us. Three pieces of paper. Papers, we would realize very soon later, of utter doom.

"What are….!" DK caught the one that landed directly on his hand. He laughed. "These are definitely part of the game! Glowing papers just don't fall from the sky and onto you directly! Hahaha! All right! Let's make this game more fun!" He turned over his own piece of paper.

And he hollered some more.

"WHAT! HECK TO THE NO!" He immediately slammed the piece of yellow paper into the snow and began throwing snow upon it in chunks of snow and terrified panting. Joker, seeing his sudden antics, chuckled.

"Hmm? So bothered by a small piece of paper?" With humor, yet also curiosity, Joker shook his head in disbelief and looked at his own piece of paper. "Hmm. An oversensitive one, you are. I…" And then he stopped. And his ever-present small, subtle smile…vanished instantly.

Joker: I…for once…was shocked as well. Too far, I suppose. For why would they make this next game this very intrusive?

"AHHHHH!" DK shouted in fear. "I TOLD YOU ALL! They have all this inside information on all of us! This isn't just a simple game!" Dark Pit then looked at his own paper in silence. He gulped.

And then…they all heard a crackle. And their earpieces, unexpectedly, activated.

"Greetings, four players," came the voice that echoed in their ears. It was a damaging, haunting message that none of them wanted to hear. "There are only…17 minutes remaining in the game. But….you may not be alive that long, sadly. A goddess has decided to open Pandora's box, and this is what her decision entails for you all."

"WHAT?" DK hollered.

"Lucina did something…" Dark Pit wondered.

"To survive and remain…you only have 12 minutes left…just before the last five minutes of the game…to confess each of your secrets out loud to at least one other player…out loud to the open world. If you fail to do this important confession…you will be eliminated from the game and will not be able to continue this high-stakes mission. And remember: if you are all eliminated…then the goddess herself will win an exemption. Make your choice."

The voices in their ear pieces shut off.

"Wait…hold on…WHAT IS THIS ABSOLUTE CRUDDY CRUD?!" Dark Pit yelled, surprised and realizing the truth. "First we have to fight blizzards…and then we get blackmailed secrets?! About each of us? Or we die?!"

"Pandora's Box," Joker whispered unfortunately with a shake of his head, repeating the words on the radio. He sighed out loud. Then he started chuckling. Very loudly.

"ARGH! Why are you laughing?!" DK stuttered, angry at him.

"Because I did not know Lucina could be so evil," Joker spoke, and his chuckles ended. His face was blank.

Joker: I revel in each terrible component of each game we play. And discovering just how diabolical a friend can be. But. I do like a challenge, however.

"Seriously, yeah! Blackmail is lame!" DK moaned in horror. "And this is MY SECRET! MINE! Not anyone else's to know!"

"Why did you guys all encourage Lucina to try and win the exemption? Ugh," Dark Pit moaned.

Joker: There was indeed suspicion on players encouraging Lucina to play hard and to go for the exemption. Isabelle had a say in it. DK kinda. Though I admit…I myself did too.

Joker nodded his head slightly. "What is done is done. Everyone else…they want to eliminate us. In the most very distasteful way. Quite unfair, I would argue." He folded his arms, looking back at DK. "DK….what is your secret?" The ape faced back to him with a dropped mount of shock.

"What? NO WAYYYY!" DK bellowed. "I'm out of the game! I have no purpose in saying it! I can't even get up! My feet are frozen solid! Why would I reveal my secret?!"

"If you tell it…you might have peace of mind."

"What are you trying to get out of him?" Dark Pit laughed. "He's not going to reveal his secret. Haha! He's a coward." Joker turned to him.

"What is your secret, Dark Pit?" Joker asked him. The dark angel immediately turned red.

"Nothing," he replied quickly.

"Well, I would say, you two stop arguing…and just GO!" DK told them, trying to swat them away with his big palms. "Hurry! You need to find the item of this Town 3, then run to our final town to win this game! DON'T LET SECRETS STOP US! Come on! RUN AND BEAT THIS GAME!" Knowing that their captive-by-ice teammate was right, the two boys quickly sped off, leaving the helpless and despondent monkey to his own stationary demise. But the two young men continued off in a run. The town itself was small, and didn't have as many villagers or small uncanny Ice Climber-resembling village folk as their previous Towns 1 and 2, but the two players were confused. And they turned a corner around a large building and finally found what they were looking for.

Mission Time Remaining: 16 Minutes

"It's encased in glass…" In the middle of the town was something placed, built, constructed, and protected…it was a purple glove in a glass box. Immediately, Dark Pit went to attack it with his fist.

"Ow!" From hitting it, he withdrew his hand.

"It's not a statue in a castle." Joker walked up to it with a remembering laugh. He saw a message written in the snow.

"To open this container and retrieve the glove…you must confess a secret of violence, family, rejection, or love." Joker turned silent. He read the message multiple times in his head. Confused. Then, he understood. And he sighed.

Joker: Truly, they want us to lose this game. Is it designed against us?

"This indeed…is blackmail. Either one of us confesses our secret now to open this glass container…or Lucina wins her exemption for sure." Dark Pit stared at the message in the snow, then at Joker, then at the sky.

"Ugh!" Dark Pit threw the club from his pocket down at the snow in frustration. "I…hate this."

"Same."

"Lame."

"To be frank, I'm not willing to share my secret. At least…not…quite yet."

"Pfft. Me neither. And DK doesn't seem willing to do so, either."

The two boys seemed lost…then looked at each other. There was one hope left.

"Isabelle."

Mission Time Remaining: 14 Minutes

"Huh?!" Isabelle squeaked through her mouth piece. The three male players heard the shocked dog on the other end of their audio earpieces.

"It's the only way to continue!" Dark Pit begged to her. "You have to tell us your secret out loud! Or the third item in Town 3 is locked and unattainable forever! Trust us!" He was talking into his earpiece. The three of them were huddled back to where DK was, at the edge of the town.

"And Lucina wins an exemption, man!" DK chimed in with panic to her. "Come on! We only have FOURTEEN minutes, man!" They heard Isabelle make a sigh.

"Well…" Isabelle paused for a second. "That woulddddddd be bad if she won an exemption. It really would for all of us. Such a pity we all convinced her to try and win this exemption." They heard her sigh again. Joker pushed his own earpiece in closer to hear her.

"So, you're willing to share your secret?" Joker said, smirking.

Joker: Yes. We got her.

DK: I was SURE she would help us!

"...absolutely nooooo way! You three are seal murderers! Andddd….you all left me in this town with nothing to do! And sabotaged everything!"

"What! What are you even talking about, you canine?" DK replied with disbelief. "You're the one who walked away from the marketplace and left us!"

"If you reallllyyy wanted me to stay and not get eliminated, you all should have followed me out of there," she said with a smile, but also with bitterness. "I won't let you guys get the satisfaction. One of you guys tell your secret instead. I'm simply too precious to be telling secrets anyway. Bye." They heard a sharp static sound, and the discontinued voice of a little dog, and their faces looked at each other in defeat.

"Well," Joker said, clapping his hands together. "That's that. That went well. Hmm. Either she really doesn't want her secret out and she's a proud, pretentious, uppity little dog…or possibly, the…"

"Mole." Dark Pit, Joker, and DK all looked at each other. One of them could be the Mole too.

Joker: Isabelle leaving our game in Town 1. Now refusing to help us continue. She's for sure had her sabotages.

Dark Pit: But then again, I can't trust these two even if they were working together with me to win this game. What if one of them was the Mole?

"I don't want to let my secret out!" DK wailed. Please!" The other two looked at him nervously…then at a nearby clock with realization. Time was ticking.

"We all…have to eventually reveal our secrets anyway…in order to stay alive in this game and win this game," Dark Pit realized with a gulp, looking to the ground in a bit more defeat silently. "I…I guess I'll tell my secret then. Sheesh. But I deserve something for this."

"No…just ONE of you two has to," DK said with a grin. "That one person tells their secret, is free from death, then makes it to the end as the winner and stops Lucina!"

"But that sacrifices 5,000 coins by the other person quitting and not making it," Joker said, folding his arms and looking at DK carefully.

Joker: He was very willing to just sacrifice one of our 5,000 coins. I noticed it immediately.

"Or we could all just…not tell our secrets…and let them remain secrets forever…" Dark Pit said quietly. Everyone pondered his sentence.

"But then…Lucina gets an exemption!" DK shouted, looking panicked. "And we lose 20,000 coins!

"And we have no satisfaction and leave of mind," Joker reminded.

"Darn it, yeah…" Dark Pit thought. "Ugh." He sat on the snowy floor, giving up.

"If she's the Mole…it wouldn't really matter if we told our secrets or not…for a Mole with an exemption is useless" Joker pointed out, folding his arms. "There'd be no difference if we continued or not. Then our secrets would just all be safe. Quite safe…forever. No one will ever hear them. We'd never have to reveal them." He paused. "20,000 coins, however."

"Technically 10,000 coins," Dark Pit added, staring at DK's ice-encased feet glumly.

"Hey, Isabelle too!" DK added. "You're blaming it all on me?"

"10,000 coins…is still a lot," Joker spoke. "Any amount is still a lot. And…it doesn't matter the amount sometimes to. It is about the victory. The victory against the Mole."

The three of them were silent.

Mission Time Remaining: 13 Minutes

And then one of them spoke, after a whole minute of silence, shrugging his large shoulders. It was shocking, his decision, to all of them. Including to the monkey himself.

DK was ready.

"You know what…I'LL DO IT…I'll tell my secret! I'll be the hero this time around to help us win the 20,000 coins! And to stop this goddess!" Despite being freezing more than any of the others, DK grinned as big as ever. And Joker and Dark Pit turned to the smiling ape with more shocked eyes than ever.

Dark Pit: What in the world…?

"What…why…?" Dark Pit began. "Why suddenly?" The two of them looked at the grinning, legs-ice-engulfed player. But they saw that he was indeed serious.

DK: I was totally serious! If I could be true to myself for once, then maybe the others would trust me! I was so tired of this "Who's the Mole?" business! Why do we have to be in mystery all the time!?"

"Like you said, Joker…it'll bring me towards a great, awesome peace of mind!" DK smiled widely. The big ape laughed out loud, thinking, trying to speak with as much wisdom and mind as he could. "And life is supposed to be….fun! And cool! And not full of secrets!" The king monkey couldn't stop smiling.

"Hmm…are you sure?" Joker said, raising his eyebrow with suspicion and surprise.

"Yeah! Totally am, MY MAN!" DK said with conviction with a heavy nod. He didn't stop nodding at them. Joker and Dark Pit looked at each other.

"Okay…if we make it to Town 4 fast enough, we don't have to reveal our own secrets, Dark Pit," Joker figured out. "We just have about nine minutes to reach Town 4…and as long as there are more than 5 minutes remaining on the time limit, we'll be alive. And both of us will be secret-reveal safe." He turned to DK. "Just…DK…you must truly decide to say your secret, I suppose."

DK nodded happily.

"Sounds fair….uh…" Dark Pit seemed bewildered, but he looked at DK. "So, I guess….what's your secret, DK?" Joker looked at him as well, curious. Nodding and shrugging, the large ape closed his large mouth…and closed his eyes. Then…when he went to speak…his large teeth grinned out to them. And his voice was heard all around the mountains. And it was as if a rift in the universe was opened.

"I have family members who played in past iterations of this game!" he spoke happily and loudly. His voice echoed across the wintery land.

The other two were silent in the snow.

"…"

Dark Pit: …what?

"...what the heck does that mean?" Dark Pit asked.

"True. Yes. I am at loss as well. What do you mean by your declaration?" Joker asked him, not convinced at his statement.

"Can't really explain it," DK sighed with a laugh, then on second thought, covered his mouth with shocked, wide eyes. "Uh… oh! Maybe I shouldn't have said my secret out loud! I feel like I shouldn't have! AHHH! I was too ambitious and adventurous!" He faced the sky, towards the mountains in the distance, as if trying to speak to…them.

"...huh…?" Dark Pit continued, lost.

He hollered out loud. "I'M SORRY!" The big ape looked slightly regretful…but also happy, his eyes looking relieved for the first time in several days within their tumultuous game. "Oh well,…too late. But man, too many secrets in this game! I can't take it!"

Dark Pit still looked confused. "I don't get it. You gotta explain to us what your secret means."

" I can't explain it now! Maybe later! We have no time! We're in a mission! It makes no sense to you guys. Just GO! GO, YOU SKINNY WEAKLINGS!" This time, he used his fists with all his power to hit the back of Joker and the behind of Dark Pit towards the direction of the important third item back in town. "I just made a sacrifice to help you guys! Hopefully now, you'll trust me more! I hate this game of deceit! I want this to just be fun from now on! RUN now!" Joker and Dark Pit only gave a small nod back to DK before running off back into the center of the town they were in, swerving around small houses and buildings. Their minds were confused, but they had to focus. Focus on stopping a player who was against them all.

"There it is…" The glass box was before them. But now, it was open. The purple glove was theirs to get.

And now….only Town 4 remained. The end was close.

Mission Time Remaining: 10 Minutes

On the screen, Lucina watched with an open mouth of anticipation and surprise, as well as wide eyes at the two players running across the white field. The last field to the last town. It was the final traverse. The crossing to finish the game. To finish an agonizing game once and for all.

"No…" she whispered. She had some regret on her face, and in her eyes, mostly guilt overall. An emotion that had plagued her for the longest of times, but now, especially in this certain mission. But she shook her head and turned to the one person sitting next to her amidst the panels, screens, and buttons: the host of the game, not leaving her side.

"I do wonder…what was DK's secret…?" Lucina asked the host. But from the princess, it was more of a statement of curiosity than a question.

"It is something you will never know," Smash Host said with a smile, shaking his head. "Only Dark Pit and Joker…will ever know the secret." The princess turned back to the screen. Her face was still. Her eyes solemn.

"They will make it, will they not?" Lucina stated with a sense of fear but acceptance. "I will not get the exemption…and I will remain with the Minus 1. And will be eliminated at the end of this round. And I will also have…the disappeared trust from the others going on." The warrior princess in her coat was silent. "I have perhaps already lost."

"But the team wins 10,000 coins," Smash Host said, shrugging. "Aren't you happy about that?"

"Oh, yes, I am truly happy inside whenever we win and whenever the pot goes higher…but to know that my stance in this game is jeopardized…especially after all this betrayal…" Her voice trailed off.

Smash Host cleared his throat, looking at the screen. "You do know…that it will not be easy for them to cross the final field of snow in under five minutes…five minutes being the time limit they have to reveal their secrets or they die…not easy at all," he said in a slow voice. At this, the princess faced him. Her eyes were wide with realization.

"Not…easy for them to cross the final field in five minutes?" she repeated.

"Actually, let me correct that." He turned to the screen. "It will be impossible to cross the last snowy field in five minutes." Facing the two boys left in the game that had to make a final choice.

"In order to survive…they'll both have to confess their secrets."

And Lucina gasped. She realized what she had done. But…she also realized…that maybe…perhaps in just the smallest sliver of chance…she could possibly still win.

Mission Time Remaining: 9 Minutes

As the two players saw Town 4 in their distance getting closer, they were suddenly hit with a dread that countered their relief.

"Shoot…Joker…no…oh God…" Dark Pit turned to Joker, seeing his cape begin to billow in the approaching storm.

Snow began to rise from the ground. The wind around them began to pick up. Something was coming…for the third and final time.

On their very heads…their hair began to rise. Picked up from the approaching blizzard behind them.

Whooooooosh…. The terrible sound was heard once again from behind their bodies. A familiar sound that had given them so much hardship and tribulations. And blistering cold.

"The last blizzard…" Joker gritted his teeth. "It's here…" He turned around, then looked at Dark Pit with a sorry face, and the angel looked back at him with anxiety.

"RUN! WE'RE SO CLOSE!"

They bolted as fast as they could even more, the final town getting closer and closer with each step they made. But as they ran and got closer and closer…the more the deadly storm began to materialize around them as well. The wind grew stronger, the snow flurries began to thicken, and the air became even foggier, cloudier, and white. The tornado from behind them was quicker than ever before…and within less than a minute, it was almost as if the full force and strength of the merciless blizzard had reached them both in its brutal, deafening entirety. Winds circled around them and blocked their views of not only the final town, but of each other.

Within seconds, they were in the final storm.

WHOOOOOOOOSH!

Dark Pit: I couldn't see anything anymore. I couldn't stand. I couldn't even….think anymore.

"JOKER…JOKER…!" Dark Pit tried to yell. He shielded his eyes. "I GIVE UP!" He fell to the ground, and he began crying. "I don't want to play anymore! I HATE THIS GAME! I TOTALLY HATE IT!" He was lost and alone.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"Stop…crying is rather futile.." Joker, amidst the impossibility of it all, was able to find him. "That won't help us win. It never helped us win." His voice was barely audible over the wind around them.

"Shut up! You shouldn't hide your emotions! You always hide your emotions!" Dark Pit shouted back at him. "Crying is good! It's good for you! You do nothing but joke and smile all the time! It's not healthy! BUT CRYING IS!" Joker, listening to him, paused amongst the deafening sounds.

"That, I discovered, was true at the campsite yesterday," Joker replied solemnly and with realization. He shuddered, and fell to the ground as well from the wind and cold. The two players were still, lost, huddled. And about to lose the game.

Joker: There we both were…stuck in the snow. In the middle of the cyclone of destruction that ended our sixth episode. The emotions felt were…rather terrible: it was of defeat and lost hope. Perhaps, I could. say…my pride was gone. We did not move. No. We could not move. And truly it felt like eternity. An eternity of cold hell.

An entire two minutes went by. Two long minutes of defeat. They wanted to go on. But the storm around them was too dangerous to stand up in.

Mission Time Remaining: 6 Minutes

"If we don't…" Dark Pit shuddered weakly, the snow whirling around them, "brrrrrr! ….reveal…our secrets soon…we'll both be eliminated…and we both lose…" Joker, opening his eyes amidst the piercing cold and wind, looked at Dark Pit.

Joker: He was right. I needed to be truthful for once.

"You have so much…pride…" Dark Pit continued, trembling. "It's…something to do with pride, right? You're always…so…prideful…" Joker looked at him, still with surprise.

Joker: He knows me well.

"Yep…" Joker kept his eyes wide open, painfully taking in the brutality of the wind's force towards his face. "I…" He looked out at the whirling tornado around them.

"Ahhh…!" He began lifting off the ground, and with a gasp…he opened his mouth.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"I…I…" Joker stopped.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I had my acceptance to the University of Tokyo revoked!" Joker shouted as loudly and as clearly as he could possibly shout. "I'm….not going anywhere after this game ends. I am…truly nobody." Joker looked despondently at the ground…and a ground he fell back to the ground to after being lifted.

"What…" Dark Pit opened his own eyes, looking at Joker. He saw, amidst the nearly-blinding snow, the unmasked man's face was full of shame. Joker didn't want to look at him.

"It's the truth…" Joker's eyes seemed emotionless.

"We're about to die in a blizzard…and you're worried about some stupid school application acceptance?!" Dark Pit yelled at him angrily. "Who cares?! Just take a gap year!" Joker didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"It…matters to me."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry how you feel But…for everyone else around you…it's fine. We all still respect you and think highly of you. We all..still like you," Dark Pit said with a smile. At his words, Joker looked better. And felt better. He turned to him with surprise.

"Well…I suppose I am slightly pacified by the fact that you do not completely abhor me," Joker said with a wink. But then, the student looked around suddenly. The wind was still very strong, fierce, and still death-inducing…but it had gotten weaker by a large proportion. His eyes widened in realization.

Whoooooooosh…. Though it was still strong…it was slightly weaker.

"Weaker…" Joker whispered.

"It is…" Dark Pit realized.

The secret…it's powerful…perhaps powerful enough to end this blizzard…" Joker whispered out loud with excitement. He turned to Dark Pit, able to open his eyes more. "This is it!"

"What?" Dark Pit replied, still shutting his eyes from the wind and cold.

WHooooooooosh!

"Trust me…Dark Pit…if you decide to…for if you tell your secret, then we'll surely be able to make it to Town 4! To make the blizzard weaker…and to win our game!" Joker tried to stand up…but the slender gentleman still couldn't. "Do it…and we…win!"

"No!" Dark Pit yelled, panic on his face and eyes fearful.

"Do it now!" The wind began to pick up again. The storm began to strengthen once more. The storm…was coming back alive.

WHooOOOoooOOOoooOooSH!

"No!"

"You have to!"

"Never!"

"Please!"

"Fine!" Dark Pit yelled. "I'VE HAD A CRUSH ON YOUUUUUUU!"

And suddenly, the blizzard died out. The roaring winds disappeared. The snow around them all fell to the ground. The view became clearer, and once again, everything was calm and clear. The mountains could be seen in the distance, peaceful. Silence was in the air. White fields ahead of them and around them.

Now standing up…the two players looked at each other awkwardly.

Joker stood up. He cleared his throat, his eyes wide. "Oh...you have?"

Dark Pit managed to croak meekly. "…yes."

They both stood silently more.

"Uh…yeah, I'll just go jump into that ice hole now," Dark Pit said, sighing and turning around.

Dark Pit: Darn, there were no ice holes around us. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be eliminated soon! Ah! Yeah, this is awkward. Gonna go cry now.

"It is fine…you are being silly and overdramatic…" Joker replied, shrugging. "We are humans, after all. We do not choose who we love. We all have a plethora of many emotions we cannot control. We have nothing to be ashamed of. Be it revoked college acceptances, or what we feel in our hearts. Plus…. I already seemed to guess so…hehe."

"Well, at least the storm is canceled now," Dark Pit said, annoyed and trying to change the subject. "Ugh."

"We feel… and we have…many, many sentiments and feelings that guide us, and this is life," Joker continued, still monologuing and reflecting. "And that is good. By liking each other…that shows we are still human." He put a finger to his chin, smiling. "It's good to know there are real emotions in this dastardly game of deceit."

"Stop monologuing your philosophy again," Dark Pit said with annoyance. But, he was also smiling. He stopped. "Yeah…" Dark Pit said, looking up at him a little happily. Then…his face dropped. "You don't feel…the same way, huh?"

"I…don't…" Joker replied. "I am…sorry." But Dark Pit just shrugged.

"That's life. I know. And you like Lucina," the angel snickered.

"What? I simply do not," Joker laughed defensively.

"But—"

"You may perhaps never discover, even after this game is all over, Dark Pit…which emotions were ever real in this game of the people around you…and which were not real at all in the slightest," Joker told him. "But…I am sure…a majority of them have been indeed real." The angel's eyes widened. With a nod, he looked to the white field of snow. He felt..free.

Dark Pit: You know what…it was weird. The telling of my secret. Because just like the disappeared storm and calm air around me…I felt okay. I felt at peace. I was calm. I was…happy.

They both looked to the final town. Four minutes were left.

"Shall we go?" Joker asked, eyes becoming determined to win once again. Dark Pit grinned.

"I'll still beat you."

"Hah. If I can beat a speedy fox…then perhaps you may truly want to reconsider your statement."

And together side by side…secrets no longer held…and feeling at peace…they ran to the final town to win.

Stomp, stomp, stomp…

And they reached the fourth, final town…with three minutes left to spare.

"Oh…"

And they saw a princess…wearing all white…standing shocked and cautiously at the very foot of the final town… a guilty expression on her face while standing at the edge of the town. In that moment…she realized she was no longer a god.

Joker and Dark Pit walked up to her slowly. Lucina was still. Silent. She refused to speak.

Joker stared at her. And coughed, clearing his throat.

"You have a lot of explaining to do….Pandora."

GAME WON

2/4 PLAYERS SUCCEEDED

10,000 COINS TO THE POT

EXEMPTION NOT AWARDED

MISSION…OVER

The final destination, Town 4, was mostly empty…but perhaps some few igloos existed, if anything. And snow, of course. And random ice sculptures. It was a land that was the closest to resemble one to be expected by five clueless fighters to exist within an Arctic setting dedicated towards the Ice Climbers. Holes in the ground caught their eyes, and a chill went through the air, making the players all stare around silently…and shudder. But none of them shuddered from the cold. Fishing poles were present everywhere. DK shuddered, thinking of the large fish that had taken him under the water in the very beginning of the episode when he had jumped off the iceberg for the sacrifice of 5,000 coins in honor of a Plus 1. Isabelle shuddered, seeing an Ice Climber near them broil a real dead seal over an open fire, and she remembered how terrible the second town had made her feel. Joker and Dark Pit both shuddered, remembering the final blizzard they had to face and endure, and the conflictions they faced in revealing their secrets.

But the one who shuddered most of all was Lucina…a betrayer in their midst. For she was facing her opponents she had turned against for the first time since the beginning of the tense game.

"I…do not ask for forgiveness. I have…failed you all. I am not a teammate. I…will refuse to be considered a teammate of you all from now on." Her final words rung in their ears. The other four didn't know what to say.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL US!" DK said with an enraged but mopey countenance. "With THREE BLIZZARDS AND UNSPEAKABLE SECRETS!"

"True…" Dark Pit shrugged, realizing the fact himself. "He's not...wrong."

"Didn't we convince her to betray us though?" Isabelle spoke up, looking around her.

"Yeah…but…not like THAT!" DK continued, glaring. "You were supposed to betray us FAIRLY Lucina!"

"Hmm." Joker stepped forwards, looking at the others, then at Lucina carefully. "Let us try to understand Lucina first. Let us not forget that this is all…a game…really, just a game….and that we are playing under the framework and parameters of a competitive competition…" Joker replied, as Lucina turned with surprise to him, noticing his changed demeanor from the others. "Lucina, you did this all out of the threat of your Minus 1 from the Iceberg mission, no?" Joker looked at her carefully, his eyes studying her. Lucina nodded heavily in reply.

"Yes. I did not want the Minus 1, I admit. I realized…how dangerous….how much it would have put me in peril…to not be able to go on…"

"Then…it all makes sense!" Isabelle said gleefully. "You just didn't want to die! You should be free of guilt! We understand you!" The dog smiled at her largely. "Plus, we convinced you before this mission even began to try your very best!"

"We are under the guidelines of a competitive competition, yes….but also, remember…a game of ethics and morality…" Lucina corrected. "And in that certain hemisphere…I truly failed. There is little I can do to fix my transgressions. Or perhaps…nothing at all."

"I AGREE!" DK yelled. "DOWN WITH YOU! DOWN—-" Dark Pit silently kicked him.

"I did encourage you to try to betray us a bit in the beginning before the game even began," Isabelle squealed silently, looking guiltily at her teammates, then looking down. "I'm sorry…"

"In response to Joker, yes, I did remember halfway through the game…that I would be in peril with my Minus 1…and so for that reason…I found it more justified to betray you all.." Her eyes teared up. "I am sorry. I also…betrayed you all…to try and win for others."

"Win?!" DK stammered with confusion, suddenly scratching his head and not understanding. "For others?!" Lucina nodded.

"To honor the ones…who had fallen before us. To continue towards the end of this episode…it is another personal mission I have." She wiped her eyes, then composed herself, clearing her throat. She stood tall…like a princess. "But it was no excuse. I deserve this Minus 1."

"That's so crap…you didn't deserve that penalty at all," Dark Pit said, stepping up, as the others turned to him. "Lucina, you took that Minus 1 on the iceberg and ate that mushroom to save our first game. To save us! So you don't deserve that Minus 1 at all. Don't say you do. Come on!"

"Yeah!" Isabelle piped up, smiling. "You saved us before. And then you were given this stupid role to betray us. So don't feel bad at all!"

"But…the terrible blizzards…the terrible, ferocious blizzards—"

"The blizzards….were just absolutely a delight," Joker said, winking at her. "Don't worry about them, really. It would be quite insulting for you to think that they were a bother to us." He nodded at Lucina. Her face seemed conflicted…but she managed to find peace in her eyes and smile to them.

"Also, hey, it's not everyday that you get totally HUMBLED by your feet turning into huge blocks of ice," DK grinned widely, and though he still looked quite a bit annoyed…he was also chuckling as he spoke his sentence. And then he faced Smash Host. "And I deserve a heated foot massage back at the hotel! You gotta promise me that, Smash Host!" DK went up to the hatted man with a determined grin, making the host himself smile.

"Yes…that is something I can actually promise you, because there is a very nice sauna at the hotel," the host winked, "but let me just clear things up. The exemption was indeed prevented from being obtained. But due to both Dark Pit and Joker making it to the end successfully, 10,000 coins were won. Congratulations to you both, and to you all." The players all faced each other.

"It took a few secrets, but we're alright," Dark Pit said with a faint smile.

"Indeed," Joker nodded.

They were grateful. Their pot was higher. A game was won.

Team Pot

140,000 coins

"Five thousand coins were lost because you refused to go on at the seal market," Smash Host continued, as most eyes started to focus on the small dog in the group, Isabelle.

"It just seemed so wrong!" Isabelle reasoned out loud.

"Had you looked at the brochure you were holding, and had you taken notice of a few shops within town instead of rushing to the 'meat' market, you would have realized that the town was actually…on vegetarian principles. No meat." Everyone turned to each other in surprise, but mostly again to Isabelle.

Lucina: She committed an act that seemed reasonable, but in the end, perhaps it was not at all. And in the end, it was an act of sabotage.

"DK…it seemed that you didn't cross the ice finish soon enough…but also…that you had accidentally dipped your feet into ice cold water just moments before crossing the safety line," Smash Host explained. "Hidden ice holes." Everyone gasped. DK jumped up, almost shaking the ground.

"I…WHAT?!" he stammered. "There's…no WAY!" The king looked at the others with a confused face. The host host nodded.

"The land was riddled with holes…and under the holes…icy water," the host explained more, as DK's mouth dropped even further in shock. "One dip in there…and the liquid combined with the blistering temperature would cause a hand…or foot in your case…to become solidified in a block of ice. I saw it on camera." Everyone froze.

"I…didn't even realize there were holes or water at ALL!l DK explained, shaking his head. "The blizzard and wind itself was just so crazy! I just couldn't see anything or notice ANYTHING!"

"You didn't feel it?" Joker questioned, looking at him with confusion. The others did too.

Dark Pit: It's weird that he didn't even realize his foot had dipped into icy cold water.

Lucina: So did he do it on purpose? We did not know.

"Are you sure you didn't do it on purpose?" Joker continued, looking at him carefully. DK looked both confused and infuriated at Joker's words.

"That I'm the MOLE?!" DK exclaimed, face fuming. "Don't you dare!"

Dark Pit: He could have just fallen in by accident, sure. But then you realize all these little things DK has done to cost 5,000 coins here and 5,000 coins there. It's adding up. And nobody really notices them. But I do.

"Overall…10,000 coins won. Well done." The host nodded.

Joker winked at the host. "The coin reward is not necessary. As it was very liberating and rewarding enough, Smash Host, to reveal our secrets out loud. And that…truly…was the reward."

"Always being so deep and philosophical," Dark Pit teased at him. But he smiled.

Isabelle: Ugh. What were their secrets?! I guess I'll never know or find out.

Dark Pit: The question was: what was ISABELLE'S secret? No one seemed to question it.

Lucina: I put the players through suffering. But perhaps…it had a small, silver lining. An unseen one. A pacifying one. Perhaps it gave them all…peace.

"The only person who did not reveal their secret…was Isabelle," the host stated, as everyone turned to the dog. "It will never be revealed to anyone else in the world." Isabelle looked a little defiant….but overall, her face looked unbothered. The rest stared at her.

"I think it just wouldn't be in good taste for me to have spoken my secret," Isabelle replied, looking satisfied in her decision.

"If you told your secret, we would have never been so rushed to almost losing the money and the game," Dark Pit muttered with a frown.

"Some things are more important than the money and the game," Isabelle replied back testily.

"Lucina…do you think this game was changing for you?" Smash Host asked. The princess in white gasped, and was silent.

"I believe….that from betraying…I truly know how the Mole in this game feels," she replied. "I do not hold it against them. I believe that in the end…the Mole should be forgiven. They have much anguish and difficulties from their role. I hope..they will be forgiven in the end."

"That's an interesting way to put it!" Isabelle commented.

Joker: Very interesting need. Especially…if Lucina is the Mole herself. It is really always a curious thought…to think whether someone as righteous and high-ranked Lucina could be the Mole or not of our game

"Well, good luck players…as you all know, an execution unfortunately awaits tonight, and I wish I could stop it, but I cannot…but in the end, congratulations on your win," Smash Host said, clasping his gloved hands together.

"I really think it's wise for us to get warm massages after this," Isabelle gleefully told them all. "DK's right! Because we need to all warm up and not get chilled and freaked out…and have to be calm and anxiousless…for the rest of this episode!" The dog shuddered: she was speaking mostly for herself. But the others nodded.

"The…sixth execution," Joker nodded with hesitation, looking at the others. The five players nodded. They all looked a bit worried, but Lucina especially looked down with more fear on her face than the others.

"Some of us…may have to be warmed more than others for this upcoming execution…I'm afraid," she whispered in the winter air.

Lucina: For with a Minus 1…you never know if you will able to stay much longer.

Dark Pit: Execution 6…may the unavoidable death for one of us finally begin.

The blue walls of the ice palace were tranquil, still, and serene. But with red tiled floors…the entire hotel was instead given a fierce image of intensity, subtle shades of magenta and crimson seemingly painting the entire walls of the hotel with that of the likeliness of either shining rubies…or blood. Red statues of birds themselves seemed to be in every corner that they walked through, as the five final players, soon to be four, walked through the lobby. The name of the hotel was the Condor Hotel, a misnomer in reference to the fact that what appeared to roam the skies of the wintery world they were existing in seemed to be that of a pterodactyl-like creature instead. But it also looked like someone else, another player fallen in their past: Kazooie. And one of them would be following closely behind her talons. The red symbolized many things: anger, love, heated emotions, even Kazooie.

But the red also reminded all of them of something else too: a red screen. Death.

DK, in his pink, fuzzy, warm robe, anxiously waddled towards the sauna massage parlor room at the end of the hall. Not just due to the looming quiz and execution to come in just three hours…but the gargantuan ape stumbled awkwardly because the icy floor was unbearably cold and he had forgotten his slippers in his room.

DK: WHY can't I just get a warm foot massage in my OWN ROOM?! Come on!

"Cold cold cold cold cold…YEOW!" DK stepped onto a red tile that was colder than the rest, causing him to let out a surprised yelp.

"Sorry…the red tiles are usually always heated…don't know why they aren't anymore," came the voice of Smash Host laughing, the hatted man appearing around the corner. The host winked at DK with a laugh, but the response from the player back wasn't as amiable. Carefully, the host stopped, as DK looked at the host with beady eyes.

"Okay, 'Smash Host', I don't get what kind of…SECRET FOURTH-WALL-BREAKING INTEL INSIDE INFORMATION….you have about all of us, and what kind of WEIRD TOTALLY FALSE STUFF you know," DK roared with anger, his eyes bursting out of his head as he tried to restrain them, "but you leave all of that OUT of this GAME!" Smash Host just blinked.

"I don't…. make the games," the small host replied, just blinking. "I am just….the host."

DK glared at him with bated breath. "Grrrrrrr….! If I knew what I was getting into, I wouldn't have entered all this—"

"Easy! I promise you, I had nothing to do with any of this…" the host said with earnest-looking eyes, shrugging and smiling. "I am just the deliverer. Do you know of this phrase, DK…the phrase, 'Don't shoot the messenger'?"

"I'll PUNCH the messenger instead!" DK retorted, taking one more threatening step towards the host.

"Haha! That wouldn't be any good!" the host beamed, his teeth shining. "Because without a host, you'd all have no game! No one to guide you all!" A single sweat drop trickled from his forehead…and not from the hallway ventilator heating.

"We don't need YOU to go on! We can win on our own terms, thank YOU! I mean…no thank you!" DK grumbled, but he seemed to let go, and made his way closer to the end of the hallway, continuing his way begrudgingly as if he wasn't interrupted. He opened the door to the sauna, and steam left the room, and he sighed happily.

"Ah…finally…yessss….!"

But before DK was able to close the sauna door…he heard the host whisper and say one more thing from the other end of the hall. And his mouth dropped…his happy mood from the warm steam quickly gone.

"Who is the Mole, DK? Because the others before couldn't figure out who it was. Could you?" Before DK could utter another word, the top-hatted man was gone.

The large lobby room had a clear, icy flooring. A grand piano was in the middle of the parlor…made of ice. Dripping…melting…soon to be gone when the morning would come. Dark Pit curiously entered the room with interested eyes, looking around the odd room. He was exploring. With…a smile

Dark Pit: I knew that in the final five, there were probably secrets somewhere. Where? I dunno. Like geez. It was a large icy hotel and I didn't know where to start. But at the same time, it was okay. I felt happy. At peace from the last mission. I felt…just free.

"It would be quite funny….if this piano could be played…" a soft, female voice called out. At the sudden voice, he turned. Lucina was now sitting at the piano, on a blue, cold chair of ice itself, smiling. "But… like one of us in this clear, cold hotel…it is simply fake." She then turned to Dark Pit silently. And then she smiled again.

"Are you to be curious as to who the Mole amidst us all is?" she spoke to him. "Or…do you not have to wonder anymore…due to my blatant actions of our last missios. Is it not obvious, after my own sabotaging, who the Mole is? It must be, I'm afraid." Dark Pit's eyes widened at her. He didn't know what to say.

Dark Pit: The way she was talking. It was…intimidating. And then, I knew it. I knew she was trying to maybe trick me. Or…could it be that she was actually trying to help me? I didn't know.

"I'm not here to, like accuse you or anything," Dark Pit spoke. Lucina nodded, closing her eyes.

"It is okay….to speak with disdain and ill-will…" the princess replied calmly, looking at him. "I accept we may all be enemies now at this point in the game. It is the final five after all. Perhaps it is inevitable, after all." But then she paused. "But I'm also hoping, Dark Pit…that in a way, even if I was the Mole, we can still be friends when this is over." Her eyes looked solemnly to him.

"Of course…" Dark Pit replied, looking at her.

Dark Pit: But, would it really be?

"I, uh, just wanted to say…" Dark Pit began, almost timidly. He then looked at Lucina directly, more seriously. "Well. Thank you."

Oh…" Lucina's eyes widened, and she turned to him with surprise. She was appreciative…but the princess was confused.

"Yes…thank you," he repeated, and he grinned.

"Thank you…for your expressing of thanks…but I wonder…about what, Dark Pit?" Lucina replied silently.

"For…everything you said to me over the last five days," he explained. "Near the temple in Skyloft, when I was having my dark moment…you didn't run away from me in the next episode. This current episode…you supported me and helped me too. A LOT. You said great words to me. On the mountain top and on the iceberg. In the cabin. You even pulled me away from the aurora. So for all of that, thank you. Even if you were the Mole in the end…I don't care." Lucina was still, listening. After taking it in for a few seconds, she smiled, a soft smile of acknowledgement on her own face.

Lucina: And truly, his words meant a lot to me as well.

"All I wanted," she began, turning to face the one window in the room with her smile, "was to help…this world. I am happy to be able to help this little…rather crazy, incomprehensible world we have formed and have been living in for these past weeks. And its inhabitants…its current five inhabitants…I was happy to have helped one of them." She turned and looked to Dark Pit warmly. Dark Pit smiled, appreciative.

Lucina: I realized. Amidst terribleness…in an awful world…perhaps you can find some goodness.

The walls were full of red. A color that represented many things…but in this case, the emotions of mystery and ill-feelings that still plagued the dangerous game. It was a red-colored, haunting hallway towards the back of the ice hotel where Joker had initially heard the sound of footsteps which had caught the young thief's attention. But he was determined to find out what…if anything… was going on towards the back of the hotel he was slowly venturing and pushing himself towards.

"Hehe…" Alone, like a masked thief in his own adventures, he ventured further into the mysterious ice hotel, discovering that it was getting warmer and warmer the further he went down the hallway.

After many steps….he found the end of the red hallway. It was no longer cold. The walls were no longer ice. And there was a metal set of doors.

Joker: Mysteries never end.

"Hmm…if I push these doors open…it may be more dangerous than opening Pandora's box itself." With a determined face, and suppressing any apprehension or hesitation that remained in the lump of his throat, Joker swiftly pushed open the set of doors.

Joker: I've truly lived, within my treacherous and unpredictable existence, a life of riddles. And now…this seemed like the most important one in my life at the very moment I was living.

He was in a regular kitchen. Not an ice kitchen. Just a kitchen.

"…well." Dazed and taken back, Joker looked around and walked. Ovens, cutting tables, and a variety of kitchen tools were everywhere, and there was a faint smell of cooking…as if the kitchen had been recently used. He turned to the large door of a large storage room, and peered inside its window. Nothing was located within it.

"A rather…odd location for a kitchen….to be so hidden….simply not one which you would expect in an ice hotel…" Joker stepped around, peering around a knife here, or a vegetable there. He turned to the faucet suspiciously, turned it on, and saw just…water. Smirking with disappointment, but still interested at his find, he turned his attention to the door of the large walk-in freezer at the end of the room.

Joker: What else could I do. I opened it.

And then he saw it. In the middle of a metal table, within the cold, icy air of the freezer, was a tower of small circles. He stepped forwards with surprise and interest, staring at the three-foot structure that was formed in the shape of a pyramid.

"A pyramid…" he whispered. He spoke his sentence with confidence however. "Why am I not surprised."

Joker: The meaning…could it be like the pyramid seen in the blizzard mission? Or symbolic of the iceberg we had begun on?

Taking off the top rectangle of the carefully-formed structure, he stared at it. And realized it was edible. After a careful thought, he bit just the smallest corner of the rectangle with caution but determination. His eyes closed at the sweet but bitter taste.

"Sharp. Dark chocolate. Bitter…like a dastardly Mole among four innocent people."

Joker: I felt like I knew it was here all along.

"WOW! That's a tall tower!"

"What…!" Joker jumped immediately and turned around, his eyes startled.

"Heehee." Isabelle squealed, suddenly appearing at the entranceway of the walk-in freezer. "I didn't think you were that jumpy!" She giggled, the dog at the freezer entrance. She had a curious look on her face, staring around the freezer. "What IS this place?"

"…I must ask, what are you even doing here?" Joker replied hastily, and then slowed down his breathing to disguise his initial shock.

"Oh. I suppose we think alike! I was just touring around the ice hotel. Just like you were! Mystery hunting and exploring…no different than you. What else am I supposed to do here as we wait for execution? And then suddenly…I heard weird footsteps! Is that why you came here too?" Isabelle explained, standing at the entranceway of the freezer with a big smile. She turned around, seeing the large room behind her. "Wow, this really is a nice kitchen!"

"As someone who trains their footsteps to be unheard…I am surprised you heard me," Joker replied, cautiously stepping forwards to the exit of the freezer.

"I am a dog…much like you already know…and I can hear quite well…better than you humans, actually!" Isabelle explained to him with a boastful smile. Then she turned to him curiously. "Oh, I suppose I can ask you. What are you doing here? It's very suspicious you're here!"

Isabelle: Was he planning secret Mole stuff? Oh no! I guess that wouldn't be good for any of us. How terrible. Alone with the Mole in a cold freezer. I couldn't stand it! He was probably the Mole and led me here with his duplicitous footsteps, no doubt! Or, I'm just being dramatic.

"I am exploring…much like you are, too…" Joker began, and then his eyes turned to the dog with a different emotion. One of opposition. "I'm exploring. Exploring…and looking for the truth. A truth that avoids us all, every episode."

"Oh…okay," Isabelle replied, leaning to the side with another giggle, playing with the freezer door handle playfully. "What kind of truth are you looking for? I really don't understand all your riddles all the time!"

"Just little truths…nothing big…not at all, no…just such small truths….. like, for example, why I had fallen off the turtle in the Terminal Bay mission last episode," Joker stated firmly and ending his sentence directly at her. Isabelle stopped, turning to Joker, her face shocked. After a small moment of silence, she laughed.

"Joker!" she said with wide eyes, wider than ever before and her voice slightly squeaking. "We already discussed this! While we were on the iceberg, you tried to tell others that maybe, for some weird reason, I had pushed you off the turtle! But the truth is, you were just silly. And very careless. You had just fallen yourself and were using your own guilt and your hurt pride to deflect the blame off from yourself, and instead, blame other people!" She shook her head sadly. "I just can't believe you'd do such a thing… accusing others. Accusing me. Whatever…that's okay!" She smiled, her eyes looking happy and pleased, and she stepped forwards to Joker, walking her way through the freezer, towards him and the chocolate pyramid. Then, she slowly put a paw to his chest. "I forgive you!"

Joker stared at her, his eyes in disbelief. Then he cleared his own throat.

"Thank you," he replied calmly, not bothering to say anything else in addition. Isabelle looked at him silently. Then…she smiled, shrugging, looking around.

"You realized that when you told everyone I had pushed you off the turtle…and then I denied it afterwards…everyone believed me instead, right?" she replied. "No one…not a single person believed you. Why do you think that is? Do you think it's because no one trusts you here? They trust me. But how about you?" Joker was silent.

Joker: I suppose she had a point. Perhaps I was not so trustworthy in the eyes of the others. Hmm. Hehe. It's too late to save my image this late in the game, so from now, I have to play my own game to the end. Some may see me as a villain. But personally? I have considered myself just very neutral throughout the game. And until the final episode, I will play as such. Neither good nor bad. Or…perhaps as now…I'll be focusing on the important people I should have been focusing on since Episode 1.

"Anyways, golden luck on the…ugh…execution!" Isabelle said, shuddering both from the cold and fear. "I don't want to fight with you or anything. And obviously, I'm a bit nervous myself. Especially since we're all…freezing to death minute by minute in this game…and in this freezer."

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes! I have so much to study for, for the quiz!" Isabelle turned around and began to walk away from him with a smile, out of the doorway of the freezer, and Joker with wide eyes saw her go back into the kitchen…walking away further, and further, and slowly to the exit of the kitchen.

Joker: I did not anticipate that the others around me would be my final, real competitors and enemies. And yet here I was…slightly daunted by those around me. I suppose from now, I'll be better. Prepared. Prepared to win. Prepared for everything. Prepared for…anything.

By the time the players entered the execution that night, the pyramid of chocolate had melted. The clue about the Mole… was no more.

It was time for the quiz. Quiz 6.

DK, with warm, large, massaged feet… but heavily-sweating hands… even amidst a chilling pyramid of icy freezing temperature…slowly opened the lid of the blue laptop before him.

Each player was brought to an underground area of the ice hotel…where dripping, melting ice was thankfully absent, as even a single drop from above would malfunction onto their laptop incorrectly and make them vote for a wrong answer that wasn't for the saboteur in their game. One wrong move…and it was death.

Now in a comfortable room each, it was the most that could assuage them from the impending emotions of doom and death that were in all of their hearts. In all of their beating, red hearts….but the Mole's.

DK stared with extremely anxious eyes…at Question 1.

1. What gender is the Mole?

-Male

-Female

DK: I just am, like…so DANG TIRED of all these mysteries and secrets already! Come on! We've had twenty episodes, it's felt, of nothing but 'Who is the Mole?' 'Who is the Mole?' Just reveal yourself already, darn it! We all want to know who you are, Mole! And I just can't take it anymore!

In the cold underground, a tired but determined player took the quiz slowly but steadily. Dark Pit looked at Question 2 with a little guilt. The episode had been one of true reflection. But he stayed smart and determined.

2. What vegetable rule change did the Mole commit upon the iceberg in the mission Rule-Changing Mountain by biting into the food?

-Lettuce: Rule-Changing Iceberg

-Tomato: Survival Iceberg

-Mushroom: Survival Gone

-None of the Above

Dark Pit: Something that Joker had taught me…it might be good for people to believe you're the Mole at this point. There are such few players left now. If someone slips by one wrong question towards you, they are out. So if you manage to sway someone…just even a little, tiny bit…it might be able to seal your safety and bring you forwards to the next round. I'm gonna cause havoc now.

He closed his eyes, thinking.

Dark Pit: When I took that tomato in the iceberg game and caused havoc…and people actually suspected me…maybe that'll be my path to victory. And I think to myself: Come on, little tomato. Help me go on. And if not…it'll be worth a shot.

Lucina worriedly chose her answer for Question 3. She took a deep breath as she selected her answer.

3. Did the Mole survive to the end of the Iceberg game?

-Yes

-No

Lucina: I just…do not know what the truth to the game is sometimes. It is a very daunting feeling…to not know the truth around me. As I look at those surrounding me every day, I see actions, some which are suspicious, versus which are not. Dark Pit grabbing the tomato was sabotage and brought ruin. I certainly think he may possibly be the true Mole for that. For that, I suspect him to be the Mole. But when Isabelle pushed him into the ocean and started the game of death…did she do it out of fear? Or her own subtle sabotage? She can be it, too.

The Mole looked at Question 4. She or he smiled.

4. Where did the Mole stay during the Aurora Lights?

-In the cabin

-In the campsite under the aurora

Joker looked at the fifth question, his mask no longer concealing his complacent face as the bright lights of the screen hit his eyes and face. He had lost his mask in the storm. The young thief bit into another piece of dark chocolate that he had salvaged from the mysterious freezer, and nodding, answered the fifth question.

5. What role did the Mole play in the game, 'Man Vs. God?'

-A human

-A God

Joker: Hmm. If…Lucina is the Mole… then she may truly be the mastermind of our group from our very first day on the Battlefield island ever since Episode 1. Her innocent demeanor throughout mixed with displaying and having an image of honor…may be characteristics to deflect us from believing that she may be the Mole. Her guilt in many times during this game may be genuine…and her statements that make us believe that she had to betray us in order to win, avenge, and go on for the past, executed others. It could all be true, yes, but then it could all be a trick. Or perhaps both. The princess could be the Mole.

Isabelle covered her mouth but tried to remain focused as she read the sixth question of the game.

6. What did the Mole do at the Seal Marketplace in Town 2?

-Left the location immediately

-Played a "Whack-a-Seal" game

-Watched a game play out

-The Mole was not present at the marketplace

Isabelle: Oh! I am quite frustrated. Who is the Mole? Dark Pit? Joker? Why do people think I am the Mole too? So what if people think I am the Mole? Just because I left a marketplace and didn't want to support a seal-hurting game? Dark Pit is the Mole! He hid the brochure from me and didn't let me see it was vegetarian and meat free! A young saboteur! Or could it be Joker? He didn't want to convince me to stay at the market! That was suspicious! But…perhaps I am over-blaming. Perhaps I am the one who sabotaged truly. That's okay! The end question is: who is the true traitor? Heehee!

The heating in the basement suddenly turned off. Joker perked up in surprise, realizing the different absence of sound and lack of mechanical whirring. It got chillier. But he focused back, determined and squinting.

7. Where did the Mole get eliminated in the game, "Man Vs. God?"

-In Town 2

-In Town 3

-The Mole reached across all towns

-The Mole was God

Joker: Something that really stirs confusion, in my usually relaxed and quite very-intelligent mind, is the existence of DK. He seems to stumble episode to episode, and I am not sure how he has made it this far. For example, his very two feet were frozen in our final game. This was really my number 1 on my list of unusual, weird events that occurred. How could it happen? I do not know…if I suspected him this much before…but he is one player to for sure consider.

The air became colder again. Dark Pit shuddered, looking around. With panic, he answered his eighth question, nearly almost without thinking.

8. What does the Mole hold during this quiz?

-Nothing

-A Plus 1

-A Minus 1

Dark Pit: Darn. I think I'm at a disadvantage. DK, well, he has a Plus 1. How could I forget that!? Stupid. Stupid! He didn't mention it to anybody after the first mission, so we all seemed to have forgotten that. It's weird he hasn't even brought it up since then. And then Lucina. She has a Minus 1. But…she is very smart. And so is Joker. Grrr! There just leaves the two of us: me and Isabelle. The ones most likely to be executed. Could it be her? Who will leave? These uncertainties kill me…but then they can't be avoided. This is it. This is the end.

With two questions left, Lucina closed her eyes, realizing the air becoming more frigid and frigid with every second that passed by, she tried to collect her thoughts. She calmed herself down. She took a breath in the cold…and answered Question 9.

9. Did the Mole reach the kitchen in the Condor Hotel?

-Yes

-No

Lucina: Just so many…mysteries…in this game. And no truth to be held in my hand. A plethora that is enough to make one wonder for years…perhaps be haunted by them for years to come even after this game is over. The mysteries of the secrets that each player revealed in the final mission may forever be a mystery to me. The mysteries of the world we've been in. The mystery of who is being genuine in this game to me, and who is not. The mystery of whether…I have been genuine to the others, over the entire course of this very deceiving game, or not at all. For some of these mysteries, we did not know the answers to them. But for others…the answers were very evident. For some mysteries…we knew the answers within us.

The game… was truly full of mysteries. And as the air under the hotel became too cold to be in, each player was brought up to the ground level and to the normal world. But not before having answered just one final question each on their near-frozen laptops: a very important question that indeed was the biggest mystery of all.

10. Who is the Mole?

-Joker

-Dark Pit

-Isabelle

-Lucina

-DK

Close to them all…beside the icy village they were all in…a colossal mountain stood. The outside air was no less than freezing, slight flurries in the air, light snowfall gently falling upon the players as they made their way to a row of five chairs in the middle of the village, a snowy town at the foot of the large mountain. Everyone was donning apparel akin to which they had worn upon Icicle Mountain in the beginning of the episode…but now, it was finally the end. A beautiful, frozen fountain was seen to their very near right, as the five players made their way to the very location of their next execution ceremony. They sat down in the five seats directly in front of the frozen fountain…its icicles sharp and glistening, as well as almost haunting…water frozen like a player whose game was to be soon cut short.

"This is it.." One by one, each player sat down. Isabelle, Joker, Dark Pit, Lucina, and DK. The air grew colder. And besides their parkas and wintery coats to protect them from the cold….they also had something else that distracted them more than anything else: emotions. Emotions of freezing anxiousness, nervousness…but also determination to go on…all that they felt amidst the growing, fierce cold around them.

Village huts surrounded all of them, lights and fires seen within them. The players only wished they had the same warmth going into the next cruel ceremony.

After a minute, Smash Host finally arrived, having exited the hotel himself, and he was wearing a heavy, blue peacoat, thicker gloves, and a large scarf…but still upon his head the very same hat that he always wore. And then, he spoke aloud.

"The final five…will be no more," were his first words. "Four move on." All players stared at him with either nods…or no motions at all.

DK: I…couldn't believe it!

Joker: Indeed, it was the five of us. And we had survived so much. Grappled and contended so much. Alas, unfortunately…death would be ultimately inevitable for one of us.

Lucina: We were…to end a stage. We were to soon cross the halfway mark into a terrible, more difficult stage. A question remained in my mind: who would make it to the end? To the further, last four?

"In this Execution 6 ceremony, here in this very icy, snowy village, we will take another victim of the Mole," the host continued. "This area has caused havoc, chaos, and most of all, many emotions. Unfortunately, we have to end the episode along the same lines…with one final action: with the elimination of one of you." DK let out an involuntary sound of panic.

DK: I can't be going home NOW! No way! I have a Plus 1! It's impossible for me to go home!

"Not me, not me, not me…" DK groaned to himself, barely audible among the snow that fell around them.

"Dark Pit…how would you feel if you were to be eliminated today?" Smash Host began, looking at the young angel. Dark Pit seemed stunned…and lost…at the host's sudden asking, and everyone else faced him at the sudden question, and his eyes for a second seemed troubled… but then he nodded himself. He looked at the host with as much confidence and confirmation as he could.

"Huh. This probably isn't an answer I would have expected to say episodes ago, to be honest…Smash Host…but I think I would be… fine." The host's eyebrow raised.

"Fine?" the host asked. Dark Pit couldn't help but grin.

"Fine…more fine than anything else in the world," he replied, making his voice louder and clearer in the cold, and he managed to smile, even a bit more. "Maybe if this was another past episode…I would have been discontented and hated it all if I were to get knocked off. But this episode alone…these past three days…have changed me so much." He paused, looking down, but softly smiling. "So the truth is… I really think I'd be okay if I were to be gone." Smash Host, hearing his words, nodded. The others did too.

"Isabelle, how about you?" the host asked, turning to the little dog in her little, orange earmuffs. "How would you feel if you were to be eliminated today?" Isabelle's eyes widened at the intense statement by the host, her mouth open in shock. But she nodded.

"Well…I can't hide it, I would just be so devastated!" Isabelle answered, shaking her head. "I couldn't believe that after all this time, and after all I've done, that I'd be going home! But, yes! I think I'd be okay too! I'd be fine, like Dark Pit said, but just a little bit in shock, actually. I just hope it doesn't happen! But…oh well! If it does happen that I'm executed, then I'd have to accept it, right?"

"Indeed, Isabelle. Accept an execution, indeed." The host looked at all five of them, then turned around.

Whoosh… A chill went through the air.

Smash Host turned to the screen monitor that was large, glowing under the moon, glistening from the snow that had compiled upon it. He then sat down at his wooden table…a keyboard upon it.

It was time to begin the execution.

"First…Joker," the host began.

"Hmm…yes." The student stood up straight in his seat, his black trench coat contrasting with the snow and everything else around him. He had a subtle smile on his face, one that was mixed with a tinge of uncertainty.

Joker as he carefully watched his name get typed into the screen. The others did too, the falling snow hitting the screen as well with every letter that appeared.

J-O-K-E-R

…

…

…

…

…

RED

"No!" yelled Dark Pit, and the others saw that he had jumped out of his seat. He stood still…his eyes in shock…then emotionless.

"Oh my gosh…" Lucina gasped, covering her own mouth in her seat. "Not….not him…it cannot be…." She buried her head, closing her eyes, her emotions distraught and weak.

Like a speedy flash of light…with the first red screen…Joker was no more.

The red shined out, reflecting and appearing almost orange in the snow like the color of a fox. He was eliminated.

The air was deadly silent, mostly caused by the disbelieving shock of the light, as the players sat stunned in their seats amidst the falling snow. But their faces showed their reactions, and their expressions were not silent at all.

DK: JUST how could this BE? HOW?!

"Hmm…" Joker sat back in his seat, eyes closed, and he was nodding to himself silently. Then, his mouth curled up into a smile. A small one. And he began chuckling to himself softly. Softly…but still loudly enough. it echoed in the snowy air. The sound of his laughing filled the silent air and changed it. Everyone was still mixed in their shock and surprise.

Then Joker stood up.

"Joker…please follow me," Smash Host said, standing up himself slowly.

"With pleasure, Smash Host," Joker replied. He faced the others, and with a wink and a little nod to them to signify his permanent departure to them, he began to walk away. The long-lasting, impactful, fallen figure in the black trench coat followed the host out of the game, his body disappearing past the icicle fountain, past the nearest buildings of the village…past existence. And at last, he was truly gone.

Four were left. Silent. Confused. A very clever, adroit, sly, skilled, memorable player…who had made it so far with them… was now forever gone.

Whoosh…

For this final time, it was a wind sound...of sadness.

As two people walked through the village, it was apparent that the town was littered with other frozen fountains that seemed to trail all the way to the edge. Joker passed each of them with a long look, staring at each fountain, the large, formed crystals of frozen water existing within each circle, frozen in time.

"It is very much like…I am passing by every episode I had succeeded through," he commented with a chuckle, glancing at each fountain he went by with thought. "They were once full of life. Now, they're frozen in time. Stopped. No longer existing. Existing in nothing else, but my memories."

Smash Host opened his mouth. "You said in the third leg amidst the Blizzard game, that when you return back to your original lives…it will be with new mindsets and new personas…and that you will be different. How different do you think your life will be from your original one when you go back? When do you think you will start to feel that difference?"

Joker chuckled "Smash Host," Joker spoke, shaking his head towards him. "The truth is…I am already feel that difference, right at this very second."

The large mountain over them seemed to form a shadow that engulfed them. The four players shuddered. Confused and lost.

"But…but how?" Isabelle squealed. "He was the…the MOLE!"

"Well….apparently not," Dark Pit shrugged, trying to seem uncaring, but his voice cracked while speaking.

"BUT….BUT…I actually voted for him on nearly every question!" DK stammered, nearly standing out of his seat in shock. "It CAN'T BEEE! What in the hecking heck of hecks?! No way! Outrageous to the end! This game is RIGGED!" He slumped back his chair.

DK: He's gone! He's actually gone! Part of me wants for say "Finally, he's gone!" But another part of me is like, "Man, I'll miss that man!"

"Pfft…whatever…it is…" Dark Pit muttered, wiping tears from his eyes. "…it's just a stupid game." He faced away from the others, still slightly crying. But Lucina saw him, and her face turned to one of sadness and compassion.

"We…we must remember him positively," Lucina said quickly, trying to hold her own emotions and tears. She faced the mountain behind the town, looming over them. "This world…is big….but the wisdom, jokes, and comfort he gave us made the world seem so small…smaller and safer than it really was."

The players were sent in the falling snow. They looked to the mountain.

"In this Mole's world…I guess he did give us some positive feelings sometimes," Isabelle shrugged. "Well, not to me. But maybe to you guys! I know you guys were closer to him!"

Isabelle: Even though I didn't have a good relationship with him, you still had to acknowledge the emotions and good of others, I suppose!

"I hated that guy!" DK yelled loudly, but then the others could see that he was half-grinning. Half-smiling in memory. And in the end, he seemed a bit emotional himself. "He confused the heck out of me! And tricked me a lot! But…you know…. I guess those're the things I miss about him! All the fun and questions and mysteries. And also, whatever he did, you have to do in the game of the Mole." He looked glumly towards the edge of the snowy town, to where Joker had left.

"And because of all that…I just guess he really was a good guy after all."

The snowflakes seemed to fall softer than they were falling before. Joker stared at the sky, at the white dots that made their way to him. He smiled with a calm face. He thought of everything.

"I had…received quite the adventure here," Joker began out loud. "From tall, destroyed, castles, to towering buildings and stadiums in a city of creatures…to depths of pits and underground caves to high in the sky among stars and clouds. And to expand my survival, even past crumbling bridges and rather distasteful crumbling mountains. But you see, Smash Host… they were all…riddles. Every mission was a riddle. Every moment was a riddle. Some, I was just too good for. Some…perhaps just the opposite. They were superior to me."

"You will miss them all?"

"Yes. Yes, of course."

"And also, perhaps the people…the people you've met," the host added on. Joker stopped in his tracks.

"The people I've met? Why…yes," Joker began. "That is something to remember too." The gentleman thought back to all his connections he had made. He stood still in the gentle, falling snow. His eyes were still. "I…forged many surprisingly good connections indeed. Denying that would be a disservice to my true feelings."

"I watched you form those connections," Smash Host spoke, walking beside him. "And I've never seen someone create them so well while trying to maintain a guise of trickery and deceit." Joker chuckled.

"But…were they good connections?" Joker questioned. "The connections I made with Lucario…Lucina…Dark Pit…were they full of trickery? I do not know."

"I have no doubt that you added mysteries, adventure, and thought into their lives," Smash Host said with a nod. "You played well. Because even with your trickery…you had genuine goodness. I would say you definitely brought more good into their lives than bad. In fact…I would even argue you barely brought anything bad into their lives as well. You improved them. For the better."

"And that is what they have done to me…as well."

Crack…. The icicle fountain near them cracked a bit, alerting them all. They looked to each other with heightened attention. It was as if they were brought back to reality, awake, cognizant of the disappearance of one of them. Joker was forever gone.

"It's hard to imagine…this game continuing without him," Lucina whispered. "He will not be at the end…"

"Like…he really was such an important part of this game," Isabelle said in realization. "I mean, he was crucial in every mission, I admit!" The little canine nodded with realization and agreement.

"It seemed like only yesterday I was throwing apples with him…it was ridiculous!" DK laughed, shaking his head. "Time really passed and flew. Like…apples in the air." He sat back down glumly, remembering. "I can't…can't believe I'll miss that LOSER!"

(Flashback of Episode 2 of Joker and DK tossing two apples simultaneously, then turning to each other)

Flashback Joker (smirking): Won't believe my eyes sometimes, but I'm believing these apples,"

Flashback DK (yelling): ""Yeah, we're the bomb!"

"I…guess I had some good memories with him…too," Dark Pit whispered. He was speaking almost just to himself. He looked to the snow, fallen, dead on the ground. "There were a lot of missions where…he was actually my partner. And we played. And…it was fun just being with him. Even just…little things."

(Flashback of Episode 5 of Joker and Dark Pit exploring through Termina Bay's dark caves)

Flashback Dark Pit (in the cave): "That was easy."

Flashback Joker (suspiciously): "…A little too easy."

Flashback Dark Pit: "Yeah, it's not like…AHHHHHHHH!"

(Hundreds of purple winged creatures swoop down in their faces and eyes of the two helpless boys)

Flashback Dark Pit (screaming): "AHHH…GET THEM OFF ME….GAHH!"

Flashback Joker (grabbing Dark Pit's hand):"Quick…to the light!" (Together, they run out out of the cave)

"Even outside of missions…most of my interactions were with him," Dark Pit realized. "Just…with him." And he smiled wistfully, remembering one of their first interactions together.

(Flashback of before Episode 1's execution, seeing Joker with his hair slicked back and wearing a fancy tuxedo)

Flashback Dark Pit: "Whoa."

"I think my most meaningful time with him…was the day after Lucario's execution in Lumiose City," Lucina remembered. "As we climbed the beautiful Prism Tower…I expressed sadness over the falling of Lucario and previous players…and he gave me comfort. His words…they made me…less sad in a treacherous game."

(Flashback of Episode 4, of Joker and Lucina in the glistening, blue Lumiose Tower, paused on the steps.)

Flashback Joker (staring out the blue tower window): "Did you know that you and I...were the two players who were always closest to Lucario the most throughout the first three episodes?"

Flashback Lucina: "I...had just realized so."

Flashback Joker (staring into the city): "So in a way...we must keep his memory alive. We are the ones who must do it. If one of us gets executed...then the other continues his memory. It just will not stop."

Flashback Lucina: "...indeed. We must continue it," (she smiled)

Lucina gasped…almost remembering his words from that day. Now…it applied to him.

"I think as we go on…we realize the true, genuinely, heart-filled moments in this game that were different from the deceit," Lucina whispered. "When we climbed the tower together…it was real. Joker...was real."

"I suppose I really seemed quite treacherous and evil in the eyes of some of the others at times," Joker said with a shrug, as they passed by some of the beautiful ice-formed structures of the town. Smash Host looked at him curiously.

"Was it all an act?" the host wondered. "To seem more…mysterious? To seem more suspicious in the eyes of the others? So they would pick you as the Mole?"

"I suppose I can admit…that perhaps quite more than just one or two instances…were all just an act," Joker chuckled. "On one hand, those qualities are how I naturally am. Sly. Mysterious. At times maybe unfortunately cunning. But…I suppose I did amplify it by a slight…slight amount." Joker winked.

"I suppose it was effective," Smash Host laughed with a shake of his head. "Some may argue that you were the most outlandish out there."

Joker grinned. "Indeed, I was. One of the most intelligent too, if I may not brag. But…I suppose that's not true. One of those remaining players…they will truly prove themself the smartest…and win."

Smash Host slowly nodded. "Perhaps indeed. The unmasker of the Mole."

"He definitely had in him…emotions that I felt were truly, truly…full of heart…and real," Lucina began, looking to the snow above her. She closed her eyes, finding slight tears in them. The others, even to just even the smallest percent, agreed as well.

"Yeah…real feelings…" Dark Pit hid his face from the others, still sad and secretly wiping away tears.

"Ugh? But totally lame and—-!" Then DK suddenly noticed his teammate's face, scratching his head and looking a bit sad and lost himself at seeing his teammate's expression. He laughed: amidst the execution's aftermath, he was trying to brighten the mood. The mood of sadness.

"HAHA! Nah…I thought he was trying to fool me 90% of the time!" DK laughed, chuckling loudly and shaking his head. "Guess I was wrong! He was too smart for us!" He grinned widely.

"He was trying to fool you 90% of the time…you were just too easy to fool, duh," Dark Pit said, and though his voice was still bitter and sad about his teammate being gone, he managed to give out a smile in the game.

"I'll get you!" DK roared, jumping up from his seat and letting out an annoyed, laughing sound, but it was a softened, friendly gesture, and Dark Pit smiled again.

"I really think we have to play for everyone who had fallen before us…" Isabelle said, wide eyes and looking carefully and curiously at her teammates. "Peach, Lucero…"

"Kazooie….Fox…" DK added glumly. "All these awesome people who never got to make it as far! And were victim to the Mole! We gotta!"

"And to avenge them…finding the Mole is key…we must do it…shall we?"" Lucina whispered out loud. "That is the mission you must do." Everyone heard her words, and slowly nodded.

The Mole was still alive.

As they reached the very edge of the icy town, Joker took one last look behind him. The large mountain in the nighttime loomed the world. The air was cold…but it seemed all beautiful…peaceful….and ending.

In the dark sky, the snowy mountain was enormous, almost unreal, almost daunting, and it was an image of grandness…symbolic of the grandness of the game Joker had played and experienced.

Joker: Quite a view. And most of all…quite a game.

"And she is here…" Smash Host took a step back as a long bus that seemed to be for snow tour passengers was driving down the road. Joker turned around and looked at it, and before long, it was parked in front of them. Smash Host looked at the windows and glass of the bus. "Hello. Good to see you."

"I suppose this is my exit," Joker nodded, and he smiled at the vehicle. "A bit austere for a sophisticated, grand gentleman like me."

"Ah, don't let looks be deceiving. You'll be okay," Smash Host winked. "You've changed."

"This episode has changed me…the games have changed me…everything has changed me…" He paused. "The others…have changed me." Those were his final words to Smash Host. The host winked, and opened his arm towards the opening door of the bus. Joker gave a nod to the host of the game, and he knew that once he stepped onto the bus, it would be all over. Entering into a new world. Out of the deceiver's world.

The tall, caped gentleman, no longer wearing his mask, got onto the bus.

Vrooom…

As the bus went off, he sat down close to the front…leaning against the window…the frosted window…staring back at the snowy town of ice he was leaving. Four other players. But he wouldn't be continuing.

"…it is over," he finally said to himself with acceptance. Then he turned to look to a passenger that was sitting near the front. A dark-haired girl. Young. Dressed in an outfit…that almost looked that of a school girl from his city in Japan. Joker froze.

"…Kasami?" he whispered, standing up immediately from his seat, and he nearly blocked the walkway of the bus.

"Excuse me…are you all right?" came the soft voice of a woman from behind him. Joker seemed to snap out of his trance. He turned and faced the other woman, who was wearing a long, brown-colored dress, and as Joker shook his head, the woman smiled.

Joker composed himself, grinned, and nodded. "Just returning home after a long…very long journey," he commented with his usual grin. The woman smiled back softly.

"It is…very understandable," she replied, "to feel such a way after such a long…life-changing adventure. Please be at ease. I am your tour guide for this trip: I will bring you home from the game of 'The Mole'."

"I see. Thank you," Joker replied, looking around for an empty seat. Amidst the back , there were many passengers. A few seats from him, there was a little boy, his melodious singing of a Christmas song, 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" being the only true sound he could hear, besides the starting engine of the bus. He chuckled.

"Please feel at ease…you may sit here," the woman said, pointing to an empty seat right beside her. "The other tour guide is not here today, but at a gardening conference, so this seat is vacant." Joker took a seat with no hesitation near the front. He looked out the window with a wistful face as the bus began to depart from the icy village. Away from the game. Away from the four others. Away from it all. He felt a tinge of regret and sadness. But he shook his head and smiled, trying his best to shake it off and see the positively in it all.

"A long day for you too, I suppose?" Joker decided to converse to the tour guide sitting beside him. "Have you been touring and existing all day in this blistering, snowy land of death and execution?" The elegant woman smiled and shook her head.

"I am…doing this just for today," she replied. "I…must return to my duties tomorrow."

"Duties? A queen back to their own land?" Joker said non-seriously with a laugh. The woman only smiled slightly, yet still seriously, to his confusion.

"You may be surprised…and may not believe me at all…but I am a princess of another land," the woman in the brown dress replied calmly. Joker's eyes widened.

"A…princess," he repeated. He paused for a few seconds, trying to determine if the woman was being disingenuous or deceitful. But he realized: they were out of the game. Out of the game of The Mole. She had no reason to be.

"I believe you," he replied after gathering his thoughts.

"Yes…it is unbelievable," she spoke, seeing his face. "But I suppose it is just true."

"I knew another princess myself for quite a while…and got to know her very well," Joker replied with a nod. "I understand completely. Sometimes you have to go and do other missions that call out to you. Whether they be not very…'princess-like' or not. Whether they are different from what you usually do in your real life." The woman nodded in reply at his words. As the bus engine finally started, and the bus began to go through the snowy land, the woman took out a small container from her bag by her side. It was a concealed plate…of delicious food.

"Would you like a pastry?" she offered, and took off the lid. An assortment of colorful pastries hit Joker's eyes and nose. He stared in surprise.

"I suppose it would be rude of me not to take one… thank you, princess," he replied, grinning, and grabbed for the first pastry he could see, "and life would be less adventurous and delicious without such little delicious, surprising things in life like these…these…."

"Eclairs," the woman in the dress spoke back. She smiled softly.

Sighing, and twirling the pastry bread in his hand, the Joker looked at the chocolate-glazed, choux-filled dessert in his hand. "I suppose there are countless surprises in this world. And mysteries...even if the answers are just right in your hand. One still being…the identity of the Mole."

The tour guide princess smiled. "Perhaps so." And she turned away to look at the snowy road.

Vroom…. And at that very second, the snowy bus had finally, officially traveled out from the world of Icicle Mountain.

In front of the icy fountain…four players remained. Frozen in the game. Still alive.

They sat in silence.

The chilly air, silent and frozen, was almost symbolic of death.

Crack… The frozen fountain near them made a small sound. A minute passed. The red screen shined against the white snow. Smash Host was not back yet. Another minute passed. The players didn't know what to do next.

DK laughed….uncomfortably.

"Well…now that we're still alive after this execution, we'll all agree that maybe, finally, we're now LESS stressed to some huge degree?" DK considered, shrugging largely and optimistically. "Let's, well, uh…celebrate?! Even though we will miss Joker, things are going to be a darn heck less stressful!" He raised a fist into the air. "YEAAA—!" He was stopped.

"Less stressed?" Isabelle spoke miserably, covering her face. "DK…no. No, no, no. I don't know if you even remember the very game we're playing, but there is a Mole still here! It has just gotten worse." She buried her head. "One of us is a liar. The Mole is one of us. Just…among us…and watching everything we do!" The others paused at her words.

"Yes. Indeed. It is unfortunately…true," Lucina began, a bit quietly, but also with a look of worry, and ultimately, sadness in her voice. "And the Mole…with no mercy…has taken Joker."

"The Mole is…." Dark Pit whispered, trying to contain his growing anger as he remembered everything that had happened in the game in the last ten minutes. It was a mix of turbulent emotions he was feeling. The sadness. The anguish. The loss. "To whoever's fault this is…I'll…I'lll…" He turned away, finding himself emotional again. He tried to stop his tears from flowing more. "I'm…I'm going to get you. I will." The others looked at him with a gasp.

"That is my mission to the end. I will get you. I swear."

Dark Pit: I will hunt you down. And I don't even need an arrow to do that.

Lucina: The game…unfortunately from now…is going to become more terrible.

Suddenly, the snow seemed to get worse. They shivered in the cold.

The fountain…cracked again.

And it was for the last time.

CRACKKKK! It was as if pressure had been building up for days and days, and now…it had finally erupted violently at last. Suddenly, cold water blasted with full force from the fountain, gushing fiercely, hitting so far that it reached twenty feets towards the players and hit all of them from nearly head to toe. The players screamed, getting out of their seats and stepping back in shock at the cold, unbearable water that splashed all of their clothes and bodies.

SPLASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"AHHHHH!" Isabelle shrieked, running away from her chair and the exploded fountain.

"The fountain?!" Dark Pit immediately stumbled back into the snow and fell to the ground over his own chair, confused and shocked and looking at the fountain.

Dark Pit: And all of a sudden…WE were then hunted.

They all backed away in shock and fear.

Sssssssssssssss… Water continued to overflow from the broken fountain as it spilled across the cold, stone ground, glistening the icy and even more. For a few more seconds…they each stared at the fountain…then at each other in shock.

The players stood in shock. DK laughed heartily.

"…well! THAT WAS A FINAL SURPRISE! HAH!," DK exclaimed, coughing, folding his arms and his big eyes wider than ever before. Then, he paused, and his mouth dropped with realization. "Do you think that was an… ATTACK?!"

"It's as if the Mole put us there and timed it and did it on purpose…." Isabelle squealed with a bit of fear. "I'm…sure of it!"

"That's ridiculous. Impossible. No way!" Dark Pit shouted. "There's no way the Mole would have been intelligent enough to do that explosion and time it…and…and…"

"For they knew…her or him," Lucina whispered in fear, her eyes frozen, backing from the fountain with realized horror. She then stared at the darkened mountain that loomed near them, and suddenly gasped. "Their world. No matter where we go…we are under her or his control. I'm sure. The Mole is here." She slowly stepped back towards the frozen fountain, putting her hand on the edge. "I'm afraid this game will fearfully become worse for us four. It…already has."

Isabelle: I…I didn't like the sound of that at all! Not one bit!

DK: Come on. Bring it! Let's do this! The final four!

Dark Pit: I will get you. I promise.

Four players remained in the game of The Mole: Deceiver's World. Like the fountain…their game was cracked…and it would just crack even more.

Three innocent players had to suffer to the next round.

And one of them was at fault…and had always been at fault…and their frozen assault was enough to ruthlessly freeze all hope in the world they had created…their world of terrible, cold deceit…the Mole.

The end…!

Joker is gone…

THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR! :)

The first 1 / 4 of Episode 7's first chapter has already been written! SO hopefully it'll be sooner than horribly later for the next update : )

Remember, the revival of 'The Mole' is airing right now on Netflix! The final two episodes of the ten-episode series ends this Frday July 12th! SO binge watch if you can! :) Or watch sometime in the next week or two so they hype is still alive when you look at Reddit r/the mole for fun banter and theorizing and discussions haha.

Also if you've made it this far, please review and let me know:

1) Your thoughts and theories from this episode conclusion and for the future! What emotions and thoughts did you feel in this chapter? :) And who is...your suspect of...the Mole?!

But also, LET ME KNOW! 2) How you're doing! How's life? What's up and going? Anything new? Everything old and generally same and great? I love every single one of you! :)

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Thank you all for reading and supporting this story! We Live on, and 'The Mole' lives on :)