Dog Eat Dog Chapter 1: A Hare-raising Encounter, a your turn to die fanfic

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Executing First Trial...

Gin Ibushi woke up in a cold, dark room.

"Mreowr…?" He blinked, stretching his back in a graceful arch. "Why am I… In my costume, woof?" That was strange. Gin never slept with his costume on! It would get all dirty and mom would have to clean it more often! He was fine just sleeping with Mew-chan, anyway. "Wait…! Where am I, woof!?"

Scampering to his feet, and making sure to keep a tight grip on his cat cushion, Gin took a cursory sniff of the room. There were some strange scents coming from one wall that Gin couldn't quite identify. 'It almost smells like… Paint?'He swallowed. For some reason, there were holes all over the walls.

"Beginning voiced guidance."

Gin leaped back. "Rowr…! Who's there, woof!?"

"The First Trial will now begin. Gin, use your superior senses to sniff out the keys in this room. Use them to unlock the door at the end of the room, in the correct order. You have five minutes. If you cannot complete this challenge before the time limit expires, the spikes in the walls will pierce, then crush, your body. By all means, enjoy this thrill with all your heart and soul."

What? What were they talking about? "Th-these holes, meow… I'm gonna be squished!?" Gin panicked. "I gotta find keys, woof? O-okay…" Gin raised his nose to the air, scenting the room for the second time. 'There's some weird smells around here… Maybe I should check that wall again?'

Pawing at the wall with his mittens, Gin leapt in surprise when he discovered a section of the wall which he could push inwards. A red key fell from the ceiling down to his feet. "Woof!? It was fake!?"

Picking up the key, Gin rushed over to the door of the room. There were three locks on it: yellow, red, and blue. "I gotta find two more, mew!?" Gin whined. He pocketed the blue key and scampered back to the center of the room.

Another deep sniff took him to the back corner of the room, hiding a small grate. There was a strange, sticky substance on the grill. 'Gross… It smells like spoiled milk…'Taking off his mittens and shoving them under his cat hoodie to ensure they stayed clean, Gin peeled open the grate, revealing a yellow key. He pocketed it and quickly padded back to the other side of the room. Looking over at the wall, Gin could make out some scribbles near the ceiling. A yellow 'One' was spray painted in scratchy, loose lettering. 'The robot guy said to put the keys in order, right?'

Gin felt like time had to be running short by this point. Sweat poured down his brow, exacerbated by his heavy clothing. His head shot around wildly, scrying for the last key.

"There it is, woof!" In the back corner of the room, hanging by a string, was the blue key. It was too high for 138 centimeter Gin to reach standing up. Backing all the way up to the other corner of the room, and arching forwards like an Olympic sprinter, Gin dashed for the wall directly underneath the key. His feet slammed into the concrete and he dug his nails into the wall. He bounced once, twice, then away, grabbing onto the string on his way down.

The tether snapped easily. "Woof! I got them!" He gulped. "B-but… What order do I put them in? Is something bad gonna happen if I do it wrong…?"

Gin took one more deep sniff, searching for any scent trail he hadn't already discovered. 'That paint smell… Over there!'Gin's eyes darted to the wall. There, was some upside down text in purple lettering.

Gin craned his neck and torso all the way to the left, turning his vision downside up. The text read:'Alphabetically, the keys are as twisted as these words.'Gin blinked. "What the heck does that mean, woof!?"

Swallowing his fear, Gin scampered over to the door, fiddling with the keys. 'As twisted as these words…? Is it because they were upside down? Yellow's first, right?'Gin blinked, before a wide grin overtook his features.

He plunged the yellow key into the matching lock; then the red, before finishing with the blue. The door opened without an issue. "Yes, meow!"

Gin darted out of the scary room, looking behind himself as he backed away. Apparently, he had done pretty well! He stared into the room for about 40 seconds before spikes emerged from the thin holes in the walls, slamming together.

Gin flinched, heavily. "Th-that would have been me, mew…?" His jaw quivered before he forced it to stop. 'I'm brave… I made it out. Mom'll be so proud of me!'

Gin turned back around. The hall before him was completely dark, to the point where a regular boy would certainly be completely blind in his position. Fortunately for Gin, however, he had spent countless hours training his senses to match as closely with his favorite animals as humanly possible. 'Cat vision! Activate!'

A long, featureless hallway stretched before him. It was as if somebody has carved a hole through the center of a mountain, before polishing the insides to perfect smoothness. "Creepy, meow… I really have to go through here?"

Hesitantly, Gin pawed forwards into the unknown.

The hallway stretched on and on. Gin sauntered forward, his cape flowing out behind him. It was a scary experience at first, but now that the excitement had mostly passed, Gin just found himself bored. He scraped his hand against the wall, trying to clean it of the remaining residue from the vent, before he shoved his hands back into his mittens. 'Does this hallway ever end…?'

It did. Gin stumbled backwards as a narrow gap stretched out before him. "Mreowr! I coulda fallen in…!" Gin bit his lip. 'Is this where I'm meant to go? No way!'

Gin turned around on his heel. "Maybe if I sniff around, woof…" Gin lowered his facemask to reveal his nose, tilting his head upwards.

Before he could scent anything, however…

A sharp pinch registered on the back of his neck.

"Meouch! Wha… S'goin' on…?" Gin staggered backwards.

It was a testament to the boy's constitution that he only lost consciousness after he fell into the hole. Terror surged through him, like fire in his veins.

'Mom…'The world blinked out.

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Executing Second Trial…

Awareness sprang to Gin's mind much quicker than in the First Trial room. As soon as the boy's eyes cracked open, he hissed and leapt up to his feet. Spinning around wildly, he realized he was in the back of a small room, stood upon a cushion. "Wha…?" Looking forward, there were a short few steps until the end of the oblong room.

Though hesitant, Gin saw no reason to remain in the cramped room. Gnawing at his bottom lip, he padded forwards through the doorway.

"Hey! We got another one!" a giant gorilla immediately roared. Gin leapt backwards, yelping.

In the center of a large, shiny, blue-tiled room were five strangers: the red-headed gorilla that had yelled at him; a skinny man in an ugly scarf and crusty-looking beanie; a tall woman in an apron, wearing a hat shaped like a cream puff; some frightening old man chuckling maniacally to himself; and a fit woman in a police uniform.

Naturally, Gin gravitated towards the police-woman, even as the gorilla tried to talk to him. "Hey, you awright, kiddo? Can't believe they'd even kidnap children…"

Gin stepped back. This guy was huge! "I'm fine, meow! Worry about yourself, Muscle Gorilla!"

The man blinked, brows knitting. "Uh… Okay?"

The policewoman frowned down at Gin. "Tch… Children, too…?" She knelt down to his eye-level. "Are you feeling alright? You aren't injured, are you?"

"I said I'm okay, woof! You're a police lady, right? Do you know what's going on?"

Police Lady grit her teeth. "I'm afraid not. I've been trying to keep some order around here." She hummed. "I'm certainly hoping more people show up, if only to ease my worries…"

Gin whimpered. "You're talking about the First Trial, aren't you, meow?" He averted his eyes.

Police Lady stiffened. "... Yes. I had a… Rough time, during mine."

Hat Lady piped up. "Can we…! Please, not talk about that…?" She wet her lips. "I'd… Rather not think about it, myself."

The Hipster sniffed. "Right… I totally understand. Don't really wanna talk about mine, either…"

"Mwahaha…" Creepy! What was up with this old guy!? "I've had a terrible fright, myself. My heart is beating out of my chest…"

Police Lady straightened her posture. 'She kinda looks like a lemur,'Gin thought.

"Alright." She addressed them all as a group. "Before we introduce ourselves, let's make sure we have everybody first. I've no doubt there are more of us to be revealed."

"Well… Okay. That's fine by me." Hipster shrugged. "I need to get my bearings, anyway."

Gin settled for crouching in the corner. There was no way he was gonna hang out with a bunch of strangers, even if one of them was a police officer.

Speaking of Police Lady, something looked…offabout her. While she wasn't paying attention, Gin got up close and took a cursory sniff. He cringed violently.'Why does Police Lady… Smell so afraid?'Silently, Gin resolved to protect her. Something really bad must have happened in her first trial.

"Eh? Is something wrong?" Police Lady turned to him. Darn! He hadn't been as sneaky as he thought.

"N-no, I'm good, woof!"

"Okay…" Her scarlet eyes narrowed.

A violent thump sounded from one of the massive room's multiple passageways, and a funny-looking girl stumbled out of the opening. 'Is she wearing a jester's hood? That's kinda archaic…'

"Wh-who are all of you…? What's g-going on!?" Clown Girl's lip quivered violently.

Police Lady frowned. "That's what we're trying to figure out. Join us, won't you? We're still waiting for everybody to get here."

"There's more people!?" Clown Girl groaned. "Th-this is too much, man…"

Sure enough, more people started flooding out of the multiple openings.

First came a teenage boy with weird cotton candy hair. "What the hell…? This is freaking me the fuck out, dude…"

Then, a girl who looked like she wasn't too far from Gin's age. "... Wonderful. More of you creeps."

"Mwahaha… I assure you, young lady, we are not with the kidnappers…" Old Guy's grin could have split his face in half.

The short girl sweat. "... Not exactly inspiring confidence, there."

Old Guy sniffled. It was kinda pathetic.

Finally came another high school girl, hair tied up in a ponytail. Silently, her head craned around to look at the others. Gin cocked his head. There was something weird about her, but he couldn't quite pin it down. The girl said nothing as she moved over to the group.

"Alright… Izzat it?" Muscle Gorilla sniffed. "We've kinda slowed down by now…"

Cotton Candy shook his head. "No way… Look at how many openings there are. There's gotta be more of us."

Hipster looked away. "I hate to say it, but… It's been around a minute since the last person showed up. Unless we had different time limits, I figure anyone else is…"

"No… No way!" Clown Girl reeled. "I mean, if even a dweeb like me got out…"

The quiet girl spoke for the first time. "I had five minutes. Is that true for anyone else?"

Gin swallowed. "I… I had five minutes, too, meow…"

"S-so did I…" Gin could see the whites of Cotton Candy's eyes.

Police Lady grimaced. "So, it's safe to assume… Anyone who isn't here… Must not have made it."

"Seriously!? Th-there's only ten of us?" Hat Lady gnawed on her bottom lip. "That's so… Horrible…"

The quiet girl, who looked and talked as steely as a Samurai, Gin thought, replied. "Yes… But It's not like we can do anything about it. Our priority should be to find a way out of here."

Police Lady nodded in agreement. "You're right, but I don't see why we should do that as strangers. If we've gotta help each other escape, we should at least know each other's names, right?"

"I suppose. I don't see the harm, at any rate."

Police Lady smiled. "Alright. I'll go first. I'm Inspector Megumi Sasahara. You could probably tell from my uniform, but I'm a police captain. I assure you all, I'll do everything in my power to aid you."

"W-well, if there's a cop here…" Cotton Candy sighed. "I'm Ranmaru Kageyama. I was walkin' home from school when some freaks grabbed me and stuffed me in their car. Woke up here, almost fuckin' died, here we are."

Hipster frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ranmaru. They got me on my way home, as well."

"Yeah, well," Cotton Candy puffed out a heavy breath, "I'm doin' a lot better than some of us, apparently…"

An uncomfortable murmur rippled through the group. The ears on Gin's hoodie drooped. 'If I hadn't found those keys…'

Muscle Gorilla cleared his throat. "E-erm… Well, I'm Q-taro Burgerburg! I'm a baseball player! Only second-string, though." He flexed his massive pecs.'What's up with his name? Were his parents obsessed with fast food?'

Clown Girl cleared her throat. "Um… What's up with the box?"

Muscle Gorilla blinked, looking down at the small crate in his hands. "Was part 'a my First Trial. I had to bring it out here for the rest of ya. Dunno what's in it, though…"

"Mreowr!? You got off easy, Muscle Gorilla!" Seriously? What the heck!? The guy was HUGE! Surely, someone else could have gotten the free ride? Like Clown Girl, or the Hipster…

"I… Guess I did, huh?" Muscle Gorilla coughed.

"Erm, I'll go next, if it's alright with you~?" Hat Lady chimed. 'What's up with that tone?'Gin's brows knitted. "My name is Mai Tsurugi~! I work in a delightful little bakery, but I'm hoping to start one of my own sometime soon~"

"Wait, we got a baker!?" Muscle Gorilla beamed. "Freakin' sweet! Do you know how ta make cherry turnovers!?"

Hat Lady smiled. "Honey, if I can't bake it, then it doesn't exist~"

"I suppose it would only be proper to introduce myself, mwahaha…" Old Guy barged in. "My name is Kazumi Mishima. I teach Japanese and Art to high school students."

"Y-You're a teacher…?" Cotton Candy sweat, before he mumbled. "Really glad I'm not a girl…"

"Hmm?"

"N-nothing!"

Samurai Girl put a hand to her chin. "My name is Sara Chidouin. I attend Sonobeno high school." She bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"W-wow…" Clown Girl's face turned a funky shade of red. "So formal…"

"No need ta be so rigid, kid! We ain't in the principal's office!" Muscle Gorilla laughed.

Samurai Girl frowned. "I've never been to the principal's office." She lowered her voice. "Though I'm not surprised you're acquainted…"

"I-I'll go! My name's Anzu Kinashi!" Clown Girl smiled shakily. "I'm a high schooler, but I have a side job, too."

"Oh! Are you a plumber!?" Muscle Gorilla's eyes widened in admiration.

"What!? No!" Clown Girl reeled, perturbed. "What gave you that impression? I'm a clown!"

"Oh. That's cool, too…" Muscle Gorilla looked really put out. 'I don't think I wanna know why he needs a plumber…'

"Hah… Looks like everyone except me and the kids have gone…" Hipster scratched the back of his head, grinning. "My name's Shin Tsukimi. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm… Self-Employed, as of right now."

The weird, frizzy-haired girl snorted. "Self-Employed. Sure."

"I-It's true! I do freelance programming!"

"Whatever you say…" The girl sighed, voice rough and scratchy. "Name's Hinako Mishuku. I'm in middle school."

"... Uh, is that it?" Police Lady raised an eyebrow.

"Whaddya want, cop? My life story?" Shorty scoffed. "Too bad I ain't givin' it."

That was everybody! If he knew all of their names, and they didn't know his… Would that be fair? "I'm not supposed to give my info to strangers, meow… But everybody's already gone…"

Clown Girl smiled at him. "Hey, it's alright. You don't have to tell us anything."

Cotton Candy blinked. "I mean, I'd like to know…"

Clown Girl rolled her eyes. "So? Nobody asked."

Well, Clown Girl seemed really nice… He moved up to her to make sure she was a good person. After a good enough whiff, Gin would be able to tell more about anybody! 'Well, except that one time I tried it on Dad… I nearly puked from the stench…!'

"Gah…! Wh-what are you doing!?" Clown Girl blushed heavily as Gin pressed his face up against her sweater and sniffed. 'Cinnamon, wax… and fear.'Gin made up his mind.

"Okay! I'll trust you, Big Sis Anzu!" He beamed as wide as he could from behind his mask. 'It'll be okay! I'll protect you, and Police Lady, too!'

Big Sis Anzu went pale, mouth bobbing like a fish's. Gin knew he made the right choice. "Wh- Big Sis…?"

"My name's Gin Ibushi, woof! I take care of the animals in my class, meow!"

Hipster chuckled. "I'd gathered…"

Police Lady clapped her hands together. "Alright! Was that everybody?" She waited for a general murmur of assent to pass. "Good. Now, I'd say our first order of business should be to take a peek into Q-taro there's box. If the kidnappers wanted it here…"

Samurai Girl finished for her. "... Then it must be important."

"Okay, I'll give it… There's a lock on it, though, and I don't got a key…"

Samurai Girl perked up. "Ah! Let me see that, please!"

Muscle Gorilla handed her the box, and she dug a small key out of her uniform's jacket. Gin shivered at the reminder. 'I don't think I wanna see a key ever again…'Samurai girl plunged the key into the lock, and twisted.

A head rolled out of the box and collapsed onto the floor.

Gin leapt in terror, clutching at Big Sis Anzu's skirt. She didn't look so great herself, eyes bulging and face pale.

Cotton Candy clutched his floofy hair. "What the shit, man!?"

Shorty scoffed at the majority of the group's terror. "It's a fake."

Samurai Girl, who had taken a step back in shock, prodded the head with a shoe. "...She's right. It looks uncannily realistic, though…"

"H-Holy hell… I didn't know I was carryin' a head!"

Police Lady put a hand to her chin. "Look. A note fell out, too." She bent to pick it up. "'Find my body. Bring me back. For I don't have arms or legs…' Any idea what that means?"

Samurai Girl hummed. "Well… We found the head in Q-taro's box, right? There seems to be plenty of room on this floor. Maybe we'll discover something there? No point in sitting around doing nothing, at any rate."

Police Lady smiled. "You're right." She turned to address the crowd. "Is there any particular way that you all want to do this? This place has proven itself… Dangerous."

Hipster bit his lip. "How about we split off into partners? Four eyes are better than two, after all."

Partners? At least Gin already knew who he wanted to pair up with. "Only if I can explore with Big Sis Anzu, woof!"

"Uh… Sure, why not?" Big Sis Anzu grinned nervously. 'She must be an only child, huh? That's okay, she'll warm up to me!'

Hat Lady giggled. "Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about having a big, strong man to protect me~" She leaned up against Muscle Gorilla.

The giant beamed. "Hey! That's me!" He squinted his eyes really weirdly. He looked constipated! "They've gotta have a kitchen 'round here somewhere…"

Hat Lady looked smug. "Quickest way to a man's heart…"

Police Lady grinned at the Hipster. "I think I see someone else in need of protection."

He blinked, before pointing at himself. "M-me…?"

"Sure enough, you look like you'd get yourself hurt right away if I let you run off on your own. We're partners, now."

"W-we are…?" The poor man looked incredibly confused, and a bit offended. Gin couldn't blame Police Lady, though. The guy looked like he was held together by instant noodles and wet tissue paper…

"H-Hey… Sara, right?" Cotton Candy sidled up to Samurai Girl. "We're both in high school, aren't we? You wanna partner up?"

She smirked. "I don't know… Can't I consider my options first?"

Cotton Candy flinched. "H-Hey, don't be like that! Your only other options are the creepy old dude and the edgy kid! What's so bad about me…?"

"I'm just messing with you. You'd better pull your weight, though…"

He sighed in relief. "I will!"

Old Guy grinned down at Shorty. "Well, Miss Mishuku, I suppose that leaves the two of us."

Shorty flagged down Police Lady. "Can we switch?"

"S-So callous! Boohoo…" Gin blinked.'Did he seriously just say 'Boohoo?' What a weirdo!'

Police Lady smirked. "Sorry, kid. No takesie-backsies."

The middle schooler raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that would hold up in a court of law,inspector."

"Too bad we aren't in one, then."

Shorty groaned. "Fine." She glared at Old Guy. "If I catch your eyes on my skirt even once, you're dead meat."

Old Guy had the decency to look horrified, tugging at his tie. "I would never do such a thing!"

"Right… We'll see." She strolled out of the room, an apprehensive Old Guy trailing behind her.

"Oh, dear… What have I gotten myself into…?"

"Hey… Gin." Big Sis Anzu nudged him. "Where did you wanna go, first?"

He blinked. "Most of them are just empty hallways, mew? So let's find the first one that isn't and explore, woof!"

Big Sis Anzu nodded in agreement, and they set off. After strolling across a couple of dead-ends, they eventually found one entranceway that led further into the facility. Gin sped through the opening, Anzu stumbling after him.

Inside was a dining area, with several rows of tables complete with tablecloths and comfy-looking chairs. Gin felt the urge to just curl up on one and take a catnap. 'I can't do that! Big Sis Anzu's counting on me!'

Further in the room, along the opposite wall, were Muscle Gorilla and Hat Lady. The giant was trying to break down the door there, which led to a room which was obscured by one-way glass. "Dammit…! What's this door made of…!? Iron!?"

Hat Lady giggled. "It's okay, Q-taro… I can bake you some turnovers later, if you'd like~?"

"B-but… Pastries…" His efforts redoubled.

'I thought Big Sis Anzu was the clown! Shouldn't he be exploring!?'The girl turned to him, blowing a red strand of hair out of her face. "Looks like not all of our friends will be helpful, huh, Gin?"

"You're telling me, woof! Muscle Gorilla's a big dork!"

"Hey! Who you callin' a dork!?"

"Mreowr!" Gin ducked behind Big Sis Anzu's skirt.

She stammered at the massive man. "Um, I, Well-"

Muscle Gorilla cut her off by snickering. "Naw, yer good. I got called an 'overgrown doofus' all the darned time back 't the orphanage." A fond look crossed his face.

"Ah, you were an orphan? I'm so sorry to hear that, Q-taro." Hat Lady frowned, sympathetically.

"Nuthin' ta be sorry 'bout! That place made me the man I am today!" He smiled. "Kids with no parents… People tend ta think we ain't worth it, but that shit ain't true! I've spent every day a' my life provin' it!"

Hat Lady blinked. "That's… Really inspiring, Q-taro…"

The giant's face turned as red as his hair. "Aw, 't ain't nuthin'..."

Big Sis Anzu poked him. "Hey, Gin… Let's get outta here before they start making out or something…" Gin, repulsed at the thought of grown-up mushiness, allowed her to drag him towards the large, dark area in the back of the cafeteria.

A long, open corridor stretched out before them. Gin took Big Sis Anzu's hand in his mitten. To reassure her, of course! She was probably really scared of the pitch-black, intimidating corridor, lit up by only a single angry red light above the door at its end. Gin swallowed.

Big Sis Anzu squeezed his hand through the mitten, and they wordlessly moved forwards toward the door. "You ready, Gin?"

"Of course I'm ready, meow!"

Anzu opened the door to reveal…

"Bunnies!" Gin sped towards the end of the room, full tilt. Unfortunately for Big Sis Anzu, he had forgotten they were holding hands in his rush to grab the stuffed animals at the end of the frilly pink room, and he accidentally knocked her flat on her face.

"Ow…"

Gin panicked. "Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry, meow!"

From her position, face flat across the floor, Big Sis Anzu flashed him a thumbs up. "It's okay… This carpeting's really soft…" She pushed against the ground and leapt back to her feet from her prone position. It impressed Gin. 'She must have really big muscles under that tacky yellow sweater… Oops! That was mean! Big Sis Anzu's tacky on purpose, right?'

"You've got a weird look on your face…"

"Y-you're hallucinating, woof!" Thinking quick, Gin spun around and grabbed one of the rabbit plushies which had caught his attention. "Here, look at Fortescue!"

"Fortescue…?" Big Sis Anzu's eyebrows looked like they were trying to fuse. Her eyes drifted to the side. "Woah! Look at that!"

"Huh?" Gin spun around. Right in the middle of all of the stuffed animals... Was a torso. Gin hissed in surprise.

Anzu swallowed. "I guess... That's the body, huh...?"

"Gross, meow..." Gin squeezed Fortescue a little harder, and six silver objects fell out. "Mreowr…?"

Big Sis Anzu bent down and picked them up. "Th-these are…!"

Gin's eyes bulged. "B-bullets!? Quick, get rid of them, woof!"

Big Sis Anzu swallowed. "No… These are dummy bullets… They're way too light to be real."

"H-how do you know that, mew…?"

She blushed. "I-I do a lot of tricks, okay!? I need to know this stuff if I don't wanna get hurt!" She collected herself. "Here, I'll hold on to them for you, okay?" She stuffed them into her sweater.

"Okay… I'll trust you, Big Sis Anzu…!"

She smiled. "I… Think that's all we're getting out of this room, for now." She shuddered. "I've got kind of a bad feeling…"

"Don't be scared, Big Sis Anzu! I'll protect you if the kidnappers come, woof!"

"Th-that's, uh…" She looked away, lips upturned. "Thanks, Gin. You're pretty cool."

Gin beamed.

"This place is depressing, woof…"

"You're telling me…" Big Sis Anzu moaned. "Where's all the games!? Just one stupid dartboard, seriously?"

The duo had taken their exploration to another one of the entrances that didn't lead to a dead end. Big Sis Anzu had promptly gotten excited at the prospect of a game room, and Gin had to admit he wanted to play some games himself. Instead, all they found was a barren room with two doors, one red and one blue, and a dartboard.

They couldn't even play darts because the board was situated over a five-foot gap, leading down to heaven knew where.'I could jump down and be stuck falling for forever, I bet…'The distance itself wasn't necessarily the problem, rather that every time Big Sis Anzu attempted to throw a dart, a strong wind blew it straight down into the abyss.

After 15 darts, she finally gave up.

"This blows…"

"You're tellin' me…" Said Cotton Candy, who had been watching the girl in quiet amusement the whole while.

"It's strange, though, isn't it? A whole box of darts, and we can't make use of them?" Samurai Girl put a hand to her chin. "It makes me think we might need some sort of tool to hit the bullseye efficiently…"

Big Sis Anzu blinked. "Wow… You're really smart, huh, Sara?"

Samurai Girl flushed. "No need to flatter me…"

Cotton Candy smirked. "It's true, though. I just thought it was a dumb dartboard."

"I don't think anything here is unintentional, Ranmaru…"

Gin sniffed. "What's behind those doors over there, anyway, woof?"

Cotton Candy cracked his neck. "Well, I'm not sure about the red one, 'cuz it's locked, but the blue one has a bunch of creepy mannequins in it."

"We had just been planning to investigate it more, in fact." Samurai Girl smiled. "Would you two care to join us?"

'Is she sick…?'Big Sis Anzu's face reminded Gin of a ripe tomato. "Y- Ha- Yes, ma'am!" She stood as stiff as a board.

Samurai Girl giggled and made her way towards the blue door. Cotton Candy scowled and turned cherry-flavored, too. 'He looks all constipated… What's wrong with everybody all of a sudden?'

Gin decided to leave them alone if they needed to use the bathroom. He darted into the blue room behind Samurai Girl.

'Woah… Creepy…'The room had two levels, connected by a rickety wooden ladder. The second level looked as if someone had nailed a massive board to the wall and covered it with ugly checkered chairs. On each of the chairs, currently being investigated by Police Lady and Hipster, were featureless dolls resembling humans.

"I'm getting an undeniably bad feeling about this place…" Hipster swallowed. "What's the point of these dolls…?"

Police Lady hummed. "I couldn't say… Maybe they're meant for a puzzle of some sort?"

Cotton Candy raised an eyebrow. "What kinda puzzle requires life-sized dolls…?"

Growing quickly bored with that conversation, Gin decided to poke around up the ladder, where Samurai Girl was. He zoomed upwards, intending to surprise her, when he noticed what she was holding.

"S-Samurai Girl…?" Why did she have a gun?

Gin took a step away when she turned, gun slack in her grip. "Gin, right?"

"Yeah…" He couldn't take his eyes off of the weapon. He had never seen a real gun, before… Gin hated how small it made him feel.

Samurai Girl smirked, tucking the gun into her pocket. "Don't worry. There are no bullets."

"R-right, meow… I think I'm gonna head back downstairs, woof…" He moved to turn before suddenly halting. "W-wait…! Don't… Tell anybody I got scared, woof!" He clasped his mittens together. "I gotta protect them! I can't have them thinking I'm a dumb kid, meow!"

Samurai Girl's expression didn't change. "I won't tell a soul, Gin. You can trust me."

Gin heaved a sigh of relief, purring. "Thanks, Samurai Girl!" He ducked down the ladder, returning to Big Sis Anzu's side.

"Find anything, Gin?" She smiled.

He wilted. "... Not really, mew…"

"Eh, maybe that's for the best. Megumi found some bullets and it made me real uneasy… At least we haven't found a gun, yet…"

Gin averted his eyes.'Should I tell her…? I mean, Samurai Girl's probably going to, soon…'

Hipster sighed. "I won't lie. I was hoping for more from such a mysterious room."

Police Lady raised an eyebrow. "Why preface it like that? Why would you lie?"

"I-It's just a turn of phrase…! Why doyoualways gotta be mean about my grammar?" Hipster pouted. It was kinda pathetic. 'Maybe I need to protect him, too…'

"Haha… I can be a lot worse than mean. Trust me on that, Shin."

The man gulped.

"Is this more gross adult flirting, woof!?" Gin barked. "I'm gettin' out of here, meow! C'mon, Big Sis Anzu!" Gin stalked towards the door, hoping to find a room without scary guns or gross adults.

"Th-that wasn't even flirting…" Anzu's eyes crossed, but she trailed after him, anyway.

Except, once Gin crossed out of the room…

Thick, iron bars slammed up to the top of the doorway, causing Anzu to flinch backwards and land hard on her rear.

"Ouch!"

"What the hell…!?" Police Lady crossed the room in an instant, fingers wrapping around the bars. A few harsh pulls, no matter how buff the inspector was, did nothing.

"B-Big Sis Anzu…? Police Lady…?" What happened? Gin didn't understand. All he wanted was to investigate a new room, and now…!

"What the fuck!? Did we seriously just get locked in!?" Cotton Candy reeled, eyes bulging.

The Hipster had made his way over by now, a sheen of sweat on his face. Absently, Gin wondered where Samurai Girl was. "Hey, Gin, is it? Could you be brave and get us some help? Someone smart or strong, like Q-taro or, uh, Mishima, I guess…"

"Y-yeah! I'll get you some help, woof! I promise!"

Gin darted off into the middle of the game room. He had intended to go back to the main hall, but a shadow in the corner of his vision gave him pause. 'Who…?'

The red door from earlier was now open by just a sliver. "H-Hello, mew…? Shorty, Muscle Gorilla…?" He pawed forwards. "I'll even take Old Guy, meow…"

He gently nudged the door open. "Hat Lady? Is that you, nya…?"

He crept forward into the dark room.

The red door slammed shut.