Danganronpa: Twisted Tragedy (SYOC) Chapter 15: Adventures in Paradise Gloom (Part 1), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 2: Adventures in Paradise Gloom (Daily Life #1)

Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of OFFENSIVE cursing (thanks Monoyena, you fucking asshole!), character death, gore and blood, sexual innuendos, and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there! Right?

With that said, please enjoy!

Static.

…

The instant the bag covering Marcus Avventira's head was pulled straight off, he used up all the time in the world to gather his surroundings.

Russian soldiers surrounded him, armed with military-grade rifles that he knew these bastards were just itching to use. He was inside a large camping tent. His arms were bound to a wooden pillar with rope. The main muscle of these Russian soldiers, a man in a black suit with a red star engraved over the top of his mask, kept his undivided attention on the explorer himself.

And everyone was quiet.

That included Marcus, who didn't even try to struggle in his bindings. What on Earth was he going to do? He was surrounded by armed men. If he did anything fishy, they would've gunned him down right then and there. So, he stood there, counting just how many men were guarding him. When he counted five, he had to laugh to himself.

"Five armed men?" Marcus remarked, smiled. "Come on. You're making this too easy for me…"

Classic taunt.

The moment he spoke, the man in the black suit stepped forward. He slowly gripped Marcus by his hair, forcing him to look at him. Though Marcus couldn't really see anything through the mask the man wore, it wasn't like he had any time to do that sort of thing. Because all too quickly, the black suited man thrust a fist into his stomach.

Marcus felt the desire to throw up his own intestines then and there. Instead, he let out a heaving cough.

The black suited man, satisfied, simply stepped away and returned back to the spot he was at. Clearly, that was his way of telling Marcus to shut the fuck up. The explorer tried to get his bearings together, but he felt tears well in his eyes and his cheeks grow hotter. He coughed and hacked. To regain his focus was difficult.

He gave himself a moment to keep his breathing steady, before noticing someone walk in. Someone he recognized all too well. His expression shifted from pain to anger and disdain.

"Zlo Porokny," Marcus shook his head and gritted his teeth. "I should've known."

"Avventira," Zlo kept his hands behind his back as his thick Russian accent made him feel like that classic slimy Russian villain from some early Sean Connery James Bond movie. "Da, so ve meet again."

"Last I saw you," Marcus tried to keep his anger contained. "I knocked you into a pit of man-eating ants. How'd you escape?"

"The same vay I always do," Zlo smirked. "Vith the pure power and intellect of the great Soviet Union. Soon, even the vonderful Joseph Stalin vill see my vorth ven I eliminate his greatest adversary yet. Marcus Advventira. Ultimate Adventurer."

"It's Ultimate Explorer, you Commie bastard," Marcus pulled against his bindings.

He felt a slight crack in the beam. Marcus immediately stopped resisting and feigned helplessness as he watched Zlo pace back and forth. Hiding a flaw in the restraints they had bound him in wasn't enough. He needed to do something else. He needed to distract them with…

"...But now that you mention it," Marcus slowly looked at Zlo with that smoldering Hollywood look. "If you wanted to eliminate me, why not do it now? You have five gunmen ready to shoot me down. Stalin's top assassin right by your side."

Zlo glanced toward the black suited man, chuckled, and considered what he said carefully. After a while, the Russian could see Marcus smirk to himself.

"...You need me for something, don't you?" Marcus stifled a chuckle.

"Da, as expected of the great Marcus Avventira," Zlo couldn't help but laugh alongside his rival.

He snapped his fingers.

The black suited man stepped forward toward Marcus and cracked his knuckles, slightly intimidating the young explorer. He already got a taste of his knuckle sandwich. He wasn't entirely sure if he could take another one. Well… maybe five more.

"Da, you know exactly vhat I vant," Zlo paced around once more. "Something only you Americans have access to."

Zlo turned to Marcus, dramatically, his voice lowering into a deranged hiss.

"A ticket…" Zlo gritted his teeth. "To the funnest and happiest place on Earth. Piero's Playground."

Marcus's expression darkened.

"You want to get your hand on America's most valuable treasure," Marcus shook his head. "You sick bastard."

The black suited man slugged him in the chest.

It didn't hurt as bad as it did the first time, but it was still an uncomfortable feeling that made Marcus jump with slight heaving to his breath. He coughed once and slowly regained his composure.

"W-What do you plan on doing with such a legendary treasure?" Marcus gritted his teeth.

"Is it not obvious?" Zlo laughed. "Piero's Playground is a place for the kids of America. Once I get Joseph Stalin a ticket, then he vill be able to enslave all of America's little children, creating the next generation of Soviet Soldiers. Together, ve vill destroy America from the inside. And then soon, conquer the world. Just as Stalin vants."

"You pathetic Commie," Marcus shook his head. "The children will never listen to you!"

"Da, ve vill see about that," Zlo smirked. "But so far, the only vrench in my plan is one simple thing."

Zlo walked closer to Marcus.

"Vhere is it?" Zlo asked. "Vhere is the ticket?"

The black suited man slugged him in the chest again.

Marcus coughed.

Then, he heard a snap.

He panted and slowly smirked, looking up toward Zlo with a smolder.

"I'll tell you," Marcus smoldered. "It's… right in front of you."

"Vhat?" Zlo blinked, confused.

Marcus pulled his bound wrists from behind the beam, snapping through the crack that had been there since his silent struggles. Then, he jumped onto the ground and covered his head. The Russians had little time to react…

VROOM!

A military jeep crashed through the tent, barely missing Marcus by an inch.

The tent's fabric was torn and blown away by the sudden appearance of the jeep, exposing everyone to the daylight. The five Russian soldiers that had once surrounded him were practically knocked away to the side—

Wilhelm scream.

—along with the black suited-man and Zlo.

Jumping off the jeep was Riley Destiny, who quickly helped Marcus up and unbound his wrists. Rubbing his wrists and glancing at the currently unconscious Russians, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"What took you so long?" Marcus chuckled.

"Hey, there's a reason why I don't have a driver's license yet," Riley remarked.

"You got the ticket?" Marcus asked.

Riley held it up for Marcus to see with a chippy smile.

"Safe and sound, as you asked," Riley smiled.

"Good," Marcus nodded. "Now, come on. We need to get this back to America. The children are in danger."

Nodding back toward him, together, the two boarded the military jeep and quickly sped off. They needed to return this ticket to Piero's Playground back to the children. Because the fate of the children of the world rested upon it…

'THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN…'

'THE JUNGLE OF JOY'

'A NEW LAND INSPIRED BY THE HIT FRANCHISE:'

'THE ADVENTURES OF MARCUS AVVENTIRA'

'ONLY…'

'AT PIERO'S PLAYGROUND!'

"Sponsored to you by the Towa Group. Where the adventure never stops, and the fun always pops!"

…

Static.

CHAPTER 2: ADVENTURES IN PARADISE GLOOM (DAILY LIFE)

(Beach)

Pant.

Aidan had run laps around the island they were on for who knows how long. He had taken his shirt off, exposing his athletic build to whoever would be interested (Candle and Grandma), but mostly so he could let his body exert as much body heat as he could. He felt his legs tire out as the only things he could hear were the waves crashing against one another.

With each crash, images pounded into his mind, forcing him to remember the events of yesterday:

Emmeline on the ground.

Dead.

Alina crushed to death.

Dead.

Dead.

They were dead.

And the more Aidan realized just how dead they were, the faster he started to sprint. There was no way he could believe any of it. He wished it were all a dream. That the two people he had promised that he could help get out together… Were still alive and well. Alina, his second-in-command, to do what she did…

Aidan tried to pick up the pace.

He felt himself sprinting, like he was trying so hard to run. Run from the truth. But no matter how fast he ran or how much he pushed his legs to move, his mind could never escape the images that he saw yesterday. His mind could never escape the reality of the situation. His mind could never accept everything that happened yesterday…

His optimism was something he held so deeply onto and could never let go.

He gritted his teeth and tried to push himself further. There had to be a way to save those kids. There had to be a way to avenge both Emmeline and Alina. There just had to be a way to end this. But, like the encumbering weight his optimism was on his shoulder, his limit was reached and Aidan tripped, falling onto the soft sand beneath him.

He clenched his fist and slammed it onto the ground.

"GAH!" Aidan yelled out into the air as he tried to calm himself.

But how could he be calm?

The Emmeline-Alina Murder Case only proved everything he feared. Maybe the only way to save those children was to do the one thing that they didn't want to do. And frankly, that was what frustrated him more than the actual deaths.

He bitterly stared into the air for a moment before swinging his arms against the sand, knocking a pile directly into the open water.

Then, he dropped his head down and sighed.

What the heck am I going to do now?

[Hotel Mirai]

(Lobby)

When Aidan returned to the Hotel Lobby, he was surprised to see everyone already gathered.

He had placed his shirt back on and chugged down half a bottle of water by the time he got back from his stress-relieving jog. And usually, his jogs took place early in the morning. So, to see everyone gathered for the daily Morning Meeting was a surprise simply because…

Well, he was a little too busy to start it. So…

"...What is everyone doing here?" Aidan had to ask, curious.

Who was here?

Well, the only twelve that mattered currently:

Alisa, Daisuke, Fábio, Issac, Kazuki, Kikuko, Manon, Mara, Riku, Roderick, Yumi and even…

"Ah heh heh, have you forgotten?" Beauté giggled, creepily. "The Morning Meeting's started, silly."

Aidan glanced at Beauté with both surprise and confusion.

He would have thought that her antics in the last Trial would've gotten her locked up somewhere she wouldn't be able to cause trouble. But here she was, sitting at her usual spot at the bar, trailing her finger against the brim of her empty wine glass. He glanced toward the whiteboard, his usual spot, and slowly pointed a finger toward it.

"Um, I didn't… call for a Morning Meeting," Aidan had to point out.

"I know."

Aidan was surprised to see the 14th person, Yukihiko, enter the room, shaking a baby bottle filled with infant formula. The young teddy bear, Loofah, he often carried around was no longer with him, probably meaning that he had "put him to bed". So, the question of who that baby bottle filled with milk belonged to was a question that also needed to be–

Yukihiko downed the formula in one gulp.

Ah.

That explained it.

"Good morning, Aidan," Yukihiko slowly wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He smiled toward the Ultimate Track Star and tilted his head. "You're late. We were almost about to start without you."

"H-Hey, wait a minute," Aidan blinked, glancing toward the otherwise silent bystanders. "W-What's going on here? Y-You guys are doing a Morning Meeting without me?"

"Oh, honey, no no no," Yukihiko walked up to him and placed a hand over his cheek as if he were his mother. "Of course we're not doing one without you. I mean, look at you. You're here now, aren't you?"

Aidan opened his mouth to say something, but Yukihiko cut in before he could try.

"But I am taking your leadership role," Yukihiko removed his hand and glanced at his nails like a pompous prick. "Your attempts have been very appreciated sweetie. But it was time new management was considered. Thank you for understanding."

"W-What?" Aidan needed a moment to process what was going on before he jumped in with a glare. "H-Hey, you can't just do that!"

"Eh, technically, he already did," Issac shrugged, standing to the side and watching this entire situation unfold.

"Exactly," Yukihiko nodded, pointing toward Issac. "Thank you, Issac."

Turning back to Aidan with that innocent look in his eyes, he gestured for Aidan to take a seat.

"Now, please sit down, Aidan," Yukihiko smiled. "I would like to get this Morning Meeting started before wasting precious amusement park time."

Aidan didn't move.

Quite frankly, he didn't expect this outcome and neither did he accept it. There was no way in heck he was going to allow Yukihiko of all people to take his role as leader! There was no way! He glanced toward the other people that were strangely quiet to this turn of events. Judging by the amount of people that were trying hard to avoid eye contact, he was able to slowly come to the realization that this was an outcome that everyone was actually on board with…

He let out a scoff in disbelief.

"So, this is something everyone is okay with?" Aidan glanced around. "Yukihiko. The guy who pressed for a sacrifice. For someone to die. Are you guys seriously okay with putting this guy in charge over me?"

Daisuke was the first to open his mouth to say something. But the moment he noticed no one else was speaking up, he looked down and closed his mouth.

That was enough to tell Aidan that they were serious about this.

"Guys," Aidan grimaced. "Come on. So, we had one mess-up. I know two people are dead, but we can work past this. If we work together, as a team, we can do what Alina and Emmeline couldn't and save those kids. It doesn't mean we have to resort to Yukihiko's mentality. I mean, more people are going to die in his way. Don't you guys see that?"

"Alina and Emmeline already did save those kids," Yukihiko simply said, flashing his nails. "They were the sacrifices required to keep them alive for a little longer. As far as I can see, that was no mistake on Alina's part."

Aidan turned to Yukihiko, surprised by what he had just said.

"W-What the hell are you saying?!" Aidan blinked. "Alina! She–"

"–did what she had to do," Yukihiko folded his arms, glancing at him seriously. "Aidan. A young girl was going to die. Had she not gone ahead and killed Emmeline, a child would've died under our watch. Would you really have let that thought remain in your conscience?"

Aidan tried to verbalize a response but failed to do so, allowing Yukihiko to continue.

"At the end of that depressing chapter…" Yukihiko sighed, glancing at his nails. "Alina Summers and Emmeline Swan came out as the real heroes…"

"You can't be serious…" Aidan felt like he was listening to a cult leader share his religious beliefs or something. "You really can't believe what you're saying right?!"

He turned to everyone else.

"Do you guys hear how messed that is?!" Aidan exclaimed. "Emmeline dying and Alina killing… They're heroes for the part they played in the Trial?! Guys! Please! Someone! Stand up and tell him just how crazy it is!"

Beauté stifled a chuckle, amused with Aidan's hopeless optimism.

Yukihiko, on the other hand, sighed in embarrassment.

"There be a term we use to refer to people like ye," Roderick stood up, walking up toward Aidan. "Sea slug."

Aidan was taken aback by what Roderick had called him.

"S-Sea slug?" Aidan blinked.

"Aye," Roderick lowered his beanie, pointing a serious stare toward his direction. "Annoying, low-life buggers that belong down at the bottom of the poop deck."

Ouch.

He clearly shared the sentiments of Yukihiko and Beauté.

"I… I…" Aidan blinked.

"When ye were the captain in charge, ye be having us do nothin but scour the park of nooks and crannies," Roderick pointed out. "The more we scurried, the more time we be wastin time from the real talk of the sea. Capt'n Yukihiko be pointing us to what we need to be focused on the most."

"To what?!" Aidan argued. "Sacrificing each other?!"

"Aye!" Roderick gruffly nodded.

"Monsieur Brighton," Manon stood up next, looking at him with a little more sympathy. "We are sorry, but many of us here zink zat zis may be ze only way to do ze right zing…"

"How is killing each other the right thing to do?!" Aidan exclaimed. "We can get out together if we just–"

"Keep doing what we were doing?" Beauté intervened with a smile. "Run around like headless chickens? Oh, you poor little child you... We already tried your way. And look what good that did us."

"You…" Aidan glared at her. "And why should we listen to what you have to say? You literally made our jobs much harder in the Trial with the shenanigans you decided to pull!"

"Ah heh heh, and yet, the only reason a Trial happened was because Alina decided to kill Emmeline…" Beauté giggled. "Which, by the way, the only reason she did that was because time was running out. If anything, she felt as if she had no other choice. And the person who forced her hand…

…

…was you. Mister Aidan Brighton."

Aidan stepped back.

Even though these words were coming out of the Ultimate Bitch herself, it clearly had an effect on his mental state the more he thought about it. No. Wait. He shouldn't think about it. What Alina did was entirely her choice. Why was he suddenly getting blamed for her death? Why was this suddenly his fault?

He clenched his fist.

"Why are you even here?" Aidan frowned. "You shouldn't–"

"I allowed her to be here," Yukihiko simply said. "In fact, the only reason why I did so was because Beauté volunteered herself as an option of sacrifice should the time come. Whether it is to repent for making our lives more complicated or something else, it's good enough to protect the children."

Aidan looked at Beauté, surprised, who simply stuck out her tongue and winked.

"...And… she also makes a strong point…" Kazuki responded on the couch he sat on. "Had Mr. Brighton not intervened with my attempted suicide… We wouldn't have lost the numbers game as hard as we did…"

"N-Numbers game?" Yumi glanced toward Kazuki curiously.

"Remember…" Kazuki closed one eye, ignoring the look of disapproval he was getting from Alisa. "Only one person needed to die last time for the young boy to be spared… I was ready to be that person. The martyr of this group… But it was your interference that forced the events of yesterday… Had you just let me die… Maybe both Miss Summers and Miss Swan would have been alive with you all today…"

"Agreed," Yukihiko nodded.

And slowly, some of the others began to voice their agreements as well.

It was already bad enough when Beauté had said it herself, but the moment the other people in the group had to agree with that logic, Aidan just couldn't take the mental stress. He stood there, frozen, as he let the realization of their comments sink in. That perhaps, it was his fault that Alina Summers did what she did. That perhaps it was his fault that two people died…

He clenched his fist.

This was all it took to finally shut him up. Slowly, he felt Yukihiko slowly step up toward him. He could see the Ultimate Child Caregiver examine him closely. Whether it was to taunt him or out the pure genuine part of his heart, Aidan didn't know. But slowly, he felt Yukihiko cup his cheek like a maternal parent, again.

"Oh, sweetie, don't look so down," Yukihiko simply told him. "Your optimism was appreciated. But our situation can't be solved with happily ever afters. Sacrifices have to be made. So, it's time to let the grown-ups have their turn, okay?"

Aidan didn't say anything.

He felt absolutely humiliated. To just stand up there, make a big scene, and get put down by virtually everyone. Was it really just everyone against him in this world? Was this really what he was reduced to…?

A hindrance…?

…

"Hello hello, best friends!" a monitor on the hotel lobby's usually black TV screen opened up to reveal Stanczyk standing on a grand stage. "How is everyone doing?! I hope you kids are all okay! After what happened yesterday… I just… *sniffle* I just… *sniffle*... Oh I can't hold it in anymore! U-UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Everyone glanced at the television screen, unimpressed with the presence of their jester Overseer. Compared to everyone else in the Hotel Lobby, only Stanczyk seemed to be still torn over what had happened yesterday. Tearing a piece of his jabot, Stanczyk blew into it from… wherever from his mask and wiped some stray tears.

"A-Anyway…" Stanczyk quivered. "I-If you can all report to Pleasure Park for a special announcement, I'll be there! Take *sniffle* all the time you need! But not too much time! O-Or Monoyena will get really mad…!"

Stanczyk tucked his jabot back underneath his emblem.

"See you all there, best friends!" Stanczyk exclaimed, his mask shifting back to that smile.

…

When the television screen shut off and reverted back to its blackened state, Yukihiko slowly lowered his hand from Aidan's cheek and glanced at him with slight annoyance. With how much Aidan had to complain about this new term of management, that meant that whatever he had hoped to cover today needed to be postponed for Stanczyk's announcement.

"Well, I suppose we have no other choice," Yukihiko folded his arms and glanced toward the others. "Let's go to Pleasure Park. Whatever the jester wants, it's best we listen to him. Sound good?"

Everyone gave receptive responses and one by one, left the Hotel Lobby to go straight toward the park. This time, Stanczyk wanted them to meet at Pleasure Park for some reason. And with Yukihiko leaving and Beauté brushing past him with a smirk, Aidan could feel himself grow powerless by the second.

He didn't notice that there were some people who gave him sympathetic looks.

He didn't notice Daisuke hesitate to talk to him before realizing he needed to leave…

Or Manon feeling slight regret over believing in the fact that Alina and Emmeline, two people she was pretty close with, were heroes for what they did…

Or just… anyone in general.

Right now, Aidan was left as the only person who had yet to leave the room.

He had much to think about. Yukihiko's approach to this was all wrong. He knew that for a fact. And yet, he still couldn't believe that in the end, what happened to Alina and Emmeline was his fault. Or rather, he should've realized sooner. That the death of two people was going to be on his hands.

After all, their demise was his responsibility.

…

…Damn it.

[Happy Highway]

(Hollywood)

Stepping into the Happy Highway brought back memories that no one really wanted to remember.

Once a surprisingly vibrant place despite how empty it was, the feeling of desolation crept in when they remembered the events that brought them here. Two people died in this specific section of the park. And to twist the knife further, were police tapes placed at the entrances of both the Ultimate Actress's Attraction and the Ultimate Doctor's Attraction. Even more, the removable Traffic Jam Parade sign, originally at the Street section, was now directly in front of the Lady Radiance statue. On the sign was a single word:

'CANCELLED'

"Quoi?" Manon blinked. "Zey canceled ze Parade and ze Doctor Eternos show? Pourquoi?"

"Not just that, but the roller coaster ride too," Fábio shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets, angling himself to see that there was no police tape at Daisuke's Ultimate Attraction. "Huh, but from the looks of it, the Gift Shop and Clucks Deluxe are still open."

"Y'all reckon they closed these places down because of what happened yesterday?" Yumi lowered her hat with a slight grimace.

"That would be the only logical conclusion that makes sense, yes," Kikuko tipped her head down in a silent prayer.

Closing down three attractions due to murder?

While it was a working theory, the only person who could confirm this was Stanczyk. Solid reminder that he wanted them at Pleasure Park for an announcement. Walking past the three notices of closure, the remaining 14 playmates warily traversed through the Happy Highway until they finally reached…

[Pleasure Park]

(Square)

"What the… hell is this?"

That was the first thing Riku had openly said when they all collectively arrived at Pleasure Park. As promised, Stanczyk was already there. But most peculiar of all were the portraits of Emmeline and Alina, each standing on opposite ends of his 8-feet tall statue. From the looks of it, while everyone took their sweet time to get here, the jester had been mourning the two 'best friends' he had lost.

"Oh, best friends," Stanczyk sniffled, wiping stray tears from his eyes. "You all made it in time for the funeral! Come come! It's time for all of us to mourn the people we lost… On three, we'll cry together, okay? One… two… UWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Stanczyk ripped off a piece of his jabot and blew into it, wailing over the thought of the events of yesterday. Tears spew out of the sockets of his eyes, like a water fountain with a leaky pipe or two.

And while a funeral reception sounded quite nice to honor the lives that were lost, Yukihiko had little patience for such things. As the new leader of the group, he stepped forward and folded his arms, pointing a serious look toward the jester. He had already gone over how Emmeline and Alina were heroes so there was really no need to hammer the message home.

"You didn't call us here just for a funeral service…" Yukihiko glanced at his nails nonchalantly. "Or… Well, to force us to watch you cry, did you?"

Stanczyk quickly stopped crying.

His mask shifted into his usual cheerful grin, as if nothing had really happened, and tucked his ripped jabot piece back underneath his emblem.

"Nope!" Stanczyk immediately said with a bright, innocent smile. "I came here for two things!"

Excitedly, he shoved Emmeline and Alina's portraits to the side, effectively destroying what little respect could be had for their deceased companions. Stepping toward the side, Stanczyk revealed five slots directly underneath the plaque that his statue had. Then, he held out his hand and grinned.

"First things first, I believe someone here has the Lady Radiance action figure from the Happy Highway Gift Shop that opened up!" Stanczyk placed a hand over his hips with a boisterous smile. "Come on, whichever best friend of mine has it! Don't be shy! Bring it up!"

All eyes turned to Fábio, who was the last person to have the toy with him. His eyes widened for a second before he glanced away. He was surprised by the attention that he was getting. What's more… he cleared his throat and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Um, erm… Well, you see," Fábio rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't think we would need it today, so I kind of left it back in my room…"

"What?" Stanczyk's mask shifted into an expression of bewilderment.

"H-How should I know you were going to need it immediately?" Fábio sighed. "It was just some toy so…"

"For the sake of time not being wasted, please go back and get it, Fábio," Alisa sighed. "I believe it should've been obvious that toy was going to be required for something."

"R-Right, sorry," Fábio rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be right back."

And Fábio hurried off to retrieve the Lady Radiance action figurine.

…

When Fábio returned, he had the Lady Radiance figurine in hand.

It was a well-off distance for him to sprint from Pleasure Park to Hotel Mirai and then back. Truth be told, he wished it was Aidan that had it last because at least the guy's Talent was literally made for running back and forth. Wiping some sweat off his brow, he walked up to Stanczyk and handed him the Lady Radiance figurine.

"Thanks, little boy!" Stanczyk grinned. "Whoo! Aren't you glad you didn't skip that leg workout now?!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Fábio tirelessly said as he watched Stanczyk carry the Lady Radiance action figurine toward the plaque at his statue. "Why do you need the toy anyway?"

"For this very special event!" Stanczyk declared.

As he held the action figure like it was some expensive museum piece, Stanczyk squatted down to one of the five slots on the plaque and placed the toy down into the first slot. Then, the slot slowly closed, accepting the figurine as an offering and allowing Stanczyk to stand right back up. Clapping his hands together, he gave his fellow peers an enthusiastic grin.

"Ohhhh!" Stanczyk started to weep tears of joy. "Thank you best friends! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You did it! You all did it!"

"Did what?" Mara sighed, growing wearisome of his enthusiasm.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Stanczyk exclaimed. "You returned one of the priceless artifacts that awful and mean Mrs. Claws stole from the Happy Highway!"

Stanczyk's mask looked absolutely frustrated over the thought of Mrs. Claws roaming around his park.

"O-Oh, you mean…" Manon slowly remembered.

"It's Lawson the Lamb," Arianna glanced at the camera as she gestured to the lamb. Although, given that the lamb was in animation, Arianna's thumb seemed to have missed her mark by a tiny bit. "What can I do for you Officer?"

"It's terrible!" Lawson exclaimed. "It's just horrible! That Dastardly Cat Burglar, Mrs. Claws escaped from Castle Cheer and stole artifacts from every known section of Piero's Playground! Last I heard, she's coming here next!"

"Mrs. Claws?" Arianna glanced at Lawson with uncertainty. "Um, I'm sure you can handle it… I mean, she's not even much of a threat."

"Yes, that was the plot behind that cheesy video," Kikuko surmised before frowning. "But does that mean that the plot behind these videos actually tie into our game?"

"Of course, it does!" Stanczyk gasped. "The only way to get these artifacts and save the children is by playing along with the Killing Game and making the necessary sacrifices needed to win! You see, Mrs. Claws has stolen five artifacts in different sections of the park. You retrieved one of them, the Happy Highway prize, meaning there are four left!"

"And to reiterate, each artifact is in locations much like Happy Highway?" Beauté asked, intrigued.

"Exactly!" Stanczyk exclaimed happily. "You see, in every section of the park, there is a Gift Shop, much like the Pit Stop at the Happy Highway! At the end of every Trial or if a deadline is reached and Monoyena… does the deed…"

Stanczyk wiped a stray tear at the thought.

"...The Gift Shop will open!" Stanczyk declared, shifting back to his smile. "And the artifact will be yours to claim! See? It's easy! Hahahahaha!"

"Just like what happened last night," Issac pointed out.

Stanczyk laughed for a couple more minutes before continuing.

"Once you get the artifact, all you have to do is come to my statue and place it within one of these four remaining slots!" Stanczyk explained. "Once you place all five, you get VIP access for a secret section of the park!"

"And that's supposed to help us how?" Yukihiko raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious?" Stanczyk's grin widened. "It's how you can find the children!"

Time seemed to freeze when he revealed this tidbit of information that he and that hyena had failed to mention the first time around. Everyone had refused to say another word for the time being. Or at least until Stanczyk tilted his own head in confusion.

"Hey hey!" Stanczyk maintained that grin of his. "Wasn't that what everyone wanted? To find the children?"

The silence wasn't for the idea of finding the children, but rather the level of information withholding bullshit. This was not going to just slide by with Aidan in particular, who stormed up toward the front of the group with anger in his eyes.

"And you didn't tell us this back when we first stepped on the Happy Highway, because…?" Aidan clenched his fist.

"Well, Monoyena and I thought it'd be easier to explain when everyone saw how the Gift Shop functioned!" Stanczyk raised his hands up into the air, defensively. His lips quivered at the outburst the track star was throwing his way. "If we just threw all that information at you, it would've been too confusing so–"

"We wasted our entire time trying to look around for those kids at the Happy Highway and you mean to tell us now that the only way to find those kids is through VIP access?!" Aidan gritted his teeth.

Stanczyk hid the lower half of his face underneath his purple cloak, his eye sockets watering with tears.

"Ah heh heh," Beauté's signature laugh crept into the conversation. "You can't very well blame the clown for that. I extensively warned you that your optimism was misplaced."

She folded her arms and sighed, licking her blood red lips.

"I mean, it was obvious these kids wouldn't be hidden in some secret compartment underneath the roller coaster or something silly like that after all…" Beauté giggled.

Aidan didn't say anything in response to that.

He kept his hands clenched and eyes closed. This was information that he would've liked to know beforehand. But Beauté was also right. This was also information that was obvious from the get-go. And yet, here he was, trying to act like the big man and get people to impulsively go on some wild goose chase.

The more he thought about it, the more he hated to agree with the idea that he was at fault for Emmeline and Alina's "heroic sacrifices".

"So, if we truly wish to find these children, we will need four more artifacts to effectively rescue the children," Alisa noted, glancing at her watch with intrigue. "However, the quickest way to rescue the children would be to simply commit murder and get away with it. Is that correct?"

"That's right!" Stanczyk stood up straight, acting a little braver than he had been originally.

"What a complex game," was all Alisa had to say about it, before taking out her pocket watch.

"On the subject of the Happy Highway..." Riku muttered. "I believe we saw some attractions were closed. Is it because…"

"...they were used for the murder," Stanczyk looked saddened, wiping away a stray tear. "However way young Alina Summers used these attractions to commit her crime, or whatever that scary little girl in your group did to your attraction, it was safer to shut them down in case the method used to commit such a horrendous activity broke the attraction! It's… It's…"

His mask's lips quivered.

"I worked so hard to refurbish them to my best friend's interests!" Stanczyk wailed, his eyes watering. "It's such a shame!"

Stanczyk tilted his head, his single red eye glowing and his voice distorting.

"aH… bUt iN tHe EnD…" Stanczyk leaned forward. "iT's aLL aPaRT oF tHe GaMe…"

Stanczyk reverted back to his happier stance and placed his hands over his hips, as if nothing had happened. With a small laugh, Stanczyk placed a hand over his grin and chuckled profusely.

"A-Ah, whoops!" Stanczyk giggled. "A-Anyway, there is one more thing left for me to announce!"

Right.

Stanczyk mentioned that he requested them all to meet him at Pleasure Park for two things. The first was for the toy thing. Important information regarding how the Gift Shop that could've been helpful was now known to them. Good. The second was what Stanczyk was going to talk about right now. And at the moment, Stanczyk walked toward a giant gate that blocked the path to the left.

With a small key that totally did not match the big lock reinforcing the chains on the left gate, Stanczyk inserted it in and… unlocked it? The lock fell to the ground and shortly after, so did the chains. Then, the big gate that blocked access to the left path opened up for everyone to venture through.

We don't question things here at Piero's Playground.

"At the end of every beautiful chapter, is a new chapter for you to explore!" Stanczyk exclaimed, excitedly. "I hope you all enjoyed your time at the Happy Highway! Because the left path is finally opened! Yay! Am I right?!"

He clapped his hands excitedly, but he was the only person to share the excitement.

"A new area…" Kazuki hummed.

"I-Is it even worth checking it out?" Daisuke gulped, biting his fingers. "I mean. For all we know, there could be new ways to kill each other so…"

Aidan was willing to agree with that sentiment, but Yukihiko cut in, stealing the track star's thunder.

"Let's check it out," Yukihiko adamantly said. "It's better we know what we'll be dealing with next than go into a new round with little understanding of everything."

"I must concur with that," Kikuko nodded, raising her hand.

Aidan didn't say anything at that moment.

Because everyone was agreeing with Yukihiko's philosophy on the matter. To think that one incident would've caused that to happen wasn't something Aidan had expected. He glanced at Stanczyk, who sighed in relief when he had heard everyone was going to check out what the left path had to offer…

"Good!" Stanczyk grinned. "Because Monoyena is waiting inside for all of you, and he would be very angry if none of you showed up to investigate! Hahahaha!"

His yellow plus-shaped eye glistened and sparked in pure joy.

"Ohhhhh, this is going to be exciting!" Stanczyk exclaimed, gesturing for everyone to enter through the open gate. "Let's go best friends! Come one and all! Grand Opening of a new location! Let's go! Let's go!"

With the jester practically urging them all to get a move on, the remaining 14 playmates glanced at each other for a moment and did as they were told. Because although Daisuke may have a point with the new ways, they would find to kill each other, Yukihiko had a better point in which they would need this time to see what exactly awaited them.

Better to involve themselves in the known rather than the unknown.

And one by one, they entered through the branching path on the left…

[Piero's Playground]

(Dark Room)

…and were met with a locked door.

Much like how their introduction to the Happy Highway started with a dark room, their introduction to whatever awaited them on the left path was met with pure darkness, a locked door, and the door behind them slowly closing, removing all sources of light within this room. And as always…

"N-NOOOOOOOOO!" Daisuke wailed. "N-Not again! Not again! No one shank me please! PleasePleasePleasePleasePlease!"

"Nay, get a hold of yeself sailor!" Roderick's voice gruffly ordered within the darkness. "It probably be another room where they be showing us some video or two, aye?"

"I hate the dark!" Daisuke screamed.

"Heavens to Betsy, pardner, look, dere be a light!" Yumi's voice directed Daisuke toward a familiar blue light. "It's just like da ol' fish wrangler says! An honest-to-goodness video!"

As they had pointed out, a TV screen situated above the locked door had turned on, revealing a static-y image that slowly began to clean itself up. And just like the first video they had watched, the video they were about to see was equally outdated but this time with a beige coloration to the cinematic display.

A young man who looked to be a little bit older than them with classic expedition clothing and a brown fedora– making him out to be a classic Indiana Jones ripoff- inspired character –and of beige and orange coloration slowly navigated himself through a part of the jungle before noticing the camera aimed at his direction.

With a smolder, he slowly exited the bush he was in and tipped his fedora, leaning against the nearest tree. He folded his arms. And goddamn did he look cool and badass, handsome too, especially with that smolder...

"Hello there," the young explorer tipped his fedora. "My name's Marcus Avventira. Alumnus of Hope's Peak Los Angeles. But you might also know me by my other names, like… The Cold War Soldier. Reagan's Best Man. Red Hunter. Boy Scout of the New Frontier. And most importantly…"

The young man in his mid-20s, pointed his finger toward the others with that goddamn smolder.

"…Ultimate Explorer," Marcus finished off.

Marcus smiled, winking toward the camera.

"Now, there's only one reason young children like you came here to see me at Piero's Playground," Marcus began. "You want to join me on a very special expedition. Perhaps, my most dangerous one yet. Now, normally, I wouldn't have you kids tag along with me. You're kids, after all. But… I see you young ones have potential."

Marcus stared at the camera, stone-faced and serious.

"Here's the mission," Marcus began. "The Towa Group has assigned me a team- that's you guys -to join me in exploring the Jungle of Joy. The treasure we're looking for? Paradise. An oasis hidden somewhere within these deep jungles. It is said to hold the most powerful artifact that can change the course of history itself… No one knows what it looks like, but I assure you. If you find Paradise, you'll know exactly what it is..."

Marcus held up his hands, defensively.

"Of course, like all my adventures, you're not going to be the only one looking for it," Marcus pointed out. "Someone is looking to get their paws on it. And it's not the Reds, I'm afraid, kids. It's something much more dangerous…"

Marcus glanced at the camera with a serious expression.

"...A cat burglar," he said. "By the name of Mrs. Claws. She's already stolen artifacts in other sections of Piero's Playground but if she gets her paws on this artifact… I'm afraid we're going to be nearing the edge of destiny itself…"

Marcus burst out laughing at how stupid this script–

Marcus stood away from the tree and pointed toward the camera.

"The world is counting on us," Marcus said. "Paradise is hidden somewhere in the Jungle of Joy. Find it and you'll find the artifact. Are you kids ready?"

No.

"Great," Marcus waved his fedora. "I wish you kids luck."

A military jeep drove by with a Riley Destiny body double in the driver's seat. Clearly, the real one couldn't make it for filming. She honked the jeep and slowly, Marcus climbed on board with that same smolder on his face.

"Remember," he continued. "Adventure will always await you here, at Piero's Playground's Jungle of Joy. Where an explorer's joy is shared between all girls and boys."

The military jeep skidded across the dirt and left a smoky trail of dust behind as Marcus and Riley drove off deeper into the Jungle of Joy.

Then, the screen faded to black…

The room slowly brightened up and the ambient noises of the jungle played in the background as the group glanced at one another once more. Daisuke sighed in relief but Riku? Riku had to scoff at the video they were all forced to watch.

"Another cheesy video," Riku muttered. "I grow tired of the cringe-worthy content I am being exposed to…"

"Now this ain't no time to be a tumbleweed in da desert," Yumi looked much more enthusiastic than she normally was. "Marcus Avventira is countin on us to save da day!"

Riku blankly stared at her.

"Y-You're not serious about this, are you?" Riku's eyes twitched.

"Course ah am!" Yumi scoffed, her eyes glistening in fanaticism. "This ain't no time to be unserious 'bout anythin! Marcus Avventira told us that we need to find Paradise if we are to find the artifact! And the artifact is the only way we can save the world!"

"You mean the children," Mara pointed out.

"Dat too!" Yumi declared, tipping her fedora down with a proud smile.

"Pardon me, foreigner here," Kikuko raised her hand, his eyes closed. "But could someone explain to me who this Marcus Avventira man is? He's…"

Kikuko glanced away with a blush.

"...apparently an Ultimate like the rest of us…" Kikuko cleared her throat and continued. "But also, quite the… how do you Westerners say… looker."

The smolder definitely worked on her.

"Ya bet yer Eve's apple ah can explain!" Yumi began, with a hearty grin. "Marcus Avventira. Woo-wee! One of the greatest Western heroes of our media! He's the Ultimate Explorer of the Kamukura Era, and his success as an Ultimate landed him a whole franchise of silver screens that ah've been watchin since ah was a little Betsy! Adventures of Marcus Avventira! Woo-wee! Now dat's a franchise!"

Yumi tipped her hat down.

"He be the most rootin most tootin cowboy-explorer ah've ever seen!" Yumi declared. "And mah biggest hero!"

"Hey, speaking of which," Issac brushed his pink hair to the side as he snuck a glance toward Manon. "Levesque. You played Riley Destiny on that spinoff series, Adventures of Riley Destiny, right? Streaming now on MKPlus I think…"

"...Quoi?" Manon blankly asked before blinking. "Oh! Oui! Oui! Mais, what does zat have to do with anything…?"

"Nothing really," Issac shrugged. "I just thought that maybe you could share some insights about your time on set."

He cupped Isolde's chin.

"Isolde is very interested…" Issac smiled.

"O-Oh…" Manon blinked, before rubbing her arm. "Um…"

"As fascinating as that would be…" Yukihiko sighed. "I think it's best we all get a move on here, right, Stanczyk sweetie?"

When Yukihiko called out the name of the jester, they were surprised to see him hiding behind what seemed like a cardboard cutout of bushes and wearing a fedora over his jester prongs… It looked very misplaced and odd for him.

"H-How'd you know I was here?!" Stanczyk gasped.

"Your hat gave you away, honey," Yukihiko picked his nails, disinterested in the jester's antics.

"A-Awwww…" Stanczyk looked down. "I'd thought it'd help me become one with the trees! Preparing myself for the mission to find Paradise! Because we all need to come together to stop Mrs. Claws from finding that artifact! Am I right, best friends?!"

Awkward silence.

Yukihiko sighed and walked up toward Stanczyk, placing a hand underneath the jester's chin. Almost instantly, the jester's hyperactive and eccentric behavior calmed down as he glanced at the young child caregiver with intrigue.

"Oh Stanczyk, honey…" Yukihiko rubbed his masked cheek. "We have no time to play games. So, why don't you be a good boy and just… open the door for us? Okay, sweetie?"

"H-Huh?" Stanczyk blinked.

Whatever Yukihiko did seemed to make the jester a little more obedient than he normally was. His mask had little expression. He rubbed the back of his neck, slightly confused and took off his hat. Then, timidly, like a child, he nodded his hand and shuffled his foot toward the door. Then, clearly his throat, he unlocked the door, allowing everyone to enter.

"Um, y-yes, um, it's time to open the door, and welcome you all to uh…" Stanczyk lost the plot for the moment, allowing the others to brush past him and walk through the door he had opened.

He shared a glance toward Yukihiko, who simply gave him a sly smirk before pushing past the jester.

It was certain that he had the same thought as most other people had when they saw what the child caregiver did to him. The same burning question in their mind that got even Stanczyk to act much differently than he normally did:

What in the living hell was that?

And more specifically…

[Jungle of Joy]

(Jungle)

The moment they stepped into this new area, immediately it felt as if they had just been Jumanji'd.

The first section of the Jungle of Joy was a large area, which as the name implied, was pretty much a jungle-inspired section of the park. Unlike the Happy Highway, which threw them into an aesthetically pleasing Hollywood/Sunset Boulevard area, it felt as if they were practically in an entirely different biological environment. Ambient noises of what you would typically hear in a jungle– birds chirping, monkeys hooting, and snakes hissing –played excessively throughout the location.

Tall trees that could contend with some of Yosemite's giant sequoias, were lined up against the side, gated off by wooden fences and allowing the 14 playmates to step on what seemed to be a polished stone floor. Long bamboo torches were placed on opposite sides of another underneath a wooden sign that read:

'JUNGLE OF JOY'

Walking past the sign would force the 14 playmates to come face to face with a statue. Much like the Lady Radiance statue which stood in the center of the first roundabout interconnected to Stanczyk statue at Pleasure Park's roundabout, this statue was of Marcus Avventira, who simply tipped his fedora down and remained stagnant. Compared to the shiny glistening golden statues of his fellow theme park costars, Marcus's golden statue was corroded and rusted.

An intentional design to show the adventurer's aesthetic of finding old treasure in hidden ruins and deep jungles.

Already, there were also branching pathways to the left, straight past the statue and to the right.

To the left, was what seemed to be a pathway leading toward something called:

'STANCZYK'S SECRET CLUBHOUSE'

Straight ahead was another, separate branching path to the left that also interconnected with the path on the right. Just from sight, they could clearly be seen as a restaurant-type attraction, much like Daisuke's Cluck Deluxe. The words were clear as day:

'THE ULTIMATE KARATE MASTER'S ATTRACTION PRESENTS…'

'CROUCHING TIGER'S CAFE'

To the right was a winding pathway with trees and jungle-like flora decorated unto the side, that led to a different section of the Jungle of Joy.

All in all, it definitely wasn't a straightforward pathway as the Happy Highway was. Like a typical jungle, there were definitely a lot of winding paths to keep a mental note of.

…

"Zis is ze Jungle of Joy?" Manon looked around in amazement. "Oh oui! Incroyable! Zis… Zis place… is much different zan ze Happy Highway, non?"

"Well, of course," Yukihiko remarked. "It is called the Jungle of Joy, sweet pea…"

"But just the change in atmosphere from Pleasure Park to a jungle is…" Fábio trailed off.

He wanted to say overwhelming, but truth be told, just seeing trees and the jungle-like aesthetic was enough to remind the figure skater of home. So instead, Fábio opted to remain silent. The only person to notice this was Kikuko, who raised an eyebrow. She widened her eyes for a brief moment before furrowing her eyebrows.

"Oui, Madame Swan and Madame Summers would've loved it here," Manon remarked, mournfully.

Aidan, who had been standing to the side, notably winced at hearing Emmeline and Alina being referred to again. It was like that was all he was hearing today. And needless to say, he was letting their names knock him off his game…

"Oi, fucking finally!"

A familiar Aussie accent appeared, alerting everyone to the presence of one sadistic plush hyena. The only problem was, they didn't know where exactly that voice came from. At least not until loud hollering of a hyena's jungle call was heard, forcing everyone to look up above.

"WOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO!"

Monoyena had grabbed onto a loose vine and was already swinging his way back down to the–

And the vine snapped.

"FUCK!"

Monoyena face planted directly onto the floor. Skidding across the ground, hardly anyone felt sympathy for the hyena's fall. In fact, some had to agree that it was a bit hilarious seeing that the first karma the hyena was ever going to get was from a failed Tarzan reenactment skit. And the only person who was even concerned for him was of course…

"M-Monoyena!" Stanczyk wailed, rushing over to the hyena's aid. "A-Are you okay?! Did you get a booboo?! I can ask someone to get you a band–"

"Shut the fuck up!" Monoyena suddenly got up, flashing a warning glare toward the jester. "This is why hyena's don't fuck with the jungle!"

He took out his Barbie Blade and pointed it toward the 14 remaining playmates.

"As for you cunts!" Monoyena growled. "I catch one of ya laughing, I'm slitting yer throats and ripping yer vocal cords out for ya to see right here, right now! So best keep them pretty lips shut tight!"

That got some of the more amused playmates to quit chuckling.

Once the hyena got himself well-situated, it became apparent that he was still annoyed by his embarrassing failed stunt. He twirled his Barbie Blade around and let his red jagged eye glimmer before continuing to speak.

"Anyway, guess I gotta welcome you fucks to the Jungle of Joy," Monoyena used his Barbie Blade as a makeshift comb. "A place where as you can see, is a fucking makeshift jungle. All yer missing are the bugs, the malaria, the fucking kooks that live naked in these woods…"

"W-What was that last part?" Daisuke blinked.

"But most importantly, it's a land of adventure!" Stanczyk intervened, jumping into the air with excitement. "And adventure awaits for you all to check out all the fun rides and attractions we have in store for you! Come on, best friends! Wanna have some fun?!"

Just like last time, Stanczyk's request was ignored as the 14 playmates were more focused on the statue of Marcus Avventira himself.

"N-Not again…" Stanczyk's eyes welled with tears.

"Eh, get over it, ya lousy diaper baby," Monoyena muttered as he waddled off.

…

When they walked closer to the Marcus Avventira statue, they could see that once again, there was another plaque right below the podium he was standing on. And with each new plaque, there was always a new message awaiting them to read. For this specific one, it read as follows:

"In order to receive this toy

The blood of one must be shed

Please the Jungle of Joy

Or some children might drop dead."

"Another one of these," Mara scoffed, folding her arms.

"Same as last time…" Kazuki sighed. "'The blood of one…' Meaning once again… Only one has to die."

"And they aren't really holding back on the threats, either," Alisa shook her head, before opening up her pocket watch once more. "Meaning, however we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable, we must do it now or risk precious time being wasted…"

"Right," Yukihiko nodded. "Everyone, form a team of people that you would like to work with and regroup back at this statue when you are done. After that, we will return to the Hotel Lobby to summarize what we have learned. Do you all understand?"

Yukihiko clapped his hands as if he were some sort of schoolteacher chaperoning a field trip.

"Yes, mom," Issac couldn't help but remark.

Yukihiko gave him a dirty look before clapping his hands once more.

"Anyway, let us be off," Yukihiko nodded before separating from the group to investigate the one thing that caught his attention.

Similarly, everyone else had grouped themselves with the people they wanted to work with. And with their Maps on their eTickets, they all went to the new locations that caught the most of their interest. All of them… except Aidan, who was simply left behind at the statue and stared at the message engraved in the plaque.

He reread it over and over again.

He had to wonder…

Was this really the only way to do things now?

Was Yukihiko's way the only right way now…?

He didn't know.

So, instead, he followed down the path to the right to join up with four others...

[Ultimate Karate Master's Attraction]

(Queue)

"This is… my Ultimate Attraction?"

Mara blinked as she stared at the exterior of the restaurant.

The Crouching Tiger's Cafe wasn't like an average Westernized-Asian restaurant like Panda Express or anything like that.

On the outside, it was a building covered in vines and practically buried within the jungle fauna, much like a small shrine hidden deep within the Amazon Rainforest or the Jungles of Borneo. There was a notable stone pathway with a small pond to the left. It was filled with koi fish that were well and alive, probably surviving off of the natural-growing algae in their local ecosystem.

This pond separated the pathway toward the restaurant to an interesting ledge with a broken cage sitting on top of it. It was most definitely a decor choice. Because the ambient noises whenever someone would step into this section of the Jungle of Joy was the growl of a tiger hidden somewhere within the decorative trees that surrounded almost every inch of the Jungle.

To the right of the notable stone pathway was a decorative wall featuring an old Chinese mural, with two starring roles in the picture: a tiger crouching on the floor, and a dragon hiding within the clouds. A clear reference to the classic martial arts movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Connected to the wall was a bench of the same material as the wall. A good place to rest in case the line ever got too long Mara had to imagine.

The sign itself, although big and slightly rusty, was covered with vines. However, the neon lights of the sign still seemed to be in perfect working condition. As one would already know, the words on the sign were:

'THE ULTIMATE KARATE MASTER'S ATTRACTION PRESENTS...'

'CROUCHING TIGER'S CAFE'

But on top of this sign was the silver statue of a tiger, resting on it and watching the guests that would have lined up for this restaurant once upon a time. Instead, it was just Mara, who really wasn't intimidated by the tiger growls and well, the tiger aesthetic in general.

"So, you get a restaurant as an Attraction, hm?"

Mara would've killed Riku right then and there. Luckily, the Ultimate Doctor learned his lesson the first time around and kept his distance. All just to say his line that would allow him to pave into this scene quite nicely. Good call on his part.

"You get off on sneaking up on people like that?" Mara scoffed, having jumped directly into her fighting stance.

Riku paused to consider the answer before snidely answering.

"Keh… a little," Riku sneered.

"What are you doing here?" Mara folded her arms, relaxing herself. "Can't you see I want to be alone?"

"I do too, but we obviously can't get what we want in our putrid lives…" Riku sent a shallow glare toward the corner of his eye. "So, I'll just have to deal with a fleshbag like you by my side for the time being…"

"I wasn't inviting you to my group," Mara frowned.

"Good, because I wasn't offering," Riku retorted, shoving his hands inside his pockets and walking toward the door.

The door handle itself was made of bamboo and the door was wooden. Really gave that old jungle-theme a nice kick to the experience. But admiring the door wasn't really Riku's biggest concern at the moment. Slowly, he took out his hand and raised his jacket collar to hide his mouth.

"...Erm, actually could you… open the door for me?" Riku glanced at the door in disgust. "Who knows what bacterial virus has touched this place since the six days no one was allowed in here…"

Mara blankly stared at the germaphobic doctor for a moment before sighing to herself. Needless to say, she complied.

Not because she wanted to, but because there was no other choice for her but to do it…

(Cafe)

If one thought that the queue outside the cafe looked like a jungle, the inside was practically a mixture of Rainforest Cafe and a martial arts dojo.

The first thing they would see was a counter with the same touchscreen machines that Clucks Deluxe had. Safe to say that whatever place had restaurants, they were most likely going to have touchscreen machines to order food from.

Lined up on the ceiling were jungle vines that acted as makeshift streamers. In the far back of the room, were tiger taxidermies on display, like some sort of museum prop. Right next to the tiger taxidermy was a familiar button reading 'PARTY TIME'.

A very familiar button indeed.

At least that was what Mara thought. She changed her gaze toward the decor lined against the wall. Popping out like some sort of pop-up book, were golden engravings of a tiger and two unknown men's faces. Kind of like a Mount Rushmore kind of thing. Next to it was a plaque with some writing on it.

In the middle of the room was a large octagonal shaped box that was very reminiscent of classic mixed martial arts fighting rings. In fact, it pretty much was an MMA fighting ring! It had the Yin and Yang insignia decorated right on the ring's padding. Gated fences attached to every side of the octagon allowed viewers to see inside and prevent anyone from being thrown out of the ring.

Because surrounding the ring were tables and chairs for guests to sit and enjoy their meals. Why they had this at a children's amusement park was uncertain, but it seemed like great entertainment for anyone who was really into fighting. For Mara, well, it definitely did pique her interest.

Standing inside the ring was what seemed to be a humanoid animatronic, resembling a strong Japanese man. He was muscular, tanned, and had short, black hair. He wore a white gi and a red bandana on his left arm as well as a black belt, indicating that this animatronic was some sort of martial arts master. In fact, this person was someone Mara recognized all too well…

"Kenshiro…?"

"Who is that?" Riku folded his arms. "Your old master or something?"

"Far from it," Mara shook her head. "He's a legendary martial artist. Strongest person in the world. Quite possibly the master of all things martial arts. In fact, he was the very first Ultimate Martial Artist back in the Kamukura Era, up until he relinquished the title to a close rival…"

"An Ultimate Martial Artist, you say?" Riku raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head. "Why isn't that the first time I'm hearing about some other Ultimate…?"

Mara folded her arms.

"The better question is asking why on Earth is an animatronic of him here…?" Mara hummed.

"I'll be the one to answer that question!"

Mara flung her arm and smashed her fist against the nearby wall, narrowly missing Stanczyk's masked face by an inch.

"WAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" Stanczyk jumped back. His eyes welled with tears once more as he began to bawl. "W-W-WaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Y-YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

Mara blinked and glanced at her fist.

Though there was a bit of scratch on her fist, she slowly backed away and rubbed her hand. She had acted out of impulse. And she had been deathly close to breaking Rule #10. Had she made contact with the jester, things would've ended terribly for her. But even then, with Stanczyk blubbering and sobbing through his near-death experience…

"Y-You're so meaaaaaaan!" Stanczyk bawled. "Urk! Agh… Grk…!"

"If you are done acting like a child…" Riku scoffed, glaring at the jester. "...Can you answer our question and be on your way? Hearing you whine and shriek is like listening to an idiot self-diagnose himself on the internet… It's unbelievably annoying…"

"Can do!" Stanczyk quickly snapped out of crybaby mode and grinned cheerfully. "Before I almost died, what I was going to say is that the ring with the muscular robot is a great chance for anyone to test their skills against the legendary Kenshiro, the Strongest Person in the World!"

"So, in other words, kind of like those mechanical bull attractions you see in Texan bars," Mara remarked, folding her arms and glancing away.

Stanczyk had no idea what she was talking about.

"...Yes!" he agreed anyway.

"And so, how does this work…?" Riku glowered. "You step into the ring and that pile of bolts immediately activates?"

"Not at all!" Stanczyk shook his head with a bright smile on his face. "You see, it's much like the Clucks Deluxe attraction! All you gotta do to turn the legendary Kenshiro on is push that button all the way over there!"

He pointed toward the Party Time! Button by the tiger taxidermies.

Riku looked disgusted.

"Never say that again…" he muttered.

"Huh?" Stanczyk tilted his head, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"N-Nevermind," Riku glanced away, pocketing his hands.

"And after pushing the button, what do you do…?" Mara frowned. "Just fight him?"

"That's right!" Stanczyk grinned. "Match ends when there's a clear loser in the end! It's easy!"

"...If it's so easy, would you like to demonstrate?" Riku shot a threatening look toward the jester.

The jester's face looked at Riku as if he were crazy. He pointed to himself, glancing around, pondering whether Riku really was referring to him or not.

"I'm… not good at fighting," Stanczyk chuckled sheepishly, before smiling widely. "O-Oh! I know! Wh-Why don't you get the little girl to do it? She's the Ultimate Karate Master, right? She can take down Kenjiro in–"

"I'll pass," Mara folded her arms, glancing toward the side.

"H-Huh?!" Stanczyk widened his eyes. "B-But why?!"

Mara didn't say a word.

If anything, it looked as if she was heavily bothered by this idea. Perhaps it was because even she, of all people, was intimidated by the Kenjiro animatronic. Or perhaps it was something else. Because never in a million years would she have thought that her Ultimate Attraction was essentially a one-on-one match with a Kenjiro animatronic…

Instead, she shifted her focus away from the ring and focused more on the other notable things within the Crouching Tiger Cafe…

…

Wordlessly, Mara moved toward the touchscreen machines to see what new choices of nourishment they could enjoy now that they were in the Jungle of Joy. She scanned the screen of its menus, noting some of the names of otherwise, classic Chinese cuisine. She had to roll her eyes at it all:

Kung Pow Chicken

Kachow Mien

Xiao Long Bonks

Bangin' Spring Rolls

Uncle Preston's Egg Fried Rice

And for drinks?

Tiger Blood

Dragon Pop

Oolong Punch

Toppings?

Boba costs extra

Mara felt like she was back in that comic book area of the Happy Highway again.

"...Well, at least there's more variety now instead of chicken everything," Mara muttered.

"I suppose I am quite privy to Uncle Preston's Egg Fried Rice," Riku rubbed his chin. Compared to his usual demeanor, he seemed rather content with what he was seeing on his touchscreen machine. "It must be something worth dying for now, yes…?"

"Knock yourself out," Mara simply walked off to investigate other aspects of her Ultimate Attraction.

Riku scoffed to himself and focused more on what he wanted. In the end, he settled for Uncle Preston's Egg Fried Rice and some Tiger Blood. When he selected Tiger Blood, he decided to skimp out on the boba like the freak he was and waited for his order. And just like the Clucks Deluxe Attraction, it yelled out an order number:

"Order #21. We have an Order #21 here!"

Fast service.

"...It would seem like the system is automated, just like that chicken shack," Riku muttered to himself before picking up his order.

A tray with his food and drink.

Uncle Preston's Egg Fried Rice whose day-old rice was classically fried in a wok, cilantro and MSG added to enhance the flavor, soy sauce to color it and… Damn! Did it smell good! Riku had to admit that he was impressed with whatever machine could replicate such a savory dish. And he was almost never impressed. Or rather, he didn't like to show it.

And the Tiger Blood?

Yep.

Classic tasty theme park drinks.

Red and magenta in coloration and sweet all the same.

"Hm, not bad," Riku muttered quietly as to not let Stanczyk and Mara hear him.

…

Speaking of which, Mara had moved to the wall with the golden engravings of the tiger and two faces she did not recognize. From the looks of it, the artistic golden engravings seemed to have been made out of respect and memory of the two male faces. The plaque on the side helped confirm Mara's suspicions:

A sad tale of two young men who lost their lives. May this carving rest in their memories…

Mara glanced toward the array of tables that were set up against these supposedly artistic memorabilia. If anything, putting this inside a mainstream restaurant only served to further cheapen whatever the heck this was. Why put this here in the first place anyway?

Mara clearly didn't appreciate it.

She sighed and folded her arms before noticing Stanczyk walk up to her, albeit a little more carefully this time.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Stanczyk sniffled. "Did you know this restaurant was originally going to have real tigers on display?"

"No, I didn't, and I don't care–" Mara tried to say before Stanczyk continued anyway.

"Guests could sit here, eat their food, and look at tigers," Stanczyk looked down. "That was going to be the headliner for the Crouching Tiger's Cafe… Real tigers on display only at Piero's Playground new restaurant!"

Stanczyk wiped stray tears from his masked eye sockets.

"...Unfortunately, during the transportation process, the tiger they were going to bring in escaped… and killed two young men," Stanczyk frowned. "It was a tragedy. So, in the end, they made memorabilia for them in the form of this wall carving and settled for taxidermy tigers instead. The middle ring where the tigers were supposed to inhabit was left unfinished…"

"Until you decided to turn it into a fighting ring?" Mara raised an eyebrow.

"That's right!" Stanczyk suddenly grinned. "I did that for you, little girl! Because I know that it fits your tastes very well!"

Stanczyk tilted his head, his single red eye glowing and his voice distorting slightly.

"HaHa…" Stanczyk's grin widened. "I cAn TeLL…"

Stanczyk quickly snapped out of it and giggled to himself. He noticed Mara giving him the most incredulous and discomforting look she could ever give him. He noticed her take a few steps away from the jester. Although she liked to remain aloof and uncaring, she definitely wasn't going to hide how uncomfortable she was whenever the jester stood next to her.

Shaking her head, Mara moved away.

In the general gist of things, her Ultimate Attraction was much like Daisuke's Attraction. Both were restaurants, both had a fun little side show that people could watch if interested, with the only difference being that this one was a little more interactive. Mara didn't know if she liked it or not, but she did catch herself eyeing down the unmoving Kenshiro animatronic a couple of times.

To think that this fighting ring was made especially for her…

She clenched her fist and closed her eyes.

And she felt a shiver run down her spine…

[Jungle of Joy]

(Ruins)

If one walked directly toward the Crouching Tiger's Cafe, they would see that the branching separate path on the left would've led much deeper into the Jungle of Joy as one would have previously thought this place to be.

This much deeper part of the Jungle of Joy maintained that jungle feeling but this time added a little more culture to the atmosphere they were in, as if the group of five that decided to head this way had stumbled upon what seemed to be the ruins of an abandoned civilization.

The moment Alisa, Fábio, Kazuki, Kikuko, and Roderick walked past the Crouching Tiger Cafe, was the moment that they saw golden statues of unknown gods resting on the ground. Whether they were Aztec, Mayan, Incan, etc… vines were hanging off of their crumbling gold stoned-facial designs. In fact, one of these god statues was also shattered.

There was a stand with a camera icon sitting in the middle of this fascinating decor, signifying that it was a photo-op location. Right across this photo-op was a bathroom that looked like a modern bathroom but with the aesthetic of ancient ruins. Trees and jungle fauna covered the building to maintain the realism of a random bathroom being in the jungles. But hey, as long as no ghosts giggle in the men's room, it was going to be fine.

Kikuko shivered.

Fábio took notice.

"H-Hey, you alright?" he questioned her.

"O-Of course," Kikuko simply nodded. "It's just… cold here."

"Cold?" Alisa rubbed her chin. "It feels murkier and more humid than anything."

"Y-You're not the one wearing a hakama," Kikuko responded, glancing away.

"I could take off my jacket and hand it to you if you'd like?" Fábio suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Kikuko blinked at the figure skater for a moment.

She examined him for a moment. Based on how he was looking at her, it wasn't like he was trying to flirt with her or anything like that. It was based entirely on the kindness of his own heart. But if that was the case, then why…? She furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before giving him a small appreciative smile.

"No, it is fine, thank you," Kikuko closed her eyes and nodded. "I appreciate the gesture, however."

Fábio blinked, having already tried to take his jacket off. When she rejected the offer, he simply zipped it back up, confused.

"I-If you're sure," Fábio blinked.

"Of course I am," Kikuko smiled, nodding her head. "I'll get used to it eventually. For now, let us press on forward."

"I must agree," Alisa glanced at her pocket watch. "Time is wasting…"

With that being said, the two girls in their group of five pressed on forward, leaving Fábio alone with Kazuki and Roderick. The two had decided to place their hands on Fábio's shoulder as an attempt to comfort him, but reasonably with humorous looks on their faces.

"...Everything is going to be alright… Mister Barbosa…" Kazuki gave him a supportive look.

"Aye," Roderick agreed, patting Fábio on the back. "As they be sayin, there are plenty of fish out in these open waters…"

Fábio turned to the both of them, confused.

"W-What on earth are you two talking about?" he deadpanned.

Fábio wouldn't get a response.

…

As the five pressed forward, they would find that what laid straight ahead was yet another winding snake-like pathway, decorated with campsites blocked off by wooden fences on both the right and left sides. By the time they made it into the intersection, they found themselves in the middle of three separate paths: the left, the right, and straight ahead.

No use walking straight ahead, because there was yet another large gate blocking them off from whatever was past it.

But on the left and right were big things that no one could've missed unless they were legally blind.

On the left were two things:

One thing was what seemed to be the exit from a path hidden in some deeper part of the Jungle of Joy. This exit led directly out toward the front of a small open cabin which served as the exit to the second thing at hand.

A giant golden temple that matched the height of the tallest decorative sequoia trees. Separating them from this magnificent towering building were more wooden fences that anyone could lean against to visually see. Engraved against the temple was a shimmering yet rusty giant golden skull. Its mouth was wide open, and a waterfall spewed directly out of it. In fact, it wasn't like any waterfall, as the water that spewed out was angled diagonally. The five wouldn't know why until what seemed to be a boat slowly climbed its way out of the mouth and subsequently rode down the falls and into a tunnel.

Wherever that boat went, no one would know. Not unless they decided to ride it!

A poster reminiscent of a classic adventure film poster from the 80s was placed as the sign for the entrance to the queue line. On the poster was an image of Marcus Avventira, riding the boat out of a haunting golden Chibcan skeleton's mouth with his signature smolder. Pretty much like what they had just witnessed a boat doing prior before.

On it read:

'THE ADVENTURES OF MARCUS AVVENTIRA: THE CURSE OF EL DORADO'

And attached underneath it were wooden planks from a boat with the carved words:

'AN ULTIMATE DEEP SEA FISHERMAN'S ATTRACTION'

"N-Nay!" Roderick gasped, glancing at the entrance to his Ultimate Attraction in bewilderment. "This be the attraction of mine?! That slimy cur and Poseidon's court fool don't expect me to command a boat in waters like this, dare they?!"

"It seems to be more of a log flume ride…" Kazuki surmised, closing one eye and folding his arms in thought. "An attraction that utilizes the flow of water to move the ride itself… So… I doubt you'd be commanding anything on waters like these… Mister Cutler."

He gave a small chuckle at that.

"We'll see 'bout that, first mate," Roderick cracked his knuckles, glancing at the entrance to his Ultimate Attraction with determination.

"...First mate…?" Kazuki blinked.

He folded his arms, looking uncertain.

"...Hm…" Kazuki hummed to himself. "That's… a pretty generous role you've given me…"

The sounds of a dragon screeching and bustling wheels forced everyone to turn their attention toward the attraction on the right.

On the right were what they could recognize to be blue steel rollercoaster tracks that seemed to be very intimidating and very lengthy at a glance. Rough estimate? Probably about 1,020 meters long. But although most of the tracks were hidden by some of the decorative trees for the Jungle of Joy, there's no way anyone could miss the highest peak of the tracks, a lift hill, being 140 feet long.

The coaster's facade this time had a torii as an entrance. (For you uncultured Americans, a torii was essentially a traditional Japanese gate often found at the entrances of Shinto shrines, often of vermillion coloration, which should clue you in on whose Ultimate Attraction this was). On the torii's shimaki, were English words that spelled out the name of the attraction:

'DANCE OF THE HIDDEN DRAGON'

Inviting any passerbyers through the winding pathway of the queue was a tall stone inscription that stood toward the front and left of the torii with extra words stating:

'AN ULTIMATE SHRINE PRIESTESS'S ATTRACTION'

"Curious," Kikuko widened her eyes. "This is my Attraction?"

She grimaced slightly.

"And from the looks of it," Kikuko frowned. "It's another rollercoaster."

Needless to say, she had a bad experience with the last rollercoaster so if this rollercoaster was going to be anything like the murder machine that killed Emmeline, then she wasn't going to ride this one with any high hopes. Other than that, though, she was still curious on what this place would include because it was still technically her Ultimate Attraction.

"It seems we are at a crossroads," Alisa noted, glancing at her watch. "To save time, perhaps we should split off and regroup later?"

"Not a bad idea," Fábio shrugged. "I suspect you're joining Roderick and Kazuki at the log flume attraction?"

"Aye," Roderick nodded, lowering his beanie. "It be a shame if the captain dared not investigate his own ship."

"...My two compatriots still have a tight leash on me after my Parade attempt…" Kazuki smiled softly. "Not like I have any choice…"

"Then, I'll stick with Kikuko for the time being," Fábio said before turning to Kikuko, with small twinkles in his eyes. "Is that fine with you?"

Kikuko blinked before glancing away.

"Erm, sure," she simply nodded.

Fábio raised an eyebrow.

"Let's give ourselves approximately 46 minutes and 20 seconds to investigate. Then, we shall meet back together here," Alisa ordered before snapping her pocket watch shut. "I believe that sounds fair, so to not waste time, I suggest we be on our merry way."

"Right," Fábio nodded.

Kikuko nodded as well and soon, the five groups separated into three and two respectively…

[Ultimate Deep Sea Fisherman's Attraction]

(Queue)

Entering the queue to Roderick's Ultimate Attraction would lead Alisa, Kazuki, and Roderick through a wooden ceiling-covered bridge that turned to the right.

Turning to the right would lead the three down a staircase that took them through a cavern-like passage. Although initially tight, the cavern would eventually lead them toward a bigger queue line with a notable amount of gold ingots on top of a golden throne fully on display. There was even a photo-op stand right next to it, telling people that they could leave the line for a quick picture.

"Could thar be the hidden gold of Atlantis?!" Roderick widened his eyes.

He was clearly getting too serious with this stuff.

"It's El Dorado," Alisa corrected. "An entirely different lost city."

"...Besides…" Kazuki closed his eyes with a small, certain smile. "...I doubt that gold is real… Knowing this place… It's probably some plastic prop they made to–"

"N-Nay!" Roderick widened his eyes. "It be heavy! Like real gold!"

"...What…?" Kazuki opened one eye, surprised.

Both the philanthropist and clockmaker watched as Roderick tried to hold one with one hand. He was able to raise up the gold, like the strong giant he was, but Kazuki and Alisa could see that he had to strain and put a little more muscle power to make it even remotely easy to hold one. And when he dropped it–

CLANK!

The gold ingot slid off after colliding against another on the floor.

"...Huh… Well… I guess you have to be wrong about something in life sometimes…" Kazuki closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

"But it is strange to have real gold ingots in an amusement park of all places," Alisa fixed her glasses before a horrific thought appeared in her mind. "Unless…"

"Unless…?" Roderick blinked.

Alisa didn't want to say it.

It was more for the sake of Kazuki. After all, she and Roderick were still charged with the task of making sure he didn't go off and do something crazy like he did two days ago. If she said what had slowly crept into her mind, it may give the philanthropist some ideas. But Kazuki already knew what her silence entailed…

"...You think this was purposely placed here by Monoyena and Stanczyk as a potential murder weapon…" Kazuki smiled. "And the reason you aren't saying it out loud is because you don't want anyone getting ideas… Right?"

Alisa pushed her glasses up.

"...Yes," she confirmed.

"...Haha…" Kazuki tilted his head as content as he could be. "Well… even if someone wanted to use them… They'd have to get past the weight of these gold bars… Don't you think?"

He made a valid point.

"...Come on…" Kazuki gestured for the two to follow him out of this specific section of the queue. "There's more to this place and we are in a time crunch… Right…?"

Alisa had to agree with that point too.

So, both the clockmaker and Roderick followed the philanthropist down the path until they finally reached…

…

…the loading dock for the ride itself.

The moment they exited the queue's Treasure Room, they were met with railings that forced the three to wind back-and-forth through an extended queue line. An extended queue line hosted by a cardboard cutout of Marcus Avventira acting as a 'You Must Be This Tall to Ride' sign.

But at the end of the railing was the real excitement: a line of small boats that moved in perfect succession, much like a conveyor belt at a top-notch factory, all leading toward the right through a continuation of the cavern. The sound of running water echoed throughout the cave system they were in. In fact, they could see water drip from the cavern's ceilings onto the boats itself.

In other words, whoever rode this was going to get hella wet.

Obviously.

"...How interesting…" Kazuki folded his arms. "So… this is your Ultimate Attraction… I have to say… It's not much to look at…"

"N-Nay!" Roderick glanced at the philanthropist, offended. "At least I be havin one, ya filibuster!"

"But isn't it strange?" Alisa pushed her glasses up, curiously. "From the looks of it, there are no control panels anywhere. If I'm not mistaken, Manon's rollercoaster had one, and it was a big contention during the Trial. But why doesn't…?"

"...My guess would be that this entire place runs automatically…" Kazuki simply said. "As you can see… the boats themselves are grab and go… You grab a boat and you just let the water and conveyor belt do its thing…"

"N-Nay, so me Ultimate Attraction be constrictin the seas?!" Roderick couldn't believe it. "That level of power be outrageous!"

"Well, for starters, it's not really the ocean, but a makeshift river," Alisa surmised. "Based on my understanding, we are supposed to be within El Dorado itself. And El Dorado was based in rivers, not oceans…"

She glanced at Roderick, warily.

"So, how does this fit with your Ultimate Talent again?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Roderick blinked. "Why are ye askin me? I don't be knowin all the details, lassie, but maybe this is me Ultimate Attraction because it be havin to do somethin with the water!"

"That… and the extreme paranoia with spurious old sailor stories…" Kazuki remarked.

"Don't be testin me, boy!" Roderick glowered toward the philanthropist. "Ye haven't seen the things I have out in these waters…"

Roderick rubbed his beanie uncomfortably. He was starting to sweat. His face looked sickly. Almost like he was reminded by something he had seen out in those waters. A memory he just did not want to see again in his mind. He shuddered at the thought.

"...Perhaps we should just figure this out by riding the ride…" Kazuki folded his arms.

"Ye want to go in these waters?" Roderick glanced at him, incredulously. "Where there be monsters lurking around?!"

"...It's just a boat ride…" Kazuki glanced away. "How bad could it be…?"

"You either forgot the first thing everyone saw when we were outside the attraction or your death wish has taken over again," Alisa deadpanned. "This is no simple boat ride. Which is why I wish to opt out of riding it myself…"

She took out her pocket watch and continued.

"I believe you two should too," she stated. "After all, this could be yet another ride with a secret murder method that no one knows about."

"...Or you just don't like having to stand around and wait for us to finish…" Kazuki raised an eyebrow.

"That too," Alisa confirmed, quickly.

"Arrrrgh," Roderick folded his arms, slightly uncomfortable. "The lassie be right. This be yet another one of that slimy hyena fish's trap! There be… I request that no one ride the ride without me permission!"

Roderick paused.

"...And without me on it!" he added.

"...I… can't tell if you're scared of this ride or if you really want to ride it anymore…" Kazuki remarked.

But in the end, the two boys knew Alisa had a point. They were on a time crunch and at the moment, not riding the rides was the safer option. If they were going to investigate rides, they were going to have to let everyone know first. And speaking of everyone, they had a little time left before they were supposed to reunite with Kikuko and Fábio.

Speaking of which…

[Ultimate Shrine Priestess's Attraction]

(Queue)

The queue line for Kikuko's Ultimate Attraction began as soon as Kikuko and Fábio walked directly underneath the torii.

They were forced to walk through a winding pathway through what seemed to be an entirely different ecosystem. At least, culturally. The forest they were walking through was no longer a reminiscent jungle of the Amazon rainforests, but rather a more culturally significant Asian forest.

A bamboo forest to be exact.

Bamboo was placed all around the perimeter. Wooden fences prevented the two from climbing over it to scramble through the seemingly vast forests. Signs were placed on the fences, detailing the story of a hidden dragon resting somewhere in this forest. A little farther to the right where the fences broke away was a portable shrine with a photo-op sign placed right next to it.

Whoever wanted to give their prayers and take a picture doing so was now free to do it.

Following the path guided by the wooden fences would lead Kikuko and Fábio to a secluded shrine, where cherry blossom trees were planted right next to it, giving it an ancient yet majestic look. The shrine was definitely run-down and of a light wood color, but on top of the roof was a stone dragon overseeing the guests that would've entered this building.

A breezy wind blew past Kikuko, causing her hakama to flutter. Stray petal leaves danced in the wind. To Fábio, it was nothing short of beautiful. To Kikuko, she could only lower her head and close her eyes. When the figure skater snuck a glance, he could see nothing but indifference on her face…

"Um, are you alright?" Fábio blinked.

Kikuko didn't say anything.

"...Y-You're not cold again, are you?" Fábio questioned.

Kikuko opened her eyes and shook her head. That indifference that had been on her face was replaced with solemness. She positioned her hands in a prayer pose and glanced the other way. Calmly, she finally spoke.

"No, I'm not," Kikuko politely said. "Apologies for making you worried. It's just… This place…"

"Reminds you of home?" Fábio guessed.

Kikuko blinked.

"You understand how I feel?" Kikuko questioned.

"Heh, it wasn't hard to guess," Fábio chuckled as he kept his hands pocketed. "I mean, Japanese bamboo forests. Cherry blossoms. A shrine. If I were you, I'd feel the same way…"

Fábio glanced away, letting his spark within his twinkling eyes die out.

Like I did earlier… was the thought he had.

Kikuko took notice of this but didn't say anything. While she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious, to pry too much into whatever was obviously troubling Fábio wouldn't go against her calm and polite demeanor. She simply gave him a reassuring smile and headed inside the shrine with Fábio following behind her.

…

The queue continued inside the shrine with winding queue lines that led directly toward the ride itself.

Kikuko and Fábio had little patience for having to traverse this line of back-and-forth so they chose to duck under each railing and walk directly toward the loading dock of this Attraction. And almost immediately, there were two things to examine: the ride's control panel and the coaster carts that were slowly making its way back to the loading dock.

Since the coaster carts weren't here yet, the only thing they could check right now were the ride's control panels. And right now…

"It's the ride's control panel," Fábio remarked.

At first glance, well… honestly, it didn't need any other glances. The ride's control panels only had two buttons on it and a microphone to speak into for safety reminders. The buttons were listed as:

'MANUAL'

'AUTOMATIC'

And currently, the ride was on Automatic.

"Heh, it's the exact same system they must've been using for the Lady Radiance ride," Fábio remarked.

Of course, he never actually checked out the control panel once but based on what he knew already, this looked pretty accurate to what it must've been for Manon's Attraction.

"In this case, that must mean that the method used to kill Emmeline in the last case may be used here as well," Kikuko surmised.

That was a chilling thought that Fábio knew he had to agree with.

…

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the coaster carts closing in. As soon as the coaster cart arrived, Fábio quickly pressed the Manual button and immediately, the coaster came to a halt, releasing its bars and repositioning the seats so that whoever sat in it would be facing upright instead of on the grou– Wait. What the hell did I just say?

The coaster itself had the design of a blue dragon. So, quite literally, guests would have been riding a literal dragon throughout the tracks. But the cart itself was notably special. For starters, in its current position, the seats were upright but the tracks themselves were above the carts rather than below. And Fábio could've sworn that the moment that he hit Manual, the seats were positioned much differently…

"Oh Seiryuu…" Kikuko widened her eyes and placed a hand over her lips. "W-What have they done to you?"

"Th-This is Seiryuu?" Fábio blinked. "He's…"

He examined the blue dragon head at the front of the carts. If anything, it looked more like a ghostly serpent than a dragon, but Fábio chalked it down to the fact that designing a real dragon head and sticking it in front of a rollercoaster would've caused something to go haywire. Didn't help that it looked pretty ghoulish…

"...Pretty cool-looking," Fábio tried hard to not offend Kikuko's culture.

"He's uglier than this attraction makes him out to be," Kikuko grimaced.

"Huh?" Fábio blinked, before twirling one of the ringlets in his hair. "H-Hey, are you even allowed to say that?"

"Of course I am," Kikuko flashed her glowing left eye. "As a loyal servant of Seiryuu, saying the truth is a sign of respect. It tells him who he can trust, and who the heretics trying to get on his good side are…

She took out her ofuda and waved it like a makeshift fan.

"Trust is an important teacher," Kikuko continued. "And it's something I value highly…"

"I– I see…" Fábio blinked.

He already broke that value by trying hard not to offend her. Whoops!

"...So, if you wish to tell me what you truly think about his design, by all means…" Kikuko's left eye flashed once more.

"I…" Fábio gulped.

Kikuko was one smart cookie.

And the figure skater couldn't tell whether or not she was baiting him to say something bad about her god or just being serious. It was a tough choice on his part. He took a deep breath, let a cold icy wind cool him down, and sighed.

"I… Yeah, it's a weird design," Fábio closed his eyes, preparing himself to get kicked directly into the coaster cart itself. "S-Sorry…"

Kikuko nodded with a polite smile.

"Don't be," Kikuko smiled. "At least you told me the truth. That is what truly matters…"

Fábio sighed in relief.

What he was most worried about never came so at least he had that going for him.

…

Now, back to the most pressing matter about the coaster carts themselves.

Fábio walked toward the ride's control panel and set the ride back to Automatic. That was when his suspicions were confirmed.

As soon as the ride was switched back to Automatic, the seats of the carts that were once upright slowly shifted positions. This time, the seats were no longer facing forward but now facing downward. As if whoever would be riding this ride at this time was getting ready for an awesome hang-gliding ride.

"How peculiar…" Kikuko noted. "This has to be the most advanced-looking roller coaster I have ever seen. For the seats to point downward instead of…"

"Yeah," Fábio nodded. "And based on the tracks we saw outside; we know this has to be a rollercoaster of some kind."

He watched the rollercoaster move away from the loading dock, allowing Automatic mode to pull through.

"Maybe Issac would know more about what type of rollercoaster this is," Fábio suggested.

"I am willing to agree with you on that," Kikuko nodded. "From my understanding, it was his assistance that helped you figure out the secret behind Manon's rollercoaster. Perhaps there is a secret to this one too…"

"Yeah, maybe…" Fábio wasn't too sure about that but he couldn't deny the possibility. "Either case, I think it might be time to regroup with Alisa and the others…"

"I agree with you once more," Kikuko smiled.

There was little time to test this baby anyway. And it wasn't like Fábio and Kikuko were eager to ride a rollercoaster after the fiasco from the last one anyway so, that was covered! With nothing else to do, the two headed back the way they came from.

[Jungle of Joy]

(Village)

Crossing the winding pathway from the right of Marcus's statue would lead the remaining five: Aidan, Daisuke, Issac, Manon, and Yumi to the Village hidden within the Jungle of Joy.

And as the name implied, this part of the Jungle of Joy looked exactly like what you would expect a suburban village to otherwise look like. This was the one part of the Jungle of Joy in which the trees weren't large enough to block out the sun from shining on this humble scenery.

The Village consisted of a market for fruits and vegetables with a stone shrine located directly in the center of the village. Another photo-op standee was placed right next to it, and within this stone shrine were brown stones that seemed to glow every once in a while.

The Village also seemed to be the perfect place to view the lift hill of Kikuko's Hidden Dragon coaster. After all, with the trees surrounding the area bring much smaller than the large sequoias at the start, it gave a little more leeway to see what was happening outside the jungle.

Now, if one were to cut through the Village and go straight ahead, they would find that there was another winding pathway that seemed to curve to the right. But if one simply looked toward the right side of the Village, a large mountain-like structure would be awaiting them.

It was an Ultimate Attraction with a queue that began as soon as they entered the mouth of a cavern entrance. And on top of the cave like a giant movie poster, similar to the aesthetic of the Marcus Avventira one on the other side of the Jungle of Joy were the words:

'THE ADVENTURES OF RILEY DESTINY: THE CAVE OF PLUNDERS'

Painted underneath:

'AN ULTIMATE GUNSLINGER'S ATTRACTION'

And on the movie poster was a picture of Riley Destiny riding a minecart while holding a pistol of some kind. Behind her were what seemed to be angry cowboys chasing her down in minecarts and wielding guns of their own. All in all, it seemed like a jolly fun time.

"Yeehaw!" Yumi slapped her knee with her white Stetson hat. "Now dat is what I call an Ultimate Attraction!"

"Ze Adventures of Riley Destiny?" Manon blinked, eyeing it precariously.

"Interesting," Issac remarked. "They built an Ultimate Attraction based on the spin-off show… Now that is something Isolde and I are very interested in."

"U-Um, based on the sign here…" Daisuke gestured to the sign that every attraction would usually have to warn others of potential health risks. "I-It looks like this attraction is some sort of ride…"

"Yeehaw!" Yumi excitedly declared. "Dat makes dis even better!"

"Um, please don't tell me you're seriously considering riding the ride," Aidan frowned. "The last time someone rode a ride, someone died…"

"Technically, someone used a ride they rode to commit murder," Issac corrected with a sly smile. "It's… very different."

"Y-Yeah, I didn't need you correcting me on that, thank you very much," Aidan pointed his finger toward the toymaker.

"Mais, Monsieur Brighton has a point," Manon blinked. "We shouldn't ride ze ride in case zey may pose a danger to everyone."

"Ah reckon ya may have a point ah guess…" Yumi rubbed the back of her neck.

The cowgirl seemed a little disappointed when they said this. Truth be told, she was interested to see how her ride would operate. But they were right. To avoid any possible casualties this ride may cause, it was best to save the fun and riding until much later. When more people were around that is…

"But ah think we should still check it out!" Yumi tipped her hat down with a boisterous grin. "No use in keeping a cow's body nice and plump!"

"Hey, what?" Issac smiled, tilting his head in confusion.

"For now, we should check out this general Village first," Aidan pointed out. "There's a couple of things I wanted to take a look at…"

Indeed there were.

For example…

…

The stone shrine with the glowing stones in the middle was one of the many things that was worth looking into.

It was definitely a peculiar shrine that fit with whatever ancient culture the Jungle of Joy was trying to represent here. Though, it seemed only two people seemed to recognize what exactly this shrine was.

"I see they brought the Hallowed Stones back to the village it belongs to," Issac noted with a smile.

"The Hallowed Stones?" Aidan blinked.

"Yeah, it was an integral part of one of those Marcus Avventira movies," Issac pointed out, brushing his pink hair to the side with a sly smile. "The Adventures of Marcus Avventira: The Temple of Dread. Great cast. Interesting plot. Terrible representation of cultures though… And the female lead… Ooh. Wasn't all that great."

He cupped Isolde's chin, glancing at her with a sigh.

"Isn't that right Isolde?" he questioned her. "What's that? You hated it with a passion? Heh. You always did have the strongest opinions."

"Ah yea, I remembered dat one…" Yumi rubbed her chin. "Ain't mah cup of tea either. Too much graphic content. Like da heart ripping scene. Da child slavery. Even da monkey brains and eyeball soup. Ugh…"

She shivered in disgust.

Aidan on the other hand blankly stared at the two apparent Marcus Avventira watchers.

"W-What the heck are these Marcus Avventira movies?!" Aidan questioned.

…

The marketplace was the other important note of interest.

For Manon and Daisuke, they picked up fruits and vegetables and felt the texture of each one. Now, Manon couldn't feel shit. Nothing but rubbery skin for the cucumbers and smooth texture for the apples. But Daisuke? Being the person who actually works in the food industry, he was able to garner a whole different opinion for the food that was being supplied to them.

"Y-Yep, these are real fruits and vegetables," Daisuke concluded with a sheepish smile.

Thank you, Daisuke.

"O-Oh, but you already knew that didn't you?" Daisuke gulped, looking down in embarrassment. "S-Sorry! I should've kept my mouth shut! Oooh! Daisuke! You did it again! You went ahead and annoyed someone! Stupid stupid stupid!"

"M-Monsieur Kido, s'il vous plaît!" Manon widened her eyes. "I did not say you were annoying! In fact, I did not say any zing!"

"O-Oh…" Daisuke looked down, rubbing his sweaty palms together. "I… I see. I guess I overreacted… Again. Siiiiiiigh."

As Daisuke avoided eye contact, Manon could do nothing but stare at the otherwise large male precariously. From what she knew about him, he was prone to the biggest freakouts in the world, but this was probably the first time she got to experience one without other people around. Frankly, it surprised her.

"Ah, um, do not worry…" Manon tried her best to reassure him. "Everyone overreacts all ze time. It isn't some zing to be ashamed of, non?"

"I… I wish you were right," Daisuke hunched over with a frown.

Manon blinked.

Wish?

What the heck did he mean by that?

…

The last thing to note in the village was the view they had of the Hidden Dragon Coaster's lift hill in the far distance.

Though, it was only the peak of the hill that they had any visible access to. And occasionally, they would even see the actual coaster ascend, descend down quickly, and disappear amongst the thick forests. Truly, much more interesting than whatever this secluded village was.

"Looks like there's another coaster somewhere in this Jungle of Joy," Issac remarked. "What say you Isolde? Wanna give it a test ride?"

"A-Again, let's not ride anything for safety's sake," Aidan pointed out.

"Just based on dat coaster's design though…" Yumi rubbed the back of her neck. "Looks like it might've been Kikuko's Attraction."

"Another rollercoaster and this time it belongs to Kikuko, huh?" Aidan looked generally uncomfortable by the implications of this.

He sincerely hoped there was no 'special touch' with this coaster too but given Monoyena's track record thus far… there was a good chance there likely was one.

…

"Well, that's everything here in the village…" Issac pointed out. "The only thing left to do now is investigate Yumi's Ultimate Attraction…"

"And whatever lies ahead in the path straight ahead…" Aidan rubbed his chin.

"How should we divide ourselves equally?" Manon questioned. "We are only five after all…"

"Ya know darn right ahm checking out mah Ultimate Attraction!" Yumi flicked the bottom of her Stetson's hat with a grin.

"Same," Issac nodded. "Isolde is very interested to see how exactly her Ultimate Attraction works."

"I'll go check out the path straight ahead then," Aidan told the group. "Sounds like you guys have Yumi's Attraction covered anyway so…"

"Zen, perhaps I will go with you?" Manon suggested.

Aidan considered this for a moment.

While he would love for anything for someone to accompany him, his mindset was currently still on that whole debacle of Chapter 1 being his fault. But at the same time, he was somehow who valued teamwork above all else so…

"Um, I volunteer!" Daisuke blurted out, his face blue and sweating profusely.

Everyone turned to him.

"Quoi?" Manon looked at him, puzzled.

"I– I volunteer to go with Aidan…" Daisuke twiddled his fingers, blushing.

Issac and Yumi raised eyebrows toward his sudden suggestion. Daisuke obviously hid his embarrassment well. Well enough that not even Manon took noti– Manon took notice. Because her face had slowly crept up into a smirk.

"Oh la la~" Manon giggled. "Bonne idée! Very well, you may go with Monsieur Brighton!"

"R-Really?!" Daisuke looked excited before clearing his throat and glancing away. "Um, I mean… T-Thank you…"

"Of course," Manon bowed.

Daisuke glanced toward Aidan, expectantly.

"Um, y-you don't mind, right A-Aidan…?" Daisuke gulped.

"Of course not," Aidan shrugged, giving the larger male a thumbs up. "Let's check out what lies ahead together, alright?"

"U-Um, yeah, let's go!" Daisuke nodded, immediately.

Aidan turned back toward the other three.

"We'll meet you back here at the Village after we finish investigating," Aidan told them.

And without any more words to share, Aidan and Daisuke headed for the path straight past the village. Of course, Aidan led the way and Daisuke timidly followed behind. But this sight was enough for Manon to giggle and let Issac and Yumi glance at her, confusedly.

"And what is so funny?" Issac raised an eyebrow.

"Did someone say somethin funny?" Yumi blinked.

"Oh, please," Manon glanced at her two temporary investigative partners, amusedly. "Of all people, I would zink zat you two would understand…"

The Ultimate Actress skipped off toward the direction of the Ultimate Gunslinger's Attraction entrance, leaving the toymaker and gunslinger to look at each other. They still didn't get it.

"...Understand what?" Yumi blinked.

"Isolde and I have no idea," Issac shrugged.

[Ultimate Gunslinger's Attraction]

(Queue)

Entering the Ultimate Gunslinger's Attraction brought them from a jungle filled with shade to the mouth of a cavern with even cooler shade.

Almost immediately, there was a queue line that led directly toward a conveyor belt with makeshift minecarts. Each minecart was only big enough to seat one person and were equipped with toy guns on strings. Below each toy gun was a scoreboard, each starting at the number 0.

So, firstly, let's just get this out of the way instead of showering this chapter with more words than this needed to be. To the right was a ride control panel, which much like the ones the rollercoasters had, would have Manual and Automatic on it. In other words…

"Manual and Automatic…" Issac rubbed his chin. "Same system as the rollercoasters…"

Thank you, Issac.

Currently, the settings were switched to Automatic, which allowed the conveyor belt of minecarts to move at a continuous and sluggish pace. Something very expected of rides that involved shooting things.

To the left and drawn on the wall was Riley Destiny holding up what looked to be a chart of some kind. On the chart was the following:

Circle - 100 Points

Square - 1000 Points

Triangle - 5000 Points

Bullseye - 10000 Points

Next on the image was Riley Destiny's finger pointing toward something on display: a golden revolver. And underneath this golden revolver was a sign that written on a classic Western sign in white chalk:

High Score To Beat: 1,575,800 Points

"Oh la la!" Manon blinked. "So zis is your Ultimate Attraction, Madame Gundo?"

"A darn interestin one, dat's for sure," Yumi lowered her hat, her eyes fixated on the golden revolver on display.

She glanced toward Manon, trying to take her mind off of this rather uncomfortable feeling she was feeling.

"But nothin more interestin than the spitfire gal right in front mah eyes, ya know?" Yumi glanced toward Manon with a wink.

"Q-Quoi?" Manon was taken aback by how out-of-left field her flirtatious remark had suddenly hit her.

Needless to say, it caused her to blush.

"O-Oh la la~ Erm…" Manon rubbed the side of her arm.

"High score to beat is… Wow, what a number," Issac whistled when he saw the number on display. "So, what? I imagine to get this golden gun, we just need to beat the high score?"

"Well look at Shirley fucking Homies here…"

The crass Australian accent of one nasty hyena popped out from out of nowhere and directly into Issac's face.

Monoyena, twirling his Barbie Blade and using it as a makeshift comb, couldn't help but let his piercing gaze freak out the three a little. Or rather, the only one who was freaked out was Manon. Yumi retained a fighting stance and Issac looked relatively unfazed.

"So, ya cunts finally found the fucking Westaboo's shit, eh?" Monoyena licked his blade, flashing his jagged eye. "Been waiting for ya to do that, just so I can explain some shit to ya!"

"I imagined that would be the case," Issac sighed. "After all, the guns on the ride and the guns on display are real guns, right?"

"T-The fuck are ya saying?!" Monoyena looked surprised, before pointing his Barbie Blade toward Issac. "What kind of psychopath would make the guns on the ride real fucking guns?! Are ya mentally daft or what?!"

"Hey now…" Issac sighed, placing a hand over Isolde's neck. "...With your track record, it was the first thing that popped in my mind…"

"And yer hair color looks like if Barney and Peppa Pig took turns taking big fat shits in it," Monoyena gnawed on his blade. "That's the first thing that popped in my mind!"

Issac looked to the side.

"Ha… O-Ouch…" he clearly took offense to that. "Th-That's not even physically possible but still…"

"Anyway, as I was fucking saying…" Monoyena growled. "The guns on the rides ain't real fucking guns. They're just small laser tag guns recycled from the old attraction this used to be based off of. The real gun is the beauty up in there…"

He pointed his blade toward the gun on display.

"A fucking beauty it is…" Monoyena cackled. "Comes with six in the chamber. Shiny. Real good grip and trigger. Never jams. A special Colt Diamondback. Real diabolical, this gun is…"

"Erm, actually, it's a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber…" Yumi pointed out, lowering her Stetson hat. "Ya can tell because of its…"

She noticed Monoyena's fuming glance and slowly stepped back.

"...And ya don't care…" Yumi chuckled sheepishly, glancing away. "Got it…"

"Anyway… it's like what BTS's thrice removed cousin said…" Monoyena continued. "...If you can beat that high score, you get the gun. It's as simple as that…"

"But zat looks like a lot of points," Manon widened her eyes. "Is it even possible to get zat many…?"

"Stanshit did," Monoyena pointed toward the high score repeatedly. "If that fucking twink can do it, then it's fucking possible…"

"Quoi?!" Manon blinked. "But zat is… Zat is…"

"Look, if ya can't, it's called a fucking skill issue…" Monoyena snarled. "Ya frog fucking twat–"

Manon did not appreciate that comment.

"Anyway, that's all I really needed to tell ya about this fucking place," Monoyena simply told them. "Good fucking luck trying to get this beautiful thing. Because yer gonna need it! Bwa… Bwahahahahaha!"

It didn't take long before the hyena waddled off to who knows where, laughing maniacally all the way, leaving the group of three alone within Yumi's Ultimate Attraction.

"Well, guess we got the information we need about this place," Issac rubbed the back of Isolde's body. "But still, Levesque is right. 1,575,800 points is a lot of points. Though, I imagine it would be child's play for you, right Gundo…?"

He was met with no response.

"Gundo?" Issac blinked.

Yumi had been oddly silent, allowing her eyes to stare grimly at the sight of a golden revolver on display for anyone to have as long as they played the game. A golden revolver that could actually fire real bullets. Just seeing it…

"Um, Madame Gundo," Manon placed a hand on Yumi's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Yumi snapped out of her trance.

"H-Huh?" she blinked. "Oh erm, yeah. S-Sorry 'bout dat. Had somethin on mah mind. Dat's all…"

Yumi walked past her and headed directly out to leave the attraction. Now, it was Manon's turn to be confused.

Manon and Issac to be exact.

As confused as they were, at least they had a good idea on what it was that caused Yumi to gain this discomforting feeling. And both of their eyes trailed toward the weapon on display: The golden revolver.

Definitely something they should probably worry about, yes?

[Jungle of Joy]

(Forest)

Crossing through the Village would take Aidan and Daisuke into the forest, where the trees have become much different than the towering sequoias they had started out with. And not only that but there were three notable pathways: left, straight, right. Each of them had their own notable things. And by notable things I mean:

Straight ahead was another locked gate that blocked them from entering.

The pathway on the right had another locked gate that blocked them off from entering.

And the pathway on the left was a torii and a path that led deeper within. In fact, it looked much like the entrance to Kikuko's Ultimate Attraction with the slight difference being the fact that the stone inscription this time said:

'EXIT'

In other words…

"Two gates blocking off their respective paths and an exit to a ride which I think is Kikuko's rollercoaster?" Aidan surmised. "So, we really hit a dead end now, didn't we…?"

"I-It… would seem like it," Daisuke gulped.

"Damn it…" Aidan grumbled to himself.

He tightened his fist and turned around, preparing to turn back to the Village. With the amount of losses, he was catching today, it was fair to say that frustration was his biggest emotion at the moment. He had lost his leadership position, he was forced to blame himself for the events that transpired yesterday, and now here he was, not finding anything of value.

What a joke he was…

"U-Um, Aidan, w-wait…" Daisuke ran up to him.

Though he was only three feet away, Daisuke was already sweating bullets from being near him and the amount of walking they had to do.

"A-About this morning…" Daisuke twiddled his fingers. "Um I… I…"

Aidan raised an eyebrow toward the fast-food employee.

"I… Um…" Daisuke's face started to flush out of embarrassment. "I… I'm really sorry. Th-That… Yukihiko took your leadership role… I… I really am…"

Aidan blinked.

"I-If anything," Daisuke gulped. "...I still think you're a good leader…"

That last statement, he forced himself to be a little bolder. Though he flushed in embarrassment shortly after, it was clear that he really meant it. Now all that was left was for Aidan to go and kiss him and he'll be–

"...That's a really nice thing to say, dude," Aidan gave Daisuke a small smile.

He patted Daisuke on the shoulder and walked back toward the Village.

"Come on, let's go," he told the fast-food employee. "Everyone's waiting for us…"

Daisuke hesitated to follow him.

He had let his fantasies run wild a little too hard he'd imagined. And that just made his face turn redder than a tomato. He watched as Aidan left and rubbed his sweaty hands together. He touched the shoulder that Aidan patted. Then he slapped himself across the forehead…

"S-Stupid!" he cursed himself.

[Hotel Mirai]

(Lobby)

The exploration of the new Jungle of Joy area was a long and arduous task of hiking trails that winded and separated into different paths much like a typical jungle.

But in the end, after a thorough investigation, the group of 14 playmates returned back to the Hotel Mirai for a brief summary of what everyone had found. Of course, Yukihiko was the one leading the charge for this meeting and this time, Aidan didn't complain about it. But he did choose to sit further back than he would've usually liked.

"Alright everyone," Yukihiko clapped his hands together. "I believe we all had enough time to explore the Jungle of Joy. And I also imagined we were all smart enough to not choose to ride the rides?"

"Of course they all were…" Beauté licked her lips. "We're way past the word limit after all…"

"Whatever that means…" Riku retorted as he folded his arms.

"I will accept that response," Yukihiko simply said. "Now, perhaps I should go first. Beauté and I went ahead to check the path on the left of the statue."

(The scene that had to be cut out because I'm past the 20K mark DX)

"The one that be sayin 'Stanczyk's Secret Clubhouse'…?" Roderick fixed his beanie.

"Exactly," Yukihiko nodded, playing with his braids by swinging them around. "As some of you may have guessed, Stanczyk's Secret Clubhouse is really the name of the Jungle of Joy's Gift Shop."

"A Gift Shop that won't open until a death or two happens…" Kazuki sighed.

"That's right," Yukihiko folded his arms. "Now, the Gift Shop isn't the only thing of note on the left path. There's something else too…"

"Indeed," Beauté smirked. "You see, the path to the Gift Shop also extends to the pathway to the Ruins…"

"Ruins?" Yumi blinked. "Now wut in tarnation are ya saying dis time?"

"Pathway to the Ruins…" Fábio rubbed his chin before he widened his eyes. "O-Oh. You must mean…"

No use walking straight ahead, because there was yet another large gate blocking them off from whatever was past it.

But on the left and right were big things that no one could've missed unless they were legally blind.

On the left were two things:

One thing was what seemed to be the exit from a path hidden in some deeper part of the Jungle of Joy. This exit led directly out toward the front of a small open cabin which served as the exit to the second thing at hand.

"So that path's exit was the exit from Stanczyk's Secret Clubhouse…" Alisa rubbed her chin.

"I believe it's better if you all would explore it yourself," Yukihiko placed a hand over his hip. "But I'm sure some of you must've already explored the Ruins, correct?"

"Indeed," Alisa nodded. "Kazuki, Roderick, and I found Roderick's Ultimate Attraction. A log flume ride based on The Adventures of Marcus Avventira…"

"Ah, log flume rides," Issac recognized the term. "Fun rides for when the sun gets scorching…"

"Indeed…" Kazuki nodded. "But unlike the other rollercoaster which utilizes control panels… the entire ride is automatic… Meaning the ride will never stop… You get on and you go…"

"...Go get wet, ah heh heh…" Beauté chuckled quietly.

"There also be real gold in me queue line!" Roderick declared. "Real gold as heavy as a gold bar be!"

"Real gold?" Yumi widened her eyes. "Like da gold from da Gold Rushes of '49?! Dat…"

She waved her hat around.

"Dat means dat if we can escape with da kids and da gold, we'll be rich!" she declared.

"No one's bringing 200 pounds of gold onto an escape raft…" Alisa shook her head.

"So, a log flume ride with real gold as a part of the queue," Yukihiko noted. "Very well. Who would like to go next?"

"Across Roderick's Ultimate Attraction is my Attraction," Kikuko pointed out. "Like Manon's Ultimate Attraction, it is also a rollercoaster with the same control panel. However, it seems to be a different type of coaster altogether."

"Explain it," Issac raised an eyebrow.

"Well, for starters, when you turn it to Manual, the seats reposition itself to face forward," Fábio explained. "And when the ride actually takes off, the seats position itself to face downward. In fact, riders would spend time facing downward throughout it all so…"

Issac snapped his fingers, instantly understanding what ride he was talking about.

"That's a flying roller coaster, my friend," Issac began to explain with a suave smile. "As the name implies, the whole purpose of it is to simulate flight. Meaning, it's also a very extreme coaster…"

"I suppose that makes sense," Kikuko closed her eyes. "The coaster carts are designed after a dragon. Which means…"

"The coaster is supposed to simulate a dragon's flight," Issac brushed his hair to the side with a smile.

"Or a dragon's dance," Fábio remarked, referring to the title of Kikuko's ride.

"So, a rollercoaster that simulates the flight of a dragon…" Yukihiko folded his arms. "Is that all there is to it?"

This time, Aidan spoke up, surprising the child caretaker momentarily. Kikuko and Fábio glanced at each other because this was something they really didn't quite know but luckily, Aidan was the one who stumbled on this one.

"Actually, I think what's interesting is that Kikuko's coaster has an exit on the other side of the Jungle of Joy," Aidan pointed out.

"An… exit…?" Kikuko blinked.

"Huh, now that you mention it…" Fábio folded his arms, an icy gaze directed toward the track star. "Kikuko's coaster didn't have a notable exit when we last checked. So if this is true…"

"Then it's possible that the coaster acts as transportation to take riders to the other side of the Jungle," Yukihiko nodded. "Intriguing. Great work, handsome…"

He gave an appreciative smile toward Aidan.

But the track star didn't return it. He was simply doing what he thought was helpful to the conversation. He still wasn't someone who agreed with Yukihiko being at the helm. He made that painfully clear after all.

"Anyway, what else is in the Jungle of Joy?" Yukihiko questioned.

"Um… the exit to Kikuko's Attraction would um… lead to…" Daisuke slowly began to speak. "Erm, two blocked paths by those gates again."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Fábio nodded. "The Ruins also had a gate blocking an extra path. If those gates interlock together, then what that probably means is…"

"We have a new location hidden past the Jungle of Joy," Yukihiko nodded. "Daisuke sweetie, does Kikuko's roller coaster exit lead to anywhere else…?"

"U-Um… it leads to… the Village…" Daisuke looked down, feeling embarrassed that he was in the heavy spotlight today.

"Ah, we're up," Issac told Isolde.

"Oui, ze Village has a clear view of a part of Madame Unmei's Attraction…" Manon nodded. "At least ze lift hill so…"

"Not only dat, but it's also home to mah Ultimate Attraction," Yumi noted. "It's some kind of shootin ride where ya get points based on what ya shoot. At least, dats what ah think it is! Ah dunno. Ah haven't ridden it yet!"

"What she means is that it's a shooting dark ride…" Issac shook his head after brushing his beautiful pink hair to the side. "You know. You ride a ride and you shoot things in the ride and you get points. The ride has a point chart and everything."

"Interesting…" Yukihiko rubbed his chin.

"Surely a ride like that must come with prizes, correct?" Beauté questioned, intrigued.

"Ha… you would be right," Issac smiled. "The ride's main prize is a golden revolver. And according to Monoyena, it comes with live rounds. Six in the chamber, in fact…"

"Ooooh, how elegant…" Beauté clapped her hands excitedly.

"N-Nay!" Roderick looked flabbergasted. "A golden revolver?! I must have that!"

"Non, you mustn't…" Manon shook her head toward Roderick.

"Even if ya could get it, dat feisty hyena feller said we gotta beat Stanczyk's high score first…" Yumi sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"And what, pray tell, is that sack of tears' high score…?" Riku questioned.

"1,575,800," Yumi revealed.

"...Keh, sounds like an impossible task…" Riku laughed pitifully. "Good luck…"

An impossible task indeed. That was what mostly everyone thought about the high score. Not Yumi though. She didn't think it was impossible. In fact, she wasn't even thinking about the impossibly high score. She was more so thinking about the gun on display. About the fact that there was a live gun…

"And is that all?" Yukihiko narrowed his eyes. "This gunslinging attraction sounds…"

Perfect?

"I have an Ultimate Attraction too…" Mara suddenly spoke up.

The moment she did however, she could see the room tense up. She had stayed so quiet that the others had practically forgotten she was in there with them. Yet, no one was more disdainful of her presence than Yukihiko was. With a sigh, he folded his arms.

"And what is your Ultimate Attraction?" Yukihiko glanced at his nails without a care in the world.

"...A restaurant," Mara folded her arms. "Has authentic Chinese cuisine if anyone's interested."

"Utilizes the same automated system as that chicken shack..." Riku added.

Yukihiko raised an eyebrow, expecting more.

"Anything else?" he sighed.

"Yes," Mara folded her arms. "The main attraction is the fighting ring, where you can challenge Kenshiro. Or rather the animatronic version of him."

"Kenshiro… as in that…" Yukihiko narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. "Interesting yet, not really."

Mara expected that reaction from Yukihiko of all people. When it came to anyone's distaste of her, he was probably the most vocal about it. But this wasn't anything new. She's heard it a thousand times… Didn't stop it from stinging.

"I'm more interested in that gun on display," Yukihiko pointed out. "Tomorrow. I think we should focus all of our attention on that. How does that sound for everyone?"

"Oui, sounds like a plan," Manon nodded.

"A shooting dark ride doesn't sound as bad as a roller coaster that simulates flight or some log ride," Alisa noted.

The sounds of people agreeing with his idea was enough to get him to finalize their goal tomorrow. Tomorrow, they go to Yumi's Attraction to do whatever it takes to get that gun. Because for Yukihiko, it was the perfect thing they needed for his way on how to play this Trolley Problem game…

…

And as the night appeared, one by one the playmates assembled back to their rooms for their possibly big shootdown game tomorrow. Of all the things they had found, that gun was probably going to be something very useful for how they were to play the game. At least, that was what Yukihiko had assured them all.

And yet, only one person remained behind in the Hotel Lobby.

Not because they didn't agree with Yukihiko's plan like Aidan still did, but rather because they couldn't stop thinking about it.

Yumi hugged herself and took a deep breath.

A golden revolver.

Smith and Wesson .38 caliber.

…

Her gun.

DANGANRONPA: TWISTED TRAGEDY

22 thousand words. Probably 23 thousand after this Author's Note. Holy mackerel ;-;

Finally. The moment you were all waiting for: The premiere of Chapter 2: Adventures of Paradise Gloom! A fantastic name if I do say so myself :D

Jesus Christ. There were so many locations and so many things I had to describe. Eventually, it got to a point where I needed to cut and move two scenes that were supposed to be in this part, one of which was Beauté and Yukihiko exploring Stanczyk's Secret Clubhouse DX Which honestly sucks but I already reached my 20K limit and it was driving me nuts XE So I'm sorry if the last part of the chapter feels a little off. I just needed the chapter to end XE

But, anyway, to all those that were waiting for an update, I'm happy to say that it's full sailing for Twisted Tragedy here on out until I decide to go and open apps for a third fic for some psycho reason XE

The reason for that is simple:

I officially COMPLETED my first ever DR SYOC, Danganronpa: Corrupted Hope! That's right, today's shoutout goes out to me! If you like Twisted Tragedy, seriously, go check out Corrupted Hope! It... gets better after Chapter 2. So, bear with me on that and it could be good knowledge for what universe my stories take place in :D

Special shoutout to Otterplay for giving me his characters for this fic :D Zlo Porokshny is mine :D

And as far as things go... Well. Chapter 2 is a go :D This is where all the juicy stuff starts to seep in which will be fantastic :D Hopefully! Also means I gotta figure out how the hell I'm supposed to kill someone this chapter! So, if updates are slow, chances are... that's what I'm doing XD

As always, let me know how I'm doing with these characters. It's been a bit since I've written for some of them so if there was anything I need refreshing on, now is the time to let me know! What'd you think about the Jungle of Joy? What'd you think about the chapter? Like it? Hated it? Let me know! Always love hearing your thoughts! :D

And until then, adventure awaits in the next parts of Chapter 2 :D Adventures to... your Paradise of Gloom...?

Playmates Remaining: 14

Aidan Brighton - The Ultimate Track Star [Omakin]

Alisa Zachary - The Ultimate Clockmaker [ExtraMeme]

Beautè Morose - The Ultimate ? [Grandma Sue]

Daisuke Kido - The Ultimate Fast-Food Employee [CandleFire45]

Fábio Barbosa - The Ultimate Figure Skater [Rayy12]

Issac Santiago - The Ultimate Toymaker [oddlyillregular]

Kazuki Nobukatsu - The Ultimate Philanthropist [emberblitz321]

Kikuko Unmei - The Ultimate Shrine Priestess [WolfieRed23]

Manon Vivienne Levesque - The Ultimate Actress [Sempi]

Marabel "Mara" Garcia - The Ultimate Karate Master [Epifanio Therion]

Riku Arakawa - The Ultimate Doctor [theotakureader101]

Roderick Cutler - The Ultimate Deep Sea Fisherman [Orlando Butler]

Yukihiko Yuno - The Ultimate Child Caregiver [Weekaro]

Yumi Gundo - Ultimate Gunslinger [MrUtenaHolic]

Special Guests:

Marcus Avventira [Otterplay]

Riley Destiny [Otterplay]