Chapter 3: House of 1000 Low Spirits (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.
…
In the dead of night, through the whispering winds and the howls of the wolves, comes the sound of a church organ.
As each note is sped through to commemorate the harsh symphony of souls inhabiting the large mansion hidden in the woods, a thundering rainstorm pelts the rooftops. The once bright moon is completely covered up by dark stormy clouds. The only light to be found within these dark woods are the light coming from the manor straight ahead.
...
Ding dong!
...
With a single ring from the doorbell, the soft pitter patters of the cymbals began to creep in. Then, the rhythmic beats of the drums. The inclusion of the saxophone, creating a combination of a sinister, creepy yet fun and jazzy tune. And finally, a chorus:
...
Mwahahahahahaha!
...
The door opened, allowing the viewer to peer straight into the Manor's Main Lobby.
...
Who're the tragic souls living in the Grandview Mansion?
...
Directly in the Main Lobby was a giant painting with three significant figures: a man with white mask and a top hat, a person that was essentially a hulking giant samurai, and the other, a woman with blue hair with bandages around her eyes.
...
It's Alexander, Omen, and Empress!
...
Two spirits flew out of the painting: the samurai, Omen, who took out a kanabo with pride and the blue-haired woman, Empress, who simply covered her bandaged-covered eyes.
...
One's a fiendish brute, the other is a wicked sorceress!
...
Empress smirked toward the camera, a magical blue flame erupting from the palm of her hand as she sang the upcoming line.
...
"Let our magic spook you to the core!"
...
As the chorus returned to sing the next verse, the spirit with the top hat, Alexander, flew up toward the top of the stairs, extending his arms out like a total showman.
...
And to top it all, their leader's Alexander!
...
Alexander sang the next verse, lightning flashing across the house. And for a split second, one could see the sinisterness emanating behind his glowing red eyes.
...
"All the power, I want it more and more and more!"
...
The chorus returned once more as the spirits of Omen and Empress joined him, standing with him side by side.
...
Together, they're the souls living in the house of gold!
...
Alexander placed a finger over his mask as he leaned close toward the camera, practically speaking the next line:
...
"We dare you to enter, if you're so bold…"
...
There was a small musical break allowing any listener to grasp in the jazzy tune of this creepy yet fun little intro.
But by the end of it, the chorus returned, setting a nice musical sequence, starting with the hundreds of paintings with classic Scooby-Doo-like peepholes that were watching your every move.
...
Monsters in the walls.
Careful watch your back!
...
Other spirits started to cross the hallways, never once opening the doors and only choosing to phase through them. Oh, and let's not forget the ghost that popped up in front of the screen.
Jumpscare!
...
Dark ghosts roam these halls.
Killers that attack!
...
The next set was the dining hall, where the spirit of Empress appeared directly in front of the table, her voice speaking the next line:
...
"One more night of this?"
...
Then, it was Omen's turn to appear and say the next line, with a boisterous and heavy voice:
...
"Go and hit the sack!"
...
Finally, Alexander appeared behind them, extending his arms and going all-out crazy with the next verse:
...
"And it'll be a memory you'll never want to miss!"
Ahahahahaha!
...
Lightning and thunder struck, flashing against the three's spiritual forms as they laughed together. And almost too quickly, the camera pulled away from them until it was finally out of the manor. From there, a perfect overview of the Grandview Mansion could be seen. The music dimmed down to allow that classic advertisement announcer to speak:
'YOU'VE BEEN INVITED'
'TO THE GRANDVIEW MANSION'
'BOOK NOW'
'ONLY AT PIERO'S PLAYGROUND'S HALLOWEEN EVENT:'
'TRICKS AND TREATS WITH STANCZYK!'
Sponsored to you by the Towa Group. Giving children screams and delight but never a sense of fright!
…
Static.
CHAPTER 3: HOUSE OF 1000 LOW SPIRITS (DAILY LIFE)
(Alisa's Room)
When Alisa Zachary woke up, she noticed she was on the ground of her own bathroom.
She checked her pocket watch.
Oh wow.
4:48 PM.
How long has she been passed out for?
It was never this bad before. At most, she'd be out and about in the morning like any normal and functioning young adult. But for her to wake up in 4:48 in the afternoon of time. Just seeing the time desperately made her want to quickly get dressed and go out but not now.
Not like this.
Dressed in her PJs, a light blue long-sleeved shirt and light blue pajama pants, Alisa could see that there was an unnatural amount of dried-up blood staining the floor to her bathroom. She felt her head. The intense fever that had awoken her from her slumber had passed but what it left behind…
What this illness had left behind…
As Alisa slowly picked herself up, she could see that the mirror she had coughed into was still stained with blood. The sink, covered in blood. Her hands, covered in blood. And her face… the lower half of which… covered in blood. She felt her heart beating quicker. The fear seeped into her mind. Until all she could see was the blood staining her entire vis–
A knock at the door.
Alisa widened her eyes.
Whoever it was, she couldn't bear to let them see her like this.
Covered in blood, sick-like…
It would be…
She turned to her sink and quickly turned on the faucet…
[Hotel Mirai]
(Hallway)
Kazuki Nobukatsu stood by Alisa's door, waiting for her to open up.
Being the one person Alisa actually interacts with and the fact that it was Chapter 3, Kazuki had been progressively feeling as if he had been growing closer and closer to Alisa as time went on. As such, he understood her quirks the best compared to everyone else. Especially the most important quirk of all: being early.
When he had woken up and gotten ready today, he had expected Alisa to already be in the Hotel Lobby, waiting for him as she usually was.
That was not the case today.
First idea that popped into Kazuki's head was the fact that maybe Alisa went off into the Playground without him. But after much walking around the Playground, he couldn't find Alisa at all. No sign of Alisa until he decided to come back here and knock on her door.
This was definitely unlike her.
It was 4:50 PM.
She was late.
Terribly late.
And honestly, it made him worry.
Had she been in her room all this time? And if she was, what exactly was she doing? He made sure to knock her door a couple more times, just in case she didn't hear him. After a bit however, Kazuki slowly rested his ear against Alisa's door.
That was when he heard rustling behind it. As if she were frantically trying to get to the door. Kazuki's brow furrowed in concern. He got ready to knock again, but the next set of knocks wasn't needed.
The door opened up.
Not entirely, however. Just enough so Alisa could show her face. As she peered through the gap of the door, the clockmaker gave him a small acknowledging nod. She fixed her glasses, acting as if nothing was wrong.
"Kazuki," Alisa spoke, almost surprised. "I… Is it that time already?"
She was a terrible actress.
"...It's... way past…" Kazuki noted.
He raised an eyebrow.
"...Is everything alright…?" Kazuki questioned.
"Ah, yes, of course," Alisa simply nodded. "Everything is alright. Please forgive me for being tardy."
Kazuki could tell that Alisa was hiding something but chose not to pry further. Alisa was his closest friend here. If he distrusted her now, how the heck would he fare for the rest of this twisted game? He gave Alisa a nod of understanding.
"...I'll chalk this down to a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence from you…" Kazuki remarked, amused. "I apologize for disturbing you... I assume you were cooped up here the entire day... Didn't think you'd be the type to do such a thing..."
"I suppose it was the horrors of last night that got to me…" Alisa responded.
"I understand…" Kazuki grimaced.
He thought back to the events of last night.
Daisuke Kido was found guilty of the murder of Riku Arakawa. Essentially, they had lost two more people to this horrible game. Two when the price was one. Not only that, but the execution that Daisuke had to witness. God. It was horrible. It was horrible to see what Monoyena had done to the poor lad…
"Would you allow me to enter?" Kazuki placed a hand over his heart. "Just so we can talk about this–?"
"No!" Alisa immediately said.
Kazuki was taken aback by Alisa's sudden rejection. He could see that even Alisa herself was surprised with her own tone. She cleared her throat and tried again, fixing her glasses and avoiding meeting his gaze.
"I– I mean…" Alisa grimaced. "I'm not fully dressed at the moment and I… I would like some privacy for myself if you don't mind."
Kazuki seemed a little disappointed. Nevertheless…
"...I understand…" Kazuki bowed. "Maybe next time... I will see you later… then…"
Alisa returned his gesture with a nod.
Then, she promptly shut the door, leaving Kazuki out in the open hallway. The philanthropist didn't know what was going on but as soon as she shut that door, it felt as if she were shutting him out. Did he perhaps do something wrong? Were his constant talks about sacrifice and his own selflessness just now starting to disturb her?
Kazuki wasn't sure.
He kept his arms folded and simply left, a little defeated…
(Aidan's Room)
Aidan woke up with tears trailing down his eyes.
He blinked.
He didn't know what time it was. He didn't bother to care. All he knew was that he had forced himself to pass out numerous times. There had been no announcement of meeting anywhere for a while. A strange occurrence since those bastards usually started in the morning. But you know what? He wasn't complaining. He was in no shape to even try to get out of bed. For the first time in his life, he felt weak. His head had grown a little warm and the tears that spilled out of his eyes didn't seem to stop. He slowly wiped them away, but the more he did, the more seeped out.
Until finally, he thought of the reason why.
The mental image of Daisuke's execution hit him like a truck. Just seeing his best friend get put through such torture. Just seeing him cry and scream in pain. Just remembering his best friend's last words…
"I'm so scared."
Aidan gritted his teeth and rested his elbow over his eyes, practically groaning. First Alina, then Daisuke. Who was next?
He chalked down to what Beauté had called it.
"AH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!" Beauté placed her hand over her face, practically cackling wildly. "The only person you should blame is your precious Daisuke Kido! Face the facts, Aidan Brighton! Just how many more of your friends are going to become murderers?! One is a coincidence. Two is a curse! AH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!"
A curse.
Heh.
Aidan wasn't the superstitious type but maybe it was a curse. Maybe it was just one big… stupid curse. One big…
"Grk…" Aidan muttered to himself as he felt tears staining his own elbows. "...I'm sorry, D. I'm really, really sorry…"
…
Though his room didn't exactly have a television set like the Hotel Lobby, there was still an intercom installed within, allowing the voice of Monoyena to interrupt his moment of grief. Aidan slowly lifted his elbow off, his eyes a little red with a mixture of… The point is, Monoyena's voice was the last thing Aidan wanted to hear today.
"Attention all cumrags!" Monoyena's voice called out. "I think it's time for ya pussies to quit moping about and get yer asses over at the Ruins! That's right! Ya thought I was gonna say Pleasure Park? Well, ya thought fucking wrong! It's the Ruins! Jungle of Joy! Be there, or fucking die! See ya in twenty minutes! Bwa… Bwahahahahahahaha!"
The intercom clicked off, giving Aidan that exact amount of time to get out of bed and quit wallowing in his grief.
Aidan didn't want to get out but with the threat of death being ever so prevalent if he didn't do what Monoyena said, he supposed he had no other choice. Slowly, he climbed out of his bed and proceeded to get himself dressed and ready for the next half of the day he absolutely wasn't looking forward to…
[Jungle of Joy]
(Ruins)
Yukihiko tapped on the blood that was slowly trickling out of his nose.
He grimaced.
He could still feel the sting of being punched in the nose by Aidan. The heat of the blood trying to rush out of his nose, now staining the pads of his fingertips, was ever so prevalent. Yukihiko had to surmise that he had a broken nose. Given how much it hurt and how often blood would seep out, that would definitely be the case. And unfortunately, the only person that could've potentially helped him had been shot and murdered yesterday.
Sick and twisted karma, he supposed.
He sniffled, doing his best to keep the blood from flowing out of his nostrils and glanced around. From the looks of it, as soon as Monoyena made his announcement, he just so happened to be the first one to arrive. Not a soul to be seen.
Ugh.
Predictable.
Everyone was probably wallowing in grief or whatever. A clear distraction to their ultimate goal here: rescuing those children. Yukihiko would be lying if he said he wasn't annoyed by how everyone was acting. No one could clearly see what their true purpose in this world was. No one was ever able to understand Yukihiko and his thought process.
Yukihiko shook his head, folded his arms, and stood back.
"Ah heh heh…"
He rolled his eyes.
"Of all the people to arrive early, it just happened to be you," Yukihiko muttered.
He pointed a disapproving look toward who else but Beauté Morose, who appeared with that look she always bore when she wanted to play around with her target. In this case: Yukihiko.
"Always so unhappy to see me," Beauté feigned tears. "So rude!"
"Well, you can't really blame me for that," Yukihiko folded his arms. "You are the most untrustworthy person here."
"Ah heh…" Beauté stifled a chuckle. "I believe my throne has long been overtaken in that regard."
Yukihiko knew exactly what she meant.
After everything in the last Chapter, Yukihiko was probably among the top threats in this Park. He chalked it down to these grown-ass people acting like children instead of their own age. No one said saving children whose lives were constantly being threatened was going to be an easy thing…
Yukihiko rolled his eyes once again.
"Actual children, these lot," Yukihiko muttered to himself.
"You see children, I see something else," Beauté giggled.
Yukihiko had no idea what she was talking about and frankly, he didn't care. She may be the only person he's got in this game, but that didn't mean he had to tolerate her overall aggravating presence.
"So…" Beauté placed her hands behind her back as she strutted up toward Yukihiko with piqued interest. "When are we doing it?"
"Excuse me?" Yukihiko turned to Beauté, surprised.
"Don't act like you don't know," Beauté teased, leaning forward slightly. "I asked… When are we doing it?"
Yukihiko didn't say anything.
No.
In fact, he refused to answer. He didn't want to say anything. Knowing her, whatever he says would be ammunition that would be used to bite him in the butt in the future. He watched as if she tried to pry out his words through her challenging eyes and saliva-coated red lips.
Yukihiko squirmed uncomfortably.
"Yukihiko and Beauté, together, huh?"
Yukihiko never felt more relieved to have his little one-on-one session with Beauté interrupted. He glanced over to see Fábio and Kikuko arriving, side-by-side as a notably strong duo. They sure have been hanging out with each other a little more often during Chapter 2, so that by itself could be…
"Can't really say that's a match made in heaven since… well…" Fábio rubbed the back of his neck.
He didn't know where he was going with that.
"It is strange, however," Kikuko stepped up, keeping her eyes closed. "You two are the first to arrive and yet…"
Kikuko opened her eyes.
"...Alisa and Kazuki, our usual early birds are not," she finished her thought.
"Hey, yeah! That clockmaker girl usually is an early bird, isn't she?!" Eiji noted, standing beside Kikuko in thought.
"I would probably chalk it down to mourning over what happened last night…"
It certainly did seem like more and more people were starting to arrive by the minute. Shortly after Fábio and Kikuko had arrived, Issac had followed suit. With Isolde safely wrapped around his neck, the toymaker seemed to be caressing her neck a little more affectionately. In terms of Issac… it was nothing new.
"Issac," Fábio nodded.
"Barbosa," Issac smiled, before noticing Kikuko's look. "Hello to you too, Unmei."
Turning to Yukihiko and Beauté, Issac gave them a polite nod of acknowledgement as well.
"Yuno and Morose," Issac chuckled. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't see a pair involving you two coming but hey. Congrats."
"Please get your mind out of the gutter, honey," Yukihiko reprimanded. "It's not like that."
"Agreed," Beauté huffed. "I am due to be married soon!"
Course, the only person who really knew this story was Issac, as everyone else tried to wonder whether she was telling the truth or just bullshitting them. All points go to the latter, but Issac was willing to believe it.
"Ah, of course," Issac sighed, shaking his head and smoothing over his pink hair. "My bad. I forgot."
"Dis be da place ta meet?"
With an accent like that, it was clear who had arrived next: Yumi had ventured toward this part of the Ruins along with Manon close behind her. Clearly, Manon had bumped into Yumi and the two decided to travel to the meeting place together. What Yumi had constantly failed to notice ironically were the looks of interest the actress was shooting her way.
"Oui," Manon placed her hands behind her back as she dug her toe into the ground, bashfully. "Zis is a strange place to meet, non? Usually we meet at Pleasure Park, mais…"
"It's because of those gates," Issac gestured toward the gates with giant locks on them. "Whatever lies behind them, it has to be a new section."
"Ugh, finally," Beauté remarked with a smirk. "A new section introduced when the day's almost over! How inelegant!"
"Yea, but what 'bout the fact we have two sections all on the left side of da park?" Yumi blinked. "Dat just ain't fair, ain't it?"
"Since when was this ever a competition?" Fábio questioned, incredulously.
As the current 7 waited around for a bit longer, the last 5 slowly started to pile in, each dealing with their own aftermath from last night. The first of which was Roderick, who the moment he laid eyes on Yukihiko, simply glanced away and lowered his beanie. He dared not say a word. No. He didn't want to.
Yukihiko had dumped him so hard that just looking at him…
Man.
It hurt.
"Ah, Monsieur Cutler," Manon tilted her head. "Is every zing alright? You do not seem to be in… well… any mood I have normally seen you in."
True.
Whenever Roderick was around, he was either paranoid or looking serious enough to deck someone in the face for going against Yukihiko's words. But today, he just looked sad and… distant. An odd sight from the Roderick they were used to prior. As she watched him rustle his beanie, Roderick spoke up.
"Nay," Roderick muttered. "Everything be alright. Just… Just couldn't sleep. Nightmares and… all that…"
"Really?" Kikuko blinked. "Did my charm not work?"
Oops. Caught in the lie!
"U-Uhhh… M-Maybe the batteries ran out," Roderick avoided eye contact.
"Y-You did not just brush off my work and efforts as mere batteries," Kikuko deadpanned.
"Yeah!" Eiji looked ready to punch Roderick, even though it wouldn't really do anything. "Spiritual energy doesn't come cheap you big bozo!"
Only Yukihiko and Beauté knew why he was acting this way, and frankly, while Beauté enjoyed it, Yukihiko couldn't give a damn. Any more time with that big lug, and he was gonna rip off his own braids. He couldn't handle the sailor talk. He couldn't handle the big monsters. God. He had children to save, not adult babies to babysit–
"Ah, bambina!" Yumi's spirits rose upon seeing the next person to arrive.
Mara had wandered into the scene, though a little more reserved than she usually was. The old Mara would usually be the last one to arrive and show little regard toward the presence of her fellow peers. But this time around, she gave Yumi a glance, acknowledging the cowgirl's presence.
"...Hey…" and she even greeted them this time!
"Oh look, it's Marabel," Yukihiko muttered, distastefully.
"Ah, snuff it, pardner," Yumi berated before walking up toward the karate master. "How was yer night? Wasn't too bad ah hope?"
Mara folded her arms, giving Yumi a raised eyebrow.
"Ah, right…" Yumi grimaced. "Mah apologies, bambina…"
Last night was of course one of the worst nights they had ever had here in this damn amusement park. For Mara, who literally lost and found out what her arguably closest person in this place did, it definitely wasn't something she would call 'not bad'.
"Quit calling me, bambina, and then I'll accept your apology…" Mara sighed and shook her head.
"Ha, if dat be all ya want, bambina!" Yumi tipped her hat, playfully.
"What did I literally just say?" Mara pointed a stare toward the cowgirl.
"Ah, ahem," Manon cut in, clearly feeling uncomfortable with Yumi's continued interest in chatting with Mara. "We are still missing three more people. Where are Monsieur Brighton, Monsieur Nobukatsu, and Madame Zachary?"
"Well, you just got here right after we were talking about that," Issac chuckled to himself.
"It is quite strange, yes," Kikuko nodded. "We did say that Alisa would be among the earliest to arrive and yet…"
"Maybe everything that happened last night…" Roderick muttered as he lowered his beanie. "...Maybe she be disturbed."
"Well, if she ain't coming in the next five minutes, I'm killing her!"
Right on cue, Monoyena popped out of nowhere along with Stanczyk, both of whom looked just as they usually did. Monoyena with that annoyed expression and Stanczyk looking torn over the events that had happened prior. But, no one cares about Stanczyk. Right now, all focus was on Monoyena, who looked ready to start a slaughter.
"H-Hello *sniffle* best friends…" Stanczyk was wiping his eye sockets clear of tears with a ripped piece of his jabot. "W-What a… s-sad sad day we're in, huh? W-WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"I made it abundantly clear," Monoyena completely tuned out his partner's incessant crying and started to bitch as he usually did. "Meet here within 20 minutes. I even put in a threat to make sure it happened. And yet what do these fuckfaces do? Wank each other off in a fucking threesome?! Holy fucking shit! I wanna go and kill a bitch!"
"Are they really…?" Yumi blinked.
"I think it's a given fact at this point that we shouldn't take whatever Monoyena says at face value," Fábio chuckled sheepishly. "Like, I can understand why Aidan would be late. Same with Kazuki. But for Alisa… I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason."
"Indeed…"
On cue, the last three people, Alisa, Aidan, and Kazuki arrived.
While nothing had really changed in terms of how Kazuki looked, Alisa was definitely looking much cleaner than she had when she woke up. Not a stain of blood was to be seen, and she was glad to keep it that way. The only thing she hoped was that what happened last night would at least not happen in front of the others.
Otherwise…
"Well, look who finally decided to show up!" Monoyena gnashed his teeth together. "And pray tell, ya walking bony bitch, what would yer excuse be?"
"Simple," Alisa fixed her glasses, allowing the lens to reflect off any light seeping her way. "I overslept."
Silence.
"Th-That's your reason…?" Fábio cut the silence, incredulous.
"As embarrassing as it is…" Alisa began to say, glancing away. "Even someone like me isn't prone to oversleeping…"
A couple of her peers didn't seem convinced. Some wanted to ask her more, but frankly, Monoyena, despite being the most vocal about this, didn't really give a shit. Picking through his teeth with his Barbie Blade, the hyena growled in slight annoyance but did seem a little content that they could finally move on.
"Yeah, well, get a better sleep schedule, ya lazy fuck," Monoyena muttered.
"...If it is any consolation…" Kazuki stepped forward to help Alisa out. "...We do apologize for being late. I wanted to wait for Miss Zachary so most of our time was–"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't care if ya fucked her in bed, mate," Monoyena's jagged red eye glowed immensely. "I just care that you're here!"
"...I… didn't do that…" Kazuki widened his eyes.
"Indeed, it was just–" Alisa was also about to say.
"Alright, let's just stop talking for a moment," Aidan interrupted, having enough of this conversation. "Monoyena. Why the heck did you call us here, huh? Ready to introduce us to another place where we can all continue to fight and try to kill one another over those kids? Because it's way past the time you usually do it..."
"Oh look, you grew a brain!" Monoyena cackled. "Guess me eating that big fat, Happy Meal, really did a number on ya, huh?! Bwa… Bwahahahahahaha!"
Aidan grimaced.
This was the bastard that killed Daisuke. And he was laughing. Laughing that he not only killed him but also ate him. Aidan could never forgive him for that. He could feel himself getting angrier the more he listened to that Australian laughter. Getting angrier the more he looked at Monoyena's taunts.
He wanted to go and sock the hyena in the face right there, right now.
Wanted… but couldn't…
"If you're done with your taunting," Yukihiko rubbed his nose. "Aidan is… for once, right. You clearly called us here to unlock the next location that is hiding your precious artifacts. Albeit I would've appreciated it if you did it a little sooner..."
"Un moment," Manon blinked. "What about ze last artifact? Ze one from ze Treehouse Gift Shop. Did anyone go and–"
"Of course someone did," Yukihiko sighed, folding his arms. "I did. Last night. While the rest of you were running around like children, I already went ahead and submitted the 2nd artifact to the Stanczyk statue."
"...Aye…" Roderick confirmed. "This be true…"
Roderick also remembered that was the specific moment when Yukihiko practically shafted him to the side. Painful memory of an event that occurred just last night and yet, maybe Roderick was at fault for that moment. The deep-sea fisherman kept his beanie lowered as he avoided looking at anyone.
"That's right!" Stanczyk suddenly stopped sobbing in the background. "The purple girl saved us the trouble of meeting at Pleasure Park for that so that's why we're here! Ready to open the next fun, fun location!"
Stanczyk stepped to the side, gesturing toward the locked gate that prevented them from venturing further into the Jungle of Joy. No one would pay any attention to Yukihiko slightly twitching over the fact that he was being mistaken as a girl once again.
"First it was Hollywood, then it was the Jungle…" Mara muttered. "What's next?"
"You'll see!" Stanczyk declared. "Ohhhh! I'm so ready! The fun times that are about to await everyone in the next location! This is so exciting! I spent all night just thinking about this! Weeeeee–"
"Weren't you just crying over Riku and Daisuke a moment ago?" Fábio blankly stared at Stanczyk.
"Who?" Stanczyk tilted his head in confusion.
"Just open the fucking door," Monoyena growled.
"Roger that!" Stanczyk grinned.
It had taken a bit, but they were finally here. Round 3 of their little Killing Game. As they watched Stanczyk take out a tiny key to open an otherwise oversized lock, each of them held their breath, wondering what exactly would await them in the next location. Would it have more rollercoasters? More strange rides? More secrets that could tie into the murder?
For all three… most definitely.
This was Piero's Playground.
The site of their Killing Game…
The giant lock fell to the ground and the gates to the next location opened up, revealing a forest-like winding pathway, as if it were a continuation of the Jungle of Joy. They couldn't see what was ahead, which brought more to that eerie and ominous feeling of mystery surrounding the location.
A handful of the playmates hesitated, but it was Yukihiko and Beauté that seemed eager to walk in.
In other words, the usual suspects.
"Oh, come on, best friends!" Stanczyk grinned as he turned toward the 10 playmates that were a little wary of what would await them. "This is no time to be shy!"
Stanczyk tilted his head, his red eye glowing and his voice distorting.
"...tHiS is A paTH yOu MOsT cErtAinLY hAvE tO tRy…"
Switching back as if nothing had happened, Stanczyk grinned.
"So, have fun!" Stanczyk declared.
"Yeah, and if ya don't go, I'll use this Barbie Blade as a substitute for pegging," Monoyena calmly threatened.
That was enough to get everyone to start hustling and going straight into the forest pathway. No surprise there. Everyone was clearly much more scared of Monoyena than Stanczyk. So, one by one, everyone headed straight past the newly opened gates to find themselves…
(Forest)
...not in a dark room?
When the remaining 12 playmates ventured past the newly unlocked gates, instead of finding themselves in a dark room, they were instead met with a winding pathway much similar to their adventures in the Jungle of Joy.
The only difference were the kinds of trees that had surrounded them had grown increasingly darker the more they ventured through this path. What started out as green forest gradually turned into shades of dark green… then darker green… then almost completely black trees. As if the new area they were to venture in was going to be darker than the happy fun times they've often seen in the two other sections of the park.
Made sense, because if they were thinking about the layout correctly, they were going deeper and deeper into the forests. With each step, it was always one step away from the Jungle of Joy and the Happy Highway…
"Oh my, how elegantly pleasing this pathway is!" Beauté giggled in excitement. "I wonder what theme this will take us in this time!"
No one else shared her excitement.
Instead, the feeling of dread crept in their bodies. As if whatever they were walking into was already initiating their flight-or-fight responses.
And soon, with a few more steps, they could see something in the distance…
…a source of bright light illuminating the rather shade-infested forest path they were in…
[The Grandview Mansion]
(Grand Estate)
The light at the end of the pathway led to a large, three-story golden manor, sitting comfortably within the thickets of the rather dark forest.
While the architecture made it look like a living piece of antiquity, the manor itself was encased in a shining golden exterior. At any first glance, it looked as if they were in the presence of the White House or a rich, billionaire's mansion. It was majestic yet intimidating the closer they got to it.
Perhaps it was the trees that surrounded this mansion. The trees that, even though it was a relatively sunny day, casted enough shade to make the manor feel darker and more sinister. The fact that it was able to remain hidden in this twisted forest also made things feel eerie and strange.
The pathway the 12 playmates followed passed by a stone sign that read:
'THE GRANDVIEW MANSION'
Underneath this sign was another part of the sign completely covered in mud and vines, adding more to the feelings of abandonment.
Passing further through the pathway and they could see that it would lead them directly toward the manor's front door. Before that was a paved roundabout surrounding a vine-infested fountain, whose water had sat their aged and covered with muck. The pathway also continued to the right, but it was easy to figure out where that path led to.
"This is the new location?" Aidan blinked, feeling slightly cheated. "It's just some lame old house."
"Not just any house!" Stanczyk grinned, having followed behind them with Monoyena. "It's the Grandview Mansion!"
Nobody said a word.
"The Grandview Mansion!" Stanczyk repeated.
Nothing.
"Y'know…" Stanczyk looked slightly disappointed. "Th-The… The Grandview Mansion…"
Still nothing.
"D-Did none of my best friends watch Gold House?!" Stanczyk looked close to tearing up.
"Ahhhhh," Yukihiko suddenly realized, nodding his head with a smile of nostalgia. "That other children's show."
"Gold House?" Kikuko perked her head, confused.
"Yes, I remember it airing it quite a while ago," Yukihiko hummed to himself. "I believe the general plot is that there are three spirits that haunt a golden mansion and try to scare away anyone that tries to live/buy the house. It was a show that rivaled your Stanczyk Says, did it not?"
"Friendly rivals me and good ole Alexander was!" Stanczyk beamed, seemingly proud. "I knew I can count on the purple girl to know the show!"
"I'm a–" Yukihiko hissed before cutting himself off. "Oh, forget it…"
"That's right!" Stanczyk patted the house by the pillars leading up to the front entrance. "This house was built thanks to a fun collaboration project between the producers of Stanczyk Says and Gold House! Every Halloween season, this specific location was to open up as a headliner place of exploration during Piero's Playground Special Halloween Event: Tricks and Treats with Stanczyk!"
Stanczyk wiped away a stray tear.
"Ohhhh, it was so marvelous…" Stanczyk grinned. "Now, we had it refurbished just for you kiddies to experience! Aren't I a good friend?!"
Stanczyk seemed so proud of himself, that Sempi can go make a ::StanczykProud:: emote right about now.
"You say that like we want to check out what's essentially a haunted house," Mara frowned, folding her arms.
"Oi, cunt," Monoyena growled. "That's the place where yer gonna find the next artifact. Take it or leave it…"
"Hey, this sounds like your kind of place, huh?" Fábio whispered to Kikuko, jokingly.
"If it means listening to hundreds of Red Spirits in one single building, not really…" Kikuko shook her head.
"O-Oh… um…" Fábio blinked, mentally beating himself for making that comment.
"Hey, sis, you know he was joking with you, right?" Eiji chuckled sheepishly.
"Was he?" Kikuko blinked.
Joke lived on as one of the many spirits that was probably residing in this goddamn manor. And they were still outside of the place, too!
"Ah heh heh…" Beauté seemed giddy by this newfound location. "Now isn't this just elegantly splendid?! I always wanted to have a manor such as this! Please tell me we get to see the inside of such a lovely estate!"
"Of course!" Stanczyk grinned. "All you have to do is ring that doorbell!"
Stanczyk pointed toward a doorbell that served as their only obstacle to the otherwise closed front door. Beauté didn't need to be told twice. As excited as she was, she quickly skipped up toward the front door and rang the doorbell. Then, bursting into a loud church bell-like…
Ding dong!
…the door opened, revealing…
(Grand Lobby)
"Woowee. Now dis is a house if ah ever seen one!"
Yumi's whistle reverberated against the walls of the mansion's Grand Lobby, a large open space with two notable floors. As they were currently on the first floor, the way to access the second floor was through two sets of curved staircases.
On the first floor, were three doors: one on the left, one on the right, and one that was opened straight ahead.
Similarly, when some of the playmates climbed up the staircase to the visible second floor, they could see that there were also three doors they could venture into: one on the left, one on the right, and one straight ahead.
However, the most interesting aspect of the Lobby was the grandiose, golden statue of a man with a mask and top hat, extending his arms out into the ceiling as if he were praising God or whatever otherworldly entity he worshiped. A statue that stood tall like the previous three of Lady Radiance, Marcus Avventira, and Stanczyk.
"And who is this lovely figure I see here…?" Beauté definitely looked interested in the statue.
"That is Alexander…" Yukihiko felt another rush of blood flow down his nose. Sniffling it back up, he turned toward Stanczyk. "Is that right, Stanczyk, honey?"
"You got it, mommy!" Stanczyk grinned.
"W-What did you call me–" Yukihiko blinked.
"Ahhhh, Alexander," Stanczyk started to reminisce. "Whenever my show wasn't on, he would always comfort me with his own! He and his two other pals! But you know, Alexander was always my favorite! He was always so funny about using magic to rule the world! Hahahaha! What a guy!"
"Yeah well, fuck that guy, because ya got me now!" Monoyena gritted his teeth. "Got it, Stanshit?! I'm yer number one! Not this Phantom of the Opera fuck!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Monoyena!" Stanczyk proudly declared.
As Stanczyk and Monoyena spoke to one another, Yukihiko noticed that just like any other golden statue in this place, there was a plaque underneath the Alexander statue. And just like the others, there was a message…
...only this time, the message read–
"Anyway, let's quit jerking off and start moving!" Monoyena stole Yukihiko's attention away from the plaque. "We… got dinner plans after all!"
Monoyena made sure to say it in a more dramatic way.
"We do?" Manon blinked.
"Nay," Roderick sighed. "But me be not hungry!"
Clearly, it flew over their heads.
"Okay, the one time I wanted to be cheeky, and you refuse to let me have it!" Monoyena growled. "Fuck you skanks! Like, seriously, I wanna go and fucking–"
"M-Monoyena!" Stanczyk giggled, sheepishly. "Let's not get violent! Our dinner reservation is ready! Come on!"
Stanczyk stopped Monoyena before he could say something really bad. Something worse than all the other messed up shit he's said before. Whatever that is, best to leave it unknown. Me? I don't even know. That's how messed up it is.
Regardless, the two quickly opened the door straight ahead on the first floor.
And as they did and gestured everyone to follow, the 12 playmates couldn't help but feel as if they were being set up. Obviously, that should be the norm in a Killing Game Arena, but compared to the other locations they've been in, this was the most Monoyena and Stanczyk had to do to prepare themselves for a new location.
Just… what exactly were they planning?
(Grand Dining Hall)
When they walked through the door straight ahead on the first floor, they were immediately met with a whimsical sight: the Grand Dining Hall.
As the name implied, the Grand Dining Hall was most certainly a grandiose Dining Hall.
In the center of the room was a long dining table, where fancy chairs had been neatly organized on each side of the dining table. In fact, there was also one notable big royal chair right at the end of it too. On top of the table was an exquisite feast that had been thoroughly prepared for them. This included cakes with a small figurine of some ripoff character from Zanki Zero, a stuffed pig, escargots, all the fancy shit and freshly made too.
As if whoever prepared these had been expecting them…
To the left was a door that led straight into the Kitchen.
How does one know that it led to the Kitchen?
Because connected to that door were open counters that gave the playmates a clear tell that what awaited them inside was in fact, a kitchen.
Straight ahead, past the dining table, was another door that led to who knows where. As in, currently, it was closed.
To the right was a large painting that seemed to creepily loom over them. Within the painting were three characters: a man with a top hat and a white mask that they were all quite familiar with, a woman with blue hair wearing traditional Japanese garments and with bandages covering her eyes, and finally, a giant samurai looking fellow who looked as if he could easily crush his foes.
But despite the eerie painting that was watching them, another important thing to note were the floating candles that were just there in the air. Whether they were being held up by strings, no one really knew. But it did give them the effect of wondering whether they were in an abandoned mansion or just… the Great Banquet Hall from Harry Potter.
"Oh my!" Beauté looked absolutely impressed. "A Dining Hall! How quaint!"
"Not just any Dining Hall," Yukihiko smirked to himself. "But rather, the Grand Dining Hall. A key location for the characters of Gold House to star in."
"Okay, so how much free time do you have watching these old children's cartoons?" Mara retorted.
"More time than you had with your own mother," Yukihiko scoffed.
That completely shut Mara up.
"Hey now," Yumi frowned. "This ain't any time for ya to make remarks like dat one. Ah dink yer gonna need to owe this bambina an apology, missy."
Yukihiko pointed a stare toward her.
"Did you just call me, missy?" Yukihiko frowned.
"Did I say missy?" Yumi blinked.
So much for the help!
"Even so… this place looks like something straight out of Harry Potter…" Kazuki remarked, before approaching the dining table itself. "...And this food…"
"Cooked to the best of Piero's Playgrounds' ability!" Stanczyk declared. "Go on! Dig in! The stuffed pork tastes like pork! The vanilla cake tastes like vanilla cake! The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!"
Kazuki narrowed his eyes, suspiciously.
"...And… they haven't been poisoned…" Kazuki frowned. "...Have they…?"
"Fuck!" Monoyena cursed. "That would've been a good fucking idea! Putting rat poison in a chili bowl! Why the hell didn't I think about that?!"
"H-How could you think so lowly of me, best friend?!" Stanczyk looked downright offended that Kazuki would assume such a thing. "I… I just w-wanted to have a good meal with my best friends!"
"So, all this food really is edible?" Aidan didn't trust it one bit.
He picked up the wine glasses of whatever liquid was inside.
"...Drinks too?" Aidan didn't know if he had it in him to enjoy a meal of any kind.
"Yes!" Stanczyk looked close to tearing up. "Th-They're all good to eat! Please eat it best friends!"
No one looked convinced.
The food looked good. The smell was unbearably delicious. They could literally sit down and dig in right here, right now if they really wanted to. But no one did. After spending nearly two weeks in this hellhole, they knew better to trust handouts given to them from Monoyena and Stanczyk. So, no matter how tasty the food looked, no one dared to touch any of it.
"You have to eat it!" Stanczyk wailed. "Why aren't you eating our food?! Y-You're hurting my feelings! W-WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"Oh, pipe down ya jesting fuck," Monoyena snarled. "If these ungrateful wanks don't want the food, then it's their loss!"
Monoyena waddled up toward a nearby seat and started to stuff his face with the nearby sandwiches.
"See?!" Monoyena spoke in between munches. "It's fucking delicious! And, oh look! No poison!"
"Indeed," Alisa fixed her glasses. "But you are a plush toy. By definition, you wouldn't be affected by toxins of any sort."
"Fine!" Monoyena munched a little faster. "More for me then, fuckers!"
As Monoyena started to feast on the exquisite dishes sitting on the dining table, Yukihiko walked up toward the weeping Stanczyk.
"Alright, honey, no more goofing around," Yukihiko sighed. "You two obviously brought us to the Grand Dining Hall for a reason. What is it?"
"Ah, that's right!" Stanczyk instantly stopped crying and glanced down toward the child caretaker with a bright smile. "You see, for that question to be answered, we need to all be seated together at the dining table! It is a nice, lovely, dinner event in the Grand Dining Hall!"
Stanczyk tilted his head, his red eye glowing and his voice distorting once more.
"aHhH…." Stanczyk spoke with that sinister tone. "...bUt tHen aGaiN… yOu rEFuSe tO eAT, aFTeR aLL…"
Stanczyk snapped out of it and grinned.
"I mean, if that's what you want then, sure!" Stanczyk giggled, as if nothing had happened.
Yukihiko chose to ignore Stanczyk's usual antics and focused more on the fact that they were required to sit together at the dining table. He made it a big deal to call this occasion a dinner event so perhaps… Folding his arms, he chose a random chair and sat directly in it, slightly tempted by the possibly poisonous food sitting in front of them.
"Wait, we're actually listening to what Stanczyk is saying?" Fábio blinked.
"And why not?" Beauté giggled as she took a seat next to Yukihiko. "It's a dinner party!"
"Still be not hungry..." Roderick remarked from the side.
"Forget this," Mara sighed, turning away toward the door. "The new location is just some giant house. Whatever roleplay you want us to be apart of... Yeah. I'm not having any of it–"
Before Mara could even step out of the room, the door had closed right in front of her face, leaving her locked in along with the other 11 playmates as well as Stanczyk and Monoyena. She tried to tug, pull, and push against the doorknob but no matter what she tried, nothing worked. She turned back, confused.
"Hey," she frowned. "What is this…?"
"Nay," Roderick folded his arms, glancing around. "Could this be… some sort of trap?"
"A trap?" Stanczyk blinked, before looking toward Monoyena. "Did we set any traps here?"
Monoyena quit stabbing the stuffed pork to respond.
"Y'know, I wasn't really there when they refurbished this dump…" Monoyena muttered.
They?
"Oh, then probably not!" Stanczyk giggled.
With the others practically wandering around confused and scared, they could see that the floating candles started to dim. A brief gust of wind flew past them, a sensation Kikuko was familiar with but could easily tell was nothing more than special effects. As the group looked around, it was Manon that suddenly pointed her finger toward the painting in shock.
"A-Ah!" Manon gasped. "Look!"
When they had first arrived, the painting showed three characters that were featured in that Gold House show. But after the candle lights dimmed and the gust of wind blew past, there on the painting was now two characters. One had gone missing. No. Quite literally escaped the painting to reside somewhere else…
"W-Wait, weren't there… three characters in dat painting?" Yumi gulped.
"Who's missing?" Issac hummed in thought. "Let's see. There's the samurai and then the woman with the bandages over her eyes. Could it be–"
"Alexander…" Yukihiko voiced out, his eyes widening.
"Aye?" Roderick blinked, glancing over toward his shoulder before jumping back in fright. "NAY!"
Because standing beside him was quite literally an apparition with a white mask, a top hat, and the darkest eyes one could ever see. There was also a blue glow surrounding him, but it was nothing like the glows of the Blue Spirits Kikuko had pretty much grown close with. Nevertheless, this was… a good take on spirits, Kikuko had to admit.
"Ahahahahahaha!" the apparition, Alexander, paced around in amusement. "Oh… Do forgive me for the fright. I do love to keep my victims on their toes."
"W-Wait, this thing can see us?!" Aidan stepped back, slightly fearful.
"It… has to be technology of some kind…" Kazuki kept one eye open in amazement.
"Ah, Alexander, my good ole best friend!" Stanczyk extended his arms for a hug. "How have you been?! You look paler than I remember! Hahahahahaha!"
"So, it seems you have all received my invitation!" Alexander clasped his hands together, completely ignoring Stanczyk. "Wonderful! It's been much too long since we had esteemed guests here at the Grandview Mansion. Please allow me to introduce myself…"
Alexander pretty much phased through the dining table in order to sit in his seat.
"...I am Alexander," Alexander introduced himself. "The proud owner of this lovely establishment…"
"So, zis is ze Alexander from ze show?" Manon blinked. "He is not very frightening…"
As soon as Manon said this, the room's lights started to flicker. Alexander had looked almost exasperated and saddened, his masked face practically reminiscing over the past.
"...Oh, the glory days back when our beautiful manor used to be the talk of urban legends and spooky stories!" Alexander reminisced. "Pesky children would always come to explore our premises past the Witching Hour. Scaring them away to spread our story… oh how delightfully fun that was! Ahahahahahaha!"
"I remember the time when we scared away that pesky peacekeeper guy!" the samurai popped into the room, and compared to Alexander, he was a hulking giant. "Punk was all about peace to the spirits! Yeah well… we sure showed him! Rest in pieces! Am I right?! Bahahahahaha!"
When Manon glanced toward the painting, only one character remained: the woman with blue hair.
"This is getting out of hand!" Aidan stepped back. "Now there's two of them?!"
"Ah, my friend!" Alexander chuckled, gesturing his hand toward the samurai. "Fashionably late as always I see…"
"That's right!" the samurai held out his hand which seemed to have blood orbs swirling around it. "Name's Omen! The Greatest Warrior and Enforcer this house has ever seen! Do not make me angry! You wouldn't like it when I'm angry! Got it, kiddos?"
When he made his threat, Omen tightened his grip on what seemed to be a large Japanese club: a kanabo.
"I do feel like we're missing someone, however…" Alexander hummed as he folded his ghostly arms. "Ah! Can it be…?"
He glanced toward the painting.
Now, the painting was completely empty, signifying that the last of the characters in that framed picture was now roaming well and about. The ghostly woman with blue hair and bandages over her eyes who appeared directly behind Roderick, just as Alexander had. The deep sea fisherman quickly jumped to the side, hugging himself in fear.
"N-NAY!" Roderick exclaimed. "IT BE THE BANSHEE OF HARPY HARBOR!"
"Th-Three?!" Aidan widened his eyes.
"There you are!" Alexander flashed off his cold, dark eyes. "My lovely assistant, Empress. Just how are you doing tonight?"
"...Well… enough… sir…" Empress spoke with notable gasps of breaths in between words.
"Why not introduce yourself to our guests?" Alexander gestured to everyone that was watching the three apparitions conversing with one another in amazement. "I'm sure they've been dying to meet you too…"
"But sir…" Empress wisped. "...We don't… get guests… very often… What is the occasion…?"
"Can't a man have dinner with the living every once in a while?" Alexander questioned. "I'm sure you've been dying to experience such an occasion too, yes?"
"...With me… speaking… like this…?" Empress croaked. "...How I wish… I could sing… Like I used to…"
"Well, it seems we have the complete package…" Yukihiko folded his arms, noticing Roderick hesitantly poke his finger through Empress to see just how apparition like she truly was.
"Alexander, Omen, Empress…" Stanczyk waved his hands out. "It's me! Stanczyk! Your best friend to the end! I'm right here y'know!"
None of the three spirits acknowledged Stanczyk.
"Th-They've forgotten me!" Stanczyk whined. "W-W-Waaaaaa—"
"Oi, they can't fucking see you," Monoyena grumbled. "They're just holograms… Holy fuck!"
"Oh, right," Stanczyk looked absolutely devastated.
Hearing this, the 12 playmates glanced at the spirits moving around the room. Holograms made a lot of sense now that they thought about it. This was a theme park and this new location was definitely made to cater to that feeling of being locked in a haunted mansion. Almost as if this was pretty one big area dedicated to the Haunted Mansion…
"Now, my dear Empress does certainly raise a fantastic question," Alexander chuckled. "What is the occasion? I mean, all our lives all we've done is scare people away from the premises. But now that our lovely estate has been moved to Piero's Playground of all places, I fear we may be under threat…"
"That fiendish Mrs. Claws thinks she can sneak into our house and steal what is rightfully ours?!" Omen roared. "When I get my ghostly hands on her, I'll smash her! I'll knock her! I'll bring her to the realm of the dead, and I'll destroy her with my bare hands!"
"Calm yourself, Omen…" Alexander lightly berated, before turning to face the playmates. "You are scaring our poor guests."
Alexander stood up and extended his arms out like he was ripping off the Devil or something.
"But yes, that dastardly Mrs. Claws wishes to steal a prized artifact of ours," Alexander declared. "And naturally, we can't have that now can we…? That is where you come in. You see, us ghosts cannot do any harm to her aside from scaring the fleas out of her. But you…"
Alexander held out his hand.
"...the living…" Alexander chuckled. "Now, there's a group of people that can certainly help. What do you say?"
Alexander tilted his head.
"Will you help us with our little cat trouble…?" Alexander requested.
No.
"...Sir…" Empress's bandages started to glow. "...They are… refusing to help…"
Wait. What?
"WHAT?!" Omen growled. "THESE PUNKS! THEY THINK BEING ALIVE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN BEING DEAD! WHY I OUGHTA—"
"Hmmm…" Alexander seemed the most disappointed of all. "Is that so? Well, that is very unfortunate. I didn't really want it to come to this but, if you are refusing your assistance as the living…"
The lights completely shut off.
"I'm afraid you'll just have to remain here as the dead…" Alexander's voice turned cold and chilling. "Ah… Ha… Ha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The sound of thunder erupted.
A flash of lightning brightened the room for a split second.
"W-What in Sam Hill is going on?!" Yumi's voice exclaimed.
"Hahahahaha, that's so like Alexander!" Stanczyk's voice couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh my, this truly is an elegant scenario we're finding ourselves in!" Beauté giggled.
"Non non non, are we really going to die here?!" Manon's voice sounded noticeably fearful for her life.
"Far from it," Alisa tried to reassure her. "This is all a part of the show. R-Right…?"
It took a bit for the lights to turn back on and return to its normal dimly lit state. Once it did, the playmates could see that the painting had reverted back to how it normally was the moment they entered the room. All three characters were back on it, not a ghost was to be seen, and the door that had closed in front of Mara had opened back up, allowing them to reenter the Grand Lobby.
"A-Aye!" Roderick looked thankful. "W-We're alive?!"
"Never was going to die, Cutler," Issac chuckled, shaking his head in amusement over such a strange take on their usual Introduction Rooms.
"But dat was one hell of a light show," Yumi rubbed her head underneath her hat.
"A little… scary, oui," Manon had to agree.
"Well, whatever it was, I've had enough," Mara stormed out of the Grand Dining Hall and straight back into the Grand Lobby…
(Grand Lobby)
…Mara froze.
"W-What the–" she widened her eyes.
When she had headed back to the Grand Lobby to swiftly exit the front door… Well, there was no front door anymore! Where the door was supposed to be was now one big wooden wall void of any windows and doors. The karate master pounded against the wall, a feeling of franticness setting in.
This…
This couldn't be…
As the sounds of clanging were heard, Mara could feel the presence of her other peers slowly approaching her.
"Bambina?" Yumi blinked. "What's going on?"
"Hang on!" Fábio spoke up, rushing over toward where Mara was. "W-Where's the door?!"
"N-No door?!" Manon looked astonished. "B-But zat is impossible! We came into ze house through a door, did we not?!"
"N-Nay!" Roderick exclaimed, sweating bullocks. "This be… This be the work of sea witches!"
"H-Hold on," Aidan grimaced. "A-Are we sure the door was here? L-Like maybe the door was in another Grand Lobby that we just… didn't… find…"
Everyone looked at Aidan like he was an idiot.
"Yeah, even I know that sounded stupid," Aidan rubbed the back of his neck.
The disappearing door was now the talk about the 12 playmates. A door that they all clearly remembered walking through was now gone and replaced with a wall with nothing. If that was the case then, that would mean…
"You two…" Yukihiko pointed a stare toward Stanczyk and Monoyena. "This was the plan all along, wasn't it?"
"P-Plan?" Stanczyk glanced away. "W-What plan?! I don't know of any plan! I just wanted to have dinner with my best friends!"
"And ya fucked it up anyway," Monoyena sighed before grinning sadistically. "But… I guess the jig is up! Welcome to the Grandview Mansion, motherfuckers! Where yer gonna spend the rest of yer time in the Playground!"
"W-What did he say?!" Manon gasped.
"Well, this has gotten so much more interesting!" Beauté couldn't help but feel absolutely delighted by this revelation.
"Y-You're… asking us to live in this mansion?" Kikuko widened her eyes before narrowing them. "W-Why?!"
"Yeah!" Eiji pouted. "I don't wanna live in a place with other spirits! They smell bad!"
"Those are fake spirits, Eiji," Kikuko muttered under her breath.
"They still smell bad," Eiji shrugged, sheepishly.
"Oi, ain't it obvious, ya blubbering bitch?!" Monoyena cackled. "Because it's much funnier this way! Stanshit and I? Getting absolutely bored of seeing ya slowass punks wander long roads and jungle pathways just to see ya inevitably kill one another. We need more excitement! That's why we're Big Brotherin this shit!"
"That's right, best friends!" Stanczyk exclaimed, happily. "My best friend, Alexander, so kindly let us stay over for the next few nights! So, let's make this count, okay best friends?!"
Stanczyk looked absolutely giddy.
"Oooooh, this will be so much fun!" Stanczyk giggled. "It'll be like one big sleepover! One big sleepover… forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and eVeR…."
His voice distorted for that last part.
"Hang on," Alisa spoke up. "What about Rule #8…?"
"Rule #8?" Stanczyk blinked. "What's that rule again?"
For a refresher to everyone and Stanczyk, Rule #8 was as follows:
Rule #8: Piero's Playground opens from 7 AM to 10 PM. Staying overnight at Piero's Playground is off-limits with some exceptions.
"Yeah, that's right," Fábio rubbed his chin. "Rule #8 specifically says that staying overnight at Piero's Playground is off-limits. With that in mind, you can't possibly keep us locked here for a few consecutive nights…"
"Yeah, and I think you need to suck my hyena dick and learn to read, afro…" Monoyena's jagged red flashed. "...Because it clearly states that it's off-limits 'with some exceptions'. This is your exception! Bwa… Bwahahahahaha!"
"So…" Issac grimaced, glancing away. "We're really stuck in here, huh?"
"Like hell we are," Mara frowned, her fiery gaze directed toward the hyena and jester. "There's a way to escape and you two are going to tell us how. I'm not staying in a place like this…"
"D-Do you hate the idea of having a sleepover with me that much?!" Stanczyk gasped. "W-WAAAAAAHHHHH! I– I thought we were best friends!"
"Sure…" Monoyena's mouth twisted into one sharp toothy grin. "Of course there's a way to escape. And all ya gotta do to figure that out…"
Monoyena pointed his Barbie Blade toward the plaque underneath the Alexander statue.
"...is to read that little baby down there!" Monoyena chuckled, sadistically.
Right!
The plaque!
Yukihiko had gotten started on trying to read it before Monoyena and Stanczyk hurried everyone into the Dining Hall. So, while the child caretaker didn't actually get a chance to read it, this was the time to actually read it out loud. Kazuki, being the closest to the plaque at the time, decided to take this initiative.
He let his eyes wander amongst the words.
Then, they widened:
"To escape this house of gold
We require the blood of two.
Refuse to be bold
And you might just join our crew."
Wait…
T-Two?!
"K-Kazuki, what's wrong?" Alisa blinked, noticing his stunned silence.
"...Two…" Kazuki softly spoke before looking up with that serious expression of his. "...They want two people to die this time…"
"W-What?!" Aidan gritted his teeth.
"That's right!" Monoyena cackled. "That's the price you pay if ya wanna leave this house! Bwa… Bwahahahahaha!"
"B-But two people?!" Fábio glanced away, clenching his fist. "Wasn't one enough in the past?!"
"Yes, well, that was soooo two Chapters ago," Beauté answered for Monoyena and Stanczyk. "Besides, everyone knows that Chapter 3 is the Chapter where we get a double murder, anyway. I think this is very fitting. Ah heh heh…"
"Bitch!" Monoyena growled. "What the fuck are ya yapping about?!"
"So, are you really expecting us to just stay here for what is essentially the rest of our lives?" Yukihiko folded his arms.
"Um, you've known me for how long now?" Monoyena looked offended. "Of course, I don't expect ya wanks to just stay here singing 'Hallelujah' with one another! I expect bloodshed! I expect one of ya fuckers to go bonkers and kill two fucks! That's what I'm expecting!"
"I just want a sleepover!" Stanczyk pouted.
Locked in a manor with everyone for who knows how long?
For Yukihiko, that sounded more of a headache than having to listen to everyone yap about the most illogical things ever. And the fact that two bodies needed to fall in order for this to actually leave this place. That could prove to be a hindrance to Yukihiko's plan…
"Oh well..." Stanczyk snapped out of it, switching to an excited grin. "I suppose it's down to Plan B! Monoyena! Let's go and watch everything in the safe company of our little security screens!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm getting tired of talking to these fucks," Monoyena chuckled to himself as the two walked over toward the wall where the door was.
...
...
...
Normally, this was the part where both Monoyena and Stanczyk would go and disappear to who knows where. But given the fact that the two simply stared at the wooden wall with the blankest expressions on their faces, showed that was no longer an option. Everyone watched them in confusion as Stanczyk started to sheepishly chuckle.
"U-Um, M-Monoyena…" Stanczyk stared at the wall. "Th-There's no door…"
"Yeah, um, thanks for noticing…" Monoyena similarly stared at the wall.
"S-So um, that means um…" Stanczyk blinked.
Monoyena took a deep breath and turned back to face the playmates.
For the first time, he didn't seem annoyed, angry, or anything negative like that. He seemed calm and peaceful. His Aussie accent leaked straight into that serene expression of his as he chuckled sheepishly toward the playmates.
"So, if you folks don't mind…" Monoyena chuckled before his jagged red eye started to glow wildly in a mass panic. "I'm gonna need you fuckers to kill two people right here, right now!"
"Huh?!" Aidan blinked.
"D-Don't tell me…" Mara looked at the two exasperated. "Are we stuck in this manor… with you two as well?!"
"W-Wow, so now it really is like a sleepover!" Stanczyk twiddled his fingers, nervously.
"Fuck!" Monoyena growled. "Stanshit! Ya fucker! Ya ruined it! The door was supposed to disappear after we left! Why the fuck didn't ya tell me to leave?!"
"H-Huh?!" Stanczyk widened his eyes. "Th-This isn't my fault! You were supposed to be the one to tell me to leave! You know how chummy I get with Alexander, Omen, and Empress!"
"FUCK!" Monoyena cursed.
"Well, it's not like this can get any worse, now, can it…?" Issac sighed, caressing Isolde for comfort.
As if Issac had said the magic word, on cue, whatever candle-like light source the Grand Lobby used slowly dimmed. There was an ambience unlike any other as the sound effects of loud thunder roared throughout the room. Not only that, but a flash of lightning would brighten up the room every few minutes.
Although the sky had been clear moments prior before they had entered, it did feel as if the weather had freakishly changed into something else entirely. Like a really bad thunderstorm had suddenly overtaken this manor and all they could hear were the effects of that storm.
To complete this eerie haunted mansion, every so often, the lights would dim down and brighter up, as if the spirits of this house were messing with it. All in all, being stuck in an amusement park emulation of a haunted mansion was far from an ideal experience they wanted to experience.
Especially one they were supposed to spend consecutive nights in until two people died…
"And, you just had to say it, didn't you?" Yukihiko narrowed his eyes toward Issac.
…
With the mansion now in full effect, Stanczyk and Monoyena had fucked off into their little corner doing their own thing, leaving the 12 playmates alone to come up with a game plan for their current predicament.
"Well then, what's the plan now, leader?" Beauté looked toward Yukihiko. "That is… if you are still the leader, which I highly doubt so, ah heh heh…"
Yukihiko gave her the dirtiest glare ever.
"...The plan is simple…" Kazuki shook his head.
"Oh…?" Beauté gasped. "A new leader? In the form of Kazuki Nobukatsu? Oh, how interesting…"
Beauté found that pretty delicious.
"...We should investigate the entirety of this mansion…" Kazuki began, ignoring the mysterious Ultimate. "...With luck… we may be able to find an alternative way of escape…"
"Huh?" Alisa looked at Kazuki, slightly surprised that this was his suggestion.
"Dat's a mighty fine idea, pardner," Yumi nodded. "There do be two floors. Big chance fer us to find somethin…"
"I highly doubt we will find anything," Issac shook his head with a sigh.
"What do you mean, Issac?" Yukihiko raised an eyebrow.
"Well, hey, Isolde doesn't mean to be pessimistic," Issac chuckled. "But it's been the norm these past few weeks, hasn't it? We go around finding stuff that only leads to death? Especially since even Monoyena seemed to be begging for us to kill each other like that… Isolde thinks maybe that... doing what the plaque says might be the only way…"
"...That may be true…" Kazuki spoke up. "...But on the safe side… Let us embark on an expedition to look around the mansion before jumping to that solution…"
Issac shrugged, pleased with that compromise.
"You got it," Issac ran his fingers through his pink hair.
"In that case, who's taking what floors?" Aidan asked.
"A small party I would say…" Kazuki rubbed his chin. "...The Dining Hall was among the places within the first floor that has been checked out by all of us… It is the second floor that remains to be a grand mystery…"
Manon bit her lip. She wanted to suggest that perhaps she and Yumi could take the majority of the first floor. Could be a good chance to spend some time with the one person she admittedly felt safe with. So, slowly, she raised her–
"I nominate mahself and Mara to check out da first floor," Yumi folded her arms.
"Q-Quoi?" Manon blinked.
"What?" Mara raised an eyebrow.
"And why would we trust anything that has to do with that girl…?" Yukihiko pointed a deadpan stare.
"Ah don't know what kind of universe you were living in, fake bambina…" Yumi shook her head. "But ah dink we have all da more reason to trust Mara now!"
Yumi gave her a small, supportive smile.
"After all, she helped us a ton during the last Trial!" Yumi grinned. "Helped reached da truth and everythang like dat! And with me around, ah'll make sure she stays out of trouble no problem!"
Mara… really liked the compliments she was getting. Made her feel really nice.
"Then… it's settled…" Kazuki smiled to himself. "...Miss Gundo and Miss Garcia will check out the rest of the first floor. Everyone else? Upstairs we go. We meet back in this Grand Lobby after we're finished…"
It came as a shock to everyone when Kazuki became the one to take over the leadership role. But for someone known as the Ultimate Philanthropist, didn't come as much of a shock to see that he did have the potential to lead. But for what reason did he start doing it now…? Now, that was a question that had started to burn on everyone's minds as they went their assigned ways…
(Grand Dining Hall)
With the group separating off into their own separate locations, Mara and Yumi did as they were assigned and ventured through the Grand Dining Hall first.
When they first checked out this area, there was a whole feast just waiting to be eaten on the dining table. Now, the food provided had become an actual disaster to look at. A lot of the dishes were half-eaten, courtesy of Monoyena. If they thought it wasn't edible the first time, it downright looked unappetizing now…
"Well, dat is a mighty shame," Yumi sighed, taking her hat off to pay respect to the food. "Ah was hoping to at least git one nibble of the food…"
"Even with the talk of it being poisoned?" Mara raised an eyebrow.
"Bambina," Yumi chuckled, tipping her hat. "Ah've been sucking out rattlesnake venom since ah was 15. A little poison ain't hurt anyone."
"Famous last words, I guess," Mara muttered.
The karate master chose to glance around the room, checking to see what exactly they could examine. They already knew about the large painting and the feast, so all that was really left was checking out the doors on the left and straight ahead. Unlike before, the door straight ahead was now open for exploration. Now, the left of course would take them to the Kitchen but whatever was straight ahead…
"Split path, eh, bambina?" Yumi fixed her hat. "Where to first?"
Mara didn't say anything and instead chose to head straight into the door on the left. With ease, the door swung open, like a common restaurant kitchen door, allowing the karate master and gunslinger to venture into the Kitchen…
(Kitchen)
The inside of the Kitchen looked more like the kitchen for a restaurant than an actual manor.
Compared to the prestigious golden look of the Grand Dining Hall and Lobby, the kitchen was a place completely covered in silver. Silver refrigerators. Silver sinks. Silver cooking utensils like the kitchen knives being hung against the wall. A gray floor and a couple of silver tables here and there for whoever would be cooking here to cook something up. Only problem was there was nothing to cook.
"Something tells me we shouldn't be here," Mara remarked.
"Yea, dis place looks way different dan the place out there…" Yumi remarked.
Case in point were the counters that allowed them to see what was going on in the Dining Hall. The counters were definitely the stations where chefs could apply garnishes and other lovely stuff before sending them out to the Dining Hall.
"...Since this is a kitchen," Mara folded her arms and glanced away. "...It's probably a place where all the cooks could serve a dish for guests."
"Good thinkin, bambina," Yumi had to agree before walking toward the fridge. "Unfortunately, there ain't any cooks…"
Yumi opened the fridge, noting just how empty it was.
"...or food," the cowgirl continued.
"Well, of course there wouldn't be food," Mara shook her head. "It's an abandoned mansion located in an abandoned amusement park. No one's been using this place for a long time now."
"What 'bout da food on the outside?" Yumi asked.
Mara opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. That was honestly a good point. There was enough food for a feast that no one touched. There was a full-on service to keep them well-fed outside of the manor too. So… why did this mansion not have any food?
"Ah well…" Yumi shrugged. "Now dat we checked dis place out, we at least know dat dis place is just anotha kitchen-type area. Dink there shouldn't be any harm in leavin dis place, right bambina?"
"Quit calling me bambina, please," Mara sighed.
The kitchen didn't really have much for them to explore. Just typical kitchen stuff except for the fact that there didn't seem to be any food left in store for any of them to eat. As expected from an abandoned mansion setting…
(Grand Ballroom)
Walking straight past the dining table in the Dining Hall would take them to a large circular room that was nothing but an open space.
Straight ahead was a stage but aside from that, the entire room was empty. The walls were adorned with golden rose patterns. Where there were supposed to be windows were instead mirrors, that allowed whoever entered to see their own reflections for some reason. Also to note that the ceiling was open as well.
To welcome the two girls into the area was a large banner that hung over the stage with a childlike drawing plastered against it:
ALEXANDER'S GRAND BALLROOM
"A ballroom?" Yumi whistled, in amazement. "Woowee… now dis is a rowdy dance floor if ah ever saw one."
Yumi snapped her fingers and did what seemed to be country-western style dance. She extended a hand, gesturing for her to take it. Mara stared at her for a while before glancing away. Always the usual with the karate master…
"I don't dance…" Mara simply said.
"Aw, come on, bambina!" Yumi grinned. "Ya would never know how much you enjoy it till ya try! Besides, there ain't anyone else watchin!"
She winked.
"It could be our little secret!" Yumi smiled.
Mara folded her arms.
She wasn't budging on this matter. She didn't care if anyone was watching or not, dancing was absolutely not a thing she would ever want to do. She was a fighter. A karate master. Follower of Lao Shi's wisdom for Pete's sake! Dancing around was just another way of having fun. And someone like her was definitely not allowed to have any sort of fun.
"No," Mara simply said.
"Aww, darnit!" Yumi snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Well, if ya really don't wanna do it, bambina, ah won't force ya. But ah do hope dat if it ever comes down to it in da future, you reconsider."
Yumi tipped her hat down, giving Mara a genuine smile.
"It'll be fun, bambina," she smiled. "Ah promise."
For a moment, Mara's hardened expression softened.
As if whatever Yumi was selling was really speaking to her.
She just said it herself.
She wasn't allowed to have any sort of fun.
Not her.
Definitely not her.
Mara avoided Yumi's gaze, knowing that if she saw her smiles of encouragement, her restraint would definitely break right then and there.
She grimaced.
"...Why me?" Mara asked.
"Bambina?" Yumi blinked.
"Out of everyone in this place, why'd you choose me to hang out with?" Mara tightened her grip on her arms. "Is this your way of tormenting me or something? I've told you I prefer being alone."
That was a no-brainer.
Everyone knew that fact about Mara.
And yet while others scoured away in fear whenever she approached (or at least to Mara, it sure felt that way), and others gave her the evil eye for her past, it was Yumi that would be approaching her. Basically, taking over where Riku left off. God, how does she do it? How does she keep attracting these kinds of people…?
"And ah told ya…" Yumi placed a hand on Mara's shoulder.
Mara tensed up.
"...Ya don't hafta be alone anymore," Yumi assured her.
Mara's eyes flared slightly, her expression darkening as she avoided looking at Yumi's bright smile. Of the many times she's interacted with Yumi, this was something she noticed that the cowgirl just loved doing. Getting up into her business and preaching all these nice things that she knows she'll never be able to have…
Her frown deepened.
"...What's your end goal here?" Mara asked.
"End goal?" Yumi blinked. "Whatchu talkin about?"
"You obviously want something from me," Mara turned back toward Yumi, her mood souring. "Go on. What is it?"
Yumi recoiled slightly over this reaction.
She expected that maybe she was getting to Mara. Maybe Mara would've felt comfortable enough tolet go of all of those demons in her past. But no matter how hard Yumi tried to talk to her, Mara still pushed her away. Just like now…
Yumi fixed her hat.
"Would ya believe me if ah said ah just wanted ta make sure yer happy?" she asked. "As... yer friend?"
Mara blinked.
She bit her lip and looked away, pained.
"...I'm happier alone," Mara simply said. "And I can't have friends. Not after…"
Riku…
Mara scoffed as she thought about that name.
She succeeded in contributing more with the group this time around. But to actually form relationships with someone. Last time, she had Riku, and she already knew how well that turned out. Stuff like that always happened to her. And she didn't want to go through something like that again. Not anymore..
"Thanks for choosing me to be your partner, but I gotta go," Mara folded her arms.
Mara had immediately started to leave, heading straight for the open doors back to the Dining Hall. But the moment she even tried to step back was the moment Yumi stepped forward and called out to her, a look of determination on her face.
"Ya can leave all ya want, bambina," Yumi declared, tipping her hat. "But ahm gonna make a promise to ya. No matter what ya do or what ya say… Ah ain't ever givin up on ya! Mark mah words, bambina! Ah will never give up on ya!"
Mara felt her heart soften, shook it off, and simply walked off.
Yumi was getting close.
The cowgirl could feel it. Marabel Garcia was a young girl that needed someone to be by her side. Yumi wanted to be that girl. She desperately wanted to. That fiery aura Mara had. That sad story she had to bear. Goddamn it, Yumi knew how much Mara needed it. So, for once, why can't she just accept it?
That's why she knew it in herself that she was telling the truth. That she meant every word of what she had declared to Mara.
No matter what, she was never going to give up on her…
(Grand Corridor)
When the large group of ten headed upstairs to check out the second floor of the mansion, they had immediately gone through the doors that were opened straight ahead.
This brought them here, the Grand Corridor, a long hallway that was very reminiscent of those Scooby-Dooby Doors. You know what I'm talking about. A long hallway with doors on each side that whenever someone was being chased, they would go through one door and pop out of another.
Only difference was that instead of the usual 6 - 10 doors, it was only 5 doors.
Currently, the one that was open was the one door that went on straight ahead. The other four doors were situated on the left and right sides of the corridor, two for each side.
The corridor itself on the other hand looked a little twisted and rundown. There were cobwebs hanging off of golden candlesticks that hung off against the wall. The floor was an oddly stable wooden floorboard with a blood-red carpet draped over it. And from the looks of it, each door to the side led to their own unique rooms with their own unique functions…
"Ten of us…" Kazuki smiled with a hum. "...And five doors… Now… Isn't that perfect?"
"I suspect you wish for us to be in pairs to check out each room?" Kikuko assumed.
"You would be correct in suspecting as such…" Kazuki nodded. "So… While we're at it. Perhaps we can determine how we will pair up?"
"I doubt we need to," Fábio shrugged, sharing a glance and a smile with Kikuko. "I think most of us know who we're going to be paired up with–"
"I'll take Unmei as a partner," Issac raised his hand.
"Wait, what?" Fábio blinked.
"H-Huh?" Kikuko was shocked as well.
"Whoa whoa whoa, did this guy just cuck your boyfriend?!" Eiji gasped.
Kikuko flashed him a glare, her eyes glowing blue. Eiji immediately stopped talking, shrinking back in slight fear. Once Eiji was well and settled, Kikuko glanced back at Issac, slightly disturbed and curious.
"U-Um, could I ask, why?" Kikuko asked.
"Why not?" Issac smiled, folding his arms. "I think it's a nice change of pace from hanging out with the same people over and over again."
Issac looked like he was in pain for a moment.
"Ow, ow, Isolde, no of course it's not an excuse just to meet new girls!" Issac assured his toy caterpillar. "You're the only one for me…"
Kikuko blankly stared at him, a little uncomfortable, before glancing back toward Fábio. Both of them were noticeably disappointed that they weren't going to be exploring a room together. Even clearer was the fact they wanted to say something. Go to Kazuki and tell him that maybe it would be better that–
"Oh, are we seriously going to act like kindergarteners?" Yukihiko sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Issac will be paired up with Kikuko to explore a room. That's all. You bunch act like a child's first time being dropped off at daycare…"
"W-Well, it's just that…" Fábio blinked. "I mean, Kikuko and I. We always–"
"If you are worried about not having a partner…" Kazuki smiled to himself, clearly missing the point of what was going on. "...Perhaps we have a volunteer that would like to pair up with Mister Barbosa?"
In a brief moment of silence, Manon raised her hand. A perfect set-up for Fábnon to be a thing! All for Project! Wait. What do you mean he gave up on that ship?!
"Ah…" Kazuki nodded. "Excellent… Miss Levesque. There you go… Mister Barbosa… Your partner…"
"G-Great," Fábio gave Kazuki a disappointed thumbs-up.
He glanced toward Manon, who had been a little quiet this entire time. He hoped he didn't offend the poor girl with his disappointed expression, but from the looks of it, it didn't seem like that was the reason why she was down. He was curious. Was Manon having another moment of self-doubting her true self again?
"On the subject of partners, I suppose none of you would mind if I worked with Kazuki, correct?" Alisa questioned.
"Eh, go for it," Issac shrugged, smiling to himself.
"Which leaves us with the other four…" Kazuki nodded. "Now who would…"
"I would like to be with Yukihiko," Beauté interlocked her arms with Yukihiko's, grasping him close to her much to his absolute discomfort. "Working with Yukihiko! Undoubtedly, I would like to be with Yukihiko!"
No one had any sympathy for Yukihiko in having to deal with this bitch.
"...That solves that problem…" Kazuki simply said. "...Which leaves our last two, Mister Cutler and Mister Brighton as a pair."
"Indeed," Alisa fixed her glasses. "With that settled, let us be off. Once we finish, we reconvene at the Grand Lobby."
Everyone was in agreement with that plan and went off into their assigned pairs and chose rooms according to what intrigued them the most. Some, like Fábio and Kikuko, were reluctant to do so, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. All assignments were final, so whatever interactions were gonna happen, that was what they were gonna get.
So, everyone had gone off into different rooms with only two people being left in the Corridor, glancing at one another and wondering in what universe would anyone think that they would be good partners to one another.
"So…" Roderick lowered his beanie, glancing down toward Aidan. "We be partners, aye?"
"Y-Yep," Aidan glanced away.
Silence.
"Water?" Aidan offered.
"Nay," Roderick shook his head.
More awkward silence.
"L-Let's just go into a room," Aidan sighed.
"Aye," Roderick simply agreed.
As the other rooms were taken, Aidan and Roderick chose to go straight into the second door on the right. If you look at it above in a map that will soon be provided on my Discord, it would be the top door to the right.
So, with Roderick opening the door, the two walked in, thus starting the investigation of the mansion's 2nd floor…
(Art Gallery)
To begin the investigation of the 2nd floor, Kazuki and Alisa had chosen to go into the room at the very end of the Corridor.
Passing by the open double doors, the two found themselves in what seemed to be a large circular room, much like the Ballroom. The general structure of the room was… to put it simply, much like a donut. There was an outer ring that Kazuki and Alisa were able to explore. But in the middle securely protected with wooden fences, was a hole.
Peering over this hole, they could easily confirm that it was not a bottomless pit. In fact, it seemed that straight down was what seemed to be the wooden floorboards of another large circular room.
"Could that be the first floor?" Alisa suggested.
"Could be…" Kazuki remarked.
He held out his hand to make sure Alisa didn't peer over the edge a little too far. For all he knew, these wooden fences wouldn't be much support for anyone exploring this little room.
"Careful…" Kazuki told Alisa. "... Judging by the distance… falling from this height does not look appealing at all…"
"No need to tell me twice," Alisa shuddered.
Kazuki raised an eyebrow, noticing her wobble and her face paling slightly. He couldn't help but be slightly amused by her antics.
"Afraid of heights…?" Kazuki deduced.
"Deathly, indeed," Alisa responded, returning his amusement.
Making sure to separate herself away from the hole in this room, she glanced around, noticing all the major design choices of this room. Specifically, what was resting against the walls of the room.
The name of this room was the Art Gallery, so naturally, within the outer ring of this donut-shaped room was a gallery of paintings, 6 to be exact. From left to right:
A painting of Alexander.
A painting of Monoyena.
A painting of Omen.
A painting of a black and white teddy with a crown over his head and a royal cape.
A painting of Empress.
A painting of Stanczyk.
Each of them, more eerie than the last as Kazuki and Alisa started to circle the room, examining each painting thoroughly. They first started on the left…
"This is… a painting of Alexander," Alisa fixed her glasses.
Within the painting of Alexander was him sitting on what seemed to be a throne, greatly suggesting his enjoyment of power and making others do his bidding. If Alisa didn't already have the context that this was based off of a kid's show, she'd think he'd be the starring character of a horror flick.
"He did seem to be the ringleader of those ghostly miscreants' downstairs…" Kazuki folded his arms with a mutter. "...Quite the technological advancement for the creators of this location to put on a well-developed light show…"
Yeah…
The ghosts of Alexander, Omen, and Empress did look life-like. If they were truly holograms as Monoyena had said, then they did a really bloody good job with it.
Moving past the Alexander painting, the next painting they would see was the painting of Monoyena.
In this painting, Monoyena looked much more like a punk than he ever did before. He was rocking out on an electric guitar and the Barbie doll he had turned into a makeshift blade had now multiplied into five and was dancing the Can-Can directly behind him. Honestly, a strange painting to bear witness to.
"I… didn't take Monoyena to be quite the rockstar," Alisa mumbled, in surprise.
"...Really?" Kazuki chuckled. "...Even without that neon-colored hair and the fact that he writes pretty much all the lyrics to all the songs we hear in this place…?"
Oh yeah. Monoyena is a musical artist, isn't he?
The more you know!
Moving past the Monoyena painting and onto the next–
"Hmmm…" Alisa suddenly stopped.
"Miss Zachary?" Kazuki blinked.
"...Kazuki," Alisa narrowed her eyes toward the paintings. "Do you feel like you're being watched?"
"Watched?" Kazuki blinked. "...Not really… why?"
Alisa tapped her finger before folding her arms and shaking her head.
"No reason," Alisa muttered. "Must've been my imagination."
Kazuki looked at her, curious. For most of today, Alisa had been acting quite strangely. Kazuki wasn't sure why, but he supposed at some point, she would tell him the truth. Nevertheless, moving past the Monoyena painting and onto the next one, they would see a painting of Omen.
In this painting, Omen was standing over what seemed to be a pile of skeletons, roaring into the air as he held his kanabo with furious and bloody intent. Red flames seemed to have erupted from his body as he stood as the clear champion. As the Greatest Warrior and Enforcer this mansion has ever seen.
"Now… this is quite graphic…" Kazuki remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Are those… crushed bones?"
"I suppose I can see why this mansion was strictly opened during the Halloween season," Alisa stepped back, a little disturbed by the graphic imagery of this painting as well.
"...Fitting…" Kazuki rubbed his neck, instinctively. "...For a large brute named Omen…"
Steering clear from the Omen painting, the next painting in line was the painting of the black and white teddy bear wearing the royal garments.
Here, it was exactly as it was described. A black and white teddy bear wearing a royal cape and a crown while holding a magical scepter as he posed for whoever would've been painting for him at the time. Some lame game master's wife or something like that.
"What on Earth is this thing?" Alisa blinked. "It looks like Monoyena but simpler…"
She read the name that was placed directly under the painting:
King Kuma
"Do you think it has any significance here?" Alisa turned back toward Kazuki.
"Not at all…" the philanthropist shrugged. "Let's move on…"
Moving away from the painting of King Kuma, that was when they came across the painting of Stanczyk.
In this painting of Stanczyk, he was sitting in a chair and looked downright sad and lonely. A clear replication of the painting of the original Stanczyk. An interesting touch to the Art Gallery's many collections.
"Well… this has to be the most accurate depiction I've seen of Stanczyk…" Kazuki shook his head in amusement.
Alisa didn't seem to find it much amusing at all.
Despite it being a picture depicting Stanczyk, one of their main captors in this game, the more she looked at it, the more she could relate to it. To see someone sitting in that chair all sad and alone… Alone. Alisa couldn't help but fold her arms and examine it a while longer before hearing Kazuki reach out to her.
"Erm… Miss Zachary…?" Kazuki blinked.
"O-Oh, please forgive me," Alisa glanced away. "I was just… momentarily lost in the painting. Perhaps that is what they called relating to a piece of art."
"No need to worry…" Kazuki shook her head. "I suppose even though it depicts our main enemy… It's still quite an art piece to look at."
Alisa sheepishly nodded.
The two moved onto the final painting–
"Hmmm…" Alisa suddenly stopped once again.
"Miss Zachary…?" Kazuki blinked. "What is it? Feeling like something is watching us again?"
"Indeed," Alisa glanced around wildly.
But nothing was out of the ordinary.
Kazuki didn't want to think so poorly of his closest ally in this game, but it certainly did seem like she was losing it. He looked at her, sympathetically as he walked up toward her and touched his own neck, instinctively.
"Well… if you are referring to me…" Kazuki glanced away.
"No, no, far from it," Alisa bit her lip. "It's just. There is something seriously wrong in this place."
"...It is a haunted mansion…" Kazuki told her. "I would imagine there's something seriously wrong in every part of this place."
Kazuki just didn't understand.
He didn't feel the same sensation she felt. It wasn't like she had any powers or skill set to notice these things. It's just the fact that the more she hung around this place, the more eerie and sinister things felt.
Alisa paused.
Perhaps Kazuki was right.
Perhaps this was just an illusion being manifested by a theme park's haunted mansion location…
The two move onto the final painting: the painting of Empress.
Compared to the others, the painting of Empress looked more elegant and serene. It depicted Empress resting her knees against a single small island within a small pond. She looked quite relaxed and while the painting had incorporated wisps of fog and whatnot, she didn't care. She was someone who was practically blindfolded. Why would she care about fog?
"The final one in the trio…" Kazuki nodded. "Empress…"
"Hmmm…" Alisa folded her arms, before giving Kazuki a small wary smile. "You know, Empress certainly does speak quite similarly to you. The way you two break your sentences?"
"Huh…?" Kazuki blinked. "I… still believe there is a clear difference…"
Alisa raised an eyebrow.
"When she does it… she breaks it every few words…" Kazuki pointed out. "I break my sentences whenever there is a noticeable pause… Like now…"
Good point for Kazuki.
When Kazuki does it, it makes him sound slow and tired over everything that has happened to his life. When Empress does it, it makes her sound like she's dying. And legally, I'm allowed to point this out because Candle has allowed me to! Plus, in this version, she's dead so…!
…
With a grand tour of the paintings now completed, Kazuki and Alisa reconvened at the entrance of the Art Gallery, both ready to report their findings back at the Grand Lobby. Or at least, Kazuki was…
"Wait, Kazuki," Alisa fixed her glasses. "Could I perhaps have a moment of your time?"
Kazuki turned back toward the clockmaker.
"O-Of course…" he blinked, surprised. "What is it you need… Miss Zachary…?"
Alisa tilted her head.
"I… have to say that I'm very surprised," Alisa examined the philanthropist for a brief moment. "Of all people, I never thought that you would be the person to take on the leadership role. Did… something change perhaps?"
Oh.
So, that's what she wanted to talk about.
Kazuki couldn't help but shift his expression of surprise into a small smile. He folded his arms, unsure on how to respond to it at the moment. After all, even he didn't know the answer to such a thing. To others, it may seem like it just came out of nowhere. But to him, he supposed the closest answer he could think of…
"...I suppose…" Kazuki smiled to himself. "I have you to thank for that…"
Alisa looked at him, surprised.
She wanted to ask what he meant by that, but Kazuki had shaken his head. He gestured for her to leave the Art Gallery and head back toward the Corridor.
"...Let's go to the Lobby…" Kazuki dictated. "...Perhaps there are some people who have finished their Investigation of this new location…"
Perhaps he had a point.
Alisa mentally cursed to herself.
If only time could slow down at least once in her life. That was the dream that she knew that would never come true. As such, all she could do now was follow behind Kazuki as the two headed out of the Art Gallery and walked through the Corridor…
(Nursery)
Located within the second door on the left, or if you're looking at the map, the top left door at the Corridor, Yukihiko and Beauté had quite frankly discovered the Nursery, a room, as the name implied, was nothing short but a typical nursery for young infants.
The only source of light in this room was the nightlight that had been plugged in the power outlet, creating images of stars and planets onto the ceiling. Toys were littered all over the ground and to the right of the door the two had walked in was a baby crib.
The other two notable things were the window and the door to the left.
And while most people would go straight for the window after hearing that they were all pretty much stuck in this haunted mansion, Yukihiko instead chose to go straight toward the baby crib, kicking away the toys on the ground as he did so. When he peered into the crib…
…nothing.
Completely empty.
"Disappointed?" Beauté snuck up behind him with a smile. "Didn't know what you expected, honestly. It's a haunted mansion, not a daycare."
Yukihiko had to agree with that sentiment.
Even he didn't know what he expected. Compared to the optimists here, Yukihiko was definitely more of a realist to their circumstances. Sure, he got carried away last time, but his eye on the mission never wavered. But the moment he saw a baby crib and marched on toward it first… perhaps it was just instinct.
The basic instincts of the Ultimate Child Caretaker.
"Oh, you got a little something…" Beauté giggled, as she rested her head against the crib, glancing at Yukihiko's serious expression.
More specifically, she pointed toward the blood seeping out of Yukihiko's nose.
"Boy…" Beauté couldn't help but mock. "Aidan Brighton sure did a number on you, didn't he? Really didn't think he had in him. But if it was enough to leave such a permanent damage to your nose, I wonder what else–"
"Honey, by any chance, do you ever shut up?" Yukihiko turned to Beauté, wiping his nosebleed with a stroke of his finger. "I already have to deal with people with the minds of literal children. I don't wish to deal with someone like you constantly whispering in my ear."
"Awww, and why not?" Beauté giggled. "Am I seriously that much of a nuisance?"
"Yes," Yukihiko answered matter-of-factly.
Beauté couldn't help but smile as she tip-toed around him like a hungry cat. Like a predator stalking her prey. At this point, Yukihiko wasn't sure if he could ever get used to such behavior. If he wasn't gay, he'd probably be melting at the attention. But instead, he was annoyed. Somehow, this was almost as bad as having to listen to Roderick's sailor talk.
"You know…" Beauté closed in on his ear. "...There is a way to make me stop~"
She practically sang that phrase.
Yukihiko didn't say anything about it. Not at the moment at least. He carefully thought about his next steps. His only current ally, much to his dismay, is Beauté. Losing her and its probably game over for him. Game over for him and the children. He couldn't afford that. Not now, not ever.
The child caretaker opened his mouth to say something but the moment he turned around was the moment he saw a shadow walk by the window. Or rather, a shadow reflecting off of the window and, thanks to the nightlights, was giving the two a nice little light show.
As both Yukihiko and Beauté turned their attention toward the shadow, they could see that walking across the walls through the light was a shadowy figure of a woman. Her shadow loomed over the baby crib, and through wild hand gestures and movements, she conveyed distress and despair so convincingly.
The shadowy woman fell down onto her knees and started to weep. Even though Yukihiko and Beauté weren't able to hear her cries, Yukihiko could at least hear her despair. It didn't take a while until the same thunderstrike sound that erupted in the Grand Lobby overtook this room as well, allowing the woman's cries to finally sound out and echo throughout the room.
The room was plunged into darkness… and then it returned back into its original state. A night light filled with stars and just a normal looking nursery.
It was a short story but Yukihiko understood it.
The shadowy woman had gone to the baby crib to check on the baby. When she saw there was no baby, the woman had bursted into tears and caused the entire room to black out. After that, well, Yukihiko imagined the cycle would continue. An endless loop of grief for mothers everywhere if he didn't return these children back to their parents' sooner.
"Yukihiko?" Beauté questioned, having been anticipating an answer from him for quite a while now. "Are you going to respond to what I said?"
Yukihiko turned to Beauté and simply forced a smile.
"I'll think about it," was all the child caretaker could muster up at the moment.
(Music Room)
Connected to the Nursery was the first door on the left, or if you're looking at the map, the bottom left door at the Corridor, was the Music Room, a room that housed quite a lot of musical instruments.
Directly on the left was a grand piano. Broken and old, most likely haven't been tuned for quite a while now as well, meaning whatever key they pressed, the sound would come out like a dented harpsichord. Making its way from the left to the right where Fábio and Manon would've come through, were a bunch of chairs, most likely for whatever audience decided to attend the show.
Banners of different musical notes hung across the ceiling and to the right was a door. Placed against the wall were four different marble statue heads, encased in glass domes. Directly beside them was a single button:
'PARTY TIME'
All in all, the Music Room was just like any other typical music room in this place, but what really made it grand was the attraction value it had.
And for Manon, this should've been an area she would've been absolutely delighted to be in. But instead, she felt down. Was it the fact that they were going to be stuck here until two people died? Or was it the fact that the way Yumi just went ahead and chose Mara like that… Ugh. Manon felt her heart ache.
"Hey, Manon," Fábio looked at her, curiously. "Are you… alright?"
"Hm?" Manon glanced back toward the figure skater. "O-Oh. Oui, oui. I am alright. Just… distracted. You know how it is, non?"
He supposed she had a point.
In his instance, he was distracted over the fact that Issac went ahead and took Kikuko from him. Whatever intentions Issac had doing so, Fábio obviously didn't like it. He hoped Kikuko was doing fine. But the more he thought about the two in the same room together, the more uncomfortable he shifted around. Why was that anyway?
Kikuko was just a friend so seeing her hang out with another guy shouldn't be too big of a deal right?
A guy that… looked like a total KPop star… KPop stars… known for amassing a large crowd of—
"Ah, Monsieur Barbosa?" Manon blinked. "A-Are you okay?"
"H-Huh?" Fábio blinked. "U-Um, totally fine. Don't worry about it."
His turn to lie.
Neither of these people were okay.
"Let's just… focus on investigating this place," Fábio stuffed his hands inside his pockets, uncomfortably.
Agreeing with him, Manon had walked up toward the one of two most interesting things in this room: the piano. She trailed her fingers against the cold, hard keys of this otherwise broken piano. By instinct, she pressed down on a succession of notes:
G-Sharp.
A.
B.
C-Sharp.
She held the C-Sharp for a moment longer before pressing down on the other notes. And although it was very obvious that the piano itself was old and degraded, it could still produce a melody behind its flat tone. The next notes she pressed down were:
B.
F-Sharp.
C-Sharp.
Held it down again and continued.
B.
F-Sharp.
C-Sharp.
Hold down the C-Sharp again and…
G-Sharp
F-Sharp to a G-Sharp again.
Then, end on A.
"That's a nice tune," Fábio remarked from the side.
"A-Ah!" Manon yelped, momentarily forgetting that Fábio was investigating this place with her. "O-Oh, y-you really zink so? Um, it isn't mine! I just really like ze piece! It was from a movie I watched when I was little…"
"What movie?" Fábio asked, interested.
"Um…" Manon shuddered. "I forget ze name…"
Fábio raised an eyebrow.
For an Ultimate Actress, she was oddly nervous when it came to talking about this subject. He stepped up toward the piano and glanced at the keys, noting the jaded texture of this degrading instrument. He looked back toward Manon, who had glanced away, ashamed. He shook his head with a smile.
"Musician?" Fábio questioned.
"I dabble," Manon bit her lip.
"Wanna play the piece again?" Fábio gestured to the keys.
Manon was about to refuse but the sound of music coming from the piano caused both of them to immediately recoil away from the piano. The hammers inside were striking the string and the only way that could happen was from someone hitting the notes. But it wasn't Fábio nor was it Manon.
It was the piano.
The piano was playing itself, repeating the same melody that Manon had played but adding a left-hand accompaniment. Now, the music sounded like a waltz. Although the music was beautiful, understandably Fábio and Manon were freaked out. A piano that played itself was of course a must have in a haunted mansion setting, so with that expectation in mind… they shouldn't be at all surprised that they were encountering one that was able to replicate Manon's melody.
"H-How is zis possible?!" Manon widened her eyes. "C-Could it be ghosts?!"
"Spirits," Fábio corrected.
"Q-Quoi?" Manon turned to Fábio, surprised.
"They like to be called spirits," Fábio pointed out.
"W-Why are you telling me zis now?!" Manon looked at him incredulously.
Fábio blinked.
Whoops.
He really has been hanging out with Kikuko for quite a while, hasn't he?
As the music got wilder with added dominant 7th chords, arpeggios, and virtuosic passages, it certainly did feel as if the musical spirit of Franz Liszt joined the chat and started to rock out on the broken piano. Manon gulped, tugging on Fábio's in fear.
"M-Monsiuer Barbosa," Manon shuddered. "I would like to leave zis place now."
"Right behind you," Fábio was admittedly a little braver.
He had the knowledge that his brother's Red Spirit was pretty much stalking him. But at the same time, to see the spirits actually do all these crazy things, was still a sight to behold and something to fear.
As such, both Fábio and Manon quickly exited the Music Room. Whatever other things they needed to investigate, they were going to have to do some other day…
(Armory)
Roderick and Aidan stood side-by-side with another as they stood inside the room that they had decided to explore.
As a reminder, this room was located in the second door on the right, or if you're looking at a map, the top right door. That was where Roderick and Aidan found themselves exploring the Armory, a room dedicated to… quite a lot of traditional Japanese weaponry.
Think of it as a mini-museum type of ordeal.
Directly in the middle was the suit of armor of your typical samurai. Bestowed upon the samurai was a pedestal where a kanabo rested ever so gently. Although it didn't look as big and hulking as the one Omen carried around in his spirit form, a kanabo was still kanabo. AKA, it was still scary looking.
Surrounding the other aspects of the room were other traditional Japanese weapons of every kind:
To the left was a shelf of nothing but Japanese swords. This included a katana that was spiritually blue, a wakizashi, a yoroi-doshi, a tsurugi, a tachi, a chokuto… in short, just a lot of Japanese blades.
To the right was a shelf of other Japanese weapons. This included a chikirishi, a kama, a desk drawer of shurikens, a kusarigama, a pair of sai… in short, just a lot of other Japanese blades that didn't deserve their own category like the swords did.
Also to the right was another door.
In short, a lovely room filled with weaponry of every kind that was enough to freak both Aidan and Roderick out over what they had just unwillingly stumbled into.
"That's… a lot of weapons," Aidan grimaced.
He stood around, awkwardly.
"Maybe we should seal this room off," Aidan simply said. "I mean, having all this in an amusement park? Those guys really know how to make things fun for them…"
Aidan had begun to ramble on, never noticing Roderick walking forward and holding up one of the Japanese swords with ease. He examined it closely, his brow furrowed, never looking away until Aidan finally noticed.
"W-Whoa, Roderick!" Aidan ran up toward him. "W-What the heck are you doing?! Put that away! You can kill someone with–"
"It be plastic," Roderick simply said.
"H-Huh?" Aidan blinked.
"See?" Roderick bent the sword's blade with ease.
When he released it, the sword's blade wobbled back and forth like jello. It was as the deep-sea fisherman surmised. The swords in this room were fake. Nothing more than cheap props to get guests to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over who we can presume to be Omen's grand collection of weaponry. Nevertheless, Aidan sighed in relief.
"Oh, well that's a relief," Aidan rubbed the back of his neck. "Does that mean everything in this room is fake and non-lethal?"
He watched as Roderick walked over to the other shelf. Easily, he grabbed the kusari-gama off of the display. For you uncultured Americans, imagine a kusari-gama to be a sickle with a long chain protruding out of it. At least in this case, the chain could be extended, something that Roderick ended up finding out himself.
"Nay, I wouldn't be putting it that way, laddie," Roderick mumbled. "Some of these weapons, if used right, could send someone straight to Davy Jone's Locker."
"I see…" Aidan grimaced.
And they were supposed to kill two people this time? God…
"And… I don't suppose you're gonna ever use that on yourself right?" Aidan frowned. "On account of Yukihiko's little…"
"Nay," Roderick shook his head.
"Huh?" Aidan blinked.
"...Ye heard me," Roderick returned the weapon back to its display, albeit, a little sloppily since he wasn't sure how to shorten the length of the kusari-gama's chain. "I… don't think I be followin that lassie, Yukihiko, anymore…"
That was surprise!
"Um, did something happen?" Aidan blinked.
Roderick lowered his beanie and said nothing. Clearly not a memory he was ready to or even wanted to talk about. The event was still fresh on his mind so the discomfort in his heart hit him like home. Noticing his silence, Aidan cleared his throat.
"N-Nevermind…" he simply said.
"Nay, just be not ready to tell anyone," Roderick muttered. "I just… be havin plenty of thinkin to do…"
Roderick lowered his beanie once more.
Aidan glanced away.
"Tell me about it," was all the track star had to say.
Aidan didn't notice it till now, but it certainly seemed like he and Roderick were in a similar boat now, pun not intended. He had lost Daisuke and judging by his reaction, Aidan assumed that perhaps Roderick lost Yukihiko in some way, shape, or form.
In short, the two people in this Grand Armory were two boys that just needed a moment to themselves to process everything that happened last night…
(Séance Room)
The last room remaining was the first room on the right within the Corridor, or if you're looking at a map, the bottom right room: the Séance room.
Compared to all the other rooms, this room happened to be the darkest room out there. In fact, the only light source was a glowing blue ball right there in the middle of the room. When both Issac and Kikuko's eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see that against the walls were bookshelves consisting of different books with different titles that were currently hard to read.
Hanging from the ceiling were floating tarot cards that swung left and right as if there were some calm spirits playing around with them. But for Kikuko, who can see spirits by the way, it was nothing, but a bunch of strings and gimmicks put to good use.
To the left of the room was a door.
All in all, the room was much more mystical compared to the eeriness of the others. At the moment, all focus was on the glowing blue ball sitting directly in the middle of the purple cloth-covered table. Upon closer inspection, both Issac and Kikuko instantly recognized it as a crystal ball. Even closer and they could see a head inside it. The head of the blue-haired woman with those bandages over her eyes:
Empress.
"Well, this looks like your type of room, doesn't it Unmei?" Issac chuckled.
Kikuko turned to him, flashing a glowing blue gaze toward him.
"What does that mean?" she questioned.
"Whoa hey," Issac raised up his hands, noticing how defensive she had gotten. "I'm just saying. You're the Ultimate Shrine Priestess. You dabble with a lot of mystical things so I just thought that…"
"There is nothing mystical about being a Shrine Priestess," Kikuko shook her head. "Being mystical relates to witches. I am no witch."
"Ha, I see," Issac looked at her in amusement.
Turning back toward the table and keeping her distance from Issac, Kikuko had taken the initiative of slowly prying the crystal ball off of the table, wielding it around with intrigue. But no matter what angle she moved it around in, the only thing she would be able to see was Empress's face.
"Whoa there, you think you're supposed to do that?" Issac folded his arms with a smile.
"If I wasn't, I suppose Monoyena or Stanczyk would've stopped me by now," Kikuko remarked.
"Fair assumption," Issac shrugged, before an idea popped into his head. "Hey. Why don't you ask this blue-haired girl a question?"
"Pardon?" Kikuko looked at Issac, incredulously.
"Well, this crystal ball thing has a head in it, right?" Issac smiled. "Maybe if you ask it a question, it'll speak to you. Like a Magic 8-Ball… or a shrunken head."
Kikuko blankly stared at Issac and shuddered slightly.
She had thought that Issac was one of the smarter ones but his suggestion sounded about as ludicrous as Aidan's blind accusations. She glanced at the unmoving head within the crystal ball, wondering whether or not she should humor his idea. He was the Ultimate Toymaker, so just to be safe…
"Um, do you speak?" Kikuko asked the crystal ball.
"...I… do…" Empress spoke through the ball.
Kikuko nearly dropped the ball out of fright.
It wasn't everyday that she would be scared of something. But for Seiryuu's sake, that crystal ball actually responded to her?! While her eyes widened, Issac stepped forward, pleased on how correct he was in his assumptions. Brushing his pink hair to the side with a chuckle, the toymaker couldn't help himself.
"See I told you," Issac laughed. "Hey, crystal ball… Do you know how we can get out of this haunted mansion?"
It took a moment for Empress to respond. And when she did, it gave him:
"To escape… this house… of gold…" Empress spoke with raspy pauses. "We require… the blood… of two… Refuse to… be bold… And you… might just… join our… crew…"
"That's the inscription on the plaque," Kikuko noted.
"Well, that's not the answer we're looking for now, is it?" Issac snapped his fingers in disappointment. "Oh well…"
Issac turned back, ready to leave this place.
It was clear that whatever they were going to find in the Séance Room, wasn't going to actually help them escape this house of horrors. But before he could leave, he heard Kikuko call out to him, a flash of blue coursing through her eyes.
"Pardon me, Issac, but could I ask you a question real quick?" Kikuko tilted her head.
Issac smiled at the shrine priestess.
"Sure, what's up?" the toymaker smiled.
"Why is it that you really wanted to pair up with me during the Investigation?" Kikuko narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.
"Is there something wrong with me wanting to hang out with different people every once in a while?" Issac shrugged before smiling. "Or… are you just mad that I got in-between whatever you and Barbosa planned to do?"
Issac brushed his hair back and sighed.
"Relax," Issac chuckled. "If you think I'm trying to court you or something, you're mistaken. The only girl in my heart is Isolde. You and Barbosa can do whatever you want. I won't care and I won't tell."
Kikuko shrunk back, her face faintly blushing. Thank Seiryuu for how dark this place was, otherwise, Issac would've easily seen that he was right on the money. She cleared her throat and tried her best to voice a response.
"W-We are just friends," Kikuko simply said. "Nothing more."
"If you say so," Issac chuckled. "But between you and me, I'm willing to bet Barbosa feels the same."
Kikuko's face reddened.
"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" Issac tilted his head.
Kikuko didn't say anything.
"I'll take your silence as a yes," Issac chuckled. "Come on, Isolde. Let's get out of this dark place…"
Holding Isolde close to him, Issac opened the door and exited the Séance Room. As the door slowly closed on its own, Kikuko was left in the dark with her only light source being the crystal ball she still held in her hands and Eiji, who had manifested right beside her, watching the very door that Issac had left from.
"Boy," Eiji sighed. "He really is a freak. No wonder he–"
Kikuko interrupted Eiji by simply placing the crystal ball back on the table where it originated from. Eiji looked at her curiously.
"Sis?" he blinked.
Kikuko began to wander her own thoughts.
Issac was a cipher that she didn't even know how to solve. The way he spoke often always showed that he had good intentions and was the subject of misunderstandings. But at the same time… who exactly was he?
Kikuko bit her lip.
And was she sure she wanted to find out the answer…?
(Grand Lobby)
When Kazuki and Alisa returned back toward the Grand Lobby, they could see that Mara was already waiting there for everyone to reconvene.
Or at least, that's what they assumed at first before noticing that Mara had just finished conversing with Stanczyk and Monoyena directly in front of the 1st floor's right door.
Right.
There were doors in the Lobby wasn't there?
The two shared a glance before walking directly down the stairs and straight toward where the trio was.
"Are we interrupting anything?" Alisa questioned.
"Oh hello best friends!" Stanczyk greeted. "You're back! My best friend here was just asking me about all the other doors here in this Grand Lobby!"
"Right… there were other doors here…" Kazuki folded his arms. "Does that mean…? Miss Garcia… Did you check out those other doors?"
"Yep," Mara nodded. "I'll tell you guys more once everyone else gets here."
"Indeed, that would be the ideal solution," Alisa had to agree with that.
It didn't take a genius to notice just how much Mara had been starting to help out a little more. Though, she was still the loner that loved to brood by herself and avoid the company of others, at least she was contributing to the group in comparison to when she was placed in this hell along with the others.
As such, along with Stanczyk and the completely bored Monoyena, the group waited patiently for everyone to return back into the Grand Lobby.
…
Once they did, Stanczyk ran up toward the first person he saw, Yukihiko, with that giddy childlike expression on his face.
"Best friends!" Stanczyk grinned. "You're back! How'd you enjoy the Grandview Mansion?! Did you like it?! Did you have fun?! Ohhhh, I sure hope you–"
"Participant discussion only," Yukihiko brushed Stanczyk aside. "Please leave."
"H-Huh?!" Stanczyk widened his eyes, before looking down, disappointed. "A-Awww… o-okay…"
"I bet ya wanks found nothing, right?" Monoyena cackled. "I told ya! The only way to escape from this place is to kill two of ya! In other words, someone kill two people right here, right now so I can get far away from ya freaks!"
"You leave too," Yukihiko didn't have time for this hyena's nonsense. "Participant discussion doesn't require the likes of you in it."
"You cunt-smelling brat!" Monoyena did not like that. "Say that to my face again! I dare you! I fucking dare!"
Stanczyk took the initiative to restrain Monoyena, pulling him far away from the playmates. Last thing either of them needed was the hyena going on an absolute rampage and slaughtering these kids. Chuckling sheepishly, Stanczyk waved toward the playmates.
"If you kids want privacy, privacy you will get!" Stanczyk giggled. "Have fun, best friends! We will come back when you're finished!"
"I'll fucking turn ya into a female permanently ya fucking male skank!" Monoyena cursed toward Yukihiko.
By the time the two had left the room, with Monoyena begrudgingly trying to dive back into the Grand Lobby ever so often, Yukihiko turned back toward the group at hand. He folded his arms, looking more serious than ever.
"Now then… shall we begin?" Yukihiko twirled his braids.
"Right…" Kazuki nodded. "...Who would like to begin?"
"Well, ah suppose we can begin with whatever is on da first floor dat da lovely bambina, Mara, and ah checked out," Yumi nodded. "We all know 'bout dat Dining Hall where da ghosts appeared. But there's also a Kitchen."
"Well, of course there has to be," Yukihiko folded his arms. "That food had to come from somewhere."
"Only thing about it is that it was an empty kitchen," Mara remarked. "No food or anything of the sort. Only thing of note were some kitchen knives."
"Indeed, and wasn't there a room straight across the Dining Hall?" Alisa questioned.
"You'd be right, bambina," Yumi tipped her hat with a smile. "Dat room is Alexander's Grand Ballroom. A big empty space ta dance in, ah reckon."
"A ballroom with empty space…" Kazuki rubbed his chin. "...By any chance… did either of you look up from the ballroom?"
"Look up from the ballroom?" Yumi blinked. "Now why would we ever wanna do dat?"
"...Because I suspect that the ballroom may be interconnected with a room me and Miss Zachary found on the second floor…" Kazuki closed one eye with a smile.
"Indeed," Alisa blinked, before nodding. "When you go to the second floor, the room straight ahead would be a long Corridor with plenty of rooms to explore. The one Kazuki and I chose to explore was the room directly at the end of the hallway."
"...It's an Art Gallery… with six paintings that you can choose to examine if you so please…" Kazuki folded his arms.
"That's not all," Alisa fixed her glasses. "But directly in the middle of the Gallery is a hole that one could theoretically drop down into. We think that dropping from the Gallery may take you directly down to the Ballroom. Only problem is that it's well… kind of a high fall."
"Now dat's mighty interesting," Yumi mentally slapped herself across the head. "Why didn't ah dink about looking up?"
"Ooh la la," Manon blinked. "So, zere is a Ballroom and a Kitchen all on ze first floor and an Art Gallery directly above ze Ballroom. What about ze others?"
"Aidan and I found the Armory," Roderick gruffly said. "When yer at the Corridor, it be the second door on the right. And it be filled with weapons…"
"Weapons?" Kikuko blinked.
"Samurai swords, a suit of armor, a bunch of the Japanese weapons," Aidan noted, glancing away. "But thankfully, a lot of them are fake. So, the statistics of them ever being used to murder someone is zero."
"Don't be thinkin that's how statistics works, laddie," Roderick muttered. "Not all of this weaponry be harmless. Some, if used right, could be as lethal as eating pufferfish toxin…"
"...Interesting…" Kazuki simply said, before glancing toward the others that have yet to speak.
"Manon and I found the Music Room," Fábio remarked. "Should be the first door to your left. It's just a typical place with a grand piano and one of those Party Time buttons."
"Pardon me, but did you find out what that button did?" Kikuko questioned Fábio.
"Unfortunately, no," Fábio shook his head. "The piano kind of…"
He trailed off.
Everyone looked at him, expectantly. Fábio wasn't sure how to say it, but he knew if he didn't say anything sooner, he was going to be met with some very impatient responses. He glanced toward Manon for assist–
"Ze piano came to life!" Manon exclaimed. "I-It started to play by itself! With no one zere!"
"Yeah…" Fábio sighed in relief. "...That."
"A piano that plays by itself," Beauté looked intrigued. "Oh, how fun! The spirits in this joint truly know how to have a good time!"
"It's probably a player piano," Issac shrugged. "A piano designed to play by itself. A simple toy you can find in street performances."
Beauté looked at him, disappointed.
"Ugh, you really suck the fun out of the mystery, don't you?" Beauté pouted.
"S-So, ze piano isn't truly haunted?" Manon blinked. "It knew ze melody I tried to play and even added so many other notes to it!"
"Yeah, well, some player pianos can do that," Issac smiled. "Depends on how advanced it is. And knowing a place like Piero's Playground, willing to bet that it's very advanced."
"I… I see…" Manon looked down, slightly ashamed that she had gotten scared over a toy of all things.
"But, now that I'm in the spotlight, I suppose I can go next," Issac ran his fingers through his hair with a small chuckle. "Unmei and I? We found the Séance Room. First door to the right."
"Séance Room?" Fábio blinked.
"That's correct," Kikuko nodded. "It's… a very dark room with the only source of light being a crystal ball with the head of one of the characters of Gold House."
"Which one?" Yukihiko asked.
"I… do not remember her name," Kikuko shook her head. "But it was–"
"Empress," Yukihiko immediately clued in based on Kikuko mentioning Empress's pronoun.
"...Her…" Kikuko nodded.
"A crystal ball with the Empress's head in it?" Roderick looked at Kikuko, incredulously. "That be… That be…"
"As it turns out," Issac smiled. "You can treat the crystal ball as a Magic 8-Ball of sorts. Ask her some questions, and she'll give you a response or two."
"A crystal ball with the Empress's head in it who can still speak?!" Roderick looked a little terrified by that. "That be the work of sea gypsies!"
"Perhaps," Issac shrugged. "But it's the only thing of note located in the Séance Room."
Kikuko simply nodded in response.
She caught Fábio looking at her, slightly relieved that nothing bad happened to her. Both of them had to avoid eye contact from one another out of embarrassment. Fábio was honestly glad that she was alright. Even though it was a brief moment of her investigating with someone else…
Man.
He didn't know why he got so caught up over something like that. It just felt…
"I suppose we have saved the best for last," Beauté smirked. "The room that Yukihiko and I went into was the Nursery: second door to the left."
"A Nursery with a baby crib and toys littered about," Yukihiko glanced at his nails. "But every so often, there would be a small light show depicting a mother losing her child. It's…"
Yukihiko curled his fingers into a fist as he closed his eyes.
"...tragic," he simply said.
"Is that all you found in the Nursery?" Mara frowned. "Wow…"
"Oh, and I suppose you're any better?" Yukihiko scoffed. "You only found the Ballroom and Kitchen, both of whom were relatively empty."
"Whoa, hey now, let's not–" Yumi tried to intervene.
"Not true," Mara folded her arms. "I made sure to check the other rooms here in the Lobby as well."
Yukihiko didn't say anything in that regard.
"Indeed, the other rooms in the Lobby," Alisa pushed her glasses up. "Please tell us about those."
"Right," Mara folded her arms. "Well, first off, the two doors on the second floor. Both of those are Bathrooms. Good for us because if we really have to go, we at least have two toilets."
"And the downstairs ones?" Issac questioned.
Mara paused for a moment.
Then, walking off toward the door on the right, she opened it to reveal metal bars over it. Within the metal bars was a sign painted in red that read:
'GRANDVIEW GIFTS'
"...On our right, is the Gift Shop," Mara folded her arms. "I think we all know what they want us to do in order for this to open…"
"Indeed…" Alisa trailed her eyes toward the plaque beneath the Alexander statue.
"And the left door?" Fábio asked.
"A photo-op area where you can presumably take pictures with the Gold House characters," Mara pointed out.
"And that's it…?" Aidan stepped forward, looking a little pained. "That's all the rooms in this place? No source of escape? Nothing?"
No one said anything.
Throughout their exploration of this new and unique land, no one truly did find any way of escaping this house. That was the absolute worst thing they could hear. Especially since the plaque that put them on such high alert in the first place was sitting right there for all of them to read over and over again.
Aidan clenched his fist.
"So, that's it…" Aidan grimaced. "We really are stuck in here, then…"
"Not just this manor but also the Killing Game Arena," Yukihiko narrowed his eyes.
"What do ya mean?" Yumi turned to Yukihiko.
"Isn't it obvious?" Yukihiko folded his arms with a scoff. "It means…"
As he trailed off, a familiar announcement sounded, easily answering Yumi's question. An announcement that brought them a new realization upon what staying over inside the Grandview Mansion meant for them. It's as Yukihiko said. They weren't just stuck inside this manor. They were also stuck inside the Killing Arena.
…
"Attention all guests at Piero's Playground. It is currently 9:30 PM. All rides, restaurants, and gift shops will be closing. Please make your way toward the exit as staying in the park after hours is prohibited. Thank you for visiting and we hope you continue to have a fun time all around, even after visiting Piero's Playground."
…
They were stuck inside Piero's Playground.
"N-Nay…" Roderick widened his eyes. "C-Couldn't this mean…"
"Indeed," Alisa grimaced. "Our nighttimes will be more problematic than they usually are. Because we are technically within the Killing Game Arena…"
"I suppose we are all expected to sleep with one eye open now, aren't we?" Beauté smirked. "Ah heh heh… Now this is a true Chapter 3 beginning! Back to the good ole basics we go! Ah heh heh heh…"
It was something none of them had thought about when they first learned they were supposed to stay here for consecutive nights until two people died. The idea that now, anyone can kill anyone at any time. Especially in an area with such few rooms too…
"That's the Closing Time Announcement!" Stanczyk popped out of nowhere. "Does that mean you kids are done talking about what's in the Grandview Mansion?!"
"G-Gah!" Aidan jumped. "W-What are you doing here?! We were still–"
"Discussing about who is going to sleep where?!" Stanczyk grinned. "Great idea! I do like sleepovers! Sleeping assignments! Let's go! Let's go!"
"Well, there's not many places we can sleep in this place," Mara remarked.
"We can always sleep in zose rooms in ze Corridors," Manon suggested. "Zey seem like good rooms to sleep in."
"I feel like we'll have more trouble sleeping in those places than anywhere else, really, honey," Yukihiko thought back to the wails of the shadowy woman.
"If you're worried about all the mini-Attractions working when you sleep, there is no need to worry!" Stanczyk grinned. "As you heard from the announcement, all rides, restaurants, and gift shops will close! This includes mostly everything in this mansion too!"
"So, you're saying some things will shut down until the park opens again?" Issac questioned. "Like that self-playing piano and that crystal ball thing?"
"That's right, best friend!" Stanczyk grinned. "So, if you want to use those rooms to sleep in! Be my guest! Or in this case... Alexander's guests! Hehehehe!"
The playmates looked at one another.
What other choice did they really have? The Ballroom was way too bright to sleep in. The Lobby wouldn't be a good place either. The Dining Hall still had the smell of leftover food. The rooms in the Corridors were the only places they could really do it in. So…
"I suppose we can split ourselves up into four groups of three…" Kazuki noted. "Two groups of boys… Two groups of girls… Does that sound fair?"
There didn't seem to be any disagreements on that front.
"Think us boys can separate ourselves as Brighton, Nobukatsu, and Cutler in one room," Issac said. "And then Barbosa, me, and Yuno in the other?"
"Fair enough," Fábio shrugged.
"Wait, Yuno?" Roderick blinked. "But she's a–"
"Ah would like to group up with Mara again," Yumi smiled.
Manon felt her heart ache when she did so.
"Pass," Mara folded her arms. "I'll find my own place to sleep. You can choose someone else to be your sleeping partner."
Yumi looked disappointed.
"U-Um," Manon felt her heart flutter, practically leaping in joy at this opportunity that had presented itself. "Perhaps I can… bunk with you, Madame Gundo?"
Manon twiddled her fingers nervously around Yumi.
"Well, ah guess you could…" Yumi sighed, lowering her hat. "If dat be what Mara wants…"
Was that a sigh of disappointment that Yumi was with Manon or a sigh of disappointment that Mara wasn't joining? At this point, Manon just couldn't tell. As she watched how much Yumi looked over toward Mara, she could tell that this night wasn't going to be any easy for her.
"That just leaves you two as my bunkmates," Beauté huddled behind Alisa and Kikuko, both of whom not looking happy with this outcome.
"Well…" Kazuki smiled to himself. "With that settled… I suppose we now have our groups. Should we decide on what room or…?"
"First come, first serve," Beauté suggested. "This chapter is getting too long! It needs to end or it will be most inelegant!"
"W-Well… if you say so…" Kazuki simply responded.
With no more things left to discuss and nighttime having rolled around, the groups settled down accordingly and begun to climb the stairs back up toward the Grand Corridor where they would sleep in whatever rooms they wanted to sleep in. And while the playmates trudged ahead, completely hating what they were being put through, Stanczyk remained the only one excited.
"This is great!" Stanczyk clapped his hands excitedly. "We now have our sleepover groups! Ohhhhh! This will be so much fun!"
He turned to Mara, who had stayed behind and got ready to sit on the stairs.
"Come on best friend!" Stanczyk grinned. "Let's go to the Ballroom where Monoyena is staying! We'll sleep there together! What do you say?!"
Stanczyk bounced up and down.
"Will you?!" he continued. "Will you?! Will you?! WillYouWillYouWillYouWillYouWillYouWillYouWiLLyOu?!"
Mara blankly stared at him.
(Grand Corridor)
Yumi opened the door to the Music Room, slightly surprised to see Mara standing right there at the door.
"B-Bambina?" Yumi blinked.
"...Group is still open, right?" Mara asked.
She looked away, slightly regretting her decision but it was either this or having to spend the night with that thing. She'll take her chances with the strange cowgirl that wants to be friends with her rather than the weird jester guy. Watching Yumi's smile widen and the door prying open, the cowgirl tipped her hat.
"For you, always," Yumi suavely stated.
Mara rolled her eyes.
"Whatever…" she muttered, before finally entering the door.
Yumi shut the door behind her and for the longest time, there was peace and quiet within this haunted mansion.
Peace and quiet in the Piero's Playground Killing Game…
(Grand Ballroom)
When Stanczyk entered the Grand Ballroom, he was already close to tears and trudging toward Monoyena, who rested directly in the middle of the room, acting as if he were getting a tan.
As Stanczyk approached the plush hyena, Monoyena couldn't help but chuckle. He had felt his presence and felt his emotional pain. It was always a delight to feel it. To hear the sobs of his peers. But for Stanczyk, it was different. It was always different…
"Ya get rejected?" Monoyena simply said as he looked up toward the ceiling.
"N-No one wuvs me…" Stanczyk wept.
"Yea well… love is underrated," Monoyena muttered.
He glanced toward the hunched over jester. He sighed, slightly tired of his behavior but hey, it's not like he could change this brat. He patted down toward the floor beside him.
"Sit, sit," Monoyena ordered him.
Stanczyk did as he was told and rested beside the hyena.
Together, they looked up toward the ceiling where the Art Gallery was. From there, they could see a painting that Yumi, Mara, Kazuki, and Alisa had failed to see. A ceiling painting, much like Michelangelo's Creation of Adam located in the Sistine Chapel. But instead of Adam reaching out to God himself, it was a painting of Stanczyk and Monoyena reaching out to one another.
"Look at it," Monoyena cackled. "Now ain't that a beauty…"
Stanczyk didn't say anything.
"...Ya know, we haven't done somethin like this in a while, you and I," Monoyena chuckled. "Just being here. You and me. Against the world. Now look at us…"
Monoyena placed his paw over Stanczyk's shoulder.
"...Running our very own Killing Game," Monoyena grinned, sadistically.
Stanczyk's original look of disappointment shifted into a small smile. No longer was it that shit-eating grin but now… now it was a genuine smile. A smile that he did not often share with anyone.
Anyone except…
"Do you think they're watching?" Stanczyk smiled.
"Them?" Monoyena grinned. "Fucking definitely…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…New World Order is watching and they're fucking proud of us, mate. I can feel it…"
DANGANRONPA: TWISTED TRAGEDY
SERIOUSLY! HOW DO THESE DAILY LIFE 1'S GET LONGER AND LONGER?! 24K CHAPTER?! UGHHHHHHHHHHH!
Anyway, here we are ladies and gents! Chapter 3: House of 1000 Low Spirits! This title had so many names I had to workshop through which I will probably reveal as a Fun Fact in my Discord server! But here it is! The beginning of Chapter 3 and what a Chapter we have gotten ourselves into :D Many of you thought we were gonna go to the Magic Kingdom or Sci-Fi land... but nope!
It's time for them to get trapped in the Haunted Mansion! Grim grinning ghosts, come out to socialize :D
First off, apologies if this chapter felt like it got rushed. I had to squeeze as many things as I could and move out some other scenes to make sure the word count didn't get too beefy... Didn't work so now we're stuck at 24K-25K heh :D Also, every time I write an Interlude, I just a brain fart on how to write the actual stars of this story, so if there's some inconsistency, don't be afraid to let me know :D
Now, onto the meat.
There was a goddamn reason why I wanted to get to Chapter 3 in September and THIS WAS THE REASON! This is a Chapter pretty much built to be released during the Halloween season! Will it finish by the time the Halloween season ends?! It's September 21! I highly doubt it :D But the Chapter ending in November... isn't that bad either :0 So... that's my general goal for now :0
Special shoutout to CandleFire45, the lovely sponsor of Chapter 3! For those who have been in this SYOC community for a long time, you might have recognized these characters and don't worry. I got permission! I even have the receipts to prove it, hmph! But if you don't...
...please check out, CandleFire45's Danganronpa: Gold House! It's literally the OG DR: SYOC fic! It has my name in it! And apparently did the Overseer thing first. Which I will say, eff you for doing it first! You should've seen that I was gonna come in the future and introduce White Collar! Candle! You fiend!
But at the same time, please Candle. Tell me if I got them down. I only read the Prologue because you refuse to let me live read the other Chapters. And... I will only read your story through live reading for more thorough analysis purposes ;-;
Either case, hope you all enjoyed the start of Chapter 3 :D As always, please let me know what you thought about the chapter, especially the new settings and... all that fun stuff! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you think that maybe there are too many ghosts coming out to socialize? Let me know! I always love hearing what you guys have to say because I certainly liked listening to Luigi's Mansion for hours on end :D
Until then, Daily Life 2 and...
Oh, dear God.
Another arc of writing Trial Parts... DX
Playmates Remaining: 12
Aidan Brighton - The Ultimate Track Star [Omakin]
Alisa Zachary - The Ultimate Clockmaker [ExtraMeme]
Beautè Morose - The Ultimate ? [Grandma Sue]
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]
Roderick Cutler - The Ultimate Deep Sea Fisherman [Orlando Butler]
Yukihiko Yuno - The Ultimate Child Caregiver [Weekaro]
Yumi Gundo - Ultimate Gunslinger [MrUtenaHolic]