This post was last modified: Apr 7, 2020 at 8:49 PM by Spooks?.

The moon hangs high in the cloudless sky, bathing the island in a pale glow. A gentle wind blows softly over the four houses, each standing resolute despite the damage inflicted upon them. The same cannot be said for the Fountain, beaten into oblivion time and time again, now a mess of nothing but rubble and jutting pipes.

A hand closes around and lifts the cracked stone remains of the goose statue's head. Xavier Wexlyn, Director of the XW Corporation stares at it for a moment.

Geese. What was it with this game and geese?

Well, perhaps it was symbolism of some sort. The treasure hunters weren't too different from geese, were they? Loud, obnoxious, violent, and most of all... extremely stupid. Xavier tosses the goose head into the air, catching it as is falls. He slowly paces towards House Minerva, continuing the rhythmic motion as he approaches the unnerving painting. In an unenthusiastic gesture, he throws the goose head behind him, discarding his temporary plaything, and descends the ladder to the tunnel running underneath the houses.

---

Outside on the shore, a crate bobs up and down in the water, a smaller crate next to it, stamped with thick black letters reading "MANN CO SUPPLY CRATE". The larger crate shifts slightly, and the lid is flung off into the distance. Bigfoot slowly rises from the crate, clad in sunglasses, an american flag do-rag, innumerable nerd culture t-shirts, and his iconic Gintama lounge pants. Between his satchel and his backpack, to call him heavily armed would be an understatement. Survival hatchets and knives filled each pocket, but those were hardly the reason.

As Bigfoot climbs out of his crate, he pushes up his sunglasses, fixes his do-rag and cocks his Antimatter Rifle.

Now that. That was why heavily armed is an understatement.

Dragging the supply crate to shore, he kicks it open, and rummages around the packing peanuts inside. His hands brush against an object, and he pulls it from the crate. It is a hat, resembling a crocodile's head. To most, this would be nothing extraordinary, just a novelty gift for the reptile lover at home. But as Bigfoot puts it on his head, he can practically FEEL his resistance to headshots increase.

With a grimace of determination, he rummages through his bag, and pulls out Ruby's EMF jammer. His face curling now into a smirk, he hurls it far off into the ocean waters, and it disappears beneath the waves with a plop. He returns to rummaging, and pulls out yet another object: a bottle of Forbidden Action Remover, a reward from a grab bag long past. He unscrews the lid, downs the entire bottle in a mighty gulp, and throws the bottle out to sea, giving Ruby's EMF jammer some company out there.

With one final look out into the dark waters, he turns away and begins to walk towards the outside-facing entrance of the underground pier, leaving notably large footprints in the sand behind him.

---

Down in the Water Control Room, Xavier stands up from a crouching position next to Skull Face's corpse. Resisting the urge to kick him in the scrotal area, he instead examines the object he had retrieved from his former sort-of-ally's pockets. A fresh, unused tea bag, adorned with a paper label that spelled out "Black Tea" in large, bold Times New Roman font.

Xavier pockets the teabag, and smiles a cruel smile.

He didn't lie. He WOULD be in the Arcadia Laboratory. Just not yet.

After all, with the Killing Game drawing to a close, perhaps it was time to stop rampaging around like a walking boss fight. Perhaps it was finally time to beat them at their own game. It was time... to start playing like a KG player.

then what happened

and then everyone died
the end

haha gona piss on the kitchen sink now

why did they ever have to make a sequel to kg 4.2

Meanwhile in the shed, Gordon Ramsay wakes up, having just had a horrible dream. He was back in his kitchen at home... but Ainsley was there, and there was so much oil.

Dear god, the oil.

Gordon stands up, only to bang his head on the shelf above him and wince in pain. A bottle of something clunks to the ground. Gordon picks it up and examines it, before frowning. No, no. This was... propane. He needed gasoline to get out of here. As far as any of these donkeys were concerned, the helicopter was officially his. Blindly groping through the dark shed, eventually his hand brushes against a propane lantern. Attaching the canister, he flicks it on, bathing the shed in a warm orange glow as it ignites.

With his newfound light source, Gordon spots the bright red jerry can of gas quickly. Lifting it off the dusty shed floor with a grunt, he carries it out into the garden with no small amount of effort. Yet... off in the distance, he sees two figures outside House Bishop. Could it be...?

---

The Monokuma in the Big Daddy suit stares in confusion at Bigfoot as the cryptid holds out Ruby Rose's gun-scythe for it to take. Tossing away the EMF jammer, you see, was only the first step in Bigfoot's plan. The second was a quick stop at Ruby's body to grab his signature weapon as he made his way up from the pier built into the cliffside.

Monokuma, without much else in the way of weaponry at this point save for a drill that spun about as well as the town drunk on a tilt-a-whirl, takes the scythe in his free hand. Bigfoot looks at the hulking, suit-clad bear from over his sunglasses for a moment, then raises an arm, pointing over towards Trip's Pad. Getting in close to the bear, he whispers of a plan most devious indeed, to which Monokuma nods enthusiastically upon hearing.

The unlikely duo set off for Trip's pad, though as they embark, Bigfoot casts a glance back over his shoulder. He squints and removes his sunglasses, trying to figure out if the distant orange pinprick of light from in front of the shed is just in his imagination or not. He puts them back on with a grunt, and dismisses the notion.

Even if it WAS someone watching him, what are the odds it'd be someone relevant?

---

Bigfoot was not a gambling man, save for his crippling loot crate addiction. But if his luck was anything to go by at this very moment, a lottery ticket wouldn't be the worst investment.

Gordon Ramsay didn't care who won, or who lost. He was a chef, he was born to cook. There were restaurant owners to yell at, and self-esteems to ruin after all. The cryptid? The treasure hunters? The villain? Donkeys, the lot of them. He was going to take the thinking man's path, and it appears that none of them were about to stand in his way.

But... that was to be expected. He too, after all, had made a deal.

Gordon looks down at the chainsaw he had taken the previous night, and without a hint of regret tosses it back into the shed, as he agreed to do as part of Bigfoot's plan. Whatever it was for, this would ensure his safety, as far as he knew. As he said, he wanted no part in this. He outlived all the others, he was the true Top Chef.

He sloshes his gas can reassuringly, feeling the fluid rock back and forth inside the red plastic container, and sets off towards House Academia.

His salvation awaited.

---

Deep below the island, however, another plan was unfolding...



"H-huh? Why are you guys giving ME the gun?"

This post was last modified: Apr 11, 2020 at 6:41 AM by Spooks?.

The cameraman stands there, staring down at the gun quizzically, when the ASMR Youtuber also shoves a pair of night vision goggles into his hands. Holding the gun in his left hand, he tries desperately with the other hand to get the goggles on his face without having to take off the sunglasses. Fink facepalms at this display, but is quickly pulled aside by Godbert.

The Manderville Man leads her to the center of the subterranean chamber, and to the rough stone pillar that held the treasure aloft in the air. The foreboding violet crystal floats there in the air the stalagmite, whispering incomprehensible nothings into the duo's ears as they stand in its eerie glow.

Godbert motions to it, and explains that Fink is probably the best one to carry the thing out of there. Leaving it on the island wasn't really an option at this point, Godbert thought. Between Xavier and his various cohorts, they'd eventually crack open the chapel floor if they left it, and who knew how it actually worked or what it did. Fink shrugs, and says she'll do whatever he wants. As far as she knew, Godbert had done a pretty good job of organizing things so far, so why not keep following his plans?

Fink reaches out with both hands and grabs the crystal, freezing in place the second her hands wrap around its luminescent form. Her pupils dilate, turning her eyes to pools of pitch-dark emptiness. Her ears droop flat, and her vision begins to blur. She whispers something inaudible to Godbert's ears, a sound that escalates in a slow, raspy exhale to a scream of genuine, traumatic terror.

---

Xavier hits pause on yet another remix of the theme music that he's appropriated as his company's own, then swivels his chair around to check the security cameras. Through the video feed, Bigfoot and the Monokuma could be seen in Trip's Pad, walking into the teleporter room. Xavier's head darts slightly to the right as he turns his attention to the next feed on the screen, showing the duo arriving on the cable car platform.

Xavier exhales in frustration, and slowly gets to his feet, walking to the opposite side of the laboratory. Fuck's sake, did those two idiots really go to the same entrance to stand guard? Now one of the doorways in would be wide open for attack. Not that that would necessarily be the world's biggest problem, Xavier thought, considering he could at least keep his eye on the other one exclusively now.

Either way, giving them a straight shot didn't seem to be the best idea in the world even with that in mind. That Manderville was a tricky fucker, and that Fink admittedly could do some damage. Xavier didn't know if he could technically die at this point, but getting the shit kicked out of him was still not on his top ten list when it came to things he would like to have happen.

He shrugs, and idly flips open a protective case guarding a switch on the wall. He didn't really want to have to bust this out again, considering he was starting to think the thing was getting rather tired and overused at this point, but his "security force" in their infinite wisdom had left him no choice when it came to defending the teleporter in the woods. He looks down at the button. Large, red, and with EMERGENCY POWER stamped onto it in large, black letters.

He pushes down on it with considerable force, and somewhere in the woods, an animatronic twitches back to life with a shower of sparks. Standing up, a tall shadow among the darkness of the trees, it lifts an old, filthy axe from the ground as its eyes flash to life with a crimson glow.

A loud bang reverberates around the room. It’s one that Nathan is familiar with, one that he wished to not have heard again: A scent of smoke precedes the sight of a body falling on the ground, accompanied with two other bodies, standing up and looking in front of them. The moment Gareth falls on the floor, gushing out blood from the bullet hole struck from behind him, could not last any longer for the thief, however many moments like these that he has firsthand experienced in his multiple lives. With a familiar gunshot comes a familiar face. Alisa enters the room, flintlock pistol in hand. Angus follows right after, with the same look of disdain that the islanders ever so love to hate.

“Good shot, dear! Knocked out and more. Tell me, Nathan: Compared to that hit, how deadly did that look from when she shot you?”

A quick retort is his specialty, but for now, he can do no other than falter in his speedy response.

“I-I wouldn’t know, oversire. I died from the shot.”

“That’s good enough! Usually, she carries a Derringer type. Wee little weapon, but it does its work, don’t it? She forgot it at our home, so I had to compensate.”

“So, mister and missus…”

Angus points at the crystal. “The marriage was for after this breakthrough. Yer still invited, if yer to behave from now on.”

“For some reason, I don’t believe that.”

“Aye, everyone here is invited! Although most of them won’t make it if you interfere, marriage or not.”

"What do you mean?"

"Can't bring dead men to a wedding, yes?"

"You killed them?.."

"My dearest over here is quite a natural killer. Couldn't find anyone better in my world."

Alisa steps forward, seemingly taunting her adversary with her sharp looks and skills. Brandishing her pistol, still smoking from the ignition that took place merely minutes ago, she pulls up a small bag, pouring its contents into the barrel. She proceeds with placing a ball, wrapped in linen, inside the barrel. A smirk on her face says it all: She is enjoying the sight and the action.

"It is not always that I get the chance to shoot with this little friend of mine. I have to savor the moment."

As Alisa inserts a bit of black powder onto the pistol's hammer, Nathan takes the opportunity to grab the crystal. Although he took it with his own bare hands with ease and gusto, he seems to stumble a bit afterwards, attempting to run towards the couple. Angus witnesses with shock as to what the thief is doing.

"You're quite the mad lad, aren't ye?! Bastard picks up the gem, thinking it's harmless, now look what he's gotten himself into!"

Nathan's plan to dash towards the couple with the crystal, not to leave, but to attack them with a shield in his hands, has gone awry rather quickly: His running has turned into near-shambling, with his gaze focused on nothing in particular. The dedication to his work had been lost to him, as the settlement of fear and disturbance took hold on his mind, but only for a short instant.

"I see…"

This post was last modified: Apr 14, 2020 at 5:11 PM by X͟a͏vi̴er ̀[XW̧ ̢E̵xec̷ut̀ive]̡.

Gordon Ramsay swings open the door to the ruined Chemistry Lab, and approaches the helicopter cautiously, wary of any kind of funny business that he'd definitely expect a certain someone to pull. Thankfully the business is quite humorless indeed, and nothing happens, save for a chilly wind that tugs at Gordon's chef jacket. He shivers and puts down the jerry can, approaching the helicopter to find the gas tank.

When he locates it, he flips open the hatch and once again lifts the jug of gasoline back into his hands. He fuels up the helicopter with ease, tossing the gas can into the mess of broken glass and fallen timbers that he once called the airtight room before climbing into the helicopter, buckling up his seatbelt, and placing a pilot's helmet on his head from where it sat on the passenger's seat.

Starting it up, the blades whir to life , scattering debris around House Academia's yard and causing the bonfire's flame to waver unsteadily. Gordon disengages the AI autopilot and lifts off into the the night sky. His view now illuminated by the moon and stars, Gordon pushes forward, soaring through the darkness until the island is a mere speck behind him.

He reaches into his bag, and takes a bite from a croissant, chewing slowly. Where was he going? He had no idea, but anywhere was better than that bloody donkey fiesta.

---

@Gordon Ramsay has escaped the island in the Helicopter. He has SURVIVED!

The role he started the game with was the Ultimate Iron Chef

role description: Show

Fresh from network television, you're here on the scene to dish out an extra serving of pain, or at least emotional trauma. Either or, really.

As expected, you start the game with a chef's knife, which you can do whatever you want with. But you're not just any chef, you're THE chef. Anything you cook will be extremely enticing, and everyone you offer it to will be compelled to sit down and eat it, regardless of any reservations they may hold about strange food.

Due to your culinary expertise though, you also have the ability to passively detect any tampering in dishes served to you. If someone tries to serve you any sort of tainted food, you will slap it out of their hand angrily, screaming at the one responsible for this kitchen nightmare they have created. The same goes for drink as well. You've actually become so good at detecting bad food that even if you are unconscious, attempts to force feed you will wake you up and result in about the exact sort of seething anger you'd expect.

Forbidden Action: Your honor as a chef is more important than anything else, therefore you can not cook a meal that contains anything that is poisonous or otherwise not explicitly food.

However, due to the successful murder of Momoko, Gordon Ramsay was given an improved role, the Ultimate Culinarian

role description: Show

Thanks to getting that sweet, sweet incentive, your role has been upgraded to the Ultimate Culinarian. No longer are you a mere chef, slaving away in the Kitchen for ungrateful diners. You are an ARTIST, creating culinary masterworks the likes of which have never been seen before.

On top of keeping all the benefits of Ultimate Chef, you now possess the ability to make food so good that it physically alters the physical form of the one eating it, giving them various boosts or debuffs to their abilities depending on what they consume.

The impact of these effects will not be massive, or bestow any superhuman or magical powers, but they will be noticeable and have an impact. If you wish to know what a dish will do to the one who consumes it, just ask. You’re so good at cooking that you will definitely know the effects of a dish before you cook it.

Your Forbidden Action is the same.

Stop letting Superchao get away with murder.

This post was last modified: Apr 15, 2020 at 6:18 AM by Spooks?.

Fink lets out a gasp of air as she snaps back to reality, shaken but physically intact. She takes several deep breaths, and inches away from the crystal on the floor, giving it a glare of immense displeasure. She takes a bottle of whiskey from her bag and chugs it down, wiping the booze from her mouth before taking that same bag and shuffling it around the treasure, enveloping it and hopefully preventing any more contact.

Godbert asks if she is alright, but she just shakes her head and says she doesn't want to talk about it. Godbert shrugs and sits down on the floor while everyone else prepares, opening his jar of Void Conduit and grasping the Staff of Sealing. He pours the black substance on the ground, then gives it a firm whack with the staff. Energy seems to arc out of the staff and into the pitch-dark puddle with surprising force, causing it to twitch and shudder before collapsing back into a puddle.

Godbert repeats this process a couple times, to the same result. Hey, it's fun, okay?

Hilary Clinton points up to the stairs, and asks if they have everything in order. Godbert nods, and walks past her to the winding upward corridor, shoving his nailgun into her hands as he moves. The entire group of treasure hunters begins to ascend, leaving the temporary shelter of the treasure chamber as they draw ever closer to the chapel.

A lever underneath the chapel floor is pushed into position, and the stonework ground in front of the altar begins to grind open. After an uncomfortably loud several seconds, the small group of treasure hunters cautiously steps up into the building, only to be greeted by... silence.

Trip nervously stammers out something about how he thought the Monokuma was going to be here, and Godbert agrees; something IS off. Hillary comments that it seems just a little too peaceful, and Fink just feels strange. After touching that thing sitting in her bag, she suddenly became acutely aware of many things, namely that this island is, was, and has always been nothing but a horrible deathtrap.

And here she was, carrying around both bait and predator rolled up into a nice shiny package.

Godbert peers out the front of the chapel, and his attention is near-immediately grabbed by a loud whirring noise from the direction of House Academia. He holds up his flashlight and shines it southward, hoping to discern the source. His eyes follow the form of the helicopter as it takes off from the ruined chemistry lab and soars off into the moonlight. He turns to the treasure hunters still in the chapel, and explains the situation out there, to which the ASMR Youtuber replies with a comment about how she hopes it was that Bigfoot guy that decided to take the easy way out and leave them the hell alone.

Godbert does not acknowledge this, instead turning his attention back to the outside world. When he is sure the coast is well and truly clear, he beckons the hunters outside, and they set off behind the chapel into the woods in a tight group.

In the back of his mind though as they moved through the dense trees, Godbert agreed with her.

Fuck Bigfoot.

This post was last modified: Apr 17, 2020 at 12:04 AM by Spooks?.

In the shadows of the forest, tall dark trees choke out the last vestiges of moonlight as Hilary Clinton shudders. She pauses for a second, making sure her nailgun is actually loaded with nails, but as she looks up back up from the task, she notices that she is now alone, having been left behind as the treasure hunters pressed on. She swears under her breath, and begins to call out to her comrades as she wanders through the dense woodland.

Suddenly, she reels backwards, collapsing onto the moist ground as a heavy blow connects with her forehead. Dazed, she snaps her vision up to her attacker, only to breathe a sigh of relief as she realizes she just smacked into a branch. Rubbing her head, she stands up and brushes herself off. Her eyes narrow in disapproval at the wooden limb, but as she turns around to find another path, she lets out a shriek at the figure immediately behind her.

The Wendigo's red eyes glower directly into hers as it raises its axe above its head and roars. Hilary takes off screaming in the direction she was going before, ducking to avoid another collision. The Wendigo takes off in hot pursuit, but smacks its head against the exact same branch she did prior. It screeches a horrible mechanical sound and tears it from the tree, tossing it into the distance and continues its sprint, tearing through the woods after the politician.

Hilary clutches her nailgun in a white-knuckled grip and raises it as she runs. She swivels at the waist and continues her pace as she fires a barrage of nails at her her attacker behind her. The Wendigo shrugs most shots off, but as it closes the gap, Hilary pulls out her shovel and smacks it across the face, tearing off the outer white coating and revealing the cold steel beneath. Using the moment of staggered surprise to her advantage, Hilary once again begins to haul ass away from it. Despite this, its pace doesn't slow, and Hilary finds her breath getting heavier and heavier as her lungs push themselves to their limits.

She continues her flight, but as she arrives in a clearing, she yelps as her foot connects with the remains of a campfire and she is sent sprawling onto the ground one again. As the Wendigo approaches, its eyes burning bright from the sockets of its now-metallic skull, she points her nailgun directly up at it and pulls the trigger.

It clicks uselessly as she squeezes again and again. Her desperate panting turns to sobs as she realizes she's completely out of nails.

However, the end she expects never comes.

A green and pink shape streaks out of the nearby treeline, slamming into the animatronic and knocking it to the ground, sending the axe flying out of its claws. The Wendigo, completely taken off, stays sitting on the ground for a moment as Hilary opens her eyes to see the cameraman standing over the stupid robot that's been menacing him for two god damn killing games now.

The monster's head twitches erratically as it awkwardly tries to right itself and stand up, but it is sent straight back down by a punch from Fink, who seized Trip's attack as an opportunity to sneak around the back. The punch leaves a huge dent in the thing's skull, collapsing its eye socket entirely and causing its lightbulb eye to explode in a shower of sparks as it collides with the forest floor.

It tries one again, but Trip steps down on its chest, pinning it down. He holds the gun to its still-twitching head, and pulls the trigger, unloading a volley of bullets directly into its cranium, utterly obliterating it as the metal is torn to shreds by the gunfire.

The animatronic flails briefly, then falls limp on the ground, sparking for a few seconds before erupting into flames. Trip helps the shaken Hillary to her feet, and she notices Godbert and the ASMR Youtuber over by the clearing's treeline. She looks around now, and notices the teleportation platform sitting only a few meters away from the small campfire that almost spelled her doom.

Godbert slowly approaches it, taking a deep breath, and swipes his keycard.

Just SHOOT IT, Liz. Trip.

As Trip's gunshots echoed through the forest, a camera feed on a screen very far away flickers before turning to static. Xavier diverts his attention from his computer screen to look over at the monitor in confusion. He tilts his head as he reads the title of the now-defunct screen: ANIMATRONIC CAMERA - DIRECT FEED. With an exclamation of frustration he hurls the security monitor into the glass cause that used to house the Photoreactive Prism Replica, causing glass to scatter over the laboratory floor.

His physical form begins to shift around violently in a mess of darkness and video noise, sending him staggering backwards into the terminal of a diagnostic machine, which he grasps onto for support until it subsides. He composes himself, and then exhales, feeling his body stabilize. If there was one thing he missed about being a genuine, 100% real human being, it was the comfort of stability.

Being technically some kind of void demon thing had its advantages, sure, but at least as a human being he could just put on a cool coat and some sunglasses rather than have to project his appearance through janky dark science magic shit. He supposed he could just stop trying to stay composed and instead just be some kind of void demon thing, but frankly they didn't make coats in that size, or even with that anatomy in mind.

He sighs and pushes himself off the machine he'd used to find his balance, instead pacing back over to his desk and flicking on a kettle of water. They'd probably be here any minute now, might as well get his shitty stupid gambit ready to go.

Speaking of shitty stupid gambits, he thought, whatever happened to Bigfoot?

---

Out in the cable car station, Bigfoot grumbles as Monokuma proclaims that he should "go fish". Bigfoot knew that cheating mother fucker totally DID have a king in his hand, but he grimaces and takes another card from the pile on the table nonetheless. Waiting around for some dumb assholes to show up was seeming more and more like a bad idea, considering the lack of dumb assholes in the room right now.

Well, except that Monokuma, cheating dirtbag that he was. It was the bear's idea to start playing this asinine card game while they waited, repurposing the desk by the teleporter as a card table, but he questioned whether it was even worth it. Right now, the bear had like nine pairs, and Bigfoot? Yeah, he was sitting at a big, fat two.

Monokuma, now taking his turn, grins smugly and asks Bigfoot if he has a king.

The only response he gets is a loud crash, as Bigfoot flips the card table into the wall in frustration.

With her pistol ready, Alisa takes aim at the thief, aiming at the center of mass. Angus, feeling unease from his loved one’s cocky attitude, has other plans in mind. He waves his hand next to her, signaling to hold her fire.

“Wait. If you shoot, you might hit the crystal.”

She acquiesces with a sour look on her face, lowering her weapon.

“I am a good shooter, dear, you should trust me-”

“I don’t need further complications from this ordeal. You will not attack him with a knife, either, he might use it as a shield.”

“The boy is barely standing up with that thing in his hands, do you really think he can protect himself in that state?”

“He saw something that I didn’t. I’d like to know more.”

Nathan has heard, or at least had enough conscience to hear what was being said on the other side. However, understanding it was out of the question. He takes a breath and looks up, gazing at the couple with eyes almost as empty as a dead person’s. Angus returns a gaze of his own, one filled with curiousness.

“Alright, lad, ye’ve got one shot at this. Tell us what you’ve seen, and we’ll let ya go with a still beating heart.”

The negotiation has set up a spark in Nathan’s head. He understood immediately what was going on, now. Still holding the crystal, he stands up firmly, with no sign of struggle whatsoever.

"Is that a bargain, oversire? If that is the case, I'd like to have some reward as well."

Baffled, but still confident, Angus lets out a sneer.

"As if your life wasn't enough?"

"Think of it as a different deal. I've been sent here to investigate this damned crystal, and now that I know all about it, I'd like to know of your motives related to this."

"Motive?"

"Surely, you've got a reason to organize all of this. In the end of it all, you start killing people to avoid scrutiny, myself included. If you're to expect of me to honor a dishonorable deal, you're mistaken. This is my new proposal, one that can either have all of us alive again and in agreement, or will guarantee the death of everyone on this island. All or nothing, by your decision. In exchange, I tell the secrets of this crystal."

With nothing but a chuckle, Angus retorts.

"Yer takin' me for a nyaff. I'd kill ye and learn of the secrets myself, no need for a deal."

"Will you kill me right here, right now, then?"

Angus steps forward, challenging Nathan's resolve.

"The crystal will only bring me back to life if you do, as it does for the rest of this island."

Another step forward.

"It takes less than a week to escape this pisspot of a location."

"Awfully confident, aren't you?"

"Thankfully, I'm not alone to build a simple raft. We're not too far off from England, you know?"

Without any other plan in mind, Nathan picks up a dagger of his own and points it at the crystal.

"Tough as diamonds, thief."

"Would you bet on it?"

Silence from the scotsman.

"A bit too confident, oversire. Don't lie to a thief."

He readies his knife to plunge the knife into the crystal. Alisa's finger is itching to pull on the trigger, but she knows that a much bigger fuse would set off her husband right after.

"Alright, ya win, thief. Yer telling me what you saw, and I'll tell ye what I plan to do with it."

"Don't li-"

"I'm not abou' ta argue about this. On with it!"

With a flash of light, the treasure hunters find themselves lying in heap on the floor of a dark room. Trip stands up and brushes himself off, before groping along the walls blindly. Behind him, the others get to their feet and try make sense of the darkness while Trip's fingers brush the lightswitch. With an exclamation of pride, he flips it on, flooding the room with light.

Hillary Clinton's eyes adjust to the sight of a rotting corpse directly in front of her and a scream begins to form in her throat, one that is silenced before it begins by Fink's hand clamping over her mouth. Hillary calms down and takes a deep breath as she realizes that it's just one of those zombie animatronics, slumped against a charging station.

The ASMR Youtuber wonders out loud why Xavier stopped using these things, and Godbert responds saying that they suck and got totally owned every time they tried to do anything.

Not too keen on humoring their small talk, Fink walks over to the door pushes Trip out of the way, and keys the password into the pad. After a few beeps and a click, the steel doors slide open with an electronic whir to reveal the laboratory, steeped in darkness save for faint moonlighting filtering through the large window overlooking the mountain peaks.

Godbert flicks on his flashlight anyway and sweeps it across the room, scanning for any sign of their enemy yet seeing no such sight. The group takes wary steps further inside to the center of the room when the door behind them slides shut on its own, locking again. Fink pops off the top of another bottle of hard liquor and idly chugs it down in spite of her surroundings, an act that turns into shocked sputtering as her attention is wrenched away from her drink by one of Hillary's typical horrified screams.

The entire group swivels, ready to leap into action, but only briefly catches the glow of a pair of large, red eyes as Hillary Clinton is dragged away into the darkness.

The room returns to silence, save for the increasingly nervous breathing of the remaining four.

Across the room, the glowing red eyes reappear and Xavier steps into the moonlight with a confident smirk, holding Hillary Clinton at gunpoint in a tight grip. He shakes his head smugly and twirls the gun, firing a warning shot off into the ceiling and causing a shower of sparks to rain down from above.

Left without the EMF jammer OR his distraction in the form of Clinton, Godbert clenches his fist in frustration. Things were going south fast, he had not been prepared for an ambush. Xavier laughs, and puts the gun back to his hostage's head.

---

"Yeah, yeah I know. Spooky darkness powers and I'm still holding a gun to her head. What can I say, don't mess the classics, right? Anyway, how're you stupid fuckers doing? Feels like it's been weeks since I've seen you. Finally decided to show up, huh?

Well, nonetheless, I almost respect the sheer balls you've gotta have to walk in here armed to the teeth like those guys in Predator who get, you know, killed by the Predator."



"So, let's play one final Killing Game, why don't we?

I'll cut the long speeches here, because I'm pretty sure I've stalled long enough for the next autoplay to not overlap with the next one, so I'll just make it simple. Give me the treasure or I'll shoot the politician. I might still shoot you guys either way, but hey, I'll keep her nice and safe for you.

Normally a survivor like this would jeopardize my future plans by talking about everything that went down here, but it's Hillary Clinton, no one's gonna believe a word that come outta her mouth. "



"Contrast that with a free source of infinite resources? Bringing back the dead? I hear burning souls as a power source is a popular trend among evil video game corporations nowadays, so why not combine the two? Infinite supply, after all.

I'd say that's worth the compromise. Besides, voting is for poor people, I hardly care what she does.

So, go ahead and make your choice. Clinton or the treasure."



"And just between us, I'd recommend against getting cheeky and trying anything."

I hate my life.

Vote: The Treasure

An involuntary silence fills the room, not because the tension between both parties is high, but because of Nathan’s state of mind: Despite demonstrating his resilience with the crystal’s effects on him, he’s struggling on the inside to keep his conscience. Showcasing a confident attitude is the only thing keeping him on the high ground of this altercation, and so he takes his time to keep his composure before revealing the crystal’s secrets.

“You claim that the crystal makes you immortal, yes?”

“Is all I wanted in a gem. Are you claiming otherwise?”

“Immortal is a crude word for a crude item like this, oversire.”

“What do ya mean? We’ve first hand experienced its effects, what else could there be to uncover?”

“You haven’t died yet.”

“Death is meaningless with this around, what’s yer point?”

“I’ve died.”

“And?”

“And I am still dead.”

“But you’re alive.”

“Here, yes. In reality, no. You’ve had me killed in an instant. I might have had two or three seconds of reaction before blanking out, so I do not exactly remember how it went, but I woke up as if it were two or three seconds later.”

“A dead man has no conscience, so it makes sense.”

“And so I live yet again, as if my death never happened. However, my death still happened back then, do you agree?”

“Are ye getting on with it or not? Mind you that we have the gun and not you?”

“Do you agree?”

Angus’ face is starting to turn into a deep red ball of rage.

“YES! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”

“I’ve experienced death.”

“That means absolutely nothing.”

“It means everything. Death is the biggest fear for anyone to have. You live every second of your life inching ever so closely to it, and it only happens once. Death invites you to its comforting bosom, free of doubt, of insecurity, of fear, what have you. It’s your one way out of this world, and you’re never coming back. Should someone die, it would be the saddest event for his or her relatives. They’re gone, forever, only to be remembered. You can’t see them again, talk to them again, live with them again. It’s traumatic, but really, death is only a sweet release to the most unimaginable pain.”

“But you don’t feel pain when you die.”

“I am sure that you will feel the burden of living once you do.”

Angus challenges Nathan’s statements with a face that screams out “resolve”. No hints are needed for the thief to understand where this is going for him and his pacifist’s approach to the situation.

“The only burden of living is the one you’ve decided on. Not everyone lives for the same reasons: Should you die for yer country, you’d die a million times for it.”

“Your mind would melt at the third death.”

“Cocky. A real proud man would disregard his deaths all for the sake of the world he lives in. Should that man die as a sacrifice, to have his wife and children see another sunrise, would he be wrong, knowing that he will come back? The thrills of life are the most dangerous ones, why wouldn’t it be fine for that man to experience them without consequence? Morality plays a great role in your reason for immortality, but who’s to say that statement is correct? Centuries of civilizations have taken their turn attempting to find the answer to defeating death itself, each and every one of them being sick in their minds, spouting insane theorems of drinking blood and killing virgins, to name a few. Discovering the answer without laying a finger on a living being? I’ve come the closest to the answer and history will praise me for it.”

“I assume that I have the rights to speak about this.”

“And your verdict?”

“As a man who has died for no sake whatsoever.”

“You’ve died for my sake, but I admit that it is selfish of me to think as such.”

“The least you could say would not involve that. Unfortunately, your theory is as insane as the rest of them.”

“Ye compare me to some know-nothing Egyptians, believing in a god for everything and anything?”

“I’m comparing you to the homeless man I’ve seen on the bustling streets of London, praying and praising the unfortunate end of mankind. If you’ve ever seen one like the man I’ve seen, you’d take more of a liking to Tomas and his love for flowers.”

“Tomas is not as crazy as people would think.”

“Is what a crazier man would say.”

“We’re at a disagreement, then.”

Alisa’s trigger finger is having intense spasms. Her muscles are telling her to shoot, but her willpower prevents any potential catastrophe caused by the weapon and herself.

“It’s a matter of perspective, bastard man.”

A slight flinch from Angus.

“Calling me a bastard ain’t the best decision, but if yer rounding for a maffick, I can have this done within a second.”

“With the audience of one person.”

“And your corpse, as a result.”

After a moment of deliberation, Godbert motions to Fink. Fink reaches into her bag carefully, wraps her hands in the black fabric she'd used to make her clown outfit, then safely grabs hold of the crystal. Its purple light casts ominous shadows through the dim laboratory as she pulls it from the sack, and Xavier's attention becomes truly fixed on the object. He takes a step forward, forcing the politician to step alongside him, but he pauses as Fink instead takes the crystal and holds it above her head, as though to smash it into pieces on the ground before her.

Xavier's expression is unreadable in that moment, but cracks into a stupid grin as he once again begins to howl with laughter. "Oh please," he says, "You wouldn't break that thing, it'd kill you all. Total waste of your efforts this whole time. Honestly, THIS was your master plan? Come on, how stupid do you think I a-" His sentence is cut off by an exclamation of surprise as Hillary Clinton elbows him in the stomach and snatches the gun from his hand, diving back towards the treasure hunters. He attempts to make a swipe for her, but reels backwards, shielding his eyes as Godbert trains the flashlight beam on him.

Luckily, Xavier thought, he still had his secret weapon. From the nearby desk, he snatches a thermos, the BLACK TEA label on the small attached tag still visible even in the dim light. He rips the lid off and takes a swig as the treasure hunters prepare for the worst, for their main method of damage to be snuffed out.

To everyone's surprise, nothing happens. Xavier glances down at the mug, then up at the treasure hunters. He tries to make a hand motion, he shakes the thermos around, but the pitch-blackness never comes.

"...Wait, does Skull Face actually have to brew this himself for it to work? It's a teabag, how does that make sense?" he asks, to no one in particular.

He shrugs in response to the complete lack of replies he gets, before unceremoniously throwing the near-scaling tea onto Godbert, causing him to yell in a combination of shock and pain, dropping his flashlight to the ground with a clatter. Xavier's appearance dissipates into darkness with a flash of static, and he fades into the shadows that cloak the room.

Fink goes to put the crystal back in her bag quickly, when the familiar red eyes appear behind her. They narrow with sick satisfaction as a tendril of blackness reaches out, winding around Fink's arm. Unexpectedly, Fink's head snaps around to stare him in the eyes as she uses her mighty strength to flip him over her head and onto the ground, where he hits the floor with a startled squawk, before slithering back into the dark of the room and reforming into his shadowy, demonic form.

He lunges for Fink's bag, but is caught in the eyes with Godbert's flashlight as he grabs it from the floor, stunning him long enough for Fink to punch him right in his monstrous face. He steps backwards to avoid Fink's next blow, but is instead met with the full force of Hillary's shovel, followed by a jab to his eye with her gardening shears, which he simply pulls out and tosses across the room, unaffected. He turns his attention back to the politician and smiles, unsheathing Ainsley's katana.

---

Out in the cable car station, Bigfoot and his new "friend" are sitting quietly, listening to the commotion through the door. Monokuma wishes out loud that he had popcorn, and Bigfoot gives him a strange look, asking if he can even eat popcorn to begin with. Monokuma says no, but states that it's the principle of the thing, you know? Gotta have popcorn for a show. Bigfoot rolls his eyes and stands up from his spot on the ground, commenting on the fact that the two of them can't even actually see what's going on in there.

Ah well, Bigfoot thought in that moment. Monokuma's just the distraction anyway. Whether Xavier won or lost, Bigfoot would have his moment. Monokuma was just the distraction, and hopefully one that gets his ass beat. Cheating fucker. He approaches the crates on the far side of the platform, and kicks the lid from one of them, sending it to the floor with a clunk. He peers inside the empty crate, and grins.

Yes... This would do nicely.

---

Xavier dashes at Hillary, but his grin is swapped out for an expression of seething rage as Trip throws himself in front of the blade, blocking the killing blow with his rifle. He smacks Trip out of the way with his free hand, but is hit full-force with another punch from Fink. He retaliates, swinging the katana wildly but Fink, feeling no pain, grabs the blade in her bare hand, and tosses it to Godbert, who catches it and charges their enemy.

Godbert and Fink take turns assaulting Xavier as he deflects their blows with his own seemingly-invincible body. Yet, despite the size and strength that came with being an evil void monster, he was finding himself having difficulty handling two enemies at once, especially one like Fink. Time for a change of tactics, he thought. Stepping back momentarily, he grabs something else off a nearby shelf and whirls around, letting loose a burst of light into Fink's eyes from the device.

Fink drops her offensive, and begins to stare blankly forwards, under the brief spell of the Flashback Light's beam.

Xavier snickers, emitting a raspy, cruel noise from his twisted, jagged maw. He turns back to Godbert and disarms him of the sword with ease. In a repeat of earlier events, he lifts Godbert into the air again by the throat. Dark tendrils wrap around the Manderville Man, and he feels his ribs begin to snap and pop under the constrictive force. Despite this, with the breath he could muster, Godbert speaks three words.

"You forgot someone."

Xavier looks confused for a brief second, and his grip loosens, giving Godbert enough leeway to grab his flashlight from his pocket. He flashes on the beam, shining it once again in Xavier's eyes, though this time at close range. Xavier screeches and drops him, while from behind, the one he had forgotten approaches. The ASMR Youtuber leaps upwards, landing on Xavier's shoulders while he is still rubbing his large, red eyes in agony. He barely has time to react before the ASMR Youtuber pries open his jaws, activates her flashbang, and stuffs it down his throat before leaping off of him.

He stands there momentarily stunned by what just happened. He goes to say something, but everyone's vision is suddenly filled with an indescribable white flash as it goes off, tearing through the darkness that composes his body to fill the entire room as an equally unimaginable howl of pain splits the air.

When everyone's vision clears, Xavier is lying in the center of the room, twitching and convulsing. He tries to stand up, but collapses back on the ground, coughing up what seems like liters of the black material that made up his body. Godbert slowly approaches, pulling the Staff of Sealing from his pack. The clear, diamond-jeweled eyes of the scepter's reptilian head appearing to glimmer the closer he draws.

Xavier gazes up at the staff, recognizing it as something stolen from his very own laboratory nights ago. He sighs a pained sigh, and weakly raises one arm from the ground. As Godbert winds up to give him a hefty smack with the demon-sealing artifact, Xavier uses that arm to give one final, defiant middle finger. Godbert brings the staff down onto the fallen XW Director of Operations.

With a final shriek of despair and a flash of light and color, Xavier is gone, leaving nothing but a black-and-red keycard in his place. Godbert looks down at the staff and its now-red eyes, before placing it carefully back into his pack. He exhales a breath of relief, and looked around the room to survey the damages done to his fellow hunters. Each and every one of them was looking much like he was at the moment. Tired yes, but mostly... relieved.

Godbert slowly leans down, picks up the keycard, and stares at the door leading out to the cable car platform before approaching it with a slow, deliberate pace. The treasure hunters gather behind him and after a few seconds of collecting themselves, he swipes the card on the reader, and the doors slide open with a hiss...