The Mole: A Party of Sabotage

By Fred the Mole

The sun rises as the camera zooms in on a Cruise ship.  On the front deck is Fred the Mole

“Viewers, welcome to the second Episode of…  The Mole: Party of Sabotage,” said Fred, “In the first episode, Twila got unlucky, and was the first to be sent home.  Now 11 remain.  Who will survive, and who is… The Mole

Name:  Lakitu Spine (female)
Age:  34
Homeland:  Sky Land
Job:  Fisherman

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Name:  Clubba Snorr (female)
Age:  45
Homeland:  Gutsy Gulch
Job:  BOUNCER

---

Name:  Koops Pettle
Age:  21
Homeland:  Petal Meadows
Job:  Law Student

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Name:  Toad Fungi
Age:  32
Homeland:  Toad Town
Job:  Bellhop

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Name:  Kammy Koopa
Age:  84
Homeland:  Dark land
Job:  Retired Architect

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Name:  Mallow Clout
Age:  20
Homeland:  Nimbus Land
Job:  Weatherman

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Name:  Koopatrol Shells (male)
Age:  49
Homeland:  Dark land
Job:  Security Guard

---

Name:  Elvin “E. Gadd” Gaddget
Age:  75
Homeland:  Boo Woods
Job:  Butler

---

Name:  Wrinkly Kong
Age:  80
Homeland:  DK Island
Job:  Retired Teacher

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Name:  Chuck Chargin (Male)
Age:  38
Homeland:  Donut Plains
Job:  Minor-League Football Player

---

Name:  Bow Biddly
Age:  48
Homeland:  Forever Forest
Job:  Royalty

---

“This is the MSS Sea Star,” continued Fred. “The players spent the night on this boat, and will be joining me for breakfast in the Dining room at 10:30”

***

***Toad:  Wow… Twila.  Too bad.  At this point in the game, it’s really just luck

***Koops:  To tell you the truth… I kinda thought she was the Mole.  So I’m kind of glad she left.

***Clubba:  The thing about the person who goes home first… is that you don’t really get a chance to know them that well before they leave.  They could be the greatest person in the world… yet they could have been your worst nightmare.  I do feel sorry for her.

All players are seated at the same dining room table as they were the two days before.

“It doesn’t matter what we eat this time, does it?” joked Chuck

“We’ll see,” said Fred, “We’ll see… By the way, how are your journals treating you?”

“They’re excellent,” said E. Gadd, as she jotted something down in her journal, “They’re like your memory once your memory leaves you.”

“Okay?” said Fred, “Anyone else?”

“I think they’re useless,” said Kammy, “My brain is so big it’s completely worthless.  I think they’re kind of insulting.”

“I see,” said Fred, “With that said, we’ll be docking at our first destination in 15 minutes.  I recommend getting packed now, so you can be at the front entrance in 10.

“But we just started breakfast 8 minutes ago,” said Koops, “Couldn’t we- Oh.  He left”

Koops was right.  Fred had left the players at the table.

“I don’t know about anyone else,” said Chuck, “But I’m stayin’ and finishing my eggs!  Besides, I barely unpacked.”

Everyone except Chuck, Koops, Lakitu, and Toad left the table.  Chuck, Koops, and Toad were finishing up there breakfast, and Clubba was asleep in her chair.

“Pfft.  She yelled at me for sleeping too much,” said Chuck, stabbing at his fried egg.

“I wonder where our next destination is?” wondered Toad, resting his head in his hand as he looked out the window to the choppy water”

“Hopefully a place with good food,” said Chuck, guzzling down a glass of orange juice.

“Should we wake her up?” asked Koops, as he stared at Clubba in confusion

“Nah,” said Chuck, “leave her be.  She’ll wake up soon enough”

“Well,” said Toad, “I’m done”

Toad shifted out of his chair, and walked away

“I think I’m full too,” said Koops, as he scooped in another bite of cereal

***

Lakitu snapped the locks on her bag and looked at the alarm clock sitting on the drawer.  She then looked at the front door, half expecting to see Clubba, but saw just on open door.  She then started to pick Clubba’s things off the floor and put them in the other bag in the room.

***

Kammy sat on her striped-sheet bed with her bag next to her

“My roommate was executed last episode.  It was nice to have the room to myself for a while.

She looked at her watch, and got up from her spot

***

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

The boat had docked.  All players had already gathered at the entrance.  The door opened.

“This…,” said Fred, “Is the Grand Canal.  It is located on Party World Island, where Parties are always going on!”

The players saw a city, but instead of streets filled with cars, there were canals filled with gondolas.  There were many buildings, and the player’s could smell spaghetti sauce and pizza.

“Cooooooooooool” said Lakitu.

“This is SO cool!” said Koopatrol, running out of the boat.

***Koopatrol:  I don’t travel much.  I’ve lived in Bowser’s castle for longer than I can remember.  I’m not even sure if I’ve even LEFT the castle before this.

“Well,” said Fred, “Let’s walk!”

Fred walked to the boathouse and spoke to a Shy Guy at the door.

“6 gondolas, please.  For the Mole,” said Fred.

The Shy Guy nodded and motioned to 6 gondolas lined up on the nearest river, a Shy Guy in each.

“Well,” said Fred, “Get in, they know the place.  4 Gondolas of two and 1 of three would be good.”

The players walked as a mob to the gondolas.  Fred got in the first one, empty except for a lone Shy Guy.  Lakitu and Clubba climbed into the next one, chatting and giggling.  Chuck climbed into the next one, followed by Koopatrol.  E. Gadd and Koops took the next and waited for further instruction.  Toad climbed into the fourth, Mallow right behind him, leaving Wrinkly, Kammy, and Bow to take the last.

All Shy Guys started to paddle, and as they moved, they could see less and less of the cruise ship, which they would probably never see again.

***

“So,” Clubba said to Lakitu as they traveled, “Who do you suspect?”

“I kind of suspect Koops,” said Lakitu, slightly quietly, as she thought the Shy Guy would hear her

“Well,” said Clubba, “I suspect Toad.  While Koops is really shy, Toad is just quiet.  A great trait for a Mole, yes?”

“Yeah,” said Lakitu, “But so is being shy.  If his shyness isn’t sincere, then that’s also a great cover-up, right?”

“Hmm,” said Clubba, “I just get a weird vibe about Toad, you know what I mean?”

***

“So,” said E. Gadd, looking out at the water, “What do you suspect today’s challenge will be?”

“I dunno,” said Koops, quietly, “Hopefully something fun, yes?”

“Yeah,” said E. Gadd, “May I ask you for your top Mole suspect?”

“Actually,” said Koops, “I have two.  Chuck and Mallow.”

“Well I don’t know about Chuck,” said E. Gadd, “But I agree with you about Mallow.  He’s smart, sociable, and likeable.  No one would EVER suspect him to be the Mole!  Now, why do you suspect Chuck?”

“He’s just kinda out there,” said Koops, “Ya know?  He seems more brawny than brainy, and people wouldn’t expect that in a Mole.”

“Yeah…” said E. Gadd.

***

All of the boat arrived at a pizzeria.  Fred was the first out.

“Well,” he said, “Let’s go in and I’ll tell you about the first challenge”

The players entered the restaurant and sat at a table with “MOLE” written on the tablecloth.

“Now today’s challenge is a fun one,” said Fred, sitting down, “I’m guessing that you have all already smelled the pizza, right?”

The players nodded slightly

“Well,” continued Fred, “I need three players to be chefs”

“Wait,” said Lakitu, “Didn’t we already do a cooking game?”

Fred ignored her question.  “Come on, now.”

“I was a chef yesterday,” said Koops, “I… don’t really wanna do it again.”

“I’ll be a chef,” said Clubba.

“I’ll be a chef, too!” said Lakitu, almost instantly after Clubba volunteered

***Lakitu:  I wanted to be with my Coalition partner for the challenge… I hope I didn’t make it too obvious…

“We need one more,” said Fred, looking around

“I’ve tried my hand at cooking a couple times,” said E. Gadd, “I think I’d be up to it.”

 “OK,” said Fred, “We have our three.  You guys will be preparing our dinner tonight.  It’ll be worth 26,000 coins.  Don’t worry.  It doesn’t have to taste good, but it must meet the requirements.  It will also be the only thing you eat tonight, so if you fail:  no dinner.

“You guys will be making 3, 12-inch Pizzas for us tonight.  The only catch is that the only materials that I’ll give you are this cooler,”

He motioned to a blue cooler, lying on the ground.

“An Italian-to-English dictionary, since Italian is the main language here.”

He threw the dictionary to Lakitu.

“And the three recipes you will need.”

He handed the recipe to Clubba and continued.

 “You will have to ask the locals for all of the material you will need.  This includes everything on your recipes.  However: you can only get one ingredient on the list per household, and you can’t go to any businesses to get the food.  Understand?  Dinner’s at six, so I’d get started now.”

E. Gadd grabbed the cooler, and the three ran out of the door.  Fred turned to the remaining players.

“As for you guys,” he said, “You’ll be playing a dice-rolling game upstairs with me.  Here’s how it works.  One player goes upstairs at a time.  When they get upstairs, I give them two versions of a mission.  The first version is easier than the second one.  Then, they roll a die.  If they roll a one, two, or three on the die, then they do the easier mission.  If they roll a four, five, or six on the die, they will do the more challenging mission.  Understand?  Each mission will be worth 3,000 coins, so a total of 24,000. Are we clear?”

The players nodded

“Oh, and by the way:  You can’t discuss the content of your mission and if you succeeded or not until dinner.  Who wants to go first?” asked Fred.  Chuck raised his hand.

***

“Well,” said E. Gadd, ”first we gotta find a way to travel throughout the city.  Crossing the rivers will be our biggest difficulties.  And… is that a giant octopus in the distance?”

He pointed to the silhouette of a giant octopus just a couple miles away

“Don’t get distracted,” said Clubba, “We have pizzas to make!”

E. Gadd opened up the folded recipe and read it aloud.  “We need two bottles of tomato sauce, one cup of Mozzarella, one cup of Cheddar, one stick of pepperoni, a cup of sliced peppers, frozen pizza dough (enough for three 12=inch pizzas), a bottle of olives, and the following herbs:  oregano, thyme, and rosemary.”

Clubba dropped her jaw

***

“OK, Chuck,” said Fred, “Here’s your mission.  Roll a one, two, or three:  Swim the perimeter of the city.  Roll a four, five, or six:  Swim the perimeter of the city wearing ankle weights”

Chuck rolled the die.  He got a 5, which made him chuckle

“I ain’t doin’ that,” he said, wiping his forehead, “There’s no way I’d do that.”

***Chuck:  There’s no way I would do it!  This is a big city, so it would be hard already, but to have to do it with ANKLE WEIGHTS?!  There’s no way I’d have done it, no way.

***

*Knock knock*

The door that E. Gadd, Lakitu, and Clubba were standing at creaked open, revealing an old Pokey.

“Posso aiutarla? (May I help you?)” said the Pokey

“English?” said Clubba, “You speak English?”

“Inglese!” said Lakitu, looking at the book, “Speak Inglese?”

“Non Inglese” said the Pokey.

Clubba and E. Gadd sighed as Lakitu turned the pages of the dictionary.

“Formaggio (cheese)?” said Lakitu, “avete (have) formaggio.”

“Si,” said the Pokey.

Lakitu paused.

“Abbiamo la formaggio?” she said, looking up.

“Si,” said the Pokey, as he walked to the kitchen and back again.  He handed them a baggie that held Mozzarella in it.

“Grazie (Thanks)!” said Lakitu.

“That was good,” said Clubba, as they walked away.

***

Fred and Chuck walked down the stairs and Chuck left the building.

“Who’senext?” said Fred.  The room was silent.

“I-I’ll go next, I guess,” said Koops, getting up from his chair.

“OK” said Fred, “Follow me up the stairs”

Once they got upstairs, Fred took out an index card.

“OK,” he said, looking at the card, “Roll a one, two, or three:  You wear a ball and chain until dinner.  Roll a four, five, or six:  wear a stockade until dinner.”

Koops rolled the die.  It was a 4.

“OK…” said Koops, as he walked downstairs.

***

Chuck walked up to the edge of the city, and stared at the ocean water.  The Blooper who was standing next to him handed him two ankle weights.  Chuck put them on and reluctantly put his feet in the water.  He then pulled them back up after two minutes

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I can’t do it.  I just can’t!”

***

Fred and Koops came down the stairs, and Koops walked out the front door.

“Who’s next?” asked Fred, rubbing his hands together.

“I’ll go!” said Mallow, gleefully as he went up the stairs.

Once they got to the second floor, Fred took out the next card.

“Roll a one two or three,” he said, “cast one of your legs.  Roll a four, five, of six:  cast both of your legs”

Mallow stared at the host.  He rolled the die and got a 4.

“Two casts it is,” said Fred.

Mallow stared at him.  “Let’s do this!” he said, energetically.  He left the building

***Mallow:  I wouldn’t say that I was excited to cast both of my legs but… I wanted the money.  Didn’t we all?

Mallow and Fred came down the stairs, and Mallow ran out the door.  “Who’ next?” asked Fred.

“Me?” said Bow, looking around.

“OK,” said Fred, “Follow me”

Fred started walking up the stairs and Bow quickly flew to him.  Once they were gone the remaining players started a conversation.

“So,” said Koopatrol, “Who wants to go next?”

“Not me,” said Toad

“I could go,” said Wrinkly, “if nobody else wants to”

“No!” said Kammy, “I wanna go next!  As the eldest, I get to go.”

“OK,” said Wrinkly, “If you want to, you can go next.”

***

“OK” said Fred, turning to Bow, “roll a one, two, or three:  take a neutralizer.  This will not allow you to win an exemption in this episode.  Roll a four, five, or six:  Take a -1.  This will take one point off of your quiz score.”

Bow rolled the die and got a six.  Her eyes widened as she saw this.

“Go down to the restaurant’s basement,” he said, “you will see a card that says ‘-1’ on it.  Show that card to me to get the money”

Bow slowly floated down the stairs behind Fred.

***

Koops’s boat came to a stop at an old jail.  He went through the front door and saw a guy holding a ball-and-chain.

“I ‘sume you’re here for da Mole?” he said.  Koops nodded and took a step back

“I-I uh… j-just give me a second to think this over, okay?”

***

“Who’s next,” said Fred, as he and Bow came down the creaky stairs.  Bow silently floated down another set of stairs leading to the basement.

“ME!” yelled Kammy, getting up from her chair, “ITS ME!”

“OK…” said Fred, covering his ears.  He walked up the stairs and Kammy closely followed him

“Roll a one, two, or three” said Fred as he handed Kammy the die, “Dye your hair orange.  Roll a four, five, or six:  Shave your head.”

Kammy rolled the die and got a four.

“Go down to your boat.  The Shy Guy in it will take you to where you need to go.”

Fred and Kammy came down the stairs and Kammy slowly left the building.

“Next?” said Fred.

“If you don’t mind,” said Wrinkly, “I would love to go next.”

Fred and Wrinkly walked up the stairs, leaving Koopatrol and Toad

“You don’t mind if I go next, man, do you?”

Toad shook his head.  “All right,” said Koopatrol

***

Bow stared at the table holding the -1.

***Bow:  You do not know how hard this was for me.  If I got this, I could be going home!  But we need the money, we need as much as we can get.  But what’s the point of collecting money if I go home?

She closed her eyes and started floating in circles around the table.  She reached out her hand to grab it, and quickly took it back.  She then did the same thing three times

***

Wrinkly held the die tightly in her hand.  Fred cleared his throat

“Roll a one, two, or three,” said Fred, “Eat an Ice-cream cone.  Roll a four, five, or six:  Eat a slice of Pizza.” Wrinkly chuckled and rolled the die.  She got a four.

“I guess I’ll be forced to eat a slice of Pizza then, no?”

“Well,” said Fred, “Not quite.  But, if you forfeit this challenge…you’ll earn an exemption”

“Well,” said Wrinkly.

“Go to the kitchen” directed Fred, “You can think about it there.  By the way, you can’t tell any of the other players that you got the exemption.”

“O-ok” said Wrinkly.

***Wrinkly:  It really hurts me deeply to damage the team in such a way.  But an exemption… oh, how tempting…

***
11:30

“Thanks!” yelled Lakitu as they walked away from their third house.  E. Gadd was now holding a bag of Mozzarella, a bottle of tomato sauce, a pepperoni stick, a bottle of Thyme, and a bag of Cheddar cheese.  He put the ingredients in the cooler he was dragging

***E. Gadd:  We were on a good luck streak.  We found a whole neighborhood made up of immigrants from Toad Town and we managed to get a lot from them…Maybe we should go back there when we need to cook…

***

Fred and Wrinkly walked back down the stairs.  Wrinkly walked into the Kitchen and Fred turned to the two remaining players.

“Will one of you come with me?” he asked.

Koopatrol got up from the table and walked up the stairs with Fred.  Toad looked down at his plate and began to think about the identity of the Mole

Fred handed Koopatrol the die and said, “Roll a one, two, or three:  Stand in the town center wearing only your underwear.  Roll a four, five or six:  Stand In the town center wearing nothing at all.” Koopatrol rolled the die and got a 3.

Koopatrol looked a little relieved, but was still worried.

***Koopatrol:  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this.  Not only is it extremely embarrassing, but cold weather and I… don’t mix.  It’s like, 30 degrees outside, and inside my armor, it’s about 80 degrees.

Fred and Koopatrol walked down the stairs and Koopatrol left the building.  Fred turned to Toad.  “Toad,” he said, “Let’s go upstairs”

Fred and Toad slowly marched up the stairs as the Basement door creaked open.  Bow came out, empty-handed.  She crossed her arms and sat back down in her chair.  Shortly after that, the front doors opened and Chuck came in, everything dry except for his feet.

“Hey,” he said, looking at Bow, “you done?” Bow nodded

“Yeah,” said Chuck, sitting down at the table, “Mine’s a doozy.”

The door to the kitchen opened and Wrinkly stepped out.  She walked over to the table

“Hello!” she said, kindly, “Boy was my mission tough.  I had to go into the kitchen and take a-

“NO!” intervened Bow, “We can’t talk, remember?”

“Oh,” said Wrinkly, apologetic, “I’m-I’m sorry.”

***

Koops walked out of the old jail, and got settled back into his boat.  He looked back at the warden, who was standing outside the door.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said, “Not u-up to it.”

***Koops:  *sigh* N-no. I didn’t do it.  The warden… kinda scared me out of it.  Creepy guy, he was.

Koops boat sailed off

***
2:00

While the Dice players got off to a rough start, the pizza chefs were on a roll.

E. Gadd opened the cooler.

“So how much we got?” said Lakitu, curiously.

“All we have left to get is the Olives and the Rosemary!  After we get those, all that’s left is the baking!”

E. Gadd knocked on the next door

***

Mallow entered the hospital and sat down in the chair.  The nurse, a Boo, turned to him holding a roll of gauze.  Mallow gulped

***Mallow:  I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it or not.  I thought I would walk around in it to try it out..

The Boo started to wrap the gauze around Mallow’s leg

***

Toad walked up the stairs and into the room.  He picked up the die laying on the table.

“Now,” said Fred, “Since you’re last, I’m going to give you an option to make up for all of the people who did not complete their task.  You will have to roll for all of the other seven challenges.  Then, you must complete all of the challenges that the other players were offered.  You will not know if they completed their challenges or not, so it might be a waste of time.  But you could easily be the hero in this game.  You may commence rolling”

First Roll:  1

“You must swim the perimeter of the city,” said Fred

Second Roll:  4

“You must wear a stockade until dinner.”

Third Roll:  6

“You must wear two casts until dinner.”

Fourth Roll:  5

“A Minus-1 it is.”

Fifth Roll:  6

“You must shave your hair.”

Sixth Roll:  4

“A little Pizza for you.”

Seventh Roll:  2

“You must stand in the town center wearing only your underpants.”

Toad gulped, but then smiled.  “No problem,” he smirked.
 


***

Kammy stepped into the Barber shop and sat down in the chair, holding her hair tightly in her hands.  The Shy Guy with scissors stepped up to her and opened his scissors as wide as they could go.

“WAIT!” said Kammy, holding her hat on her head tight, “Give me a minute to say goodbye”

***
2:20

“Ciao!” said Lakitu, shaking the Blooper at the door’s hand.  She flipped through her dictionary once more.  “Olive!  Olive e rosmerino!”

“Va bene (OK).  Olive e rosmerino” said the Blooper, as they closed the door.  The Pizza Chefs stood at the door for about 30 seconds

“Do you think he’s coming back?” said Lakitu, staring through the window.  The door opened once again and the Blooper was holding a box.  He handed the box to E. Gadd, who opened it

“We have everything!” he said gleefully.  He closed the box and placed it carefully in the cooler.

***

Koops walked back through the doors of the Pizzeria and sat back down at the table quietly.  Just then, Toad came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen

***

Kammy walked out of the barber shop, still holding her hat tightly on her head.  No hair could be seen escaping the sides of the hat.  She stepped back into her boat and the Shy Guy sailed away

***

Mallow staggered out of the hospital, and tripped on the curb.  Both of his legs were casted

***Mallow:  This is probably the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been… ever.  I’ve never needed a cast before, so…

Mallow sat back down in his boat.

***
2:45

“Cucina (Kitchen)!” Lakitu pleaded to the Monty Mole at the door.  He stared at her confusedly, nodded, and opened the door a bit wider.

“Va bene,” he said, “Va bene”

“GRAZIE GRAZIE GRAZIE!” screamed Lakitu, shaking the Monty Moles hand.

“Calm down,” said E. Gadd, putting a hand on her shoulder, “We don’t want to scare him.”

“And by the way,” said the Monty Mole, “I do speak English.” The Pizza Chefs stared at him for about 5 seconds, and then broke out into laughter.

“You guys must be from the Mole,” he said, motioning for them to come in. “Fred is my cousin.  Yeah, you can use my Kitchen.”

***

Koopatrol stepped out of his rocking boat, still fully coated in armor.  He walked up to a stand in the Town square and took off his helmet, revealing dark brown hair and blue eyes, and placed it by his feet.  He then took off his gloves and boots, starting to feel the city’s below-freezing weather.  His ears started to turn blue as he took off his most outer layer of chest armor.

***Koopatrol:  That was AWEFUL!  As a high-servant of King Bowser, I shouldn’t have to be humiliated in such a way!  … And it was chilly…

***
3:30

Kammy creaked open the door of the Pizzeria, and sat back down at the table, hat still tightly on her forehead.  Mallow walked in from just behind her, completely barefoot

***Mallow:  I don’t want to talk about it, OK?  I don’t think anyone here would have done it, I really don’t!  (Sigh) I hope no one’s mad at me.

***

Koopatrol quickly hopped back into his boat, tightening his helmet.  “Please,” he said to the Shy Guy, rather annoyed, “Take me back to the Pizza place”.  The Shy Guy nodded and the boat took off.

***
4:00

Koopatrol swiftly entered the Pizzeria and sat back down in his chair.  He didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment

***Koopatrol:  I was upset.  Upset with myself.  I was such a coward I couldn’t complete such an easy task!

***
4:45

***Clubba:  It was fun!  We made pizzas!  I never thought I would actually be able to cook anything like that.  Personally, I’m proud of our creations!

***E. Gadd:  We finished our pizzas with time to spare.  If the Mole was on our team, I don’t think they sabotaged at all!

E. Gadd lifted their Pizzas and put them in the cooler, which he then closed.  He picked it up, and they left the house

“Thanks!” Clubba yelled back to the Monty Mole

***
5:30

The front doors to the Pizzeria opened and the Pizza Chefs walked in, holding their Pizzas.  “Anyone orders pizza?” joked E. Gadd as he opened the cooler and took the Pizzas out.

“Great!” said Fred, taking the pizzas from E. Gadd and putting them on the table, “You have a half an hour to check in with your journals and reflect.”

Clubba, Lakitu, and E. Gadd sat back in their respective seats and began to join the conversation with everyone else.

***
6:00

Fred cleared his throat.  “Excuse me,” he said, “Dinner is served!” He took out the three Pizzas and put them in the center of the table.  All of the players began to help themselves to Pizza.  “Now,” said Fred, once again, “You might have noticed that one seat is empty”.  The players all looked at the empty chair at the table. Fred spoke again, “During the Dice game, Toad was given the option of completing all of your tasks, besides the Pizza Chefs, of course.  He’s sitting on the second floor, but why don’t we find out how well everyone else did?

“So Pizza Chefs, how did the challenge go?”

“We aced it!” said Clubba, almost bragging.

“Great!” said Fred, “That’s 26,000 coins added to the pot!” Several players clapped.  The Mole just sat in their chair with their arms crossed.

“Now,” said Fred, “Everyone else had individual challenges.  Chuck, can you tell us what your challenge was?” Chuck slightly chuckled

“I had to swim the length of the city,” he said, “wearing ankle weights.”

“And did you succeed?” ask Fred, curiously.

“… No” said Chuck, looking down, “No, I did not”

Several players sighed.  “I see,” said Fred. “Koops, your challenge was…”

“I had to wear a stockade until dinner,” he said, quietly, “and I failed.”

More players sank back in their chairs.  “And,” said Fred, “what about you, Koopatrol?”

“Well,” he started, “I had to stand in the Grand Canals town center, wearing nothing but my underwear.  I assume that you already would have expected me to fail, which I did.”

The players were losing more and more hope as Fred spoke.

“Now Bow,” he said, “tell us your story.”

“I had to take a -1” he said, “and I didn’t take it.”

“Come on!” mumbled Chuck.

“What about you, Wrinkly.”

“Well,” she stumbled, “Well… um… I had to eat a slice of um… Pizza and, well… I sort of… failed.”

“WHAT?!” yelled Chuck, more audibly. “ARE YOU A MORON?!”

***Chuck:  Well, I was frustrated.  HOW CAN YOU NOT EAT A PIECE OF %@%(*% PIZZA?!

“Kammy,” said Fred, ignoring Chuck, “it’s your turn.”

“I had to shave my head,” said Kammy starting to take her hat off of her hat, revealing all of her hair. “And I couldn’t do it.”

“Well THIS is a nightmare…” Lakitu mumbled to Clubba.

“Mallow,” said Fred, “tell us what happened.”

“I had to cast both of my legs,” he said, staring into space. “And if you’ve seen my legs, you’d know.”

A couple players looked under the table, and saw Mallows bare legs.  They all groaned.

“Well that’s it,” said Fred, rubbing his hands together. “Now let’s bring out Toad!” The players could hear Toad walking down the steps.

***Toad:  Let me tell you what happened to me.  So first I went to the Kitchen.  I ate the piece of pizza, easy right?  It tasted pretty good, too.  Then I went to the basement and saw the -1.  I grabbed it, stuffed it in my pocket, and left the building.  I went to the barber next, because I only have like three hairs that are hidden by my hat.  I got them shaved off easily, and then went to the old jail.  I took the last stockade, but before I could put it on, it fell into the canal!  I realized I couldn’t win, so I tore up the -1.

Toad came down the steps and sat in his chair.  “Sorry guys,” he said, apologetically. “I blew it.”

“Well,” said Fred, “it seems that the only money made will come from the Pizza Chefs.  However:  A couple rules have been broken.”

The players stared at each other with confusion.  “First of all,” said Fred, “I told the die rollers that they couldn’t tell anyone about their task until dinner.  However, Wrinkly broke this rule when talking to Bow and Chuck.” Several players glared at Wrinkly, and she smiled apologetically.  “Second,” continued Fred, “I said to the Pizza Chefs that they could only get one ingredient per household.  This was broken when they received olives AND rosemary from the same house.  I will only take away 5,000 for all of this, but next time:  it WILL be doubled, understand?”

The players nodded.

TOTAL POT:  81,000/124,000

***Lakitu:  I don’t think that either of the penalties were sabotage.  I know ours was an accident and I think Wrinkly just made a slight error.  We all do eventually, right?

***Chuck:  Man, we did terrible compared to last week.  The only people who made money were the people on the pizza team!  Disgraceful.

“Now,” said Fred, “I assume that you’re all full of food, so let’s get back into our boats and find the hotel!”

Fred got up from his chair and walked to the doors.  The other players followed suit.  Once outside, they climb into their respected boats, and sailed away.

***

The gondolas docked at a hotel with a big sign that read:

---
Le Talpa Albergo
Chi e la Talpa? (1950)
---

“You’ll have the same roommates and room numbers as before, OK?  Breakfast is at 9:30 tomorrow morning,” said Fred, as he walked swiftly through the double doors leading into the hotel.  The other players soon followed.

***

Clubba and Lakitu dropped their stuff on the floor and sat down on their beds, opening their notebooks.

“Top suspects?” Lakitu asked Clubba, curiously.

“Mainly Chuck,“ said Clubba, in a whisper, “But maybe it’s just because he drives me crazy.”

***

Koops plopped down on his bed and opened a book.  E. Gadd sat down in a chair and opened his journal.  “So,” asked E. Gadd, “Who do you suspect to be the Mole?”

***Koops:  I found E. Gadd slightly annoying.  He ALWAYS wanted to share information.  Ever think that I wanted to keep my information to myself?

***
9:30 the next morning

“Good morning, players!” said Fred, warmly as the players gathered for breakfast, “Please eat quickly, so we can start sightseeing!  We’re going to see a lot today.”

The players quickly scarfed down their breakfast in about 7 minutes.  Fred cleared his throat and said, “Now, we have 4 Gondolas today.  Three of them can fit three, and one can fit two.  However:  The one that fits two will be holding me, so there will be room for only one other person.  That means one person has to stay here and not go on the trip.

“Not me,” said Chuck, “I’m going.”

“Me too!” said Kammy in a whiny tone.

“I can stay,” said Koops, “I mean, if no one else wants to.”

“Then it’s settled,” said E. Gadd, “Koops will stay.”

“OK then,” said Fred, “Koops, you can just hang out at the hotel until we get back.  If you leave the hotel at any point, you will be penalized, understand?  We’ll probably be back around 4:00.  Now, everyone else, go get ready for the day.  Koops, you stay here for a moment.” The other players swiftly left the dining room.

“So,” said Fred to Koops, after all of the other players left, “There is a catch.”

Koops smiled, slightly nervously.  “I knew it” he said.

“So,” said Fred, “there is an Exemption hidden somewhere in the hotel.  Don’t check in other guests’ rooms, but you have permission to check in employee only locations.  There will be some clues to the location.  You have until 3:00 to find it. Well, see you then!” And with that, Fred left the room.

***

Soon, everyone (except Koops) was gathered at the Gondolas outside the hotel, carrying daypacks.  “Il Piovra Gigante” was written on the closest Gondola.  “Il Mare Tartaruga” was written on another.  “Torre Pendente” was written on the third.  Inside each was a Shy Guy and a TV.  Fred climbed into a small one called “Con l’host”.  Clubba and Lakitu were the first to make a move, as they climbed into Gigante.  Chuck, seeing that Clubba was going to ride in Gigante, climbed into Tartaruga.

***Chuck:  I was really just trying to avoid arguments.  I know I can get under Clubba’s skin.

Wrinkly climbed aboard Tartaruga with some trouble.  Koopatrol climbed into the Gigante as Mallow and Toad climbed into Pendente.  Kammy was the last to get on Pendente, and Bow and E. Gadd were standing on the ground next to the hotel.  “You wanna go with Fred?” Bow asked.

“Sure,” said E. Gadd, as he made his way towards Con l’host.  As Bow climbed on Tartaruga, boats moved from the shore.

***

Koops finished searching the dining room, and to his dismay, found nothing.  He sprinted through a set of double doors and found the Kitchen.

“C’mon, c’mon…” he said to himself.  Begin deserted, the kitchen was very easy to search.  He threw pots and pans in the air, hoping to find something but… nothing.  He started opening cabinets as quickly as he could.

***

Just about 15 seconds after the boats started to move, the TVs simultaneously turned on, showing, who other than, Fred.  “Hello!” he said, “I will be your tour guide.  For this trip, we’ll be making a full circle around the Canal, but also making various stops along the way.  I think we’ll reach our first stop in about…” Fred looked at his map and then his watch, “10 minutes.  Until then, just look to the side at the wonderful buildings.”

But what they didn’t know was that all boats were starting to head towards different locations.

***

Koops flung back the Kitchen doors, now holding a piece of paper.

***Koops:  In the Kitchen, I found a map of the hotel.  Whether there was a hidden clue on it, I did not know, but still… it seems pretty helpful.

He looked down at the map.  There were four floors in the hotel and two basements.  He studied the map closer and saw that there were tiny letters printed on the bottom of the paper

Roolf Driht Ton

“Wah?” said Koops staring at the map with an expression of confusion.  He then lost that expression and replaced it with an expression of realization “Oh,” he said to himself, “Backwards.  Should’ve known.”

***

Gigante rocked a bit and the TV turned on, showing Fred once again.  “Greetings, players!” he said, “You will be arriving at your first destination very soon.  See that Giant Blooper?  That’s our first stop.”

Clubba, Lakitu, and Koopatrol gawked at the Blooper. “I guess that’s what E. Gadd was talking about yesterday,” said Clubba, quietly.  The TV turned off and the three players dismounted from their gondola onto a platform resembling a performing stage.

“Hey,” said Koopatrol, “where are the other boats?” Just then, the Shy Guy threw the TV out of the Gondola and it turned on once more.

***

“What-the?” said Chuck, looking off of the giant bridge he and his team were standing on.  He saw a couple Cheep Cheeps swimming in the water below.

***

“I don’t get it,” said Mallow, “Why would only our boat bring us to this tower?” Toad took a small step and the tower that they were standing on shook.

“Watch it!” said Kammy. “Do you wanna make us fall?!”

***

“Hello again, players!” said Fred as E. Gadd watched him televise to the other players, “I’m guessing you all know that you have all been taken to separate locations.  Well, that is part of our next challenge!” Fred turned to E. Gadd, “Are you listening to this, E. Gadd?” Fred turned back to the camera.  “So, first of all, each gondola has been taken to a different landmark in the city.  In fact, they’re so close; I bet you could see each other!  Your main goal is to find 3 Stars, one on each location.

“Now, Team Gigante, I’ll bet you’ve seen the Blooper, correct?  Well it’s currently holding three boxes.  One holds a -1, one holds a neutralizer, and one holds a Star.  It’s a whiz at mixing them up, so you’ll be playing a little game with him.  You can guess as much as you’d like, but, say, if you get 9 -1s, you’d have to distribute them amongst yourselves.  Once you get your Star, you are done.  However: he will only shuffle the boxes every 10 minutes.

“Team Tartaruga, you might have noticed that there is a cage holding a Star hanging above you.  You also may have noticed that the bridge you are on opens up, right through the middle.  Well, every fifteen minutes it opens up, which will make you fall into the water below.  What you have to do is devise a plan for all three of you to stay on the bridge.  If you succeed, the cage will open and you will receive a Star.

“Team Pendente, you might have noticed the blackboard with questions on it.  What you must do is solve all of these puzzles these, without falling off the tilting tower.  If you do fall, it will take you time to get back up, so be cautious.  You must enter the answers to the puzzles into the 6-number combination safe.  If the safe opens, you will receive the Star inside it.

“And last, E. Gadd, you are the timer.  How long you can tread water will be how long the game goes.  This challenge is worth 30,000 coins.  Understand?” Fred turned to E. Gadd, who was climbing into the water.  “Start treading… now!” E. Gadd pushed away from the wall and started treading water.

***
10:30

Koops ran into a small room with vending machines.  He scanned his eyes through it, and to his surprise, saw a piece of paper with “Clue” written on it in B-1.   Koops rummaged through his pocket and pulled out 2 coins, which he slid into the machine.  “B…1” he said, punching in the buttons on the machine.  The Clue slowly came out and Koops unfolded it.  DDS | 511 LUK.

“What?” Koops asked himself.  He had to find meaning to this.

***

“All right,” said Mallow, “Lets read the first one.”

Question 1:  Chuck’s age minus Toad’s age

“Well,” said Toad, “I’m 32, so we got that one.”

“Chuck is my roommate” said Mallow, “He’s, um, 30 something, high thirties…either 37 or 38.  I’m gonna say… 37, so 37 minus 32 is… 5.  The first number is 5.” Toad entered a five into the first combination place.

***

“OK,” said the Blooper, “I’ll start the mixing now.” The Blooper stared throwing the boxes in the air as fast as he could.  Clubba, Lakitu, and Koopatrol looked at him in awe.  Pretty soon, the Blooper’s arms started slowing down and the boxes fell to the ground.  “Now,” said Blooper, “pick a box.”

“I was watching as close as I could,” said Koopatrol, pointing at the box on the left, “and I think it’s this one.”

“Think about it,” cautioned Lakitu. “Are you sure?”

Koopatrol paused. “Not one-hundred percent,” he said, scratching his head, “But let’s just go with it.”

Lakitu walked up to the box and opened it.  She frowned.

“It’s a neutralizer,” she said, picking up a piece of paper.

“I’ll take it,” said Koopatrol, “After all, it’s kinda my fault.”

***Koopatrol:  There’s a bigger reason why I took the neutralizer.  If I took that, and the next thing we got was the -1, they probably wouldn’t give it to me because I took the neutralizer.  Besides, there probably aren’t any more exemptions up for grab in this episode.

***

“Did you just hear that clicking noise?” asked Chuck nervously, “I think the bridge is about to go!”

***Chuck:  Yes, we did spend time thinking about our strategy.  We were just going to hang on to the railings and hope for the best.

Chuck, Wrinkly, and Bow all made for the sides of the bridge and latched on to the railings.  Suddenly the bridge sprang open.

“Waaaaah!” screamed Bow as she held on for her life.  The bridge was now fully opened, and all players managed to stay on.  The bridge slowly closed down again and the cage opened, dropping the Star.

***

“WE GOT IT!” screamed Chuck, from the distance.  E. Gadd was still treading water.

***E. Gadd:  If I knew that this would be the challenge, I would have never participated!  79 years old is no age to perform this challenge!

“Huff” panted E. Gadd, “Two more to go.”

“E. Gadd,” said Fred, from the side of the water, “I have an offer for you.  You can have 10 minutes of rest, go to the bathroom, relax your muscles, whatever.  But:  You must take a -1.

“Um…” began E. Gadd.

“I’ll give you time to think about it.  The offer stands until the game ends.”

***E. Gadd:  I don’t know.  Everyone got mad at Bow for not taking the -1. So maybe they’ll be mad at me if I don’t take it.  I’ll have to think about it.

***

Koops barged into his room and unzipped his bag.  After seconds of searching, he pulled out a sleek, silver laptop.  He logged on and started to search DDC | 511 LUK

***

Question Two:  Number of people who boarded the MSS Sea-star on the first day minus the number of people who boarded the SS Galley on the first day.

“We were all on the MSS Sea-star” stated Mallow, “Right?” The other two players nodded.  “Well, there were 12 players total.  I know my roommate wasn’t there on the first night, so it’s at least 11 minus 1.  Now do-”

“WAWAWAWAWAH!” screamed Kammy as she toppled off the tower.  Toad sighed as they heard a loud splash.

“KAMMY!” Mallow called from on top of the tower, “was your roommate on the MSS Sea Star?”

“Ye-ye-yeah!” she called back, shivering, “I Th-th-think s-so!”

“So was mine,” said Toad, catching his balance.

“So no more than 5 were on the Galley,” said Mallow.

“I remember-” Toad was interrupted by another splash.

“I FELL BACK IN TRYING TO CLIMB UP!” Kammy called.  Toad and Mallow both sighed.

“It’s like she thinks there will be an exemption for the person who falls in the water the most,” said Toad, sarcastically.  Mallow laughed, but then his face lit up.

“That’s it!” said Mallow, “I remember Fred telling us that he offered the THREE players on the galley exemptions!” Toad smiled.

***Toad:  I do find it a bit suspicious that Mallow all of a sudden remembered that.  If he’s not the Mole, that’s amazing!  He’s either a genius or a Mole.  Or both.

Toad entered a three into the second slot on the safe.

***
11:00

“Ready guys?” asked the Blooper as he picked up the boxes.  Koopatrol, Lakitu, and Clubba started to watch intently.  Blooper started to throw the boxes into the air, juggling them in every possible way.  They were flying way out of line, but Blooper always managed to catch them.  After a while, the mixing started to slow down and the boxes once again fell to the floor.  “Now choose carefully this time,” said Blooper, “my arms are getting tired.”

“I’m not choosing again,” said Koopatrol, “I have no clue whatsoever.”

“Gee,” said Clubba, “I don’t know either.”

“Neither do I,” said Lakitu, looking at the ground.

“Well,” said Clubba, “We have a one in three shot.  Let’s just guess.  You never know.” Clubba walked up to the box on the right and opened it.  “Neutralizer” she said, with a tone of disdain.

“I guess I’ll take it,” said Lakitu.

***

E. Gadd climbed up the ladder from the pool

“You have 10 minutes” said Fred. “Enjoy your minus 1.”

E. Gadd sat in a chair and panted.

***E. Gadd:  I took it.  It felt like the right thing to do, to help the team.

As Fred offered E. Gadd something to eat, Team Tartaruga sailed up to Fred and E. Gadd.

“Here’s your Star,” said Bow as she handed it to Fred.  She spotted E. Gadd in the chair in her eyes widened.  “Is the game… over?”

“Not at all,” said Fred. “I offered E. Gadd 10 free minutes if he took a minus 1, and he accepted.

Team Tartaruga sighed as they found seats and plopped down in them.

***

Question 3:  Number of players on Team Fruit minus the number of players on Team Muffin.

“I was on Team Bacon,” said Mallow.

“Same,” said Toad.

“I was Cereal,” said Kammy, drenched in water.

“Well,” said Mallow, “thrn this is easy.  I, Toad, and Koopatrol were on Bacon.  Kammy, how many people were on Cereal?”

“Um, me, Lakitu, and E. Gadd” said Kammy, scratching her head.

“So that’s six people it can’t be,” said Mallow, intelligently. “That leaves 6 more people.  It’s either 0, 2, or 4.”

“Well, there’s no zero slots in here,” said Toad, studying the safe. “Let’s go with two for now.  We can change it later.”

Question 4:  Number of letters in Koops’s last name minus number of letters in Mallow’s last name.

“Clout.  C-L-O-U-T.  5 letters” said Mallow. “Anyone knows Koops’s?

“I don’t think he ever told anyone,” said Kammy.

“Well,” said Mallow, “Either way, it’s most likely going to be six or seven.

“Let’s say it’s six,” said Toad, entering a one into the safe.  Two more to go.”

***
11:30

“OK, E. Gadd, time to get back into the water.”  E. Gadd climbed back into the water and began treading.

***

“AHA!” said Koops, shutting his laptop.

***Koops:  I found out that it was a Library ID.  So I quickly ran to the hotel’s library.  That’s when I found a book called “The Mole” written by Luke Inbasment.  I thought about it for a while, and realized it just said Look In Basement.  And then I ran to the basement.

Koops arrived in the basement and started looking around.

***

“Here we go again,” said Blooper, picking up the three boxes, “Now watch carefully.”

Blooper once again started to throw the boxes into the air, mixing them up like there was no tomorrow.  This time Koopatrol felt sure he knew where it was.  So did Clubba.  Blooper’s arms slowed down and the boxes fell to the floor for a third time.

“That one!” said Clubba and Koopatrol simultaneously as they pointed to two different boxes.  They stared at each other with discontent.

“You must be mistaken,” said Clubba, “I’m positive mine is correct”

“Couldn’t be,” said Koopatrol, “I was watching extremely carefully.”

“Oh yeah?” said Clubba, walking up to the box she pointed at.  Koopatrol did the same with the box he pointed at.

“STOP!” yelled Lakitu, “Before you open any boxes, let’s work this out.  Clubba, how sure are you that your box is correct?”

“One million percent!” she said, crossing her arms.

“Koopatrol?” asked Lakitu, “How sure are you that YOUR box is correct?”

“As sure as I am that the sky is blue,” said Koopatrol, closing his eyes.

“OK,” said Lakitu, sighing, “I’m thinking of a number between one and ten.  Clubba?  What’s your guess?”

“3,” said Clubba.

“Koopatrol?” asked Lakitu.

“9,” said Koopatrol.

“It was 1,” said Lakitu, “Clubba, open your box.” Clubba opened her box and slid the contents into her pocket.

“Well, what was it?” asked Lakitu.

“-1,” grumbled Clubba.

“I knew it!” exclaimed Koopatrol, opening his box.  “Never mind.  Neutralizer.”

“Only the -1 counts,” said Blooper, “as the neutralizer was opened second.”

“I say Clubba takes it,” said Koopatrol.

“Fine,” grumbled Clubba.

***

Question 5:  Number of players who participated in the dice game minus the number of players who succeeded in the dice game.

“Well, everyone lost the dice game,” said Mallow, “So one of-”

“AAAAAAAH!” screamed Kammy, as she once again toppled off the tower.

***Kammy:  Don’t blame me!  The tower teetered a lot!  In my old age, I can’t balance like I used to!

***Toad:  Suspiiiicious!

“As I was saying,” continued Mallow, “one of the numbers has to be zero.”

“How many people were in the dice game?” asked Toad.

“11 players total… how many Pizza chefs?” Mallow thought in his head, “Um… 3… 11 minus 3 is 8.  Five is 8.”

***
12:00

“Once again,” said Blooper, sounding bored, “I’ll shuffle the boxes.” Blooper started throwing the boxes in the air, mixing them up.  Gigante, learning from their mistakes, watched attentively.  The boxes, once again, dropped to the floor.

“I’m sure of it!” said Clubba, “It’s the one on the right!”

“I’m not really sure,” said Lakitu hazily. “But you could be right.”

“I agree with Clubba,” said Koopatrol, “It’s that one”.  Clubba walked up to the box and creaked it open.

“IT’S THE STAR!” screamed Clubba, “I FOUND THE STAR!”

“Yes!” said the other two teammates.

Clubba, Lakitu, and Koopatrol hopped back into the gondola, and the Shy Guy started paddling off.

***

“E. Gadd? How ya doin’?” asked Fred.

“Starting… to get tired…” panted E. Gadd as he treaded water.

***

Question 6:  Number of players on team Gigante plus the number of players on team Pendente.

“Easy,” said Mallow, “Three plus three is six”.  Toad put a six in the last spot and pressed the button

Error.  Invalid Combination

“Darn!” said Toad, as Kammy grasped the top of the tower

“I’m… back…” gasped Kammy, as she rolled over on the tower.

“What went wrong?” Mallow asked himself.

***

E. Gadd was still swimming strongly as the Gigante team showed up.  “Hey,” said Clubba, “we the last done?”

“Not quite,” said Fred, “We’re still waiting for Pendente.”

***

Koops lifted a blanket and saw a huge box with a thumbprint on it.  He opened the box and dove inside.  Seconds later he pulled out a green card, looking extremely pleased with himself.

***Koops:  I DID IT!  I FOUND AN EXEMPTION!  Sorry, I’m just really pleased with myself.  Guess who’s not going home tonight?

***

“Well,” said Mallow, “We guessed that was 37, so let’s say he’s 38.  Toad, how old are you again?”

“32,” he said, staring off to sea.

“So let’s put a six in for that and try it.”

Toad changed the dial and punched the button.

Error.  Invalid Combination.

“@$&%!” cursed Toad.

“OK,” said Mallow, “what were the other things we guessed on?”

“Um… question three;” answered Toad, slowly, “We said two before, so let’s try four.”

Toad entered a four into the third slot.

Combination correct.

The safe automatically opened.  “YES!” Mallow cheered as he punched the air. “Now we gotta get back.”

***
1:00

“I’m… slowing… down…” gasped E. Gadd.

“C’mon,” said Lakitu, “The other team will be here any minute!  Push it!”

“I’m callin’ it quits” he panted, as he started to swim to the ladder.

“WAIT!” yelled Mallow, as team Pendente came through the front door.  Mallow tossed the Star to Fred before E. Gadd touched the ladder.  He climbed out, looking excited but exhausted.

“Well,” said Fred, “you earned the 30,000 coins!”  The players all cheered as Fred delivered the news.

TOTAL POT:  111,000/154,000

***Toad:  Kammy.  Kammy was suspicious, in my mind.  She just kept toppling off that tower.

***Wrinkly:  No one could have possibly sabotaged our mission!  We got it right away!

“Well,” said Fred, “We have two hours until we’re due back at the hotel, so… let’s do lunch at that Pizzeria!  It’ll be made by the chefs, though.”

***

The Gondolas pulled up to the hotel and all the players stepped out.  When they entered through the front doors, Koops was waiting for them on a couch, the exemption clutched in his hand.

“Hey guys,” he said, “How did the challenge go?”

“We won!” exclaimed Koopatrol as Koops stood up.

“Now, we have some time until dinner” said Fred firmly. “You have three hours until we eat in the dining room.  Why not check out the pool out back?”

***

Dinner had started and the players were enjoying plates filled with spaghetti, a symbol of the Italian heritage of the Grand Canal.

“OK,” said Fred, “I’d just like to tell you that the pot stands at 111,000 currently.  We have an execution tonight and two people have exemptions.”

“What?” said Lakitu, “How did two people get exemptions?”

“Well,” said Fred, “Wrinkly got hers by forfeiting her challenge in the Dice game.”

***Chuck:  I knew somthin’ was goin on when she said she didn’t eat the pizza.

“The second,” said Fred, “was earned by Koops, for finding it in the hotel while we were gone.”  The players stared at Koops.

“We also have two -1’s” continued Fred.  “The first is given to E. Gadd for choosing to get 10 free minutes during the 3-Star course.  The other is given to Clubba for choosing the wrong box from the Blooper.

“With that said, may the first player head into the lobby to take the quiz?”

Toad shuffled out of his seat and through the double doors.

Question 1:  Is the Mole Male or Female
*Male
*Female

Question 2:  Was the Mole a Pizza Chef?
*Yes
*No

***E. Gadd:  Clubba and Lakitu are closely knit.  I don’t suspect either to be the Mole, mainly because of the great job they’ve both been doing in challenges.

Question 3:  What number did the Mole roll in the Dice Game?
*1
*2
*3
*4
*5
*6
*The Mole rolled several dice.
*The Mole did not roll a die.

(Flashback) Wrinkly:  Well… Well… um… I had to eat a slice of um… pizza and, well… I sort of… failed.

***Chuck:  It didn’t really seem like something Wrinkly would do, to be honest…

Question 4:  Who is the Mole’s roommate?
*Lakitu
*E. Gadd
*Koops
*Clubba
*Chuck
*Koopatrol
*Wrinkly
*Toad
*Mallow
*Bow

***Bow:  Kammy’s roommate was the first to go.  It could mean two things.  Either, Twila became convinced that Kammy wasn’t the Mole and went home because of that, or vice versa.

Question 5:  What Gondola did the Mole ride on today?
*Torre Pendente
*Il Mare Tartaruga
*Il Piovra Gigante
*Con l’host
*The Mole did not ride in a gondola today

(Flashback) “WAWAWAWAWAH!” screamed Kammy as she toppled off the tower.  Toad sighed as they heard a loud splash.

***Mallow:  Kammy put a red flag in my head today.  She toppled off of that tower a lot.  Could it have been an accident?  Of course!  But still…

Question 6:  Did the Mole earn an Exemption today or yesterday?
*Yes
*No

***Koopatrol:  Koops opted to stay back at the hotel pretty quickly.  I don’t know why a Mole would need an exemption if it didn’t take money out of the pot, but it still kind of seemed like he knew about it…

***Kammy:  Wrinkly broke the rules today by talking about her challenge.  It could have just been a slip, but that’s what the Mole wants you to think.

Question 7:  Does the Mole have a -1?
*Yes
*No

***Clubba:  It was nice of E. Gadd to take one for the team like that, but maybe he did that to seem like a hero.  After all, what is a -1 to a Mole?  Absolutely nothing.

Question 8:  In the 3-Star Course, when did the Mole’s team return back to Fred?
*First
*Second
*Third
*The Mole didn’t participate in the mission
*The Mole was already with Fred

Question 9:  What is the Mole’s hometown?
*Petalburg
*Gusty Gulch
*Sky Land
*Toad Town
*Dark Land
*Boo Woods
*DK Island
*Donut Plains
*Forever Forest
*Nimbus Land

***Lakitu:  I’ve been thinking about the hidden clues.  Do we really get to see them?  Do they really exist?

Question 10:  Who is the Mole?
*Bow
*E. Gadd
*Wrinkly
*Koops
*Chuck
*Koopatrol
*Lakitu
*Clubba
*Kammy
*Mallow
*Toad

***

The players were seated in metal chairs near the entrance of the Canal.  Two torches were lit and a yellow star was painted on the ground.  Fred stood next to a large projection screen and a desk with a laptop sitting on it.  “I will start entering names into the computer,” said Fred as he sat down at the desk.  “The player who receives a red thumbprint will be asked to leave immediately.  Let’s start with E. Gadd.”

E G A D D

Green

E. Gadd wiped his fore-head as he saw the screen and smiled.  “Lakitu,” said Fred.

L A K I T U


 

GREEN

Lakitu smiled as she sunk back in her cloud.  “Mallow,” said Fred.

M A L L O W


 

RED

Mallow’s eyes watered a bit as he smiled.  “Can’t say I’m completely surprised,” he said, standing up.

“Unbelievable,” said Toad. “He must have been the smartest player here!”

“It just goes to show you how even the smart ones mess up,” said E. Gadd.

(Flashback) “YES!” Mallow cheered as he punched the air.

“He was my roommate” said Chuck. “I guess tonight will be boring then.”

Fred led Mallow to a Gondola with “Invio Una Tantum” printed on its side.

“What will you miss the most?” asked Fred.

“Oh, just being here,” said Mallow, rubbing his eyes. “It was a great experience.”

(Flashback) “Let’s do this!” Mallow said energetically.

“Goodbye guys!” Mallow called, as the boat took off.

Read on!


 
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