Once again, despite the appearance of an infernape upon the game board, no infernape joined the group in the dining hall. Perhaps that, as much as anything, could be construed as an admission of guilt.
Fortunately he hadn't gone far. A quick search found him in the kitchen, piling a plate with jellied meat and an apparently random assortment of berries. He jumped when the door opened, guiltily popping a truffle he'd been pilfering into his mouth as if to hide it from view.
"O-oh. Hello," he said uneasily. "I thought you were playing the game. I wanted to get here before all the good stuff was gone, so..." He drew himself up and squared his shoulders, putting on a haughty air. "Anyway, you never
said I couldn't eat. That would be no fun!" He took an exaggeratedly large bite out of a payapa berry and proceeded to ignore the person who had found him. "Hmm, ith weird having teef," he muttered to himself.
There was no one else in the room. Perhaps it had just been a breeze that blew open the door. But Rocky's ears twitched as though he'd heard something. "What? I have to go out there? No. I don't want to play the game. It sounds mean. And you said you'd take care of it all for me." He picked a cream puff off another tray and popped it into his mouth. His face was pensive, as though he was concentrating hard. Perhaps there was a voice, incredibly faint. Or maybe what Rocky was listening to was something only he could hear.
"A surprise?" His tail curled into a vague question-mark shape. "Is it a
good surprise?" But this time, it seemed that if anything responded, even he couldn't hear it. Rocky remained where he was a moment longer, chewing and giving the empty air a hard look. The door swung gently on nothing.
After a moment the infernape set his plate aside, curiosity apparently too great to bear. He pulled the door open himself and ventured out into the dining hall, wondering what was up.
*
Neo stalked silently down the darkened hallway, ears forward and eyes bright. He paused at a corner, just shy of the entryway to the dining hall, and nervously his tail.
What if…what if he was wrong?
No. If he didn’t act now, more players would…not
die, surely not that, this was
just a game, after all…but they would get thrown out. Even if they were smart and didn’t deserve it, like Splotch Cat and Cat Girl. And Neo didn’t think that was very fair. He had to try.
Wes had always talked about “following your gut feelings,” after all. Was this one of those times? Neo thought so.
The dining hall was eerie at night, all shadows and ominous silence. The room suddenly felt too big for Neo’s comfort, but he ducked under a table and waited anyway. Soon, the last bad guy would show himself.
It wasn’t long before he saw it—flames flickering in the doorway, sending frantic shadows dancing across the wall. So it
was him, after all. Neo felt a jolt of elation at that. Of
course he’d been right! Had he
ever been wrong? How ridiculous he’d been to doubt himself. He was too smart for that! But it wasn’t over yet. He needed to make this shot count.
He waited until the culprit came nearer, then sprang out from under the table with a snarl, tail puffed up and back arched. His forehead jewel sparked with energy, and the glasses on the nearby tables quivered.
This game would end right here, right now! He would make sure of it!
He locked eyes with his startled opponent, then, with a yowl, fired a beam straight through his chest. The glasses around him shattered from the psychic blast, spraying glittering shards in every direction. They looked like raindrops in the moonlight.
His opponent crumpled to the floor. Neo’s aim had been true; slowly, the flames died down, reflecting dimly off the glass shards that littered the floor, then they went out altogether.
Neo threw back his head and yowled in triumph. He had
done it! Just as he said he would! He, Neo, had solved this game and proven just how smart he was! Not even Snot Bird could mock him now!
Pleased, he sat down and began to groom his ears. He spared a glance at the motionless figure on the floor—by the sands, he sure was out. He wasn’t
dead, right? Neo had only meant to beat him, not kill him…
Yeah. He’d be fine. Just a game, after all.
Neo returned to grooming his ears.
*
Hours passed. In the darkest hour before the dawn, silence permeated throughout the mansion. What needed to be done had been done, leaving only one thing left to do.
The sharp sound of footsteps rippled through the stillness, marching towards the fallen infernape. When the source drew near, one would be surprised not to find Mademoiselle but a human woman, standing before the victim of the night with an expressionless look. Her sliver hair shimmered and flowed behind her and she wore a gown and headdress that was evocative of the yveltal that orchestrated this entire game to begin with.
The woman bent over and pulled the ribbon away from the infernape's neck, holding it towards a window to see its hidden colour in the dim moonlight. Though it was hard to see, she could decipher that the ribbon was that deep shade of red assigned to the killers. She smiled.
"And so it seems that our little game has come to an end," she said in Mademoiselle's voice. For this strange, strange mansion had one final, hidden property; during this one dark and lonesome hour, the mansion would reveal the true forms of those within it. An oasis of sympathy within this cruel and bitter manor.
She continued speaking, but she ignored the body on the floor. Instead, Mademoiselle looked towards the dark horizon and addressed a certain, absent somebody. "But don't think you've escaped from me with this little tangent, Altair. I will have my revenge on you yet."
-
Rocky (Negrek) has been eliminated. He was Mafia.
All Mafia players have been eliminated! The Innocent faction wins!