Part 83: Fours High

_{content warning: police violence ...in a sense. (hi, Bunny)}

And with that, another route is behind us! We're running out of those around here, huh? Anyway, Tiger's is an interesting one, but also as I said in a previous update, it's one that's kinda complicated to LP, especially this late in the game- more on that in a moment. As far as inspiration for this route goes, Themis cites the manga QED, in regards to wanting to do a route where the main thrust is a single murder scenario and how, at the start, it looks like the obvious person did it, then more evidence comes out that throws that suspicion into question, then in the end the obvious person ends up still being the one that did it. Whether that was successful here? It's subjective, if I'm being honest, but the route itself is pretty solid nonetheless.

The setup for this bonus update is going to be different from the others, because this route itself is different from the others. Hey, you know how there've been multiple routes where at the end I went 'yeah, Themis wanted to track something over the course of the route but realized it'd be a lot of work and was too big of a scope'? Well, this is the one route where that setup was able to be realized Specifically, similar to the suspicion point system from Bunny's route, Tiger's route keeps a note of your actions over the course of the route and how you did determines what ending you get. However, unlike Bunny's route, it's not just one person who's tracking your actions, but two- Tiger, obviously, but the other person is actually Ox. You need to get enough points with both of them in order to get the ending we saw last update, and the other three possible outcomes are based on whether you fail to get enough points with either one or both of them.

What makes this route a bit of a pain to LP in terms of text is the fact that two of the choices for Tiger's points are ones NOT ACTUALLY ON TIGER'S ROUTE, but rather, in the early stage. Therefore, if you miss both of those points before you get onto Tiger's route, you basically have to hit everything else perfectly right in order to get enough points for her- and if I made any kind of deal about the pre-route actions this late in, it'd tip the hand as to what the route's deal is pretty early. Therefore, I just took control and ensured we got enough points for both.

The actions for Tiger that earn you a point with her are, as follows: if you talk to her at the very beginning (before the rules are explained) and are chill with her, if you don't push it when talking with her and Dragon in the gym before you find the weapons (her weirdness about PE stems from her disability, so pushing things gets on her nerves), voting for her as a guard over Dragon, trusting her before the investigation, and forgiving her after the investigation. All very emotional, and all tied into building a rapport with her and showing that Mouse legitimately gives a shit about her.

Ox, on the other hand, are all very technical and investigation tied, to an extent: the first one is by correctly solving the auditorium puzzle (thus showing Mouse knows her stuff), correctly noticing the fact that Dragon should have had no reason to visit Tiger (thus showing Mouse is capable of logic and deduction), and then correctly handling the deduction afterwards – if you say you don't think Tiger was the culprit, you instantly block off access to three of Ox's five points, making it impossible to get the best ending on the route. (Also, Snake ends up being the one to explain how Tiger did things, but its basically the same thing Mouse says but shorter so it's not really worth showing.) Alternatively, after saying she's the culprit, you get an additional point for each part of your deduction you got right – Dragon attacking Tiger, Tiger using the sniper rifle, and Tiger's testimony itself proving Tiger wrong, respectively.

Now that you understand how this route works, it's time to show the outcomes when you fail to get enough points with both Tiger and Ox- starting with what happens if you fail to get either.

[Fail to earn the trust of both Tiger and Ox.]

The point where things start branching off is towards the end, when Ox, Bunny, and Mouse have run off into a nearby restroom to regroup, and that's where we'll pick up.

[BGM: Constriction]


Look, I'll go out there. I've got experience as a policeman with talking to people with criminal tendencies in tense situations. I should be able to calm her down. Then I can handle it.

No, let me. I've talked with Tiger a lot, and I know I can come to an understanding with her.

No, we should let Bunny handle this. He's been trained for situations just like this. You, on the other hand, are completely untrained.

Not enough points with Ox means he defers to Bunny here.

But –

Don't fight me on this, Mouse. Trust me, this is for the best.

...I don't like this. But fine. On one condition – I get to be waiting right around the corner in case anything goes wrong.

Sure, if you want.

Great. Then let's hurry.

[BGM: Bullfighter]


Bunny quickly made his way down the hallway back to the lobby, with me right behind him. Then, Bunny turned the corner and started approaching Tiger. I couldn't see their conversation, but I could hear it.

Tiger, Tiger, hey, breathe.

You.

You don't want to hurt anyone, do you Tiger?

What are you here for?

I'm here to help you, Zahara.

No you're not!

Woah, okay, calm down.

I'm perfectly calm!

Easy. I just want to discuss things.

I don't believe you!

I couldn't bear it anymore.



I ran out from behind the corner and started shouting at Tiger.

Tiger, please, just listen to us! We're just trying to come to an understanding!

No you're not! Don't bullshit me!

Not enough points with Tiger means she refuses to listen to Mouse.

Without listening to another word, Tiger began charging at the two of us. I got out of the way, but Bunny was pinned by her. It was cowardly, but I just abandoned Bunny. He was a lost cause. I needed to warn Ox about what was coming.

*blam!*

Before I could run far down the hallway, however, I felt a shock to the back, then the front. Something had gone through me. A bullet? That was my last thought before death, confusion at what had killed me. After that, I bled out. Chaos was happening around me, but I couldn't focus on any of it.

Too busy dying.



[Ending – 4 of Clubs]

In this scenario, Tiger is in a highly unstable state. If Mouse hasn't proven herself worthy enough, Bunny will take charge of the negotations effort.

Mouse might try to intervene, but if Tiger doesn't trust Mouse enough, that'll just make things worse. In the end, if Mouse can't gain trust from either Ox or Tiger, the school will devolve into a full-on battleground – with many casualties.

Next up is what happens if you earn enough points with Ox, but not enough with Tiger.

[Fail to earn Tiger's trust.]

Earning Ox's trust means the scene in the bathroom plays out like it did last update, where Ox decides to let Mouse be the one to try to talk Tiger down. Therefore, the branch point instead is when Mouse tries to convince Tiger to come quietly...

[BGM: That Pesky Rodent]


I bet if you come peacefully, I can convince the group to forgive you. This can all be like it never even happened.

You really want that?

Yes. Trust me!

…

No, this isn't right. You wouldn't forgive me this fast. This is some sort of trick, isn't it?!

Tiger, no, I swear it's not.

Tiger started approaching me.



You think I'm an idiot? That you can just toy with me?

It was at that moment I heard a scuffle from behind me. I turned to see that Bunny had emerged, holding out his pistol. ...Where'd he get a pistol?!

*bang bang!*

Before I could say anything, he fired two shots at Tiger. They hit her in the shoulder. Unfortunately, it seemed to more enrage Tiger than stop her. She rushed towards us like a bull, completely knocking us both over. Before I could stand back up, I saw her standing over me. She helped lift me up... by grabbing me by my head.

That's where my memory stops. ...Because after that, she began slamming it into the brick wall behind me. Two impacts, and I was dead. ...She slammed me against it five times. I wish there was a silver lining to end this on, but... this just sucks.



[Ending – 4 of Diamonds]

In this scenario, Tiger is in a highly unstable state. If Mouse has proven herself worthy enough, she can probably convince the others to let her take charge. But if she hasn't won Tiger's trust, the negotiations will definitely go poorly.

Poor negotiations will lead certainly to death, and likely to Mouse's.

And lastly, what happens if you earn enough points with Tiger, but not enough with Ox.

[Fail to earn Ox's trust.]

Failing to earn Ox's trust means in the restroom, like above, he decides to let Bunny handle things, with Mouse trailing along behind. The branch point, therefore, is when Mouse decides to get involved in Bunny and Tiger's conversation...

[BGM: Bullfighter]


Tiger, please, just listen to us! We're just trying to come to an understanding!

You are?

We are.

What's there to understand? I'm a murderer.

Maybe. But we can help with that.

What?

Think about it – there's absolutely no one around here. We can come up with a story that puts no one at fault – puts Brian at fault.

So?

[BGM: Silence]


So? So, it means that you can return to your life just like it was before all this. It can be great.

...Really?

Of course! You just need to calm down, and work with us. Then everything's going to be all right.

Tiger started to look down, conflicted.

*bang bang!*



It was at that point Bunny instantly whipped out a pistol and fired two shots into Tiger's chest.

NO!

Before I knew what had happened, Tiger started falling to the ground.

*bang bang!*

Not content to leave it at that, Bunny then fired two more shots into her head before letting up.

[BGM: Weak Pig]


Whew. That was close.

I'm a terrible shot, so I needed to get a bit closer and make sure she wasn't on her guard before attacking.

...Or else things could've gotten pretty ugly.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

Oh, you must be curious why I had a pistol on me. When we were doing our earlier investigations around the area, I decided to pocket a pistol. Just in case something like this ended up happening.

No, dipshit, I mean why did you have to kill her like that?! She was calming down!

Mouse, do you seriously believe that? She had just murdered two of us on nothing more than a mere whim. You really think she can just turn that off?



No, even if she did come along peacefully, she would've been more of a liability than anything else.

But that doesn't mean you had to kill her like that!!

Uh, yeah I did. Do you think any of us would've stood a chance against her if she started a fight on her terms? Dragon attacked her and lost!

Maybe Horse could hold his own, but that's about it. Besides, you're assuming she was really calming down... and not about to realize that I was full of shit, and just start murdering us 'til she could escape alone.

Look, I know it wasn't pretty.

But it had to be done.

I didn't have anything left in me to say. I was just too angry and sad to speak. Instead, I walked into a nearby room and just collapsed.

Later, the group would reconvene. As it happened, both the ambitious and hateful personality were now dead, so no need to worry about any traitors. We found the Minor Trinkets, and escaped as a group. But it was a hollow victory. Brian had properly turned us against each other, exposed our evils.

He had gotten what he wanted.



[Ending – 4 of Hearts]

In this scenario, Tiger is in a highly unstable state. If Mouse hasn't proven herself worthy enough, Bunny will take charge of the negotiations effort.

If Tiger trusts Mouse enough, Mouse can intervene and help things go smoother. However, if in charge, Bunny will absolutely kill Tiger. And that's not needed, is it?

Next update, we start on a different path towards a different route.