Part 94: The Unyielding

_{content warning: suicidal ideation}

[BGM: Fire Breath]


Dog held out the chain he had with both hands and made for my neck. I saw my life flashing before my eyes. Quickly, I finished untying the ropes and swung at him with the knife in my pocket. At the last minute, he jumped away from my swing. With my cover clearly blown, I pulled off the mask and spit out the rag.

What the hell?

Oh my gosh, Mouse? What an unexpected twist!

What's going on?

Just then, Ox burst out of the room he was in, knife in hand. After him came a fully awake Dragon, sporting a metal pipe and a vengeance.

Think you can just kill me while I'm asleep? Got news for you, asshole! You can't!

Gaah. So it was a setup.



Further down the hall, back in the cafeteria, I saw Tiger as well being attacked.

Bunny!

So sorry about this Tiger, but, well, you know how it is. No hard feelings?

You think you can take me down just because I'm injured? Ha! I admire the spirit. But if you think that's enough to take me down, you're totally out of luck.

Through her injuries, Tiger sent some wide swings back at Bunny, keeping him at bay. Still, it was clear that without interference, Bunny would probably be able to outlast Tiger in a fight. Instead of focusing on that, however, I had to deal with Dog, who stood before me with a deathly serious expression.



Guess we both planned to double-cross the other. How ironic!

Tch. What are you on? You just tried to kill your own pack member!

My pack member? Oh no, no no no.

Dog swung his chain at me. I narrowly avoided it hitting my head.

It was pretty obvious the whole 'hostage' shtick was a ruse. I admire the creativity, but come on. There were a dozen red flags about that whole fishy setup. And I'm not a complete rube.

You didn't even buy it a little?

I admire the artistry that went into it. But sorry, it was a hollow attempt.



Further down the hallway, Ox tried to fight off Dragon, with little luck.

Ha! You call yourself a man, and yet that's the best you can fight? How'd a wuss like you survive for so long?

First of all, I'm still pretty young all things considered, so it hasn't been 'so long'. Secondly, in case you missed a few centuries, we're not all a bunch of barbarians anymore. So unlike a sewer rat like yourself, I've never had a need to beat people up.

Of course you haven't.

Instead of punching people, you call them 'sewer rats'.

If you're going to deny it, I wouldn't bother. I've prosecuted dozens of cases for lowlifes like you. I know how your stories start. And I know how they end.

How 'bout I teach you how your story ends right now!



Dragon lunged at him with the pipe, but Ox ran away. And not, like, a little bit. He just started sprinting down the hallway.

You little shit! You wanna just flee? You're not getting away that easily!

Dragon chased him down. I felt a little uncomfortable with that exchange for a few reasons, but I had bigger things to worry about. Dog was still coming at me with his chain. Even though he wasn't exactly a bodybuilder, I couldn't take down a fully grown man with police training on a good day. However, I had a knife. If I could just close in the distance...

So this is it, huh? You're trying to kill us?

To be fair, you kind of killed me.

But at this point, you're going to die anyways! Why are you going through all this effort? Do you really care that much about Dragon's pack winning?

Oh Mouse. Who said anything about Dragon's pack winning?



He swung once more at me with the chain. This time, I was able to completely duck under it. I tried running at him with the momentum I had, but he backed up and shortly swung the chain at me again. I had to quickly stop my approach to prevent him from smacking me across the face.

Obviously you're trying to help Dragon's pack. That's why you told her about our fake hostage plan, and why you're trying to kill me now. You want Dragon's pack to be the last one standing.

You misunderstand me. Of course I don't want your pack to live through this. But I don't want Dragon's pack to stay alive either.

What do you mean? Monkey's pack is already dead, and your pack will soon be as well! Whose pack do you want to win?

Nobody's!

Dog swung again. Another miss.

You can't honestly mean that. You're just trying to throw me off my game. Well, it won't work. You obviously don't mean that, because Dragon's team is entirely on track to win.

Sure about that?

Yeah!



Then where's Snake?

Wh-what?

I'd wager the round ends in a couple more minutes. I don't think Snake had already entered his action when I met with him, in case there were... strategic differences. And Dragon's group will be in for a rather nasty surprise.

You can't be serious!!

I don't care about this enough to lie.

Why on earth would you want that?!

I'm a bit of a gambler, Mouse. I like to bet on horses from time to time. And you know how you win at betting on the horse races?

He swung the chain over his shoulder.

You bet on all of them!



Dog swung overhead down at me. I blocked with my right hand, the one holding the knife. It hurt like hell, and I dropped the knife to the floor. He pulled the chain back.

Well... that's the saying, anyways. In actuality, if you do that, you just wind up losing money. But that's beside the point.

He started to swing the chain again. I couldn't let this go on. I didn't know what was up with Dog, but he was absolutely crazy. I had to beat him here and now! I ran forwards, picked the knife up off the floor with my left hand, and backhandedly stabbed him in the gut. All the while, he continued his swing, sending the chain slamming into my side and wrapping around to hit my back. It stung like hell, and nearly knocked all my breath away. But it didn't completely knock me out.

The same couldn't be said for Dog. He fell to the floor, reeling from the stab wound. As his breathing got heavy, it dawned on me what I had just done. I had killed someone. I had killed Dog. I should've felt bad... but in the moment, there was kind of a lot going on, so I didn't have much time for the guilt thing.

Dog! Quit being confusing and tell me why on earth you did this!

...maybe it's a mistake. But... this is a cop's instinct.

Okay, so you're useless.

I walked away from Dog. That was... probably insensitive, considering he was literally dying, but hey, aren't we all? In the cafeteria, the fight had solidly shifted to Bunny's advantage. The injuries were catching up with Tiger.

[BGM: Steadfast Gallop]


It's... it's not over!

It is. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be.

What, you're asking me to just sit down and die?

If possible.

No!

Okay then.

Wait, Bunny! You don't have to do this.

I'm sorry Mouse, but I really do.

No, I mean you really don't.



You guys have already lost.

What are you talking about?

Snake is dead.

Wh-what?! How? You're just trying to deceive me!

Bunny, look at me. Look at my eyes. Are these the eyes of a liar?

…

…

It can't be. You're just trying to trick me.

Really? Then where's Snake right now?

...Gah!



Bunny turned around and quickly ran away. He was likely going to check and see if I was telling the truth or not. After all, it was pretty important. ...Thank God. He listened to reason. I went over and helped Tiger sit down.

Hey, hey, take it easy.

I'm fine, trust me!

No, you're not. Come on, sit down. You need some rest.

...If you insist.

Just then, two people ran in. Ox, looking exhausted, was trying to put as much distance between himself and Dragon. Dragon, however, wasn't looking tired, and was in fact gaining on him.

Dragon, cut it out!

Why the hell would I? This bastard needs to die!

No, he doesn't. Dragon, I don't know how to tell you this, but... you've already lost.

What? How! How in the world?!

I...



The final branch for this route is whether we can successfully convince Dragon or not. We'll talk about what happens when we fail to do so in the bonus update, but for now, we have to give her a distraction that she'll actually believe could happen...

I killed Snake! A member of your group is already dead!

What?!

What?

Ox, for the love of God, don't blow this. She's not going to buy that Dog did this, so I had to sell her a story.

I don't believe you!

Oh really? When was the last time you saw Snake?

Th-that's...



Dragon started to look nervous.

He hadn't entered his move for this round when he died. Which means that he's going to be executed this round! And that means that you're going to be executed this round! So why take us down with you?

You're saying I'm going to die too? No, no, there's no way. Fuck that!

Dragon, I realize that–

No, fuck that!

Dragon stormed away, in a rage. ...No, she didn't storm 'away'. She stormed over to the kitchen.

…Mouse, are you serious?

Kind of? Actually, Dog killed Snake.

What?

It's crazy, I'll explain later. For now, what's Dragon doing?

[BGM: The Undying]


Dragon was clearly acting strange. She was grabbing a bunch of knives from the kitchen. Then, she took one and... put it between the collar and her neck? It only barely fit, but yeah, using the thin distance between her neck and the collar, she was able to stuff a knife between the two. She then grabbed another knife and repeated the process. In the front, and the back, and to the sides, she stuffed knives all around her neck.

It... wasn't a pretty sight. This endeavor left her neck with a bunch of cuts, and her breathing was constricted. But what was the point of it all?

Dragon, what's going on?

Fuck. You.

She looked like she had nothing to do with us. I guess in a sense, she didn't. Right now her objective had completely shifted from attacking us to... whatever she was doing now. I was confused as to what exactly that was, until I heard the television start to speak. Because it speaking signaled that the Round was over. It signaled that Dragon's execution would be starting.

...However, something funny happened.

I guess the collars weren't shining examples of sound engineering, because somehow, some way, the knives stuck between Dragon's neck and the collar ran interference. Something about the solid steel defense blocking off the encroaching blades caused the mechanics to malfunction, causing all sorts of sounds that shouldn't be coming out of the collar.

Was... was this working? ...After a bit of time, I stopped hearing sounds come from the collar, and yet Dragon still stood.



Her neck looked like a bloody, constricted mess. I could hear her breaths, raspy and uneven. Her head looked slightly off-color. But she stood. Even execution couldn't take her down.

Dragon, the Unyielding.

Dragon, are... you okay?

…

Ox, is she going to be okay?

I don't know. Maybe? If we can get a medical team here quickly, it's probably possible for her to get out of this unscathed.

For now though, Dragon, you should sit down and try not to move much. You don't want to disturb that, er, delicate situation. We still have at least a round to go before we can get out.

…

Instead of taking Ox's incredibly reasonable suggestion, Dragon had an alternative plan.



You... assholes... You think you can kill six people... and get away with it?

Dragon's voice was raspy and pained, but filled with rage.

Uh, Dragon? I feel like maybe we should talk about this.

Instead, Dragon swung her pipe at me. I blocked with my left arm. OW!!! Fuck!!

Mouse!!

I'm... fine.

I had to do something.



She wouldn't believe us before, but now, with the hard evidence around her neck...

I lied! I didn't actually kill Snake! Dog did!

Wh-what?

Dragon stopped in her tracks.

I don't know why he did it, he was babbling about making sure none of us survived if he couldn't. But think about it – I was pretending to be the hostage, when could I have gone all the way to wherever Snake is and kill him??

…

Ox, Tiger, myself, we didn't actually kill anyone from your pack!

You still acted against us. You still tried to kill us.

[BGM: Silence]


And lastly, we have to appeal to her in a way that actually will matter – in a way that Dragon could respect Mouse for.

I had a pack to protect, too! I had to help Ox and Tiger, too! They didn't deserve any of this. If it was just up to me, then maybe I would've given up. But that would mean letting them die when they were counting on me. And that's a line I'm not willing to cross.

…

Dragon glared at me. The raging energy she had seemingly depleted from her.

...Tch.

Instead of fighting anymore, Dragon just stormed off towards a nearby column and leaned against it. It was clear she was low on energy. Frankly, it was a miracle she was even alive, even with her makeshift neck-shield. If she had exerted herself any further, who knows what would've happened? I turned anxiously to Ox.

So... what now?

[BGM: Somber Howl]


It's over. Next round, we'll pass the finish line. With everyone else dead, we can use their tablets to make sure Dog's pack isn't in last place. Then, we'll be free.

Tiger, who had been resting, walked over to join us.

Seriously? Just like that, we can go free? We won?

I doubt anything will be 'just like that'. But on the whole? Yeah, we won.

The moment Ox said that, I started to break down and cry.

Mouse, what's wrong?

So much had happened in so little time. So many deaths. Some I was responsible for. Was... I a murderer now? It was hard to tell. Either way, I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep for weeks to come. Brian had completely driven us against each other. Ultimately, myself, Ox, Tiger, and somehow Dragon would survive this game.

But none of us would really win it. We went to war with one another, and as usual, all that was left were mysteries and misery.



[Ending – 5 of Spades]

If Dragon finds the Grouping Whistle, she will use it. Grouping together seems better to her than having individual traitors.

Unless the two special personalities are in the same pack, all Grouping Whistle games look the same. They're bloody massacres with casualties on all sides. If lucky, three will be able to get out alive.

This path ends in an incredibly unfavorable position. Avoid at all costs.