Drawn to Life: Mario Party Edition
Round 2
(Last Chapter) | (Start)
(Available on ao3)
😥
Mari started by rolling a four, passing Jowee, but just shy of reaching the star. "Ah, I was so close.."
"Haha! Watch this Mari, here's how the masters do it!" Patting his lover's back, Jowee rolled a six, reaching the star. But he didn't have enough coins. "W-What?! What do you mean I can't afford it? I thought they cost ten!"
Mari giggled. She knew he wasn't paying attention to the star price the second he boasted about buying it the last turn.
"Oh. No, the stars cost twenty coins." Mike explained.
"Aw, I thought we were all given enough to buy the first star?"
Mike shook his head no. "It's just a boost."
"Oh," Jowee slumped in his seat. 'Why did I misread that?'
Wilfre chuckled. "It's foolish of you to not pay attention to the basic rules."
"Hmph." Blushing, Jowee glared at the hooded Raposa. 'You Jerk! I WAS paying attention! I-' He sadly looked down at his screen. 'I THOUGHT I was paying attention..'
Mari patted Jowee's back. "You'll get one soon, don't worry."
Jowee smiled softly at her. "Thanks."
Passing Daisy, Yoshi entered the shop. "Ooh what do we have here? Double Dice, Warp Block, Half Dice, Snag Bag. Hmm! I could use all of these!" After excitedly pondering his options, Jowee bought a double dice.
'He already watched me go over the exact same items last turn? Why did this Baki take the time to go over and read the item descriptions again? Is he trying to get on my nerves?!' The impatient Wilfre sunk into his hoodie, irritated.
Leaving the shop, Yoshi came to another split in the path. "Rapo, now what do I do?"
"Why don't you use the map?" Mari suggested.
"Map?" 'Oh yeah, I think I remember Wilfre using it last turn.' "You mean this thing?" Jowee selected the map, giving him an overhead view of the board. "Hmm. If I go this way, I might get to do something with that wheel thingy. But if I do that, I'd have to go aaaaaall the way around to get to the star again." He thought about it for a moment. "I'm gonna keep going for the star." He said before landing on another red space. "Rapo! Not again!"
Mari laughed. 'He's so silly!'
"*GASP* How dare you laugh at me!" Jowee joked.
Mari continued to laugh. "Haha, I'm so sorry!"
"You better be!" Jowee grinned.
Wilfre had a headache.
Mike rolled a three. "Aw, man."
'Hopefully the human won't take nearly as long in the shop...' Wilfre thought.
Mike entered the shop to purchase a double dice and a warp block. Afterwards, he landed on a blue space.
Wilfre let out a sigh of relief, glad Mike's turn didn't take very long.
Finally came Wilfre's turn. With his double dice he rolled a four and a two, making a collective six. "Urgh.." He had hoped for a bigger role.
Being the third player to enter the shop that round, Wilfre almost felt that he had to make a good example and show the others how it's done. Carefully and quietly, he pondered his options. 'Though the last double dice was a disappointment, the addition of a second dice will certainly aid in travelling the board.' He bought a double dice. The warp block didn't interest him, and neither did the half dice. 'Why would I want to limit my speed now? Or start on an unknown space?' The snag bag however, made him curious. 'A chance to steal another player's item. ..Like another double dice? Hmm.' He bought a snag bag. 'That's enough.' He left the shop.
"He took even longer than last time..." Jowee muttered under his breath.
"Jowee, shut up." Mari corrected through gritted teeth. Praying that Wilfre didn't hear him.
Wilfre was shocked. 'I didn't intend on taking my time? I was trying to do the exact opposite of that...' He blushed, embarrassed. ...Then he got angry. "And what are YOU complaining about?!"
"Huh?"
"You appear to enjoy taking your time yourself. Isn't that right?"
"What the Rapo are you talking about?"
"Stupid Raposa! You know precisely what I meant!" Wilfre snapped. "You are no better than I am, yet you act as though you are!"
"I'm not-! Y-You're the one that thinks he's better than everyone else!"
"Jowee, stop!" Mari protested.
"No, let him speak." Wilfre approached Jowee. "Tell me, what exactly do you think I am?"
"Oh God, we didn't even get through the second turn... And I thought I'd catch a BREAK coming here." Mike muttered to himself, regretting everything.
"SHUT IT, MIKE!" Wilfre snapped. "You're not going anywhere yet."
Mike followed Wilfre's order, and decided to keep quiet and stay put.
Wilfre redirected his focus back to Jowee, and grimaced. Grabbing him by the shoulder. "Well? What. Am. I?"
Jowee shook. The words struggling to come together. "I-I-!" He looked to Mari, who's eyes were as wide as a Baki's. He felt like he was disappointing her, angering Wilfre, but he couldn't help how he felt. He turned back to Wilfre, gritting his teeth and staring into his supposed soul. "You!! I-!" 'You're evil!!! You killed Mari's dad!! You tried to overthrow The Creator!!!! You ALMOST KILLED US ALL!!! You!! You took ADVANTAGE of BOTH of us!!! You BETRAYED US!!! You LIED to ME! I FUCKING TRUSTED YOU!!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!!! And NOW you're expecting EVERYTHING to be FINE?!!! TO ALL GO YOUR WAY!?!!!! I HATE YOU!! I HATE YOU!! I FUCKING HATE YOU!!!!!' "I..." Tears rushed down his face. "I don't know what I think..."
Wilfre softened his gaze, as he watched the Raposa's eyes instantaneously turn from rage to pure sadness. Both emotions hooked onto him like a rip current pulling him toward certain death. He let go. And silently stepped back.
Mari rushed to Jowee's side. "Jowee!! It's okay, it's... it's okay." She comforted, trying to wipe the tears.
Jowee couldn't bring himself to respond, burying his face into her shoulder.
Wilfre trembled. 'What have I done? I've allowed my emotions to get to me and I hurt him..! Darkness!! What does he think I am now?!! What does Mari think? ...What would anyone think? Perhaps Jowee was right, maybe I am a selfish monster. How could anyone possibly see me as one of them? At this rate, I'll never be able to return as a Raposa.' He took a deep breath. 'No, No! I can't give up yet! I-I just need to keep my mind together.'
"Um," Mike spoke up. "Is everyone good?"
"What do you think?" Wilfre answered.
"It's just, if not, maybe I should go home..."
"Ah. I see," Wilfre felt his body sink. "That'd be unfortunate." '...I was really looking forward to playing this game.'
"Hey, um," Mari butt in. "Me and Jowee are gonna go take a breath of fresh air. W-we'll be back in a moment, okay?"
"Sounds good." Mike said.
Wilfre nodded, hiding under his hood.
"Excuse us.." Mari held onto the shaken Jowee, and left the Village Hall.
A new awkward silence filled the air.
Wilfre looked down at his game, considering whether or not to continue his turn. But without anyone else involved, it just wasn't the same anymore.
"So... Uh," Mike began. "What is it that you do, exactly?"
"What do I do?" Wilfre set his console down. "If you must know, I'm assisting the Mayor in protecting both of our realms from the forces of Shadow. ...Being a Shadow expert, as it were."
"Well, yeah. I kinda got that part. But, how?"
"To put it simply, I have... insider knowledge."
"...Okay? That's vague as hell."
"Don't be snarky with me." Wilfre glared. "I'll share what I will. You do your job, and I'll do mine. Got it?"
"My... job?"
He sighed. "Don't succumb to the Shadow, and don't kill yourself."
"...Oh."
It was silent again.
"So," Mike twiddled his thumbs. "Are they gonna come back, or??"
"…" Wilfre rose from his seat and walked to the door.
"What are you-?"
Wilfre shushed him before putting his ear against the door. From there he could hear Jowee babbling between heavy breaths.
"I don't know, I don't know-! I-I'm sorry…" Jowee sat against the village hall's wall, overwhelmed.
Mari sat down beside him, not sure what to do. "Jowee, it's okay. Relax. You don't have to be sorry about anything," She put her paw on his. "What's wrong?"
Jowee trembled. How could he possibly find any of the words?
"…Is it Wilfre?"
He turned his head and shrugged.
Mari was certain that was it. "Jowee, I know it's tough, but we need to get used to him. It's for the greater good."
Jowee felt a big pit in his stomach. "I know," he croaked. "But I just can't..."
"Jowee?"
"I'm sorry! I can't do it!! I-I can't trust him! I!!" He choked on his words, breaking down into a sob.
Mari looked down at the grass, guilty. 'What am I doing?! Forcing him to be okay with this? ...Some fiance I am.' "Jowee, it's okay. ...You don't have to keep playing this game if you don't want to. I-I can get it to stop."
He shook his head. "*hic* That's the worst part," Jowee squeaked, head in his paws. "I kinda want to keep going".
"What?"
"I-I don't know... It doesn't make any sense," Jowee tugged on his ears. "I feel so stupid..."
"Oh, Jowee...." She inched closer. "I think I get what you mean."
"*sniff* You do?"
"..."
The two sat there silent for a moment.
"He's so evil for everything he did.." Jowee spurted out, tears still running down his cheeks.
"...I know." Mari admitted.
"But, for some reason, I... I wish it was different."
"Me too." She sighed.
"Why?? Why couldn't we be friends? Like how I thought So- HE was."
Mari paused to think. "Maybe you still can be?"
Jowee smiled, but quickly frowned again. "No, NO!! NO!!! I can't!! It'll NEVER happen!!! He'll just betray us again! How could I possibly trust that monster?!!"
Wilfre listened, distraught, before stepping back from the door.
"Well, what's going on out there?!" Mike asked.
"It's nothing of your concern." Wilfre looked down at the floor, tail between his legs.
Curious, and not fully convinced by Wilfre, Mike went up to the door and listened himself.
"Jowee, calm down! Somebody will hear you! Besides, that's not going to happen."
"How do you know?! How can anyone know!?!"
"...I don't," She confessed. "I just. Trust him."
"W-Why?"
Mari sighed. "I don't know. It just feels like the right thing to do."
"...I know you feel that. And, maybe you're right. But sometimes I think about him and get so mad that I stop caring if it's the right thing or not."
"Jowee..."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be like that.. It's not like me."
"It's fine, but. What are we going to do now?"
Jowee thought for a second, wiping his nose with his scarf. "I think I'm gonna go back in there and try to finish what we started."
"Do you think you'll be okay?" She handed him a handkerchief to use instead.
Jowee smiled "...I'll try. No promises."
"Oh, Jowee."
Mike stepped away from the door and looked at the downtrodden Wilfre. What could be possibly say? Should he even say anything? After all, they're not exactly wrong about Wilfre. Mike was fearful himself. And yet the supposed monster looked like some kind of sad wet cat in the rain.
"Well?" Wilfre looked up at the human. "What did you hear?"
"Um," he paused. "I heard that I'll be sticking around a little longer."
Wilfre perked up. "Really?"
Mike nodded.
"I see..." 'Perhaps this is my chance at redemption,' He thought. 'I shall take this opportunity to turn the tables! And I shall win this game!!' Wilfre slowly grinned.
Mike carefully backed away from Wilfre, and returned to his seat.
"Ah-" Wilfre's grin faded. 'I should sit as well...'
After a few minutes, the door opened. "Uh, hi everyone." Mari entered. "Sorry for the wait."
"You're fine." Mike assured.
Jowee awkwardly trailed behind her. "H-hey..." He fidgeted. "I-I'm sorry for what I did earlier. I hope we can keep going."
Wilfre looked up at the Raposa and quietly nodded.
'He didn't even say anything?!' Jowee looked to Mari, who silently reassured him with a faint smile.
"Well, let's get back to it!" Mike exclaimed as the two returned to the game.
Resuming his turn, Wilfre came across the same path split Jowee did. Pulling up the map, he realized that could interact with the roulette wheel if he were to go the other way. So he did. "Wheel of Wonder, huh?" The game prompted Wilfre to choose how many coins to bet. 'I shouldn't use them all in case this doesn't pay off, however I only have 6 left. And earning as much money as fast as possible sounds like a decent strategy.' He selected 5 coins.
"Uh, that's a lot of your coins." Mike pointed out. "A-Are you sure you should-?"
Wilfre finalized his wager. 'It won't matter if I lose. I can always win more later. And if I don't deserve any more, I'd at least like to feel something.' He then had the choice between three sections of the wheel. Half of the wheel that awarded double the wager, a smaller portion that promised triple, and the smallest that awarded quintuple. Though part of him wanted to go for the times five, he held himself back and went for the times three.
The wheel spun and spun. Everyone was at the edge of their seat, waiting for the wheel to stop as the timer counted down.
Wilfre pressed a button. The wheel slowed down further and further until it came to a stop. Right on the times three portion.
"What?!" Jowee exclaimed. 'That's a lot!!'
"Woah!" Mari joined in.
The game awarded Daisy with 15 coins.
"Wow, Wilfre! That's really lucky!" Mike complimented.
Everyone seemed to that he was lucky, but Wilfre knew better. His little button press lined up just the same place it had stopped. That was no mere game of luck. It was a game of timing. Wilfre happily nodded along to everyone. The later they found out the truth, the better.
Wilfre's icon turned blue.
"Looks like it's everyone against Jowee this time." Mike noted.
"Wait, what?!"
"Ah, Jowee. Don't worry, we won't be too hard on you!" Mari assured him. "Right, everyone?"
"Uh," Mike nodded, awkward. "Y-yeah, right!"
Wilfre just looked at Jowee, silent.
"Uhh, Wilfre will go easy on you too." '...Maybe?'
"Um, t-thanks?" Jowee shuffled in his seat.
The game roulette picked a minigame called Flash and Dash. Where the players are put in a maze. Three of them equipped with flashlights are tasked with finding the one player.
Jowee dropped into the maze, only to be placed right next to Mari. 'Rapo Rapo Rapo!!'
Mari immediately noticed Jowee and ran the other way, pretending to not see him.
'Phew..' Jowee wandered the maze for a while before running into Mike.
"I see you, Jowee!" Mike proceeded to chase after him. Though, not too close to actually catch him.
"Ah!" Jowee quickly managed to outrun him, and found himself wandering the maze without any sign of anyone. 'Uhh... is anyone there?'
Mari came into frame, only to notice Jowee and turn around.
'Did Mari just run away from me?? What the Rapo is going on?!' Jowee continued to go through the maze. 'Are they hand holding me?? Rapo!!! They're hand holding me!!!' He grimaced. 'That's it! Where are they?!' Jowee ran through the maze, hunting for anyone. ANYONE to chase him fair and square.
He'd come across Mike and Mari once in a while, and get chased a little, only for them to seemingly give up and turn away.
Jowee could feel his blood boil, when he came across Wilfre. 'Oh, it's HIM. He'll probably just ignore me too!'
But as soon as the thought entered his mind, Wilfre turned to him and proceeded to give a mighty chase. Left! Right! Up! Down! Left again! Wilfre was just inches behind, and showed no signs of slowing.
'This is just a bluff! He'll turn around any second now!'
Wilfre did not turn around. And he did not slow down. He kept up the pace, and the gap between them grew smaller and smaller.
Jowee looked up from his game to see Wilfre intently focused on his screen. He was not bluffing.
Jowee ran as fast as he could, attempting to shake him off, but Wilfre only grew closer and closer. Jowee's heart pounded. Almost as though he were running from the shadowy fiend in real life. Wilfre came even closer and closer until he was right on Jowee's tail. One false move, and it would be over. "No no no no!!" 3…2…1…
The game was over.
Yoshi stood above everyone else, jumping for joy.
"I.. I won?"
"Way to go, Jowee!" Mari cheered.
"Yeah, congrats." Mike added.
"I won..." He looked over at Wilfre, and carefully approached him. "Good game, Wilfre." He reached out his paw.
Stunned, Wilfre took his paw and shook it. "You too."
End Round Stats
Mari: 0 Stars, 27 Coins, no Items, 0 Items Used, +1 Blue Spaces, 0 Red Spaces, 0 Green Spaces, 0 Hexes Set, 1 Friends Made, 1 Minigames Won, 9 Steps Taken
Jowee: 0 Stars, 16 Coins, Ten Coin Hex + Double Dice, 0 Items Used, 0 Blue Spaces, 2 Red Spaces, 0 Green Spaces, 0 Hexes Set, 0 Friends Made, +1 Minigames Won, 14 Steps Taken
Mike: 0 Stars, 21 Coins, Double Dice + Warp Block, 0 Items Used, 2 Blue Spaces, 0 Red Spaces, 0 Green Spaces, 0 Hexes Set, 0 Friends Made, 1 Minigames Won, 8 Steps Taken
Wilfre: 0 Stars, 16 Coins, Double Dice + Snag Bag, 1 Items Used, 0 Blue Spaces, 0 Red Spaces, 2 Green Spaces, 0 Hexes Set, 0 Friends Made, 0 Minigames Won, 15 Steps Taken
