Episode 2: The First Taste of Torture

Episode 2: First Taste of Torture
Days 2-4

"ALRIGHT, WORMS! HOW DARE ANYONE VOTE FOR THE KING OF KOOPAS?!"

Zelda sighs as she listens to Bowser rant and rave angrily in the next room.

"Sorry, man, but you're, like, way more the King of Krap-ola than King of Koopas," answers Candy's voice, sounding a bit annoyed. "You need to, like, mellow out!"

"MELLOW OUT?!" roars Bowser. "I'LL MELLOW OUT WHEN YOU AND YOUR BRAINLESS BAND ARE OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!"

Zelda shakes her head, happy to be out of the conversation, and drowns out Bowser's screaming.

"Daisy had it in for herself from Day One. She didn't have a chance, and it was just because she was too plain bratty."

Mario nods in agreement. Around him sit Yoshi, Zelda, Link, and Fox, all eating dinner in the privacy of the kitchen. The others have already eaten and are busy with other things.

"I could tell her character from the beginning," says Link, rubbing his chin. "The type that always needs her way. The type that will do whatever she needs to in order to get what she wants."

"It's a shame," muses Fox. "She looked innocent..."

Everyone glances at Fox, who is lost in his own thoughts, and he immediately comes back to reality.

"Er....in the most unattractive sort of way," he adds, quickly.

"Hey! Guys!" comes an excited shout from out in the parlor. "You'll never guess what I just found!"

There's silence in the kitchen, then Yoshi stands.

"Come on," he urges softly. "Let's go out there. We don't want to look suspicious."

They enter the parlor and find it full of the other residents already. Ganondorf is excitedly talking to everyone.

"You haven't seen them yet, I'm sure, but trust me--they're there!" he is saying, motioning all around himself.

"What are?" asks Krystal.

"The cameras," smirks Ganondorf, with a heavy note of pride in his voice. "Toad and his boys did a good job trying to hide them from us...but not good enough to fool the best of the best!"

"Wait. What cameras are you talking about?" asks Captain Falcon, looking around. "I don't see any cameras..."

Ganondorf smiles proudly as he steps towards one of the candles on the wall.

"Observe, my clueless friends," he says, with a wide grin, as he lifts the candle out of the slot and squats down to the level of the holder.

He makes a funny face at it, with his nose almost pressed against it.

"HI, EVERYONE OUT THERE!" he says, waving at it.

"What are you talking about? That's a candle holder!" objects Mario.

"I'm afraid the poor fellow's a few cards short of a full deck," sighs Wrinkly, shaking her head sadly.

"No, no, this thing LOOKS like a candle holder!" protests Ganondorf. "But there's actually a camera there! Come on, look for yourselves!"

He steps aside, and Krystal, shrugging, steps forwards and squints at the holder.

"By golley, he's right!" she exclaims, excitedly whipping back around. "There really is a camera there!"

Within seconds, the entire group is crowded around the holder, staring intently at the camera and chattering quickly amongst themselves.

"Amazing!" says Yoshi.

"That's a fine piece of equipment! Very clever!" acknowledges Link.

"Whoa.....a camera," mumbles Donkey Kong, not sure of whether to jump up and down excitedly like everyone else or grunt in annoyance.

**********

"Yesterday," says Fox, to the camera. "Ganondorf came running in with some special announcement for us all. It turns out...he's found these cameras, and we're all very excited."

The morning has come and gone, and everyone else is about their business. Somehow, Fox has snuck out to find a camera by himself, which he has started to chat into.

"Finding these cameras is a blessing for some, a curse for some others. I, for one, am extremely excited--because now I have someone to share my plot with that can't squeal or tattle on me. You see, I have a confession to make that I really don't want to give to anyone else playing in this game: I'm playing both sides of the line, and I'm having a heck of a time doing it."

**********

At around noon, Toad enters to find the group awaiting him. Ganondorf wears a smile of satisfaction that Toad quickly notices.

"What's with the smile, Ganondorf?" he asks.

"I've found your little cameras, and we've been enjoying them," answers Ganondorf, cheerfully.

"Oh.....you didn't know about them before, then?" asks Toad, causing Ganondorf's jaw to drop.

"What?" gapes Mario.

"You don't have to talk to those cameras, you know--you can ALWAYS go convey your feelings to the world by entering the Camera Room at any time and just unloading your troubles there. I didn't realize that you guys didn't know that...."

Suddenly, Ganondorf's findings seem much weaker than before.

"Oh, and today's the day that you guys get to expand outwards!" adds Toad, handing Zelda a pair of keys. "These keys unlock TWO rooms--two bedrooms, to be precise. They're all yours now, so you'll hopefully get a better night's sleep tonight."

"I certainly hope so," grumbles Samus, who received very little sleep over the night.

"Now, about today's challenge: it's a physical challenge."

There is a mixed response of groans and cheers.

"Each of you has two candles lit, opposite each other in this room. The goal is to be the last one with a candle burning."

Toad quickly pulls out many wooden cap-like tools and hands them around.

"Using your cap, you must smother out the fires of the other players. You can also, however, defend your fire using the other end of your tool, which is in the shape of a bubble full of small holes. By clamping this bubble over your candle, you will protect it from being snuffed while still allowing air to enter and keep it lit. A steady mix of offense and defense is needed to win. Does everyone understand?"

The group moves to their positions and nods.

"Alright, then. This is for right of Head of the House Hold! Everyone set...........GO!"

There's immediately chaos, and candles go out everywhere. Link turns to his side, and, seeing Mario run to put out Bowser's candle, quickly clamps his tool down, snuffing the plumber's candle out.

"Mario is down to one!" cries Toad, as Donkey Kong reaches over and snuffs Yoshi's first candle. "Yoshi is at one, also!"

Candy runs for Bowser's candle, but he turns quickly and swats her aside, defending his candle fiercly. Mario tries to sneak in, and the two double team Bowser at once, but he manages to hold them both off. Ganondorf quickly attacks Mario's second candle, and Mario is out of the challenge.

"Mario! You're out of this! Please sit down!"

Wrinkly snuffs Birdo's candle just as Birdo turns to defend against the attack.

"Oh, no!" cries Birdo.

"I'm sorry about that, child, I surely am," sighs Wrinkly, patting Birdo's shoulder gentley.

"Birdo is down to one!" shouts Toad. "Fox is down to one!"

Fox turns and glares as he sees Ganondorf, wearing a proud smirk, take the cap off of his candle and dash back to defend his own.

"Captain Falcon, Zelda, and DK have all taken a blow!" says Toad, as more candles go out. "Link has also just received a hit!"

Link turns, and Ganondorf has reached far across to snuff his candle out. Meanwhile, Yoshi cleverly sneaks around Bowser and snuffs his candle at last.

"Bowser is down to one candle!" announces Toad. "Mario is out of the challenge, Yoshi, Birdo, Fox, Captain Falcon, Zelda, DK, Bowser, and Link have all lost one candle! Meanwhile, Ganondorf, Peach, Krystal, Samus, Candy, and Impa each have two remaining still! It's anybody's game still!"

Fox rushes across the room, defending his final candle from an attack by Krystal just in time. He turns, and their eyes meet for a fleeting second, as if time itself has stopped. Then, Fox quickly regains his composure and snuffs out Candy's unguarded candle beside himself.

"Candy is down to one, and I suggest you two go back to snuffing and start the staring again later," says Toad, making Krystal blush and go back to the game.

DK and Link go at each other, meeting right in the center of the room as they attack their opponent's last candle. As they tussel, Yoshi sneaks around the edge of the room and extinguishes Donkey Kong's candle.

"DK, you've been taken out!" shouts Toad. "Please take a seat."

Peach craftily snuffs Krystal's first candle, then slips away to attack one of Ganondorf's. Ganondorf, however, sees the pending attack and quickly retreats to save his own candle. With Peach's absence, Samus rushes in and kills the candle.

"Peach and Krystal have taken a hit now, as well!" shouts Toad, as Captain Falcon's last candle is put out by Birdo. "Oh, and Captain Falcon loses his last candle! Please take a seat!"

Impa stands awkwardly in the center, doing relatively nothing, and Peach quickly skips past and puts out her candle. Impa whirls around and sees her candle smoldering out.

"Impa loses a candle!"

Peach freezes with fear as Impa's face wrenches into a terrifying form of disbelief and bewilderment.

"You have.....extinguished...my flame!" croaks Impa, rigidly, as Peach babbles appologies.

"I'm s-s-sorry!" whimpers Peach. "I d-d-d-didn't mean t-t-to!"

Yoshi's final candle is snuffed by Fox, which causes some confusion.

"I thought we were taking out everyone else first!" hisses Yoshi, a bit annoyed.

"We can't make it so obvious, though," answers Fox, quietly.

"Yoshi is out now, and Krystal's second candle is gone!" shouts Toad, as Bowser drops the tool and smothers the flames with his bare hands. "Birdo, Fox, Zelda, Bowser, Link, Peach, Candy, and Impa all have one candle, and Ganondorf and Samus still have two lit!"

Candy sprints across the room to Samus's unguarded candle and gives a wide smile as Samus turns and realizes that she is in trouble.

"Here's to you, girl," snorts Candy, putting out Samus's first candle.

"Two can play at this game," growls Samus, turning and spotting Candy's final candle, at the same moment as Candy realizes the mistake she has made. "Race you."

Samus takes off running and easily beats Candy to the candle--the tool goes down, and one more elimination is made.

"Candy is gone, and Samus has one candle left!" announces Toad, as Bowser craftily puts out Peach's last flame. "Oh, and Peach is now out of the game as well."

"Sorry, Toots," sneers Bowser, as Peach sits down heatedly.

Fox defends his candle from several attacks by Zelda, then buys himself enough time to get to Link's candle. It's put out, but Zelda manages to take down Fox's as well.

"Both Link and Fox are out," says Toad. "Birdo, Zelda, Bowser, Impa, Ganondorf, and Samus are left!"

Samus swiftly crosses the room and puts out Birdo's final candle, despite her best efforts at defense.

"Sorry, Birdo," says Samus, as Birdo sits down.

"I'll return the favor!" cackles Bowser, putting out Samus's candle.

"Mmm....fire......it must be......killed...." groans Impa, stumbling towards Bowser's candle and extending the tool carefully.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" roars Bowser, his eyes bugging out as Impa smothers out his flame.

"The fire......is dead," she murmurs, eerily.

"Birdo, Samus, and Bowser are out of this!" shouts Toad. "That leaves Zelda, Impa, and Ganondorf!"

"Let's team up, Impa!" urges Zelda, knowing that Ganondorf has two candles to defend. "You take this one, and I'll take that one!"

"Ha! Fat chance!" snarles Ganondorf, quickly pushing Zelda aside and snuffing out her final candle.

"Zelda is out! It's Impa or Ganondorf!" cries Toad.

"The fire.....is like....life," groans Impa, as Ganondorf stomps towards her final candle. "While it is....lit.....life is bright. But when it is.....extinguished...."

The tool comes down, killing the final candle and ending the game.

"....the world around it becomes.....lifeless......"

"Ganondorf is the winner and Head of the House Hold!" shouts Toad, taking the Power Bracelet from Zelda and handing it to Ganondorf. "Congratulations, Ganondorf, and I'll see you all tomorrow. Enjoy your new rooms!"

**********

"Man, Impa, you did quite well today!" says Mario, at dinner. "I didn't think you had it in you!"

"Yeah, really! Where'd you get that killer instinct?" laughs Yoshi.

"....killer....instinct?" asks Impa, deep in thought. "Kill......I have.....killed......things........"

There is dead silence and everyone stops eating.

"That's good," blurts Link, finally, to break the silence.

".....with an....axe...."

There is no mistaking it this time, no one can think of a reply.

"Er.....an axe?" asks Donkey Kong, feeling queasy.

"Do you mind saving this conversation until after dinner?" whimpers Krystal, starting to get sick.

"I once.....had.....an axe," continues Impa, staring forwards at nothing or anyone in particular. "It was.....dull. I sharpened it......my axe........ Then.....it was sharp."

"That's.....very interesting," says Wrinkly, smiling weakly.

"Axes......are good.....to chop....chop.....chop.....chop...."

There is no sound from anyone, but Impa continues to utter the words, 'chop, chop, chop' silently, trailing off slowly.

**********

"Well, last night was a horror, even with new bedrooms," begins Ganondorf, inside the Camera Room the next morning. "After Impa's little speech at dinner last night, a bunch of the girls were too freaked out to sleep in the same room with her, and ended up in the guys' room, for fear they'd be chop...chop....chopped to bits by morning. As a result, we're all a little shy of sleep today, making for some grumpy residents of this place..."

As he steps outside, he bumps right into Zelda.

"Oh, hello," he grunts, rubbing his eyes. "Sleep's not out of me yet..."

"Ganondorf, we need to talk," she says, with a certain look of worry in her eyes.

"Oh.....you and me, huh? Talking?" he asks, smiling.

"No, not like that," she growls, pulling him into the kitchen, where several other people are already waiting. "We need to chat.....about Impa."

"She's a maniac," says Krystal, one of the people in the kitchen. "She's going to kill us all!"

"Now look," begins Ganondorf, putting up a hand. "She's perfectly fine, and she has no reason to kill anyone here! She's just a little over-enthusiastic about her axe, that's all....."

"Oh, yeah?" snaps Candy, also present. "You should've heard her last night, man! She was givin' us all, like, the heebie-jeebies with her bizarro sleep talking! She was up, like, all night, walking back and forth and whispering all these messed up things...."

"She's psychotic!" cries Birdo.

"She's a very odd person, I'll grant you that," concedes Ganondorf. "But that's no basis to get rid of someone on. I have already chosen who I'm nominating, anyways--the choice is yours to evict them, but if you want to eliminate Impa, do that on YOUR OWN TIME!"

He stomps out of the room, leaving those present a bit upset.

"See if we ever, like, back you again!" cries Candy, bitterly.

**********

"Well, I'm Head of House Hold......and I like it," begins Ganondorf, breaking a smile. "But it's time to get to the part where we kick someone from our lovely, lovely home! So, without further ado....the nominations for this week."

He draws out his words as he looks around at the group, adding drama to the situation, before he goes on.

"The first nomination is my old pal, Link."

Link is startled and he appears not to be the only one.

"Good old Link here not only has proven to be a physical threat to us all....but he's also blunt. REAL blunt. And frank. REAL frank."

"That's a good thing sometimes," protests Link. "We can't all live in a sugar-coated world, you know."

"You're a downer, man. You have negative vibes," contributes Candy.

"You judge everyone kind of harsh," adds Krystal, reluctantly.

"You're a pain in the bum about everything," finishes Ganondorf.

"And you're sure I'M the one who's blunt?" asks Link. "I know, I know, and I'm willing to work on that in the future, if you all give me a chance."

"My second nomination," says Ganondorf, who has evidently thought out every word ahead of time, "is Candy Kong."

"WHAT? ME?!"

"HER? What do you want with Candy?" cries Donkey, about as upset as Candy is over the news.

"Face it, DK--with Candy around, you do just about nothing," growls Ganondorf. "You two sit and hug, smooch and hug, kiss and hug, love and hug...that's all you ever do, and you should be helping a lot more! Candy, meanwhile, doesn't ever do anything, either, but I don't think she really COULD do anything, even without you around."

"That's not true, dude!" snaps Candy, furiously. "Talk about negative vibes! You're, like, the Bad News Ringleader!"

"You've heard my reasons," continues Ganondorf, putting up a hand. "Now, we let the votes decide...."

The voting begins, and, one by one, the residents enter the camera room and write down names. When they have all finished, Toad enters the parlor once again, holding the box containing the votes.

"Nice to see you all again," he says. "Did you enjoy your bedrooms."

"Hardly," grumbles Zelda, who is obviously a bit annoyed. "But, unfortunately, we can't cure the reason why we didn't enjoy them."

"That's very interesting," says Toad, catching the drift that someone is responsible for the problems. "But enough--it's time to read the votes."

Everyone braces themselves for the decision.

"Number one: Candy. Number two: Candy. Three: Link. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Link. Candy. Link. ..........Axe................"

Everyone jumps at the word, and Toad turns the paper around, puzzled, looking for a name, before shrugging and tossing the vote aside. Shivers go up everyone's sides, and they don't need to guess who cast that vote. Toad pulls the next vote from the box, then turns it slowly. It says Candy, and she lets out a long sigh, grabbing her bags.

"That's all we need....Candy, it's Game Over for you."

Candy slowly walks towards the door, exiting Luigi's Mansion, and leaving the game.

On the next episode of Nintendo Big Brother...
The plot thickens as new plans and alliances emerge, and old rivalries may start to burn in! Disagreements begin to sting, and when the ghosts return again to terrorize the residents, the group will have bigger problems than working out their differences! Who is in the position for power in the game? How will newly-formed alliances affect past relationships? How will the mansion's ghouls change life in this game? All will be revealed on the next episode!