ROUND 4 DAY 4 - HAUNTED HOUSE PARTY

[snackcakeordeath]

[For some reason, you feel good today...stronger. Which is great, maybe you're just psyched up for the latest ~fabulous event~ cooking from the ConAgra-McKee Foods kitchens...

[The Newlydead Game^TM ✨Super-Special✨ 👻Spooktacular🎃! 🗡Murdermance💘 at the 💀Murder Manse🏚!

[The house is a huge, Victorian monstrosity straight out of the mental idea of an Edgar Allen Poe story--delicate wrought-iron chandeliers and candelabra hanging from vaulted ceilings; ornately carved molding and flocked wallpapers, mosaics and inlaid wood floors. Most of the rooms seem legitimately old, cobwebbed and musty, with dusty dropcloths laid over the faded furniture, and distressing shadows cast in the flickering candlelight that never fails to not light up every corner, no matter how many candles are set up. You're not sure how the cameras are picking all this up with how dark it is. You honestly wouldn't be surprised if some of the taps in the bathroom actually run blood. A few of the rooms are locked, in particular a few bedrooms on the upper floors, and a heavy door off the mud room that's chained and padlocked; presumably it leads to a cellar.

[The exception to this is the conservatory, the one large room in a building filled with tiny, closed off rooms. One wall is lined with massive paned windows, another a huge fireplace, the others covered in stern portraits and other random Victorian-area knick knacks. And sprinkled around all of that are Halloween decorations, the kind more Pottery Barn than Party City. It's set for a party, complete with games like bobbing for apples and a spread of fancy Halloween "finger" foods and drinks that glow under black light. A playlist of seasonal hits like Spooky or The Addams Family Groove toots along near a dance floor. Need an outfit for the costume contest? There's plenty. There's also a smoke machine and a photo booth. In the backyard is a corn maze.]

Hellooo contestants, guess what time it isss? Why, it's only the best time of the year for sweeties like us! Time for Pumpkin Delights and Black Cat Brownies, the perfect treats to give to your trick-or-treaters this year! Now, even though someone's given US a trick today, we've provided a treat for you--a Halloween ball! Play with your fellow Casanovas, make your best impressions, and grab your favorite Sexy Pizza Rat cosplay! At the end, you'll get to choose from all the remaining contestants for your Marry-Kiss-Kill. And remember what we talked about last night--this time, if you deal to make it even, you're all going to be punished!

[With murder, Swiss Miss adds. In case you weren't quite sure.]


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Comments

[afailedmurder]

I don't mean physically.

[The help is in fact helpful as he wobbles upright.]

...Ah. I only need a moment to get my bearings.

[wantsnudes]

[yeeeah Yusuke isn't going to let go, just in case he keels right back over again.]

It doesn't seem to be chasing after us, so we should be safe for the moment.

[afailedmurder]

Good, good.

[Shifts his weight and winces.]

You, ah... wouldn't happen to have any healing items on you, would you?

[wantsnudes]

[Shakes his head.]

Sorry, I haven't needed to carry that kind of thing around with me for months. The closest thing we have is the food at the party, unless someone else can help you.

[afailedmurder]

I see.

[Slumps against him a little.]

I suppose it would be best if you... dropped me off there.

[wantsnudes]

[If only Yusuke's Susano-o could heal as well as Yosuke's, alas.]

All right. If you're indoors you should be safe from whatever these machines want with us, anyway.

[He puts Akechi's arm over his own shoulder so he can support him a little more easily and begins to head back to the haunted house, keeping a sharp eye out for the machine all the while.]

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi hobbles along rather dejectedly.]

It wasn't my intent to slow you down.

[wantsnudes]

[He shakes his head.]

I'm just glad that wasn't as bad as it could have been. For some reason, it didn't want to kill us...

[afailedmurder]

I'm only judging based on science fiction, but I think it wants to absorb us into its hive-mind.

[wantsnudes]

[Get out of here with that Futaba-speak, Akechi.]

You mean the "Facebook" thing it was referring to...?

[afailedmurder]

It's a social media website. I have one myself.

[There's a nice convenient couch once they get inside.]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke helps set Akechi down on the couch, taking the opportunity to sit down for a quick rest himself.]

I'm still not sure I understand... But if your theory is right, I'm worried about the others. Not everyone will see through the illusions, or be able to defend themselves.

[afailedmurder]

[Closing his eyes and shifting around a bit, trying to find a comfortable position briefly before just plain giving up.]

You should look into social media. It would be a good place to put your art.

[wantsnudes]

[Scoots a bit closer, in case Akechi still needs to lean on him.]

Assuming this experience doesn't sour me to it altogether, perhaps I can look into it.

[afailedmurder]

[Is a little confused by the gesture, and doesn't really intend to take him up on it until a sharp pain in his ribs forces him.]

They're... they're easy to set up. You could get a lot of followers.

[wantsnudes]

[He's probably not the most comfortable person to lean against, given how scrawny he is, but it's better than nothing? Once he's sure Akechi has settled a little, he huffs out a quiet laugh.]

More than the Phan-Site?

[afailedmurder]

Probably not unless you went viral. But you'd have fewer trolls.

[wantsnudes]

"Trolls"? [He's learning so much about the internet today.]

[afailedmurder]

Pathetic losers who say nasty things just to get a reaction. Surely you've noticed them.

[wantsnudes]

Truthfully I can't say I paid attention to the Phan-Site enough to have taken much notice... But I think I know what you mean.

[He's heard enough griping from the other Thieves about it enough to get the gist, anyway.]

Even at the height of our fame, there were always people who wanted to slander us.

[afailedmurder]

It was the same for me. They're nothing but envious, petty little insects.

[wantsnudes]

I honestly didn't mind... Criticism of my art has always bothered me more than criticism of my work as a Phantom Thief.

By comparison, the latter opinions were uninformed judgements, and therefore not worthy of consideration.

[afailedmurder]

You're not wrong. It's all completely hollow. Idiots shouting into the void.

Truthfully, what got to me more than anything was when I realized that the praise was just as hollow.

[wantsnudes]

Akechi...

[Yusuke feels bad enough for him that he forgets codenames for a moment. He shifts uncomfortably.]

It's fine not to rely on the opinions of strangers, you know. Neither praise, nor scorn. There are more important ways to derive a sense of worth.

[afailedmurder]

I know. I messed up with Shido, but for the most part I've always known better than to rely on anyone for anything—

And here's where you'll say you can rely on your friends, and you can find a sense of worth in your art, and I believe that for you that's true. But all I ever had going for me was revenge and good publicity.