Day Five

Kirichaki · Jun 27, 2019

Day Four Results
- Writing Competition
- Medley of Madness
- 16384 Hex
- Winterbells
Submission Guidelines
Today's Activities
- Art Competition
- Flash Games
  - Points
  - Wings over Water
  - Winterbells
- Scavenger Hunt
Tournaments
Side Events
The Campies

It's now the final day! You're almost there, campers, and we've enjoyed your energy throughout the week. Get ready, as this day could make or break your placements. It's still anyone's game.

Writing Competition

We enjoyed reading all of your stories, and it was a tough decision figuring out who would take the top three. However, we have finally made our choices. The top three stories are in the next post.

First Place goes to Franciscosta!
Second Place goes to Karolina!
Third Place goes to theDINOsaurus!
The other representatives for this competition were Felly, Revan, SarasaKat, atlus2, and Rainbow Rocket Grunt.

Medley of Madness

Here are the long-awaited answers to the Medley! We saw some amazing teamwork and enjoyed all of your reactions to the songs.

0:00 Devil May Cry 5 - Devil Trigger
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

0:15 Sonic Adventure 2 - Pumpkin Hill
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

0:27 Abba - Super Trouper
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

0:39 Bach - Ave Maria
CABIN 3

0:49 Bloodborne - Gehrman, The First Hunter
NO ONE

1:01 Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel...
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

1:10 James Morrison - Broken Strings
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

1:22 Oliver Tree - Alien Boy
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

1:34 Kekkai Sensen Opening
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

1:46 XY&Z (Pokemon XYZ Opening)
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

1:57 Jiyuu no Tsubasa (Attack on Titan OP 2)
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

2:05 Crash Bandicoot 1 Theme
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

2:14 Ninja Sex Party - Danny Don't You Know
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

2:29 Kingdom Hearts 3 - Oath/Don't Think Twice
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

2:41 Mamamoo - Starry Night
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

2:53 Trigun OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

3:02 Yakuza 0 - Baka Mitai
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

3:16 Deltarune - Jevil's Theme
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

3:26 XXXTentacion - Moonlight
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

3:35 Giga-P - Rettou Joutou (Bring It On)
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

3:45 Nelly - Just a Dream
CAIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

3:55 Amaranth - Nightwish
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

4:07 Wiz Khalifa - See You Again (ft. Charlie Puth)
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

4:14 Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - After Despair and Hope
CABIN 2 CABIN 4

4:29 A Hat in Time - You Are All Bad Guys
CABIN 4

4:45 Alan Walker - Sing Me to Sleep
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

4:55 One Punch Man Season 2 OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 2

5:06 The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

5:17 Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

5:29 Legend of Zelda: BotW - Links Memories
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

5:42 Initial D - Night of Fire
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

5:55 Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 8 AM
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

6:07 God of War (2018) - God of War
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

6:19 A Tribe Called Quest - I Left My Wallet in El Segundo
CABIN 3

6:30 Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

6:41 Super Mario Sunshine - Gelato Beach
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

6:49 Hunter x Hunter ED 5
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

7:01 League of Legends - Jhin, the Virtuoso
CABIN 3 CABIN 4

7:14 Avatar: TLA - Leaves from the Vine
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

7:23 Little House on the Prairie Theme
CABIN 4

7:33 Muse - Starlight
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

7:44 Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

7:59 Seven Deadly Sins OP 2
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

8:13 Persona 3 Opening
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

8:25 The Undertaker's Entrance Theme
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

8:36 Yugioh 4kidzzz Opening
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

8:45 Your Name OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

8:54 Thirty Seconds to Mars - Hurricane
CABIN 3

9:03 What's New Scooby Do Opening
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

9:08 Counting Crows - Accidentally in Love
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

9:18 System of a Down - BYOB
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

9:30 F-777 - Dance of the Violins
CABIN 4

9:41 Halsey - Gasoline
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

9:52 Jojo Vento Aureo - OP 1 "Fighting Gold"
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

10:04 Pokemon USUM - Ultra Necrozma
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

10:13 The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Theme
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

10:19 Celeste - Little Goth
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

10:30 A Plague Tale: Innocence - Father
NO ONE

10:44 Chrono Trigger - Corridors of Time
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

10:58 Blink 182 - Violence
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

11:09 Final Fantasy XV - Apocalypsis Noctis
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

11:20 Halo 2 - Unyielding
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

11:32 Mother 3 - It's Over
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

11:44 Hollow Knight - Nightmare King Grimm
NO ONE

11:55 Serial Experiments Lain OP
CABIN 3

12:07 Sonic Mania - Studiopolis Zone
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

12:24 Spectrobes Beyond the Portals - High Krawl Battle
NO ONE

12:34 Tenacious D - Kickapoo
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

12:48 The Venture Bros OP
CABIN 2

12:59 Tales of Berseria - True Will
NO ONE

13:11 Slipknot - Unsainted
CABIN 1 CABIN 3

13:21 Red Velvet - Ice Cream Cake
CABIN 1

13:30 Panic at the Disco - High Hopes
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

13:42 My Hero Academia - My Hero Academia
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

13:50 Steven Universe - Stronger Than You
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

14:03 Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

14:16 Flobots - Superhero
CABIN 1CABIN 2 CABIN 3

14:30 Pokemon DPP - Floaroma Town (Night)
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

14:44 Of Monsters and Men - King and Lionheart
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

14:54 Maduk ft. Veela - Ghost Assassin
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

15:07 Britney Spears - Circus
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

15:19 Avengers Endgame - Portals
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

15:31 Bastille - Pompeii
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

15:44 Clannad After Story OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

15:58 Yann Tiersen - Comptine d'un Autre Éte
CABIN 3 CABIN 4

16:08 Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace - Duel of the Fates
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

16:22 Nier Automata - End of the Unknown
CABIN 1 CABIN 4

16:34 Pokemon SM - Colress Battle Theme
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

16:44 Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

16:57 Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

17:06 Kanako Ito - Fatima (Steins;Gate 0 OP)
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

17:16 Clean Bandit - Tears ft. Louisa Johnson
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3

17:26 The Promised Neverland OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

17:38 The Script - If You Could See Me Now
CABIN 1 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

17:46 Zedd, Elley Duhé - Happy Now
CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

17:56 Overlord Season 3 OP
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 4

18:04 A Day to Remember - I'm Made of Wax
CABIN 4

18:13 Oh Wonder - Technicolour Beat
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

18:22 Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

18:29 The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
CABIN 1 CABIN 2 CABIN 3 CABIN 4

Flash Games

16384 Hex

Place	Username	Score
1	Varhii	236072
2	Rex	179042
3	Soulmaster	135310
4	Franciscosta	88950
5	Rydia	78748
6	theDINOsaurus	75514
7	Calaf	64120
8	Bluejay	56830
9	Nuuk	46024
10	Mystical	44982

Winterbells

Place	Username	Score
1	scott	12866025309786318
2	Gold	202588980
3	Rydia	27164450
4	BulbaJohn	7022610
5	Deva	5762240
6	Franciscosta	584130
7	atlus2	376100
8	Rex	356930
9	Wheegalure	271430
10	ihsaan	223330

Scavenger Hunt

First to find the final url from the logic and Morse code was The Clown Dimension!
First to find the final url from the imaginary math, Caesar cipher, and sudoku was People of Play!

Has it gotten hard enough for you yet? Don't worry, you've reached the end of this puzzle. You'll find the page you're looking for by clicking on the word "NOT" on the Smash Camp account's profile.

Good job solving the Caesar cipher! You'll find the next page by going to seaturtle's profile and clicking on the heart at the end.

Great job on solving the puzzles everyone! Like we've said before, we like to highlight submissions that go above and beyond what needs to be done which is why once again we want to highlight a submission by Karolina!

The standings at the end of Day Four are as follows:

People of Play: 2755

LFokaDC: 2535

Shrimp Squad: 2435

The Clown Dimension: 2205

All submissions go in the respective threads that we will create in your cabin’s forum. Entries will not count unless they are posted there. Only submissions should be placed in that thread, and you should keep all of your submissions in one post that you can edit throughout the day. All discussion should be held in separate threads or in your cabin’s Discord.

If you need an extension on the deadline for whatever reason, talk to Bossvelt and Thundawave about it beforehand. All entries submitted past the deadline will only be counted for participation points and will NOT place if it would have otherwise.

Art Competition

Finally, Day Five is here. Now it's all on the line, and now we want you to do what you do best. In this contest, we want you to make whatever style of art you feel most comfortable with as long as it's about a video game crossover. You can do signature style graphics, traditional art, digital art, whatever it may be. Take what you do best and make the best piece of art you possibly can!

Art Competition Guidelines

Theme: Video game crossover! Put a character in another game's setting, have characters from different games meet, etc.
Dimensions: Must not exceed 1240 x 1080 px if digital or standard 8.5" x 11" paper if traditional. Can be any dimensions within these restrictions.
Non-GFX works must have a full-body image.
No nudity, profanity, or excess violence. Keep it PG-13.

First Place will be awarded 100 points
Second Place will be awarded 75 points
Third Place will be awarded 50 points
Fourth and Fifth Place will be awarded 25 points
Sixth through Tenth Place will be awarded 10 points

Daily Flash Games

First Place will be awarded 75 points
Second Place will be awarded 50 points
Third Place will be awarded 30 points
Fourth and Fifth Place will be awarded 20 points
Sixth through Tenth Place will be awarded 10 points

Wings over Water

Click HERE to play Wings over Water!

Literally the reincarnation of your favorite goose game but with pretty blue birbs.

Maverick Bird

Click HERE to play Maverick Bird!

To receive points for flash games, you must post screenshots of your ENTIRE SCREEN when you hit game over.

Scavenger Hunt

Today's a bit different. Solve the following puzzle and then more will be explained to you. When you unlock the items, you'll receive 5 points for submissions and an extra 5 for getting the bonuses. Good luck!

Contest Guidelines

You may only take photos of these items in person, whether at your home, wherever it may be. It cannot be a screenshot or an image from the internet.
You absolutely must take a photo of your object accompanied by a slip of paper with your username and your cabin number on it.

Example:

Tournaments

We're nearing the end of each tournament. Good luck to those who are still battling!

Side Events

Side events are still up and running! Keep at it with your mobile games, speedruns, and betting.

The Campies Nominations

Tomorrow we will host the Smash Camp 2019 closing awards ceremony, which includes the traditional Campie Awards! This is where we award campers with trophies that they get voted to win, by you! That's right, we want you to vote for your fellow camp mates to win the following Campies. Send a PM or DM to Thundawave to vote. You don't have to vote for just your teammates - you can also vote for members of other cabins or even staff members.

The Campies 2019 Award List

Most Artistic
Most Competitive
Friendliest
Overall Best Member
Saltiest

And that's it, guys! Hope you've enjoyed this wonderful week!

ALL SUBMISSIONS FOR DAY FIVE ARE DUE IN THE RESPECTIVE THREADS BY 11:59 PM EDT.

Kirichaki · Jun 28, 2019

Every Thursday was like this. Randy always tries to find any excuse to skip band practice. If it wasn't for his parents, he'd have quit the band altogether by now, but they don't want him to stay locked in his room forever, so he's forced to attend. His excuses started off simple: he had the flu, his car was down, his dad had the flu, he had chores to do, his dog had the flu, ... You know, the usual kind. However, with time, his imagination started getting wilder. One of his drums just wouldn't stay tuned. There was an invisible barrier keeping him from leaving his room. He had suddenly forgot how to play the drums at all. By now, I thought I had heard them all. Boy was I wrong.

It was a morning like many others. I was ready to go over to Randy's house to drag him to band practice as usual, but just as I opened the door I got the scare of my life.

"Randy?! Why the hell are you here?"

"We need to talk."

<------------------------------------------------>

The cup of tea I made for Randy stood in the living room table, empty. Mine, though, was still basically untouched, since I was busy at the time processing what my friend said.

"Your pedal what."

"My drum pedal-"

"Wait, you know what? I changed my mind, I don't want to hear it again."

"But it's true! My drum pedal was abducted by aliens!"

"Randy, God knows I'd love to stay here and explain to you why exactly that's the dumbest thing to come out of your mouth, but with the amount of runner-ups it'd be years until I could confirm it."

"You gotta listen to me, Amanda! This time it's for real!"

"Oh yeah, like the time you said your house had caught on fire, but really your dad was just making some barbecue?"

"Hey, that thing made so much smoke, it really looked like raging flames!"

"The only smoke at play here is the one that must be filling that head of yours! Honestly, this is the worst excuse yet!"

"C'mon, can you at least let me you tell the story?"

<------------------------------------------------>

"So I had just gotten up from bed..."

"Ok I already have my doubts."

"... I'd just gotten up from bed, and was making my way downstairs to have breakfast. Today mom made those pancakes with maple syrup I really like, and then she added-"

"You're going off-track."

"Oh, yeah. So I was gonna get ready for my favorite part of any Thursday, band practice..."

The stare I gave him made him flinch, but he quickly resumed his story.

"... and I went to go get my drum pedal. But it was nowhere to be seen! 'It's gotta be under the sofa, or maybe I just left it upstairs' I thought. But no matter where I looked, the pedal wasn't appearing! I was gonna make my way to Fred's house, to see if I left it there from last band practice, and that's when I saw it!"

"What did you see, Randy."

"The UFO! There was an UFO landed right there on my back yard!"

<------------------------------------------------>

It took a few minutes for me to finish cleaning the tea stain off the floor. It was gonna be hard to explain my mother why there was a massive dark patch in the carpet, but that would have to wait until I was finished with this other stain in the living room.

"You realize I'm going to request you be put in a mental ward."

"It's true though! A honest-to-goodness alien spaceship! And directly under it, some tall, lanky, green dudes were examining my drum pedal!"

"Uh huh, and then what did you do?"

"Well, obviously I didn't want to be spotted, who knows what kind of stuff these aliens were into! So I tried to sneak away sloooowly... but! I stepped on a branch!"

"Your backyard has no trees."

"I stepped on a cactus!"

"No cacti either."

"I stepped on... my dog?"

"... okay that one's believable, proceed."

"I stepped on my dog! He cried out, and the aliens looked in my direction! I started booking it away from them, but they suspended my in some kind of zero-gravity hold! They got closer, and abducted me into their spaceship!"

"Please tell me this story ends with them taking you to another planet."

"Actually no, there were pretty cool dudes! They talked in this weird sign language, except it was through some kind of gland in their forehead. I couldn't understand a thing, but I appreciated the effort!"

"They probably made more sense than you."

"They kept the drum pedal on a weird tech-y pedestal, with tons of beams and lasers point towards it. It seemed like they thought it was some kind of advanced tool or maybe a rare life form! Whatever it was, they were really interested in it! So interested in fact that, after some effort with some kind of rough translator, they sent me a message asking if they could examine the pedal for a little while longer."

"And you... ?"

"And I agreed, of course! Did you want me to start an intergalactic war over a drum pedal?"

At this point, I started dragging Randy towards my front door. After opening it, I threw him outside.

"What I want is for you to just admit you didn't want to come to band practice! It's not so hard, everyone knows it already!"

"B-But! The aliens have my pedal!"

"Then kick the drums or whatever! But don't come over here with this crazy story and expect me to believe this bull-"

The bright green flash came out of nowhere. Then it concentrated on the middle of my garden, strobing intermittently on and off. Where it focused, the grass seemed to shift and warp, until a box suddenly appeared. After that, the light went away. Instinctively, and against my better judgement, I stepped towards it. I carefully lifted up the lid, to find inside Randy's drum pedal, as well as a letter, with nearly unintelligible text in very broken English, that read 'Thank is you for see control. Hope see soon.'

"Hey, Amanda! Look! Look at that cloud!"

As I directed my gaze towards where Randy was pointing, I was just able to see the metallic object fading from view. No one would believe me. Just a while ago I didn't believe it. But there it was, proof of intelligent life, and half the people that knew were irredeemable slackers.

I got up from the ground, and silently headed back towards my house. I was gonna need a nice, long nap. Just before I closed the door, I heard Randy.

"So... can I skip band practice?"

I said no. And slammed the door.

Kirichaki · Jun 28, 2019

Bzzt. Bzzt. A soft, muffled tone vibrated under Jose’s pillow, startling him from his light, but dreamless sleep. It must have been close to 7:00am, since the light streaming through his bedroom window was not too harsh yet. Bzzt. Bzzt. Oh right, the phone, he thought to himself. He grabbed his phone and checked the time. 7:18am, like he thought.

There was only one unread notification on his phone. Before even looking at the name, Jose knew who it was from. Ayleen - she would be the only one to text him at this time of day during the summer.

Ayleen: I’m coming over in 15 min. Dress smart today – we’re going on an adventure. The message had been sent at 7:07am, but Ayleen was always early. Probably because she tended to speed when she was going places.

Jose groaned softly but managed to drag himself out of bed. He had only managed brush his teeth and pull on his last unwrinkled shirt before he heard Ayleen opening the door. She had his spare key, which was probably a misplacement of trust.

“JOOOSSSEEEEEEEEEE” Ayleen screeched, kicking in his bedroom door like a banshee.

It was only due to the fact that Jose and Ayleen had been friends for so many years that he didn’t flinch at her greeting. Instead, he merely grabbed a pair of jeans to cover his delicate bits before the 5’2 Ayleen slam-tackled him into a headlock.

“Ayleen, this stopped being fun when we were 7,” he gasped.

“Well, too bad. We’ve been over this so many times, and it has been decreed that this is the only acceptable way for friends to greet each other.”

Jose might have been a full foot taller than his miniscule friend, but she was terrifyingly strong for her size. After a full 45-second hold, she finally released him - only for her to immediately glare at him.

“What’s so funny, huh?” she retorted. Her warm brown eyes blazed with the severity of her question.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry,” Jose replied, patting his friend gently on her shoulder. “And before you say anything else, let me ask a question: Why the hell are you here? Especially at this time of day and with such a vague text?”

Ayleen only smirked and pulled herself up. “We’re going on a heist. Starting at 8:00am sharp, because I have everything planned out from then until 11:00pm.” Her dark eyebrows sat high above her eyes, giving her whole body a sense of excitement and anticipation. “Look, I even brought coffee. We’re gonna need it if we’re to get through the next 15 hours.” She pulled a large thermos from the bright pink backpack slung over her shoulder.

Jose frowned. “You know I do drink coffee.”

She pulled out a second thermos without batting an eye, as if she were expecting his response. “I know, I brought you jasmine tea because I know you’re a child and can’t handle your caffeine.”

“I’m 3 months older than you, and you know it.”

Ayleen merely grinned. “C’mon – we’re wasting time! Put your pants on, pretty girl.”

“I never said I would do whatever this thing is with you,” Jose said. “I was enjoying my sleep.”

“Heist. And it’s too bad, cause I already volunteered your help to the authorities.” Ayleen was persistent, but she was also persuasive. She knew had to pique his interest.

He relented. “You mean, you volunteered me to yourself? You know what - fine, I’ll do it. Just let me get dressed, and I’ll meet you at your car.”

Ayleen’s grin was brighter than the Saturday morning sun. “Atta boy. I knew I could count on you.” With that, she turned swiftly on her heel and slammed Jose’s bedroom door hard enough to make it shudder in protest.

---

It was 7:43am by the time Jose opened the door to the beat-up, green mom van. He had purposely taken more time to comb his hair and lace his shoes, knowing that it would only annoy his friend.

“Why’d you take your dad’s car?” he asked. Ayleen almost never drove this car, except when hers was taken in for repairs. She always said that it smelled persistently of graham crackers and spoiled apple juice from her 2 younger sisters.

She sent him a quick glare and nodded her head toward the back of the van. There were various Walmart bags full of items and fancy looking equipment strewn haphazardly across the seats. “It’s for the heist, remember? God, you’re so slow that I’m starting to regret volunteering you as my partner-in-crime.”

“Is that a ****ing strobe light? Where’d you even get one of those?”

“A lady never reveals her secrets, my darling Jose,” she replied too sweetly.

Jose snorted a little. “When you were 9, you said that you didn’t want to be a lady and you would rather be a rainbow-blasting, lightsaber-wielding muskrat.” The funny part was that Ayleen had announced this at her grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary, because she thought that everyone had to pronounce something dear to them at the family gathering.

“That point still stands. Anyway, put on your seatbelt. We have to break at least 4 speeding zones if we’re going to make it to the place in time.”

He knew better than to argue at this point. Once Ayleen heard the click of his seatbelt, she slammed the gas pedal down and soon enough, they were out of his small suburban neighborhood.

---

What Jose hadn’t realized was that Ayleen’s destination was in the neighboring city, at her rich boyfriend’s house. Yes, she actually had a boyfriend. He was 3 years older than both of them, and his mother was a higher-up in a large pharmaceutical company. Their family had enough money for them to live in the nice part of town, and his dad was a stay-at-home dad who sold essential oils to rich housewives as a hobby.

Ayleen had met Abraham, or Abe as he liked to be called, at a college frat party. The legend is that she did a handstand beer keg, and the next morning Abe had delivered her a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne with his number written on the bottle. The two of them had been dating for 6 months now. Actually, this may have been their anniversary.

“Uh, what are we doing at Abe’s house?” Whatever their equipment in the back of the van was for, Jose didn’t think this would be the most romantic of gestures.

When he looked over, he was surprised to see his best friend with tears in her eyes. Jose was shocked - Ayleen never cried, even when she broke her arm falling off the jungle gym when she was 5. When she saw him looking concerned, Ayleen furiously wiped them away. “Abraham, otherwise known as the rat *******, cheated on me a total of 6 times throughout our entire relationship.”

“Oh god, Ayleen – “ Jose started.

She shot him a look. “No, don’t you dare say you’re sorry. I’m sorry that I ever thought he could be more than a spoiled, spoon-fed frat boy.” She glared at her hands, white-fisted around the steering wheel. “Do you want to know who he was cheating with?” Before letting him respond, Ayleen spat out a name.

“What? I didn’t catch that. Who was it?” he asked.

“It was Tanvi. That *****y Indian chick from the sorority.” She sniffled slightly, considering something for a moment. “I mean, what’s up with her hair even? It’s always so perfect and shiny and looks like it’s out of a modeling shoot. It ****ing blows in the nonexistent breeze!” She was full-on crying now. “I thought Abe liked me for the way I was – I didn’t know he preferred practically-perfect, stupid-smart, sensually-exotic women.”

Jose pulled his friend into a strong hug. “You’re so much better than him or that Tanvi girl,” he whispered into her hair. “Whatever your plan is, let’s make him suffer.”

Ayleen pulled away, and even though her eyes and face were red with sadness, she gave him a devious look. “We’re gonna expose his little pot business to his mother.”

“But why the strobe lights and smoke machine?” he asked, slightly afraid.

She shot him a wide smile, looking much more like her regular self. “It’s going to be epic, and then it’s going to be put on YouTube.”

He laughed. “That’s my girl. Let’s get going then!”

---

Even though it was broad daylight at 2:00pm in the afternoon, the two of them worked out a quick ‘n dirty plan to completely humiliate Abe in front of his strict mother and also in front of the entire internet. But first, they actually had to find his pot stash. Ayleen said she hadn’t seen the full amount of it whenever she’d been at Abe’s house.

“Abe’s out with Tanvi right now. He’s an idiot and forgot to logout his account from my computer. Now I can read all his dirty messages to use as blackmail, too,” she said as they searched through her boyfriend’s bedroom. It technically wasn’t breaking and entering if she had the code to their garage, Ayleen had said.

Jose poked his head out from Abe’s walk-in closet. “We’ve checked everywhere – I don’t think it’s here. I’ve seen enough of this guy’s selfie underwear to know that he’s a ****, but it’s not giving me any insight as to where his stash is.”

Ayleen nodded in defeat. “We’ve checked everywhere. I doubt it’s even in his room, or maybe even in the house.” She rubbed her neck while gazing around the room. Suddenly, she froze. “Maybe it’s not in the room because Abe has his own secret pot stash room! He’s always bragged about having a second room to play League in, but I’ve never actually seen it.”

“How do we get in? Where would it even be?” Jose asked. This was all beyond what he thought rich white kids got off on nowadays. Selfie underwear, for ****’s sake. Abe was truly beyond the help of any therapist that his parents could hire.

Ayleen thought for a minute. “I’ve seen him carry around a stupid remote sometimes. He never needed one, since his garage had a code, but he kept it around his room. He also wouldn’t tell me what it was for when I asked him about it.”

“But this room is a mess! There’s Big Mac wrappers ‘n **** all over the floor – we’ll never find it at this rate. Doesn’t his mom come back soon?”

“Yeah, we’ve looked everywhere,” she sighed.

He paused. “Wait, we haven’t looked everywhere – check under the bed!”

The two of them scrambled across Abe’s ****ty yellow couch to his bed, ducking their heads under the frame. “Dammit, it’s not here,” Ayleen cursed.

“But there’s nowhere else it could be,” he mumbled. Then, a thought came to him. “It’s gotta be under the sofa.”

“Goddamn, you’re right.” She dove under the couch, her legs sticking out as she rummaged with commendable vigor. Finally, Ayleen emerged with her hair sticking out all over the place. But there was a small, black remote clutched victoriously in her right hand.

“VINDICATIOOOOON!” she screeched before jamming her thumb down on the button.

A soft whirring noise alerted the two to the floor opening to a staircase below. Jose turned to his friend, “If we get murdered down there, I’m sorry that I ate your Sour Skittles that time in 8th grade.”

Ayleen punched him in the shoulder. “I knew it was you, you asshole. Now let’s get that pot.”

At the end of the staircase, there was an enormous gaming room. And it was covered head-to-toe with enough pot to bring down the Mexican mafia. “Holy ****, we’ve done it,” Jose whispered.

Beside him, Ayleen had already begun to unpack her equipment bags. “Damn straight, we did. Now come help me with the camera – this is gonna go viral.”

Kirichaki · Jun 28, 2019

You sit quietly in a cabin of your ship, waiting pensively for your inevitable demise. You and your partner had set out on a quest full of hope – the hopes of yourselves, the hopes of your people, who were relying on you. But your ship’s fuel was nearly empty; it was being devoted to cycling the air that you breathe and maintaining some semblance of life. You hadn’t moved in two days.

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The soft hum of the ship’s machinery reminds you that you’re still alive. Sometimes, it fills you with hope. Other times, despair at your seemingly hopeless predicament. You sit in your room, wishing you could drown out the noise. Simultaneously praying for silence and dreading it. With the silence would come the end.

Your thoughts swim, still calculating, still on overdrive searching for some solution to your problem. Your thoughts remind you that you’re still alive, that you’re still human.

“How can we save ourselves? How can we get out of this mess?”

You stand up, you pace around the cabin, wracking your brain for any miracle, any glimmer of hope that could save you. You still have enough fuel to use your ship’s warp function one last time, but the initial calculations that were meant to take you to your destination were off. You had been lost in deep space, with no inkling on how to return home or even where you could find safety.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump

Your heart pounds in your chest, reminding you that you’re still alive. It gets louder, then louder still as your anxiety builds. You’re not sure if you’ll be relieved or terrified when this sound stops, but the anticipation is agonizing.

You have to do something.

You walk to the door with great resolve and pull it open, entering the hull, where your partner sits at the console. The buttons glow dimly as the ship diverts its energy toward life support. The light above you strobes slowly, as if maintaining only a half-assed effort to illuminate the chamber. Your partner’s chair swivels to face you.

“Why the hell are you here?” he snaps. His brow wrinkles as if he’s just smelled something offensive. “I told you I didn’t want to see your face. You got us into this mess! Can’t you even give me that much?”

“We can’t just give up here,” you say. Your words are shaky, betraying your own lack of conviction. You know you can’t stand this anymore. You’d rather die now with your sanity than sit with only your thoughts, feeling it slowly slip away. “We have to use the warp function. We have to have hope.”

“There is no hope!” he shouts, rising from his chair. “Haven’t you figured that out by now? Just leave. Let me enjoy my last moments in peace.” A piping cup of tea sits on the console. He always loved tea. You’re not sure how much peace it can bring him in this time that’s anything but peaceful, but he always claimed it calmed him down. You feel no surprise that he wasted some of your precious fuel to brew up a cup. “Fine, I’ll do it if you won’t,” he says, swiping up the hot cup in a huff.

He’s going to leave. He’s the pilot. He’s the only one who knows how to steer your ship. He’s the only hope. He’s the only one who can make this decision, who can save you.

You have to give up.

You have to give up.

You have to—

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

“Abandon hope. There’s nothing you can do. Abandon hope.”

Ba-thump, ba-thump

You can’t take it anymore. As he walks toward the door, you step up to the console. You’re no pilot, but you’ve been on this ship for 5 weeks just as he has. You’ve watched him flip the switches, press the buttons. It’s too late to give up now. You have to fight. You have to escape that damned humming. You have to escape your own mind. You have to escape.

You flip a switch.

Just as quickly, he flips around to face you.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he snarls. You ignore him. You press a button, and the engines flare back to life. The hum is replaced by a roar. The air feels a bit heavier, but you press on.

“You can’t do that! Stop!”

Clang

His cup falls against the metal floor. He rushes at you, but you don’t stop—you can’t stop. You’re almost done. You’re almost there. You’re almost free.

Firmly, you stomp on one of the ship’s pedals. Your head swims as the ship’s devotes more energy to the warp sequence. You don’t know where you’re going. Home? Your destination? The afterlife? The void?

All you know is that it can’t be worse than here. You lean against the console as the ship shakes. Unstable. It devotes all it has to this one last attempt, this last hope. Your partner has fallen to the ground behind you, grasping the chair for some sense of security. You don’t know where you’re going, but you know it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Everything goes black.

You’re not sure how much time passes, but, against all odds, your eyes slowly open once again. Your body aches. Your head pounds. You listen.

Nothing. The quiet hum of the ship has stopped. Your mind has been rendered speechless, its protests silenced as it faces complete unknowns. Behind you, your partner groans, holding his head as he slowly pulls himself up off the floor.

“What happened?” he asks groggily. “Where are we? Are we still alive?”

“I think so,” you reply, genuinely a bit unsure. You’ve done enough thinking over the past few days, for a moment you want to revel in the silence. You press a hand to your chest and feel a gentle thump, but the sounds no longer pounds in your ears.

Your partner pushes a button, and the blinds on the ships front window snap open.

“Look at that cloud!” you say, pointing excitedly toward the first thing you see. A thick mist billows up from a body of water. You’ve seen nothing but darkness and distant stars since you set out. This new sight looks so inviting.

“I never thought I’d even see water or trees like this again,” your partner says in a soft voice, relishing in the awe of your new situation, soaking in the surroundings. You don’t speak. You give him a nod.

You don’t know where you are. You don’t know what waits for you outside of your ship. But, for now, you relish in the silence. The silence gives you hope.

Day Five

Kirichaki

Monokuma appears!

Kirichaki

Monokuma appears!

Kirichaki

Monokuma appears!

Kirichaki

Monokuma appears!