Welcome to Nova: For Real This Time

The seventeen remaining contestants stood tired. They were all asked to come down at around 6AM, and there weren't any smilers around to give them breakfast. Instead were open doors, leading out to the city. Valentina and Cyrus looked out, and there weren't any signs of danger. No smilers or game show hosts, anyway. The two of them stepped out, Eric and Odebode following them. All it was was a neon lit cityscape, with the occasional gap in buildings to let the slowly brightening sky peer out.

"Ah, you finally stepped out!"

Leonie's voice entered from above, with her body soon after, landing from the air on her hands, sinking slightly, and leaping back on her feet in one quick motion. The four outside all drew their weapons just in case.

"Are we all doing okay?" She asked, seeing the sword, bones, hammer, and water bubble. "Okay, seems we are not."

"Could you tell the others it's safe to come out?" Kalea asked, just walking out of a building, looking even more dead inside than usual.

"What's with you?" Odebode asked.

"You know how none of you are told anything until the last second to keep you guessing? That applies to us, too."

"Wow, that's shoddy." Cyrus sighed. "But still, your resourcefulness is admirable."

"Please don't complement the people getting paid to kill you." Eric muttered.

"It's a quality regardless." Cyrus replied. "She could get a good job in a public sector should she want it."

"I'll keep it in mind." Kalea mumbled. "What's the coffee like in there?"

"It is awful, madam." Cyrus replied. Kalea just made an incoherent groan.

The others stumbled out of the cafeteria, most of them looking pained and groggy.

"Are we doing well, everyone?" Leonie asked with the same enthusiasm as always.

"Where's breakfast?" Silvia yelled out from the back.

"Wherever you want it to be, Silvia!" Leonie yelled back. "For today's challenge is to explore the city!"

"And…? What else, exactly?" Micah asked, moving his hand in a circular motion.

"For the most part, that's it! Explore the city to your hearts content! Eat, swim, love, whatever you want! See all the sights our neon drenched block has to offer!"

"The lights are kind of tacky." Andrei whispered to himself.

"You get used to them after a while." Gemma whispered back.

"So the challenge is a free one, then?" Ulrich asked optimistically. "Nobody's dying this time?"

"Well, ratings would probably go down if we did that, so we need to have SOMEONE die. Business, you know?" Leonie explained, with her attempt at a clownish frown. Everyone could sense the glee behind it, however.

"Two people will be dying in today's challenge." Kalea sighed, focusing on the orange sky. "The first death will be caused by one of you. It's your job to kill one of the other contestants."

Mumbled and worried glances were traded once that got out. Wendy ended up shocking Odebode by accident, who looked at her slightly annoyed, and Eric shot him a death glare.

"And what would part two be, exactly?" Vanessa asked.

"Part two is trying to figure out who did it!" Leonie exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement. "You all have three hours in a court of law to deduct the culprit, and whoever gets the most votes is eliminated!"

"What if we pick the wrong person?" Ulrich asked, hesitating slightly.

"Well, then the killer walks free!" Leonie screamed. "And on top of that, they get a thousand coins! And if you guess right, everyone gets a hundred and fifty coins."

"So it's like the first challenge, but through an entire city?" Aurora asked politely.

"Pretty much." Kalea sighed, focusing on the door behind her.

"You have 36 hours until then. And like always, we will hold a vote for two people if nobody ends up dying. And with that said and done, enjoy yourselves!"

The two went into the cafeteria, and the door shut behind them. Odebode inspected the automatic door, and it didn't seem to open no matter what he did.

"Seems we're stuck out here." He mumbled.

"So…what do we do?" Eric asked.

"I'm assuming we eat." Huang replied merrily. "Now, are we able to scope out the local delicacies, I wonder? Actually, what sounds good to you?"

"Like I know, man. We don't even know what sells here." Eric replied.

"Actually, our watches can tell us what's open." Vanessa replied, looking up from hers.

"Ah, sweet." Eric smiled.

"Hey Amber, wanna get some Golmyran food?" Aurora asked.

"I mean, having that in me while checking this place out sounds awful." Amber sighed. "I'm probably gonna see if I can get any Halarian stuff. Ulrich?"

"Does that stuff have peanuts in it?" Ulrich asked, trying to remember the two names he just heard.

"I don't think so?" Amber replied. "I know Majbu food doesn't have peanuts in it, anyway."

"So, we'll split up for lunch and come back later." Lloyd said calmly. "Meet up in an hour?"

"Yeah, sure." Amber replied. "Let's go, Ulrich."

The two of them made their way through the neon drenched streets, following their watches until they found the Majbu restaurant it was pointing to on a street corner. There was a bright red sign with 'Vidella Majbu' written on it in a sophisticated, yet easy on the eyes font. And inside was a green stairway. Once they got up, there was a small room with several small tables alongside it, with a desk manned by two smilers. One smiler shakily approached them as they entered the door.

"Helloooo." The raspy voice started. "You neeeed…table?"

"Uh, yes please." Ulrich replied. "For two."

The smiler led them to a small table, where the two of them sat down. The other smiler handed them both menus, and ended up tripping, hitting its head against the table. A small pool of black gunk was left on the table, and the two of them moved to the next one. Ulrich flipped through the menu, not seeing any pictures, and ingredient names that sounded absolutely ridiculous. Like, what the hell is a Hodjone? Or a Katakur?

"You know what any of this is?" Amber asked. Ulrich shook his head slightly, and Amber's eyes made their way back to the menu. "Will I get a sharing order of Mystic Donuts?"

The smiler came back, the black gunk leaking out of it's forehead. "Orrrderrr?"

"Sharing plate of mystic donuts, with some…milk?" Amber asked.

"Milk sounds good." Ulrich nodded.

The smiler hobbled away, and Amber turned to Ulrich.

"So, any plans for the next three days?" Amber asked calmly.

"Beats me. I'll probably check the city out, try to see if I can find the guy who tried to kill me."

"Sounds good, yeah." Amber replied. "You mind helping me with something?"

"What?" Ulrich asked cautiously.

"I need to make sure nobody dies for three days. Once that's done, we can vote Lloyd off."

"And who else?" Ulrich asked.

"Oh, right. Whoever tried to kill you, I guess. Either way, if we get to the vote, it'll probably be Lloyd and Odebode getting killed."

"Got it." Ulrich replied. "Either way, I guess I'll help you if you'll help me."

"Thanks." Amber nodded, moving her hands out of the way to make room for the food.

Ulrich looked at the food, taking a drink of the milk as he did. They just looked like dumplings with a sprinkling of some orange powder on top, with a tall wooden stick by the plate. Amber stabbed one of the donuts with the stick, eating the donut in a single bite. Ulrich did the same, and it was hot. Really hot. He took a bite, and some kind of sauce came out of the middle. Tasted kind of like soy sauce, and it was pretty good. Both of them had about six each, satisfied with the meal.

"You paying?" Amber asked. "Thirty coins. And I'm broke"

"I can do that." Ulrich replied, sending her the money.

"Okay, let's get going." Amber turned around, ready to prevent any deaths, noticing the smiler lying on the ground, black gunk leaking out of it's head.

"We are now closeddd." The other smiler said. "Please tell anyone youuu seeee."