Phase 13 (deux):
Roth glanced over at the river.

"There's no time anymore. Drink from the river. We can still make it. Just the few of us left here."

Helios climbed in the river and drank some of the water. He looked up at Roth who was doing the same.

"How do you know to drink it?"

Roth smiled. "Thank a Mr. Alighieri for me."

The others continued as a groaning noise drew his attention. Kristoff was climbing up the stairs. Roth rushed over and helped him up.

Slowly his friend righted himself as Roth helped him to the water.

"I'm relieved to see you're okay." He said with a smile. Rob walked over.

"Kristoff...did you see Henry?"

Kristoff shook his head.

"I...I tried to look for her...but it was dark...and she was gone."

Roth sighed.

"I don't think she was ever here to begin with. I doubt a child has to face these trials. Wherever she is, this isn't the place for her. It was another test."

He glanced at the shadowy forms.

"Why did you open that box?"

"It called out to me..." Kristoff muttered.

"It said I could change everything that once was...I could re-write my own past....change history."

Roth stared.

"That was yet another test...I presume. But doing it brought us here. I wonder what it means..."

He turned to face Helios, Bryce, Natalie and Rob. "Have you drunk?"

They each nodded.

"Right. Focus on everything positive. Forget about your sorrows. Forget about your unfinished business. Focus on the good...let the good memories in...."

As they focused, there was a rumbling underfoot. Another staircase ascended. They clambered up.

Bryce smiled as they made the ascent. He tapped Roth on the shoulder.

"I remembered something good. I remember our last battle in the Labyrinth. Fighting alongside you once more. Don't beat yourself up about what happened. None of us can be blamed."

Roth smiled. His gaze turned upwards as the staircase continued. They climbed further. The world around them rumbled and the sky filled with more darkness. They were above the clouds now, looking up into more clouds and some kind of dome, high above.

Helios clutched onto the step and stumbled.

"Helios!" Rob shouted, rushing over to grab his good arm. Helios looked back down into the darkness.

"I can't...not today...there's no place for me up here."

"In life I was a fraud. I used faith to con people and scam them. To my surprise, it worked eventually. Though I doubt that was my own power."

Roth stared in thought.

"I belong down there. And I'm done with this. It's not going to happen."

The ground rumbled as Helios fell into the shadows.

"SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" He yelled as he fell into darkness.

The other five hung there. And then came the click.

They turned to look up the stairs. Henry was stood there, smoking a cigarette and pointing a gun at their heads. They raised their hands instinctively.

"None of you need to worry much! Never my intention to hurt you. Though it would've been much quicker if you'd GIVEN ME A FUCKIN' GUN!" He snarled.

Natalie shot him a cold look.

"I'm glad we didn't."

Smirking, Henry looked from face to face.

"Well see, here's the thing, turns out I didn't need one much. Because even though good old henry got smashed up by some shit, reminded me of my tragic end of life..." He paused for thought. The others were struggling to follow his broken English monologue.

"It was messy. That bitch Froken stole the gas mask. And Curtis. Curtis Page. That bitch was the worst. I almost had him."

Roth breathed inwardly, looking Henry dead on.

"Did you say...Curtis Page?"

Henry spat out the cigarette stub.

"Yeah, you know him? He's a ginger bastard. Tried to get one over on old Henry like you all did.

Natalie shook her head.

"We didn't trust you with a gun. That was all. And the first thing you do...now that we're finally at the end of our long journey is point one right in our faces. So how were we wrong?"

Henry sighed.

"Wrong is simple. I ain't interested in taking any of you down. Not even this old bastard here. Not worth my time. Sorry brah. Got way too much to deal with."

"So let's just finish things up nice and quickly."

The staircase rumbled. There wasn't much room to hang on. The figures clutched.

"I just got one thing to say and we can all move on with the ends of our lives. Nahmsayin'?" Henry said. Suddenly his eyes widened and he coughed. Stumbling forward, he bent double. A knife protruded from his back.

Rob had crept up behind him. He breathed deeply.

"I'm not letting you ruin this one too." He said coldly.

"You shot Boc didn't you? So much for not hurting us."

"Skinny B had it comin'!" Henry hissed.

"You'll be sorry."

Results:
Henry - 10
Rob - 3
Ari - 2
Natalie - 2
Helios - 2

Conclusion: Henry killed by 10 votes

The End:
Henry looked up as the figures crawled past him, trying to ascend the staircase.

"I just have one...last thing to...say...." He said wearily.

Kristoff turned to him.

"FUUUUUUUUUUU KRISTOFFFFFF!" Henry hissed. He pulled aside his coat revealing a bulletproof vest. Holding his gun up high, he pulled the trigger.

The bang shook the staircase as Kristoff toppled forward.

"KRISTOFF!" Yelled Roth in a rage.

Henry smirked.

"All I wanted to do. Y'all wouldn't let me have a gun, just to do that. Now you'll be sorry you pissed me off!"

Henry jumped up the staircase and grabbed a hold of Rob who he struggled with. The knife flew out of Rob's hand, falling down into the spreading darkness below. Roth flipped Kristoff over as his form began to fade to dust.

"There's no redemption....for what I did....father....."

Roth looked on, teary eyed. "You know it's just Roth now..."

Kristoff shook his head.

"It'll always be father...."

He flopped backwards, tumbling down the staircase into the darkness below as Roth stared on in disbelief. Finally the figure was out of sight completely.

Rob continued to wrestle with Henry who fought hard. He dropped the gun, punching Rob firmly on the chin. Rob fell back, bleeding profusely. Bryce rushed up and grabbed Henry's back, pulling him down as Natalie rushed up. There was barely room to move.

Roth put his hand on Natalie's shoulder.

"Go. They can handle it. We can still make it up the stairs and save ourselves!"

Natalie hesitated but nodded, and the two figures dashed upwards. Rob pinned Henry down.

"I'll SMASH YOUR FACE BOY!" Henry hissed.

"Not before I blow yours right off =D " Bryce said excitedly.

There was a horrible blast.

Henry fell forward, his face now a big bloody hole. His body toppled over the edge and made the plunge into darkness. Bryce stood smiling, holding the huge gun.

Rob sat down slowly and glanced at Bryce in bewilderment.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" He questioned.

Bryce shrugged. "I was in a war apparently."

The two figures rushed up the staircase to join the others, with Rob shaking his head in disbelief.

Finally the staircase ended. Roth stood and looked into a long, golden hallway. It was mindblowing. Bryce and Natalie climbed up behind him. He turned back and looked at Rob who was sat on the staircase.

"Not joining us?"

Rob shrugged.

"I don't really feel like this is for me. I mean, I hardly lived a just and decent life. I was a psycho. And I still kind of am. I'm still full of the same rage I was back then. I seriously doubt they'll let me in this place."

"But you made it through the trials."

"No." A voice said from along the hallway.

"He made it through your trials. They got dragged into it all sadly. But there's nothing for them here yet. They still have to find their own way."

Roth glared.

"After all that? After all they did? After everything they went through?"

Virgil walked forth.

"It is what it is. This matter doesn't concern them. It didn't concern your little friend Kristoff. It concerns you and only you. You insisted on having him along and they got dragged into the maelstrom. But they've hardly made their peace."

Roth snarled.

"That's not fair!"

Virgil walked forth threateningly.

"Are you taking issue with the divine, Roth? There are much bigger things at stake than the feelings of a few. The lives of hundreds of thousands...and worse. They don't belong here yet."

Roth turned to look at the three figures forlornly.

Rob shrugged. "Well I didn't want it anyway. I'll go back down there and work out my issues over a few centuries. Maybe I'll come out if it without the need to beat the living shit out of everything. Maybe. Worth a shot."

Natalie looked down awkardly.

"What about you?" Roth asked.

She sighed. "There's somebody who I think is down there...I'd quite like to see if I can find him. A very good friend of mine. You met him briefly...right before you died."

Roth nodded. Understandable. He turned to Bryce.

"What about you?" He questioned.

Bryce shrugged. "I had fun with you but I fancy another adventure. This place looks boring. Maybe I can find Hupu and we can go hunting for more shoes!"

Roth sighed. "If you're okay with it."

Bryce smiled. "I'm sure our paths will cross again. Thanks for everything."

Roth shook his head mournfully. "I'm sorry this happened to you all. I hope your journey is-"

And the figures vanished. Virgil lowered his arm as Roth looked on with an agitated glare.

"We could have said our goodbyes."

Virgil walked across the hallway.

"There's no time for goodbyes. There's little time for anything. We have to move swiftly. I'm going to show you something very important."

He glanced at Roth.

"You have earned redemption. But the hard part is just beginning. What you're about to face will make all of that seem like a mere dream. If you think you are truly ready, come and join me. But make it quick."

Roth looked back at where the three figures had been and turned to walk up the hallway.

The End

Game Summary:

Winner: Henry

Role Title: Hunter
Alignment: Third Party

Win Condition:
Defeat all mafia in the final showdown before getting killed yourself.

Ability:
The first majority of votes you receive in the final showdown will have no effect. The person with the second highest number will be voted instead. In addition to this, during a phase you may mark a player to be killed. They will die in the final showdown instead of the player with the most votes for that phase.

Conclusion:
I have so much to say. Right now I'm barely staying awake. I've spent about 12 hours preparing and collating this finale, it's a pretty draining process. I didn't intend for it to take so long but I didn't want to rush it either. I felt I owed the people who were invested a really good conclusion.

Unfortunately, as is the case with such things, the actual conclusion felt pretty undeserved. No offense intended but the true winner of this game didn't particularly do much to deserve the title. As a result of that, I'm announcing the real winner and the spiritual winners.

The spiritual winners are the town. They put tireless hours in (well some did, more to come on that later), they made the game fun to work with and they stayed attentive and focus to the end. It was a joy to write for them.

The real winner wasn't completely terrible, he hid in plain sight well enough, I just don't think he was particularly focused on the game that much. Between complaining of a lack of understanding, complaining about his role and distancing himself from the town and acting ridiculous scummy at times, it's kind of baffling that he did win. But he did, probably more due to the confusing game mechanic than anything else.

That's more of what I've struggled with collating this. I don't feel like he won because he played the best game. I feel like he won because the mechanic was slightly biased in his favour, and it was a clusterfuck of a game that was hard to follow at the best of times.

I'd actually genuinely like to apologise for much of this experience. It didn't pan out to anything how I intended at all. Most people will probably come away from this feeling empty more than anything. I don't blame you, and please don't think this is indicative of the expected quality for the true third game.

Marred with a rushed production, hosting issues and a variety of other problems, this game wasn't run in the best environment. The result was...a bit of a mess frankly.

So I gave both the worthy parties a proper send-off in the finale. Henry as the true winner of the game and the surviving townsfolk who all did astoundingly throughout. Some of the deceased did too. Player rankings to come (simpler than the lab 2 ones and not taking months). Rito came above 17th, don't worry.

Also please don't take offense to this in any way Henry. I just don't think this was "your game" and the win feels like a bit of a fluke. You weren't the worst or the best, and you yourself admitted you weren't really following it so much. It wasn't down to anything but poor design in the end.

And though it feels unfair to say this, it feels unfair to not say it and rob the town of a very near victory in successfully murdering all scum.

Anyway this isn't over. Plenty more to come with final role reveals, Q&A, player rankings and a detailed discussion of what exactly went wrong (I feel I need to apologise a lot for many aspects).

I'll open a new discussion thread but I need to bail out for the night. Very tired.

PS: One thing I'm not is a poor storyteller. The plot isn't over just yet. Epilogues to come.