Mike scoffed after hearing Jessica and Mia's accusations.
"What? The hell are you guys talking about? They're just plotting against me to make me look deplorable, when really they're the ones that did all that! My promise stands, I will double anything you give me so long as I get a 9 in the end!"
Mia grit her teeth and yelled.
"Hah! As if! If you do offer him any cards, he'll find a way to kill you so that he doesn't have to pay in the end!"
Jack clapped a few times excitedly.
"I will give a 9 to Jessica and Mia!"
Elise immediately turned to look at him strangely.
"What? But you only have enough cards to give 9 points."
Blake narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I think he's actually going to give 9 to one of them and try to get anyone that donates to them killed."
He thought for a moment before staring at the man on the stage. After a cough, he spoke up.
"What will happen if we tie for the lowest score?"
Stanley let out a laugh and held out one hand.
"Well naturally, I can't play favorites, so ties mean they both die!"
Mia furrowed her brows while she stared at Jack, who was in jester clothing.
"What the hell are you trying to pull? Are you on this fucker's side?"
Jack tilted his head to the side and laughed.
"No! I'm on your side, so I'm giving you both a 9!"
Jessica furrowed her brows.
"But... how would you do that? Your cards will only add up to 9 on their own!"
Jack giggled once more.
"What are you talking about? They don't add up to 9 at all!"
Mike, who was next to them, laughed loudly.
"Hah! He knows that you guys are liars! That's why he's making sure you don't get anything and die!"
Myra's eyebrow twitched. She mumbled her words, only audible to those sitting in the seats.
"...I don't really want to donate to that guy. He doesn't seem very trustworthy."
Blake let out a weak sigh and whispered through bated breaths.
"That is true, but it's too risky to try and donate to the others since that guy is definitely trying to get one of us killed."
Elise frowned slightly.
"What if we just didn't donate at all? It's not like we have any direct relation to them in the first place, and we get to keep any cards we don't donate."
Mia, in a bit of frustration, spoke up.
"M-Maybe one of you guys could give some cards to us? He can only give 9 to one of us!"
Unfortunately, she was met back with awkward silence. After all, if they did take the gamble to donate to one of them, assuming Jack was giving only 9 to one of them, then it was not only a fifty percent chance to die, but it was also a chance to kill someone that wasn't involved.
In the end, Jessica and Mia weren't able to say anything. They didn't even try to convince the person wearing a mask and in jester clothing.
An awkward silence spread out between them. As for Jack, he was playing a strange peek-a-boo game with Seedy, where Seedy was covering its petals with vines before peeking out from them. While that was happening, Jack let out a laugh.
He was quite out of place compared to everyone else.
After a bit of awkward silence, Mike squirmed around and shouted.
"Hey! Did you work it out yet? So who's going to be contributing to giving me 9?"
In the end, nobody responded to his question, prompting him to yell even louder.
"Why the hell are you guys staying silent? I said I would double it if you paid for me! There's not even a loss for you in this deal, why are you hesitating!"
Mia looked over and glared at him.
"Shut the fuck up! Nobody wants to donate to a lying piece of shit!"
Mike glared right back.
"Huh? The fuck you say to me?"
While the two of them were arguing, Jessica stared at Jack for quite a while, wondering what he was trying to do. There was a somewhat sad expression on her face.
"Why are you doing this to us?"
Jack tilted his head to the side, thinking for a second.
"Because I like you guys!"
Jessica's expression twitched. She understood it as he had taken a liking to them, thus wanted to play around with their lives. That was fair enough considering how much Jack had been laughing, which probably only sadistic or crazy people would do in a situation like this.
Seeing everything unfold, Stanley looked rather excited, though that could also be because of the permanent smile on his face.
"Alright, it seems like our contestants have made most of their pitch! Now, I will give the audience members the opportunity to donate whatever they want! However, while voting, the actions of all people will be private. However, the contestants can still get a few last words in as they are making their vote!"
Suddenly, everything around Jack went dark. Despite being used to the dark, he could only see in a small circle around him. Along with that, three trays had appeared in front of him, all labeled with different names, Jessica, Mia, and Mike.
There was also a big red button in front of him to confirm.
"Hey! You have already discussed who's giving the cards to me, right? Remember that I'm doubling anything that you give me in the end!"
He took out his cards and put them into Jessica and Mia's trays before pressing the button. It seemed that the others made their decision as well, and the light returned once more.
Mia cursed several times.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Of course, we had to get this fucker sabotaging us, and this guy that we'd never met before is too! This is some dogshit luck!"
Jessica looked rather disheartened.
"It's already too late for us, isn't it? I... just hope that at least Jack is ok."
Mike smirked.
"Dumbasses, you didn't even try to negotiate! This is why you all deserve to die!"
Hearing that, Jack spoke up.
"I'm great!"
Though, it didn't seem that anybody caught onto what he was saying. In the end, Stanley spoke up, cutting everyone else off.
"Alright! All of the donations are in! For starters, let's reveal the total value of cards that each contestant has! First, we have Jessica!"
After a pause, he spoke up.
"And her total points isssssss... 9! Wow, that's a close one, one more point and she would've died, along with the smallest donor!"
Mia smiled bitterly.
"Well, at least I'm glad he did give 9 to one of us. Though... it looks like it's probably the end of the road for me."
Jessica bit her bottom lip.
"No, this can't be! Can I transfer some of my points to Mia? This... things can't end like this!"
Stanley let out a small sigh.
"Unfortunately, you are not the donors, the audience is! As such, no points will be transferred between anyone at this point. If you wanted the points to be different, then you should've been more convincing when you had the time to ask for points!"
Mike smirked when he heard it.
"Hah! I would've chosen you to die as well! Enjoy death, you bastard! I'll be sure to remember you as the idiot!"
Stanley chuckled while erratically tilting his head to the side.
"Well, well, it appears that one of our contestants is rather confident in their deduction. Let's see if he is right! The total donations of Mia issssssss..."
Mia closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.
"Haha... I knew I shouldn't have trusted other people."
Myra ended up looking away, while Elise and Blake also averted their gazes slightly, as though not wanting to take responsibility. As for Stanley, he excitedly announced the results.
"Nine points! That's right, there's also another 9! Isn't that crazy? The two contestants that hardly even fought for points got the most ideal scenario!"
Mia blinked a few times in shock.
"Wh-What?"
Jessica was about to tear up, but held back, instead looking over at Mia with a strange expression. Blake immediately turned to look at Myra.
"Did you do that? Why did you take such a huge risk for no reason?"
However, Myra only shot back a confused look.
"E-Eh? But I didn't do anything."
Blake furrowed his brows before turning to look at Elise, who only raised an eyebrow in response.
"Do you really think I'm the type of person to risk my life for no reason?"
Mike had a rather large frown on his face.
"Huh?... Guess you're still in it, lucky bitch."
Stanley chuckled before continuing with his announcement.
"And now for our last contestant, Mike got a grand total of... 0 points."
Mike's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He immediately broke out into a flurry of anger.
"What? Excuse me? Not even a single damn point? Are all of you retards?! You gave it to the fucking-"
"Now, now, now. If nobody was generous enough, then there's no point in worrying about it all. The only person you can blame is your own lack of charisma. Besides, you still have a chance to survive!"
Stanley cut him off. Mike still looked quite angry and appeared to want to talk back to him. However, he didn't say anything in the end, as Stanley didn't look like someone to argue with as friendly as his tone was.
Jessica and Mia both turned to look at Jack.
Eventually, Mia spoke up.
"Were you given extra cards?"
Jessica spoke up right after.
"Ah! Was it the plant monster on his shoulders that also received cards?"
Stanley let out a grating chuckle.
"Both of you are wrong! Pets don't count as part of the audience and nobody was given extra cards."
Mia looked over towards the other three.
"Then was it one of them that gave it to us?"
Stanley let out a teasing hum.
"Well, I'm under no obligation to reveal anything... but I will anyway! None of the three audience members you are mentioning donated anything! Perhaps they aren't charitable, or maybe they simply thought none of you deserved it. That's all I will say myself."
He then turned to look at Jack.
"But if our special guest wishes to clarify any further, then he can!"
Jack let out a small giggle.
"I had more cards than just those three in my decks! I just used three 2's and a 3 in order to make another 9. Didn't I say I would give you both a 9?"
Mia and Jessica looked at him speechlessly, not knowing what to feel.