“Okay, Walter,” Vadeem grumbled, “I know that you have a tendency to go a little overboard with your schemes, but this…” the big man stopped, stumbling to find the right words. “This is just ridiculous!”

  “Now, I know I’m the fun one, little bro,” Noel added, pointing at the props I had managed to scrounge up - you’d be surprised by how many things the Director managed to squirrel away over the years. “But I kind of agree with Vadumb for once. Are you okay? Did the mental corruption stuff come back?”

  “Um, no?” I answered. I mean, it’s a little over the top, sure, especially since I was using Noe’s abilities for some of the things I couldn’t find; kind of like what I did with Claire back then, but it wasn’t that over the top…

  “Little bro, I won’t ask how you managed to set this all up, but uh…” Noel shook her head, “But why does it look like a circus in here? It doesn’t really vibe with the horror hospital aesthetics, ya know.”

  I scratched my chin, a little embarrassed. To be fair, even I’ll have to admit that I went over the top a little this time. I had transformed one of the larger lounge areas - with the help of Sarah’s space-warping abilities - into exactly what Noel said: a circus. Well, it was a creepy circus like those seen in horror media, but a circus nonetheless. There were tents and carnival games set up, banners of all kinds hung around, and I even had some music in the background. Most importantly, in the middle of the huge clearing I made was one of those circus stages. That was where I was planning for my epic showdown.

  Now that I think about it, I’ve never had a chance to act like a real supervillain until now. Last time Noe spoiled the fun and I couldn’t monologue, and I never got to live out that particular fantasy. Sure, I might be going overboard a wee bit, but I was determined to finally act as the final boss and a proper mustache-twirling, puppy-kicking evil dude.

  I grinned. Yeah, this is exactly what I needed to destress!

  “Little bro, I think you’re going bonkers,” Noel sighed, “You're smiling like a lunatic now. It’s real creepy, and that’s coming from me.”

  Vadeem nodded. “Yeah… Walter, seriously, you sure you’re doing alright? You’ve been doing all the hard work so far. Let us know if you need a break.”

  I quickly shook my head. “No, sorry, just daydreaming a bit, and like the system chat says, I’m fine. Anyway, help me put this thing in place, I think the Aspirants are coming fast.”

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  The thing in question was a pair of giant roulette wheels, the kind you see on game shows or in malls where you would spin the thing to win an awesome prize. However, instead of prizes, I had other, more “fun” options written on one of them. The first wheel had five sections on it, with Noel, Vadeem, the Aspirants and I taking up four slots, while the last one had “everyone” written. That wheel wasn’t the fun one.

  Vadeem sighed and helped out, grabbing the huge wheels one-handed and putting them into position. “Guess there’s no sidestepping this one, Noel. Let’s just allow Walter his enjoyment, no matter how, uh, unconventional they are.”

  “Eh, he’s still our boss,” Noel shrugged. “Plus, this might be fun!”

  “Come on, guys!” I warned, “They’re almost there. You remember your roles, right?”

  “Yeah,” Vadeem grunted, “Kind of hard to forget them.”

  “You know I always got your back, little bro! Perfectly memorized here!”

  I nodded quickly and made the final adjustments to the roulette wheels. “Good, then get into positions! They’re right outside the door now. Remember, we’re the final bosses for this Trial; act like it! And put your costume back on, Vadeem!”

  The big man sighed again and did as he was told. I had him dressed up as a circus strongman, leotard and fancy mustache included. Noel, on the other hand, was going as one of those horrible killer clowns, ala Pennywise or the like. She had the makeup, clown nose, and full body suit, although I did allow her to skip the comically large shoes since they got in the way. Her dark, flaming form was a bit hard to work with, but the Director’s stash of goodies (all of these were for Alice since I found them in one of the closets in the basement) was made to be durable. Noel’s abilities didn’t seem to affect the costume or makeup at all.

  As for myself? I had a colorful suit on and was playing the role of the host. I still had Doctor Walter’s body, so parts of myself were poking out of the clothes, but it was the best I could do on short notice. It was nothing that a little bit of Noe magic couldn’t fix.

  “Normally, I would caution against using our Luck Charges in such a frivolous fashion, my Host,” Noe interrupted, “But I suppose you need to loosen up and destress every now and then. Go, dear Walter, have some fun. We have more than enough Charges to work with.”

  Thanks, Noe, oh best system ever!

  “They’re entering!” I all but shouted, “Get into final positions!”

  Vadeem shook his head and went over to his spot, while Noel did the same. I went onto the stage and positioned myself so that I would be the first thing that the Aspirants saw when they entered, and with one final check, I got into character. Let’s have a bit of fun!

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