Ronald finally let go of Isaac, who collapsed to the dungeon floor with a groan.
"Finally, that dunce let go… Ugh, I think he broke all my bones."
I knelt down, hauled him up by the collar, and smacked his back hard enough to make his bones rattle. "Stop being such a wuss. Your bones aren't broken."
To prove it, I gave his arm a squeeze. "See? No pain, right?"
Isaac winced and glared. "I don't feel pain in my arm because my entire body is in pain! I swear, I wonder if I'll live to see my next birthday before my so-called friends accidentally kill me."
I rolled my eyes and walked past him, heading toward Ronald.
Behind me, Rona quietly padded over to Isaac. She tilted her head, then nuzzled his arm.
"Hm? Rona, what's wrong?" Isaac smiled and reached to pat her head.
Without a word, Rona gave his arm a curious glance, licked her lips—then bit down.
"RONA!" Isaac howled. "My arm isn't food!"
Ronald and I were, at that moment, admiring the dungeon's ceiling like it was a priceless mural.
"See?" I said, smug. "Ceiling didn't fall on us. We're alive."
Ronald nodded in agreement. "Yup. Everything's perfectly—"
"AAAHH!!! RONA!"
We froze.
"Rona?" we said in unison. Then we bolted.
We skidded to a stop near Isaac, who was flailing in pain with Rona still latched onto his arm like a hungry fox.
"What happened? Are you guys alright?" I asked, trying not to laugh.
"Did the little girl attack again?" Ronald looked around in panic.
Isaac's expression twisted in disbelief. "What do you think?!"
"Rona!" Ronald lunged forward to pull her off. Meanwhile, I crouched next to her, watching as she gnawed away.
"Tasty?" I asked.
Isaac shot me a venomous glare. "What are you doing?! Get her off me!"
I pouted. "Okay, okay. Stop yelling."
I gave Rona a few soft pats. "Come on, Rona. Open your mouth. Be a good girl."
She shook her head like a stubborn cat and refused.
"I tried my best," I said with a shrug.
"PRY OPEN HER MOUTH, YOU BABOON!"
"Alright, alright!" With a sigh, I did as told. After a few seconds of reluctant struggle, Rona gave up and finally opened her mouth.
"Not tasty," she muttered.
I chuckled. "As if a robot would be tasty. It's all metal. Tasteless and gross."
Isaac ignored me. "Rona… why'd you bite me? You hate me 'cause I didn't let you play with Ronald?"
I tilted my head. 'That's dumb. Even if he said no, Rona would still play with Ronald anyway. Hasn't he figured that out yet?'
I recalled how she used to sneak past Isaac's line of sight and play with Ronald behind his back.
Sneaky little rat, I thought with a smirk.
Rona pointed at the little girl on the ground, still tied up. "She wanted to bite you. So Rona thought TsunTsun must be yummy."
She licked her lips again.
Isaac sighed and wiped off her drool. "No. She was attacking anyone near her."
"Oh," Rona said as if that made complete sense now.
Ronald looked over at the girl. "Anyway… what are we gonna do with her? She's tied up and alone. I kinda pity her."
He turned to Isaac with the most pitiful puppy face he could muster.
Isaac shoved his face away. "That's not going to work. You forgot about her until Rona brought her up."
"At least I didn't keep ignoring her!" Ronald shot back.
"She tried to kill all of us," Isaac replied flatly.
Ronald flinched. "Oh… Right. I forgot."
Isaac deadpanned. "How nice—you can forget near-death experiences. Must be peaceful in your head."
"I'm not proud of it!" Ronald squeaked. "Shouldn't we use chains? What if ropes aren't enough?"
"She's fine. Rope's good enough." I moved closer and poked the girl's forehead. "Still... what made her go berserk?"
Isaac crouched beside me. "Not sure, but look closely. There's a tiny hole on her neck. Like an injection mark."
I squinted, focusing hard—and eventually spotted it. "Whoa. That's tiny. How'd you even notice?"
Ronald rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't see it."
"Rona can't either." She squinted, even stuck out her tongue in concentration, but saw nothing.
Then—
Bzzt.
Bzzt.
A familiar blue screen flickered to life, and the exaggerated face of Mr. James appeared once again.
"Bonjour, little bunnies! Your Papa is here—just before you all spread your devilish wings and fly from Papa's sweet embrace~!"
Isaac spat on the ground. "How does he get more annoying every time?"
I waved. "Oh! Mr. James. Thanks for the story about Munchy!"
He tilted his head. "Oh? Bunny No. 1, no problem at all. But why thank me?"
"I told Munchy all about you. It was so happy, it rolled over and showed me its belly. Even begged for a belly rub!"
Mr. James froze.
"Wha… WHAT?! Munchy showed you its BELLY?! Even Angel hasn't seen that! What did you DO?!"
"Nothing, really." I scratched my head. "I'm just lovable, I guess. Munchy even went back into its cage when I told it to. Like, so obedient!"
"Obedient…? Munchy…?" Mr. James began foaming at the mouth. "Huff… puff…"
And then he collapsed.
Isaac gave a thumbs up. "Congrats. You just killed Mr. James. Who knew it was that easy?"
"That wasn't my intention!" I pouted.
"Mr. James dead again?" Rona tilted her head. "Is he a phoenix? So cool!"
"But phoenixes are usually women, aren't they?" Ronald said.
"HEY!" Mr. James suddenly screamed, back on screen, glaring at us. "Don't kill me off so casually!"
Isaac clicked his tongue. "Why won't that cockroach just stay dead?"
Ronald pointed an accusatory finger. "More importantly! You LIED to us! You said we were going to a ceremony, but instead—we fought monsters!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mr. James turned away, whistling.
"Even a baby lies better than you. Grow a longer nose if you wanna keep up with Pinocchio," Isaac retorted.
Mr. James flailed his arms. "Why you, bunny no.2—!"
"What? Can't handle some truth?" Isaac shrugged. "Man up. You're an adult."
Mr. James sniffed and pouted like a toddler. "Hmph! Bully…"
I nudged Isaac. "Aren't you being too harsh?"
"Harsh? That wasn't even level one. He says he's an emcee? I've seen mute clowns with more charisma."
We all stared at him.
Isaac blinked. "What? Did I say something wrong? I only speak the truth. Nothing but the truth."
"…Oui. You'll be a great critic one day," I muttered.
"My heart… shattered into a million pieces…" Mr. James sniffled dramatically.
Isaac shrugged again. "Then why are you still talking?"
"I pity Mr. James now," Ronald whispered to me.
"Same," I whispered back.
"Same!" Rona whispered, louder than both of us.
Mr. James wiped his nose. "Sniff… Moving on. The real ceremony starts in an hour."
"Do we need to prepare?" I asked.
"Hmph! Who knows!"
Still sulking?
I glanced at Isaac, who had suddenly gone quiet.
He was trembling.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Isaac? What's wrong?"
He raised his head slowly. A smile crept across his lips—a dangerous one.
"Oh?" he said sweetly. "So you've chosen death."
We froze.
Isaac's presence turned cold. His smile was still there, but it didn't reach his eyes.
O-oui…
I glanced at Mr. James.
Wait, his eyes—?!
Thud.
Mr. James collapsed again, eyes rolled back, a distinctively yellow puddle forming under him.
The staff panicked.
"MR. JAMES FAINTED AGAIN!"
"HE PEED HIMSELF!"
The screen cut to black.
Please wait a moment. The maintenance team is currently fixing the bug.
The dungeon fell into total silence.
We waited.
And waited.
And waited some more...
Isaac leaned back casually and muttered, "How fragile."