AweStriker posted:

Climb up!

quote:

You grit your teeth and pull yourself up, up, up. Stinko hangs on to your ankles.

Finally you flop onto the drawbridge, dragging Stinko behind you. The dragon shoots out one last fiery blast.

It misses you.

As the drawbridge goes up, you and Stinko slide down and tumble into the castle. You land on a colorful mosaic-tile floor. The bridge bangs closed. A heavy iron bar locks it in place.

You and Stinko survived the moat. And the dragon.

But now you’re trapped inside the castle.

“Welcome to KidScare Castle,” Dare’s voice bellows all around you. “Congratulations! You’ve made it this far! Not many others have survived the games. You may get home yet.”

As he speaks, you glimpse something moving near your foot.

You peer down.

Yuck!

A huge, hairy, red-eyed spider crawls across your sneaker. You recognize it! It’s the spider tattoo from Dare’s left hand.

He lost another tattoo!

quote:

“Where’s Dare?” Stinko whispers.

As usual, Dare is nowhere in sight. You sigh. “His favorite game must be hide-and-seek,” you murmur.

“Right,” Dare declares. Your eyes widen.

The tattooed man rises up from the tiles on the floor!

You peer at Dare. The spot where the spider tattoo used to be is empty. Dare has another invisible spot on his tattooed body.

Aha! Each time Dare loses a tattoo, you realize, he loses a piece of himself.

This fills you with courage. “What are you without your tattoos?” you demand. “Are you just a big nothing?”

Dare ignores your question. Instead, he swirls around. “Now you see me,” Dare crows, waving his colorful cape. “Now you don’t.”

“Quit showing off, Dare!” you yell. “We want to go home!”

“To find your way home,” Dare’s voice taunts, “you’ll have to find the way out!”

quote:

“Fine,” you mutter. “We’ll find our own way out.” You glance around the stone castle.

Okay, you think, we can’t go out the door. It’s bolted tight.

Your eyes land on stone steps leading down into the cellar.

“This way, Stinko,” you whisper. You dart down the stairs.

They bring you to a dark tunnel. Maybe it’s a passageway under the moat! You begin to run...

And then... you stop.

Hundreds of glittering eyes stare at you from the darkness.

“Yikes!” you shriek. “Rats!”

“Nooooo!” Stinko screams. “Get me out of here!”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” You grab him by his sleeve and drag him behind you. Rats scurry from under your feet. They nip at your ankles as you dash through the dark tunnel.

You turn left – and come to a solid wall. You go back, turn right – and come to another solid wall.

“Stinko,” you gasp. “I think we’re trapped in a maze!”

quote:

Yup. It is a maze!

Use a pencil to find your way through it. Put your pencil point at START. Do not lift your pencil up until you are out of the maze. Then follow the directions at the end.

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I have no idea how you're supposed to get to Page 33. So let's do that.

AceOfFlames posted:

Maybe it's like that one bullshit unwinnable CYOA book and the book expects us to cheat.

quote:

Oh, no! You faked it.

If you had really done the maze, you’d know that this is not an exit.

You didn’t make it out!

And now you’re trapped in the middle of the rat’s nest!

The walls close in around you! “Aaaaahhhh!” you scream in horror. Rats squeak and scamper around you. Tiny rat claws scratch your face, your hands, through your clothes.

“Get them off!” Stinko shrieks.

Terror paralyzes you. Rats jump out of crevices and cracks in the wall. It’s as if it were raining rats!

You try to cover your head. But the rats pound down on you. You and Stinko fall to the ground. You roll onto your stomach. You can’t stand the idea of rats landing on your face. You struggle for breath as you feel yourself being crushed by more and more rats.

“Stinko!” you scream. “The rats are burying us alive!”

One glance tells you that Stinko knows exactly what you mean. He’s under his own pile of squeaking rodents.

Oh, rats!

THE END

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

Our options posted:

• Go after Stinko yourself.
  
• Go through the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.
  
• Stick to the cave path.
  
• Swing over the Bottmless Ball Pit.
  
• Open the game box.
  
• Your ice cube melts first.
  
• Let go and drop into the moat.
  
• Correctly solve the rat maze.
  

quote:

Good work! You made it through the maze!

You emerge into a room full of huge tiled columns.

“I never thought we’d get out of there,” Stinko admits. “How did you find the way?”

“It was easy,” you tell him. “I just followed that rat.” You point to a fat black rat scurrying away. “I figured he would know where he was going.”

“Hey! I’ve seen that rat before,” Stinko says.

“Where?” you ask.

Before he can answer you, one of the huge columns turns!

It’s Dare!

“Here’s where you’ve seen this rat before!” Dare announces. He holds out the palm of his left hand. The rat runs onto Dare’s palm and settles into the skin.

It turns back into a rat tattoo!

“You bore me,” Dare tells the rat. He peels it off of his palm, dangling it by its tail. It’s a living rat again!

“I’ve got to hand it to you,” Dare says. “You won my maze game.” He blows on the twirling rodent. It disappears.

So does the palm of Dare’s hand!

quote:

You gasp! You can’t believe Dare’s palm just disappeared like that!

You lean forward to get a closer look at his invisible palm. Dare doesn’t try to hide it from you. In fact, he holds it out for you to see.

“Here,” he says. “Have a good look. It won’t bite you.” He shoves his hand inches from your face.

Yikes! A vampire bat pokes its head through the hole left by the disappearing rat.

Before you can pull back, the bat’s fangs dig into your neck. A warm, woozy feeling rushes through you.

Uh-oh. You’ve been bitten by a vampire.

You know what that means.

You’re a vampire too!

quote:

“Are you okay?” Stinko asks.

“I – I think so...” you reply. So far, you don’t feel any different.

“I lied. It did bite after all.” Dare laughs. “But you don’t have to turn into a vampire if you play the game right.”

“This is no time for games!” you cry.

“It’s always time for games,” Dare scolds.

He tosses three balls into the air and starts juggling. “Inside one of these balls you’ll find a cure,” he explains. “All you have to do is guess which ball. Is it the red ball? Is it the yellow ball? Or is it the green ball?”

Dare keeps juggling while you try to decide which ball will save you.

Turn to the Spinner on PAGE 136. Follow the directions at the top of the page.

If your finger lands on green, turn to PAGE 121.

If your finger lands on red, turn to PAGE 58.

If your finger lands on yellow, turn to PAGE 72.

Spinner posted:

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

quote:

“I choose green!” you declare.

Uh-oh. Maybe that wasn’t the right choice. Dare laughs so hard, his tattoos shake, rattle, and roll all over his body.

“Green?” he chokes out. “You choose green? Don’t you know what it means to choose green?”

“Hey!” Stinko exclaims, peering at you. “You’re a frog! A green frog!”

At least, that’s what he tries to say. Actually, what comes out sounds more like, “Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit ribbiiiit!”

But you understand him perfectly. Because all frogs speak the same language.

“Ribbit ribbit, ribbit,” you reply. “Ribbit.”

Which means, “You’re a frog too, Stinko.”

Oh, well. You jump – but not for joy at the way this adventure has come to the

RIBBIT!

(Which, you probably know, means END in froggy talk.)

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.
Picked the green ball and got turned into a frog.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

Our options posted:

• Go after Stinko yourself.
  
• Go through the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.
  
• Stick to the cave path.
  
• Swing over the Bottmless Ball Pit.
  
• Open the game box.
  
• Your ice cube melts first.
  
• Let go and drop into the moat.
  
• Pick the red ball.
  
• Pick the yellow ball.
  

Omnicrom posted:

I randomly chose Red so let's go with that.

quote:

You choose red.

Of course you would choose red. Red is always a vampire’s favorite color. And now that you’re a vampire, red is your favorite color too.

The bite of the vampire is working. Your human shape changes to the shape of a vampire bat. Your perfect teeth change into fangs. And your bedtime changes from night to day.

What can you say at a time like this?

Just one thing.

“Fangs, Dare. Fangs a lot.”

THE END

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.
Picked the green ball and got turned into a frog.
Picked the red ball and got turned into a vampire.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

Our options posted:

• Go after Stinko yourself.
  
• Go through the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.
  
• Stick to the cave path.
  
• Swing over the Bottmless Ball Pit.
  
• Open the game box.
  
• Your ice cube melts first.
  
• Let go and drop into the moat.
  
• Pick the yellow ball.
  

chitoryu12 posted:

Blue!



No, yellow!

quote:

Yikes! A vampire bat pokes its head through the hole left by the disappearing rat.

Before you can pull back, the bat’s fangs dig into your neck. A warm, woozy feeling rushes through you.

Uh-oh. You’ve been bitten by a vampire.

You know what that means.

You’re a vampire too!

quote:

Good! You choose yellow. The color of the sun. Vampires hate the sun.

You open up the sunny-colored ball. A beam of sunshine darts out.

That’s all it takes to destroy the vampire in you. One look at the ray of sunshine and you’re cured! Saved!

The sunbeam zooms across the room – and lights up a secret door hidden in the castle wall.

“Look, Stinko!” you cry. “That might be the way out!”

Before you can move toward the door, Dare speaks. “You win this round,” he tells you.

“I do?” you sputter with surprise. “But I expected –“

“Expect the unexpected in all my games,” Dare interrupts you. “You’re doing very well, for a beginner.”

You peer at Dare suspiciously. Is he actually being nice?

“In fact, you’re so good, I’m going to give you a choice,” Dare continues.

Here it is:

To quit while you're ahead, turn to PAGE 20.

To go through the secret door, turn to PAGE 37.

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.
Picked the green ball and got turned into a frog.
Picked the red ball and got turned into a vampire.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

quote:

You decide to quit while you’re ahead.

An evil grin spreads over Dare’s face. “But you aren’t ahead yet,” he murmurs. He winks and swirls his tattooed cape.

Your body disappears!

All that’s left of you now is... guess what?

A HEAD!

“Now you can quit,” Dare taunts. “While you’re A HEAD!”

THE END

Character Sheet posted:

Inventory
Empty

Goal Endings: 1/3

Bad Endings
Forcibly turned into a rat-person and enlisted into their army.
Dodged off a rope bridge and into a bottomless pit.
Eaten by a Beast after failing a quiz question.
Coated in plastic and turned into a ball pit ball.
Shredded to death by the Kid Grater.
Left dangling from a parachute in an empty, bottomless void.
Fell off the Edge of Nowhere into a bottomless pit.
Drowned in quicksand after rolling an odd number.
Left as an ice statue by our fed-up younger brother.
Buried alive in a flood of angry rats.
Picked the green ball and got turned into a frog.
Picked the red ball and got turned into a vampire.
Reduced to a disembodied head by a poorly-worded agreement.

Achievements
Calling a Mulligan: Failed one of Dare's games so badly he decided to reset time and let us try again.
Best Two Out of Three: Lost one of Dare's games, but got to keep playing anyway for unclear reasons.

Our options posted:

• Go after Stinko yourself.
  
• Go through the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.
  
• Stick to the cave path.
  
• Swing over the Bottmless Ball Pit.
  
• Open the game box.
  
• Your ice cube melts first.
  
• Let go and drop into the moat.
  
• Go through the secret door.