Introduction
I've been working on this for a while, through various starts and stops and I finally finished it. If anyone has read my work, which is probably not many of you, this is not the type of story that I ever write, nor even the type I would ever click on to read, as I don't tend to enjoy stories that aren't set in continuity and don't have much to do with the X-men being X-men. However, while watching one of my favorite shows The Challenge on MTV (which is the only show I've ever watched on MTV and if you're of the appropriate age I would HIGHLY recommend it) I saw how a lot of personalities lined up and thought it would be fun to do something like this. I pretty much mapped out nine stories worth of challenges and now that it's the summer if there's significant interest I will absolutely do another.
For those of you who may not be the right age to watch the show, or else don't have the time an interest to do so; I'll give a brief run down. The Challenge is essentially a reality competition show, but unlike a lot of the others it actually involves athleticism and physical stunts (think Fear Factor, minus the gross out stunt, with a lot more intensity) but unlike a lot of athletic reality shows, the show also shows the drinking/sex/etc that goes on when these people aren't doing challenges. What is also different is that all of the cast members are alumni from the shows The Real World and Road Rules and they bring people back season after season, so you don't just see a random person for a few episodes of a show and then they're gone…these people come back and have their personalities developed.
Structurally, the format comes off like the show. There is a lot of reiteration of rules and even though I'm not one to object to cursing, words that get bleeped out on television, get *#$&'ed out here. Also on the show, the actual action is broken up by one on one camera interviews where the cast essentially has moments where they narrate what's happening. In the story you'll see those moments closed off by a line with:
Character Name: Quote
in it (and if two people come within the same page break, it means they're doing their interview together)
Finally a word about the logistics of this universe. This, and probably all of the challenges I will write, takes place post-Messiah Complex, Fear Itself and the like, and pre-Schism. That means no Dark Angel Saga (or Betsy banging Fantomex which is a rant for another day, or today if you take a look at some of my other stuff), no Avengers vs X-men stuff, Tabula Rasa, etc. Kurt is dead, Jean is dead, and Warren is alive and Jamie Madrox is alive and Guido has his soul. Kitty and Colossus are not together, but nothing has happened between Kitty and Bobby. The Starjammers (Alex, Lorna, and Rachel) are on Earth.
So with that, I really hope you enjoy this, it's an amalgam of two of my favorite things, the X-men and the Challenge, and again go check out the show…especially if it isn't clear as to the logistics of the challenges in each episode and you need a reference point to help you visualize. In the afterword, if you do watch the show, I put a preview for the next challenge, as well as some of the personality match ups that jumped out at me when I watch the show. Since I'm not going to write it on every chapter, I do not own the X-men, the Challenges, or TJ Lavin (the host of the show). Please review if you get a moment, I'd very much appreciate it.