Chapter 9: It's All Mine
'An alliance that will take us all the way to the final five! *whiiiiir* An alliance that will take us all the way *whiiiiir* An alliance."'
Heather sat quietly in her large black swivel chair in the editing room, watching the same scene over and over again. There was a single screen in front of her, which was the only light currently illuminating the dark room. There was a quiet knocking at the door.
"Come in!" she said somewhat distractedly. A boy wearing a blue shirt, green pants, and square glasses quietly opened the door, and walked up beside her.
"Hey."
"Hey." Harold leaned down, and the two shared a very brief kiss.
"What are you watching?"
"One of the scenes from last night." Heather played the scene.
"An alliance. The alliance to end all alliances. An alliance that will take us all the way to the final five!"
Harold smiled. "It looks like we have our first alliance."
"Whether or not it's a good thing is the question." said Heather narrowing her eyes at the screen.
"What do you mean?"
"That girl." Heather pointed to Katrina on the screen, right in the middle of a four-way group hug. "There's something not right about her."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure. I can't quit put my finger on it, but there's just something about her." Heather leaned back in her chair, and put her finger to the side of her face thoughtfully.
"Well, we can worry about that later. Beth, Leshawna, and Bridgette are waiting for us in the staff catering tent, and Izzy had sushi flown in straight from Japan."
"Did they remember to get veggie sushi for Bridgette?"
"Yep." said Harold smiling. Heather smiled back. The two of them shared a slightly longer kiss.
"You go on ahead." said Heather. "I just have to finish up here, and then I'll be right there, kay?"
"Kay." Harold smiled one last time at her before exiting the room. Almost immediately Heather's smile vanished. She took out her cell phone and began dialing.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lindsey." said Heather smiling.
"Oh, hey Heather! How are you?! Oh, are you calling about our trip to the mall? It's going to be like so much fun!"
"Tell me about it." said Heather.
"Oh, which store do you think we should go to first?"
Heather put her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, Karen's Closet has the best deals, and I personally like Clips, but I know how you love Clarisse's, so let's go there first."
"Yaaaay, I love Clarisse's! They have this really cute top there, and I sooooo wanna buy it." Heather smiled at Lindsey's happy reaction. She then turned serious.
"Listen, Lindsey?"
"Yah?"
"I need a favor."
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"Three, two, one, eh."
"Gooooooooooooooood morning!!!!"
Everyone in the Lycan girls' cabin slowly stirred to see Lauren bouncing around.
"How are my new alliance-mates doing today?"
"We were doing slightly better until we were woken up." said Katrina. Tory stretched her arms yawning, and Kiki sleepily rubbed her eyes.
"But it's the first morning after the formation of our alliance. I wanted it to be special." said Lauren beaming.
"Lauren, you can't just go around bragging about our alliance." said Katrina. Lauren stopped bouncing, and cocked her head to the side.
"Why not?"
"Becaaaaauuuuuse, if everyone knew we were in an alliance, they would start to feel threatened, and start trying to break us up." Lauren continued to stare.
"You know, she does have a point." said Tory. "In business, when a rival company gets too strong, the best thing to do is start buying up small parts of it, and breaking it down until you it's no longer a threat."
"Oooooooh." said Lauren. "Now I get it."
"Exactly, which is why we need to keep our alliance a secret from everyone." said Katrina before turning to Kiki. "Including family."
Kiki started fidgeting nervously.
"Think of it this way," said Tory wrapping her arm around Kiki. "If K.K. doesn't know about the alliance, then she'll have one less thing to worry about. Plus, if she sees how well you're being taken care of, she can concentrate on her own team, and have less of a chance of being kicked off." Kiki smiled at this thought.
"You see, it's all for the best." said Katrina smiling.
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-Crypt-
Lauren: This alliance thing is going to be soooo much fun. We can sleep together, party together, and, after a while, I can teach them the ways of a prank master. *goes into yoga pose*
Tory: In business, company mergers can sometimes turn a small company into a super giant. In friendship, it can make even the bleakest situations happier, and you'll always have someone to talk to. No matter what, it's a win-win situation.
Katrina: I can't wait for our alliance to take effect. We'll probably be a little rusty at first, but, as we make our way to the final five, we'll only grow stronger and stronger.
Kiki: *smiles*
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"Hey guys!" yelled Lauren. Everyone was gathered outside the mess hall after an announcement over the intercoms to meet there.
"Check out what I did!" Lauren turned around to the group of four dogs sitting behind her.
"Weren't those things supposed to be sent back to wherever they came from after yesterday's challenge." said Mel as she and several other looked nervously at the dogs.
"I'm not sure." said Lauren thoughtfully. "I just know I saw them wandering outside the mess hall this morning, so I decided to teach them a new trick. Check it out!" She turned around to the dogs.
"Who let the dogs out!"
"Woof woof woof woof!"
"Who let the dogs out!"
"Woof woof woo woof!"
"Wow," said Harley. "You managed to teach dogs to bark. Super impressive." She rolled her eyes.
"Who said I was done?" said Lauren smiling evilly. She turned back around, and the dogs got into a triangle formation behind her.
"Who let the dogs out!"
"Woof woof woof woof!" Immediately Lauren, and the four dogs behind her broke into a dance routine.
"When the party was nice, the party was jumpin!"
All the campers watched in amazement as she and the dogs performed a fully choreographed routine to the full song of "Who let the Dogs out?" by Bahamen with Lauren singing, and the dogs barking to form the backbeat of the song. The routine ended with Lauren doing a back flip, landing in a kneeling position with her upper body straight and her arms stretched out level, and the dogs doing back flips onto her arms to form a miniature pyramid.
Everyone just stared. Eventually several people burst into boisterous applause, but a lot of people just remained quiet.
"You taught them all that in the hour and half before we had to come here?" said Harley.
"Yep." said Lauren beaming. "They're super fast learners."
"Just don't corrupt them." Everyone turned around to see Duncan leaning against the doorway.
"Why are they still here?" asked Jerry.
"Well, I started liking the idea of having the world's best killer dog squad, so I asked Izzy to buy them for me."
"And she did?" asked K.K. credulously.
"Well, I'm never to touch her special flare gun again, but, ya. They're aaaall mine" Duncan smiled evilly at Mel, Katrina, and Vincent. "You guys don't mind,do yo?"
Mel and Katrina glared in defiance while Vincent looked nervously at the dogs.
"Not at all." said Mel.
"Go ahead. Doesn't bother me." said Katrina.
"Uh, y-yeah. Doesn't bother me all." said Vincent.
"Good. Now, it's time for your next challenge." said Duncan. "Izzy said you are to report to this location." Duncan threw each team a map.
"Let me guess." said Mel. "We have to run there, and the team that gets there first gets an advantage."
"EEEEEN! Wrong answer. All you need to do is get there. Simple."
"What's the catch?" asked Katrina narrowing her eyes.
"How should I know? Not my challenge. See ya." Duncan gave a mock salute before walking back into the mess hall.
"Well, he was helpful." said Harley.
"Well, we better get a move on." said Katrina.
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"Hey, Heather!" Heather turned around to see a girl with glasses and a brown ponytail running towards her with something in her hands.
"Hey, Beth." said Heather smiling.
"You forgot your fortune cookie." Beth uncapped her hands to reveal the small crescent cookie.
"Oh, thanks." said Heather smiling as she took the cookie.
"You're welcome." said Beth smiling. "So, after today's challenge, you wanna hang out? We could make friendship bracelets, and bake some fudge."
"Don't we already have friendship bracelets?"asked Heather holding up her wrist to reveal three bracelets in three different braclets.
"You can never have enough friends." said Beth smiling, as she held up her arm revealing five different colored bracelets, one of which matched one of Heathers.
"Well, I already promised to go shopping with Lindsey…"
"Oh." Beth looked down sadly.
"But, you should come along!" added Heather quickly.
"Really?" Beth looked up hopefully.
"Yah. We could all go clothes shopping, and go to the spa, it'll be fun." Heather smiled.
"Okay! That would be so great!"
"Good." The two smiled sweetly at each other.
"Well, I gotta get the set." said Heather.
"Okay. See you later." Heather smiled at Beth before walking off.
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Both teams were walking through the swamp with K.K. and Katrina holding the maps.
K.K. turned to see Kiki walking alongside Tory and Lauren.
"Hey, Wes." she said turning to the blonde.
"Yah?"
"Can you take the map?"
"Sure." said the gear head smiling. K.K. handed him the map, and then fell back to her sister.
"Hey, Kiki."
"K.K!" said Kiki before glomping her sister.
"Hey, K.K. How's life on the Phantom Ferrets?" asked Tory smiling.
"It's okay, but it'd be a lot better if I didn't have to compete against you guys."
"Well, do you at least like your teammates?"
"Yah, I do. It's just… I mean, don't get me wrong, Alyssa and Paige are really great…"
"What about Harley?" asked Lauren.
"Well, she has her issues, but she hasn't done anything bad yet, besides blowing us all off to go seduce Jacob in his sleep." said K.K. "The point is that I miss you guys. Especially you, Kiki." K.K. gave her sister a big hug before quickly letting go.
"So, have you guys done anything interesting?" asked K.K.
Kiki looked like she was about to say something , but she glanced quickly at Tory and Lauren, and went quiet.
"What's wrong?" said K.K.
"N-nothing." said Kiki.
"You sure?"
"Don't worry Kiki. You can tell her all about the party we had last night. Just remember not to reveal any of the secrets." said Lauren winking.
"Secrets?" asked K.K.
"We played truth or dare last night. There are some things that need to be kept strictly between us." said Tory smiling. Kiki perked up noticeably, and started telling K.K. all about the braiding, facials, snacks, and dancing that had occurred last night, conveniently leaving out that it had been in celebration of a new-formed alliance.
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-Crypt-
Lauren: It was seriously great party, even if it wasn't the big bashes that I'm used to. At one point I decided to play a prank on everyone by putting a fake cockroach in the lemonade. Everyone freaked out when they saw it. They were like "Oh my gosh, a dead bug!" Hahahahaha!
Tory: Last night really was fun. At one point we got so loud that a raccoon came by to investigate. It was cute at first, but when Kiki tried to pet it, it freaked out, and tried to attack her. Eventually Lauren had to wrestle it, and throw it back outside.
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Harley was walking with her hands behind her head, bored.
"Are we there yet?"
"We'll be there when we get there." said Mack.
"Aww, you're no fun."
"Hey, I'm not here to be fun. I'm here to win five million dollars. Simple as that."
"That's so cute. You actually think you can beat me." said Harley with a cocky smile.
"I don't think, I know." said Mack with an equally cocky grin. Sparks flew between the two as the starred each other down.
"Is that even possible?" as Alyssa as she watched the electricity.
"I've learned not to question it. Keeps things a lot simpler." said Wes smiling. Alyssa shrugged before turning back around.
"Hey, aren't you guys supposed to be a team or something?" asked Paige.
"Doesn't mean there can't be a little friendly competition." said Mack with a shrug.
"Whatever." said Paige as she turned back around to talk to Long. It was a fairly one sided conversation.
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-Crypt-
Paige: Yah, Long's not the talkative type. I think he just needs someone to help him open up. Now, who's the right person for the job? *smiles mischievously*
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"Hey, Jacob." Jacob looked to the side to see Kenny walking up beside him. Jacob smiled at him.
"What's up dude?" Jacob shrugged.
"Not the talkative type are you?" Jacob shook his head lightly.
"Man, there are so many people here who just don't talk." said Kenny. "I mean, Long's barely said a word since he got here, Kiki rarely talks to anyone besides her sister, and I'm pretty sure the only thing I've heard from you is that scream from when Harley tried to…" Kenny was cut off by Jacob putting a hand across his mouth. Kenny gently removed the hand.
"I get it, too fresh to talk about. It's fine." Kenny smiled cheerfully before slipping into a thoughtful expression with a slightly mischievous grin. "You know, I think I have an idea about how to fix all this quiet business." Jacob looked at him questioningly, but before he could get any farther with it something landed hard on his back causing him to stagger.
"Hey, Puddin. What cha talk 'bout?" said Harley smiling as she clung to his back. Jacob started to look freaked out.
"Uh, isn't it kind of bad to be randomly jumping on people?" asked Kenny with a cocked eyebrow.
"Oh, don't be jealous. I'd do it to you anytime you asked. It's just Jacob is my main squeeze." As she said this she gripped her arms and legs tighter around Jacob causing him to start gasping for air. "In fact, I almost did you a really big favor, but Jerry had to interrupt."
"What do you mean?" asked Kenny.
"You remember how we found you unconscious at that lake?" said Mack walking up beside him with his hands in his pockets.
"Well…" Mack leaned over and started whispering into Kenny's ear, causing Kenny's eyes to slowly grow wider and wider.
"DUDE!! What is you with people who are asleep?!" asked Kenny staring at Harley.
"Please, it's not like you're going to do any better." Everyone turned their heads to the side to see Mel.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked Harley, glaring.
"He's a loser. A *beep* like you is probably the best he's gonna get." Harley's eyes went wide at this comment, and her face became a mask of pure rage.
"No one calls me a *beep*, and gets away with it!" said Harley. She quickly climbed up onto Jacob's shoulders, and dived off, straight for Mel, but Mack managed to catch her before she could get to her.
"Let me go! Let me go! That *beep* is going to pay!" yelled Harley as she struggled in Mack's grip.
"Relax. She's not worth it." said Mack trying to calm Harley down.
"That was so not cool." said Kenny trying to get up in Mel's face despite her being significantly taller.
"Yah, and what are you gonna do about it?" said the punk as she pushed Kenny into Jacob. Jacob managed to hold Kenny up as Mel started laughing. "That's what I thought." Mel walked more towards the front of the group, still laughing.
"Can I kill her now?" asked Harley, her tendril like hair slightly ruffled.
"Later." said Mack. "Let's wait until the challenge before we go breaking any heads."
"That was so not cool." said Kenny.
"You already said that." said Harley as she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Well, it wasn't."
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-Crypt-
Harley: That pink-haired *beep* is so going down!
Mack: That really wasn't a smart move on Mel's part. If I hadn't been holding Harley back, she would have ripped whatever hair Mel has left right out of her head.
Mel: So they get mad. They'll get over it. I'm here to have fun so they can just *camera cuts off*
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"Hey, Richie Rachael, how much longer until we get there." said Mel. Katrina looked at her, glaring.
"My name isn't…" before she could answer everyone stopped upon hearing a strange crackling sound. They looked up to see two T.V. screens mounted up in two trees on either side of the path. They crackled with static for a moment before turning on to show a picture of a head with long blonde hair wearing a white mask with two blue tinted lenses for eyes, and three pink lines under each eye.
"Hello, campers." said the face in what sounded like an electronically distorted female voice.
"Who are you?" asked Harley.
"Oh, I'm…" the voice started before a shushing sound was heard of screen. "Oh, right. That will be revealed in time. For now you may call me Madame Mystery, Her…" again another shushing sound was heard of camera. The face looked to the side. "What did I do this time?"
"If you say that, they'll figure out who you are." whispered a voice.
"Oh, right. You're so smart…"
"Don't say my name!" said the voice in a whispering shout.
"Sorry." The face turned back around to the campers. "Anyway, you may call me Madame Mystery. I will be the host of today's challenge."
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-Crypt-
Harley: Seriously?
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"Today's challenge will be divided into two parts. Look in front of you." All the campers looked between the trees. After a couple more feet of the trail, the path widened out into a large circular clearing, and in the middle of the clearing, about a hundred feet in, was a small cylindrical building. The outside wall was painted rose red with pink lights on the edge of the roof, and, right above the blue double doors was a movie theater style sign that said "Madame Mystery, Her Hotness's, House of Style" with a large sculpture of Madame Mystery's head on top of it.
"You see that incredibly fabulous building in front of you?" The campers nodded. "All you need to do is get there, but there's a catch. Please look behind these trees. Tory and Harley walked behind the trees.
"What is it?" asked K.K.
"Heels."
"What?"
"Heels. High heels." said Harley holding out a pair of silver stilettos.
"Hm, nice shoes." said Katrina giving a brief nod of approval.
"So what do shoes have to do with the challenge?" asked Mack.
"I'm getting to that! Behind the trees you will find sixteen pairs of stilettos, one for each of you. For the first part of your challenge, all you have to do is walk to the building wearing them."
"Are you kidding me?! Those things are like six inches tall!" yelled K.K. as she looked at the shoes in dread.
"I don't do heels." said Mack, crossing his arms.
"Then I guess you'll just have to sit there and watch the rest of your team do the challenge. Have fun being voted off if they lose." said the blonde figure. Mack glared at the monitor. "Good luck everyone!" The monitors suddenly turned off leaving the campers in complete silence.
"I guess we have to do it." said Katrina.
"No way! I am not wearing those things! They're like six inches tall!" said K.K.
"You have to. It's for the team." said Tory.
"Whose team are you on?" asked Harley.
"Oh, sorry. Momentary lapse in judgment." Tory rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. Kiki went over, and tugged on her sister's sleeves, looking at her pleadingly. K.K. stayed strong for a moment before slowly breaking down.
"Fine, I'll do it." said K.K. crossing her arms. "But I won't like it."
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"Whew, that was like sooooo close." said Lindsey removing her mask.
"You did fine." Heather walked over and gave her a quick hug.
"Really? I can't believe how close I got to blowing my secret identity. Do you think they figured it out?"
"NO, No, of course not." Heather smiled nervously.
"Yay! Now, all we have to do is wait for them to get here, and then we can move on the second part. It's going to be so much fun!" Heather smiled as she watched Lindsey jump up and down in excitement.
"Okay, okay, that's enough jumping. Now, let's go get the rest of your costume."
"Yay! I can't wait. I look so good in it."
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"What's with these things?!" yelled Mel as she tried standing in her six inch stilettos. Almost immediately she started wobbling.
"If you can't where the heels, then get out of the forest." said Harley, having no problem walking in her red heels. The others were all trying to walk with varying levels of success.
"This is so stupid!" shouted Jerry trying to stand, but utterly failing.
"How do girls where these things?" asked Wes wobbling around.
"Lots of practice." said Katrina as she walked over to brace herself against a tree. "Although we usually don't have to wear shoes this high."
"Speak for yourself." said Harley as she proceeded to do a couple of back flips to get the feel of the new shoes.
"Well, if we're going to do this today, we better get a move on." said Katrina. She briefly turned to look at everyone, and noticed K.K. leaning slightly on Kiki as she rose to her feet.
"Are you two ready?" asked Katrina.
"Yah, almost." said K.K. Katrina narrowed her eyes for a second before turning around, only to be accidently backhanded by Mel as she was trying to regain her balance. "OWW!!" she said holding her nose.
"Woops. Sorry, didn't mean to hit you." said the punk, though she was smiling meanly while she said it.
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-Crypt-
Katrina: Oww. What is up with that pink haired freak?! It's bad enough that she abuses everyone on the show, but does she have to go and add injury to insult. Oww.
Mel: I didn't really mean to hit her, but it was an awesome bonus. *smiles wickedly at the camera*
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"I guess I'll go first." said Alyssa walking forward, though unsteadily.
"You show 'em Lyss. I'm right behind you." Wes started trying to walk after her.
"Thanks." said Alyssa back as she stepped of the path and into the clearing.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. Alyssa started looking around. "What's that?"
BOOOOOM!!! Alyssa was blown back from where she stood, and hurled into a nearby tree.
"ALYSSA!" Wes immediately ran over to her, though tripping and falling most of the way, as did Tory and Harley.
"What was that?!" screamed Mel, looking towards the clearing. Harley stood up from checking on Alyssa, and went to look at the field.
"Look." She pointed to a large crater where Alyssa had been before.
"What happened?" asked K.K.
"Oh, that was so cool! Well, not the Alyssa being hurt part, but the explosion part was awesome!" said Lauren, ecstatic.
"Not helping." said Tory looking up from Alyssa.
"Oh, sorry." Lauren blushed.
"Any particular reason the ground just decided to explode?" asked Mack, walking over as best he could.
"Mines."
"What?"
"Mines. Look over there." said Harley pointing to a place very near the crater. Everyone stared for a second, not really seeing, then their eyes grew wide. Sticking out, just above the surface, was a glowing red beacon, and a small patch of metal was visible beside it where the force of the explosion had blown some of the dirt away.
"You mean this is a mine field?!" asked K.K. The campers quickly looked up. Scattered throughout the entire clearing surrounding the building, were hundreds of small blinking beacons.
"Looks like it." said Harley.
"This situation seems oddly familiar, but why?" asked Tory thoughtfully putting her finger to her chin.
"Are you serious?!" screamed K.K. Harley started laughing in a creepy manner that caused all the other campers to back up a bit. She rose to her feet, still laughing.
"Looks like it's time for some fun." she said smiling. She started backing up.
"Harley? What are you doing?" asked Alyssa.
"Just watch." She started running forward as the Matrix theme song played in the background. As she reached the edge of the clearing, she leaped forward into a flip.
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-Crypt-
Mack: There's something not natural about that.
Alyssa: Where does all this theme music come from?!
Izzy: *holding Harold's keyboard* *smiles*
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All the campers stood around watching Harley flip nimbly across the field. Katrina started looking around at the gaping group.
"You know, I bet there's a reward for the first person to the building."
Almost immediately everyone started running trying to find a safe starting point into the field.
"Well, that got everyone moving." said Katrina.
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"So, Harley's already out on the field." said Mack as he stumbled awkwardly with Jerry barely managing to follow behind him. "Now, the question is, how are we supposed to follow."
"Hey, guys!" Mack and Jerry turned to the side to see Harley flipping on the field. "What's the matter?! Having a little trouble?!"
"We can't all be psychotic circus freaks!" yelled Mack back while Jerry glared at him.
"Who are you call a circus freak?!" asked Harley as she landed on her feet. "I'll have you know that I dated a circus freak once, and he couldn't even *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* with a chainsaw!"
"That was way too much information." whispered Mack to Jerry. Jerry nodded.
"Now, get you r butts out here, we have a challenge to complete!"
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, we can barely walk. How are we supposed to cross an entire mine field?"
"Must I do every?" she asked sighing. "Just walk toe, ball, heel! It'll help with your balance!"
"Great, that's really useful!" said Mack.
"Come on! I bet even Jerry could do it!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Jerry, narrowing his eyes.
"Come on Jerry! Show that chicken exactly what you can do!" Jerry sank for a second before puffing himself up. He started shakily walking forward.
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"So, what's the plan?" asked Lauren, jumping up and down as the four blonde alliance stood at the edge of the field.
"Is Tory back yet?" asked Katrina.
"Here." said Tory running/stumbling up to the rest. "According to my calculations, there are three main areas of weakness in the perimeter. It would be would be dangerous for all four of us to go through at once, so we'll probably have to split up." Katrina nodded.
"Okay. Tory, you and Kiki take one of the entrances. Lauren and I will take the other two. We'll meet at the center. If you get there before the rest, head directly inside, got it?"
"Got it." said Tory and Lauren in unison while Kiki stammered it out.
"Good, now Tory, show us where they are."
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-Crypt-
Lauren: This is so much fun. It's like being in an army except we have challenges instead of war.
Tory: Efficiency and team work are essential in winning a competition.
Katrina: We're a well oiled machine. No one will be able to stop us from total domination.
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"Here's the first spot." said Tory showing pointing between two trees with some foliage under them. "The mines are placed more sporadically here, but there's more space between them."
"Look like this one's all yours." said Katrina to Lauren.
"Leave it to me. I know exactly what to do." said Lauren cracking her knuckles. She walked to the edge of the clearing. "The main problem is the shoes. They prevent me from fully mastering this mine field."
"Who's she talking to?" asked Tory. Katrina shrugged.
"In order to eliminate the problem, I must be like one without legs. I shall become…a snake." The others just kind of stared, uncertain. Lauren began doing a slow wavy motion with her arms. Her legs started to fold under her as she lowered herself to her knees. Her head slowly followed forward until her chin was directly on the ground. Then, slowly and quietly, she began to slink forward, using her hands and the balls of her feet for movement.
"Wouldn't that be more like a lizard?" asked Tory.
"Let her go. Whatever works. Now, come on, let's hurry."
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Kenny and Jacob were slowly walking into the field taking it step by step.
"I really don't get how Harley does this. She makes it look so easy." Jacob nodded in agreement.
"Why would girls even wear these things?" Jacob shrugged.
"You know I feel this is a pretty one sided conversation." Jacob gave an apologetic look. Kenny sighed.
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-Crypt-
Kenny: I will get him to talk. Once my master plan is set in motion, he'll be singing like a canary.
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Paige and Long were plodding along, trying to do their best not to step on anything explosive.
"Okay, so as long as we don't get blown to smithereens, we should be okay." Long nodded.
"Gee, it sure is nice weather out today." she said putting some energy in her voice. Long looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded. Paige narrowed her eyes.
"You know, I always thought that dying my hair pink and green would be interesting. What's your opinion?" Long gave her a strange look before shaking his head.
"You know, I think I'm just going to step on this mine…" Paige started slowly lowering her foot towards one of the glowing beacons. Long started frantically waving his hands. Paige sighed. "Is there really no way to get you to talk?"
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Paige: Just wait until after this challenge.
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Jerry was slowly stepping into the clearing wobbling with each step.
"That's it. You can do it. Come here. Who's a good boy?" said Harley patting her legs. Jerry looked up glaring.
"Do I look like a dog to you?"
"Well, if I squint my eyes a bit, I can sort of see a bull dog resemblance."
"She has a point." said Mack watching from the edge of the clearing.
"Are you gonna come in or what?!" yelled Jerry.
"Nah, I'm probably gonna wait for you to blow yourself up so that there'll be less mines to step on."
"Don't pick on poor Jerry. He's trying really hard, isn't that right." said Harley making goo-goo faces at the bully. Jerry looked torn between the fact that he was receiving a compliment from Harley and the fact that she was still treating him like a dog. Jerry continued walking slowly, and after a couple of minutes, he finally made it over to Harley, approximately fifteen feet in.
"Good boy! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are. You are." said Harley rubbing Jerry's head. Jerry was still very conflicted, but the fact that Harley was rubbing his head overshadowed the fact that she thought of him as a canine. Jerry started unconsciously kicking his leg up and down.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. Both parties looked down to see Jerry's foot on a mine.
"Bad dog!" said Harley flipping backwards to get away, and kicking Jerry in the chin in the process. Jerry's head snapped backwards before he pushed it forward to look at the ground.
"OH…" There was a brief blast of light before the ground beneath him exploded.
Jerry was sent flying backwards, landing on a patch of dirt, just barely managing to land on another mine. Mack's eyes widened.
"You okay?!" he yelled cupping his hands around his mouth. Jerry didn't respond. "If you're not dead, don't say anything!" Jerry still didn't reply. "Okay, he's fine. Now, onto the challenge." Mack shakily walked through the bush he had been standing behind, and began carefully making his way across the field.
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"Okay, here's the second entrance." said Tory with Katrina close behind her. "The patterns of distribution are slightly more predictable in the line between her and the building. As long as you can find the general pattern, you should be fine."
"Right, here I go." Katrina started slowly stepping across the fields.
"Good luck!" shouted Tory. She then turned to Kiki. "Come on. The last one is the easiest." Tory grabbed Kiki's hand, and they both started using each other for support on the way to their next destination. Unbeknownst to them, someone behind them was watching.
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"Be the snake, be the snake." chanted Lauren as she slithered/crawled along the ground. Her body undulated as she moved, making her slithering motion look all the more real. She came upon a row of mines blocking her slithering.
"The snake cannot be stop by your silly line." She slowly started raising her upper body, swaying side to side like a cobra from a snake charmers basket. She then leaned forward, over the line, and landed with her chin on the other side. She pushed forward, causing her chin to push forward olong the ground as the rest of her body followed. She kept slithering forward until only her feet were on the original side, and then she simply lifted her legs over the line, and started slithering towards the building.
"Almost there." she said approaching the structure. After a couple more minutes of slithering she arrived at the wall of the building.
"I did it!" she yelled standing up. She then started looking thoughtfully at the mine field. "Eh, why not?" She quickly jumped onto the nearest mine.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. The mine started charging before exploding, sending her slamming into the side of the building. She began laughing.
"Okay, I'm good now." she said standing up, and brushing her clothes off before smoothing down her frizzled hair. She carefully walked over to the front of the building.
"Knock Knock." she said knocking at the front doors.
"Who is it?" came a voice from inside.
"Delivery!"
"Delivery?"
"Yah, it says here you ordered twenty thousand gallons of mustard." The voice gasped.
"I didn't order twenty-thousand gallons of mustard! I don't even like it that much!"
"Just kidding!" said Lauren.
"Really?"
"Yah. It's really forty-thousand." The voice gasped again. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding."
"So there's no mustard?" asked the voice in a slightly confused manner.
"Nope, no mustard."
"Whew. That's a relief."
"So, can I come in?"
"Why?"
"For the challenge."
"But the challenge doesn't involve any mustard."
"No, I'm one of the contestants."
"You're a contestant, and a delivery person?" Lauren looked thoughtfully at the door.
"Okay. So maybe saying I was a delivery guy wasn't the best idea."
"Just come in." yelled a second voice from inside.
"Are you sure?" asked Lauren.
"Yes!" yelled the voice, sounding slightly irritated.
"Okay then." Lauren shrugged before opening the door. Once inside, Lauren had to shield her eye for a second before they adjusted to the brightness.
"Welcome." said a voice. Lauren slowly looked out from behind her hand to see Madame Mystery, wearing her mask, and a long silver, sequined dress with matching high heels. The bright light of the room caused the dress to shimmer, sending small rainbow colored lights dancing throughout the room, not that the room need any help being colorful. The room was a large circle with shining white walls covered with large, sporadic polka-dots in every color of the rainbow. Around the perimeter of the room were ten doors, each painted as a color of the rainbow plus pink, black, and white.
"Today's challenge is based on Colorfornia." Lauren stared at her.
"You mean like the state in the U.S?"
"It's Chromophobia." whispered a girl standing beside the masked challenge host. She was wearing a rainbow ski mask with black gauze over the eyes and no mouth, a rainbow top, a long rainbow skirt, and rainbow colored flats.
"Right." said Madame Mystery. "Wait, what? What does chrome have to do with colors?"
"Who are you?" asked Lauren pointing to the rainbow clad girl.
"Um, I'm Madame Mystery's assistant, um, Color Girl."
"Oh, okay." said Lauren smiling.
"Yay! I have an assistant!" said Madame Mystery jumping up and down. "But, wait that still doesn't answer what chrome has to do with color. I mean, isn't that the thing guys always try to put on their cars?"
"Yes, but chromophobia is the fear of colors." said Color Girl.
"So, if it's the fear of colors, why is it named after a shiny metal?"
"Um, let's see, how to explain this?" said the rainbow clad assistant thoughtfully. "Um, oh! Since chrome is technically its own color, they decided to name the fear after it."
"I'm pretty sure that's not…" Color Girl shushed Lauren before she could say anything else.
"Oooooh, now I get it." said Madame Mystery before turning back to Lauren. "Anyway, prepare to face the wrath of my Wheel…of…Color!!!" Madame Mystery stepped aside while Color Girl pulled a large lever sticking out of the ground. The floor opened up, and a large circular wheel rose out of the floor. It was divided into sections, each in a different color.
Lauren stared at it for a moment, before smiling.
"Bring it on."
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"There you have it folks! The first contestants has arrived at Madame Mystery's House of Style." yelled Izzy getting in front of the camera holding a tree branch with the mine field in the background.
"What is the mysterious challenge of Madame Mystery? What are the mysterious plans of Kenny and Paige for getting their silent friends to talk? Tune in next time to find out." said Gwen smiling beside her. Then they both started speaking in unison.
"On Total Drama EEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeek!!!!" Izzy threw the tree branch into the mine field causing a large explosion.
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There you have it folks. The new challenge has begun! Sorry it took so long to update, but I have two very good reasons. The first was that I had this ultra big test! I stayed up until three o'clock in the morning studying for it. And the second…I just really wanted to submit a chapter on Halloween. *^^*
Also, be on the lookout for a TDE Halloween Special. I started writing it in the time I did have, which was another reason why this chapter was so late, but I can't post it because it reveals who gets kicked off third. That's right, no ties this time. Everything was smooth, and easy.
By the way, did you know that fanfiction writers use forums for rping?! I had no idea!! Safe to say I was more than a little shocked when I found out. These people are so creative. XD
Anyway, that's my rant. Make sure to tune in next time for the conclusion to this episode. Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!! ^o^
