Total Drama Ocean Cruise

Chapter X: Final Act Comeback

Written by The Firebending Frog

The Pathetic Plankton

Morning for Yvonne began with an incredibly bad dream, not the kind that you forget within five minutes either. It was one of those weird ones that mixes together a bunch of events from your life and repeats itself over and over until you can't stand it anymore. She'd spent all night signing onto Black Hole Brigade. Over and over the contract had been put in front of her while her agent swore it would resurrect her career and Yestin Orville laughed behind her. The paper hadn't stopped being signed until an air horn had blown over the losing class bedroom and knocked her right out of bed.

She'd fallen right off the top bunk into a heap on the floor while her blanket fluttered on top of her. She sighed loudly once things stopped hurting and rubbed her hair. It was when her fingers touched her scalp that she realized something was off. She ran her fingers over her hairline in complete panic for a few seconds before rushing to the mirror at the other side of the room.

Someone had taken scissors to her hair. The long locks that normally fell to her mid back had been sawed down in random patterns left and right. It could be repaired but the mere fact someone had touched her hair was sending her into a state of complete panic. Answers swirled in her head but one finally beat out the others. The hairstyle she'd end up with once she fixed her hair. That hairstyle was sported by only one other person in the competition.

Or at least only one person had sported it the day before. When Yvonne burst into the shower room she found that there were now four people sporting the hairstyle. A neat trimming that fell right to the chin. One that wouldn't take hours to prepare in the morning, wouldn't get in the face of a player, and looked professional no matter how it fell.

Lara didn't even speak when Yvonne burst into the locker room. She just snapped her fingers and pointed at the chair she'd dragged in front of a mirror. Yvonne wasn't about to follow her orders though, maybe Zilka, Diane, and Bebe had fallen for it but she definitely hadn't. She stalked up to Lara and stood right in front of her with a sneer on her face and anger curling back her lip.

"What did you do?" Yvonne hissed through her teeth

"We got the loser reward yesterday," a cross armed Lara responded while brandishing a pair of scissors rather casually , "And from what I could gather it was because we're always late to every job we're required to do. So I decided to remedy it by making some adjustments to our appearances. No more long hair, no more complex makeup, and definitely no elaborate clothing choices."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA-" Yvonne started before Lara pressed a finger against Yvonne's lips and shut them tightly.

"We don't want to end up like Anne now do we?" Lara asked in a mock sweet voice. Yvonne was about to reply but instead she clamped her lips shut and let out a sigh.

Embarrassment flooded her for the rest of the morning as she walked around with her hair chopped down to the length Lara had approved. Every time she had argued Lara had busted out a comparison to Anne, effectively shutting her up. All these small moments had ended with Yvonne being the solitary waitress on the floor during breakfast service. Grouchy elders, bratty kids, and impatient couples spent their first few hours awake shouting at Yvonne about pure unparalleled nonsense. It was grating work that no one in their right mind would agree to do.

But Lara was in charge and when people stood up to Lara they got eliminated.

It was day ten of this for Yvonne, and in all honesty it was likely the last day she'd ever have to put up with the control freak of a team captain she had. Forty players meant a merge would likely come that day, shuffling them into three teams of ten that would begin competing for the winning spot. If her team just survived that day Lara wouldn't be a problem anymore. She'd get a winning team with Olga, Phoebe, or even Lloyd on it. Honestly any of The Sinister Sharks would be better than her own team.

Career resurgences Came along, she just had to avoid bad scripts or risk becoming a B list actor forever typecast until her acting abilities dried up. The haircut was bad but it was enough to convince Yvonne she might have an out. Lara was pushing at her to see if she'd snap back, if she did then she was fish food, if she didn't she had a chance to survive the next elimination. The illusion of control was something Lara needed to think she had. If that were the case then her screaming and shouting would be turned to the other girls. Her rants aimed at Bebe, Diane, or Zilka would take over her dislike of Yvonne.

So she just had to sit pretty and play her part for a little longer. Not complaining about the haircut and refraining from stepping in when Lara screamed at the other girls. Yvonne would let her shout about burnt eggs because it took the eyes off her and put them on someone else, and judging by a smirks Lara kept shooting her way Yvonne's strategy was working.

Confessional

"Why did I cut everyone's hair?" Lara asks with a chuckle and shake of her head, "The answer is simple, we're getting down to small numbers on this team and rooting out any rebellious players like Sophie is a must. Whomever seems most resentful to me will be eliminated, if they all comply then Yvonne gets sunk. Everything is finally going my way…"

Names had been scrawled all over Louise's journal. Every single player on his team was listed from Josh to Kiara and small lists had been drawn under them. Certain statistics were scrawled out denoting the value of each player on the team. Josh for example had the sentences, "Good at photography," and, "Persistence," written under his name while Nadie had, "Muscle," and, "fishing skills," to hers. To anyone else this might seem like gibberish and small notes on what each player was good at but to Louise it marked who was useful and who was not.

In his nine days of competition he'd come to learn one thing about Liam, the guy wasn't a moron. Perhaps he'd played dungeons and dragons or something in that vein before because he was definitely aware of every statistic written on that page. Their two eliminations had been Jules and Bubba. Louise could understand Jules but Bubba was taking a bit more to make heads and tails of. He'd poured his heart and soul into working his way into the big guy's head only for him to be eliminated the very next evening.

To an outsider this was a bizarre choice seeing as Bubba was a giant of a man, but to Louise it became clear as to why Liam had pushed for his elimination so hard. Bubba was a grunt through and through. A lazy beach bum who only added diversity to the cast thanks to his skin tone. Nadie filled every box Bubba had checked and more. Liam was clearly working to root out overlap wherever it appeared and unfortunately this equaled clear favoritism.

It was no secret he enjoyed the company of Lucile, perhaps a little too much, and unfortunately for Louise she had an annoying amount of overlap with his own skillset. They diverged at his strong stomach and her cooking skills, and Louise would probably survive an elimination or two unharmed. It was what came afterwards that was scaring him. As they whittled down their numbers he'd become more and more present on the chopping block and if Liam were to target Stewart next it meant he'd likely made a similar list.

Louise overlapped quite a bit with Lucile and also found himself quite similar to Frank when it came to many of his talents, an obvious problem but one he hoped didn't require attention. He had already formulated a plan to break this mould of being a simple pawn to Liam and it had come through a skill Liam wasn't quite familiar with. No one would be anyway as none of the challenges had required them to write out answers to questions yet. Perhaps if a trivia show with pen and paper had emerged people would have caught it but alas good luck had shone upon Louise.

Nadie was left handed so for her handwriting Louise used his own left hand, making sure to smear some of the ink with his palm as he went. Nadie only ever wrote in her diary with an India ink pen and would wash her hands after finishing the writing. Long swoops formed every neat cursive L, G, and E while dots were never added to I and lines were never added to lowercase T's. It was quite a simple forgery overall.

For Liam a rather beautiful scrawling was in order, always signed on his evaluation forms. Louise found it quite interesting that Liam had a decent hand, likely from years upon years of private schooling. It was quite funny to imagine the boy with unkempt hair styled like a ruffian and a slouching demeanour standing in a private boy's school. By the looks of it he hadn't ever had a chance to learn a sloppy chicken scratch, likely being smacked on the wrist whenever his handwriting went south.

"Bad boy isn't so bad," Louise chuckled to himself as he scratched out the last of his message in Liam's handwriting. He knew the type of private school that produced not only the clean writing but also the colourful vocabulary. Nothing could hide literary analysis and high grades in English courses. Why judging by the perfect spelling Liam must have been an honours student. Louise wanted nothing more than to expose his punk attitude as fraudulent but that wouldn't achieve anything. Instead he just grabbed an envelope and half stuffed the letter into it. He then rose and walked through the losing class bunks. Nadie was down there, working hard and collecting the linens from the girl's room, perfect timing.

Louise wasted no time, he walked to Liam's bed and half-heartedly tossed the envelope on it, a rant about how back woods Nadie was written to a schoolmate Louise had heard Liam talk about. Of course he was talked about like he was some kind of wannabe who spray painted walls and smoked bootlegged cigarettes. Louise figured the friend was actually a rather upstanding guy who didn't know what Liam got up to during his summers. The letter was just a simple rant that would definitely strike a nerve with Nadie seeing as she didn't exactly take being called a girl well, at least that's what Louise had gleaned from her interactions with Bubba. She responded harshly to perceived sexism which spoke volumes of her upbringing. Likely the youngest in a family and the only girl. Trying desperately to push against someone's, perhaps her mother's, orders for her to be ladylike. He could sense ballet in her past, it was in the way she walked. She thought the only way to rebel against the constraints of her parents was to act like a butch lesbian, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't bring herself to like girls.

But that was just a theory, what was important was that her gender was a sore spot that the letter was hammering nails into. Louise slipped out of the room, gave a nod to Nadie and whistled to himself as he walked down the hallway. He paused at the end and walked back towards the rooms, counting down in his mind as he went.

The letter would fall on the ground, Nadie would read her name near the open part, and her nosiness would drive her to open it. A smug smile crossed Louise's face the second he reached the door. He wasn't seen but he heard her shout of outrage. He then turned heel and walked away, with Nadie's brand new diary in his pocket, perfect for escalating things if they slowed down a little. Sure it only had three pages filled, and all three were going on faux feminist rants that would make Louise's mother shake her head and complain about ignorance. A fourth with a rant against Liam was just waiting to passed onto the boy, whether it had been written by the diary's owner or not.

A large harbour on the western edge of Australia was the destination for The S.S McLean and even more important to the passengers was the exquisite port of call that was Sydney. It was a very nice day with clear skies, a delightful sea breeze, and excellent service from The Sinister Sharks. Per the norm jokes were made about how the blue team should lose more often due to their excellent service.

Once the passengers cleared out Chris buzzed every single team to the ramp and they all descended onto the dock in a large file, loaded into a bus, and drove through rush hour traffic while Chris fiddled around with the speaker system on the bus. He knew how it worked but was purposefully irritating the contestants by bringing the microphone close to the speakers and speaking into it while it was off. He didn't get his act together until they passed The Sydney Opera house.

"Welcome to Sydney, one of the biggest theatre magnets in the world," Chris announced with his hands held open, "And for today's challenge you'll be taking part in that theatre scene with an acting challenge."

"Are we performing there?" Yvonne asked with a brightness in her eyes that induced laughing in Chris.

"No," Chris replied as they passed the famous theatre, "Is Broadway the only theatre in New York? No. In order to sustain such a high class theatre smaller outlets for lesser actors exist. We've rented out a really cheap one downtown that should fit our needs. Each team will select three actors to perform in a play we managed to get rights to. The better your performances the higher you score. Best score rides first class while worst score cuts a player loose."

Excited murmuring immediately began the second Chris flicked his microphone off and sat down. Bebe began rubbing the back of her head and gazing at the ground while Yvonne glanced at her with worry. Everyone else seemed excited about the prospect of being on stage, or at least indifferent but Bebe looked petrified by the idea.

"You okay?" Yvonne questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine," Bebe replied in absolute panic, "Perfectly fine!"

Yvonne scowled in response and glanced out the window at the passing street. Her worried expression reflected off the glass but behind her a look of pure rage was reflected. Nadie was tapping her foot in sheer annoyance and had wrinkled her nose in disgust, something that was definitely freaking Kiara out a little. She'd been taking pictures with a disposable camera but most of them were ruined by Nadie's face, something that made her lower the photography device and raise an eyebrow.

"Is the flash annoying you?" Kiara questioned.

"No…" Nadie replied in complete deadpan.

"Don't like having your picture taken?" Kiara asked.

"It's not you," Nadie growled before her gaze shifted over to Liam. The guy was trying to make conversation with Lucile but clearly didn't know what he was talking about when it came to the theatre. Her gaze hardened while Kiara watched Liam curiously. Nadie didn't say anything else but to the girl with the camera it was clear that something sour had occurred between the two, and whatever it was it was more than a simple mistake.

The Pathetic Plankton

"Sir Benjamin, King's guard one, and The Princess," Lara listed as she paced back and forth in front of her teammates. They all sported standard issue haircuts and had their clothing tucked in. The only real difference between them was the way Lara viewed each of them and if she were to be perfectly honest Zilka just needed to go. The only hiccup was Yvonne and making sure she kept her trap shut and remained in place.

There was only one way to test this and Lara knew what it meant sacrificing. If Yvonne wanted to keep her head she wouldn't argue with Lara's judgement on this challenge. There was a good chance they'd lose because of it but Lara didn't care, in all likelihood it would be their last day as a team anyway. So she swept her gaze across the girls in front of her, rewards needed to be handed out to the most loyal followers she had so she extended a finger and pointed at Diane.

"You will be the guard," Lara announced while Diane blinked in surprise. Lara's finger than moved to Bebe and pointed directly at her, "And you will be the princess."

Yvonne watched as Bebe's already pale skin tone flushed of all colour. She looked clammy and white as a script was put in her hands. She shuddered and quivered a little while staring at nothing in particular, trying her hardest to push air out of her lungs in protest. Nothing emerged though, it instead sat in her throat collecting dust and bouncing about in a choke of pure terror. Yvonne had seen the look before, usually on new actors who were hired simply for their appearance. Boys and girls who looked the part needed but had such bad stage fright that they stiffened whenever more than one set of eyes gazed upon them.

She'd never had the issue herself, she'd been practically born into acting, being handed to Melissa Fawn to play the part of her baby at only six months of age. She'd grown up on sets, smiling for cameras, and memorizing lines. It just didn't allow for that kind of terror to erupt. But for someone like Bebe who probably hadn't been in front of a director her entire life this was likely terrifying. Yvonne was about to give some sympathetic remark to her teammate when Lara piped up with her final casting choice.

"And I of course will play the role of Sir Benjamin," Lara announced while leering at Yvonne. The look wasn't even needed, Yvonne already knew what Lara was up to. Lara knew she was an actress and that casting her would have been the easiest choice in the world, heck it might even score them a win. But Lara didn't want a win, she wanted to cut someone else off the team. It was in her eyes, a look of calmness like she'd already won. She was convinced the merge would take place the next morning and that she'd never have to see any of them again. She wanted to cut whomever she deemed the least worthy to be there and was staring at Yvonne begging for her to retaliate, for some of that fire Sophie and Anne had shown.

Yvonne wasn't going to give her any. It meant she was willing to let her vote slide for now and eliminate one of the players she'd been gunning for since day one. It was no secret that she had a disdain for Bebe and Zilka but she needed to be certain it wouldn't bite her in the rump. She was staring dead into Yvonne's eyes, begging for retaliation and her face only changed into a smug grin when she realized Yvonne wasn't offering any of it.

"Smart, not following Anne's advice," Lara smiled before turning away with her script in hand, "Now memorize those lines or I'll cut the lifeboat lines myself!"

The Creepy Calamari

The play wasn't the most original thing Frank had seen, it was clearly aimed at general audiences and had very little nuance beyond the most common tropes available. Some poor boy from a poor family would enter a tournament with tough knights for the hand of a princess. That princess was pretty bland, every role had been done to death, and Frank was thankful he hadn't been cast at all. They'd been handed rather moderate roles and the bigger two had been filled by the more outgoing players on the team, Nadie and Liam.

Frank could have mentioned his years in improvised theatre but he'd decided to forgo mentioning it on account of the sheer tastelessness of the script. Audience pleasing shlock wasn't up his alley, he wanted something more highbrow and critical to act in, something with real drama and real issues. So he'd volunteered for costuming and was in the process of walking Liam's knight costume down a hall when he heard angry shouting erupt from the dressing room Liam had been using. He hurried forward and pushed the door open to find Liam pacing back and forth with a little black book in his hands while Lucile and Louise watched him walk with two very different expressions on their faces.

"- A complete fake!" Liam ranted as he paced back and forth. Other spat words erupted from his mouth but without the first part of the rant being known Frank was having a hard time piecing it together. He looked at Lucile's face for answers but she seemed rather frightened by the explosion of anger that was blasting out of Liam's mouth. It was an honest reaction, one of sympathy and fear. Frank could deduce that whatever had set Liam off was worthwhile. Confusion however appeared when he glanced at Louise.

For a fraction of a second he caught a look of pure excited glee on Louise's face. A pure joy that told Frank something had gone horribly right. It was blink and you miss it though as the two of them made eye contact and suddenly Louise was sporting a similar look to Lucile. The entire facial change was so quick that Frank honestly questioned if he had seen anything at all and he couldn't loiter on the subject for long seeing as Liam had turned towards him pretty quickly.

"Everything all right here?" Frank asked while glancing at everyone in the room in quick succession.

"Nadie, just crossed a line!" Liam shouted before throwing the little black book at Frank and beginning to pace back and forth. A lighter was pulled from seemingly nowhere and he began flicking it on and off with each step he took. A small flame flickering to life in his hands while he stomped about.

Frank hung the costume up and flipped the book open. All the handwriting was consistent and for the most part complaints had been aimed at Bubba, nothing really suprising. It wasn't until the last filled in page that the point of topic abruptly switched. Frank didn't really get most of it, and in all honesty it wasn't the worst thing someone could say about another, it just seemed like the rant had pushed all the wrong buttons and aggravated Liam. Too much in fact to all be made up. If it was hitting that close to home it must have been true. Frank wanted to do a second look at the book but Liam had snatched it from his fingers before he could perform another take. The lighter was held up under the thing and the pages quickly caught fire. Liam tossed it in the trash and smoke began to billow out of it while flames erupted in the depths of the can. Liam quickly stomped the diary out and grabbed his costume before marching off with Lucile in tow. Frank watched them go, blinking every few seconds while Louise stopped next to Frank.

"Shame, I thought we were all getting along so well," Louise sighed while shaking his head in disappointment, "But if Nadie is ranting about us behind our backs then…"

"We target her," Frank replied while watching Louise's face. The boy couldn't hide a broad grin spreading across his face even if he took on a somber expression after a few seconds. He patted Frank on the shoulder before exiting the room after Liam. The door swung closed and Frank let his face fall into a frown.

He marched over to the trash can and pulled the charred diary from it. The black cover had been crispified and the edges of the pages were burnt out. Opening it revealed that some of the pages had managed to survive. He could still read sections of Nadie's rant against Liam and it made him scratch his chin and ask how Liam had even found the thing in the first place. Last he'd checked people tended to keep journals and Diaries away from prying eyes. The faces Louise had made and the oddness of the journal were just not adding up so he slipped the diary into his pocket and brushed his hands off before following his teammates out of the room.

The first act of the play was pretty standard for the people acting onstage. Lara was playing the lead role and she was pretty decent at it, sticking to her character and performing as required. Before she appeared however Jason and Trevor played the roles of the king and a rich knight respectively. Trevor was vying for Bebe's hand onstage and bragging about his riches while Jason explained that his daughter would need more than money. This was of course performed before a live audience that had filed into the building in an uproar of murmuring, mostly attracted by the fact this was going to be broadcast on TV at some later point. Once they were seated they stared at the stage ceaselessly and light kept reflecting off their glasses as they moved.

Bebe was exceptionally thankful she didn't have any speaking roles in the first portion of the play while she sat there completely petrified for the first scene. Her eyes kept washing over the crowd and the crowd stared back. Her shoulders were stiff and sweat was beading down her face while her eyes quivered. She actually didn't realize how much she had sweat until the scene ended and she stiffly passed Lara to the backstage. Yvonne needed to fix her makeup and lifted the hat off her head revealing her pink hair pressed against her forehead in an exceptionally sloppy manner. Heat flushed her and she could feel the sweat pressed into her armpits.

"Are you okay?" Yvonne demanded as she pressed a hand against the pale forehead of her teammate. Bebe was wavering back and forth like she might pass out at any second and Yvonne had to guide her towards a chair. Bebe shakily sat down in it and exhaled extremely deeply while a conversation between Lara and Wilma occurred onstage. Something about how they were poor and blah blah blah. Yvonne could hardly be concerned though. Normally she paid attention to acting even when she was offstage but for once she couldn't be bothered. She instead hurried to a water fountain and began filled a water bottle at it. She then rushed back to Bebe and handed her the water.

Bebe clammily drank the water and her breathing began to accelerate. She began floundering around until she grabbed the neck of her costume and pried it open, letting it fall over her shoulder while her free hand began fanning her chest. She was so concerned with cooling down that she didn't even notice that she'd just exposed her bra to Erin who stared at her for a few seconds before averting his gaze in embarrassment.

"Cover up," Yvonne ordered through grit teeth while she stepped between a camera's line of sight and Bebe's chest.

"Gotta… cool… down," Bebe panted while continuing to hyperventilate. Yvonne quickly put her hands on Bebe's shoulders and began to exaggerate her breathing until Bebe matched her. They breathed heavily for about a minute before Yvonne began to calm her breathing down. It was slow progress but eventually Bebe was breathing fine and not panicking anymore.

"Are you going to be okay?" Yvonne asked as she readjusted Bebe's dress so her bra was hidden again. Bebe didn't have an answer, instead she just dragged her knees close to her chest and let loose a small whimper. Yvonne gave a deep sigh knowing her answer was a definite no. Bebe had some severe stage fright, the same kind of weird look she'd grown back in Alaska when all eyes had been on her. Her clumsiness had seemingly increased tenfold at that time but that was nothing compared to this. Yvonne didn't even know where it originated from or why it had formed in the first place but it was there and it was a clear problem.

She fanned Bebe hoping she'd calm down until clapping erupted and the scene between Wilma and Lara ended. The two girls walked backstage while other actors headed out to the stage to perform their own scene. Yvonne took one look back at Bebe before putting on a burst of speed and hurrying to catch up to Lara.

"Lara!" Yvonne called, thankfully drawing the captain's attention as she shouted. She skid to a halt and let out a deep exhale before making eye contact with her, "I don't think Bebe's up for reading lines."

"And what do you propose?" Lara asked while placing a hand on Yvonne's shoulder. In a flash she was pinned against the wall by Lara's strong arm while the captain leaned in so they were nearly lip to lip, "Are you thinking about putting yourself on that stage in her place?"

"Well-" Yvonne started before being quickly cut off.

"Listen here and listen closely," Lara hissed while refusing to break eye contact with Yvonne, "You thought that perhaps Sophie was a better option and watched her attempt to eliminate me burn. I would take immense satisfaction in tossing you off the boat this instant but I'm not going to do that because you, unlike some of our teammates, actually have some useful skills. So back off, let her screw up, and fall into place when we eliminate someone tonight. Then and only then will I let you survive. Got it?!"

With her mind being spoken Lara released Yvonne and took a few steps forward before stopping. She turned her head and stared back and Yvonne with narrowed eyes. A silent warning not to even speak out of place that made Yvonne swallow and hang her head. She turned back to Bebe and approached the girl who continued to sit there shaken and frightened. Yvonne wanted to help but her fear of Lara easily outclassed her sympathy for Bebe.

When Nadie walked off the stage her face immediately fell from a smile to a massive frown. Spending time onstage with Liam had proved to be all the confirmation she needed when it came to his opinions on her. The guy had spent the entire time glaring at her from across the stage with pure hatred scrawled on his face. It was clear to her that the message in that dumb letter had certainly come from him. The handwriting had already made her certain but now there wasn't a doubt in the world. He'd proven himself to be another sexist pig who was afraid of her strength. He probably expected her to just fall back in line and learn her role.

Her aggravation was only interrupted by Frank of all people walking up beside her. Sure they were teammates but it wasn't like they had become exceptionally close. In all honesty Frank kind of annoyed her, a clear city boy who likely hadn't spent a weekend camping or ever had to shovel a driveway. He seemed like a junior version of a pretentious café writer to her and in any other circumstance she wouldn't have even glanced at him.

"Hey Nadie, I was wondering about you and Liam," He piped up the second they were side by side. Nadie immediately tensed up and stared at her teammate curiously. She wasn't certain if he was curious as to the tense air between the two of them or if he had somehow been told something by Liam. So she exhaled deeply and ran a hand through her hair, deciding it was probably best to approach the subject from the perspective that Frank didn't know anything.

"Let's just say I realized Liam isn't actually the person we all thought he was," Nadie muttered as they reached the water fountain and got in line behind Trevor.

"You mean he isn't a bad boy and is actually a stuck up prep student," Frank stated as if that somehow connected to her statement.

"WHAT?!" Nadie demanded in a rather confused manner while gazing at the rims of the boy's glasses. They didn't even have frames in them and that fact was annoying her more than his apparent ignorance on the subject of Liam's letter to her, "Liam acts like he's nicer than that outer shell he puts up but in reality he's just as much of an ignorant punk as he looks. Misogynistic, violent, and holding a massive disregard for laws. The whole humble niceness is actually just a misreading of his personality, brought about only by his actions on the first day."

Frank blinked upon hearing this, according to the diary in his pocket Nadie had written about how Liam's rebellious attitude was a lie and he was in reality a preppy schoolboy who tried to hide his true personality under a layer of rebellion. There was some disconnect between what Frank was being told and what had been written, almost like Nadie hadn't written the piece herself. Frank dug into his pocket the second he realized this and pulled out the black diary that Liam had been in possession of.

"Did you write this to Liam?" Frank demanded as the charred diary emerged from his pocket. Unfortunately it was too damaged for Nadie to recognize as her personal journal. She didn't show any realization or shock in her eyes and instead dug into her own pocket, drawing out a letter and waving it into Frank's face.

"You should see what he wrote to me! Absolute pig I say, once I show this to the rest of the team they'll know all about who the real Liam is!" Nadie ranted. Frank could hardly listen though, she kept ranting on and on while he snatched the paper from her and ran his eyes over it. The letter was addressed to Nadie and definitely looked like Liam's handwriting. But once again it didn't quite match up with what Liam had been complaining about. Liam had been all defensive about being seen as a prep student who hid behind a rebellious streak, yet the letter made it out to look like he'd been angry about Nadie supposedly getting in his way.

Both pieces of writing had been aimed at clear trigger points on their targets and yet there was a dissonance between the supposed authors and their works. Almost like a third party had been involved. Frank pursed his lips and stared at the papers, perfect handwriting native to the signatures and yet Frank was absolutely certain both would deny writing what the other had read. He frowned heavily and turned his shoulder to see Louise writing something on his own script. As Frank watched he managed to spot the boy's arm getting sore. He quickly shook the hand off and switched without so much as a pause. Writing with his left and right in quick succession with no ill side effect. He was ambidextrous.

"Mind if I borrow this," Frank muttered as he clutched the Diary and Letter in his hands, "I think I might want to talk to someone about it."

"Be my guest," Nadie responded before marching away. Frank continued to stare at Louise until the boy paused in his writing and glanced at Frank. His eyes drifted to the book and paper clutched in Frank's hand and no expression change overcame his face. All that happened was the two of them stared one another down silently waiting for some change. The lack of it gave both of them confirmation to their suspicions.

Most of the second act of the play went off without a hitch. Audience members seemed to enjoy it okay, the acting was fine, and the ones watching critically had pretty much selected the best actors by the fifth scene. They found Nadie and Liam to be extremely off in their reads, Jason was playing his king character far too exaggerated, and that Lara was absolutely flat as an actress. Current penning designated the Putrid Plankton as the worst team, not at all the fault of Diane and Lara either, though they didn't help. Every critic was rubbing their eyes and sighing as the third actress from the team stood petrified and pale onstage.

Bebe had lines but she hadn't said them, she had blocking but it hadn't been performed, and she had interactions that were entirely one sided. She just stood there in a dress muttering out nonsense every few seconds. The entire audience was just bored out their minds and uncomfortable as Jason tried his best to improvise around Bebe, unfortunately he was such an egotist he'd taken to inflating his character's accomplishments and brought the entire scene to a complete standstill. None of the critics could really blame the boy as it took years of practice to even get remotely close to being good at improvising.

Bebe was sweating so profusely and the entire scene would have kept dragging if her panic hadn't increased so much that she collapsed onto the ground from sheer fright and panic. A bunch of obligatory gasps filled the air and the scene was abruptly stopped while the girl was hauled offstage. A few minutes passed before more actors emerged onto the stage and the play resumed as it normally would, scripted and all. A calmness quickly spread across the audience and they resumed watching the play without any real concern for the girl backstage, she had been a terrible actress after all.

In the transition of Bebe from onstage to backstage Lara simply gave a disappointed shake of her head and slapped her prop helmet back on before walking out to continue acting, hoping to somehow salvage what was turning out to be a rather terrible challenge. With their team captain showing no real concern Yvonne was left to quickly grab a damp cloth and press it against Bebe's forehead. She was clearly not okay and Yvonne couldn't believe how out of hand the stage fright had gotten. She removed layers off the costume, making sure Bebe could sweat properly while also running the cold cloth against her forehead. An entire scene was enacted before Bebe's eyes flickered open and she groaned from a clear headache. She tried her best to sit up but she was unable to and slumped backwards with a groan.

"No, stay down," Yvonne ordered before entering into a bout of motherly shushing. Bebe was lain back down on the makeshift bed of coats and dresses that had been pulled together and promptly began rubbing her eyes with her palms. A loud groan escaped her lips while Yvonne let out a deep sigh of her own. She pushed sweaty hair out of Bebe's eyes while gazing over her body. Clapping eventually emerged and several actors walked backstage. Lara was one of them. She walked up in a way that started out with concern but when she spoke Yvonne felt her entire face contort into a hidden look of annoyance.

"Good, you're up. Get ready for your next scene," Lara muttered, almost like she believed Bebe had fainted on purpose. She then trotted away while Yvonne watched with a look of shock.

She quickly scrambled to her feet and caught up to Lara, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder. The two did a quick spin before they were face to face, Lara holding annoyance on her face while Yvonne held a look of concern.

"She's in no state to go back out there, ," Yvonne insisted.

"Stop using her weakness as an excuse to get yourself out there," Lara responded with the jab of a finger right into Yvonne's chest, "Remember this is your chance to prove to me you're not like Anne or Sophie…"

"Then put Zilka on! Do something instead of sending her back out there," Yvonne responded in exasperation before giving a deep sigh and glancing behind her. She then drew her gaze back to Lara with an air of seriousness, "She's choked twice now, and it doesn't take a critic to realize we're on the chopping block if she goes out a third time."

"See, this is why I want you around," Lara chuckled before looking deep into Yvonne's eyes, "But no, if Bebe fails then she goes home and we're one player closer to a perfect team."

"And how many players will we lose before you have that perfect team Lara?" Yvonne demanded before pursing her lips.

"As many as it takes," Lara stated coldly before walking past Yvonne, hitting her shoulder roughly with her own as she went to emphasize her point. Yvonne inhaled deeply and glanced back at the Bebe the second Lara was gone. The pink haired girl rubbed her eyes in clear discomfort and pain. It would be a definite loss if she was sent out again, but not one Yvonne would be blamed for.

The penmanship was perfect, every single swirl of Nadie's cursive existed on that fourth entry in the diary. Frank couldn't figure it out and every piece of logic was telling him that the entry had indeed been written by Nadie. That everything displayed on those two notes was truly meant by the people who signed them. Frank however couldn't shake the concept he was being played though, that someone was skilled enough to mark the papers correctly.

It had to be Louise, Frank knew it but he had no proof at all beyond a blank stare and looks he could have easily imagined. He could picture himself approaching Liam with this information and just being blown off. To make matters worse he was certain Louise knew he was onto him. He only had a limited amount of time to work seeing as Louise was due back at any second from the stage.

The challenge was honestly kind of boring if one wasn't acting in it, they all sat backstage twiddling their thumbs and listening to poorly read lines, Jason's ego, and Phoebe's lack of memory on certain phrases. Frank however listened intently for the sound of applause, his signal to stow the letters again and approach both Nadie and Liam. He had to convince them someone was messing with them, if he didn't it was quite easy to imagine the entire team falling into disarray. No longer aiming the votes at the weakest link but at the other side. They'd lose strong players and end up swirling in the toilet that was elimination until they'd all been eliminated. If this split happened he would have to choose a side, and if he chose wrong he'd be on death's row rather than relatively safe.

The actors were in the process of a fake fight and he could hear the improvised clanging of blunt swords over the speakers. He gave a shout of annoyance as the sound filled the air. There was no evidence to be found, none at all. If he only had a letter or something, another message that he could claim he found in someone's jacket.

That thought made him stiffen and turn his head around to where their jackets had been collected and piled up for Bebe. The girl had stood up and was guzzling water so his timeframe was limited. He quickly darted across the wooden backstage floor to the pile of clothing and began to root through it until his hands crossed over Louise's jacket. It was black with yellow markings in several places, a sports jacket from some private school he'd never heard of before. The number twenty two was printed boldly on the back alongside Louise's last name.

As he dug through it he felt something hidden in the jacket. Not in the pocket but in the space between the jacket's exterior and interior. A large pocket that wrapped around the body with a mesh cover. Frank dug in and found his fingers closing around a couple envelopes and papers. All in the same style as the one that had been sent to Nadie. It was at that very moment that Frank felt his eyes widen. Clapping erupted from the audience and he scurried over to where Louise had left his script, shoving past Jason as he went. He ground to a halt before the thing and just caught sight of the cover.

Not a marking was to be found, the thing had no ink on it whatsoever. He was about to check the other pages when a medium brown hand shot forward and snatched the script off the table. Frank whirled around to come face to face with Louise. The boy was shorter and had his hair cleanly swept to the left while dark brown eyes stared at Frank suspiciously.

"Sorry, I need my script," Louise stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Where are the letters?" Frank demanded in sheer anger and annoyance.

"Letters?" Louise asked curiously as if he didn't know what Frank was referring to.

It was at that exact moment that loud shouting erupted from two separate voices. Both Nadie and Liam stormed up to one another with letters clutched tightly in their hands. Anger barked between the two as insults flew from their mouths and arms began shoving one another. Frank stared at the carnage unfolding before him in complete shock with the rest of the players backstage. However unlike them he quickly turned his gaze onto Louise who stared back at him. Frank narrowed his eyes and in a swift movement had the letters snatched from his hands. The blank papers were folded and slipped into Louise's pocket with only Frank watching.

"Keep your nose out of my business or else," Louise hissed with his face contorting so lines erupted all over it. He then turned and walked away, lifting off some of his costume to cool down as he went. Frank then turned his eyes back to the near fistfight erupting before glancing after Louise again with venom in his eyes. Louise happened to be looking back at this time and his eyes now showed minute annoyance, almost like Frank was nothing more than an annoying rock in his shoe.

The third act of the play was rapidly approaching and to say Bebe's stress levels were at an all-time high was an understatement. She kept proclaiming that she had hundreds of lines when it was really only thirty eight, a fact Yvonne kept trying to remind her of. She was trying her best to psych Bebe up to the part but the girl was having none of it. The mere concept of going on stage again was causing her to tense up and begin rambling. Yvonne couldn't stand to see her like that. The idea that Lara was willing to throw away the challenge, embarrass Bebe, and put her under this much stress was rather sickening.

But Lara wanted Bebe on that stage and if Yvonne wanted any chance of survival it was her sworn duty to prepare Bebe to go onto that stage. No questions were to be asked and no rebellion was to be given, if all went according to plan she'd be on a new team in a day or two. On the other hand she could easily swap places with the scared girl and relieve her stress but be guaranteed a lifeboat ride. She'd lose any chance of making it off Black Hole Brigade and she'd be known as Evelynn Rose for the rest of her life, always trapped in the shadow of the role regardless of what she moved onto performing.

She would have picked the former in any other circumstance but the sheer panic on Bebe's face was alarming. Bebe did not want to go out onto that stage and making her do so was pure torture.

The script for the Black Hole Brigade pilot had her character accepting the role of a hero because she couldn't let others suffer, no matter what it cost herself. She'd always read those lines in an unenthused tone that the director was disappointed in. She'd been about to shoot her scenes officially when a co-star had broken his leg. A six month delay had been created and he'd told her to add some real emotion to the lines in the process. She'd been tasked with stepping between a victim and his bullies before being chased down. It was then that she was supposed to be chosen for some unholy power or whatever. She hadn't bothered much with the script but the lines were suddenly running through her head as she watched Bebe pace, about to have a panic attack.

"I'm going to regret this," Yvonne muttered before rising to her feet.

The entire ordeal lasted about twenty minutes. She put on a dress sized for Bebe, meaning it was rather tight in her waist and loose in her chest. She did a quick scan of the lines while she fixed up some quick makeup. Lara passed the door once but didn't bother peeking in. She instead marched towards the stage while Yvonne walked behind her trying to keep low and hidden. She found the entrance she was supposed to enter through and watched as several actors exited the stage, all wearing the costumes she'd helped put on. She got a few odd glances, people who had definitely heard Lara's shouting, knowing Yvonne was bound for elimination in that very moment.

"Take the chance," Yvonne exhaled, knowing full well she had a minuscule chance of turning the perception of the judges around, knowing full well Lara could just tank their team at any moment. But it was too late. The lights shone on her entrance and she stepped out onto stage.

Everything was quiet out there but every eye was piercing into Yvonne with exceptional curiosity. It took the audience a good fifteen seconds to realize that she was replacing the girl who fainted and simply accept it. That curiosity faded into content enjoyment, the engaged eyes she saw at awards shows when she used to win small trinkets for being the best child actor in the business. Per the norm there was a glare, from some other kid who thought they were actually good, the types of people who believed they were all that and a bag of chips. If she'd learnt anything from years of these glares it was that the more jealous and angry the face the worse their true talent was. That entitlement was actually pretty well placed on Lara's face.

The girl had screamed at Yvonne, ripped her sheets off her body, snipped her hair, and done countless horrid things under the guise of control. Lara thought no one would dare stand up to her, especially Yvonne and definitely after what she'd done to Anne. That face had scared Yvonne day after day but for once she didn't cower in fear, instead she put on a pleasant face, Lara vanished behind the curtain she was acting against. The character of Sir Benjamin who was supposed to be her love interest in the play. All her own venom and hatred dried up as the two approached one another, Benjamin reached out and nearly crushed her fingers in a tight grip. The illusion almost broke but Yvonne was better than any petty movements Lara could bring. The masquerade Lara had been putting on was being torn down in hopes of a loss. Lara wanted them to lose so she could get some kind of sadistic satisfaction from booting Yvonne off the ship.

The only problem was that Lara was facing off against a professional actress and she nearly recoiled when Yvonne let the romantic dialogue flow from her mouth with no traces of anger, not even the slightest bit of addressment of the girl behind the mask. On the set actors were their characters, the good ones anyway, and regardless of how much Lara wanted to muck that up Yvonne wasn't going to let her. She only let her act drop for a mere moment and that was during a swing when the two switched places. She got a full view of Bebe standing just offstage looking straight at her, with a look of complete astonishment. She wasn't alone back there either. A few other people stared at the mess onstage. A battle of wits, one trying to keep it professional and the other trying to tear the scene down.

It was in that exact moment that Yvonne looked Lara in the eye and spread her mouth into a broad grin. She earned a solitary look of shock before it was over. Yvonne put the character forward so hard, read the lines so perfectly, and moved her body in such a professional way that Lara was caught up in the moment. Her acting jumped up seven notches and she only realized what had happened the second the scene ended and clapping emerged.

Yvonne was that princess and put so much passion in her eyes and voice that it actually drew a blush from Lara. Years of improvised theatre, training, and private lessons had made Yvonne capable of doing such scenes. Yet no one ever saw it, she was just some washed up actress who'd spent two years absent of acting roles. But funnily enough for Yvonne she hadn't just wasted the time away, she'd joined acting classes and been in a few university plays. She wasn't that little kid proud of reading her lines anymore, she had the talent and knowhow to make a star studded actress.

She swayed in the dress, held her hands properly, and slipped further and further into the character with each line spoken. Yvonne figured out how the character ticked in seconds and before long she was swinging back and forth holding Lara's hands and resting against the set woefully. By the time the last line escaped her mouth she'd fixated herself into the character and caused even the judges to stop writing and stare at her performance. The scene was supposed to be where she figured out Benjamin was not a knight but a poor boy after all. She made the realization creep over her face, body language, and speech patterns until it was clear to the audience that she'd gotten it right. Then Benjamin had to wish her a good evening and she would reply the same. Any other actress would have replied in a similar tone but she forced a sudden romantic tone before turning her head, revealing the fear she felt if her father found out. She then walked offstage though her little door while other players walked onstage to replace her.

Lara was back there rather speechless, still sporting a heavy blush and embarrassed tone over said blush but for once Yvonne didn't stop when Lara raised a finger to shout. She simply turned her head halfway through her trot towards Bebe and looked Lara directly in the eye.

"Might want to improve your acting or you might just go home tonight," Yvonne stated with coldness rushing through her vision and right into Lara's body. She then turned her head to the side and trotted away, holding out hands and embracing Bebe, a smile crept over her face as she realized everyone on her team had watched the ordeal. They'd all just seen her upstage Lara.

After Yvonne's spectacle on the stage the audience was expecting great things from the next scene. A climactic battle between the hero and the villain of the play. A small scene of setup took place before practically every actor in the show walked onto that stage. The finale would take the form of several fights between the knights with Lara's character defeating Liam and Nadie before facing off against Trevor. The only issue with this was that Liam and Nadie were glaring at one another rather than doing what they were supposed to.

The script called for the two to scrutinize Lara but those glares they were shooting at one another were distracting, not only to the players but to the audience too. Several of the judges began murmuring about it wondering if perhaps this was part of the play. It could theoretically be a plot point, having Sir Vincent's two cronies begin fighting over the glory only to screw themselves over. Liam and Nadie had been displaying aggression towards one another throughout the play after all so no one really saw it as bizarre unless they knew the script.

Lines began being barked as normal and Trevor made quick work of his side of the tournament as planned. Killing one competitor and brutalizing the other. A final showcase to eliminate any chances of the audience rooting for the man. Jason clapped happily, his character intent on having the money Trevor's character was offering. Lara gave a deadpan delivery in hopes of destroying her team's chances of winning, Jason went on an improvised tirade for no apparent reason, and Yvonne once again slipped so well into character she made the entire play look terrible around her. It almost seemed as though the final rankings had been selected. A lot of the critics were done taking notes, they'd grown accustomed to the performances and what to expect from them. Some of them had even taken to chattering about Yvonne behind the makeup. They were showing genuine interest in her alongside some of the other performances that were filled with passion. Notably Nadie and Liam. To the critics the two were perfect actors that were filling their intended roles.

Perhaps Nadie and Liam would have just acted out the scene passive aggressively if something hadn't fallen onto stage in front of them. Every eye in the theatre blinked in confusion as a letter sailed into the theatre from backstage, thrown by a hidden hand, and skidded to a halt right in front of the duo. No one really got it but those two, it was the same kind of envelope their previous letters had been encased in. Liam stared at Nadie, absolutely certain Frank had found another letter of hers and was passing it out. She likewise thought Frank had discovered another letter from Liam. The fact they both jumped at it only made them more certain it was from the other.

They both snatched it in a ball of spit and rage that began rolling across the stage. Liam's foot smashed into Jason's shin making him cry out in pain while the two tumbled forward knocking over prop bushes, horses, and other decorations as they went. They insulted each other and their insults broke the illusion. Sir Ryan and Sir Christopher calling one another Liam and Nadie respectively immediately shattered the fourth wall as they tore the letter to shreds and fought over the last remaining scraps of it. Nadie's foot tangled with a prop and undid it causing a sandbag to rain down from above and clonk Trevor right in the head while she was flung into the air. The shreds of letter rained down on the audience while she hung there. Liam tried to stand up but tripped over Trevor and fell off the stage right into the orchestra pit.

Booing erupted pretty quickly and the remaining players sat upon the stage trying to stay in character while Trevor was dragged away, Nadie was let down, and Liam was escorted backstage. Helden was quickly thrust onto stage in Trevor's place and he was the most unconvincing villain ever. He giggled, made weird comments, and kept forgetting his lines. Not even an A grade performance by Yvonne could save the final scene. It was just a mess. And most of the other actors and actresses let their steam run out and began giving monotone performances laden with sarcasm. Yvonne swallowed her pride though and acted right alongside them, only making them look worse by her skill and dedication. It was a lost cause and wouldn't earn an award in any sense of the word but she tried anyway.

Lara kept staring at her, urging her to give up but she pressed forward taking the performance to its maximum. Then with a swing Lara had to sweep her off her feet and plant a kiss on her lips. The curtain closed on this and Lara spared no time in dumping Yvonne on the ground. She landed in a heavy heap while shouting from The Calamari erupted backstage. Lara wiped her lips off like she'd just finished vomiting and sniffed once through her nose.

"Not even you could save us from Bebe's performance," Lara muttered with a tone in her voice that told Yvonne she was about to send her home instead of Bebe.

"Maybe I saved us from elimination," Yvonne replied.

"It takes a team to win a challenge moron," Lara replied, "Not a single person."

Yvonne bit her lip at that and lowered her head, reminded too much of Black Hole Brigade. She'd be a beacon of quality in a show of lackluster and amateur performances just like the play they'd just acted out. It made her whimper just a little, almost ready to back down. However instead she clenched her fist and stood up. She was on her feet in seconds and several weeks of training flowed through her. She'd done hearty runs, learned sets and techniques, and all of it pooled into her body as she drew her fist backwards and proceeded to clock Lara in the face with her clenched fist, perfectly held so she didn't break her knuckles. Just like Julian, her martial arts instructor on Black Hole Brigade, had taught her. Lara recoiled and stumbled backwards behind the closed curtain and Yvonne held herself a little higher. She raised a fist again and much to her shock Lara flinched.

"What do you know?" Yvonne laughed while glancing at her fist, "One person."

"Terrible show!" Chris exclaimed as he walked on the stage of the now empty theatre. He held papers with their reviews in his hands and was throwing some of them aside while reading others aloud, "too much improvising, deadpan delivery, backstage drama coming onto the stage! Why this would be a show that wouldn't last a week on Broadway… So it's a good thing we're not Broadway. Fights, lights, and a black eye. This is ratings gold!"

Chris' laughter was punctuated by Lara rubbing the shiner she had on her face. Her entire team was staring at her with slightly wide eyed while also staring at Yvonne, absolutely certain she was destined for the lifeboat of losers.

"But my say doesn't win you the challenge," Chris sighed with a shake of his head, "So despite being entertaining Nadie and Liam's fighting lost The Creepy Calamari their challenge. Hope that letter was worth it."

"Oh we'll make our cut worth the while," Liam growled while he glared at Nadie.

"Right back at you," Nadie hissed back.

"As for our winner the decision was rather easy," Chris continued with a shrug, "Trevor made for an intimidating villain and Jason's ad libbing sold his character to much of the audience. But if we're being perfectly honest best actress goes to Yvonne."

"What?!" Lara demanded with a sudden blink.

"Hey, if she can make even your deadpan acting come alive then she deserves it," Chris replied while holding up a review, "Your team got the lowest marks until she came on the set, and it wasn't Bebe's frozen mumbling that made it that low miss reading dramatic lines comically."

Lara let loose a small squeak of shock in response.

"Calamari come last, Whales come third, Sharks come second, and for the first time this game The Plankton come first, all thanks to Yvonne giving it her all," Chris concluded before throwing all his papers behind him, "Calamari, I'll see your sorry butts at elimination."

"WE WON!" Diane exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and embraced Zilka. They began screaming and jumping up and down while Bebe shot her arms in the air and promptly fell off her chair. Lara sat in the middle of the group with her eyes quivering and her hands outstretched before her. She could feel Yvonne's stare boring into her body and feel the pats the girl was getting on the back.

"Without me…" Lara whispered in such a quiet tone that only the camera heard her.

The Creepy Calamari

Frank flung the door open the second he thought he'd given Louise enough time to get comfortable. The boy was of course slacking off work and seated at a table with letters sprawled in front of him. If there had been any doubts remaining about Louise's involvement in the fight between Nadie and Liam it was washed away by Louise being caught in the act.

Frank spared no time, he rushed forward and snatched the two completed letters off the writing table. The strange thing was that Louise didn't show any resistance and simply stood up and brushed his shirt off like he'd just finished moving something heavy. If anything that pissed Frank off more. Louise was so confident in Nadie and Liam losing it over the letters that he didn't care if he was caught. A smug smile was scrawled over his face while Frank held the two letters out of reach.

"I can't believe you'd turn your own teammates against each other!" Frank shouted as he narrowed his eyes in disappointment and anger.

"Well that was the plan, get them to lose the challenge, splinter the team, and secure myself a safe spot while the drama tore all my competition down. But there's always more than one way to skin a cat," Louise smirked before his leg shot out and Frank hit the ground hard. He kicked Louise backwards in response and the boy fell way too far to be natural, stumbling back over a chair and knocking it over. The loud thud made feet hurry and suddenly shadows were coating the doorway. The air conditioning blew the letters out of Frank's hand and a half completed letter aimed at Nadie slipped out. Liam bent down to pick it up and stood up in the doorway next to Nadie.

"GUYS!" Frank started but he was interrupted by a loud and exaggerated groan from Louise. The boy pulled himself upwards and rubbed his head.

"I TOLD YOU HE WAS MESSING WITH YOU GUYS!" Louise shouted. Frank blinked and glanced down at the other paper in his hand. The one addressed to Liam had much messier handwriting than any of the other letters, a sweet marriage between Nadie's elegant cursive and Frank's own scrawl. His eyes went wide and he popped to his feet in seconds.

"WHAT?! No! Louise was writing the letters!" Frank exclaimed while pointing at Louise.

"Have you seen his chicken scratch?" Nadie demanded while Liam grabbed Frank's shirt and drew himself in close with a growl growing on his face. Frank was legitimately flinching backwards in response, absolutely certain he was about to meet Liam's fists with his cheeks.

"I'm going to enjoy beating you to a pulp," Liam hissed with a large degree of hatred boiling behind his eyes.

"Not if I cream him first," Nadie argued with a crack of her knuckles.

"Guys, guys, I think you're missing the obvious solution," Louise stated with a wave of his hands. Liam and Nadie exchanged a look and smiled before Liam tossed Frank onto the ground with the letters still in his possession. The two strongest members of the team marched out while Louise crouched down next to Frank with a cocky smile.

"That's what you get for ruining my plan," Louise whispered before rising to his own feet and rubbing his shoe on the carpet like he'd just gotten rid of some gum stuck to the bottom. Frank watched him go with his lips parted and a single blink before the camera cut off him and onto the look of pure annoyance that was sported on Louise's face.

The Putrid Plankton

A very distinctive sound caused Lara to pause in her reading and glance at the door to the lounge. She'd been fuming in her room for a while now and was attempting to enjoy the peace and quiet that first class had to offer. She'd changed into clean clothes, eaten something that wasn't embedded with fungus, and wanted to plan her next move. Eliminating Yvonne was at the top of her head and even her reading couldn't take her mind off it. That noise was just making concentrating harder so she got off the bed and began mumbling to herself as she crossed the carpet.

She exited the bedroom and marched down the hallway, passing the open doors of the rooms the other girls had claimed for their own uses. Her room had been the tidiest which spelled out that Roxie had likely inhabited it. The others were willy nilly with their choices and had proven themselves to once again be terrible at reading things. She was about to give them a piece of her mind, tell them that they deserved to be in first class. She'd bury her own failures that day and play down Yvonne's accomplishments. At least she thought so until she stepped into the lounge and felt her jaw nearly hit the floor.

Just that morning everyone had been given a standard issue haircut but suddenly she was staring at heaps of variously coloured locks on the ground while clippers were run over Zilka's hair. The girl's black hair had been trimmed down on the sides leaving the bangs and top long enough to still hold full colour. The bangs had been swept to the side with a number of hair products that had been lying around first class. The hairstyle looked to Lara like one she'd see on a punk with no taste for work. It was spiked up randomly in the back and was a far cry from Zilka's original hair length. She had a smile on her face though.

Bebe had literally shaved the lefthand side of her head and left the right messy and long. It clung to her face in swirls of dyed pink and looked as though it had gone through a touch up. The shaved side had lost any of its pink hue and sported a natural blonde colour that was so faint it nearly blended in with Bebe's skin. Any semblance of control had been handed over and the longer portion had taken on a styling akin to bedhead but filled to the brim with gel.

Diane was the only one who hadn't touched her hair but the clippers in her hand made it clear she was in on the whole thing, though those clippers didn't last in her hands long. They were handed off to Yvonne who turned to Lara and spread her face into a broad grin. Lara however could only stare at Yvonne's head which had been shaved down to a stubble. The brown was so short it looked black and Lara was shocked the girl had gone from long locks that morning to completely bald in the evening.

"Oh hey Lara," Yvonne greeted while Diane began giggling like something was funny.

"What did you do to your hair?!" Lara demanded while taking a step back.

"Well, this morning you told us that our hair was too inefficient," Yvonne replied while Bebe snorted and held her mouth to prevent further noise from escaping, "So I thought, why not take it one step further."

"You went bald," Lara muttered before the clippers were held out, just within reach. Yvonne put on a smile while the other three girls held their breath with wide eyes and grins.

"You always talk about efficiency so maybe you should join me," Yvonne shrugged while running a hand over her head, "You are the best player here so you have to be the most efficient right?"

"I-" Lara started before glancing at the other three girls who were looking at one another and muttering. Bebe burst into a giggling fit while this happened. Lara trained her eyes back on Yvonne and narrowed them in anger.

"Unless of course… You aren't perfect like you say," Yvonne shrugged interrupting Lara's thoughts with her words. Her hand held that razor out and Lara quickly curled her lip into a snarl in response. Her eye throbbed from the pain Yvonne had put her through and she could tell she'd already lost the team. They'd all done their hair up in stupid fashions and now expected her to follow their lead. She wasn't going to act like a rebellious brat. She was perfect, she had to act perfect. She put in a hundred and twenty percent no matter what job she was given while losers expected rewards for minimal effort.

Her hand shot out and slapped the razor away while her finger jabbed right at Yvonne and bitterness clung to her lips.

"I'm not going to stoop to your level to win," Lara hissed, "And the teams are splitting apart anyway, we're ten players down as of tonight."

"Are you sure?" Yvonne asked with a cracked eyebrow.

"SHUT UP!" Lara shouted before twisting her body around and walking a few paces away. Her head then turned and she glared at the four remaining girls on her team. Diane blew off work to make snowmen, Bebe was a complete joke, and Zilka had released the bird back in New Zealand. Now they were all standing behind Yvonne, a girl who had thrown her own ally under the bus just to win. Lara blew some hair out of her eyes and turned again, storming out of the room, happy to be done with all the girls.

"…

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… Louise," Chris called out as the final safety symbol fell into Louise's outstretched hands, not that it was at all surprising to Frank. He didn't even give the boy the satisfaction of a look of shock. Frank only had one goal on his mind and that was to be proven right eventually. He rose to his feet and looked over his team with half closed eyes. He'd accepted his position as number thirty one in the competition and in all honesty that was pretty good. He'd outlasted nine people and had a little fun, at the very least he wouldn't have to slave away on the cruise ship in an attempt to win a million dollars anymore. That part wasn't fun and he was glad it was over.

"Make sure to quote me when you realize Louise is actually the bad guy here," Frank lamented, though his teammates were clearly taking it as a last ditch effort to upstage a player they were currently seeing as an angel. They weren't dumb, just misled, and Frank was sure the second the teams merged Louise would be outed rather quickly by a smarter player, he wanted to watch that event happen with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Your chariot awaits," Chris called beckoning Frank to one of the life boats.

Frank had seen teammates climb into the lifeboats but getting into one himself was a very different situation. Mostly because he'd actually bothered to pack his bags, and take as many things from the ship minibars as he could. Compensation in his mind for the free labour he'd been giving Chris for the last few days. If the host tried to argue he'd just bring up the time he had to lotion an old lady's back.

"This show panders to general audiences anyway," Frank scoffed as his final comment before he was released into the water below. He landed with a splash that made a smile crawl onto Louise's face. The boy quickly hid his expression though and joined his team in departing the elimination area.

A massive mess was always present on the deck of the S.S McLean when the day ended. One unlucky team would always be put in charge of cleaning it up and that team happened to be The Whimsical Whales that evening. While Stephen mopped the ground and Elsa collected the last of the dishes Wilma found herself stuffing inflatable pool toys into the supply closet. The place was a mess and proved to be one of the worst places to get tangled up in as Wilma quickly discovered.

It was incredibly windy that evening and while Wilma got tangled in inflatable tubes and floaties the wind caught the door and dislodged the wedge keeping it in place. In a single instant she was stuck in the darkness and fumbling around. She bumped into a big bin of something and spilled plastic balls everywhere. She floundered back and forth for a few seconds before tripping into the door. She swore to herself and felt around the frame until she found the doorknob. A quick wiggle was all it took to reveal that it was locked. She wiggled it more before beginning to hammer on the door.

"HEY LET ME OUT!" Wilma shouted in complete desperation and worry. Half her team had already vacated the deck and the last thing she wanted was to get trapped in the room overnight. Thankfully people rushed the door and it was quickly opened, spilling her and sports equipment all over the ground. Wilma swore again as she kicked a ducky tube off her leg and rose to her feet. Stephen and Elsa stared at her for a few seconds while she picked up the mess she'd left. The second it was done she let the door close and let out a sigh.

"I'd hate to be trapped in there for a long time," Wilma laughed as the three of them stowed the cleaning supplies. Laughter spilled out of their mouths as they descended the deck towards the rest of the ship.

"Can you even imagine," Stephen replied as the trio walked away. They didn't know it but the editor close to specifically hold on the door until it got ominous. Almost like imagining someone trapped behind it wasn't required at all.