The Challenge Rivals Edition X Chapter 10
The Last Domino
Warren: This is it.
Warren sat alone in his room and rolled onto his stomach in a push up position and began to do reps.
Bobby: This is the moment we've been waiting for.
Bobby and Alex laced up their running shoes and began to jog laps around the compound.
Logan: Everything has led up to this.
Logan and Scott sat and meditated in the middle of Logan's room.
Elsewhere, Santo sat at table and was making headway into a large container of ice-cream.
Santo: Huh? Oh yeah, last men's challenge. Right.
Warren leaned his head into Logan's room where Scott and Logan were sitting, "Hey, you guys got a minute?"
Scott looked up, "Yeah, what's up?"
"We're having a meeting, I wanted to see if you wanted to come."
"Us?"
"Yeah."
Warren led the two of them into one of the sitting rooms where Bobby, Alex, Fantomex, Santo, and Victor sat.
"What's goin' on here?" Logan asked.
Warren sat down on the couch next to Bobby and Alex and motioned for Logan and Scott to sit, "We just thought we should all have a moment together before what's going to happen today."
Outside the door Betsy and Ali watched, barely keeping a laugh in.
"This is so dumb." Ali whispered giggling.
"Oh stop, Allison. Warren likes to have his moment. Let him enjoy." Betsy whispered back.
"Hey! We're bonding!" Warren shouted, catching his girlfriend's eye.
"Oops. We've been spotted. Come along Ali."
"As I was saying. We all made it to the last one. Everyone here won a challenge. Whatever happens today, I just wanted to say I had a good time competing with you."
Fantomex groaned and rolled his eyes, "Ugh."
"Most of you." Warren amended.
"It was a good time." Alex agreed. He raised his beer, "And to the students. Making it as far as you have."
Anole nodded, "Thanks."
"Let's just go out today and everyone do their thing. Whatever happens, happens." Warren concluded. Everyone nodded in assent and began to break up. A few moments later, only Warren, Alex, and Bobby remained.
"Is there a game-plan today?" Alex asked.
"No." Warren said.
"No?" Bobby repeated incredulously.
"Nope." Warren looked at the pair of them, "My plan is for one of us to win and the other to not come in last. Every male team knows what's coming."
"T-Bone."
Warren nodded, "T-Bone. I'm not willing to risk myself or you guys just so that the final is a little easier."
Warren: This is a game…an athletic competition. If we want to win we've got to earn it and it's beginning to look like earning it means beating Scott and Logan in a race. If that's what I have to do I'll do it.
"Let me give you a scenario…"
"Bobby…" Warren sighed, "Come on man. I've had enough. We've tried to run this game from front to back and aside from Hank and Kitty not being here we're pretty much perfect. Can't we just let things go now?"
Bobby held up a hand. "Logan and Scott win. Victor and Santo come in last. Real possibility."
"I'll go in."
Bobby's eyes widened, "Just like that?"
Warren nodded, "You two went in twice. Granted it wasn't by vote, but you still went in. If Victor and Santo come in last, I'll vote myself in, I'll tell Betsy to vote us in, and whoever else."
"What'll Fantomex think of that?"
"I couldn't care less."
Warren: Fantomex and I aren't a team. We're two people wearing the same jersey. What bugs me is that I still haven't found out if he can back up all the &#$ he talks…and I probably won't find out 'til the final.
Bobby grabbed him by the shoulders, "You can't think like that man. I want us to go one and two here. You NEED to get on the same page."
Warren shrugged, "We'll see."
Once everyone had filed out, Betsy followed Fantomex into one of the sitting rooms.
"Ah, Elisabeth. Ready to give up this tired charade?" He asked, grinning at her.
Betsy held up a hand, "I know that you, for some reason, believe that I'm attracted to you. I will be very clear…I am not. I am here because I implore you to not cost Warren victory."
"Why does it matter so much to you."
"Because he cares, and I love him, so I care. Maybe one day you'll learn that for yourself." She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Fantomex behind her.
"Ladies and gentlemen…" Dani began, holding the group cell-phone. "…we have a clue." The group let out an enormous roar, led by Bobby, which slowly subsided.
"Read it! Read it! Read it!" Bobby chanted.
"Alright, it says, 'today's challenge is your last obstacle before the final race, meet outside in one hour'" Dani read.
Ali put her head in her hands, shaking her head, "Ugh. Obstacle course. Aren't we going to have to run like, a million miles for the final?"
Ali: I don't want to do today's challenge. We have a nightmare ahead of us and I already have a guaranteed spot in the final. Why would I, or any of the girls, want to do compete today.
Bobby snorted, "Try telling TJ you don't feel like competing. See what happens."
"I would pay to see it." Warren agreed.
"He'd make you cry."
Ali glared at Bobby, "So then it'd be your duty to kill him."
Bobby held up his hands, "Ice powers or no ice powers, I will NOT mess with TJ Lavin."
"Whatever. I just want to be done today. I'm sorry boys, but I couldn't care less about the day's events."
"Hey!"
Ali pinched Bobby's cheek, "Unless you go in the Jungle."
Betsy rolled her eyes from her spot leaning against Warren's arm, "Can you two get a room?"
"Can we?" Bobby asked excitedly.
"Nope."
One hour later, everyone began to pile outside to where TJ stood waiting. He nodded to them as they assembled around him. "Welcome everyone, to your final challenge here on Rivals." Everyone applauded.
Paige: I'm not applauding because I'm excited. I'm applauding because now I don't have to fake applaud anymore.
"This is Obstacle, those of you who have watched the show will recognize it as the final challenge from Fresh Meat 2. Behind me is a one-mile long obstacle course. There are multiple stops along the way; checkpoints that you have to complete before you proceed. The rules are simple, the fastest female team to complete the course wins two grand, and the fastest male team wins amnesty from the final Jungle. The losing male team has to go in. Now, the obstacle course has a twist, the final obstacle will feature another team that will be tasked with stopping you from crossing the finish line. The blockers cannot hit, punch, or grab, you can only push back. Bobby, Alex, since you won the last challenge you get the clipboard. You will be blocking the team that does the course before you, and the first team to go will be blocked by the last team. Are there any questions?"
Ali put her hand up. "Yes, Ali?"
"Do we have to do this?" She asked.
TJ looked confused, "What?"
"Yeah…the girls are all already in the final. Why are we doing a challenge today? It seems like a waste."
TJ nodded and then turned to the rest of the group, "Anyone here watch the show? Put your hands up if you do." Bobby, Warren, Scott, and Betsy all put their hands up.
Bobby: Uh-oh.
"Cool. Do any of you want to convince Ali to pretend she didn't just say what she said before I respond in the way I would normally respond?"
Bobby stepped between TJ and Ali and turned to her, "Ali for the love of God, go back in time and don't say that."
Ali looked over his shoulder at TJ, "I would really love to do an obstacle course today, TJ."
"That's what I thought you said."
Ali: Close one.
Still not taking his eyes off of Ali, TJ walked over to Bobby and handed him the clipboard, "You boys have five minutes."
Bobby and Alex walked over to a group of rocks and sat down, "Ok, so how does this go down?"
Alex shrugged, "I think just based on how we've been doing things. We want to go last right?"
"Yeah."
"And I assume that we want Santo and Vic blocking us?"
"Yep."
"Okay," Alex took the clipboard, "So that means they go first. Logan and Scott second, Warren and Fantomex third, and us last. Then Dani/Hope, Betsy/Paige, and Ali/Rogue."
"Sounds good." Bobby read the board over his shoulder, "We have momentum here dude. We need to kill it; I don't care who goes in as long as it isn't us. We're going to be blocking Warren and JP. Slow Warren down and I'll rip JP's f*#&ing head off."
Bobby: I don't want Warren to lose, so I tell Alex to take it a little easier on him. But I'm going to light Fantomex up. Badly.
After five minutes Bobby brought the clipboard back to TJ. "Alright people, we'll be alternating guys and girls today so the order will be Vic/Santo, Dani/Hope, Logan/Scott, Betsy/Paige, Warren/Jean-Phillipe, Ali/Rogue, and Bobby/Alex. So first up will be Victor and Santo. Scott and Logan, once you see them reach the halfway point, you can get set up."
As Victor and Santo made their way to the start line, Scott and Logan began to stretch.
"This was perfect." Scott muttered.
"Let 'em through?"
"Yup."
Scott: Out goal today is to come in last and let Victor and Santo go by us so they're in contention for the top time. If it winds up not working out, we get them in the Jungle, which will be fine too.
"Santo and Victor ready?"
"Ready!"
"Three, two, one, GO!"
The pair started to jog at the sound of the horn, with Victor keeping the pace just in front of Santo.
"You good back there?"
Santo nodded, huffing a little, "Yeah, bro. Keep goin'."
Victor: The course is one mile long, so every fifth of a mile there's an obstacle. I'm trying to count seconds in my head and I figure if we can get to each obstacle within three minutes, we're setting a pretty good pace.
After a few minutes, they approached the first obstacle, which was a large wooded pole with a bell at the top. Victor bent over to read the sign.
"'Ascender. You and your partner must use a belt to climb up the pole and ring the bell. Your time will be stopped once the bell is rung, for you to be lowered to the ground'. You wanna go first?" Victor asked.
Santo shook his head still doubled over, "Gimme a minute."
Victor patted his back and grabbed the belt, harnessing himself in. "Catch your breath man. It's all good." Victor, being very small and agile, made very short work of the pole. He may not have gone great distance with each, jump but he moved quickly. Once he got down Santo was able to steadily climb the pole and ring the bell shortly after.
"Alright. Here we go." Victor said, trying to rouse Santo to start running again.
"Next time…if we alternate…you have to…go first. Needa…break." Santo panted as they ran.
Santo: Running isn't my thing.
Soon they arrived at the second stop. "'Web Gem," Santo read, looking at the maze of bungee cords, "navigate the bungee cords to the other side'. Cake." The challenge was fairly easy for both of them, and after only a minute they emerged from the other side of the maze and took off running again.
"Scott, Logan, set it up." TJ said, watching Santo and Anole pass the halfway point.
Santo: Now, I'm catching my second wind a little bit. The second obstacle was pretty easy and I can see the third one, which doesn't look bad either.
The pair approached the third challenge, which was a big mud pit with a rope covering it. "'Army Crawl. Crawl to the other side of the pit.'" Victor read and both dropped to the ground and began to use their elbows to drag themselves under the net, popping back up in just a few minutes.
Victor: I'm feeling great. I know there's only one obstacle left before the end and, for some reason, they've been getting EASIER over time.
Finally, they made it to the fourth checkpoint where there were two boxes outlined in white on the grass sitting about twenty yards apart, one filled with six logs, and the other empty. "'Lumber Jack…move all six logs from one box to the other.'" Santo read, "Alright, let's do it." He ran over to one of the logs and bent to heave it up.
"Santo your jersey!" Victory shouted, but it was too late.
"Unf!" Santo shouted, dropping the log to the ground.
Santo: Me and my big stupid self forgets about the jersey. These things redistribute our strength or something like that to make the game fair. These logs are like 150 pounds which is cake for me, but to be given normal strength…it's a problem.
"Dude…we can't lift these." Santo said.
"Here!" Victor shouted and sat on the ground and began to push the logs with his legs. "Roll 'em!" Santo nodded and followed suit, dropping to the ground and sliding the logs.
Victor: The logs suck. We've just been running and doing all of this other dumb stuff and now we're working our legs even harder.
Santo pushed the sixth log into the box and waved to Victor. "Come on, last one dude."
After jogging for a couple more minutes they arrived at the last check point which featured two muddy paths in front of the finish line. However, at the end of one path was Wolverine, and at the other, Cyclops.
"Pick your poison, dude." Santo said.
"I'll take Logan."
Logan: Hopefully this doesn't get to the kid's head.
Victor charged and Logan and Wolverine immediately went for his legs. To figures surprise, he pulled a quick juke move and was able to just barely edge around Logan, giving him a clear path to the finish line. Cyclops' efforts against Santo were equally futile. While the jerseys nullified strength, they did nothing for size and weight, both of which gave Santo a distinct advantage. Scott gave a few halfhearted pushes, but Santo eventually made his way around him and across the finish line.
"Time!"
Warren: They put up a REALLY good time. I didn't think Scott would be able to handle Santo in that game, but Logan really *$& the bed against Victor.
Scott: I think we deserve Oscars.
"Alright," TJ said, looking at the clipboard, "Dani and Hope, you're up. Betsy and Paige be ready to block." Dani pulled Hope to her feet and the two made their way to the starting line.
"Ready?"
"Let's do it."
"Three, two, one, GO!"
Both started off at a fairly quick pace as they got to the first check point.
Hope: Dani and I can both run. We're treating this as a mini version of the final. If we can make it through this and not be too winded, we know we can probably handle what comes next.
"Just keep a pace." Dani said as they jogged shoulder to shoulder and came up on Ascender. "You first or me."
"I'll go." Hope strapped into the harness and grabbed the belt, and started to work her way up the pole.
Hope: I've lived in dystopian futures where I was being targeted for death. I can climb this pole.
True to her word, Hope easily made it up the pole and rang the bell. She quickly caught her breath while she watched Dani do the same and was ready to run once Dani hit the ground.
"This isn't…so bad." Dani said, slightly panting.
"Do you need to notch down?" Hope asked.
Dani shook her head, as she saw the web maze. "No, we should be going fast here, this is the easy stuff." They came up on Web Gem and navigated it with little difficulty, quickly emerging from the other side.
Dani: This is kind of a joke so far. After all of the crazy stuff we have to do we're crawling through mud and bungee cords? Really.
The pair breezed through the mud crawl and made their way to the logs. They attempted to adopt Victor and Santo's strategy and sat down to push with their legs but they quickly tired themselves out.
"How the hell do we do this?" Dani demanded.
Hope looked at the logs for a minute and then snapped her fingers. "Watch." She started to roll the very tops of the logs so that they moved along the ground but she didn't have to push hard. Now they could roll them, but they didn't have to put a lot of body weight into it. They slowly worked through all six logs and then jogged to the final checkpoint.
Betsy: This challenge does not matter. However, Dani and Hope and Paige and I both have three challenge wins. I want to walk into the final being the consensus best team here.
"Betsy." Dani said, and lined up in Psylocke's alley as Hope moved to Paige. Hope immediately charged her opponent, but Paige was able to get leverage and push her into the mud. On the other side Psylocke was able to knock Dani's legs from underneath her and then shove her back.
"Oh yeah!" Bobby shouted from the side and pumped his fist. "Best day ever!"
Warren smacked him in the back of the head, "That's my girlfriend."
"It's a compliment to you both. Her for looking great mud-wrestling and you for tricking her into dating you."
Eventually, Paige and Betsy decided to give up on stopping Dani and Hope and let them both walk across the finish line where they collapsed, exhausted.
Betsy: We stalled them sufficiently. Now all we have to do is beat their time.
"Time! Good work girls." TJ said, earning him a tired thumbs up from Hope. "Next crew up is Grey…Logan and Scott, with Warren and Jean-Phillipe on the block."
"How d'you wanna do this?" Logan asked.
Scott shrugged, "Do we want to be assholes about it or make it look like we tried."
Logan mused on this for a second. "Assholes."
"Okay. Then I think we should kill the obstacle course and then…" Scott leaned to whisper into Logan's ear, who responded with a grin.
"I like it."
"Ready boys?"
"Yeah!"
"Three, two, one, GO!"
Warren: As much as it sucks, you have to credit these two. Holy s*#$.
Logan and Scott flew through the obstacle course. Their endurance as second to no other team, and they easily completed every obstacle thrown at them. Before Warren and Fantomex had even finished stretching TJ informed them that Logan and Scott had more than passed the halfway point and were approaching the log roll.
Logan: We're making this look easy. Which might be because it is easy.
"You good?" Scott asked Logan, who was rolling the last log into place in the second white box.
"'Course I am."
"You ready to do this?"
"Absolutely."
They approached the mud-pit and saw Warren and Fantomex waiting for them. Warren was bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet while Fantomex was in a still ready stance.
Warren: I'm ready to get down and dirty here. It'll be fun to really bang with Scott or Logan.
Scott and Logan both sprinted up to the very edge of the mud pit and then turned to each other.
"Ready?"
"Yep." Logan nodded. Then both of them sat down.
Fantomex looked at Warren, who was staring in confusing across the way at Logan, questioningly, "What do we do."
"Hey!" Warren shouted, "What the f&#?"
Scott shrugged, "We're tired."
"What are they doin'?" Rogue muttered to Bobby on the sideline, who was watching, perturbed.
"I have no idea."
Warren: Suddenly, it all clicks. How easily Santo and Victor beat them. Sitting down at the very end. They're trying to take either our team or Bobby and Alex into the Jungle with them. And now, unless we beat Santo and Victor's time…it's gonna work.
Warren marched to the edge of the mud pit, "Alright Logan, I know what's going on, so get your ass in here so I can kick it and then drag it across the finish line."
"Nah. Don't think so."
Warren began to step out to grab him. "Warren!" TJ shouted from the sidelines. "You can't leave the mud area if you're a blocker. You can't touch him until he comes in."
"That's bull$&#^."
"That's the rules."
Logan grinned and stood up, drawing a line in the dirt with his toe. "VIP area only, Wings. Sorry 'bout that."
Scott: On some level, I feel bad since we all agreed this morning to play a gentleman's game…but Warren and Bobby tried to get me out of the game twice. They colluded with Hank to throw a challenge to do so. Turnabout is fair play, old friends o'mine.
Eventually about ten minutes went by. "You bored yet?" Logan asked Scott.
"A little."
"Well I think we've done enough." Logan said, standing up and entering the mud pit.
Scott followed suit and Fantomex tensed up, ready to push, but Warren waved him off, "Save your strength. They have the worst time already." Warren turned and stomped out of the pit, allowing Scott and Logan to walk across the finish line.
"That was dirty Scott." Bobby said. "I'm impressed."
Scott clapped him on the shoulder, "I've lived with you two since I was seventeen. I've picked up a few moves."
"Next up are Betsy and Paige. Rogue and Ali, you two get prepped."
Paige: I'm not too keen on doing this challenge as it's pretty pointless since we're in the final…but I'm afraid to say so for fear that TJ will go nuts on me.
"You ladies ready?"
"Ready."
"Three, two, one, GO!"
Warren watched intently from the sidelines as Betsy and Paige took off. As he sat, Bobby and Alex approached him.
"So?" Bobby asked, sitting down.
Warren looked up at him, "So what?"
"What do we do here?"
Warren sighed, "I'm not really sure. There's really only two possibilities. One is you letting us win."
"Why don't we get to win?" Alex asked.
"'Cause you have Victor and Santo blocking you and they're not going to roll over for you. You're blocking us. But even if you let us win, there's no guarantee we finish faster than Victor and Santo did. The other is one of us doing what Scott and Logan did, but then we'd just be in last place and Victor and Santo would be safe. So we'd either have to go against Scott and Logan or each other regardless." At this point Betsy and Paige had emerged from the army crawl and were approaching the logs.
"So what are you saying?" Bobby asked.
Warren picked a blade of grass from the ground and flicked it, "I'm saying that there's no alliance anymore. You two go out there, and you try to put up the best time. When I get out there, you try to make sure I don't. If we get into a situation where we can keep each other safe, we do so, but now we have to play for ourselves. We took each other this far, now it's every man for himself."
"Day earlier than I would've hoped." Bobby said quietly.
Warren shrugged, "That's the way the cookie crumbles kid." Warren stood up, just as Betsy had put the last log in place. "I'm gonna get ready to go, we're up next. Hey…beat the shit of Jean-Phillipe."
Bobby nodded and but a hand on his friend's shoulder, "For you? Anything."
On the track, Betsy and Paige had made it to the mud pit where Ali and Rogue were lined up.
"Take your pick Paige." Betsy said.
"Ali's smaller." Paige pointed out.
"They by all means, luv. Watch her nose though. She's very sensitive about it and I'll have to put up with her whining all night."
Paige chuckled and rushed into Ali, causing the two to collide and fall to the ground, not dissimilar to what Rogue and Betsy were going through in the other pit.
Bobby: I don't even know where to look. I'm hooking up with Ali a little bit and she's in the midst of a blonde on blonde mud-wrestle. But, then you have Betsy and Rogue who are two of the most beautiful women in existence rolling around. Thank you MTV. You really make dreams come true.
Betsy was able to free herself from Rogue's grip first and sprint across the finish line. Despite neither being particularly physically strong, Ali and Paige's similar sizes did not allow for one to have an advantage. Eventually, Ali tired out and let Paige pass by and cross the finish line.
"Time!"
Betsy tripped into Warren's arms, huffing, "You okay, sweetie?" He asked.
"Just perfect."
Warren chuckled and kissed her forehead, "Well now you're done and you can relax until the final. If you keep up with this being exhausted stuff you'll probably be in store from a long back and foot rub tonight."
Betsy pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, "Ooh, I may never move again."
"Sold."
"Warren, Jean-Phillipe, you're up. Bobby and Alex, get ready for them." TJ shouted. The blue team nodded and walked over to the starting line.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"Three, two, one, GO!"
Warren took off running with Jean Phillipe struggling to catch up.
"What…are you…doing…Worthington?" He demanded, "We will not win if you start off at your fastest."
Warren looked back over his shoulder, "We're fighting for our survival here."
"I cannot keep up with this pace. Slow down or I will not finish the race."
Jean-Phillipe: As much as I'd hate to admit him doing anything positive, Worthington has been strategically sound this entire game. There is no point to screwing it up now. We must go at a comfortable pace and just hope it is enough to win.
Warren slowed from a run to a fast jog. "Fine." The pair came up on Ascender and Warren pointed Jean-Phillipe towards the harness, "You first. I need you ready to run when I'm done."
After Jean-Phillipe rang the bell, Warren hopped into the harness and climbed the pole just as quickly. By the time he was done, Fantomex had gotten some energy back and they were able to pick up their pace.
"Why…did Logan…and Scott…stop?" Fantomex asked.
"They…were trying…to get us…in the Dome…with them." Warren panted back as they came up on Web Gem. "That's why…we have…to win." Warren threw himself into the web of cords, and Fantomex followed suit.
Warren: The bungees aren't as easy as they were made to look. Maybe I'm trying too hard right now, but I'm tripping over these things like it's my job.
On the last bunch of cords Jean-Phillipe caught his foot, but Warren grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled him out, allowing them to start running again. They passed through the army crawl with no trouble and came up on the logs.
Fantomex: The logs are heavy. However, we're going to use the same strategy everyone else used, and hopefully our times on the other events make up for them.
"Bobby, Alex, load up. They're coming." TJ said, pointing at Warren and Fantomex who had just pushed the last log into the square.
Bobby: Warren said to not pull punches, so we're not going to pull punches. In fact, I'm going to push my punches, since Warren legally can't.
The blue team rounded a turn after the logs and came up on the mud alleys. "Bobby's smaller," Warren pointed out and Jean-Phillipe nodded and lined up against Iceman.
Bobby grinned at him across the way, "I've been waiting for this."
Fantomex charged him, but without his additional agility, Bobby was easily able to grab him around the waist and shove him into the ground. Once he was down, Bobby got on all fours and pushed him through the mud, back towards the start.
On the other side, Alex stood waiting for Warren who was catching his breath.
"I'll let you walk through if you want." Alex said, looking over at Bobby, who was still pushing Jean-Phillipe back. "You're time is going to be based on them, anyway."
Warren shrugged, "Nah, let's do it. At least for a bit." Warren rushed him and the two collided, still on their feet. They came to a dead stop in the middle of the pit, but in a quick move, Warren pulled his weight back, causing Alex to stumble, which allowed Warren to shove him to the ground, and run around him to finish line. Once across he turned back to watch his partner against Iceman.
"Come on Bob—I mean Jean Phillipe!" Warren shouted. "You got him! Freeze him to…er…I mean…do um…what are your powers again?"
Warren: I want to win this event…but this is the best.
Eventually, Jean-Phillipe was able to get around Bobby and made it to the finish line.
"Good job." Warren said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks." Jean-Phillipe muttered, looking at the ground.
"Oh, no, sorry. I was talking to Bobby. You had a bug on you."
"Next up is our last girl team," TJ said. "Our most enthusiastic competitors, Ali and Rogue!"
Rogue: Our goal this challenge is just to have fun and put up a time. Ah know Ali doesn't really wanna do it, so we'll just take it at a pace. It'll be a nice warm up for the nightmare run that's ahead of us.
"Three, two, one go!"
Ali: Here's a little known fact about me. I hate running. With a fiery passion. I'm a super hero and a singer…I burn calories professionally, so I don't ever HAVE to run. And since I don't HAVE to, I never do it.
The pair began at a mild jog and approached the Ascender pole. Though Ali had some trouble getting her footing at the very beginning, both slowly made it up and down the pole with little trouble, and took off for Web Gem.
Rogue: We aren't really trying, so it doesn't feel like it's that big of a deal. We know the logs are going to be a pain, but right now we're cruisin'.
The pair made it through both the Web Gem and the Army Crawl with no difficulty and saw Hope and Dani starting to get ready as the approached the logs.
"Is this easier than you thought it would be?" Ali asked.
Rogue nodded, "Yeah…but that might be because we're power walkin'."
They made it to the logs and started to roll them. "Still," Ali began, grunting from the pushing the first log, "Paige and Betsy had trouble with Ascender and Dani and Hope started out crappy on these."
Rogue shrugged at her as she pushed her first log into place. "So what are you sayin' here Dazz?"
"I think it's time for the after burners." Rogue grinned back at her and ran over to her second log and began to roll at a much faster pace.
Alex: I think Ali and Rogue realized that they were pacing a lot faster than the other girls teams had been and should probably haul ass a bit.
After finishing the logs, the Red team sprinted over to the mud where Dani and Hope stood.
Rogue: This is a lose/lose. Hope and Dani are badasses. Ah'm not worried about me, but Ali may be in trouble.
"Who do you want Al?" Rogue asked, watching Ali look between Dani and Hope.
"I'll take Hope."
"Alright."
Before Dani could react, Rogue sprinted at her as fast as she could. Dani lunged to grab her by the knees, but Rogue was able to sidestep and shove Dani down into the mud, and cross the finish line shortly after.
Ali, on the other hand, timidly approached Hope who was standing in a ready fight stance.
"Come on Ali!" Bobby shouted.
"You can do this Alison!" Betsy chimed in.
Hope advanced on her with her hands out stretch, but Ali took her by surprise, grabbing the younger girls wrists and pushing forward to knock Hope off balance. Once her equilibrium had been thrown of Ali darted away from her and sprinted across the finish line, to cheers from Rogue, Betsy, and Bobby.
Hope: Dazzler beat me in a wrestling match. If that's not pathetic…
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have our last team, in our last challenge before the final. Bobby and Alex, let's finish strong boys. Vic and Santo be ready to block."
Bobby: This is it. Win or go home time.
The black team lined up and nodded to TJ.
"Three, two, one, GO!"
The pair took off, setting their pace at a quick jog.
Alex: Even though Bobby and I haven't been performing well until recently, the greatest advantage we have is we both can run, and we can do it for a long time. We as a pair easily have better stamina than Victor and Santo and Warren and Jean-Phillipe. We know that the course itself won't be a huge problem, it's just a question of how fast we can get by Santo and Victor at the end.
Alex was right about his team's ability in the obstacle course. The black team dealt with Ascender in no time, and had passed through the Web Gem and Army Crawl challenges with no problems.
"Getting nervous?" Warren asked Scott on the sideline.
Scott shrugged, "Not really. Worst case scenario we take Victor and Santo into the Jungle and win."
"I didn't know you were capable of such shadiness Scott. I'm really somehow impressed. Who would you rather have? Me or Bobby?"
"In all honesty? Even though Alex is my brother I'd rather have him and Bobby because I think they'll be the better team in the final. You and Jean-Phillipe hate each other and can't run the way we can. Bobby and Alex are getting along now, and they can run. Obviously." He pointed to the Black team, which was coming up in the log roll. "Even though you and Fantomex have won more challenges, they're a much more dangerous team in the end."
Warren grinned at his friend, "Part of me wants to go in now and kick your ass."
"And the other part?" Scott asked.
"That part would rather wait to kick it in the final when it matters."
Scott put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to him, "It doesn't matter now because you're either in the final or in the Jungle with us but Logan told me that I didn't have to worry about Fantomex. That he was going to kill your team."
"Yeah, no $*!#."
Scott shrugged, "I'm just letting you know. He's going to be an anchor."
"He'll be fine."
Bobby had put the final log in place and the black team made their way to the last stop. They had lost some time on the log roll when Alex had gotten annoyed and tried to pick the log up, but they were still on a good pace.
"I'm on Santo." Alex said and cracked his knuckles prepared to rush his opponent.
"Got it."
Victor: We need to kill these two.
Bobby ran into the pit and tried to out maneuver Victor, but Victor's natural agility allowed him to track Iceman. When Bobby tried to juke around him, Victor dropped to the ground and grabbed him by the leg to push him into the mud. On the other side of the pit, Santo barely had to move to keep Alex from getting around him, as Santo's width along took up almost three quarters of the alley way. Eventually Alex, pulled a slick move and slid between Santo's legs, and before Santo could recover, sprinted across the finish line. Victor's agility eventually slowed as he got tired, and the size advantage Bobby had allowed him to push around Victor to the finish line.
"Time! That's it everyone, challenges over!"
Warren and Scott reached down to haul Bobby and Alex to their feet as everyone else began to circle around TJ.
"Do you think we have it?" Bobby whispered.
"I'm not sure. It's close." Warren said.
TJ looked down at his clipboard, "I saw some interesting strategies out there today. We'll see if they worked or if they didn't work for you. Let's start with the girls. For two thousand dollars the winner is…" TJ consulted the clipboard, "…wow. She starts off the day not even wanting to play and she walks home a grand richer. Ali and Rogue." Ali and Rogue cheered as the group laughed at them.
"It was all part of the plan, TJ! I lured them into a false sense of security." Ali said.
TJ nodded, "Sure, let's go with that. Now for the guys. We'll start with last place, which was pretty obvious. Going directly into the Jungle, hopefully for them they made the right move, Logan and Scott."
Logan: This is our third Jungle so far. We smoked the other two, but this one is going to be a tough one.
"Let's see what else we have here. We'll go to third place next…build some suspense y'know? They had a very fast time, but not fast enough. Warren and Jean-Phillipe." TJ nodded to the blue team.
"Dammit!" Warren shouted, kicking at the ground. Betsy slid an arm around his waist and patted his shoulder.
TJ took a long look at the clipboard and chuckled to himself, "Jeez. Alright, so…first and second place were separated by one second."
Bobby: What?
Victor: Oh, no.
Warren: Holy s#!^.
"Bobby and Alex, you were faster on the main part of the course, but you slowed down at the wrestling portion, while Santo and Victor were a notch slower than you on the course, but breezed through the wrestling. So, the winner, by one second…Team Orange, Santo and Victor."
"YES!" Santo bellowed.
Victor jumped on his back and clapped him on the shoulder, "FINALS!"
Victor: On paper people thought we were the worst team here, and now we're in the end. We've been beating the odds this whole time and now all we have to do is win a race.
"So that means that Victor and Santo are safe from today's Jungle and have punched their ticket to the finals. That also means that either Bobby and Alex or Warren and Jean-Phillipe will be going into the Jungle. We're going to eliminate all of the formalities and just vote right here, right now."
Bobby: Knew it. This same thing happened on the show. At least they had time to talk to people.
Rogue: TJ drops a BOMB. We have no idea what the boys want to do, and we're just told we have to vote.
"Each of your teams will have one vote, right now. No deliberating, no planning, just voting. We'll start with the girls. Betsy, Paige, who are you voting on to go into the Jungle.
Betsy: This is an easy decision. If Warren had told us that he wanted to go in, we would vote for him, but that's not the case.
"We're voting Bobby and Alex in." Betsy said, with Paige nodding in agreement.
"Ali? Rogue?"
Ali shrugged, "We're sorry Warren, but, you knew how the lines would be drawn if this had to happen. We're voting in Warren and Jean-Phillipe."
TJ nodded, "So it's one to one. Dani, Hope?"
Hope: Warren was initially going to help me out in the game, and he did for a bit but then he changed his mind and stopped. Bobby agreed to help Dani and did so for as long as he could.
"We're voting in Warren and Jean-Phillipe." Dani said.
Warren: This is what I was trying to avoid, and it happened. It just shows you how even when you think you have control, you don't.
TJ nodded and turned to the men's teams. "Warren, Jean-Phillipe we'll start with you."
"Bobby and Alex," Fantomex said, before Warren could speak.
Jean-Phillipe: I will not allow Worthington to do something chivalrous here. There is still the possibility of a tie vote.
"Bobby? Alex?" TJ asked.
"Back at 'em." Bobby said.
"Alright. Logan, you and Scott do not get a vote as you were the last place team. Victor, Santo it's three votes for Blue and two votes for Black. Who's your pick?"
Victor: On the one hand I'm curious to see what'll happen if it's a tie, but it really seems like a waste of time. We're in the final and we don't care which two of these three teams we'll see. Let's just get it over with.
"Warren and Jean-Phillipe." Victor said, with Santo nodding at his side.
"So it's four for Warren and Jean-Phillipe and two for Bobby and Alex, meaning Warren and Jean-Phillipe, you're in the Jungle against Scott and Logan." TJ looked at his watch, "I don't really feel like giving you guys any time off. You got a half hour to catch your breath, but we'll stay out here 'cause then it's Jungle time." TJ gave the group a nod and walked off.
The group began to break up and Betsy and Bobby followed Warren as he stalked off.
"Warren…I…" Bobby began chasing after him.
Warren held up a hand, "It's fine. I need to get into a mode here though."
"Does that mean you want me to leave?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah."
Betsy raised an eyebrow, not even needing to ask her question. "You can stay Betts."
She smiled and sat with him, putting an arm around him, "You'll be fine."
"I know. I just didn't want to be in this position."
Betsy ran her fingers through his hair and sighed, "I know."
"If I lose you better win. I need to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle."
Betsy snorted, "Says the multi-billionaire."
"Hey." A voice said and the pair looked up to see Hope standing in front of them.
"Hey." Warren said. Betsy held an even glare with her.
Hope scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about all of that. You helped me when you could…Bobby just helped us longer."
Warren waved a hand, "We're cool, Hope. You did what you had to do. If you don't hold anything against me next time, then I'll give you the same courtesy."
Hope nodded and paused for a second. She leaned in to give him a quick hug and immediately turned to walk away, "I hope you win."
Warren and Betsy chuckled as she walked, "Me too."
"Someone has a crush on my boyfriend."
Warren raised an eyebrow at her, "Hopefully it's you."
"Well that goes without saying."
Suddenly an airhorn rang out and TJ's voice was heard from the Jungle area, "It's time boys, let's go."
Warren and Betsy stood up and Betsy pulled him into a deep kiss before they started to walk, "Good luck."
Warren smiled down at her and took her hand as the made their way to the Jungle. Along the way, Bobby joined them and put his hand on Warren's shoulder, bring Alex, Rogue, and Ali with him. The finally got there where they joined Scott, Logan, Jean-Phillipe, Victor, Santo, Hope and Dani.
TJ stood in everyone's field of vision but once all had assembled he stepped out of the way to reveal what was behind him. Two half-pipes in the shape of an X. Four racks of balls.
Warren: We all knew it was coming.
"Welcome everyone, to your final Jungle. This is T-Bone." Everyone clapped, Warren and Jean-Phillipe half-heartedly so. "You've already seen this game but I'll quickly go over the rules in case you forgot. Each team has it's own half pipe. When I blow the airhorn, you each have to take the balls from your rack, across the way and deposit them in your partner's rack. Then, you run back, to do it again. If it so happens that you run into the other team…so be it. The first team to get all eight balls transferred wins and is the final male team in the finals. Lose, and go home. Jean-Phillipe, the blue rack is yours, Warren has the green, Scott has the grey, and Logan has the yellow. Everyone get in your gear, and let's get this done."
There was no talking as everyone broke up. Each of the four competitors silently marched to one of the judges and strapped on the football pads and helmets provided to them, and made their way to their rack.
Scott: We've worked this whole time. We've been up against the barrel of a gun. Now it's time to get it done.
Logan: This belongs to us. We're up against a rich-boy and a fake Frenchman. It's in the bag.
Jean-Phillipe: I had hoped that Worthington would be able to keep us out of this position. Unfortunately he is as useless as I thought.
Warren: The reason I love the show is that I get to see competitions like this. I've done things, hell I've BEEN things, wilder than this, but I can't shake the anxiety. It's do or die time.
"Each of you can put one hand on a ball. When I blow the airhorn it's go time. Warren?"
"Ready."
"Jean-Phillipe?"
"Ready."
"Scott?"
"Let's go."
"Logan?"
"Ready."
"Three, two, one, GO!"
The four players grabbed a ball and sped down their half-pipes. Wolverine was the first person through the center, followed closely by Angel, then Cyclops, then Fantomex. The managed to each put their balls on the rack in the same order and ran back to their racks without any contact.
"Gettin' boring in there boys!" Bobby shouted, "Let's see a little hitting!"
Warren: Despite the fact that I wish he would shut up, Bobby's right. If we keep this game clean there's no way that we're going to win this.
On the second pass, Warren and Scott were in the middle at the exact same moment. Before Scott could react, Warren smacked the ball out of his hand, and after it bounced once on the ground, kicked it as hard as he could, sending it flying out of the halfpipes.
The whole group watched it sail and Alex turned to TJ, "Can he do that?"
TJ shrugged, "Rules don't say he can't."
Scott moaned and went to chase after the ball as Logan, Warren, and Fantomex each put their second ball in the rack and returned to their own racks.
"Protect the ball!" Warren shouted through his mouth guard. He gestured wildly at Wolverine, "He's gonna hit us!"
Fantomex nodded as he grabbed his third ball, and saw that Scott had reentered the game and put his second ball on Logan's rack.
Jean-Phillipe: Even with Scott having to leave the course we are winning by a razor thing margin. Logan is a half a lap ahead of us and Scott is a half a lap behind.
"Go Summers!" Logan bellowed, unable to put his third ball on Scott's rack until Scott came to pick up his next ball.
As Scott ran through, Jean-Phillipe rammed his shoulder into him, knocking him into one of the walls, but leaving him on his feet. Jean-Phillipe deposited the ball and looked across to see that Warren had done the same. Scott, had now picked up his third ball, while Logan was making his way to his fourth.
"Don't hit him!" Warren shouted, "You're wasting time." Warren picked up his next ball and started to run, but just as he crossed the middle, he felt a pain in his shoulder and before he knew it he was on the ground, watching Wolverine run up the path to deposit his last ball.
Alex: Logan lays Warren OUT!
Warren: Ow. Big time.
"Get up Warren!" Betsy yelled from the sidelines.
"C'mon buddy, it's your last one." Bobby shouted. Scott had now deposited his third ball and ran past Warren to pick up his last. Jean-Phillipe put his last ball on the rack and turned to watch his partner.
"Let's go Worthington!" Warren moaned rolled on to his feet just as Scott put his hands on his fourth ball.
Warren: I'm not even tired. I just hurt. But I know that Scott has to travel about thirty feet before I can travel fifteen. I need to ratchet it up, and go win.
Seeing Scott starting to run shot some adrenaline into Warren. He grunted and pushed himself onto his feet and started to march up the hill.
Scott: I know I can catch Warren. He's hurt. I'm not. We can still win.
Scott crossed the middle untouched and began to jog up the other half of the pipe. When he was five feet away he pushed off of his feet and dove towards the rack. He heard the airhorn sound, but was confused for a moment as his ball had not quite touched his holder. When he landed he turned and looked up, expecting to see Wolverine cheering, but only noticed a mass of people running towards Warren's rack.
Logan: I see Warren get his ball in before Scott…and then it's just over. I have no idea how we lost this. There's no way it should've happened. This was our game.
Warren for his part had collapsed on the ground, only to be interrupted by Bobby's mass landing on his chest and shaking him.
"You won! You won!"
Betsy ran behind him and cradled his head, "That was amazing, luv! After he hit you that hard!" Ali, Rogue, and Alex were all jumping up and down around them. Warren managed to pull himself into a sitting position and looked across the way at Fantomex. He pointed at him and nodded, and his partner nodded back. He pushed everyone off of him and slowly limped over to wear Scott was seated, still not moving.
He held out his hand for Scott to shake, and squatted down on his friend's level, "You should've won that."
Scott shook his head, "No we shouldn't have."
"I pulled a cheap move. You wouldn't have ever done that."
"It's not a cheap move if it's in the rules. You won War, enjoy it."
Warren sighed and put his arm around Scott's shoulders, "Next time…me and you man. I promise." Scott nodded and grinned at his friend,
"I know you're good for it."
Warren pulled Scott to his feet, "C'mon. Let's finish this off." They walked towards where TJ was waiting with Logan and Fantomex.
"Look, Logan, I'm…" Scott began.
Wolverine held up a hand, "You gave me everything you had, Summers. Ain't a single reason you should apologize. Understand?"
"Understood." Scott replied, shaking his partner's hand.
TJ took a breath, "That is one of the best elimination rounds I've ever seen. Scott, Logan, it looked like you had them, but sometimes a strategic move can trump pure ability and I don't think anyone would debate that that's what happened here. You guys have been great competitors, three challenge wins and two Jungle wins. I'm sure you'll both not only be back again, but will probably win at your next opportunity. Unfortunately, that won't be this time, you guys are out of the game."
Scott and Logan nodded and gave a final wave to the competitors and a quick handshake to TJ, Warren, and Jean-Phillipe.
Logan: Summers and I have had an interesting relationship. We've never liked each other, but we've always respected each other and worked well together. I wouldn't call him my friend, but I'm proud to call him my teammate.
Scott: Logan and I will never truly be on the same page. But, reflecting back on all the places we've been together and all of the places we'll probably go, I know that I can trust him implicitly, and I'll always be able to.
TJ turned back to the group, "That means that Warren, Jean-Phillipe, you two, along with every other pair here, have punched your ticket to the final." The entire group broke into cheers and hugged each other.
Bobby: This is it. Warren and I came into the game with a pact, and that was to get ourselves and our people to the end. Did we lose some soldiers along the way? Absolutely, but we can still go in and clean up.
"Just so you know, the final is no joke." TJ said. "You need to rest up and be prepared. I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow." He gave them a parting wave and left.
"We did it." Warren said, wrapping an arm around Betsy and punching Bobby in the arm.
Betsy: Now is the time. We've been statistically the best female team here, now we must go show it.
Hope: I know that tomorrow will be the hardest race I've ever run, but I'm ready.
Santo: They're all already counting us out, but I think we can do it.
Rogue: You can't focus on the pain, you have to focus on the finish line.
Warren: After what I went through today, I know we can win tomorrow.
Alex: It's time to check the big talk and the stats at the door and go do…and we're ready to get this done.