Episode 5: "Super" Heroes?
"Last time on Total Drama Action: The teams had to participate in a Sci-Fi version of the classic game of Laser Tag. In a massive, sixteen-acre, extremely dark cave, the Psycho Producers, as the Mutant Warriors, had to hide from the Flaming Directors, A.K.A the SWAT team. The SWAT had to try to shoot all of the Mutants, while the Mutants had to either last ten minutes, or shoot the SWAT guys back.
"Over the course of the ten minutes, several of our castmates went a little (heh, heh) batty.
"We also found out that Mark has a secret crush on Rachael, and approached Violet for help. But she was eliminated before she could really provide some good advice. In addition, we also learned that Jennifer also has a crush on someone here.
"Besides that, the Mystery Castmate struck again by eliminating Rachael before she even had a chance to react, and later, Mark as well. But thanks to the night-vision infrared cameras, we were able to get a clear view of who it was. So Chef Hatchet and I now know who the Mystery Castmate is…but we're not telling!
"Although Rachael and Mark were both star players, the Castmate's plan was foiled when it came down to a confrontation between John and Mary. At first, John's number seemed to be up, but with help from some of the local bats, John managed to eliminate Mary at the last second, and win the task for the Flaming Directors.
"At the Gilded Chris Ceremony that night, Ruth was the next castmate to face the wrath of our viewers' votes. And boy oh boy, was it tough to get her into the Limo of Losers! Ho, ho, ho!
"Who will be the next castmate to be banished to Loserville, population four, going on five? Will we find out who Jen's secret crush is? Will anyone else find out the identity of the Mystery Castmate? Find out, on this exciting episode of Total…Drama…Action!"
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The castmates were all sleeping as peacefully as possible in their trailers.
Chris menacingly walked up to the two trailers and stood between them. He then turned and spoke to the cameras.
"I've been looking for several new ways to wake these guys up, and this one is probably the best yet!"
At that moment, two interns came by and placed two massive stereo speakers on each side of Chris. A third handed an electric guitar to Chris, then hooked it up to the two speakers.
"I've been practicing my guitar skills for a while, and all of my teachers say I'm terrible at it!"
And with that, he closed his eyes, grinned a sinister grin, and strummed the guitar as quickly and as hard as he could.
The sound blared from the massive speakers and completely shattered the peaceful morning. It smashed the windows of the trailers, and shook them completely, knocking a majority of the nine castmates out of their beds, whether on top of bottom. If it was the former, of course, it was more painful.
"WHOA!!!" Tim screamed as he fell out of his top bunk. He hit the floor of the trailer with a THUMP! He was in pain, but focused more on covering his ears.
Luke also fell out of his bottom bunk and tumbled away from the force of the sound waves.
And in the girls' trailer, Jen, Mary, and Violet were also on the floor in a similar manner, and covering their ears.
"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?" Everyone screamed angrily.
Chris did not hear them, however, and continued strumming for seven more seconds, before Daniel burst angrily out of the boys' trailer.
Wordlessly, the jock charged Chris as fast as he could, and tackled the host to the ground, knocking the guitar out of his hands and killing the sound instantly.
Make-Up Confessional
Chris (holding a Kleenex to his bloody nose): Ow! Darn it, that kid can really pack a punch! What can I say?! It's my job, people! Don't get mad at me!!!
Daniel: One of these days…argh! That narcissist ought to feel lucky that I didn't do more than give him a bloody nose!!
End
Later that day, the castmates were all in the Craft Services Tent, (not) eating their breakfast. They were all clearly groggy and annoyed at the rude awakening. The only one who did not appear to be as bothered as the rest were Mark and John.
"Ah, it could've been worse." Mark said optimistically. "Have you seen the things Chris has pulled to wake us up in the past? I think that this one barely ranks as a fourteen on the list of the worst ones."
"How can you be so optimistic all the time?" Daniel said as he yawned. "If I recall, you fell out of your top bunk because of that!"
"Again, it's not the worst that's happened."
Everyone then turned to John. "What about you?"
John looked back and shrugged. "I ain't no optimist, eh. But I've also seen worse. As you all know, I'm not fazed easily, right?"
"That's true." Mary nodded.
Then, the most hated man of the day himself, Chris MacLean walked in. Everyone gave him the evil eye.
He reacted with barely more than a shudder. "Yeesh. Anyway, I hope you're all feeling wide awake, because the next challenge will soon begin. Today's genre: The Superhero genre!"
Several castmates perked up at this.
"In today's task, you will be reenacting the eternal battle of superheroes vs. villains! Now, follow me to the set where this will take place."
The nine castmates slowly rose from their seats and dragged behind.
After they caught up with the host, he continued talking. "In this challenge, the two teams will become the teams of the Superheroes and the Super-Villains. The Superheroes will have certain props that will serve as their Super-Weapons. The Super-Villains will be given a five-minute head-start into the town where this task will take place."
When they arrived, the town looked pretty ordinary. At most, it was probably a mix of the New York set from the Cops 'n Robbers task, and the 70's town they had seen on their tour of the Film Lot on the first day. According to Chris, the town in general was more than three times as large as the cave from the previous task; over fifty acres large.
"The Superheroes must attempt to shoot the Super-Villains with their Super-Weapons."
Make-Up Confessional
Tim: Seriously, does this guy have any imagination at all? Or is he simply obsessed with challenges that have shooting in them? The Cops 'n Robbers task, the Laser Tag game last week, and now this! Seriously, enough with the shooting, already!!!
End
"The only catch this time is that a Super-Villain must be shot three times before they are eliminated."
"Finally."
"And as for the Super-Villains, their goal is a little bit different."
At that moment, Chef, wearing a cheesy red, white, and blue, outfit with stars and stripes, a red cape, and a white helmet walked up, carrying several devices in his arms. The castmates saw him and couldn't help but snicker and giggle.
"I hate my life." Chef grumbled.
"Seriously, Chris. Why with the American colors?" Mark asked, gesturing to Chef. "We're in Canada!"
Chris simply ignored him (he appears to be good at that, doesn't he?) and continued. "All of the Super-Villains will be given one of these special GPS devices." Chef held up one of them for everyone to see. They didn't look any different from the ones used in the second episode (the Alien challenge) of the original season of Total Drama Action.
"These devices are maps of the entire set that we are in right now. There are fifteen red dots located throughout the city. Those are special Targets for the Super-Villains. Each one represents a certain thing that a Super-Villain would do: robbing a bank, freeing prisoners, or shutting down the generator for the entire city's power! Oh, and that last one is basically the single most important target in the whole task for the Super-Villains, so whichever Villain can reach that point first wins Invincibility.
"And as for the Superheroes, again, you must try to find all of the Villains and shoot them three times before they reach all fifteen points. Every time a Villain is shot, the Hero who did the shooting must let him have a ten-second head-start to get away before the Hero can chase them down again. The idea is that the Heroes will really have to work together, and must sometimes shoot at the same Villain.
"If all three shots are fired at a Villain by the same Hero, than that particular Hero will win Invincibility.
"Now, the Heroes will be the Psycho Producers, and the Villains will be the Flaming Directors. Here are your GPS devices."
Chef tossed each of the castmates their own GPS device. It was a small black box, barely five inches on each side, and had a small screen on it. It was a touch-screen, as one could scroll around the map of the town with their finger. On top of the box was a red light, and dotted all over the map were the blinking red dots that symbolized the targets.
"For the Villains, the red dots all over the town are the special Targets. Like I said, there are fifteen in total. If the Villains can hit all of those Targets before the Heroes eliminate all of the Villains, then the Villains win.
"When a Villain reaches a Target, there will be a red button on, or sometimes around, the Target. The Villain presses the button, and the red dot for that Target will vanish. And I will announce over the intercom when one is taken out. Again, the Villain who finds the biggest Target of them all, the massive generator for the city's power, will win Invincibility!"
"Alright!" Daniel cheered. "I am SO going to find that generator first!"
"But wait! That's just the thing; you have no way of knowing which Target is which. It's not labeled or anything. You won't find out which Target it is until you're right next to it. For all you know, you could be just two steps away from a simple cash register, or the power generator. You just head for the nearest one and hope for the best."
Daniel cursed under his breath.
"And for the Heroes, your GPS devices are a little different. There are only five dots. Those are the Villains. You must use your GPS to catch the Villains before they reach all fifteen Targets. If you succeed in doing this, then the Heroes win."
Chris then turned to the Producers. "And now, here are your weapons."
Chef, whose sudden disappearance no one had noticed, returned with four gun-like objects in his hands. He started tossing them to the Producers as Chris called their names.
"Mary, you will be Mrs. Freeze!"
Chef tossed a gun to Mary, who caught it with wide eyes.
" 'Mrs. Freeze?'" She asked in disbelief.
Tim, off to the side, started coughing fake coughs. "(Cough, cough, rip-off, cough)!"
Chris scowled at the reader before continuing. "Your gun fires 'Freeze rays'; in this case, really, really cold water, compliments of our friends from TDA Aftermath."
"Wait, there's a TDA Aftermath for this season, too?" Mary asked.
"As I was saying, the water in that gun is fifteen degrees below zero! That's really cold!"
Mary looked down at the gun, and could already feel her hands freezing. A thought then entered her head, and she was quick to, reluctantly, shake it out.
Make-Up Confessional
Mary (still shaking her head, and with a slight grin on her face): Oh, you have no idea how much I wanted to use that thing on a certain evil, egotistical reality show host!
Tim: I…cannot…STAND obvious and outrageous rip-offs like that! That is TOTALLY the beginning of a lawsuit from DC Comics right there!
End
Chris then turned to Luke. "Luke, your Superhero identity will be Mr. Volcano!"
Chef tossed another gun to Luke, and already Luke dropped the gun because it was so hot.
"YEOW!!!!" The brainiac screamed as he dropped it. "What's in that thing?!!?"
"Oh, just some really hot chili sauce." He then held up the small red bottle of sauce. "You may remember that gun from the very first season of TDI."
Luke thought for a moment, then remembered. "Oh, yeah! In the 'Who Can You Trust' episode?"
"Precisely."
Luke grinned, then slowly picked up the gun again, this time holding it by the handle, which did not affect him.
"Alright, now Jennifer will have the special ability of Glue Girl!"
"That doesn't sound right." Jen commented as she caught the gun that was tossed to her.
"That gun is full of glue. Be careful; don't accidentally shoot yourself!"
Jen rolled her eyes.
"And lastly, Tim shall have the gun of The Jokester!"
"You have got to be kidding! 'The Jokester'? Not only is that another rip-off, but it's not even a rip-off of a Hero! That's clearly a rip-off of the villain the Jo-."
"ANYWAY!!!!!" Chris loudly interrupted. "That gun has a lot of laughing gas in it. It will easily reduce anyone caught in its spray to a laughing mess. And for that very reason, you, unlike all of the other Heroes, will have to wait thirty seconds before you can shoot the same Villain again. So you might as well forget trying to go for Invincibility."
Make-Up Confessional
Tim: For crying out loud! Why me?!…Well, I guess he must be picking on me for my constantly reminding him of all the copyrights he's violated. But that's only his way of denying it! (Leans in close to the camera) YOU HEAR ME, MACLEAN?! DENY IT ALL YOU WANT, BUT THEY WILL FIND YOU!!!!
End
Chris then wrapped up the introduction. "Alright, castmates. The challenge will begin! Villains, go into the city now! Remember, you have five minutes before the Heroes come after you! And…go!"
The five Villains instantly raced off into the city, dashing in multiple directions.
Once they were out of earshot, Violet told Mark and several of the others, "It's no question; we've got to split up! There's a Target about four acres east of this position; I'll get that one! Mark, go for the one that's five and a half acres northwest of here!"
"You got it."
"Everyone else, head for the one that's closest!"
And with that, they all dashed off in various directions.
Chris looked at his watch, and mouthed the seconds and minutes as they dwindled down and down until the five minutes were up.
"Heroes, you're up!"
The four Heroes dashed into the city.
Jen instantly took command.
"Alright, everyone! There's no way for any of us to get eliminated, right?"
"Unless Chris left out an important detail." Tim commented.
"Right. So there's no reason to go in groups; just split up, and search for those Villains!"
They also split up and ran in various directions, heading deeper and deeper into the city.
Mark was actually the first Villain to reach his Target: a jewelry store. It looked fairly real, with several glass cases in the middle of the room with (fake) jewelry, and similar cases built into the counter. But only half of the store was finished. It was as if they workers had suddenly ceased construction in the middle of the whole thing.
Some of these sets are so cheesy, I would believe that they were actually made by Chris, rather than official movie crews. Mark thought to himself. Shaking his head, he entered.
He looked around, and on one of the glass cases, he could see the red button. Looking down at his GPS, he confirmed that this was the target. He reached over, paused for a moment, then pressed it.
The red dot on his GPS instantly disappeared. And soon, he heard the familiar whining of the intercom before Chris's voice roared across the city. "Attention, castmates! One of the Targets has been reached! Only fourteen to go! Heroes, you better perk up!!"
Make-Up Confessional
Mark: That was easier than I thought. I could win this thing easily! …Of course, I shouldn't let my guard down; that Mystery Castmate is still out there. And he or she got me last time! I won't let that happen again!
Mary: We barely started after a minute or so, and he's already pushing us to get going?! I really, really hate that man! Oh, I am so starting to regret not spraying him with that cold water!
End
After about five minutes, Mary had finally come close to one of the red dots on her GPS.
"Gotcha." She raised his gun full of cold water. She slowly stopped and turned on her heels at the sound of a footfall behind her. She thought he saw a shape dart behind a building.
"I see you!" She declared as she charged towards the building that the person darted behind. She thrust the door open, only to see that the building was one of those kinds that was simply a massive wooden board with support beams holding it up.
"Darn it!" She looked around anxiously. "Where are you?"
"Right here."
She turned in the direction of the voice. It was Daniel.
"Daniel?"
"Hey there, Mary." He said, flexing his muscles. It's been a while since I last tried this trick. The jock thought. I only hope that it'll work. "You're probably looking for a Villain right now, huh?"
"Y-yes." Mary stammered, trying hard to not fall for his looks.
"Look, you don't want to shoot me with that cold water. I can't afford to get wet. And I hate cold water."
"N-n-no."
"You know, if I was actually a criminal, wouldn't I be the most wanted criminal in the world?"
"Oh, yes." Mary sighed dreamily. She started to daze off.
No. NO! Resist, you stupid girl! She thought to herself. Don't…fall for it…
"Why thank you for the compliment. And now, if you'd be so kind as to-."
And with that, he turned and dashed through the open door, down the street, and out of sight.
It took several seconds for Mary to come around.
"Huh? What?! Hey, come back here!!!"
She instantly dashed into the street as well, but saw that Daniel was nowhere to be seen.
"Darn it all!!"
Make-Up Confessional
Daniel (sitting back in the chair with his feet on the desk, and a cocky smirk on his face): Ah, it's been a long time since I've tried that! And it felt so good! Yep, I pull that with all of the girls here, and I am going to dominate this competition.
Mary: Darn it all! I fell for it! Jen warned me about that little creep! I've got to get it together! Come on Mary, you've got to focus! Always remember: he just manipulates girls with his muscles, and good looks, and…(she clearly starts to daydream again) and good hair, and white teeth, and talent, and hotness…
End
Unbeknownst to Mary, Daniel was nearby, hiding in another nearby building. And this particular building just so happened to be the one he had been heading for in the first place: the bank.
He looked back at Mary before slipping into the building. He turned and saw that it was clearly a much smaller version of the one from the Cops 'n Robbers task. It had a small teller desk against the far wall, and only a few tables in the middle of the room. Against the wall opposite the desk was the huge vault door.
"Aw, darn it!" He said quietly to himself. "How am I going to get this open?"
He angrily slammed at the handle, which easily turned, opening the vault door.
"…Oh." Daniel slapped himself before entering. Inside, there was simply a small metal table, barely a foot across on the top. There, in the middle of the table, was the button. Daniel pressed it, then turned and walked out as Chris's announcement came over the intercom.
"Two down, thirteen to go! The Villains have really gotten off on the right foot; they're doing great right now!"
"Ha! This'll be a snap!"
"Guess again!" Mary yelled before she jumped out and instantly blasted the jock with the frigid water.
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!! THAT'S…COLD!!!!!! OOOOOOOHHHHH, I FEEL LIKE I'M IN ANTARCTICA!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"
"Want more?"
"Yipe!" The jock instantly turned and ran.
Mary, despite resistance from herself, counted to ten, then chased after him. "Come back here, you!!"
Of course, Daniel was too fast for her, and quickly outran her.
Mary slowly came to a stop, gun at her side. She looked down at her GPS. The red dot that was Daniel was moving farther and farther away. "Darn it. Lost him. That little weasel. He's not gonna get away with this!!"
Meanwhile…
The Castmate looked around, trying to find the nearest Target.
If I can find a Target, I'll probably find one of the Directors. The Castmate thought. I knew that this challenge would be a little harder for me to pull one of my tricks, since only one team has the guns. And I don't want them to know what team I'm on. But this plan…the plan I have in mind, will work just as well.
The Castmate grinned, then stopped suddenly when they heard a rustle. The Castmate turned and darted behind a fake car as someone walked up. The Castmate peeked over the side and saw that it was Rachael.
Rachael slowly turned and looked around, then down at the GPS in her hand.
"This is the place." She said to herself. "Now where's that Target?"
She looked up at the building before her. It was a cheesy recreation of a pawnshop.
"You've got to be kidding me." She looked back at the GPS, then at the building again. She slowly entered, and looked around. She soon found the red button by the cash register.
"Really, Chris! Is that the best you can do?! A cash register in a pawnshop?!?!"
Make-Up Confessional
Chris: What? It's called "running out of ideas", people! And besides, we've got a budget to consider!
Rachael: That's just the saddest excuse I've ever heard.
End
Rachael, still shaking her head, pressed the red button on the cash register.
"That's a third Target eliminated! Pull it together, Heroes, or else you're gonna lose!!"
Rachael turned and started to walk out of the building when she heard something. She quickly turned and hid behind the door just as Luke walked by.
Luke slowly turned and looked at the building when he thought her heard something.
"Someone in there?" He raised his gun and slowly approached.
The Castmate made their move.
With quick speed and agility, the Castmate swept over to where Rachael was standing, grabbed her by the shoulders, and threw her out the door. She didn't even have a chance to look behind her. After Rachael was thrown out the door to the awaiting Luke, the Castmate turned and ran.
Rachael hit the ground and rolled out the door, stopping at Luke's feet. Luke looked down at her, stunned, before he slowly raised his gun.
"Sorry." He said just before he fired.
The hot sauce completely covered Rachael, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"AAAAUUUGGGHHH!!! H-H-HOT!!!" She started running around as fast as she could, practically running in circles. "HELP! I'M BURNING! I'M BURNING! I NEED SOMETHING TO COOL ME!!!!" *
"I think I can help with that."
Rachael turned to see Mary standing there, gun in hand.
"Uh-oh. No! NO! I didn't mean…"
Mary instantly blasted her with the cold water, washing off the hot sauce, and making Rachael cold.
"AUGH! Brrr!! This is TOO cold! I'm getting out of here!"
She turned and started to run. But Luke had just finished counting to ten, and fired again. Once more, Rachael was completely covered in hot sauce.
"OH, COME ON!!!!! OWWWW!!!!!!"
Then another loud voice rang over the whole city. "Attention, castmates! Rachael has been eliminated! That's one Villain down, four to go!"
"AUGH!!!" Rachael then turned to Mary. "Please, I'd rather be cold! Spray me again! I beg of you!"
Mary looked down at her gun for a moment, then back up at the wide-eyed, burning Rachael. "Um, OK." She aimed and fired again.
The hot sauce was now in a puddle on the ground surrounding Rachael, and she stood there, soaking wet and shivering.
"Ah (shiver, shiver) that's b-b-(chatter, chatter) better." She then turned and walked away.
Luke and Mary shared a confused glance.
"Um…thanks for your help." Luke said.
"Anytime."
The two then turned and went separate ways. From on top of one of the fake building, the Castmate looked down at them.
Yes. My plan worked perfectly. Soon, the Flaming Directors will lose again.
Meanwhile…
Violet looked around inside the jail that she was in. It was a fairly large building, two stories tall, and almost an acre large. She looked down at her GPS and saw that there was a red dot nearby, somewhere inside the jail. She walked down the halls, glancing at all of the barred doors of cells as she passed by them.
This jail looks so…real. She thought to herself as she walked through the spooky halls. To keep her mind off of her surroundings, she started humming the tune of Jailhouse Rock to herself. It was one of the many classic Elvis songs that Matthew had showed her in the last season. She smiled at the thought of her boyfriend.
I sure miss Matthew. She decided to get the sad thought out of her head by singing the song aloud.
The warden threw a party at the county jail
The prison band was there, they began to wail
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing
You shoulda' heard those knocked-out jailbirds sing
Let's rock! Everybody let's rock!
Everybody in our cellblock
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowing on a slide trombone
The drummer boy from Illinois went CRASH. BOOM. BANG.
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang
Let's rock! Everybody let's rock!
Everybody in our cellblock
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Violet then entered what appeared to be the mess hall. Tables everywhere, chairs surrounding them, some knocked over, and fake food covering the tabletops.
Number forty-seven said to number three
"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see
I'd sure be delighted with your company
Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me"
Let's rock! Everybody let's rock!
Everybody in our cellblock
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
The Sad Sack was sittin' on a block of stone
Over in the corner, weepin' all alone
The warden said "Hey buddy, don't ya be no square
You can't find a partner, use a wooden chair"
Violet walked through the tables, and eventually left the mess hall and was walking down a hallway, this time with absolutely no cells at all; only a single light at the very end.
Let's rock! Everybody let's rock!
Everybody in our cellblock
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Shifty Henry said to Bugs
"For Heaven's sake
No one's lookin', now's our chance to make a break"
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said
"Nix. Nix. I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks"
Let's rock! Everybody let's rock!
Everybody in our cellblock
Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock
Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock…
Just as Violet stopped singing, she arrived at the end of the hallway. She was at a door with a sing next it that read "Solitary Confinement."
I guess the Villainous act here is releasing the most dangerous inmate of them all. She thought as she opened the door and stepped inside. On the far wall was a straitjacket hanging on a nail, just like what most Solitary Confinement inmates wore. And on the wall next to it was the button.
She pressed the button. "Too easy." She said to herself as she smiled. As she walked out, Chris's voice roared over the intercom. She drowned it out with another Elvis song.
Well, it's one for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Now go cat, go
But don't you…
Step on my Blue Suede Shoes…
Suddenly, her singing was interrupted when she heard a THUMP behind her. She turned to see Jen, glue gun raised.
"Gotcha."
Violet instantly turned and ran, with Jen right behind her. Jen was firing her glue gun wildly.
"I'll get you!!"
Violet started zigzagging wildly to avoid the blasts of glue. Eventually, they reached the mess hall. Violet was dodging through the tables, jumping over chairs. Jen simply mimicked all of her movements, and was getting closer and closer. Eventually, Violet swooped her arm out and snatched up a fake turkey leg off of the table. Turning to look behind her, she threw it at Jen. Jen dodged to the side to avoid it, but ran into a chair and tripped, tumbling head over heel as she hit the ground.
Violet took advantage of this and ran as fast as she could towards the exit. Jen slowly got up off the ground and tried to chase after her, but quickly lost her. Violet dashed out of the jail and raced off, eventually hiding in an alleyway.
Phew! That was close. She thought. She turned and walked off, humming the tune of Guitar Man.
Meanwhile…
John had been walking for about fifteen minutes. He was supposed to have reached the nearest Target in only seven minutes, but he had seen Jen lurking around, so he had to double back and sneak through the alleys. So after fifteen minutes, he finally arrived at the closest red dot on his GPS.
He looked at the building, and it was a simple warehouse.
"Wonder what could be in there that's so important, eh?" He said to himself as he entered. He looked around. The walls were made of metal and covered in rust. There were several pipes running along the walls, and cobwebs everywhere. With every step he took, his foot landed in a mountain of dust. He walked further and further inside until he was standing in front of the Target.
It was a massive generator.
"Can it be…I found it, eh!! It's the generator!" He said excitedly. He then realized his mistake and quickly covered his mouth. Looking around nervously, he ran up to the generator and pressed the button.
Chris's voice then announced, "Attention everyone! John has just reached the fifth Target, which just so happens to be the power generator! So John now has Invincibility!"
"Yes!" John cheered enthusiastically. He then turned around…
…and was face-to-face with an angry Daniel.
"YOU…You stole my Invincibility!!!"
"Whoa. I'm sorry, eh. But I did find it first."
"Don't give me that, Goth boy! You knew how much I wanted Invincibility, so you stole it from me! STOLE IT!! You reached the generator first, and you pressed that button!"
"Dude, how would I have known it was the generator? Chris even said himself that they weren't labeled or anything."
"I don't care!!!" Daniel angrily exclaimed. "The bottom line is that you took the Invincibility that was rightfully mine! And furthermore…"
"…you're about to get soaked."
"What?" Daniel turned and saw that Mary was right behind him.
"Oh…crap."
John dashed out of the way at the last second just before Mary blasted the jock with the cold water for the second time that day.
"AAUUUGGGHHH!!!! COLD!!!!!" Daniel screamed as he started shaking uncontrollably. Despite his limbs feeling like rocks, he dashed out of the warehouse, with Mary right behind him.
"Got to get away from…oh my God!!!" He stopped in the middle of the street, as he saw Jen standing in front of him. "Uh-oh."
"Hold it right there, jock boy!" Jen raised her gun.
"Hold it!"
They both turned to see Mary come out of the warehouse, gun also raised.
"Jen, I've hit him twice today. May I?"
"Go ahead."
Daniel turned to face Mary, who had an evil grin on her face.
"Oh, brother."
Mary blasted him a third time with the ice-cold water. Daniel instantly fell to the ground, shivering and shaking.
"OH, COME ON ALREADY!!!!!"
"Alright, castmates! Daniel has also been eliminated, and Mary has Invincibility! So there's only three Villains left, and four Heroes. You might have a chance, Producers! Get it together!"
Daniel, miserably defeated, started to get up off the ground, only to have a foot land on his chest and pin him down. He looked up at Jen, looking down at him with absolutely no pity.
"This is for manipulating me and treating me like a slave last season." She aimed the glue gun right at Daniel.
Daniel's eyes went wide.
"Mommy." He whimpered.
Make-Up Confessional
Daniel (covered in wet glue): Ugh! Cold water and glue?!? I'm NEVER gonna live this down!!
Jen (with a wicked grin on her face): Oh, yes! That felt so good! I've been wanting my revenge against that manipulating creep for a long time!
Mary (also with an evil grin): Jen and I both had a good time doing that to Daniel. (Sigh) I wish I could do that again. And again. And again and again and again and again…
End
John, hiding in a nearby alley, looked away at the sound of the glue gun squirting, and ran away from the three teens, heading for the next Target.
Meanwhile…
While Jen and Mary were busy dealing with Daniel, Violet and John had individually managed to reach two more Targets each, bringing the amount of remaining Targets down to six.
"Six Targets left, castmates! Repeat, only six to go! And three Villains are still in the game! Producers, what are you doing, sleeping?"
"SHUT UP!!!!" Tim, Luke, Mary, and Jen all simultaneously shouted to the sky, each from a different location in the city.
Chris, sitting in the control tent, perked up at the outburst, but wasn't too fazed by it.
Make-Up Confessional
Jen: Argh! I swear…I…hate…that…man!!!
Luke: He needs to shut up for once!
Mary: Does he have something against us Producers or something? He's always encouraging them, and discouraging us!!
Chris: (simply shrugs)
End
Tim finally came across one of the Villains shortly after a fifth Target had been reached.
"At this rate, we'll win this game in no time!" Mark said happily to himself as he walked out of the building: a grocery store. Mark, looking back at the building, shook his head and questioned, "But seriously? A grocery store?"
Tim, hiding in an alleyway, quickly popped out and sprayed Mark with the laughing gas.
"Whuh? Ack! I…I…" Mark gasped and sputtered, then started splitting his sides. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!! OH, HELP! Hel-he, he, he, he, he heeeeeeee!!!!! Ho, ho, ho…"
Tim looked stunned, but knew that this would be the result anyway. He then stepped back and counted to thirty.
By the time he reached twenty, Mark had regained enough sanity to stumble to his feet. Looking back at Tim, he half-screamed, half-laughed, then turned and ran off.
After reaching thirty, Tim dashed after him.
"Come back here!" He fired random blasts of laughing gas again and again, hoping to score another hit. Eventually, as he drew closer, he fired another one and barely hit Mark; only the very edge of the cloud of gas reached him. But it was enough.
"No!!! Not…again…BWAH! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAA!!!!" Mark keeled over and started rolling around on the ground, nearly crying from all the laughing.
Tim looked down at the optimist, almost sympathetically, as he busted his guts. He counted to thirty, but this time, Mark was racing off by fifteen.
After thirty, Tim already knew to give up at this point.
Mark raced off, looking back at the reader, who wasn't even bothering to chase him. "Phew! That was (he, he) close!"
"Not so fast!!" A voice yelled.
"Waugh!" Mark instantly slid to a stop at the sight of Luke right in front of him, hot sauce gun raised.
"Oops." Mark muttered.
Meanwhile…
Violet, having just reached another Target, thus leaving only four to go, walked out onto the street, and looked down at her GPS.
"OK, so the nearest one is about…sixty-eight yards southwest of here. So that means…" She started to look around, but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Chris announce. "Everyone, there are only four Targets left, and Mark has been eliminated! Repeat, there are four Targets to go, and two Villains, Violet and John, remain!"
Violet looked up at the sky at the sound of the voice, then back down at the GPS.
"Don't have much time. I've got to hurry!" She ran in the direction of the nearest Target.
Just as she reached the building where the next Target was, Jen was also nearing that location. She turned a corner and ran up the street just in time to see someone enter the building.
"Aha." She muttered. She raised her glue gun and slowly approached the building.
Violet looked around the building. It was pretty large, too. Almost as big as the bank from two challenges ago. She eventually saw a sign that read, "Museum."
"Ah." She said as she realized. She then saw, according to her GPS, that the red dot was right where she stood. But she looked around and saw nothing.
"What? But this can't be…" She stood there, seemingly defeated. But then she noticed a staircase nearby, leading to the next floor. "Could it be…?" She instantly dashed over to the staircase and flew up to the next floor. She turned and saw that, on that same spot, was a glass case with a replica of a football-sized diamond inside.
She whistled. "If there was a diamond that big…" She said to herself as she walked over to the case and pressed the button.
She then turned to walk back down the staircase, but instead was face-to-face with Jen.
Violet's eyes widened.
"Hi." Jen said before she fired the glue gun.
Violet closed her wide eyes just as the glue completely covered her.
"Ew! Aw, gross!" She said as she tried to lift up her right arm, but it was stuck to her side. She then looked back up at Jen.
"I'm counting."
Violet turned and started down the stairs. But her foot stuck on one of the steps.
"Augh!" She tried to lift up her foot, but it stuck hard. "Come on! Argh! Come on!!!!!"
She then managed to pull her foot off, but nearly threw herself down the stairs in the process. She stumbled down two steps before she regained her footing and dashed for the exit. She slammed hard against the door to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"What?! Come on, already! OPEN UP!!!!!!"
Jen then raced down the stairs and approached her.
"Why won't it…open?" Violet suddenly thought of something, and simply pulled it open. Why didn't I think of that? She thought. Man, I hate those one-way doors.
She started out the door, only to be blasted again by the glue.
"Oof! Owwww!!!" She cried as the force of the blast sent her flying out the door. She tumbled across the pavement, and found herself stuck to the ground.
"Oh, come on!!!" She screamed as she tried to get up.
"Need a hand?" Another voice asked. She looked up (having a hard time doing so) and saw Mary with her water gun.
"Uh-oh."
Mary aimed and blasted Violet with the cold water. It instantly washed the glue off, and left Violet shivering and shaking. As she slowly got up, she muttered half-heartedly. "Ah, well. It's (chatter, chatter) better than being all (shake, shake) sticky." She slowly trudged off.
Mary grinned, and she and Jen shared a hi-five.
"Attention, castmates! John is the last remaining Villain, and there are two Targets to go! Heroes, you might have a chance…"
"Finally, he encourages us." Mary said.
"…wait! John has just reached another Target! Just now, John has reached one of the two remaining Targets! That means that there's only one left! Hurry! He's heading for the last one!!!!!"
"Oh, brother." Mary raised her gun. Jen looked down at her GPS.
"He's somewhere south of here! We've got to hurry! You go one way, I'll head the other and head him off!"
The two girls instantly dashed in various directions, racing towards the final red dot on their GPS.
Meanwhile…
John was racing through the town as fast as he could, trying to escape Tim, who was right behind him, firing his laughing gas gun aimlessly.
"I will get you!!!"
John, not looking back, instead looked down at the GPS device in his hand, and saw that a red dot was in the building that loomed in front of him: another bank.
John didn't really have a plan as he raced towards the building. All that's important now is that I reach this target. Then maybe Violet can reach the last one.
He was about to enter through the door when a voice said, "Hold it right there!!" Luke stepped out from the building. John skidded to a stop as the brainiac raised his chili gun. "You're finished, Goth boy!" He declared.
John looked behind him and saw that he was also aiming his gun.
"Say, 'chili'!" Luke shouted as he fired. At the same moment, Tim also fired his gun.
John dodged out of the way at the last moment, and the two blasts went further than intended.
The chili completely covered Tim, and Luke was reduced to a laughing mess.
"OW!!!! HOT!!!! IT'S HOT!!!!! OH, AUGH!!!!!!"
"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!!"
"Oh, you think you're so funny?!?" Tim roared.
Luke briefly stopped his laughter to say, "Yeah? Well what's the (ha, ha) big idea? Spraying (ho, ho, ho) your own teammate?!?"
"You ought to talk, smart boy!" Tim raised his laughing gas gun defensively.
"You want to start something?!"
"It's already been started!!!"
"BRING IT!"
The two then started blasting each other with chili and laughing gas.
In all the confusion, John slipped into the building through a window, and approached a small safe behind a desk, where the red button was. Just before he pressed it, he heard Chris's voice. "Attention, castmates! John is the last remaining Villain, and there are two Targets to go! Heroes, you might have a chance…"
The voice paused briefly as John pressed the button.
"…wait! John has just reached another Target! Just now, John has reached one of the two remaining Targets! That means there's only one left!"
John turned and left the building as Chris continued his announcement.
"Hurry! He's heading for the last one!"
John checked on the two Producers, and saw that they were still fighting, apparently having not heard the announcement.
John smirked, then turned and ran in the direction of the final remaining Target. He ran the entire way, knowing that the other two Producers were probably racing towards him right now.
He jumped over obstacles, weaved between buildings, even cut through a few alleys as a shortcut.
Shortly after, he reached the final Target: a trailer. It was sparkly and shiny, and was obviously brand-new.
John was puzzled at what could be inside this trailer, but he didn't care as long as he reached the final Target before Mary and Jen reached him. He slowly walked towards it, reaching the steps. He opened the door and was about to enter when he heard a voice.
"JOHN!!!!"
He turned to see Mary emerge from between two building and race towards him.
"I've got you now!!!!"
John stopped in shock, seeing her race towards him.
Uh-oh.
She dashed towards him, water gun raised and aimed.
"You're mine!!!" Another voice shouted. He turned in the direction of the voice. At first, he didn't see anything.
Then Jen suddenly appeared from behind the trailer and raced towards him at full speed.
"Nice try, John!" She raised her gun.
Mary and Jen raced towards the same spot, focusing more on John than on each other…
WHAM!
Both girls collided with each other, knocking them both to the ground in a stunned daze.
John looked down at the two half-unconscious girls, smirked, then turned and entered the trailer. Almost instantly he saw the red light on a desk against the far wall. It was a make-up area; with a mirror, lights lining the whole mirror, and perfume and nail polish and cologne and everything.
The red light was right next to a small pink bottle. Josh approached it and saw that the bottle had Chris's grinning face on it.
"You have got to be kidding me, eh." He said as he pressed the button.
"AND JOHN HAS REACHED THE FINAL TARGET!!!!" Chris's voice blared loudly over the intercom. Only it wasn't the intercom this time.
As John exited the trailer, and Mary and Jen staggered to their feet, Chris appeared, holding the familiar red megaphone. Behind him were all the other castmates, and most notably, the chili-covered and laughing Tim and Luke.
"Congratulations, John! You've won the task for the Flaming Directors!"
John held up the bottle that had been next to the button. "Chris?"
"What? It's my hair gel." He snatched the bottle from John and started applying it to his hair. Looking around at all the scowls from the teens, he quickly replied, "Stealing my hair gel is the most villainous act of them all!"
Everyone rolled their eyes.
Chris shook his head in disbelief before turning to the Psycho Producers. "Well, Producers, you've lost yet again. Come to the Theatre tonight for the Gilded Chris Ceremony. And remember, Mary has Invincibility. So that means that Jen, Luke, and Tim are eligible for voting off tonight."
As the host walked away, combing his hair, Jen and Mary glared at Tim and Luke.
The two shrugged and simultaneously said, "What?"
Author's Note: Readers, if you read over this chapter again, you'll eventually find a sentence that ends with an *. This line is a reference to a famous rock and roll song. Can anyone guess which song is being referred to?