GOOD NEWS: The final chapter is up!
Bad news... It comes in two parts. This chapter was getting so long I had to separate it. I'm in the middle of writing the action scene when this was submitted. Just a fair advanced warning, action is my weakness in writing. But I'm doing my best!
Review time:
Karlos1234ify - Thanks and always true~!
Linkonpark100 - like I said through PM, Dork Squad 2 will occur after the events of the Ridonculous Race.
Liz The Sweet Writer - that chapter was only the prologue to his demise... This is the beginning of it.
Applauze: Hey hey! Thanks so much for catching up on my story. And no biggie on Chapter 8. I understand because you hate Sugar as a character. She can be annoying but I only like her for her hillbilly humor. But I have to warn you that this episode may contain bits of Cody/Scarlett conflict, but no more than Harold and Noah's conflict against her. Just a heads up.
As for the last chapter, it really foreshadowed the main idea of this episode... Two years later, this story finally comes to an end. The first season of it anyway. I also changed the episode name. Enjoy!
Episode 10: Nerds Before Girls
In a dark room she stood. Her partner was waiting for her outside. She had her black dress on, or was it even a dress? She had her hair down, her makeup heavy and dark. Her black silhouette complemented her true nature. An almost crooked smile formed her crimson lips. She opened the door, to find her partner looking up at her, serious but with hidden trepidation. She sensed this instantly and smiled wider.
"It ends tonight."
"HAROLD! YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR TWO HOURS. IF YOU DON'T OPEN UP THEN I'LL SCREAM BLOODY MURDER AND TELL LESHAWNA YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Noah roared from outside the bathroom door.
"Okay, do it. And besides Leshawna will know I'm fashionably late."
"Leshawna hates latecomers, Dweebus. Now get out! I'm not going to Prom with a full bladder," Noah went on.
"Maybe you should try it sometime so you can get a taste of mortification," Harold retorted.
"HAROLD!"
"Hey, Codester, can you calm Sir Hothead for me?" Harold said. Noah's face grew redder with fury.
"Dude, just wait a little longer. We won't be late, okay?" Cody assured.
"Don't tell me what to do- Whoa what did you do to your hair?" Noah asked. Cody looked at his now slicked-back hair.
"Oh, I thought I'd dress a little fancier tonight. How do I look?"
"Dude, you're trying too hard," Noah said as he began ruffling Cody's hair. Cody tried swatting his hands out of protest.
"N-Noah, stop! I spent half an hour on this," he protested.
"Sammy will love your look the way it is. Trust me," Noah promised. "And besides it's not going to last-"
Noah was caught off guard as Harold finally opened the door. His hair too was slicked back and was wearing makeup... manly makeup. And he held a cane with him.
"Like that," Noah finished. "Nice cane, Harold. Now all you need is a monacle and a top-hat," he chuckled.
"Oh please, you need to add some color in your life, Noah. No wonder you don't have a girl-" Harold barely finished his sentence after getting stabbed multiple times by Noah's furious glare. "Never mind."
"You're late, Harold. Get. Out," Noah growled.
"Hey, I'm really sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you like that."
"Whatever. Just go," he said almost calmly. Then lowered his head. "You should probably go too, Cody."
Cody sensed a foreign feeling in Noah. It worried him. "But-"
"Just go."
"Wait, there's something I need to ask-" he paused at the sound of a sniff. "Noah.. are you crying?"
"No. Now get out."
Cody reached out to touch his shoulder. "Noah-" Unfortunately it was slapped off harshly.
"I SAID GET OUT, YOU IDIOT! I HATE YOU," Noah snapped, his eyes watery and almost instantly went bloodshot. Cody flinched and backed away in fear. His lips quivered slightly. Where did that side of him come from?! He hated him? After everything he did? After everything they did?
"Fine," Cody said shakily and reluctantly left the hangout. Something was wrong and he felt it. But the least he could do now was give Noah space.
On the other hand, Noah slumped on the sofa and rubbed his temples. "What have I done?" he whispered shakily. He hurt Cody... all because he didn't have a girlfriend? No, that's stupid. Very stupid. Who would hurt someone over that? Cody was his friend - his best friend. A brother need be. Back then he never cared about relationships. Now, why did it hurt so much? He heard himself think and slapped himself harshly.
"Suck it up, Noah!" he scolded himself bitterly. The first thing he did was to apologize to Cody. Out of nowhere, some kind of arrow broke in from the window and released a tangle of ropes which engulfed him.
"What the-!?" His breathing got more and more difficult as fumes was inevitably inhaled once it spread throughout the room. While his eyes grew heavier, he caught a glimpse of a pair of legs and heels standing before him.
"You're late," were those last two words he heard before he was immediately out cold.
Leshawna and Harold sat in the Lame-o-sine with hands intertwined. Silence felt golden as Harold couldn't stop himself from swooning over her. Leshawna giggled and shoved him playfully. "Stop it, baby."
"I can't help it," Harold sighed. "You're just so... Flawless and voluptuous. Your silky hair, that sexy black dress, your natural glow. I feel like the luckiest geek alive."
Leshawna blushed and giggled. "You really are something." Then she gasped the moment the limo was pulled to a stop. "We're here. You can stop admiring now, or not, because it's nice," she chuckled.
"I could never stop admiring you, m'lady. After you," Harold said as he helped her out of the lame-o-sine.
The entire gym was packed that night. Some couples danced away, some chatted, some only came in for the food, and the rest wanted alone time with each other... Or themselves.
For once, Courtney let go of her Vice Presidential duties to slow dance with Duncan. Although Gwen wasn never fond of fancy parties, Trent was all she needed to enjoy the party. Heather and Alejandro took a break by the sidelines to make out before being awarded as Prom King and Queen. Ella got her true "fairytale" wish as she danced with prince-like Topher. Zoey rested on Mike's chest as they swayed their hips to the slow beat. Dj and Dawn were outside the gym, admiring the animals and each other's company. Beardo was the DJ of the party and before him were Leonard and Tammy having a drink fest. While Sierra waited for her friend, Cody, to arrive, she had a few dances and talks with Cameron by the food stand about their favourite TV shows.
Dave and Sky shared every secret they could, especially Sky - for she could never bear to commit the same mistake that nearly tore them apart for good. Next to them were Shawn and Jasmine, where Shawn shared all his false-alarmed encounters with what he thought were zombies, which amused Jasmine but went with it. Geoff and Bridgette were somewhere against a wall fighting for dominance in a kiss. Scott kept trying to ask Amy to dance, which she kept turning him down while throwing punch in his face. Eva and Lightning ignored everyone and challenged each other into an arm-wrestling match. Brick and Jo were trying to dance yet end up dancing with two left feet, and in the end laughed shyly at their mistakes.
Lindsay and Tyler were leaning against each other, whispering sweet nothings while Beth brought her boyfriend, Brady. Ezekiel and Anne Maria watched everyone dance, while being too nervous to even look at each other. Unfortunately for Rodney, who can't find a dance partner at the moment, was stuck hearing more of Staci's family history. Justin had to escape Katie and Sadie, who were too busy either fighting over him or talking about him. And Owen and Izzy made a bet on whoever burps the loudest gets to twerk in the centre of the dance floor.
Needless to say, everyone was having a good time. Harold was busy flirting with Leshawna while dancing with her at the same time. As for Cody, he sat by the sidelines with his knees stuck to his chest. Samey took a while to find him.
"Cody, there you are," Samey greeted.
"Hey," Cody mumbled. He was too gloomy to even compliment her.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"No... Not even a little bit." He buried his face in his knees.
Samey's smile disappeared. "What happened?"
"It's Noah. He... He said he hates me."
Samey gasped. "No... Are you serious?"
"I'm not deaf, Sammy, I know what I heard!" he snapped.
"Well... Maybe he got so mad he said that by accident. What exactly ticked him off? Did you say something to him?"
"No... Harold brought up the subject of Noah not having a girlfriend. And when I wanted to cheer him up, he forced me to get out and literally shouted, 'I HATE YOU!' It scared the crap out of me!" he explained.
"That's horrible! Wait you mean to say, Noah might want to be in a relationship?" Samey guessed.
"Maybe, I don't know. But somewhere in his voice I sensed sadness. And maybe the truth that he really does hate me."
Samey rolled her eyes. "I know Noah told me not to tell you this but he cares about you. As in he feels so strongly for you he's never going to show it."
Cody's head perked up. "What? When was this?"
"Remember when we were at Camp Lakebottom? When he and I were detained, he told me how he felt about you," Samey confessed.
"Do you remember what he said?"
"Not all of it. Other than him saying you're "okay", I remember him admitting that he loves you-"
Cody blushed. "He what!?"
"I-I mean in a brotherly-love kind of way!" Samey corrected as she was also blushing. "But it does sound cute if you think about it the way you first thought of it."
"S-Sammy!" Cody stammered, his blush deepening.
Samey giggled. "Okay, I'll stop! Either way, I saw the truth in his eyes and in his voice. Noah cares about you. He just has a hard time showing it I guess. Don't ask me how I know that. I've met people who are just like him... Kind of."
"You know what? Thanks, Sammy. I'll go see him right now. Is he here yet?"
Samey shrugged. "Um, not yet. Haven't seen him at all tonight. Maybe he's not coming? Then again he planned some of this so he should be here."
"You're right. I'll go ask Harold."
"What about our dance?"
Cody blushed slightly and smiled. "Heh, alright. We have all night after all. Also... Thanks again for cheering me up."
Samey smiled sweetly. "Hey, anything for a friend in need!"
Cody's smile faded slightly. 'Friend'? Does Sammy still have a crush on me?' He brushed these thoughts out of his head and led her to the dance floor.
Noah groaned and lazily opened his eyes only to find himself in a large, dim room. He felt his entire body, from his chest to his knees, bound in rope, hanging from an unknown height. Below him he noticed an eight-meter-high cylindrical tank, with Fang submerged underneath. He gasped and began struggling from the rope.
"Struggling is pointless, Mr. President. All the more you'll be forced to your death," said a female voice.
"Who are you!?" Noah shouted.
"You should know that I don't take rejections kindly, Noah. That's on of my minor flaws. That and the fact that you still get to rule as president without a proper democratic election really gets me on my last nerve," she continued until she completely revealed herself underneath the dim light before him.
"I should've known," he glowered. Scarlett. "You're not as scary as my cousin's friend said you were," he challenged her, noticing her hair still in a bun.
"Am I, Noah? AM I!?" Scarlett ripped her hair elastic, whipping her red strands into the air, and removed her glasses before crushing them. Opening her eyes, Noah saw her true 'demonic' self. Her dress was no more as she wore now is a jet black bodysuit. Behind her were two swords resting on her back in the shape of an "X". "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW?"
Albeit he was petrified, Noah couldn't help but snort. "I'm sorry to get caught up on something so irrelevant, but are you wearing spandex?"
"You think this is all fun and games, don't you?" Scarlett cracked her knuckles and pushed he closest lever, forcing Noah to fall by a few feet.
The bookworm yelped. "What's your problem, Scarlett?!"
"YOU are my problem. I wasted my entire high school as the third most powerful member of the student government; listening to your mediocre ideas and forced to watch you slack off like some peasant!? Unacceptable! I should've been president! Heck, if I was, maybe I would've taught these pathetic peons a little thing or two about respect," Scarlett ranted.
"That's what this entire shenanigan is about!? Yeesh and I thought Courtney was desperate," Noah groaned.
"You still think this is all a game, huh? Give me your position and I might just spare you to be my long-suffering-assistant. At least when you come back limping from your little gambling spree of participating for tons of reality TV shows."
"Yeah I'd rather let Fang eat me so Chris can THROW YOU IN THE NUTHOUSE!" Noah snapped.
"Hey I can always escape anytime I want without leaving a trace. I guess it still makes an easy victory. And if you so just tell Chris to kick me out by the time I let you go, your little Cody-wody will be the next one to suffer!"
"If you so just lay a finger on him, I'll-!"
"-Not be there. I'm sorry to say, Noah, but you've been outwitted. And maybe a little exposure will help." Scarlett pushed a button, which began lowering a large flatscreen and a video camera facing Noah.
"What do you think you're doing?" he growled.
"I'm simply giving everyone your overdue attention, and an invitation to a certain couple of imbeciles' demise."
Noah's eyes shrunk. "Don't. You. Dare."
"Sorry, honey, but I'm not the one wrapped in rope." And with that, a button is pressed.
After a while of dancing, Cody and Harold took a break by the drink stand.
"Dude, have you seen Noah? I really need to speak to him," Cody wondered.
"So do I. As rare as this sounds, I actually feel bad for hurting his feelings," Harold added. "And no I haven't seen him."
"He can't bail!" Cody dialled Noah's cell, only to reach his cynical voicemail. "He's not answering!"
All of a sudden, the entire room became dim. Everyone began screaming, panicking and running into each other's faces. The doors and windows were slammed shut and a large flat screen descended before them. A luminescent light appeared and within seconds everyone saw a tied-up-Noah glaring at the bright screen. Everyone gasped. Cody pushed his way through the crowd with Harold following behind.
"Noah!?" Cody exclaimed.
"Attention, vermin, I have an announcement to make. Your president cannot make it today. Not tonight," the camera turned to Scarlett, "Not EVER again!"
Some people had their hands over their mouths in shock while others gasped in horror at the sight of Scarlett's true form.
"Allow me to make a deal. A deal that even you, Chris McClain cannot refuse. I know you're building a new university campus for us, and you made it clear on who gets to rule the school. Give me your highest position, and I'll let Noah, and ALL of you live!" Scarlett threatened.
"Or what?!" Chris spat.
Scarlett only continued to laugh sinisterly, "In case you airheads haven't noticed, I installed numerous explosives underneath the gym while we were, shall we say, "decorating". And now that I trapped you here, you have nowhere to run.
"Give me permission to rule from here on and I'll let you all live to be my pets."
"Psh, no way dude. We'd rather DIE than to serve you," Geoff spat. "We can all party like it's 2012 if we have to!"
"Yeah so get fix your witchy red hair and quit the bullcrap!" Heather added.
"Seriously? I know I want Noah's position but never to this level of insanity!" Courtney huffed.
"Alright, have it your way!" Scarlett laughed once more and pushed a button. Everyone held each other and screamed. Much to their surprise, there were no explosions. Scarlett became mortified.
"What?! Impossible! How?!"
Another insane laugh came from the crowd, from another redhead.
"Izzy!" everyone cheered.
"That's right, baby!"
"How did you do it, Izzy?" Owen asked.
"Let's just say while I was digging underground for clues while you guys were away, I noticed the explosives! I disabled them and placed them in my hangout. I plan to turn it into an Explosivo Museum one day," Izzy explained.
"You dirty little rat!" Scarlett snapped. "Fine! Keep your miserable lives. After all, watching your beloved president get mauled by Fang before my very eyes is WAY better! And there's no point in saving Noah. After all, he doesn't care about any of you. Enjoy the last night of your pathetic high school lives, because once I'm done, I'll be long gone and you'll never see us again!" Scarlett laughed one last time before the screen went black, ascended and caused the lights to return and the doors and windows to reopen.
"Not if Izzy has anything to say about it!" Izzy exclaimed.
"I think I saw Max in the background somewhere. I'm not surprised," Shawn commented.
"Glad I'm not him right now," Scott muttered, thinking about Fang.
"You have to do something, Chris!" Sky cried.
"What can I do? I've never helped anyone whose life is about to end this badly," Chris said nonchalantly.
"THAT'S MY COUSIN IN THERE, CHRIS. WITH A MANIAC! DON'T TELL ME YOU CAN'T DO A DARN THING ABOUT IT!" Dave shouted.
"You're talking to me like I'm the only one who should solve this problem."
"I WILL DESTROY YOU, IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT," Eva threatened, causing Lightning to pull her away. Voices were everywhere, wondering what to do and how to help. Cody and Harold couldn't take it anymore.
"ENOUGH!" They both shouted. Everyone grew silent and looked their way.
"I don't care what Scarlett says about him, we're saving Noah whether up you guys think we're able to or not," Cody said.
"No dork gets left behind," Harold finished.
"Save my cousin, please! I'd love to come but I have a lot of issues with fighting and rescuing people from life-threatening situations so... Good luck!" Dave said.
"Uh huh. Let's go, Cody."
"Harold, are you sure? You could get killed!" Leshawna protested.
Harold took her hand and kissed it. "I promise I won't. I'll take her down with my wicked skills."
"I... I believe you. But if she hurts you..." Harold cut her off with a kiss.
"She can't."
"Cody, wait!" Samey called. "I... I hope you don't get yourself hurt. I may not have been there when Scarlett turned evil, but from what I saw I know she will kill you when she gets the chance."
"Sorry, Sammy, but I can't just stand here and let Noah die," Cody argued. Samey smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Good luck!"
Cody could only smile back. That feeling they once had was nowhere to be found.
"Come on, Harold. Let's gear up!"
So how was the first part? Hopefully not too bad. The next and last part is soon to come. I'm in the middle of writing it and it should be a great way to end the season. Wish me luck and feel free to leave a review on how it went. For the first time, Scarlett was outwitted by a maniac aka Izzy.
I don't want to spoil part two, but all I know is a fight will break out and damages and injuries will be inflicted. And I do feel bad about ending Codamey on such a short notice. But don't worry, they're letting each other go for someone better. And we'll see how they interact in the next part or next season. No, there will be no NoCo romance in this fic. Bromance exists and nothing more. I'm still a fan either way and always will be!
Part two is coming so stay tuned!