Disclaimer - All rights belong to Teletoon, Cartoon Network, and the creators of TDI. No profit is being made in the making of the fanfiction. This alternate-universe episode of TDI contains stunts performed by written teens. Please don't try any of this at home. Also, do not spray cheese whiz into your shoes, you'll never get the smell out.
The Kobold Necromancer's Notes - Seems the majority of you miss Daisy, which is awesome. Duncan also got a large amount of votes, which makes me wonder just how much more of that punk I'm going to have to add to saturate your incredible demands.
New poll up, thank you all for your continuous votes.
Chapter 21 - The Subconscious Train of Fraught
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(Maclean Stadium, Cafeteria)
"Seems we're not allowed to watch the show anymore," Sebastian said to DJ and Geoff. "People are gaining 'unfair' insight on their opponents."
"Does make the confessional seem kind of pointless if everyone here can see it," DJ added.
"Sha, dude, makes me wonder if making out with Bridgette in there was a bad idea," Geoff muttered.
As Sebastian and DJ gave him awkward stares, Bridgette flushed pink at another table. Trent, sitting next to her, looked at her curiously. "Did you really do that?"
"It was a spur of the moment," she admitted, turning brighter pink.
Ezekiel, also seated nearby, cocked his head in confusion. "I'm soo'ry, but I thought you two were having an argument a'boot the relationship."
"We're not fighting or anything, mostly because," she said, looking ashamed, "I haven't told him what's bothering me."
Trent patted her shoulder. "You just need to spend some time alone with him, let your feelings be known."
"With'oot making 'oot, eh," Ezekiel added, grinning at his friend.
She giggled, which alerted Geoff's attention. Seeing Trent's hand on his girlfriend's shoulder made him feel rather down.
(Janitor's Closet - Anyone miss us?)
Geoff - "Look, I know Trent and Bridgette are legally siblings or something, but I'm still, kind of, well, maybe, just a, a tiny bit jealous of him. She hasn't spent a lot of time with me, aside from the super-hot make out session in here. Did kind of have a rude interruption..."
Noah - "And another thing! This is the confessional, not the 'make-out-ional'! I spend a lot of time in here ranting when I'm mad, and-"
Alfred - \knocking on door\ "Yeah, too much time, if you ask me!"
Noah - "Stop listening in on my semiprivate confessions, Alfred!"
As Bridgette, Trent, and Ezekiel continued to talk, Geoff headed over to sit next to Bridgette and wrap his arm around her waist. "Hey babe," he said, smiling at her. "Did you sleep well?"
"Oh, hi Geoff," she replied, rather awkwardly since she was just talking to Trent. "I was fine."
"That's good, good," he said, waving a little at Trent. "How about you, dude?"
"Kind of fine, yes," he replied, a little off-put by Geoff's forwardness.
Ezekiel waited for Geoff to ask him, but it never came; he watched the party animal nibble on Bridgette's ear, then politely looked away. Thus, he came to face-to-face with a grinning Tyler.
"Hey, buddy," the jock said, holding up his hand for a high-five. When Ezekiel gave it to him, he sat down next to the prairie boy. "Haven't seen much of my close friend during this season. How you doing?"
"Oh, fine, eh," Ezekiel replied. "Soo'ry I haven't bin in contact with you much so far, just bin a little frantic."
"Among other things," Tyler replied, wiggling his eyebrows at Ezekiel. When the prairie boy was confused, he continued, "I saw you sneaking off with a certain ravenhaired girl last night."
Immediately, the attention of all the other members of the table was on Ezekiel, who turned bright red and stared intensively at his breakfast. "Um, well," was his excuse.
"Come to think of it," Geoff said, rubbing his chin, "you never came back to our room last night, Home School."
Ezekiel swallowed and chewed on his bottom lip. "Err, that is," he explained to them.
"Out with Heather, no coming back to your room last night," Tyler said, beaming at his friend. "Our little Ezekiel has grown up!"
Bridgette drummed her fingers together, the conversation making her feel a little awkward; however, she knew she was nowhere near how embarrassed Ezekiel was.
"So c'mon dude," Geoff asked the prairie boy, "how far did you two go?"
"Geoff," Bridgette snapped, elbowing her boyfriend. "Don't ask that."
"Hey, Ezekiel man, it's okay, you're among the guys," Tyler said. "Oh, and Bridgette too, no offense."
"Well, if you must know," someone behind Tyler said, "we made out all night, and I paid special close attention to his neck, which is actually quite sensitive; he makes some really cute noises when turned on by nipping those parts."
Heather stood there, grinning slyly at the astonished table-mates. Ezekiel had slammed his forehead against the table, trying to cover his beet-red face. His girlfriend sat down next to him and said, "Well, if your friends are going to insist, I might as well throw the shock right back in their face."
Ezekiel only groaned in reply, as Geoff laughed. "Well, that answers that," he said. "Say, where'd you two do it?"
"That's our secret, so you can continue sucking face in the confessional," Heather instructed him.
Now Bridgette was blushing red as Geoff continued to laugh. She looked at Ezekiel, who had managed to look up again at Heather, and smile at her. The two were whispering something that she couldn't hear.
"Um, excuse me," Trent said, standing up. "I'm going to, uh, go find Gwen."
His glances at Heather spoke otherwise, but she didn't notice. Bridgette did, and waved her stepbrother good-bye as he left without saying anything else.
"Say, guys," Geoff said, "why don't we all head out tonight, do a double-date or something? Bridge and me, Heather and Zeke, it'll be fun."
Tyler scratched his head. "I think there's a challenge today."
"What? But we've been having them nonstop! Is Chris going to be so unrelenting as to not let us have a social life this time around?"
"Duh," Heather replied. "He's really been pushing challenges and trying to bring up tension, eh."
Tyler chuckled, and said, "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but it's pretty cool how you've got some of his accent now, Heather."
"I know, and I'll never forgive him for that," she said, beaming at her boyfriend.
She leaned in to kiss Ezekiel's cheek, and he sighed happily, wrapping an arm around her waist. Bridgette took this in with amazement.
(Janitor's Closet - We weren't gone that long.)
Bridgette - "Was that Heather? Heather, the conniving witch who tried to break people up, who schemes to hurt the vulnerable, who's been rude and insulting since day one, being all social and snuggly with Ezekiel?"
\She then grins.\ "Oh wow, he's really made her a better person. I don't know how, but he's influenced her with so much... manners, if that's how you say it! I gotta ask him to do some of that to Geoff."
Trent - "Okay, I'm not comfortable with Heather yet. She framed Cody after voting me off in TDC. Some could say that was Courtney's fault, but I still don't like her, at all."
Tyler - "My man, Ezekiel! You know, I still remember the first day of TDC, where we bonded on the Dock of Shame, and were talking to each other about the bummers of life and the show. He's my best friend here, so I'm really hoping we're on the same team!"
Heather - "I'm not normally revealing or that happy, you people got that? You think I'm out of character this morning, I'm sure some of those people at the table did, but I just had a night of passionate making out with my boyfriend. And... and..."
\She gets bright red in the face, and swallows, drumming her fingers together.\ "Okay, don't know where that came from. Damn it all, this show is getting the best of me. Ezekiel too, that nicey-nice boy, making me not myself."
Izzy was busy stirring her eggs and pancakes up in the sea of ketchup she had pored onto her plate. She looked bored, lost in thought, and a little upset. Mandy could sense her friend's angst, and headed over to her.
"Heyas, redheaded mortal," she said, plopping down next to Izzy. "Why so glum?"
"Was wondering about where things go from here," Izzy admitted. "I mean, I don't even have the urge to go snooping through clothing drawers."
"That's a shame, seems like you're really down."
"Yeah, especially since I gotta finish my collect of underwear thefts, which I just started."
She held up a pair of yellow panties. She grinned triumphantly until Belinda walked by and snatched them away, humming 'nah-ah-ah' as she past by with her reclaimed underwear. Izzy snapped her fingers and cursed, "Aw damn, forgot the psychic girl would be one of the first to reclaim her underwear."
"You got any of mine, Izzy?"
"No, just Lindsay and Noah."
"Oh good! And I know what you need to cheer you up! A boyfriend!"
"I don't know if I'm ready to start the dating game again, ever since I had to call it off with Owen," Izzy admitted. "He was sweet, and I miss that."
"Let me know when, mortal friend. Remember that the Old Gods will crush life on the planet any day now, might as well live each moment while you can."
Izzy grinned. "Very well, Mandy! Wanna go out?"
"Look, I'm having enough problems proving I'm not gay; if I start dating you, people are going to think the wrong thing."
"But it'll feel so right," she purred.
Mandy face-palmed, then peeked through her fingers when someone sat at their table. Hannah, sipping some tea, was eyeing the two girls.
"Izzy, I was wondering if I could help you out with your breakup," she said, smiling at the redhead.
"You're gonna ask God to conjure me a boy who understands me perfectly?"
"If it were that easy, we wouldn't need to be dating in the first place," Hannah said with a polite chuckle. As Izzy snapped her fingers in regret, she continued, "I think we just need to set you up with another one of the guys, one of the well-mannered ones."
As the three girls talked, Lindsay looked around for a place to sit. Seeing Noah, Katie, and Sadie, she smiled and sat down with them, right next to Noah. "Hey, Kathy," Lindsay called out to Katie, who was snuggled against Noah, "he slept with us all last night."
"Hooray," Katie cheered and hugged her boyfriend, as Sadie clapped and cheered. Lindsay, getting in the spirit, hugged Noah, but his height compared to his led her breasts to mush against the side of his face. Katie noticed this, and let go as if Noah was on fire. "Oh my!"
Noah lightly pushed Lindsay away, who stared back at him with a sad expression. "What?" Lindsay asked, whimpering. "Can't I hug too?"
"Not with your space cushions getting up in my face," Noah grumbled, trying to shake off his heavy blush.
Lindsay cocked her head to the side, frowning in confusion. "I am, like, so confused."
Sadie seemed to see how she felt. "I don't get the problem, Katie," she admitted. "Lindsay's our friend!"
(Janitor's Closet - Bus bathrooms are okay, but we're better!)
Katie - "Look, I know this is mean and, like, so predictable, but Lindsay paying special attention to Noah makes me nervous. It's no surprise that she's gorgeous, and no matter how hard I try, I couldn't reach that level of attractiveness. Sadie's lucky, she can, she's almost as pretty as Lindsay; however, me, it's, like, so hard not to get upset when Lindsay's giving Noah a big hug and all."
Lindsay - \looking upset\ "This happens a lot. I hug a guy, his girlfriend gets mad. It's just a hug, am I doing something wrong?"
Sadie - "Lindsay's a close friend of mine, I know she wouldn't try anything with Noah. 'Cuz, like, I've been with Noah by myself, and Katie's perfectly fine with it! Noah's so all about Katie, there's no way to tear him away!"
Chris Maclean - \rubbing his chin deviously\ "Oh, we'll see, dear Sadie, we'll see."
The thirty-nine contestants were escorted to the arena after breakfast was over. Some were surprised that there was no crowd in the stands this time, some were relieved. One was very confused.
"I don't get it," Lindsay mused aloud as she looked up at the seats. "Where are the people? Aren't they home?"
"This isn't their home, Lindsay," Noah grumbled.
"But, they're always, like, here," she pointed out. "Did they step out to get those things that sometimes the servants at home have to get?"
"Groceries?" Courtney asked, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, those things."
"Seriously," Valerie whispered to Zachary, "she's so dumb, it's a wonder she hasn't suffocated on a pillow yet sleeping face-down."
"Good thing she's hot," he replied, "or she'd only be good for the first victim in horror films."
Lindsay didn't overhear this, she was too busy massaging her temples in trying to get her brain to work overtime and come up with an answer. As she and the others approached the large platform Chris was standing on, she was crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out in thought.
"Same to you, Lindsay," the host commented to her host. "Okay teenagers, are you ready for another race?"
"Oh great, more psychotic driving," Gwen mumbled.
"Not another car of death," Clive wailed.
"What is it this time?" Xander asked. "Boats? Go-carts? Bikes?"
Chris raised his hands and proudly exclaimed, "Trains!"
A moment of silence failed to get across, as the teenagers were already making interrogative noises.
"How do you race trains?" Yoshi shouted. "Are we playing with toy trains or something?"
"This is the lamest thing I've ever heard," Carol remarked.
"Does anyone even use trains anymore?" Beth asked.
"My my Chris, losing imagination?" Noah commented, raising an eyebrow. "I guess when you haven't thought of something original, your creativity drops like your long-since-peaked popularity."
Chris laughed, then poked Noah's chest. "You'll regret those words, nerd. It's time for me to get a little revenge."
The bookworm held his ground, then heard vehicles approaching. Seven limousines pulled into the arena, numbered one to seven. Several contestants looked at them in awe, cheering and already excited.
"Finally, some cars I like," Howard exclaimed.
"Not bad, but what's this have to do with trains?" Anita asked.
Chris waved a finger at the contestants to quiet them down. "Now, here are the rules. You all are getting into your limo, the number matching your team."
"And those teams are?" Noah asked.
"I was getting to that, Noah."
"No, you weren't, you were facing the camera and grinning at it, posing for whatever hopeful airline attendant might want you," he replied, smirking wickedly at the host.
"Oh no, he didn't," Leshawna said in amazement.
Sakaki scratched her head. "Um, I don't get it."
"Will you all shut up?" Chris shouted, throwing his hands into the air. "Stop hogging my talking time on this show! And Noah, I don't know what rumors you heard, but quite frankly, she was hot."
"Ooo, what a comeback. I have been outwitted again by you."
"Right, that's it, revenge time! I'm announcing my revenge now! See those limos?" he snapped as he pointed his finger at the vehicles. "They're taking you all to the train station, and you're boarding a train, all of you, and you're going to be in one compartment each, all marked with your team's name.
"How you all will win this game will be instructed when you're all in your train compartments, and the choo-choo train choo-choo'es your young butts out of here. As for the teams, we have seven, a few of them I designed specifically!
"Katie!"
The sweet girl almost jumped at being called out. She looked between Sadie and Noah, then stammered, "Um, y-yes, Chris?"
"It's your lucky day, because your team was made specifically for you! You're going to be with Justin, Ezekiel, Rodney, Colin, and Crystal!"
"What what what?!" Noah exclaimed, looking horrified. Rodney, nearby, was hiding behind Justin, because Colin was grinning evilly at him.
"And Noah," Chris Maclean continued, "you are going to be Lindsay, Sadie, Eva, Anita, and Cody! You enjoy!"
Lindsay cheered and hugged Noah, and he struggled to get out of the glomping grasp. Sadie was looking between them and a very crestfallen Katie, then at Anita and Eva, who were already glaring at each other.
(Janitor's Closet - You're a monster, Mr. Maclean!)
Chris Maclean - "It was rather brilliant, on my part. And I doubt Noah really gets how serious each teammate his girlfriend and he got. Each one was picked for a reason! Katie is paired with Justin, hottest guy in the show, Ezekiel who was a suspected crush for her in TDC, Crystal who's a match maker..."
Noah - "... Rodney who is my intellectual rival, and Colin who is the meanest jerk in this show! Of course I see what he's doing there, and with my team! He's putting Lindsay, who's physical attributes are all that really get her through, Katie's best friend Sadie, and there's that love triangle..."
Chris - "... of Anita, Eva, and Cody, sure to drive him bonkers! Genius, huh? Revenge is sweet!"
Colin - "I got a bunch of pansies on my team, I doubt we can win this. Oh well, I think I know my job on this challenge, and that's to annoy Noah's skinny-ass girlfriend." \He laughs wickedly.\
Cody - \grinning impishly\ "Oh wow, I get to be teamed with four girls. I love this show."
Eva - "Now's the time to show Cody just how much better I am than Anita! I'll show him that I know him better than she does!"
Anita - \smiling with her arms crossed\ "Well, this is my chance to impress Cody. Of course, knowing him, he's probably more stoked that he gets to be with four girls." \She giggles, covering her mouth politely.\ "Oh, he's such a cute horn dog, isn't he?"
As Katie and Noah tried to say good-byes before Chef Hatchet pulled him and towards his limo, Chris turned to the contestants not chosen yet. "And that leaves four teams to go. I was just so proud of those two teams and the next one that I forgot to put any effort into the other teams."
"That's about as surprising," Gwen remarked, "as anything you've ever done."
"Careful now, Gwen, I might shove you in a limo with some of Trent's worst enemies."
"I don't have enemies," Trent said, smiling politely.
"None that you're aware of," Chris Maclean said deviously, "or might have soon."
Trent and Gwen exchanged confused looks. "What did he mean by that?" she whispered to him, receiving a shrug in reply.
"Team number three," the host continued, "will be Operation Get the Crazy Girls Matched Up!"
"That sounds exciting," Izzy said. "Who are the crazy girls?"
Chris blinked. He had expected Izzy to know that. "Um, you for one, Izzy. And your equally psychotic friend Mandy."
"Yay," she exclaimed, hugging Mandy. "We're gonna be bachelorettes, baby!"
"And your bachelors are DJ, Xander, Sebastian, and Alfred!"
Izzy cheered again and jumped on DJ, startling him that he tried to run away, but she was riding on his back. Xander ran after them, trying to calm DJ down, while Sebastian fiddled with his dreadlocks, watching Alfred approaching Mandy already.
"Looks like we're together this time," he said gleefully. "You like trains?"
"Never been on one."
"You'll love it then!"
"I haven't had my eyeballs removed with a corkscrew, but I know I won't love that."
"You have the most romantic things to say in this dating game Chris has set up."
Sebastian chuckled. "Fitting for his show, yes."
(Janitor's Closet - And just who are we dating?)
Mandy - \reading message displayed on the camera's side-screen\ " 'Do I like Alfred?' Yes, I don't mind admitting I like him, but I've got three other handsome men on this trip, including my partner in crime, Xander."
DJ - "Izzy scares me. Mandy scares me. I think this is going to result in me becoming scared of trains."
Sebastian - "How nice of Chris Maclean to try to and hook me up; however, he should know that the best possible chance of finding true love is not having someone hook you up."
Xander - "Many people would be intimidated by the fact that they'd be teamed up with Mandy and Izzy. But not me, I say, 'bring 'em on, I love wild girls'! Even if neither is blond, unlike a certain cute match maker."
"Now here comes the boring teams, teams I have no interest in, so you'll more than likely fail, and fail miserably," the host said with a cheeky grin. "Who wants to be a failure?"
"You're meaner than usual today," Valerie observed. "Any particular reason?"
"Our Aftermath show turned out to be a failure."
"But I heard that the ratings there were spectacular," Justin remarked.
"That's the problem, because I wasn't on it! It was supposed to be bad as a result!"
Many eyes rolled; only Valerie didn't, and she was giggling to herself. The host sighed, trying to put this behind him. "Next team, Team 4 of Failures, consists of Geoff, Trent, Heather, Valerie, and Sakaki."
This didn't fly well with most of them. Geoff was eyeing Trent suspiciously, Heather and Valerie exchanged eye-daggers, and Sakaki was looking desperate to hide behind someone. Sebastian was already gone, in his limousine, and now she didn't have anyone to hide behind. Coming close to fainting and/or freaking, she hid behind the largest person she could find.
"Get away from me, little girl," Chef Hatchet muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a blast shield or whatever's going on in that mind of yours."
"The next team is another group of boring bunch," Chris continued as Chef pushed Sakaki to her limo. "The members are Clive, Arthur, Carol, Joel, and Bridgette."
"I'm not boring," Carol hollered, throwing her fists up in the air.
"I'm so not boring," Bridgette pouted.
"I am boring," Clive said. "Life is boring, when it's not cruel and horrible."
Chris clapped his hands. "Well said, Clive. Now, team five will be Hannah, Courtney, Gwen, Leshawna, and Tyler."
A very upset vocal cry come out from the one most trained in being a consoler. "Hey, wait a minute," Courtney exclaimed. "These people hate me!"
"Yeah, about that, I lied. I actually planned this team out too," Chris admitted. "I paired you up with people who seriously hate you from last season. Oh, and Hannah, because you might want to ask her for God's help to have you survive this."
Courtney winced, feeling three angry people glaring at her. She looked over at Hannah, who shrugged and said, "I don't hate you, relax."
(Janitor's Closet - Maybe we'll ask the Bus's Bathroom?)
Courtney - "This is ridiculous! It's almost as if he wants me to be voted off! Why else would he put me on a team with people who'd love to see me booted off the show, and way too early, I may add?"
Chris Maclean - "Because of the DRAMA!" \He cackles.\ "Besdies, it's not like the others are gonna kill her or anything."
Leshawna - "I hate that freckled-faced witch." \She cracks her knuckles.\
Gwen - "Maybe we can tie Courtney up on the train tracks, that would be fun."
"And our last team, a team of the most failing failures to fail at failing, we have-"
"Wait a minute," Harold interrupted. "If we fail at failing, that means we succeed. That would be the definition provided by the English language, with the process of words and verbs-"
"Oh shut your failing mouth, failure," Chris snapped. "Harold, you and Belinda, Howard, Zachary, Yoshi, and Beth are on the same team!"
Harold shrugged, and was startled when Howard let out a cry of joy. "I'm finally paired up with Belinda! What do you say about that, Foresight?"
"I say, you'll have all the time in the world to try and court me," Belinda replied, looking at Chris. When the host blinked in confusion, she simply chuckled and headed towards the limo.
"What did she mean by that?" Beth asked the others.
Harold tapped his temple in thought. "My guess is, she knows what we'll have to do in this challenge."
Beth grinned. "Oh wow, you're very smart, Harold!" She turned to the others, and started to ask, "What do you guys thi-"
Howard was already following Belinda, opening the limo door for her, with a giddy grin on his face. Zachary and Yoshi were glaring furiously at each other, and Beth almost feel the hatred coming from them; she had a strange urge to kick someone in the knee.
(Janitor's Closet - Okay, enough with our inanimate love life.)
Beth - "My team is... okay, I guess. The angry feud and the possible new couple, it's going to be quite interesting to be there."
Chris Maclean - "Oh, that's what we're hoping for!"
Harold - "But if you're failing at failing, maybe it's when you're trying to lose something but you cannot. Like if you try to let someone win a video game, but they're still losing, because gosh, she's sucks, and she's complaining to mom that you never give her a chance, but you really are trying to let your sister win..."
Howard - "Yeah, baby! This is going to be the train of love! Is there a train of love? Well, this will be, after I'm done! See, Belinda has already shown interest in me, and I'm gonna go on that!"
Belinda - \She looks up at the ceiling in thought, then smirks at the camera.\ "What, you think I'm going to predict what Howard is saying in his confession? C'mon, if you couldn't guess, then you haven't been paying much attention."
Seven limo rides later, with nothing terribly interesting happening in them (something that seriously let Chris down), the contestants found themselves at a train station. Waiting patiently, or impatiently for about half of the cast, their train arrived. Chef Hatchet stood nearby, dressed as a sexy female train attendant.
"Oh, for the love of crap," Carol exclaimed when she saw him, "do you have to dress like that?"
"You need professional help," Yoshi spat at Chef.
Belinda looked him over and said, "You should consider wearing nylons with that skirt, would make yourself look better."
"I'm sick of you kids," Chef Hatchet grumbled, "making fun of me all the time."
"Don't take it so hard, man," Joel said to him as he boarded. "We're like this with everybody."
"Indeed," said Sebastian. "We're teenagers."
"You still look like a freak," Eva remarked.
The teens, after making enough fun out of the Chef, looked around the train until they found their cabins. When they looked around their surroundings, which would have been spacious if not for the fact that there were five or six of them, the doors all closed.
Several attempts were made to open them, but none, not even Eva, could do it. Before any of them could seriously panic (though some came close to it), speakers in the rooms whined as they came to life.
"Attention! Attention, annoying teenagers," the voice of Chris Maclean came booming in. "It is time for you all to participate in the sixth challenge of Total... Drama... Battlegrounds! We call this the Train Brain Pain, as you'll have to do something that'll strain your noggins."
"Who says 'noggins' anymore?" Katie whispered to Crystal.
"This train is now starting off," Chris said. "And thus, our challenge has begun! In this challenge, you have something really simple to do: have something exceptionally interesting happen among you all!
"I'm talking show changing! Mind warping! Bring in the ratings! We got seven web cameras in each cabin, observing your moves, and we have anxious viewers wanting to see something interesting!"
Izzy snapped her fingers. "Aw curses, I had to break up with Owen last challenge, not this one."
"You are all stuck in your cabins until the train comes back to the station it originally left from. Once you have completed a major brain strain for our viewers, your team wins immunity! The last two teams to not receive immunity... do not receive immunity."
"Maybe we should have scripted that," Anita said to herself.
"So get to being interesting, and none of that stupid mushy stuff! Unless, of course, we get some officially new couples, or teens cheating on each other. Be wild!"
Izzy and Mandy exchanged devious looks.
(Janitor's Closet - Sounds like he wants them to kill each other.)
Izzy - "I seriously wanted to know what Chris was thinking. He puts me and my good friend Mandy in a room together, along with some nice guys, and he asks us to do something interesting? Why not just hand me explosives to clear a path for a new bypass?"
Justin - "Look, I'm not one to be critical, but Chris puts Izzy and that cultist freak in a room together, and he tells them to do something wild? Why not just hand them explosives to clear a path for a new road?"
Joel - "Hannah and I have been getting along so well these days, she's such an angel." \He chuckles, scratching the back of his head.\ "Well, she and I agreed to a little something in case we end up on different racing teams."
Yoshi - "Stuck with Zachary in the same room, and they made me leave my sword back at the arena because of..." \He makes air quotes.\ " 'Safety protocols' on the train! What about MY safety, he's going to drive me crazy!"
(Team 1 - Colin, Crystal, Ezekiel, Justin, Katie, Rodney)
Katie was trying the door again, but had no luck, of course. "Now I really wish I had grabbed something from the snack bar," she muttered.
"So, what do we do?" Justin asked.
Some of the others shrugged. "Hard to say, really," Crystal said. "Chris wants us to do something interesting, and bloody heck if I know how to make a crowded train car fun to watch, eh wot?"
"Oh, I know what I could do to make things interesting."
Crystal felt her body lock up in terror when Colin said those words. Soon his hands were crawling all over her, and she let out a cry of disgust. The others all stood up to come to her aid, but it wasn't necessary.
The British romantic slugged Colin in the stomach with a quick blow, and while he was stunned, she pinched at a nerve on his neck. He gurgled and collapsed.
"Whoa," Rodney marveled, looking at the unconscious bully. "Did you learn that from Sebastian?"
"No, sweetheart, he isn't the only chap who knows martial arts," she replied, grinning and flexing her fingers.
Ezekiel chuckled. "Well then, we're at your mercy, Miss Crystal."
"Oh good heavens, don't start saying that, you'll make me feel old."
Katie giggled, then looked around the compartment. "So, what are we going to do for the camera?"
"Pound me, eh," Ezekiel muttered.
"It's 'beats me,' dude," Justin corrected. "You still don't know your slang?"
"Guess not."
Katie scratched her head. "Well, teaching you won't be that interesting. We're gonna have to struggle to find something interesting."
Justin grinned and shed his shirt. "Here's a way to start it!"
Katie and Crystal swooned, and so did Ezekiel. When the others looked at him in particular, he blushed and looked away.
(Janitor's Closet - Colin don't learn fast, do he?)
Ezekiel - "I'd like to remember to that train ride as one from hell, eh. Seriously, it all snowballed after I let 'oot that little swoon. I didn't mean to, and please doo'nt let Heather knoo' I did that, eh!"
Crystal - \tapping her lips, gigging\ "You know, if Justin wasn't taken, and I wasn't positive Ezekiel is straight, I'd work on my first yaoi pairing!"
(Team 2 - Anita, Cody, Eva, Lindsay, Noah, Sadie)
Noah had wedged himself deep into the corner of the room, arms crossed and brow furrowed. His eyes kept darting down, forgetting that he didn't have a book with him, and breathed through his nose.
Cody had sat between Anita and Eva, both of the girls trying to think of what to say. The awkward silence wasn't exactly bringing a victory anywhere closer. Sadie was watching them, anxious to see if someone was going to start a fight or a flirt.
Lindsay sat down next to Noah, smiling at him. "Hey, Boa."
"Noah."
"I was just curious, is your last name Feather?"
"... What?"
"Because then your name would be Boa Feather, and you'd have to sign things 'Feather, Boa'!"
She burst into giggles, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Noah wasn't laughing. Crestfallen, she slumped in her seat.
"Aww," she moaned, "I was thinking of a good joke, and that one took the whole limo ride and wait at the station."
"Shame."
"Was it at least funny?"
Before Noah could reply, there was a snarl from the other side of the room. "Stop looking at him, you," Eva snapped at Sadie, who had been doing just that.
With a squeak of terror, Sadie bolted over to Lindsay and clung to her. "That triangle of love is, like, so scary," she said to her friends.
"Yes, love is oh-so-frightening," Noah remarked. "I cannot wait until Anita and Eva break out the bo staff and punching gloves to fight over that handsome rebel, huh?" [1]
Sadie stared at her best friend's boyfriend. "Is dating Katie scary?"
"In the sense that I'm starting to like pink, that I'm, like, actually talking to other people now, and...," he paused, then face-palmed, "I just used 'like' like that."
Sadie and Lindsay giggled. "That's so-oooooooo cu-yuuuuuuuute," they crooned in unison.
(Team 3 - Alfred, DJ, Izzy, Mandy, Sebastian, Xander)
"Let's take over the train," Izzy hollered.
"Nah, let's commit a murder on it, one that no one could solve," Mandy suggested. She pulled her dagger from her back pocket, slowly sliding it from the scabbard. "I got the weapon."
"You're a genius," Izzy exclaimed. "But who can we kill?"
DJ was hiding behind Xander, the rebel laughing at the antics of the girls. Sebastian simply watched them, idly fiddling with one of his dreadlocks' strands. Alfred was grinning and nodding.
"Let's kill Colin," Alfred suggested. "No one likes him."
"Brilliant," Izzy declared. "Let's go kill us a sacrifice for Mandy's Old God."
"By the King in the Yellow Robe," Mandy vowed, giggling, "this is going to be good."
Alfred walked over to the window and opened it after a little struggle. The wind roared outside, and he started to climb out. When his foot slipped, he fell out. Xander reacted quickest, and managed to grab his legs.
"Wow," Alfred howled in delight as he was being held upside-down out of the moving train. "I never did this before! It's so cool!"
"Someone want to help me?" Xander called out to the others in desperation.
"But he's having fun," Izzy said matter-of-factly as Mandy, Sebastian, and DJ went to help pull Alfred back in. "Why don't you let him hang out a little more?"
"My, what a whole new meaning to the phrase," Sebastian observed as they all pulled Alfred back in.
Winded and a little dizzy, Alfred stumbled and fell down on Izzy, knocking them to the floor. "Can I do that again?" he asked, grinning happily.
"Falling on Izzy?" Xander asked. "Sure, if she doesn't mind."
"Jeez, Alfred almost fell out of the train," DJ exclaimed. "Isn't that interesting enough?"
"Naw, he'd have to fall out in order for it to be interesting for Chris," Izzy said from the floor, looking up at the gonzo.
Mandy patted DJ's shoulder, and said, "Lighten up, Deej. If you relax and stop being a big sissy mortal, you might get one of his girls to curl up around you."
"That's what I'm afraid of," he muttered.
(Team 4 - Geoff, Heather, Sakaki, Trent, Valerie)
"Well, any ideas?" Heather asked the others.
"Why not tell us all about your time with your boyfriend last night?" Valerie suggested. She grinned at the queen bee, crossing her arms as she leaned back.
"Why not tell us why you dress like a bubble gum wrapper?" Heather shot back, intwining her fingers and covering her mouth with them.
"Why not tell us how fast you're going to be booted off this show?"
"Why not tell us why you bothered to even sign up for this show?"
Sakaki was hiding behind Trent as she watched the exchange between the two girls. "I thought Heather was in a good mood," she whimpered.
"Guess that's what happens when two popular powerhouses butt heads," Trent remarked. "Gwen was sure that'd happen with Heather, and Bridgette agrees too."
Geoff's attention was perked. He looked away from the girls to Trent. "Wait, what? Bridgette doesn't like popular people?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but she doesn't really care about popularity. Everyone's the same in her eyes, no matter how cool you are at school."
The party animal looked distraught by this. "Hey, um, how'd you know that?"
"Well, we've had a lot of time to talk during the break between seasons," Trent explained. "Bridgette and her mom can really chat up a storm when they get started."
"You've met her mom too?" Geoff exclaimed.
"Um, yeah, dude. She's gonna be my step mom."
Geoff blinked a great many times, wringing his fingers nervously. In the back, Valerie and Heather were now exchanging suggestions like "Why don't you stop dressing like a trollop?" and "Why don't you stop dressing like you're six years old?"
(Janitor's Closet - This'll be a fun trip, eh?)
Valerie - "I hate Heather so much! If I ever get the chance, I'll really sock it to her! And this challenge is perfect, since I have Trent on my side. Last challenge, I asked him to vote for Howard, and he's now part of our group! Zachary and that one person he asked to join us, whom I don't yet and would actually like to, the four of us are unstoppable!"
Sakaki - "Geoff didn't seem too happy during the trip. I wonder if he's jealous of Trent's time with Bridgette." \She taps her fingers together nervously.\ "Why does there always have to be so much drama in these shows?"
(Team 5 - Arthur, Bridgette, Carol, Clive, Joel)
"Desperation, despair, hopelessness, it's all there. Doomed, sealed inside a small room with only a tiny window to give us a false sense of escape, while the world passes by and we perish. It was hopeless, we can't escape and can barely breathe, minds racing and hearts tightening..."
"Um, that's nice, Carol," said Bridgette, shrinking away from the enthusiast, "but I don't think your worst detention will be enough to satisfy Chris."
"And then we all really needed to piss-"
"Okay, fine," Arthur exclaimed, face-palming and leaning up against a corner of the room. "Knock it off, you're going to upset the emo."
Clive blinked, then said, "I was long upset before this train ride."
"More so than usual, then."
"That's not feasible by human means, dude."
Arthur's eyebrow quirked, then shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, dude. Keep griping, I'm sure Chris will find that ratings-worthy."
"Works for the news."
"That's real life, dude."
"And it's as depressing as this situation."
Bridgette let out an exasperated sigh, then turned to Joel, the only non-fretting member of her group. The inventor was pushing some buttons on some kind of rectangular device, very involved in it.
"That one of those video game handhelds?" she asked him.
"Nope, cellphone."
"What? But it's... big!"
"Yep, I hate small cellphones, because it limits the amount of things you can do with them. I say, they should be as big as your wallet."
He flipped it open, then showed her the screen. Her eyes widened as he asked, "Pyramid or klondike for your solitaire enjoyment?"
"Tempting, but we are trying to be very interesting for this train ride."
A startled cry from the others alerted their attention, and they saw Carol was practically climbing on Clive. "C'mon, emo boy, you can't be emo if you're giving someone a piggyback ride!"
"Geddoffufme!"
As the short girl continued to clamor on top of the emo, Arthur leaned over to Joel and asked, "You got poker on that too?"
(Janitor's Closet - And chess? We like chess.)
Arthur - "My team was like being trapped in a grade school that had just given all the kids sugar. Never put an emo and a wild girl in the same room, because they don't cancel each other out, their personalities amplify!" \He groans and shakes his head.\ "That emo has a weird influence..."
Clive - "Riding a train is like the shadow on the moon at night, filling our dreams to the brink of fright."
Carol - \bobbing her head as she talks\ "On that train, did I love it? Wow! I kept waiting for the next surprise!"
(Team 6 - Courtney, Gwen, Hannah, Leshawna, Tyler)
"This has got to be a safety hazard," Courtney remarked bitterly, watching Tyler prying at the door. The jock had a foot up on the wall as he pulled with all his might. He eventually lost his grip and flung himself backwards, accidentally landing in Gwen's lap.
"Hello?" he asked bashfully. Gwen pushed him off and continued to stare out the window.
"So, what are we going to do?" Hannah said, twiddling her thumbs idly.
Leshawna tapped her lips in thought. "Gotta do something wild and crazy to get off the train, right? Well, what's been done in the movies?"
Gwen answered this. "Murder, robberies, being thrown off, one-night stands, hijackings, and running the thing off a cliff."
"Don't think we can do any of that, sugar."
"What the heck kind of movies do you watch, Gwen?" Courtney asked, frowning at the goth.
"Those are all from famous movies, Courtney."
"Well, you seem to make them all horrifying, dark trips."
Gwen hissed air through her teeth. "You know, I thought that this train ride would be the worst thing ever, but now I know it's worse because I'm trapped in here with you!"
"How rude," Courtney spat, sticking her nose up at the goth girl.
Tyler, who had gotten up off the floor by now, scoffed as he sat down. "No, Gwen's right. It's so nice being trapped in here with the girl who organized my girlfriend's vote-off from last season. And Gwen's boyfriend."
"And me," Leshawna added.
"Are you all going to complain about that until the end of time?" Courtney snapped. "You cannot hold it against me forever!"
Gwen undertook a good many facial changes, from upset to thinking to cruelly gleeful. The goth girl centered her eyes on Courtney as a wicked grin spread across her face, and the CIT felt herself quite unnerved.
"That's true," she said, her voice sounding like a demon's all of a sudden. "Not forever..."
"However," Tyler said, also looking as diabolical as Gwen with a sadistic smirk on his face, "there is nothing stopping us from getting our revenge now..."
"After all," Leshawna added, cracking her knuckles in front of her sinister smile, "the door is locked, and we're trapped on a train."
Courtney found herself scooting away from them, until she bumped into the corner. Gwen, Tyler, and Leshawna all stood over her, their evil grins practically glowing.
"Guys," Hannah spoke from the other side of the room, "this really isn't necessary-"
One look from the three of them, all at once, made her voice catch in her voice. Hannah realized then and there that if there was anything scarier than a revenge-driven teenager, it was three. She squeaked, "Right! Um, well then... oh look!"
She fished in her skirt's pocket and pulled out her cellphone. "I've got a call! Fancy that!"
Huddling in the other corner, she pretended not to hear or see anything in the world, especially when Courtney began to shriek...
(Janitor's Closet - No escape, eh?)
Hannah - "I knew I was a bit of a coward back there, but I knew they weren't going to kill her! Anyway, it wasn't that nightmarish."
Chico the Raccoon - "i'm dat raccoon, hidin in yur trash kan, waytin to pounce an mayk u screem!"
Groucho the Duck - "You want real torture? I've got it down, interrogation is like puddle paddling! That's my scene, napalm black and camo green!"
Hannah - \blinks a couple times, then looks around\ "Gee, I have a song stuck in my head now, where did that come from?" [2]
(Team 7 - Belinda, Beth, Harold, Howard, Yoshi, Zachary)
"So, we're together on a train," Howard said, sitting next to Belinda with a sly grin on his face. "How's this for a first date?"
"You mean besides our friends here?"
She jerked her thumb at Zachary and Yoshi, who were sitting with their arms crossed and eyes focused on the other. Both were growling at each other, daring the other to make the first move.
"It's cool, that can be the show for the evening," Howard said, his arm propping itself on the back of the seat behind Belinda. The blond girl continued to smile at him, and though it was just her neutral look, he was taking it as a sign to advance.
"Wait, what's this about a show?" Harold asked. "I know some awesome magic tricks from Steve's Magic Camp, and I could do that right now! Then we'll have something exciting and surprising for Chris too, I'm brilliant!"
As he fished through his pockets, Beth clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, this'll be good!"
"Dude," Zachary said, looking away from Yoshi, "I really doubt that is going to work."
"Nonsense! I can perform some very awesome tricks that'll wow anyone. Watch this..."
He had taken a bunch of cards from his hands, and eagerly shuffled them. Then he offered a handful to Zachary, who ruefully took one.
Harold pressed his finger to his forehead. "Is it the... thirteen of diamonds?"
"Are you crazy, white boy?" Zachary snapped. "There ain't no thirteen of diamonds!"
He turned his card over to prove this, only to see thirteen diamonds on the card. Beth cheered loudly and clapped. Harold bowed as Zachary boggled at the card.
"And that's not all," the nerd continued. He produced a colored handkerchief from his pocket, then pushed it up into his right sleeve.
"Hey, I thought those things were supposed to be longer," Yoshi commented.
"Oh, it will be," Harold said as he started reaching up his left sleeve. He then added as he started to pull something out, "Watch this!"
Anyone outside of the room looking in would have had their vision totally obscured by thick gray smoke, as the resulting explosion completely filled the air. Seeping out through the cracks, the smoke refused to leave until Yoshi opened the window. In the room, the other five sat there, eyes wide with shock, soot covering their bodies and the entire room.
"Um, gosh," Harold wheezed. "I have no idea how that happened."
Belinda chuckled, then looked up at Howard. "You can get off my lap now."
The ladies man, who had jumped onto her when the explosion went off, sheepishly went back to his seat. "Sorry. Was startled and all, I'm honestly not that forward."
Beth was squealing in delight, clapping again. "Do it again, Harold, do it again! That was incredible!"
(Janitor's Closet - When things go 'poof'!)
Zachary - "That freaky white guy, giving off an explosion like that. Makes ya scream like a banshee, and-"
Chris Maclean - "Blah blah blah, won't you make way for a very special guy? Me, who is not getting near enough attention! That's all the time we have for now, so we are going to leave you in cruel suspense. That's my job, but I'm not mean; well, maybe I am, but I'm Chris Maclean!"
\He pauses and looks around, obviously perturbed by something.\ "Okay, seriously, why do I have a song stuck in my head?"
Rodney - \He is writing on some papers on a clipboard.\ "I wanted to do a small investigation on this phenomenon of a song being 'stuck' in the janitor's closet. I think it's somehow linked to the challenge, because as some people have guessed, your mind can subconsciously link to a song you know that links to your current mood. Something about horror and hilarity seems to be the theme."
\He grins at the camera.\ "Some might call this the... train of thought!" \He giggles, then looks ashamed, and bows his head.\ "I apologize for that pun."
Which teams are actually going to be doing something interesting enough to get Chris's attention? Are they gonna sell their soul to do it, or something even more important for a teenager?
Is Courtney going to survive her vengeful train-mates? Is Heather's good mood gone that quickly? Is Noah going to be worse off than both of them?
And what is it about getting songs stuck in your head, huh? Is there any way to get them out without fretting for a hour?
--
--
--
Challenge #6, The Train Brain Pain, The Teams:
Team 1 - Katie, Ezekiel, Justin, Rodney, Colin, Crystal
Team 2 - Noah, Lindsay, Sadie, Eva, Anita, Cody
Team 3 - Izzy, Mandy, DJ, Xander, Sebastian, Alfred
Team 4 - Geoff, Trent, Heather, Valerie, Sakaki
Team 5 - Bridgette, Joel, Clive, Carol, Arthur
Team 6 - Hannah, Courtney, Gwen, Leshawna, Tyler
Team 7 - Zachary, Yoshi, Harold, Belinda, Howard, Beth
--
[1] - When Noah refers to the two girls wielding a bo staff and punching gloves to duke it out over a handsome guy, he is referring to Final Fantasy 7's Aerith, Tifa, and Cloud. And I'd like to stress that I've never played that game, and I don't care to.
[2] - In this town, we call home, you get a song stuck in your head when you're trying to set a mood. And if you're like me, you listen to it over and over, and it somehow effects your writing. All hail the pumpkin throne, whatever that is.
--
Next Up - Teams try to be interesting, but Izzy doesn't need to "try."