WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! =D
*confetti falls*
Congratulations, allygirl56! You had posted the milestone-esque 100th review for Facade: Through the Eyes of the Codemeister! =D This is the first time any of my fics hit the triple digits for reviews, so it is quite an event!
And what is your prize...?
Drumroll please...
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A new chapter of Facade, and an honorable mention in the author's note! =D *tomato'd*
...Yes, well... anyway, thank you very much for your contribution. :) And also, I thank all of you reviewers for the 99 reviews that lead up to the 100th review, for without you this wouldn't be possible. 100 reviews! Sweet! =D
-X-
Façade: Through the Eyes of the Codemeister
Chapter Thirty-Five: Don't Strain Your Brain
"Alright, everybody ready?" Tyler asked, and I, along with everyone in the group (well, almost everyone), spoke with a very loud "Yes."
However, one voice stood out from the rest. "Just get on with it, Tyler! I want to know exactly how I got freaking kicked off!"
"Um... CIT lady, you kinda yelled in my ear, eh..."
Tyler rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't really feel like playing the tape now that Courtney just went and yelled in Zeke's ear like that."
"Oh, I'm sure he's just exaggerating."
"...I think I hear ringin', eh."
"Courtney, just apologize to Zeke so we can watch the video," I finally said. Yeah, you can see why she wouldn't mind seeing Tyler and me fall to our deaths, huh?
"...Oh, alright..." I couldn't see her, but the expressions I imagined were on her face were probably rather accurate. "I'm sorry, Homeschool."
"Ezekiel," Tyler and I both repeated. Yep. You definitely can, can't you? It doesn't quite explain Owen and DJ, but they probably would've been just "innocent bystanders," sorta like all the people on the Death Star who actually weren't evil but got blown up with it anyway. So do the ends justify the means? Well... if you're Courtney, probably.
"Fine... Ezekiel..."
"That's better," Tyler said as he pressed play on his remote.
The video started with Duncan, Geoff, and Harold. Apparently, Harold was the victim of yet another prank.
"Oh, so that wasn't feces?" I heard Courtney ask.
I couldn't help but ask, "Did it smell like feces, Courtney?"
"Oh, shut up..."
Chef had called the campers to the docks. When they got there, they were in for a hell of a surprise.
"Oh dear..." I heard Ezekiel mumble as Chef appeared onscreen.
"Owen in boot camp..." Noah added. "This is going to be entertaining..."
"Poor Harold," Sadie mumbled next, and a few seconds later I found myself saying the same thing for Gwen.
Chef lay down the ground rules for the soon-to-be soldiers in training. I found myself cringing often. Sadie and Katie were both huddled together in front of my chair, shivering. Sadie even admitted she was now glad to have been voted off an episode before.
The first part of the challenge: the teams had to hold up canoes. Now, this wouldn't sound too difficult if it wasn't for the fact that it was long-term. Think about this: how long do you think you can hold your arms up before they get tired?
Now you guys are lucky. When you got to watch this episode, they cut out a lot of the time spent with the campers holding up their canoes. We got nearly the whole thing. Half our group actually left to go to the bathroom and snack on something in the cafeteria, and they didn't miss a damn thing.
"I'm wondering," Noah brought up at one point, "where Geoff got that fishing pole in the first place when his hands were 'supposedly' on the canoe the whole time."
"Who knows?" Sadie answered, shrugging it off.
"Okay, seriously, Tyler, please just forward through this," Noah groaned. "I don't know why Chris left all this in--he's going to have to take a lot of this out eventually anyway. He needs to fit this on twenty-two minutes of show."
"Okie-doke." Tyler forwarded through most of the day, finally pressing play when night fell on the campers.
On screen, Chef began telling war stories. Some of them sounded cool, but I could only imagine if they were exaggerated or not. Chef was kinda crazy; it's possible he made a lot of that stuff up.
Ultimately, the first loss went to the Gophers, as Lindsay couldn't take holding the canoe up anymore. ...Well, on the bright side, at least they were done for the night...
...Or so I thought...
And I was wrong. Very wrong.
"Night training?!" Sadie squeaked. "Oh, man! I am TOTALLY glad I was kicked off!"
"You're welcome," I heard Courtney sneer, and I frowned.
"Courtney, thank you for kicking Sadie off the show before this challenge," I said. It was actually quite sincere--I wouldn't have wanted to go through this torture either! But... Courtney didn't take it that way.
"Whatever! If I would've known about this challenge ahead of time, I probably would've kept your chubby little girlfriend on the show."
"Hey!" I yelled back. How dare she say that? "Not cool, Courtney!"
"Yeah!" Sadie yelled as well. "Who are you calling 'little'?"
"Oh, man..." Katie spoke up, temporarily leading Sadie's and my thoughts away from Courtney. "They have to eat garbage?! EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!"
Though tension was still somewhat high, Sadie and I brought our attention back to the video. Duncan had another prank in store for Harold, and Courtney surprisingly stood up for him. Alright, I'll give you props for this one, Courtney. You can be a pretty nice person when you want to be. Now if only you were like that more often...
The video then cut to "night training," which... actually looked like a lot of fun in comparison to all the other challenges. If only the choreographer wasn't such an asshole, maybe the campers could've seen it as fun too.
The dance was cut short, however, when Duncan decided to be a hero. This didn't work out too well for him, or Gwen, who had to use the bathroom. I thought it was odd when Chris appeared to escort her, and even more odd that the cameraman followed, until the smiling host had asked one of the crew members to bring him a mop and some gloves.
"Alright, this is getting ridiculous," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
"What's the matter, Cody?" Noah jokingly smirked. "After all that Gwen's been put through so far, you're afraid bathroom duty's going to kill her?"
"Noah, we have used those bathrooms before," I pointed out. "Remember how bad they were?"
"...Oh God, she's dead."
-X-
The next challenge for the campers was to write a report on how much they loved Chef.
"Okay, what does this have to do with the army?" Justin asked.
"Holy crap! You can talk?!" Courtney shouted in surprise.
"Uh... duh. I just don't like to strain my vocal cords all that much if I don't need to."
"...Don't you worry that people won't take you seriously if you don't even talk?" Courtney asked.
"Meh, if I don't need to, I don't need to. I don't see what the big deal is, really."
Apparently, for those of you who actually watch TDA, Justin actually put some thought into what Courtney said. Unfortunately, as it would turn out, people actually tend to take him more seriously whenever he didn't talk.
After the essay portion of the challenge was done, Duncan decided to be a wise ass yet again. Luckily for him, Courtney saved his ass, but I wasn't sure how long she would keep it up, and I didn't really want to talk to her, so... I guess I had to wait and see.
-X-
The campers were woken up very early the next morning for their next challenge: an obstacle course. I had to say, I was impressed by many of the campers' abilities in this portion of the contest, especially Gwen. And I wasn't even trying to pay any special attention to her either (it was hard to do, don't get me wrong, but I had a girlfriend now, so I had to step up to that challenge).
Unfortunately, the challenge was taking its toll on the campers awfully quick, and a few of them began to drop like flies.
The challenge wasn't even finished. Duncan, yet again, decided to be the hero, this time actually doing good for the rest of the campers. After he was sent to the boathouse, Chef had announced that the remaining "soldiers" had been passed on to the next level. Even Owen, who almost destroyed the course itself on more than one occasion, made it to the next round. And, of course, I was happy to see Gwen move on.
The video cut to suppertime, when Courtney decided to check on Duncan in the boathouse. Wow... he was there all day? That must have sucked...
The two began a lengthy, rather "soap opera" looking chat before Duncan somehow convinced Courtney to "cross over to the dark side."
Later that night, Duncan and Courtney snuck into the crafts and services tent behind Chef and Chris' backs. They raided the refrigerator, taking out some actual delicious food and replacing it with a rotting fish.
"Whoa! Who knew you had it in ya?" I heard Eva ask, and Courtney just mumbled.
Like Robin Hood and his merry men, Duncan and Courtney had brought the food to the others for all their troubles.
"That was very nice of you to share that food, Courtney," I said, again sincerely.
This time though, I think she took it that way. "Thanks."
"No problem."
On screen, Courtney began to have a little problem when she ate too many smores. She ran outside... and threw up.
"EEEEWWWWWWW! That is so gross!" Katie whined.
"You know, you were worried about eating garbage earlier, saying someone could bring up a file of it when you're running for office," Noah pointed out, "but you know they got dirt on you here, too."
"Oh, shut up!" I heard Courtney yell. "You're such an ass, you... you... Wait, who are you again?"
On screen, Duncan and Courtney had another "moment", and in the end, much to our surprise, she actually planted one on the delinquent's lips.
"Whoa! Who knew you had it in ya?" Eva repeated, and Courtney mumbled again.
"Uh-oh," Sadie voiced concern, raising concern in me as well. "Why is Harold giving Duncan that look?"
"Maybe he has a crush on Courtney?" Katie suggested, and Courtney gagged.
"Yeah, right," the CIT scoffed in defense. "Like that would ever happen anyway."
"That's what you said to Duncan, if I recall," Noah brought up, and I chuckled.
"Oh, ha, ha."
-X-
The video cut to the next morning after Chef announced their wake-up call for the final challenge.
"So... we have to hang upside down from a tree branch?" Owen asked.
"This is in the bag," Gwen said with a smirk.
"Of course, Weird Goth Girl would find this easy," Heather retorted. "After all, vampires can turn into bats, the last time I checked."
"Well, the ones worth reading about in novels, anyway," Gwen added, which shut Heather up.
"Shut up and get up the damn tree, maggots!" Chef shouted, and the six practically raced up the tree out of fear.
The challenge began, and after Chef explained what the remaining campers were to experience in this particular challenge, Duncan felt the effects instantaneously, and he fell off the branch.
Heather came down next, willingly, as Owen's stink was too much for her. Owen came down soon after... on top of Heather.
"OOH!!" I betcha everyone in the room said that. And simultaneously, too.
"That had to hurt, eh," Ezekiel added.
On screen, Courtney began having a giggle fit at what happened to Heather, and she came down soon after. But what shocked us--all of us--even more was what she did after...
"You really need to take a chill pill."
My jaw dropped. Courtney said that? Of all people? But as ironic as that may sound, it was pretty damn funny. Everyone had at least a chuckle escape their mouths, if not full-on guffaws.
Geoff, Gwen, and Owen didn't share our laughs though. I guess maybe because of what they had gone through with the challenge, the audacity seemed overwhelming.
Courtney and Owen both gave their respective teammates some somewhat positive reinforcement. Both Geoff and Gwen were confident, but in the end the last one on the tree was the goth angel.
The Gophers began celebrating for the victorious goth girl, even Heather. But even more surprising than Heather's cheering was hearing Chef actually call on someone by their actual name.
"Gwen! Congratulations, soldier. I'd go to war with you anytime."
I thought about that for a moment and smirked, thinking about who of the two would probably be kicking the most ass. It certainly wasn't Chef, that's for sure.
"Congratulations, Gophers, on yet another victory," Chris said to the winning team as he appeared out of seemingly nowhere yet again. "Gwen, I gotta say, I'm beginning to like you more and more as time goes on."
"Thanks, Chris. I wish I could say the same to you," Gwen replied with a smirk, and Chris just rolled his eyes.
"Bass," he said, gesturing toward the losing team. "I'll see your sorry butts tonight at the bonfire ceremony. Again."
"Oh, quit rubbing it in, Chris..." Courtney grumbled onscreen as she walked away.
Duncan, on the other hand, walked up to his opponents in what was assumed as either good sportsmanship or deviousness. "Once again, Gwen wins it for her team. What would you do without her?"
Many of them didn't share Duncan's smile, one exception being Heather. "Why do you think I haven't voted her off yet?" she asked. I wasn't sure if it was jokingly or not, but I didn't find it funny.
The scene cut to the bonfire ceremony. Chris was, yet again, dragging out the ceremony with an introduction. Courtney didn't seem to worried about leaving, and I didn't blame her. At this point, I was beginning to wonder exactly why she was voted off now instead of any other point in the game. She didn't seem to be under anyone's skin during those three days.
Chris began calling out the names of the Killer Bass. One by one, they claimed their marshmallow, until it was down to two: Harold and Courtney.
And to the surprise of... well... everyone, actually, even us here at Playa des Losers, despite the fact that the proof that this had happened was in the very same room as us, Harold got the last marshmallow.
Things got even more fishy when Duncan, Geoff, and DJ stood up for Courtney, Duncan saying that none of them voted her off. But Chris didn't care. With smug grins on their faces, Chris and Chef dragged Courtney down the dock and threw her into the Boat of Losers.
Still confused, Duncan ran down the dock and gave her a gift: a skull carved out of wood. How romantic.
...
Well, I guess it depends on the person too. Some actually might find that romantic. Like... uh... Duncan. Yeah, Duncan. Whoo! Dodged a bullet there...
The scene cut back to the bonfire, where Harold was roasting a marshmallow. He turned to the camera, made an evil grin, and said, "Yesssssss," as if he had succeeded in pulling off a devilish master plan.
And, as it turns out...
Enter confession cam. Harold had the ballot box in his hand. He opened it with his Swiss army knife. "You guys think you're sooooo funny." He pulled out the ballots from the box and switched them with his own ballots. "Let's see how you like it when someone messes with your love life."
Whoa...
We all stared in shock at the screen. Everyone, even Courtney, was speechless.
Then... Chris appeared in the confession can.
"Hey, Court. How you doing?"
No one said a word.
"If you really must know, yes, we know about Harold tampering with the votes. Now, if you're wondering why we didn't do anything about it, well... Let me put it this way, Court. We lost out on dessert, and you lost out on a hundred grand." He held up a fish to the camera--the same fish Courtney placed in their refrigerator. "Payback. My anti-drug."
And with that, the tape ended.
And we were still struck silent.
-X-
A lot of Courtney fans give Harold a hard time because of what he did, even long after the whole thing blew over. But if you ask me, Harold didn't deserve any of it. It was Chris that had the final say. He knew about what Harold did, and he could've taken him out of the game instead of Courtney.
So in the end, Harold didn't screw Courtney over.
Chris did.