In the auditorium of the space station, Chris and Chef could be seen, dressed as their counter-part rather than themselves. Chris had a pot of slop in front of him on a rolling counter, and an aggressive look on his face, while Chef had a wig on, paired with a winning smile that the host would normally have. Zachary and Amelia were there as well, each dressed as the other and playing a drumroll while they rolled their eyes at the hosts. Oddly enough, Chef did the recap rather than Chris, though he didn't talk like he normally does.
"Last time on Total Drama Space Station: we had twelve astronauts left on this floating bust of my head in space, each with different interests that led them to be forced into...different virtual video game worlds, specifically designed for each one of them! Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and I broke all of the VR headsets, which made each of the worlds switch randomly, but that at least amped up the excitement."
"You know," Chris interrupted, speaking as Chef would, "I don't appreciate a maggot like you talking like that about me."
"I think you mean a maggot like you talking about me, I'm you, dude!"
"Gah, this was a horrible idea...stupid producers."
"Moving on, Luna was a totally different person, thanks to some criticism from her rival, Liz! March tried to cheer her up, and where did that lead them? Oho, boy that was something crazy! I bet everyone hates March now! Thomas ended up winning the challenge, and the VR headset, when he killed it in the game that was specifically designed for Gretchen, while others showed a lot of difficulty understanding how to play their game. Things got down to the wire, with only Archie, Anne, Liz, and Luna left in their virtual worlds at the end, but the poet and the comedian made it out alright, with Liz and Luna leaving their world, and the game, at the same time! Now, tonight everyone will have a chance to show an understanding of one of the other contestants here on the deepest level possible! Who will act out and who will fall out? Find out right now on Total Drama Space Station!"
"Never letting you do the intro again, worst mistake ever, maggot."
As the opening starts, the Chris space station is revealed and quickly zoomed into, showing cameras all over the corridors and traveling through them and reaching the captain's chambers, where Chris is shown. He shines an evil smirk before the camera zooms past, showing outside of glass in his room.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the lyrics start while Alex is shown in his orange spacesuit, trying to befriend a space monkey, which, in its scaly, grotesque, but somehow still fluffy appearance, swims through the empty space away from him. Slightly to the left of him is Natt, in his black spacesuit, clapping unenthusiastically.
"You guys are on my mind," the camera pulls back inside, showing the cafeteria where Gretchen playing her guitar on top of one of the tables, while Jianne covers her ears, disapproving of the noise.
"You asked me what I wanted to be, now I think the answer's plain to see," Thomas is seen peering into the captain's chambers, before turning to smile and wave at the camera. The camera slides over quickly, showing Luna and Liz shaking hands while crossing their fingers behind their backs, each with a sneaky smile across their faces.
"I wanna be famous," Damien is seen on a stage, performing in his own little play, before the door to the room is opened by Benjamin, causing the former to stop what he was doing.
"I wanna live close to the sun," Dusty is by the pool, showing March, who is clearly mortified, pictures of some horses from back home.
"So, pack your bags, cause I've already won," Taylor is lounging by the pool as Nicolás jumps in, splashing water on her and causing her to start yelling at him.
"Everything to do, nothing in my way. I'll get there one day," Haley and Sebastian are seen together in the gym, both looking away from each other while whistling awkwardly.
"I wanna be famous," Vicente is seen on the other side of the gym being chased by several interns with cameras.
"Na na na na na na na na na," Chef is seen in the kitchen, inspecting the astronaut meals in their small packages, and opening one labeled, 'popcorn,' causing the room to fill up with popcorn and Anne, just outside the kitchen door, to laugh hysterically. Chef then bursts out of the room and starts to yell at an unsuspecting Flint, who then realizes that he has similar, 'popcorn,' bags in his hands.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous," Alexis is seen tinkering with a control panel, in the dark. The lights then flicker on and she gives a thumbs up before the camera pans over to Archie in the observation room, where the lights flicker off and he lets out an annoyed sigh.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous," Crustacean is seen in the same room, clipping a wire on a control panel and bringing the lights back on, before the camera pans up to show the galaxy, panning back down after to reveal Tony among the other contestants, showing them some fake watches with a huge smile on his face as they are all seen whistling in chairs with Chris in a room full of escape pods.
The final ten found themselves in the cafeteria, which wasn't unusual for them, aside from the fact that the Chef in the kitchen was actually Chris in disguise, serving the exact same slop that they would've received from the regular Chef. Some of the contestants questioned it, namely Gretchen, Archie, and Alex, but others could care less. March sat alone in the corner, head against the table trying to hide her shame, while Natt and Anne tried to comfort her.
"So, is this some sort of joke or something?" Gretchen asked Chris, kinda laughing it off, but wondering what was going on.
"I don't make jokes, maggot!" the host replied angrily, "Now get out of the line!"
"But I haven't gotten my food yet!"
"Out. Of. The. Line."
"Ugh, whatever."
She took her leave from the food line, glaring back at Chris while Archie and Alex shared a concerned look about what was going on.
"Do you two have something to say!?"
"No, sir, Chef, sir!" Alex answered, frantically grabbing his food and running to a table with Thomas seated at it.
"And you!? Any comments?"
"Nope, can't be bothered."
"Can't be bothered!? I don't like that tone, no food for you!"
"Okay, fine, I can be bothered."
"Doesn't matter, no food anyway!"
"Man, you're worse than regular Chef."
Archie grumbled to himself as he sat down alone at a table. March still dreaded her previous drama, which had landed a lot of targets on her, though Natt and Anne did try to help her through it.
"Come on, March!" Anne called her attention as she patted her on the back, "You just gotta march it off!"
"Not a good time to crack a joke," Natt said, shaking his head.
"But jokes make people happy, March needs to be happy again!"
"How can I be happy?" March asked them, without raising her head from the table, "I'm a cheater, a no good cheater."
"You just made a mistake! Besides, haven't you and Damien not even really started going out yet?"
"It doesn't matter, he won't want to now that I'm a dirty cheater."
"Look, March," Natt interrupted her dreariness, "If you stay like this you're never gonna be able to overcome this bump in the road. Besides, you and Luna just had a spur of the moment kiss, there's no attraction behind it, right?"
March mumbled quietly, unable to be understood by either of the two around her. Anne thought about it for a second, suddenly thinking of something.
"You know, maybe she just wants to talk to another girl about it!" the comedian suggested.
"Alright, I guess," Natt shrugged, kissing Anne before heading to the table with Archie at it.
"Come on, March, you can tell whatever you want!"
"I don't know why I did it," March mumbled, slightly louder, "Luna is usually a jerk to everybody that I like, even me. But ever since the challenge where we were both the aliens, we kinda got to be better friends in a way or another. I mean, she seemed to at least listen to my interests a little more before. And then, that last challenge day, when I saw her all upset like that, I had to help. So we went to my room for a bit, and she told me that she thought I was cute, and that I should model with her, which was weird for me. I don't know what happened after that...we just looked each other in the eyes and started making out. Not one little kiss, we made out! And it felt like my heart was on fire. What do I do, Anne?"
"Uh...uh...I don't-"
"You can't help me, I knew it."
"Look, it's alright, it'll be okay!"
"No, it's not gonna be okay. I ruined everything once again."
"You didn't ruin everything, you'll be able to get past this, you just need to give it some time!"
"It's not gonna get better, Anne, I'm just a loser now. I deserve to be called a loser."
"No you do not! You can't say that, you have friends, right?"
"...I don't even know anymore, I wouldn't doubt it if they wanted nothing to do with me now."
Confessional
"So, little background here, folks!" Flint started, an ecstatic look upon his face, "Last episode, Luna and March were all over each other, like the whole smoochy smoochy booyah shebam! It was a big shock to everyone at the end of the episode, when Luna kissed her again, but in front of everyone! I gotta be honest, I didn't expect that, but hey, to each their own! Now, you may be wondering, 'Flint, why are you talking about this? It had nothing to do with you.' Well, that's true, but I want more screen time, dammit! You hear me, Chris! This better be a Flint episode or we're gonna have to fight about it!"
Confessional End
At Arche's table, where Natt was now also seated, things were very quiet. The poet knew exactly what the other boy wanted from him, though he himself didn't really want to talk about it too much.
"So, Archie," Natt started, though he was immediately cut off.
"No, we're not talking about this," Archie said quickly and seriously.
"But you can't just avoid it."
"I can do whatever I want."
"If you just ignore her and hope she magically disappears, that isn't going to help things."
"What? You think I'm mad about this? Quite the opposite, actually. I don't know how to react, I don't know what to say. You're the third person to try to get me to do something about it, but I don't even know what to do yet...so just back off for now."
"...Point made."
Confessional
"Haha, you probably thought that one of those guys was gonna be in here now, right?" Flint asked, looking at the camera smugly. "Too bad, so sad! Looks like Natt tried to help the situation by talking to Archie about it, but Mr. Poetry Man doesn't wanna talk, so sad! Oh well, you know what they say! ...What? I don't know what they say, but you probably do! Don't ask me!"
Confessional End
Thomas sat with Alex at his table, looking somewhat different than before. Alex looked at his friend curiously, which made the translator wonder what was up.
"Something wrong?" Thomas asked his friend, eating his slop slowly.
"Oh, nothing Ah guess," Alex chuckled, "But did ya always have red eyes? I thought they were blue?"
"N-nani!?"
"Your eye is red, mate!"
"Oh...right! See, I love to," Thomas felt disgusted with what he was about to say, though he went on anyways, "Cosplay. I love it so much, so I have lots of colored contacts like these red ones! I guess I forgot to take them off..."
"Ahhhh, makes sense! You're some sort of weeb, right?"
"...Yes."
"That's ahright with me! To each their own, am Ah right?"
"Yes, you're right. But can you do me a favor?"
"What's that, mate?"
"Just don't tell anyone...I'm super embarrassed about it."
Thomas took the contact out of his eye, putting it away in a strangely large and clunky metal case that resided in his pocket. Alex nodded happily to the request.
"You got it, won't spill a word of it!"
"Thank you, you're a good friend Alex."
"It's what friends are for, mate."
Confessional
"Me again!" Flint excitedly spoke to the camera, "Bwahahaha! You're getting tired of me, I'm sure, well too bad! I'm using all the confessional time today, none for anyone else! Looks like Thomas is a big nerd, ain't that funny? How do I know that? Eh, a little birdy told me one thing or another, she's got her eye on him!"
Confessional End
At another table, Tony sat with Gretchen, both still feeling down about Liz's elimination. The conman sighed as he twiddled his fork between his mushy carrots and pushed the plate off to the side.
"Have it if you want, I'm not hungry," he said, sounding more upset than he ever had before.
"You can't just not eat because she's gone," Gretchen noted, "You have to take care of yourself, how would she feel if you got sick because you refuse to eat."
"I don't refuse to eat, I choose not to eat this. I have my own selection of delectable, and edible, food in my own room. And how would she feel? I don't know, girl's insane, so maybe she wouldn't care at all. Man, she's hot in personality and in looks."
"What do you mean she's insane?"
"She's insane. Girl had a plan to get rid of everybody here and take me and you to the end of things with her."
"I think you should leave the jokes to Anne, that was just lame, Tony."
"I'm serious. Do you want to know what she had planned?"
"...Whatever, just say it. It's not as if it's real anyways."
"Alright, you asked for it," Tony replied, pulling out a notebook with lots of notes within its pages. "Ahem, thirteenth place, eliminate Dusty by exposing her ticklish weakness to 'Moneybags,' aka me. Twelfth, eliminate Luna by making use of her self-obsession and making her too miserable to compete. Didn't work to well, eh? Eleventh, eliminate Anne by showing everyone how annoying she is, get someone to sabotage her. Tenth, eliminate Flint by pinning something horrendous on him, Chris'll believe it since Flint is less than reputable. Ninth, eliminate Thomas by injury, via the blindness she gave to Luna earlier on-"
"That's enough!" Gretchen stood from her seat. "She didn't do that, you're making it up!"
"Nope, her handwriting is all over this, take a look."
Tony handed the notebook to Gretchen, who took a brief look through the list, eventually tossing it against one of the walls. She stared down angrily at Tony, who couldn't seem to care that he was being glared at. In fact, he smirked about it.
"You did this to her, you made her like that!"
"Not a chance, why would that help me? She planned to get me out in third place, and I want money. Why would I want that?"
"I don't know, but this is your fault, I just know it! Dusty was right, I should've never trusted you."
"Whatever, believe what you will. Truth is, she was always like that. Sooner you accept that, the better."
Gretchen stormed out of the cafeteria, angrier than ever, leaving Tony sitting by himself.
Confessional
"Yikes, looks like Tony and Gretchen are fighting now," Flint noted, an awkward look on his face, "What a funny coincidence, there's so much dram going on between the loss of Luna and Liz! Which one do you think stirred things up more? My bet's Luna, but who knows? Also, Liz? Sorry, Tony, not really hot. Now, Alexis? That's a hottie right there!"
Confessional End
The final table with people seated at it only had Flint and Alexis, both eating their food and minding their own business. As they ate, Alexis' glasses suddenly fell off of her face, which Flint quickly caught before holding them out for her to grab. She smiled at him politely.
"Thanks, Flint!" she said sweetly, unable to see him very clearly due to the lack of glasses.
"You're...welcome," Flint looked up at the girl as if he had never seen somebody so beautiful in his life before, he was absolutely shook. "My queen..."
"Huh?"
"From now on, my queen, I, Flint Goldenrod, shall be your knight! I will come to your aid whenever you need, and protect you from the dangers that lurk in the shadows!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not a queen..."
"Don't be scared of the truth, queen! Here, mayhaps I shall get the chef to prepare you some real food, befitting of a queen, such as yourself."
"That's not necessary, I'm fine with what everyone else is eating-"
"Nonsense! Cheffy! Give us some real food for this gorgeous queen, right away!"
Alexis blushed and looked away awkwardly as Flint was hit in the face by a spoonful of slop.
Confessional
"This is Alexis," Flint introduced the other contestant in the confessional with him, who was blushing intensely. "She's my super cute, queen bee girlfriend! I will protect her at all costs, I am her knight! I will not let her down!"
"Ah! Flint, we can't share the confessional together! Did you say girlfriend? I never agreed to that, come on this is so embarrassing! Wait, super cute?"
Confessional End
"Attention, remaining astronauts!" Chef's voice came from the loudspeakers, though he was still speaking as if he was Chris. "Everyone come on down to the auditorium to hear the word about your crazy new challenge!"
"Was that Chef?" Thomas couldn't help but laugh to himself as he heard the co-host speak. "That's ridiculous!"
"Not as ridiculous as your face is gonna be if you don't go to the auditorium right now, maggot!" Chris shouted at Thomas.
"Oh, I see what's going on now!" Flint blurted out as he wiped the slop from his face, "You're in love with each other!"
Another scoop of slop was directly delivered to his face, causing Alexis to flush red in the face again.
"Dang, Flint," Natt let out one slight chuckle, "You sure are great at getting into trouble."
"Shaddup!"
"Oh!" Anne noticed Flint and Alexis together, quickly clapping feverishly. "Are you two together? She's blushing how Natt does when I do something stupid, that means she loves you!"
"Yes!" Flint happily shouted.
"No!" Alexis followed up.
"She means yes, she's just shy. She's my queen!"
"I am not!"
"She is!"
"Right," Archie rolled his eyes, "Well, can you two quiet down about it? We don't need to hear this...whatever this is, all day."
"Whatever, you don't understand true love!"
"Sure, right. Whatever you say, Flint."
The group rose from their tables, leaving the room, with March trailing behind the others, and making their way to the auditorium. They opened the doors, noticing Chef on the stage, with the two interns still playing the drums for the arrival of the contestants. Near the "host" was ten different outfits, each resembling the outfits that each of the contestants wore. He also had a podium in front of him, as well as an index card and a microphone. Zachary, who was dressed as Amelia, was beet red in the face, feeling that he looked ridiculous in her clothes. He wore the blue, flowy, off the shoulder top, jeans that were meant for someone of a curvier stature, and black heeled shoes that he found it impossible to walk in. She was nearby, wearing his outfit a lot more comfortably, except for the pants that were too tight on her. She wore his black jean jacket, white tee underneath it, which looked good on her, and those tight black jeans with black shoes to match.
"What's going on?" Tony asked, "Who the heck are they?"
"We're-" Zach started, though he was quickly interrupted by Chef.
"They're just some interns, not important enough to worry about!" the "host" answered.
"That's rude!" Amelia hissed, "I'm probably more famous than you've ever been!"
"That's beside the point! Hush your mouth if you don't wanna be ejected!"
"Hmph."
"So what's the deal with the outfits?" Alex asked, "It's right strange to me!"
"It has to do with this challenge! We've noticed how much you all love...or hate, each other, and have decided to capitalize on those feelings! We know how each of you would react to certain things happening, but do you know how your peers would react to those things? You'll each be put into pairs, deciding who you'll have to dress and act as for the challenge! Every time you get something right on the money, you'll be rewarded a point. If you don't act right, you won't receive a point, which will hurt your score in comparison to the others who do get it right! We have a tablet here that we can tally the points with, which we will reveal to you at the end of the challenge. The person with the highest points will be able to choose one other person to take with them on a luxury tour through the Louvre in Paris! So romantic for you couples out there!"
"Gasp!" Flint loudly uttered.
Confessional
"If I win that and invite Alexis, she'll surely accept me as her knight!" Flint could hardly contain his excitement. "I have to do this, you got this Flint!"
Confessional End
"So, who's the loser, then?" March asked, meekly.
"The loser will be whoever sits at the bottom of the point table! That's right, whoever fails to mimic their selected partner will be forced to leave the station and never come back!"
"Another acting challenge?" Gretchen scoffed, "Wasn't the first one enough?"
"There's no limit to what can be done with acting challenges!" Chef laughed like Chris would. "Now, as far as the pairs go...March and Anne, you'll be roleplaying as each other today!"
"Oh, that's awesome!" Anne cheered, "We can so do that, right March?"
"I guess," March replied, still feeling down.
"Next up is...Natt and Archie!"
"Huh, that's a relief," the two said in unison.
"You're not supposed to start already!" Chef joked, causing both of them to roll their eyes at the same time. "And next, we have...Thomas and Alex!"
"Ahright, mate!" Alex cried with a hurrah, "We can sure do this!"
"Sure can," Thomas added, "Let's take this thing home!"
"Our fourth pair will be...Gretchen and Tony!"
"Are you serious!?" Gretchen whined, "Can't it be anyone else?"
"Lighten up," Tony scoffed, "It'll be over at the end of the day anyways."
"Which leaves Flint and Alexis!"
"Yes!" Flint cheered. "I won't let you down, queen!"
"Right," Alexis sighed, disappointed.
"Now that all of that is out of the way, come and get your partner's outfit from this rack and get ready to hear what your first prompt is!"
The group shrugged, each of the ten of them heading up onto the stage and grabbing their new outfits from the rack near Chef. They eyed the clothes down, feeling a bit weird about having to put on the very clothing that one of their peers would wear. Amelia glared at them as they stood on the stage, shaking her head in disappointment, while Zach whistled awkwardly, still playing the drum roll until Amelia whacked him in the head with a drumstick.
"Hey, knock that off!" Zach hissed at her.
"Whatever do you mean?" Amelia asked innocently, "I didn't do a thing!"
"You hit me with your drumstick, jerk!"
"I most certainly did not!"
"Both of you interns shut up!" interrupted Chef. "Things won't go well for you if you don't learn to control yourselves."
"Ah, sorry dear Chef!" Zach bowed in apology while Amelia rolled her eyes at him.
After a little bit of time, the contestants found themselves all suited up for the coming challenge. Thomas wore Alex's classic fedora, which did not suit him well at all, the brown jacket over the white tee, blue jeans, and black copper boots. As he checked himself out, he could feel that he didn't look quite right, and the others knew it, though Alex insisted otherwise.
"Looking great, mate!" Alex said with a clap.
He didn't look quite right either, having a blue sweater on over a white top, black trousers, and black shoes to match. Some of the contestants chuckled, disregarding their own appearances for a moment.
"Uh...you too?" Thomas replied, feeling that nobody looked even close to right at the moment.
"Ah dunno, Ah don't know if these colors suit me at all. But you look absolutely dashing in those!"
"Thanks?"
"Oh, now that's funny!" Gretchen could be heard somewhere else on the stage.
She was dressed all fancy, much like how Tony normally was. She wore a dark red jacket, as well as dark red slacks, a dark yellow tie on a button down shirt underneath the jacket, and a shiny pair of red shoes. The look made her seem like a completely different person than who she usually was, even raising an eyebrow from some of the others, though no one could compare to Tony, who was dressed as her. An Irish Mob tee, with a black leather jacket, unzipped of course, on top of it, torn jeans that looked horrendous on him, and black motorcycle boots.
"Shut up," he glared at her and the others that were staring at him funny.
"I can't, too funny!"
"I'll get you for this, I swear."
"You think you look bad," Alexis said with a sigh.
She was in Flint's classic red hoodie with black sleeves, which had a white undershirt beneath it, black pants, and black running shoes. The outfit made her feel like some kind of jock, which put a sour taste in her mouth. Flint looked her up and down, giving her a thumbs up on her new look while revealing his to be even worse. He had Alexis' pink tank top on, with her fancy, brand name jeans, and pink shoes.
"You look amazing!" Flint assured her, "Though I should expect that from my queen!"
"I'm not your queen!"
"No need to be so brash! I'll fight off the haters!"
"Ugh, why, Chef!? Why!?"
Meanwhile, the other four looked alright, having been dressed as "the perfect partner" for this challenge. Natt had one a black and red striped shirt, with a white shirt underneath, black pants, and black shoes, not much different than what he usually wore, just the splash of a color other than black had changed. Archie, on the other hand, was now entirely in black, from the long-sleeved shirt, to the pants, to the shoes. He felt comfortable enough in it, though, unlike some of the others.
"It suits you well," Natt said, barely cracking a smile.
"And you, too," Archie added about Natt's own ensemble, "Who would've thought we'd get the perfect pallet swap?"
"I know, right?"
"Oh, March you look great!" Anne cheered.
The comedian herself was wearing March's classic attire, a lavender crop top over a black skater shirt, the blue jacket tied around her waist, white stockings, and purple sneakers. The wristband and the locket seemed to be missing from the outfit, though it made sense, considering the others didn't have to wear other people's glasses or anything. March, on the other hand, was in the purple and orange Hawaiian shirt that Anne recently started wearing after her red and green one was destroyed. She had the black shorts and sandals of her funny pal as well.
"Do I?" March asked, "I think you look better."
"We both look good, let's leave it at that!"
"Wowza, look at all of these wacky ensembles!" Chef laughed to himself. "You all look ridiculous, which will make this all more entertaining for me. So, there are five prompts, which means five opportunities to earn points. You can score a perfect five if you get your partner spot on, a four if you did pretty good, three on an average impersonation, two if it needs some work, and one if it didn't fit the bill at all. There's a grand total of twenty-five points to be earned in this challenge, and the lowest you can get is a five. Again, we won't reveal the scores until the challenge is completely over. That's when we find the winners out, astronauts!"
"Ugh, these pants really ride up on the legs," Tony mentioned.
"They aren't meant for people of your stature," Gretchen scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know what it means!"
"Settle down, let's get into the actual challenge before you start going for each other's throats," Chef continued.
Confessional
"Things go heated up, fast!" Flint noted, "It was like, one second, no one is arguing, the next, everyone is suddenly uncomfortable in other people's clothing. I dunno, I think I pull of Alexis' fit pretty well. She is my girlfriend, though. I suppose I should expect us to work well together like that."
Confessional End
"Now...you're very first of the five prompts is, ahem, 'You are suddenly confronted by one of the producers, they say that you're their favorite contestant, and that they are willing to give you half of the money and just end the show as is,' what do you do? Remember, don't tell me, show me! Be the person!"
Archie was the first to step up to the plate, which was, granted, a little out of character for him or Natt.
"Are you joking?" the poet asked in a dull voice, "If I did that I wouldn't be able to see as much of space as I want to. I would never."
"Alright, solid performance! Someone else come and take over for him."
Gretchen quickly stepped to center stage, clearing her throat briefly before speaking to the group.
"Heh, you think I'm an idiot?" she started, adding a strange accent that Tony didn't have to her speech. "This is a ridiculous attempt to break the rules of our game. I should report you to the other producers and maybe even the police...unless, of course, you give me the full amount, plus ten percent from the original, and leave your job here."
"Props for the dedication to character," Tony applauded her, though she ignored him.
"Shaddup!"
Gretchen walked away from the center, quickly being replaced by Thomas.
"Aw, shucks, mate," the boy started, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "That'd kinda ruin the adventure in this show! Ah'm gonna have to say no, but thanks for the offer."
"Woohoo!" Alex cheered, "Nice one, Thomas!"
Thomas nodded at him, taking his leave from center stage to be replaced by Anne, who had a hard time controlling her giggling.
"Um, you're not joking, right?" Anne asked, nervously, "I mean, it would be nice to have the money for school...but I don't want to upset my friends...they'd think I was some sort of money-loving jerk if I did that."
"That does sound like March," Archie noted, clapping briefly for her.
"Why, thank you!"
Anne happily skipped away from center stage to be succeeded by Natt, who cleared his throat, trying to get Archie's tone right.
"That's idiotic," Natt glared as he spoke, "I'm not gonna let my mom down by taking some back-handed deal from a sleezy corporate slimeball like you. Now, get out of my way, I'm done talking about this."
"That does sound like something he would say," March giggled slightly as she thought about it.
Natt then left center stage for Flint to rush into his place, waving rapidly to Alexis, who was off to the sides, hiding her face.
"So, two and a half million?" Flint looked as if he was stuck in thought, "Nah, I could say yes, but five million is way more money! You know how many boy bands I could go see live with that kind of money? I'm sure I can get it on my own!"
"I guess I would say something kinda like that," Alexis nervously said.
"Of course you would, I know you babe!"
"I'm not your babe!"
Flint cackled as her left the center, being replaced by Tony, who already had his imitation of Gretchen's angry face on. Gretchen herself glared at him from her spot on the stage, already in a slight fear about what he would do.
"What!?" Tony suddenly yelled, "That's not even cool, dude! Why would anyone make a deal like that? That's so unfair to the others! You're a crappy producer, you know that?"
"Whatever," Gretchen rolled her eyes, though she knew that the attempt was pretty spot on for her.
Tony took a bow before leaving his spot, allowing March to take his spot, laughing a little too maniacally for Anne.
"Hahahaha!" she chuckled, "That's a good one, but I'm supposed to be the jokester here! Let's just leave all the funny business to me, 'kay?"
"Oh, she's right!" Anne applauded, "I'm the residential funny gal!"
As March left her spot, Alex took it, gladly. He thought about how to reply to the prompt for a second before coming up with a good idea.
"Haha, Ah'm flattered," the adventurous boy started, unable to stop his accent from pouring through, "But Ah'd rather we all get the chance we deserve here. Besides, the money is only half as important as the journey."
"Alright, I see where you're coming from there," Thomas nodded to his friend. "That was pretty good."
As Alex left the stage, only Alexis remained to complete the prompt. She took his spot, gulping nervously while Flint gave her a big thumbs up.
"Uh...sure?" Alexis started, "I mean, that'd make this super easy, I wouldn't have to compete for it at all. That'd be nice."
Alexis looked back over to Flint, noticing that his face was as pale as a ghost. She looked a little confused, having thought that she'd surely get it right, only for the look of mass disappointment from Chef to let her know that she did it horribly wrong.
Confessional
"My girlfriend knows nothing about me!" Flint lamented, "I love competition, why would she think I'd be so lazy to take a lame bribe like that? The agony, the torment, it's unbearable!"
Confessional End
As the group all sat down in the auditorium, the interns now gone from the stage, Chef tallied some things up on the tablet that he had mentioned before. Flint's eyes narrowed at him, wondering what that could possibly look like and who could be at the bottom or the top right now. He eyed down his competition, wondering how each may be doing.
"Alright, that was a good first round!" Chef applauded the group. "Are you all ready for this next one?"
"Heck yeah!" Anne cheered, "Let's kill this challenge, March!"
"Y-yeah!" March replied, much happier than she was before.
"Easiest challenge ever," Natt and Archie said at the same time, fist bumping as they spoke.
"Sure, but you guys don't have to be a total jerkbag," Gretchen grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, Gretchen," Tony shook his head, disappointed, "Hate is an ugly color on you."
"Shut up, Tony."
"I don't see what's so bad about this challenge," Thomas thought out loud, "This isn't too hard."
"Righto!" Alex agreed, "It sure is a fun time, though!"
"That's easy for you to say," Alexis added, sounding depressed, "I got the hardest one of all of us to imitate."
"Don't say that baby," Flint reassured her, "You'll get it right next time, I'm sure!"
"I'm not your baby. We're not dating, Flint."
"Nonsense, queen!"
"Alright, alright," Chef intervened, "Let's get the ball rolling here people. The second of the five character prompts is...let's see here...ah! 'You're approached by Luna, who says that she's always thought you were a hottie, what do you do?'"
March's heart sunk into her stomach, suddenly understanding just why this challenge was so lax in the first round. Chef was here to put everyone through a roller coaster of emotional pain, and he wasn't going to go easy with the prompts, not even in the slightest. Alex took his place on the stage first, winking at Thomas before doing his brief performance.
"Er, thanks, Ah guess?" he looked slightly confused, still unable to hide his accent. "Ah guess you're kind of a looker yourself, but not really my type, sorry!"
Thomas thought about it for a second, shrugging at the performance, which made Alex feel slightly down, having failed his buddy.
"Ah'll just hop off this here stage, then."
Alex left the stage, allowing Flint to take his spot with a grin on his face. He thought for a second, but realized exactly how to imitate his "girlfriend."
"I...uh...thank you," he started, "But I'm kind of with a super handsome guy already, so could you not flirt with me?"
Alexis immediately facepalmed at the performance, the rest of the group finding it hard not to laugh at Flint's performance before he left the stage. Natt took his spot on the stage, stretching his legs and fixing his posture.
"You're trying to get something from me, aren't you?" he asked in a slightly pissed tone, "Thanks, but no thanks. Goodbye."
"Exactly, that Luna is such a-" Archie was cut off before he could finish his thought.
"Don't you say that about her!" March blurted out, covering her mouth, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Archie! I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, just...it's fine."
March sat down in her seat, meekly, looking over at Anne as Natt came back from the stage and Thomas took his spot.
"Aw, well that's right sweet of you, Lunie!" Thomas perfectly captured Alex's accent this time around. "You're not to bad yourself! Maybe we should go on an adventure sometime!"
Alex shrugged, just as Thomas had for his own performance. The translator looked a little shocked that his friend thought his portrayal was inaccurate on some level. He sighed, returning to his seat as March ran onto the stage, eager to get this over with.
"Uh, that's kinda weird of you to say," March said, looking around awkwardly, "I mean, thanks, but I'm kind of with...you know, Natt. My boyfriend. So maybe ease up with the flirting."
"Not aggressive enough!" Anne shouted to her, "You didn't call her 'mousey,' either!"
"Oh...sorry!"
March rushed off of the stage, Tony quickly taking her spot, a mischievous look upon his face. Gretchen glared into his soul, though he could care less as he prepared to go on with his performance.
"Well, that's kinda funny!" Tony chuckled, "I thought you'd hate me, since your rival is my bestie. But you're hot, too! We should totally make out sometime!"
"I would never!" Gretchen stood from her seat, angrily, "My turn, you d %$!"
Tony chuckled as he left the stage and Gretchen took his spot, an angry look plastered on her face that made the conman smile.
"Oh, you think I'm hot stuff, eh?" she let out a pompous sounding laugh, "That's damn straight. Why don't we get to know each other better? 'Don't you have a girlfriend?' Eh? I don't care about her, I'm a slimeball! Great idea, though! Let's make out on her bed, she'll surely be jealous."
"Oh, man!" Tony laughed, "You really showed me by costing yourself a nice stack of points there!"
"Whatever, just shut your trap."
As she glared at him, she went back to her seat, Archie taking her spot soon after. He thought about it, but he knew exactly what to say.
"You're trying to use me, aren't you?" Archie scoffed, "Get outta here, Anne'll mess you up if you keep trying to hit on me."
"Good one!" Anne cheered for Archie, "I so would!"
Natt let out one small chuckle as Archie returned to his seat, leaving the stage empty for the next person. March looked over at Anne, tears in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Anne asked her, clearly worried for her wellbeing.
"Yeah...just," March wiped some of the tears from her face, "Just be completely honest...you know what I would do in this situation. I don't want you to take a hit to make me look better, go kill it."
"Alright, March. I'm sorry in advance."
"It's okay...just do it."
Anne hurried up to the stage, clearing her throat and forcing herself to blush beet red.
"O-oh, I see," Anne hid her eyes from sight, pretending to be embarrassed. "Well, you're very attractive...t-too. I think you're gorgeous, Luna! Don't change a thing about yourself, no matter what the others say. You're...beautiful."
March nodded, still clearly upset. Archie looked over at her, feeling a bit of second hand sadness to himself. He knew he wasn't angry with her per se, but he felt bad for Damien. It was conflicting, he didn't know how to go about it. Anne returned to her seat, next to March, comforting her by lending a shoulder to cry on. Alexis looked around her, noticing that she, once again, was the last of the group that still needed to perform. She let out a sigh, running up to the stage, just as Flint would, looking at the crowd and worrying for herself.
"Uh, yo that's crazy, babe!" Alexis said in a weird tone, "You're totally a babe, babe. Wanna make out babe? You can be my queen, babe."
"No, no!" Flint cried out in agony, "That's nothing like what I would say, you're my babe, babe!"
"No, I am not!"
Alexis hurried off the stage, returning to her seat away from everybody to find Thomas seated behind her, out of nowhere, scaring the ever-loving crap out of her. She stayed her gaze on the stage as the boy leaned up to her, an intense look on his face.
"Why, what a wonderful performance," Thomas let out his congrats, though he sounded vicious beneath the calm outer tone.
"What do you want?" she asked, feeling more nervous by the second.
"What do I want?" he chuckled briefly, holding something against the back of her neck, something cold and metal. "I think you know the answer to that. I want you to-"
"Hey, back off my queen!" Flint cried, running in to punch Thomas in the face, only to be flipped over his shoulder and onto the ground. "Yowch!"
"Sorry, buddy!" Thomas laughed, dropping the intenseness from before. "She was asking me what a good gift would be for you, since you started dating and all. That's why I was so close. Let me help you up!"
"But I-" Alexis was cut off by a glare from Thomas as he helped Flint up, so she remained silent.
"Is that really what happened?" Flint asked her, looking concerned.
"...Yes."
"See? No problems here, sorry for tossing you buddy!"
"It's alright I guess," Flint rubbed his arm in an awkward manner, "Sorry, I really rushed to conclusions. Guess I'm the jealous type!"
"No harm done," Thomas laughed it off as he walked away from them, an intense look on his face once again. "No harm done at all..."
"Thank you, Flint," Alexis couldn't help but tear up from the fear she just experienced, grabbing Flint and hugging him tightly. "Thank you..."
"What?" he was confused, but he could feel that the hug itself wasn't of someone who loved someone...but someone who was afraid. "No problem. I'll always be watching out for you, my-...Alexis."
"Alright, next prompt, folks!" Chef cheered the group on, all who were feeling a mixed array of emotions at the moment. "This one is another good one, 'You just found out that your best friend or significant other has been manipulating people to their advantage, trying to get rid of people one by one. What do you do?'"
Tony looked over at Gretchen with a devilish smile on his face as he took to the stage. She knew what the prompt was about, but she still couldn't accept it.
"That's enough!" Tony angrily said, imitating Gretchen perfectly from their conversation earlier. "She didn't do that, you're making it up! You did this to her, I never should've trusted you!"
"Shut up, Tony," Gretchen gritted her teeth as she flipped him off.
He snickered, leaving the stage to allow Anne a chance to take the spot.
"Archie!?" she started, immediately grabbing both March's and Archie's attention, "How could you? I thought you were better than this...but I guess I'm no one to talk. We've both done some bad things, haven't we...we can still be friends, right?"
"Now that was some emotion!" Chef applauded her performance as she left the stage.
March and Archie looked at each other, both feeling like they knew how much they cared for each other, and how much they needed each other.
"That was sweet, babe," Natt said to Anne, kissing her on the cheek as she sat down.
"Thanks!" she giggled, returning the kiss as Thomas took to the stage.
"AH!" he shouted immediately. "Thomas!? What on Earth are you doing, mate!? You know what, Ah don't know, but Ah do know this. You've been pulling the strings, so Ah'm gonna avenge everyone you betrayed!"
"A bit dramatic, but ya got the spirit!" Alex cheered for his friend. "Bravo!"
Thomas snickered, looking at Alexis with a sense of hidden anger behind his eyes. As he left the stage, continuing to stare at her, Flint stood in front of her, glaring back at him, though, the speedster couldn't feel the anger that Alexis felt. It was as if Thomas could direct his emotions towards different people in completely different ways. Alexis clutched onto Flint's arm, feeling slightly safer than before. Archie went to the stage, trying to think about how Natt would act in this situation.
"Anne...you," Archie pretended to choke on his words, unable to say what he wanted to. "Why did...I can't...this is a joke, right? A funny joke! Haha! Good one, Anne! You really got me! It is...a joke...right?"
"Wow," Natt applauded, "You know me really well. Dude's a great actor, babe."
"I know, that was intense!" Anne laughed it off, "But I would never ever do anything as horrible as that. I'll leave that to Tony!"
"Offense taken," Tony growled at her.
"That was the intended purpose of the comment!"
Archie left the stage, being followed up by Alex, who tried to put things into Thomas' perspective.
"Woah, Alex!" the adventurer appeared shocked at the whole made up situation. "What are you doing? Why would you do that, this is so unlike you! Ah thought you were better than this...you're just another one of those manipulative arseholes, like Tony."
"Okay, let's settle down with the Tony comments," Tony glared at Alex.
Alex simply shrugged it off, returning to his seat while Flint went up to the stage.
"Flint!" he shouted his own name, looking at Alexis for approval to see her nodding, "What is the matter with you!? You're better than this, I can't believe that you would let this stupid competition get to you like this!"
"Yeah...that's about right," Alexis commented as Flint returned to their spot, March now taking to the stage.
"Natt, what are you doing?" she asked, sounding startled. "Jokes are more of my thing, you know that...why would you try to pull something like this on me? You know I can't tell if you're serious or not when you try to joke around. It's a good thing it was just a joke, though. I can't imagine what I'd do if this was serious."
"She's right, I would so deny it!" Anne cheered as March came back to the seat.
Only Alexis, Natt, and Gretchen remained for this prompt, and the next to take the spot on the stage was the rockstar herself.
"Oh, wait!" she cackled maniacally, "You really wish that you were pulling the strings here, but all along, it was me! I'm the boss of this show, you understand me!? No one steals my game, no one!"
The pure intensity of her brief performance was enough to shake the crowd, Tony even applauded her for it, though his applause meant nothing to her. She sat back down as quickly as she went up, being succeeded by Natt, who thought about it for a brief moment. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, knowing exactly what to say.
"March...this isn't you," Natt started, sounding absolutely devastated, "You're not this person...please tell me you're lying. You're so much better than this...I know it."
"Mhm," Archie nodded, clapping slowly for Natt's impersonation. "He does me right, your boyfriend's a real cool guy."
"Yeah," Anne blushed, "I know."
Natt returned to his seat, allowing Alexis to go up onto the stage, thinking about how to impersonate Flint.
"Alexis, what gives?" she started, getting his tone right, "After all we've been through, you, my queen, have betrayed everyone? I am your knight, though, I must stand by your side to the end, no matter what! I will aid you in this endeavor!"
"Wow, kinda makes me think that you'll actually do that!" Flint cackled, causing Alexis to feel almost ashamed. "Just kidding!"
"Oh...haha!"
She returned to her seat next to Flint, allowing Chef the stage to himself.
Confessional
"Alexis really does seem afraid of Thomas," Flint started, sounding more concerned than anything, "I've got my eye on him now. I'm gonna find out why she's so scared, and make sure that he can't do anything bad to her!"
Confessional End
"You've got two more, people!" Chef exclaimed to the group, who were almost ready to see what their scores were. "The fourth prompt, 'You discover a missing item from your worst enemy. Do you return it to them?'"
"Oh, that's actually a great one!" Anne applauded, running up to the stage, "Ahem...Sebastian must've left this picture of Haley behind when he left...I should probably give it back to him, even though he's a jerk. He doesn't deserve to lose something so important to him."
"Hm, interesting," Chef added, "Very interesting."
Anne snickered and left the stage, allowing Flint to quickly take her place on the stage, holding something in his hand.
"Oh, what's this?" Flint looked in his palm, revealing something small and red in his hand. "Isn't this...Thomas' contact?"
Thomas suddenly looked around in his pocket, noticing that the case in it was missing, indeed, one contact. Alex looked over at him, confused about the whole scenario.
"You're her worst enemy?" Alex asked him, "What's that all about?"
"I don't know...I've never done anything to her," Thomas answered, trying not to sound furious.
"Hm, guess I should give it back," Flint continued, flicking the contact towards Thomas, smirking before leaving the stage.
Alexis looked slightly fearful as he returned to her, that smirk still on his face.
"When did you get that!?" she asked him frantically.
"Oh, you saw him flip me, right? Grabbed it then."
"That's...but why?"
"Intimidation. I need to show him that he's not the only smartie in this bunch."
"Huh...impressive."
Thomas took to the stage, having put the contact back in his pocket and thinking about who Alex would have a grudge against.
"Eh?" he appeared startled, "Oh, looks like that's one of Tony's rings. Man, Ah wouldn't feel right keeping it. Ah gotta give it back to him."
"I have a feeling a lot of you are gonna say I'm your worst enemy," Tony rolled his eyes as Alex left the stage and Gretchen went up to it.
"Oh, wouldn't you know!" Gretchen pretended to pick up a picture. "A picture of me and Benny hanging out! He would surely miss this...a lot!"
She pretended to tear the picture to shreds, cackling like a maniac as he let out an annoyed sigh, switching spots with her soon after her stunt.
"Ah, Tony's dumb...locket?" Tony appeared confused as he grabbed a locket from his pocket, "This has a picture of Liz in it...I have to give this back, I don't care about our beef. This is rightfully his."
"You have her in a locket?" Gretchen asked, puzzled that he would bother.
"Yeah, dip wad. I love her."
Gretchen glared at him, though not as intensely as before. He returned to his seat, Natt going onto the stage with a clear idea of what to do.
"Oh, that Sebastian left behind some trinket that Haley gave him," Natt mumbled. "Eh, I'll send it his way. So long as he leaves Jianne alone from now one."
Archie felt an immediate sadness, thinking about how much he missed Jianne. March shared in the sadness, both of them having been good friends with her. Natt returned to his seat, Alex taking the spot on stage.
"Hm, looks like Chef left his hat down here!" Alex shouted, immediately getting a glare from Chef, "Ah'd better give it back...or should Ah? Hm...Ah'll do it, Ah suppose. But he doesn't deserve it."
"Bold of you to assume that his worst enemy is Chef," Chef replied, still keeping up his Chris act.
Alex smugly grinned at Chef, tipping his hat to him as he left the stage, getting replaced with Archie.
"Oh, that Luna left her makeup behind," he started, letting out a sigh. "It wouldn't be right to not give it back, would it? I'll have to find her sometime later and let her have it."
"Oh, I'd never thought about a worst enemy before," Natt started, "I guess me and Luna never really got along, yeah."
"Nice job, Archie!" March exclaimed as she passed him by, giving him a high five as she went to the stage. "Mousey girl left one of her cherry flavored-...regular flavored lipsticks! Oh, I'd give it back, but I totally could color the walls in the cafeteria with it! ...Nah, I'll give it back."
March, flushed red once again, left the stage and sat down again. The last of the group who had to go was none other than...Alexis. Again. She went up to the stage, clearing her throat while preparing for her next Flint impression.
"Thomas left behind this strange German book," Alexis started, immediately causing Thomas to crush a pencil in his hand, "I should give it back, but I think I'd rather find out what it's about first! Woohoo, let's go learn some German!"
She ran back to Flint soon after, the boy looking a little confused about her imitation, but sensing that it had a different meaning than what he knew.
Confessional
"One more round of prompts, huh?" Flint chuckled. "This has been a day. It started with me falling in love, but I can see that Alexis needs me in more than a romantic way. She needs someone to have her back, which she hasn't had since she came here."
Confessional End
"Well, well!" Chef applauded the group. "We're here at the final prompt of the day. It's a tricky one, too! Don't expect an easy win...'Sing part of a song that your person may enjoy!'"
"Huh!?" the group choraled in confusion, not sure exactly what to say about this.
"Don't you get upset about this! It's simply warming you up for something far down the line..."
They shared some concerned glances between each other, trying to take a guess at what type of music that they may like, until Archie was the first to take the stage.
"Uh...not much of singer, so forgive me," he apologized before he even started,
"Tell me more, I got a box cutter with your name on it
Tell me more, I can't stay this long on the same topic
I don't know you, but would I fall in love with you?
I don't have no social cues
I'm all for you"
His voice was slightly shaky, as if he was embarrassed by what he was doing. Natt nodded his head slightly, having heard the song before, but not listened to it avidly.
"I do like LoFi...but LoFi Pop is something I'm not sure if I'm into," Natt commented.
Archie shrugged, leaving the stage as Alex ran onto the stage.
"Ya like showtunes, buddy?" Alex asked Thomas, who appeared a little shocked by the question, but gave a thumbs up. "Of course ya do, who doesn't! A one, a two-
Dancing through life
No need to tough it
When you can slough it off as Ah do
Nothing matters
But knowing nothing matters
It's just life
So keep dancing through!"
"Oh, I know that one," Thomas had a realization. "From Wicked, right?"
"Bingo!"
Alex jumped off the stage, which let March take his spot.
"Hm, what would be funny," March thought before having an idea, "Got it!
I hopped up and I said
I don't know, do you want to get something delivered?
She's like 'why would I want to eat liver?
I don't even like liver!'"
"Oh, yeah!" Anne clapped, "That is a funny one!"
March sighed in relief, leaving the stage and letting Tony take her spot. He rolled his eyes at Gretchen, getting a similar eye roll in return.
"I don't care for rock all too much," Tony noted, "Don't get mad at me for this bad take.
Oh, I'm not afraid
I'm giving into grievances again
You're looking at an absolute zero
I'm not the devil but I won't be your hero."
"Heh, that's okay I guess," Gretchen giggled, "Could use some work on your singing voice."
"Whatever, someone take my spot."
Flint went up to the stage, a big grin on his face as he looked at Alexis.
"Now," he started, "This is gonna have a deeper meaning, but yeah. You get it.
I'm a sucker for all the subliminal things
No one knows about you (about you) about you (about you)
And you're making the typical me break my typical rules
It's true, I'm a sucker for you, yeah."
"Boy band!" Alexis cheered, "You're so sweet, Flint!"
Flint blushed slightly as he ran back to his seat, high fiving her while Thomas went up with a bravado that couldn't be matched by anyone else.
"Alright, Alex," Thomas smirked, "This is kind of a joke, but...
Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."
"Oh, har de har!" Alex rolled his eyes, yet he still chuckled a little.
"Haha, I knew you'd think it was funny!"
Thomas left the stage, not looking Alexis' way, yet she could still feel the intensity he delivered. Anne ran up to the stage, thinking about what March may like, but drawing a blank on it.
"Uh," Anne mumbled, "I'm not sure, so...here goes nothing!
And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind
That I put down in the words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world."
"Oh, that song is so sweet!" March smiled at Anne, "I've never heard it before though!"
"Ah, rats."
Anne returned to her seat, her spot being taken by Natt, who was worried about this part of the challenge. He thought about Archie for a moment, before coming to a conclusion.
"Alright," Natt started, "I'm not sure if you'll like this, it's just a guess.
God, if you are above, I fear
That one day the whole world will disappear
And if it does, will I have lived my life
The way that I could? The way that I should?"
Despite his efforts, he could only sing in one tone due to the lack of versatility in his voice.
"Huh," Archie scratched his chin, "Not sure I know that...but the lyrics have some deep meaning, I'm sure. Neat."
"Cool, cool."
Natt sat back down, letting Gretchen take the stage, a smirk on her face.
"Okay, rap is not my genre," Gretchen announced to Tony, "But you like money, so here's a song about money!
Three: it's monopoly, invest inside some property, start a corporation, make a logo, do it properly
"Shells must sell", that will be your new philosophy
Swallow all your morals they're a poor man's quality
Four: expand, expand, expand, clear forest, make land, fresh blood on hand
Five: why just shells? Why limit your self? She sells seashells, sell oil as well!"
"Huh?" Tony looked confused, "That's giving me some ideas...money-making ideas."
"Of course it is," Gretchen laughed as she left the stage, allowing the last of the group to take to the stage.
It was Alexis once again, feeling a little awkward about being in a similar position to the idols of hers in the boy bands she listened to.
"Well, you like to run," Alexis mumbled, "So you like music that keeps you pumped up, right?
Push it to the limit
Walk along the razor's edge
But don't look down just keep your head, or you'll be finished
Open up the limit
Past the point of no return
Reached the top, but still you gotta learn how to keep it."
"Oh, yeah that's a great workout song!" Flint cheered.
Confessional
"She's definitely gotten to know more about me today," Flint lounged in the confessional, a smile on his face. "Ah, my queen."
Confessional End
"Alright, folks!" Chef called everyone's attention, "Challenge is said and done! I have to use the latrine, I'll be back in a jiffy to announce the winner! For now, just talk among yourselves!"
Chef left the stage, leaving the tablet on the podium that he was standing on. For an odd reason, a first person view showed someone looking at the other contestants talking to each other. The person who viewed it all left their seat quietly, taking to the stage in a hurry and assuring that nobody saw them. They looked down at the tablet on the podium, noticing that the current loser was Alexis, with ten points, while Anne was in the lead with twenty-three. The viewer scoffed, switching the point values up to their liking, checking frequently to see if someone was watching them. When they finished, they returned to their seat just before Chef returned to the stage.
"Okay, okay!" Chef called everyone's attention to him once again, "The winner of the trip to the Louvre with one person of their choosing is...March!"
"Oh, that's amazing!" March cheered, the others applauding for her, not one person questioning the outcome of the challenge.
"Now...as far as the rest of you...March got twenty-three points, Thomas got twenty, Archie got twenty, Alexis got eighteen, Flint got sixteen, Alex got fifteen, Gretchen got fourteen, Tony got fourteen, Anne got twelve...the loser of this challenge and our eliminated contestant tonight is none other than...Natt, with a mere nine points!"
"Wait, what the hell!?" Archie stood from his seat in a sudden fit of rage, "But he got pretty much everything spot on, what's this all about!?"
"No, no, no!" Anne cried out, "You can't be serious! Recount, recount!"
"Chef, that doesn't make sense!" Thomas exclaimed. "He definitely did a good job!"
"It's up to me to decide who wins, not all of you!" Chef yelled at them, "Now, come on! Let's give the boy a proper send off!"
Confessional
"What happened?" Flint appeared as shocked as could be, "Natt did amazing, I'm sure of it. Did somebody...no...wait a minute..."
Confessional End
The ten contestants, well, nine and one dropout found themselves in the escape pod room, Anne bawling her eyes out like a water fountain. Natt held her tightly, sad that he'd have to leave her alone on the station. He looked around at the others, noticing many similar concerned looks on their faces, all except for Tony. He looked down at Anne, kissing her forehead with a few tears dropping from his own eyes.
"Well, this is it for me, huh?" he let out one little chuckle, "Seems almost like a joke. You love jokes, right, Anne?"
"Not this one," Anne sobbed, "This is a bad joke..."
"Yeah...I don't think so, though."
"What do you mean?" Archie asked, looking just as miserable as the March was in the beginning of the day.
"The way I see it is that I won the show. I mean, it's been a dream of mine to see space...I've been up her for a long time with you guys. Hell, I've been to other planets! I even got to meet the sweetest person that I'll ever meet in my entire life. You know, Anne, I think Sunny would like you. She's an idol, a big deal in some places. I'll take you to meet her after this is over."
"Mhm," Anne hugged him tighter, though he had to break it up to take his leave.
"Guys, it really has been amazing up here with all of you," he cracked a small smile, "Sorry I have to go like this...but I got everything I could've ever wanted. Goodbye everyone, and good luck."
Anne fell to the ground, crying her eyes out onto the floor as Gretchen and March tried to calm her down. Natt stepped into the escape pod, slipping his helmet on and giving Chef a thumbs up. The veteran saluted the boy, closing the hatch on him and pulling the lever, sending him away from the station. Alexis sighed, sounding upset about the whole scene. Flint stood next to her, also seeming slightly upset as he ripped a piece of paper with his "revenge plan" on it into pieces, tossing it into a nearby trash can.
"What a bummer, right?" Flint asked her.
"Yeah," Alexis answered, "And I just got to make up for what I did at the beginning of this season, too. I'm gonna miss that guy."
As the two spoke to each other, each felt an arm suddenly around their shoulder, both turning to see a terrifying smile on Thomas' face. He gripped their shoulders with enough force to make it hurt a little, but not enough to break a bone or anything.
"Well, you two," he said with a chuckle. "Welcome to the endgame."
Author Notes:
*Well, this elimination has made me greatly depressed. I know a lot of people expected Natt to make it to the finale, especially in the discord, but unfortunately he falls here, thanks to some greater villainy afoot.
*As you may have seen some reviews, I did go back and patch up the first episode! Give it a look if you've got the time!
*Songs Used (In Order of Appearance): Can't Get Over You - Joji; Dancing Through Life - Stephen Schwartz; Trapped in the Drive-Thru - Weird Al Yankovic; Absolute Zero - Stone Sour; Sucker - The Jonas Brothers; Down Under - Men at Work; Your Song - Elton John; God, if You Are Above - Falling in Reverse; Money Game Part 2 - Ren; Scarface (Push it to the Limit) - Paul Engemann (I don't own any of these songs, but making ten songs in different styles was killing me, so I used them. Check 'em out, they're all great!)
*And sorry if I got your OCs genre wrong, I just went with my gut on this one for the most part.
*Placements: 22nd - Taylor; 21st - Nicolás; 20th - Vicente; 19th - Haley; 18th - Crustacean; 17th - Sebastian; 16th - Damien; 15th - Benjamin; 14th - Jianne; 13th - Dusty; 12th/11th - Luna and Liz; 10th - Natt
Review Responses:
Zoryan El Muerto - Oh man, if that mini made you think he was a serial killer, I wonder what this makes you think?
BadLuckAE - I miss Luna so much, especially since I totally disrespected her on her way out. RIP Luna.
Candela Monsoon - I'm glad that you guys seemed to like Luna more after the last one, I agree, she needed some on her way out since she had no friends...like all season.
MikeOyster - I do wonder how Damien will take it? Mayhaps we shall see on Wednesday?
In the Pod...
"Hm," Natt looked around in the pod, which seemed pretty plain to him. "I wonder how long it'll take to get to Earth from here?"
With those words, Chris popped up on the glass, a grin on his face.
"Yo, how's being eliminated treating you?" the host asked with a cackle.
"Boring, of course. I miss Anne already."
"I'm sure you do, she's one of a kind."
"Yeah...why are you here, though?"
"Oh, that's a good question. We've actually got something special built into your pod, just for you!"
"Huh? Why me?"
"To be honest, you boosted the ratings through the roof! So, as a little thank you, the producers suggested we implement this into your pod for whenever you got eliminated."
Suddenly, a scope descended from the top of the pod. The looking glass part was entirely clean, and of good quality. Natt looked at it closely, wondering what the point was.
"Why? What is this for?"
"You can see mostly Earth through the glass, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Take a look through the scope, I'm sure you'll see why it's there."
Without another word, Chris disappeared from the glass, leaving Natt alone with the scope. He shrugged, taking a look through it, immediately seeing what was so special about it. He couldn't help but stretch the widest, happiest grin he's ever had before in his life across his face, seeing many small asteroids through the scope, arranged in a picture of him and Anne hugging each other, with the words "Anne and Natt Forever" above it.