On yet another mysterious planet, a large, almost oil rig-like structure could be seen floating in a massive body of water with a large bubble around it. Within the rig, there was Chris, who was sitting inside a nice, heated room that had a large table in it with some plans for a recipe of some sort. Other various things could be seen on the table, including a drawing of a small, squid creature that was orange in color with blue spots scattered around its body, and four extra tentacles. Nearby, there was a drawing of a large group of lobsters, with one blue one mixed into the group.
"Last time on Total Drama Space Station: the numbers were getting thinner and thinner when we found ourselves left with a mere ten contestants. March kissing Luna before she left caused some tension in the group, but nothing compared to the drama Flint was stirring up by fixating over Alexis as if she was a queen. Dude also took over the confessional, didn't let anybody else use it all day! The challenge was revealed to be a role-swapping game, which me and Chef unfortunately partook in as well. That was a big mistake, Chef doesn't have what it takes to run this show. All the group had to do was act like each other in a few different prompts, which was easy for some of the pairs, like Anne and March or Natt and Archie, while proving difficult for the always arguing Gretchen and Tony and the odd pairing of Flint and Alexis. Flint eventually decided to cast away his attempt at being a villain to help Alexis deal with creepy Thomas, which caused Alex to question his friend and why people were scared of him. In the end, Alexis had lost the challenge, so she should've gone home, but an unknown perpetrator switched the scores up, sending Natt home in her place and getting almost half of the cast angry at us. Nice one, Chef. What will the fallout of Natt losing be? Where am I gonna send the contestants today? Will Alex find out that his pal s no good? Find out, right now, on Total Drama Space Station!"
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.
Anne had been a bit of a wreck on the inside since Natt had taken his leave from the station, though despite the thought of him being gone weighing down on her, she managed to keep a happy face on while she was around the others. She whistled a circus-like tune as she walked the halls, trying to avoid thinking about how Natt would usually be with her for this walk. She went for a bit before running into someone else, that someone being none other than the space station's residential explorer extraordinaire, Alex.
"Oh, hiya!" she greeted him, giggling after she spoke as if she said something funny, though she didn't. "What's going on?"
"Nothing yet," he replied as he looked behind him, as if checking for something, "Ah'm waiting for Thomas to meet me here, we usually head to the café together in the morning, but he's taking his sweet time getting out here!"
"That's strange, it's not like him to miss showing up early for something."
"Yeah, he's been off since Natt was eliminated."
"What do you mean?"
"Been smiling all weird at the others, 'specially Flint and Alexis."
"He has? I haven't seen him talk to them much at all before, though."
"It's super recent...he doesn't even compliment Chris like he normally did before, either."
"Well, maybe he's just upset that Natt's gone!"
"How do ya figure?"
"Natt was super nice to everybody while he was here, it would make sense for people other than myself to be upset about him being gone."
"Ah suppose you're right about that, he was a charming fella! How've you doing since then?"
"Oh, just fine!" her eye twitched slightly as she answered the question, clearly indicating something being wrong with her.
"Uh...are ya sure? It's okay to be sad about it."
"Nah, no need to be sad! I need to stay positive just in case all of you guys need a boost! I'll keep cracking jokes until the day I die, just to put a smile on your faces!"
"Ah'm sure ya don't need to overexert yourself, take the time to be sad if ya need it!"
"I'll keep that in mind!" she replied, pretending to grab the words from the air and shove them into her ear.
Confessional
"Anne's super sweet," Alex said with a concerned look on his face, "But Ah can't help but worry for her right now, especially since it's almost like she's trying to pretend she's not upset."
"I'm not upset!" Anne chimed in with another eye twitch, "Who told you I was upset? Alex? Pfft, what a silly Billy! I'm hunky-dory right now, nothing can get me down, haha...ah..."
Confessional End
Tony was all alone, lounging in his room while the others were out and about. He knew that pretty much everyone that remained wanted nothing to do with him, so he didn't bother putting forth the effort in trying to woe them over again. Besides, all he had to do was win some challenges and lay low so his enemies would find somebody else to target, for the time being, at least. He looked down at his locket, opening it to see the picture of Liz inside, finding it hard not to smile at it the girl who changed his entire perspective on being in a relationship. The minutes drifted by like seconds, and before he knew it, a figure stood before him, appearing out of nowhere and only being seen by him when he lowered the locket, causing him to jump up in fear. The figure was somewhat scrawny, with a sparkly, red, spaghetti-strap dress on that stopped right below her knees, matching sparkly, red high heels, and an odd futuristic helmet of sorts. The helmet covered her entire head, only showing its screen like surface that flashed green colors occasional, sometimes forming an emoji face.
"Who the hell are you!?" he asked, slightly panicking.
He received no more response than a slight giggle, which went through an audio filter that made the noise sound dark and distorted.
"I asked you a question! You got ears under that thing?"
"Indeed," the distorted voice replied.
"Well, answer me then! It's kinda effed up to just show up in someone's room with no permission, you know."
"You don't need to know who I am, yet. I need you to help me, and it would be appreciated if you'd drop the attitude."
"The attitude? Look, lady, I didn't ask you to show up in here, I think I've got the right to be a little pissed."
"I don't think you do, Tony. After all, you didn't earn your spot in the final nine, did you?"
"What are you on about?"
"Don't play dumb, you cheated your way here! And that poor Benjamin, he thought you were friends. What a shame."
"Get to the point, what do you need me to help you with. I'm not interested in this harassment."
"Simple, you just need to harbor me in your room for the time being."
"What? No way, I got a gal of my own, now. I ain't letting some other girl stay in my room."
"Deny me, and I will have you cut from this competition, pronto."
"Yeah right, like you could-"
The girl flashed an ID badge that recognized her as a member of the staff for the Total Drama series. Tony took one look at it and glanced back, feeling more nervous than ever.
"Can you at least let me know why you need to stay here?"
"...Yes, that I can. I'm here to profess my love."
"Again, I have a girlfriend."
"Not to you, you vermin."
"Harsh."
"To my beloved..."
"And that would be...?"
"None of your business, nosey."
"Again, harsh."
Suddenly, a knock came to Tony's door. The girl looked behind her and sighed before looking back at Tony.
"I'm going to hide underneath your bed while you get rid of whoever that is. Understood."
"Yes, ma'am."
The girl quickly dived under the bed, allowing Tony to rise from his spot and go to the door, sighing as he opened it to see Gretchen, standing in the doorway.
"Oh, what do you want?" he asked her, rolling his eyes, "Here to accuse me of not caring for Liz, again?"
"No, man," Gretchen answered, rubbing the back of her head, "I'm here to apologize."
"Eh?"
"I mean, Liz was always super secretive while she was here. I guess it's possible that she could've always been like that, and I just didn't notice. I mean, we became friends because she was trying to throw a stink bomb into Chris's room, but she accidentally dropped it in front of my door."
"Gotta say, this is super unexpected."
"Whatever...I'm sorry that I said what I said. We cool?"
"...Sure, why not? We're cool."
"Rockin'! By the way, when did you even get that locket?"
"Oh, that? Liz stole it from Chris I think. She was all giddy about it when she got it for me."
"Understandable, it's pretty."
"Yeah, she's got a good eye for these things."
"I miss her a lot."
"...I do, too."
Confessional
"Tony's not a horrible person sometimes," Gretchen noted, "But he can be a real piece of work. As long as he's not bugging anyone, though, he's cool."
"I'm not sure who the hell this lady is," Tony started, clearly upset, "But she's really cramping my style. Can't wait until she's out of my hair."
"Ooh, I can't wait!" the strange girl said in her distorted voice, "He's so gorgeous, I just need to meet him!"
Confessional End
March and Archie had finally gotten over what had happened, no longer thinking about it as they sat together at a table in the cafeteria. For some odd reason, March was having her friend pose in a stoic manner as she drew in her oversized drawing pad. He tried to glance over at it, but she wouldn't let him.
"Eyes to yourself!" she hissed, "I'm not finished yet."
"Alright, alright," he replied with a sigh.
She continued to draw, eventually stopping and picking up the pad, looking over each little detail to make sure she captured it the way that she wanted. She smiled at her work, flipping the pad to show Archie a drawing of him with March at his side, him with a shield in his hands, and her with a sword in hers. They looked like a classic pair of anime protagonists together. He smiled slightly at the sight, giving March a thumbs up as she signed the bottom left corner of the page.
"You're so good at that," he applauded her, "Each one of those drawings that I've seen has been amazing."
"Aw, thanks!"
"Can I look at some of your others in here? If you don't want me to, it's-"
"Archie, come on! We're best friends, of course you can!"
"Sweet, I've always wondered what you draw aside from what you've shown me."
He grabbed hold of the pad, March coming around the table to sit next to him as he flipped through the pages. The first one he took a look at was a drawing of Anne and Natt together, the latter of the two drawn with chopsticks in his nose, and the former laughing at the sight. Archie let out a slight chuckle, remembering the boy that he found a good comrade in. He flipped to another page, this one with a drawing of the bio-dome and it's flourishing plants. Through some of the brush, Jianne could be seen with her violin, almost as if she had drawn her hidden on purpose to add to the mystery that was their friend. Then, he flipped the page again, this time seeing a drawing of the very moment that the two had just finally stopped talking about. March and Luna were drawn in a cozy looking room, a fireplace burning in the background as the sat comfortably on a fluffy carpet, their lips locked passionately. March quickly shut the pad and took it back, blushing like crazy.
"Sorry, it just inspired me..."
"That's okay...I get it."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, you're starting to sound like Haley."
"Okay...sor- oops!"
Archie let out a slight chuckle as he patted her on the back, getting her to laugh slightly as well.
Confessional
"It's been over a little more than a week since they kissed," Archie noted, "It seems like a fever dream, honestly. I wonder what Damien thinks about all this? Because I'm starting to think that March has fallen for Luna more than she had for him. No offense if you're watching, Damien."
"Ah, Luna," March said her name with a look of infatuation, "Er, I mean...tuna! I love tuna! ...I really love tuna..."
Confessional End
With one of the players having just been cheated out of the game by Thomas, tensions were high in for Flint and Alexis. Each figured that they could be his next target if they weren't careful about how they went about their business, and if they didn't watch each other's backs. They had essentially stayed together since the last challenge, with the exception of when they slept. Now, they were together in Alexis' room, the owner of the room sitting on her bed while Flint sat on the floor, staring at the door as they talked to each other.
"So, do you actually know what he's up to?" the quickfooted boy asked his partner.
"Not exactly," Alexis answered, "I just know that he's up to something other than trying to win the show. Whoever it was that tried to get me to help them said that he had ulterior motives."
"Any other info than that?"
"Uh...he has lots of pictures of Chris?"
"Ah, so he's got a crush on Chris!"
"I don't think that's why he-"
"Nope, gotta be the reason. Why else would he have those?"
"He's a fan...?"
"Meh, I like my reason better."
"Pff, okay Flint."
The two shared a brief moment of laughter, before realizing, again, just how intense the situation that they were both currently trapped in was.
"I should've just stuck with my life back home, this is insane," Alexis mumbled.
"No!" Flint argued, "If you didn't come here we would've never gotten to meet each, which would've been lame, and you know it!"
"Yeah, but I got some crazy weirdo coming after me now."
"But I'll help you get rid of him, if my name isn't Flint Goldenrod!"
"What exactly are we going to do about him?"
"Uh...huh...never thought about it!"
"Wonderful, Flint."
"Well, I mean, we could probably sabotage him during a challenge and get him eliminated that way."
"You kidding me? He never let's anyone get in his way during those, and he's too good at most of them for us to dream of taking him down that way."
"Hmm," Flint tapped his chin as he thought. "What if he got disqualified?"
"Disqualified?"
"Yeah, you know. Like Chris catches him doing something bad and gives him the boot for it."
"I guess that could work, but what would we pin on him? Chris likes the dude, on account of how much he praises him."
"Crap, you're right...well, there is one other option."
"Go ahead, let me hear it."
"If he were to get injured in a challenge."
"Injured? Yeah right, as if he'd let himself get injured."
"Oh no, he won't let himself. We'll be assuring it happens."
"You mean we're gonna attack him!? Flint, that's messed up."
"I know, but it seems like it's the only surefire way to get rid of him."
"I...yeah, we could. But you've seen how quick he is, not to mention strong. He literally flipped you over his shoulder a couple of days ago."
"Exactly, we'll just have to get him in the middle of a challenge or while he's sleeping."
"I'm not attacking a sleeping person."
"Okay, so in the middle of a challenge it is, then."
Confessional
"I can't believe I just agreed to trying to hurt somebody," Alexis said nervously, "I mean, I don't want to do it...but he keeps creeping me out! We have to get rid of him, no matter what the price may be."
"I've never felt such a sense of justice before," Flint started, "It's honestly exhilarating! Woohoo, let's take this mother down!"
Confessional End
Thomas remained in his room for the time being, the light off as he sat on his bed with a mischievous smile on his face. He flipped his contact case in his hand, hovering his thumb over the secret button on it without pressing it. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he stood from the bed.
"Oh, those nincompoops!" he cackled, "They think that they can injure me? Really, now. That's too good."
He paced in front of his bed in the dark, maintaining his creepy smile with each step he took.
"I will not be defeated by such a crude method, Flint. You need to learn who you're up against. I run this fu %$#g show, you're nothing to me! Nevermind that, though. If they really want to fight me, I'd be more than happy to oblige with that. Perhaps, after wipe the floor with Flint, Alexis will realize just who she decided to mess with. Oh, this is too good!"
He walked over to the door to his room, flicking the light on to reveal a mass amount of photos of Chris hanging from the ceiling, each circled in red marker, each circle marking something that wasn't entirely clear.
"This is almost over," he said with a sigh, "Then I'll be able to go back home and forget this dumb show even happened."
He laughed again, growing more maniacal with each little chuckle until he was suddenly interrupted by the loud speaker.
"All worthless maggots report to the dock," Chef's voice announced, "We've got another challenge to be getting to!"
The speaker cut out, leaving Thomas with a disgusted look on his face as he straightened himself out.
"Another stupid challenge," he grumbled, "How lovely. Oh well, let's get this show on the road."
He pulled a lever near his desk, causing all of the pictures to ascend into the ceiling, disappearing from sight.
Confessional
"For the record," Thomas started, "I typically don't have anything against people, I try to be fair with my judgement. It's not my fault that Alexis and Flint decided to mess with me. These events were put into motion by their actions, not mine."
Confessional End
The group found themselves standing before Chef in the dock room, each with their space suits on, as they were expecting another challenge that would require them to use them. Chef shook his head at the group, almost seeming disappointed with them.
"Maggots, did I say to put those on?" he asked them rhetorically.
"I guess not," March answered, "But aren't we going into space? Won't we need them to breath?"
"Chris has got another one of those strange oxygen barriers up for this next challenge. You're not gonna need them for this challenge. Besides, he's got some special suits there for you already."
"Special suits?" Alex questioned, "What do they do? Let us fly or something?"
"Do you really want me to answer that question, maggot?"
"Ah guess not, golly."
"Any other stupid questions?"
"What planet are we going to?" asked Gretchen.
"You'll find out in a damn minute if you'd just go through the stupid teleporter. You stupid kids and your stupid questions."
"Oh, wonderful," Thomas commented, "A mysterious challenge locale where were being told to not wear our protective gear. Loving this already."
Thomas chuckled as he passed through the teleporter behind Chef, causing the co-host to glare at him as he did so.
"Well, walk backwards into hell, as they say," Tony said, as he passed into the teleporter.
"Woohoo, challenge time!" Anne cheered before running through, her eye still twitching uncontrollably.
"That poor girl," Archie mumbled, "Maybe we should check on her, eh, March?"
"Agreed, she's clearly hiding her sadness," March answered Archie, the two of them going through the teleporter at the same time.
"Here goes nothing, Ah guess!" Alex cheered as he ran through.
"Let's kick this challenges butt!" Gretchen shouted, following the others through the teleporter.
Alexis sighed, clearly a little worried about what may be to come until Flint grabbed hold of her hand. She looked at his face, noticing the caring smile he had on.
"Come on, let's go!" he said, which invigorated her.
"Yeah, let's do this!" she cheered, growing her own smile on her face as he pulled her through the teleporter with him.
As the last of the group had gone through, Chef pulled out a lawn chair, sitting down in it while reading a magazine with Dusty's mom plastered on the front. He snickered as he flipped the pages, only to have someone tap his shoulder. He sighed, turning around to see the girl that was in Tony's room previously.
"You!?" he gasped, "What are you doing here!?"
Confessional
"I don't have feelings for Flint like how he does for me," Alexis started, "But he really is a great friend...I can't thank him enough for all that's been doing to help me."
Confessional End
When the group finally arrived at their destination, they noticed themselves in the oil rig like structure that was seen earlier. It had a massive air bubble around it, making it clear that they were safe without their suits on. As they took them off, they noticed that the area was warm, probably thanks to the bubble being heated as well. As they stood around, Chris approached them from a flight of stairs, that winning grin plastered on his face, as usual.
"Welcome, everyone!" Chris greeted them, "To Total Drama's Neptune Rig!"
"Neptune?" Gretchen asked, "Isn't this one of those planets that Liz would be questioning the physics of right now?"
"Oh, yeah," Tony answered, "Anything beyond the asteroid belt and she's going crazy."
"Yeah, good thing she's gone so she can't bug me about it!" Chris interrupted them, upsetting them both greatly. "We've had this cozy little set up for a few months now, it was built right before the show started. Here, we have a field team conduct research on the planet. Gets us a lot of money back home on Earth."
"What is this place, exactly?" Archie asked, looking around to see only ocean around him.
"Neptune is almost entirely oceans, barely any landmasses except for the occasional small island. It's a hotspot for this research due to the alien life in the oceans, though. Which is connected to why you're here!"
"To research aliens?" Alex questioned, thinking Chris was joking.
"Not quite."
"What is it then?" Thomas continued the line of questions.
"Well, on this planet lies a type of space cephalopod. Because we're bad at names, our producers have called it the Neptuid."
"Cheesy," Anne laughed as she heard the dumb name.
"Yeah, yeah. I didn't pick the name. Anywho, our producers just love calamari, as anyone with an eye for good seafood should. Your challenge today is to catch as many of the Neptuids as possible to bring them back here for our hungry production team!"
"We're fetching you dinner?" March glared at the host.
"Kinda, yeah! The contestant that wrangles the most of them will get to partake in that dinner, too! Neptuid is a far better consistency than regular calamari, so you're sure to love the dish. In fact, somebody that you know has already had her chance to have it, and she loves it."
"Someone we know?" the group asked in unison.
With that question, a bunch of rattling noises could be heard as a massive wave of lobsters came down the same stairs that Chris came from, carrying with them the all too familiar Crustacean, her hair slightly longer with the ponytail gone. She glared at Tony as she descended the staircase, eventually standing up at the bottom of the stairs. A blue lobster stood close to her while the others gave her some space, allowing her to approach the group.
"Well, whaddya know?" she let out a slight chuckle, "Tony the betrayer is still in the game. How lovely."
"Oh boy," Tony started, "This is another one of those consequence things, right?"
"Sorta!" Chris added. "Crustacean's purpose today is to stop you guys from collecting the Neptuids! She, and her army of lobsters, are going to go with you down into the oceans and chase after you, doing whatever it takes to make it impossible for you guys to win this challenge! I told her that if nobody gets more than two Neptuids, she can rejoin the show and I'll eliminate two of you!"
"Jeez, that's a little harsh, Chris," Alexis noted, meekly.
"Yeah, why would you do that?" Flint questioned the host. "She lost, she can't just come back."
"Are you two seeing the irony in what you're saying?" Chris asked them, though they weren't sure what he was getting at. "Anyway, I've made up my mind. That's how this is going to go."
"The loser is the person who collects the least, right?" Thomas posed yet another question.
"Good observation, Sherlock! Yes, the loser is whoever collects the least of the Neptuids. Make sense to everyone?"
"Ah guess," Alex added, looking nervous, "But are ya sure ya have to eat them? I mean, they're just trying to enjoy their lives here on their planet..."
"Yep, they're delicious...though the adults are too massive to actually nab, so you'll all be grabbing the young ones for our enjoyment."
"Babies!?"
Confessional
"Oh no, no way," Alex glared at the camera, "No way in hell am Ah gonna let this twisted reality tv show host eat a bunch of poor infant squid thingies. Ah'll do whatever it takes to stop the group from collecting them, this has gotta be considered animal abuse, right?"
Confessional End
"Now then," Chris started again, "If you go up the stairs, you'll notice special space diving suits made specifically for this challenge. It's chilly out there, so they will of course come heated. A couple of other features with these suits: one, they can withstand a lot of pressure, so you won't have to worry about going too deep. Two, they have an activatable forcefield. You turn it on by pressing a button on the left wrist. You can protect yourself from, I don't know, Crustacean, or perhaps and angry momma Neptuid. And three, they, much like your space suits, come packed with communications, so you'll be able to speak to each other through them. Capiche?"
"Aye aye, captain!" Flint saluted him in a mocking manner, causing Alexis to giggle.
"Just go get those suits on and get ready for the challenge, our producers are getting hungry!"
Chris led the group up the stairs, showing them the suits that matched their space suits in color and design. The group examined them closely, the first to put theirs on being Gretchen, which confused Thomas. He looked at Alex, who had yet to put his suit on as he was glaring at Chris.
"Yo, man," Thomas called his attention. "What's up, why aren't you getting your suit on first? You're our adventurous leader, you love charging into these things."
"Ah'm not all too pleased with this challenge," Alex answered his friend, continuing to glare at Chris.
"Why not? It's not that bad."
"Catching babies is horrible, especially if some high ranking television mucks are gonna eat them."
"I mean, I guess that's not great..."
"Not at all, Chris is off his rocker."
"Well, technically he doesn't pick the challenges himself, the whole lot of them does."
"Look, Thomas. Ah'm not gonna even nab one, and Ah sure as hell won't let you guys. Ah'm gonna help Crustacean in this one. Best of luck to you."
"...I understand."
The rest of the group slipped into their suits, Alex maintaining the angry expression on his face.
Confessional
"Alex is a brave fella," Thomas noted, "It's a shame that he has just set his elimination in stone. I would've loved to see him make it to the end."
Confessional End
When the group returned to the main deck of the rig, Crustacean and her massive squadron of lobsters were waiting for them, the leader now in her own maroon diving suit. The others felt nervous as she glared at them, especially Tony, who was receiving the most of the intensity. Chris laughed at them as he layed down on some sort of futon with a laptop next to him on a table. On the screen, there was many cameras hooked up to each of the suits, allowing him to get a good look at each contestant's point of view.
"So, I can see everything that you see," Chris announced, "So I'll know exactly what each of you is doing throughout all of this challenge. You'll also have a super powerful flashlight on the helmet, it'll brighten the ocean up enough so you can see what you're doing, understood? Now get out their and nab some Neptuids! You have one hour to grab as many as you can!"
With that, the contestants leapt into the ocean, each of them attached to a cord, keeping them hooked to the rig. Chris had Crustacean wait on board for the moment.
"When do I get to go in?" she impatiently asked.
"You can go in once they spot their first one," he replied, "It needs to be fair, doesn't it."
"Ugh, boring, Chris. Real boring."
Meanwhile, as the group started their descent in the grand ocean, Alex felt more determined than ever to accomplish his goals. He felt around on his helmet, trying to figure out where the camera may be, before feeling the lens right above the flashlight.
"Aha!" he said as he swiped his finger on the side of the rig behind him, getting some mud on it. "You can see what we see, huh? Well, take a look at this!"
He rubbed the mud all over the camera, effectively blocking Chris's view from it, before looking around into the depths, trying to see if any of the others had started to make progress. Not too far away, Archie and March were diving alongside Anne, who seemed to be laughing the whole situation off, causing them to worry about her even more.
"Hey, Anne!" March called to her, "You good?"
"I'm phenomenal!" she cheered, her eye twitching some more, this time paired with her lip quivering, "I've never been better, to be honest!"
"Are you sure about that?" Archie asked, "You seem like you're freaking out on the inside. I know what internal panic looks like, I've had plenty of it."
"Silly Archie, I'm not panicking! I'm just dandy! Dandy Annedy over her, haha!"
She started to descend even quicker than before, quickly leaving them behind as well as the touchy subject of her own emotions.
Confessional
"She's losing it," Archie said with a sigh, "And if she keeps refusing to acknowledge it, it's only going to get worse."
"I'm great!" Anne shouted at an incredible volume, shaking the confessional. "Don't worry about me, just Weird Anne being weird, just like normal!"
Confessional End
Thomas continued down into the depths alone, though he watched out for the others, particularly trying to see if Flint or Alexis would try to pull something during this challenge. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he came near the end of his line, noticing a nest of the orange squids with blue spots, and fourteen appendages. He smirked at the nest, slowly approaching it without a sound and grabbing one as quick as he could, the others just watching him without doing anything.
"Huh, these things are kind of cute," Thomas said to himself as the one that he picked up nuzzled itself in his arms. "I can kind of see why Alex is so adamant about not letting them eat you, but alas, I must win! Vila i frid!"
As he began to rise up, Chris signaled Crustacean to leap into the water with her lobsters, which she gladly did. The blue one stayed on board the rig, seeming to be scared of the massive ocean while Chris narrowed his brow at it.
"You're a weird lobster," he noted, the creature clicking its massive claws together in response.
As Crustacean descended, she passed by several other contestants that had yet to even come close to finding the Neptuids. Alexis and Flint watched her as she passed them by, not even paying them a glance before disappearing from their sight.
"Huh," Alexis looked toward the direction that she went to, "You think that someone already got one?"
"Maybe, and that kinda ruins this for me," Flint said sadly, "I'm supposed to be the fastest one, how could somebody outdo me like this?"
"Aw, it's alright, Flinty."
"Flinty? That's a pet name! Does this mean you're accepting my feelings, queen?"
"Eh!? I didn't mean to- ah, whatever, I don't want to give myself an aneurism trying to explain this."
She started to swim deeper, being soon followed by her partner in crime.
"I love you, my queen!"
Confessional
"Alexis is honestly wife material," Flint noted with a smirk, "Ya know, minus the always running away when I tell her how much I love her. She's great, though!"
Confessional End
Crustacean finally got to Thomas' location, glaring at him through her suit as he rose to face her, the alien in his hands still. He smirked, not thinking much of it until the lobster armada appeared behind her, causing him to worry about his odds for the first time ever.
"What's the matter?" Crustacean mocked him, "Don't think you can take me?"
"Let's see," Thomas started to analyze the situation, "I'm underwater, there's one disadvantage. I'm outnumbered, that's two. Oh, and I'm holding a living creature. That makes three. On the plus side, it's not like you yourself are actually threatening."
"Excuse me?"
"You're just another failed contestant who dreams of coming back to the show, but the sad reality of the situation is that Chris would never let you come back, even if you did succeed."
"Oho, that tears it! I'll mess you up!"
As she started to approach him quickly, clearly having malevolent intentions as far as what she was going to do to him, he couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle.
"But of course," he said under his breath, "Rydych chi'n colli'ch cryfder pan fyddwch chi'n ildio i ddicter."
"You'll regret insulting me!" she shouted, lunging at him in attempts to grab the creature from him, only for him to swiftly dodge the side.
The lobsters swam at him, but he grabbed Crustacean by the arm, swinging her into them and knocking them aside like bowling pins. He laughed as he began to rise from the depths, leaving her down there, dazed and confused. As he looked below him, making sure she wasn't gaining on him, he was suddenly struck in the side by, what seemed to be, a punch. He quickly dropped the creature, which started to swim back to its nest slowly, causing Thomas to turn angrily to see Alex right there.
"What the hell!?" Thomas shouted at him, backing up a little. "Why did you do that!?"
"Ah'm not gonna let you kill these creatures for Chris and his producers," Alex replied, a sense of righteousness in his voice, "Ah don't care who loses this one, so long as he doesn't win."
"You're really getting on my nerves, Alex. I highly suggest you cut the hero act and go back to-"
"It's not an act, Thomas! And if you won't take me seriously...then we can't be friends anymore!"
"...So be it."
Thomas sent a quick hook to Alex's face, causing the boy to fly back a bit before catching himself in the water. He rubbed his helmet, noting that it saved him from most of the impact of the punch, but it was undeniable that Thomas was a lot stronger than himself. He could still feel the stinging despite the protection. He flew back towards Thomas, attempting to grab him, though the boy that used to be his friend slammed his fists on his back, causing him to fall about ten feet down.
"This isn't something you can win," Thomas said coldly, "Give it up, Alex."
"...Make me."
Thomas felt himself growing angrier and angrier as Alex approached him again, ready to continue the fight. Elsewhere, Gretchen had spotted another nest of the Neptuids, each just as adorable as the ones that Thomas had found previously. She giggled as she grabbed one, ready to turn back only to find Tony snagging one of them as well.
"Oh, you came out of nowhere!" she said, slightly startled.
"Yeah, gotta be honest I just followed you here," he replied, "Beats having to look for these myself."
"Typical Tony."
"What can I say? It's easier this way."
"Oh no you don't," Crustacean shouted at them in the distance.
She approached them with the lobsters behind her, causing the two with the creatures in their hands to panic before starting to swim up. Unfortunately, she and the lobsters were just too fast for them to handle, and they were quickly robbed of the Neptuids in their hands.
"Hey, I stole that fair and square!" Tony griped.
"Yeah, give it back!" Gretchen growled, ready to throw hands.
"Nope, not gonna let you have them," Crustacean mocked them. "Especially not Tony, you slimy prick. I'm going to make sure none of you get more than two and come back to the show, but Tony is the one that I will assure the destruction of. You won't get a single one of these guys back to that rig, I can promise you that."
"Great, we got a psycho on our hands," Tony rolled his eyes at her.
"What'd you call me?"
"A psycho, I think," Gretchen said, giggling as the other girl grew angrier.
Confessional
"My team followed Tony's plan," Crustacean grumbled, "And that got me eliminated! I swear, I will have my revenge on all of them!"
Confessional End
Elsewhere, Anne had finally found her own nest of Neptuids, with Archie and March hot on her trail still. She stepped down into the nest, patting the creatures gently and giggling as she felt their rubbery surface.
"You guys are just like bouncy balls!" she remarked as the group of aliens swam around her, almost as if intrigued by her suit's interesting color pattern.
"Oh, you found them!" March rejoiced, "Now we just have to get some of these back to Chris so we don't have to go home tonight!"
The three all stood in the nest, each grabbing one of the creatures gently and holding it to their sides. The aliens still didn't put up a fight, it was almost as if they had nothing to worry about at all. Archie looked at them suspiciously, wondering why they were so relaxed at a time like this, when they were about to be eaten by some production team.
"Hm," Archie pondered as he and two girls started to rise up from the nest, "Don't you two think this is a little odd?"
"Whaddya mean?" Anne asked as she pet the Neptuid in her hands, "Because they're so adorable?"
"No, not that. I mean that if a giant creature you've never seen before manages to capture you, wouldn't you be trying to escape?"
"Maybe they just don't fear us!" March remarked, Anne nodding her head to the idea.
"It could be, I may just be paranoid, but somehow I think that there's something else going on."
"Oh!" Anne raised her free hand, "What if they know Crustacean is coming to help them? That would make sense!"
"That would make sense, only issue with that is...where's Crustacean?"
As the two girls turned around to face Archie, their eyes went wide and they instinctively let go of the aliens in their hands, allowing them to swim back to the nest below. Archie looked back at them with a confused expression, unsure of what exactly was going on.
"Uh, you two feeling alright?"
They failed to respond to him, staying in complete shock and awe about what they were watching, while Archie received a tap on the shoulder. He let out a sigh, followed by a slight chuckle.
"Alright, let me guess. She's right behind me?"
"S-s-something is right behind you," Anne stuttered as she spoke, March suddenly grabbing her and holding on to her for dear life in fear.
"Huh?"
Archie turned around to see a massive Neptuid, probably about thirty feet in length, staring down at him with glaring red eyes that pierced his soul. He gulped before turning back around and letting the alien child go free.
"Oh...I see...swim away!"
The three started to make their getaway in the water, the mother Neptuid giving them a three second head start as she counted her nest, before hurrying after them.
Confessional
"Top ten scariest things I've ever seen in my life," Archie muttered, "If I wrote horror stories, this would be a great scare."
"It was so scary!" Anne whimpered, "I thought we were gonna die for sure!"
Confessional End
Flint and Alexis took a look around them, not having seen any of the nests like the rest of the group had, yet at least. As Flint swam around quickly, trying to spot where they should head next, Alexis noticed something plop into the water above them. She swam slightly upward while Flint continued to search, eventually rising to the surface and feeling something hit her on the head, causing her to rub it in pain.
"Ow, what the heck was that?" she asked as another of the aggressors fell in front of her, falling slow enough into the water for her to grab it. "What is this?"
Suddenly, almost as if a bell rang with Tony's name on it, he rose to the surface. He was far faster than Flint could've dreamed of being, startling Alexis and causing her to lose grip of the shiny rock in her hands. Tony was quick to grab it from the water, almost as if he was drooling over it like a hungry dog.
"This is diamond!" Tony cheered, "I can recognize this sweet find anywhere! It's literally raining diamonds down on this planet! We could be freaking, rich! Do you understand!?"
"I get it, I get it!" Alexis yelled back at him, "Calm down, Tony!"
"How can I be calm when something like this is happening!? Bwahaha! I could get Liz and I some real nice furniture for our future home together someday!"
"Greedy as always- wait a minute, what?"
"What?"
"You want to use that...to get something to share with somebody?"
"Yeah, though I'd get to pick it all, of course. I know my decorating more than anybody else, trust me. I got style!"
"Tony...that's so sweet," Alexis felt herself literally tearing up from the conman thinking about his girlfriend despite finding a ginormous amount of money in front of him.
"Yeah, yeah. By the way, I'd back up if I were you."
"Back up?"
Another diamond rained down, conking Alexis on the head and causing her to reel back in pain as Tony grabbed it before letting it sink.
Confessional
"Tony actually does have a heart!" Alexis noted as she rubbed her head, "Who would've thought? Owwww, those things really hurt..."
"What?" Tony looked at the camera as he held the diamonds in his hands, "Aw, don't confuse me for a mushy type, I just have a soft spot for one maniacal mastermind!"
Confessional End
Flint wandered the water, not even knowing that Alexis had gone up to the surface for the time being. He searched the sea as far as he could in one direction, but couldn't see a single sign of the baby Neptuids. He was starting to panic, unsure if he'd be able to make it past this challenge at this rate.
"Ugh!" he whined, "Where the hell are these things!?"
He started to look around him, noticing the lack of Alexis nearby.
"Queen? Where'd you go?"
He started to swim around some more, searching for Alexis, and not even noticing that there was a Neptuid nest laying right underneath him. The creatures stared at him as he passed them by, wondering why he wasn't stopping to greet them. They spat bubbles at each other, as if they were playing some sort of game, when suddenly the boy came up to them.
"Hey, you guys! Have you seen a girl in a magenta diving suit around here?"
The creatures stared back at him blankly, clearly not understanding a single bit of human language.
"Come on, you know! The color magenta! Like...kinda purple, kinda red?"
The remained silent, one shrugging its tentacles to show the confusion. As Flint sighed from the lack of conversation from the aliens, another mothers showed up at the nest, not glaring at Flint like the one that was with Archie, March, and Anne, but looking at him like he was insane.
"Oh, amazing!" Flint cheered, "An adult, you can help, right?"
The giant creature stared at him as he tried to use his arms to gesture what he meant, attempting to analyze it but finding it hard to do. It also shrugged at him, making the boy groan in disappointment.
"Alright, come down to the sand with me! I'll draw her in there, maybe you'll understand!"
As he started swimming down, the mother and her babies followed him, watching as he tried to outline Alexis' diving suit in the sand.
Confessional
"These space squids are real gentle," Flint noted, "Kinda makes ya feel bad for having to bring them to Chris."
Confessional End
Thomas and Alex remained locked in combat, much like before. The latter of the two would attempt to slug him, but he was severely outclassed as far as speed and power went. Thomas would dodge every swing, returning one to him just as painful, if not more painful, than his ex-friend's would've been.
"Give it up, Alex," Thomas growled at him, "There's no way in hell you can beat me."
"Yeah?" Alex struggled to speak, having taken many punches to the sides and ribs at this point, "Ah don't have to beat you, Ah just have to keep those babies safe."
"You're a fool."
"And you're a bad friend!"
Alex swung at him again, this time his fist being caught by Thomas, who merely had a smile on his face.
"See, Alex, the thing is...I didn't come here to make friends. Not with you, not with anyone. I came here because I have one goal in mind-"
"Watch out!" shouted Archie from below, swimming up with the girls right next to him, each screaming.
The mother Neptuid from before gave chase to the group, causing both Alex and Thomas to panic as they got closer.
"Guys, the forcefields!" Alex shouted to the group, turning his own on and making the bubble like field appear around them.
"Right!" Thomas agreed, following in Alex's instructions.
The other three noticed the force fields and each turned theirs on, causing the mother to whap all five of them with her massive tentacle, which sent the bubbles flying up to the surface and onto the rig. Tony and Alexis watched in wonder as the group of five landed back on the starting place of the challenge, shrugging in confusion. Deep below, Gretchen was still trying to get one of the babies from the nest that Crustacean was guarding skillfully. She would aim to grab one, but a lobster would come by and snip at her hands, occasionally grabbing her hand and causing her to reel back in pain.
"Hey, cut it out!" Gretchen complained to Crustacean.
"No, I want back in on this contest," Crustacean argued, "I was cheated by that sleezy bas%$ #."
"Tony is not a sleezy bas%$ #!"
"Pfft, Gretchen are you hearing yourself speak right now?"
"Yeah, I am! Tony actually does care about people who care about him!"
"Prove it, Tony has never once cared for anyone on that dumb station."
"That's not true!"
Gretchen suddenly stopped reaching for the Neptuids to continue her argument with Crustacean, who seemed too set in her understanding of Tony to even try to see what point she was trying to make.
"Tony may have started out here as a slimeball that didn't give a damn about anybody but himself, but he's grown a lot! Realizing that the whole world is against you can really do numbers on a person, especially when one or two people start to show that they actually like you and don't expect you to change."
"Gretchen, you're ridiculous. You've always had this weird tendency to hang out with the bad guys. You try to see past their flaws, but you fail to realize that they don't care about you in the slightest. Not everyone can change overnight."
"Fine, don't believe me. But I know what I've seen, and I'm not gonna take that from someone who has never once cared about a single person here."
"Whatever, you'll see eventually when Tony stabs you in the back."
"Well...he can't if I don't come back with one of these squids! I'll be eliminated!"
"You'd seriously get yourself out to save the heartbreak of being betrayed? That's pathetic."
"Then call me pathetic."
Gretchen started to swim up to the surface, Crustacean shaking her head in disappointment as she left her sight. Meanwhile, Flint had finished his sand engraving of Alexis, trying to show the aliens behind him what he was talking about.
"See?" he pointed at the drawing, "Hot girl in a hot suit. She's missing somewhere, I'm looking for her."
The squid-creatures behind him still didn't fully understand, but suddenly, one of the young ones seemed to show a certain understanding of what Flint was trying to convey. It swam over to him, pointing at the drawing with one of its tentacles and pointing up with one of the others. Flint stroked his chin, wondering what it may mean, causing the other Neptuids around him to roll their eyes at him before the mother grabbed the boy.
"Woah! Did I offend you or something? Calm down!"
Before he had time to fight back, the massive Neptuid started to rise to the surface with the boy in her grip.
Confessional
"Talk about a doozy of a ride," Flint commented, "I'm still having a hard time seeing straight after that!"
Confessional End
Chris looked at the five contestants on the rig, all piled up in pain without a single Neptuid. The blue lobster that was seen before snipped at each of the five, clipping each of their ankles.
"Yowza!" Anne shouted as she leapt up from the pile.
"Ay caramba!" March yelped, leaving the pile as well.
"Okay, ow," Archie coldly mumbled, getting up and standing over by March.
"Crikey!" Alex jumped into the air, hopping one foot in pain as he held the other in his hands.
"Ouch! Maloko mo!" Thomas pushed the creature away, causing it to snip his hand as well. "Nakakainis ka maliit na tae!"
"Well, looks like that's five empty handed contestants," Chris remarked, hearing the splash of water off to the side of the rig and looking over at it.
In the water, he saw all three of Gretchen, Tony, and Alexis, the two girls watching as Tony nabbed as many diamonds as he possibly could.
"Uh...actually, eight empty handed contestants now. You guys think Flint had any luck?"
As Chris asked the question, the mother with Flint in her grasp rose to the surface, pointing at Alexis with one of its tentacles and causing Flint to rejoice.
"Oh, Alexis!" Flint greeted her, "I've found you, my queen!"
"Oh, where were you Flint?" Alexis asked, taking a moment to realize what was going on, "What the heck are you doing!?"
"This is my friend, met her down underwater when I was looking for you!"
Suddenly, the angry Neptuid mother rose from beneath the water, roaring angrily as it searched for the group that tried to steal her babies. Before she could, the other mother hushed her down, making gestures with her tentacles as if to try and communicate something about the group. Crustacean rose to the surface as well, and now all eleven of the people in the are were watching the giant beasts speak with each other. Eventually, the angry one calmed down, swimming back underneath the surface while the already calm one scooped up all of the people in the water and placed them on the rig with the others, swimming back down and waving goodbye to Flint.
"I'll never forget you, friend!" Flint shouted as she left his sight. "Nice lady, super chill."
"Are you seriously telling me that none of you got a single Neptuid?" Chris asked angrily.
"Not one of them," Crustacean remarked with a smirk.
"Yeah, this challenge was just outright Cruel, Chris!" Alex complained.
"That's not up to you to decide."
"Oh, whatever. At least Ah helped Crustacean keep the group from getting any of those poor babies."
"Wait, you what?"
"Ah stopped them in their tracks, like a good person would."
"Oh, you're donezo. You're eliminated. You're beyond eliminated. I don't know why you would interrupt a challenge to do your own thing, but you're out."
"Saw that coming from a mile away," Thomas commented, earning a glare from Alex.
"Um, Chris?" Crustacean grabbed the hosts attention. "Technically, no one got more than two of the Neptuids...so I can come back, right?"
Chris thought about the deal for a moment.
"Yeah, sure," he agreed, "Just go through the teleporter and be prepared to meet your room once again."
"Woohoo! Come on, Berry!"
Crustacean cheered as the blue lobster followed her through the teleporter behind Chris. She opened her eyes to see the losers staring at her in confusion, causing her to have some confusion as well.
"Huh?"
She turned back to look at the teleporter, only to notice that it was completely off now, and that she hadn't gotten what Chris promised her.
"Chris you a$%$ole!"
Back on Neptune, Chris turned on a separate teleporter to the left of him.
"Now, all of you go through here," Chris growled, "I'm looking forward to sending Alex on his way out."
"Couldn't you have just let him go through the first teleporter?" Archie asked.
"Don't question me, Robert Frost."
Archie glared at him, the whole group soon going through the teleporter and finding themselves in the escape pod room. Chris tossed the space suits through the teleporter, coming through and shutting it off soon after.
"Alex, switch your suit and get out of here, I don't even want to look at you."
Alex obliged, glaring at Thomas the entire way through, only to have his glare returned with a smirk. As soon as he was in his space suit, he went right on his way to the escape pod, the group watching as they realized this meant they were due for the final eight. He sat inside of it, holding his glare at Thomas all the while as Chris came over to him.
"Any last words?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, I'd like to-" Alex was quickly cut off by the hatch shutting and Chris pulling the lever, causing him to shoot away from the station.
"And good riddance, Nathan Drake."
As Chris left the room, he was followed by most of the others, though Anne was blocked by Archie on her way out. She chuckled a bit, trying to push through him, though he wouldn't let her get through any opening.
"Aw, come on," she giggled as she spoke, "Am I under arrest for overuse of hilarity?"
"Anne, you need to stop ignoring the fact that Natt is gone and that it affects you, too," Archie replied, causing her to stop smiling for one of the first times ever.
"I'm not doing that..."
"Yes, you are. You're sad, I'm sad, pretty much every single one of us is sad about it. You just need to accept that."
"But then I can't help you guys stay happy..."
"Yes, you can. You're a really nice person, but if you just ignore how you feel to worry about others you're gonna end up miserable."
"I won't...I love making others happy..."
"Anne, are you happy right now?"
"Why yes, I-"
"Are you, really?"
"...No."
"So what are you gonna do about it?"
"...I dunno," she scuffed the ground with her feet, "Maybe be sad about it in my room, alone."
"Do you really think that's for the best?"
"...No...it's not."
"You don't have to let it out to me, but you can talk to anybody. I'm sure they'll be willing to comfort you."
"...You know, I can see why Jianne likes you!"
"Eh?"
"You also care about other people a lot!"
"I just...don't want people to end up like me."
"Well...I don't know too much about you, but if everyone here was like you then this would be a pretty awesome place!"
Archie felt himself stunned by the comment and Anne skipped away happily.
Confessional
"Alex really was a good friend, it's a shame things went out like this," Thomas noted, "No matter, though. I'll persevere. I know that I'll complete my goal here no matter what...and I feel that my time is now."
Thomas started to chuckle slightly, eventually descending into a maniacal laughter as he crushed his glasses in his hands.
Confessional End
Author Notes:
*And Alex is gone for good this time, such a shame, considering he was doing the right thing. I've had this elimination planned the longest, tied with one other person who has yet to leave the show, and I've always thought this would fit him much better than his first loss. Congrats to him for making ninth, though!
*I'm trying to patch up the second episode at the moment, but I'm very busy all the time. I will, of course, put in the author notes when it is finished.
*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; 9th - Alex
Review Responses:
Attackin2 - Thanks for saying that, I appreciate it a lot! I can always do better, so I'll keep striving to make the story interesting for all of you. And I'm glad that people are like the Flint and Alexis pairing, they're fun to have together.
Nobody245 - I was having such a hard time getting Alexis right, but I'm glad that I finally hit the nail on the head. Thank you!
BadLuckAE - Natt was one of a kind, and its a shame that he got cheated the way he did. I'm glad you liked how he was portrayed how he did, thank you for that!
In the Pod...
"This show was bogus anyway," Alex mumbled to himself as he lounged in his seat. "Still, Ah can't help but wonder what got into Thomas at the end of this. Definitely not the same guy that Ah met on day one."
Alex sighed, looking through the glass to see Earth coming closer and closer, even seeing Space Monkey Island off in the distance.
"You know, maybe space just isn't for me? Ah love exploring, but Earth and its beautiful land is my home. Ah'll never get bored of the life there. Oh well, this is a good way to go. Ah stopped a bunch of corporate goons from getting a fancy meal, bonus points for me!"