"Got it!" Scott wheezed, finally reaching his hand to B's.
The big teen wrapped his hand around Scott's wrist as tightly as possible. A growl came from below them. Fang lunged from the water, nearly chomping Scott's feet off as he soared up towards the Vultures, the teens elevated by the kraken's massive tentacles. Fang crashed back down into the lake, a massive splash of water soaking the contestants.
"Jesus!" Axel shouted.
"Pull!" Scott cried.
B yanked with all the strength he had left in him. Scott did what he could to wriggle out from the kraken's grasp, finally escaping from its tight cephalopod.
"I'm fre-" Scott started before dropping and letting out a petrified scream.
His helpless body ragdolled from side to side in the air. If it weren't for B's grip, the farmer would have fallen to his death into Fang's enormous jaws.
"B!" he screamed.
Determination in B's eyes, he used every fiber of his being to swing Scott from side to side, gradually picking up speed as he went. The kraken let out another snarl while Fang narrowly missed Scott yet again.
"Dammit, B, what the fuck are you doing?"
Still trapped in the restraints of the kraken's tentacle, Axel burst into laughter.
"Get ready to latch onto its eye!" B shouted, his deep voice strained by Scott's weight.
Horrified, Scott peered over to the kraken's eye, just above the surface of the water. Beside it was a wall of orange flesh.
"The fuck are you talking about?"
"Go!" B yelled, swinging Scott towards the eye of the massive leviathan.
Scott screamed the whole way down, once again avoiding Fang leaping up to bite him. Scott landed against the kraken's eye, latching onto the scaly sides around it. His chest rose up and down as he gripped for dear life. This angered the kraken, swinging Axel and B about more vigorously.
"Stay there!" B commanded.
Fang took quick notice. With the same face of malicious intent, Fang swam for Scott, opening up its horrific jaws to reveal its rows upon rows of teeth.
"You've killed me!" Scott cried.
"Jump now!"
Just before Fang could get him, Scott leaped out of the way and splashed into the water. From all the force Fang put behind his swimming, the shark mutant crashed right into the kraken's eye. The kraken let out a half-snarl, half-screech, absolutely infuriated. It swung its tentacles back, flinging B and Axel through the air into the distance. Each screamed for dear life upon their descent.
Scott reemerged from the lake further off, out of the way of Fang and the kraken. He sputtered out water and splashed around in the water to see the kraken and his mortal enemy engaging in ferocious combat, sending up powerful waves as they battled.
"I... I survived! Yes! I lived! I liv-"
Scott cut off as B and Axel's screams faded in, then Axel crashed down onto Scott, sinking them each into the water, followed closely by B beside them.
On the Hippos' raft, Mal watched the clash of the sea titans from the edge, softly laughing to himself. "Perfect."
Heather appeared at his side. "That was some quick thinking there, Mike. I didn't take you for the villainous type."
"Oh," Mal cleared his throat, faking a smile for her, "thank you, Heather. I'm no villain, though. No, sir. Just had to keep us in the lead."
Heather cracked a smile. "Keep it up, okay?"
"Will do."
Mal watched her as she walked back towards the others in the water, kicking the raft forward.
Confessional - Mal
"Maybe Heather thinks Mike's gullible enough to get played. Honestly, I could agree. Mike never was all that smart. But with me in the driver's seat, I can smell a trick coming from that bitch an hour before she even forms the thought."
End of confessional
Mal's amusement receded when he noticed waves crashing up against their raft. Mellow at first, yet with each passing second, they increased in power.
"What's happening?" Lindsay panicked.
"The water's picking up," Rome observed. "It must be from Fang and the kraken!"
The creatures' battle kept raging on, powerful waves crashing and splattering the surface in their vicinity. The waves traveled closer and closer to the Hippos' raft, pushing them up and down rapidly. Their once semi-peaceful raft ride had become akin to the maximum setting at most public wave pools. Yet, as the seconds ticked by, the rapidity only became more and more violent.
It didn't take long for the Hippos to be engulfed in water.
"Help!" Zoey squeaked before dipping down under the water.
Rome, Lindsay, and Heather clung desperately to the other side of the raft as they rocked up and down, buffeted with water as they traveled. Zoey attempted to cling to the other side, but was too far out of reach. Mal was on her same side, clinging to the raft with all his strength.
"Fucking H," he gasped before dunking back under.
Zoey was too far out from the raft to grab hold; the threat of drowning was very real for the poor girl.
"I'm scared! Mike! Mike!" she cried between forcefully dunking back under the water.
Through the coursing waves, Mal noticed her, yet didn't take any action to help her.
"Mike, help-" Rome started, briefly dunking under the water with his peers on the other side. "Her! We can't- reach!"
"What? I can't- I can't hear you!" Mal responded, feigning ignorance.
At that moment, a debilitating migraine overtook him. Mal growled with agony, gripping his head with a free hand, nearly losing grip of the raft with his other. "What's happening to me?" he growled.
Deep in his subconscious, Mike and Chester worked at tugging each of their imprisoned feet out from their shackles, to no avail.
"Dammit, this is never going to-"
"Mike!"
The voice was faint, reverberating, and echoing in the realm of Mike's subconscious. He halted instantly.
"I'm scared! Mike! Mike!"
"Zoey? Zoey!" Mike cried out to the membranous sky.
"What in tarnation am I hearing?" Chester grumbled.
"It's Zoey! She's in trouble! I have to save her!"
"Good luck with that, Mikey. If we could escape, we'd be outta here by now."
"No!" Mike protested.
"Mike!"
His chest rapidly rising up and down, Mike gritted his teeth and scrunched his eyes. He began to shake, his muscles trembling. The further he pushed, the more an aura around him began to glow.
As the raft and the contestants were buffeted even harder, Mal let out a growl of agony, pressing hard on his forehead with a free hand.
Mike's aura became brighter and brighter, so much so that Chester held his hand in his face to block it out. Moments later, Mike vanished, swiftly replaced with Mal shackled in his same position. Recognizing the dropped bangs, Chester whimpered in terror, scrambling away from the evil alter, yet the chain around his ankle didn't let him go far.
"What the- Mike..." Mal growled.
After the viciousness of Mal's migraine subsided, Mike emerged, taken completely off guard as another massive wave rocketed him away from the raft. He emerged from the water, fighting to stay afloat as waves barreled into him.
"Zoey!" he shouted, coughing out lake water.
"Mike! Help- me!"
"Zoey! I'm coming!"
Vigorously, Mike swam towards where Zoey struggled to stay above the surface. Incoming waves soaked the two of them, blurring their vision.
"Zoey! Take my hand!"
Zoey reached for him, until a huge, looming wave crashed down from above, smashing them both underwater. The other three Hippos, hanging onto their raft not far away, suddenly felt the waves crush them down below the surface.
Sometime later, Chris and Chef leaned against Chef's helicopter on the shore of Boney Island, the host enjoying a beer. Fog drifted through the air, making what could be a relaxing beach visit much more spooky.
"Thought you gave alc up," Chef muttered.
"Hmm? Chef, this is a beer. I can handle a beer."
"First time we hung out said otherwise."
Chris scoffed. "Chef, that was different. I'd had two beers that night; I'm not gonna go wacko-mode again."
"Hmmph."
Beat.
"So... You a fog guy?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You like the fog? I mean, there's a subtle beauty to it, wouldn't you say?"
Chef didn't respond at first, instead staring off at the depths of the lake past them. "There was fog in the war. Lots of it. Men had to find their way through it before a bullet found its way through your chest first. I watched men I trained with drop one at a time. Men who had lives. Families. Aspirations and zest for life. I made my way through, firing off rounds in all directions at the mere sound of footsteps. Everyday I live with the paralyzing terror that I killed men I knew by mistake. Bodies littered the ground. The grass was coated in soot from explosions, blood from the men and women I trained with, fires raging at all sides of you. I made my way through the fog 'till I found one of my best friends wrestling his gun out of a Korean's hands. I rushed them, tryna stop the Korean, till I saw the little bastard was cookin' off a grenade in his pocket the whole time. I thudded onto my back, my ears ringing. Fog was all I could see 'till I crawled to my hands and knees and saw half of my best friend's head laying in the soot-coated grass beside me. He died terrified, his one eye that didn't get blown to hell glazed over in fear. The other side was a bloody mess. Everytime I see the fog... I'm right back with 'em, reliving the same pants-pissing experience over and over again..."
Silence.
"Isn't it funny that the combination of smoke and fog is called 'smog'?" Chris resumed. "Like, dude," he chuckled, "have a little originality, right?"
A few moments later, a powerful, tsunami-sized tidal wave rose up in the distance. Chris and Chef stared at it with terror-stricken eyes.
"Get back!" Chris cried, him and his accomplice ducking for cover behind the helicopter.
The wave absolutely enveloped the shore of the beach, pushing the helicopter a few feet backward. As the water cleared, the bodies of Mike, Rome, Lindsay, Heather, and Zoey littered the beach. The first four of them sputtered for breath, but Zoey laid frighteningly still in the sand. Mike rose to his hands and knees quickly, his heart thumping in his chest when he saw her.
"Zoey? Zoey!" Mike scrambled over to her, dropping down onto his knees in an instant. He pressed his cupped hands down on her chest, thumping down every second. "Zoey! Babe, come on!"
Chris stepped out from the back of the helicopter, absolutely soaked from the wave. Chef opened up the door to the passenger seat, unscathed.
"Lucky," Chris muttered.
After Rome, Heather, and Lindsay caught their breath, Lindsay pointed over to Mike and Zoey. "Oh, gosh, look!"
"Zoey, come on! Zoey, please wake up!" Mike cried, running out of energy, yet pressing down on her chest as vigorously as he could.
He dropped lower and held her nose as he huffed out oxygen through her mouth. He kept this up for a while, his other teammates gathering around him in shock.
After a few bloodchilling seconds, she let out a series of sputters, and her eyes sluggishly opened. "Wha... Mike?"
"Oh my god!" Mike gripped her in a tight hug. "Oh, god, Zoey, you're okay!"
She held onto him, laying in the sand with fear glazed into her eyes. Gradually, the fear was replaced with affection for her boyfriend.
"Mike... did you just save my life?"
"Yes!" he said through a jubilant laugh. "Oh, Zoey, I thought I'd never see you again!"
Zoey went for a kiss, but Mike stopped her at the last moment. "Wait, Zoey, there's something I need to tell you first. I'm in lo-"
Out of nowhere, the same migraine that overtook Mal wrapped its debilitating tendrils through Mike's brain. He cried out in pain, dropping down into the sand beside his girlfriend.
"Mike, what's wrong?"
It subsided abruptly. He sat back up, facing Zoey and the other Hippos staring down at him.
"It's okay. I'm okay now. I'm just so happy to see that you're alright."
Zoey smiled a huge smile, wrapping her arms around him again.
Confessional - Mal
"Ah ah ah, Mike. Doesn't matter how much trouble your little damsel in distress gets herself in. This body is mine now. If you're watching and listening in right now, I hope you hear this: you are fucking over. A mortal in his right mind wouldn't try to kill a god, now would he? This is no fucking different."
End of confessional
Stunned, Chris asked, "What the hell was that?"
"Zoey nearly drowned," Mal answered.
"No, I don't mean that! That tidal wave!" The host faced his cook. "Chef, you didn't plant the seeds of Poseidon's child out there, did you?"
"Nah, not in this lake."
"Heads up!" Rome shouted.
Moments later, a tidal wave of nearly the same size washed up on the other side of shore. This time, once the water soaked back, Scott, Axel, and B flopped around briefly, shallowly heaving for oxygen.
"That's- that's better," Scott gasped.
B thudded his fist against his chest several times, getting to his feet and holding a hand out for Axel. "Damn..."
The Vultures walked through the fog to reach the others.
"Ah, good, now everybody's here," Chris announced. "Here we are on the one and only Boney Island. Now, if it were me in you guys' position, I'd be rushing my little fanny to the Fun Zone to find Harold and June."
"Oh, no! June!" Scott exclaimed, bolting for the depths of Boney Island.
Chris leaped in front of him just in time. "Hold your horses, cowboy! Your team has yet to receive the penalty for arriving here second!"
"You just told us to hurry up!"
"Chef," Chris clapped twice. "Bring in the penalty. Quickly, too. I don't need the lawsuits I'll have on my hands if Harold and June die."
The mere mention had Scott so antsy to get moving that he put middle schoolers doing the potty dance to shame.
Chef opened up the driver's seat of the helicopter and rummaged through, eventually bringing out steel bars attached to shackles. He approached Scott, Axel, and B, locking them in. Axel grunted, attempting to move his arms, but they were shackled down to his sides. Scott's shackles also included a rod stemming up from the bar-wrapped around his waist-that propped up a small, steel circle above his head.
"This can't just be the only way Harold and June are saved!" Heather burst. "You must have some sort of backup plan in case of... I don't know, mutants slowing us down?"
"Believe it or not, no, I don't have one. It's all up to you guys." Chris scratched his head. "Come to think of it, yeah, that may not have been the greatest decision on my part. Hippos," the host reached into his jacket pockets and threw Mal a compass and a rolled up map, "you guys get those to find them. The map is marked with their location. As for the Vultures, you guys are just gonna have to hope you're heading in the right direction."
"Do we at least get a hint?" Axel asked.
"Sure. Go north. That's all I can say, I mean, my hands are tied." Chris chuckled, staring at the misfortunate Vultures. "Now, Hippos! Go, go, go! Move! Don't let me get sued!"
Instantly, the Hippos took off running for the dark, leafless trees scattered all across Boney Island.
"What about us?" Axel retorted.
"You guys get a nice five minutes to wait. It's not called a penalty for nothing."
After a good fifteen minutes or so of running, the Hippos finally entered the portion of the island where dark forest became more of a jungle, closed in behind a long-spanning, sky high wooden gate. In the center, a sealed off, metallic door.
"This is it. That's the Fun Zone," Heather announced.
"Crazy how immediately past that gate, this forest becomes a hellish jungle," Rome commented. "I mean, you'd think you'd have to travel at least a little bit further to get into all that. Like, it wouldn't just shift so suddenl-"
"We get it, Rome."
With a growl, Mal kicked the metallic door to the Fun Zone open, spurring it to sink into the floor and open up.
"That's one way to open a door," Zoey murmured.
"Let's move it, team!" Heather ordered, the five Hippos darting inside.
As they traveled through the familiar hellhole, evading oversized and misshapen mutants on their way, the group eventually found a large, grimey swamp lake ahead of them. Bubbles emerged from different regions of the dark green water, a pitiful stench emerging and sifting into the air. Jungle trees sprouted out sporadically, their forms twisted and abstract. They seemed to be crying out for help. Toxic waste barrels and decaying grass scattered its edges.
"Oh, god, it smells so bad!" Lindsay commented, plugging her nose.
"Read the map, Mike," Heather ordered. "There's no way we have to cross that."
Mal examined it. "Yeah, we're gonna have to go through here. There's another path around the swamp, but it'll take up too much time. This is our best bet."
Heather let out a groan. "Fine! God, Chris..."
The five stepped forwards for the swamp. It was like the shoreline to a beach, only with "water" that more closely resembled cartoonish concoctions.
"Ew!" Lindsay moaned. "Oh, no. I think it's getting in my boot."
"We've hardly even entered the swamp yet," Rome replied.
"Wait," Mal interrupted. "I, uh, I think I'm gonna stay behind for a little bit. W-we left footsteps, and I wanted to make sure the Vultures don't figure out we came through here."
Heather considered the notion for a moment. "Smart."
"Aw, a-are you sure, Mike?" Zoey sweetly asked him. "I mean, I'd feel safer if you went through the swamp with me."
Mal feigned an affectionate smile. "You're cute, Zoey. Aw, I'm sorry. I'll only be a minute, then I'll be back by your side before you know it."
Zoey shrugged. "Okay, Mike. See you soon."
Mal waved to the quartet overly chipperly until they turned away from him and slogged through the murky swamp ahead of them. Mal grinned, shaking his head until his bangs covered one eye.
"That's better."
Mal turned around behind him, finding the start of the footsteps a good ten feet in the direction they came from. With a peering look, Mal examined a line of footsteps heading far off down the trail they traveled, closed in by mutant plantlife.
"That should be good enough," he murmured to himself with a grin.
Instead of turning back to enter the swamp with his team, or actually smearing the footsteps away, Mal whistled the tune of In the Hall of the Mountain King, walking off into the expanse of trees on one side of the swamp.
Confessional - Mal
"Now for something very entertaining..."
Heroic Hippos - Harold (?), Lindsay, Heather, Mal, Zoey, & Rome
Villainous Vultures - Scott, B, June (?), & Axel