Vin and the Shadow Dancer Chapter Eight: Back in the Ring


At first, I thought this was all a dream. Truth is, I should be dead. However, I have been given another chance. Another chance to play with children. There is no answer to the who, where, why, and how. All I know is that this is a gift. A gift for the world. For the world to know who can make the greatest show.

Buck is walking through the hallways of the dome as he plays his banjo happily. He stops at a door and is about to knock on it until someone opens the door. It is Yves.

"Oh, Buck, nice to meet you," Yves greeted. She looks to her left, right, then at her teammate. "Where's Sami?"

"She told me she wants to get to know her other teammates more. Maybe not Caleb though," Buck answered.

The two Beta Bots chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad we are alone for the moment. I need to ask you something," Yves said seriously.

"Me too," Buck responded with a big smile. "I've been meaning to ask you something I've been wanting to get off my chest."

"Me first," Yves told and Buck nods. She takes a deep breath before talking. "Have you seen Total Drama Revenge of the Island's finale?"

"The one with Cameron facing Lightning. Yep," Buck answered happily.

"Can you make me an iron suit like Cameron did?" Yves asked nicely.

Buck is surprised by this request. Nonetheless, he is going to help. "Sure thing, anything for a purdy lady like yourself."

"I knew it would be a hard request," Yves said frowning. "Wait, did you just say sure thing?"

"Yep, though I won't have the iron suit ready today," Buck admitted then chuckled. "Give me until tomorrow to make the suit for you."

"Thanks, Buck," Yves said as she puts her right hand on the MacGyver's right shoulder. "I owe you one. We'll meet up with the others later. See ya!" Yves takes her hand out, waves goodbye, and runs down the hallway.

"Wait, you forgot I need to tell you something too," Buck called out. Yves either ignores this or overlooked his turn. Buck shrugs. "Oh well, I can try another time."

At the cafeteria, the Delta Droids are all sitting at a table done with breakfast. Everyone is looking annoyed at Calvin except for Niu and Daniel.

"Calvin, just let it go," Margaret told the secret agent as she gets up from the table. "A swarm of bats arriving through the night doesn't mean squat."

"But this has happened twice already. In the same hallways when I went to use the bathroom," Calvin told his teammate. "This cannot be a coincidence."

Margaret rolls her eyes and leaves the cafeteria. Garett and Brittany get up from their seat and leave as well. Calvin looks at Niu and Daniel.

"You two will help me solve this investigation, right?" Calvin asked.

Niu and Daniel look unsure at each other then back to Calvin.

"Sorry Calvin, but I need to stay focused on my everyday schedule," Niu answered, trying not to sound inconsiderate since she does not want to participate. "Perhaps another day?"

Calvin sighs. "Very well."

Niu gets up from her seat and leaves.

"This sounds crazy," Daniel told Calvin. "And I love crazy, but this isn't my shot of drinking. Sorry dude, no hard feelings." With that said, Daniel is the next Delta Droid to leave the cafeteria.

Calvin sighs once more. "Well, at least Agent Feng is willing to participate."

Caleb is shown opening the fridge of the cafeteria. Violette approaches the back of the short kid with a smirk. Next, she forms a cute smile and giggles.

"What are you doing Caleb?" Violette wondered, acting innocently.

"What does it look like? I'm getting ready to eat breakfast. What are you blind?" Caleb exclaimed rudely as he grabs a bag of bread, a pack of cheese, and a pack of ham.

Violette puts her hands on her hip and narrows her eyes. Just fill up his ego. Do not drive him away. The sly sweetheart puts on her innocent act again.

"Ah, I see. A growing boy needs to eat the most important meal of the day," Violette spoke happily.

Caleb puts the food he is going to prepare on the kitchen counter. Then he gives off a glare to his teammate. "The **** you said to me?"

"Oh apologies, I meant growing strong man," Violette said, turning her voice into a more relaxing and flirtatious tone. She puts her left elbow on the kitchen counter loudly to spook a bit the chess player. "And a smart man at that. Clearly out of everyone here you're the most intelligent."

"Pfft, tell me something I don't know," Caleb said smugly, feeling like the king of the island. He opens a counter to take out a knife. Then he takes the bread out of its bag to cut slices.

"Oh, I have plenty," Violette smirked. She sits on the kitchen counter. "I like a guy who doesn't care about what others say. You speak what's on your mind. Oh, and chess? Ha, what a great sport."

"Did you just call chess a sport?" Caleb asked surprised as he finishes making his sandwich.

"Yes," Violette confirmed as she stops sitting on the kitchen counter and headed to the fridge to grab something. "Isn't it so annoying when people believe is not a sport? Chess deserves more respect." She grabs a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise.

"Yes, finally someone in this team that is slightly above average my level of genius quality," Caleb said happily. "Want to do chess after this?"

"Actually," Violette said as she gets close to the short kid. "I would like for us to play real-life chess." She takes out the top bread of the sandwich. "The king has an army, but he also depends on a queen." The two Beta Bots look at each other in the eyes. "Why don't we let them all know how big boy you are?"

Violette squeezes the mayonnaise into the sandwich while keeping eye contact with Caleb. Caleb blushes instantly and chuckles.

"You're speaking my ****** language," Caleb said and goes in for a kiss.

Violette is about to let the kiss happen until she hears the cafeteria doors open. Not wanting to risk the chance of Mitch watching this, she uses the top piece of bread to slap Caleb's right cheek.

"Sorry, but I rather do that privately," Violette apologized and quickly leaves the kitchen area. She goes to sit at a table. She watches all her teammates arrive with smiles on their faces. Except for Yves who has a blank expression.

Caleb stands confused. Oh well, at least he potentially has a cute girlfriend on the rise.

The night arrives with the stars shining. The contestants are asleep in their rooms. Vin arrives in the hallways in his swarm of bats form heading to Yves's bedroom. Suddenly a loud alarm begins to boom. Red lights flash across the hallway.

"Gah, what the heck!?" Margaret shouted, waking up in a fury in her room as she covered her ears.

Hearing her voice, Vin decides to head out of the dome. He will talk to Yves another time. As he flies away, the Delta Droids get out of their respective room and notice his swarm of bats form.

"Dagnabit, don't tell me that's what set off the alarm," Garett grumbled.

"See! I told you those bats are causing trouble," Calvin smirked proudly at his team, half rolling their eyes while the other half smiling back at him.

"The alarm sounds like it's coming from the field. Let's go turn it off so we can go back to sleep," Daniel advised.

"What are we waiting for then?" Margaret spoke as she hissed each word coming from her mouth. "Let's go already!"

Meanwhile, the Beta Bots had also just come from their rooms, in a comparable panic that their opponents are in.

"Didn't think the rooster will sing at this hour," Buck joked, gaining a glare from Caleb.

"Funny," the short boy sarcastically replied. "But this needs to be stopped! I need my beauty sleep. I need all the energy to tolerate you all."

"You think you have it terrible?" Mitchell rhetorically asked. "Look at Sami."

"Did someone order a combo of cheeseburgers and fries?" Sami asked in a daze.

Confessional – Sami – Beta Bots

"I might have stayed up late doing some painting. I wouldn't call myself an artist, but I was inspired to do some."

Confessional End

Yves groans in annoyance. She was supposed to meet up with Vin tonight. Now that this has happened the vampire king will most likely not come for her. She needs to get to the bottom of this as to why the alarm is ringing. Another intruder? A challenge? Chris and Dana finding out Vin? The dancer points towards the hallway that leads to the field.

"This way," Yves exclaimed before heading off.

"Oh! She's taking charge!" Mitchell spoke as he began to scribble something in his book. "Now that's going be an excellent plot device!"

The rest of the team follows Yves, ending up at the field with the Delta Droids coming from a different entrance. Dana and Chris are standing in the center of the field wearing earplugs. They snicker as they stand before a crate that is closed at the moment. As soon as the contestants reach the center Dana presses a button on a different remote than the one used in the previous challenge. This turns off the noisy alarm and flashing red lights in the hallways. The hosts take their earplugs out. The pilots sigh in relief.

"You better give a good explanation for all of this," Margaret demanded an answer as she made a fist at the hosts.

"Stop yelling. My ears still hurt," Caleb muttered to the intimidating girl.

"Shut it, little boy," Margaret told rudely.

"Do not call me a little boy. I'll let you know that I am far superior to you in many ways you ****!"

The other pilots, Chris, and Dana gasp at what Caleb said to Margaret.

Margaret lets out a snort and smirk. "You're going to wish you don't end up in the merge with me."

"Okay, okay," Chris stood between the two teens before a fight can break out. "Settle down, the challenge has not even begun."

"A challenge now?" Violette questioned Chris. "It's midnight though."

"Yeah, and you two owe us a day off after that Henry stunt," Brittany added as she crossed her arms.

"We did give you all a day off. But now is night. Which means challenge time," Dana explained with an evil grin. "No worries is just a simple test of dealing with rough circumstances." The two hosts high-five each other.

"How can we control our mechs? I don't think they come with lights for the night. At least I didn't ask for those," Daniel wondered.

"I was just about to say the same thing," Buck continued. "Will the lights be green like night vision goggles?"

"To be clear," Chris decided to answer, having enough of the questions being asked. "Henry trashed all your mechs except for Yves and Sami's. After inspection, they need major repairs. Which means you all can expect these next challenges to be mech-less."

"That was a given," Yves said expecting what Chris said to be obvious already.

"So how will this challenge go?" Calvin inquired.

"If you can wait for us to explain then you would already know what the challenge is, gosh!" Dana told the agent annoyed.

"We've been making designs for security robots for this island after the Yvette incident," Chris informed. "That way nobody can sneak in and other procedures I could care less about. That means for this challenge, you'll all will be going toe to wheel against those security robots."

"We don't have weapons to face off against those dang robots," Garett said impatiently. "And I am not using my precious guitar."

"In this crate behind Chris and me," Dana said as she slapped the top of the crate. She lifts it up and reveals many water guns inside. "Are the weapons you'll need to take them down."

"Water guns? You're serious?" Margaret asked annoyed. "You sure we can't use a real gun?"

"As if we will trust any of you with those," Chris told.

Dana continues to speak. "Yes, indeed I am serious. The robots don't mix well with water. We've set up refilling stations all over the dome for you guys to use when one runs out of ammo. Each team's goal is to take down as many robots as possible. There are only two ways to win this tonight's challenge. Win A, in the event that all of the robots are disabled, the winning team shall be the one that took down the most. Win B involves being caught. The robot's only goal is to make contact. As in, they touch you in any possible way at all you are considered out of the challenge. If a bunch of you get caught, the winning team will be the one that has the last man standing."

"Interesting," Mitchell said as he scribbled more words in his book. "Though, isn't there the possibility that these robots could eventually snap and attack us?"

"Duh," Chris answered smiling. "But there are cameras everywhere. If that occurs, a simple emp will disable each and every robot. Now that everything has been explained, come get your weapons!"

The contestants rush over to the crate, grabbing a water gun for each of them.

Confessional – Yves – Beta Bots

She looks a bit nervous. "A night challenge, no contact with Vin, and Buck hasn't finished building the iron suit for me. I am really, really hoping nothing out of the ordinary happens tonight. I don't have anything to defend myself with. At least being in the mech grants me a way to survive another enemy coming my way. I need to be near a place with lots of potential weaponry. The cafeteria sounds like a nice place."

End Confessional

After the contestants grab their watery weaponry, Dana presses a few more buttons on the remote she has. A loud noise occurs again but this time sounding like a rusty gate opening. This hurts each teen's ears until the sound stops.

"Go ahead and take them down some robots!" Chris announced, letting the teams go into the building to search for the targets.

Like Yves planned, she goes to the cafeteria. Sami tags along with her. Neither of them notices robots nearby or in the room. Entering the kitchen area of the place, Yves notices one of the aforementioned refilling stations.

"Found one," Yves told her teammate as the two head to the station.

"Oh Veronica, I'll show you how to be a Heather," Sami replied in a daze. This confuses her teammate.

"Sami, what did you do to act like this?" Yves asked curiously.

"I painted happy little trees instead of sleeping," Sami answered then giggled in a goofy fashion. Guess she is more airheaded in this dimension Yves thought.

Not long after they arrive at the station a large group of security robots burst through a wall to enter the cafeteria.

"I wonder if Dana and Chris programmed them to open doors," Yves stated.

The dancer fires blasts of water at the bots and is able to knock down fifteen of them before needing to refill her water. As she refills her water gun, she sees Sami not firing at any of the security robots.

"Sami, focus!" Yves shouted back to the dazing theater girl.

"Um, what are we supposed to be doing again?" Sami wondered, waking herself up by shaking her head.

Before Sami can fire her water gun at the robot in front of her, it taps her right arm, its hand acting like a taser and zapping the Beta Bot member. The tase is so powerful that it makes Sami unconscious, falling to the ground.

"Sami!?"

"Oops, forgot to mention this," Dana's voice came from the speakers throughout the dome. "You will receive a slight electric shock once a robot catches you. And when I mean slight, I mean really painful."

"And I thought Chris is the only one who's too much into electricity," Yves stated as she continued to blast robots and refill her water in a good rhythm.

Noticing a small moment of opportunity as more security bots come to her left and right, Yves takes Sami's water gun and uses it as her own gun refills itself at the station. She takes turns switching water guns and refilling them.

As Yves continues to face the challenge all by herself, Calvin and Daniel find themselves in a room that bears a resemblance to an art gallery. Despite the fact, it is missing art from its frames on the walls. Calvin scans the room penetratingly, making sure no security robots are in sight.

"Coast is clear Agent Anderson," Calvin said, a bit reassured.

"That's music to my ears," Daniel replied. "Though, makes me wonder when those bots are going to show themselves. Haven't seen any refilling stations on our way here, have you?"

"Negative," Calvin spoke.

"Guess we'll have to keep on looking," Daniel said with a shrug.

Unexpectedly, the door to the art gallery creaks opens oh so slightly, causing the two Delta Droids to aim toward it. Both keep their water guns focused on the door as they hide behind a large desk in the center of the gallery. Mitchell and Violette walk into the room. This relieves the other two competitors since they thought they were in danger.

"Guess the party got bigger," Daniel said, wiping his brow, "So glad you two aren't robots."

"Or perhaps we are?" Mitchell joked. He receives a blast of water from Calvin. "Hey!"

"Can't be too wary!" Calvin exclaimed as Violette chuckles at her teammate.

"Good point," Mitchell admitted. "But now I'm soaking wet. This'll surely affect my performance."

"I guess accidental slips can happen," Violette said, wondering how being wet can be a downgrade.

"My apologies, Agent Myers," Calvin told sincerely to the horror writer. He looks at his water gun. "Hmm, this might help against that swarm. Some types of bats are weak to water."

"You're thinking of vampires dude," Mitchell told Calvin. "Even then some vampires aren't weak to water. Like the sun. Not all vampires are weak to it."

"You know, I'm just realizing now that we aren't on the same team like you two," Daniel thought about the position all four are in.

"Does it matter that much? We have a common foe right now," Violette replied to the party guy.

"True," Daniel agreed. "By the way, did you two see any refill stations while coming here?"

Violette and Mitchell shake their heads side to side, indicating no.

"Dang," Calvin muttered, "We'll have to leave this room and search elsewhere."

As the four teens head to the door to leave, security robots find their way in through it, and this one is a much larger group. These are also probably smarter since they did not break a hole in a wall. The contestants instantly climb atop the desk that the Droids were initially hiding underneath, firing blasts of water at the ones that come close to them

"And I thought Freaky Fridays were terrifying!" Daniel exclaimed in fear as he ran out of water.

"I'm out of water!" Violette groaned as Calvin and Mitchell run out of their water supply as well.

"Well, agents," Calvin spoke in a heroic tone. He salutes his team and opponents. "It has been an honor!"

The robots are about to touch all four contestants until an EMP grenade hits the floor and blows up. This sends an electromagnetic pulse to disable all security robots in the art gallery. All the bots fall to the floor.

"That… was weird," Violette said as she is shown hugging Mitchell in a panic.

"Ditto," Calvin agreed as Daniel is hugging him. The two huggers let go. Daniel chuckles embarrassingly.

Just then, four blue eggs roll towards the desk. Before any can react, the eggs explode and create a large blue cloud. This cloud engulfs the four, causing each of them to jump out from the desk and cough.

"Is everyone okay?" Daniel said as his vision gets hazy.

The party animal no longer sees his teammate or the two Beta Bots. Instead, he is seeing just the blue clouds. All of a sudden, the walls of the art gallery start to close in. Daniel looks around and begins to panic.

"What kind of joke is this?" Daniel shouted in horror.

"Joke?" Came a maniacal voice. "You think this is a joke?"

Daniel turns around and notices the room's door has large eyes and a mouth.

"The only joke I see here is you!" The door exclaimed. It laughs as it and the walls close more on Daniel.

Daniel gets into a fetal position on the floor. He is paralyzed with fear. "Please no, I can't handle small spaces."

"Daniel, Daniel?" Calvin called to his friend, unable to see what is going on due to the blue smoke.

Calvin sees his teammate standing nearby. When the secret agent goes to check on Daniel, the party dude is shown having a seagull for a head.

"Ah!" Calvin exclaimed in horror and punches the seagull so hard it flies off the teen.

Coming out from the headless teen is a flock of seagulls that fly in the art gallery. They circle around Calvin and squawk repeatedly. The secret agent covers his ears and looks down to the floor. "This can't be real; this can't be real!"

The flock of seagulls attack Calvin.

Violette and Mitch cough a bit more before stopping. They notice Calvin and Daniel acting weird around the blue smoke.

"Interesting, you two appear to be immune to my hallucinations," A mysterious man said with a voice that makes you wish you sleep with a night light all the time.

The man is wearing a black velvet jacket with gold detailing, red exaggerated lapels, gold button and chain accents, red and gold lined cuffs, gold shoulder pads with fringe, a black velvet bow tie with gold accents, and a black whip in his left arm. This man lastly has a mask covering his face. It is a glowing dark blue masquerade full face mask.

"Who are you?" Violette wondered as Mitch begins to walk away without losing his eyesight of the man.

"I'm… the Ringleader," Ringleader answered. He uses his black whip to lash at Violette's left arm.

"Ah!" Violette shouted in pain. She gets on her knees. "Mitch, help!"

Mitch runs away out of cowardice and accidentally slams himself into a wall, making himself unconscious. He could not see where the wall is since the blue smoke is covering everything.

Ringleader gets on one knee and uses his left hand to lift up Violette's terrified face.

"Be a good contestant and stay put, understood?" The Ringleader said smiling wickedly underneath his mask.

Violette nods in agreement and lays on the floor. "Please, don't hurt me no more."

"Hurt you? Nah, letting you remember this day while you sleep is what gives me joy," Ringleader told the girl. The maniac watches Daniel and Calvin continue to scream in terror. "Music to my ears."

Ringleader exits the art gallery and heads into the hallway. To think I cared about mutating people into beautiful creatures. I should have stuck with what I do best. Inflect fear on people and give nightmares. If only I was not so ambitious at that age.

Chris and Dana are watching what is happening through the security footage. Dana slams her fists onto a table with anger.

"Great, another one," Chris said annoyed. "Seriously, if I knew partnering up with you will cause this much trouble, I would have said no."

"Shut it, let's just warn the contestants again," Dana told her co-host. "At least this guy isn't carrying any dangerous weapons on him."

"He has a freaking whip," Chris told the child host.

As soon as Dana turns on a cable-connected microphone, the security room's lights go out.

"That's not supposed to happen," Chris said.

Dana nods. "Let's head to the backup generator before…"

The two can feel their heads collide together. Both get knocked out and fall to the floor.

"Sorry, can't have you two ruining my fun," Ringleader fake apologized, standing in front of the room's door. The mushroom I ate from facing that clown is still in my system. Good, time to find that large group.

Garett, Niu, Brittany, and Margaret managed to stay together during all the ruckuses. They stumble upon a large library room. Once entering, they notice Caleb by himself seated at a table. The remaining Delta Droids aim their water guns at the Beta Bot, who aimed back at the four in response.

"Stay back trespassers!" Caleb shouted from his seat. "I will splash you!"

"That'd be a waste of your water," Margaret mocked Caleb. "Go ahead, do it. I dare ya, I double dare you mother…"

"Language," Niu told her teammate. Garett and Brittany roll their eyes.

"I don't care!" Caleb shouted to the mob boss. "This is my room!"

"Ya see," Garett spoke, noticing the state of things. "From where we're standing it appears that we have a benefit here in arms."

"Obviously, there's four of us," Brittany snarked.

"I have three more! Buck just went to assist Yves and Sami. We saw her getting trapped in the café earlier," told the Delta Droids.

"How peculiar," Garett stroked his chin with his water gun, locking the door behind him quickly and silently.

"Why do you even want this room?" asked Margaret.

"Because I found it first," Caleb answered and blows a raspberry at the mob boss.

Margaret rolls her eyes. "Just spray him," She commanded her team. Before the Delta Droids can blast water at Caleb, they hear something wanting to open the door.

"What's happening out there?" Caleb asked, hugging his water gun firmly.

"Must be those security robots," Garett answered, "I locked 'em out to keep us nice safe."

"You what!? We've got players out there!" Caleb exclaimed. Sure, he could care less about his teammates except for Violette, but he needs them to ensure a win.

"Honestly us four kinds of have the victory already," Niu pointed out.

Brittany chuckles as Caleb gets up from his seat and tries to rush over to the door. Margaret grabs him and does not let him go.

"You can't do this!" Caleb told the Delta Droids

"Says who?" Margaret asked. "You aren't…"

Before the mob boss can finish her sentence, the knock on the door gets louder and louder until someone breaks it down. That someone is the Ringleader.

"Here's Ringy!" Ringleader told the contestants. Even with his mask on, that creepy twisted smile is surely there.

The teens scream except for Margaret, who immediately goes to directly punch the intruder's mask. Ringleader anticipates this and simply slaps Margaret away from him. The mob boss hits a bookshelf and falls. Then the books she impacted fall on top of her.

"Enjoy," Ringleader said as he tosses five blue eggs at Niu, Garett, and Brittany. The eggs explode in the air and unleash the blue cloud. Ringleader's next move is to exit the library. "As much as I would like to watch you all scream in agony, there's still three more I need to take care of."

Garett and Brittany inhaled the blue smoke. Niu takes off her light pink ribbed knit cropped cardigan sweater and wraps it around her nose and mouth to lessen the impact of breathing smoke. Caleb decides to head to the second floor of the library by taking the stairs. That way, the smoke will not reach him. Margaret gets out of the pile of books and rubs the back of her head. She notices the blue smoke cloud engulfing her vision. She feels her body become weak.

"Why do I feel… powerless all of a sudden?" Margaret wonders, unable to move her body.

Brittany no longer sees anyone thanks to the smoke. That is until she witnesses a teenager approaching her.

The boy has short black hair to the sides that covers half of his face. He has ivory skin, black eyes, a thin body at five feet, and four inches tall with long slender fingers. He wears a black turtle-neck shirt with long sleeves, black sneakers, and black jeans.

The boy has his arms out with his hand down while doing a stereotypical zombie walk.

"Ah, emo! No!" Brittany exclaimed as her legs shiver in fear. "Stay away from me. I don't want your disease!"

Brittany runs away from the boy dressed in all black until she bumps into a library shelf. Then she runs to her left but encounters more of the same person dressed in black. To her right, behind, and in the front is more of them.

"No, go away. I don't want to be infected!" Brittany shouted scared. The teens dogpile on her. "No! Noooooooooooooo!"

Garett can hear Brittany's screams echo until it fades away. He walks around in frustration.

"Came here for my plan and I encounter these lunatics walking around the island," Garett said unhappily.

"Lunatics?" The voice of a man is heard. "Shouldn't you count as one of them?"

Garett's eyes widen. "That voice." He turns around and notices a tall manly figure wearing a blue business suit, blue pants, and black shoes.

"Greeting Jay, it has been a while has it not?" The man asked then chuckles.

"Mr. Starshine," Garrett said with venom in his voice. He approaches the man, converting his hands into fists. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Oh, dear Jay, I'm more real than you can possibly imagine," Mr. Starshine taunted then laughs.

"Argh!" Garett exclaimed in fury and punches Mr. Starshine's face.

However, as soon as the singer gets in his punch, Mr. Starshine's body disappears like smoke.

"What?" Garett said, wondering what is going on.

"Over here," Mr. Starshine stated, being a small distance away.

Garett shouts angrily again while throwing another punch. Mr. Starshine's body fades again. Garett hears the man's laughter. He kicks and punches wherever he can see Starshine. None of the attacks work and every time a hit lands it fazes through.

Garett screams, getting more livid. "Coward! I'll get my revenge on you and your daughter! I'll take over this island and blow up everyone here. Jay Harrett is making you pay for having me arrested. You hear me!?

Whack!

Garett, now revealed himself as Jay Harrett, gets hit in the back of the head by a wooden chair. The chair breaks upon impact. Jay falls to the ground unconscious. Niu is the one who used the chair.

"Better warn Chris and Dana about this," Niu told herself and leaves the library.

Buck arrives at the cafeteria, seeing Yves in the kitchen blasting robots as fast as she can with her two water guns. He looks around, trying to find a way to help his teammate.

"Don't cluck out yet partner!" Buck called out to Yves. This alerts the security robots and the majority of them turn back towards him.

Buck jumps from table to table, not touching the ground as he makes his way across the place and towards the kitchen counter. He grabs the water tank from his water gun, which is currently half full and hands it to Yves.

"Fill these three goods like a bucket full of milk! Then gimme the tanks so I can get us out of here!" Buck instructed.

Yves does just that. Next, she hands the three full water tanks to Buck.

"You're in my rodeo now," The MacGyver told the security robots as he spun the bottles, flinging them into the air in a circle of gesticulation. This causes the water to soar all over the room, drops striking each and every robot in the locality.

The security robots fall one by one. Buck stands on the counter in a victorious posture.

"I forgot that you're a beast in team challenges," Yves admitted.

"Huh?" Buck wondered perplexed.

"Where are our teammates?" Yves asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I was with Caleb going to the library, but I heard your troubles. So, I came to the rescue," Buck answered proudly.

"You left a teammate by himself?" Yves questioned the decision. "Why didn't Caleb join you?

Buck chuckles awkwardly as he rubs the back of his head. "Not my brightest decision. I just want to make sure you are safe."

Yves narrows her eyes at her teammate. "I know I asked you to create an iron suit for me, but you have been acting weird around me all day. What gives?"

Buck is taken aback by the sudden confrontation. Guess is now or never. "Truth be told, I…"

"Look out!" Yves exclaimed as she sees two blue eggs heading toward her and Buck. She pushes the MacGyver away. This gets her to be hit by the eggs. The eggs explode on impact, releasing the same blue smoke.

Buck uses his red flannel shirt to cover his mouth and nose as he watches his teammate cough. He ties the flannel shirt, so it does not slip from his face.

"Alright kid, you're next," Ringleader said to Buck, being inside the cafeteria. He throws a blue egg at his target.

Buck dodges it and quickly rushes up to the Ringleader to deliver a left hook. Ringleader dodges it and heads outside the cafeteria. Buck follows him and gives the intruder a tackle to the floor. Ringleader grabs his opponent by the back of his shirt and throws him away. Buck is able to land on his feet.

The two narrow their eyes at each other. Buck gets into a boxing position, ready to fight the Ringleader.

"Amusing," Ringleader said. The man rushes to Buck and throws some punches.

Buck dodges them swiftly and gives a nice stomach punch to the Ringleader, sending the maniac back a bit.

Okay, so this guy actually knows how to fight. The Ringleader gets himself in a boxing position.

While Buck and Ringleader duke it out, Yves finally stops coughing in the cafeteria.

"Buck? Where did you go?" Yves wondered, seeing only blue smoke in the place. She walks around and stops once she hears footsteps. Footsteps that do not sound like Buck's at all. In fact, the footsteps sound awfully familiar. The dancer turns around and notices a figure looking at her with a smirk.

"No way," Yves said in shock, seeing who the person is.

The person is a teen with silky black hair that goes all the way down to her back. Her eyes are black, has a white top on, which has a see-through cream cardigan on top of it, a blue skirt held up by a belt, and blue sandals.

Yves examines the person and then her own attire. She herself has her orange long-sleeved shirt with a white round collar, a navy-blue skirt reaching mid-thigh, black tights, and black flats. Not to mention her gold butterfly earrings and matching pendant. The dancer looks back at the person.

"You're, me," Yves said in awe. "I doubt I would ever wear that outfit, but that means you're from another dimension. Or maybe this one."

Yves approaches her duplicate hoping for help. Being close enough, the duplicate slaps Yves's left cheek.

"What the heck?" Yves exclaimed at her duplicate.

The duplicate gives another slap, this time on the right cheek.

"Quit it!" Yves shouted. "I'm not here to replace…"

The duplicate kicks Yves in her stomach, sending the dancer back a bit.

"Awe, what's the matter? Where's that rough exterior?" The duplicate mocked Yves as she approaches closely. "Getting soft?"

"Soft?" Yves murmured.

The duplicate gives a swift kick to Yves's face, sending the girl with her butterfly pendant to the ground. Yves tries to get up but her duplicate kicks her stomach again. Yves clenches her abdominal in pain.

"You're more pitiful now than you have ever been," The duplicate said and kicks Yves's left thigh.

Yves cried in pain before standing up. She tries to punch her duplicate but the duplicate dodges all her attacks.

"Caring for correcting mistakes? Puh-lease," The duplicate said annoyed as she continues to dodge. She uses her sharp nails to scratch Yves's right cheek.

"Ugh," Yves whimpered from the scratch. She can feel the pain in her skin and the sensation of blood dripping down slowly.

"You didn't make a mistake. We don't need Sami and Ingrid. They're worthless," The duplicate spoke before using her left knee to hit Yves's stomach a third time.

The duplicate then pushes Yves's back, causing the dancer to fall to the floor.

"They are not worthless. They are my friends," Yves said, having trouble breathing.

"Were our friends. Why should we correct our past? We both are better off without them. It made us a winner. It made us become more famous than ever," The duplicate insisted.

Yves turns around to look at her duplicate. "It turned me into a monster! Once I'm out of this world I'll make things right!" She goes to punch her duplicate in the face.

The duplicate smirks and does a judo throw on Yves, sending the dancer onto the ground. Yves groans from the pain in her back. The duplicate then chuckles.

"Oh, so you think everything will be fine. Who's to say you'll make the same 'mistake' at one point in your life?" The duplicate asked. "Accept the fact that this is not worth it."

"It is worth it!" Yves shouted. She gets up and continues to fight without landing a single blow.

The duplicate gives a clean slap to Yves's left cheek. This time it bruises her, showing a purplish-black spot. The duplicate takes the opportunity to get in more slaps on Yves's face.

Stopping the assault, the duplicate looks at the bruised dancer. "You may think that, but we both know you're struggling. Your mind says otherwise. Since you got here all you have been thinking is…"

The duplicate tears off a part of Yves's orange long-sleeved shirt. Then she uses her nails to scratch the skin part.

"How much of a horrible person you are. Well, you know what?"

The duplicate kicks Yves's right hip hard. Yves almost falls back down to the floor.

"You are horrible. A disgusting piece of dirt," The duplicate kept speaking negatively.

After more tearing, scratching, punching, kicking, and hair pulling, the duplicate pushes Yves to a wall hardly. Yves lies down, breathing heavily and barely able to see the duplicate walking towards her. The dancer tears up from the massive pain and discomfort.

"Admit it, say it right now out loud so the whole world can hear," The duplicate exclaimed.

Yves frowns and closes her eyes. "I'm…"

"A human."

"Huh?" The duplicate stares confused. "What are…"

"A human. I am a human," Yves stated. She opens her eyes to look at her duplicate. "I am not perfect. I make mistakes. I give people joy. I give people sadness. I give people love, compassion, and hope. I am not a horrible human. I am human with flaws and that is okay. It allows me to learn from my past failures to become a better person. Caring for others is not a sign of weakness. Is a sign of strength. I care to make things right."

The duplicate rolls her eyes.

Yves continues to speak, now having a smile on her face. Despite the immense pain, she feels relaxed and happy. "I'm strong, courageous, hot, amazing, wonderful, and daring. These words will stay in my brain forever. Even when I hit another roadblock and other thoughts come my way, I'll still be smiling, because I am alive. There is a reason I am here fighting. That reason is to help others. I will never give up that chance."

The duplicate gets enraged and dives for a tackle.

Yves rapidly gets up and flicks a light switch close to her. "Lights out."

The duplicate disappears and so does the smoke. Yves takes deep heavy breaths, lays down on the cafeteria floor, and passes out.

In the hallway, Buck is shown down on one knee looking tired. Ringleader cracks his knuckles.

"I must admit, you teens like to cause trouble," Ringleader said impressed. He takes out his black whip. "But now that I entertained you enough, is time for your punishment."

As Ringleader uses his whip, he feels something or someone holding it tight to prevent his attack. He looks behind and sees Caleb being the one responsible.

"Don't you stay there looking like a dumb***!" Caleb shouted to Buck. "Pin him down!"

Buck takes Caleb's advice and takes out his trusty wrench.

"Wait, did you always have that?" Ringleader wondered before getting smacked in the head by Buck swinging his wrench.

The Ringleader falls to the ground. His eyes start to close and he passes out.

Time passes. Someone's eyes wake up. The eyes belong to Yves. She is laying on a hospital stretcher and notices herself being inside a tent.

"Please tell me I'm not in another world," Yves said to herself, groaning a bit.

"Nope, still here on Earth," Sami told her teammate with a smile. The theater girl is sitting on a wooden chair far from the hospital stretcher. She notices Yves trying to get up. "Don't," Sami said. "Chris told me you need plenty of rest. Your bruises need time to heal."

Yves listens to Sami and lays back down. "What happened?" The dancer asked. "Did our team win?"

"Yes, despite the inconvenience," Sami answered. She proceeds to explain what occurred during her teammate's blackout. "The security robots were shut down by this person that calls himself the Ringleader by using EMP grenades. He also used blue eggs that created a cloud of smoke to give hallucinations to the contestants. That is what Dana told me."

"Did she look up his bio?" Yves joked.

"That's what our competition told her, felt, and witnessed," Sami informed with a smirk. "Caleb and Buck took down the Ringleader. Chris called the cops and took him away by helicopter."

"Who got eliminated from the Delta Droids?" Yves wondered.

"Garett, who's apparently this criminal name Jay Harrett that wanted to seek revenge on the Starshine family," Sami answered.

Yves gives a light laugh. Even in another world, this show brings in psychopaths.

"Everyone is asleep right now except us two," Sami said. She gets up from the wooden chair. "You're going to be alright by yourself?"

Yves does not get up. She smiles at the ceiling. "Yeah, I'll be alright. These scratches and bruises aren't permanent. Get a good rest, Sami."

Sami walks out of the tent.

"I need a serious talk with her at one point," Yves said to herself. She raises her head a bit and her hands. "She said the blue clouds gave hallucinations. Does that mean I was fighting myself?"

Above the ocean is a police helicopter. Inside the vehicle having their hands chained behind their back are Jay Harrett and Ringleader.

"You cost me my revenge," Jay told the Ringleader. "I'll make you die once we go to the same jail cell."

Ringleader grins though it is not seen because of his mask. "Such talk coming from a pathetic man. You could have ended Dana the moment you came onto the island, but you chose to play long ball. Even I with my delight for entertainment wouldn't have waited so long."

"You two keep quiet," The pilot yelled.

Looking at one of the windows, the two bad guys notice the pilot bringing them back to Cali-Tokyo.

"I believe you're going the wrong way dude," Jay told the pilot.

"Nonsense," The pilot said. "I'm just following orders."


Author's Note: Pretty big chapter. There was a moment when I wanted to make this a two-parter. However, I feel like everything that happens between the Ringleader and Yves's hallucination is better together in one chapter than splitting it up as I did with Henry's arrival. I do not know if I should have put a warning of Yves hurting herself considering the way it was shown was by a hallucination, but I guess whoever is reading this will let me know if I should put a warning at the beginning. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!