Back from the break

Once the contestants were all strapped into their gear, they were hooked up to a crane which will lower them down into the hole. "Alright excavators, any questions before you guys descend?" Greg questioned as he had his hand over a lever to start lowering the kids hanging over the hole.

"Can I go tinkle?" Erica questioned.

"Are there any mole men in need of a size 15 to the kiester?" Deon asked.

"Are these safe?" Michael softly asked.

"Is mayonnaise an instrument?" Maya asked, much to Jacob's frustration.

"No questions, okay then. Have fun!" Greg called as he pulled the lever, which started to lower the casts down into the hole. He watched as the cast had fully disappeared into the darkness, "Let's see how these kiddies fair in our very first challenge of the season." Greg told the camera.


"It's too dark down here!" Peter complained.

"Is someone touching my hand?!" Maya freaked.

"You're touching your own hand!" Boxer told the dumb blonde.

"This isn't funny, although I do like dark humor!" Sam joked.

Just then the darkness lit up as they entered a room with a lantern and 16 mining karts on tracks that lead to a tunnel, above which they saw a giant flatscreen TV light up with Greg's face on the surface. "Welcome excavators to Sampson's Caverns, your stay for the next 2 and a half months. As you can see, you guys are about to embark on your first challenge. In front of you you'll see these mining karts with your names on them, which you will ride to the main center of this man-made cave system. Which are equip with laser blasters, which you will use to shoot at the following targets."

"Woah." Sam aww'd as he noticed the little laser gun from those games of laser tag attached to his kart.

He and the rest were then showed a chart of targets they can shoot, "Blue targets are worth 2 points, red is a 3 point gain. And if you see a little black diamond, oh that's worth a whopping 10 points." The cast all ooo'd at the score, "But don't get your hopes, that's the rarest of the targets. One more thing, at the end of these tracks stops of the colors for this season's teams. So which stop you land on, that's where you'll be placed."

"Wow, the team set ups for these seasons are very elaborate." Larry noted.

"The team with the highest combined score will win tonight's reward, and to find out what it is you must get your butts down here. Greg out!" He sighed off with a peace sign.

"Okay, people. Let's get to our karts, come on let's go!" Sophia exclaimed as she pushed the contestants to their karts.

As they strapped themselves in, Foster looked at his laser with a questioning look "What is this thing?" he looked it over, accidently shooting the laser in his eye "GAH!" he exclaimed as he held his eye. He blinked his eye to regain color before Erica reached over and turned his gun forward.

"Yeah, first lesson. Don't point the laser at your face." she said.

"Noted."

Foster rubbed his eyes before we move to Umber, who was looking at the gun with as much confusion as Foster. "Okay... you've seen others use these..." a soft mutter came out "You can do this..."

"Umber, was it?" the savant yelped when Sophia, the girl in the next kart spoke up "Word to the wise little mouse, this show will eat up kids like you for dinner." she said as Umber hid behind the confines of the kart. "So just keep your head down," she pushed Umber's head down further, "trust no one, and most importantly... don't mess up."

"Sophia stop, you're freaking out Umber!" Sam freaked as he went over to Umber, "She's just kidding, you're gonna do great." he pulled the savant up back into a seating position on the kart seats before patting their back.

"Um... thanks..." Umber looked away with a fearful look as Sam went back to his kart, if the heart was racing before it was doing the Indy 500.

"Well folks, let us begin our treacherous trek down-"

"Oh, can it Suit Boy!" Peter exclaimed before kicking some cave dust at Jacob.

The music president gasped, "HEY! THESE ARE FRESHLY IRONED SLACKS!" he screamed in a voice that melted his English accent into what makes him sound like a whiny schoolboy, he then got into a slap fight with Peter.

Alexa laid back in her kart, "Man, what a bunch of muppets." she sighed.

Just then two interns came out, one with ragged short brown hair and an intern's outfit. The other with medium length black hair and a matching outfit, the former of which said "Alright guys, strap on tight. Cause this is gonna be one bumpy ride." at his words the players buckled their seatbelts, which were added onto the karts. "Hey Jeremy, isn't that your sister?" he pointed to the blond girl who was biting into her blaster, thinking it was a food.

"Yes, Jaxon." the black-haired intern groaned.

"Is she single?" Jeremy looked at Jaxon like he was insane.

"Let's just send these guys off." Jeremy sighs before pulling a lever, which sent all the karts off.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Maya, Sam, Mimi, and Alexa all squealed as the cast went down a drop, Alexa's a more nonchalant "Weeeee."

Umber was hanging onto the kart as it zoomed down the ramp before it split off from the others down 16 separate tunnels. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~" the savant screamed as the kart took some twists and turns before coming into a large lava pit. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH IS THAT LAVA!" Umber freaked as the ride went over the lava, feeling like sitting at the center of the sun before seeing some red and blue targets in the lava. Quickly grabbing the blaster and fumbling it before firing randomly, only managing to hit two targets to bring the score to 5 before Umber rode out the other end.

Umber: 5

"Okay, not a good start. But I'm the others aren't doing too good either... right?" Umber asked the camera.


While Umber wasn't doing so good, we see Deon was shooting targets left and right as he rode his kart over a cave river as he came to a waterfall. "HA! These people think some dumbass targets can get past me?" Deon questioned as he shot a hidden black target, "Well news flash targets~ The perfect man! Never! MISSES!" Deon asked as he shot the last target as he rode underneath the waterfall, pounding his chest proudly as he checked his score.

Deon: 20

"A perfect score, then again what else can you expect from the most perfect being to ever walk this Earth." He monologed as we turn to Erica, who was riding along a very narrow tunnel.

"It's a tight squeeze." She commented as she had little room to move. Thankfully she looked up and saw some targets, which she aimed at and shot. Bringing her total up to 7, she then found a hidden black she took aim and with a perfect voice impression "Asta la vista... baby!" (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

She fired and hit it.

Erica: 17

"Bullseye!" she exclaimed as she went down another tunnel.

Moving onto Sophia, who was riding over a large crystal cavern seeing multiple targets. She aimed at a large crystal, "Hold..." she then fired at the crystal, which refracted the laser into multiple directions to hit all the targets at once. This caused her score to skyrocket.

Sophia: 24

She smirks as she rides her kart on out of the crystal cave and into another tunnel, riding alongside by Sam who just rode up to her and out of a glacier cave "Afternoon fellow player!" Sophia exclaimed as he noticed the clown was shaking with frost on his shoulders, "You okay there?"

"So-o-o-o-o-o-o co-o-o-o-ld." he stuttered before they rode over the lava pit Umber was just in, which warmed Sam right up as he sighed in relief "Ahhhh, much better." he then aimed for a target, "Black target 1100!" he told her as he fired at some blue and red targets.

She looked at his coordinates and found a black along the wall and fired, "Much appreciated!"

Once they got most of the targets in firing range, they rode towards their respective tunnels. Sam then joked, "Wow, you looked really 'hot' back there!" he made a pun about the lava and the heat.

Sophia: 41

Sam: 25

"How flattering, but I'm afraid I'm in a committed relationship to my presidential campaign." Sophia said before they separated.

"NO THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Sam yelled, "NOT THAT YOU AREN'T GOOD LOOK- oh she can't hear me." he sighed as he rode down his kart, passing an overpass where Ivy was singing a rock song as she hit some more targets.

"I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe~ 'Less I feel you next to me you take... the pain I feel~ Waking up to you never felt so real~"(Comatose by Skillit) She sung as she hit some more targets.

Ivy: 29

Her kart then passed Jacob, who rolled his eyes at the song she was singing. "Ugh, I'll never understand why people would listen to that juvenile crap known as metal." he scoffed before aiming at a black target, which he missed as he rode past it. He growled before bashing his laser on the side of his kart, "GAH! STUPID BLASTER! WHY! WON'T! YOU! WORK!"

Jacob: 12

He kept ranting to himself as he went down a tunnel.


In another part of the cave system, Aiden screamed excitedly as she rocketed down a spiral track before jumping off a ramp and flying through a pit. Spinning around and firing at multiple targets as she soared through the air, "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!" she laughed as she landed backwards and rode backwards down the track.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" She exclaimed before noticing she saw something sitting on a stalagmite. Thinking quickly, she ties some rope around her waist and connects the other end to the kart before leaping off. She was being held by the ropes as she flew down the tracks, luckily, she was low enough to grab the thing from the rocks before she was able to climb back into the mining kart right before she hit the wall. She sighed in relief before she saw she grabbed an Aztec idol. She saw a note attached to it and read.

'Congratulations to whom this may concern, for this idol grants you immunity from one voting ceremony up till the final four'

Aiden went wide eyed, "An immunity idol! SWEET!" she exclaimed before stuffing it in her shirt.

Back at the open cave area we see Larry coming from a separate tunnel, trying to aim his laser at some of the targets with his one arm. Try as he might, we was only able to get a few targets in this area. He saw his score, "28, eh not horrible." he shrugged before looking at the scenery "Wow, what marvel this piece of nature is. How the water deposition coming from the ceiling can cause such art to come to fruition." He admired a stalagmite shaped like a swan. "Such majestic wonders." he sighed as he rode through another tunnel.

We then get a montage of people speeding down the tracks and aiming at targets, Foster who was still getting the feel for how the laser gun works over the lava pit, Mimi who had to sit on her knees as she rides over a river, Maya who questioned "I think mine's broken!" she exclaimed before we cut to Boxer who fired at some targets, where she noticed some animalistic sounds coming from a trench she rode over.

Foster: 19

Mimi: 24

Maya: 0

Boxer: 33

Peter meanwhile was aiming at a black target but got hit by some bat poop and made him miss. He growled before looking up at the bats, "STUPID BATS! YOU MADE ME MISSED!" He growled before he ripped off his laser and threw them at the bats, angering them and causing them to swarm at him. He goes wide eyed, "Probably shouldn't have done that. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed as he was attacked by bats in the small tunnel.

We then see Michael hitting a target as he held onto his paper mantis, he kept trying to hit his targets as he rode his kart. He then rode by Deon, who he kept flexing as he kept hitting targets. "There he is, Deon Blade." he softly said to himself.

Suddenly Michael yelped when his tracks and Deon's were side by side, he looked up and saw Deon up close to him. He sat there stunned as Deon turned to him, "Frozen like a statue?" Deon chuckled, "I wouldn't blame yah, it must be an honor to ride side by side by god's greatest creation." he boasted as he shot a hidden black target. Michael kept staring in silence, both out of shyness and out of the fact he was riding beside one of his favorite wrestlers. "And seeing that there paper insect you must be a ripe genius."

"Um... well I... I wouldn't say... well I-"

"It doesn't matter what you say!" Michael jumped at the exclamation by Deon, "Because no matter how smart you are, it's no match for the jabroni pouncing, trailblazing, pie eating, eyebrow raising might of Deon Blade! I have it all, strength, speed, brains, speech, and everything you can think of that makes up the personification of perfection! But since you're a fan, I won't actively try and troll you." he tells Michael, "I'm just gonna leave you with this word of advice, don't get in my way! Unless you want me to take one of these watered-down limestone pillars and shove it striaght up your candy ass!" he panted, "Understand?" Michael timidly nodded, "Good."

Just then the two were separated, Michael sat stunned "My god... he actually promo'd me."

Michael: 28

Deon: 50


We then see Aiden whirling down a winding tunnel before entering a big open area where she saw a large underground mansion underneath a hole in the ceiling where sunlight was coming down, "Woah, that's massive." she said as she rode her tracks before her kart converged into one of the tracks was halted by a grey kart stopper. She shook herself, "That... was... AWESOME!" she exclaimed.

"Enjoyed the ride?" she saw Greg waiting between the grey bumper and a pink bumper.

"Greg, how did you get down here?" Aiden questioned.

"Never mind that, lets take a look at your score." he looked at the screen on her kart, which displayed "48 points, a fairly good score if I say so myself to start off the grey team." he said as he pointed to a scoreboard.

Grey: 48

Before Aiden can question what this meant, she heard a girly scream as Jacob came down and his kart slammed right into hers. He looked like he was about to hurl, "And it looks like you got your first teammate!" Greg said as Jacob's score was added to Aiden's.

Grey: 60

"Ooooooo." He winced as Jacob gasped for air.

"I just saw my life flash before my eyes." Jacob panted as he clutched his heart, just then Alexa rode into the area. But instead of the grey side, Alexa's merged into a track leader to the pink bumper.

Alexa yawned as she sat up, "Over already?"

"Alexa, glad you can join us as our first member of the pink team." Greg welcomed, "Now lets see what score you got-woah."

Pink: 60

"A perfect 60, that's the highest a player can get. Impressive." Greg nodded to the lazy girl.

"Eh, it was nothing." Alexa waved off.

"How did you-" Jacob questioned before down came Foster who rammed right into Alexa's kart.

"Oh, done already?" Foster questioned.

"Yep." Greg nodded, "And you just gave the pink team a sizable 35 points."

Pink: 95

Just then 4 more players arrived, Maya for the grey team, and Boxer, Larry and Ivy for the pink team.

Pink: 215

"Oh, how did I not score any points?" Maya asked as she held her blaster.

Boxer then pointed out, "Maybe because you pointed it the wrong way?"

Maya looked and low and behold she had it pointed backwards, "Oh... silly me, hehe." she giggled.

Jacob whispered to Aiden, "Man she's got the brains of a box of trumpets."

"Also joining the grey team, we have future Ms. President Sophia, and class clown Sam!" Greg announced as the politician in training and the class clown rolled. "With Sophia bringing her own perfect 60, and Sam nice 40 points they've brought the pink's lead down a considerable amount."

Grey: 195

"Oh hey, looks like we're teammates." Sam nudged Sophia, who turns to him.

"Indeed, we are." she said.

Just then, two more karts rolled in and got in the pink line. Greg called, "Rolling on in we have Mimi with an astute 38 points, followed by Umber with 22 points. But hey, could be worse." he shrugged.

Pink: 275

"Sweet!" Mimi exclaimed as she stood up from her kart, "That was fun, right Um?" she turned back to the savant, who was shaking like a maraca. "You okay?"

Umber just kept shaking, "T-t-t-t-t-that w-w-w-w-w-was..." Mimi rested her hand on their shoulder, which caused Umber to wince a bit.

"It looks we have our next player coming in... Erica!" Greg announced as the theater geek came in and was put on the pink team.

"Boy..." she panted, "That was a rough ride."

"I'm sure it was Erica, but let's check out your score." Greg said as the players looked at the scoreboard, "Ah, 30 points. Not too bad to finish off the Pink team."

Pink's final score: 305

Erica smiled, "Well, I did my best."

"Now let's hope we can keep our lead." Foster said as Peter came in covered in bat bites as he frothed at the mouth, everyone winced when they saw him come into the grey line. His score showing...

"Oof, 20 points." Greg bemoaned, "Interns, give him the shots!" he called.

Just then Jeremy and Jaxon struck Peter's arms with two needles of medicine, which helped clear up his rabies. "I swear, I will hunt down every last bat in this cave system and turn them all into a handbag." he growled as he pounded on his kart.

Grey: 215

"And it looks like our final two miners are joining us." Greg said as Michael and Deon were the last two to arrive at the station, hitting Peter's kart was Michael's as Deon came in after him. "Alright, for the win for the grey team... and their reward... Michael you score is..." everyone leaned in to see the results.

"...

.

.

.

.

... 35!" Greg announced.

Grey: 250

"And Deon... your score is...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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... 60 points!"

The grey team cheered as their final score was on display.

Grey's final score: 310

Deon soaked in the cheers, "That's the way to do it." he nodded to himself while the pink team was sadden by the lost.

"Okay, now with that out of the way. Let's give you guys your team names, Grey team. Aiden, Jacob, Maya, Sophia, Sam, Peter, Michael, and Deon." Greg listed off the people behind the grey bumper, "You guys shall be henceforth known as... the Brawling Bats!" Greg announced as Jeremy strung up a grey flag, with the logo of a bat with its wings spread out and screeching into the heavens. The Bats all mummering in delight at their name.

"Love it!" Boxer exclaimed.

"Hate it!" Peter groaned as he now had a reminder of his harrowing scuffle with 30 winged freaks.

"And, as promised. Your reward for having the highest combined score in this opening challenge, you guys will be staying in the mansion right behind me." Greg gestured to the structure behind him, which caused the Bats to cheer louder. "Good thing we had these caves reinforced, so that we won't have a potential cave in." he muttered to the interns.

"You're telling me." Jeremy said as he massaged his hands.

Greg then turned "As for the rest of you... Alexa, Foster, Boxer, Larry, Ivy, Mimi, Umber, and Erica. You guys... will be known as... the Crawling... Cats!" he announced as Jaxon strung up a pink flag, with a picture of a little kitty doing a commando crawl.

"Cats?" Erica asked in confusion.

"Couldn't have picked a more suited name for this season?" Ivy wondered.

"Like the producers said when they hired these two." Greg pointed to his interns, "You take what you get, and you don't complain."

"Hey!" his interns exclaimed.

"Bats, go enjoy your spoils." Greg told the winners, who ran out of their karts and ran into the mansion. "And Cats, the interns will be escorting you to where you guys will be staying."

"Come along now." Jaxon said as the cats all got out of their karts, with him and Jeremy leading them to their living quarters.

Greg then faced the camera, "And that wraps up our first episode of the season. How will our teams fare in the first team challenge? Who's going to be the first to crack from cave fever? And who will be the first to bite the dust here on...

Total.

Drama.

Buried."


Remaining players: Aiden, Alexa, Boxer, Deon, Erica, Foster, Ivy, Jacob, Larry, Maya, Michael, Mimi, Peter, Sam, Sophia, and Umber.

And that concludes the first episode of my first SYOC fic, be sure to leave a fav, follow, and review if you haven't already for more content.