DISCLAIMER:
Hello, and welcome to chapter 22. The new challenge is ready, but what they have to do? What part plays the quarry on the challenge? And which team will win? Find out next here on Total Drama Tyranny of the Masses.
And remember, if you enjoy the story so far, don't forget to mark it as a favorite. Or if you feel fancy, leave a review. This not only let me know what you think about the story but also motivate me. And before starting, let me answer the last chapter reviews.
Hero of Gaia: It's curious, you are the second reader that mention it. I will not say anything, but I promise to not change my plans either for Dave or for Dramaman.
guest: And Beth knows it, but Alejandro is so charming :D
Harmony735: Only time will tell what happens in the Beth-Alejandro-Duncan plot. And sorry, but once a week is my limit to release the episodes.
ARandom: I can't say anything about Duncan and Beth without spoiling the story. But yes, the triangle with Alejandro is getting exciting.
guest: Ok, I understand that you don't like Beth. But she also deserves some love ;).
Also, a giant shoutout and THANKS to Geofics, that helped me with the proof reading of the episode. I am really thankful for your pointers and corrections.
And lastly, an announcement, a friend is organizing 2020 Gwent Week, from October 18 to 24. Any interested can participate the information is on
withjust-a-bite dot tumblr dot com You can write stories, or make art, or yous spread the word about it.
Total Drama belongs to Fresh TV, its creators, and associates companies. I don't own anything from the properties used in this fic.
Between a Quarry and a Hard Rock Part 2
Both teams were reunited next to the quarry's edge, or at least a huge and deep pit that looked like a stone quarry. Chris was standing on a short stone pillar surrounded by two interns, one thin and blond and the other short and chubby. The sides of the quarry were connected by two hanging bridges, one red and one green.
"Hello campers, and welcome to your next challenge. I hope you like climbing because in the first part of the challenge you will be climbing a lot," Chris said, winking at them.
"And even if we hate climbing, you will make us go down into the pit, right?" said Heather rolling her eyes.
Chris smiled and made finger guns to the Queen Bee. "Of course I will! Heather, you are truly a Total Drama veteran." The Host chuckled, "anyway, the challenge is simple. You have to climb down into the quarry. Take a rock bigger than your hand and climb up again."
"Well, it seems simple enough. What's the catch?" said Topher scowling at Chris.
"Are wolves or bears down there?" said Beth in a timid voice.
"Or maybe zombies!?" asked Shawn in an alarmed tone.
Duncan huffed and shrugged. "Or the rope has blades embedded in it, so we cut our hands?"
"Or maybe there are zombie bears with blades embedded?" said Mike, chuckling. Everyone sans Zoey looked at him with narrowing eyes. Zoey instead laughed at his joke.
"No, no, no, and NO. But maybe you can help to design future challenges. Some of your ideas are wonderful." Chris said, laughing, then he recovered his composure and continued. "The catch is as follows. Each team has to go down and climb with a rock. You cannot go down until all your teammates have tried at least one time before you. If you drop the rock, you lose your chance and have to climb again so another teammate can go down. The team that brings up 20 rocks first wins the first part and gets an advantage for the next part of the challenge."
"Is there some benefit from getting bigger rocks?" asked Courtney. From up there, she could see rocks of many sizes, but there was no need to try to take the bigger rocks.
Chris shrugged, smiling innocently. "I don't know. Maybe, or maybe not. What I can say is that the rocks will be used in the second part of the challenge. And as they said, bigger is better," said Chris winking at her.
"Another joke like that, and I'll sue you for harassment," Courtney huffed and gave a death glare at the Host.
"Hey! it was only an innocent joke. There is no reason to get angry." Chris raised his hands defensively, with an upset expression. "Anyway, once a team completes the challenge, the other team will have 20 minutes to end their 20 runs, or they will get fewer stones for the second part."
The interns gave a red rope to Brick and a green one to Shawn.
"If you have any questions, sorry, I don't have any more answers. The challenge starts NOW! So go, go, go, start entering that quarry." Said Chris clapping at the teams.
Confessional: Topher
The host wannabe fixed his hair and turned his better angle to the camera before talking. "It's SO obvious that we need to carry heavy rocks. Chris thinks he is so smart saying it like that. But I know him. If there was no advantage, he would give the advantage to the heaviest rocks instead of the team ending first. Now I have to find a way to convince my teammates that I'm right."
The ferrets get together, discussing the order in which they have to go down the quarry. Shawn tying the rope to the green bridge.
"There are 9 of us, so if we do it right, 2 of us have to go down 3 times. But everyone else needs to go down twice," explained Sammy to her teammates, "those two need to be fit and strong because they will be more tired in the second part of the challenge."
Amy rolled her eyes. "Thanks for nothing, Samey. That was obvious."
"Why do you always have to be so mean with your sister?" asked Topher, looking into Amy's eyes.
The older twin raised her head, looking down at him. "I was not mean. I only try to point out an error so she can improve. And you should worry more about the challenge and less about my sister."
"Ignoring the toxic player," said Charlotte, not caring about the death glare Amy was giving her. "We should select the order and start now before the red team begins to score."
"But we should bring the heaviest rock we can manage to find," said Topher. The rest of the team looked at him with contempt, "before you start complaining, listen to me. The rocks are part of the second part of the challenge, and being heavy would be advantageous to us."
"How are you so sure?" said Sky, who wanted to carry a heavy rock anyway.
"Because Chris is the one who designed this challenge," explained Topher, glaring at the Host. "There is no way he would let us choose the weight of the rock, except if it will penalize us later."
Mike nodded and put an arm across Topher's shoulder. "When it comes to Chris, this guy is an expert. So I support his idea, let's try to get the heaviest stones."
"I agree with them. If there is someone twisted in this world, with a secret agenda about this challenge, that is Chris McLean. So let's botch his plans and bring some heavy rocks." Said Shawn hitting his palm with his hand.
Amy, Sammy, Lilly, and Charlotte were not so sure, but the time was running out, and they needed to keep going.
"Ok, we'll try to bring the heaviest stone we can carry, but who'll go first?" asked Sammy, looking at the rest of the teammates.
Sky was the first to raise her hand. "I can go first. I know I can climb quickly and have enough stamina to climb three or four times."
"No way, I will be the first player," said Charlotte facing the short gymnast, "And forget about beating my Hi-score. I will fetch the best rock in the quarry."
"Sorry for interrupting you, but Draman is already at the bottom," said Mike, looking down into the pit. Then he shouted, "DRAMAN, BRING THE HEAVIEST ROCK YOU CAN CARRY!"
The masked wrestler gave thumbs up and began to search for a rock he could get to the top.
"It's not fair. I wanted to go first," said Sky stomping her foot and folding her arms.
At the same time, on the foxes' side, the team was also discussing the strategy to follow in the challenge. Brick was tying the rope to the red bridge.
"Let me do it. In the encampment, they taught us many kinds of knots, and I am sure I can do it better than you," said Courtney, trying to be polite, but sounding snobbish instead.
But Brick wasn't bothered. "Sorry, ma'am. But I also have experience making knots, so I think I can also do a good job."
Courtney's first instinct was huffing and pushing him aside. But she took a deep breath and instead crouched next to him and looked at what he was doing.
"Figure 8 loop?" she said, showing a small smile. It was a good knot. Brick really knew what he was doing.
"Yep, it's great for climbing. And also my favorite kind of knot," said Brick adjusting the rope.
Courtney chuckled. "You have a favorite knot? That's wonderful. I know how to make 42 different kinds of knots, and never thought about which one was my favorite."
"No? Not even one was more fun to make, or more useful?" said Brick, raising an eyebrow.
"They were tools, techniques to achieve a goal, that was being a Camp Counselor. You didn't have to enjoy it, only to do it. That's how it was at my home," said Courtney before standing up.
Brick sniffed and looked at her over his sunglasses. "That is kind of sad."
"Don't say that, I don't think it was sad. Thanks to that, I am the person I am now." Courtney took a deep breath, "but maybe it's time to pick a favorite knot."
Meanwhile, the rest of the team was discussing who will go down first. Or more correctly, was about to discuss. Before Heather could organize them, Lightning grabbed the rope and began to climb down into the quarry.
Heather glared at him, "HEY! What are you doing? We haven't decided who had to go first!"
"Shut up, sha-loser. Lighting is going first!" shouted Lightning as he started to climb down faster.
"That sha-idiot," said Heather clenching her fists, "anyway, he has a lot of stamina. After him-"
But the Queen Bee was interrupted by Mike shout. "DRAMAN, BRING THE HEAVIEST ROCK YOU CAN!"
The Queen Bee kept looking at the thin guy, blinking a couple of times. "Are they crazy? That clown said that it was enough if they were bigger than our hand."
"Maybe they know something we don't," said Cody rubbing his chin.
Courtney frowned at him. "The rules were clear. Chris said that the size of the rock didn't matter. They are just doing it harsher for themselves."
"But, what if they are right? It would not be the first time that Chris has tricked us." Beth replied, twiddling with her fingers.
Courtney's first instinct was to shout at them. The rules were clear. Why does everyone have to be so foolish? But again, why should she defend the rules? She took a deep breath and approached the problem in another way.
"Alejandro, what do you think? You also think Chris may be fooling us?" asked the Latin girl, after all, the archvillain was clever. So he may have noticed something.
The Spaniard made a smug smile and shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. We should do as the other team. Just don't exaggerate and risk failing to climb trying to bring a heavy rock."
The 8 foxes nodded, then they continued discussing the order in which they should go into the quarry.
Confessional: Brick
"As Dawn said, Courtney is an interesting person. She is smart, determined, and disciplined. I hope I can talk with her in the future, and maybe we can discover together which is her favorite knot." Brick smiled and nodded. Then he began to rub his chin. "42 different types of knots? I only know 9. I should ask her to teach me some."
On the bottom of the pit, the competitors can put a basket on their backs to help them carry the rock back to the top of the chasm. Dramaman got a basket, while Lightning ignored them and went directly to look for a rock.
Both took their time finding their rock. Dramaman was studying them carefully, and after some time, he adjusted his gloves, grabbed one big as a melon, and put it in his basket. Then he began to climb slowly.
Meanwhile, Lightning was holding the rocks and throwing them, not finding any that he liked.
"Lightning, hurry! The ferrets are already climbing back!" shouted Zoey, "You are going to lose!"
Lightning stood up like a spring, holding a rock as big as his hand. "Are you crazy!? Lightning never loses!"
The jock then ran to the rope and began to climb it as fast as he could, holding the rock in one hand. Even with the disadvantage, Lightning passed the wrestler and reached the top first.
"Take that masked guy. Lightning wins again, Sha-BAM!" The athlete shouted and began to dance, while Brick climbed down the rope.
"Yeah, yeah. You won, but we agree to bring the biggest rock we could. What is this?" Courtney scolded him, showing him the rock he carried.
The jock flexed his arms, posing without looking at her face. "Lightning was looking for the biggest rock down there. But that skimpy wrestler was about to win the race, so Lighting had to pick the first rock he could find. Also, Lightning doesn't remember agreeing to do nothing."
The athlete kept posing and flexing while Courtney shook her head.
Confessional: Courtney
Courtney is still shaking her head. "This is the moment when I begin to wonder if this alliance with Lightning is worth it or not." She sighed. "At least Zoey is more or less normal."
On the other side, Dramaman was huffing as he reached the top. Sky glaring at him.
"I can't believe you went down first just to lose against him! Look at me, this is how you do it," said the gymnast going down the rope very quickly.
Sammy ran and helped him stand up. "Please just forget what just happened. She is just angry because you went down first."
Dramaman just shrugged and went back to rest before it was his turn again. Down there, Brick was also taking his time to choose his rock, while Sky took a rock a bit bigger than the one Dramaman picked, put it into her basket, and began to climb.
"Oh C'MON!" shouted Heather, "Just choose a damn rock and climb. We are losing our advantage."
Brick picked a stone as big as a basketball and put it into his basket. He then began to climb as fast as he could. But he slipped a couple of times and almost fell back, while Sky reached the top in one go.
"YES! I recovered the lead," shouted Sky jumping joyfully.
"Well done, slowpoke, now let me show you how to do it," said Charlotte while climbing down the rope as fast as she could.
Sky narrowed her eyes at the dark-skinned girl and went to wait for her next turn. This was just the beginning.
Confessional: Charlotte
"That Sky is not half-bad. But I am the best player here, and it's time to prove it. What I love about these games is beating the high score." Said Charlotte hitting her palm with her fist.
Brick, at last, came to the top. Zoey gave him a high five and began to climb down the rope, while the cadet huffed and puffed.
"Are you ok?" asked Beth, looking worried at him.
"Don't worry. It's just that I almost fell a couple of times," said Brick, heavy breathing. "Just give me a moment, and I'll be fine."
"Soldier, get your act together. You just lost our lead! Now go and rest. You better make up for your failure on your next turn," said Heather in a firm and stern tone.
Brick straightened up and saluted her. "Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry. Next time I will not fail!"
Heather smirked pleased, while Beth scowled at her.
Meanwhile, inside the pit, Charlotte was looking for a stone bigger than the one Sky picked while Zoey chose a huge one, as big as a watermelon.
"No, too heavy," said Zoey, her face red from the effort of trying to carry the rock. "I'll take this one instead. It's big as a baby, so I hope that is enough."
The indie girl began to climb as Charlotte was still searching, but before any teammate could rebuke her, the e-gamer found a rock just like she wanted and began to climb the rope.
In the end, Zoey reached the summit a little faster than Charlotte, leaving her rock, as Alejandro was about to take her place.
"Will you give me a kiss for good luck?" Said the Spaniard, winking.
"Not even in your dreams, Al," replied Heather in a cold tone, scowling.
Alejandro smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Lo siento Heather[1], but I was talking with Beth, not with you."
The Asian girl's jaw dropped, while the brunette girl blushed as her goggles misted up.
"A- Alejandro, Do-, don't joke with those things," said Beth, stuttering, and swinging in her place.
Alejandro descended the rope quickly before Heather could react, she only stomped her foot and went away fuming.
Confessional: Heather
Heather is playing with her braid with a smug expression. "Of course, I was not jealous of Alejandro. But I kept his charade to give Beth false confidence. After all, he is just using her. There is no way a man like him would fall for someone like her. NO WAY!" She then scowled at the camera and went out of the confessional.
Charlotte came to the top while Mike jumped down the rope, going down twirling around in a fast and beautiful way. Meanwhile, the e-gamer put her rock down next Sky's rock.
"It seems I get the high-score, noob," said Charlotte looking down at Sky with an arrogant smile.
Sky glared at her, "Just wait for the next one, I never lose," The Cree girl didn't know what noob means, but it was obviously an insult.
Down the pit, Alejandro quickly found a stone as big as a football and put it in his basket in a quick and smooth movement while Mike went for a rock like the one Dramaman picked. Both began to go up the rope as if they were expert climbers.
"How did you do that?" asked Heather as flabbergasted as the rest of his team.
Alejandro shrugged and winked. "One of my aunts is an expert climber and taught me how to do it. She is just one mountain away from climbing all the eight-thousander."
"Of course, I should have known," replied Heather rolling her eyes.
"Princess, do you wanna go next, or is my turn?" said Duncan, smirking.
Courtney was taken aback. It was the first time he talked to her during the entire challenge. She just noticed now. She didn't know why, but that fact made her angry.
"I will go first, just try to not slow us down when it's your turn," said Courtney going down into the pit.
"That was cold Princess," replied the delinquent, smirking. He then looked back at Beth, who was watching them. He just winked at the brunette girl.
Meanwhile on the ferrets' side, Mike reached the top, and Shawn took his place. The conspiranoic began to go down the rope quickly, doing short jumps to not burn his hands.
"Great job Mik. It's awesome how you can do everything well," said Topher patting Mike in the back.
The thin man blushed and rubbed his arm. "I can't do everything well. Just do a few things, and luckily they helped the team."
"And you're also humble. Mik, you are the best," said Topher walking to the rope, waiting for Shawn to come up.
Confessional: Topher
Topher faces his best side to the camera before starting to talk. "No, I am not trying to get on Mik's good side. Well, it is not my only intention. I really think he is great. He is smart, got a hot girlfriend, and is a monster on the physical challenges. And also, he is humble. If I had his skills and MY looks, I would be bragging all day and night."
At the bottom, Courtney tried to pick the huge rock, but after lifting it, she noticed it was too heavy to climb with it. So instead, she chose a medium-sized rock big like a football.
While Shawn picked a long rock, he weighed it a little, threw it into the air, and caught it. He then left it and picked another one. This one was good enough, so he put it on the basket and began to climb.
Shawn was a better climber than Courtney, but he took more time looking for his rock, so the former C.I.T reached the summit first.
Duncan helped her to climb the last stretch. And without a word jumped down the rope, climbing down so fast that he appeared to be falling.
After leaving the rock on the ground, Courtney went with her teammates that already climbed. "We are too close to the ferrets, we must do something to gain the upper hand, or we could end up losing the first challenge."
"You are worrying too much, Courtney. We must just do our best, and everything will be ok," replied Zoey, who was sitting on the ground, resting.
"That attitude will not make us win, it will make us lose. Doing your best means nothing if you don't win," Courtney said without thinking.
Zoey chuckled, "And what about having fun? If you have fun, even if you don't win the game, you will not have regrets."
"I will have like one million regrets if we lose this challenge," Courtney replied, not amused by Zoey optimism.
"I'm not saying that we will lose," added the Indie girl, still thinking Courtney was not completely serious. "But winning is not everything, you know? There is more in life than just being on top."
Courtney huffed but didn't say anything else. Winning is not everything. That idea contradicted her past 19 years. And it was not the first time she heard it, but she was not in the mood to dwell with it.
On the other side, Topher began to go down the rope. He tried to go fast but didn't have the training to do that. Meanwhile, Shawn put the strange rock he was carrying with the rest.
"Good job!" said Sky, smiling. "And that rock is pretty unique. Why did you choose it? It had a shape that made it better to kill zombies?" Mike and Dramaman couldn't help it and also chuckled at the gymnast's joke.
Shawn made a fake laugh, "Ha ha ha, I will ignore the fact that you are trivializing something as important as the apocalypse. And no, any rock can be used to kill a zombie. I choose this just because I liked its shape."
All laughed at the response of the conspiranoic. Forgetting for a moment, they were in a challenge.
Confessional: Shawn
Shawn is folding his arms and rolling his eyes. "Yes, I am used to all these zombie jokes. I mean, in school, they think I'm some kind of zombie freak who only thinks about the apocalypse. But that's far from the truth." Shawn laughed and then showed the rock. "For example, look, this rock had the same shape as the spaceship that landed in Area-51. Cool, isn't it?"
On the bottom of the quarry, Duncan found a rock like a basketball and put it on his basket. Mocking Topher on his way up.
"Hey, pretty boy! Try to not dirty your manicure while looking for the rock." Shouted the delinquent, while starting to climb the rope.
Topher glared at him, "Jerk, I don't need a manicure. My hands are already gorgeous, and I learned how to take care of my nails." The host wannabe raised his hand and smiled while admiring it. "But right now is not Topher time. I have to found a good rock and get out of here."
But the host wannabe didn't expect that Duncan could climb so fast. In a moment, the delinquent had climbed to the top of the quarry, even faster than Lightning.
"How did you do that?" Asked Heather with wide eyes.
Duncan smirked and leaned toward her. "Years of practice, my dear. I had to climb a lot of walls when I was younger, especially at the juvie."
Heather huffed and began to climb down the rope, while Duncan went and seated with the others. He looked at Courtney but didn't say a word. The Latin girl didn't notice this, too busy talking with Zoey.
Topher began to climb with a melon-sized rock in his basket. When he was reaching the top, Heather was already at the bottom of the pit.
"Sorry, guys! I was slow, and now they have the lead," said Topher huffing and grooming his hair with a hand.
Sammy looked at him tenderly, "Don't wo-"
"Stop whimpering, and let me solve this," said Amy interrupting Sammy, and going down the rope.
"Hey! It was my turn!" protested Sammy glaring at her sister.
"Shut up Slowmey! This is a race. We cannot wait for you," shouted Amy while going down the rope.
"Will the world judge me if I cut this rope?" Sammy asked rhetorically while holding the rope.
Topher put a hand on Sammy's shoulder and smiled. "Probably not. But the mounted police would. And you deserve better than to go to jail for your sister."
Sammy felt his heart pounding faster. Why is he kind to me? Is it an act? Is he in cahoots with Amy? But even if he was, there is nothing to gain being kind to me right now. I need to find out. Thought the younger twin, she faced him and-
And he had already gone with the others. "Maybe Amy is right, and sometimes I am a little slow," said Sammy under her breath, sighing.
As the older twin reached the bottom, Heather began to climb the rope, bringing a medium-sized rock, like a boxing glove. She was not as fast as Courtney or Alejandro, but definitely not as slow as expected.
Amy was weighing rocks and chose one as big as a watermelon. It was heavy, maybe too much. The older twin smirked. There is no way Sammy can bring a bigger one, she thought and put it in her basket.
Heather reached the top and tossed her braid, "Hurry Cody! We must increase our lead."
"Yes ma'am, just wait. The Codemaster always delivers," said Cody winking at her.
Heather leaned toward Cody and hugged him. All her teammates gasped, but she ignored them. "I trust you, Cody."
The brunette boy blushed and began to descend the rope with a huge grin on his face. Heather could be many things, but she was also beautiful. And who would not be happy to be hugged by a beautiful girl?
But there was one contestant that looked at them with particular interest.
Confessional: Alejandro
The Spaniard is sitting with a small smile and condescending expression. "Poor Heather, she is obviously attempting to make me jealous. And with Cody? Seriously? I mean yes, even before the competition, she talked fondly of him. But I am sure it's just an act." Alejandro's eyes were darting back and forth nervously as he ended the confessional.
On the other side, Amy was climbing back to the top. The beautiful blond girl was sweating a lot, her face red by the effort. She overdid it. She knew she overdid it. But she would die before giving up and let Samey the satisfaction of beating her.
The older twin reached the top, huffing but smiling. She was so tired that she couldn't say a word. But her gaze told Sammy everything the younger sister needed to know.
Here is my rock. Samey, at least bring one half the size of it, but overall try to not embarrass yourself. Sammy was sure her sister was thinking that.
"Don't be so sure, Amy. I told you, I am as good as you," said Sammy as she began to climb down the rope faster than her sister.
Even so, the older twin didn't notice it, too tired to look at her sister. She almost stumbled while walking to the others, but someone caught her before she fell.
"Are you ok?" asked Mike, looking at her, worried. "Let me help you."
Amy was surprised. She didn't think he would help her. It seemed that her plan was going even better than she expected.
"Thanks, Mike. It must be because I climbed too fast, and now I am a little dizzy. Just let me rest a moment in your arms." Amy said, letting the thin guy carry her.
Lilly looked at Amy, then at the quarry, and then at them again, nervously. This challenge seemed impossible for her.
Meanwhile, as Sammy was reaching the bottom, Cody already found a suitable rock, big as a bowling ball, and started climbing the wall. It was not the biggest rock he could find, but he didn't want to take risks.
The younger twin's blood was boiling, the mocking expression of her sister engraved on her mind. But she didn't have time to lose thinking about it. So she took a rock more or less as big as her sister and began to climb as fast as she could. But even if she was faster than Cody, the brunette boy arrived at the top with still enough lead.
"Uff, This is harder than it seems. I don't know if I can do it a second time," said Cody, leaving his rock and stretching his shoulder.
Beth winked at him. "Then, get enough rest while we continue bringing the rocks." She began to slowly go down the rope.
Cody walked to his team. Lightning, Brick, and Alejandro were already stretching.
"What a long face, did you get tired?" said Heather in a mocking tone.
Cody shook his face and sat next to her, breathing quickly. "Sorry, too tired to think of a sexy and smart comeback." He then winked at the Queen Bee.
On the other side, Sammy reached the top, not as tired as her sister. Lilly timidly walked toward the rope and began to descend slowly, holding the rope with all her strength and keeping her eyes closed while sliding.
Sammy let her rock with the others, she didn't care, but her stone was a little bigger than her sisters. She went and sat with Sky and Shawn. The Cree girl was already stretching.
"This time, I will go first. And I will bring the biggest rock." Sky said while stretching. "It will be bigger than Charlotte's rock, just wait and see."
The younger twin chuckled while Shawn shook his head. She then added "We are on the same team, Sky, there is no need to be so pumped up. Focus on the enemy."
"Sammy, you should always look for ways to improve yourself and to reach new goals. And competing with your peers is one way." Sky said, glaring at Charlotte and Dramaman.
Shawn sighed, ignoring his over-competitive friend attitude. "Anyway, great work there, Sammy, Jas will be proud. Now rest while you can." Saying this, the conspiranoic pulled his toque over his eyes and leaned back with his hands behind his head.
But there was someone, resting on Mike, who was glaring at them.
Confessional: Amy
The blond cheerleader was glaring at the camera with her arms folded. "How dare that Samey bring a rock bigger than mine. I mean, if I wanted, I could bring one even bigger, but I didn't want to shame her. Well, no more good big sister. Next time I will show them that I am better than her. Just wait."
Beth chose a rock big as a basketball, put it into the basket, and went climbing the rope while Lilly was slowly sliding down.
But as the brunette girl began to climb, the weight of the rock was too much, and she couldn't keep climbing.
"It's weird, I am usually pretty good at climbing," said Beth, trying to climb again, and falling to the ground. After a few attempts, she decided to leave the rock and try another smaller one. Her hands were covered in sweat and red paint.
As this happened, Lilly kept descending the rope.
On the top of the cliff, Sky, Lightning, and Brick were still warming up. Alejandro decided to give up and sat with Courtney and Zoey. Shawn and Amy fell asleep.
Beth, after changing the rock, couldn't climb again. She couldn't get a good grip on the cheap rope they were using thanks to the paint and the sweat.
Meanwhile, Lilly reached the bottom. She was slowly walking around the quarry, examining the rocks carefully. She picked one, weighed it, and left it carefully on the ground. Then she shook the dust from her hands with her handkerchief before picking another rock.
Sky and Lightning were still glaring at the pit. Sammy, Cody, and Heather also fell asleep. It seemed this would take a while, so the contestants were getting comfortable.
But one man was getting impatient, at first looking at Beth struggle at the rope and Lilly slowly examining the rocks was amusing. But after 40 minutes, it was not only insufferable. It was boring.
And Chris McLean cannot have a boring show.
The handsome Host stood up from his beach chair and left his conga[2] cocktail on a small table, before walking to the edge of the pit.
At the bottom, Lilly was searching the ground, while Beth was trying to climb again. She ditched many rocks and now had one big as her fist on her basket. But the rope was a slippery mess, and she was tired after trying to climb it all this time.
"HEY! The whole challenge was supposed to last 1 hour at most," shouted Chris, pointing at his wristwatch. "And we are already at 80 minutes, and we don't have even half of the stones yet. Can you HURRY UP?!"
Beth tried in vain one more time, but after climbing a little, she had to descend again. "Sorry, I can't do it. There is something weird with this rope."
And on the ferret's side, Lilly at last found a rock suitable for her, and she began to climb the rope, but she was only a few feet over the ground, too scared to keep climbing, even with Sky cheering her at the summit.
Chris frowned and kept watching at them for a couple more minutes, in which Beth tried and failed again, and Lilly climbed a pair more of inches.
"ENOUGH! YOU SUCK! IT'S OVER, C'EST FINI, ES IST VORBEI[3]. Both teams lose the challenge. So no one gets the advantage, and we advance in the second part of the challenge." Chris then took out his phone and made a call. "It's me, tell Chef to bring the other copter and take out those two from the pit. Also, call the interns in the editing room and tell them to start working with the pit challenge. We need to make it look thrilling."
The Host kept talking on his phone. "Yes, yes. I mean NOW. C'mon, are you not looking at the monitors? Also, bring the emergency weights for the second part of the challenge. And make haste we are behind schedule." He then ended the call and sighed. "Of course, it's too much to ask them to be a little more proactive. Well, maybe if their salary was a little better? No, I don't think it's related."
"But we were ahead on the race!" protested Courtney, glaring at Chris.
"And our rocks were bigger than theirs." Said Topher, also glaring the Host.
"And I said that I DON'T CARE." Replied Chris narrowing his eyes. "I said both lose. So it's a tie. Now let's continue with the show, shall we?"
Many members of both teams were infuriated by the decision, but there was no way to change Chris's decision, so while Chef took Beth and Lilly from the bottom of the quarry. Chris began to explain the rules of the second part of the challenge.
The teams moved to an open area at the side of the pit, where the interns were filling some boxes with green and red metal spherical balls. At the side of the boxes were 6 poles with big baskets attached to each of their ends.
"The challenge is quite simple. You have to choose 3 members of each team, and they have to hold this pole on their shoulders." Said Chris pointing at the poles.
"That sounds too easy. Lightning can hold the six poles alone," said the athlete flexing his arms.
Chris glared at him. "Let me finish. Once each member is holding their pole, the teams will take turns to put one of the stones that the other team got into one of the baskets. The holder will have to try to balance the pole, and if they let it fall, he is out. The team with all it's holders out loses."
"That's it? It sounds quite simple," said Sammy smiling.
Topher looked at her with wide eyes. "NO! Sammy, don't say that!"
But it was too late, Chris began to smile. "And as just balancing the pole would be too easy. You will also have to stand on these bridges. Of course, you can fall from them, but for that, we are putting a special foam at the bottom that will cushion the impact. Don't worry, it was already tested by our interns, and it cushions almost all the damage. Hopefully," Chris said, mentioning the last word under his breath.
The teams whispered between them, it was probably for the best to not confirm if the foam worked or not.
"And lastly, as you didn't bring enough rocks, once you end putting your stones, you will begin to put these metal balls in the baskets. Of course, they are not of the same weight or size, so be careful how you balance the baskets. Now you have 5 minutes to choose the holders. So go, go, go," Chris said, pointing at his wristwatch.
On the Foxes side, the decision was more or less taken.
Courtney looked at her teammates. This could be an easy win if they do it right. "Ok, team we-"
"SHA-LIGHTING will hold a pole, as he is the strongest," said Lightning flexing his arms.
Courtney took a deep breath. "Yes, you will be one of the holders. Now for the other t-"
"YOU ARE SMART, angry girl. You will not regret that decision," said Lightning bouncing his pecs.
Courtney wrinkled her nose, trying to not frown. "Yes, thanks. As I said, I think-"
Lightning interrupted her again "SHA-"
"SHUT UP! If you interrupt me one more time, I will throw you into the foam at the bottom of the pit. So for our own good, let me talk!" shouted Courtney, her hair disheveling a little.
Lightning raised an eyebrow. "There is no need to get so angry, angry girl. Lightning will be so quiet that you will forget he is here."
Duncan chuckled at the scene. "So you want him, Alejandro, and me to hold the poles."
Courtney sighed, just what she needed, now Duncan stole her idea. "Yes, actually. Or maybe Brick. I know I can hold the weight, but as my shoulders are not as broad, I will have more problems balancing the pole. So you talk between yourselves and decide who is holding."
"If you want, I can do it. It seems you are still hurt," said Brick looking at the bandage on Duncan's arm.
The delinquent looked at his bandage. "This, this is not-" but before saying another word, he decided it was not the moment. "Whatever, you do it then, G.I. Joe."
Courtney raised an eyebrow. Duncan was not wearing that bandage on the first night, or was he? Did he hurt his arm on that night? This was not the time to ask. But she will need to find out later.
On the ferrets' side, the discussion was more heated.
Topher groomed his hair with his hand, his eyes wide with a worried expression. "For this challenge, the Foxes had the advantage. We need to choose 3 holders to compete against THAT Lightning. I can go, but I must admit that my benching is not that good."
"As part of my training for the apocalypse. I develop some upper strength to carry supplies or clean derbies while escaping, so I think I can do well enough," said Shawn raising a hand.
"I may not look like it, but I am pretty strong. So I can hold it." Mike said, raising a hand. "Mmm, this was like some kind of déjà vu."
"I can also hold the pole. We gymnasts have a lot of upper body strength. Let me do it," said Sky flexing her arms.
Every ferret kept quiet, except for a small chuckle of Amy.
The Cree girl glared at the older twin. "What is so funny? Do you think I am joking?"
Amy gave her a mocking smile. "Ple-e-ease Sky, You are quick and agile, I concede that. But you are also even smaller than me. Do you really think you can win in a strength competition? Let's go with masked freak or even Charlotte."
Sky's face was red from the anger. She never liked Amy but was at this moment when it became personal. "I will go and show you what I am made of. Ok, Dramaman, Charlotte?"
The masked man gave her thumbs up. He never had any intention of trying to be a holder after all.
"Hey, noob. You may be a gymnast, but I-" Charlotte began, but after meeting with Sky's angry glare, she didn't dare to continue. "Ok, you can go."
Topher gulped before talking. "Then we go with Sky, Shawn, and Mike. I know it will be hard, but good luck, everyone."
The six holders walked toward their respective bridges. Each one was wide enough for the holder and another person, who will deposit the rocks or spheres on the basket. Both bridges were swinging when they stepped on them. Once they took their places, the second part of the 7th challenge started.
Author Notes:
[1] From Spanish: Lo siento = I'm sorry
[2] Conga is a cockatil made from Tequila, pineapple, angostura, and soda.
[3] It's over in French and German.
And after the botch of the first part of the challenge, both teams will start the second part in the same conditions. Brick, Alejandro, and Lightning vs. Sky, Shawn, and Mike. Who will win for their team, and who will lose this endurance challenge? Find out in the next chapter.
For this challenge, I tried to make a physical competition that was close enough but with a twist ending. I mean, in the actual episodes, not everything ended according to plan. I hope you find it amusing.
Immunity idols left: 3
D.A.M. Eliminations left: 5
Favorite Foxes: Alejandro, Beth, Brick, Cody, Courtney, Duncan, Heather, Lightning, Zoey.
Fan Ferrets: Amy, Charlotte, Dramaman, Lilly, Mike, Sammy, Shawn, Sky, Topher
Eliminated: Cameron, Jasmine, Max, Lindsay, Dawn, Jay
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you like it.