Chords of Love: Ballad to Various Loves
Chapter 6
"Oh good, you got her to get away from the dock…in a sense" Naruto said once noticing Bridgette walking Katie back to the bonfire, the girl crying and holding piece of the dock in her hand that she quickly hugged once she was sat down on a stump.
"It was a long goodbye" Bridgette told them with a bit of a tired frown, the others nodding along as given her condition they could tell since it had been a good hour since Sadie had been voted off.
They stayed at the bonfire for a while, not really wanting to head back to camp just yet, at least not while Katie was like this. Everyone looked over though as they noticed the Gophers heading over.
"What do you guys want? Come by to rub it in?" Courtney asked with her hands on her hips as she stood up, ready to stop anything that they potentially might start.
"We got some extra dessert after our Tuck Shop party, thought you'd might want some" Trent offered while Beth held up a plate of green jello that had some gummi worms in it.
"So, what, you're just being 'nice'?" Courtney asked before Gwen nodded.
"We could hear Katie's cries from back in camp, most of us felt bad," Gwen explained, glancing over at Heather who looked like she couldn't care less "and wanted to help" she went on with Beth walking over to offer the jello to Courtney.
"No!" she screamed before blushing and coughing into her fist. "I mean, no thanks, I'm good…" she quickly said while taking a step back.
"What are you on a diet or something?" Duncan asked with a raised eyebrow, finding her reaction to be really odd.
"No! I just…don't like green jello okay?" Courtney defended herself as Beth went to offer it to DJ and Duncan, DJ being the next to scream.
"Snake!" the gentle giant screamed before he slapped it away, getting odd looks from everyone as Cody crouched down to pull the 'snake' from the jello.
"Chill out dude, it's just a gummi worm" Cody explained, holding it up before eating it since the jello had kept it from touching the ground or getting any dirt on it.
"Sorry for tripping, its just snakes really freak me out" DJ told them, a bit embarrassed before Tyler rubbed his back.
"I feel you, chickens personally give me the creeps dude" Tyler confessed with a shiver at the mere thought of them.
"Wait you're afraid of chickens?" Gwen asked since chickens was definitely an odd thing to be afraid of.
"Wow, that's really lame man" Duncan chuckled with a smirk while DJ now rubbed Tyler's back.
-Confession Cam-
"So suddenly everyone's having this big share fest by the fire like Beth went on about how her mortal fear is being by bugs, Harold's afraid of ninjas, Leshawna being afraid of spiders, and even Heather admitted she's afraid of sumo wrestlers" Gwen said as she rolled her eyes, finding the whole 'share fest' to be too 'afterschool teen special' for her liking.
-Cam End-
"What's my worst fear? I guess it'd have to be being buried alive" Gwen confessed next once it became her turn. She had always been a bit claustrophobic but the idea of being utterly trapped like that only dialed it up to 11 for her.
"Mine for sure has to be walking through a minefield in heels!" Lindsay said, her eyes expressing her fear of just imagining it before it went across the bonfire to Naruto as a good handful of people wondered what the rocker's fear would be since to them he seemed the solid type.
"Clowns, I really don't trust the things. Creepy as all hell and their laughs just-" he told them before shivering and shaking his head to get the image out of it. "Bad experience as a kid and just nope. Don't like them" he added with a frown, crossing his arms while Bridgette rubbed his arm with a soft smile to try and console him.
"I totally can't do dentists. The second I see them and their drills and picks I freak out like crazy. My mom has to drug me with sleep medication just to get me to see them" Izzy said while covering her mouth, shaking her head as she seemingly remembered it.
"I'm scared of hail, small but deadly dude" Geoff said with a frown, looking up into the sky to reassure himself there wasn't any chance that it'd suddenly start raining down on him.
After Geoff everyone looked around a bit, waiting to see who was next to admit their fear. Their eyes eventually landed on Eva who was trying to act calm and failing at it since her nervousness was obvious by her body language.
As she noticed them staring she let out a groan before sitting up a bit. "I…don't like needles…." Eva grumbled out as she crossed her arms and looked away from the others. "They hurt way too much and some of them are freakishly big" she shuddered out before quickly looking over to the person next to her, who ended up being Bridgette, in an attempt to take attention away from her.
"Being left alone in the woods" Bridgette confessed next, squirming a bit in her seat while Courtney gasped a bit.
"So that's why you were so afraid during the outdoors challenge wasn't it?" Courtney asked worriedly, getting a subtle nod from Bridgette as she looked down at the floor a bit embarrassed at it.
"Well even with all that you did a good job" Eva complimented her, getting shocked looks from people which only made her blush before glaring at them all. "What are you looking at!?" she yelled, her blush growing from embarrassment, quickly wanting the eyes off of her.
"I guess my fear would be blood. Like large amounts of it just make me freeze up and pass out" Katie muttered while she sniffled a bit, still recovering from her cry session.
"I'm not really afraid of anything" Courtney said cheerfully before Duncan rolled his eyes.
"Baloney" Duncan said between fake coughs, getting Courtney to put his hands on his hips and narrow her eyes at him from her seat.
"Oh really? Well what exactly is your phobia Mr. Know-it-all?" she jabbed back at him, visibly getting him to tense up before looking away and hunching over even more which only got everyone to look his way. Mainly due to the fact that Naruto, Eva, and him were the three 'tough guys' of the camp so to speak.
"Celine-Dion-music-store-standees…" Duncan muttered quiet and quick while avoiding all eye contact.
"Uh, ex-squeeze-me? I didn't quite get that" Cody said with a smirk, holding his hand up to his ear to help him make sure he heard it the same as what he thought he just heard.
"Dude did you say Celine Dion music store standees?" Trent asked, finding that to be the oddest fear of the night by far while Duncan's terrified face making it clear he had heard it right.
"Ooo! I just love Celine Dion!" Lindsay squealed excitedly only to pause a bit and gain a look of confusion. "What's a standee?" she asked before Trent chuckled.
"You know, that cardboard cutout thing that stands in the music store" he explained to her before Duncan waved his hands at them.
"Don't say it dude!" Duncan warned him as if speaking about it would summon it to them or something.
"Kind of like a life-size but flat Celine" Trent went on with a smirk, finding the reaction of the usual scary punk teen to be really funny.
"So if we had a cardboard standee right now?" Courtney suggested, going along with this as teasing Duncan was a bit too much fun.
"Shut it! What about you guys?" Duncan asked the others while finding their teaming up on him to be unfair.
"Okay, well, I hate mimes. Like a lot" Trent told them before finding Courtney's calm appearance to be too much with the others confessing to fears like this. "Enough about that though, Courtney, you're afraid of something. Spit it out" he added, everyone nodding along with him.
"He's right Courtney, it's not fair that with everyone confessing like this that you hold out. Not like it can be any worse than what has been said here, no offense everyone" Naruto spoke up, not wanting to step on anyone's toes while everyone waved it off and turn their attention to Courtney. "No one is going to seriously ridicule you, sure some people have chuckled but no one here has called anyone stupid for their fears" he brought up since sure some people found some fears odd compared to others but fears are supposed to be odd, something that someone just can't handle for whatever reason.
"Fine….I can't stand….green jello" she muttered, a raised eyebrow from everyone getting her to groan and stand up. "Green jello! I'm scared of green jello okay!? Ever since a stupid hospital visit as a kid and the fact that it resembles snot!" Courtney declared before she quickly sat back down and covered her face out of embarrassment only to feel a hand rub her back.
"It's okay Courtney, weird fears are common around here. No one is making fun of you or anything. Thank you for sharing" Naruto told her, getting her to look at him from behind her hands a bit and making her smile.
The rest of their night was calm, them all staying around the bonfire a bit longer. For the most part there were a few questions here and there about why some people were afraid of some things but no one really pushed if they weren't comfortable.
Overall it was nice, made them all feel like they were at a real summer camp and not some weird reality show which was good. It was needed.
-Next Morning-
Breakfast was pretty much the same as always with odd oatmeal-ish gruel to eat but the moment Chris walked in, the look on the host's face was a clear sign that he had something in store for them.
"Campers! Your next challenge is a little game I like to call 'Phobia Factor'!" Chris announced, everyone's faces dropping the moment he said the name of the challenge. "Prepare to face your worst fears!" he added which definitely drove the point home.
'Maybe we shouldn't have gotten so laid back…talking about our fears in front of cameras for a host to use however he wishes…definitely not good' Naruto thought with a groan as he buried his face in one of his hands, his teammates sharing looks amongst each other once they all began to realize where this was going.
"Worse that this?" Leshawna asked before holding up food that looked like a grey sausage with hair sticking out from it.
"We're in trouble" Gwen flatly said with an already exhausted look on her face.
"Now for our first victims, Heather! Meet us all in the theater! It's sumo time!" Chris declared with theatrics, getting Heather to spit out her drink in a mixture of fear and shock onto Trent. "Next, Gwen. You, me, the beach? A few tons of sand?" Chris listed next, Naruto widening his eyes as he met Gwen's from across the dining hall.
'It'll be okay' he mouthed to her, trying to console her from afar as best as he possibly could.
"Wait, how'd they know those were your worst fears?" Lindsay asked, not really on the same page as everyone.
"Because we told them" Gwen explained, slamming her hand on her forehead out of her own frustration of not realizing the dangers of their stupid 'share-fest' until it was too late.
"You know, at the camp fire, last night" Trent helped, rubbing Gwen's back once she slumped over onto the table a bit.
"Wait, they were listening to us?" Lindsay exclaimed in shock and confusion, standing up as if hurt by the 'invasion of privacy'.
"It's a reality show Einstein, they're always listening to us" she told her with a flat look, her exhaustion only growing as things went on.
"That's like, eavesdropping!" she scoffed out before sitting back down with a frown.
"Chef Hatchet! Didn't you have a special order for Tyler here today?" Chris asked, ignoring Lindsay and getting Tyler and some others to look to the cook as he was deep frying something.
Tyler was rightfully afraid as Chef held out the basket towards Tyler, something chicken shaped inside it which the teen gingerly grabbed. He was slow to take a bite of it, biting off its head and slowly holding it at arm's length before a live chicken popped its head out of the deep fried shell, prompting Tyler to scream and everyone to wonder how the hell the chicken survived being deep fried like that….
"Here is how the challenges will go. To win all you have to do is try and face your fear, you act like a scaredy cat and you lose your challenge. Simple!" Chris told them all as they nodded to show they understood.
"Now due to the Bass having more campers than the Gophers we are doing things by a percentage of total teammates. Meaning that if five Gophers and five Bass were to face their fears instead of a tie it'd be the Gopher's victory since they are above 50 percent. So all you have to do is keep that in mind so let's get off to the races!" Chris announced before blasting an air horn.
-Beth's challenge-
Naruto didn't have a fear of bugs but even he was a little creeped out by a large inflatable swimming pool full of various bugs. Hell it was even enough to make DJ vomit.
"Think you can do it Beth? All you have to do is fully submerge yourself up to your neck for ten seconds and you get the point" Chris told her while she stood at the edge of the pool and looked over into it.
Her face was pale, paler than it usually is as she gingerly moved her hand towards the bugs. She closed her eyes tight as slowly she submerged up to her elbow, attempting to work into it before vigorously shaking her head.
"No, no, no! I-I can't! Get them off me!" Beth screamed, running off and flailing her arm around to shake the bugs off it. (*1)
"Ooo not a good start for the Gophers! Off to the next challenge!" Chris declared, Heather sighing in annoyance at her alliance member's failure.
- Bass: 0 out of 10 – Gophers: 0 out of 8 -
-Lindsay's challenge-
"Okay so I totally want to keep these cute heels but like, I so don't want to die" Lindsay whined as she stood in front of a makeshift minefield in a pair of, what she thought to be, the cutest red heels.
"If you make it across the field you can keep the shoes but watch out! These are stink bomb mines! Not even tomato sauce will save you! Try and carefully navigate your way across and you get the point" Chris told her from across the field with a megaphone where he and the teams waited for her.
Lindsay whined again as she walked in place, afraid to move and not wanting to stink. She pouted as she watched her team cheering her on, looking to everyone around and smiled once she saw Naruto giving her a thumbs up despite being on the opposite team.
'Aww he is so sweet~!' Lindsay thought with a happy squeal at how Naruto was silently cheering her on in his own way. "Okay I can so do this! These heels would be perfect for a future date so I just have to win them….and get a point for my team" she said with an embarrassed smile since that was supposed to be the whole point of the challenge, the point and not the shoes.
"Look out for the bumps in the ground! Don't step on them!" she could hear her team yelling at her, nodding as she stared at the ground and carefully started to make her way across it.
Heels and dirt were so not a great combo in general, mines making it all the more tricky for her but she was determined to keep going and stay strong.
This had to be the most she had ever focused since it wasn't until her team hugged her did she realize she had made it across, squealing in joy as she hugged them back.
"And with that the Gophers are on the board!" Chris announced while the Gophers cheered at the victory.
- Bass: 0 out of 10 – Gophers: 1 out of 8 -
-Harold's challenge-
Harold was a bit on edge as he tried to go to the bathroom, Chris having told him to stay on guard as at any moment trained ninja were posed to attack him when he least expected it.
As the stall door closed he paused before he started to pull down his pants, hearing a slight thump. Opening the door Harold froze as the three ninja dropped from the ceiling.
This was the moment he feared, them having the numbers advantage on him and getting him cornered. The old him would have ran off but he decided not today. He had teammates relying on him and he had to prove himself to be helpful after how things have been for him for the last few challenges.
He took a calming breath as he pulled out his nunchuk, having grabbed them shortly after Chris had told him about the ninja. "I'm not afraid of you! I'll take you all on!" Harold yelled at them as he started to spin his nunchuk around to fight them.
Nunchuk were one of the things they taught him at one of the summer camps he's been to, allowing him to spin them around skillfully and swap hands back and forth.
Though inertia got him in the end, the nunchuk slamming into his forehead and sending him falling back to the ground unconscious.
"Despite the KO Harold puts the Bass on the board" Chris told the teams as they waited outside the bathroom, opening the door to see Harold unconscious.
"What!? But he failed! How do they still get a point!?" Heather yelled in frustration before Chris held up a hand to stop her.
"In the end the attempt to face their fear is what means the most. Harold was fully intent on fighting the ninjas if he hadn't knocked himself out. That, in the end, is what counts" he explained, silencing her before he blasted his air horn into the air again.
"Someone get him to the med-bay and onto the next!" he ordered before motioning for them to follow.
- Bass: 1 out of 10 – Gophers: 1 out of 8 -
-Izzy's challenge-
"Come on Izzy! He's just going to look at your teeth, Chef Hatchet might be a licensed dentist but the challenge isn't getting a dental procedure. All he has is one pick and a mirror" Gwen yelled up to her teammate, trying to get the red headed girl to get out from up in the tree.
Izzy could barely even look down at the dentist's chair where Chef was standing beside without feeling her chest tighten up. "No way man! That little pick alone is deadly! I don't want to be anywhere near it!" she yelled back before Heather sighed.
"Do you really need the pick if you are just looking at her teeth?" she asked before Chris looked at Chef with a raised brow as if to ask as well since dentistry wasn't his thing.
"Truthfully no but her fear does relate to the pick. If anything I'd say it has to at least enter her mouth" Chef admitted before Heather groaned and rolled her eyes.
"He's not actually going to use the on you Crazy Girl! It just has to be in your mouth! Just get down here already or I swear to god we'll vote you off!" Heather yelled, not wanting her team to miss out on any points since with them having a disadvantage she wasn't about to let anyone mess things up.
She was slow and careful as she got down from the tree, as if waiting for Chef to yell 'psych!' about not actually using it on her. Just having it in her mouth was scary but she was putting a lot on the line right now.
"O-Okay but I swear if you use it I'm fighting back!" Izzy yelled before sitting down on the chair, her declaration only getting an eye roll from Chef.
Izzy gripped as hard as she could to the arm rests as Chef moved his tools around in her mouth, struggling to stay calm while she kept her eyes tightly shut. She didn't pay much mind to the fact that she snapped off one of the arm rests, the feeling of the dentist tools leaving her mouth raising her spirits instantly.
"There, done. You definitely need dental work as you have a few cavities but that'll be something you get after this" Chef told her before she bolted and threw the broken arm rest at him out of fear.
"Never!" Izzy screamed as she ran off away from them, leaving Chef glaring at her as she left.
"And with that another point to the Gophers" Chris said, chuckling about at the odd ending of things.
- Bass: 1 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 -
-Bridgette's challenge-
"So…I just have to stay here for six hours…alone?" Bridgette asked as she sat on a log looking a bit worried at Chris and the others.
"Pretty much. There will be no camera crews here either, we'll keep an eye on you through hidden cameras that we have throughout the woods and around here. When the six hours are up you will hear an alarm go off…if you survive that long" Chris joked before motioning to the other campers. "Say your goodbyes, we leave in a minute" he told them while looking down at his watch to show he meant a minute literally.
"Just relax and be calm Bridgette, the sun will still be up in six hours. I'd recommend just trying to focus on other stuff as best as you can" Naruto suggested while the others nodded.
"Be strong Bridgette, we know you can do this. You did great last night" Eva complimented her, getting surprised looks from everyone only to quickly hide them or look away as Eva quickly turned their way with a glare since they learned from last night.
"Thanks Naruto, Eva, and everyone. I'll do my best" Bridgette tried her best to confidently assure them, her voice betraying her a bit while they waved to her and walked off.
"Six hours…I can so do this…." she muttered to herself, quickly frowning as she hugged her legs close to her chest.
- To Be Continued -
-Gwen's challenge-
Gwen was beyond utterly terrified as she laid in a class coffin with a little slot in it being the only opening she could see other than the lid itself, which had been dead bolted – the key being taped to a gravestone behind her head that also had a timer taped to it. Her only 'safety' was the fact that below her feet was a circular vent for air to come in from a tube that poked up from the sand a few feet away that would open after her hour of air was used up and an 'Emergency Escape' button that was in her hand – both of which still didn't make this any less terrifying.
"It'll be okay Gwen, you have an hour of air and only have to be here for 15 minutes" Naruto assured her as he crouched down next to coffin as she was being buried by Chris.
"As long as we remember to dig you up" Chris joked, getting Gwen to glare at him as best as she could.
"Not funny Chris!" she yelled, her panic rising and so not in the mood for it as he scoffed.
"Sheesh, take a pill" he said while rolling his eyes as he continued burying her.
"Here, I got some walkie-talkies, we can talk to keep you calm and keep your mind off everything" he told her, dropping one in the slot for her. "The second its done or if you really start to panic I'll dig you right up" he added before the walkie-talkie was snatched from him.
"No way! How do we know you won't be trying to scare her and get her to press the emergency button?" Heather asked, crossing her arms as she glared at him.
"Cause I'm not a monster who would mess with others when they are experiencing their worst fear, a fear mind you that could kill her if she panics and hyperventilates? Also seriously, why do you care?" Naruto asked, finding her worry about Gwen to be ridiculous given she tried to read her diary aloud to the world not too long ago.
"I care when it comes to my team winning" Heather told him, tossing the walkie to Trent once he started walking her way to try and grab it. "Trent will talk with her and be the one to dig her up since he is on her team" she added before looking to Trent.
"Sorry man but it does make sense that someone on her team keep her company" Trent said with a look on his face showing he was a bit sorry but his slight smile made it seem less so.
"It's okay Naruto…I guess they have a point" Gwen sadly admitted with a frown since she had no way of really arguing given she was stuck in a coffin.
"Fine….but I'm still setting an alarm on my watch to be here to dig you up. Stay strong, okay?" he told her, getting her to smile weakly and nod before he closed the slot just before Chris plopped some dirt on it and the timer – both on the gravestone and on Naruto's watch – started to count down.
- To Be Continued -
-DJ's challenge-
"Yeah, you can do this buddy!" Duncan encouraged DJ, clapping to cheer him on as DJ stood terrified on the amphitheater stage with a large fish tank across from him that had an incredibly small snake in it.
DJ was seemingly frozen in fear as he stared at the snake before he screamed and jumped back after it blinked at him. "It blinked at me!" DJ screamed before Katie frowned.
"It means she likes you" Katie said, trying to help show him it wasn't a bad thing.
"It is the smallest snake ever DJ, come on!" Courtney urged him as the snake was beyond harmless, they were the kind of snakes you could leave with a baby and the baby would be more a danger to the snake then it would be for the baby.
"But it's slimy and scaly and slithery" DJ whined as he continued to cower and recoil away from the snake.
"We need this point DJ! The Gophers are in the lead and our numbers don't mean as much! Suck it up!" Courtney yelled, getting DJ to cower behind the tank before he jumped away from that as well.
Courtney frowned as most of the guys shook their heads at her. "What? We really can't lose and he needs a push" she tried to justify while Eva nodded with her.
"Honestly speaking DJ is someone where coddling him will make him more afraid and less likely to do it. Give the guy a shove and he's more likely to 'man up' and do it. I've trained a few guys like that in my gym and you have to be harsh sometimes" Eva explained to them, them somewhat seeing her point but not necessarily liking it all too much.
DJ took a deep breath as he calmed his nerves. He was slow as he reached forward, his eyes shut since in his mind if he didn't see it he wouldn't stop short of it and freak out. He though paused as he felt something bump against his finger.
At first he wanted to scream but then he realized it wasn't slimy at all, getting him to open his eyes to see the cute snake now sitting on top of his finger. Now that he could really see it he did have to admit it was rather cute.
"Woo! Yeah DJ! Way to go!" several Bass teammates cheered while Courtney smirked back at them.
"See? All he needed was a little push" she said, happy she was able to help push him to overcome it.
- Bass: 2 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 –
-Heather's challenge-
"Great job DJ but now Heather, it's your turn! It's sumo time!" Chris announced before the curtain behind them opened up, Chef rolling away the snake that DJ put back in the tank, to reveal a sumo ring.
Heather was almost shivering as she came up on stage, standing at one side of the ring before everyone watched the massive sumo wrestler come out on stage.
"I-I can't beat him! Are you insane!?" Heather yelled out, finding it stupid that Chris expected her to try like this.
"I don't expect you to beat him, after all this man is an accomplished sumo wrestler. What I do expect is for you to face him and your fear. Cower and you lose, stand tall and you win. Simple" Chris explained while a massive gong was rolled out behind him with an intern handing him a padded mallet.
"Now begin!" Chris declared as he rung the gong and immediately Heather was afraid for her safety as the sumo wrestler slammed one foot down after another to get into his stance.
She kept looking to either side, ready to evade in whichever direction she felt best before he charged her and her body just shut down. She went straight into a ball out of fear taking control over her, eyes shut tight while expecting him to slam into her only for nothing to happen.
She opened her eyes slowly only to see him walking away from her, that alone being a bit worse as it meant she failed.
"Oooo one win and one loss for the amphitheater challenges, lets see how the next one goes" Chris said before he hopped off the stage with everyone starting to follow him.
- Bass: 2 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 –
-Cody's challenge-
"Alright Cody, this garbage bomb is going off in exactly ten minutes. Everything you need to know to defuse it are on these schematic blueprints" Chris explained to teen, tossing him a rolled up blue sheet of paper.
"Wait! I can't do this!" Cody yelled as he grabbed the schematics and held them close to his chest while Chris chuckled a bit.
"Then I suggest you find a safe place to hide brah, later dude" Chris said before he started to walk off.
"Wait, you're not going to watch?" Cody asked since didn't Chris have to declare it finished when and if he did disarm it.
"No way! That's a live bomb dude! Plus it has fireworks set to go off if you disarm it, plus the lack of explosion is another clear indicator of whether or not you disarmed it or not. Come on everyone, before he snips the wrong wire and gets coated in trash!" Chris told everyone before he started running, everyone quickly following after him with the Gophers offering quick support to Cody while they did so.
-To Be Continued-
-Leshawna's challenge-
"This next one is way simpler than defusing a live bomb Leshawna. All you have to do is hold the tarantula that Chef is going to try and give you" Chris explained, motioning to Chef as the large man started to walk forward with his hands cupped to keep the spider in place.
Leshawna though, didn't last long, quickly screaming and running off with Chef slowly walking after.
"Come on people! At least try or this is just going to get boring!" Chris yelled with an eye roll before sighing. "Whatever, on to the next since I believe it is time for an impromptu birthday party~!" he sang out, smiling over at Naruto who froze up when he realized what this meant.
- Bass: 2 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 -
-Naruto's challenge-
"I swear if that thing touches me I'm punching it" Naruto said as he sat on a chair, scooted as far back as he possibly could to be as far away from the clown that was current making balloon animals for everyone.
When Chris had said 'birthday party' he really meant it as there were balloons held down by tying them to rocks, a table with a party table cloth, and he even had a cone hat on his head.
"Nick! I didn't know it was your birthday! Happy birthday!" Lindsay cheered as she hugged Naruto which, due to him sitting down and her standing up, resulted in her breasts pressing against his head while she hugged it.
"I-It's n-not my birthday….also my name is Naruto" he stammered out before someone pulled Lindsay away from him. "My birthday is October 10th by the way" he clarified while he cleared his throat to shake off the whole fact he just had a pair of rather large breasts that were contained in a low cut shirt pressed up against his face.
"Yeah 10/10, doesn't surprise me as you are definitely a ten" Leshawna muttered with a smirk, getting some other girls to nod along with her before they blushed once they realized what she had said and what they had nodded along to.
"Wait what?" Naruto asked, not having clearly heard her before she waved it off.
"Don't worry about it sugar" she said with a smirk before Chris cleared his throat, getting eyes back on him only for them to see him now wearing a pirate themed hat made out of balloons.
"As I was saying! Naruto, your challenge is to spend 15 minutes here for a private birthday party with your own private clown. If you leave you lose and yes, punching the clown would result in a loss. Have fun!" Chris sang out again, making Naruto glare at him heavily while the others started to leave.
"I know you can do this, just focus on it being a challenge" Courtney told him, patting him on the back before she hurried off before some guys came over.
"So like…how did they feel?" Duncan asked with Geoff and Harold beside him before a hand landed down on his shoulder and a throat cleared behind them.
"I think you should catch up with the others" Eva threatened, getting them to quickly run off, Naruto jumping a bit as she glared at him before it lessened. "Stay strong" she muttered, patting his head before she walked off.
Naruto didn't have much time to dwell on it before a stream of water hit him in the face, making him turn back to the clown with a flat face to see that he had been squirted with a fake flower.
'God damn clowns…this was so much easier with others around' Naruto thought with a groan before he went back to gripping the chair to fight the urge to run.
-To Be Continued-
-Trent's challenge-
"Okay, only like five more minutes left" Trent told Gwen as he laid down on the sand next to where she was buried.
"And then you'll dig me up right!?" she anxiously asked, wanting to get out of her see through coffin as soon as possible without losing this stupid challenge.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere I promise. Especially with how apparently Naruto's challenge is 15 minutes long so he won't be able to" Trent told her as Leshawna had come around to tell him about Naruto's clown birthday party.
"What is his challenge?" Gwen asked since with his fear she doubted it'd be something simple like 'hug the clown'.
"He has to sit and endure a fake birthday party with a clown. He didn't look good from what I heard but we'll see" Trent said before frowning, wanting to change the topic away from Naruto. "So what do you want to talk about, it can be anything, we got to keep you distracted" he added since the more she talked the less she could focus on her situation.
"Yeah! T-Tell me a story, um, why do you hate mimes so much?" she asked, wanting to stop focusing on her fear and maybe onto something else.
"Well my mom took me to this carnival once when I was four so I could see the elephants. I was stoked and so busy watching them that I lost her for a minute" he began his story with a shiver, really not liking that he had to relive it but to help Gwen he didn't really mind. "When I turned around all I could see what this horrible white face with black lips pretending to be me! I screamed and tried to run but every time I turned around he was there doing this creepy fake run and scream routine" he continued before someone tapped him on the shoulder.
As he turned to see who it was he froze and instantly screamed as a mime was staring wide eyed back at him. He instantly booked it, too afraid to notice he dropped the walkie-talkie or to hear Gwen call out to him.
"Just talk to him brah! Kindly ask him to just go away!" Chris yelled out with a megaphone while Trent and the mime continued running. "You know what, why don't we take a break while this goes on. Relax but stay around here" he told them while everyone nodded and settled down, some watching Trent while some just relaxing after having faced their fears or failed to.
They stuck around, watching as Trent kept trying to evade the mime only for the mime to mirror everything he did and stay right on his heels. Trent groaned as he skidded to a stop, turning around to try and buy some time to find a way to get rid of the mime only for the mime to start doing it's stuck in a box routine.
"There's no wall there man! Stop being creepy!" he yelled as the mime just kept at it, Trent looking around frantically before he noticed the docks and booked it off towards them.
As he ran down the docks he didn't hesitate to leap into the water, smiling as the mime stopped at the edge of it. "Woohoo! What's the matter mime!? Can't swim?" Trent goaded before the mime smiled and took a deep breath as if ready to dive in after him.
"S-Stop! Y-Your make up will run" Trent pointed out, making the mime nod and solemnly walk away. "Yes! One point to the Gophers please!" Trent cheered before Chris walked out to the edge of the docks.
"Sorry but that's not how it works dude. The challenge was to talk to him and calmly get him to stop chasing you. You instead ran around like a chicken with its head cut off and dove into the water. Yes you got it to stop chasing you but not by facing your fear dude" Chris explained to him, making Trent yell in frustration before pulling himself out of the water.
"Great…now I have to go change clothes" he grumbled, walking off to the cabins.
"Wait a moment before changing as I think you'll want to see this next one" Chris told him with a smirk as he noticed a perfect opportunity for the next one.
- Bass: 2 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 –
-Geoff's challenge-
"Now everyone," Chris told them as he rejoined everyone waiting back for him" watch Geoff closely as I feel the forecast is about to call for some localized hail" he told them with a chuckle, pulling out a purple remote with a joystick before everyone watched as a small black cloud started to move around towards Geoff who was lounging in a chair on the beach.
Geoff opened an eye as his sun was blocked, confused to see a cloud so close above him before it started to rumble. The second the hail started to fall on him he instantly shot up and started screaming, trying to block it as best he could as it kept hitting him. Not even running away was working as the cloud was following him, always right above him and continuously pelting him.
"Just stay still for a minute and let it hit you and you win! If you keep running it isn't going to count!" Chris yelled out after him while the others watched.
"Awww that cloud is following him~! It's like his own baby cloud. I want one too~" Lindsay whined out before she started waving towards the cloud. "Here cloudy cloudy cloud~" she sang out, trying to coax it over as it kept following Geoff.
"Ooo can you make it go higher, that way it'll hit him harder?" Heather asked, getting Chris too look at her in shock.
"You are one sick girl…but yeah~" he said with a chuckle as he made it go higher, increasing the speed at which the hail hit him due to gravity which only caused Geoff to freak out more and more.
"Hey you ever feel like you're forgetting something?" Trent asked Chris while the host smirked.
"Sometimes. I usually ignore it and the feeling goes away" Chris advised before laughing. "Dude watch this! I'm going to utterly barrage him with hail!" Chris told him, choosing his words very carefully since he of course knew what Trent was forgetting but wanted to leave things be for drama's sake.
"That is sick dude. I'm going to go change and relax. Is that okay since I kind of failed?" Trent asked before Chris nodded and waved him off to show he could go while he focused on messing around with Geoff a bit more.
"Ugh…well this is yet another loss for us…" Courtney groaned out with a sigh as even while tied with amount of people who faced their fears they were sitting at 20 percent of their members while Gophers were at 25 percent.
"Don't worry, there is still Naruto and Bridgette who are doing their challenges, there's still hope" Tyler assured her, making her pray that either one could pull off a win for them.
- Bass: 2 out of 10 – Gophers: 2 out of 8 –
-Naruto-
Naruto was officially in hell, his whole body screamed at him to run every time the clown put a different balloon hat on him or handed him a different balloon animal. He had never been this close to a clown for this long given he often tried to steer clear of clowns ever since he was a kid.
Plus, the thing that was the worst for him right now, was that his watch had been gone off a good two or three minutes ago. He desperately wanted to check on Gwen to see if she was safe but he also couldn't risk losing his challenge.
"So how are you holding up?" Chris asked with a smirk while he came to check up on Naruto alone, the teen bursting up from his seat and putting his hands on Chris's shoulders.
"Please tell me if Gwen been dug up by Trent yet" Naruto asked the host, more worried about her than his challenge more or less which only got a massive smirk from Chris.
"Nope, he got distracted by a mime. She's still down there. You could go dig her up but it'll cost you the challenge" Chris suggested before Naruto glared at him, looking at the clown before groaning.
"How about this! I hug the clown and I can finish this stupid challenge early" Naruto offered which made Chris gain a massive smile.
"Oh dude you are so on! But! It has to be for ten seconds" Chris told him, raising the stakes to make it even more difficult for Naruto.
"Damnit! Fine! Count them for me!" Naruto growled out before he rushed to hug the clown. He ignored every bit of his body screaming at him to stop and to run while also doing his best not to hug the damn thing too hard while it hugged him back.
"And done! Great job Naruto!" Chris announced before being almost knocked over as Naruto darted off like he was on fire towards the beach. 'God the drama is going to be so great today~!' he thought with a smirk as he knew he made the right decision in not reminding Trent about Gwen.
Naruto immediately got to work as he grabbed the key off the tombstone, shoveling away dirt as he held it between his teeth so he wouldn't lose it. "I'm coming Gwen, just hold on!" he growled out before uncovering her case and unlocking it.
He let out an oomph as Gwen burst up and captured him in a tight hug. He frowned as he could feel his shirt getting wet and her body shaking as she cried a bit. "Shhh, it's all okay now" he whispered to her as he pet her head and held her, sitting back on the sand.
"The stupid button….didn't work…" she muttered into his chest while she continued to hug him to console herself.
"With Chris that isn't a surprise" he told her, getting her to chuckle a bit before she slowly pulled away but not entirely letting go with her hands holding onto his arms.
"I thought you were doing your challenge? Trent told me you had a 15 minute challenge with a clown birthday party" she said, wiping her tears a bit and chuckling again at how odd that sounded.
"My watch went off a while ago and I got worried about you. When Chris said you hadn't been dug up by Trent who seemingly forgot about you after dealing with his mime I decided I had to 'bite the bullet' more or less" he told her which only got a raised eyebrow from her.
"How do you bite a bullet with a clown?" Gwen asked, almost afraid to know but still very curious.
"I…hugged him" he told her with a shiver as if remembering it was uncomfortable. "Sorry if I'm sweaty cause of it…my body really didn't like it" he joked, getting her to chuckle before she rubbed his arms.
"Thank you for coming to get me like this…I should have fought to let you keep the walkie but-" she tried to apologize before he interrupted her, reaching over and softly squeezing one of her hands.
"It's okay Gwen, you were scared and that was the only thing in your head. In the end I don't care who had the walkie, just that you are safe" he assured her, reaching forward to cup her cheek and getting her to press up against his hand a bit with a warm smile.
"I swear you are too much" she whispered out, slowly moving closer to him with a soft blush, something that he shared with her while he slowly moved closer to her as well.
"I guess that's just how I am with you" he softly told her before their lips met.
The kiss was soft and emotional, as if a dam had burst with her, Gwen wrapping her arms around his neck while his went to her hips and slowly brought her onto his lap. Never did Gwen think she'd be making out on television like this but with what had just happened to her and how Naruto had rushed to her rescue, she really couldn't care less about anything else.
Both of them were just going on instincts as they made out, Gwen softly pushing him over as they kissed and even going along with Naruto as he deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue inside her mouth.
Duncan's eyes were as wide as saucers as he walked out of the trees to the beach, having seen Naruto run by in this direction, worried he failed his challenge but this was something he definitely didn't expect to see.
'I mean I figured he and Gwen were close but not this close' he thought as even he was blushing from watching the two of them. He froze as he could hear everyone running towards them due to them also having seen Naruto run this way.
Thinking fast Duncan hurried back a good few feet and quietly cleared his throat. "Hey I think he went this way guys! He must have dug Gwen up or something since wasn't she buried around here!?" Duncan asked louder than normal, hoping the two of them heard him and were able to separate with Courtney and the others shooting past him once they heard him.
Duncan let out a sigh of relief as the two of them were separated and dusting themselves off, though with how they seemingly were refusing to look at one another with dark blushes on their faces didn't make things too subtle for them.
"Naruto! Don't tell me you failed your challenge!?" Courtney asked in shock, having expected Naruto to stay strong and power through his challenge for the team.
"N-No, I-I didn't fail" Naruto panted out, his heart beating a million miles per minute as he calmed himself down. He was so unbelievably thankful Duncan – in an act that he could only imagine was him looking out for them – had warned them.
A quick look to the punk, him nodding to him, was enough to make it clear that was what had happened.
"Naruto did indeed pass his challenge. He upped the ante on his own, offering to hug the clown for ten seconds to finish ahead of time and with Gwen being alive and having stayed underground longer than expected both teams get a point!" Chris told them after calmly catching up with them all and a bit annoyed that no one had caught them in the act of making out, giving the punk a flat look that he merely rolled his eyes at.
"Great job Naruto! I knew you could do it!" Courtney cheered while she happily hugged him with a bright smile.
"Thanks…I guess something just really pushed me to do it" he told her, looking to Gwen who softly smiled at him when their eyes met.
Lindsay tilted her head to the side, being the only one that noticed their little interaction before one by one the dots connected in her head due to her having seen something like this a good number of times at parties she's been too.
She had to resist the urge to squeal, pushing to hold it in. 'Oh Gwen we are so going to talk later tonight' Lindsay thought to herself with a giggle, bouncing happily alongside her team while they all moved onto the next challenge.
- Bass: 3 out of 10 – Gophers: 3 out of 8 –
-Duncan's challenge-
'Damn Chris, making me the next person….they are right about short people being petty' Duncan thought to himself as he saw his cardboard fear a good couple of yards away from him.
"She's pretty, she's nice. There's nothing to be afraid of Duncan" Courtney encouraged him, standing beside him while he worriedly stared down the cardboard cutout of Celine Dion.
"Just one hug and you're done" Chris told him, snapping his fingers to show how quick and simple this could be for him. He was lucky he wasn't doing more but with a simple fear he couldn't really push it farther like he had with some of the others.
"That looks really real man" Duncan stammered a bit, going pale as he looked it over before turning to Courtney.
"Dude she's made of cardboard! Get in the game!" Tyler yelled, trying to help him before Courtney put her hand on Duncan's shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay if you can't do it" she comforted him, knowing that Duncan was different than DJ, he needed gentle support unlike DJ's tough love type support.
Duncan took a deep breath to try and calm himself down, looking to his sides as Courtney squeezed his shoulder and Naruto had put his hand on the other shoulder to show his support as well.
"You got this dude, just gather yourself and take the leap" Naruto encouraged his friend, making Duncan smile a bit and nod.
"Alright, I'll try" he said, Courtney patted him on the back with a smile.
"You can do this" she kept at it, her and Naruto stepping back to let Duncan make his choice of what to do.
Duncan muttered a bit to psyche himself up before he ran at the cardboard standee, arms spread out before he hugged it. His eyes were shut, all he could hear was everyone cheering before he opened them and pulled away a bit, surprised at himself to see that he had actually done it.
"I-I did it" Duncan said in shock as his team rushed up to him to congratulate him.
"I knew you could man, nice job" Naruto said with a smile, bumping fists with him while even Chris was slow clapping from how impressed he was.
"I honestly didn't think you were going to do it but you proved me wrong man. Nice job for earning another point for your team!" Chris told him with a smile before an explosion went off.
"Well, guess we better go check that out and see if Cody tried to disarm it or ran away to hide" he added with a smirk since that signaled the end of Cody's challenge.
- Bass: 4 out of 10 – Gophers: 3 out of 8 –
-Bridgette and Cody-
"Okay, okay, okay Bridge you can do this. Only…a little over four hours to go" Bridgette told herself, trying her best to psyche herself up as she paced around her little area in the forest, not wanting to venture out and start getting more scared. She jumped a bit as a crow started to caw up in the tree before she glared up at it.
"Oh don't even bother trying to freak me out producer people!" she yelled, putting her hands on her hips while looking around with a glare, hoping she at least was able to glare into one of the stupid hidden cameras around her.
As a loud explosion rang out she screamed again, having no idea what that just was until she remembered Cody's fear.
"Is anyone here?! Please? I need help as I'm covered in trash!" Cody cried out, upset that it exploded and that he was now completely covered in trash which blocked his view.
Bridgette was on edge, the odd groaning growing louder before she watched as something covered in mud, trash, and toilet paper walked out. On any normal day she could have thought about what it could be rationally but, due to being along in the woods for almost two hours, her first reaction was to run away from it screaming.
"Bridgette! Come back! It was only Cody covered in trash!" DJ tried to assure her after she ran past them while they were on their way to check on Cody only for the surfer girl to be long gone and out of the woods in an instant.
"Well…at least both teams don't get a point" Eva muttered with a frown before Chris cleared his throat.
"Not so fast Eva, according to the footage of Cody's he was trying his best to defuse it. Despite it blowing up in his face this is actually a win for the little guy since he was determined to defuse it in the end" Chris told her, getting cheers from the Gophers and groans from the Bass.
"Great…who's next?" Eva grumbled out only to widen her eyes and grow pale once Chris started smiling at her.
- Bass: 4 out of 10 – Gophers: 4 out of 8 –
-Eva and Katie's challenges-
"You and Katie will do a challenge together, well not really together as one of you actually has to do something and the other has to watch" Chris explained after Eva was put into a medical chair.
"What do I have to do?" Eva asked, looking around a bit nervously before Chef walked forward now wearing a medical coat.
"It's come to our attention that you have an incredibly rare blood type Eva, AB-Negative, which is present on .6 percent of people. We have been asked to ask you, on behalf of the Red Cross, if you would be willing to donate some of it to those who need it" Chris asked her, smirking as Chef pulled out a needle only for an actually trained professional to take it from him which caused the large man to frown a bit.
"I-I have to g-give blood for my challenge!?" Eva stammered out, eyes glued to the needle while the professional got things ready.
"Yeah, all you got to do is get poked by a needle, give a few bags of blood, and then you are done. Katie on the other hand has to watch the bags get filled in front of her" Chris told her, motioning to the curtain beside her, opening it momentarily to show Katie.
Katie wasn't holding up too well either, nervously sitting in front of the pole that had the empty bag where her blood would go with another professional in charge of swapping out and storing the bags.
"Do I really have to do this?" Katie whined, not even liking the bag itself since she knew what was going to be going into it.
"Yes you do. As long as you don't run and do your best to watch to the end then you get the point. There is no touching or anything else to be done" Chris explained to her before closing the curtain.
"You ready Eva?" Chris asked before Eva nervously looked around with a frown.
"C-Can I maybe get someone to sit beside me?" Eva asked before Heather shook her head.
"No way! That'll lessen her fear!" she argued until Courtney stepped forward.
"Oh and Gwen talking to Trent was fine!? If Gwen got someone to help her then Eva should as well" Courtney defended, glaring at Heather before looking to Chris who shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure, why not. Which Bass do you want to sit beside you?" Chris asked, really not caring but loving the drama it sparked between Heather and Courtney.
"N-Naruto…if you don't mind" Eva quietly asked, Naruto smiling as he plopped down in the chair beside hers and patted her arm.
"Sure thing Eva, I'm happy to be able to help you. You just tell me what you want me to do" Naruto told her, the teams moving a bit away to where they could see both Katie and Eva at the same time.
"Hold your hand…." she quietly mumbled, Naruto raising an eyebrow but nodding as he had just barely heard her before he grabbed her free hand with his, letting her squeeze it with his other hand going on top of hers.
"Feel free to squeeze as hard as you can. I know with your strength that'll be tough but I'm pretty damn tough myself" he assured her, not wanting her to feel helpless and afraid while she quietly nodded with her eyes shut tight.
Once the needle pierced her arm Naruto winced a bit as Eva tightly squeezed his hand only for her to quickly lessen up.
"I'm sorry…" Eva muttered, her eyes still shut tight as she took deep breaths to calm herself down.
"It's okay Eva, feel free to squeeze my hand as much as you want. I want to help you so don't hold back" he told her again, frowning a bit since from the second the needle pierced her it was clear by the look on her face of how scared, in pain, and worried she was. "No one is going to judge you for anything you do right now" he reassured her, squeezing her hand with his while she softly nodded at him.
Naruto kept strong for Eva as she tightly gripped his hand, sure it hurt but it was important to Eva to be able to do this. It hadn't gotten better for her, it instead progressing to the point to where she had started to silently cry.
Seeing someone as strong as Eva cry like this, the pain and emotion on her face being this strong actually made him start to tear up as well. "You are almost done. You're doing such a great job Eva, just a little more" he kept encouraging her while she was only able to nod and squeeze his hand.
"There we go! All done!" the professional said, pulling out the needle and using some of that weird tape around her arm with a cotton pad to finish it up.
Naruto, for the second time today, let out an oomph as the second they both stood up Eva had quickly pulled him in for a hug. Her hug was strong yet gentle while he softly hugged her back.
"Thank you Naruto…this really meant a lot…" Eva muttered into his shoulder while he rubbed her back and smiled softly.
"It's no problem Eva, I'm just glad I was able to help you like this. You did really amazing" he told her, getting her to smile softly as her team rushed forward to congratulate her.
"Great job Eva! Katie on the other hand…didn't fare so well" Chris revealed, opening the curtain to show Katie had passed out from the sight of the blood bags.
"We tried encouraging her from afar but the second the first bag was done she was out…" Duncan said with a frown before Courtney waved it off.
"It's alright, you can't really stop yourself from passing out. Plus now with Eva's win we are tied!" Courtney cheered while the Gophers quickly started to worry.
"Wait what happens if we tie?" Leshawna asked given the whole 'percentage' thing even though the Bass had five people pass compared to their four it was now both 50/50.
"Well if the remaining two Bass don't face their fears I do have a tie breaker challenge in mind but trust me, you really don't want to do that" Chris told them with a chuckle and a grin that made it clear whatever he had planned was bad.
"Simple then, one of you two need to face your fears" Naruto said, turning to Tyler and Courtney who both looked a bit worried about the prospect of doing so.
- Bass: 5 out of 10 – Gophers: 4 out of 8 –
As they made their way towards where Chris had Tyler's challenge set up at Naruto smiled as he walked subtly beside Gwen.
"How you holding up?" Gwen asked, looking at his hand since with Eva's strength she expected it to be broken.
"Pretty okay, a little sore but overall good. I'm more durable and tough than I look. I'm not just a pretty face" he teased with a wink, getting her to chuckle a bit.
"That's good to know" she said, rolling her eyes a bit with a smile before she froze and glared. Naruto was about to ask what was wrong before he saw what she had seen and everyone silently watched as she stomped up to Trent.
"Gwen! Oh crap! I'm so sorry I forgot! It's just a mime came out of nowhere and then I got sidetracked watching Geoff and-OW!" Trent tried to explain before Gwen stomped her heel down hard on his foot, getting a wince of pain from everyone around them.
"Wow! Thanks for remembering about me being buried alive you jerk!" Gwen yelled at him while he hopped around a bit on his good foot while holding his now injured on.
"You promised you'd stay by my side and dig me up right away! But no! You totally forgot about me and went off to relax! I nearly had a panic attack and would have if it wasn't for Naruto digging me up after he faced his fears and then some so he could be there for me!" Gwen yelled, getting Trent to wince with each verbal jab at him.
"I didn't mean to-" Trent tried to defend himself before Gwen's glare instantly shut him up.
"I don't care anymore. I thought you were kind and sweet but no, you left me buried alive and alone. I'm done" Gwen admitted as she stomped off, the others not really knowing what else to do other than silently walk off and leave Trent standing on one foot behind.
-Tyler's challenge-
"Alright gang, after that drama filled intermission we're in the ninth inning. Tyler!" Chris started, calling out the tracksuit wearing teen once they found themselves around a fenced area with a small brown box with holes inside. "For your challenge its pretty dang simple. All you need to do is get into this pen for three minutes with these chickens" he explained, lifting the lid off the brown box to reveal a hen and two baby chicks sitting inside it.
"You can do it Tyler!" Bridgette yelled out, trying to encourage him while Duncan chuckled beside her.
"Unless of course you're chicken" Duncan said, flapping his arms like wings trying to goad Tyler into proving him wrong.
"I'm not sure we're getting anywhere with this one" Chris muttered with a frown while he looked down at Tyler who was sitting in the fetal position, rocking himself back and forth while refusing to even face the direction of the chickens. "I mean sure he's in the pen but if he doesn't even look at the chickens the three minutes won't really count" he added before Courtney walked up to the side of the pen.
"Tyler come on! You have to at least try or else this won't count!" Courtney tried to urge him along but as the time ticked by all three minutes had passed without Tyler turning around at all.
"Great…it all comes down to me…" Courtney muttered with a sigh since this was not how she wanted things to be.
- Bass: 5 out of 10 – Gophers: 4 out of 8 –
-Courtney's challenge-
The second Courtney saw her challenge she felt defeated. "You've got to be kidding me…" she said in fear filled awe as she looked up at the utterly tall ladder that led to a diving board that was all above a massive pool of green jello.
"Your challenge should be pretty obvious. Either dive into the pool of jello or cause us to go into the dreaded tie breaker and trust me when I say it, you do not want to experience it" he told her, warning her of what was on the line.
"It'll be okay Courtney. I know it is hard diving into your fear but we can get you to a shower right away if that helps" Naruto tried to help while Bridgette and Eva already had towels for her to cover up if she did jump.
"Everything is safe Courtney, some interns tested this and with how jello is it absorbs the force and cushions. Its pretty freaky if you ask me" Chris explained to them while Courtney slowly walked over to the ladder.
"When you get up top don't even think about the jello, just imagine it being water. Close your eyes and softly step off the diving board so you'll land in the pool" he ran her through it, Courtney nodding along as she nervously got to the ladder. "Hey," he told her, getting her attention as he put his hands on her shoulders so she'd look at him "you got this Courtney. Don't let this beat you" he told her to give her a 'push' before she nodded and started up the ladder.
"Oh that is just cruel! It's probably warm by now. Warm green jello, snotty bouncy jello" Heather started describing loudly, getting Courtney to glare down at her.
"You're not going to make me quit!" Courtney yelled down while her team cheered her on.
"That's it! Keep climbing!" Duncan yelled up at her to keep her moving.
"She's just trying to psych you out! You can do this!" Bridgette added along, trying to help Courtney drown them out before she got to the top.
"Come on Courtney, just take a deep breath, gather yourself, and jump!" Naruto repeated to her, Courtney nodding as she crouched down and looked down at them. "We're right here with you!" he added before she stood back up and took a step back.
Everyone watched in silence, wondering if she had given up or was just pumping herself up before she calmly walked off and curled up into a ball as she fell.
The cheers from the Bass were loud as she splashed down into the jello, Bridgette and Eva there to help her the second she popped up from it.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! It is so warm! It feels like snot! Get it off me!" Courtney yelled, Eva helping her out of the pool before they gave her a towel to wipe herself off with Bridgette helping her as well.
"You did so great Courtney, I knew you could do it" Naruto told her with a smile. Courtney smiling back at him as she opened one eye – the only one she was able to open due to all the jello on her.
"Thanks Naruto but I am so never doing that ever again. Ever" Courtney told him before she quickly walked away, most likely to take a shower which no one blamed her.
"And with that the Bass have won!" Chris announced getting more cheers from the Bass and groans from the Gophers.
- Bass: 6 out of 10 – Gophers: 4 out of 8 –
"Come on! We cannot keep losing!" Heather yelled in frustration while her team just sighed given they were as tired of losing as she was.
"Well I know who I'm voting for" Gwen admitted bluntly as she walked away, Trent walking over moments after that, a simple glare at him being enough to tell him not to bother her.
"Yeah I guess I do too girl. That is just not cool" Leshawna added, shaking her head as she followed after her.
Trent was left a bit confused as everyone walked away from him, turning to Chris with a frown. "So what just happened dude?" he asked while Chris just shook his head with a sigh.
"You guys lost dude, just, get ready for a bonfire ceremony" Chris told him, almost feeling bad for him but then again, the drama was too good.
-Bonfire Ceremony-
"There are only one marshmallow left on this plate" Chris said, having already passed the rest of them out with only Trent and Leshawna left without marshmallows. "The two of you did not complete your challenges. The both of you ran away instantly from your challenges while only one of you made a fatal mistake. The name I do not call out will be going home, unable to ever return. Ever. And that name is…." Chris continued before pausing for dramatic tension "Leshawna" he revealed, getting a shocked look from Trent.
"Next time don't leave someone buried alive brah" Chris told him motioning for him head on out.
"W-What? Gwen, I said I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to leave you buried" Trent tried to apologize before Gwen got up and glared at him.
"Next time, just let me trust who I want to trust since in the end I couldn't trust you with my life" Gwen growled out, jabbing a finger into her chest, somewhat pushing him back before she stomped off and Trent sighed with heading to the dock the only thing he really could do.
Gwen kept stomping before a hand touched her shoulder, making her turn around ready to yell due to thinking it was Trent only to see Naruto looking worried at her. "You okay Gwen? Sorry if I startled you" he apologized before her glare melted away and she smiled softly.
"It's okay Naruto, I thought you were someone else" she said, moving in to hug him with him smiling as he welcomed her into his arms.
"How was the bonfire ceremony? How did you all vote off?" he asked while he rubbed her back and enjoyed the closeness with her.
"We voted off Trent…it was easy given he left me buried alive" she grumbled, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow as all he did was nod. "Oh don't act like that, you're happy he's gone aren't you" she teased which got a chuckle out of him.
"I won't deny that. Honestly speaking I was worried you'd get closer with him and end up together instead of maybe with me" he admitted with a light blush she could barely see that honestly made her smile a bit at.
"Oh so you were jealous of him? You, the rocker who killed it at the talent competition, was jealous?" Gwen teased, making him roll his eyes a bit before she squeezed his waist. "But honestly I don't what it is, you were interesting from day one and I guess deep down I figured if I was going to get a boyfriend from this stupid show it would be you" she told him before looking up at him, afraid she spoke too much too soon.
"I-I mean, I'm not saying we are instantly boyfriend and girlfriend, we can start it out slow if you want. I-I don't want to ru-" she started to stammer, fearing she had assumed before he silenced her with a soft kiss.
"Relax Gwen, I'm not the kind of guy that makes out as much as we did on the beach and not think there are titles. I'm more than happy to be your boyfriend" he told her before she kissed him again, this time putting a lot more heat into it to where he found himself pushed up against a tree.
He didn't really have time to think about it back then but Gwen's lipstick made her lips incredibly soft and her tongue was softer and smaller than he expected it to be. Plus she was rather skilled and nimble with her tongue work.
They both tensed up and quickly hid by the side of the tree as they heard the rest of her team heading up their way. Them both smirking and struggling not to chuckle as thy walked past.
"Its safe to say neither of us are ashamed of the other but more than anything I guess I'd say…we don't want Heather to know about it or try and use it to her gain?" Gwen started before Naruto finished for her after her pause, making her groan and nod at.
"Look we'll find time to be together and whatnot but making out will be a thing we have to be careful of" she told him smiling as he kissed her again before stroking her cheek softly.
"I'm fine with being careful Gwen, last thing I want to do is give ammo to her and get you kicked off before we get closer. I'll head back first see you tomorrow" he told her while she nodded and watched him walk off.
Gwen waited a bit before she walked out from the tree, sighing in relief as she didn't see anyone around.
"You two are really cute together" a bubbly voice told her, getting Gwen to jump a bit from being startled only to turn and see Lindsay smiling at her.
'Crap' Gwen thought with a groan since one of Heather's lap dogs was the utter last person, besides Heather herself, who she wanted to find out about them and so soon too. "I don't know what you are talking about Lindsay" she said, trying to brush her off before Lindsay bounced to her side with an excited smile.
"You and Nathan, I so was hoping you'd get together as you both are so adorable together. But like, don't worry, I so won't tell Hethal about you two" Lindsay assured her, getting Gwen to look at her very confused due to Lindsay being one of two members in Heather's alliance.
"His name is Naruto and honestly what's the catch? You have to want something for not telling Heather about us" Gwen pointed out as this didn't make any sense to her otherwise.
"Catch? I don't want to play baseball with you. I just want to support you and Nicholas. He's like one of the few nice guys here and is so very, very hot~" Lindsay explained, gaining a dazed look as she mentioned how hot Naruto was before Gwen snapped her fingers to get her to come out of it. "Wait what was I saying? Oh right! Look I'll so give you and Nate chances to be together and hide you from Hannah so count on me okay!?" Lindsay excitedly told her, Gwen still not being so sure on it but as she looked at the girl she didn't know if it was her natural innocence that came with being ditzy but she honestly seemed genuine.
"Whatever, not like I can do anything to stop you from telling Heather if you really plan to. Just, try your best to keep your mouth shut" Gwen told her with a flat look while Lindsay gave her a salute.
"I so totally promise!" Lindsay told her while she happily walked alongside Gwen. "So like how good a kisser is he?" she asked, getting Gwen to blush and look at her in shock.
"I so am not answering that" Gwen replied which only made Lindsay giggle.
"I'm definitely taking that as very good. He seems like the kind to be an amazing kisser~" Lindsay purred out in a daze, making Gwen's blush grow darker a bit.
"He is pretty good I guess…" she muttered, rolling her eyes at Lindsay's happy squeal and bouncing beside her. 'God don't drive me to strangling this girl, I can't go to jail' Gwen deadpanned in her head but then again it could have been someone worse to find out about them….though the jury was still out about whether or not Lindsay constituted as a 'worst' option.
All depended on how much squealing she'd have to hear from the girl.
-Chapter End-
*1 = One of the many flubs of things in the canon episode. Worms aren't bugs so there was no reason for Beth to be afraid of them. By not speaking up or someone correcting this it basically gave Beth a free point
First off yes, another TD chapter as honestly I'm just finding these so dang easy to write plus Phobia Factor is a challenge I've been wanting to get to for a while due to the changes I had in mind for it
And yes! Naruto and Gwen are finally together! I really liked how I made them come together this chapter with everything that happened from not being the one with the walkie, to pushing to face his fear to save her, and everything in between. Plus having Lindsay be the one to know about them, for now, I feel just works and makes for some interesting and cute things down the road.
I made Naruto's fear one for clowns not cause it's my fear (mine are dolls like Chucky) but because 1 – his fear of ghosts was a filler episode thing and 2 – ghosts are so much harder to 'fabricate' for Chris in a way that would make you go 'Yup, that's a ghost' rather than 'It's just some special effect thing Chris pulled together' you know? Trying to make ghosts work would just feel Ugh and Bleh to me so I changed it.
Eva's fear of needles is a fear I used to really have (now I just have a strong dislike of them) but the main reason is the idea of a strong woman like her being reduced to a shivering mess due to them just makes her feel more human I feel
I also changed Izzy's fear from flying to dentists as I really doubt she feared flying with how she acted in Action and World Tour. Katie's fear also became fear of blood since I don't really want 'shallow' fears like bad haircuts and whatnot – hence why Lindsay's stayed as minefield in heels
This is one of the challenges that I HATED how it went down in canon. Harold lost his challenge despite being ready to fight cause he knocked himself out and yet Heather, who cowered in a ball, passed her challenge. Trent, who ran away and dove into the water to avoid the mime, passed his challenge while Cody, who was full on attempting to disarm the bomb, failed cause he wasn't able to do so. Also while yes Tyler did stay in the pen for three minutes he didn't once even look at the chickens so its more or less a fail.
There were SOOOOO many fuck ups with how this challenge was done that I felt it 100% needed a revamp. Plus with, in canon, the Bass had a numbers disadvantage hence why I changed it to percentage based thing. That way all it matters is that whichever team gets the majority of it's team members to face their fears wins in the end.
My decision to vote Trent off went about like this. The guy was more interested in hail and whatnot than remembering to rescue Gwen. Plus everyone else (bar Cody) plays a role in things down the road. With Gwen no longer ending up with Trent his 'usefulness' goes away instantly.
And again, I stress I am NOT targeting the Gophers because I want Naruto's team to always win. I've literally only swapped out Eva and Owen – because Owen did mess up his team and I wanted Eva to stick around – and now Tyler and Trent – this time because the way Chris did things in canon were INCREDIBLY janky
There is no bias or desire to 'protect' Naruto. I want to make that very, very, very, VERY clear.
Though with the dwindling numbers I might have to do a scenario where Chris takes a Bass or two and moves them over to the Gopher team as the next few eliminations are canonically Gophers as well (Izzy, Cody, then Beth). I'm thinking Katie, Tyler, and maybe Geoff would be options for me if I need to move people around to balance the numbers a bit.
Killer Bass:
Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Geoff, Harold, Katie, Naruto, Tyler
Screaming Gophers:
Beth, Cody, Gwen, Heather, Izzy, Leshawna, Lindsay
Eliminated:
Ezekiel, Owen, Noah, Justin, Sadie, Trent
Til the Next Time
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See Ya!