Chris was laying on a recliner, shirt unbuttoned, sunglasses on when the cameras started to roll again, a drink in his hand and a smile on his face. As the focus zoomed in on him, he casually sat up, stretching, lifting the sunglasses over on of his eyes.
"Oh, hey! Totally didn't see you there!" Chris lied, and rather blatantly. But, he liked to have his fun, and it seemed showmanship was one of the few things he was being allowed this season. "Welcome back to Total Drama, Lost Island! Last time we left off, our contestants were having some... technical difficulties! The mines they were exploring had a bit of a cave in! Now how could that have happened?"
Chris snickered to himself a bit, holding his drink to his lips and taking a sip. He let out a content sigh, laying back into his chair.
"But, no big deal!" Chris shrugged, nonchalant. "I mean, after a set-back like that, I'm sure things couldn't get anyyy worse, right? Ah... ha-ha-ha! Spoiler alert. It's gonna get worse. It's gonna get a whole lot worse."
Ash slowly sat up, eyes taking a moment to adjust to his dim surroundings. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking out some of the rubble that now seemed to cover him. He hadn't been hit by any of the rocks that had collapsed, thankfully, but he had taken a bit of a thump on the head diving out of the way. He wasn't concussed, at least- he was thinking far too clearly for that. Looking around, though, a panicking thought hit him.
"Hey- you girls okay? Where are you?" Ash called, standing up and looking around. Miriam was sitting nearby, an annoyed look on her face as she examined a knee, now bruised and scraped.
"Right here. And I'm fine," Miriam said, looking up at him.
"Sure you don't want me to take a look at-" Ash began, starting toward her, but the girl shook her head.
"I told you, I'm fine," she repeated. "I just tripped getting out of the way, that's all."
She stood up, dusting herself off, looking around the tunnel. Her face fell, shoulders slumping when she saw they were walled in at either side.
"Great. We're trapped," she muttered, crossing her arms. "So much for winning team leader."
Ash looked around, studying the room they were in. "Well... maybe not," he thought aloud. "That cave-in seemed pretty... controlled. I mean, rocks fell on both sides at the same time, but not anywhere else... not to mention that almost everything in these caves are fake."
"One of Chris' tricks?" Miriam asked, eyebrow arched. "...I guess that makes sense. It would take them too long to dig us out anyway. You think there's a secret tunnel or something?"
"Or something," Ash shrugged. "Chris did say there were traps... there must be some way out."
Ash frowned, thinking, before looking back up, concerned. "Wait... where's Shelbi? She was just here a minute ago..."
"...you don't think she was caught in the collapse, do you?" Miriam blinked, looking a little worried. She turned, searching for the girl, only to roll her eyes when she finally found her. "Don't worry. There she is."
Ash craned his head to look past Miriam; sure enough, Shelbi was laying nearby, casually, chewing on something. Not just something... Ash's cane, chomping on it like it was a bone.
"Oh... hey guys!" Shelbi smiled, lifting her head. "Sorry, Shelbi didn't want to interrupt, sounded like you were talking about something important!"
"...yeahhh. Uh... can i have my cane back?" Ash asked, shuddering a little.
Back towards the cave's entrance, Peter, Adam, Maxine and Leon were all in the same chamber together, having made it out of the initial collapse unscathed. That was save for Leon- he stood close to one of the tunnel's exits. So close, in fact, that a step to the left and he would have been caught in the rubble and debris.
"Ha-ha! Look at that!" Leon grinned, whistling as he stood back, looking over the rocks. "A little further, and I'd have been crushed!"
"How is that funny?" Peter asked, adjusting his glasses, which were a bit dusty. He regarded Leon a bit warily, wondering if he had been hit in the head. "You could have been crushed!"
"Ehh, I'm fine! That's the important part, right?" Leon shrugged, smile not fading.
On the other side of the room, Adam let out a sigh of relief. "That was close, huh? Someone must have found one of the diamonds, I bet!"
"Ya think so?" Maxine asked, rubbing her head.
"Know it! Just like Raiders of the Lost Ark- soon as someone takes the idol... err, diamond, the boulder comes loose! The boulder being a bunch of smaller rocks in this case," Adam chuckled. "I mean, that's just sorta the rules for a set up like this."
"Hmm... you know, he does have a point," Peter agreed, stroking his chin as he thought it over. "All of those paths collapsed at once. It's hard to believe that could happen naturally with no warning. It stands to reason something set them off."
"Huh... yeah, that does make sense now that I think about it! But... that still doesn't help with getting out of here." Maxine sighed, digging a bit at a pile of rubble. "Maybe we could dig our way out?"
"Unlikely," Peter frowned. "It would take us forever to dig our way past one of these cave-ins. Or, too long to still have a chance at winning the challenge, anyway. And if we picked the wrong way out..."
"Ding ding ding! Now you're getting it!" Franz suddenly cut in. The competitors looked around, startled, before spotting a speaker in one of the corners of the room. "Forgot I had eyes on everything in the island, huh? You should see your faces. But see, Peter here knows what he's talking about. You can't dig your way out, because there's only one way out. Through... this door."
At that, a panel in the wall slid down, revealing... broad daylight. It seemed like it was just a straight shot outside. Confused, the contestants looked from the door, back to the speaker.
"I don't get it. You want us to just go? Did we lose already?" Maxine asked, perplexed.
"Nope. But you guys are the luckiest- and unluckiest- cast members right now. See, there's actually one more path you can go down," Franz explained. "And it'll take you right to one of the diamonds. The catch is... I'll only open that door to the last person standing."
"Standing from... what, exactly?" Adam looked around cautiously, half-expecting something to pop out at him.
"See, this room... is the room of terror!" Franz laughed. "In a minute, I'm gonna start releasing all sorts of things from the ceiling. You'll be faced with some of the most horrifying things known to man. You have two options; face your fears, or, turn, and run out that door! See, each panel I'll open releases something new, chasing you off until only one of you remains. Then, I'll open the path, and the person remaining will basically have a free ticket to becoming team captain. Unless, y'know, another contest finds you and steals the diamond. Always a possibility. But once you leave the cave, no coming back in. So either face your fears, or get lost."
"So... one of the four of us will be captain, huh?" Leon looked around, before nodding, determined. "Alright! Bring it on, then!"
"Heh... you asked for it!" Franz snickered, before a tile overhead slowly began to open. "Then let's see how the four of you handle... a horde of deadly tarantulas!"
The four contestants looked up, watching in horror as tarantulas began to fall from the ceiling... huge, hairy, horrifying... and dead. The arachnids all fell to the ground quietly, limbs curled up, completely lifeless.
"Oh. That isn't so scary," Maxine remarked, nudging one with her foot.
"Oh, for the love of- who forgot to feed the tarantulas?!" Franz demanded.
"Man, the collapse was kind of a bummer. So much for winning by a landslide! Huh? Mitsy? Get it?"
Simon grinned, watching the girl trudge on, furious, having had to listen to the boy's jokes for far too long now. She only seemed more irate with each one, but Simon couldn't help but prod on anyway.
"I mean, with the way this challenge is going, we're really between a rock and a hard place!" Simon continued. Well, that wasn't true in the literal sense- unlike many of the other competitors, they hadn't been walled into one area. Only one end of the tunnel had collapsed for them. So while they were able to continue... they were forced to do so together.
Mitsy groaned, clenching her fists a bit, not saying anything in response to the joke.
"Come on. I'm just saying." Simon sighed, speeding up a bit to walk alongside her. "You don't have to be so... stone-faced~"
Mitsy quietly took a breath eye twitching. She stopped, bending over to scoop up a rock, tossing it up and down in her hand, testing the weight.
"Its definitely a rocky road ahead! Hm?" Simon glanced back, having walked ahead of her a bit without noticing. "...what's that you've got there?"
"A rock," Mitsy said flatly.
"Oh. Why do you have-"
Before Simon could even finish, Mitsy pulled her arm back, launching it square at him, hitting him directly in the head.
"Owww!" Simon groaned, rubbing the back of his head, wincing and staggering backward. "What was that for?!"
"Because you won't shut up for FIVE. MINUTES!" Mitsy snapped.
"But you hit me with a rockkkk!" Simon protest, whining playfully.
"And you're lucky it wasn't a bigger one!" Mitsy hissed, walking up and jabbing her finger into his chest. "Now stop with the jokes, or I will bury you back in that rubble, understand?"
"Yeesh, okay, okay," Simon sighed. "Tough crowd!"
Mitsy resumed making her way down the tunnel, stomping off ahead. Simon followed behind after waiting a moment, still unable to help but smirk a little bit. The two walked on in relative silence, Simon humming to himself under his breath, and Mitsy praying that the challenge would just end. Or, that another cave in would crush one or both of them. Whichever came first.
After a while of walking, though, Mitsy rounded a corner, surprised when she quite literally bumped into someone else: Aaron. The young man gasped, stumbling backward but able to regain his balance, startled.
"Oh, you scared me a little," he murmured, rubbing his neck. "I didn't think I'd see anyone else down here."
"Finally, someone normal," Mitsy sighed in relief, crossing her arms. "This way is a dead end. I don't suppose there are any other tunnels back where you came from, are there?"
"Um..." Aaron frowned, turning to look back down the corridor. "Well, actually, the path did fork a little bit back. I haven't gone down the other way yet, so..."
"Good, so that's where I'm going," Mitsy said, already starting to walk past him. Aaron hesitated a moment, before following after.
"Oh, another fellow traveler eh? What are the odds?" Simon smiled, wrapping his arm around Aaron's shoulder. "Just uh, don't tell many jokes. Not a big sense of humor, this one."
As the trio began to make their way, Rosella watched from a distance, biting her lower lip nervously as she watched them go. She wanted to join up with them, to try and help... but the nicer she tried to be, the more disturbed Aaron was, it seemed. She wrestled back and forth with a decision, leaning against the wall absently while she tried to make her choice. As she pressed her weight against the wall, though, she felt one of the stones shift slightly... then she heard a clunk.
"Wh... what was...?" she pulled away, looking around nervously, not sure what had happened. The gems lining the walls all seemed to light up again, but now they were vibrating furiously. Further down the path, the group of three stopped, also noticing what was happening.
"Hey, what's that?" Simon asked, looking around- receiving his answer in the form of a gem launching out of the wall, hitting him in the head. "Owww, Mitsy!"
"That... wasn't me! OW!" Mitsy yelped as she was struck by a gem from behind.
"The walls!" Aaron exclaimed, ducking as a gem flew past his head. "They're shooting out the gems!"
He tried to duck under another one, but was unsuccessful, getting struck in the forehead. The gems were beginning to launch faster and faster now, pelting all four of them from every which angle.
"Run!" Mitsy yelled, taking off down the corridor, Simon and Aaron quickly following after, covering their heads.
"W-wait! Wait for me!" Rosella called, hurrying after them. Though, they couldn't hear her by that point; gems rained down on them like rainbow-colored hail, pelting them as they tried their best to escape. "Hold on- Aaron!"
"Ow..." Felicity let out a whimper of pain, rubbing her head. She was sat on one side of a pile of rocks, mostly okay, except for a light thump she had received on her head. "Guys? Is everyone okay? What happened?"
Looking around though, the only other person she saw was Kyle, who looked... worried.
"Uh... Andy? Ingrid?" He called, looking at the collapsed area warily... and when Felicity followed his gaze, she saw why. Mixed in with all of the rubble was Andy's hat, covered in pebbles and dust.
Felicity gasped, scrambling over. "Ingrid! Andy!" she called, panicked, beginning to dig. Thankfully, though, she didn't have to wait long for a response.
"Ugh... Felicity? That you?" Andy called, voice a bit muffled.
"Andy! You okay?" Kyle knelt next to Felicity, holding his ear close to the rubble. "We found your hat over here, thought you got crushed or something! Is Ingrid with you?"
"I'm here," Ingrid piped up, "looks like that cave in separated us."
"Yeah, Ingrid totally saved my bacon!" Andy told them. "Yanked me out of the way while the rocks came down. Uh... think we're just gonna have to find our own ways around, but, could you grab my hat for me?"
"Oh, no problem!" Felicity smiled a little, scooping the hat out of the rubble. She gave it a shake, before placing it on her head for safe-keeping. "I'll hold on to it for you!"
"Thanks! Uh... not sure where the way out is, there's a couple tunnels," Andy thought aloud.
"Well, why don't we head back the way we came?" Kyle suggested. "If there's a tunnel that's really close, maybe it'll loop back around."
"Sounds like a good idea," Ingrid nodded. "This reminds me of that one horror movie. You know, the guy with the pick axe? He killed all those couples on valentine's day, hid them in a cave?"
Felicity's face drained of color. "U-um... you don't think they put a crazy pick axe guy in here... do you?" She asked, turning to Kyle.
"I dunno. Maybe," Kyle shrugged, not trying to frighten the girl, just giving an honest answer. "I guess its possible."
"What? No! They didn't!" Andy called. "Well... okay, maybe! But look, even if there was a pickaxe-murderer, they'd have to give him a rubber weapon!"
Felicity let out an eep, eyes widening. "C...can we hurry up?" she shivered.
"Oh. Sure thing!" Kyle nodded. "Alright, we're gonna start heading back, Andy. We'll try and meet up with you."
"Sounds good, see you on the other side!" Andy called. On the other side of the rubble, he and Ingrid began to head toward the closest tunnel. He exhaled, shaking himself loose.
"Alright, kind of a setback," he remarked. "But as long as we can meet up with the others, we should be fine, right?"
As soon as the words escaped his lips, the ground he stepped on popped out of the ground on a spring, launching him down the hallway.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaa-"
Ingrid watched, wide eyed as he flew down, before slamming into the far end of the corridor. "Um... you alright?"
She received no response- Andy simply groaning as he slid down the wall, hitting the floor with a thud. Ingrid gulped, taking a hesitant step forward, beginning to make her way toward him.
In the very innermost portion of the cave, Gael watched as the cave shook, and shook... but ultimately, not much happened, at least not on his end. The vibrations began to stop- by now, all of the traps had sprung in the other reaches of the cave, though he didn't know that, having been isolated from the others. Still, in his hand, he clutched the diamond. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be team leader, truth be told. But he had the diamond now anyway, right? He might as well make the most of the opportunity. Clutching the faux-jewel in his hand, he turned, beginning to make his way back out of the cave. Luckily enough, he had simply followed the railroad track in. He was a little surprised no one else had considered the same; though, they may have thought it would be too easy for Chris to consider.
Behind him, Gael heard an odd... grating sort of sound. He froze, turning his head back to see what was happening. Behind him, the wall in which the diamond had been stuck was beginning to lift, exposing a large opening in the wall behind him. Inside the alcove was... a minecart. It sat there, still... before slowly inching forward. Gael immediately realized what was going to happen... the ground below him was at an incline, which meant...
He tried to react in time, turning to run forward, but the minecart flew into motion, barreling down the track and toward him.
'Get off the track!' he thought to himself, but before he could put theory into practice, the minecart hit him from behind. It seemed to tilt at an angle upon impact. Rather then running him over or knocking him aside, it actually scooped him up, continuing to speed along the track. Turned out, it wouldn't be that easy, after all.
"Woah!" Gael tried to scramble out of the cart, but it was simply moving too fast for him to leap out. It roared along the path, faster, and faster. Gael could make out a light at the end of the tunnel, getting closer... and closer...
The cart came to a sudden stop, hitting a buffer at the end of the track, launching Gael out. He flew into the soft grass outside of the cave, groaning as he hit the ground.
"Huh. Didn't think anyone would fall for that one!"
Gael winced, opening one eye and looking up... seeing he had fallen directly at the foot of Chris' chair.
"So it was trapped," Gael muttered. "I should have known it wasn't that easy..."
Gael got up, looking around. He hadn't exited the way he had come in- actually, the entrance he had used seemed collapsed. "Wait... but the track..."
"Ehh, its an old ride made up after a mine shaft, remember?" Chris shrugged. "I mean, I assume that's what you were gonna ask. The main entrance caved in. The tracks just switched to another exit. The mine has tons of ways in and out."
"Oh... I guess that makes sense," Gael nodded, looking back from the entrance and over to Chris.
"Eh. I mean, probably. That's just what the producers were telling me, I didn't really listen," the host yawned. "The traps, now those I paid attention too. And looks like you fell right for it!"
Gael looked away, a bit embarrassed- but then remembered something. "Wait! The diamond! I was able to grab it before... before..." Gael looked around, realizing he no longer held the gem. He ran back to the cart, peering inside- and seeing it was empty.
"Grabbed it, but couldn't hold on, huh?" Chris snickered.
"I must have dropped it along the path! Let me-" Gael moved to run back inside, but Chris shook his head.
"Nuh-uh! No going back in once you've left!" the host scolded. "We made that clear at the beginning of the challenge!"
"...I don't think you did," Gael frowned, though he obeyed nonetheless, taking a step back from the cave.
"Didn't I?" Chris thought it over, before waving away the accusation. "Doesn't matter! Host rules! And youuuuuu just lost out on your chance, bud! Better go wait for everyone else!"
Gael sighed, walking over, and taking a seat by the entrance of the cave.
CONFESSIONAL: GAEL
I didn't think I'd become captain going in, but... coming that close and still losing is disappointing. I'm just glad we haven't hit the elimination challenges yet. At least someone'll have an easier time finding the diamond than I did.
END CONFESSIONAL
And sure enough... someone did. Back in the cave, Maya was trudging around, scratching her head as she tried to figure out where everyone went.
"Where in the world did everyone go?" she asked, to no one in particular. She was about to turn and go down another path, when she nearly tripped over a large rock... or so she thought. Looking down, she saw the diamond Gael had dropped.
"Alright! Can't believe my luck!" she grinned, scooping it up. She lifted her hat, placing the diamond inside, before placing it back on her head, heading off with a smirk to find the exit.
CONFESSIONAL: MAYA
Ha, I knew I was good, but I didn't think it'd be THAT simple! It's like they're TRYING to take things easy on me!...They aren't actually, are they?
As Maya was following the track toward the exit, she nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard a loud scream, turning in time to see Stephanie charging down the tunnel.
"What in the-" was all Maya had time to say before the two collided, both girls being knocked off of their feet. "Agh... Stephanie?"
Maya slowly lifted her head, glancing over to see her hat had been knocked off. She hurriedly scooped it up, checking that the diamond was still inside, before putting it back on.
"Maya?" Stephanie sat up, rubbing her head. "I didn't know anyone else was around here... sorry."
Stephanie moved a little closer to Maya, seeming... nervous.
"Uh... what's wrong?" Maya asked. "Somethin' chasin' you?"
"Huh? No! No!" Stephanie forced a loud laugh, scrambling to her feet. "Definitely not!"
"...then why were you screamin'?" Maya asked, even more confused.
"Uh... was I? Fear... tactics! Fear tactics!" Stephanie put her hands on her hips proudly. "I... screamed the entire time I was running to scare off traps and... people and... stuff!"
Maya just stared, blankly. "so you screamed the ENTIRE time you've been in here?"
"...so uh, how have you been doing?" Stephanie asked, eager to change the subject. "You didn't find the diamond yet, did you?"
Maya opened her mouth to respond, not quite sure how to. Maya didn't really want to lie, but it was a challenge after all... and they were competing against one another.
"Uhhh... nope! Not me!" Maya stood up, shuffling off to one side. "Definitely did not find a diamond, no siree!"
"Alriiiight..." Stephanie watched Maya suspiciously, her eyes following the girl as she slowly slid over to one side of the room, toward the exit. "In that case, why don't we... work together, maybe?"
At this point, as much as she hated to admit it, Stephanie simply wasn't keen on being alone. She hated being in the cave enough as it was, the light barely being enough to see, the tight tunnels and corridors restricting.
Maya, however, looked her over warily, not forgetting their banter earlier that morning.
"...waiiit, I get it! You just wanna tag along so you can steal my diamond, right?" Maya guessed. "Well, tough luck gettin' it! You thought I forgot our bet, huh?"
"No, that's not- wait, you DO have a diamond?" Stephanie paused, staring at Maya carefully.
The cowgirl's gaze shifted around, realizing she had been caught.
"See, uh, the thing is... see ya!"
Maya turned, storming down the track, holding her hat tightly to her head.
"Hey, wait! Come back here!" Stephanie called, taking off after her. "I just wanted to...!"
"Found something!" Ash called.
Ash had been walking along the corridor in which they were trapped, tapping the wall patiently with his cane. This didn't yield much in the way of results, at first, but finally, he struck gold... metaphorically. Actually, he had struck something that looked more similar to a garnet. But what was really important was, the spot of wall he had struck seemed to be hollow. He rapped his cane against the area a few more times to be sure- it was hard to tell in the dark, but the wall also seemed off-color, ever so slightly.
"You have a way out?" Miriam asked, walking up to Ash, looking the wall over.
"Think so," he nod. He knocked his cane against the wall again. "Hear that? Hollow. If we can get it open, I bet there's a path out of here."
"But you don't know where it leads?" Miriam glanced at him, eyebrow raised.
"No, but, if you wanna stay here..."
"Point taken," she sighed.
Ash smiled, taking a step back. "I don't like it either, but only the one way forward. The question is, how do we get it open..."
"Oh! Shelbi knows this one!" the feral girl trot over to the wall on all fours, eyeing the door over. "We just have to hit it hard enough, right?"
"...or... hi something specific." Miriam's eyes narrowed as she gazed at the door, looking at all of the gems, before reaching out and beginning to push each one.
"Hey... not a bad idea!" Ash nod, beginning to follow suit. Soon enough, Miriam pushed a large, red gem toward the center. The stone gave a click, and within moments, the wall retracted inward, sliding aside, revealing a passage consisting of sterile, white tile.
Shelbi stuck her head in, sniffing around, her nose wrinkling. "It smells weird in here. Like chemicals."
"It does look like a passage through, though." Miriam took a step in, looking down the hallway- drearily lit by florescent bulbs that hung overhead. "Hm. Good work. I guess bumping into you two wasn't such a bad thing."
She was silenced, however, when Shelbi took off down the hall, clambering forward. "Shelbi will scout ahead!"
"...okay. Well, meeting one of you wasn't a bad thing," Miriam remarked, looking back at Ash. "One of you I'm still not sure about."
"She's... enthusiastic, at least." Ash watched her go, before following after. "Come on, let's see where this leads."
Shelbi bounded down the tunnel, entirely barren; it seemed like it was simply used for a quick traversal method. As they approached the other side, however, the sealed off door seemed to open automatically... and they could hear voices in the distance, Shelbi beginning to growl.
"They have to be around here somewhere," a male said. "If we just keep going this way, then maybe-"
A figure moved past the doorway. Before Ash or Miriam could react, Shelbi pounced, pinning them to the ground; Kyle, eyes widening in surprise, not even having noticed the door slid open until it was too late.
"Ah- what the?!" He hit the ground with a thud, wincing.
"Kyle!" Felicity gasped, backing away to the other side of the tunnel in shock. "L...leave him alone..." she tried to say, attempting to come across as commanding, but her voice was barely a whisper.
"Woah, hey!" Ash rushed to the edge of the doorway, looking out at them. "What's going on?!"
Kyle glanced over, confused. "Ash?" He looked up at the girl on top of him. "...Shelbi? Que? What's going on? Where did you come from?"
"Oh. Hey, Kyle! Shelbi didn't see you there!" the girl slid off of him, Felicity walking over to help him to his feet.
"Secret tunnel," Ash explained, stepping up to the two. "We got trapped on the other side, but, we found our way through. What about you guys?"
"Huh. Clever." Kyle stroked his chin, looking over at the empty space. "We were with Andy and Ingrid, but we all got separated. Trying to regroup since then. We haven't found them, but, I think the way out is that way. We were gonna head there and wait for them."
"You mean you're giving up?" Miriam asked, sounding surprised.
"Eh... with falling boulders and traps and secret passages, I'm not sure team captain is worth the risk," Kyle responded casually.
"I just want to get out of here safe with Ingrid and Andy," Felicity agreed, nodding her head rapidly. "I didn't think it would be so dangerous..."
Miriam looked at the two, incredulous. "You guys know what show we're on, right? Nothing is going to come easy. Definitely not a million dollars."
"Yeah, but, not elimination tonight, right?" Kyle shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. "You guys can come along if you want."
"You know... think I've had enough of caves today," Ash agreed. "I'm coming."
"Don't forget Shelbi!"
The three began to walk off, Miriam staring after them, a scowl on her face. Ash glanced back over his shoulder, looking back at her. "Coming?"
She stared, silent, before turning away from them, heading back down the hall Kyle had come from. "No thanks. I'll go my own way."
CONFESSIONAL: MIRIAM
I'm not here to make friends. If they don't want to take the challenge seriously because its not elimination, so be it. I just know who NOT to choose when I become team captain.
END CONFESSIONAL
Back in the large, central chamber, Maxine, Adam, Peter and Leon watched as the room filled with bodies. Bug bodies, that was. After the dead tarantulas piled up, dead centipedes followed. Then dead flies. Then dead bees. Then dead hornets, and then dead locusts.
"How did nobody feed ANY of the insects?!" Franz demanded. "This is completely ridiculous, and unprofessional! Someone is totally getting fired for this!"
"Well, these aren't all insects," Peter remarked, looking over at the pile of tarantulas. "Not to mention, you'd need more bugs to feed most of these, so keeping all of these in bulk is a little foolish."
"I'm confused. Has the challenge started yet?" Leon asked, scratching his head.
"I've never seen any movies like this," Adam commented. "Are we in a comedy, maybe?"
"Ugh, you know what? Take the diamond, I don't care anymore!" Franz snapped- a door on the other side of the room suddenly sliding open, revealing the other diamond inside. "God, this whole thing has really skeeved me out! I had this whole fear room planned out- I don't even want to know what happened to the rats or the snakes!"
"So... who gets the diamond?" Maxine asked, looking around.
"Fist fight for it, I don't care!" Franz huffed. "God, I'm annoyed!... Actually, this works better! You all have to figure this one out for yourselves! Friends turning on friends, the fighting, the betrayal! Will you compete for it fairly among yourselves? Make a mad dash for the prize?"
"I mean... I don't know if its friends vs friends, exactly." Peter adjusted his glasses, looking at the other three. "Erm, no offense, but we've only known each other a day or so."
"...you guys are trying to make me mad, aren't you?" Franz huffed. "I would totally fill this room with like, knock out gas if I had some right now."
On the other side of the wall, Mitsy, Simon, Aaron and Rosella were all running forward, covered in marks and bruises, gems still flying around them. Mitsy skid to a halt as she came to a dead end, seemingly nowhere to go.
"What? But where...?" She looked around, panicked- which only intensified when she turned around to see the other three sprinting at her, unable to see her thanks to the poor lighting and the chaos around them. "No, wait! Stop, st-"
It was too late, though, the three crashing into her- and the wall giving way beneath them, the four falling through into the same room Franz was overseeing... as well as directly into the pile of dead tarantulas.
"Ew... ew ew ew ew ew ew ewwwwwww!" Mitsy pushed the others off of her, standing up and bouncing around, aggressively patting herself down to get everything off of her.
Aaron's eyes widened as he saw what he had landed on, scrambling away, trying to get everything off of him. "S-spiders? Bees?!" he panicked, surveying the room and backing up against the wall.
"What the... what are you guys doing here?" Adam asked, surprised.
"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood, thought we'd drop in," Simon answered casually, looking around. "What's going on in here?"
"Uh... Franz? I thought you said there were only two doors," Adam remembered, looking over at the speaker.
"...okay, maybe I lied!" Franz answered. "But... I totally had this planned, definitely! You four over there, Mitsy, Simon, Aaron, Rosella! See that opening over there? The diamond is right inside!"
The four all looked over, either confused or convinced he was lying... only to see Franz was indeed telling the truth.
"Alright, you eight. I don't even care how this wraps up anymore, I'm totally over this cave thing. First person to grab it and run outside is team captain. Go nuts!" With that, the speaker crackled, Franz going silent.
There was a brief silence, each of the contestants eyeing each other over.
"...rock paper scissors to see who gets it?" Leon suggest, smiling genuinely as he held out a fist.
There would be no rock, paper or scissors, however. Mitsy, Simon, Maxine and Adam immediately bolted for the diamond, Leon following after when he realized what was happening.
"Mine!" Mitsy yelled. "I did NOT go through all of that to come out empty-handed!"
The five immediately dog-piled, trying to snatch the diamond. Rosella watched them, before looking over at Aaron. "Are... are you alright?" she asked him, walking over and reaching out to touch his shoulder.
Aaron pulled away, more out of reaction than trying to be rude. "Uh... I just need to... I don't like bugs, or dirt, and..." he looked at Rosella, the cave, the exit... and then ran for it, unsure what else to do.
"Aaron, wait!" she called, hesitating, before running after him.
Leon finally climbed out of the pile successfully, grinning to himself. "Alright! The diamond is..." He reached out, only to realize... "...gone?"
"Wait... what?" Mitsy looked up at him, eye twitching slightly. "What do you mean gone?"
The five looked around the room, thinking it had fallen to the floor in the scuffle... only to notice Peter hurrying toward the exit, stuffing something into his pocket.
"...AFTER HIM!" Mitsy ordered, chasing after him, the others quickly following suit.
Back outside the cave, Chris and Gael waited quietly, at least until Maya and Stephanie emerged from an entrance, the two spilling on to the ground.
"Ngh- its mine, ya can't have it!" Maya huffed, gripping her hat.
"I was just trying to... hoo boy..." Stephanie pant, exhausted from all her running, going limp on the ground as she caught her breath.
"Oh... oh!" Maya looked up at Chris, the host appearing befuddled, before she lifted her hat, the diamond resting on top of her head. "Chris! I got one! I got one!"
"...kay. Not gonna ask why you're WEARING the diamond, but... still counts," the host shrugged. "Looks like Maya is first team captain!"
"Woo!" Maya thrust an arm into the air triumphantly. "Looks like I won our lil' bet, huh Steph?"
Stephanie didn't respond, looking away in disappointment. More voices began to emerge from the cave- soon enough, Kyle, Felicity, Ash and Shelbi walked out into the daylight, looking relieved.
"Glad to be out of there- but man, is it bright out here." Kyle squinted, holding a hand just above his eyes to block out the sunlight.
"Phew... I'm so happy that's over..." Felicity sighed. "Oh, but... Andy and Ingrid..."
"Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine," Ash told her, giving a reassuring smile.
"Yeah! Besides, Shelbi didn't smell blood!" the wolf girl gave Felicity a toothy grin- probably meant to be reassuring, but it came off as horrifying instead. "And Shelbi has a good nose for blood, too! They should be fine!"
Chris stared at them, eyes squinted, mouth slightly agape. "...you guys are weird this year. And this is coming from the guy who's had to deal with a girl who thought she was a princess for a season. But, doesn't matter- you guys left the cave, so you're stuck here for the rest of the challenge, which..."
Chris paused, the sound of yelling and running becoming audible, if faint.
"...which may not be that much longer."
From the other side of the cave, Aaron and Rosella emerged... followed by almost everyone else, Peter scrambling out, falling flat on his face in his attempt to get away. Mitsy, Leon, Maxine, Simon and Adam appeared at the entrance not seconds after, looking frustrated.
"Oh, come on! Just missed him!" Mitsy groaned, giving her foot a stomp.
"Chris! The diamond! I got one!" Peter called, fishing it out of his pocket, and holding it up.
"Huh. Well, I'll be- definitely didn't think you'd be the one to win," Chris smirked. "But, it looks like we have our two team captains decided. Maya and Peter, looks like you two get to pick the teams this season!'
CONFESSIONAL: PETER
Its not that I really wanted to be in charge or anything. I simply thought that, being able to pick my team for the season would be beneficial. After all, I've sized a few campers up, and I think I know who would be best to ensure my team is successful.
CONFESSIONAL: STEPHANIE
I can't believe I blew it like that... I really let my fears- err, I mean, concerns!- get into my head this challenge... I don't deserve to be captain.
END CONFESSIONALS
"Hmmm..." Chris looked over the contestants, counting them up. "So that's one two three four... fifteen of you! So just three missing, huh?"
"Are they gonna be okay?" Felicity asked, worried.
"Ahh, don't worry about it," Chris told her. "I shooooould let them wait in there for a while as the price of poor performance, but, we're running out of time for this episode. So I'll just have some interns grab them."
"Already on it," Franz interrupted. "Too slow, McLean."
Sure enough, a pair of interns walked out with Miriam, Ingrid, and a VERY beat up looking Andy in tow.
"Andy? What happened to you?" Kyle asked, looking him over.
"I managed to trigger every trap in that hall we were stuck in," Andy groaned, rubbing his head. "I was launched into walls, hit with rocks, pelted with gems..."
"So why's Ingrid okay?"
The goth just shrugged. "I watch a lot of scary movies. I saw all the traps a mile away."
"Well you could have warned meeeee!" Andy groaned.
"...you didn't ask," Ingrid murmured, kicking her foot into the dirt slightly.
"Okay, guys! Here's the deal- Peter and Maya won today's challenge, making them the team captain's. So, everyone line up, and we'll have them pick, schoolyard style!" Chris instructed, the contestants doing as told. "Peter and Maya, come here."
The two walked up to Chris, standing on either side of him and looking the other sixteen contestants over.
"Okay, you two. So, Maya, because you were back first, you'll get the first pick. Then Peter picks, back to Maya, and so on. So Maya, who's it gonna be?"
Maya frowned, eyeing the line over, before smiling. "I'll pick... Leon."
"Ha! A fine choice," Leon smiled, walking over to her. "You won't regret it, I promise!"
CONFESSIONAL: MAYA
He's pretty muscular, and he seemed to be leadin' the boys last challenge. Ain't bad lookin' either. Gotta be worth somethin', right?
END CONFESSIONAL
"Hmm... I pick... Stephanie!" Peter nod, pointing at the jock.
"...wait, really?" she asked, surprised- it was an easy pick for Peter, of course, but she was still a bit disappointed with her performance. "Well, alright..."
Maya frowned as Stephanie walked over to Peter's side... that was going to have been her next pick. "Hmm... I'll go with Ash."
"Heh. Feels like I'm being picked for kickball," Ash mused, slowly walking over to her. "Which, don't do that, by the way."
"Pfft. All I need you to do now is stand there and look pretty, hot stuff," Maya smirked.
"...are you just picking boys you think are cute?" Miriam asked, looking irritated.
"Whaaaat? No!" Maya huffed. "...a little. Peter, you pick!"
"Hmm." Peter looked the line over again. "Andy!"
"Alright! I'd high five, but, this arm's pretty sore." Andy smiled, walking over to his team.
"I'm gonna go... Gael!" Maya countered.
"You totally are just picking all the boys!" Miriam insisted.
"Whaaat? Noooo!" Maya said, feigning innocence.
"Kyle!" Peter selected, not waiting to be prompted.
"Alright. Liking my team so far," Kyle nodded, walking over and patting Peter on the shoulder, giving Andy a nod.
"Nice. Teammates!" the skater smiled.
"Darn, he was my next pick," Maya sighed. "Fiiiiine. Miriam, then."
Miriam rolled her eyes, walking over to her team.
CONFESSIONAL: MIRIAM
Am I happy with how things turned out? Not really. I set out to become captain, and I couldn't do it, and now I'm stuck with someone in charge who isn't taking things seriously. I have to do better, next challenge.
END CONFESSIONAL
"Adam," Peter said, continuing with his pick. "You were certainly insightful about the challenge today. I think that'll come in handy."
"I hope it will," Adam grinned, thrilled with not being a late pick. "Thanks, Peter!"
"Hm... gettin' tough now," Maya muttered. "I'll go with... Rosella."
Rosella slowly walked over to her team, glancing back at Aaron, concern etched into her face. "If... if you say so..." she mumbled.
"Shelbi!" Peter called out.
Shelbi howled happily, before bounding over to her team- everyone looking at Peter in surprise.
CONFESSIONAL: PETER
It... was a calculated risk.
END CONFESSIONAL
"Hoo boy. Hope I don't regret this one- but Simon," Maya sighed.
"Pfft, what's to regret about picking me?" Simon hummed, puffing out his chest proudly and strolling over. "Except that maybe it took so long to pick me, anyway~"
"Hmm... hard now indeed," Peter murmured to himself. "I pick... Ingrid."
"Oh. Um, alright. I guess this team isn't too bad," Ingrid shrugged, stepping over to them.
"Welcome aboard!" Andy nod, patting her on the back.
"Annnd I know I'll regret this one- Mitsy," Maya picked
"Great." Mitsy rolled her eyes, sizing her team up as she approached. "Literally the exact opposite of how I hoped my team would turn out."
"Aww. We love you too," Simon cooed.
"I'll go... Felicity," Peter chose. "It'll be good for you to work with people you already like, right!"
Felicity's eyes lit up, and she happily skipped to her team. "Yeah! Thanks for picking me!" she beamed, looking over her teammates happily.
"Just two left!" Chris announced, looking at Maxine and Aaron. "Must feel pretty bad to be you guys right now, huh?"
Rosella watched in anticipation, swaying in place nervously.
"Yeah... last pick." Maya studied the two carefully, not sure what call to make. "Well... I guess I'll go with... Maxine. At least I know you a bit better."
"At least? What's that supposed to mean?" Maxine huffed, walking over to her team.
"I guess that leaves me with Aaron," Peter said, looking over at the sole person left.
Aaron nod, joining up with his team.
"Well, there you have it!" Chris eyed over the two teams, arms crossed. "Hmm... I've definitely seen worse! Now, for names!"
"Oh, oh! Can we be the bears? Or wolves, or somethin' cool?" Maya asked, excitedly.
"Hey! We should be the wolves!" Shelbi huffed, shooting her a glare.
"No one is the wolves!" Chris told them, shaking his head. "Because I already picked team names for all of you! Maya, your team... is the Fancy Ferrets!"
Everyone was silent.
"The what?" She asked, jaw dropping.
"And Peter... you guys are the Daring Ducks!" Chris smirked.
"Oh. That's... something," Andy sighed, shaking his head in disapproval.
"The best names ever, that's for sure," Chris snickered to himself. "Well, that's it for today! Go ahead to the dining area, Chef Pierre is already working on lunch!... go on! Get out of here!"
The contestants began to disperse, chatting together as they headed back to camp. Rosella stayed, waiting for the crowd to thin out a bit. She spotted Aaron, walking toward him, arm extended.
"Aaron... I can't believe we're on different..." she began, but the boy jumped when he saw her, beginning to hurry away.
"Uh, gotta go, Rosella!" He called back, clearly not wanting to speak. "I'll... see you around camp!"
Rosella stared after him, eyes widening as she watched him run off. There was no mistaking it... he wanted nothing to do with her.
"Oh, you're Rosella, right?" A voice asked happily.
She turned to see Leon approach, a smile on his face.
"We're on the same team together!" he told her, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Glad to be working with you! Say, I was going to suggest we all sit together at lunch, get to know one another. What say you?"
Rosella stared at him, unsure what to say. He... really wanted to have lunch together? Aaron clearly wanted nothing to do with her... to ignore her attention, which she only gave out of affection. But Leon... here he was, being kind to her, treating her like an equal.
"...are you alright?" he asked as she stared awkwardly. "You've been staring a while now."
"Oh. Yes." She gave him a polite smile. She went silent again, before nodding. "I think I'd like that... very much."
To Be Continued...
(A/N: And there we have it folks! The end of our team building episodes! And the end of the safety zone. Yup, that's right. Next episode is an elimination, people! Be afraid, very afraid!
Also, for those wondering, figured I'd address the fear-factor-esque elements of the challenge. It wasn't a thing i set out to do with the inception of the challenge, just something that happened in the writing process. The scenario fit several competitor's fears very well, and I wanted to play that up. There won't be an actual fear factor episode this season. A couple reasons why- one, many of the contestants have fears that fit under the "existential" category, such as dying, being abandoned, forgotten, sexuality revealed, which is hard to incorporate into a challenge like this. They're completely fair and reasonable fears, but hard to work with from a literal, reality-television standpoint. The second is, I know i harp on and on about my last SYOC, but, the fear factor challenge I did in that was... not a fun experience. Sort of tainted by one or two people, but I won't bang on about it. Anyway!
Hope you guys enjoyed! Before I go though, I just want to post the full team lists here again, in an easy to read format for reference:
Fancy Ferrets: Maya, Leon, Ash, Gael, Miriam, Mitsy, Maxine, Rosella, Simon
Daring Ducks: Peter, Aaron, Adam, Kyle, Andy, Shelbi, Felicity, Stephanie, Ingrid
And that's all! You guys have a wonderful weekend!)