Crossing the Line
Title: Crossing the Line
Summary: Thanks to Heather's treachery, Lindsay is about to be kicked off the island...unless a certain techno-geek has something to say about it.
Disclaimer: The characters and plot of this story are taken from blah blah blah come on we all know the drill, is this really necessary?
Pairings: Main: Cody/Lindsay, Side: Noah/Gwen, Ezekiel/Bridgette and Duncan/Leshawna.
Warnings: Crack pairings that may make some people cry. Also, mild language and dialogue inappropriate for small children, but overall, not any worse than the actual show.
JoeMerl: Okay, this story's getting a good reception (though not quite as good as that Gwen/Cody drabble---most popular one-shot I ever wrote, thanks everyone!) Hope you enjoy Chapter Three!
Crossing the Line
Chapter Three: Pile-Up
"Okay, here's how it works. Everyone picks a name out of the helmet to see whose bike you're riding. If your bike makes it across the finish line, then you get to ride it in the final round for invincibility."
About ten minutes later we had all switched our bikes and were assembled on the starting line. I was sitting on Zeke's, which was an okay choice: not as good as my bike or "Heather's," but I felt better about it than some of the others.
"Okay, this is like a cruel joke or something, right?" Noah said, looking around at the huge metal contraption he was sitting in.
Leshawna shot him a look. "Hey, scrawny, maybe you should shut up and just worry about not crashing my bike, a'ight?"
Noah glared at her, and Leshawna looked away. I think even she had to admit, the bike she had built for her own use was just way too big for Noah. The seat had been made leaning back to accommodate her…uh, larger physique, but Noah had to sit up much straighter just to see over the handlebars, his legs stretched out as far as possible to reach both pedals. In any event, she quickly turned back to Duncan, who was giving quick little bits of advice for how she should drive his bike, while making faces down at the horse head attached to the one he was riding.
"Try not to crash my bike, ookay?" Ezekiel said from beside me, craning his neck up, since Gwen had built her bike kind of low to the ground.
"I'll try." I cast a nervous look a few bikes away. "Though no offense, man, but I'm kind of more nervous about mine."
Ezekiel looked over and nodded; Bridgette was gazing down at my bike and looking very nervous. I bit my lip. The bike itself (which you could barely see) seemed too small for her, while its "hull" made it kind of bulky. I had considered telling her the secret about the motor---after all, her winning the race would be good for me---but ultimately decided against it; Bridgette was really cool, don't get me wrong, but I strongly doubted my bike would survive this race if she was driving it normally, never mind if she tried to use the engine.
"Okay, racers!" Chris called. "On your marks."
I leaned down over Ezekiel's bike, putting my feet on the pedals.
"Get set…"
I surveyed the other racers, and my eyes fell toward the end of the line, where Lindsay was sitting on Heather's bike, next to Heather on Bridgette's. She caught my eye, and smiled at me, giving a little wave. I suddenly felt my sweaty hands slip on the handlebars---my head seemed to be spinning…
"Paramedics on standby…AND…DRAG!"
The others shot out at lightning speed; I blinked, shaking my head. "Huh?!"
I quickly realized I was the only one left at the starting line. I let out a strangled cry and began to pedal. The bike rode along shakily for a moment, and I silently cursed myself for letting myself get distracted.
Noah: (snickers) I saw that, Cody.
Cody: Yeah, okay, so maybe the race didn't start out too well for me. But I was sure I could make up for it and come out with a win.
Lindsay: (looking confused) Huh? How should I know what made Colby start late?
Izzy: Oh yeah, I definitely think they'll hook up by the end of the contest, I've known it all along. Well, at first it kind of seemed like he had a crush on Gwen, but I knew the whole time it would be Lindsay, ever since that time during the third competition when---
(Banging on the Confession Cam door)
Chris (off-screen): Izzy?! What the heck are you doing in there?! They already voted you off!
Izzy: Whoops! (to camera) Gotta go! (waves arm and disappears in a puff of smoke)
"Oh man oh man oh man…"
I pedaled as fast as I could. I was in dead last place. I had to hurry!
Pumping my legs with all of my strength, I managed to speed up---I flew down the track as fast as I could, sailing past Bridgette, who seemed to be driving as slow as possible to avoid crashing. (I felt like shouting a "thanks" to her for that, but was too busy concentrating on the road.) Next I saw Ezekiel, who seemed to be having a hard time trying to steer Gwen's odd contraption; leaning to the side to avoid the wings, I managed to fly by him, then Leshawna.
My face broke out in a grin. "Hey! I'm doing it!" I said. I could hear the surprise in my own voice. Grinning, I leaned down and pedaled even faster, flying past the next bike ahead of me.
"HEY!" Heather yelled angrily, as I nearly ran Bridgette's bike off of the road. My grin widened, but my leg muscles started to strain---this was hard work.
Noah, the next rider up, seemed to be having an even harder time than me---how he managed to get this far ahead of everybody else I had no idea. He was panting in his seat, unable to get Leshawna's bike to ride in a straight line, which, added with its bulk, was going to make it hard to pass.
I wheeled up as close to him as I dared. "Hey, Noah, been drinking?" I called with a smirk.
"Oh, ha, ha," he muttered, trying his best to turn the handlebars to keep the bike going in a straight line. "Just get out of my way!"
"Fat chance! I'm gonna win this thing!"
"You realize there's no actual benefit to winning, right?!" Noah screamed. "There's no special prize for crossing first! You don't even have to cross at all, if you do it'll just benefit Zeke and not you!"
"Huh?" Then, "Whoa!"
Noah lost control of Leshawna's bike; it skid around and slammed into the front of the one I was riding, and suddenly I felt myself flailing as I flew through the air. I slammed down onto Noah and two bikes' worth of broken parts.
"Ugh! …I hate you, Cody," Noah moaned.
I looked up, eyes growing wide. "Well, you're about to hate Heather too," I said, feeling the blood drain from my face.
"I already hate Heath---agh!"
"Agh!"
Heather let out a cry as her bike smashed into the remains of the previous two. I closed my eyes tightly before feeling Heather slam down on top of me and Noah.
"Agh! Two people now?! I have bones, damn it!"
"Ugh! Get off of me, you little perverts!"
"You're on top of us!" I cried, trying to squirm out from under her. (This was, I had to say, the least fun I'd ever had with a girl on top of me.) I was just about free when I heard two more screams, two more crashes, and two more bodies land onto our pile.
"Oof! Agh! My ribs," I moaned, feeling my head spin again.
"Oh---get off me, Prairie Boy!" Leshawna muttered, squirming on top of me. I heard Heather let out a muffled scream from beneath a rather large amount of fleshy cushioning.
"I cain't, I---agh!" Ezekiel screamed.
"Agh!" Leshawna screamed.
"Agh!" Noah and I screamed together.
"AGH!" Bridgette screamed, as she came barreling down the track on my bike.
Ezekiel's arm shot up. I think he was just trying to keep himself from getting hit; but, as he was lying under the majority of Gwen's crashed bike, and as he lifted his arm he raised the majority of it up at an angle. Bridgette, screaming with her eyes closed, came careening out-of-control toward him---
---and just happened to hit the bottom of Gwen's bike's wing, causing her to fly up it like a ramp and go soaring through the air.
Ezekiel's eyes went wide. "BRIDGETTE!"
The bike flew right over our massive bike pile-up---the spaceship wings I had added seemed to actually help it glide through the air, I thought with amazement and a bit of pride---Bridgette screaming as it soared, slammed into the ground, careened out of control---
---And flew right past the finish line, where Chris and the winners, wide-eyed, scattered in terror.
CRASH!
I winced as Bridgette and my Delta Rider collided with several of the winning bikes. Ezekiel let out a strangled sound and managed to pull himself free---our pile of people collapsed, and I managed to climb shakily to my feet as he ran over to Bridgette, shaking his leg to disentangle a pair of handlebars still wrapped around his ankle.
"Bridgette!"
Gwen and Duncan had already managed to pull her to her feet---as I ran over with the others, she managed to stand up, though she looked kind of shaky. Ezekiel grabbed her shoulders, steadying her. "Are yoo ookay, honey?"
"Oh…Zeke, that was incredible!" she said, snapping out of her daze and grabbing his shoulders. "Lifting that wing up to keep me from hitting you guys---where did you come up with that?!"
"What? Noo, that was just a' acci---"
He stopped talking when Bridgette pulled his face onto hers; when she pulled back a second later, he stood frozen, mouth moving but without any actual words coming out.
"Duh---nuh---eh---"
"Well, that was certainly an interesting race!" Chris chuckled, coming out from behind the tree where he had been hiding. He clapped his hands. "So! We have five awesome wipe-outs by Cody, Ezekiel, Heather, Noah and Leshawna, and four invincibility race winners: Noah's sturdy little ride, Heather's speed machine, Lindsay's Sunset Sally and Cody's Trekkie trailblazer!"
"Huh?" I looked up, startled; between the concussion and Bridgette's dramatic crash, it hadn't occurred to me that Bridgette's survival had actually been my own. "Oh, sweet! My bike gets to be in the final race!"
"That's right! Assuming that last crash didn't break any of the winners, you four will all get to be in the final competition!"
"Great," Noah said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Gwen elbowed him in the side.
"Hey, you should be grateful. I poured blood, sweat and tears into my bike just to watch it get smashed."
She shot a look at Ezekiel; however, Bridgette had her arms wrapped around his head and was kissing his toque, so I don't think he noticed.
Ezekiel: (with deliriously happy look on his face) Hee-hee…
"Oh, isn't this great!" Lindsay said, clasping her hands together and standing on one foot as she leaned close to me and Heather. "We all get to be in the finals! Isn't that---" Suddenly her face fell, and she looked up in horror. "Oh, Colby! You're bleeding!"
"Huh? I am?" I said. My hand shot up to where she was looking, and sure enough I felt a warm, sticky substance running down from my forehead down the side of my face.
"Here, let me get it…"
She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket, licked it and took my head with her other hand. My muscles seized up as she began to clean up my cut. "There ya go…I---oh!"
Heather grabbed Lindsay by the arm, dragging her away with a snarl on her face. Lindsay looked surprised, then waved at me with the bloody handkerchief in her hand. "Um---okay, see you later, Colby!"
Lindsay: (wringing the handkerchief in her hand) I don't know why Heather got so upset. I was just trying to help Colby with his cut… (looks down at the handkerchief, frowning thoughtfully) Huh, you know, normally I'm afraid of blood…
Meanwhile, at Playa des Losers...
"Hey, back off, man! She's my girl!"
"No way, man!" Trent said, poking Geoff angrily in the chest. "She likes me WAY more!"
"Oh, boys. Really, you shouldn't be fighting about me like this," Courtney giggled, cheeks going slightly pink as Trent and Geoff glared at each other.
Just then Harold's head popped up from the back of the nearby couch, panting heavily. "Can you guys please try to keep it down over there?! Some of us are trying to enjoy ourselves! GAWSH!"
Eva's head appeared beside him. "Ugh. Forget about them and get back here!" she snarled, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him back down. The sounds of their lips smacking resumed a moment later.
DJ, sitting beside them, rolled his eyes and turned to Katie and Sadie. "Can you believe those two?" he said, motioning to them with his thumb.
"Hee-hee...I think they're kind of cute!" Sadie said, giggling, though she was actually watching the way Katie was inching her way closer to DJ, casually laying her head to lie on his shoulder.
Owen was sitting nearby on an armchair, his eyes drifting from the large screen TV (currently showing Bridgette kissing Ezekiel on the head) to the various couples all around the room. He sighed, turning to Tyler, who was sitting on the armrest. "Man, I wish I had a girlfriend."
"Yeah, me too, man."
Just then there was a sudden blast of smoke, and a moment later the two let out strangled cries as something heavily landed across both of their laps.
"Agh! Whoo, gotta work on those landings," Izzy giggled, then looked up to notice the two of them staring at her. She winked. "Hey, boys."
"Oh, uh...hey," Owen said, blushing slightly.
JoeMerl: Yeah...I just couldn't figure out whether to do a bit of Izzy/Tyler or Izzy/Owen, so I settled for both. (shrug) Oh, and I stole the idea of Izzy "landing" on someone from one of Nikki-kun05's stories, just for the record. Anyway, hope that pointless little part at the end makes up for the overall lack of humor or much romance in the rest of this chapter. I'll try to get Chapter Four out quickly, though it's not completely written yet and it's gonna be a long one. (And I'm still debating whether or not to post the Epilogue separately...) Anyway, until then, please leave a review! :-D