HAI EVERYBODEH. :D I have no idea what the heck I'm going to be having them do in this ultimate warehouse… Just so many flippin' possibilities… I guess that's why I gave them 2 weeks off. Anyway, this chapter will have the fluff. Drama is pushed off a little bit longer.(I know I know…, I can only apologize.) (That line is so overused. But it's ok. We love Naoms too much to care.)

BTW: I haven't made personal thank yous in a long time, HOW RUDE of me! :O So if you stick around, at the bottom I've got some lovely ones for some very lovely people 3

BTW#2: hope there aren't many mistakes, I am distracted, having a contest with my brother at the same time, blasting more annoying songs than the other … (all in good, annoying fun.)

Chapter 19: Harnessing the Challenge

Naomi's PoV

After a long swim and a very filling pizza lunch I bid adieu to everyone to take a nice long nap. Emily called me a party pooper, but she quickly put the retorts aside to turn to the others and plan a game of paintball. That girl is so much of a child at heart it makes me want to hold her in my arms and kiss the cuteness out of her.

As soon as I got to my bedroom, I pulled off my jeans and slipped under the heavy covers. It wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep, smiling to myself thinking about the day's events. It honestly had felt like we had left the school months ago, and it was exhausting remembering that everything had only just happened a few hours ago…

"Fuck what time is it?" The room was pitch black aside from a light that was shining from the bottom of the bathroom door. Must've left it on… I turned over in bed lifting the covers expecting to see the red-head, and surprised when I didn't. I sat up in bed trying to make out everything in the dark, but there wasn't much to see.

My eyes squeezed shut at the bright light as the bathroom door opened. What the fuck…? My questions were answered shortly after rubbing my eyes and watching the dancing figure in front of me, lost in her own world. She was whispering really loudly some type of song I hadn't heard before… she must think I'm still asleep… otherwise I could tell the way she was so caught up in the song, she'd probably be shouting it at the top of her lungs.

"I'm in love! I'm in love! I'm in love! I wanna do it! I'm in love! I wanna do it!" Emily had been jumping up and down so furiously that her towel fell off. I couldn't help but allow my gaze to take in everything that was being lit up by the bathroom light behind her. The noise that escaped my throat must have been louder than the music she was listening to because she opened her eyes and shrieked when she saw me sitting upright on the bed.

"FUCK! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Her earbuds fell out in the frantic rush to pick up her towel, but apparently it wasn't enough to just cover herself because she quickly ran in the bathroom and shut the door. It wasn't long before I heard her husky voice shout from the other side of the door.

"Did you see anything?" she sounded like she was panicking.

What the hell was I going to do? It's not like I could lie, the whole situation was entirely unexpected and the answer was obvious… not to mention she was hot as hell and there was no way I was able to take my eyes off her display.

"Uhm. You were naked under your towel. And then you took your towel off. So…" It was easier to be less direct… let Emily put the pieces together...

"Fuck. I shower naked. Fuck." I could hear her whisper.

"You know Ems, it was uhm, bound to happen at some point. You know, sharing a room and all. A normal roommate thing, I think." I tried to lighten up the mood and take away any awkward feelings that might come between us later as a result.

"Fuck. You're right." Emily came back out of the bathroom, tightly wrapped in her towel. She wasn't taking any risks though, holding it to her with both hands. She found her suitcases and pulled out a change of clothes before scampering back to the bathroom and to get dressed. The red-head came out nervously in a pair of red short-shorts that had 'ass' in large white print on the butt and a black t-shirt. My gaze couldn't help but flick to the bold word anytime she turned around.

"What song was it that you were listening to?" I asked, genuinely curious. The way she sang it, it was so fucking catchy, and had been replaying over and over in my head.

"Oh," a smirk appeared on her face before she pulled out her ipod and looked to it to remind herself what song she had listened to, when she looked back at me I could see she was blushing, "It's Alex Gaudino's, I'm in love…" She had mumbled it, but I had managed to understand.

"Really? It's quite catchy." I had a large smirk on my face, taking in her embarrassment with great amusement.

"So's aids." She laughed walking over to the bed, climbing the steps then jumping on, making both of us bounce a bit.

"I'm really awake now." I turned to face her sparkling brown eyes.

"You went to sleep pretty early."

"How observant of you to notice." My sarcasm never failed me, "How many games did you guys play?"

"We spent about four hours in the paintball arena. All the other's left after the first round, which only lasted twenty minutes, except for David and I. He's incredibly competitive, not to mention he was pissed at me for getting paint on his fedora."

"Don't you wear helmets? Why the fuck was he wearing a fedora?"

"Oh, it was before we started and got into the proper gear, I just was really excited and kind of wanted to give him a taste of what was to come. Not to mention he wouldn't stop calling me shorty. Nobody calls me Shorty without getting a piece of my mind." She scoffed.

"Really?" I was curious about seeing this side of Emily, the tough and bold side that rarely made an appearance.

"Don't get any ideas, Campbell." She warned, but it wasn't enough.

"I'm always getting ideas, Shorty." I covered my face preparing to get a playful slap of some sort.

"I see where this is going… you are just upset you missed out on all the fun. Well, I kind of had a few red bulls and monsters too many so I still have enough energy for a couple challenges. I hope you're happy Miss Campbell, because you've just unleashed World War Three."

"Challenges?" I couldn't help but laugh at her sudden competitiveness. She looked like she meant the whole World War Three thing.

"Yes. Now get your ass dressed and meet me downstairs. I'll be setting up."

I rolled my eyes and watched her as she ran out of the room. I couldn't help but worry slightly at this complete show of happiness, but if Emily wasn't ready to crash, I'd help her distract herself, at least for a little while.

I threw on a pair of sweat pants that had a low crotch with a zippers that were like closed slits in the front going across all down my legs. They had been from this hip-hop class I took once a couple years ago… the class itself was enjoyable but I was the only white girl there and they didn't exactly enjoy my company so I never made the effort to return. I searched my bag and found a purple tank top to slip under my t-shirt before exiting the room and looking around the building for the red-head.

"Emily?" Where is that girl. I walked into the room that connected the water park and rollercoasters.

"AAAAGGH!" The small girl was coming at me, full speed ahead. At first I thought she was flying until I saw the zip-line and harnesses making her zoom through the air. "TAKE THIS CAMPBELL" That's when I finally noticed the huge gun in her arm aimed for me. Multi-colored pellets started hitting me all over, fuck, that's going to leave some marks later. I ran into a nearby tent to find some cover, tying the curtain doorway shut to by myself some time from her.

"You may want these…"

"FUCK!" I gripped my heart which was now beating rapidly. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

David was wearing full-black armor and a tinted black ski mask. He looked like he was on the fucking swat team. The only think that gave me any idea it was him, was the blue streak of dye in his black hair. He held out a walkie-talkie and paintball gun, there was no hint of innocence in his smile.

I took them from him thankfully trying out the gun on a nearby wall, satisfied with the new bright pink splatter I had made, before turning back to David who was nodding in approval.

"This isn't very fair for you to help me." I felt a tinge of guilt.

"You think Emily's playing fair? She has Katie, Panda, and Effy all hiding in the rest of the amusement park, waiting to ambush you. They are probably getting into position this very second, keeping their eyes out for your bleach blonde hair."

"Fuck. That little devil…" I let out a small laugh.

"There's gear like mine in the back, I owe Emily a whooping. She fucking owes me a new fedora."

I through on the impressive protective clothes and put the walkie-talkie earpiece in before putting on the helmet that resembled a biker's helmet, completely covering my head, with a tinted visor to slide over my face. I was surprised at the lightweight of all the shit I was wearing; I would've thought it would have had a negative effect on my movement, but not in the slightest.

"It's military grade stuff." He laughed.

"Dam, you went all out. Now how are we going to kick their asses?"

"Oh I've been planning this moment for a long time… I didn't know it was a scrawny little devious red-head that I'd be attacking but I am going to do it with all the same passion I intended." He pulled out a little map that resembled the entire factory before explaining his plan to me. He certainly had army potential; this was one hell of a battle plan, one for the charts for sure.

"Luigi, you in place?"

"Yes Mario, I've gotten into the foam pit without being seen. I can see Yoshi and Kirby sitting inside one of the booths. But uhm, Kirby is reading a magazine… not really focused on her task."

"I'm almost ready just stay put." The earpiece crackled in my ear.

David had spent about twenty minutes getting me to memorize all the stupid code-names. He insisted we use his favorite video game characters even though I had never fucking heard of them before. He was such a nerd at heart, but it made him happy so I just went along with it.

Sitting in the foam pit was getting boring, I really wanted to shoot Katie's magazine. Just seeing her pissed of face, 'I was reading that bitch! Now you've got paint all over it!" was making me more anxious to get moving. I had to shift around every now and then to avoid sinking further into the pit.

*THWAP*

I felt something slam into the back of my helmet. What the fuck? Before I could turned around I felt another shot to the front of my visor, the only thing I could see was paint and the blurry outline of what might be foam.

There was no chance in retaliating, the only way I'd be able to shoot back was if I could see and that would require removing me helmet, however, there was no way in hell removing my helmet to get a good look was worth a direct hit to the head.

An idea came to mind as I felt a few more shots hit my in random places; I tightened my grip on the gun that was still in my hand and starting pointing where ever there wasn't a foam cube in the way shooting.

I could hear a voice that only belonged to Emily close by. "Owch. You tit. You fucking got me. You're not supposed to shoot close range." I dropped the gun and tried to pull myself up out of the pit blindly. But something slammed into me and made me drop what felt like miles deeper. My helmet was being slowly slipped off my head until I was looking into brown eyes. She had blue paint all over one side of her face.

"What happened to your face?"

"You fucking shot it you twat."

"Sorry. Couldn't see." I gave a small smile showing little guilt.

"Yeah well, doesn't matter. You lose." OWCH. I felt something slam into my stomach. And looked down to see red paint dripping down my sides.

"The fuck happened to no close range shots?" The pain in my stomach was aching but I chose to ignore it temporily.

"I don't play by the rules." She thinks she got me. I laughed at her triumphant smile.

"Well it's good I don't either." I took great satisfaction watching the confusion spread across her features.

"What the fuck are you ta—"

*THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!*

"TAKE THAT SHORTY!" A familiar voice was shouting in the backround. I felt Emily's body shake on top of me as each shot reverberated off her. She didn't even notice my hand clip a large hook I had been hiding in my pocket onto the harness she had still been wearing from zip-lining. Her eyes went wide when she noticed she was being pulled into the air further and further away from me.

"What the fuck?" She was in complete shock, thinking she had won.

I pulled myself up out of the pit, which was a pit of a struggle, since the foam cubes weren't much support when it came to trying to climb higher and higher until I was all out. But a sturdy hand gripped onto my think black protective vest and pulled me the rest of the way out.

I fell back in, laughing incredibly hard, making my stomach ache even worse, when I saw Effy, Panda, and an extremely pissed looking Katie tied up in the tilt-a-whirl ride. They were all dripping wet and had splotches of paint all over. David pulled me out again and put his hands on his hips letting out an evil and dramatic laugh.

"Looks like we've done it, Mario."

*THWAP*

"WHAT THE FUCK DAVID!"

*THWAP*

"STOP IT!"

He shoved me into the pit, shot my leg, and laughed again.

"Firstly, I did it all, you just got caught, and ruined the plan, forcing me to improvise. Secondly, you broke my cover and called me David. And thirdly, nobody rules this fucking place more than I do. So I had to get rid of you.

"David, get me the fuck down!"

I looked up and saw Emily swinging back and forth, trying to fight the harness that was holding her high up.

"Shorty, you owe me a new hat, before I agree to do so."

"Hell no! This isn't over!"

"Fine, then you get to spend the night there."

"I'll buy you a fucking fedora, just fucking untie us."

"Gladly." He walked over to them and let them all free. Shooting them each once to remind them he had won, and they shouldn't even think of trying to get him now that they were untied.

"Well, there you have it, now let me down, you tosser!"

"No, no. They promised me a fedora, but you owe me a separate one entirely. So, when you're ready let me know." He threw a walkie-talkie up to her, which thankfully she caught, because otherwise the hard plastic would've fucking landed on me, and followed the others away and back upstairs.

"FUCKING LOSER!" I watched as she started swinging the air as if trying to punch him while muttering curses under her breath. One in particular set me laughing bringing her attention back to me.

"Fuck you. Get me down!"

"I quite like watching you up there."

"Perv." She smiled before spitting a wad that narrowly missed me.

"Disgusting."

I took a deep breath and got the much expended energy back enough to pull myself out. I knew I had to get myself out on the first shot otherwise I'd be stuck in there the rest of the night until I had a good sleep. I looked back up at the girl with her arms crossed, glaring back at me.

"Why don't you just buy him a fucking hat?"

"I don't want to."

"Jeez Ems, you sound like a five-year old."

"I don't care." She 'hmphed' for further effect.

"You're adorable when you do that." She tried to turn herself so she wasn't facing me anymore but no luck.

"Fuck you." The tinge of guilt was back.

"Do you want me to let you down."

"Of course I do."

"How do you ask?" Sure I was guilty, but I had no problem milking the situation, she was the one who was hanging helplessly, not me.

"Please." She grumbled.

"Please whaaat?"

"Please can you let me down."

"I can try."

"Fuck. You don't know how?" Her hands swung in rage in the air, which starting making her spin out of control.

"No, but if you just let me…" I found one of the switch boxes and started hitting random buttons. We both covered our eyes as the immensely bright lights flashed, until I hit it again to turn them back off. After watching a bunch of random things happen, I hit the right button and watched the red-head plummet far into the foam pit and watched as few fly up as her body disappeared into the depths.

I stood nervously waiting for her to emerge, biting my lip when I couldn't even hear her mutter anything. Fuck, is she okay? Should've gotten David. Shit.

I dove in head first frustrated when it didn't make me go as deep as I wanted to go. It was a huge fight to push myself as far under as I could get, I was shouting Emily's name throwing pieces out of the way until I heard chuckling nearby. A minute later I saw a couple strands of red hair among the cubes and gave it a light tug.

"OW."

I finally got to her, we were close enough to each other that none of the foam pieces were between us. Some of the foam pieces had dabs of wet paint on them, evidence of the damage we had done.

"Seems your challenge has gone to the dogs."

"I'd call David much worse than a fucking dog."

"So you admit he won?"

"I never said what the challenge was, so who's to say he won."

Where the hell did this sneaky little Fitch come from?

"And may I ask what the challenge was?"

"Nope. But I can tell you what the prize is."

"There's a prize?"

"Don't act all surprised, I wouldn't make such a fuss over winning if there wasn't a prize."

"Makes sense."

"Of course it does, everything I says makes sense."

"A clever one aren't you."

"Incredibly. Now ask me about the fucking prize."

"If you're so smart why do you need me to ask about it?"

"Because, that's what winners do. They ask questions." I was clearly pissing her off, and she knew I was enjoying it.

"The two have no connection Ems."

"Fuck you. I'm going to keep the prize myself if you don't ask."

"Aww. I don't want you to take the prize awayyyy." I made my voice deliberately baby-like.

"Okay. It's mine now."

"What? Just like that? You can't do that I won!" I wanted my prize now. Fuck her for taking it. I don't know how she did it, but now that it was gone, and I didn't even know what the fuck it is, I wanted it.

"Sorry. It's mine now."

"Well, at least tell me what it is."

"Winner gets to spend an afternoon with one other person of their choice however she'd like. No interruptions from anybody else.

"I see. So who do you choose?" An excuse to go on a date? My stomach fluttered with butterflies.

"I choose Effy." The butterflies just got fucking torched by a flame thrower, and then were stomped on by an ugly-ass troll.

"What?" I didn't bother hiding the surprise in my voice.

"You lose, so you don't get to choose. I won, and I chose Effy. All you get to do is nod, no questions."

"But-"

I felt her lips press into mine for a second before pulling away. I wanted to protest but she had other plans.

"I'm going to have a fucking black-eye because of you. Remind me to go over the rules of paint-balling with you next time we play." She winked at me before climbing out.

I just sat there thinking about what she had just said. I stayed there even after Emily shut off all the lights, and everyone was in bed, going to sleep.

Effy?

OOOOH. INTERESTING STUFF. That chapter had a lot of banter between our favorite pair… I just couldn't help myself, I hope you don't mind. I'm sorry I keep delaying the drama I have in mind, but I want to put it in at just the right moment.

WOOO. Just so you know, I've never been paintballing before, so I don't have an infatuation with it. Just it sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Cept, the bruising bit scares me.

OH YEAH! The personal comments. Here you go…

gayasawindow: hope you enjoyed their first adventure at the factory! THANKS!

Laura: I'm glad you like both my stories :D THANKS!

Scratchpost: got lots of story line plans ahead of us! THANKS!

Muffmuncher: hope you like what I've done with the factory! THANKS!

Spikie142003: I'm glad you've come to the party! THANKS!

Frostythesnowgirl3: multicolored rain was my fav part too! THANKS!

Blacksheep24: no worries, I understood, No end in sight… THANKS!

Gladbag13: wicked and fun! HELL YEAH! THANKS!

Shewritesforher: I like smiles. THANKS!

Silentlivedevil: happy you found the alternative funny THANKS!

THANKS TO THE FAVS/ALERTS/REVIEWS especially! MUCH LOVE.

-Shira