Episode 5: Cave In and Cave Out
-Last Time On Quarantine-
"If you're gonna make a catch phrase, I would avoid the word "doom." Too cliche."
Contestants come face to face with their first villain. ...A villain who totally wasn't a famous food critic pretending to be a zombie.
"Bertram's not even trying."
The teams both got tutelage from Mignon's assistant chefs Slice and Dice.
"I'm Slice! And my friend there is Dice! We can teach you how to be a chef!"
Lilly had strong disagreement with Dice on her vegetarianism.
"Dice seems to be the type that's easily offended. EEEEEEEEEEEAsily offended."
And Aria was kicked out of the confessional for the day.
"Hmmmm!"
Team Artic-Uno rocked the restaurant challenge AND satisfied the food critic better than team Zap-Dos, in a fight that wasn't even close.
"This is just... flawless really. In fact, one of the best foods I have ever tasted."
But a certain someone broke their word.
"YOU WORTHLESS MINION!"
Meanwhile, Zap-Dos contemplated on sending clumsy Stawolt or selfish Riley home. But in the end, Stawolt's clumsiness was too severe to ignore.
"The team really despises Riley's lack of teamwork, but do not trust their lives around a clumsy Golem, just to clarify."
Now Wren is without a friend going into the next challenge. ...Just what is the next challenge? Find now we start Quarantine.
-DaggerEyes the Deranged-
Most of the contestants were currently sleeping after last nights challenge. Lilly's lasagna seemed to have indulgent to the point where it made the contestants extra tired. But one Pokemon was currently awake. Grant was putting the the energy sources into his robot and controller, as well as putting a mother chip he found in the can opener into his remote, and then started to giggle.
"This time my robot will work for sure," he said right before turning it on. He could hear a wiring noise that piqued his interest. "It's working," he said to himself as he heard the noise. ...But what he saw was still a stack of coconuts. "This piece of just is useless."
Grant went up to the robot and raised his hoof behind him. He was about to kick the coconut robot to the floor when he saw Abigale and stopped himself.
"Hmmmm... the traitorous little mouse," he said to himself. "What should I do to her. Hmmmm... Well, I could always go with the obvious idea. But first, I'll need some smut to plant."
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"Well, here begins my start as a REAL evil genius," Grant said. "First task, remove Abigale. Next, remove her sister. Then, remove EVERYONE ELSE! Mwahahaha. Time for TROUBLE! MWAHAHAHAHAhuh? ...I don't care what the vegetarian says. I'm sticking with "here comes the doom."
-After Confessional-
Grant was using a widely believed stereotype that furries were generally perverted in his idea. He went over to the books and looked through them. Eventually he saw one that looked suspicious enough and ripped it out of the book. He then walked over to Abigale and planted the incriminating piece in her arms: just quickly slid it in there. Then he went back to bed and slept till everyone else was up.
Eventually, his team started to wake up. Fortunately for Grant, Abigale was still asleep when the first person to awake walked by. He caught the page out of the corner of his eye and noticed it was a picture of a relatively attractive male Pikachu under a waterfall, with a brush to his back. It wasn't true adult content, but it did still arise suspicions. Next, Jet woke up and walked over to Percy.
"Whatchya looking at bro?" he asked before seeing the page himself. He had a hard time seeing it straight.
"You don't think..." Percy started.
"She's just like every other furry out there?" Jet asked.
"It just seems... Odd," Percy stated.
Eventually, more people woke up and caught Abigale with the attractive Pikachu page in her arms. Everyone was up except Abigale and Ruce.
"I don't believe it," Lilly said. "I never would have thought of it."
"Her mind is sick and twisted," Grant added.
"It's just a male Pikachu," Yoshi said. "I don't get why that's wrong."
Eventually Abigale woke up and saw everyone in front of her. She didn't know what was going on.
"Morning team," she said.
"What the heck is wrong with you!?" Muffy yelled, grabbing the page and showing it to Abigale. "What runs through that sick mind of yours!?"
"Huh?" Abigale asked, dumbfounded by the page. "Wait a minute, I've never even seen that piece of paper."
"Then what's it doing in your arms!?" Muffy asked.
"I... I don't even know," Muffy said, trying to plead her innocence.
"Muffy, lay off her!" Yoshi said. "Even if she did see it, don't we all have things we are attracted to? Like other members of our species or even another species compatible with us?"
"You've never heard of a furry before have you?" Grant asked.
"We have many where I come from," Yoshi said.
"Then you know what they are?" Jet asked.
"They are Pokemon who like exaggerated anthropomorphic Pokemon," Yoshi responded.
"And they're huge perverts," Grant said.
"Wrong," Yoshi said. "Where I come from, that is far from true. Heck, some of my friends are furries and I've known them my whole life. Not a perverted soul in their body."
-Confessional Session(Yoshi)-
"It's a common misconception I've noticed here," Yoshi stated. "But they aren't the only ones. I'm surprised no one's accused Lilly of being a self-righteous jerk who forces her diet on others. It's very depressing seeing these stereotypes put into play."
-After Confessional-
"Sis, they're scaring me," Abigale called out.
"Wah! What's going on?" Ruce asked, springing from her bed.
"We caught your sister with THIS!" Muffy said, showing Ruce the page.
"...So?" Ruce asked.
"Your sister is really starting to weird us out!" Jet said.
"So she has a piece of paper that happens to have a buff Pikachu on it, so what?" Ruce asked.
"Ruce, I didn't have that paper in my arms when I went to sleep," Abigale stated.
"You DIDN'T?" Ruce questioned before looking at the group of Pokemon. Immediately she zoomed in on Grant.
"Did you put it there!?" Ruce yelled.
"Don't be preposterous," Grant said. "So I got angry at her, you think I'd actually go as far as to plant incriminating pictures just to spite her? You even said so yesterday that I'd eventually forgive her."
"Jet!?" Ruce asked, focusing now on the blue frog.
"Feh, what reason would I do it?" he asked. "I thought I hated you all equally."
"Muffy!" Ruce exclaimed.
"Look me in the eye and say it," Muffy said, staring Ruce down. Ruce pumped her fists up, but Muffy wasn't flinching this time.
"Then who?" Ruce asked.
"Face it, your sister is lying," Grant mentioned.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Yoshi said.
"You're awfully cool about this," Grant stated. "Are you hiding something?"
"Are YOU?" Yoshi returned. "You seem very suspicious yourself."
"I have NOTHING to hide!" Grant said.
"And yet you think I would do it?" Yoshi asked. "What reason do I have? You're the only one with a motive."
"And YOU are the only one NOT jumping to conclusions!" Grant yelled. "YOU are trying to make yourself seem innocent!"
Eventually, pandemonium ensued the Artic-Uno house. Over at the Zap-Dos house, the contestants were waking up to the noise they heard. Riley was completely bugged by the yelling.
"Ugh, what did I get myself into?" he asked himself before everyone woke up.
"Ugh, what time is it now?" Aria asked aloud.
"I guess it's time to hunt breakfast," Chauncey said out loud.
Kiki and Drenig went over to the door where their hunting gear was to prepare. Chauncey decided to go over to them to ask if he could go with them.
"Can I join you in your little hunt please?" Chauncey said simply, not even with a smile.
"Why? So you can find and harass Lilly and take offense at everything I say?" Kiki asked.
"You bring it on yourself you know," Chauncey stated. "But I wanted to help the team out."
"Ow, alright man," Drenig said. But before he opened the door outside, Kiki stopped him.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. "Having Chauncey with us..."
"Won't hurt," Drenig cut off. "It didn't last time."
"Oh alright," Kiki said before she let Drenig open the door.
But when they opened the bunker, they did not see a usual hallway. In fact, they saw cave walls everywhere, and a large pit dividing the other bunker with many pathways climbing alongside the pit and around the bunkers.
"What the heck's going on!?" Drenig yelled, waking the remaining contestants up.
In the bunker, the screen turned on again. You could see Bertram on it, but he seemed more frantic than normal.
"Where is everyone!?" Bertram cried. "You're not in the bunkers!"
Over at Team Artic-Uno, they stopped fighting to watch the screen. They had not opened their doors, so they were baffled by what he said.
"We're not?" Jet asked. "What do you mean, we're right inside WAH!"
Jet opened the door and saw the same thing Zap-Dos said. He scrambled backwards to the group after what he saw.
"Guys, guys! This is strange! Everything's different," he said.
Team Artic-Uno looked out the door. It made no sense to them where they were or how they got there.
"First someone frames my sister, now this!?" Ruce asked.
"What is the meaning of this?" Yoshi asked.
"I couldn't tell you if I knew," Bertram said.
"You mean this is NOT part of the challenge?" Jet asked.
"No!" Bertram said. "I don't know WHAT'S going on!"
Team Zap-Dos was watching the same TV. Aria had no doubt in her mind this was set up despite Bertram saying it wasn't.
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"Now that I can come back here, I have to say this challenge actually looks like it might be interesting," she said. "I'd like to know how Bertram pulled off bringing us here though. I'm sure he has his ways though."
-After Confessional-
"What does thou do then?" Dustin asked.
"You don't know how long it took just to get your signal," Bertram said. "I've been tuning the ra*** **l mor**ng try*** ** *ind **** syg***..."
Bertram was cracking up and started to become invisible until something else showed up. They could see a silhouette of a large Pokemon sitting in a chair. But not much was visible of this creature.
"Hello contestants," the mystery figure said right before you could see two glowing white eyes, each with a small blue iris. One of the eyes was bigger than the other, which made the creature even more eerie. "Mwehehehe, welcome to the prison of yours truly. I would rather not disclose my image, but you can call me Dagger Eyes. I have eyes that pierce into your very soul."
"Blah blah blah," Aria taunted.
"What a creep," Wren stated.
"You are in MY realm today," Dagger Eyes continued. "And you will stay here tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day. ...And the next day, see where I'm going?"
"We're starving!" Chauncey said.
"Yeah, man. Let us have some food," Drenig added.
"Each camp should have a nice watering hole nearby complete with fish and animals," Dagger eyes added.
"That's nice of him," Abigale at Team Artic-Uno stated.
"Can it, furfa..." Muffy started before Ruce rammed a fist right into her mouth.
"No one calls my sister that and keeps their bones intact," Ruce threatened. "NO ONE!"
"Oww! Owww! What do I do now, Yoshi?" Muffy asked.
"Try to tough it out the best you can," Yoshi said.
"She hit me pretty hard," Muffy whined.
"Well, you kind of had it coming," Yoshi stated.
"Hmmmm..." Muffy moaned.
"Now, I should warn you," Dagger Eyes began again. "Our livestock may not be as healthy as the ones back at the bunker. but they SHOULD do just fine. Have fun in MY realm. MWEHEHEHEHEHEEE!"
Dagger Eyes logged off and left the teams in a puzzled state. Kiki was especially puzzled as to what their food would be like.
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"Scrawny Miltanks and Remoraids for breakfast I can only assume," Kiki said.
-After Confessional-
"Well, I guess I'm ready to go hunting," Kiki said.
"Right, take care," Wren said, seeming a bit depressed. "I'll just be in here. I need time alone."
"What's eating away at his brain?" Riley asked Kiki. Wren immediately shot up when he said that.
"You are!" Wren shouted. "You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be on the truck home, where Stawolt wrongfully is!"
"You're STILL butt hurt over that?" Riley asked.
"You've done NOTHING this entire show, and they kept you on for two eliminations!" Wren shouted. "I tried to help you, but you REFUSE to learn about teamwork! Chew some wires, Riley." Wren was showing a lot of malice towards Kiki.
"Whatever," Riley said before looking at Kiki. "Say... Kiki? Can... Can I come too?"
"Huh? You want to help?" Kiki asked.
"Yeah... I guess so," Riley said.
"Me too!" Dustin said.
"Alright, you can all come," Kiki said. "Wren, you coming?" Wren said nothing to Kiki. "Aria, what about you?"
"I... I think I'll stay here," Aria said.
"Alright," Kiki said before her team went off to find the watering hole. This left Aria and Wren alone.
"Hey there... Uhhh Wren? Do... Do you want to talk?" Aria asked.
"I want to be left alone," Wren said.
"I know it's hard letting go of friends," Aria said. "I've had friends that moved away on me before, and I still miss them to this day. But things happen. Sometimes we have no power over fate. I know that in that truck they're keeping your friend in, he's waiting to get back home to his television to watch you. He'll be there cheering you on, hoping you win the grand prize. And some day soon, you may contact each other again. There's always hope."
"Wow," Wren started. "I've never seen this side of you."
"I guess people are used to snarky and sarcastic Aria," she replied. "Deep down, I'm not like most Malamar. I'm actually quite a decent person. If you want, I could be your friend for now, at least until the show's over and you get to see Stawolt again."
"Can we still be friends after that?" Wren asked.
"There's nothing stopping us," Aria mentioned.
"Alright. Let's be friends," Wren said with a smile.
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"It really does warm my heart when I can help someone out with a pep talk," Aria said. "Wren does seem like a nice guy at that. Yeah he gets a bit moody, but don't we all at times?"
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"I never knew Aria had a heart of gold," Wren said. "But now that she mentioned it, she is a Malamar, and Malamar are known for being evil minded. But to be fair, I guess that's not every Malamar in the world."
-After Confessional-
Over at Artic-Uno, everyone but Abigale, Ruce, and Yoshi were out at the water hole where they found their food choices. Wouldn't you know it? Scrawny primitive-miltank and primitive-remoraids.
"How did I know that Dagger Eyes would torture us with such paltry food options?" Muffy asked.
"Yeah... Kinda wishing we still had Bertram," Percy said.
"What are these?" Grant asked before playing in the water with his hands. "These slippery slimy fish. ...Hmmmm, they might come in handy later." Grant decided to catch a few with his hands, although they weren't that easy to catch, he managed to catch some and stash them in his coat.
"It's slim pickings for today," Percy sighed. "Maybe we should just settle."
"Stupid cave!" Lilly yelled. "Where are the berry bushes!?
"Obviously there AREN'T any," Jet stated. "Why not just eat what we're having?"
"You know I don't like the taste of mean, especially of such poor quality," Lilly challenged. "I'll just eat when we get out of here. In the meantime, I'm going back to the bunker to find a book to read."
"Ha! Whatever," Jet said in a snarky tone. He then looked at a cross Percy, who didn't seem to be happy of his attitude.
"I'd go to the confessional and talk about how much you have not changed," Percy stated. "But the point is pretty much moot since we've probably done it so much."
"Hey, I'm STILL learning," Jet stated.
Back at the bunker, Yoshi was talking to Ruce and Abigale about the page.
"I have to ask you something," Yoshi started. "The page you woke up with, you didn't go to bed with it?"
"No I didn't," Abigale said. "I don't even know how it got there."
"And something about the page doesn't even look right," Ruce mentioned. "It's torn with no regard. I've seen Abigale tear pictures out of drawing books, and she's always careful with them. It's a shame I don't have any to show you but..."
"I believe you guys," Yoshi said. "I have no doubt in my mind that someone planted it there. And I think I have a good idea who. ...But I can't prove it."
"And if I really tore the page out of the book," Abigale stated. "Wouldn't I have thrown the book on the floor next to my bed? That's if I didn't put it away nicely."
As they were talking, Lilly came in and went to the shelf to look for a book. Yoshi and the other were still talking.
"I have a nasty feeling that Grant did it," Yoshi stated. "But like I said, I have no proof. If only we could coax it out of him."
"I'll pulverize it out of him," Ruce said, pounding her fists together.
"No,' Yoshi suggested. "If you do that and you're wrong, you'll be making things worse."
"Well what can we do?" Abigale asked.
"What are you guys trying to do?" Lilly asked.
"We're just trying to prove Abigale's innocence," Yoshi said.
"I don't know how to help you," Lilly said. "Personally I don't know what to believe."
"But I didn't rip the page out," Abigale said as Lilly started reading one of the books on the shelf.
"Don't worry, I'll help you find the truth," Yoshi said.
-Bertram's Plan-
"Ugh, this is almost as bad as eating nothing," Riley stated as he looked over a dead primitive-miltank that Kiki just killed. Riley wanted to be away from the rest of the group, so he could talk to Kiki in private.
"Hmmmm, this will hardly do," Kiki said. "But what did you want? You didn't drag me out here just to say that."
"I guess not," Riley confessed before looking at Kiki. "What I wanted to tell you is... well... I don't know how to explain it, but... You're okay."
"Huh?" Kiki asked, dumbfounded by his response.
"Everyone else is so layed back," Riley stated. "But you're actually serious about the game. Your strength is nice for a girl, and you always do your best to kick the team into shape. You're the only person on the team I actually respect."
"Well..." Kiki started. "Your devil may care attitude needs to end. You need to stop being so selfish and start helping the team, or else you'll be gone. And flattery doesn't change that you know."
"...You're cool Kiki," Riley said.
Eventually, one of the others ran up to them. It was Dustin, and he seemed a bit frantic.
"Bertram wants us back at the bunker," he said. "Bertram found out where we are!"
"Coming," Kiki said as she followed Dustin to the bunker. Riley followed as well, but stared at Kiki the entire time.
-Confessional Session(Riley)-
"I'm not saying I'm in love with Kiki or anything like that," Riley stated. "Although we are compatible. ...I think... I just think she's a cool person. Is that wrong?"
-After Confessional-
Back at the bunkers, Bertram was on the screen. He seemed to be shaking with anticipation.
"Is everyone there?" Bertram asked. "Good. I found a stable connection to your location and I have a good idea where you are. You are in the underground resistance. It's a sister project of mine that I had GungHo start on, but we canned it once the zombie population went down. That's when a fella named Dagger Eyes took over. After it's abandonment, he made a station there and has been plotting to multiply the zombie population. But for now, he's still in the phase of thinking of a plan. But rumor has it he wishes to distribute drinks to Pokemon to turn them into zombies!"
"Right, and I'm sure the milk was just the beginning?" Aria asked.
"It's possible he is linked with the milk, but I cannot prove it," Bertram said.
"Can you tell us more about Dagger Eyes?" Wren asked.
"Unfortunately no," Bertram admitted. "I don't even know what species he is. ...At least I think it's a he."
"Awright man, let's just find his base of operations and destroy it," Drenig stated.
"Not that easy," Bertram said. "You're only in a slave camp. His base is hidden. I have no idea where it is."
Over at Artic-Uno, they had similar questions.
"Is there any way to find out?" Abigale asked.
"Well first you have to escape this place," Bertram said.
"But how?" Percy asked. "We don't know what we're doing."
"There's should be a way," Bertram started. "Word is, Dagger Eyes has minions, but they're all mind controlled. I think if you can de***oy the** *elm** *** can ********..."
"Not again!" Jet cried.
"Guess who prisoners," Dagger Eyes said as his image popped up on screen again. "I hope you've been having fun today, cause now it's time for a little... Game shall we say?"
"I don't play THOSE kind of games," Jet mentioned.
"Mwehehehe, I'm afraid you have no choice, you're my prisoners," Dagger Eyes reminded. "How about I escort you to a dark room where my Drowzee minions will beat you senseless. And the only way to get them to stop is to offer your alliance to ME! All start of a new world order."
Team Zap-Dos had some questions for this freak. Mainly Aria did.
"Right, and what is your motive for wanting to turn everyone into zombies?" Aria asked.
"Who said I wanted that?" Dagger Eyes asked. "That stupid beaver? Hah! Rumors they are. I just want to convert Pokemon so they can help me conquer the world."
"Thy allegiance is NOT to you hellion," Dustin stated. "Thy allegiance never will be to thee."
"Oh no?" Dagger Eyes challenged. "Medulla, come right here."
Eventually, you could see someone pop up onto the screen. It was a Hypno and he seemed to be inside a floating chair.
"All hail lord Dagger Eyes," he said in a monotone voice. "I am Medulla, and I am the controller of Dagger Eyes' minions. I am sending waves of minions at your bunkers, and you will be taken away to secured rooms where you will each be put in a strap and pulverized into conversion. All hail lord Dagger Eyes."
Immediately waves of Drowzees filled the bunkers and started to grab the players. The players of course didn't approve of these strangers coming in and trying to drag them to secluded rooms, but they had no choice: It was obvious they weren't supposed to fight them. ...Not yet anyway.
Eventually everyone was put into a room. Each room had one player and two Drowzee guards guarding. In Grant's room, he was just about ready to tell the guards how evil he was before they presented him with a helmet.
"This helmet will drain your willpower and mind force," one of the guards said. "And whatever is left of your willpower will be beat out of you."
"Not so fast!" Grant cried. "Don't you know who I am? I don't work for ANY villain! I am Grant the Dastardly, not Grant the... Dagger Eyes follower... dude... I am my OWN evil genius!"
"Put it on!" the Drowzee guard intimidated.
"No!" Grant yelled. But he didn't have a choice. The helmet was shoved onto his head against his will. "NO! GRANT THE DASTARDLY WORKS FOR NO ONE!"
"It's okay," a voice said in his helmet. It was Bertram's voice. He was talking to everyone who had put helmets on. "Turns out Wyler's an excellent spy too, I had him infiltrate the underground base just now and bug the helmets. They won't hurt your mind force or your willpower, but pretend they do to distract the guards."
"All hail Dagger Eyes," Grant said.
"That's better," the Drowzee guard said right before shackling his legs to the ceiling.
Other contestants were given the same treatment, including Kiki. But Kiki wasn't going to just stand by and take abuse. One of the guards was practicing his position right near Kiki.
"Hey, where do you think I should hit first?" the guard asked the other guard.
"Go for the head," the other one responded.
"Okay, now you're supposed to..." Bertram started before Kiki acted on her own.
"Good idea!" She yelled before she grabbed the baton out of the guards hands and immediately whacked him on the head as hard as she could. Immediately, she swung another blow at the other guard as well. Both guards played dead after she did this.
"Uhhhh... Kiki," Bertram said. "You were supposed to grab the Drowzee's scruff and grab the key out of the Drowzee's helmet."
"Wait, what!?" Kiki yelled as she saw one of the Drowzee guards had a key in their helmets.
Ruce, Jet and Muffy on team Artic-Uno had the same problem. They knocked the guards out before being told they needed to get a key. Everyone else seemed to have waited for orders. Percy, for starters, was just a big mass of muscle that it was a miracle the Drowzee's weren't intimidated by him.
"Hmmm, do you think if I hit his scull hard enough it would come off?" one of the guards asked.
"I wouldn't try it if I were you," Percy said.
"Okay, now you're supposed to grab the Drowzee's baton," Bertram told him.
"Got it," Percy said right before ripping the baton out of the Drowzee's hands.
"Now I want you to grab the chest scruff on the one on the right," Bertram added.
"No problem," Percy said, right before shooting his arm right at the Drowzee and grabbing his chest.
"Now take the key out of his helmet," Bertram finished.
Likewise, Percy did, then knocked the Drowzee guard into the other. They both played dead as Percy effortlessly pulled himself up and unshackled his legs. He then stood on his hands as he fell and righted himself before grabbing BOTH batons, one in one hand and the other in his tail. He figured he'd need them.
Over on Zap-Dos side, Drenig had some equal success.
"I'd hit the head," one of the guards said. "But the belly looks more fun to hit."
"Ay have a jaw and I aint afraid to use it!" Drenig threatened.
"I'd at least shut him up first," the other guard said. That was Drenig's cue to grab the baton with his mouth, transfer it to his arm and smash the Drowzee guard to the ground. With his jaw again, he grabbed the other Drowzee's scruff, grabbed the key out of his helmet, then knocked him out too. Being too heavy to pull himself up, he tried swinging himself to the shackles. After about a minute, he got enough height to grab his legs. He fell to the ground after unshackling his legs and managed to land on all his limbs. He decided to transfer the baton back to his jaw and crawl out of the room like his primitives would likely do.
But for the most part, everyone just followed orders. Artic-Uno freed whoever needed to be freed and they were on their way out. It wasn't any harder for Zap-Dos.
"Is everyone here?" Aria asked as the others got to the group.
"Wait, where's Kiki?" Wren asked.
"Kiki?" Riley asked before he ran off. Wren just watched him and felt a bit dumb doing so.
"That's not like Riley," Wren stated. "He's actually doing something?"
And sure enough, Riley actually rushed in to help Kiki.
"You... still in here?" Riley asked.
"That guard down there has the key," Kiki said.
"I know," Riley stated."You were supposed to grab it off of him."
"I guess I sort of had a "swing first, ask questions later" mentality going for me," Kiki admitted.
"Hmmm." Riley got the key and helped Kiki get down. "Alright, fine. But now we gotta go."
As everyone got together on both teams, they saw a big hallway filled with light. It just might be the way home. ...But it wouldn't be that easy.
"Awww, boo! That's no fun," Dagger Eyes called out. Everyone looked around and noticed there were loudspeakers all over the place. "I wanna make things fun. Let's have fun. MINIOOOOOONS!"
Eventually, more Drowzee guards poured out of the light. There were tons of them.
"Ha! No match for sir brave Dustalot!" Dustin said.
"Ay man, I got your back," Drenig said, moving out of a crouching position and transferring the baton in his mouth back to his hands.
Zap-Dos and Artic-Uno could see each others teams. Ruce was ready to lay the smackdown. Abigale was ready to serve her too.
"I think I can handle myself sister," Abigale said.
"I'll still help you," Ruce said.
Okay," Abigale accepted. She clutched her baton in both hands, as she wasn't that strong.
Yoshi and Muffy were teamed together as well. Muffy was ready for a fight.
"They don't look so tough!" Muffy yelled.
"I doubt they will be be," Yoshi yelled.
"ATTACK!" Muffy cried before rushing in.
"Get them minions," Dagger Eyes called out. Both teams charged into battle with their batons. Muffy immediately slammed a few in the head, being able to knock them out. Yoshi stood his ground, taking a defensive approach to the challenge. Ruce and Abigale tag teamed, able to take out some guards together. Jet used his athleticism to jump over the guards and strike them in the back. Percy made fighting them look easy. The guards couldn't get near him. Lilly wasn't much of a fighter, but she could still hold her own. And Grant? He had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Grant decided to lead a couple on a chase. He stood to taunt the guards as they came near.
"Stupid little pig," one of the guards said. "You have no idea the power of Dagger Eyes. All hail Dagger Eyes!"
"And you have no idea of MY powers!" Grant yelled. "Behold, twerps!"
Grant pulled out a couple of Remoraid that he fished out of the watering hole earlier and threw them at the guards feet. As you'd expect, they slipped on the fish and fell.
"Mwahahaha!" Grant laughed right before put his arms and baton behind his back and walked across their bodies, whistling the whole time.
Over at Zap-Dos, they were holding their own as well. Aria, of course, figured out a secret behind the guards.
"Come on, hit me," Aria said as a guard walked up to her and was "preparing" to swing at her skull. "What's wrong? Is this one of those old school cartoons where the villains don't act until the target either moves out of the way or counters? Oh right, this is a game show, you aren't actually supposed to..."
But the guard whacked her on the head. Aria had a soft head protected by several tenticles, but the batons were already pretty soft so it barely hurt anyway. Plus, he wasn't even trying.
"Owww, that hurt," Aria said sarcastically. "Play dead growlithe."
Just like that, the Drowzee fell over and fainted. In a way, Aria's kind of sucking the fun out of this entire show. Even Wren had to comment.
"You know, you could at least pretend this is all real," Wren suggested.
"Awww, alright," Aria agreed. "I've had my fun for now anyway."
Over with the others, Drenig and Dustin were teamed together, Kiki and Riley were teamed up together, and Chauncey was by himself. Being a Gallade, Chauncey was surprisingly fast and had some good leg flexibility. But right now, they didn't have the ravine separating the two teams, so of course Chauncey decided to go over to Lilly and fight beside her.
"Hi there. Me again," Chauncey stated before whacking an enemy coming at him. "I just thought I'd help you out."
"Maybe you should help your team instead," Lilly said sternly.
"Oh come on, give me a chance," Chauncey said.
"How about this," Lilly started. "If we BOTH make it to the merge, THEN I'll give you a chance."
-Confessional Session(Lilly)-
"The odds of that are slim," Lilly mentioned. "They don't really like Chauncey that much, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was the next to go on that team."
-Confessional Session(Chauncey)-
"Make it to the merge... Alright, if I must," Chauncey stated. "Lilly I shall NOT let you down."
-After Confessional-
The others had interesting fighting styles. Dustin decided to use his baton like a sword to defeat the enemies. Drenig incorporated his mouth into the mix, showing he was versatile but made sure not to actually harm the Drowzees. Kiki and Riley were both fighting with all their force, sometimes looking back at each other to see how they were doing. Riley really was improving as a team player. And after several minutes of fighting, all the Drowzee guards were knocked out. They knew it was fake, but they had fun fighting them.
"Booo! BOOOO!" Dagger Eyes cried out over the loudspeaker. "I aint kidding around now. You will have to fight ALL MY MINIONS!"
"Bring em on!" Dustin cried out.
"I'm ready for ANYTHING!" Muffy roared in excitement.
"You've only made it to the surface of the MINE!" Dagger Eyes mentioned. "Guards will be CRAWLING the place above! I do have two minions for you to fight, and they are guard captains."
Two more Drowzee guards came out of the light, and they were almost twice the size of the other guards... And almost twice the weight even. They even seemed much stronger, as if they forgot they were Drowzees. But with Dagger Eyes, he probably took their psychic powers away anyway. Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes at the two.
"Let me guess, fat=really strong belly stereotypes, right?" Aria asked. "You know that doesn't actually work."
"YAAAAAAAAH!" Muffy cried before running at one of the guard captains.
...But the guard captain put his baton in front of Muffy and stopped her from getting close. He even thrust the baton out to send her back.
"Ha! Except there's one more problem," the first guard said before flexing one of his arms.
"We're not just strong and bulky," the other started. "We're smarter than the others too." The second guard pointed at his head, probably as a way of telling def people their hidden trait.
"ALL HAIL LORD DAGGER EYES!" they shouted in unison.
All the contestants went forward to attack the guards, but one by one they were sent back. Ruce and Abigale attacked the first one, but the guard deflected their attacks and sent them both back right before snatching Abigale's baton with a free hand. Dustin and Drenig attacked the second one, but Dustin was clonked then pushed backwards. Drenig tried to bite the baton out of his arms, but the guard took Drenig for a ride and threw him back. Yoshi and Lilly ran up to the first guard, but the guard grabbed Abigale's baton and rolled it along the floor as hard as he could, rolling it straight into Lilly and Yoshi's legs, knocking them both over. Riley and Kiki tried to attack the other together and swung their batons at the head, but the guard deflected both of the batons, then dropped his own baton before grabbing Kiki and Riley's and swinging one at both of their legs. Even Percy and Jet had little luck. Jet tried to jump over the first guard, but he swung his baton upward and deflected him right before striking Percy in the face then sending some quick strikes to the gut. As for the others? Grant, Wren, Aria, and Chauncey? Too easy.
"He he he, okay I guess I spoke too soon," Aria said.
"Aim for their helmets." Eventually, another voice rang in everyone's ear. It was Bertram again. "Destroy their helmets. The two are twin brothers of each other who happen to be professional dual body-builders before Dagger took over them."
"Now that I think of it," Percy started. "I might have seen at least one of the brothers before at the gym. Maybe both."
"But they were always friendly sports before this event," Bertram said. "If you destroy their helmets, they might be able to help you."
"Bodybuilders?" Aria thought to herself. "That explains which they can swing the batons with such strenght. But it doesn't explain their skill."
"They partake in a lot of different sports on the side, including weapon sports like fencing, kendo, and of course olympic style bo-fighting. But body building's the only sport they partake in professionally. Probably because they wouldn't be able to win at those sports very often. Sure they can beat you, but you..."
"Alright, aim for the head, got it," Jet said.
-Confessional Session(Jet)-
"Blah blah blah, too long, not listening," Jet stated. "Sometimes Bertram can be such a blithering braggart."
-After Confessional-
"Rocks!" Drenig stated. "Let's throw rocks at their heads, they won't be able to deflect those as easily."
"Good idea," Ruce called out right before the teams went with Drenig's plan.
They had to act fast as the brothers were charging in. But of course with the help of the usual sure-shots: Kiki, Muffy, Drenig, and etc, they were able to slow them down. But they were still coming.
"One more should do it," Riley told Kiki. Kiki was starting to feel a bit uneasy around Riley.
"Yeeeeaaaah, one more," Kiki said. They both shot rocks at the guards head one last time, and they could see static discharge coming off of them. Eventually, one of the guards took their helmet off and smiled.
"We're free," the second guard said. Afterward, the first guard took his helmet off.
"We... we are. I can't think by myself now," the first one said.
"Those guys, they all destroyed the helmet," the second one stated.
"Who... who are all of these guys?"
"This is Team Artic-Uno and Team Zap-Dos," Bertram said through the helmets.
"Uhhhh... Bertram... You know they can't hear you, right?" Lilly asked her helmet.
"Oh, my bad," Bertram said.
"Pleased to meet fellow body builders," Percy said, immediately going up to them. "I'm Percy, and my team mates are Jet, Ruce, Abigale, Grant, Lilly, Yoshi and Muffy."
"And I am Kiki," she said going up to the two. "My team consists of Riley, Wren, Aria, Drenig, Dustin, and Chauncey."
"Pleasure," the first one said. "I'm Bertha, and next to me is Byron, my brother."
Wren could tell Aria was gonna make a comment. He shook his head to tell her not to. Aria showed a bit of sadness in her face, but nodded anyway. She was probably going to comment on the name Bertha.
"Now that we're not slaves anymore, we can tell you how to get out," Byron stated.
"What!? No! What's going on!?" Dagger Eyes yelled through the speaker.
"We should tell you that going up there is asking for trouble," Bertha mentioned. "The guards will be swarming up there."
"Instead, there's an easier way," Byron added.
"No! No easier way!" Dagger Eyes yelled again.
"Near the watering hole," Byron started. "There's a tunnel that leads to the outside world. Just go up the cliff and you will be free."
"I hope that helps," Bertha stated.
"Maybe you guys could help us along?" Abigale suggested.
"We'd like to," Byron stated. "But we gotta free the other guards."
"We'll follow you up afterwards," Bertha stated. "Good luck guys."
Byron and Bertha started removing helmets from the other guards. The contestants could hear more chants of freedom as they started walking away. It was looking good for the contestants, but once again this was all a game.
-This Is My Angry Face-
In Dagger Eye's quarters, a camera was showing Medulla by himself, but Dagger Eyes was obviously in the room.
"How could this be happening!?" Dagger Eyes asked. "You're helmets are supposed to be foolproof!"
"Foolproof mind-control helmets just aren't possible," Medulla mentioned. "But don't worry, they still haven't come across Cort and Crusher yet."
"Yes, the two I trust even more than Byron and Bertha," Dagger Eyes mentioned. But let's add another twist. What if we set a BOMB atop the ravine they are climbing up. And the contestants have to be the first to deactivate it. Too bad NEITHER team will get there."
"But what if they do and who gets there first?" Medulla asked. "Then what."
"Oh I'll keep that my little secret for now," he said. "I have MANY tricks up my metaphorical sleeves, and YOU will help."
"It will be done master," Medulla said.
The contestants each climbed up their respective ravine when there was a sign up in front with some gates. There were more gates up top. The gates were designed so that only two could enter at a time.
"Okay, what's the catch?" Ruce asked.
"There are three more sets of gates," Abigale mentioned.
Lilly observed the gates and had an idea. "Maybe we have to go in at a time," she said.
"Fine, I'll go in first," Muffy said. Muffy walked up to the gate and waited for someone to join her. "Yoshi, could you..."
But before she could answer, Grant already helped himself to the gate. "Evil ALWAYS goes first," he said.
"Ugh, not this again," Muffy said, trudging through the gate.
"Errr, you guys go," Lilly said.
"What's wrong?" Yoshi asked.
"I... My leg doesn't feel good after that bar Bertha threw at my legs," she responded.
"My legs feel fine," Yoshi stated. "Maybe I should protect you."
"That... that would be good," Lilly said.
"How about me and Percy go next," Jet asked.
"Uhhh, yes. Let's go, Jet," Percy responded. You could kind of tell he wasn't fully sincere.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"Why does that stupid frog insist on being my friend?" Percy asked. "It's started ever since the third episode after he almost got voted off. I think he's just trying to act like he's changed, but deep down... Oh wait I already said I didn't need the confessional to point that out, didn't I? *Sigh* I know it's been said a hundred times, but can you blame me or anyone else for wanting to say it again and again? We're only mortals after all."
-After Confessional-
"Okay, if you're alright with staying behind," Ruce said. "Then we'll go ahead."
After Abigale and Ruce went through the gates last, Lilly and Yoshi were left with each other.
Over at Team Zap-Dos, they were deciding who should go first.
"Well? Any ideas?" Aria asked.
"I think Kiki and I should go first," Riley said. "Kiki's the leader of the group."
Kiki shot a confused look to the air when Riley said that. She didn't know what to think.
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"Leader of the group? Me?" Kiki asked. "Why, I'm kind of flattered really. Riley actually looks up to me as a leader. Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all. Kind of glad we didn't vote him off yesterday."
-After Confessional-
"Uhhhh, sure that sounds... ummm... manageable," Kiki said.
"I think the knight boy and the greaser should go next," Aria stated. "I'm expecting there to be a challenge here and we need the strength up top."
"Makes sense," Wren said. "But maybe we need some on the bottom too."
"Good point," Aria said. "What about me and Wren going next then maybe either Dustin or Drenig going with Chauncey."
Dustin and Drenig nodded with each other. They were coming up with the plan.
"What do you think, me and Chauncey?" Dustin asked.
"Are you sure?" Drenig responded.
"I think you can hold off guards better than I can," Dustin said. "Plus, I think it might be a good idea to help Chauncey out a bit."
"Awright man," Drenig said as he nodded in agreement. This let Aria and Wren going next, then Chauncey and Dustin going next. But of course, Dagger Eyes was gonna throw another curve ball.
"Tee hee hee, time for another twist," Dagger Eyes said through loudspeakers again.
Suddenly, the gates started to beep. The contestants were starting to panic. They each got away from the gates right before the bottoms exploded. They each left huge gaps in the ravine between contestants.
"You didn't think I'd just let you leave, did you?" Dagger Eyes asked rhetorically.
"Now how are we gonna get home?" Wren asked.
"I'm sure Bertram will find a way," Aria responded.
Suddenly, some more guards came into the huge room, except these guys were Hypno. What's more, they had really long sticks, longer than the gaps in the ravine.
"Mwehehehe! Now I decided to bring out the ELITE guards," Dagger eyes cheered. "And we have their guard captains supervising them. Please welcome Cort and Crusher!"
Atop the ravine amidst the swarm of Hypno guards were two FREAKISHLY HUGE Hypno with gargantuan limbs and god-like abs. These guys would be even worse than Bertha and Byron.
"What do we do now?" Lilly asked Yoshi. Yoshi kept his baton up, trying to protect himselves.
"Wait for Bertram's orders," Yoshi responded.
"Ha! Stupid Dagger doesn't know I have access to the security cameras here," Bertram stated. "You should probably take those batons away from the guards and use them to cross the ravine."
"This seems awfully dangerous," Lilly asked. "What if we fall?"
"Don't worry, there's a net down there that will break your fall happen you do so. Cause remember this IS a gameshow," Bertram reminded.
"Right," Yoshi said before looking over at Team Zap-Dos. It looked like Drenig was ready to rumble. "Can you still fight Lilly?" Yoshi asked.
"I'll try," Lilly responded. They both brandished their batons and deflected oncoming attacks, trying to find a way to snatch the batons from the guards.
"What pitiful creatures!" Up on the top, Cort and Crusher were throwing taunts. "You think any of us are as dumb as those fat tapirs were?"
"I'd like to see ALL of you take us on," Crusher yelled.
"Aww come on Crusher, more exercise?" Cort asked.
"Come on Cort, it would be fun," Crusher responded.
"Yeah, it would be fun," Cort agreed.
"Together we ALL stand," Crusher yelled.
"ALL HAIL LORD DAGGER EYES!" they shouted in unison.
"Oh right, and did I mention I set a bomb up at the top?" Dagger asked. "Yep, tick tock tick tock and it will blow up the rest of the ravine too. You need to get seven members across to operate seven switches, but you won't make it in time."
"Just one thing after another," Yoshi said before looking back over at Drenig. Of course he was using his trusty jaw as a third arm to help grab the bars. ...How did that NOT count as using your natural abilities. ...Oh wait, it did.
"Uhhh... Drenig?" Bertram started. "You know you're breaking the rules by using your mouth, right?"
"Huh?" Drenig asked right before being knocked aside the head. He managed to recover before he fell into the net though. "Sorry bout that Bertram. I forgot no using natural weapons, and I guess my mouth counts as one."
"I'll forgive that, but just for future reference please don't," Bertram stated.
Drenig then proceeded to use the old fashioned way of doing things: out-smarting and overpowering the foe. Drenig managed to grab a stick as a Hypno guard swung it at him then he twisted his arms around to get the stick out before having a good weapon to fight the other guard with.
But Yoshi and Lilly were ahead. Lilly had deflected a baton and Yoshi found it wise to go for the baton as the guard was trying to draw back. Eventually, Yoshi managed to grab the baton and then use it to knock another guard out. A few more came, but Yoshi was able to defeat them as well. With a good amount of batons to use, Yoshi layed them out on the ravine and helped Lilly walk across them. The nice soft ends of the batons made good anchors cause they didn't roll over that much.
Up on the top of Team Artic-Uno's pathway, Muffy was a bit worried about the guards.
"I... I don't know if I can do it!" Muffy cried.
Fortunately for her, Grant had a plan. Grant still had some Rhemoraid handy from the watering hole. He threw them at the guards heads when they weren't looking and caught them off guard. Muffy was then able to grab the batons and use them to help her team mates. But still, it didn't sit entirely right with her.
"Wait, that's allowed?" Muffy asked. "Isn't that cheating?"
"Not in the rules, not against the rules," Grant responded.
Kiki didn't have much of a problem disarming the guards, she just twirled the baton she was holding and managed to rip the batons out of the guard's hands while Riley caught any batons that were in the air. And with that, they were trying to help the ones below them. Riley couldn't help but compliment her on her skills.
"I guess you trained hard at your dojo, didn't you?" Riley asked.
"Yup, that training payed off," she responded.
But Drenig was having difficulty with getting over to the other side.
"Come on Drenig," Dustin cried.
"Ay'm tryin' man!" Drenig said, deciding to crawl on the batons.
"Uhhh, heads up Dustin," Chauncey said as he pointed to some small heli-devices floating near the group. "They have TURRETS!"
The robots started shooting at Dustin and Chauncey, but fortunately they were just light plastic balls. They would sting, but they wouldn't hurt you. But the worst part? They were shooting at Drenig too.
"Oh shoot!" Drenig cried as he started to hurry up.
"We should attack the heli-bots," Dustin said. "They might deactivate if we do."
"No, ya think," Chauncey said playfully.
"I know it's obvious, but we have to try," Dustin responded.
...But the heli-bots were too far away to swing at. They needed the longer batons to do so.
Over with the other team, Team Artic-Uno was having a similar dilemma. Heli-bots were shooting at them, including Abigale and Ruce who were waiting for Lilly and Yoshi to cross the bars. Yoshi had to help Lilly along, but they both managed. Abigale was trying to swing at the Heli-Bots, but was having difficulty.
"I can't reach sis," Abigale stated. But Yoshi took the bars from before and started to swing them at the bots. The batons were long enough that he could reach the heli-bots and destroy them, stopping them from shooting at them, but there were still some over Jet and Percy. Except they weren't having any problems. Percy was big enough that he could reach the bots with just the normal baton and Jet could jump high enough to swat them out of the air. Eventually, all the heli-bots on their side were cleared.
"Ha! We make one heck of a team, huh Percy?" Jet asked.
"Uhhh yes, we do I guess," Percy responded.
At this point, Artic-Uno was on easy street. But Team Zap-Dos wasn't faring as well. Kiki and Riley made a bridge for Aria and Wren to get across, but Aria was at a point where she found it difficult to cross, especially with the heli-bots on her.
"What's wrong Aria," Wren asked. "You can do it."
"Don't you think we should get rid of these heli-bots first?" Aria asked. "And what about the other three?"
"They're coming," Wren pointed out. Sure enough, Dustin Chauncey and Drenig were all on the same platform, and had just destroyed the heli-bots. But they were far behind. Dustin and Chauncey tried their hardest to find a balance between speed and steadiness, but they just didn't have time at this point. Everyone on Artic-Uno was already on the final platform with Muffy and Grant, and they were so close to reaching the switches that would stop the so-called bomb. Right after Yoshi and Lilly crossed, seven of them went to push their switches and all the remaining heli-bots shut down and there was silence.
"Ha! We did it, we win again!" Jet said.
"That is good," Ruce said. "That means my sister will stay for one more episode."
"Not so fast Ruce," Bertram said. "No one said that challenge would decide who would go home."
"Wait, what?" Ruce asked.
-Confessional Session(Ruce)-
"Ugh, there's something even WORSE planned?" Ruce whined.
-Confessional Session(Abigale)-
"I don't want to go home just because someone is convincing the others I have a weird obsession," Abigale said. "Yes, I know we furries are often associated with such, but not me. And why does it even matter anyway?"
-After Confessional-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! YOU STUPID PRISONERS!" Dagger Eyes roared. "CORT! CRUSHER! TAKE CARE OF THEM!"
Eventually, Team Zap-Dos made it up to where the other team was. ...Right before it happened. The ground shook a short but violent rumble that sent some of the competitors to their backs. This was followed by another rumble of the same caliber. And eventually, the two teams were confronted by Cort and Crusher. These two Hypnos looked super intimidating.
"Believe it or not, these guys are twin body builders as well," Bertram stated.
"No wonder everyone looks so familiar," Percy blurted.
"Bertha and Byron are the sons of the two," Bertram added. "...Well, they're the sons of Cort. Crusher's their uncle. You get what I mean. And they're even worse than Bertha and Byron."
"I kinda figured, they're not fat," Aria stated.
"Why don't you guys all fall down right now and save us the trouble," Cort asked.
"Because we has strength, smarts, AND speed: the total package," Crusher added.
"ALL HAIL LORD DAGGER EYES!" They cried again in unison.
"Remember, throw rocks at them," Drenig said.
The two teams proceeded to do so, but this time it was ineffective. They got near the Hypno brothers heads and the rocks were immediately sent flying past the contestants. Guess the helmets didn't remove their psychic powers.
"That won't work on us," Cort stated.
"You losers are going down," Crusher said.
The two got closer to the teams and eventually the teams retaliated. But one by one they were sent backwards. Grant ran out of fish to throw so he couldn't use them on the guards, and was easily dispatched. Aria was able to bob and weave, but not for long enough. Wren and Jet tried to use their speed to their advantage, but were ultimately defeated. Even Percy and Kiki were no match for them. Eventually, the two Hypno brothers knocked both teams into the pit below, where they kept falling till they hit the net Bertram mentioned. The net eventually closed on all of them, trapping them all in the net.
"This BIIIIIIIIIITES!" Kiki yelled.
"What's going to happen to us now?" Muffy asked.
"Lilly!? Is Lilly alright?" Chaunce called out.
"Would you forget about her already!?" Riley shouted.
"Bertram? What do we do now?" Abigale asked.
"I... don't have any clue," he responded.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Lilly asked.
"Oh just roll with the punches," Aria responded.
"Wait! Chauncey and Yoshi can cut us out," Jet suggested.
"That's against the rules!" Drenig reminded.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Jet confessed.
"I think Aria's right though," Wren stated. "There's going to be something coming up soon."
"Like what?" Percy asked.
"Thy knows what could possibly come next?" Dustin asked.
"Well..." Wren started.
"I'm sure something will come up eventually," Ruce responded.
"It's no use, you are all DOOOOMED!" Grant cried. "MWAHAHAHAHA!"
"You're not helping!" Muffy yelled.
"Just sit tight, there will be something," Yoshi stated. "Maybe guards will come or we'll be hit by sleeping gas or something."
"Did someone say sleeping gas!?" Dagger Eyes called out on the loudspeakers where the nets were. "You're probably wondering how you reached my establishment in the first place. My guards infiltrated your bunkers and transfered them here after THIS HAPPENED!"
Suddenly, the area the contestants were in filled with the aforementioned sleeping gas, and the contestants were put to sleep. This whole day kept getting weirder and more and more grueling.
-Super Hypno Bros.-
Everyone woke up eventually. When they did, they noticed they were back in cells. They even had iron bars to go with the cells. The walls were dark, tiled and blue, but also padded. The contestants were scared.
"We're in individual cells, right?" Muffy asked. "No creepy furries in my cell, right?"
"I'm NOT PERVERTED!" Abigale cried.
"Ugh, this rumor's gone far enough!" Ruce yelled. "When I find out who planted that page, they're history!"
"What rumor? The one that your sister is a typical furfa..." Jet started.
"NO ONE CALLS MY SISTER THAT! NO ONE!" Ruce erupted. "WHEN I GET OUT OF THAT CELL, YOU'RE PULVERIZED!"
"Ooh, I'm so scared," Jet said sarcastically. "I thought we agreed that I didn't plant any pages."
"He was asleep when I woke up," Percy said. "Everyone was."
"That proves nothing!" Ruce yelled.
Over at Zap-Dos, they were starting to wonder what the commotion was about.
"What are they raving about?" Riley asked.
"Probably the same thing from before," Aria said. "Wait, where is everyone."
"Each of these cells has a hole in their walls," Wren mentioned. "We can talk to each other and pass stuff around."
"That's a good idea Wren," Aria stated. "But what do we have to pass around?"
"Never mind that, I heard something," Chauncey stated.
"Someone's coming," Dustin stated.
Eventually, a bunch of figures came into the jail hallway. The contestants in the middle jail cells could see two big Drowzee coming in: Bertha and Byron to be exact, and behind them were two BIGGER Hypno: Cort and Crusher. Cort and Crusher had Bertha and Byron's arms pinned behind their backs as they came in, meaning they were being jailed just like the contestants. A couple of Hypno Guards followed Cort and Crusher in.
"Hey, this side doesn't have an open cell," Crusher mentioned.
"Guess you'll just have to lump Byron in with one of the other prisoners," Cort mentioned.
"How about I take the little one and stick her in the cell next to her, then lock him in the free cell?" Crusher asked.
"Good idea, that pipsqueak is too weak to do anything," Cort said.
Crusher then shoved Byron into Abigale's cell and then proceeded to take Abigale out and put her in the next cell over, with Muffy. That wasn't gonna go well.
"ACK! No! Keep her away from me!" Muffy yelled.
Crusher laughed as he stuffed Abigale in with her.
-Confessional Session(Muffy)-
"At that point I was thinking about what sick things will that little furry do to me," Muffy stated. "But then I remembered there's nothing she can do, I'll just beat her back if she tries it."
-After Confessional-
Eventually Cort and Crusher left the room and left behind the two guards to protect the cells.
"Well... I guess we couldn't evade Dagger Eyes for long," Bertha stated.
"I wish we had our father back," Byron stated.
"Don't forget Uncle Crusher," Abigale stated.
"Huh? You already know?" Byron asked.
"Bertram told us," Aria stated.
"Who's he?" Bertha asked.
"He's been helping us along," Lilly stated. "But I'm not sure he has a plan for us now."
"Yeah, it's a shame there isn't much he can do now," Bryon said.
Eventually, the Drowzee brothers started to go to the walls of the cells and stuck their hand through the nearest cell. In their hands were a piece of paper and some rocks. The paper said "Throw the rocks at the guards, like you did to us. Pass the rocks around and act casual about it."
"But I'm sure he'll think of SOMETHING," Chauncey stated.
"Yeah, Bertram won't leave us in the dark," Drenig said upon receiving some of the rocks. He passed a few over to the next cell.
"I already said it, you are all doomed!" Grant said before receiving some rocks as well.
"As are you, idiot!" Muffy cried.
"Guess there's not much left to do," Yoshi said upon receiving the last few rocks. He then went to his cell and started throwing rocks at the guards. Over on the other side, Kiki and Riley were doing so as well. Eventually, they managed to hit the Hypno guards on the heads. ...But it didn't just destroy their helmets, it knocked them out.
"Okay, now what?" Lilly asked.
"They each have a key," Bertha mentioned. "And fortunately we stuffed wires in our pants before we got here."
"Wait, I don't remember you wearing pants," Wren stated.
"You know that pattern we have on the lower half of our body," Byron asked. "Well we are just wearing some brown pants that look like our patterns."
"We put them on before we came here so we could hide stuff," Bertha added. "Pass the wires to the person closest to the guard."
"Got it," Abigale said as she passed he wires through.
"Eww, furry germs," Grant said before he brought the wire through the wall to the next person.
Eventually Yoshi and Kiki got the wires and dragged the wires through the gate to get the key. They both hooked the wires for easier grabbing. Eventually both teams got the keys, but before they could use them, the brothers stopped them.
"Wait!" Bertha stated. "You better use that key wisely."
"What do you mean wisely?" Kiki asked.
"The keys are only useable on one gate," Byron stated. "A guard has to recharge the key before it can be used again."
"What kind of key does that!?" Aria shouted.
"It's probably for when they have groups of escapees and it stops them from escaping all at once," Bertha mentioned.
"Fair enough," Aria admitted.
"Fortunately, we are guards," Byron mentioned. "Well ex-guards, but we can still reactivate the keys."
"Good, why don't we do that all at a time?" Ruce asked.
"Because it takes a good ten minutes to do so," Bertha added.
"So choose wisely," Byron stated. "One of you is going to have to go ahead and scout."
"Maybe we should let ourselves out first," Bertha stated. "Just so there aren't any empty cells that cannot be passed to."
After a good few minutes, the brothers were free and managed to recharge the keys for the next person.
"So... Who goes first?" Byron asked.
"I nominate myself," Percy blurted out. He wanted to stop Jet from doing so.
"No offense, but you're not very stealthy," Lilly mentioned.
"I'm stealthy enough," Percy added. "Besides, I'll probably need to entice some guards."
Over at Zap-Dos, Riley was the first to speak up. Gee, I wonder what he'd have to say.
"I nominate Kiki," Riley said. "She's the strongest member on our team."
"When did YOU start becoming a suck-up?" Wren asked.
"I'm not sucking up, I am just stating the truth," Riley said. Dustin and Drenig had a few questions concerning both of them.
-Confessional Session(Dustin)-
"Wren is kind of right though," Dustin stated. "Riley's been acting weird ever since yesterday. But at the same time at least he's actually helping the team."
-Confessional Session(Drenig)-
"What's up with that Raichu kid?" Drenig asked. "He used to be a nice guy until Stawolt got kicked off, now he's being a jerk to people. I understand you're upset man, but you really need to let it go."
-After Confessional-
"I suppose I will go ahead," Kiki said, taking the key from Bertha and using it on her door.
Eventually, the two were outside their cells. They walked slowly to the exit before they said one last thing.
"Oh, by the way," Bertha stopped "A suspicious looking Vigoroth left some really useful weapons for you."
"There are two hallways," Byron added. "Team Zap-Dos goes left and team Artic-Uno should go right."
"Got it," Kiki said before they headed off.
Percy went through his hallway and there was a big rack filled with batons. All kinds of batons including one handed batons, long batons like the ones in the last challenge, the normal ones, long two-handed ones, tonfa shaped batons and even flails. Percy picked up a long two-sided baton and went on.
...But over at Kiki's, her weapon selection was a little smaller. She only had normal batons.
"Gee, thanks Wyler," Kiki said before heading off.
Eventually the two got to the end of the hallway where they found themselves in a small arena. There were spectators all around the area, but inside the arena with them were the Hypno brothers. Cort on Kiki's side, Crusher on Percy's side. And what's more, each arena was surrounded by a pit.
"So... you escaped," Cort said, wielding one of the long batons. "You stupid little bird-brained sissy!"
"Cluck you!" Kiki blurted out.
"You do realize you stepped into a trap, right?" Cort asked.
"Huh? Well I must have if you're here," Kiki said.
Over by Percy, Crusher was setting more rules.
"The fans want a show, so I'm glad you came.
"I don't care who you think you are, but your cousins want me to smash that helmet," Percy said.
"Cousins? What cousins?" Crusher asked. "All I have is my brother Cort and LORD DAGGER EYES! Who is watching both fights in private." Crusher then pointed to a big screen to Percy's left. The same screen was also on Kiki's right. They could just for a moment see each other on the screen. Until the screen showed Dagger Eyes instead.
"Ha ha ha! Smash them into the pit Cort and Crusher!" Dagger Eyes shouted. "They will never leave alive!"
And back at the cells, there were TVs showing outside the cell. Everyone could just get a glimpse of the action.
"So Kiki has to beat him?" Drenig asked.
"She can do it, right?" Dustin asked.
"Come on Percy!" Jet yelled.
Eventually, the fights started and Kiki and Percy began to fight the Hypno brothers. Kiki started out by taking a defensive position. She managed to deflect Cort's first attack and tried to counter with a strike to the gut, but Cort countered that too then managed to grab Kiki's baton afterward. With both batons, Cort swung both in a sandwich slice and hit Kiki from both sides before striking her hard to the side. He got Kiki close to the edge and there wasn't much Kiki could do about it. ...Except try to flee. But that wasn't Kiki's style, so Cort was able to overpower her and send her into the pit.
"No!" Riley shouted as he watched Kiki lose effortlessly to Cort.
"I got the key ready for one more," Bertha stated. "Who is gonna go?"
While they were deciding who to send next, Percy was fighting Crusher. Percy tried the opposite method of trying to overpower Crusher. An unwise move as Percy rushed forward to attack, Crusher stepped out of the way and used his own momentum against him. As Percy tried to stop himself after messing up, Crusher slammed his baton into Percy's back, and then kept attacking him. Percy did manage to get a one up by swinging his baton into Crusher's head. But one blow wasn't enough to destroy the helmet. Percy tried to finish him off, but his blow was easily deflected and countered. Crusher then struck Percy's gut with lots of force that was enough to send him to the edge. With one final strike, Crusher sent Percy into the pit. Percy had failed too.
"You got the key recharged?" Jet asked. "I'll go and avenge his death."
"Yeah, it's done," Byron stated before passing the key.
"If strength doesn't work, maybe speed will," Jet said before taking the key from Byron, using it and rushing off to help Percy.
Over at Zap-Dos, they were still making decisions.
"Maybe I should go next," Riley stated.
"Hello!?" Drenig blurted. "Dustin's a knight. He actually has experience wielding weapons."
"Are you joking!?" Aria cried.
"He's just a L.A.R. P. er, he can't actually fight," Wren stated.
"Thy cannot fight?" Dustin asked. "You'd be surprised how intense L.A.R. P. fights can be. They're not real, but they mimic a real sword fight better than you'd think. Send this brave knight out, and he shall NOT let you down."
"I think you can trust him," Drenig stated.
"Well..." Chauncey thought. "I guess it's worth a try. I mean, I actually don't have any experience with a sword, despite being a Gallade."
Dustin was given the key to his cell and opened it up happily. He then rushed out of the sell with his fist in the air.
"ONWARD TO VICTORY!" he shouted after he left the jail room.
Jet was next to face Crusher. Jet used his usual tactics of jumping around to evade attacks and try to look for an opening. But Crusher was having none of that. Crusher swung his baton where Jet was landing after a hop and brushed him aside with force. Jet tried to get away after recovering, Crusher smacked him again. Being such a light-footed creature, Jet was effortlessly smacked into the pit. His so-called abilities were put to doubt right now.
"Not loudmouth too," Lilly said.
"Yoshi, you're a samurai, right?" Muffy asked.
"Umm, no, not actually," Yoshi stated.
"I suppose I could go next," Muffy stated. "I need to prove myself anyway."
Muffy was given the key to her cell and she was next up.
Meanwhile, Dustin had one of the batons. But Dustin did something unexpected. He took off one of the ends of the batons so it could easier be used like a sword. Hey, no rule against it.
Dustin entered the arena and shot Cort a look dead in the face. Dustin was trying to act serious.
"Thy shall destroy you in the name of my kingdom," Dustin stated. "FOR ZAP-DOS!"
Cort immediately rushed at Dustin and gave a huge swing of the baton. But Dustin wasn't an idiot. He not only stepped out of the way, but he held sword out to deflect Cort's attack, sending Cort closer to the edge than he was. Dustin was about ready to swing again, but he was quickly trusted in the stomach by Cort. And eventually, they became neck-and-long neck.
Meanwhile, Muffy was trying her hardest to fight Crusher. She tried to find a balance between Kiki and Percy's method by using both attack AND defense. She managed to deflect Crusher's first attack and counter with a blow to the gut, but Crusher retaliated by attacking Muffy's head. This gave Crusher some more opportunities to attack. This phased Muffy greatly. She tried to counter Crusher's attacks, but Crusher eventually managed to overpower her and send her into the pit.
Back with Dustin and Cort, Dustin was putting on a pretty good show. But would it be enough. Dustin charged forward and swung at Cort. Cort deflected as Dustin expected, so Dustin ducked out of the way of a counter-attack and went to his back where he quickly swung at Cort's leg, and then jabbed him in the back, sending him over to the edge. Dustin went in for the final shot when suddenly he saw Cort turn around and swing his baton with all his might. However, Dustin managed to stop before running into the swing. He then charged back forward as the swing had passed and thrust his baton right into Cort's chest. And before anyone knew it, Cort fell into the pit. ...Dustin had won!
"Get out," Aria said to herself.
"Ha! I told ya he had the stuff!" Drenig exclaimed.
But Cort was climbing out of the pit right after throwing Kiki up. After his body was almost out, he pulled something out of the scruff of his neck. It was a big control switch. He pressed it and then... the spectators stiffened up. All of them, on both sides. They then started to take their helmets off and throw them to the arena.
"We're free!" one of the spectators cried.
"All of us are free!" another one added. Dagger eyes was watching and he was furious.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he roared. "BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO! MY MINIONS ARE ALL FREE!"
In addition to freeing the minions, he also freed the teams. They all went out to meet with Dustin and Cort. ...And included in the mix was a rather touching moment with Bertha and Cort.
"...Dad?" Bertha asked. "You... You're free, right."
"Bertha?" Cort asked as he looked up and saw his son in the distance. Bertha ran up to him with a big smile on his face.
"I can't believe we're finally free," Bertha said.
"It's all thanks to this brave Watchog," Cort mentioned. "If he hadn't thrown me in the pit, I'd never hit my head against the wall, and my helmet would still be functional."
"I bet your other son and your brother would be proud too," Bertha said.
"We should probably return the favor," Cort said before looking at Team Zap-Dos. "Well done Team Zap-Dos. You have helped us all. On my side is the way back to your bunkers. It's time you finally returned."
"Thank you," Dustin said before kneeling before Cort. Cort then went over to open the door back to Quarantine.
"Farewell brave warriors," Cort said. "And good luck back at Quarantine."
Team Zap-Dos happily marched out the door of the arena back to their home away from home. Team Artic-Uno was let out too, but not with the praise and applause that Zap-Dos got. But before they left entirely, Dagger Eyes yelled one last thing.
"NOOOOOOOOO! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" He cried. "DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER YOU WHELPS! I WILL FIND A WAY TO DESTROY YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL! WE WILL MEET AGAIN!"
-The Weakest Link-
Even though Bertram said there was no challenge, the Zap-Dos team came back to their bunkers to find a giant roast ham on their table. There was even some seasoned potatoes on the plate: enough to go around. Finally, a big bowl of soda for a beverage. It even came with plastic wine-glasses.
"To the victor go the spoils!" Dustin said proudly.
"But that was amazing Dustin," Kiki stated. "I never would have thought you'd been that good."
"When we L.A.R. P. ers sword fight, we treat it as a real fight," Dustin stated. "Eventually, we started partaking in some wicked sword fights that mimic an art form. You guys might want to come to my next convention if you wish."
"You have proven yourself to be not completely useless," Riley said.
"Have I know?" Dustin asked.
"Ya proved yourself today that's for sure friend," Drenig stated.
"Hmmmmm..." Wren said to himself while shaking his head at Riley. He still didn't like him, even if he was proving to himself he could be a team player.
-Confessional Session(Riley)-
"Maybe my team's not so bad after all," Riley stated. "Kiki is a well-trained athlete in martial arts. Then we got Dustin who's an expert sword-fighter, we got Wren who may be an unlikable brat, but he does have speed and endurance. Drenig's slow and not very athletic, but does have a pretty good throwing arm. Chauncey's obsessed, but does have heart and flexibility, and Aria... Is Aria actually good at anything besides being sarcastic? She can cook, but when's that going to prove useful in a challenge again. I can't help but wonder if she isn't just a pariah in calamari."
-After Confessional-
Artic-Uno found bowls of rice at their camp and some water. It wasn't as luxurious of a meal as Zap-Dos had, but hey it was food.
"I kind of feel sorry for the fact that you probably haven't had a decent meal yet today," Bertram said on the bunker screen. "So I provided a little consolation meal for you. It's not much, but I hope you appreciate it. I even took the liberty of putting ice in the water."
"Thank you Bertram," Lilly said right before he logged off. And the the matter at hand came.
"Stupid frog," Ruce blurted out.
"Ahem, pardon?" Jet asked.
"I know you framed my sister with that page you worthless coward," Ruce said. "And your attitude has hardly been getting better."
"I'm sorry you don't approve of me Ruce," Jet started. "But I did not plant that stupid page there. And further more..."
"Muffy, pin him down!" Ruce yelled.
"Fight your own battle," was Muffy's response. This was not sitting right with Ruce, as she knew Muffy wasn't on her side.
"I have a gut feeling you're lying," Ruce said. "Between you and Grant, I know one of you did it!"
"Prove it," Grant and Jet said in unison.
"Prove she didn't have the page before she went to bed," Jet asked.
"Because I saw her!" Ruce yelled. "She didn't have it!"
"Your word isn't proof," Jet responded.
"WHATEVER!" Ruce erupted. "Your attitude is still a nuisance."
"But you're forgetting one thing Ruce," Jet started. "I am the team's main speedster, as well as the gymnist. Good luck winning athletic events without me. Now your sister, what is she good at exactly. I mean no offense, but she's hardly an asset to the team."
"Shut up!" Ruce yelled."I have my sister backing me up here for sure. And I know I have other people following me."
Grant eventually went towards Abigale and smiled. He was trying to act friendly to her.
"Uhhh, hi?" Abigale said, not trusting Grant.
"Don't worry little furball," Grant said. "Jet will get my vote. After all, we're friends right?"
"I... I don't know," Abigale said.
"Trust me," Grant stated.
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
Grant didn't say a word in his confessional. He just slowly ran his thumb across his neck and made a slicing noise with his mouth. This was a sign that showed the viewers that Grant was lying about what he said to Abigale.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"As much as it pains me to say it," Percy started. "Jet does have a point. Abigale really hasn't done anything this entire show that's actually noteworthy. Maybe she just doesn't have what it takes. ...Sorry Ruce."
-After Confessional-
Eventually the team wound up back around the Quarantine chamber where the next elimination took place. Bertram was up there and he seemed a bit sweaty from what happened today.
"Well... What a day," Bertram said. "You survived your first encounter with Dagger Eyes, but one of you will not survive elimination."
"Just get on with it," Jet said.
Bertram slammed his cane into the ground and immediately a bolt of lightning came down right in front of Jet. Jet jumped back, startled by the sudden lightning attack.
"I decide when I get on with it you worthless slug!" Bertram yelled. "Now... I will get on with it. These people are safe for now. Yoshi! Lilly! Percy! Muffy! Ruce! Grant! You are all safe." Bertram then looked at Abigale and Jet. Abigale was shivering. You could even see her fear as her suit was zipped down, revealing her face. Jet on the other hand was cool as a cucumber: quite an upgrade from the first time he was on the chopping block.
"Jet... Welcome back to Limbo," Bertram said. "Are you scared?"
"Why, should I be?" Jet asked.
"This is your second time on the bottom," Bertram mentioned. "You SHOULD be scared. It's obvious your team doesn't like you."
"You're right, I SHOULD be scared," Jet stated. "But my team still needs me."
"I bet they need Abigale even more," Bertram said, shifting his focus to Abigale. She was too scared to say anything. And Ruce, she had her fist curled up right now. She was also giving a really nasty glare at Jet. "And the final Pokemon staying for now is..."
As the suspension grew, Abigale's fear became worse and worse, Ruce's anger at Jet grew, and Jet stayed chilled.
"The final Pokemon staying is...
...
...
...
...
...
...Jet."
"Ha! Well duh!" Jet blurted out. "Why do you think I was so confident?"
"Oh you shut your mouth!" Ruce yelled. "It's obvious you're still the same stuck up brat you were before, so you might as well drop the act, because YOU are the next person who will be leaving!"
"Sister..." Abigale started. "You... You don't have to be angry," she said.
"What!? He got you kicked out!" Ruce yelled.
"He may, he may not have," Abigale stated. "But one of us had to go eventually. ...I wish I could stay with you longer sis, but... but..." Abigale started to cry right before she ran up to Ruce and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't more help to the team."
"Don't worry," Ruce said. "Whoever did plant that page, whether it was Jet or someone else, I will see that they don't get away with what they did."
"Good luck sister," Abigale stated before she was tugged on by Bertram.
"Right, right. Chop chop already, Artic-Uno needs their beauty rest soon," Bertram stated.
"Bye Ruce," Abigale said before she walked over and into the Quarantine chamber. She kept her suit zipped down to show she was sad about leaving, but at the same time she did not pout to show she was more mature than Pudge was. The gas filled the tank, and before you knew it Abigale was gone."
"What a sweet little Marill," Bertram complimented. "It's a shame to see such a mature little creature go so soon."
Eventually, the team left the area. Jet felt the need to talk to Ruce about what happened.
"Listen, I'm sorry if I got a little unlikeable just then," he started. "But you kinda brought it on yourself with your accusations."
"Don't talk to me!" Ruce roared before she ran off to the bunker. She wanted nothing left to do with Jet.
Back at the top, Bertram was looking on. He couldn't help but laugh inside.
"Hmph, in fact she was more mature than her older guardian," Bertram stated. "Amazing how each contestant is evolving in this game as one-by-one they disappear. Fourteen are left, and tomorrow it will be *ahem* a very unlucky number. Until next time, we say goodbye for now."
-Next Time On Quarantine-
"Phase one COMPLETED!"
Contestants are asked to beautify their bunker with a makeover.
"Awww, an home-deco challenge! That sounds boring!"
...And to install a brand new cannon defense system.
"Boy howdy! That's more like it!"
Afterwards, two contestants must enter the enemy bunkers and retrieve master plans.
"Each bunker has a new trapdoor installed to the defense system. You can use them to escape."
But upon their escape, they could be shot down by friend and/or foe.
"Oh no, I hit her!"
All this and more in the next chapter of Quarantine: Renovation Revelation.