Chapter 10: Ingredients To Success
-Last Time On Quarantine-
"Eeeeee! It works!" Grant shouted. "It finally works!"
Contestants got another take-over from Dagger Eye's minions.
"Ha! I know one way to put them in their place."
Pandora made the contestants unload all their complaints about the other contestants, and some were REALLY feeling the burn.
"...Sometimes I could swear I still have a mark from that."
The flames began and the sparks flew.
"I COULD HAVE DIED THEN, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS NO ONE GOT HURT!?"
Later, they were all put in a maze they had to navigate. And some competitors broke out in a fit.
"I can't do it. Muffy don't remember everything contestants said."
But in a mad dash to the finish, competitors found a way out.
"We did it guys! We won!"
Artic-Uno WOULD have won, except one of the contestants ended up cheating, disqualifying the team from the challenge.
"He he he, oops."
Grant played his last trump card of the game by tricking fellow competitor Ruce into rage.
"I AM GOING TO PULVERIZE YOU!"
Shockingly, Grant's eeeeeeevil plan worked, and Ruce was sent home for her dangerous attitude.
"Let go of me! That pig should be here!"
It's the halfway point of the series. What was once eighteen contestants is now merely ten. But it is still ANYONE'S game to win. ...Well except for Dylon, Pudge, Stawolt, Abigale, Yoshi, Chauncey, Riley or Ruce's game, but other than those losers it is STILL anyone's game.
-Like a Phoenix, They Die and Are Reborn-
The Zap-Dos team was enjoying their nice relaxing hot tub. ...Or at least were trying to. But the noise generating over at Artic-Uno was really disrupting their time.
"Ugh, would it have killed Bertram to set the hot tub somewhere more quiet?" Aria complained.
"What is going on over there?" Kiki asked. "It sounds like one of those awful horror movies?"
"You STUPID WORTHLESS PIG! YOU GOT MY SISTER ELIMINATED!" This could be heard way on the other side.
"Ay, sounds like a party," Drenig stated.
"A party?" Wren asked. "That sounds pleasant to you?"
"Wren, I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic," Aria mentioned.
"Oh, sorry about that," Wren said.
"Too bad the cups Dizzy uses aren't chalice shaped," Dustin stated. "Oh well, we have to think about our position as a team. If you've seen reality shows before, you know there's eventually going to be a merge. Will we still be friends then?"
"Of course, Dustin," Drenig stated. "We're a team now, and we always will be."
"Though I think it might be fair to befriend members of the other team too," Kiki stated.
"True, maybe the other team has friendly faces as well," Wren suggested.
"I really would like to give that Lilly chick a visit," Aria said.
"I AM BEING PERFECTLY RATIONAL!" Another yell from the other bunker errupted.
"I would really rather not," Kiki stated. "You just want to pick fights with her."
"No... honest," Aria said.
"Right, you want revenge for a past comment, don't you?" Kiki stated.
"Wait, what?" Wren mentioned.
"What do you think she meant by yesterday's comment about Drenig being swayed by that vegetarian?" Kiki asked.
"I... I don't know," Wren said. "When did that happen Aria?"
"Uhhh... why not just change the subject," Aria said. "It's something I'd rather not talk about."
"...Alright then," Wren said. "Well, in any case I hope we stay a team."
"To Team Zap-Dos!" Aria cheered. "May we always be friends."
"...I'm still not sure I trust you around Lilly," Kiki said.
"I... I just wanted to apologize for a past comment," Aria stated. "That's really all I wanted."
"Okay," Kiki said. "But I'll hold you accountable for it."
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"Ugh, I hope I can get rid of that stupid vegan girl as soon as possible," Aria said. "I do not feel comfortable around her or her vegan logic. You know how many members of my gospel group are vegetarians? That's right, zero. It's unhealthy to eat that way, you don't get needed protein."
-After Confessional-
The contestants had a hard time sleeping, as there was much noise outside, but they found their rest eventually. Eventually, morning struck, and at Team Artic-Uno, Grant was trying to reassemble his robot.
"Stupid Ruce," Grant said. "I'm so glad she's gone."
Grant looked at the other contestants and noticed they were all sleeping. Grant walked away outside of the group. He wanted time to talk to himself.
"Now... who to take out next?" Grant asked. "Who is the biggest threat on the team? Hmmm... What to do what to do. ...Oh well, I'll figure things out. Phase 3 part one begins now. Ha! No one will get the money."
Grant eventually clutched his head and then turned around. He started to mutter more nonsense.
"No. Grant very sorry for what he did," Grant said. "It was the evil idea's that swayed me to do the things I've done." He then switched places again. "But now I am at the power of evil, and I can do what I want with it. ...Oh what does that creature say? From Master of the Hoops, he starts talking to himself and starts switching personalities from the evil avaricious being to a cowardly manipulative one? I think I'm way off but I wish I could..."
Suddenly, Grant stopped when he heard a loud trumpet going off. He looked to the source of the noise and saw Bertram at the top near the Quarantine Chamber area. He was playing a trumpet, and eventually he had Betty join in on another trumpet. Then Mignon joined in on a third trumpet. It woke up all the contestants, and they rushed outside to see the show Bertram was putting on.
But eventually, the contestants eyes strayed away from Bertram, and saw the picture. Betty and Mignon were both playing atop bastions similar to the ones on Zap-Dos' bunkers, except there were red and orange flags instead of yellow and black ones. And below, they could see the wall had roof shingles and a big glass mosaic on it like the Artic-Uno bunkers, except the mosaic had a Moltres on it instead of Articuno. And between the bastions and below the mosaic was a door, a door where a wall used to be. The contestants looked around and noticed the wall separating them was gone. They could see the other team. The contestants figured out what was going on, but Bertram had to announce it anyway.
"Morning ex-teams," Bertram said to the remaining ten. "If you haven't noticed, the wall is now gone. Do you know what that means?"
"That we're merging?" Lilly asked.
"Hey, that was my line," Bertram said. "But yes, we are merging today. So in honor of that..."
Bertram pointed to a bunch of Gurdurs near the bunkers. Ones on Artic-Uno's side were covering up the Artic-Uno windows, while the ones over at Zap-Dos' side were taking the flags down.
"We are destroying all evidence of Team Artic-Uno and Team Zap-Dos. Fellow subjects... Welcome all to Team Mol-Tres!"
Bertram watched as the contestants stood there. Apparently he was expecting an applause.
"Well? Don't just stand there, go inside and see what the bunker has in store for you," Bertram said.
And so the contestants did. When they got inside, they saw all sorts of cool things, including beds from the Zap-Dos bunker, but the walls of the Artic-Uno bunker. there were several tables, a box of sports goods, some board games which no one actually aquired as a prize, and bookshelves stocked with books. And of course, a screen above the door which Bertram was already on.
"Pretty nice, huh?" Bertram said. "Yeah, the other two bunkers will be converted into a bathroom and a kitchen respectively. Now you can cook the food you catch in many new ways. Plus, a fridge for storing your food items, which means you can make a big haul one day, and have more play time the next few days. Any questions?"
"Uhh, yeah I got one," Jet said. "Why are there ten contestants but only nine beds?"
"Isn't it obvious enough?" Lilly asked. "By the end of the day, there are only going to be nine of us. That tenth competitor won't get a bed to themselves."
"STOP BACK-SEAT HOSTING!" Bertram yelled. "But that is precise. You will ALL have to play one more challenge before you can truly be a part of Team Mol-Tres."
"Okay, what's the sitch now?" Aria asked.
"All in good time my friends," Bertram stated. "In the mean time, get to know your new team members. Also you still have hunting to do. Thank you."
Bertram immediately left the contestants in the dark. Now was a good chance for everyone to get to know each other.
"Well, time to meet my new team," Wren said to himself.
"Uhhh... hello," Percy said to the group. "So... welcome to team Mol-Tes I guess. I am Percy. I guess I've been the bran of the group since day one."
"Oh, don't even remind me of day one," Kiki stated. "You're the one who basically just trolled us in the first challenge."
"You STILL remember that?" Drenig asked.
"I... just wanted to give you guys a chance," Percy said.
"Well Muffy didn't enjoy her mud bath either," Muffy said. "They say it's supposed to be relaxing to bathe in mud, but that was anything but."
"...Does she always talk in third person?" Aria asked.
"That's always been a habit of mine as a kid," Muffy said. "Especially one day at school when I was a wee Snubble, Muffy got a part as a character who talked in third person. Muffy really had fun playing that character, so I often find myself talking in third person a lot. ...It's the one good memory I have from school."
"Sad sad pitiful creature," Aria stated.
"Aria, knock it off!" Wren shouted.
"Oh, sorry. I meant that's more good memories than I had at school," Aria mentioned. "You can talk in third person all you want."
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"I'm begining to doubt whether making friends with Aria was a good thing," Wren said. "She's a nice person deep down, but she thinks with her lips. Everything that urks her, she just has to let people know. I wish she would stop herself from saying such insulting things."
-After Confessional-
"Ooh hoo hoo, I like you," Grant said. "Call me Grant the Dastardly. And you might be, beautiful Malamar?"
"Uhhh, my name is... Aria," she responded.
"Ooh and such heavenly voice as well," Grant said. "Care to rule the world with me?"
"...Is he still here?" Kiki asked. "Am I really seeing this right? The dude cost you a challenge yesterday, and you forgave him?"
"We didn't forgive him," Lilly started. "It's just that we felt our lives were at stake if we kept Ruce in the competition."
"Oh boy, you should have seen that face of hers," Jet stated. "She was like "I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who dare poison and betray my sister!"
"Citric Fantasy," Aria blurted out. "Same movie that brought you "English: Do you speak it?"
"Wait, what?" Jet asked.
"...No one's seen Citric Fantasy?" Aria asked.
"Ay man, I've seen it," Drenig said. "That's one of my favorites!"
"Do you think I might like that movie?" Wren asked.
"Ehh... it's a bit mature to be honest," Drenig said.
"Hey! You haven't even said a word," Muffy said to Dustin.
"Thy has no reason to speak if thou is not called upon," Dustin said. "My name is Dustin."
"Great," Muffy said. "You and Grant can share L.A.R. P. ing tips."
"Don't lump me and that fool together!" Grant shouted.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's STILL more normal than you," Kiki said.
"Can we go hunting now?" Wren asked. "I'm getting hungry."
"Ooh, that's calling my name there," Jet said. "Percy can stay here though, he can afford to not eat for a..."
Eventually, Percy wrapped his arm around Jet and then put him into a submission lock. He told Jet bad things would happen if he made any comments, and now bad things were happening.
"Okay! Okay! You can come!" Jet cried.
"Good. Glad I have your permission," Percy said, releasing Jet.
Some contestants decided to hunt, while others went to pick berries. Drenig decided to follow Lilly and Muffy along on their berry picking adventure. Dustin tagged along with him.
"I think I'm getting the hang of pescitarianism," Drenig told Lilly. "I've been trying to limit the meat I cosume to white meat."
"That's cool, but I never told you to do that for me," Lilly said. "I'm not like meat-eaters, I could care less what other people's diets are as long as they don't shove their diets in my face."
-Confessional Session(Lilly)-
"That's a common stereotype associated with vegetarians is that we want to force our diets on others," Lilly stated. "While it's true for some vegetarians, it's ALSO true for some meat eaters as well. Can you imagine all the Tauros I have to put up with at home over eating meat. And if I hear the tasty murder joke one more time... Not sure what I'd do, but but it wouldn't hurt anyone. Still wouldn't be pleasant."
-After Confessional-
"Eh, I wanted to do it," Drenig said. "I felt sorry for my food, and it got too much. Plus now that I think of it, Aria's ranting about it did make me a bit annoyed.."
"Huh, seems to me some meat eaters have an easier time converting people to a plant based diet than we vegetarians can," Lilly said. "Very strange."
"Ha ha ha ha, that was funny," Muffy said.
"What, did I say something wrong?" Lilly asked.
"No, it was that bit of sarcasm at the end," Muffy stated.
"I found that funny too," Dustin said. "You know, you have a better handle of sarcasm than Aria does."
"I've only known you for a few minutes, and I honestly already enjoy being around you more than her," Drenig said. "But then again... maybe we never bonded."
What they didn't know was that Aria was listening in on them. She decided to go berry picking as well, and brought Wren with her. She could hear the things they said about her.
"Yeah, I got no problems with you," Dustin said.
"I don't mean to be rude," Lilly said. "But Aria seemed to have a pretty loud mouth, and her views are very skewed." This made Aria open her beak.
"Oh, she can't be all bad," Muffy said.
"You even met her?" Lilly asked.
"Not much yet," Muffy said. "We haven't spoken to each other, but she made a comment about me earlier. Muffy found it insulting, but... Muffy isn't perfect either."
"She's ALWAYS opening that big mouth of hers, man!" Drenig shouted. "She has no better judgement! She doesn't know when to quit!"
"Okay, maybe she is all bad," Muffy said. "I haven't seen her act pleasent yet myself."
"And she ruins the game!" Dustin yelled. "We get fun challenges and Aria picks them apart all the time."
"At first it wasn't a big deal," Drenig said. "But now I'm starting to find it annoying too. I wonder why I didn't notice I was annoyed by it when I voted Riley off. Maybe because it didn't get to the point where I realized I was annoyed. But I don't know how that works. But sometimes, I wish I voted for her instead."
Aria really started to feel a bit upset with what they were saying. Eventually, Wren walked up to her. Wren was oblivious to the conversation the others were having.
"Hey, Aria! Are you alright?" Wren asked.
"Huh?" Aria woke up and looked at Wren. "I don't even know anymore."
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"What is this Lilly character, is she some kind of succubus or something?" Aria asked. "My former team mates who I THOUGHT were friends all of a sudden don't like me after they meet Lilly. Ugh, now I'm really starting to hate her."
-After Confessional-
Not much happened over at the hunting grounds. Percy kept Jet's mouth shut and Kiki was helping them on their hunting trip. Grant just watched and said stereotypical comments about being evil and what-have-you. But soon, the game changer would be revealed.
-Mismatched Pairs-
When Aria and Wren were done, Aria decided to make herself useful and head straight to the kitchen where she started to prepare for a cooking session. She looked around the bunker and saw they stripped it of all the castle theme while they were gone. The only thing that remained was the trapdoor to the cannons. Wren was being a friend by helping her prepare. ...But deep down, Aria felt sad.
"...Am I unpleasant?" Aria asked.
"You can be at times," Wren said. "You really need to learn to control your words."
"But people didn't start disliking me till now," Aria stated. "I think that worthless Lilly is manipulating Dustin and Drenig."
"No she's not!" Wren shouted. "Maybe it's because they never thought hard about it till now."
"Yeah, well I don't know about you, but I don't trust her," Aria said.
"Why, what did she really do to you?" Wren asked. Aria stopped for a moment.
"She said some very nasty things about me as a meat eater," Aria said.
"What do you mean?" Wren asked.
"She insulted meat eaters as if we are like the biggest form of scum ever," Aria said.
"When did this happen?" Wren asked.
"It happened when you went away on your Jhotan adventure," Aria mentioned. "She came here, and she said the most insulting things I could possibly imagine! She thinks all meat eaters are scum and wants them destroyed!"
"Wait, why do Drenig and Dustin trust her then?" Wren asked.
"You fool, Drenig's only pretending to be friendly towards her, and Dustin is just playing along," Aria said. "At least I hope that's the case."
"But what about Kiki?" Wren asked. "She didn't seem to approve of you talking to her."
"Wait a minute... Psychic control, it has to be," Aria mentioned.
"How is that even possible even if it wasn't against the rules?" Wren asked.
"I don't even know anymore," Aria said. "Maybe they just don't see what I dislike about her so much."
"I'm not even sure what to think," Wren said.
"And I bet they're all going to vote me out soon," Aria said. "I really would like money for my Gospel group. I mean we're in no danger of disbanding, we get by and all, but an income boost would help our cause."
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"Now that I think of it, we all have causes we're fighting for," Wren stated. "I don't want the prize for anything in particular, but I do want it for whatever I might want, like video games, DVDs, posters, Arcade trips, swimming pools, and also a good sum of money stashed away for emergencies like if our house sets on fire or a family member needs surgery or something."
-After Confessional-
Eventually, everyone arrived back at the bunkers, and Aria was able to make the new team breakfast. But it did not take long for Bertram to arrive on the scene.
"Hello again, subjects," Bertram said as he popped up on the screen.
"You're STILL doing the whole "Subjects" thing?" Kiki asked.
"Quite so," Bertram said. "Now, order of business: Savil has run out of potion and needs YOU to get potion ingredients, including Big Root, Reviver Seed and the Red Herbs which made the potion. But this time there is one ingredient I didn't mention before, and only Savil knows what that ingredient is, as she has bags of it. However, those pesky Pachirisu struck again and stole her last bag. So you will EACH be recovering those."
"So just do the same things we did on days two and three? Right," Aria blurted.
"Not quite," Bertram said. "This time we will be infiltrating a special keep run by, you guessed it, Dagger Eyes. This keep is filled with many deadly traps that you must traverse through to get ingredients."
"You don't actually mean "deadly" do you?" Percy asked.
"Alright, nothing that will actually kill you, but it will be challenging," Bertram stated. "There will be four rooms, each with Red Herbs, a Big Root, a Reviver Seed, and Savil's special bag of tricks guarded by those pesky Pachirisu."
"Is there a catch?" Lilly asked.
"The catch! Of course there is," Bertram said. "The doors to other areas require a certain amount of Pokemon to open, and they also scan these Pokemon for the ones who have the ingredients. The ones holding ingredients may not pass, and will have to come back after deactivating their trap system."
"Where does Bertram come up with all of this?" Aria blurted out.
"Unfortunately, you will ALL be divided into teams of two," Bertram said.
"I call Lilly!" Muffy cried.
"I'm sticking with Dustin," Drenig stated.
"Upupup, no choosing," Bertram said. "You will all be randomly assigned a partner from your old rival team. Which means Muffy will NOT be assigned with Lilly, and Dustin will NOT be assigned with Drenig."
"Wait, what!?" Muffy cried.
"You mean we get paired up with someone who was on the opposite team as us?" Dustin asked.
"...Did I stutter?" Bertram asked. "Anyway, the teams who get ingredients will be safe for today. As for the two who DON'T get ingredients? Well we will get to that later. First, I will be waiting outside for you. When you're ready, come outside and we will get the teams situated. Until then, toddles."
"Well, I guess this will be a chance for us to meet each other," Percy stated. "To whoever gets Grant or Jet, good luck putting up with them."
Jet immediately walked up to Percy and then jumped up in the air. He came down with his fist to knock him on the head.
"Hey!" Percy shouted at Jet.
"You can hurt me for making snide comments, so why can't I do the same?" Jet asked.
"He's got a point you know," Aria mentioned.
"Hmmmm... I suppose I was being a bit hypocritical there," Percy said to himself.
Eventually, everyone was done inside and met Bertram outside. Outside, there was a bunch of pegs in boxes, all of which were the same color with a red stripe on them, but one of the boxes was blue and the other was yellow.
"So, we ready to start the trek into the keep of ingredients?" Bertram asked.
"Ready, willing, and able to do so," Lilly said.
"As you can see, there are two boxes with five pegs each," Bertram pointed out. "I want the old teams to stand at their colored box, choose a peg, and hold onto it until I tell you all to pull the pegs out. Are we clear?"
"Hmmm, surprises ey?" Grant asked. "That sounds fun." Grant immediately ran up to a random peg in the blue box. Everyone else did so as well.
"Green, purple, orange, brown and white," Bertram blurted out. "Two of you will get one of these colors. Your team mate will be the one with the matching color. So eager little pig, pull out your peg."
"I got purple," Grant said.
"Very good, now how about Wren? Would you like to?" Bertram asked.
"Sure," Wren said simply before pulling his peg out. "Brown!"
"Now let's keep going," Bertram said. "Muffy, you go next."
"Muffy got brown too," Muffy said.
"Ah! Lucky pick," Bertram said with a smile. "Go over to your team mate for this challenge."
Muffy and Wren went over to each other. Muffy immediately held a paw out. Wren decided to shake her paw.
"Hi there Muffy," Wren said. "I hope we work well as a team."
Muffy didn't say anything. She did, however, give off an encouraging smile.
"Next!" Bertram shouted. "Aria, why don't you go?"
"I got a green peg," Aria said.
"Percy? Would you like to go next?" Bertram asked.
"Sure," Percy said before pulling his peg out. "My peg is orange."
"Very well. Kiki?" Bertram asked.
"Please don't be purple, please don't be purple," Kiki muttered under her breath before pulling out a peg. ...What do you know, it was purple.
"What's wrong?" Bertram said. "You're not telling me what the color is."
"It's... purple..." Kiki moaned.
"Great, we have our second team then," Bertram said. "Please join with Grant."
Grant and Kiki went over to each other. Grant seemed indifferent about Kiki.
"Let's just get this over with," Kiki said.
"Aww, what's the matter?" Grant asked. "You don't want to work with me?"
"Why would I want to work with you?" Kiki asked. "YOU are not supposed to be here! YOU were supposed to be sent home yesterday! YOU were caught CHEATING and cost our team an honorable victory!"
"I'm sorry, that was only a mistake," Grant said. "I didn't cheat on purpose."
"Why don't I believe you?" Kiki asked.
"Hello? Moving on?" Bertram asked. "Jet! Peg time!"
"Oh boy, let's see who will have the opportunity to work with the Jet frog?" Jet asked as he pulled a peg out. "Ha! It's white."
"Wait, what?" Aria asked before looking at the team. She just realized something: The only one who has not pulled a peg yet was Lilly, and the only color not pulled yet is green, which was the color Aria picked. "Noooooooo!"
"Something wrong, Aria?" Bertram asked.
Eventually, Lilly picked her peg out. Sure enough it was green.
"Bleck. I have to team up with Aria," Lilly stated.
"Noooo..." Aria whined as she walked over to Lilly. Neither of the two were happy.
"Of course it was not your turn to pull a peg yet, but whatever," Bertram continued.
"I knew it, she still wants to antagonize Lilly," Kiki told Grant.
"Ooh, sounds evil," Grant said.
"How did I know you would say that?" Kiki asked. "And I barely even know you."
"Hey Bertram, can we switch?" Grant asked.
"Yeah, you can take Aria if you want," Lilly said.
"Beggars can't be choosers Grant," Bertram said. "Now only an orange peg and a white peg are left."
"What do you say, on the count of three?" Drenig asked Dustin.
"Agreed," Dustin said to Drenig. Eventually, they both pulled their pegs out. Drenig got white, and Dustin got orange.
"So that's settled, Percy and Dustin are a team, and Jet and Drenig are a team," Bertram said.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"Hmmm, Jet and Drenig together," Percy said. "This is going to be very interesting to watch."
-After Confessional-
Drenig walked over to Jet, his partner for this challenge, and held his claw out. He wanted to seem friendly, not knowing much of who he was.
"Ay man, good to work with ya," Drenig said. Jet was eyeballing him unpleasantly.
"YOU!" Jet shouted. "You're the one that stood me up in the second challenge!"
"Uhhh, pardon man?" Drenig asked.
"Oh you already forgot, did you?" Jet asked. "I was the best thrower on team Artic-Uno."
"...My tail," Percy blurted out as Dustin walked over to him.
"And then YOU and your stupid little golden throwing claw made me look like a joke!" Jet cried.
"Were you taking parabola into account?" Drenig questioned.
"Para-what now?" Jet asked.
"You know, parabola," Drenig mentioned. "It's the law of nothing flying forever, and that everything goes in an arc. I find it's wise to aim higher than your target."
"What!? That's stupid!" Jet said.
"No, it actually makes sense," Percy said. "If everything flies in an arc, it will fall into your target if you aim high."
"What nonsense, you aim AT the target!" Jet cried.
Dustin felt kind of ignored. He was Percy's team mate, and he wanted Percy to know.
"Thou does not seem to notice thee," Dustin said to him.
"Oh, hi there and you are?" Percy asked, finally paying attention to Dustin.
"Thy name is Dustin. ...Sir Dustin," he replied. Percy was unsure of what to make of him.
"Huh... hello? ...Sir Dustin?" Percy was REALLY unsure what to make of him.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"Well? Was I right about the Jet slash Drenig encounter?" Percy asked. "Now... about that Dustin character, he... dresses up like a knight and... talks in a medieval way? No offense, but... he's kind of creepy. ...But then again, I've been around that Grant kid, and hopefully he cannot be THAT bad."
-After Confessional-
"Okay, do we have all our teams ready?" Bertram asked. "Good, it looks like we have Wren and Muffy, Kiki and Grant, Aria and Lilly, Dustin and Percy, and Drenig and Jet. Everybody ready?"
"Can we PLEASE do over?" Aria asked.
"Yeah, I'll trade with anyone," Jet said.
"What part of beggars can NOT be choosers do you not get?" Bertram asked. "You get the team mate you get, no cry-babies!"
"Drenig is just going to hold me back!" Jet cried. "Why should I be stuck with a dead weight?"
"Dead weight?" Drenig asked. "I ended up hitting a target before you, and you've held a grudge for that?"
"Apparently Jet isn't used to losing," Percy said.
"And that wasn't the end," Jet said. "I trained the hardest I could to get good at mechs, and once again you make me look stupid by beating me at real-life Rock Em' Sock Em' Golurks!"
"I want to say I'm sorry, but I'm not," Drenig said, feeling a bit peeved.
"Do you know how many times we tried kicking him off?" Percy asked Drenig.
"Thy wouldn't be surprised," Dustin said.
"...That's gonna take some getting used to," Percy said.
"Wait, do you have a problem?" Drenig asked.
"No... no I'm fine," Percy lied.
-Confessional Session(Drenig)-
"No one in this competition seems open to Dustin being a L.A.R. P. er," Drenig said. "It's not like it hurts anyone that he talks like a knight. I think people just don't accept what isn't normal, man. But then again, is saying "man" and saying "I" with an accent normal? Ay, no one complains about that man."
-After Confessional-
"Muffy has no problems with her partner," Muffy said.
"Awww, thanks Muffy," Wren said. "I kind of like you too."
"You mind if Muffy talks in third person?" Muffy asked.
"No, I think it's kind of charming," Wren said.
"Yaaaaay!" Muffy shouted.
"...Yeah, I'd avoid shouting like that," Wren said.
"Oh, sorry," Muffy said. "Muffy has problems with her voice."
-Confessional Session(Muffy)-
"EEEEEK! Wren is such a nice kid," Muffy said. "I... I wonder if me and him are compatible. Oh no, I didn't come here for love either. I came here at first to raise money for a life time supply of spiked cuffs and tough outfits, but now I want to start my own anti-bullying campaign. I guess Yoshi really did stay in my mind."
-After Confessional-
"Okay, now that we are FINALLY done talking, let's go find the base," Bertram said. "Follow me, I know where it is."
The contestants followed Bertram all the way to the keep where they were keeping the ingredients. But little did they know, someone was waiting for them there.
-Red Alert-
"Well, there it is," Bertram said, eventually bringing the group to what appeared to be a nicely sized warehouse.
"...Okay," Lilly said.
"Inside are each of the four ingredients," Bertram stated.
"Ya don't say!" Aria mentioned.
"Unfortunately none of the doors to other ingredients..." Bertram tried to say something but was cut off.
"Just tell us what to watch out for," Jet blurted.
"...Dragon guards," Bertram stated.
"Wait... Dragons?" Percy asked.
"Yes, part of Gola's army," Bertram said.
"Isn't he that angry Dragonite?" Wren asked.
"You will ALSO have to deal with traps," Bertram stated, completely ignoring Wren. "The first room is the easiest to infiltrate and has five halls of equal length leading to it, each hall has a few guards in them. And the end of the first hall will be some pendulums you must avoid in order to get to the Red Herb. The losing teams must stand on buttons that open up the next room, which has only four halls but more guards. The Reviver Seed is guarded by steep conveyor belts. Losing teams step on the buttons, next room, three corridors, even more guards, and some spinning drums which will slow you down and what have you. Final room has two corridors but the most guards, and the final obstacle are robots. ...Robots controlled by Gola himself. In each hall are toy guns. You must use the guns to shoot down guards. If you are shot, your gun becomes defunct. You may not clear a hall without a working gun. And after that, we will have two losers. THEIR fate will come later."
"Wait, we won't BOTH get eliminated if we lose, will we?" Muffy asked.
"You may or may not," Bertram said. "You just have to wait and see. However, it just might be a double elimination, so play the game wisely."
"Ugh, that is terrible," Aria said. "You just like torturing us, don't you?"
"What part of wait and see do you not get?" Bertram asked. "Anyway, those ingredients will NOT gather themselves, so chop-chop!"
"ONWARD TO VICTORYYYYYYY!" Dustin called out.
"...Yes... Let's go," Percy replied as they both ran inside the place.
"Let's just get this over with," Aria said.
"Might as well, after all, team work is not decided by who works the worst with each other I guess," Lilly said as they both went in.
"Well? Is my sidekick coming?" Grant asked.
"Sure it is," Kiki said before swiftly bringing her foot claw around and kicking Grant at the hip.
"OW! Not THAT kind of sidekick!" Grant yelled before walking into the bunker.
"Plenty more where that came from if you call me "Sidekick" again," Kiki stated as she followed Grant.
"Ay man, you don't like me and I don't like you, but we gotta get through this if we want a chance," Drenig said.
"Oh fine!" Jet shouted as they ran inside.
Wren decided to go up to the bunker door and stand next to it. He then then held his hands out and smiled.
"Ladies first," Wren said with a smile.
"Awww, how sweet," Muffy replied.
Eventually everyone got inside the building. But it didn't take long for them to get noticed.
"LEAVE AT ONCE!" Yelled a booming voice from above their heads. The first thing they saw when they looked up was a balcony with a doorway on it. Coming out of that doorway was one of Dagger Eye's zombie generals, Gola. "Course, that is unless you want to die in here! In that case, please go forward!"
"Ooh, we're so scared," Aria and Lilly said in unison.
"Hey! That's my line!" Aria yelled.
"You didn't coin it, it's not your line," Lilly said.
"Do you even understand what's at stake?" Gola asked. "You aren't fighting some sissy ghosts or fat tapirs, these are DRAGONS! You are dealing with dragons! Give up, go home, or let me enjoy watching you be dissasembled!"
"Never, tyrant!" Muffy yelled.
While other contestants were concentrating on Gola, Grant found an easy way out.
"Oh please, he's stalling us," Grant said to Kiki. "Very funny, but we have herbs to get. Follow me, Kiki."
Grant was escaping from the pack as the others were focused on Gola. Kiki actually found this to be insulting.
"I'm not doing that," Kiki said. "I'm not stooping to your level. I'm staying here and letting the others a chance."
"Awww, little pansy doesn't want to win?" Grant asked.
"In addition, I'm not allowing YOU to be responsible for our dishonorable victory," Kiki said before rushing over to Grant and grabbing him. ...Unfortunately, she was giving team Jenig an idea.
"Grant actually has the right idea," Drenig said to Jet. "Wanna blow this Popsicle stand?"
"Heh, I'll take the lead thank you very much," Jet said, hopping in front of Drenig.
Meanwhile, the others were still watching Gola. The big dragon was blowing off steam.
"I'm just saying my dragon guards will crush you!" Gola said.
"I'd like to see them try!" Kiki shouted.
"Fine! They will do more than just try," Gola said. "They will destroy the very place you stand!"
"Can we just test that already, or are you going to chew our beaks off all day?" Aria asked.
"Well I didn't want to bring this up just yet," Gola stated. "But it looks like one of the groups already started their little adventure."
"Oh no we didn't," Kiki said. "I'm even holding onto Grant right..."
Kiki took a look around and noticed Jet and Drenig were gone. This did not sit right with Kiki at all.
"Oh those twerps!" Kiki yelled. "How could they just cheat like this!?"
"Well technically there was no rule stating you HAD to let me finish before you started the course," Gola mentioned. "So technically they're not cheating."
"But they're still playing dishonorably!" Kiki yelled.
"Then I guess you're the only who's NOT playing dishonorably," Gola said, pointing out the fact that everyone but her and Grant had left through the maze.
"Come on, Sidekick! They're ahead of us!" Grant yelled.
"Grrrr! I'll deal with you later," Kiki shouted before she started the course.
Down in the course, Drenig and Jet were the first to enter their hall. Jet was eager to kick butt.
"Ha! Once they get a load of the signature Jet Typhoon Kick, they'll be super dazzled!" Jet said.
"Ay man! No abilities!" Drenig shouted.
"No, it's not an ability, it's just a special kick," Jet said.
"Besides, you're forgetting they're actors," Drenig said. "And considering that they left these toy guns here, we can be sure we're suppose to use these."
"Guns? Do I look like a gun user?" Jet asked.
"No one knows how to use one of these," Drenig stated. Guns were ficticious the their land outside of natural weaponry, but laser tag guns were still used. "But maybe you have played laser tag."
"I'm a master at over fifty-seven sports," Jet said. "Laser tag is... not one of them."
"Ay man, grab a gun and get blasting!" Drenig said before stomping down the hall.
"Right," Jet said before grabbing one of the toy guns. Before going down, he started making action poses with the gun in his hand. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but he had a game to win.
Meanwhile, Percy and Dustin were at their hall, selecting guns. Dustin was going into his spiel again.
"Okay, so I guess we have to take these laser guns," Percy said.
"What thy be this strange object?" Dustin asked. "Thy never seen anything quite like it."
"Please drop the L.A.R. P. ing act for now," Percy said sternly.
"Oh alright," Dustin said before grabbing a laser gun. "It's just more fun when I pretend it doesn't exist, cause it's not from the period I roleplay in."
"Now is not the time to L.A.R. P," Percy said. "Now is the time to get serious."
"Right, we should probably go down the hall and shoot anything that moves," Dustin said.
"Like that!" Percy shouted as he saw something from above try to attack. It seemed to be a Drudgeon. Percy immediately fired at it, and then it fell to the ground. It flapped once before landing to stop itself from getting hurt, which ruined the illusion.
"...Not sure what to say about that," Dustin said.
Over with Lilly and Aria, they were holding onto their guns and waiting for stuff to pop out. Aria was keeping her distance from Lilly, but Lilly at least wanted to be friendly.
"So... I suppose we just have to work together for now," Lilly said. "Maybe we should set our differences aside and focus on the game."
"After what you did before, you think I will just forgive you?" Aria aked. "Let's just hurry up and get this over with, because the longer I have to stay with you the more likely I'm going to have a meltdown."
"Are you really that embarrassed that I pointed out flaws in your logic?" Lilly said.
"Flaws in my logic!?" Aria cried. "You mean your stupid vegetarian ranting filled with hypocrisy?"
"You are. You just don't want to admit it," Lilly said.
"No, I am just sick and tired of you people trying to justify a flawed diet," Aria said. "You need protein to survive, and nothing has more protein..."
"Than dead animals, blah blah blah," Lilly responded. "Why do you even care what I eat? It's not like it affects your life."
"When you go around shoving your diets on others, yes it does!" Aria shouted.
"I have done NO such thing," Lilly yelled.
While the two were fighting, a couple of Axews popped up from behind boxes and shot right at them. Both of their guns flashed and all the lights on the guns shut off.
"The enemy," Aria yelled, trying to shoot her laser. The Axews just shook their head.
"You have to go back and get different guns," the Axew said.
"Gee, thanks for your help, Aria," Lilly said before trudging back to the guns. Aria followed her back, still peeved by her.
With Wren and Muffy, they were working quite well together. They seemed happy as could be on a team with each other. And they were doing well.
"Wren, watch out!" Muffy shouted when she saw an Axew with a gun. She shot off at the Axew and managed to shut off its weaponry.
"Nice shot, Muffy," Wren said before he saw another. "There's another one!" Wren pulled off the same stunt Muffy did, knocking out another Axew guard.
"Muffy like big-footed Kangaskhan mouse," Muffy said.
"I always wondered where the term "Kangaskhan mouse" comes from," Wren said. "Kangaskhan feet aren't very long at all."
"I wonder if there's a similar story behind Grant's coconuts," Muffy stated.
"Wait, what?" Wren asked. While talking, Muffy shot another guard.
"You don't remember the pile of coconuts at the Jhotan temple on your visit?" Muffy asked.
"Coconuts? What are those?" Wren asked.
"No one knows," Muffy stated.
Finally, Grant and Kiki were going through. Grant was really blasting the thugs, and was feeling prideful of it.
"Mwahaha! No one can stop me!" Grant cried.
"I wouldn't get too cocky, slime ball," Kiki said, after shooting another thug. "We were the last ones in the maze."
"No thanks to you, sidekick," Grant stated.
"Okay, you're up to two "sidekicks" after this is over," Kiki mentioned. "Now move! We have to get their first."
While the other teams were taking their time, Kiki was rushing through the course. Kiki was in it to win it. And surprisingly, she was the first at the obstacles.
"Slow down sidekick," Grant said. "Just cause I'm evil doesn't mean I'm as fast as you."
"Three after this is over," Kiki mentioned. "And I'm going to win this with or without you."
Yeah, team mates weren't needed for the pendulums. And while Kiki was tackling the course, Wren and Muffy arrived, as did Jet and Drenig. Jet was the first to notice Kiki.
"Oh no you don't!" Jet cried. as he ran after Kiki. Although Jet had more athleticism than Kiki, he wasn't as smart. Jet rushed blindly into the pendulums, and was effortlessly knocked over, but Kiki was making sure she didn't run into anything. Meanwhile, Wren was having trouble with the pendulums too, considering he was ill fit for running and stopping. Muffy tried the course as well, but even she wasn't that fast. Suddenly, Percy and Dustin joined the ranks as well.
"I should go first," Dustin said. "I'm lighter and more agile."
"Okay, but I'm sure it's worth bothering," Percy said before pointing at Kiki who was almost at the end.
With a few more maneuvers, Kiki reached the end where there were Red Herbs and a switch. Kiki claimed the herbs and then flipped the switch, claiming her and Grant the first spot in the safety zone. After the switch was flipped, the pendulums stopped.
"Woah, that's funny," Kiki said. "I thought cheating was supposed to help people win, and yet the one who ended up winning was the team that went last."
"...You know we didn't cheat," Drenig said. "We just chose to tackle the course while Gola was talking."
"He even said it wasn't against the rules," Grant responded. "But regardless, well done sidekick."
"You just haven't learned your lesson, have you?" Kiki asked. "I know I shouldn't have kicked you the first time, but trust me the next action I take won't be good next time you feel the need to call me sidekick. Are we clear?"
"Evil fears nothing!" Grant cried.
"Grant, I've seen you in a scared state before so clam up," Kiki said, staring him down.
"Hey, where's Aria and Lilly?" Wren asked.
They were just coming out of their hall. They hadn't even finished. The guards just let them go by cause it was over for the first round.
"Were they just not meant to work together?" Muffy asked.
"Who cares, we're winning!" Grant cheered. "Onward, subject!"
"...Don't call me subject either and we've already won," Kiki said. "We have to head back now."
"What? Won already? Mwahahaha!" Grant was something else, wasn't he?
"Okay, the rest of us have to stand on those pressure plates," Percy said.
"Right, of course I could have told you that," Aria said before dragging herself over to the pressure plates.
"I almost want to lose just to get rid of her," Lilly said.
"What's wrong with Lilly?" Muffy asked.
"Ugh, she just won't listen," Lilly said. "She cannot settle our differences for even one challenge."
"Maybe it's because you treat her like scum," Wren mentioned. "She doesn't appreciate how you talk about meat eaters."
"...Really? Is she telling you that?" Lilly asked. "She brings it on herself. And I don't treat meat eaters like scum, she's just acting what you call butthurt."
Lilly walked off to the pressure plates where the teams were gathering. But Wren and Muffy stayed in their place.
"Aria seems to think things differently," Wren said.
"Lilly's a nice person though," Muffy said. "She never meant any ill toward Muffy, even when I told her I didn't like going berry picking with her."
"Come on guys!" Jet called out.
"Coming big-head," Muffy said disdainfully as she went to her pressure plate. Wren followed in suit.
Now it was time for round two. Four teams were still fighting for immunity.
"Well, round two Percy," Dustin stated. "You ready for round two?"
"I suppose if you're ready for round two," Percy stated.
"You a good shot?" Dustin asked. "I didn't get to see much skill last time."
"It looks like things will be even worse here," Percy said. "...I... really can't think of anything special to say, let's just go at it."
As Percy and Dustin tackled the course, so did Jet and Drenig. They were... not having an easy time, as Drenig tried shooting a guard, but got shot instead.
"Hey! I thought you were a good shot!" Jet mocked.
"I have a good throwing arm," Drenig said. "I have never used a gun before."
"I thought you were a mechanical genius," Jet said before his gun got blasted and they had to get new ones.
"I am not a genius, I don't know how to operate every piece of machinery on the planet," Drenig mentioned.
"Ugh, I knew you weren't as god like as your past efforts made you look," Jet said.
"How am I in any way god-like?" Drenig asked. "You're not trying to start something, are you?"
"No, I'm just saying you're worthless in this challenge," Jet said.
"Let's just keep trying," Drenig said. "The guards don't respawn so if we take out some, we'll have an easier time next go around."
Over with Aria and Lilly, Lilly was still trying to make peace. She wasn't getting very far, but she was making progress.
"Look, you don't have to like me," Lilly said. "But if you want to be safe in this challenge, we have to work together."
"Oh fine," Aria said. "But after this, we're back to being enemies."
"Whatever, but for now we're team mates," Lilly said as she blasted a guard. After they blasted a few they both had to go back for new guns.
"I've never used one of these before," Aria said. "Have you?"
"No, I have not," Lilly stated.
Muffy and Wren were faring about as well as the others were: Not too great. Still, they were getting by.
"Muffy takes one side, Wren takes the other," Muffy said.
"Sounds like a plan," Wren stated after shooting one of the guards. After a few guards were shot, Muffy got hit.
"Aww, I have to get another gun," Muffy said.
Wren had found a good spot to hide: Right behind a box. The guards were using these boxes as well. Wren immediately lifted his gun above the box and shot out, hitting another target while being hard to hit.
"You got your gun?" Wren called out.
"Muffy's got it!" Muffy said before returning to Wren.
"Good, let's kick but," Wren said.
"Hee hee, I'd actually kind of like to see you kick something's butt," Muffy said.
Over by Percy and Dustin, they were having trouble with their end as well. Dustin had just gotten shot, and Percy did as well.
"This is going to be hard," Dustin said. "You're too big and easy to hit, and my shooting arm is useless."
"Well, what's your plan?" Percy asked.
"I don't want to be the one behind," Dustin stated. "We just have to keep at it. I bet Drenig's far along by now."
But they weren't the first team to get through. Muffy and Wren had made it through the gauntlet, and were now on the conveyor belts.
"This will be a cakewalk for me," Wren said confidently as he bolted up the conveyor belt. He hopped with all his might trying to get to the switch until he eventually did get to the switch. Wren pushed the switch and grabbed the Reviver Seed at the top.
"Yaaaay Wren, you did it!" Muffy cheered.
"I wouldn't exactly have called that a cakewalk, but that was easy enough," Wren said.
-Robot Royall-
"Attention corpses!" Eventually, everyone could hear a voice. "It appears that four of you have already escaped!"
"Huh? When did this happen?" Aria asked as her team was still in the hall.
"This is NOT something I will accept," Gola yelled through speakers in the building. "The rest of you will be destroyed later on! After all, what kind of zombie general would I be if I didn't have a whole LOT of dragons to fight for me?"
"Why don't you fight us yourself?" Dustin called out.
"SILENCE!" Gola yelled. "So big-foot and his snarl toothed companion have retrieved the reviver seeds, but I STILL have the Big Root AND Savil's special mixture."
"Ha! That next ingredient is ours!" Jet called out loud enough everyone could hear them. "The other two teams are worthless!"
"I wouldn't speak too soon," Drenig said
"Worthless did he say?" Lilly asked Aria.
"...That was rhetorical, right?" Aria asked. Lilly just stared into space as she said that. Eventually, Wren and Muffy decided to walk down Aria and Lilly's hall.
"Good luck Lilly and Aria," Wren and Muffy said in unison as they were going back.
-Confessional Session(Lilly)-
"Bring it on! He's going down!" Lilly exclaimed. "Even if I'm paired up with that hypocite Aria, I'm still going to obliterate that yammering frog."
-After Confessional-
"Ha ha ha! Welcome to round THREE!" Gola shouted as the three remaining teams entered the third hall.
"Oh boy," Drenig said sarcastically.
"Well, which of you three teams will make it out of the next round? Probably NONE OF YOU!" Gola yelled.
As each team went down the hall, the guards immediately swarmed in. That's when Dustin had an idea.
"Why don't we take turns going down and shooting guards?" Dustin asked. "That way we can keep a steady fire on them."
"Sounds... like a legit plan," Percy agreed. "Who goes first?"
"I'll go first, you have more experience," Dustin stated.
"Right," Percy said as he watched Dustin run down the hall with his gun.
"Time to taste lasers, black-knights!" Dustin cried. As he ran down, he took out an impressive number of guards. He took out an astounding... zero guards before he was shot in the gun.
"...Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Percy said as he ran forward with his attempt. He managed to take out more, but only two.
"Don't worry, I'm sure if we just keep at it," Dustin said.
Over with Lilly and Aria, Aria kept getting shot. Lilly was trying to encourage her to do better.
"Don't give up Aria, we can still do it," Lilly said. "Pretend Jet's your worst enemy. Because that is easy for me to do."
"Hmph! My worst enemy right now is you," Aria said.
"Then pretend you're trying to outdo me then," Lilly said.
"Whatever you say," Aria said before grabbing a gun and shooting it at Lilly. Lilly's gun went defunct right away, and it made Lilly mad.
"What the heck!" Lilly yelled.
"Sorry, just following your advice," Aria said.
"Play like you want to stay in the game in the game then!" Lilly yelled.
"Oh fine," Aria said as she went forward to fight more of the guards. She managed to get about three of them before having her gun shot off.
"Good girl," Lilly mocked as Aria went to get another gun.
But things weren't any better on Drenig and Jet's side. Jet had a wild idea.
"Oh please, why don't I just blast through?" Jet said.
"Bad idea man," Drenig said.
"Oh? Let's see how bad that idea is!" Jet then rushed past some boxes and tried to run through the guards. He managed to jump over the guards and got to the end of the hallway. ...But when he tried to pass he was immediately shocked. He then tumbled backwards after the shock.
"You know, there's a force-field there that shocks you if you don't have a working gun," one of the guards said.
"Told ya it was a bad idea!" Drenig shouted.
After a while, the teams had failed to progress very far. Gola decided to taunt them.
"Oh come on, guys!" Gola yelled. "If you're going to lose, at LEAST put up a fight!"
"Ugh, that Gola creep, who does he think he is?" Lilly asked.
"You know he's an actor, right?" Aria asked.
"True," Lilly said. "But there's no reason he needs to mock so frequently."
"Well, he's the bad guy," Aria asked.
"True, but doesn't he still anger you?" Lilly asked.
"Not really, no," Aria stated.
"...Aria, I'm trying to motivate you," Lilly said.
"Uhhhh, Aria smash!" she said as she grabbed a gun and tried to shoot more guards.
...But over with Percy and Dustin, their strategy started to work. The more they did it, the more guards they took down with each go around.
"Thy shall slay the dragon!" Dustin called out as he shot the last few guards in their way.
"Okay, maybe that plan DID work," Percy said as they were running to the obstacles. "I hope we're not too late."
"Looks like we made it here first," Dustin said.
"But how do we get past the spinning devices?" Percy asked.
"Carefully I guess," Dustin said. "Allow me."
As Dustin tried the obstacles, something caught Percy's attention. His view shifted to one of the other hallways where he saw a squirming Jet.
"Owww, lightning hurts," Jet said as he was sprawling.
"Ay! And you think I'm useless!" Drenig called out.
Percy couldn't help but giggle at Jet's misfortune. But his giggling faded as another team got closer.
"Ugh, they're way ahead of us Lilly!" Aria shouted.
"Yeah, but yelling at me won't change that," Lilly said as she tried to go through the course as fast as she could.
Lilly was racing against Dustin, who was nearing the switch. As much as Lilly tried, she could not catch up to the Watchog. Both managed to dodge the spinning wheels that tried to knock them about, but Dustin was farther along than Lilly was. In the end, Dustin claimed the Big Root and secured him and Percy an immunity.
"Awww, I was sure I had you this time!" Gola shouted through the speakers of the building.
-Confessional Session(Dustin)-
"Whew, glad I'm finally done with the science-fiction stage," Dustin said. "I hope I don't have to do something like this again. ...What? I think science fiction is boring. Too polished and clean. Medeival scenes are rustic and adventurous! That's why I like L.A.R. P. ing as a knight so much."
-After Confessional-
Jet eventually managed to recover after being shocked. But now he was facing harsh reality.
"No, I can't be doing this badly," Jet said.
"Something tells me you're a huge joke," Drenig said. "I expected you to at LEAST be competent!"
"I'm incompetent!?" Jet yelled. "YOU are the dragging me back!"
"Right man! I'm the one who blindly charged into a force-field!" Drenig shouted.
"Ugh, see what I had to put up with the whole time I was in Artic-Uno?" Lilly asked.
"Pfft! He's empty gas compared to you," Aria said.
"Why won't you just put aside our differences?" Lilly asked.
"Because you are a typical vegetarian!" Aria shouted. "You are as much of a dictator as any other vegetarian out there."
"Ugh! Where did you come to this conclusion!?" Lilly asked.
"If you weren't trying to convert me, you'd never have said those nasty comments," Aria said.
"That you're too prideful to admit maybe I had a point, but I wasn't trying to convert you!" Lilly countered.
"Come on! Conflict isn't everything!" Gola yelled. "Get to the challenge and die already!"
"He's right," Lilly said. "We have to beat Jet. ...I will kind of feel sorry for Drenig though?"
"Why feel sorry for him?" Aria asked. "Oh right, he's the one you half-converted!"
"I did NOT!" Lilly erupted.
"Yes you did!" Aria said. "You completely told him he should feel sorry for the animals he eats!"
"So what!?" Lilly asked. "I didn't tell him what to eat, only that it was natural for him to feel sorry for his kill!"
Drenig was hearing the entire conversation. He honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Is... Is Aria losing it?" Drenig asked. "Lilly is telling her the honest truth. She didn't convert me, I chose to be a pescitarian myself."
"Hey I got another idea," Jet stated.
"This better be good," Drenig said.
"Let's make use of their arguing and get a head start," Jet said. "Cause I don't care how slow you are, I am not going home because of you."
"Right, let's go," Drenig said as they both grabbed a gun and prepared for battle.
Over with Lilly and Aria, Lilly was trying desperately to end their argument. She was getting really frustrated with Aria.
"Ugh! Whatever! Let's just get moving before they get ahead!" Lilly said before immediately grabbing a gun and going into battle. Aria rolled her eyes and went on with it as well as Lilly did. And that was when the race began.
Jet and Drenig were trying their hardest to take out as many guards per gun. But Lilly and Aria were racing, trying to beat the others. But both teams were suffering from many of their guns being shot off.
"There's too many of them!" Aria shouted.
"Now's not the time to complain!" Lilly shouted. "Now's the time to keep at it!"
"Come on, I'm doing all the work!" Jet said.
"Why don't I just stop playing and let them win you ungrateful frog!" Drenig shouted.
Complete pandemonium ensued the teams. They were making progress on the guards, but not much.
"AHAHAHAHA! That's right minions! DESTROY THEM!" Gola shouted.
This made the two remaining teams hustle even more. Little by little they whittled the guards down, but it was a close race.
"Come on, we're almost there," Lilly said. "Just hang with me!"
"I think I'm going to beat them," Jet said to Drenig.
"...You mean we, right?" Drenig asked.
Eventually, both halls had their last guards shot. The teams were neck and neck as they went into the final battle against Gola. And Gola had a balcony set outside the final obstacle where Gola showed himself.
"You BOTH made it?" Gola asked. "I didn't want to do this but... actually, no. I was hoping you'd come this far so I COULD do this! Behold my army of robot-Haxoruses!"
"Robot..." Jet started.
"...Haxoruses?" Drenig finished.
"You're kidding me," Aria said.
In front of them were six robot Haxorus ready to stop them from getting the herbs. They seemed a bit clunky, but they had their numbers, so this would NOT be an easy game to win.
"So, Gola? How do we win this one?" Lilly asked.
"You think I'm THAT kind of villain who reveals their secrets?" Gola asked. "Please and no thank you! Why don't you suffer instead?"
"Because there's ALWAYS a way to beat the villain, especially on a reality show," Lilly stated.
"Well you can't ALL defeat me," Gola said. "However, if one of you manages to make it to the hallways with the herbs in hand, you and your team mate will be safe. But remember, you are perfectly capable of stealing the herbs from a competitor."
"Okay Aria, I am begging you," Lilly said. "This is an event that calls for team work, and if we want to win, we have to work as a team."
"Fine. For now at least," Aria said. "I'll see if I cannot distract the enemies."
Aria tried to go to the wall to distract some of the Haxorus, but only one went after her. The other two were after Lilly. But Lilly managed to sneak right under their arms as they tried to grab her. Unfortunately, the one Haxorus who focused on Aria grabbed her and was trying to flick it's tail at Lilly. Lilly was having a hard time dodging.
Meanwhile, Drenig was having a different approach. He was explaining it to Jet.
"Why don't I just try to tank through them?" Drenig asked. "That way I'll seem more like a threat, and..."
But Jet was already trying to go in. Drenig had to think fast if he wanted to win.
"Darnit Jet," Drenig said before he charged in. Jet was in front of Drenig and was about to run into a bunch of robots. "Jet, get behind me and wait for them to shift their focus!" Drenig called out.
"I can take them!" Jet yelled.
"You want to to go home or not?" Drenig asked.
Jet didn't listen. Jet kept charging forward, thinking he could just jump through their attacks and he was caught and thrown away back to the hallways.
"Now we go with MY plan!" Drenig shouted.
"I thought for sure I could dodge them," Jet said.
"Apparently you're no god either, man!" Drenig shouted.
Meanwhile, Lilly had made it past the Haxorus and had grabbed the herbs. She felt kind of proud of herself.
"We did it, Aria!" Lilly called out.
"You have to bring it to the halls first!" Gola taunted.
"Oh no..." Lilly said as she saw the Haxorus coming in after her.
Lilly used her spindly frame to her advantage, gracefully dodging the mechs like a ballerina. Aria kept the third Haxorus on their side occupied, making it easy for her to sneak by that one as well. But Lilly had one last obstacle to deal with: Jet.
"Excuse me, but I'll take those!" Jet said, completely trying to blind-sight Lilly. Jet hopped right in front of Lilly and stopped her in her tracks. With one swipe, Jet grabbed the herbs. ...But Lilly wasn't just going to let go.
"Aria, help!" Lilly shouted.
Aria's attention immediately shifted to her partner, but she was occupied as well. Still, Aria at least tried to help. But Jet got crafty. While still holding onto the herbs, Jet quickly swept his leg into Lilly's. Not expecting this attack, Lilly let go of the herbs and fell backwards, letting Jet have the herbs.
"Why thank you former team-mate," Jet said almost evilly before hopping to the hallways. "AND FORMER CONTESTANT!"
With three long hops, Jet made it all the way to the hallways, where he secured victory for him and Drenig.
"No..." Lilly said to herself as she saw Jet hop off.
"Eh what?" Drenig said as he looked back. He then noticed that the Haxorus stopped focusing on him, and went towards Lilly and Aria.
"Okay you stupid croc, you may go!" Gola shouted. "But I WILL GET MY WAY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WITH ONE OF THOSE TWO!" Gola yelled.
Eventually, the mechs went to restrain Lilly and Aria. It looked like they were done for.
"Argh! Let go of us you overgrown rust-buckets!" Aria yelled.
"What's going to happen to us?" Lilly asked.
"Oh you will find out soon enough!" Gola said. "ROBOTS! Take them away!"
-Moral Combat-
Eventually, both Lilly and Aria wound up in separate rooms. Both were quite dark and had lots and lots of cards in slots. There was also a table with instructions.
"Well... here we are at last," Gola said through speakers planted in both rooms.
"Where are we?" Lilly asked.
"What's the meaning of this?" Aria asked.
"I will give the two of you one last chance to escape my chamber," Gola said. "All you must do is be the first to solve a puzzle on the piece of paper. Read the whole thing carefully and figure out the key that will open the door. There are fifty keys to select. The first one to find the right key wins."
-Confessional Session(Lilly)-
"I tried to help her," Lilly said. "But by the time she actually wanted to work as a team it seemed like it was too late. ...I kind of pity her. I mean, I know deep down I'm sure there's a decent person inside her, but her thinking is very narrow. I might be able to beat her if she uses her disdain for me as fuel. Cause I don't really have disdain for her. ...Just pity. ...Well frustration and pity."
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"Well, this is my last chance to get rid of her for the things she has done," Aria said. "I will annihilate her in this game."
-After Confessional-
"So, if there are any questions involving the challenge, please by all means speak up," Gola told them. ...There was nothing but silence. "No? Very well... begin!"
The competitors were trying to figure out the puzzle. All the clues would eventually lead to one number.
"The correct key is not a multiple of six," Lilly read out. "Okay, we can rule out six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four..."
"...Thirty, thirty six, forty two, and forty eight," Aria trailed off. "Next the number cannot be rolled with two six-sided die. That rules out one through twelve."
"That rules out two through twelve," Lilly said to herself. "One. ...Worth a try." Lilly thought the question made it obvious that the answer was one, since you could only roll one of eleven numbers with two die, of which one was not among those digits. ...Unfortunately she was wrong. "Oh well, I'll keep going."
"Take the amount of remaining digits and divide them by the amount of contestants left after this challenge," Aria said to herself. "Let us see... thirty two contestants. ...Wait, that can't be right."
"Sixty five digits, but that is not divisible by nine," Lilly said "Ah, round it off to the nearest number, then..."
"...Times it by three..." Aria was starting to get stressed. "No! I have to beat her!"
"Next add the amount of eliminated contestants NOT including the loser of this challenge," Lilly said to herself. And then think of the alphabet. Each contestant starts with a letter. Add the place of the first letter in the names of the odd numbered eliminated contestants, then subtract the first letter of the even ones. Then subtract the first letter of the beaver's name, the witch doctor, and add the owner of this base. Do this correctly, and victory is yours."
"No! Where did I mess up?" Aria asked as she was just sticking cards in at random now, trying to see if one would open the door.
Eventually, intensity was burning. But suddenly, one of the doors busted open. It was Lilly, she had solved the challenge.
"Forty-three!" She blurted out happily. Aria immediately heard this and she did NOT feel good.
"Some how, I didn't think I would actually beat her," Aria blurted out.
Lilly happily rushed to the doorway of the stronghold, which fortunately the holding prison she was in was right near the entrance. ...But when she got close, Gola swooped down and stood in front of the doorway.
"Oh come on!" Lilly shouted.
"Well, you are obviously SMARTER than the other loser," Gola said. "But now it's time for one more test."
"That's not fair," Lilly said. "Why can't I just go?"
"You can, but first you must listen," Gola stated. "Get back over to the door you worthless wuss!"
"Oh brother." Lilly went back to the door of her prison. "Alright, tell me what the situation is."
"Well, since you have won the challenge, YOU have earned freedom," Gola said.
"Okay, and what happens to Aria?" Lilly asked.
"She will be returned to the group as well with a bit of a change," Gola said. "She will be MUCH less hideous!"
"Well... she's a Malamar, I don't think you can make her look pretty," Lilly stated.
"I heard that you know!" Aria shouted.
"Okay, so what's the operation?" Lilly asked.
"Because as I said I ALWAYS get my way, your friend will be turned into a MAJOR zombie!" Gola said.
"She's not my friend but... wait, WHAT?" Lilly asked.
"And the virus injected to her is the same virus that is SWARMING the contaminated milk!" Gola said.
"And that's relevant because?" Lilly asked.
"Hey, I thought you were smart!" Gola shouted. "If Bertram has a potion that could cure zombification, why would he need the quarantine chamber?"
"That's... a good question," Lilly said.
"It's because THIS virus, while a work in progress, can NOT be cured by that STUPID potion!" Gola shouted. "It is MUCH stronger than the normal virus and the only way to cure it right now... is nothing, there is NO WAY to cure THAT VIRUS!"
"Wow, you must have some powerful scientists working on it," Lilly said.
"So to combat this, Bertram can only banish the contestants contaminated with the virus," Gola mentioned.
"Right, can I leave now?" Lilly asked.
"Aria will be a victim to the virus as well," Gola said. "BUT you can save her!"
"I can?" Lilly asked.
"Yes you can," Gola stated. "You can do so by taking her place."
"Wait, what!?" Lilly shouted.
"Correct!" Gola shouted. "And might I say if you refuse, the contestants will eventually find out, and while you STILL have a chance at the grand prize, it will likely go down once people know what you did."
"...The only friend she has is Wren," Lilly said.
"Let's sweeten the deal," Gola said. "You decide to save her, and I courtesy of Dagger Eyes himself will throw in a thousand bucks that will be sent to your family. Sure, it's a fraction of the grand prize, but ha! It's still better than leaving empty handed!"
"...Actually it cost about that just get to get on the show," Lilly said.
"Really? Wow, Pokemon are desperate aren't they?" Gola asked. "TWO thousand: Enough to cover the cost of admission, while you still have some left over."
"Hmmmm..." Lilly thought for a moment.
"Well?" Gola asked, waiting for Lilly's reaction.
"How badly do I need the money?" Lilly asked herself. "I could leave with a sure thing, or risk going home with nothing. ...But then again I would upset Muffy if I left. ...What to do, what to do..."
For now, we will leave her to thought. In the mean time, we return to the bunkers.
Back at the bunkers, everyone was waiting anxiously for Lilly and Aria. Muffy was really worried.
"Where's Lilly?" Muffy asked. "She's not going away, is she?"
"Don't worry," Wren comforted. "It may seem like a cliffhanger, but all you can do is hope for the best."
"Lilly will come back," Muffy said.
"She may, she may not," Wren said.
Suddenly, Bertram appeared on the screen of the new bunker. He had an announcement.
"Everyone at the Quarantine Chamber," Bertram said.
"Huh, there's a ceremony?" Drenig blurted out.
"I guess so," Percy responded.
"Ooh, this sounds fun," Grant said.
"No... it doesn't," Kiki responded.
"We'll, I guess we will have to wait and see," Drenig said.
"It's probably the verdict of Lilly and Aria," Jet mentioned.
"I wouldn't doubt that," Percy mentioned.
Eventually everyone met Bertram back at the Quarantine chamber. This is where things would be answered.
"What's going on?" Dustin said. "There aint no elimination today is there?"
"Oh there will be," Bertram said. "Our contestants have went through Gola's labyrinth to get ingredients, and two were captured and put through a challenge. But both are coming back, one alive and kicking, and one... to send a message."
Grant started to giggle nefariously. Whether he was an evil genius or not, he was doing a good job sticking with the theme.
"Okay, just tell us what happened," Jet said.
"Please say Muffy's best friend Lilly is alright," Muffy said.
"Let's find out," Bertram said. "Bring out the first contestant."
Eventually, one of the contestants walked up the steps. It was a bit suspenseful, but eventually it was plain to see who it was.
...
...
...
...
...It was Aria!
"Well... I'm back gang," Aria said.
Wren ran up to Aria and started jumping. He was happy that his friend was alright.
"You made it?" Wren asked. "Good for you Aria. ...But... What happened to Lilly?"
"Yes, where's Lilly?" Muffy asked.
Eventually another Pokemon came up the steps. It was, indeed, Lilly. ...But she was discolored. She was covered in grass and she looked like one of the zombie actors.
"Lilly!" Muffy shouted. "What happened! What have they done to you!?"
"It appears Lilly won a challenge for freedom, but sacrificed herself to save Aria," Bertram said.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Muffy cried.
"Muffy, don't feel sad," Lilly said in a drab tone. "We can still be friends."
"Lilly. Why did you do it?" Muffy asked.
"...Because I wanted to teach Aria a lesson," Lilly said. "I wanted her to see the error of her ways the hard way. I wanted to show her that I am not a bad person, and that I had no malice against her. I also wanted to keep this as a reminder that she is still here because I let her stay. ... Maybe she will also realize what a fool she has been to treat me and possibly the only friend she has the way she did."
Aria indeed started to feel a bit sad. It was like she wanted something off her chest. And yet, she stayed silent.
"Aria..." Wren started.
"I... can't believe she would blow a shot at the big cash for me," Aria said. "...But why, I thought she hated me. ...Am I wrong about Lilly?"
"Aria... aren't you going to say something?" Wren asked.
"I have so many thoughts on my mind," Aria said. "...Thank you? I'm sorry I wasn't more help in..."
"Shhh... your apology is accepted," Lilly said as she went to the chamber. "No one is perfect, and we all have our demons. Goodbye Aria. Goodbye Muffy."
"Lilly! Don't go!" Muffy cried.
Eventually, the chamber shut on Lilly and the gas consumed her. Eventually, she was gone. This was a dark day in Quarantine.
"This has not been Muffy's happy adventure," Muffy said. "First Yoshi, and now Lilly is gone."
"...Don't worry," Wren said. "You still have me. And I'm sure you have other friends."
"You... think so?" Muffy asked.
"I'm sure of it," Wren assured.
-Confessional Session(Jet)-
"Yeah right!" Jet shouted. "That whiny brat getting friends? Good luck with that."
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"I'll admit she has admirable traits," Kiki said. "But her emotional breakdowns are hard to take seriously."
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"Poor delusion Wren," Grant said. "He thinks he can make it ALLLLL better just by telling Muffy a white lie."
-After Confessional-
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"Maybe I was wrong about Lilly," Aria said. "What if it really was all my fault. I just... I feel bad that she left just to teach me a lesson, but at the same time I'm glad she at least leaves without empty hands. That was kind of nice of Dagger Eyes really. ...Maybe I should make it up to her by befriending Muffy. It might even make Wren happy to help him too."
-After Confessional-
Bertram was ready to say the last farewells for the episode.
"Nine competitors left, a whole lot of money up for grabs," he said. "Now that I think of it, have I ever said HOW much money? I'm not sure, but it's over a million pokedollars. But the drama isn't over yet. Tune in next time for another adventure. Until then we say goodbye for now."
-Next Time On Quarantine-
"What the heck!?"
It's Panda-monium as competitors face challenges set by Pandora himself.
"Soon all the contestants will be wiped out!"
Competitors must solve puzzles and mazes to find Pandora.
"This is just a big toy-box."
Who will be the first to reach him?
"That will be me."
"...Yeah right."
And what deadly secrets does Pandora hide.
"No way! ...yet I can't really say I'm surprised."
All this and more on the next episode of Quarantine: Pandora's Labyrinth.