Chapter 11: Pandora's Labyrinth
-Last Time On Quarantine-
"To Team Zap-Dos! May we always be friends."
The two teams were finally introduced to Team Mol-Tres.
"We are destroying all evidence of Team Artic-Uno and Team Zap-Dos."
And the two teams celebrated by... uhh no, they just got the usual routine.
"Can we go hunting now?"
For the challenges, teams were separated into five teams of two. Some worked well together...
"Muffy has no problems with her partner."
...While others were paired with mortal enemies.
"Plenty more where that came from if you call me "Sidekick" again."
But one particular team just refused to get along.
"No, I am just sick and tired of you people trying to justify a flawed diet. You need protein to survive, and nothing has more protein..."
"Than dead animals, blah blah blah."
In the end, Lilly and Aria ended up on the bottom two.
"I will give the two of you one last chance to escape my chamber."
Lilly beat Aria in a last chance challenge...
"Right, can I leave now?"
...But gave up her shot at the grand prize for two-thousand pokedollars and a chance to teach Aria a lesson.
"Aria... aren't you going to say something?"
Now half of the contestants are gone, and half still remain. Who will win the grand prize?
-Pandora's Toy Box-
Most of the contestants were able to sleep easy. Most of them didn't have any true connections with Lilly. But one contestant in particular was having a hard time sleeping: her best friend. Muffy lied in her bed thinking about Lilly.
-Confessional Session(Muffy)-
"Now that Lilly is gone, I can't stop thinking about it," Muffy said. "What would Lilly want me to do. What would Yoshi want me to do? Stay brave, that's the obvious answer. But Muffy doesn't know how brave she can be. But I've made it this far in the competition. All I can do is press on. I just hope Wren can fill the hole in my current life that Lilly used to fill. Wren seems pretty nice, but... he's also friends with that Malamar, and I don't trust her one bit. Does that mean Wren isn't to be trusted?"
-After Confessional-
Muffy decided to rest under the tree near her old bunker, which was now the bathroom. She decided to watch the stars for the night. She just couldn't sleep, and it bugged her that her best friend is now gone. But while staring towards the sky, she saw something to her left that startled her. There was a thick purple cloud of smoking coming towards the bunkers. This caused Muffy to freak out, and she ran into the bunkers to warn everyone.
"Ack! There's a huge wave of purple mist coming towards us!" Muffy yelled.
"Wait, what's going on?" Aria asked, waking up from her nap.
"Trying to sleep here!" Jet cried out.
"Purple mist! Purple mist! I think something's coming!" Muffy blurted out.
Suddenly, Bertram appeared on the screen in the bunker. He didn't seem too freaked out for some reason.
"Ah yes, plague gas," Bertram said. "Some nights that stuff creeps around. But fortunately it should be gone by morning. In the mean time, stay inside. But just so you are not tempted to go OUT-side, the doors will now be locked till morning."
Eventually, they could all hear a click sound at the door. I guess that meant it was locked.
"Great, nap time!" Jet shouted.
"Wait, why can't we combat the mist?" Drenig asked.
"I... don't know how, just stay inside," Bertram said.
"Why can't we find out?" Wren asked.
"Because it's too late!" Bertram shouted. "Stay inside. We'll discuss things in the morning!"
"Do we know whether Dagger Eyes is involved or not?" Aria asked.
"No we do not," Bertram said.
"Something tells me you're just using the mist as an excuse to keep us inside," Aria said.
"No one asked you!" Bertram yelled. "Just go to bed already! We'll discuss it later! ...Huh?"
Bertram logged off with that one final sound: Huh? That could mean trouble. ...But at the same time it could mean anything.
"Huh. He left after saying "huh," Percy mentioned.
"Oh I'm sure that means something's up," Aria said.
"That could mean anything," Kiki said. "Right now I'd really want to go to sleep."
"Yeah, I could really use some shut-eye too," Percy said.
"Well I can't sleep," Muffy said. "Anyone want to play a board game with me?"
"...Do they have Dungeons and Dragonites?" Dustin asked. "I brought a game set from home, but they made me and Drenig leave it on the truck."
"...No, I don't think so," Muffy said. "Ooh, they have Oligarchy: Master of the Hoops edition. They also have Gamble: Master of the Hoops edition."
"I do like Master of the Hoops," Dustin stated. "But I'm too tired right now to play. Maybe in the morning."
"Wren, what about you?" Muffy asked.
"Would love to," Wren started. "But I kind of share his sleepiness, Muffy. Maybe in the morning."
"...No one?" Muffy asked
"Well... *Yawn* I am willing to play," Aria said.
"You?" Muffy asked. "I don't know if I want..."
"I... feel kind of guilty your best friend had to leave for me," Aria said. "I... Know I didn't like Lilly that much but... well..."
"Do you really feel guilty, or are you just saying that?" Muffy asked.
"No, Lilly really did make me think," Aria said. "In fact, she's on my mind right now too. Maybe I was unfair to her. And now I want to make amends by being your friend."
"...Well..." Muffy was still unsure if he wanted to accept her friendship.
"Not all Malamar are evil," Aria said. "I do really wish I can be your friend."
"As do I." Suddenly, Aria and Muffy both looked back and saw Grant approaching the two. "I'd like to play too."
"No, go away Grant," Muffy said. "I am already having a hard time trusting Aria. But you? How can I trust you?"
"What have I really done?" Grant asked. "Besides, everyone knows I'm a phony. Am I a bad person just cause I like to play the evil scientist motif?"
"But why do you want to be friends with Muffy?" Aria asked. "I want to because I want to try and correct my mistakes. I don't know..."
"Well, I need allies," Grant said. "And to do that, I need to make friends. If I don't make friends, I could be sent home soon. I just want to get to know people before it's too late for me."
"I still don't trust you," Muffy said.
"Hold on Muffy, maybe we should," Aria said.
"But I don't..." Muffy started.
"We're just playing a board game, what's the worst that could happen?" Aria asked.
"Well... Alright," Muffy gave in.
"Alright," Grant said. "Now let's roll dice to see who goes first."
"...You don't even know what game we're playing yet," Aria said.
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"NOW I know who my next target is," Grant said. "It's that whiny Muffy character. She has been one of my worst opponents so far, always ridiculing me and my evil ways. I must have her eliminated as soon as possible. Phase... three... ...Started."
-Confessional Session(Aria)-
"I don't trust Grant either," Aria stated. "Something is terribly wrong with him. No one can act like an evil villain for that long. ...But then again, I might need some proof."
-After Confessional-
Morning struck and they were STILL playing board games. Muffy, Aria and Grant were playing Olagarcy: Master of the Hoops edition when Wren, Dustin and Drenig decided to tag into the game. Wren wanted to join his friends and Dustin showed interest last night. He also talked Drenig into playing. Drenig started a discussion on the game they were playing.
"Ay, why are their so many version of Oligarchy?" Drenig asked. "Space Battles Oligarchy, Dr. How Oligarchy, Bernardo Oligarchy, Zap Shaymin Oligarchy, City Sluggers Oligarchy, Sky Earth Heroes Oligarchy, I would not be surprised if there was an Wrenchers Oligarchy. Anyone seen the movie Wrenchers? It's a classic."
"I love musicals," Aria said with a smile. "Do you remember the song they sang at the end of the movie? I am mad for you, do you love me too oh woo hoo hoo!"
"If ya hang with me, we'll create a tree, oh shoo-be-do," Drenig sang.
"I am mad for you, do you love me too oh woo hoo hoo!" Aria and Drenig sang in unison. "Oh tell me true, you know you do!"
"Drenigs not as good of a singer as Aria is, is he?" Wren asked Dustin.
"Who cares, it's still fun to listen to," Dustin said as they both sang along.
"I am mad for you, do you love me too oh woo hoo hoo! If ya hang with me, we'll create a tree, oh shoo-be-do! I am mad for you, do you love me too oh woo hoo hoo, oh tell me true, you know you do!"
"Whatever, I'm buying Saint John's Place," Grant said.
While it looked like Aria and Drenig were having fun singing to old Rock-a-Billy musicals, Kiki, Jet and Percy were ready to step in.
"Guys, I know Quarantine may seem like fun and games but there's work involved too," Kiki said.
"Oh right," Aria said."Would someone like to assist me in the kitchen?"
"I will," Wren said.
"Anyone else?" Aria asked.
"What about you, Muffy?" Wren asked.
"Uhhhh... sure," Muffy said, still unsure what to make of Aria.
"Can I come too?" Grant asked.
"Ummmm..." Muffy trusted Grant even less.
"I wouldn't mind coming too," Percy mentioned. "I would actually like to brush up on my cooking skills, maybe redo the steak I burnt on day four."
"That would be nice of you Percy," Aria mentioned.
"Alright, I'll meet you in the kitchen," Percy said. He went to the door and noticed it was unlocked. He opened it and headed for the kitchen.
...But when going there, he immediately ran into a wall. ...A big invisible wall that no one could see.
"What the heck!?" Percy yelled.
"What the heck what?" Kiki asked looking outside.
"There's a big invisible object here!" Percy said.
"That's dumb, what are you pulling," Kiki said before going outside... and walking into another invisible wall. "For goodness gracious, what's going on!?"
"This seems oddly familiar," Wren stated. "Like something I read in an old book."
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"In this book I read, we Pokemon are companions to humans," Wren said. "They would take us to fight all these other Pokemon at a place called a Gym. There's one particular Gym that has these strange invisible walls. I wonder if this has anything to do with said gym."
-After Confessional-
Jet rushed outside to see for himself. Eventually he rushed past an invisible wall and found himself stuck between TWO invisible walls, not being able to find the way he came into the hall of invisible walls.
"Bertram! This isn't funny!" Jet yelled.
"Jet, trying going left then forward," Kiki said. "You may find your way out."
Jet did what Kiki asked him to do. What do you know, he did it.
"It worked!" Jet exclaimed.
"But we still don't know why all these invisible walls are here," Percy said.
"Oh please," Aria said as she walked out. "It's obviously something of Dagger Eye's doing," Aria stated. "I thought we've been through this before."
"No! Let go of me!" Just then, everyone's attention was on one of the bunkers bastions. They saw Bertram and two Ursarings up there, and the Ursarings were trying to shove Bertram into a cannon.
"Sorry, but this time Pandora wants to make sure he gets rid of everyone involved," an Ursaring said.
"Not to mention your shifty little bed salesman," the other Ursaring said.
"...I'm never going to get used to the bed salesman slash super spy gag," Aria said.
But as luck would have it, Wyler was also being restrained by Ursaring and shoved into a bastions cannon.
"You will NOT see ignorance from my followers!" Bertram said. "They will put an end to all of you!"
"Ha! You think Pandora didn't plan that through?" the first Ursaring asked.
"Why do you think all those invisible walls are there?" the second one asked.
"Yeah, we put them there," the first one added. "AND we summoned the mist too."
Eventually one Ursaring from each group went into the Bastion and blasted the cannons off. Bertram and Wyler went soaring.
"YOU HAVE NOT HEARD THE LAST OF UUUUUUUUUUSSSSS!" Bertram yelled as he went spiraling off into the sky, probably saved by bird Pokemon once they were out of sight.
"Now, as for you guys," an Ursaring started. "Pandora plans to have a LOT of fun with you guys. ...in what will now be called PANDORA'S LABYRINTH!"
-Witching Walls-
"Huh, shooting Jet out of a cannon," Grant blurted out. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"You want to do WHAT!?" Jet yelled.
"Guys, we have to stay calm," Percy said. "Alright, where is Pandora hiding?"
"Try going through the maze to the other bunkers," the Ursaring mentioned.
"Why would he make a base in the bunkers?" Kiki asked.
"Don't you know?" Aria asked. "The trap-doors to the cannons are still in there. It's obvious Pandora is hiding up there beyond the Ursarings."
"What? Near the Quarantine Chamber?" Drenig asked.
"Muffy aint scared of any lousy bears!" Muffy yelled.
"Fine! If you think you can make it through the maze, then come to Pandora's ship at the top of the bunkers," an Ursaring said.
"Lucky for you our flying ship is out of fuel right now and we can't escape," another one said. "Stupid Dagger Eyes didn't even give us back-up fuel."
"Sounds like you're just using that as an excuse to give us a chance," Aria said. "Any real villain would have extra fuel."
"We just forgot, okay?" the Ursaring said.
"Come on guys," Dustin said. "We aren't going to make progress if we just chat around here. Thy foul wizard will taste my blade!"
"Good luck guys," another Ursaring said. "This will be fun to watch."
"I guess all we can do is feel around the area," Percy said. "We'll probably be able to tell where the walls are easier that way."
"That's easy for you guys," Wren said. "I don't like being a Quadruped right now."
"How do they even make invisible walls?" Muffy asked.
"Beats me," Drenig stated.
Eventually, the contestants were off trying to feel around the course. Unfortunately, it was a huge invisible maze that would be easy to get lost in. After fifteen minutes, the contestants were not even close to either bunker.
"Ugh, can't think on an empty stomach," Jet said.
"I didn't know you were even capable of thinking," Percy joked.
"You're gonna pay for that remark, Percy!" Jet shouted.
"If only there was a sign," Kiki said. "What if I just punched the walls to shatter them."
"Good luck with that!" an Ursaring called out.
After fifteen more minutes, the Ursaring were starting to laugh.
"You guys STILL haven't found the entrance to EITHER past bunker?" an Ursaring shouted.
"Everyone... meat at kitchen," Aria said.
"You guys could have at least let us eat," Wren shouted.
"I dunno, that's actually quite clever," Grant said. "Oh what am I saying, that's too evil."
"Even the villain kid thinks you're game is stupid!" Kiki shouted.
"This is getting old," one of the Ursarings said. "You guys have fun, I'll be at the buffet."
"No! I'm not going to be beaten by a maze!" Muffy yelled. "Not this time!"
Grant had a feeling this would be a perfect chance to bond with Muffy and get on her good side. So that is what he did. He went and helped her.
"Don't worry Muffy, I'll help you," Grant said.
"Get away!" She shouted. "You'll just make things worse again!"
"No, this time I really want to help," Grant said. "Follow me. If we feel around long enough, we can find the right path."
"Okay, but I'm still not sure..." Muffy started.
"Trust me, okay? I can help," Grant assured. "This way!"
Meanwhile, Percy had hit another dead end. Jet was nearby and saw him in the situation. Problem was, typical Jet wanted to make things worse.
"What's wrong Percy? Left your yarn at home?" Jet asked.
"Still trying to find my way out," Percy stated.
"Oh please! You're so pathetic!" Jet said. "Deep beneath those big muscles lies a character who's only good for strength."
"I could still kick your tail," Percy said.
"Oh yeah?" Jet asked. "You have no idea. One day, I'm going to be a magnificent Greninja, superior among all creatures! And you will stay an ugly fat cat."
"You are really asking for it, you jerk!" Percy shouted.
"Bring it! Back those muscles up!" Jet yelled.
Immediately Percy bolted towards Jet like a rampaging Tauros. Problem was... he forgot about the invisible walls. Percy smashed right into a wall and Jet started laughing at him like mad.
"Oh, after you lose this challenge, you will be gone!" Percy shouted.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"You won that round," Percy said. "But with attitude like that, you will NOT last long."
-Confessional Session(Jet)-
"Ha ha ha! He is just too much," Drenig said. "What a card!"
-After Confessional-
Meanwhile, Dustin and Drenig were working together when they both found TWO possible paths to go down. They were deciding what to do.
"Ay think I should go down this one," Drenig said.
"Thy be fine with that," Dustin said. "Then I shall go down this one," Dustin said as he went down the other path.
Drenig felt the walls through and through, not watching where he was going when suddenly he bumped right into Kiki. He even knocked her over.
"Oww... man, I did not see you there," Drenig said.
"I suppose that was no one's fault," Kiki said.
"Here, let me help you up," Drenig said before kneeling down to offer Kiki his claw.
When they locked claws, they both started to look at each other. Drenig felt a bit nervous as he was helping her up. He still remembered what Bertram told them about their compatibility.
"Ummm, thank you," Kiki said.
"Ay, uhhh, that didn't mean anything," Drenig said.
"I know, you were just being nice," Kiki said. "You're eyes... they are actually very..."
Drenig was listening to Kiki's words and started to blush. Maybe he did have a thing for her.
"...Bizarre," Kiki finished. "Those big black shapes on your face, they're not your entire eye? They look kind of scary."
Drenig felt a bit more normal now. And yet he kind of felt like giving a bit back.
"Yeah, that comes with being a Krookodile I guess," he said. "Your hand... you have a very strong grip..."
Now Kiki started to feel the same way. She blushed as she was feeling nervous.
"And rough," Drenig said. "Your claws feel like pumice."
Kiki went back to normal as well. Still, she wasn't angry either.
"Yeah, that comes with being a Combuseken I guess," she said. "Anyway, this is just a dead end so you should probably go back."
"Okay," Drenig said. "Uhhh... you first."
"Okay," Kiki said as she walked off down the hall.
-Confessional Session(Drenig)-
"Heh, some odd coincidental situation involving the book," Drenig said. "I doubt it's anything to take seriously."
-After Confessional-
After about fifteen more minutes, someone finally found a way out. Aria had made it all the way to the kitchen.
"Ha! I knew I could figure this course out eventually," She said as she went to the door.
But as luck would have it, others weren't far behind. Dustin found the same door, and was close to. Meanwhile, Kiki and Drenig weren't much further behind. On the other side, Jet found the bathroom bunker, and Grant and Muffy were following along. But Wren and Percy were still behind in the maze.
"What the, where's Wren?" Aria asked herself as she looked back and saw Wren was still in the maze. Aria decided to go back and help.
Wren was not too far away from Percy. Eventually, the two bumped into each other.
"Oh, hello little guy," Percy said. "You... still stuck in the maze too?"
"Yeah, I guess," Wren said.
"Well, I suppose we could work together for now," Percy said.
"Sure, that would be nice," Wren agreed.
"Maybe you could help me some other way," Percy asked. "I would really like to get one on Jet. Maybe you could help?"
"I don't know," Wren said. "Revenge isn't..."
"I wouldn't call it revenge," Percy said. "But I would like to send him home."
"Who WOULDN'T want that?" Wren asked.
"Yet I feel it's not good enough," Percy said. "Any ideas on what else I could do?"
"Just let him go, he's not worth it," Wren said.
"You mean let him get away with his tomfoolery?" Percy asked. "No, I must do something."
"I still say voting him off is good enough," Wren said.
"I would like to do that asap," Percy said. "But I don't know, Jet's a strong competitor."
"I have not seen him do anything that suggests so," Wren said. "He seems like a..."
"Wren?" Aria eventually found her way to the group. "Wren, let's go, I found a way out."
"Oh, thanks Aria," Wren said as they went on. Percy followed in suit.
When Dustin, Kiki and Drenig entered the kitchen, things seemed innocent enough. ...Until Dustin tried to go through the trap door. ...It was locked and there was a slot near the door.
"Thy door is locked," Dustin said.
"How cute," Kiki said. "There are instructions here. It says there are five card keys hidden in this room. Only those with card keys may enter through the trap door. If you can't find a card key, try the other bunker. This is just a big toy box."
"Well, we won't find the keys just standing around," Drenig said before looking in the drawers. He started pulling pots out and as luck would have it, he found a key. "Hey, I already found one.
Kiki was searching through a big stack of pots and eventually found another. She seemed a bit happy.
"Me too," Kiki said before going to the trap door. Drenig went to the door as well as his friend looked through the refrigerator and found another.
"Right behind you!" He called out. Eventually, everyone there had a card key, but Wren, Aria and Percy arived too. It was their turn to find card keys.
"I'm forgetting, is this supposed to be a race or not?" Wren asked.
"I think so," Aria said. "After all, we're not on separate teams anymore so we can assume we're fighting for ourselves."
Wren bolted toward the trap door ladder, but once again he was unable to open it. He learned the hard way.
"It's not going to be that easy Wren," Percy said. "It says here there are..."
"Card keys, like this one, right?" Aria asked, revealing a key she found in the sink full of dishes.
"How did you find that so quickly?" Percy asked.
"Never assume it will be that easy," Aria said.
"Alright, let's keep looking," Percy said before he went around the kitchen. Wren did the same.
Wren was struggling to find another card key, but no matter where he looked he could not find any. But Percy had an inkling. Percy lifted the microwave on the counter, and there it was, the last key card.
"Got it," Percy said as he went to the trap door. But suddenly, Wren was getting frustrated.
"No! Where's the card? Why can't I find one?" Wren asked. "Come on, come on!" Wren was working himself up.
"If I recall, Dustin, Kiki and Drenig were in here," Aria said. "It's safe to assume me and Percy have the last ones."
"NO! I can't go through the maze again," Wren cried.
"You won't have to," Aria said before walking to Wren and giving him her card key. "Take mine."
"...You'd sacrifice your shot at winning this game just to let me go forward?" Wren asked.
"It's just the beginning," Aria said. "Plus I want to be nice to my friends."
"Yay! Thanks Aria," Wren cheered.
"I'll have to go find the other bunker, but I think I can do it," Aria said. "Wish me luck guys."
"Huh, she's actually kind of nice," Percy said.
"Yeah, she is actually quite a nice person when you get to know her," Wren said.
Eventually, the two went up the trapdoor to finish their challenge. But they were still behind.
Over at the other bunker, Jet immediately bolted toward the trapdoor just as Dustin and Wren did. Just like them, the door did not open.
"Hey! This isn't funny! I have to get there first!" Jet yelled.
Jet started to bang on the door like an idiot. That was when Muffy and Grant came into the building.
"See? I actually did help you," Grant said.
"Well... I guess you did," Muffy said.
Grant went to the wall and saw a similar sheet that Kiki and Percy saw. Grant looked over at Jet and started to laugh.
"What's the matter idiot?" Grant asked. "Forgot the password?" Grant started to look around the bathroom for a card key.
"This stupid door won't budge!" Jet yelled.
"Did you try saying "Open sesame?" Grant asked.
"Ha ha ha, very funny!" Jet shouted.
Eventually, Grant found a card key wrapped in towels hung on a towel bar near the shower. He then handed the card key to Muffy.
"Here, you take this one, I'll find another," Grant said.
"That... is kind of you," Muffy said.
-Confessional Session(Muffy)-
"Maybe Grant really has changed," Muffy said. "Or maybe he was always like this and he just hid it behind his evil genius motif. Who's to say, but he's a lot nicer than he was before. ...And he's funny too."
-After Confessional-
"What are you guys doing?" Jet asked.
"You're supposed to look for a card key," Muffy said as she approached the ladder to the trap door. "Now get down! Muffy needs to get through!"
"Ugh, stupid Dagger Eyes," Jet said as he climbed down to look for a card.
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"Jet is such an idiot," Grant said. "He didn't even bother trying to look for an alternate solution? He won't be much of a threat in this game."
-Confessional Session(Jet)-
"Grant the Dastardly obviously under-estimates me," Jet said. "I'll show him! I'll get to Pandora first and nothing will stop me."
-After Confessional-
Grant eventually found another card key in a rack of magazines near one of the toilets. He then proceeded to mock Jet before climbing up the ladder.
"See ya later, frog mush!" Grant said as he climbed up the ladder.
Jet had not found a key card by the time Aria found her way into the bathroom area. Jet was searching through the toilets trying to find it. Aria's first instinct was to look inside boxes of soap. Sure enough, she found one in a box of soap that was outside the showers. She went towards the ladder and saw Jet coming out of the toilets.
"You STILL haven't found a card?" Aria asked.
"Stop mocking me squid face!" Jet shouted. "I am going to win this challenge if it's the last thing I do!"
"Right, but you should know you're the last one to find a key," Aria said as she climbed up the ladder to the next part.
Eventually, most of the contestants were at the top. Dustin lead the way for the kitchen bunker group with Kiki, Drenig, Percy and Wren. Muffy lead the way for Grant, while Aria was trailing behind, and Jet was still in the bathroom. Suddenly, they were spotted by the Ursarings.
"Uh oh, they figured the maze out," one of them said. "What now?"
"Use the cannons!" another said.
"There's no time! They'll be here by then," a third reminded.
"Then run to the ship!" the first one said as they ran away from the group.
Eventually, the groups got closer to the ship, which seemed to be a very tall rocket. There were also elevators going up its side, and tubes trailing up the mid section. In fact, there was all sorts of fun obstacles up the top, including jungle gym courses and then some. It looked positively fun really.
"So that must be Pandora's ship," Kiki said. "Right, that brat's gonna get it."
"Alright, food!" Drenig shouted as he pointed to a buffet filled with breakfast goods at the bottom of the rocket. There was an Ursaring there eating at the buffet, but he went inside the ship as soon as he saw the contestants.
"Oh good, they were thinking about us," Dustin said as we walked over to it. "Wow, there's scrambled Blaziken eggs, waffles, omlettes, breakfast wraps, all kinds of cereal... Ooh! Breakfast Emboar ham! Let's eat."
"I don't know, shouldn't we get going?" Kiki asked.
"We should at least get something to eat," Drenig suggested. "We haven't had breakfast yet."
"True... I guess it wouldn't hurt." Eventually, Kiki joined the two at the buffet. It wasn't long before Percy, Wren, Muffy and Grant showed up.
"No way! They had food stationed in front of the ship?" Wren asked.
"What foolish evil would be this stupid?" Grant asked. "Wouldn't it be wiser to starve us? Duh, not that I'm giving anyone any ideas."
"Look, Aria's coming," Muffy said as she saw Aria coming towards the buffet.
"Hey Aria, just in time," Percy said.
"Thanks," she said. "Sure is good to leave that stupid frog behind."
"See Percy, nothing to worry about," Wren said. "He'll be gone before you know it."
"To the victor go the spoils!" Dustin shouted aloud. The contestants stared at Dustin after he said that.
Suddenly, someone came bolting towards the group. It was Jet and he was determined. He saw the buffet and immediately bolted toward it. He quickly jumped over the buffet and grabbed a breakfast wrap in the process before running into the ship. He was eating the wrap while hopping.
"Ha! All I need isCOUGH! Ugh! Wheeze..." Jet was choking on his food as a result of talking, running and eating at the same time. He took a second to swallow his food before resuming his sentence. "All I need is to eat this wrap and not talk at the same time."
And just like that, Jet took the lead. Everyone seemed dumbfounded.
"Ack! No!" Percy shouted. "We have to stop him!"
"...Why?" Wren asked.
"Trust me, he's no good," Kiki said.
Eventually, the groups ran into the ship. They were all determined to beat Jet to the top.
-Typical Self-Destruction Routine-
"Hmmm... let's see," Jet said to himself as he looked inside the ship. There were nine rooms, each with a number. As expected, Jet went into room one without question. "Number one, because I am." The room he entered just happened to be an elevator to the next level.
As everyone else entered the ship, they saw the remaining eight rooms. They took a bit longer to think.
"One of the rooms is closed," Wren mentioned.
"Right, then it's obvious we have to choose one of the other rooms," Grant said.
"Let's all choose one," Drenig said. "They all seem like small rooms, so they're possibly elevators."
"Fine, let's go!" Aria shouted as she got into one of the rooms.
As everyone got into an elevator, Jet was on the second floor. When he got outside his room, he saw buttons outside the elevator. He tried pressing one, but the elevator went down. Then he went to another one of the doors and pressed a button. Eventually, an elevator came to help him reach the next floor. It seemed these elevators were part of a puzzle.
Down on the first floor, one player was having problems. It was Drenig.
"My elevator's not going up," Drenig blurted. "...Hello?" But everyone else was already going up. No one could hear Drenig.
As everyone got to the next floor, they started looking around the room. They had hit a wall now.
"...Okay, now what?" Kiki asked the group.
Eventually, someone's elevator door closed after they got out and was coming down to that level. They could hear shouting inside the elevator that was coming down.
"No! Up! Why is it going down!" There was no mistaking it was Jet. Eventually, the door opened and Jet saw everyone outside. "No! Go back up! Go back up!"
"Come on! Do you think I'd make it that easy?" Just then, another unmistakable voice called out. This time, it was Pandora. Eventually, Drenig's elevator finally came up to the second floor.
"Aww man, that Pandora dude again," Drenig blurted out.
"I forgot to mention till now, some of those elevators are not capable of going to the next floor," he said. "They are only capable of transfer between that floor and the previous floor. You just have to figure out which elevators go up and which stay in place."
-Confessional Session(Drenig)-
"Leave it to Dagger Eyes and his henchmen to think of something so clever," Drenig said. "But it looks like there will be more brain than skill in this event. I may or may not do good in that case, but at least Jet will probably do terribly."
-After Confessional-
"It's also a good time to mention that my chamber is a giant escape pod," Pandora said. "Unfortunately, it is malfunctioning right now, and my Ursaring henchmen aren't exactly the best mechanics. ...But they WILL fix the problem before you make it here. And when they do, I will press a shiny red button that will blow the entire ship up in ten seconds flat, which gives me and my crew enough time to escape. Soon all the contestants will be wiped out! And then... my revenge will be realized!"
"At least there's an actual excuse for why it will take so long rather than the cliched dragged-out timer most shows have," Aria said.
"Ha! As sarcastic and beautiful as ever I see," Pandora said. "Anyway, good luck. You'll need more than it."
"So... what now?" Wren asked. ...No one answered. Instead, the contestants scrambled towards elevators. They were pressing buttons like mad trying to find elevators that would take them up. The race was now under way.
Contestants went high and low trying to get to where they were going. Some had good luck, while others couldn't get the right luck. But one certain Pokemon found a way to trick the system. Grant decided to go inside elevators and quickly run out before the doors closed.
"Ha! That Pandora fool obviously underestimated me," he said watching the elevator lights go down.
He watched others use elevators that went up and decided to use the trick. On the next floor, he found Muffy, who was having trouble figuring the puzzle out. As been the usual for today, he decided to help her.
"Hey, Muffy. If you jump out of the elevator right before it closes, you can tell where it goes," he said.
"Really? Thanks," Muffy said. "You... seem to really like helping me."
"Like I said, want to stay in the game, you have to make friends," Grant said.
As they were trying the tactic, both Kiki and Drenig were having troubles. Eventually, they wound up on the same floor. ...alone.
"Oh, hi," Drenig said as he went to another elevator.
"Yeah, hello," Kiki responded before making her choice.
Meanwhile, Percy went through the challenge feeling very... rattled. He eventually ended up in the same room as Wren. Wren could tell something was up.
"What's wrong Percy?" Wren asked.
"Oh... it's nothing," Percy said. "This... place is kind of cramped though."
"I don't mind it," Wren said as he raced to another elevator. Percy went to another door and pressed a button to summon the elevator. It came up and opened to reveal... Jet again. What luck.
"Hey, you're blocking the way meat-head," Jet said as he bounced under his arms.
"Jet... Stop it! Why do you have to antagonize me?" Percy asked. Jet looked back and saw he was shaking. "I already... know you're jealous."
"Awww, is the big brave cat afraid of confined spaces?" Jet asked.
"No! Shut up!" Percy shouted as he chased after Jet. Jet hopped into an elevator before he could catch him.
"Aww, better luck next time!" Jet taunted as his doors closed and his elevator went up.
Percy was really starting to get angry at Jet as he went away. Jet was really getting on his nerves.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"I've wanted to cave in Jet's skull since day one," Percy said. "I've tried tolerating him, it hasn't worked. I really hope someone puts him in his place."
-After Confessional-
Eventually, the first contestants made it to the second section. It was Grant and Muffy. Grant was still trying to help, but this time was unsure.
"Let's see," Grant said. "Holes with covers. So I guess we go through the covers and through whatever's on the other side."
Grant went through one of the holes and through a cover. Before him, as he cleared the cover, a screen shut him off from going back. In front of him were some blinds. Grant went through the blinds and found out that he was in a large tube.
"Once you go in you can't go back," Grant said as he crawled through the tube.
Muffy also choose a tube to crawl through. Unfortunately, hers only went around to another tube. When she came around, she saw Wren had made it to the tubes.
"Wren? You've gotten far," Muffy said.
"You seen Jet anywhere?" Wren asked.
"What about him?" Muffy asked. "Yeah, he's a jerk but what about him?"
"Percy wants me to beat him in this game," Wren said.
"Well... good luck," Muffy stated. "Nothing else to say."
Wren went through one of the holes to resume the challenge. Muffy decided to go through another hole. But before she cleared the blinds, she hear another character come through. ...It was Jet.
"Ack! He's gaining on us!" Muffy yelled as she scrambled through her tube. Jet just shook his head and smiled.
"Ha, tubes," Jet said to himself. "This will be easy." Jet eventually popped through one of the tubes It was basically him versus everyone else.
More and more competitors made it to the tubes. Eventually Drenig made it up there and as he did, he noticed another elevator across from him in use.
"Not again," Drenig said to himself as it eventually reached the floor and opened up. "Kiki, how do we keep..." It was Aria.
"Kiki? I'm not Kiki," Aria said.
"Oh, sorry about that," Drenig said. "Let's just say a lot of weird things have happened between me and her today."
"Do I hear wedding bells?" Aria asked.
"No! Nothing like that!" Drenig shouted. "It's just that I can't seem to get away from her. I keep bumping into her and..."
"Hey Drenig, what's going on?" Drenig looked behind and saw his friend Dustin had made it up there.
"Oh, hi Dustin," Drenig said. As Drenig was talking to Dustin, Aria left into one of the tubes. She didn't know about them, but she wouldn't mind winning. "Me and Aria were just... talking about Kiki."
"Why, do you like her?" Dustin asked.
"No! I mean yes! I mean... I don't know what I mean," Drenig admitted.
"Try not to over-think things," Dustin said. "Besides, you should be focusing on beating Jet right now."
"You're right," Drenig said. "Well, I guess we better get going." Drenig then tried to crawl through one of the tubes. ...He was not having an easy time with it.
"Oh boy, good luck Drenig," Dustin said to himself.
Higher up, Wren was crawling through one of the tubes, trying to get higher up that Jet, when he caught Jet right above him. Wren got nervous at that point.
"No! He's winning," he blurted out.
Eventually, Jet caught up with Grant as well. He caught him off guard as they got to the same room.
"Oh, hello there frog mush," Grant said. "And now goodbye," Grant said as he went through another tube.
"Oh yeah?" Jet asked as he hopped right into one of the other tubes. ...Except his tube was going down, and Grant's went up.
"I bet that fool wasn't even paying attention," Grant said.
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"The tubes are transparent," Grant said. "Just look around and see what other tubes are around. It's gotten me this far, but I bet Jet's too dumb to notice."
-After Confessional-
Eventually, Kiki reached the tubes as well. When she got up, she noticed the elevator away from her was coming up too. I think you might know where this one is going.
"Drenig, how do we keep bumping into each other?" Kiki asked. ...But of course as the doors opened, it was Percy in the elevator. "...Oh, sorry I thought you were..."
"What is this room?" Percy asked. "What are those holes? I don't have to go through them, do I?"
"Why are you asking?" Kiki asked.
"No reason, just wondering," Percy said. "So what now?"
"I've been running into Drenig a lot lately," Kiki said.
"...Okay," Percy said.
"It all started when Riley got eliminated and Bertram said me and Drenig were compatible," Kiki said.
"So? You're compatible," Percy said. "Doesn't mean you NEED to be in a relationship with him."
"I know," Kiki said. "But I still can't help but wonder."
"It's probably nothing," Percy said. "...Okay, right..." Percy hesitantly went inside one of the tubes. Kiki seemed to notice that Percy was claustrophobic.
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"Huh, now that I think of it, I notice a lot of big guys are claustrophobic," Kiki said. "Maybe it's because the world is smaller to them, so rooms seem to be caving in on them more often. ...That's my guess.
-After Confessional-
Grant was onto the next obstacle after clearing the last tube. This one was a hanging jungle-gym with a rope net stretched out a great distance below it, as well as cables for strapping onto. There were no tricks or puzzles for this one, just a jungle gym that ended in a series of rope ladders. Like the first floor, there was one of them for each contestant to have their own.
"Hmmm, how to go about this one," Grant said as he chose the gym next to him.
There were several sections: A narrow beam, narrow zig-zag boards, a long rope net bridge, a series of boards that rocked, two ropes placed vertically and a crank for lowering the high rope just to make it fair for the shorter contestants, followed by a round pillar with a narrow platform going around it, and ends with the rope ladders.
"Well, here goes nothing," Grant got himself strapped into the cable and started the course. Already, he was having a difficult time balancing on the narrow board. "Well at least there's a net down there."
Muffy was starting to get lost in her area. She didn't know which tubes to go through and which tubes not to. Unlike Grant, she didn't pay attention.
"Oh no... should I just go with one?" she asked herself. Eventually, someone popped out of the tubes. ...It was Jet again.
"Great. You again, that means I got sent all the way to the bottom," Jet said as he jumped out of the tube and ran towards another.
"Why do you have to..." Muffy called out, but it was too late, Jet had already gone through a tube. But... Jet did help her out a bit. "Hmmm... All the way to the bottom. ...That means he came out from higher up."
Eventually, Wren came through one of the tubes. Seems he was higher as well.
"Wren, I think I found a good tube," Muffy said. "Follow me."
"Hmmm... okay," Wren said as he watched Muffy go through the tube. ...Of course Muffy's tube closed off. Wren waited for it to open up again before going inside.
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"I've never had to trust Muffy before," Wren said. "I was uncertain if I should have, but I just went with it cause I didn't know if she was trustworthy or not."
-After Confessional-
As Muffy got out near the last of the tube floors, she caught a glimps of the tube that went up to the next obstacle. She figured she would wait for Wren to help him out. But before Wren could get there, Jet appeared right behind her. Muffy was able to tell though, and decided to make up a story.
"Wren, are you coming?" Muffy asked. "You have the use the one across from this one, that will lead to the next obstacle she said.
"Ha! Stupid Muffy," Jet yelled as he went into said tube. ...Only to be sent back down again. "STUPID MUFFY!"
Eventually, Wren DID come up. He did hear Muffy's advice though.
"I'm sorry, what?" Wren asked.
"Never mind I said that," Muffy said. "The tube we want to go through is to the right."
You said across," Wren said.
"Muffy wanted to trick Jet, so Muffy lied to trick Jet," Muffy said. "Why don't I go first? Muffy feels if she goes first it's easier for friend to trust her."
"I guess that makes sense," Wren said. Eventually, Muffy went through the tube up to the next challenge. Wren waited for the tube to open up when someone else came around. It was Aria.
"Hey little guy," Aria said. "What are you doing?"
"Waiting for this door to open," Wren said. "Apparently it leads to the next obstacle. You can wait too if you want."
"I suppose that sounds like a plan," she said. "I wonder where everyone else is."
"I don't know," Wren said. "I haven't seen anyone besides Muffy and Jet since the elevators. ...Ah! Door opened up."
Wren went through the tunnel to go onto the next challenge. Aria decided to wait for the door to open. ...That was when Kiki showed up next. Kiki read Aria like a book.
"Are you waiting for the door to the next obstacle to open?" Kiki asked.
"Huh?" Aria looked over and saw Kiki. "Yeah, just make sure Jet doesn't know. It's kind of a funny line right now. Wren went through here not too long ago."
"I wonder where everyone is at," Kiki said. Kiki shook her head and proceeded to a second thought. "Nevermind, has Jet gone through here?"
"All I know is that that nice Raichu went through," Aria said. "Not sure about anyone else. ...Oh! My turn."
Aria went through the tube next and proceeded on with the challenge. Meanwhile, Drenig, Dustin and Percy were not making much progress at all. Eventually Drenig and Dustin both wound up in the same room as each other.
"Okay, crawling through tubes is not one of my fortes," Drenig said as he saw Dustin's face pop out of a tube across from him. Drenig tried getting out of his tube carefully, but fell over onto the floor in front of him. "I'm getting too fat for this."
"Thy would not speak so hastily," Dustin said. "Honestly, I think you lost a bit of weight since you first started."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Drenig said. "Maybe that pescitarian diet is helping."
"Possibly," Dustin said. "So... what to do now?"
"What do you mean, I thought we were supposed to go through the holes," Drenig stated.
"Yeah, but how far behind are we?" Dustin asked.
"We're probably on the bottom of the pack right now," Drenig said. "But hey, I may not look it, but I'm actually having fun. I never really got those play areas in the fast food joints, but now I see why kids like them. Still, the burgers at those joints sucked. I wonder if there's a burger joint that makes Magikarp burgers. ... Dustin?"
Dustin had just left after Drenig said he was on the bottom of the pack. That left him alone on that floor.
"Oh well, time to resume the puzzle," Drenig said as he tried to fit himself into another tube.
Meanwhile, Dustin wound up at the bottom again. He got there and saw that Percy had not even attempted the challenge yet.
"What's wrong Percy?" Dustin asked.
"Nothing... I just don't like squeezing myself into tiny tubes," Percy said.
"It's no big deal, just go on in," Dustin said.
"Umm... right," Percy blurted out. ...But he stood frozen at the tube entrance.
"Don't tell me you're afraid," Dustin said to him.
"No! I just... don't know which one to pick," Percy said.
"They're not even that dark for so long," Dustin said. "Come on!"
"Umm..." Percy eventually went inside a tube and as he crept inside, he started to panic. He immediately pulled himself out of the tube.
"What's wrong, a big guy like you shouldn't be afraid," Dustin said.
"I... I don't like confined spaces," Percy said.
"Wait, what?" Dustin asked. "I've never heard of anyone afraid of small spaces."
"It's called claustrophobia," Percy said. Percy looked back at Dustin and noticed he was just staring at him. "It's fear of confined spaces."
"Right," Dustin said as he went through another tube. "Well good luck then."
-Confessional Session(Dustin)-
"Claustrophobia? What kind of weird phobia is that?" Dustin asked. "I understand fear of hights, spider Pokemon and being under water, but that one is weird."
-After Confessional-
Grant was not getting through the jungle gym very fast. In fact, he was going at a pace slow enough for Muffy to catch up. Muffy came through the second jungle gym door and immediately saw Grant tackling the course.
"Hey Grant!" Muffy called out. Grant looked back and smiled.
"Greetings MuffYEOW!" Grant got distracted and fell off the obstacle he was on down into the net below. "...Okay, that was my bad."
Not long after Muffy started the course, Wren came in as well. But he seemed a little... nervous.
"Oh great, another balance challenge," Wren said to himself as he strapped himself up. "Well, at least Jet won't win this one. He's terrible at balance."
There really wasn't anything eventful going on at the course, but eventually Aria was up there too. She couldn't see Muffy or Grant from her portion of the jungle gym, but she could see Wren.
"Kiki should be coming up soon," Aria said. "Unless she winds up in some crock's shadow again."
"Let's discuss that later, I need to focus," Wren said.
"Well Drenig told me earlier..." Aria started.
"I said not now!" Wren shouted.
"Okay, okay, later," Aria said.
Down by where Kiki is, Jet FINALLY got back to that room. He was really angry right now. But he saw Kiki waiting at the gate to the tube. This made him smile a bit.
"Hey Kiki!" Jet shouted. "What are you waiting for?"
"Oh, just a friend," Kiki said.
"YOU have friends?" Jet asked.
"Yes, and he's coming up the tube now," Kiki said. "I'm just waiting for him so I can tell him to go through that tube over there."
"Ha! What's your friends name?" Jet asked.
"You mean Wren?" Kiki asked.
"I aint seen you two together, you're pulling my leg," Jet shouted. Eventually started to anger Kiki.
"Listen, you have no idea who my friends are, so clam up!" Kiki shouted. ...But as quickly as the door opened, Jet bolted towards the door and went inside. "HEY!"
"You know there are two tubes going up, right?" Jet asked. "Try the other one."
After Jet stole Kiki's door, Kiki started to look to the other holes. She went through one of them and immediately found herself going down. She was highly startled by the steep incline she was going down.
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"Ugh! Jet is awful!" Kiki shouted. "He doesn't have any form of honor or humility, and he feels the need to act mean to others. What a bully! But not like the ones in my dojo, they are brawny kids. This guy's a whole new breed of bully. He's slinky and sly with a sharp tongue, something you would expect from Aria's kind."
-After Confessional-
As Kiki went down, she came out on a lower floor. She noticed one of the tubes away from her was closed. Maybe it was a way back up. Kiki waited for it, and was greeted by a familiar face. ...It was Drenig again.
"Uhhhh, coincidence?" Drenig asked.
"Coincidence," Kiki confirmed.
"Right, three coincidences," Drenig said. "...Could you help me out please? I think I'm stuck."
Kiki accepted and grabbed Drenigs claw and started pulling at it. Eventually, she managed to get him out.
"Thanks for that," Drenig said. "So... where are the others?"
"Far ahead," Kiki said. "We might be able to catch up if we go through the tube I went through though. You willing to wait?"
"Yeah man, I can do that," Drenig said.
"Alright, just wait for the door to open," Kiki said as she went over to the tube she was just in and crawled inside. Drenig did what he promised and waited for Kiki to finish.
Aria was not going through the course like a speeding Talonflame, but she had impeccable balance.
"Don't over-think it Wren," Aria called out. "Remember there's no rule against using your arms!"
"...There isn't?" Wren asked. "Thanks for the tip."
"Glad I could help," Aria said. "I think Kiki's coming through."
...But it wasn't Kiki, it was Jet who came through the next gym. He was looking quite fresh too.
"Another balance course?" Jet asked himself. "Ha! I've been practicing for this. It will not beat me this time!"
"Oh no..." Aria was starting to get worried about Jet. Yeah, he wasn't good at balance before, but he did practice. Maybe he was better this time around.
-Jet Pilgrim VS The World-
"Guys! Double time!" Aria shouted.
-Confessional Session(Jet)-
"Everyone's against the Jet-frog," Jet said. "Maybe it's because they know I'm a threat. ...Wait, wasn't I supposed to be more humble? Oh what's the point, contestants STILL tried kicking me off. Only thing I can REALLY do is school the contestants at every compotition. Ha! Peace of cake!"
-After Confessional-
Aria was trying to speed up on the obstacles, but she kept looking over at jet, which threw her off. Jet realized there was no rule against using your arms this time, and was taking advantage of it. Meanwhile, Grant was up for another go, but he wasn't getting anywhere fast. Muffy was constantly messing up, and Wren wasn't doing much better even with his front paws. But Jet was wasting no time. He had easily gotten past the narrow board, but the zig-zags were slowing him down. ...But not enough. Aria was REALLY getting frustrated.
"Ugh! Come on Aria, you can do this," she said as she made it to the rope-bridge. But as she started it, Jet was blazing through it. This was pushing Aria to work harder, but may also cause her to mess up.
"Ha! I got much better at this, huh?" Jet asked. Except the challenge didn't have the same rules, and it was much easier for Jet.
"Watch your webbing!" Aria shouted at Jet.
Jet got to the rocking boards and he had a much harder time with them. The rocking boards would likely be the hardest of the obstacles besides the sidle pillar. Jet's confidence lowered a bit.
...And to shake his confidence more, Kiki was hot on his trail. She looked confident and ready to strike.
"Oh no you don't Jet!" Kiki called out. Kiki was able to clear the first two obstacles no problem, and Jet was STILL struggling on the rocking boards, giving her some more time to catch up.
"Oh yes I do!" Jet said as he was trying his hardest to stay dead center in the boards.
"What? Kiki? Is that you?" Aria called out. Kiki couldn't hear her, but Aria did feel more confident. She knew they would all have a better chance of beating Jet if they worked together, which helped Aria get through the rope bridge.
At this point, most of the competitors had no chance of catching up. Grant and Muffy were still on the zig-zags, and Wren was tangled in the rope bridge. Drenig managed to arrive at the jungle gym, but his performance on the course would surely be weak. Aria had a chance at beating him, but just barely, but Kiki was going to be Jet's main threat at this point.
Kiki was clawing her way through the rope bridge challenge, and Jet had just made it to the double ropes. Jet was really starting to feel confident.
"I'll get there before you do!" Jet called out, walking across the bottom rope while holding onto the top.
"We'll see about that!" Kiki said as she was stepping across the rocking boards.
Meanwhile, Wren got himself untangled from the rope bridge and moved onto the rocking boards, Muffy had an easier time on the rope bridge, but Grant was also getting stuck. Aria had also made it to the rocking boards and was trying to stay in the center. Drenig was... yeah, not even able to complete the narrow bridge. His balance was not even remotely decent.
Dustin took his time, but was eventually able to get to the jungle gym. He was having a better time at fighting the narrow beam.
"What's wrong, brave sir Drenig?" Dustin asked.
"This isn't because I'm too fat," Drenig said. "...It's because my tail is too long."
Try different techniques," Dusting stated.
While everyone else was tackling the jungle gym, Percy... was pretty much out of the running. He was too scared to go through the pipes to progress the challenge, and by that point he had no chance anyway. Percy felt kind of ashamed.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"The big brave Percy... can't even go through a small tunnel," he said. "I feel like such a failure right now. Oh I hope no one notices my actions. ...I'll bet Jet will go blab to everyone, though."
-After Confessional-
Kiki was able to catch up to Jet as she got to the double ropes. Kiki REALLY wanted to beat Jet, so she was pushing her body to the fullest. Eventually, she was able to catch up to Jet and got to the sidel pillar first. But then Jet decided to work even harder, and when he got to the sidle pillar he was really trying to rush things. Eventually the two were neck and neck. But as they got to the rope ladders, Jet was pulling away. Kiki already knew one thing about Jet: he was a cracker-jack climber.
"I can climb faster than you!" Jet yelled to Kiki.
"I won't give up!" Kiki yelled.
But no matter how hard she climbed, Jet was just faster than her. Jet was bounding from ladder to ladder until he eventually got to the top of the last one. Then there was a long walkway to a door. Jet hopped right up to the door and went inside.
"No! No no no!" Kiki yelled as she kept climbing. ...Fortunately for her, the challenge wasn't over. There was still one more part.
Jet went inside the door and there was another door, a big slot under the door and a button. Jet pressed the button and the slot opened up to reveal two really light-weight but sturdy two-sided batting poles like the ones on day five.
"Ooh, don't mind if I do," Jet said as he took them both. "...Wait, there's more to the challenge?"
"What do you mean you haven't fixed it yet!" Eventually, a sound erupted near the top of the ship as Kiki was nearing the top. "They're gonna be here any minute! Why are you so useless! Dagger Eyes promised top quality servants! WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Down below, Aria was pondering the voice. Something about it seemed... familiar.
"Why is that voice so similar?" Aria asked as she finished getting across the two ropes and was onto the sidel pillar.
Current Standings: Muffy was across the rocking boards and onto the double rope. Grant managed to get past the rope bridge and was working on the rocking boards. Speaking of rocking boards, Wren could not cross the boards easily, and was sent downward. Dustin was on the rope bridge and Drenig... still on the narrow bridge.
Meanwhile, Percy was starting to feel more ashamed than scared. That's when he had an epiphany.
"No! I'm better than this!" Percy yelled. "I don't care if I lose, I have to fight my fears! YAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Percy then charged into a tunnel and started trudging through it. At the rate he was going, you wouldn't believe he was even scared.
Back at the top, Kiki made it to the same kind of door. She pushed the button, and she got one baton pole, it was heavier than Jet's but still strong and easy to use.
"Why won't this door open?" Kiki asked.
"Attention contestants!" Pandora resumed after his fit. "Since my crew is so useless at fixing stuff, they will fight you instead. In addition, I will be fighting you as well in a special floating chair that shoots freezing beems that Dagger Eyes had built. Dagger Eyes is so cool. I'd like to see the loser who reaches me first.
"That will be me," Jet blurted out.
"...Yeah right," Kiki blurted back.
"To be fair, you will each receive weapons depending on how long it takes you to get here," Pandora said. "Since Jet got here first, he gets the best weapons."
"Ha! Only the best for the best," Jet said.
"Kiki gets a fairly good weapon," Pandora said. "And Aria who just got here gets..."
Aria did take a while to get to the top, but she was making progress the whole time. Eventually, she got to her door and pressed the button on the door to receive...
"A hula-hoop?" Aria asked.
"Actually a baton in the shape of a ring," Pandora said. "Two small handles on each side, padding, pretty light weight, but a bit difficult to use. However it will come in handy at the final hour."
"Right, I guess I'll make due," Aria said.
"And for anyone else to come here they will get worse weapons," Pandora said. "See you at the top. Bye now."
Finally, the doors opened and they were each confronted with a hall of Ursaring, each carrying batons. At the end of the hall was a ladder. The walls were made of glass so you could tell where everyone was. Everyone knew the drill by now.
"It's on, Jet!" Kiki said.
"Time to show them why I'm the best," Jet said confidently.
As Kiki and Jet rushed in, they charged with batons ablaze. Jet preferred to use his speed and athleticism to his advantage, while Kiki fought with raw power. Both were taking the Ursaring out one by one. Aria, on the other hand, wasn't faring as well. She had no idea how to use her ring, and the Ursarang were easily able to deflect her shots most of the time.
"Guess I can't be predictable with it," Aria said before swinging the ring at the Ursaring's legs. The ursaring didn't see that coming, and fell over. That gave Aria an idea, if she could trick the Ursaring, she might have a shot. So she tried that strategy and it was working. ...But not as fast as the other two.
Would it be Kiki or Jet that would win? Or Aria? Or even an underdog?
Back at the last course, Muffy was climbing her way up the rope ladders, Grant was scooching along the sidle pillar, Dustin was having luck with the double ropes, Wren got himself caught in the net again, Drenig FINALLY got past the narrow board, but fell on the zig-zags, and Percy finally caught up on the jungle gym.
"Oh come on," Percy said as he looked down. He saw the net, but he saw a long way down as well, even into the hunting grounds. "I've made it this far, I can't stop now."
...Unfortunately, Percy's balance was a mere step up from Wren's. If you're as heavy as Percy, you need to find a way to distribute your weight easily.
Kiki and Jet got to the ladder at about the same time, but higher up was just another hall with Ursaring. That's when Kiki had a plan to throw Jet off. The windows were close enough that Kiki might be able to startle Jet. An Ursaring charged at her and Kiki swept it's leg then threw the Ursaring into the window near Jet's position. Sure enough, the impact rattled Jet, and an Ursaring he was fighting caught him off guard, giving Kiki a chance to take the lead.
Muffy got to the door of the next part, and when she pressed the button she was given a single padded sword baton. Not as much flexibility as the other weapons, but at least it would be easy enough to use. She was ready to take on the Ursaring.
Meanwhile, Pandora got to see all the action on camera. There were nine screens, each with a contestant on them. There were tiny cameras EVERYWHERE on the ship that could catch all the action. Pandora was drinking tea through a straw at the time, as to not reveal his face.
"These contestants are fun to watch," Pandora said. "When I take over the show, that's if I plan to and I might at this rate if it keeps being fun to watch, I'm going to make every episode all about action. No story, just pure action."
Pandora was accompanied by an Ursaring. He seemed to want to object.
"I don't know, that might get kind of boring," he said.
"No way! No one watches TV for story," he said.
"I do, I like to get wrapped up in a story," the Ursaring responded.
"Oh bully on you then," Pandora mentioned. ...Right before complaining again. "What does THAT even mean? Ugh, Dagger Eyes has some cool stuff and Pokemon to play with, but he uses such dumb lines. Come on Dagger Eyes, let me talk normally!"
"Uhh, Pandora," the Ursaring started. "What about Bert?"
"What about him, he should be dead," Pandora assumed.
...But was it so. Far far away from the ship, you could see the ocean. Eventually, two seaweed covered creatures stacked on top of each other were emerging from the water. There was a soaked Bibarel on the bottom and a fainted Vigoroth on top. It was Bertram and Wyler. Eventually, Bertram put Wyler on the beach and started to pump his stomach. He then took a deep breath and breathed into Wyler's mouth. Bertram was using CPR to help his friend who could not swim like he could. Eventually, before the third breath, Wyler woke up.
"...Woah. Where am I?" Wyler asked.
"We're at the far end of Quarantine," Bertram said. "But not for long, we have to get back and save our contestants. Plus, that kid's going to pay for ruining my expensive clothing. Do you know how much money it cost to get custom-made ruby-tipped sandals in my size?"
"Uhhhh... no," Wyler confirmed.
"Let's just say... a lot," Bertram said.
"Now that I think of it, your paws are kind of big," Wyler said. Bertram immediately gave an unamused stare at Wyler before taking a glove out of his jacket and slapping Wyler across the face with it. "Oww, what was that for," Wyler questioned.
"I didn't feel comfortable with that last comment you made," Bertram said. "Anyway, we have to stop Pandora. But first, I want to pay a certain bat a visit."
"Why do we need to seek a bat out?" Wyler asked.
"Let's just say shortly after his introduction, Varmy has a major qualm with him," Bertram said. "Now let's go!"
"Right... coming," Wyler responded wearily.
After trudging through hoards of Ursaring, Kiki made it to Pandora's chamber. Pandora caught her on a camera positioned outside his section, as there was a small room with a ladder leading up to it right before the master chamber.
"Stand aside, Minion," Pandora said as he pushed a button on his chair and his chair started to float.
As Kiki got into the room, she wasted no time getting ready. After all, she was quite determined to beat him.
"Stand down Pandora!" Kiki shouted. "This is not your show to run or Dagger Eyes!"
"Nope! It's mine!" Just then, Jet appeared on the scene.
Everyone could hear the confrontation at top, no matter where they were. Both Aria and Muffy were seriously trying to claw their way to the top, and when they heard they were behind, but the others weren't giving up either.
"Ha! I aint going down without a fight," Pandora said. "You'll have to hit my chair and dodge my lasers to stand a chance."
"Sounds fair to me!" Jet said confidently.
It was then that Pandora rose above the floor. That's when he started shooting lasers at the contestants. Both Kiki and Jet were dodging those lasers pretty well. Kiki then stopped to throw her baton at Pandora, but she missed. In addition, Pandora shot her with a laser, that caused Kiki to freeze up immediately.
"Ha! Time out for you!" Pandora taunted before turning to Jet.
Jet threw one of his batons at Pandora, but he missed too. Pandora shot more lasers out at Jet as well. But Jet was quicker on his feet than Kiki, and continued to dodge. Meanwhile, Aria came onto the scene and wasted no time trying to attack. She swung her ring and threw it out at Pandora, unfortunately she missed as well. Pandora turned around and froze Aria right on spot.
"Come on! You guys made it this far in the competition, I expect better from you!" Pandora shouted.
Muffy eventually arrived on the scene too, but he was kind of scared to do anything, and her weapon wouldn't be good for throwing.
"Uhhh, guys?" Muffy asked as she watched Jet run around. Muffy just looked at Pandora and took a chance she swung her baton around, but unfortunately it was another miss for her as well. But Muffy was smarter and decided to run from the lasers instead of stand around and wait for Pandora to fire at her.
Meanwhile, Kiki broke free from her icy prison. The freeze ray only worked temporarily and gave Kiki time to think. And her instinct right now: Grab Aria's weapon.
"That ring!" Kiki blurted out. ...Unfortunately Jet saw it too.
"It's perfect!" Jet shouted.
The two scrambled for Aria's ring baton, hoping to grab a hold of it first. Kiki dashed toward ith all her might, and Jet hopped as fast as he could. But eventually, one of them got the ring.
...
...
...
And unfortunately it was Jet.
"Ha! I win Kiki!" Jet yelled as he swung that ring around and flung it at Pandora's chair. One direct hit and his chair started to malfunction.
"No! Argh! Why didn't I antici..." Pudge started. "Screw that! Why didn't I see this coming!"
-Opening Pandora's Box-
Pandora's chair crashed to the floor and Pandora tumbled along the metal floor. As he did, it looked like some of his body came apart. First his arms broke off, then his legs, and then he seemed to have fallen out of his body. To finally add to all of it, the bandana Pandora was wearing fell of as well. Now it was clear, Pandora wasn't a Pangoro at all.
"No way!" Aria shouted after she thawed out. "Yet I can't really say I'm surprised. Your whiney attitude gave it away."
"Eh, who's this creep again?" Jet asked.
"I don't know," Muffy said.
Eventually, the other contestants were coming into the room. A while ago after the chair crashed, bridges were put out through the entire jungle gym course coming out the ship and riding along the course, giving the others and easier way to catch up for the ceremony. In addition, all the halls were cleared of Ursaring. Everyone joined the group, even Percy.
"I guess the challenge is over," Wren said. "Who won?"
"Wait, hold on! I recognize him!" Drenig shouted.
"Thy as well," Dustin said.
"You're right!" Wren said. "But I don't remember his name."
"I remember exactly who he is," Aria said. "How could I forget the time he cost us an important challenge."
"And this whole time he must have been stewing over the fact we kicked him off our team," Kiki said.
"Wait, that little twerp WAS on your team wasn't he?" Grant asked.
"I had forgotten all about him," Percy said.
"I... I... I want my mommy," the small former contestant said. There was no mistaking him, it was Pudge. Pudge was one of Team Zap-Dos former contestants. He was also the first to get booted off their team. "You evil worthless punks! This was supposed to be fun for me, and you ruined my enjoyment!"
"Maybe you should have thought more carefully!" Drenig shouted.
"You guys didn't even paint a picture of me," Pudge whined. "It's like you wanted to forget me right after you kicked me off! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Ugh! You worthless scoundrel!" Just then, another figure popped into the room. Varmy had come around to chew Pudge's ear off. "Bertram said you'd be here, now where's my Big Root!"
"Wait, what is he doing here?" Muffy asked.
"I invited him." Finally, two more figures came into the room. Bertram and Wyler seemed very angry right now. "So you went to the dark side to get revenge on Quarantine," Bertram said.
"Uhhh... thanks for letting me stay on the show Bertram," Pudge said.
"Shhhhhh, don't break the fourth wall," Bertram whispered to Pudge. "As punishment, you are FOREVER banished from Quarantine: this season and any future seasons."
"No! Pudge wanna stay on the show!" Pudge cried.
"Varmy! Wyler! Take him away!" Bertram called.
As Wyler grabbed a hold of Pudge, Pudge was whining the entire time. The brat king's cry could be heard throughout the ship even as Wyler and Varmy were leaving.
"As for any Ursaring in the area," Bertram said. "I want this ship gone by nightfall! I also want the invisible barriers deactivated! Do I make myself clear?"
There was an Ursaring still in the room through the whole ordeal. He immediately pledged loyalty to Bertram. After all, this was a show, it didn't need to make perfect sense.
"Yes Mr. Bertram," the Ursaring said. "By the way, the floor your standing on is an elevator that will take you to the bottom of the ship. Everyone should stand in a circle, and I'll lower you all down with this button.
"Well, that pleases me greatly," Bertram said. "Okay cast, gather round."
Everyone huddled up around a circle on the floor. Eventually an Ursaring lowered the entire cast all the way down to the bottom.
Eventually everyone returned to the bunkers where the contestants, Bertram, Wyler, Varmy and Pudge all watched Pandora's ship blast off and fly away. No one knew who the pilot was, but he seemed experienced enough. But eventually, matters came into hands.
"Thank you Varmy and Wyler, you may return to your duties," Bertram said.
"Thank you Bertram," Wyler said as he handed a worn-out Pudge to Bertram and walked off past the hunting grounds. Pudge cried too much and now he was tired.
"Argh, I'm getting too old for this," Varmy responded as he made his own exit.
"As for the ceremony," Bertram began. "There will be TWO eliminations: This little brat and one of you. Remember, Jet won the challenge so he is immune."
"How did you know?" Aria asked.
"One of the Ursaring told me as I was climbing up the ship," Bertram excused.
"And how did you get there so fast?" Aria asked.
"I was always at the bottom, I just god there around the time you guys were on the second part of the challenge," Bertram answered. "Get your supper in and proceed to the Exile Chamber."
Bertram than walked off with Pudge in hand up the stairs that were set out sandwiching the doors of Quarantine. That left the contestants to figure out who they would vote for today.
During supper, they were talking about it. Jet felt like rubbing it in everyone's face the fact he won.
"I know who's NOT going home today," Jet exclaimed. "The Jet-Frog! That's who!"
"Next time Jet," Percy said. "But this time I think I know who I do want out," Percy said.
"Ay man, who do you think we should vote off?" Drenig asked. "Because... I got nothing. I don't want to vote anyone off."
"None of us do," Aria said. "But we gotta do something. And we can't vote off Jet, unfortunately."
"Muffy doesn't want to make a vote," Muffy said.
"It's tough to decide," Kiki said. "Sometimes we have to think hard about who we want gone."
"I think we should send Grant home," Jet said.
"NO! Grant's a nice guy," Muffy said.
"What? Why thank you Muffy, I am flattered," Grant said.
"He may seem kind of... strange," Muffy said. "But once you get to know him... he's actually not that bad."
"She does have a point," Grant said. "Maybe it's about time I start getting to know the others and stop hiding behind my evil moniker. After all, the way to stay in the game is to make friends and not enemies. Maybe I've been fooling around for too long, but I came because, truly, I actually wanted to make friends. But I was too busy acting all dark and evil I forgot. Please, don't listen to Jet. Give me another chance."
"Hmmm..." Kiki started to ponder.
-Confessional Session(Percy)-
"Eh, he wasn't going to be my vote anyway," Percy stated.
-Confessional Session(Dustin)-
"Thy STILL does not trust Aria," Dustin said.
-Confessional Session(Kiki)-
"I've kind of wanted him gone for a while," Kiki said.
-Confessional Session(Wren)-
"Oh I don't want to choose," Wren said. "The only unlikeable person there is Jet and he's immune." Wren let out a sigh and then proceeded to finish his thought. "But I guess if no one else. ...Sorry Drenig."
-After Confessional-
Everyone met Bertram back at the Quarantine chamber. The ship was gone, as was Pudge. As Bertram handed the milk out, he started discussing tonight's ceremony.
"Now that the brat's gone, it's back to normal Quarantine," Bertram said. "I can tell this was a hard vote for some. The votes are all over the place, but one name got more votes than the others."
-Confessional Session(Grant)-
"I hope that little quip I performed just recently helps," Grant said. "I still got so many unfinished plans that need to be finished."
-After Confessional-
Grant was sitting right next to Muffy, while Wren and Aria were on the other side. Jet sat by himself away from the group while Percy sat between Aria and Kiki. Drenig and Dustin were also sitting next to each other.
"Today the one's who are safe are..." Bertram began. "Jet, obviously. Followed by...
...Kiki...
...Wren...
...Muffy...
...Drenig...
...Percy...
...and Aria."
That caused Grant to start hugging Muffy. He was acting scared.
"I don't want to go home yet," he said to Muffy in a childish scared voice.
Dustin was also worried. His name had not been said yet.
"Oh deer, has thee slain his last?" Dustin asked Drenig, who was patting Dustin on the back.
"Finally, the final Pokemon staying today," Bertram started. "That would be...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...Grant."
"Huh! ...Thank you," Grant said. "Thank you Bertram."
Drenig shook his head. He knew his friend was going home, but he also knew one of them would go home eventually.
"Ay man, that sucks," Drenig said to him.
"Thy fear not," Dustin said. "After all, you know we couldn't both win the grand prize. One of us had to go sooner or later. But I had fun here in Quarantine. ...Maybe I should have been a bit more... social? I feel like I didn't make enough friends. I was too busy having fun."
"It's okay Dustin, you don't have to feel too bad," Drenig said. "You did good making it this far."
"Thanks Drenig," Dustin said as he got up. He pulled his L.A.R. P. ing sword from behind the bench he was sitting on and headed towards the chamber.
"Sorry you have to go," Bertram said. "But you were kind of right in that you were the contestant most least identified with. ...That, and Percy was kind of insulted by you mocking him earlier."
"Sorry Percy," Dustin said as Bertram was opening the chamber behind him.
"I... It's not too big," Percy said. "Apology accepted."
Dustin went into the chamber without escort. He then turned around and rose his hand to his forehead in salute.
"Good luck Drenig!" Dustin shouted. "Thy shall be cheering you on from the sidelines."
The usual happened. The smoke enveloped him and after a while he was gone. Bertram said his final words before the ceremony was over.
"He was kind of a weird kid," Bertram said. "But hey, at least he wasn't like that weirdo kid who actually thought he was a wizard."
"Who?" the contestants asked in unison.
"Never-mind, you would not understand, back to the Mol-Tres bunker please," Bertram finished.
Bertram waved to the contestants as they head back. Now was the time for the usual closure.
"Another one bites the green smoky dust," he said. "But with the contestants disappearing, it only gets more and more intense. And those who worked so far to get here will be crushed when they find out their friends have turned on them. Tune in tomorrow for another episode. Until then, we say goodbye for now."
-Next Time On Quarantine-
"Okay... you expect us to build a flying suit?"
A giant smoke machine appears over Quarantine.
"We are all DOOMED if we don't destroy it."
Contestants must build machines that will fly them to te fog machine.
"Awww, Drenig's gonna be good at this one."
No bad-guys to fight this time, just a machine to shut off.
"I guess there's more to this story."
But in the end, one more contestant will know failure as they are eliminated.
"I cannot stand being around you any longer!"
All this and more on the next episode of Quarantine: Soar Losers.