Quarantine: A PokemonMD Reality Show

by Lasirus

18 Pokemon, three from each gen, find themselves in a post-apocalyptic gameshow where they will battle it out for the prizes of their dreams. Contains Pokemon Anthros. It's a story similar to the Total Drama series, but is not a true crossover.

12. Chapter 12: Soar Losers

Episode 12: Soar Losers

-Last Time On Quarantine-

"What would Lilly want me to do. What would Yoshi want me to do?"

Contestants were confronted first thing in the morning by a take-over from Dagger-Eyes faithful Pu... *ahem* Pandora.

"This time Pandora wants to make sure he gets rid of everyone involved!"

Competitors had to traverse an invisible maze...

"You guys STILL haven't found the entrance to EITHER past bunker?"

...an elevator challenge...

"My elevator's not going up."

...a tube maze...

"What are those holes? I don't have to go through them, do I?"

...a jungle gym...

"...Okay, that was my bad."

...and some guards all before fighting Pu... *ahem* Pandora.

"I remember exactly who he is. How could I forget the time he cost us an important challenge?"

Meanwhile, a touchy relationship was brewing.

"Ummm, thank you."

"Ay, uhhh, that didn't mean anything."

At the elimination ceremony, with no one better to vote for, the contestants choose to boot off L.A.R. P. er Dustin.

"One of us had to go sooner or later. But I had fun here in Quarantine."

I wish this show didn't have to end. It's a shame we only have eight contestants and seven episodes to go. Who will be the next to not win?

-Rivalry En Fuego-

Deep in the heard of the Quarantine grounds, a sinister meeting was taking place. Dagger Eyes had just lost his third general, only now having just two left. Gola the Dragonite was one of his most powerful and trusted allies. He had fire, strength, and was the only general successful in taking out one of the members. Medulla was the brains behind everything. Medulla did what he could to not anger his master by trying his hardest to create new inventions to take over the world with. And right now, they were discussing important matters.

You could see a camera shift between Dagger Eyes' dark image and glowing blue eyes and Medulla and Gola. Dagger Eyes identity was remaining a secret.

"I knew that worthless whiny tyke wouldn't be useful!" Dagger Eyes yelled.

"Why didn't you just ask me to do what he did?" Gola asked. "I could have wiped them out easily!"

"If you keep telling yourself that, you're going to let your guard down," Medulla stated.

"NO ONE ASKED YOUR OPINION!" Gola erupted.

"Ugh! BOTH of you are just as useless!" Dagger Eyes yelled. "You should realize that I will NOT tolerate failure any longer! Many more screw-ups, and the both of you will suffer the consequences! Do I need to remind you the power behind my deadly gaze of explosions?"

"You know, the most useless henchmen is a dead one," Medulla mentioned. "You cannot just off your henchmen because you're frustrated."

"Then we better stop screwing up!" Gola shouted.

"This time we hopefully won't need to screw up," Dagger Eyes said. "We're gonna wipe them out! Bring out the deadly gas machine! We will gas them all like a pack of Electrikes poisoned for population control!"

"...Actually, "population control" is often used as an excuse to..." Medulla started.

"SILENCE!" Dagger Eyes said.

"No! I'm not going to!" Medulla shouted. "You're forgetting that we cannot run that machine forever. It's going to run out, and then the contestants will find a way to counter when it's down."

"I SAID..." Dagger Eyes yelled. ...But eventually he stopped to listen. "Actually... continue."

"Might I suggest instead of a rechargeable source, we use labor to keep it running," Medulla said. "And that way it can stay on for as long as we desire. Our henchmen each have shifts to help energize them to keep it running for as long as possible."

"Hmmmm..." Dagger Eyes though. "For once you have provided an idea that does not smell. And for that you will live for another day. ...Keep those ideas up and Quarantine will be ours in no time. MWAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

...But one thing Dagger Eyes forgot was that Bertram had all of Quarantine bugged and wired. There was no where there wasn't cameras. Even the room Dagger Eyes calls his throne was just a large cave in the underground sections that used to be an underground dining hall, he didn't actually build it himself.

"Oh... no... you... don't," Bertram said to himself as he watched the camera. The camera he had only showed Medulla and Gola, so Dagger Eyes could still obscure himself from view. But Bertram still knew his plans and would not go down without a fight.

Eventually, morning came in the bunkers. Everyone slept well for the most part, and everyone was just waking up from their nap. Kiki was sleeping in her judo outfit when she awoke. As she stretched her arms out to let out a yawn, Drenig came behind her to say good morning.

"Morning Kiki," Drenig said.

"Oh, morning Drenig," Kiki replied back. "You seem cheerful enough. Not sad your friend left?"

"Nah, one of us was bound to go sooner or later," Drenig said. "You have anything on your mind?"

"Well..." Kiki stuttered for a bit before thinking about something. "You're not coming onto me, are you?"

"Ay what!?" Drenig shouted. "No, I was just asking a question. I asked if anything was on your mind."

"No, nothing is," Kiki replied.

"Hold the phone, I sense something's up." Eventually, Jet came from behind and interrupted the two. "Why the hostility?"

"No reason, I was just startled, that's all," Kiki said.

"They're worried because Bertram said they were compatible," Aria blurted out, just awaking from her bed.

"ARIA!" Kiki and Drenig shouted in unison.

"So THAT'S what this is about?" Jet asked. "Bertram said you two were compatible?"

"Look, it's none of your concern man!" Drenig said.

"You two are dooming yourselves," Jet said. "You're working yourselves up over compatibility. Bertram said nothing about wanting you two to ACTUALLY pair up with each other."

"We are not Jet," Kiki said.

"Hey, what happened to being more humble and supportive?" Percy asked.

"Hey, if you have to be reminded constantly, then it's not worth doing," Jet said. "Besides, I'm not here to be anyone's buddy, I'm here to win."

"Don't you have a better chance of winning if you actually make buddies?" Wren asked.

"Pfft! That wasn't in any rulebook I've ever read," Jet said.

-Confessional Session(Jet)-

"Aside from being a running track star, I'm also the MVP on my baseball team," Jet said. "Me and the rest of the team work on ourselves, we hit our OWN home runs and steal our own bases. Nothing in the rules about being someone's buddy, cause that aint important. All that's important is getting the homers and stealing the white plates."

-After Confessional-

"I just think you're incapable of being pleasant," Aria said.

"Ha! I get it, you're all jealous of me," Jet said. "You know I'm a threat, so you hate me. You think being a goody two-shoes is all there is to life? Ha! I'd like to see the power of friendship help you one on one!"

"Don't you take ANY responsibility for your actions?" Percy asked.

"Oh I'm sorry Percy," Jet said. "I am not sure you notice, but is this room a bit small? Like it's caving in? In fact, I don't think the room is shrinking, you are growing. ...More and more pathetic."

"What did you say!?" Percy yelled.

"Oh please! The mighty Percy cowers in fear before the terrible harmless tubes," Jet said.

"We all have fears! You do too!" Percy yelled.

"Waaaaaah! Percy scared! Percy dun wanna go in scary tunnel," Jet mocked. "When I get home after I win, I'm going to re-watch all your scenes in those tubes, and then I'm gonna laugh and laugh some more before I show it to all my friends and it goes VIRAL!"

"You wouldn't dare you worthless piece of..." Percy growled.

"Ha! No one's going to take you seriously anymore!" Jet shouted. "One day you will realize that I am BETTER THAN YOU!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" Percy then went completely berserk. He unlatched his tail from his waist and clutched onto Jet, he started to strangle the life out of him.

"Yeah! Beat that worthless bully up!" Muffy cheered.

"He he he, the frog's getting what's coming to him," Grant mentioned.

"Percy, no!" Wren shouted. "He's not worth that, let him go!"

"Hrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm," Percy growled before flicking his tail and sending Jet into the wall of the bunker.

"I know I should not have done that but it felt good anyway," Percy said. Jet didn't seem to be hurt, but hopefully he'd be more wise in his words.

"Anyway, now that we're all up, should me and Wren go in the kitchen and make breakfast?" Aria asked. "Hey Muffy, would you like to come with?"

"Sure, that would be nice," Muffy said with a smile.

"What about me?" Grant asked.

"Well... I guess there's no harm in it," Aria said. "However I'll keep my eye on you."

Before Aria could even touch the door, Bertram and some of his workers barged in holding some haz-mat suits. It was already beginning.

"Put these on now!" Bertram shouted.

"Wait what's going..." Kiki started.

"Don't ask questions! Just put them on!" Bertram yelled.

It was a struggle, but eventually they were able to put their suits on. There was one for each contestant.

"Okay, so why are we wearing these?" Jet asked.

"Huh, our voices still sound normal," Drenig mentioned. "Usually suits like these muffle our voices.

"There are speakers in each suit which convert our speech to a more audible tone," Bertram said. "NOW, you are probably wondering why you are wearing these. Turns out a little bug told me that Dagger Eyes is planning to either poison us or keep us in bunkers till we starve. Fortunately, the whole island is bugged. There is nowhere they can go on, above, OR below the island where I cannot see or hear them. That will thwart their little plan. Now, you will probably want breakfast. Head to the kitchen and prepare. You may take your suits off in the kitchen, but you must put them back on before you leave. Remember this."

"...Right, the all-powerful Bertram knows all," Aria said. "I'm beginning to wonder the competency of Dagger-Eyes."

"Aria, enough wise-cracks," Bertram said. "Well, get your breakfast, and hurry. After that I have many matters to attend to involving Quarantine."

"Then I guess it's time to make breakfast?" Grant asked. "I'm ready to start my duties as good guy Grant."

"Umm... okay," Aria said as she started outside. "To make things easier, we should all go in the kitchen together."

"Sounds like a plan," Wren said.

Everyone followed Aria to the kitchen. Jet was holding onto his head the whole time, probably because he felt sore after Percy's antics.

-Confessional Session(Grant)-

"Mwahahaha, now's the time I take the first step towards Phase 3," Grant said. "All I have to do is sabotage her enough and they will kick her out. ...But where do I start? In the kitchen, of course."

-After Confessional-

In the kitchen, Aria was giving commands for making a breakfast pie with ham, eggs and cheese. Aria was in charge of scrambling eggs, Wren was rolling out the dough, Muffy was helping to make some creamy cheese sauce, and Grant was cooking the ham. Grant didn't seem... perfectly comfortable with it.

"Isn't this kind of in poor taste?" Grant asked.

"Well, it's primitive-Emboar and not Grumpig," Aria stated. "So I am not really sure."

"Meh, I guess it's not a big deal," Grant accepted as he was tenderizing the meat.

"Wren, how's the dough coming?" Aria asked.

"Is it alright if I cut slits into the top part?" Wren asked.

"Why of course it is," Aria stated. "And Muffy, don't forget to add some White Herb spice. It adds some energy to the cheese and the pie."

"Okay, I'm on it," Muffy said. "When should I do that?"

"When the cheese hits peak temperature," Aria responded.

Grant heard that and immediately ran over to the spice rack. He saw a bottle of White Herb spice on the shelf and opened the bottle up. Like most spice bottles, there was a piece on top that controlled the sprinkling. Grant unscrewed the top just enough that it would appear like it was screwed on, but when you tip it over the whole thing would dump out. Afterwards, Grant went back to his station and put the ham in the oven.

Meanwhile, Drenig, Kiki, Percy and Jet were in the corner playing Gamble: Master of the Hoops edition, a game of conquest and war. Drenig was moving his troops over into Jet's territory.

"I declare war with thee," Drenig said. "Man, Dustin would have loved this game."

"Alright, give me everything you've got," Jet said as he rolled two pairs of dice and ended up with the number ten. Drenig rolled his die and only got seven. "Ha! Conquest failed. Better luck next time."

"Here, my turn!" Percy said as he moved some of his pieces onto Jet's territory.

Jet rolled his die again and ended up with nine. Percy then rolled his and got a pair of box-cars. Percy's troops then swarmed into Jet's territory, and Percy seemed a bit confident afterwards.

"Well? Let's see the fireworks," Percy said.

"Oh yeah, there will be fireworks alright," Jet said as he tried to exact revenge on Percy.

He moved his pieces to Percy's new piece of territory and attacked. Percy rolled a five, and then Jet... rolled only a three.

"WHAT!? These dice are loaded!" Jet cried. "You're CHEATING!"

"You just got unlucky," Kiki said as it was her turn. She decided to mover her troops into Percy's territory. "Sorry Percy, I'm kind of giving Jet the mercy rule."

"No problem, I suppose it's not fair to gang-up on Jet," Percy said.

"Coming from someone who threw me into a wall!" Jet yelled.

"You know you were asking for it, right man?" Drenig asked.

Over in the cooking area, it was time for Muffy to add the herbs. Muffy went over to the spice shelf and grabbed the bottle of White Herbs. After taking it over to the pot of cheese, she opened up the bottle and tried to sprinkle some White Herbs into the cheese. ...Unfortunately, the loose filter came off and the herbs all spilled into the cheese. Muffy started to get frantic.

"Oh no! What do I do? What do I do?" Muffy shouted.

"What's wrong, friend?" Grant asked.

"I spilled all the herbs in the cheese," Muffy said. "I don't want to make another pot."

"Just scoop the herbs out," Grant said. "Or would you like me to do that?"

"Could you?" Muffy asked. "I need some time to cool off."

"Okay friend," Grant said as he looked into the pot. He grasped a ladle in the pot and scooped the filter out of the cheese. Afterward, he started to stir it in more so that it would be near impossible to scoop out. Still, he took a few ladels of the cheese and dumped it into the garbage to make it look like he was actually helping.

"I did what I could Muffy," Grant said. "Hopefully it's enough."

"Thanks Grant!" Muffy said as she was near the door looking out. That's when she saw it: the smoke. "THE MIST IS COMING AGAIN!"

"...Duh," Kiki blurted out.

"Bertram already kind of warned us about it," Drenig added.

"Oh yeah, he did didn't he?" Muffy asked.

Eventually, Aria was ready to assemble to pie. She had to make sure everyone did their part first.

"Is the ham ready?" Aria asked.

"All done... I think," Grant said as he finished chopping the ham up in cubes.

"Is the cheese ready?" Aria continued.

"All done," Muffy said.

"And the pie crust?" Aria finished.

"What do you think of this?" Wren asked.

"Splendid," Aria said with a smile. "Now we just have to assemble it and bake it for thirty minutes, it should be all done by then."

After a time skip, Aria was ready to serve the pie. She cut eight pieces and put a slice on a plate for everyone.

"And so, with a heart filled with love and the diligence of a busy Bertram, we have made this delicious breakfast pie," Aria said with a smile.

"Enjoy!" Aria, Wren, Muffy and Grant all exclaimed at once.

Percy was the first to take a bite of his. As Percy bit into his, Kiki bit into hers. Drenig and Jet were not eating so quickly. Drenig opened his pie slice up and started picking out all the chunks of ham from his slice and Jet was probably worried about his figure.

"Don't be shy Jet, it's good and it's not unhealthy," Wren said.

"Okay," Jet said as he took his fork and cut out a bite. But as he chewed, he spit it back out with a disgusted look. "Blech! What kind of poison was that!?"

"Hate to be mean, but for once I agree with Jet," Kiki said. "This tastes overpoweringly herby."

"Yeah, I agree. There's way too much seasoning to the point it's inedible," Percy stated.

"Anyone want my ham chunks?" Drenig asked.

"Well, I never!" Aria shouted. "You have no taste buds!"

Eventually Aria took a bite of the pie. ...But her reaction was no different.

"Blargh! What happened?" Aria asked.

"I... I dumped all the White Herb in on accident," Muffy said.

"You WHAT!?" Aria cried.

"I'm sorry, the filter came loose and I wasn't expecting it," Muffy said.

Grant was next to Muffy, also eating a slice of pie. Grant seemed to be enjoying it, but he was probably pretending.

"Mmmm, this is tasty," Grant said.

"Grant, are you sure you got all the herb out?" Muffy asked.

"Not one hundred percent, but I'm pretty sure," Grant said.

"It must not have been enough," Muffy said. "I... I am sorry guys."

"I like your pie Muffy," Grant said.

"You're just saying that," Muffy said.

"No, I'm taking another bite, see?" Grant said as he stuffed another piece of pie into his mouth and swallowed it. There were tears in his eyes as if it was painful for him to be eating it. "Yum! He he he he..."

-Mist Opportunity-

After the pie incident, Bertram appeared on the screen. He was still wearing the suit.

"Okay, have we all eaten breakfast yet?" Bertram asked.

"Can we get a do-over?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, fifteen more minutes?" Drenig asked.

"Oh fine, but hurry up we have a peninsula to save," Bertram said before logging off.

"Well... I don't know about you guys, but it's still food," Wren said. "Hey Drenig, I'll take those ham chunks."

After a few minutes, everyone made something else and were all full. Bertram popped back on the screen and got to business.

"Okay, fifteen minutes is up," Bertram said. "Are we ready NOW!?"

"All full," Grant said.

"Good to go," Kiki added.

"Good, now we split into teams of two," Bertram stated.

"What for?" Muffy asked.

"We have to search the island for a fog machine that is creating the deadly mist," Bertram said. "It's easier to do it in pairs, and destroying it is vital. We are all DOOMED if we don't destroy it!. Now... Savil lent me her tarot cards with the cast on them. Let me shuffle these cards and..."

Bert started to shuffle eight cards around and then eventually lied them in pairs. He flipped the first card which had Kiki on it.

"Let us see, Kiki shall be paired with..." Bertram said as he flipped the next card over. "Oh, how about that: Drenig."

Kiki and Drenig looked at each other. They both started to scratch their heads in embarrassment.

-Confessional Session(Kiki)-

"Bert's doing that on purpose!" Kiki shouted. "It's like he WANTS a relationship between me and that overgrown Furry Die-Gon reject probably for ratings or something. Hmmmm, I suppose Drenig is a pretty nice dude, but I'm still annoyed by all the fate temptation."

-Confessional Session(Drenig)-

"Ay, Kiki is a nice girl and all," Drenig stated. "But me in a relationship with her? And to have the show constantly pair us up as if it's trying to make it happen? ...Maybe I should try it."

-After Confessional-

"The next pair will be..." Bertram was flipping over the next card. "Jet and..."

"Please don't be me," Percy said before crossing his fingers.

"...Grant," Bert finished. Percy let out a sigh of relief.

"Ahh, thank heavens," Percy said. "Paired with the one person who can probably tolerate him."

-Confessional Session(Grant)-

"Me? On the same team as Jet?" Grant questioned. "Here... comes... the doom. ...Wiping off an old Chesto berry."

-After Confessional-

"Right, after that we have..." Bertram started before he flipped over two more cards. "Percy and Wren on a team."

"That sounds okay," Percy said. "After all, I did want to bond with Wren for a bit."

"He did," Wren mentioned. "And I guess it's a good opportunity to make new friends."

"Speaking of which, that means me and Muffy are a team by default," Aria said.

"Ummm... yay..." Muffy said.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked.

"I... still don't trust you that much," Muffy admitted.

"As quickly as you warmed up to that evil kid, I don't see why I'm any different," Aria asked.

"Well, you're a Malamar," Grant mentioned. "One of the most evil creatures on the planet."

"Okay, I have had it with the Malamar stereotypes," Aria scoffed. "I can be a good person regardless of species."

"Course she can be," Wren said. "She may not be perfect, but then again none of us are."

"Except you, goody two-shoes!" Jet shouted.

"..." Wren said nothing.

-Confessional Session(Wren)-

"Trust me, I am not perfect," Wren said. "I remember the time I tried to go camping in the back yard. I almost burnt my home down trying to make a campfire. Plus, being a quadruped means I'm handicapped at events that don't involve running in a straight line, in which case I can do that no problem. Yeah, Percy belongs to a species that is naturally quadrupedal, but they can at least adapt. It's kind of hard to be a biped when you have short chubby legs and really big... No, if I remind everyone that, I can just imagine all the Wren tickle-torture pictures. Ooh, now that I brought it up they're going to happen anyway. Why are there such crazy people out there?"

Wren started to shiver in fear. Obviously he had thoughts that didn't sit right with him at the moment.

-After Confessional-

"All I'm saying is that you have nothing to worry about Aria, Muffy," Wren said. "I'm sure you can trust her if you trust me."

"Well... she got Lilly kicked off," Muffy said.

"She left on her own account," Kiki mentioned.

"Well... ... Okay," Muffy said. She held her paw out towards Aria, and Aria proceeded to shake her tentacle in her paw.

"...Are we done?" Bertram asked. "Good, now I want each of you to go out, choose one of four paths and search that part of the Island. Whoever finds it earns immunity for their team. For the mighty Team Mol-Tres, we will destroy that fog machine!"

"...That sounds chancy," Percy said.

"There's a catch, right?" Kiki asked. "Cause surely all teams should have an equal chance of finding it."

"I... couldn't tell you," Bertram said. "I don't know where the fog machine is, so it could be anywhere. In a way, you DO all have a chance of finding it."

"Whatever," Aria said before she put her suit back on. Everyone else donned there gear as well.

"And now, we must go out into the wild to find the machine," Bertram said. "You may now begin the journey."

The teams then poured out of door trying to get to the hunting grounds. Outside there were four signs each with a map. Each team got a different map, one lead through a large connection of plantations, one through a ghost town, one through a bunch of caves, and one along a huge old dock.

"He he he, looks like we get the spooky caves Jet," Grant stated.

"Bring it, I aint afraid of any dinky caves," Jet said.

"We got a map that runs through an old ghost town," Wren showed Percy.

"Why haven't we seen this place before?" Percy asked.

"Never had a reason to go that far I guess," Wren stated.

"Okay... ours goes through a plantation," Drenig stated. "...Sounds romantic."

"Yeah, a nice calming plantation that will hopefully have a twist involved," Kiki stated.

"Ooh, our map goes by the ocean," Aria showed Muffy.

"Awww, that's nice," Muffy stated. "I love watching the sea."

"Might give us something to talk about," Aria suggested.

"Except the sea will probably be shrouded in gas," Muffy said.

"Nah, I'm sure we can still see it," Aria said.

Eventually everyone had their map and went on their way to find the fog machine, that was located somewhere on the island. Bertram was in the control room where he could talk to peple through the TV screens planted all over the island. He was watching over the teams as they were leaving when suddenly he heard another bugged message from Dagger Eyes and friends.

"Now that the peninsula is all fogged up, they will all be gone before we know it," Dagger Eyes said.

"What if it's not that easy?" Medulla stated. "What if they have a plan?"

"What could they possibly do at this point?" Dagger Eyes asked.

"Well, they may have suits that protects them from the gas," Medulla stated.

"But do they have flying machines?" Dagger Eyes questioned.

"...No, I don't think so," Medulla stated.

"...Flying machines?" Bertram asked himself as he kept listening.

"Even if they DO have suits, they're wasting their time by searching the island," Dagger Eyes mentioned. "I made a few last-minute changes to the fog machine so that it can operate from above the clouds."

"But what about our workers?" Medulla asked.

"They still take turns," Dagger Eyes. "They fly the machine up there, then workers come up with jet packs to work and refuel the machine on constant watch. Once their shift is over, MORE workers come in on jet packs and they go back down to have their jet packs refueled and so on and so forth. It's too clever, they will NEVER figure it out. MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

Bertram just stared dumbfounded into space as he heard that. He just sent the contestants on a wild goose chase.

"Woops," Bertram said to himself. "Guess I'll have to bring them back once they reach their destinations. Plus I'll uhh... I don't have any flying machines. ...I have a junk-heap and some instructions. Maybe the contestants can make their own. Plus, I can always get my birds to save them if they fall. The same ones that saved me when... no wait I don't have suits for them."

Bertram was starting to get nervous. He was trying to figure out how to go about doing this task.

"I can't just let them go up there, they could die. I have to find a safe way to do this. I don't even know where in the sky it is, but if it's reaching the peninsula it can't be that far up. Maybe I should stick with some strong nets. ...But I'm going to need a LOT of net. And as luck would have it... I have lots and lots of net. And I have plenty of my own henchmen to help it get set up fast and quick including Vower, Medulla, Hespute AND Pudge's old henchmen."

Bertram turned around and saw four Pokemon, two huge Hypnos with rippling muscles and two bulky yet buff Drowzees. It was Cort, Crusher, and Cort's sons Bertha and Byron.

"Sure, if you have the suits for us then we will get it done," Cort said.

"We can do most of the heavy lifting," Crusher said.

"I'm sure Gungho and her helpers can help too," Bertha mentioned.

"Why not, we have all the help we may ever need," Byron said, pointing to a big hoard of Pokemon behind them including Vower and Hespute. At this rate, it looked like Dagger Eyes had the lower hand, or would if the contestants could keep up their liberation against Dagger Eye's army.

Meanwhile the contestants were at their destinations. We take a look on Grant and Jet first as they were walking in the cave.

"So... Jet," Grant asked. "Why are you always so arrogant? Is it because you know your good?"

"I and everyone else should know I'm that good," Jet said.

"But won't that arrogance cost you eventually?" Grant asked. "After all, you lose one game, and they're probably going to send you home because of your unlikeable attitude. You know this right?"

"Ha! I'm so good that won't matter," Jet said. "And besides that, everyone wants to win. Even if I was a complete sissy like the rest of those goody-goodies, they would STILL see me as a threat. Ergo, they would vote me off any which way, so why bother being nice."

Grant turned around and started to clap. He also put on an evil smirk for Jet.

"Well said," Grant said. "Come over to the dark side, we could use someone like you."

"Ha! I'm not evil you dummy, and neither are you," Jet said.

"Well, let me put it another way," Grant said. "Why don't I help YOU? I can help you stay in the game for longer?"

"How so?" Jet asked.

"I've been trying to make lots of friends," Grant said. "And Wren has been starting a chain of friendships that all started with Aria. ...I think... He might have had some other friend but I don't know for sure. But then it became Muffy and me, and now I bet Percy has joined the league too, assuming that Wren was talking to him earlier as if he was a friend. It won't be long before Drenig and Kiki join the circle. And that leaves you, you without any partners."

"Can we hurry up?" Jet asked. "The Zubats are starting to swarm."

"But I can vouch for you," Grant said. "I can convince them to not vote you off, then other people will be voted off. Pretty soon, the prize will be yours."

"You really think you can help me?" Jet asked.

"Absolutely blue one," Grant responded.

"Because I don't," Jet said before hopping off.

"You're making a mistake," Grant said. "I can help you."

"I'll help myself!" Jet called out.

-Confessional Session(Jet)-

"Who does Grant think he is?" Jet asked. "It's like he's convinced he's a legitimate villain. Plus, no one fully trusts him except maybe Muffy."

-After Confessional-

With Wren and Percy, Wren was a bit... spooked out by the ghost town. He swore he kept hearing strange voices.

"What was that?" Wren asked.

"What was what?" Percy asked. "Are you sure you're right right now?"

"I swear I heard a voice," Wren said. "I can't tell what I'm hearing."

"It's probably nothing," Percy commented. "So... You've made quite a few friends? What are they like?"

"Well Muffy is a pretty nice girl," Wren said.

"She wasn't always that way," Percy mentioned. "She used to be really mean."

"Huh... Didn't know that," Wren said. "Though Aria is pretty nice too. Grant, he... I... I don't really know what to think about him."

"I wonder if they could help me with Jet," Percy asked.

"You mean kicking him out?" Wren asked. "Probably, but you've probably given him all the pain he deserves this morning."

"No, I think that was being too nice," Percy said.

"Percy... no, revenge shouldn't be taken out that way," Wren said. "You have to put yourself in his shoes. If you were him, how would you want him to treat you? Wouldn't you rather treat him how you wish to be treated?"

"That should go both ways, not just one," Percy said.

"Sometimes life isn't fair," Wren said. ...Suddenly, Wren heard another whisper in the background. "What was that!?"

"I... I heard it that time too," Percy said.

"We should probably go," Wren whimpered as he started to sprint into the distance. Percy ran after him to keep up.

Afterwards, we check up on Aria and Muffy. They were walking along the docks, looking at the waves below them.

"Well... we can still see the water below our feet," Aria said.

"I wish I could scare the gas away," Muffy said.

"Don't we all wish life were easy?" Aria asked. "Alas, not so."

Aria couldn't help but think about Muffy's relationship with Grant. Muffy seemed to trust Grant, but Aria was unsure.

"Why do you trust Grant so much?" Aria asked.

"He just hides behind that evil persona," Muffy said. "He seems to be really nice deep down."

"I dunno, something about him seems odd," Aria said. "Did you notice something about the bottle of herbs you used?"

"The filter came off, so what?" Muffy asked.

"Filters on bottles of spices don't just come off," Aria said. "Someone had to unscrew the bottle for that to happen."

"And you think Grant did that?" Muffy asked.

"Well... I can't be sure," Aria said. "I didn't see him do it, but then again I didn't see anyone do it."

"Then why bring up Gran't name?" Muffy asked.

"Cause he's been pulling that evil schtick for a while and..." Aria stuttered for a moment. "I just don't know. Maybe I'm being paranoid."

"Muffy thinks so," she said. "Grant is a very nice kid once you get to know him.

Finally we check on Kiki and Drenig. Both were actually trying to stay away from each other as they were searching through the plantation.

"Okay, I'll look over here and you look over there," Kiki said.

"Ay... okay," Drenig said as they both started walking through the fog in the plantation trying to find a clue or something. But they both came up empty. Eventually, they both bumped into each other again.

"Why does this keep happening?" Kiki asked.

"I know, it's annoying!" Drenig shouted. ...But then they stopped and thought about what they were doing.

"...I might be acting a bit harsh," Kiki said.

"No, I can see the problem," Drenig said. "It's not you don't like me, it's that you feel the show is trying to force a relationship on us."

"Exactly! Does Bertram think that we're not good enough on our own?" Kiki questioned. "At least you had Dustin."

"Well you had Riley," Drenig said. "And I bet Riley still likes you."

"...Maybe," Kiki said. Eventually she changed the subject. "Say, have you seen Furry Die-Gon?"

"You mean Terra Nappa Furry Die-Gon!? That show's awful!" Drenig exclaimed.

"You think so too?" Kiki asked. "It's like... That show tries way to hard to be hip and cool, and it comes off as corny, obnoxious, over-dramatic, and there isn't even an original idea in the story."

"It doesn't help that I get Pokemon all the time who brag about it to me," Drenig scoffed. "And then they nag at me and the Excadrill I work with about not liking the show. It's like people think I should be forced to like that filth. Same with Tiny Ponytas."

"Wait, you have an Excadrill working at Bigboss Motors that doesn't like it either?" Kiki asked.

"Are you kidding?" Drenig asked. "People assume that both Krookodile AND Excadrill have to like that show because it's about drills and monsters with shades. It's really really dumb, man."

"Oh and one more thing. ...What's wrong with Tiny Ponytas?" Kiki asked.

"...Oh, you like that show?" Drenig asked.

"Kind of, yeah," Kiki said.

"Meh, I guess what annoys me about it is it's fan base," Drenig said.

"Yeah, but the hate base is bad too," Kiki said.

"True, and Furry Die-Gon doesn't really have a hate base like Tiny Ponytas does," Drenig said. "I feel like we're alone."

They stopped and thought for a moment about the other party. Maybe, just maybe they did have a thing for each other. But eventually, reality struck.

"Well... Shall we press on?" Kiki asked. ...But suddenly, a voice came out.

"Team Mol-Tres! Can you hear me?" It was Bertram's voice, and he was speaking out through screens planted everywhere on the island.

Over with Wren and Percy, Wren was hearing the voices again. He was getting super spooked.

"YARGH! It's getting louder," Wren said.

"Wait a minute... it sounds like Bertram," Percy said. Eventually Percy went up to a building and inside there was a tv screen with Bertram on it.

"There's been a change of plans!" Bertram stated through the screen in all four locations. Everyone's eyes were now trying to see the screen Bertram was talking through. "It turns out the machine is actually in the air, so searching for it on ground is going to do us no good. Fortunately the map you have SHOULD lead you all the way to a junk yard that has many spare parts to work with."

Grant and Jet were in their cave and looking through the map. Grant saw the mark on the map that said "Junk Yard."

"Apparently so," Grant said to Jet.

"Pfft, why we need to go to some stupid junk yard anyway?" Jet asked.

"You'll find out when you get there," Bertram said. "I don't want to have to explain things then have to RE-explain things because you forgot. Now, hop to it."

Eventually Bertram logged off, and the contestants were on their next task. Aria and Muffy were not really too surprised, especially not Aria.

"I knew there was a catch," Aria said.

"Don't worry, It doesn't effect anything," Muffy said. "Let's just go there and find the junk yard, then Bertram will tell us what to do."

"Yeah... thanks, kind of knew that though," Aria stated.

-Confessional Session(Muffy)-

"Has Aria always been that sarcastic?" Muffy asked. "...What? I wasn't part of Team Zap-Dos, so I don't know what she's like as well as other people may, but Muffy does notice a little sarcasm in her manarisms."

-After Confessional-

And so the contestants set off to find the junk yard. There they would get the next task to destroying the gas machine.

-Warning: Extremely Dangerous-

Once all the contestants arrived at the junk yard, they awaited for Bertram's orders Of course some were feeling impatient.

"When's that buck-toothed moron going to show up?" Jet asked.

"Maybe if you would just be patient, Mr. Jet sir," Grant said.

"Whatever..." Jet said shaking his head.

"And remember," Grant whispered. "My offer still stands."

Aria was close enough that she could just barely hear Grant, but it didn't seem like anyone else could. Aria was becoming more and more suspicious.

"Offer still stands?" Aria asked herself. "What offer is he talking about?"

"Shhhhh..." Muffy sounded. "Bertram will be on any minute."

As if through speak of the devil, Bertram popped up on a foggy screen. There is where he would announce the situation.

"Okay, so you're probably wondering how to get to the gas breather in the sky," Bertram said.

"It would be nice to know," Kiki said.

"Well, there are some pedestals behind you each with a book on them," Bertram said. "Give the book a read and tell me what the challenge is."

Everyone looked behind them and was a bunch of books. On each of the books was the title "How to build a flying suit" on them. This left Team Mol-Tres in shock.

"Okay... you expect us to build a flying suit?" Wren asked.

"Very much so," Bertram said.

"Are you nuts!?" Kiki yelled. "None of us have any experience in the field of mechanics!"

"Except your boyfriend Kiki," Jet mocked.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Kiki shouted.

"I really hate how this show is trying to force a relationship between us," Drenig stated. "We're light friends at best."

"...If it's about the tarot cards, that was completely on accident," Bertram said.

"Sure it was," Kiki and Drenig said in unison. ...Right before realizing they said something in unison. "ACK!"

"But THAT isn't important," Drenig stated. "Your task for today is to build a suit capable of flying you approximately forty feet in the air."

"And if we fall? We could die!" Kiki shouted.

"I sincerely question your hosting skills right now," Percy mentioned. "This sounds way too dangerous."

"Don't worry, if your suit falls or malfunctions, we have our crew setting up a biiiiiiiig net all over the island," Bertram assured. "If you fall, you'll fall in the net safe and sound."

"Sure! But what if we fall on top of each other?" Aria asked.

"That... is a good question," Bertram said. "Well there is always Betty."

"Muffy doesn't want to endanger herself," Muffy said.

"You want to destroy the fog machine and save Quarantine or not?" Bertram asked.

"Not really," Aria shouted. "It's just fog. We take our suits off, we'll be just fine."

"It's POISON fog," Bertram stated.

"No it's not," Aria said.

"JUST GET GOING! Make the flying machine and go!" Bertram shouted.

...Everyone stayed silent and turned their heads away. They didn't want to do it.

"Okay, let me put it this way," Bertram started. "Whoever refuses this challenge will be eliminated without question from this compotition!"

Everyone turned to the screen in shock. Bertram was starting to play hardball right now.

"Not good enough? How about this," Bertram started again. "The winner of this challenge will receive their own personal 3D Dual-Screen complete with the hottest games including Pokemon Epsilon Emerald, Super Crush Cousins 4, Bernardo-Buggy 3D Dual Screen edition, Super Bernardo Kingdom 3D, and Damsel In Distress: A Chain Among Two Dimensions! Are you going to say no to Bernardo-Buggy and Damsel in Distress?"

"Oww, right where it hurts Bertram," Wren cried.

Eventually everyone picked up their books and started to scavenge for parts in the huge piles of junk. That meant they were willing to work for a 3D Dual-Screen and five great games.

"Thaaats better," Bertram said kind of evilly before logging off.

Everyone got some parts and started working on their flying machines. ...Except for one thing, no one knew HOW to make a flying machine: not even the slightest clue. Muffy, in particular, was really frustrated even though she was working with her friends Wren, Grant and Aria.

"Muffy can't figure this out," Muffy stated.

"I built a killer robot, but... nothing like this," Grant mentioned. "I'm going to add some wicked lasers of doom to my machine. What about you guys?"

"I... don't know what I want," Aria said. "I guess I just want a machine that works. Course, I have no experience in this field."

"Yeah, building a flying machine is something new to me," Wren said. "But man... Super Crush Cousins 4!"

"Awww, Drenig's gonna be good at this one," Muffy said. "He's the one who has experience in mechanics."

"Hey! That doesn't mean I can put together a complicated flying machine!" Drenig called out. "Ay aint a super genius or anything."

Eventually, Percy came up to the group and sat down next to them. He wanted to learn how to make a flying machine too, but he was getting nowhere.

"Hey Wren," Percy said. "Mind if I sit here and ask for tips?"

"Not at all, Percy," Wren said. "But I'm just as clueless as you are. Oh man, Super Crush Cousins 4!"

"Muffy want Super Crush Cousins 4 too," Muffy stated.

"I'm more interested in Pokemon Epsilon Emerald," Aria said.

"You aint played platformers until you've played a Super Bernardo game," Kiki stated, walking by the group. "Mind if I sit here too?"

"Sure, the more the merrier," Grant said. "Might I say, you are looking quite nice today Kiki."

"Uhh... this is how I always look," Kiki said.

"Ay man, I wouldn't say Super Bernardo games are king of platformers," Drenig said, also walking by the game. "I prefer Zap Shaymin games, especially the older ones. I've even tried newer Super Bernardo games, and I... Ay just don't know. They seem so slow and clunky, also kind of slippery and just... eh."

"What!?" Muffy cried. "You insult Super Bernardo games and tell me that washed-up has been is better!?"

"How can you not like Super Bernardo games?" Wren asked.

"I just said why I don't, man," Drenig said. "It's not something to get excited over."

"Yes, why is it a crime that he doesn't like Super Bernardo games?" Grant asked.

"I don't complain when people say they don't like Zap Shaymin," Drenig said. "And on that note, I'm gonna main him if I get Super Crush Cousins 4."

-Confessional Session(Drenig)-

"Bernardo fans can be just as bad as Tiny Ponyta fans AND Furry Die-Gon fans," Drenig said. "They say a Bernardo fan-base doesn't exist, but it's like every time I try to say I don't like the games that much, I'm insulted by Bernardo fans for it. It's like I absolutely have to like the franchise."

-After Confessional

"And if I win, I'm gonna main Ultra Mortar," Grant said. "Besides, Ultra Mortar games are way better than Super Bernardo AND Zap Shaymin combined."

"Yeah, those games are great," Aria said. "But I would have to say Towermania is my favorite. I'm going to main Saurmon Bulbado if I get the game."

"...Saurmon Bulbado's not in it," Kiki said.

"Oh... never mind then," Aria said.

"Muffy wonders what Jet's doing right now," Muffy said.

"Why would that matter?" Wren's asked.

"I don't know, he's the only one not in the group," Muffy said.

"Stupid scrap metal!" Just then they heard a shout in the distance. "None of these pieces are fitting together!"

They saw Jet trying to build his machine. Eventually though, he started going to town on his current build with a steel pipe he found. Alas, no one else was any farther on their machines."

"Speaking of Jet, what about that OFFER?" Aria brought up.

"What, you mean sharing my coconut and Nanab Berry stash with him?" Grant asked.

"...Oh, that was it?" Grant asked

"Yeah, that's all," Grant said.

"Never mind then," Aria finished. ...And yet, she couldn't help but wonder if he was sincere.

"See, nothing suspicious," Muffy said.

"Yes... nothing," Aria muttered.

-Confessional Session(Grant)-

"Fools. I had that in my mind the entire time," Grant said. "Always have a back-up idea if you suspect someone might have heard you. ...However, knowing Aria, she's onto me. I can't let her stay in the compotition too long, she could derail my plans. I must get rid of her some way. ...But how?"

-After Confessional-

It was two hours since they started the challenge and no one has made any progress on their machines. They were still talking about the video games they were promised if they win, but no matter how hard they worked on their machines they made no progress.

"Anyone ever play any of the Eeby games?" Muffy asked.

"Yeah, the Eevee that steals other enemies powers, right?" Drenig asked.

"Like Ultra Mortar!" Grant blurted.

"...No, I can't say I have," Percy said. "If I play video games, it's always a fighting game of some sort. I'd probably main Tiny Rogue from Chan Tyson's Knockout."

As the groups were talking, Jet couldn't help but look at the group. Everyone was gathered around, building machines together and he was all alone. No one wanted him in their group nor did he really want to be part of their group. He couldn't help but smirk.

-Confessional Session(Jet)-

"While they're shooting the breeze, I'm actually working," Jet said. "I swear, this would almost be the easiest video game console I ever scored, except I'm still struggling on that PIECE OF JUNK!"

-After Confessional-

"Let's talk about Damsel In Distress now," Aria started. "That Chain guy's pretty cool, huh?"

"I bet Lilly wouldn't mind being saved by that Gallade," Muffy said.

"Yeah, I dunno about him, but Bernardo's kinda cool," Kiki said. "How do Emboar's jump so high?"

"Well if you ask me," Wren started. ...But before he could say anything, Bertram came back on the screen. He didn't seem happy at all.

"What's the hold up!? What's taking so long!?" Bertram asked.

"You know, we're not exactly rocket scientists," Jet blurted out.

"Oh come on, it can't be that hard to make a flying machine," Bertram said.

"We're trying the best we can," Percy said.

"You can't just pick up a book and expect to be able to build a machine lickity-split, man," Drenig commented.

"And tempting us with video games won't make us learn how to build any faster," Kiki mentioned.

"...Okay, this challenge was a bad idea. I knew I should have went with my gut but the producers were like "Do it! It will be fun to watch!" Bertram said to himself. "I can already see the ratings on this show going down. No matter, I'll just have to switch to plan B: Order some stupid flying suits."

Bertram got out a cellphone and dialed a number. He proceeded to wait for an answer before talking.

"Uh yes, this is Bertram of the show Quarantine," Bertram said. "I am calling to order eight flying machines. ...Speculations? Sure, about three for heavy ones, and five normal sized ones. You'll do that? How much? WHAT!? I already spent two-thousand of the registry fee on a former contestant! ...Oh fine, but only cause I'm desperate. ...Yes you know the place. Just past the Decrepit Lab, yes. Thank you, I will be there."

After hanging up on his phone, he noticed he was still on the screen. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Stop working!" Bertram said. "I'll just have flying suits available in about 30 minutes so stop working!"

After about fifteen minutes, the suits arrived at the front gates of Quarantine. Bertram was still in his gas suit as he went to greet the salesman.

"Yes, welcome to Quarantine," Bertram greeted. "You'll have to excuse the suit, we're doing an episode where the entire peninsula is shrouded in gas. Everyone has to wear these suits. Anyway, here is the money I owe you for said suits."

As Bertram went to pay the Pokemon with the flying suits, he looked back and noticed something was wrong. The camera crew was there and he was filming him.

"You're not supposed to film that!" Bertram said. "No one cares about a situation involving Bertram and the salesman! Oh good grief, this is starting to be the worst episode yet, I apologize to the viewers at home, I swear the series is going to finish strongly."

Bertram then turned back to the salesman and gave a smile. He was trying to smile through the pain of losing a good chunk of money and having his show's reputation put on the line.

"Many thank yous for the suits," Bertram said. "I know my contestants are going to love these."

While Bertram was having the suits shipped out to the contestants, they were still talking about video games They were talking about what games their friends might have played it they played video games.

"My dojo loves fighting games about as much as Percy does," Kiki said. "Too bad Nobendo doesn't make them, unless you count Crush Cousins."

"Dustin really likes hack & slash games," Drenig stated. "Anything with a medieval theme, really."

"Say Wren, what kind of games do you think Stawolt would have played?" Aria asked.

"Oh, why did you bring his name up again?" Wren asked. "I still think he got kicked off too soon."

"Can't be helped now," Grant said as he was putting a tube on his device. "Say, does this look like a..."

"No," the group blurted in unison.

"Darn, still at the drawing board," Grant said.

"I don't know what kind of games Lilly would have played," Muffy said. "Maybe... You know, she really was more of a book person."

"Say, what about Riley?" Drenig asked.

"Huh... I don't know," Kiki said to the group. "Maybe first person shooters? Hard to say."

"Anyone like RPGs?" Aria asked.

"Not really, Muffy could never handle the slow pace of them," Muffy said.

"Yeah, I prefer games with more action," Kiki said.

"Me too," Percy mentioned. "Plus, RPGs are always so long, and I'd rather have games I can finish."

"Uhhh, guys?" Wren said, pointing to the sky. He could just see a black web in the air.

"Bertram must be putting out that net," Kiki said.

"But if the nets over our heads, how will we get up?" Muffy asked.

"They will leave it open in time for us to take off," Percy said.

"Speaking of which, where's the flying machines?" Drenig asked.

"Bertram said about thirty minutes," Aria said. "And so far it's been... I don't have a watch."

After a few more minutes, Bertram and some of his workers arrived with flying machines. Bertram still seemed un-pleased.

"Here you go, crumb bums," Bertram said as he showed the machines. "Since you're too stupid to create one, we brought some out here. Big ones for Percy, Drenig and Muffy, normal ones for everyone else."

"...We don't know how to fly suits either," Kiki said.

"Instruction manuals!" Bertram shouted as he had eight in his paw and started handing them to the contestants. "These booklets will tell you how to operate the flying machines. Even you guys can do THAT, right?"

Drenig instantly went up to his suit and strapped on. With the flying suit around his body, he went back over to the group.

"I think I can manage it," Drenig said.

"Ha! If croc face can, so can I!" Jet shouted as he hopped over to his suit and strapped it on. "Nothing to it. All you have to do is press buttons to go up, and lightly press them to go down. Move the levers according to direction, and that's all he wrote."

"...Wow, the idiot actually figured something out," Bertram said. "Anyone else surprised?"

"No," Percy said before strapping himself in. "I just skimmed through the manual, it's not rocket science."

"Well... technically it is," Bertram said. "The suits are powered by rockets."

The audience just went to their suits and strapped on. Bertram looked at them like he was expecting them to laugh.

"You're right, dumb joke. Is everyone strapped in?" Bertram asked.

"Muffy's all ready to go," she said.

"This still seems dangerous," Aria said.

"There's a 3D Dual Screen still up for grabs to the winner of the challenge," Bertram reminded.

"Caution thrown to the wind, let's go!" Aria shouted.

"Splendid," Bertram said. "Now, if you fly high enough, I'm sure you will be able to find it above the clouds. Be sure to fly as far away from each other as possible to avoid getting hit, are we clear?"

"May we please take off already?" Grant asked. "I feel so empowered in this flying contraption. Let me feel the power even more."

"You asked for it," Bertram said. "Now, step away from the others." Everyone did as Bertram said. "And now... FIGHT DAGGER EYES FLYING FOG MACHINE!"

Jet pressed his buttons all the way down: the flying suit equivalent of flooring it. As a result, he shot up into the air like a bullet. Grant did the same thing, as did Muffy and Wren. The rest were a bit more careful. They slowly pressed their buttons, resulting in a speedy but steady flight upward.

"Good luck guys!" Bertram called out from under the net which was currently closing him off.

Over at the fog machine, some of Gola's dragon workers were working on the machine. A pair of Axews were leaving their shift. They were also talking about the machine itself.

"I know the workers are responsible for most of the power, but where is it going?" the first one said.

"There's a battery in the back," the second one said. "The battery is receiving the power from the workers. It's a big glass dome that houses the source. If the dome is smashed, the whole machine goes down."

"Right, let's hope that doesn't happen," the first one said.

"How could it?" the second one asked.

"Cause they're COMING!" the first one shouted, pointing to some specks in the distance.

"Wait, what!?" the second one said. "They actually found a way to get here. Dagger Eyes will not be happy."

"Well, what should we do?" the first one asked.

"...Whatever we can," the second one mentioned.

Down below, Bertram was watching on. He was unable to see the contestants now through the fog.

"I guess those machines worked," he said. "Well I haven't done one of these in a while, so this will be a nice breath of fresh air. Eight contestants, one fog machine, five fun-filled Nobendo games. Who will win the game package? Who will fall down to the net like Stawolt in gym class. Please stick with us, I swear the next part of the show will be much better, so stick around."

-Slow Ride-

The Axews were wondering how to combat Team Mol-Tres. They didn't have much to work with.

"What do we do? What kind of weapons do we have?" the first Axew asked.

"Well... we have these," the second one said, showing a bouncy ball and a hoola-hoop to the other. "Dagger Eyes had them for when the workers are bored and on their breaks."

"That's it!? That won't stop them!" the first one freaked out.

"Well Medulla was smart enough to make a fog machine that flew, but wasn't smart enough to stock us with weapons," the second one said.

"Abandon the fog machine!" the first one cried.

"You're giving up too easy," the second one said. "Worst comes to worst we'll battle them in the sky with our feet! ...And since we have really small feet, that's totally not a bad thing."

"...It is if you bring it up," the first one said.

"Well our hands are going to be busy flying the machines," the second one reminded. "And since we don't know any real abilities, our legs are all we got. And besides, at least we won't end up like poor Wren when all of this is said and done."

"Poor poor Wren," the first one said before taking off.

"TO THE SKIES THOSE WHO AREN'T WORKING!" the second one called. "Some stay behind and throw balls and hoops at them!"

Over with the contestants, Jet was finding the hardest time to take control as Wren, Muffy and Grant all managed to slow down. Jet was determined to get to the machine first, but was going way too high.

"Gah! Down! Down!" Jet yelled as he let go of the buttons. ...Jet then started to drop like a bolt of lightning. "NO! UP! UUUUUP!"

Meanwhile, Drenig, Kiki, Percy and Aria peaked through the clouds in front of Muffy, Wren and Grant. They were having the best handle on their devices.

"Huh, these machines aren't too hard to operate!" Kiki called out.

"Ya just gotta get used to the controls!" Drenig shot back.

"I wonder where Jet is!" Percy shouted. The other three were coming up from behind.

"Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Grant sounded out, hinting that he had fallen.

"NO!" But suddenly, Jet shot up again. He had no idea how to control his machine. "THIS BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITES!"

"Anyone else actually kind of feel sorry for him right now?" Aria asked.

"No!" everyone but Aria and Muffy said in unison.

"...Muffy kind of does," Muffy said.

Just then, the Axew fighters started to show up. They started to spread out in order to attack the group.

"We got company, guys!" Wren called out as he saw the Axews.

As the Axews got near, they started to attack the contestants. They tried to lower themselves to their level slowly and carefully. Some of the contestants shot up to avoid them, others lowered their decent, but Wren and Muffy were unlucky with their attack. Still, more Axews came.

"ACK! Stop that!" Muffy shouted as an Axew pushed off her. This disoriented both Muffy and Wren, causing them to swerve and fluctuate between speeds.

"Muffy! Wren!" Aria called out. "Stick to a steady speed and go high or low if the Axews..."

Before Aria could finish, she was attacked by an Axew as well. But Aria tried to keep cool. She lifted her fingers a smidgen from the buttons to lower herself, then went forward to evade the Axews further.

"Remember, they're coming towards us, so they can only attack once!" Aria suggested.

"Gah! Kamikaze fighters at twelve o-clock!" Drenig said.

"How can you tell it's twelve o-clock!?" Kiki shouted.

"Twelve o-clock as in a direction, it means North!" Drenig shouted. "And... I'm not even sure about that part!"

"Hey, if we're above the fog, can we take our suits off?" Grant asked.

"Be my guest, but it's not preferable right now!" Aria shouted.

The next wave of Axews were coming and they were going straight towards the contestants. This seemed even more dangerous.

"Here goes nothing!" Percy said as he flew up after an Axew tried to knock him out. Another one tried to, but that time Percy flew down, dodging both. "Ha! They're not very good at that are..."

"yyyyyaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!" Suddenly, Jet came back down and landed right on Percy. After a clash, both of them were knocked out of the air.

"PERCY!" Wren shouted, deeply worried for him.

As they both fell through the fog, they managed to break away from each other, but their suits were both malfunctioning and unable to return to the skies. Eventually, they both slammed into the net set on Quarantine. Bertram saw the whole thing from the sight of them to the impact. They were lucky neither of them were seriously injured.

"Nothing but net," Bertram joked after the debacle was subsided.

Back in the sky, contestants were starting to get REALLY worried about their well being. After seeing Jet and Percy collide, they couldn't help but feel like giving up.

"I don't know if those games are worth it, this is suicide!" Wren shouted.

"Relax! What could possibly go wrong?" Drenig asked.

"No!" Aria shouted after he said those words. "What could possibly go wrong" was basically a death sentence. Eventually, MORE Axews came towards them, in bigger droves this time.

"THAT is what could possibly go wrong!" Kiki shouted.

"MUFFY DOESN'T WANT TO DIE!" Muffy whined.

"Just time the finger presses," Aria reminded.

"Easier said than done!" Wren shouted.

"...I aint afraid!" Drenig announced.

Drenig immediately floored his machine and went high into the air. This shocked the rest of Team Mol-Tres.

"What are you doing!?" Kiki yelled.

"Are you crazy!?" Aria asked.

"The higher you go, the harder you fall!" Grant warned.

"Ay'll take my chances!" Drenig called back.

-Confessional Session(Kiki)-

"Okay, if I may be honest, seeing Drenig act all brave and cool was actually kind of awesome," Kiki said. "I hate to admit it, but Drenig is kind of a cool guy."

Kiki couldn't believe she just said that. She looked at the camera in fear.

"Oh no, it's already happening," Kiki said. "Me and him are buying into it!"

-After Confessional-

Drenig rose higher and higher till he couldn't go any higher. Still, he was high enough that most of the Axews couldn't get him.

"PUSH THE BUTTONS AS FAR AS THEY CAN GO!" Drenig shouted. "RELEASE WHEN YOU CLEAR THE ENEMIES!"

"He might have a point!" Kiki shouted.

"You're not actually agreeing with him, are you?" Aria asked.

"He could get us all killed!" Muffy yelled.

"Even if we dodge the Axews, we'll have trouble landing!" Grant shouted.

"We're getting way too close to the machine!" Wren added.

"It will be the only way to dodge the Axews!" Kiki said as she floored the buttons and rose to the skies. "BANZAI!"

"Should we try it?" Grant asked.

"I suppose so," Aria said. "Uhhh... Banzai!"

"BANZAI!" Muffy yelled.

"Banzai!" Wren shouted.

"...I have no idea what that means," Grant said as he and everyone else rose to the skies.

Eventually, the contestants rose so high that the Axews had no choice but to fly past them. And now with the Axews all out of the way, the contestants were home free to the flying fog machine. ...Or so they thought.

"Now we just have to let go on the button a little and ease down to the fog machine!" Drenig suggested.

"Okay, no problem," Muffy said. Eventually they all lowered themselves and they were near the fog machine.

"You know, there's a 3D Dual Screen on the line, why are you giving us advice?" Aria asked.

"Cause your safety's worth more!" Drenig shouted.

"Wow, that's pretty righteous, Drenig!" Wren shouted.

"Besides, I'm gonna win anyway!" Drenig shouted. He was kidding around a bit, but he was still plenty competitive.

"Oh no you don't!" Kiki shouted, getting into the competitive spirit.

"Muffy wants video games too!" Muffy shouted.

"Right behind ya!" Wren shouted.

"Don't forget me!" Grant called out.

"...Eh, I could care less about video games," Aria said to herself.

As the team was nearing the fog machine, the Axews on it started to panic. That's when they started throwing hoops and balls.

"Is that all they got?" Drenig asked, deciding he would try to power his way through them.

They were throwing balls and hoops at the contestants as hard as they could. The balls weren't doing much, but a hula-hoop hit Drenig straight in the forehead.

"Ay man, that hurt!" Drenig shouted. "Of course you didn't need me to tell you that!"

Kiki was also getting abuse, but she was powering through it all like a tank. Even a hula-hoop to the chest didn't even phase her.

"I've had Rhyperiors punch me in the face!" Kiki shouted. "Your pathetic weapons are worthless against me!"

Drenig couldn't help but notice how strong willed Kiki was as she made it to the fog machine first. Kiki hadn't had the chance to show it much, but she was one tough pile of talons and feathers.

-Confessional Session(Drenig)-

"I never realized how much of a trooper Kiki was," Drenig said. "I mean, I had to have known since she's a black-belt in... whatever her field of martial arts is, but if you can take a blow to the head from an object, even something as innocuous as a hula-hoop, then that is pretty cool. ...I hope I'm not cursing myself."

-After Confessional-

"I'm gonna get there before you Drenig!" Kiki shouted as she took her suit off and ran inside.

"Oh no you don't," Drenig said as he decided to fly right inside the machine. The Axews immediately got out of the way as he did. Aria and the rest couldn't help but be suspicious of the two.

"...Those two are doomed," Aria said jokingly. She wasn't referring to their fate inside the machine, she was referring to their friendship.

"Yup," Wren said, understanding what Aria meant.

"Totally doomed," Grant said, also understanding.

Inside, there wasn't much standing in her way between the battery an her. Even the workers inside were useless as they needed to stay working on the machine. The only thing in her way... was Drenig.

"This is gonna be easy!" Kiki shouted confidently.

"Yeah! For me!" Drenig yelled, also confident.

Eventually, Drenig flew past Kiki towards the battery, but Kiki didn't give up. This made Kiki work even harder to get to battery. The battery seemed... way too easy to destroy: just stepping on it would work. Why would they have such a crushable battery? ...Of course this was a game-show, but still.

Eventually, they both got to the battery. Drenig was going to land his foot on top of the battery, while Kiki was going to give it one of her best Judo kicks. As they both executed their moves, a moment of suspense appeared afterward as a stomp on the batter caused a flash of light in all directions. ...But when the lights cleared, both of their feet were on the destroyed battery. To make things even weirder, neither of their claws overlapped the other, but in fact they were both locked into each other through each of their claws. The winner was... not obvious.

"Huh?" Drenig asked. They both stared at their feet for a long time.

"Who won?" Kiki asked dumbfoundedly.

"That's not important!" Wren shouted as he and the rest got inside. "You guys have to get out of here! The fog machine's going to crash!"

"My machine!" Kiki yelled.

"Don't worry, if you can man the buttons I'll hold onto you," Drenig said.

Kiki couldn't help but smile at Drenig right now. ...Until she realized they were DEFINITELY starting to buy into the forced relationship. That wiped the smile off BOTH of their faces.

"No, I better go get my own," Kiki said.

"Yeah, you're right," Drenig agreed. "That would be way too weird."

-Confessional Session(Aria)-

"Like I said," Aria reiterated. "They... are... doomed."

-After Confessional-

Afterwards, Team Mol-Tres flew down from the fog machine that was falling to the ground and went back down to Quarantine, where the fog was already clearing. Bertram and Betty were down there treating Percy and Jet for wounds. When the team finally landed in their net, Bertram looked at the group and smiled.

"There, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Bertram asked.

"I... I... I hate you," Aria said.

"Now that we are here, onto the prize," Bertram said before one of the camera-mon went up to him and started to whisper into his ear. "What do you mean you couldn't tell who won!?"

"It all happened so fast," the camera-mon said. "What I saw was Kiki and Drenig hitting the battery at almost exactly the same time."

"Give me that camera!" Bertram said as he started looking through the video footage. "Ugh, it's too close to tell!"

"What should we do?" the camera-mon asked.

"More money down the toilet," Bertram mumbled. "Okay, after carefully reviewing the video, this game is a tie. Both Drenig AND Kiki will get 3D Dual Screens."

"Hang on! I hit the battery first!" Drenig shouted.

"No way you overgrown lizard! I did!" Kiki yelled.

"Don't talk to me that way, feather-face!" Drenig countered.

"I'll talk to you any way I want about you AND that lame haircut of yours!" Kiki shouted.

"Don't talk about my hair that way, hotdog head!" Drenig shouted.

Even though they were fighting, it was clear to the contestants what they were doing. They just didn't want to admit they actually had feelings for the other, so they tried to hide it by fighting. ...But it didn't look like anyone was fooled.

"Bow chika-wow wow," Jet blurted out as he watched the two love birds go at it with each other. The battle waged on as the Fog Machine crashed into the net, and the fog started to clear. They might be there all day pretending they didn't like each other.

-Bertram is ALWAYS Watching-

While sitting in his control room, Bertram was watching over the footage of today's episode. He was trying to look for things to cut out of the show.

"Ugh, just one flop after another," Bertram said. "Failed challenge, money wasted on flying suits and a second 3D Dual Screen, and what's with all the foot references? Dis-GUSTING! I'm beginning to wonder if I can even afford to keep running this show, I'm starting to lose money on it. ...Then again, with all the money I've lost, I'd still be rich. Plus, hopefully the rating will be good enough that all the viewing of this program will HOLD ON, WHAT IS THAT!?"

Bertram eventually saw something on the screen that immediately gave him a stone look. After a while he shook his head and let out a sigh.

"I guess there's more to this story," Bertram said. "I warned them not to do that, but that crosses the line."

Back at the bunkers, a huge argument was spewing over the prize. All you could hear was senseless shouting between a male and female.

"Bernardo's too slow!" Drenig shouted as he was playing his 3D Dual Screen and his copy of Super Crush Cousins 4. "It's all about speed, Kiki!"

"Power and weight!" Kiki shouted, playing HER 3D Dual Screen and Super Crush Cousins 4. "Zap Shaymin could kick him thousands of times and get nowhere! Bernado would STILL be standing against that washed-up Shaymin!"

"Oh yeah!?" Drenig yelled.

"YEAH!" Kiki yelled.

The other contestants were watching the two duke it out on their 3D Dual Screens. They had to sit through all of their shouting.

"Okay, we get it, you two are shouting at each other to hide the fact you like each other," Aria stated.

"Is THAT what they're doing?" Muffy asked.

"Why else would they act like they hate each other all of a sudden?" Wren asked.

Suddenly, on both screens, Bernardo and Zap both came out for one final attack and... They smacked each other and both went flying off screen, resulting in another tie for the two Pokemon.

"RAURGH I HATE YOU!" the two roared at each other after another tie. ...But of course, they both calmed down almost immediately and giggled at each other. It was obvious they were trying to hard NOT to hook up with each other, and that was causing them to like each other more and more. ...If that makes sense.

"So, now that the battle is over, can we talk about who to send home?" Grant asked.

"That Percy needs to go!" Jet said. "Not just for what he did this morning, but for crashing into me in the challenge!"

"First off, you were asking for it," Kiki stated.

"And second, Percy wasn't the one who couldn't control his machine," Wren stated.

"You know, Jet's lost this challenge," Percy reminded.

"Right, we can send him home now," Aria mentioned.

"You know, I'm right here and I can hear you," Jet said.

"No one cares!" Drenig mentioned.

"You already know people don't like you," Muffy stated. "So why be surprised if we want to kick you off?"

"I'm not," Jet said. "But mark my words, I have survived through this many eliminations, and I've ALWAYS found a way to stay in the game. I am NOT going home, not now, not tomorrow, not until that cash prize is mine!"

Suddenly, Bertram appeared on the screen in the Mol-Tres bunker. He had an announcement to make.

"Has everyone had their supper?" Bertram asked.

"Yep, all full," Grant said to Bertram.

"Good, meet me at the Quarantine Chamber all of you," Bertram stated. "Don't bother going to the confessionals today to register your votes. There will be NO VOTING needed in today's ceremony. Good day."

After Bertram logged off, Jet got even more cocky.

"Nine lives, losers!" Jet mocked to the rest of the group.

-Confessional Session(Jet)-

"I don't know what Bertram's bag is, but I know he aint calling us up there for anything I did," Jet said. "I'm like that nasty stain on the rug that won't go away no matter how much bleach you throw at it. Ha ha ha ha!"

-After Confessional-

Everyone met Bertram at top for what seemed like a serious deal. No voting meant something was wrong.

"So, no votes? No milk! Anyone care to guess why?" Bertram asked. ...No one answered. "Well, after carefully reviewing today's episode, I found something MOST shocking in the footage."

"Okay, what evil scheme did Grant do?" Aria asked.

"Who said I did anything?" Grant asked. "Why do you keep insisting I did something?"

"I'm on to you, Grant," Aria said.

"No no no, nothing Grant did," Bertram said. "But it was definitely something that one of you did. Care to come clean?" ...No one answered again. "Does ANYONE recall some of the rules I've made?"

"No using moves, no abilities, no body parts others are incapable of using?" Wren asked.

"Precisely Wren," Bertram said.

"Yeah? But what could I have done Aria?" Grant asked. "I don't have any body parts to use that you other guys don't have."

"I already said Grant," Bertram started. "You are not the person who broke the rules... Was he PERCY!?"

"What? When did he break the rules!?" Muffy asked.

Percy started to sweat bullets. It's obvious he knew what Bertram was referring to.

"Well Percy? Something you would like to say?" Bertram asked.

"I... I handled Jet with my tail," Percy said. "I forgot that I am not allowed to use my tail in Quarantine."

"Especially you are not supposed to use said tail to catapult a fellow competitor in the wall!" Bertram shouted.

"Jet had it coming!" Kiki shouted.

"I thought we were teaching our contestants better," Bertram said. "Why back in my day, we were taught NOT to encourage and justify bullying to anyone, no matter how unlikeable they were! Oh how the times have changed since my days."

"I know I wasn't supposed to do that," Percy said. "But do you know how much of an unlikeable jerk Jet is?"

"Did that give you the right to assault him with a body part you were NOT allowed to use?" Bertram asked.

"Not really, but..." Percy started.

"But" nothing!" Bertram shouted. "I have warned contestants not to do so, but to actually harm someone with a forbidden body part? Percy, I have no choice but to DISQUALIFY you from Quarantine!"

"Ha! The great and mighty Percy is gone!" Jet shouted. "I knew I'd outlive you in the competition!"

"You better shut your mouth right now!" Percy shouted. "It's true I had no right in doing what I did, but if you think I am sorry for it, you have a loose screw in your brain! No matter how many times we tell you to shape up, you just go back to old Jet! You are a lost cause who's egotistical, clumsy, paranoid, dishonest, loud-mouthed, manipulative, self-centered, desperate, hot-headed, whiny, idiotic, poor sportsmanly, and are completely unbearable to be around! I cannot stand being around you any longer! I didn't want this to be the outcome, but right now anything that gets ME away from YOU is fine by me!"

Everyone but Jet clapped after Percy finished his qualms. He told them all the things that people hated about him, and having all those things said to Jet in his face made the contestants happy.

"That was priceless," Bertram said. "I have wanted someone to say all of that to Jet. You, Percy, have done what none of us had the guts to do. ...But you're still disqualified, and that's how it goes."

"Well then... I guess this is goodbye guys," Percy said as he walked over to the chamber. Percy opened the door up himself and tried to squeeze in, managing to fit himself inside the chamber before Bertram shut the door on him. The whole time as gas was filling in the room, Percy's gaze was on Jet the whole time until the gas obscured his body. After a bit, he vanished like the rest.

"Now... let this be a lesson to the rest of you," Bertram said. "Any more rule-breaking, and you will suffer the same fate. ...So please, play nice. ...And stop encouraging assault. Are we clear? Good, then you may go for the night."

-Confessional Session(Muffy)-

"...What if he's right?" Muffy asked. "What if Jet just can't be kicked off? What if I go home before he does? Oh know, Jet is way too much of a jerk to want that to happen to poor Muffy."

-After Confessional-

Bertram got prepared for the closing speech of the episode. It wouldn't be too fancy, but it would make due.

"And then there were seven," Bertram stated. "The competition heats up, and the show becomes MUCH BETTER than this episode. But what will happen next time on Quarantine? Only time will tell and until then we say goodbye to you... for now."

-Next Time on Quarantine-

"Only Diance's Diamond can defeat me!"

Contestants must search a huge keep for a large jewel capable of suppressing dragon powers.

"Why do we need some dumb Jewel? Can't I just wallop him?"

But with many spooky turns at every corner, someone's bound to freak out.

"Why did they put these iron maidens down here?"

And even guardians are boundless.

"Escavaliers! Run!"

And not to mention another contestant to exile.

"Ha! As if I actually wanted to aid her wishes. I hate her!"

All this and more on the next episode of Quarantine: Diamonds Are For Never.