Well, last challenge could've gone as poorly as it could've. I'd never thought Noah would stick his neck (or in that case head) out for us in order to let me and Sky stay in the race. Even if it was so that he and Emma would get together at the end. And speaking of getting together, I still haven't gotten around to telling Kitty that I like her and time is winding down for me.
Still, that wasn't our major concern right now...
"Hey, we're going to Las Vegas." I read from the tip, smiling.
"Actually, we're going to a desert in Las Vegas." Sky said as she looked at it.
I crossed my face in confusion, "Wait, what? Let me see. Uh..." I skimmed through the rest of it and she was right, making me roll my eyes in response, "Wow. I've never been more disappointed in my life. NOT!"
We ran to the airport and all the teams took off on the same plane. An 18-hour flight which gave us an opportunity for plenty of rest. The flight was... interesting; at least to say. With Ice Dancers with a garlic and a wooden stake, and Devin more focused on the race. It looks like he passed through the stages of heartbreak. Me? I had to confess my feelings to Kitty. Which I what I was going to do, then I got shy and gave up.
(A/N: Dude, Seriously? Man up.)
With that aside, we made an alliance with the Sisters. Not just so I could spend time Kitty, mostly to keep Emma focused on the race. Even with Noah gone, she's somehow become more distracted than she usually has. Which was something we were dealing with as we we're getting into our taxi...
"Noah hated cabs," Emma continued as if she broke up with him, "He called them germ-incubators. Aw, so Noah."
"Emma..." Sky frowned to her.
"UGH! I keep falling into Noah-dazes." She groaned for a moment, "Every once in awhile you might have to slap me."
"Okay." I shrugged, then me and Kitty slapped her at the same time on opposite cheeks. We both laughed in response.
"OW! I meant when I go into a Noah-daze!" She glared at us.
"Hey, if you're gonna be a lawyer you're gonna have to learn to be more specific." Kitty responded, "I can see a perfect outline of me and Zane's hands on your face." She laughed and took a picture of it.
"So do you wanna us to slap you again?" I asked Emma.
"No-AH!" I didn't wait for her to answer, "I SAID when I'm in a Noah-daze!"
I shrugged innocently, "What? You said No-ah. Noah. So I assumed you were going into a Noah-daze." Kitty and I laughed again as she got into the cab with us.
After a short drive into the desert, we stopped and ran up to the Don Box, "It's an Either-Or: Dune-Buggy Bonanza or Magic Show." Sky read from the travel tip.
"I think we should do Dune-Buggies." I voiced my thoughts out loud.
"Noah, would've loved doing the magic show. He- UH!" I slapped Emma out of her Noah-daze... this time for real, "Buggies."
"Glad we see eye-to-eye." I responded with a smile evident on my face. We took off in the taxi again and arrived at the challenge course for the Dune-Buggies.
Sky explained the next part out loud, "Okay, the challenge is for us to collect three flags in a minute or less. One player controls the buggy with a remote from the watchtower above, while the other holds probably for their own life and grabs the flags. Oh and if the buggy crashes or the passenger flies out, we have to start all over."
"Which one of us should drive?" Kitty asked as we ran to the course.
"You're better at video games than me, but can you handle it?" Emma asked her sister.
"I think so..." She put a finger on her mouth.
Sky turned to me, "Okay, so how we decide on the driver is by drawing straws. The one with the longest..." She stopped as I pulled out the long line of straws put together which made her sigh, "Seriously?"
"What? You should've saw this coming a mile away." I laughed at my joke, "Heh, heh. Get it?"
*Cricket Noises*
Sky and Emma giggled while I glared at Kitty, who was smirking, "Ha, ha. You're very funny with your cricket sound effects." What about you guys? Thought my joke was funny?
(A/N: Dude, no one thought that was funny. Not even me... and I laugh at A LOT of stuff. Zane: *Glares* Oh, shut up.)
After getting geared up for the challenge, Kitty and I climbed up the watchtower along with MacArthur and Brody (for some reason. He came back to do the challenge again, even though him and Geoff completed it already). I directed the controls with Sky in the buggy. I drove her over the ramp and she caught a flag. A little bit of driving later, Kitty had Emma cut off Sanders and her sister caught the flag.
"Yes!" She cheered.
MacArthur glared at her, "You just cut me off! NO ONE CUTS ME OFF!" Take a chill pill sister.
"I'm just trying to get flags, same as you."
"Chillax, MacArthur. It's not like this is Terminal V-"
She cut me off, "Chillax? CHILLAX?!" MacArthur pushed me and Kitty into the wall as we were driving our dune buggies, "OH, IT IS ON! You're gonna have a hard time taking selfies when I snap your little toothpick arms off and you makin' jokes when I remove your squeaky little voicebox!" Squeaky?! My voice is as high as a lion purring in its sleep!
"Hey, this squeaky voicebox needs to-"
"Back off mall cop!" Kitty cut me off, "I've got a brown belt in fusion kickboxing yoga!"
I raised an eyebrow in response, "Wait, that's actually a real-"
"HA! BRING IT ON PRINCESS!" I was cut off again when MacArthur yelled over me.
"OH, IT'S ALREADY BRUNG! Brought?" Kitty's face crossed in confusion.
"It's brought." I corrected.
"Whatever!" She shook it off.
"...So... can I have a moment to-"
"NO!" They didn't even give me a chance to go to the confessional.
I frowned in response, "Of course, I can't. So I'll just say it right here and now: this jokester is caught up in the middle again." I screamed as they both pushed each other into the walls back and forth with me right in the crossfire. Not only we were getting smashed, but our passengers below us felt the pain.
"Zane, what's going on?!" Sky screamed in terror as she, Emma, and Sanders were bumping into each other.
"I'm- OW!- in the middle of- OW!- of a -OW!- road rage up here- OW!" I commed back to her on my mic while Kitty and MacArthur were fighting with me still in the middle of it, "CHILLAX, ALREADY GIRLS! AAH, LET IT GO!"
(Dual Confessional)
MacArthur: I never let anything go. When I was six, my babysitter forgot to give me desert... *Death glare* which she promised.
Sanders: *Sighs* What did you do to her?
MacArthur: Nothing... yet. *Gets up in the camera with a death glare still on her face* I know where you live Jennifer Masterson!
(Dune-Buggy Course)
Emma: Maybe putting you in charge of the controls, wasn't a good idea.
Kitty: *Nervous look* Of course it was. I'm on fire!
Zane: *Appears with a glare* Yeah, and so is my ribcage.
Emma: One time, Kitty got pwned online, and she smashed the console... and the living room.
Kitty: Things got a little out of hand, but I've got in under control. I swear, I've got this. Though, every time I tried to go on a streak, RocketxSlayer would camp in the same spot, get me every single time, and pwn me on purpose. That guy was annoying.
Zane: *Laughs nervously* Ehh... I'm sure that guy is very sorry for what he did and wishes he hadn't messed with you. *scratched head nervously* I mean if he met you right now you'd probably pound the daylights out of him and wish you two hadn't crossed paths. *Feebly* He wouldn't want that to happen! *Nervous chuckle*
Kitty and Emma: *stare at him strangely*
.
.
.
.
...This is pretty awkward...
.
.
.
Zane: *Points behind himself* I'm... gonna go back to the challenge and like I said I'm sure RocketxSlayer was VERY sorry. *Runs off*
(Author: I don't think he could've made it even more obvious it was him...)
Emma: *after a moment of silence* Well, that was weird.
Kitty: You don't think that...? *Waves a hand away with a nervous grin* No, it couldn't. *Loses smiles* Could it?
When the six of us got three flags, we saw we were off by three seconds. Kitty and MacArthur glared at each other; yes, I'm still caught in the middle.
"...Can I have some personal-"
"NO!" Both denied my request before I finished, making give another frown.
"Of course, I can't." Man, I've raged before in video games, but not this much! The second time, there was even smashing, bashing, and ribs breaking (that last part was mostly me). I saw this coming from MacArthur, never even saw this coming from Kitty!
And that's not joke for the internet to enjoy!
"Get out of my way!" MacArthur pushed me and Kitty into the wall.
"YOU get out of MY way!" She tackled back and put MacArthur and I into the other side.
"How about you both let me-"
"NO!"
I frowned for the ump-teenth time that day when they interrupted my objection, "Of course, you can't."
"Zane, stop the fight! I'm getting sick of it!" I heard Sky gag a little before she was able to swallow it down, "Literally."
"You're not the only one!" I said back to her as Kitty and MacArthur kept pushing us back and forth. I eventually got tired of it, "Okay, that's it!" I was able to pull myself out of the tussle.
"Hey, where you think you're going?!" MacArthur yelled back as I getting on the ladder.
"Up." I answered her, climbing onto the roof of the watchtower. Sure, it wasn't safe, but getting caught in the middle of a gamer/cat fight was way more dangerous. I sighed in relief, "Safe and- AAH!" I screamed in terror as MacArthur actually head-butted into the roof next to me.
"We're not done yet Blackwood!" She threw a death glare my way, "I've got a score settle with you!"
"WHAT SCORE?!" I yelled back in frustration. Kitty then kicked a hole in the roof. Either she knew about the you-know-what thing, or she was trying to protect me. "AAH!"
"You leave him out of this!" Kitty screamed, trying to help... which she wasn't doing a very good job on.
I jumped around to evade the attacks coming from down below from both girls while screaming terror, "JUNK! AH, CRUD! YIPE! AAH!" Meanwhile, Sky was probably hanging on for her life down in the track.
(Confessional: Dune-Buggy Course)
Zane: *Frowning* Being attacked by a gorilla with a badge AND your crush trying to protect you who HAS the strength of a gorilla is not a good way to leave this world...
"STOP. TRYING. TO. BEAT. ME!" I begged for mercy as I dropped back down into the tower; both of them trying to hit me. Not to mention, Carrie joined us up here and even she was having a hard time avoiding the crossfire too.
"JOKESTER!" MacArthur screeched at me as I evaded her attacks and at least let Kitty try to fend her off for me. Except even she was having hard time trying to keep her back.
After much dodging, I finally snapped right then and there, "That's it! It's like I always say: if you can't join 'em, BEAT 'EM!" I pushed her back toward the opposite wall. I punched MacArthur back as she tried to hit me. MacArthur appeared behind us and locked us in a bear hug.
"ZANE, STOP FIGHTING AND DRIVE ME TO THE FLAGS!" Sky commed loudly into my earpiece.
"Sorry, Sky! But I have a fight to finish!" I exclaimed in pain. I stepped on MacArthur's foot, head-butted her, and elbowed her to the wall. Carrie had crashed Devin, and exited the tower in order to switch challenges along the Ice Dancers.
The last thing I need is another fighter in this ring!
After a while, we stopped fighting and focused more on the challenge this time, "Sanders, last flag coming up!" MacArthur called to her partner.
"Don't miss it Emma!" Kitty commed to her sister.
"You got this Sky!" I said to my cousin. Our teammates were able to grab the flags at 53 seconds on the sixth time.
"YEAH!/ We did it!/ Finally!" We cheered on our accomplish.
(Dual Confessional)
Emma: I'm proud of my sister for finishing that challenge without breaking anything... especially me.
Zane: *Off-screen* And me!
Kitty: Aw.
MacArthur: I never would've pegged Kitty and Zane as the race rage types. Makes me like them more.
Sky: I'm so glad that we got out of there with no damage.
Zane: *Laughs* Speak yourself. I think Kitty and MacArthur dislocated my rib cage.
We made a break for the chill zone ahead, "Cadets, you're 3rd! Sisters, 4th! Acrobats, 5th place!" Don announced.
All of us cheered, until I fell on the ground in pain, "Ow." Sky helped me up from the ground, "Oh, ouch, ow, ow! Not too shabby." I walked over away from the carpet to sit down by myself.
"Hey." I turned my head at Kitty who was sitting right next to me. I turned my head away from her depressingly, and mader her, "Sorry about that fight back there. I was only trying to help you."
"It's okay," I forgave her, "What mattered was that you tried to defend me... and still three of my ribs were broken in that fight."
Kitty scratched her head nervously for a moment before she asked me something, "I actually want to know something that's been bothering me for a bit."
I smiled confidently, "Sure. Ask me anything."
"Are you RocketxSlayer?" I froze at that question, completely surprised and unprepared at the moment. I knew I wasn't gonna keep that a secret for long. Of course, lying isn't an option. I mean she's bound to find out sooner or later.
"Um... yes." Before she could even move a muscle, I rambled on, "I know it looks bad for me! I'm so sorry! I didn't it was you- I mean it probably could've been anyone because the gamer net is so large and people build up their skills. I thought camping was a legitimate strategy and was just a newbie back then and obsessed with video gaming. I didn't mean to do it and just wanted everyone to know that I was good. Please don't hurt me!" I covered my face expecting a punch.
It didn't come, but instead a gasp, "You were obsessed with gaming?"
"Yeah..." I replied uneasily.
"I was obsessed with gaming too!" Kitty grinned widely.
"Really? You were?" I raised an eyebrow, smiling.
"Yeah. One time I played Hockey All-Stars...for two days straight." Wow, she beats my standards for obsessed gaming, "Until Emma unplugged my console and told me to take a shower."
I chuckled, "Reminds me of me. I played Terminal Velocity that long... and with no breaks. I was on a VERY long winning streak and about to score another win."
"Really?" I nodded my head at her question, "What happened after?"
"The power went off." She laughed in response, "Yeah, it turns out I accidentally set my console on the 'Large Power Consumption' setting instead of 'Power Save'. Fortunately, my parents had a backup generator and installed it... then I was grounded for that next couple days."
"Oh, so you were the racing type?"
"Yup. I must've been so famous, that some players would quit before the race would even start. I moved onto first-person action games after that. Since I was new at it, I would camp to activate scorestreaks. Then I must've gotten cocky and pwn everyone who tried to even get a streak."
Kitty gave a smug smile, "Really? And how did that go?"
"Pretty good until it came back to haunt me now. A.K.A you and MacArthur relocating my rib cage." I returned a playful smirk.
She blushed and scratched her head in response, "Heh, heh, yeah. I held that grudge for a really long time."
"Well look at it this way, you made me learn some important lessons."
"And what would they be?"
"For starters, never camp again is at the top of list." We both laughed after my statement.
A/N: And that's another chapter done and we're just episodes away from the finale. I decided to add Zane in the fight for humor and entertainment, and for this moment at the end.
But take this chapter as a lesson: if you ever think about camping in a shooter game, don't do it. It'll came back to haunt you.
And it's very annoying.