Julie sat in her room, absently watching a movie when her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" She sighed.
"Julie," Milton answered, "you don't sound to happy to hear from me."
"Sorry, sir. I was just about to get to sleep."
"Mm. Anyway, don't forget. You've got a little less than a week before the new additions show up. Those new interns should help you out, and I've taken the liberty of throwing in a little something extra for you that should REALLY spice up the game."
"As much as I appreciate that, sir," Julie frowned, "I have things firmly under control. Things are going good, have some faith-"
"Julie, I will say this once," Milton interrupted, "I don't have faith in anyone. Not you, not those drones in the offices below me, not in those animals you call contestants. You know why? Because all I care about are results. You all have one job. Making me money. And that might sound selfish, but really, who sacrifices more than me? All those long hours and dollars spent keeping everyone employed. And what do I get?"
Julie was tempted to say millions of dollars and luxury vacation homes, but she held her tongue.
"Exactly!" Milton exclaimed, "Nothing! Julie, I think you'll find it's rather lonely at the top. Assuming you make it there. Good night."
Julie rolled her eyes as the line went dead, and dropped the phone on her night stand.
"I should have just gone to beauty school," she muttered, rubbing her temples.
~o.0.o~
Alejandro sat at the bar as he looked around at the clubhouse, smiling.
"Not bad," he said, "hopefully we can keep winning and keep a regular residence here."
"That would be nice," Bridgette agreed.
"So, have you been in to see Duncan?" Alejandro asked.
"No, but DJ told me he was doing better," Bridgette shrugged, "I'm still not entirely sure what happened, to be honest. I mean, SOMEONE must have done something to cause an allergic reaction like that. Who do you think it was?"
Alejandro thought a while.
"I don't think it would be wise to throw around accusations just yet, but it seems like something Quinn would do."
"I guess you're right. But we shouldn't say anything until we're sure."
"We definitely shouldn't. Besides," Alejandro continued, "if it was Quinn, why attack someone on her own team? It doesn't add up."
Finn, who was hovering nearby, smiled. So, he was still in the clear. For now. If he kept playing his cards right, he could do some real damage before anyone suspected him.
Mordecai, who had been playing Sonic Generations on the TV, was also in a good mood.
CONFESSIONAL: Mordecai
Ever since the last challenge, people have been a lot friendlier. Okay, so I messed up and didn't make a good impression when I first got here, but sticking up for Luna has really helped turn things around. I mean, who REALLY cares about her? I could care less about what happens to her or Duncan, but right now if I keep playing nice, I'll make it to the merge no problem.
END CONFESSIONAL
Up on deck, a rather cocky looking Justin was enjoying dinner while talking to Noah.
"So remind me why we had to have Courtney eliminated?" Noah asked.
"Well, it had to be someone, right?" Justin answered between bites of food, "Besides, he might have started that food fight, but Tyler can stil be useful later on."
"And Courtney, with her intelligence, couldn't have been?"
"Pfft, she was smart, so what?" Justin shrugged, "I mean, we have you, Cody, and that red head. I'd say we're good on brains."
Noah shook his head, but said nothing.
"Oh, what?" Justin scowled, "Don't give me that look. There's no way Courtney would have won, anyway. I was doing her a favor- now she can be with Geoff."
"What makes you so sure she wouldn't have won, exactly?"
"It's simple, Noah. Some of us are just better than others. You and me, for example. We've made it to the finals before, we're icons. We stand for something. It's our DUTY to make it as far as we can so we can entertain the adoring masses. It's destiny, really."
For once, Noah looked somewhat disturbed.
"That's... a very elitist thing for you to say. Making movies changed you."
"Look," Justin said, rolling his eyes, "it's the truth. Embrace it."
Justin got to his feet, and looked around at the contestants who were nearby: Tyler, Margo,Johnny, Deborah, and Mark.
"You see these guys?" He asked, "They aren't meant for anything. But you and I- we'll go places. Trust me."
Noah watched, a little alarmed, as Justin walked away.
"What the hell happened, Justin?" Noah wondered aloud, "What happened?"
~o.0.o~
Down in his room, Lucky tossed and turned in his bed.
"Nnnghh... Sun... Tr... TRIANGLE!"
Lucky jerked upright, panting as he looked around the room.
"Woah, easy there- just a dream."
Lucky looked over at the door, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Veronica.
"HOLY FU- what the hell, Veronica?!"
"Easy, sheesh," Veronica told him, sitting down on the edge of his bed, "I heard weird noises, and you left the door open. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Lucky looked down.
"...oh." He looked back up at her. "Uh, thanks."
"So what's up?" Veronica asked him.
"Nothing, just... Weird dreams." Lucky shook his head slightly, and yawned.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"No. You don't need to worry about me," Lucky told her, "how are you doing, kid?"
"I, um..." Veronica fidgeted uncomfortably before saying, "we're friends, right?"
"Of course."
"And... You're a guy. Who dates girls."
"What direction is this going, exactly?" Lucky asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I need your help with Miri, alright?" Veronica sighed, "I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing! Where I grew up, people weren't exactly receiving of my lifestyle. So, come on. Please?"
"Alright, alright." Lucky smiled at her. "No promises, though. I don't have that great of a track record myself."
Veronica leaned over and hugged him.
"Thanks, Lucky. It means a lot to me."
"Well, you definitely can't go to Johnny, and you should SEE Lance try to pick up a date," Lucky joked.
"Well... still."
Veronica pulled away, and smiled.
"So. Want to play Left 4 Dead or something?"
"Veronica, it's three in the morning."
"And?"
"... I call Nick."
~o.0.o~
Three days later, and the contestants watched from the deck as they pulled into the shore.
"Alright everyone," Julie announced, "it's time for our third challenge. Same deal as last time- once you get off the boat, you'll find a bus ready to take us to our destination."
"We're doing a version of an older challenge again, right?" Cody asked.
"Right," Julie nodded, "I'll explain more once we reach our destination."
The boat finally docked, and the contestants slowly made their way on to land and into the nearby bus. It was about a thirty minute drive into the city before they finally stopped in front of their destination- a casino called "The Platinum Chip". The outside of the casino was brightly lit, with a large fountain in the shape of a poker chip and the obligatory neon sign on the front. When Julie led them inside, however, the contestants found themselves in a surprisingly posh, well populated casino.
"And here we are," Julie told them, "I hope you're all ready, because today we'll be recreating the season two James Bond challenge! It works like this. For the first part of your challenge, each team will choose three players to represent them in a three on three poker match. The winning team will earn a big advantage in the next part of the challenge- which I will explain once we get to it."
"I'd like to nominate myself," Alejandro offered, "after all, I did quite well in the Las Vegas challenge, didn't I? I also seem to recall Duncan having a knack for this sort of thing."
"Well, I'm a bit rusty, but sure, I'll play," Duncan, who had fully recovered, agreed.
"Then who should be our third player?" Mordecai asked.
"I guess I'll go," Lance said, "not to brag, but I'm not too shabby at poker."
"I guess we have our three," Alejandro nodded, "gentlemen, let's take our seats."
Cody watched them sit down, and turned to his team.
"Okay, we need to win the advantage. Noah, you're good at poker, you should definitely play."
Noah nodded.
"Not for nothing, but I've been playing cards since I was a kid," Lucky said, "just throwing that out there."
"Alright, you play too," Cody told him.
"Woah, we're just going to let everything ride on a newbie?" Justin frowned.
Lucky glared at him, but before he could get a word out, Cody spoke.
"Look, I wouldn't exactly call him new. And that's besides the point. Lucky, you're in."
"Fine," Justin muttered, "but I'm playing too."
"Aww," Tyler whined, looking disappointed, "I wanted to-"
"Tyler, you suck," Justin snapped, "come on guys, let's get this over with."
The three Vault Hunters made their way to the table, and sat across from the Enclave.
As the cards were dealt, Alejandro smiled.
"Let's have a good game, gentlemen."
For the first few rounds, it actually had been a good game. Although the other competitors had started off watching the game, they gradually grew bored and wandered off, allowing the six to chat freely as they played.
"Gotta say, this is actually kinda nice," Lance smiled, "hell, this doesn't feel like a challenge. This just reminds me of those card games we used to play back on the island."
"Let's not talk about the island," Lucky suggested, tossing a chip out on the table.
"Why Lucky," Lance smirked, "I'd almost think you didn't enjoy your time last season."
"Well, I guess amongst all the arson, ghosts, beatings and attempted murder, I got a little stressed out. Call." Lucky paused a minute before smiling and adding, "At least this season we're on luxury boat with our own rooms and a beautiful hostess."
"Uh oh," Lance teased, "Lucky's got a crush."
"Eh. Maybe a little. Don't matter though, she IS quite a few years older than me."
"You've a fine taste in women, my friend," Alejandro told him, "my sympathies go out to you- I also find myself in romantic troubles as of late."
"Oh yeah?" Duncan asked, "With who?"
Alejandro opened his mouth to answer, but wavered momentarily when he remembered Justin sitting across from him.
"Just... Someone," he shrugged.
"Well, you might as well just ask," Duncan told him, "worst thing they can say is no."
"Worst thing they can say is no while on national tv," Lance corrected.
"Yes, thank you for reminding me," Alejandro sighed, "call."
All of a sudden, Justin growled, and pushed all of his chips into the pot.
"You know what? Chatting has been fun, but why don't we PLAY?" He asked, "All in."
The other five players looked around at each other.
Lance put his cards down. "Fold."
Duncan and Noah both waited a moment before following suit.
Lucky thought a moment before putting his cards down.
"What's the matter, newbie?" Justin smiled, "Can't play with the big boys?"
"Nah. I just don't have anything I need to overcompensate for."
Justin smile faltered before he scowled and shook his head.
"What about you, Alejandro?"
Alejandro looked at his cards.
"I'm game. All in."
Alejandro pushed all of his chips into the pot.
Justin smirked and said, "Time to show our cards."
Justin showed his hand- three aces.
"Beat that, Al."
"Gladly."
Alejandro showed his hand: a full house.
Justin's eyes widened.
"Shit."
"I have to admit, that was a pretty good move," Alejandro told him, collecting his prize, "a convincing enough bluff, and a decent enough hand just in case anyone didn't back out. Just a shame I had one better."
Justin clenched his jaw before standing up.
"Out first, huh? Fine. I'll see you all later."
Everyone watched as Justin left the table.
"Fucking prick," Lucky muttered, "who's turn to deal?"
"He isn't all bad," Alejandro told him, taking the deck of cards, "he's probably under a lot of stress or something."
"He's under a lot of something," Noah muttered under his breath.
The next few rounds passed without incident. Lance was the next to drop out, followed by Duncan, and finally Lucky.
"So," Noah said, looking down at his cards, "history repeats itself."
"It would certainly seem so," Alejandro nodded, "let's finish this, hm?"
The round went on before Noah finally pushed all of his chips forward.
"All in."
Alejandro smiled, and followed suit.
"Sorry Noah- four Jacks."
Noah smiled.
"Four kings."
Alejandro's jaw dropped as he stared at Noah's hand. He sat there, frozen, before slowly cracking a smile.
"Why am I not surprised?" Alejandro chuckled, "You win, Amigo."
"Congratulations Noah," Julie said, appearing beside the table, "looks like you win the advantage for your team!"
"And what's the advantage?" Noah asked.
"Tell you what- let me gather everyone first," Julie told him, "that way I don't have to repeat myself. Wait here."
Julie gathered all of the competitors, and brought them over to the poker table.
"Alright. Since Noah managed to win the poker game, he's earned the advantage for his team- a crate of nifty gadgets to help you capture your target."
"Our... target?" Margo asked.
"Yes, honey, your target," Julie nodded, "this is a James Bond related challenge, remember? And James Bond has fought plenty of deadly super spies over the years, and this challenge will be no different. Somewhere in this casino is an enemy agent only known as 'H', and it's your job to fish him out."
"How are we supposed to know which one is H?" Heather scoffed, "There are so many people here, it could be anyone!"
"You're the secret agents, aren't you?" Julie asked, "Or, you're pretending to be for the sake of this challenge. Look, you guys fought a Cthulhu robot before, don't make this harder than it has to be."
Julie sighed, reached behind her, and pulled out a small box.
"Vault Hunters, you can use these to help you out on your challenge," Julie told them.
"Sweet!" Veronica smiled, taking the box and beginning to sort through it.
"And we don't get anything? Come ON!" Heather complained.
"Well, maybe if you had won the first part of the challenge, you WOULD be getting something," Julie frowned.
"And MAYBE if this challenge wasn't so stupid, we wouldn't need anything!" Heather exclaimed.
Julie's eye twitched.
"You know what? I have been unfair," Julie admitted, "you will get something, Heather."
"About time."
"Sorry, honey, I need to see something for a minute," Julie told Veronica.
The hostess rummaged through the box, before pulling out a roll of duct tape. A second later, Heather's mouth was taped shut.
"I try to be nice," Julie sighed, shaking her head as Heather struggled to pry the tape off, "but she just HAD to keep pushing."
"Hey, you won't hear any of us complaining," Gwen smiled.
"Look, just get started with your challenge," Julie said, "first team to bring H back here wins immunity."
While the Enclave immediately set off, the Vault Hunters gathered around and sorted through their equipment.
"There's some really cool stuff in here," Cody commented, pulling out some rope, "this could be useful."
"Or it could be garbage," Justin muttered, rolling his eyes, "why don't we just find the guy and drag him back here?"
"If it was that simple, I don't think we would be given any of this stuff," Johnny pointed out.
"Like I need pointers from you," Justin scowled, "look, let's just leave this junk here and go, the other team is gaining an advantage."
"Well, you're not team captain," Cody said, getting a bit irritated.
"Well maybe I should be!"
"Okay, you know what?" Cody snapped, "Enough! I don't know what your problem is, but you've been acting like a total jerk lately! If you don't want to go along with this, fine- go work with yourself!"
Justin stared at Cody for a moment, completely stunned. Little by little, he regained his composure, and looked down at the ground.
"Fine," he growled, "if that's how it has to be..."
Everyone watched as Justin stormed off, looking furious.
"Good job, Cody," Gwen smiled, "you can't let people walk all over you, friend or not."
Cody sighed.
"I just wish I knew why he was acting like this, is all."
"Doesn't matter," Noah cut in, "come on, let's get our gear and go."
"I call- whatever the hell this is," Veronica said, pulling out a metal canister with flashing lights on it.
Point sniffed at the canister, and let out a low growl.
"I'd be careful with that, if I were you," Mark cautioned, "or at least Point thinks you should."
"I'm not sure most of this is safe," Deborah said as she eyed a dart gun, "maybe Justin was right."
"Or maybe he's being a jerk," Gwen replied.
The contestants continued passing around their gear- it ranged from caltrops, to dart guns, to bolas, to even smoke bombs.
"I think we're good," Cody smiled, "come on, guys."
As everyone walked off, Mark knelt down next to Point.
"What do you think?"
Point gave a small bark.
"Right- why don't you go look for anyone suspicious, and if you find this guy, I'll shoot him with the tranquilizers."
Point tilted his head.
"Well, I ASSUME they're tranquilizers. Stop giving me that look- we aren't going to kill anyone."
Point barked at Mark, and took an aggressive stance.
"Look," Mark sighed, "I don't like guns much either, but it IS for a challenge. I am gonna throw it away afterwards. We won't hurt anyone... unless you maybe want to mess with Heather a little again."
Point seemed to be out at ease, and wagged his tail a little before turning and scampering off.
"Go get him, Point," Mark smiled.
~o.0.o~
Duncan, Lance, and Luna were walking through the casino, past a few slot machines.
"I'm glad you're okay," Luna told Duncan, "I'm really sorry about what-"
"It's fine," Duncan shrugged, "it wasn't your fault... Right?"
"Oh no, of course-" Luna started.
"No, it wasnt," Lance cut in, "relax Luna, no ones mad at you. Even if you had done something, it was probably a mistake."
Luna nodded, and said nothing else.
The three continued walking along in peace, until Duncan stepped on an exposed wire that had been laying on the ground. A volt of electricity shot through him, until he finally collapsed backward on to the ground.
"Duncan!" Luna gasped.
Duncan managed to sit up, and looked around groggily.
"I'm... I'm fine..." He coughed, "What... What happened?"
"Exposed wire," Lance frowned, "wonder how that got out here?"AI
Finn, who had been watching from a distance, smiled.
"How indeed..."
~o.0.o~
"Okay, so how are we supposed to find H?" Tyler asked, "There are dozens of people in here, it could be anyone!"
"Sounds like a job for detective Cody, right?" Gwen smiled.
Cody sighed.
"Really not in the mood."
Margo, who was with the three, chimed in.
"Well, I'm sure we can handle it if we go about it intellectually. Let's talk stock- what do we have?"
"Uh, two dart guns, and some rope," Tyler replied.
"Okay, so I guess we should start by interrogating everyone in the casino," Margo suggested, "I'm willing to bet at least half of them have some information we can use."
Heather, Katie, Quinn and Izzy were watching this from a distance.
"You hear that?" Heather smiled, "They've got dart guns. Izzy, why don't you go over there and steal them for us?"
"Uh, I don't really know about that," Izzy frowned.
"Think about it this way- doing this would help our team win. And helping our team win would be the heroic thing to do," Katie smiled.
"Good point!" Izzy nodded, "I'll be right back!"
Heather smirked as Izzy charged off.
"Hopefully she'll be able to take out some of the competition while she's at it," Quinn sighed, "I'm bored out of my skull."
"Oh hush," Heather snapped, "of course she's going to get someone hurt. She's Izzy. And hopefully her little display will either get her voted out or disqualified. We need to get her out of the game as soon as possible."
"And what happened to Alejandro and his group?" Katie asked.
"Nothing," Heather told her, exhasperated, "sure, they've got numbers and all that, but Izzy is unstable. Al's group is our first priority, but that psycho needs to go too. Besides, I have a long, long memory, and I haven't forgotten what she did to me in England."
"Wow, you're STILL holding that grudge?" Katie asked her.
At this, Heather pulled a small notebook out of her pocket.
"Are you kidding me? I write down the names of EVERYONE who wrongs me. That way they all get what's coming to them."
Katie took the journal, and began thumbing through it.
"Um... Do I want to know why I see Michael Bay's name in here?"
"Ugh. How would his name NOT be in there?" Heather snatched her journal back, and looked over at Izzy. "Look. There she goes."
~o.0.o~
"Alright," Margo smiled, "so Tyler and I will-"
"Stop right there!" Izzy shouted, leaping into the middle of the group, "this is a stick up, see?"
"Izzy?" Tyler reached for his dart gun. "Why don't you just-"
Izzy immediately roundhouse kicked Tyler in the face, and grabbed his gun. Cody took a step forward, and in response Izzy grabbed him, knees him in the stomach, and shoved him into a slot machine.
Tyler brought himself to his feet, and pointed at the redhead.
"Hey! Give that back or-"
Tyler was silenced when Izzy struck him with the butt of the gun, which she then pointed at Margo and Gwen. The two girls put their hands up, and took a step back.
"Um, Izzy?" Margo gulped, "Could you please give us that back? We don't want any trouble-"
As she said that, Cody drew his gun, and fired a dart off, which Izzy just barely manage to dodge. In retaliation, the redhead shot Cody in the shoulder, and fired two more darts into Gwen and Margo.
"Pretty... colors..." Margo droned as she fell to the ground.
"Wow... everything is so fuzzy," Gwen giggled.
"Ha! Nobody gets the drop on E-scope!" Izzy laughed, brandishing her new toy, "I'm coming for you, H!"
~o.0.o~
Noah, Veronica, Lucky, Johnny, Miri and Deborah were standing together, watching a shady looking figure from across the room.
"I've seem enough spy movies to know that guy probably knows something," Noah said.
"Right. So how do we do this?" Miri asked.
"How about good cop, badass cop?" Veronica smiled, raising her dart gun.
"I don't know, if we scare that guy, we might lose out on a ton of information," Miri pointed out.
Veronica immediately lowered her gun, and laughed nervously.
"Yeah, no, you're totally right."
"Y'all are giving me a headache," Johnny sighed, before walked over to the figure.
Johnny tilted his hat upward, and crossed his arms.
"So, friend. I reckon you know a friend of mine."
The man said nothing. He was rather skinny, and wore a trench coat and hat that covered his face.
"Okay," Johnny sighed, "look, this don't have to be difficult. Why don't you just tell me what you need to know about H, and-"
"H, huh?" The man asked, his posture becoming a little more uptight.
"Yeah, that's what I said. You got something to tell me?"
"Yeah."
The figure reached into his coat, and pulled out a dart gun.
"The Lannister's send their regards."
Johnny's eyes widened, and he immediately pushed the hand holding the gun away, and then punched the figure in the face. The man fell back against the wall, clutching his nose with one hand.
"GOSH! That HURT!"
"Son of a- guys, it's-"
While Johnny turned to face the others, Harold grabbed his gun and shot a dart into Johnny's chest. As the cowboy staggered backward, Harold immediately sprinted off into a crowd of people, his hat flying off as he did so.
"It's Harold!" Miri shouted, "After him!"
The five contestants other than Johnny gave chase, but it wasn't long before Miri was winded and couldn't continue. The four managed to dodge in and out of the crowd, but when they were on the other side, they had lost site of Harold.
"And Harold managed to give me the slip. I have hit a new all time low," Noah grumbled.
Deborah looked around, and suddenly pointed.
"THERE!"
The contestants turned, and saw Harold was climbing over a roulette wheel.
"Oh my god, YES!" Veronica cheered.
"The hell are YOU so happy about?" Lucky asked.
"We get to have a parkour chase through a casino!" Veronica beamed, "I've wante to have a parkour chase through pretty much anything since I played Sleeping Dogs!"
With that, Veronica charged off. Lucky shook his head, smiling a little, and took a step forward.
"Well, we might as well try and keep up with her."
~o.0.o~
Five seconds in, and the thrill was gone.
Veronica found keeping up with Harold was Actually much more difficult than she had anticipated, and the result was a strenuous chase over and through various machines and devices. Of course, it was no picnic for Harold, either, who was far from in shape, but he had a good enough head start that he was able to maintain the lead.
Harold slid over a card table that was currently being used, sending chips and cards flying everywhere. A few seconds later and Veronica managed to vault over it, gaining a little ground. Just as she was about to give up, however, she saw a small, furry object, leap out of nowhere and latch on to Harold's face.
"AGHHHH!"
Harold fell to the ground, rolling around in pain, before a voice yelled, "Point, that's enough!"
The fox's eyes perked up, stopping immediatley as Mark walked into view. He quickly shot a dart into Harold's leg. The geek tried to crawl away, but he quickly passed out.
"Gee, thanks for sucking the fun out of everything," Veronica muttered.
"Don't mention it," Mark smiled, before turning to his Fox.
"You did a good job, Point. Really good. Now all we have to do is drag him back to-"
"Sorry, but WE'LL take Harold back."
Heather, Quinn and Katie walked up to the three, looking triumphant.
"Thanks for doing our job for us, guys," Heather taunted, "but we'll take it from here."
"No way. Don't forget what happened last time you messed with us," Mark warned her.
Heather scowled.
"Believe me. I haven't forgotten. And I'll see to it personally you're on that lifeboat home. But right now? Hand the geek over."
"Point?" Mark called, "You know what to do."
Point growled and lunged at Heather, who let out a shriek and ran off. Veronica went to go grab Harold, but Quinn stopped her.
"Sorry honey- but you almost broke my nose last challenge," Quinn growled, "I am NOT going to let that slide."
Quinn shoved Veronica to the ground, and went to kick her, but she managed to roll out of the way. Veronica tried to kick in Quinn's knee, but what she ended up doing was just a rather annoying blow to the shin. Quinn, however, grabbed her ankle and twisted it, causing Veronica to let out a cry of pain and struggle to get away. She managed to break free rather quickly, and got to her feet. Quinn ran at her, but Veronica held her ground, something the former found surprising. Once Quinn got close, Veronica swung a fist, hitting Quinn in the cheek, hurting but not stopping her. Quinn grabbed a hold of her, and the two locked arms. Meanwhile, Point continued to harass Heather, nipping at her legs before finally making his way up to her shoulder and tearif out chunks of her hair.
"AHH! YOU RAT!" Heather shrieked, trying frantically to get him off.
Katie watched the scene, an amuse look on her face, while Mark decided to try and sneak Harold away- Point, he knew, was clever enough to handle himself around Heather.
Quinn and Veronica continued to struggle, until Quinn yanked Veronica's hair.
"I am going to enjoy this," Quinn smirked, "you deserve this, you little- FUCK!"
Veronica jabbed Quinn in the eye, causing her to let go. Panting, Veronica immediatley held up her fists.
"LEFT HOOK!"
Quinn looked over just in time to see herself get hit straight in the jaw. She staggered, but managed to block Veronica's next blow, and hit her in the stomach. While Veronica was winded, Quinn pushed her up against the wall.
"You're REALLY beginning to piss me off," Quinn growled, "I-"
There was a bark, and then Quinn let out a cry when Point sank his teeth into her leg. Veronica took the opportunity to push Quinn back, rear back her fist, and send one final punch to her jaw, knocking her to the ground. Once Quinn was down, Point bark happily, and looked at Veronica.
"Good boy," Veronica smiled, wiping her mouth.
Veronica looked over, and saw Heather had run off, and Katie was clapping slowly.
"You guys just made my day," she smirked.
"Yeah, well-" Veronica started, before she saw Harold was missing, "oh shit!"
~o.0.o~
Mark was almost back to Julie, huffing along as he carried Harold.
"Okay, almost there," he smiled, "then Point and I can enjoy immunity for three more days. This is easier than I thought."
"Not quite."
Mark stopped, and slowly turned around. Izzy was standing behind him, dart gun trained on his chest.
"Crap," Mark groaned.
"Hand over the smelly kid, and no one gets hurt," Izzy told him.
Unwisely, but acting on impulse, Mark turned to run, only to feel the dart shot into his back. He staggered forward a few more steps, before falling flat on his face, cursing himself internally. If he had just waited for Point, this wouldn't have happened.
Izzy ran over, and grabbed Harold.
"Thanks, buddy!" She called, "I've got a challenge to win! EXPLOSIVO AWAY!"
~o.0.o~
Ten minutes later, and the entire cast was gathered in the front of the casino.
"Well," Julie announced, "it looks like Izzy won the challenge for the Enclave- meaning Vault Hunters? You have an hour before you're sending someone home."
The Enclave cheered, while the Vault Hunters looked around at each other uncertainly.
"Well, back on the boat," Julie ordered them, "times wasting. And I'm pretty sure we can be arrested of we stay at the casino longer than we've rented it out for, so..."
The contestants took the hint, and began to make their exit. On the way out, Lucky grabbed Quinn and pulled her aside.
"Veronica told me what happened."
"So?" Quinn scoffed.
"I'll make this simple," Lucky growled, "you EVER lay a finger on her again and-"
"You'll have me eliminated, yeah, I got it," Quinn smirked.
"Oh no. You'll wish you were eliminated," Lucky corrected, "I might be a prick, but I'm a prick who has friends. All over. My team, your team, hell, one or two of the crew members. I can arrange for your life to be miserable. I will make the thought of living each day so abhorrent that you can't stand the notion of even being here. You don't know what I do to people when I want to see them hurt. You don't know the person I used to be. Stay. Away. From Veronica."
Quinn fell silent for a while before saying, "Whatever. She started it," and then walking out of the casino.
~o.0.o~
It was about twenty minutes before elimination, and Justin was pacing around his room.
"My problem, huh?" He asked aloud, "My PROBLEM is that I've been here since the beginning, I've done everything this show had asked of me, I have ALWAYS done my best to be the good guy, and what do I get?"
Justin walked over to his nightstnad, grabbed te glass of water that was on it, and there it accross the room.
"Nothing! The fans don't give me anything, the studiodoesnt give me anything, and my friends don't give me anything! They put CODY of all people in charge of what should have been MY team! A team of television's greatest heroes! And who do we get ON said team?"
Justin looked back to his nightstand. A few days into the season, Julie had given everyone a photo of the entire cast that was bing used in promotions, and that wa what Justin set his eyes on. He picked it up, and scanned his team.
"We have some stupid cowboy, a jackass with an ironic name, that clutzy nerdgirl, that furry freak and his fox, that stupid uniform wearing chick, little miss intelligence, and of course, CODY."
Justin resisted the urge to crumple the picture.
"He's no hero! What has he done? I beat all of them! If it wasn't for my dares, Katie wouldn't have been eliminated. I beat Alejandro and Bridgette. I went up against Cthulhu twice. I fought those stupid lizard things! And he couldn't even beat Heather!"
Justin'sdemeanor suddenly changed from angry and hostile to somewhat calm.
"I'm... I'm starting to lose it... I need... I need... I need to show Cody his place."
Justin opened a drawer, and rummaged around until he found a thumb tack, which he used to pin the picture to the wall. He grabbed a marker, and scribbled out Cody's face.
"Let's how he feels after tonight. He'll see he isn't so great. He'll see that I am the goddamn hero."
Justin heard someone pass by the door- Tyler. A smile spread accross Justin's face.
"Perfect. He still owes me a favor."
~o.0.o~
It was finally time for elimination, and the contestants were gathered on deck. Julie spun the wheel, which landed on a regular elimination.
"Okay," she said, "you know the drill. First bag goes to...
Johnny.
Veronica.
Noah.
Lucky.
Tyler.
Margo.
Justin.
Deborah.
Miri.
Mark.
Cody, Gwen, it's down to the two of you."
The two looked at each other, shocked.
"But... but why?" Cody asked.
There was no response.
"The last bag of chocolate goes to...
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"...Cody."
"Gwen!" Cody exclaimed.
"Don't worry about it," Gwen smiled, "I won last season, remember?"
She gave him a quick kiss.
"I'll see you at the end of this, babe."
"Goodbye, Gwen," Cody sighed, "I'll miss you."
Gwen smiled at him reassuringly, squeezed his hand, and then slowly made her way to the lifeboat.
"Well, that wraps this up," Julie shrugged, "get to bed you guys."
"I can't believe this happened," Cody groaned, "why did you guy vote her off?"
One can only imagine, Justin thought, a grin spreadin across his face, one can only imagine.
~ ALL STAR STATS ~
Players left in the game-
Vault Hunters: Justin, Cody, Noah, Tyler, Johnny, Lucky, Mark, Miri, Veronica, Margo, Deborah
Enclave: Alejandro, Duncan, Lance, Mordecai, Finn, Heather, Katie, Izzy, Bridgette, Quinn, Luna
Eliminated: Vevo, Eva, Courtney, Gwen
TRIVIA:
TV references. TV references everywhere.
The second part of this challenge went through several revisions. Originally it was to rely more heavily on gunplay, but it was scrapped because of the recent paintball challenge.
The parkour scene was added (as well as the reference to Sleeping Dogs) because the writer recently finished said game and thought it was pretty damn fun. He briefly considered adding a character based off the game's main protagonist, but the idea was quickly scrapped.
Although the recent seasons have gone through many revisions and changes on an episode to episode basis, there was one major change in season two. Originally, the identity of The Shadow was going to be Cody himself, in a Fight Club-esque twist. I scrapped the idea because it got too dark. Two seasons later I wrote a subplot about a murder conspiracy with ghosts and human beings that were experimented on and turned into mutants. Which of course was light hearted and whimsical compared to the whole Shadow thing.
(A/N: Gods, I'm sorry this too so long. This was supposed to be out a while ago, but two issues arose. First, my Internet access was cut, and two, I became sick as a dog. My Internet should be coming back soon, so there's that, and I've been feeling better, so there's also that. So, while I can still work on the next episode and upload it at a friend's, if you try to PM me I won't be as easy to reach. Not that you would, but, just saying... *sniffle*.
Anyway, I think the next episode will be up sooner, since I've actually planned it out for a while. If not I apologize preemptively. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed, have an awesome day!)