Izzy gasped as she pulled her face out of the snow, taking heavy breaths as she took in what just happened. Her mind was a mess, shattered as she thought over everything. And as it slowly formed piece by piece in her head, she crashed. She crashed so hard as it all finally hit her.
"MERIDA!!!" Izzy wailed. She shot to her feet and looked around the snowy landscape, before looking up at the sky. High above, she could make out the distant form of the plane. "MERIDA!!!" She ran after the plane, fruitlessly chasing it.
She was stopped when her foot snagged on a rock, and she tripped and landed face first in the snow. She lifted herself up, letting out weak sobs as she looked up and reached her hand up towards the plane.
"Please Merida… I can't do this alone… I need you…"
The Psycho Hose Beast's head fell and she remained there, quiet sobs racking her whole body with pain. Tears streamed down her face, the freezing air of the frozen Swedish north making it hurt her face. She felt so lost, so broken, so alone. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
"Why…" She said to herself. "WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THIS SHIT?! WHY TARGET ME?! WHAT DID I FUCKING DO?!"
"You existed…" An echoey voice responded before things fell silent. Only the noises of the water dreading and splashing against the bank were there to fill the void.
Izzy was silent, that last proclamation bringing her to a standstill. It didn't affect her like the ones before, no, but it made something in her snap. It had finally got to her, and she felt, without a doubt… Hollow. Just hollow. Her spark had finally been snuffed out.
And it felt like she died at that moment.
With no feeling across her body, the Psycho Hose Beast stood up and smiled. The same twisted smile her reflection would give her. It was an uncanny smile that didn't seem sincere at all, but did show some sort of mental instability. How bad and of what kind, it was impossible to tell. The lack of life in her eyes made her completely unreadable.
She stood in the middle of the frozen fjords, completely motionless as the freezing winds blew over her body. There was no sound until a few moments later when the sound of footsteps approaching from behind.
"Izzy?" A man's voice said. "I'm from the Aftermath studio. There's a plane waiting nearby to take us to the resort everyone is staying at." He cocked his eyebrow at the lack of a response. "Izzy? Are you okay?"
Almost robotically, Izzy turned around suddenly and faced the intern. The man looked fearful at her uncanny smile, but then calmed down and gave her a stoic look.
"Good, follow me." The man started walking away, and Izzy followed behind. Her stare was vacant, her heart was beating in her ears, and her breathing was much too shallow. The man thought she was in the process of freezing to death.
"You know… I was really rooting for you", the intern said sheepishly. "Everything you did… It was impressive. I was really hoping you'd beat Alejandro, because boy that kid sucks." The intern looked at Izzy with a smile, but frowned when she didn't respond. "Yeah, you've got stuff going on… I'll leave you be."
The two fell into an eerie silence as they walked towards a small passenger plane. Izzy, normally, would question how a small plane like that made it this far. But now she didn't care. Nothing mattered. It was all par for the course. It was just clockwork.
The intern held the door open for her, and she moved and sat in an empty seat with the same frozen face. The pilot was given the go ahead, she started up the plane, and before long the trio were off.
As the vehicle soared towards wherever they were going, Izzy's eerie smile slowly fell as she saw herself in the window more and more. Subconsciously, she reached down the top of her shirt and pulled out her locket, clicking it open. As she glanced at the picture of her and Merida, she began to feel more and more shattered, so she closed it and hid the locket again.
Merida wasn't dead, far from it. She was just caught up in something far more evil and twisted. Left alone to the wolves of Total Drama to be chewed up and spit out. The thought terrified the wild child, and she began to wonder if her girlfriend would be okay. But after a moment of silent worry, she shook off the feeling.
She shouldn't think about that, not now, not ever.
Now, she just had to be… Herself. So she donned the uncanny grin again and kept staring out the window, watching the clouds fly past. But the grin lacked its conviction, and there was more uncertainty.
"I know you didn't ask", the pilot said out loud. "But the resort is in Hawaii. Kinda surprised the studio had the money to book a whole building of that name and price considering Mr.McLean's usual pay, plus his bonus, but I guess they wanted to go all out all season."
"I… Know…" The intern said. "Izzy probably didn't hear you, mainly because she hasn't been… All there at all this season."
That little jab hurt so much.
"I heard about that. Just doing my job, sir."
"Right, right…" Izzy saw the intern look at her thanks to the reflection. "Listen, Iz. I just want to let you know your friends… What did you call them, Team E-Scope? Whatever, I wanted to say that they've been worried sick for you. They kept watching the live viewing like they thought you were going to keel over."
He let out a sheepish laugh, but suddenly became nervous when Izzy turned around and faced him, her face now a very clouded look without the smile. He gulped nervously, but pressed on. "When they saw the state you were in after Australia's emu race, they were really frantic. Eva would lash out at anyone who would enter their little bubble, Noah was very much not having it, and Owen was surprisingly closed off."
The intern's eyes brightened, and he forgot his previous anxiousness. "Oh, speaking of Owen, he was really sorry for what happened. After he showed up at the resort, Katie and Sadie showed him Merida's confessional after everything happened, and he basically shifted his thoughts on Alejandro so fast it was kinda jarring. So expect to be scooped into a bear hug the moment he sees you."
Izzy just stared at the intern intently, her expression unreadable as she processed everything that was said. After a moment, she looked back out the window and said nothing still. The man frowned, his concern only growing as time trucked on.
The pilot cleared her throat rather aggressively. "Hey, aren't you supposed to zip it? Things that happen after a contestant is eliminated needs to be kept at the resort. No ifs, ands or buts. You're lucky I didn't have my radio on."
"Right, forgot about that… Oops…" The intern fell silent after that point, and simply gazed out his own window to pass the time.
All this while, Izzy's mind was twisting and turning in several different ways, all of them filling her heart and body with immense pain. All of that honestly made her more terrified to face her friends rather than the other contestants.
Don't get her wrong, facing everyone in general, whether all at once or one-at-a-time, was terrifying. But hearing that her friends became so much more volatile because of her own actions. It was her fault, all because she had to change.
She dragged her friends down. She was what her reflection warned.
"As part of us picking you up", the pilot said suddenly. "We need to tell you that the next Aftermath will begin shortly after you arrive, so be sure to be ready by then."
"And don't worry about your stuff", the intern added. 'When the jumbo jet lands at its next stop, there will be staff to pick it all up and load it onto another flight to ship it to the resort. So all the weird stuff you probably packed up will be back in your possession soon."
They both received silence, which made the two adults share a look. A tense, fearful air filled the plane, and the pilot returned her focus solely on her job to try and distract herself from it. The intern pulled out his phone, and scrolled through his social media to pass the time.
Izzy found herself getting sleepy, and her eyelids grew heavy. She blinked… Then blinked… Then blinked… and she was out like a light.
As she slept, distorted shapes and voices would dance about in her vision, hypnotically speaking to her. It was somewhat beautiful, but also extremely unnerving. She could make out Merida's voice calling her name, but it was being drowned out in the sea of other voices. It was overwhelming, and made her scrunch her face in worry.
The plane jolted, and she was forced awake.
"Sorry!" The pilot called out. "Bit of a stray gust of wind, had to take evasive action. Again, sorry."
"It's fine", the intern said, clearly shaken by the sudden jolt. "Just… Just be careful."
Izzy rolled her eyes and looked back out her window, not wanting to listen to this and just get away. Luckily, it seemed like her prayers were answered.
"We're coming up on Hawaii, buckle up you two." The pilot began to talk into the onboard radio, requesting to land and dealing with all of that. The intern straightened out his clothes, and the Psycho Hose Beast looked straight ahead vacantly, her eerie smile returning to her face.
The plane pulled down to a smaller runway at the nearest airport to the resort, and came to a steady stop.
"Alright, all on you, sir", the pilot said to the intern.
"Right. C'mon Izzy." The man left the plane first, followed by the wild child closely. The duo walked a distance away towards a nearby cab that was waiting for them, and the taxi drove off when they were buckled in. The drive was quiet, the driver deciding not to ask what was going on.
They drove onto the resort grounds and into the side parking lot that was usually saved for VIP guests and staff. Izzy exited the vehicle as soon as it came to a stop, not wanting to really interact with the intern anymore and driver at all.
She walked across the paved lot, eyes glued towards the nearest door that headed inside, and as she reached to open it, the intern shot out in front of her. She gave him a look, and he shuffled on his feet uncomfortably.
"Listen, I know you probably just want to head up to your room, but the Aftermath will start soon." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the front. Her skin burned at the touch, but she didn't make a sound. "So we gotta get you to the green room asap."
The man walked around the front of the building, dragging a silent Izzy behind him. The intern walked through the front doors, Izzy taking in the sights of the foyer. It was typical of a high-end resort like this, with red carpets and pale yellow walls. In the distance, she could hear faint talking and cheering of a big audience. Her eye twitched as they neared the sound, catching sight of a few tech crew members heading towards a set of double doors.
The intern followed them, heading through the pair of double doors. The sound of the audience was loud, and Izzy felt her heart seizing in terror, but luckily she was dragged away from the main stage and down the back wall along a bunch of closed doors.
They came up to a door that was opened ajar, and the wild child was unceremoniously shoved inside. The intern slammed the door shut, and Izzy was stuck standing in the green room…
Staring at the concerned expressions of Owen, Noah and Eva.
~X~
Things in the green room were uncomfortably silent as the three members of Team E-Scope stared at their friend. Izzy remained unresponsive, seemingly not caring her best friends were in the room with her. Owen swallowed nervously, Noah pat him reassuringly on the arm, and Eva blinked owlishly. None of the trio liked how bad the wild child looked.
From the bags under her eyes, how bloodshot the eyes were, the messy hair that looked to be close to undoing the braids, her tattered clothes, and the scar on her right arm, the Psycho Hose Beast looked like she was mauled while being thrown around in a tornado.
"Izzy!" Owen said with a smile, trying to elevate the tension. "It's… It's good to see you again!" Izzy was silent, not looking him in the eye as the grin remained on her face. "L-Look, I want to say I'm sorry. After I was voted off, I really thought about what happened between us. It wasn't cool of me… And I hate how much I hurt you."
Izzy still was silent, her gaze slowly looking at the loveable lug. Her eyes lacked life, and Noah swore she wasn't looking at Owen, but behind him.
"So… I was hoping we could try and be friends again?" The blonde boy said nervously, the mood of the room slowly getting to him. "Because… Because I really miss you. I want to still be your Big O… If you're okay with that."
The wild child still continued to remain silent, but did finally move her body. She walked past her friends, who were all sitting on one side of the couch, and sat on the arm furthest from them. She faced towards the screen that could let them see the Aftermath stage, and didn't do anything else.
Noah and Eva shared a worried look as Owen looked down sadly, then faced the redhead again. "Iz, is… Is everything okay?" The bookworm asked. "Did something happen?"
Izzy very subtly shook her head.
"We know you were hurt in Australia", Eva added. "Is it something to do with that?"
Another shake of the head.
"Did you see Chris with his towel down?" Noah spat sarcastically, hoping to make the crazy girl laugh.
Again, a shake of the head.
Owen had finally caught on, and looked over in concern. "Izzy, what's going on?"
But Izzy still wouldn't respond. She was stuck staring ahead at the black TV screen, looking at herself. At her reflection, which looked as it always had, just didn't move out of line and remained perfectly still. Team E-Scope looked like a happy family like this, if you ignored how the trio were looking at the Psycho Hose Beast with expressions of worry. They were happy, they were fine, they were all together again.
Noah opened his mouth to ask something else, but the door into the green room suddenly flew open and two crew members walked in. They had makeup kits with them, and made a beeline to the redhead. Team E-Scope were pushed aside as the two crew members went to work, doing Izzy up so she looked somewhat presentable on TV. They used some face paint to hide her bags, smoothed out her hair, and did everything they could.
After a few moments, they left as fast as they arrived, leaving behind a fixed up Izzy. She looked good as new, just as she did at the start of the season, but her eyes were still hollow and that unnerving smile hadn't even twitched.
The trio looked at her, and felt even more on edge. This was just too jarring to them, something none of them had any grasp on. And they… They were scared.
"Izzy, look at us", Noah said firmly. "We don't want you to… I don't know how to put this. This is something I'm not the best with."
"Same…" Eva said with worry.
Owen glanced at his ex. "Iz?"
Izyz was dead silent as always, watching the TV as it turned on and the Aftermath began to play out. The logo flashed on the screen with the backing instrumental, and Team E-Scope all watched as clips from the last five episodes played out. They felt… off, as they seemed to lean more into the comedic and lighthearted.
Internally, the Psycho Hose Beast broke that tiniest bit more.
When the clips ended, the intro to the season played, which was very strange. But it might have been for timing sakes, who knows. Izzy did catch how the intro included her, Team E-Scope and Merida in… Very interesting ways. Owen was just a repeat from Island, nothing strange there. Izzy… Was still crazy. She had scared Lindsay away while dressed by a polar bear, but when a baby seal attacked her, a nearby Eva sprung into action to save her. Noah was with Leshawna as they crossed a street in New York. And the princess… The princess was towards the beginning, glaring at Duncan for accidentally sinking Gwen's boat.
The whole viewing made Izzy crack more. Pressure was becoming too much…
After that, the Aftermath's intro played again, and the camera flashed to show Geoff, Bridgette and some blonde woman in a red dress on the centre couch, all of them flashing the audience and cameras different smiles.
"Attention Total Drama fanatics!" Geoff said with cool confidence. "Forget the Aftermath, this is Total. Drama. Aftermayhem! I'm your co-host, Geoff, with my fellow co-hosts…"
"Bridgette", the surfer girl said calmly.
"And Blaineley Stacey Andrews O'Halloran!" The woman in the red chest said in a very egotistical way. "Tonight's show is full of crazy surprises that will knock your socks off and spin your head like a loose screw!"
"Of course, nothing is complete without some vague nut allergies", Bridgette said with a suppressed giggle. "So let's give it up for the Peanut Gallery!" A spotlight shone down on all the eliminated contestants, sitting on two couches to the right. Leshawna, Harold, Beth, Lindsay and Justin sat on the top couch, while DJ, Trent, Katie and Sadie sat on the bottom.
"I hope you're all ready for what we have in store for this time, folks!" Geoff continued, draping an arm over his surfer girlfriend. "Because after what happened as Chris took the other dudes around the world, we got to see plenty of juicy drama!"
The Party Dude flinched when his girlfriend cleared her voice, and she promptly took over. "Before we get everything started, let's meet tonight's special guests…" Owen, Noah and Eva went rigid. "He's the winner of season one, broke up with his girlfriend on national television, eats anything his hands can reach, and is an endless ball of joy… It's Owen!"
The lovable lug quickly ran out of the green room, shooting his two friends a nervous look, and made his way on stage with a sheepish smile. He took a seat on the couch to the left of the stage, smiling as best he could… Considering the circumstances.
"Up next", Blaineley said with a flashy grin. "He's brilliant, witty, and gave up the chance at a million over a sandwich… Noah!" The bookworm walked out of the green room, a conflicted look on his face, but gained his usual smirk as he walked in front of the crowd and sat next to Owen.
"Third up is the girl who loves her music", Geoff announced, "Is strong enough to battle a Sasquatch and was one of two to get a second chance back in season one… It's Eva!!!"
The Fitness Buff left the green room, giving Izzy one last worried look before heading out and on stage. She gave the crowd a flat look as they cheered, and sat beside Noah. Team E-Scope all then shared a worried look, and gave it to the hosts. Only Bridgette caught it, and she was about to speak up…
But Blaineley seemingly decided she was being too slow. "Finally, we've got the surprise break-out hit of the season…"
Izzy's face twitched, and her grin became that bit more wider.
"She started the season with a surprising amount of acoustic skill…"
The grin stretched out more, her eyes widening…
"Passed out in Australia because of sun-stroke…"
Her heart was loudly beating in her ears…
"And invited a nobody onto the show who seems almost unstoppable! It's Izzy, everyone!"
The Psycho Hose Beast got off the couch and made her way out of the green room, her face remaining as it was as she walked on stage. The audience didn't seem to notice anything off, same with the Peanut Gallery. But Bridgette, always being one of the more attentive campers, looked at Izzy in horror.
The wild child sat beside the Fitness Buff, and looked at the hosts with an empty look in her eyes.
"Wow, gotta say, it's weird to see all of you here like this", Geoff said. "I was kinda thinking you dudes would make it to the merge, considering your team was killing it for a while."
"What can I say?" Noah spat with a shrug. "When Al decided to play with fire, we all got burned."
"Yeah, Really sorry about what he did to you in the Amazon, Owen", Bridgette said remorsefully. The lovable lug just smiled and nodded. " If it makes you feel any better, all of us here agree he's a two timing eel."
Everyone in the Peanut Gallery nodded except Katie and Sadie, who both looked very called out. Guess they both liked the Spaniard.
The idea made Izzy sick.
"But now, with all of you here, I need to ask…" Blaineley shot the camera a grin. "What's the deal with Merida? She showed up out of the blue because Izzy invited her on, and now we're hearing about a whole mysterious friend group. A yakuza? A guy that builds swords? And some kid named Caleb. What's up with all of that?"
Team E-Scope shared worried looks, and glanced at Izzy. The wild child still had the same expression plastered on her face, and had yet to say a word, but her eyes showed the terror she was truly experiencing.
But it wasn't because of the question. It was because Izzy's reflection was behind Blaineley, shooting the distressed girl a grin of its own.
"I don't really have much to say", Owen said with a shrug. "Izzy has other friends… I'm fine with it."
"But her keeping that from you is why you two broke up", Blaineley said in an accusatory way.
"Blaineley", Bridgette said sharply. The hostess looked over at her partner, and sighed with a shake of her head.
"Fine…" O'Halloran crossed her arms and pouted like a bratty kid at being denied her favourite toy.
The surfer rolled her eyes, and face the four eliminated contestants with a much warmer smile. "Sorry about her, she likes stirring up the drama."
"I don't blame her, considering our show", Eva said gruffly as she crossed her arms and leaned back. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if she didn't, knowing her show."
"Sure…" Geoff said as he shot Blaineley a stink eye, before looking back with a confident smile. "Anyway, we gotta know how things are between you four now! We know Noah and Eva kinda made up with you Iz, but what about you Owen?"
"Oh, uhhh… Well…" The lovable lug looked at the Psycho Hose Beast, who hadn't moved, even at least twitched, since she sat down. It was then Geoff and some of the Peanut Gallery had caught onto Izzy's state, and were growing increasingly uncomfortable.
The eyes on her made her heart beat faster.
"Yes, we get it, Izzy's being weird", Blaineley said impatiently. "But right now, we have more drama to stir up! And I found something juicy earlier that will turn heads."
Everyone looked at Blaineley in confusion, and watched as she pulled out a remote. She pushed a button on it, and they all looked up to watch the screen flash to life.
After the static, it showed Izzy and Merida in the Cargo Hold of the plane…
Sitting on a box…
Hands intertwined…
Inches apart…
"I ended up finding this not too long after the last challenge finished", Blaineley said smugly as her co-hosts, the Peanut Gallery, Team E-Scope and the audience all watched with wide-eyes.
Izzy's eyes were glued to the screen, her smile finally falling into a look of pure horror.
It was their moment before Sweden. A camera was uncovered, and it watched as the two girls leaned closer and closer…
And then it happened.
Izzy shattered as the gasps of shock rang out as she and Merida shared their kiss. Their moment of alone time, tainted and dirty now. The audience began to mumble and mutter as the two redheads on the screen started making out, which shocked the Peanut Gallery all the more.
Team E-Scope was floored, and looked at Izzy. They didn't know when they both first got together, but they had a feeling it was soon.
And then it clicked in their heads, as they remembered before Owen's elimination… How Izzy seemed more at peace.
Eva and Noah shared a look, while Owen looked distraught over Izzy's overtly negative reaction at the clip being shown.
"Even if the love triangle was shot in the foot, we can still have some relationship drama!!!" The blonde woman cheered far in far too much giddiness. "So, I gotta ask, Izzy. How and why? I saw the footage, you two hooked up just before the fat boy was dumped."
Izzy's face was just showing nothing but horror and embarrassment. "I… I-I…" She couldn't form words.
"Blains, stop", Geoff said firmly. He snagged the remote away from the woman, and glared at her. "That was so not cool."
"Please, you all were just as curious as I was. Those two have been super close all season, you all knew it was going to happen eventually."
"Yeah, but you showing it off like that wasn't how we wanted to know!" Noah cried as he stood up and glared at the hostess. "So back off!"
"Yeah!" Eva snarled aggressively.
Blaineley rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault Izzy decided to step out of line. She decided to push it, and here we are. I always knew something was up when she showed up to the Gemmies."
"Maybe this has something to do with that scary stuff back at the movie lot…" Katie whispered to Sadie. The BFFFL nodded, and Izzy felt like throwing up. She heard that, and after that she started to hear all the other jabs and comments.
How it was weird.
How she changed.
She was scary now.
Girls shouldn't kiss.
A freak.
Should've just stayed home.
Was dragging the show down.
"You should've listened", her reflection said.
It all rang in her head, compounded by a painful ringing and her rapid heartbeat. Owen, Noah and Eva looked at her in grave concern, watching as the fix-up she received was slowly reversed.
"OKAY!" Geoff shouted over the chaos. "I think it's time we share what our special surprise is! Bridge?"
The surfer nodded and stood up, walking to the middle of the stage. "It;s time for a very special-"
"Oh, wow, you two really don't want to be paid, huh?" Blaineley spat. "Because I will say this will rake in the viewers! We already had a close call in Jamaica, so I'm just thinking of preservation here, people!"
"Blaineley, please…" Owen said fearfully.
"I just gotta say that 'Merry' really helped us out here. We got a bunch of amazing songs, and brought in the craziest amount of drama in this show's history!" Blaineley looked at Izzy. "Tell your girlfriend thank you the next time-"
"YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS, BITCH!" Izzy suddenly screamed as she shot up. She glared at the hostess, with everyone jumping in shock. "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO USE HER LIKE THIS!"
"That's what happens when you join this show, Izzy." The red dressed woman crossed her arms. "You let her join, and now you're all here. The world loves you all, they laugh at you, that ship you. That's how showbiz works."
"Okay seriously-" Geoff's attempt to rein things in failed as Blaineley continued.
"What, you think this can just be stopped? No matter what the drama will find you. I mean, just look at this." She gestured to Izzy's outfit. "You decided to make yourself a beacon because you changed how you look. And now you're the centre of one of TV's biggest couples. But I'm frustrated, because you don't feel like the Psycho Hose Beast to me anymore. Maybe a different title could work for you…"
"I'M NOT JUST A TITLE!" Izzy roared, her mind and heart breaking till the point of no return.
"It's TV, Izzy. This is how it works. It's like you're living in a cartoon…"
Izzy froze.
Her brain imploded.
Her heart shattered.
She broke.
"Okay, let's stop right now", Bridgette said sternly. "We need to do the surprise, right?"
Her co-hosts nodded, and they all faced the camera, trying to push aside all the tension and drama. They all opened their mouths to explain…
And there was a scream.
Izzy let out an eardrum shattering scream as she reached past her breaking point. Tears erupted from her eyes as she screamed, having everyone look at her in shock and terror as she screamed.
"THAT'S ALL I AM!!!" The Psycho Hose Beast screamed. "THAT'S ALL I AM TO EVERYONE!!! I'M JUST THE FREAK PSYCHO HOSE BEAST WHO EVERYONE IS SCARED OF!!! WHO DOES NOTHING BUT FUCK THINGS UP!!!"
She stomped her foot, breaking the floorboards. "I CAN NEVER BE MYSELF!!!! I'M JUST YOUR FUCKING TOY TO USE AND THROW OUT!!!! THAT'S ALL I AM TO YOU!!!!"
She spun around and picked up the couch, everyone backing away. "I FUCKING HATE MYSELF!!!!! I FUCKING HATE ALL OF YOU!!!!! I FUCKING HATE THIS STUPID SHOW, AND I WISH I NEVER TOOK PART IN IT!!!!! BECAUSE IF I DIDN'T, THEN I'D BE HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!"
Izzy continued to scream and wail as she began to swing the couch around wildly. Everyone on stage backed off fearfully, ducking under the piece of furniture when it came at them. This seemed like a normal TD tantrum, like Eva would have. But things twisted in a dangerous way when, as Izzy cried in her blind rage, ran at Blaineley and started attacking her with the couch. Then Geoff. Then Bridgette. Then staff who ran on stage to stop the situation.
Team E-Scope watched from the sideline, horrified at how quickly things had spiralled.
Izzy was seeing nothing but red, her reflection whispering into her ear relentlessly to keep her going. As everyone ducked, dodged, limped or were hit by her, Izzy let out one last scream that could shatter glass as she threw the couch up. It smashed into the supports above, and the whole stage came crashing down.
Metal twisted and groaned as stage lights and the jumbotron fell down and crashed onto the wooden floor. Splinters flew about, glass shattered, and the curtains came crashing down.
After the most terrifying moments on TD, everyone revealed themselves from their hiding spots. They all looked around at the destruction, and then all glanced at Izzy. She was standing in the middle of the ruined stage, pulling at her body.
She was pulling at her outline, trying to break it.
"I can't breathe", she cried, desperately trying to rip the thick, black line off her body. "I need to breathe!"
"Izzy-" Noah called out.
But everything stilled when there was a very distorted twang.
Izzy took a deep breath, feeling… off. She looked at the jumbotron's shattered screen, and looked at her reflection.
The right side of her head…
The outline…
It was broken.
She let out an airy laugh, and started pulling at other parts of her outline. Her left arm, her right leg, her torso, each and every part was ripped. Each one sounding off with the sickening twang. Her laughter became more maniacal, before twisting into sounding more agonising. Tears flowed from her eyes, and when she stopped, she could do nothing.
She felt nothing.
She looked around at her mess, seeing the looks of horror across everyone's face. She… She had gone too far.
Wordlessly, she took a step… Then ran. She ignored the calls of her name as she ran out of the Aftermath studio and into the resort proper. She ran up a set of stairs and ran onto a random floor, booking it down the hallway. After a bit, she ran into a random unlocked room, slammed the door behind her, locked it, and moved the vanity in front of it.
Now all alone in a dark room, she took a few haggard breaths, letting everything that had happened process in her head. As it did, she looked at the mirror.
Her reflection was smiling back at her, looking happy, whole and perfectly fine. The room was light, and Team E-Scope was behind it.
With one final scream, Izzy reared her fist back and punched the mirror. It cracked, showing what was real. Showing Izzy.
Showing that broken abomination she had become.
With no strength left, she sank to her knees, broken sobs escaping her as tears flowed from her eyes, splashing on her legs and soaking into the carpet. She had reached rock bottom.
And it was where she deserved to be.
~X~
Merida sat on a crate in the Cargo Hold, using her sword to sharpen an arrow. A tied up and unconscious Ezekiel was on the ground next to the crate, looking no much better than he did in London.
The princess paused her activity when a chill coursed through her body, and she looked up.
"Please be okay, Iz…"
Her phone blew up right at that moment…
~X~
The Aftermath… Yeah…
Don't want to say much…
…
Hope it clicked…
Up next: Merida is forced to grapple with the game alone, fully aware of what had happened. While Izzy only falls deeper…
~Caleb~