Chapter 9: It's a long drop down baby!

10:04 am

"Welcome to the ivory towers of doom!" Chris' voice boomed from below through his megaphone. "As you can probably tell, you're all locked in a tower 100 m above the ground. Your job is to make it back to the ground safely. You don't really have many options though…"

Both teams stared at the ground transfixed. As a light breeze blew their hair, many tried not to accidentally slip off and fall over the ledge.

Wayne looked incredulously at Julia who was sitting right on the edge with one leg to her chest while the other dangled below. One slip and she would be dead.

"Are you not scared?!" he asked horrified. She did not respond. She had done this to present herself to the other team as fearless though deep inside she was panicking.

Julia confessional: *shrugs carelessly* Am I scared? A bit. Does the other team need to know that? Pfft, NO!

Ripper squinted below, in search for any sign of that familiar burgundy hair he so desperately wished to see. But after a minute of searching, he concluded she was not there.

"Wait. Where's Emily?" he said, slightly downcast. Julia cast him an intrigued, sideways look. Ripper blushed slightly.

"She's taking a day off. It's her spa day," Chris replied, a note of suspicion in his voice. Ripper's heart sunk. Emily was already taking a day off? She hadn't mentioned anything about a spa during their talk last evening! He had really been looking forward to seeing her. In fact besides Zee and Chase, she was the only other person he was really excited to see every day.

Ripper confessional: A day off? Ah crud. *slouches and face-palms* What if she forgets my name?

Chris continued droning on.

"Jumping from the top will cause immediate death and Chef has sealed the doors at the bottom shut so you can't walk out either. You have to use the baskets attached outside your windows!"

Instinctively, all 16 heads looked down in unison at their rectangular baskets hanging below. Each basket was large enough to carry an average sized human.

"If you look outside, you'll notice two baskets hanging from a pulley system. Right now they are in equilibrium and unmoving. We've also given each team a bunch of black bricks" – Everyone turned their heads simultaneously to the floor of their tower which was littered with miniature rectangular bricks – "Each of these bricks weighs ten pounds. To get down, you will place a camper in a basket and bricks in the other basket so that the camper may descend smoothly to the ground. Think of it like balancing weights…

"The camper must weigh at most ten pounds more than the total weight of the bricks in the other basket. Any more than ten pounds, and you crash to the ground. Once a teammate gets to the ground and exits their basket, the rest of the team has to bring the basket back up so that the next person can go. First team to get all its members down wins. There's a scale in the tower room to weigh yourself and we're hoping that it's accurate… and if it's not… haha… good luck with that! The challenge starts… NOW!"

He blared his horn, signalling for them to start making their way back to the ground. The race had begun. Hopefully, nobody would fall to their death but just in case he had two interns in hot air balloons on stand-by.

Immediately –

"TEAM! HUDDLE!" Wayne commanded loudly. The Panthers quickly formed a circle, holding on to each other's shoulders as if they were in a team huddle. Wayne was delighted to see the difference from last challenge when they hadn't even formed a huddle like this. Perhaps, they were finally going to start working together as a team.

Wayne confessional: *pumps fist* Wow! That's what I call an improvement! Let's goooo!

Everyone turned their heads towards Wayne, inviting him to speak. Wayne puffed his chest proudly. Hopefully today he could actually share his strategy without any interruptions from Ripper.

"Alright guys listen up. I got a super strategistical, smarty-pants way to get everyone down safely. Let's leave the stronger people for last because they're gonna have to load up some heavy bricks while someone climbs into a basket eh? What do you say Julia?" He grinned as he looked at her for approval.

Julia, who was directly to Wayne's right, made an involuntary twitch at being addressed so directly by him. She looked up at him with her mouth opened slightly. Was her leadership status already being threatened by Wayne? But… no… she still got the privilege of having the final say on her team. This meant she still held the most power… for now… Though she still felt slightly uneasy, Julia took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Julia confessional: *rolls eyes annoyed* Geez, does he always want to lead a team? At least he asked for my opinion.

Julia nodded her head as she put her hands to her hips. "Definitely. We need to decide an order now," she said, smiling at Axel and Nichelle.

"Well if the strongest people leave the tower last, it looks like I'm going last!" Ripper said matter-of-factly pointing to himself.

Julia rolled her eyes. Just another loser overestimating their abilities she thought fiercely.

"Whatever macho man," she scoffed. "Here's what I'm thinking. Zee you're going first. Nichelle, Millie and me go after. Then it's Axel and Chase. Wayne and Ripper, you two finish strong. That sound good everybody?"

Julia was delighted to see that almost everyone seemed to be on board with the plan but she did not expect Zee to have objections right away.

Zee's brow furrowed. For him to go first… why that was so selfish! "Really? Nah… nah… I couldn't. I can't be the first to step into freedom. You guys deserve it more than me!" he said casually raising his hands into the air and shrugging carelessly.

"Whoa, whoa. Hang on, you're NOT taking the opportunity to leave this musty tower first?" Nichelle looked at the rambling Zee incredulously.

Zee spread his hands out and pointed to the sky joyfully.

"Nah brahh! And I don't see why you guys are in such a rush to leave this tower. Let's take our time…. really enjoy the view. I mean, it's gorgeousss." He stared dreamily at the birds flying above them. He could stay here all day if he wanted to.

"Did you already forget we're trying to get down as fast as possible?" Axel hissed as she began tying her hair to a ponytail. It would be more practical that way as she would be able to see her teammates at the bottom more clearly.

"Um… hello? I think Ripper and I are strong enough to handle things last. Check these guns out!" Chase chortled as he flexed his bicep for all the ladies to see. He gave a gigantic grin to Julia who scowled. It seemed everyone wanted to change the plans.

"Ugh fine, swap with Wayne then," Julia conceded. "That alright with you?" she turned to Wayne who happily gave her a nod and a thumbs-up.

"No problem, if Chase says he's strong enough to go last, let him go for it! Put those muscles to work buddy!" Wayne thumped Chase on the back.

Chase gave a cheeky grin to Wayne and smiled. Finally, someone acknowledged his strength!

Wayne confessional: Kinda feels weird not being in charge. I'm too used to leading the team back home but luckily Julia still asks for my input! Gotta remember not to make her too mad though… I still remember how she roasted that raptor… chills I tell ya. Chills. *shivers*

"Alright, let's go!" Julia said loudly to her team.

Zee, who still sincerely felt it was unfair for him to go before the others, decided to ask around one last time. "Are you sure? No one wants to trade places with me?..." he asked kindly. Zee was certainly open to letting the others escape first out of the goodness of his heart.

Ripper lifted Zee's noodle arms and snorted.

"Yeah, those arms look like they're going to snap if you try to carry any bricks. In you go buddy!" He made to give Zee a gentle push before Axel extended her arm to Ripper's chest and stopped him.

"Wait dummy, we need his weight," she snarled.

"I'm 119 pounds of orange soda sunshine," Zee said cheerfully as he rubbed his belly.

"ALRIGHT WE NEED BRICKS PEOPLE. MOVE! MOVE! LET'S EAT THOSE MONKEYS!" Julia roared as she hit the back of her left hand into her right palm.

"GO PANTHERS!" they all yelled as they raised their fists into the air.

It was time to move.

Chase immediately scooped up as many bricks as he could into his hands so that they could start loading bricks one by one. Wayne passed Julia a brick and she placed it in a basket. It began to descend smoothly to the ground.

Once it touched the ground, Julia took two more bricks and placed it in the other basket. Now the basket on the ground with one brick was coming back up and the basket with two bricks was moving towards the ground.

Once the basket with two bricks touched the ground, Julia put two more bricks into the basket which had come back up. Now it had three bricks so it began to go back to the ground while the basket with two bricks made its way up…

Again and again, this process repeated until finally the basket on the ground had 11 bricks. The basket with 10 bricks was making its way up. When it reached the top, the Panthers all worked together to take the 10 bricks out of the basket and toss it aside.

"ZEE, GET IN NOW!" Julia signalled for him to enter the now empty basket. Her heart was beating faster than usual. Zee was 119 pounds and the bricks on the ground totalled 110 pounds. If Chris was right about the 10 pound rule, Zee should be fine. Hoping they had done everything right, she watched apprehensively as Zee stepped into the basket.

At once, he began to descend smoothly. Everything was alright! The basket with Zee was now moving towards the ground while the basket with 11 bricks made its way up. The Panthers cheered.

"AWESOME JULIA!" Nichelle clapped as Julia bowed her head and smiled.

"GET OUT OF HERE DUDE!" Chase laughed as he waved to Zee's disappearing head.

Zee stared up in amazement from his basket. "Whoaaaaa! This is pretty cool, everyone's getting smaller!" he marvelled, giving his teammates a wave. "See you later guys!" He turned his head. Apparently, he had a companion joining him on his descent.

"Sup bird bro?" Zee waved. The pigeon landed on Zee's shoulder and decided now was the perfect time to take its peaceful morning poop.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there. No white, sticky things in this basket! Not my face either. AHH!" Zee chuckled as pigeon poop splattered onto his face.

Zee confessional: I didn't know freedom came with a facial *licks the pigeon poop off of his face*… Hmmm… not bad… *looks at the camera*

Julia narrowed her eyes, watching Zee's basket carefully like a hawk. She had always prided herself on her perfect vision despite averaging 14 hours of screentime daily. Zee's basket was almost to the ground… they would have to take out the bricks soon. Julia counted in her head.

5…4…3…

Finally –

"Alright people! Take out 10 bricks!" she ordered, pointing to the basket with 11 bricks.

Working together, the Panthers immediately took out 10 bricks, leaving a single black brick in the basket. At the same time Zee's basket landed on the ground softly and he hopped out, kissing the ground.

"YEAH! I'M STILL ALIVE!" he cheered.

Since Zee had exited his basket and it was empty (weighing a total of 0 pounds), the basket with the single 10-pound brick descended smoothly and the process was starting all over again.

As Zee's empty basket slowly made its way back up –

"Rinse and repeat people. Nichelle you're up next!" Julia and Wayne barked simultaneously. They looked at each other surprised. This was the second time today Julia felt Wayne was challenging her leadership.

Wayne laughed innocently.

"Sorry Sterling. I'm too used to being the captain of my hockey team! Uhhh… you can lead today though! I kind of want to take a break anyways" he smiled. Julia nodded slowly as she dumped two bricks to the ascending basket.

She did not know why Wayne had just called her by her last name but she was willing to let it slide just this once. Hopefully it would not be a regular occurrence. Julia was slightly troubled by the fact that she had actually liked Wayne calling her 'Sterling.' She couldn't let herself get distracted like this.

Julia confessional: *snorts* Good thing he backed off. At least he knows I'm in charge.

Wayne confessional: *raises hands up* I'm not ready to argue with our leader yet!

Meanwhile, the Orangutans frantically huddled. They had been watching the Panthers closely to confirm if the 10-pound rule Chris had said was true or bogus. You could never completely trust him, after all…

But after watching Zee descend safely to the ground, they had received their confirmation. The downside was that they had wasted precious time and they were now behind. The Panthers had one member on the ground while they still had their entire team in the tower. It was time to move... and fast…

Emma spoke first. "OK, lighter people first. Heavier people last. That's a good strategy, right? Get as many people down as quickly as possible? What the – ?"

She turned her head around and gasped.

Scary Girl was standing on the edge of the tower, eyeing the ground below eagerly as the breeze rustled through her eccentric, purple hair. Her feet looked like they were about to slip off cleanly! It felt so freeing to be here!

"WHOA! WHOA SCARY GIRL! NO, NO, NO!" Damien left the circle and made his way over to Scary Girl, extending a helping hand. His heart was thumping. As crazy as she was, Damien didn't think she would survive such a fall.

"LAURYN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET BACK HERE!" Priya said startled. She too extended her hand and made her way to stand next to Damien. Scary Girl frowned slightly and turned her head around to face Damien and Priya. Why were they trying to get her to come back? Weirdos…

"Why? He said first team to get all its members down wins so we need to hurry!" she said excitedly as she nudged her head to the ground. The message could not have been more clear. She wanted to jump off.

"Yeah but use the baskets!" Priya pleaded.

"You're not seriously thinking about jumping from here, are you? You'll die! Aren't you scared of dying? Surely, even you gotta be scared of death!" Damien blubbered, still holding out his hand for Scary Girl to grab onto.

Scary Girl laughed into her hands as her long, elegant hair blew into her face.

"HEHEHE! SILLY DAMIEN I DON'T FEAR DEATH. DEATH FEARS ME!" she clapped as she jumped on the balls of her feet.

"You know what? I bet it does…" Damien mumbled into Priya's ear.

Priya would've normally laughed at a sassy remark like this one but the situation was much too frightening for her to joke around. There was no mistaking her intention. Scary Girl's feet were about to leap off the tower.

Priya swallowed and took a deep breath. "Lauryn, you're not thinking straight. Your bones are going to get crushed. PLEASE TAKE MY HAND!" she pleaded once more with a shaky voice.

"Don't do it Scary Girl!" Damien added, a note of panic now in his voice.

Scary Girl pouted. Why were they looking out for her safety? That's not how she liked to live her life! Scary Girl sighed and turned around to face her team. She stared at Damien and Priya directly and gave them a little smile. Perhaps she had changed her mind?...

"That's right Scary Girl!" Damien sighed in relief. "Just make your way over here nice and slo – WAIT! HOLD UP!" he flailed his arms to get her to stop but –

Too late.

Scary Girl proceeded to give them all a cheeky wink and a salute as she jumped off the tower, laughing maniacally.

"NOOO!" Damien and Priya exclaimed as they looked over the ledge in horror. There she was. Scary Girl was floating gracefully through the air. Her hair was flowing upwards, her expression care-free and whimsical.

"OH SHIT OH SHIT! WHAT DO WE DO? WHAT DO WE DO?" Damien screamed in horror, looking over at a frozen Priya who did not respond.

"WHAT THE? IS SHE CRAZY?!" Emma screamed as she made her way beside Damien and Priya, staring open-mouthed at the now falling Scary Girl.

"WEEEEEE!" Scary Girl said as she landed on the ground with a CRASH! Scary Girl punched the ground with her fist and brushed her outfit with her fingers as she got to her feet.

Scary girl confessional: *claps hands excitedly* THAT WAS SOOO FUN! I WANNA GO BACK UP AGAIN AND JUMP!

Scary Girl clapped her hands as she jumped up and down, laughing hysterically at her teammates who were still staring at her dumbfounded. Even the Panthers looked at her in absolute shock.

Chris took a sip of his cocktail as he turned on his megaphone.

"Both teams now have one player on the ground!" he declared, pointing to Scary Girl who was still clapping and Zee who was now slurping Orange Sunshine.

At once, there was uproar from the Panthers who true to their name, were going ballistic.

"WHAT?" Ripper roared.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Chase said indignantly.

"HOW IS THAT FAIR?" Nichelle shrieked.

Chris gave a little chuckle as he turned off his megaphone and ignored their complaints. No Total Drama episode would be complete without him coming up with minor loopholes. But surely… it wasn't his fault that the campers were not as clever as he was!

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I know Scary Girl's name is spelled "Lauren" but I always HC it as "Lauryn" so that's what I'm going with in my rewrite. i just thought it was more unique (barely). Her full name is Lauryn Marinus.