Chapter 14: Narrow Escape
There were now only two players left in their towers, Caleb for the Orangutans and Ripper for the Panthers. Both stuck their tongues out and sweated nervously as their hands scrambled to repeat the process of one brick in one basket, two bricks in another…
"Both teams now each have one member who has to get down. This will be a close one!" Chris announced excitedly.
Somehow, despite Caleb weighing more than Ripper, he had finished his process first. Ripper blinked in frustration as he watched Caleb hop in and shoot towards the ground.
"Fart nuggets," Ripper swore under his breath as he finally removed the basket with 17 bricks and replaced it with himself.
"Ripper! Figure something out fast or you're going home I swear!" Axel roared as she shook her fist in the air. She watched apprehensively as Caleb began to descend at a much faster speed.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't rush me iron woman. I need to concentrate," Ripper yelled back.
At the last second, before jumping into his basket, Ripper took with him two extra bricks and shoved them into his butt pockets. Chase had gotten stuck but Ripper was willing to take that risk because if he didn't, Caleb was definitely reaching the ground first. If he ever did get stuck, well… luckily he could always generate some power within himself to give his basket a little boost.
Ripper hopped in and began to shoot like a bullet, catching up to Caleb who was halfway down.
Wayne winced as Julia grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly. "Oh no! Caleb is going down faster. We're going to lose!" Julia cried as she looked up in horror. Wayne squinted. Julia was right. There was Caleb who was nearing the bottom while Ripper was only halfway.
"RIPPER! FASTER!" Julia screamed.
"GO! GO! GO!" Emma hollered, clapping her hands.
"COME ON CALEB!" Damien and Priya shouted.
The race was so close. It was very intense as nobody could do anything but look up and hope that their teammate reached the ground first…
"COME ON!"
"GO! GO! GO!"
"MOVE!"
Finally –
THUD!
A roar of thunderous applause as the Orangutans slowly let the realization sink in. Caleb had reached the ground at least five seconds before Ripper who, at the last second, had broken his basket and crashed to the ground butt-first. Splinters of wood shot out in all directions as Ripper's basket got crushed by his weight.
Caleb blinked amazed as the Orangutans all pumped their fists happily. And then it hit him. He had won!
"WE WIN! YAYYYY!" they all cheered. Emma and Priya grabbed each other's hands and jumped up and down. Bowie, Raj and Damien all high-fived each other and MK nodded. It was almost as if the whole Caleb-Raj fiasco might have never happened for today they would be walking away with a victory. Nothing could ruin their mood. Except –
"That's not exactly true…" Chris said slyly as the Orangutans' smiles faded slightly.
Damien confessional: *puts hands on head* Wait… what did he just say?!
"Caleb did reach the ground before Ripper that is true… however, we wanted you to use the baskets to get down. But because one member of the Orangutans jumped down instead of using the baskets like they were supposed to, technically the Panthers were the only team to have all eight members reach the ground properly!" Chris chuckled as the Orangutans' mouths all dropped cartoonishly.
Emma's brow furrowed.
"WAIT! But you counted Scary Girl, I SWEAR!" she protested.
Scary Girl nodded and looked at Chris curiously. Perhaps she would cut him up later tonight…
"Ahhhh! I said she reached the ground, I never said she did it legitimately," Chris winked. Emma spluttered as she struggled to argue with this insane logic.
"WHAT? You can't be serious!" Bowie said indignantly as he gave Julia a dirty look. To lose to her again because of this egregious technicality!
Julia smirked and waved at him sassily much to his fury.
Chris snorted. "OH I'm very serious. Which is why… today's winners are actually the PANTHERS once more!" He gestured to the Panthers who blinked slowly as they let this wonderful news sink in before erupting with celebration.
Wayne pumped his fist. Ripper gave a weak thumbs-up while his head spun around dizzily. He was seeing stars. Axel, Nichelle and Julia hugged each other passionately and Chase keeled over, wiping tears from his eyes. He was laughing too hard.
"AHAHAAHA! NO WAY!" he rolled around on the floor like a madman. Emma looked at him revolted.
"Wait… did we win?" Zee chuckled. Why was everybody so happy?
Ripper confessional: *taps head* Luckily I didn't hit the ground too hard! I feel great! *twitches and suddenly begins speaking in a German accent somehow* But… suddenly… I… feel… zat… someting… iz…. schanging… ze… vay… I… sink… mei… concentrashun… ist… sharfe… *blinks* *grins goofily*
Caleb confessional: *buries face in hands* Seriously?! I redeemed myself today and we STILL lost?!
"Orangutans, meet me at the campfire in one hour. Time for our first elimination ceremony of the season!" Chris announced, staring amused at each saddened and furious expression.