Author's note:
Well, this had been a very difficult chapter to write, because I had to brainstorm so many ideas as suddenly I just realized that I needed to watch the episode a few times. Some ideas I had before i had to throw away because of how the episode went, but I think I'm very satisfied with this chapter I came up with. I hope you guys are ready because this will be a very awesome episode.
Now answering the reviews:
nickdavi99. Site problems, you have better chance by using the app or going to AO3. I hope you like this new chapter. Have fun.
gondwanaman1. Welcome back, and I hope you find some happiness into reading this chapter. Thank you for your review. And good luck on college.
Eccentric Guest. No, I already said explicitelly there won't be any more girl into Ezekiel's relationship. The other types of pairing I already decided which one would be with. Anyway I hope you like this chapter.
Just Guessing. I'm glad you liked the overkill Ezekiel did on the interns, it was a very fun scene to write. I hope you like this chapter.
Sleepy Guest. Well to answer your question, Ezekiel doesn't have personality, it's just his 2 sides of brain, the rational and emotional side, and his transformation will happens into his own being because of what happened, it's whole himself, not an excuse of who is instead of him. But still events will happens that make him trying to have memories of both his lives and inside of his mind. It's a challenge for himself, but the edge he would need to win his personal victories, traumas and help him to write better. Have fun reading the new chapter.
toonfan97. Well the ripples of times were change, and decisions which would be make will change the lives of many people in the future, so that's how good things will go from many people. Courtney and Duncan's life will go definetelly better with their new choice of carreer, and it will be the best they could have. But in regard of Ezekiel it will definitelly will have some struggles, but things could be avoided, or could add the stress he had on his life, but still things will become very interesting from here. Well Ben still will have addiction to slushies and french fries, which starting from childhood will make it more fun since the addiction happened on the teenager days, but the gold saints and the constelations is going to be something that would surprise even Grandpa Max, into Ben knowing the possibilities puzzless of the cosmus from his addiction into the zodiac of the saints. It would be a good development. I hope you have fun reading the new chapter.
djinn. Well, wait no further, because the chapter is here, have fun reading the chapter.
LostGuardian303 . Thank you for enjoying this fanfic, this makes my whole day, since it proved that I did the day of many people enjoying this fanfic.
Guest . Yep, cause and consequences, how long Ezekiel will take it? That's the question, so let's hope he won't reach far beyond the breaking point, but who knows? Now let's see if your theory is going to work, have fun reading the new chapter.
xXwolfsterXx644. I'm glad you liked this chapter. I hope you like the future ideas and plans I have for them. XD
HeavenlyMark. That would depend of the movie genre, and sadly cooking genre isn't what I planned since I had so many good genres ready for the future. SO I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Kitobeater123 . I'm glad you liked the chapter, and while I was portraiting on the chapters before, no, I'm not interested into making Ezekiel having personalities, what he just have is what we all have, 2 sides of the brain, his emotional and rational side, which the duo always debates between themselves while we plan our days, when we think with ourselves, it thends to happens when we less notice, but it's a fun good way. And the Dawn summoning isn't a bit too much, she already has powers that make her overpowered. The ability to speak with mother nature, listen and talk to the animals, and see the future through tea leaves? She is already overpowered, the only power she was missing it's to become an animal like her dad, her spiritual animal that would transform her into an animal, which based on the instincts a person can transform into an animal, mentally or literally.
Ghostly Guest. I'm glad you liked the chapter, have fun reading this one. XD
Just guest. I'm glad you liked the chapter, the game Resident Evil would need to watch the show from Japan, so I don't think that was possible for them having their own style of making their own games at Japan... *cought* *rascism* *cough*, but still, the reactions would be probably like that. Ezekiel really deserved the MVPA points.
Guesthouse. I'm glad to see Dagget saying that, but still of course Sanders became a meme on Police Academy, but it was fun to see everyone getting shocked from seeing Ezekiel going crazy. Hahahahaha, anyway have fun reading this chapter.
Just a wee guest. Yep, Shawn, Cody (Gwen's brother) even Harold would be like that, heck I even can see Axel aimed to be like Ezekiel in the future. Shego would be shocked and that would have this idea on her mind hahahaha. But who knows? Anyway, have fun reading this chapter.
Mr. E Guest. I'm glad you liked the chapter. And well, I'm not a big fun of Poppy Playtime, I preffer the classics, still a good game, but not something Ezekiel would be working with. Also, aren't you tired of suggesting XJ-9? Since I stomp on the ground so many times I'm not planning to add Nickelodeon characters? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Have fun.
Blagoj Pejov1 . I'm glad you liked it XD. Have fun
Benny Farr. Yeah, many things happening in one chapter, and now this will be another awesome chapter. Have fun reading it .XD
.
.Alright, I think that's enough for everyone, have fun and enjoy this chapter guys.
"Last time on Total Drama Action... 23 teenagers, one zombie apocalypse challenge, and a fight to survival against zombies. In a world where Chef and Cadets Sanders and MacArthur wore zombie costumes, only the most prepared people could survive. Some scenes will be craved on the memories; betrayals were made." Chris narrated as it showed flashbacks over the scenes of the challenges: the contestants running away from zombies, Harold using a lightsaber, Ezekiel and Courtney using their nerfguns, and Ezekiel going solo. DJ and Tyler being betrayed by Geoff, who left the spot just to try to go after an ice cream truck. "Finally, two contestants found their victory, one by running from the zombies, while the other stealthy brought his vial with him. And now they will have to face the choices they are going to make today. And so it was another pair of lovers who were caught in the most unexpected plot twist elimination of all time. 2 strong competitors and former pillars of the team were eliminated. Heather was using the best time to cast the favor Courtney owned her. Izzy as a way to use the right gift box at the right time, it was lucky Izzy managed to take the swap gift box. Will she use it again in the future? But still, it was bye-bye for Duncan and Courtney. Even as part of their final act of pettiness, they vandalized my trailer. *sniff* *graffiti paint everywhere… But let's change that. Today, we're going to bring the pain! Hahahaha, Well, if I have anything to say about it. And I do, by the way. So brace yourselves for some deliciously painful Total Drama Action!"
[opening scene]
4 a.m
The contestants were enjoying their good night of sleep. Over the humble trailer of the boys, each of them was having their sleep as they usually would have. Some of the boys had developed their own snoring after passing so many weeks together on the island of Wawanakwa. DJ, Geoff, Tyler, and Ezekiel developed their way to deal with Harold's snoring in case he was too tired. Since they passed weeks together, as much as Harold was snoring, the boys simply got used to it.
Noah, on the other hand, was using a pillow to cover his head to try either stop the snoring while he sleeps or suffocate himself, whatever comes first.
Justin was with his arms behind his head while he was enjoying his beauty sleep. Owen had a sock on his mouth as he was snoring; the sock inflated like a balloon.
Trent, Jude, and Cody were also enjoying their sleep, even in accordance with the chaotic snoring across the trailers.
Harold was touching his nose while it was one way to avoid his own snoring, as the camera took the view of their humble trailer.
"Hey, keep moving," Chris' voice could be heard as the camera flashed and it went to the other trailer.
The girl's trailer showed a difference between humble and fancy. Because the trailer was larger than the one on the other side of the area, and the girls could enjoy their own comfort. Each girl seemed to be enjoying their pleased dreams after 2 days since the last challenge.
And from all the people who seemed to be sleeping, Izzy was the only one staring at nothing… She had woken up at 3 a.m, and she couldn't sleep. Since she remained on the spot looking at the ceiling of their trailer.
Today's challenge was something that clearly she needed most.
Yesterday:
"Okay, guys, since tomorrow's challenge will be different, I will not be training you two tomorrow." Chef explained that while Ezekiel and Izzy were working out, Chef insisted that Ezekiel hike the water tower by hand using his weight. This was a very challenging task, but since both Chef and Izzy were watching him, it was decided to keep trying until Ezekiel had muscle memory about what to do when he attempted to hike something.
She also was giving a few tips on how Ezekiel could be doing parkour; he needed something to distract his mind; she wasn't sure why, but she was glad that he wasn't that tired in comparison to the day after the Zombie challenge. But still, she felt he needed more mental resting, but she isn't sure how to approach that to him.
Exercise and parkour were always good ways to help the mind release frustrations and distractions, allowing him to focus and enjoy a little more adrenaline. However, she also had to watch out for Ezekiel, who didn't know that too much adrenaline rush can be physically taxing, especially if they have a challenge the following day.
"Chef, what is it?" Ezekiel said, appearing worn out and with a sore body.
"Tomorrow Chris is planning to make a challenge in regard to the teams you two will be; the challenge will be focused on making a movie; I'm not sure on the details, but the two teams will be working on a scene where me and Chris will be the judges." Chef's voice then made Izzy freeze. "I'm not sure if any of you guys are going to be on the same team or different teams, so you better make your team win in a way that I won't be biased."
"Fair enough." Ezekiel nodded as he was streetching himself after dealing with the painful exercise he had been taking from both Chef and Eva. At least he was aware that they were gradually paying off. He felt that he was not having any more difficulties because his body was remembering his movements, though he was not sure why, akin to following intuition.
"…" Izzy remained quiet. The three of them carried on with the exercises.
Izzy continued to look at the celling, knowing from her experience and from Chris's voice from outside that he would wake everyone up early because of the challenge. But according to what Ezekiel told her in the cave on Wawanakwa Island, Izzy was insecure about one thing: Duncan. Izzy lost the challenge, the acting challenge, which was her expertise for so long.
Before her first elimination, she deceived everyone into believing she was a crazy, stupid, and maniacal girl in a few episodes. She also overshared some of her real past with Cody. She does not know why she did that, but people quickly realized that she had changed her attitude. Although she enjoyed playing the crazy and the idiot, this always makes her unpredictable. She enjoys acting and was certain that she has many fans, just like Ezekiel, Duncan, Courtney, Lindsay, and Heather.
But it does not matter how many times she tried to be ignorant or try to not think about it. The notion that Duncan defeats her in an acting competition even though she lost it while performing? For making people cry? It was a blow on her self-esteem; she is fine; she is a discharged soldier; she already helped her country a few times, just like her parents. Like her mother, she was also the cheerleader captain and the parade band leader because she enjoyed playing various stereotypes at her school based on the season and liked to use fire batons. She loves acting.
But even as Ezekiel explained Chef was biased and Chef voted for Duncan's team because DJ was there, it was a blow on her pride, on everything she did... And the future Ezekiel told her, about how she made some successful movies, she was on top, just for later she went rude on her cinematic team... due to overstressing herself probably? Ezekiel wasn't sure, and neither was Izzy. But still, she had her dreams of being an actress crash because of the mistakes she made.
She wanted so much to beat the crap of the alternative Izzy, demanding why she messed up their lives and committed so many mistakes, why she let herself be eliminated so many times, or why she destroyed her dreams of being an actress if she could just take a break and not work herself to explode.
And now... here we are again. But this time Duncan wasn't going to be against her; it could be any contestant; it could be Noah; it could be Owen; it could be Heather against her... And worse of all, in case she were on a different team, it would be Ezekiel against her.
She isn't stupid; Ezekiel wears his works as sleeves connected to his heart. He's a professional writer, hardworking artist, and person with a higher imagination like her. She knows that he writes every chapter narrating to himself, sings his songs, writes himself, and quotes every single character with the emotion behind the scene.
In the chapters he writes, he imitates battle scenes with his own body.
It was one of the rare events, but still one... Izzy was scared. Not because of fear of something threatening her life. But it was from something that would make her question if she was good enough to become an actress.
Izzy felt conflict and questioned herself if she was indeed good enough to go against someone who could act just like her. She must have underestimated from the past where the other Izzy committed the mistake, but now that she knows the outcome of her mistakes, will she be able to not do it again?
And now the sounds of the horns on the megaphone made Izzy have her eyes wide open.
"All crew on set! Call time is four a.m!" Chri's voice could be heard from the megaphone as the groaning sounds of the other contestants reached her ears. Which made Izzy remain calm and sigh.
It was time.
Confession—Beth
"At first, I thought he was talking to the crew, not us. I was really hoping they'd replace Chris the creep with a nice host this time around! Is that mean?" Beth vented her frustrations as suddenly she caught herself into talking badly of Chris and being a mean girl. Which made her gasp and place both her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry."
Confession - Noah
"For every 2 days of a break for us to actually enjoy our lives into dealing with each other, there's one day for Chris coming out from the depths of hell to remind us about the terrible mistake we made in our lives into actually thinking of signing the contract. And waking up at 4 a.m on the morning of the challenge is always a good way to do that." Noah rolled his eyes as he felt tired from dealing with Chris crap. "Any remorse I had from his trailer being vandalized, which was none... was not just null, but now created a debt for me going to enjoy the next time Chris mess up and have one of his precious things being vandalized."
Each contestant walked outside their trailers as zombies, most of them with dark circles on their eyes, and for the surprise of the fans, the cast of the show was now wearing the OG version of their clothes, even the former members of Killer Bass, since it will be a selection of a new team.
Gwen opened the door with a slam as Lindsay, Heather, Leshawna, Beth, Katie, and Sadie, who were now using the same clothing style as before, followed by Eva, Bridgette, and Izzy, and while most of them were with a look of tiredness, Izzy was the one who seemed to be completely fine. Possibly with the fact she had sleep until she got awake one hour before the call.
"I can't believe I'm doing another season of this show," Leshawna complained tirelessly, as the girls didn't even seem to mind her complaining; they were too exhausted for that.
While on the other side, Owen, Trent, Justin, and DJ walked outside of the trailer as zombies, with their arms down as their sleepy minds were suffering the pressure of being awake on that hour each at 4 a.m on the day of the challenge.
Cody was drooling as he accidentally made his face hit the floor and went to sleep just for a few more minutes.
Jude walked above Cody as his own eyes were closed, as the exhaustion was taking care of him, but still, even in his sleep, the boy was carrying his skateboard like a teddy bear.
Geoff and Tyler, who was now using his classic red jacket from the last season, made an appearance since they took what would be the fastest clothing they would wear.
Even Ezekiel, who just decided to use his booger green hoddie that he hadn't used for weeks, and the usual winter hat his mom gave to him. Until he heard a voice on his side while he was walking out from the trailer.
"This continuing sadistic wake-up call is messing with the natural rhythms of my mind clock. My mojo will be destroyed." Harold commented as Ezekiel gave a yawn and a few stretches. Harold blinked at Ezekiel, who seemed to be, in comparison to the others, a bit more rested than them.
"If that was the problem, then you need to update your clock; wake up earlier than what Chris is calling." Ezekiel said as he passed by him, but also he paused. And turned to his friend. "Also Harold, can we please not talk about words like mojo or internal clock? I think your fans would think less of you if you talked too much about your internal body. Remember what I said..."
"Yeah, key words, sorry, I'm too tired." Harold said as he yawned but nodded his head to his friend. "How are you holding up?"
Ezekiel noticed the question given by his friend, who clearly knew about what the farm boy was thinking.
"I'm keeping up; it sucks Courtney and Duncan are not here, and with the thought that we have a chance of being into separated teams, it's going to make each of us out of our comfort zone, especially with the fact I'm the last Pillar of Killer Bass remaining. I'm sure if I get in Gwen's team, she would let me help the team as her co-captain." Ezekiel commented as he could see the ginger boy nodding his head at him. "But still, I'm kind of glad that I wouldn't be the one selecting the teams, because being the only team captain and the responsibilities would be too much to handle."
"Since the time you were on the Killer Bass, there were 2 other leaders, which made a trio of leaders manage to make a random team into good teamwork." Noah appeared on their side, as he yawned as he felt tired over that stupid idea of waking up 4 of the morning for every challenge.
Harold nodded as he gave a glance at the group of boys and girls who were still trying their best to remain awake. As he looked at Ezekiel, who was used to waking up on that hour.
"Hey Zeke, why aren't you looking that tired like us?" Harold gave the question, to which Noah also raised his eyebrows to the boy. But Ezekiel already had the answer on the tip of his tongue.
"I always wake up early around these hours. Waking up before the sunrise is common for the farms, and also most of my time on the Playa Del Losers, I used that time waking up early to help me to write some scenes of the books. Why are you guys surprised by that?" Ezekiel raised his eyebrows as Harold and Noah looked at each other before nodding their heads in understanding.
"I don't know how you do it." Noah asked as Ezekiel just chuckled.
"Nothing more than a good 3 cups of coffee wouldn't solve; let's go." Ezekiel said as he was following the group towards the Crafts and Services Tent, while Harold gave a slight glance at Noah.
"He said 3 cups of coffee; does that mean one cup for each of us?" Harold asked in confusion, but Noah simply scoffed.
"No, 3 cups for each person. But he had some reasoning on the advice: I need a good coffee if I have to deal with this crap for another day." Noah commented as he looked at the body of Cody on the floor and simply stepped away from him. While he knew Chris would call the security guards to deal with Cody.
And just like Ezekiel had said, 3 cups of coffee to energize Harold and Noah, and they felt less annoyed over the fact they had to wake up for the challenge, the breakfast was still badly as the first they had—some burned toasts, not seasoned scrambled eggs—but in comparison to what they ate at the Wawanakwa Island? This was edible food for them to get ready for the whole day.
Trent remained quiet as he passed a few seconds reflecting on what he should be doing. As much as he thought about it during those 2 days, he had been in silence, thinking about who he was supposed to choose for his team. With the experience he had by watching the show and even looking at the victories and losses the Screaming Gophers had, some of them were done because some of the campers reached the breaking point and had to give up on the challenge.
As much as he would have liked to call some members of his former team, he had to admit, the Screaming Gophers were out of teamwork, and because of that, they didn't become the most liked team over the last season.
How the remaining 3 of Screaming Gophers got to the finals, he still thinks it was more luck and strategies working individually. But now, who should he choose? And in case, is there a way to choose his friends? He isn't sure.
"I'm putting too much emotion on this. The focus should be selecting the strongest team as possible in the circumstances." Trent mumbled as he made a mental note. He had so many objectives, into some he needed to make sure to be himself, but also to make sure he won't screw up again. He needed to be more attentive; he read the contract so many times that he saw the fine prints in some aspects, which is why he never complained whenever Chris was doing by waking them at 4 a.m, and he knew a few other contestants were also aware of that.
He needed to focus on a team that could bring synergy, and as much as he would have liked talking to Gwen and sorting things out as friends, he was still afraid of thinking about what he should be telling. So that's why he was so secluded into his own opinions and thinking alone.
"Hey Trent." Then a voice made the guitarist blink and see that one of his friends, Cody, was sitting nearby him. As once again by his side there was the girl who was also smiling at him. "Have you decided who would you like to be part of your team?"
"I'm not sure; I'm still thinking about it." Trent said as he looked around, still with a few thoughts of his mind.
"I'm sure that's fine, Trent," Cody gave a few taps on the back of his friend, as he could see the boy getting a lot to think about it. "We are all on this show to give our best to have the 1 million bucks, so you don't need to take a lot of pressure on yourself."
"I agree with Cody; you may not know if your team is going to be great or not." Katie commented as she gave a reassuring smile at him. "Sometimes a good team leader can help out and unite the whole team. But you also should be careful about who would try to take the leadership as well. That's why on the last season Killer Bass didn't have an only team leader. Because it would cause a lot of problems."
"Yeah, I saw the episodes. And as much as I would like to try to be the team captain, I'm not even sure if I can do that." Trent sighed as he sat, which he passed a few seconds thinking. "I'm looking for synergy between members."
"Synergy?" Katie asked as her boyfriend chuckled.
"It means a cooperation and combination of two or more people that could reach the full potential of everything. Like when you think about Duncan, who do you think it would make him reach his full potential?" Cody asked as Katie quickly answered without thinking.
"Courtney and Ezekiel, but there were moments he and Harold were a powerhouse too; I think Gwen as well." Katie commented as suddenly she understood, "Ohhhh,"
"Yeah, babe, just like that." Cody nodded as Trent hummed in thinking of the possibilities.
"Sadly Duncan, or Courtney are not here, since they are very strong together and would have been a great help to the team." Trent sighed as he looked towards the other members of the team. "Izzy is a very strong wildcard; you never know what she could be capable off, and she's also made synergy with Heather, Lindsay, and Beth I'm not sure because I never saw them together, but if I grab the whole 4 girls for my team, I think they would work fine together."
"Yeah, but that also would cause problems for you as well, Trent." Katie then gave a point that made the guitarist raise his eyebrows at her. "If you bring them 4, they will have 4 votes in favor of Heather, Lindsay, Izzy, and Beth. So anyone who would be against them would be eliminated."
"It's like they said, leave your friends close and enemies closer, but bringing more than enemies to keep an eye is going to be exhaustive." Cody also pointed out another problem with Trent, who was thinking about it. "You need to separate them, to leave them in check."
"Do you think that's going to work?" Trent asked, but both boyfriend and girlfriend shrugged.
"We don't know how the selection will go, so you better be ready for everything." Cody gave the advice, as Trent remained quiet, but with a resolution on his face.
The hours had passed as the sun was finally up, the birds were singing as one tiny pink bird flew in front of the camera, and each contestant of the show waited for Chris to finally describe the challenge of the day.
The groups were separated by 2. On the left side there were the girls, and on the right side there were the boys.
"You're on a film set now, and you're going to learn that showbiz is not all red carpets and pool parties." Chris explained as he walked at Owen and raised his finger at him, which made Owen flinches in fear while Justin also had to step back from seeing Chris showing how important the challenge of the day was. "Today you're going to get schooled on how tough on-set production life can be."
"Whatever, I can deal." Gwen commented as she saw Chris passing over her, as she recalled that she had experience dealing with such an annoying process of working at the backstage. "I once had a summer job at a petting zoo. It's so adorable. Everybody is feeding the adorable goats their adorable cabbages. But somebody, i.e., me, had to shovel up the less adorable end of the digestive process."
Gwen recalled the good times of working in the petting zoo, but also the annoying part of how she had to clean up the whole feces problems the creatures had to deal with.
"Well, speaking of number two, it's time to pick up your teammates and then try to stick it to the team your rival, the boy who let you buried alive longer than before, chooses," Chris commented as he pointed out at the guitarist who rolled his eyes.
"Really? You're going to bring that out? I said I was sorry, and I was punished enough." Trent said as he narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. But then Trent sighed as he raised his hand to Gwen, who raised her eyebrows. "Anyway, I hope we have a fair competition."
"Oh, sure," Gwen said as both of them gave a handshake. "May the best team win."
"That's what I intend to do." Trent said as Chris was smirking on seeing how things were going to be interesting. As much he would have liked to have a bit of them becoming exes and would make a lot of drama.
It seems Trent was focusing on having the best team of the game, which now would make Chris wonder who he was going to choose.
"Okay, let's get this bloodbath started." Chris clapped his hands together, grinning. "You're gonna choose schoolyard style. Boy,girl, boy,girl. Ladies first. Since we have no ladies here...Gwen."
Gwen blinked as she ignored the jab. As much as she had planned to have some names on her list on who she should choose for her team, she was still groggy from waking up way too early. Even as she tried to compensate with one cup of coffee, she wondered if she should have drank more, but nothing but time will tell and she will be on her 100 percent again. But still, it was hard to see who she would choose.
She sighed, rubbing her temple as she glanced at her options. She needed someone who could handle all kinds of challenges. And Duncan and Courtney were out. But knowing her friends of Killer Bass, there were possibilities that many things could happen, which is why she was trying to think about who she would choose.
"I don't know." Gwen looked around, as it took a few seconds before she made her decision. The first boy she had to choose. "Geoff?"
"Awesome!" Geoff grinned as he walked behind her, and giving a high five made her feel more comfortable.
Maybe she wasn't going to have a problem with that…
Trent remained quiet, watching the selection process with a focused expression. Everyone expected him to pick one of the Screaming Gophers next-
Confession – Trent
"She chooses Geoff; I don't know if she realizes it, but she missed it; now it's my opportunity. The one who had the most synergy of the last season, and my way to make everything right." Trent commented, as he never thought he had a chance. A chance that could help his team go far beyond everything.
"Ezekiel," Trent said with a solemn look, as immediately made the whole team of former Killer Bass freeze and stare at Trent in complete shock. Even Chris who was going to enjoy the drama had to pause. Because nobody ever thought Trent would choose first, Ezekiel.
"What?" Gwen blurted out. And she wasn't alone.
"What?" Eva, who was thinking about what team she would be, also asked in disbelief with her eyebrows frowning.
"What?" Even Chris had to ask, since that wasn't something he expected, but it was a very welcome change.
"What?" Then every single one of Killer Bass members of the last season, with exception of one, asked as Ezekiel blinked a few times in surprise, taking a second to process what just happened before speaking up.
"Not gonna lie, didn't see this one coming." Ezekiel was honest, as he even looked at Izzy who also had her look of shock as well.
Confession – Gwen
"I forgot about Zeke, ughhhh," Gwen placed both her hands over her face as she pinched the tip of her nose. "I must have been too tired to not notice him, and now I need to think this seriously. I cannot let him take the strongest members of my former team."
"Eva," Gwen said as the bodybuilder crossed her arms, but with a nod she went behind Geoff, who smiled at her. Which made her give a nod.
"Damn, I was looking forward to have her… Anyway, Izzy." Trent commented, but suddenly he felt a pinch on his side. "Ouch… what was that for?"
"She legally changed her name for Kaleidoscope, so better call her E-scope or her new name." Ezekiel explained, as he was also surprised to see Trent choosing another member.
"Okay, Kaleidoscope." Trent called, to which Izzy smiled as she walked behind him, but to her amusement, she looked at Ezekiel, who was also intrigued to see what Trent was planning. And now they have 2 members of the same alliance on Trent's team, which would be easier for them to keep working on the backstage and not against each other.
"DJ," Gwen said as she knew the boy would be like a wall and challenges that would need strong arms, and while she has Eva, having DJ as a good measure as well would be a good help." Gwen said as she was with her eyebrows raised into seeing what Trent was planning—having Ezekiel and Scope on his team—he must have some strategy that she wasn't aware of.
"Harold." Trent gave a comment, which made Gwen's eyes wide open.
Confession – Gwen
"*BEEEEEEEP* He caught one of the MVPs of the last season, and Harold was on one of the summer camps, which probably was one regarded cinematic… Is Trent taking all the wild cards?" Gwen asked as she tried to think on what the guitarist was planning and on the confession she was thinking hard. But then she shook her head. "Okay, I need to wake up now, focus into making my team stronger. I don't know what Trent's planning, but I'm not going to let him changes my team strategy."
"Sadie," Gwen said as she looked at Trent with his eyes wide open. "I'm having all the powerhouses now, Trent; challenges of strength you're going to have in huge disadvantage."
Confession – Trent
"Dammit, she's right; she took the strongest members that could lift things easily. And now I need to think ahead on the options I have now. Sadly, it's girls turn...hmm, maybe I can work with that." Trent commented as the camera shifted again.
"Lindsay, the former champion of the last season," Trent said as he tried to avoid the look from Tyler and Heather staring at him.
"Yay, I was chosen." Lindsay clapped her hands as she went behind the guitarist.
"Justin," Gwen said as the good-model boy smiled as the cameras showed the good reflection of his face, as he slowly walked and took the attention of the girls.
"I…" Trent was about to choose Owen, but then he felt someone pulling his shirt.
"Please choose Tyler." Lindsay asked as Trent looked at her who was smiling kindly at him.
As much Trent wanted to say no… he recalled that one of the reasons of why he choose Lindsay was to make up for her since the last season, and while it was a miracle of his family not getting sued by Lindsay's family, he didn't want to commit the same mistake twice.
"Tyler." Trent nodded his head, as it made the blonde girl smile happily and hug him.
"Booyahh," Tyler jumped as he walked towards his girlfriend and got a kiss from Lindsay, while he gave an acknowledgment nod to the guitarist who appreciated the gesture.
"Hey Gwen, choose Bridgette; I'm sure she's going to be doing just fine," Geoff said as he kept commenting over the fact as Gwen simply narrowed her eyebrows at him.
"I'm not sure, Geoff; you and her still have been kissing way too much, and I want my team to concentrate more." Gwen replied as he could see the look of hurt on his face.
"Oh, don't come with that; you should have seen that coming a few weeks ago." Eva rolled her eyes as she gave a nod to Gwen, "It's the best if we left those two separated."
"hmm…" Gwen thought about it for a few seconds, but then an idea struck to her mind. "Hey Trent, if we ask you to take Bridgette. You can choose the next person for our team."
"Wait, they can do that?" Beth asked as she looked at Chris into thinking about it.
"I would say no, but looking at the betrayal looks from both Geoff and Bridgette right now is too priceless." Chris smirked as they saw Geoff staring at Gwen in disbelief and anger, while Bridgette looked deeply hurt.
"Only if you take the new guy next. Sorry Jude, I wish I could pick you up, but I'm not sure how you would work." Trent said in an honest tone, and the blond boy with a bennie waved his hand.
"Nah, that's cool, dude; I'm just lost on how things are getting crazy over here." Jude nodded his head as Gwen gave a nod in understanding.
"Deal, Leshawna." Gwen said as the ghetto girl walked at the goth girl and both smirked.
"Noooo," Harold said as he felt the blow on not being on the same team as his girlfriend, but he got a tap on the back of Ezekiel and Tyler, but he sighed to continue the game.
"Well as the part of the deal, Bridgette." Trent commented as the surfer didn't even look on the face of Gwen.
Confession – Bridgette
"I know me and Geoff had been distracting ourselves with our kisses a lot, and as much as I would like to agree that we needed to focus in the game and be serious. It still hurts to be discarded like that as the only option of not distracting my own boyfriend." Bridgette said as she place both her hands in the pockets, and while she was annoyed by Gwen for doing that. "I'm going to focus on the game, and we are going to take them down."
"Okay, Jude, you are chosen." Gwen nodded her head, as the skateboarder boy walked to his team and gave each of them high fives, which Geoff at least have one new friend to enjoy life while he had to stay away from his girlfriend on the challenges.
Trent looked at Cody, Noah and Owen… and then Heather, Beth, and Katie.
"As much as I would want to have Owen on my team, I cannot leave my bro behind. Cody, come here." Trent said as he knew that if is against powerhouses his team would be screwed, but if his team wins with team work and technicalities then his team would have a great chance of winning.
"Oh yeah," Cody walked as he gave high fives to the group, who seemed to be making a very solid team.
Gwen was about to say something but suddenly Sadie came to whisper something on her ear… Which surprised Gwen, who looked at Katie, who also nodded her head.
"Are you two sure about that?" Gwen asked as Sadie gave a confident smirk, and Katie smiled happily.
"Yeah, we want to do everything right this time, so we want to be in separated teams this time." Sadie said in confidence, and at that moment, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Katie and Sadie in shock. "I know, but I think the fans of the show, but also we two needed to play this reality show as the way as it should. I'm going to miss you, Katie."
"I'm going to miss you too, Sadie," Katie said as both girls hugged, as Trent looked about to say he wasn't going to choose her. But Cody touched his shirt, which made his friend also give a puppy eyes dog.
Trent sighed, as he may have thought about that possibility at the time he called his friend Cody.
"Well then, I'm going to choose Beth," Gwen made the comment as while Heather was annoyed for not being called for a long time, suddenly calling Beth instead of her clearly ticked off the queen bee.
Confession – Heather
"So she decided to choose my friend who was under my wing instead of me, who was at the finals of the last season? Well, unlucky her, because I'm sure me and Lindsay will be the final 2 again, and maybe this time we will bring Beth to the final three." Heather said as she glared at the camera, knowing that one of her allies was now on the other team. "Just need to reach at the top when we are at the merge and have as many allies as possible. Easy peasy."
"Heather," Trent said as the queen bee simply gave a glare at the goth before sighing and leaving Beth on her own at the other team.
Walking at the other team, at least she was grated by Lindsay and Izzy, who were there
"Well, there's 3 members, and one of the teams is going to have the advantage of having one more member." Gwen said as she looked at Chris with a smirk on his face. "One of our teams will have an extra member."
"Exactly, which now I will decide the remaining members. Owen and Noah, you are going at Gwen's team; Katie, you go with Trent." Chris sadistically chose the next members of their teams, which immediately made a few contestants unhappy with the decision.
"Oh, come on, that's very unfair; we are with fewer members while the others got the extra one while having all the strongest players?" Heather clearly was one of the people who was very unsatisfied with the results.
"That's show business, guys; you have to work with what you have. And for me, the team looks actually well balanced." Chris commented as he coughed on his fist while he approached Gwen's team as he felt excited to describe their name. "Gwen, I christen your team. The Screaming Gaffers."
While he then approached Trent's team as he decided to give the name of the team.
"Trent, you're the Killer Grips." Chris said as the groups looked at each other.
"Did you have to use the Screaming and the Killer as representations of something related to the production set instead of thinking other adjectives?" Noah asked in amusement, just for being shushed by Chris.
"You shut up; now let's keep going," Chris said as he decided to continue explaining. By walking by over the film set equipment, cameras, lights, and even 2 enormous trailers waiting to be used. "Your challenge? For each team to set up a film set!"
Leshawna smirked as she looked at how easy the challenge had been, so much so that she was scrubbing her hands with a smug look on her face.
"We'll be scarfing flapjacks by seven." Leshawna said as Ezekiel facepalmed.
"3...2...1," Ezekiel counted down, as Chris smile became eviler.
"Oh, will you? As location manager, I want your sets to go...there!" Chris said as he looked left and right, as he was waiting for that exact moment, to then point at the giant cliff prop, being what would take many kilometers of distance to bring everything on there.
Some contestants glared at the host, who seemed to have the upper hand of the situation, while Ezekiel looked amused to see the disbelief and outraged face of Leshawna for not expecting Chris after all those weeks and all the crazy challenges they suffered through.
"You just love doing that to us," Gwen said as she glared at Chris, who had the biggest smirk of his life.
"Yes. Yes, I do. Chef, Sanders, MacArthur!" Chris said through his walkie-talkie, "Clear for traffic up there?!"
"Trafic? How? We are above at the cinematic cliff!" Sander tilted her head as she looked at MacArthur using a whistle to scare all the birds away from the cinematic cliff. As Chef simply shrugged and looked out of the view.
"Sometimes Chris doesn't know what the hell he wants. And he just wants us to read his mind." Chef commented as he sat on the top of the cliff. "But check this view, wow."
Sanders followed the military chef, and she had to admit, the view was astonishing, seeing all the movie sets from that angle and the breeze coming through her skin.
Sometimes she loves her job. Even as crazy as it sounds. And that was one of those moments.
"LIGHT!" And on the time Chris took his megaphone, everyone ran to their statios and grabbed part of the movie set equipment. "CAMERA, ACTION!"
And just like that, every single member of their teams came to catch their equipment.
Gwen was holding the heavy camera as she started running, but as soon as she was about to lose balance and fall behind, a bump made her stop, and she turned her head to see Ezekiel holding her. Which the goth girl smiled.
"Thanks." Gwen said as Ezekiel nodded his head.
"Be careful on the hill; if it's too much weight for you, then slow down. You shouldn't break the equipment, nor you should get hurt." Ezekiel said as he was taking himself a few ropes, as he walked down, making her blinks. As Ezekiel walked down, he just saw Eva and Sadie immediately pushing the trailer, which clearly would give the teams a good edge. "Eva, Sadie."
"Ezekiel," Both strong girls were carrying the trailer, which seems way bigger than they realize, but still they were using enough force to carry it…
Ezekiel was walking down, but suddenly he heard a groaning.
"Ezekiel, what are you going to do with those ropes?" Eva's voice was enough to make him stop. And by giving a sheepish smile, the bodybuilder realized what it had on his mind... And while she remained in silence for a second, she sighed in disgrunt. "Fine, since you are going to carry all the weight, you are allowed."
"Awesome, thanks Eva." Ezekiel said as he quickly walked downhill, which on that moment, Sadie who was pushing the weight of the trailer, raised her eyebrows at Eva, who was nodding her head at her.
"Yep, he's going to drop them." Eva said, as Sadie opened her mouth in understanding.
"How much they were again?" Sadie said, as Eva smirked at her.
"20 kilograms per limb." Eva said as she then used all her strength to push even further. "We cannot waste time."
"You are a mad woman," Sadie said as she was sweating from how much hellish training she made her and Ezekiel suffer through Playa Del Losers, but seeing that she was going way overboard with Ezekiel, it had been chaotic. To the point that she didn't want to lose. "Let's keep moving then, we cannot lose."
.
.
.
"People! This is crazy inefficient! I say we organize relay style and pass the equipment up." Heather complained as she pointed out as Cody passed a few seconds reflecting.
"Like a pass-baton race?" Cody asked, and Katie tilted her head as she was also considerate of the idea.
Bridgette, who was carrying the light, paused but also nodded her head.
"That's not a bad idea." Bridgette as she then looked at Ezekiel carrying the ropes. Which made her eyebrows raise. "Ezekiel, were you going with those ropes?"
"The trailer also needed to be on the top; someone needs to push it there." Ezekiel also explained that immediately the Killer Grips had their eyes wide open from the fact. Which as he was walking down, which made the group look at each other.
"He's not planning to carry the trailer alone, right?" Katie asked as Cody simply went down.
"I'm going to help him." Cody, as much as he felt skinny in comparison to most of the members, wasn't going to let someone do all that weight alone.
Harold, who was also walking by carrying the food cart, with Izzy after him, stared at the group, looking in disbelief.
"What's going on guys?" Izzy asked as the group pointed at Ezekiel and Cody walking down to the trailer. "What about them?"
"They said we have to carry the trailer to the top of the cliff, so they are going to do it." Heather said as she looked in disbelief at the duo of geeks and the farmboy going to tie the rope around the trailer. "Anyway, let's start our plan to make the relay style and pass the equipment."
Izzy blinked in surprise, as she also didn't know it was supposed to carry the weight of the trailer, and since they don't have strongholds like Eva, Sadie, DJ or even Owen, it was going to be hard for the duo to carry the trailer alone.
"I'm going to help them out. You guys can do it without me." Izzy said as she quickly went down. Heather simply rolled her eyes and groaned.
"Well, I don't know how long it would take the trio to carry all that weight by the hill, but while they are going to do that, it's for the best if we do it quickly." Heather said as she clapped her hands to give the instructions on what the group would do.
While Bridgette and Katie rolled their eyes, they nodded their heads as Harold sniffed and agreed with the plan.
"I'm totally with you. Write down all your good ideas, and we can bring them up at the next team meeting. I'll second you." Harold said with optimism, but before Heather would insult him, Bridgette's voice already called.
"Harold, no time for that now; we have to bring everything to the top." Bridgette said as she let her equipment go and gave a glance at the people going down. "I will tell Trent, Lindsay, and Tyler, who were walking down, we are going to put this strategy in motion."
"Good," Heather nodded her head as she nodded her head. "Even as we are with one less member, we still have a chance if we do it in the organization. Now let's move. Four eyes, you're going down and bring them to me. You two go ahead and find a spot where you two can run, and we are going to do it quickly."
"Alright," Katie said as she and Bridgette quickly ran to make sure everything would be done with easier effort, faster, and more efficiency.
.
.
.
"Alright, let's get this thing started." Ezekiel said as he was taking out his winter hat, his blouse, and his shirt.
"Woah Ezekiel, what are you doing?"A voice said as Ezekiel was taking out his clothing, as immediately the voice of Cody made him look at the geek in surprise.
"I'm going to take it off Cody." Ezekiel said as Cody tilted his head in confusion, until the sound of velcro could be heard as the geek had his eyes wide open at the sound of the weight of his left arm hitting the floor. It was like a cement sack hitting the ground. And then Ezekiel did the same thing with the other arm. As again, the sound hitting the ground was like a sack of weight hitting on the ground. And then Ezekiel did the same thing with the weights into each of his shins. And when all the four weights were out of his body, Ezekiel raised his arms in a motion as the sound of cracks could be heard, as the boy gave a sigh of pleasure relief. "Oh, thank God. It's rare for me to take out these things, but talk about a relief in taking all this off. I feel my body so light."
"Good to know?" Cody sweated and gave a small gulp, recalling how Eva was a slave driver in the training she gave on Sadie and Ezekiel, and while Ezekiel was giving a small stretch on the arms and legs, he did it just for a few seconds before taking the rope and starting to tie up on the trailer. "Hey, do you want some help?"
"Yep, it would be nice." Ezekiel commented as both of them used their time to tie knots and make sure the weight could be enough for more than one person to carry.
"Ezekiel, are you sure we can take all this weight of the trailer until the top?" Cody asked in concern and slightly afraid, since the idea of them 2 not being strong enough to carry everything crossed his mind since he went down.
"Hey guys, do you need some help?" And just like an angel coming from the sky, Cody's hope raised slightly as he saw Izzy walking at them two. As she looked at Ezekiel without his shirt, but while the front part of his muscles weren't shown as it was like a slim body... On his back thought, it was like muscles over his shoulders and back.
"Actually that would be nice, Scope; we need to carry this trailer to the top, Eva and Sadie were already carrying theirs, and I think soon they would reach the top, and we won't have much to do it." Ezekiel said as he didn't look at Izzy, who was slightly staring at him. But after a few seconds of silence, "Kaleidoscope, are you there?"
"Oh right, yeah, I'm going." Izzy immediately took the ropes as she went to help tie the knots, while Cody looked at the scene in disbelief.
Confession – Cody.
"I think that's quite obvious; Izzy's starting to open more and showing a bit of more emotion to Ezekiel. And one thing that's happening is there are two other girls who're also interested in Ezekiel." Cody gave a small secret as he looked around. "When we were at Gwen's birthday party, we just found out 3 girls who were exactly Ezekiel's type in accordance to the pact the Killer Bass boys had done... I don't know if Courtney is contacting them right now, but knowing how crazy this show will go. I won't be surprised to see someone starting a pool on who they would be with Ezekiel in the end."
Confession – Noah (At night)
"Okay, according to the pool rules, we cannot reveal the names of who the girls are because of their safety and privacy, which, differently than the show we are not going to reveal innocent civilians into this chaotic show event. And in accordance with the rules, only the Killer Bass or people who actually participated on the birthday of Gwen the Killer Bass goth are able to bet money on it." Noah explained the rules as he was holding 200 bucks in his hands. "I'm sure Courtney and Duncan will also find a way to publish how much they are betting on this pool. And now I have something to not be bored across the whole season."
Confession – Chris
"COME ON, THAT'S NOT FAIR; WE WANT TO KNOW THE NAMES FOR THE DRAMA." Chris shouted as he tried know the names of the potential girls for the entertainment and content he could be using against the MVP of the show, but now he had to content himself with not knowing. "Sometimes I think they don't trust me with the information. Come on, I'm so trustworthy."
"Alright, all tied up," Izzy said as she and Ezekiel tied their arms with rope, while Ezekiel made extra measure into placing a rope around his blouse, and he used it to bite and carry with his teeth as well. "Cody, you push from the behind to help us, okay?"
"Right," The geek gulped, but as he understood, he waited for the sign.
"ALIGHT, LET'S GO." Izzy said as she didn't play around, it was a serious moment where there was only them three to carry all that weight. So immediately she pulled with all effort she could, in the same way as Ezekiel. And Cody pushed. Even though it seemed to be against all the weight they were holding, it was still able to move the wheels, and with that, the trailer was starting to move.
Step by step became a small sprint, as they were able to move the trailer in a slow but, to their surprise, the triple of speed from what they had expected...
The Killer Grips are still at the game.
Due to have way more contestants, Chris decided it would be the best if he had made the double size of the trailer, but also quadruplicating the quantity of items to make sure he would make all the contestants tired for the next part of the challenge. With an evil smirk, he just then blinked into seeing the newbie Jude carrying the microphones, but he was still holding his skateboard.
"Woah, woah woah, what are you doing with that thing?" Chris said as Jude placed the microphones and tilted his head.
"You mean my skateboard?" Jude tilts his head as he scratches the back of his head. "I never get out without it."
"I didn't specify you should be using your skateboard on this challenge." Chris said as he walked towards the boy, who blinked a few seconds.
"But you didn't say I shouldn't be using my skateboard either," Jude replied as he could see Chris raising his finger to say something, but no word came from his mouth.
"Just don't use it on this challenge." Chris narrowed his eyes, as the boy looked sad, and calmly placed the skateboard on the corner of the equipment.
"Wait for me, skateboard; I will come back for you later." Jude raised his hand as a way to assure that he would come back to his most precious treasure.
At the time Jude went down to help his team, Chris looked weirdly at the teenager before shaking his head.
"I still have no idea how he was able to get on the show, but whatever, it's the producers problem now." Chris said as he returned to his seat and enjoyed his coconut drink. Just for the next one of the inters was carrying a box full of sharp items. But accidentally he stepped on the skateboard, which made him fall backwards while all the sharp objects fell over the poor worker. Chris blinks a few seconds. "Did I ask someone to bring sharp objects for this challenge?"
"Medic," The intern called in pain, while Chris simply shrugged and continued to watch the contestants bring more and more items for their challenge.
"Okay, Owen, just a few more steps." Beth cheered as she was wearing her pompoms as the boy with big bones was sweating a lot but carrying a sound system with him. DJ was after him by grabbing the cart of food.
"Can't we switch up DJ? I feel these breads are calling my name." Owen salivated as he was giving deep breaths. "I think I can't do it anymore. Carrying this to the top is a nightmare."
"I know you can do that, Owen; also sorry, but I don't think Chris will let us win the challenge in case you start eating the food before we reach the top." DJ said as he passed and went ahead. "I will go down to help you with that, but please be careful not to drop them."
"Okay." Owen said as he was still sweating and looking exhausted. He looked at Beth, who was still using her pompoms. "Where's the others?"
"Justin went to the confession both to do his make-up, and Geoff is helping Jude to carry more cameras to reach the top. Gwen is over there carrying the lights; Leshawna is down, and she is looking to see if there's more equipment missing for us to bring here. Noah is coming with the microphones, and it seems Eva and Sadie just managed to place the trailer on the top." Beth explained, as she also gave help, but for the fact everyone was feeling exhausted, it wasn't a surprise; they lost the times they went up to the top, just to then go down to keep continuing the challenge.
"Okay, makes sense... I will just give a few seconds of rest." Owen said as he was about to lay down when suddenly a shout made him jump.
"OUT OF THE WAY, OUT OF THE WAY." Izzy shouted as she and Ezekiel were running with everything they could, while they seemed to be carrying the whole weight of the trailer with their arms, and Ezekiel was pulling one of the ropes covered in his blouse with his teeth, making him to pull the trailer like an animal, but they didn't care; they wanted to take the trailer on the top.
Owen and Beth quickly gave a step away, as they saw Cody also pushing the back of the trailer with his strength, knowing that in any case it could be a disaster to happen if any of the duo at the front couldn't have strength anymore. It was a risky move, but Cody even then gulped his fears and trusted on the only duo who would be crazy enough to try to take the trailer by their own arms. But even so, he helped as he could. The trailer was heavy, but with the duo in front of it and pulling by ropes, Cody could have a good help to give more pressure in the right direction.
"Is that…" Owen blinked as Beth nodded her head, and at that time the Screaming Gaffers blinked in surprise as they saw the trio taking the trailer by their own hands.
Eva saw the fierceness on both Ezekiel and Izzy, and she couldn't help but smirk.
Confession – Eva
"Question my methods; say it's a hellish training, and I'm a demon and a monster. Tell me everything... But you cannot deny the results of what it makes me the iron woman." Eva flexed her muscles as she looked cocky at the camera on those who would always complain about her. "I dare Sadie and Ezekiel say if my training isn't helping them. Because you cannot deny the results."
"COME ON ZEKE, JUST FOR A FEW MORE METERS." Izzy shouted as she used all her strength to help the homeschooled boy take the trailer to the top. "CODY, HOW ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?"
"I'M DOING FINE, KEEP PULLING." Cody shouted as he pushed, and he was feeling the exhaustion and the sweat coming from his face and body. Still a few more meters; it's going to take everything from them. But it was something they would do to achieve the victory.
"Okay, I returned from my makeup; what did I miss?" Justin asked as Sadie pointed to the Killer Grips trio taking the trailer to the top. "Wow."
"Yeah, it took me and Eva a few minutes to reach the top, but it seems they were also going to do it if they managed to keep up the speed." Sadie commented as she was impressed into seeing Izzy and Cody being so strong. She knew Ezekiel had been suffering a lot of training, but she didn't realize Katie's boyfriend was also managing to help carry the trailer.
"Are you two done dreaming around?" Noah's voice made them snap from their distraction. "There's still a lot of equipment down there, and not wanting to be that guy... but still being. Look at the other team."
Sadie and Justin blinked as they turned their heads to see it.
"Heather, right here." Harold gave the lamp to the queen bee as the nerd went down. Heather, with the lamp in her hands ran into the distance of 30 steps before giving the lamp to Lindsay, which for 30 steps she gave to Bridgette, followed by Tyler, and then followed by Katie to the top.
Looking down, they saw Trent taking one piece of equipment and running. He started the process by giving the item to Harold, who repeated the process by passing to Heather and on and on.
"Their processes are faster, and they are keeping up and possibly already surpassed us. The only thing missing is the trailer." Noah pointed as he then looked at the top, which marked Ezekiel, Izzy, and Cody having already brought what would be the trailer to the top of the cliff.
"IT'S NOT OVER YET, GUYS." Geoff said as he went down and pointed downhill. "We still have a chance; we are going to lose if we just stop now; let's go."
"Carrying the camera," Jude said as he was holding another camera as the group continued to work themselves hard.
"UGH, does this challenge ever come to an end?" Gwen said as she was feeling annoyed and exhausted into dragging another piece of equipment to the cliff. Even as they seemed to have progressed faster, it was an undeniable fact.
"It's neck to neck." Chris said in excitement in front of the crew, recording the challenge as Trent once again returned with another piece of equipment. "And with Killer Grips using their teamwork and saving their strength by sharing the distance, it clearly shows they are approaching at a quick speed."
"Alright guys, we just need a few more, and we will be done." Trent said as he was feeling confident in Heather's plan to making a good teamwork progress, and in the end it would come to the little details. The guitarist gave a glance at Gwen who looked at him in disbelief, but he shook his head and continued back to work.
"Oh no, if he thinks I'm going to let this challenge end like that? He's very wrong." Gwen said firmly, as it was enough to recover her strength and go downhill.
Confession – Gwen
"I know they have a very good strategy into working together to pass the movie set equipment, but me and my team already went to this point, and changing our strategy on the last minute wouldn't work anyway, so it's all or nothing." Gwen said as it was the time of game on.
At the moment Ezekiel, Izzy, and Cody placed the trailer to the top of the cliff, Ezekiel felt his entire arms sore and his body burning. Izzy was covered in sweat, and Cody was having problems breathing, but at the time they finally did it. The trio went down like a sack of potatoes and reached their limit in helping their team.
"We managed to bring the trailer; mission accomplished." Izzy said as Ezekiel was satisfied with the results. While Cody looked unsure.
"I just hope it will be enough for our team to win," Cody said nervously, as soon as he heard Ezekiel chuckling. "What?"
"Cody, it's too easy." Ezekiel simply said as he was feeling the pain over his body.
"Carrying a heavy trailer to the top of a cliff was too easy." Cody slowly repeated the words done by Ezekiel, who also felt the disbelief coming from the boy.
"Cody, think with me. On the first day here, we had to run away from the giant mechatronic monster coming after us. Just for later, we had to find a key among a lot of fake food, which Owen ate them all. on the second challenge, we literally had to survive a zombie apocalypse and try to find every single intern or infected friends who would come after us." Ezekiel explained as the geek suddenly had something in his mind. "Just carry equipment for a movie set on the top of a cliff? It would have been easier for us if we had any powerhouse like Eva, Sadie, DJ or even Owen… but still, it was just carrying the equipment... Don't you have a feeling?"
"Something is missing." Cody said as he realized from the perspective of Ezekiel, and he couldn't help but lay down for a few minutes as well. "So it's the first part of the challenge then?"
"Probably is." Izzy commented as she stretched herself, still with a small sweat on her face, but that sweat wasn't because of the weight of the trailer she helped to bring to the top. "Whatever it is... it will be said at the time the last equipment is brought to the top."
The trio looked at the cast, reaching to the final point. Seeing the cadets MacArthur and Sanders separating the equipment from the teams, and Chef making some notes to check which item came from which team. It seems it was neck to neck. Trent and Lindsay had been working so hard, especially as Harold, Heather, Katie, Bridgette, and Tyler came up following them as the duo were bringing the last item.
However, on the other team, it seems that only 3 items were missing, and at that moment Owen finally managed to bring the equipment he took so long to bring. And with the race between Beth, Lindsay and Trent to carry the rest of the items...
In the end, somehow, Beth managed to bring the last item.
"WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO." The Screaming Gaffers cheered as Trent and Lindsay, in the same way the group of Killer Grips felt down for not being able to win the challenge.
"We actually won!" Beth cheered by raising both her arms in victory, as the whole team felt the sweet victory after having such hardship... But then…
"Weeeeeeellll, not exactly," Chris sang as it made the Screaming Gaffers stop.
"Pardon?" Beth asked as Chris decided to drop the bomb.
"That was only the first part of the challenge." Chris explained as he helped Beth to lower her arms as he smirked by saying the information. "Did I neglect to mention that?"
And on that moment, the whole team got disappointed for their hollow victory, as the Killer Grips found a new hope ahead.
"I was surprised that everyone managed to bring the trailers before the smaller equipment; in case any of you didn't manage to bring the trailer before the other finished the competition, you would have lost the trailer, but since both teams tried to reach the final equipment on top after taking the trailers. Trent, Lindsay, both your equipment will not be used since you didn't cross the top before Beth." Chris explained the rules, as Trent and the Killer Grips actually felt relieved.
"So that means we still have the trailer. You guys did fine." Trent raised his hand and gave high fives for both Cody and Ezekiel, who were still sore after the whole part. But then he blinked into seeing Ezekiel's back, which had a good definition of his back. But before he could even say anything. Chris already came in.
"Alright everyone, follow me," Chris called, as the group saw Chris giving a side glance at Ezekiel, which made him raise his eyebrows. "Where's your clothes?"
"My blouse, hat, and shirt are downhill; I will take them after the challenge is over." Ezekiel said as he walked slowly, still sore after the whole first part of the challenge.
"Nevermind," Chris said as soon as they reached the destined place. Both teams saw what would be the description of two different movie sets nearby each other. On the left side there was a set that showed nothing more than a main room, with an old clock, a couch, everything that would be said it was a single scene inside of the house. While on the right side, there was a set made as an office, where there was a desk, a big window, and a comfy chair on the side.
The Killer Grips were over the set that looked exactly like a main room, while on the Screaming Gaffers they are on the office movie set.
"It's time to make a movie. And what we've got here is the set for a tearjerker, starring an elderly lady considering her long life." Chris explained for the Grips what would be their objective.
"Boring," Trent said until he got elbowed by Ezekiel and Izzy, which made Chris appreciate not being interrupted.
"And for the Gaffers, you'll be making a feature about a thug who tries to go straight but can't resist the lure of the streets." Chris then told their challenge as Gwen and Noah looked at each other.
"It's just me, or you aimed this challenge just because Duncan was eliminated a few days ago?" The bookworm asked as he crossed his arms, which Chris chuckled.
"To be honest, it's a total coincidence. Well, your teams need to choose an actor to perform a scene," Chris said as he passed by them as he looked at the cadets. "MacArthur, Sanders, give the teams their scenes."
And at the time both Trent and Gwen got the papers of their scenes, Heather decided to intervene.
"Hey, what about lunch? We have been working for eight hours straight, and you are legally obligated by union rules to give us a meal break," Heather complained as Trent and Ezekiel rolled their eyes.
"Oh yeah? Who here is in the union?" Chris asked as he raised his hand, while the contestants remained quiet and couldn't raise their hands. And with a smirk, Chris had his satisfied victory. "Yeah. I thought so."
"Besides we are not working, we are contestants, which by the contract we are going to get our food in the time determinate after the challenge."Trent said as immediately as almost his whole team stared at the guitarist in surprise. "Yeah, I read the contract too... many times actually."
"That's great." Ezekiel said as he was glad someone with common sense understood the rules of the show now. "Let me check the scene; I need to see what we will be working with."
Trent gave the papers for Ezekiel, who clearly narrowed his eyes.
"This script is too generic; it would need a very skilled actor or actress to make just single words able to make someone cry." Ezekiel said as he looked at the paper and flipped the page, and he took a pen to start working. "I think I can help to develop the motivation of the scene, but it will mostly be improvisation on how to make the scene work."
"Alright, but who's going to act?" Harold came nearby as the group of boys watched Ezekiel think while he was focusing on the writing and modifications to make it work.
"Well, since we are boys, I don't think we should take the acting scene." Cody commented as Harold nodded his head.
"We boys needed to be part of the direction of the lights and the filters of the camera; it's going to be a tough part, but done right with good make-up, we can nail this." Harold explained as Trent nodded his head.
"Okay, we are going to leave that with you," Trent said as he knew Harold was a wild card, so it was one of the moments that choosing not the strongest in raw force but on how to adapt to the challenge would work better on this side.
"Katie can improvise some quick clothes; she did Ezekiel's jacket, so she may know a trick or two to make a cloth for a day." Cody suggested the idea, as Tyler also appeared.
"Lindsay as well; I heard she always wanted to be a stylist; maybe they could improvise quickly something good. Also, she knows a lot of make-up." Tyler also gave a good point, which Trent now felt satisfied with.
That was what he wanted. Synergy. He just hoped the team would go alright.
.
.
.
"As much as I would love to act, being an old lady? Pass, I won't fit my style especially on this genre of movie. Lindsay is checking the trailer to see how much make-up we can work on the person who's going to act." Heather commented as she crossed her arms. She then looked at Bridgette. "What about you, clumsy, you think you can take that part?"
"Okay, first off, rude, and no, I'm not sure if I'm capable of." Bridgette said as she looked unsure, As she glanced at the other team, she felt hurt seeing her boyfriend, who also looked in her direction. Both are in separate teams. But before she could even think further, Katie appeared with a few fabrics on her arms.
"Found some old fabrics; I think I can work with that." Katie said as she was with a few pins, and the idea of making cinematic clothing just for a scene wouldn't probably take long. "It's old and crude, so we can think of an old lady to do that. Did you girls decide on who should be acting?"
"Me," Then the voice made the whole crew suddenly turn their heads to see Izzy staring at them with a serious face. But at the time any of the girls would say anything, Izzy already explained. "I managed to trick everyone into thinking I'm an insane stupid idiot for weeks, and this is my only chance to prove to me and to everyone, I can act."
The girls blinked, as it was very surprising how solemn and serious Izzy had requested the paper. At the time Lindsay got out of the trailer holding makeup products, she was ready.
"Okay, I think I can work with that; who is going to act?" Lindsay asked, as Bridgette, Heather, and Katie nodded their heads.
"Izzy," The girls said in unison, to which Lindsay's smile went wide, and Izzy gave a small smile in gratitude for the chance given to her. But also.
"Please call me E-Scope." Izzy corrected them, which made the girls roll their eyes.
"So who's going to take the role of the criminal since the only person who had experience dealing with crime went way home with his girlfriend?" Noah asked sarcastically as he could see the glares coming from the former members of Killer Bass. "Don't look at me like that; of course the first option you would have picked for a team was Duncan."
Gwen raised her finger, but the bookworm clearly proved his point.
"How did you know that?" Sadie asked in surprise, as the boy who was looking at the papers of the scene simply scoffed.
"Gwen was the first to choose a boy, and I think if she didn't choose Ezekiel, she would have chosen at least Duncan, and after that she would choose Courtney." Noah explained that the goth simply blinks, but seeing that it had been a possibility, she would have done that.
"Makes sense, but still. You didn't need to be rude about them," DJ said, as while he could see the boy being smart, he didn't like the way Noah talked about his friends.
"I'm not here to pretend that I care for everyone; I'm here to say the facts; I've never been friends with them, so I'm not going to act like they are my leaders or friends in any case," Noah commented as he looked at Gwen while he crossed his arms. "Now we need to focus on winning this challenge, because nobody here wants to be eliminated after the last challenge; we just lost 2 people."
"Well, dude, don't worry, I can be your friend." Jude said warmly as he walked and gave a tap on the back of Noah who simply rolled his eyes.
"I'm not saying I w-" Noah was about to refuse the idea of making friends, but suddenly he was caught by Owen, who gave a bony, crushing hug.
"Oh Noah, I never thought you felt like that, but Jude's right, we are here to be your friends." Owen said as the bookworm was struggling to say anything, which was a desperatedly call for help, but Gwen, Eva grinned and simply ignored the boy. Leshawna, who was also enjoying the annoying boy squirm, looked at the team.
"He's still right; we need to think about who should be acting on our part." Leshawna said as Geoff passed a few seconds thinking. As he looked at Noah, Jude, and Owen, neither of them looked to have a type of style of delinquency like Duncan had.
"What about you, DJ? Do you think you can do that?" Geoff looked at the giant-hearted Jamaican, who simply shook his head and hands.
"No way, if my momma saw that, she would go freakout and I would be grounded for months." DJ said as Gwen simply rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure momma would make an exception for you to do that just for the sake of winning the challenge, but I don't think you would fit for the role either." Gwen gave another argument, to which DJ nodded his head.
"I agree, so I think we should think of someone else. How about you, Geoff?" DJ looked at the party boy, who seemed also unsure of what to say.
"I think I could try to pull up something, but I never acted before." Geoff said as Beth seemed to be looking around. She was also very unsure of how the challenge would goes.
"I wish my boyfriend was here; he could have given a few tips into a situation like this." Beth sighed, as suddenly there was a silence around the groups of Screaming Gaffers. "What?"
"You have a boyfriend?" Gwen asked in a surprise in her voice.
"Since when, girl?" Leshawna also asked with her arms crossed, to which Beth smiled.
"Oh, I just met him on our days off before the show happens; we both had a visit to the dentist, and we spent a few hours talking... and when we lessened notice, he declared to me that he wanted to be my boyfriend." Beth said as she took a picture and showed it to the others, as DJ had his mouth dropped wide open, and Geoff was also in shock.
Gwen also had to blink a few times just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, because the picture from Beth's hands showed a handsome boy.
Leshawna took a few glances, and she looked in disbelief.
"Good girl, I don't know where you found this picture, but there's no way you found a hot cake like that." Leshawna said in disbelief, as when Beth was smiling to see the surprising look from the others, Leshawna's comment really made her smile freeze and quiver down.
"What? But that's true." Beth said a bit hurt, but before anyone else would say anything, DJ and Geoff decided to intervene.
"Guys, let's not change the topic; we cannot say if it's truth or a lie since we didn't meet him, but talking about it in the middle of the challenge wouldn't solve anything. Just give Beth the benefit of doubt," Geoff said, as he clearly didn't want to make one of his teammates sad but also wanted the others to focus on their objective.
"You're right." Gwen said as she took the lead once again. "Arguing about if it's true or not won't solve; we need to find a person to act now."
As the group was about to say anything. Suddenly from the trailer nearby the Screaming Gaffers, Justin came out, while taking out a fedora as he looked so beautiful, that everyone had to stop what they were doing, just to see Justin slowly waking towards them with a smile on his face.
"I found this fedora on the trailer; I think if we have someone using it, it would make it good enough for the shot." Justin said as suddenly he saw everyone staring at him. "Who are you looking at?"
"You," Everyone sans Noah said, as the bookworm finally was freed from the death trap hug but still grunted from seeing the good-looking boy taking all the attention.
"As much as I hate to admit, we need him to do this part. But I'm not sure if we will be able to win this." Noah said as he could clearly see they have no solution, while deeply inside of him, he just wished he was on the other team. At least some of them are more bearable.
Beth walked as she wanted to have some time alone, but suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Which made her jump.
"Oh, Sadie, err… guys?" Beth was surprised to see not just Sadie but also Eva, Geoff, and DJ, who came nearby to talk to her.
"Hey look, I know that it may sound hard from what was said before, but we believe what you said was true." Sadie gave a comment that clearly made the farmgirl pause and look at the group in surprise. "Gwen also believed it; she was just shocked from seeing the photo. And she had the others help Justin decide on how he should act on the challenge."
"Oh," Beth blinked but also felt relieved there was a group believing in her. But still, a small part of her looked confused. "Really?"
"Of course, to be fair, I was just in disbelief that what Ezekiel said was true." DJ commented as it made Beth had her mouth opened in surprise, as she recalled from seeing on the episode, about since Beth could indeed find someone handsome as boyfriend. "At that time we made the pact, we tried to be more open-minded when it comes to relationships."
"And Ezekiel already has 3 girls who clearly are his type." Geoff said as suddenly he felt the elbow on his stomach. "Ouch, what?"
"You idiot, you shouldn't be telling that on television." Eva said as Beth looked extremely shocked.
"Wait, really? Ezekiel has 3 girls of his type." Beth said in disbelief but also in surprise, but she recalled into watching the episode on how Ezekiel described the ideal girl, and while Beth felt he was slightly talking about him, it was obvious that he wasn't; some of the qualities he said were clearly not about her but about one of her friends. "I know Izzy is probably one, but whose the other 2? They are here."
Eva glared at the party boy, who looked sheepishly.
"Look what you did." Eva said as she sighed annoyingly at the farm girl, who was also afraid of the bodybuilder. "They aren't from here, but they were friends from some of us, which we needed to keep secret to not expose them."
"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have talked about my boyfriend." Beth said as she looked a bit down, but Sadie shook her head.
"No, it's fine; talking about your boyfriend and how you miss him was a good way to show you care, but Ezekiel is a different case... Because we don't want to expose them, I'm sure not even Ezekiel knows that we are talking about them, and for the best would be for us to make things worse for them." Sadie explained as the farm girl nodded her head in understanding.
"But what a…"
"Let's not focus more on Ezekiel's love life; we shouldn't have been involved in that. Since there's a pool in regard to it." Eva said as it clearly made Beth stare at them in surprise. "The cat is out of the bag; you are welcomed to join the pool."
…
"50 Bucks on Izzy," Beth said as she believed in her friend.
"All right, set up the shot! Whoever can get Chef, Mr. Ex-Army Corporal, to show any emotion, wins the challenge." Chris called by the megaphone as the group watched Chef walk towards the set and sit as a judge, just for the next second, the military Chef growled like an angry animal, which made him very intimidating.
And with that, everyone started to do their parts.
Ezekiel gave Izzy the script, which made her has her eyes wide open in surprise. That script wasn't from what Ezekiel had told her, and there was a slight stick note on the corner, which made Izzy read quickly.
(This was Duncan's script; destroy this stick note, and good luck.)
Izzy immediately took the paper and placed it under her breast, which in a way wasn't recorded by the cameras. She could see Ezekiel giving her a reassuring smile.
Relief wasn't a feeling that she felt she would be so excited to have. But oh boy how she felt great for not being tricked by the events of the past canon version of what happened; the original scripts had been replaced, and while she was playing around acting like a Scottish old lady, as she always wanted to give an act, she noticed it would have been a mistake, and as much as she wanted to give an homage to her family on that side of the world, she couldn't do that.
She had pressure on acting perfectly, and she will do that. She must, because it was a matter of pride, and even if Duncan wasn't there, she will give her best. And show everyone what she was capable of.
.
.
.
"Lights done," Harold said as immediately Izzy looked in surprise as Lindsay was doing her makeup and Katie was already preparing the rag clothing.
But still, it had been a bit painful for her to crouch like an old lady as Lindsay was doing her makeup on her.
"Your makeup is gorgeous! And now, I'm going to make you really feel like an old lady!" Lindsay said cheerfully as Izzy was slowly feeling pain on her legs.
"Err, Lindsay. Don't you think that's better for you both to do make-up while sitting on the couch?" Bridgette asked, as it made both girls blink in surprise. "Because I can see E-Scope needs a bit of rest, and remaining in the same position doesn't seem to be doing any favor for her."
"Huh… never thought about it." Lindsay made a thinking hum as she looked at the ginger girl, who was starting to feel the pain. "Do you want-"
"YES," Izzy shouted as she immediately corrected herself. "I mean, yes, please, I want to sit a bit."
Izzy gave a grateful look for Bridgette, who gave a thumbs up as Heather walked around the stage. With her eyebrows raised.
"Okay, I gotta confess, this place looks organized, and here I thought there would be chaos around here." Heather nodded her head, as she felt indeed her team seems to be going to somewhere promising. She glanced above to see Harold staring down at the girls.
"Do you guys want one light to focus on the couch as well?" Harold called as he could prepare another filter in the direction of the duo on the couch.
"I don't think so; focus on where the scene would have the best light." Heather said as she looked at Tyler holding the microphone and Cody in the sound department. "How's the sound going?"
"We are doing fine." Cody said as Tyler slowly was losing his grip, but Trent immediately helped and positioned in the right place.
"Okay boys, I think that's good enough." Trent came as he looked to see if everyone was doing fine, and seeing that indeed his team was working like machine, he never thought that he would be relieved. They may have lost the first part of the challenge, but they are going to give their all on the second part. "I think that's good enough for us to go."
"I hope you know what you are doing." Heather said as she crossed her arms, even as grumpy she could be. She couldn't help but nod. "Not bad. It's a solid team. Good work."
"Thanks. But it's too early to say if we are going to win or not; just be prepared for things going sour." The guitarist warned the Queen Bee, who raised her eyebrows in amusement.
The Killer Grips are going to hit stronger than ever.
"Do you think you can handle this stuff?" Gwen asked as Justin simply smiled in the most handsome way.
"Don't need to worry about it; I'm hot, and that's always something you would need to count for." Justin said as he continued to read the scripts while using his small glasses, just to check more and more of the lines.
"If you say so." Gwen said as she wanted to roll her eyes; she knew that what he said was true, but somehow she isn't sure why her team had been most chaotic. "How's the light, Beth?"
"I'm still trying to place in the right position; I will need an extra hand for the help." Beth called as Gwen nodded her head, and Geoff immediately went up.
"Coming right up." Geoff said, as he could understand why Gwen looked so unsure of the challenge. It had been a mess since now their challenge would be into making the actual scenario for a person to act.
Gwen looked at Jude and Owen on the sound; she could see Jude holding the microphone and Owen operating the sound for checking.
Noah was reading a book, which Gwen immediately rolled her eyes.
"Aren't you going to help or what?" Gwen asked as she saw Noah pointing at the title of the book. 'Instructions on how to operate the sound system,' "Oh,"
"Someone needs to keep those two without messing up," Noah said as he closed the book and stared at the goth girl with bemusement. "Two buffons operating the sound system was like giving monkeys dynamites; it's entertainment for the viewers but a nightmare for someone around them. Now if you mind."
Gwen walked away as Noah returned to read the book on how to help Owen and Jude on how to operate the sound system, which Gwen scoffed.
"I don't know how Ezekiel can keep up with him; that boy is annoying." Gwen murmured as she walked by and saw DJ walking with the makeup kit.
"Out of the way, oh my God, this light is just appalling! How am I supposed to work without proper lighting?" DJ came as he took the makeup kit and went to go after Justin, as he was happy to have someone to place make-up.
Chef, after seeing such a scene, was clearly getting annoyed from seeing DJ, a giant boy who was supposed to toughen up, but knowing that it wasn't supposed to be his problem, nor that he was part of his own alliance, he was very annoyed into still seeing the Jamaican like that.
"Move on, DJ, we found this water gun and an overcoat; I think it would help to fit the though guy persona." Sadie said as Eva helped to give the clothes to Justin, who smiled kindly at them.
"Thanks girls." Just like the flash of good light appeared to his face, as everyone who watched that scene couldn't help but stop and fawn over the model, as Sanders fawned herself, while MacArthur was enjoying a few donuts and coffee.
The Screaming Gaffers are getting ready for the challenge.
Chef just hoped the other team would be better into doing this challenge; he just wants the day to be over and go back to his kitchen.
"There's seven colors on this tape roll thingy, but I don't know which one to use. And what kind of shape would a mark be? Like, and M for mark, or…" Lindsay asked Katie for a few seconds.
"Place an K for kaleidoscope, and use a green mark on the position where the light should be." Katie said as Lindsay had an epiphany and nodded her head.
"That's a great idea, hmm… there you go." Lindsay placed the green tape roll, and cut as two lines which fit perfectly on their objective. And at the time Izzy memorized her lines. She gave a look at Ezekiel, who was helping Cody and Tyler at the sound.
"Okay, I'm ready." Izzy said as she released the papers and looked in gratitude to Ezekiel, who gave a thumbs up. She was now with all the cards on her hands; she wasn't sabotaged like her counterpart; she wasn't going to play around, she was going to be an actress; it was her dream; and she wanted to be famous. It was all or nothing, and she would hate herself if she made the same mistakes as she did in the past with her old version of herself.
"Get back to first positions!" Trent called as everyone was preparing themselves, while he looked above just to see Heather on the lights. "Hey Heather, what are you doing above there?"
"Just checking the right angle, it seems everything is just fiiiiii-" Heather, who was walking, should have realized that she shouldn't be walking above the sat in heels, since it would be easy for her to fall and hurt herself.
Everything happened so quick. Like nobody ever expected to happen like that.
"I got her, I got her." Tyler tried to go after Heather, but suddenly he smashed his face on the floor by his own unluckiness.
"Hey guys, did you anyone see my notepad? I needed to write some information." Harold, who was passing by as Tyler fell nearby him, and made him give a few steps away from him. Until the pressure of someone falling over him...
Heather, who thought she would hurt herself, had closed her eyes, but she just felt she was sitting on something. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed the impact of hitting something didn't seem fatal to her, as she blinked and saw that she didn't hit the floor, but slowly she realized that she had been sitting on the nerd… the ginger nerd… sitting on his face.
"Huh… well, thanks for the save." Heather didn't seem to realize what just happened, but she quickly got up and moved away. By cleaning the dust off her body, she returned to the crew. "I'm fine guys,"
"Oh, that's great." Lindsay said as she clapped happily and Izzy gave a sigh of relief and went to help Heather to get out of the movie set, and leave them to continue their work.
Cody, Ezekiel and Tyler approached Harold who was still on the floor.
"Harold, are you okay?" Cody asked as the group saw the ginger catatonic.
"I saw the paradise." Harold said, as clearly made Cody confused, and Ezekiel tried to hold his laugh, Tyler helped the nerd to get up. "It was breath-taking."
"Are you sure that you are fine?" Tyler asked as he could see Harold still in a trance, but nodded his head.
.
.
.
"Wow, you don't look like you!" Lindsay said as she never thought she would be proud of her work, Izzy seemed to have indeed aged 30 years from the makeup, but also managed to change the color of the ginger girl for white, making her an old lady who was crouching in a position of an old lady.
"And with this dress, I'm sure that my grandma would be proud to see it in action." Katie said as Izzy was wearing a well-fashioned dress, made with sensible fabrics that looked like rags but covered in details of colorful tapes that would ornament the design as it described the old era of the time. Someone who had aged so much would be wearing those clothes, as movies or even pictures of black and white.
"Okay, I think that's good for now." Bridgette said as she was glad that everyone was helping and the teamwork was indeed helping them at that time. "What about light and sound, is looking fine?"
"Yeah, for the tenth time, it's looking fine." Cody said as he rolled his eyes, and while he knows they need to keep checking, they are kind of annoyed for their constant talk.
Harold was still daydreaming from what happened.
Bridgette and Trent, as the remaining members of the Killer Grips left the stage, only Izzy was there, looking serious and concentrating.
"I hope that will be enough." Trent hoped, as he hoped it would work. He counted his team, 9 members excluding himself. It was his lucky number. And while they have one less person... It was his only shot. "Good luck, Kaleidoscope."
"And that's...Action!" Chris finally gave the call.
Izzy slowly walked as she was using her old cane, like an elder, her eyes tired, her smile melancholic, and with the right light and makeup, the silence was enough to make the group stare at what Izzy was about to say.
"When I was a young schoolgirl in Poline, frockling through my fields with my peat goat in the summer sun, those were my happiest days." Izzy commented as she could see the attention she was grabbing on herself. "The breeze was sweeter then...oh, how it carried the scent of fresh bread from my mother's kitchen! My little feet, bare against the soft grass, running... always running...hehehe."
Everyone could feel Izzy giving a sad chuckle, which made people interested in what she was also thinking about. But then the group just looked at Justin, who decided to give his own acting as well.
"Now you listen here and err… listen... wait a minute. Line." Justin, who was trying to act, suddenly forgot his lines and called outside, which made the Screaming Gaffers suddenly stares at him in disbelief.
Noah facepalmed, Leshawna raised her eyebrows, and Gwen pinched her nose.
"Now you listen here and listen here, good. If your fighter doesn't go down in the first round, you'll be sleepin' with the fish." Beth read the script as Justin nodded his head.
"Okay, got it. Let's try again." Justin said, as Chris blinked a few times.
"Err… you're still on the scene. We don't have takes." Chris said as Chef looked at the handsome boy in disbelief.
"Oh… right… err… Line again." Justin said, as immediately Noah slammed his face on the book. While Eva looked at Sadie, who was still looking at Justin in awe.
"He's still handsome in those clothes." Sadie said, as the group thought for a few seconds but then nodded their heads in agreement.
Izzy didn't seem to bother with what's happening outside; she wanted to give her best act of all time, so she went further and beyond, beyond the script, beyond the motivations Ezekiel had written for her. She was going to show why she acted the way she did on the first season.
"Shopa, my dear, sweet Shopa! My little goat with his stubby tail and mismatched ears... Oh, how he danced when I played my father's violin! A silly creature, yet the truest friend I ever had." Izzy acted as she became melancholic and decided to philosophize. "Everything passes in just one blink… A blink, you wake, one blink, one anniversary, one blink, you sleep, one blink, you grow up... one blink, you say good bye... Shopa, how many blinks passed when I was with you?"
Katie, Bridgette, and Lindsay sniffed as Tyler was releasing his tears like a man.
"Okay, if that's how she wants to play." Justin said as he finally got his line. "Now you listen here and listen here, good. If your fighter doesn't go down in the first round, you'll be sleepin' with the fish."
At the time Justin said those lines, it felt so generic and out of touch that even Justin, who forced himself to sound aggressive, didn't even feel intimidating.
"I give up." Gwen said as she knew a lost cause when it was done.
"I'm so glad I'm not him." Noah said with a good smile on his face, "Does he hate to lose someone else? Yeah, but seeing Justin as the cause of the loss? Yeah, that made his day.
Harold, who was still catatonic about what happened, suddenly cringed into hearing the lines of Justin, who clearly doesn't know how to act.
It was quite ironic that the handsome boy doesn't know how to act.
Izzy was still focusing on the script she had not just in her mind but also in her heart.
She sat on the couch, with a resolution look on her face.
"I've lived a good, long life! I've loved, I've laughed, I've cried, I've fought, I had a family, I had friends, but what I missed most of all is my little goat! Shopa! Oh, baa… baa…" Izzy said as she released the tears of how wonderful life this old lady had, and for the final touch. "My final hours are coming, when I will blink one last time... I will see you again Shopa, hear my call... like always you did in my time as a kid... baaa… baaa… baa.."
And slowly Izzy closed her eyes and looked peacefully on the couch.
"Baa…" Chef sniffed as he started crying.
Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Bridgette, Beth, Harold, Tyler, Owen, Jude, Cody, Katie, and Sadie—almost everyone was breaking down in tears, from seeing Izzy performance going so deep to the point on how an old lady loved so much her little goat that she waited for sleep the eternity with her beloved pet.
Even Ezekiel released a few tears, seeing how much emotion Izzy played as an actress. He knew that she was able to act on how she wanted, but to see the actual version of herself giving her all? It's no wonder why she became an actress before the World Tour.
Chef took a tissue to clean his nose with it. As even Chris let it out many tears into seeing the performance.
"C-Cu...cut! Okay, enough!" Chris said as he tried to clean up his tears, but it had been too hard to contain his feelings. "It's too much for Chef to take! Izzy clearly wins for best performance by far! The Killer Grips win it!"
"WOOOHOOOO," The whole team of Killer Grips cheered for their victory as Lindsay, Heather, Katie and Bridgette hugged Izzy, who just smiled widely from her performance, She looked at Ezekiel, who was still cleaning his tears with his thumb, he showed both hands. Giving 10 of 10 to her. Which made her grin widelly.
Confession – Iz- Kaleidoscope
"Look out Hollywood, because Kaleidoscope is coming for you after this season, and Kaleidoscope is going to make a blast. Prepare your oscars because I'm going to swipe it all." Izzy laughed as she never felt so excited and so static about how she managed to overcome her insecurity. She needed that after thinking about her past self. She was going to make all the changes and become a star.
The winning team was celebrating while Screaming Gaffers looked disappointed at how they lost a challenge.
But then it comes the surprise.
"Alright, Grips, since you won this challenge, it's time to give the biggest revela." Chris said as it made everyone pause. "This was a reward challenge."
"WHAT?" Every contestant shouted in surprise from seeing Chris say it was a reward challenge.
"You didn't see that coming, right? Well, since we are now operating on the MVPA system, we are now giving both teams the equipment for the recording of the scenes as the whole team. And for the winners. You all will get the best version of the said equipment." Chris said as he walked towards the group. He then pointed downhill. "There is the best equipment for scenes that you would want to explore into bringing attention for the viewers, and with that, accumulate points for yourselves before each elimination. Those gift boxes could save your life or screw the person who wants to eliminate you. So you better prepare yourselves for it."
"You mean we have a camera, lights, and microphones just to make us act for having points for we use as a way to protect ourselves on the elimination?" Heather asked as she crossed her arms.
"You never know, Heather, those boxes could mean way more than you ever imagine. By the way... also there was another prize." Chris said as he then pointed at the two sets. "The top of this cliff, while it is going to be used in some challenge in the future, maybe... is now also going to be your base operation."
"What?" The Killer Grips looked surprised as well as confused.
"A personal movie set for you all doing your own scenes to record. Since they are going to be published on the forum of our channel on the website, the fans will be voting and giving scores on which scene recorded could be scored for MVPA points, so nothing better than having good equipment for that." Chris explained as Izzy looked dumbfounded at Ezekiel, who seemed completely fine with that.
"Not going to be that guy, but what about us?" Owen asked, as he isn't sure how his team could handle if they don't have the same equipment, but he was glad to see Chris waving at him.
"Don't need to worry, Owen; you Screaming Gaffers will use this same equipment on the set you all brought over here. But you cannot use this equipment over this cliff. Which means you all must take down the equipment you installed, bring downhill, and you can use your trailer or the streets around the movie sets to make the recording scenes for your own MVPA points." Chris explained as Noah simply scoffed.
"Oh good, you give the best equipment and even 2 movie sets for the winning team, while the losers had to make amateur movies while using second-hand equipment." Noah remarked as the group looked at Chris, who just shrugged.
"It's better than eliminating a person right now. And since I'm generous, I will pretend that I didn't hear your remark." Chris said as he was indeed acting kind, as he ignored someone giving an elbow towards the bookworm who now should be glad the host wasn't for blood. "Anyway, now let's wrap this up. Owen, Ezekiel… You both selected the gift box of 1200 points, some boxes can only be used on the reward challenges, so I want you both follow me."
"AWESOME." Owen said as the group stared at him in surprise. "I forgot how awesome it was; it's..."
"Ah ah ah… no telling Owen. Or you are going to be eliminated." Chris said in a warning tone, which made Owen shut his mouth. As the group stared at Chris. "Now that we wrap up the challenge, new teams have formed, a new secret base for Killer Grips. Will they use all their tools to make the most quantity of points? Will Screaming Gaffers recover from such disadvantages in the future? Will Justin find a better career than acting?"
"HEY," Justin's voice came from the background.
"Be tuned on the most amazing and dramatic show ever aired on Canada, here... on TOTAL DRAMA ACTION." Chris said as he gave a look at the boys and led them downhill. "Now you guys can return to your trailers, but before that, Screaming Gaffers take your equipment out. And have a nice day."
"UGHHHHH," The contestants groaned as the host and Ezekiel and Owen walked downhill for the gift box.
"You have 1 hour, Ezekiel." Chris said as the boy looked at the telephone in front of him.
"Thanks, Chris," Ezekiel smiled, which the host waved before leaving Ezekiel alone on the telephone inside a room. The seconds looked like an eternity, but the boy knew what he should do... He pressed the numbers as he waited patiently on the line... 10 seconds later.
"Hello?" A male voice could be heard, as Ezekiel couldn't help but be emotional.
"Hi pa," Ezekiel said as the sound of surprise and something dropping came from the other side of the telephone.
"Ezekie?" Curtis said as he clearly was surprised to hear the boy's voice. "My boy, aren't you supposed to be on the show?"
"I am, eh," Ezekiel said, as even with his accent that sometimes escapes from his mouth, he smirked happily from how he could imagine his father looking in disbelief. "It's just that I used one of those gift boxes that let me talk with my parents for an hour."
"Oh really?" Curtis sounded surprised, as he also seemed to be humming in amusement. "Okay, now before we talk about how has been your day, mind to explain to me to explain to your ma, what the heck was that on the last episode?"
Ezekiel chuckled as he could see his pa looking at the television in disbelief.
"If I tell you, Eva and Izzy were the reason I trained so much on the Playa Del Losers, would you believe it?" Ezekiel commented sheepishly, as he could hear the disbelief voice from his father turning in silence.
"Yes, I believe you... your ma was the same way; it was very hard to deal with her when we were kids; she always dragged me and Robin across the farms and tried to explore everywhere; she went in caves, lakes, and even other towns to see how crazy it was." Curtis commented as Ezekiel smiled in nostalgia. "You really look after your ma; did you know that?"
"Yeah, I noticed." Ezekiel joked, as he then decided to ask. "Where's ma?"
"Ah, she went to visit one of her friends. That woman clearly was having the time of her life now that she had a lot of women to be nearby her and do woman stuff." Curtis commented as he could see the boy humming in amusement. "An advice, son, 5 to 6 girls together in the same place with only you on there smells almost like a problem, so be prepared to deal with all the weird things a woman would do nearby you."
"Yeah, I will keep that in mind." Ezekiel said as he could see that his pa was still acting a bit sexist with his words, but the intention behind clearly shows that he would never say it in front of them, but still he didn't lie; that was how he felt.
"Also, we watched the episode, and you said you didn't know any instruments." Curtis gave a comment that made Ezekiel raise his eyebrows. "Did you really forget you have a harmonica?"
"I have?" Ezekiel asked, as he could hear his pa chuckling.
"Yeah, you played a lot 3 years ago; you even have talent for it, but after what happened to you on the Hide and Seek on that day... You kind of forgot that you played harmonica and just went to focus on movies and television shows." Curtis gave a comment that it made Ezekiel pause, and indeed he remembers that he had an harmonica. "That's why, when I found it, I placed it in the pocket inside your suitcase. Just in case you would be bored of not having nothing to write or draw."
"Really?" Ezekiel commented in surprise, as he could hear his pa chuckling at him.
"Yeah…" Curtis voice could be heard as both Pa and Son passed a good many minutes talking with each other. How things were going at the farm. How was the show? What did he feel when his friends were eliminated? And Curtis knew about the teams before even airing the episode. Which was going to be something that clearly will annoy Martha from the patriarch knowing the events of the show before happening.
.
.
.
"I think my time is almost up, pa. Thank you for everything. I really needed to talk to you." Ezekiel smiled as he then heard the sound of grunting coming from his father.
"It was really great to hear your voice, son... Also, me and your Ma had been thinking around. And from the address you gave to us... We are going to send you a book," Curtis said as Ezekiel raised his eyebrow, until the bomb was dropped. "It's from your aunt Robin."
"…" Ezekiel remained in silence.
"I know that you may know 6 languages, 7 if possible, but I think Robin would like if you learned at least 10. She was always learning how to speak many languages, and while I learned a few, I think you would have less difficulty learning them. I think if you learn Korean and Cantonese, it will surprise everyone around." Curtis said as Ezekiel could hear the sobbing coming from his voice. "She would be glad to see how her efforts in keeping you studying on your own were passed by both me and your ma. Please take care of that book."
"I will pa, I promise." Ezekiel said as he then heard the sound of knocking from the door. "I think it's my time to go. Bye, pa."
"Bye son… I'm proud of you." Curtis said as Ezekiel placed the telephone back to the wall.
Ezekiel returned to his trailer. And with a good smile on his face, he was happy; he was satisfied... He looked at the little bag where it contained the tea leaves.
"Alright, round 2." Ezekiel said, as he was now determinate. To become stronger and smarter, take back his both lives memories and use them for the sake of making his family proud. And most important. To have fun while everyone is going after fame.
Pain? He could endure it, just for the sake of recovering his memories and being the best he could be. He is going to enjoy Total Drama Action as best as he can.
And by grabbing a pair of roller skates and finding his harmonica from the past. He knew that harmonica belonged to the OG Ezekiel, who's still him; he just forgot that he played harmonica before, maybe after the incident happening on him almost dying. But now he isn't sure if he was still rusty or not. But hey, he could play now; it's better than nothing.
With the tea leaves, Ezekiel was going through his own personal training; it doesn't matter if his body or mind is going to be stressed; when he rests, everything is going to be alright.
Everything is going to be fine.