Nightfall.

The Dropouts' tent was lit up with lanterns, providing some light on campus, aside from other lamp lights around the walkways. The academy itself was lit to some extent, but Mercutio had the lights dimmed to help simulate an ancient, nocturnal battle experience. In the center of the Dropouts' tent stood the mounted flagpole. The flag whipped around slightly as a brisk breeze passed through the tent. Before long, the historical reenactment challenge would begin.

"All right." Noah's voice played over top of the footage of the Dropouts readying up for battle. "Here's how I think we should do this."

Caleb and Holden stood as sentries outside the tent's frontal and only entrance, bayonets in hand.

"Sun Zi said, 'It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles'. From what Bowie has gathered, Caleb and Athena have been growing close, so we'll use her to distract him-the larger threat between himself and Holden."

Confessional - Bowie

"I feel bad, lying to Kobe, but I'm sure he would have done the same. Right, Brook?"

The silver-haired intern nodded behind the camera. "Mmhmm."

End of confessional

Multiple tables, chairs, and cots were laid out inside the Dropouts' tent. Athena sat at a table with Jill, though each girl appeared much more awkward around the other than they used to be, thanks to a certain pair of lips wandering where they shouldn't have.

"Now, because it's nighttime, we're gonna have two of us camouflaged and ready to snag the flag once-"

"Ha!" Zee interrupted, his voice playing from offscreen too. "'Snag the flag'. Nice."

"Once Bowie and Fish ambush them. Zee and Cody, you'll be our camouflage guys. Sneak in once the Dropouts are distracted by Bowie and Fish."

Bored, Damien leaned against one of the tables as Lauren, skulking in the tent's shadow, trickled her fingers forward for Damien's sleeve. He pulled away in a hurry once detecting her.

"Zee or Cody will likely get taken down; there's way more of them than you, so whichever of you can will trade off with Jayshawn. As our fastest runner, he'll deliver the flag back to our tent where Stephen and Londyn will be waiting and ready to back him up if there's Dropout interference, which there could well be. They have Jill and Kobe, whose legs are pretty long, so Jayshawn will probably be followed."

"Well, what are you gonna do then, sweetheart?" Fish urged the egghead. "Seeing as you've thought of everything."

As Matcha, Iko, and Kobe loitered around in the tent, Queen peeked over her shoulder to see MK fiddling with the stolen phone.

"What the? Is that a phone I see?"

"Uh, no," MK tucked it away in a hurry, lost to the abyss of her baggy jacket pockets. "Besides, wouldn't your people call it a cellular device?" she jibed in a snooty, poorly done English accent.

"Was that Matcha's phone?"

"It's mine. I snuck it in." Lowering her voice so as to not alert the others, she hissed, "Shut up."

Queen matched her volume and ferocity. "You'd best watch your tongue around me, or I'll make sure that you're saying, as my people would say, 'Pip pip cheerio' on the Bus of Shame, bitch."

"I'll be laying down a few surprises for the Dropouts," Noah replied. "Jayshawn, have you ever seen tripwire?"

He scoffed. "Have I? Nah, I haven't."

"Now's as good a time as any to learn how to avoid it."

"I don't like this, Matcha," Queen stated.

"What's wrong?"

"Everyone of us clumped up here in the tent feels like a lousy strategy."

"Well, it's not really, because we'll all be here with the flag to make sure no one can get to it."

"Yes, well, wouldn't it have made more sense to post someone up out in the enemy's side of campus? Does the word 'interception' mean anything to you?"

Matcha put her hands on her hips. "Hey, I don't need the attitude, all right? You have a problem with the way we do this challenge, you should have brought it up during our discussion. Hours ago."

"Yes, I could have snuck it in during that period, the same period in which you screamed at the lot of us for interrupting you."

"That's not even-" She scoffed. "What is your problem?"

"I suppose you're right. Holden's not waiting in the tent with me; I should be grateful."

Outside the tent, with moonlight shimmering off the blades of their bayonets, Caleb engaged Holden in discussion.

"Hey, man."

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?" Caleb wondered.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to ask me instead of asking that?"

Confessional - Holden

"I hate when people do that shit. Ask the fucking question. You're so submissive that you've gotta ask before you even ask? You asking to ask your fucking question is a question. You're not getting permission before you ask that question, so why does the actual question need approval? You're going against the point of what you've set out to do, and all you've accomplished is wasting both our time-a resource no one ever gets more of, mind you. Just fucking grow a set of balls and ask your stupid, goddamned fucking question already. Fuck."

End of confessional

"What is it with you and Athena?" Caleb asked.

"Feel like you're the better person to ask that question."

"I mean- it's obvious you don't like her, but why?"

"Nah, now you got me curious," Holden countered. "What's there about her for you to like?"

Caleb chuckled. "Really, man? I mean- what a- she's just so sweet. She's kind, outgoing, innocent, and, you know... really pretty, too."

"You're lucky you look like a high schooler on fucking Euphoria, 'cause any other motherfucker who calls a bitch 'pretty' isn't getting any."

Caleb stared at him for a moment. "I- that isn't what I was getting at."

"Little sus that 'innocent' was one of your adjectives of choice. Anyway, she may be those things, but she's also annoying, her voice grates on my ears, and frankly, I think she's fake as fuck."

"'Fake as fuck'? Really?"

"Don't give me that shit, bro," Holden retorted. "No one is that happy-go-lucky. Chick tossed Queen off a building."

"Into a dumpster-to win the challenge."

"Yeah, that was part of it. You seem pretty naive, Caleb, so lemme give you some advice: whatever you've got going with Athena, pull out of it. Leave her be. She's... Something's off about her. Whether it's an alliance or pussy that you want from her, you ask me, both are better found from someone else."

Interrupting Holden's spiel came Iko shuffling out of the tent.

"Hey, where you going?" Holden demanded.

"Hey, Iko," Caleb greeted him.

"Hey. Oh, Matcha just sent me out on interference duty."

"'Interference duty'? She sent you?" Holden remarked.

Iko nodded. "That's an accurate recollection of what happened, yes."

He scoffed and shook his long head of hair. "Priorities are more tangled than a hooker's hair on this team."

"Huh?"

"Just go, Iko."

After the producer awkwardly waved to them and headed off into the dimly lamp-lit night, Holden prodded Caleb and murmured, "Him? Really? Strategy seems to be lost on our law major team president."

Confessional - Caleb

"Damn, man, what an a-hole. Can't say I blame Queen for feeling how she does about him."

End of confessional

Meanwhile, lurking in the bushes not far from the Dropouts' tent, Zee and Cody stuck their heads out, spying. Cody gagged and spit out a tiny branch. Zee saw Bowie and Fish sneaking through the night, getting close to closing in on one side of the Dropouts' tent.

Excitement in his eyes, Zee gushed, "Ooh, it's almost showtime!" before taking a swig of a can of soda from within the bush.

Walking around through the nocturnal campus, Iko made his way across well-maintained grass towards the center point between the two posted tents. The tents were far enough away from each other that you couldn't see one while standing in the other, giving Iko a good distance to walk. He peered around, but nobody was around. As he faced ahead of him again, he suddenly tripped, falling flat on his face.

"Ow, what the hell?" Iko looked to see that his foot was tangled and caught up in tripwire. "Oh, great..."

"I'm so sorry about this morning," Athena blurted.

Inside the Dropouts' tent, Jill turned around at the table she and Athena sat at to face her. "Hmm? Oh, right, that."

"I just- I'm still learning how to-"

"Athena."

"Yes?"

"Behind you!"

Athena let out a shrill yelp as the cloth of the tent behind her was torn with a bayonet blade. Fish pushed back the torn tent flap with his bayonet and clutched onto Athena, wrapping an arm around her neck. Placed in a headlock, the poor girl screamed. The others in the tent-Matcha, Jill, Lauren, Queen, and Kobe-all aimed their bayonets at him, leaving him to resemble a viral Flynn Rider meme. Trembling, Damien shut his eyes and tried to aim the bayonet. Meanwhile, MK struggled to even hold the gun properly, as it was much too big for her.

Confessional - Damien

"Were those things loaded? I'd really like to know whether we were all aiming loaded guns at that guy."

End of confessional

"Settle the hell down. Yeesh," Fish complained as Bowie piled in through the tent rip after him.

"Oh, Jesus, Fish," Bowie sighed. "Hi, Kobe."

"S'up?"

"Athena!" Caleb exclaimed, then he burst inside the tent. "What the hell are you doing with her?"

"Please don't touch my butt!" Athena cried.

"I only do that to men, girly," Fish replied.

"Let go of her, man, what's wrong with you?" Caleb urged.

"Listen to him," Matcha ordered.

"Or what?" Fish countered. "You're gonna shoot me?"

"Can I, can I, can I?" Lauren peeped, giddy.

"You're all too pussy to do anything. But me?"

Fish budged himself and Athena backward, waving his bayonet blade all around. Jill gasped and ducked from being hit while Damien yelped, nearly losing his snapback as he bucked back.

"Watch it with that shit!" he complained.

"Now what? Now what? Now what?"

Holden stuck his head through the tent flap to watch the situation unfold. "The fuck are we doing in here?" A swift bonk to the side of his head withdrew his attention to outside the tent. "Ow! Hey!"

Standing-on wobbly legs, that is-before him was Zee, dressed up in clothes cartoonishly painted to resemble a brick wall.

"Great disguise, dipshit, did you forget the tents aren't right beside the academy?" Holden jeered.

Zee's comfort returned and he smiled, replying, "Well, actually, bro, the disguise is pretty killer, 'cause I'm gonna lure you towards the academy, then you won't be able to see me. Except, now... now I've told you. Huh."

"You're not very smart, are you, Zee?"

Confessional - Zee

"My mom always told me that it didn't matter what was smart, it was what you carried inside you that mattered. Or, who was smart. Me. Or you. Not that it mattered-is the point. What did she mean by what you carried inside you, I wonder. My organs and shit? My soul? No, no, no, wait, I got it. It's not the pants, yo, it's the sodas in your pockets that make you who you are." Zee leaned back and clicked, flashing finger guns at the camera. "Church, bro."

End of confessional

"Plan B!" Zee exclaimed, then he let out a comical battle yowl as he reared back the bayonet, only for Holden to barge the butt of the rifle into him, knocking him over with ease.

"Hey, he's getting away!" Damien yelled.

Cody burst through the opening to the tent with the flagpole in hand. His eyes bugged as Holden managed to grab him by the scruff of the shirt before he could get far.

"Gimme that!"

Lying in the grass, Zee employed quick thinking and pulled out a can of soda from his baggy pockets, shaking it as fast as he could, then he cracked it. He pointed the can straight up at Holden, spraying him down with sticky sugar water. It was enough for Cody to get away, nimble and quick. Holden growled his annoyance out.

Meanwhile, inside the Dropouts' tent, Fish, holding Athena in a headlock, and Bowie still remained.

"Lauren, Queen, MK, and Caleb, handle Fish and Bowie!" Matcha ordered. "But don't kill them, Lauren, please! Jill, Kobe, Damien, with me! We've gotta stop Cody!"

"You're the boss," Kobe replied, falling into line with the others.

On their way out of the tent, Zee cowered on the ground as Holden held his brick wall-painted scruff, rearing back a fist.

"Leave him and come with us!" Matcha urged.

"You got lucky, soda boy," Holden growled, thudding him down to the grass before he left.

Lying there in the grass, Zee was still for a moment, catching his breath before he suddenly relaxed and started laughing. "'Hey, Soda, here come the hobos.'" [1]

Confessional - Zee

"You guys should definitely watch The Outsiders. Movies from the 80s hit different."

End of confessional

Inside the tent, Fish kept Athena held tight in the headlock with Bowie beside him, uncertain about what to do with Lauren, Queen, MK, and Caleb pointing bayonets at them. Bowie noticed the sparkle of insanity in Lauren's eyes.

"Girl, if you actually stab me, Mercutio isn't gonna be pleased. Neither would my stylist."

"Sometimes you have to measure the true value of an action!" Lauren squeaked. "I could get in trouble, but pointy-pointy in flesh makes me happy!"

Confessional - Lauren

"That's my thought process being around Damien all day! Even if he's on my team. But, there's a catch; if I continue to torture him, he'll keep screaming. I like that very much. However, if I kill him, he'll never scream again. I don't care for that outcome. What's a girl to do?"

End of confessional

"Jesus Christ," Bowie rasped.

"Let go of her," Caleb demanded.

"What are you gonna do, big guy?" Fish taunted, then chuckled an obnoxious chuckle, fastening his hold on the orangey blonde. "I'm starting to get this impression that you're all bark, and not enough bite. So, you big rottweiler, you've got two choices; either you show me those teeth and bite, or you can chase your tail all day and keep yap-yap-yappy-yappy-"

Fish cut off, falling unconscious in a second as Caleb used the rifle as a club, banging the side of it against Fish's head. Athena rushed over to him to hug him almost as tight as Fish held her. Pleased, he hugged her back.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't believe you did that though!"

"What can I say? I got fed up."

"Lovely, however we still ought to do something about him," Queen interrupted, pointing out Bowie. He was right in the middle of tugging Fish out through the tent rip, his arms under his shoulders.

"You know what?" Bowie swished a dismissive hand through the air. "That's okay, we're just gonna get out of your hair. This is as good a time as any to peace out, right?" he grunted.

Panting like a dog, Cody raced through the dark campus as fast as he could. He was careful to avoid any tripwire along the way, leaping over it. It had a certain, subtle gleam in the moonlight that Noah had taught him and Jayshawn to identify.

"Stop!" Matcha shouted from afar. The Dropouts were gaining on him, with Kobe proving to be their fastest runner. Cody's lungs burned and urged him to stop, but he saw Jayshawn waiting to tag him out up ahead like they were in an Olympic event. Jayshawn started running, holding out a hand for Cody to pass off the flag, while Kobe neared closer and closer from behind. Cody strained and grunted, heaving his arms to stretch just the slightest bit further. Finally, he made the pass just as soon as Kobe tackled him.

"Gotch- aw, shit," Kobe grunted.

"Try and catch me!" Jayshawn snapped. "Come on, fuckin' come get me! I'm the fastest nigga in the west!"

"Don't let him get back to their tent!" Matcha ordered her teammates, only to turn back and see Noah's tripwire give Holden a complete and utter wipeout. "Fuck!" he snapped. As if this wasn't enough, the tripwire being stepped on triggered a mechanism that shot out a mound of dust at the pursuing Dropouts.

"Iko!" Matcha yelled, then coughed and waved her hands to free herself of dust.

The tangled up producer overheard his name from afar, further off on campus. He perked up, though still couldn't manage to get free.

"They need my help. Come on, come on, come on," he grunted, but the tripwire's hold on his foot and ankle was immense. Far away from him, Jayshawn sped off with the flag, uninterrupted. "There must be some way out of this."

Confessional - Iko

"Without a single musical challenge so far in the competition, I've been feeling like dead weight around the rest of my teammates. I don't like thinking about this, but the way things are going, whenever we get around to going to a real elimination ceremony, they might get rid of me first. I have to find some way to prove value to the team. I have to."

"Do you have any ideas?" Brook murmured.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Sorry. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well..."

End of confessional

Iko examined the tripwire. Noticing its moonlight gleam, he was able to see that it was connected to posts all along campus, spanning in multiple columns for quite some distance. He then saw the wire wrapped around his ankle over top of one of his chino pant legs. Further away, he glanced over to see the Bus of Shame sitting idle on the road leading away from campus.

"Hmm..."

Grunting and wriggling, Iko managed to slip his shoe off, then, with some exertion, pull his leg up through the pant leg, which proved to be what was more stuck in the tripwire than his actual leg was. Uncomfortably, the producer undid his pants, allowing himself to escape with only one shoe and his boxers.

"Yikes."

He clutched onto his pants, tugging hard enough to pull out some of the posts from the ground further off. By pulling his pants and backing up multiple steps, the wire tightened, contracting and creating a barely visible running obstacle. Holding his pants and the tight wire in the air, Iko glanced back over at the bus, then back to the situation he'd created. He smiled and chuckled. "Just like the strings of a guitar..."

On the furthest other end of campus, Noah, Stephen, and Londyn waited by their team's tent for Jayshawn to arrive. The moon shone down on them, reflected off their bayonet blades. Soon enough, Jayshawn neared, closely followed by Matcha, Jill, Damien, and Kobe.

"Jayshawn! Toss the flag!" Noah urged.

"Nuh uh! I'm-" he gasped. "Almost there!"

However, Kobe was gaining on him with tremendous speed built up.

Confessional - Kobe

"You wanna be a good soccer player, then you're gonna wanna be able to run. The rest is gravy. Well, nah, not actually, but soccer without the ability to run is like a gazelle trying to outrun a lion after swallowing an entire hippopotamus."

End of confessional

Getting closer, Jayshawn readied up to pass the flag to Noah. Noah outstretched his hand, Londyn braced herself, and Stephen didn't do anything at all. With Kobe not quite close enough to stop the likely trade, and a victory on the horizon that Noah would attain for the Grads, Matcha thought fast. She aimed her rifle, firing a pebble into Jayshawn's side. He let out a cry of pain, then Kobe was able to tackle him.

"Gotcha!"

"Fuck off me! Dammit, what the fuck? That fuckin' hurt!"

"Do all of these have pebbles in them?" Jill asked.

"No, that was my idea," Matcha replied.

Out of nowhere, a blaring horn sounded, and Matcha, Jill, Damien, Noah, Londyn, Stephen, Kobe, and Jayshawn turned to see the Bus of Shame barreling through the grass, its headlights harsh and bright, revving as it rolled right towards the tent.

"I'm too hot to die!" Londyn cried.

Iko drove with determination. One of his arms was sticking out the driver's side window, holding onto his chinos, with one pant leg still wrapped up in the tripwire. As grounded posts became ungrounded, the near-invisible tripwire came flying towards the contestants.

"Dropouts, duck!" Iko yelled.

Matcha and Jill were fast enough, but Damien got slung off his feet, the tripwire smacking him in the face, taking him down as well as Kobe, Jayshawn, Noah, Londyn, and Stephen. The bus came to a skidding halt, digging up dirt as Iko hopped out, pantsless.

"Where yo' pants at?" Kobe rasped, reeling in the grass.

"I did it! I did something!" Iko exclaimed.

"Iko, stop Noah!" cried Matcha.

In the time it took Iko to fumble out of the bus, Noah and Stephen were back to their feet, with Noah grabbing the flag from Jayshawn and rushing for the goalpost in the Grads' tent.

"I'll try!" Iko shouted. He ran at Noah, and that's when, for the first time in the challenge, Stephen burst into action.

Rearing back, Stephen thrust the bayonet towards the tent right as Noah and Iko barreled in. The blade passed right by Iko's gut, cutting open the producer's vest and stabbing deep into Noah's side.

Jill and Londyn gasped, Londyn covering her face. Damien screamed. Noah let out a caterwaul of pain, helplessly diving forward. Fortunately for the Grads, the flagpole landed in its slot, securing them victory.

"Stephen, what the actual fuck?" Jayshawn snapped.

"It was just an accident," he replied, his demeanor empty and still once again.

However, the Grads' victory was on no one's mind as Noah fell to the floor of the tent, his eyes closed shut, his teeth mashed together, writhing, with his hands covering a profusely bleeding abdomen wound.

[1] - As Zee alludes to his in his confessional, this is a line from The Outsiders, and one that a friend of mine used to quote all the time

Dropouts: Caleb, Damien, MK, Scary Girl, Athena, Holden, Iko, Jill, Kobe, Matcha, Queen

Grads: Cody, Noah (?), Bowie, Zee, Fish, Jayshawn, Londyn, Stephen

Some quick OC descriptions:

Athena: orangey-blonde, orange contacts, black and white dress

Holden: long, scraggly hair, heavyset, short, leather jacket

Iko: slim-fat, short, stylish overcoat and vest

Jill: athletic build, red hair, tan skin, emerald green eyes

Kobe: tall, big afro

Matcha: brunette, business casual

Queen: purple hair

Fish: typical influencer look

Jayshawn: fit, muscular, dreads, gym tank/shorts

Londyn: brunette, face tattoos, gorgeous features

Stephen: early 2000s emo look

Mercutio: chiseled face, suit, wide-framed

Tracy: slim, suspenders/bowler hat

Brook: silver hair, oversized cardigan