Chapter Text
"Hello and. . . wait, just making sure, the camera's recording right now, right?" Lola flashes a smile, which looks so obviously awkward and forced. All she receives is a sigh. "We're cutting that out, right?" She coughs. "So. . . hello and welcome to The Island Brawl! Where 24 brawlers we've chosen compete for the prize of one million gems! They'll have to go through multitudes of challenges challenging their power, abilities, trust, and more!"
The camera pans over the environment where the contestants will be competing. It's a pretty big island and has plenty of trees, which obscures most of the view. A few things, however, can be noticed that poke out through the vegetation. They are three large tents, each one a vibrant, primary color.
"These 24 brawlers have been split into 3 teams, which we'll introduce right now!" She pauses for a second, waiting for the cameras to shift position. "Team 1, featuring Chuck. . ."
"To be honest, I have no idea how I got here. Where's the Ghost Station?!"
"Ash. . ."
"Aye, I was never informed of this competition thing, too! Stop pointin' a camera at mah face!"
"Lawrie. . ."
"Yeah, it's like you guys just kidnapped us and put us here for fun! I could have you crew arrested! Also, where's my bro? At least—"
Lola moves on before he can go on further. "Sam. . ."
"You put me in a team with several bots? Are you trying to get me to snap?"
"Rico. . ."
"What's your problem, man? I haven't even done anything to you!"
"Emz. . ."
"O.M.G, how am I supposed to keep up with my social media here? I'm so unfollowing you!"
"Willow. . ."
"This should be no problem at all! All these fools don't have what it takes to win!"
"And Moe."
"Nice to meet you all! Say, the castle courtyard looks a bit different. I heard something about a camera, is it being filmed?"
"You all will make up Team Red. . . which was uncreatively named because we ran out of ideas half way through—"
Mico, who was holding a boom mic, suddenly moves it away from Lola's face. "Don't tell 'em that, damn it!"
"Oh whatever, I get to say what I want here! This is my show!" she yells, and then faces the contestants. "For the next few weeks, you will live on this island and try to survive while facing numerous challenges, have good teamwork, darlings, because a loss means you have to vote someone out!"
Lola then looks right at the camera. "And our special twist for this season, is that you, the viewers can cast a vote for who you want out, too! Yes, that's right!"
"What's this bitch going on about?"
"Whenever voting begins, simply just comment one contestant you want out to cast a vote for, and who knows, maybe you folks can impact how the game goes out!"
Before the other brawlers can react to what she had said, Lola moves on to the second team, which isn't named any better than the first. They're all named after colors, after all.
"Team Blue, featuring Lou. . ."
"I think I'm confident enough in our team to win!"
"Charlie. . ."
"One million gems you say?"
"Buzz. . ."
"Yeah, I like this team too! Ain't no one here is gonna get abandoned by me!"
"Ruffs. . ."
"And I'll toughen up the weaklings this team has!" He performs a military salute.
"Shade. . ."
"Wooo!"
"Kit. . ."
"You guys realize in these types of shows, teams eventually merge so that it becomes every man for themself, right?"
"Shelly. . ."
"Well, we can still have alliances then! We'll stick together no matter what!"
"And Stu."
"Y-y-yeah, we c-can form li-like a little strong f-family!"
Lola smiles a bit as she shifts her attention to the final team, which if you couldn't guess already, was beautifully named Team Yellow. Their facade of a tough alliance was going to fall so quickly, she thought. Perfect for drama.
"And now our final team! Featuring Max. . ."
"I hadn't had an energy drink in four hours. . . I'm going to die here."
"Meeple. . ."
"Oh, this little game is it? Just give me the rule book and this should be a piece of cake, I'll have every strategy memorized!"
"Clancy. . ."
"This lobster is taking home the victory!"
"Chester. . ."
"Yes, oh my god, I'm going to become famous!" He gives a wave to the cameras. "Hi mom and dad!"
"Edgar. . ."
"Someone fucking kill me, I was looking forward to that Bad Randoms concert all week. . . now I'm stuck in this hellhole."
"Doug. . ."
"I spot some familiar bros, I bet I can do this!"
"Eve. . ."
"Oh. . . can my children even survive in a place like this?"
"And our last contestant of today is. . . Brock!"
"So excited for this shit, man, let's do this!"
"And with that, let's begin! All of you, go to your assigned campsites and spend some time getting to know your new teammates. But don't get too comfy with them, the first challenge starts at noon!" After a short pause, Lola adds, "Alright, with the intro out of the way, is my make up on properly?"
"Yes, it's fine," Mico mumbles, rolling his eyes. "I don't get why you care so much, you know, this ain't about you, you didn't need to wear something so flashy! Yeah, yeah, you're the host, but you ain't the main character here. Our contestants are."
She quickly eyes the camera. "You paused recording, right?"
"I'm sure we can just cut it out," Buster replies, giving the camera he was holding a light tap.
"Good!" Lola exclaims. "Now, let's go see what the teams are up to."
The brawlers had dispersed, eventually finding their respective campsites after trekking through dirt and grass. The sun beat down on them as they had walked, and on top of some already feeling distrustful after suddenly waking up to a new environment, it had made the contestants hurry to encounter their tents. So when the campsites are found, they are glad.
They're surrounded by trees and small bushes which look like they contain edible berries. Whether or not they'd like to test out their knowledge of survival skills was up to them, though. They estimate that the closest edge of the island is hundreds of meters away, so their source of water will probably have to go from somewhere else. Next to their tents are an unlit fire pit with small pieces of wood nearby. Inside the tent, it's very spacious, naturally, as it is meant to hold eight people. However, aside from a few sleeping bags, there is nothing else, not even a survival kit. They'll have to legitimately survive in the wilderness.
Ash is the first one to enter the tent, and he waits for a few seconds, to see if anyone else will join him. It's absolute hell for him to be inside his armor in such a heat, his clothes are reeking with sweat, but as long someone's in the same room as him, it's got to stay on. And he doesn't want to risk it, so he keeps it on.
He sits down on one of the sleeping bags, letting out an angry sigh. His eyes shift to where the rest of his team are, already eager to test their survival skills. Ash wonders what exactly they are doing, when Moe enters.
"Ash!" He scurries over, resting himself on his lap. "I don't really know what's going on, but I'm glad you're here with me. I can't seem to find where Grom is. . ."
"Grom's not here, lad," he replies, putting a hand on Moe's body, rubbing his fur gently. "He's. . . we're. . . it's a situation I can't really explain very well. But. . . we're on an island, with a bunch of other brawlers, and we need to survive."
"How'd this happen?"
"I don't know. Somethin' to do with magic, perhaps," Ash muses. "I don't believe some producers lookin' to make a TV show would kidnap people and make 'em compete. That's illogical. But here we are, I guess. And I have no idea where we are."
Moe takes a few seconds to understand his words, and then nods. "So what are we going to do? Just sit around here, mate?"
"For now, until I'm more acceptin' of this stupid situation," he admits.
Meanwhile, the other team members are awkwardly sitting around the fire pit, clearly not 'eager' as Ash thought they were.
"You!" Emz shouts. "The old man in the wheelchair."
"It's Chuck," he replies, his eyes twitching in annoyance.
"You look like you know how to start a fire the best," she says. "With your fancy ass hat that can blow smoke from it."
". . . do you think smoke is what causes a fire?" he questions, his patience already running pretty low.
"I'm no fire expert, but it must be, because when there's fire, there's smoke." Emz crosses her arms like what she had just said was a groundbreaking discovery.
Chuck just shakes his head before cursing in Italian. But of course, Emz wouldn't know that. She groans, looking for someone else to converse with.
Lawrie watches, his circuits on increased edge. After a few seconds of thought, he announces, "I'm going to find some supplies. Rico, you come with me."
Evidently, he is just as nervous, but he lets himself follow Lawrie anyway. The two of them walk for a few meters until Lawrie stops suddenly, looking at him straight in the eye.
"We need to team up," he says in the most serious and firm tone Rico has ever heard, causing his systems to short-circuit for a moment.
"Why?" he asks, looking around, but the other brawlers are no longer in sight.
"Because I don't trust anyone here. At all. I don't even know if I can trust you. But, I'm certain we'll be targeted by Sam, and if I'm going to survive out here, I'm gonna need an ally," Lawrie states in a pretty flat tone. "I don't expect much out of this alliance, just. . . if you don't betray me, I won't betray you. Deal?"
"Sounds fair."
There's silence among them, which only adds to the awkwardness of their conversation. ". . . especially Chuck and Sam. . . I trust them the least."
Rico's eye narrows in curiosity. "Why. . . exactly?"
"Simple, they're criminals. You already know why Sam's got to go, but Chuck. . ." His voice trails off, perhaps for a dramatic effect. "He's too unstable. Say one thing that ticks him off and he'll go on a rampage. We don't need that on our team."
He's not exactly sure what to say to this new information, so he nods again. Rico's mind is a mess, all his wires feel like they're tangled, and he doesn't know how to calm it down.
Back at Team Red's camp, Lola and her crew arrives, pointing the camera really close at everyone's faces. "Let's see how the team is getting along!" She picks the closest brawler. "And how do you feel about your team so far?"
"Do you guys have wifi?" Emz asks instead. "And back off, you're making this so much more awkward with you guys around."
"Oh, just pretend we're not here!" she replies.
"Kinda hard to do when you flash a camera in our faces and ask questions we don't want to answer," she retorts. "Ugh, I need to use my phone!"
Willow speaks up. "Oh, I'm willing!"
Confessional: Willow
Woah, what the fuck is this that just popped out? It's like I've been pulled aside, and like. . . I'm talking, but I'm not!
"It's a confessional darling, where you can spill out anything you want and no one except the crew and the viewers will hear it. Now, go on!"
Confessional: Willow
I guess, well, I know that none of these fools trust each other. And they're all such god damn idiots! They'll be easy to manipulate, to do my bidding, everyone thinks I'll be on their side, but really, the only side I'd be loyal to is my own! Sorry teammates, but you just don't got what it takes to win!
In Team Blue's camp, it's a lot more peaceful. Each member is sitting on a sleeping bag, forming a circle that they're all facing toward.
"What challenges do you think they'll make us do?" Buzz asks, his arms wrapped around his knees. "If they'll make us swim, I'm good at that shit! I'll carry us to victory."
"Brawling. . . certainly is going to one of those challenges," Ruffs murmurs. "No doubt about it, that's what we were born for."
"Well, yeah, but not all challenges are going to revolve around that," Buzz points out. "We're on an island. They're probably creative enough to do something with that."
"Maybe we'll have to find something. Like. . . a treasure chest," Lou suggests with a bit of a smile.
"Yeah, could be. I think I'll be good at that too, I have like, eagle eyesight. Hey, speaking of that, we should all say what we're good at," Buzz says, looking at his team members with enthusiasm.
Lou goes first. "I. . . I'm good with anything ice. Even if there's none here. . . I can probably make some!"
Soon, it's Shade's turn.
"Ghost boy, what are you good at?"
It freezes up, its pupils wide like it had now acquired stage fright. "Woooo!" was the only thing it could let out.
"Hey man, it's okay. Just speak whenever you're ready," Buzz encourages. The group waits, noticing Shade's eyes falling toward the floor. "Shit, can you even talk?"
Slowly, it shakes its head.
"Ohh, fuck. Well, man, we'll work something out!, don't worry about it!" he replies, about to put a hand on its shoulder, but he hesitates, not sure if it'd just pass through.
Confessional: Kit
Wha, what's this? . . . Oh. But I don't see any of the camera crew anywhere! Well, heh, who cares! I'm so glad Shade's on our team, because we all know who's getting out the second our team loses. I might have fucked up with my intro line, but it's fine! Just gotta act like I actually want to cooperate and then find the time to backstab.
"So. Let's talk about survival now. Clearly, we're meant to actually look for food and shit, and since a challenge's coming up soon, I think we'll all do better well fed," Buzz says. "Let's split up into smaller teams and look for stuff."
"Three, three and two sound good?" Shelly asks.
"Yeah! Me and Ruffs can look out for stuff." Buzz is quick to get on his feet, his small tail swishing back and forth. "Hope that's okay. The rest of y'all can decide who you want."
"Then. . . I'll go with Charlie and Lou," she says.
That left Stu, Kit, and Shade to make the third group, and by the looks on their faces, they were pretty satisfied with who they got.
Confessional: Shade
I-I can talk here? Wow! Um, I hope that when the challenge comes around, we win, I mean, we're a team, there's no way we can lose!
If Team Red thought they had bad dynamics, Yellow's was even worse.
"I think you all should give up and just let me have the victory," Meeple starts, "because I know all there is to this game!"
"Sure, if it means shutting you up," Edgar replies angrily, lying tiredly against a piece of wood, his scarf moving over his face to protect him from the harsh sunlight.
"Who wants to come with me to the ocean?" Chester asks, pacing around back and forth, channeling his excitement.
"I would!" Clancy says. "I can help you get water, catch a fish, heh, maybe we can see more aquatic life!"
"I'd join you guys, but water is not needed for robots like me," Meeple says almost as if they were bragging about that. "So you can go on, do your silly little human activities."
"That's cool, Nipple, but I didn't really ask," Chester retorts, poking at their metallic frame.
Their head turns bright red as their hands shakes. "How many times do I need to tell you this? It's Meeple! Meeple! Do you hear that? Or are you deaf?"
Chester waves his hand in dismissal. "Yeah, sorry Nipple, I'm just really deaf." He fights back a laugh. Before they can do anything else, he quickly turns away to head toward the ocean. "See ya later, loser."
Confessional: Edgar
This team fucking sucks. I wish I got better teammates. But eh. I'd like to make some friends here, for getting through this hellhole, but that would destroy my image. I'm supposed to be this cool teen that doesn't give a fuck.
Max is lying down on the floor, feeling the effects of caffeine withdrawal. Her body is shaky, and she's desperate to get off this island. Or maybe, just to get another energy drink. The others start to eye her in concern, except for Meeple.
"Get up, girl!" they shout. "You're gonna be useless for our team if you act like that for the entire game! Aren't you a superhero? Act like it!"
"Dude, I need drinks to function," she replies, finding a tree to rest her body against as she pushes herself off the ground. "My hero work requires like 30 of them per day."
"Did I ask?" they say, crossing their arms. "I just need a team who's willing to do stuff!"
"And what are you doing?" Max retorts. "All you've done is trying to boss us around."
"I appointed myself as the leader, as I am the only brawler here who has more than three brain cells in their head!" Meeple takes a step closer to her. "We don't need people who are gonna be lazy all day!"
Edgar raises his scarf in the air, causing their attentions to shift over to him. "How about we purposely lose this next challenge so that we can vote them out? I don't think anyone's gonna miss them."
"Now hold on—"
But they were interrupted. "Yeah, sounds good dude," Doug says, shooting a thumbs up at him.
"Hey! I'm just trying to keep you all in check! What are you going to accomplish after you vote me off? If you purposefully lose, the other teams will see us as weak and continue to target us! You have no plan, without me, you will just be a bunch of disorganized idiots who will continuously be the team to have to vote someone out," they growled, frustration boiling in their circuits.
"It'd make us feel better," Max replies, rolling her eyes.
"But they have a point though. . ." Brock says, his voice trailing off.
"Then," Edgar starts, getting up from the log he was lying down on to step into his face. "Here's the better plan. We do our best, and if we don't lose, congrats, you have good leadership skills, you can stay for a bit. But if we lose. . ."
The threat is clear. Meeple's eyes narrow in annoyance, and they want to say something back, but at this point, it was better for them not to anger their team further.
Confessional: Meeple
I think I fucked up pretty badly. Now everyone wants me out, and it's not like I can rely on any allies. . . you're supposed to make as little enemies as possible for a game like this, and I've already messed that up! Ugh! I'm going to have to consult the rules later. . . but maybe I can somehow turn this around.
The ocean's water is pretty clear, nice enough for one to swim in. But Chester can't swim, or rather, perhaps he just doesn't want to, instead, he watches the little ripples in the water. "You know how to catch a fish?" he asks.
"Sure!" Clancy says, "I'm a lobster! We wait and we pinch them when they get close!"
"You're a guy in a suit," he replies, sitting down on the sand, which clings to his outfit a bit, but he doesn't mind. "But whatever, do your thing."
He gets annoyed at Chester's words, but he starts to step into the water. "Sometimes, the fish are poisonous. . ."
"I think that's fairly obvious. Everyone's been taught to stay away from brightly colored ones in case of an emergency survival situation, right?" he says.
"Shut up! I'm trying to get you interested in what I'm doing!" Clancy says back, far down into the water enough for his head to be submerged. He has his weapon in hand, and he observes the area for movement.
". . . are you gonna be okay down there?" Chester moves his head around, trying to see what's going on down in the water. "Should we use a fishing rod instead? Could you build one?"
"Silence! You're disturbing the fishies! But yes. I'm okay and I could build one." He swims over to a school of fish that he has noticed far into the distance, his attention locked into them.
Confessional: Chester
Oh my god I'm getting the chance to speak my thoughts? Hell yeah! That must mean I'm being focused on right now! He waves. Am I putting a good impression on you right now?
Once he's close, Clancy fires a shot from his weapon at the large group, who's quick to dart away. But with so many fish in the school, one's bound to get hit, so when they finally get out of sight, he notices a fish slowly falling onto the ocean floor. It has a small dent in its body from where it had been hit, and he quickly grabs it, swimming back up to show off what he's caught.
"I got this!" he exclaims, holding it out in both hands. "I think it's already dead. Wanna hold it?"
"Um. . . sure." Chester tentatively puts his index finger on the fish's skin, and when he feels how slimy and wet it is, he recoils. "Actually, never mind."
"Let's get back to camp. I'll teach ya how to eat it without problem," Clancy says with a smile.
Confessional: Chester
My opinion on Clancy? He seems like a nice dude. Man, my team is so chaotic, I'm gonna need some allies if I wanna continue, I can't just fool around and hope people don't get annoyed by my insults.
The two walk through the grass, the silence somewhat peaceful from their otherwise chaotic lives before this competition. The nature is relaxing, enough to calm their nerves for a little while.
"So. . . what do you think the others are doing?" Chester asks when the silence has become boring.
Clancy shrugs. "I don't know. Don't know any of the other members well, so I have no idea what to expect when we get back."
"Well, if Meeple's stuck with them, they're probably arguing with them." He then adds, "They're a bit of an ass. And a fucking loser."
"Mmm," he replies, a bit intrigued. "I'm going to start a fire so we can cook this little guy up. And I'll teach you if you don't know how to yourself."
Chester chuckles a bit. "I don't think I should be trusted with that knowledge."
"It's good if you learn anyway. In case something like this happens again," he says.
"I doubt it."
Back at Team Blue, they're out there trying to look for items to help them survive, and maybe even get them an edge when the first challenge starts. That's what everyone is looking forward to most, ready to show off their skills. But it's unlikely that it'll happen soon, they know.
The group of three are examining berries, looking so fresh and making their mouths water, but none of them are willing to try to eat them, for fairly obvious reasons.
"Stu, why don't you give them a try? I'm sure if they're poisonous, you'd be able to handle it," Kit suggests him, sitting with all four paws against the ground.
"Um. . ." He's quite unsure what to do since his robotic body wasn't equipped with a mouth. "I-I-I think I'm f-fine! I don't ne-need food!"
"Well I need some, and Shade might too," he replies. "Eat them and tell us how your body reacts. I don't really wanna starve to death."
"O-okay!" Stu is clearly nervous as he picks up a berry, and after a few seconds, he takes a bite (defying logic, but honestly, who cares?). His eye turns green, and waves of purple swim behind the eye's glass visor. He notices a bitter taste, and he regrets it instantly. "They're n-not safe!"
"What a shame. Let's go find some other edible berries, then," Kit replies, trying to hide the smirk on his face. "Shade, you look a little bit on edge."
It nods slowly, watching as Stu tries to fight off the incoming nausea threatening his systems.
"What's the matter?" he asks with a hint of concern to his voice.
Shade pointed to itself, and then to the direction of their campsite, hoping that Kit would understand.
"What?" He quickly glances at Stu's form, wondering that if it had been a human that ate it, would they have died?
It let out a sigh, pointing at its face, making sure it was calling attention to that specifically.
"Oh. About the fact that you can't speak?" Kit hopes that he has deciphered it correctly. "And that you are worried about the others voting you off for that reason?" He sees the look of approval on its face. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything for ya, you're definitely the first person out when our team needs to get rid of someone. But hey. We have a great team. And so you don't gotta worry about that for a while. By then, maybe some things have changed! Maybe we're distrustful of some other guy, and we decide he's the one that gotta go!" He says this genuinely, which surprises Shade.
It doesn't exactly like how blunt Kit was, but it was indeed the truth, and it couldn't argue with that.
"Make yourself useful. Try to see what the other teams are doing. It'd be good to know what the other guys are planning," he says.
Shade nods.
Nearby, Ruffs has his hands on his hips, looking at Buzz with a determined stare. "Do you want to be trained like a soldier?" he asks, and the tone of his voice indicated that he was looking for yes as an answer.
He hesitates. "Sure?"
"Good. I see that you have some leadership skills, one of genuine interest to guide our comrades," he starts. "But a good leader not only needs to know how to command, to rally up our team, he also needs to have the strength to back up his words."
"So, what's first?" Buzz asks, feeling both excitement and a bit of worry.
"Drop down and give me fifty, soldier!" he barks. "And then we'll see what other training you need."
He's stunned for a second, but then he gets into position, pushing himself up and then lowering his body close to the ground. "One! Two! Three!" Buzz is already getting exhausted, and he's sure he isn't even doing this with the right form. But he hopes that Ruffs is willing to teach him.
"You can do this!" Ruffs encourages, bending down to his level and offering him a slight smile, which is surprising to see from a usual stern colonel.
"Eleven! Twelve!" Each push-up takes a considerable amount of effort now, and sweat drips down his body, making his suit even more uncomfortable to be in. "Fourteen!" His muscles are burning, and he feels like he's working so hard, he's gonna see a six pack on his body.
"Come on, I see the strength in you, I bet you can do ten more!" he says when Buzz reached twenty. "You can finish the rest later!"
He feels like he was going to die of exhaustion, but determination pulls through. "Twenty-five! Twenty-six!"
"Good, keep going. . ."
"Twenty-nine—fuck!" Buzz's body slumps against the floor, and he lets out a loud exhale.
"Around thirty! That's pretty good for a newbie!" he exclaims, patting him on his shoulder. "Rest now. We don't know what the next challenge will be, or when it is, so take it easy."
"A-alright. . ." Buzz feels his heart racing at a thousand beats per second, and he doesn't bother to try to push himself off the ground.
Confessional: Buzz
Huh. It's strange how this thing's appearing, when I don't see any of the crew in sight. Do they have hidden cameras? Anyway, I think this whole military training thing is pretty cool. I can get used to it. So I guess me and Ruffs are the unofficial team leaders.
He finally gets up after a few minutes. "Yeah, I'm gonna take it easy. Thanks for the training, man," he says.
"No problem. Always happy to help a fellow man out." Ruffs extends a hand, which Buzz shakes firmly. "We're gonna whip them into shape and make sure our team suffers no losses. Like true leaders."
Team Red's fire is finally lit, the smoke flying up into the air. Everyone is keeping their distance, but surrounding it. They are also all unsure of what to do, tensions are a bit high. Emz is still trying to find signal so she can use her phone, but of course, they're all trapped on an island.
Ash notices his stomach rumbling, which he grumbles at. "Aye, does anyone have any food? All we've been doin' for the past hour is sittin' around waitin' for somethin' to happen."
"I think we gotta go find our own food," Lawrie replies.
"I don't know what's safe to eat here!" he exclaims. "I can't trust the berries here, I don't know anythin' about the wilderness." He pauses for a second, trying to calm his anger down. "We're on an island, right? Maybe we can find a coconut tree and eat that."
"Ooh, let me help out, mate," Moe replies.
"Alright, lad. Let's go," Ash says, picking him up from the ground. He faces the rest of the group. "We'll be back soon."
As they walk off, Emz grows frustrated and slips inside the tent, placing her phone to the side. As she's trying to get inside a sleeping bag, Willow enters it too.
"Hey. Emz, is it, right?" she asks, eyeing her.
"Yeah. I wanna get off this island. I don't care about a million gems, I'd rather be at the mortuary with my uncle!" she mutters.
". . . oh. I was gonna offer an alliance. . ." Willow's voice trails off. "So you want to be the first out?"
She freezes for a second. "Well. . . now that you say that. . . I can't be last! That'd be embarrassing. I'd need to be in. . . at least the top ten before I'd willingly get out," she says. "Why do you want an alliance?"
"Because that's the point of the game! To make friends!" She has a wide grin on her face. "If you have no allies, the others are eventually going to find out, and gang up on you."
". . . Okay." Emz doesn't seem quite interested, so Willow sits beside her. Just as long as Emz trusts her, she thinks, it's alright. "Fine. Whatever. We can be friends and all that."
"Great!" She tries her best for her smile to not be too creepy. "So, let's discuss."
In the island's wilderness, Ash looks around, while Moe sniffs the air, trying to detect a change in scent. "Do you see anything mate?" he asks, riding on the top of Ash's armor.
"Nah. Not yet. What about ye? All I see are a bunch of trees, but none of them have any. Ye think we could find some other stuff, like one with bananas or somethin'?" Ash replies, his eyes squinting as the harsh sunlight beats down on them.
"Could be possible. . . hey. Ash. I feel weird," he says suddenly, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"Why? Am I a bit too bumpy for ye, lad?" he asks, trying to look up at him. "I can put ye down or carry ye instead."
"No no, it's like. . . we're being watched." Moe pauses for a second. "I-I don't know, like maybe a wild animal is observing us. . . thinking we're lunch?"
Ash's eyes widen with fear. "Fuck! A beast? He steadies himself, clutching his weapon tightly. His gaze falls to the bushes, then to the trees, trying to see if anyone is hidden. "Do ye hear anythin'?"
"Maybe it's onto us and it's trying to be silent now," Moe suggests, staying silent for a bit to try to hear if there were the faintest of footsteps. "Wait wait, those bushes!" He points over to where he thinks he heard rustling.
He carefully walks over, prepared for a fight. Each step is as slow as it can be, and Ash isn't sure if it's because he was afraid, or he just didn't want to make any noise. When he is close, he suddenly peaks over it, but to his dismay, there is nothing behind it.
"Are ye sure you heard something?" he asks, letting out a sigh as he turns back.
"I'm sure! Something's here, I hear and smell it!" Moe says. "Something different."
"Well lad, if it's somethin' different ye smell, perhaps it is because we're on an island? Where everythin' is different?" Ash says.
"I'm smelling something different than island smell," he replies. "It's familiar. . ."
"Familiar. . ." he repeats. "Like somethin' back at the courtyard?"
"No. . . something else. Like the smell of an animal," Moe clarifies.
Words aren't spoken between them for a little while as the two look at each other, trying to figure out their best course of action. Until someone in the bushes speaks.
"Can you two shut up so we can spy on you?"
Ash recognizes the voice immediately. "Fuck, it's the cat." He presses his palm against his face in annoyance. "Get back to yer team, ye rascal!"
"What?" There's a smirk on Kit's nuzzle as he pops out of the bush, with Shade next to him. "Not happy to see me?"
"Of course we ain't! Why do ye keep annoyin' us at the courtyard? Ye leave yer yarn everywhere, ye get into fights with Moe, and now ye're tryin' to spy on us. Get out!" Ash shouts, waving his broomstick in the air before jabbing it at the two's direction.
Shade looks at Kit, confused.
"Don't mind them, honestly," he whispers to it. "Me and them. . . we have a bit of history." He winks. "I just wanted to see how my old pals are doing."
"I don't have time for this," he grumbles. "Go find someone else to spy on, but not us! We're just gettin' food, and we weren't plannin' on discussing plans."
"Yeah! See what Yellow's doing or something," Moe adds.
"Okay, okay, damn," Kit replies, turning around. "You guys have no fun." His tail flicks as he walks away, Shade with him. He gets on all fours when he's a considerable enough distance away, laying close to the bushes.
Confessional: Ash
I'm sick of this wee bastard. And he's not even in the same team of us! Man, I hope I don't have to face him later, for any reason. I'm still apprehensive of this situation, It's so strange how we all are so acceptin' of it. But it's not like we can do anythin' about it. I'll think about things later.
At the edge of the island, there's a house, containing the equipment that Lola's crew needs to film. They're not the ones who's supposed to survive on such a place, so they've also got supplies. It's hidden among the trees, so if one of the cast were to go near, they would probably not see it. And if they did. . . well, Lola would just yell at them to get back.
Speaking of her, she's looking over the footage with Buster and Mico.
"Ya barely gave the yellow team a spotlight," Mico complains.
"Oh, who cares? I was gonna focus on them next," she replies, and she's so far satisfied with what the cameras recorded. "But there's not enough screen time for everybody." She pauses for a second. "They do have a lot of potential for drama. . ."
"What about the emotional stuff?" Buster asks. "Don't you wanna capture that stuff too?"
"Listen darling, people don't care about that stuff in a show like this! They wanna see the action, the fights, the betrayal! If they wanted emotional stuff, they'd watch some cheesy romance," Lola replies, giving him a wave of dismissal.
"I don't think ya understand storytelling at all," Mico retorts. "There can't just be action, or else the viewers aren't gonna care about the contestants! And then they'll switch from this garbage to another shit!"
"Hey! Reality TV is not shit! Else, why would you even agree to help with filming?" she says, feeling a little defensive.
He shrugs. "I need money. Simple. Now, when are ya gonna announce the first challenge to the people?"
"Oh, right! The next contest! I'll do it right this second!" Lola puts the equipment to the side and begins to move. "Come on, guys, Buster, get the camera, we've got announcements to make!"
The two grumble as they follow Lola outside in the sweltering heat, hating having to carry particularly heavy equipment deep into the island. But it was what they signed up for their job, so there was not much they could do about it. Mico had found something lighter to wear while Buster had forwent his usual vest as they trek through the land.
Eventually, they reach the middle, which has a small building built, a campfire nearby, and an array of logs around that. It's where Lola first introduced the contestants.
"Attention all brawlers! We will be starting the first challenge shortly! Let me explain the rules! Gems will be spawning across the island, your task is to collect them and bring them back to your camp! Brawling is, of course, allowed, but once a gem's at a team, no stealing! The team with the least amount of gems loses and has to vote someone out! Good luck! When I say so, the challenge officially begins!"
Lola flashes a grin. "Now, let's record the action!"
By then, all the brawlers were back at their camps, done with whatever they had previously tried to do, whether that was exploring, looking for food, or spying on the others.
"So does she have some loud ass megaphone now?" Ash asks, looking at the sky as if Lola was some magical creature that would appear any second. "Where'd that even come from?"
"What do you mean?"
"No way that's loud enough fer everyone on this island to hear," he says with a bit of a sigh, before looking at his teammates, who all are uncertain to a degree. "Let's discuss."
"About what?" Emz asks, raising an eyebrow.
"About the challenge?" he replies, beginning to wonder if this team really was so pathetic. "The lady gave us time to prepare, did she not? We're goin' to need a strategy, lads."
Lawrie crosses his arms. "What do you suggest?"
"I don't know! I am not a leader, so I hope the rest of ye can think of somethin'," he says, eyeing the rest of his team.
"Well, I think it's quite simple," Willow interjects. "There's 8 of us, splitting into groups of 2 looks good to me. In case we encounter a lone brawler, we'll crush them with our might!" She nudges Emz, really trying to act as if they've been buddies since forever. "We'll have enough groups to cover some ground while still having the manpower!"
"Sounds good."
"Yeah."
"So I'll be with Moe," Ash says.
"I'm with Lawrie," Rico says, nodding his head.
"Then you," Willow starts, turning to look at them, "Chuck and Sam. You'll be in the same group, then."
"Fine by me," Sam replies. "Mate, you look like you're able to handle yourself."
"Great! I didn't want to be with an idiot who doesn't know how to fight," Chuck laughs.
Meanwhile, over at the Blue team, their discussion of what they're planning to do goes far more simply.
"Should we split up into the same group?"
"Yep."
"Alright, then."
That just left the Yellow team to come up with something.
"Soo, our great and glorious leader, got an idea?" Chester asks, resting on the floor with his hands on his cheeks. He had a smirk on, as always, but it was a bit faded.
"I have got the perfect one!" Meeple exclaims. They've already written something on their notebook, which they show off eagerly. "Here's the plan!"
"She says we can brawl each other, but we can't steal once the gems are back at someone's base. So. . . what if, we camped their bases! We split up into two teams, one at each base! Once they come crawling back to deliver the gems to their side, we ambush them, steal their gems, and get back to our own base!" Meeple's excited with each word that they say. "And they'll be too disoriented to chase after us after we beat them up!"
"That is. . . quite interesting," Doug says after they are finished. "But I'm in, bro."
"Yeah, I guess we can try it," Brock puts in. "So how are we going to split it?"
"In a way that maximizes our abilities!" they say. "For example, you, Doug! You're a healer! You'll do well with a tank! Do we have tanks here?"
"I. . . think I'm the closest thing to a tank," Chester replies.
"My thick lobster shell can shield me from a lot of damage, I think us three could pair well," Clancy says.
"Hmm," Meeple says, pondering for a bit. "I think I'd want another support in your group! Max! You're gonna be part of their group. You'll all camp Team Red. And the rest, you're with me, camping Team Blue!"
"Alright," she replies with a groan. "But I'm so tired. . . I can't function without my energy drinks."
"Oh, shut up," they say. "You'll be fine, you'll get your energy drinks back."
"From where? Thin air?" she retorts.
"Don't you have powers, superhero? Surely you can do that," Meeple says with a bit of contempt, their eyes narrowing as they looked away to scan the surrounding area. "Do we have to stay put here until the challenge starts, or can we pre-move?"
"Just stay, to be safe."
And then, with timing too good to be a coincidence, Lola's voice sounds over the island. "Alright, contestants! Begin!"
All the teams start to dash from their camps and into the dense foliage, looking for the gems that had spawned all over the island like magic. They push aside leaves blocking their way, they step on branches that make loud cracking sounds, and they run as fast as they can.
"Do you see anything?" Chuck asks, occasionally placing down posts onto the ground as he wheels around.
"Nah. Not yet," Sam replies, slowing down to a jog from the strain on his muscles. If he were in real danger, he could've gone on for longer, but to him, this was just some silly game. A million gems? He could just grab his gang and commit a heist with ease for half that amount.
And then, he sees a shiny object hidden near the bushes. Sam quickly picks it up with a chuckle, tossing it over to Chuck. "There."
He catches it, and he prepares his chair for a second, before he bolts down the path he made at an astonishing speed, disappearing out of view in seconds.
"I'm gonna wait for him," he says out loud, walking around the general area of where he had found the gem, making sure that he doesn't get too far away so that when Chuck comes back, he can still see him.
But then, he feels like he can't move. He's now encased in some sort of silky substance, and no matter how much he struggles, he can't get out of it.
"Move in!" he hears a voice shout.
When Sam is finally free, his ambushers are already close to him, and unfortunately for him, Shelly's part of that group. She dashes forward, her shotgun ready to fire.
BANG!
The force knocks him back, and he manages to survive, but pain floods his body, rendering unable to do much. All his muscles ache with every inch he moves them, making all of his movements slow as he tries to slam his fists into Shelly's body. He's only able to get two punches in when Lou deals the final hit.
Sam groans as he respawns back at his team's tent, and he crosses his arms.
Noticing the shield bubble around him, Chuck asks, "Got into trouble when I was away?"
"Yeah," he replies angrily. "Don't abandon me like that next time."
"The gems are all that matters. Now, let's go."
They walk out of the tent, the gem that they had managed to get safely stored inside. For some reason, they can't help the feeling that they are being watched. . .
Lawrie and Rico are traveling through the island, the former's circuits on high alert. He's used to this type of thing, on the lookout not only for an item, but enemies that could be lurking in the shadows. Lawrie would run faster with both hands free, but one's kept near his taser, just in case.
"I'm bored," Rico complains, his eye dimly lit. "I thought this would be more fun, but not if it's 99% running and 1% action!"
"Don't say that," he chastises with a frown. "Now we're gonna get into a fight."
". . . what?" He's clearly confused as he pauses for a second.
"The second you complain about a lack of action, it's gonna come, and it's gonna bite you in the ass, hard," Lawrie explains, his tone serious as he tenses up more.
"Aw, come on. You really think we're gonna end up in a fight that gets us killed?" Rico can't help but laugh.
"Maybe," he says curtly. Then, his sensors picked up a faint noise in the distance. Like footsteps. Frantic ones, like someone was sprinting in a marathon. "Do you hear that? You jinxed it!"
Rico's eye widens, and the two dash toward the source.
"Go go go!" he hears Ruffs shout, panting heavily. "Get to base!"
Ruffs and Buzz look like they've been in a previous battle with how fast they're running, and the fact that Buzz's costume looks a bit torn. He's carrying 3 gems in his arms, cradling them close to his chest to prevent them from falling.
"I know, I got it!" he replies, and every word of his is strained.
"Go!" is shouted once more, but this time, it isn't from Ruffs.
Lawrie stands in the way, firing his taser which shoots out a bolt of something electric at Buzz. He's completely unable to react, and his body convulses from the shock.
Ruffs quickly summons sandbags around him as he fires his laser gun with one hand at his attacker, the other grabbing Buzz's limp body. "Ah!" he barks, "It's an ambush!"
A shot hits Lawrie in the shoulder, the rest missing. He yelps in pain, the bullet melting through his metal frame and fraying his circuits, causing oil to leak out of the wound.
"Oh damn!" Rico says as he fires projectiles of his own, breaking through the pathetically weak sandbags. Balls fly everywhere, but once they come into contact with Ruff's body, they just feel as powerful as an average punch.
It bruises his fur a bit as he tries to avoid the ricocheting bullets, all while pulling Buzz to safety. He is still holding onto the gems, but now, they're easy to snatch away.
Lawrie tries to attempt that, but with an injured body, it goes unsuccessful. Buzz has the strength to push his hand away, balling his own into a fist as he punches his damaged arm. His taser is knocked out of his grasp, being sent flying into the air until it lands at a distance where he can't easily pick it up.
Buzz pushes himself off the floor, an angry look on his face as he attacks Lawrie with his whistle.
His circuits freeze up from terror, barely able to retaliate as he's torn to shreds.
Rico feels alarmed as he sees his ally defeated, immediately letting out a torrent of projectiles from his body that fly at a rapid pace. It's not enough to kill either of them.
Buzz waits for all the balls to grow harmless, and when that happens, he throws his torpedo buoy. It hits Rico in his chest, causing his circuits to flare up with pain as Buzz moves in, body slamming into him. The force is enough to stun him for a good few seconds, giving Ruffs and Buzz plenty of time to attack so that he's defeated.
Back at camp, Lawrie lets out a sigh. "Next time, just stay silent, okay?"
"Alright. . ." he concedes. Rico looks at the gem inside the tent that they're in. "One gem? Is that a lot or a little?"
"Uhhh. . . to me, that sounds good? The challenge has only just started," he replies as he exits the tent.
Both of them have been healed from their previous injuries, in a perfect state as if they hadn't been utterly annihilated just a few seconds before.
"Yeah," Rico says. He notices a scoreboard that hadn't been there before, reading '1-2-0'. "So far, we're not losing."
"And how would you know?" Lawrie asks.
"There's. . . a scoreboard. Inside," he replies, poking his head out from the entrance of the tent.
"Oh." It's said quickly as Lawrie turns around.
"There's a team that has yet to get something," Rico continues. "But let's not care about that. We need to catch up to Team Blue."
"Why?" he questions. "We're not here to win, we're here to not lose."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"Nope. Not at all."
Lou, Shelly, and Charlie are all still quite excited from their recent battle. Even though it was quite lackluster and one-sided, and they didn't even get a gem out of it, it was still a nice adrenaline rush for the trio. It's slowly beginning to wear off, so they're eager to find something to keep them going.
"Do you guys see anything?" Lou asks. "I feel like we've been walking around for ages!"
"Maybe we've been walking around in circles," Shelly suggests. "Or that team we killed got all the gems in this area."
"Hmm. Makes sense," he replies. "Should we head back to base and look somewhere else?"
"If we don't find anything in the next five minutes," Shelly says, "sure."
The island just seems to be an endless amount of trees and vegetation. Everything looks the same, and now Lou's starting to wonder if they can even get back without getting lost.
"Maybe my spiders should lead the way again?" Charlie says.
"What we want are gems," she replies with a sigh, "not enemy brawlers."
"But they might have gems, yes?" she asks.
"I guess," Shelly replies, "But when we defeated Sam, he didn't have any gems on him."
"Wait!" Lou exclaims. "Finally!" He runs over to a glimmering, purple stone out in the open, picking it up with a smile. There's another one right next to it, which he hastily collects too. "Now let's go to base!"
They continue walking, down the path that they think they took to the camp. They're not really sure. But it seems right.
As they carefully place the gems inside the tent, they get a glance at the scoreboard, which had automatically updated the second the gems had touched the fabric ground. '3-7-0'
"Oh, look! We're in the lead!" Lou says. "What is Team Yellow even doing? They must be struggling!"
Over in a nearby bush, Meeple's eyes narrow. "Heh, they have no idea. . ."
"When are we going to ambush them man?" Brock asks, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.
"When I say so!" they reply. "Let them feel safe. Let them let their guard down. We can't attack if they're only going to deliver a measly gem over! Wait until they bring more!"
"If you wanted to attack when they had a lot, we could've ambushed Buzz and Ruffs. . . there were only two of them! They could've been such an easy target!" Brock momentarily forgets he's supposed to be quiet.
"Keep it down! Those three haven't left yet!" Meeple hisses. "But yes. We could've. We could've gotten their three gems and make the score. . . what was it, 3 to 4 to 3? But then we'd expose ourselves, too early!"
Eve lets out a sigh. "Can we form a mutiny?"
"Let them prove themself," Edgar replies with a hint of amusement. "I wanna see if their plan can work."
"I doubt it will," Brock says.
"Then why'd you even agree to it?" they ask, shaking their hands angrily.
He shrugs. "I got nothing to lose. If it works, we're all safe. If it doesn't. . ." Brock taps their chest plate. "Well, we all agreed what happens next."
"Hmph! You guys are rude," Meeple whines.
Ash and Moe casually walk along the island, not exactly taking the challenge too seriously. So far, with the help of Moe's sense of smell, they've been able to find in all, five gems hidden among the leaves and bushes. They're not exactly too worried of a fight, all they just want is a bit of alone time from the rest of the brawlers.
"Ya think we should head back, mate?" Moe asks. "Five's plenty."
"Eh. We can take our time," he replies. "While the rest of those rascals fight, we'll relax." He pauses. "Plus, I don't want to go back and forth so many damn times. I'm sweatin' enough already!"
"We can relax in the tent a bit," Moe says.
Ash considers it for a second. "That sounds good."
He decides to carry three in his hands while Moe carries two, and occasionally, Ash looks to see if he's faring well. He leisurely ambles through the trees, taking in the surroundings. It's nice to have a break from his usual work at the castle, he thinks.
When the brightly colored tent comes into view, Ash's eyes lit up. "We'll drop 'em off and rest, yeah?"
Moe nods. "Yeah."
But when they take a step further, they sense something is wrong.
"Now!"
Four figures leap from the bushes that surrounded the camp. They all run at what seems to be superhuman speeds, charging at the two with such confidence that it makes their freeze instinct kick in.
Clancy laughs as he fires a spray of bullets, hitting Ash plenty of times, who had quickly placed Moe behind him to shield him.
Ash felt a wave of fury overtake him, making his arms tremble as he slammed his broom down, hitting Clancy on the head. But the damage that he had done was already healed back by Doug, following closely behind.
"What the hell?" he shouts, his eyes narrowing as he tries to back away from the approaching brawlers, who are still moving at a rapid pace.
Max is able to catch up to them the fastest, able to weave in and out of Ash's attack range as she fires a barrage of bullets from her blasters, which annoy him even further. "Haha! Try to hit me!" she exclaims with a wide grin as Ash misses again.
"You fuckin' bastards!" he yells, as he's simultaneously hit by Chester, who throws a large piece of candy from his box. It creates a large explosion, the sound deafening as Ash is knocked back, slumping over on the ground.
Moe tries to scurry away, throwing rocks at the direction where he thinks his attackers are, and most of them miss.
Ash feels himself succumbing to his injuries as he watches the group pick up the gems that he had dropped. He's enraged at first, seeing their work stolen away from them so easily. He takes a deep, pained breath. Maybe it isn't so bad. He was going to take a break anyway.
Clancy fires the final shot, defeating him.
"Alright, we got all their gems, go go go before he respawns!" Max shouts. "Leave the rat alone, it's not worth it to kill him!"
As fast as they ambushed them, they were out, heading back to their own base. And by the time Ash materializes back inside his team's tent, they're already out of sight.
"I'm sorry," Moe apologizes, feeling regretful as he quickly joins him again. "I accidentally dropped my gems."
"Nah, it's okay," he replies, patting his head. "They would have chased you and killed you anyway. They were too strong." He eyes the scoreboard, which he feels is going to update any second now. "We'll take our place back," he promises.
"Okay! Fine, you guys!" Meeple concedes. "The next team that is coming back, they are going to get absolutely destroyed by us!"
"Finally," Edgar replies. "About time, because we're going to lose at this rate."
"Remember, there's still that other group at Team Red!" they say. "Maybe they did something."
"Perhaps," Brock says, looking bored. He looks up. "Hey. Look. A group's coming."
Meeple quickly searches the approaching brawlers, noticing two gems in their grasp. "Two's good enough. Alright, on my signal!" They tense their body for a fight.
"Y-y-yeah, back at base!" Stu says, Kit and Shade beside him. "I wanna s-see the score!"
Meeple suddenly hurls a dice at them, flying high into the sky before it drops straight down, speeding up quickly as it reaches the ground.
Stu has barely enough time to react, his circuits at high alert as he dashes to the side, leaving a trail of burnt rubber in the dirt. As the dice lands on the floor, it forms a cage around the two that wasn't able to flee swiftly enough.
Shade pays it no attention. It's able to simply pass through the walls, and Kit jumps onto its back, throwing balls of yarn at the bushes, where he knows his attackers are.
Meeple takes a step back, avoiding the explosive yarn as their eyes twitch. "Ugh! How did that not work?!" Shade is coming closer with a rapid pace, so they pause for a second to fire projectiles at it, hitting each shot, but Shade seemed to be indestructible. "You must be cheaters! I'm reporting you!"
"Try it, loser!" Kit replies, sticking his tongue at them.
Brock tries to hit Shade too, but it's less successful—his rockets are so much easier to dodge for Shade, who draws nearer with every second. "What's the plan now?"
"We kill them!" Edgar leaps from the bush, landing close to Stu.
"G-get away fr-from me!" he exclaims, flames shooting out from his fingers as the smell of burning material fills the air. His instinct fuels his every movement, which was to get as far as possible.
Edgar quickly retreats, quite defenseless now that he has no options.
Stu rolls over to help his allies, quickly weaving through rockets and Eve's projectiles as he manages to get a hit on Brock, his eye color yellow from the excitement.
"Your plan sucked!" Brock says angrily, retreating deep into the island.
"It could've done better if there wasn't a ghost on their team!" Meeple shoots back, just as they feel the embrace of Shade's sleeves, wrapping around them. The grip is tight, too tight, squeezing the life out of them as Kit jumps off to slash their face with his sharp claws.
Meeple thrashs around, but it wasn't enough. Anger boils in their circuits as they yell out, "Next time, it'll work!"
They're defeated a second later.
"Oh, heyyy," they say, their tone changing to happiness as they see the score plastered in the center of the tent. "We're not losing! The other group must have done a good job!"
3-9-5.
Edgar appears a few seconds later. "Well look at that," he says. "Maybe you aren't so stupid."
"See? It works with a good comp!" they exclaim. "We just got unlucky. Should've attacked someone else! But it's no big deal!"
"Whatever. Let's just guarantee 2nd place," Edgar replies.
"Oh! I am so excited!" Lola says, watching the brawls through the hidden cameras she and her crew had set up beforehand, to make sure that they wouldn't disturb anything. "There's only a few gems left!"
"What are ya gonna do if there's a tie?" Mico asks, fiddling a bit with the equipment.
"It's not going to happen," she replies, "Team Red can't possibly catch up to any of them!" She points to the screen displaying a battle. "Look at them, they're losing! But. If Red and Yellow ties, maybe Blue should be the team to send someone home," she says finally with a grin.
"That sounds. . . unfair," Buster replies.
"But it'll stir up drama among them." Lola smirks. "As I said, it won't happen, but I'd just love to see them whine and beg and cry. Better stuff for the viewers."
"The only people that's gonna enjoy that stuff are people with no souls," Mico says with a frown.
"Wait!" She holds up a hand. "They're fighting over the last gems now! Blue's winning the brawl so far. . . oop! Looks like Yellow's joining the fight! I need some popcorn!"
And a minute later, the fight is finally over. The teams are unaware of this fact, but Team Blue's carrying the last two gems that were still left on the island. Perhaps if the other teams would have known this, Team Red would have fought harder to claim a tie, but that's the past now.
Blue wins in a landslide.
As soon as the gems are dropped inside the tent, they disappear in a puff of smoke, and the team looks on with surprise. Before anyone can ask any questions, Lola makes another announcement.
"Looks like the challenge's over! Let's go over the results! Team Red got 3 gems! Team Blue got 11 gems! Team Yellow got 5 gems!"
. . .
"Team Red loses the first challenge! The rest are safe from elimination. . . for now! Team Red will have to vote one of their own members, and will be given until night to discuss plans, make allies, and vote!" She pauses for a second. "And as for the rest of you, you may continue to explore the island! Good luck!"
"I can't believe this," Sam mutters, pacing around back and forth inside the tent, where everyone in his team had been teleported to once the challenge had finished. "We lost."
There's silence among them.
He sighs. "To be frank, someone needs to be blamed."
A few of them tilt their heads around, like they actually wanted to do that.
"Any ideas?" Willow asks.
"Maybe we get rid of the scrawny rat first?" Chuck suggests.
"What? What'd I do?" Moe replies, feeling his palms sweat from nervousness.
"You're a hindrance to our team," he replies, his big, terrifying eyes narrowing as he gets close to Moe's face. He's lucky he can't see very well, or else Chuck's expression would have shaken him to his core. "Weren't you part of the group that got ambushed by Yellow? You cost us the challenge!"
"Aye! We're too quick to be pointin' fingers here! Back off," Ash replies. "Maybe we should get ye out first?"
"For what?" he says, pressing his mouth to a thin, straight line.
"Yer too untrustworthy, yer not even hiding it! At least wait until we're all not in the same room to talk about votin' people off!" he exclaims. "I don't want a guy who'll accuse everyone on our team!"
"What do you think?" Sam asks, getting a bit too close to Lawrie's personal space. "Bot."
He crosses his arms. "I prefer not to discuss such matters here," he replies in a flat tone, itching to push him away.
"Coward," he replies, walking away.
"Come on lads," Ash urges, "we need to get them out."
"I'd rather have someone untrustworthy on our team than someone who's gonna make us fail every challenge," Sam says in a gruff voice. "Moe needs to be the first one out so we don't lose again."
"Agreed!" Willow interjects. "We can get the untrusted ones later, when we decide what to do with them! Maybe they'll change and prove themselves!"
"Maybe the next challenge won't have to do with brawling," Moe says. "I can do better, I promise!"
"Let's think about votes later. You know. . . it's a bit awkward to be talking about it when the people we're discussing to vote off is in the same room," Rico offers.
"That's what I'm saying!" Ash says. "Let's get out, get fresh air, and discuss in private."
They all look at each other, like they were asking for permission, until one by one, they leave the tent. The air feels a bit cooler than before, after all, it's now the afternoon, approaching night soon.
"Here's our chance," Lawrie says with a smirk, which is a bit unusual for him, considering he's always so serious. "To get one of them out."
"So, uh, we're voting Chuck?" Rico asks.
"Exactly. Ash and Moe are for sure going to vote him to save their asses, and with the two of us, it adds to four votes! I don't think we've done anything yet to catch the attention of the others, so I think we're safe for now," he explains. "I think Chuck and Sam are allies and will vote together, so now all we gotta do is sway Emz and Willow onto our side so that it's not a tie."
"Okay. . . you do that, I. . . I'll just rest until the voting ends," he replies.
Lawrie's smile fades into a frown. "You got to do better than that."
"What?"
"I mean, Rico, you're kinda making yourself look weak in front of me, by just remaining passive like this." He shrugs. "I could use you the entire game and you wouldn't know it until I discarded you."
"There's a chance I could make enemies out of them," Rico says. "I'd rather play it safe by having a few trusted allies."
"Well. . . you got to take action some time," he replies, his voice softening a bit. "I'm not looking to betray you, but passiveness is really gonna make you vulnerable."
"Alright. . ." Rico's voice trails off, and the two of them walk back to camp.
Confessional: Rico
I don't know, I really don't think just sitting out talking to people once is gonna cost me the game. I can think for myself! It's just that I don't have better options. And I don't wanna betray Lawrie already.
Willow waits with Emz as the rest of the group slowly walks out, either to talk in private, or maybe they just wanted to try to get some food out there on the island, because after all, it's not gonna be given to them for free.
"You fought. . . well," Emz admits.
"Yeah, well, that was the point of the challenge, right?" she replies with a laugh. "Surprising how the rest of the group got only one other gem." Willow lets out a sigh. "They're all so useless. Now, who do you plan on voting for?"
"Hmm." She pauses for a second. "Moe, I guess. Like the others said, he's just not good. I don't want someone like him on our team."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too." Willow scooches over, resting her hands on her knees. "And Chuck is for sure going to vote him too. Maybe Sam too, because they seem like they're allied up."
Emz doesn't say anything for a moment. "That's four votes, then."
"Yep! It's either a tie, or he's out," she replies. "I like these chances."
Suddenly, Lawrie peaks inside. "Hey." He takes a few steps forward. "What are y'all discussing?"
"What do you think?" Emz retorts, looking at him as if he was stupid.
He shrugs. "You guys could've been talking about something else, I wouldn't have known." He leans against the tent's fabric. "Anyway, I'm wondering if you two are looking for an alliance."
"We already got one," Willow replies. "But. . . maybe if you're telling us who you're voting for, I'll consider it."
"Chuck," he says quite flatly, standing upright.
"Not interested!" she says before Lawrie even finished.
"Let me guess, you're voting for Moe, then?" he asks. He doesn't receive an answer, but based on their reaction, he can tell quite easily. "I'm telling you guys, you should vote for Chuck. Like Ash said, we shouldn't trust him at all. After Moe's gone, he's probably going to make a plot to get you out next!"
Emz rolls her eyes. "I don't need your fearmongering, asshole."
"Listen, just, maybe consider it?" Lawrie says. "We're gonna end up with a tie otherwise."
"Let's see what happens when there's a tie," Willow shoots back. "We're not budging."
"Fine." He grasps his belt firmly. "But I warned you."
When Lawrie leaves, Willow chuckles at his words. "Ah, so dramatic."
As the hours pass, and the brawlers are sure of their vote, they decide to do other things to wait. Lola and her crew observe them, but they're not too interested on what they're doing, no, they're anxious to see the votes too.
What will be the results?
That's for you to decide!
