Co-author's notes: Rufus T. Serenity here. Hey guys, damn its been a while! *Uncomfortable laughter* But seriously, seven months is too damn long a time. Sadly, one of the drawbacks to having three authors is the possibility that they all have things in their real-lives keeping them from working on their shared story. As you can likely guess, that's what happened and why it's been so long since an update. Me and the other two writers are sincerely sorry for that. But sadly it will likely happen again at some point. I, on behalf of all of us, ask that you please bear with us when it does happen again. Hopefully our work can make up for that.

Also, something very awesome has happened recently…this story's first piece of fan-art! MAN, DO I LOVE THAT! The piece of fan-art in question is a picture of the OC Giavanna, our own amazing Tall Bombshell. I must again thank CMR Rose for commissioning the picture and deviantART artist "qMargot" for creating this piece. You two are both so awesome! Please go to qMargot's deviantART page to check out this great image, and the rest of his work, while you at it.

Now, there's one last major thing that needs to be known. The end of this chapter is dark, VERY DARK! Seriously, what lies at the end of this chapter is very intense. I'll likely touch on it more after it happens but please consider this a fair warning.

Total Drama What is Real? Episode 5: Heading Down the Rabbit Hole (Part 3)

Now was a time of running.

All three teams, whether in the countryside or the city, were running. Two of the teams were running away from something, whether it is Mr. Hyde or the Martians. The Avatars (aside from Noah, Izzy, Joseph, Mary, Solita, and B) remained together while the Cyborgs had spilt up into three groups so that hopefully Mr. Hyde couldn't find them all.

Both the Avatars and the Cyborgs were attempting to abide and endure.

Even though the third team was technically chasing their monster, they ran too. Yes, now was a time of running. But for some of the teams, it was also to be a time of dying.

(The Pummeling Polygons; Just Outside the Kent Estate)

Traveling through the streets of this digital version of Victorian London, the Polygons barely said any words. There was a collective feeling of shame and disappointment. How could there be anything else? Even with all of them attacking him at once while not truly invisible thanks to his clothing, the Invisible Man not only got away but also was naked.

They had resorted to talking to the NC's inhabiting this place for any leads. The first few dozen or so had nothing of use. However, a drunk from the poor district of the city did. Despite the option of it being the alcohol taken daily, he had heard the chink of money. He had seen a most extraordinary thing. He saw a vision, of a fist full of money no less, travelling without visible agency. Imagine that, pound notes flapping about like fat butterflies while images of the Queen's stern face looked at you with eyes made of ink.

And that in turn had lead the Polygons to a crime scene being investigated, a man's murder scene. Realizing that this was the "appointment" mentioned in the inn's kitchen after hearing the conversations of a few bystanders, the Polygons pieced it all together.

For reasons impossible to imagine, save for simple madness, the Invisible Man had used an iron rod dragged from a broken fence he had already been carrying and preceded to break his arms, knock him down, and smash his head in until it resembled strawberry jelly. A little girl was the last to see him before he passed out of her sight to his death. Dropping the iron rod, some heard a voice wailing and laughing, sobbing and groaning. It was the voice of a man who couldn't be seen but was intensely egotistical and unfeeling. It was the voice of an unseen man whose mind, likely before becoming unseen, was mad.

Furthermore, there was a message written on a nearby wall that shockingly remained for the Polygons to read: 'Now that I've got your attention, listen well my freaky darlings. Having found a joy in beating out little bits of brain, I want more small sections of skull. If you wish to donate your craniums for the cause, meet me at the empty Kent estate.'

The Invisible Man's temper, at no time very good, seemed to have gone completely. He had decided, by a process unknowable within his head as invisible as his mind, that he would now set forth to smite and overthrow, for the mere joy and satisfaction of hurting. Regardless, the Polygons reached this Kent Estate after learning of it location from one of the local bystanders at the crime scene. They were just in front of its doorway right now.

"Now what are we gonna do?!" Duncan shouted in frustration. "That invisible creep could be out there hiding around any corner waiting to ambush us while we run around like chickens with heads our heads cut off looking for him!"

There was a pregnant silence, as the rest of the group adopted there preferred thinking postures, though some admittedly looked to be more confused than introspective.

With his teal eyes falling upon Harold first and having his anger renewed at being bested by him too often lately, Duncan decided to put the spotlight on him as he says, "How about it, Doris? Got any more brilliant insight for us!?"

"Hey now, we're all pretty high-strung right now, and I don't-" Leshawna interjected, intending to tell Duncan off for once again belittling Harold's masculinity with that name.

But before she could continue, Harold spoke up as if he had been entirely unfazed by the malice behind Duncan's voice, "The only thing I know for sure is that we'll have a much better chance of encountering him if we split up, as much as I'd rather not."

This was met with an even chillier quiet as the others stood in shock of his seemingly inane logic. And perhaps it was the Invisible Man's parting words that prompted her to do so, but the first to react was none other than Gwen.

"Are you crazy?! If we split up, we won't stand a chance against that maniac! Think about it, he beat all of us together while we could still see him. And new flash, people splitting up is like ringing the dinner bell for him to crave us up like Thanksgiving turkeys. Its what every group of dumb teens in a horror movie does. Fighting him in smaller numbers would be suicide!" The Goth nearly shouted in a tone shifting to fright.

It was obvious to everyone that Gwen was a little unnerved by the whole situation, a combination of the Invisible Man's implied threat and this all seeming so incredibility realistic. Harold opened his mouth to be the bearer of the unfortunate news that it was their best bet, but was interrupted by a singularly surprising individual.

"Calm down, Gwen." Cody said as he placed his hand on her shoulder in a placating manner. "Remember, this isn't real. If the Invisible Man kills any of us, we'll just wake up in the pods back at the movie set. And if we split into teams of two, we'll still outnumber him even while separated. We need to try and avoid losing as many players as we can, to help boost our score." Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cody thanked the powers that be for all the time he'd spent in his life obsessing over videogame high scores.

"Cody's right." Harold said, being the least affected by the sudden authority with which his fellow nerd handled the Goth. "One way or the other, he's going to come after us. After recovering from our skirmish, he'll likely employ guerilla tactics so as to avoid injury. And by confining us to one general area, he inadvertently helped us. Also let's not forget that if we don't go after him we might as well forfeit the challenge, though that idea is tempting to eliminate some vile dead weight." His gaze turned towards Duncan, who grunted and crossed his arms. "But I know that no one here is a quitter. Besides, we'll all be in close enough contact that we can rush to each other's aid if it's needed."

"Sounds like a solid plan to me." Britney said for the group, despite wishing someone other than Harold had devised it. "I guess that means it's time we pick our partners."

So for the next couple of minutes, the teens considered their own strengths and weaknesses while comparing them to those of their teammates and paired themselves off gradually. Gwen, fearing for more than just her life (however virtual it may be), was torn between whom she considered more physically competent between Francisco and Ari. Since she had interacted with Francisco and found him agreeable in the previous challenge, Gwen started heading towards him, only to stop when he approached Cody, apparently with the intention of teaming up with him. Unbeknownst to Gwen, Duncan was walking her way and just about to call out to her before she quickly made her decision and recruited Ari, much to Duncan's disappointment but thankfully not his indignation. If he had learned anything from the tournament challenge, it was that Ari was no slouch in a fight.

Before Duncan could even make to weigh the last of his options, Mathieu approached him with the offering of his wit and proficiency with tricks as a compliment to his comparable physical prowess. Upon considering this for himself, Duncan counted himself lucky to have such a willing assistant for what would prove to be a particularly successful bait trap. Harold and LeShawna had talked it out and agreed to wait in the kitchen for the Invisible Man's inevitable return.

This left Britney, Staci, and Courtney as the odd ones out, the latter having just had her last two feasible choices disappear before her eyes.

"Well, looks like it's you and me, C.I.T." Britney said with just a trace of her usual snide air to her voice.

"Wait!" Staci said with a bit of a whine to her tone. "What about me? I don't wanna end up alone with that guy! I'll be completely helpless against all of his untoward advances!"

If she were being completely honest, Staci would've voiced her annoyance at not having her rapier back from the first challenge, but was more concerned with what she had to work with in the here and now. Those among them who realized what she meant by "untoward advances" struggled slightly to hold back a sudden collective case of the giggles.

"Since we have an uneven number of people, it's understandable that we'd have one group of three since eleven is not a number that can be divided evenly." Cody explained from his spot next to Francisco, never missing a beat yet still struggling to contain his disbelief that she assumed she would be forced to go it alone instead of just joining an existing group. Unable to contend with that logic and likely a little embarrassed by her slightly childish outburst, Staci migrated to the group that just happened to be closest to her, which turned out to be the last group to form, that of Courtney and Britney. Once he was sure that everyone was satisfied, he continued. "Okay, now that we have our teams I suggest we take some time to plan out our strategies."

"Harold was tellin' me one group oughta stay here since that freak is probably gonna start here when he comes looking for us. We talked it over, and we volunteer to do it." Leshawna said as she stood next to Harold.

"Just make sure to scream really loud when he kills you so we know he's here." Britney said off-handedly, sounding more serious than sarcastic.

And with that, the ragtag gathering of misfits started hashing out their plans, knowing that they were probably on a relatively short time limit.

They entered the haunted house that wasn't actually haunted.

(The Pummeling Polygons; Harold and Leshawna; The Kent Estate-Ground Level Kitchen)

After a fair amount of searching, Harold and Leshawna finally found the kitchen near the back of the building. Given the fact that the Kent Estate was such a grandiose building, it came as no surprise that the kitchen was proportionally as large. What served to offset the mood, however, was how unnervingly quiet it all was. Looking around, one could easily imagine the sounds that had undoubtedly filled the air at one point, now replaced by a chilly stillness which was only occasionally broken with creaks made by, hopefully, the other Polygons.

Deciding it would be best to start with a general sweep of the parameter, Harold and Leshawna began slowly working their way around the poorly lit kitchen. After a few moments of this, Harold realized that he couldn't keep his thoughts to himself any longer.

"Hey, Leshawna," he began, finding he didn't have to actively keep his voice down due to how timid he felt in that instant, "I just wanted to thank you for being so quick to jump to my aid back there, what with Duncan freaking out and all. It's nice to know that I still have such a voluptuous ally."

"Aw, that's sweet, Sugar." Leshawna responded, temporarily forgetting about investigating a creak that had sounded a little too close for comfort. "But you should know by now that I'll always stand by you whenever Duncan starts acting like that."

"Hmm…" Harold murmured to himself as they finished their straightforward search of the kitchen, thinking on more than one front. "We should start checking all the shelves and pantries, see if there's any reason the Invisible Man might come back here at any point." Leshawna nodded her consent, and went back to check behind the door she had passed over in favor of talking with her beau. Harold went the other way, and began opening cabinets one by one. "Hey Leshawna, I was wondering, what did you mean by Duncan 'acting' like he does?" Harold inquired, stressing the word acting to better get his point across. When his words were met with silence, he turned from his task to ask again. "Leshawna? Why aren't yo-AAA!"

Harold's words towards Leshawna were suddenly cut short. As he tried to speak, a bright red spray erupted from his body and splashed backwards in a wave of crimson. In the shower of beads of burgundy, a shape began to materialize as the beads ran down. It was a human outline, without any of the subtle features of humanity in body or face. A glittering steel blade hovered there as it also became covered in the digital blood.

"Hello Guv'nor." The Voice now covered in blood said to no one, "I'd like to press a charge against these two. You see, they assaulted me with their blood, the dirty buggers!"

The Invisible Man kept himself from laughing hysterically as he wiped off the blood.

Once it was all off and he was invisible again, he left the bodies of the two teens.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"GOSH!" Harold shouts in frustration. "I can't believe that me and the lovely Leshawna were the first kills! If Griffin had any honor and attacked me dead-on, I'd have won!"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Pummeling Polygons; Gwen and Ari; The Kent Estate-Second Level First Hallway)

The two strong and silent loners were walking along the first main hallway searching for the building's library, having agreed to look there for their invisible charge. They had been walking in silence for some time now and it was starting to wear a little thin for Gwen. Though thankful that her partner rarely said a word (it seems that when focused Ari was determined to be as silent as when she was trying to hide her gender), the repetitiveness was killing her. Not only that, Gwen was feeling majorly embarrassed. Finally she couldn't take either fact anymore and turned towards Ari.

"Listen…Ari. I think it's safe to say that the Invisible Man isn't just roaming around, right?"

The Ninja simply nodded her head.

"You are capable of talking, correct?" Gwen asked.

Again Ari simply nodded in a 'yes' motion.

"But you choose not to talk?"

For the third time, Ari just nodded 'yes'.

Though slightly peeved at Ari's silent admittance of that, the Goth girl ignored it and said what she had been wanting to the entire time, "Listen, since the Invisible Man clearly isn't here, I'm going to go on ahead to the library. Knowing that you won't answer me verbally, hold up one finger if you'd like to join me or two if you'd like to keep patrolling the halls."

Ari raised two fingers, to indicate a desire to keep patrolling.

Despite being slightly peeved with Ari yet again, this got a slight smirk out of Gwen, "I had a feeling you'd say that. Then I say happy hunting. Just come check on me every now and then. And if you do find anything or something doesn't feel right, please actually say so by shouting, ok?"

As Ari nodded in a 'yes' motion again, Gwen headed off to the library to kill her boredom and hide from her embarrassment.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Cody was right. None of this is real. So there's no reason to be truly scared." Gwen admitted to the camera.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Assaulting Avatars; Noah, Izzy, Joseph, Mary, Solita, B; English Countryside)

As far as the eye could see there was only smoldering black, pallor brown, and vivid red.

This valley, once no doubt a lush and vibrant green, was now a valley of fresh ashes. The trees, once might and imposing proof of nature's might, were scarred and blackened. Most of them had fallen and those that had remained rooted upright were a dismal grey and had branches with foliage of dark brown. Many buildings, once no doubt beautiful, had become transformed into darkened skeletons of wood. But the color that was most abundant was red. Instead of green grass what covered much of the fields was a spiny red creeper that the Martians brought with them, whether intentionally or accidentally. The red weed, growing with astonishing vigor and luxuriance, was transforming the landscape into a garden of vivid blood red with cactus-like branches. Whatever people had once lived here were either a part of the ash sea in the air or had long since fled to other cities and towns in some futile hope of finding somewhere safe. Aside from the wind and the odd collapsing of an unstable structure, there was no sound.

Despite the enemies not being human, the scene was as solemn and lifeless as the aftermath of any great war that takes place on Earth. It was a scene that demanded the upmost respect and seriousness.

"~For a rollicking romping Polka is the jolliest fun I know!" Izzy happily sung loudly, finishing the song "You should see me dance the Polka".

"Izzy, will you please at least try to act like a human being and not a soon-to-be corpse because she attracted the attention of the invading aliens with painful death rays!" Noah all but shouted at the Redhead.

"Oh, calm down Mr. Noaho Frodo! Me, Izzy Samwise Gamgee, will not hinder our progress to Mount Doom, or wherever it is we are fellowship is going. And besides, oh pouty and emo Barer of the One Ring, its not like any of this is real anyway." Izzy said.

"I don't know what's worse, that you might get me killed or that your aping Tolkien? And I'm not pouty or an emo!" Noah responded both unsure and yet also angry.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"And if Izzy is anyone from Lord of the Rings, then she's goddamn Gollum!" Noah said with his arms crossed.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

"It really is too bad that your so pouty and emo," Izzy said as if not have heard Noah with a full smile, "after all, Izzy knows a way to make you feel full of life and joy."

Noah just stared at Izzy in confusion. He was thankful when someone coughed for his attention.

"So, Noah, now that were almost at the shoreline, what's the big plan, huh?" Joseph asked.

"Once we get to the bay, we'll be able to use the only thing under man's control that can go toe-to-toe with the Martian tripods. We'll be able to use…" Noah started to explain.

"AAAAH!"

The loud scream stopped Noah's explanation dead in its tracks. Acting on instinct, the teens darted into an abandoned husk of a house that was mere feet from their current location. Looking out of the windows, they saw the source of the scream and much worse.

They saw one of the Martian tripods striding along the expansive and barren field. They saw four or five little black figures hurrying before it across the red and green-grey of the field, and in a moment it was evident this Martian was pursuing them. Within three strides, the Tripod was upon them, causing the men to flee from its three mechanical feet in all directions. The Martian machine used no heat-ray to turn these men into ash. No, instead some of the silver ropes of steel ensnared the humans one by one as they glittered in the full sunlight. Once all of the black dots were trapped in sinister silver, they were tossed into the massive metallic basket-like carrier on its back.

Within a few more of its grand strides, the Tripod was towering over the house the teens were hiding in. None of them dared to make a sound, fearing that they'd be discovered.

For a few seconds, the Tripod simply stood their, not moving in any way. Then, the legs of the Tripod began to expand outward and the head was lowered to the ashen ground.

After the head of Tripod reached the ground, a section of the hooded cowl moved, releasing a burst of green smoke. From the green gases emerged a Martian, the first one that these teens had seen for themselves. Matching the feelings of those who had seen them earlier, they were deeply horrified. Its large and lumpy octopus-like body had the same brown oily gleam on its hide and its eyes were just as big, black, and lidless.

The frightening appearance of this being was almost ruined by its rather pathetic attempts to exit the Tripod's head. Without looking to see the expression on her face, Noah covered Izzy's mouth just in case she started laughing. As he would explain to the others later, the Martians came from a planet with much weaker gravitational pull and so they struggled to simply move on the Earth when outside of their machines.

Turning towards Noah, Solita whispered as softly as she could, "Hey, why down we just take out that Martian who can barely move and steal his Tripod?"

"Just wait until the green smoke clears up and tell me if you're still eager for that idea?" Noah answered with his hand still on Izzy's mouth and his eyes still on the Tripod.

When the smoke did clear, the teenagers saw a second Martian still controlling the machine. Furthermore, every now and then the Heat-ray would move from side to side. As Solita silently realized, any attempt to storm the Tripod would result in instant death.

After the first Martian was finally on the ground, the teens saw something in one of its many thick tentacles. In terms of rough outline, the device resembled a medical needle.

Noah's eyes instantly expanded far beyond their normal stare of indifference. They showed fear, the fear of the knowing what was about to take place right in front of him. Looking at his teammates, he saw the same knowing fearful expression in B's eye. [1]

The proof of this was when he and the others suddenly hear a yell. Looking out of the windows, they saw that one of the long tentacles was now reaching over the shoulder of the Tripod to the cage that was hunched upon its back. As the tentacle begins to rise into the air, they saw something else, something struggling violently, that was lifted high against the sky. It was a black, vague enigma against the sunlit sky. The identity of this thrashing object became clear after the tentacle lowered it to the ground while still surrounding it. The object trapped in the tentacle was a man. He was a stout, ruddy, middle-aged man, and well dressed with gleams of the sun's light appearing on his studs and watch chain. Mere hours ago, he was likely a man of considerable consequence.

He wasn't anymore.

SNAP! CRACK!

The teens recoiled in horror as the metal tentacle squeezed this man tighter, causing his arms and legs to snap like dry twigs. As the man shrieked as loudly as he could in pain, those observing it from another realm saw the Martian moving the long pipette.

After bringing the device to the man's throat, the Martian plunged it into his neck. Once it had pierced the flesh, many of his other tentacles started to surround the needle. While they did so and moved the needle around, the teens noticed that this device was much larger than they would have guessed, being nearly three feet long at the very least. But what attracted their attention more was that running throughout the long needle it was clear and there was a pointed needle on the other side of device. Why were there two needles?

The answer soon became apparent. The clear center running throughout the device started to no longer be clear. It started to become red as the ruby coloring began to crawl from the side of the device that was in the man. At the same time, the Martian took the other needled end and forced it into his own body. Once the red reached the Martian's side, a sustained and cheerful hooting came from the otherworldly invader.

Joseph, Mary, Solita, and Izzy all realized what they were seeing. The Martian was sucking the blood out of this man! It was eating him!

As Noah would later explain, these Martians had no digestive systems of their own. Instead, they obtained nourishment by fueling their veins with the blood of other living creatures, injecting it directly into their veins. This info didn't lessen their horror.

Solita seemed especially horrified by this. She then felt a large object gently fall on her shoulder. Looking in the direction of her shoulder, she found B offering the most comforting smile he could. While she was still horrified, Solita was very thankful.

The teen remained where they were as the Martians feed on their quarry of humans. After both Martians had their fill of human blood, they left in their Tripod.

Once they made sure that it was long gone, the teenagers left the house and continued towards the water. As he ran, Noah noticed how Izzy wasn't smiling but was very pale.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"If nothing else, this challenge will be one of my favorite, though that term has only loose bearing here, memories of this show for getting Izzy to finally stop for a while. I must admit, even though I read the book and knew that was coming, I was disturbed too. The bare idea of vampiric aliens is no doubt horribly repulsive to us. But as Wells himself said, "…but at the same time I think that we should remember how repulsive our carnivorous habits would seem to an intelligent rabbit." I'm not about to become a vegan like Dawn but that's still a very acute observation I think." Noah says to the camera.

(Static)

Mary looked into the camera with an expression of horror. "I may never eat meat again!"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Crushing Cyborgs; Melody, Erebus, and Chris; The Streets of London)

Upon vacating Dr. Jekyll's abode, the largely unorganized members of the Crushing Cyborgs naturally split off into groups based on no particular logic whatsoever, as panic ridden creatures seldom employ logic when making decisions. One such cluster of teenagers consisted of Melody, Erebus, and Chris, who like the rest were attempting to put as much distance between themselves and the deformed Edward Hyde as physically possible within the allotted time. They failed to keep track of how long they had been running, and once their simulated bodies began begging them to stop, they turned toward one another for ideas on how to proceed.

"Now that we have…crossed enough land," Erebus began, still slightly out of breath, "I was wondering, do we have anything planned?"

"Don't look at me!" Melody exclaimed. "Fighting's not my specialty."

"I think a more appropriate question would be," Chris said with a pause due to the adrenaline in his system, "are our five minutes up yet?"

Almost as an answer to that very question, there was a faint sound of some sort of material falling to the ground and subsequently shattering. The teens held their breath; uncertain they had even heard anything in the first place. Then it happened again, only this time it was multiple objects and much louder. The spooked contestants gazed at the buildings surrounding them, and as the city was modeled after late nineteenth century London, none of the structures seemed to be any taller than four or five stories. But that didn't keep the modern children from feeling trapped, like cornered prey awaiting its hunter's entrance helplessly as more and more ominous crashing noises filled the air.

"Sounds like it's coming from that way!" Melody pointed out, without realizing that she was in fact indicating the very direction from which they had come. All the while, the crashing noises continued to sound.

"As soon as Hyde comes into view, I want the two of you to book it in opposite directions." Chris said suddenly, his eyes constantly scanning for the unhinged man. This was met with a few seconds of stunned silence before the others found their voices.

"As noble as your actions are, fighting Hyde alone is like trying to stop a moving car." The Machiavellian Poet exposited incredulously.

"I, for one, am fine with you committing suicide." Melody came right out and admitted. "But I don't want him taking your guns when he kills you, so give them here!"

The Enigma pulled out his 1895 Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle and held it behind himself without even turning around to look at the Mirror Image. Then he did the same with his Colt Army action revolver, which he handed to Erebus. No sooner than he had wrapped his fingers around the revolver's handle, a shadowy figure could be seen running along the roof of one of the buildings lining the road, before leaping from the one it was on to the closest building across the street, sliding down the side of the wall briefly before lunging itself back up toward the new roof.

"That's one way to get around," Erebus mused, "at least now we know what was causing that sound."

"That has to be Hyde, go NOW!" Chris shouted to his team members, who did not hesitate to comply with his faux last wish as they bolting in different directions.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"As sad as most of my teammates are, there is one benefit. Its not so bad when they die." Melody said indifferent. "And if Chris want to stall Hyde with his life, I won't mind."

(Static)

"I truly did feel bad about leaving Chris to face such a travesty. If I couldn't tell his resolve was so absolute, I'd have offered by knowledge and expertise of Victorian weaponry." Erebus said a little sad.

(Static)

"Why did I choose to face Hyde alone? Simple; the more time the others had to plan, the better their chances of success." Chris told to the camera, seeming to have just been asked about his questionable course of action. "But truth be told, I saw a golden opportunity to test something that I have always been interested in."

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

The Enigma stood at the ready, having already resigned himself to his first ever virtual death. It was a prospect that equally excited and terrified him, but at the moment said experience was just the icing on the cake. His eyes never deviated from the nimble body flying through the urban air space, approaching him with such obvious intent. Finally, the altered man allowed himself to fall to the ground before his prey, already anticipating the smell of blood in his nostrils.

"Ah…like a pig to the slaughter, the first sheep offers itself up willingly." Edward Hyde said menacingly. Then, with a touch of confusion, he continued. "But it's not common for sheep to stand alone; tell me, where are your tasty companions?"

"Oh, you'll be seeing them again soon enough, I'm sure." Chris followed up flawlessly, knowing how crucial it was to keep his composure in this scenario. "However, before you go ahead and make a meal out of my flesh, allow me to ask you a question." Here Chris paused, waiting for some sort of indication that Hyde was listening. When the deformed man made no move to finish him off, he goes on. "Tell me, is it crowded up there?" He asked innocently, while swiping his hand along the side of his head as if his fingers were trailing through hair.

"What are you talking about?" Hyde fired back impatiently. "Don't think you can manipulate me!"

"I'm not the one who's manipulating you, Edward." The Enigma went on, confident that he had caught his fish hook, line, and sinker. "Jekyll is the one who forces you to hold yourself back, electing to maintain his appearance while allowing yours to suffer." A look of enraged shock takes hold of Hyde's face, as his body tenses at the teenager's words. "He's the one who makes you do all the hard work, while he just sits back and enjoys the show that you so faithfully put on for-" Chris never got to finish his sentence, as the provoked monster bridged the gap between them in one fell swoop and lodged his clawed hands into the impudent boy's chest.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU WHELP!" He then proceeded to savagely rip the costumed individual limb from limb, having lost all semblance of composure. "I'M IN CONTROL HERE, I CALL THE SHOTS!"

After rendering the lifeless body completely unrecognizable, Hyde savagely discarded it before deeply inhaling the air to look for the next target he could use to unleash his pent up rage on.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Well that could have gone better." Chris said with all the urgency of him stubbing his toe instead of him getting ripped to pieces. "But, you know what they say, it never hurts to ask. It only gets you killed. Ha, ha, ha!"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Pummeling Polygons; Britney and Courtney and Staci; The Kent Estate-First Level Bedroom)

Britney, Courtney, and Staci had been making slow but steady progress. They decided to leave no stone unturned and make sure to thoroughly check each and every room they came across. As such, they ended up seeing a great deal of this vast English estate. Surprisingly, this had resulted in a shared spark of interest to be ignited within the Compulsive Liar and the Songstress, as they both began showing great appreciation for the outdated interior design. Unfortunately, this was not a sentiment that was shared by the Type A, and the C.I.T. had taken every opportunity thus far to contest every little word of praise spoken by her current companions.

"I honestly don't see what the big deal is about these doors." Courtney said as she pushed her way into what turned out to be a bedroom. "I mean, its just wood!"

"This isn't just any old wood, Courtney!" Britney protested as she stopped to properly admire the finely crafted material. "That's Brazilian Rosewood! It only grows on the other side of the planet, whoever had this building commissioned must've been a millionaire…"

"Brazilian Rosewood?" Staci mused aloud. "But my cousin who's a lumberjack says that species of wood is nearly extinct!"

"Yeah, sure Staci." Courtney lightly mocked the Chatterbox, despite wanting to be more scathing, unaware that in their time her statement was actually true.

"No, rea-" Staci started to reply, when her eyes fell upon the most beautiful rapier she had ever seen being displayed on the wall directly above the room's queen-sized bed. "Wow…" she gasped as she made her way toward it in a trance. Prompted to witness this due to the sudden cutoff of Staci's words, Courtney looked from one sad excuse for a contestant to the other and came to the conclusion that it was up to her to keep searching for the Invisible Man. Her eyes slowly surveyed the room, scrutinizing all the possible places from which the fiend could ambush them, when she noticed another door within the room. Curious, she made her way over to it so as to find out what was on the other side, only to admonish herself for not realizing it would likely be a bathroom in the first place.

Being the completionist that she was, Courtney decided to continue with her investigation. She noticed that both the window and mirror seemed to be slightly dusty, implying that the building had been in disuse for a fair amount of time but not yet too long. She carefully approached the curtain for the shower before figuring it to be best approached as a Band-Aid and proceeding to quickly rip it aside, only to see that nothing appeared to be inside. However, as she turned to exit the washroom, her peripheral vision picked up on a small object situated next to the door. Once she looked closer, it became clear that it was a bucket of paint, causing her to look over the bathroom once more and realize that it must have been under renovation before being abandoned altogether.

While this was going on, the other two present Polygons were still caught up in their respective passions, with Britney having moved on to the closest bedside table that was also made of Brazilian Rosewood. By now she had begun to notice that each and every room seemed to have its own theme, with all of them having a unique wood used to make up the furnishings. Too engrossed in marveling over this grand undertaking, she failed to notice the barely audible sound of footsteps slowly approaching her from behind, and by the time she knew what was happening, her jugular had already been sliced clean through.

Staci, on the other hand, had the presence of mind to pick up on the sound of Britney's dying body flailing around briefly and was quick enough turning around to have time to block the blade that was flying straight for her. Working solely on instinct by this point, Staci did the first thing her newly adrenaline-rushed brain could think of. Staci shouted, "COURTNEY!"

Courtney quickly stuck her head out of the bathroom entryway and witnessed a truly bizarre scene; her teammate sparring with a disembodied weapon. Staci, however, seemed to be holding her own for the moment, affording Courtney precious thinking time.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Yeah, sometimes I can get a little carried away when it comes to expensive wood." Britney admitted to the confessional, looking all kinds of bashful. "I guess it's true what they say, 'different strokes for different folks', and one of my strokes is good wood." Suddenly, Britney's focus seemed to shift to some point behind the camera, before her face shifted to obvious disgust. "NOT THAT KIND OF WOOD, YOU SICKOS!"

(Static)

Staci is seen sitting in the confessional booth, displaying many conflicting emotions. "I've sparred against a lot of different kinds of opponents, but honestly this was the first time I've ever gone up against someone who was literally invisible. I've heard of being too fast for the human eye, but come on! Any way you look at it, I was bound to get caught off guard somehow."

(Static)

"I had to do something!" Courtney shouted at the camera, seeming all kinds of indignant. "The Invisible Man was distracted and I took the most logical course of action! Besides, it's not like she actually got hurt…" Here the former C.I.T. trailed off, for the first time this season showing some degree of remorse.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

Thinking quickly, Courtney grabbed the brush from out of the half-full bucket of paint and positioned herself in front of the bathroom's door. Looking back up to re-evaluate the situation, she saw Staci fully focused on the floating blade before her, seeming to have forgotten that it was being manipulated by a person with two perfectly functioning hands. The Invisible Man made a move that the Compulsive Liar was able to flawlessly match, but in the process had left her upper torso completely unguarded. Courtney watched in abject horror as Staci's neck suddenly seemed to collapse in on itself, and knowing that she only had seconds to spare, put her plan into action.

The Invisible Man stood, triumphantly raising the evidence of his second consecutive kill in the air, when out of nowhere his back was struck. In his shock, he let go of both the breathless body and bloody blade in his hands and whirled around to determine what had happened, only to see one of his targets staring in his general direction, no doubt determined to try and guess just where he was. Confident, the Invisible Man charged at the helpless girl, already praising himself on his hat trick.

Little did he know, that impact on his back had left him marked, and at the last second the young girl leapt out of his way, causing him to stumble through the opened doorway and into the bathroom. Nonplussed, he turned around just in time to see the door slammed in his face, followed by the distinct sound of a chair being positioned against it in such a way as to trap him within.

Courtney stared at the door, allowing her brain time to catch up with the string of events that had transpired, before being jolted out of her stupor by the door in question being rocked by the obvious attempts of the Invisible Man to free himself from his makeshift prison. Realizing that she wasn't necessarily safe, Courtney pulled an about-face and ran from the bedroom, simultaneously leaving her expired friends behind and not having any idea of what she was going to do next.

Wondering how he was found out, the Invisible Man looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror. Upon seeing the paint on his back, he promptly removed it before continuing on.

(The Assaulting Avatars; Giavanna, Damian, Dawn, Nise, Sadie, and Owen; House Basement)

As they were traveling though the ravaged countryside, the Assaulting Avatars knew exactly where they were going. With Giavanna acting at their leader, they were moving towards the coastline, to help ensure whatever plans Noah had to win this challenge. And as unfortunate as the destruction was, it did offer one saving grace, the many destroyed but still standing houses made great places to hide in whenever they heard a Tripod coming. Currently, they were hiding in one such house, or rather, the basement of one.

Thanks to a small opening in one of the walls near the ceiling and Giavanna's height, she maintained look out, ready to let the other now when it was ok to start traveling again. With nothing else to do, the six teenagers started to softly talk to each other. Oddly enough, the teens had broken up into teams of two. Dawn was trying to comfort Nise, who wasn't taking the incredibly realistic scenes of destruction very well. Owen was talking to Sadie, with their conversation being much more upbeat than Dawn and Nise's. These two groups had more or less talked to each other since the challenge started. However, the third pair hadn't begun conversing with each other until this hiding spot.

"So, you're the captain of your school's track team? What a coincidence, so am I. Awesome!" Damian said, his voice was a little happier then he would have preferred at establishing something in common between him and his crush. While Damian wasn't nearly as big a bookworm or as accomplished academically as Giavanna (or Noah), he did find that they were more or less agreeable in sports, with both of them being on at least three different teams at their schools.

"Yup, I've been the captain for a few years now. I guess these thunder thighs of mine are good for running, uh?" Giavanna asked with a smile that still seemed slightly off.

"Well, they are very impressive." Damian said, looking at those long, lovely legs. Then catching himself, he added with a blushing face, "Uh…I'm not saying that your fat, Gia…honest, I'm not!"

"Aw, aren't you just the sweetest little thing." Giavanna said with a friendly smile. "Don't worry, I didn't think you were." Then the Tall Bombshell's face became more worried. "Uh…if you don't mind my asking, you don't talk to girls that much, do you?"

Damian looked crestfallen as he quietly asked, "Is it that obvious?"

Giavanna looked slightly away for a few seconds, not wanting to say the painful truth.

But seeing this was all the answer that Damian needed, and it caused him to frown.

Seeing this, Giavanna put one of her hands on Damian's shoulder and said as sweetly as she could, "Well, it doesn't matter. After all, I'm a girl, and I really like talking to you. It's the highlight of this challenge for me. Please, tell me some more about yourself."

The Hellraiser was stunned, not even able to breathe. But then, his look of shock faded. In its place there was a massive smile. And it grew when he saw another on Giavanna.

As he talked with the girl he was falling for more and more with every passing second, Damian found himself feeling happier and happier.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"You know, I just realized, I might be the first girl who Damian has really talked to. Well, that's going to change proto! Maybe I can ask Dawn and Nise if they'd try to hang out with him more often? And as for myself, I'll do the same. After all, I too could use some more friends, and Damian is a great one." Giavanna said with a sincere smile.

(Static)

"She likes talking to me! A girl I like actually likes talking to me! Oh, thank you God!" Damian shouted as loudly as he could within the Confessional walls.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

After talking with Damian for a bit more, Giavanna continued to look out the window. Turning towards the other Avatars, the Tall Bombshell said, "Well guys, I think that-"

Suddenly a blaring siren-like sound roared outside! The Tall Bombshell was silenced right away. It was one that everyone recognized. It was the horn of the Martian Tripod!

Sure enough, one of the towering terrors was striding its way towards the house. Without Giavanna having to say a word, everyone froze and became as silent as possible.

"One, two three, four! One, two, three, four! Ready! Aim! Fire!" Someone else shouted, disagreeing with the idea that the teenagers had.

KABOOM!

A large mortar shell was fired directly at the Tripod. The shell exploded around it. The men manning the mortar cheered, believing that they had destroyed the alien machine. After all, they were using the mightiest mortar of the British, the mightiest army on Earth. But as the smoke cleared, the Tripod remained, as it had been, completely undamaged.

Any second now, Giavanna knew that the Martians would use that horrible Heat Ray.

But they didn't. Instead, the machine from another world readied something else. It was a long black tube coming out from one of the sides of the Tripod. Instead of heat, what came out of this tube was a large canister that was launched into the air. As the canister was traveling down through the air, the Tripod started to turn around and walk away.

Everyone was focused on this until the canister smashed into the ground. Instead of the explosion that everyone feared would happen when it hit the ground, nothing happened.

Then, instead of the explosion all the humans, both real and digital feared, something else started to slowly seep out of the canister. It was an enormous volume of heavy, inky vapor, heavier than the densest smoke found on Earth, coiling and pouring upward in a huge and ebony cumulus cloud, a gaseous hill that sank and spread itself slowly over the surrounding country. After the first tumultuous uprush and outflow of its impact, it sank down through the air and poured over the ground in a manner more like a liquid than gas, streaming the soil like the heavy carbonic-acid gases that pour out from volcanic clefts.

Giavanna's emerald eyes went wide as she remembered what this was from the book. "Quick! Everyone out, now! Head to the nearest house on the highest hill you can find! And only breathe when you absolutely need to, hold you breathe as long as you can!"

With that, the Tall Bombshell ran out of the basement. The others followed after her. Owen, in a panic, flailed his arms around as he struggled to fit out of the doorway. The obese teen hadn't even noticed that one of his meaty arms had hit something very hard. The panicking teen didn't realize that it was actually a someone who he had hit down.

To Giavanna's deepest fears, the thick black gas was approaching the house they were at. Rather than dissolving away, as true gases do, this vapor from Mars hung together in banks as it flowed sluggishly onward and fell as if it were treacle-black twilight dust. She watched in horror as the gas' spreading coils and bellyings of blackness were upon the men at the mortar. Now towering over them, this strange and horrible antagonist of vapor treaded upon its victims. Being able to see their outlines dimly, Gia saw it all. She saw the running, the shrieking, the shouting of dismay, the falling headlong to the dirt, the chocking and writhing on the dirt…she saw the death that inhaling the pungent wisps brought. Soon all she saw was the silent mass of impenetrable vapor hiding its dead.

Tearing her eyes away from the shaded horrors of the gas, Giavanna brought her attention to her fleeing teammates. She was thankful they'd all be a safe distance from the gas.

'Yes, sir, all four of them were now completely…wait, four? There are five others. Where's the…oh, god!' Giavanna thought in horror as she looked back at the house.

Running as fast as she could, Giavanna reached the basement doorway and gasped. Her worst fears were proven correct! The fifth person, Damian, was lying on the ground out cold. And the vapor was starting to seep in through the cracks in the basement's walls.

As the twilight-black tendrils of the gas creped closer and closer to Damian, Giavanna was struggling to think of what to do. Nevertheless, she started running towards him. She knew that if she fell trying to save him, she'd never get back up.

Then, she had inspiration. After taken in a massive gulp of air, she lowered her upper body, grabbed Damian's body right as the gas was about to reach his mouth, and started running out as she held her new male friend high over the rising Martian vapor of death.

Bursting at the seams at having recused her friend, Giavanna continued to run towards the others. But as she ran, something was taking place she wouldn't realize until later. When she had scooped up Damian, she had held him on her shoulder so she'd be capable of running at full speed. Also, since she knew the gas would be behind her, the Tall Bombshell made sure that Damian's head draped over her front and not her back.

However, both of these decisions had an unintended side effect. As Giavanna moved, Damian was swung back and forth. And because his head was facing her front, Damian ended up being repeatedly knocked into the front of Giavanna's body. Mainly, the Hellraiser found his head being repeatedly knocked into the softness of the Tall Bombshell's massive breasts…again.

As he regained conciseness and realized what was happening, Damian was quite pleased.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"After she caught up with the rest of us, poor Giavanna's aura was nothing but flaming red with embarrassment. It is a shame, she had no intention of putting Damian's head between her breasts, as she told us every chance she got." Dawn said before chuckling. "Even though I know that's true, I don't think Damian minded at all."

(Static)

"Breasts, busoms, melons, milk factories, busts, funbags, knockers, ballistics, boobies, jugs, nipples, jubblies…" Damian said in total awe. "STONKING! GREAT! TITS!"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Crushing Cyborgs; Jay, DJ, Katie, Carlyle, and Greg; Random Back Alley, London)

Much like the rest of the Crushing Cyborgs, Jay, DJ, Katie, Carlyle, and Greg had bolted out the door to Doctor Jekyll's home the moment they saw opportunity, and had just so happened to form the largest group by osmosis. Luckily for the others, Jay had the presence of mind to tick off five minutes in his head, and once their time was up he picked out a nice alleyway for them to hole themselves up in. That way, Hyde would be forced to come at them from one direction, should he find them at all.

"Alright so," Jay said, standing at the entrance of the alley to keep an eye out while still turning to his teammates, "who's got a plan?"

"Well yo, I might be able to set up some kinda trap for 'im." Greg said, when no one else seemed to be saying anything. "But I'm gonna hafta know some things about him first."

"Don't look at me, I've never seen any of the movies or, like, read the book, either." Katie said, retreating slightly from the impromptu team meeting.

"I'd be better on guard duty. Uh, ya know, given the circumstances." DJ spoke up next, making sure to put himself between Katie and the only known entrance to their location.

"That just leaves you, dude." Jay said expectantly as he turned to Carlyle.

"Oh, I don't know if I'll be of any use here, guys." Carlyle admitted to the group, still reeling from the stark contrast between a true representation of Edward Hyde and those he remembered from his beloved movie adaptations. "But still, I can guess that Hy-"

CRUNCH!

Before he knew what hit him, Carlyle felt a massive weight drop on him from the rooftops! The others stared in horror as Edward Hyde was now standing over the flattened corpse of the teen he had landed upon.

The person closet to Carlyle, Greg, was preparing to fire his pistols when Hyde grabbed his throat and snapped his neck with a single motion of his knuckly, pale hand.

Hyde didn't have long to revel in his double-kill as a bullet just barely missed his foot.

As he was looking at the source of the bullet, that same source, Jay, loudly shouted, "DJ, grab Katie and hide around the bend in the back of the alley!"

The larger teen complied and after grabbing Katie's much smaller hand started running.

"You!" Hyde snarled in wrath. "The little shit who got me in my bloody ear!"

"Who else would you be talking to? A ghost? Jay Travers, at your service, Eddie." Jay said mockingly.

Mr. Hyde seethed at the name "Eddie" and was about to lunge at the Puppetmaster. But then, he started to sniff the air, to a very confused Jay. When Hyde returned his attentions to Jay, he was smiling.

"Your in luck, you contemptible little bastard. I smell some of your friends, and I shall enjoy snapping their spines like twigs. As for you, since I hate you so much, I actually want to wait so when I tear out our brains through your nose and tremble your heart, I can make it all the sweeter. The next time we meet, your blood will be all over the street."

With that, Edward Hyde leapt into the air and began to climb on the nearby buildings. Too stunned by this development to move, Jay didn't even consider firing his weapons. Instead he watched as Hyde fled, disappearing behind the bright skyline overhead.

After he shook his head, Jay called out to DJ and Katie saying, "DJ! Katie! He's gone! You can come out now. Come on, we don't have all bloody day!"

As the Puppetmaster called out to them, the other teens realized the position they were in.

Normally, DJ would have grabbed Katie by her top and yank her back behind him. However, for reasons that he couldn't logically explain, the taller teen did things differently. Wrapping one of his large, muscular arms around Katie's body, he yanked on her and pulled her as close to his body as he could.

When that happened, neither teen noticed the commotion caused by Jay or Mr. Hyde. Neither teen was sure of how they could get into this position but neither was complaining. It felt suspiciously like a hug, with unintentional benefits for both parties. For Katie, she felt the amazingly chiseled chest of her crush brushing up against her back like solid rock. For DJ, his hand just happened to be right over the thinner BFF's chest, finding that his one hands was nearly surrounding one of her small yet perky breasts.

If it hadn't been for Jay calling out for them after scaring away Hyde, DJ was sure he'd have grabbed Katie's chest and Katie was sure she'd have rubbed up against DJ's chest.

A few seconds after Jay started calling for them, DJ, struggling to make his voice loud, answered, "Were here Jay! Don't worry; we'll meet up with you soon. Uh…I dropped my gun and Katie is helping me find it. We'll meet up with you in the street very soon!"

To their relief, DJ and Katie heard the footsteps of Jay walking away from them to the street.

As Jay's steps were barely hearable, DJ whispered, "Say, um, Katie?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Should we…should we get going?"

"Probably but…uh, could we, like, look for your gun for just a few more seconds? To make sure that Hyde doesn't come back?"

There was a pause. Then DJ, with a voice barely audible, says, "Ok."

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Oh, man, I can't believe I did that!" DJ said looking confused. "Mama wouldn't approve of that, but…uh, for once, I don't really care about that." He then started to blush.

(Static)

"DJ…hand….chest…EEEEEEE!" Katie happily squealed, shattering the camera lens.

(Static)

"Ah, great!" Chef says, his image broken by the fractured camera lens. "Now I gotta fix the camera!" One of his hands covers the camera lens before it switches over to static.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Pummeling Polygons; Duncan and Mathieu; The Kent Estate-Another First Level Bedroom)

The odd couple of Duncan and Mathieu entered another room, having searched a few before this one on this floor. As before, there was total silence between the teenagers. This was because of Duncan, who made it very clear that he had no interest in talking. The reason he gave was so they could more easily listen for signs of the Invisible Man. While that reason was valid enough and part of the truth, there was another truth as well, Duncan didn't have any desire to talk to a nerd who reminded him a lot of Harold.

Two details stuck out about this room when compared to the other rooms they had searched. Firstly, there were various items of clothing and personal affects everywhere. Secondly, this room was layer of dust to it that wasn't apparently anywhere else.

There was a violent sneeze.

"Gesundheit." Mathieu said.

"Thank you." A Voice said, a voice that didn't belong to either Duncan or Mathieu.

As the eyes of both teens widened and looked at each other as they realized this fact, a most extraordinary thing happened. The bedclothes gathered themselves together, leapt up suddenly into a sort of peak, and then jumped over the bottom rail of the bed. It was exactly what would have happened if a hand had grabbed them and flung them aside.

A mere second later, the bed sheets themselves seemed to be thrown as if on their own. But this time, they were thrown in the direction of the two teenagers. Acting fast, Duncan managed to dodge the spreading and soft missile but Mathieu took a direct hit to the face.

"Ack! Duncan, help me get this thing off of my head!" Mathieu cried out as he struggled with the sheets, as they seemed to be only becoming more intertwined on his thin body.

"Fuck that!" Duncan barked as he ignored the struggled teenager and he primed his Victorian era pistol. "I'm going to end this challenge and kill this invisible wacko!"

"Oh, is that so?" The Voice said mockingly. Then Duncan felt something, exactly like a finger and thumb, nip his nose before noticing the strange feeling of another finger being dug into the chest. "I'd like to see you try. After all, I'm right here. Ahehehehe."

"As you wish." Duncan said as much like a macho action hero as he could before firing.

BANG!

The Delinquent was sure he had gotten him.

"No, not there." The Voice said with cackling playfulness at Duncan's left. "Over here!"

BANG! Went Duncan's pistol as it was fired again.

"Wrong!" The Voice chanted at Duncan's right. "I'm over here now!"

BANG!

"I wonder; are you trying to miss me? If so, you're doing a stand-up job!"

"Stay still so I can kill you!" Duncan roared in anger as he fired at him yet again.

Instantly after that, a hat, which had been on the bed post, hopped off it and entered a whirling flight in the air through the better part of a circle, as if it had been thrown like a Frisbee disk. Following the hat in unnatural flight in rapid succession was a sponge from a washstand. Then a chair turned itself up with its four legs seeming to take aim before charging like a mad bull. All the while, there was a dry laughing from the Invisible Man while Duncan tried to fire more bullets without being fully sure of where to fire them.

As the bizarre display between Duncan and the Invisible Man continued, Mathieu was still struggling to free himself from the villainous mastermind of the evil bed sheets.

'Wait a second, is one of my hands near…Yes, yes it is! With just a little more reach, I can reach the miniature explosives in my belt of tricks. It will create just enough of a blast to give me the space I need to shake this bed sheet off!' Mathieu thought to himself.

A few seconds later, the Magician found what he was looking for. As he was moving it out of his belt, he added to himself, 'Great! Safe detonation will begin in three…'

KABOOM!

"Oh God, I'm on fire!" Mathieu screamed as flames began to consume the bed sheet that surrounds him. He started running in a panic while flailing his flaming arms around. "Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! AAAAAHHH! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me-AAAAAAA!"

As he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, the Magician had unknowingly fallen out of the opened window. A loud crash confirmed that he had hit the ground.

After Mathieu had fallen out of the window, Duncan froze and all other activity stopped.

"Did you see that too?" The Invisible Man asked sounding truly surprised.

All Duncan could so was nod his head while his mind had been blown wide open.

Things remained this way for at least a few seconds.

Duncan simply stared at the window with his eyes unblinking in disbelief. Then without warning, he erupted into laughter at the crazy display he had just seen.

His laughter was joined by the laughter of another, whose laughter was just as full.

"Ha, ha, ha…oh God! I never thought I'd have ever seen anything like that! Ha, ha, ha!" The Invisible Man said fighting against the strong laughter in his un-seeable throat.

"Oh, man! That was the best!" Duncan said in a similar manner, struggling to hold his sides in place from his laughter. "That is something I never could have seen coming!"

"So true!" The Invisible Man added with much mirth. "You know what else you can never see coming?"

"What?"

"My fist!"

BAM!

Before Duncan knew what happened, an invisible fist had hit his face and knocked him to the floor. Still on his back from the shock, the Punk attempted to stand help before finding a heavy weight keeping him in place. He also attempted to raise and use his pistol but the click of an empty chamber told him that he was out of bullets.

"Aw, looks like someone's out of bullets." The Invisible Man taunted. "I should kill you now…but since you can appreciate a good laugh, I think I have something else in mind."

Duncan's confusion as to what that meant was ended quickly after he felt his pants start to be undone before they were pulled off of his legs. Then, still being held down, he saw his own pants seem to put themselves on as unseen leg after unseen leg entered them.

Once the pant legs were draped over unseen legs, the weight on Duncan was lifted.

As he started frantically to search for bullets, Duncan was treated the odd occurrence of his own pants skipping away from him towards the opened door as they started singing.

"~Here we go gathering nuts in May,

Nuts in May, nuts in May,

Here we go gathering nuts in May,

On a cold and frosty morning!

Whoops!"

By the time the pants singing Here We Go Gathering Nuts in May were past the doorway, Duncan realized that all of his extra bullets were in his pants' pockets. [2]

That realization combined with the humiliation of being de-pantsed filled him with rage. With a mind like that of a raging bull, Duncan charged through the open doorway and…

The door was suddenly, swiftly, and viciously, slammed in his face by the waiting foe!

WHAM!

The collision knocked Duncan out cold.

When he came too, Duncan realized that his pants were crumbled up next to him…with all of the bullets in the pockets. Though this pleased him, something else wasn't quite right. He felt this odd clear liquid on his face.

"Uh? What's this?" Duncan asked himself before sniffing the clear liquid in question. "It almost smells like pis-" He stopped himself mid-word, saying the rest in his mind. "He…pissed on me?" He said struggling to grasp that fact. After a few seconds, Duncan grasped what that meant perfectly and reacted appropriately.

"I'LL KILL HIM!"

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"You know, I was set on fire and fell out of a window to my death. And yet, I kind of would prefer that to what happened to Duncan." Mathieu told the camera, slightly confused. "Should I be worried about that?"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Assaulting Avatars; Joseph, Mary, Solita, B; English Countryside)

For most of their journal after seeing the Martians feed, the teens were silent. Finally, right when they were very close to the water, they made amazing discovery. They found a fallen Martian Tripod. Its presence offered proof of what Noah was searching for. They all would have continued onward if not for B stopping to investigate the wreckage. Seeing the look on B's face, the knowing that the wheels were turning in his head, Noah revised their plan. While he and Izzy went to secure the thing that killed this Tripod, the others would stay here and help B has he worked on the Tripod to counter build a Martian Heat Ray for them to use.

Since the Silent Genius didn't need them for anything at the moment, the others stood guard. One of those standing guard, Joseph, was finding himself becoming uneasy. Despite what he had proclaimed earlier, seen this virtual death was getting to him. With him not knowing he was doing it, he felt his hands ball up into shaking fists. He didn't realize he was even doing this until he felt another hand on his shoulder. Looking in the direction of the hand, he saw Mary, looking at him with sympathetic yet knowing eyes.

"Joseph, are you ok?" Mary asked. "Are you worried that your going to snap again?"

"I don't know. Maybe a little." Joseph answered. "But don't worry, I can make it until the end of this challenge. I'm sure I can." Mary's boyfriends then offered as comforting a smile as he could.

Seeing this, despite knowing it was somewhat forced, Mary grasped Joseph's hand. After she did so, the smile on Joseph's face became much more genuine.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Truth be told, the sight of the corpses left by the Martians was worse than I thought it would be. One of the effects of my, uh, experience in the past, I can't handle seeing dead bodies very well." Joseph said, looking worried. "But I'm sure I can keep control until the end of the challenge."

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

As the Arabic couple had their moment, the other teen that was supposed to be on guard duty, Solita, walked towards B until she was right next to him.

"Listen, B," Solita struggled to say, not being well versed in talking with other teens. "I just wanted to say thank you for earlier, uh, when we saw those Martians, I mean."

The Orphan saw B stop working and smile at her. For some reason, this made Solita feel funny.

"Well, I don't want to distract you. You're doing a good job; keep it-" Solita said while starting to get up when she felt B's hand encircle hers. The funny feeling returned.

After remaining where she was, B used one of his hands to do a rolling motion. After a few seconds, Solita thought she understood what the Silent Genius was suggesting.

"You want me to stay, and keep talking…while you work on this?"

B nodded his head with a smile. In the silence that followed, B did another rolling motion.

"Oh, right! Sorry." Solita said embarrassed before talking to B has he continued to work.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"I never would have thought it was possible but you can have a good one-sided conversation." Solita admits to the camera. "As odd as his not speaking is, B is not so bad. Hell, maybe he could even become a friend? I'll just have to wait and see."

For reasons she couldn't explain, the Orphan looked torn and confused.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Crushing Cyborgs; Rob and Nanon; The Streets of London)

Through accident, Nanon and Rob had become the smallest of spur of the moment groups, only armed with a Webley revolver and Henry repeating rifle, respectively.

As they searched through the streets of London, Rob found that a question was burning in his throat, longing to be asked. Finally, he asked, "So, what's it like having one arm?"

"Sigh... damn, that is an annoying question." Nanon stated with a heavy sigh, more so to herself than Rob.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Sorry I asked. I don't mean to pry." Rob said.

"No, it's okay, it's just…do you really wanna know, or are you just yanking my chain?" Nanon asked.

Rob smiles slightly as he replied, "Do I look like the type to pick on someone?"

Nanon chuckled a bit before saying, "I guess not, I just had to check. All right, I'll bite." Her demeanor then changed from chuckling to serious. "I honestly don't see much of difference in being one-armed by now, having gotten use to it over my entire life. But back when I was getting use to it, I remember thinking that I was somehow less of a person because of it, that I always had to do my damnest just to match everyone else. Despite whatever you might think, the physical difficulties aren't the hardest part."

"Then what is?"

"Its that awkward first moment when someone new sees you, sees your missing arm. Its knowing that what you don't have is the first thing people think of when thinking of you. Its knowing that you will defined by what you don't have, that you'll always just be labeled the One Armed Girl. Its knowing that most will either think you're a freak or that they have to protect you because you couldn't do anything remarkable on your own. I guess it boils down to the fact that everyone prejudges you because you're not normal." Nanon said, by now having stopped walking and staring down at the street looking sad.

It was silence for about ten seconds. Rob wanted to say that Nanon was wrong, at least about him…but she wasn't. Many of those thoughts were Rob's when he first saw her.

Even so, the Sharpshooter knew that he had to say something. "Nanon, the fact that you signed up for this show, knowing how tough it would be for you, says more about you than the initial opinions of me or anyone else ever could. I know you already know this but I'm going to say it again anyway, you don't need to define yourself by comparing yourself to everyone else." Then his voice became lighter as he added a chuckle. "I mean, if I were to compare myself to you, then I'd be in trouble of looking quite inferior. Sure, I can do a bunch of bullet tricks but I don't know how I'll be able to beat you in the game."

Nanon looked at Rob, and found that her face was now in a smile. "Thanks Rob. I'm so happy that-" She stopped speaking and looked up at the skyline. "DUCK!" She yelled.

Acting on instinct, Rob bolted from Nanon. Two seconds later, a small mass crashed right there they had been standing. As the dust cleared, it was revealed to be Mr. Hyde.

"Ah, just my luck. Now I get both types of meat, dark and weak, and white and strong." Hyde said with a savage smile as he licked his cracked lips.

"You think I'm weak!?" Nanon shouted, insulted by the charge. "Come and face me!"

"Quite right. I've been trained to kill men worse than you, Hyde!" Rob added loudly.

"Finally, some prey worthy of the hunt! I shall savor your deaths all the sweeter now." Hyde said before charging at the pair of teenagers as if he were an enraged gorilla.

As the gap between Hyde and teens closed, Rob and Nanon noticed that Hyde was heading towards Nanon, likely because he deemed her the easier of the two kills.

Nanon primed her revolver and fired at Hyde.

BANG!

The shot seemed to have missed as Hyde charged towards her without pause or delay. Though worried, Nanon fired again at the creature.

BANG!

Aside from a very brief wobbling, likely caused from a grazing bullet, Hyde didn't stop.

BANG!

Hyde's loud roar and speeding fall to the street confirmed that Nanon had scored a hit.

"Ounngh…my ear." Hyde said as he brought one of his hands to the same ear Jay had hit while lying on the cobblestone street. "You shot me in the ear again! That bloody hurt!"

"Its about to hurt a lot worse, Hyde!" Rob declared as he was aiming his rifle.

BANG!

Moving fast, Hyde returned to his feet and dodged the bullet, only receiving minor injuries to his right leg as a result of his speed.

Already on the other side of Hyde, Nanon stood opposite to Rob and readied her gun.

Seeing this, Rob readied his own gun, planning on the spot on both for them firing at Hyde at the same time.

BANG! BANG!

Sadly though, again Hyde's swiftness proved to be in greatest advantage, as he dodged the bullets. Though fast, Nanon wasn't fast enough to dodge the bullet from Rob's gun. As a result, Nanon fell to the street dead from the bullet forced through her head.

"Oh, fuck…" Rob said in slowly in shock.

"Aheheh. My. How admirably callous." Hyde said with a dark chuckle in his throat.

Remembering that Hyde was there, Rob fired shot after shot. But Hyde dodged them all. Though the rage fuelling them had not lessened, the number of bullets in Rob's rifle did.

Seeing this, Hyde smirked as he ran towards Rob for the kill. But the Sharpshooter wasn't done yet. With no other option, he primed his rifle as if it were a war club.

Even as Hyde's hand found its way around Rob's neck, he delivered a few very strong whacks onto the skull of the monster. Had he been a normal man, Hyde would have died.

But Hyde wasn't a normal man. To prove it, he was tightening his grip on Rob's neck. "You see, sir, you were mistaken before. I'd be willing to wager that you haven't been trained to kill men worse than me, because there are no men worse than me. All men have devil drives beneath their breasts, but I alone have those drives and no restraints."

Though he fought it as hardly as he could, Hyde soon enough strangled Rob to death.

After he released the now dead digital body, he saw something shining on the ground. It was Nanon's Webley revolver. Showing a grin very much like Satan's, Hyde grabbed it.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Ok, maybe I could have handled that a little better." Rob admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But seeing my comrades getting gunned, especially by me, is a huge pet peeve of mine."

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Assaulting Avatars; Noah and Izzy; English Countryside)

While the majority of their little team had remained with B as he worked on the Tripod, Noah and Izzy had moved onward, to secure the true means of the Avatar's victory.

However, Noah wasn't thinking about that now. Instead he was thinking of Izzy, and how annoyed he was getting with her. Aside from the slain Tripod, they hadn't seen hide or nonexistent hair of anything from the planet Mars. Because of this, the fear that had shocked Izzy into silence had long since passed. Even though he knew that they would likely kill him, Noah was actually starting to miss the presence of the Martian Tripods. At least they kept Izzy quiet and calm…and he was so longing for her to be quiet by now!

Because now Izzy was firing off what was, in all seriousness, her hundredth question at Noah that he didn't want to answer.

"Soooooo…have you made any progress towards professing your love for Cody?" Izzy asked with her usual smirking maniac nature as she walked.

"I've said it a million times but I'll say it again," Noah said, gritting his teeth tightly, "I never was, never am, and never will have any sexual attraction towards Cody or any other boy for that matter! In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm heterosexual!"

"So, your interested in girls, are you?"

"That's what heterosexual means the last time I checked!"

Izzy's emerald eyes gleamed as she asked, "Then what about Giavanna?"

Noah stopped walking, noticing that they were at the ruins of yet another house. "Wh-what?"

"Giavanna. You know, the new girl, just under seven feet tall, can kick all kinds of ass with a sword, has breasts that rival Lindsay's in size and quality." Izzy said nonchalantly.

"I know who she is, Izzy!" Noah snapped. "What is your point!?"

"Really? You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Izzy asked with a questioning glance. Then she started slowly moving her head back and forth. "Tisk, tisk. And your suppose to be so smart? Izzy was sure you'd have figured it out by now."

"Figured out what?"

"That she's crazy about you! From day one she's wanted you to bang her like a salvation army drum! It might as well say above her, 'I want to be hammered by Noah's boa!'"

As Noah listened to Izzy continue with many more phrases along these lines, his cheeks became like the bark of a tree in a forest fire, switching from brown to a burning red.

Finally ending her long last of sexual innuendo, Izzy asked, "Come on, Noah. Don't tell Izzy that you'd not be interested in her."

Even though his voice was softer than normal, Noah answered with, "Uh…well, sure I would. She seems like, uh, a good girl. She's smart, nice, friendly, cute, and…"

"Just cute?" Izzy interrupted Noah with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright, she's gorgeous, sexy, miraculous, ok!?" Noah admitted. "But I've just met her. Yes, I'd be interested but my attraction might be too superficial and soon to be genuine."

"Noah, we aren't talking about wedding bells and shoving cake into peoples' faces, here. We are talking about a guy asking out a girl who clearly wants him. You can't know if it is real or not unless you ask her out and see what happens. Why are you so hesitant?"

There was not a sound for a while after that question was asked. The silence hung thickly. If it were anyone else asking him, Noah would have either told them to mind their own business or fired off a particularly nasty insult before continuing to walk. But with Izzy, Noah already knew that neither of those tried and true tactics would work on her.

The Bookworm mumbled something.

"What was that?" Izzy asked.

Groaning in frustration and sighing loudly, Noah "spoke" again slightly louder, though any intelligible words couldn't be made out.

"Didn't quite catch that."

Finding his nerves getting rallied up with every second, Noah mumbled bitterly again.

"Come on, Noah, speak up so Izzy can hear you. Come on! Tell me, tell me, tell me, te-"

"BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW THAT SHE'LL SAY NO IF I ASK HER OUT, OK!?" Noah shouted at Izzy, likely having his voice be the loudest it ever was.

The normally motor-mouthed Redhead found her mouth breaking down after that.

"There, I said it! Happy now!?" Noah snapped. "Now you know the fucking obvious! I seem to remember you rambling at some point about how you have an I.Q. of 180. Well guess what, little Miss Brainzilla, how could a girl as great as Giavanna ever be interested in someone has pathetic as me when every other girl I've tried to ask out has said no!?

Izzy stood there looking shell-shocked. "You've asked girls out?"

The Bookworm's brown eyes now resembled bronzed furnaces as they glared at Izzy. Nothing existed to Noah, not the Martians or the show, except Izzy and his pain. While he didn't know it, Noah was about to unleash upon Izzy all of his pent-up frustrations.

"Yes, you psychotic bitch! I've asked girls out, and they all have said no to my face! Some of them already had boyfriends. Some of them only liked muscle bound jocks. Some of them laughed in my face and belittled me in front of the entire student body! I've accepted that I'm going to be alone till the day I die and die a fucking virgin!" Then Noah started to take some slow, heavy footsteps towards the stunned Psycho Hose-Beast. "And you know what, Izzy? You're a part of the reason why!"

"M-ma…me?"

"Yes, you! You and all of those yaoi-obsessed tweens and dumbasses that say I'm gay! Thanks to all of your efforts to convince the world that I want to fuck any of the guys who have been on this show, the girls who reject me have a whole new option to use. Somehow, even after all of the shit that has happened to me, I worked up the nerve to ask a girl out after Total Drama. And guess what she said? 'Like, aren't you into boys?' And the worst part about everyone saying I'm gay is that I can't disprove it because no girl ever wanted me! I'm the fucking smartest person I know, I am capable of so much, but I can't do something as simple as get a girl to go on a date because everyone thinks its always so hilarious when I'm the miserable cynic! And you're the worst offender of that. Well, Izzy, I'm pretty damn miserable. Tell me, isn't just fucking hilarious!?"

By the time his rant was done, Noah's throat was burning and his voice was hoarse. He was breathing heavily, having lost almost any sense of his usual cold and composed form. As his anger became replaced by the despair behind it, he fell onto the grass on his butt.

Izzy just stood where she had remained, feeling frozen. This was a lot to absorb. It was no secret that Izzy loved to tease Noah because she found his reaction to be so funny. But while Izzy was ok with him being peeved and even angry with her, she had no idea how sad Noah was, in part because of her. Seeing the utterly defeated and unhidden expression on Noah's face made her feel something she rarely felt…guilt.

"Na-Noah…I-Izzy had no idea I-" Izzy attempted to say with an unusually soft voice.

"Of course you didn't!" Noah harshly interrupted. "You just thought about what you found funny, not caring for how it was making my life even more hellish than it was!"

The Redhead was silent for a few moments. "Yes, that's right. Izzy just thought about that." Izzy than sat down right next to Noah on the computer generated grass blades. "Izzy didn't mean to make you feel worse. Izzy doesn't like hurting people's feelings. Now, their bodies, oh ho, Izzy's often all over that! But not there feelings."

"You could have fooled me." Noah bluntly and bitterly said.

Again, Izzy winced a bit at Noah's unhidden and low simmering hatred for her. "Listen, Izzy never really meant any of the things she said about you being gay. Izzy just wanted to make Izzy laugh. Izzy knows she doesn't often show it but you're a good friend. Izzy thinks that you're a guy who any girl would be lucky to have."

Hearing that caused Noah's scowl to weaken and his eyes to flash surprise. "Really, really Izzy?" He asked, in a tone of voice that wasn't mad or harsh or sarcastic.

"Sure!" Izzy said smiling, realizing that she had partially cracked Noah's cynical shell. "Izzy means, so what if your rude, pessimistic, crabby, a wet-blanket, lazy, slothful, about as physically capable and muscular as a beached jellyfish, elitist, short, a vir-?"

"Please Martians, kill me now." Noah groaned loudly as he face palmed himself multiple times in frustration.

"Oh…that's not helping, is it?" Izzy asked reluctantly with a finger to her lips.

"Gee, you think! What ever gave you that idea!?" Noah scolded; though Izzy noticed it wasn't as impassionate as it was a few moments ago.

"Ok, ok…let Izzy start over." The Redhead said as she waved her hands in front of her. "Your smart, almost as smart as Izzy, your honest, you value the mind over the body, you can remember things to the smallest detail, and…your one of Izzy's only friends."

Noah stared at Izzy in confusion, but not for the normal reasons he did. Was this the same Izzy that had pestered him for as long as he could remember? This question became all the more important when he saw Izzy's demeanor change to a kind of subtle sadness.

"Izzy has a hard time making friends, most people run away from Izzy or act on edge. But you don't. You act around Izzy like anyone else. You see that Izzy's a person. Most people aren't around Izzy long enough to be called friends but you are, like Owen and Eva. Though Chris and Erebus are making hurdles towards becoming Izzy's friends too. But my point is that you don't treat Izzy like she's a balloon filled with nitroglycerin."

"You probably shouldn't take too much stock in me not running away from you because its mostly out of laziness on my part." Noah said, now sounding like his normal self.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you can handle me and treat me like a person." Izzy retorted. "Most guys can't do that. And I'd wager the guys those girls you asked out chose over you wouldn't be capable of that. Only the best guys can handle the Izzy!"

Izzy stopped when she noticed Noah briefly smile and release a reluctant chuckle. This in turn made Izzy smile too. But then, her face again became uncharacteristically serious.

"Listen, Noah, you might not believe Izzy but you've helped out Izzy more than you could know. Even when things are uncertain with Big O, I still have your friendship. You are the proof that there are guys out there who can handle and embrace Izzy. Even though you never intended it, you make Izzy feel special just by being yourself. Beneath that cynical shell of yours is a great guy who would make an amazing boyfriend. Izzy wonders what you could do for a girl who is interested in you and you're interested in. For all of your rough edges, that girl is going to be so much better off than Izzy."

In the silence that followed, Noah stared at Izzy with his mouth slightly agape. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined this girl, who as far as he was concerned as a less restrained version of Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny, being so serious and vulnerable.

But he was grateful for it. So grateful that he stood up and offered Izzy a hand that she accepted.

"Thank you for saying that. I really needed a girl to say that to me." Noah said smiling.

Showing a smile that wasn't frightening or manic, Izzy said, "Your welcome, Noah."

There was a pleasant silence as the two teens stared at each other with smiles on their faces. Then, Noah had an idea. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity!

"Say, Izzy, now that we've had this little heart-to-heart and feel all warm and fuzzy inside, could you please stop it with the jokes about Cody and me being gay lovers?"

To Noah's infinite shock, Izzy started tapping her chin and genuinely considering this…

…for about two seconds.

"Nah! Sorry Noah but the only way you'll stop those jokes from me is to prove me wrong and get yourself a towering titalicious girlfriend with my help. Hahaha! Tally ho!" Izzy exclaimed, returning to her original wacky self as she started running towards the water.

Noah stood still for a moment as his eyes blinked. Then, his mouth became a small smirk. With that smirk remaining, the Bookworm followed Izzy towards their target.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"See viewers, Izzy can be serious and supportive when Izzy wants to be." Izzy said. "After all, if Izzy was always wacky, and goofy, and just a little spooky, then she'd become predictable and Izzy hates predictability!"

(Static)

Izzy is seen staring at a picture in a frame with the most intense stare she could muster.

(Static)

"Every now and then, the universe throws you a curve ball. But in this case with Izzy, it was a positive one. For all of her odd quirks and my occasional yet legitimate fear of her, I am grateful to have Izzy as a friend. What she said really helped me, it really did. Though I'm not use to it, I guess I'm going to try and court Giavanna, after all. And as odd as it sounds saying it out loud, maybe I'll ask Izzy for some help?" Noah said to the camera, his normally hardened scowl was replaced with a very grateful smile. "Maybe this is only the tip of the iceberg for unseen levels of depth and complexity in Izzy?"

(Static)

Izzy is seen staring at a picture in a frame with the most intense stare she could muster.

"IZZY WILL WIN THIS STARING CONTEST!"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Pummeling Polygons; Cody and Francisco; Kent Estate-Second Level Second Hallway)

As they searched their section of the estate, the tall Tattoo Artist and the short Tech Geek began engaging in conversation. True that in most regards there was not much overlap in terms of interests or hobbies but there were a few on which the two teens were simpatico.

"Why some people seem to think that Alejandro deserved to win World Tour is beyond me! Did they forget that he got to the finale with lies and deception that hurt a lot of people far nicer than him? Or that he knocked me into shark-infested waters!?" Cody said, slightly ticked at remembering what happened so long (but not long enough) ago in Hawaii.

But one thing Cody wasn't ticked with in the slightest was Francisco.

"Exactly my new amigo! You would not believe how much I hate that pile of mierda! Throughout most of World Tour people would keep comparing me to that evil brujo. And it was always worse when it would be by people who didn't know too many Spanish people. That's actually the reason I joined this show, to show the fans of Total Drama a Spanish person who wasn't the scum of the Earth."

"I'm sorry to hear that man. While I'm not sure that's necessary, I'm sure you'll do exactly that. I hope though that most people can realize that an individual doesn't represent an entire group of people." Cody said understanding how Francisco might feel.

"I hope so too but this is a crazy world that we live in sometimes. For example, if it wasn't for Alejandro, I'd easily have hated Duncan the most during World Tour."

"Don't even get me started on that vulgar, cruel gutter punk! Even in a season in which I was almost killed by Alejandro and stalked every waking moment by Sierra, I still somehow hated Duncan after World Tour was over more than either of those two!" Cody exclaimed while pretty much unaware of the angry passion in his words about Duncan.

Francisco wasn't shocked in the slightest at Cody's reply. In fact, this actually gave him the opportunity to bring up something that had been in the mind of the tan Tattoo Artist.

"I completely understand. While not a major villain, Duncan is just as vile as they are. And for whatever its worth, I always thought you'd be a far better boyfriend for Gwen."

Francisco took a few steps forward before he realized that Cody had remained frozen exactly in the same place he was when the Spanish teenager said those words to him.

Walking back to him, Cody tried to speak after what came close to a minute being frozen, "Rea-really? You thought I-I'd b-be a better boy…uh…ba-boyfriend for…Gw…Gwen?"

After a little bit more of Cody being a stammering mess, the Geek tried (very unconvincingly) to deny that that he harbored any feelings like that for Gwen.

"Cody, I live with three sisters. Even if your attempt at denying your feelings for Gwen were somehow more unbelievable than the Invisible Man we're hunting, I've developed a great talent for noticing when someone isn't being entirely honestly." Francisco said with a smirk from knowing that he wasn't in error. "So, and please be honest for both of us, do you still feel as passionately for Gwen as you did before?"

Cody tried to think of some kind of rebuttal but after doing so for a bit and failing to come up with anything he sighed heavily in reluctance before admitting, "Ok, sure. I'm still crazy about Gwen. She's so mysterious, strong, and beautiful… how could I not be?"

"Well she's a little too pale for my tastes but I can easily understand your attraction, amigo."

"Oh, so you like the ladies on the darker side, uh?" Cody asked with a smirk and his eyebrows being bobbed up and down at finding a little humor after admitting the truth.

After chuckling at Cody's gesture, Francisco answered with, "I guess that's true. Darker girls are good but tan girls are the best…at least to me. But hey, ladies of all kinds are fine by me."

"Amen to that."

Both boys laughed for a little bit at this sentiment before they heard a sudden sound! The two stopped laughing and searched the room that they were currently in and the immediate area. Finding nothing, the two resumed their patrol of their part of the house.

Starting out in silence, Cody's mind had been humming furiously ever since his partner's comment and when he finally couldn't take it anymore he asked with a weak voice, "Francisco, do you really think I'd be a great boyfriend for Gwen?"

"Of course mi amigo! You are considerate, compassionate, bursting with commitment, and, as all three of my sisters often say, quite cute." Francisco said with a smile at knowing this knowledge would make his new little friend happy. Imagine his shock when his answer seemed to have the opposite effect and make Cody look much more saddened. "Cody, what's wrong? I thought you'd be bouncing off the walls at hearing that."

"Yeah, so would I." Cody said with increasingly subtle sadness. "But I've come to realize that Gwen will never feel about me the same way I feel about her. I'll always be either an annoying little brother at worst or a good friend who's just a friend at best. I'm trying to move on. I really am. But Gwen needs me as a friend, as a person she can turn to when there's no one else and that's more important to me than my inability to accept the truth."

Francisco for his part stood there looking at Cody with a mixture of amazement and confusion. Never in a million years would he have guessed that would be Cody's answer!

"Wow…I must admit I'd never have guessed that Cody. Naturally I have to ask, why? Why do you feel that Gwen needs you so much as a friend when to do so is killing you?"

Cody took a heavy breath, he had never said this out loud before but Francisco didn't seem like a bad person to spill the beans to about his somewhat self-harming stance when it came to Gwen.

"Well...it's a little hard to explain loud out but I'll try my best. You see, not too long after she hooked up with Duncan I…"

The Tech Geek had fully intended on telling Francisco everything but something caught his attention. Stopping mid-sentence, Cody walked over to the other side of the room. Both sides of this room had many purple curtains that had an appearance sad and silken. But there was one, which Cody was now walking towards that somehow was different. He couldn't pinpoint exactly why but it filled him with such ominous dread and terror.

Pulling back the curtain, Cody became thrilled with fantastic terrors never felt before!

"Francisco! FRANCISCO!" Cody shouted at the top of his lungs to his new friend.

The Spanish teenager rushed over to him and instantly knew why Cody had shouted. Hidden behind the purple curtain that called to Cody was the lifeless body of Ari!

The Ninja, who works best from the shadows, seemed to have been overwhelmed by another who doesn't need the shadows for concealment. With the Ninja's throat slashed but no other signs of a struggle, it appeared that she had being killed from behind before she could even realize what had happened. It was a sight to fill one with great woe.

And it was indeed woe that was coursing through Cody, but it wasn't just for Ari.

"Oh…oh no…" Cody said in barely more than a frightened whisper.

"Cody?" Francisco asked in confusion.

This seemed to snap the Geek out of some kind of partial trance for he began bursting with frightened energy. "Francisco! Quick! Go through the other two levels of the house! Find anyone who's still alive and bring them to the library! We don't have a moment to lose! I think I know where he's going and what he plans on doing. Pray I'm wrong!"

Cody ran as fast as his small legs would carry him towards the library, towards Gwen.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Even though I had a gut feeling it would be the case, Cody was a delight to talk to. I think him and me will become very good amigos during this season. After talking to him, it truly amazes me that hasn't gotten a girl yet." Francisco says with a smile on his face.

The Tattoo Artist then starts chuckling to himself, "I wasn't lying when I said that my sisters think that Cody is cute. In fact, they are all serious Cody fan-girls, and single. True, one of them is ten but the others are seventeen and twenty-three. And though I'm obviously biased when I say this, they are all very beautiful. Cody would dig them all, especially when you consider that all of the girls in my family are, uh, well-endowed."

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Assaulting Avatars; Giavanna, Damian, Dawn, Nise, Sadie, and Owen; Coast House)

Thankfully after the encounter with the Tripod and the Martian death gas, this half of the Avatars didn't encounter much danger. This had been remarkable because of the large number of Tripods striding along and the difficulty of escorting one of their teammates in particular. Due to his bulk and slowness, Owen had an especially hard time running and hiding. But even with this hindrance, they had managed to reach a house right next to the coast and now decided their was nothing to do but wait for Noah's plan to play out.

Given the context of the situation, hiding and being as quiet as possible because doing otherwise would result in instant fiery death, the teens were about a relaxed as one could be. However, even so, one of the six teenagers was shaking like jello in an earthquake.

This shaking teenager, Nise, had been like this ever since the Martians and their Tripods had been revealed. She logically knew they weren't real but they were so realistically rendered that she couldn't overcome her fear of them despite that.

When she felt a finger tap her shoulder, Nise nearly screamed in fright but at the last second was able to cover her mouth with her hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry Nise. I didn't mean to startle you. Are you ok?" A squeaky voice asked.

Turning towards the person speaking, Dawn, plus someone else who was with her, Sadie, Nise smiled a little despite her fear. "Y-yes. And you didn't. I-I guess I'm ja-just a little jumpy, be-because of the Martians and all."

"I know right!" Sadie gushed in agreement. "Those things are, like, so ugly and scary!"

"That's understandable." Dawn said, just as calmly and kindly as ever. "I am afraid too."

"Your frightened too, Dawn?" Sadie asked, not believing the Aura Whisperer.

"Yes. I am. A little."

"Then how are you so composed right now while I'm like a pathetic little baby?" Nise said, feeling a little worse about herself.

"There's nothing pathetic in feeling more fear than someone else. Being frightened doesn't make you like a baby, Nise. Fear is a perfectly natural state that as different in each person as each person is different from everyone else. Even the bravest and most capable of people feel fear. Conquering fear isn't being devoid of fear but facing it." Dawn said, conveying her considerable sage-like wisdom.

"Wow…that's, like, so smart, Dawn!" Sadie said with a smile.

"Thank you, Sadie." Dawn said with a smile. She then turned back to Nise. "Anyway, about why I'm not that afraid. I guess its because I know this all isn't real. If anything happens to us here, we'll just wake up back at the film out as if we were sleeping."

"Well…yeah. But I'm not sure that means that there will be no lasting effects." Nise said.

"Like, what do you mean?" Sadie asked.

"What if what we experience here feels so real that we believe it is real, even though we know its not and we're back at the film lot? Or, what if the feelings we experience are so strong that they cast doubt over whether it is the film lot that isn't real?" Nise explained.

Noticing the others' confusion, the Quantum Physicist to be decided to explain herself. Oddly enough, Nise was perfectly ok with this. For whatever reason, she was able to better control her natural nervousness when she thought of or explained intellectual ideas.

"How we perceive reality is based in our five senses. The chemosensors in our tongue that help us sense taste, for example; the photoreceptors in our eye that sense light; and the hair cells in our ears that sense the mechanical vibrations of sound, to name a few. What if something could confuse the bioelectricity that fuels all of these different senses?

"It makes me think of the dream argument of philosopher René Descartes' treatise Meditations on First Philosophy, where he says that since no one questions the reality before them in a dream before waking up, whose to say that "reality" isn't a dream too?

"This whole challenge is one big mass-induced dream state. It messes with our minds and perceptions to the point where all of our senses say that something is there when it isn't. And if it can do that, what's to say that impressions it leaves on our senses won't remain?

"Where does sensation leave off and perception begin, and how may we trust ourselves as we try to compare them? Is their point where perception overpowers logic and reason?"

Both Dawn and Sadie stared at Nise, marveling at her intellect for thinking of all of that. Realizing this, Nise couldn't help but blush a little; she wasn't use to getting much praise.

After a little bit of time, Sadie decided to break the silence, by revealing what she had discovered about Solita during the last challenge.

"Say, guys, can I, like, tell you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Dawn asked.

"Well…" Sadie started nervously. "During the last challenge I saw So-"

PFFT!

Suddenly the room they were hiding in began to be filled with a thick gas. At first, they all feared that it was more of the deadly vapor from the Martians. However, unlike that gas, which was black, this new vapor was a putrid green. And more than just that, unlike the black gas, this new ether was accompanied by a roaring and bombastic thunder.

Looking around, as difficult as it was through the stinging of their eyes, the teenagers find the source of the revolting smoke, of the heavy human flatulence.

The source was blushing, as he knew what was about to come next.

"Owen! What the hell, man!? Why did you fa-?" Damian started to yell to the Obese teen.

But suddenly a frightening and familiar blaring siren-like sound roared outside!

The Hellrasier's angry words stopped in mid-word. For like the others, he knew that a Martian Tripod was near by. But unlike last time, this one was only ten feet away!

A few seconds later, the roar of another Tripod was heard as it approached the first one.

Now there were two Martian Tripods directly on top of them and likely sticking around.

Could things get any worse for the Avatars hiding in the house near the coastline?

PFFT!

As another butt blast from Owen showed, they could, as the space again was filled with a gas that while less deadly than the Martians' likely smelled far worse.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Oh, man! Of all the times for my belly to want to fart!" Owen said in alarm. He then grabbed some of his rolls of fat. "WHY DID YOU FART THEN, BELLY!?"

(Static)

"Call me callous if you want to but between nearly getting me killed by one kind of gas and making wish I was killed by another kind…I'm starting to not like Owen." Damian said bitterly.

(Static)

"Ok, so, like, I don't know if what Nise said about dreams and reality is true or not…but, like, one thing I do know is that I smelled Owen's farts!" Sadie said.

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Crushing Cyborgs; Melody; Another Alleyway, London)

For how long she had been by herself Melody couldn't say after splitting with Erebus.

The Mirror Image was lost in a place that for all intends and purposes should have been another planet, searching for someone from her team and hoping to avoid Mr. Hyde. Though she would never admit it to anyone, Melody was terrified of this entire situation.

Despite herself, she found that the sound of her footsteps on the cobblestone streets was racketing up her own sense of fear. Her only protection was a rifle she had gotten from Chris and the pistol she had entered the challenge with. She had used neither gun yet.

Remembering what she had seen earlier, the Mirror Image focused on the rooftops, knowing that Hyde would try to ambush her from jumping down upon her from above.

She had her blue eyes focused intently on the…

SMACK!

Not knowing what happened, Melody felt something small but dense tackle her from behind. The force of the strike had sent her to the ground. She heard repressed laughter.

"Oh, pardon me, Miss. I have no idea where my manners went. Let me help you up." A horribly familiar voice said, with a growling undertone mixed with superficial politeness.

Melody than found herself being lifted up by her shirt and brought against a nearby wall. Once there, she saw what she already knew, that it was Edward Hyde who had her now. If not for the strength of the being before her, she would have laughed at the surreal sight of something much shorter than her holding her against a wall. But she wasn't laughing.

"You know, Miss, you and I are rather lucky. I've had to kill the others so quickly. It was still fun but it was lacking. Now, I can savor all those, subtle joys, of death and take my time." Hyde said as he slowly slid one of his pale hands down Melody's worried cheek.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER, YOU PALE WASTE OF LIFE!"

Turning towards the source of the shout, Melody and Hyde saw a familiar face. They saw Jay, charging towards them with his Henry repeating action rifle blazing. Katie and DJ were behind him, firing off their own guns likewise, despite being unfamiliar with them.

"Ugh…I'm really starting to hate that guy." Hyde said in disappointment before moving. His few moments of delay caused a bullet or two to be lodged into his smaller back. As some more of the fired bullets crashed into the wall around him, the separated dark side of Dr. Jekyll got behind Melody and drew out the Webley revolver he had taken from Nanon earlier. Once the weapon was drawn, he put the revolver to Melody's head.

"Alright, arse pimples! Unless you want this lady's brains blasted out, drop your guns!" Hyde ordered from behind Melody.

The three teenagers looked at each other, unsure about what course of action they should do. Eventually, with much reluctance, DJ, Jay, and Katie placed their guns on the ground.

"Good show." Hyde said before firing his Webley revolver, blasting a bullet into Katie's head! The skinner and thinner BFF fell to the ground as Hyde's mocking laugh echoed throughout the alley.

As DJ stared at the realistically rendered corpse of Katie with eyes producing tears, Jay reached for his rifle to fire at Hyde. But when he did, another bullet was lodged into his right hand. Two seconds later, another bullet torn into the upper part of Jay's right arm.

After the clicking of the revolver revealed that it was out of bullet, Hyde pushed Melody out of the way and charged at Jay.

Rushing over to her, DJ helped the Mirror Image to her feet.

"Melody, you okay?" DJ asked concerned.

"I could be better." Melody said with a whimper. "Let's get out of here."

"What about Jay?" DJ asked as he and Melody looked in the Puppetmaster's direction.

When they did, they saw Jay barely holding Hyde off with a knife. Finding luck on his side, Jay got a good slash at one of Hyde's cheeks. The stinging line carved into his face briefly distracted the animalistic personality.

Knowing that time was short, Jay approached the other two teens. He handed DJ his Greener double barrel shotgun. Then he gave Melody his Henry repeating action rifle, Webley revolver and all of the extra ammo he had.

"Jay, why are you giving me and DJ all of this? What about you?" Melody asked confused.

"Because Eddie over there is coming back and you are in no shape to fight. I'm gonna buy you guys time to run, okay?" Jay stated, loading his Colt Army action revolver as fast as he could.

"W-wait what?! No way! Y-you're crazy!" Melody tried to stutter out.

Hyde howled short way off in the distance.

"There's no damn time to argue! DJ, make yourself scarce and take Mel with you." Jay said.

"No, you can't do this! As your Captain I ORDER you to stop, NOW!" Melody screamed.

Jay just smiled at her. "Reprimand me later. If I kill him now, we win. If not, he'll be as soft as jelly by the time you guys get em'. Either way, see ya on the other side, beautiful." The Puppetmaster then turned towards Hyde and yelled, "Let's see what you got, Eddie!"

As the concussions of the Colt revolver's gunfire filled the alleyway, DJ strongly gripped Melody's arm. The Mirror Image didn't resist, as she looked at Jay in total shock. Though she couldn't get it out, Melody was struggling to say something as she left.

A few seconds after Melody and DJ were out of the alleyway, Jay screamed loudly. Right afterwards, a thunderous CHLOP filled the air. It was a blessing that neither of the other teens knew that Hyde biting off one of Jay's ears caused the CHLOP.

And that was just the beginning. Hyde would finally take his time with his victim, with Jay. The Puppetmaster was very thankful that none of what he experienced was real.

By the time Hyde was done, Jay's digital blood covered every surface within reach of the deranged dwarf and his body was torn into piles that went into the double digits.

CONFESSIONAL

(Static)

"Damn it... damn it all... why? Why Katie? Why did you have to get shot? And you Jay... WHY IN GOD'S NAME DID YOU DISOBEY ME?!" Melody screamed at the camera. "All you did was get yourself killed you big damn moron, for nothing. No, it's not going to be for nothing. When I catch up to that pale little weasel, I'm going to castrate him, stomp his gonads into paste, and then blow his goddamn head off! No one fucks with Melody Kursawa and gets away with it! When I'm done with him, Edward Hyde will know the meaning of pain and agony, BECAUSE I'LL TEACH IT TO HIM!"

(Static)

"I knew she cared! I just knew it! I only regret the way it had to come out." Jay said. "And yo, Kevin…you need to cut down on the realism in these virtual challenges, man. That got a little too real, if you know what I mean?"

(Static)

END OF CONFESSIONAL

(The Pummeling Polygons; Gwen; The Kent Estate-Second Level Library)

Gwen was sitting in the library, reading a particularly good book very intently. Aside from Ari come in every now and then to make sure she was okay, she was undisturbed. At first Gwen had offered to trade places with the Ninja but her offer was silently declined. Also at first, Gwen would divert her attention from the book to look at the opening door.

She didn't look this time as the door was opened and closed from the wooden table she was sitting at on a chair that had her back to the door. The Goth didn't see the nothingness that had opened and closed the door. Nothing came in and was silently approaching her.

As the contents of the written words flew from the page into her mind, a poker for the fireplace silently and slowly rose into the air and began hovering at the waistline.

Gwen had been reading the book very intently indeed when she suddenly became aware of a strange feeling on the nape of his neck. Puzzled, she tried to raise her head but encountered an immoveable resistance. The feeling was a curious pressure, the grip of a firm hand keeping her chin irresistibly forced against the printed pages on the table.

"Sorry to handle you so roughly but it's unavoidable" The Voice said before adding with a bit more pep, "well maybe it is avoidable but I don't want to avoid it! Hehe."

But the Voice without a body became much more serious as it said, "Listen, the windows are fastened and the doors are locked with the key thrown out the window into a pile of horse feces. Besides being invisible, I'm a fairly strong man and have a poker handy. There's not the slightest doubt that I could kill you and get away quite easily if I wanted to. And if you try to shout I'll smash your face in until it's a cavity! Do you understand?"

"Y-yes." Gwen said frightened.

"That's a good girl, love! Aheheh. I must say darling, I feel a rush to my nether regions and its quite refreshing. I wonder what I could do to increase that rush, maybe a bit of…" The Voice said with devilish relish before finishing with, "Immaculate Conception!"

Hearing that, Gwen began to thrash violently against the un-seeable hand on her neck. She had remembered what had been implied earlier by the term "Immaculate Conception"!

Though Gwen was far from a weak person, the Invisible Man was over six feet tall and very strong with a muscular build. Combine that with the fact she couldn't see the limbs of her assailant…Gwen was helpless. The Invisible Man knew that and loved it!

"Ah, you got some fight in you, uh? I'll just have to stimulate you correctly. Ahehe."

With that, Gwen's body was forced on the floor in a single violent motion! The poker was driven into the floor near Gwen so the Invisible Man could have his hands free.

"Oh! No! Let go! Let go of…" Gwen started to angrily say before receiving an invisible slap to the face!

"Damn you! You…OUHHH!" Gwen started to say with all of the hatred she could muster before being forced onto her knees by an invisible hand pulling on her teal highlighted hair and she received an invisible knee to her stomach!

"Oh, God. Listen, please…please don't…AAHUHH!" Gwen tried to plead with the pitiless one with the wind knocked out of her to receive another invisible knee to the gut!

After this second strike to her stomach, the Invisible Man lowered her to the floor while still holding her hair. Even killing some of the other teenagers earlier didn't feel so good!

"Aheheheh. Look at you, you stuck-up little tart." The Invisible Man said in gleeful and sick satisfaction. "What are you? SAY IT!" He added in cold-blooded seriousness.

Gwen was coughing violently as her lungs still hadn't recovered from the strikes to them. She was brimming with horrible hatred for this monster she couldn't see! But she was powerless…helpless, overwhelmed physically and unable to contact her friends.

"I'm…I-I'm a stuck…stuck-up little tart. I'm a stuck-up little tart. I'm a…AA!" Gwen said with her hatred for the Invisible Man now equaled by her hatred for herself before having her face smashed onto the floor by the Invisible Man.

"That's right. You are. But enough foreplay, it's time to begin producing the heirs of my Invisible Empire!"

With that, Gwen was flipped onto her back and found both of her arms being forced down by an invisible leg while a heavy force was resting strongly on her stomach. The anger and vigor had returned to Gwen as she tried in instinctual futility to shake it off. But when she looked up she saw nothing. NOTHING! The nothingness filled her with horror! Gwen felt invisible fingers caressing and stroking her; she would never feel so violated!

The Goth began to feel those horrible invisible fingers start to remove one of the blue fabric shoulders of her top. Her mind was pulsating with so many powerful emotions! Almost everything else was overwhelmed by the emotions conjured up! Thankfully, one of the few things not covered up was a sound…a sound so beautiful to Gwen right then!

"GWEN!" Cody shouted as loud as he could from the other side of the door as he frantically began to force his weight on the knob of the locked door. After a few seconds of this, Cody shot the lock with his pistol and the door swung open.

Entering the room in a huff, Cody very quickly deduced the situation based on the position Gwen was in and seeing the injuries to her face. Realizing that, there exploded within Cody a rage the likes of which he never could have imagined before or since!

Just barely able to keep his mental faculties sharp enough to actually think, Cody began to shoot. Cody couldn't know exactly where the Invisible Man was but he had an idea. As he fired his pistol, Cody moved his hand in a horizontal curve, so that the shots radiated out into the narrow space of the room like the spokes of a wheel.

At least one of Cody's shots found its mark for there was a loud thud near Gwen's body and the air, seemingly of its own accord, swore briefly but vividly. As Cody began to reload his pistol in a hurry, there was a series of loud footsteps followed by the smashing of a window. The loud breath and footsteps of the Invisible Man could be heard outside. Looking at the window, Cody saw an intact frame with only little teeth of glass remaining.

Seconds after the Invisible Man had jumped out the window; Duncan came rushing in with the few other remaining Polygons, having heard her screams of terror from various locations throughout the estate. So focused on getting the Invisible Man, Duncan and the other Polygons rushed out of the room just as fast once Cody told them that he managed to shoot the monster, but he had escaped by jumping through the window.

Cody was about to join them when he heard a weak voice say, "C-Co…Cody."

Turning his head, the Tech Geek saw Gwen, still lying on the floor but having recovered enough to speak. As she continued to speak, tears began forming in her eyes.

"Cody, ple-please don't leave me. He might come back. He might…Oh God! Oh God Cody! He was going to…to…I couldn't see them! I couldn't see his eyes! I couldn't…" Gwen tried to say, trying to explain all of what had happened and her fears. It was too much.

The tough and capable Goth's eyes exploded into tears and she started to release the pain. As black streaks of eyeliner began running down her pale face, Cody rushed over to her without a moment's hesitation and held Gwen's crying form as close to him as he could!

Gwen continued to cry but it wasn't as bad anymore. Looking at Cody's chestnut brown hair and teal eyes overflowing with genuine concern for her, the lonely Goth felt so safe.

The two would in a few minutes follow their teammates to chase after a man whose most monstrous feature wasn't his being invisible. But running and facing monsters could wait.

Now was a time for recovery.

The Assaulting Avatars (The English Countryside, the Martians):

-Alive: Noah, Giavanna, Damian, Dawn, Izzy, Owen, Solita, Mary, Joseph, Nise, Sadie, B

The Crushing Cyborgs (London, Mr. Hyde):

-Alive: DJ, Melody

-Dead: Chris, Carlyle, Katie, Greg, Rob, Nanon, Jay

-Unknown: Erebus

The Pummeling Polygons (London, The Invisible Man):

-Alive: Gwen, Cody, Francisco, Duncan, Courtney

-Dead: Britney, Harold, Mathieu, Leshawna, Ari, Staci

Co-author's Notes: Hello everyone, Rufus T. Serenity here. Okay, damn it felt good to finally get a chapter out for this story after so long! Hopefully it was worth it.

All right, so, let's address the elephant in the room…the ending of the chapter. Basically, I'm sure all of the problems with this scene (if there are any) will basically be something along the lines of 'Why the hell did you make this so dark and include attempted rape in a Total Drama fan-fiction!?' Allow me to explain myself. When coming up with the idea of virtual reality, a tried and true concept for many of the season fan-fictions that I've encountered, none of the possible questions were acknowledged. Things like how real would it feel? Could it feel and seem so real that it is just as bad as if it were real? How far could the enemy A.I. go in their actions? Some of these questions will be addressed in this story, and in particular in this challenge. I hope this at least partially diffuses the anger that might have been created by reading that scene. Trust me, it was very hard to write that scene since Gwen is my favorite character. But don't worry; Gwen will get her some payback! :)

[1] The actual progress by which the Martians feed as depicted here isn't shown in the book. All we are told is that they drain the blood from living people and do so there is a pipette. Literally everything else in this scene is me trying to show how that might happen. Hopefully I was able to convey the horror of that mere idea.

[2] This song, Here We Go Gathering Nuts in May, is a song that begun in Victorian England. But why its here is because it's in the 1931 version of the Invisible Man that was mentioned at the end of the previous chapter. Please, look up "the invisible man here we go gathering nuts in may" on Youtube. Trust me, it is awesome!

The next chapter will take longer to write but again, some parts of it are already written. Hopefully it will be worth the wait. I hope the next chapter won't take as long as this one did.

Until then, please continue to read, review, and spread the word! :)

Total Drama is property of Jennifer Pertsch, Tom McGillis, Fresh TV productions, Teletoon, and Cartoon Network. Kevin Rawlings, Jay, Damian, and Greg belong to me. Giavanna, Erebus, Nanon, Mathieu, and Carlyle belong to Rufus T. Serenity. Melody, Rob, Francisco, Britney, Nise, Chris, Mary, Joseph, Ari, Solita, as well as the basic storyline and some later plot threads belong to CRGGL.