Finale!

RYAN

"No Mom, I'm not coming home during the break...yes beacuse I'd rather spend time with Moira." Toby paced during his conversation. I guess this answered where he was going. Whatever he wanted I suppose.

"What about you?" T asks me. "Going home?"

"No," I say, because there's nothing for there anyway. Though I don't know where I'm going to go, and I hope he offers some kind of guidance.

"Ipod?"

"No" She signs. I know that word. "I'm going to travel." She finishes in thought speech.

"Same." Coty says.

"You should come with me." I know she's offering it to both of us, but she really only means him.

"I'll catch up with you somewhere if I can? The producers want to have some kind of a meeting with me? And they said I might not be done with whatever they have planned until a week or so." He shrugs. I'm a little disappointed. I want to spend more time with him and his brother, but I'm also sure the producers have something good for him since he was voted the MVP.

Ipod stares at me. "Just us girls then?"

I think this over, part of me wanting to be alone. At the same time, this would be good for me. Female time is always a plus, and I need to get my head in order before we start our next round of challenges.

I nod. "Sounds great."

Voting Time

Voting Time
(continued at Team Promethiad)

Toby walked to the bonfire with the rest of his team. He was tired, but glad to be

done with this final challenge. The bonfire in the middle of the jungle was all too familiar

to Survivor and he couldn't help but laugh about that one. Ryan gave him a weird look

for it of course, but she didn't have a sense of humor. Both her and Ipod clung to Cory.

He couldn't help but wonder if they were avoiding him because of his

second occurrence of turning into the monster. They were being more weird than usual.

All of those feelings faded however when he saw Moira enter with her team.


It was time for voting. Moira was relieved that the challenges were over-for now.

After this, they would be getting a break. They didn't know for how long. They were all

tired and a light film of soot covered their skin. The volcano was still erupting and the air

was heavy with the soot.


Moira laughed as she entered the clearing where a giant bonfire was blazing. It

reminded her all too much of another show. She looked around for Toby's team and

smiled as she met his eyes across the fire. She wandered over and sat down next to him,

not caring what either of their teams thought. "Looks a little familiar, doesn't it?" she

murmured to him.


"Yeah. I'm kind of hoping I get voted off the island." He sighed and watched as

Chance Cagney came out, looking as chipper and annoying as ever.


"Congratulations! You have survived our first run of challenges. We do in fact

have a winner but we would like to extend the opportunity to change things up a bit. As

you know, the rules originally said only one could win. We are willing to offer all of you

a chance at the thing you desperately desire. The catch? You have to compete for longer,

and we decide how long that will be. Majority rules will be the deciding factor. I will

hand each of you some paper and you may write your decision now as well as who you

think should be declared the ultimate player from your team."


As Chance passed around the paper and pens, Moira wondered what she should

do. If she stayed, that might be more of an opportunity to be with Toby--as long as he

stayed as well. If he left now, he might not get "healed" of his monster power. Making

sure no one was paying attention, she leaned over and whispered in Toby's ear: "What do

you want to do want to do?"


He sighed, unsure of what to do or think. "If it means you being okay, I'm willing

to keep going for as long as it takes." He wrote his vote, putting Ipod as his team's most

valuable player. She'd done so much for him.


Moira quickly wrote down her vote to stay. If Toby was staying, she was staying.

She paused as she tried to think about the most valuable teammate. Definitely not Lily or

Jesse. Neither one had really done anything. It had to be Will. He had saved her when she

was trapped in the funhouse at the fair, and he had come back for her and carried her

through the desert when she had fallen and sprained her ankle. She had to vote him MVP,

despite the growing drama between them. She sighed as she wrote down his name,

hoping it wouldn't come back to haunt her.


He watched as the others put their votes in the box and sighed, reaching for her

hand to hold her close. He needed the extra comfort right now.


"Well teams, it's unanimous! Everyone wants to continue with the competition,"

Chance announced, looking gleeful.


This actually surprised Toby. He'd have thought for sure that at least Ryan would

want to pick a winner and bail. He squeezed Moira's hand, unsure of what this would

mean for them now. What happened next?


"You have three months to prepare. See your families. See the world. Whatever

you do, figure out why you're here." Chance said.

Volcano!

IPOD

T and Ryan are missing, and all Toby and I have is a small blip of a GPS coordinate and a map to find them with. Toby is worthless at reading maps. I'm a little more than worthless at it. The whole time he drives all I can think about are Chance's words.

"I'd hurry because the longer you wait, the less treasure you will find, and I'd hate for the next time you see your comrades to be in a hospital."

Guilt racks my stomach because I don't want to last thing T hears from my being something so angry. Okay, so he's not going to die or anything, but I still pissed him off to the point where he left and thus he was put in harms way. He wouldn't have been taken otherwise.

I can't believe I was such an idiot and lead him on. Not like I did it on purpose or anything. Still, I feel like the scum of the earth. I have a boyfriend, so why should I care what he does or doesn't do with Ryan? I believe him when he says they only slept, but it's not my business. I don't care. I don't. He's a great guy, sweet, and hot as hell, but I have a boyfriend. We've been together for over a year. I love him, and when I get back the first thing I'm going to do is finally pounce him. So yeah, Coty can do whatever he wants with whoever. Even if I'm way cuter than Ryan, and he could do way better. Again though, not my business.

Toby speeds like a demon and we find ourselves at the base of a rather impressive mountain. And it's smoking.

He groans. "Volcano."

I sigh. Of course we'll be going out with a bang.

Where are you? It's a vain effort, but it's worth a try. I take one of those hunter demobilizing flashlights and hand it to Toby before taking one for myself. I had a feeling we'd need them. I gesture for us to move forward through the forest covering the volcano. The map said to head due North from where the GPS parked us. And we hiked. Neither of us said a word. Occasionally Toby hummed but for the most part it was completely silent. Which is good because I needed to hear.

"Team one is coming into position. Ready your weapons."

I swallowed hard. Weapons?

"Toby?" He turns to face me. "They're going to hurt us."

"I'll keep you safe." He whispers before taking my hand and pushing forward. I think this is the first time I've ever seen him be so mature and caring before. Maybe he realized though that he had to finally man up. And that's when the bullets started flying at us. None of them hit us, but I could hear them whiz by my head, along with the loud bang from the gun firing. "What the hell?"

"Run." I suggest, and agrees because he starts bolting, dragging me along with him. I struggle for a moment and trip over branches and rocks on the ground. Finally I start catching up and keeping my footing.

"Ow!" Toby screams and grabs at his arm. "I've been hit!"

It's then I realize they're using rubber bullets on us. I see it bounce off of him, and I know enough to know these hunters aren't far away from us.

"We need to find a big rock. That's what's on the map!"

"I keep getting hit by...ow!" Poor guy is taking the entire attack basically, and then I realize what they're trying to do and I gasp, especially when I notice Toby's arm starting to change shape and color. His skin is turning into a dark shade of purple, and his hands are no longer soft and fleshy but rough and like leather.

I let go. "We should separate. Lead them away so I can get the others."

"What are you...." He stops and stares at his arm. "No, not now!"

"Focus. I know you can."

"I'll try but...." He trails off and veers off to the right, out of my sight. I never know what he's going to say, and all I can hope for is a clear run to the rock. I see it, and there's no one in sight. I can barely make out the entrance of a cave. I venture forward and into the dark. I have the light from my phone, and a mini key-chain flashlight to guide me.

"T? Ryan? Can you hear me?"

"Ipod?" I hear Ryan's voice echo through out the cave. I do my best to pinpoint the direction of the source and continue moving forward.

Then I see movement from the side. It's subtle and I almost miss it, but thank goodness I did notice it because when I saw it move again I also saw the familiar black suit of the hunter. With my anti-hunter device ready, I'm set to point and shoot at anything that tries to get in my way. I blast the hunter, and listen to the satisfying thud on the ground. Moving a few feet forward, I see Ryan's dainty feet, and a slouching pant leg that looks like it belongs to T.

I rush over and get to work, untying them. T is unresponsive to any shaking or pleading I give him. He's out like a light.

"We need to carry him out." Ryan says and slips an arm under him. I do the same, and I'm surprised he's not as heavy as I thought he would be. He's a boy. I thought they were all like, three million pounds.

"Where's Toby?" She asks.

"Changing." And I hope he's keeping the rest of the hunters distracted because I don't know what we're going to do if they appear now. Of course, anything bad that can happen, will. At the front of the cave is, I kid you not, five hunters.

"Shit." Ryan whispers.

We stop and stare. The hunters have guns pointing at us. All hell breaks loose in a matter of seconds because we're shot at, the bullets pelting us wake up T, who flails and basically punches me in the arm hard. I drop him, he covers his head and a strange psychic shield covers us. We're protected but still out numbered and the hunters move forward towards us. That's when the cavalry shows up. Toby in all of his monster glory stomps in, grabs the hunters and tosses them out as though they weighted nothing. Then he continues towards us. Ryan cowers back, protectively leaning over Coty.

I flinch as I watch this, unsure of why exactly, but instead of hiding from him I move forward.

"Thank you Toby. You should come back to us now. We miss you."

He growls, reaching out to grab me. I take his enormous clawed hand and give it a squeeze. He recognizes me, I know, I can tell by the way he looks at me. "Go home."

"Yes, we'll go home now. Then you can rest. I promise."

The Set Up

N/A

TOBY

I wake up with a groan. Yeah, I was kind of up late last night talking with Moira online. I would have much rather preferred to do it in person, but her team was kind of uptight and mental. It's not fair because she's so close and I can't even see her? What kind of bullshit is this?

We're all staying in a suite which is nice because it means we each get our own room. It's nice to not have to share a bed for a change or sleep on a couch. My own, big, large, glorious bed. Sigh. I pass Ryan's bedroom on the way to the bathroom and notice she's sharing it. What's even more curious is that she and Coty are basically spooning. His arms are around her, cuddling her tightly, and she's all passed out contentedly. I wouldn't have pinned them as an item at all. I shrug, and go to take a piss. That's when things got a little chaotic.

"What happened? What am I doing here?" I hear T practically yell. Guy's having a meltdown. So maybe it wasn't him who was into her. I guess it was the other one. Even that didn't make sense though because Cory is so...cool. Really, he could do a lot better than Ryan.

"Nothing happened." She says.

"We didn't...."

"No, we didn't do anything. Just fell asleep. I had a bad night, Cory helped me through it. That's it."

Uh huh, not sure I'm buying it as completely innocent. I mean, maybe nothing happened, but something happened if you know what I mean.

"I-." T starts. "Ipod!"

That's when I got out of the bathroom just in time to see him bolt out of Ryan's room, grab a hold of Ipod who's on her way to the kitchen, and they're signing something fierce. I can pick up a few words. I'd been trying to study up on the language, but it's fast and hard to follow sometimes. Most of it is common sense though. She's pissed, that much is clear by the huge frown on her face. He's desperate because his eyes are wide and almost pleading as he explains whatever to her. I'm pretty sure I see something that resembles "boyfriend", and I get the jist of the fight.

T's got it bad for Ipod. I can tell by the way he gawks and looks all dopey every time they talk. I think she's interested in him too, but in denial. If it wasn't a big deal that he woke up in Ryan's bed because she had a boyfriend and didn't care, she wouldn't be so damn pissed. That's just my opinion though. No one has to listen to me.

Finally T responds verbally as Ipod turns away from him. "I know, but I thought something was happening. You can't tell me I'm the only one noticing."

I don't hear her reply because she's no doubt doing her thought speaky thing and guarding it well. He's right though. He's not the only one noticing either.

He sighs and leaves the room. "Well if it ever does matter, that's what really happened. Just thought you should know."

She stomps off to the balcony, slamming it shut on her way out. I get why she's frustrated. She's got a boyfriend. From what I know of the guy, he sounds kind of like a dick, but she says she loves him anyway. They have a pretty deep history together after all, but T and her obviously have a super tight bond. Whatever right?

Ryan comes out and she's all ready to go and run or something. I guess we have some free time since we haven't seen any instructions yet, so she leaves the room. I decide now is a good time to take advantage of the shower, and take a nap. Yeah, I know, I just got up. Whatever.

I wake up several hours later to Ipod shaking me.

"Something is wrong. I haven't seen T or Ryan for a while."

"Maybe they're getting frisky." I tease. She scowls and looks like I just stabbed her in the stomach with a knife. Yeah, she's into him. "I'm kidding. They're probably each doing whatever."

"We need to find them. We have an envelope. It's time."

"Oh!" I get up immediately and go to the kitchen where a large manilla envelope is waiting. She didn't open it without us, but I wasn't going to hold back. Hello, it could be important.

"Ryan isn't going to like this." But she doesn't stop me either.

I shrug, obviously I don't care. I tear it open and dump out a bunch of papers. They're maps. Inside is a DVD.

I stick it into our entertainment system and we both watch. Chance Cagney appears on our screen.

"Aloha Introversion with a three! I hope you are enjoying your stay in beautiful Hawaii. I'm sure by now you are wondering where your other team members are. The hunters gathered up anyone who left the hotel room today and brought them to X marks the spot. I'd hurry, because the longer you wait, the less treasure you will find, and I'd hate for the next time you see your comrades to be in the hospital. Aloha."

The screen went black and I turned off the TV.

"They're missing?" I ask Ipod. She bites her lip and nods. We had to rescue them before they got hurt. We did. This makes me more than a little nervous. Ryan and T were always super dependable, and a lot stronger players than I had ever anticipated them being. Our whole team as a whole functioned a lot better when we were all together and on the same page I noticed. Now it was just me and Ipod. The guy who had an unreliable power, and the girl who couldn't communicate effectively. Crap.

I go to grab my bag and start filling it with all of the necessary stuff. I'm determined. "Let's do this."

Thickening

"Keep me safe inside your arms like towers.
Tower over me."

CORY

We go to our hotel room and it’s late. Ryan basically demands we all stay in tonight despite most of us wanting to go out and play. We need to focus, or something. I think it’s lame. For most of us, this is our first time in Hawaii! It’s beautiful here, and we have to spend our first night, possibly our only free night, in a hotel room? Bogus. Something about her is off though and has been ever since we stepped onto the airplane.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask her when I finally get her alone. She’s unpacking her bag, just enough. She always unpacks it just enough.

“Yes.” is her stiff reply.

“You don’t seem it.”

She pauses and then stares up at me. “Do you remember me Cory?”

I stare back at her, shocked and confused because I didn’t think she’d make the connection from that night. Of course I had, but I didn’t want to say anything to her about it. Especially not without my body.

“Cory? I know you’re there. You’re glowing.”

“I know. Yes, I remember you.” I say, not allowing anymore silence to pass between us. I can’t avoid this forever after all.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me earlier?”

“What, that I was the guy who hooked up at you at a club, what, three years ago?” I shrug. “I didn’t think you’d care, or remember either.” Truth was, it was because I was afraid. Most of my hook ups I dont’ remember, but Ryan is more or less unforgettable. Along with that, she’s the last girl I was with in my own body. Of course I’m always going to remember that night. But I don’t say anything about any of this. I’d rather not have her pity.

“Of course I remember.” She mumbles. “You say that like I hook up with lots of random men.”

“I don’t know. I tend to not want to assume either way when it comes with that sort of thing. The point of the hook up is to be anonymous. After all, I didn’t know your name until now.” I say softly.

“Yes, I know.” She sighs. “Never mind, forget I mentioned it then. Go back to your anonymous world.”

“Ryan.” I sigh as well and I go to put a hand on her shoulder. She stares up at me and she has tears in her eyes. I don’t get it. At all. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m overwhelmed. It’s nothing.”

“Talk to me.”

“I’ve said everything I have to say to you.”

I sigh, and pull her into a hug and she starts to cry. Big, tough girl Ryan, crying in my arms. I frown and sit her down on the bed with me. She curls in and just sobs. Thankfully everyone else is away, so she doesn’t have to feel anymore embarrassed. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but just what I know of Ryan, I know she wouldn’t want everyone else to see. She probably didn’t even want me to see, so in a way I feel kind of honored.

We lay back in bed, she’s crying, I’m holding her, and it’s kind of nice. it’s silly, i know, but this is the sort of thing that always had me wanting a relationship. Being needed and thought of as important. It’s not like have commitment issues. I’d commit if I found the right girl. She could be that, but right now it’s kind of hard to have that sort of relationship when I don’t even have my own body.

“If it makes you feel better, I was going to go back to find out who you are when I get hit with the car.” I say quietly. “I wanted to know you.”

She stops for a moment and our eyes meet. “That was how you became like this?”

I nod, and she breaks down into more tears. Shit, that wasn’t what I was going for. “I-.”

“Don’t apologize.” She says in-between sniffles. “Please don’t say anything more.”

So i don’t. Instead I hold her until she falls asleep, and somewhere in there I fell asleep as well. I didn’t realize what big of a mistake that was until the next morning when Coty took over. But that is a whole other story.

The One Where Everyone Finds Out

THE ONE WHERE EVERYONE FINDS OUT

Continued at: http://promethiad.blogspot.com

Moira smiled to herself as she answered Toby’s email. It was good to hear from him
finally. It felt like forever since they had run into each other at the carnival. She was
afraid to hope that she might run into him in Hawaii. It was a big island. Even if his team
was sent there, it wasn’t likely that they would be able to find each other.

She wondered if she had time to run to the bathroom before takeoff. They had slept in the
car the night before with Adrian driving and she hadn’t gotten a chance to brush her hair
yet. She grabbed a hairbrush out of her bag and stopped a flight attendant, who told her
to go ahead but hurry up. She stood up and headed for where the flight attendant had told
her to go.

Toby was just finishing in the bathroom when he opened the door and ran straight into
her. “M...Moira?” he asked quietly. He almost had to pinch himself because this was
almost too good to be true.

“Oh my God, you’re here!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly
without stopping to think. She pulled back quickly and looked around to make sure none
of her teammates had noticed. They were sitting too far back to see. “You’re being sent to
Hawaii too?”

“Yes,” he said, and ran his hands down her arms. “I'm here, with you. We should sneak
and sit in two other seats together! This is a long flight you know.” He winked, being
playfully suggestive of course.

She looked around again. The flight wasn’t full. They might be able to manage it. “Let’s
do it! But do you think we can sneak past everyone?”

He shrugged. “I don't see why not? My team is kind of oblivious and dumb. I don't think
they'll mind. If anything, I'll say you were a random hook up?” Though he did hate that
idea too.

She lifted an eyebrow. “Random hook up, huh?”

He shrugged. “I figured it'd get one of them to sympathize with me and not ask too many
questions. But I can tell them you're my girlfriend? I'm not scared of the truth.”

“Me either.” She hesitated for a moment. “The show seems to know about us anyway.

Who cares if they know, right? Besides maybe it'll keep Lily off my back. She thinks I'm
making you up.” She laughed. “And maybe it'll get Will to stop freaking hitting on me!”

“Oh well in that case, let's make it a show?” He said and smirked. “Just a thought.”

“Sounds good to me. What do you have in mind?”

“Come sit with me.” He said and grabbed her hands in his own. “We'll take it from
there.”

She felt a jolt when he took her hands. It felt so good to be with him again. “I can see the
look on Lily's face already when she sees me with you.”

He laughed. “I mostly just want to kiss you because I missed you so badly.”

She smiled. “Then by all means, let's remedy that.”

He nodded, and took her hand. With slight hesitation, he leaned in to kiss her lips gently.

The 'put on seatbelts' light turned on again and they were being ushered back to seats
so they could get ready for take off. He wasn't going to complain about relocating since
he got stuck next to two loud and annoying kids. He did find a seat nearby all the same
though.

As Moira followed Toby through the plane, she couldn't help but laugh at the shocked
look on Lily's face as they passed her. No doubt she'd be back at their seats harassing
them as soon as the seatbelt light went off.

She sat down next to Toby, still holding his hand. It was going to be a long flight to

Hawaii and she couldn't believe that she got to spend it with him. She buckled her
seatbelt and then hesitantly leaned her head against his shoulder. She didn't think he'd
pull away, but being around him again made her feel nervous--in a good way.

He put his arm around her, obviously staking his claim on her, and a lot of the nerves he
felt last time when they were together were no longer there. The more time he spent with
her in person, the easier it was to have those feelings of them belonging together.

“This is my first plane ride,” he whispered to her.

“Actually, mine too,” she admitted. “I'm sort of scared. I'm glad you're here.”

He nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. “Well, this is the first of many firsts we'll
experience together?”

She smiled and squeezed his hand back. “I like that idea.”

He closed his eyes as they got ready to take off, deciding to think about what he'd
implied, hoping he hadn't just opened up a bad can of worms, instead of thinking about
the plane and how it could easily blow up in mid-air.

She snuggled closer to Toby as the plane began to head down the runway. Her entire
body went tense as the plane lifted off the ground. “We're going to be all right, aren't we?
We're gonna get there okay?” She needed his reassurance.

“Duh,” he said, and soon they were in the air and he could relax a little more. If he didn't
think about it, it wouldn't bother him. The seatbelt sign turned off.

Sure enough, the moment the seatbelt light turned off, Lily came marching down the
aisle. “So, who's this, Moira? Abandoning your team for some random guy?”

Moira rolled her eyes. It was finally the time for truth. “No Lily, this is my boyfriend
Toby.”

He waved, grinning at her. “Hello.” She was right, the girl really was obnoxious.

Lily glared at him. “And here I thought she was making you up.” She looked at

Moira. “So, how did you manage to arrange for your little boyfriend to be on our flight?”
“This wasn't planned. Totally a coincidence,” Moira answered.

Lily frowned. “I don't understand.”

Toby rolled his eyes, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to bother explaining it all. Would
she even understand? “No she's not making me up. We've been dating for what? Six
months? Eight? What do you want to count as our first date? When I saved you from
the troll, or when you fried the warlock in the caves?” He stared at Lily, daring her to
challenge him.

Moira laughed. “The troll works.”

“What are you two talking about?” Lily asked. “You sound crazy.”

Moira sighed. She would have to spell it out for her. “Toby's on the show too. That's why
he's on the plane.”

Lily's eyes grew wide. “The guys are so not going to like this!” She quickly turned and
fled back up the aisle to her seat.

Aloha, Aloha

COTY “T” RANOVER

I sit in the plane as we get ready to depart from LAX. I’ve never been to California before, but this is where the tickets for our flight out of Louisiana took us. Naturally, I’m intrigued by this reward they’re planning on giving us. After the events in the haunted house, everyone is quiet and tired, so I’m hoping it’s even better than Disney World. I don’t remember what happened, but it still left Ryan shaking quite a bit so that had to say something. In fact, I think part of the reason I don’t remember is because of her. Actually, no one remembers much of anything and it’s more or less disturbing.

My seat is between Ryan and Ipod. Toby somehow got stuck in the row behind us, sitting by the aisle next to two kids. He’s not complaining though. I think he prefers it actually. He’s twitching an awful lot and I’m sure he wants to pull out his laptop so he can get straight to gaming on our flight again. I’m kind of surprised he still has a battery but whatever. Ipod curls up and gets comfortable. She puts her head on my shoulder and I don’t complain one bit even if she doesn’t ask me. I can’t help it, even if she does have a boyfriend. She points it out constantly. Cory thinks she’s insecure about her relationship or making it up. I’m not so sure, and I don’t want to get my hopes up anyway. Besides, she might change her mind about me when she finds out what I’m doing here exactly.

I glance over at Ryan and notice she’s looking at a picture, no, she has two pictures. Most of the time, I do my best to stay out of other people’s business, and I didn’t mean to pry, but it’s also hard to not see these kinds of things when you’re in close proximity with people. What I see floors me. One picture is of an ultrasound, a four dimensional one of a baby with lots of details in fact, and the other is of Ryan holding a newborn while wearing a hospital gown. She’s even smiling in a motherly fashion and it’s a tender side of her I’ve never seen before.

Ryan notices me looking and scowls. “What?”

“Nothing,” I say and bite my lip.

“Yes, big secret is out. It’s not a big deal.”

I shrug, “I guess that’s your call to make.”

She sighs, “I had to…because he didn’t want….”

I nod, filling in the blanks. She doesn’t have to elaborate further. I’m not exactly sure what to say to her. “So if we win you….?”

“Get her back.” Ryan whispers. She glances over at Ipod to see if there’s any reaction. As far as I can tell, she’s asleep already. Her breathing is slow and deep, so if she’s not and she’s eavesdropping on our conversation, she’s doing a good job of faking it.

Still biting my lip I reach into my pocket and pull out the picture I had of me and my brother. I figure it’d be fair to trade right? It helps remind me of what I’m working for, even if Cory doesn’t like to look at it. He doesn’t like to see what he once was, because I’m drastically different than him in just about every way imaginable. He’s taller, stronger, and rougher all around. In fact, more often than not people think he’s some kind of Greek god. I’m nothing more than a pretty boy. The only thing we have in common is our eye color. He may want to forget about what he once was, but I don’t. It helps me maintain some form of sanity as well. You know, reminds me that we are in fact two different people.

I show her the picture. “This is what I’m trying to get.”

She takes it and stares. Her eyes go wide for a moment and then she frowns. “Is that…Cory?”

I nod and close my eyes. “Yeah, that’s him in all of his perfect everything glory.”

“I see the resemblance. You have a lot of similar features.”

I think this is the first time I’ve heard this actually, because I tend to look more like Mom and he follows after Dad. If we were to do an entire family portrait, it would make sense, but seeing us individually we’re more often mistaken for friends than brothers. Still frowning, she hands me back the picture.

“Interesting,” She says and closes her eyes.

I’m about to ask her what’s so interesting exactly when the intercom turns on.

“This is your captain speaking. We will be departing soon for Honolulu Hawaii.”

CHALLENGE SIX

"Now that you're gone, feel like myself again. Grieving the things I can't repair and willing.

To let you blame it on me."

SIX - The Past Problems

RYAN

We spend about two days in Orlando. As much as I hate to say it, we needed that extra day to rest and regroup. Toby's been different for one, actually, we all have, and after what happened in the swamp I'm pretty weary of him. Actually, I'm not sure how to feel about any of the members on my team right now. They all are good people, don't get me wrong, but they're also closed off. No, I don't supply a lot of information about myself, but that's not quite the point. What I mean is, we all obviously do not trust one another, and that is not a good sign. In the thick of things, we pull through, but I don't know if it will be enough to make us win.

Our next challenge is waiting by the door of our hotel room. Someone obviously slipped it through the door crack. I pick it up and rip open the envelope, and I'm curious, real curious. Everyone else is still asleep in the other room. Toby is sprawled on the couch. T/Cory are in the bed, and Ipod is in the other. Boys, I don't know why they can't share a bed with each other. The couch doesn't look too comfortable, but Toby insisted. Something about wanting to be up all night playing some stupid video game. Waste of time, but I didn't want to fight him too much on the issue because in the end, I'm not sure it would have been worth it. Irritating, sure, but so long as he continues to function appropriately, I won't be giving him grief over it. Now if that changes, that'll be another story.

Who you going to call? Ghost busters. Enter this address, and be ready to face a new kind of truth. Complete this task, and you'll be one step closer to your goal and your next treat. It’s a doozy.

I stare at the note, thinking about the picture I got as part of our last reward. I keep it close to me, and I don't let anyone else see it - anyone else see her. I don't think the others would understand if I told them after all. I'm sure they don't think much of me to begin with, but to find out that I have a daughter through a one-night-stand might destroy any credibility I have left. If we can win this, then I can be with her, and I can't wait. It was a mistake to have given her up to begin with, but at the time I would have done anything to keep my ex.

The others sleep for another half an hour. I don't want to rush anyone awake, but we should get moving soon. T is the first to wake up. He grabs his glasses and rubs his eyes, before getting up and using the bathroom. He showers and is ready in a decent period of time as well. I like that he's so considerate of time. Cory, not so much, but I suppose that's why T is the one who gets the morning hours and Cory is the night owl. Not to say Cory isn't fun and interesting. His laid back attitude is mildly refreshing, but he's also immature to the point where I want to sock him a lot.

"Stop making so much noise," Toby whines from the couch. He groans, looks at the clock and sees that it's around 9:30 in the morning, and decides to get up so he can use the bathroom next. He doesn't shower, but he gets ready all the same. Gross much? So long as he doesn't smell I suppose. Ipod, per usual, is last to get up. The girl is lazy as all get out.

I show the others the note, each looking it over curiously.

"The address is for some place in New Orleans." T comments. "Looks like we have another fairly long journey ahead of us."

Toby groans a little, he's kind of always complaining I've noticed. "I'm so tired of sitting in a damn car."

"We all are." I say, and start packing up my bag. "I'm not looking forward to this challenge. Let's get it over and done with as soon as possible. Plus I don't know if they've siced the hunters on us yet."

"Can't even eat breakfast first?" I sigh, because as much as I don't want to eat on the go, again, because fast food only does so much good for a person. I also don't want to waste more time. "We'll stop at a grocery store and pick up something? Or maybe a diner."

"Diner sounds divine. I would kill for something at least sort of resembling home cooking. Might be the closest we can get to it." Toby says with a sigh.

"We'll see how much time we have first."

Not too much longer and we're on the road again. We ended up spending more time at the hotel eating the complimentary breakfast it provided and then high tailed it out of there. So far we haven't had any high speed chases, and I'd like to keep it that way. I think our plan to avoid using our credit cards as much as possible is working. Toby is shotgun today, T is in the back curling up and looking miserable, and Ipod is jamming to her music. It's a long drive. It takes us a couple of days even because I don't speed, and because of some traffic issues. Oh and Toby wanted to get up and stretch, a lot.

We pull up in front of a large, abandoned house. I'm not looking forward to this. I always hated movies about hauntings, or scary movies in general. I also never enjoyed going on haunted house rides, despite my ex's insistance that they were 'fun'. I close my eyes and open the door.

"Alright, let's do this." As soon as we enter, hands are grabbing me. It takes me a moment to realize they belong to hunters. I struggle but these guy are strong. Eventually, a blindfold is placed over my eyes, and I'm taken away, shakled down, and then abandoned.

"Hello?" I call out. "Guys?"

"I'm here." I hear T's shakey voice. "Toby? Ipod?"

There's no reply. At least I'm not alone, but the lack of sight is throwing off my entire perception of where I am and the space I'm in. It makes me feel claustrophobic and if there's one thing I'm especially terrified of, it's that.

"Okay, stay calm, and figure out how we can get out of this." I mumble to myself. I try to feel around me, searching for something, anything, that will help me get out. I can move my arms a little and I grasp a hold of something hard and slimey. Gross. Then I realize that this hard and slimey thing is in the shape of fingers and I scream.

"What happened?" T asks. "Are you okay?"

"I think I just touched a dead person." "What? That's disgusting." But I'm not sure if he believes me. T is always so logical and he's still in this mindset that the show producers wouldn't allow for anything to actually hurt us or kill us. I on the other hand am not so sure. Ever since the night in the fun house, I've been skeptical.

"Do you think you can get out?" I ask. "Let me work on it, for a second but I...."

He trails off. "What is that light?"

"What light?" I ask. I can't see anything, not really, but then it appears in my line of vision as well. A light, and in such a way that I can see it perfectly despite my blindfold. It surrounds me, and then when it fades away I find myself sitting in the corner of a living room, completely alone. "T?" But there's no reply.

I slowly stand, curious, scared, but determined to figure out this puzzle and get the hell out of there so we can keep moving forward. I grab the handle of the door in front of me and open it to find my ex. Before I can get a word out, his hands are around my throat and he’s pushing me up against a wall, trying to kill me.

Struggling, I fight, hit, kick, do whatever I can to get him off of me, but it’s no use.

“You should have thought about this better. You know there is no way I’m going to let you bring that brat back into our lives. I never wanted to be a father. Should have just aborted her.”

I’m starting to get dizzy, but I’m able to mouth out three words I’d never once told him before. They’re hard to say. I never wanted to ever admit to him I had betrayed him, but now I suppose it doesn’t matter since he was never loyal to me to begin with.

“She’s not yours.”

His grip loosens on me. “What was that?”

I can speak now at least, and breathe. “She’s not yours.”

He then back hands me and I hit the wall. “Lying whore!”

I fight back, giving him one solid kick into the knees. He falls, and I run for the door. I run through the halls, they’re all blank and desolate. They kind of remind me of a dream. I glance back to see if he’s following me, and I run into a wall. Only when I turn back forward I notice it’s not actually a wall I ran into but a guy. A big, strong, guy because his chest felt like a wall.

He’s familiar, and it takes me a moment to figure out where I know him from. He’s the one I cheated with, my one night stand.

“Ryan, we need to get out of here and get back to the others.” He says.

“What are you…?”

“I need you to focus. You’ve admitted your biggest secret. Now you can get through the door.”

“Get through the…door?”

“Focus.” He whispers, and then disappears into nothing else.

Focus on what? I close my eyes, an idea forming in my mind. If I can go back in time, maybe I can go back to the room as though this never happened. Time passes by and I float back through the hallway, back to the room and then through the light into the blackness.

“STAY OUT OF THE LIGHT T!” I scream.

“Huh?” I hear him say. “What light?”

I’m panting, shivering, and then I feel strong, yet gentle hands on my upper arms. I try to get free but I’m still restrained.

“It’s me,” T says and pulls off my blindfold. “Are you okay?”

I nod. “what happened? I don’t….”

“Creatures of the dark, messing with your head no doubt. They have a tendency to uh, feed off of your biggest fears.”

“Did you see anything?”

“Hmm?” He asks and completely blows off my question. With a small hand gesture, I’m released from my chains. “Let’s see if we can find the others. They can’t be far right?”

FIVE: Fantasies

"When you walk by every night, talking sweet and looking fine, I get kind of hectic inside. Baby, I'm so into you. Darling, if you only knew, all things that flow through my mind.

But it's just a sweet, sweet, fantasy baby."

FIVE

Ipod Walker

“Have you ever been here before?” I sign to Coty.

He nods, “We went about five years ago. You?”

“I was ten the last time I was here.”

Disney World, the most magical place on the Earth. It felt strange to be here without my family, even more so that it was a reward for our rather hectic day. Everything was starting to feel like a dream. Maybe it's better if I keep believing this isn't real. It makes all of the bizarre occurrences tolerable. The fun house, Toby's attack on the alligators, it's all getting intense quickly. Disney felt far too innocent now.

The two of us walk through Epcot Center. Ryan had run off to the Magic Kingdom, and Toby was trying to see everything in one day. Coty wanted to be here, and I didn't want to be alone again. He's nice compared to the other two. Though I'm surprised he's still 'awake'. It's night time, and usually by now he's sleeping and replaced with his brother. Not tonight, and I do like them both, but I'm grateful because I love being able to talk with someone who understands me. I don't like using my thought speech much. It makes me nervous because I can never tell who's listening in. Even if signing gives us weird looks. Sometimes Coty speaks while he does it, like now. It's so normal, and it makes me think of being back home with my family. Not even my boyfriend bothered to do this, but I still love him anyway. He's just kind of a tool sometimes.

“This park is my favorite.” He says and takes in the sights of the world tour.

“I like them all the same. How can you pick favorites?” I tease.

“I love science and culture. Do I have to explain further?”

“Have a thing against fairy tales and fantasy? They're not as cool?”

“I like fantasy, but I stopped living in it a while ago.”

“As in when you and your brother became joined at the hip so to speak?”

He nodded at me and stopped to absorb the sight of the massive glowing ball of light that was the trademark for Epcot. His eyes are sad. I can't imagine what it would be like to share something so personal as your entire being with someone constantly. His love for his brother was a new kind, so devoted and pure. Then again, that's how Coty is in general.

“Exactly, but there's a lot of fantasy here too. I think this place is the most magical one in the world. I like it because everyone is in harmony, like people should be, and it shows just where we could go if we put our mind's to it. It's nice to believe in something again.”

“It's beautiful.” I agree, staring up at the ball known as Space Ship Earth.

“Hungry?”

“No, I'm okay. Did you want to try another ride?”

“I think there are fireworks soon.”

“I like those!”

“Me too, they're fascinating. I tried to build one once.”

I raise an eyebrow, not expecting this. I knew Coty was a nerd and all, but I didn't know he had that bit of adventure in him too. He's always surprising though. Of everyone on our team, I'd have expected him to be the one to buckle under pressure. Really, he's the one who always comes through when we need it. He saved both Toby and I in the swamp from the hunters, and the gators. He also figured out how to turn Toby back into his normal human self. I get this feeling though that he doesn't believe he's anything special. Which is a shame.

“Tried to build one? Did it not work?” I ask.

He laughed. “It didn't lift, only exploded. Timed, thankfully, so we didn't get hit with it. Lots of fire, but we were ready, and in the middle of no where. Never tried again after that. Rockets were never my specialty though.”

I nudge him. “And what is?”

“My specialty?” He looks at me and our eyes meet, and I notice he had pretty eyes that glitter in the lights. A firework goes off, which is good because it distracts me away from staring at him for too long. He's a good looking guy, and nice. He makes me miss Lee, perhaps a little too much.

“Yes, your specialty.”

“I'll save it for another day.” He smiles. “Or rather, I'll tell you when I can think of what it is.”

“It's funny. I can't imagine you doing anything bad to deserve to be here. Ryan, yeah, Toby doesn't surprise me, but you do. Unless it was because of your brother?”

He shifts and shakes his head. “No, it was me. He's here because of me.”

“You don't have to say anything more. I'm sure whatever it was, you had your reasons.”

“Sort of, but I don't want to talk about it. Not here I mean. We're supposed to be living in fantasy right?”

I put an arm around his back and nod. For a moment I pretend we're just like two regular friends, and we've known each other for a long time. Sometimes it feels like we have. He's easy to talk to, and I'm good at listening. I like it. I like our moment.

CHALLENGE FOUR: SHIFTING

"The secret side of me I never let you see. I keep it caged, but I can't control it, so stay away from me, the beast is ugly.

I feel the rage and I just can't hold it."

FOUR:

Toby Smyth

Long car rides are boring. I can't get my internet to work because we're constantly moving, I've beaten all of the games on my laptop and I can't download anymore because the internet isn't working. I've seen every movie I own. Basically I'm left with staring out the window and listening to the radio, sleeping, or talking. None of those sound appealing to me. I should also add that my ass hurts.

We try to eat some decent food at least. You know, none of this filling up on only McDonald's and Burger King crap. Don't get me wrong, I love it all, but it makes me feel like I ate about a ton of bricks. Cory got the brilliant idea to keep fruit and jerky in our stock constantly. I swear, he's a genius, funny as hell too. I still don't know yet if it's a made up fictional personality, or if they really are two separate people in the same body. Time will tell I suppose, but I kind of with Cory would make more appearances than T would. The guy has no spine. Yes, he did save my life, but he's so quiet I sometimes I want to punch him to see if he'd do anything about it. Makes me sound mean, I know, and I'm usually not, but for some reason he just rubs me the wrong way. I think it has something to do with his 'poor me' walk. Dad always talked about it back home. The people who wallow in their own misery and don't do nothing to change it. That's what T makes me think of. I don't know what he did, but he needs to buck up.

Three days of driving and we arrive in beautiful Florida. I'd never been away from home before. My family didn't go on vacation, too expensive. We sometimes would take day trips in state, but it never amounted to anything all that crazy or fun. Then when my 'condition' showed up, we didn't even leave the city. Let me tell you something about my home town: it's small and old fashioned. Like if I'm going to buy anything fun or interesting, I get it at Wal*Mart which isn't even in my town. It's in the next town over. The movies we get are all delayed. I'm sure you all can see why I got into my internet pirating hobby. Funny thing is, my mom fully encouraged it because it saved us money and kept me occupied.

I didn't steal everything. I bought a lot of games and things. I did have a job, and I had to have money and a legit copy of Final Fantasy XIV to get that up and running for so long. Without that, I wouldn't have met Moira. I love her, and my life wouldn't be the same without her. I'm still amazed that she's a part of the game. Amazed and worried. We are on different teams, and even if winning would change my life, I'm pretty sure it would change hers too. As much as I want to cure my problem, I also want her safe and happy.

We park at the coordinates on the GPS, which is the entrance to a park in the Everglades. Exciting huh? Only not really. I'm not looking forward to this one bit. It's hot and kind of sticky and it smells weird. Though I can't complain about getting up to stretch my legs. I rub my butt too, massaging out the numbness. Ipod sees me doing this and gives me a weird scowl.

"What?" I ask her. She only shrugs and turns to stretch. Then bounces off to start blabbing at T in sign language. Those two are always talking as though it's their secret language. I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. I don't like secrets. I spend so much of my life in them, but complaining about it also makes me feel like a hypocrite. I guess I just hate that they're so necessary. They're shady.

"Okay, we're here and there's supposed to be something to tell us what we're going to be doing exactly." Ryan says and she's searching for our instructions. She's always business. It's more or less annoying. Even when we stayed at a hotel, and that's saying if we did because she always wanted to keep trading with the driving so we were constantly on the go. Until Cory threw a fit over needing some solid sleep before we drove off the road. Anyway, at the hotel, she made sure to get us in bed early and up at the ass crack of dawn. Kind of irritated me because I finally had an internet connection that would let me do more than send off a fast email. I really want to kill something. I feel stressed and overwhelmed which usually leads to bad things.

Games have always been what kept me normal. School stressed me out a lot and so did my chaotic social life. I'd come home and play a game, and get to be me. Being the star football/basketball/baseball/track/golf/tennis player, I was naturally rather popular in school. Not to mention the fact that I have amazing abs. Girls were always all over me, but I was never allowed to date because of my 'condition'. It's also why I couldn't go to parties. Day trips to the mall or the movies, sure, but no parties, and I had to leave school dances early. An hour of fun didn't make it worth my time. Thus, games.

“This might help.” I point to a plaque nearby that has the big ol' Escape Show logo on it. We all crowd around it. “In the swamp you'll find what you need. A treasure to help you with your deeds.”

“And how are we going to find a treasure in the middle of one of the largest swamps in America?” T asks with a frown. “Especially since we don't know what we're looking for.”

Ryan investigates the plague some more and finds something that resembles a tracking device attached to the back. There's a red light that blinks every so often and a quiet beep to go along. “This perhaps?”

“Let's get moving.” I make a motion for her to step forward. “The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can have whatever the awesome reward is.” Not to mention I was curious as to what this treasure was.

“Um, g...guys?” T says in a shaky voice.

“Hunters!” Ipod spits it out for him and points behind us just as a group of suited men and women get out of a car. Unlike before, they don't hesitate to start running right off the bat.

Ryan bolts and we all follow. I have no idea if we're going the right way though because the beep is becoming even more spread apart than before.

“We need to go in a new direction.” I shout after her. “Turn around!”

“And get caught?” She shouts back, glancing over her shoulder at me.

“Pick a new direction then, just do something!”

“I think we're losing them,” T adds.

Ryan turns a sharp right on the path and then another so we start heading back towards where we came. At least we're on another trail, and she slows her pace as she tries to figure out which way to go next. We go left now. Stop. Turn around and go right. I'm not sure she knows what she's doing, but I also have realized that telling Ryan she's wrong and incapable is a bad idea. She's too determined and way too high strung. The only person who has the balls to stand up for her is Cory. I try, but she doesn't respect me enough to listen. Too bad he's sleeping, or wherever the hell he goes when he's not present.

We keep heading down this path, the beeping on our tracking device is becoming more steady and more frequent. Then of course we hit a dead end.

“Are you kidding me?” I groan, panting. “Now what?” In front of us is gross, smelly, swamp. Ryan takes a step towards it and the beeping becomes more excited. Figures right? That we'd have to go into the middle of a nasty ass swamp.

“I doubt it's deep. We can swim.” Ryan suggests.

“Gaters,” T says. “I don't think it'll be so simple.”

“I see canoes.” Ipod says. She's always the observant one. I've yet to see her miss a thing. Sure enough, there are canoes not too far off. They're on the other side of the protective railing.

Without any hesitation, Ryan hops on over and lands in the water. She climbs into one of the canoes. I follow after, I've never been in one before, but I figure if I'm going to be safe with anyone it'd be her. I'm not a fan of the water. Drowning scares the crap out of me. I know how to swim and all, but unless I'm in a pool, I don't want anything to do with it. If I can't see what's going on around me, then I'd rather not have anything to do with it.

The other two are close behind us. Ryan and I are already off, following the now persistent beeping. Thirty feet or so and it's one solid sound. It's giving me a headache, and that is never a good thing. They're another trigger for my ability.

“Who's going down there to-.” I begin.

“I got it! Then I can tell you if something is going on.” Ipod says and starts to strip off her shirt so she can hop into the water. I'm not complaining. T of course is trying to not look and be all gentlemanly but I have a feeling he's not complaining either. She jumps in and goes under. “I think I see something. Like a light or something.”

We all watch, our eyes fixed on the water. There's bubbles, the canoes start rocking, and hunters appear at the shoreline. They don't get into the water, but they don't need to yet. One of them points and a gust of wind blows over us, threatening to tip us into the water as well.

“Something has my leg!”

T stands up and jumps into the water, probably without even thinking first. The wind gusts are getting stronger, one hunter walks into the water, and it makes me think of Terminator a little too much. I shiver. And that's the last thing I remember beyond falling out of the canoe and hitting my head against something in the water.

When I come to again, I'm in a bed, and I know what happened instantly without anyone having to say a word. They all had the same unsure, shocked, scared expression.

“What the hell did you do?” Ryan finally demands. “You could have killed us all! Why didn't you tell us that you turn into some kind of a monster?”

“Do we know what you can do?” I snap back. “I barely know anything about any of you. Why should I share all my deep dark secrets?”

“Because this one could have killed us!”

“Ryan,” T says and shakes his head. “Let's not scream at each other.”

I think this is the first time I've liked the guy. Wait, no the second time. The first was when he saved me from the box. Without him I'd be dead.

“It started when I was about thirteen. I was attacked by a dog, blacked out, and my parents were freaking out because I turned into whatever it is I turn into. I don't remember anything that happens when it does. I just go by what people tell me, and I guess it's bad.” Real bad, and I hate it. People don't tend to think I feel remorse though. After all, the monster is me, right?

Ipod grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze before she hugs me. I like her, but she also seems like the only sane person in the group.

“So what happened?”

“You went unconscious.” T says. He's pacing now. “I tried to pull you back onto the canoe, but then you started changing. Your body shifted, got larger, became this weird purple and black color, and wings.” He shudders. “You saved Ipod. The hunters were holding her under. I don't know if you....”

Killed anyway, got it, but I did some damage. I groan, my head hurts. It usually does right after. “We get the thing?”

“We did,” Ryan says. I can tell she's still pissed as hell. “We were waiting for you to come to first before opening it. It's some kind of a box.”

“Well, I'm up now.” I mumble.

She nods and grabs a white box. She pops off the lid and holds it for all of us to see inside. Inside are five envelopes, each with our names on it, a brass key, four tickets for Disney World, four flashlights, and an LCD screen.

“A gift for you. Something personal, something fun, something to protect you, and something for your future.” Ryan read a small strip of notebook paper. “These must be for protection.” She points to the flashlights. “We used these against the hunters in the fun house. I'm not sure what this thing does.” She points at the screen. “I guess we're going to Disney World though.” She then hands out all of our envelopes.

Ipod opens hers first and smiles as she sees a picture of what has to be her family and her boyfriend at a picnic. She reads a note. “Remember your goals.”

T opens his next and chews on his lip. He doesn't show anyone the picture. “My note says the same thing.”

I rip open my envelope, curious as to what I'll have. A picture of my family no doubt. I miss them, but at the same time, I don't like the pressure they've put on me to 'get better'. I'm surprised to find a picture of Moira. My heart beats a little faster, and I smile like a nerd.

Ryan opens hers and scowls. In fact, I think I see tears in her eyes and she quickly leaves.

“Are we done now?” I ask.

“For now.” T says. “I think we can all use some sleep though.”

I nod, and reach for my laptop so I can send Moira an email. I can talk to her, and I don't even want to question why. If I mention it, I'm afraid someone might try to take her away from me.

“Thinking of you. I just wanted you to know. Love you.”

I put her picture under my pillow, but I never let go of it. Then I fall back asleep.