{"sf1_id":1045970,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Free For Fall","author":"houndlover56","words":4313,"posted_at":"2016-07-14T20:45:00.000Z","tags":["Bridge","Elimination","Relationships","jump","reality","river","road","travel","water"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1045970-free-for-fall","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1045970","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1045970\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            On the last episode, thirteen new\nplayers and five racing veterans gathered to begin a new competition around the\ncountry. It was guys versus girls in the first task: break out of Alcatraz\nprison. Tammy quickly rallied up the girls, trying to advance the females in\nthe game to finally get a female winner. Meanwhile, the boys split up, some\nwetter than others.\nIn the end, it was thanks to Brent's strength, Ben's\nweight, and Eclipse's athletic ability that let our male contestants get a\nten-minute Headstart to our next destination. Who will win the first immunity\nchallenge and who will be the first person voted off? Time to find out on part\ntwo of the premier of... Road Trip!\nHours 3-5\n            \"Welcome back to San Francisco,\"\nToner introduces. \"Our male contestants are already on their way to the next\nstop. But our female contestants are approximately ten minutes behind them.\nBut, it might not even matter since today's challenge will be the exact\nreversal of a few hours ago. There were teams in Alcatraz, but today, allies\nwill be pitted against each other.\"\n***\n            Female\nRV\n            In one of the two provided vehicles\nour nine female players are sitting around waiting to know where their next\ndestination is. Though Toner refers to it as a \"bus\", it's actually a\nRecreational Vehicle. A soft green couch sits behind the driver's seat with the\nside door and two bunks across from it. Beyond that is a little kitchen area\nwith a sink and a few cabinets.\nLastly, the door on the end is the bathroom. Which\nsits a line formed by the Inception Players, Sara and Tammy. \"What in the world\nis taking her so long?\" Sara asks. The lion pounds on the door one last time.\n\"Yo! Whoever is in there, would you hurry up?!\"\nTammy does a quick survey of who's where. Natasha and\nEileen are lying down on the bottom bunk, looking at gooey gossip magazines.\nFaith (or as Tammy likes to call her Princess Red Beard) is on the top bunk,\nlistening to some stupid song or whatever. Football Brain, Sonya is in the\npassenger seat, chatting away with the driver (who wouldn't give away his name\nor face on national TV). Chrissy is hanging off the ceiling (don't ask) and\nAlisha seems to be munching away on the potato chips. (Claiming \"salt good for\nher head\". Tammy didn't want to know what she meant by that.)\nThat could only leave one other girl...\nThe bathroom door opens and a yellow cheetah with\nblack spots comes out yawning. \"Good morning, gals,\" she says, rubbing her\neyes.\nSara groans. \"Jenna, that's not a bedroom. It's a\nbathroom. Plus, it's only 4 in the afternoon.\"\n\"Wow! I must have lost track of the time.\" She trots\nout and takes a seat next to Alisha, who only grunts at her sudden appearance.\nAs Sara heads into the John to do \"her business\",\nTammy stays outside the door, her brain already on overdrive. \"I'm starting to\nthink that Jenna isn't such a good idea to keep,\" she says. \"I want a girl to\nwin this show, but I'm thinking we start picking the weaklings off first.\"\n\"Ok. So... you want to convince the others to vote Jenna\noff?\" Sara asks.\n\"Not yet,\" the sneaky skunk replies. \"But I'm also\nthinking that Eileen and Tasha are going to be a big problem. They're already\ncoming together to form a dynamic duo. We need to separate them before it\nblossoms into an alliance.\" In order to do that, though, Tammy will need to\nform another alliance with two other girls to join her and Sara.\nShe wants nothing to do with Sonya; she'll just blab\nthe whole thing over before she even knows what's going on and Faith doesn't\ntalk to anyone but herself (literally, Tammy overheard the red vixen mumble\nsome stuff to herself). Which leaves Alisha and Chrissy. Yes, they're crazy but\nthey're also loyal. This won't be easy, she thinks, but I think I have a plan\nin mind.\nHour 5\n            Male\nRV\n            The vehicle the boys are in is\nsimilar to the girls but its theme colors are blue and black instead of pink\nand green. Brent sits on the counter, sipping on some grape soda. Eclipse lies\non the top bunk, trying to pass the time by drumming his fingers away. And\nlastly, Ben is on the couch, munching on a donut (pink-frosted sprinkled one to\nbe specific) as he tries to avert his eyes.\n            All three boys took a secret oath to\ntry and stay away from each other for the time being since everyone else\nassumes they're in an alliance. Which they are, but they don't need to know\nthat. Brent came up with the name before they left for... wherever they are\ngoing: The Bro Triangle.\n            Rio and Ravertooth are on the couch\nbeing entertained by Parker (well, mostly Rio). \"Now, for my next trick, I\nshall need a volunteer,\" the black tiger says. He points at the sabretooth.\n\"You, sir!\"\n            \"Don't start something you can't\nfinish, magic boy,\" he growls.\nParker takes one of the sheets and turns to the\nshepherd. \"Rio, may I ask what color are Raver's long teeth?\" Everyone could\nsee what it is, but Rio answers anyways: White. \"Hmmm.... 'White' you say? Well\nhow about I just do this...\" Parker covers the sabretooth with the sheet, counts\nto three in his head, snaps his fingers and lifts the over away. \"Voila!\"\nThe rest of the boys look in amazement as Raver's two long\nteeth suddenly appear bright gold. \"Dude!\" Rio knocks his knuckles on it with a\nslight jolt of pain going up his wrist. \"That's actual gold right there!\"\n\"What the?\" Ravertooth is definitely shocked at what\nParker has done. \"Change them back, you magic freak!\"\n\"No problem.\" The magician says it as if he didn't\nhear that. Parker covers him back up, snaps his fingers again and his teeth go\nback to plain bright white. That was fun, he tells himself.\nToner, who was in the passenger seat the whole time,\nstands up and brings out his infamous megaphone. \"Welcome to part two of\ntoday's day of the Trip!\" he shouts. The loud noise resonating from the machine\nmakes everyone cover their ears. \"In the Amazing Race, teams found out where\nthey were going from the first clue of the day.\n\"In Road Trip,\neveryone finds out by reading a postcard out loud for those on the bus to hear\nshortly before arriving at a location.\" Toner puts the megaphone away,\nreturning his voice to normal volume. \"Eclipse, since you won the challenge\nyesterday for the boys, you get the honor of getting to read first.\"\nThe husky jumps down from the bunk and takes an\nenvelope Toner hands him. Inside is a postcard with a Kings logo on it. \"We're\ngoing to Sacramento,\" he says.\nSacramento, also known as the capital of California,\nis the next destination for the Trip. The city itself goes all the way back to\nthe Gold Rush era and is bordered by two large rivers. Once players arrive,\nToner will explain the next excruciating challenge that will be far off from\nthe last one.\nAfter the RV drives into the city, it stops on top of\na bridge that hangs over a river. The doors open and everyone piles out. Down\nbelow are several colorful rubber rafts. \"Welcome to your second task of the\nday,\" Toner explains. \"I like to call it: Bridge Diving.\" The boys groan about\nhow dangerous this could be but the dog drags on.\n\"Every player must jump off Tower Bridge into\nSacramento River. Once in the water, everyone will have to paddle south until\nthey reach Miller Park. First boy and first girl to arrive there win and will\nreceive immunity from tonight's vote. On top of that, they get to choose the\nofficial teams for the season. Won't that be fun?\"\nBrent's already thinking. If he can get Ben or Eclipse\nto win, then the Bro Triangle gets another win on its belt. Plus, nobody would\neven think to target them. \"Your challenge begins... now!\" Toner blows an air\nhorn, disrupting some of the traffic on the bridge.\nGlaze is the first one to look over the bridge to see\nhow far of a drop it is. It looks to be about fifty meters. \"That's nothing,\"\nthe human known as Brent says. Without hesitation, he leaps off the bridge and\nplunges into the water where he immediately goes for one of the rafts waiting\nbelow.\nOne by one, the other boys begin to drop. Rio screams\nfor his life as he falls. Eclipse does a professional dive, keeping his paws\ntogether and in front of him. Glaze keeps his eyes closed thinking it would be\nover in seconds. When Benjamin lands in the river, it sends waves out, knocking\nsome of the players off course.\nEclipse finds Brent easily. Ben nearly capsizes their\nraft as the boys struggle to lift him in, but they eventually do. With the\nTriangle in first, the others from the bridge start falling down. Fritz keeps\nhis feet straight for when he hits the surface. Parker lifts his hat off his\nhead and somehow a parachute comes out, slowing him down. Ravertooth says\nnothing, but hits one of the rafts face down, causing quick pain in his nose.\nThose already flowing down the river take notice.\n\"Ouch,\" Rio says. \"That's got to hurt.\" The only one still left on the bridge\nif Griffin, the fat tiger trembling from the height from which he stands.\n\"Let me guess: acrophobia?\" Toner asks. \"Even though\nyou work in one of the tallest buildings in Knoxville? Last time I checked,\nyour office is on the top floor.\"\n\"Ok! Ok!\" Griffin pleads. \"I'll jump.\" He takes a deep\nbreath, closing his eyes. Before he can do or say anything, Toner has a paw on\nhis back, shoving off of the bridge. The feline shouts and hollers at the top\nof his lungs on the way down. Splash!\nA bigger wave ripples from the spot in which he made contact with the surface,\ncausing the other plays to spin or float out of control.\n\"The Bro Triangle is in the lead,\" Toner hosts. \"And\nit looks like Raver, Griffin, and Glaze need to step up their game if they ever\nwant to make it to the park first.\"\nRavertooth gets up, muttering a few curse words about\nthe host while paddling his way downstream. In his mind, he already has a few\ntargets he'd like to get out. Nothing would make him happier than to send\nParker out of the Trip because of how annoying he can be. Sadly, though, it\nseems like he can't be eliminated via voting.\nGlaze makes it onto a large yellow raft where he\nstarts to paddle away when Griffin appears next to him. \"Wait!\" he cries. \"Help\nme out of the water! I can hardly swim!\" At least not at his size.\n\"Give me your paw,\" the wolf says. The wet tiger\nreaches out to grab a firm hold of Glaze. The canine pulls as hard as he can,\nbut only ends up tipping the craft over, sending him into the water as well.\n\"Never mind. Can you kick your legs?\"\n\"Yeah,\" Griffin answers.\n\"Then we better hurry.\" Glaze grabs ahold of the end\nand raises his body to start kicking. Griffin catches on and does the same.\nOn the Triangle's raft, the boys start discussing some\nstrategy. \"I'm thinking you guys need to vote off a girl tonight,\" Brent says\nas they paddle. \"Because if you think about it, there are six of you and seven\nof them so far in the game. Send one home now, it'll make them vulnerable for\nthe rest of the competition.\"\n\"Sounds valid,\" Eclipse agrees. \"However, it'd take\nseven votes to get rid of someone and it seems like they have the numbers.\"\n\"Come on. Do you really think that they'll really vote\ntogether? The girls never stick together, they become super catty and turn\nagainst each other first before thinking about sending guys home.\"\nMinutes later, the male contestants are still in sight\nas the girls' RV stops on the bridge. Toner opens the door and briefly explains\nthe challenge to them, wondering how these people are going to handle it.\nMost take it well at first. Sure; Chrissy laughs\nhysterically as she descends, Alisha stays as emotionless as ever, and Jenna is\ncompletely confused as she falls into the water, but they take it okay.\n\"Cannonball!!!\" Sonya yells in her coach-like voice.\nNatasha offers Eileen her paw to squeeze as they fall together. Just like\nusual, Tasha screams while Eileen's cheeks turn a rosy red with nothing coming\nout of her muzzle. Faith closes her eyes, but is surprised to find herself\nalready in one of the rafts. The vixen grabs her paddle and starts rowing.\nTammy and Sara jump together. As soon as they're in\nthe water, they start paddling south towards the park. When they pass Chrissy\nand Alisha, the skunk has them stop for a second. \"How about you two climb\naboard?\" Tammy offers.\n\"Sure! The more the merrier!\" Chrissy leaps out of the\nwater and hops onto the raft behind Sara. The lion and badger then work\ntogether to get the polar bear on (again with the threat of capsizing, but it\ndoesn't happen). \"So? What're we doing here? Are we having a secret meeting\nhere? That's awesome!\"\n\"Quiet, Motor Mouth,\" Tammy shushes. \"We need you two\nin on an alliance. I think it's about time a girl starts winning these\ncompetitions. You know, give the boys a run for their money. Me and Sara have\nbeen talking and we agree that Eileen and Jenna have got to go right now.\"\n\"What about wolf girl?\" Alisha asks, nodding towards\nNatasha.\n\"Ok. Maybe she's a target, but Eileen first and then her.\" Sonya then passes by them,\nlooking as crazy and determined to win as Tammy was in the race. \"Oh, and also\nher. She's got to go. And seriously? Whose smart idea was it to put a hyena in this Trip?\" She exaggerates every\nsyllable of that word. \"She's basically as adrenaline rushed as Fritz.\"\nSpeaking of which, the kangaroo slowly inches towards\nRio's raft. \"Hey, little man,\" he says. \"What're you watching them for?\" He\nnods towards the Triangle.\n\"Just making sure I'm keeping up with them,\" Rio says.\n\"There's a better way to do that.\" Fritz opens up one\nside of his leather jacket. Inside are what appearing to be a tranquilizer dart\nand a straw. \"I'll make a deal with you, little pup. If I help you win\nimmunity, you don't vote me off. Also, you have to pick me for your team.\"\nIt wasn't what Rio liked the looks of. What Fritz is\nabout to do looked like cheating to him. But for some reason, the shepherd\nsays, \"Deal.\"\nThat was all he needed to hear. The kangaroo places\nthe dart on one end of the straw, aiming towards the Triangle's raft. See you later, suckers. He takes a deep\nbreath and blows as hard as he can, sending the dart right into the side of\ntheir raft.\nBrent hears the hiss of air being let out first. He\npulls the dart out and frantically tries to stop the air from flowing out but\nit's too late. \"Breach in the side!\" he shouts. Ben and Eclipse try to paddle\ndown the river as far as they can but only get several feet in before the rafts\nsinks. The two topple out with a big splash. Fritz and Rio then pass them.\n\"What do we do?\" Eclipse asks.\n\"We get in formation and kick for our lives!\" Brent\nanswers. He gets on one side of Ben and the husky one the other, just like they\ndid in San Francisco Bay.\nNatasha and Eileen go slow down the river, figuring\nthat slow and steady wins the race. \"So, you never really told me why you don't\ntalk much,\" the wolf says to strike up a conversation. The grey vixen looks up,\nbut only blushes harder. \"You really that shy?\" Eileen nods. \"Come on, I'm sure\nyou've got something to say. Just one thing?\"\nEileen stops paddling for a second, cheeks couldn't be\nmore red. She opens her muzzle to say something, but before she can utter a\nsound, something bumps them from behind. \"Is this the park?\" Jenna asks,\nlooking at the two of them.\nNatasha giggles. \"No, Jen, it's Tasha. Come join us.\"\nShe helps the confused feline into the raft next to them. Knowing that Jenna\ndoesn't know how to paddle, she just leaves her like that in her smiley way.\n\"Anyways, Eileen, why don't you say something. Please?\" The grey vixen looks\nover her shoulder at the ditzy cheetah and shakes her head. \"Ok, another time,\nthen?\" She then nods.\nFaith passes them. She keeps her head down, not\nwanting to attract any attention. \"This is completely crazy,\" she says to\nherself. \"Why did I ever agree to do this show?\" As she maintains focus, she\neven manages to slip by Sonya, who's simply a machine in this game. Once of the\nreal reasons she came to compete on the Trip is so that she wanted to try\nsomething different for a change. What a\nchange this is.\nMeanwhile, Ravertooth is struggling to keep up with\nthe Rio/Fritz alliance that came out of nowhere. He hears the murr of a motor\nrunning behind him. A glance over his shoulder shows that Parker somehow\nattached a motor to his raft and his speeding past him. \"Hey!\" he shouts. \"I\nthought you said you can't use magic to cheat!\"\n\"No!\" Parker calls back. \"I said I can't use magic to\nhelp real players chest which means I\ncan use it to help myself right now.\" The tiger speeds away, leaving the\nsabretooth to grip his paddle harder out of anger.\nHe's such a showoff, he thinks. And was a showoff with\nChloe on the race while they were still in it. Magic boy has got to go down\nsooner rather than later.\nSo far, it's a tight race for the winner's circle for\nRio, Fritz, Faith, and Sonya. The Triangle and the Eileen/Tasha alliance are\nnot far behind. But for Glaze and Griffin, they're pretty much out of the\nrunning since they're way behind.\nSonya's growing strong until she accidentally bumps\ninto someone. \"Hey!\" she yells. \"Out of my way, Red; this is my game!\"\nFaith shies away from her. Up ahead, Fritz and Rio\nover hear her coming their way. They decide to help the vixen out by cutting\nthe hyena off. \"Why don't you pick on someone your own size,\" the kangaroo\nthreatens. He can feel a second dart in his pocket and it's growing heavy.\n\"She's done nothin' to ya so why don't you back off?\"\n\"Why don't you get out of my face!\" Sonya brings her\npaddle up as if she's about to use it as a bat (which wouldn't surprise most of\nthe people there). Faith quietly slips by and Rio follows. Fritz mirrors the\nhyena's move, ready to fight back.\n\"Bring it on, hot shot. Let's see what you've got.\"\nWhile they have their little scuffle, Parker speeds by, splashing them a\nlittle, but it looks like they don't even take notice. Ravertooth just looks,\nthinking that it's a stupid move fighting on the first day, and resume\npaddling.\nWhen the river comes to an intersection, Chrissy takes\nover as lookout and spots Toner at the park on the left. \"Ooooh! There's the\nfinish line!\" The badger makes a crazy move, jumping out of the raft and\nswimming like hell towards him. So much for sticking together, Tammy thinks.\nBut the three wet girls venture on, knowing that they're not going to win\nanyways.\nOnce the Triangle lands on the shore, Eclipse starts\nto go for the win when Brent holds him back. \"Woah, now. You won for us\nyesterday,\" he points out. \"I think it's only fair that Ben gets this one.\"\nThe husky looks between the cheetah and the finish\nline, which is literally a dozen yards away. \"Fine,\" he groans. \"But let's\nhurry!\"\nAll three boys get onto their feet and begins dashing\ntowards the finish. It appears that at Toner's feet, there are two separate carpets,\none pink and one blue. The first ones to step on them must be the winners. Just\nas they think they've got this victory down, Faith and Rio sprint out of\nnowhere. \"Where did they come from?\"\nBrent asks.\nThey begin to slip behind, and even though Eclipse\npromised to throw it, he starts pushing his legs as far as he can and the other\ntwo begin to pass him. However, the husky falls short (ironically), tripping on\nhis own foot, tumbling to the ground. Dang it, the human thinks, we were so\nclose.\nToner blows a victory horn as soon as the victors step\nup. \"Immunity goes to Faith and Rio!\" he declares. The vixen and shepherd shout\nand hugs each other. \"They also get to pick the teams this season. As for\neveryone else, they're all in danger\nof going home first. Your first vote-off begins... in one hour.\"\nEclipse looks to Ben and vice versa; both with a look\nof fear on their faces.\nHour 6\n            Both the orange and purple RVs are\nparked in the park while everyone else is sitting in nearby benches.\nEventually, Toner comes out and everyone sits up, ready to face the music that\none of them is about to get tossed out of the game. \"Well, everyone, this is\nit,\" he says. \"The moments you've been waiting for. It's time for the first\nvote-off of the Trip. Faith and Rio have immunity so they're safe along with\nour Inception Players, who will not\nbe voting.\n            \"Here's how it works, one at a time,\neach of you will head inside one of the RVs to cast your vote. The person who\nends up with the most will be sent home. In the event of a tie, we'll do a\nshort tiebreaker challenge. Everyone understand?\" The eighteen players mumble\nagreement. \"Good. Alisha, you're up first.\"\n            The Dutch polar bear gets up off her\nseat and hops into the purple RV. Sitting on the couch is an iPad with the\nfaces of the thirteen players listed. Faith and Rio's pictures are covered in\ngold, indicating they cannot be voted for. She wastes no time tapping Eileen's\nphoto, locking in her vote.\n            As she hops off, Ben hops on. He\nlooks over the other players, thinking about what the Triangle told him. That\nalthough there are some larger targets to go after, it's best to vote out the\nquiet ones first. The chubby cheetah votes off Eileen.\n            Chrissy- Eileen\n            Eclipse- Eileen\n            The shy grey vixen steps up next.\nDuring the challenge, she noticed that a few of the players were a little\ncrazy. Her finger goes to Jenna's photo but Tasha seemed willing to add her to\ntheir little group. So instead, she votes off Sonya.\n            When it's Faith's turn, she looks at\nthe pictures of the other guys in the group. It's smart to start picking them\noff to ensure a female might go far. However, she feels threatened by Tammy\nsince it's obvious the skunk doesn't like her. To keep herself in the shadows,\nthe red canine votes off Eileen.\n            Fritz goes next. The kangaroo\nobviously got into a struggle with that insane hyena during the challenge.\nNothing would make him happier than sending her home. However, it would be hard\nto do that since so many people are voting. For now, he votes off Natasha.\n            Glaze- Sonya\n            Jenna- Sonya\n            Natasha- Sonya\n            Ravertooth goes next. He wants to\nsee Parker going home. At the same time, he thinks that going after the little\nweaklings would help him in the long run. He scrolls upwards and taps on\nEileen's photo.\n            Rio promised not to vote off Fritz\nif he let him win immunity. Since that happened, he's going to keep his word.\nLike most of the others, he tries to choose between Eileen and Sonya. Then he\nthinks that keeping them both will keep the target off of him. He votes\nNatasha.\n            Last but not least is Sonya. All she\nwants to do is vote that damned 'roo off the show, but knowing that personal\nmoves will result in her leaving pretty soon. She rolls her eyes as she votes\noff Eileen.\n***\n            Toner comes back out of the bus with\nthe tablet in paw. \"Time to reveal the results. Remember, the person with the\nmost votes will be heading home.\" The eleven unsafe players shift uncomfortable\nin their seats. The dog hits the results button in the corner and the numbers\npop up. Not surprised. \"With seven\nvotes to eliminate... Eileen...\" The vixen blushes hard. \"... you're the first one\nout of the Trip. I'll call a cab. Say your goodbyes.\"\n            She gets up, giving Tasha a quick\nhug. \"Good luck on the outside, hun,\" the wolf says. Eileen smiles at her. She\nwaves farewell to her competitors and walks away from the RVs.\n            As she walks away, Toner looks to\nthe audience. \"Well, that's one down and twelve left to go. Which one of these\nrejects will we toss out of the game next time? Stick around for more off...\"\nHere come the shades. \"... Road Trip!\"\n"}