# Free For Fall

Author: houndlover56
Tags: Bridge, Elimination, Relationships, jump, reality, river, road, travel, water


            On the last episode, thirteen new
players and five racing veterans gathered to begin a new competition around the
country. It was guys versus girls in the first task: break out of Alcatraz
prison. Tammy quickly rallied up the girls, trying to advance the females in
the game to finally get a female winner. Meanwhile, the boys split up, some
wetter than others.
In the end, it was thanks to Brent's strength, Ben's
weight, and Eclipse's athletic ability that let our male contestants get a
ten-minute Headstart to our next destination. Who will win the first immunity
challenge and who will be the first person voted off? Time to find out on part
two of the premier of... Road Trip!
Hours 3-5
            "Welcome back to San Francisco,"
Toner introduces. "Our male contestants are already on their way to the next
stop. But our female contestants are approximately ten minutes behind them.
But, it might not even matter since today's challenge will be the exact
reversal of a few hours ago. There were teams in Alcatraz, but today, allies
will be pitted against each other."
***
            Female
RV
            In one of the two provided vehicles
our nine female players are sitting around waiting to know where their next
destination is. Though Toner refers to it as a "bus", it's actually a
Recreational Vehicle. A soft green couch sits behind the driver's seat with the
side door and two bunks across from it. Beyond that is a little kitchen area
with a sink and a few cabinets.
Lastly, the door on the end is the bathroom. Which
sits a line formed by the Inception Players, Sara and Tammy. "What in the world
is taking her so long?" Sara asks. The lion pounds on the door one last time.
"Yo! Whoever is in there, would you hurry up?!"
Tammy does a quick survey of who's where. Natasha and
Eileen are lying down on the bottom bunk, looking at gooey gossip magazines.
Faith (or as Tammy likes to call her Princess Red Beard) is on the top bunk,
listening to some stupid song or whatever. Football Brain, Sonya is in the
passenger seat, chatting away with the driver (who wouldn't give away his name
or face on national TV). Chrissy is hanging off the ceiling (don't ask) and
Alisha seems to be munching away on the potato chips. (Claiming "salt good for
her head". Tammy didn't want to know what she meant by that.)
That could only leave one other girl...
The bathroom door opens and a yellow cheetah with
black spots comes out yawning. "Good morning, gals," she says, rubbing her
eyes.
Sara groans. "Jenna, that's not a bedroom. It's a
bathroom. Plus, it's only 4 in the afternoon."
"Wow! I must have lost track of the time." She trots
out and takes a seat next to Alisha, who only grunts at her sudden appearance.
As Sara heads into the John to do "her business",
Tammy stays outside the door, her brain already on overdrive. "I'm starting to
think that Jenna isn't such a good idea to keep," she says. "I want a girl to
win this show, but I'm thinking we start picking the weaklings off first."
"Ok. So... you want to convince the others to vote Jenna
off?" Sara asks.
"Not yet," the sneaky skunk replies. "But I'm also
thinking that Eileen and Tasha are going to be a big problem. They're already
coming together to form a dynamic duo. We need to separate them before it
blossoms into an alliance." In order to do that, though, Tammy will need to
form another alliance with two other girls to join her and Sara.
She wants nothing to do with Sonya; she'll just blab
the whole thing over before she even knows what's going on and Faith doesn't
talk to anyone but herself (literally, Tammy overheard the red vixen mumble
some stuff to herself). Which leaves Alisha and Chrissy. Yes, they're crazy but
they're also loyal. This won't be easy, she thinks, but I think I have a plan
in mind.
Hour 5
            Male
RV
            The vehicle the boys are in is
similar to the girls but its theme colors are blue and black instead of pink
and green. Brent sits on the counter, sipping on some grape soda. Eclipse lies
on the top bunk, trying to pass the time by drumming his fingers away. And
lastly, Ben is on the couch, munching on a donut (pink-frosted sprinkled one to
be specific) as he tries to avert his eyes.
            All three boys took a secret oath to
try and stay away from each other for the time being since everyone else
assumes they're in an alliance. Which they are, but they don't need to know
that. Brent came up with the name before they left for... wherever they are
going: The Bro Triangle.
            Rio and Ravertooth are on the couch
being entertained by Parker (well, mostly Rio). "Now, for my next trick, I
shall need a volunteer," the black tiger says. He points at the sabretooth.
"You, sir!"
            "Don't start something you can't
finish, magic boy," he growls.
Parker takes one of the sheets and turns to the
shepherd. "Rio, may I ask what color are Raver's long teeth?" Everyone could
see what it is, but Rio answers anyways: White. "Hmmm.... 'White' you say? Well
how about I just do this..." Parker covers the sabretooth with the sheet, counts
to three in his head, snaps his fingers and lifts the over away. "Voila!"
The rest of the boys look in amazement as Raver's two long
teeth suddenly appear bright gold. "Dude!" Rio knocks his knuckles on it with a
slight jolt of pain going up his wrist. "That's actual gold right there!"
"What the?" Ravertooth is definitely shocked at what
Parker has done. "Change them back, you magic freak!"
"No problem." The magician says it as if he didn't
hear that. Parker covers him back up, snaps his fingers again and his teeth go
back to plain bright white. That was fun, he tells himself.
Toner, who was in the passenger seat the whole time,
stands up and brings out his infamous megaphone. "Welcome to part two of
today's day of the Trip!" he shouts. The loud noise resonating from the machine
makes everyone cover their ears. "In the Amazing Race, teams found out where
they were going from the first clue of the day.
"In Road Trip,
everyone finds out by reading a postcard out loud for those on the bus to hear
shortly before arriving at a location." Toner puts the megaphone away,
returning his voice to normal volume. "Eclipse, since you won the challenge
yesterday for the boys, you get the honor of getting to read first."
The husky jumps down from the bunk and takes an
envelope Toner hands him. Inside is a postcard with a Kings logo on it. "We're
going to Sacramento," he says.
Sacramento, also known as the capital of California,
is the next destination for the Trip. The city itself goes all the way back to
the Gold Rush era and is bordered by two large rivers. Once players arrive,
Toner will explain the next excruciating challenge that will be far off from
the last one.
After the RV drives into the city, it stops on top of
a bridge that hangs over a river. The doors open and everyone piles out. Down
below are several colorful rubber rafts. "Welcome to your second task of the
day," Toner explains. "I like to call it: Bridge Diving." The boys groan about
how dangerous this could be but the dog drags on.
"Every player must jump off Tower Bridge into
Sacramento River. Once in the water, everyone will have to paddle south until
they reach Miller Park. First boy and first girl to arrive there win and will
receive immunity from tonight's vote. On top of that, they get to choose the
official teams for the season. Won't that be fun?"
Brent's already thinking. If he can get Ben or Eclipse
to win, then the Bro Triangle gets another win on its belt. Plus, nobody would
even think to target them. "Your challenge begins... now!" Toner blows an air
horn, disrupting some of the traffic on the bridge.
Glaze is the first one to look over the bridge to see
how far of a drop it is. It looks to be about fifty meters. "That's nothing,"
the human known as Brent says. Without hesitation, he leaps off the bridge and
plunges into the water where he immediately goes for one of the rafts waiting
below.
One by one, the other boys begin to drop. Rio screams
for his life as he falls. Eclipse does a professional dive, keeping his paws
together and in front of him. Glaze keeps his eyes closed thinking it would be
over in seconds. When Benjamin lands in the river, it sends waves out, knocking
some of the players off course.
Eclipse finds Brent easily. Ben nearly capsizes their
raft as the boys struggle to lift him in, but they eventually do. With the
Triangle in first, the others from the bridge start falling down. Fritz keeps
his feet straight for when he hits the surface. Parker lifts his hat off his
head and somehow a parachute comes out, slowing him down. Ravertooth says
nothing, but hits one of the rafts face down, causing quick pain in his nose.
Those already flowing down the river take notice.
"Ouch," Rio says. "That's got to hurt." The only one still left on the bridge
if Griffin, the fat tiger trembling from the height from which he stands.
"Let me guess: acrophobia?" Toner asks. "Even though
you work in one of the tallest buildings in Knoxville? Last time I checked,
your office is on the top floor."
"Ok! Ok!" Griffin pleads. "I'll jump." He takes a deep
breath, closing his eyes. Before he can do or say anything, Toner has a paw on
his back, shoving off of the bridge. The feline shouts and hollers at the top
of his lungs on the way down. Splash!
A bigger wave ripples from the spot in which he made contact with the surface,
causing the other plays to spin or float out of control.
"The Bro Triangle is in the lead," Toner hosts. "And
it looks like Raver, Griffin, and Glaze need to step up their game if they ever
want to make it to the park first."
Ravertooth gets up, muttering a few curse words about
the host while paddling his way downstream. In his mind, he already has a few
targets he'd like to get out. Nothing would make him happier than to send
Parker out of the Trip because of how annoying he can be. Sadly, though, it
seems like he can't be eliminated via voting.
Glaze makes it onto a large yellow raft where he
starts to paddle away when Griffin appears next to him. "Wait!" he cries. "Help
me out of the water! I can hardly swim!" At least not at his size.
"Give me your paw," the wolf says. The wet tiger
reaches out to grab a firm hold of Glaze. The canine pulls as hard as he can,
but only ends up tipping the craft over, sending him into the water as well.
"Never mind. Can you kick your legs?"
"Yeah," Griffin answers.
"Then we better hurry." Glaze grabs ahold of the end
and raises his body to start kicking. Griffin catches on and does the same.
On the Triangle's raft, the boys start discussing some
strategy. "I'm thinking you guys need to vote off a girl tonight," Brent says
as they paddle. "Because if you think about it, there are six of you and seven
of them so far in the game. Send one home now, it'll make them vulnerable for
the rest of the competition."
"Sounds valid," Eclipse agrees. "However, it'd take
seven votes to get rid of someone and it seems like they have the numbers."
"Come on. Do you really think that they'll really vote
together? The girls never stick together, they become super catty and turn
against each other first before thinking about sending guys home."
Minutes later, the male contestants are still in sight
as the girls' RV stops on the bridge. Toner opens the door and briefly explains
the challenge to them, wondering how these people are going to handle it.
Most take it well at first. Sure; Chrissy laughs
hysterically as she descends, Alisha stays as emotionless as ever, and Jenna is
completely confused as she falls into the water, but they take it okay.
"Cannonball!!!" Sonya yells in her coach-like voice.
Natasha offers Eileen her paw to squeeze as they fall together. Just like
usual, Tasha screams while Eileen's cheeks turn a rosy red with nothing coming
out of her muzzle. Faith closes her eyes, but is surprised to find herself
already in one of the rafts. The vixen grabs her paddle and starts rowing.
Tammy and Sara jump together. As soon as they're in
the water, they start paddling south towards the park. When they pass Chrissy
and Alisha, the skunk has them stop for a second. "How about you two climb
aboard?" Tammy offers.
"Sure! The more the merrier!" Chrissy leaps out of the
water and hops onto the raft behind Sara. The lion and badger then work
together to get the polar bear on (again with the threat of capsizing, but it
doesn't happen). "So? What're we doing here? Are we having a secret meeting
here? That's awesome!"
"Quiet, Motor Mouth," Tammy shushes. "We need you two
in on an alliance. I think it's about time a girl starts winning these
competitions. You know, give the boys a run for their money. Me and Sara have
been talking and we agree that Eileen and Jenna have got to go right now."
"What about wolf girl?" Alisha asks, nodding towards
Natasha.
"Ok. Maybe she's a target, but Eileen first and then her." Sonya then passes by them,
looking as crazy and determined to win as Tammy was in the race. "Oh, and also
her. She's got to go. And seriously? Whose smart idea was it to put a hyena in this Trip?" She exaggerates every
syllable of that word. "She's basically as adrenaline rushed as Fritz."
Speaking of which, the kangaroo slowly inches towards
Rio's raft. "Hey, little man," he says. "What're you watching them for?" He
nods towards the Triangle.
"Just making sure I'm keeping up with them," Rio says.
"There's a better way to do that." Fritz opens up one
side of his leather jacket. Inside are what appearing to be a tranquilizer dart
and a straw. "I'll make a deal with you, little pup. If I help you win
immunity, you don't vote me off. Also, you have to pick me for your team."
It wasn't what Rio liked the looks of. What Fritz is
about to do looked like cheating to him. But for some reason, the shepherd
says, "Deal."
That was all he needed to hear. The kangaroo places
the dart on one end of the straw, aiming towards the Triangle's raft. See you later, suckers. He takes a deep
breath and blows as hard as he can, sending the dart right into the side of
their raft.
Brent hears the hiss of air being let out first. He
pulls the dart out and frantically tries to stop the air from flowing out but
it's too late. "Breach in the side!" he shouts. Ben and Eclipse try to paddle
down the river as far as they can but only get several feet in before the rafts
sinks. The two topple out with a big splash. Fritz and Rio then pass them.
"What do we do?" Eclipse asks.
"We get in formation and kick for our lives!" Brent
answers. He gets on one side of Ben and the husky one the other, just like they
did in San Francisco Bay.
Natasha and Eileen go slow down the river, figuring
that slow and steady wins the race. "So, you never really told me why you don't
talk much," the wolf says to strike up a conversation. The grey vixen looks up,
but only blushes harder. "You really that shy?" Eileen nods. "Come on, I'm sure
you've got something to say. Just one thing?"
Eileen stops paddling for a second, cheeks couldn't be
more red. She opens her muzzle to say something, but before she can utter a
sound, something bumps them from behind. "Is this the park?" Jenna asks,
looking at the two of them.
Natasha giggles. "No, Jen, it's Tasha. Come join us."
She helps the confused feline into the raft next to them. Knowing that Jenna
doesn't know how to paddle, she just leaves her like that in her smiley way.
"Anyways, Eileen, why don't you say something. Please?" The grey vixen looks
over her shoulder at the ditzy cheetah and shakes her head. "Ok, another time,
then?" She then nods.
Faith passes them. She keeps her head down, not
wanting to attract any attention. "This is completely crazy," she says to
herself. "Why did I ever agree to do this show?" As she maintains focus, she
even manages to slip by Sonya, who's simply a machine in this game. Once of the
real reasons she came to compete on the Trip is so that she wanted to try
something different for a change. What a
change this is.
Meanwhile, Ravertooth is struggling to keep up with
the Rio/Fritz alliance that came out of nowhere. He hears the murr of a motor
running behind him. A glance over his shoulder shows that Parker somehow
attached a motor to his raft and his speeding past him. "Hey!" he shouts. "I
thought you said you can't use magic to cheat!"
"No!" Parker calls back. "I said I can't use magic to
help real players chest which means I
can use it to help myself right now." The tiger speeds away, leaving the
sabretooth to grip his paddle harder out of anger.
He's such a showoff, he thinks. And was a showoff with
Chloe on the race while they were still in it. Magic boy has got to go down
sooner rather than later.
So far, it's a tight race for the winner's circle for
Rio, Fritz, Faith, and Sonya. The Triangle and the Eileen/Tasha alliance are
not far behind. But for Glaze and Griffin, they're pretty much out of the
running since they're way behind.
Sonya's growing strong until she accidentally bumps
into someone. "Hey!" she yells. "Out of my way, Red; this is my game!"
Faith shies away from her. Up ahead, Fritz and Rio
over hear her coming their way. They decide to help the vixen out by cutting
the hyena off. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size," the kangaroo
threatens. He can feel a second dart in his pocket and it's growing heavy.
"She's done nothin' to ya so why don't you back off?"
"Why don't you get out of my face!" Sonya brings her
paddle up as if she's about to use it as a bat (which wouldn't surprise most of
the people there). Faith quietly slips by and Rio follows. Fritz mirrors the
hyena's move, ready to fight back.
"Bring it on, hot shot. Let's see what you've got."
While they have their little scuffle, Parker speeds by, splashing them a
little, but it looks like they don't even take notice. Ravertooth just looks,
thinking that it's a stupid move fighting on the first day, and resume
paddling.
When the river comes to an intersection, Chrissy takes
over as lookout and spots Toner at the park on the left. "Ooooh! There's the
finish line!" The badger makes a crazy move, jumping out of the raft and
swimming like hell towards him. So much for sticking together, Tammy thinks.
But the three wet girls venture on, knowing that they're not going to win
anyways.
Once the Triangle lands on the shore, Eclipse starts
to go for the win when Brent holds him back. "Woah, now. You won for us
yesterday," he points out. "I think it's only fair that Ben gets this one."
The husky looks between the cheetah and the finish
line, which is literally a dozen yards away. "Fine," he groans. "But let's
hurry!"
All three boys get onto their feet and begins dashing
towards the finish. It appears that at Toner's feet, there are two separate carpets,
one pink and one blue. The first ones to step on them must be the winners. Just
as they think they've got this victory down, Faith and Rio sprint out of
nowhere. "Where did they come from?"
Brent asks.
They begin to slip behind, and even though Eclipse
promised to throw it, he starts pushing his legs as far as he can and the other
two begin to pass him. However, the husky falls short (ironically), tripping on
his own foot, tumbling to the ground. Dang it, the human thinks, we were so
close.
Toner blows a victory horn as soon as the victors step
up. "Immunity goes to Faith and Rio!" he declares. The vixen and shepherd shout
and hugs each other. "They also get to pick the teams this season. As for
everyone else, they're all in danger
of going home first. Your first vote-off begins... in one hour."
Eclipse looks to Ben and vice versa; both with a look
of fear on their faces.
Hour 6
            Both the orange and purple RVs are
parked in the park while everyone else is sitting in nearby benches.
Eventually, Toner comes out and everyone sits up, ready to face the music that
one of them is about to get tossed out of the game. "Well, everyone, this is
it," he says. "The moments you've been waiting for. It's time for the first
vote-off of the Trip. Faith and Rio have immunity so they're safe along with
our Inception Players, who will not
be voting.
            "Here's how it works, one at a time,
each of you will head inside one of the RVs to cast your vote. The person who
ends up with the most will be sent home. In the event of a tie, we'll do a
short tiebreaker challenge. Everyone understand?" The eighteen players mumble
agreement. "Good. Alisha, you're up first."
            The Dutch polar bear gets up off her
seat and hops into the purple RV. Sitting on the couch is an iPad with the
faces of the thirteen players listed. Faith and Rio's pictures are covered in
gold, indicating they cannot be voted for. She wastes no time tapping Eileen's
photo, locking in her vote.
            As she hops off, Ben hops on. He
looks over the other players, thinking about what the Triangle told him. That
although there are some larger targets to go after, it's best to vote out the
quiet ones first. The chubby cheetah votes off Eileen.
            Chrissy- Eileen
            Eclipse- Eileen
            The shy grey vixen steps up next.
During the challenge, she noticed that a few of the players were a little
crazy. Her finger goes to Jenna's photo but Tasha seemed willing to add her to
their little group. So instead, she votes off Sonya.
            When it's Faith's turn, she looks at
the pictures of the other guys in the group. It's smart to start picking them
off to ensure a female might go far. However, she feels threatened by Tammy
since it's obvious the skunk doesn't like her. To keep herself in the shadows,
the red canine votes off Eileen.
            Fritz goes next. The kangaroo
obviously got into a struggle with that insane hyena during the challenge.
Nothing would make him happier than sending her home. However, it would be hard
to do that since so many people are voting. For now, he votes off Natasha.
            Glaze- Sonya
            Jenna- Sonya
            Natasha- Sonya
            Ravertooth goes next. He wants to
see Parker going home. At the same time, he thinks that going after the little
weaklings would help him in the long run. He scrolls upwards and taps on
Eileen's photo.
            Rio promised not to vote off Fritz
if he let him win immunity. Since that happened, he's going to keep his word.
Like most of the others, he tries to choose between Eileen and Sonya. Then he
thinks that keeping them both will keep the target off of him. He votes
Natasha.
            Last but not least is Sonya. All she
wants to do is vote that damned 'roo off the show, but knowing that personal
moves will result in her leaving pretty soon. She rolls her eyes as she votes
off Eileen.
***
            Toner comes back out of the bus with
the tablet in paw. "Time to reveal the results. Remember, the person with the
most votes will be heading home." The eleven unsafe players shift uncomfortable
in their seats. The dog hits the results button in the corner and the numbers
pop up. Not surprised. "With seven
votes to eliminate... Eileen..." The vixen blushes hard. "... you're the first one
out of the Trip. I'll call a cab. Say your goodbyes."
            She gets up, giving Tasha a quick
hug. "Good luck on the outside, hun," the wolf says. Eileen smiles at her. She
waves farewell to her competitors and walks away from the RVs.
            As she walks away, Toner looks to
the audience. "Well, that's one down and twelve left to go. Which one of these
rejects will we toss out of the game next time? Stick around for more off..."
Here come the shades. "... Road Trip!"

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/1045970