(Not) Facing Reality
Rebecca and Christophe came to, immediately realizing the bind they were in. He gave her a look. “Fucking beetch.”
Rebecca shot him a halfhearted glare, knowing exactly who he was referring to. “God is neutral. He’s not after you,” she argued.
“Least it’s you,” he said tiredly in place of arguing, offering her a weak smile.
She smiled back. “We’re a good team.”
He reached for his pack of cigarettes with his free hand. “You mind?”
She shook her head slightly before letting out a small sigh and leaning on his shoulder. “I–
“Gooooooood evening ladies and dreamers!!”
—
“Let’s start off with the funny bit!”
Trent was visibly trying to contain his fury as he looked between Dovakien and the wall, not finding this nearly as funny as the producers.
“As you can see, you’re in duos this week.”
—
“You’re also handcuffed to each other. Not only has there been audience requests to kick things up a notch here and there, but we were also curious to see where this would go.”
“Kyle, seriousl–”
Kyle took Stan’s face in his hands. “Stanley, I get it, but I need you to shut up for like two seconds.”
He frowned when he noticed the tears welling up in Stan’s eyes.
“No tears,” he said quietly. “We’ll talk about everything, okay? I just need to hear everything they’re saying. I need information to make a plan.”
—
“That being said!”
Marjorine and Tweek continued to carefully eye each other, attempting to keep as much distance as they could.
—
“Doesn’t change anything,” Kenny said calmly.
Ike’s hands flew up into his hair, taking one of Kenny’s with them, with frustration as he looked at Kenny with bewilderment. “YES IT FUCKING DOES! KYLE IS HERE NOW! Y’KNOW, MY FUCKING BROTHER??”
Kenny’s brows knit together. “I know,” he said quietly. “We’re still trying to figure something out. Kyle can help. He’s smart too.”
“That’s your special challenge.”
—
“Which we’re hoping Stan is eternally grateful for, cause he would definitely be up for a bounty this week.” The voices all broke apart into their own snickers. “Seriously Stan, you gotta stop fainting every time something surprises you. It is so exhausting to have to cut out footage of you fainting when it’s so fucking funny.”
“Do they, like, have it out for you or something??” Kyle questioned quietly.
“Dude, I think they just like fucking with me,” Stan whispered back, barely containing his animosity towards the trio.
—
“Are you done?” Damien asked.
“Done with what?” Brimmy responded, avoiding eye contact.
“Honestly, lot of you could go up for bounties this week. But, we did not play fair this week, so you guys get mandatory partners instead of bounties.
“Great,” Damien muttered, trying in vain not to sound annoyed.
“So, with your rules!”
—
“So,” Pete said awkwardly.
“So,” Bebe responded.
They exchanged a look.
“Think we can not die this week?” Bebe asked.
“It’s questionable.”
“All contestants will stay in the arena until one is eliminated. And only one may be eliminated per game. That still stands with your current conditions. Don’t fuck it up.”
—
Craig continued to bite at his thumbnail as Clyde tried to coax him out of his panic. “It’s going to be fine.” The reassurance was weak and full of disbelief.
Craig’s eyes trailed over, narrowing into a glare. “How is any of this going to be fine?”
"And as always, we’re not stopping larger teams from forming.
—
And as per our new rule. You still can’t kill your teammate.”
Tammy and Wendy continued to stare at each other in wide eyed shock, both completely unsure of what to do in this situation.
—
“And of course, this week you will be down to eighteen, for real this time,” the voices continued, sounding lighter. A laugh cut them off. “Sorry bout that– Why are you still–Okay, go.” There was some indecipherable mumbling on the other end. “You’re literally fine. Shit happens. I’ll fill you in when you get back.” Another quiet laugh rang out. “Okay, go. You’re gonna ruin the surprise!! Yes, I promise.”
Marjorine laughed, fully aware that The Fool was rolling their eyes at whoever they were making a promise to.
“Okay, bye!Bye!!”
She rolled her eyes at the glare Tweek sent in her direction.
—
“Sorry again. Moving on!” They continued, three voices turning into two more distinct ones, rather than the jumbled blend of three the group had gotten used to. “Oh wait, we’re done. Okay then. Have fun this week!”
—
“HEY ASSHOLES!”
“Yes, my son?” The Fool responded sagely, earning the start of a laugh before the mic cut out.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “What’s the rule on throwing stars?”
“Oh??”
“Oh?? Oh fucking what??”
“Kyle, what the–”
Kyle placed a hand on Stan’s arm, offering him a reassuring smile.
“Aw, you guys are so cute!!”
“The rules?? How many am I allowed to take?” he asked, gesturing at the wall.
“You’re actually no fun. Uhhh. What’s the rule again??”
“You literally made the rule.”
“Remind me, there’s a lot of rules right now.”
“Three.”
“But Marjorine carries four and she’s literally the only one who uses them,” The Fool argued.
“Why do I care?? Tell him four then!”
“I don’t need four,” Kyle cut in. “Three’s fine.”
“I would notbe that cocky with lil’ miss Marj runnin’ around.”
Kyle shrugged.
There was a moment of silence. “Fuck it, take three or four. Your funeral.”
“Hey!” Stan cut in, like either of the producers cared.
“Anyways! Have fun!!”
—
Rebecca took a machete off the wall with confidence.
“You sure about that, jon?” Christophe asked.
“The knives are good for self defense when we’re not…” She raised their tethered hands slightly.
“You don’t seem too confident in your answer.”
Her nose scrunched slightly. “I think we should take one knife and one machete,” she said with a bit more authority.
He smiled, reaching out for the weapon. “Okay.”
—
Wendy shoved the knife she grabbed from the wall in her boot. Tammy mimicked the action as the two silently eyed each other. The ground started to rumble before the sky opened. Water started to flood in. The two exchanged a wide eyed look as they were raised, only to find themself in water that went a bit below their knees. The sun beamed down on them, glinting off the metal that kept them tethered.
Wendy started to walk, causing a sudden yank. It dragged Tammy off balance. She wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not, but suddenly, it didn’t seem to matter. Tammy pushed her, taking Wendy down as they hit the water with a violent splash.
Wendy tried to punch her, but Tammy blocked it. “LET ME GO!” Wendy shouted.
Tammy threw a punch, unable to actually land the hit. “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!”
Wendy grabbed her by both shoulders, forcing Tammy off of her and into the water. The struggle was clumsy, slowed down by the drag of the ocean. But it didn’t stop Wendy. She forced both hands around Tammy’s throat, forcing her head under the shallow water. Tammy thrashed violently against her, kicking and flailing as bubbles erupted to the surface.
“FUCKING STOP!” Wendy yelled.
Tammy forced the hand tethered to her own away, finally able to knock Wendy off. “YOU FUCKING STOP!” she got out through violent deep breaths.
—
The Fool and The Charlatan continued to stare at each other, masks showing none of the emotions actually going on, but it was obvious the two were stunned.
“Are you gonna stop them??”
“Should I??”
—
“Are you really willing to fucking die for him?! Either of them?! Be fucking serious!” Tammy berated.
Wendy stayed silent for a moment as the two tried to catch their breaths, now sitting as far as they could from each other as gentle waves continued to roll past them. “It’s complicated.”
—
Tweek and Marjorine exchanged a cautious look after eyeing their surroundings. “Do you want to stay on the beach or try the forest?” Tweek asked.
“I’d prefer the jungle. Your call.”
He offered her a nod, slowly trailing towards the vivid greens that beckoned them.
—
Ike was carefully inspecting the wooden steering wheel, small smile on his face. “Do you remember when we used to play pirates?” he murmured.
“I remember you running away to Somalia. With Clyde.” Kenny laughed. “He cried the whole way home, meanwhile you were cool as a cucumber.”
“We don’t talk about Somalia,” Ike huffed.
“C’mon. It was kinda funny,” Kenny responded with a playful nudge.
Ike’s lips quirked up. “It was kinda funny.”
Kenny breathed out a sigh. “What fucking happened, man?”
“We got older. The weird shit that happens to us got weirder.”
“I can still-”
“We talked about this. That is the absolute worst case.”
“The worst case is where you guys die and I live! Cartman’s fucking–”
“What happened to Cartman was horrible,” Ike cut him off, tone icy. “But that is not something I think we can rely on. Losing you for no reason would-”
“It’s not no reason!” Kenny argued.
“Have you talked to Clyde about this?”
“Coming from you is rich.”
Ike frowned.
“Sorry, I just—Ike, you were gonna kill my boyfriend last week.”
“I’m sorry. But I’m afraid. There is no end in sight yet and I’m so afraid I’m going to come back to hear that you or Stan or now Kyle is out for the count and that’s fucking scary. I’m not gonna do anything, I just made a shit call in an impossible situation. And I didn’t. And Cartman–” He let out a shaky exhale, eyes glued to the wood in front of him. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“I know.”
—
Damien and Brimmy continued to walk to the jungle, Brimmy opting to keep as much distance as possible. “Can we talk about this?” Damien asked.
“About what?”
“You’ve been avoiding me completely, dude.”
“Just been in my head,” Brimmy dismissed.
Damien stopped walking, forcing Brimmy to a stop. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“You’re trying to shut me out and I don’t get why. It’s obvious, I just—Did I do something?”
“No.” Damien just narrowed his eyes at Brimmy, unmoving. “No,” he said much softer.
“Then what?”
“I told you. I’m just… This is a lot.”
“I know. That’s why we’re supposed to lean on each other.” Brimmy bit at his lip. “You’re the one who said that.”
“I know.”
“So then what?”
“Nothing.”
Red glinted just a tad brighter for a moment. Damien let out a slow, frustrated exhale. “Whatever.”
“Okay.”
—
Stan and Kyle were tucked away in a small cave, faded bits of light flooding in from the exit. “What do you want to do?” Stan asked.
“Huh?”
“Do you wanna stay here or go?”
Kyle tilted his head slightly. “Stay here?”
“Y’know. Take a beat. Maybe actually talk while we can speak freely?”
“What do you want to talk about?” Kyle asked, furrowing his brows slightly.
“I don’t know? The way we broke up and then I disappeared and now we’re both just here? Maybe that??”
Kyle offered him a sad smile. “You know how I feel, Stanley.”
“Do I?”
“I love you,” he said softly. The frustration melted from Stan’s face, morphing into something of pure adoration. Kyle’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But fuck you. Get up.”
“What??”
“You broke up with me. Disappeared. Texted me—texted me—that you loved me and you would always love me, DISAPPEARED AGAIN, while MY BROTHER was fucking MISSING! I haven’t heard your voice in fucking weeks! I haven’t seen you in weeks! I was fucking terrified that I did something so wrong that I was never going to see you again!”
“I’m sorry for getting FUCKING KIDNAPPED!”
Kyle let out a frustrated exhale. “You cannot blame everything that happened before you got kidnapped on being kidnapped. I’m not mad at you for getting kidnapped. I’m mad at you for not communicating with me when we’ve known each other for literally two decades, Stanley. Like, you chose the worst possible time to implode. And then I was just fucking alone.”
“You weren’t–”
“I have friends outside of you, but I needed you. And you weren’t there, dude. That’s fucked.”
Stan looked down at their hands. “I know,” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know,” Kyle responded tiredly. “Give me some time, okay? I need to sit with this. Figure something out. Just not right now.”
“Of course.”
—
Tweek and Marjorine continued to walk through the jungle, observing their surroundings in relative silence. “You realize not actively participating puts you at a disadvantage, right?” she asked casually, finally breaking the silence between them.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Sure, everyone knows you’re capable–” A laugh cut her off. "Obviously. But you’re not…” She waved her hand around. If Tweek knew any better, he’d register it as condescending. “You’re not a threat. Not really. It’s one thing to take out your abusive parents to get out of a situation you’re in. Whole other thing to actually participate in something like this.”
“What are you saying to me right now?” he asked flatly.
“I’ll do whatever I have to to keep my girlfriend safe.”
“But you haven’t-”
“That you’re aware of. That’s the fun part about not knowing unless we’re told or shown. Or we’re right there. But I have participated and I will again. Because that’s what it takes.”
Tweek stayed silent.
“I’m just saying,” she continued. “If you want to make it out, in the meantime you have to make sure you both live, no?”
“Stop.”
“You’d die without him. It’s so fucking obvious, dude. If he falls, you do. Our group’s shrinking on the weekly. Craig’s a prime target.”
Tweek glared at her before his face softened up into something of confusion. He took a slow deep breath. “Understood.”
—
“It’s gonna be okay, like, one of us is going to figure something out.” Clyde continued.
Craig looked at Clyde, face softening. “You really think that?”
“Yes! Kenny and Tweek are so smart! You’re smart! Ike is a genius! And now we have Kyle! And Damien’s literally the–
—
Craig sighed. “Clyde, wake up.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re fucked. You have to see that.”
“I don’t–”
“Clyde, please.”
Clyde shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “No. Okay? Just, no.”
—
Trent continued to walk slowly, as to not pull Dovakien through the jungle. “It’s weird that you always stay silent,” he said flatly, receiving no response. “Mind if we look for someone?”
A twig snapping followed by the faintest of thuds made him whip around, but no one was there.
Trent made a face. “Alright. We’re going to look for someone then. C’mon.”
—
Kyle and Stan were walking through the jungle, side stepping plants and avoiding low hanging vines. Kyle caught a glimpse of blonde and yanked Stan backwards, forcing him behind a tree. “Ky-” he squeaked out.
Kyle clamped a hand over his mouth, shooting him a look that could only be read as ‘shut up.’ He waited for a few moments before cautiously looking in that direction. He let go, taking a small step back. “Sorry.”
“The fuck was that about?” Stan whispered.
“Wasn’t chancing it.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to come face to face with her out here until I can actually talk to her.”
“What?”
Kyle shook his head slightly. “C’mon.”
“I’m so confused, Kyle.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Just come this way, okay?” he responded, leading Stan towards the way they just came.
—
“It’s just funny,” Damien said flatly into the prolonged silence between the two.
“What?”
“You said all this shit about making you care about me. And being happy that I could open up to you. But then you just shut down like you didn’t say that. And you avoid me and don’t speak to me for a literal week. In this horrible fucking place. Like, you did not start a conversation with me once in the past week. And everytime I tried to talk to you, you did everything to actually not talk to me. And then you blame it on being in your head. We’re all in our fucking heads. We’ve been in our fucking heads.”
“I do care.”
“Then what?” he exasperated.
Brimmy’s eyes hit the ground.
“We’re not moving until you give me something.”
“What?”
“You’re avoiding me when we’re inside. You’re avoiding me when we’re in the office.” He laughed. “I don’t know when they’re gonna move us again and you are actually unable to avoid me right now. So, I’m taking the opportunity.”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
Damien took a step forward. Brimmy took a step backward. Damien looked at him unimpressed.
“You like Wendy,” he started quietly.
“Okay.”
“She likes you.”
Damien’s cheeks tinted. “Right.”
“But I like you.” Brimmy broke eye contact. “I like you a lot.”
“I like you too.” A gentle hand reached out, tilting Brimmy’s chin up slightly. “Look at me.”
—
“AND THAT’S ENOUGH OF THAT.”
“Did we cause that??”
“Oh, absolutely.”
“Dude!”
“I dunno. I ship them.”
“Then what the actual fuck was the point of Damien and Tammy?!”
“I was feeling silly. I wanted to try something.”
“...You were… feeling silly.”
“Yes!”
“You’re actually insa—okay. Actually, I'm not even surprised. Moving on.”
—
“You don’t get it,” Wendy breathed out. Her hair was now completely dry, despite the fact that they were still sitting in the ocean.
Tammy adjusted slightly, leaning back on her hands to let the sun hit her face. “I don’t,” she said as she let her eyes fall shut.
“Exactly.” Wendy said stubbornly, awkwardly sitting straight as Tammy got comfortable.
Tammy’s right eye opened to look at Wendy as she scrunched her nose slightly. “This is where you explain.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
“You don’t,” Tammy said passively. “But I get the feeling that you don’t actually have someone to talk about this with.”
“Yeah, because it can just be used against me. Or–” She cut herself off. “Y’know.”
“You don’t have to believe me, but I wouldn’t. I don’t like you. I don’t care about you. But I can respect your struggle, and I’m incredibly nosy.”
A moment of silence washed over them. “I can’t remember ever just being me,” Wendy started. “It sounds weird, but it’s always been me and Brimmy. And I like that. He’s my best friend in every sense of the word. I would put him before me for any reason, always.”
“Okay,” Tammy responded, filling the space.
“Damien can keep him way safer than I can.”
“That’s true, but you three have made a huge mess of that.” Wendy raised a brow. “He likes both of you. You both like him. That’s like… profoundly messy.”
“Kinda just the way it turned out.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
—
“I know I stepped out but why the actual fuck are Brimmy and Damien kissing on monitor two??”
The Fool jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion before spinning around. “Because the relationship manager did their job??”
“You mean you??”
“Yes, I mean me??”
“But how—okay, actually whatever. I’m back. Catch me up.”
“Wait, shut up you literally just distracted me, Wendy and Tammy are getting into it.”
“Ooo. What about?”
“Brimmy and Damien!! Come sit!!”
“Wait, do we have popcorn???”
“Guys, seriously?!”
“We ship them!!!!!”
“I actually don’t get it. How did this start??”
“Different project. It’s not out yet.”
“If it worked once it can work again!”
“Exaaaactly.”
“You guys are killing our time, you know that right?” The Charlatan deadpanned.
“WE’RE GOING, GOD!”
“Hopeless, the both of you.”
—
“Kyle, hold up!” Stan tried, pulling Kyle’s hand towards him.
He jolted, spinning around. “What?!”
“Why are you so–??” Stan didn’t seem to have the words for the intensity Kyle was radiating.
“Because my brother is out here. You’re out here. Kenny’s out here. I need to end this before the chances of it being one of you goes up.”
“You were fine a minute ago though, I don’t get it.”
“I just–” He paused. “How well have you gotten to know Marjorine?” he asked nervously.
“What are you talking about? Dude, we’ve known her forever.”
Kyle looked like he wasn’t sure if he was going to throw up or spontaneously combust. “Great. C’mon.” He spun back around, pulling Stan with him.
Stan resisted slightly. “What??”
“She is dangerous, Stanley. I have you, which is fine. But I don’t know who’s with Ike and I don’t know who’s with Kenny. So this game needs to end, like, now.”
—
“Hey, so um… Why the fuckis Kevin in his cell?”
“Remember how we talked about grounding him because he's been, like, the only one playing for a bit?”
“I thought you were joking! Marjie literally killed Cartman last week!”
“Yeah, but like, shut up. Also I reallywanted to do duos this week.”
“Is it at least paying off?”
“I mean... I'm pretty entertained..”
—
“I’m telling you, Tweekers,” Marjorine said passively.
“Please don’t call me that,” he huffed.
“Tweek.” He nodded. “Ethics do not matter here and the only people who are going to even possibly make it out are the ones that are willing to abandon them or simply do not have them.”
“And you assume I belong to that category.”
“I think you’re a survivor. And I think you’re smart enough to realize that trying to play an entire game like this on defense reduces the chance of survival significantly. I also think that we would make good allies.”
“I already have a lot of allies to worry about.”
“Oh you misunderstand!” she chimed. “I don’t want to be friends with you. I want to ally myself and Bebe with you. No strings, just no bad blood between us. Not for a while, at least. Y’know? I know who you align with. There’s quite a few people left outside of them. Gets a little dicey with your outer circle, but I get the feeling that bridge can be crossed when we get there.”
He didn’t respond as they continued to walk.
—
“Kevin’s bored.”
“Okay??”
“He wants to be let in.”
“What??”
“Tell him no.”
“He said he knew you would say no so he said to say he asked really nicely.”
“He forgets… That he’s being held hostage…”
The Charlatan barked out a laugh.
“I’m just passing the message!”
“I’m not letting him out this week, he’s grounded. Also I think this is about to wrap up.”
“Who’s where?”
“Teams A and D are about to intercept each other. E and F are on a crash course.”
“Who do you think’s gonna do it??”
“I’m just saying it would be wonderful to see Rebecca and Christophe end the game after, like, two hours of them just yapping in the light house.”
“Have we given them any screen time?”
“Not really.”
“They’re literally your favorite??”
“Okay, I do notplay favorites.”
There was a long pause.
“They’re arguing about God while flirting! They’re literally not even bothering this episode! They can have the break! I figured I’d turn the heat up on everyone in another hour if it doesn’t end!”
“Okay, fair. So where’s F then?”
—
“We should go back,” Craig said firmly.
“We should check it out. We haven’t seen anyone for however long it’s been since we’ve been here. It’s making me-”
“That’s a good thing. It means no one’s dead. But we should stay hidden.”
“But-”
“Clyde, you don’t want to kill anyone.”
“Of course not!”
“I don’t know if I can.”
Clyde looked at him with furrowed brows. “What?”
“I’m afraid. Like, what if I’m put in a situation and I just freeze? I don’t… I don’t wanna die. Not like that.” He pulled on the strings of his hat with his free hand. “It would be so embarrassing if I died like that. And I–”he faltered. “I know you think I don’t care about anything besides you guys and Tweek and stripe and school, but I don’t know if I could actually live with hurting someone. It scares me to sit with. I’m not ready to find out.”
Clyde could only look at him, eyes showing that his version of reality was slowly shattering as he was forced to see what was right in front of him. He could’ve understood if Craig said he wanted nothing to do with this because of whatever lame reason he had to offer, but this wasn’t that. Craig was afraid.
“Can we please just go back?”
He swallowed hard, nodding. “Okay.”
—
“Are you done giving me the silent treatment?” Marjorine asked.
Tweek let out a slow exhale. “I don’t–”
A snap of a branch, followed by a quiet ‘shut up’ from directly ahead caught his attention. The duo froze for a moment.
“Babe?” Marjorine called out.
Not even a moment later, Bebe and Pete emerged from the dense trees. Tweek seized his opportunity, grabbing Marjorine by the hair and pressing the hunting knife he was concealing up to her throat.
“TWEEK, WHAT THE FUCK!” Bebe screamed.
Meanwhile Marjorine was mostly unbothered, save for the awkward angle her hand was at above her head and the way she’d been forced to lean against him. The grip he had on her was obviously just enough to keep her from moving, not to actually hurt her.
“LET GO OF HER!”
“Say your piece, twitch,” Marjorine said tightly.
He tried to still his hands, but the tiny tremors were clear as ever. “You said you would be willing to do anything it takes,” he got out, voice wavering.
“Anything.”
“You would die to save her? Right here, right now?”
“Without a second thought.”
“Tweek, you don’t have to do this,” Bebe bargained.
The tethered blondes didn’t move for a moment.
Tears welled up in Bebe’s eyes. “THEY’RE GONNA KILL YOU TOO! AND THEN WHAT? CRAIG’S ALL ALONE! IF YOU—IF YOU HURT HER, I’LL GO AFTER HIM MYSELF!”
It was obvious Tweek wasn’t actually listening to her.
“Do it, if that’s really what you want,” Marjorine said simply, not even trying to break free.
Tweek swallowed thickly, nodding slightly.
“DON’T!” She took a step forward, ready to spring into action. Little did she realize that she opened up a direct path to her partner who had been trying so desperately to go unperceived by the volatile blondes across from him.
Tweek released his grip on Marjorine, taking a small step as he pelted his hunting knife forward, the handle pointing towards Pete as it left his hand. It sliced through the air like a fastball, the blade arcing over to face its intended target. Pete tried to move out of the way, but got caught on Bebe, unable to avoid his demise.
And just like that, Tweek had made his choice.
—
The Fool stood up from their wheely chair, sending the small thing flying backwards. “LET’S FUCKING GO!!!”
The Prophet jumped up with excitement. “THAT WAS WILD!”
“I KNOW?? HOLY–”
“I’ll call cleanup,” The Charlatan drawled with a dramatic sigh.
The Fool peered over. “I called them already. They’re on lights out already.”
As if on a timer, the monitors in front of the trio started to black out one by one.
“I didn’t even see you call anyone??”
“SHUT UP AND BE EXCITED WITH US!!”
“We still have to close out!” The Charlatan responded with a laugh.
“Okaaaay. Just like that we areone step closer to our grand finale! Tune in next week to find out who falls next on Fleeting Hours!”