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pre-gauntlet pep talk

One of them was going to help her whether they wanted to or not: it was destined. Maybelle wasn't envious--rather, she was surprised that her usually lazy girlfriend and skeeving boyfriend had both individually done so well. But pride would have to come later. Right now, one of them got lucky enough to be yanked to the side with a tight smile.

"Carry me through, or no sex for a month," Maybelle demanded. "Or! We win, and I'll...I dunno. I'll let you decide, darlin'~" she added with a wink.

May was ever the one to spread her honey, to be thoughtful, to pull people together. But while she went on with a failed threat, and when she began the first steps into the great wide second round, Star wasn't listening. No, she'd spent the better part of the cameraman's flirtations on more exposition, and drew the crowd on a hip shake and sway. She already showed off once before; they knew what she was good for.

And it wasn't planning. Not in competitions, anyway.

May took off before Star even realized they were beginning their second round, and she cut off her teasing to bolt toward the platforms. "Wait up, you dirty ********' cheater!" Her weight swayed with every step, promising inertia, as she launched onto the first platform. Already they bounced and wobbled, teetering lightly from May's use. Star didn't wait; she launched from step to step with the experience she gleaned from their first round. And when she leapt to the end, surprisingly retaining some of her balance, she reached out to greet May.

With a liberal a** squeeze.. "You looked damn fine up there, doll." She let go lest the crowd get too excited.

"Now get on with it!" A quick smack in the rear was all the encouragement she gave her friend and roommate. "Show me how that a** moves, now that I'm lookin'." Star shot her a wide grin.

The Gears (3)

Ever interested in her lovely roommate's feistiness, Star purred into the return slap. "Oh baby, we're gonna set these ratings on fire." She offered a heavy wink, caught by the cameraman. May shot ahead once again and Star's focus remained laser-tight on the girl's a**. Any kind of swinging — to and fro, side to side, it didn't matter — brought out the glory of Maybelle's a**. And it was completely worth watching her sail her way through the obstacles to land on the other side, untouched and barely breaking a sweat.

Star was totally going to stuff her into the couch cushions with a good time that night. Hell, she was going to make sure their downstairs neighbors were beating on the ceiling with a broom handle before they were through.

Star was up next, though she hesitated lightly. Wait a sec. What's that sticky s**t? Looks like Ace was up before us… Sneering, Star launched into the lengths of cords easily, even as she grabbed one of the sticky ones. She swung to the next, wiping her hand on her thigh during the inertia, before she grabbed the next rope. This one looked more like a lamp cord; assholes must've run out of budget halfway through. Maybe she'd pretend to fall, break her leg and sue for all the money they would've won anyway. That's how the dumbass system worked, right?

She swung from one to the next to the next until she finally touched down, and bolted past May without stopping. "Later, hot stuff!"

The turning platforms activated the moment her weight touched the first one, and Star carried herself forward with all her remaining inertia. The speed ramped up, and the counterweights attached to her chest prevented her from balancing easily, and she half-slipped into an awkward jump. The gap was crossed, but she fell short of a decent landing. Her hands flung out and caught one of the knobs to the last gears, where sweaty fingers dug for a hold. "s**t! Little help here, May!" Star jostled and struggled and squirmed to haul her a** up before her hands were crushed where the gears met.

The Treads (5)

"Gogogogogo!" Stardust chanted her breathless command like a mantra as she ran dangerously near to her girlfriend. A pale, sweaty horror overcame her when they reached the pipe. She hadn't thought about it before, hadn't really noticed it, but there was a whole lot of water beneath them and a whole lot of nothing to distract her from it. And it wasn't the water that bothered her now so much as the fact that she couldn't see the bottom. And they were on a pipe. And Stardust wasn't the best in her class at balancing.

"Holy s**t, holy s**t, ******** this!" The damned thing was moving, and Star was faltering in front of May. Something was down there and she couldn't see it — and Star damn near pissed herself just thinking about what it could be. A shark? A school of piranhas? Whatever creepy s**t they showed out of the Amazon documentaries these days? A whole lot of <******** that was down there, for sure.

Luckily both she and May made it across and out of the pipe before Star's shitty sense of balance caught up with her. But this bullshit obstacle course only continued with more of the same balancing acts.

"If we lose, we're killing whoever made this dumbass course!" Panting, Star made the leap to the treadmill, stumbled about, then finally found her balance. She started to the side before she sprung off the surface toward the other treadmill. Gritting her teeth, she landed and the running platform rocked. Half of her expected the damn thing to snap and dump her into the drink with the <******** that.

But she pushed her sore muscles forward with one final obstacle left for them.

Adrenaline blazed Stardust through the remainder of the course. Even as her muscles screamed for a rest, she took handfuls of chains and swung herself toward safety. She didn't want to find out what was down there — she couldn't see it, didn't want to see it, didn't want to meet it. Over and under and over and under and over and under until solid land was within reach.

May was the first to make it, proving the platform was solid. Star made a last push — one of her arms felt ready to tear off — and finally swung herself far enough that she let go and chanced a landing. Three point it was, but three beat the alternative.

"Oh ******** ********," Star breathed with the last of her fears. Immediately she seized her girlfriend about the waist into a firm hug, muscles shaking, breath heaving, restless promises pressed to May's cheek. "******** the water. I'd rather do that s**t over spikes.

"Come on, let's go inside. We'll talk about fishing Ace outta the drink." As long as it was the hell away from the platform, she didn't care where they went.

Star still struggled to catch her breath, thus giving her pause through what the woman had to say. She looked like she fell straight out of the nineties with her goth getup, maybe with a side of Batman. Star thought it looked damn uncomfortable in the summer heat, but fashion crazies went through all kinds of s**t to look their finest. Maybe this b***h had a bug up her a** about appearances.

But she was the bug up Star's a** about this half-assed competition. "The ******** do you think you're doing?" Star broached with her index finger jabbing accusingly at the new arrival. She stepped up, crossing over personal space boundary, spitting her words like a cobra. "This s**t is all kinds of ******** up! Someone coulda died down there in that damn toilet you've got! And all this exposed wires and s**t? They got rules for that! And if you're making us stick to rules, then you better stick to your own!"

Star scoffed, sweeping her cerulean hair aside angrily. Her voice dropped into an emphatic mumble. "The whole reason I got outta there alive? It's cuz of her." Star jerked her thumb at Maybelle as she took a half step back.

The finger jabbed at her chest once. Twice. If it had happened again she would have thrust her hand into the woman's chest to silence her. As it was, a part of her appreciated the fire and the venom. These women weren't just going to sit back and fall in line because they were told to do so. They were fighters and they were furious.

While she appreciated that Stardust had stepped forward first, it was the fact that she stepped back as though to defer to Maybelle that caught her attention.

The whole reason I got outta there alive? It's cuz of her.

Maybelle's words, so politely edged with ice, drew a laugh from her. "Darling, I'm not one of the contestants. I'm afraid you have no say as to whether or not I move on to the next round. I will be there waiting to give out the grand prize."

And then, added on after the fact with a saccharine smile. "Do you really think we would have let any harm come to any of you? What kind of hosts would we be if we did? Come, it's time for the two of you to join the rest of the contestants to have a bite to eat and maybe a little bit to drink before the grand finale."




(( You may proceed here unless either Maybelle or Stardust have anything additional to say to Tourmaline. ))