Roxanne seemed to zone out almost the entire deliberation. It wasn't as dramatic or as big as the last one, but it did consist of Josh calling out Kelz, telling lie after lie to get him under the bus.
Here's what Roxanne agreed about: Kelz was a threat. But she did not agree that the way to go about this was to lie. No. Kelz had a point—Josh should've just said that he thinks Kelz is a threat and left it at that.
She didn't want to turn her back on her alliance.
But nobody would know, right?
She found herself voting for Josh and Amber. Nobody saw it—but looking up, she made eye contact with both Devin and CT, who seemed to give her the same look. She gave a nod and a shrug, mouthing "I had to" and leaving it at that.
The compromised agents were Tracy and Kelz. Oh well—hopefully the vets could get together and they could figure this out. Maybe she could plead her case. But she knew there was no changing Josh and Fessy's minds, about anything, ever. If it was set in stone, then that was it.
— — — — — — —
"Damn." Roxanne laughed. "Okay. Not what I wanted, but I don't know what I expected. I just gotta... I just gotta wait and see what happens next, because I do not want to be going in there. I know Fessy and Josh are talking, I know they have all the blood on their hands, but it's... it's just nerve-wracking. I don't think I'm the only one who's anxious."
— — — — — — —
Fessy had managed to get most of the vets together—himself, Josh, Amanda, Ashley, CT, Devin, Kyle, Aneesa, and Roxanne, as well as Esther—just as Roxanne had predicted.
"We wanna throw in Ed." Fessy started, and Esther nodded, as well as Josh. "That's for the men. A hundred percent."
"So Emy?" Aneesa raised her eyebrows. "For the women? Or—who?"
Fessy and Josh made eye contact, before both of their eyes turned to Roxanne. At that point, everyone else's had, as well. It was like a slow realization, everyone slowly figuring out what they wanted to do. Roxanne sighed.
"Why me?"
"You can take them out. You and Ed can take them out." Fessy nodded, looking at Josh for a split second. "You're both geniuses. If it's something strategic, then they'll be left in the damn dust."
"And if it's something physical?"
"Ed has the muscles."
Roxanne sighed. "This isn't about me being a Layup, is it? Like, you can just get rid of me? If me and Ed lose, it doesn't matter?"
She knew what she was saying. She knew that was exactly what this was about. And in a game of hiding your expression, hiding what you think in these situations because it would put a huge target on your back—Fessy, Josh, Amanda and Ashley amazingly failed, sharing slightly panicked looks with each other before any of them spoke, Josh taking the floor this time.
"It's a matter of we need to get Kelz out, and you're the best option. We don't know how strong these rookies are yet, or even what kind of contest this is. Someone like Berna, or Priscilla, or Emy may not be a good idea for this one."
Roxanne inhaled. "Okay. I know that's a lie, but okay. Cool. I'll go."
"What do you mean, it's a lie? How do you know?" Josh, instantly, seemed to get a little bit pissed. All Roxanne did was put her finger up to get him to stop talking.
"We can have this conversation later, Josh. I'm fine with going in if you really don't think any of the rookie females can do a good job."
That was where the conversation ended.
— — — — — — —
"It's tough, knowing that not only are the vets already throwing a vet in, but that..." Roxanne sighed, wiping under her eyes. "I just feel betrayed."
— — — — — — —
The elimination seemed to be some sort of... okay, Roxanne couldn't tell. Platforms, and rope circles—hopefully it was something strategic. Tracy and Kelz went down, and it was time for the Agency to vote.
"We'll start off with you." TJ gestured to Esther. "Esther, which woman do you want to send down into the Lair?"
"Well, myself and my partner deliberated on a lot of names, and it came down to... Pop-Rox."
Roxanne sighed, nodding. She got certain, shocked looks from some of the rookies, who seemed to ask "what happened?"—especially Emy, who Roxanne just looked at with a shrug. She felt Gabo pat her shoulder and caught Devin's eye, who gave her a discreet thumbs up and a nod.
"Alright, so that's one vote for Pop-Rox. Fessy?"
"I'm gonna stick by my partner and go with Rox."
"Alright." TJ nodded. "Pop-Rox, come on down."
Roxanne sighed, nodded, and headed down into the Lair, taking a fist bump from Kelz.
— — — — — — —
"Whoop, there it is." Roxanne sighed. "I can't say I'm surprised, anymore. I shouldn't have, but I expected them to change their minds. They didn't, and I'm gonna come back in that house with my guard up again."
— — — — — — —
"Alright, Fessy," TJ continued. "Which man do you want to send down here to go against our compromised agents?"
"You know, after last season, I fee, like there's a lot of guys who, if they were in my shoes, I feel like I would be down there right now—"
Oh. My god.
Was he about to do this?
Roxanne held her breath, looking up at the rest of the players, waiting for Fessy to finish his statement.
"—But we're gonna work on building some trust, gentlemen, and, I'm sorry Ed, but it's gonna be you tonight."
"Oh, thank god," Roxanne whispered—she felt the damage her vote-in had done was enough.
"Esther?"
"Ed."
"Alright. Ed, come on down!"
Ed didn't even seem annoyed—that was something Roxanne wished she had. He seemed to take everything in stride. He jogged down the stairs and stood next to Roxanne, patting her on the back as TJ spoke to her.
"Alright, so, Pop-Rox?"
"Yeah."
"How are you feeling right now?"
Roxanne inhaled. She said she wouldn't let these people—especially Josh and Fessy—see her emotion, so she held it in. But it was tough. "I gotta be real, TJ, this is the worst fucking feeling ever. It's the second elimination. There are some people up there, who I won't name names but, context clues, I'm sure you can guess, that said they have my back and we'll stick together until the time comes. I overheard a little conversation with some of these people, who said that if it were Tracy and Kelz going in, that it would be Ed and myself. They didn't give me the same reasons they gave Ed, oh, he's strong, he's smart—they said that, basically, I'm worth nothing in this game, I serve no purpose, and if it doesn't work out according to plan that it's fine that I'm the first vet going home, not because I'm strong, but because I'm weak. So, yeah. I feel hurt, I feel betrayed, but I'm fuckin' ready to go, man."
Even TJ seemed surprised at this—nodding and turning to her partner. "Ed?"
"TJ, I tell you what. Sending me down here is the obvious choice right now. It's only right that the two biggest, baddest dudes in the house get to go at it, you know? That's what I'm here for!"
"I love it!" TJ laughed. "Well, Ed, you're definitely going against a specimen. Tonight, you're playing Flipping Agents. To begin, you're gonna be starting on your box. One of you is going to be strapped to that cage. When I say go, your partner's going to use all their strength, flip you over, and then you're going to use your magnetic line to retrieve puzzle pieces. Once you've retrieved all twelve pieces, you will then get unstrapped and both of you are going to solve that puzzle. It is one hundred percent up to you who's going to be strapped in and who's going to do the flipping, alright? First team to solve the puzzle will win tonight's elimination round, stay in the game, rejoin the group. Losing team is deactivated right away. Got it?"
"Got it," Roxanne nodded as she put an arm around Ed's shoulders, containing the relived sigh that wanted to leave her once she heard it was a puzzle. It was obvious that she would be strapped in and he would be doing the flipping—there wasn't even a question about it.
"Good luck. Let's get it done."
— — — — — — —
"I'm feeling good," Roxanne laughed, rubbing her hands together, standing next to Ed. "I'm fantastic at puzzles, he's super strong, we're both really smart and strategic—this is the matchup of the ages, right here."
Ed laughed, patting her on the shoulder and pointing at her. "Puzzle queen, right here! I wanted the puzzle, you know? I'm excited I get to put my engineering brain to work."
— — — — — — —
Once they were strapped in, Roxanne held the magnetic line tight, waiting for TJ's horn to sound. Once it did, Ed immediately got to work, flipping her over incredibly fast. It was a shocking sensation, being flipped a whole one-eighty that quickly, but she got to work, holding her line out and hooking it on to the first piece.
Communication was key, once it was almost in her hands, she told Ed to flip her over—and it worked. She handed the piece to him, and they repeated that process. They kept a really good rhythm, grabbing most of their pieces one by one. Roxanne didn't even pay attention to Tracy or Kelz—she didn't care. She knew it would distract her from her game.
"Alright, Roxy, you're doing fucking awesome!" Ed smiled as he flipped her over when they were about halfway through—just the kind of support she knew she needed.
It started getting a lot more difficult once the pieces started getting farther and farther away. Only certain sides were magnetic, and that was really her obstacle in trying to grab them.
"I can't fucking find it, Ed!" she groaned in frustration, trying to chuck the magnet as far as she could.
"Try the side of it!" he shouted, but she had managed to get it at that point. "There you go! Two more, two more! You got it, girl! You got it."
It was the same thing for the last two. It wasn't helping that it was raining and the pieces were getting wet, so it did slip a couple of times and she had to yell at him to stop flipping her so she could grab them. Eventually, they had grabbed eleven out of twelve—and then the last one was almost impossible.
— — — — — — —
"There are two sides that are magnetic. On this six-sided cube." Roxanne laughed despite herself. "Oh, fuck my life."
— — — — — — —
It was a struggle of trying to figure it out, Tracy and Kelz catching up, and pure, unbridled panic from Ed and Roxanne combined. This wasn't about to happen—she wasn't gonna let Josh win, she wasn't gonna get eliminated second.
Eventually, she was able to knock the piece over, closer, and grab it. She handed it to Ed before quickly unstrapping herself—with his help—before they started to begin on the puzzle. Once Ed placed the first piece, both players instantly knew what it was.
"It's a map." Ed nodded, grabbing another piece. "Roxy, it's a map."
After a few seconds—less than a minute—of putting the pieces out and starting to solve it, Roxanne's focus was broken by Devin's voice.
"Guys, listen to me! It's a map of the world! It's a globe!"
Roxanne and Ed seemed to stop and tuen to look at him at the same time, speaking in perfect song. "WE KNOW!"
"Okay!"
From there, it absolutely seemed to click for the two. It wasn't like it was just Ed or just Roxanne solving it—it was both of them working in perfect unison. There wasn't a word spoken between them until they got to placing the final two pieces, when Roxanne said, "Ed, you're the best engineer ever."
The puzzle was completed and their hands went up, signaling for a check, waiting with held breath until TJ blew his horn. "Alright, Ed and Pop-Rox, you win."
Roxanne cheered, taking a knee nod looking from the puzzle, up to the group, making eye contact with Devin, then Kyle, then CT, and, finally, Josh. She got to her feet and hugged Ed tightly, patting him on the back.
— — — — — — —
"It's extremely exhausting, but every muscle that's hurting right now, it's worth it." Roxanne breathed. "This guy. Right here. Smartest dude ever."
Ed laughed. "I feel freaking awesome! I mean, we went out there, we did what we had to do, we killed it."
"You have no idea. This guy saved my ass and my ego in one sitting."
— — — — — — —
"Well," TJ clapped his hands together. "That was fun to watch. Great job. Tracy and Kelz, looks like Headquarters got what they wanted. They voted you in, and you're gone. Unfortunately, you lost tonight's elimination round, so this ends your time here on The Challenge. Take care."
Everyone clapped as Tracy and Kelz walked off—HQ got what they wanted, indeed.
"Ed and Pop-Rox, getting it done!" TJ continued, and Roxanne clapped Ed on the shoulder again. "Great job."
"Thank you, TJ!" Ed exclaimed, and Roxanne nodded, grinning.
"Now, you have a decision to make. Do you want to stay together as partners, or do you want to infiltrate and steal any other team up there, except for the Agency, of course?"
The duo made eye contact. Roxanne shrugged, subtly gesturing up—and Ed nodded in agreement, speaking for both of them. "You know, me and Roxy, we've been the dream team so far, but I think to go far in this game, the both of us are gonna chose to steal another partner."
"Alright! Ed, let's start with you. Which agent do you want to steal?"
"Well, um..." he turned around to look at the group, thinking for a minute. "Tori."
The group clapped as Tori went down, giving Ed a hug before doing the same to Roxanne, whispering in her ear, "That was some shady-ass shit form Josh. Proud of you."
"Thanks."
"Pop-Rox?" TJ raised an eyebrow, and Roxanne gave a sheepish smile, looking around at the group as if she was thinking.
"Sorry Berna, I love ya, but, I mean, five seasons and we haven't ever been partners, so—" she looked up at the group. "CT!"
"Everyone, pretend to be shocked!" Kyle shouted as CT laughed, jogging down the stairs and to Roxanne, lifting her up in an embrace. She laughed, looking over his shoulder and giving Kyle the middle finger—jokingly, of course.
The new partners went as follows—Ed and Tori, Corey L., and Berna, and Roxanne and CT.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.