"Can I speak to you for a minute?"Renee peeked her head into Mandy's room and asked.
Mandy, Liv and Alexa were the only ones in the room at the time.
Liv looked around "Me?"
"Well, who else?"
She rolled her eyes and got up.
Renee led her out by the pool.
VC-Renee-Its not like me to not talk to someone. Im a friendly person in general. Im not completely comfortable with this big wall up between Liv and I. Also, we're going into eliminations tonight so we need to be the best team we could be. Also, Cesaro convinced me to clear the air with her.
"I heard that you were complaining about how I don't talk to you?"Renee asked.
"Should I not complain about something like that?"
"Do you remember everything that you said to me when we were on the reunion? How could I want to talk to you?"
"I don't know. I don't know okay. Do you think I like being in the position that I'm in. Do you think I wanted to be your partner?"
"Look, we don't like each other and its pretty clear why. But...I want to be here. Im ready to try to put our differences aside and fight to be here. Right now, you and I are in a really good position. We have the numbers on our side. Im ready to just clear the air. Im not talking about being best friends, lets just establish communication and break the ice between us."
".....Sure."
"Lets kick ass tonight okay."
"Totally prepared too." Liv nodded.
VC-Renee-It felt weird talking to her but at least I was the bigger person in the situation and reached out to her first. As much as we dislike each other, if continue without any sort of communication we're going to get no where in this game.
--------
Elimination Night
All of the Challengers filed into the Stomping Grounds one by one. They stood on the platform that was across the elimination grounds, ready to watch the action go down.
"Welcome back to the Stomping Grounds everyone."Hunter greeted them, "Lets go ahead and bring out our competitors for tonight."
Everyone cheered as Brie, Nikki, Renee and Liv made their entrance.
VC-Roman-These two teams that are on the battlefield right now are legit rivals. Brie hates Nikki. Liv would probably kill Renee if she gets the chance to. Its going to be very very interesting to see them actually work together tonight.
VC-Nikki-We come into the Stomping Grounds and I'm seeing treadmills and.....huge pits in the ground filled with water. What the hell are we about to do tonight?
"Ladies, tonight you'll be playing a game id like to call Catch 22. Heres how its going to be played."
-Both team members from each team will be running on treadmills at the same time, across from each other.
-Behind them is a pit of water.
-Next to each treadmill is a row of 22 balls.
-Players must throw balls at their partners. Their partners must then try to catch the balls and deposit them into a basket.
-The goal is to get as many balls in their baskets before the 22 balls run out.
-However, if a player falls into the pit, both her and her partner will no longer be able to continue that round.
-The opposing team must then try to top their score.
-If the opposing team is able to beat their score, they win.
-As time progresses, the treadmills will be sped up.
-Best 2 out of 3, wins.
"Oh boy."sighed Renee.
VC-Brie-This already sounds difficult.
"So you guys can go ahead and start gearing up. Good luck to all of you."said Hunter.
VC-Chris-This elimination requires a lot of strategy and....well....look at the two teams that are squaring off. They aren't the brightest bunch.
"Well, this is going to be a quick elimination round."Chris folded his arms.
PreVC-Brie and Nikki
Brie-Running on the treadmill is the easy part. Trying to catch and throw balls while doing it is whats going to be tricky.
Nikki-Im really not looking forward to this at all.
Brie-Yea this elimination sucks.
PreVC-Renee and Liv
Liv-Im going to try my hardest. I have a lot of reasons to fight to be here. I made new friends, I reconnected with an old friend, my partner and I are actually trying to work together. Things are finally going pretty good right now and I feel like its not my time to leave yet.
Renee-For this elimination, pacing is key. We need to keep things going at a steady pace. If we do that, we should be able to pull this off.
Liv-*nods*
"Alright girls, start your treadmills."commanded Hunter.
All four girls did as they were told. They were now slowly walking on the moving treadmills.
"Okay girls, you ready?.......GO!"Hunter blew his airhorn.
The treadmills started picking up speed and soon the girls were all jogging.
Brie and Liv were the first ones to throw a ball for their partner. Successfully, Nikki and Renee were able to catch it and deposit it into their basket.
Brie and Liv threw balls again and this time as well, their partners successfully caught them.
VC-Brie-Okay this isn't that bad. Nikki is actually catching the balls. I don't know what kind of chemistry is going on here but we need to keep this up.
Liv threw another ball and this time, Renee missed.
"Thats alright girls! Come on! You're doing good so far!"Miz cheered them on.
VC-Miz-I can't believe I'm actually rooting for Renee. Never in my life would I have guessed that one day id be supporting Renee and Dean. But here I am. I feel disgusted with myself.
"Come on girls! Keep going!"Miz continued to cheer.
Balls soon began being tossed back and forth. Some were caught, some were missed. More were missed than caught.
The treadmills were now moving at an even faster speed.
Current Score-
Brie and Nikki-3 balls caught collectively
Liv and Renee-5 balls caught collectively
"Yes girls! You're doing great! You got more balls than they do! Come on!"Miz clapped.
Renee launched a ball at Liv. She missed. Nikki launched a ball at Brie. Not only did she miss but,
SPLASH!
"YES!"Miz yelled out.
Brie lost her balance and landed right in the pit of water. All of the treadmills stopped and Hunter blew his air horn.
"Way to go Brie."Nikki shook her head.
"Brie and Nikki, you got a total of 3 balls. Liv and Renee, so far you have a total of 5 which means, you guys won round 1. Get back into positions."said Hunter.
VC-Nikki-Am I surprised Brie fell into the water first? No. She can't even catch a damn ball. She's screwing this whole thing up for me.
The girls got back onto the treadmills and started it up.
"Nikki, Brie, stay focused."John advised, "Try to find a rhythm and stick with it."
"Brie, Nikki, if you win this round you stay in the game. Liv, Renee, win this round and you win the whole thing. You girls ready? Go!" Hunter sounded his horn.
The treadmills sped up a bit as the balls began flying. The spectating Challengers cheered the two teams on.
VC-Miz-You'd expect Dean to be cheering his heart out for his girlfriend but he's just standing there....observing. If you didn't know any better you'd think Renee was my girlfriend because of the way I'm cheering for her and Liv.
VC-Dean-If Renee and Liv goes home....yea its going to suck. They're one of our allies. Plus, Renee's my girl. But I feel like....having Renee and Liv in the same house is a ticking time bomb. I feel like soon enough they're going to get into some sort of altercation or argument and honestly I don't want to deal with that. Im here to focus on the challenges and the game. I don't want to be in the middle of any kind of drama right now.
Time Elapsed: 6 mins 34 secs
Score
Brie and Nikki-2 balls collectively
Renee and Liv-3 balls collectively
VC-Nikki-Right now I'm just praying that Brie doesn't mess up again because I want to win an elimination for once. This is my third season. Its about time I start proving to everyone that I am a good Challenger; that I am tough; that I'm worthy to be here.
"Can you throw properly? Jeez. Im not a freaking goalkeeper!"said Nikki to Brie.
VC-Charlotte-Renee may not be the most athletic but she does have the brains. I think she's the only girl here that can compete with me mentally. Thats not good. I want her out.
SPLASH!
Someone fell into the water.
The cameras panned to show Liv emerging from the murky pit.
"Brie, Nikki, if you can beat Liv and Renee's score of 3 balls, you win this round."said Hunter.
Liv and Renee's treadmill came to a stop however, Brie and Nikki's kept on going.
The pair began tossing balls back and forth to each other.
VC-Nikki-I have like 10 balls remaining. Im not sure how many Brie has. Hopefully we can score two more points without one of us falling.
VC-Liv-I am hoping and praying, please God, let one of them fall. We are this close to winning. Strike them down with lightning or something just please-dont let them get this win. I can't stand the stress of this coming down to a tie.
Brie and Nikki's score was now 3.
"One more to get the win ladies."said Hunter.
"You know, this would've been the perfect elimination round for Kevin."said Punk as he looked on at Brie and Nikki.
"Oh yea? And why's that?"Kevin asked.
"Because it'd get you to exercise for once."
Kaitlyn's jaw dropped. As a matter of fact, a lot of people were surprised by what he said.
Chris groaned, "Why would you say that you idiot!"
"You're a smart ass aren't you?"said Kevin to Punk.
Punk chuckled.
"You think thats funny?"
"Its just a joke. Are you really as soft as you look Kev?"Punk asked.
"Shut the hell up Punk! Don't talk about my friend like that!"Chris yelled at him.
Hunter blew his horn.
"Brie, Nikki, you got this round."he said.
"Are you really as douchey as you look Punk?"Kevin fired back.
Punk smiled, "Thats funny. It took you that long to come up with that?"
"What going on here?"Hunter turned to ask them.
"Nothing. We're fine."said Punk.
"You guys want to come down onto the playing field and square off instead?"
"No we absolutely don't need that at all. Thanks for the offer though."said Chris.
"Then shut up."Hunter said, "Anyway, Brie, Nikki, Liv, Renee, its come down to sudden death. Whoever wins this next round wins the game, got it?"
The girls nodded as they got back into positions.
VC-Liv-It all comes down to this. This round determines if we're going to either be boarding a flight back to the U.S or celebrating our victory tonight with everyone.....*sighs* I can't tell you how bad my anxiety is right now.
"GO!"He blew his horn.
Nikki and Liv kicked things off, tossing the first ball to their partner. With success, Brie and Renee caught it.
VC-Chris-Personally, I don't want Renee and Liv to come back to the house. They have a lot of guy teams supporting them. Theres Dean and Miz, Cesaro and Dolph and Roman and John. They aren't on our side. They likely would throw us into eliminations before they throw any of their allies in.
"Come on Liv!"Mandy cheered.
"Brie!"Nikki whined as she missed another ball that was thrown at her.
VC-Nikki-Brie sucks at tossing the balls to me. She's either throwing it way to high or way to far away. Im not Mr.Fantastic Brie, I can't extend my limbs to catch your shitty throws.
VC-Renee-Liv is hurtling ball after ball at me. I can't catch two balls at once. Slow down.
Time Elapsed-5 mins, 10 secs
Score-
Brie and Nikki-3 balls
Liv and Renee-3 balls
"God, I don't know if I can watch."said Miz as he turned away.
VC-Miz-I am so anxious right now. Its literally anyone's game.
Brie tossed a ball at Nikki and thankfully she caught it this time. Their score was now 4-3.
VC-AJS-Its not easy to do what these ladies are doing. You got to throw and catch balls while running on a treadmill at full speed. If you fall, your ass is getting dunked into a pit of water. This is an elimination that really tests you. This is one that separates the boys from the men. I would absolutely hate to be doing this.
Liv threw, Renee missed. Brie threw, Nikki missed. Nikki threw, Brie missed. Renee threw, Liv caught. Liv threw,
SPLASH!
"Way to fucking go Renee! Way to go!"Miz scolded her when she fell into the pit.
"Dammit!"Renee angrily punched the ground.
Liv's heart started beating rapidly.
"Brie, Nikki, the score is 4 to 4. If you can score one more point, you win. If you fall before you do so, we're going to have to repeat this round."said Hunter.
Brie and Nikki kept going at it. The treadmills were going even faster now.
VC-Brie-The pressure's on. I would absolutely hate if we weren't able to get this point.
"COME ON GIRLS!" yelled Roman. Sasha side eyed him.
VC-Sasha-Since when did he become Nikki and Brie's biggest supporter?
"God please." Nikki said below her breath as she ran on the treadmill.
VC-Nikki-We're this close. Please can one of us just catch one more damn ball? This is killing me right now!
"BRIE, NIKKI! YOU SUCK! YOU'RE NEVER GONNA GET THAT BALL! YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Miz barked at them.
VC-Miz-Right now I'm trying to throw them off by berating them. Hopefully they get flustered by my insults and fall.
"YOU'RE NOT REAL CHALLENGERS! YOU'RE A JOKE!" He added.
"Shut your mouth fool."Roman responded to his insults.
"Don't listen to them girls! You're going to get this! Just be patient!"said John.
He ignored Roman and John and continued hurtling insults at them.
Time Elapsed: 8 mins, 45 secs
The balls kept flying back and forth until finally, Brie caught one.
Everyone gasped.
Hunter blew his horn.
"You gotta be kidding me right now."Miz said in disbelief.
"Nikki, Brie...congratulations. You're still in the game."said Hunter.
Huge smiles spread across the twins' faces as everyone (except Miz) applauded them.
Liv and Renee looked completely drained of life and emotion.
"Im going to miss you hun."said Nikki as she gave Renee a tight hug.
"You guys deserve it. Good job."she responded.
PostVC-Liv and Renee
Renee-We tried....
Liv-*sniffles*
Renee-I can't believe we're the first girl team to go home.....This absolutely sucks. I feel like this is a bad dream right now.
Liv-Its unfair. Its totally unfair *wipes tear from her eye* I was just getting comfortable here in the house and now....I have to leave. I didn't want to win the money for me, I wanted it for my family. I wanted it for my mom *voice cracks*.....Mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't do this for you.
Producer-Do you two think its still fit to call both of you rivals?
Renee-.......Well I mean, we aren't friends.
Liv-Yea we're probably never going to see or talk to each other after this so......
The two teams were reassembled in front of Hunter.
"Great elimination round tonight ladies. Unfortunately, Liv, Renee, tonight just wasn't your night. Im sorry to tell you this but, this ends your time here in South Africa. Take care ladies. Im sure we'll see you in the future."said Hunter.
Both teams hugged each other. Dean came down from the platform to give Renee a goodbye hug and kiss.
"You better kick some ass this season, babe."said Renee.
"Im gonna try."he replied.
After he hugged Renee, he gave Liv a quick hug. Renee seemed caught off guard by it.
VC-Liv-I really really wish I didn't have to leave.....Its going to be an awkward plane ride home.
They said their final goodbyes and eventually left the Stomping Grounds.
VC-Alexa-Im not bothered by Renee leaving but I'm definitely going to miss Liv.
"Brie, Nikki, you pulled it off tonight girls. Congratulations. You can go on and rejoin the cast."said Hunter.
PostVC-Brie and Nikki
Nikki-We did it!
Brie-I can't believe it!
Nikki-I feel totally fearless and confident now. I just feel ready to take on the world.
Brie-Oh and by the way, Miz, we heard you out there. All I gotta say is brace yourself. You pissed off the wrong set of twins.
Nikki-Thats right.
"And just like that, another team gone. Right now I'm looking at my six finalists. The question is, which six of you is it going to be. If you play your cards right, it could be you." said Hunter, "You guys can head back to the house now. See you all very soon for your next challenge."
VC-Paige-We all knew what happened the last time Dean was away from Renee......I wonder if he's going to let loose and go crazy like he did on Temptation Island? I think the party's just getting started!