"Whats up guys, welcome to your ninth challenge this season on Rivals."Hunter said as everyone applauded, "Today, you're going to be playing a game id like to call, Caged In. Heres how its going to go down."
-Both genders will be playing at the same time.
-One member from each team will be put into a cage.
-The other member will be outside of the cage.
-On Hunter's go, the member that is outside of the cage must go to a tree, pick up a tool and cut down branches.
-They must then try to throw the branches into their partner's 15ft tall cage.
-Their partner must then try to use twine to tie the branches together to make a makeshift pole, tall enough to reach a key that is hanging atop the cage.
-When they retrieve the key, they must unlock the cage and both members of the teams must then run 1 mile across a field to complete a puzzle.
-First male and female team to compete their puzzle, wins.
"Im not sure if you can tell but, this challenge will give you a little taste of what the finals is like. Remember, its a guys elimination week. Get it done today everyone. Good luck."
PreVC-Charlotte and Paige
Paige-I just want to win a damn challenge for once.
Charlotte-*nods*
Paige-We've been here so long and we haven't won yet.
Charlotte-I think every girl team has won a challenge so far on this season, except us.
Paige-Thats absurdly embarrassing.
Charlotte-Yup. Its very unlike me to not have at least one win this season.
PreVC-Aleister and Velveteen
Velveteen-Im feeling very uneasy this week. Theres no doubt about it that if we don't win and we don't lose, we're going to be thrown into eliminations. I just feel it in my bones.
Aleister- If so then we're going to march proudly into the Stomping Grounds like we're supposed too. We're not going to be cowards like the others are. If they want to come knocking on our door then we shall answer.
Velveteen-Yea yea but.....we're so close to going to the finals. Do you know how much it would suck to go home this close to the finals? And plus, I personally think we've proved ourselves already. The other teams, they don't care about that. They're too busy riding Chris' coattails to see who truly deserves to stay in this game.
Aleister-There is nothing that we can do about our destiny. In the end, we are just characters in a story and we must fulfill our roles.
Velveteen-I don't enjoy talking to you Aleister.
"Chris, I swear on my sister's life that if this wasn't a guys elimination week, I would've left you there locked in that cage."Punk said as he watched Hunter snap the lock on Chris' cage.
Players that will be caged in-
-Seth
-John
-Chris
-Sami
-Aleister
-Alexa
-AJL
-Trish
-Mandy
-Charlotte
PreVC-Seth and AJ
AJ-We decided that I would be the one to get the branches because I know my way around tools.
Seth-*Rolls eyes*
AJ-Im pretty sure Seth has never held a saw in his life so, obviously I'm better suited for the job.
Seth-We get it AJ, you're macho, you're a real mans man, you drive a pick up truck, you drink beer, you know how to use tools, we get it.
AJ-You barely knew how to work a sledgehammer on season 1 so just to be safe, let me handle the tools. You just gotta sit in the cage, thats it. You can do that can't ya?
Seth-Im not just going to be sitting in a cage, I'm going to be the one to solve the puzzle because your dumb ass can't do puzzles.
AJ-Its not that I can't do them, I don't have the patience for them.
Seth-Whatever, we both have our jobs cut out for us in this challenge alright. You do your part, i'll do mine, lets take home the win.
AJ-Its as simple as that.
"Alright, you guys ready?"Hunter asked.
The players were in their designated positions. Some were locked in the cages, some were standing by the cages.
"GO!"Hunter sounded his airhorn.
The players took off running deep into the forested area to find the tools.
"What the hell was in here before me?"Chris asked as he looked around the cage.
VC-Chris-So, as I'm standing in this cage, I notice that one of the walls has a bunch of random graffiti and writing on it.....
While waiting for Punk to come back, Chris kept himself busy by reading the door. Some of the other Challengers did the same while some were focused on cutting the twine into pieces.
VC-Trish-While reading the graffiti on the walls of the cage, I notice some familiar names, I notice symbols, I notice dates and numbers. I have no idea what this could mean but I'm definitely going to keep it at the back of my mind.
The players eventually found their tools and got to work. Some of them used the hacksaws provided to saw away at the branches while others tried to tear the branches out with their bare hands.
VC-Naomi-Im there, sawing away at one branch, taking my time...and.... I look next to me and I see Paige.... with a bouquet of branches already in her hand hell, I think Roman took the whole ass tree with him.
AJS, Paige, Punk, Roman and Becky were the first to bring their branches back to where their partners were.
"How the hell am I gonna get this across."AJS mumbled to himself.
VC-Becky-The reason why I chose to be the one to get the branches is because this cage is about 12-15 ft tall. It would be easier for me to try to get the branches across to Alexa rather than to have her get it to me with her little self.
The gatherers all began trying to get the branches across. Some of them ran and jumped in attempt to throw it over the cage while some repeatedly tried tossing it into the cage.
Roman was the first one to successfully get his branch to John.
VC-Roman-Thank god I found a really long ass branch.
The branch was long enough to reach the key so luckily for John, he didn't have to waste time tying together any branches.
He got the key and unlocked his cage. The pair sped off leaving everyone in the dust.
"You got to be kidding me. HURRY UP!"Seth yelled at AJ who was trying to get the branch across to him.
VC-Seth-My heart sinks when I see John and Roman leave. AJ's wasting time.
By this time, all of the Challengers had made it back with their branches.
"Got it!"Chris said as he unlocked his cage.
Him and Punk were the second team to leave.
Alexa was quickly trying to tie together the four branches that Becky brought, with twine.
VC-Alexa-Sometimes on The Challenge, being short has its advantages and then its disadvantages. This key is wayyy up at the top of this cage so I'm going to need every inch of this pole that I can get.......*chuckles*Thats what she said.
VC-Paige-Im still trying to throw branches into the cage but at some point Charlotte already retrieved the key and is already out the door. Im just hearing her scream my name like, girl I thought you were still in the damn cage. When did you get out?
Paige quickly dropped the branches and took off running with Charlotte.
One by one teams began leaving.
Currently, the teams that were still at the cages were AJ and Seth, Kaitlyn and AJ, Sami and Kevin and Trish and Lita.
"Can you go back and cut a longer branch AJ?"Seth asked.
"No! That'll be wasting time!"AJ responded as he kept hoisting up the branch. Every time he threw it up, it came back down.
"This is pathetic."Seth said as he paced around.
VC-Seth-AJ has managed to get one of the branches across to me but its way to short to reach the key. So now, I'm watching him embarrass himself by trying to get the other piece to me so I can tie them together.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!"Kevin yelled.
One of the pieces he tried to get across to Sami ended up getting stuck atop the cage in a horizontal position balancing evenly between inside the cage and outside.
VC-Kevin-This is driving me insane.......
At the puzzle station, John and Roman were the first team to arrive.
VC-John-We get to the puzzle and we see these big white boards with questions on them. At the bottom there are cue cards and a marker.
John and Roman read the questions. They were as follows.
-List 4 names that were on the wall.
-What year was on the dates?
-What two letters were spray painted green?
-What number was tallied on the wall?
-List a symbol that was found on the wall.
"What the hell does this even mean?"Roman asked, completely baffled.
"Oh god."John said hopelessly.
VC-John-The cage wall. Of course.
"Please tell me you memorized that damn thing."said Roman.
At the same time, Chris and Punk arrived at their puzzle station. They read their puzzle board which had the same questions as John and Roman's.
VC-Chris-Turns out the writing and graffiti on the door wasn't completely random, it was the answers to the puzzle all along. I can't believe I didn't catch onto that. I thought it was there just for decoration.
"This isn't a puzzle, this is trivia."Punk complained.
"Just thank me later."Chris said as he began scribbling on the cue cards.
Back at the cages, the only teams that were still there were AJ and Seth and Trish and Lita.
"Im going to need one more piece Lita."said Trish, "The pole's still too short."
"Cant you just jump and try to reach the key with it?"
"I can't! I need another piece!"
VC-Trish-I have tied and untied these branches so many times to make a proper pole but nothing's working. I need one more branch to reach the key.
Lita grabbed her saw and ran back into the forest to gather more branches.
Seth couldn't help but laugh at AJ's attempts to throw the branch into the cage.
"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING? THIS ISNT FUNNY!"AJ yelled.
"Its pathetic, thats what it is."
VC-Seth-We're the last male team here.....im sure we've already lost. Theres no need for me to get angry. All I can do is..... laugh at how pathetic AJ is.
AJ angrily kicked the cage door. His face was turning a shade of red from how frustrated he was.
"Take your time AJ, I'm sure we're going into the Stomping Grounds already. All because you couldn't get a stupid branch across to me. A fucking branch is going to be our demise."
"YOU'RE NOT MAKING THIS ANY EASIER!"
"Note to self, if we live to see another challenge, never do what AJ says. His plans never work out."
"Can you shut your mouth for once? You've been talking this entire time!"
"What team do you want to face in the Stomping Grounds AJ? We better start preparing from now. What do you think about Kevin and Sami?"
AJ grabbed the branch and tossed it one last time. Finally, it made it over to Seth.
Seth immediately took it and tied it to the rest of the pole. He lifted the pole towards the key and was able to retrieve it.
VC-AJS-I don't even want to think about this challenge after its over. Can we just erase this from our memory? Can you edit it out of the show? I have never felt this low.....ever. What a dumb challenge.
Seth wasted no time in unlocking his door and the pair sped off, leaving Trish and Lita behind.
As Seth and AJ was making their 1 mile run, they noticed some members of some teams running towards them. They seemed to be heading back to where the cages were.
VC-Seth-We're halfway into the run, I see John and Sami running in the opposite direction of us. Okay, I got some hope. Maybe we're not the losing team after all.
When Seth and AJ finally arrived to the puzzle station, they found Chris and Punk laying on the grass relaxing.
"Wait, did someone win already?"Seth asked Hunter.
"Chris and Punk."
Chris made an L with his finger and thumb against his forehead.
"Whatever, lets just do the puzzle."said AJ. They headed over to their puzzle board and read it.
Seth face palmed himself.
"I think I know why those guys were running back to the cages."he said.
"Why?"asked AJ.
"The answers to this are on one of the cage walls."
"And you didn't pay attention to it, did you?"
"I can't remember everything!"
"Can you answer any of these questions?"
"I can answer like...one."
"Lord have mercy Seth."
"Don't blame this on me! This is your fault just as its mine."Seth said as he grabbed a cue card.
Trish and Lita had finally made it to their puzzle station as well however, the winners spot for the girls were already taken by Paige and Charlotte.
"Alright ladies, thats it. You're done. We already have our female winners. Guys, you're playing for last place. Hurry up!"
"Check!"Velveteen yelled.
Hunter went over to check their answers. He sounded his horn.
"Thank god!"said Dream.
VC-Aleister-Of course I remembered what was on the wall. Everything about it....was very intriguing to me.
Seth took off racing back across the field. At the same time, John and Sami were making their way back.
VC-Seth-I am running like my life is on the line. Nothing but speed. I passed John and Sami on the way back and I'm just praying that they get something wrong in their answers.
They were both out of breath as sweat trickled down their faces.
VC-John-I have now ran across this field three times. I guess I can skip cardio today.
"Eighteen and DX. Eighteen and DX." Sami said to Kevin. He quickly wrote the answers on some cue cards and asked for a check.
"Sami, Kevin, you got it."said Hunter.
"HELL YES!"Kevin yelled as he kicked their puzzle board down.
A few seconds after, Hunter sounded his horn for the last time. John and Roman had gotten their answers right.
AJ stooped down and hung his head low.
A few minutes passed and in the distance he could have seen Seth hustling to make his way back to the puzzle station. AJ signalled to him that the challenge was over.
--
The Challengers all reassembled in front of Hunter.
"Alright guys, good job for getting it done today. Congratulations to Paige and Charlotte, you girls scored a thousand bucks, and also to Chris and CM Punk. You guys are safe from eliminations this week. As for today's losers....Seth, AJ, what happened out there?"
"Straight up...it wasn't our day to win. Nothing went right. It should've been so easy but.....I don't know what happened."said Seth.
"Well, it looks like i'll be seeing you in the Stomping Grounds. Ladies, its up to you now to go back to the house and nominate a guys team to send in to face off with our losers. See you guys for nominations. Take care."said Hunter.
PostVC-AJ and Seth
Seth-Because AJ couldn't throw a branch is why we're the losing team this week.
AJ-Typical Seth. Blame everything on me.
Seth-If you were able to get the branch to me sooner then I would've had enough time to run back to the cages to get the answers.
AJ-Im not gonna argue with you anymore.
Seth-Because you know you're at fault. Own up to it. Every single time we lose its because of you! You're the weak link!
AJ-*walks away*
Seth-*sighs*.......Believe me, I don't enjoy fighting with AJ. Well, not this season. But....sometimes I just want to throttle the shit out of him. I don't know how the hell we're going to work together in the Stomping Grounds...I really don't know. We're fucking hopeless.