Stage 7.2 - Sport, mean pranks and an adventure
teams included: Firulais by @Angelustyle, GECA by @Elizipeazie, Hillbilly Rollers by @Knugcab, Chitko by @MrdjaNikolen and Highway Hooligans by @Madrias
The Rhinos arrived with a surprisingly competetive result, thanks to Chantys maniac driving.
“I can´t believe it, we made it here alive!”
“You can believe on sundays, Jan. I didn´t know you were religious. Knowing is better than believing, and I know that we are lucky to be alive. Chantal, could you please… CHANTAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!”
“Yes?”
“Turn down the volume and stop trying to kill everyone, we are there. We are even well in the top 10 despite the time we lost. Damn.”
“YAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! SMASH!”
“Not Slay?”
“That also!”
While Thomas and Jan built up the tent, with Thomas having his usual temper at that task, Chanty started cooking, and when the Firulais arrived much later, Jan excused himself, but also had a feeling of hunger - and ate with his team before leaving.
Jan stepped towards the Firulais camp after eating, but Angel, who he wanted to speak was no longer present. Andrés was the only one at the campsite, and Jan tried is luck. Josué was also there, but at that time in the tent, relaxing and reading a bit.
“Eh, Andrés, where is Angel`”
“Propably reading the minds of the Cunning Stunts team.”
, laughed Andrés.
“Shit. I really need to talk to him.”
“He isn´t trying to date Chantal, it´s just…”
“Yeah, I know, it´s not that. But … I need to know what he read in her mind. She never tells me how bad it really is, because she doesn´t want to make me sad or worried.”
“Oh, in this case… Angel talked a bit about it to vent, because he couldn´t stand the pain Chantys mind caused him, don´t be mad at him, he really needed to vent a bit. But I am not your hairdresser, so I can´t just expose Angel and your girlfriend that much.”
“I am not mad… but I am curious. I just see Chanty destroying herself more and more, and last night, she was again crying and woke me up by desperately grabbing my hand while whispering for help.”
“In this case… it would be Angels will to help you, and… well, her actually. So, listen.”
Andrés told Jan more or less everything Angel revealed, and even if Jan knew that Chantal didn´t always had an easy life, it was new to him that Chanty can´t be happy about positive moments, as she assumes that after these are over, they will never come back, and that everything she loves can also be lost sooner or later. And also that Thomas health is a huge concern. When Angel told Jan what Chanty had planned in her mind in case her father dies, Jan just ran away in panic.
“Oh shit. JAN! SORRY! I didn´t mean to… ah, crap. WAIT!”
Andrés already regretted telling Jan that in detail.
When Jan arrived totally exhausted at his camp, he immediately startet yelling at Thomas.
“THOMAS! COME WITH ME! NOW!”
“Eh, what is it? I have just opened a beer, and you need a damn good reason to…”
“MOVE!”
Chanty was also alarmed by Jan´s unusual temper.
“What is it? What is wrong?”
The tension in the situation alone caused Chanty crying again, as she assumed something really bad happened, but Jan assured her that this is not the case, and Thomas and Chantal followed Jan to the GECA team.
“Damn, why would anyone ride a bike if he or she had a driving license?”
“DAD! THERE ARE MORE THAN JUST TWO GENDERS!”
“Alright, why would ANYONE OR ANYTHING WITH A LICENSE…”
“CAN´T YOU TWO STOP FOR ONCE???”
Jan then showed Thomas the bike of Hugh: It was the only one at least remotely fitting Thomas figure. Thomas was mad at first when he noticed that Jan forced him on a bike in order to improve his cardiac condition, but didn´t want to make a scene, especially when being at another team´s camp.
“So, you are Hugh?”
“Yes, and it´s a pleasure to show you the joy of riding a bike.”
“This is fun?”
“It is, and its nice to meet you, as I get to know many different persons in this event.”
“Yeah, would be for me too, if it didn´t involve doing sports…Do you have an allen key to adjust the saddle, please?”
“Sure.”
“What am I supposed to do with a knife?”
“Damn, wrong key, sorry…”
Valentin then explained the irritated Rhino Squad that Hugh is sometimes a bit weird and seems to have a neurodivergence. Actually, Hugh is a game character who is played by someone in a parallel universe, but nobody knows that. Thomas just made a weird face, Jan nodded in disbelief, and Chanty understood nothing at all, but soon after, Thomas sat on the bike- and Jan also, as he wanted to make sure that Thomas is really using it and not just riding to the nearest bar to get drunk.
“And me?”
“Sorry?”
, asked Valentin.
“I mean, I feel bad if they have to ride a bike while I am sitting lazy at the campsite.”
“Well, Ingrids bike might fit. But I have to ask her first. You would propably also not lend your car anyone, so I will be right back.”
10 Minutes later, Chanty was also equipped with a bike, and all three rode off to explore the region a bit. Drur was a beautiful city with ocean view and historic medieval buildings, so it made totally sense to do that biking trip here. After an hour, Chanty was totally exhausted and almost falling off the bike.
“STOOOP! AAH!”
“Oh, you´re exhausted already?”
“ALREADY, JAN?”
“Yes, sorry, I mean, that´s quite an archievement for you to ride a whole hour. And it´s great that you even bothered doing this. I am surprised you kept up this long.”
“Yes, I know, I am fat… and its a miracle that the bike didn´t break in half…”
Jan got off “his” bike and hugged Chanty in order to silence her with a love does instead of duct tape, and after a few minutes, she was feeling good enough to slowly ride back.
“Thomas, how is your state?”
“MY ASS HURTS FROM THAT FUCKING SADDLE! It feels like sitting on a sharp rock. The riding position is like being stuck inside a washing machine and … I HATE IT! I will ride back with Chanty.”
“Dad, no, please… do me the favour. Riding a bike is good for people with cardiac problems, if you still can go on, then please do it…”
“Yeah, fine, another 30 minutes more, but then I am also done, I also struggle to keep up Jans pace by now. And we have to ride all the distance back…”
Chanty seperated herself from the group, while Thomas started ranting again as soon as they continued.
“I CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE INVENTED THE CAR AFTER HAVING TO DEAL WITH THIS!”
“Thomas, damn, do you even know that we do this for you, in oder to improve your health?”
“Beer has vitamines, too.”
“Chantys mental state is also that bad because she saw you almost dying, the mindreader can confirm it. She isn´t over it.”
“Everyone has to die one day.”
“THOMAS! You know what she does when you are gone? Right at the moment, there would be two funerals at once then. This is not a joke. You can lock her up in the psych ward then, so my objective is letting you live as long as possible and that also includes sport and healthy food.”
“HEALTHY FOOD? YOU FORCE ME TO EAT RABBIT FOOD? LIKE SALAD?”
“So, Thomas. here is the deal: Either healthy food, or daily 30 minutes of cardio-centered excercises?”
“Yeah, well, I prefer sport then, let´s get back on the bikes.”
While Thomas tried to act cool, he clearly changed his mind to the bike not because he himself wanted that or had an interest in living longer - but for the wellbeing of his daughter, he would do almost anything - except for eating salad daily.
Chanty brought back the bike to Valentin, who checked for possible damage.
“You… have a checklist?”
“Sure. These are expensive and highly complex bikes for professional use. Any damage could be dangerous at the speeds that our team members are able to ride with their training and experience. Also, they are very expensive, so we have to make sure you did not cause us unneccecary expenses.”
“Ah, so… I guess it is still ok, we didn´t crash or such.”
“I hoped you would finish an activity without a disaster, and I am delighted that wish came true. Did you enjoy it?”
“Propably only Jan really enjoyed it, but we had a nice view of the ocean, and I propably did something good for my health as well, but I was just exhausted after an hour and needed to ride back, the others will arrive in an hour or so…”
“Definitely. And it does not matter how far you got, as you at least tried and successfully rode a few kilometers. Whenever one of you, or at best all of you, feel like doing this again, we might make that possible.”
Chanty was looking foward to some snacks, and this time, she really had earned them. She found a plastic bag next to the car, with a notice for her. Marie was obviously giving her half of a cat…
Almost everyone could hear the scream, and then the crying, thankfully, Angel was quite close and could look after her, but almost threw up himself from the stench and the… look of the slaughtered cat. Andrea and Pi also wanted to help her friend, but just couldn´t when seeing what was in the bag.
“We need to bury it… we can´t let it lay here like trash”,
cried Chanty, so terribly that the translator ring failed, and she needed multiple attempts to make the technology understand her.
Angel answered, that he could do this, but his hands are injured from the glass splinters… in that moment, Bong appeared.
“CHANTAL! Your cause my team so much drama! Can´t you just be normal, at least a bit? Why would you even…”
“IT WAS MARIE!”
, sobbed Chanty, still sitting on the ground and not able to do anything except handing Bong the notice.
“Oh, sorry, then it is definitely NOT your fault… this time. I heard you wanted to bury it, but you can´t look at it and your friend is injured? In this case, Angel, please get me a shovel and we will do this, no problem.”
Dr. Bong did as promised, and Chanty took a shower at the train yards employee bathrooms, she was, after doing some sport activity, in need of it anyway, and some fresh water would maybe help her clear her mind, too.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Jan are on the way back to the campsite, when Jan pulled over at a cliff for the beautiful ocean view.
“Thomas, do we have beer?”
“Plenty. What´s wrong that you want to drink alcohol? That´s unusual for you.”
“I mean, in your backpack. You won´t go anywhere without beer if you´re not in charge of driving a motor vehicle.”
“Yep! Here is one for you, and one for me. So, what´s the matter?”
“We will soon be back at home, right?”
“Yep. Chanty can´t wait to have internet again, and I can´t wait to get to work.”
“That is it, that internet thing. Acutally, we were about to break up before we went here, and it was about that damn social media.”
“WHAT?”
Thomas spilled a bit of his beer, looking at Jan as if he had seen a ghost.
“So, in her Tiktok and Instagram accounts she used to write SINGLE and, that with presenting herself like she does, generates… .attention. Briefly after we came together she removed “Single”, but didnt write taken. I asked her why she doesnt just write that then, and she said “I am no longer single here so its fine, isn´t it?”, I then replied nah, you are pretending I dont exist because you want more likes and thats not ok, she is also trying to not accidentally reveal me in her videos, even removing my stuff in the backgrund, and her recation was “YOU WANT TO OWN ME LIKE A THING OR WHAT”, and I honestly don´t want to own her, but I don´t want her presenting herself like a professional just for some likes of horny old men…”
Thomas sighed, and Jan waited for an answer that was apparently never coming.
“She´s old enoug. I see your point, so don´t think that you are wrong, but also, social media seems to follow some rules - back in my day, I was running after attention with fancy cars to show off, and her way is posing with sparse clothes to some weird music. I honestly ask you, do you think she would cheat on you?”
“Of course not!”
“So, I see that it´s not respectful to, well, let´s say, hide you in her account. But, on the other hand, that account is an artificial portrait of her. Social media is mostly fake. Don´t you think that most of the content there is realistic? Or they show their real life there? At least from the professionals, I doubt that. Don´t mix her online personality up with the real one that begs for the love of only one person, and that is you. Come on, let`s get the beer empty and ride back to the camp, I AM FUCKING HUNGRY.”
At the time when Thomas and Jan arrived at the camping site, Chanty and Angel were already on an expedition to the abandoned medieval castle. Cody from the Highway Hooligans, who also spotted Chanty desperately sobbing, proposed this adventure as a distraction, and Chanty actually is into ghosts and haunted things, but as she was totally scared of the possible outcome and Jan was not present yet, she insisted on Angel going with her - which he did, of course.
“Hm, it is becoming very dark… Angel, do you have enough battery on your phone?”
“Yes, for two or three hours of lighting it should be totally sufficient.”
“This looks really impressive. Uargh! I can already feel the ghosts.”
“We better stay in motion, let´s go into that area, the moonlight is shining through the windows, so we can save phone battery.”
“Good idea, Angel… do you mind holding my hand? I am scared…”
Chanty was firmly grabbing Angels hand to a point that it was almost squeezing, which was painful with the cuts he had, but he didn´t dare to complain - he was a bit scared himself, but the most important was that Chanty did not have a panic attack - this was the last place where he would like this to happen.
When they wandered through the giant hallways, Angel was asked to do a bit of filming and taking photos of their tour in order to later use it for social media, but suddenly Angels face turned pale.
Was asked to hide this because the story contains a large spider, please be aware of that before opening the spoiler
“Eh, what is it?”
“D…dont… tt-t-t-turn around.”
“Why? Is there a ghost?”
“N…no… what I see is v-v-v-v-very m-m-m-much real!”
Chanty was great at doing the opposite of what she was told, and of course she turned around.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! THATS THE ABSOLUTE HORROR WE MUST GET OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTT BEFORE IT KILLS US!!!”
“C…come on!”
“I CANT MOVE, MY LEGS ARE FROZEN! AAAAAAAAAAH!”
“I can´t carry you, you are too heavy…Should I get help or stay with you?”
“IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW I WILL TELL MARIE TO KISS YOU!”
“I…I…count that as… I should stay…”
“BUT HOW CAN WE GET HELP NOW?”
“What about the e-e-e-emergency ring?”
“My hand is so sweaty, I can´t activate it… WE WILL DIE!”
“Damn, I am shaking too m-m-much, neither c-c-can I.”
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!”
Only a few minutes later, Thomas entered the room.
“DADDY! What are you doing here?”
“Bong has told me what happened, and then Cody joined and told me that you got Angel for that…eh…expedition. And I thought I can´t leave a team consisting of one with one eye and another one with one braincell alone… WHY are you crying for help, Chantal?”
“There…there … is …a GIANT SPIDEEEEEEEEEEERRRR!”
“Argh, what, you are hyperventilating because of a fucking spider? All right, let´s have a look at it. Where are your phones to make some light?”
“My…battery is dead and Angel lost his phone on the run… but… that spider…IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE!”
“Yeah, sure, spider, wait, here is my lighter. So, let´s see… OOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
Thomas shivered as he saw the large spider that was still looking at the humans and slowly walking towards Chanty who started another tear flood as she looked at it in detail, while Thomas almost burned his fingers with the lighter, then he continued, whispering.
“That…thing is … huge, yes. Boah, is that thing disgusting… the body is…as fat as a bowling ball…uuuuuuuarrrrrgh.”
“Thomas, do you have a plan? I-i-i-i-t is coming towards meeeeee!”
“Angel… eeeeh… eeeehhh… YOUR BACKPACK! OPEN IT!”
Thomas, scared as hell, carefully grabbed the spider as if he was defusing a bomb, then quickly throwing it in Angels backpack, and nobody on Holsia has ever seen someone closing a zipper as fast as Thomas.
Chanty slowly calmed down, as Angel comforted her, and Thomas grabbed the backpack.
“LEAVE IT HERE, THOMAS! I really liked my backpack, but I will never be able to look at it again, and I do NOT WANT THIS SPIDER IN THE CAMP!”
“Don´t be a pussy. It´s now trapped inside. I need Jan to check if it´s poisonous.”
“It is… uncommon to check that AFTER grabbing it.”
“Should I let it out again then?”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
When Chanty came back with Angel and Thomas, Cody was curious to hear how it was, and she told him everything in the most dramatic way possible, also crying again, and it is clear that she … isn´t over the spider encounter yet. So Codys teammate Trevor had the idea to just make a huge party, and Trevor handed Chanty another of their beers, while preparing a special surprise: The confetti cannon, made out of some plumbing stuff, and the 50 year old big guy proved that he can still party like when he was half his current age, and Chanty enjoyed that party very much.
Meanwhile, after Jan, who is very familiar with biology, confirmed that this spider looks terryfiying but actually isn´t, Thomas sneaked with the backpack to the Hillbilly Rollers, opening the backpack and letting the spider find some rest in the IP… right in the fridge where the Booze was stored, making sure the right person finds Mr. Spiderman…
