Reset

Trixie awoke with a start, and opened her eyes.
She was lying on her back on the forest floor, a position and situation that left her resembling a Lost character even more than usual.
But how did she get here?
Was this the start of the game? Had everything that happened to her since her mysterious arrival in this mysterious location been a mysterious dream? That would explain all the illogical and frankly ludicrous things that had happened, such as a banana lasting so many rounds, the existence of a Roc, and the multiple Evanses. Even the pelican which had been her first contact with anyone was a bit weird when she stopped and thought about it.

Speaking of which...

There was a rustling in the bushes.
Trixie reached for her firearm instinctively, and was horrified to notice it was missing.
Reacting quickly, she picked a medium-sized rock from the jungle floor, and held it in a threatening manner.

“Whos there?”
The rustling grew louder, and the bushes parted to reveal...  a cheerleader!

Trixie was confused.
“Pam?”
“Trixie?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I don't know, I don't remember much... was there... a granny flat?”
“I remember deep fried pizza,” Pam giggled, “And a brilliant and twisted man, who, upon reflection, is far cuter than I first gave him credit for.”
“But...” Trixie tried, “Thats so... unbelievable! And how did we get here?”
Pam shrugged.
“I guess our arrival in the 'Authors World' really messed with his head. I mean, to him we must seem like fictitious characters, and the fact that the four of us were all standing there really must have made it harder to hold to that belief. Then, when we told him what we wanted, I guess he figured that he should do his best to keep the plot moving in a more helpful direction, ergo, this reset of sorts.”
She giggled again.
“Or, like, something like that.”
Trixie frowned.
“But resetting everything doesn't really help! I mean, we still don't know what the Evanses plan was, or why they needed nobody in particular, and he could have just explained it to us! Why put us back in the forest? What good can come of that?”

There was more rustling, and Taylor stepped sheepishly into the clearing.
“Yeah, I think that was my bad,” he muttered. “Remember when I said that we wanted to finish the game and all be winners... guess he took that literally. And so, here we are, back in the game. Can't win if we don't finish, I guess...”
“But, thats not fair!” Trixie exclaimed, “We did the hard work, we faced off with the Evanses, we got through the portal. What more does he expect from us? Why can no one ever comprehend the mind of their creator??!”

A passing Echidna on its way to the next conference nodded knowingly.

There was even more rustling in the bushes (the bushes felt quite frustrated at this. They were simply trying to live quiet lives, and outlaws kept stealing their stock! Amongst themselves, the bushes began asking if they needed to invest in a sheriff to keep some semblance of law and order), and the three finalists turned towards the sound, armed with rocks, sticks, and leaves (in Pam's case).
The bushes parted, and a Steven Evans walked in to the clearing, waving a white flag.
Pam, too hyped to stop, threw the leaves at him anyway.

“Don't worry,” the Evans said, smiling nervously, “I'm the real Steven, Steven Evan, not Evans like those clones. I'm the original.”
Trixie scowled at the newcomer.
“How do you expect us to believe that?” she scoffed angrily, “And even if its true, what difference does it make? You could still be trying to trick us.”
Steven Evan smiled again, and, pressing a button on a nearby tree, revealed a small compartment with a DNA testing facility inside. Putting his hand into the machine, Steven pressed a few buttons, and the machine whirred to life.
Moments later, the screen read:

STEVEN EVAN
DNA status: Original, not clone.
Allegiance: Anti-clone.
Shoe size: 11.
Favourite food: Walnuts.

“Wow!” Pam exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. “Can I try?”

Pushing Steven out of the way, Pam inserted her own hand, and pressed the same buttons.

PAMELA O'SMITH
DNA status: Cheerleader.
Allegiance: Niceville Raptors.
Love Interest: Taylor Mustang.
Favourite food: Candyfloss.

“It works,” she squealed, clapping her hands again, “He's telling the truth!”
“Aw,” Taylor gushed like the high-school kid he was, “It called me your love interest!”
Pam blushed and said nothing.

Trixie took charge of the situation.
“Ok Steven,” she said, “Lets assume this is all legit. Too legit to quit, even. Why are you here? For that matter, why are we here? And what do we do next?”
Steven took a breath.
“Well,” he began, “It all goes back to the start of the Spin-Off Games....”

Everything went wavy, and the flashback began.

Steven had been approached by the producers to host the Spin-Off Games due to his excellent test audience scores. They planned an amazing competition, for which the winner would receive a giant golden statue of a mockingjay pin (valued at exty-million dollars, enough to buy three blog novels worth of stuff), and also three wishes from Jeannie the Genie, and Steven was happy to help, but felt that there was too much work for one host to do on his own.
At that stage, Ernie Ville Jeenius had stepped in, offering to clone Steven in order to help him be the best host ever. Steven knew that cloning had some serious implications, but overwhelmed by the lure of receiving more Emmys than Phil Keoghan, agreed to the cloning on the condition that Ernie promised not to betray him.
Ernie agreed, but had crossed his fingers, and as soon as Steven was cloned, he was thrown into a cell to await his fate, while the Evanses were put in charge.
Meanwhile Ernie, who knew he had not been selected as a contestant, took nobody in particular aside and made a deal with him, that Ernie would help him win, and in return nobody in particular would allow him one of the wishes of the Genie.
What nobody in particular had failed to realise (although the flashback made it incredibly obvious), was that Ernie planned to use that wish to cause himself to have won the competition, thus receiving all the wishes and the golden prize.
What an evil plan!!

With a second wavy segment, the flashback ended, and Trixie, Pam, and Taylor contemplated what they had just witnessed.
“So, how did you escape then?” Trixie asked Steven.
Steven shrugged.
“All of a sudden my cell door just opened, and I walked out. It reminded me a little of that book The Heavenly Man, but it may also have had something to do with the fact that you recently (I believe) talked with one of the Authors themselves!”
“And what do we do now?” Taylor asked.

Steven looked at the youth significantly.
“Now, you win this game,” he said.

“What?” Trixie scoffed, “We just go back to shooting photos? And another one of us gets eliminated? And nothing changes?”
Steven shook his head.
“That whole round has been canned. I think the Authors must have done it. But you still have one more round to complete. And instead of you competing against each other, the three of you will be competing against the Evanses, while your fellow contestants return to watch, and vote if there is some sort of inconclusive outcome. So either all three of you will win, or the Evanses will.”
“Why are the Evanses being given a chance?” Trixie complained, “Shouldn't they have just been automatically zapped out of existence or something after we talked to the Author?”
Steven shrugged again.
“Guess he felt this would be more dramatic. Plus, the stakes need to seem the highest at the final hurdle.”
“Fine,” Trixie muttered, “I guess thats understandable. So, what do we need to do?”

Chapter Twenty-Two *** Chapter Twenty-Four