The Challenge

Chapter Twenty-Nine

This is it. This is the moment Regina warned her about, where she's about to sabotage her, throw her to the wolves and risk her chance at one million dollars in this final. After it's all said and done, she will still want to be friends. Emma closes her eyes painfully tight and mentally prepares for the blow she knows will be something she will struggle to get over.

"Our vote is for...Mary Margaret and David, I'm just going to toss the vote right back to you since you said our name," Regina snottily replies and as shocked as Emma is, the rest of the competitors seem just as gobsmacked that Regina didn't think about the game as a whole and just went straight for revenge.

Mary Margaret nods though as if she understands and steps forward with David to stand on the other side of TJ. Emma's wide eyes are wild, shifting to Killian who looks just as baffled. Regina folds her arms across her chest and appears as if she's holding back from throwing up once more. Emma's mind is obsessing over the debate of whether Regina called Mary Margaret out for saying her name or if it was all a ploy to protect Emma.

"Tonight's elimination will be three stages of puzzles, whichever team completes all three puzzles will stay in the final and continue their chances at one million dollars. The losing team will be sent straight home from here."

"Damn," Sabine exhales through a shaky breath. "Neal vs. Mary Margaret in puzzles? It's their specialities, I honestly don't know if one is better than the other."

Regina nervously bites on her thumbnail and begins swaying from side to side, provoking every muscle in Emma's body to yearn for her. She just wants to wrap her arms around the woman and hold her close to defuse the anxiety from within. Will she ever be able to openly do that with Regina or will she always just be a giant secret?

Production moves quickly to set up three podiums for each team and even though Emma has nothing to do with this elimination, her stomach begins to turn. This is great for her game and is giving her better odds in the end but she genuinely likes Neal and Mary Margaret and she hates to see one of them leave tonight after everything they went through today.

A few minutes later, both teams are standing at podiums a few feet apart looking determined and focused. TJ blows his horn and the contestants take off, pulling a board off and tossing it behind themselves to reveal the first puzzle.

Neal is reading out loud while Mary Margaret and David are painfully quiet.

"Count all the triangles, then add them all up to get your answer. When you have your answer, divide it by three, then multiply that answer by nine to receive the combination for your lock to unlock your next set of puzzle pieces."

Oh thank sweet baby Jesus for not tossing Emma into this elimination because she would have failed miserably with all the math problems. Maybe Killian is good with numbers but she would have been completely useless in this game.

She observes as Mary Margaret traces the puzzle with her index finger, most likely drawing triangles and counting in her head. She peeks to the right to see Tamara doing the same thing. Unexpectedly, Mary Margaret closes her eyes like she's trying very hard to block out the world and meditate.

"What is she..." she begins to whisper but her words die on her tongue when she witnesses the woman's fingers moving at rapid speed to line up the numbers on the combination to unlock the next puzzle.

Nobody claps like they normally do in eliminations and Emma thinks it's because everyone is unsure of who they want to win. Either way, Mary Margaret and David are dashing to the next podium with a key and unlocking their next puzzle. She lifts the next cover board off while David snatches up a bag hanging off the podium and dumps out purple pieces all shaped differently.