This Is Your Captain Crashing

The Desert Is Cold At Night

Things in the plane were deteriorating fast. Greece was such a shit-show, to the point Chris even felt it was a bit too much. The whole airship was sucked into this internal storm of anger, sadness and stress, to the point no one was openly talking with each other. At least in a way that would spark a crazy amount of ratings. Rather, everyone was split up. Duncan and Gwen were nowhere to be seen, Tyler and Alejandro were sulking in Economy, and most of Team Amazon were stewing in First Class after the massive betrayal that Courtney was trapped in.

And then there were the three remaining girls of Team E-Scope. Izzy, Eva and Merida sat in the Common Area, silent and dower. The Psycho Hose Beast in particular was especially in a bad mood, with her braids coming loose and pupils twitching every so often. She looked like she was close to cracking, which was such a heart wrenching sight.

The entire Flying Fortress suddenly shifted, forcing the princess and Fitness Buff to latch on the table in some form of support. Izzy was so sucked into her own mind, she didn't realise what was happening till her face slammed into the metal wall of the aircraft.

She groaned and whined as the whole ship corrected.

"You okay, Iz?" Merida asked in worry.

The Psycho Hose Beast sighed, prying her face off the wall. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." She slammed her fist into the steel wall. "But I guess even Chef doesn't want me to be happy! Even after I talked to him before Paris!" She growled and hid her face in her hands. "I just lost Noah, I know I'm gonna lose you next, Eva, and then Alejandro is just gonna play me along."

"Woah, woah, woah", Eva said, shaking her head and waving her hands. "Don't start getting all doom and gloom on me, Iz. I can't have you just giving up and turn into a husk on me."

"But that's what's happening, E!" The wild child said with a strained, forced grin. "That's what's going on in here", she jabbed her head with a finger, "and it's all thanks to this stupid show."

The princess, sitting across from her girlfriend, frowned at Izzy's distressing claims. "Iz, look at me." The Psycho Hose Beast looked at her friend, shifting from deranged to a deer in headlights. "You need to calm down, please. I know everything seems bad, but the more you give in, the more likely it'll happen."

Izzy stared at her silently. "You got that from your mom, didn't you?"

"It's good advice", the princess said sternly. "And something you needed to hear."

The wild child looked away, doing her best to ignore her smiling reflection and the concerned looks from her friend and girlfriend. "I'll be fine. I'm Izzy! I'm always fine, no matter what happens."

The other two girls shared an unconvinced look, then looked back at Izzy. "Iz, seriously, you need to calm down." Eva put a hand on her shoulder, only for it to be ignored. "This has us as stressed as you."

"Yeah... Sure..." Izzy said dismissively. She stood up and walked into the elimination area, leaving both distraught girls behind. They watched her leave, and when the door closed behind her, the princess and Raging Bull sighed.

"This is bad", Merida said, leaning back and roughly rubbing her face. "She's slipping, and I'm terrified about it."

"I just don't get it", Eva said in a frustrated tone. "What the heck did she see that made her this... Scared?"