Joe Rogan was waiting for them, and when all of them finally arrived and were looking at him, he began his famous speech, “You contestants have been brought here from all over the country for one reason: Stare fear in the eye as you compete for $50,000. To win the money, you're going to have to complete three extreme stunts. These stunts will test you not only physically, but mentally as well. If you fail to complete a stunt, you're eliminated. If you're too scared to do it, you're gone. If you succeed, you move on to the next round and you're that much closer to the cash. Remember, this is a game. Feel free to mess with each other's minds and play off their emotions. Gamesmanship is welcome here.”
He watched the contestants closely. Most of them were giving him rapt attention and smiling at him.
Harmony was busy examining her nails.
“You ready to see your first stunt?” Joe cried out.
“Yeah!” came the collective response.
“Here is your first stunt!” Joe yelled over the roar of a helicopter flying low above them.
“While the helicopter is spinning over the lake, each player would have to climb out of it and collect flags positioned on the helicopter’s skids. You would have to traverse from one skid to another by climbing along the rope connecting the two skids. The two men and two women who collected the most flags before falling off will advance onto the next round.”
Buffy could see Harmony visibly blanch at the stunt.
“We’ve randomly selected who will go first, and Riley, you are lucky number one,” Joe Rogan said clearly, looking at him.
“Awww yeah!” he punched his fists into the air enthusiastically, grinning at Joe.
As Joe led Riley to get ready, the rest of the contestants began to speculate the outcome while the cameras were trained on them.
“I think he can make it,” Faith commented. “He has the upper body strength.”
“Yes, he’s certainly droolworthy,” Harmony said dreamily.
“I think he’s too cocky. It can be his downfall,” Angel added.
“That boasting machine?” Spike gestured at Riley to the others. “I hope the wanker fails so that I don’t have to hear about him being the soddin’ Top Dog anymore.”
Buffy giggled, “Well, I suppose you think you could do better, Spike?”
“Of course! That wanker only knows how to boast,” Spike said. He narrowed his eyes at her and decided to challenge her back, “What about you, Summers? Be careful while doing the stunt, you might break that frail twigs you called arms, you know. Not to mention the amount of nails you can break.”
Buffy narrowed her eyes into angry slits and glared at him.
“OK Riley, give me a prediction,” Joe said to him when they reached the helicopter.
“This is a piece of cake. I’ll say 20 seconds.”
“You think you can do it?”
“Hell yeah, I work out every day! You can’t compete with the Top Dog, dude.”
“Top dog?” Joe tried to feign interest.
“Yeah, you can’t run with the Top Dog, you can’t keep up with the Top Dog, because the Top Dog will always be on top.”
“Nice poetry there, man,” Joe said sarcastically. Riley missed the tone completely.
“I like to think so too.”
Joe mentally rolled his eyes and held out his hand to Riley, “Well, good luck, man.”
“Thanks.”
As Riley readied himself, Joe walked back to the other contestants and said to them, “He’s predicting 20 seconds-”
“20 seconds? More like eternity!”
“Impossible! He would be checking out his reflection at the side of the helicopter for a minute and a half first!”
“-and he said you all can’t run with the Top Dog, can’t keep up with the Top Dog, because the Top Dog will always be on top.”
Buffy wrinkled her nose, “What kind of bad slogan is that?”
“And what would your slogan be, then, goldilocks?” Spike taunted her.
“Kick Spike’s ass.”
“Oooh, kitten has claws,” Spike laughed back at her, before adding seriously, “I’ll like to see you try though, luv.”
“OK, the clock starts ticking when he gets onto the first skid!” Joe yelled over the growing roar of the helicopter, now circling the lake with Riley in it. He was wearing a life jacket and sat at the side of the helicopter, his feet dangling.
When Riley got the green light from the crew inside the helicopter, he quickly got out and landed on the skid. He immediately dropped himself and hung onto the skid using only his hands and arms, pulling himself along and grabbing the flags. He worked in a frantic manner, traversing over the rope using his arms and legs hooking on it. And by the time 20 seconds was up, he was already onto the second skid.
On the second skid there was a noticeable lag of performance from Riley. He seemed exhausted and could hardly pull himself to traverse to the last flag. With a last ditch effort, he reached over and pulled the last flag, then willingly let himself go and fell into the water below.
“35 seconds!” Joe yelled at the other contestants. They clapped, inwardly groaning at Riley’s success at completing the stunt. They were hoping that BoastBoy would take a hike and humiliate himself by failing.
“Welcome back, Riley!” Joe said when Riley returned to the group. “Well done!”
Riley grinned proudly, “Thanks man.”
“How was it?”
“I got pretty tired by the second skid and I was lucky there wasn’t any more because I couldn’t manage to hang on after the seventh and final flag.”
“What are those scrapes on your arm?” Joe pointed at Riley’s arms, and he held his arms up. Some skin had come off and his skin was quite red.
“Oh I got those when I pulled myself up and hooked my arm over, but I was so tired already that I slipped. I dragged my arm across the skid, that’s how I got them.”
Joe turned to Angel.
“Think you can beat 35 seconds?”
“Hell yeah, I’ll get them all under 35 seconds. Maybe 32.”
Riley laughed at him condescendingly, “Good luck, man.”
Joe raised his eyebrows, “Well, good luck, he says.”
Angel nodded his head and looked out at the lake, “I can do this.”
Joe began to lead him away, “Let’s go then!”
A/N: Let the game begin! Um... reviews, please? ;)