Travis heads back towards his room, butterflies unexpectedly churning in his stomach. Nothing about tonight is going to be particularly easy—he's about to have a hand in ending the biggest career prospects of another hero.
"How did that go, young skaramoosh?" GG says, appearing around the corner. For someone so girthy, he does have a way of sneaking up.
"I did what I had to do," Travis says.
"Well, a quick word of advice before you go," GG says, rolling up close to him. "Whatever Sky and Shula said to you, I'd think twice about trusting them."
"How do you—"
"No, I've already said too much. Just take my word for it." With that, GG spins away from him, leaving him with quite a bit to consider.
Travis pushed open his door, hoping for five minutes to let himself decide what his best move will be. But when he walked inside, he found Black Magic sitting on his bed.
"Well, hello stranger," Black Magic says, leaning back.
"Funny, you noticed that we never see each other, too?" Travis say.
"Why do you say that like it's my fault?" Black Magic says, standing to kiss him. But Travis just turns away and closes the door—this is not a conversation he wants to get into a few minutes before having to go on national 3V.
But the truth is, he hasn't seen his so-called girlfriend for any real amount of time since they started dating. And that's been thanks in part to Black Magic's initial not-in-public policy.
"Maybe it's because you've been spending time chatting with that little Lucky?" Black Magic says, crossing her arms.
Travis looks up at Black Magic, incredulous. He doesn't want to do this now.
"That's insane," Travis says. "I'm with you. Period."
"I really hope that's true, because that's actually what I'm here to make sure of. I heard that you paid a little visit to Sky and Shula. I hope it was to offer your condolences for having to vote for them. Because you are with us Populars, right?"
"I'm going to do what I feel is best for me. And you should do the same." Travis say.
"Well then let me make this very simple for you," Black Magic starts. "Join the Populars and vote for Sky and Shula, or we're over."
Without giving him a chance to respond, Black Magic stomps out of the room.
"Girl problem?"
Travis turns around and finds Retribution sitting on the bed. "What the hell!? How did you get here?"
"It must be hard to have someone so strict." Retribution says. "But that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to warn you that this show will not get you to the top."
"And why should I believe you?" Travis says, raising his eyebrows.
"You'll know." He stands up and proceeds to the door. "Oh, and don't forget to check your sink."
With that, Retribution leaves the room, leaving Travis alone.
Sighing deeply, he heads into the bathroom to try and gather himself before the vote. How could Black Magic give him an ultimatum like that? Nothing is so black and white—she of all people should know that.
As he leans over the sink to throw some water on his face, he notices a crunched up piece of paper in the otherwise-empty trash can. Not remembering that there from before, he lean down, grab the paper and smooth it over. It's a hand-written note, which reads:
"It was so great getting to spend time with you. I hope we can keep doing so—and that you'll pick the right side in all of this silliness."
xx,
Sam
What the hell is this doing in the trash? Did Black Magic come in and find this, then throw it out? If so, why would she leave it here? Did she want him to know she saw it and then threw it out?
Two hours later....
He stands on stage in The Hero Project auditorium, a thousand lights shining down on him and a countless number of cameras recording him at every angle. The live episode has already begun, but he's in the corner of the stage in an elaborate voting booth—because it's finally time to cast his vote.
He knows that so much weighs on this decision: his potential allies moving forward. His strategic place in the competition. His relationship with Jenny. His romantic prospects. His identity as a hero. His public image. And ultimately, the future of his career.
He had better vote wisely, because another hero's fate rests in his hands. Not to mention the fact that within the hour, the entire nation is going to know what he decided to do.
He stares down at the voting machine, which has a button for each eligible hero: Frey, Asrid, Shula, and Sky. All the other contestants' buttons are inactive (including his, since he can't vote for himself). Above the voting panel read very clear instructions:
VOTE FOR THE TWO HEROES YOU WANT TO NOMINATE FOR ELIMINATION.
Taking a deep breath, he points his fingers at the buttons to vote for Frey and Asrid. Taking a deep breath, he cast his votes.
It's done.
Now all that's left to do is wait for the fallout.
Forty-five minutes later....
Travis is sitting in the front of the stage with the rest of the eligible Finalists of Team Two, sweating underneath his costume. He has been sitting here for the better part of an hour as Covalt dragged on the Results Show, his heart pounding out of his chest. Even though he feels good about his vote, he has been dreading this moment.
Right now they're playing a video of "Contestant Mansion Drama," so he watches himself in Sky and Shula's room, talking about the vote. The producers are doing their best to set up the tension, making it clear that who goes home will depend on his swing vote. They've edited out most of his responses, however, instead using closeups of him looking confused or thinking very hard. Obviously they don't want to indicate which way he'll be voting until the big reveal….
Which, he realize as the holo-video stops playing, is starting now.
"Riveting stuff!" Covalt says, turning away from the screen. "This vote should be quite the shocker. Now, there are thirteen Finalists voting, which means we have twenty-six votes total. I think it's best we just get down to it, what do you think?"
Covalt smiles as the audience erupts into applause, shouting in support of their favorite heroes. Thankfully he can make out some Gravitate shouts amidst the din.
"All right, everyone. Here we go!" Covalt says, wielding a holo-card that holds the voting results. "Our first set of votes is for…"
"Shula and Gravitate!"
His picture flashes alongside a picture of Shula on the massive holo-screen behind Covalt. Below that, an official vote tally appears:
Shula: 1 Vote
Gravitate: 1 Vote
And his heart stops beating. He just got a vote.
Shula sends him a frown from her seat downstage and Travis bites his lip. Sh*t, he hopes there aren't any more votes for him….
"All right, let's reveal our next set of votes," Covalt says, eyes directly in the camera. "It is for…"
"Shula and Sky," Covalt says as Travis image drops from the screen, replaced by Sky's. "And we have five sets of this particular vote!"
Below the pictures, the voting board shifts:
Shula: 6 Votes
Sky: 5 Votes
Gravitate: 1 Vote
He take a sigh of relief, seeing that he only have one vote so far. But he knows there are still seven sets of votes left—he just hope they are exactly what he expect them to be.
"This is truly nerve-racking, isn't it?" Covalt says, readjusting his tie. "I can hardly stand it—I can't imagine how our Finalists are feeling! So let's not delay—let's reveal the next set of votes."
"Frey and Asrid," Covalt bellows, "with the final 7 sets of votes!"
Frey and Asrid's pictures appear on the screen, above the permanent voting tally:
Frey: 7 Votes
Asrid: 7 Votes
Shula: 6 Votes
Sky: 5 Votes
Gravitate: 1 Vote
"That means our two nominees for elimination are Frey and Asrid!" Covalt says, causing the crowd to burst into a cascade of boos.
Feeling a thousand sets of eyes on him as the votes are revealed, he turns to Sky and Shula, who look more grateful than he can stand. He then turned behind him to find Null nodding in his direction, shooting him a thumbs up. And Lucky smiles at him from ear to ear.
But he also catches a glimpse of the Populars—especially Black Magic, who shoots daggers at him with her eyes. And Jury just looks disgusted, as usual.
Wanting to avoid that particular disaster, he shifts, only to find Frey and Asrid looking like they might kill him.
Hey, they should have known this was going to happen—though he suppose that doesn't mean they'll hate him any less, after this.
"I understand that you both must be very upset, being nominated as a couple," Covalt says. "But I'm afraid we don't have any time to lose. Can I please have Frey and Asrid front and center?"
"Since last night's episode, our viewers have been voting for our five eligible Finalists, hoping to save their favorite should they be nominated. Now that Frey and Asrid have been nominated by their heroic peers, it's up to America. Whichever hero received the least amount of votes will be going home in thirteenth place, leaving The Hero Project for good."
Frey and Asrid look to one another, holding hands, knowing that one of them is about to go home. They're about to be split up, their dreams of making The American Protectors together ended for good.
And that's because of Travis, at least in part.
As the couple stands up there, Travis mind turns over the numbers—based on how the votes turned out, he figures that either Manbeast or The Crush voted with the Underdogs for Frey and Asrid, while the others voted for him and Shula. If only he knew which was which—though he'd bet the smart money is on Manbeast voting for him, given his opinions on Powered people, let alone Unique Powereds.
"Before I reveal America's votes, can I have our judges' thoughts on these nominations?" Covalt asks.
"Obviously we disagree, given that these two heroes were at the top of their Team's Leaderboard, following orders that led to the success of the Mission," Rebellion says.
"But we designed this elimination process to test every aspect of our heroes' viability," DaHChip adds. "While they survived our judges' evaluation, unfortunately these two heroes have been singled out by their heroic peers. And now one of them must win the public's approval to stay."
Rexford doesn't have anything to add, instead just glaring at Travis—it would seem he holds him responsible for the downfall of one of his most popular heroes. And Travis is sure Rexford will join the throngs of Frey & Asrid fans who are bound to hate Gravitate….
"Well, I'm afraid the time has come," Covalt says with a heavy sigh. "We must say goodbye to one of these amazing heroes, splitting them apart in The Hero Project forever."
Frey and Asrid give each other one last kiss, bracing themselves for the news. Travis can't imagine how he'd feel, if that were him and his own spouse up there….
"The Finalist with the lower public vote, leaving us tonight, is…"
"Frey!" Covalt screams, causing the crowd to scream in protest. "That means Asrid, America has voted you into the Final 12!"
As the noise reaches deafening levels, Travis watches Frey hang his head and Asrid bursts into tears.
"Now let's take a moment to look back on Frey's incredible journey."
As everyone turns to look at the holo-video presentation, Travis notices that the judges are preparing goodbye speeches. He sighs, hoping he never has to go through this himself.
He may have survived this vote, but he knows he have to ask himself: at what cost?
Something tells him that he'll find out very soon….
Later that day....
After the ceremony ends, Travis walks backstage and sees Black Magic up ahead, so he run to catch up with her.
"Don't bother," Black Magic says, just as a camera orb whizzes into place next to Travis. "Because I never want to see your face again. Good luck slumming it with those losers."
And just like that, Black Magic is gone.
What the hell? How could Black Magic just give up on him like this, without giving him a chance to explain himself? Who says she gets to give him ultimatums like this?
Turning back around, he spotted Null and Lucky waiting for him instead. They're joined by a beaming Shula and Sky—even Bearcat looks excited to see him.
"Oh my god, Gravitate, you rock!" Shula screams, launching herself into Travis arms superfast and nearly knocking him over.
When he finally pries free of Shula's grip, Sky hugs him too, tears in her eyes.
"Thank you ever so much," Sky whispers. "I don't know what else to say."
"Well, I do," Lucky says, cutting in to huddle everyone together. "Because the six of us are going to win this entire thing!"
As the Underdog alliance begins to cheer, he has to believe he made the right choice.
Either way, he knows he'll find out soon.