Nobody knew how the accident actually started. Maybe between a few drinks at the bar? Carefully passed notes along the way?
Or maybe a secret meeting in the early hours of the morning? Whatever the root cause, here we are on the second Tuesday in November. Nervous, but also fascinated.
From an unknown corner of the room, an unexpected but clear voice sounds: “Welcome everyone to the 27th Annual Underground Truth or Dare Tournament!” In the dark, shadowy basement of the factory, there is a constant hustle and bustle of workers gathering.
As the cheering finally fades into a quiet murmur, the announcer continues.
Now for the rules:
1 Only participants who have accepted all the rules of the game are admitted to the competition.
2 Each of your four team members must complete a Truth or Dare challenge before the team can move on to the next stage.
3 If a participant loses a challenge or fails to complete a task at the end of the round, they are eliminated from the game and the rest of the team has fewer members to switch to.
4 Refusal or courage to answer a question is tantamount to immediate exclusion from the game.
Finally, the participant who successfully completes the final Truth or Dare challenge will receive the trophy and prize money!
The competition starts now!
What a crazy adventure we have just begun! Our team is preparing for the preliminary task when the referee approaches us.
“the truth?”
We exchanged brief glances, then, as usual, Carlos came in and said, “No problem.” To dare!”
“We dare you to eat a grasshopper.”
“simply!”
Carlos conveys the message. He was never a stranger to exceptional cuisine. As he crushes the body, you can see his dangling legs before he eats the rest. “What were those four seconds?” Flirting
“Disgusting,”
Nova announced, rolling her eyes. They move on and conclude that the truth may be a better priority. “Good,” she tells the referee, preparing to respond.
“What do you usually do on Saturdays? »
She thought her weekend efforts might have something to do with the game, so she was willing to embarrass herself for the team.
“I’m spending the weekend with my grandparents. We sew and watch old BBC shows. The referee seems happy with his answer and no one is laughing, which is a plus.
I forgot to mention that we are all connected to a “truth detector” to make sure our answers are correct. Lies or half-truths are not accepted.
Now it’s my turn. “Courage”
The referee checks his notebook and says: “We dare you to call the police.” »
“Oh, we’ve done this before, haven’t we, Melanie?” Nova opened.
“I guess it’s not that bad.” What can I even say?
Beep, beep, beep…
“Hey, what’s your emergency?”
Note to self: Add some concern and urgency to your tone. “Yes! Helper! My cat… my cat, she was attacked by a raccoon! I have to go, hurry up! (Call ended)
When the conversation ended, we couldn’t stop laughing. I hope they don’t find my number. However, the team was given a different task.
Then D (real name: tooth, but we rarely use it).
“D is for courage,” he laughs.
“You dare to eat chili that hot.”
“He can,” said Dante, and we have no doubt of his fact. “No one would turn down the opportunity to pamper my taste buds. » The three of us roll our eyes again.
The next rounds are similar:
“Have you ever cheated on a test?”
“We dare you to pour a drink over your head.”
“You have the guts to eat a cow’s eyeball.”
“Have you ever stolen from a store?”
“Who is the person you really hate?”
“We dare you to put the needle in our hands.”
The challenges remain. The twenty-seven teams gradually became twenty, then eleven, and now there are only three teams.
My last challenge to shave part of my head was a resounding no, so now we’re down to three members on our team, but that’s okay because the other two teams are a competitor or two behind. Advantage: We are.
The start of the seventh round:
“Brave,” Nova decided.
“How dare you eat a whole Portobello mushroom?” Seems pretty simple, right? But Nova absolutely hates mushrooms, so they obviously did some homework on each contestant that they can use in later rounds.
“Don’t be fooled,” Carlos encourages.
“Yes, we know you won’t let us down!” Adds Dr.
“Okay, here you go.”
A look of determination appears on her face as she attacks her opponent and falls to the ground. The meaty texture and earthy taste are almost too difficult to digest. There’s a little gag, but then it clicks. She wasn’t going to let the fungus get the better of her, not today. A quarter of the way…take a deep breath…and now half of the way. Nova looks at us before returning to her challenge. A final fragment looks back at him and Nova refuses to be the cause of her downfall. She crushes the rest of the frog with her open mouth, swallows it, and then shows it to the judge.
“Well done, no!”
“Yeah, well done for getting off to a good start in the seventh inning!”
“Who’s next?” asks the referee.
“Serve up the next challenge!” Carlos looks so confident now, “Courage.” So far it’s done a good job for the deer.
“We challenge you to hold a tarantula for a hundred seconds.” The referee almost laughed at Carlos’ sudden facial change.
The rest of us feel Carlos’ heart rate rising, so we do our best to keep our comments satisfactory.
“A hundred seconds, Carlos. “That’s not enough to warm our pockets,” Dee’s comment was clearly intended to inject some humor into the tense scene.
Carlos tries to hide the trembling as the tarantula leaves the cage. Carlos’ eyes keep grazing our faces with huge and magnificent creatures.
“Are you ready?” » asked the referee expectantly.
“Don’t look at the tarantula, Carlos. Just look me in the eyes. The only way the team can be supported now is to help them stay focused.
Firm hands, even breathing, looking Mel in the eyes. Firm hands, even breathing, looking Mel in the eyes.
Carlos repeated the slogan over and over again. He feels several legs touching and does everything he can to stay frozen. The seconds pass one by one like a tarantula. Carlos looks into Melanie’s crystal blue eyes and almost forgets the terrible insects underneath. At.
The referee counts the seconds: twelve, eleven, ten…
“Yes!!” Carlos waves with both hands as the tarantula crosses the room. A small red puncture appears on Carlos’ palm.
“Sorry I’m out, mate,” the referee said with a condescending look on his face.
The sudden appearance of the tournament announcer surprised some people. “We only have our last two teams left in the competition. Let the most determined player prove himself.
“Well, there’s only one of us left for the ride, and that’s me,” Dee offered, “so let’s try the truth.”
“What has always been your biggest fear? » asked the referee with a raised eyebrow.
D is silent, his eyes sparkle and his hands begin to shake. We all know the secret that has haunted Die for years, but revealing this fear to someone else seems painful for Dante. He couldn’t talk about that day for years. Can we really ask him to come this far in a single game?
After hours, especially for Dante, he scans our faces. Worry, be clear, for D’s sake, not for fun.
“You don’t have to say a word, Dee,” Nova confirmed.
“We can all go now.” “The game can only get worse from here,” I thought agonizingly about what could happen next.
“NO. Nova has a good chance of making it, so we can’t deny him that. D turns to the referee, the terrible scene from so many years ago now haunting him: “Refuse answer.”
“Well, it’s not what we expected,” she wrote on her scoresheet, “but we keep going.”
A loud groan could almost be heard several tables away. The other team lost the final challenge.
Only Nova remains! The rules say he has to be the last to complete the task, so there’s something else to do.
Nova’s deep breaths help calm us all.
“the truth?” Request for Arbitration.
Nova assesses her fate and then says sternly, “The truth.” Mushroom’s recent courage must have influenced him to some extent.
“Only you can save one of your comrades from the flood. What will you choose? »
“How about two more?”
“You can probably guess,” the referee replies, nodding.
Nova seems to be running very slowly in every way. “Well, no…” “That won’t work.” “You can choose… okay?”
The more I thought, the more anxious I became. “Honestly, how am I supposed to make a decision like that? »
“Does that mean you refuse to answer?” The referee assesses Nova’s reaction.
“No, that’s not the answer!” Dee stands up for Nova.
Nova understands what she says next: 1. Lose the championship to team or 2. This forever changes bonds that took years to build. Why did he choose the truth? Can others know how much he is suffering today? At least they don’t know the end result.
“We need an answer,” said the referee impatiently after hours of duels.
Tears streamed down her face as she weakly replied, “D.”
The referee checks the truth detector and writes down his notebook, then smiles and says, “Congratulations Nova, please follow me!” And d, you can come too.
We see Nova and Dee walking towards the small stage in the back of the basement. Maybe the theater doesn’t have enough space for all of us. It’s not a big problem. We will have the trophy and the money soon.
The tournament announcer returned to the stage and declared Nova the champion. “Congratulations, Nova! She beats everyone and wins the trophy and two hundred thousand dollars at the 27th Annual Underground Truth or Dare Tournament!
At that moment the scene splits and slowly moves towards the rafters above. Even though the shock that flashed across The face seemed real, the look on Nova’s face couldn’t have been more mysterious. The mix of sadness, embarrassment and shame reveals his true betrayal.
We rushed to the stage in shock, but Carlos stood there. He probably understood that we wouldn’t reach the podium, and my heart suddenly sank. As Nova and I fled through the narrow ditch, Carlos turned to me and we exchanged one last frustrated look before gallons of water poured out of the vents above us.
