"The fairy tales of old still tell the truth. The prince might not be charming, the princess might not be in distress, but there will always be an end."
That Guy
"WHAT?! What do you mean he's at the airport?!"
"You know how he is. He does as he pleases, and in this case, he left without telling."
I facepalm in frustration. Justin may have been locked up in his room or so for the past five years, but he still hasn't changed a single bit if his thought process is to gather everyone at one location, then leave. "Charlie, why is he still as stupid as five years ago?" The man in front of me shakes his head in disgust. "He's planning something big, but as to what, I don't have any concrete evidence." He starts pacing around the room, shuffling around the many scattered shelves and crates of equipment. "Well, couldn't you have at least deduced that we're doing another season of TTL?" I ask with a mocking tone, before getting a cold stare back. "I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not, and frankly, I could rather care less if you don't intend to help." I grimace at his attitude towards the situation, and seeing how we haven't even started yet, I have to deduce that Charlie means a lot more than business this time around. "Look, I know that I'm asking a lot of you, TG, but I need to you scavenge for anything suspicious or useful here." He says, not even looking in my direction as he speaks. "Wouldn't Justin get on to you or something if he found you poking through the surprise supplies? He'd be the type to have some security cameras around here, right?" I say, scanning the ceiling for anything out of the ordinary. "Already have Announcer on it." Charlie responds, giving another cut and dry response.
He has no cameras, at least to my knowledge. He usually links me up to them anyways.
"Well, glad to see that you're doing as fine as ever. Get outside of your room more than Justin?"
I say with a stupid smile on my face.
I cannot neither confirm nor deny those allegations.
I look over to Charlie, who is still
searching for anything that he may find useful. “You doing any actual work, TG?”
He says in his usual deadpan manner. “Nope. I’d rather know more about the
situation before I decide if it’s a good idea to start helping it.” “Fair
enough. Ask, and you shall receive answers, if it is in my powers and not in my
contract.” The opportunities to ask questions and receive reliable information
in TTL are very sparse, so I decided to start broad and work my way down the
list.
“To start, are there any big sweeping changes or gimmicks to this season?”"We're actually going to travel the real Oregon Trail this time." Charlie says almost immediately after I finish speaking. “Justin couldn’t afford a good set, as he stated that ‘spending five years cooped up in his room didn’t do much for his own budget.’ So we’re going to start and finish in the actual locations." The thought sends a shiver down my spine, and I feel as if a haunting will befall us shortly. "That… doesn’t sit well with my body. Actually have to travel instead of doing everything on a set? You’re asking too much of me!" I protest, only to find that my pleas fall on deaf ears. “Your loss if we leave you behind to die, then. Charlie casually says. "HEY! I died EVERY season in the past! Couldn’t you show some empathy?!" I shout in anguish, the memories and nightmares now coming back to me in vivid detail. "I work for the team, not the individual. If you be selfish, then I’ll be apathetic." He says as bland as if you’ve seen a TV ad for the millionth time. I hang my head down in surrender, knowing that any more arguments would just be wasting my own time. "Guess I’d have to do some actual work sometime… We having any special guests this season, or is it going to be just the usual five?" I hear a few objects thrown to the ground in the distance, as Charlie walks back to me with his hands full of miscellaneous objects. “I’ll be the one joining this season, since we don’t have a personal set to attend to.” My eyes immediately light up at the new acquisition. If Charlie is with us, then we have someone who is very reliable as our sixth, rather than another mouth to feed and another possible death threat to fear.
“Any other surprises to keep an eye out on?” I say without any real intention, already satisfied with the information I’ve received.
“Nothing to my own knowledge. Unless he made you sign an additional binding contract.”
Two cars incoming. Guessing it’s the others.
The next few minutes were all a blur. The six of us standing together, as if chosen by fate. The man with the wavy hair, shining glasses, and confidence bigger than mine, Justin. The short, pig-tailed, and reliable Esther, who had not grown an inch in the five years away. Tim, ever struck with bed-ridden hair and an ego to match Justin's. Anna, the cold-hearted pony-tailed nature-nymph who I have always had my eyes on. Charlie, constantly standing straight, sturdy, and strong. The Announcer, features unbeknownst to me, yet probably watching over all of us, and me. Standing together, this short moment gives me a sense of nostalgia from five years ago.
"Looks like none of us have really changed, huh? This'll be a wild ride for sure. Just like the days of old." Says Justin, already taking in the sight of his acquaintances. He really has been locked up in his room all this time, hasn’t he?
"Heh, you're one to talk, Justin. I'll show you how much stronger I've become! I will survive this time!" Tim boasts, already setting his expectations high for the season. Too bad he’ll just let the few fans he has down.
"Now now, you two. Can’t we all just get along for the time the time being?” Esther whines, trying to put up an argument. I myself find it pretty hard to argue a peaceful standoff if you’re not even half the size of the contenders.
"Let them be. It makes for less of a distraction to us if they're left to their own devices." Anna says, turning her attention to Charlie. She hasn’t changed a bit… and that’s why I love her. "Got any bright ideas for your own survival?" She says, already trying to collaborate with one of the other competent members of the team.
"Me?" He says, hardly surprised. "My last plan to keep only myself alive fell flat back in Season Nine, along with my heartbeat."
"Eyyyyyyyyyyyy-"
"Don't start, Justin. I intentionally made that pun to prove a point. I intend to refocus my efforts on everyone this season." He proclaims, obviously proud of his revelation.
"Isn't that a bit, counter intuitive? You're quintupling your work load from your last attempt. How do you plan to do that?" I impose, causing the rest of the cast to focus their attention on the tallest member.
"While Justin may have a set plan in motion, I intend to trim the rough edges of it. Keep anything that could be a problem, not a problem. Simple as that. I'm doing the easy lifting, if I must be honest." He says, stretching his arms out a bit, as if his work had already started.
"Well..." Justin trails, stepping behind Charlie. "You may think that you have your own priorities straight, but what good is planning if you can’t enforce the laws?" Charlie doesn’t move an inch, keeping a straight poker face and leaving just to do as he pleases.
"What you didn't realize..."
Justin reaches into his left jacket pocket, causing Tim and Anna to tense up and respond. Tim gets ready to fight, putting his fists up in Justin’s direction. Anna takes out the bow and arrow that she always carries around, ready to fire with pinpoint accuracy if Justin made any drastic moves. However, Justin overpowers both of them by drawing out a revolver from his pocket, putting it to the back of Charlie’s head.
"Is the identity of the enforcer, conductor, and director of this crazy train."
