“Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen! I’m Drake Bordignon, and welcome to the first episode of America’s Next Great Assistant: World Tour!” Drake shouted at the camera, the screams of the nearby crowds joining in, as the camera zooms out from its close-up on his face.
Drake was clearly playing into the theme for the season, wearing his iconic black button down t-shirt, a puffy dark blue vest with multiple pockets, and green khakis with even more pockets. He was also wearing a scarf and a bright orange backpack. A large, brown steamer trunk was situated right behind him. “We’re here, tonight, on the tarmac of LAX to kick off the first ever World Tour of our aspiring World Class Magician-to-be: Martin Horn!” The audience cheered loudly again.
The camera took to doing graceful aerial shots over LAX International Airport at night, bouncing between some generic shots of the terminals and several higher quality ones: The LAX sign, which was currently being lit up with Rainbow Lighting; the unique white, swooping arches of the Theme Building; and an overhead shot of the various in-use runways, showing off the impressive amount of incoming and outgoing airplanes via a time-lapse.
Drake’s voiceover continued over these shots, “Tonight, we’ll be meeting the six contestants chosen to compete in America’s favorite magic competition. Then, over the next five weeks, they’ll be pushing their bodies to the absolute limit, physically, emotionally, and magically, as they travel around the world, trying to show off to you, the viewing Public, that they have what it takes to be America’s Next Great Assistant.” As he emphasized each word in that final sentence, the aerial shots shifted over to a live view of six limousines traveling down the tarmac towards Drake and the crowd that had been gathered to see the contestants off.
The shot cut back over to Drake and the crowd, Drake grinning despite the fact he was clearly sweating bullets from his outfit and the June Los Angeles heat. “Well, there’s no point in holding it off any longer. Let’s introduce this year’s contestants!” The crowd applauded as the first of the six limos pulled up to their location.
The cheering only grew exponentially louder, as out of the limo stepped a woman with a blue triangular pyramid instead of a head. “Hey ANGA fans! Are you ready to Rock?!” Her synthesized voice projected impressively well over the cheers of the crowd. She was wearing a plain black t-shirt; a ripped pair of black jeans; some black, fingerless gloves; and climbing down her arms were several tattoos that were glowing the same impressive blue as her LCD covered head. She also had with her a black backpack, a large metal carrying case that looked approximately the size of a keyboard which was covered with a variety of band stickers, and a black hat box.
When the crowd answered affirmatively, the very tip of her triangular head spun around twice, and one of the contestant’s remixes began playing. It was a mashup of ‘Robot Rock’ by Daft Punk and ‘I Wanna Rock’ by Twisted Sister, and despite the very different sounds between the two, the mix managed to weave a triumphant entrance tune, as she walked over to Drake.
Drake let the music go on for a little bit longer, before signaling for her to stop the music, which she obliged. Standing next to him, with her triangular head the contestant was only about two inches shorter than him. “Welcome Kacie, and congratulations on being chosen to participate this season.”
“Thanks. And please, when I’m wearing this head, call me Tetra,” The cute, animated face on the front side of the pyramid gave a little wink.
“Okay… And I’m assuming that your regular head-“
“Head’s in here? Yep!” Tetra placed her large carrying case on the ground, turning the hat box right side up and opening to reveal the catatonic Asian head of Kacie inside. She looked like she was pleasantly sleeping, as Tetra explained, “I normally get a little queasy whenever I travel by plane, so I’ll typically wear Tetra so I can get some work done without the nausea.”
“That’s good to hear. And is that big case holding an extra body?” Drake joked.
“Nope! Just my DJ gear,” Tetra’s screen smiled, “After all, I’m going to need it to help make new sets each week for my acts.” The audience cheered, as Tetra closed up her head box and lifted up her case.
“Alright then,” Drake smiled, “Please stand over there and we’ll greet our next contestant!” He gestured towards a carpet bearing the logo for the season. It was the classic ANGA logo, but underneath were the words ‘World Tour’ and behind that was a large image of a globe with an airplane flying across it.
As Kacie walked over to her spot, the next limo had already pulled up and the audience was cheering. Stepping out of it was African American woman with a slightly darker than almond color skin tone. She had her normally free flowing, black, curly hair tied up in dreads, better pronouncing the red streaks that were tied in their own braids. She was wearing sunglasses (despite it being nighttime) a purple blouse, jeans, and was carrying a camcorder case, the long strap situated so that the case was flush against her hips.
“Hello Dahlia,” Drake greeted her. Standing next to her, the two were about the same height. “Congratulations on being chosen to participate this season.”
“Thanks Drake,” Dahlia smiled. Her greeting was spoken relaxed, but with a clear excitement underneath. “…I’m glad to be here.”
“Now, you’re not a Native English speaker, right?” Drake asked, clearly fishing for an answer.
“…That’s correct, Drake.” Dahlia’s slight french accent being played up a little bit in her response.
“Do you think that that’s going to affect your ability to perform effectively as a Magician’s assistant?”
“…I don’t think so,” Dahlia calmly answered, “…After all, performance is a universal language…” Dahlia’s lips were pursed, as though looking for the right response, “… One should be able to perform just as effectively… Even if they were silenced.”
“A very powerful message, indeed,” Drake smiled, clearly happy that he had gotten a decent soundbite. “Now, why don’t you go stand with Kac- I mean Tetra, and we’ll continue on with our next contestant.”
Dahlia curtsied politely to Drake, before walking over to stand on the carpet with Kacie.
The next limousine pulled up, and out came the next contestant to yet more applause. She was a rather short, older, white woman, her curly hair doing its best to add a couple of extra inches by being tied up in a large, bushy side high ponytail. She was wearing an outfit clearly designed around comfort as opposed to style, with an orange shirt that hung rather loosely on her, a plain brown purse, and black yoga pants.
“Hello Olive,” Drake greeted her as she walked over, “Congratulations on being chosen to participate this season.”
“Aw. Thank you sweetie,” Olive responded back in her thick Minnesotan accent. She suddenly hugged Drake, her pony-tail barely hitting Drake’s chin. Drake, caught off guard by the hug, did his best to recover and hug her back. “To be honest, when,” she sniffed, her voice wavering slightly, “When I got the message that I was going to be a contestant this season. You know, it really- *sniff* It really brightened up my day.”
“T-That’s great to hear,” Drake was still clearly uncomfortable with the fact that Olive was still hugging him.
“You know, getting to perform again. It’s just something I- I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it again.” Olive finally broke the hug, “Aw. Look at me go, now. Blubbering like a baby,” Olive reached into her purse, pulling out a handkerchief, which she used to wipe at the corners of her eyes before blowing her nose into it.
“Is there anything you’d want to say to your family watching at home?” Drake asked, hoping to brighten up Olive’s mood.
“Oh yah! Thanks for reminding me!” Olive smiled at the camera. “Hi Mason! Hi Hannah! Look! Your Ma’s on TV! And Henry! Don’t you forget! Trash pick-ups on Fridays!”
The audience laughed, as Drake, now back in control of the situation, said, “Well Olive, go ahead and stand with the other contestants, and we’ll move on to contestant number four!”
Olive did as she was instructed, and the next limousine pulled up to more cheering. As the door opened up, the camera caught an artistic shot of a slender, white leg in pantyhose popping out, slamming a red stiletto heel onto the tarmac.
The rest of the woman soon climbed out of the vehicle. She was wearing a tight pink dress that sparkled, and thankfully was enough shades redder than her skin to not differentiate itself from her peach colored skin tone. She was wearing dark red lipstick, and her long blond hair was styled super straight down past her shoulders. The sound of her clicking heels on the tarmac were barely audible under the crowd cheering as she walked towards Drake.
“Hello Rachel,” Drake greeted her, “Congratulations on being chosen to participate this season.”
“Thanks Drake,” she grinned with a slight hint of malice. She was already taller than Drake, but the extra height that her heels gave her meant that she practically towered over the show’s host. “I’m so glad the show’s starting. I was starting to get pretty bored waiting for it.”
“Well, sorry to keep you waiting,” Drake returned her grin, “I hope that you’ll find the experience of being on the show to match your expectations.”
“We’ll see,” Rachel winked, as she walked over to where the other contestants were unprompted.
The penultimate limousine pulled up, and the audience reacted the same as with the previous four contestants.
The door opened up, and out walked a mousey looking, African American woman. She was wearing a green t-shirt, and blue jeans, and wearing a brown leather bomber jacket over it. There were several patches over the left shoulder of the jacket. She had done her best to control her frizzy hair, but it still seemed to have the same amount of energy that she had. She pushed up her large glasses on her face, and as soon as she spotted Drake, she squealed in excitement, rushing over and giving him a massive hug.
“Eeeee! Drake! It’s so good to finally meet you!” She squealed. She was about three inches shorter than Drake.
“Ah-“ Drake was caught off guard once again, clearly uncomfortable with the human contact, “Hi Natalie. Congratulations on being chosen to participate this season.”
“Thanks!” Natalie broke their hug, “And I’m so sorry. I know you’re a bit of a germaphobe, but I just saw you, and I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s fine,” Drake said, slightly more curt than he probably intended, adjusting his vest.
“Anyways, I’m just so excited to be here! When are we going to get to meet Martin?”
“He’ll be out here shortly,” Drake’s composure had returned, “And we’re really excited to have you. Please go join your fellow contestants, and we’ll greet our final contestant.”
Natalie skipped over to the other contestants, and immediately began chatting them up, bouncing up and down on her feet with excitement.
The final limousine pulled up, and the audience made an effort to give some extra oomph to their cheers to celebrate.
The woman stepped out, and it was rather surprising to see that she basically looked exactly the same as she had in her audition video. She was wearing a plain gray t-shirt and blue jeans. She was wearing a minimal amount of make-up, and her mane of brown hair was just as wild as ever. There was absolutely no expression on her face as she walked down the tarmac towards Drake.
“Hello Paxton!” Drake greeted her, “Congratulations on being chosen to par-“ Drake was interrupted, as rather than stopping to talk to him, she had continued walking towards where the other contestants had congregated. “Uh, Paxton. You’re supposed to stop here and talk to me,” he politely reminded her.
Paxton stopped, turning around and looking at the ground as she walked back to where Drake was. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Drake wasn’t sure what exactly to do, “…As I was saying, Congrats on being selected as a contestant. Are you excited to compete?”
Paxton shrugged.
Drake looked nervously at the camera, “So… That was a pretty interesting audition tape you had…"
“I had a better one," Paxton mumbled, "But then I uploaded the wrong file.” Her mood visibly worsened, “I can’t even upload a file correctly…”
Drake was unsure of what to do in this situation, so against his better judgement, he walked over and gave her a hug and a pat on the back. “Don’t worry… it'll be okay?” Drake was clearly inexperienced in this sort of situation.
“Can I go stand with the others now?” Paxton mumbled into Drake.
“Yeah,” Drake broke up the hug, “That's probably for the best.”
Drake watched her go to stand with the others, than looked back at the camera, clapping his hands together and cracking a joke to try and lighten the mood, “Boy, there sure was a lot of hugging this year.”
The audience gave some light, awkward chuckling, as Drake continued, “But now, on to the main event! Because, what would a World Tour be without a mighty chariot to carry it?” Drake was back in full showman mode now, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together for ANGA’s officially sponsored aircraft, the AFT-1!”
The crowd cheered, as the camera panned over to what appeared to be a completely normal part of the runway. Several airport personnel wearing bright red orange vests came over, grabbing at something on the ground and pulling.
As they walked backwards, a tarp that had previously been invisible began to reappear. Soon enough, the tarp was completely removed, and now there was an airplane where there hadn’t been one before.
The airplane was rather small for something that was going to be presumably be used for traveling internationally. That’s not to say it was the size of a biplane, but more so that it looked like it could probably only fit about fifty people comfortably.
The airplane had a paint job reminiscent of a magic wand, the nose cone being painted white, while the body was pure black.
Well, mostly pure black. This was a sponsored aircraft after all, and as such it obviously had the various logos of the companies that had sponsored it. The largest of these logos was the ANGA one, but there was also a Channel 17 logo, a World Magic Organization logo, and various other sponsors.
The door to the aircraft opened, a small staircase descending, as Martin Horn exited the aircraft. He was wearing the same outfit he had been wearing when he answered audience questions: a white button up shirt, blue blazer, and gray slacks. He gave one of his trademark, white toothy grins as he said, “Hello everyone!”
The audience cheered (Natalie’s cheering audible above everyone else’s), and as Martin approached Drake and the contestants, Drake gave him a proper introduction, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Martin Horn!”
He gave a little bow, “I’m very honored the opportunity to be the magician for this year’s season. Hopefully I’ll be able to do as good a job as those who came before me.”
“Martin, I’m sure there be many things you’ll be discussing with these assistants as the season goes along, but is there anything you want to say here, right now, before you’ve even really talked to any of them?” Drake asked.
“Yes,” Martin towards the assistants, all of them looking at him expectantly, as he grew serious, “Just like with season’s prior, I was given total control in selecting which contestants were chosen this year. I want to make it absolutely clear to all of you, that I chose you for one very specific reason. And that is that I think you six have the best potential out of all of the other applicants. I want you to know that, even if you may not feel like you’ve earned your spot or are voted out on the first week, just making it this far is something to be proud of, and should be something to encourage you to keep going.”
The girls were moved in different ways by Martin’s words, Olive shook her head in agreement; Kacie and Rachel smiled; Natalie had her jaw hanging open and looked like she was about to burst; Dahlia bit her lip; and Paxton blushed and tried her best to hide her reaction behind the crowd of five other assistants.
Martin clapped his hands, his mood shifting back to his more happy demeanor, “In any case, I think it’s about time we getting going. After all, it’s going to be a loooong flight.”
"That’s right,” Drake smiled, “After all, the first stop on world tour is none other than,” Drake opened the top left pocket of his vest, pulling out a mostly blue flag, “Australia!”
The audience cheered excitedly, and with no further fanfare, Martin, Drake, and the contestants piled their way into the AFT-1.
As one would expect from an airplane for a magic TV show, the inside of the AFT-1 was much larger than it’s outside would have lent you to believe. Where one would have expected to see seats in a normal airplane, instead the cabin had long hardwood floors and mirrors, similar to a practice studio.
At the very end of this studio, a spiral staircase lead upwards to multiple other floors of the airplane. The second floor was a dining car, with rather ornate tables that were nailed to the floor to prevent them from sliding around. The third floor matched the standard airplane layout, with multiple rows of seats packed six to a row, with a central lane down the middle.
The fourth floor was where the cast was going to be temporarily staying on their travel. The floor was split up into individual ‘pods’. Essentially, walled off sections that had all of the pleasantries one would expect from traveling first class, with a reclinable massage chair, TV, fully stocked mini-bar, even a little sink!
The girls strapped in, Drake and Martin making their way to their own exclusive section of the plane, and soon enough, the girls were soaring fast through the air.
~~~
Layover
The flight to Australia was mostly uneventful. The girls had gotten situated in their various seats away from each other, and after about an hour or two of entertaining themselves, they all fell asleep.
When they each awoke, it was still a couple of hours until they touched down in Australia, so for the most part they kept to themselves. There were a couple of incidents that broke this generality.
By sheer coincidence, Paxton and Olive had gone down to the dining floor to get breakfast at around the same time.
“Oh, Hello dear,” Olive gave Paxton a warm smile as she sat down at her table, who didn’t seem to notice, “Now, I didn’t want to intrude, but I happened to watch your audition tape and-“
Paxton stood up to leave, but Olive grabbed her wrist, “Now wait a moment, Dear. I’m not gonna lecture ya.” Paxton sat back down. “I just wanted to make sure you knew. If ya ever need someone to talk to- and it doesn’t be about anything, mind you- I’m always available.”
Paxton sat silently, looking at her bowl of cheerios, before mumbling, “Thanks.”
“Now eat up,” she lightly patted Paxton on the back, chuckling a little bit, “You’re as skinny as skeleton.”
Another of these incidents occurred when Natalie knocked on the door of Kacie’s pod. “Hello?” she asked nervously.
The loading bar that had been on Tetra’s screen shifted to her regular, animated face. She had been fiddling around on her DJ equipment, which looked almost as though someone had sewn a turn-table onto half of a keyboard, but clearly Tetra was very familiar with how to use the device to make good sounding music. “Come in,” her synthesized voice said.
Natalie came in, nervously looking everywhere but at Tetra. “H-Hi. I’m Natalie.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tetra smiled warmly (well, as warmly as her simplistic avatar's face would allow), “I watched everyone’s audition videos when the cast got announced.”
“Oh yeah,” Natalie smiled nervously, “I did too, but I wasn’t sure if everyone else had. Plus, you’re like a super cool DJ, so I thought maybe that you’d be busier with other stuff… Anyways! I’m like, a super huge fan,” Natalie pulled out her phone, showing off that she had the three EPs that Kacie had released prior to her run on ANGA. “I started listening to your stuff as soon as I found out you were going to be a contestant. It really rocks.”
“Thanks!” Tetra smiled, she tilted her head as she smiled.
“I was sort of wondering, if I could get your autograph?” Natalie asked.
“Sure thing!” Tetra winked, “I’ll even do yours the special way.”
“What’s-“ But before she was even able to ask, a panel in the LCD on the back, left face of Tetra’s pyramid head opened up, revealing a slit. From this slit, the sound of a printer could be heard, as a small, index card side piece of paper popped out. As Tetra grabbed the card and handed it to Natalie, the panel slid back into place.
The card had Tetra’s signature printed on it, and a tiny number in the corner indicating how many autograph's Tetra had previously printed. Tetra’s signature was stylized as TETRA, with the E having the top and bottom stroke pointing towards the middle, almost making it look like a triangle.
“Wow! That’s so cool!” Natalie gushed.
“Yeah. Joel added it to save me time at autograph signings,” Tetra smiled, “it really helps keep the line moving at fan meet-ups.”
Natalie and Tetra continued to talk for a few more minutes after that, but soon both back went to their own devices.
~~~
Sydney International Airport
Soon enough, the plane finally touched down at Sydney International Airport. The contestants eagerly watched from their windows as their long journey had finally came to an end.
It was approximately 9:00 am, when they finally had been brought out of taxiing and could walk on solid ground once more. Per Martin’s instruction, the girls left their personal items on board the plane (just like their suitcases, they would be brought to where they were going to be staying by the production team), meaning that for the first time so far this competition, Kacie had put back on her original head. The girls were all still in the same outfits they had initially boarded the plane with, save for Rachel, who had somehow managed to change from her pink dress to a much more relaxed pink t-shirt and jeans.
Drake smiled as he walked out, rounding up the girls and Martin into a single spot and making an announcement, “Well contestants, I’ve got some great news. Unlike seasons prior, after today you all will have complete freedom to explore at your own pace.” There was some hooping and hollering from the more outgoing members of the cast.
Drake held up a hand, smiling as he said, “But first, the producers thought it might be a good idea to help get you acquainted with some of the locales.”
The camera’s shifted to an aerial view, following a jeep as it drove down the tarmac towards the team. Along the top of it read the words, ‘Australian Outback Touring’. Once it had parked, the driver stepped out of the car.
She seemed to be a woman in her early thirties with dirty blond hair. She was wearing a light brown khaki hat, a short cut khaki crop top, and khaki shorts, with large black combat boots. She seemed rather short, probably either a low five feet or a high four feet, and had absolutely massive thighs.
What was probably most immediately noticeable about her, though, was the fact that right below where her crop top ended, her skin seemed to flap outwards. This was because stretching across the expanse of her visible stomach was a massive pouch.
“G’day Shielas!” The tour guide smiled, speaking in a thick Australian accent, “My name’s Joey. I’ll be your tour guide for the day.”
None of the girls had ever seen anyone like Joey in the states. She casually reached into her pouch, pulling out some pamphlets, commenting on the girls astonishment, “Don’t just stand there with your laughing gear flapping in the breeze, or I'd reckon you'll catch some flies.” Those that had been staring looked away, but she simply laughed, “Don’t worry, I get it a heaps of times from yanks. It's no surprise that most of you lot have never seen a Marsupian before, seeing as how you don’t have many ‘roos 'round your way.”
She proceeded to walk down the line, handed them each a pamphlet. “Here's your maps. They’ve got some useful information like sites and where to get a feed, but unfortunately if you want the beez knees of things to do and see, you’re gonna to have to do the hard yakka and go looking for it yourself.”
With the pamphlets handed out, she gestured to her Jeep, “Now, hop on in. I’ll show you around Sydney.”
Drake, Martin, and the girls piled on in after Joey into her tour Jeep.
They drove around Sydney, Joey pointing out many of the more famous landmarks: The large, white, wave-like structure of the Sydney Opera House, the magnificence of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the massive grinning archway of Luna Park.
As they drove by Hyde Park, Joey said, "-And while we’re driving by, I’d like to say right now to keep your eye out for any Koalas you catch a glimpse of in the trees while here in great southern land. Because most of the time, it’s probably a drop bear, waiting for its next feed to come by.”
“I thought drop bears were just a myth?” Rachel asked nervously.
“Strewth! Drop bears are fair dinkum, the real deal unfortunately. My own uncle lost his pinkie finger on a dare to poke a Koala.” The jeep collectively gasp. “Too right! If you ever reckon that a koala may be a drop bear, just remember to try to speak in an Aussie accent. They don't seem to have an appetite for attacking locals.”
Eventually, after about an hour of rather reckless driving, the group found themselves back at the Sydney International Airport.
“…What are we doing back here?” Dahlia asked, as they approached.
“Well, we just completed the land portion of our tour,” Joey grinned, as she drove them to a small aircraft on the very outskirts of the Airport’s tarmac. It was a decently sized propeller plane, with wide windows on both sides to look out of. The touring company’s logo was sprayed across the body underneath. “Next, I’m gonna take you up in the air and show you the Outback.”
“Wait! You’re a pilot too?!” Natalie asked, amazed.
“Of course. Wouldn’t be that good a tour guide if I wasn’t,” Joey smiled.
~~~
Broken Hill, Australia
The plane ride above Australia was significantly shorter to their international travel, and thankfully because they were flying much lower to the ground and during the day, they got to enjoy an absolutely breathtaking view as they flew towards the more rural parts of Australia. All the while, Joey provided them interesting commentary on the various dangerous wild-life unique to Australia, the best way to avoid them, and what to do if you were accidentally bitten by them.
Soon enough though, their two hour long tour in the air came to an end, and Joey brought their plane at the Broken Hill airport.
The girls were then shuttled into yet another jeep owned by the touring company, as Joey drove them about ten minutes south to a particularly desolate portion of the outback. The ground was caked with red dirt, the only sign of any life were the occasional dried up bush that dotted the landscape.
As they reached their destination, Martin smiled, “Well girls. I’m happy to say that I can give your very first, no-rewards introductory task. And it’s a bit of a doozy.” The girls seemed intrigued, as he explained. “You see, this spot is actually the location for the very first entrance discovered for the Eastern Australian Wellspring. Your first task, and the one most important to proving yourself ready to become my assistant, is that you’ll have to find the entrance, and have the wellspring accept you in.”
The girls looked around nervously, Rachel asking up, “Um… Any hints on where to start looking?”
Martin smiled his toothy grin, “I can tell you that we're in 100 meters of it. I can mark off how far that is in the sand if you need it, but basically, if you can’t see Drake and I, you’ve probably gone too far.”
Before they began, Joey had one last thing to say to them, “Alright girls, this is unfortunately where we say hooroo. It’s been a real ripper being your tour guide. And I hope you all manage to find the Wellspring. Especially before the the sun goes over the hill and you start to freeze your arses off." The girls laughed at Joey's comment, expressing a similar sentiment before the Marsupian took her leave.
After about fifteen minutes of searching, without even a hint to what exactly they were looking for, the girls had naturally managed to succeed in finding nothing. Without much direction, their minds naturally drifted towards finding alternative solutions to their problem.
“Wait, I think I’ve got it,” Natalie told her fellow contestants. She went up to Martin, “Martin, I don’t think any of us know how to find the Wellspring. Could you please help?”
Martin smiled warmly, “I’m glad that you asked me for help. It’s really brave of you to be willing to swallow your pride and ask for assistance,” his smile shifted into more of a mischievous grin, "but I’m also afraid I’m not Howard. You can trust me when I say there’s no tricks to this one.”
“…What if it’s where your standing?” Dahlia asked.
Martin grinned again, stepping aside. Dahlia walked over to where he was standing, but try as she might, she couldn’t find whatever it was that they were looking for.
“Can you at least tell us what we’re looking for?” Rachel asked, “Like is it a button that we need to press?”
“All I can tell you is that when you do find it, you’ll know,” Martin said.
“Know it when we find it? What kind of advice is that?” Paxton mumbled, “It’s not like the answer’s suddenly going to-“
The other girls remained unaware of what unfolded with Paxton, instead still focusing on Martin. “How about a game of Hot and Cold?” Kacie asked.
“Well, I don’t know how much you’d need that, because it seems that Paxton has won this first non-competition,” Martin grinned. The rest of the contestants turned around, trying to find where Paxton had gone off to.
“Did anyone see where Paxton was?” Rachel asked.
“I think she was searching around here,” Olive pointed, walking over to where she last remember seeing Paxton. “She couldn’t have gotten very-“ This time, the girls were much more aware of what exactly was happening when a contestant disappeared.
As Olive stepped into where Paxton had been, she had suddenly found her foot rapidly sinking into the red sand of the outback. The solid ground seemed to act like a liquid, as the unexpected change of consistency in the ground had caused Olive to pitch forwards, making a literal splash in the ground as she was swallowed whole.
The girls stared at the sight they had just witnessed, before looking at each other. Kacie, Rachel, and Natalie eagerly ran towards the spot, Rachel did a cannonball as she jumped in, while the other two simply ran into the spot.
Soon enough, Dahlia was left all alone up top. She cautiously approached the vanishing point, looking at the spot intently and slowly dipping her big toe in. When she saw it sink like everyone else, she smiled, taking the plunge into the unknown.
~~~
Australia’s Wellspring
The girls emerged from the ground, their eyes immediately trying to adjust to the much darker lighting. When they did, they could see that they were basically in an underground tunnel. The rock around them was blue and chalky, and there were several torches along the wall, but interesting enough, they were all hanging upside-down, the flames impossible pointing downwards towards their feet.
As the girls got there bearings and stood up, Drake and Martin casually emerged from the ground themselves. “Congratulations girls!” Drake announced, shaking some blue dust off of his vest, “You’ve managed to find the Wellspring!”
“Yep,” Martin smiled, happy with the results, “And as a reward, after we get lodging all figured out, I’ll show you all around. But, since it’s getting late, and I’m sure we’re all a bit jet lagged from the flight still, how about we figure that out first?”
Martin led the way down the blue tunnel. Occasionally, the path would intersect with other tunnels, and Martin would have to think for a moment, trying to remember something, but eventually, the managed to find their way to a large central atrium.
Despite how dark the caves they had just emerged from had been, the atrium was surprisingly well lit, the roof above them being filled with a naturally glowing gemstone. Along the atrium's walls, multiple other caves split off into hundreds of other directions. Each one had various sign posting, some of them had road signs with familiar city names on them like Sydney or Melbourne. Others had signs representing businesses. Yet others had large red X signs or red ‘condemned’ signs (one of which was above the tunnel the contestants had just came out of).
The group made their way towards the large tunnel that had a ‘HOTEL’ sign above it. As they entered, the camera focused on the sign placed on the ground outside of the hotel and what it read:
‘Welcome ANGA Contestants/Fans to the Down Under!’