Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, seduction shenanigans and faking exes aside, it's time to get onto the death in the Toxic Chambers. So, I also just wanna give a quick warning that this death could make you cry. No spoilers, I'm just saying. 

Also, another quick trigger warning; there will be a slight remark about suicide in this chapter. Like, somebody says a line mentioning it and that's it. But, just in case you get triggered by it, please skip this chapter. But now, let's get started! 

Your Author, Marbella. <3

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"We look at the center of the room and see..."

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Gear's POV:

There's this really strange contraption.... thing in the middle of the room.

And I don't like it.

Lia: 'This thing looks extremely creepy, and it basically looks like something out of a horror movie or a science lab. It's really scaring me.'

"I think this is the Toxic Chambers." Lia cautions, standing in front of everybody.

"Bitch, move! I'm 30. I can protect myself!" Zach shouts, pushing himself away from her.

"She was just trying to look out for us, no need to come for her." Lana intervenes, hoping there wouldn't be another fight.

Vanessa finds a note on the floor in front of the chamber and reads it aloud to us. 

It reads:

'Seal the Power Crystal in the power core above the chamber to open it.'

"Yeah, I won't be able to reach that." Val frets, trying to figure how the hell we could get up there.

"I'm the tallest." I interject, raising my hand.

I grab the crystal, opens this panel, put the crystal in, and close it before stepping down off the platform.

And... this thing doesn't open.

That was anti-climatic.

"I think we need to open it." Zach discloses

He approaches it, opens it, and all the smoke billows out.

It smells like shit and I can't see anything.

Thankfully, it fades out really quickly.

After all the smoke clears out, we find a note in the chamber. 

Lia approaches it and reads the note aloud.

It reads:

'You have opened the Toxic Chambers, and regret will surely follow. To cleanse the Inventor's Goggles, they must first be placed in the chamber beneath her feet.'

Lia stops reading as Lana puts the goggles into a compartment beneath the chamber and kicks it shut.

Lia then continues to read the note.

'Then, one of you must be chosen by vote to give up their life and enter the chambers to be gassed. Once the door has been sealed and they have stopped banging on the glass, the goggles will be cleansed. Choose wisely; their death will weigh on your conscience for the rest of the night.'

"Wait, so one of us is gonna have to commit suicide?!" Zach trembles, backing away slowly.

"No, we just have to vote for somebody to go into that thing; right here, right now." Val corrects.

OK, this is not what I was expecting.

We have to betray somebody! We haven't done this before!

What the hell is going on now?

"Yeah, I'm stepping down; don't wanna get murdered." Lia keens, raising her arms.

"Would anybody think this is a plead-your-case moment?" Vanessa suggests, all of us huddling around.

Vanessa: 'There's no challenge, no chance to fight; somebody's gonna go in there and be betrayed by the rest of this group. This is by far the most crucial plead your case moment of tonight.'

"I still think it's obvious who's going in, though, if I'm being honest," Lia growls, eyeing up Zach.

"Let's not start this." Oli squalls, trying to calm the situation down. 

"Let's just plead our cases and then we'll know who's going in there."

I talk of my strengths and that though I have an alliance, I care about everybody.

And genuinely, I do; the only people I really wanna hurt are Lia and Zach, but that's because they're genuinely bad people who are making this mission a nightmare to get through. 

So, that's really my honesty, I'm not lying there.

Oli talks of his loyalty and that he would fight for this group, as well as the fact he had found the golden key to the Box of Dynamo.

Lana says that though she may be a little on the short side and she wasn't able to run the fastest earlier, she was one of the smartest people in the group, being able to solve codes quickly.

And I mean, she ain't wrong. 

Lia says that even though she had a thing for me, if it ever came that she had to choose between her crush and the group, she would choose to help the group, that she will do anything she could to help us.

And I love how she just admitted it; that'll sure make you popular.

Once again, that was my sarcasm.

Vanessa says that even though she had just lost her twin sister, she was trying to be strong, helping the group at every opportunity and just being there for us.

And now, it's Val's turn.

Before you ask about Zach, he couldn't be bothered.

"I think that since we've got here, I've been carrying my weight; I've saved Oli's life, I've won the Dog Woman's challenge, found some bells, battled a Stone Man, and I solved most of the riddles in this shop. I honestly think putting me in there would be a grave mistake for all of you. I will do whatever it takes to get us out of here. And that's a promise." She reassures.

She looks like she's about to break down and I'm starting to get worried.

Is she going to be OK?

Thankfully, Lana and Vanessa are here to hug her.

"It is time to vote," Heidi warns, a look of not compassion, but grave seriousness on her face this time.

"Tap the card with the face of the person you would like to go into the Toxic Chambers."

 "Remember, the more votes for one person, the higher chance I have of pulling their name. I will then shuffle, but will only draw one. We'll start with you." She ends, motioning to Vanessa.

Vanessa: 'I swear, Zach is shady as hell. and he killed my twin sister. So, I'm sorry, but out of everybody in this room, you gotta die the most.'

Vanessa: 'I swear, Zach is shady as hell. and he killed my twin sister. So, I'm sorry, but out of everybody in this room, you gotta die the most.'

Zach votes next. Then Lia.

Lia: 'As much as Gear has seduced me, I have a feeling that he's still with Lana, yet he's lying to me. So, I'm voting for Lana to ensure we can stay together. Nobody will take him from me.'

I vote next. Then Oli, then Lana.

And finally, as per usual, it was Val.

But, then... she turns around, revealing her card.

She voted for Lia.

What?!

She's putting herself in a really bad position; she's giving Lia a reason to have a target on her, which basically destroys my plan of seducing her and using her to our advantage and she's making everything worse in general!

Oli: 'Valentina turns around and shows us ALL that she voted for Lia. I am so shocked; she's taking too many risks right now and I'm worried for her. She better not get reckless; I won't let her!'

"Don't you dare try to seduce Gear in front of me again. I'm sorry, but I won't let you take him from Lana." She mutters, giving the card to Heidi and walking back to the group.

OK, as much as that checks out, I'm still scared.

"Val, what the fuck? I swear, you're going to get yourself killed!" I whisper-shout to her, concerned.

"Gear, listen; I know you were trying to seduce her, I was trying to bend it, so we could get that target on her back, kill her and then go for Zach later, see if he calms down," She whispers back.

Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Good move on her behalf.

I nod and go back to my place in the group, holding Lana close to me.

"I will now shuffle, then draw one," Heidi announces.

This is really damn serious; we are betraying someone, for crying out loud!

This could go either way; it could be one of my alliance, it could be one of our rivals as a group.

Let's just hope this goes in our favour...

"The person going into the Toxic Chambers is..." 

Heidi picks up the card, looks at it, and turns it around.

Wait, what?!

Who the hel- WHAT!?

I'm honestly dumbfounded.
Who did this?

"The Sweetheart."

Val just breaks down sobbing.

This is really terrible.

"No... no, please don't do this, please, please...." Vanessa begs, welling up.

Grab her!" Zach shouts, grabbing Vanessa.

"NO, STOP! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! DON'T!" Vanessa screams, sobbing at this point.

This girl is putting up a damn good fight, but I'm just... frozen in place. 

Zach really is a heartless monster.

Gear: 'I'm honestly in pure shock watching this. Zach is literally dragging Vanessa across the floor to fucking kill her, and we can't do anything. I'm just over here making sure Valentina doesn't have a mental breakdown and just... being helpless.'

"NO, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! NO!" Vanessa screams one last time as Zach somehow closes the chamber door on her.

The gas activates as Vanessa pounds on the glass, trying to call for help, but failing miserably.

Finally, it stops.

She slumps against the glass.

She's.... dead.

Vanessa is actually dead.

Oh my God, this cannot be happening.
This seriously isn't happening.

Lana's just trying to calm Val down.

And Oli's just... in horror.

He's frozen, refusing to move.

Wait, is Oli OK?

"Oli? Oli! You OK, dude?" I say, shaking his shoulder lightly.

"Huh, what?" He stutters, looking over at me.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You didn't look it just then." I note.

"It's just... she's gone, really. Can't believe it, man; she was one of our key players." He sighs, looking back at the gas chamber with Vanessa still inside.

"Well, we still got each other, right? Blood makes you related, but loyalty makes you family." I acknowledge, smiling slightly.

Yes, I know I sounded like a member of the Italian mafia, but do I care? No. 

I'm trying to be sympathetic here.

And then, the next thing I know... Val's punched Zach in the nose.

He did deserve it, mind you, but it looked like it hurt.

"OW! WHAT THE FUCK, YOU FUCKING CUNT?!" Zach screams, clutching his nose. 

I grab the goggles, all of us taking one last look at Vanessa's body and the Toxic Chambers before leaving the room.

This is honestly... pandemonium. 

5 of us that were here 6 hours ago are dead now and we still only have 5 of the artifacts. 

There's 3 more to go until we can go home, but that's still 3 more people who have to die.

I just want everybody to be OK.

Well, expect Zach and Lia, but that's a different story...