A Whole New Game

**A Whole New Game** is the seventh episode of *The Challenge: The Duel*.

## Story

 Following the eliminations, the players headed back to the mansion. Upon their arrival, they were greeted with champagne to celebrate reaching the Final 20. Cleo read out a cue card that explained that this round would be one focused on transitioning into the next stage of the game. The daily challenge would result in a draft for teams where the last four players to be picked will be sent into an elimination. Everyone celebrated for one another and cheered. Cleo was more down after losing Grace and gave herself some space from everyone. Frasier, Lenny, Shona, Zack and Troy sat down and discussed this new format adjustment. They agreed they needed to prioritize one another, as well as Gloria, Owen, and Neisha. The best case scenario would be all of them ending up with one another. They agree that Frasier and Lenny should be together, as well as Owen and Gloria, and Shona and Zack. Troy said he’d love to work with either Neisha or Nori. Kit and Lukas played chess with one another while Boherty watched. Lukas asked Kit if she was going to partner with him. She said she wasn’t sure yet and that she thinks it might not be a bad idea for them to partner up with BB9 players to sabotage the alliance. Boherty gags and said she couldn’t imagine working with someone she didn’t like. Lukas said the idea was intriguing and he’d have to think it through.

Cameron, Ezra, Maria and Melvin sat down and talked about how cool it was to be here and to have made it this far. Ezra said that from here going forward things were going to get ugly, with teams forcing everyone into the same game. Maria said she was going to give it her all in the daily so she gets first dibs. Melvin sighed and said he was really worried about not getting picked since he’s one of the smaller guys. Cameron shared the same concern since the Katie drama really ruined his reputation. Jake and Tye did the dishes together and talked about who they might pick. They agreed that they didn’t really want to work with the US players. Tye asked Jake if he was going to team up with Nori since she was from Canada as well. Jake sighed and said he wasn’t sure he trusted her since she was really close with the US players. Tye said that he would love to work with someone easy to work with and kind. Jake jokes and said, “So none of the US players.” Owen and Gloria laid down together on their bed. Owen apologized to Gloria for not being there for her lately and opened up that the game was getting to him and he just wanted what was best for them. Gloria said she understood and that she hoped they could get on the same team and that it’d help bridge the gap between them right now. Owen completely agreed and said he has her back no matter what. Neisha was sitting by the pool table and Kaliegh walked by. Neisha waved and said hi to her but Kaliegh merely side eyed her and kept going. Neisha asked if everything was okay. Kaliegh told Neisha to just let her be and that she was tired of her betraying the other Survivor UK players. Neisha clutched her pearls and said she didn’t owe them anything and that she was just doing what she wanted with her own game. Nori joined the girls and noticed the fighting. Kaliegh called Neisha a “fake bitch” and told her to just be real with her for now on, because so would she. Nori told Kaliegh to take a breather and back off from Neisha. Kaliegh rolled her eyes and headed off. Neisha started crying into Nori’s arms. She said she didn’t get why everyone hated her so much and that she just wanted the freedom to work with who she wanted. Nori rubbed her back and said it’d all work out and not to pay the others any mind.

The next day, the challengers joined TJ outside for the daily challenge. He congratulated them on Final 20 and explained how the challenge would work. The challenge was called “Hundred Hurdles”. They’d have to race through a 3k run track that has a hundred hurdles in each lane. The order of which the players finish the race will be the order of which they get to pick their teammates. All male players must pick female players, and vice versa. With that being said, the challenge began. As the race persisted, it became a race between Frasier, Lenny, Maria, and Melvin for first. Melvin surprised everyone but his agility helped him get over the hurdles very quickly. Gloria struggled with the speed aspect as she fell behind pretty quickly. Jake had the most trouble with the hurdles as he wasn’t flexible enough to get over them. This made him drag behind. After 20 minutes, players started nearing the finish line. It was neck and neck between Melvin and Lenny. To everyone’s shock, Melvin finished in first, closely following by Lenny. Maria then placed in third, with Frasier right behind her in fourth. Ezra, Troy, and Neisha were the next group of players nearing the finish line, all close to one another. Ezra finished fifth, then Troy in sixth, and Neisha in seventh. Zack and Kit were close by one another with Kit going over hurdles easier and Zack running faster. Behind them were Cleo, Cameron, Shona, and Tye. Kit crossed the finish line in eighth, merely seconds before Zack who then finished in ninth. The cluster of four then raced to the end. Cleo surged a last bit of energy at the last second and managed to pull ahead and finish tenth, finishing off the top half. Tye finished in eleventh and cheered. Shona then gained speed on Cameron, finishing in twelfth and Cameron finished in thirteenth. This left Boherty, Jake, Kaliegh, Gloria, Lukas, Nori and Owen still running the challenge. The finished players looked on as they saw Owen race towards the finish line, heading downhill. He crossed the line in fourteenth. Nori, Lukas, Boherty and Kaliegh all headed downhill at about the same time, very close to one another. They rushed to the finish line. Nori finished in fifteenth, followed by Boherty in sixteenth, Lukas in seventeenth and Kaliegh in eighteenth. The players then waited for Gloria and Jake to finish. Eventually, Jake and Gloria both started heading downhill. In a few seconds difference, Jake made it there first, leaving Gloria in last place.

Once everyone’s caught their breath, TJ gets everyone to line up, men on one side, women on the other. He congratulated Melvin and Lenny on being the male and female winners of the daily challenge. Since Melvin finished first, he got first pick. TJ passed him a red tank top and invited him to the front to make his pick. Everyone pondered over who he might pick. Shona whispered to Zack that she thought he’d pick Maria. Zack nodded in agreement. Melvin then smirked and said he was picking Lenny. She gasped and looked to Frasier. Everyone was shocked. TJ then threw Lenny a red tank top and asked her to join Melvin as they were now the red team. With Lenny drafted, Maria was the next highest placing player. TJ invited her to the front to pick her partner. He then tossed her an orange tank top. Maria thought it over and looked at the guys she could choose between. Maria smiled and asked Ezra if he wanted to be her partner. He said he’d love to and ran over to hug her. TJ offered him an orange tank top and asked them to step aside. The next up in line was Frasier. TJ tossed him a yellow tank top and asked him to head to the front. Frasier looked at the girls he had to choose from. He remembered Gloria and Shona both wanted to be with their boyfriends. With that, he looked to Neisha and invited her to be his partner. She smiled and headed over to him and accepted a yellow tank top from TJ. The next up in line to pick was Troy. TJ handed him a pink tank top and asked him to make his pick. Troy smirked and said he was picking a girl who he thinks people have been underestimating. He took the tank top from TJ and jokingly tossed it to Nori and asked her to come on up. She smirked and gave him a handshake as she moved to the front.

Next up was Kit. TJ handed her a green tank top and asked for her to choose who she’d like to team up with. Kit said the person she was picking was her best friend, her confidant, and that she couldn’t of made it this far without him. Her innocent smile then twisted into a sinister grin. She invited Zack up to the front to be her partner. Shona gasped, Zack looked disgusted and asked if she was serious. Kit nodded and smiled. Shona face palmed and shook her head. Zack slowly made his way to the front and annoyingly took his tank top from TJ. TJ then asked Cleo to head to the front as she was the next highest placing competitor. He passed her a blue tank top. Cleo sighed and looked at her options. She smiles and says that while he didn’t have the best showing in this challenge, she knows what he’s capable of. Cleo asks Jake to be her partner. His face lit up as he’d expected to be one of the bottom four. He ran over and hugged her, accepting a tank top from TJ. The two jumped up and down. TJ then reminded the remaining eight that there was only four spots left before the elimination matchups. With that, he asked Tye to go to the front and make his pick. He passed him a cyan tank top. Tye thought about it, considering everybody, even Gloria. He smiled and said that he wanted the rest of the season to feel like a party, so for that reason he’s going to go with Boherty. She cheers and rushes to hug and thank him. Boherty snatches her cyan tank top and puts it on right away. As she was the next in line, Shona was the last to pick her partner. TJ then let Kaliegh and Gloria know that as a result, the two of them will be facing off in the first matchup of the night later on. He then reminded Shona that whoever she didn’t pick between Owen, Lukas, and Cameron would head into the second elimination. TJ passed Shona a black tank top. Shona didn’t put much thought into it and asked Owen to join her up front as her partner. He thanked her and accepted the black tank top from TJ. TJ then informed Cameron and Lukas that as a result they’d go into the second elimination of the night. He then sent the four remaining players off to prepare for their eliminations. TJ told everyone else to head to the bleachers.

The cast waited for the elimination to start at the bleachers. The teams all had to sit together. Melvin and Lenny sat in silent awkwardness. Melvin broke it by saying that even though he’s a sarcastic asshole, he’s genuinely sorry that she couldn’t team with Frasier. She waved it off and said she got it and that it was just a game move. Lenny shrugged and said she guesses the two of them will just have to kick Frasier’s ass. Melvin smirked. Kit and Zack sat in silence as well. Eventually, Zack turned to her and asked why she was such a cunt. Kit responded “by choice”. She then asked, “what about you?” Zack then yelled at her and said she ruined both of their games just to be petty and that this has all ruined his experience. She then cocked her head and asked “like you ruined Ava’s?” Zack then didn’t know what to say. Kit rolled her eyes and said she had no intentions of ruining both of their games and that she still had full plans on winning. Zack told her that unless she’s willing to follow his lead, they aren’t winning. Kit laughed and said following his lead hasn’t worked out for anybody. The two continue to fight, as everyone watches on. Cleo and Jake both giggled at it and whispered to each other about how silly they looked. Ezra and Maria went to sit next to them. Maria asked if they were enoying the show. Jake laughed and said they absolutely were. Just then, smoke appeared from the arena as Gloria and Kaliegh made their entrances.

As Kaliegh and Gloria walk onto the arena, everyone cheers. TJ explains the rules of the elimination. It’s titled Asset Destruction. The players have to pull over a crate and tip it over to release fake bombs. They then have to launch their bombs at 13 large targets. The first player to knock off all of their targets would win the elimination. He then blew his horn to commence the elimination. They both try to pull their crates along the path. Kaliegh makes much quicker progress as a result of her stronger upper body strength, while Gloria really struggles to get the crate to move very quickly. After not very long, Kaliegh released her bombs and started throwing them at her targets. She knocked over six pretty quickly but started struggling with the last seven. Finally, Gloria released her crate and started throwing her bombs. She knocked over the four on the bottom first but struggled to get the targets higher than that. Kaliegh knocked over another four, leaving her with just the three left. Gloria knocked over another, as did Kaliegh. With only two left, Kaliegh backed up further away so she could swing it higher. She swung her last two bombs and hit her targets. TJ sounded his blowhorn and declared Kaliegh as the winner of the elimination. Kaliegh cheered and jumped up. TJ passed her a purple tank top and congratulated her on the win. He then asked her to join everyone else on the bleachers. Maria cheered for her as she walked up to the bleachers. Gloria looked down, disappointed in herself. Owen headed down from the bleachers to give her a hug. She started crying and told him she looked like such a loser. He told her that she killed it and was so close. TJ broke up the moment and thanked Gloria for her effort but told her she was now eliminated. Owen and Gloria made out, and then went off their separate ways. Everyone cheered for Gloria as she walked out.

As Kaliegh gets settled in on the bleachers, smoke appears as Cameron and Lukas emerge from the arena. Ezra cheered for Cameron, while Boherty and Kit both whistled for Lukas. TJ reexplained the rules and sounded his blowhorn to kick off the elimination. Cameron and Lukas both made solid progress with the crates, pulling them across. Around the same time as one another, they both dropped their crates and released their bombs. They both start launching their bombs at the board and make solid progress. After about five minutes, they both have five targets remaining. Kit held Boherty’s hand and told her she was really nervous for Lukas. Cameron and Lukas both reach a stopping point as they struggle to reach the four targets at the top. Ezra yells to Cameron and tells him to swing higher. Cameron follows the advice and starts knocking down the top ones. Lukas notices this working and also starts swinging higher. With them both making progress, it became neck and neck. Eventually, Cameron flew his bomb at his final target and knocked it over. TJ sounded his blow horn and declared Cameron as the winner of the elimination. He pounded his fist on his chest and cheered. Lukas rolled his eyes and threw his bomb on the ground out of annoyance. TJ congratulated Cameron and passed him a purple tank top. He announced that Cameron and Kaliegh would now form the purple team. He invited Cameron to head up to the bleachers. TJ thanks Lukas for his effort but informs him that he’s been eliminated. Everyone claps and Lukas cuts them off and tells them to shut up with their fake asses. He flipped them all off and gagged. Boherty cried and said goodbye to him. He waved to her and made a heart with his hands for her. Kit waved as well but he rolled his eyes and told her to gag. She sighed, feeling guilty. He then walked off.