And now a little project I've been planning on for a while now. I'll keep the big reveal a secret for now. Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama.
Chapter 1: The Plunge
I've heard it said that being a superhero takes self-restraint, self-control, and self-denial. That human nature is to use one's power for selfish means. I'm not so sure I believe that. If it was, history would be far more mired in evil than good. I think true human nature is to use one's power based on one's moral beliefs. Let's put things in perspective for a minute here. We're all familiar with Spider-Man's catch phrase, "With great power comes great responsibility." This phrase was said to him by his Uncle Ben, who raised him like a son. It was because of this, and Ben's untimely passing, that Peter Parker decided to use his new spider-based powers to be a superhero.
I suppose one could argue that his earlier exploits could be considered selfish, but you have to remember that he did still have an elderly aunt to support, so he had very good reason to need the money. Had Spider-Man known that robber he let escape in his first comic appearance would kill his uncle, you can bet he would have stopped him. Another example is Light Yagami. Near wasn't lying when he said Light was a serial killer hiding behind a righteous cause, but let's really dissect that down to its core. When Light first got hold of the Death Note, he didn't really think much of it. In fact, he assumed it was a prank.
Once he started to experiment with it and realized that the Death Note was real, that was when Light began his crusade. Now here's something to consider. Light truly believed, right up until his defeat at Near's hands, that he was doing something good. At heart, he was a pure soul, perhaps too pure. He couldn't except the universe's inherit chaos, so when L and the NPA started hunting him down, he assumed they were on the criminals' side, and thus evil. Then there's Yukiteru Amano. Granted a diary that could foretell the future by a god who just happened to be friends with him, what does Yukiteru do?
Well, he starts by simply using it as a cheat sheet. He's not inherently good or evil, so he uses his diary in a casual manner. When he gets dragged into the survival game with all the other diary owners, he simply uses it to try and survive. It's not until the collateral from the game starts to sink in that he actively tries to win hoping to achieve godhood and erase all the damage. As you can imagine, he was devastated to learn that it was impossible, which is why he refused to create anything new. These three examples prove my point. That people will use any power given to them in a way befitting their moral standing.
Wawanakwa was a rustic forest island in the middle of Muskoka, Ontario. At the wooden dock stood a camera crew that was getting ready to film for the first season of what was supposed to be the hottest new reality show. Chris McLean, the host of the show and a well known B-list celebrity, was a fit man in his early thirties. He had black hair with grey highlights, black eyes, and a five-o-clock shadow. He was wearing a green khaki jacket with white undershirt, khaki jeans, and black high tops. "I'm still curious about the studio's sudden choice to increase the number of contestants from twenty-two to twenty-six," he said to the camera man.
The guy just shrugged. "The producers thought it necessary with the number of challenges planned." Chris scratched his head. "But some of them were slated to be non-elimination." He pondered for a bit before deciding, "Ah... Who cares? I'm getting paid either way. We ready to roll footage?" The camera man nodded, and Chris cleared his throat. "Yo! We're coming at you live from Camp Wawanakwa, somewhere in Muskoka Ontario! I'm your host, Chris McLean!" The rest of hour was filled with Chris detailing the show itself, then going over the footage to make sure the angle and lightning was good. "Constants should be coming in within the half-hour," Chris said, "Hope they're ready for the surprise of a life-time."
The first of the boats arrived at the dock, dropping off a young woman. She had thick glasses, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and wearing a green t-shirt with tan vest, pink pants, and white sneakers. "Beth," Chris said, "What's up?" Beth surprised Chris with a friendly hug before letting go and saying, "You're a lot shorter in real life." Chris raised an eyebrow. "Thanks... I think..." The next person dropped off with a rather large dude with dark skin. He had black hair and a short beard, and was wearing a white cap, olive green t-shirt, denim shorts, and sandals. "Hey there DJ," Chris said. DJ high-fived Chris, then looked around. "Hey are you sure this is the right place? Where's the hot tub?"
"This is the place all right," Chris said, "And don't sweat the hot tub. You may just get one later. Depending on how well you do..." As DJ grabbed his bags, he muttered, "Place looked a lot different on the application form." The next person dropped off was a goth girl, her short black hair dyed with blue highlights, as was her lips. She was wearing a green undershirt, light blue t-shirt, and black vest with matching skirt, as well as black gogo boots over matching leggings. "Hey Gwen," Chris said as she got her bags. Gwen looked around. "Don't tell me we're staying here?"
"Yep," Chris said, "This is the place." "Hold on," Gwen said, "I did not sign up for this." Chris held up a file. "Actually, you did." Gwen simply grabbed the file, tore it in half, then dropped it in the lake. Chris shrugged and held up several more copies of the same file. "That's what I like about lawyers. They always make lots of copies." Gwen simply facepalmed. The next person dropped off was a dude wearing a cowboy hat, a pink dress shirt that was unbuttoned and had the sleeves rolled up, denim shorts, and sandals. He also had blonde hair. "Yo, Geoff," Chris said, "Looking awesome there, man." "Thanks man," Geoff said, "Great to be here."
The person to be dropped off was a gorgeous young woman with flowing blonde hair. She was wearing a scarf on her head, a red tank top with tan tube top, flat frilled skirt, and cowboy skirt. "Lindsey," Chris said, "Not looking too shabby there." "Hi there," Lindsey said. She squinted at Chris for a second. "You look kinda familiar." Chris facepalmed. "I'm Chris McLean, the show's host?" "Oh," Lindsey said in realization. Shortly after Lindsey came a another young girl. She was almost as pale as Gwen, but it seemed a more natural pale. She also had long brown hair, and was wearing a black hoodie with brown skirt, thigh high socks, and black sneakers.
"Hey there Megan," Chris said, "Nice of you to show up. The studio tells me you and three others were included last minute." "Yeah," Megan said, "I couldn't believe my luck. I almost thought I wouldn't get in." The person dropped off was a young woman who looked to be of Asian decent. She had long black hair and wore a pale pin tube top with khaki shirt and high heeled wedges. She took off her sunglasses as she glared at the other contestants. "Heather," Chris said, "Not surprised at your reaction to this place." As Heather walked toward the group without saying a word, Beth ran up to her. "Hi! Looks like we're your new friends for the next eight weeks."
Heather glared. "I'm not here to make friends." Megan rolled her eyes. "Too bad... Making friends here could go a long way towards helping you win." Heather raised her eyebrow at that statement. "Maybe... Maybe not..." The next person to disembark was a young man in punk attire. He had piercings on his ears, nose, and eyebrow. His black was styled into a mohawk that was dyed green, and he had a goatee. He wore a black t-shirt with a skull design, blue jeans, and red high tops. "Hey Duncan," Chris said. Duncan looked around. "I don't like surprises..." Chris sighed. "Yeah, your parole officer warned me of that. But hey, if you don't like it, you can always go back to juvie..."
Duncan sniffed, then shrugged. "Okay then." As joined the group, he gave a sly wink to Heather, "Meet you at the campfire gorgeous." Heather huffed. "Drop dead, skeez." The next person to come in was actually water-skiing behind the boat. He had a muscular build, shaggy brown hair, and was wearing a red track suit with matching sneakers and headband. The dude quickly wiped out before landing on the dock, bouncing off, and landing in everyone's luggage. "Wicked wipeout, Tyler," Chris said as he helped Tyler out of the luggage. "Thanks Chris," Tyler said, "Guess I misjudged the angle of my water skis."
The next person to join the group was a lanky young man with ginger hair. He wore thin glasses, a blue t-shirt with a burger on it, olive green jeans, and blue sneakers. "Hey there Harold," Chris said, "Welcome to camp." Harold looks around. "So you mean this is taking place at a real summer camp instead of some lame studio?" Chris nodded. "Yesss," Harold said with a small fist pump, "That is so much more favorable to my skills." "Oookay then," Chris said. The next person was a young man with slick black hair, wearing a camo shirt under a green tee with a handprint, black jeans, and tan sneakers.
"Hey there Trent," Chris said, "Good to meet you." "Hey Chris," Trent said, "Great to meet you. I saw on that figure skating show, that was awesome." "Thanks man," Chris said as he fist bumped Trent, "I knew I rocked that show!" "I remember seeing that," Megan said. "Me too," Beth said, "One of the contestants dropped his partner on her head, giving them immunity." "Lucky," Harold said, "I hope I get dropped on my head." "Why would you want to do that?," Lindsey asked, "That sounds painful."
Trent looked around at the camp with an awkward look, but when he took a spot next to Gwen, he smiled at her. She looked away for a second, but couldn't help smiling right back. The next person was a young woman with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a blue hoodie, denim jeans, and tan shoes. "Hey there Bridgette," Chris said. He then noticed she was carrying a surfboard. "Why the board? We're not exactly at Malibu." Bridgette looked around. "I was told we'd be at a beach..." Chris pointed to one of the beach's at the island. "'Course a lake doesn't lend itself much to good waves."
Bridgette sighed. "Great." She walked over to the other campers. "Hey guys..." Geoff, instantly smitten, said, "Hey there, I'm Geoff." Bridgette smiled at him."Nice to meet you." The next person to get dropped off was a young man with a bald head, but a white goatee. He wore a blue t-shirt with a snowflake design, wool pants, and white sneakers. "Frank," Chris said, "Another of the last minute add-ons. Hope to see you do well man." "No problem," Frank said, "I can take it pretty far." He walked over to the other campers, were he gave a quick nod to Megan, who nodded back.
"Got a thing for Frank?," Beth asked. "Not really," Megan said, "It's just we happen to be good friends. If you wanna talk about crushes..." She looked at DJ and smiled. The next person to get dropped off was a rather short and lanky young man with parted brown hair, wearing a white undershirt, blue dress shirt, red vest, khaki jeans, and tan boots. "Hey there Noah," Chris said, "Welcome to the island." "Thanks," Noah said, "You got my memo about my life threatening allergies." "Went over it with a fine-toothed comb," Chris said, "I don't think you'll have to worry about shellfish or coconut on this show, but I've made sure that Chef knows not to serve you anything with peanuts, chocolate, or cinnamon." "Thanks," Noah said.
The person was an African-Canadian woman with a rather heavy build, not quite fat but not quite fit. Her black hair was done in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white t-shirt with oranges on it, blue jeans, and sandals. "Greetings Leshawna," Chris said. "Hey there y'all, what's up?," Leshawna said, "Thanks for having me." She walked over to the others, where Harold's mouth was hanging open. Frank chuckled and helped him close it. "Hey there everybody," Leshawna said, "Feel to quit now and save yourselves the trouble 'cause, I came to win." Harold stared at Leshawna before saying, "I've never seen a woman like you in real life before."
"And I'd recommend that's as far as you go," Megan said, "A woman like her can be rather temperamental." "You know it girl," Leshawna said, "But don't worry, I don't like making enemies." The next two girls looked almost identical, except one was tan while the other was more pale. They both had black hair tied up in pigtails, and wore black and white striped tube tops, pink denim shorts, and pink high heeled wedges. "Ladies," Chris said, "Katie, Sadie. Welcome to Wawanakwa." The girls both gasped in delight. "Look Sadie," said Katie, the tan one, "It's a summer camp." "Awesome!," Sadie said, "I've always wanted to go to summer camp!"
The grabbed their luggage and eagerly joined the group. Following them was a young man with light brown hair that came down to his neck. He was wearing a green beanie, olive green hoodie, blue pants, and tan high tops. "Hey Ezekiel," Chris said, "What's up?" Ezekiel looked up and said, "I think I see a bird." That got him several snickers of laughter from the others. Chris sighed and said, "Okay Ezekiel, I know this is your first time in the real world... Been home school your whole life... Raised by freaky prairie people..." "Don't go insulting another person's culture," came a new voice.
This one was a young girl with long brown hair. She was wearing a casual blue blouse with matching skirt, and well as black sandals. "Ah, Sarah," Chris said, "Sorry, I was just hoping to get Ezekiel in touch with the outside world here." Sarah just glared before leading Ezekiel over to the group. Following the two of them was a young man with parted brown hair, wearing a white causal shirt and jeans with black sneakers. "Cody," Chris said, "Great to see you here." "Great to be here man," Cody said, walking to the toward with an obviously fake attempt at swagger, "I see the ladies are already gathering. Nice." Gwen and Sarah rolled there eyes.
The next person to disembark was a muscular young woman with black hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a blue muscle shirt and matching shorts with black high tops. "Eva," Chris said, "Glad you could make it." Eva just nodded as she set her bags down, accidentally hitting Cody's foot. "Ow!," Cody said, "What's in there, dumbbells?" "Yes," Eva said bluntly. The next guy to get off announced himself with a whoop of excitement. He was extremely heavy-set with short blonde hair. He wore a white t-shirt with a Canadian maple leaf design, yellow jeans, and yellow sneakers. "Owen," Chris said, "Welcome."
Owen greeted Chris with a friendly hug, which, given size, nearly broke Chris's back. "It's awesome to be here! It's just so..." He hesitated as he tried to think of something else. "Awesome?," Gwen asked, a wry grin on her face. "Yes!," Owen said, and he whooped again, "Are you gonna be on my team?" "I sure hope so," Gwen said with obvious sarcasm, but Owen seemed to have missed as he put Chris down. The next person was a young girl with shoulder length brown hair. She was wearing a white undershirt with grey blouse, tan pants, and high heeled wedges. "Courtney," Chris said, "Pleasure to see you." "Thanks you," Courtney said as she joined the group.
"Hey there," she said, "You must be the other contestants. It's nice to meet you." Owen eagerly shook Courtney's hand. "How's it going? I'm Owen." Courtney returned the shake before turning her head back to the dock. "Woah! Who's that?" The man she was looking at seemed built like a Greek sculpture, but with a noticeable tan. He had black hair that seemed slicked back, and wore a green muscle shirt with blue jeans and sandals. "Justin," Chris said, "Great to have you here. For the record, we selected you based entirely on your looks." Justin shrugged. "I can live with that." Most of the other campers, especially the girls, were just staring at him.
The silence was quickly broken by a hyper-sounding voice calling out, "Hey there Chris!" The voice came from a young woman with frizzy red hair. She wore a green bikini with the bottom covered in a light green wrapped skirt and matching sandals. "Guys," Chris said, "Meet Izzy." As Izzy got off the boat, she tripped and fell into the lake, hitting her chin on the dock as she did. "Oooo," Tyler said, wincing, "That was bad." Courtney quickly fished Izzy out of the water. Once on the dock, Izzy shook herself dry like a dog. "Man, that felt good! Well, except for hitting my chin."
"Okay," Chris said, "That just leaves one last camper." Said camper arrived soon enough. He looked to be physical fit, and had short brown hair. He was wearing a dark red t-shirt with a serpentine dragon design, blue jeans, and black sneakers. "Martin," Chris said, "Welcome to the show." Martin nodded. "Thanks Chris. Hope to put on a good one." HE walked over to the group, and as he locked eyes with Heather, the two of them someone wound up entranced for a few seconds. "Okay," Justin said, "I'm a professional model and have gotten more than a few people to gawk at me, but never like this."
"Whaddya mean?," Owen asked. "This is more than just adoration," Justin said, "I'm no expert, but I think this is what they call love at first sight." Hearing that, Heather shook herself out of her reverie. "Don't... Don't be ridiculous! I mean, the two of us just met. Sure he's a total hottie but..." She quickly covered her mouth before she could stick her foot in it. After a quick promo shot, Chris split the campers into two teams. Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsey, Beth, Izzy, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, Noah, Frank, and Martin would be the Screaming Gophers. Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, Katie, Sadie, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva, Harold, Sarah, and Megan would be the Killer Bass.
Once at the cabins, Geoff called out, "Hey Chris, is there gonna be any chaperone?" "Just me an Chef, who you'll be meeting at lunchtime," Chris said, "After all you guys are all around sixteen years old. That's the average age for a counselor-in-training. Other than that, you'll be entirely unsupervised. Just keep in mind that you'll have cameras on you in all public areas, so don't do anything stupid." The Gophers were set up in the east cabin, and the Bass in the west. Boys were one side of each cabin, while girls got the other. "I realize these are a bit cramped," Chris said, "But soon enough you'll be having plenty of space."
"Aren't these bunk beds a little summer camp?," Heather asked. "Well duh," Gwen said as she picked a bed, "We are at a summer camp." "Were are the outlets?," Lindsey asked, "I need to plug in my straightening iron." "You can find some in the communal washroom," Chris said, pointing over to said building. "Wait," Lindsey said, "Are you saying we have to shower together? Please tell me there are two of those too." "No," Chris said, "But there's a strict rule that no boys are allowed inside with the girls, and vice verse." Lindsey breathed a sigh of relief. She walked back inside to unpack, and then screamed at the top of her lungs.
The others ran inside to see what the problem was. "Man that white girl can scream," Leshawna said. Lindsey was now standing on one of the chairs in the cabin, a cockroach skittering around nearby. "What is it...?," Lindsey asked in fright, "Kill it..." "Relax," Martin said, "It's just a cockroach." At that statement, DJ also screamed, in a surprisingly high-pitched tone, and ran out of he cabin, Harold and several others stepped in to try and squash the roach, which skittered around until it encountered Duncan. He was holding an axe ready to swing it downward. Everyone except Gwen, Trent, Frank, and Martin looked away as Duncan brought the axe down on the roach.
"That's one way to do it," Frank noted. The others nodded. Tyler walked over to Lindsey. "If you ever see of those things again, just let me know and I'll handle it, okay?" Lindsey nodded with a smile. Later the campers all headed for the mess hall for lunch. There they met Chef, a big black man who was completely bald, and was wearing typical cook's clothes. "Listen up!," he said in a loud voice, "I serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day! So just grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down!" Said lunch was little more than simple sloppy joes, but no one really complained since it tasted pretty good.
"Listen up campers," Chris said, "Your first challenge begins in one hour. Be ready." "What do you think they'll make us do?," Katie asked. "Don't worry," DJ said, "It's our first challenge. How hard can it be?" "You've obviously never seen a reality show," Frank said, "These guys are known for sucker punches out of left field." Sure enough, the first challenge took place on a high cliff on the edge of the island. The campers were all there wearing various types of swimwear. "Okay teams," Chris said, "Your first challenge is three-fold. The first part is to jump this one-thousand foot high cliff into the lake."
He pointed below to a ring of buoys, with a second ring inside. "The outer ring is worth one point, and the smaller inner ring is worth two. For every camper that jumps you'll get the point value of whichever ring you landed in. The team that racks up the most points get something to make the second part of the challenge a little easier." He pointed to a set of crates on the beach far down below. "Inside those crates are the supplies you need to build yourself an awesome hot tub. Once both teams have had all their members jump, they will need to take those crates back to their cabin. The first team to bring all their crates back and assemble the hot tub wins invincibility, and also gets to keep said hot tub for the rest of the summer."
"Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as we thought," Martin said. "Oh, one final thing," Chris said, "The outer ring is filled with animatronic sharks designed to hone in on anyone who lands in their territory. They're not dangerous, but the shock they give will be kinda annoying. Extra incentive to land in the center. And for the record, yes, we did tone done the shock value to account for the water. So, Killer Bass is up first." After debating who would dive in first, Bridgette nodded and quickly leapt off the cliff, easily landing in the center ring. "Woo!," Bridgette called out after surfacing, "Okay team, who's next?!" "Alright!," Tyler said, "My turn!" He took a running leap as Bridgette was retrieved by a boat.
Tyler did manage to land in the center ring, but also painfully struck one of the buoys instead of landing in the water. "Ouch," Sarah said, "What's the rule on that?" "He technically hit the border of the ring," Chris said, "So it counts as the center." Geoff, Eva, Duncan, and Megan were quick to follow Tyler, all of them landing in the center ring. DJ, however, said, "Uh-uh, man. I ain't diving. I'm too scared of heights." "Well," Chris said, "You can chicken out if you want and take the escalator back down. But if you do, you have to wear this for the rest of the day." He held up a chicken hat. DJ simply took the hat with a sigh. "Okay then," Chris said, "Who's next?"
Ezekiel dove off next, hitting the center despite being knocked around for a bit by the cliffside. "Yesss!," Harold said as he dove off after Ezekiel. However, he landed in such a way that his crotch hit the water like it was solid pavement. Harold's scream was so loud, everyone else could feel his pain. "Damn," Chris said, "Hate to see that happen. Good thing we shelled out a little extra for the advanced medical tent." "Excuse me Chris," Courtney said, "I have a medical condition that prevents me from jumping off cliffs." "That's a load of bullcrap," Sarah said, "You just don't want to jump." "Either way," Chris said, "You could simply chicken out. But it could cost your team the win, which could lead to you getting eliminated."
"It's a calculated risk," Courtney replied, "I've seen the other team, and I don't think enough of them will jump." "You'd better not think my brother is a coward," Sarah said, pointing to Martin. "He's your brother?," Courtney said is surprise. Chris nodded. "Martin and Sarah are half-siblings. Same mother, different fathers. Not like there's any rule against that." Sarah stuck her tongue out at Courtney as she dove off the cliff. "Still wanna chicken out?," Chris said. Courtney nodded, and she was handed the chicken hat. "That's just two jumpers left," Chris said. But no sooner had he said that then Katie and Sadie lept off the cliff arm-in-arm, easily landing in the center.
"Okay," Chris said, "Killer Bass have eleven jumpers and two chickens, with all eleven hitting the center for a total of... Twenty-two points. Screaming gophers, if you can beat that you'll get a pullcart to help you carry your crates back to the lodge." "Nice," Trent said, "Who's first?" "No way am I jumping," Heather said, "I'll get my hair messed up." "Big deal," Justin said, "My hair'll get messed up too. Won't stop me from jumping. After all, if you did it right once, you can get it right a second time." "You heard him," Leshawna said, "Now get to jumping." Heather scoffed. "And who's gonna make me?" Leshawna answered that by picking Heather up and tossing her off the cliff and right in the center ring.
When Heather surfaced, she called out, "Leshawna, you are so dead!" Leshawna chuckled. "Come on, girl, I threw you in the center ring, a'ight?" As she leapt off herself, she muttered, "Now I just hope I can hit it too." "And here I thought this would be a talent contest," Lindsey said as she and Frank dove off, followed by Gwen, Cody, and Izzy. Justin then took his turn, but landed in the outer circle. One of the motorized sharks swam up to him and shocked him on impact. "Ow," Justin said, "Well Chris was right. That was more annoying then anything." Back up top, Beth gulped. "I... I can't do it. I'm too scared."
Chris simply handed her the chicken hat. "Sorry guys!," she said as she took the escalator back down. "That is so lame," Lindsey said. She turned to Heather. "Right?" Heather nodded in agreement. Trent took his turn and hit center with no problem. "Hmm," Noah said, "So for us to win at this point the rest of us all need to hit the center." He sighed. "Martin... Throw me." "Huh?," Martin asked. "It's the only way I'll be able to get off this cliff and still have us win. Just make sure to aim for the center." Martin shrugged and picked Noah up, quickly tossing him off the cliff. Sure enough, Noah hit the center with no problem. Martin then followed suit, also hitting the center.
"Nice teamwork there," Trent said. "No problem," Martin said, "I've always had good hand-eye coordination. Are you sure you wouldn't have been albe to jump on your own, Noah?" "Maybe," Noah said, "But it doesn't matter. All that matters now is whether or not Owen can hit the center as well." Trent looked up. "If he even jumps at all." Owen gulped as he put on his water wings. Taking a few steps back from the cliff, he said, "I'm gonna die now. I'm gonna frickin' die now." After a few tense seconds, Owen closed his eyes and ran full speed off the cliff, screaming all the way down. Trent, Martin, and Noah smiled for a second, before realizing that they were right in his path.
Before they could even move, Owen hit the water, causing a massive tidal wave to surge through the entire area. "Oh yeah!," Owen said when he realized he was still in the center. "Awesome work Screaming Gophers," Chris said through a bullhorn, "You have twelve jumpers with eleven hitting the center and one hitting outer ring, giving you a total of twenty-three points. That gives you the pullcart for the next part of the challenge." "Way to go Owen!," Trent said. "Thanks guys," Owen said. He then looked around the water. "But I think I lost my bathing suit." That got him several cries of "Ew!" from the others.
While the Gophers were casually dragging their crates to the lodge using the pullcarts they were given, the Bass were forced to carry theirs by hand. And with the crates being so big and heavy, it wasn't easy. "Ow," Courtney said as she put her crate down for a second, "I think I just got a splinter." Eva walked over and picked up the crate effortlessly before slamming it back down. "Quit whining and get back to carrying." "Give her a break Eva," Megan said, "We're not all as strong as you, you know." Eva simply got back to her own crate.
"Didn't expect someone so meek looking to be able to speak her own mind," DJ said to Megan, "It's refreshing." "Yeah well," Megan said, blushing, "Hanging around Sarah, Martin, and Frank... It kinda helped me break out of my shell. The four of us have been friends for a while now." She looked over to Sarah, who gave her a thumbs-up. After a bit more walking, Tyler put down his crate. "'Cuse me guys, I gotta take a whiz." "Don't be too long," Sarah said, "We're already way behind." "I have to go too," Katie said. "Really?," Sadie said, "So do I!" Tyler headed off in one part of the woods, while Katie and Sadie went off in another.
As the others were waiting, a small fly flew near Courtney, who tried to slap it but hit her eye in the process. "Ow! I think it just bit me." "Impossible," Sarah said, "That was a common housefly. They have no mandibles to speak of." The others looked at her. "I'm majoring in biology right now," she said. Meanwhile, the Gophers successfully reached the campgrounds first. "All right," Owen said, "That was pretty easy." "It's not over yet guys," Frank said, "If we don't build this hot tub right, getting here first won't mean a thing."
Back with the Bass, Katie and Sadie had returned and started pushing their crates again, however, Sadie started feeling uncomfortable. "Man, my butt is itchy." "Mine too," Katie said, "Real bad." The two of them stopped to start scratching, making Bridgette concerned. "Did you happen to squat down when you peed in the woods?" "Yeah we did," Katie said, "Why do you ask?" Bridgette put a finger on her chin. "Did you happen to notice what sort of plants you squatted over?" Sadie thought for a second. "They were kinda oval shaped, green, and all over the place."
"Hmm," Bridgette said, "Were they low to the ground, and about half a foot wide?" The two girls nodded, and Megan got where Bridgette going. "I think you girls squatted over poison ivy." Hearing that, Katie and Sadie panicked and quickly dunked their behinds in the nearby lake. Back with the Gophers, the team had gotten all their crates open and were sorting through the materials. "Looks like we have everything we need except the water," Noah said, "And that we can get from the lake." "Is that really okay?," Justin asked. "Don't worry about the water's quality Justin," Trent said, "Once the hot tub starts boiling, any impurities will be quickly filtered out through the system."
Frank looked back toward the path. "I realize those guys had to carry their crates by hand, but you'd think the Bass would've got here by now." As soon as he said that, he saw Harold, Ezekiel, Sarah, and Courtney coming in with their crates. "Ah, here they come... Some of them." Leshawna looked at Courtney and winced. "Oh... What happened to your eye, girl?" Courtney felt her eye where she had smacked it and realized it was starting to swell. "Oh, just an allergy." Martin took a good look. "Looks more like you got a black eye somehow. Maybe you should rest in the medical tent. You won't do your team any good with only half your eyesight."
"I'll be fine!," Courtney called out, "I mean... It's really nothing to worry about." Lindsey and Heather walked up to them. "Hey," Lindsey said, "Where are Katie and Sadie?" Courtney looked back at the path. "They're... Getting a drink." Heather and Lindsey raised an eyebrow at each other. "Okay," Lindsey said, "I'm not exactly the smartest person here, but even I know that the only drinkable water is here at the campground. We didn't pass a single water fountain on the way here, and there's no way that lake is drinkable."
As several more of the Bass team showed up, Courtney tried her best to rally the team and get the hot tub built, but it was clear they didn't quite have the team synergy the Gophers did. In fact, when Chris came to check on the hot tubs, the Bass team's tub fell apart. "All right then," Chris said, "Looks like the Screaming Gophers take this challenge." The Gophers team cheered, and Heather even wound up giving Martin a hug. She quickly realized that everyone was staring and let him go while blushing. "Congratulations Gophers," Chris said, "Not only do you have invincibility, but this hot tub is yours to enjoy for the rest of the summer." Chris then turned to the Bass team. "Bass, you'll have a few hours during dinner to decided who to send home."
Back at the mess hall, the Bass were moping after their loss. "So," Katie said, "What now?" "Well," Duncan said, "If we need to consider someone to send home, we have two people wearing chicken hats that make perfect candidates." "What are you saying?!," Courtney said, "You guys need me! I was the only one here who was a real CIT!" "Yeah well," Duncan said, "All that expertise certainly didn't help us out during the challenge, now did it?" "Well when you really get down to it," Ezekiel said, "We really got hampered by the fact that we have seven girls on our team to their six."
Katie and Sadie both gasped, while Sarah facepalmed. "What's that supposed to mean?," Bridgette said, walking over to Ezekiel with a glare in her eye. Eva was quick to join, cracking her knuckles. "Yeah, home-school. Enlighten us." Ezekiel, not realizing how much trouble he was in, said, "Well my dad told me to look after the women in this game. And help them in case they couldn't keep up." Next thing he knew Eva was holding him in the air by the neck. "Still think we can't keep up?," she asked angrily. "No...," Ezekiel said, barely breathing. "You can drop him know, Eva," Sarah said, "Clearly Ezekiel hasn't much experience with the twenty-first century."
As Eva dropped Ezekiel, Geoff chimed in, "Yeah. And hey, at least he doesn't think guys are smarter than girls." "But," Ezekiel said, "They are." The next he saw was Sarah's fist before he blacked out. "I really don't know what I see in this kid," she said. "Okay," Duncan said, "Looks like we have another candidate for elimination. You're chances of lasting here jumped up princess." He smirked at Courtney as he said this, causing her to roll her eyes.
That night at the campfire, Chris held up a tray with twelve marshmallows on it. "Alright Killer Bass. You've all cast your votes and made your decision. If I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The person who doesn't get a marshmallow has been voted off and must leave the island immediately." He looked at the list of names in his other hand and started reading off. "Geoff... Tyler... Katie... Bridgette... DJ... Megan... Harold... Sadie... Duncan... Eva... Sarah..." One by one, the campers whose names were called came up to claim their marshmallow. It was down to just Courtney and Ezekiel.
"All right," Chris said, "This is final marshmallow campers." He took a one final look at the list before calling out, "Courtney." Courtney breathed a sigh of relief as she grabbed the last marshmallow. Ezekiel looked upset as he was escorted to the dock. "Well it's really your own fault," Chris said, "You should have known better than to piss off every girl on your team knowing they outnumber the guys." "I guess so," Ezekiel said, "But I did come away from this with something good. Me and Sarah kinda got close as we were carrying those crates. And I do regret thinking guys are smarter than girls. Sucks to be the first guy eliminated, but so it goes." And with that, he boarded the boat heading out. As the boat took off, he took out a couple metal bearings, which started floating right in his hand.
To be continued...
Whoa... What's up with Ezekiel? This story is building up to something, but I won't reveal what until the final chapter. Until then, read and review.
