Total Zeksmit Plains
Chapter 1: One What of a Show
Beginning AN:
This is a remake of Total Fan Service Plains, with some things I didn't like about the old draft changed and the chapters cut down by number to make the pacing faster. I plan on posting the original version - the seven chapters that had been published, plus the draft of the eighth and a bunch of commentary - on another website sometime. I still have the files saved up.
Bear with me, the beginning may look rushed, but that's only because the old version dragged the arrivals on for too long and I really didn't want a repeat of that, especially since the contestants are from the canon series so you should know them already.
The confessionals are written in the same way as they are in Total Drama World Tour Rewrite: If there's a double paragraph break, it means that there was that typical "static" transition from one person to another. If it's a single paragraph break, it means that it's part of the same confessional scene, but with either a different person talking with another or someone saying paragraphs worth of confessions.
By the way, out of Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Duncan, Harold, Noah, Owen, Trent, and Tyler, many of them will either have very small roles for this season or won't appear at all. One of these nine, however, does have a surprize purpose, which will be a mystery for a portion. I will not tell you how large this "portion" is.
Pairings: There is exactly one femslash pairing this season, and another het pairing. Both of these have been planned already and are being kept secret. Romance won't take up so much of this season do to having only eleven contestants and thirteen chapters, though, and because I do want to focus a little more on rivalries and conflicts.
"Yo yo yo, wassup everyone! This is Ezekiel Foster Smithy here, AKA Zeksmit, winner of the 'host your own show' challenge in Chris McClean's Extreme Musical Drama High School, here to invite you to something a little more... of my own style! Yeah!"
As the teal-toqued teen shouted the last sentence fragment, the cameras zoomed out to reveal that he was in a large, open prairie with a road in between him and the camera. To the left - from the viewer's perspective - and in the far distance, the entrance to a tall forest is visible. Towards the right a looming, tall, oddly angular cliff was seated above a large and lush azure lake. Just slightly off to the left of the exact point Ezekiel was standing was a set of wooden buildings in the distance, and in the far back a lone building could be made out. Everything else was just shallow hills coated in bright, chartreuse grass.
Ezekiel walked down the road, to the direction of the cliff. "The rules are pretty basic, you know? Eleven campers will be staying here for four weeks, one by one they'll get eliminated, and the last one standing gets a cash prize of fifty thousand dollars. It's not much, but hey, it's a pretty good deal for people smart enough not to get involved with Chris McClean." He stopped his pacing and shook his fist just-so-slightly. "Like me..." He muttered in a threatening tone.
"So, I picked out this place because it was kind of special in my life. It's where my parents met, and it's what I was named after. My history kind of started at this place, and now it will go on and be a part of the history in the one lucky winner of this miniseries: Total. Zeksmit. Plains!"
*Cue intro. It begins with a typical Total Drama canon-esque flyover leading through the open plains, the woods, and up the cliff and off into the lake. Underwater, Eva is swimming around and battling an octopus (obviously someone in a costume), then the camera moves up to show Courtney trying to walk across a pole as part of an obstacle course set up in the lake. A tentacle swipes up from the water and knocks her down, then the camera moves into the shore of the lake where Beth and a pair of sharks are relaxing. We then see the woods, where Leshawna and Heather are battling with poles as weapons on some tree branches. Leshawna knocks Heather off, and the camera goes down to the bushes to show that she landed by Geoff. (Who waves at her.) A sasquatch then pops out of the bushes and chases them away, with Leshawna looking down at the scene and laughing. It then goes to the cafeteria where Justin is standing by a table, trying to serve a decent-looking meal to Bridgette and Izzy, but they are in the middle of an arm wrestling match. Justin starts getting impatient. The camera moves up to the roof where Gwen is on a shopping cart, with Ezekiel standing behind her and holding up a stopwatch. He gives a signal and Gwen rides down, flying off and knocking into an outhouse. This opens the door, showing a bear which jumps out and roars at Gwen before pulling off its head and revealing that it was just Lindsay in a costume. Penultimately, the camera cuts to the plains, where Katie and Sadie are trying to avoid getting shot by paint from interns, before we go to the elimination bleachers where Ezekiel is standing at the podium. All eleven campers are sitting on the bleachers.*
"Anyway, let's see if I can stop talking about myself just for a few seconds and get to introducing our girls."
A broken down, country pickup truck with a wide back had driven up the road and just in front of Ezekiel. Riding in the empty back were eleven teenage girls, all of them clearly looking dizzy. The host opened the back fence and they stepped out.
"So, to repeat I won the special 'start your own miniseason challenge,' and I got to rope in eleven girls that know absolutley nothing about EMDHS- well, that might not be true, they could have seen an add on TV or a billboard, since it was everywhere at the time, but the point is, they never saw an episode. I know this because one of the many, many things to mark down when signing into the game was whether or not you saw it, and without telling anybody, I made checking that an automatic failing condition. Luckily for them, I'm a lot less sadistic than Chris."
"Really?" Shouted a girl who was already introduced in another universe as Courtney, but in this universe will remain unknown until shortly. "That trip was the worst one I took in my life!"
"Everyone," Ezekiel announced, grinning even wider and clearly trying to shrink it, "Courtney!"
She angrily grabbed her luggage and walked off of the truck.
"But seriously," Ezekiel continued, "you only think that arrival was so bad because Chris was the driver. I, on the other hand, am a completely different story. Like I always say, never underestimate the power of Zeksmit!"
As the other ten contestants stepped off, Chris laughed at the front of the truck. "I gotta say Ezekiel, you really know your way with picking out victims!"
"They're not victims!" Ezekiel shouted back, walking up towards the pickup. "They might be if they were on your show, but here they're just contestants! Or... campers! Yeah, that's right! And I full well intend on giving them proper camper treatment!"
Chris drove off with a laugh. The camera angle was showing further down the road in the direction towards the cliff, and that far down the path was what looked like a set of two towers: one yellow, and one purple.
Ezekiel looked down with a sigh, then spent a few seconds straightening up and telling himself, "He's gone now. He's gone."
After saying that, he resumed his grin and continued announcing. "So, you've all seen Courtney-"
"I researched this place before in my history class! There were some warnings about the wildlife and the pestilence here, so I should tell you that if anything goes wrong I can call my lawyers out at a moment's notice!"
"And joining her is Lindsay,"
The blonde looked around and eventually waved at the active camera.
"Katie and Sadie," he continued, walking up between them and putting his arms around their shoulders. They giggled in responce to this.
"We're on TV, Sadie!" Katie cheered.
"Yes! Eeeep this is so exciting! I can't wait to get to know this place more!" Sadie added.
"Eva, and Leshawna,"
"I just wanna say one more time, this one for the cameras, that this girl is gonna win this!" Leshawna said, holding up a bent arm in a fist.
"And I will say this for the cameras." Eva sneered. "The only green you will be seeing is the grass here when I knock you and the other competition flat on your faces."
"Beth."
"Wow, I've never seen a place so clean before!"
Ezekiel laughed, with his face starting to flush a little. "Yes! Zekitunakwa has been thoroughly cleaned up by environmentalists, and me! Not saying that I'm one, but-"
He glanced over at Bridgette, then cut himself off, and instead walked over to Gwen, who was fanning herself.
"I did not sign up for a hick show." She said.
"No, but you signed up for a reality show!" Ezekiel chuckled in a rather devious manner. He walked over behind the sign and pulled out a large set of paper. "See look, I keep copies of the contract you signed behind here. Did you sign this?" He teased.
Gwen grabbed them and started fanning herself with them.
"This is in the middle of a Canadian tundra, and in the winter at that. Why is it so hot in here?"
"Actually Gwen," Ezekiel said, clearly emphasizing her name to the viewers, "This may be in the middle of Canada's starting point before the war, but Zekitunakwa itself is almost considered a desert. That forest to the West wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the mountain spring far out from camp."
He walked over to Heather, who was wearing sunglasses. The to-be camper cringed as the host approached her.
"And this is Heather." Ezekiel continued. "The only contestant recommended to me by Chris. Heather, what do you think of Zekitunakwa?"
"Of course somebody like you would think that I'm in this for any reason other than the money and fame." She snorted. "Just introduce the last of my last competition and get this game started already."
"You know, I was so close to having to compete against you!" Ezekiel cheered.
"Yes, but then they somehow chose your wimpy cousin instead. You told me this."
Ezekiel laughed, before walking over to the last two campers.
"This is Izzy," he began, with the contestant he was referring to springing into the air and looking around the praries.
"Oh yeah!" She shouted. "I always dreamed of a place like this! This is gonna be so fun!"
Ezekiel gave a mischevious smirk.
"Fun for you, not so fun for... anyone else." He drew his attention back to the camera one last time, "And finally, we have... Bridgette."
The girl was carrying a surfboard.
"Um... I thought this was gonna be on a beach."
"Oh, erm..." Ezekiel's eyes darted around. "I don't know where the idea came from - no offense! I think that might have been a misprint on the flyer-"
"Yes, it was." Courtney said, examining the cliff. "You said that the campgrounds would have a cliff that 'opens into the ocean yo.' Complete with using a Zed instead of an S." She used air quotes for the quoted part.
Ezekiel laughed nervously. "Sorry, Bridgette. Even an awesome guy like me makes mistakes. You can still swim around here... though? That cliff does lead out to a nice lake!"
Bridgette stared at him. "Um... thanks?"
He nodded. "Alright, the campers are introduced. Brief rundown of this game eh: Welcome to Total Zeksmit Plains, where for a few days you will all get to relax here and endure an elimination-based game where the winner gets fifty grand. This game is not gonna be easy, though. Not at all yo. Over the weeks you must face bears, tough challenges that will test your physical limits, and worst of all eachother before you can claim your prize. With that in mind, it will sound a lot cooler now when I say: Welcome to Zekitunakwa.
"So," Ezekiel clapped. "Brief tour of this place. Like I already said, this is Zekitunakwa," he said, guesturing towards the large sign that read as such. "To the West, which is also where you were driven from, is the Zekitunakwa Forest. To the East and far behind me in the North is the cliff. It's about three hundred meters tall. Can't miss it. Below the edge of the cliff and a little bit more to the East is the lake. Call it the Zekitunakwa Lake, not Lake Zekitunakwa. Trust me, eh. Lots of newcomers get that confused. Far to the East, the other way down that road you came in, is a movie set. We will go there, but not at the beginning. It's actually... pretty endgame, you know? Most of you will not get far enough in-game to have our challenge way over there.
"Now, for the campsite. This is where ten out of eleven of you will be staying for three nights, and as our game goes on that number will decrease as one by one, since one of you gets kicked out of here! Since everything's so close to this place, I'll tell that part of the tour as a walkthrough."
(Zekitunakwa Campgrounds)
"These are the main campgrounds." The area he was in had a tall flagpole with a set of speakers at the top, and a pair of two cabins located side-by-side. This portion was much closer to the forest than the sign was.
"Those are your cabins, but don't get too settled in them! Again, one of you will be gone before you have the chance to sleep in for the night. Which is good, because there are only ten beds."
"Are the cabins co-ed?" Lindsay asked.
Ezekiel raised an eyebrow. "The only people using these will be you eleven, and you're all girls. It doesn't matter." He then guestured to a building that was around the general area. "Those are the washrooms." Then he guestured to an outhouse. "And that is an outhouse that doubles as a confession cam."
(Confessional)
Ezekiel: I was thinking about not doing this, but this is an all-girls game, and you viewers all know how girls like to rant about stuff. Heh heh.
Gwen: *Trying not to laugh.* This show is already hilarious. For all the wrong reasons. The host is clearly a country hick that has no idea what he's doing and keeps making a fool of himself, the budget looks like it was in the triple digets at best, and the area we're living in is a dump that he seems to unironically over-glorify. Why would a so-called celebrity like Chris hire him of all people?
Heather: Ezekiel is clearly a narcicist. If I'm going to win, I'm going to have to kiss up to him as much as possible. It will be hard, but if I do that and make a formidable alliance, my blue ribbon is a garuntee.
"This," Ezekiel said, guesturing to a wooden, weak building quite a distance to the North from the campite, "Is where we will have our first challenge. Meet me here at four o' clock."
"Am or pm?" Lindsay asked. "I'm sorry, but I don't look as pretty in the night."
"Pm." Ezekiel said. "We won't be doing night challenges just yet."
"Isn't pm the night one?"
"It is in a way, but- Look, when the mess hall clock says 'four,' come out here."
"What mess hall clock?"
"I'll show you the mess hall at the end of the tour. For now, follow me towards the road."
(East to the Zekitunakwa Sign)
Just before the road there was a large stadium and a set of bleachers behind it. The campers sat in said seat while Ezekiel walked up to the stadium's podium and grinned.
"This is where we will be having our eliminations. Every three days, starting today, you will be given a challenge. At the end of the challenge, everyone will report here - usually at night - and vote for who you want to send out of here. The loser gets a free ride from our special black car, and onto a resort that Chris was nice enough to loan me, where you will stay there for the rest of the game. I, not being an idiot, will be driving that truck you came on so that I will be spending the nights there too, so don't expect to see me here on a day without challenges. To sound a little like a drill sergeant, you will soon learn to associate me with hard work. I'll explain the fine details of getting kicked off more but for now, I'll tell you that when you get a marshmallow, you are safe."
He gave a guesture to get ready to continue walking, then he led them into what was possibly the largest building in the camp, containing a cafeteria. At the end opposite of the door, a male teen was cooking.
"This is the mess hall," Ezekiel said, "This is the show's co-host and cook, Justin," he said, referring to the one setting up the food. He looked in Ezekiel's direction, and slapped himself in the face.
"Lunch will be ready in half an hour. In the meantime, get your luggage in the cabins, and I'll introduce... a little gimmick to this series."
"Ooh, ooh!" Lindsay said. "Do we have to break into song every episode?"
He laughed. "I wish. But no, I was kind of underfunded for that. Now you see, in the first contract Chris gave me, he said that it would have been manditory for him to appear in every episode. But, I worked that out with a counter offer. I don't have to do that, but instead you have to do something for me. You see, what's one way to rank in extra views?"
"Unnecessary graphic violence?" Gwen suggested.
"Yes, but that's not it."
"A game system that makes sense?" Courtney asked.
"This does have that, way ahead of you, but that's not what I was asking for."
"Fights?" Leshawna asked, glancing over at Eva.
"Not quite..."
"Singing?" Lindsay asked.
Ezekiel responded to the last comment with a facepalm.
"Girls in revealing outfits! Don't you get it? That's why this is an all-girls show!"
Beth begin, "Actually, guys-"
"Don't bother with that argument." Justin spoke up. The contestants turned to him, as with Ezekiel upon realizing that the eleven girls weren't looking at him anymore. "I convinced him that good looking guys in swimsuits also bring in ratings - trust me, I know - then he pulled out a counter that that only brings in teens who are 'cheery fangirls,' and that women bring in teens who are 'macho and awesome' and I couldn't convince him otherwise." He rolled his eyes. "Sorry about that. Trust me, when this game is over, you'll all be wanting me to be the host."
Ezekiel raised an eyebrow and smirked. "But you don't think that job could ruin your looks?"
"Yes, I know, I know. Now ladies, I have eleven two-piece bikinis behind me, each custom made for you based on what you signed in for the aplication. Put them on in the communial washrooms, then meet Ezekiel and I by the front side for the promo picture."
(Confessional)
Beth: *In a seagreen bikini, with matching armband and sandles.* This is actually a kinda innovative idea! But... I would really like to compete against good looking, half naked guys.
Courtney: *In gray. She is looking down and scowling, before facing the camera to talk.* I'm torn about my boyfriend with this... development. On one hand, of course I want him to see me. On the other hand, I don't want him perving on the other contestants! I'm sorry, if you're watching this, but that is the kind of thing you would do!
Eva: *In navy, smirking* This just gives me the oppertunity to show off my muscles. I'm ripped, and that's gonna scare the fifty grand right out of these campers and give it aaaallllll to me...
Gwen: *In purple, looking at herself.* Did Ezekiel pick these colors based on our auditions? Because I told him my favorite color was midnight blue. Then again, that also looks like Eva's favorite and she... well...
Izzy: *In bright green.* Eh, it's not much different from what I normally wear. More points to Zeksmit for getting this to match the color of those leaves I used!
Katie: *In pink, looking at her feet.* I like how Ezekiel gave each of us shoes with the swimsuits! But why... does it have something to do with the grass?
Ezekiel: Yes, it does.
Sadie: *In bright magenta.* Well, I'm glad about the heat now! Sweet!
Leshawna: *In khaki.* I'm fine with this twist. A new saying some of my friends came up with: The more skin, the better! *Looks at one of the walls nervously.* And the less of that Chris guy, the better. One drive alone and I'm already scared of him.
Lindsay: *In orange, looking at her bikini confusingly.* How come none of us are given yellow? I mean, Leshawna's looks yellow, but it's not a yellow yellow, it's closer to... gray? Because seriously, a rainbow without yellow is an ugly rainbow.
Bridgette: *In light blue, looking around uncertainly.* So... does this mean that if Betty didn't do that thing in my audition, I wouldn't have a chance at getting in? Or...
Heather: *In brown.* Ezekiel obviously came up with this concept just for me. I'm clearly the hottest, and I should be the one to show off my body throughout this whole game. Which I will be, acheiving victory while one by one, every single one of these insufferable, insane, know-it-all losers will get voted off.
Geoff: Hey guys, my name is Geoff and I'm like, the host of these talkshow things that will happen every once-in-a-while called the Aftermaths. You see, when Ezekiel took the promo pic, he introduced me to the camping crew, then told me to introduce myself in here in case he decides that the promo pic taking isn't important. Which... if you're seeing this, he decided. *Jumps up and smiles.* So, my interests are-
(Camp Outskirts)
Walking with a smile, Ezekiel led the campers far north into the plains - not to the point where the tall cliff was, but still a considerable distance from the camping area. He stopped once he got to a roofless wooden structure. It was about as tall as an average one-story house, only a little bit wider and longer. There were some paint blotches on it, and no visible entrance on the side Ezekiel and the campers were facing.
"This," Ezekiel said, "Is where your first challenge will be. Before I tell you, let me give you a brief history of Zekitunakwa: This used to have a paintball place until I got the rights to own it for the five weeks in this game we'll spend here. And this was a specific arena. You see, instead of an open-ended field with some structures, some matches here were played only at this square... thing. In every side except the one here, there is an entrance. Your challenge, which will determine the teams later on, is to pick one of those entrances, work your way towards the center, collect a guilded Zeke out of a pile in a pit, and make it out."
"Is that it?" Gwen asked.
"No... but the added challenge won't make this next to impossible. One extra challenge is that this place is actually a maze. Another is that there will be interns patrolling the area with paintball guns. If you are shot, you are out. And lastly, the guilded Zekes may look gold, but they are really just painted glass. So, be careful with them. If one breaks, you're gonna have to go back to the center to get another one. Luckily, we have several. Now, obviously and to make things interesting, you can form small alliances and buddy groups. And to give a little more motivation: The two campers that win first will not only get invincibility, but they get to pick the teams next episode and will be the team captains until the merge unless they get kicked off before that happens."
(Confessional)
Beth: Well, I never exactly led before...
Courtney: Yes! This is exactly what I need! A challenge, to show my high physical and mental skill to my competition as a first impression, and the winner gets to pick their own teams, both forcing them to admit that I am the real leader out of these girls, and I get to have all the power. *Leans back and smiles.* This will be an excellent start to me winning the fifty thousand dollars. I really hope my boyfriend is watching this! *Chuckles.* Well, knowing him he probably is. *Sneers.* And to repeat, especially because of this swimsuit gimmick.
(West Entrance)
Courtney stood just at the doorless opening, looking away from it and at the other ten contestants.
"Alright, does anyone support me for team leader?" They all exchanged unsure glances. "No? Well, you should. Anyway, my strategy is to memorize and mentally plan out a map of the area. We must not mark things down, or else the interns will know which parts of the maze we did not go through, and we will not mark it down on ourselves in case the interns capture us and use it for their advantage. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Heather said, "Who made you the leader?"
"I am a counselor in training. As such, I have more experience than any of you. I'm the one who should lead and come up with the strategies here, because I know nobody else on this prairie knows how."
"Yeah... no." Heather stated. "Anyone who wants to actually win this, follow me. I'm going to a different entrance so that I won't have to deal with you freaks. If anyone wants to follow me, they may."
Lindsay, Beth, Katie, and Sadie all glanced around at eachother and walked down Heather's path.
"Great!" Courtney shouted. "Now the crazy rebel has followers!" She turned back to the other competetors. "Look, do you want to give yourself a slight chance at winning, or do you want her to win?"
Izzy leaped away.
"You're following Heather too?" Courtney yelled in her direction, even though at that point Izzy wasn't too far from her.
"Nope! I like neither of you! I'm starting my own plan! We burn through those interns with nothing but brute force!"
Eva gruffed, following Izzy.
"Girl, really?" Leshawna asked. "That Izzy seems even worse than Heather!"
Eva scoffed. "Force is my skill, I don't do 'mental maps.'"
Courtney clutched a fist.
"Okay, does anybody else want to abandon their chance at winning the first challenge?"
Bridgette started to slowly sidestep away from the remaining three campers.
(Confessional)
Bridgette: I know the application said that there will be eliminations every three days and this is supposed to be a competetive game, but I just want to hang out with a crowd who wants to have fun here.
*Pauses.*
But it turned out I went with the wrong crowd for that. Note to self: Get to really know these girls before making assumptions like that about them. I thought Izzy looked more carefree than Gwen, Courtney, and Leshawna combined, but...
(Heather's Group)
"So..." Beth said, "How are we going to do this?"
The camper was refering to an intern standing right by a corner. The team of five was still close by the entrance (though there was a hall of decent length before the maze actually opened into the plains), none of them daring to move further.
"Just follow my lead." Heather said, scanning around the area.
"Alright," the self-proclaimed leader finally admitted, "We need a distraction. Who's willing to be bold and take one for the team?"
The four campers exchanged glances. Heather, shaking her head, suddenly grabbed Sadie and tossed her out in front of the intern. Just as the game's help gasped and he shot her with a paintball, Heather and her other three allies darted around her and the intern and into a spot deeper in the maze.
Upon reaching a point they believed was far enough from the first intern, they stopped and started panting.
"That sucked!" Lindsay cried.
"I know, right!" Katie whined. "Sadie's gone already! I'm starting to miss her! Did you know that if we're seperated for too long, she'll break into hives?"
"Calm down!" Heather ordered. "Katie, complaining about how much you missed your best friend even though it's just for one challenge won't get you anywhere! Lindsay, I'm sorry but I had to make a quick move so that we won't be kicked off!"
Beth glared at her. "By sacrificing one of us? All we needed to do was run past that intern guy really fast."
"Um, yeah, I needed to do that. It's called strategy. Sadie probably would have slown us down, anyway."
Beth clenched her teeth and shook her fist. "Well fine then! If you're just gonna throw away your allies like that, then I don't want to be in your alliance anymore!" She stormed off, and Heather took off in a seperate direction. Lindsay and Katie worriedly looked at eachother and followed the queen bee.
(Courtney's Group)
"Okay now, my memorized map plus the perimeter of this building say that we are... already pretty close to the center." Courtney said, turning to her allies and smiling. "See look, I told you that picking me was a smart move!"
Gwen and Leshawna ran several paces to catch up, then leaned over to pant.
"Yeah," Gwen said, "But you exhausted us in the making. Can't you try something that won't make us double-back so much?"
"Well, yes, I sent you through a path to avoid the interns based on where they were at the time, and by faking them out so much so that they will go away from us. Complain about how tiring it was, but at least we made it before the other groups!"
"Hey, cool!" Izzy voice was heard from not too far down, "It's the center of the room!"
Courtney, Gwen, and Leshawna ran just a little extra and found her, Eva, and Bridgette staring at a square pit, with the pile of glass Ezekiel statues rising from it. There were only two entrances to this room, both facing eachother on opposing sides of the pit. The subgroups were in different sides, in a way surrounding the idols.
"How... how?" Courtney asked. "How did you get here so fast?"
"Well, I threatened the interns," Eva said, smirking.
Courtney burried her face in her arms.
"Fine. Look, we're both anti-Heather groups here, let's... urgh... stick together for the rest of the challenge. That way we can watch eachother's backs."
"Hey, look! I think at least one of them's in the guilded Zeke room! It's the chatty one, right?" A female intern cried.
Several shots were heard and paintball spots began decorating the area, four interns being gathered near the entrance Courtney's group went in, the trio just missing by ducking further into the prize room. Eva's group grabbed one guilded Zeke each, before another shot was heard and Izzy was tossed back. The Zeke she had held had spun in the air before landing on the ground and breaking.
"Izzy?" Bridgette cried, running to her side while Eva simply shrugged and ran out the entrance she came in. Courtney's group ran around the pile, collected the gold, and out the way Eva went.
"Brid... gette..." Izzy stuttered, blatantly overacting. "I've been shot in the side..." Bridgette looked to see a green blotch in the right of Izzy's stomach. "Please... go on without me. You can do it..." she laughed.
The interns all stared in confusing, none of them firing. They parted when Justin walked in on the scene.
"Hey, cool!" He said, "You're ceasing fire in advance because of me." The interns exchanged even more confused glances. "Now, I'm gonna take Izzy to the 'prison cell' closeby, and it will be my duty to keep going after any and all campers that get hit. You - and tell this to all other interns in the area - will do your best to not hit me under any circumstances. Comprehend?"
They nodded.
"Good-"
Justin was cut off when a smirking Bridgette dashed through the brigade of interns, guilded Zeke still in hand.
(Heather's Group)
Heather watched from around a corner to see Justin walking down a hall, humming some tune to himself. He was flipping around a set of keys in his hand, and Izzy was following him.
"Aaaaand just down here is where you will be staying for the rest of the challenge. This place was one of the team's bases was back when this was used for Capture the Flag games. The other team's base... was destroyed several years ago in a pretty nasty bulldozer incident."
"Ooh, ooh, tell me about it!" Izzy cheered.
"I don't know much about it myself, but Ezekiel does."
Izzy groaned. "Nevermind."
There was a sound of keys being worked, followed by a slow creek. Heather turned to see that Justin was opening a glass door, connected to an equally glass wall that looked completely out of place compared to the wooden surroundings. As with the rest of the structure, there was no roof. Sadie was also in this glass room, which caused Heather to raise an eyebrow.
"We were originally planning on having everyone eliminated simply spend the rest of the challenge relaxing outside of this building and at the camp site, but then a certain designer thought that this would carry a little more... ambiance that this is some sort of war."
"Designer?"
"Some really wierd chick obsessed with suits. Ezekiel knows her more than I do. Heck, he knows her better than he knows me."
(Confessional)
Justin: But by itself, that's not saying much. *Chuckles.*
"You or Gwen might like her." Justin continued, Izzy getting into the faux-prison cell.
The co-host flipped out a cell phone and continued walking away, Heather and her remaining two allies running up to the glass. Katie in particular was pressed much more.
"SADIE! YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" She replied. "But... why would you think I'm not alive?"
"Oh... I don't know!" Katie said with a lengthy pause. "I was worried about you when we were seperated!"
"Me too! But I wouldn't go as far as thinking you're dead!"
"Well..."
Beth stopped at a corner and began panting heavily, back against the wall and lowering herself into a sit. Her arms were pressing a guilded Zeke over her chest. She gasped and rolled down the hall she didn't come from at the sound of footsteps. Footsteps which had passed and softened soon after.
"ATTENTION CAMPERS." Ezekiel's voice echoed throughout the maze in the form of several speakers lined across the tops of the walls, Beth lying down and breathing heavily. "ONE OF YOUR COMPETETORS HAS FOUND THE EXIT TO THE MAZE AND HAS HER GUILDED ZEKE IN TOW. EVERYBODY ELSE, BETTER PICK UP THE PACE, 'CUZ PERSONALY I THINK ALL OF YOU HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE AT GETTING VOTED OFF. INTERNS, SWITCH THINGS UP A LITTLE. WE'VE ONLY HAD TWO ELIMINATIONS SO FAR. TWO!"
It was then that Beth felt a familiar, low, warm draft. Her gaze moved up to see the opening to the wide, vast plains. "I... I made it." Beth said, smiling. "I'm the winner!"
After cheering the second part, Courtney, Gwen, Eva, and Leshawna all turned to the source of the voice at a particular direction. A shot was heard, followed by Beth crying "Shoot!"
"Okay, that means that the exit is somewhere around here!" Courtney ordered, "I heard Beth's voice from that direction, that's why we should look there!"
Eva sneered and went the direction opposite of where Courtney was guestering.
"Eva?"
"I need to find Bridgette. That little nature girl betrayed all of us by standing by Izzy." She turned to the remaining three campers. "You saw that, right? And then she just... ran off into a completely seperate direction, AWAY FROM US!"
Leshawna glared at her. "Girl, need I remind you that you broke away from Courtney to start off your own little group. And I'm sure threatening hitting everybody to get through this mess is not what Ezekiel had in mind when he was thinkin' up this challenge."
Eva gruffed. "Yeah, but that was strategy. What Bridgette just did was cowardance."
"What's the difference?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms.
"The difference is that Bridgette left us in action and I broke off before the challenge even begun."
(Heather's Alliance)
"Lindsay, would you stop looking for Katie! We lost her, can't we just go on?"
"But I thought we could all win this!"
"There's only two spots open for victory, and one of them's taken! In fact, as alliance leader I should leave you here right now!"
"Hey!"
"What?" Heather shouted. "If I were the team captain anyway, I would pick a team with all of my followers in it. And you should pick the same thing, right?"
"Well... what if I don't want to?"
Heather glared at Lindsay. "If you don't want... that's it, give me this."
She grabbed the guilded Zeke and started tugging at it right from Lindsay's hands.
"Give it to me!"
"No! You already have one!"
"What if the one I already had breaks? These stupid things are made of glass after all!"
"Then I can be the other team captain!"
Heather let go on that, and fell to the grass. She looked back up at Lindsay with a wide-eyed gasp.
"You... leading something?" She said.
This was followed by a laugh. A disgusted Lindsay glanced at Heather and took off into a random direction.
"Hey! I'm the alliance leader here! You follow me!" She shouted, trailing the blonde.
Before either of them knew it, they ran past Katie by the cell again, who whipped her head around at the two.
"Hey, wait!" She cried, finally turning her attention away from the happy Sadie and rather bored Izzy. "I forgot about you two!"
Unfortunatley, they ran past Katie's line of sight. She turned 180 degrees at the sound of a click, with Sadie and Izzy instinctivley following in spite of their eliminations.
"Hold it right there." The intern said, slowly stepping closer. "Now, my aim is kinda bad, but you- you kinda lost already. So moving will not save you now-"
"Let me take over."
Justin's voice rang that comment from around a corner. He followed in person after, with a frowning Beth trailing him.
"Beth didn't win?" Katie asked.
"No," Justin said, swipping the gun right out of the intern's hand. "And neither will you. Just because she found the exit and had her Zeke doesn't mean she actually completed the challenge by getting out yet."
Katie shrieked, and darted in a random path opposite of Justin's direction.
(Courtney's Group)
"Alright, based on my coordinates the exit by Beth should be riiiiight... there!"
Courtney steped out from a corner as she said the closing part of the statement, and pointed at 'There!' However, actually looking 'there' made her gasp. The other three contestants followed down the corner and gasped as well.
There was half a dosen green-haired interns, all standing right in front of the opening and all armed. They looked at the campers and glared.
"Wow." Gwen said. "Any advice, Ms. CIT?"
Courtney laughed nervously. "Um... well, there's two more exits we can try. Um... based on the sun's position this is the West exit, which means we should go North... OH JUST RUN AND I'LL COME UP WITH A PLAN LATER!"
She, Gwen, and Leshawna ran off, screaming, with Eva staying put in the hall.
"I DARE you to take me on!"
Some of the interns began to dash foreward, before the single one dressed in red spoke.
"Don't chase after the others." She said. "Ezekiel warned us about Eva, remember? It might take the six of us to stop her."
After finishing that statement, the girl found her paintgun getting punched in half by the brute. The remaining five reaimed, and while Eva did manage to kick apart the gun of the green-clad intern girl of the group, the yellow, blue, purple, and white wearing ones shot a barrage of paint. Eva was knocked back into the wall, the guilded Zeke in her hand falling to the floorless grass and breaking.
(Heather's Group)
"There!" Courtney's voice was heard nearby. Heather listened, leaning up against a wall with her head reaching as far out as possible. "I know for a fact that the North exit is just a few turns away!"
Heather smirked.
"By the way, you all do know that there were a lot of dead-ends in this maze, so we should split up at any turn we come across. I mean, this is every camper for herself after all."
"And what?" It was Gwen's voice. "Let the navigator, which by the way might be your only skill, take the win instead?"
"Only skill? I'll have you know that I am at the top in terms of strength, a super athlete, a chef, a cheerleader, a great singer, AND I can withstand almost anything! What have YOU done?"
Heather's smirk widened.
"Alright Lindsay," She finally spoke, "Now we make our mark."
"Is this why we've been standing around right at this entrance?" Lindsay asked. "I gave up a perfectly good almost-rebellion... for this?"
The active camera spun around to show that, yes, the two campers were right by the North entrance/exit the entire time. The trademark warm winds of the region were felt to a greater degree than they were while softened by the maze's wooden walls, letting the grass in the outer area move freely and grow slightly taller from the improved sunlight.
"Yes. Now, what we're gonna do is a simple little prank that I like to call, 'Lindsay is a table.'"
"Hey!" She beamed back. "I am not!"
(Courtney's Group)
"Alright!" Courtney cried, jumping into another three-way intersection while Gwen and Leshawna stayed in the side without a hall opposing it. "There should only be a few turns left and-"
She was cut off when a strong, fast-moving brown blur smacked into her. She and whatever had hit her spun around, and two golden blurs flew through the air. After all three of these objects hit the ground, the gold shattering, it was clear who caused that.
"Katie!" Courtney cried, pushing the other girl in question off of her and looking at the golden glass shrapnel. "You ran into me! You broke my guilded Zeke!"
Gwen and Leshawna looked at eachother.
"Girl," Leshawna said, "You could still run back to the center and get a new one. I mean, it's not like either of us has a garunteed win."
Courtney got on her knees and examined the shrapnel that she thought used to be the guilded Zeke she was holding (By the way, according to a slowed down replay it wasn't.)
"You..." She said, picking up the shards. "You..."
"I'm sorry... no wait! I work for Heather! What I mean to say is, it serves you right!"
Courtney jumped back up yet and and grabbed Katie by the shoulders, looking furious. Before Ezekiel would have to worry about a live murder occuring on his show however, shots were heard and before either of them knew it the two girls were tossed into the grass again, this time with green blotches of paint on them. Gwen and Leshawna shrank back into the hall before the crossing.
Justin laughed. "And that makes... six. Six girls eliminated." He went to the campers that were just shot, with a pair of interns following him. "You two, take them to the cell. I can't waste my time here."
"Oh crap." Gwen whispered to Leshawna. "We better hurry. Which way did Courtney say we need to go?"
"I think to us, from here, it's to the right."
"So... the opposite of where Katie came from? That makes sense."
"Yeah."
Justin turned his head, and the duo darted out and into the direction they discussed prior. What followed was the pair making a series of sharp turns, constantly running from the co-host shooting green paint at them.
"Hey!" Justin cried, running at about their pace. "It's nice that Ezekiel decided to put the pale one in purple, and the dark one in khaki! Color contrast! Makes for some real easy targets!"
"Dude!" Leshawna cried, along with Gwen she was looking back in terror. "This boy is crazy!"
"No, he just really enjoys this game." Gwen said, volume almost as loud as Leshawna's comment right before. "Trust me. I know crazy."
It was then that they felt themselves flung in the air, tripping over something. Both of them lost grip of their guilded Zekes, and watched in horror as their respective tokens of victory hit the grass and, as with Izzy's, Eva's, Courtney's ,and Katie's, completely shattered.
Following the sound of breaking glass was Heather laughing. The last two members of Courtney's group turned back to see Lindsay leaned over on her elbows and knees.
"See Lindsay?" Heather teased, not looking at the blonde but rather their opponents. "I said you would make an excellent table."
Lindsay got up. "Hey, you were right! Maybe you aren't so bad after all!"
"Fine!" Gwen jumped up, throwing her arms straight up in the air. "You got me eliminated, I don't care anymore! It's not like I would make a good team leader, and I'm pretty sure Courtney has a bigger chance at getting voted off than I do anyway!"
"I see someone's resigning?" Justin said, stepping around the corner.
"Now's our chance, Lindsay!" Heather cried, pointing in a direction. "Run, go to the exit!"
Gwen and Leshawna looked at the direction Heather was pointed in and gasped upon seeing the doorway leading to the open praries.
(Confessional)
Gwen: You're telling me that Heather and Lindsay had the chance to win at any time, but they wanted to stay here and get us eliminated first instead? That's just... mean. Not in a good way. Pure spite.
Leshawna: Okay, I don't care what Gwen says about Heather, but I know she is crazy.
Heather: It's called making a first impression. I wanted to show whoever's left of these losers that I can impose a strong hold over them, and be a real bully if you get on my bad side. You try to oppose me, and you go down. *Files nails with a smile.*
"Oh no you don't!" Leshawna called.
What followed was a lengthy series of steps that, in spite of its complexity, must have happened in under a minute. A minute and a half, tops. Leshawna charged, rapidly catching up with Heather and causing Lindsay to freeze in fright, holding up her guilded Zeke right up against herself as though she was defending it with her own life. The large camper jumped foreward, pulling down the bottom of Heather's Total Zeksmit bikini which in turn caused her to trip over. Her guilded Zeke, as well, fell out of her hands and broke on the ground. Unlike the previous four campers who lost their Zekes in similar ways, Heather did not fall over completely. She instead regained her balance and, while the bikini bottom fell down her ankles and off her feet, charged over to Lindsay.
"ALRIGHT LINDSAY, YOU KNOW THE RULES OF MY ALLIANCE! I LOST MY GUILDED ZEKE, AND NOW YOU GIVE ME YOUR'S!"
Unlike her reaction to Leshawna's battle cry, Lindsay stared Heather down as she charged towards her. Heather brought a clawed hand up to try to snatch the golden replica right out of the blonde's hands, but was met with a swift fist to the face.
Justin had made it to the final corner of the maze just before the exit, and looked at the scene in awe.
"No!" Lindsay shouted. "I don't want to be a part of your stupid alliance anymore! That Beth girl was right!" She looked at her own hand and frowned. "But I didn't mean to punch you! That was just a reflex! And you looked scary!"
Justin shook his head as though he was getting out of a trance, and aimed his paint gun.
"Sorry ladies." He said, "I guess it's down to sudden death."
Gwen caught sight of Lindsay's guilded Zeke and jumped at her just as another barrage of shot was unleashed. The shots were only aimed towards the middle portion of the hall, which hit Leshawna and had Heather following (the latter getting hit in her bare rear). Gwen, however, had tackled Lindsay to a low point where one of the walls met the ground.
After he noticed that he couldn't shoot Lindsay and Gwen this way, Justin jumped out right in front of where they were by and aimed his paint gun right at them. Gwen sighed, murmered. "Lindsay, just run. You won." and...
There was nothing following the click.
"Aw shoot!" Justin shouted. "I wasted all my ammo!" He sighed. "Leshawna, Heather, follow me to the cells where you can wash up a little. I guess I'll see these two fight eachother for the winning spot when the episode is being editted. Or when it airs, for that matter."
As they grudgingly followed the co-host (Heather picking up the bikini bottom upon passing it, but not putting it on), Gwen got off of Lindsay and sat facing her.
"Okay, you may have tripped me and caused me the match, but what you did to Heather was kinda cool- no, the tripping part was also pretty cool."
"Actually, the table thing was Heather's idea."
"Oh."
Brief silence.
"So... why aren't you going out there?" Gwen picked up a few seconds later.
"Out where?"
"In the plains, so that you can win the challenge! I think Beth won already, so there's no point in going back to the center and rushing out with another guilded whatever-it's-called."
"Oh. Well... you know..."
She looked around the ground, uncertain, before finally looking back up at Gwen and smiling. "I think I owe you one." She continued. "You see, you only lost your guilded Zebes because Heather ordered me to pull a mean trick on you. One that didn't even make sense! So, to show that I am really, absolutely out of her alliance for good, I want to give you this."
She stretched out hands out, offering the guilded Zeke.
"Wow. Really?"
"Yes! I think you might make a good team leader! Well, at least better than me! Oh also, if I get out then that means Beth and I can't be on the same team - oh right, Beth didn't win. So... well yeah, still, better leader and everything!"
"No, I- well..."
Gwen sighed, grabbing the golden glass. "Fine. Thanks."
The purple clad goth stood up facing the exit/entrance, smiled, and ran to the goal.
(Northern Entrance)
Gwen bolted out of the open doorway, slowing her run down to a jog, and then a very slow walk after completely realizing that she was now safe.
"Hello? Is anyone out there? Beth? Am I the only one who made it?"
"Nope." She heard Ezekiel's voice from some direction behind her.
Gwen turned and saw the host walking towards her from the Eastern entrance. Bridgette was following him, flipping a guilded Zeke in the air and catching it several times.
"Congrats, Gwen, you and Bridgette are the first winners of a challenge in Total Zeksmit Plains yo! You two get immunity and in three days you will be picking the teams! So for the rest of the day until the voting ceremony comes, you may relax. But tell the others that they will not be resting in peace for the rest of the day, for they all have a chance at being voted off!"
Gwen laughed. "Well, I don't think all of them have a chance at being voted off. By the way, since win did Bridgette win?"
"Back when I announced that someone found the exit with their guilded Zeke. That was her. She finished way before anyone else got close eh. Well, aside from Beth."
"Oh." Gwen said. "And Beth?"
Ezekiel shrugged. "Yeah, I thought I heard Lindsay tell you. Apparantly she got eliminated."
(Confessional)
Bridgette: I didn't think I would pass a challenge like this so... *Small laugh* easily. To me it didn't take any effort. So when I heard that eight of the campers were eliminated and I got out first it felt a little... unexpected.
Gwen: Sooooo... team captain. And I get to stay here for another three days. Another three days with a redneck, creepy model, and most of these girls, many of them are clearly insane. The host of the Aftermaths at least seems normal, but I'm not gonna see him until I finally get out of this humid prarie. *Looks up.* You know, this place is really more like a flat jungle.
(Elimination Ceremony)
Ezekiel stood on the stage and behind the podium, he and Justin facing the bleachers seated by the campers dressed in the outfits they arrived in. Ezekiel cleared out his throat, and motioned towards his co-host, who had been holding a plate with ten marshmallows on it. A cardboard box was between the two hosts. All an image painted in the night that would later on create worry and uncertanty for the contestants, with the number of marshmallows changed of course.
"Alright campers." He said, arms behind his back and giving a wide grin. "Do not think for a second that the rest of the game will be as easy as your first challenge. That was only a warmup. The eleven of you were picked out among a... few others who auditioned, and while you eleven were fit to handle this show, only ten of you will be fit to survive for three more nights and undergo the next challenge, eh.
"Since this is your first time here, I'll give a lowdown on how to vote."
He opened the box and grabbed eleven small electronic devices, gathering them with both of his hands.
"These are your voting devices." Justin grabbed three from his hands and walked over to the campers, handing the electronics to them one by one. "All ya' gotta do is tap the icon of the camper you wanted voted off, and you would have submitted a vote. It's that simple." He went back to Ezekiel, grabbed a few more, and repeated this process of handing them out until there were none left. "By the way, Bridgette and Gwen's icons are darked because they have immunity, so don't even bother voting for them. And finally, should you try to peek at another's votes, you're gone. You may tell someone who you voted for, or you can deliberately show who you voted for, but you cannot onlook another's choice."
The podium beeped, and a paper was fed out of it with the sound of working machines at the process of printing it. Ezekiel, with a sudden swipe, took the paper out and laughed.
"Wow, fast vote huh? When I was on EMDHS that didn't happen. So, when I call your name, you get to walk up to grab a marshmallow. These marshmallows indicate safety, and are my way of saying that you get to stay in the game. First up, our two with immunity, Bridgette and Gwen.
"The next five of you girls didn't get a single vote at all, which in some cases is rather surprising. Izzy, you're safe. Beth, you're staying here for at least three more nights. Lindsay, don't pack your bags. Sadie, you get to stick around and lighten up the mood for our fellow campers." He snickered at that remark. "And Eva, you have the oppertunity to continue terrorizing and scaring the pants off of everybody. Which I think some of the viewers would like, heh heh."
Katie began biting her nails with Sadie following as Ezekiel's eyes went down the paper. "Now this one is kind of odd. At one vote, we have Katie. Congrats, you get to stay with Sadie."
"Yay!" They both jumped on the bleachers.
"Leshawna, you better watch yourself. You got two votes! And finally, this girl really should watch herself, having three."
"Three people voted for me?" Heather stood up. "Alright, whoever you are, after this I'm gonna make your life on this prarie miserable!"
"No, you have five votes." Courtney spat. "Do the math. One person voted for Katie, two for Leshawna, and three for me. That leaves five people for you."
"Excuse me? What makes you think that you're the one with the least votes?"
"Because I'm a CIT. I would be highly demanded as a teammate. You're just some bossy girl nobody likes."
"I was liked back at my highschool!"
"Well your highschool has a bad taste in..." She paused, clearly trying to find a vaguely proper insult. "People!"
"Urgh, you think my highschool is bad? Who elected you CIT?"
"Being a CIT doesn't work that way!"
Ezekiel laughed. "Yeah, let's just say both of you are bad and move on. You both held a really tyranical rule over your respective alliances, which would make it pretty interesting if you two ever actually clashed with eachother. As much as I would like to call off the elimination so that you two could cause some serious drama on this show, that would unbalance the teams, make me have to come up with a new episode, and most importantly it would be very unfair and Chris-like. So, one of you will stop bringing drama after this. And the person who will continue to boss over everyone else is...
...
...
He raised a hand and pointed between the two girls. Neither of which seemed intimidated by getting voted off. Heather had her head rested on her hand and was leaning back on the seats, which Courtney crossed her arms over her chest and simply wanted the ceremony to be over with.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Courtney! You get the show's first last marshmallow!"
"WHAT?" Heather stood up again, turning to the other ten campers and fuming. "How could you have chosen her over me?"
Ezekiel laughed again.
"Heather, please pack your bags and head over to the Car of Failure, where you will be driven away from here."
"NO WAY!" She shouted. "Please tell me that this isn't it? Do I get to come back as a viewer's favorite?"
Ezekiel put on another trickster smirk. "Even if I did do Chris-like things like bringing people back on the show, I doubt you're a viewer favorite."
"Can I at least be an intern? To pull pranks on everybody?"
"Nah, I wouldn't trust you at all. My interns are supposed to have a really unbias mindset. Plus, you wouldn't really like the job. But, I'll tell you what, I do have a special role in mind for the first camper voted off: You get to co-host the Aftermaths with Geoff... but it's nothing really big. In fact, it's just filler and an excuse to show the people that were already voted off."
Heather scowled, darting off into the cabins. A black car drove amongst the lightly paved road in the middle of the tall grassy fields. She returned shortly after with her luggage.
"Fine then!" She shouted to Ezekiel, then turning to the ten campers still in the game to finish. "When the Aftermaths come by, I'll be sure to exploit you as much as possible!"
The only major sounds following that were from the jet black car and its trip early into the night; the door being slammed shut, the engine driving it down into the small parting in the woods where the straight road continued, dying out to the chirps of crickets and the low buzz of countless insects that roamed the empty countryside.
The silence was finally broken by Leshawna.
"That girl was popular somewhere?"
Everyone laughed.
"Well," Ezekiel said to the active camera after his laughter fit ended, "One down, nine to go before we'll find out who wins this miniseries! Stay tuned for the next episode of Total. Zeksmit. Plains!"
(Audition - Heather)
Heather emerged from a swimming pool in a brown bikini.
"Hello, Zeksmit." She said with an obviously forced giggle. "I really hope you think of me as deserving a spot on your own show. I know that Chris would have picked me to compete against you, but your cousin somehow got in over me by a very, very small- oh, what am I saying? I just want to ask you to choose me, because as you can tell from my bio I can add quite the drama to this show. And I know I'll last a long time. So pick me. You won't regret it."
The camera cut to static.
Votes:
Beth: Heather
Bridgette: Heather
Courtney: Katie
Eva: Courtney
Gwen: Courtney
Heather: Leshawna
Izzy: Heather
Katie: Leshawna
Leshawna: Heather
Lindsay: Heather
Sadie: Courtney
Total:
Bridgette and Gwen - Immune
Katie - 1
Leshawna - 2
Courtney - 3
Heather - 5
Teams:
Team Captain 1: Bridgette
Team Captain 2: Gwen
Remaining, not a Captain: Beth, Courtney, Eva, Izzy, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Sadie
Eliminated: Heather
Closing AN:
The basic idea behind the changes for this chapter is that the storyline remains the same, except it's moved at a much faster pace. I mean, this has about 61.9 KB, whereas the file for the old version had up to 76.3.
"Zekitunakwa" was just a name I made up. There isn't a real location with that name, or at least it wasn't named after it if there is. I wanted all of the campsites featured here to have names that end in "-Nakwa." And there is kind of an in-story reason for that, but you won't have to worry about it for a long time. In fact, this reason might not come to be.
And no, Heather is not returning to compete. There will never be any complete returns in this fan competition (aside from future seasons, but that's at the beginning, not the middle), although I am working for something very late down this series that isn't a full return. And no, it's not "They get to come back as interns!" I'm sorry, but I personally don't like that idea. My profile gives away what the 'limited return' option I'm taking is, so you could either spoil yourself there or simply wait until I reach that point.
Originally, Beth and Eva were supposed to be redone in this universe to look more attractive to fit with the fan service, of which it sort of had a bigger hold over the show's design than it does now. Does it still apply here? I myself haven't decided yet. You can try to picture a beautified Beth and Eva competing in this if you want, but for now their states will be open to interpretation. Hensewhy nobody mentioned their looks outside of Eva bringing up her own fitness (which was a constant anyway). Quick Edit: Okay, later chapters (I'll just say early-installment weirdness and leave it at that) have comments that imply that they look like their canon designs, but if it really bugs you you can just ignore this I guess. I don't know. Why am I telling you how to make fanservice out of fanon?
Next up: Rather Plain Sports. Bridgette and Gwen pick their teams, and the ten campers face off in three sports-related challenges. One team earns their very first win, while one of the five out of the other team loses.