Author's Notes: Hey everybody! You must think I'm only focusing on this story given how fast I've been updating it, eh?

Well, don't worry too much about that. I updated 'Three Tests of Valor' before this story and there's a specific reason why I wanted to get this next chapter done as quickly as I could. As I'm sure you're aware, I expressed that I wasn't particularly keen on this chapter in the author's notes of the previous chapter. Because of that, and my next round of grad classes around the corner, I wanted to get this done fast. This chapter probably won't be posted until after my classes have started because of me sending it to Kenju for edits and his awesome additions but most of the heavy-duty work on my end for this chapter will be finished before my classes began again.

Like the previous chapter, this one starts with a time skip. This time, two months have passed since chapter 2.

Here's the third chapter of "Unbreakable Red Silken Thread": Fate: The Deadman's Hand

Cody found himself marveling at how things seemed to be both so similar and yet so radically different within just a few short months passing.

Of course, some of the constants and variables were obvious. For an example of a variable that had changed, instead of being the end of October it was now the end of December, in fact, it was the beginning of their Christmas break. The jack-o-lanterns and effigies of vampires and zombies gave way to Christmas trees and dancing statues of Santa Claus. On the other hand, an example of a constant that remained the same, Cody and Heather continued to meet up at the Leon's Coffee Shop on 9th Street every Saturday at eight in the morning.

While both variables and constants were easily visible, Cody was thankful that there were more variables than constants as time went on.

The first and most obvious being how Heather dressed when they met. Outside of their Saturday morning meetings, nothing had changed between them. Cody was still the unpopular nerdy victim of bullying and Heather was still the 'temporarily dethroned' Queen Bee attempting to overthrow reigning Dakota Milton. At Heather's 'stern request' (more of a threatening demand), they never once spoke at school, or in public, ever. Additionally, due to concerns over her popularity Heather still wore a disguise when they met each Saturday. The Tech Geek still felt a stinging annoyance with how she did this. He was pleased, however, that Heather had lowered her guard a bit, so to speak.

For the last three weeks, she wore a pair of tight black jeans, leather knee-high boots and (due to the cold), a dark blue turtleneck sweater. While she kept the sunglasses, she had lost the baseball cap and was no longer watching the exits and tables for fear of being seen. Cody doubted that anyone would recognize her even if they knew her, just as he doubted any of their classmates frequented this particular café. Still the change in her attire gave him no small about of glee as it meant that should someone recognize him from school, they would recognize him and see him with an obviously attractive girl. Being able to brag that he had been seen with THE Heather Wilson would have been great, but being able to brag that he had been seen with a hot girl was just as thrilling in his book, while still allowing to keep his promise to Heather to keep meeting her a secret.

The most changed variable, however, was in Heather and Cody's interactions themselves. Gone were the awkward silences, banished were the difficulties just starting a conversation, and no longer were there any lingering doubts or fears with their chosen course of action. In essence, everything that had defined their earlier coffeehouse talks was nonexistent.

In its place, despite their wildly differing personalities, they found an unusual sense of common ground between them. It wasn't so much a connection as an innate understanding with each other as they talked.

Well, sort of, as it was usually Heather who did the talking. Cody just listened to her, replying when prompted, offering suggestions when needed, or giving advice when he could. Still, both teens had learned a bit about the other during these exchanges.

As Heather did the majority of the talking, Cody found himself learning a lot more about her than she had of him, with three specific details standing out.

Firstly, there was the fact that Heather actually knew her way around a kitchen, and by her own estimation, was a pretty good cook. Though he had been voted off prior to it, he had watched the other episodes of Total Drama Island as they continued competing while he recovered from the bear mauling, including the cooking challenge. So he was skeptical to believe her claim at first, even pointing out how she didn't actually do anything during that challenge but tell the others what to do. That had led to their first real discussion, which led to him learning a lot more about the girl than he ever though he would. He had known for years that Heather's parents were filthy rich, what he hadn't known was that they weren't simply filthy rich, but in fact millionaires. That had been all he got out of her about them specifically for a while, but she did continue to tell him a little about herself and her childhood. She was a lonely child growing up, with a father who was constantly away on business and a mother that, in her words, 'never had time'. Similar to his own circumstances, but at least his parents were around…sometimes. Unlike the stereotypical lonely rich kid that grew up befriending the family butler however, she spent much of her time with the family's head chef. There was so much difference in that distinction! At least, that's what Heather tried to say before Cody's laughter forced her to say the truth. She did, however, confirm there was a family butler, but she really didn't care for the man and was sure the feelings were mutual.

The second thing he had learned about her proved to be the most interesting…Heather was actually pretty knowledgeable when it came to technology! True, she didn't gloat about it and she thought that most cutting edge technology was either stupid or useless, but she still knew more than just the basics. The former Queen Bee had proven (to her embarrassment) that she could even briefly maintain a conversation in what she called 'geek speak'. Even if she was somewhat tech-savvy, Heather was not a computer person, or a gamer by any stretch of the imagination. Almost all of what she knew came from her interest in cell phones, Smartphone's, and iPhones, though it did span every brand and model. While not matching Cody's area of interest specifically, when Heather talked about technology he found himself paying slightly more attention than normal.

The last thing he had learned that stood out was that aside from being popular, the one thing Heather enjoyed was ballet. That tidbit he had only learned a week ago, and it had been a surprisingly short conversation. She had taken to it at a young age wanting to gain the attention of her mother, who had been a 'première danseuse' in her time but had to retire from the art after she had gotten pregnant with Heather. Over the years, the Raven Haired Asian had become pretty good in her own right and found that she truly enjoyed performing. Cody had quickly figured out that the combination of hard work and dedication invested with the return of knowing that you alone were responsible for your success was like a perpetual ego boost for her.

Heather, in turn, had learned a few things about Cody she hadn't expected. The biggest being that Cody was capable of carrying a conversation about things outside video games, computers, or geek culture. Those were Cody's strong suits, but he could talk about almost any topic for at least a little bit, some more so than others. Ranging from cars to art, music to sports, books to fashion, she has been hard pressed to find anything he didn't have a passing knowledge of. The boy was even mildly fluent in Spanish, Japanese and French! As he had put it, he knew a little bit about everything, but he didn't know everything about anything. She was quick to point out that he still didn't know anything at all about girls, but he countered that by pointing out just whom she was talking to. It had taken considerable effort not to laugh at that (valid) point on her part.

Today, Cody wasn't (attempting) to show off any of those foreign tongues, or anything at all. Rather, as was usual, Heather was the one doing the talking. For once, however, she wasn't angrily ranting at some misfortune of hers, instead she was telling him a story that she had heard, one that had both her and Cody in laughing in stitches.

One of the popular kids hadn't studied for their exams last week and got the bright idea to copy the answers from another popular kid who sat right next to him. Their answers were identical, but while the first got an F, the one he copied from got an A as they always had. After his parents found out about his grades and as they were punishing their son, they learned that the person he copied from had gotten an A. They went to the school and soon the truth came out. It turned out that the teen had bribed their teacher all year to give him solid A's. So, because of one cheater's laziness, two students were now expelled and a corrupt teacher fired.

As the two teens continued laughing, Heather's phone went off, the normally nondescript ringtone sounding like a bomb going off in the mostly silent coffee shop. Looking at her phone, Heather saw that it was an alert rather than a call. Taking a moment to read the message her eyes widened slightly before she turned back to Cody with a frown. "Sorry Cody, but I've got to cut today short. Next weeks' recital has Madam Crocrine drilling everyone into the ground." Standing she was about to turn and leave when she paused. "Oh, that reminds me."

Reaching into her (no doubt expensive) handbag she retrieved something and handed it to Cody, who looked at it for a few moments blankly. It was a glossy pink ticket, with a black silhouette of a ballerina on the right hand side and her partner bowing on the left side.

"Wow! This looks expensive!" Cody said in sincere awe, knowing just from the texture of the paper that it couldn't be cheap.

Heather smirked, though unlike her typical superior smirk or even the rare seductive variant, this was a smirk of pride. "Yes, it is. But luckily for me I didn't buy it."

Cody looked at the former Queen Bee with a raised eyebrow.

Heather rolled her eyes. "I didn't steal it either. You're too paranoid for your own good, you know that, Mr. Goody Two Shoes? It was given to me, well, they gave me two. The theater company I perform with gives two free tickets to its students for each recital. I've been trying to get my parents to go with me for years, but they've never come…" She paused, expressing far more sorrow in her grey eyes than was normal, even as of late. When she continued, her voice was softer, "…and I doubt they ever will."

The Asian Teen looked away for a few moments, causing Cody to feel a twinge of sympathy for her, in part because it confirmed what he had suspected. When it came to most things, Heather was more than willing to answer any questions that Cody might have…with the one exception being her family. The only thing that Cody knew for certain aside from their wealth was that her mother was a performer before marrying her father. Aside from that, she was as tight-lipped as welded metal doors. The same was true of her home life. It didn't take much for Cody to imagine that her home wasn't a happy one…but he wasn't brave enough (or dumb enough) to pry the matter.

Finally, finding his mouth to be working, Cody took a breath and swallowed. "Heather, normally I'd say that I'm honored to have someone give me a gift like this, but…you have to know that I'm going to ask you this, why exactly are you giving this to me?"

Heather didn't answer at first, the question lingering in the air that reeked of coffee grounds. "I told you that I have a recital next week, and we still have a lot of practice to get in. Even through the actual performance isn't until later in the evening, I have to be there by seven AM," Heather paused, seemingly taking a moment to gather her thoughts. To Cody, it looked like she was struggling with something, either to find the words to say or to get them out, but he couldn't tell which. "I won't be able to see you next Saturday morning, but…I'd still like to see you. I've found our…this," she motioned to them sitting at the little café table before continuing, "to be…" she paused once again, "calming, almost therapeutic, to be honest."

Cody couldn't help but find himself feeling dumbfounded at hearing that. As much as talking to Heather grated against him, it did feel good to know that he was helping her at least.

Due to the obvious reason of not being able to read other people's minds, Cody missed Heather's mental addition, 'And unlike those supposed licensed professionals, you don't ask me a bunch of stupid questions I have no intention of ever answering while having the gall to charge me twenty bucks a minute for it!'

The former Queen Bee decided to end the silence that she had created, pointing at the ticket in his hand she spoke up. "The time and address are on the ticket, it's only a twenty-minute drive from here," she paused before continuing. "I expect you to be there…" Heather paused once again, this time for much longer before adding, "friend."

With that Heather left, leaving Cody staring at the glossy pink ballet ticket in his hands.

Cody stared at the offending ticket while sitting in his computer chair with great focus, as if some kind of answer would magically manifest itself if he stared long enough. Even after a week or internal debate, he wasn't sure what do to about the ballet recital tonight.

After no such answer appeared to him, the Tech Geek placed the ticket on his nightstand, with it now lying on top of a 'Konnichiwa from Okinawa!' post card. Cody smiled at the latest message from Izzy, this one featuring the redhead waving from within a steam filled hot spring, the sign above her reading 'Mixed Baths' honestly didn't shock him given her past antics. Apparently, he was one of only a handful from the Total Drama cast who still heard from the wild redhead. From time to time she would call Owen, but never for more than a minute at a time. Everyone else heard from her in the form of postcards. Each coming from a different city in either Canada or the United States for the first few months, but then her travels somehow made it to other continents. Owen explained that Izzy was still on the run from the RCMP, and she would be for the next few years. Thinking of Izzy made the Tech Geek smile as he imagined just what she had been up to.

But soon the images of Izzy left his mind and returned him to the problem at hand. Cody sighed as he slumped deeper into his computer chair. When combined with homework, his Saturday morning coffee talks with Heather had been seriously cutting into his gaming time, his primary source of social interaction. For the last two months he'd barely had enough time to keep his character from falling behind his clan, let alone lead them.

Plus, Cody was starting to find himself being more and more conflicted about the talks themselves. As much as he loved having a real friend to talk to in person, it was starting to chaff him that said friend didn't want to be seen with him in public and spent the majority of their time together venting to him…not to mention Cody's secretly growing hope for more in return.

As he stared at his computer screen sourly, contemplating if he should just let Chikktika and Boo use the ticket for their nesting, Cody didn't even question the two tiny versions of himself popping up out of thin air on his shoulders. These weren't the typical miniature personas of an angle and devil, however. The miniature on Cody's left shoulder wore a black shirt with a hollow green circle in the center that had a green X within it. The miniature on Cody's right wore a black shirt with a blue line running down one side and number 4 at its center.

{Screw the recital!} CodyX complained. {You've given Heather enough of your time that you should've spent playing World of Boarcraft. All she does is bitch and moan!} CodyX then mocked in Heather's voice, {''Oh, can you believe that little whore, Dakota? She had the gall to try and get me kicked off the cheer squad, me, the cheer captain! She isn't even on the squad!'}

Cody4 facepalmed and groaned, reluctantly admitting that his counterparts impression of Heather was spot-on. [Be that as it may, at least she talks to him. For the first time in who knows how long, Cody's interacting with a living person. An attractive girl at that. Sure beats just staring at his computer screen all day like he usually does.]

{There are a lot of hotties he can find on a computer screen that show a lot for a lot less lip!} CodyX fired back.

[Typical, all you think about is sex. It's no wonder that Cody has such a bad reputation as a horn dog.] Cody4 quipped dryly.

{Hey, that's not true!} CodyX refuted with a glare. {I think about of a lot of other stuff too! Like guns! Explosions! Cars! Video games! Video games with cars that have exploding guns! Candy, and Michel Bay films!}

Cody4 shook his head and rolled his eyes. [As nice as all of those things are, they don't change the fact that Heather is his friend, and a real person who he sees face-to-face. Big difference from a person's on-line avatar, a webcam, or a porno vid.]

{All that, 'admittedly hot', bitch does is complain to the point that Cody gets a ear-hole fucking!} CodyX shot back. {You might have a strong case if Cody wasn't just her venting dummy, and she treated him more like a real person, let alone a friend. Besides, and more importantly, she's taking away so much game time that it isn't even funny! With Sam practically gone, Cody could easily take over Clan Boulder Hoof! It wouldn't take much to get the other members to side with him and get the votes to boot Sam!}

Exasperated, Cody4 asked, [And what would Cody really get out of that?]

CodyX was aghast as it recoiled in sheer horror. {How could you be so stupid!? Have you forgotten that only Clan Leaders have access to the Slop Pit bonus dungeon? The only place in the entire game that players can get the legendary Ham-o-war mace!? His level fifty-three Porciladin might be doing fine now, but when the expansion patch hits next month we're going to be boned if we don't get our hands on something Epic grade or better and you know it!}

Nonplussed and ignoring that statement, Cody4 countered, [Listen, Cody has very few close friends. Most of the people he hangs out with from school are with him on-line more than off it. He needs to have friends who he sees outside of his room. And as good as Owen, Noah, Harold and the others from Total Drama are as friends, Cody hasn't been able to see any of them ever since Total Drama ended. Well, outside of Skype or a webcam.]

{We must have different definitions of what "friend" means. Because the last time I checked a real friend doesn't ignore another in any social setting outside of a secluded coffee shop, threatening them not to tell anyone about them being 'friends in secret' all the while disguised like a Russian spy.}

[She might not be the most accommodating of friends, but she still does call Cody her 'friend'. Even if it's only a friendship in secret, that's a step up from what it was a few months ago. Besides, this is Heather we are talking about. Being friends is probably a new thing to her. And don't you think that it might just be possible that Heather gave him that ticket because she's trying to include him in her interests? You know, like a friend would!]

{BOOOOOOORING!} CodyX shouted, before scrunching up its face and groaning. {Are you even aware of what you're asking Cody to endure? Cody doesn't like ballet! No guy does! It'll be him sitting next to Heather in an uncomfortable tux for hours, unable to talk to her, or anyone, watching girls with eating disorders hop around like white and pink rabbits.}

[Yes, that's probably what is going to happen. But remember, girls do like ballet, this girl especially! We know that this is important to Heather because she wants to follow in her mother's footsteps. Even if it sucks for Cody, he should at least try to be accommodating for her.]

CodyX was silent for a few moments, long enough that Cody4 thought he had convinced his counterpart.

{Why don't you just say what you actually mean you pandering self-righteous angel wannabe!?} CodyX shouted in petty rage, catching Cody4 off-guard. {You're not some 'holier than thou' angel; you're just more polite when you're being dishonest! What you really mean is that by doing this Cody will hopefully get Heather to let him fuck her all the time! Tell me if you'd even be arguing with me if you didn't want Cody to stick himself into some part of that hot Asian Queen Bee's body? I dare you! I double dog dare you, motherfucker!}

Cody4 looked quite mad and was about to give a retort before it stopped itself. For what felt like forever, he was silent, refusing to even look CodyX in its teal digital eyes.

{That's what I thought.} CodyX replied crossing his arms with a victorious grin.

[All right, I admit that I would like it if Cody could get his V-card punched, and Heather might be the first chance of that happening. However, it's not like Cody's so blinded by lust that that is all he would see Heather as. He would like Heather as a friend…who happens to let him into her bed.]

CodyX snorted. {Believe me, if I thought for a second that Heather would actually fuck Cody, I'd be all for this plan. But I don't think someone like Heather will ever see someone like Cody in that way.}

[Even if it's a long shot, isn't it better to at least try?] Cody4 asked weakly.

'Um?' Cody thought, looking at the ballet ticket. 'What do you even wear to a ballet recital? A tuxedo or something?'

{Oh, that's just great!} CodyX said with a glare at Cody4 after facepalming. {He's actually starting to listen to you and your hopeless optimism! What's he gonna do? Google search, 'what are you suppose to wear when going to a ballet recital?' and it give him an answer?}

All three Codys stared at each other in silence at that, until finally Cody gave into the silent temptation and growing curiosity. Opening his web browser he brought up Google and tried the simple search.

'What are you suppose to wear when going to a ballet recital?'

As the sky above him was bathed in the blackness of the cold wintery night, Cody drove up to the (surely) ancient theater. His car, a DeLorean DMC-12 raised more than a few eyebrows from the older generations, and brought on the expected jokes of '1.21 gigawatts' from the younger (and mid-tier) generation. Though Cody had long since grown immune to such teasing and taunts, these in particular had never bothered him to begin with. While they weren't his all-time favorite movies, he really did like the Back to the Future trilogy. The story of Marty McFly, his father, and Dr. Emmett Brown being able to create better futures for themselves when it seemed impossible held a certain appeal for him.

Besides, as he had pointed out to more than one of his classmates, the car did have its perks. For one, he'd never have to worry about the paint getting scratched, ever, and nothing short of several solid hits from a sledge-hammer would leave a mark on his baby. It would take a major accident to cause any noticeable damage, and even then he could just swap out the damaged panels. On top of that, it was the only car ever made that was completely immune to Canada's crappy weather. But most importantly, he liked it.

With those thoughts in mind helping to improve his mood, Cody pulled up to the main entrance. As expected a valet came up and stood outside the driver side waiting to park the car and Cody opened the doors without a second thought. The dual gull-wing doors.

WHACK!

The doors flipped up surprisingly fast despite their weight, and hit the parking attendant square in the chin, knocking him to the ground. Cody climbed out of the car and was cursing himself as he helped the attendant get back to his feet. Any apology he had in mind quickly died at seeing the young man's death glare, complimented by his bloodied lips and newly formed bruise. With his hands shaking, Cody handed over his keys, then quickly paid an up front tip of twenty dollars to make sure his car didn't have a future of being driven from a cliff or parked on the nearest set of railroad tracks. In the blink of an eye, all the hatred vanished from the young mans face. Though still bloodied, his lips now formed a smile as he gave a nod of appreciation.

Once his car was out of sight, Cody tugged on his cuffs as they rode up past his wrists. 'I didn't remember this thing being this tight last time I wore it...then again, the last time I wore it was for the Reality Television Awards, and that was six months ago.'

The Tech Geek was decked in a (slightly tight but still passable) black tuxedo, complete with dapper shoes and slicked hair, though he was longing for his usual crème colored t-shirts and moss-green sneakers. His old clothes weren't the only thing he was longing for as he entered the theater, ignoring the pain in his stomach. It was getting late, and he was getting hungry. One of the things that he had discovered during his impromptu on-line study session before coming was that it was considered extremely rude to get up during a performance, even if it was just to use the bathroom. So to insure there wouldn't be any 'problems' he had forgone lunch, and now it was nearly time for dinner. Thinking of the growing ache in his stomach but not letting his less than pleased mood show itself, the Tech Geek handed his ticket to the usher and retrieved his seating stub at the ticket booth. He made sure to grab a program brochure from one of the theater attendants as he made his way through the auditorium. Taking a moment to glance at it however proved to be a mistake, as it made him release a groan of disappointment and annoyance.

The program was four hours long.

He was about to slip his hands into his pockets, only to remember that too was considered to be rude. Partially to distract himself, Cody checked his cell-phone for a second time, and just as before, it was still turned off. While typically Cody had little desire to draw much attention to himself, currently he had absolutely no desire to draw any attention to himself, especially by having it go off during the middle of the show. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Cody continued to push himself through the throngs of people. Aside from a few early attempts to join some of his school's sports teams that had ended in spectacular failure upon spectacular failure, Cody had never felt more out of his element than he was now. Before him was a shuffling sea of ebony tuxedos and glittering dresses of various colors that were adorned with furs, shawls, and the occasional fur shawl. Even though Cody was 'technically' a member of high society (or at least on the bottom of that social level), he never acted, or felt the part. Only occasionally having to dress the part when his parents would show up to drag him off to some event once in a blue moon. Unsurprisingly, almost everyone he saw was older than him, with the majority of the people being much closer to his grandparent's age than his own. It took him remembering that he was doing this for Heather…and some vague hope of getting to sleep with her, for Cody not to flee the unfamiliar high-class environment.

Even then his resolve to stay was tested when he realized that his seat was on the upper level. It was tested even further when Cody learned that there was no elevator. As he made his way towards the stairs, Cody was already a bit miffed at how the night was turning out. Those feelings shifted into despair as he gazed upwards at the many, many flights of stairs before him.

'Oh man, is it too late to back out!?' Cody mentally whined.

CodyX appeared on Cody's left shoulder, elated. {No it isn't! Let's get outta here! If we hurry we might be able to get home in time to help the others kill the Redman!}

Cody4 appeared on Cody's right shoulder, worried. [Yes, yes it is too late! Remember, Heather is trying to be nice to you…she's just not very good at it.]

CodyX's deadpan stare was enough to leave Cody4 cowering.

[And this might be a way for Cody finally lose his virginity…with a hot girl?] he offered tentatively.

Groaning, Cody put his foot on the first stair.

As Cody pulled himself over the last of the steps, he was panting like never before. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and his legs like they were about to fall off of his body. Even with his libido having compelled him up the many flights of stairs, Cody was seriously considering just leaving at this point. Before he could act on those thoughts, he found himself showing his seating stub to the upper level's usher, an older gentlemen that Cody couldn't help but wonder at how despite his age was able to make it up those stairs.

He was then guided to one of the skybox seats that overhung the lower seating bowl. For a brief moment Cody thought that at least he'd get to have the best seats in the house, ones that made the others look like lawn chairs. Once again however, Cody was disappointed by the truth. The skybox wasn't very large, only holding ten seats, which were thankfully empty. They were particularly fancy when compared to the other seats he noticed but that was a small comfort after everything he'd endured so far this evening. As he approached his seat, Cody noticed something out-of-place.

Sitting on the old wooden armrest of Cody's seat was a small box, about the size of his hand. Picking it up it, Cody saw his full name written in red with crisp clear script on an otherwise blank white card. Opening the box, Cody's mouth gaped at its contents. Inside was an antique pair of lorgnette glasses, complete with an old style brass handle to hold them in place, rather than fitting them over the ears. Finding his love of technology coming through, the Geek Tech marveled at the intricate design of the glasses, finding the first small sense of joy since arriving at the theater. But it was indeed small and it quickly faded. Once again bored, Cody returned his attention the card. He was slightly surprised to find a short note written on the back in the same clean script as his name had been on the front. It took him a moment to recognize it, but once he read it he realized just whose handwriting it was.

'Thank you for coming tonight Cody, you have no idea how much it means to me. You'll be seeing me shortly, I promise. I hope that you enjoy the show.

PS. You had better return my opera glasses back to me after this is over.

PPS. You had better not use those glasses to ogle me or anything during the show, geek!'

Before Cody could contemplate what Heather had meant by that, the lights began to dim. Looking around, he still didn't see hide or long raven hair of the former Queen Bee.

His attention was drawn to the stage as the massive red velvet curtains were pulled back to reveal a lone motionless figure in the center of the stage. That changed once the soft din of a classical melody filled the air. Cody was no musician, but he recognized the piano, harp and clarinet from the menagerie of sounds filling the otherwise silent theater. At a guess, Cody figured that it was a young woman on the stage based on how they were moving, but he wasn't able to make out any other details about them due to the distance. Remembering the lorgnette glasses, he quickly figured out just why Heather had left them for him. While still not exactly wanting to be here or thrilled to watch the performance, the gesture she had made brought a small smile to him. Taking them from the box he figured he might as well see the show to try and get some enjoyment out of the evening. The moment he did, Cody almost dropped them as his mouth hung open.

The girl on the stage was Heather!

The girl on the stage was Heather…in a white, skin-tight, body-hugging, curve-boosting, skirted leotard!

Cody4 appeared on Cody's right shoulder, his mouth as wide as Cody's was. It turned to CodyX, who was playing on a mini-XBox-One completely oblivious to the scene before him. Cody4's yelling finally caught CodyX's attention, who was confused to see his counterpart motioning to look at the stage. Once it did so, CodyX dropped its controller and gaped.

[Now aren't you glad we came here instead of staying at home playing World of Boarcraft?] Cody4 asked, its eyes never leaving Heather as an assortment of other girls in similar outfits joined Heather on the stage.

{Damn straight.} CodyX answered calmly, its eyes locked on the performing former Queen Bee as she leapt and moved about the stage with a grace and finesse that even he found captivating.

Acting on instinct, and remembering Heather's warning, Cody turned the glasses away from the stage. He now found himself in the middle of an internal debate. To look or not to look, that was the question. The more he thought about Heather's warning not to ogle her, the more Cody wanted to. Finally, his debate was ended when Cody realized that the glasses had a magnifying adjustment to them. Looking through the lorgnette glasses once again, he did so just in time to see Heather landing in a perfect split before leaning back and pushing her chest up in an arching curve with her arms above her head.

{She isn't wearing a bra!}

In the music-filled silence of the auditorium, the soft thump of Cody dropping the opera glasses was deafening. After quickly picking them up, Cody didn't let them slip his hand a second time as he carefully committed the next four hours to memory. For the next four hours, Cody focused on and thought of nothing but Heather in all her glory.

How could he not? While not knowing the motive, Cody wasn't stupid. He knew that Heather had done this on purpose, just not why. Heather was Heather, she always had an angle when she did something; three seasons of Total Drama had proven that. Still, while her intentions were unknown, it was the most anyone had ever done for him.

And there you have it! As always, I hope you all enjoyed this newest chapter! :)

Just in case it wasn't clear, the point of this chapter was to show that neither Cody nor Heather is exactly innocent, they both have their positives and negatives. Cody is a horny teenager and Heather is...Heather. This isn't some cheesy romance story where they fall deeply in love with each other right from the start. Given the states of both characters after the second chapter, this one was needed. So, despite not being a favorite of mine, it was needed for what is to come later on.

Speaking of which, as a head's up, I LOVE the next chapter of this story! But two things are going to make the wait for that chapter longer than you may like. Firstly, there's the classes of mine starting up, which I've already mentioned. Secondly, the next chapter is going to be LONG! For proof of that, the outline of the next chapter takes up more pages in Microsoft Word than this entire finished chapter does! So, yeah, the wait for the next chapter will be much longer, but trust me it will be so worth it.

Anyway, a quick word about CodyX and Cody4, the metaphorical angel and demon on Cody's shoulders. They are Kenju's creation, so any possible bias shown by their portrayal for the game systems they represent is squarely his alone. Now that that bus that I just threw Kenju under has passed (lol), let me just say that I was shocked to see their inclusion. But I warmed to the idea after realizing that I could subvert the traditional use of this kind of thing, where one is a person's pure good and the other is a person's pure evil. Instead, one is simply more polite than the other. But both of them want the same selfish thing for Cody…Heather's amazing body!

Kenju's counterpoint here, the idea behind CodyX and Cody4 is that while similar, they do show different sides to Cody and his way of thinking based on the consoles they represent. X-Box games are typically shorter, more action packed, there is less thinking and skill required to play them but the trade off is near instant entertainment. Play Station games on the other hand take a lot more time, effort, planning and work to get the same enjoyment out of. A simple way to put it is they contrast between low effort short-term entertainment (first person shooters), and long-term investment entertainment (RPG's).

Also Chikktika and Boo, who were briefly mentioned in this chapter will be getting more screen time in the future. Just who and what they are will be made known in due time. You will be given a few small clues leading up to their reveal.

Hey guys, Rufus here again. And its time for the last few bits of endnote. The Redman is a reference to the horror short story "Pig Blood Blues" in Clive Barker's "Books of Blood: Volume 1", which has a protagonist named Redman. Bet you never thought you'd see a reference to a horror short story here, now did you? ;) But since I've been recently reading this short story collection and really enjoying it, it felt right to include a quick reference to it in the pig-based video game parody.

So, just to sum up, I have no idea when the next chapter will be uploaded but please be patient because whenever it comes up, it will be more than worth it. Trust me on that. It will have the most emotional moment thus far and the first bits of lemon. ;)

Until the next chapter, please: read, review, alert, favor, and spread the word!