Duncan's POV:

Okay, there is definitely something hiding in the cargo hold.

Everyone's seen it. Everyone's heard it. Heather told me Tyler even got bit by it, which I found hilarious. All I've seen of it is its ratty blue head, which Alejandro tells me is really its hat, and its head is a sickly green. It growls and it scurries around you, and if you get to close it either runs or throws something at you. I would know; I followed the growling sound one day and ended up with a rat carcass flying at my face. With all these stories, no one goes into the hold alone anymore. Even I try to make sure I've got Owen by my side, because with anyone else it might get me. With Owen I can be pretty sure that if it tries to eat one of us, the big guy will be enough, and then some. Hey, it's every man for himself.

Naturally, no one's told Chris or Chef. If one of them wanders in and gets attacked, I'll praise whatever that thing is. I'll feed it everyday and make it my new pet. Funnily enough, Heather told me the exact same thing. Sierra made a similar promise, but only if it's Chef. If it attacks Chris – or Cody – she'll hunt the thing down and hang its head on her bedroom wall. That statement right there earned her both my respect and my disgust.

It also gave me an idea: since no one can get some actual alone time anymore, why not solve our problem? We should hunt the damn thing down. Everyone liked my idea. So everyday, a couple of us would go into the hold and search for something to hunt with without making the beast wary. I found the best weapons the other day while I was searching with Alejandro – the paintball guns and glasses we used on Total Drama Island. We snuck out the box and handed the paintball guns and glasses to all seven of us.

Then we assigned jobs. Since Alejandro, Heather, Courtney and I were the best shots (and not clumsy and oafish), we went inside to attack. Sierra, Cody and Owen stood guard to keep the thing in and Chris out. Mostly we just wanted our weaknesses out of the picture. If Cody was fighting Sierra would have to be here, so we kept him out. He was a little depressed, but sacrifices are necessary in war.

Quietly, we snuck into the hold. The door creaked just a little, but we heard nothing. Or at least, I heard nothing. Alejandro's ears perked up, and he looked to the left. We followed his lead. He motioned for us to be silent, and when we were towards the back of the hold we saw a little fort. Seven crates were assembled around the corner, keeping out anyone. You couldn't see in, but I bet you could see out. When we were close enough, we heard breathing. Alejandro raised his hand, and we got our guns ready. His hand came down fast, and we opened fire.

All hell broke loose not long after.

A loud roar came from inside the crates, and somehow the thing was outside and running around the hold. It was wearing a lot of green. Courtney chased after it, firing paintballs at it. It stopped running. So did Courtney, and she had it in her sights, a perfect shot, but then –

WHAM.

It threw a crate at her. A whole freaking crate; I didn't see the thing pick up the crate, but it had. Courtney fell to the ground instantly and didn't move. Heather gasped and ran to her, but the thing had Courtney's paintball gun. It picked it up and turned around to face us. It was…

"Ezekiel?" Heather cried.

Zeke growled in response and fired paintballs at Heather. She ran. Alejandro and I were too stunned to move, which was pretty stupid. We probably could have kicked Zeke's ass. But somehow seeing him all deranged and crazy and green made him terrifying, and that's coming from a delinquent. Alejandro snapped out of it before I did, yelling in Spanish. Courtney started to stir, and I was glad she wasn't dead.

Heather was behind a crate, shaking and holding her side, which was red. We didn't have red paintballs, just green and orange. She must be bleeding. She had put down her gun, and I frantically looked around for anything Zeke might have used to hurt her. I saw a large piece of equipment, and maybe he threw it at her, considering he'd thrown just about everything in the room. She might have been bruised, and a few paintballs to the side could have broken the skin. It couldn't be too bad, though.

Alejandro took one look at Heather kneeling there. "Mi Angel!" he yelled. I'm pretty sure that means 'my angel', and the look on his face proved it. He looked pissed. He picked up Heather's gun and fired his and hers at the same time. The whole side of the room was covered in paint by the time he was done. Zeke's jacket was stained orange. Alejandro didn't even stop when he ran out of ammo. He threw the guns down and chased Zeke. He looked as crazed as the animal boy himself. Geez. What is it with me getting scared today?

I pounded on the door, which we had shut to keep our target inside. "Reinforcements!" I yelled as I saw Alejandro get hit in the face with green paintballs from Courtney's gun. This was going badly. Zeke's gone from being an annoying gangster-wannabe to a psycho animal.

Cody and Sierra rushed out, guns held high. They took one look at the scene and their eyes widened. They fired at Zeke and missed, badly. This was why we kept them outside.

Zeke howled at them and threw another crate, which knocked the wind out of Cody. "CODY!" Sierra yelled. "THAT'S IT!" and with that she tackled Zeke. He managed to squirm away and run, but she didn't stop there. She chased him to another part of the hold. These newbies are fierce, I tell ya. I looked at Cody, and he appeared fine, if not a little bruised. I looked back to Court, who had vanished. I assumed she was looking for another weapon. Courtney doesn't give up easily. Heather was being helped by Alejandro, and they both still had paint in their hair.

I could hear Sierra from the other side of the hold. Even though it was only Zeke, we weren't doing so well. I decided to be of more help. I readied my gun and walked through the hold.

TDWT-

Owen's POV:

Duncan sounded urgent when he called for reinforcements. Sierra told me to stay here to watch out for Chris. They were making a lot of noise, though. Chris is probably on his way down here.

The cargo hold isn't too far from the common area. I could smell Chef's cooking from here easily. I was hungry; my last meal was two hours ago! This is taking too long. Maybe I could get something to eat and be back quickly. They probably don't need my help.

I quietly left my guard post to go get some food.

TDWT-

Duncan's POV:

This is bad. I had no idea Zeke could go on this long. Heather's back on her feet and nobody's really injured too badly, but still. We're losing to Ezekiel. Ezekiel! Come on!

Courtney found another paintball gun and was shooting like a maniac. Cody was cowering behind Sierra as she hunted down her prey. Everybody else is roaming around the hold. Things got really quiet, but I heard the door slam. Maybe Owen came into help. He should stay guard. I don't want to say anything in case Zeke hears me and attacks. We wore the little guy out, for sure, but the most damage we've done is cover him in paint. I considered aborting the mission, but that'd be wimpy. So we're holding our ground.

I felt someone come up behind me. I turned around to fire, but it was only Courtney. She put a finger to her lips and pointed to the side. My gaze fell on an orange-stained sweater. The sweater was shaking. I grinned at her, and she gave me this evil grin back, and we lifted our guns. I counted down with my fingers.

3…

2…

1.

The sound of our guns going off alerted Heather who was nearby. She came to us just as we finished our ammo.

When we were done, the poor guy couldn't even move.

We grinned in satisfaction. Heather went to find the others and tell them the good news. I picked Zeke up and slung him carelessly across my shoulder. He didn't really care. I think he might have passed out.

I was still grinning until I got to the door. Then I frowned. So did Courtney.

"That. Was. Awesome! I am so happy I got that on footage. Think of the online hits we'll get!" Chris shouted, beaming.

Courtney ground her teeth. I didn't know why she was upset, but I realized we were all scratched up and covered with paint. Plus, it was because of Zeke. Not very good for an image, if you know what I mean.

"Where's Owen?" Heather yelled. I hadn't heard her come back with Alejandro, Sierra, and Cody behind her. They all looked terrible. Heather's side hadn't even stopped bleeding. It was better, but still bleeding.

Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. But it's such a good thing he's not here. I can't believe you guys didn't tell me Zeke was still here! Come on, it's my plane! Chef!" he called. "Get rid of our homeschooled little animal."

Chef took Zeke off my shoulder and carried him out of the room.

"You better not use that footage," Courtney said. I nodded. I had to stop agreeing with her, especially if the film was rolling now. Gwen might get the wrong idea.

"Why?" Chris asked. "You guys looked terrible. The worse you look, the better the ratings."

"We look like wimps!" I yelled.

Chris shrugged again. "Don't care."

Alejandro whispered something to Sierra, who whispered it to Cody, and so forth until Courtney told me. I grinned again. I was about to start the idea off when I remembered I lacked paint. Shit. Alejandro started it instead, and Court and I ducked in time.

It was noisy for about twenty seconds.

When we came back up, Chris was covered in green and orange. I burst out laughing. So did everyone else, even the camera crew.

"Still gonna show that footage?" Al asked.

Chris spit paint out of his mouth. "Fine. You can keep your stinkin' footage. But next time, DON'T MESS UP MY HAIR!"

He stormed out of the room. Well, at least Zeke's gone. We found Owen eating and gave him the silent treatment until we got so hungry we asked him for food. We celebrated our victory with cake.

I swear, though, I'm never playing paintball again.