A/N: Hey all! I'm back again! Slightly longer update time this time because I am still in the middle of finals and I really want to get good grades so I'm just sort of doing this when I can, which is unfortunately not all that often at the moment. In other good news though, this is the longest chapter in the story thus far! Which is always fun. I'd also like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited as well as reviewed, it means a lot to me and my cold heart! Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Peace out!
(Screaming Gophers)
"Right." Leshawna started, "We're gonna need to get this order sorted."
"Who on Earth made you leader hoodrat?" Heather sneered,
"You might wanna watch that mouth of yours honey." Leshawna threatened, getting up in Heather's face and baring her teeth.
"Guys!" Trent pleaded, "Let's all just be civil, at least for the challenge so that we can win." Leshawna backed off at Trent's words, seeing the reasoning.
"We still need to get this sorted out, who's swimming?" Gwen interjected, trying to get this sorted out as quickly as possible
"I'll swim." Justin suggested, "I grew up on the beach, so I reckon I'll be decent."
"Great!" Trent piped up, "I don't mind taking the canoe, you want to do it with me Gwen?" The goth shrugged indifferently.
"Sure, why not." She said, lacking any conviction which raised an eyebrow raise from Trent, but he let it slide.
GWEN: I like Trent, I really do, but I don't want people to know how I'm feeling, especially people like Heather who I don't trust as far as I can throw her.
"Izzy wants to Paraglide!" The girl announced excitedly, "I haven't done it since Borneo!"
"Do I even want to know why you were in Borneo?" Noah asked flatly,
"No!" Came Izzy's cheerful reply, "But you can know what it's like to come paragliding with me!"
"I didn't agree to that!" Noah protested as Izzy scooped him up in a tight hug.
"I can get a fire started quicker than you can blink." Beth admitted, raising her hand, her admission shocked a few faces who didn't expect the small girl to be skilled in wilderness survival. "My dad taught me back home, just in case I got lost in the forest."
"I don't think I'll be much use elsewhere so do you mind if I tag along Beth?" Cody asked, grinning awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Of course, Cody!" Beth smiled, pulling into a hug similar to how Izzy hugged Noah, that is to say, tightly, and risking restriction to air flow.
"I don't think I'll be able to pull myself up the mountain, so I reckon that I'll need to do the navigation." Owen was sheepish but the rest of the team only agreed with him.
"I'm gonna climb the mountain." Leshawna announced, "I've been meaning to show that I mean business."
"Well that leaves two people left." Cody noticed, "Lindsay and Heather, one of you with Owen and the other with Leshawna."
The team looked at the two girls left, Heather glaring heavily at everyone whilst Lindsay was… staring at the clouds?
"Ooooh, that one looks like a fish." She talked to herself,
"I'm taking Lindsay." Leshawna announced, glaring at Heather just as hard as she was glaring back, "Heather, you can go with Owen."
"Oh yay!" Owen cheered, "We're gonna have so much fun!" Owen scooped Heather into a hug of his own, causing the girl to start to choke.
"Let go of me you fat pig!" Heather screeched, slapping Owen on his chest although he didn't seem to notice it.
"Then we're sorted." Trent finished, leading the team back to Chris at the beach.
HEATHER: I'm either going to kill Owen or myself by the end of this challenge, either one would be great at this point.
JUSTIN: As long as I keep away from everyone, I can show my skills to the camera and no one else, it's all part of the plan to be as unassuming and well, attractive as possible.
NOAH: This team is so utterly dysfunctional it's a wonder we even made it past the first challenge. This time we might not be so lucky.
(Killer Bass)
The Bass were also gathered together to discuss their places, once more, unsurprisingly Courtney was taking the lead of the discussion.
"Right, we're down one player so we need to make sure that we maximise our efficiency so that we beat those Gophers." Courtney began, laying out the foundation of her speech quickly.
"Yeah that's great." Duncan interrupted, "Just one issue, last time you laid out the plan, we lost, so I say we open this up to be a discussion? What say you guys team?" Many of the Bass nodded in agreement, preferring to discuss openly their plans, Courtney stood with her mouth agape but quickly regained her composure, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"Uh, I know how to start a pretty good fire." Ezekiel began the open forum, "I get pretty bored sometimes." The other teens seemed a little bit worried at Ezekiel's suspected pyromania but let it slide and let him take that spot.
"I don't mind doing it with him." Sadie said, standing next to the prairie boy. Everyone was thoroughly shocked at Sadie's decision to split from her best friend, everyone that is, except her best friend who just smiled at Sadie.
"Oh my gosh, don't act so surprised you guys." Katie laughed, "We can spend time apart, besides, I'm more suited to a physical task than Sadie, I'm on the Volleyball team, national champions." Katie flexed her arms while Sadie laughed,
"It's true, Katie is like so good."
"So, I'll take the canoe if there are no objections," Katie added, there were none and she smiled happily.
"I'll canoe with you." DJ said, "It sounds like the least dangerous part, although all of it is dangerous, I guess." He just looked a little bit shaking as Katie wrapped an arm around his waist.
"We'll be fine big guy."
"Let me climb the cliff!" Tyler jumped up and down, "I've got some insane grip strength! I once crushed a watermelon with my fingertips, no joke." Although they were sceptical, they had no better alternatives and let Tyler run that section of the race, Eva put herself there with him.
"I'll make sure that he keeps up." She grumbled, "Even if I have to drag him up myself."
"I'm gonna paraglide." Duncan announced, "I did it this one summer and I've still got the basics down."
"Let me do the navigation then, as a CIT I'm skilled in all manners of orienteering." Courtney bragged, raising her nose slightly, "Geoff, that leaves you to come with me. And then we're all sorted."
"Um, what about me you guys?" Bridgette asked, raising her hand and waving.
"Well, you're swimming obviously." Courtney said, "Weren't you listening?"
"You never said anything." Bridgette contested, "And you definitely didn't ask me if that's what I wanted to do. But it's whatever." She dismissed the rest of the team and began walking back to the beach with the rest of the Bass in tow.
BRIDGETTE: Did I turn invisible for five minutes? To just assume how I feel or what I want is just disgusting, I really expected better from Courtney.
KATIE: (You guessed it, Sadie is in the confessional with her) Oh my gosh, like we're gonna be separate and show these people that we mean business Sadie!
SADIE: That's right Katie, we're gonna be like, so good, they're gonna see us for the beasts that we are!
KATIE: I don't know if we should call ourselves beasts though, makes us sound like Eva or something.
Now the campers were stood in front of Chris on the beach, the host had his back facing the sea with a rather large boat floating along.
"Now that you've got your orders sorted out, lets get this show on the road! Everyone except the two swimmers get on that boat and Chef will take you all to your starting points." Everyone except Bridgette, Justin and Chris got onto the boat and it began driving off into the distance.
"I'll let you two get changed while we wait." Chris said, pointing to a couple of changing curtains that had been set up about a hundred feet down the beach, "We'll even give you some privacy." The host smiled as the two went to get changed.
(The boat)
After having dropped the second set of runners at their tethered canoes, the boat was now arriving at Boney Island, and to say that the sight was imposing would be a severe understatement. The island seemed to be held under a constant state of an imminent lightning storm despite it being the middle of summer. The most prominent feature of the island would be the massive cliff, mountain looking thing right at it's centre, the face shaped like a large human skull, probably the reason for the island's name. Many of the contestants were immediately put off by the island but wore brave faces so as not to look weak in front of the competition.
"This is inviting." Noah drawled, looking up from the book he held in his hands.
"I've seen worse bro." Geoff tried to flex, puffing out his chest in a rather poor attempt at masking his own fear.
"I bet you haven't" Chef smiled, having now parked the boat and getting out of the cabin, "Next lot peel off here." Heather, Owen, Courtney and Geoff all split up from the rest of the group and stood waiting on the beach, simply awaiting the arrival of their teammates.
"Well this is fun." Owen chuckled, looking around the island anxiously.
"Shyeah dude." Geoff replied, feeling the same level of anxious, the two boys were immediately shushed by their respective teammates, both girls looking off into the ocean with steely and determined eyes.
"We need to focus Geoff, or we're not going to win." Courtney explained, never taking her gaze off of the horizon. The two boys quietened up rather quickly, now feeling rather uncomfortable in between the two aggressive women.
(The Beach)
Back with Chris, Bridgette and Justin, the host was now on the phone with who can only be assumed as Chef Hatchet.
"They're all in position? Great. And they've all been kitted out with the right safety gear? Awesome. Let's get this show on the road." The host turned to the two campers in front of him, both looking rather calm, they were both now wearing orange lifejackets, likely to prevent drowning in the open water.
"Alright you guys." Chris began, "On my go you're gonna keep swimming straight forward, you know the drill. 3! 2! 1! GO!" With that the two began sprinting down the sand and into the ocean, Justin took an early lead due to his longer legs and slightly more muscular physique, but the surfer wasn't too far behind, she wasn't going to be beaten by anyone, especially not a boy.
Justin hit the water first and began taking off into the distance at an alarming rate but only a few seconds later Bridgette made a splash as she threw herself into the sea and began swimming just as fast as Justin. It was going to be a tight race.
JUSTIN: Here's hoping that my team continue to see me as valuable in this game, the more valuable I am in the challenges the less likely they are to vote me out, because otherwise they'll just keep losing. And the longer I stay in the game, the easier it will be to get these people to follow my every wish.
(The Canoes)
Gwen and Trent were sat in the green Gopher canoe while Katie and DJ were sat in the Red Bass canoe about ten feet away from them. The four were all engaged in light conversation, waiting for their swimmers.
"And so, Sadie bellyflopped so hard into the pool that her stomach was bruised for like two weeks!" Katie regaled, eliciting laughs from DJ and Trent and a light chuckle from Gwen.
"All because of a banana peel?" Trent asked, holding his side slightly.
"All because of a banana peel! Oh my gosh it was like something out of a cartoon." Katie laughed too, wiping a tear from her eye.
"What about you Gwen?" DJ asked, turning his attention to the quiet girl, "Any fun stories from you?"
"Nah, my life is pretty boring and normal." Gwen sighed, "Did watch a kid break his arm trying to punch a wall."
"That's nice?" DJ returned, clearly finding the morbid choice of story a little bit unnerving. The four in the canoes soon descended into silence, which suited Gwen fine but made the others feel rather uncomfortable, unsure of how to break it.
TRENT: Gwen's been really off today, for seemingly no reason, has she decided that she doesn't like me? Oh no, I came on too strong, didn't I? Stupid Trent!
(The Sea)
Justin was still in the lead but only by about twenty-five metres, Bridgette was keeping his pace and showed no signs of slowing. It was making Justin rather nervous as he could feel his muscles starting to hurt from the exercise. Gritting his teeth, he kept pushing, determined not to be beaten, his pace began to pick up and slowly he was pulling away from Bridgette.
The canoes were getting bigger now, what was once a small speck on the horizon now becoming a real tangible goal. It spurred him on even more and before long he managed to reach the boats. He latched onto the green boat and began panting for breath,
"That's a really long swim." He managed to breathe out, "I have no idea how far behind Bridgette is…" He added, looking over to DJ and Katie who looked rather sad that Bridgette was currently in second place.
"That's great," Gwen said, "But we do have a race to win, the clasp is under the boat." She pointed out and the model nodded. He slipped out of his lifejacket and handed it to Gwen before diving under the boat and pulling the small lever that unlocked the boat. It was now able to be moved and float freely. When he surfaced, Gwen handed him his lifejacket which he quickly put on.
"Thanks Justin." Trent smiled as he picked up one of the oars, Gwen picking up the other one. The two took up position and waved at the two Bass in their canoe. "Good luck you two!" Trent called out to them as he and Gwen began to paddle in sync, heading straight forward on route to Boney Island.
"Well, I guess we're behind again." DJ sighed, hanging his head slightly, Katie's hand came down on his shoulder and she smiled reassuringly,
"The challenge is no where near over." She smiled, "Besides, we're stronger than those two so we'll catch up any time."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." DJ smiled back, put slightly at ease by the girl.
GWEN: This is going to be one long canoe ride, Trent doesn't seem like he wants to talk to me, he probably thinks that I'm too weird for him now, I knew I shouldn't have said anything! Ugh I'm so stupid!
DJ: You know Katie's actually really nice, you don't really get to spend time with her without Sadie kind of jumping in all the time, so this challenge has been a nice chance to get to know this side of Katie.
(Killer Bass' Canoe)
"So um, how am I getting back to the beach?" Justin asked to the two Bass who only shrugged in response.
"I don't know man, I guess Chef is gonna drive by and pick you up?" DJ suggested. Right on cue, Chef's boat came to a stop next to the canoes from the direction of Boney Island.
"Come on Pretty Boy!" He called out from the cockpit. Justin didn't need telling twice and swam over to the boat, pulling himself up using the rungs set into the side of the boat. "We're just gonna wait for surfer girl and then I'll take you back to the island."
Once again, as if by some cosmic alignment, on cue, Bridgette was seen swimming up to the Bass canoe. She soon latched onto the side of the canoe and took a second to compose herself.
"How far behind am I?" She asked DJ and Katie who took a second to consider it.
"I mean, like we weren't really counting but maybe a few minutes?" Katie offered, shrugging her shoulders. The surfer girl cursed before looking for the clasp.
"It's on the bottom!" Justin offered from the boat, Bridgette nodded, taking off her lifejacket and handing it to DJ before doing the same as Justin, diving to the underside of the boat and pulling the small lever that released the boat. She took her lifejacket back and swam over to Chef's boat. Once she had managed to pull herself up, DJ and Katie had already starting paddling as hard as they could after Gwen and Trent.
"Good luck guys!" Bridgette called out to the two who nodded in response and gave Bridgette thumbs up behind their backs. She collapsed on the dock and began breathing deeply to try and recover some of her energy. "You're really good." She noted, looking up to Justin who smiled graciously in response.
"You're not too bad yourself." He joked which made Bridgette smile but shake her head.
"Clearly not good enough." As she said that, the boat began moving in the direction of the island. These two were now finished with their leg of the race.
BRIDGETTE: It's just really frustrating when everyone has put their faith in you, and you don't make it. The whole team were counting on me to give us a really solid start, and I failed them, completely and utterly.
(Screaming Gophers' Canoe)
These two were canoeing in relative silence, only the sounds of their breathing and of the paddles hitting the water could be heard. Whether or not these two were silent due to their focused determination at winning or the uncomfortable aura which had descended on the two, was quite obvious to be honest. They really had no idea what to say to each other and it resulted in a canoe that made even the editors in post cringe.
TRENT: It's obvious, she absolutely hates me, she'll never want to speak to me again, I so ruined it.
GWEN: It's so obvious, he absolutely hates me and he's never going to speak to me again, I've ruined it.
(Boney Island Fire Beach)
Cody, Beth, Ezekiel and Sadie all sat happily on the beach, they knew that their time to compete would be a while coming so they were taking the moment to get to know each other and just enjoy their time.
"I didn't know you had a farm too Ezekiel." Beth smiled, "I guess we're more alike than we thought."
"I guess so eh." Ezekiel chuckled as Sadie cooed happily.
"Awww, you two are like so totally cute!" She cried, her voice raising to its usual high-pitched whine. Clearly Sadie was not all that different when separated from Katie.
"I'm not cute." Ezekiel retorted, puffing out his chest, "That's a girly word. And I'm not a girl." His response definitely raised a couple of eyebrows, and by a couple I mean all six of the eyebrows that surrounded him.
"I don't know if that's what Sadie meant?" Beth tried to intervene, "But even if she did, what's so wrong about being a girl?"
"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that girls and boys are very different so you can't compare them. Boys are strong and protect the cute girls."
"That's really not a smart kind of ideology dude." Cody explained. "It makes you look sexist."
"Sexist?" Ezekiel asked, it seemed as if he had never heard the word before.
"Yeah like, treating women as different just because they're women." Sadie said, her arms crossed.
"But women are different." Ezekiel continued to insist which only served to incite Sadie's anger further.
"Women can do everything that a man can do, probably even better, and the sooner that you learn that, the better it's going to be for you." Sadie lectured the boy, walking down the beach and away from him. The prairie boy looked decidedly confused as the other two also turned slightly away from him, feeling uncomfortable at the situation. The once happy atmosphere on this beach was now replaced by a cuttable tension that blanketed the sands.
EZEKIEL: I'm not really understanding what Sadie's problem is, men and women are fundamentally different, we're designed to do different things and that's the way life is intended to be.
BETH: Even though we both have farms and have spent most of our lives without a lot of social interaction, it's really clear that we're people with two very differing views.
CODY: Yikes!
(Killer Bass' Canoe)
Katie and DJ were still going strong with their pace, neither one breaking stride nor looking like they were close to stopping.
"You're pretty good at this." DJ mentioned, still not breaking his stroke.
"I'm like, not a slouch." Katie laughed, "I'm still a national champion."
"I guess it's just surprising becau-" DJ began before being cut off immediately by the girl.
"Because I'm girly and outgoing?" She snapped, "You know we're not all beastly gorillas like that Eva girl you know, athletes come in all shapes and sizes, just because I'm not some monkey-adjacent creature doesn't mean that I'm not strong and can't compete." Her rant looked to continue for the foreseeable future as DJ looked nervously at the camera to his side and shrugged his shoulders. Luckily Katie was in front of him and didn't see his reactions, or it could only get worse.
KATIE: It just really gets me going when people try and question my abilities like oh my gosh, if I wanted your opinions, I would have asked them!
(Boney Island Arrival Beach)
"You know this is taking a really long time." Owen moaned from his position sat on the sand.
"Totally bro," Geoff echoed, nodding his head sympathetically, the two girls were still has determined as ever even an hour later, looking off into the horizon. All was broken however when Heather started cheering.
"Look it's our canoe! That goth girl might actually be good for something!" Owen bounced up too, cupping his hands around his eyes like makeshift binoculars.
"Oh, it is them!" He started whooping too, waving at the two in the canoe who didn't wave back for fear of breaking their practiced stroke.
"You've got to be kidding me." Courtney moaned, shaking her head, "That means we're in last… again." Geoff was soon by her side to offer up his calming words.
"It's all chill dude, I bet you that they're not even that far behind." As soon as he said that, DJ and Katie's canoe also looked to be coming closer, the two had managed to catch up quite rapidly to the Gopher duo much to Courtney's delight, and Heather's dismay.
"Yes! We're gonna win! Geoff get ready!" Courtney was talking very fast now, clearly overjoyed at the prospect of taking the lead. Both teams stood eagerly at the shore to help pull in their canoes and get going on their own leg of the race.
Soon enough the Gophers pulled into shore and immediately Heather and Owen were dragging them up onto the beach.
"Well done you two." Heather congratulated as Trent handed her a laminated map and a compass from the inside of their canoes.
"Thanks Heather, keep it up," With a nod the two of them took off into the dense jungle behind them, Heather leading with Owen following behind much like a puppy. Only thirty seconds or so after, it was the Bass canoe which pulled up onto the beach and was dragged inland by Geoff. Katie got out of the canoe and handed the map and compass to Courtney.
"Go kill it guys! Don't waste all this time we've caught up or I swear, it won't be pretty." The girl smiled happily but something about her threat felt very true and the two of them took off running into the forest, leaving some very satisfied Bass with the Gophers.
"Do we have to canoe back?" DJ asked, feeling a little nervous at that prospect
"No you fool." The voice was once again Chef who had pulled up in his boat, "Get on I'll take you back."
"Okay but how on Earth did you get here so fast?" Gwen asked, "Surely we would've seen you beforehand."
"That's my secret." Chef said in a matter of fact manner and pointed to the boat, "Now stop talking and get on the boat." The campers were too scared to disobey Chef and immediately piled onto the boat, with the man quickly taking his position at the helm and driving off, leaving just the last four teams on Boney Island.
OWEN: Heather can be kind of scary when she gets in charge, she like gets this really focused look in her eye that makes you feel like if you even breathe out of turn, she might kill you, it's pretty funny. (He chuckles again before looking nervously at the camera)
COURTNEY: I'm not losing this challenge if it's the last thing that I do, after the absolute embarrassment of the last one I've got to redeem myself for my team, no question about it.
(At the base of the mountain)
Currently the three girls and Tyler were sat leaning against the mountain, they were all harnessed in and wearing protective hats to keep them safe on the climb up when it was time. Eva had found a rather large rock and was using it as a makeshift weight doing curls and the like. Lindsay was filing her nails while Leshawna and Tyler were playing a game of tic tac toe in the dirt at their feet.
"How long is this challenge gonna last?" Tyler asked, lazily drawing a cross in the dirt with a stick.
"As long as it takes, I guess," Leshawna responded, drawing a circle with her own stick. "I win." She stated, showing the line of circles on the board. "That's sixteen in a row for me."
"What if that challenge takes all night?" Lindsay asked, checking her nails once more, "I need to do my skincare routine before bed, or I'll break out worse than Ellen over there."
"What did you say blondie!" Came the roaring voice of Eva, who threw the rock just past Lindsay's head and into the greenery behind her. The blonde girl yelped and ducked under the rock even though it went far over her head.
"Guys let's chill." Leshawna tried to reason, standing up between the two other girls. "We don't know that Lindsay was talking about you, she doesn't even know who she's talking about half of the time, just leave her be." Leshawna's reasoning apparently struck something in Eva and the girl sat herself back down on her rock, although with a much harsher expression.
"If the challenge does go all night, then we go all night." She grumbled, "Life isn't easy, and neither are these games, suck it up."
"Bit harsh…" Tyler mumbled, looking down at his lost game still.
"Life is harsh." Eva responded coolly, Tyler clearly didn't want to push the girl further and shut his mouth.
"Nothin' we can do except wait for the signal." Leshawna conceded, sitting back down on the floor and looking up at Tyler, "Game seventeen?"
"You're on!" Came his excited reply, eager to ignore the tension around him.
LINDSAY: I think Ellen took offence when I told her about her breakouts. Do you think she's embarrassed by it? Oh my gosh, I should give her some skincare products, she probably can't afford any! I'm so nice!
TYLER: That Eva girl actually scares the life out of me, I thought that I was strong, but that girl takes it to a whole other level, I reckon if Leshawna wasn't there, Lindsay might have lost her head, or maybe just a hand.
(The Jungle)
Courtney and Geoff were currently steaming through the forest, Courtney was leading with the compass while Geoff stood behind her with the map.
"So, we need to like, go right? Maybe that's left?" He tried to read off the map, flipping it upside down and which ever way around to try and get a sense of its direction.
"Geoff, my compass doesn't say left or right, it's the cardinal directions, I don't know what left and right mean?" Courtney complained, trying to get him to smarten up.
"Right, well have we passed the squiggly line yet?" He asked, looking for the squiggly line.
"Geoff let me just look at the map, you take the compass." Courtney quickly swapped with him and looked at the map, "Geoff, that's a river." She noted pointed to the squiggly line, suddenly stopped, halting Geoff too and began to listen intently. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Geoff said, also trying to hear whatever it was the Courtney was.
"I hear running water; it could be that river." And with that Courtney began running through the brush, with Geoff following after her wildly, trying his best not to lose her.
(Another part of the jungle)
This time it was Heather and Owen who were wandering the jungle, Owen had been delegated map duty while Heather had the compass.
"And now we keep heading South and we should make it to the beach." He noted and Heather nodded continuing to walk south.
"You know Owen, maybe you're not as useless as I thought you were." Heather noted, which caused Owen to chuckle and blush slightly. "I can see sand." Heather noted, quickening her pace to break out of the jungle. "Cody! Beth! Can you hear me?" She shouted out as she arrived on the beach and looked around to see nothing.
"They should be right here!" Owen noted, not looking up from his map.
"Owen." Heather began sweetly, walking over to him and looking over his shoulder at the map, "You've got the map upside down!" She shouted in his ear which caused him to jump and drop the map, which Heather quickly scooped up and began to look at, the right way up. "Just follow me Owen, we'll be fine." She had a rather unnerving smile on her face that hid a sense of pure anger and fury that was bubbling inside her. She took off back into the jungle, Owen in tow looking like a guilty puppy.
OWEN: Oops? How was I supposed to know which way round a map goes? It all looks the same anyway!
GEOFF: I really hope my mistakes don't cost us the win. That'd be really embarrassing dude.
(The fire beach)
Here the four all still sat in relative silence. Sadie had managed to calm down from Ezekiel's outburst but was still on edge around him. Cody and Beth were having an amicable chat about life and the like.
"I just think that school is kind of overrated." Beth noted, "It doesn't do anything for those of us who can't pass exams and struggle to take in information academically."
"That's very true. But without school I think we would be a society of much dumber people, school teaches you how to read, how to count, how to write, a lot of our basic human functions really." Was Cody's rebuttal, it was met with a nod and a thoughtful consider from Beth as she calculated her next argument.
"But are these not skills that our parents could teach us? They can all count and write, and they can then teach their offspring. No different to an animal."
"But who taught your parents? The schooling system." Cody nodded in success as Beth nodded,
"You know I can't think of anything else right now, but I'll get back to you!" She announced, "You have won this battle, but the war shall be mine, just you watch!" The two laughed as Courtney and Geoff burst onto the beach panting.
"Geoff, I think we did it!" Courtney cried in triumph looked at the sad faces of Cody and Beth. "We beat the Gophers!" With that Sadie and Ezekiel quickly set to work, they had been given their own fire pit to work with but nothing else. Ezekiel quickly rushed into the brush at the edge of the beach and began collecting dead leaves from the floor, making sure that they were dry.
"We've got this eh." He said as he picked up two stones from the ground and tried bashing them together, he was pleased when they formed a spark "Sadie go and get some dry sticks from the forest so we can get a massive fire." He instructed and the girl quickly rushed off to the forest, putting her trust in the prairie boy.
In the meantime, Cody and Beth were watching from the side-lines, unable to do anything else as their team had not yet arrived.
"Damn this sucks." Cody moaned, watching as Ezekiel set flame to his tinder and began to blow on it light to properly ignite the flame, Sadie quickly came back with a large pile of sticks that she dropped in the sand. Ezekiel made sure to sift through and pick out the smaller sticks, laying them on top of his alight kindling. They soon took flame too.
"Now it's just a waiting game." Ezekiel noted as Sadie helped by placing another stick on the fire to bring it up. They noticed that the smoke was a deep shade of red, similar to their team colours but there was not enough to be any kind of signal for the other teams.
"I guess that's how our teams know whose fire is whose." Sadie commented on the smoke's colour adding another stick and sitting down in front of the fire. "At least we're gonna be nice and warm now.
SADIE: As much as Ezekiel annoys me, he does build a pretty good fire, quite clearly, and with Courtney and Geoff giving us the lead, we might actually win this challenge!
COURTNEY: I told you that we'd get the lead! That's just the power of Courtney that is!
(Back in the jungle)
Owen and Heather were still hopelessly lost after Owen's little mistake with the map, it turns out that Heather also has no clue how to read a map and both of them were now wandering aimlessly, hoping to catch sight of the beach through sheer luck.
"Heather?" Owen stopped the girl who turned to look at him with fire in her eyes.
"What?"
"Do you smell burning?" Owen asked, sniffing heavier to emphasise his point, "It's coming from that direction!" He said pointing in some random direction and began to run after it.
"Owen! Wait up!" Heather called back, with nothing left to lose she just followed him.
A couple of minutes passed until they also burst out onto the beach with the fire pits.
"Cody! Beth! Go!" Heather shouted out as they crossed onto the beach. The two smaller teens sprang into action, having formulated their plan while they watched the other team. Cody quickly ran into the forest to gather the sticks while Beth grabbed the kindling to start the fire. She copied Ezekiel's method of two stones and began trying to start the fire.
"We can do this." She told herself, with her tongue stuck out of her mouth in concentration. However, their deficit was still too much to catch up to the Bass at this point as their red smoke had now raised far above the treeline in a very thick plume, surely alerting those at the mountain.
(The base of the mountain)
Indeed, the smoke had, Eva was the first to notice, pointing up to the red smoke and shaking Tyler.
"It's go time." She said, pulling him up and setting him against the cliff face, "Start climbing, I'll follow behind and make sure that you don't fall." The jock nodded and put his fingers onto the wall and quickly began to pull himself up. The climb was going to be long and arduous, but he was ready for it.
EVA: We have everything to lose at this point, I'm not letting those Gophers take another member of the team if I can help it. (She gritted her teeth) And I sure can help it.
(The fire beach)
Ezekiel and Sadie were currently sitting on the sand while their fire raged on.
"I reckon that's big enough eh?" Ezekiel noted to which Sadie nodded,
"It must be, good job." She congratulated, despite everything.
"Well done to you too." Ezekiel returned the compliment but nothing more.
Noticing that the other teams fire was much bigger than theirs, Cody and Beth were beginning to get quite desperate, that was when an idea seemed to strike Beth as a glint appeared behind her glasses.
"Cody, watch the fire, I've got an idea." She smirked, running off into the forest and leaving Cody on his own to build the fire.
"I have no clue what she's about to do." He narrated to the other six people on the beach, who all looked just as confused as him.
A few minutes later, Beth came running back to the beach with a ball of some substance in her hands, she smiled wickedly as she approached the fire.
"Cody, if you like your eyebrows you might want to stand back." The geeky boy did as he was told and backed far away from the fire pit. Beth laughed as she threw the ball onto the fire which exploded quite miraculously, sending a giant plume of green fire and smoke into the air, obviously big enough to alert their teammates at the base of the mountain. "They don't teach you that at school now do they?" She smirked to Cody who nodded and held up his hands in defeat.
"No, they sure don't," The others were not so amused by his antics and looked rather intimidated by the small apparently pyromaniac farm girl.
"Great very impressive but how do we get out of here?" Heather asked with a snarl, "I really need to get off this hellhole."
Just on cue, Chef Hatchet arrived on the shore with his boat, beckoning the castaways on. They all piled onto the boat as Chef drove them back to the island, leaving just the last two legs to be completed.
BETH: My dad might also have taught me how to make explosives in the forest, just in case I was kidnapped or something, that or he's just a little bit crazy… Love you dad!
OWEN: Wow, that was so cool! Beth is like really tough and stuff, but she's still nice. She's the best of both worlds! Like a dessert pizza! (He sighs happily, thinking of his dessert pizza)
(The base of the mountain)
Leshawna and Lindsay were ready for the signal when it came and dived directly into action when they saw the green smoke, and all of the resulting fire.
"Damn, they were not playing around with that fire." Leshawna commented, latching onto the wall and climbing up a few feet. The Bass had only climbed about a quarter of the way up when they began. "Lindsay just follow my lead okay?"
"You got it Lequisha!" Lindsay called back as she also latched herself onto the rocks. The two began climbing at a decent rate, Lindsay was able to keep up with the determined Leshawna, who despite her size was making a sizable dent in the size of the mountain.
"We're coming for you Bass!" She shouted out, enjoying the look Eva gave her from above. In order to slow her down, the muscled girl began kicking rocks down at the other two girls which only existed to incite Leshawna's fury further. The larger girl ripped off a chunk of mountain and threw it up towards the two Bass, she managed to launch it so far that it hit Tyler directly on the hand, causing the boy to lose his grip and begin falling down. Luckily Eva was able to catch him with one hand whilst the other one held onto the mountain for dear life. Even though she was strong, it was a strain as Tyler was not the lightest person in the whole cast.
In the time it took her to reattach Tyler to the mountain, the two Gopher girls had managed to catch up and the two teams were now neck and neck about halfway up to the top.
"Oh, hey Tyson!" Lindsay called as she continued climbing up the mountain, "Fancy seeing you here."
"Lindsay I've been here the whole time." He noted, continuing to climb instead of look at the girl, for fear of Eva's almighty glare.
"Have you?" The girl asked in confusion, "I don't remember seeing you." The jock just sighed as they continued to climb. Soon enough the two teams reached the top of the mountain, where Duncan as well as Noah and Izzy were set up to paraglide in their respective paragliders, all kitted out with safety helmets and an emergency parachute. Just in case.
"Yeah let's go!" Izzy screamed, Noah was currently latched onto her back like a monkey as the crazy girl took a running leap off of the mountain, a strong gust of wind from the altitude carrying her rather far out to sea.
"Well she wasted no time." Leshawna laughed as Duncan set himself up to run off of the mountain.
"Well done you two." He said to Eva and Tyler, "Now I've gotta go catch a psycho and her nerd." With that he took a running leap off of the mountain, again a gust of wind managed to miraculously carry him out to sea, catching up to Izzy and Noah.
"Now how do we get down?" Tyler asked. And once again on cue, Chef Hatchet turned up, not with his boat but time with a helicopter. "I guess that answers the question." The four all piled into the helicopter leaving the final leg of the race to be run.
EVA: Leshawna has some bite, she's not afraid to stand up to people and I've got serious respect for people with those kinds of stones.
TYLER: It's anybody's game now, it's all down to the last leg, I swear it always comes this close by some kind of coincidence.
(The air over the sea)
Izzy and Noah were still holding the lead, Noah was closing his eyes quite tightly whilst Izzy simply cackled as usual steering the paraglider towards the island below them.
"I think this is when I die." Noah moaned, "I'm going to die while I'm clinging onto the back of a genuine crazy person.
"We're not going to die silly!" Izzy laughed, "We're gonna win!" She cried, looking down on the island with glee.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Came Duncan's voice from behind, he had managed to catch a strong upwind and was sailing just behind the two as the island came into sight. It was going to be a close race as both paragliders were angled down towards the sand of the beach in an attempt to reach it.
"Oh no." Came Izzy's voice as they began their descent. "We're too heavy!" She announced,
"What do you mean?!" Noah asked in a panic,
"We didn't fly out far enough and we're too heavy to make it onto the sand!" Izzy began to panic as well now, "We need to lighten the load!" And with no warning she managed to detach Noah from herself and send him plummeting into the sea as she continued on. It was now a neck and neck race as both Izzy and Duncan began sailing down to the beach, the punk boy having been able to catch up in the panic.
"This is going to be a photofinish!" Chris announced as every other camper was stood around the finish line, anxiously anticipating the winner. Both teens were on a straight course to the line, but one was slowly edging out the other, one person crossed the line marginally ahead of the other.
"And the winner of this challenge and immune from elimination this round is!... Duncan and the Killer Bass!" The Bass began to cheer and hug each other as Duncan detached himself from his paraglider and smirked happily.
"You're all welcome." He said as Noah landed on the beach behind him, with his parachute flopping to the floor behind him, he had managed to pull it before it was too late.
"Izzy I'm going to kill you." He announced as the girl laughed sheepishly,
"Sorry Noah!" She said before running off away from him.
"Killer Bass congratulations on winning your first challenge, for this one you win these candy bars." Chris happily threw a load of candy bars onto the sand which each Bass helped themselves to happily. "Screaming Gophers, I will be seeing you tonight at the campfire!" Chris announced before he too walked away from the lot. The teens also dispersed at random intervals, either to relax or prepare themselves for the night to come.
DUNCAN: Let it go on record that that is how you win a challenge, viewers, this is just the start of my amazing winning streak. (The boy smirked happily, leaning back against the outhouse wall)
IZZY: Oh me oh my! I sure did make a mistake! I'm sure Noah will forgive me though, he's just a big old softie.
LINDSAY: Chef Hacksaw took us on a ride in that whirly bird, it was super fun!
(Screaming Gopher Cabin, Boys' Side)
Noah was currently sat with Cody and Owen, lamenting over his loss.
"That Izzy girl is insane I'm telling you!" He said to his teammates, "She threw me off of her back! In the middle of the ocean! Laughing the whole way!" He was clearly getting worked up over this leading Owen to place his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"It's okay buddy, I'm sure it was all some big misunderstanding."
"Not likely." Noah sulked slightly as Cody nodded slightly.
"I mean you can't deny that she's not exactly the most stable in her head."
"Exactly!" Noah agreed, "Which is why we need to vote her off, next she might just stab us in our sleep because she thinks it's fun!" Noah's argument was impassioned and definitely seemed to hit some kind of spot for the other two who nodded slightly in fear of the girl, "It's the best for all of our safety." Noah noted finally, pulling out his book to begin reading again.
NOAH: Let's be honest here, what is some crazy girl with a penchant for human injury even bringing to our team? She's not all that smart, she's not all that strong, so she's deadweight, dangerous deadweight that we need to cull before it becomes a risk to our own health.
(The cafeteria)
"Bit unfair that last challenge the Gopher's got pizza and we still have to eat this crap." Bridgette moaned, watching as her food fell back onto her plate with a gelatinous slap.
"Could be worse." DJ shrugged, "We could have lost and been voted out."
"That would've been like so bad." Katie commented,
"Yeah like so bad." Sadie echoed, the two were now firmly back together after their separation at the challenge and as close as ever.
"You know Katie you were really good in that challenge today." DJ smiled at the girl who smiled back,
"Thanks DJ you weren't too bad yourself." She laughed as Sadie beamed at her friend.
"I'm sure you were like so perfect!" Sadie said to Katie shaking her slightly,
"No! I'm sure you were like oh my gosh even more perfect!" was Katie's response, the two continued their debate which lead Bridgette and DJ to shake their heads.
"And they're gone." Bridgette noted, causing DJ to laugh.
On the other side of the cafeteria sat Heather, Gwen and Justin.
"Well that sucked." Heather complained, "We had the lead to begin with, we should've won." Gwen nodded in agreement, slowly eating her food.
"What even happened in the jungle?" Gwen asked, we gave you guys a solid lead. "And Justin gave us a lead too, so it all went wrong on your leg." Justin nodded in agreement as Heather sighed rather dramatically.
"Owen couldn't read a map and got us lost in the jungle for ages, we didn't even manage to make it out until the other team started building their fire that we could follow." She rolled her eyes and pushed her food away, "So really it's all Owen's fault." She noted before leaving the cafeteria and as such, Gwen and Justin alone.
HEATHER: My plan is simple, drag that fatso through the mud until it becomes clear that he's an utter liability who would never be able to help the team in any meaningful way, hopefully the team will then see that I'm way more worth keeping around and we'll all be winners.
DJ: Those two girls are the definition of easily distracted, I swear you could be talking about famine and they'd somehow be able to turn it into a conversation about some boy that they both crushed on in fourth grade English class.
(The Washrooms)
Lindsay and Beth were currently sat in the washrooms with Courtney. All three of them were brushing their teeth after a nice meal in the cafeteria. They heard a knocking on the wall and then a voice.
"Lindsay? Beth? Are you in there?" The voice asked, it was clear that it was a male voice by the pitch.
"Neal is that you?" Lindsay asked, spitting out the toothpaste in her mouth. A gargantuan sigh was heard from the boy before he replied.
"Yes, it's Neal. I just wanted to suggest to you guys that we vote out Izzy tonight, I don't know how you feel about it but I'm not too keen on having my life feel endangered every time I leave the cabins. Just think about it, I'll see you tonight." And with that he had left, not showing his face to the girls just his pitch.
"That's a big question." Beth commented, looking at Lindsay.
"Which one is Izzy?" Lindsay asked with a raised brow.
"Iona." Courtney snarked to which Lindsay nodded happily.
"Oh her! She seems nice though! Why would Neal want to vote her out?"
"Probably because she's unhinged." Courtney continued to comment, "I'm not on your team so it doesn't matter to me, but I wouldn't want to keep around some sort of crazed girl on my team." And with that the CIT finished up and left the washroom, leaving the two girls to mull over their decisions.
COURTNEY: Nothing I said there was a lie, I definitely wouldn't want Izzy to be kept on the team, she's a loose cannon and loose cannons pose a severe risk to leadership, because they don't know how to follow orders. She seems the obvious vote but with some of those Gopher's it doesn't seem like they really know how to play a game.
(The dock of shame)
It was Izzy who was sat on the Dock of Shame when she was approached by a figure who soon revealed themselves to be Heather.
"Hey Izzy." She greeted, but the girl didn't turn around, she just continued to throw pebbles into the ocean like she had been. "I just wanted to offer you a vote, I think we could help each other." She offered.
"I'm listening." Izzy replied without turning behind her,
"I want to vote out Owen, and unless you do too, it could be you going home, and you don't want that now do you?" Her pitch was solid, if a little base and crass, but that seemed to be the way to get Izzy to understand. She just nodded slightly before looking at Heather.
"It was Noah wasn't it? He put my name up?" Heather just nodded in response and walked away leaving Izzy to continue traipsing in her own sadness.
IZZY: Izzy really did mess up, and now Noah wants me gone. I wasn't thinking properly and just did the first idea that came into my head. (Suddenly a slightly crazed glint came into her eye as she looked into the camera), But this girl isn't going down without a fight!
(The Campfire Ceremony)
The eleven Gophers were all sat on the logs surrounding the campfire, with Chris stood behind his oil drum as per usual. He had a plate of marshmallows set up on the drum and his cheesy grin plastered onto his face.
"Welcome Gophers, to your first elimination ceremony! As you lost the challenge earlier today you are here to vote out one of your own. In a moment you will all cast your votes to eliminate a fellow teammate. Then I will hand out these marshmallows – in this game, marshmallows mean life, if you receive a marshmallow then you have been granted extended life here in this game and you will be allowed to continue. If you do not receive a marshmallow then you have received the most votes and you have been eliminated, you must walk down the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers and you will not return ever." His speech was solid, and the campers nodded in understanding. "Alright then Trent, you're up first to vote." The musician stood up and walked to the outhouse to vote.
Once everyone had voted they were all gathered again on the logs.
"This vote is interesting." Chris smiled, "Very interesting, first marshmallow goes to Gwen." He tossed the goth girl the marshmallow which she caught gladly.
"Beth and Cody." The two also caught their marshmallows and high fived.
"Trent and Lindsay." Again, the two caught their marshmallows and smiled happily.
"Leshawna." Again, happiness at being allowed to stay in the competition.
"Justin and Heather." The two also caught their marshmallows with smiles.
"Now the three of you all received votes." Chris alerted the last three people, Owen, Izzy and Noah. Izzy looked expectant whilst Owen and Noah looked quite shocked at the result.
"Don't worry though Noah, you're safe." The nerd caught his marshmallow and sighed with relief, a rare sign of happy emotion from him.
"Owen, Izzy. You two received the most votes, but one of you received more, and will be eliminated from Total Drama Island. The person with the most votes, who must walk the Dock of Shame, and board the Boat of Losers is…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…Owen."
"Aw." Owen sighed looking rather downtrodden at the news, but no one was more shocked than Noah whose mouth was held agape at the vote.
"But you're not supposed to go." He noted, looking between Owen and Izzy, the latter of whom was happily eating her marshmallow.
"It is what it is." Owen sighed again, standing up waving goodbye to all his teammates, "I was having a good time, but I guess this is it for me. Good luck all of you!" With that he walked away and down the Dock of Shame and onto the Boat of Losers. His team all waved goodbye from the end of the pier as she drove off into the horizon.
HEATHER: All according to plan…
"Now wasn't that a shocker!" Chris announced as he looked at the camera, "I certainly didn't expect Owen to go so soon, I love that guy! But he's gone, and we have just twenty contestants left. Will Heather's plan continue to bloom? Will the Killer Bass be able to extend their winning streak? And will Lindsay every be able to remember anyone's name? Find out next time on Total! Drama! Island!"
Woo! And there we have it! It's Owen that bites the dust tonight! Can't really lie and pretend that I like Owen, I think I definitely got bored of him in canon, writer's pet and being one note are two things that I'm not here for. Like I said longest chapter by about 2000 words which is really cool! I quite enjoyed being able to give some of the forgotten characters in canon a little more time to themselves to flesh out their lives like Beth, Ezekiel and the BFFFLS so all good all good! I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter and if you did make sure that you leave a review so I can know exactly how you feel! Thank you again for reading and peace out!
Screaming Gophers: Gwen, Heather, Leshawna, Izzy, Noah, Cody, Trent, Beth, Lindsay, Justin
Killer Bass: Duncan, Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Katie, Sadie, Ezekiel, Eva, Courtney, Tyler,
Eliminated: Harold, Owen