Sorry it's taken so long to upload this. My USB corrupted and I lost the nearly finished chapter, so I had to rewrite the entire thing from scratch.
I don't own Total Drama.
"Last time on Total Drama Island, a talent contest brought out the worst in our campers – it was awesome!" Chris announced. "Everything was put on display: the hot, the talented and the just plain embarrassing! Alejandro showed that the accordion isn't dead after all, and Cody struck out with Gwen – big time. Tensions were running high on the Killer Bass team: Gwen stood up to Heather who retaliated by reading Gwen's diary out loud for the entire viewing world to hear. Harold showed that he actually has some mad skills when he beat-boxed the Bass to victory – who knew? Eva broke it down on stage and Scott broke down Eva's alliance by convincing the Bears to vote her off. Who will get sent home this time on Total Drama Island?"
Cue theme song.
"Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills. I'm not going to lie: some of you might not even come back alive." Chris said, evoking gasps of horror from the teens. He laughed at their response. "Just joking. All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need is at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it."
"I'm great at survivin' in the woods, eh." Ezekiel told his team confidently.
Chris tossed a map and a compass to Heather, Cameron and Zoey. He began to walk away, before pausing. "Oh, yeah, and watch out for bears. We lost a few interns in pre-production."
"Ow! Papercut!" Cameron cried out, dropping the map and clutching his hand tightly as though it was the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his life.
"Watch the map!" Courtney barked, snatching the map off the ground and glaring at Cameron.
"Once, my neighbour got hit in the head by a newspaper and he got a papercut and bled to death." Izzy said.
Cameron only whimpered in response.
"Don't worry Cam, you won't bleed to death." Bridgette said, giving the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's impossible." Trent agreed.
"As concerning as papercuts are. . ." Noah said sarcastically, before Leshawna cut him off.
"Did he say there were bears up in here?"
"I had an encounter with a bear once." Owen bragged. "Let's just say his head looks real nice up on my mantle."
"Oh! This one time, I saw a bear eating our garbage. He had old spaghetti noodles hanging from his big, huge teeth and it looked like blood and guts – so gross! And we thought he was eating the neighbour's cat Simba, but it turns out he was just lost for a week." Izzy told Sadie and Bridgette, who were looking equally disturbed.
"Fascinating." Noah deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the ginger-haired girl.
"Uh. . . you didn't eat spaghetti, did you?" Izzy asked Sadie and Bridgette, who both shook their heads in response.
"Izzy, that's enough." Courtney said, unfolding the map. "Alright gang, everybody follow me!"
"Comrades, we must not fall behind – even if the other team is lead by an attractive and capable former-C.I.T.!" Alejandro said, catching Courtney's attention. The brunette blushed, earning Alejandro a dirty look from Duncan.
"Hey!" Heather cried out indignantly. "There are three teams!"
Confessional
"There is definitely nothing between me and that neanderthal – Duncan." Courtney said. "But Alehunkdro on the other hand. . . well, we'll see."
Static.
"Very clever, Alejandro, very clever." Jo said, stroking her chin with her thumb and index finger as though she had a beard. "Throwing two teams off their game like that? Genius. Just one little thing:" She focused on the camera menacingly. "Better watch your back, Al, I'll be gunning for ya."
"We don't have all day, gorgeous." Duncan said irritably, snatching the map out of Heather's hands and beginning to read.
"Whoa, someone's jealous." Geoff whispered to Gwen, who glared in response.
"Don't talk to me." Gwen told him, arms folded over her chest as she walked into the woods, not waiting for directions from her teammates.
Geoff jogged to catch up to the goth girl. "Hey, if this is about the whole diary thing-"
"Please leave me alone." Gwen cut him off.
"-I just want you to know that I'm here to listen-"
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine."
"-if you need to talk." He reached out and put a comforting arm around the goth girl's shoulders.
"Don't touch me." Gwen said, taking Geoff's arm off her shoulders and twisting it up his back.
The party guy gasped in pain. "Ow! Okay, okay, okay!"
The goth released him. "Don't talk to me. Don't touch me. Don't even walk with me. Got it?"
"Yeah, it's cool, bra!" Geoff said, halting in his tracks to rub his sore arm. He fell back in step with his other teammates, several paces behind Gwen.
"She is so the next one to go." Heather declared, scratching the red bumps that covered her arms and legs.
"Who?" Duncan asked, glancing up from the map. "Pasty?"
"She dumped Harold's red ant farm into my bed!"
"After you read her diary on international television." the juvenile delinquent said. "I'd say that's fair."
Heather halted in her tracks, causing the rest of the team to bump into one another. The Asian beauty whirled around and glared at Duncan. "And I'm sure that you're an expert when it comes to what's fair." she snapped. "What with all your juvie experience and all."
"You got that right, gorgeous." Duncan responded drily. "Now keep moving so we can find our campsite before dark."
"She is going down!" Heather declared. "And if you want to go down with her, that's fine by me."
Duncan rolled his eyes and walked passed her, taking the leadership role for their team.
"Whoa, that was pretty harsh." Geoff commented to himself.
The blonde was holding her cell phone up in the air, frowning as angle after angle failed. Groaning in irritation, she brushed off her hands and walked up to a tree, beginning to climb it.
"Uhh. . . Dakota? What are you doing?" Cody asked the girl, raising an eyebrow at her as she hung from a tree, thighs gripping the trunk and one hand hanging onto an upper branch. Her hand searched the air with her cell phone, desperately trying to find service.
The sound of his voice seemed to startle her, and she shrieked as she fell out of the tree, landing on the brunette boy, who grunted as his breath was knocked out of him.
"Gosh darn it!" Dakota whined, looking at her cell phone screen again, dismayed.
"What's wrong?" Cody asked from under the girl.
"I can't get any service out here!" she answered.
"Want me to take a look?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"Sure – just one little thing. Can you get off of me, please?"
Dakota's eyes went wide as she suddenly realized that she was sitting on the boy's back. She jumped up, eyes wide. "Oh! Sorry!"
Cody sighed in relief as the girl's weight lifted from his back, and he got to his feet. He held out his hand. "Let me see?"
"I hope you can fix it." Dakota said solemnly as she places her precious cell phone in Cody's waiting hand.
"I'll do my best." he promised.
"B, can I ask you a question?" Sadie asked anxiously as the two followed the Thrashing Bears on a hike through the woods.
The silent genius shrugged in response, his lips puckered in confusion. What question could he possibly answer for her?
"About our alliance – you still want to be in an alliance with me now that Eva's gone, right?" she asked.
B responded with a nod before giving the girl a thumbs up.
Sadie sighed with relief, before biting her lip. "B, did Eva ever tell you why she wanted me in the alliance? What she thought I brought to it?"
B puckered his lips while he thought for a moment, before shaking his head 'no'.
"Oh." Sadie said quietly. Then, after a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "What do I bring to the alliance?"
B shrugged again.
"I mean, you're the intelligence, and Eva was our strength. What did I bring?"
B put an index finger to his lips, which were puckered as he thought. He tapped his finger against his lips for a moment, before his eyes grew wide, indicating that he'd come up with an answer.
He held up his hands, and used his index finger and thumb on each both hands to form a heart.
Sadie gasped in shock. "You love me?"
B shook his head.
Sadie's voice reflected the alarm on her face. "Eva loves me?!"
B shook his head again.
Sadie sighed with relief. "What are you saying, B?"
B held up his hands again, this time forming the letter 'E' with his fingers.
"Eva?" Sadie guessed.
B nodded and then flexed his arm, pointing at his muscles.
"Muscles?" Sadie nodded. "Eva is the muscle of our alliance."
B flashed her a thumbs-up before pointing to himself.
"You. B." Sadie said.
The boy took off his hat and pointed at his head.
"Head – brain – smart?" Sadie guessed. "You're the brains of our operation."
B nodded again.
"That's what I said. See? I don't fit in."
B made an 'S' with his fingers now, then pointed at Sadie.
"Me. Sadie."
B made the heart symbol with his hands again, pulling his hands in and pressing his hands against his chest.
"Heart?" Sadie asked, her eyes growing wide. "You think I'm the heart of the alliance? B, you're so sweet!"
B shrugged nonchalantly.
"You know what?" Sadie asked, as she wiped away a tear from her cheek.
B shrugged as if to ask 'what?'.
"You're officially my first ever BMFFL."
B raised an eyebrow at her.
"It means you're my 'Best Male Friend For Life'." she explained.
B smiled and flashed the girl another thumbs-up.
"Uhhh. . . there's no food here." Owen said, surveying the supplies that had been left at their campsite.
"This is a survival challenge." Trent said, holding one side of the map.
"Yeah, look at the instructions." Zoey said, holding the other side of the map.
"I wonder if there are any bears around today." Owen said, glancing at Ann Maria. "Wouldn't it be funny if we made some bear sounds and then they came?"
Ann Maria paused her hairspray for a moment to raise an eyebrow at him. "No."
"ROOOOOOAAAAAR, I'M A BEAR!" Owen roared, curling his hands like claws.
"Comrade, perhaps it would be for the best if were weren't to summon any bears to our campsite for the moment." Alejandro said.
"Yeah! Listen to Al!" Ann Maria said, failing to notice Alejandro twitch as she suddenly grabbed onto one of Alejandro's wonderful arms, and fluttering her eyelashes at him.
"Yeah, I guess." Owen said, kicking at the ground like a scolded child.
"It says we're supposed to find our own food." Zoey told her teammates.
Ann Maria glanced down at the pile of supplies, then wrinkled her nose. "I still don't see it."
Trent and Zoey chuckled in unison, before Trent spoke. "I think they mean in the woods."
"I'll go!" Owen volunteered, starting to make his way towards the woods. "I'm good at finding food!"
"I'll bet you are." Jo agreed. Then she glanced around at her teammates. "Hey, has anyone seen Blondie and the Dweeb?"
"Blondie's right here." Noah said, glancing up from his book long enough to motion towards Dawn, who was meditating. She opened one eye to look at him, but didn't seem amused nor bothered in the slightest.
"No, the other one." Jo said. "Dakota."
Her teammates glanced around and shrugged.
"Hey, just calm down." Scott's voice said soothingly.
"How can I calm down?! Just look at our map!" Courtney shrieked.
"Well I'm sure Brick didn't do it on purpose." Scott said.
"I thought you said you were competent!" Courtney shouted at Brick. "'I'm a cadet!' you said, 'I'm great with maps!' you said! But look at where it's got us!"
"Hey, go easy on the guy." Scott said. "It was an accident. Brick wouldn't sabotage his own team now, would he?"
"It's okay." Brick said to Scott, before turning back to Courtney. "Ma'am, I take full responsibility for my incompetence. If you choose to banish me from the team, it will be what I deserve."
The brunette turned her back to her team, her finger on her lips.
"Oh come on, you can't actually be considering banishing him!" Bridgette said. When Courtney did not respond, Bridgette looked alarmed. "In the woods? At night? Courtney, have you lost your mind?"
"Bridgette, look at this." Courtney said at last, turning around and handing Bridgette a torn and muddied piece of paper to her teammate. It had been torn in half by a submerged branch, and half of it was lost. The team had tried to find it, but had given up and tried to follow the other half of the map instead. That had ended the entire group of them ankle deep in thick, sucking mud.
"You're going to kick him off the team because of an accident?!" Bridgette asked, still trying to make Courtney see some sense.
"No." Courtney said. Bridgette sighed with relief. Courtney narrowed her eyes. "No, it's more like temporary solitary confinement."
"Yes, ma'am." Brick said, saluting the brunette and then starting to fight his way through the mud, making his way away from his team.
"Courtney!" Bridgette said pleadingly.
"That was like so totally harsh." Sadie whispered to B, her eyes wide with fear as she glanced at Courtney.
"I'm so hungry." Zoey said, her arms folded against her stomach. "It feels like my stomach is about to digest itself."
"I am man! I bring fish!" Owen announced, arriving from the bushes with a makeshift rope tied around several fish.
"Aw, yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ann Maria said.
"Oh man, you're awesome!" Trent said.
"Those look great, Owen!" Zoey agreed. "I bet they're going to be super yummy!"
"How do you know how to fish?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow at Owen.
"My grandpa taught me." Owen said. "I caught a shark once. It bit me in the butt. Check it out."
Without waiting for a response, Owen dropped his pants and bent over so that his teammates could see the shark-bite scar on his pale buttocks. However, his teammates instead responded by covering their eyes and trying not to look.
"Dakota, I thought you said they went this way." Cody said with a frustrated sigh.
"They did! I swear! I saw them go this way!" Dakota responded, sitting down on a log. "My feet are tired!"
"Mine too." Cody sat down beside her. "Maybe we should just set up camp for the night, it's getting dark now and we've been walking for hours."
"Set up camp? Here? In the middle of the woods?" Dakota repeated, shocked.
"Well, this is a wilderness survival challenge." Cody said. "Chris said that we've gotta spend a night in the woods."
"Gwen, are you going to help or not?" Heather demanded, her arms crossed as she stood over the other girl.
The goth girl, who'd been sketching in her lap, only looked up with a bored expression. "Not."
"And why not?" Heather asked loudly.
"Because I don't want to." Gwen said.
"Some kind of team spirit you've got there!" Heather said.
"Why don't you help, instead-a nagging everyone else to?" Leshawna challenged, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.
"I'm team captain." Heather retorted, flipping her hair.
"You are one pretentious little-" Leshawna started, before Geoff cut her off.
"Whoa, chill bras. Things are getting way too heavy. Just chill, the tent's almost ready anyway."
"Don't you worry your pretty little head, us menfolk can handle the tent." Duncan said to Heather. "Besides, you women have more important things to worry about – like figuring out what's for dinner. I'm starving."
"Oh drop dead." Heather snapped in response.
"That's a good point, eh." Ezekiel said with a nod.
"And why can't you organize the food?" Leshawna challenged. "You didn't even help put up the tent – Geoff and I did the entire thing!"
"But you're the woman, eh-" Ezekiel began, before Leshawna turned to him, her hands on her hips.
"And just what are you implying, you scrawny little white boy?" Leshawna demanded. "That all women are good for are cooking and cleaning?"
Leshawna's up-in-your-face attitude made Zeke suddenly lose his nerve, and he shook his head. He backed away from her without another word.
"That's what I thought." Leshawna said.
"Hey guys, look what I found!" DJ called to his teammates as he emerged from the woods, holding a small, grey bunny in his arms.
"Well, I've never had rabbit stew before, but what the heck, I'm game." Duncan said.
DJ gasped. "This is my new pet! I'm calling him 'Bunny'."
"Awwww, he's super-duper cute!" Beth said, running up to DJ. "Can I pet him?"
"Sure." DJ agreed, and the brunette reached up to scratch the little grey bunny behind the ears.
"You couldn't find any food?" Heather asked in irritation.
"We can always eat grubs and berries for dinner." Harold began. "Grubs are actually really high in protein and-"
"EW, gross! You can not be serious!" Heather retorted, gagging.
Ezekiel walked to the treeline and lifted up a rock, bringing back a handful of wriggling, white grubs. He held out his hand to offer one to Heather. "They're actually pretty good, eh."
"You don't actually expect me to eat those, do you?" Heather asked, slapping his hand away and making grubs fly all over the place. "That's disgusting!"
Suddenly Lindsay began screaming at the top of her lungs. "It went down my shirt, it went down my shirt! Get it out, get it out!"
"Okay, fire's hot, fish are grilling, tent is tenting." Owen said, verbally checking off his mental checklist.
"Nice work, man." Trent praised him. "The fish looks awesome."
"I've gotta say, I'm impressed, Owen. You did a really good job tonight." Jo said with a nod.
"Really?" Owen asked, his eyes wide with having received praise from his most callous teammate.
"Indeed, I think we are all impressed by Owen's survival skills." Alejandro said.
"We're so lucky to have him on our team." Jo said.
Owen seemed to be sucking in the praise like a giant sponge. "And I owe it all to Grandpa!"
"So you and your grandpa really fought a bear once?" Zoey asked.
"Heck yes." Owen said. "It was the scariest day of my entire life." He began miming his actions as he told the story. "We were out in the woods when we came upon the great beast. I tell you, he was ten feet high if he was a foot! Then he roared his terrible roar! AAOOOWWRRRRRR! So we grabbed out shotgun – we knew it was either him or us. Was nothing personal, just the law of the wild! And BAM! One shot was all it took to fell the great beast. We took his blood and marked ourselves with it to honour him. It was a good death."
"That was a fascinating tale, Owen!" Alejandro said.
"Wow, we're so lucky to have someone so skilled on our team!" Jo said.
Confessional
"Two may be able to play, my dear Jo, but only one can win." Alejandro told the confessional camera. "You can't best me at my own game."
Static.
"Would I normally be so nice to that great oaf, Owen? Of course not." Jo confessed. "But I can't just let Alejandro win his allegiance. Owen is the perfect alliance member – he's obedient and naive."
"You shouldn't brag about having committed such horrible deeds, Owen." Dawn said with a frown, opening her silver-blue eyes wide. "Even if they aren't true."
"I forgot to warn you – Fluttershy doesn't like it if you talk about harming her little animal friends." Noah commented sarcastically.
Owen's eyes were wide. "H-how did you know it wasn't a true story?"
"Didn't you get the memo, big guy? She reads minds." Noah deadpanned.
"GREAT GALLOPING GUPPIES!" Owen exclaimed, his hands flying to cover his head as though that would help protect his brain from Dawn's invasive mind-reading.
"Try a tin-foil hat, it might be more effective." Noah suggested to Owen sarcastically.
"Just because you are uncomfortable around me, does not justify you to treat me rudely and influence others to be uncomfortable as well." Dawn said, narrowing her eyes at Noah.
"You don't need my help making others uncomfortable around you, honey." Noah said. "You do that well enough on your own."
"I can't believe we managed to find our campsite without the map!" Mike said as he, Bridgette and Courtney worked on putting up their team's tent.
"That was like a total stroke of luck!" Sadie agreed with a nod.
"Yeah, like Scott knowing how to hunt." Izzy agreed, turning to her teammate. "Where did you learn to hunt with blunt objects like that?"
Scott studied the branch in his hands nonchalantly. "Oh, my Papi taught me."
"That was so lucky." Izzy said. "We wouldn't have any supper without you!" Izzy said, staring longingly at the skinned creatures roasting on a makeshift spit above the fire pit.
"Speaking of supper, it should be ready by now." Courtney asked as she left Mike and Bridgette to put the finishing touches on the tent.
"DJ, Bunny is so cute. Can I hold him?" Beth pleaded. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please?"
DJ frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, but be careful."
"Thank you!" Beth squealed as DJ handed the furry grey bundle to her. "I promise I'll be super-duper careful!"
"You know, this reminds me of this really scary story I heard once." Duncan said.
"Awesome!" Geoff said. "Tell it man!"
"Are you sure?" Duncan asked. "The story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore."
"Oooh, we're so scared." Heather said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." Duncan said. "One night, a lot like this one. . ."
Bridgette shifted her position, trying to get comfortable. Then, deciding she couldn't hold it any longer, sat up.
"What's the matter? Did you hear something?" Cameron asked her in alarm.
"No, I've gotta pee." Bridgette said. "Like crazy, but I'm too scared to leave the tent."
"Oh." Cameron said, before holding up a jar of yellow liquid. "Me too."
She took a deep breath. "I've gotta be brave."
She rose and walked out of the tent, but was promptly ambushed by a bat, which got caught in her hair. Freaking out, Bridgette tried to dislodge the bat from her hair, but the silhouette she cast on the side of the tent made her teammates tremble with fear.
Then everything went up in flames. Literally. When she managed to get the bat out of her hair, she tripped over the fire pit and kicked an ember onto the tent, which burst into flames and then disintegrated almost instantly.
Shocked, Courtney stood up to survey the damage. Then, her eyes narrowed, she turned to Bridgette, her fists clenched angrily. "This is just great, Bridgette! Now we have nowhere to sleep!"
"It was an accident, I swear!" Bridgette said.
"Oh relax, bossy girl." Lightning said, rolling his eyes at Courtney.
"RELAX?!" Courtney screeched. "HOW CAN I RELAX? THINGS COULD NOT POSSIBLY GET-"
Mike put a hand over Courtney's mouth to stop her finishing that sentence. "Don't tempt fate. Or Chris."
"You're not going to banish me too, are you?" Bridgette asked fearfully as Courtney shoved Mike's hand away from her mouth.
"No, of course she's not." Mike said, rolling his eyes as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off.
"And why shouldn't I?" Courtney challenged, turning to Mike, her hands on her hips.
"This is just ridiculous!" Mike responded. "Just because Brick was okay with it, doesn't mean everyone else is too!"
"Are you questioning my authority?"
"What authority? You're not team leader! We're supposed to make decisions as a group!"
"I am the only one with actual C.I.T. camping experience! You have to listen to me!"
Mike gasped. "Bossy young whippersnapper! Why, back in my day, there were no such things as C.I.T.s!"
"What is your issue?"
"My issue? You're the one with issues, little missy!"
"Little missy? Little missy?!" Courtney growled. "Just who do you think you are?"
"Relax, drama queen. Everything's going to be okay." Scott said, rolling his eyes. "I saw a cave on the way here. It'll take us two minutes to walk there."
"So suddenly, they heard this tap-tap-tapping on the side of the car. The girl started to freak out, and by this time even the guy was getting a bit scared, so he turned the car on and he stepped on it. When they got back to the girl's house, she opened the door and screamed, because there, hanging from the door was the bloody hook. They say that this killer is alive, wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere really, maybe even . . . HERE!" Duncan pulled out a prop hook, evoking screams of terror from several of his teammates.
DJ and Beth were both holding Bunny between them, Beth stroking his grey fur almost compulsively. Geoff's face appeared to be frozen in a grimace, while Lindsay was clutching Tyler. Leshawna, Harold and Heather were hiding behind DJ. Ezekiel had pulled his hat down over his eyes.
"That was so not funny!" Heather screeched as Duncan tried his very hardest to stop laughing at his terrified teammates.
"Oh yes it was. I just wish it was all on camera." Duncan said, faking a sudden realization. "Oh wait, it is!"
"Is that really the best you've got?"
Duncan's laughter stopped instantly and he looked down at the goth who was drawing in her sketchbook, looking otherwise bored. "What's that pasty? Think you can do better?"
"I don't think, I know." She didn't even look up.
"You're on, then." Duncan said.
"If you insist." Gwen said, standing up and brushing the bits of grass and dust from her skirt. "Now that we're done with the fairytales. . ."
"Oh no, we do not need any more-" Heather began to protest.
Gwen cut her off. "Why's that Heather? You scared?"
Heather flipped her hair, her nose in the air. "No, of course not."
"Well then why are you complaining?" Gwen asked, narrowing her eyes, before she began her story. "So these three girls decide to go camping at Muskoka Campgrounds, near Camp Wawanakwa, actually. . ."
"Well, at least we have a roof over our heads." Courtney said with a sigh.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Cameron asked, his eyes wide as he looked around. "I mean the roof could cave in at any moment-"
"Oh my gosh, you're so right!" Sadie gasped, staring up at the stone ceiling above them with wide eyes.
"I highly doubt it'll cave in on us." Mike said reassured Cameron.
A little ways from the group, Scott was sitting on a rock, whittling by himself. Bridgette walked over and sat down beside him. "Hey."
"Hi." Scott greeted the girl, not looking up from his work.
Bridgette tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I – uh – just wanted to thank you."
"For what?" He glanced up a moment, and raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"Well if it hadn't been for you, Courtney would have banished me."
"Don't mention it." Scott said with a shrug. "It's not like it's a big deal."
"But it is." Bridgette said, putting a hand on Scott's forearm. "It's a really big deal."
"How so?"
"Well. . . I'm kind of . . . terrified of the woods." she admitted, looking down at her sandals.
"Oh. Well, glad I could help then." Scott said, shrugging again and going back to his work.
Instead of taking the hint that she'd been dismissed, Bridgette remained. "So. . . what'cha making?"
"Haven't decided yet."
Suddenly Bridgette gasped and slid closer to Scott, subconsciously grabbing his arm again. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"I thought I heard something. . . like a growl. . from over there."
"I'm sure it was nothing."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Bridgette said, blushing as she realized she was still cuddled up to Scott. Letting go of him as though his skin had burned her, she moved away, but still remained on the rock beside him. "Sorry."
"Don't mention it."
Bridgette stared down at her sandals as though they had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. After a few moments of awkward silence, she chanced a glance at her ginger-haired hero and she gasped. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh geez. . ."
"Man you're jumpy." Scott said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "What is it now?"
"There's a bear." Bridgette said, slowly standing up and backing away from him. "There's a bear right behind you."
Scott didn't seem to think she was serious until he turned around to look for himself and saw that there actually was a bear standing right behind him, glaring at them. It seemed that only Bridgette and Scott had noticed the bear. The creature changed that in one second flat when it opened it's massive jaws and bellowed at them.
The Thrashing Bears screamed at the top of their lungs and ran for their lives, pursued from the cave mouth by not one angry bear, but three.
"I think I got it!" Cody said triumphantly.
"Huh?" The blonde beside him asked, waking with a start.
"Here." he handed her back her phone. "Try making a phone call now. Chris figured out how to block the signal, so I boosted your reception - hopefully that counters what Chris did."
"You fixed it?!" Dakota squealed. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"
"Don't thank me yet, I don't know if what I did actually worked. Try it out."
The blonde nodded and dialled a number, her fingers working at lightning speed on the touch screen keypad. She held it up to her ear and waited.
"Is it working?" Cody asked hopefully.
"Daddy?!" Dakota squealed into the phone. "It is you! Chris Mc-Lamo-pants blocked the signal and I haven't been able to contact anyone on the outside for days!" she paused as she listened to her father's response. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm so glad it's fixed now." Another pause. "Okay Daddy! Bye!" Then she turned to Cody. "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"
"You're welcome." Cody said. "Oh, hey, I had an idea-"
Dakota didn't let him finish his sentence – instead she did something that surprised the both of them. She threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss. On the lips.
Confessional
Cody was grinning at the camera, his hands behind his head as he tried to act casual. "I knew it was only a matter of time before all the girls started to fall for me." He used his sleeve to wipe the remaining trace of Dakota's lipstick off his lips. "I get this problem all the time back home. All the ladies want a piece of the Codemeister."
"Cody?" Dakota said, waving a hand in front of his stunned face.
At last, he shook his head and seem to regain consciousness. "Huh? Oh, hi Dakota."
"You were saying you had an idea?"
"An idea?" Cody repeated, before he blinked and nodded. "Oh, yeah! I was thinking I might be able to use your phone to hack into the camera feed and find out where our team is."
"Okay!"
After a moment, Cody spoke again. "Uh. . . I need your phone to do that."
Dakota's expression seemed hurt at first, then she sighed in irritation and gave up her phone.
"The fish has to be ready now! I'm starving!" Owen whined, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the fish roasting over their campfire.
"It's worth the wait, trust me." Zoey assured him.
"Yes, I'm sure that Zoey's cooking will be superb, amigo." Alejandro said, making the redhead blush.
Dawn opened her eyes suddenly. "I sense danger."
"It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep and all will be fine." Noah said.
Dawn seemed not to catch the mocking tone in his voice. "I wasn't sleeping. I was meditating."
"Well, it's nice of you to join us." Noah said sarcastically.
She stood up. "There is danger nearby, I can sense it."
"You're probably just sitting too close to the fire." Noah said, rolling his eyes.
A loud growl interrupted them, and Owen giggled. "Wow, I'm hungrier than I thought."
"I don't think that was you." Trent said, staring with wide eyes to the edge of the group.
The entire team was on their feet in seconds, staring in horror as the bear stepped closer to them, its nose twitching as it smelled the air.
"GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA!" Owen exclaimed, taking off running around the group in panic. "WE'RE GOING TO GET EATEN ALIVE BY A BEAR! OH THE HORROR! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
On his third lap around his teammates, Jo became annoyed and when he passed her on the fourth, she tripped him. Owen went flying and did a faceplant, ending up with a mouthful of dirt.
"Quick! Into the trees!" Zoey cried out.
The aptly named Screaming Gophers didn't need to be told twice.
"And one by one, they paid the price." Gwen told her teammates. "I heard that they never caught the murderer, and that after that night, people would venture out into the woods and never be heard from again." She sat back down, picking up her sketchbook and tilting it towards the campfire for light.
"You call that a scary story?" Duncan snorted, rolling his eyes. "
The goth looked up from her sketchbook momentarily and shrugged. "There was a rumour that they found some severed fingers near here a few weeks back – belonged to some guy from the city who went missing last winter. I mean, couldn't be the same killer, right?"
Most of the Killer Bass members had gone pale from fright – almost pale enough to rival Gwen's own pasty complexion.
"I – I think we lost it." Courtney panted, her hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. "Is everyone accounted for?"
Mike did a quick head-count and then nodded. "Yeah."
"That was, like, the scariest thing that has ever happened to me." Sadie said. "We almost died."
"What are we going to do?" Bridgette asked. "Now we have nowhere to sleep."
"We'll have to sleep outside." Courtney said with an irritated sigh, giving Bridgette a look that made it clear that she still blamed the blonde for burning down their team's tent.
Mike shrugged and offered some optimism. "Well, at least the weather's nice."
And that's when it started pouring rain.
"Wonderful." Courtney said sarcastically, turning her face upwards to look at the sky, which flashed, divided, as lightning forked across it. Then she turned to speak to the team again. "If only we had a tent – we could be out of the rain!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burn down our team's tent!" Bridgette said. "If it's any consolation, I hit my ankle and burned my shoe when I tripped."
"How do we even know that you really did 'trip'?" Courtney demanded, her voice rising. "How do we know you didn't just sabotage us?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! You're being paranoid! Nobody on our team is trying to sabotage us!"
"Why are you defending her? Can't she defend herself?" Courtney sneered.
"Because she's my friend!" Mike argued. "And Bridgette wouldn't do something like that!"
"Or maybe because you're the one who sabotaged our team! Maybe you're protecting her because you actually feel guilty for her taking the fall for it, and this is how you're trying to make amends!" Courtney's voice had escalated to yelling now. "Maybe you're the reason we keep losing challenges!"
Confessional
Scott was whittling something, looking somewhat amused. "Wow, if I'd known that Courtney would be this easy to turn against the entire team with a little paranoia, I'd have saved planting the seeds of suspicion until later. What a drama queen."
"I thought I heard raised voices." Came another male voice, attracting the attention of the Thrashing Bears team, who stared in shock.
"BRICK?!"
"You soldiers look like you need a roof over your heads. Care to join me? My place is plenty big enough for the whole team." Brick told them, beckoning them closer.
"What are you guys doing up there?" Dakota asked as she and Cody looked up into the tree at their teammates.
Cody looked bewildered. "It's raining, why aren't you guys in the tent?"
"Staying out of reach." Jo said.
"Of who?" Cody asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Or what." Zoey corrected him, pointing to a large mass inside the tent, which was illuminated by the campfire. "That."
"We think he smelled the fish Owen caught, and that attracted him to our campsite." Trent said.
"Well EXCUSE ME for living!" Owen cried out, smashing his head against the trunk of the tree.
"I didn't say it was your fault." Trent said. "Just that the fish smelled so good that the bear came to investigate."
"A bear?" Cody asked, his eyes wide. "Right, move over. We're coming up."
"But he's so cute!" Dakota exclaimed, peering into the tent. Her voice caused the brown mass to shift. Her teammates fell deathly silent. "I want one!"
"You probably won't when he wakes up." Trent said.
Trent's words were followed by a snarl from the ground. Dakota turned around to see a second bear having found their campsite. This one, angry and very awake, did not classify as 'cute' in Dakota's opinion. And her scream of terror did not help – a second awake and angry bear stuck its head out of the tent and roared.
"Chika, quickly! Climb up!" Alejandro prompted her.
"Dakota, grab my hand!" Cody urged the blonde, reaching out his hand from one of the lower branches.
She gasped as Cody pulled her to safety, and climbed up onto the bough beside Alejandro while Cody ended up beside Dawn – since nobody else seemed to want to sit beside her.
The sleepy brunette was just starting to nod off when she sneezed. Sitting cross-legged at the entrance of Brick's makeshift shelter, her elbows were resting on her knees her head in her hands. She stared out into the pouring rain, very tired but unable to sleep.
"Gesundheit." Came a soft male voice.
"Huh?" Courtney murmurer sleepily, raising her head and looking around to find Brick sitting down beside her.
"You sneezed. I said Gesundheit." Brick said softly, looking out into the rain.
"Oh." she said, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Thanks."
"Why don't you get some rest?" he asked her.
"I slept some but now I can't get back to sleep." she explained.
"Oh." he said, frowning as he stared out at the pouring rain. After a moment, he pointed to a spot on the horizon that was dotted with orange. "Look, the sun's rising."
"I love the sunrise." she said.
"Yeah, it's really pretty somedays." Brick agreed.
The two fell silent as they watched as the orange glow on the edge of the horizon grew, despite the rain. After a long pause, it was Courtney who finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For banishing you from the team."
"You don't need to apologize."
"Yes I do." Courtney said. "If I hadn't banished you-"
Brick cut her off. "I forgive you."
"Thank you." Courtney said, yawning again.
"Get some sleep. You look like you need it – no offence."
"None taken." Courtney said as she laid down.
The Killer Bass had obviously had a bit of a rough night. DJ and Beth were both sitting with bunny, looking as though neither had slept all night. Heather was twitching in her sleep, and the entire team, save Duncan and Gwen, screamed in terror when Lindsay woke up, screaming blue murder.
"What's the matter with you?" Gwen asked, glaring at Lindsay, who blinked as she realized where she was.
"I – I had a nightmare." Lindsay said, trembling.
"Look! The sun's up!" Ezekiel announced, pointing to the sun, which was high in the sky. "We can go back to camp now, eh!"
"Yes!" Heather cheered, standing up quickly.
"What's the matter, Heather?" Gwen asked. "You're not scared, are you?"
"No, why would I be?" Heather said.
"Oh, I don't know." Gwen said with a shrug, before pulling Duncan's prop hook out from behind her back, evoking a scream from not only Heather, but several other Killer Bass members as well.
"You are so going down." Heather sneered.
"Brick, I don't know what we would have done without you." Bridgette said as the Thrashing Bears made their way back to camp. "You saved our entire team."
"Just from spending a night out in the rain."
"Still, we're lucky to have you on our team." Bridgette said, saluting the cadet.
Brick laughed. "Wrong side."
"Oh, oops." Bridgette said, saluting with her other hand instead.
"I think it's safe, guys." Trent said, stretching. "The bear's gone."
"And . . . so is the map." Zoey said, holding up the remains of the map, which had been soaked the night before during the storm.
"I don't know how Raccoons sleep in trees." Owen said, stretching. "They must be really limber."
"Come on, we need to get moving!" Jo said. "We have to get back to camp, pronto!"
"Follow me, comrades!" Alejandro said, motioning with his arm for his team to follow him.
"Welcome back Killer Bass!" Chris said, smirking. "Sleep well?"
"Like a baby." Gwen said with a half-smile. Heather tried to glare at her, but ended up yawning instead.
"We lost again!" Courtney shrieked as the Thrashing Bears arrived in camp.
"Not so fast." Chris said, shifting his attention to something behind the Bears. "Here come the Gophers now."
"We . . . we're not last?" Courtney repeated.
"Correctamundo!" Chris said.
"YES!" Courtney screamed as the Gophers finally joined the group.
"Gophers, I'll be seeing you losers tonight! One of your furry butts is going home!" Chris said. "Killer Bass, you're going on an all-expenses paid trip to the Tuck Shop!"
The Killer Bass cheered and ran to claim their prize, while the other two teams groaned at their losses, although the Bears were significantly less disappointed than the Gophers were.
"You've all cast your votes. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately walk the dock of shame, take the boat of losers and get the heck out of here. And you can't come back. Ever." Chris said. "I can see you're all tired so tonight I'll just throw them to you. Savvy?"
"Comrades, I wish you all the best of luck." Alejandro said to his teammates. "I am sorry that another one of us must leave the game tonight."
"Zoey, Trent, Ann Maria. Dakota. Cody, Justin. Noah, Dawn. Jo." Chris said, tossing a marshmallow into the hands of each named camper.
"This is the final marshmallow of the evening." Chris said, holding up the fluffy white treat.
Owen looked at Alejandro. "I'm sorry, Al! I didn't want to vote for you, but I did! I'm so sorry!"
Alejandro twitched when Owen called him 'Al', but nodded in what seemed like a sincere way. "I am sorry that it must end this way."
"How touching." Chris said, pretending to wipe away a tear, before chuckling to himself. "Alejandro."
"What?" Owen asked in confusion as Alejandro caught the last marshmallow.
His teammates, save for Jo and Alejandro, began a chorus of both farewells and apologies. Jo just glared at Alejandro, who had an innocent look on his face as he waved goodbye to Owen.
Voting Confessionals
"Alejandro told me we needed to vote for Owen, so that's how I'm voting tonight." Ann Maria said. "Man, that Alejandro is one sexy hunk of man-candy."
Static.
"I didn't wanna vote for the big guy, he's so cool, but Alejandro assured me that it was the right thing to do." Zoey said. "I vote for Owen."
Static.
"I don't trust Alejandro." Noah said. "I mean, I don't trust Jo either, but I trust Alejandro guy could charm the slime off an eel."
Static.
"I'm sorry, Owen." Dawn said. "Your story glorified violence and the slaying of innocent wildlife, which is why I'm voting for you tonight."
Static.
"Owen's a great guy. I don't really understand why Alejandro asked me to vote him off. He's a great teammate." Trent said with a shrug. "Jo suggested I vote for Alejandro instead, but I don't know – he seems really nice too. I guess I vote for Alejandro."
Static.
"Owen." Dakota said. "Sorry big guy!"
Static.
"I vote for Alejandro." Cody said.
Static.
"Sorry Owen, nothing personal." Justin said.
Static.
"Everyone on my team is so great, I don't want to send anyone home!" Owen lamented. "But Jo said that we should vote for Al because he can't be trusted. I guess I vote for Al!"
Static.
"So I convinced Trent, Noah, Owen and Dawn to vote with me." Jo said. "Buh-bye Alejandro."
Static.
"Of course Jo thinks she has won this round, but she hasn't, I can assure you of that." Alejandro said with a smirk. "She told Dawn who to vote for. Dawn is the swingvote – I asked her who she was voting for and had my alliance vote with her. As long as I have Dawn on my side, Jo can say good-bye to her little alliance. I'll pick them off one-by-one."
Eliminated so far:
37th: Katie
36th: Staci
35th: Sierra
34th: Sam
33rd: Eva
32nd: Owen
Please review! :3
If anyone's interested in a Total Drama Island RPG, PM me and I'll link you.
