Hello, beautiful people! I'm so anxiously excited to have this chapter finally finished for you! It's the longest chapter yet at over 10,000 words, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait!
Pretty much every remaining camper has a significant interaction in this chapter, which is part of the reason why it is so long. As always, please keep an open mind to it all. Most importantly, enjoy it and don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts!
Brainy Beetles: B, Courtney, Scarlett
Brawny Beavers: DJ, Eva, Jasmine, Lightning, Sky
Beautiful Butterflies: Dawn, Leshawna, Lindsay, Sugar
*Last Episode Recap*
"Last time, on Total Drama... the teams had to "make it work" in our latest challenge where they had to design an outfit together. There were mixed results, to say the least. Lindsay led the charge again for the Beautiful Butterflies to score another landslide victory. The Brawny Beavers were pretty much clueless the entire time, and were only saved due to a last-minute idea from Lightning . As for the Brainy Beetles, well... Scarlett wanted to become the powerhouse of her team, Courtney wanted to have a say, and B just wanted to be safe. In the end, they all got their wish when they blindsided Leonard in a 3-1 vote. What will the next challenge be? Who will rise to the occasion? And who will fall flat on their face? It's time to find out now, on Total Drama... Brains! Vs. Brawn! Vs. Beauty!"
*End Recap*
Leshawna, Jasmine, Lindsay, and Lightning are all giggling inside the guys' side of the Brawny Beaver cabin.
"You think he's gonna do it?" Jasmine asks the other three.
"No way, girl!" Lightning exclaims.
"I think he will!" Lindsay adds in.
Leshawna shushes them. "Shh, I think he's coming in right now."
Just then, DJ comes bursting through the door, clearly out of breath.
"Well, did you do it?" Leshawna asks excitedly.
DJ nods his head yes. "Yeah... I ran around the girls by the campfire three times while yodeling. I'm pretty sure Eva hates me now."
The other four campers begin to laugh hysterically at DJ's misfortune. DJ waves them off and says, "Yeah, yeah... laugh it off. Now it's my turn. Lightning, truth or dare?"
Lightning smirks as if to say try me. "Dare. Lightning ain't scared!"
DJ smirks back and says, "I dare you to let Jasmine draw on your face for 20 seconds."
Lightning's smirk instantly drops from his face. Jasmine already has a marker out, ready to go.
"Someone count to 20." She says happily.
Meanwhile, Eva, Sky, Dawn, and Sugar are outside at the campfire, still recovering from the scene of DJ yodeling at them. Sky, Dawn, and Sugar all look surprised. Eva looks annoyed.
"You see what I mean, Sky? We're the only ones on our team that actually care about the competition. Those three couldn't be serious if you paid them." Eva says bitterly.
Sky looks squeamish. "I don't know, Eva, that sounds kind of harsh. They can be serious when they need to be."
Eva scoffs. "Barely. The one challenge we lost so far was because of that stupid bet they insisted on having."
"Not to mention they're totally leaving us all out! I mean, what do they all have to be inside for?" Sugar asks.
"Sugar, you know they invited us all to play with them." Sky says defensively.
"This is true Sugar." Dawn adds in.
Sugar rolls her eyes dismissively. "Fine then. But if that's so, why aren't you playin' with them, Sky?"
Sky blushes a little at the question, but it's Eva that answers. "I'll tell you why, it's because she didn't want to be around Lightning."
Sky blushes even more now. "That's not why-"
Eva interrupts her. "Yes it is. It isn't good for you to have him on our team. Plus he's a physical threat."
Sky pauses for a moment before answering. "What are you saying, Eva?"
Sugar interrupts this time. "Oooo, I think she wants to get rid of Lightning if ya'll lose!"
Eva smirks at the remark. "That's exactly what I'm saying. What do you say, Sky? We lose, we vote for Lightning."
Sky begins to stutter. "Umm, I mean... I don't-"
Dawn, noticing how uncomfortable Sky is getting, decides to intervene. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we should be having this conversation now. We don't even know who's been eliminated yet, much less which team is going to lose the next challenge."
Sky nods vigorously. "Yes, I agree. Thank you Dawn. Eva, we can talk about this later."
Dawn smiles Sky's words. Eva scowls.
*Confessional- Eva*
"I know that there's a possibility I will go home if the Brawny Beavers lose. My only hope is to turn Sky and Lightning against each other. If they vote for one another, and I vote for one of them, then it will at least be a tie."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Sky*
"Um, I don't know who I would vote for if we lost. Lightning promised he would never vote for me, but that was before I rejected his alliance offer. But he's been so sweet lately... maybe Eva's right. Ugh, I'm hoping we just don't lose and I won't have to choose."
*Confessional Ends*
Speaking of Lightning, the jock jogs up to the four women rather sheepishly. When his face comes into full view, they can all see why. None of them can help but giggle at Jasmine's handiwork on his face. He has stars and hearts drawn on the sides, a curly mustache on his upper lip, and "Jasmine was here" written on his forehead.
"Truth or dare get a little out of hand, Lightning?" Sky teases playfully.
Lightning blushes and replies, "Er, you could say that. Lightning was on the bad end of a dare."
Before Sky can reply, Eva cuts in. "Any particular reason for you being here? We were already treated to DJ's yodeling earlier."
Lightning chuckles at the memory. "Heh, yeah... sorry about that. But the Brainy team's gonna be back soon if you guys wanna see who's gone."
Sugar shrugs. "I mean, it's obvious that B got voted off. No offense, Dawn."
Dawn shakes her head slightly. "None taken."
*Confessional- Dawn*
"If B's voted off, that means I have very little places to look for alliance members. The merge is sure to be coming soon, and I need to be open to every possibility."
*Confessional Ends*
Sky stands up from her spot to join Lightning. "Come on, let's join the others. You never know what'll happen."
Eva and Dawn both stand to join her. Sugar rolls her eyes, but eventually gives in and follows them.
When the girls and Lightning make it back to the cabins, the three remaining Brainy Beetles are already there. Dawn is relieved to see B's tall frame next to Scarlett and Courtney. Sugar, not so much.
"Whaaa?!" The pageant queen yells. "Ya'll got rid of the wizard? Why in the world would you do such a thing?!"
"We wanted to keep the team strong." Courtney tells her bluntly.
"There's nothing stronger than a wizard! Everyone knows that!" Sugar says with a glare.
"His design lost us the challenge." Courtney reminds her. "Why do you care anyway? You're not on our team."
"You just totally screwed yourselves over!"
Courtney shrugs. "Fine then. All the better for the other teams."
Everyone else is beginning to get uncomfortable at the heated exchange. Jasmine steps in and says, "So Beetles! Some of us were playing Truth or Dare in the Brawn cabin. Would you like to join us?"
Courtney looks to Scarlett. Scarlett whispers to her, "You go ahead. I'm going to go talk to Sugar."
Courtney smiles and replies to Jasmine. "I'd love to join you guys."
With that, Courtney joins the people in the cabin, B joins Eva, Sky, and Dawn at the campfire, and Scarlett tries to console an upset Sugar.
"So... what happened to Lightning's face ?" Courtney asks.
Leshawna waves her off. "Just a dare. But girl, you gotta spill. What happened with tonight's vote?"
DJ leans in. "I'm guessing this is the outcome you were hoping for?"
Courtney gives a wicked smirk to the other five campers. "It couldn't have gone more perfectly. Leonard didn't see it coming, and Scarlett was more than happy to see him go."
"But why Larry?" Lindsay asks earnestly.
Jasmine answers for her. "To weaken Scarlett. I gotta say, Courtney, I'm impressed. Whatever scheme you're coming up with appears to be working."
Courtney smiles at this. "Thank you Jasmine. Now if only this stupid merge could happen soon."
"Amen to that. Our team's pretty great, but figuring out the team dynamics is exhausting." DJ says.
Lindsay adds in, "Ooh yes! I'd love for the merge to happen soon!"
Lightning, Jasmine, and Leshawna all nod in agreement.
*Confessional- Leshawna*
"That merge can not come fast enough. I'm ready to start working directly with DJ and Courtney, instead of worrying if they got voted off or not. Plus, the sooner I'm not on a team with Sugar anymore, the better."
*Confessional Ends*
Meanwhile, Scarlett is still comforting Sugar, though it's hard to miss the annoyed expression on her face.
"It's just, we had a perfect plan and e'rything! Why did ya'll have to vote out the wizard? We were gonna go to the Final Three!"
Scarlett looks to Sugar, playing up a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry Sugar, I tried to save Leonard, I really did. But Courtney was so adamant about getting him out, there was really nothing I could do."
Sugar face has gone from saddened to full on angry. "That bitch! We need to get her out as soon as possible!"
Scarlett smiles at Sugar's plan. "Of course! We'll need her for a few rounds once the merge hits, but then we can do whatever you please."
Sugar smiles happily. "Good. Miss CIT is gonna pay for what she did!"
*Confessional- Scarlett*
"Oh Sugar, what an imbecile. It'll be fun to crush her in the Final Two. But since she's still a vote in my favor, I'd rather have her mad at Courtney than myself. Sorry, Courtney."
*Confessional Ends*
After a few hours, all the campers are finally asleep. Those who were playing Truth or Dare went to bed the latest, and they felt it in the morning when they woke up to the blaring alarm that came over the intercom.
In the Beauty cabin, Leshawna is trying to nudge Lindsay out of bed. She would probably be more helpful if she wasn't tired herself.
"Lindsay, come on... we gotta get up. We're gonna miss breakfast." Leshawna nudges her again.
"No breakfast... just sleep." Lindsay replies quietly.
"How can ya'll wanna sleep when we won an extra serving of breakfast this morning!?" Sugar tells them as she hurriedly changes for the day.
"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that." Dawn says.
Sugar looks appalled at Dawn's words. "How?! It's all I could dream of last night, come on!"
Leshawna groans and finally gives Lindsay one final shove.
"Sorry girl," she tells her blonde friend, "but we gotta head out before Sugar breaks something."
"Fineee." Lindsay surrenders. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready."
When they finally make it to the Dining Hall, the Brainy Beetles and the female Brawny Beavers are already there. B's sitting at the far end of the table, clearly waiting for Dawn. Scarlett, Eva, and Sky are sitting together. Next to them are Jasmine and Courtney, who are struggling to stay awake.
The Beautiful Butterflies collect their extra large breakfast and make way to their respective places. Dawn and Sugar sit with B, while Leshawna and Lindsay join Jasmine and Courtney at the end.
"So, um, do you know where the guys are?" Sky asks a sleepy Jasmine.
Jasmine shrugs as she lazily eats a piece of scrambled eggs. "Knowing them, probably still asleep."
"You mean they're slacking." Eva growls.
"No, I mean they're both equally tired and probably aren't going to convince each other to get up." Jasmine says defensively.
"Eva, it's okay. We can just go wake them up after breakfast." Sky insists.
Just then, a tired Lightning and DJ come bursting through the door. As expected, they both look exhausted. The marker has been mostly scrubbed off of Lightning's face, but you can still see faint outlines of stars on the sides. Both guys perk up when the smell of breakfast hits them. They make their way to end of the table where Leshawna and Lindsay just sat.
"So, this is the napping corner?" DJ says jokingly.
"God I hope so," Jasmine replies, "I could use a nap."
"We literally just woke up." Eva tells her. Sky gives her a disapproving look at this.
"At least we wake up to breakfast. The Lightning is starving!" Lightning exclaims as he digs into his eggs.
"You say you're starving before every meal." Eva quips back.
"Eva, stop it." Sky mumbles.
Before Eva can retort, Leshawna speaks up.
"Man, this reward sucks. All we get is extra servings of crappy food."
"Lightning will finish it for ya!" Lightning extends his plate out to Leshawna, but it's Lindsay who gives him her leftovers.
"Ooo Thunder, take mine! I'll never finish this!" She hands her extra serving to the athlete, who receives it happily.
"Thanks, Lindsay! Man, we gotta make this a regular thing!" Lightning says.
Lindsay laughs. "You'll be the first person I'll offer my leftovers too!
The two laugh at the exchange. No one notices the look of discomfort that Sky's sporting.
*Confessional- Lightning*
"Lindsay and I got a good thing going. She gives me her leftovers, and I eat them. Though it'd be cooler if she remembered my name."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional-Lindsay*
"Thunder eats the gross food I don't want, and I really respect that about him. Also he's totalllyyyy crushing on Star and it's so cute. TJ told me it was funny to tease him about it and he was so right!"
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Sky*
"No, I'm not jealous of Lindsay. I just miss being able to have those kind of silly conversations with Lightning. We've had some moments, but it's getting really difficult for me to ignore... whatever these feelings are."
*Confessional Ends*
Leshawna chuckles too and says, "Well damn, Lindsay, now who's gonna eat my leftovers?
Sugar raises her hand on the other side of the Mess Hall, and shouts "Bring em' over here, I'll eat them!"
Leshawna shrugs and brings the extras over to her teammate. Sugar pratically inhales them.
*Confessional- Leshawna*
"Hey, looks like Sugar is good for something."
*Confessional Ends*
Soon afterwards everyone is done with their meals. They clean up and begin to leave the dining hall slightly confused.
"This is... odd." Scarlett comments out loud.
"How so?" Dawn asks.
"Usually Chef or Chris would be here by now to inform us of our latest challenge." Scarlett replies.
"She's got a point." Eva says.
"Maybe we don't have a challenge today?" Jasmine suggests.
"Man, I sure hope so." DJ adds.
Sky looks puzzled. "So if we don't have a challenge today... then what do we do?"
Dawn shrugs. "I guess we just head back to the cabins."
"Oh thank god, more sleep!" Lindsay says. She looks like she's about to cry of happiness. Leshawna and Courtney look just as enthused.
Eva rolls her eyes. "Let's just head back, please."
All 12 campers agree to this and hurry back to their cabins. When they arrive, they see Chef and Chris there waiting for them.
"Good morning, campers!" Chris tells the group. "Are you all ready for the next challenge?"
"No... dear god no!" DJ says sadly. Jasmine and Lightning look just as devastated.
Eva rolls her eyes. "Ignore them, they didn't get their beauty sleep last night."
"No worries, I would've ignored them anyway." Chris replies snidely. "Anyway... all you sleepy heads may want to wake up, because you'll need to keep your eyes peeled for your next task."
"Oh god, what is it?" Leshawna asks cautiously.
Chris smiles. "I'm glad you asked Leshawna. For your next challenge, each team will have to find their team's medallion, which will be hidden somewhere around camp. More specifically, one of these medallions."
Chris holds up three large circles for the teams to see. Each one is a different team color and has the team mascot engraved on them. There's a yellow medallion with a beetle, a red one with a beaver, and a purple one with a butterfly.
Courtney looks skeptical. "That's it? We have to find one oversized coin?"
Chris shrugs. "More or less. The first two teams to find their medallion will be safe. Last team to find it will be going to the Campfire Ceremony."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Hide the damn things!" Eva yells to the host.
Chris chuckles at Eva's impatience. "Oh Eva, so naive. We won't be hiding these medallions... you are."
"Huh?" Lightning asks aloud.
"That's right. Each team will be assigned another team's medallion. You get ten minutes to hide it anywhere on the island. No throwing it in the lake, and no burying it underground. Once you've hidden it, you cannot move it elsewhere. Searching will begin once all the medallions are hidden."
"So, who's hiding whose medallions?" Scarlett asks with an eyebrow raised in interest.
"I was getting to that, if you'd let me. Brawn, you be hiding Brain's medallion. Brain, you'll hiding Beauty's, and Beauty, you'll be hiding Brawn's."
Chris tosses the medallions to the respective teams. B catches the Beauty medallion, Dawn catches the Brawn one, and Sky catches The Brain one.
"Brawny Beavers, you'll be hiding the Brainy Beetles' medallion first. Beetles and Butterflies, go wait in your cabins until your turns begin."
The Brawny Beavers remain outside while the Brainy Beetles and Beautiful Butterflies head into their cabins. Chris doesn't speak again until the other teams are out of sight.
"Alright Beavers, your ten minutes begins... NOW!"
The Beavers huddle together as soon as Chris is done speaking.
"So, where should we hide this thing?" Sky asks, holding up the yellow medallion of the Brainy Beetles.
Lightning talks next. "Somewhere high up or further away."
"But all the remaining Beetles are pretty agile. Not sure if it will do us any good." Jasmine reminds him.
DJ speaks up. "Ooh, what about the-"
"NO." Eva halts whatever he was going to say. "You can't know where we're hiding this."
"What, why?"
"Because you're all buddy-buddy with Courtney. How do we know you're not gonna blab our hiding spot to her?"
"Um, because I also want to win?!" DJ retorts.
Everyone's silent for a moment before Eva speaks again. "Still, the Brainy Beetles are sneaky. I don't trust them."
"Or me, apparently." DJ mumbles.
"It's nothing personal, dude." Eva replies.
"Eva, we can't just leave team members out of these decisions." Jasmine tells her.
"Why not?" Eva asks. "The less people that know, the better. Especially when you have someone like Scarlett on their team."
"You know... Eva may have a point." Sky says.
"What?" DJ and Jasmine ask together.
"If we have one person hide it, it'll take less time and Scarlett can't trick anyone into revealing it. She's smart like that." Sky explains.
Lightning nods. "That might be our best choice."
Jasmine gives a huff and speaks again. "Okay, fine. Eva, think you can hide it in a good spot?"
Eva shakes her head. "Definitely."
DJ mutters out. "Fine, go hide it. We'll all wait here."
Eva runs off with the yellow medallion in her hand. The rest of the team remains in their spot. DJ looks particularly disgruntled.
*Confessional- DJ*
"Time will tell if Eva's plan is a good one, but there was no need to call me out for being friends with Courtney. She doesn't trust me, so I clearly can't trust her."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Eva*
"The Brawny Beavers have no room for error. My life in the game is at risk, so I can't afford my teammates messing anything up."
*Confessional Ends*
It takes Eva almost the whole ten minutes to hide the Brainy Beetles medallion. When she return to her team, they don't have to wait long for their time to run out.
"Brawny Beavers, your hiding time is up!" Chris announces over the intercom. "Brainy Beetles, you're up next! Your ten minutes start once the Brawny Beavers return to their cabin."
As the Beavers head into their cabin, the Beetles head out. Courtney gives DJ a friendly smile as they leave. DJ smiles back, much to Eva's annoyance.
When the Brawn team is out of sight, Courtney turns to her two teammates and says, "Chris says we can hide the medallion anywhere on the island, right?"
Scarlett and B both nod. "This is correct. As long as we don't bury it or throw it in the water."
Courtney gives a wicked smirk at this, much to the delight of Scarlett and B. "Well, what about hiding it..."
Courtney whispers the last part into Scarlett and B's ears, respectively.
Scarlett and B both smile when they hear Courtney's proposal.
"A little bit of a risk, but I believe the Butterflies wouldn't think to look there." Scarlett concludes. B nods in agreement.
The Brainy Beetles wander around the island for the entire ten minutes in order to throw the other teams off. It takes them about 30 seconds to actually hide the medallion.
When their time is up, the team of three head into their cabin so the Beautiful Butterflies can start. Their conversation is eerily similar to the Brainy Beetle's strategy.
"So, Chris said we could hide our medallion anywhere, right?" Sugar asks her teammates.
"Yeahhh... why?" Leshawna asks. She looks terrified to hear what Sugar's answer could possibly be.
"Well, I think I know the perfect place!" Sugar exclaims. She brings her team into a huddle and quietly tell them her idea.
"Ewww Sugar, I don't wanna hide it there!" Lindsay squirms.
Leshawna has a similar expression of disgust. "Seriously, Sugar, what's wrong with you?"
Dawn speaks up. "Well, I doubt anyone else will have thought of it... and it's not like we'll have to touch anything."
Leshawna and Lindsay look at each other, unsure what to do. Neither of them want to admit that Dawn is right."
Finally, Leshawna speaks again. "Fine... but Sugar's hiding it, since it was her idea."
Sugar snatches the red medallion from Lindsay's hands. "Don't mind if I do!" She yells enthusiastically.
Sugar saunters over to her suggested hiding place, with the other three choosing to stay behind. They're done before they even hit the six minute mark in their hiding time.
Once the Beautiful Butterflies have finished their task and returned to the cabins, Chris' voice comes on over the intercom.
"Okay, campers! All three medallions have been hidden. Your team wins if any one of your teammates finds the medallion first or second. Losers, well... you know the drill. Searching time begins... now!"
With that, all the campers began their search. Each team made a small huddle to strategize before they dispersed.
The Brainy Beetles group up quickly. Scarlett looks to her two teammates and says, "Split up and search?"
Courtney and B both nod.
"Sounds good to me. Make sure to look in every book and cranny. Let's go!" Courtney concludes.
The three Beetles head out as soon as Courtney's done speaking. Scarlett heads towards the beach, B goes into the forest, and Courtney starts walking to the gym.
*Confessional- Scarlett*
"In this scenario, complicated strategies would be pointless for our team. The Brawny Beavers most likely hid our medallion somewhere high up or somewhere mildly clever. So if I dumb myself down a bit to get into their mindset, I'm sure I'll be able to narrow down their potential choices for hiding spots in no time."
*Confessional Ends*
The Beautiful Butterflies also had a short huddle, because Leshawna was the only one who spoke.
"Lindsay and I will go search through the forest. Dawn, you cover the gym and beach. Sugar, check out everything close by. Sound good?"
Everyone nods. Leshawna smiles and says, "Great, let's go search!"
Leshawna and Lindsay run off towards the forest without another word. Dawn looks hesitant, and Sugar looks determined.
"Man, it's hard to be a good team when we have Lindsay and Leshawna calling' all the shots, huh?" Sugar asks the tiny blonde.
Dawn looks ahead and replies quietly, "I'm going to go search now. See you later Sugar."
Dawn leaves promptly after her reply. The pageant queen huffs in annoyance before going to search herself.
*Confessional- Leshawna*
"The forest is the largest part of the island, and the trickiest to search through. It makes sense to have two people search that area. I'm sure Dawn's not reading too much into that."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Dawn*
"Lindsay and Leshawna have been great friends to me. Unfortunately, they're even better friends to each other. Keeping them both around is bad for my game. Then again, keeping Sugar around is bad for my sanity."
*Confessional Ends*
The Brawny Beavers' huddle doesn't last much longer than the Beautiful Butterflies.
Eva speaks up first. "Okay, so we should divide the island into five sections and have one person search each area. I'm thinking-"
Jasmine holds up her hand to stop her from continuing. "We don't have time to make complicated plans. I doubt the Butterflies hid our medallion anywhere out of reach. Let's just head out and search."
Eva looks annoyed at this. "No, we need to have a plan in place to make sure we don't miss anything."
By this time, the Butterflies and Beetles have already began their search.
DJ speaks up after seeing both teams leave. "We really don't have time to be arguing about this, the other teams already left. Eva, we let you hide the medallion alone, so let's just go with Jasmine's suggestion this time."
Eva glares at DJ, but says "fine," anyway. The team dispersed immediately after this, choosing to not add to the tension that already existed.
*Confessional- Eva*
"My team seems to be incapable of any kind of strategy. Things need to change, and soon."
*Confessional Ends*
DJ, Jasmine, and Eva all sprint off further down the island. DJ is going towards the gym. Jasmine and Eva are both charging towards patches of forest, but in different directions. Sky and Lightning are the only two that remain near the cabins.
Both look understandably nervous now that they're alone. Sky speaks up first.
"Well, since they all ran further off, I think we should look closer to camp?"
It's supposed to be a statement, but her nervous tone makes it sound more like a question. Lightning instantly perks up after Sky spoke to him.
"Sha-yeah, sounds great! Maybe... maybe we should look together? That way we can make sure we don't miss anything." Lightning suggests.
Sky smiles at him. "Sure, I'd like that. But we should hurry, we don't have any time to waste. Let's head to the beach."
Sky grabs Lightning by the wrist and begins to hurry towards their destination. With both of them facing forward, neither can see the blush that's on their faces.
*Confessional- Sky*
"What? It makes sense for us to search as a pair- we'll cover more ground that way. I would've asked any of my other team members to join me if they hadn't rushed off. I swear I would've!"
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Lightning*
"Lightning thinks that was the first one-on-one conversation he and Sky had since I gave her the candy. And now we're working together again, which is sha-awesome! Um, ya know, game-wise, that is."
*Confessional Ends*
Meanwhile, Courtney, DJ, and Dawn are all in the gym. It hasn't been that long since the search began, but the three have managed to tear the gymnasium apart. DJ's looking under the bleachers, Courtney's rummaging through the supply closet, and Dawn is searching through the bathroom.
Courtney leaves the supply closet to go look under the bleachers with DJ. He smiles to her as she approaches.
"No luck yet, huh?" The brick house asks her.
Courtney shakes her head sadly. "Nope, nothing. You know, I wouldn't mind a hint from my favorite Brawny Beaver."
DJ chuckles and waves her off. "Girl, I couldn't help you even if I wanted to. Eva hid the medallion herself, no one else knows where it is."
Courtney raises her eyebrows up in confusion. "Seriously? Why?"
"She didn't trust me not to tell you." He replies bitterly.
"Oh... well, I'm sorry then. But either way Eva should treat you better, you guys are a team."
DJ's unhappy look begins to soften at this. "When did you become such a team player?"
Courtney shrugs and smiles to him. "I guess I just had to make some really good friends."
DJ gives a hearty chuckle. "Stop girl, you're gonna make me blush."
Courtney gives him a light shove. "Hey, I never said I was talking about you."
"Oh, ouch!" DJ says lightheartedly with his hands over his heart.
"But since you seem to think we're such good friends and neither of us know where the other's medallion is, why don't we team up?" Courtney asks playfully.
DJ looks around cautiously before answering. "I don't see why not. It's gotta be better then doing this for the next few hours."
"Great! I didn't find anything in the supply closet." Courtney says enthusiastically.
"Sweet, I've combed through the bleachers a few times and I haven't seen anything." DJ replies.
"Want to go check the bathroom and then look elsewhere?"
"Sounds good to me."
*Confessional- Courtney*
"I think this is an acceptable challenge for DJ and I to actively work together. Plus, if the Beautiful Butterflies lose, Lindsay and Leshawna have the votes to ensure their safety. Wth the merge coming up, I need to show him that I'm still serious about our alliance."
*Confessional Ends*
As the pair enter the large bathroom, Dawn is just leaving. She gives them a quiet 'excuse me' before exiting the gym altogether once she's out of sight.
*Confessional- Dawn*
"I heard every word of their conversation, which I'm hoping they didn't realize. It seems that DJ and Courtney's bond is stronger than I first anticipated. With a merge looming ahead, that isn't good for me. I need to learn more."
*Confessional Ends*
Dawn walks towards the beach to find Sugar and Scarlett conversing. She attempts to hide herself from them, only to be waved over by Sugar. Seeing no other way out of the situation, Dawn slowly approaches them.
"Hey Dawn! You find anything in the gym?" Sugar asks once Dawn is beside her.
Dawn shakes her head no. "Sadly, no. But DJ and Courtney have been looking in there too, and neither of them found anything either."
Sugar shudders in disgust at mention of the two other campers. "Ugh, I do not trust those two, they be nothin' but trouble together!"
Dawn looks down at the sand and remains silent. Scarlett raises an eyebrow at the tiny blonde. She then puts a hand on her shoulder and gives her a slight smile.
"Dawn," the redhead asks, "they didn't say anything to upset you, did they?"
Dawn looks up at Scarlett with a weary look. "No, nothing of concern. It's just hard to search with two other people in there."
*Confessional- Dawn*
"I don't want to give any information on other competitors until I have all the details. Especially not to Scarlett. Her aura suggests that she has enough power as is."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Scarlett*
"I could care less if Courtney hurt Dawn's feelings, I'd actually encourage it. But I have to make Dawn and Sugar believe that I'm on their side in order to gain more allies."
*Confessional Ends*
Scarlett nods. "Understandable. I'm going to go search around the Mess Hall. If the Brainy Beetles' medallion is found, come find me."
Before Sugar or Dawn can ask for her to elaborate, Scarlett turns away from them and heads to the Mess Hall. Dawn looks confused and Sugar looks excited.
*Confessional- Sugar*
"Looks like the Beautiful Butterflies are about to get a free pass this challenge! Good thing too, I gotta make sure I find that medallion before Lindsay. That girl has too many wins for her own good!"
*Confessional Ends*
In the forest, Lindsay and Leshawna are searching together. Leshawna is surveying the ground, while Lindsay is looking up towards the trees.
"Leshawna, I don't think the medallion's here. We've been searching for like, over an hour. I'm pretty sure we already passed through here." Lindsay says.
Leshawna looks baffled at Lindsay. "Girl, it's a forest, all these parts look the same!"
Lindsay lets out a loud sigh. "Okay, but still, this challenge is taking forever."
"Hey, don't complain. At least we finally get time away from Sugar. White girl's been getting on my last nerve."
Lindsay nods. "Yeah, she's been so rude lately. I bet even Dawn's annoyed with her, and Dawn's nice to everyone."
Leshawna stops in her tracks after hearing Lindsay's comment. She looks ahead, and then behind her. From what she can see, there's no one nearby.
"Hey Lindsay, how much are you willing to bet that Dawn is annoyed with Sugar?" She asks the blonde.
Lindsay doesn't even hesitate. "Oh, I know she's annoyed. She looks so uncomfortable whenever Sugar's around. It's so obvious."
Leshawna smiles at this. "How heartbroken would you be if we lost the challenge? Even if it meant that Sugar went home."
Lindsay thinks about this for a minute before answering. "I mean, if it's Sugar going home, I wouldn't be sad. Me, you, and Dawn sound like a nice team."
"So, what if we just stopped searching? Decrease our chances of winning a little bit? I mean, no one's gonna know that we stopped since we're the only ones around."
Lindsay immediately drops to the ground at Leshawna's suggestion. She's spread out in the grass like a starfish. "I thought you'd never suggest it. I so need this break."
Leshawna laughs and joins her friend on the ground. "Alright, we throw the challenge. But if someone comes by, make sure that it looks like we're searching."
Lindsay gives Leshawna a thumbs up in lieu of a response.
*Confessional- Lindsay*
"Normally, I wouldn't want to throw a challenge like this, but I'm just wayyyy too exhausted. If Sugar or Dawn find or medallion, then we're safe. If they don't, then Sugar goes home. It's a win-win!"
*Confessional Ends*
The camera now switches over to a different part of the forest to find B and Jasmine conversing. They are standing near a large tree, quite possibly the largest one in the forest. Jasmine has several vines wrapped around her waist and thighs. B is holding onto two larger vines that ascend up around the tree branches. These vines are connected to Jasmine's makeshift harness.
"So mate, you're sure this is safe?" Jasmine asks wearily. B gives each vine a tight tug. When nothing happens, B nods happily to Jasmine.
Jasmine still looks unsure, but still says, "Alright then let's do this. Here goes everything..."
With that, B begins to tug at the two larger vines, which pull Jasmine off the ground. After a few minutes of this, Jasmine grabs a sturdy branch and shifts herself so she can sit on it.
She turns down to B and shouts, "Okay B, you can stop pulling! I'll let you know when I'm ready to come down!"
Jasmine heard nothing in reply, but she expected that much. She figured he must of heard her, since the pulling on her harness has stopped.
*Confessional- Jasmine*
"I ran into B when I was searching through the woods. Deciding to team up was a no brainer, especially since we don't know where each other's medallion is. And I gotta say, the guy's chill, and really smart. If only the Brawny Beavers could work this well together without arguing."
*Confessional Ends*
Eva is walking through the woods when she spots B looking up at the large tree while holding onto vines. She approaches him when she sees that he isn't moving or making any effort to search.
Once she is within hearing distance, she asks the Beetle, "What the hell are you up too?"
B looks to Eva and then moves his head upward to signal her to follow his gaze. When Eva looks up, she's surprised to find her teammate searching through the trees.
"Jasmine, what the hell are you doing?!" Eva screeches.
Jasmine looks down and squints. Once she sees Eva next to B, she yells back, "Hey Eva! B made this whole pulley system with vines so that we don't tire ourselves out by climbing trees. How cool is that?"
Eva doesn't appear to be impressed in the slightest. "Get down here!" She shouts.
Jasmine rolls her eyes, grateful that she's too far up for Eva to see it. Nonetheless, she still sits down on the branch and shouts, "B, are you ready to help me down?"
"He shook his head yes!" Eva replies for him. Jasmine pushes herself off the branch and B successfully lowers her down.
"Thanks, B!" Jasmine says happily. B smiles to her in appreciation. Eva pulls her aside away from the Beetle so they can talk in private.
"Eva, what's wrong?" Jasmine asks in an irritated tone.
"Why are you working with B? You're fraternizing with an enemy!" Eva accuses her.
Jasmine lets out a loud sigh. "Eva, calm down. We're just making the challenge easier for ourselves."
"Making the challenge easier for the other team is not good strategy!" Eva scowls.
Jasmine looks like she's about to lose it. Instead, she takes a deep breath and says, "Seriously Eva, did it ever occur to you that our ideas of 'good strategy' may be different? That doesn't mean that either of us are better than the other! Besides, there'd be no reason to team up with B if I just knew where the Brainy Beetles' bloody medallion was in the first place!"
Eva looks surprised at Jasmine's outburst. Before she can reply, Chris' voice comes on over the intercom.
"Man, this is taking way too long. Campers, since you all suck so much at searching, I have no choice but to give each team a hint as to where you should look."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Sugar shouts in relief. Dawn shushes her so she can hear the clues.
Chris says next, "Brainy Beetles, your medallion is hidden in quite the hot spot."
Courtney looks to DJ and says quietly, "The kitchen!"
Chris continues with, "Beautiful Butterflies, it seems that you're going to have to get up close and personal with the Brainy Beetles to find your medallion."
Lindsay and Leshawna look at each other in confusion. They both shrug, stand up from their resting place, and begin to walk back slowly towards camp.
The final clue Chris gives is also the shortest. "Brawny Beavers, what can I say? Your medallion's hiding spot stinks."
Lightning and Sky, who were searching under the dock, reemerge and look at each other with a puzzled expression.
"Sky, you don't think the Butterflies hid it in the dumpster, do you?" Lightning asks.
"You mean the big one behind the Mess Hall?" Sky clarifies.
Lightning shakes his head 'yes'. After a moment of being deep in thought, Sky speaks again.
"Knowing Sugar, that's exactly where they hid it."
The two Beavers sprint over to the oversized dumpster. They both look squeamish about going to search in there.
Sky looks to Lightning wearily and says, "Well, let's do this."
The gymnast tries to jump to get a grip on the edge of the dumpster, but her short height is preventing her from reaching it. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she feels a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist.
"Lightning's gonna give you a boost, is that cool?" The jock asks.
Sky turns her head to look at him directly. She's about to say yes, but instead of words, a loud burp comes out.
"Oh my god, Lightning, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... I mean, I didn't..."
Lightning laughs at this. "Na, it's cool. Guess I gripped a little too tight, huh?"
Sky nervously stammers out, "Um, yeah! It's okay though, no big deal. Just give me a boost, please."
Lightning does has he's told. Once Sky lands safely in the dumpster, he boosts himself up without any problems.
*Confessional- Sky*
"I thought I finally had control over burping around guys I like. This is not good, not good at all."
*Confessional Ends*
While Sky and Lightning are searching though the dumpster, Scarlett's made her way to the kitchen. She opens an oven to see if the medallion is hidden in there. When she finds nothing, she closes it and turns around. She almost has a heart attack when she sees Sugar and Dawn standing behind her.
"What in the world are you two doing here?" The redhead asks the two blondes.
Dawn mutters out, "The Butterflies' hint said to get close to the Brainy Beetles. We figured going to you was a good start."
Sugar shook her head vigorously. "Yeah! So where's the medallion? You got it in your pocket or something?!"
Sugar reaches out towards Scarlett. The Brainy Beetle swats her hand away. She silently calms herself down and looks at the two with a slight smile on her face.
"I promise you, the medallion is not in my, nor any of my teammates', pockets. Tell you what, if you help me find the Brainy Beetles' medallion first, I'll tell you both where it is."
The two Beautiful Butterflies look at each other, as if to silently communicate what they want to do. Dawn shrugs and turns her head back to Scarlett.
"I don't see why not."
*Confessional- Scarlett*
"Brawn still has a numbers advantage, and has been unusually lucky these past few challenges. I'd say it's time to pass some of that luck to the other teams."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Dawn*
"It's a risk to work with Scarlett and essentially throw the challenge to her. But with a guaranteed second place and a potential alliance on the line, it's a risk I'm going to have to take. Maybe we'll get really lucky and Lindsay or Leshawna will win instead."
*Confessional Ends*
Meanwhile, Lindsay and Leshawna are hiding out in the communal bathrooms and fixing up their manicures. They're making no effort to search.
*Confessional- Leshawna*
"I'd feel bad about throwing the challenge if I wasn't so busy daydreaming about what our team would be like without Sugar in it."
*Confessional Ends*
As Scarlett, Sugar, and Dawn are looking through the kitchen, the door opens to reveal B, Jasmine, and Eva.
"What are you doing here?" Jasmine asks Scarlett viciously.
Scarlett smirks at her. "Attempting to complete the challenge, which I assume is the same reason you're all here."
Jasmine's glare intensifies."Whatever, just stay clear of us."
Scarlett replies, "Gladly. Though I would like to speak to my teammate in private. I'll probably be of more use to him than you."
B just shrugs and walks over to Scarlett. Scarlett briefly tells B where she's searched.
*Confessional- Jasmine*
"It's possible that Eva hid their medallion somewhere in the kitchen. I mean, how many places can you think of that are hot? I just hope that Eva was a little more clever than that."
*Confessional Ends*
The group of six resume searching in various parts of the kitchen, with Jasmine and Scarlett avoiding each other at all costs.
As the kitchen is being torn apart, they all hear the door open again.
"Oh lord, who is it this time?" Sugar shouts in annoyance.
Everyone turns to the door to see Courtney standing there. Her eyes widen when she sees how many people are in the kitchen.
"Oh, my bad." Courtney says to the group. "I'll just go look somewhere else."
As Courtney leaves, Eva's eyes squint in suspicion. Once she sees the direction Courtney is heading, she runs after her.
"Eva? Where are you going?" Jasmine asks.
"I think I saw DJ with her!" Eva yells.
Jasmine looks confused. "So? It's not like he can help her."
Eva ignores her and runs to catch up with the brick house. "DJ! Where are you going?"
DJ turns to speak to his teammate. Courtney gave them a little distance to talk, but not enough so that she can't pick up on pieces of their conversation. "I think Courtney wanted to look by the bathrooms? There's a good chance our medallion is there too."
Eva says anxiously, and probably a little too loudly, "Keep her away from the fire pit, okay?"
Before DJ can reply, Courtney mutters under her breath. "Fire pit? Wait..."
Courtney sprints off towards the campfire that they recently used. Eva and DJ stand there dumbfounded. Eva is silently begging that the Brainy Beetle has miscalculated where the medallion is hidden.
Much to Eva's dismay, Courtney runs over to the large fire pit that the campers who didn't play Truth or Dare used the night before. She tears apart the remains of the campfire like a madwoman. Pieces of burned wood go flying everywhere, leaving Courtney covered in ash. Finally, she uncovers a large yellow coin with a beetle carved on it.
Courtney grabs the medallion without hesitation. She stands up quickly and begins to jump around frantically. "I found it... oh my god, I found it! Chris, Chef, I found it!"
Suddenly, Chris' voice comes on over the intercom. "Attention Campers! I'd like to congratulate... The Brainy Beetles, on first place for this challenge! No elimination for you three tonight!"
Lightning and Sky both look terrified at the announcement. Sky begins tearing through the garbage even faster now. She has a scowl on her face and, much like Lightning, is covered in trash.
"Come on Lightning, pick up the pace! We can't lose this challenge!"
Lightning's face brightens up at the look of Sky frantically searching. He says, "Yes mam'," happily and hurries up with his digging.
*Confessional- Lightning*
"Lightning thinks Sky's really pretty when she's challenge-crazy. Maybe not the covered in garbage part though."
*Confessional Ends*
Unbeknownst to either Beaver, their searching was in vain. After hearing the announcement, Scarlett immediately turns to Sugar and Dawn and says, "Go to the men's side of the Brainy Beetles' cabin immediately. The medallion is under one of the mattresses."
Dawn and Sugar sprint over to Scarlett's specified location. The purple medallion is found within minutes.
Chris' voice lights up the intercom once more. "And with that, the Beautiful Butterflies take second place!"
"Aww man!" Lindsay whines out. Leshawna shushes her so they can hear the rest of the announcement.
"Everyone, meet at the front of the cabins asap!"
When all the campers make it to the cabins, they're in various stages of disarray. Courtney's covered in ash, Jasmine has dirt and scratches from the vines all over her, and Scarlett's usually pristine bun is disheveled. But it's Sky and Lightning that take the cake. They're covered head to toe in garbage, with their clothes littered in unidentifiable stains. Neither of them look particularly pleased.
Jasmine covers her nose up at the smell. "What the hell happened to you two?!"
"We thought our medallion might be in the dumpster." Lightning says.
"It was not." Sky adds in.
At this, Sugar bursts out in laughter. "So... you're tellin' me... that you two spent the challenge diggin' through trash, and it wasn't even there? That's hilarious!" She starts laughing again.
Eva cuts into Sugar's laughing fit. "Wait! Where even was our medallion? We looked everywhere!"
"Oh, trust me, you don't wanna know..." Lindsay tells her. The rest of her team nods in agreement.
Sky looks Lindsay dead in the eye. "Lindsay, Lightning and I are covered in the remains of everything we've eaten over the past few weeks. Tell us where the medallion is."
The scene cuts to all the campers surrounding the Outhouse Confessional. Sugar opens the outhouse door and points down the toilet bowl.
"I threw it in there somewhere." Sugar announces to the campers. The Brawny Beavers' jaws collectively drop in a mixture of shock and disgust.
*Confessional- DJ*
"To be fair, even if I did find the medallion, I wouldn't have picked it up anyway."
*Confessional Ends*
"Well, that's disgusting." Chris says bluntly. He looks to the losing team and continues. "Brawny Beavers, take some time to really think about who you want to vote off. I'll see you all tonight at the Campfire Ceremony."
The five Brawn team members look at each other nervously. Lightning's the first to break the silence.
"Um, Lightning's gonna go take a shower. I'll see you when I'm done in a few... hours."
DJ chuckles. "Yeah man, you need it. I'll head back to the cabins with you."
DJ and Lightning leave for their bunks. The three Brawny Beaver women are quiet for a few minutes before Sky speaks up. "Ya know, a shower does sound really good right now."
Eva shouts "Wait!," before Sky can take a step.
"Sky, have you put more though into getting rid of Lightning tonight?" She asks.
Sky bites down on her bottom lip, clearly startled. Jasmine raises her eyebrows in surprise, unaware that this conversation took place.
Sky eventually stutter out, "No. I mean, I have thought about it, but... I just don't see a reason to vote for him."
Eva elaborates. "Think about it, Sky. You've always valued competition over boys. Lightning's messing with that, and he's only gonna make you a bigger target in the future."
Sky still looks uncertain. She says quietly, "I mean... I can see your point. Lightning has been messing with my focus, I just didn't think it was that obvious."
Eva looks at her sympathetically. "It is really obvious."
Sky nods slowly. "I'll have to think about it some more. Jasmine, what do you think?"
Jasmine looks unpleased, but her expression softens when she sees how torn Sky looks.
"I'll vote however you vote." The Aussie finally replies.
Sky looks relieved at the Jasmine. Eva looks smugly pleased.
*Confessional- Sky*
"Lightning's... I don't know what he is to me right now, okay? I don't know, and it terrifies me. So yeah, I have to figure out if voting him off would be the best thing for me."
*Confessional Ends*
*Confessional- Eva*
"Having Sky and Lightning competing together on the island is not good for anyone. I think I made a pretty compelling case to Sky. But for good measure, I need to make sure that Lightning votes for Sky. The less votes for me, the better."
*Confessional Ends*
Eva's waiting in front of the boys' side of the Brawny Beaver cabin when Lightning comes back from his shower.
"Yo Lightning, can we talk?" Eva asks.
Lightning looks uncomfortable ."Um, can it wait until Lightning has more than a towel on?"
Eva rolls her eyes. "No, this is important."
Lightning looks around. Once he sees that no one is watching, he says "Fine, but make it sha-quick."
Eva doesn't miss a beat. "We should vote for Sky tonight."
"What? No way, Lightning's not doing that."
"Why not?"
Lighting stutters at this. "Be-because, because I'm not, that's why!"
Eva doesn't hesitate. "She's voting for you, so I don't see what the problem is."
Lightning determined look drops from his face. "You're lying."
"Nope. She told me after the challenge."
Now Lightning looks utterly defeated at this new information. At a few moments of silence, he says, "Lightning will think about it. Now can I please go change clothes?"
Eva steps away from the door so he can step inside his room. Once he's inside, Eva goes to her own cabin, satisfied with the talk. What she doesn't realize is that Jasmine saw the two talking from afar.
*Confessional- Jasmine*
"Eva has been scrambling to make sure either Sky or Lightning get eliminated. But I'm more concerned about what I want, and what I want is for Eva to go home. And I'm pretty sure there's at least one other Beaver that feels the same way..."
*Confessional Ends*
Jasmine approaches DJ and tells him that they need to talk privately. DJ agrees, and the pair head off to the beach. They walk along the shoreline as they talk.
"Okay DJ, real talk. If you had final say in who went home tonight, who would you pick?"
DJ doesn't even hesitate. "Eva. I trust you guys more."
Jasmine nods. "I want Eva to go home too. She's telling Sky and Lightning to vote for each other."
"You think they will?"
"I don't know. They're both hesitant at least. They might do it just so they don't have to see their crushes anymore."
"Well, if at least one of them votes Eva, and we vote Eva, then Eva gets eliminated."
Jasmine shakes her head again. "I think we should vote for her then. Worse that could happen is a tiebreaker. Best case we still get our way, which is likely."
DJ smiles in agreement. "Should we tell them how we're voting?"
Jasmine thinks about this before responding. "No, let them figure out what they want to do themselves. Maybe then they'll realize their feelings. God knows everything we've tried hasn't helped."
DJ chuckles at this and says a simple, "Okay".
*Campfire Ceremony*
Chris and Chef are both standing by the usual podium. Unlike most Campfire Ceremonies, there are no marshmallows in sight. The TV that made an appearance in an earlier elimination ceremony is back, much to the discomfort of the losing team.
Chris begins his usual spiel. "Welcome, Brawny Beavers, to your second Campfire Ceremony!"
He says it enthusiastically, though the campers are anything but. DJ and Jasmine look angry, Eva looks anxious, while both Sky and Lighting look upset.
When no one replies, the host continues. "Now normally, I just go one-by-one and give all the safe campers a marshmallow. But I watched your confessionals, and boy do the Beavers have a lot to say. So, as a special treat, I figured I'd share the good times with all of you."
All the Brawny Beaver's faces immediately dropped after hearing this. None of them were expecting all of this.
Chris turns to Chef. "Chef? Care to start the show?"
Chef chuckles and turns on the TV. After a moment of static, it begins to show the compilation of their voting confessionals.
*Voting Confessional- Eva*
Eva holds up Lightning's picture.
"Sorry Lightning, but you're too unpredictable to keep around."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
*Voting Confessional- DJ*
DJ holds up Eva's picture .
"Look, I'm really sorry, but I'm just not as close to you as I am with the other three."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
*Voting Confessional- Jasmine*
Jasmine has Eva's picture in her hands.
"The only way I'm going to go far in this game is to work with people I trust. Nothing against you Eva, but I trust the other Beavers more."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
Chris jumps in front of the TV before going to the next confessional. "Now I want you campers to watch closely at these next ones. We did a little mash-up."
"Oh no," Sky and Lightning both say in unison.
*Voting Confessional- Lightning*
"Sky, during the dodgeball challenge I promised I would never vote for you..."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
Static cuts off Lightning's confessional to move on to Sky's.
*Voting Confessional- Sky*
"Lightning, you've been nothing but a great guy to me. I wish this vote was a lot easier than it actually was..."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
Again, the static cuts off Sky's confessional and moves back to Lightning's.
*Voting Confessional- Lightning*
Lightning takes a deep breath before continuing his speech.
"But even if we're not in an alliance like I wanted, Lightning's gonna keep his promise."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
Sky's confessional goes right back to where she was previously cut off.
*Voting Confessional- Sky*
"But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't find it in me to vote for you. Eva, I'm so sorry."
*Voting Confessional Ends*
Now the TV screen is split in two, with half the screen on Lightning's confessional and the other half on Sky's. In almost perfect unison, they flip over their photos to display who they voted for. They both show Eva's picture.
Chef shuts off the TV after that. Chris turns to the campers and speaks once more.
"So, in case you're bad at counting- which, given your team, I wouldn't be surprised if you are- the total score is 4 votes Eva, 1 vote Lightning. Sorry Eva, but you've been eliminated."
Eva stands up from her spot after Chris' announcement. She looks angry, but not much angrier than usual. She's quiet for awhile, and everyone's waiting for her to react. Jasmine is fully expecting to get a verbal thrashing, given her role in the vote.
But Eva doesn't so much as spare Jasmine a glance. She looks to Sky, then to Lightning, and decides to address them both.
"You two," she says as she point to both of them, "need to get your heads out of your asses."
They both look at her in confusion. "What?"
Eva continues. "Don't 'what' me. You both had the perfect opportunity to be rid of each other, and focus on your game. Yet you decided not to. It's obvious that you like each other!"
Jasmine stands up to intervene. "Eva, come on-"
"No! Listen, you two better talk out your feelings and move on with whatever you decide. We're the Brawny Beavers for a reason, act like it. Got it?"
Everyone nods.
Eva smiles so slightly they can barely tell it's there. "Good. Chris, I'm ready for the slingshot. Take me away from this crazy team."
As requested, the next scene takes the Brawny Beavers to the Slingshot of Defeat. Eva is about to be sent off, and DJ, Jasmine, Sky, and Lightning are waving by the sidelines.
No one says anything, but a sense of relief washes over them, both for Eva and her former teammates alike. Chef finally lets go of the Slingshot and Eva goes flying over the lake.
The camera pans to Chris, who gives the final thoughts of the night. "Damn, today was intense, huh? Well, don't worry, it'll only get worse from here on out! Will the Beavers bounce back from tonight? Will the merge ever happen? Find out next time, on Total Drama... Brains! Vs. Brawn! Vs. Beauty!"
•End of Episode Nine•
I know, I have a lot of explaining to do. Please know that deciding this elimination was not easy in the slightest.
Here is a breakdown of the votes, though you saw them already in the voting confessionals:
DJ- Eva
Eva- Lightning
Jasmine- Eva
Lightning- Eva
Sky- Eva
Okay, so I'm gonna just cut to the chase and explain Eva's elimination. Part of the reason I chose her is because it is the most realistic way things would have played out. If you read my comments, you know that I loved having Eva be my voice of reason for her otherwise overzealous team. However, out of all the Brawny Beavers, her social game was the worst. She made some small connections, but it pales in comparison to the ties that other campers have made. She was smart enough to try and go after the most fragile connection (Sky and Lightning's), but it was too little, too late.
Another reason for her sendoff was because, as I promised last chapter, that this is a major turning point for the Brawny Beavers. Everyone now knows where everyone stands. Sky and Lightning are a duo in this game, whether they choose to admit it or not. As Eva said, they were given the perfect opportunity to cut ties with one another and they chose not too. For Sky and Lightning, two extremely competitive people, that's serious. The pair will talk about how they feel next chapter, as Eva requested of them.
As for DJ and Jasmine, I'm not done with their characters yet. Jasmine and DJ have both established good relationships with most of their team, and almost all of the other campers. To send them home in this chapter wouldn't have made any sense, especially when they're beginning to get established as power players.
While this was the turning point for the Brawny Beavers, the other teams are certainly not playing second fiddle. The Brainy Beetles are the ones thinking the most about the merge. More than anyone, they're thinking on an individual basis than a team basis. Courtney is anxious to work with her alliance members, B will jump ship as fast as he can, and Scarlett is looking for pawns to take to the finals. I loved their interactions with other players in this challenge, because it highlighted their mindsets about the game.
As for the Beautiful Butterflies, the stress of having the same four people on their team for so long is getting to them. Sugar is getting on everyone's nerves, and Leshawna and Lindsay can't wait to vote her out. The deciding factor here is Dawn, and she's beginning to realize that. Like several of the other campers, she's more strategy-driven this time around, and I'm loving it.
The next chapter is another important one, and it has been all planned out. I can't promise that it will be as long as this one, but I'm going to do my best to give you all the best product I can.
As always, please favorite, follow, and review your thoughts and suggestions, I love them all!
~VintageMadame
Eliminated: Harold, Topher, Anne Maria, Justin, Shawn, Brick, Jo, Cameron, Leonard, Eva