Yes, yes, yes! My favourite character gets her cameo! I'm super excited! I keep on putting more exclamation marks in every sentence! Yeah...I'll stop now.
Thanks for reviewing, SuperKitty4789, yeezynight14, Liz The Sweet Writer, PokemonFTW, OmniPlanckInstant, Bloodylilcorpse, Jonny Pickles (even though my protagonists hardly ever make it to the finale?) and the guest reviewer.
It was quite nice, sharing a cabin with Zoey and Anne Maria. There was just one problem that night.
"So let me get this whole thing straight." Anne Maria said irritably. "Vito isn't even real? Mike's the real one?"
"Mike's the original one." I corrected. "Please, Annie, please don't pester Mike just so you can see Vito. He's desperate not to mess up his chance with Zoey." (By the way, she was totally fine with me calling her Annie – it was a lot easier, plus it meant our names rhymed).
Zoey was arranging the few things she'd managed to salvage from her old cabin, but at that moment, she turned and spoke. "Well, now that I know the truth, I'm not mad any more. As far as I'm concerned, I was right about Mike first time. He's a good guy."
Right on cue, there was a knock on the door. "Hey, Zoey?"
Zoey answered the door, and sure enough, Mike was right outside. "Hey." she greeted him. "I was just about to come over to your side and ask if we could talk."
Mike grinned. "That's why I came over here." And the two set off to the campfire pit.
"What do you bet they'll be looking for a place to make out?" I asked Anne Maria.
"Oh, more than that." she replied, smirking. "Think they might go to the mess hall and help each other do a lot more?"
I blushed, getting a very disturbing mental image of the couple. "No way!" I insisted. "Zoey's not the type to just jump into that kind of a relationship. And Mike's careful. Besides, even if one of them wanted to do it now, they'd respect the other not wanting to."
Anne Maria shrugged. "Red's loss, then. He may not be Vito, but the dude's got a hot bod. He's a great kisser already, and, y'know, I can tell that he's the complete package. If she had any sense, she'd make sure she got as much out of him as possible."
I raised my eyebrows. "So, does that mean you and Vito...?"
Anne Maria gave a sigh. "Nope. Wish we had, though. He'd probably be as good as any college kid already."
I paused, trying to work out if she was saying what I thought she was saying. Evidently, it was, since she laughed at me. "Oh wow, your face! What's the big deal, girl? I thought most cheerleaders were whores – only difference is we Jersey girls enjoy each other just as much as the boys."
I scowled. "Just cause I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I sleep around! Only, like, one or two of them actually do it. A few of the others are about a second away from taking a vow of chastity. And I'm not doing it until I date someone." Then I paused. "So how long have you..."
"From the day before my sixteenth." Anne Maria said proudly. "Although I wasn't exactly a nun before that. And I don't care what anyone thinks about it. I mean, I'm legal, right? And it's not like I do anything with just anyone. My friends are all in college, and it's normal around there. I'm just lucky enough to be in their group."
I won't lie, I couldn't believe that I was hearing this. Although, now I thought about it, I shouldn't have been surprised that Anne Maria was that kind of girl. I guess I was really more surprised that she was telling me about it.
Well, I wasn't a homophobe or kinkphobe, so I wasn't going to judge.
"Wow."I finally said. "So let me guess...when you got home, Vito was going to be introduced to your group."
Anne Maria shrugged. "Maybe. If I didn't decide I wanted him all to myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cheat. Once someone gets my heart, I'll stick to them. What I do now is just fun."
Okay. Well, I was sort of interested now. "So...is a girl different to a guy?"
Anne Maria grinned slyly. "You wanna find out?"
I laughed nervously. "I was just curious, but no. I already know I'm straight."
"Your loss." Anne Maria shrugged. "Nah, it's not that different. Every guy's different, and every gal is too."
I was determined not to let this new knowledge make me think of Anne Maria differently. She was still one of my friends. Even so, when Zoey returned, face lightly flushed and eyes shining, we didn't go any further.
"Have fun?" I teased Zoey.
She blushed further. "We mostly talked." she said. "Really!"
I laughed. "Hey, don't blame me for thinking you were doing something else. Your other roommate thought you were doing a lot past what I'm pretty sure you've been doing."
Since Zoey's clothes were still neat but her hair was almost coming out of his bunches, it was pretty clear there had been something going on.
Zoey continued to blush, and I decided to show mercy. "Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about." I shrugged. "As long as you didn't jump Mike without consent, why shouldn't you do that?"
Zoey did laugh at that, although her cheeks were still bright pink. "You know," she remarked, "I don't think I could do that. Mike's a lot stronger than he looks."
What a fun night. The free day was fun, too. Well, the morning was. I chatted with Anne Maria and Zoey all morning. Now that Vito wasn't a problem any more, the two girls stopped resenting each other. Anne Maria got over it quickly since she had plenty of real Jersey dudes at home to flirt with, and Zoey was so happy that she didn't care any more. So we spent the morning playing dumb games and swapping other makeover tips. Anne Maria had another go at making both of us up, and this time, they actually looked good. "I figured you two can't copy my look," she said, "So I adjusted my makeup tips."
In the afternoon, Lightning called me out again to train. This time, he didn't let me off for the next five hours – and he only stopped then because we were called to the mess hall to have dinner (thank goodness I was pretty sure they wouldn't sedate us again).
And then the challenge came. We were woken by a zeppelin flying overhead. Well, Chris said it was a "mobile air commands centre", but it was basically a zeppelin. Hence, our challenge was going to be an aerial obstacle course. As in, we'd have to make our own flying machines to do it in.
"Lightning, taking to the skies!" Lightning exclaimed. "Sha-bam!" He would've accidentally punched me in the face if I hadn't seen his drawn-back fist and sidestepped. But he noticed. "Oh wow, that would've hurt! Sorry, Danni."
I shrugged and smiled. "It's okay, Lightning. I got out of the way in time."
Chris looked very uninterested. "Uh-huh. And here to demonstrate, put your hands together for Total Drama classic contender...Heather!"
I should've seen it coming. We'd had Lindsay. We'd had Gwen, and Courtney, and Duncan. Some of the most popular players on Total Drama! Why not bring Heather into the mix, too? She'd won a season, and made the final three twice.
But all that screentime didn't prepare me for seeing the real Heather. She shouldn't have looked anything special – just a slim pale girl, maybe a little taller than me – but her expression! I'd seen her scowl on the show, but seeing her look at me and the others like we were insects – nothing like that to make a girl feel like nothing.
Oh yeah, and one more thing. Heather was not only as mean as ever, but as pretty as ever. It had been a whole year since her head was shaved in the first season, and we'd seen her struggling through her bald phase and rocking hair extensions in a short ponytail. Now, her hair had fully grown and it was back to waist-length.
Zoey, who was holding hands with Mike (yeah, good luck finding either ot them without the other for more than ten minutes), was the first to speak up. "Wow! You're the Heather?"
"Sorry," Heather replied in a superior tone, "I have this policy of not talking to losers."
I stepped up. "That's a little weird, isn't it? Don't you have an inner voice, Heather? I mean, you're as much a loser as any of us. You failed two seasons, and you know at least one of us is going to be a winner."
"Well, at least I've already won a season." Heather shot back.
"You would've lost if Alejandro hadn't been crushing on you." I pointed out quickly. "You were just lucky that he couldn't stand to leave you hanging. So, is it true, Heather? You don't have an inner voice? Funny, I'm pretty sure you grew a conscience. Did it disappear when your hair grew back?"
Heather didn't reply properly to that. She just gave her signature sound of frustration and shot her signature death-glare at me. I could see why Alejandro referred to that look as "shooting daggers."
I turned and whispered to Zoey "You didn't take that seriously, right?" Zoey shook her head
Anyway, so...yeah, Heather had to demonstrate. Chris gave her his jet pack, and we watched as she flew through the hoops and ended up taking a nose dive to the ground.
"Um, this challenge seems kind of unsafe." Zoey ventured.
Chris grinned. "No. It's totally unsafe!" He laughed and added "Did I forget to mention you'll be attacked by flying mutant fire-breathing goats?"
We all stared at him. "That's it, I'm out!" Zoey declared.
"Red's right!" Anne Maria said. "This ain't worth it!"
But then Chris reminded us about the million dollars. The girls agreed to the challenge, and I was glad. I mean, I may have wanted to win, but if two of the fiercest competitors dropped out now, that wasn't going to make my coming victory the best it could be. Not that I would've dropped out with them, but I'm sure they both knew that it was stupid to leave in the final five. We were all so close!
We had to go to the island dump to look for parts to our flying machine. Each of us had to pick a card and make whatever we got.
We went in alphabetical order, so Anne Maria chose first. She looked at her card and made a face. "A bird? Whaddaya expect me to do, shoot and pluck hundreds so I can look like I'm from an Easter card?"
I had more luck. "Wow! A rocket." Then I frowned. "Except I don't even know what I need to make one."
Lightning grinned at his card. "A helicopter? Sweet! Didn't think I'd get one til' I hit the majors."
Mike's turn. He looked at his card thoughtfully. "A hot air balloon? Well, at least it shouldn't be too hard to build..."
"Remember Cody and Sierra's one last season if you get stuck!" I called after him.
"Don't give him ideas, Danni!" Chris snapped at me. Zoey pulled out the last – and possibly safest – flying machine.
"A plane? Cool! And also totally impossible to build."
I had no time to feel sympathetic towards those who had a hard job. This part of the challenge was for reward, and I had to finish first if I wanted to get it. And it had to work.
Later on, I'd call the dump deux ex machina – that means "a god in a machine". Everyone found literally everything they needed. Zoey kept thinking out loud about what she needed, and every time she did, she caught sight of something that would work (or tripped over it, in the propeller's case). Lightning found a parachute and heat source easily enough, and left them there, so Mike didn't have too much trouble finding them. After that, Lightning wandered off and found a motorcycle (actually, I called him over about it, since I'd found a fan, and figured I needed one for my rocket.
Anne Maria wasn't having as much trouble as she had thought, but she was anxiously checking her nails as she made her wings.
As for me? Well, once I found my fan, I started making the shell of my rocket out of scrap metal. It looked sort of patchwork, but at least it worked. I even found some glass, which I turned into the top of my rocket, where my seat and the controls would be. I even left part of it open, using a piece of metal to slide up and down as a door so I wouldn't fall out, but I could have an open window (hey, I was going to stay below the clouds with this thing...although I hoped I could take it home after the season if it worked).
The engine and controls weren't as easy to connect, but I managed it in the end. At least I was lucky enough to FIND an engine. However, I was still the last to finish, and Mike had earned the reward – a smoke machine.
"Sweet!" he grinned, taking it.
Okay, so we were ready to take the obstacle course. And guess what? If Chris hadn't decided to watch from his zeppelin...or aerial commands centre, whatever floats your boat, or raises your rocket, I guess...it would've happened. But it didn't.
Before we could start, Chris, and then Chef, were suddenly pushed out of the zeppelin. It wasn't flying that high, so they survived. And I could hear Heather's voice, faint as it was.
"One Gemmie for you, and one million for me!" she called from the zeppelin, holding out the million dollars.
Chris gave a groan before I went up to him. "Um, Chris? You realize that Heather just stole your zeppelin, and I'm betting she'll take it home with her."
"Whatever." Chris shrugged. Yeah, he didn't actually care. "Got it at the airforce garage sale."
"And she stole my million!" Lightning added.
"Whatever." Chris said again. "Not my million bucks."
"And all your Gemmie awards." Zoey said. Now her voice wasn't sly, and her expression was totally serious, but she must have thought it through before she said that. Chris may not have cared about our money, or his own zeppelin, but he did care about his awards.
And the solution was pretty much expected. Chris cancelled the obstacle course and said whoever took the zeppelin down got immunity.
"Don't try to stop me!" Heather yelled from above. "I've got gold statuettes and I am not afraid to use them!" She threw two of Chris' Gemmies in our direction, and Chris ran to catch them. If I'd been watching this at home, I would've been on the floor by this time. As it was, I was pulling up the opening enough that I only had a window.
Oh yeah, I needed the window. Chris gave us eggs, apparently from the mutant goats (yeaaahhh...mammals, but mutated), and suggested we used those as ammo to throw at Heather. So I'd throw from the window. The goats wouldn't be able to break through the metal, and I could probably duck anything Heather threw at me by not sticking my head out of the window for too long.
As it was, the rocket was one of the better things to have. Mike's hot air balloon was far too slow, and while Anne Maria's wings could surprisingly fly, flapping tired her out easily and it didn't help her get close to the zeppelin without running into the flying mutant goats, who were NOT pleased that we had their eggs.
Zoey's plane was slower than my rocket and Lightning's helicopter, too, surprisingly. That's how Lightning and I both got into the zeppelin first. Well, Lightning crashed through the front window, and I jumped from my rocket through the hole to help him.
Heather had managed to duck the shattering glass. By the time I'd made it in, she was protectively holding the million dollars. "Yes, that million is mine!" Lightning said, eyes fixed on the suitcase. "All right, girl, hand it over!"
Heather began sobbing. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she began. "All I wanted was the money, but this has just gone too far! Here, just take it-"
I cut her off, seeing what was coming. "She's faking it!" I yelled. "She's not crying. Don't take it, Lightning, she's going to hit you over the head with it any second!"
Lightning took an uncertain step away from the dark-haired diva, and I whispered in his ear "If you land the zeppelin, I'll keep distracting Heather and make sure she doesn't keep the suitcase."
Lightning obeyed, and I turned to face Heather, smiling pleasantly. "You know," I began, "I know I called you a loser on land, but we should forget that. Truth is, I'm in it to win it, just like you. But as a cheerleader, I know that to win something, like a place on the squad, you can't just play fair."
Heather eyed me warily. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if you help me, I'll help you." I lied. "I know where the prize money from last season is. You know. Your money."
Heather scoffed at that. "The money was thrown into the volcano!"
I shook my head. "Uh-uh. Ezekiel still has it. He's been hiding in the mines...well, actually, we kinda sealed him in a few episodes ago. Thing is, if you don't find it in half an hour, you're probably going to die. Or mutate, or something, Chris wasn't clear about it."
Well, Heather didn't believe that, either, but at least I was keeping her talking. And as long as she was watching me, she wasn't watching where the zeppelin was going. Lightning landed it in the water, but that was enough.
As he landed, I said quickly to Heather "Well-it's-been-nice-distracting-you-but-gotta-run-and-thanks-for-letting-me-grab-the-suitcase-from-you!" That was as I managed to flip myself up to a surface above Heather, hang upside down and grab the case from her hand while she was unprepared.
Because Lightning landed it, he got immunity. But we discussed who to vote off that night, and although he took some convincing, he agreed.
I was a little bit worried at the campfire ceremony. I knew Mike and Zoey would vote together, and if Anne Maria voted with them, we would be lost. But I just had to hope.
And Chris didn't disappoint. The person going home, with a 4-1 vote, was...
Anne Maria. Yep, we'd all voted for her.
She didn't seem too bothered, just a little annoyed. "Whatever." she said. "Who needs this stupid show anyway? I'm through with these challenges trying to ruin my looks, anyway!"
I smiled at her. "Bye, Annie. Can we still be friends?"
Anne Maria paused, watching me...and then she smiled. "Sure, Danni. But you gotta give me a cut if you win!"
"You've got a deal!" I called back, laughing.
The final four was upon us, and in my opinion, I might have made a mistake. It might have been a friendly competition, but all of us knew that it was going to be a two on two battle from now on. Me and Lightning vs Mike and Zoey.
Oh well, we could crush them.
Yeah, Danni knows nothing about Zoey's crazy skills. And she's underestimating Mike...and Svetlana, of course.
