Author's Note
Well...two-and-a-half months isn't so bad. I would have liked it get it out closer to July, but sometimes the creative juices just don't wanna flow. At least I've finally written the end of this particular challenge, which you'll get to see next chapter - I think I'll aim for it to be out before Halloween.
In other news, the third season of of other series was launched yesterday, so check out 'Total Shuffled World Tour' if you haven't already.
Right now, though, it's time to answer the most recent reviews.
acosta perez jose ramiro: Thanks! And yeah, the battle of strength between Dakotazoid and Eva+Brick was interesting to write. As for how it ends...well, you'll just have to read on to find out.
I. M. Poik: Thanks! And yeah, the Point Ceremony ended up being in the next chapter - there was just so much to do with this challenge that i couldn't end it very quickly. But as you said, having so much to do just means I can focus on everybody more-or-less equally and explore all the characters I've decided to include. Speaking of, I have definitely considered giving cameos to the others who didn't make it into this season - I haven't decided how or when, though.
Knifez: Thanks so much for taking the time to review this! Bunch of things to say...first, I think you're probably to the first reviewer to mention the tarot-based titles. I'm glad somebody caught them, since it's a bit of a pain to figure out a good title for each chapter based on the interpretations of the cards that are on TVTropes (I should probably get my own deck when I actually have money). Regarding Chef Morgan's pronouns, ze doesn't really fit into the western gender binary for reasons I'm not really gonna get into right now, and as such doesn't use standard pronouns...unless I forget, because admittedly I'm still not used to using them myself, especially since ze isn't a main character who gets a lot of screentime. And lastly...yeah, there's a pretty low chance that this fic is ever gonna be finished - either I'll get bored with it as you said, or I'll end up having little to no time to work on it due to finally getting a job or something. And honestly, the present me will be pretty much fine with it happening if I can at least stop posting it at the end of an arc or something. Still, I'd rather it not come to that for a long time yet.
Iskandar06: Thanks! Sorry for making you, and everyone else, continue to wait so long between chapters.
That all said, I'm happy to finally present part three of four of 'Couples Camping'! Enjoy.
- Fangren
Chapter 12 – Four of Wands, Reversed
[Team #2 – Cameron and Anne Maria]
"Hey, you get offa him!" Anne Maria yelled belligerently as she charged at Izzy. In the course of the latest challenge pitting thirteen teams of two against one another, the Jersey girl and her partner Cameron had crossed paths with the energetic redhead while trying to evade Manitoba Smith.
"Heehee, looks like I found something neat," Izzy cackled, ignoring Anne Maria while continuing to pin the former bubble-dweller to the forest floor. Her eyes were fixed on the pair of golden busts on the ground; both resembled Chelsea Goodhoste but bore slightly different poses. "Who knew there'd be more than one of these golden statue thingies?"
Cameron, faced with the person who had become his greatest fear during the previous season, was beginning to hyperventilate. "Pl-please...go...away!" he gasped between breaths.
"Huh?" Izzy replied, looking down at him with a blank stare before Anne Maria got close enough to take a swing at the redhead. Izzy quickly backflipped out of the way, and gave the Jersey girl a fierce grin. "Ooh, another fighter! Fun!"
As the two girls began to do battle, Cameron quickly scrambled away to what he felt was a safe distance before realizing the Idols were still on the ground. He quickly looked over to them, and immediately noticed Manitoba Smith – who had been watching the scuffle nearby – running towards the Idols with a greedy look in his eyes.
"Oh no!" Cameron cried out, drawing the two girls' attention away from each other.
"Oh crap, the Idol!" Izzy exclaimed.
Likewise, Anne Maria shouted "Get away from that thing!", and the two made a dash towards the treasure hunter as he scooped up the two busts.
"Sorry ladies," Manitoba told them with a tip of his fedora, "but these beauties are goin' home with me."
He turned to make a hasty exit, only to immediately fall flat on his face – Cameron had hooked his leg, and the two treasures tumbled out of his grasp. "I'm really sorry," the smaller boy said sincerely, "but I can't allow you to take those."
"Way to go, Cameron!" Anne Maria cheered as she raced Izzy to the scene, sending a swat or three towards the other girl who parried but was unable to get ahead.
"If you think you're gonna steal that Idol I stole," Izzy told the Jersey girl with narrowed eyes, "then you're wrong." Only a few feet away, she dove forward without warning and landed on top of Manitoba and a petrified Cameron. Anne Maria joined in with an elbow drop, but Izzy managed to roll aside just in time with the Idols in hand.
"Crap, which one was mine?" she muttered, looking from one statue to the other – one depicted the show's host in a wide-brimmed hat and a calm smile, while the other had the woman sticking her tongue out playfully. She nodded silently just as Anne Maria growled and stood back up behind her, then whipped around and shoved the hatless idol into the Jersey girl's now-bewildered hands. "This is for you!" Izzy said before springing forward and away.
She was promptly caught in an ambush courtesy of Jo, who sprang out from behind a tree and caught Izzy in a bear hug. "Hah! Try wriggling away from this one!" the jock-ette laughed with triumphant mockery.
"Urrgghh...Staci, where are you?" Izzy grunted as she struggled against the hold.
It was a few moments before a tired voice finally spoke up behind Jo. "Right...right here!"
Izzy's face immediately brightened up, craning her head around her captor to see Staci trotting up to them. "Oh hey, you made it!" she told her partner with an oddly chipper tone. "So, right, you might wanna take this back now, okay?" She moved the Idol she was holding in to one hand and wiggled it until it caught her partner's eye, but the gesture did not go unnoticed by the others.
"Oh no," Jo said, her eyes quickly locking on to her team's former possession, "not this time!" In a swift motion she let go of Izzy just as the redhead tossed the bust to her partner, intercepted it, and took off running.
"Oh no!" Izzy gasped in shock, scrambling after the jock-ette with wide eyes. Staci, who had taken a few brief seconds to catch her breath, groaned and followed after.
Anne Maria and Cameron were left watching, mildly stunned. The Jersey girl looked from the statue in her hands to the three girls retreating into the woods, then seemed to come to a sudden realization. "Hold on, we gotta go after that other Idol!" she told her partner.
"Wait!" Cameron said before the girl could run off as well. "Please!" Anne Maria stopped in her tracks, and gave the boy a curious look. "I really don't want to try taking that Idol away from Izzy and Jo. We've already gotten the one we need, so we should focus on getting it as far away from him," he whispered that word with a wary look to the still-fallen Manitoba Smith, "as we possibly can."
Anne Maria looked uncertainly from her partner's pleading look, to the young man lying face-down on the ground, to Staci just visible through the trees. She sighed. "Yeah, you gotta point. But we better hurry, though, who knows when that Austrian guy is gonna wake up."
"Australian," Cameron corrected as he and his partner began to run in a different direction than where Jo had gone.
"Whateva," Anne Maria replied dismissively.
Only the camera that had been assigned to him caught Manitoba lifting his head off the ground, a sly grin on his face.
[Team #11 – Sam and Dakota]
The gamer watched with a frown as Brick got to his feet and ran towards his partner Eva, currently slumped against a tree, battered and bruised. He looked up at his transformed girlfriend, her monstrous gaze locked onto their opponents and her visage locked into a snarl.
"Man," Sam said softly, "I never thought it would feel so weird being the level boss. Or, uh, the level boss' sidekick, I guess."
"GIVE UP!" the towering mutant roared. "YOU NO BEAT DAKOTA!"
She caught the cadet's attention just as he managed to shake his comrade back into apparent consciousness. Battered and bruised, Eva forced herself back to her feet with a growl, but her continued resolve only worried Brick more.
"With all due respect to your strength," he told her, "I honestly don't think the two of us can overpower her. And even if we could, Sam's still a fresh combatant and resourceful enough to stall us until his girlfriend recovers and takes us out."
"So what do you suggest we do exactly?" Eva growled at him with enough frustrated ferocity to make him flinch and sweat.
"As much as I hate to say it," the cadet answered with a brief look towards Dakota, who remained on-guard within the yellow chalk circle surrounding their camp, "we may have to admit defeat."
"Are you kidding?" Eva spat. "After coming all the way out here, you wanna go back empty-handed?"
"Well no," Brick admitted, "but every good soldier needs to know when to retreat, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing else we can do here."
"Yeah, well I think we can still try this!" the stuntgirl said, suddenly charging forward again.
Dakota swiftly picked her up in both hands the moment the brawny girl was in reach, and roared straight into her face.
"...I'd like to be put down now..." Eva said weakly, thoroughly stunned and shaken.
The giant girl holding her shared a look with her boyfriend, then raised an eyebrow. "You give up?" she asked in what passed for a normal speaking voice.
Eva uttered an annoyed grunt. "Yeah, fine, I give. You beat me, okay?" Dakota nodded happily, and gently lowered the other girl to the ground.
Brick rushed over to her with a wary look that was split between his teammate and mutant titan watching her. "Well, I can't say I'm happy about losing this part of the challenge," he said, "but I am happy you agreed to pull out before you got seriously injured. We can't exactly win the race back to camp if you're in need of medical attention."
"...guess I forgot about that," Eva said sheepishly. "Sorry for being so stubborn."
"No need for that," Brick told her with a smile. "Let's just head back to base."
"Right," Eva nodded. The pair jogged towards the edge of the clearing, and at Brick's prompting they lingered there. The cadet turned around and saluted Dakota and Sam, who shared a look before awkwardly returning the gesture. Brick smiled at them and lowered his hand; he and Eva were out of sight moments later.
"Well that's a relief," Sam said dryly, still looking in the direction the stuntgirl and cadet and headed. "Maybe now we can get some peace and quiet."
He and Dakota turned around at the same time, and were immediately greeted by a short wave from B. The silent genius was standing a few yards out from the chalk circle surrounding their campsite, and was holding a fishing rod of all things.
"Or I guess we can deal with you now," the gamer sighed. He watched as B cast his line at the Knowing Idol, and noticed that the fish hook had been replaced with a suction cup. It stuck on easily enough, but Sam was already close enough to grab it before B could reel it in. "Sorry dude, but you're gonna have to try harder than this," the gamer said as he removed the suction cup.
Adding to her boyfriend's point, Dakota took an angry swipe at the silent genius that came quite short of him but did end up knocking the pole out of his hands. Though briefly startled by the act, B quickly regained his cool and began to tap his chin in thought.
"Uh, not to diss your smarts, B," Sam told him, "but I don't think you're gonna be able to beat us by yourself."
The silent genius gave no sign of hearing him and took a few steps to the side. He looked up at Dakota, who growled back, then returned to his previous position. He took a tentative steps towards the pair, and froze in place when the mutant heiress took another swipe at him that barely came up short. B nodded in satisfaction, then looked over his shoulder and waved someone forward out of the woods.
Lightning walked out slowly and cautiously, his eyes fixed on Dakota's giant form. He crept over to his partner, and was only stopped when B stuck an arm out in front of him.
"Huh, forgot you partnered with Lightning for this," Sam said blankly. "But still, I'm pretty sure you don't have any shot at getting the idol. I know if this were a like an rpg or something you could just go grind some levels and come back, but you can't really do that in the real world."
"Dude, what are you even sha-blabbin' about?" Lightning asked in confusion while his teammate took a clipboard out of his coat and started writing on it.
"Oh, uh," Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "it kinda occurred to me earlier that we're basically a boss fight. Well," he immediately corrected with a glance up at his girlfriend, "Dakota is at least." The mutant girl turned a perplexed look down at her smiling boyfriend. "And you're doing a great job, too!"
"Thanks," Dakota smiled, leaning down to kiss Sam on the forehead.
It was then that B took the paper he'd been writing out of the clipboard, stowed the board back in his coat, and folded the paper into an airplane. He tossed it at Sam with a confident smirk, and the plane looped a pair of loops before the gamer finally caught it out of the air.
"Huh," he said after scanning the page.
"What it say?" Dakota asked with a hint of concern.
"Apparently, not only does B know we can't leave the circle, but they also don't even need the idol," Sam told her. "They just went after it because they need to get something from us, and valuable stuff gets them more points." He blinked, then looked at B and Lightning. "Is that true?"
Lightning rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, yeah. Lightning figured a golden statue's gotta be worth the most points, especially since you two looked like you were supposed to be guardin' it. But," he added quickly, "it don't gotta be that statue that we get. Lightning's forcin' himself to accept other things if it means he doesn't have to get thrown around again."
"Gotcha," the gamer replied before turning his back on them and pulling Dakota down to his level so they could talk in a semblance of privacy.
"I'm totally fine giving them something," Sam whispered, "especially if it means we get some peace and quiet for the rest of the night. It's no skin off our back if they get points, and B's already promised to return whatever we give them after the challenge. What do you think?"
"We not lose defense challenge if we give them something?" Dakota asked in a low half-growl, to which Sam shook his head. She took a brief look back at the two waiting boys, then said to her boyfriend "Dakota supposes it fine, but only if it not Dakota's stuff we give them. Or the s'mores. Also, they owe us favor for later," she finished with a sly and toothy grin.
"Hmm...," Sam said with a few thoughtful taps of his chin and a helpless shrug. "I guess that'll work. And I think I have something to give them..." He gave B a quick thumbs-up before walking over to the tent; he disappeared inside it for a few moments, then came out with a small game console in his hands and a sombre look on his face. He took it to the chalk circle, and beckoned B and Lightning to come forward.
The two did so, hesitantly at first but with more confidence once they realized Dakota wasn't making any moves against them. "This," Sam told them as he showed them the gaming device, "is my spare GameGuy Double. I'm willing to loan you this for your challenge," B's face lit up and Lightning extended his hands with a grin, "if you two agree to do something for us later."
B and Lightning frowned and shared a look. "Uh, like what exactly?" the uber-jock asked suspiciously.
"No idea," Sam said bluntly with a shrug. "Just think of it as a favor. We'll probably just ask you to help us out in a future challenge or something."
"Sha-deal," Lightning said eagerly, swiping the console without so much as a glance at his partner. Sam noticed and looked at B instead, but the silent boy just shrugged and gave another thumbs-up.
"Nice doing business with you then," Sam told him with a smile, "and remember to be careful with it. B nodded, snatched the device from his partner, and stored it in his coat with a pat.
"Okay dude," Lightning announced, "let's go find the next place to steal from!" He charged off into the woods, leaving B to shake his head. The silent boy waved a short goodbye to Sam and Dakota, then casually followed after the overachiever.
[Team #9 – Beth and Ezekiel]
"Huh," the bespectacled girl said, "I wonder where they went?"
She and her partner had made a second trip out of their campsite in search of another team to photograph in secret. Their first trip had taken them to Alejandro and Heather, but the lack of useful material for their challenge had caused Beth and Ezekiel to return to their base and try again.
This time, however, they had only come to a deserted campsite – a tent and firepit had been set up, but there wasn't another contestant in sight.
"I guess they musta had to go do somethin' too," Ezekiel suggested, idly fiddling with his instant camera.
"Well that sucks," Beth said with her hands on her hips. "What're we supposed to do now? We were supposed to take pictures of them!"
"We could always go look for some deer again," Ezekiel suggested happily. "I bet we still got loads of other pictures to take that don't need other people in 'em."
Beth looked at him for a second before grinning. "Oh, good idea!"
The two dorky teens turned to leave, but a rustling on the opposite side of the empty campsite caught Ezekiel's attention. Nostrils flared and pupils contracted, he grabbed Beth by the arm and dragged her behind a tree. He shushed her when she tried to protest, and pointed to a spot behind the tent.
Moments later, a deer walked hesitantly out into the open. Its size marked it as an adult, its lack of antlers as a female, and the pair of smaller deer that followed after her marked her as a mother. The small family sniffed around the tent, then began to forage on a few nearby shrubs.
"Wow...," and awestruck Beth mouthed, just before raising her camera and snapping a picture.
[Team #4 – Leshawna and Harold]
"...twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four...," Harold counted off, placing puzzle pieces on by one into a pile while his partner watched with a concerned look. "That's all," he told her. "I hate to say it, but we're missing a piece."
"But how?" Leshawna asked with annoyed disbelief. "We got all the bags, there shoulda been five in each one!"
"I can only assume one went missing when Staci, Jo, and Izzy came through," Harold offered. "If we're lucky, it'll still be around here somewhere."
"Yeah, and if we're unlucky the dang thing got carried off to who knows where," Leshawna said sourly. She sighed, palmed her face, then motioned for Harold to sit down. "Baby, you better get back to work on the puzzle. I'll try to find that last piece."
"Good call," the alpha geek nodded, scooping up the pieces and the board they were to be assembled in and sitting down. "Even if it isn't a hundred percent, we should still get points for it."
"We better," Leshawna said with a shake of her head before bending over and beginning her search through the campsite's grass.
[Team #8 – DJ and Dawn]
They had been traveling through the woods for several minutes now, still on their quest to track down the Relaxing Idol. They'd learned from Scott that Izzy and Staci had stolen it, but without any further direction the pair had been forced to use a more roundabout tracking method.
DJ had lost track of the number of times Dawn had paused to either look around at the tree leaves, feel the wind, or converse with a passing insect. He had nothing to go by but her assurances that they were headed the correct way, and had long since begun to second-guess himself.
"Maybe we should just call this off," he suggested as Dawn led him over a fallen tree. "I mean, what chance do we got with Izzy and Jo after that Idol?"
"We'll never know unless we try," Dawn responded, bending over to allow a beetle to crawl onto her finger. She watched it thoughtfully as it waggled its antennae at her, then gasped sharply. The beetle flew off, and before DJ could ask anything she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him behind a large tree.
"Sshh," she said, placing a single finger against his lips. "My little friend says danger is coming."
"Danger?!" the gentle giant squeaked.
"Well, for a beetle at least," Dawn whispered, "but I am sensing more chaos in the air than normal, and that usually means one thing..."
As if on cue a warbled battle cry echoed through the woods, and was soon followed by the sound of someone running towards the duo along the forest floor.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, would you just give it up already?" the hidden two heard someone growl, and they leaned out just enough in the right direction to spot Jo, holding something golden and dividing her attention to the landscape in front of her and the flash of orange-red darting through the treetops.
"NEVER!" Izzy cried, finally pouncing down below – she miscalculated Jo's trajectory, however, and missed her mark by a yard.
"Hah!" Jo barked a short and tired laugh. "Finally getting tired, are you?" She glanced back at her current rival, who grit her teeth and charged after the jock-ette. Jo steeled herself and pushed forward even faster in response.
DJ, meanwhile, quickly ducked back out of their potential sight with an anxious look on his face. "What's the plan to get it from 'em?" he asked his partner, realizing only then that the diminutive young woman was no longer by his side. "Dawn?" he hissed, looking back around the area with wide eyes.
He found her as soon as she unexpectedly popped up from a bush directly in front of Jo. The action was sudden enough to startle the jock-ette, causing her to stop quickly to avoid collision.
"What the-?" Jo muttered in the face of Dawn's calm stare, and her hesitation gave Izzy just enough time to catch up.
While Dawn had seen it coming well enough to deftly dodge out of the way, Jo had no such luck and quickly found herself slammed into the bush by an angry redhead. Now faced with two wrestling girls, the much smaller girl seemed to have come to a disturbing revelation about the task she'd set out on.
Even with DJ cautiously joining her a few seconds later, neither nature-lover seemed to know quite what to do about the two fierce competitors or the statuette they fought viciously over. Every time they thought they saw an opening it closed before they could make a move, and neither was willing to actually enter the fray.
A noticeable thud from Izzy kneeing Jo in the crotch ended the scuffle in her favor, and she wearily stood up with the Relaxing Idol once more in her hands. "You better not try to take this from me," she said darkly, shooting a quick and suspicious glance at Dawn and DJ that froze them in their tracks. "Because if you do, you'll be in for a little more boom than you expected, uh huh, oh yeah..." Her eyes darted from one to the other, and when neither made a move, she ran off into the woods at top speed.
"Shit, not again!" Jo lamented as lay panting half on top of a shrub, pounding the ground beside her in frustration. "And what the hell was that about, popping up in front of me like that?" she asked Dawn angrily.
"We...we needed that Idol for our challenge too," Dawn dawn said in a forcibly level tone. "And that was the only way I could come up with to get it away from you on such short notice!"
"Yeah, well, now neither of us have it," Jo spat, waving her arms in frustration and getting close to the mystic's face. "And I've already spent way too much time trying to get it back from that wild woman, and now thanks to you I'm probably never gonna get another chance!"
"I understand you're feeling frustrated that the challenge isn't as easy as you expected," Dawn told her, "but taking it out on us won't help you. It won't even make you feel better!"
Jo grit her teeth. "You're right," she said, ramming the smaller girl with her shoulder while barging past, "I shouldn't be wasting my time or my breath on the two of you."
Dawn gulped and rubbed where she'd been hit. "I...had no idea you were so set on winning this challenge...," she said nervously.
The jock-ette paused to look back at her with a look of pure incredulity on her face. "Well why the heck wouldn't I be? There's a load of money riding on it!"
"But even so," Dawn told her with an almost pleading tone, "all that negative energy that's building up in you isn't good! You need to give up your pursuit before someone gets seriously injured!"
"Why," Jo scoffed, vaguely waving a hand in DJ's direction, "so you and Twinkle-Toes over there can grab the idol instead? Fat chance!"
The jock-ette turned to leave again, but a sharp inhale and unexpected words from Dawn gave her pause a few moments more. "I...if that is how this challenge must be," she said, her voice risen but not quite a shout, and with eyes and fists clenched, "then I want no part of it! A friendly competition is one thing, but I refuse to resort to violent means to achieve victory, as you and Izzy already have."
Jo snorted and rolled her eyes. "Hey, if you wanna quit, no skin off my back. But don't expect your little guilt-trip to work on me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an idol to take back."
"I know...but please, I must ask that you not take things too far," the mystic pleaded. "It won't be worth it."
She received only another soft snort as an answer before Jo ran off in pursuit of her quarry.
Dawn stood stock still, watching the other girl off with a sad yet steely gaze. DJ, in turn, watched her with concern, and eventually walked over and reached a hand out so it tentatively hovered above her shoulder.
"Uh, you okay?" he finally asked, retracting his hand when his partner turned to face him.
"...I'm not certain...," she said, not meeting his gaze. "I suppose I had forgotten the lengths to which some of our peers are willing to go to win. It was...," she bit her bottom lip and looked up at him anxiously, "unnerving."
"Yeah, I know how you feel," DJ told her with a brief look in the direction Jo had gone, which faded into a soft smile. "I didn't think there was gonna be a lotta...that...this season either."
"I suppose even with the different rules," Dawn said sadly, "the thought of prize money brings out the worst in some people."
She walked past him slowly, eyes locked on the ground. "Hey," he asked her, "were you serious about givin' up on this part of the challenge?" She looked up and saw he was smiling at her. "'Cause I'm pretty much done with this too. You wanna head back and relax for the rest of the night?"
Dawn smiled. "Yes, I'd quite like that."
The two walked off together in the direction of the campsite they'd been allotted earlier that day.
[Team #10 – Alejandro and Heather]
"...and honestly, I don't even know why she bothered. Like, everyone already knew she was going home next. Nobody could stand her after her 'other half' was eliminated," Heather told Alejandro as they sat by the fire together, the charmer's food bag on the ground between them.
"Fascinating," the wheelchair-bound young man said. "Who knew that so much was edited out of the first two seasons?"
"Honestly, I can see why they did it," the Queen Bee said. "Nobody was gonna care about Katie or Sadie anyway, so it's not like anything of value was lost. And don't get me started on that fashion contest they tried to make us do," she stuck a finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. "After that train-wreck, It's no wonder they changed that episode to some 'After the Dock of Shame' garbage."
"Ah yes, I've heard the rumors about that so-called 'lost episode'," Alejandro mused. "Hard to believe it was as bad as the claims, though."
"Like I said," Heather told him, "don't even get me started. It was worse than filming the opening of season three."
The charmer's eyes went wide at that statement. "It was worse than trying to get Owen to the top of that human pyramid?"
"Like you wouldn't even believe," she replied.
Alejandro put a hand on his forehead, and leaned back as he worked through his shock. "In that case, I'm almost happy that I wasn't on the first two seasons."
"Almost?" Heather asked, playfully quirking an eyebrow.
"Well, it would have been an easy win for me," the handsome boy told her, flashing one of his charming smiles.
Heather scoffed and folded her arms. "You wouldn't have lasted any longer than I did and you know it," she told him with a smirk.
Alejandro shrugged playfully. "Believe what you want, but I know I'd have found a way to get past those dares."
The Queen Bee snorted and rolled her eyes. "Tough talk from someone who had to use Courtney in order to get past an eating challenge."
"And who's to say I couldn't have convinced Gwen to take dares for me?" the charmer asked.
"Please," Heather replied, "goth girl was crushing hard on Trent back then, she wouldn't have given you the time of day if she thought you had anything to do with him getting the boot. And besides, non-existent fashion sense aside, she's still smart enough not to fall for your tricks."
It was around then that a fish hook landed in the food bag, unnoticed by either camper.
"I think you may be underestimating my good looks, my dear Heather," Alejandro told her. "Had I been in season one, I'm certain I could have made Gwen fall for me. And even if I couldn't," he added, "I could still persuade that buffoon to help me out. Although I don't know if I'd let either of them get so far into the game, of course."
The hook was reeled in slightly, and it snagged a package of low-sodium pretzels on its way out of the bag.
"Yeah, in hindsight letting those two get so far probably was a mistake," Heather admitted. "Even if it had been a vote like I thought Gwen probably would have beaten me, as shocking as it is to admit it."
"Although the actual challenge would have been more evenly-matched," Alejandro told her.
Heather snorted. "Please, I would have crushed both of them."
"As would I," Alejandro sighed wistfully, "but alas, I didn't sign up for that season."
"Nope," the Queen Bee smirked, "you just got lucky that Chris let you on season three."
"And even then, you bested me," the charmer said, looking deep enough into her eyes to cause her to blush. "And although you did lose the million, you still won my heart." He leaned in slowly and Heather followed suit, but before their lips made contact the girl leaned back and flicked him on the nose.
"Don't get too excited, lover boy," she told him with a scowl. "You won't win me over that easily. We're in the middle of a challenge, remember? And unlike you, I'm staying alert in case whoever caused that flash earlier comes back."
Alejandro sighed. "My apologies, then," he said with a dry smile. "But I suppose we may as well be alert together. After all, who could best the both of us?"
Unnoticed by both, the package of pretzels had already been dragged to the edge of their campsite. B lifted his fishing rod and gave his meager haul a proud smirk, and exchanged a quick low-five with Lightning before the two boys snuck back off into the woods.
"My thoughts exactly," Heather said with a grin as the two gave a quick look around them, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
[Team #2 – Cameron and Anne Maria]
"So where are we, anyway?" the Jersey girl asked as she and her partner came to a rest somewhere in the woods of Camp Wild Lake.
"I'm not sure," the former bubble boy answered, his brow furrowed as he scanned their map. "I'm almost certain that this is where we came from," he pointed at a mark near the top-center of the map, "but between running from Manitoba and running into Izzy and Jo, I completely lost track of where we went!"
"So we could be, like anywhere in camp?" Anne Maria asked with a slight hint of panic in her voice.
"Err, not exactly," Cameron replied, his brow furrowing even further as he readjusted the map and brought it closer to his face. "If we'd gotten turned around at some point, we probably would have run into this stream," he poked at the upper-left corner of the map. "Not only that, but considering the locations of campsites we've found," he hastily laid the map on the ground and pointed to the various marks on it, as well as a spot between two of the marks, "then I'm pretty sure the campsites must have been laid out in an arc, probably so they'd be an equal distance from the main campgrounds."
"Uhh, you wanna say that again?" Anne Maria asked blankly. "I don't think I caught all that."
"Basically, I think I can get us back tomorrow morning fairly easily if we can find our campsite," Cameron said, looking up over his shoulder at her.
"Great!" she said with a happy smirk. "Now we just gotta find that, and we're good!"
"I sure hope so," he told her before resuming his study. "Now, since I don't remember crossing any trails, I'd have to guess we're somewhere in this area," he circled a fairly sizable portion of woods bounded by trails on two sides and the trio of camps they'd visited on the third. "It's not much, but if we can find one of the trails we should be able to get back before it gets dark."
"Score one for us, then," the Jersey girl remarked happily. "Good to know runnin' around out here wasn't a bust like I thought it was gonna be."
"You thought we weren't gonna succeed?" Cameron gave her a questioning look as the pair began to walk off together.
"Ehh," Anne Maria shrugged, "kinda. Even with my looks and your brains, we ain't exactly a dream team, ya know what I'm sayin'?"
"I guess so," Cameron said with a contemplative look. "Still, I think we've proven to be an effective combination, wouldn't you say?"
"Darn straight, short stuff," Anne Maria said with a bit of laughter that her partner soon mimicked.
They continued on unaware they were being watched by someone other than the floating cameras they'd already tuned out. Leaning out from behind a tree, Manitoba Smith flicked his fedora and grinned confidently before following after with silent swiftness.
It had been several hours since the start of the challenge, and the sky was turning reddish-orange as evening set in. The imminent sunset spurred the teams still away from their respective bases into a quicker pace, while the others began to settle in for the night.
[Team #9 – Beth and Ezekiel]
"Wow, I can't believe how many pictures we took!" the farm girl gushed as she and her partner returned to their campsite holding a fistful of instant photographs each.
"Yeah," Ezekiel nodded. "Too bad we didn't get more of those deer though. It woulda been nice to have one as a souvenir."
Beth gasped excitedly. "Oh my gosh, that is so true! Maybe we should see if any of our other pictures are worth keeping?"
"Worth a shot, eh," Ezekiel shrugged happily as the two strolled casually over to their tent, where they'd stashed the various photographs they'd taken before their previous excursion. Picking up another bunch each, they started flipping through them.
"Log, log, log," Beth droned, "mushroom shaped like a car, log, ooh!" she said excitedly, holding one of the photos up. "I totally forgot we saw an adorable raccoon up in that tree!"
"Didja take more than one picture of it?" Ezekiel asked with a broad smile.
"Uh-huh," Beth nodded before stuffing the picture she was holding into her shirt and adding "And I'm gonna save this one for myself."
"Neat," the recovering mutant said. "Kinda wished I'd gotten more of that owl before it woke up," he added while looking at the top picture of his own stack. "It was pretty photogenic, eh." He let his partner see the photo, and she nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm kinda surprised we managed to find so many animals," Beth commented with a thoughtful look. "You'd think they would have run away from us before we got close enough to take pictures."
"I think it musta been something I did, eh," Ezekiel told her. "I've been pretty good with animals lately, probably on account of bein' so much like one for so long."
"Huh," the wannabe told him blankly, "never thought of it like that. Not that I'm complaining...unless it's bad of me to be happy about animals liking you because you had to go through some pretty horrible stuff for it to happen?" she asked with sudden concern. "You're not mad, are you?"
The former homeschooler blinked and shook his head. "Naw, I ain't mad. I mean, at least I got somethin' good outta gettin' abandoned and stuff. Dunno if it was worth it, though."
Beth face fell as she nodded. "Yeah, probably not."
"Don't worry about it, eh," Ezekiel told her with a forced smile. "I've kinda gotten used to bein' a freak."
An awkward silence followed as he looked away from his partner's gaze, and walked over to their tent. "Anyways, I think we've got a lotta good pictures, so let's just focus on gettin' some more food."
"...right..." Beth said softly, brow furrowed with concern as she slowly walked over to their firepit. "Hey, they gave us something to light a fire with, right?"
"Huh?" Ezekiel called, sticking his head out of the tent. "What'd you say?"
"I said, did they give us anything we can use to start a fire with?" Beth repeated with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, right, yeah, I think so. Hold on a second, eh," he told her with a happy nod before retreating inside the tent again.
Beth's eyes lingered on him for a moment before wandering back to the stone-lined firepit. She started to arrange what little wood was already in there, but paused when she heard a sharp rustling sound and a few heavy footsteps in the woods nearby. She furrowed her brow again and looked in that direction just as Ezekiel came out of the tent holding a box of matches and a piece of paper.
Both watched in silence as Lightning came crashing through the woods, darting past the edge of their campsite without so much as a glance their way. Following a few yards behind him was B, going at an even jog and carrying a fishing rod over his shoulder.
The pair watched them disappear into the trees, then shared a single stunned before sharing a sharp gasp. "Oh my glory, we need to take pictures!" Beth exclaimed first.
"I'll grab the cameras, eh!" Ezekiel added, whirling around back into their tent.
[Team #6 – Eva and Brick]
"For what it's worth," the cadet said finally after spending several minutes in silence walking a few paces behind his brooding partner, "I think you displayed an impressive amount of strength, endurance, and determination by going up against Dakota like that."
"Save it," Eva grunted.
The two continued on in renewed silence for a few more yards before the stuntgirl spoke again. "It just feels...wrong, getting out-muscled by some spoiled little Daddy's girl like that."
"I-" Brick began to say before his partner cut him off, completely unaware the cadet had even started to speak again.
"I mean, even though I did poorly in the only other season I was in, at least I knew I was the most physically dominant person in the game," she lamented. "That's one of the reasons why I get bugged by Jo, y'know? She thinks she's better than me, and I can't stand it."
"So...you couldn't stand the thought of someone actually being stronger than you even more?" Brick asked hesitantly during Eva's next lull.
"Yeah," the stuntgirl said gruffly, still facing straight ahead away from the cadet. "Even though a part of me knew what she was, I just...couldn't admit to myself that I could actually lose to such a primped-up little airhead."
"I...kinda know how you feel," Brick told her awkwardly, putting a hand on the back of his neck. "Last season, I was certain my military training would make me the dominant player, but between the ravenous mutants and Jo, I realized just how wrong I was."
"Yeah, well, that's never happened to me until now," Eva said. "Although I guess that could just be because I only got to compete in three episodes."
"You beat that sasquatch in close-quarters combat, right?" Brick asked with a smile, receiving a terse nod in response but still no eye contact. "Then I find it hard to imagine anything else from the first couple seasons would have challenged you physically. Mutants aside, you are by far the strongest person who's ever been on the show."
Eva blushed faintly, but only the camera tracking her every movement caught it. "Thanks," she muttered. "Too bad it's practically meaningless here. This show's always been about strategy, dominating a few challenges doesn't help that much."
'You know, I'm not so sure that's true anymore," the cadet said thoughtfully. "If we could still get eliminated you'd be right, but the way this season's been set up it's almost as if they want to give all of us the chance to show off what we can do. You yourself already did that on the last challenge, don't you think?"
Eva stopped in her tracks. "Huh, I didn't think of it that way."
Brick smiled. "So what difference does it make if Dakotazoid is stronger than you? That doesn't make you weak, any more than us losing a season makes us worse than the ones who didn't. Am I making sense?" he asked with an anxious smile and neck rub.
The former stuntgirl finally turned to look at him. "I think so," she said with a small smile.
[Team #2 – Cameron and Anne Maria]
"Okay, I'm almost certain we're at this bend in Kermode Trail," Cameron said, pointing at a spot on their map. He and Anne Maria were now standing in the middle of a wide dirt path running through the trees and bushes. "If we keep heading west, we should be back at our campsite pretty soon."
"Gotcha," the Jersey girl nodded. "now let's get goin', it's gettin' pretty dark out here."
"Right," Cameron returned the nod and after silently confirming their direction against the position of the sun, he folded the map up and stuck it in his pocket. He led his partner off the trail again, but they only got a few feet before a voice spoke up behind them.
"Not so fast! The two of you have got somethin' I want, and I'm not about to let it get away from me again!"
The two turned around to see, standing across the trail from them, none other than Manitoba Smith.
"Hey! You better not be tryin' to steal our Idol again!" Anne Maria shouted angrily, taking a step towards the grinning boy.
Manitoba snorted. "Well it ain't exactly your Idol, now is it? You were just the ones who stole it from those other two."
"So what?" Anne Maria countered. "It was still us who got it, not you."
"Maybe so, but I'm afraid that's about to change. I'll give you two kookaburras one chance to hand it over," he warned them, "or I'll have to take it by force."
"Okay, now you're just askin' for a beatdown!" Anne Maria declared, brandishing a fist and stomping towards the boy.
Manitoba chuckled. "C'mon now, sheila, I don't wanna have to hurt you! And besides, you don't wanna hurt your boy Vito, do ya?" He waggled his eyebrows at the fuming Jersey girl.
"You ain't Vito!" Anne maria said bluntly as she punched Manitoba square in the eye.
The blow sent him reeling back a few steps, but more importantly it dislodged the fedora from atop his head. A look of pure shock passed over his face before the telltale gasp sent the adventurous alter away in exchange for the body's namesake.
Mike immediately winced in pain and covered his right eye. "Uhh, what's going on out here?"
"Ehh, that Smith guy or whateva was cheesin' me off," Anne Maria explained, picking up the hat and backing up a few steps.
"Umm, what she means," Cameron explained quickly, "is that Manitoba was trying to to steal the Playful Idol from us."
"Playful...," Mike repeated blankly before raising his brow in recognition. "Hey, that's the thing me and Zoey need to find!"
"I know," Cameron told him. "But Anne Maria and I need it for our challenge too, and since we won it fair and square...uh, more or less...I'm not willing to give it up."
Mike looked between his friend and the young woman beside him, noting their determined looks and sighing. "Fine. I guess if you two managed to beat Manitoba, there's not much I can do."
"For the record, I am sorry it had to come to this," the former bubble-boy said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know you and Zoey have less points than us right now, but I'm sure you'll be able to make it up later."
"I guess," Mike said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We can still get points by making it back to camp first. Although...," he looked around, "I don't actually know where I am right now, much less where Zoey is."
"Well," Cameron said while shooting a quick look at his partner, "maybe if you can make Manitoba promise to let us have the Playful Idol," he suggested hesitantly, "then Anne Maria can give you back your fedora and he can take you back to your campsite?"
Mike looked between the two again, then sighed. "You're really putting me in a tough spot, Cam."
"I know," the smaller boy said sadly, "and I'll try to make it up to you. But I don't want to worry about Manitoba stalking us anymore, and I'd rather you got back to Zoey before it gets too late."
"Yeah, I understand," Mike told him, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck again and looking away. "I'll see if I can convince Manitoba."
He took the deep, gasping breath that signaled a change of alters, and quickly came out of it with the mannerisms of an old man with a bad back.
"Why do I gotta be the one who does this?" Chester complained, shaking his fist and looking up and back with his one 'good' eye.
"That was quick," Anne Maria commented.
"Enhhhh, we already heard the whole dang thing," Chester said with a dismissive handwave. "The Australian fella says he'll stop tryin' to get that fancy-schmancy statue if you two whippersnappers help us the next time we're on different teams."
"Woah, hey, I ain't makin' promises," the Jersey girl said quickly. "If it won't cause me to lose, then sure. But I am not throwin' a challenge for you. You feelin' me, Cameron?"
"Actually," the ex-bubble boy said thoughtfully, "since we are kind of asking Manitoba to throw this part of the challenge for us, I'm fine reciprocating later on. However," he told Chester, "it has to be another challenge with multiple parts or objectives. Is that fine?" He stuck his hand out expectantly.
"Hold on," Chester griped before gasping again. However, none of the other alters took control of the body immediately after, causing it to wobble ominously. Cameron and Anne Maria quickly moved to steady it, but once they touched it Mike resumed control and shook his head rapidly.
"Oh, uh," he said upon seeing the pair's expectant looks, "Manitoba and the others agree."
"Good," Cameron nodded. "Anne Maria, if you will?"
The Jersey girl looked from her partner, to Mike, to the fedora she held in one hand, and frowned. "Ahh, fine, whateva." Rolling her eyes she placed the hat back on Mike's head, eliciting yet another gasp as Manitoba Smith emerged once more.
"Looks like you two dingoes were wilier than I gave you credit for," he tipped his hat to them. "Still, it was a pleasure doin' business with ya. Just don't go forgettin' our deal, okay?"
"Don't worry Manitoba, we won't," Cameron told the adventurer before looking at his teammate, "Right?"
"Yeah, fine, I promise I'll return the favor, okay?" the Jersey girl said after another roll of her eyes.
Manitoba nodded curtly. "Good to hear it," he said before turning his back to them. "I'll see you two tomorrow morning."
"See you later, Manitoba," Cameron said, waving politely for a moment as their opponent walked away. Soon enough, though, he and Anne Maria turned their backs and started walking off as well.
"I gotta say, I didn't think he was gonna go for it," Anne Maria said as she pulled her hairspray out and tended to her pouf.
"We're lucky you managed to knock his fedora off," Cameron told her. "Sorry for making you promise to help him later, though."
"Ehh, don't worry about it," the Jersey girl said. "We still got the Idol, and that's what matters most right now."
The odd duo smiled at each other and bumped fists.
[Team #1 – Izzy and Staci]
"Uggh, where am I?" the chatterbox whined as she walked slowly through the darkening woods, eyes wandering from the trees and shrubs around her to the map in her hands. "I can't believe I lost Izzy and Jo, but then again not really, those two are, like, really fast and junk." She stopped in her tracks, then spotted the floating camera that had been following her since the start of the challenge.
Staci blinked at it, then perked up. "Oh, um, I'd like to confess something?" The hovering robot immediately zoomed closer to her.
xxx
[[Confession Cam – Staci]]
"So, like, being partners with Izzy has been kinda fun, but also kinda not, yah," Staci told the camera. "She's really weird, in an exciting sort of way, but on the other hand I really don't know how to deal with her! Like right now, she totally just left me to find my way back to our campsite by myself. Which I can totally do, yah, because my Uncle Abraham was an orienteering master and taught me everything he knew." She smiled boldly, and raised the map up slightly to get in in the shot.
"Let's see...," she muttered as she read it again and looked off into the distance, "I'm pretty sure I'm close, yah. But anyway," she looked back at the camera, "it's super tough trying to keep up with Izzy, she's just so unpredictable. I guess I'm glad she's on my side, though. Like my great-great-great-great Uncle Geoffrey once said, you don't want enemies you can't predict!"
She stared blankly at her map for a moment, then looked around the woods, then looked back at the camera that was still filming close to her. "Oh, uh, I'm done by the way. Just thought you should know." The hovering camera had already started moving away when she said 'I'm done'.
Staci nodded with silent certainty in her eyes, then took a few steps forward until a sudden rustling from behind startled her. Immediately whipping around to see what it was, the talkative girl was faced with only the same unchanged scenery she had passed through minutes before. "Izzy?" she called tentatively, her eyes darting around once again. "Like, is that you?"
No answer came, so she quickly checked her map again and got back on what she'd decided was the right track.
Then another rustling came from her left, and her full attention immediately shifted to it. "If it isn't Izzy, then maybe it was just a squirrel or something?" she told herself before creeping in the direction she'd heard the noise from. Except a third noise came from behind her just as suddenly as the first, and with a sharp inhalation Staci turned around to look for what it was.
"Wow," she said blankly after seeing nothing noticeable amidst the foliage, "I guess it really was just a squirrel. Or maybe a chipmunk?"
She turned back around, and was immediately pounced on by Jo.
"Finally gotcha!" the jock-ette grunted as she pinned her struggling opponent's arms to the ground.
"Hey, what're you doing?!" Staci shouted as she thrashed weakly. "Didn't you, like, already steal the Idol from Izzy?"
"Little Miss Pyro managed to take it back from me," Jo snorted. "And I didn't steal it, I just took back what was rightfully mine."
"Then why did you come after me?" Staci asked, her eyes filled with a desperate fear. "I don't have it! I don't even know where Izzy is!"
"Maybe so," the jock-ette looked at the map her quarry had dropped, "but you know where she's headed. Or rather," she quickly picked the map up, "I know where she's headed."
With her hands now free, Staci immediately made a swipe for her map. "Uh-uh-uh," Jo wagged her finger tauntingly after raising the map out of the other girl's reach, "no dice. I'm getting that Idol back if it's the last thing I do."
The jock-ette now kneeling on top of her, Staci took another quick action my shoving the stronger girl away, reclaiming the map, and scrambling out from underneath. "You're not...you're not gonna be able to get it back, y'know."
Jo rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Why, because your great-great-Aunt's cousin's nephew invented stealing, and you passed along the family secrets to Izzy?" she asked mockingly.
"No," Staci replied with an offended frown, "because Izzy's probably already gotten back to our campsite and hidden the Idol, yah."
The jock-ette furrowed her brow. "So what? I'll just find it and take it back."
"You really think you can just go to our campsite and steal the Idol back while Izzy tries to stop you, then make it back to your campsite without either of us following you when it's getting so dark out?" Staci asked incredulously. "And you expect Izzy to not just steal it back while you sleep? Because people keep saying that I'm the one who says unbelievable stuff, but that just takes the cake, yah."
"What, you're saying that I can't do it?" Jo asked, giving the other girl a menacing scowl.
"Yah, pretty much," Staci answered bluntly. "I mean, just think about how much trouble you've already had getting the Idol back. Do you really think you can keep it up after the sun goes down? Because I'm pretty sure Izzy has way better night vision than you. And that's assuming you even figure out where she hid the Idol in the first place!"
The jock-ette grunted in displeasure. "Well I'm not just gonna give up!"
Staci shrugged. "If that's how you wanna play, be my guest. But I wouldn't wanna stay up all night trying to get an Idol, then risk not getting back to my campsite in time for the run back to Camp Wild Lake in the morning."
Jo's eyes went slightly wider as she rapidly processed the chatterbox's statement. "Aww crap, I totally forgot about that! And with that one-legged farmer on my team, I'll need every advantage I can get on the return trip."
"Yah, no sense trying to win both parts of the challenge. Cut your losses and all that jazz, right? You should just go back to your campsite," Staci suggested quickly. "In fact, why don't I help you find your way back there?"
Jo started to say something, then paused and furrowed her brow in thought. "Wait a minute, you're just trying to get me to leave because you know I'll get the Idol back if I follow you!"
Staci stared at the jock-ette for a moment, biting her lower lip in frustration. "No, I'm trying to get you to leave because I'm tired of running around these woods!" she exploded with enough anger to shock the other girl. "Like, I get that you wanna win this and all, but we've been running around for hours! There's no way you aren't tired yet. So why don't we just call it quits, okay?"
"With your team in the lead? Fat chance!" Jo replied.
"We don't have the lead, we've just won!" Staci repeated with great exasperation. "And if you're as great a competitor as you make yourself out to be, you'd have already realized that!"
Jo seemed to take offense at that statement, but said nothing.
Staci angrily unfurled her map and showed it to the jock-ette. "Now look. We're here," she pointed to a particular area of the map, "and me and Izzy's camp is here," she moved her finger to the circled area on the left. "If you wanna follow me and keep losing the Idol, then I guess I can't stop you. But if you wanna have a chance at actually winning the main part of the challenge, your camp is here," she pointed at the nearest 'X' mark, "which is in...that direction." She spent a short moment getting her bearings, then pointed off into the distance. "Your choice on where to go. But like my Grandpa Clem used to say, only one path is gonna lead you somewhere good. The other's just gonna be full of beatings, yah."
Without another word, she hastily double-checked the map and walked off in a slightly different direction from where she'd pointed, folding the map back up as she went. With one of the well-ignored cameras following her, it wasn't long before Jo and the machine left watching her were effectively alone.
Jo's expression faded from an angry scowl into pained thoughtfulness until she eventually snorted and took a step into the woods.
[Team #13 – B and Lightning]
"Sha-Lightning, we're finally here!" the overachiever exclaimed with great exuberance as he and his partner entered a deserted campsite set up in the shade of a large spruce. "And nobody's here, too! Dude, are we sha-lucky or what?" he asked B with a grin.
The silent boy gave him a smirk and a thumbs up in return, and the two quickly set about scouring the area for the most valuable item they could find. As with most of the campsites the one they were at now featured a central fire pit, and judging by the small amount of ash in it and even smaller pile of firewood nearby, it had been lit some time earlier but then purposely dowsed. A slightly-dirty plastic pail lying nearby seemed to corroborate that story.
With nothing outside to catch their interest aside from a single blue flag, Lightning and B turned their attention to raiding the tent. After tossing aside a couple pillows, blankets, and a small pair of shoes, the two boys turned disappointed looks towards one another.
"Man, I don't know who got this site, but they ain't got nothin'!" Lightning exclaimed in annoyance. "We just got that dang video game and that tiny bag of pretzels so far, we need somethin' worth more!"
B tapped his chin thoughtfully for a few moments, then snapped his fingers as a sudden realization hit him.
xxx
[Team #9 – Beth and Ezekiel]
Some time later, the two farm-raised teens were wandering around the outskirts of their campsite, anxious for any sign of one of the other teams. B and Lightning had ran through several minutes before, but in their scramble to pick up their cameras Beth and Ezekiel has lost them.
They kept on high alert after that, and a sudden whooping cry was enough to tell them that their wait hadn't been in vain. Independent of one another, the two ducked behind a bush and a tree, respectively, just as Lightning charged into sight with B jogging behind.
To their amazement, the overachiever was now carrying what looked like a folded-up tent over his head. Both Beth and Ezekiel quickly snapped a photo of it.
[Team #5 – Noah and Owen]
Owen belched and patted his stomach. "Man, those fish sure were good!"
Next to him at their campfire, Noah smirked. "I'll be sure to let the rest of the river fish know," he quipped. He took another small bite of the roasted fish-on-a-stick he was eating, then added "I bet they'll be thrilled."
Owen chuckled, then leaned back and propped himself up on his hands. The sun had almost fully set now, and several stars had already become visible. The blond heaved a heavy sigh.
"What's the matter, big guy?" his partner asked after swallowing another bite of fish and throwing the meager remains into the fire. "Wishing you could've caught more fish?"
"No," Owen answered slowly. He paused a moment, then said "Yeah, kinda. But that's not what I was thinking about."
"It's not about Izzy again, is it?" Noah asked dryly.
Owen shook his head. "You ever wonder if there's more to life than what you've been doing? Or that everything you are as a person is wrong?"
"Did you start watching those late night New Age infomercials again?" Noah asked with a questioning look.
"No," the blond shook his head again, "it's just that I was thinking about how on the show I'm always the big fat comic relief guy who eats and farts a lot. I know I've tried to tone that stuff down a bit, but I can't help but feel that's all I'm gonna end up as again this season."
Noah looked at him, then laid back and looked up at the sky. "Given that Chris no longer has a say in how this show gets edited," he told his friend, "you could actually catch a break this time. Still, these shows always try to turn the contestants into simplified characters – you're the big smelly guy, Heather's the mean girl, and I'm the snarky cynic the fans love. You can't take it too seriously, you know it's not the real you."
"Actually, I'm kinda scared that it is," Owen said sadly. "I don't think there's anything else to me but what shows up on TV, and I'm afraid nobody's ever gonna take me seriously because of it."
The slacker sighed and readjusted his position. "I can kinda see your problem. Even when you are trying to be serious, a lot of times it just comes off as another thing to laugh at."
"Yeah," Owen nodded.
"But unless you wanna drastically change your personality, I don't think there's anything you can do about it," Noah said. "Not that you should. You're an all around great guy, and being comic relief doesn't change that. If people don't wanna take you seriously when they should, that's their problem."
"Aww, thanks!" Owen said, enveloping his buddy in a sudden side-hug. "Man, I never knew you were so good at giving pep talks!"
"Hey now, you're not the only one who has hidden depths out here," Noah smirked. "But seriously, if you really think there's something you wanna change about yourself, do it slowly. Trying to force yourself to act differently is just gonna make it seem like another joke."
"Got it," the blond nodded. "I'll make sure to improve myself one step at a time. In fact, I think I'll start by being a bit more honest with myself."
He took a deep breath, and Noah gave him another questioning glance.
"I like girls and guys."
[Team #3 – Jo and Scott]
The scheming farmer was exactly as alone as he'd been since his partner left a few hours ago. The fire he tended was very nearly the brightest source of light around, and he spent his time alternating between poking it with a grumpy look, throwing bits of wood in it with a grumpy look, whittling with a grumpy look, and looking around at any tiny sound around him in the unspoken hopes it would be Jo.
At long last, he was right.
"What took you so long?" Scott asked his partner as she barged into their clearing.
"What do you think?" Jo answered gruffly.
The farmer narrowed his eyes as she approached the fire and wordlessly picked up one of the mushroom skewers Scott had prepared some time ago and stuck it into the flame. They spent a few moments in silence, then the schemer's eyes widened in sudden realization. "You didn't get the Idol back, did you?" he said accusingly.
"No, I didn't," the jock-ette snapped. "Izzy beat me, okay? Are you happy now?"
Scott crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "No," he answered bluntly.
"Well too bad," Jo told him. "The bonus challenge is a bust, so that means we have to get a good night's sleep if we want to win the race back to camp tomorrow morning. I'm not losing again."
"I guess we're on the same page then," Scott told her before continuing his whittling.
[Team #1 – Staci and Izzy]
She was absolutely, positively, undeniably exhausted. More so, in fact, than she had ever been in all her life, at least from what she could recall. The only thing keeping her moving forward were a handful of things she was dead certain of.
The first was that if she let herself collapse, she would never make it back to her campsite and she and Izzy would lose the challenge for sure. She wasn't going to let all their efforts go to waste.
The second was that she was headed in the right direction, and that she was nearly back to her team's base of operations. She could make it back if she kept moving, easily.
The third and final thing was that Jo wasn't following her. She hadn't been as certain of this at first, and her tired mind had interpreted every little sound as the angry jock-ette trouncing through the woods right behind her. But she hadn't gotten actual sight of her since they'd last spoken, and as such had decided that Jo had finally given up. This was enough to make her smile every now and then.
At last, Staci finally caught sight of the glow of a campfire. The light seemed to renew her energy, and she dashed gleefully towards it – her excitement only grew when she saw who was standing by it with a wide grin.
"Hey, you got back!" Izzy said excitedly as the two partners reunited. "I was worried Jo had kidnapped you for a second there!"
"Yah, well, I think she almost did," Staci said between pants. "But I managed to convince her to give up. It was, like, so totally cool, yah."
"Ooh, good job Stace!" Izzy said, throwing her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders while guiding her back to their campfire. "Looks like we totally rocked the bonus challenge, see!" She waved her hand at a trio of items that had been laid out on the ground: the Relaxing Idol they'd taken from Jo and Scott, the tiny puzzle piece lifted form Harold and Leshawna, and a small dumbbell from the third campsite that had been deserted when they'd passed through.
"Wow, that's really good," Staci said in awe.
"Uh-huh, yeah," the energetic redhead nodded. "But now," she leaned in close to the chatterbox and took on a conspiratorial tone "we have an even bigger task ahead of us."
"The race back to camp in the morning, right?" Staci asked before her stomach unleashed a rumbling growl that made her blush.
"No, silly, I mean dinnertime!" Izzy told her with a grin. "Now come on," she resumed leading the girl to their campfire, "I've already gotten some stuff prepared. You will not believe how many cool plants are around here, and I'm pretty sure most of them are edible too!"
Staci's smile suddenly became much more nervous. "Great..."
[Team #10 – Alejandro and Heather]
"So, when do you want to turn in for the night?" the wheelchair-bound charmer asked his partner.
"I don't know, in a couple of hours?" the Queen Bee answered. "It's not like there's any point in going to bed when we aren't tired." She looked over at her teammate, saw his grin, and immediately became flustered. "Don't even think about it, you perv!" she said, punching him on the arm.
"My apologies," Alejandro said jovially, "but you must admit the implication was obvious. But of course, I would never dream of doing such a thing unless you were completely willing – we Burromuertos have our honor, after all."
Heather snorted. "Yeah, about ten cents worth. Just so you know, I don't want you sleeping next to me."
Alejandro looked over at their tent and raised an eyebrow. "That...doesn't exactly seem possible, at least in the literal sense. But I'll give you the space you desire, or as much as I can without sacrificing my own comfort."
"Fine," the mean girl grumbled, "but don't think I won't know if you try something while I'm asleep."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Alejandro told her. "Now, I believe it's my turn to share something? Because I have been wanting to tell someone about what really happened in-"
He was cut off by the sudden appearance of a couple figures crashing out of the forest – first Lightning, then B half a minute later. "Was that...?" Alejandro asked, dumbfounded.
"What are they doing out here," Heather echoed in her own disbelief, "and what is Lightning carrying?!"
The duo watched with mouths agape as the two young men crossed through the edge of their campsite, neither jock nor techie sparing the villains so much as a sideways glance.
[Team #8 – DJ and Dawn]
"Uhhh...," the gentle giant said as he and his partner looked over their campsite. "Where's our tent?"
"Odd," the mystic said softly as she knelt down to examine the ground where their shelter had been, "I think it's been stolen. But why only take the tent, and nothing else?" she motioned vaguely at the pile of their belongings – mostly blankets, pillows, and other comfort items – that was lying on the ground.
DJ scratched his head. "I guess whoever did it only needed the tent, like we only needed the Idol?" he suggested. "But I don't see why Chelsea and Gordon would give someone a challenge to mess with us."
"I suppose we'll have to ask them tomorrow morning," Dawn said. "For now, I guess we should focus on getting the fire started again and finding more food."
The brickhouse put a hand on his stomach and smiled. "Sounds good to me. Besides, we still got the other stuff, so we should be fine sleepin' without a tent tonight."
Dawn looked up at the sky for a moment. "Oh yes, it should be quite warm. Although," a faint blush caught only by the camera appeared on her face, "perhaps we could still sleep next to each other? As a precaution, of course, in case something happens."
"Oh, uh, right," DJ said with an odd smile, a light blush of his own forming as he started trying to relight their campfire. "Good idea! For safety's sake. Besides, that's what woulda happened anyway if we still had a tent."
Dawn nodded happily.
[Team #11 – Sam and Dakota]
"Okay, I'm pretty sure that nobody else is gonna come around," the gamer told his girlfriend, the two seated somewhat awkwardly around their campfire. "Uh, unless B and Lightning pass through again, but maybe they won't. The point is," he said as Dakota gave him a questioning look, "that I'm pretty sure you can turn back now."
Dakota lifted her head and looked around. "You sure? Dakota not want to be caught sleeping."
"Definitely," Sam nodded. "Since everyone has to be in their campsites at 7 o'clock for the race back tomorrow, I'm pretty sure they won't risk trying to raid us at night. Besides," he paused to eat a handful of peanuts from a can he was holding, "I doubt Chelsea would have more than two teams try to come after us."
Dakota scratched her massive chin with an equally massive finger. "You make good point. Dakota tired of being Dakotazoid anyway." With her boyfriend watching she stood up, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then began to shrink.
Her tail and the spikes on her back and joints receded quickly, and her well-designed jumpsuit seemed to close up around them as though they'd never been there. Her skin faded from bright orange to her usual white girl tone, and likewise her neon green mane softened and fell into her usual long blonde locks. By the time she opened her green eyes again, she was her normal size and shape.
She lost her balance almost immediately, but managed to grab onto Sam for support. The pair looked each other in the eyes, and Dakota began to giggle. "Whoa, head rush! But...we did it, Sam!"
The gamer chuckled. "We sure did." The two shared a kiss, and sat back down.
[Team #2 – Cameron and Anne Maria]
"What a day, eh Cameron?" the Jersey girl said as she and her partner walked in to their campsite. "We totally rocked this part of the challenge though."
"I agree," the ex-bubble boy said. "Although we only managed to get the first Idol, that enough should be cause for celebration considering who we were competing against for it." He pulled the Playful Idol out of his shirt pocket and admired it for a second, then took it over to their tent.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that part," Anne Maria said blankly while she touched up her hair. She shrugged, then put the spray can back in her pouf. "Guess it doesn't matter now. I ain't goin' back out there this late."
"We don't need them anyway," Cameron said. "I have a decent idea of how to get back to camp, so as long as we get a good night's sleep and get up on time we should be one of the first teams there."
"Good," the Jersey girl said. "The sooner we get outta these woods, the better. Now, what do we got to eat?"
Cameron looked around thoughtfully. "Good question," he told her. "I'll go see what we have. Do you think you can get started on our fire?"
Anne Maria shrugged. "Ehh, why not?" she answered before heading towards their fire pit.
[Team #6 – Eva and Brick]
"Uggh, I just wanna eat something and go to sleep," the stuntgirl growled as she and her partner separated. Despite the onset of darkness they had made it back to their campsite without issue, and Brick had stopped at their fire pit while Eva made a beeline for their tent.
"Well, I'll have the fire up in no time," the cadet told her. "After that...well, I did bring a few rations with me. We don't need to cook 'em, but I find they're better warm."
"Whatever, as long as it doesn't make me throw up," Eva grunted before heading in to their tent.
A moment later she roared in fury and came back out. "Someone stole one of my weights!" she yelled.
"Really?" Brick asked with a look on confusion as their fire sparked into life. "Who'd wanna steal something like that?"
"How should I know?" Eva growled angrily.
The cadet rushed over to her and made a few calming gestures. "Well, if you're sure it isn't around here, then one of the other teams probably took it for their challenge. We can ask around tomorrow, and I guarantee you'll get it back."
Eva clenched her fists, forced her jaw shut, and took a series of deep breaths. "You're right," she said in a stilted manner. "I have to be calm about this. There's no point blowing up about it right now."
"Yessir, just stay calm," Brick told her, "and we'll figure this out."
[Team #7 – Gwen and Duncan]
The pair sat next to next in front of their roaring fire, no sign of any meal but no sign either punk or goth was hungry.
"So, how do you think everyone else did today?" Gwen asked while casually tossing small bits of wood into the flame.
Duncan snorted. "Hopefully as good as we did."
"Are you seriously still sulking about this?" the goth asked with an eyebrow raised. "It's not like this is the first time either of us has lost a challenge."
"Ehh, it's more how I lost it than anything else," the punk told her, throwing a twig at the fire and watching it burn. "Well, that and who I lost it to."
"I keep telling you not to underestimate people based on how they look, y'know," Gwen told him.
"What, you think I don't know that?" Duncan snapped. "You think it doesn't piss me off that I let a pencil-necked dork and some Jersey Shore reject get the better of me? Because it does."
Gwen quickly motioned for him to calm down. "Whoa there, you're taking this way too seriously. It's only one part of the challenge, we can still win the race back tomorrow."
Duncan grunted and hunched over. "It's not just that, okay?" he told his girlfriend. "It's this whole season. It's like, I don't know, the producers are out to get me this time. I'm the only one who's gotten negative points!"
The goth couldn't help but chuckle slightly and put and arm around her boyfriend. "Duncan, this is only the fourth challenge. You have plenty of time to figure things out and start wracking up points in no time."
"...I better," the punk pouted.
[Team #12 – Zoey and Mike]
She'd tended the fire. She'd gotten them more food. She'd checked and re-checked everything around their camp, and then returned to their seat and watched the sun go down as boredom and loneliness filled her mind.
A sudden rustling snapped her out of her trance-like state, and she stood up with an expectant look on her face. "Mike?" she asked the growing darkness.
"Sorry girl," Lightning called as he passed through the campsite with the pilfered tent over his shoulders, "but it's just sha-Lightning and B on their victory lap!" He pumped a fist before he disappeared back into the woods. The silent genius trotted into sight a few seconds after, and waved at Zoey before also leaving her alone again.
"Oh," the indie girl said flatly, sinking back onto the log serving as her seat. She put her head in her hands and looked up at the first few stars, and sighed wistfully.
"Sorry for gettin' back so late," a familiar accented voice said from behind her. She quickly got to her feet and turned around, and was greeted by the cocky smirk and tilted fedora of Manitoba Smith.
Zoey gave him a quick look over and raised an eyebrow at the few scuffs and bits of fallen leaf that were stiff stuck to his clothes. "What happened?" she asked, her body shaking in anticipation.
"Well, I found the treasure," Manitoba explained as he sauntered towards her, "but Cameron and Anne Maria managed to be tougher than I thought they'd be, and snatched it out from under my nose. But," he said as he noticed her look of great anticipation, "we can save that for later. I can tell I'm not the one you wanna see right now."
He smiled at her, then removed his hat. A blank-eyed gasp later, and Mike was back in control. "...Zoey?" he asked in wide-eyed disbelief.
"Mike!" Zoey cried out, rushing forward in excitement and embracing him. The two shared a tender kiss, but as soon as they broke it Zoey pouted. "Next time we have a challenge like this, I'm not staying behind again."
Mike chuckled lightly. "Heh, right, sorry."
[Team #4 – Leshawna and Harold]
"Aaaannnddd...there!" the uber-geek said and he placed the twenty-fourth diamond-shaped puzzle piece into the shallow box he and his partner had been given to house it. He looked at it with a proud smile, then carefully rotated it around so Leshawna – who was tending their fire with a bored look on her face – could see it. "See? I'm fairly certain this is one of the variations of this season's logo."
Leshawna looked over at it with mild interest. "Nice job, Harold-baby. Too bad we never did find that missing piece."
"Yeah," Harold nodded, putting the near-finished puzzle back on his lap. "Hopefully we'll be able to explain our situation to Gordon and get partial credit. It's hardly our fault if one of the other contestants picked up a piece without us knowing about it."
"Well, we'd better just hope they see it like that," Leshawna said. "I'm still half-expectin' Chelsea or Gordon to pull a Chris on us and start screwin' us outta points."
"Gosh, I hope not," Harold said. "They've both seemed fairly good-natured so far. I'd hate for that to have been nothing but a ruse."
"Me too, stringbean," Leshawna said. "But after three seasons with Chris, I ain't about to go trustin' another host that easily."
"Understandable," the nerd nodded. "But still, given how they've acted so far, I think it's entirely reasonable to assume we haven't completely failed this challenge."
"You're probably right," Leshawna cracked a small smile. "I'm worryin' over nothin'. Now how about we start figurin' out our plan for tomorrow morning."
Harold grinned excitedly. "Good thing I've already laid down the groundwork for our route back!"
[Team #9 – Beth and Ezekiel]
"Wow, the stars sure are pretty," Beth said as she and her partner laid on their backs and looked up at the sky. "I'm sooo glad I got to see them."
"Yeah, me too," Ezekiel added. "It kinda reminds me of bein' back home, before everything happened to me."
The two fell awkwardly silent for a moment. "Do you...wanna talk about it?"
"...nah, it's okay," Ezekiel told her. "Well, maybe not so much okay, but I don't wanna bother you with all the cruddy stuff in my life, eh."
"If you say so...," Beth said hesitantly.
Another awkward silence passed, which was broken by the sound of a camera shutter. "Hey, were we supposed to take any night-time photos?" Ezekiel asked idly as he waited for his instant camera to spit out the picture.
"Maybe?" Beth said uncertainly before breaking into a smile. "But even if we didn't, we can still take some anyway!"
"Ayup!" Ezekiel nodded, and the two farm-raised teens raised their cameras again.
[Team #13 – B and Lightning]
"And sha-Lightning scores!" the overachiever shouted as he slid into his campsite, dropping the tent he'd been carrying to the ground and performing a touchdown dance.
B came huffing and puffing up besides him a little bit later, wiped the sweat from his brow, and smiled to himself.
"We did it, dude!" Lightning told him excitedly, still dancing as the silent boy walked over to their own tent. "And once we win the race back tomorrow, we'll really be bringin' in the gold!"
B gave him a thumbs up, then shifted his focus to the fishing rod he'd been carrying. He carefully removed the hook and collapsed the pole and reel, then took a small box out of his coat and stored them both in it.
"Woo!" Lightning pumped his fists exuberantly, ending his dance with his arms in the air. He held the pose as his stomach started to growl, and looked blankly in his partner's direction. "Dang, all that runnin' around made Lightning hungry! You got anything to eat, dude?"
The silent genius was already entering their tent, having apparently not heard his partner's question. Lightning frowned impatiently as he waited for B to re-emerge, and was somewhat surprised to see him holding the large cardboard box he'd originally brought to the campsite.
"Uhh, there better be food in that thing, or Lightning ain't gonna be happy," the jock said.
B set the box down and motioned for his partner to come over. Lightning did, and the athlete's face lit up when B opened the flaps and revealed what was inside.
"Hello, PB&J!" he said, smiling at the loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter and strawberry jelly that B pulled out from among the disposable dinnerware and cutlery that were also in the box. "Lightning woulda liked somethin' meatier, but he ain't complainin'."
The two boys moved the box over to their fire pit, and Lightning eagerly opened the various bags and jars while B quickly lit a fire.
[Team #1 – Izzy and Staci]
The two girls were happily eating the odd edible-plant-wraps that Izzy had prepared in front of their fire when the redhead suddenly spoke up.
"Y'know what would be fun right now? Fireworks!" she said with an excited grin.
Staci looked at her and blinked. "Oh yah," she nodded happily, "too bad we don't...have...any...?" She trailed off when she saw her partner's devious grin, and paled when she saw Izzy dart into their tent and come back out with the burlap sack she'd had at the start of the challenge.
"Umm...," Staci said hesitantly as Izzy began to pull all manner of skyrocket and roman candle out of the sack. "Are you sure using those out here is safe?"
"Totally!" Izzy answered with a wide smile and a dismissive handwave. "I'm, like, a pyrotechnics genius! Besides, I know safety, okay. I don't usually follow it," she laughed, "but I'm pretty sure a forest fire wouldn't be fun."
Staci raised a finger to object, but it was too late. "Time for boom boom!" the energetic young woman cried with a slight hint of a faked Spanish accent as she grabbed her fireworks and jumped over to the campfire. She held one over the open flame, then grinned as it went off.
It shot away from her, passing through the trees easily and exploded high above in a green-and-orange starburst that dazzled both girls. Staci watched in awe as Izzy let off rocket after rocket, the night sky coming alight with color and sound.
xxx
All around the forest, the telltale sounds caught every other teams' attention. While some of the twelve other pairs had to move around a bit to get a good view, in the end each group was able to view Izzy's fireworks.
Despite the ups and downs each group had experienced that day, all twenty-six teenagers had their spirits lifted and hearts renewed by the display. The thirteen teams went to sleep confident in their chances in the race that would begin in the morning.
Author's Note - Post Script
And thus, the first day of this challenge is finally complete. Next chapter, of course, will deal with the race back as well as the Point Ceremony.
Lots of interesting things have happened, though. Working out all the interactions between and within teams was enjoyable overall, if a bit tedious and time-consuming. But as always, such is the consequence of having so many characters to focus on. I hope you all enjoyed how the bulk of this challenge turned out!
How will things turn out next time? Find out...well, hopefully by Halloween!
- Fangren
Appendix One - 'Couples Camping' Bonus Challenges
Team #1 (Izzy and Staci): Capture an item of value from each of three designated teams.
Status: Successful! Stolen Items - Relaxing Idol, Puzzle Piece, and Eva's Dumbbell; Staci letting off steam, Izzy letting off fireworks
Team #2 (Cameron and Anne Maria): Capture the 'Playful Idol' and others.
Status: Successful! Playful Idol obtained; Cameron making deals, Anne Maria still looking fabulous
Team #3 (Jo and Scott): Defend the 'Relaxing Idol' without entering its circle.
Status: Failed! Idol lost; Jo empty-handed, Scott annoyed by it
Team #4 (Leshawna and Harold): Find each bag of puzzle pieces and complete the puzzle.
Status: One 's' short of 'Successful'
Team #5 (Noah and Owen): Catch, clean, cook, and consume one fish each.
Status: Successful! RIP river fish and Owen's hidden sexuality
Team #6 (Eva and Brick): Capture the 'Knowing Idol'.
Status: Failed! You can't beat 'em all, especially when they're giant mutants
Team #7 (Gwen and Duncan): Defend the 'Playful Idol' without purposely touching another team.
Status: Still a Complete Defeat
Team #8 (DJ and Dawn): Capture the 'Relaxing Idol'.
Status: Failed! (of their own volition); Tentless but keeping warm another way
Team #9 (Beth and Ezekiel): Photographic scavenger hunt.
Status: Paparazzi Hype!
Team #10 (Alejandro and Heather): Mystery Envelopes?
Status: It's still a secret to everybody; Alejandro hooking up with Heather: Failed!
Team #11 (Sam and Dakota): Defend the 'Knowing Idol' without leaving their circle.
Status: Successful! Negotiation is almost as effective a tactic as brute force
Team #12 (Zoey and Mike): Capture the 'Playful Idol' and others.
Status: Failed! But at least they're reunited
Team #13 (B and Lightning): Capture an item of value from each of three designated teams.
Status: Successful! Stolen Items - Sam's GameGuy Double, Bag of Pretzels, Team #8's Tent; Lightning sha-dancing, B just PB&Jamming