Hey all, time for another update! This story is more than halfway done, woohoo! We are almost at 300 reviews, and thats just amazing! I love reviews so much, whether they be critiques or compliments, they're awesome, and they make my writing better! So if you want, please leave one after you've finished, just tell me what you think! It makes my day.
Anyways, this is sure to be drama filled, and this is the challenge before the merge! Woot! 15 person merge? Hell yeah! Let's get it on, people!
Last time, on Total Drama Chaos! The weather was bleak, gray, and all around nasty. It might've been worse than that time back in Island when Mr. Coconut got the boot! Anyways, because I'm so kind and benevolent, I postponed the challenge and came up with a new one, the Ultimate Cabin Fever Challenge! It was an intense challenge, and some people went batshit crazy! In the end it was Dawn vs Ezekiel, but it turns out Ezekiel was one of the first people out of the challenge due to him cheating! Unexpected, right?
This put him in the bottom two with our resident chubby buddy Sadie. In the end though, most of the Maggots decided that, despite Ezekiel's error, he was more fun to be around and contributed more to the team than Sadie, giving the prairie boy a chance to redeem himself; which on the other end of the spectrum sent the butterball packing. We're now one away from the Final 15, which may or may not be the merge! What is the postponed challenge? Find out right now, on Total! Drama! Chaos!
The time was 6:00 AM. Everyone was still asleep; they were still emotionally drained from the previous challenge. The weather was now bright, warm, and sunny; something that allowed Chris to perfectly execute the series of events that would lead to todays challenge…
Speaking of Chris, the host and his culinary-gifted buddy were currently in the hidden garage where they kept the plane. Chris currently had a prop machine gun loaded with blanks, and Chef was gassing up the plane. In a few minutes they were off the ground.
As the plane glided quietly over the campground, Chris, from the hangar of the plane, opened fire with his empty magazine, effectively scaring the shit out of all the campers.
"AGH!" Gwen screamed, jolting from her slumber. Izzy had already dived out the window and Dawn was sitting up in bed, looking extremely alarmed.
"The fuck is that?" Jo said, crouching under the desk.
From outside, Gwen heard Eva shouting, Noah making a snide remark, and the sound of Geoff, Tyler and Ezekiel freaking out. Realizing it was Chris, the goth sighed and pulled on a sweatshirt over her nightgown. Wearily making her way outside, she squinted against the bright sunlight at the airborne host with a megaphone.
"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Chris hollered at the ground. "No rest for soldiers! Get to the mess hall, stat! Move, maggots, move!" He then continued to fire his fake gun as the campers, still rubbing their sleep out of their eyes, moved to the Mess Hall, stumbling through the still misty yet sunny morning to their breakfast.
"Ugh, what a dick." Brick moaned as he ate his dry, slightly burnt toast. "And why is the breakfast so crummy?" He snorted at his own joke.
Harold chuckled from across the room, "Nice one!" he called as he bit into his own toast.
"When I get my hands on that man." Courtney growled.
"I'm gonna…" Eva spat.
"Rip him." Courtney hissed.
"A new one." They both snarled, pounding their fists against the table in unison.
Dawn sighed, leaning against her sleepy boyfriend's shoulder as he was dozing over his breakfast. "I fear this day will be a grave one." She sighed to him.
Noah looked at her, concerned. "Oh really? What do you mean?"
She sighed again as he stroked her hair. "I cannot say. Perhaps I am mistaken. I surely hope so…"
Noah nodded, a troubled expression on his face. "Whatever you say."
Meanwhile, Tyler and Ezekiel were thumb wrestling.
"Your going down, eh!" Ezekiel hooted, smashing his knobby thumb against Tyler's.
"In your dreams!" Tyler said, also working his thumb hard.
"Hey dipshits!" Jo called from the Rat table. "Check who your thumb wrestling!"
Tyler and Ezekiel looked down to see that they were thumb wrestling themselves.
"Heh heh, whoops." Tyler chuckled as Ezekiel tried to figure how he'd gotten to thumb wrestling with himself.
"Idiots." Dakota groaned quietly, shaking her head. Kasimar, having heard this, sensed an opportunity to expose Dakota.
"Dakota!" He chimed in, "It's not nice to call people idiots."
"Wait, you called Zeke an idiot?" An angry Izzy hollered from across the room, effectively giving Dakota more unwanted attention.
Dakota, thinking quickly, merely chuckled. "Oh please, I was only joking!" She grabbed the aforementioned thumb-wrestling knuckleheads around their necks and brought them in for a hug. "You guys know I love good old Zeke and Tyler! I wouldn't insult them!" She turned to Kasimar with a pouty expression on her face. "Jeez Mike, are you trying to get me in trouble?"
Attention shifted from Dakota to Kasimar. It was now his turn to think quickly.
"U-uh, not at all, no, not at all!" The hidden identity proclaimed. "I just thought…that uh…you were berating them for their intelligence, which isn't cool. My bad, didn't catch the tone that you were kidding!" He scratched the back of his head placidly. "We cool?"
Dakota, scoffing on the inside, beamed on the outside, giving Mike in a hug. "Of course!"
(Confessional Cam: Kasimar.)
Kasimar: *He is wearing no shirt and has a towel wrapped around his waist, his body is dripping wet.* That nasty slimy wriggling little schemer. I can't wait until I destroy her.
(End Confessional Cam: Kasimar.)
As everyone continued eating normally after the incident, Trent, after grabbing seconds from the food counter, plopped down next to Justin, who was staring into space thoughtfully.
"Penny for your thoughts, dude?" Trent asked curiously as he started eating again.
Noah, who was now sitting alone due to Dawn's departure to the showers, put an ear into the conversation, wondering if it was worth his interest.
"Ugh, not much…just thinking about ways to get Dakota out of here." Justin said, still thoughtful.
Noah, hearing this, decide to enter the conversation. "Might I be of assistance?"
"How can you help, egghead?" Justin snapped, not in the mood for Noah's sarcastic attitude.
The bookworm held up his hands defensively, "Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm actuality serious about this. So do you want to hear me out or not?"
"Hmph…fine." The model muttered, crossing his arms.
Noah leaned in close, beckoning Trent and Justin to come closer. He started whispering to them, and as he whispered, both Trent and Justin's eyes grew wide, with the latter having a smile start to spread across his rather handsome face.
(Confessional Cam: Trent.)
Trent: Not bad…a little risky, but not bad…
(End Confessional Cam: Trent.)
(Confessional Cam: Justin.)
Justin: *He looks annoyed* Curse him and his big brain. It could work, but it might be a double-edged sword, but at this point, as long as she leaves I'm okay with it… We'll have to see if it pans out well.
(End Confessional Cam: Justin.)
Meanwhile, on the other end of the Mess Hall, Eva, Courtney and Harold were sitting quietly eating, minimal conversation crossing between the three.
(Confessional Cam: Eva.)
Eva: *She holds up her Mr. Coconut idol* I think it's finally time I use this to my advantage. Courtney and I have been friend-ish, and Harold seems like a pretty nice guy, albeit a weakling. Though the ginger is a smart guy, I'll give him that. I also think he's won more freaking challenges this season then everyone else. I think I'll see if we can help each other out.
(End Confessional Cam: Eva.)
"So guys…" Eva started, clearing her throat, making sure to keep her voice down so none of the others could hear. "I have a little proposal for you, if you're interested. If not, you can just walk away."
Harold and Courtney both looked curious, and neither showed any signs of walking away, so the fitness buff continued.
"Take a look at this." The jockette pulled the Mr. Coconut idol out of her pocket, while Courtney and Harold gaped at it as Eva smirked.
"That's pretty awesome." Harold said. "May I hold it?"
Eva considered for a moment before finally handing it over. "If you try and run, I will catch you, and I will break you.
Harold chuckled, feeling the idol in his hands and admiring the craftsmanship. "So what is this proposal you have for us?"
Eva was about to explain, but Courtney interrupted. "It is obvious." She said, a trace of haughtiness creeping into her voice. "If you or I don't ever vote for Eva, then if one of us is ever in the bottom two, she uses her idols on us, as she can't use it on herself."
Eva nodded. "Sounds about right."
Harold rubbed his stubble, thinking over the situation carefully. After a minute, a question came to his mind. "What happens if Courtney and I are in the bottom two together?"
"You're gone, ginger boy." The buff girls comment had a light tone to it, but she was also serious. "No offense, it's not that I dislike you; but I like Courtney a hell of a lot more. But mark my words…if its you and anyone else on them besides myself or Courtney, I'll use it on you. And an athlete's word is genuine."
"Hmm, sounds like a pretty fine deal. It's on!" Harold said, smiling as he held out his hand for Eva to shake. Eva promptly took his hand and crushed it unintentionally in her own, causing the nerd to wince.
"Whoops, sorry." Eva said, quickly releasing her grip and smiling abashedly.
"No worries…" Harold said, still wincing.
Courtney had been watching this encounter with an amused twinkle in her eye, glad she had finally found someone to be friendly with.
(Confessional Cam: Harold.)
Harold: *He fists pumps* Yes! This is awesome! I've been sort of laying low this season, and it's worked so far…but now there are a lot less players I'll be one of the first to go…so this is a welcome change.
(End Confessional Cam: Harold.)
As the conversation between the ginger, the ex-CIT and the Iron Woman was wrapping up, the notorious host with the most entered the Mess Hall.
"Welcome final 16!" The host greeted to the homeschool, fail jock, goth girl, Private, bookworm, evil personality, ex CIT, blond jockette, moon child, party boy, glamour girl turned villain, iron woman, musician, psycho, and ginger nerd.
"Whoopie." Noah said, unimpressed. "I'll say it again, call me when we've reached the Final 10."
"Yeah, this is a bigger cast than Action and Revenge of the Island, and only slightly smaller than World Tour!" Jo said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, but you've all outlasted twenty-three other people." He smirked as the contestants quieted down, and the host rewarded them with his handsome wink. "Seems better when you put it in that perspective, doesn't it? Anyways, now for my announcement. This is last challenge before….the MERGE!"
This interested everyone in the Mess Hall.
"Well, I guess that's cool." Noah said. "If I make it through this round I'lll finally make the merge."
"Yeah me too!" Tyler, Brick, Dawn, Ezekiel, Dakota said at the same time.
"Yup, last challenge, then every man, woman or other for themselves." The host said, shooting playful looks at Izzy and Jo, the former sticking her tongue at him just as playfully while the latter growled and cracked her knuckles.
"Cool, so what's the last pre-merge challenge?" Geoff asked, tipping his cowboy hat back in his usual laid-back way.
"Oh it will be fun!" Chris said. "It's an old challenge, back from good ol' season 1!"
"Oh god, it's not the Brunch of Disgustingness, is it?" Trent asked, horrified.
"Or the god awful motor bike race?" Geoff said, wincing from the memories.
"Not the horrible god awful boot camp?" Harold said, looking faint.
"Nope, nope, and good idea, but still nope!" Chris grinned. "It's…the paintball deer hunt challenge!"
The reaction was mixed. Most campers were excited, but a few, Justin, Noah and especially Dawn were not thrilled.
"No!" Dawn exclaimed rather vehemently, startling Noah and Gwen, who were sitting next to her. "I will not partake in physical violence!"
"I don't want to damage my pretty face!" Justin wailed, collapsing on the floor.
"Great…physical exertion." Noah sighed.
"Well too bad! No exceptions!" Chris snapped, causing Dawn to narrow her eyes at the host. Noah wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, trying to comfort her. "Besides!" The host added. "You've caused people physical harm this season."
Dawn scoffed. "I have not."
"What about the laser VR challenge." The host asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Those were lasers." Dawn said simply.
"Dodgeball challenge?"
"Big rubber balls."
"The most creative challenge ever?"
"Didn't touch anybody."
"Zombie VR?"
"Nope!"
"God damn, not even the superhero challenge?"
Dawn smiled. "Didn't do anything there either."
Chris frowned. "Wow, that's actually pretty impressive. But too bad, as I said before, no exceptions! Now, if you'll let me explain. The challenge will be different. This time, EVERYONE gets a gun, but only three people on each team are actual deer, and you won't know if they are a deer or not until you shoot them. We all good so far?"
The campers nodded, but Brick had a question. "Will we know our team's deer?"
Chris nodded appreciatively. "Decent question, Brick. And no, you won't. We don't want anyone throwing challenges. The deer antlers you will receive all have radios in them, and I'll radio you if your a deer. If you tell anyone, you're team will be automatically disqualified. Is that crystal clear?"
Everyone nodded yet again.
"Okay, good. So it will be best of three rounds. Whoever loses sends someone home. That person will be the last pre-merge loser." Chris finished.
"Alright let's do this!" Geoff cheered, grabbing his cowboy hat and whirling it over his head.
"Woohoo!" Ezekiel yelled, "Let's get it on!"
Chris smirked at their enthusiasm. "All right campers, follow me outside!"
Noah sighed as he pushed his chair back and sat up, stretching his legs. "This is going to be such a drag…"
"Well you better pull your weight, Rat." Jo scolded, heading for the door. "You don't want a repeat of season one now, do you?"
The bookworm merely rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
"It's all good, I think we've got this." Trent said cheerfully.
Eva smirked as she walked by him. "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Yeah," Courtney sneered, walking next to her secret alliance mate. "We're going to crush you. Besides, you've got a pacifist, a pretty boy, and Noah."
Trent ignored Noah's dry, "Gee, thanks', and shrugged. "We'll just have to see."
As the campers emerged into the sunny weather, they found sixteen piles, each with its very own paintball gun, antlers, fuzzy tail, and camo hat.
"Man, it's been a while since I've worn this." Harold chuckled as he put on his camo hat.
"I know, it feels like forever since we last wore these…" Gwen sighed, slightly reminiscent.
"Well it was over four years ago…" Kasimar said, loading his paintball gun and charging it.
"Alright campers, you'll all have fifteen minutes to split up in your own way and do your thing. After the fifteen minutes are up, the deer will become aware of themselves. After that the fighting begins. I'll announce when a deer has been eliminated. So, without further ado…let the challenge begin!" Chris said, before sucking in air. "Man, that was a mouthful…" He sighed as the campers sprinted off in different directions, some going in small groups or pairs, with others heading off alone.
Eva, Harold and Courtney were walking through a field with tall grass, chatting about strategy.
"I say we just stick together." Eva said simply, "I know that if one of us is a deer than we have to keep quiet, but there is a one in three chance that one of us is a deer, and I like those odds. So we keep far away from all the others and just watch each other's backs. Then when there is only a couple of scrubs left, we bust out into the open and take 'em down!"
Harold nodded, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "A good plan, assuredly…but what happens on the off chance that one of us are not deer? Then we'll have to deal with our unhappy teammates, and I for one don't like those odds."
Eva sighed. She thought for a couple seconds but couldn't come up with anything. She turned to Courtney, "Do you have any ideas?"
Courtney thought for a moment, tapping her chin. "In all honestly, I think it would be better to not exclude ourselves. Because if what Harold says does happen, we'd be royally screwed."
"Great…that means we'll have to deal with our idiot teammates." Eva sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Don't worry, we've got this." Harold grinned, "We can still be by ourselves, but let's stick around so if we hear commotion we can help out."
"Let's crush them!" Courtney cheered.
"Alright!" Jo said forcefully. "I'm going with you three to make sure you three don't slack off and screw the team!…at least without me knowing." The jockette was currently looking at Noah, Justin, and Dawn.
Noah sighed, adjusting his deer tail. "We're not going to be able to get rid of you, are we?"
"Nope!" Jo replied, smiling brightly.
"What's that?" Dawn suddenly gasped, pointing behind Jo. Justin, Noah and the jockette in question all turned to see…nothing.
Jo scowled, "Hilarious." She scoffed, turning back to look at Dawn, but she was gone.
Justin blinked. "Um, where did she go?" He asked, turning to Noah.
Noah shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. Why would I know?"
"Well whatever. If she wants to screw it up then it can be her ass going home if we lose." Jo said, pounding her palm with her fist. "Now let's move out and exterminate some Maggots."
"Hey! Mike!" Dakota squealed, trying to run and catch up with Kasimar. "We should totally team up together!"
"Not this bitch again." Kasimar thought. He clenched his fist around his gun, holding it slightly club-like.
"Oh, uh, I would, really. But I promised that I would go with Ezekiel!" He said, naming the first name that came to mind. And as if luck was smiling upon that dark soul, said knucklehead came barreling out of the bushes, yodeling like an Indian. He stopped when he saw who its as. "Oh, hey guys, you guys tea-"
"Zeke my man!" Kasimar interrupted, quickly moving to the prairie boy's side and throwing an arm around his shoulder. "We're still teaming, right?"
Ezekiel, confused, stammered, "Uh, we are? Okay, cool! Yeah!"
Kasimar beamed at Dakota, as both of their insides clenched with rage. "Sorry Dakota! Maybe some other time."
But Dakota wasn't giving up that easily. "Oh, I can just tag along with you guys, right?"
"Stupid bitch." Kasimar growled. "Um, well, er…"
"Well Mike here was going to help me with some girl stuff." Ezekiel said, pretending to be embarrassed. "You see, there's this girl back home with the biggest bazoos you've ever seen, eh? Make's Lindsay's look like ant breasts!"
As Kasimar tried not to howl with laughter, Dakota quickly dismissed herself from the situation, not wanting to be a part of 'pervy boy talk', and walked off to hunt alone.
As Dakota walked off, Kasimar turned to Ezekiel. "Hey, thanks Ezekiel. That was pretty quick thinking there."
Ezekiel chuckled, a little red-faced from the lie. "Hey, I might be socially weak, but even I could see you didn't want to go with her. Why is that, anyway?"
Kasimar, sensing a way to get one over on Dakota, feigned a sad expression. "Well recently Dakota has been very flirty with me, and I think she might be trying to break up me and Zoey! I've tried telling her no but she just won't listen!"
"Wow!" Ezekiel gasped, "That's horrible! We should try and get rid of her then…Zoke is an amazing couple!"
"Pssh, yeah right. It's corny and stupid. Not to mention boring." Kasimar thought, but on the outside said: "Yeah, that'd be good. But no throwing challenges, we'll eliminate her when the time comes!"
"Alright, let's do this!" Ezekiel said, hefting his paintball gun.
(Confessional Cam: Kasimar.)
Kasimar: That was pretty cool what Ezekiel did. I may be hell bent on crushing the competition, and hopefully a few of the contestants as well. But I won't forget what he did. I'll repay him sometime.
(End Confessional Cam: Kasimar.)
Izzy was out by herself, hunting for teens, and despite the fact that she was now semi-normal, the thrill of the chase was getting to her.
"Hehehehe. I will find them all!" She cackled, scaling a tree, her paintball gun strapped to her back.
"Let the hunting begin!" Chris's voice echoed throughout the forest.
"Perfect." Izzy chuckled. She waited for a moment to see if Chris would announce her a deer, but he did not. Not afraid to go down fighting now that she new she wasn't a deer, she continued swinging through branches for a couple minutes. She paused when she heard some rustling underneath her.
"What do we have here?" She cackled, unstrapping her paintball gun and leaping onto a lower branch. Twenty yards below her and fifteen yards to her right, she saw Geoff and Tyler goofing around and pretending to shoot each other with their guns.
"Perfect." Izzy repeated, aiming down her sights, zoning in on Tyler's back. She remembered watching his accuracy with a firearm on TV during the zombie VR challenge, and thought it best to take him out quick.
"Boom boom." She giggled, pulling the trigger.
"What was that noise?" Tyler wondered, hearing a sharp tap.
"Hm?" Geoff asked. He turned around. "Shit! Get down!" He cried, knocking Tyler to the ground, unafraid of his own elimination in the challenge due to the fact that he was not a deer. The party boy let out a sharp cry of pain as the paintball made contact with his bare chest. As Geoff hit the ground, and electric current ran from his radio helmet throughout his body.
"Looks like I'm out." Geoff sighed, totally unable to move. He then addressed Tyler. "Move dude, move! Get out of here, they're in the trees."
Tyler, however, wasn't giving up that easily. He too wasn't a deer, so he was okay with going down, as long as he could take someone with him. "Whoever it is, they're going down." He smirked, drawing his paintball gun up. He sprayed ten or fifteen paintballs into the general direction of where he thought the shooter was.
"Whoa!" Izzy gasped, diving behind a tree trunk as a couple of paintballs flew by her. She had seen Geoff knock Tyler to the ground, much to her annoyance.
"Take this!" She yelled, using the tree trunk as cover and aiming at the red-clad jock. She was just about to pull the trigger when she felt a jolt on her face and her mask went dark. An electric current surged through her and she fell to the ground, fortunately still on the branch, so she took no falling damage.
"What?! How?" Izzy groaned. "Who?"
"Still me!" He heard Tyler yell, his voice fading. "Shouldn't of announced exactly where you were. Big mistake."
"Ah screw you." She pouted, still hanging on the tree.
"You guys better not slack off!" Jo snarled for the umpteenth time.
"Dear god, we already know!" Noah groaned. He and Justin were getting quite fed up with her.
"I'm just saying!" Jo persisted. "And also, if we meet the enemy, you are to be used as shields so I can take them out."
"What? No way!" Justin yelled. "You're so full of shit! I won't do that!"
"I'm the most valuable member of our group!" Jo smirked, crossing her arms. "It only makes sense that you'd want to protect me, no?"
"What if one of us were a deer?" Noah asked, a deer himself.
Jo growled, annoyed, as she too was a deer. It seems that these weaklings were proving stronger resolve than she first thought.
(Confessional Cam: Jo.)
Jo: I've been waiting for a raw, hands-dirty challenge like this all season! Now just once, once! I ask for some cooperation, and I'm met with resistance! How lame is that? And to top it all off, I was a deer! But stupid Chris McLame made it so I couldn't tell the damn fools!
(End Confessional Cam: Jo.)
(Confessional Cam: Noah.)
Noah: *Rubbing his temples* You know, I'm a patient man. At least most of the time. But Jo suggesting we be used his bait? That irritated me. It also was annoying how I couldn't tell them I was a damn deer. I think it annoyed Anti-Me too, which is something I might be able to use to my advantage.
(End Confessional: Noah.)
Kasimar and Ezekiel were walking through the forest. For the past ten minutes Kasimar was feeding Ezekiel tidbits of information about Dakota, and the care-free stupidity was slowing melting off the homeschool.
"I see." Ezekiel nodded, tense and ready to spring, due to the fact he was a deer. "So she's responsible for Anne Maria's, Duncan's, Sadie's and Alejandro's eliminations?"
"That's what I know, but there could be more." Kasimar said truthfully. He did not want to lie to Ezekiel, as that could blow up in his face later.
Ezekiel scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Dang, eh. We need to get rid of her!"
Kasimar nodded. "We do indeed, but as I said before, not yet. There's a time and a a place, you know?"
"Eh…not really." The homeschool admitted, "Why not just throw the challenge and then convince everyone to vote her off?"
Kasimar sighed. "It's not that simple. Dakota's a good actor, and Mik-, uh, I mean, I haven't exactly been on great terms with everyone this season. I don't know if we would be able to convince everyone. Besides, I'm pretty sure some of the Gophers know, and with the merge right around the corner I want to see if they'll do something about it."
"I get you, dawg." Ezekiel grinned. "Just stay back and lay low until we need to lay high, right?"
Kasimar snorted. "Sure, dude. Let's focus on the challenge right now, though."
"Yes sir!" The homeschool saluted, drawing up his gun and peering deeper into the woods. "Izzy's somewhere out there…talk about a scary thought."
Kasimar laughed. "That is a rather alarming thought. But I think we would be able to take her on."
"Yeah, maybe, but she can be pretty EEP!" Ezekiel squeaked, a paintball missing his ear by inches.
"Down!" Kasimar hissed, grabbing the prairie boy's neck and forcing him to the ground. Five or six more paintballs whizzed over them, splatting into the trees behind them.
"Damn it, where are they?" The evil personality growled, scanning the tree line. A paintball thudded to the ground next to Ezekiel's head. Kasimar met Ezekiel's eyes and could tell from the urgent look in the homeschooler's eyes that he was a deer.
"Go!" He yelled to his teammate. He sprung up and opened fire in the direction of the incoming paintballs.
Ezekiel didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and took off in the opposite direction, trying to zigzag through the paintballs.
Kasimar fired another fifteen or so rounds before being hit in the shoulder. He got zapped and hit the ground, teeth gritted in pain.
"Ezekiel?" He called, only able to see the sky due to landing on his back. "Did you escape?"
"Don't worry," a voice said. It was coming closer. "Zeke was able to get away. Almost got him though."
Ten seconds later, Brick's face was looking down on Kasimar's own. The cadet chuckled. "Sorry, Mike, but a game's a game. If it's any consolation, you were able to take down Trent before I got you in the shoulder." He waved his paintball gun. "Too bad these are nothing like real firearms, or I would've been able to take you down on the first shot."
Kasimar put on his fake smile. "Looks like you got me. Oh well, hopefully next round I'll do better."
Brick smiled down at him. "Catch you later, soldier." With that, the cadet ran off in the direction that Ezekiel had fled.
Kasimar smirked, pleased with his performance in the challenge.
Gwen was currently shooting paintballs at Harold, Eva, and Courtney. She had stumbled upon them and had tried fleeing, but gave up after they pursued her. The goth was now hiding behind a big tree, prairie dogging every couple seconds and firing paintballs at Eva, the only she could currently see.
As Eva dove to the side to avoid the paintballs, Gwen heard a branch snap behind her.
She turned around, her reflexes quick, and sprayed a couple shots into Harold. The ginger nerd fell to the ground, but not before firing a shot himself. The shot nearly, so very nearly, hit Gwen, and the projectile actually stained her clothing, but burst on the tree behind her. She sighed in relief, turning her attention back to Eva but keeping an eye out for Courtney. Due to the fact that the gothic teen was a deer, she had to be extra careful.
"Dang." Harold said from the ground, rather loudly. "You have really sharp reflexes Gwen, color me impressed." His volume increased.
"Uh, thanks." Gwen said, focusing on looking where Eva was, all the while listening for footsteps.
"I mean, dang!" Harold all but shouted. "The plan was so perfect, but I totally messed it up! Dang! Dang dang! Dang dang dang!"
Gwen turned to face him, angry. "Harold, will you shut the fu-" She was cut off as a paintball slammed into her chest, knocking her back into the tree.
"Damn you." She said, unable to keep a smile off her face as she realized the trio's plan.
"I admit, you did pretty well, Gwen." The shooter conceded, walking out of the undergrowth. Courtney smirked down at her.
"I was wondering where you had gone to." Gwen sighed as Eva joined them.
"Give Harold the credit." The fitness buff said modestly. "It was all his idea."
Harold, also modest, grinned. "Ah, it was nothing. I just had Eva as the distraction, while I would pretend to be the sneaky guy. If I failed and got taken down, I would disrupt your sense of hearing enough so that Courtney could get the drop on you."
Gwen tried to nod, but realized she couldn't due to the paralysis. She winced in pain as the bark pressed against her skin.
"Attention campers." Chris said, his voice echoing throughout the camp. "The Rats have just lost their first deer."
Harold cheered, still on the ground. "No way, you were a deer?"
Gwen coughed. "Yup, guilty! Actually, could you guys just adjust me a bit? This bark is really irritating my skin."
Eva shrugged, not planning on being a bitch. "Sure, why not." She started walking towards her when she froze. "Get out of here Courtney!" She hissed, before plummeting to the ground. A splotch of paint was seen on her back.
Quick as a flash, Courtney darted into the undergrowth.
Jo leapt into the clearing, followed closely by Justin. Noah was a few meters behind them.
"You!" She barked at Justin. "After her!"
Justin nodded. He sprinted after her.
"Jo! Noah!" Gwen said eagerly. "Glad you could come. Sorry, I'm hit. I was a deer too. They really owned me."
"You got me." Harold said consolingly, as Jo adjusted Gwen so she wasn't in pain.
"Don't worry about it." Jo said, "By the way Courtney was sprinting I'm guessing she's a deer too. Hopefully Dipshit can take care of her."
Eva snorted. "Dipshit? That's your name for Justin?"
Jo shot her a glare. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"
"On the contrary, I think it suits him perfectly." Eva chortled.
Noah sighed. "As much as I would like to berate Justin, can we please move on? We have deer to hunt."
"Nice point, egghead." Jo smiled, an approving tone in her voice. "Let's get moving!" She started walking, but stopped. "Actually, I'll get moving. Noah, you stay here and camp this area. You'd just slow me down and I don't want to leave you in my dust with no cover."
"Roger." Noah said, walking over to a rock and sitting down. Jo sprinted off into the woods.
Dakota was stealthily making her way through the forest. She was one of the Maggots's deer, so she wanted to make sure she didn't get eliminated. At least, get eliminated without taking a few Rats with her.
After a couple minutes she came upon a clearing. There, she saw Dawn's back. She was meditating in the grass. Dakota quickly took aim, zoning in between her shoulder blades. She pulled the trigger, but as soon as she did Dawn jumped to her feet and leapt nimbly to the side. Without even looking Dakota's way, she sprinted forwards, back towards the forest.
"Damnit." Dakota whispered. Making a split decision, she herself sprinted over across the field, in pursuit of Dawn.
Dawn may of had the advantage of distance at the beginning, but Dakota had two major advantages over the aura reader. One, she had longer legs. Two, she still retained some physical capabilities from her mutant self. In a matter of minutes Dakota could see her again. She drew her gun up and fired a couple of paintballs.
Dawn may have been slower, but she was still very smart. She quickly took off her green sweater and used it to swat the paintballs away. However, her foot snagged on a root while she was looking away to deflect the paintballs. She hit the dirt, scrambling to get back up.
Before she could get to her hands and knees, however, Dakota fired two shots at her back, and she thudded back to the ground.
Dakota sighed, walking over to the fallen moon child, hoping to hear Chris announce that another deer went down. No such luck. She put her foot under the moon child, who was lying on her stomach with her face mashed into the ground. She flipped her over onto her back and stared at her incredulously.
"Why didn't you use that?" She asked, gesturing to the paintball gun that was still strapped to Dawn's side. "There were several opportunities where you could've taken me out. I was getting reckless near the end there."
"I stand by my beliefs." Dawn said solemnly.
Dakota chuckled, kneeling down and patting the blonde's shoulder. "Honey," she said, just as solemn. "The only thing those beliefs are going to get you is a one-way ticket off this island." With that, she hoisted her own gun and ran back the way she came from. Dawn ignored her.
(Confessional Cam: Dakota.)
Dakota: I really don't understand her. She could've taken me out, I was a deer for christ sakes! The only reason I even thought about running after her was because I thought she might've been a deer because she ran away when I saw her. I had no idea that she actually wasn't going to even try and fight back. *She sakes her head* She puzzles me.
(End Confessional Cam: Dakota.)
Courtney had been running for about ten minutes now, excluding a short thirty second break she had taken about three minutes earlier. She was now running through camp, ideas of where to hide flashing through her mind. She had pulled ahead of Justin, but Jo had quickly caught up and passed the model. She skidded into the Mess Hall and dove behind the counter just as ran through the threshold, spraying paint.
"Justin!" The CIT heard the jockette yell. "I have her cornered in the Mess Hall. Go around!"
Courtney cursed under her breath, this wasn't looking good. Above her were a bunch of Chef's stainless steel cooking pots and pans. She could see a warped reflection of the dining area in one of the pots, and Jo's location along with it.
I don't think it's worth it…I'm a deer. Courtney debated with herself.
But if you don't, The other voice said, You'll get taken out for sure. At least with this you'll have a chance to take out a threat and escape out the front as Justin circles you.
She couldn't refuse that reasoning, so she gripped her paintball gun tightly and quickly sprung up, firing three paintballs directly at Jo.
Jo, not expecting such an accurate attack, couldn't decide whether to dodge or fire, so she did neither, and roared loudly as she toppled over a table and onto the floor.
"Justin, she's going out the front, I'm hit!" Jo screamed as Courtney sprinted out of the Mess Hall.
"Attention campers, the Rats just lost another deer!" Chris said again. "Looks like the Maggot's are opening up a can of whoop ass on the Rats!"
Justin cursed as he ran out of the Mess Hall. He aimed his gun at Courtney's quickly retreating form, but before he could fire Courtney stopped suddenly. She then fell down.
"What?" Courtney said, surprised. "Not Justin!"
"No, not me." Justin hollered to her, also confused. "I don't know who it was."
"That would be me." Brick smiled, coming out of his hiding spot behind a canoe.
"Damn you!" Courtney growled.
"Attention campers, the Maggots have just lost their first deer. Are the Rats possibly coming back?"
"Not on my watch." Tyler smirked. He was at the very edge of the campground, and had just seen Brick and Justin take down Courtney. He took aim with his gun and fired two shots, but someone shoved into him just as he fired, so his first shot hit his second victim, but his second shot hit no one.
Noah, grabbing for Tyler's gun, saw Brick hit the dirt and Justin freak out. He would've just shot Tyler, but his gun had jammed, and he had no choice but to go for the physical tackle.
"Hah, you got guts, bookworm." Tyler smirked, shoving the smaller guy off of him. Justin had just located the brawling duo and was sprinting towards them, gun at the ready. But it was to no avail. Before Justin was within fifty yards, Tyler overpowered Noah, grabbed his gun back, and put a round into his stomach. Noah's body wriggled with electricity for just a moment before he unfroze. He sat up, groaning.
"Huh?" Tyler asked, puzzled. He shot Noah again, this time in the leg.
"Son of a bitch!" He cursed. "Stop it, I was a deer, I'm dead. You win."
"Oh." Tyler chuckled. "Sorry bro." He offered his hand to Noah, who accepted it.
"Chill Justin!" Tyler called to Justin with his hands up. The model, who was quickly approaching them, finger on the trigger, slowed when he heard Chris announce the Maggots the winners of round one.
"Boy, the Rats got crushed!" Chris cackled. "The Maggots still had Dakota and Ezekiel for deer! I've unfroze all of your radios so you can move about. Meet back in front of the Mess Hall within fifteen minutes for round two."
By ten minutes all sixteen campers had met up back at the Mess Hall.
"That was totally sick, bro!" Tyler cheered. "Bring on round two!"
"Man, we got wrecked that round." Trent groaned, rubbing the sore spot on his stomach where Kasimar had hit him.
"Now, now, my young retards, settle down." Chris cooed. "It's time for round two. If the Maggots win this round, then they win the challenge. However, the Rats still have a chance to bring this back. Now, as before, I'll give you fifteen minutes to run. Then you'll be radioed to see if you are a deer."
"Yeah, about that." Kasimar frowned. "Thanks for telling us about the electric shock we were going to receive."
Chris chuckled. "Whoops, must've slipped my mind." He then proceeded to laugh uncontrollably.
"Asshat." Gwen grumbled as she stalked off with Noah and Izzy.
Dawn was going to run off by herself, but a hand gripped her shoulder and jerked her about face sharply.
"Not so fast." Jo snapped, her hand like iron on the moon child's skin. "You are sticking by me, or so help me you will not be here if we lose."
Dawn sighed, "What, Jo? Do you want to use me as a shield? No matter what you threaten me with, I will not shoot anyone."
"It doesn't matter." Jo growled. "As long as I can experience it with my own eyes if you fuck up."
At this, Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Well, Jo." She said, annoyed. "Even if I do 'fuck up' are you sure you have the numbers to get me kicked off, or might it be yougoing home if we lose?"
Jo's mouth dropped open in shock. She turned around to meet the glares of Noah and Izzy as they were walking away. "Let's just go." She shouted, stomping off into the woods, her hand dragging the now calm moon child with her.
(Confessional Cam: Jo.)
Jo: *She looks worried.* Uh-oh, not good. Might've just fucked myself there.
(End Confessional Cam: Jo.)
(Confessional Cam: Dawn.)
Dawn: I regret saying those things to Jo, but I believe she needed to hear them. *She sighs.* I hope we don't lose.
(End Confessional Cam: Dawn.)
(Confessional Cam: Noah.)
Noah: Not cool, Jo. *He scowls.* Not cool at all.
(End Confessional Cam: Noah.)
Ezekiel wanted to group with Kasimar again, but the latter politely declined.
"Why don't you go with Tyler and Geoff?" The MPD suggested. "Tyler's a really good shot and Geoff is, err, well…Geoff. I think you'd have a good time." Seeing the downtrodden look on the prairie boy's face, he added. "I'm sorry, I just want to go alone this round." He leaned his head towards Ezekiel's ear. "I might do some recon on You-Know-Who." He whispered.
At this, Ezekiel nodded in understanding. "Yo, wait up, homies!" He called to the retreating forms of Tyler and Geoff.
Kasimar chuckled, tapping his fingers on his legs in a rhythmic tune as he walked by himself into the forest.
While this was going on, Eva, Courtney and Harold were discussing their strategy as they were walking.
"Alright!" Courtney exclaimed. "Last round was picture perfect! Sure, we all got eliminated, but we kicked some serious ass, and that's all that matters. Let's repeat what we did last round, and hopefully the Rats will eliminate a threat with the Rats right around the corner.
Harold nodded. "Let's do this."
The trio high-fived and ran off deeper into the woods.
Trent sighed, rubbing his neck as he trudged his way through the warm sunny woods. The merge is only one challenge away! He thought, excited. Am I actually going to make it?
Just then, Chris's announcement rang through the woods. "Campers, the deer have been selected, you may know commence hurting each other. McLean, out."
Trent waited with baited breath, waiting to see if he was a deer. After fifteen seconds, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was no deer. "Now I don't have to worry." He chuckled out loud. He ran into a grassy field, and twirled around and fell into the grass, making grass angels in the shaggy leaves. He was about done when he felt a sharp tap on his side, followed by an electric shock. Trent turned beet red and decided to just stay quiet, hoping the assailant wouldn't reveal themselves to make fun of him. They didn't.
(Confessional Cam: Trent.)
Trent: *Face bright red.* Wow, I think that was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me…I was just so excited, you know? I had to do something energetic. *He facepalms* Now I'm first one out of the challenge. Thank god I wasn't a deer, or I could be in some serious trouble…
(End Confessional Cam: Trent.)
Dakota was walking through the forest, moments after shooting Trent. She was chuckling to herself. "What a moron!" She laughed out loud. "I can't believe someone like that touched my boob. What an imbecile!"
"Hey Dakota!" A voice cried from a nearby tree.
Dakota, recognizing the voice, dove behind a tree as a couple paintballs thudded into the moist earth next to her.
Damn, why did I have to get Izzy? Dakota groaned. I'm just glad I'm not a deer.
"Hyah!" The blonde yelled, whipping out behind the tree to fire shots into the trees. She didn't hear any noise, so she retreated back behind the tree. Just in time, too. Paintballs from Gwen, Noah, and Izzy slammed into the tree, the ground next to her, and pretty much everywhere else as the three Rats bombarded the Maggot.
"Shit, shit, shit." Dakota squealed, cringing against the tree as paint and bits of bark flew by her. "I don't think I'm getting out of this intact, so I might as well try and take someone down…" She whispered to herself.
Izzy raised a hand to cease fire. Noah and Gwen obeyed her. She squinted down at the tree, now filled with small dents from the paintballs. She smirked, leaping down from her fifteen foot high branch to the ground, ready to observe her kill.
"Izzy! Wait! We don't know if she's out yet!" Noah yelled, but the redhead ignored her.
"Don't worry about it!" Izzy beamed, peeking around the corner of the damaged stump. There she saw…nothing. "Huh?" Izzy asked, puzzled.
Gwen gasped, "Behind you!" She yelled, bringing up her gun at the same time as Noah's. But they were too late. By the time they hit Dakota, who had edged around the tree stump at exactly the right time, Izzy lay electrocuted.
"Damnit! That was stupid, Izzy!" Izzy yelled at herself. Gwen and Noah were slightly amused, but it changed to annoyance as soon as they heard Chris announce:
"Attention, campers, the Rats have just lost their first deer! I guess they're still getting annihilated."
Dakota, also paralyzed, smirked to herself.
(Confessional Cam: Dakota.)
Dakota: Well, I pretty much secured myself a spot in the merge. Thanks, Izzy!
(End Confessional Cam: Dakota.)
Brick cursed after hearing Chris's announcement. "Shit!"
The cadet had been stalking the trio of Ezekiel, Tyler and Geoff for a while now. He was trying to figure out the best plant of action. The three dudes were currently walking around camp, joking and being noisy due to the confidence brought on by being in large numbers.
Brick was creeping around the edge of the campground, never letting the trio out of his site. They had currently just gone into the Mess Hall. The cadet smirked. He sprinted over to the Mess Hall and kicked down the doors, opening fire.
"Shit!" Tyler yelled as he dove behind the counter, hearing Ezekiel's cry of pain as he was hit. He heard Geoff fire back, and he could only assume Brick had dove out of the way or gotten hit.
"Need some cover, broseph!" Geoff yelled from behind a table. Tyler quickly peeked his head over the top of the counter, gun at the ready. He saw no one.
"Where is he?" He called to Geoff, quickly checking the back door. Still nothing. He turned back to the front of the hall.
"I don't know, bro!" Geoff said, "Did he go around the back?"
"I don't think so! I'll check again!" The jock yelled. He turned around to come face to face with a gun barrel. Tyler quickly put his hands up. "Not the face." He whimpered, closing his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and he froze up.
"Behind you!" Tyler screeched, and Geoff quickly turned around, spraying the cadet down before he could shoot the party boy.
"Attention campers, the Maggots have just lost a deer! It is now even-steven!" Chris said from his trailer. "Carry on!"
Geoff wiped his brow as he surveyed the situation. "I better scoot off, dudes." Geoff nodes to his fallen teammates. "Wish me luck!"
(Confessional Cam: Brick:)
Brick: I took down a deer, so I feel I'm safe, even if we lose. I hope we don't though, the Maggots have several major threats, and it would be good for one of them to be ousted before it becomes a free-for-all.
(End Confessional Cam: Brick.)
Kasimar was prowling through the woods, keeping an eye out for any possible targets. He had seen Noah and Gwen at a distance, but they were heading the other way and Kasimar didn't want to challenge a two-on-one, even if he wasn't a deer.
"Where are they…" He sighed. He had now been searching for half an hour with out any other interaction. He heard a branch snap.
"Hello?" A voice stupidly called. Kasimar recognized it. It was a Rat voice. "Shit." He muttered, quickly bringing up his paintball gun and creeping through the woods. In the distance he saw Justin, his foot stuck in a thorny bush.
"Hello?" Justin called, seeing the figure that was Kasimar but not being able to discern who it was. "Can you help me? My foot is stuck, and even if your a Maggot you can eliminate me, just help me?"
Kasimar, now hidden behind a tree, chuckled sadistically. He took aim, his scope on the sore spot between Justin's legs. He fired.
"Argh!" The model screamed as the paintball slammed into his crotch. He bent over, ripping his foot free from the bushes, but scraping it in the process. "Ow ow ow!" Kasimar then fired another shot, and it slammed into the model's forehead, causing him to tumble back into the prickly foliage. The model groaned in pain as he lay there, dazed and confused.
"Haha, excellent." The personality smirked, making a hasty retreat.
(Confessional Cam: Justin.)
Justin: *Sobbing* Oh, my poor testicles, ankles, forehead, calves, toes and feet! I'm hideous! These ugly red scratches! *He slaps himself in the face* Pull yourself together! They'll heal just fine! It still hurts like fuck, though!
(End Confessional Cam: Justin.)
Kasimar, leaving the scene, immediately ran into Trent. He ran behind a tree as Trent lay his trigger down, hoping to get a lucky shot on him.
"I found Mike!" He heard the musician yell.
That's not good. He thought. I should scram, it sounds like he has backup. He made a break for it, running in a zig zag pattern in the opposite direction of the musician. He thought he made it when he was knocked off his feet and slammed into the ground by four paintballs to the chest. He groaned, wincing at the electric shock passing through his body. The smirking faces of Gwen and Noah appeared above him.
"Nice." The bookworm said, giving a knuckle bump to the goth.
"Wait," Kasimar realized. "Trent didn't have any back up?"
"You were running from Trent?" Gwen asked. "I thought you were just being a dumbass."
Kasimar inwardly seethed. "No, I was fighting Trent and he called me out, so I thought he had backup, so I left."
Noah shrugged. "Well that backup sure as hell wasn't us, so I don't know what to tell you…maybe he was with Brick or Justin."
"No it wasn't…never mind." Kasimar thought quickly, deciding it was in his best interest not to tell everyone that he had injured Justin. "I don't know, maybe."
The duo shrugged. "Let's keep moving." Gwen said to Noah. He nodded. They left Kasimar.
Jo had been keeping an extremely close eye on Dawn, which was the only reason Dawn hadn't ditched the jockette yet. Currently the two were resting near a small stream not far from camp. Dawn was covered in small mammals as Jo was inspecting her paintball gun, making sure it was in prime condition.
"This blows." Jo grumbled. "We haven't even seen anybody yet! What's with this bullshit?"
Dawn opened her eye. She was currently petting a squirrel. "I don't mind, I like the peace anyways."
Jo rolled her eyes but said nothing.
Eva, Harold and Courtney had split up. Or at least, Courtney had decided they could cover more ground if she split up from them. So Eva and Harold were currently walking through the woods while at the 1,000 foot cliff was Courtney, who was busy searching for enemies.
"Gosh." Harold sighed, wiping the sweat of his face. "We haven't even seen anyone! This is ridiculous!"
"Yeah, my trigger finger is seriously itching." Eva growled. "I wanna shoot somebody!"
"Well why wait any longer?" Noah called from behind them. He and Gwen opened fire, instantly eliminating Harold. Eva, however, was able to leap out of the way. She started running, hoping to get to a better position to defend herself.
"God dammit!" Harold yelled, "And I was a god damned deer too!"
This was confirmed when Chris yelled: "And the Maggots are down two deer! It looks like the Rats might be able to pull of the tie breaker!"
Eva, tremendously outrunning the goth and bookworm, stopped when she got to a small hill. She crouched behind it and waited for the duo to show up. Sure enough, within a couple minutes she heard the sounds of panting, and opened fire as Gwen hopped into the clearing. She fell to the ground.
If Noah had been a few seconds faster, he would've been eliminated too. Fortunately for him, his lack of speed let him see Gwen get taken down, and he hit the dirt, the paintballs flying over his head. He observed his surroundings. "Perfect." He smirked, seeing a loose branch in a tree behind Eva. He took aim, and fired.
SNAP.
Eva gasped, turning around and spraying behind her. She didn't see anything. She then noticed a large branch perhaps five yards behind her. Her eyes widened as she realized the trick. She used her incredible athletic reflexes to turn around and punch a paintball into Noah's stomach, but he had already put three paintballs right in her vicinity. They both fell to the ground.
"Well played." Eva smirked as the bookworm groaned from the blow to the stomach.
"Damn, your reflexes are unfair." Noah coughed, "I thought for sure I had planned it to be fast enough."
"Oh no, you planned that well enough." Eva said, "You just didn't account for the fact that I'd be that quick in recognizing it was a trap. People can have both brains and brawn."
"Ugh," the egghead sighed, "I definitely should've accounted for that. Not smart at all."
"Hey, don't worry about it." The athlete said gruffly. "You still took me down. And it looks like you guys are going to win anyways."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Gwen called from the spot where she lay. "Dawn and Jo were together and they definitely weren't getting along so well. I think our main hope lies with Trent."
Noah scoffed. "If that man-she loses the challenge for us, I swear."
"Don't worry. If she loses the challenge she'll be going the hell home." Gwen assured him.
"We can only hope." Both Eva and Noah grumbled.
Courtney, now at the top of the 1,000 foot cliff, realized she was the only deer left, and as such decided to leap off the cliff, and camp in the same spot Justin and Brick hid during the Hide and Seek challenge.
"Let's get moving." Jo grumbled, stretching as she got up. As she did, all the animals scurried off of Dawn.
Dawn sighed as she got up. She left her gun behind, much to the annoyance of Jo.
"What are you doing?" She blustered. "Pick up your goddamn gun and stop being difficult on purpose!"
The moon child ignored her and started walking back towards camp. The jockette stomped over to her and got in her face.
"Look, fairy girl." She hissed. "You need to participate in this challenge. It's not right for us to all have to bust our asses while you sit back and do nothing!"
Dawn looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Jo, but I'm not going to do that. If you want to use me as a shield, fine. Do so. But I will not shoot anyone, no matter what you say."
The athlete enthusiast sighed in what might have been dismay. "Fine." She said hollowly. "Get in front of…ow!" She was cut off as a barrage of paintballs slammed into her and Dawn, eliminating them both.
"And the Screaming Rats have just lost both of their deer!" Chris announced. "Killer Maggots win the challenge!"
"WOOT!" The shooter, Geoff, cheered. He had been walking through the woods when he heard the shouting and went to inspect. Meanwhile, Jo was seething with rage.
(Confessional Cam: Jo.)
Jo: Fuck! *She punches the wall of the confessional.* It looks like I'm gone. God damn that bratty little moon child! She couldn't even lift a finger to help out! *She screams in frustration.*
(End Confessional Cam: Jo.)
All the campers were back in the Mess Hall when Chris walked in, a grin on his face. "Tsk, tsk Rats!" He tutted. "Two round in a row, you didn't even get the tie breaker! How anti-climatic…looks like you guys are kicking someone off. First, I have an immunity to award."
The Rats looked interested. "Immunity?" Jo asked, hopeful.
"Immunity." Chris confirmed. "Immunity goes to the Rat who did the best in this challenge. That person is…Brick!"
The cadet grinned, as his teammates, being good sports, congratulated him with high fives and claps on the backs.
"So, it looks like we have Courtney, Mike, Tyler, Eva, Dakota, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold and Brick are nine confirmed contestants for the merge. Six more will join! We'll find out soon enough who those contestants will be! The elimination ceremony will be in an hour and a half. See you Rats then!" With that, he threw a smoke pellet and disappeared.
Noah was on a mission. He had already talked to Gwen and Izzy. All that was left now was finding Justin and Trent.
The bookworm walked into his cabin. No sign of them. "Where the hell are they?" He griped as he exited. He searched the confessional, where he heard someone in the shower. He saw Trent's clothes hanging on a hook, so he decided to find Justin and come back to talk to the musician later.
After searching the Mess Hall, the cliff, and the docks, he finally found Justin relaxing on the beach.
"Hey, Justin." Noah called, waving to the model.
The model who was suntanning, squinted at him through the sunlight. "You need something?" He asked.
Noah sat beside him. "Look, I know you and I don't exactly get along, but I really need your help."
Justin raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you want?"
"Well, to put it bluntly, I need you to vote for Jo, so Dawn doesn't get kicked off." The bookworm said, studying the models' face for a reaction.
Justin raised an eyebrow. "So, let me get this straight…you want me to not vote for Dawn, so there can be a couple in the merge, which could be a significant advantage over anyone else?"
Noah squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"Fine." The model said, returning to his sunbathing.
"C'mon man, don't be a douc-wait what?" Noah asked, shocked. "Really?"
The model smirked. "Yeah, I know what it's like to lose your girlfriend. I'll vote for the blonde bitch, she wasn't exactly pleasant this challenge. Just this once, though."
Noah smiled, "Thanks Justin." He got up and left.
He then talked to Trent, getting the same end result. The bookworm smirked, leaving the bathrooms. He went and hung out with Dawn in the forest. He didn't tell her his plan, he wanted to surprise her.
After an hour, Chris's voice was blared throughout the camp. "Rats, time to kick someone off. Meet me here now!"
"Welcome, welcome!" Chris exclaimed, excited. "Time for one of you Rats to leave, so let's get this started."
The campers sat down. Chris picked up the tray of marshmallows, seven fluffy treats resting on it's surface.
"The first marshmallow, obviously, goes to Brick." Chris said, tossing the cadet a marshmallow. The cadet grinned.
"The next marshmallow goes to…Noah." The bookworm caught his marshmallow, casting a worried glance at his alliance mate.
"Another marshmallow for…
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Gwen." The goth smirked as she caught her marshmallow. This was merge number two for her.
"Marshmallows also go to Izzy and Justin." The host said, tossing two of the remaining four marshmallows at the psycho and the model.
"And then there were three." The host grinned sadistically, staring at Trent, Dawn and Jo.
Trent was puzzled, not sure why he was in the bottom three.
Dawn was calm and collected.
Jo's face showed a mix of anger, sadness, and defeat.
"The penultimate marshmallow goes too…Trent." Chris said, flicking the white treat at the musician. "And then there were two…Dawn, Jo, you guys both fucked up pretty bad this challenge. One of you won't make the merge. The lucky swine, however, that will continue onto the next round is…
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It's a tie!"
"What?!" Jo, Noah and Dawn exclaimed.
"Does that mean we're both gone?" Jo asked, furious.
"Nah, we've had too many double eliminations." Chris said, inspecting his fingernails. "So, we'll bring out the W.I.D.O.W.E.R's cousin, the tie-breaker wheel, or the E.X.T.E.R.M.I.N.A.T.O.R (Extreme Xenon Tortue Eradicator Rotating Machine Incidentially Not Actually Totally Orthodox Rad.)!
Chef brought out a wheel, where there where pictures of many interns in immense agony as they were performing the tie-breakers.
"Um…I don't think those are legal…" Trent said, raising an eyebrow.
Chris sighed. "Ugh, your probably right…I was really hoping to see the who could last the longest while their lower intestines were being pulled out through their belly buttons, but oh well! Chef, bring the P.A.N. out! (Pussy Ass Noobs)
Chef sighed, snapping his fingers. He brought out another wheel, and spun it. It landed on a picture of two interns picking up small cardboard tablets.
"Oh, interesting!" Chris cackled. "Bring out the table of Justice!"
A table suddenly appeared with twenty small circles face down on it.
"Now, first we'll have Dawn, then we'll have Jo!" Chris announced. "The first contestant that picks the circle with the picture of the Chris idol on it wins and gets to stay. So, Dawn, up you go."
"Come on, Dawn!" Noah whispered. "You totally have this."
Dawn picked up the number 8 tablet. There was nothing on it.
Jo picked the number 16. Nothing.
Dawn picked number 19. Nothing.
Jo picked number 5. Nothing.
Dawn picked number 10. Nothing.
Jo picked number 20. Nothing.
Dawn sighed, reaching for the next tablet, 13. She picked it up…a big circle with an X through it.
"Ooh, tough luck Dawn! Jo gets to pick three in a row! Go for it Jo!"
Jo picked number 11, and got nothing. Her second pick was number one, and that's when it ended.
"YES!" Jo teller, holding up the #1 tablet, with a picture of the Chris Idol on it was.
"No!" Noah gasped, flabbergasted. "This can't be!" He turned to his teammates, furious. "How did it get to be a tie? Who betrayed me?" He glared at Justin. "You piece of shit."
Dawn put an arm on his shoulder. "Noah, it wasn't supposed to be a tie." She said solemnly.
"I know! Jo was supposed to be sent the fuck home!" He yelled, losing his temper.
"No, Noah." She said, care in her voice. "It was supposed to be me sent home."
The camp was silent. "What? How do you figure?" The bookworm asked.
"Well, I originally was going to have Brick, Jo, myself, Gwen and Justin vote for me, but it seems I didn't convince Justin." The moon child frowned. "Of course I knew that the Chris would be on #1, so I purposely didn't pick it. I told you this morning. It's my time to go."
"Why?" The bookworm asked, despair creeping into his voice.
"It just is. I'm sorry if this is hard for you to hear. I just have one request." The moon child said gently.
"What?" Noah asked, his voice cracking.
"Don't hold a grudge to any of our former teammates. It's not their faults. Especially Gwen, she only voted for me because I asked her too."
Noah sighed. "Alright, that sounds fair." He opened his arms. "I'm going to miss you, Dawn."
Dawn happily accepted his embrace, then planted a kiss on his lips. "Bye Noah."
Chris pretended to wipe away a tear. "That's... actually kind of adorable! Oh well, it's still time for you to go, Dawn! Please grab your gear and get on the boat."
Dawn nodded, and after hugging each of her teammates, even Jo, who accepted the hug without resentment, she left the island.
Noah sighed as the boat sped out of sight. Gwen offered him a hug. He rolled his eyes but smiled, and accepted the hug.
"Sorry Noah." Gwen said sadly, "But it's what she wanted."
Noah pat her back, "Don't lose any sleep over it, I'll see her again."
"Alright, Rats, tonight is your last night as a team! After that it will be boys bunk in one cabin and girls in another, but for now enjoy the fact that you all have technically made the merge!"
The Rats, minus Noah, cheered loudly at this, but the aforementioned camper did smile.
(Confessional Cam: Noah.)
Noah: *He waves at the camera* Bye, Dawn. *He sighs* Now I'm all alone on this island of imbeciles and looneys, minus Trent and Gwen…maybe Eva. *He raises an eyebrow at the camera.* I'm actually glad that despite being asked, Justin kept his promise to me. I'll remember that, Anti-Me.
(End Confessional Cam: Noah.)
In the Maggot Male cabin, the dudes were all talking about the fact that they made the merge.
"Woohoo! Merge number dos!" Geoff said, raising two fingers in the air.
"Rock on, dude." Harold grinned, glad he too was in his second merge.
"Yes." Kasimar said, bored. "Second for me a well…"
"Wow, you're not more excited?" Harold laughed, "What's wrong with you?"
Kasimar raised an eyebrow at the nerd and shrugged. "I don't know, it's less exciting to be in a merge when there are more people in the merge then there were in my entire season."
Tyler nodded. "I can see where you are coming from, but it's still feakin' awesome to be in one!"
"It's only merge one for metoo, eh! I finally made it!" Ezekiel whooped, doing a little dance on his bed.
"It's pretty crazy, tomorrow we'll be enemies." Tyler chuckled.
"Yeah, but there doesn't have to be any animosity between us, does there?" Geoff asked, tipping his cowboy hat back.
"I hope so, eh?" Ezekiel chuckled. "It's been really awesome, I've had Tyler and Mike by my side for the entire competition, nearly the same with Geoff too."
As Kasimar laughed inside his head, Geoff yawned and cracked his back. "I'm heading to bed, dudes. I want to get into a decent sleep schedule."
Kasimar snorted, It's not like you'll be here long enough to enjoy it. He snarled in his mind, but all he said aloud was. "Me too, we have a long way ahead of us to the finale!"
"Night guys!" Tyler grinned, grabbing his portable game station, something which intrigued Harold.
"Hey, Tyler, aren't you supposed to be into sports or something?" The ginger asked.
Tyler shrugged. "I've always enjoyed video games, they help me chill." He turned on the game station, and turned off his light. "I'll talk to you in the morning, bro." He said, putting earbuds so the noise from his game wouldn't affect his sleeping teammates.
"So, Zeke, how does it feel to make the merge?" Harold then asked Ezekiel, but to his dismay, the prairie boy was already asleep. Harold sighed. "Oh well. Now I have time to plan ahead, I love guessing what the challenges will be!" After a while, he too fell asleep.
It was relatively quiet in the Maggot female cabin, but it was a comfortable silence. There was an air of victory in the cabin, and all three females were very happy that they had made the merge, one for the first time, one for the second time, and one for the third time.
"Good job, guys." Courtney praised. "Tomorrow it'll be a free-for-all, but I hope we can all be friendly-ish."
Dakota scoffed silently and didn't say anything. She had been pretending to be asleep for the past five minutes, and was planning on keeping it that way.
"Of course." Eva said gruffly, as she smirked at Courtney knowingly.
Courtney stretched. "It sucks I'll have to share a cabin with gothy tomorrow, though there is a one in eight chance she was eliminated…"
"Yeah, speaking of that, who was eliminated?" Dakota asked, now joining in the conversation.
"Don't know." Eva shrugged. "Guess we'll find out tomorrow when we all meet at the Mess Hall."
Courtney smiled. "True that."
After that, there was no more talk and the three girls fell asleep on their own time.
In the Rat Male cabin, things were not as dour as you might've expected.
"So you're really not that mad?" Trent asked, surprised.
Noah rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. "No, Trent. Sure, I'm disappointed and sad she got voted off, but I'm not mad at anyone. I mean, how petty would that be? It's an elimination game and she did the poorest. Sure if it would up to me I would have her win, but apparently everyone else isn't on that agenda. Shocker."
Brick seemed surprised by Noah's statement. "Really, you would rather her have won over yourself?"
Noah shrugged. "Hell yes I would. And if I could snap my fingers I would switch places with her right now."
"Wow, that's very noble Noah." Brick smiled, "Thanks for putting me in a good mood before I go to bed!"
"I'm surprised Justin stuck by you, honestly." Trent said, gesturing to the sleeping model.
Noah nodded. "I know, I would've thought he would love to pull a one-up on me. Guess he's gotten his morals and priorities in order. Another shocker."
Trent chuckled. "Anyways dude, congrats on making it to your first merge. Same to you Brick."
The two guys gave their thanks and then went to bed. Trent soon followed.
"You guys aren't mad at me?" Jo asked, also for the manytih time.
Izzy sighed, irritated. "No, Jo. Izzy's not mad. She asked you to vote for her, right?"
"Uh, well not exactly. I would've voted for her anyways…" Jo admitted, tapping her fingers together.
"Well," Gwen cut in. "It's what she wanted, and I voted for her too, so no hard feelings, right?"
Izzy nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! But we should go to bed, we have the big merge coming up tomorrow!"
Gwen nodded, smiling. "I feel this is going to be a chaos-free merge for once…"
Izzy shrugged. "You never know what could happen."
"Amen to that." Jo chuckled, settling into bed.
"Goodnight guys!" Izzy called.
"Night." Gwen muttered, already sleep.
"See you in the A.M." Jo yawned.
The lights went off and the girls went to sleep.
Chris stood on the dock. "Well well well! It seems we now have our Final 15! The merge is tomorrow, what will the first VR challenge of the merge be? Find out next time on Total! Drama! Chaos!
Voting Confessionals:
Brick: I have to vote for Dawn. According to Jo she is the reason for our loss today, and her aura reading capabilities could become a serious threat in the merge. No offense Dawn, it's nothing personal.
Dawn: I am voting for myself. I realize that what I did was rather immature, and that it is my time to leave. I'm sorry Noah, but it's what needs to happen. I fear for my safety on this island.
Gwen: *She sighs.* Well, it's what Dawn wants, so I vote for her. She wouldn't tell me why, though. I told her to talk to Duncan and see what's up. Sorry Noah.
Izzy: I vote for Jo! I don't want the last couple of TDC to be broken up! Besides, Noah's my bud, I don't want him sad.
Jo: I vote for Dawn, not that I think it matters. I'm pretty sure I'm gone tonight. Oh well, it's been a decent run, I guess.
Justin: So, after Noah and I chatted, Dawn approached me and requested I vote for her…I told her I'd think about it, and I've made my decision. I vote for Jo. I remember how desperate I was when Anne Maria was in threat of going home, and I just wish I had more people to back me up. So, in spite of my differences with the egghead, I'm sticking by my word.
Noah: *He smiles.* I think I got it all worked out. Dawn is going to stay, and Jo is going to go. I have it six-two vote wise, because I doubt I could get Brick to vote for his precious Jo. *He rolls his eyes* Sorry Jo, but you aren't exactly a team player, which is exactly why I can't have you in the merge.
Trent: I vote for Jo. Noah asked me to vote for her and I don't want him to have to lose his girlfriend…at least not yet. But I think he's smart enough to know that that time will come soon enough.
Dawn: 4 votes. (Brick, Dawn, Gwen, Jo.) [Lost tiebreaker.]
Jo: 4 votes. (Izzy, Justin, Noah, Trent.) [Won tiebreaker.]
Elimination Order: Blainley, Staci, Beth, LeShawna, Sierra, Cameron, B, Lindsay, Sam, Izzy (1), Scott, Zoey, DJ, Katie, Bridgette, Anne Maria, Heather, Lightning, Alejandro, Duncan, Owen, Cody, Sadie, Dawn.
Remaining Contestants: Justin, Courtney, Trent, Izzy, Harold, Tyler, Jo, Ezekiel, Noah, Dakota, Kasimar, Ezekiel, Gwen, Brick, Eva.
Review replies!
JockShipper: Lol I'm glad you thought so! Lol I thought that Brick going nuts might have been OOC, but I decided to go for it :p. Yeah, I feel Justin gets a bad rep...oh well. And Merry late-as-fuck-Christmas to you too :)!
Snakeshark19: Thanks man, yeah I had originally planned for Katie to make the merge and Sadie leave within the first 5, but as you can see it didn't happen that way :p.
ThatCrazyChick179: Lol, Dawn went home D:! But, not because of Kasimar...we'll see his reaction to her elimination next chapter ;). The nine-obsession was a one time occurance...maybe...haha you'll just have to wait! I want moar updates, girl! MAKE IT HAPPEN!
acosta perez jose ramiro: I seriously love you man, you've been reading my story since like chapter three and you've reviewed everyone! KEEP BEING AWESOME!
thegirlwholived: (Guest) Sorry, no Gwent here :(!
DonnyJay: Yeah, Duncan was originally going to make it farther, but I changed it due to the need for Gwuncan breakup. Oh well...and sorry for the not so quick update time...:(
RandomReviewer12: (Guest) I know right? I actually would do well in that challenge...but not that well. LOL. Yes, only 16 (now 15) Campers left, and you'll find out which villian takes the top spot soon enough! Yeah, the fandoms been getting cleaned up now, though!
THE Guest: (Guest) Yay! I'm glad you love it! And yeah, Tyler is definitely underrated. His character has changed so much this story o-O! Jock? Perhaps...I have plans for them... Scottney? Ew. No offense, and I loved Scott in TDAS too! But Scourtney (as I call it), not a fan. I prefer Duncney or single Courtney...maybe some really well written CoCo...maybe. Haha, ciao ;)!
Ways: I know, but eh, I tried something different :). Yeah, boo Katie, wow Ezekiel, and go Dawn! Sorry she's gone this episode :(.
Decent Story: (Guest) Thanks for the constructive criticism! I've been working hard at fixing grammar on previous chapters, and I'm almost complete at fixing it :)! Glad you like it!
TheImpossiblyAwesomeWriter: Don't worry about it man, it takes me life four and a half years to review things XD. I'm glad you liked it XD, it definitely was more insane then the others! Yeah, I would've gone with Tyler's approach IRL. He is actually Not after that song...not a fan of music lol. I came up with the name on the spot XD. I'll have to listen to that song now though! I LOVED writing crazy Sadie, but she dug her own grave. Dakota had finally had it... and PSYCHO TRENT! WOOT! Glad you liked it bro! Hope you enjoy this too!
655586aaool: Glad you like it, and no problem!
Light of the Dawn: Lol don't worry about it, Fanfiction fucks me over all the time with that XD. And thanks for the praise! Means a ton coming from you, and the Eva-Courtney friendship is something I've been planning ever since the first team swap :D! Yeah, I feel bad for kind of ruining one of your favorite characters, but I think 'pest side' works absolutley perfect for her XD. Dawn may now be eliminated, but don't worry, as it is not as Kasimar's evil hands, and in the chapters to come, you'll see it was a kindness that she got voted off instead of Jo. Yessss, I wanted more slightly sarcasitc Dawn, but do not worry, we will be seeing more of her in this fic! I'm sorry, but do more Nawn, I love it :D! Thanks so much, and I really hope you enjoy this chapter too, despite Dawn being eliminated :(.
wafflestheninja: (all reviews) Cool lol! XD?
The Black Candle: Wow, such high praise, you made my day :)! Thanks so much, dude/ette! I can guarentee that at LEAST two of those make the final ten :). Not Dawn, sadly :(. Sorry!
Guest: I know, I know, I'm sorry! :(
Mighty Micleal: Yeah, she was obnoxious!
TheCheesebub: Dear god! BEST REVIEW EVER! Okay let me try and answer this without taking up another 1k words :P. Lol, Trent and Brick almost took up that role :P. Yeah, Geoff made it with his gonads, but is he going to lose somehting else before Kasimar is done with him? Lol, pizza anyone :P? Homemade by Sadie :D! No killing shall be done to you, good sir. You were merely channeling the wonder twins, god help you. I remember that XD! No, Kasimar is very much asexual, as you'll soon find out. LOL. Love the TDAS finale jape, that was so dumb XD. And yes I know, but I'll tell you this, Trent has little plans of stabbing Noah in the back anytime soon. EEW That eva comment made me cringe XD. You are the funniest reviewer I've ever had! NEVAR LEAVE ME! "And now our pal Kasimar is looking through windows at little girls. I think I'm just gonna call him Kasimarapist from now on. However, admittedly, it would be wise of him to get rid of Dawn before she discovers the truth." L. .L. I died, oh my god. Thanks, I HAD to add Psycho Trent in at least once lol. His gargantuan chin, your killing me dude X'D! Yeah, it was supposed to be obvious that she was going home, they do that once in a while lol, so I thought I would too. THANKS FOR THE EPIC REVIEW BRO!
Waterdragon: (Guest) Thanks!
The Sarcasm Master: Sorry it takes me so long, I have a busy life lol. Glad you liked it. YES! Mission accomplished lol, I hate Justin's rep! Yeah, fact is, Jo is a power player. Power players make it far.
Guest: Sorry dude, I do my best!
Wow! Long chapter, huh? I hope you guys enjoy, and constructive critscm is greatly appreciated, along with other reviews! Ciao! :)