Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama or any of its characters. The Total Drama Series and all of its characters are the property of FreshTV and the parent company of the Total Drama television show.
Welcome troops to chapter 11! This chapter, unlike the previous ones, might have a certain challenge that you recognize ;)
I hope that you like it! I especially hope that you're liking the story! Give me some input if you have any, please, good sirs and ma'ams. I honestly just like reading what you think, even if you just write something simple or just summarize what you liked :) Heck, criticize it if you want. I welcome that.
To Reviewer Gucci: Glad to hear your thoughts, as always. Heather mainly went due to a reason that I can't currently disclose ;) Also, yes, she already had her big moments in canon. Though that won't really be taken into account in eliminations anymore, from this point forward.
To Reviewer Team Gophers: Thanks for your support. Glad to hear that you've been reading :)
To Reviewer Meta Bunny: Glad to see a new reviewer! I'm glad that you like the Alejandro, Ezekiel, and Scott plot. It's going to be very important heading forward, and it's my personal favorite. And yeah, Mike and Zoey admittedly could've had more scenes before now. I put them on different teams mainly to isolate Mike.
To Reviewer Lordgemini: Yep, the challenge was admittedly underwhelming. But, I promise that there was a reason for it. Much of it is explained in this chapter, actually lol. The football scene, however, was kinda rushed. I mean, I had already went past my original deadline so far that I didn't take the time to add in extra sports. To be fair though, in canon seasons, characters often just talk endlessly or do the same things in their free moments.
To Reviewer Mark L: Glad that you liked it overall. I know that the challenge and lots of things in the chapter as a whole might be confusing to everyone, but this chapter aims to clear any questions up. As for the Heather thing, it is planned to be explained later ;) And yeah, Mike and Zoey have largely stayed in the shadows so far, but that's changing now. The Eva/Leshawna thing was admittedly a weak point. I just couldn't find much to do with them.
Day 6: Beware of the Blue Moon
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,
(The camera pans over the cliff, where Scott, Alejandro, and Ezekiel are peering over the edge as some of the sharks wave them down. Ezekiel and Alejandro look at each other before Scott lets out a scream)
You guys are on my mind.
(The camera jumps down into water, where Harold is swimming. Nearby, a boat race is happening between Courtney, Jo, and Heather. Courtney's boat runs over Harold's head as she paddles ferociously)
You asked me what I wanted to be
And now I think the answer is plain to see,
(On the beach, Gwen and Duncan lay together in a towel. They lean in to kiss, only for Duncan to fall backwards into the sand after hearing Scott's scream)
I wanna be famous.
(Noah and Justin are push-fighting outside the confessional as Leshawna walks out of it and shoves Noah to the ground. Justin starts laughing at him until Leshawna steps on his foot)
I wanna live close to the sun,
Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,
(Zoey can be seen in the mess hall holding Mike's hands and leaning in. Mike suddenly clutches his head and runs out the door)
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
I'll get there one day.
(The camera pans to outside of the mess hall, where Mike trips over the steps and falls on top of Lightning, who was on his morning run outside. They both groan in pain)
Cause, I wanna be famous!
(The camera pans to the front of the cabins. Brick and Lindsay are sitting next to each other on the steps, where she is seen talking to him about fashion. She sees Trent walking by and tries to fix her hair, only to topple off of the steps)
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!
(The camera pans back over to the campfire at night, where all of the campers sit in the middle on the log-seats except for Cody, who is leaning against Chris's podium and trying to flirt with Eva, who has her arms crossed. Chris comes over and shoves Cody off of the podium as Chef tells him a joke and he laughs maniacally)
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
(The camera slowly fades out as it leaves the campfire and slowly shifts to the indigo sky scattered with bright white stars. All of the campers whistle as the intro ends)
(The Front of the Cabins)
Chris McLean is seen walking up to the cabins, which are both visible in the distance. He held an airhorn in his hand, and he was sporting a green helmet on his head. Chef Hatchet walked behind him.
Once he deemed that he was close enough to the cabins, Chris nodded to himself and then turned around to face the camera with a large smile. Chef stopped as well, an extremely tired look on his face.
"Welcome back, viewers! I know that it's been a week since you saw the last episode," he laughed, "but this challenge is actually taking place within the same day as the last one!"
The host threw his arms up dramatically. "Of course, this challenge is taking place in the dead of night. If you're wondering why, you'll find out as soon as I wake the campers up!"
Chris immediately turned to Chef once he had finished his monologue, sporting a mischievous smirk. He tapped his watch with urgency as he looked at the burly man.
"Chef, I think these campers are being a bit lazy today. I mean, I've already been standing here for a full minute, and they still haven't come out to greet me! The disrespect is real."
Chef nodded, a smile on his face as he responded cheerfully, "I agree, Chris man. When I went through military training, we always had to be on our toes! These kids just don't know the same level of discipline."
Chris's face was straining from how large his smirk was now as he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to Chef, "What do ya say that we give them a nice, relaxing wake-up?"
Chef began laughing sinisterly as he fished in his left pocket. "I say that it's time for the fun to begin!"
At that, Chef quickly pulled a small gray remote out of his pocket and quickly pressed a large black button on it. Immediately, red flashing lights appeared on the totem pole, as well as on all of the cameras around the cabins.
Chris and Chef both stood with their backs to the camera, as they waited a few seconds to observe the flashing lights. After a few seconds, Chris crossed his arms behind his back.
He had a slightly disappointed tone as he said, "Man, I thought that would be enough to get those kids to wake up. I guess that it's more draining to be a teenager than I thought."
Chef grumbled. "They're just lazy! Should have plenty of energy from my nutritious food! Now go ahead and finish the job. I wanna get back to my show."
Chris crinkled his eyes amusingly and gave the cook a mocking smile as he poked him in the side. "Ahhh, is Chef getting tired? Maybe we need to hire some more young blood next season."
Chef sent a deadly glare to the host and shriveled his lips up unpleasantly.
"I'm younger than you, pretty boy! And I wake up at 6 A.M. every day! I don't wake up at 9 every day and then spend an hour soaking in my personal," he used finger gestures here, "hot tub."
Chris rolled his eyes and fiddled with his air horn. "Jeez, this is the thanks I get for raising your pay for this season? It's not a crime to want to take things slow in the morning. After all, I'm a celebrity! I have to stay up late into the night to go to all of those exclusive parties back home." He closed his eyes proudly for a second.
He then turned to the camera with lightning-fast motion. "By the way, it is a complete lie that Chef is younger than me! Don't believe him, ladies!"
Chef just rolled his eyes and muttered "Bullshit" under his breath.
Chris glared at the cook one last time before plastering a new smile on his face and pointing upward declaratively. "But we're getting off-topic! It's challenge-time, and so it is time to wake the campers up!"
The host brought the airhorn that he was holding up into the air. Chef begrudgingly put a pair of fuzzy pink headphones on and then slapped a pair onto Chris as well. Chris didn't acknowledge this as he grinned at the camera and put his hand up to whisper. "Shhhh, they're sleeping."
He then proceeded to lay his finger down onto the top of the airhorn, which then produced an ungodly loud sound all around them.
Chris just stood there calmly as he heard the loud crashes from inside both of the small wooden buildings and the ensuing chaos that started. Chef began snickering quietly.
"This is my favorite part of this job."
As Chris calmly waited, he saw one of the doors to the Screaming Bears Cabin swing open first.
The girls from that cabin came streaming out slowly and groggily. Courtney was the first to walk down the steps, shielding her eyes with her left hand as she stomped toward Chris angrily. Zoey and Lindsay followed her, looking extremely tired and somewhat irritable. They were all still in their pajamas.
The CIT stopped just a few feet away from Chris, her eyes narrowing slightly as she saw the wide grin on the host's face.
"Why did you wake us up in the middle of the night?!"
Chris closed his eyes and chuckled, wagging a finger at her. "All will be revealed once the others are out here...Well, maybe not ALL, but definitely some."
Before anything more could said, the other three cabin doors busted open, with the other campers' reactions ranging from anger to bored indifference to even panic.
Eva, of course, had a very calm but deadly look on her face as she descended down the stairs of her cabin. Leshawna exited slightly behind her, her eyebrows slanted downward in irritation.
"Alright, there'd better be a good explanation for this, McLean!"
Chris shrieked and hid behind Chef as the angry girl approached. Chef held her gaze for several seconds before Eva gave up and stood near the others.
Lightning was the first boy to exit from the Screaming Bears Cabin, looking half asleep as he jogged quickly out of his door yelling, "Alright coach! Lightning's up!" The athlete quickly tripped over the cabin's steps as he jogged ignorantly toward them. He landed on the ground painfully, groaning slightly and blinking his eyes frequently now as he woke up.
"Huh? Chris? Did Lightning forget that there was an eclipse today or something?"
Chris sighed, as did many of the others who had heard the jock.
"Nope. You just forgot that Chris isn't a real person, so he doesn't respect a person's sleep." Noah trudged lazily down the steps to the cabin, taking care to walk around Lightning as he approached the group in front of Chris.
Alejandro, who had exited his cabin alongside his cabinmates, groggily agreed, "My body wasn't meant for these kind of conditions."
Justin, who was also approaching the growing group of campers, rolled his eyes at the Latino's words.
CONFESSIONAL:
Justin: The male model had a tiny mirror in his hand as he inspected the bags under his eyes meticulously. He set it down after a few seconds, turning his vibrant blue eyes to the camera.
"That Alejandro guy has always gotten up under my skin. I mean, he claims that he's handsome? He's got a goatee for goodness sakes! A goatee! It's almost as ugly as Chris's aftershave!" He threw his hands up in the air in indignant annoyance.
Lindsay: The blonde rubbed her face tiredly. "Uggghhhhh, this season has been brutal. First, I lose that beauty trailer and now this?"
Leshawna: Leshawna crossed her arms and glared at the camera icily. "Yeah, I can tell that this wasn't an accident. Chris takes pride in doing stuff like this. Sometimes I wonder if the man was ever a kid at all."
Chris: The host had a hurt look on his face. "Wow, I just keep getting attacked again and again. I mean, here I am offering these teens a chance to win 5 million dollars, and all they give me is disrespect.
He then slouched over, bracing his elbows onto his knees with a smile. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm their dad with how much they diss me."
Then, realizing what he had said, he quickly sprang up and started fiddling with the camera while shouting, "Not literally! I'm not that old! I'm in my thirties, I swear!"
Chris brushed himself off and came out from behind Chef, watching as the rest of the campers reluctantly formed a standing group in front of him.
After composing himself and pushing a stray strand of his greasy black hair out of his face, the host straightened his spine and puffed his chest out.
"Alright campers, I know that you all likely expected the cops what with the red flashing lights and the sirens."
Zoey raised an eyebrow at Chris, "I didn't think that. We're on an island. Wouldn't really have made sense."
Chris seemed to ignore the redhead, however.
His grin widened as he gazed at them, "But, luckily for you, it was just little ol' me!"
Leshawna braced one of her hands on her hip, "Will you just get on with it already?"
Chris glared at her. "Fine. I'll get to the gist."
He took a deep breath. "Alright, so you're all probably still wondering why the last challenge was so simple? Why did I just make it a natural drama challenge? It's because this challenge was planned for tonight, so I decided to cut you all some slack."
Harold whispered to Noah. "There's a shocker." The bookworm smirked at the nerd in response.
Chef, however, had heard it. He showed up right behind the duo and softly poked Harold on the back. The ginger looked behind him just in time to get screamed at.
"Hold the lip until after announcements, maggots!"
Harold gulped and nervously turned his head back to Chris. Noah emulated him with wide eyes. Chef scoffed at them and stayed behind them as he nodded back at Chris.
The host shot a thumbs up to Chef and smugly looked back at the contestants. "I picked tonight for a challenge because an extremely rare natural phenomenon is occurring tonight, and, amazingly, Wawanakwa will be one of the few places on Earth to see the effects of it. In fact, you might catch a view of it right now if you look up."
The camera panned up with the eyes of the campers to show a full moon in the sky, a mild blue in tint that would've matched the sky blue of daytime, if it wasn't currently nighttime. Its bright rays beamed across the midnight blue sky, turning everything that the light touched slightly bluish in tint.
A snap could be heard, and the campers brought their eyes back to Chris, who smiled amusedly at them.
"Dazzling, isn't it? It's called the Blue Harvest Moon, and it has some slightly...scientifically unexplainable effects on animals, which may or may not make this challenge really action-packed." He clapped his hands together excitedly at the thought.
Some of the campers looked a bit confused about this.
Lindsay looked around at some of the others around her uneasily before raising a hand.
Chris caught sight of her quickly and sighed. "Yes, Lindsay?"
The blonde pursed her lips as all eyes turned to her.
"Does that mean that even the tiny chipmunks and cute little birds around here will be acting weird?"
Chris smiled and pointed at her dramatically, "For once, Lindsay, you're exactly right! The moon's technical effects aren't known, but it is known that animals get...a tad bit jumpy and defensive when it's out."
Mike questioned the host with a set of very wide and worried eyes.
"Uhh, please define "a tad"."
Chris regarded him with an amused look. "Oh, don't worry about that. Things should be fine for you as long as you stay out of the animal's way and don't make any noise."
Lots of the campers smiled in relief.
"Of course, that would be boring. Which is why I had the interns place various alert traps all around the island that, when triggered, will alert all of the animals in the area of your location," he closed his eyes proudly.
At this point, Chef walked up to the host from around the contestants and handed him two suitcases, one of them with a Killer Sharks sticker logo and the other with a Screaming Bears logo sticker. The host smirked at the now-suspicious teens as he tossed one of them to Mike and the other to Courtney.
Noah shot a disdainful gaze at Courtney and then one to the suitcase that was now in her hands.
"What's in it, Chris? Liability waivers, I'm guessing?"
Chris laughed. "Oh Noah, you're a funny guy." A smirk then came onto his face. "I think that's what I'll miss the most about you."
"You see, these suitcases are more of a side item, kind of like the rewards that I gave out in the second episode of Total Drama World Tour. Each briefcase has something, umm," he looked over at Chef. "That is important to Chef, and it is your task to deliver it to my villa on the other side of the island. I don't care how you get it there, but you must bring it across the finish line in order to win, along with your whole team! Zeke!"
Ezekiel gulped and pulled his toque down over his eyes as the host smirked evilly at him.
Chef cut in now, wagging a finger at Courtney specifically, as she held the Screaming Bears' suitcase.
"And don't be damaging the merchandise inside that case! Stuff's expensive!"
Courtney rolled her eyes and tossed the suitcase over to Justin, who looked down at it for a second and then handed it to Lightning.
When Lightning raised an eyebrow at the male model, he gave a simple explanation.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not really the responsible type. If I see danger coming, I'm dropping this case and taking off as quickly as I can."
Lightning nodded and flexed one of his biceps. "Don't worry, pretty boy. Lightning is the most responsible person that Lightning knows!"
Chris popped up between them while chuckling. "Yep, you're definitely a role model for the kids back home, Lightning. But, since this isn't the Lightning show, I'm going to go ahead and start the challenge. Is that alright with you?" The host's tone and his facial expression had gotten decisively less friendly as he had spoken.
Lightning, however, didn't notice this. He just cockily put his hands on his hips and went into a power stance.
"Chris, Lightning is happy to hear that his talent is recognized. Lightning is ready to win today!"
Chris pursed his lips annoyedly and looked over at Chef, who just shook his head, and then over at the other Screaming Bears.
"Alright then. Seems that the Screaming Bears are confident. I wonder if they'll be as confident after I reveal their little handicap for losing the challenge earlier today? Chef, go ahead and spray them down."
The Screaming Bears didn't even have ample time to react before Chef, with two giant unmarked spray cans in his large hands, began spraying down all of them mercilessly. Some of them began choking by the time that Chef had finally finished.
Courtney sniffed her arm and nearly gagged. "Ughhh! This stuff smells like a sewer!"
Harold, who had also been sprayed, crinkled his nose. "Just be glad that it doesn't actually smell like a sewer. Sewer gas is a common cause of asphyxiation. At least we have a chance of survival with this."
Noah rolled his eyes. "Really glad that you cleared that up, but I'd much rather die from inhaling some nasty gas than being torn apart by bloodthirsty animals. Being shipped home in pieces probably wouldn't mesh well with my family's tradition of open casket funerals."
Lindsay whimpered, looking down at herself with disgust and worry. "It doesn't matter what it smells like. It smells terrible! It's going to take forever to wash the smell out of my clothes."
Chris grinned smugly down at them and gave a thumbs up. "I know, isn't it great?! It's full of solutions that smell like animal pheromones! Attracts all manners of creatures like a lightning rod."
He looked to the moon and checked his watch next. "Now that everything is explained and everything has been handed out, I think it's time to start the challenge! Good luck out there!"
Ezekiel, who had pushed his hat back up to its regular position, reluctantly raised his hand. The host sighed dramatically.
"Ugh, what is it, Ezekiel?"
The prairie boy had a deep frown. "Is not having Scott our handicap, homes? He wasn't in the cabin when we wo'oke up, eh."
Chris cocked an eyebrow at that and looked over at Chef. The cook shrugged defensively.
"I ain't seen dirt boy. He probably was just dumb enough to wander into the woods while the moon was coming out."
Chris turned back to the campers. "Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine. Chef and I will check the tapes from earlier to see where he went. You guys just go ahead and go!"
The campers somewhat reluctantly began trudging into the forest. As they disappeared into the shadows, Chef walked up to Chris.
"Chris man, are we really going to waste our time checking those tapes? I mean, they'll probably run into dirt boy on their way to the villa."
Chris looked up at Chef and began laughing. He pinched Chef's cheek amusedly and then began walking away.
"Oh, that was a good one, Chef! I don't have the time to do that kind of grunt work. By us, I meant that you would check the tapes. So get to it, kay, oh buddy oh pal."
Chef gritted his teeth together in a fake smile, his eyes wide and unblinking as he watched Chris walk away.
"Yeah," he clenched his fists. "I'll get right on that."
CONFESSIONAL:
Harold: The scrawny nerd was sitting comfortably against the toilet. "It's a real shame that Chris made this a challenge. Not because of the danger. I'm pretty sure that I can handle myself. It's just that it would've been great if I could've recorded a beatbox video with the blue moon behind me."
He shook his head disappointedly and closed his eyes. "It probably would've brought too much publicity to the show though. Lots of my fans would probably try to infiltrate the island and stuff."
Courtney: The CIT looked both tired and irritated. "What was I thinking when I signed up for this the first time? Honestly, what was I thinking?"
Mike: "The forest?! Of all places?!"
He sighed heavily. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. Maybe I should just come clean with everyone..."
(The Forest: The Screaming Bears)
"Alright guys, we're already at a huge disadvantage against the Sharks with this disgusting spray. If we're going to win, we need to come up with a strategy." Courtney walked authoritatively at the front of her team as they strolled through the start of the forest.
Noah, who trailed in the back, crossed his arms.
"What a great idea that we should come up with a good idea. Really, kudos to you. I could never have come up with such wisdom."
Courtney growled and was about to retaliate against the bookworm until Zoey got involved.
The redhead had an uncomfortable smile as she tried to mediate. "C'mon guys, let's not be taking our anger out on each other just because we're tired. We've gotta put our heads together if we want to win."
Justin shot a small smile at Zoey. "I'm liking the positivity, beautiful. Surely you have some sort of an idea that we could use."
Zoey's pale cheeks reddened a bit at being praised so openly. After all, she had mainly been brushed aside by the team so far.
Her hazel eyes blinked uncomfortably. "Ummm, I-I appreciate the compliment, but I don't really have any ideas right now..."
Courtney rolled her eyes and slowed down. Once she was on the level of Justin and Zoey, she shoved the male model to the ground. Justin rubbed his head and looked up at her.
"Ouch. What was that for?"
Courtney's facial expression conveyed no sympathy.
"She has a boyfriend, slimeball. Make yourself useful or stay out of the way."
Noah watched this scene with a great deal of interest.
CONFESSIONAL:
Noah: The know-it-all had a giant smirk on his face.
"Yep, so it seems like Justin and Courtney aren't attached at the hip anymore, which is good for me. I could technically claim leadership over the team now..."
He shot a bored expression at the camera now. "But that isn't really my style. Too bothersome."
Justin: He had a deeply worried look on his face.
"This isn't good. Courtney obviously figured out that I went behind her back to eliminate Heather. I definitely can't count on her vote anymore."
He tapped his chin in thought. "Which means that I probably need to take advantage of the other narcissistic know-it-all on the team. Won't be much of a problem; probably means less kicks to my beautiful kiwis anyways."
Lindsay hurriedly rushed over to help Justin up, shooting a uncomfortable glance at Courtney.
"Now, let's just all calm down, guys. We're all friends here, right?" Her weak defense of Justin prompted some eyerolls from others, particularly Noah, Lightning, and Courtney.
Courtney shot a weary glance at Justin and then pursed her lips at Lindsay before sighing.
"Alright, fine. I guess that it's pretty pointless to argue out here. Any ideas?"
Lightning finally spoke up impatiently from the side, "Lightning thinks that we're sha-wasting time! Those dumb animals are gonna be smelling us from a mile away, and Lightning is NOT losing twice in the same day."
Harold nodded, his eye closed sagely. "Lightning is right. The animals are going to be smelling all of the pheromones on us and lots of predators are going to follow us for a meal. I learned that the hard way in muskrat boys when we sprayed ourselves with doe pee to attract a buck and accidentally attracted a coyote instead. My group spent almost the whole night stuck up in a tree."
Zoey cocked an eyebrow at Harold. "That's...an interesting story, Harold. What can we do to wash it off? Would water work?"
Harold looked up in thought for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think that it would. Soap would be preferable, but if we submerged ourselves in water, it would probably wash off most of the spray."
Lindsay tapped her chin in thought before becoming excited. "Oh, I know! Maybe the suitcase has soap in it!"
Justin, who was standing next to the blonde, placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Normally, that would be a nice idea, but Chris said that we needed to bring it across the finish line to win. I'm guessing that means all of it."
Harold nodded. "Yeah, and Chef seemed awfully protective over whatever it has inside. He'd probably behead us or something if we opened it and ruined the contents. We'll just have to look for a lake or something."
Courtney huffed at him. "Don't act like you know everything, Harold. I was a CIT. Just plain water would wash off some of the scent at best."
Harold had a confused look on his face. "Uhh, I didn't mean to sound like I was bragg—"
Noah placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him.
"Gee Courtney, you must be nocturnal. You're just so much nicer right now than you usually are." He gave her a deadpan expression.
Courtney put her hands on her hips. "Hey, leaders can't always be pushovers. Sometimes people need someone to tell them as it is."
Justin shot an annoyed look at Courtney.
"Uhh, Courtney? Who said that you were our leader?"
Lightning hastily agreed. "Yeah, if anything, Lightning should be the leader! Lightning has led all of his teams to victory back home!"
Noah looked deep in thought for a few seconds before he smiled mockingly at Courtney, "Yeah, that worked in the pirate ship challenge. Maybe Lightning should be our leader."
Lindsay clapped her hands excitedly, "I agree! All of the football players back at my school are, like, so nice! They're really good at coming up with strategies too! You should see them on the field. I get confused trying to watch them sometimes."
Almost everyone rolled their eyes. Nobody wanted to be the one to tell Lindsay that the coaches were the ones who came up with the plays, not the players.
Justin, seeing an opportunity to score points with Lightning, agreed.
"Uh, yeah, Lightning would make a great leader. He's like a...really...strong guy? And that makes a good leader...I think?"
Courtney's tanned cheeks were red with anger.
"You would pick this—this," she motioned to Lightning, "idiot over me?! This is insane!"
Noah glared at her. "At least he doesn't act like a dictator."
Courtney took a few deep breaths. "Alright, so maybe I have been a bit..."
"Bossy," Zoey suggested.
Courtney clenched her fists. "Y-yeah, that. But I know what we need to do. You've got to trust me. We can win!"
Her team looked unimpressed. That is, except for one of them.
Harold walked up to stand next to Courtney, pushing his glasses up and breathing loudly.
"Let's give Courtney a break, guys. She isn't all that bad."
Lindsay stepped forward too.
"Yeah guys, Courtney is a great bunkmate! She always listens to me and my ideas! The only other person that does that for me is my dad, and even he laughs sometimes." The blonde smiled genuinely at the CIT. Courtney smiled back at the blonde.
"Aww, thanks Lindsay. I really appreciate that." She then, however, realized something else and her face quickly grew sour again.
Courtney shoved Harold away from her and then hastily brushed herself off. "But I didn't ask for your help, traitor!"
Zoey frowned at her, as did many of the others as Harold looked down at the ground in disappointment.
"Don't you think that was a bit harsh, Courtney?"
Courtney's gray eyes met Zoey's hazel ones confidently. "No, I don't. He cheated me out of the game before. And his presence constantly reminds me of that humiliating moment."
"I said I was sorry, gosh!"
Courtney glared daggers at the nerd. "Sorry? "Sorry" doesn't erase the tape! It doesn't erase the recording! It doesn't erase my humiliation! Why does everyone always dump on me for these things!"
Justin shrugged. "Hey, you humiliated me in Total Drama Action. Stuff happens."
"Lightning just don't really sha-like you as much as I like Harold," Lightning added.
Noah regarded her coldly. "Everyone who wants Lightning to be leader, raise your hands."
5 hands were raised, though Lindsay's was accompanied with a sympathetic glance at Courtney. The CIT's shoulder slumped at the result.
Lightning brought a foot up dramatically before stomping it onto the ground and posing with a finger pointing straight up into the sky.
"Gooooo, Team Lightning! Let's just rush the forest! Those stupid animals don't even know how to cook; they won't even know what's going on until we're gone!"
With that, the athlete took off running. Some of the others seemed to regret their decision after his dumb pep talk, but they ran after him anyway.
Justin brushed himself off as the others began leaving. He shot a charming and thankful smile at Lindsay, punctuating it with a finger gun.
"Thanks beautiful. You really saved my handsome tush back there."
Lindsay, who would usually have giggled and blushed at Justin's attention, merely smiled at him innocently and began following the others. This left Justin at a definite loss.
"What? What just happened? Am I losing my mojo again? Lindsay!" He ran after her and the others, his blue eyes full of insecurity.
(The Forest: The Killer Sharks)
The Killer Sharks, unlike the Screaming Bears, had decided immediately to take things on as they came. They walked through the forest in a tightly-packed group, being sure to be as quiet as possible so as to not attract any attention.
Of course, some of them had a harder time keeping their mouth shut than others.
"Pssst, hey, Leshawna...," Ezekiel pondered over something, anything to say.
He eventually settled on something. "How are ya doing, eh?"
Cody snickered into his hand. "Smooth, Zeke. Real smooth."
Eva, who was also walking near the prairie boy, gave him a harsh glare.
"Shut up, Homeschool. We're trying to be stealthy here."
Leshawna rolled her eyes playfully and then shot a side glance at Zeke. "It's fine, Eva. I'm doin' alright. I just wish I could've gotten more sleep before hiking through the woods. I'm usually a night owl, but I'm not an outside girl."
Ezekiel nodded absentmindedly before pursing his lips and raising his hand. The black girl chuckled a bit and grabbed his hand, pushing it down by his side.
"You know, you're so clueless that it's funny sometimes, white boy. What did you want to ask me?"
"Uhhh, I wanted t'a ask what ya meant when ya called yourself a night owl, eh. The Zeke ain't never heard that expression before."
Eva cocked her unibrow at the homeschooler. "C'mon Homeschool, even you aren't that dumb. Don't you remember all of the things that you learned at the playa?"
Ezekiel looked slightly uncomfortable as he rubbed his shoulder. "Uhh, The Zeke doesn't recall every detail 'a stuff that came...before season 3, eh."
Cody elbowed Eva for being insensitive. She sounded defensive when she replied.
"Alright, I'll agree that it came off as rude, but how was I supposed to know that?"
Cody elbowed her again. Eva glared at him before sighing several seconds later.
"Fine. I'm sorry, Homeschool." Her voice lacked a lot of genuine feeling and instead sounded somewhat monotonous.
Ezekiel furrowed his brow. "'Tis not something that offended The Zeke, homes. He can dig a good roast, eh. Word!" He threw up a peace sign to emphasize his point. Some of them shook their heads and others facepalmed at his lingo.
Trent, on the other hand, was sympathetic to the prairie boy. He clapped him on the back and slung a supportive arm around his shoulder.
"Don't laugh at him, guys. We're a team. The guy may be a bit clueless, but he's pulled his weight so far."
Cody tried to suppress his laughter by holding his stomach. "I'm sorry, Zeke. It's just that hip-hop slang doesn't fit you."
Leshawna agreed. "Mhhmm, you should really drop the slang, white boy. Just talk to us like you used to. There's no need to front."
Ezekiel frowned. "This is the way that I talk, yo'o! I ain't tryin' t'a step on anyone's to'oes, so'o I do'on't see what the problem is."
Eva shook her head at him. "C'mon Homeschool, you're so full of it! I remember when you talked just like any hick from Alberta would."
Ezekiel finally dropped the facade. He looked defeated as he glanced at each of them.
"You can tell that it's not natural, eh?"
Alejandro, who nobody had known was listening in, put his own two cents in.
"I'm pretty sure that everyone can tell, amigo."
The homeschooler looked down at his shoes. "I was just tryin' t'a sound cool, eh. Thought that maybe people would like me more if I sounded more hip."
Mike, who had been nervously eyeing the trees and bushes throughout their entire trek so far, felt his eyes drawn to the homeschooler.
"Listen, I know what it's like to pretend to be something that you aren't. It never ends well. Just be yourself," Mike smiled genuinely. "Those who truly care will stick around for the real you."
Ezekiel quickly seized Mike's hand. The quirky boy froze, obviously still harboring fear of the formerly-feral boy. Ezekiel, however, just shook his hand profusely.
"Thanks, eh! But I am The Zeke now, homes! I ain't no first boot no more!"
Eva scoffed. "First boot or not, I'll be really ashamed if you manage to last longer than me this time, homeschool."
Cody tried to be reassuring to the fitness buff. "Don't worry, Eva. You're certainly strong enough to get far this time. Why, you might even make finale."
Eva shot him a suspicious look. "You trying to butter me up, geek?"
"Of course not! I'm just trying to be nice."
Eva still didn't look sure until she saw Leshawna shooting her a sharp glance. The fitness buff sighed and relaxed.
"Thanks for the compliment...I'm just not a night owl, I guess..."
Ezekiel cut in again. "Speakin' 'a which, ya never told me what that meant, eh."
Trent chuckled. "A night owl is just somebody who thrives at night. That's usually when they're at their best."
Cody grinned. "Yeah, like how Trent here is an every owl."
Trent looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Leshawna shook her head amusedly at him. "Are we really going to pretend like you aren't nice to everyone all the time? Leshawna needs to learn your secret."
Trent blinked a few times before shrugging. "I don't really know, to be honest. Just a habit, I guess. Though I can't claim to be nice to everyone around here, especially Duncan."
Eva rolled her eyes. "Somehow, I don't think that anyone blames you for that one."
"I'm really trying to work on that, though. Gwen likes the guy, so...he can't be all bad...right?"
Over in the front of the group, a different conversation began.
Alejandro smiled at Mike. "That was a nice thing you did back there, friend. Though it confuses me. I thought that you were still weary of Zeke?"
Mike shrugged bashfully, his signature tooth gap showing itself.
"Eh, it was nothing. He's obviously not an animal anymore. Just wanted to help the guy out. Plus, his slang was kinda dragging on me."
Alejandro kept looking ahead, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Quite some wise advice you gave, is it not? I think that perhaps everyone should seek to follow its lesson, wouldn't you say?"
Even though Alejandro hadn't directed his remark at Mike directly, the quirky boy still squirmed a bit uncomfortably.
"Uhh...yeah. It doesn't exactly fit everyone's situation, though. Just some."
Alejandro just hummed in response. "Perhaps. Or maybe you just want to think that."
Mike was silent for several seconds after that, leading to a triumphant look on Alejandro's face.
Finally, after about a whole minute, his voice could be heard again, but he didn't say anything that Alejandro had been expecting to hear.
"Uhhh, guys? We might have a problem approaching..."
"What do you mean? I don't see anything."
"O-over to the right...Rustling bush..."
Alejandro craned his head to gaze at Mike, taking note first of his worry lines and then his wide eyes. He frowned and looked nervously at the rest of his team now, all of whom similarly looked anxious about the situation.
"Uhhhh, do we run or do we freeze?" Cody asked, his shoulders shaking a bit.
Trent similarly looked unsure of this. "Depends on what it is. I've heard that you're supposed to play dead to throw bears off."
Leshawna shot an incredulous look at him. "Where did you hear that? Seems like you would want to run from a bear."
"The internet," Trent confirmed quickly.
All of them hitched their breath as the bush kept rustling erratically, until something finally emerged from it onto their forest path.
Eva scoffed, glancing around at all of her other teammates. "A dumb raccoon? You're kidding me! McLean really oversold this challenge."
Mike, who was at the front of the group, let a smile pass onto his face as he kneeled down to pet the raccoon.
"Awww, you're just a cute little guy, aren't you? You wouldn't hurt us."
The raccoon chirped innocently a few times. However, when Mike's hand made contact with it, its masked eyes quickly narrowed. The raccoon, in a lightning-quick motion, let out a ear-piercing scream and jumped onto the boy, raking its small claws all around his body. Mike shrieked in both surprise and panic and began running around in random patterns, trying to pull the raccoon off of him but scarcely succeeding.
The others just stood in slight shock at what was going on for a few seconds. Eva, however, just frowned disappointedly and walked over to the boy, pinning him against a tree and tearing the raccoon off of him. She glared at the small gray creature in her hand as it reached its claws out violently to touch her.
"Little flea bag."
She tossed the raccoon back into the forest roughly. The fitness buff was just brushing her hands together proudly as the others, who were now looking over at where she had thrown the raccoon, began pointing frantically.
She grew a confused look on her face. "What?"
She turned around to view what they were pointing at.
From the small, dark forest clearing, not much was visible. But one thing was obvious: the army of bright yellow eyes glaring at the Sharks with obvious vitriol.
Alejandro quickly realized the situation and called out to the others.
"Run! Run as fast as you can!"
The army of racoons pounced onto the forest path and took chase as the Sharks split up, sprinting toward the direction of the finish line.
(The Forest: Screaming Bears)
Courtney dragged her feet in the back of her group now, in an obvious contrast with her strong marching lead of her team before...well, before Lightning became the official team leader.
She still couldn't believe that they had picked that idiot over her. She doubted that the arrogant athlete could find the hole in a donut without some sort of guiding help.
She glanced at the athlete's back as he happily jogged at the front of the team's group formation. He was humming some sort of tune that she didn't recognize.
Obviously, she wasn't the only one getting slightly annoyed by it.
Lindsay, who was tiredly jogging slightly behind the clueless athlete, raised her own grievance with it.
"Uh, Lightning? *PANT* Could you maybe hum in your head for a bit? *PANT*"
Lightning temporarily halted his humming to shoot a slightly offended look back at the blonde. Impressively enough, he kept jogging at the same pace as he looked back at her.
"What's wrong with Lightning's humming?"
Lindsay was struggling to keep up now. It was obvious to anyone who payed attention that part of her trouble was with her boots, which clearly weren't an ideal footware choice for running.
The blonde looked to the side and pursed her lips, obviously trying to find a way to say something without being rude.
"Um, it's just that it sounds a bit repetitive? I mean, it was motivating at first, but now it's getting a bit...tiring?"
Lightning pursed his lips and closed his eyes, turning his head back to the front.
"Lightning understands your lack of confidence, Lindsay, but all that Lightning does is win, win, win no matter what! The song fits Lightning perfectly! And with Lightning in charge, this team is going to be the same! Sha-bam!"
Zoey frowned as she jogged behind the two, obviously displeased with how Lightning had completely ignored Lindsay's request.
"Um, Lightning? I appreciate your enthusiasm and your team spirit, but don't you think that you could at least switch to a different song?"
Lightning was obviously annoyed by her request.
"Sure thing, Zoey. Lightning will stop if the team votes that he stops. Lightning, like any great leader, believes in demagoguery!"
Courtney, still near the back of the pack, rolled her eyes.
"It's democracy, you jarhead," she muttered under her breath.
Zoey looked conflicted about the idea, but she agreed to be polite.
"Alright. That sounds fair. Let's do it."
Lightning skidded to a stop almost instantly, leaving everyone behind him surprised and confused. They all slowed down as much as they could, but chaos followed. Harold tripped over Zoey, Justin tripped over the two of them, and Courtney almost tripped over the pile as well. Noah, who had opted to stay in the absolute back due to his lazy nature, just managed to grab her arm in time to keep her from joining their teammates on the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the bookworm for his surprisingly kind action.
"...Thanks, I guess? That was...nice of you to do."
Noah released her as sluggishly as he had grabbed her and sent a neutral shrug at her.
"Eh, don't look too much into it. It was the decent thing to do."
At that moment, Lightning raised the volume of his voice exponentially.
"Who has a problem with Lightning's harmonious tunes?"
Lindsay raised her hand innocently while shooting an apologetic smile at Lightning.
Courtney's hand, in contrast, immediately shot up. The CIT was shooting a piercing glare at the new "team captain".
Groaning from her fall, Zoey, with a hand on her hip as she stood up, also raised one of her hands, albeit not as high in the air as Courtney had.
Lightning examined all of them with pursed lips for about 30 seconds.
"By Lightning's count, that makes three out of...ummm..." The athlete looked at a loss for several seconds. Most of his teammates looked seriously surprised at how hard he was having to think about this.
Noah, partly out of pity for the athlete and also partly out of boredom with his terrible math skills, decided to intervene.
"That's three out of 7, genius. It means that you can keep humming 'til your happy heart is content!" Noah put a mockingly sweet look onto his face at the end of his statement.
Lightning immediately pumped his fists into the air. "Yeahhh! Lightning for the win!"
The girls all groaned at the childish display. Courtney sent an annoyed look at the boys, all of whom had voted with Lightning.
"Why did you guys vote with Captain Bean-For-Brains over there?" She motioned to the still-cheering Lightning with a despondent finger.
Noah shrugged carelessly. "What can I say? You can't hear him from how far back I was walking."
Justin put his hands on his hips and stepped forward next. "Eh, as someone who can't really sing or play an instrument that well, I sympathize with him."
Harold fiddled with his glasses and closed his eyes.
"I, for one, admire Lightning's spirit. He's got the true heart of a warrior. I mean, did you know that it's a time-honored tradition in the military for troops to sing and hum while marching together?"
Lindsay tilted her head in awe. "Really? That's so cool! Do they sing things like "Barbie Girl"?"
Harold pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. "You know, I don't actually know. I did see a video of them singing "Call Me Maybe" though, so I guess that it's possible."
Noah snapped his fingers, bring their attention to him. He took a deep breath.
"I hate to interrupt this, really I do, but I figured you guys should know that there's some water over there." He hooked a finger to up ahead of them to the left. Sure enough, through a small clearing, water could be just barely seen.
Lightning's eyes lit up. "Water?! That's sha-perfect to wash this stink off!"
The athlete took off toward the water, as did most of the other members of the team. Some seemed more desperate than others.
As Lightning approached the water, he took a grand leap into it. A large splash followed.
"Finally, I can wash this horrific stench off! Any longer and I might've lost some fangirls!"
Justin, who had been the one to scream that extremely vain line, followed closely behind Lightning, his blue eyes looking at the water as if it was his savior. He stopped right at the edge and dove in.
Lindsay similarly dove into the water with them, obviously desperate to not smell like animal anymore.
Zoey looked ready to dive in too, before Harold put a hand out to stop her. The redheaded indie chick shot a look of confusion at the nerd.
Harold's eyes were on the water. "Wait, that's a stream! It's going to carry you guys away!"
Unfortunately, his warning came too late. As his teammates in the water surfaced, the waterway quickly swept them downstream. All of them flailed around and called out to their dry teammates as they quickly disappeared from view.
Courtney soon stopped by the stream, looking on in frustration as Justin, Lightning, and Lindsay were swept away by the water. Noah arrived soon after.
Harold glanced to the side at Zoey and then at Noah and Courtney.
"What are we going to do now?"
Zoey spoke up. "We can't just leave them behind."
Noah dryly scoffed. "Doesn't look like we have much choice. Unless you want to follow the stream."
Zoey looked unsure of this, a worried look in her eyes.
"...But...what will happen to them?"
Courtney put her hands authoritatively on her hips and held her head up high.
"Listen up! Now that Lightning is gone, I'm in charge again. We need to get to the end. The others will just have to make it on their own. We don't have the time to wait for them."
Harold, trying to lighten the tension between them, smiled and began chuckling.
"I guess that there really is a "team" in "stream"."
He began laughing, that is, until he noticed that the others were just shooting bored looks at him.
"Oh c'mon! That was hilarious!" The nerd crossed his arms and turned his head defiantly. "You guys just don't know good humor."
CONFESSIONAL:
Zoey: The redhead looked somewhat conflicted. "I wonder if the other team gets along better than mine does? I mean, I appreciate them all to a certain extent, but some of them just don't seem to like each other. I wish I could do something about it." She seemed thoughtful about this, her red lips pursed as the camera faded out.
(The Forest: Cody)
"Ahhhhhh!"
Cody is seen running in chaotic directions all around the forest with about three racoons attached to him. The small gray beasts were hissing violently and squirreling around the tech geek, scratching him viciously as he ran.
His turquoise eyes were wide with terror as he ran, his eyes so focused on the racoons that he couldn't even tell where he was going or if he was going the right way.
Plus, there was also the fact that he was no longer with any of his teammates. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he was near any of them anymore.
He had already tried punching the raccoons off, but it was pretty futile. His arms were simply too weak for the job.
As he shrieked and ran around in rapidly-changing directions, he finally heard voices nearby. Human voices! He couldn't quite see, but he tried to steer himself in that direction.
The key word there is "tried".
When Cody tried to pivot his direction, he failed to realize just how many obstacles were all around him. As soon as his feet changed direction, he tripped over a large rock and faceplanted into a dark brown tree.
His ears perked up as he heard the voices, now louder and more frantic-sounding.
"What do'o we do'o, eh?! I ain't never been trained in racoon warfare, dawg!"
Cody faintly recognized the voice as Ezekiel, but he didn't get to ponder over who was with him for long before said person took action to repel the racoons that were currently attacking him.
*WOOSH!*
"OWWWWWWWWWW!"
The second person now spoke, obviously trying to calm the tech geek as they struck him with a large stick
"Hold on, sugar! I'm just trying to help! Zeke, try to stop him from moving as much!"
"I-I can't, eh! I'm scared 'a getting hit!"
Cody held various parts of his body in pain as Leshawna struck him, aiming for the racoons that were attached to him but missing about 30% of the time.
"Ow! Leshawna! Ow! Please! Stop! Ow!"
The black girl held the large stick in the air, frozen mid-strike. Cody now faceplanted weakly onto the ground as the wounded racoons scurried away from him. He had scratch marks all over and he looked quite beaten.
Leshawna lowered the stick sheepishly, just now realizing how often she must have accidentally hit Cody. She kneeled down next to him and began rubbing his back.
"Sorry about the extra damage, Cody. Leshawna ain't the best swing in the world."
(Back at Camp)
"Ahhhhh, this is the life, Chef my man. This is the life."
The host was propped up on a comfy-looking beach chair out in the middle of the campgrounds, a large TV monitor in front of him with feeds from all around the forest as the teams began their trek across the island. An artificial lamp was nearby on the ground, illuminating part of the area. Next to the host's chair sat another foldout beach chair, this one occupied by a grumpy Chef Hatchet.
The cook fidgeted to find a comfortable position in his chair while scowling at Chris.
"Maybe the life for you. I'm tired of this job. It's the same thing every year: whiny kids, long work hours, and disregard for my talent."
Chris nearly choked as he sipped some lemonade out of a straw. He worked for a few seconds to get the liquid down before chuckling at Chef.
"You, talented? Give me a break, Chef. This show is my life, and it's your life. Nobody else would hire you with those terrible cooking skills, but they sure work well in torturing the contestants!"
Chef grunted angrily and stood up, glaring at the host and pointing at him.
"You see, that's exactly what I'm talking about! I'm done with being your stooge and getting no respect!"
Chris now had a confused look on his face.
"Chef, buddy? I thought we had worked this out on the movie lot. You do your job and I do mine. What's the problem with that?"
"You don't respect my art at all! My mama always said that if you don't respect a man's cooking, than you don't respect him as a man!"
Chris tried to desperately to keep from chuckling, but failed miserably.
"Your art?"
Chef waved his hands around in the air in outrage. "You see here, this is what I'm talking about! You're laughing!"
Chris tried to cover his mouth with his left hand. "I'm not laughing! I swear!"
"You laughed! I heard it! Don't lie to me!"
Chris sighed and slung an arm around one of Chef's broad shoulders, fiddling with one of the cook's apron buttons with his other hand.
"C'mon Chef, when have I ever lied to you before? I don't lie to you; I lie to women and teenagers. I was just laughing with you, man. You know, to show my love for your cooking."
Chef's eyes, however, didn't soften. He roughly slapped Chris's hand off of his apron. The host rubbed his hand offendedly.
"If that's true, why do you never eat the food that I prepare? Why do you spend so much money on buying and shipping food out here for yourself?" Chef put his hands on his hips in an interrogative fashion.
Chris at least had the decency to look uncomfortable.
"Umm, I, uhh, because...that food is...for the campers! Yes, because your food is for the campers!" The host nodded profusely.
Chef was ready with another question, though.
"Mhm, what a good excuse. How about you putting all of my special steaks into those dumb briefcases that you gave the teens!? How about you sneaking into my sacred fridge to do it?! How about you keeping it a secret until right before we woke those whiners up?!"
Chris opened his mouth, and then promptly closed it. He seemed to think deeply about what Chef had said for several seconds.
Finally, he pointed his index finger up into the air. "Chef, my good man, that's all classified information. Above your paygrade. Sorry," the host held his hands out defensively.
"I would tell you, but the producers said that I can't." He then nodded, seeming proud of his answer.
Chef had his arms crossed calmly now.
"And that's your final answer?"
Chris thought about it for a second before nodding.
Chef glared at him and began walking away.
"Wait, Chef! Where are you going?!"
Chef didn't even turn around as he yelled his response.
"I'm heading for the chopper! I want to go ahead and go to the villa! At least there I can find something to do without you."
Chris hurried after him sheepishly.
"That's hurtful, dude!"
(The Forest: Alejandro)
"This is terrible. How are we ever going to win now?"
Alejandro walked alone through the dark forest now, shadows obscuring much of his body and the moonlight contrasting this by illuminating other parts.
He had a frustrated look on his face, which came about because, despite their original plan, his team had been sent in chaotically random directions by an army of vicious racoons.
Now, he was traipsing through the woods all alone with aggressive animals on the prowl and without a single team member.
Perfect. I mean, he had prevailed plenty of times before on this show, despite adversity, but this was quite the situation.
Maybe this is karma for what I did to Heather earlier?
He paused briefly to consider that. Hmmm, yes, it wouldn't be the first time that toying with Heather had come back to bite him.
And, of course, it seemed awfully like Heather to send the Moon itself after him.
CONFESSIONAL:
Alejandro: "Alright, so I may have slightly bothered Heather on purpose. I do feel a bit bad about that now, but-"
His eyes widened, "Wait a minute. Why do I feel bad for doing it? She rejected me, humiliated me, and it was her fault that I was stuck in a hellish robot suit for a year!"
He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
"Sooooo cold."
He remained caught in his thoughts as he walked through the forebodingly dark forest alone. A cold breeze would eventually pull him back to reality, sending a slight shiver down his spine.
He quickly realized just how cold it was out there. The Latino hugged himself to preserve his body heat and kept walking, shaking slightly the whole time.
"This is simply r-ridiculous. It should not be this cold in summer." He grimaced. "I must have lost my Latin heat in that robot suit."
"I agree."
Immediately, Alejandro's green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The muscular Latino jumped in alarm and looked around frantically.
"Who said that?! I know how to fight, I warn you!" He had brought both of his hands up in a defensive position.
A dreary laugh sounded from his left. He quickly turned around and became so startled by the appearance of a mysterious figure entrenched in the shadows of the tree tops that he tripped over his own feet and toppled back onto the ground.
He rubbed his head wearily and focused his eyes in the direction of the figure. To his great surprise, a silver suitcase with the signature red Killer Sharks logo laid upright next to the mystery person's white sneakers.
Alejandro squinted at the figure for a moment before recognizing the person.
"Mike? It's great to see a familiar face out here, amigo!"
Mike regarded him coldly, his brown eye dully looking Alejandro up and down. His mouth was a completely straight line.
The Latino frowned upon noticing this. Then he remembered something.
He slapped his head lightly. "That's right. I forgot that Mike isn't always Mike! Idiota!"
"Mike" still continued to stand there, leaning against a tree trunk with his arms crossed. He seemed almost bothered by the Latino's presence.
Alejandro stood up, meticulously dusting himself off. After he was satisfied with how he looked once again, he extended a hand out to "Mike".
"What is your name, strange one? I've never met any of Mike's personalities directly."
"Mike" chuckled lightly, though his dark and deep tone did cause Alejandro's brows to furrow.
Seconds later, one scrawny tanned hand reached over and took Alejandro's muscular one. The two shook hands in greeting.
Alejandro glanced disdainfully into his teammate's brown eye.
"That's quite a tight grip you have there, friend. What did you say that your name was, again?"
"Mike" smiled, showing off his usual gap-toothed grin. He used his other hand to sweep some of his hair out of his face to reveal his other eye.
"The name's Mal. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
CONFESSIONAL:
Mal: The mysterious personality once again only showed one visible eye, as his unruly hair had again fallen forward to cover his other one. This time, however, he didn't do anything to fix it. Instead, he just crossed his arms and shot a small smile at the camera.
"I must say, this blue Moon had spectacular timing." He began laughing in his deep voice. "It really made Mike get jumpy," he considered this for a moment before correcting himself.
"Well, at least more jumpy than usual. Made it a cinch to just seize control." He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
"Of course, I intend on being more than just a tourist today. I'm here to have some fun. I already broke the seal on that suitcase. That nice meaty aroma will bring all the animals around running. In fact, I worry for Alejandro's safety with that case around. Hehehehe."
He rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. "Oh ho ho, Mike's going to start panicking even more once that idiot Alejandro tells him what name I used. All of the dominoes are already falling into place in such a nice order. Soon, I'll be in charge permanently."
(?: Courtney, Noah, Harold, and Zoey)
The small group now traveled through the forest again, having already made it past the stream from before and a large gorge in the ground afterwards. Surprisingly, it had been smooth sailing for them, as far as animals were concerned.
This was despite how loud they were being.
Noah flicked his eyes over to watch his three teammates. Harold was trying to explain something to the girls that only he would find interesting. Courtney was huffing and puffing, no doubt waiting for him to shut up so that she could go off on him. And Zoey was nicely pretending that she was interested in what the nerd was saying.
"Not to talk about the challenge here, but the woods seem to get a bit different up ahead."
The others squinted up ahead, trying to place what Noah meant. Sure enough, he was right. There was a pretty BIG difference in the part of the woods that they were approaching.
Namely, that almost all of the trees had been cut down.
Harold's eyes widened behind his spectacles. He quickly adjusted them, only to find that this didn't change what he was seeing.
His mouth fell open. "What happened here? Nothing on the island should've been able to do this."
Zoey had a scared look on her face. She brought her arms close to her chest.
"Mike and I saw the same thing around camp earlier today. I thought it may've just been Chris expanding the campgrounds...," she said quietly.
At that moment, the aforementioned host's voice sounded from a nearby unknown source.
*BEEP* "Uh, hello? Hello hello hello? Is this thing on?"
Courtney crossed her arms angrily. "Yeah, you're on, McLean. And I hope you're ready to be off! This challenge is way too dangerous! We could've easily died if we had ran across something like a bear!"
Chris's voice didn't seem to hold any sympathy. In fact, he sounded cheerful.
"Ah, Courtney. Nice to hear from you again. Have you enjoyed your walk through nature?"
Zoey clearly saw what Chris was trying to do. She quickly began rubbing the CIT's shoulders to console her.
"Don't respond; that's just what Chris wants you to do. He's trying to make you mad."
Courtney grumbled and her eyes softened a bit.
"...Thanks, Zoey."
After waiting a few seconds for a comeback that never came, Chris began speaking again.
"Alright campers, now that I'm done ribbing you, it's time for me to prepare you for what comes next."
Each of them began listening, albeit somewhat anxiously. Those trees did not look like they had a pleasant explanation.
"You see, we've had a bit of a, um...containment problem on the island lately." Chris's voice sounded a bit sheepish now.
"We added a few features to Boney Island, which led to some of the wooly beavers deciding to swim over and invade Wawanakwa."
Immediately, looks of horror took over the faces of all present Bears.
"You mean that you just let those horrific things run wild on the island?! Near the campground?! Those things are carnivorous!"
Chris chuckled over the unseen speaker, "Yep, it's become a bit of a big problem. I honestly didn't catch it until earlier today when I realized that they claimed this entire tract of land near my villa. Probably would've overrun my villa if it didn't have a whole protective zone around it."
"Which brings me to your current problem. You are heading right into their current territory, and let me tell you that they are usually pretty aggressive, so the blue harvest Moon probably isn't helping matters."
Noah's voice finally had some sense of inflection: fear. The egghead's eyes were wide and they were rapidly darting around him now for any sight of the carnivorous beavers.
"You mean that you assigned this challenge despite that?! This is insane!"
Chris's voice returned again. The campers finally pinpointed the location of the speaker that he was using. It was stuck up in a tall tree that was one of the few in the area that was still standing.
"Unfortunately, at least for you, I have more bad news. You remember that suitcase that you've been lugging around?" Courtney frowned as she glanced down at the silver case in her hands. The others now looked at it as one would a bad omen.
"Yep! The smell of it is going to attract the beavers to you if you lollygag around here for too long. I would also keep in mind that wooly beavers have exceptional hearing, so staying as quiet as possible will be key to making it through here."
Zoey's voice was extremely quiet and weak. "And what are we supposed to do if we make it through here?"
The answer came booming back through the speaker, "I'm glad you asked! You'll be out of the woods, both literally and metaphorically! I've got a protective safety zone that you can enter if you make it through here. After that, you'll reach the finish. Sounds simple, right?""
Harold looked down. "Or anything but."
"Great! I wish you guys luck! Go ahead and do your best to get through alive! And don't worry! I have people that will come rescue you if you are caught. You know, in memory of all of the great times we've had together."
Right before the speaker cut off, Chris whispered one last thing.
"Just between you and me, I put some money on you guys against Chef. So get your screaming butts to the finish line quickly! Chris out." The speaker beeped and the green light flashing on it died, signaling that they were, once again, on their own. However, the air suddenly had a more solemn feel to it.
Harold noticed something quickly in the distance. He placed his left hand over his forehead and squinted.
"Hey guys, what is that all the way over there?"
With fearful eyes, the rest of the group looked at where Harold was focused. Sure enough, a pair of bright white eyes gazed at them all from the shadows up ahead.
Immediately, they all collectively took a few steps back. That's when they began looking around them.
"We're surrounded, guys!" Zoey sounded terrified as she gazed out at the forest line and saw a line of wooly beavers glaring back at them.
Noah gazed fearfully at the line of beavers before shooting a piercing glare at the sky.
"I just knew that today was going to suck a**."
(The Forest: Justin)
Justin made sure to stay silent as he sneakily snuck from tree to tree, his wet sandals squelching quietly against the ground as he hastily tip-toed for cover each time.
He was currently following someone. Err, uh, two someones, actually. They could be seen as the male model hesitantly craned his head around the tree that he was hiding behind to watch them.
Mike and Alejandro. Two of the Killer Sharks right in front of him, carrying their team's case closer and closer to the finish line.
When he had first gotten out of the stream, he had wandered aimlessly around the forest. Soon enough, though, he had found them. He had recognized Alejandro easily.
Mike, on the other hand, was apparently trying a new hairstyle. Looked pretty emo to Justin, but hey, it was a slight improvement on the dorky spiky one that he usually wore around.
But Alejandro.
Justin clenched his fists together angrily as he jumped to another tree and peered over at the pair. His blue eyes narrowed in on Alejandro specifically.
He ruined everything, Justin bitterly thought to himself. The male model had been on top of the world until Al had come along onto the show.
Soooo many people called him a replacement for the hunky male model, but Justin just couldn't see it. I mean, if the goatee wasn't enough, the dude also had an obvious attraction to Heather. Heather.
The thought of those two together made Justin cringe. He was better than this outdated poser! And he currently had a plan to prove it! Nobody on this show fit the category of "eye candy" more than him!
CONFESSIONAL:
Justin: He victoriously smiled at the camera and pointed a finger at the side of his head.
"Yep, someone around here needs to bring Al down a peg. And my gorgeous mind has come up with just the strategic maneuver."
Rubbing his hands together nervously, Justin hid behind his last tree. His eyes displayed a god-like amount of confidence.
As Mike and Alejandro leisurely walked past his tree, he sprang into action. Bolting out onto the path, the male model easily pushed Mike aside, grabbed the Sharks' silver suitcase, and took off running in a random direction.
Justin shot a charming side smile at any nearby cameras, as well as a wink. He was even cocky enough to call back to those had had duped.
"You've just been finessed by the best, gentlemen!"
"YOU GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE RUINING MY PLAN!"
Justin uncharacteristically yelped as he looked back and saw a vengeful Mike gaining on him. Alejandro was, surprisingly, sprinting behind the scrawny boy.
Justin kept his wide eyes trained on them as he kept rushing forward with no sense of direction.
"No! Stop! This isn't how you're supposed to play the game!" He began panicking as the two other boys began seriously gaining on him.
He glared at his feet as he ran, clutching the silver suitcase closely to his chest.
"Damn, I knew sandals was a bad choice."
He once again looked back, this time with a friendly smile.
"Hey guys! Can't we talk about this?! What if I just drop the case nearby for you and you leave my handsome body un-ravaged?! What say you?!"
"Mike" didn't respond. His one visible eye was trained on Justin and a dark smiled was spreading across the odd boy's face. Justin paled when he realized that Mike would catch him at any moment now.
He had made up his mind. He would have to try it. And so, he reluctantly dropped the silver suitcase at his feet and kept running forward as he screamed for mercy.
Alejandro was trying to yell something out, but Justin didn't hear him in time. The male model suddenly disappeared up ahead, his screams fading.
Mal skidded to a stop in front of a large, wide-spanning gorge in the ground, studying it with disappointment.
Alejandro soon joined him, silver suitcase in hand. He frowned deeply and bent down to peer over into the gorge. Sure enough, Justin's screams could be heard fading into the dark crevice.
Mal eyed the Latino's back in contemplation, obviously pondering something.
CONFESSIONAL:
Mal: The mysterious persona still looked to be deep in thought. However, he now looked to be using his hands as scales to weigh his options.
"Hmmmm, push Alejandro down the chasm?" One of his hands went up high.
"Or stick to my current plan?" His first hand drooped back down while the other drifted up.
Alejandro pursed his lips as he tried to see anything in the darkness of the gorge. He soon shook his head and stood up, turning to Mal, who was standing right next to him with a neutral expression.
"There's nothing we can do to help Justin now. So we keep going, alright?"
Mal scoffed and crossed his arms lazily across his chest. "Why on Earth would you consider helping him anyway? The fool tried to steal from us."
Alejandro now looked slightly suspicious of the personality. He stroked his chin in thought before pointing at him inquisitively. "Surely you aren't heartless, right amigo?
Mal grinned leaning forward a bit.
"Oh no no no no no. I'm not heartless. Just realistic."
Alejandro frowned, but dropped the subject. Then, looking to his right, he asked a question.
"How did Justin not notice the rope bridge across?"
CONFESSIONAL:
Alejandro: The Latino rubbed his chin in puzzlement. "There's just something...really strange about that Mal character...But I just can't quite put my finger on it. I'm going to have to watch him closely."
(The Stream: Trent)
Trent surveyed the strong stream in front of him, a hand rubbing his clefted chin.
"Hmmm, I could stay here to see if anyone else comes by. I mean, it is a pretty noticeable landmark," he quietly mused to himself.
A grunt came from behind him, leading the musician to raise an eyebrow and turn around. Sure enough, Eva walked out of the forest and into the clearing. The fitness buff had her usual neutral-but-unapproachable facial expression.
"Pretty nice idea," she acknowledged. "But what happens if the rest of the team has already passed here? You would be the reason that we lose."
Trent frowned as she approached, hands on her hips. He had really been hoping for a teammate of his that was maybe a bit...nicer.
Eva got down onto her knees and dipped her hands into the stream, washing them. Once she was satisfied, she shook them dry and stood back up, looking down at it.
She scoffed. "Chris made this part of the challenge? What kind of an idiot would fall into such an obvious trap?"
Trent just shrugged, deciding to stay quiet.
Eva looked back at him and smiled. "Not feeling chatty? Good. Now that we don't have homeschool to give us away, we should get through the rest of it smoothly."
Trent watched as she took a running jump over the stream, landing harshly against the ground and looking back at him impatiently. He took some steps back to get a running start himself.
"God, I almost wish that Ezekiel was here. From what I remember of the island last time, Eva isn't the most friendly with her teammates," he muttered to himself before taking off toward the stream.
CONFESSIONAL:
Trent: The musician tossed his head to the side, drops of water flying out of his now-wet hair. He looked slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, I fell in," he admitted. "Luckily Eva was there to pull me out before I got swept really far downstream."
He winced as he rubbed his arm. "She could've been gentler, though. Felt like my arm was an accordion with how roughly she stretched it."
Eva: "Yeah, so music man fell into the stream because he's got chicken legs. Not a big deal," she shrugged.
"I'll admit he's pretty nice company. He's not a chatterbox and he's not annoying. Though I can tell that he's not really comfortable around me."
(Wooly Beaver Territory: Courtney, Noah, Harold, and Zoey)
The wooly beavers let out animalistic grunts as they closed in on the four vulnerable teenagers.
Courtney finally looked worried, her eyebrows furrowed anxiously as she looked frantically around her.
The CIT's attention wad diverted when she felt someone grab her hand tenderly. She looked down and then looked up. Zoey, whose pale hand was now shakily holding Courtney's, tried to plaster a smile onto her scared face.
"Well, we might as well put our differences aside, right?"
Courtney considered this for a second before gripping Zoey's hand tightly, finding a bit of comfort in it. She sighed in defeat. Unfortunately, Zoey was probably right. I mean, Chris would probably rescue them, but they were definitely getting roughed up a fair bit before that happened.
She guessed that she should probably try to be a better person in this moment.
With this in mind, she turned to Harold, averting her eyes from actually looking at the ginger nerd. He was currently positioned in a lame-looking karate pose. She would usually be annoyed by this, but this time was a bit different.
"...Harold, if this goes badly...I-I forgive you..."
Harold had a determined look on his face as he stared down the approaching wooly beavers, who were almost right on top of the teens now. He kept trying to karate chop or kick the air to look intimidating, but it was clear that it was only serving to amuse the beavers.
However, he froze for a split second and moved his gaze to Courtney after processing her words, a dumbfounded look on his face.
This quickly became an annoyed expression, however.
"Gosh! Are you serious?! Right now?!"
Courtney temporarily forgot the situation and glared at him.
"Hey, that was really hard for me to say after what you did! Some gratitude would be nice here!"
"I do appreciate it, but this is kind of bad timing right now!"
Zoey sighed and turned to Noah, who looked like he was desperately trying to come up with an escape plan.
"Why can't we all just get along?"
Noah cocked an eyebrow at her, "If we did, do you think this show would exist? What would they call it then? Total Cooperation?"
Despite their bleak situation, Zoey chuckled a bit.
"So what's the plan?"
Noah sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and looking around them.
"I'll let you know when I have one."
"HEY! DUMB-LOOKING BEARS! OVER HERE!"
Everyone, from the cornered campers to the carnivorous beavers, turned toward the source of the unexpected noise. There, standing dramatically and a bit regally on a high tree branch, stood Lightning. Zoey gaped in surprise, as did Harold and Courtney. Noah raised a surprised eyebrow at the spectacle.
Lightning put on a heroic grin, obviously reveling in the moment. He took a moment to flex one of his biceps and kiss it before laughing heartily at the beavers, who were now exchanging confused glances with each other.
The athlete then pointed a dramatic finger at the beavers, "Once Lightning is finished with you, you'll be begging to go into hibernation, ugly bears! Let Lightning's weak team go!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
The Killer Sharks: Alejandro, Scott, Cody, Trent, Ezekiel, Mike, Leshawna, and Eva
The Screaming Bears: Lightning, Zoey, Courtney, Justin, Noah, Lindsay, and Harold
Elimination Order: Jo, Duncan, Brick, Gwen, Heather, ?
Well ladies and gentlemen, this has been chapter 11! I hope you liked it and the explanations that it provided for some of the strange stuff that has been going on! Trust me when I say that more will be explained soon! And yeesh, I finished this faster than expected!
Alright, so the reason why I took this challenge from canon All-Stars is that someone messaged me with the request. They said that it was their favorite challenge and that they thought it could work. After I considered it for a bit while writing chapter 10, I decided to run with it. I think that I did a decent job.
I just looked at the specs for the story for the first time in awhile and, surprisingly, lots of you viewers are from places like Argentina, Malaysia, etc. Who knew, right? I would never have known if I didn't check.
Once again, any reviews or PMs of your ideas or thoughts about the story are always welcomed. Likewise, follows and favorites help me to gauge how much of a loyal following the story has. Don't be shy, guys! If you don't want to review publicly, you can always just PM me. I'm open to any ideas or suggestions you might have :)
Which team will emerge victorious at the finish line?
Where is Scott?
Can Justin escape the gorge?
What is Mal's bigger goal?
This is WhatTheHeck23, signing off!