USER RESPONSES:

- SuperSonicHeroes: Nah, that's totally fair to be completely honest. And yeah, I always was a little interested in the aspects of Boney Island we haven't seen. Like, it's a huge island, just as big as Camp Wawanakwa if not bigger, and yet we've seen so little of it. So we're really approaching this story with the idea of exploring what makes Boney Island such a strange, scary, and confusing place. And while I understand the idea of cheering for a side based on the conception of how Chris viewed them, I wouldn't be so quick; after all, these teams may not be what they seem after all...

Ravenous Raccoons: Alfred, Benson, Edward, Isabel, Jiao, Nikki, Oskar, Sage, Sylvia.

Barbaric Beavers: Alia, Alyosha, Droog, Gareth, Jerome, Kate, Lori, Tempest, Xavier.

Stepping down from the helicopter, Jerome held his stomach in pain. His face was green as he suppressed a burp. "W-Who gave this pilot his license!" Falling to his knees in dramatic fashion, he mumbled, "Land...Safe land that won't hurt me..."

Benson stepped off soon after, scoffing and mumbling, "Baby."

"S-Shut up," Jerome grumbled, catching his breath and lifting his head up to see what looked to be the campgrounds. In terms of appearance, it was...Painfully familiar. The cabins were painted a dark shade of brown, with rotting wood, shattered windows, and in the case of one of the cabins, a very clearly caved-in hole on the roof that looked to have been hastily patched together with a lot of duct tape; between the two cabins, the only especially notable difference besides the hole were the logos on the sides of the cabins, the one on the left having the Raccoon's blue logo, and the one on the right having the bear's purple one. The only thing that looked even remotely in shape was the mess hall, and even then, it still had clearly been suffering from years of decay.

Staring at the camp in silence, Benson muttered, "So...We're gonna be staying here for the entire summer...How disappointing."

Letting out a long whistle, Jerome eyed the scene with an appreciative look. "Won't lie, I did not expect it to look this good when we got here." Unaware of the other man's bewildered expression, he folded his arms with a warm smile. "It almost reminds me of home..."

"I pity you." Benson duly noted, ignoring Jerome's offended scowl as he checked his watch. "If they won't be here for a few hours, I see no reason to not get at least somewhat comfortable."

As the handsome has been walked away though, Jerome scoffed, muttering under his breath, "Bougie smart ass…" Growling to himself, he looked over at the two cabins, before letting out a scoff and walking away from them. "Forget the comfort, I'm headin' for the food!"

"Onward!" Edward announced at the tops of his lungs, his feet stomping across the ground as he walked through the forest with a cheeky grin, a sliver of grass in his teeth as he let out a low laugh. "If my eyes are good, which something tells me they are, then we should be at camp in around an hour!"

Walking behind were his two teammates, Sylvia and Sage; the former was walking in step with him movement by movement, while the latter wasn't really paying much attention, with half-open eyes and a lax expression as she picked at her ears. Between the pair, however, was Droog, his look one of annoyance as he glanced down at the black vest wrapped around his hands like makeshift handcuffs. Holding them up, he spat, "Any reason why I have to have these on?"

"Simple mate, can't trust 'ya to just have your hands free and all," Ed replied, a smirk on his face as he looked ahead, "nothing personal."

"Yeah, got it," Droog rolled his eyes. His nose rose slightly at a flicker though, looking behind him to see Sage having pulled out a box and a lighter from her pocket. Smirking, he said, "Passing the time I see?"

"Eh, it's probably the only thing that'll keep me sane around this guy," Sage shrugged, a small grin on her face as the two shared a short laugh.

Edward narrowed his eyes at their conversation, as Sylvia gave him a friendly nudge. "Don't listen to them. You're doing them a favor by leading us to camp! Like any brave hero of justice would!" Edward gave her a smile in response, nodding along confidently before winking at her, turning away just as her face turned a bright red.

Sylvia straightened her posture in front of the camera. "I really respect Edward as a person and as someone who works in the field of justice! He's my superior and we share a lot of the same thoughts too...S-So naturally I want to be his friend and everything."

Looking off to the side, she mumbled under her breath while twirling a finger through her hair, "His accent isn't so bad either..." Glancing up at the camera, she immediately shook her head. "I-I mean it's all in the name of friendship and justice and-"

"I don't care if that uptight dork holds me up later about, 'conspiring with the enemy', or whatever, I'll talk to whoever I want," Sage scoffed, folding her arms over her chest, "besides, Droog is a bit sketchy, sure, but at least he's not exhausting to talk to. You gotta take what you can out here."

Walking through the woods, Kate paced herself behind Alfred and Isabel, taking the time to look at their surroundings. Making a face at the decomposed trees and ominous atmosphere, she mumbled to herself, "It looked so much better on the brochure..."

"I'm surprised you trusted it." Isabel commented, looking back at her and asking, "Besides, didn't you watch the show?"

"I did, but I only really caught a few episodes every once and a while," Kate explained, "I couldn't afford the DVDs, so I only ever caught whatever would air on the TV in the daycare I work at." Upon noticing the two's worried looks at this, she quickly explained, "I-It was in the staff room! I wouldn't show children this! I'm a good-"

"Relax, relax," Isabel stopped her, holding up her hands with a smile, "I get it. To be honest, maybe missing the episodes that featured this place was for the best. They were always a little...Out there, if you get me."

"Lots of dead interns," Alfred added, only to cringe at the look on her face, "don't worry, we didn't see them die, it was just heavily implied with passing shots-" He stopped himself, noticing the girl's face beginning to pale. "I shall stop talking now."

"Look, it's nothing to worry about, alright?" Isabel explained, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Just don't stray from the path, and we should be fine." She pointed down to the dirt path they were traveling along. "Trust me, we'll be back at camp in no time."

Kate's breath hitched from the touch, as she meekly nodded her head. "Y-Yeah, okay...I trust you." Giving her a weak smile, she added, "Thank you, Isabel."

"No problem. Just cause we're not on the same team doesn't mean we can't be friendly, right?" She asked, as the other girl promptly nodded her head. "Now, how about we pick up the pace so we can get back to those nice, technically comfortable cabins before it gets too late, alright?"

Kate simply nodded again, squeaking out, "A-Alright!" Isabel let out a soft laugh at this, before promptly walking ahead a bit to continue looking at her map. As she walked away, she looked down while a bright red blush crept up to her cheeks.

"Your face is turning red. Are you having a bad reaction to the heat?" Kate's blush only got darker at this, as Alfred began searching through his pockets. "I think I brought an ice pack if you want-"

"I'm fine!" Kate instantly said, placing a hand over her mouth soon after. Shaking her head, she gave the boy a sheepish smile while walking ahead of him. "L-Let's just get moving before we get lost, okay? Okay!"

"I-I'm fine!" Kate exclaimed, waving her hands in front of the camera. "I just get flustered very easily...When I'm around certain women...T-That's all…" She bit her lip once more, before soon saying, "I-It's not like I like her in that way or anything- We just met! It's just..."

Looking down, she mumbled, "She has this aura about her that's intense and she has a really nice voice and-" Slapping a hand over her mouth, she groaned.

Alfred rubbed his chin in thought for a moment...Before asking himself, "Why did I bring an ice pack with me?"

Walking through the woods, Nikki held her gaze on the comic in front of her, unconcerned with her surroundings. Looking up from her comic, she noticed Gareth, who was walking a few paces ahead of her. His face was practically glued to the parchment in his hands. Nikki turned her gaze to the side where Tempest walked behind her...Sharpening a spear.

"What?" The wild child growled, causing Nikki to quickly shift her gaze back to Gareth.

"Hey, map boy," Gareth looked over his shoulder at this, "how much longer until we get to camp? My feet are killing me."

He shifted his gaze down to his wrist, then at the map, before glancing back at her. "Um...Before dinner, maybe?" His stomach grumbled at this, as he placed a hand to rub at it with a grin, leaning down to whisper, "Don't worry tummy, I'll make sure to get you lots and lots of food when we get there!"

The two girls behind him stared at him for a moment. "Uh...Right. Cool," Nikki said, turning her attention back to her comic, but not before inching away from the boy, only to just as quickly inch back toward him after feeling a slight poke in the back from Tempest's spear.

Gareth gave them a thumbs up, before turning back to his map, where his expression fell slightly at the complicated directions provided to him.

Sitting in front of the camera, Gareth rubbed the back of his head while letting out a chuckle. "I have no idea what I'm doing!" Holding the map up, he furrowed his brows. "I'm supposed to know how to read this but uh...I don't get it."

Shrugging his shoulders, he gave the camera a wide grin. "Well, the more we walk around then the more likely we'll be bound to find camp! Right?" Looking around at seemingly nothing, he whispered to himself, "Yeah, that sounds about right!"

Sprinting through the woods, Oskar pushed past the various branches and shrubs that stood in his way, before tripping over a stray pebble and face planting forward with a thud. Placing a hand over his head, he lifted himself up while heaving a heavy breath.

Glancing over his shoulder, he let out an audible sigh of relief when he noticed nothing unnatural was following him. Wiping the dirt from his face, he mumbled to himself, "That couldn't have been real...Right? Owls don't just grow sharks out of their faces every day?!" He blinked. "...Wait, do they?"

Pondering to himself on the issue, his body froze when he heard the sound of a twig snapping nearby. Physically shaking, he stood back up to his feet, jogging in place for a moment to look around. It was too dark to really know where to go-

Another snap went off, causing him to yelp and run forward. "O-Oh please, please no more owl-shark hybrid monsters!" And as soon as another twig snapped, he twisted his body toward the sound, his body tensing up in fear, as he looked on in horror...

As a chipmunk popped out of a bush.

Oskar stared in stunned silence, as the chipmunk skittered forward. Reflexively, the athlete jumped back, shaking his head and wagging his finger in the rodent's direction. "Oh no you don't! I fell for this once already, I ain't doing it again."

Folding his arms defiantly, he stared down at the vermin with smug pride, as it tilted its head and looked on as a growing shadow fell over the boy. After a moment, Oskar noticed, his body tensing up at the feeling of heavy breath on his shoulder. Shivering in fear, he slowly turned around..

Only to be met with the sight of a massive, eight-foot tall grizzly bear. Its long, wet tongue slid through its sharp teeth like cloth through knives, its eyes widening as it stared down at him in interest.

The two simply stared at each other, neither blinking for even a second...Until Oskar suddenly pointed behind the creature. "Oh my gosh! It's a giant man-bat!" The bear flinched at this, looking away for a moment, as Oskar burst out into a sprint as fast as he could from the scene, screaming his head off, "Someone help! There's a giant bear!"

In response, the bear let out a screech and was about to give chase- only for a pair of claws to reach down from above and pluck it away in one grip, before the beast's wings suddenly took off into the sky with the bear, who let out one final roar before disappearing from sight. This left a disturbed and terrified chipmunk looking on in its wake before it promptly ran off screaming too.

Walking along the forest path, Jiao let out a low giggle, a small smile rising over her face as she gave her companion a grin, "Why, that is quite the amusing story. I wasn't aware that people used toilet paper in such a way."

"Oh yeah, dude, it was freaking great!" Alia practically screamed, "Old man Schmidt didn't even know what hit him! Serves him right for failing my essay. It was five pages, just like he asked...It was just, you know, the first one copied over and over."

"Yes, yes, quite the situation, I must agree. Public education failing against and whatnot, miss..." Humming loudly, she turned to her, "So sorry to ask, my friend, but just to be clear, what was your name again?" Jiao asked, her hand resting on her lips with a cocked brow.

Waving it off, the rocker gave her a smile, "Oh, it's no problem, dude. Just call me Alia."

"Ah, Alia; what a powerful, confident name. Your parents must have high expectations of you, yes?" Jiao queried, smirking at the sudden shift from a smile to a frown on her partner's face.

"Uh...Y-Yeah, I guess," Alia mumbled, adjusting her guitar's strap on her shoulder before rubbing her arm, "but you know, just typical, daughter-parent stuff. Nothing special."

"Hook, line, and sinker," Jiao thought to herself as she nodded along, "Yes, yes, I understand, piàoliang. We may move on from this subject, perhaps to the look of that absolutely immaculate guitar you have on you."

Alia's mood shifted in an instant, pulling the violet-colored instrument off and showing it off with a large grin, "Oh yeah, this baby is my pride and joy! Got me through all sorts of study sessions and rough nights, if 'ya catch my drift."

"Charming," Jiao nodded along, "though I couldn't help but notice, you don't seem to have a guitar pick on you? Aren't those a bit...In demand, for someone of your sort?"

"I mean, sure, but I don't need one; just a boring safety precaution made by dopes who couldn't handle the intensity of the riffs they were spilling!" Alia laughed it off, walking ahead and saying, "I can more than handle a little strumming pain. You get me."

"Oh yes, trust me," Jiao nodded along, a sinister glint in her eyes, "I get you..."

"This is so boringgggggg!" Lori whined, dragging her feet as she followed behind Xavier. "We've been walking for hours, Squishy...Hours! Can't we do something to spice this up?"

"Firstly, it's been at most a single hour, and secondly," Xavier turned to her, "what could possibly spice this up-" Upon noticing the smirk on her face, his face turned red a moment before turning away, "you're terrible."

She chuckled darkly, before letting out a deep breath. "Okay, but seriously I'm over this whole walking thing." Slumping against his back, she mumbled, "Can't you do your dorky tech thing and build a car out of wood or something?"

"It's not that simple, Lorraine," he grunted, barely paying her any mind.

"Then make it simple," she pouted, pointing a single thumb behind her, "we can even use that giant back there to collect wood for it."

"I am not cutting down trees for your sick games, girl," Alyosha stated, "besides; walking is good for spirit."

With a bored groan, she grumbled, "At this rate, I'm going to become a spirit after dying from boredom." Kicking a stray pebble forward, she let out a frustrated groan as she kicked it with full force, watching it fly deep into the bushes nearby as she said, "Why can't anything interesting happen?!" Promptly in response, however, those same bushes began to shake. "...Squishy, I think we're about to have a wild encounter."

"Lorraine, what are you babbling about?" Xavier asked, coming to a stop alongside Alyosha, the pair turning around to see what she was up to.

From within the shrubs, the sound of deep, curdling growl emitted as a long-necked goose rose up from the bushes, only for some strange reason, its eyes were bright red, and it had teeth; sharp, terrifying teeth! The trio stared as it raised its large wings up, releasing a screeching roar. As it did this, Lori let out a low sigh, "Oh, it's just a bird." As soon as she said this, the same screeching sound resonated from above, causing her to look back...And watch as an entire legion of geese flew their way. "...Nevermind."

"Typical Lorraine, always getting herself into situations she never reasonably should have gotten into in the first place," Xavier grumbled, "do you see what I have to put up with? It's like I'm talking to an infant! She never listens to me, is picking fights for zero reason, or just acts needlessly annoying...I just wish she'd grow up! If she's gonna spend all of her time with me, I'd like it to not be so exhausting at least."

Walking behind Edward and Sylvia, both Sage and Droog looked on with indifferent expressions. Between the two, Sage let out a low huff of air, before narrowing her eyes. "Hey, Ed, are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Positive, Sheila!" Edward replied back, though his expression was noticeably wavering, "Won't be long now!"

Her expression hardened, though Sylvia took notice of this as she quickly said, "Don't worry, he knows exactly what he's doing." Sending her a smile, she added, "He's a detective after all!"

Sage nearly facepalmed at this. "That doesn't mean..."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt and all," Droog spoke up between the pair, before signaling ahead with a stray finger, "but the moron found something."

The two perked up at this, turning to the direction he was pointing. Up ahead, Edward had reached the edge of the dirt path they had been following...And were now right in front of some sort of pit. Its ground was wet and muddy, with bones scattered across it, alongside three large, distinct cave-like holes, each of which were entirely pitch-black as a result of the shadows within.

"Red flag," Droog stated.

"Hush!" Edward hissed, before holding up a finger. After a moment, he whispered, "Camp is still in this direction, so...We just need to sneak around. Everyone stay as silent as a feather, got it?" Looking back, he got various nods from the three, though Droog and Sage couldn't help but exchange a wary glance. "Alright...Let's start moving-"

On his first step, however, a thunderous snap erupted, causing all four of their faces to go pale in an instant. Looking down, Edward saw the cause...A small, broken bone. "...Oh, mother-"

Growling tore through the air, as peaking out from the caves, were the long, ugly faces...Of the wooly beavers, Boney Island's most famous inhabitants. Six-foot tall beavers with massive tusk and sharpened blade-like tails. The horde stared down the group, before suddenly jumping forward.

"Run!" Ed screamed as loudly as possible, as the four broke out into a sprint as far from the beasts as possible, their attackers on their tail.

Oskar rested a hand against the dry bark of a nearby tree, as he leaned his body against it, panting. Pushing his hair back, he mumbled under his breath, "Too many weird animals...It must be some type of new twist for this season." While saying this, he looked down at the ground below, a smile growing on his face when he took notice of a pair of footprints. "I'm on the right track- Wait wasn't I the first to leave?"

Shrugging to himself, he followed the footprints...But stopped midway when he noticed a shrub filled with glowing green berries. His stomach grumbled in response, as he placed a hand over it. "A little snack wouldn't hurt."

Sitting in front of the camera, Oskar had one arm wrapped around his stomach, while the other was covering his mouth as he tried to suppress a gag. "Urgh...I-I was wrong...A little snack did hurt...A lot."

"Blergh!"

Kneeling down in front of the bush, Oskar coughed out the last of the berries he had just consumed, before falling back and laying on the ground with a low groan. "Forest, why do you hate me?!" With his face going green again, he turned to his side and began vomiting once more.

While doing this, he failed to notice the massive bear whining in the sky above him, as the bat carrying it flew off toward a nearby mountain.

"I think we're here!" Gareth exclaimed, a shine to his eyes as he lowered his map...Only to see no path in front of him. Instead, he was looking out onto the horizon, as he looked down at the lush forest below, before noticing the skull-shaped carving of the mountain he was standing on.

He furrowed his brows in confusion, looking back down at his parchment, as Nikki let out a low groan. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this isn't camp."

"That's okay!" Gareth quickly said as he peered down the mountain, seemingly without a care in the world that he's dangling half his body off the side. "We have a great view! We can look for camp from here-"

"Bat," Tempest said nonchalantly, pointing off to something in the distance with her spear.

"That's kind of dangerous," Nikki stated, unaware of the other girl's words.

"It's not kind of dangerous, it is dangerous!"

"It's approaching!" Tempest spat, readying her spear.

"W-Wait! I think I see it...I think!" Gareth exclaimed, pointing forward as Nikki raised a brow. "Wait no...False alarm, that's just a waterfall-"

"Fight me, demon!"

"Oh my God, why are you screaming?!" Nikki growled, she and Gareth turning around...Only for their eyes to go wide at the sight of a bat the size of a schoolbus, flying right toward them, with a bear wrapped in its claws. As Tempest grinned madly, the pair behind her simply looked on, grabbing onto each other in fear and screaming their heads off as the bat abruptly rammed into the two, throwing them off the side of the skull mountain.

Gareth and Nikki screamed as they fell through the sky and toward the forest below. As they were falling, Gareth screamed out, "If I die, tell my pet rock he can have access to my stash of chocolate under my pillow!"

"And if I die," Nikki started, looking into his eyes with a serious expression, "it's all your fault!"

The pair exchanged a look for a moment...Before just as promptly going back to screaming as they fell into the patch of trees below, their bodies smashing into branches and leaves on their way down toward the ground. Grunts and groans rang out across the forest, before after a few minutes, Gareth landed at the bottom with a thud, hitting the ground face-down and blowing up a thick gust of dust.

After twitching for a minute, he pushed himself to his feet, looking around for a moment...Before smiling. "I-I'm...I'm alive! Alive-"

His words were cut short when another body promptly fell on top of him, causing him to fall down once more. Sitting up, Nikki groaned while holding her head. "I hate heights..." Looking down, she locked eyes with the boy, who gave her a sheepish smile. Making a face, she quickly pulled herself off of him. "Ew."

"Was I a good cushion?"

"Don't say it like that!" Nikki quickly said, before shaking her head and looking around while he stood up from his seat. "...Hey...Where's the other girl?"

"Fight me, bat-man!" Tempest screeched, her spear at the ready as she stood atop the skull mountain, her scowl on full display, as she stared down the creature suspended in mid-air. After a moment of staring each other down, the two let out warcries, before Tempest ran toward the creature, jumping off the edge of the mountain, as she prepared to impale the beast's heart on her spear.

Creaking open the door to the mess hall, Jerome poked his head inside. "Yo! Anyone in 'ere? I'm starvin!" However, all he could see was nothing but darkness...Until the lights flickered on. Shielding his eyes from the sudden cascade of lights turning on, he slowly lowered his arm, only to do a double-take at the scene before him. "Oh shi-"

He bit his tongue, flinching to himself as he stared forward. The mess hall itself looked normal, it was spacious with worn-down-looking bench tables lined up in two rows. The one thing that looked downright terrifying was the large man standing in the middle of the room, holding a chainsaw in one hand and a giant possum in the other. His arms were large and meaty, and the apron he was wearing was splattered red with crimson. And his eyes...Steely and hard, with no emotion allowed to escape from within him.

"So...The fresh meat arrived already?" The man asked. "You're early, boy. 'You didn't cheat to get here so soon...Did you?"

With a squeak, Jerome straightened his posture and screamed, "N-No sir! C-Chris let me and some other guy get here before the others in a helicopter...S-SIr!" Opening his eyes, he eyed the weapon in his hand and swallowed back. "I...I just wanted a burger..."

The man stared at him coldly for a moment...Before he let out a low laugh, "Burgers? Really now, if you wanted a burger, you wouldn't have signed up for Total Drama!" Shaking his head, he let out another laugh, "Nah, I'll whip you up something real classic..." Heaving the still (barely) breathing possum over his shoulder, the man proceeded toward the back room and to the kitchen. "Give me five minutes, boy! Then you'll have a real nice lunch, let me tell you what. They don't call me Chef for nothing!"

Grimacing from his words, Jerome breathed out a breath while muttering to himself, "I got this...I'm a man! I can do anything...I-I can eat anything...Y-Yeah..." While saying this to himself, he slowly began to walk back, moving his hand to the front doors and pushing it slowly...Before ultimately bolting out the door.

The sound of agitated screeching rang out through the area, as a large horde of wild geese flew after a certain trio below. Looking back at the birds in flight, Lori blew a raspberry. "Good luck trying to get us, you birdbrained losers!" Thus ensued another scream from the avians, as she chuckled, nudging Xavier while jogging alongside him. "Come on, Squishy! Say something snarky to them!"

"Why would I try to insult something with a brain no larger than a peanut? I doubt they even have the ability to comprehend insults!" Xavier spat. As soon as he said this, the geese honked in response, seemingly picking up the speed, as Alyosha and Lori looked toward him. "...Okay, that was a coincidence."

"No matter. We must find a way to evade these beasts." Alyosha said. "We can't keep this up for too much longer...Well, you two can't at least."

"Are you callin' me fat?!" Lori exclaimed, whipping her head to glare up at the giant...Only to let out a laugh. "Nah I'm just messing around, I know I suck at this kinda thing...Which is why someone should have built us a bloody car earlier!"

"You would have kicked a rock into that bush by all accounts anyway, even if I had begun building the stupid thing!"

"That doesn't change anything!"

"How?! Actually how would that not change anything?!"

Alyosha merely groaned behind them, looking back at the geese for a moment, before tapping his chin.

"We had similar types of birds back home. Large ones too. However, Alyosha always had a secret to dealing with them," Alyosha started, before giving the camera a smirk, "you simply have to show the birds who is the boss...And make them cower in fear."

Throwing down his feet, Alyosha came to a sudden stop, before turning on his heels to face the oncoming threat. Ahead of him, Lori and Xavier looked back for a moment...Before the latter said, "Guess our teacher was right; death is preferable to hearing your voice for longer than five minutes." The girl rolled her eyes and punched his side.

The geese continued their pace toward the brute of a man, their pack leader, a particularly large goose who Lori had kicked the rock at prior, was at the front, its teeth at the ready to chow down on him. However, Alyosha merely squared himself out, his body in a defensive position, as he narrowed his eyes in preparation for what was to come. The goose sped toward him, only inches away from his face-

Just as one of Alyosha's large, meaty hands grabbed onto its beak. He let out a primal roar, before suddenly using the bird as a makeshift baseball bat and smashing its body against a handful of the birds coming up soon after. The birds were thrown backward, knocking some of their companions down in the process, as the rest came to a sudden stop, looking on in terror at the man, before they began to screech at him in defiance, something that only caused a smirk to rise onto his face. With a laugh, he turned his attention to the tree nearby, and readied his bat once more, "Timber!"

With one hard whack, he smashed the bird against the tree, the impact creating a massive gash in the side of it before he tossed the bird at the pack once more. As they dodged the projectile made up of their own kin, he ran up to the tree, and with his massive fists, began to wail on the gash, taking out what remained of it chunk by chunk, each hit causing his knuckles to turn a grisly crimson color before just enough was knocked off for him to grab ahold of it at its core. With all his might, he tore the tree out of the ground, and with a roar, threw it at the geese.

The hideous birds let out another screech, before taking off out of sight in fear. However, the largest goose was only just getting up off the ground from its encounter with Alyosha. It looked up for a moment with a glare, just in time for its eyes to shrink in terror at the oncoming tree flying toward it, which promptly crushed it, sending a massive cloud of dust into the air upon impact.

Lori and Xavier stared at the scene, jaw-dropped. Alyosha, now standing in the middle of the road, wiping his face...Before letting out a low chuckle. "Silly birds...Always picking fights they can't finish."

The two behind him simply stared in silence, until Lori broke it by whispering, "Seriously, can we please keep him?" Xavier facepalmed in response.

"Duuuuuuuuuude, I'm so booooooooored," Alia groaned out, her feet dragging across the ground as she stared ahead, pouting, "how much loooooooonger."

"Now, now, my sweet, it shan't be too much more," Jiao answered with a grin, looking down at the compass in her hands with a smirk, "we should be arriving before nightfall. No longer than an hour, most likely."

"God, this sucks," Alia grumbled, her guitar in her hands as she shredded out, "Sucks, suck, suck, sucks, SUCKS!" She screeched, rocking her head back and forth a moment as she walked along, unaware of her partner's twitching expression.

Forcing a smile, Jiao clapped along, "Ah, yes, that was...Certainly something. How'd you learn to play?"

"Oh, uh...I sorta skipped that step. Learning is for posers and all that, you get me?" Alia said, before smiling, "But whatever, I taught myself, and it worked out anyway! No big deal, you know?"

"Yes, yes, quite right...Though, I actually have quite the experience with music myself." Alia's attention peaked, as Jiao smirked. "Piano, violin, the clarinet-"

"Ugh, all the boring ones," the rocker grumbled, before spitting.

Jiao's brows twitched, before nodding, "Uh...Yes, the...Boring ones...However, in my spare time, I gave the guitar the occasional try. Perhaps I can give you some lessons...For a price of course."

"Pfft, nah, man, I don't need lessons. This playstyle is all me. No need to break what's already working," Alia bragged.

"Hmmm...Alright, no need to explain further," Jiao muttered, but smiled nonetheless, walking past her companion while saying, "but the door is always open, my sweet. You can always improve...Especially with the state you're in."

Alia flinched slightly at this, coming to a stop for a moment as her eyes narrowed...Before shaking her head, walking forward with her head low. All the while, ahead, Jiao was only just barely able to suppress a giggle.

"So like...I know she didn't mean to get under my skin or anything, but like...I don't know man, that last comment stung a little," Alia whispered, her hands running along her guitar, before letting out a sigh, "but...Whatever, you know? We're good. Besides, I don't need lessons, I've got a hang of it...Yeah." She allowed a small smile to rise. "Yeah..." The smile disappeared a moment later.

"One might say I came out of this experience with nothing, but that person would be wrong," Jiao explained, "I planted a seed of doubt. One that'll fester and coil within that girl until she eventually snaps and comes my way, buying up my merchandise and paying me big money just for a chance to even be decent at that little hobby of hers."

Giggling, Jiao nodded along as she turned to the camera with a smile. "I've never been fond of the waiting game, but I'll have more than my share of customers out here besides that girl...Just you wait. By the end of the Summer, I'll have made more than enough money off this little business trip of mine."

Running forward through the forest, the group of Droog, Edward, Sage, and Sylvia stared ahead as the sound of inhumane roars echoed through the air. Flinching, Sylvia glanced back with wide eyes. "They're gaining on us!"

Sage cursed under her breath, looking at their surroundings before her gaze stopped at a sturdy tree ahead. "There!" Running forward, she jumped onto the trunk, and began pulling herself up, screaming at her teammates, "Come on!"

Edward just as quickly jumped onto the tree, "Hurry up, Sylvia!"

"I'm coming!" Sylvia exclaimed, already pulling herself up on the tree. "Come on Droog, you're next!" While climbing, she didn't hear a response, as she turned her head. "Droog-"

"Sort of a problem there!" He exclaimed, causing her to flinch upon looking down at him. Droog was currently trying desperately to get out of the vest grip wrapped around his arms, his teeth clenching as he desperately tried to pull it apart. "How the Hell is this so strong?!"

"Seven years of boy scouts!" Edward called back, already halfway up the tree. Sylvia watched in horror as the beavers ran toward Droog, his attempts getting more desperate by the minute. Looking between the beavers and the helpless man before her, she bit her lip, but- "Sylvia, come on, we have to go; he just has to make a run for it!"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she thought to herself for a brief moment, before letting out a deep breath and hollering out, "A defender of justice leaves no man behind!" With that, she dropped down from the tree.

"Sylvia!" Edward screamed out.

The girl in question landed in front of the taller man below, grabbing ahold of his tied hands as he stared, flabbergasted. "The Hell are you doing-"

"Helping you!" She answered, threading her fingers through his manmade cuffs, smiling to herself when his hands are released. "Done!"

Blinking, Droog stared at his hands for a moment, mumbling, "How...How the Hell-"

"He wasn't the only one in the scouts," Sylvia stated, already climbing back on the tree. "Come on, we have to start climbing!" Nodding, Droog grabbed ahold of the tree and began to climb after her. Just as the two began to climb, the beavers made it to the tree, their claws tearing through the air and the snarling barks growing louder by the moment as they stared up at the players above.

Sylvia quickly climbed her way up the tree, taking a quick glance down at Droog to make sure he was keeping up. "Are you-" As she did this, she grabbed onto a nearby branch, though as she grabbed hold of it and pulled the twig snapped in half. She only had enough time to gasp before she began to fall, her face paling and her eyes going wide, as she watched the expressions of Edward and Sage morph into that of terror. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the sudden impact of the ground below, and then the tearable tearing of her flesh on behalf of the beavers.

...Only to never feel as much. Instead, she felt something wrap around her wrist and clamp down, tugging her to an abrupt halt mid-air. Staring down at the ground below, she blinked her eyes in surprise, before slowly looking up. Grabbing onto her...Was Droog, his teeth clenched, as his right hand held on for dear life onto a different branch, while his left hand held onto her as hard as he possibly could.

Staring in shocked awe, she whispered, "Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God! I almost died...I-I almost-"

"Shut up!" Droog hollered in pain, pulling her up just high enough for her to grab onto the same branch. This much was enough for Sylvia to pull herself up onto the massive branch, where she took a moment to catch her breath. Droog pulled himself up a moment later, leaning back against the tree with a groan. "...Okay...Now you can talk...Holy crap."

Sylvia watched as Droog ran one of his hands through his hair, his body slowly relaxing from what just happened. Swallowing back, she turned away while breathing in a breath of relief.

"Sylvia!" Sylvia flinched at the voice, looking above to see Edward calling out, "You okay?!"

"I-I'm fine!" She replied, looking over at Droog and adding, "Droog saved me from being beaver food!" Looking down at him, she sent him a grateful smile, before beginning to climb back up.

Twiddling with her thumbs, Sylvia looked up at the camera and immediately straightened. "I'm so relieved to be here in one piece!" Slouching slightly, she mumbled, "I'm not normally that sloppy. I should have paid more attention to where I was going, but I just had to make sure Droog was able to keep up..."

With a short laugh, she added, "In the end, he was the one who saved me, and I'm really grateful for it! I didn't think his type would do that..." Realizing what she said, she quickly added, "N-Not that he is a particular type! It's just he looks like...And he seemed to act like..." With a groan, she threw her head in her hands. "I'm just really grateful for him for saving me...That's all."

"Alright, shouldn't be much longer than five or ten more minutes if I had to hazard a guess," Isabel commented, looking back at her teammates with a smile, "you two feeling alright?"

"Yep," Alfred nodded.

Kate simply nodded stiffly. "Y-Yep! Feeling great, thank you for asking!" Isabel nodded along, turning back to her map just as Kate let out a heavy breath. After a moment, she turned to Alfred, "So...I have a question for you?"

"A question?" Alfred rose a brow...Before asking, "What do you need?"

Shuffling in place, she mumbled, "So...Say you wanted to talk to someone, but aren't exactly the best at that sort of thing...Do you maybe have any advice on how to do that sort of thing?"

Alfred blinked, his eyes going wide a moment.

Alfred was now walking along the aisles of a comic book store, tapping his chin occasionally, before he began to reach out to grab onto one of them..

Only for a second hand to grab it as well.

Alfred looked up, only to see an absolutely gorgeous woman staring back at him. She let out a giggle, asking, "Oh, sorry, if you want, you can have it-"

As expected of your average, everyday normal person, Alfred let out a scream, jumped back a few feet into the edge of the aisle, knocking it over in the process, before taking off running as fast as he could. The woman stared for a moment, looking down at the comic, before raising a hand, "Uh...Bye?"

"Alfred? Are you okay?" Alfred shook the thought away, looking back at Kate. "You were giving me advice?"

Alfred looked over himself for a moment, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "Oh, uh...Definitely do not scream in their face and accidentally cause damage to a hundred dollars worth of comic books."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

Two figures stood near the edge of a swamp, watching a group of toads worshipping a mossy rock. Gareth stared in awe, as he whispered, "Look at this…" Pointing at the rock, he said, "There's so much green stuff on it! It looks like something aliens would leave behind!"

Nikki was about to respond but stopped herself as she let out a low groan. "We don't have time to be making all these pit stops. In case you've forgotten we sort of have to get to camp by a certain time...And my feet are starting to hurt from walking."

Blinking at this, his eyes shifted to the side as he mumbled, "Right...Pit stops...That's what we're doing..."

She narrowed her eyes at him, before pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. "You have no idea where we're going, do you?"

"Nope! Not at all!" Gareth exclaimed, letting out a forced laugh.

While the boy continued to try and lighten the mood, Nikki could only glower at him, muttering under her breath, "What did I do to deserve this..."

Leaning back in her seat, Nikki placed her hands over her face while saying, "Out of literally everyone here, I got stuck with the guy who has a potato for a brain." Moving her hands down, she looked over at the camera. "If I'm not back in two hours then I likely got eaten by carnivorous toads."

Practically dragging his feet, Oskar still held a shaky smile, as he whispered to himself, "It's just a little bad luck. I can turn it around just by finding camp...I can do this!"

With newfound motivation, the boy straightened his posture and pumped a single fist into the air. "Look out you fiendish animals and poisonous berries of stomach aches! I'm not afraid of you anymore! You hear me?!"

Grinning broadly at his own personal pep talk, he was about to lower his arm, only to stop when he saw a single, grey-colored vine slowly wrapping itself around his wrist. His eyes gradually widened as he forcefully pulled his arm back, snapping the vine in the process.

"Nope!" He exclaimed, about ready to run once again, but instantly fell forward when he attempted to lift his legs. Looking down, his face paled when he took notice of the many vines outstretching from the trees around him, wrapped around his ankles and began to slowly tug on him.

"No, no, no, no!" Oskar screamed, digging his nails into the dirt, as he slowly got pulled back toward the trees by the vines, "Noooooooooooo!"

"The trees...Beware the trees!" Oskar exclaimed, his body shaking and his eyes wide. "They're out for blood! Blood I tell you! This is revenge for killing their kin and using them to make receipts no one cares about!"

Seated on the large branches of a particularly large oak tree, a certain group of four looked down in silence, watching as the pack of large beavers slowly stomped away from the tree, their growling still loud enough to hear as their exhaustion began to settle in.

"Thank goodness, the bastards seem to have finally given up," Edward sighed, wiping his forehead before grinning, "and with enough time to spare for us to get back to camp on time too!"

"I wouldn't doubt it if we were the last ones there," Sage grumbled, already starting to climb down from the branch she was on.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to go back down?" Sylvia asked, furrowing her brows in concern. "What if this is all a trick from the beavers? If we let our guards down and go back on their turf, they can easily ambush us and-"

"They're wild beavers, Sylvia," Sage pressed. "They don't have the intelligence to do much more than bite wood and-" Her eyes widened in realization, "...Wait, why didn't they bite the wood and just knock the dumb tree down?"

"If I had to guess, it might be because of this," Droog pointed to the side of the tree, where a thick, crimson red sort of sap seemed to be leaking out of everything in sight, "whatever is in that stuff, they're probably smart enough to not bite it. Probably poisonous."

"Huh...Well, good for us then!" Edward then clapped his hands, and began to start climbing down, "Come on now, chop-chop! If we wanna make it to camp, there's no time for dilly-dallying!"

"Oh, give it a rest, already," Sage stated, landing on the ground below.

Shrugging, Droog himself prepared to start climbing down, only to get stopped by a hand grabbing onto his shoulder. Raising a brow, he turned to the girl beside him, who gave him an awkward look, "Hey, can we talk for a minute?"

Rolling his eyes, Droog grumbled, "What do you want?"

Flinching from his tone, Sylvia slowly moved her hand away. "Rude...I just wanted to properly thank you for saving me back there." After a moment of silence, she sighed. "So...Thank you!"

"Eh, it's whatever. I owed you for coming back for me...So, thanks too, I guess," he mumbled, gripping down onto the trunk, but just as he started to lower himself, he offered her a hand, "need help getting down?"

Sylvia stared at the outstretched hand in slight shock, before giving him a small smile. Reaching a hand of her own over...She gave it a playful smack, before beginning to climb down with a small laugh. "I did say I was with the scouts, I'll be fine!" Sending him a grin, she added. "If you make it down before me, I might teach you how to untie knots."

Droog rolled his eyes, though watched with mild bemusement as she slowly climbed down. He, however, lingered for a moment, his eyes darting back and forth...Before he pulled out from his pocket, a small case with a closable top. With a smirk, he ran it along the edge of the tree, watching as the sap slowly slipped inside. "You never know..." With a snicker, he began to descend moments later.

Benson grumbled as his eyes slowly fluttered open, a low groan escaping him as he slowly sat up from the bed he had been laying on. He glanced around his surroundings for a moment, mumbling, "Are they here yet?"

And as he had been expecting, no, they weren't. Instead, all he saw was the contents of the cabin itself. There were three bunk beds in the room, allowing for upward of six people per room, and the beds themselves were pretty rough, with paper-thin blankets and tough pillows. There was a massive carpet in the center of the room, a table with several chairs in the corner, and a radio and lamp laying on top of a nightstand in the back. It was a fairly generic, uninteresting cabin as a whole, and if he had to guess, this sort of layout was probably the same with the girl's side and the enemy cabin.

"Of course...Well, at least I get this place for myself for a few more hours," Benson mumbled before he pushed himself up against the wall...Only to feel something push in from it. "What the-" Then, he heard a click.

In an instant, a small, hidden slot opened on the ceiling, with something falling out a moment later; a slip of paper. Benson rose a brow at this, shifting off the bed and walking over to the note, picking it up with a confused look. "What the heck..." Giving a nervous glance around, Benson's eyes shifted slowly as he placed the paper in his pocket, before walking toward the door to the cabin.

"Well, that was weird. But hey, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," Benson said, "seems like there might be all sorts of hidden levers in these cabins, but really Chris? Making one of them happen if you so much as push against a wall. Oh yeah, real clever."

Walking out of the cabin with a groan, Benson stared out at the forest with a glare, watching as the sun began to set just overhead. "Is my team seriously not back yet?"

"Guess they suck at walkin' or something," Jerome said, uninterested as he played with his loose shoelaces.

Rolling his eyes, Benson walked over to the railing of the cabin and leaned against it...Only to raise a brow at something just on the edge of the forest. "What the heck?"

On the outskirts of the campsite, a pair of shrubs could be seen shaking, before a certain girl emerged from them, skidding to a halt and hollering back, "I told 'ya I can outrun you, nerd!" With a cackle, she turned and blinked at the sight of the camp. "Oh...Look at this beautiful dumpster fire...And the camp too!"

"Subtle," Xavier grumbled out, walking out of the forest moments after as he looked over the camp with a hum, "well...At least McLean wasn't lying about the campsite. But is anybody else even here besides the lucky dunces who came early?"

"Nyet, seems we are the first to arrive," Alyosha grumbled from behind the pair, though as he said this, his gaze shifted to the rest of the forest, saying, "though it appears that won't last long."

Expectedly, as soon as he said that, several other groups began to file out of the forest. A pair of girls stumbled onto the scene, with Alia clutching her guitar close to her chest and grinning while giving a friendly nudge to Jiao. "Check it, we actually made it in one piece."

Across the campsite, Isabel plowed through a thick brush, leading the pair of players behind her forward as well, "And here we are. See, I promise we'd get here before long."

Following behind her, Kate gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you so much for the guidance, Isabel!"

Only a minute or two passed, before eventually, trudging out of the forestry, a relieved Gareth looked up with a smile as his eyes landed on their destination. "Camp...We did it...We made it all the way here!" Looking back at Nikki, who was casually resting on his back, he added. "Can you walk on your own now?"

Rolling her eyes, Nikki got off of him, grumbling, "Well that was relaxing while it lasted...Here's your stupid map back by the way," she then pushed the map against his chest, before saying, "and while I was fine guiding you back here to make up for your mistake in the forest, good luck explaining to Chris where the Hell Tempest went-"

"Who dares speak my name in vain?"

The two stiffened in place, immediately turning around. Walking out from behind them was, indeed, Tempest...Only, something was off about her; she was now wearing some sort of skin around her shoulders, one that was fluffy and a deep greying brown, though it also looked hastily torn off as if it hadn't really been cut off so much as pulled off. It was-

"Wait...Did you seriously kill that bat from earlier?" Nikki questioned.

"Bah! Of course not, Tempest simply showed it who was boss," Tempest bragged, petting the furry hide and walking past them, "now, where is food. Tempest hungry." Gareth and Nikki exchanged a look at this...Before shrugging.

While the three interacted, a much larger group stepped out of the forest, walking past them. Edward stopped in his steps for a moment and grinned. "And here we are, folks! Camp...Whatever this is!" Letting out a laugh, Edward gestured to the three behind him to walk forward, grinning at their expressions as he said, "Come on now, no reason to stand around."

Sage gave him a look, before opting to look around at the other groups around them, her eyes narrowing, "Huh...I think somebody didn't make it to camp-"

As if on cue, the sound of screaming emerged from within the forest, as a certain body flung out from within and crashing down on the ground below. With a groan of pain emitting from his body, Oskar was slow to rise...Though upon noticing all eyes on him, he quickly shot up and raised his arms in a victory pose. "I stuck the landing!" Oskar looked terrible; his skin was scratched and a faint hue of green, he had a black eye, and he was also very visibly exhausted. As everyone stared in slight concern for him, he forced a cheery grin on his face, that faltered slightly once he took notice of everyone around him. "Oh no...W-Was I last? Am I getting eliminated now?"

"Nah, you wish! No way are you getting off my show that easy, Oskar!"

Looking up at the voice, alongside the rest of the arrivals, the contestants watched as Chris McLean revealed himself from the mess hall, a knowing smirk on his face as he let out a low laugh. "Welcome to Camp Ossein, everyone! Your new home for the next two months, and the longest abandoned camp in Canadian history...Maybe. Since you've all arrived, you can consider yourselves done for the day. Feel free to get acquainted with your cabins...But if you're all up for it, we'll be hosting a firepit in roughly an hour, featuring your guy's dinner. And don't worry, it's not cooked by Chef."

The players mumbled and hummed along at this, though Jerome, in particular, seemed relieved, as he sighed, "Oh thank God...That actually sounds really nice."

"Yeah, too nice," Droog pointed out, "you up to something, McLean?"

"Nah, just consider this the ending to your orientation day, cause trust me," Chris' face in an instant seemed to fall a shade darker, his twisted smirk growing, "it's only gonna get worse from here." Several of the campers physically flinched at this, looking between him and each other. And then...He snapped back to normal, giving the cast a smile and a wave before walking back inside the mess hall alongside his right-hand man. "Anyways, see you all in an hour!"

And like that, the cast was left in silence, the teams exchanging awkward looks for a moment.

On the male side of the Raccoon cabin, the door was abruptly thrown open, Benson stumbling inside with a groan as he gestured out to the greater part of the cabin. "So...Welcome home, I guess?" With that, he threw himself onto the bottom bunk of the leftmost bed, growling, "I already called this one, so figure stuff out on your own?"

The three males glanced at each other before Oskar immediately raced forward. "Dibs on a top bunk!" Launching himself at the ladder of the right bunk bed, he climbed quickly before face planting into the mattress with a blissful sigh. "Man this feels good after today."

"You're telling me, mate," Edward nodded, taking his seat on the bunk just below the athlete, "frankly, after dealing with what I had 'ta, I don't wanna step foot near a beaver for the rest of me life."

"Do we want the context for that, or?" Alfred asked, only to get his answer in the form of a shake of the head. "Alright, got it."

Plopping down on a bottom bunk, Sage leaned her head against her outstretched arms and grumbled, "Finally, some peace and quiet."

"It's great to come back to a nice bed after a long journey!" Sylvia exclaimed, poking her head down from the bunk above her, as she gave her a friendly smile. "We deserve the rest after what those beavers put us through."

"Uh-huh," Sage mumbled, already zoning out of the conversation.

Seeing this, Sylvia pulled herself back on her bunk and turned to the other side, where Jiao and Isabel were resting in their respective beds. "What about you two? Anything exciting happen?"

"Nothing too interesting, darling," Jiao commented, wrapping herself up in the blanket on the top bunk opposite of her, "though I must say that Alia girl is quite the presence to be around. Certainly...Quaint, to say the least."

"And I got along pretty well with who I was with," Isabel nodded along, having pulled off her blazer and giving Sylvia a smile, "honestly if it weren't for all the screaming out in the woods, it would have almost been relaxing."

"Jee, sorry to disturb you so much," Nikki grumbled from the back, laying on her solo bunk while looking up at her comic, "but getting attacked by something the size of my school sorta gets a reaction out of me. Who knew?"

"Now, now, girls, this is no time to bicker," Jiao mused, "the night, and the Summer, is ours after all. No reason to spoil it with needless infighting, yes?"

"Agreed, keep quiet," Sage grunted.

Instinctively placing her hand over her head in a saluting motion, Sylvia exclaimed, "Aye, aye!" Though upon hearing the girl below her bunk growl, she flinched back with a whisper, "Sorry..."

Alyosha grunted as he sat down on the solo bunk across from the door, his expression neutral...Before he began to smile. "Yes. Nice beds. Quite nice indeed."

"You're kidding, right?" Xavier questioned, his brow raised as he flinched from the texture. "These...Things are terrible. Barely adequate for a mere dog, let alone a person, to lay on."

"Eh, I've slept on worse," Droog commented, Gareth and Jerome nodding along nearby, to Xavier's exasperation, before he scoffed.

"Typical. So what, are you all so poor that your first thought was to compete on a game show that'll likely kill you before it gives you money?" Xavier asked with scathing contempt.

Rolling his eyes, Jerome turned to glare at him. "Look, a bed's a bed, so stop complainin' and man up."

Nodding his head, Gareth smiled lazily to himself. "That's right, we should be super thankful to Chris for providing us with a roof over our heads and pillows to lay our heads on." Turning his head, he blinked at the strange looks he was receiving. "Did I say something weird again?"

Walking around the cabin room, Alia held a miniature speaker with a chord, looking around with a slightly terrified expression. "Um...Where are the outlets?"

Smoothing the blankets on her bed, Kate hummed. "I don't think we have any in here. We may have to rely on candles for light-"

"I don't care about light or candles!" Alia exclaimed as she held up the speaker. "I need my sound system! How am I supposed to play without bumping?!"

Kate flinched slightly, and as she was about to respond, Lori's voice spoke up from the bunk above her, "Did someone mention candles?"

Tempest nodded, her glare prominent, "Yes. Why excited? Merely balls of light successfully cradled by a magical stick."

"Pfft, I don't care about candles, I care about the light," Lori scoffed, waving it off with an eye roll, "that dork across from us threw out my lighter before we came out here. Claimed I couldn't be trusted with it or whatever." Her eyes darkened, as a large, toothy grin began to form. "But I'll show him when I get my hands on a real lighter! Oh yeah, I'll show him!"

Kate's expression paled at this, while Tempest merely scoffed, "Fire is overrated. Water is more destructive anyway. Drowning the enemy over burning them is the optimal strategy."

While the two girls conversed between the two elements, Kate stood in place, watching with an uncertain smile. "This...Is going to be one interesting summer..." Suddenly, a knock at the door left all the girls in the room raising their brows, just as it suddenly was pushed open.

Standing in the doorway was Isabel, a smile on her face as she asked, "So...The firepit's happening, if you guys wanna come out."

The four girls sat in silence a moment, before exchanging various glances.

"Cheers!"

The sound of clashing metal sounded off as a group of players clinked their soda cans together, as the flames from a small, but burning fire pit in the center of camp slowly rose toward the sky above, the cinders illuminating the area as the eighteen campers sat around the bonfire. Shockingly, the firepit had been more than most had been expecting; cold drinks (including a couple beers for the handful of campers who were of age), pizza (albeit a low-rate chain, but still better than anything they'd likely get out there), a radio blasting the top forty, and about two dozen chairs, providing more than ample enough room for everyone. It felt like an actual party, instead of the glorified meet-and-greet they had felt was promised.

Cracking open a drink, Edward sighed, relaxing into his chair and pushing up his hat, saying, "Well, today coulda' gone better, but I'd be lyin' if I said it couldn't have been worse too."

"As much as I'd hate to agree, he's sorta right," Sage admitted, "least none of us went home today. Better than what could be said for somebody like Ezekiel or Staci or...Whoever that other guy was."

"Some guy with a beard I think," Jerome said, stuffing his face with pizza, as he let out a blissful hum. "Oh yeah, this is the good stuff!"

Watching him, Alia raised a brow while taking a sip out of her soda. "Wow dude, you act like that's some fancy deep dish stuff."

"The hell is that?"

While the players conversed and ate among themselves, Kate simply sat in peace, smiling at the scene before her. "It's nice to see everyone getting along so well..." Her words were met with various groans and grunts of acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, leaning against the railing of the Raccoon cabin, Nikki watched from afar, and though she hid it for a moment, a small sort of smile rose onto her face, before she quickly hid it from view with her comic.

"Uh...Hey," grumbling under her breath, Nikki looked up...Only to see Alfred standing there, two sodas in hand and a smile on his face, "nice night, right?"

Looking over the drinks, she gave him a skeptical look but nonetheless accepted the offering. "I guess so."

Sighing, Alfred sat down beside her, saying, "Look, I'm sorry for not exactly being the most...Unawkward thing, earlier...That isn't a word- my point is, I'm...Admittedly not great with people. I don't really know how to talk very well, and..." Groaning, he gave her a smile, "My name's Alfred."

Giving him a strange look for a moment, she looked away while raising her comic up to the lower half of her face. "...Nikki." This response was enough for him to do a small pump of his arm, which in turn caused her to accidentally crack another smile.

Meanwhile, Xavier leaned against the girth of the cabin, his gaze drifting from player to player in suspicion. As he was doing this, Lori slowly crept up behind him, before slamming her hands on his shoulders and giving him a quick shake. "Boo!"

"Spooky," Xavier dulled out lowly, with zero emotion in his voice.

Chuckling at this reaction, she gave him a friendly shoulder bump. "Come on, at least pretend to have some sort of fun. Why are you by yourself when you could be partying like no tomorrow!"

"I'm not going to risk those people seeing my weakness. What may just be a passing moment of fun could ultimately be my downfall." He stated coldly.

Giving him a look, Lori groaned. "Oh my gosh, what's it gonna take to get that giant stick outta your ass! Come on, you're gonna have to socialize eventually, and those losers are gonna get blackout drunk within an hour so, you'll be fineeee!" Poking the side of his face, she said, "Stop being such a-"

"What? An adult?" Xavier snapped, the girl flinching back in response. He stared on for a moment, and for the first time that day, his confidence cracked into a frown. Letting out a groan, Xavier quickly departed, walking away from her and toward the entrance of the Bear cabin. "Goodnight, Lorraine."

Lori frowned, turning to walk away herself while mumbling, "...Night."

Sylvia watched on as the rest of the campers enjoyed themselves near the fire pit, taking a sip of her water, she leaned back against the tree with a satisfied smile, as she whispered to herself. "After a day like this, it's really nice seeing everyone smiling…"

"Yep, take it in while you can, who knows how long it'll last," a voice sounded off. Walking up behind her with a mixed drink in hand, Droog flashed her a smirk, saying, "but I guess it is nice to have a little less awkward tension for a few hours."

Jumping slightly from the voice, Sylvia nearly dropped her water bottle as she turned around, only to let out a sigh. "Please don't scare me like that, Droog." Looking back at the scene, she frowned. "This might be the last time everyone can relax before the whole competition starts." Looking down at her drink, she muttered, "All the friends we might have made may not even last...In fact," Sylvia looked up at him, "we're enemies starting tomorrow."

"...Eh, it doesn't have to be that way." Droog said as she raised a brow. "You're a cop, right? Don't you guys have...Informants, on the inside?"

"Yes," she said, slowly, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"How about this for a deal? Before and after every challenge, I give you the scoop on what's going on over at my team." Her eyes widened a margin, as he explained, "You know, details about who is fighting with who, what our strategies are...What our weaknesses are. Stuff to help you and your supposed team of goody-goodies out."

Eyeing him for a moment, she took a sip of her water. "That's generous, but what's in it for you? You must want something out of that, right?"

"Smart one, I like it." Droog complimented, causing her to immediately duck her head. "In exchange, you simply do the same for me. But hey, you're a team of 'good' people, right? So...In theory, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, unlike my bunch of supposed criminals and losers."

She narrowed her gaze at him for a moment, before tapping her chin in thought. "...Fine...But!" Pointing a finger at his chest, she said, "If I find out about any sort of funny business, then I'm cuffing you and sending you straight to Davey Jones's locker!"

"Well, technically you couldn't cuff me cause that's police property," Droog pointed out with a smirk, "but hey, I get your point. No funny business here. So...We got a deal?" He offered a hand.

Sylvia looked down at his hand, biting her lip for a moment, before ultimately accepting it with her own and giving it a firm shake. "Deal."

As the two eyed each other, Oskar came running past them, holding an ice chest over his head. "Wooh! Party!" He promptly threw the contents of the chest at a single tree, before pointing a finger at it and whispering, "Vengeance for earlier." He then broke out into a grin, as he ran off with a laugh, not noticing the two watching him in confusion.

As they looked on though, Droog looked around, before asking, "Hey, what happened to Gareth and that other girl on your team?"

Sylvia shrugged, "I think she went to the bathroom?"

"Isabel, how long do you think this'll take?" Gareth asked, his mind wandering as the pair walked through the woods along a dimly lit path. "I really wanna go back and get a slice before they're all gone! My dad never lets me eat stuff like that back home..."

"It won't be long, Gar," Isabel said, "just a quick pop in with him, and we should be set...Just hope he's in a good mood. Something tells me that the bonfire party wasn't exactly his idea."

Tilting his head, he asked, "If it wasn't his idea then why would he even allow it?"

"Producers have pretty insane power," she pointed out with a smile...Only to notice the blank look on his face, "...They're his bosses."

"Oh. Okay!" Gareth exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck with a friendly smile. "Oh wait, uh, why do we have to meet with him again?"

"Don't worry about it, okay...We're here," Isabel finished, the two stopping in front of a small, wooden shack. Walking up to the door, she held out a key, unlocking it, and throwing it open to reveal...

A monitor room, with what looked to be dozens of televisions showcasing all the footage gathered from every location of the island. And sitting in a chair just behind a desk was none other...

Then Chris McLean.

"Welcome back, newbies," he taunted, "so...How'd you enjoy the first day on the job?"

Fuzz: Okay, so once again, Delta is not here to provide an ending to this chapter. I mean...He left me like a guideline, saying to have him talk about potatoes for some reason, but...Nah I'm gonna try and approach this alone and with sincerity and see if it works for me. Firstly, this is the end of episode #1. And honestly, I'm pretty fine with this! This is the shortest amount of time it's taken us to write a chapter together in like, 3+ years. I don't know, everything we wanted to do and say just...Worked out this time, and we didn't really suffer any major hurdles in the process either. It's also one of our longer chapters in a while but that's sort of besides the point.

This chapter was always designed to be our sort of, "meet them" episode. The type of episode we haven't truly gotten since Island, where we basically just have an entire first episode dedicated to meeting the entire cast and setting up their stories. There wasn't really a challenge here, and most of the scenes were pretty anthology-like, not having a ton of interplay between each other. As far as favorites go, I generally ended up favoring the more out-there segments, such as the ones with Gareth's group, or the ones that felt a bit shorter and sweeter, like with Jiao and Alia. But on the whole, I liked basically every scene in this episode, and the nice thing is even if you didn't like a group's dynamic, usually it'd be fairly quickly moved along for a new team anyway.

But yeah, admittedly I don't have a lot to add to all of this, since if I talk too long, I'll likely be drifting into spoiler territory, so I'll just leave ya'll off like this. Next time, the first challenge begins! So...Look forward to that, I guess! Later.

+{X}+

THE FINAL CAST of TOTAL DRAMA BONEY ISLAND

The Ravenous Raccoons

Alfred Busiek, the Meta Super-Geek

Benson Isotope, the Depressed Child Star

Edward Jackal, the Proud Sleuth

Isabella "Isabel" Vázquez, the Confident Firecracker

Jiao Wei, the "Honest" Saleswoman

Nikki Peterson, the Lazy Ice Queen

Oskar Stillman, the Excitable Competitor

Sage Wesson, the Surly Roughneck

Sylvia Columbo, the Insecure Defender of Justice

The Barbaric Beavers

Alluselia "Alia" Buchanan, the Punk Rock Phase

Alyosha Konstantin, the Intelligent Brute

Axel Droog, the Caustic Gambling Man

Gareth Wagner, the Discomforted Simpleton

Jerome Varga, the Pitiful Hooligan

Katherine "Kate" Wilson, the Friendly Mess

Lorraine Apostol, the Sadistic Anarchist

Tamara "Tempest" Sandiego, the Feral Amazonian

Xavier Ennis, the Sinister Boy Genius

The Staff

Chris McLean, the Host with the Least

Chef Hatchet, the Disgruntled Right-Hand