Dana and Aaron sat atop a trash pile in the junkyard that everyone first arrived at at the beginning of the show. Between them was a pole, completely made of wood without a single mark on it...yet. Around the pole, there were many sharp rocks, each of them a decent size to hold without being too big. At the bottom of the hill, Ivy stood, holding a tray with a pitcher of lemonade on it, as well as three glasses.
"Last time on Total Drama: Scrap Island," Dana started, mimicking Chris's hosting voice yet again, "The two teams had to find a way to beat the unbearable heat, but with only so much room in the pool, only a few of them could go there. Max 'blew her top' in front of everyone, and despite not being embarrassed about it, Calvin made sure to block the view...and then she teased him! Too bad it backfired on her and she started getting those icky, gooey feelings and thoughts about him. Belladonna came to Aaron and I in a mess of tears, saying she lost a cactus that was very special to her, so naturally, we turned finding it into a challenge for the two teams! Alice was quick to shoot off in search for it, while the others had a harder time with it. Blaster totally mushed up Fridge's fingers on accident, causing Caleb to fall flat on some lie about him being superhuman and Zane tried to show Valerie just how to strategize, at least his own way of doing so. Meanwhile, Buck showed that his sleeping issues are soon to be the downfall of him...at least that's what we thought! Out of some strange turn of events, Yves tried to protect her boyfriend from elimination by pinning their team's loss on Daniel, who had no idea what was going on! He was later eliminated, pissing Margaret off and making Yves feel bad about what she had done. And then...Aaron hired an assistant for us. And her name is Ivy Harett...that's most concerning."
"What was that?" Ivy shouted up to the top of the pile, "I heard my name, did you need me?"
"No, no! You stay down there!"
"I-I-I'm sorry, Miss Dana," Aaron mumbled, "I didn't know about all zat Jay stuff..."
"Anyways...we're down one out of twenty-two! Who will be the next reality tv flop? Find out now, on Total Drama: Scrap Island!"
The camera suddenly flew into the sky, being struck by a massive chunk of debris and knocking it back to the ground, only to be picked up by a cute, blue and silver striped robot with one wheel that it used to move.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the robot pointed the camera at Theodore at a cafeteria table, pounding down energy drinks like a champ, his eyes twitching from the caffeine while Larida looked concerned for his health.
"You guys are on my mind," at a nearby table, Ronnie was arm wrestling Mitchell, winning easily and slamming him straight through the table, causing Celeste to run over and start screaming at the powerhouse.
"You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer's plain to see," the robot wheeled its way out of the cafeteria, showing a junkyard with Vernon scribbling something down in silence and Ivy looking over his shoulder to peek at it, until Blaster popped out of one of the garbage piles, scaring him and making his papers fly off into the sky.
"I wanna be famous!" Vernon ran after his papers, leaving Ivy behind in confusion, eventually passing by Margaret and Daniel as they were making out while surrounded by four intense looking mafia thugs, one who spotted the camera and chased after it.
"I wanna live close to the sun," the robot wheeled away from the mafia goon, passing by Zane and Bunny, the latter who was bugging the boy by holding a mic up to his face, which he tried to shove away.
"So pack your bags, cause I've already won," Fridge carried Caleb on his shoulders across from Aaron, who had Dana on his own shoulders, the two up top slapping at each other as the robot passed by.
"Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day," as the robot continued to roll around, it finally made its way out of the junkyard and to the remnants of Cali-Tokyo, where Buck was attempting to profess his love to Yves, who was all flustered by the gesture.
"I wanna be famous!" nearby, atop a pile of rubble, Brittany was making fun of Valerie, who let out a sigh and pushed her off the pile and onto the ground.
"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na," near the pile, there was some barrels of toxic waste, which inspired Mitzy, who scribbled something down on a blank sheet while Alice was absolutely appalled by the sight.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" CJ was being chased by a massive and terrifying robot with six legs and two clawed arms, which then noticed the robot with the camera and chased after it, causing it to drop the camera.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" the camera feed cut to the aftermath stage, showing an Calvin trying to kiss Max, who, out of embarrassment, belched right in his face.
The two were soon shoved aside by Capone, who rolled his eyes at them, while Sunny, next to him, waved happily to the camera with a huge smile on her face. Maggie popped up between the two of them, an acoustic guitar around her back, hugging them both tightly and snickering while the camera panned out to show the whole cast sitting in the risers, with the little robot sitting next to Caleb, and Franchesco standing off to the side with a glare fixed on Maggie.
The heat wasn't nearly as it bad as it was the previous week, and the contestants were able to withstand being in their rooms this time. Larida woke from her slumber, a bright expression on her face as she was ready to start her day. She rose from her bed, stepping out of her room to see Zane in the hallway, leaning against his door with a tired expression on his face.
"Zane?" she called his name, causing him to glance over slowly, "What happened to you, dear?"
"This damn bed," he mumbled, cracking his back after with a pained expression on his face, "Thing feels like it's full of rocks or something. Can't get a wink of sleep on that crap."
"Well, did you try requesting a new mattress from Dana? I'm sure she'll fix it for you."
"Eh, I don't wanna bother her. What's the point in getting the host mad at me over a dumb mattress? I can just deal with it for now."
"Nonsense! We're gonna march right on down to her and request a new one!"
"Huh? But I don't wanna cause a fuss about something this silly."
"Your wellbeing and wellrestedness is nothing silly!" she took hold of his hand, pulling him along with her, much to his displeasure, "Momma Larida is gonna help you with this whether you want me to or not!"
"Oh, geez."
She continued to pull him along through the hall on their way to Dana's office, causing some of the other members of the Squirrels to snicker at the sight. Ronnie shook his head in disappointment as he passed by them, on his way over to Blaster's room. He knocked on the door loudly, crossing his arms soon after and holding an annoyed look on his face. Eventually the girl opened the door, looking as tired as can be.
"Hello?" she answered his knocking, letting out a yawn immediately after.
"Gah!" Ronnie was taking aback by her current state, seeing her hair all disheveled and such, "What the hell's wrong with you!?"
"I'm exhausted...the mattresses here are really bumpy...not good for sleeping on..."
"Hm...I didn't have any issue with that...bah. I was gonna suggest a challenge for us to compete in, but I can't take you on like this! You need to be at your one hundred percent, I wanna take you on at your best!"
"Well, I mean...that's nice and all, but with the mattress issue, I don't know if that's gonna be a possibility..."
"Then...you take my room! I'll swap over to yours and you can have mine, I'll deal with the crappy mattress."
"I don't think you wanna do that..."
"What's that piece of crap mattress gonna do? Give me back pain? I'll rough it up nice and good, then it won't be bothering anyone ever again."
"You're a funny guy, Rockwell...mattresses don't have free will, silly."
"Rockwell? Come on, it's Ronnie. It's not even a hard name to say!"
"Ragnar?"
"Ragnar!? Forget it! Just get your stuff all ready for our room switch, we'll trade keys, too."
"Okay, I guess."
Blaster headed back into her room and Ronnie started back towards his own, grumbling all the way.
Confessional
"Just once," Ronnie started, holding his head in annoyance, "I would love it if she could get my name right just one time! I can literally tell it to her and in two seconds she'll completely forget it! It's...agh!"
"Me and Randy are swapping rooms, I guess," Blaster mumbled, rubbing her tired eyes, "That's cool, but I like my room...just not the mattress. I know he's being nice and all, but I wish we didn't have to."
"I can't believe that they gave such a bad mattress to poor, little Zane!" Larida complained, her brow furrowed in anger, "That's just poor hospitality, if you ask me! I always make sure the guest rooms in my house are nice and cozy for every visitor!"
"It really isn't that big of a deal," Zane rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "But I guess it's nice that Larida's doing this. I can see why so many people around here respect her."
Confessional End
Since her arrival on the island, Ivy had been getting weird looks from most of the contestants. She was trying her best to make some friends while she was there, but with a good deal of them unwilling to even talk to her, it was somewhat difficult. She was currently making her rounds through the Dingos' hall, offering the members of the team glasses of lemonade, using the tray that she had earlier. She knocked on Fridge's door first, trying to hold a friendly smile on her face. He soon opened it, tearing it right off of the hinges on accident.
"Woah, big guy!" she took a step back in shock, "Be careful with that strength of yours!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" he apologized, though when he saw her face, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh...uh...I'm not allowed to talk to you!"
"You...what?"
"Sorry, Friendleb says I can't talk to you. He told me I can't tell you why, either! So don't even bother asking, my lips are sealed!"
"...So you're gonna make me go ask him, then?"
"Ha! He won't tell you that it's because you're related to an evil, crazy guy! He said he's way too smart to let that one slip!"
"Ohhhh, I guess I'm never gonna get anything out of you, then. Welp, I'll just leave you be for now, sorry to bother you."
Ivy turned away from the doorway, which Fridge was trying to replace his broken door in. She let out a sigh, soon heading on over to Margaret's room, knocking on her door next. The mob boss opened it, immediately shooting a violent glare straight at her.
"What do you want?" she asked the assistant, clearly not any more interested in speaking to her than Fridge was.
"Uh...lemonade?" she kept her smile on, holding up the tray for the contestant to see.
"Pfft, I ain't falling for a dumb trick like that! You think you're the first person who's tried to poison me before?"
"I'm not trying to poison you, I was just-"
"Then drink it."
"Huh?"
"I said drink it. Show me that it isn't laced with something by drinking it."
"But I don't like lemonade..."
"You're pathetic, you know that? At least try a little harder next time."
"Wait, but I wasn't-"
Without wasting another second, Margaret slammed the door in Ivy's face, the sudden shock causing her to stumble and spill the lemonade all over herself. She let out a sigh, standing up from the ground and grabbing a broom from the corner of the hall, using it to sweep up the shattered glass pitcher pieces. She could feel the lemonade dripping down from her clothes, though she tried to ignore it. Eventually, her mascara started to run down with it, though the lemonade hadn't splashed on her head.
"Ah, shit, man," she mumbled to herself.
After sweeping up all the glass bits, she sat on the floor by the corner, wrapping her arms around her knees as she sat, trying to maintain her composure, though the mascara dripping down her face made it a little difficult. Hearing the crash of the glass and wanting to investigate, Vernon creaked his door open, peeking out of it to see Ivy sitting on the floor in her lemonade soaked clothes. He twiddled his thumbs, knowing what the others had said about her and her father. Eventually, he let out a sigh, opening his door all the way and walking over to her nervously.
"Hey," he mumbled to her, causing her to look up at him with her fake smile.
"Oh, hi! Did you want some lemonade? Sorry, but I kinda spilled it...heheh, my bad."
"I'm good on the lemonade, anyway...you just kinda looked like you needed someone to talk to."
"You sure about that? Pretty sure the others will give you a hard time if they see you talking to me."
"That's alright, I haven't really made any friends or anything yet. How's...uh...the weather?"
"The weather?" she chuckled to herself, "We're inside, you goofball."
"Ah, right! I...forgot."
"You forgot that we're inside?"
"...Yes."
"You're kinda funny, dude."
"Funny? Well...you're...um...kinda soaked in lemonade?"
"Oddly enough, I think I knew that."
She stood from the ground, smiling at him as the lemonade stopped dripping, having soaked into her clothes for the most part.
"Well, thanks for actually giving me the time of day. If you'll excuse me, I'm in desperate need of a shower...and probably a new outfit."
She started walking past him, and unsure of what to do, he started following her. Hearing him walking behind her, she stopped in her tracks, turning to give him a goofy smirk.
"You're not supposed to come with me, V."
"Ah, sorry!" he bowed in apology, "That wasn't on purpose, I was just a little confused!"
"You really are goofy. Dana's gonna be calling you fellas for a challenge pretty soon, why don't you just wait in your room 'til then."
"A-alright. Sorry."
"Don't apologize, man," she started walking off again, snickering to herself, "It was cute."
As she left his sight, Vernon felt a little relieved. He had heard horrible things about her father, and was under the impression that she was going to be just like him, however, this didn't seem to be the case. Before he could back to his room, Caleb burst out of his own room, running right up in front of him and crossing his arms angrily. The boy glanced away from the one much shorter than him, whistling to himself as if nothing had just happened.
"What the hell was that!?" Caleb griped at him, "Why were you talking to her!?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vernon mumbled, trying to get the boy off his case, "Talking to who?"
"Don't play dumb with me, shitface! I heard you talking to Ivy out here! We said that's a big nono!"
"I dunno man...she doesn't seem that bad."
"Doesn't seem that bad!? Her dad tried to kill all of us a year ago! How is that not that fu**ing bad!?"
"I get that, but what did she do?"
"What?"
"You're telling me about things that her dad did. What did she do that was bad?"
"Well, she...she...uh..."
Caleb scratched his head in thought, causing Vernon to roll his eyes at him.
"You don't even have a reason to not like her other than her dad, do you?"
"So what if I don't!?"
"Don't you think that's a bit of a dick move, dude? Like...she hasn't done anything to any of us, she just showed up to the island and everyone is giving her a hard time because of something she didn't do."
"Ha! Whatever! Ignore my warnings, but if you keep insisting on getting involved with her, don't be shocked when she's trying to kill you to make 'daddy' happy!"
"Yeah, yeah, just go run back to your crib or wherever it is you sleep."
"You...! Fu** you! I'm not a motherfu**ing baby you stupid piece of shit! Slut, slut, you're a slut!"
As Caleb continued ranting to himself, he lost sight of everything that was happening around him, and Vernon passed him by, heading back to his own room and leaving him alone in the hall.
Confessional
"Caleb's kind of annoying," Vernon mumbled, not looking directly at the camera, "I don't wanna cause problems, but...if he's just gonna be an asshole for no reason, I'm not gonna stand for it."
"Vernon is a bitch ass motherfu**!" Caleb snapped, his face red with a vein about to pop from the anger, "Fu** that stupid little fu**ing bitch! Calling me a fu**ing baby!? You piece of shit, I will end you!"
"It was nice of Vernon to come talk to me when no one else would," Ivy said with a happy look on her face, "I mean, dude's kinda awkward, but at least he gave me the light of day. Meanwhile, Caleb's telling everybody to stay away from me because of my dad. I haven't seen my dad since I was three...and he hasn't seen me ever."
She looked off to the side, losing her smile as she thought about what she had just said. She let out a saddened sigh, glancing back over at the camera.
"But let's not talk about that, yeah?"
Confessional End
Meanwhile, in Dana's office, her and Aaron were astounded by the amount of contestants currently standing before them. Larida, Zane, Blaster, Buck, Brittany, Mitzy, Calvin, Mitchell, and Celeste all stood with a mix of upset looks on their faces. Larida led the group, with Zane's arm still in her hand, much to the boy's annoyance.
"Um, can we help you guys?" the host asked, feeling a lot of a tension in the room.
"Yes!" Larida started, trying not to sound too angry, but having a hard time, "There seems to be an issue with a lot of the mattresses in this building, and they need to be fixed!"
"The mattresses? What's wrong with them?"
"Well, they aren't the most comfortable thing to sleep on," Mitzy mumbled, "Kinda feels like they're just full of rocks..."
"Zeir full of rocks?" Aaron gained a puzzled look on his face.
"Yes!" Brittany snapped, "How am I supposed to get any beauty sleep on a stupid mattress like that!?"
"Okay, okay, let's all relax a little-" Dana was cut off by an angry Celeste.
"We can't relax!" she growled, "My poor Mitchy couldn't sleep all night because of that mattress! They need to be fixed, right away!"
"Yes, we can fix them! Just...we'll have it taken care of during the challenge today. You guys just head outside and wait for us and the rest of the survivors, we'll get it taken care of."
"Man, I sure hope so," Buck groaned, "It's already hard enough to sleep without the mattress problem, ya hear?"
The group started out of the room, leaving both of the hosts alone again. Aaron started tapping away at his computer, ordering new mattresses to replace the bad ones that they had before. Dana slammed her head against the desk, not wanting to have to deal with the mattress issue while worrying about a challenge.
"Y-y-you know, Miss Dana," Aaron piped up, "I've got ze mattresses coming in express delivery, we could always have Miss Ivy replace zem."
"Er," Dana suddenly gained a nervous look on her own face, "I don't know if that's the best idea..."
"Vy not? Ve did hire her to be our assistant, ve could at least have her take care of zis vile ve handle ze challenge."
"I know that, but...I don't think the contestants will take too kindly to her messing around in their rooms while they're out doing a challenge."
"It can't be zat bad. Vat has happened to make everyone zis vary of her?"
"It's kind of a long story. Maybe we can talk about it later, yeah?"
"I suppose...so should I not have her do it zen?"
"Er...you can, just don't tell any of the contestants about it unless you wanna deal with them screaming at us later."
"O-o-okay."
Dana reached over on her desk, grabbing a microphone and pulling it over to where she was. She held down a red button on the side of it, which turned on the loud speakers, the audio feedback from it startling Aaron for a moment.
"All survivors meet us outside in ten minutes so we can get started on your next challenge," she announced to the group. "And...Ivy, please report to the office for your next-"
Without giving her time to finish her sentence, Ivy suddenly appeared in the office, only wearing a towel, having just gotten out of the shower. Aaron looked away from her, blushing intensely while Dana's jaw dropped.
"You called?" the assistant asked, happily perking up at the thought of being useful.
"Uh...yeah...how did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"I didn't even finish saying what I was saying...you got here in like five seconds..."
"Because, I have to prove that I can be helpful around here!"
"...Right. Well, we just ordered a whole bunch of mattresses to replace the ones in the rooms...while we're out doing the challenge today, could you maybe switch them out?"
"Oh, yeah! I can do that!"
"Great. Just try to do it fast, the contestants might not be too thrilled to see someone rooting around in their rooms when they get back."
"Understood! I can get it done!"
"...And get dressed before you do, please."
"Oh, right!"
Ivy burst out of the room in a rush, allowing Aaron to finally turn his head back to look over to Dana, who was shaking her own in disappointment.
"Vell," Aaron spoke up, "Let's go do zis challenge, ja?"
"Yeah. I just hope she doesn't screw this up."
The two hosts stood from their desks, leaving the room to head outside. Once they got out of the hotel, they were met with the remaining twenty-one contestants, some of which still seemed to be as drowsy as could be. Nearby, there was the massive vehicle from before, the one that was used to cross the desert the previous week.
"Good morning Squirrels and Dingos!" Dana greeted them, though some of them had seen her already, "We're finally going to be going somewhere else for a challenge, so if you'll all please hop on the Starshine-Mobile, we can get on our way to the challenge. Unless, of course, some of you would like to walk to the junkyard?"
Alice rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while Theodore glanced over at her for a yes or a no.
"I'll ride with you guys," she started, sounding annoyed, "But I'm not gonna be happy about it."
"Well," Theodore rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "I guess I could get in that thing, too, then."
"Vonderful!" Aaron cheered, "Let's be on our way, zen."
The group started getting on the vehicle, with Aaron once again taking the driver's seat. Once everyone got all buckled up, he started it, heading back towards the desert that they had to cross when they first arrived.
Confessional
"I still don't agree with the use of this vehicle," Alice complained, "But walking all the way through that desert again would surely kill me. Not to mention Theodore following me through it would make the journey a lot more annoying."
"I wonder why Alice doesn't wanna walk through the desert again," Theodore thought out loud, "We probably could've made a great video about it! Do you know how many hits a desert walk video would've gotten us?"
Confessional End
After the long drive through the desert, the group eventually ended up back at the scrapyard from before, now noticing the massive pile of trash that the hosts had been sitting on top of in the intro. Of course, there was the pole at the top, looking to be quite out of reach for anyone who wanted to get to it. The teams started to head out into the yard, looking up at the hill in interest while the hosts grinned at them.
"It seems you've already picked out what your challenge is going to be about, today," Dana spoke up, causing the contestants to look over at her, "Yep, that's right! Today, you guys will be climbing this heap of trash!"
"Is that all there is to it?" a tired Calvin let out a slight chuckle, "I suppose that it could be worse."
"Why would you say that, man?" Mitchell grumbled.
"That you for pointing that out, Calvin," Dana grinned, "It actually is quite worse. Now, most of this hill is actually quite stable, but I'm sure you'll come to find that there is quite a few places where the footing is rather shaky. Odds are, if you find yourself grabbing onto one of those places, you're gonna slip and fall all the way back down to the bottom of the hill!"
"That seems kinda dangerous, doesn't it?" an exhausted Mitzy spoke up, dark circles around her eyes, "Especially with how many of us couldn't get any sleep last night..."
"J-j-ja, I suppose it isn't the safest challenge ever," Aaron mumbled, "But not to vorry! Ve'll be putting a bunch of pillows at ze bottom of ze hill. You should be safe upon landing on zose."
"Pillows?" Valerie tapped her fingers together awkwardly, "I don't think that'll protect us from a fall like that..."
"You'll be fiiiiiiine," Dana insisted, annoyed by the amount of complaining. "Now, the way you score a point for your team is simple: see then pole up top? Well, you'll find a bunch of sharp rocks up there, you're gonna use those to carve your name into the pole. The first team to get all of their names on that pole will win the challenge, and, of course, be safe from elimination tonight! However, the team that fails to get all their names carved into the pole, will have to send somebody home!"
Though familiar with the concept, the group still found themselves gasping at the thought of losing a teammate. They glanced between each other, each gulping in fear before becoming focused on their hosts once again.
"Are zere any questions?" Aaron asked, though everyone stayed silent. "No? V-v-vell, everyone get to your positions, zen."
Confessional
"This really doesn't seem all too safe," Yves mumbled, "Especially with Buck being the way he is right now. I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't get hurt today."
"This is rad, dude!" CJ cheered, "I remember getting to mess around with those rock climbing walls when I was a kid...I mean, it's a little different than what this is, but hey. Still gonna be fun!"
"Woohoo!" Max raised her fists in excitement, "We're finally gonna be doing something exciting! I can't wait to show off my skill to my team! ...What? You don't think I could be good at rock climbing because I'm kinda big? Ha! Hahaha! I'll show you!"
Confessional End
The two teams gathered around the base of the hill, each ready to get going while Dana and Aaron stood off to the side. The co-host had a whistle in his mouth, ready to blow it at any given second while the contestants waited for him to get it on with. Finally, he blew it, signaling them to start their climb. Ronnie took an early lead on the climb, reaching far out above him with every move to pull himself further and further away from everybody else, though, curiously, he carried Blaster up with him. Most of the others didn't lag too far behind, except for those who had issues with the mattresses. Zane, Buck, Brittany, Mitzy, Calvin, and Mitchell were stuck near the bottom, each very slowly climbing up while their teams went on above them.
"Y'all had a hard time sleeping to, huh?" Buck asked his groggy teammates as the climbed.
"Didn't get any sleep at all, actually," Zane noted, "Not a damn wink."
"Yeah!" Brittany whined, "And I've got yucky bags under my eyes! I look like Valerie now!"
"I heard that," Valerie mumbled, being not too far up from the small group.
"Oh, great! Now, I look like her and I'm hearing her voice in my head!"
"What's so bad about that?" Zane asked, narrowing his tired eyes at the rich girl.
"Huh? Well...she's Valerie! No girl in their right mind wants to look like her!"
"Why would you say that? Are you gaining something by degrading her?"
"Are you trying to start a fight with me? Cause I'll kick your stupid butt!"
"I'm not starting a fight, no. I'm just letting you know that you get nothing out of mocking her."
"And? What's your point?"
"Stop doing it. Spend your time doing something actually useful for once, how about that? Or do I need to elaborate more?"
"Ha, I think that's enough, fellas," Buck interrupted, trying to break up the fight, "Let's just get back to climbing..."
"Not now, Buck!" Brittany hissed, "This dirtbag is getting on my nerves."
"How am I the dirtbag, exactly?" Zane let out a quick laugh, "Seems to me that's what you are. I mean, you're going after the girl that's arguably the most vulnerable out of everyone here, and for what purpose?"
"And you're not going after her?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's so obvious! You spend so much time around her, manipulating her!"
"Manipulating? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't act dumb around me, I heard you two talking the other day. You were telling her all about how to focus on weaknesses and strengths and yadda yadda."
"Uh, yeah? I'm trying to show her how to get further in the game?"
"Lies! You're using her to get yourself further! Anyone with a brain can see that you're just planning to drop her when you can't use her anymore."
"I don't lie, first of all. I'll have you know that I'm a terrible liar. But if that's what you want to believe, then believe it. I don't have to waste my time trying to woo you over."
Suddenly, Zane picked up his pace, despite his exhaustion. He managed to climb near Valerie, giving her a nod as stopped near her for a second before continuing his climb on up. Valerie looked down at the irritated Brittany and astonished Buck, sticking her tongue out at the other girl before continuing to climb up.
"Wow, Brit," Buck nudged her side to grab her attention, "He sure put ya in yer place there, didn't he?"
"Shut up!" Brittany snapped at him.
Confessional
"How dare he!?" Brittany stomped her feet angrily, "The nerve of him! What makes him think it's okay to talk back to me like that!? I get what I want, when I want, no exceptions! Mom, dad! Ship him away to Antarctica or somewhere else that's unlivable!"
"Watching Brit throw a fit is always kinda funny," Buck slapped his knee while laughing, "I mean, she definitely deserves a good kick in the kiester every now and then. She's not the nicest person round these parts."
Confessional End
Also near the bottom of the group, Mitzy found herself dragging herself up slowly, Calvin and Mitchell each struggling to make the climb as well. She slammed her head into the pile of garbage, letting out an annoyed groan while the boys slowly started to pass her by.
"Hey, guys!" she called up to them, pulling her face, which now had an aluminum can stuck to it, from the pile, "Wait for me!"
"Sorry, Agent Wakeman!" Calvin shouted back down to her as he kept going on ahead, "We need to press on ahead. Losing while we've got the lead on teammates would suck pretty bad! And I've got way too much on the line to drop out of the competition here."
"Yeah, Celeste would murder me if I lost this challenge for us," Mitchell added, "Well, maybe not murder me, but I can't imagine she'd be all too pleased with me."
They kept going, leaving Mitzy down alone as they made their climb. She grumbled to herself, trying to pull herself up a little more. Her had suddenly sunk into the side of the hill, causing her to lose her grip and fall back down the ten feet that she had already climbed, landing in a thick layer of pillows while Dana and Aaron watched her eagerly. She rose from the pillows, shaking herself off before glaring at the hosts.
"What?" Dana questioned the glare as she shoveled a handful of popcorn into her mouth, "Why are you giving us that look?"
"I...I don't know!" Mitzy blurted out, "If it weren't for the mattresses, we wouldn't be having trouble like this."
"I guess you could say that. But if you sit back here and complain about the mattresses all day long, you're not gonna be able to win the challenge, are you?"
"...Ah! The challenge, I forgot we were doing a challenge! Crap, crap, crap!"
Mitzy suddenly gained a burst of energy, using it to start climbing back up the hill, making progress a lot faster than before and passing by the two boys that passed her by earlier, startling both of them.
"What happened with her?" Mitchell asked, only to receive a shrug from his teammate.
Out of nowhere, he started hearing a familiar voice passing by, one that made him look up in fear.
"Mitchy, catch me!" Celeste shouted down at him as she fell through the sky.
"Ah!" Mitchell screamed, suddenly holding up his hands to catch her, but realizing that this meant he would fall. "Crap!"
He started falling from the side of the hill, and Calvin reached out to him, grabbing him by the ankle with just a second to spare. Celeste passed him by, smooching him on the cheek as she continued to fall, only for him to grab her arms, causing Calvin to slip from the hill, and all three of them to fall down to the bottom of the hill, passing by the rest of the contestants that were below them. The agent fanatic was incredibly dazed, his eyes spinning around in circles as Celeste bounced up and down happily, much to Mitchell's annoyance.
"Again, again!" she cheered, clapping her hands together in her excitement.
Confessional
"Really?" Calvin grumbled in irritation, "Why would Agent Sallow do that? How does that help us get any further in the competition? If anything, she's going to be the reason that we lose the challenge."
"Celeste, what is your problem?" Mitchell held his hands on his face, rubbing his tired eyes, "Why did you do that? Why?"
"Teehee!" Celeste continued to clap, "Mitchy's face was so cute when he saw me falling like that! Now I know that he loves me so much that he would save me from a fatal fall! I love my Mitchy!"
Confessional End
As Ronnie carried Blaster up the hill with him, avoiding every single trap in it as he went, she found herself quite confused with the whole situation.
"Hey, Rayna?" she called the wrong name, causing the boy to sigh annoyedly.
"It's Ronnie," he said for the millionth time, "Rayna isn't even a guy's name!"
"Sorry, Ramon. Why are you carrying me up here? Don't you wanna beat me in a contest or something?"
"Nah, this ain't it. Right now, the world is going against us. I can't have you getting yourself out today due to fatigue, that's a lame way to lose it all, don't you think?"
"I guess so. How much more do we got until we reach the top?"
"None."
"Huh?"
Looking around, she noticed that the boy was standing at the top of the hill, setting her down so she could stand up there with him. He grabbed for one of the rocks, taking it and carving his name into the pole before anyone else had the chance to. Blaster shrugged her shoulders, grabbing one of the other rocks before carving her own name next to his and writing besties above them, causing him to cock his eyebrow at her.
"Besties?" he scoffed, "What's that crap about?"
"You know, me and you!" Blaster forcibly fist bumped him, "We're like best friends!"
"What makes you think that?"
"Why else would you be spending all this time around me? I mean, you surely know that I have a boyfriend, so I can't imagine that you're hitting on me, right?"
"You have a boyfriend? Didn't know that- hey, wait a minute! We're not besties, we're rivals!"
"Rivals? Like...best friends that compete against each other for funsies sometimes?"
"Not for 'funsies,' it's to see who's better than the other! Winner takes all in this sort of competition!"
"Ohhhh...so best friends that compete for money and fame and then have some big party after?"
"Wha- no!"
As Ronnie tried to explain the concept of the two of them being rivals to Blaster, Fridge pulled himself up to the top of the hill, carrying Caleb on his back while doing so. He was quick to grab the boy from his shoulders, placing him down at the rocks on the ground, allowing him to carve his name into the pole. He then carved his own name into it, right next to Caleb's, giving the boy a high five shortly after.
"Woohoo, motherfu**ers!" Caleb cheered, "First members of our team to carve our names in the pole, let's go!"
"Har har har, Friendleb!" Fridge chortled loudly, "No need to swear so loudly, you'll make that kid down there start saying potty words."
"You mean that bitch, Dana?"
Caleb looked down at Dana, noticing that she was talking to Aaron while the rest of the contestants were still making their climbs. He rolled his eyes at her, uninterested in what she was doing.
"Screw her! What's gonna happen if she does? Her mommy's gonna yell at me for teaching her a bad habit?"
"I mean, maybe. I think I saw her mom with her when I was watching the last season. Magpie?"
"Maggie? Ha! That crazy bitch isn't her mom, it's just her friend! Besides, she won't be doing anything to us! Dana kicked her off of the island!"
"Oh, thank goodness. She seemed pretty scary from what I've seen, it would be hard to live with her around."
"Scary? The only people who fear her are those whose brains are as small as a peanut. You don't have a peanut brain, do you?"
"Uh, no sir! I got a big skull, though!"
"Huh?"
"The teacher's say I have a thick skull. It's a medical condition that makes it hard to study, but easy to play sports!"
"...Right."
Confessional
"Friendleb is so smart," Fridge noted, "It was his idea to have me carry him to the top of the hill so we could get points for our team sooner than the other team! What a smart fella!"
Confessional End
Not too far from the top of the hill, Bunny climbed up near Margaret, who was purposefully trying to avoid being near her, after the interaction they had when she first arrived on the island. With the reporter passing her by, she noticed the flash of her camera go off, aimed directly at her.
"Hey, what the hell!?" the mob boss shouted up at her teammate, who was now a couple feet above her, "Get your ass back here, you janky reporter! You're gonna be wearing concrete shoes soon if you don't delete those!"
"Sorry, Madame Diablo!" Bunny mocked her as she kept climbing, "The world needs to see the inside of the inside, the tip of the iceberg, the story to end all stories! ...If only I knew what story to make to go along with these pictures! I mean, I could probably get some petty publicity by making a blog post about how you and me are secret lovers, but backing that story up would be too much work."
"You...I'm gonna kill you!"
"Oh, spicy!"
Margaret started to climb faster, her face red with anger as she closed in on Bunny, who kept on climbing. Before she knew it, she had gotten to the top of the hill, where the reporter was waiting with two rocks in her hands, causing some confusion for her.
"What the...when did we get this high up?"
"I figured that getting you mad would help you climb a little faster, and it looks like I was right! Ding ding, one point for Bunny!"
"You made me mad to help us get to the top of the hill? Really?"
"Yup! I didn't even take any pictures or anything, I just turned on the flash a couple of times. It's quite convincing."
"...Alright, that was pretty clever, I'll give you that. Gimme a rock."
Bunny happily tossed one of the rocks over to Margaret, who caught it with ease. Then, out of nowhere, she found herself pinned to the pole by the girl that she had just handed the sharp object to, with the rock itself being pointed at her neck. She could feel a nervous sweat forming on her forehead, and she gulped in fear.
"But I don't like being egged on by stupid reporters. Don't do it again, rabbit."
"Y-yes ma'am!"
Margaret let Bunny be free, causing her to gasp in fear and shuffle a few steps away from her, carving her own name on one side of the pole while her teammate did so on the other side.
Confessional
"I hate a lot of people on this island," Margaret started, wiping her dirty hands with a very high quality handkerchief, "But Bunny? She easily soars to the top of my, 'People I Could Kill and Not Feel Remorse For' list. She's a reporter, and not even an honest one. Her blog is full of fake crap, any fact check could tell you that. It's too bad that there's way too many idiots on the internet that'll believe whatever they see."
"Danger, danger!" Bunny shouted, still sweating nervously, "Margaret is so so dangerous! I should probably stop taking pictures of her...but the investigation must go on! The lust for a good scoop calls to me, I need to fulfill my reporterly duties!"
Confessional End
Yves and CJ climbed the hill together, with the former looking down behind them frequently to check on Buck as he tried to climb up in his tiredness. CJ noticed this and glanced down to see what she was looking at, tapping her shoulder soon after and gaining her attention.
"Hey, he's gonna be alright, Y-Dog," the skater boy tried to ease her worries, though it wasn't an easy task, "He's a little tired, but the dude can sure take a beating. He won't let a weaksauce challenge like this keep him down."
"I'm sorry, this is coming from the guy who damn near let him get concussed the other day?" Yves replied with hostility, which CJ was warned about from Buck.
"Look, I'm sorry about all that, I didn't mean for that to happen. He's alright now, though!"
"Sure, now. But later? What's gonna happen if he falls down from here and misses the pillows? He's gonna get really hurt, and then-"
"I'm sure he wouldn't want you worrying about him this much, right?"
"...I guess not...but I don't want him getting hurt."
"And that's what makes you a good girlfriend. You're out here looking out for him, and that's really cool. You're not hurting anyone or doing anything crazy, like Mitchell's weird girlfriend, either."
Yves glanced away, hearing him say that last bit, unable to make a straight face.
"Right. I would never do that to anybody."
"...Uh, yeah? What's the matter, did I say something wrong?"
"Just leave me alone. Go on ahead, I'll wait here for Buck."
"Gee, okay. Sorry, dude, I didn't mean to-"
"Go!"
"Ah!"
CJ hurried his pace as Yves stuck behind, glancing back down at her as he climbed, wondering what it was that could've made her that upset.
Confessional
"Something is wrong with Yves," CJ scratched his scruffy chin in thought, "I mean, she's usually not too friendly to me, but she's never suddenly shouted at me like that before. I don't wanna be nosy, but I don't want her to be upset...what do I do?"
"I did the right thing, right?" Yves asked the camera, a worried look on her face, "I'm sure Buck would've done the same for me...or would he have? No...he wouldn't have...he would've rather quit the game than got someone else out for no reason. I'm a bad person..."
Confessional End
With more and more people climbing up and reaching the top of the hill, Calvin and Mitchell were finding themselves a lot more irritated with what Celeste had done. They started their climb again, with the girl who caused their fall climbing slightly faster than them, yet again. She was just out of earshot, and seeing this, Calvin leaned over to Mitchell.
"Hey, Agent Myers," the agent started, grabbing the author's attention, "I'm sorry, but if we lose this challenge because of what she did, I'm not gonna be able to vouch for her to stay in later. I hope you understand."
"I do, actually," Mitchell whispered back to his teammate, "I was thinking about voting for her myself, if I'm being honest."
"Voting for your own girlfriend? Doesn't that seem...kind of harsh? I mean, she deserves it, for sure, but aren't you supposed to be trying to protect in these sorts of situations?"
"Yeah, I probably should...but she's kind of been getting on my nerves, lately. I love her, but she's obnoxious while we're trying to do challenges, she's always getting overprotective and starting fights with the other girls, and she thinks its all funny. I don't get it."
"I don't either, then again, I've never really had any girls interested in me before. Most of them were turned away by my schtick."
"Really? What about Max, she seemed to like you."
"Agent Grayson? I don't know about that, she's just really friendly, is all."
"Oh, come on. She's definitely into you. Remember that day at the pool when she-"
"Farted, yes. I remember that. I tried to tell her to not be embarrassed by it, but I understand not being able to avoid the embarrassment."
"Calvin, come on dude. She burps and all that crap all the time, not once aside from that time in the pool have I noticed her being embarrassed about it. Naturally, she must think you're attractive or something."
"...I never thought about it like that before. But...we've only just met. How should I handle that? I don't even know how I feel about her yet."
"Well, why don't you just get to know her better, then? That's gotta be a good way to handle it, right?"
"That sounds right to me...thanks, Agent Myers! I never would've figured you to be someone that could give advice on how to handle girls, but I'm impressed."
"...Thanks?"
Confessional
"Now that I think about it, I've been in a similar situation to this before, haven't I?" Mitch rubbed the back of his head as he mumbled, "I think it was back in the last season when Buck was crushing on Yves. Calvin's right, why am I the one who knows how to give advice on girls?"
Confessional End
At the top of the hill, Alice and Max both managed to finish their climb, each slightly exhausted from the amount of physical activity, but not tired enough to fall to the ground. They both carved their names into the pole, Alice feeling disgusted by the act as she did it, causing Max to look at her with a confused face.
"What's wrong with you, environment lady?" the tomboy asked, belching loudly after, "Oops, sorry. Had tuna for lunch."
"...Gross," Alice mumbled. "And it's none of your business! I have no reason to open up to you about why this upsets me."
"Can I guess, then?"
"Eh? Why would want to- you know what? Go ahead, you won't be able to guess it right anyways. You've got food on your mind all the time, you probably don't even-"
"It upsets you because it reminds you of people carving their names into trees, taking away from the true beauty of nature and making it impossible for future generations to see what we saw as kids. You want to protect the environment and the world, so having to do something like this makes you feel like a monster."
Alice's jaw dropped in astonishment, causing a cheesy grin to appear on Max's face.
"How did you..."
"Good guess, I suppose?"
"...You haven't been spying on me, have you?"
"What? No way! Look, I was just trying to show you that I'm not just some fat, bumbling idiot. I got a heart, you know?"
"Alright, I'm sorry...being around all these new people is getting to me, and I've been kind of a bitch lately."
"Woah, no need to say that! It's cool to be abrasive at first, you just met all of us, and all that junk."
"It always surprises me how understanding some of you guys can be. First Theodore, now you..."
"Well, I'm not here to make enemies! I wanna make friends and have a good time, what about you?"
"Well...I was hoping to win so I could-...nah, I'm not ready to share that much."
"Fair 'nough."
Max let out a loud laugh, which made Alice feel a little more at ease, even being able to crack a slight smile. As the two finished up their business, Mitzy and Vernon made it to the top, the former rushing right over to the pole and carving her name into quickly, holding her fists up victoriously afterwards.
"And Mitzy has conquered this villainous climb!" she cheered loudly as Vernon meekly walked over to the pole, carving his name into it as well.
"I don't know if the climb was a villain," he mumbled, "Maybe whoever piled up this hill is, though."
"Woah, with you guys up here, that makes," Max stopped to count all the names on the pole, "Eight of us already on here! We just need Cal, Mitch, and Celeste!"
"Hm, so we do," Alice mumbled as she looked at the pole. "Only three of the other team are on here at the moment. That's kinda sad, don't you think?"
"Well, that number's about to change for the better!" Zane called up as he grabbed onto the top of the hill, pulling himself up.
He was followed by Valerie, Brittany, Yves, and Buck, each of them seeming quite exhausted by the climb, but having made it through nonetheless. The leader of the five rushed over to the pole, carving his name into it before tossing more of the rocks over to his four teammates. Valerie, Yves, and Buck each caught their rocks with a smile on their faces, carving their names into the pole while Brittany grumbled to herself. She was the last of the group to carve her name into the pole, dropping the rock after and dusting her hands off.
"Looks like we're eight to eight now," Valerie mumbled, "We only need two more, though..."
"So it would seem," Mitzy looked over the pole before glancing over the side of the hill, noticing that Theodore and Larida were a lot closer to the top than the three from her own team. "Come on, you guys! You can do this, I believe in you!"
"We're trying our hardest!" Mitchell shouted back up, panting in between his words, "It's an exhausting climb, you know!"
"Well, try harder!" Alice yelled, "I mean...keep on doing your best! You got this!"
Theodore and Larida were all too close to the top of the hill, and they each grabbed onto it before pulling themselves up to carve their names on the pole. The youtuber let out a victory screech before giving his team a fist bump, grabbing a rock shortly after and carving his name into the pole. Larida was slightly exhausted, but regardless, she rushed over to the pole, grabbing a rock and finally carving her name into it, completing the set of Squirrels' names. Out of nowhere, Aaron and Dana popped up from the garbage pile, startling the group as they did.
"Would you look at that!" Dana shouted in astonishment, "The Squirrels have successfully stopped the Dingos from getting an early two team member lead on them by winning tonight's challenge!"
"Zat means zat ze Dingos vill be eliminating someone tonight!" Aaron added on, causing the Dingos that were atop the hill to look down sadly.
Meanwhile, the group of Squirrels that were on the top of the hill cheered for their first victory of the season, all glad to be avoiding another elimination.
"Yes, we did it!" Theodore shouted victoriously, sending high fives to each of his teammates, "That's what I'm calling teamwork!"
"Yeah, nice job everyone!" Larida chirped happily, "I'm so proud of all of you!"
As the motherly contestant started to walk towards her team to congratulate them, she slipped on a stray aluminum can, perhaps the one that Mitzy had stuck to her face earlier. Once she slipped, she fell from the cliff, causing her team to gasp, rushing over to the edge of it to look down at her. She rolled down the hill at an intense speed, not stopping once she hit the pillows, but instead rolling off of them and flying straight into a junked trailer.
"Larida!" Zane called out to her, "Hang on, we'll be right over there!"
The Squirrels started to slide down the hill, each bouncing off of the pillows and rushing over to help her. She was laying on the ground next to it, as dazed as could be with a clearly broken left leg. The Dingos and the hosts came down soon after, each trying to see if she was okay, only to find themselves feeling the second hand pain upon seeing her leg. Zane seemed to be particularly irritated about this, turning to the hosts with an look of pure anger.
"They told you it was a dangerous challenge, and you still did it," he growled at them, "Not even giving us a harness or anything to keep us safe. And now, the sweetest woman on this whole island is hurt, bad. You'd better fix this."
"Okay, okay, we can fix it," Dana assured him, feeling the pressure from being yelled at by a contestant, "Aaron, call for a med helicopter and let's have her evacuated."
"No, you can't take her out of the contest! That isn't fair, is it!?"
"Zane, it's okay," the loopy Larida grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him in to give him a motherly hug, "I'm really not cut out for these types of challenges, am I?"
"...But they're punishing you for you getting hurt."
"It's okay, I don't really need the money anyways. I'm fine with being evacuated, as long as you all get to go on to see another challenge. Dana, Aaron? If I'm going to be taken out of this contest now, can you just skip tonight's elimination? You really don't need to be losing two people at once, do you?"
The two hosts looked between each other, each nodding.
"J-j-ja, ve can do zat," Aaron mumbled while tapping some buttons on his phone, calling in a helicopter incredibly quickly, "Sorry for zis, ve did not account for scrap moving during ze challenge."
"It's quite alright."
The helicopter descended nearby, with two men leaping out of it with a gurney, which they lifted Larida onto, much to her team's displeasure. As they wheeled her away, she looked back at them, waving all the way. Without much time to waste, they lifted her onto the helicopter, soon taking off and taking her with them, leaving the hosts with the contestants.
"Well," Dana spoke up to break the awkward silence, "I suppose there won't be another elimination tonight...per her request."
"Thank goodness," Mitchell sighed as Celeste wrapped her arms around him.
"So, we can all go back to our rooms, then?" Max asked, "I need to get in the air conditioning, all this activity's got me sweating like a beast."
"Ja, let's all go back to the vehicle and make our way back to ze hotel," Aaron answered, leading the group back to the odd piece of machinery that had gotten them to the junkyard in the first place.
Confessional
"Oh no," Mitzy hung her head in shame, "That can she slipped on was from me, wasn't it? I'm the reason she got hurt today...oh no, oh no..."
"This challenge was a crapshoot, that's for sure," Theodore grumbled, "I can't believe we lost Larida! She's the best person ever! And Zane seemed to take it really close to heart."
"I don't want anyone to get hurt," Zane mumbled, looking away from the camera, "That's not how I want this game to be. Poor Larida...she deserved it the least out of all of us."
Confessional End
When the groups finally got back to the hotel, each contestant started off towards their rooms, with Margaret still annoyed by Bunny's obnoxiousness from earlier. She grabbed her room's key from her pocket, whistling while she did so, only to find that the door was unlocked when she grabbed the handle. With a look of suspicion, she tucked the key back into her pocket, slowly twisting the handle to open her door. Once it opened, she saw Ivy there, putting the new mattress on her bed frame and wiping her brow as she finished.
"Whew, that's the last of them!" the musician said in relief, "Now, just to get back to my room before anyone-"
Upon turning, she saw the mob boss had come right up behind her, and the two were now standing face to face.
"Aha! I-...I can explain! You see, Aaron and Dana told me to replace the-"
Not letting her finish her piece, Margaret grabbed Ivy by the arm, twisting it before shoving her to the floor.
"Ow! Let me go!"
"If I ever catch you in this room again, I'm going to wring you out and wear you like a cape, you got it?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Now, get out!"
The mafia queen quickly pulled Ivy to her feet, shoving her through the doorway and slamming it behind her. Ivy rubbed her sore arm and let out a sigh, starting back towards her own room in a quiet sadness.
Author Notes:
*This elimination ruined me, I always hate eliminating Larida. She's such a fun character to have around, but when things get too rough and tough, you know they just won't work out for her. She's such a cinnamon roll character, but unfortunately, not all of them can last.
*Placements: No Placement - Chris; 22nd - Daniel; 21st - Larida