Sorry for the delay. Here's the end to Day 2!

The sun was high in the bright blue sky that afternoon, but no one on Team Kinosewak was in high spirits. They had soundly lost against their opponents, and what was worse was that there was no one to pin the blame on. Everyone had done their part as well as could be expected, and not one of them made any errors that the others could single out.

For only the second challenge in the game, it was a difficult position to be in.

-JASMINE-

"Arghh!" Jasmine groans in the confessional. She wrings her slouch hat in both irritation and anxiety. "We were so close to winning! How could I let everyone down like that?!" Unfurling and placing the hat back on her head, the survivalist then rubs at her eyes. "What are we gonna do now? I don't feel right voting out any of my teammates. Except maybe Rodney, but that'd just be petty of me."

-TOPHER-

"I've got ideas on who to vote for," Topher says, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "In order: Jasmine clearly poses the biggest threat out of anyone, followed shortly after by Rodney. Then it's a tie between Scarlett and Amy, the former for her smarts and frosty personality, and the latter because she's the fourth most fit out of anyone here - after me of course - but doesn't have anywhere near the brains to be an effective leader. Oh, and Max and Sammy? Ha! Nothing but a couple of children. Both of them are likely to cry if you talk too loudly at them. I don't even need to worry about them right now."

-SCARLETT-

"If there was ever a time to try and get rid of Max, now would be it," Scarlett explains neutrally. "Including myself, there is no one here who appears to have any sentimentality towards him. If I successfully play my cards correctly, he'll be out of my hair by nightfall, and I can focus my efforts on winning without distraction." She lets out a small sigh, which is most unexpected given the air of confidence she so frequently displays. "I do hope this works… because if not, it may be me they go after next."

-END-

Lunch came and went, and the losers were ushered out of the main lodge so that the winners could choose what meal they'd have for dinner. Or rather, they would choose, if not for the little argument happening at the moment.

"Whaddaya mean I can only choose one?!" Sugar bellowed at Chef Hatchet, leaning heavily on the counter separating the kitchen and the dining hall. "I won that challenge for us, or did'ya not see that?! I oughta be able to choose three things, at least!"

"That ain't how it works, kid!" Chef countered, taking one of his knives and stabbing it into the countertop threateningly. The fact that there were similar cuts and markings on the surface said a lot about Chef's intimidation tactics, especially so considering this was a new Main Lodge.

Dave was the only one who paid attention to it. "Uh, you're gonna wash that after, right? I don't think that's all that sanitary-"

Chef ignored him. "You get one choice for the meal. No more, no less. Don't matter if you win the challenge or even the whole game - you're not gettin' any more than that."

"But that ain't fair!" Sugar bemoaned.

"Life ain't fair! Get used to it!" He ended the discussion there, yanking the knife back out, and proceeded to use it to chop up some off-color vegetables.

From the back of the group, Dave sighed.

Deciding she needed to step up, Sky cautiously approached Sugar and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sugar, it'll be fine. If we keep on winning we'll have more chances to eat whatever we want. It won't be going anywhere!"

"More than that, we won our first challenge!" Ella piped up happily, stepping between them and throwing her arms over their shoulders. She seemingly didn't notice the way Sugar's hands balled into fists. "This should be a cause for celebration, not altercations!"

The pageant queen crossed her arms irately. Likely realizing it was a losing battle, she relented and said, "Fine. But I get first dibs!"

The team then made their orders, and several of them were amazed at the variety on the menu. "Dude, how do you even import half of the ingredients for this stuff?" Shawn asked Chef in surprise. "Most restaurants I've been to don't have anything like this in its selection."

"We have our sources," Chef said vaguely, not looking up from his dish prep work.

Shawn and Dave shared an uneasy look. "Yeah that's not ominous or anything," Dave muttered, but he simply returned to looking at the menu. "Gotta say though, I wasn't expecting to see kofta on here. I might have to go with that."

"Uh, gesundheit?" Shawn said unsuredly.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Not 'cough'. Kofta. It's a South Asian meal, though for simplicity's sake you can call it meatballs. It's actually my grandmother's specialty, so it'll probably be a little slice of home if I have it."

"Huh," Shawn rubbed his chin in thought. "Ordering something you're familiar with might make the game go by easier. I'll do the same."

As the Bears continued to request their meals, the Salmon had mostly separated to allow themselves time to think. The groups from yesterday had splintered off once more - Jasmine and Sammy, and Topher and Amy - though this time Scarlett had made sure to make herself scarce before Max had the idea to follow her.

Max himself, unsure of what to do now, retreated to his room to mull over the team's next course of action. And Rodney ended up finding his way to the confessional after a few moments.

-RODNEY-

"I've been thinkin'," Rodney says, slowly and quietly to the confessional camera. "Jasmine's been really quick to take charge of the team. Maybe that helped yesterday, but I think it was her choices today that made us lose. I'll probably see if I can get some of the others to vote with me - not the twins, since they're close with Jasmine, but maybe Topher and Scarlett. They seem like trusting sorts."

-END-

As Rodney exited the confessional, he nearly literally ran into Scarlett as she reached for the door.

"Oh crud," Rodney said in surprise. "Sorry 'bout that, Scarlett."

Though she let out a huff, she seemed unperturbed. "Think nothing of it. I perhaps should have been more focused on my surroundings than my thoughts."

Rodney nodded at that. "Vote's got you down?"

"Not 'down' necessarily, but I do need to take a moment to reflect on everything." She looked pointedly at him, and jerked her head to the side. "So, if you don't mind…"

"Oh! Right." Rodney sidestepped out of the way and allowed the other redhead to enter. Realizing that this was the perfect opportunity however, he hastily said, "Uh, actually…"

Scarlett looked at him with a quirked brow. "Yes?"

Rodney took a quick breath. "I was wonderin' if you could help me with somethin'…"

Once their celebratory meal was finished, Team Maskwak had reconvened in their cabin's girl's room to continue the celebration on their own terms. Only Shawn, who was literally beginning to pass out standing up, and Sugar, who suddenly declared she needed the bathroom immediately ("I have gut issues, and that meatloaf this mornin' ain't agreein' with me," she had loudly explained to them, and everyone was thankful when she left it at that), had opted out of joining.

"Three cheers for us!" Ella practically sang to the others when they sat down. Though it was a little awkward, they all joined in, keeping it quiet enough out of respect for Shawn. "Ahh, I'm so proud of us! We really did it!"

"That we did!" Leonard agreed. "And we did it with style and grace! I knew we'd be able to win if we put our all into it!"

"We have to give credit where credit's due, though," Dave said. "To be honest, I doubt we would have managed to make such a comeback if it wasn't for Sky. Did you see how fast she was going? She outran Scarlett in seconds!"

Sky laughed good-naturedly at his praise, but one look at her face showed that she was very proud of that moment. "Not to brag, but it was pretty awesome, wasn't it? It felt awesome, that was for sure."

"It totally was," Dave said, his grin widening. "I'd never seen anything as incredible as that before in my life!"

"Aww, thanks!" Sky replied happily.

Ella glanced at Sky, and then Dave, and then grinned to herself.

"We can't forget about Beardo's gunshot, though!" Leonard said, gesturing to the beat boxer. He had been apparently lost in thought, and looked around wildly when he heard his name. "I'm not even sure how he did it, but without his skills we wouldn't be where we are now!"

"It's true!" Ella agreed. "I've never seen - or, well, heard - anything like it! How on Earth did you do that?!"

Beardo laughed awkwardly as everyone's attention centered on him. "Oh, uh, you know… Just something I picked up from somewhere."

The other four teens looked at each other. "I'm… gonna say you did more than just 'pick it up from somewhere'," Dave said.

"Yeah," Sky said with a nod, "that must have taken you a lot of time and practice. You don't just make realistic gunshots and actual grizzly bear roars out of nowhere."

"Wait, I'm sorry, grizzly bear roars?" Ella asked, and then she lit up in recognition. "Oh, hold up, that was you yesterday? I thought Chris was trying to play some mean joke on us!"

"Ahaha, nope, that was me…" Beardo said lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. Ella's smile diminished just a tad as he spoke. "Needed to steal that wheelbarrow, so I sorta scared them away from it."

"That's actually pretty cool that you can do that," Dave said. "And helpful."

"Yyyep," he said, drawing the word out. "There, ah, there really wasn't all that much to it…"

"Oh, come on, Beardo, that really helped me out back there," Sky said to him. "Seriously, when it comes to full-on sprinting I always need some motivation for it, and you provided it!"

Leonard suddenly gasped. "Oh, man! Are you able to make other noises? Imagine how awesome you'd be at sound effects for a D&D session!"

While the other three continued to sing Beardo's praises, and the bushy-bearded-boy shrank further in on himself, Ella frowned in slight concern.

-ELLA-

"Sooo…" she began, running her hands through her hair in thought. "I like to think that I have an easier time understanding other peoples' feelings better than most. Like, I picked up on Sky and Dave maybe kinda sorta having a thing for each other - still in its early stages, of course, but oh my GOD do I want that to flourish - and also that, Beardo doesn't exactly like attention. I'm not sure why and I'm not about to force it out of him, but I also don't want him to feel overwhelmed by it. I know if I was in his shoes, I'd want someone to help me out of a pinch like that."

-END-

"Um, but, you know who else did a great job in the challenge?" Ella asked hurriedly, and luckily drew the attention of the others. "Sugar!"

The good mood quickly soured, and everyone looked at each other awkwardly.

Ella sighed. "Okay, look, I know she's not… you know. In everyone's good graces right now. But you can't ignore the fact that she was the one who technically won us the challenge."

"Yeah, in the most unorthodox way," Dave pointed out. "Who throws a pig in the air, climbs up a rope, and then catches it at the top?"

"Sure, her methods were… a little out there," Ella tried putting nicely, "and probably traumatic for the poor pig… But it got the job done, didn't it?"

No one had a response to that.

"She is pretty strong, despite her appearance," Sky mused after a moment. "She might keep proving useful in the upcoming challenges."

"She, uh," Beardo said quietly. He looked to the door, as if expecting the girl in question to come in at any moment, but when she didn't he continued, "she's also kinda scary…"

To that, everyone nodded. Even Leonard, who had sided with her in the vote yesterday, could only agree.

"Well, how about this," Sky offered. "We'll keep her around so that we continue winning. And then…" She trailed off on the sentence, but everyone got the meaning behind it.

'We'll vote her out before it's too late.'

Later on in the afternoon, Topher and Amy were, as was quickly becoming the norm, hanging out. As there was nowhere near the cabins that they could both relax and keep their conversations private (the hundreds of different cameras recording them notwithstanding), the two had opted to find the beach from yesterday and spend some time there. Of course one doesn't just go to the beach in every day and expensive clothes, so Amy suggested they switch to their swimsuits and potentially sunbathe, swim, or both.

That said, she couldn't wear just any swimsuit. She was going to be on international TV, she had to look her best. And, naturally, the best was what she went with: a strapless bikini top, red on one side and white on the other, with a black bottom complementing it. But to add that extra bit of allure, she also wore a dark red sarong, tied at the waist and blowing in the breeze. Amy firmly believed, dressed as she was, she'd make a killing as a model.

Amy lifted her sunglasses from her eyes and examined her surroundings. The beach was alright, nothing all that eye-catching about it. It was hidden behind a bunch of rocks, so at least they would have some privacy. And the sun was just in the right position for sunbathing, which was perfect. With a grin, she unfurled her towel, removed her sunhat, sandals and sarong, and casually laid herself down.

-AMY-

"Now this is the vacation I signed up for," Amy says happily. She sits in the confessional still in her swimsuit. "A one-way ticket to a deserted island, and the chance at a million bucks? Um, freakin' sold! Sure, maybe there isn't 24-hour hotel service, and maybe there's no actual snack bar anywhere, but hey, you don't see me complaining! And… besides…" She giggles lightly, and her face flushes heavily. "There's, um, a great view here too."

-END-

"Sorry I took so long, had to choose the best pair of briefs for the occasion," Topher said coolly as he waltzed in.

Amy's eyes shot open, but aside from that she didn't react right away. "Hey, don't worry about it," she said to him instead. "This beach isn't going anywhere."

"True enough." He set out his own towel next to hers, and Amy spared a very quick glance at him. The briefs he wore were a simple dark blue color, but then she just happened to spot his surprisingly well-defined muscles. She took a moment to appreciate the view, and made sure to look away before he noticed.

Unknown to Amy, however, Topher had this entire exchange planned from the beginning.

-TOPHER-

"I work out," Topher says as he flexes a bicep. Like Amy, he sits in his swimsuit. "Yep, anything to make me shine bright amongst the diamonds." If one were well-versed in the study of musculature, one would identify Topher's physique as being catered purely to physical attractiveness, as opposed to working out in order to play a high-energy sport. "And, well, it doesn't hurt to use it to my advantage when I want something from someone." He scoffs and waves his hand dismissively. "Amy certainly made her tastes known from minute one. And after today, it won't be hard to turn her over to my side. At least until a certain something happens… But after that, she won't be needed."

-END-

The duo sunbathed for a good while, and once their fronts were done they turned over to tan their backs. They didn't talk the entire time, as they were comfortable enough being in each other's presences, although after a while Topher broke the silence.

"So, after what happened today, I gotta ask," he started. "Have you given any thought to who you're voting for?"

"Mmm," Amy hummed, shifting her head to get a better look at him. "Honestly, no. I kinda figured that, since it's our first ceremony, I doubt anyone would seriously team up so soon in the game, y'know?"

"That's fair," Topher said with a nod. "Especially since no one seems like an easy target right now. Well, except Max, maybe."

"Ehh, I guess. He's weird, but harmless, I suppose."

"I, personally, was thinking either Rodney or Jasmine."

She looked at him again, this time in confusion. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. They got this power struggle on the go, but on their own they're both beasts. They could easily overpower any one of us." He paused in thought. "Rodney might be a bit slower on the uptake though. Jasmine, however, has brawn and brains. She'd probably be in a league of her own if left to her own devices."

For once, Amy didn't answer him right away. "I… guess so."

Topher looked at her then. "You don't think?"

"I mean," she hastily replied, "you're probably right, she seems like a really strong player. But also… I dunno. She and Sam are close, you know? I just think, like, it wouldn't be fair for us to kick out her friend so early."

"I understand that." He turned on his side and leaned on an arm to face her. "But you have to remember… It's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows for everyone involved. Only one person can win, and sooner or later you're going to have to make some tough calls."

Amy gave him a sidelong glance, her brow knit in worry. "What… kind of tough calls?"

"Deciding whose happiness is more important to you - your sister's, or your own."

That left Amy relatively speechless, and she thought it over silently. Topher took a moment to gaze at her, though this was of course to make it seem like he actually cared about her and her opinions. He didn't push the subject further however, and ended up not even having the time to, as someone else entered the area.

"So this is where you two were hiding," Scarlett said to them as she trekked through the sand.

Topher grinned. "Scarface! Good to see you," he said, his cocky grin growing with his taunt.

Scarlett grumbled in irritation. "Must you?"

"So that I can see your reactions? Absolutely."

Amy rolled her eyes at him warmly, then turned to the newcomer. "Were you looking for us?" she asked the brainiac.

With a long, drawn out breath, Scarlett nodded. "I was. I have a proposition for the both of you."

Elsewhere on the island, Jasmine sat at the edge of a river, her boots off and to the side as she soaked her feet in the water. Sammy was doing the same alongside her, having changed into a different tank top so the clothes she had worn before could be washed (thankfully this was not a job for the contestants).

"I hope the rest of the challenges aren't as gross as today's," Sammy idly said, leaning back on her hands as she watched the clouds go by. "I don't want to be down to my last outfit before the end of the week."

"I hear you," Jasmine said. She took her hat off and fanned herself with it. "You get used to that sort of stuff in the outback, but that doesn't mean I want to be covered in gunk."

"It doesn't sound very pleasant, no," Sammy said. They let a companionable silence encompass them, but after a few moments Sammy sat up properly and began fidgeting with her hands. "So, umm…"

"Yeah." Apparently Sammy didn't need to finish her sentence for Jasmine to know what she wanted to say. "I haven't got a clue what to do, either."

"Do you think…" She paused for a moment out of hesitancy but continued anyway. "Do you think we should like, vote for Rodney maybe? You two don't seem to like each other very much."

"No, we don't, really," Jasmine confirmed. "But at the same time, it feels kinda rude to vote for someone just based on that."

"Ah, yeah, I guess," Sammy said. "But if not him, then who else?"

Jasmine slowly shook her head. "Haven't a clue."

Sammy sighed, and flopped down onto her back.

-SAMMY-

"The only other person I can think of voting off is…" She frowns, and rubs her arm anxiously. "Um… Topher. And that's really only because something seems… off about him. Like, I'm gonna be honest." She winces again, and putting a hand to the side of her mouth she whispers, "He gives off serious Alejandro vibes sometimes." She sighs again and returns to her normal speaking volume. "But at the same time, Amy's happy hanging out with him. And I don't think I want to take that away from her. Ugh… What am I supposed to do…?"

-END-

"I still think Rodney's our safest bet," Sammy said after a while. "I mean… people have voted off others for pettier reasons on this show, haven't they? Plus, he seems kinda strong… And it might be tough going against him near the end, y'know?"

"So, what're you saying?" Jasmine asked, a smirk playing at her lips. "That I'm not strong and tough?"

"Ah! No no no!" Sammy shot back up and shook her head. Jasmine's smile vanished at the desperation in her eyes. "You're strong and tough and um, honestly, it scares me a little, b-but you're also super nice! And like, not many of the others on the team are super nice. So, you know, Rodney's like you, except not as nice, so we should, um, get rid of him." As she spoke her tone lowered and her confidence withered. She took her feet out of the water and curled herself into a ball. "I dunno, I'm dumb. J-Just ignore me."

"Whoa now, easy there," Jasmine said, adding in a small laugh to lighten the mood. "I'm only teasing, you don't have to be so glum. But you make a good point, left unchecked Rodney could be dangerous going further. So, I'm willing to give your plan a shot."

Sammy gasped and smiled up at her taller friend. "You mean it?"

"I do. Can't say what the others are planning, but I doubt we have to worry too much about them voting for us tonight. We should be fine, for now." She held out one fist towards Sammy. "So, whaddaya say? Voting partners?"

Sammy grinned widely and bumped her fist against Jasmine's. "Totally!"

Soon enough, dinner time came around. The smell of cooked meats and sweet desserts filled the air, and the contestants were either delighted or dismayed by it. Kinosewak tried not to show their jealousy too much, while Maskwak had no reservations about loudly proclaiming how delicious it was. Given that the reverse had happened yesterday evening, it was only fair.

"Mmm, delish!" Sugar basically shouted. "This ribeye steak is the best thing I've ever tasted! It must've been one hardy cow when it was alive!" She revelled in the few glares sent her way from the other table.

Ella stopped halfway from eating another bite of her fruit salad to cringe. "Ew! Don't remind me that it used to be a living thing!"

"Then you probably shouldn't think too hard about half of us having some sort of meat, too," Dave mentioned. Ella only frowned further at that. "But seriously, this is shockingly good. Maybe Chef deliberately makes terrible food for us normally, and is an actual five-star cook outside of the show."

A few moments passed, and then everyone collectively said, "Nah."

Supper ended soon after, and the campers split off to do their own thing. There were only a few hours left before the elimination ceremony, which left precious little time for any more strategizing to be done. This time around, Amy opted to hang out with her sister, while Jasmine went off to explore the island a bit more on her own. Topher had some confessional recording planned, and Rodney, for lack of anything better to do, took a quick after-meal nap.

Meanwhile, Scarlett intended to spend the evening alone. Unfortunately for her, however, she failed to get away from Max this time.

"There you are," he said to her, slightly out of breath as he caught up. "You're a difficult woman to track down."

Scarlett inhaled deeply to calm her agitated nerves. "It isn't for a lack of trying," she muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway," Max continued, "we must talk about the upcoming elimination ceremony. I'm having a difficult time choosing between Jasmine and Rodney - both are tanks who could easily crush you or I, so removing them from the game as early as possible will likely be ideal."

Scarlett rolled her eyes. "You would think that, but consider: the Bears have their own powerhouse in Sugar, and though she received the most votes last night, she also won them today's challenge. It would be foolish to assume they'd attempt to get rid of her again so soon, and as such we need to keep one of our own powerhouses to keep her in check."

Max considered this for a moment. "I see your argument. If that is indeed the case, should we vote for Rodney? I fear if the two country bumpkins were to sit in the same room as one another for more than five minutes, they may form some sort of odd, southern friendship and team up."

For once, Scarlett blinked in surprise. "For as odd of a result as that is, that… is genuinely an angle I didn't consider."

-SCARLETT-

"And believe me, it hurts to admit that."

-END-

"So what say you?" Max asked her with a grin. "Shall we take Rodney down before he becomes too much to handle?"

Scarlett took a few moments to carefully consider everything, and in the end, nodded. "That is… a sound idea."

Max clasped his hands together. "Excellent! The rest of these simpletons aren't likely to be organized enough to vote coherently, so we'll most likely have the run of the place!"

-MAX-

"That said…" Max taps a finger to his chin. "Having the run of the place might cause making friends tougher…" As if having forgotten where he was, Max sputters and puts his 'high and mighty' look back on. "I-I mean! I don't need anyone else, I have Scarlett by my side! She's the only friend I need…" Despite this he looks less certain for every word he speaks.

-END-

Soon after, night began to fall, and each of the 14 campers made their way to the elimination ceremony. The Salmons took the logs and stumps in front of the campfire (with Jasmine, Sammy, and Amy in the back, and Topher, Rodney, Scarlett and Max up front), while the Bears piled into the leftmost peanut gallery box (Beardo, Leonard and Sugar in the back, Ella, Shawn, Dave and Sky in front of them). At some point during the day, the logo on the box had changed from Kinosewak's to Maskwak's, though no one was sure of how that happened. Additionally, several of them questioned aloud why there was still a second, empty peanut gallery box on the premises, but still no one had an answer.

Just as before, Chris and Chef were the last to arrive, and when they did the losers were instructed to go vote. One by one they did so, until everyone had their turn. Chris left to confirm the results, and returned shortly after with a tray of six marshmallows.

"You all know how this works," Chris said to them upon returning, "so let's get right down to business. If I call your name, you're safe: Amy."

Amy sighed in relief and caught hers easily…

"Sammy."

And Sammy fumbled with hers for a second before securing it. The sisters grinned at each other and high-fived.

"Topher."

He smirked confidently, not a nervous bone in his body, and easily caught his treat with one hand.

"Scarlett."

She smiled lightly, and caught hers without any fanfare.

"And… Jasmine."

The survivalist grinned and snatched the marshmallow out of the air.

"This leaves just two people," Chris continued, and looked at them critically. Rodney frowned, but kept his gaze on the host. Max, however, blinked at him with wide eyes. "Rodney! You received some votes based on the way you performed today. Plus, the power struggle between you and Jasmine has a chance of creating friction on the team. Can't say I see anything wrong with that, but that's how the dice roll."

"Heheh," Leonard giggled from the back. "Dice roll."

"I'm just trying to run the team the way I think is right," Rodney explained, and though he didn't move his head, his eyes shifted in Jasmine's direction. The survivalist remained silent, however.

"That's great. Don't care. Max!" Chris continued, startling the poor boy. "It seems like there are a few people here who aren't too keen on you being here. And I can totally understand them! This whole sugar-and-ice personality thing you got on the go is hard to keep up with, and kinda annoying!"

"Huh?!" Max balked, the sweat on his brow becoming apparent. "B-But I read online that those traits make one endearing and rewards them with lots of admirers!"

"Well you read wrong!" Chris happily told him. He held up the last marshmallow like a beacon in the darkness. "And the camper who received the most votes is…"

…

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"Max!"

The only sound that came from that was Rodney's sigh of relief, and he caught his marshmallow happily. Max simply stared at the host in shock, clearly unable to process what just happened. At the same time, Jasmine and Sammy shared a confused look; Amy adopted a look of mild regret; and Topher and Scarlett kept their faces neutral.

"But…" Max finally said, his voice barely audible. "I don't get it." He turned to the others. "Why me?"

No one answered him, and everyone looked away. The only person not to do so was Scarlett, who frowned slightly and merely shrugged. "I suppose we were… outplayed."

Max could only sigh in despair, and he lowered his head further.

-SCARLETT-

"There's a reason why I didn't blow up at him," Scarlett explains. "Though I was indeed tired of his constant need for attention, I didn't want to end up on anyone's bad side like Sugar had done yesterday. As well, if it turned out that this was another non-elimination ceremony, things would get… awkward." She huffs and turns away from the camera. "I don't do 'awkward' very well."

-END-

"Anyone have anything else to say to Max?" Chris asked them. "Anything that might involve screaming and shouting?" When no one offered any, he simply rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Killjoys. Anyways, Max, congratulations on being Total Drama: Pahkitew Island's first officially eliminated contestant!"

"Aww," Max whined. "So there's no chance of me being kept on?"

"Not this time, bud! You're totally out of the race!"

He sighed loudly once again, and stood up from his seat. "Well, I guess that's it. It was a good run!" He began to walk towards Chef, who simply stood there with his arms crossed. "I just wish I could've stuck around for longer."

"Oh," Chris said, his cheeky smile returning. "I mean, you're still going to."

…

…

…

"Wait, what?" Max asked first.

"Seriously?!" shouted half of the people present after him. The others simply groaned in exasperation.

"How many more of these stupid rules are you gonna pull outta nowhere?!" Jasmine shouted at him, rising from her seat.

"But you just said he's eliminated!" Ella said, raising her hand. "Why can he stay?"

"This season is weird," Shawn said, slowly shaking his head.

The sharp ring of an airhorn forced them to all stop. "Shut your traps!" Chris commanded, and everyone reluctantly did so. "If you give me a chance to explain, I will!" He cleared his throat. "So, yes, we have one more special rule to introduce for this season. But first, a history lesson."

"Oh, great," Sugar grumbled. "The last thing we need now: school. Is there gonna be a test too?"

"I don't think that's what he meant," Leonard quickly whispered to her.

Chris glared at the two of them, but said nothing. "Over the course of the last few seasons, we've come to notice something: the audience, weirdly enough, loves the players, AKA you guys. And one thing they've been clamoring for is for us to give you all more screen time than you probably deserve.

"'But', we said to ourselves, 'this reality TV show is built around eliminating the campers until the last one is standing! How can we stay true to our roots and also make them stick around longer?'

"And after brainstorming for a few minutes, we came to a decision: in order to keep those good old ratings high, we've established a brand new way to keep you suckers around without keeping you in the game." He turned to the most recently eliminated contestant. "Max, if I could have you take a seat in the other peanut gallery box?"

Max slowly did so, unsure of where this was going, and with one last look at his old team he sat down all by his lonesome. He took a quick glance to the Bears on his right, most of whom looked at him in sympathy, but he only turned back to the host. "Okay… now what?"

Chris smiled, and turned to his co-host. "Chef?"

Chef grunted and walked up to the box. Though Max flinched at his presence, the hulking man basically ignored him. When Chef gave the box a swift kick, however, the empty space on the front where a logo should have been flipped around, revealing something new. Instead of a specific team's logo, or a peanut representing the peanut gallery box, there simply sat a large blue 'W'.

"Allow me to introduce you all…" Chris said, gaining everyone's attention once more, "to our third brand new, sure-to-cause-mayhem rule… the Wildcard system!"

No one really reacted to that. Beardo lightly coughed in the silence.

Chris was only slightly put off by it. "Basically, what this means is, whoever gets voted out by their team, and actually is eliminated that night, becomes what we call a 'Wildcard'. Wildcards can be thought of as 'special' contestants in the game - they don't belong to any one team, and are allowed to create havoc amongst the rest of you as they see fit, within reason of course.

"For example, they may still have a sense of loyalty with their old team and try to wreck the other guys' day.

"Or maybe they're feeling spiteful and choose to work with their old enemies to get back at the people who kicked them off.

"Or, even better, they just want to watch the world burn and go after everyone. It's up to them how they use this newfound power, really."

"I see, I see," Topher said, a grin forming on his face. "So this simultaneously gives everyone equal amounts of screen time, while also making life that much more difficult for those still in the game. How devilish of you, Chris!"

"I know, right? I'm good," Chris snidely praised himself.

"So then, what's keeping him here, though?" Amy piped up, jerking her thumb towards Max. "If I was the one voted off, I'd rather just get the heck out of here."

"Good question, Number One!" Chris replied. Amy groaned and rolled her eyes. "We figured you guys mightn't have the incentive to actually stick with this, since you're no longer in the running for the mil. But we'll let you in on a little secret: stick with being a Wildcard for a while, and there's the chance of winning other prizes at the end of the show. However, we won't say what they are just yet. That would ruin the surprise!"

Murmuring erupted from the campers, and several of them were nodding at the idea. Though many of them were bummed that they wouldn't be able to go home after being eliminated (or to an island resort, as was the popular theory after season one), the chance of a consolation prize from Total Drama wasn't one to be turned down lightly.

Amongst all of the whispers, however, Scarlett couldn't help but smirk.

-SCARLETT-

"I must admit, I dodged a bullet there," she says to the camera. "With Max now a 'Wildcard', he has the choice of who to help and who to hinder. And with him still believing that I am on his side…" She grinned wickedly. "I most likely will have the run of this place by the end."

-MAX-

Max sits on the confessional seat in thought for a moment before speaking. "I… am not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I've lost, and that stings. On the other… I'm still here on the island? And I still get to interact with the others?" Max dons a hopeful look. "Maybe this loss can be salvaged. If what Chris said about my attitude the last couple of days is true, perhaps I can start fresh with the guys on the other team. And maybe even mine!" He cringed. "Er, my old one. Wow, that'll take some getting used to."

-END-

"So, there you have it," Chris addressed the camera. "Our third and final new rule of the season: the Wildcard rule! These unique players are sure to bring twists and turns to the game, and should hopefully make life miserable for everyone! Who'll be our second Wildcard? Find out next time, on Total… Drama… Paaahkitew Island!"

VOTES

Amy: Max

Jasmine: Rodney

Max: Rodney

Rodney: Max

Sammy: Rodney

Scarlett: Max

Topher: Max

Max (4), Rodney (3)

TEAMS AND MEMBERS

Waneyihtam Maskwak: Beardo, Dave, Ella, Leonard, Shawn, Sky, Sugar

Pimâpotew Kinosewak: Amy, Jasmine, Rodney, Sammy, Scarlett, Topher

Wildcards: Max

Epilogue

"Sorry it ended up having to be like this, mate," Jasmine said to Max as she and everyone else retreated to their cabins. "If it's any consolation, you did pretty good today in the challenge."

Max shrugged and kept his eyes to the ground. "I guess."

Jasmine frowned and shared a look with some of the others. Even if they weren't technically playing the same game anymore, keeping around actually eliminated contestants was still weird.

"I don't even care who voted me off," he told them. "I'm just a little bummed about it being so soon."

His sorrowful face was, strangely enough, getting to most of the others. Surprisingly however, it was Amy who walked up to him first. "I'm… sorry it happened," she said, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder. "But, like, we don't hate you or anything."

Max looked up at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, sure, you're a little weird, maybe, but you're not a bad person." Max didn't seem as off-put by the slight insult as one would have expected.

"She's right!" Sammy said to him, her cheerful voice attempting to raise his spirits. "Maybe if we got to know you better things would have been different, but we still can now, can't we?"

Amy nodded with her sister's words. Contrary to Sammy's simple positivity, Amy's acceptance of the idea was based purely on the guilt on her conscience from voting for him.

"You really mean it?" Max asked, to which the twins nodded. "I… I might just take you up on that. I-If that's alright. I don't… ahem. Have many friends. So…"

As they continued to speak, Topher merely rolled his eyes. "This is all well and good, but I'm ready to hit the hay," he said to the people at the front of the group. "I'm excited to see how this'll all play out in the next few days. Reusing voted-out contestants in this sort of way is unprecedented in TD history, and I want to be there for when it happens!"

"About that," Rodney piped up, and stole a glance backwards. "I'm wonderin'... Now that Max isn't on our team anymore, who's he gonna side with?"

"I don't think that's our call to make," Jasmine told him. "We can't force him to choose one side or the other. That's his decision."

"I s'pose you're right."

Scarlett remained quiet throughout the whole exchange.

When they reached their cabins again, Maskwak - who had been trailing behind them a bit - bid them all a goodnight and retired to their rooms. As did most of Kinosewak, though not everyone.

"I want to talk to you," Scarlett said to Max as he climbed up the stairs.

He looked at her in surprise, then back at his room door closing as Rodney and Topher entered it. "What is it?" he asked, and turned around to sit down.

"We can use this 'Wildcard' system to our advantage," Scarlett said, jumping right in, "and now that you're currently the sole member you can practically go wherever you want."

Max quirked his brow. "I'm not sure I follow."

Scarlett sighed and leaned in. "You currently have the unique position of being able to play for both us, and the enemy. You have an opportunity unlike the rest of us - you can feign playing on their side, and give us intel on how they tick and where they are in terms of their team dynamic. If we play our cards right we'd be able to crush the other team into dust and guarantee our team makes it to the merge."

"I…" Max winced. "I'm not sure. It sounds tricky. And… I don't know if I want to risk-"

"It is a risk, yes," Scarlett conceded. "But I believe the results and rewards will more than make up for it."

Max stared at her in thought. Unlike the other times, where he had been so desperate to please Scarlett so that she would notice him, he appeared to be having trouble coming to accept this new plan.

This was not something that went unnoticed. Deciding to pull one last trump card, Scarlett attempted a smile and said, "C'mon, Max. We're friends, right?"

That got a bit of a reaction out of him, and he took a longer time to consider it. "I still don't know…" he said after a while.

Scarlett was visibly getting frustrated, and she let out a steady stream of breath. "Weren't you saying earlier about having the run of this place? What happened to that confidence?"

Max's gaze went past her, and his shoulders slumped considerably. "I'm honestly not even sure it was there to begin with."

This was, without a doubt, what caused Scarlett the most shock.

As she attempted to formulate any other thought, Max merely stood up and turned around. "I'll think about it," was all he said in the end, and he entered his room without another word.

Scarlett reached a hand out to him in a bid for him to stop, but just as quickly brought it back down. Scowling slightly, she took a few minutes longer to compose herself, and entered her own room to sleep without another word.

Phew, finally. Sorry for the delay on this one, I've had some other stuff on the go (and also my ADHD caused my focus to shift to entertainment other than writing, whoopsie). I probably could have posted this chapter long ago since it was just sitting there, buuut I did not.

And so, Max is eliminated, but he doesn't leave just yet! Today we introduce the Wildcards - players who have no longer have a chance of winning the big prize money, but who stick around to make it that much more difficult for the others. How they'll do this will depend on the challenge, and will be explained along with it every episode. I never did like how, in canon, all these potentially good characters would just get booted out so early to leave room for the... 'controversial' characters, so I'm hoping to fix that! Hopefully I manage to make it interesting and entertaining.

One of the plans I had from the beginning of the story was to give everyone their own plot, relationships, and, at the very least, to have them speak at least one line per chapter (though I'm going to try to do better than that). I ended up making these guys so expressive and full of life and personality that I want to explore ALL of them, which means that chapters might get a bit longer than necessary... I'll try to keep everything concise but sometimes I go hog-wild and write 10,000+ words in a single chapter. If that happens in the future, I apologize in advance.

(Also, yes, Rodney wanted Jasmine gone, but voted for Max instead. You can probably guess why, but still this'll be touched upon later but not right yet so be patient!)

That's it from me. Take care, and I'll see you in the next chapter!