At the time of posting this, it has been almost a full year since the last update. In the last chapter, I mentioned a delay due to family issues and that carried on for the rest of last year. I hate making excuses but a combined effort of work, school, and family related stuff kept me from this story for a while and I'm sorry.

So, what is the future of this story? I really don't know. I feel as if I'm inclined to finish it and would really like to but I don't know if it's too late for that. I knew I had to at least finish this chapter, as a way to communicate future plans for this story. A full year is a lot of time to wait for a single chapter and I sincerely apologize to those who sent characters in.


The episode opened up with Chris standing in front of the steps to the mess hall in the rundown campgrounds. "Last time, on Total Drama Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty!" he began his introduction by throwing his arms into the air.

"The campers took to the ocean in attempts to catch as many fish as possible." Chris said as the previous scene from the last episode flashed over, showing the contestants in their bathing suits and in the water. "Some had better luck than others," Ozzy was shown holding plentiful fish followed by Cynthia who struggled to catch a lot of fish. "Others used their team names well." Scarlett was shown using her wits to basically cheat in a free win, giving her team nets and a canoe to help them.

"Wynda thought she could challenge the world," she was shown attacking the canoe. "But a well-placed hit sent her down into the waves!" she was then shown being knocked out. "Her aggressive behaviour became her downfall as her team thought best to boot her out before she could cause any permanent damage!"

"There are three down and many more to go! Can the good looking campers keep their non-losing streak? Find out, right now, on Total Drama Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty!" Chris threw his arms into the air once more, taking a few steps back. He stepped onto the stairs to give himself some height and his foot shot straight threw one of the boards. "Okay, we seriously need these fixed." he yelled to someone off-camera.

(Intro)

Returning from the intro, Chef was seen outside the mess hall tearing the old planks off the steps. He grumbled to himself as he got to work replacing them. Daniel walked by to get into the mess hall but saw the large man block him. "Oh, excuse me." Daniel made himself known

The chef silently moved over slightly to allow him to pass.

Daniel nodded a thank you before entering the building. He stopped himself and turned around. "Hey, you busy?" he asked.

Chef shot him a glare. "What does it look like, pretty boy?" he growled at him.

"Was just curious." Daniel held up his hands. He then scratched the back of his head. "Would it be inappropriate if I asked when's breakfast?"

Chef continued his glare. "I serve breakfast when I want to serve breakfast." the chef barked at him. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh, yes sir!" Daniel ducked away into the building.

Inside, the other campers waited around for something to eat. "Man, I'm starved!" Kazu complained. "How much longer is this going to take him?"

"It could be hours." Ryan spoke up. "I doubt we'll even get to eat before the challenge."

Kazu frowned. "Isn't there something we could do? Why don't we just make our own food?"

"I could always whip something up." Laurie suggested.

"Really? Can you?" Kazu looked hopeful.

Laurie looked apprehensive. "Well, if you all want me to."

"I can help." Daniel offered as well. "Not much of a cook myself but I want to at least try to help."

Cynthia slowly raised her hand to gain attention. "I can help too." she quietly offered.

"Perfect!" Kazu smiled. "We got our own chef team to get breakfast!"

"I wouldn't forget about Chef himself." Yoshi brought up to his brother. "He wouldn't be kind to whoever touches his stuff."

"We just need to make sure Chef doesn't come in and get mad that we are using his kitchen." Kazu added. He thought for a second on what to do. "I know!" he ran towards the door and looked for a lock. The only lock there required a key so he just leaned on the door instead.

"That's your plan? Lean on the door?" Camila raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, he can't get in if I block it, right?" Kazu grinned.

The volunteer chefs moved into the kitchen and Yoshi followed as well. There was a surprising lack of food in the kitchen and they decided to make everyone what they could; a simple breakfast of eggs.

Yoshi acted as a supervisor as the others got to work. He instructed them on what to do even though both Laurie and Cynthia didn't really need the help. Daniel, on the other hand, looked like a lost puppy in comparison. He picked up an egg and cracked it a bit too hard sending the yolk and eggshells all over the counter.

"Why don't you work on something else." Yoshi suggested. "How about something easy, like pouring drinks."

Daniel frowned at being told treated like a child but nodded anyway. "Alright. I guess I can move on to something else."

The two girls quickly finished up breakfast for the campers. Yoshi smiled at the result. "This looks amazing, definitely the best food I have seen since we got to this camp. You two are amazing cooks." he complimented the stand-in chefs.

"Thanks." Laurie smiled. Cynthia nodded along.

They got the dishes out and everyone looked excited to eat. Chef's own cooking didn't compare.

Kazu smiled. "Sweet!" but before he could get up to go grab some the door swung open behind him. Kazu's plan wasn't well thought out as the door swung outwards and Kazu just ended up falling back. He looked up to see both Chef and Chris above him. Chef looked in to see that the others were grabbing breakfast and the stand-in cooks still behind the counter. "Hey!" the chef shouted. "What are you doing in my kitchen?"

Chris walked over Kazu and into the building. "We can deal with that later Chef, for now, it's challenge time!"

Kazu groaned. "I didn't even get to eat anything!" he looked up to see the towering chef above him, glaring downwards. He gave him a quick nervous smile before running past Chris and into the safety of the mess hall.

"I hope you're all well rested for today's challenge!" Chris grinned and raised his hands.

"Hard to get well-rested when we have bricks to sleep on." Liam quipped.

"Very funny." Chris frowned. "But if you don't like those beds of yours, then I have good news! You won't be needing them tonight!"

"Oh, are we camping?" Ozzy jumped up. "Wilderness versus man! A tale as old as time!"

"You would guess right, Ozzy." Chris shot him a finger gun. "Today, you'll all enjoy a nice trek into the woods and be staying there overnight."

"What makes this challenge so special?" Daniel inquired. "Staying overnight in the woods isn't that difficult. Or original."

"I'm glad you asked." Chris grinned a devilish grin. "Because you will not be alone in the woods tonight." he attempted an evil laugh.

"What's that mean?" Laurie looked concerned.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise but let's just say, you'll probably do more running than sleeping tonight." Chris laughed evilly once more. "Now, get outside and group up with your team captains, they already have maps and compasses and are ready to go."

The scene flashed outside the cabins where the teams grouped up with their captains. Chris stood in front of the four teams with an airhorn. "Are you all ready to head out?" he asked.

No one gave any real answer and his question was mostly met with silence or murmurs.

"Good! The losing team will be the last to arrive or the one with the least amount of surviving members." he rang the airhorn causing a few of the campers to cover their ears. "Now begin! See you all in the morning and try not to die."

"Thanks for the encouragement!" Ozzy waved goodbye to Chris as the teams began to head out.

As the four teams began to branch out into the woods, the camera followed the Brains with Scarlett leading her team with the map. "I would assume this is survival horror challenge." she theorized. "As long as we all stay together there shouldn't be any problems."

"Sounds good." Yoshi nodded. "Don't run off or do anything stupid." he basically repeated her statement.

The camera zoomed out of a screen showing Chris in a tent watching Yoshi and the other's on his team as they discussed strategy. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to make things more interesting." he chuckled to the camera. "Oh, Chef!" he raised a hand to his mouth and called out.

"What do you want?" Chef angrily burst into the room he was in. "I'm still fixing up the mess hall."

"Could you release the hounds?" Chris asked.

Chef raised an eyebrow. "We don't got any hounds."

Chris deadpanned. "For the challenge?"

"Oh, those 'hounds'." Chef let out an evil chuckle as he walked away.

The scene switched to show the Rejects moving along a winding path into the woods. "Man, all the trees look the same." Kathy kicked at the dirt as she walked. "It's already boring enough walking through the woods, there isn't even anything cool to look at!"

"What about that giant rock shaped like a tree?" Ozzy pointed to a rather large upright rock which was, indeed, tree-shaped. "Reminds me of my good friend, Stick." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a rock.

"That's a rock." Kathy told him.

"Hey! Stick here is more than just appearance gives! I'll have you know that my good friend Stick is one of the best singers I have ever heard!" Ozzy defended his rocky friend.

"A singing rock?" Therion asked. "Quite the imagination."

"No imagination needed, trust me, If he wasn't mute you'd all be able to hear the awe-inspiring, breath-taking, make you fall to your knees type of song he can produce!"

Therion just shrugged. "I'm not going to deny any further."

XXXXXX

Confessional

Therion - "Not to sound too rude, but Ozzy's weirdness is a bit over the top. He's an odd fellow but at least he seems genuine, which I can respect."

XXXXXX

Owen stopped moving causing both Therion and Ozzy to bump into his back. "What's the matter, Big-O?" Ozzy was quick to ask in worry.

"There's a fork in the road!" Owen pointed ahead.

"Well, which way does the map say to go?" Therion asked his captain.

"No, I mean an actual fork!" Owen waved his arm a bit as he continued pointing at it to get him to look.

The others looked ahead to see a fork sticking out of the ground.

"I'm actually mad at that pun." Mariana spoke up from the back of the group.

"It must be there for a reason!" Ozzy ran forward and picked it up. He hummed as he twirled it around it his hands looked at all angles of it before sticking the forked end in his mouth.

"Gross!" Kathy stuck her tongue out and cringed. "What's it taste like?" she instantly swapped to interest.

Ozzy popped it out of his mouth. "Dirt." he stated.

The others looked on with apathy at the statement.

"And also a forbording message!" Ozzy raised his voice.

"Wait, how can A fork taste like a bad message?" Mariana asked.

"Oh it can't, this was stuck between the prongs." Ozzy showed them a soggy note.

"Well? Go on." Therion urged him to read it.

"It says to not trust the map when we get to an actual, non-pun related, fork in the road!" Ozzy informed his team.

Owen looked at the map. "So we go right instead of left up ahead."

"Seems like it." Therion nodded.

The camera switched to show Team Beauty moving through the dense brush. Instead of an actual path like the Rejects were on, they walked through knee-high bushes with small thorns jutting out. "Are you sure this is the right way?" Sarah asked. "I'm cutting up my jeans!"

"It's what it says." Justin said from the back of the group.

"Remind me again why the guy with the map is in the back and not the front?" Rellik turned towards Justin.

"Well, by the time I have to march through the bushes, you have already stomped most of it down so I don't have to worry about scuffing my beautiful calves." Justin explained.

Fern picked a berry from a bush she was walking through. "Do you think these are edible?"

Cynthia looked down and picked one up herself. She noted the colour and texture before nodding. "Might be a bit sour but completely safe."

Fern squished it between her fingers producing a purple colour on her fingertips. "What a nice shade." she pulled out a small container from her bag and began to place them inside as she moved.

"Good thinking! We could use an extra snack later if we can't find other food!" Rellik complimented her choice.

"Snack?" Fern looked puzzled. "I was going to use these for painting."

"Don't you paint with, like, paint?" Sarah asked.

"Sometimes you don't have to." Fern told her.

Daniel picked up one of the berries for himself. "You did say these were edible, right?" he looked over at Cynthia to confirm. She gave him a quick nod. "Good, just wanted to make sure." he popped it into his mouth and gagged. "Man, that's bitter."

"They may not be ripe yet." Cynthia informed him. "Sorry."

They continued forward and the camera trailed behind. A spot within the bushes began to rustle before a shadowy figure quickly popped out to watch them before returning to hiding.

The scene swapped over to show the Brawn team walking down a slope into a small valley filled with dead trees.

"This place doesn't look that safe." Laurie eyed the decaying wood around them with caution.

"It's just wood." Eva stated flatly.

"Chris mentioned there might be something chasing us." Carter brought up. "This seems like the perfect place for it to attack."

"How so?" Kazu asked him.

"In a valley. Surrounded by suitable cover for any predators? Reads like an easy ambush. We should go around." Carter suggested.

"No way, I'm not getting lost trying to navigate around this stupid valley." Eva continued forward.

"What, are you scared?" Ryan asked Carter. "We're literally the team of strength. We can beat down any monster or scary dude Chris sends our way."

Carter continued to scan his surroundings. "Don't get too cocky. I'll watch our backs to make sure nothing sneaks up on us."

"I can assure you that will be a waste of your time." Ryan rolled her eyes.

"How is being careful for the benefit of the team a waste of time?" Carter counter-argued.

"Could you two just shut up?" Eva yelled at them. "I'll deal with any threats personally.

Carter didn't look two reassured by her claim while Ryan looked angry to be yelled at. Both, however, did stay quiet.

"So," Kazu spoke up to try to break the tension. "Think any of the other teams are being chased right now?"

"Doubt it." Ryan once more broke her silence. "it's too early in the challenge."

As if she cursed the team with that sentence a few twigs snapped as something moved closer to them. "What was that?" Laurie quickly turned towards the source of the sound to see nothing but the decaying trees blocking their vision.

"Sounds like a fight!" Kazu prepared for a brawl. "Come on out! We aren't scared of you!" The steps grew closer until a raccoon hopped into view and sat on one of the logs. "Oh, it was just a raccoon."

The raccoon began to growl and shout it's raccoonish language at them as it shook its fist. "Why is it so mad?" Laurie took a step back. "Does it have rabies?" The raccoon picked up a stick and threw it at her, being insulted from the claim of disease. She recoiled and help up her arms to protect herself as the stick bounced off harmlessly.

"Hey!" Eva yelled at the raccoon. "Knock it off!"

The raccoon hissed at her and picked up another stick to throw at Eva. She growled back at the raccoon as she made no attempt to stop the stick from hitting off of her face. The raccoon realized its mistake as Eva stomped closer and jumped up in a panic before making a run for it, barely dodging Eva's grab attempt. "You better run!" Eva shouted after it.

"So, there is your big danger." Ryan spoke sarcastically to Carter. "A pesky raccoon."

"But it proves that something could have snuck up in this valley." Carter made a point. "Can we just move on without arguing?" he instantly suggested avoiding a further argument.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Carter - "It seems more and more of my team are beginning to show themselves as untrustworthy. I might end up as a lone wolf on this one."

XXXXXX

Back with the Rejects, the team finally approached an actual split in the path. The path on the left lead into a cave while the one on the right split off into denser woods. "Here it is." Owen stopped moving.

"We're heading right?" Mariana asked.

"Better than going in that cave. We don't exactly have any light." Therion pointed out.

"Are we sure we want to listen to a random note on the road?" Owen began to second guess the decision. "Chris did say we were being followed."

"Well, there is only one real way to find out!" Ozzy pointed into the air. He brought his arm down and pointed towards the right. "We listen and see if it goes wrong!"

"I'm fine with that." Mariana shrugged.

"But spelunking would be a lot cooler than walking around some trees." Kathy looked to be itching for something fun to do.

"This is a challenge. We can have fun later." Therion waved away her side of the argument.

"My guts telling me to trust the note!" Ozzy continued to urge. "And my gut is usually never wrong!"

"Right it is." Owen nodded. "We should get going." he looked above in the afternoon sky as clouds circled ahead. "It looks as if it might rain soon."

The camera switched to show team Brain as they reached their game site. It was a small clearing surrounded by trees and bush. "Looks like we made it." Scarlett scanned the surroundings. There wasn't much there, about the same as the equality challenge back in the first season of the show.

"Looks like we need food." Yoshi noticed the lack of anything substantial to surviving in the woods "I'll search nearby, I think we passed a river on the way here. Could be a good source of both food and water."

"I do believe you have forgotten who the leader on this team is." Scarlett spoke up in a condescending tone. "Remember what happened last time?"

"I'm just laying out some groundwork and making suggestions." Yoshi assured her.

"If you're so keen on collecting food, you will need a partner to join you. Whatever Chris has up his sleeve is likely to try to pick us off." Scarlett made sure to reiterate her ideas from earlier.

"I can see if I can gather up some firewood." Liam volunteered. "There is a surprising amount of finesse when it comes to collecting sticks!"

"If Yoshihasu is fully confident he can get both food and water then having a team collect wood, as well as scout around for any dangers, could be useful." Scarlett gave a swift nod.

"I should be fine, as long as I get a bit of help." Yoshi claimed.

"Good." Scarlett nodded again. "Camila, you will help acquire food with Yoshihasu, Melanie, you will join up with Liam."

"Why do I have to go with wannabe leader?" Camila crossed her arms.

"Hey, we each have our role to play." Liam told her. "Some require getting food," he gestured towards Yoshi. "Others require bossing around the others." he then gestured towards Scarlett.

"I've watched enough horror to know the group that goes the farthest from the main camp will be the first to die." she stood her ground.

"We can just swap." Melanie suggested. "No point in arguing over it."

"Fine, I'll go collect sticks and whatever." Camila accepted a partial victory.

"Then it's settled." Scarlett spoke once more. "Be back here in no later than an hour. I'll set up and watch the campground while you're all gone."

"And why do you get to be by yourself?" Camila challenged her once more.

"For one, I'm not competing." Scarlett deadpanned. "I could continue but I believe you are clever enough to realize from there."

XXXXXX

Camila - "I have no doubts one of those two food chasers won't return. It's like they don't even care about one of the first rules about survival horror: never stray far from the main group." she explained. "That group of two isn't going to cut it for them."

XXXXXX

The scene switched back to show the Rejects now travelling down their alternate path. It was getting later in the day and clouds covered the sky overhead. The wind began to pick up and rustle the trees and brush around them. "Are we back on track yet?" Therion asked their large leader.

"I'm not actually sure." Owen admitted as he turned the map around looking at it quizzically. "I think we're lost."

"So trusting that note wasn't a good idea after all?" Mariana turned to look towards Ozzy who seemed carefree.

"Nonsense!" Ozzy waved his hand dismissively. "We are merely on a new path! One that doesn't require the traditional map!"

"I think the map is pretty important for not losing the challenge." Therion pointed out.

"Maybe for you! You're not thinking big enough!" Ozzy tapped his head. "We need to think outside of the box or map in this case." Ozzy ran forward and snatched the map out of Owen's hands before stopping. "It's cool if I snatch this, right?"

Owen nodded. "It's all good."

"Perfect!" he continued his snatching and flipped the map upside down. "There! Now we will find the right path."

"I don't really see how that helps." Kathy stood confused.

Mariana let out a yawn. "If it gets us to a bed faster, I'm all for it."

Owen shrugged. "Only one way to find out!" he changed directions to follow the new route. With his head down in the map, he walked face-first into a tree. "Ow!" he exclaimed as a pinecone fell down on him. "Maybe walk around the tree." he chuckled.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Therion - "We're doomed."

XXXXXX

Once more with Team Beauty, Justin looked around on top of a small hill. "You guys see anything?"

"I think that could be camp." Cynthia pointed out what seemed to be a clearing ahead in the trees.

"Seems like it is!" Rellik nodded. "Good eye."

"I see a small pond over there." Daniel peered off to the left. "There could be something to eat there."

"We should group up at camp first." Rellik told him. "Make sure it's the real deal before splitting up to look for food."

"But if I left now, I could get it a lot faster." Daniel tried to reason. "We really haven't eaten anything today."

"I am pretty hungry." Sarah chimed in. "It's even worse since I don't have my phone to distract me!"

Daniel nodded along with Sarah's statement. "See? I'll just run quickly to the pond and be back in a few minutes."

"Good enough for me." Justin shrugged. "Just get something low in carbs."

"You should be careful." Cynthia told him.

"It'll be fine, what's the worse that could happen?" Daniel grinned as he turned to leave the group. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back shortly."

"Well, that's food sorted." Justin noted. "Who wants to set up camp for me?" he turned towards the girls in the group. "Ladies?"

The camera swapped to the Brawn team as they pushed through dense brush. "We are almost there." Eva viewed the map. "Should be just past these rocks." she pointed ahead to a small cluster of rocks blocking their path.

"Good, we can finally get some food going." Kazu grinned.

"I'm less concerned about the food and more concerned about the annoyance." Ryan pointed behind her towards the raccoon from earlier.

It chattered as it followed far enough behind to avoid being attacked but close enough to throw a few pebbles at the group now and again.

"I didn't know raccoons held grudges this long." Laurie stated. "I still don't really know what we did to make it mad."

"Raccoons are tricky creatures, probably just using us to look for food." Carter told her.

"Oh." Laurie realized. "I guess that makes sense."

Eva approached the rocks in their path. She climbed up to get atop of them and looked ahead. "That's the camp." she simply stated as she jumped down the other side.

She was followed by everyone including the raccoon as they looked around the bare grounds. "And as expected, we need to get our own food." Carter muttered.

"Foraging isn't hard." Eva told him. "It's whatever Chris has in store for us."

"Do you think it's just something stupid, like Chef in an outfit?" Kazu asked.

"Could just be a bear." Laurie suggested.

"I'm leaning more on the big guy in a stupid outfit." Ryan nodded. "Dude couldn't stand a chance against us.

"A bear might." Laurie repeated.

"Meh, bears are just large pushovers." Ryan shrugged.

"Still dangerous." Carter noted.

"Not for me." Eva spoke up. She approached one of the nearby trees and ripped a dying branch clean off. "We need food and water. I don't care who gets what but go get it." she commanded.

The view switched to a red tint of the scene seen from outside the campgrounds they were in. Breathing was heard as it watched the group split up in different directions to look for stuff. Whatever it was that was watching them noticed the raccoon turn in it's direction. It began to back away as the raccoon continued to watch.

The scene returned to the Rejects as they walked aimlessly through the forest. "We are one-hundred percent lost." Therion deadpanned.

"Not necessarily." Ozzy spoke up. "We are on an island, move one way long enough and find water!"

"That is not going to help us win." Therion continued his pessimistic outlook. "Let's face it, we've already lost, we can't even find our own camp."

"Wait, guys!" Owen exclaimed as he peeked over some rocks. "We made it!" the big guy ran over the rocks and into an open clearing followed by his team.

"I stand corrected." Therion looked surprised.

"What are you doing here?" the team heard a voice. The camera panned over to see Justin standing by a still yet to be pitched tent.

"Justin buddy! I didn't know we shared a campground!" Owen smiled.

"We don't." Mariana informed the large leader.

"But then how-" Owen pointed over towards Justin.

"We got more mixed up than I thought." Therion switched back to his previous pessimistic demeanour. "I guess I was right after all."

"Oh cheer up sourpuss! We made it to a camp didn't we?" Ozzy tried to cheer him up.

"Not our own." Therion reminded him.

"Ah, does it matter? I'm certain our beautiful friends will gladly share their camp with us." Ozzy waved his hand towards the other team.

"No." Justin plainly stated.

"Come on buddy!" Owen gripped his hands together as he began to beg. "We have no idea where our camp is and it's getting dark! Can't you help us?"

Justin sighed. "Alright but you need to get your own food."

"Alright!" Owen cheered. "Come on everyone make yourselves at home."

XXXXXX

Confessional

Justin - "And there go our chances of winning." he slouched forward, in a sour mode. "But, what if," he hat back up straight, with an idea brimming in his mind. "We just stick together and beat them at the return to camp. Oh, brain you beautiful thing!" he tapped at his temple.

Owen - "I'm so glad we ran into Justin! He's such a nice guy and all, dreamy too!" his eyes opened as he realized what he said. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant helpful!"

XXXXXX

The two teams began to mingle as a few got some nearby resources. "Weren't there more of you?" Therion looked around the Beauty team.

"Oh, Daniel ran off to be a hero and get some food early." Rellik told him. "Doubt he's coming back anytime soon."

"So why'd you let him run off then?" Mariana asked.

"It didn't seem like he would take no for an answer." Rellik just shrugged.

"I do hope he is okay." Cynthia began to worry.

"I'm sure he's fine." Ozzy comforted her. "If I know Daniel, and trust me I don't, he is one hard to crack cookie! He'll be strutting back with any threats running away in fear!"

"That is like, not making anyone feel better." Sarah told him.

"All jokes aside, he's fine." Ozzy chuckled. "Maybe out of the challenge, but Chris would never harm us!"

"Except he would." Therion spoke up. "Remember when Owen broke his jaw?"

"That was actually Chef." Owen made sure to clarify. "And man did that hurt! I could barely eat for days! And even when I could kinda eat it was mostly liquids!"

"Well, he wouldn't let something like that happen again, right?" Cynthia asked. "Wasn't it just an accident?"

The sky began to groan with thunder, interrupting their discussions. "Guess we should worry about setting up camp." Rellik watched the greying sky above. "I wouldn't want you ladies getting caught in the storm. Getting sick wouldn't be too enjoyable."

"Like a tent would help!" Kathy scoffed.

"It's better than nothing." Mariana sat down on the ground. She grabbed her pillow and brushed off a section of dirt before placing it down.

"Are you seriously going to sleep now?" Kathy asked. "We still got stuff to do!"

"I'll start the fire or something." Mariana yawned. "Anything that doesn't require me to move much."

The scene flashed to show Daniel by the pond. "No food but water is good." he nodded to himself. "But... I don't have anything to carry it with." he mused. "Should have maybe thought about that before heading out." He turned around to head for the camp when he heard something moving. "What was that?" he turned. He saw nothing and the only thing he could hear was the wind.

He shrugged. "Guess it was a squirrel." he turned back once more to be face to face to a masked stranger. He gasped and screamed just as lightning struck, the thunder drowning out his cry.

The camera switched to the Brain's campground, showing Scarlett setting up a firepit. Liam and Camila returned with some wood adding it to the pile they had already started. "Looks like rain soon." Liam struck up a conversation. "We sure the fire will work?"

"It better." Camila spoke up. "I'm not freezing to death out here.

"It shouldn't get that cold." Liam told her. "Right?" he looked towards Scarlett.

"No, but the rain will make it worse." Scarlett explained as she continued setting up the pit.

"Do we need any more?" Liam continued with his questions.

"It might not be required but having a surplus will be beneficial." Scarlett told him.

"Okay." he nodded. "Changing the topic, has Melanie or Yoshi returned?"

Scarlett stopped what she was doing and took a deep breath. Before she could say anything, Camila spoke up: "Why don't you ask them yourself? Oh wait, they aren't here."

"Fair enough." Liam nodded realizing the stupid question. He turned his attention back to Scarlett. "Anyway, it looks like you're getting annoyed so I'll just head off to get more wood now."

"Guess that means I need to come with?" Camila raised her brow.

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Liam joked.

Scarlett continued to look annoyed while Camila groaned at the pun.

The scene then swapped over to the other half of the team, Yoshi and Melanie, as they foraged. Yoshi was currently busy digging around while Melanie kept lookout. "You good there?" she asked while scanning the environment.

"Yes, I should be fine." Yoshi told her. "Thanks for asking though." he dug around in the dirt picking up some roots.

"You sure those are edible?" Melanie wanted to confirm.

"Well, not one-hundred percent but close enough to not matter."

"Right, so we might die from poisoning rather than whatever Chris has in store." she snarked.

"That's assuming Chris could throw something dangerous our way."

"What, so confident?"

"I'm just saying, between the two of us, there isn't much he could get us with. I've seen your work and I must say, it is quite impressive." he complimented her.

"Thanks, I guess." Melanie thanked as the two continued to move back to their camp.

A flash returned to the Brawn team gathered around a small fire. They had a small pile of berries resting on a pile of leaves, to at least keep them from the ground. The sun had fallen out of the sky and remained on the verge of leaving.

"So," Kazu spoke up. "Anyone got any stories to tell?"

"Where is this coming from?" Carter asked him.

"Well, we are all around a campfire. Nothing better than a good story to set the mood."

"Are you talking about ghost stories?" Laurie wanted to make sure.

"Kind of. A ghost story works, I just really want to hear what anyone has to say." Kazu told her. "You know, get to know each other some more."

"That's a great idea!" Ryan spoke up with an awfully cheery voice. "Why don't you begin?"

"Alright, I think I have a few stories about my brothers and I." he thought for a second.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Carter - "So, Kazu just begins going on about his family. A bit weird, but it caused the others to open up a bit as well. Of course, I had no real intention of opening up to complete strangers as of yet."

XXXXXX

"Okay, so then we were trying to get inside but the door was locked! I tried breaking the lock but wasn't able to, so Yoshi suggests we go through a window." Kazu continued a story he was telling.

"Then what happened?" Laurie leaned forward in excitement.

"Well, I tried getting through but got stuck. Eventually, someone heard us and came over. I thought I was a goner, thinking I would be left behind to take the blame but my brothers stuck with me."

"So you all got in trouble?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, it seems silly now but it's nice to know your family has got your back." he admitted.

"You seem really close to your siblings." Laurie spoke up. "How do you feel about going against Yoshi?"

Kazu looked away as he thought about it for a second. "It's weird, you know? I want to help him succeed but I also don't want to fail my team." he looked over towards Carter. "Anyway, I think that's enough about me, what about all of you? Got anything to say?"

Before anyone else could speak up, a growling was heard.

"What was that?" Laurie looked around.

"Sounded like a large animal. Bear, I'm guessing" Carter instantly stood up as he prepared to run.

"Are we running?" We're running right?" Kazu asked.

"No." Eva told them. "It's a trick from Chris."

"I'm not too sure about that." Carter said as a bear emerged from the trees nearby.

It growled again as it approached them.

"Okay, we need to get going." Kazu stepped in front of the others and put his arms out in a protective stance.

Eva stood up and grabbed a nearby branch from the woodpile. She threw it at the bear and it bounced off, making it look angrier.

Carter picked up a burning stick and waved in it the air. "Hey, back off!"

The bear continued to step forward, undeterred from their attempts. It backed them up away from the fire and into the corner of the campgrounds.

It stood on it's two hind legs as it raised its arms menacingly. It let out a mighty roar before stopping as something hit the back of its head.

It turned to see the raccoon from earlier yelling at it and throwing nuts and rocks at it.

"Is that raccoon helping us now?" Laurie seemed confused from the whole ordeal.

The bear growled at the raccoon and opened its mouth, breathing out a stream of fire. The raccoon jumped to the side, dodging it, before running away.

"Is that bear breathing fire?" Laurie looked even more confused and shocked.

"It's that mechanical bear from the last season!" Carter made the connection. "This must be our threat for the night."

"So, is running the idea here, or are we fighting it now?" Kazu asked.

"I think we should run." Ryan told him.

The team began to move away from the metallic beast. Eva was the last to go, still wanting to fight it.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Ryan - "Okay, there is no way we are fighting a robot bear. A big guy in a stupid costume? Maybe. Not a robot bear!"

XXXXXX

The camera flashed to the Reject and the Beauty teams as they gathered around a large campfire. "Just so we are all clear, you are sleeping on the ground." Justin pointed towards the other team.

"Fair enough." Therion agreed. "There wouldn't be enough room in the tent anyway."

"Sleeping in the open stars! What more could someone ask for?" Ozzy sang out in a gleeful tune.

"Well, for one, the stars." Therion pointed out the clouds above.

"So, now what?" Kathy asked. "We just wait around for the night?"

"Well, Daniel hasn't come back yet." Cynthia noted. "I think something bad happened to him."

"Do you think it was what Chris was talking about?" Sarah looked worried.

"There is no reason to be afraid, at most he's just out of the challenge. I can assure all of you, without combined team strength, we should be fine." Rellik assured the group.

"But what if it doubled a threat?" Cynthia asked.

Rellik looked unsure. "Ok, that might be a problem."

"I'm hoping for it!" Kathy sighed. "It's so boring out here, when do we do something fun?"

"I think boring is a good thing when it comes to what Chris could have in store for us." Therion told her. He then took a look around and frowned. "Did anyone see Mariana?"

The group looked around to find her missing. "Oh, that's not good." Owen spoke up.

The wind began to pick up around them. Thunder rang out in the sky but no rain fell.

The group heard a loud noise come from the tent. Justin looked at it in fear. "Someone going to take a look?"

"It's probably just a rabbit or something." Rellik tried to brush off the ominous noise. He approached the tent, looking unsure himself. He grabbed the tent flaps and stopped for a second before quickly pulling it open and backing off. All of his fear instantly left him. "It's just Mariana. She's sleeping."

"And that mystery has been solved!" Ozzy announced. "Now, we still need the missing Daniel."

Out of nowhere, something jumped down from the trees and landed behind the tent, hiding away from the others.

"Okay, now that is a problem." Rellik backed away.

The group's fear increased as they noticed something peak out and look at them. The fire's light danced on the silhouette, making out a masked face. The being jumped out and charged them, causing mass panic and everyone to scatter.

It began to cackle like a witch as it watched everyone flee like animals.

"Sweet mother of cranberry sauce, don't leave me here!" Owen yelled for his team as he got out of breath. he stopped running and turned around to be face to face to the masked figure. His eyes were wide in shock and he fell back. "Please don't hurt me! The fat only protects me so much!"

The masked figure began to laugh some more at his cries.

Owen closed his eyes in anticipation for the worst before opening them in realization. "Wait a second, I know that laugh." he looked up at the masked figure. "Izzy?"

Izzy revealed herself. "Ah-ha! Got you!"

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was hired to be the big baddie for Justin's team! But I wanted to see you, so I got you to come here too!" she explained.

"Wait, you were the fork in the road?"

"Yep! I needed to make sure you ended up in the right spot!"

He began to laugh. "So we can just get everyone back now, right?"

"Well, I am still supposed to kidnap them." Izzy pondered. "So, I'll still do that!" she jumped back and put her mask back on. "Bye big guy, good luck!" she ran into the forest to look for the teams.

The scene returned to the Brain team. Scarlett was looking around while the others ate a shoddy meal in front of the fire. "Can't say this is much better than normal gruel." Camila quipped as she attempted to tear a root with her teeth.

"Hey, anything is better what then chef serves!" Liam argued. "Have you seen what he has given people throughout the show's history? I can finally relate to how bad it is!"

"Just because something is worse, doesn't mean the alternative is better." Camila continued her gripes.

"At least it's food." Melanie spoke up. "I'd rather eat something than nothing."

"Good point!" Liam nodded. "We all need to eat, even if what we have is almost unpalatable."

"I hope this isn't a commentary on my forager skills." Yoshi spoke up.

"Nonsense, there is nothing else you could have done." Melanie told him.

"I mean, it could be." Camila continued her complaints.

"I feel as if we will meet something very soon." Scarlett informed her team. "If we must run, we head back the way we came, so that we arrive at camp sooner. Do not split up."

"We will not disappoint! We've seen what you've done to people you don't like before!" Liam joked.

"What makes you think I like you?" Scarlett raised a brow. "You are nothing but an asset to me. A team I'm forced to control."

"If you don't want to act as a leader, we can find a substitute." Yoshi told her.

"You'd all be lost without me, I had thought we had gone over this." Scarlett told him.

A stomp from their side got their attention and they turned to see a large man with a chainsaw. He growled at them and raised it high in the air.

"Chef? Really? That's the best you could do?" Scarlett asked the man.

Chef grumbled and took off his mask. "Hey, I've got a job to do." he flipped it back on. "And I still have a weapon." he chuckled as he revved the chainsaw.

"He won't hurt us." Yoshi told his team. "But there still could be an accident and I'd hate if one of you got hurt." he looked between Melanie and Camila, the latter giving him an uncaring look. "I can hold him off if needed."

"No need." Scarlett told him. "Save your acts of grandeur."

Chef looked to grow angry at the lack of reaction. He stepped forward, unknowingly stepping onto a rope. As he did, it tightened around his leg and hoisted him up into the air, causing him to drop the chainsaw.

"Where'd you get the rope from? Melanie turned to Scarlett who stood smiling at her work.

"Do you see a tent anywhere?" she pointed out.

The scene flashed back to Justin who was running in the woods. He looked around before bumping into something. He looked up to see it was Cynthia. "We need to get out of here." he told her as he helped her to her feet.

"Did you see where the others went?" she asked him.

The model shook his head. "They can handle themselves, I'm going back to camp."

"You help no one by helping yourself." she told him, being weirdly mystic.

"Okay? And? I don't get punished if we lose."

She frowned at his greedy behaviour. The two heard a noise and Justin quickly ran off, causing Cynthia to have no real choice but to follow him.

Close by, Fern was moving about aimlessly. A rustling in some bushes caused her to turn around to meet the masked figure. "Oh, dear." she said as it approached.

"I've got you now!" the figure laughed maniacally. Fern reached into her supplies bag and pulled out the berries she collected earlier. She tossed them at the figure, having them splatter against the mask. "Really, that's all you got?"

"I thought it might work." she admitted. She was quickly grabbed and dragged away, without much protest.

The scene returned to the Brawn team as they ran through the woods. "Okay, any idea how to lose this thing?" Kazu asked the others.

"A trap, maybe." Ryan glanced back at the stomping bear. "I doubt we can lose it and we shouldn't be running forever."

"It is a robotic bear. A simple trap may not work." Carter explained. "Unless we want to trap it in a cave or something."

"Good thinking." Kazu nodded. "A cave could work."

"Hey, over there!" Laurie pointed to their left where a cliff face was.

They changed directions towards the cliff face but much to their dismay, there were no caves to be found. "We got nothing but dirt and rocks." Carter cursed.

Ryan noticed a few rocks hanging close to the edge of the twenty-foot cliff. "Up there, we get someone to climb up and throw a rock down on the bear."

"And how does that help?" Carter asked her.

"It will pull the bear away from the rest of the group! What's losing one person?"

"You suggesting a sacrifice?" Laurie looked worried.

"Yeah, basically." she nodded.

"So, who wants to climb?" Kazu asked the others.

"You're up, dude." Ryan told him.

Kazu sighed but then nodded with determination. "Right, I won't fail you." he stopped running and separated from the team, hiding behind a tree. The bear ran past, still chasing the majority of them.

He sneakily moved towards the wall where he looked around. "Okay, might be faster to justs go up here." he found a few rocks jutting out to grip and began his ascension.

The team doubled back around, past the cliff as he made it up, leading the bear back around. "Just one more pass." Eva noted.

Kazu looked around at the rocks scattered on the top of the cliff. He picked up a few smaller ones and tossed them in the air. "These won't do." he noticed a larger boulder near the edge. "Well, this can cause some damage." he peered over the edge, watching his team and the bear run around in the dark night. "But I have to be careful." he gulped.

He got ready to push the boulder over the edge. "Okay, Kazu, you got this." he told himself. He waited for his team to be underneath once more. As he saw them run below him, he counted to ten in his head before pushing his body into the boulder to tip it.

It was heavy, but close to the edge already. A small tip was all it took for gravity to do the rest of the work. The bear ran underneath, growling at the team as the large boulder landed squarely on its head.

The bear suddenly stopped as all of the boulders energy was forced through the mechanical bear's body. It began to spark before making a weird sounding, metallic roar which quickly died off.

"Hey, it worked!" Laurie commented causing the team to stop running.

They all walked back and looked at the bear, still upright with the boulder balanced perfectly on its head.

"Damn, that's one way to kill a bear. Well, a robot one." Ryan exclaimed.

"Way to go, Kazu!" Laurie cheered for him.

"Thanks! It was nothing!" he tried to stay humble as waved from the cliffside.

"At least you have good aim." Carter commented. "Can't say a lot about trust though."

"Let's just head back to camp and sleep." Eva told the group before heading out herself.

Laurie walked up to the bear to examine it closer. "So, it's just a robot bear?"

"Yeah, there was just whole robot island before, you really needed to see it to get it." Ryan told her.

"Ah." Laurie nodded, still looking confused.

Suddenly, the bear came back to life and attempted to claw at the two girls, causing them to jump back. But, with the boulder still on its head and damages done to its frame, the bear was able to do nothing more than swipe its arm and growl.

"We should get going." Laurie was quick to leave.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Kazu - "Did you see how I landed that rock right on that bears head! That was incredible! I didn't try to do it or anything it just happened!" I just wanted the bear to be surprised by the large rock falling and chase after me but, wow." he seemed to be at a loss for words.

XXXXXX

The scene changed to show the darkened sky overhead with various late-night critters creating a symphony in the night. The camera panned down to show Ozzy walking through the woods attempting to be sneaky. "With a threat at hand, one must always be on the lookout." he quietly spoke to himself. "One must never give away their position." he hopped behind a tree quickly before peaking out to make sure the coast was clear. "And one must always expect the unexpected." he quickly turned behind him but saw nothing. "Well, looks like I'm in the clear."

He jolted out of his hiding spot and sprinted quickly through the trees, dodging left and right to avoid roots, branches, and rocks as he continued to speed. He heard a cry and stopped quickly. He almost fell over and flailed his arms in an attempt to keep his balance. "That cry sounded familiar." he thought.

He jumped behind a bush and waited. Eventually, footsteps approached. He peered out to she Sarah and Rellik walking together. "Oh, hello there!" he popped out of his hiding spot.

The two both screamed from the unexpected arrival of Ozzy.

"There is no need to be afraid! I am no masked lunatic!" Ozzy assured them.

"Then why are you jumping out of bushing in the middle of the night?" Rellik asked him in anger.

"I was hiding!" Ozzy exclaimed. "From the actual masked lunatic."

"The actual masked lunatic that you summoned with your screams!" the three heard someone else say. They all turned to see the masked figure wave at them.

Rellik and Sarah both screamed again as they ran.

Ozzy stood his ground. "So, we finally meet. I'll have you know, I won't go down so easily. You will need to use all of your wit and skill to take me down! For I am Ozzy, THE MOUNTAIN KING, KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!" he shouted out boldly into the sky, shaking his fist as he did so.

"Don't mean to burst your bubble or anything but I'm really supposed to be chasing the other team." the masked figure told him.

"Oh." Ozzy lowered his fist. "Another time then?"

The masked figure nodded. "Of course! I wouldn't turn down royalty, would I?" she laughed out before running away.

"Bye!" Ozzy waved.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Ozzy - "Ah, good ol' Izzy." he sighed. "Yeah, I knew it was her. Hard to not know with her voice and all. And her hair is pretty noticeable too. And her mannerisms. And her laugh. Wow, she is very unique."

XXXXXX

The shot changed to show the Brain team, sleeping in the woods. They ended up having to sleep on the ground since the tent went to better use in trapping Chef. In was still dark out when Scarlett sat up, putting on her glasses. "Wake up everyone, it is time to go."

She was met with grumbles and tired voices, complaining about the time. "I'm not waking up before the sun is up." Camila growled in a low tone.

"The faster we head back, the faster we win." Scarlett told the team. "We spent the night out here, that was the only requirement. Now, we head back."

"What time is it anyway?" Yoshi sat up.

"Not much after four." Scarlett informed him.

"Right." Yoshi laid back down. "I doubt the other teams got any sleep tonight. We can wait a few hours before heading back."

"I concur." Liam groggily spoke up.

"We'll be better rested for the trip back too." Melanie added.

"I just want my damn sleep." Camila grumbled.

"As you wish." Scarlett rolled her eyes. "But if we lose, it's on you all."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Camila yawned before going back to sleep.

Beside them, Chef was still in the air. "Could you let me down now?" he shouted at them

"I was thinking you could hang out for a bit longer." Liam joked before laying down as well.

Chef frowned. "I hate this show."

The next scene showed the clouds departing and the orange sky of the rising sun. Therion stepped out of the woods looking dishevelled. His hair was all messed up, his clothes were dirty, and his glasses were crooked. He fixed them as he took a look around the main campgrounds. "Looks like I'm the first back. Guess the others are still running about." he mused.

After a couple minutes of waiting about, Chris finally came up to him. "Dude, what are you doing here so early?"

"I did the challenge." was all he replied with.

Chris shrugged. "Okay, the others might not be here for a few hours, go wash up or something, man, you stink." Chris pinched his nose in disgust.

He looked down at his dirty clothes. "Guess a quick refresher shouldn't hurt."

"Just go to the mess hall when you're done, I'll send everyone else your way." Chris walked away and left Therion alone once more.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Therion - "Last night was hectic. I don't think I was being chased at all but that didn't stop me from constantly moving. Better to play safe than risk an elimination off of a stupid mistake."

XXXXXX

Therion sat by himself in the mess hall, now cleaned up from his night in the woods. He realized that Chef was missing so he would miss yet another breakfast.

Eventually, the Brawn team burst through the door and noticed Therion by himself. "Alright, we won!" Kazu cheered.

"With the way you handled that bear? Of course, we'd win." Ryan boasted.

"It was nothing, really." Kazu tried to stay humble.

"The only thing that matters is that we won." Carter sat down at one of the tables. "Now, we wait and see who loses."

"Just to clarify, your team isn't back yet?" Laurie asked Therion.

He gave a nod. "Completly by myself here. We got chased about by a masked lunatic."

"I killed a bear!" Kazu proudly stated. Therion gave him a strange look and Kazu realized what he said. "A robot bear. And it didn't really die just disabled."

He took a seat himself and noticed his stomach grumble. "Aw man, I'm so hungry! When's breakfast?" he asked Therion.

Therion answered with a shrug. "Chef isn't here."

Kazu looked disappointed before turning to Laurie. "Hey, Laurie?"

Laurie sighed before moving towards the kitchen. "I can see what I can do."

Another hour passed before The Brain team arrived. Chris soon greeted the two teams, plus Therion, in the mess hall. "So, with the rejects and Beauties currently missing, we'll give them another hour to show up before Therion wins it by default." he explained.

"At least there is some good news." Therion commented.

Just as he finished his sentence, Justin and Cynthia entered the mess hall. "Finally back, you wouldn't believe how horrible it is out there!" Justin complained.

Chris laughed a bit at Therion's soured expression. "Guess you got to hope for another few members to pop up."

Time skipped forward another half-hour as they awaited the two teams. In that time, Kathy, Ozzy, Rellik, and Sarah all showed up.

Chris once more explained to the new campers the deadline. "So, we just got to hope Mariana and Owen don't show up?" Rellik asked. "Because we know Daniel is not."

"Yeah, just so you know, both Daniel and Fern are currently waiting in the captains' cabin after being captured." Chris informed them. "So, all up to the Rejects to pull through."

"Wait, we've only got one missing and they got two." Therion spoke up. "We won, didn't we?"

"Nope! Team captain still counts!" Chris told him.

Ozzy snapped his fingers. "Aw, shucks! Looks like it's up to chance still."

With time on the clock, the two losing teams sat anxiously waiting to see if someone would make it in time. Seconds turned to minutes as the time slowly went away.

With only five minutes left on the clock, Owen burst through the door. "Oh, hey!" he waved when he saw everyone. "I couldn't find anyone when I got back so I just came here to look for food." he admitted with a chuckle.

"And there we have it! The Rejects win!" Chris announced causing the team to cheer. Chris turned to the Beauties. "And to the losers, hope you're ready for your first bonfire ceremony!"

Owen cheered. "Aw, yeah! We did it!"

"All thanks to your great map skills and planning!" Ozzy told the large man.

"Come on, we all put in effort!" Owen chuckled as his team gathered around him. He looked concerned for a second while he counted heads. "Um, where's Mariana?" he asked them.

A quick flash showed the Beauties campground. The tent zipped open and a yawning Mariana peeked her head out. "Hello? Anyone there?" she asked the empty space.

Another flash took the Beauty team outside the boys' cabin. All five of them sat around in an awkward air.

"Aw, this sucks!" Sarah complained, breaking the silance.

"It does." Rellik agreed. "But, someone has to go home."

Daniel sighed and stood up. "Look, I know I messed up. I went off by myself trying to save some time or whatever and got caught out. That's why I'm asking for a second chance. We all make mistakes, I just hope this isn't the one that sends me home.

"Not a lot of options, buddy." Rellik told him. "I'll have to think about it.

"That's all I'm asking." Daniel told him.

XXXXXX

Confessional

Daniel - "Man, I feel stupid!" he slapped his head. "But I hope I can appeal to the others. I don't want one dumb mistake to cost me the whole game."

Cynthia - "I'm all for second chances but I just don't know. Voting is a lot harder than it looks."

XXXXXX

A flash took the scene to the bonfire ceremony. The five members all sat around with Justin looking uncaring next to them. Chris pulled out a tray with four crackers on it. "You should all know how this works. I have four objects here and there are five of you. If you don't get one, you are going to take a ride on the helicopter of loserdom." he noticed the confusion about the crackers. "We ran out of marshmallows, so we got these crackers we found in the cupboard when we got here." he told the campers. "Only the best for my eliminations!" he chuckled.

The others looked on in worry, not really caring what their symbol of immunity was.

"First up is a safe bet, Rellik!"

Rellik smiled and got his cracker.

"Sarah, you are up too." she grinned widely as she caught hers.

Daniel looked between the two girls who remained unsafe with him. His expression worsened when Cynthia was called.

"So, two big losers tonight." Chris showed off the last cracker. "But, who will be the biggest loser?"

Daniel looked increasingly worried while Fern looked mostly indifferent.

"The final marsh- eh, cracker" Chris corrected himself. "Goes to..." he gave a short pause. "Fern"

Daniel sighed. "Guess it wasn't enough, huh?"

"Sorry, Daniel." Rellik spoke up. "Too big of a mistake to let go."

"Yeah, I understand, it's alright." Daniel sighed again. "I just wish I got to prove myself more."

He stood up and walked away from the team, giving them a saddened wave.

"Oh, one more thing." Chris got up. "Chef is currently out of action so I will fly you today!" Chris picked up a helmet and put it on.

"Oh, okay." Daniel nodded.

The two boarded and Chris took off. "That's all for today's exciting episode!" Chris shouted over the loud helicopter. "Got anything to add?" he asked Daniel.

"Yeah, I-" he shouted back.

"No? Okay." Chris ignored him. "What exciting challenge awaits the campers? Which team will be the first to fall? Find out everything next time on Total, Drama, Brains vs Brawns vs Beauty!" Chris swerved the helicopter out of the shot. With the darkened sky being the only thing visible, the episode faded out.


There we are the fabled fifth chapter of this Fic. One of the main issues I have with this chapter is the challenge. I didn't like it nearly enough but had written enough that I couldn't reset it again. I say again because in a previous iteration, I liked the challenge idea so much I actually wanted to move it to the merge, if not the finale. So with that challenge moving over, we are left with a similar one to the original Total Drama Island one but with an added twist. Overall, this chapter including all of its drafts was over 25k words.

Also, this ended up being over 10k words because of how I tried to pad the challenge with conversation since I didn't like the strength of the challenge by itself. And even then, I feel there is a few loose ends not really tied on the chapter.

For the threats the campers had to deal with the Brains got Chef, Brawns got an iteration of Scuba Bear, Beauty got Izzy, and the Rejects got Fang. Fang is never seen or mentioned though because of Izzy manipulating the teams but I just thought I'd mention it anyway.

If I do continue this story, next chapter might be Aftermath or it might be the one after. I started both chapters 6 and 7 already and they can swap ordering with just a few edits to the Aftermath one if needed. It all really depends on future formatting of chapters and where I want everything to fit in.

Also going to show the full voting as I see it now.

Votes:

Cynthia: Fern

Daniel: Fern

Fern: Daniel

Rellik: Daniel

Sarah: Daniel

Daniel - 3

Fern -2

Eliminated:

20th - Mikael

19th - Carl

18th - Wynda

17th - Daniel