In the wilds of the nature zone, one area which the survivors had been allowed to visit in the past, a girl could be seen hiding in bush, trembling for dear life. A close look into the bush revealed that she was very lanky, and had sand-toned skin. Her hair was a navy blueish color, and it was a frazzled mess, though not that long. She had blue eyes, but a really close inspection revealed them to actually be grey behind a pair of colored contacts. She wore a simple grey hoodie, though it was clearly too big for someone her size, and it had the letters "LG" embroidered into the right side of the chest. She also had on some black, baggy sweatpants, and a pair of red and white running shoes, which the laces were untied on. She swallowed her fear, eventually poking her head out of the bush to look around, only for a bird to squawk at her, causing her to scream. She immediately got back into the bush and started crying ferociously.
"L-l-last time on Total Drama: Scrap Island," the girl started mumbling to herself, "Dana and Aaron ordered some bad mattresses...or something like that...and then a bunch of contestants got upset about it. Especially Larida! She threw a big fit when she saw how bad Zane was after trying to sleep on that thing. Well, the hosts ordered some new mattresses later on, and had their new intern set them up in the contestants' rooms...in hindsight, that was a really bad idea. Oh! But I'm sure it's better than anything I could've come up with! Anyways...the challenge was back in the big scrapyard that everyone first showed up at, they had to play the climbing game on a giant heap of trash! There was a whole bunch of-"
Suddenly, the bird fluttered into the bush that she was in, squawking loudly at her again, only this time, she grabbed it with her hand and squeezed it tightly so it couldn't fly away. She seemed to have a much different aura about her this time, glaring into the birds eyes before launching it out of the bush. She then stepped out of it herself, tossing a piece of gum into her mouth and pulling out a red baseball cap from her hoodie's pocket, putting it on backwards and chewing her gum loudly.
"There was a lot of traps all around the stupid hill, those bastard hosts really were trying to get someone killed, as usual. SMH. So, like, this bitch, Bunny totally egged this other bitch, Margaret, on and made her get really angry at her about some stupid remark or some bullshit like that. Nerdy boy Mitch found out that maybe his overly horny gf may not be the best relationship option for him. Personally, I ship Mitzy and Mitch, both nerdy bitches if you ask me, they'd be perfect together. Speaking of Mitzy, totally funny thing happened with her. Some can was stuck to her face! She attracts garbage, come on, these jokes write themselves. Well, the Squirrels won the challenge, yippee! But, oh no! That can fell on the top of the hill, and Mitzy totally killed Larida. Okay, maybe not killed, but the old coot tripped on the damn thing and went all roly poly down the hill. ROFL. Momma had to take a medical leave after that, too bad, so sad. Now, Dingos got two up on the Squirrels. Talk about pathetic, am I right? Which team is gonna lose next? Find out on this phenomenal episode of Total Drama: Scrap Island, hosted by me: the one and only, Libby Grace!"
The camera suddenly flew into the sky, being struck by a massive chunk of debris and knocking it back to the ground, only to be picked up by a cute, blue and silver striped robot with one wheel that it used to move.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the robot pointed the camera at Theodore at a cafeteria table, pounding down energy drinks like a champ, his eyes twitching from the caffeine while Larida looked concerned for his health.
"You guys are on my mind," at a nearby table, Ronnie was arm wrestling Mitchell, winning easily and slamming him straight through the table, causing Celeste to run over and start screaming at the powerhouse.
"You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer's plain to see," the robot wheeled its way out of the cafeteria, showing a junkyard with Vernon scribbling something down in silence and Ivy looking over his shoulder to peek at it, until Blaster popped out of one of the garbage piles, scaring him and making his papers fly off into the sky.
"I wanna be famous!" Vernon ran after his papers, leaving Ivy behind in confusion, eventually passing by Margaret and Daniel as they were making out while surrounded by four intense looking mafia thugs, one who spotted the camera and chased after it.
"I wanna live close to the sun," the robot wheeled away from the mafia goon, passing by Zane and Bunny, the latter who was bugging the boy by holding a mic up to his face, which he tried to shove away.
"So pack your bags, cause I've already won," Fridge carried Caleb on his shoulders across from Aaron, who had Dana on his own shoulders, the two up top slapping at each other as the robot passed by.
"Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day," as the robot continued to roll around, it finally made its way out of the junkyard and to the remnants of Cali-Tokyo, where Buck was attempting to profess his love to Yves, who was all flustered by the gesture.
"I wanna be famous!" nearby, atop a pile of rubble, Brittany was making fun of Valerie, who let out a sigh and pushed her off the pile and onto the ground.
"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na," near the pile, there was some barrels of toxic waste, which inspired Mitzy, who scribbled something down on a blank sheet while Alice was absolutely appalled by the sight.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" CJ was being chased by a massive and terrifying robot with six legs and two clawed arms, which then noticed the robot with the camera and chased after it, causing it to drop the camera.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" the camera feed cut to the aftermath stage, showing an Calvin trying to kiss Max, who, out of embarrassment, belched right in his face.
The two were soon shoved aside by Capone, who rolled his eyes at them, while Sunny, next to him, waved happily to the camera with a huge smile on her face. Maggie popped up between the two of them, an acoustic guitar around her back, hugging them both tightly and snickering while the camera panned out to show the whole cast sitting in the risers, with the little robot sitting next to Caleb, and Franchesco standing off to the side with a glare fixed on Maggie.
Mitzy woke from her sleep with a look of misery seated upon her face, one that didn't suit her well. Ever since the whole Larida incident, which could hardly be considered her fault, she had a hard time keeping herself focused on what she usually loved. She hadn't so much as touched on of her comics, either. No progress was being made, she sat in a self-loathing state endlessly. As she bundled herself up in many blankets on her bed, she could hear a knocking on her door. With a groan, she rose from the bed, slowly trudging on over to the door to open it just a crack. She peeked her eyes out, noticing that it was Bunny who was standing there, all perked up.
"Hiya, Mitzy!" the reporter greeted her friend, "Why are you a blanket burrito right now?"
"Oh...I don't wanna talk about it," Mitzy mumbled, her voice dampened by sorrow.
"Great guacamole, Mitzy! You sound like your grandma just died! Who killed your grandma? I'll rough 'em up, nice and good!"
"N-nobody killed my grandma...though I guess I appreciate the sentiment."
"Then what's wrong with you?"
"I really just don't wanna talk about it...I'm a bad person."
Mitzy was quick to shut the door again, leaving Bunny flabbergasted. The reporter banged her fist against it loudly, trying to coerce her friend into coming back out and continuing the conversation that they were just having.
"Mitzy, you open up this door right now and talk to me about your problems or I'll bust it down!"
"Good luck with that," Mitzy mumbled from behind the door.
"Oh, just you watch!"
Bunny backed up to the other side of the hall, eventually running at and ramming her elbow into the door, only to fall over onto the ground with a sharp pain now rushing throughout her arm. She let out a squeak of pain as she rolled around on the floor, causing Fridge to burst out from his own room.
"Friendleb!" he shouted, glancing about, looking for the boy, "I heard a baby squeak noise, this means you are in trouble, right?"
As he failed to find Caleb, he noticed Bunny on the floor, and rushed on over to her, bearing a look of shock.
"Gah, Foxy! You've been injured!"
"Eh?" Bunny turned to look up at the boy that was towering over her, "Who is Foxy?"
"You, Foxy! Who did this to you, I'll report them to the principal!"
"...Principal?"
Bunny started to chuckle a little, causing Fridge to gain some confusion. The girl pulled herself to her feet, despite the pain in her right arm, and dusted herself off.
"Oh, you are okay, Foxy!"
"Yeah, I'm alright. But it's Bunny, not Foxy."
"Bunny? Like a little, fluffy rabbit?"
"I guess you could say that...say, aren't you usually with Caleb at this time of the day? I'm pretty sure he makes you go run errands right about now."
"Oh, I made Friendleb angry because I poured soup on his head. He told me to go to my room and think about what I've done."
"Sounds like he's not a really good friend if he gets mad about something like that."
"Friendleb is a great friend! Just a tiny temper, but he's a tiny guy, so only so much temper can fit inside that tiny little frame. He needs to eat more vegetables to grow big and strong!"
"Ha! I think you should tell him that, you might get an interesting reaction...and of course, I'll be there to record the whole thing."
"Oh, I should tell him that! He'll forget all about why he was mad at me, since I'm giving him such good life advice!"
Fridge patted Bunny on the head, his massive hand pretty much covering her entire head itself, and messing up the buns in her hair. She was quick to attempt to fix them, making sure to put the pencils and pens back in their proper places to keep them stable, while Fridge turned to run over to Caleb's room.
"Thanks for the good advice, Rabbit! I'll make sure to let Friendleb know that you gave me the idea!"
"Eh!? No, don't tell him that I told you, he'll-" she tried to stop Fridge, but he had already ran straight into the room.
She let out an annoyed sigh, rubbing her brow with her hand as she thought about how angry Caleb was going to be about this, and how obnoxious it would be.
Confessional
"Fridge is a special kind of someone," Bunny started, jotting down notes in a little pad of paper, "He's not very bright, in fact, he's pretty much all muscles. But, despite that, he's a sweet boy...and Caleb is a little ass for treating him the way that he does. I may not be the nicest person ever, and definitely a compulsive liar, but at least I treat my friends with some respect."
"Friendleb did not like the vegetable comment," Fridge said while holding an ice pack on his shin.
Confessional End
Meanwhile, Mitchell was trying to enjoy his morning as he walked through the halls of the hotel, whistling to himself. He hadn't seen anybody yet, but eventually, he ran into Max, who was busy eating a turkey leg that she had obtained from...unknown locations. The boy cocked his eyebrow at her as she delighted herself with the savory treat.
"Where...where did you get that?" the boy asked, worried of what the answer may be, "You didn't kill someone for that, did you?"
"Wha?" Max rolled her eyes, taking another bite from the turkey leg and continuing to talk while chewing, "Why would I kill someone for a turkey leg? I just took it from the staff fridge, it looked tasty, and I wanted it."
"You just...robbed the staff? For a turkey leg?"
"I wouldn't say robbed, I would just say I repurposed this turkey leg for better use. It was just sitting there, and now it's going in my tummy."
The girl triumphantly smacked her free hand against her stomach, letting out an enormous belch soon after, and causing Mitchell to let out a slight laughter.
"I kinda wish I could just go do that...eating the crap they serve us isn't really fulfilling or anything. I mean, I kinda feel like I lost weight because of it."
"You wanna go with me to the staff fridge sometime? They got tons of stuff and there, and usually Aaron is the only one around when I take it. He's to shy to say anything about it, so he just lets me do whatever I want."
"Yeah...that sounds nice, actually. It would be a nice break from-"
"Hey!" a girl's voice shouted from off in the distance.
It was, of course, none other than Celeste, whose face was purely red with anger. She rushed on over to the two, standing in front of Mitchell and getting up in Max's face, startling the new girl.
"What do you think you're doing, trying to flirt with Mitchy! He has a girlfriend, you know!"
"Celeste, come on, she wasn-"
"Shush! I can handle her, easy peasy!"
"Look," Max spoke in between taking massive chomps from her snack, "I dunno what you think me and Stephen King were doing over here, but I can tell you that we were definitely not flirting with each other."
"Yeah, right! Like I'm gonna believe some gourmand whose brain lives inside her stomach. If I were you, I'd just back off."
Celeste shoved Max back ever so slightly, thought the much larger girl could've really cared less. Though she didn't seem to care, Mitchell felt entirely different. He had a look on his face that was nothing like he had ever had before. He grabbed Celeste by the shoulders, spinning her around to face him. She would've normally looked at him as if he were some sort of trophy, but now, she was simply worried.
"What the actual fu** is your problem you crazy bitch!?" the words echoed throughout the halls, causing even some of the other Dingos in their rooms to hear them.
Some of their teammates were quick to come and check the scene, namely Margaret, Alice, an irritated Caleb, and Vernon. They all poked their heads out from their rooms to watch what was happening, only to find the three in the middle of the hall.
"W-what are you talking about, I-" Celeste was quickly cut off by Mitchell continuing to shout.
"Don't 'what are you talking about' me! You know exactly what I'm talking about! You won't let me talk to any other girls, you're crazy obsessive, and you pick fights with people that you don't think should be talking to me! It's so obnoxious!"
"But I thought you liked me being crazy for you..."
"Well, news flash, I like being able to live my own damn life! I'm a person on my own, and I don't need you rushing around to tell me what to do and who to talk to! I am so done with you and your psycho act, we're through!"
Time seemed to stop for Celeste right there. The words echoed through her head over and over again. Just like last season, when all she could hear was Mitchell calling her a creep, she could now only hear was, "We're through!" Tears welled up in her eyes, and she started to sniffle, with Mitchell simply rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
"B-but I was just-"
"Done! Finished! Over! Do you need me to say it again!?"
Celeste found herself unable to say anything anymore, and all that she could do was continue to sniffle, shuddering in place. Mitchell let out an annoyed sigh, and turned away from her, storming off to his room, opening the door, and slamming it behind him. Feeling too awkward to stick around to watch the aftermath, the four that had poked their heads out ducked back into their own rooms. Max, however, did not, and she walked over to Celeste, tapping her on the shoulder. The girl with the broken expression couldn't force herself to turn around, all she could do was sit there, destroyed by what had just happened.
"Hey, you...uh...no, you're probably not okay...uh...you wanna talk about it?" Max asked the girl, swerving around her to face her.
"...No," she mumbled, "I don't want to talk at all."
She started to slowly walk towards her room, her feet dragging along the way. The tears stopped flowing from her eyes as she reached the door, slowly turning the knob to open it.
"I just thought that he liked me like that...I guess I was wrong."
She shut the door behind her, leaving Max alone in the hall with a troubled look on her face. The situation was so awkward for her that she couldn't even find a way to finish her turkey leg.
Confessional
"What am I supposed to do about that!?" Max held her head in confusion, "I barely even know either of them, and now I'm the reason that they broke up! Ugh, I don't even know anymore...I mean...she was just trying to make him happy, right?"
"I thought he liked the crazy...I worked so hard to be like this for him and now...he hates me," Celeste looked down at the floor as she spoke, her eyes red from the tears she cried, "I wanna go back to before...yeah...back before I ever talked to anyone..."
Confessional End
While the inevitable break-up happened on one side of the hotel, something much different was happening on the other side. Buck had Theodore pinned up to the wall in the Squirrels' side, with Zane and and CJ both trying to hold him back from punching his lights out. Standing nearby, Yves was watching closely, an uninterested look on her face. However, on the inside, she felt like the worst human being in the world. Suddenly, Theodore turned to directly face the camera, time seeming to stop all around him.
"So, you're probably wondering how I got myself in this situation," he started, an irritated look on his face, "Well, it's really quite simple, but it's not my fault! See, Yves is over there, watching like she didn't do anything, but oh boy, she's a liar! I was just minding my own business, playing some Fortlife on my phone while meandering down the hall, thinking about how cool Alice is, and out of nowhere, Yves trips me! What a crazy lady, am I right? Well, I would've fallen to the ground, but she made me fall into her chest, and then screamed super loud! Buck and the others ran out, saw the scene, and bada boom, bada bing, now I'm here! I tried explaining to them, but they just don't wanna believe me. Oh well, back to your regularly scheduled program of me getting punched in the face."
With those words, he turned back away from the camera, causing time to start back up again and a powerful punch from Buck to crack him right in the jaw. He quickly sunk to the floor, and the other boys let go of the attacker, who was huffing and puffing something fierce.
"Was that really necessary!?" Zane shouted at Buck, "You're already exhausted, and now you've gone and wasted more energy on this, there's one liability! Not to mention Teddy's gonna be loopy after that punch, two liabilities!"
"Man, I don't give a gotdang crap about ya and yer liabilities!" Buck yelled back, "He deserved that for what he just did!"
"But B-Dog, maybe he was telling the truth!" CJ tried to coerce his friend into calming down.
"CJ, yer my friend and all, but Yves ain't no liar!"
CJ noticed the anger plastered all across Buck's face and turned to Yves for some advice, though the dull expression on her own face didn't exactly provide much substance for him to go off of. He backed away, looking down at the YouTuber on the floor, who was struggling to pull himself to his feet.
"I told you already," Teddy groaned, "I didn't do anything...it was all her fault."
"Stop lying to try and save yer hide!"
Buck kicked the boy in the side, only to be quickly lifted up by the collar of his shirt, courtesy of Ronnie. The much stronger boy spun the attacker around, staring him dead in the eyes.
"I know I have anger issues, but this is out of control," the athletic boy growled before dropping him back to the ground, "You're going after your own team based on some shit you didn't even see. How is that fair?"
"Because Yves wouldn't lie about-"
"And what if she did?"
"That's not-"
"Don't you dare deny the possibility. This kid ain't done shit to hurt anyone before, why would he start now? Stop thinking out of your ass and face the fact of the matter. You saw nothing, all you heard was a scream. From where I'm standing, Yves is seeming pretty suspicious."
"Shut up!"
Buck went to throw another punch, this one aimed at Ronnie, only for CJ to step in the way and take the blow to the cheek, stumbling over to the side soon after. Buck was taken aback, and Ronnie quickly stopped CJ from falling to the ground, while Zane shook his head in disappointment.
"CJ why'd ya-"
"You're being dumb, dude," CJ spoke softly, "Ronnie would totally kick your ass if you punched him like that...besides...he's right about this one...you don't know what happened."
"CJ seems to have some sense about him at least," Zane mumbled, "Buck, I'm not sure we can deal with someone on our team who just wants to cause fights the whole time. I highly suggest you apologize."
"But...she's my-"
"Guys, relax," Teddy continued to groan, finally pulling himself up to his feet, "It's no big deal...he was just trying to keep his girlfriend safe. I would've done it, too. I just hope this doesn't get in the way of us being a team and all."
The group was confused, knowing that it would've been reasonable for Teddy to be exploding with anger right now. Ronnie glanced between the two boys, letting out a drawn out sigh as he stood CJ back up on his feet. Just then, the speaker feedback hit like a wave.
"Attention all survivors," Dana's voice echoed throughout the halls, "Please make your way outside so we can take you to the nature zone for your next challenge."
The speakers then cut out, leaving the group just standing as awkwardly as before. Zane and Ronnie both focused an angry gaze on Buck, but quickly turned away to start heading downstairs.
"You're lucky that Teddy is so forgiving," Ronnie grumbled, "You'd be dead right now if that was me you pulled that shit on."
Buck begrudgingly hung his head, with CJ patting him on the back as they headed towards the stairs with the others, leaving just Teddy and Yves behind. The girl tugged on the YouTuber's arm before he could walk away, causing him to glance over at her, revealing a bruise on his face.
"You just took that like it was nothing," Yves mumbled, avoiding eye contact. "Why didn't you try to fight back?"
"I'm pretty sure I said already...I would've done the same thing in that situation. What was the point?"
"But you were right. You know you were right, too."
"Yeah...I know. I mean, I'd kinda like an explanation, but I can't complain. I don't wanna start any trouble."
"But you didn't start any trouble, I did. I caused that whole thing and...you were just being you. I didn't wanna do this, or get Daniel eliminated either..."
"Wait...you lied about the whole Daniel thing?"
"Yeah...I did. I don't know why I did, but it just...it kinda happened. Same with this just now...it was on impulse. I really didn't-"
"Meh, I don't really care. It's whatever, I guess."
"What?"
"Live and let die, right?"
"But I-"
"I said it's cool. We'll forget this whole thing happened...and maybe I can try to give you a hand with this weird sabotage impulse of yours. Sound good?"
"I don't deserve that..."
"Maybe not, but you clearly aren't happy with what you're doing. I'm all for helping you get past that."
Yves was speechless as Theodore started off to join the rest of the group, only for her to run after him and hug him, sobbing into his shirt. He rolled his eyes in response and just stood there, letting it happen.
Confessional
"I have issues," Yves continued to sob, "Why am I doing this...why?"
Confessional End
When the groups finally made their way outside, they found Dana and Aaron standing before the vehicle from before, with the girl from earlier standing up against it, still chewing gum while checking out her nails. The members of the Squirrels who were absent for the fight were quick to notice the bruise on Teddy's cheek, but he didn't look upset at all. Yves stood next to Buck, clinging onto his arm and softly crying into his sleeve while he looked over at Teddy, wondering why he looked so happy after what had happened. Celeste stood near no one, with an aura of despair around her, as people noticed that Mitch's name on her hat was crossed out. The author himself rolled his eyes at her.
"Well...you all look really roughed up today," Dana mentioned as she glanced about them, "The challenge hasn't even started yet and you all look...just terrible."
"They're going through a whole bunch of fighting," the guest pointed out, "I tapped into your cameras to check and see what was happening, ROFL."
"Who the hell is this bitch!?" Caleb shouted, the white on his scarf and shirt stained by soup.
"Ah!" Brittany suddenly realized who the girl was, and giddily ran up to her, shaking her hand rapidly, "OMG her name is Libby Grace, and she's only the best shit talker on the entire internet! I learned a whole bunch of lines from her."
"Oh, wow, I got a fan in this shithole. Amazing."
"Ugh, Libby Grace?" Teddy scoffed, "Still haven't forgiven you for the crap you pulled, trying to get me cancelled."
"Bleh, Teddy Set Go? More like Teddy Set No."
"Wow, I didn't think anyone here could be more annoying than Bunny," Margaret started, "Then this bitch rolls along just to prove me wrong."
"Aw, Margaret is starting to like me!" Bunny giggled, though a rock was thrown at her head from the mafia boss, causing her to stumble to the ground.
"Ahem," Dana cleared her throat loudly, per usual, "Her name is actually Phoebe Lawrence...Libby Grace is just an internet persona...kind of. She just kinda gets into moods like this, and it takes a while to make her go back to normal. Anywho, she'll be leading the challenge today. Unfortunately, as me and Aaron are both key figures in business, we have a meeting to attend today."
"Yes...Vater vould kill me if I skipped out on zis meeting," Aaron weakly mumbled, "But Miss Lawrence vill take good care of you all."
"Yes, she will. We will be back for the elimination ceremony tonight, so we'll see you then!"
With that, Dana and Aaron started off back into the building, leaving the two teams behind with Phoebe, who was still bored out of her mind. She jumped up into the driver's seat of the vehicle, waving her hand and signaling the rest of the group to get on, which they did, albeit hesitantly. As the last of the cast boarded, that being Valerie, she started off, heading away from the ruins of Cali-Tokyo.
"So, here's the sitch," Phoebe started, not looking back at the group as she talked, "We're going to hang out with the plants and whatever for this challenge. The rules are really simple for this challenge. You'll be in nature, using nature to take down something that isn't nature. Your target is a large, robotic tiger, one that Dana built or some crap like that. It's a fierce kitty cat, so this won't be any normal walk in the park for you."
"Oh, do we get to pet the kitty?" Blaster gleefully asked.
"No, you can't pet the dumb cat! You have to destroy it! Smash it into pieces or whatever."
"What!?" Alice gritted her teeth, "That's animal cruelty!"
"No, it isn't, stupid ho. It's a robot, not an animal. If anything, it's damaging the nature zone or whatever dumb name they call it, so you'd be doing right by destroying the damn thing."
"But...how are we even going to destroy it?" asked Vernon, nervous of what this task might entail.
"With rocks and sticks, just like the caveman mongrels that you all act like."
"And...whoever destroys it wins the challenge?" Calvin stroked his chin, "Seems doable enough, as long as we work together."
"Fat chance of our fu**ing team actually working together!" Caleb snickered to himself, "Mitchell destroyed all hopes of this being an easy challenge this morning."
"Me!?" Mitchell was flabbergasted, "What did I do?"
"I mean, you did kinda humiliate Celeste in front of everyone," Vernon shyly pointed out.
"Humiliated her? I didn't humiliate her, she was being obnoxious! Did you not see her shove Max?"
"Hey," Max butted in, "You leave me out of it. It was a silly little push, no big deal."
"But she did it because she was jealous that you were talking to me! That's insanity, if you ask me!"
"I wasn't jealous, I was trying to impress you!" Celeste sobbed, "I thought you would like me more if I was like one of the crazy girls in your books!"
"Keep going, guys," Bunny interrupted, pulling out her camera and recording it, "This is good stuff!"
"Bunny!" Mitzy pushed the camera down, "Don't record that, that's mean!"
"Aw, but Mitzyyyyyyyyyy."
"Would you idiots shut up back there?" Phoebe turned around to look at them all judgingly. "You've all been griping this whole time, you didn't even notice that we're all here already. You guys are a handful already, yeesh."
She was indeed correct. The teams looked around to notice that they had ended up in the natural beauty of the nature zone, with trees, bushes, and grass all around them. Alice was happy to leap out of the vehicle, rolling around in the grass with a smile on her face.
"Ah, finally!" she cheered, "I definitely needed another trip back here."
"Agent Flores, you're embarrassing yourself," Calvin shook his head at her as he and the rest of the group jumped out of the vehicle.
Confessional
"Ah, so we end up going back to nature," Alice seemed a lot more giddy than usual, "I can enjoy myself here with the plants, the animals, and the fresh air. I wonder what happened to Teddy, thou- agh! Why am I thinking about him!? Bad, Alice, bad! He's just a crazy boy, he probably tried to throw a rock at a trampoline or something!"
Confessional End
The Squirrels started off in one direction, each of them grabbing some sticks and stones along the way. They clung tightly to them, glancing about the vast, forested area with a wariness about them, that of a child who's lost their parents at a carnival. Brittany and Blaster took to the front of the group, with Yves right behind them. While they walked on ahead, Zane stayed a few paces behind, a weary eye watching Yves the entire time. Then, there was CJ, Theodore, and Buck, all three of which were either exhausted or sore from the fight earlier.
"Oy vey," Theodore groaned, "Normally I'd be up for all of this, but man...I just can't."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Buck apologized with a miserable look on his face, "I shouldn't have attacked ya like that earlier."
"No, it isn't that."
"Oh, what is it then?"
"Larida took all my energy drinks! I haven't had one in days, I've been stuck drinking yucky tea and coffee!"
"Bro," CJ shook his head, "Coffee can be mad good if you put enough cream and sugar in it."
"Why bother when I could just have an energy drink that already has a load of sugar in it?"
"Ya put sugar in your coffee?" Buck cocked his head at CJ.
"Uh, yeah, bro. It's undrinkable otherwise."
"Huh. I always drink my coffee black."
The two boys alongside Buck skidded to a halt, both staring at him with looks of equal disgust on their faces. Buck looked up at them with his tired eyes, not understanding what the big issue was.
"Uh...why y'all looking at me funny?"
"You drink your coffee black!?" Theodore backed up a few steps, "I...I think I'm gonna vomit."
"Come on, B-Dog," CJ let out a slight chuckle, "Please tell us you're joking."
"I'm not, I really do like it-"
Buck was suddenly cut off by Brittany screaming back at the three of them, causing them to notice how far ahead the four of their teammates were.
"You three better quit it with the lolling about!" Brittany viciously yelled from where she stood, "Me and Blaster are working our asses off, trying to lead you dorks, and you're all moving as slow as snails!"
"Yeah, what Big Mean Brit said!" Blaster chanted along with her partner, "You guys are being slow like a bunch of slothy sloths!"
"Blaster, stay out of the yelling, you make us sound way less intimidating."
"Oh, you got it Brit a Knee!"
"Brit a- you know what? I don't want to know. Just hurry up, you three! If the Dingos win another challenge, we'll be down by three members!"
"Looks like we're down by four at the moment," Yves mumbled.
"What are you talking about?"
Brittany glanced around, counting each of her teammates with her pointer finger, including herself, and coming up with a total of seven, rather than the nine they were supposed to have. She counted again and again, each count coming up at seven.
"What!? Who are we missing!?"
"I think Rambo and the sad girl!" Blaster suggested, receiving a slap upside the head from Brittany, "Owwwww, that was mean!"
"Ronnie and Valerie are missing, just great. This wouldn't have happened if you all just stuck with us!"
"Who died and made you queen?" Zane asked, causing Brittany to go red in the face, "From where I'm standing, you just look like a wannabe leader. You've got no actual skill in leading a group."
"Then why don't you lead the group, Mr. Know-It-All?"
"I would, but I'm sort of busy at the moment."
He was still watching Yves, making sure she kept her hands to herself. The girl knew she was being watched, and tried to ignore it as she continued along her path.
Confessional
"This is just amazing!" Brittany complained, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed, "Now, we're missing those two idiots, and I'm stuck with a bunch of jerk-offs that won't listen to me just because I can be a little teensy bit moody sometimes! I can't help it when everyone around me is an idiot!"
"Boo, Brittany is a meanie pants," Blaster pouted, "She won't let me play bad cop cause I'm apparently 'too friendly.' I can so be mean, I'll show her!"
Confessional End
While the Squirrels struggled to keep themselves together, the Dingos weren't having it any easier. Fridge stood over a fallen Caleb, shaking him frantically while Mitzy and Bunny watched. There was a rock next to the boy, one that had clearly just hit his fallen friend on the head.
"What...what happened here?" Bunny asked, pulling out her notepad, "This looks like a murder scene right out of those detective shows."
"I killed Friendleb!" Fridge cried out, clearly distraught, "Take me away, throw me in the brig! I never deserve to see the light again!"
"He doesn't look dead," the sad Mitzy mumbled, "He just looks like you conked him on the head."
"Yes, I killed him! I dropped a rock on his head, oh, the tragedy!"
"Ugh," Caleb groaned, pulling himself to his feet, "What happened to me?"
"Friendleb! Huzzah, you live to fight another day!"
"Frederick...what are you talking about?"
"Frederick? I thought you call me Fridge, everyone calls me Fridge!"
"Nonsense, my dear friend! Come, Frederick! We must return to our hunt, and rid ourselves of these bindings!"
"Bindings? What are you-"
Without another word, Caleb tore his soup stained clothing from his body, tossing them off to the side whilst turning his scarf into a loincloth of sorts. Bunny and Mitzy both flushed with red, each looking away from the boy. Fridge had no idea what to say, he simply watched as the boy continued to act out of the ordinary. Caleb dug his hands into the mud beneath him, using it to paint his face like a warrior of nature. Finally, he stood in a triumphant pose, holding out his left hand and causing a well made spear to fall from the tree above him and right into his grasp.
"Now, Frederick, we shall charge this mighty beast in its den, slaying it for the safety of our clan!"
Without another word, Caleb charged on ahead, shoving through the girls while Fridge ran after him. Mitzy sighed, still feeling as upset as before, though now, her stomach was growling. Bunny noticed this immediately, and giggled slightly.
"You have a monster living in your tummy!" the reporter snickered, "If you don't eat soon, it's gonna make you go crazy!"
"I haven't had much of an appetite since...the incident," Mitzy mumbled, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to eat a little bit..."
"Well, we can probably find something edible out here. You just gotta have the knack for finding things!"
"What about those?"
Mitzy gestured to a bush nearby, one that was full of purple berries. They weren't very large, but there were plenty of them to pick from. Mitzy saw it as something to stave her off until they got back to the hotel, but Bunny couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about them.
"I wouldn't eat those if I were you...some of these berries could be poisonous. Let's just look somewhere else for food."
"Aw...they looked so good though..."
"I know, but we'll definitely find something better, I promise!"
"Okay..."
Bunny started skipping off in the direction that Fridge and Caleb ran in, leaving Mitzy behind unknowingly. The comic artist's stomach growled loudly again, and she couldn't help but lick her lips at the sight of the berries. She glanced around, checking to see if anyone was watching her, and then snatched a handful of them, shoving them into her mouth and chowing down on them. As soon as she swallowed them, her eyes dilated massively, and a twisted smile formed on her face.
"Gabba gabba gabba, gotta go toss the hare in the air!"
After the weird sentence left her lips, she bolted off after Bunny, immediately grabbing her and tossing her into the sky, causing her head to hit a tree branch, and her to fall down to the ground, completely unconcious.
"Wow, Philip over here is a total knockout!"
Mitzy cackled maniacally, picking up the unconscious Bunny and carrying along with her as she followed after the newly made nature man and his behemoth of a partner.
Confessional
"Bubbly bubbly hot hot hot!" Mitzy chanted, still very clearly delirious.
Confessional End
Not too far away, Alice found herself in an equally terrible predicament. A beehive had made its place perfectly on her head, keeping all the noises she was making as muffled as could be. Margaret was the closest to her, and she was hellbent on getting it off of her.
"Mmm mmf mm!" Alice screamed underneath the hive as many bees stung her face.
"Hang on, let me get a rock!" Margaret suggested, "That'll be sure to get this stupid hive off of your head!"
"MMM MMM! MMM MMM!"
"Well, then what do you want me to do!?"
Alice made a pulling gesture with her arms, and Margaret felt her anger welling up.
"That's not gonna work, you idiot! Those hives stay stuck unless you bust them open!"
"MMM MMM!"
"Fine, we'll try it your way then- what happened to you?"
Vernon could be seen nearby, puking up his guts in a bush, his face as green as could be. He turned to face the girls for a moment, showing them just how terrible he looked before barfing a little bit again.
"I...swallowed a bug," he mumbled, "A whole bug...and not a fly or something...a millipede...I'm gonna- urk!"
He turned his head back into the bush, letting another wave of vomit pour out of his mouth while Margaret cringed at the sight. Alice crossed her arms, ignoring all of the stinging that was going on inside of the hive.
"Mmm mm m mmm!" she pointed at the boy, judgingly, "Mmm mmm m mmm mmmmmm!"
"What the hell are you trying to say!?" Margaret shouted at the girl, causing her to jump in fear.
All the while, Max and Calvin found themselves looking around for the beast, each with large sticks in their hands. They were distanced from most of the team, relying on Calvin's good sense of tracking and direction to get them around. Max also had her turkey leg from earlier, and to no shock, she was chowing down on it and talking to her partner at the same time.
"Y'know, sure," the boyish girl started in between her bites, "Maybe Celeste is a little coocoo, but screaming at her in front of other people? I don't think that was the way to handle that situation."
"I'm honestly shocked, Agent Grayson," Calvin interrupted her, "Agent Sallow shoved you earlier. Normally, a person wouldn't want to defend someone who laid their hands on them."
"Eh, it really wasn't a big deal. She's just in love, is all. I can let one little shove slide."
"That's very big of you to say that."
"Ha, everything's big about me!"
Max took a massive chomp out of the turkey leg before belching right in Calvin's face and blushing slightly.
"Ah, maybe I should've turned away..."
"It's quite alright," the agent laughed a little, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his face, "Truth be told, it's great to have someone as loose as you around for this show. It takes away from the stress of it all."
"Aw, I'm flattered! I think you're a funny guy, so it's cool to have you here, too!"
"Ah, than-"
Calvin cut himself off as he heard rustling through the bushes. He grabbed Max by the arm, tugging her along as he hid behind a tree. He peeked around the tree, noticing a clearing, one which Mitchell and Celeste were both standing in. The girl looked down at the ground, her eyes tearing up again as the boy across her crossed his arms.
"Hey, you know," Celeste mumbled, rubbing her arm awkwardly, "I just wanted to talk in private about...earlier."
"We have nothing left to talk about," Mitchell grumbled, "You're literally insane, and you've been making all the other contestants run away from me! All of them think that you'll chase them down and kill them!"
"I just...thought you liked that. The girls in your books are like that...don't authors usually write about characters that they like?"
"I'm a horror author! I write stories to scare people! Stories that make people scream! Why would I want to date a serial killer woman!?"
"I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"Well, you thought wrong! This is just great, this forest has got half of our team injured or in trouble right now, and to top it all off, I'm stuck with you of all people! I thought I made it pretty clear to you this morning that we were done, yet you've come crawling back! And for what!?"
"To apologize to you," Celeste sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I didn't want to scare you...or anyone else..."
"Well, it's too late for that now, isn't it?"
"I guess so...I'm sorry..."
Solemnly, Celeste ran away from the boy, sobbing from what had just happened. Max wore an intense look of anger on her face as she turned away from the scene, storming back off in the direction of the rest of her team. Calvin followed behind, unsure of what to think about the whole situation.
"Hey, what...what should we do about this?" Calvin asked Max, who had clearly had enough of the drama from the breakup.
"I'm telling the team," Max replied, not even turning to face him, "Once was bad enough, but twice? Too much."
"I agree that it wasn't really deserved that second time...he was being extremely harsh...it could be the pressure from the challenge."
"She was just trying to apologize! It's ridiculous, he could've just said it's over and left it at that!"
"I know...I can't stop you from telling the team, if that's what you'd like to do...though it may seal Agent Myers fate on this show."
"...Good."
Confessional
"Ah, geez," Calvin rubbed the back of his head, worried, "This really took a turn for the worse, didn't it? I can't tell Agent Grayson to hide the truth about all this, and I don't want anything bad to happen to Agent Myers...but it's true. He already chewed Agent Sallow out once. It wasn't right to do it again."
Confessional End
While all the chaos was ensuing around with the Dingos, Ronnie and Valerie found themselves waltzing around through the forest, completely separate from their team. The boy was leading the girl, while she followed behind, glancing around at the birds and bugs that were flying all around them.
"This place is creepy, man," Ronnie muttered, "We just gotta find this dumb robo-cat and wreck its face, right?"
"You're really violent," Valerie pointed out, "That's cool..."
"Eh? You trying to insult me?"
"No...I'm serious. I wish I could be like you...super confident and could definitely pummel someone into the dirt..."
"...Hm. I've been meaning to ask why you always sound so down, and I guess now is a good time."
"Oh...you know...nobody likes me. Especially my parents...I'm like walking manure to them. I don't even know why I'm on this show, anyways...I don't deserve to be here."
"Yeah, with an attitude like that, probably not."
"...That's right, you agree."
"I agree that your attitude doesn't belong here. But you? Nah, man. You're here to become a better you, aren't you?"
"...I guess so..."
"So you do belong here, then. That, my friend, is a winner's spark. The strive to get better and better, to become the greatest version of you possible, that's what you need in life. Now, let's just find this cat and win this challenge."
"...Okay, Ronnie."
As Ronnie pressed forward, Valerie wore a little smile on her face, continuing to follow him through the forest. Eventually, they turned into a rough-looking path, one with lots of broken trees around it. Going through it, they felt a presence far greater than their own. They came to a little clearing at the end, and, lo and behold, the tiger stood there, glaring holes into their eyes with its red laser eyes.
"Hey, Valerie?" Ronnie mumbled the words, even a slight fear in his voice, "I think we should...run!"
The boy immediately turned away from the mechanical beast, grabbing Valerie by the arm and pulling her along with him. The beast roared a mighty roar as it chased them down, barreling at incredible speeds. Ronnie was fast enough to outrun it on his own, but dragging Valerie along was definitely a hurdle for him. He noticed the beast coming closer, and, without skipping a beat, he started running faster, a wave of adrenaline washing over him as he pulled his teammate out of danger's way. It wasn't long before they made their way back to the main path that their team had taken, where most of them saw the issue immediately. They all started to scream and run, all except for CJ, who was inspecting some strange mushroom on the ground. Ronnie and Valerie passed him by, not even looking back as the beast stopped before CJ, towering over him and growling at him. The boy gulped as he looked up, immediately noticing the horrific creature raise its paw to strike him, only for something far more terrifying to impale its head.
"W...what the...?" CJ found himself questioning his own sanity as he looked at the massive...thing in front of him.
He recognized it well as the robot that he saw on his first day on the island, one that had six bladed legs that were a sleak black in color, the front left one being the weapon that impaled the robo-tiger through its head. Its body was painted entirely black and red, and it looked like the cross between a centaur and a spider, with two shorter arms that had menacing pairs of pincers at the ends of them. It glared down at the boy with its one, large, red, beady eye, staring at him intensely for but a second until it passed through, its leg sliding out of the other robot's head and causing it to fall to the ground. The beast then disappeared from sight, leaving CJ there before the destroyed tiger. His team, the enemy team, and Phoebe all walked over to see the sight, each startled by it. Phoebe tripped on her way over, quickly picking herself off of the ground, but appearing a lot more fragile than before.
"Oh...oh no!" she shouted, "I put all of you in danger with this challenge! I'm so glad that CJ slayed this beast, but look how hurt some of you are! I'm horrible and stupid! I suck, I'm a bitch!"
"What...what the hell is this?" Brittany sneered at her, "Libby Grace would never talk like that! You're a fraud!"
"Oh...Libby is just an act...this is what I'm really like. I know, it's horrible! I'm a stupid, worthless, bitchy bitch! Oh...and the Squirrels win..."
"CJ, ya won the challenge for us!" Buck cheered, despite how exhausted he was, "That's amazing, man!"
"I...I didn't win it, though," CJ muttered, his eyes widened in fear, "This wasn't me."
"Man's humble, I'll give him that," Ronnie patted the boy on the back, "Just take the win for now, guy."
"You guys didn't see...? No one else saw it?"
"Saw what?" Yves asked, causing CJ to notice how everyone was looking up to him at the moment.
"Er...nothing, I guess...nothing at all."
While the Squirrels celebrated their first real win of the season, Max had just revealed something to her team, right as Mitchell was coming out into the open. He found his team all glaring at him, and though he was about to say something, and sudden burst of oil from the exploding tiger's head splashed everywhere, coating both Max and Calvin, and causing them to slip and get stuck to each other by their backs. They tried to pry themselves apart, but quickly found it impossible. However, the rest of the team, for the most part, still had a glare fixed on Mitchell.
Confessional
"Shit," Mitchell grumbled, "I really let my anger control me this time around, didn't I?"
Confessional End
The Dingos sat on the benches in the arena, each of them in horrible conditions from the challenge they took part in. Celeste was still a sobbing mess from having been yelled at by Mitchell yet again, the offender who was seated on the exact opposite side of the benches of her, with his arms crossed. Alice had her head still stuck in a beehive, which Margaret was still trying to pry off. Mitzy was as loopy as before, if not even loopier, trying to pick an unconscious Bunny's nose. Caleb was still wearing his loincloth, and he had yet to remove the war paint from his face, which Fridge had a hard time not laughing at. Vernon still kept a paper bag up to his face, as he was ready to vomit at every slight movement he made. Calvin and Max were still stuck together by the stickiness of the oil from the tiger robot. All-in-all, everyone was worse for wear. The Squirrels weren't in much better condition, but they were safe from elimination at the minimum, sitting up in the seats above and watching what happened. Dana and Aaron looked the two teams up and down, each with an astounded look on their faces, while Phoebe stood shyly next to Brobot, thinking that this was all somehow her fault.
"Wow," Dana started, almost speechless, "I...what happened to all of you?"
"Mm mmmf mm m mmf mf!" Alice mumbled through the beehive.
"Gah, hold still or it ain't coming off!" Margaret griped.
"They simply couldn't handle nature's dangers as well as me and my compatriot," Caleb snidely remarked, "Right, Frederick?"
"You got it, Friendleb!" Fridge smiled at his friend, going to pat him on the head, but accidentally pushing too hard and knocking him to the ground. "Oh, Friendleb, are you okay!?"
"Urk," Caleb rose to his feet, rubbing his head, "What the hell!? Why am I dressed like Tarzan!?"
"Oh, great," Calvin sighed, "Agent Davidson is back to normal."
"Now, if only Mitzy was," Max added, gesturing to Mitzy with her free arm.
"Dwaha!" Mitzy snickered, "I like to eat bug spray!"
"Blech," Vernon vomited a little into the bag, "Don't even mention bugs right now..."
"Miss Lawrence...vat happened to zem?" Aaron asked out of his curiosity.
"It's all my fault!" Phoebe blurted out, "I let things get out of hand and there was a huge, huuuuuuge robot that went fwoosh and hurt everybody! I'm sorry!"
"Uh...okay...good idea to not let you host again," Dana looked back over to the cast, "Uh...well...you lost the challenge, and you guys have all put in your votes, so I'm sure you know what comes next. We'll be passing out rations to those of you who are safe from elimination, one by one. Eventually one of will end up rationless, and they'll have to walk on over to the trampoline of losers to bounce their way out of here, and never come back! Ever! Our first bag of rations goes to...Caleb."
"Aha!" Caleb cheered as he caught his rations, "First! I got it first, fu**ers!"
"Fridge...Bunny..."
"Woohoo, the Fridgeleb duo lives on!" Fridge roared excitedly as he caught his.
Bunny's simply landed on her unconscious face, though startling Mitzy, who was still trying to pick her nose.
"Vernon...Margaret..."
"Ugh, I don't wanna eat anything ever again," Vernon groaned, dodging the bag as it flew to him.
"Ah, sweet!" Margaret let go of the beehive for a second to catch the rations.
"Max...Calvin..."
"Aw, yeah!" Max let out a boastful laugh, "We really stuck together for this one, eh?"
"Hey, leave those types of jokes for the other cast, Agent Grayson," Calvin broke the fourth wall, shocking Max as the two caught their rations, despite their backs still being glued together.
"Mitzy...and Alice."
"Oh, peanut party!" Mitzy giggled as her loopy self caught the rations with her mouth.
"Mm mm!" Alice continued to mumble, though Brobot launched the rations with enough force to bust the hive open, revealing her face full of bee stings. "Ugh, finally out of that hive!"
Celeste continued to sob, ignoring the fact that she was stuck in the bottom two with the very same boy that had broken her heart. Mitchell, on the other hand, could've cared less about the whole thing.
"Well...I'm not exactly sure what happened today, but whatever it was, your team was not a fan of it. Celeste...Mitchell...kinda ironic that it's you two in the bottom. Well, the final bag of rations goes to..."
...
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"...Celeste."
Brobot tossed the final bag to Celeste, who couldn't be bothered to catch it as it slapped her on her face. Mitchell's jaw dropped as he stood up, glancing at all of his teammates.
"You're letting the crazy girl stay over me!?" he shouted in defiance, "This isn't fair...you were all out to get me!"
"You were out to get yourself, actually," Calvin pointed out, "You didn't have to scream at Celeste the second time, it was uncalled for."
"Yeah, she was just trying to make you happy!" Max added.
"You...! She pushed you earlier, you should be the most mad about this!"
"Mitchell!" Dana shouted, "Trampoline! Loserdom! Now!"
"Fine, whatever. You think you know your team until they all stab you in the back."
Mitchell continued to grumble as he approached the trampoline, eventually hopping onto it and bouncing over and over again until it, of course, sunk into the ground, causing him to soar through the sky, screaming as he did.
"None of you are gonna survive in my next boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!"
As the horror author flew out of sight, the beatdown team finally rose from their seats, with Mitzy carrying Bunny out with her.
Author Notes:
*This elimination was honestly a toss up between three people, and it took a long time to figure out who I wanted to go. Eventually I decided on Mitchell, believing that both of the other two would have more potential for plot than him.
*Also, RIP to Mitcheleste. It was a fun ship, but of course, it was doomed to fall apart from the very beginning.
*Votes: Mitchell - Celeste, Mitzy, Max, Calvin, Caleb, Fridge, Margaret, Vernon, Alice; Celeste - Mitchell; No One - Bunny
*Placements: No Placement - Chris; 22nd - Daniel; 21st - Larida; 20th - Mitchell