SlickGuitars32: Lol. My brother brought it up on a whim when we were watching one of his videos a few months ago since both of the fanfics I'm currently writing have a major character named Scott. Glad I finally got an opportunity to include the reference.
MarkLevins: Heather isn't my favorite character, but she's certainly high up there. I'm glad you're enjoying her in this story!
WhatTheHeck: Yeah, Heather's definitely in a bad situation right now. Though as for why she got them to vote off Sky rather than Sierra, everything the former can do, Mike can do better. While Mike also has Vito's strength, Sierra's near superhuman strength isn't quite as easily replaced by him.
KellyDoesWriting (Chapter 1): Rather detailed prediction of how things would go for that hypothetical scenario, lol. Glad you're enjoying the story though!
Also, while I'm sure pretty much all of you know at this point, Total Drama is coming back! I'm definitely looking forward to it. Here's to hoping the seasons will be better than All-Stars and Pahkitew were. I didn't hate those seasons per say, but they were definitely the weakest ones in the franchise imo. It was also apparently confirmed that it'll be a new cast, so I'm curious to see what the new characters will be like.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chris was on the skydeck at night, looking around with a flashlight. A few seconds passed before he noticed that they were filming. "Oh. Um, previously on Total Drama Voyage. The teams were taken to Paris France to perform circus acts in Cirque D'hiver. Whichever team scored the highest with circus acts would win." Footage is played of the contestants arriving at the venue. Afterwards, footage of various performances are shown. "Tension began to build up within each of the teams" Clips of Gwen arguing with Emma, Duncan arguing with Bridgette, and Mike arguing with Sky are all shown. "Some of that tension as a result of a little persuasion." A clip of Alejandro talking in the confessionals is played.
"Owen started to step up as a leader, and helped Emma improve her performance despite all the pressure she's been putting on him." Footage of Owen stopping Gwen and Emma's argument is played. Afterwards, a clip of Owen silently giving Emma a thumbs up during the performance is shown. "While Heather decided to help out Sky with her insecurities." Footage of Heather talking with Sky both on the yach and at the venue is played.
"In the end, it looked like Team Heather won the challenge, but a surprise twist led to The Strawberry Shortcakes being declared the victors instead, and Team Heather was forced to send somebody home." Clips of Team Heather cheering followed by the Shortcakes cheering are shown. Afterwards, a clip of Team Heather at the elimination ceremony is played. "Ultimately, it was Sky who found herself being voted off, learning the hard way that a friendship with Heather was a ticket to loserville." Footage of Heather explaining her plan is shown, followed by Sky boarding the Boat of Losers.
The camera cut back to the skydeck, Chris yelling out to the security guards by the dock. "Everything clear?!" He asked. One of the security guards nodded. "Good! Keep at it!" Chris turned back to the camera. "Has the tension within the teams deflated for good, or has it's burst simply been delayed? And what challenge will our sailors be facing next? Find out right here, on Total! Drama! Voyage!"
The camera cut to inside of the Killer Blades' cabin cruiser. Duncan, DJ, and Leshawna were playing poker at the table. Bridgette and Scott were currently playing rock paper scissors.
"One. Two. Three!" Bridgette yelled. She threw out paper. Scott threw out scissors. "Aw man."
"Guess I'm getting the second bed then. You get the couch." Scott said.
"You can have my bed Bridgette." DJ offered.
"DJ, you're still-" Bridgette began to say.
"Look. I appreciate that you're looking out for me, but I don't want any special treatment. I was given a bed twice already."
"Well...ok then."
Duncan pushed forwards his pile of chips. "I'm going all in.
"I fold." DJ said.
Leshawna smiled. "You're on, chicken legs." She pushed her pile forward.
Duncan threw out his hand. "Read 'em and weep Leshawna. Three kings and two 7's. A full house."
Leshawna smirked. "Sorry fool, but I ain't weeping." Leshawna shown her hand. Four 5's and an Ace. "Four of a kind beats a Full House."
"Crap." Duncan groaned as Leshawna happily took all his chips.
"By the way, where's Zoey?" Scott asked. "Shouldn't she have been in the rock papper scissors game too?" The Blades agreed that it should be two of the perforomers to get the beds tonight.
"Yeah, I havent seen her in a while." Bridgette said.
"Apparently, it's date night. Since the boats are docked, she can actually hang out with Mike, so she told me she's bowing out from getting a bed." Duncan answered.
Bridgette looked a bit upset upon hearing that.
(Confessional: Bridgette)
"I wish Geoff was still here. Then the two of us could be walking around Paris together I don't hold any hard feelings against the rest of the team for it though. It was an understandable choice and all but..." Bridgette sighed. "I miss you, Geoff."
The Strawberry Shortcakes, minus Owen and Emma, were all hanging out on the skydeck. Trent was swimming in the pool, Gwen was stargazing, Noah was lounging on a pool chair, Dawn was meditating, and Brody and Kitty were about to get in the pool. "Cannonball!" The two of them yelled.
The two jumped into the pool, drenching Noah with the splash. "Gee. Thanks." Noah sarcastically said.
"Sorry Noah." Kitty said.
"So Trent, how would you rate those splashes?" Brody asked.
"Kitty gets a 7.5 Brody gets an 8." Trent said.
"Boom!" Brody cheered.
Kitty didn't look upset upon losing. "Best two out of three!"
"You're on!" Brody and Kitty got out of the pool before jumping in again.
Chris came running in. "Ah-ha! You thought you could-!" Chris stopped. "Oh. It's you kids. What are you doing here?"
"Umm...enjoying our reward?" Gwen responded.
"Well quit making so much noise. You made me think somebody snuck on board."
"Ah yes. Because when somebody's trying to be sneaky, the first thing they'd do is cannonball into the pool." Noah said.
Chris glared at Noah before walking off.
"What's up with Chris anyway?" Trent asked. "He's been really tense all of a sudden."
"Eh. He's probably worried about that note he got last challenge. Whatever it is." Noah said.
Trent then turned to Noah. "By the way Noah, Kitty. Either of you know where Owen and Emma are?"
Noah and Kitty both looked at each other awkwardly. "Emma's studying in her law books again. Owen's probably still eating." Kitty said. Noah nodded.
(Confessional: Kitty)
"Emma told me and Noah that she wanted to talk with Owen alone. I don't know if it's to apologize, or if it's to lecture him again. But either way, it's clear she doesn't want the rest of the team to know."
(Confessional: Noah)
"You wanna know what sucks about having both your girlfriend and your best friend on the same team? Having to worry about picking a side if they butt heads."
Kitty got out of the pool. "Anyway, I'm gonna see some sights around Paris. Anyone wanna come with?"
Gwen shrugged and walked up to Kitty. "I'll come with you."
"Sweet! I'll get changed and come right back out!" Kitty ran inside the yacht.
The camera cut to the buffet room. Owen was scarfing down steaks, chicken legs, and eggs without any hint at slowing down. Emma was at the other end of the table, awkwardly waiting for Owen to finish. "So, um...Owen? You're probably wondering about why I wanted to talk with you."
Owen gulped down what was in his mouth. "Writing more notes, right? We almost got last place during the circus challenge if it wasn't for that surprise ringmaster category at the end." Owen moved on to another plate.
"Well...not exactly." Emma said. "It's just that..."
Owen stopped eating. It looked like what Emma wanted to say was important. "What is it?"
Emma closed her eyes. 'Come on Emma. Just apologize for pushing him too hard. Why is that so hard to say?' "You've been really improving as a leader lately, Owen."
Owen smiled. "Really?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah. What you did tonight during the circus challenge was a great step forward. You're not perfect, but I'm glad you proved yourself capable after all."
"Thanks Emma!" Owen said. He then continued eating.
(Confessional: Emma)
"Hey, that's as good as an apology, right?"
Kitty was now dressed in her normal clothes, walking with Gwen down the streets of Paris.
"I'm so glad we finally get to spend some time just enjoying the sights!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Yeah. Never really had much time to do that back in World Tour." Gwen said.
Kitty ran off ahead of Gwen, standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe. "Hey Gwen, wanna join in for a pic?"
"I'm not big on selfies, thanks."
Kitty shrugged and threw out a peace sign before taking a selfie with her phone. "By the way Gwen, I kinda wanna talk with you about some things."
"It's about Emma, right?" Kitty nodded at Gwen's question. Gwen sighed. "Yeah, I know I almost snapped last challenge. I'm sorry about that. She just seriously creases me sometimes. She constantly bosses others around, is completely inconsiderate of how her teammates feel, and will throw a fit when people try to help her."
"Trust me, I get it. I was her partner for Ridonculous Race. And, you know, I lived with her for most of my life. But Emma isn't heartless. She's just really competitive."
Gwen shrugged as she walked up to Kitty. "Well, I'll try my best not to start fights with her. No guarantees though."
Kitty smiled and wrapped an arm around Gwen. "Smile!" She took a selfie of the two fo them.
"I JUST said I don't like selfies!" Gwen said as she pushed away from Kitty, though she was smiling.
"Hey, like you said before. No promises." The two started laughing together.
(Confessional: Gwen)
"With Owen being busy taking orders from Emma, things between me and Trent still being kinda awkward, and most of my other friends being on different teams, it's great that I can just hang out and unwind with someone on my team."
Gwen and Kitty were walking back to the S.S McLean. "-so I had to trick her into realizing she liked Noah by making fun of his looks and personality." Kitty said.
Gwen snorted. "Wow. Sounds like it's really hard for your sister to be honest wih herself." Then again, Gwen knew that she wasn't exactly innocent of that problem herself either.
"Tell me about it!"
Suddenly a suited figure in a tophat bolted right past the two of them, nearly colliding into Gwen. "Hey! Watch it!" Gwen called out to the person, though they were long gone by now.
"Um...Gwen?" Kitty pointed to the front of the S.S McLean. The several security guards who were guarding it were now unconscious.
"What the-?!" Gwen and Kitty ran up to the security guards. "Did the guy who nearly ran into us did this?"
"So THIS is what Chris had the secuirty guards for." Kitty realized. "But...what did that person want anyway?"
Gwen noticed something. A note card was left next to one of the unconscious guards. She picked it up.
"What does it say?" Kitty asked.
"I don't know. It's in French. But there's a signature at the bottom. Something...Lupin."
The next day came around. It was barely even light out, but unfortunately, Chris' voice spoke over the PDA. "ALRIGHT! ALL OF YOU GET YOURSELVES ON THE S.S MCLEAN SKYDECK IMMEDIATELY!" He yelled.
Heather groggily got up from the floor of the cabin cruiser. "Urgh...it better not be as early as I think it is."
Alejandro took a look at the clock. "Depends. Do you think it's before 6:00 in the morning?" The rest of Team Heather started to stand up, Harold and Mike exiting the bedrooms.
Sierra, who seemed to already have gotten up, was eating some scrambled eggs. "Is it just me, or did Chris sound like he was in a pretty bad mood."
Mike rubbed his eyes. "Now that you mention it, yeah."
"An already sadistic host taking his anger out on us? Joy..." Heather said. She then started to look around at the faces of her team. Just like after the first challenge, when she made eye contact with a teammate, it was either a glare, or a look of discomfort. With the exception of her boyfriend. He was simply looking smug.
(Confessional: Heather)
"I CAN'T afford my team to lose right now. After the Sky event last night, I'm pretty sure I gave Alejandro more ammo to convince the team to vote me off. Ugh, I hate that I had to drop Sky so fast, but she was the only teammate that I could convince Harold and B of being expendable. I can regain trust again by keeping up the nice leader act, but that'll take some time."
Soon, all of the contestants were on the skydeck of the still docked S.S McLean. Everybody except for Dawn and Sierra were pretty tired. Chris was pacing around the skydeck holding a cellphone to his ear, irritated.
"So...gonna explain what the challenge is?" Gwen asked.
Chris held out a finger as a signal to be quiet. "Ok, for how much? Seriously?"
Bridgette turned to Zoey. "So...how'd the date with Mike go?" She whispered.
Zoey shrugged. "It went fine. We ate at a restaurant, talked about stuff." She started to rub her arm awkwardly. "Not much to say."
This didn't go unheard by Scott.
Chris took a sigh. "Fine. We'll take the deal." Chris hung up his cellphone.
"Was that about today's challenge?" Zoey asked.
"No. The call doesn't conern you kids." Chris said.
"Does that call have something to do with this?" Gwen asked. She held up the card she and Kitty found last night.
"What the...give me that!" Chris ran up to Gwen and took the card from her.
"Me and Gwen saw some guy in a suit and tophat run past us when we were coming back to the yacht. Apparently, he knocked all the guards unconscious." Kitty said.
"Wait, what?" Mike asked.
"Weird. They were still conscious when me and Mike came back." Zoey stated.
Harold rubbed his chin. "Then the perpetrator must have done it in after Zoey and Mike came back, but before Gwen and Kitty did."
"Thanks for saying the obvious, Dorris." Duncan mocked.
"So, is our challenge about solving the mystery?" Owen asked.
"I told you, this doesn't concern you kids." Chris' frown tjen turned into a smile. "But since you like asking so many questions, you're gonna love this challenge." Chris snapped his fingers. Soon, the interns brought out 20 chairs, all of them in a circle. "Today's challenge will be the first one to take place entirely on the S.S McLean. It's all about sitting down and talking with each other."
"Looks like Heather's team is already at a disadvantage then." Duncan said.
B shrugged, but didn't look like he protested Duncan's jab.
"Everyone, take a seat."
The contestants all sat in the chairs. "So, what are the rules for the challenge?" Harold asked.
"There's one simple rule. Don't leave your seats. If you do, you're out. To pass the time, you guys could all talk with each other. It could be about your favorite hobbies. It could be about some of the tension that me and the producers noticed has been building up a bit last challenge. Or you could just sit in silence. Either way, last person sitting wins it for their team."
"Are there going to be breaks?" Kitty asked. "I didn't have breakfast."
"You will get a short 10 minute bathroom break every two hours. But for as long as you're part of the challenge, you'll be getting next to nothing for nourishment. You'll be given some bread and bottled water once a night to prevent you from starving to death though."
"Well, Owen isn't lasting long." Noah said.
"Hey, I went on diets before." Owen protested.
"And a diet for you is still twice as much food people normally eat."
"If you want things to go by quicker, you can try getting others to leave their chairs. Maybe start discussions that they're uncomfortable being around for." Chris suggested. "Your choice at the end of the day. If you get eliminated, you can relax on the yacht until the challenge is over. But stay inside. The challenge starts..." A bell dinged. "Now!" Chris walked down the walkway. "I'll be back later. I have some business to take care of."
"I don't want to jinx things, but this challenge doesn't sound too bad." Zoey said.
"Maybe on paper. But depending on how long things go, we could go hours, or even days with the bare minimum amount of food." Bridegette replied.
"And that's not even considering how awkward it would be to sleep while still sitting on the chair." DJ added.
"This will be a challenge of perseverance. Both of the body, and the soul." Dawn said.
(Confessional: Alejandro)
"Chris pretty much said his intentions out loud. He wants us to start discussions that stir up the pot. And that's something I'm more than happy to partake in."
"Well amigos. Something tells me we have some time to kill. Perhaps we could play some word games to kill time?"
"I have an idea! How about we play shiritori?" Harold suggested.
"Shiri what now?" Leshawna asked.
Noah rolled his eyes at Harold's suggestion. "Some Japanese word game that won't work since most of us don't speak Japanese." Noah said.
"Either way, I do NOT have the energy for any word games right now." Gwen said.
Alejandro turned to Sierra. "Well, since all the remaining contestants are gathered in one place, I take it you have a lot of questions, don't you?"
Sierra gasped. "O.M.G! Why didn't I think about that before?!" Sierra reached into her pockets and got out her phone. "Ok, first question is to Duncan, Gwen, and Heather. What were the secrets you all revealed beack in Season 1 when you thougth you were stranded?"
"Umm...the reason they're secrets is because we don't want to openly talk about it." Heather replied.
Sierra turned to Owen. "Owen, you were there. Can you tell us? You have no idea about how many theories there are about what they said."
"Yeah, go ahead and say it, Owen. Then sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life." Duncan threatened.
Owen made a zip lip motion, to the disappointment of Sierra, and the relief of Gwen, Heather, and Duncan.
"You didn't have to threaten him you know." Bridgette said to Duncan. Duncan shrugged.
Sierra turned to Emma. "Alright, so Emma. I know what college you currently go to, but I don't know about where you went for elementary, middle, or high school."
"And why should I tell you that?" Emma asked.
"Because it's what the fans want to know! Along with your medical records, home town, eating habits, and so on."
"That's..."
"Creepy and obsessive? Now you know Sierra." Gwen said.
"You watched World Tour. Didn't you know she was like this?" Noah asked.
Emma blushed. "I might have only been paying attention to when you were on screen."
"Heh. I understand that feeling." Brody said. "I've tried to watch Ridonculous Race a few times to see what the other teams went through, but I can't help but get distracted by my love, MacArthur."
"Oh yeah! SO many of my blog readers wanna know. Did you and MacArthur get together after you and Geoff won Ridonculous Race?" Sierra asked.
"You know it! I buy her food, carry stuff for her, give her lifts. And she'll give me a smooch on the cheek if I do a good job."
Several of the other contestants looked at Brody awkwardly. "Um...I think she might be taking advantage of you." Kitty said to Brody.
"I know, right?! Sanders told me the same thing!"
"Does...does he not know that's a bad-" Mike began to ask.
"Just leave that matter be. Ignorance is bliss sometimes." Alejandro whispered. He then spoke up. "So Brody. I've been wondering how you've been feeling since Geoff got eliminated."
"It's a bummer that he's gone, but me and Geoff have been apart before. Gonna miss the bro, though."
Heather picked up on what Alejandro was doing, and turned to the Killer Blades. "What made you guys decide to vote Geoff off anyway? He's like, the friendliest guy on your team."
"The dude messed up during the soccer challenge. It was nothing personal." Duncan answered.
Bridgette clenched her fist. It's true. It wasn't anything personal. So why was she so angry about it?
"Now that I think about it, Brody, if it weren't for you, Geoff would have never known about that trap." Alejandro said. "He might still have been in the competition."
Brody widened his eyes. "Whoa...I never thought about it like that."
Gwen took notice of how guilty Brody was looking. "Ignore him Brody."
"Yeah. Eelejandro is just trying to throw off your game." Noah told him.
"Even if that is true, is my point wrong?" Alejandro asked.
Owen frowned. "Al, it's one thing to be sneaky in a game, but you're just being a bully right now."
"Yeah man, lay off." Mike told Alejandro.
Alejandro raised his hands in surrender. "Mis disculpas. It wasn't my intention to make anybody uncomfortable."
"Yeah right. Messing with people's heads is your entire thing." Kitty replied.
Heather widened her eyes. She had the perfect way to take the target off her back now. She just had to remind everyone about how Alejandro is far, far worse. "And you should consider yourself lucky if he stops at that. He also might try to get you killed."
"Wait, what?" Emma asked.
"Oh yeah! Like the time you fed Cody to the sharks for no reason!" Trent yelled to Alejandro.
"You did what?!" Scott asked. After his numerous encounters with Fang, feeding somebody to sharks is a line even he wouldn't cross.
"Don't forget leaving me stuck to a pole in the Arctic." Bridgette said.
"Oh letting me get kidnapped by a bunch of wild animals in the Amazon." Owen added.
Heather smiled. Let's see Alejandro weasel his way out of this one.
Alejandro nodded. "It's true. I did quite a number of unforgivable things a few years ago. I won't make any excuses for myself." Alejandro turned to Gwen, Zoey, and Scott. "It's why my attempts to warn you of Mal didn't work. I won't try and get any of you to forgive me. I was by far the show's most heinous villain out of everyone here."
"Good. We won't." Leshawna said.
"And I was Total Drama's baddest villain out of everyone here." Duncan claimed.
Next to him, Zoey immediately started laughing. "Ahahahaha!" Zoey stopped when she noticed Duncan glare at her. "Oh. You're serious."
"Duncan, you're still fixated on your desire to be a bad boy?" Dawn asked.
"I'm just saying, Heather and Al never blew up two of Chris' biggest and favorite belongings."
"We also didn't cry over stealing a bird egg." Alejandro retorted.
"Ok Al, you wanna-?" Duncan was about to stand up to start a fight, but DJ, who was on the other side of him, held him by the arm.
"Dude. The challenge."
(Confessional: Dawn)
"It was at that moment when we all realized why Chris got us up so early, and refused to let us eat. It was to make contestants more irritable, so they'd be more likely to leave their seats. Fighting against your hunger wouldn't be the only obstacle, but also maintaining your temper."
About an hour of mostly silence passed. People next to each other made occasional small talk, but by now, everyone realized that staring a group conversation would heighten the risk of getting eliminated. Soon, Chris walked back on the draw bridge, holding a gold statuette of a woman holding a television set. "It's ok. You're home now." He then took a look at the contestants. "Huh. Nobody dropped out yet."
"I'm...I'm not gonna give up easily." Bridgette said.
"Respect the drive, but remember, if everyone thinks that way, you guys will be here a while."
Several of the contestants glared at Chris, but didn't respond.
"Well, it would probably be best if I lighten the pressure on you guys. So what if I told you that today's challenge was a reward challenge?"
Brody immediately stood up in excitement. "For real?!" Brody asked.
"Nope! But gutsy move of you to stand up and get yourselves disqualified. Hahaha!"
Brody widened his eyes, realizing that he got out of the chair. "Whoa. My bad!"
A bell dinged. Strawberry Shortcakes 8-7
Gwen, Noah, and Emma all facepalmed.
"Now that you're out, feel free to help yourself to the dining hall food." Chris said.
"Right on!" Brody happily ran inside.
"Ugh...it's like he doesn't even care that he made things harder for his team." Bridgette muttered.
"Why do you care though? He's not on our team." Leshawna pointed out.
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, now that I'm back, we might as well make some headway to our next destination." Chris said.
"Didn't you say that today's challenge would take place here in Paris?" Zoey asked.
"That was just until I finished some business. Which I did. Better hold on to your seats sailors. Chef!" Chris yelled out.
The camera panned to Chef in the control room, cracking his knuckles. "Sometimes I love my job." He adjusted a few levers before pounding a button.
Suddenly, the yacht bolted away from the docks, sailing the water at speeds far faster than it ever did before. DJ and Harold lost their balance almost immediately, and quickly fell out of their seats. Noah nearly flew out of his chair before Owen grabbed him to keep him steady.
"And we have two more people out already!" Chris cheered. The yacht slowed down, sailing at more casual speeds.
Two bells dinged in quick succession. Killer Blades 6-5 Team Heather 6-5
"God!" Harold yelled in frustration.
Bridgette, Zoey, and Duncan all looked at DJ in concern. "DJ, do you need help standing up?" Bridgette asked.
"I don't need to be babied, alright?" DJ sternly said.
Bridgette and Duncan were taken aback by the slight outburst.
DJ slowly pushed himself up. "Sorry about that. But really, I'm fine ya'll. Don't eliminate yourselves for me." He grabbed his crutches, and walked inside the dining room, Harold following.
"It seems that you've been treating DJ like a burden recently." Alejandro said to the Blades.
"Bite me, Al." Duncan said.
Noah turned to Owen. "Thanks for the save big guy." Owen gave a thumbs up.
The camera flashed to another hour passing. Everyone except for Dawn and Sierra were starting to feel the hunger by this point. Chris walked in. "Alright, two hours have passed. Anybody who wants to take a quick bathroom break can take one. But if you're not back in 10 minutes OR if you eat food during the break, you're out. Sips of water are fine though."
Several of the contestants stood up and started to go inside the yacht, heading towards various bathrooms. Trent walked to Gwen, who was staying seated. "Don't have to go?"
"Not really. But I'm starving."
"Tell me about it. This might be worse than the Awake-a-thon challenge from Season 1."
Gwen chuckled. "I hear that. At least they gave us a feast."
Trent smiled. "Anyway, I'm off to the bathroom. Later." Trent walked off. And naturally from near one of the entrances to the hallways, Heather was listening.
(Confessional: Heather)
"I swear. Sometimes they make it too easy."
The break passed, and all the remaining contestants were back in the circle. Several of the contestants were holding their stomachs in pain. Strangely, Scott was no longer looking hungry anymore
"Umm, is anyone gonna question how Scott's looking fine now?" Emma asked.
"We checked the cameras. Scott didn't come anywhere near the dining room." Chris said.
"Well he had to have eaten SOMETHING." Mike said.
Chris turned to Scott. "Scott, come clean with why you're suddenly no longer hungry, or else your team loses automatically."
"Dirt." Scott answered.
"Come again?"
"Dirt. I spent most of my break searching for the immunity idol, and found out that there's an indoor garden on the yacht. Gathered as much dirt from it as I could and helped myself."
"Seriously?!" Bridgette yelled.
"Great. Now our team is down to 4." Zoey grumbled.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Scott replied.
"Dude's got a point. Chris said that if we eat any FOOD we get eliminated. But last I checked, dirt isn't exactly served at restaurants." Duncan said.
"Hmm. Duncan's got a point. Scott's in the clear!" Chris announced.
"Seriously?!" Emma complained.
"So unfair." Mike said.
"However, Scott only gets a pass because I only said food. From now on, if you pull that loophole again, you're outta here. Got it Scott?" Chris asked.
Scott groaned. "Fine."
It was good that Scott couldn't essentially gorge himself anymore, but he was still no longer running on an empty stomach. By now, it was clearer than ever to Heather that she needed to get people to leave and fast. "So Sierra. Do your bloggers have any theories about who Gwen's mystery crush is?" Naturally, she said this out loud.
"Definitely. 55 percent of them predict that it's Trent. 30 percent predict Duncan. 10 percent predict it to be Cody."
"Seriously?" Noah asked.
"I know. And they call me crazy. Anyway, the remaining 5 percent are pretty much miscellaneous guesses for everyone else."
"Can you drop it already? Chris probably rigged the stupid shock collar to stir up drama." Gwen said.
"While that does sound like something I would do, not the case this time." Chris responded.
Heather turned to Dawn. "You can read people's mind or whatever. What's your take on this?"
"Umm..." Dawn didn't really want to answer.
"Ok, I had enough of this!" Leshawna yelled. "We all know that you're just trying to stir up the pot, Heather."
"Yeah, so just drop it already." Bridgette said.
Gwen was glad that those two had her back, even though they were on different teams.
"Hate to break it to you, but getting people to leave their seats is the point of this challenge." Heather said. "If you don't like it, the doors are over there." How she missed being able to freely antagonize the other contestants.
Mike looked uncomfortably at B and Sierra, but they both nodded. Heather was right. If they wanted to win the challenge, they'd need to get people to leave.
"But seriously Gwen, if you want to keep the crush a secret, just say so. You don't have to constantly deny it." Heather said.
"Hate to side with Heather on this one, but she's got a point." Noah told Gwen.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever. I want to keep it a secret. You happy now?"
"Absolutely. Especially since it means your boy troubles will get you eliminated." Heather answered.
Leshawna stood up and rolled up her sleeves. "That's it, Prom Queen! You're-"
A bell dinged. Killer Blades 5-4
"And Leshawna is out!" Chris announced.
Heather smirked at Leshawna. "Sorry."
"Oh, you think you're clever, don't ya! Let's see how clever you look when I throw you off that chair?!" Leshawna started to walk towards Heather, but several interns grabbed onto her and held her back. "Let go of me!"
"Sorry Leshawna, but contestants eliminated from the challenge can't sabotage the ones still in it." Chris told her.
"Well some rules are meant to be broken!" Leshawna protested. Chef came walking in and helped the interns pull Leshawna into the yacht. "Let me at her! That skinny little witch has it coming!"
Bridgette and Zoey both pinched the brink of their noses. Duncan was simply looking disappointed that Chris and Chef didn't let Leshawna take a swing at Heather.
"On the subject of relationships though, Duncan, Scott, I gotta say I'm surprised you haven't been at each other's throats yet." Heather said.
"Why, 'cause we both dated Courtney?" Duncan asked.
"Oh yeah. That truth or electrocution challenge revealed that Scott holds some resentment towards Duncan for being on good terms with Courtney." Emma remembered.
"Emma, why are you-" Kitty whispered.
"Heather has a point. If we want to win, we need to get our opponents to wants to leave." She whispered back.
Bridgette suddenly put two and two together. THAT'S why Scott tried to convince her and Leshawna to vote off Duncan. It wasn't just viewing him as a threat. It was also out of envy.
Scott scoffed. "I dumped Courtney. Remember?"
"And tried to get me to set you up with her." Duncan snickered.
"Who's side are you on?!"
Duncan turned to Heather. "It's not like you're exactly one to talk about relationship problems, Heather. Isn't your boyfriend scheming to get you voted off so he can become team leader?"
"Oh wow. Me and Alejandro backstab each other. Shock of the century." Heather replied.
"Maybe that's because you aren't supposed to do that in a relationship." Mike said.
Heather had about a dozen responses to Mike, but he was on the same team as her. However, Scott spoke up with one of the retorts Heather had in mind.
"To be fair, at least it keeps the relationship fresh. Sounds like you're having problems in that department" Scott said to Mike. Mike glared at Scott. Bridgette elbowed Scott in the gut. "Ow!"
"Not cool." Bridgette whispered.
Trent raised his hands. "I'm out."
"Trent!" Emma reacted. "Don't you get that you're doing what they want?"
"I realize that. I also don't want to sit here and watch people trash talk each other in front of the whole cast while I'm already tired and on an empty stomach." Trent stood up and walked away.
Strawberry Shortcakes 7-6
"Ugh. Unbelievable." Emma said.
Zoey gave Duncan an uncomfortable look. Duncan realized that she was feeling the same way as Trent and groaned. "Whatever. Go ahead."
"Thanks Duncan. And sorry." She stood up and left as well.
Killer Blades 4-3
Several more hours passed before it became the afternoon. B collapsed onto the skydeck, holding onto his stomach in pain.
"And another one's out for Team Heather!" Chris declared. Team Heather 5-4
"Ughhh..." Owen wobbled a bit.
"And it looks like Owen's getting out as well!"
Owen was about to fall out of his chair before jolting himself backwards. "Not...not today..."
(Confessional: Owen)
"Emma said that I was doing a good job! I couldn't go back to letting her down!"
More time passed. The sun set a while ago, and the moon was up. Sierra's stomach was rumbling a fair amount. The early breakfast she had helped her out a ton at the beginning, but now she was hungry as well.
Kitty keeled over, but was still seated in her chair. "I...I don't know how much longer I can go." She said.
"Fight...fight through it Kit..." Emma told her.
"Ugh...I can't...I can't take it anymore." Mike said. He stood up, and slowly walked inside the yacht.
Team Heather 4-3
"Ugh. Four alternate personalities, and none of them helpful for this challenge." Heather complained under her breath.
Owen felt his vision get a bit blurry. He slapped himself a couple times before turning to Dawn, who was in lotus position on her chair. "You're looking completely normal, Dawn. How do you do it?"
"Meditation is all about control. Not just emotions. But physical cravvings as well." Dawn answered.
"So since you're skilled at meditating, you don't have to eat?"
"No. I'm incredibly famished right now. But I can distract my mind from the hunger."
Noah was incredibly tempted to head out as well, but he knew Emma would get mad at him for it. He needed a distraction. "Hey Kitty. You and Gwen said something about finding a card left by the yacht last night?"
"Huh? Yeah. It was written in French though, so we couldn't really read what it said." Kitty answered.
"We could read the signature though. It was left by a guy called Arseen Lupin or something." Gwen said.
Duncan, Alejandro, and Noah all raised an eyebrow. "You mean Arsène Lupin?" Alejandro asked.
"You know him?" Kitty asked.
"In the same way we 'know' Harry Potter." Noah replied.
"Arsène Lupin's a fictional thief written by a french author, Maurice LeBlanc, before we were born. He's a master of disguise who even pulled one over on Sherlock Holmes." Duncan explained. "Someone was probably paying tribute to him or something."
The majority of the remaining contestants stared at Duncan strangely.
"Um...you know, just from what I heard."
"Since when were you into literature?" Heather asked.
"I had a lot of free time in the slammer, ok? I just read some books to kill time when they wouldn't let me watch TV or go out in the yard."
Gwen chuckled. Something told her there was more to it than that.
"Wait, so you can read French, Duncan?" Owen asked.
"Nah. The books I read were translated in English."
"I can read French however. Perhaps I could translate what the card read." Aleandro suggested.
"Chris took the card, remember?" Gwen pointed out.
Chris walked in with a plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy. "Yeah, so unfortunately, you won't be reading squat. Besides, like I told you, it doesn't concern you kids."
"Let me guess. The thief stole one of your Gemmies, so you docked the boat to buy time to get it back." Noah said.
"Lupin does tend to leave calling cards before his thefts." Alejandro noted.
Chris frowned before smiling again. "So, it's nearly 10 PM now. You guys went 16 hours without any food, and barely any water. In fact technically, depending on when you ate last night, most of you have porbably hit the 24 hour mark. Not bad sailors." Chris scooped up some potatoes and ate it.
Owen's eye twitched.
"Owen, just close your eyes." Noah suggested.
Drool was streaming from Owen's mouth like a waterfall. "So...hungry..."
The rest of the contestants weren't having an easy time avoiding temptation either. "You're cruel, you know that?" Emma asked Chris.
Chris was smugly licking gravy off of his fingers as an intern wheeled over a tv set. "Hey, I'm not stopping you from getting some chow. If you want some grub, head on into the dining hall. Some of your teammates are enjoying it." Chris got out a remote.
"You wouldn't..." Gwen said.
"Gwen, Gwen, Gwen. You've known me for over three years. I absolutely would." Chris turned on the television, displaying footage of several of the eliminated contestants eating in the dining room of the yacht. Leshawna and Harold were sitting at a table, happily chatting over steaks. Mike and Zoey were eating from a shrimp bowl, making awkward small talk. Brody was singlehandedly devouring an entire roast pig while Trent, DJ, and B cheered him on.
"You're pure evil, McLean." Alejandro said.
"Ugh...I don't know how much more of this I can take..." Kitty complained.
"Well, in a few minutes, you guys can take another bathroom break. But I think the food's gonna run out soon." Chris teased.
For a few seconds, nobody did anything. Noah was clinging onto his stomach in pain. He didn't know how much longer he could last. Suddenly, he felt a hand lay on top of his shoulder.
"We have the numbers lead, Noah." Emma told him.
"You...you sure, honey?" Noah asked.
Emma nodded. "Get any skinnier, and the wind might blow you into the sea." Emma then turned to Kitty. "You too Kt."
"Huh?"
Emma tilted her heat to the TV. "I know you want to watch Brody take down that roast pig in person. Besides, you look like you're about to collapse."
Kitty smiled. "Tha...thanks Emma
The two of them stood up and slowly making his way to the dining room. Two bells dinged as they left. Strawberry Shortcakes 6-4
(Confessional: Gwen)
"I'm not sure if I should be grateful that Emma is sometimes nice to Noah and Kitty, or annoyed that they're the literally only people she'll be understanding towards."
Gwen turned to Owen. "Hey Owen. You hanging in there ok?"
Owne was shuddering. "Nev...never better." He said.
"Maybe you should-" Gwen began to say.
"Just a little while longer Owen. Please." Emma told him. "The first team that has the leader drop out will take a huge morale loss. And we already lost two people just now."
"I know...don't worry Emma...I can last all night." Owen said.
Gwen was annoyed, but said nothing.
About 5 minutes passed. "Alright, bathroom break time!" Chris declared.
"Finally." Duncan said. Most of the contestants stood up and headed inside various entrances to the inside of the S.S McLean.
"Hey Duncan, wait up." Scott said, running after him.
"What is it?"
"I just wanted to talk about-"
"Courtney, right?"
Scott was annoyed. "Why does everyone on the yacht think that she's all I think about? I was talking about Bridgette."
Duncan raised in unibrow. "What about her?"
"It was pretty obvious to everyone that you don't exactly get along with her. She'll probably try and vote you off, and considering how pretty much everyone on the team likes her, she might convince them to join up with her."
"So you want to form an alliance with me to vote her off if we lose?" Duncan asked.
"Bingo."
"What do you have to gain from this though?"
"Because I'd be next on the chopping block after you. I never knew Bridgette before this season, and it's not like I got close with her like Zoey did. If we get your leader vote with my vote against her, and we assume the alliance doesn't start yet, we might have a chance."
Duncan shrugged. "Makes sense. So, you're offering an alliance?"
"Just for stopping any other ones from forming to make sure we make it to the merge."
"Fine by me." Duncan said. He continued walking while Scott smirked, turning around to the dining room.
Leshawna and Harold were still talking at the table. "-so yeah, I was honest about being friends with Heather after she stood up for me in Action. But when she spent an entire year badmouthing my home girl Gwen online? Uh-uh. That would NOT slide with me." Leshawna said.
"I hear that." Harold replied.
Scott tapped Leshawna on the shoulder. "Meet me and Bridgette on the skydeck." He whispered.
Leshawna nodded. "Be right back Harold."
Bridgette and Dawn were the only ones left on the skydeck. Dawn was still seated in her chair, meditating. Bridgette was standing up, stretching her legs a bit. Leshawna and Scott walked up to her.
"Hey Bridgette. I wanted to-"
"Talk about Courtney?" Bridgette asked.
Scott bit his tongue so he wouldn't yell. "Let's speak in private."
The camera cut to them all standing inside the indoor garden. Scott was tempted to scoop up and eat some more dirt, but he resisted the urge. "We need to talk about Duncan. I think all of us saw how tense things were between you and him last challenge."
"Mmm-hmm." Leshawna nodded.
Bridgette rubbed her head awkwardly. "Can't exactly deny that."
"If we lose any challenges, he's definitely gonna try and vote you off. He'll be able to convince DJ of it too like he did in Season 1. If we're unlucky, he might convince Zoey too."
"And with his leader vote, that's a guaranteed elimination." Bridgette noted.
"So, you wanted to talk about voting him off if we lose the next challenge, right?" Leshawna guessed.
"Bingo." Scott answered. "But if he convinces DJ and Zoey to join him on the vote, we're screwed since that'll be 4 votes our our 3."
"Well, what do we do about it then?" Leshawna asked.
"Bridgette, try and win Zoey over. Leshawna, you do DJ. But don't tell them about any gameplan. Just keep talking to them like you would usually, but hang out with them more. Then they'll prefer you guys over Duncan."
"And then Duncan can't make an alliance." Leshawna realized.
"I dunno. This is kinda sneaky." Bridgette said.
"It's not like you're tricking or sabotaging them." Scott replied.
Bridgette thought it over. "Well...alright."
(Confessional: Scott)
"Boom! I've made allies out of Alejandro, Leshawna, Bridgette AND Duncan! Now, I can help Al sabotage our team, pit the Blades against each other, and draw the target away from me."
The break was almost over. Several of contestants remaining in the challenge were heading to their seats. As Gwen sat in her chair, Dawn spoke up next to her. "Owen would have normally dropped out from the competition long ago." She whispered.
"Yeah. Emma's really got him motivated. For better or worse"
"This might be dangerous for Owen." Dawn said. "Darkness is beginning to encircle around Owen."
Gwen widened her eyes. So it was for worse.
Noah was helping Owen walk back to his seat. Naturally, Noah was struggling due to Owen's weight. "Thanks for helping me get to the restroom, Noah."
"Urgh...anytime big guy." Noah said.
Heather and Alejandro sat next to each other, both holding onto their stomachs in pain. "You're looking like you can't last much longer, mi amor." Alejandro said.
"Like you're one to talk." Heather replied.
Noah sat Owen down. He was about to walk back inside when he heard something.
"Psst. Noah." Gwen whispered. It seemed that she and Dawn wanted to talk with him.
Noah raised an eyebrow and walked towards the two. "What's up? Better be quick. I'm not supposed to be on the skydeck when the break ends."
"You have to convince Emma to tell Owen it's ok to leave." Gwen said.
"Owen's soul is tearing itself apart. The pressure he feels to live up to Emma's expectations will lead him to disaster."
"Come on, you two were there at the circus challenge. Owen won it for us. I'm sure Emma's warmed up to him." Noah replied.
"That's not the point. Owen's killing himself with this challenge. He has to leave." Gwen said.
"If Owen leaves this challenge, Emma will hold it over his head for as long as they're both in the competition. I'm not going to put Owen through that."
"So you're letting Owen suffer because of Emma's problems?"
Noah started to get annoyed. Then, the annoyed expression was quickly replaced with guilt. Gwen made a point. Noah then raised his hands in the air. "I know enough about relationships to not get in the way of a conflict between your friend and your girlfriend. Leave me out of that mess." Noah walked away.
Duncan, Emma and Sierra came back and sat in their seats. Chris was looking around. "Duncan, any idea where your remaining twp teammates are?"
"No clue." Duncan said.
"Well, if they aren't back in 30 seconds, they're eliminated, leaving you the only team member left bro."
"Seriously?!"
"Wait! We're here!" Bridgette's voice yelled out. Bridgette and Scott ran out of the yacht and into the skydeck, both panting in exhaustion.
"We...we got lost." Scott lied in between breaths.
"Good thing you made it in time. You almost left your leader on his own." Chris said.
"About time you made it." Duncan said. Despite both Scott and Bridgette being late, his glare was specifically towards Bridgette.
Bridgette returned the glare with her own before she and Scott both sat down.
"Alright. The break is over. And now, it's time for your food and drink." Chris clapped his hands and severla interns came, giving each of the contestants a loaf of bread and a bottle of water.
"Fine dining." Duncan said.
"At least we get to eat something." Bridgette replied.
Soon, Chris felt a drop of water on his head. "Huh. Looks like it's gonna rain soon."
"Does this mean you'll put up a tarp for us?" Emma asked.
"Ha! You are new to Total Drama!" Chris walked inside the S.S McLean.
(Confessional: Duncan)
"You know, maybe getting up from my seat and getting eliminated from the challenge would be worth it if it meant I could rearrange McLean's face."
The rain was starting to pou onto the yacht, slowly but notably getting more intense as time went on. Water was dripping from all of the reamining contestants.
Eventually, Dawn got out lotus position. "I'm going to be dropping out now."
"You can't! You've been enduring the hunger better than anyone!" Emma yelled.
"The universe is telling me that a storm will arrive. It's best that the challenge ends as soon as possible." Dawn got out of her chair, causing a bell to ding.
Strawberry Shortcakes 4-3
"Great. We're lower on numbers because of some fortune telling nonsense." Emma said.
"Dawn knows what she's talking about." Gwen told Emma.
"Wouldn't expect you to believe that stuff." Emma replied.
Gwen ignored Emma and turned to Owen. "We shouldn't stay here for long."
Owen looked uncomfortable. "Well...maybe...but the challenge is still going."
Suddenly, a flash of lightning appeared in the sky before the contestants heard a boom of thunder. Bridgette immediately stood up. "I'm out."
Killer Blades 3-2
Duncan shrugged. "No surprise there."
"Um, what's THAT supposed to mean?" Bridgette asked.
"Cool your jets there, surfer girl. I was just saying you were always the jumpy kind."
Heather and Alejandro looked at each other. Both of them could tell that the Shortcakes and Blades just needed one little punch to tear themselves apart. "Truce for now?" Alejandro whispered, offering a handshake.
"For now." Heather shook hands with her bofriend. Heather then spoke up. "You know Bridgette, you should probably head inside instead. Chris isn't allowing eliminated contestants to stay on the skydeck, remember?"
"Yeah. Better head in before you get our team disqualified." Duncan said to her.
"I swear, you're impossible sometimes! Everytime you show a smidgen of good, you triple your jerrkiness immediately afterwards!" Bridgette yelled.
"Relax already. You're throwing a fit over nothing."
Alejandro turned to the Shortcakes. "If Owen drops, then it'll be only Emma and Gwen. You'll go from having an advantage to a disadvantage in numbers."
"He's right. You can't drop out now." Emma said. "Please Owen. I know you can do this."
"Can you drop the guilt tripping already?!" Gwen yelled at Emma. "You've been bossing around and freaking Owen out for basically the entire competition!"
"Will you quit rubbing your nose in something that doesn't involve you?" Emma shot back.
"Hate to break it to you, but we're on the same team. And you freaking Owen out is the opposite of helping the team out."
Heather and Alejandro were smirking. Just a couple minutes longer, and someone would be getting themselves eliminated. Sierra was rapidly typing on her phone. The drama unfolding before her was too juicy for her to not put it on her blog.
"How about you try actually considering how others feel for once?!" Bridgette yelled to Duncan.
Scott knew this was an opportunity to throw gasoline onto the fire. "Is...is this about Geoff?" Scott asked.
"Oh, don't even get me started on how terrible a friend you are to Geoff!" Bridgette continued yelling at Duncan. "First you pressured him to vote me off, THEN you vote him off because he didn't vote for me, THEN you vote him off again after the soccer challenge!"
"Geoff messed up that challenge, and you know it. I didn't want to vote the dude off!"
Scott was putting his hands over his ears. "Enough already!" He yelled. "I can't take anymore of this!" Scott stood up and ran inside the yacht.
Killer Blades 2-1
(Confessional: Scott)
"I didn't really care about the argument. But I figured it would make a good excuse to dip from the challenge and make things harder on our team. Hey, if Zoey did it without the team makign a fuss, so can I."
"Crap!" Duncan yelled. "Way to go Bridgette! Now I'm the only one left."
"ME?! You're just as guilty of that as I am!"
Chris came out, wearing a yellow rainjacket, and holding an umbrella. "Bridgette, you gonna stay out here and yell at Duncan all night? You're out of the challenge."
Bridgette stomped her feet in annoyance, and walked inside the yacht. Brody was there in the hallway, barbecue sauce staining his mouth.
"Hey Bridgette. Good you got in here. The storm's getting intense."
Bridgette bumped into Brody's shoulder. "Sorry Brody, but I'm not in the mood to talk right now."
"You too Dawn." Chris said.
Dawn turned to the other contestants. "Please, everyone. Work out a winner quickly before it's too late." Dawn went inside the yacht as well.
"Pfft. As if we're leaving right now." Heather said. Her stomach suddenly grumbled ferociously. "But I wouldn't mind if the losers on the other teams left already."
Sierra stood up as well. "Actually, Dawn's soul reading is more than just guesses. I'm leaving too."
Team Heather 3-2
Heather wanted to yell at Sierra, but she remembered the 'good leader' act she was putting on "Don't worry. I'll win this for the team." Heather said. Sierra walked off.
Emma and Gwen were continuing their argument. Owen however wasn't responding. Mostly it was because he was zoned out and unaware of what was going on from the hunger.
Emma. "You don't hear me..." Emma panted. "Getting involved over you getting distracted by Trent every few minutes..."
"What are...what are you talking about?!" Gwen replied.
"You and Trent nearly cost us the challenge at Barcelona because of your baggage!" Emma held her stomach as it rumbled loudly.
"Yeah, and we got over that!" Gwen held her stomach as well.
Owen finally realized Emma and Gwen were arguing. "Guys, come on. What did I tell you about peas and mashed potatoes in the last challenge?"
More lightning bolts flashed, causing more thunder to occur.
"You know what, forget this. I'm leaving." Gwen stood up from her chair and walked away.
"Fine!" Emma yelled.
Strawberry Shortcakes 3-2
"Ugh. I'm sorry you had to hear that Owen." Emma said.
Owen sighed. "Emma, sometimes I think you need to get along better with our team. You're great to Noah, Kitty, and me, but you're been pretty bossy and kinda mean to the rest."
Emma didn't really know how to respond to that. But she couldn't exactly deny it.
Before Gwen headed inside the yacht, another flash of lightning occured. This time, the bolt hit somewhere much closer to the contestants. Right in front of Gwen.
"WHOA!" The bolt set part of the skydeck on fire as Gwen hastily backed away from the flames.
Emma stood up in concern. "Gwen, look out!" She yelled.
Strawberry Shortcakes 2-1
"Huh?" Gwen, not looking where she was going when she backed up, tripped over the railing.
"GWEN!" Everyone yelled in concern. Emma ran towards the railing in an attempt to pull up Gwen. Unfortunately, it was too late, as she fell into the sea.
"WAUUGHHHHHH!" She yelled.
Owen and Duncan stood out of their chairs and ran to the railing. "What the-?!" Duncan reacted.
Strawberry Shortcakes 1-0 Killer Blades 1-0
Heather and Alejandro ran inside the yacht. Team Heather 2-0
"Chris, Gwen just-" Heather began to yell.
"Yeah, I noticed from the cameras." Chris said. He was calm, but actually looked a bit concerned. Chris got out a radio. "Chef, we have a contestant overboard. Find her as fast as you-" Chris was stopped when he heard a splash from outside. He noticed that Duncan and Owen were no longer on the skydeck. "Make that THREE contestants."
The contestants eliminated from the challenge except for Dawn ran up to Chris. "Chris, I was watching video feed of the challenge, and Gwen just-!" Zoey began to yell.
"I know! I'm getting Chef to pick them up."
"Them?" Harold asked.
"Owen and Duncan jumped in after her." Chris answered.
Noah and Kitty got even more concerned. "We have to go after them!" Kitty yelled.
"You kids are staying inside the yacht."
"WHAT?! We ain't gonna-" Leshawna began to say.
Chef walked in, about to head outside the yacht. "It's a storm out there girl. You really think you can save them by swimming?" Chef pointed to B. "You work here part-time, so you're coming with me!"
"What about the rest of us?" Trent asked.
"Yeah, I'm coming too!" DJ insisted.
"You guys are staying put. If anything is gonna get you contestants killed, it'll be by something I planned in the challenge." Chris said.
Chef and B walked outside the yacht. DJ clenched his fist and ran out. "Sorry Chris, outta the way."
"What the-?" Chris was shoved to the ground by DJ. Chris rubbed his head in pain. "Owwww..." He then noticed something. "Where's Dawn?"
Duncan and Owen were swimming against the rough waves. "Did you see where she fell?!" Duncan asked to Owen.
"No...no clue..." He said while flailing.
(Confessional: Owen)
Owen was dripping wet, had his right arm in a cast, and covered in cuts all around his face and body. He was sitting also sitting in a wheelchair. "I was never that strong a swimmer, and I was running on a beyond empty stomach. In hindsight, jumping into the sea wasn't the smartest idea. But I had to do something."
"GO UNDERWATER, AND SWIM ABOUT 20 METERS TO YOUR LEFT!" A voice yelled out. Duncan and Owen turned their heads, seeing Dawn back on the skydeck, next to Emma. "I SENSE A MIDNIGHT BLUE AURA IN THAT LOCATION!"
Duncan and Owen nodded and went underwater.
The camera cut to Chef and B, who were on the boat of losers. Chef was driving the boat, while B was on lookout. "B! YELL OUT IF YOU SEE ANYTHING!" Chef yelled.
B pointed his thumb behind him. Chef took a look and widened his eyes. A third person was on the boat. "DJ?! I didn't give you permission to come, boy!"
DJ walked towards Chef. "I'm sick of being a burden to my team. And now you expect me to just sit back while my friends are in danger?"
Chef rolled his eyes. "If you can walk, you can pull them out. Got it? And now that you're here, it's time the three of us talk strategy."
DJ nodded, and walked next to B. Chef let out a smile. "That boy's tougher than I gave him credit for."
The camera cut back to Duncan and Owen underwater. Soon, Duncan widened his eyes and pointed ahead. Gwen was unconscious, and starting to sink. Duncan and Owen quickly swam towards her. Duncan grabbed Gwen, slung her on his back, and started to swim upwards. It was incredibly rough, but he was making progress.
(Confessional: Duncan)
"It looked like it would be smooth sailing from there. But then..."
A familiar shark with legs started swimming towards Duncan at rapid speeds. "FANG?!" Duncan yelled, before quickly putting a hand over his mouth. He was too low on energy to get away in time. It looked like the end.
Before Fang's mouth was blocked by a large, round body. "GO!" Owen yelled while Fang was biting into him. He then held his mouth again, realizing he just let out a bunch of air.
Duncan widened his eyes before nodding, making his way to the top. Soon, Duncan made it to the surface. "GAH!"
"Urgh...Duncan?" Gwen asked. She was starting to come too.
Duncan took several breaths. "It's official...worst challenge ever." He said.
Gwen chuckled. "Duncan...thanks, and..."
As Gwen was talking a horn was sounded. The Boat of Losers came to their location. "B was right! He did see you!" DJ exclaimed.
"He talked?" Duncan asked.
DJ let out a hand. "Grab on man. I'll pull you up."
"Just pull Gwen up. I need to save Owen."
"Owen's in trouble?" Gwen asked.
"Fang attacked me, and tubby got in the way to save both of us. I'm going after him."
"WHAT?! I'm coming with you!"
DJ grabbed both of them by the arm and pulled them upwards. "Neither of you are going. B. Magnet." He said.
B nodded, and tossed a magnet to DJ. DJ then dived into the water.
"Magnet?" Gwen asked.
"Me and B knew that Fang's been following the boat. Chris has been counting on it to get him involved in challenges." Chef said. "That's why we have a safety measure for him."
DJ furiously swam downwards before he reached Fang, biting into Owen. Fang dropped Owen and swam towards DJ, ready to attack him. DJ simply held up a magnet towards the shark. Fang closed it's eyes in pain before swimming away. DJ then swam towards Owen, grabbed onto him and swam upwards.
(Confessional: DJ)
"B told us that magnets can repel sharks, so Chef decided that with my strength, I can swim underwater to save the others, and use the magnet to protects us from Fang."
The camera cut to almost everyone inside the dining room of the S.S McLean. Duncan, Gwen, and DJ were dripping wet. Owen was currently being treated for his injuries by Chef and the interns in the infirmary. Duncan, Bridgette, Scott, Gwen, Emma, Alejandro, Heather, and Sierra were all looking wiped. Duncan and Gwen especially so, who were being supported by Zoey and Leshawna respectively to even stand.
"Time to announce the winners of the challenge." Chris said.
"Winner of the...four contestants almost died!" Emma pointed out.
"Trust me hun. It'll take a lot more than that to get Chris to cancel a challenge." Noah told her.
"Heather and Alejandro left their seats last out of everyone. Meaning that Team Heather win the challenge!" Chris declared.
Nobody cheered. "How's Owen?" Harold asked.
On cue, Chef came walking into the dining room. "Is he-?" Chris began to ask.
"He'll live."
"But is he-?"
"No. By his own admission. His injuries are worse than DJ's, and that boy still has walking issues."
Chris nodded. "Ordinarily, I'd look into the footage to see which team got last place, the Blades or the Shortcakes, but it won't matter. Owen is too injured to continue in the competition."
The majority of the contestants looked disappointed in this, but relieved that he'd be ok.
"Emma. Noah. Owen wants to talk with you two in private." Chef said. "Follow me."
Emma and Noah nodded, and followed Chef to the infirmary.
(Confessional: Emma)
Emma was holding her face in her hands. "I feel awful. Dawn gave me a warning, and I ignored her. This is all my fault."
(Confessional: Noah)
Noah sighed. "I should have said something. I knew Emma was pushing Owen too hard, but I didn't want to find myself choosing between my best friend or my girlfriend. Now Owen's paid the price for it."
Noah and Emma came into the infirmary. Owen was lying in one of the beds, happily drinking from the IV bag. "Hey guys! This water is a lot tastier than regular water."
Noah let out a soft chuckle. "Umm...that's supposed to be injected directly in your body big guy."
"Owen...I'm so, so sorry." Emma said.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault. You don't control lightning." Owen said.
Water built up in Emma's eyes. "Yes, it is. I forced you to stay beyond your limits in the challenge. If I didn't do that-"
"Come on! You really think I'd be fine with a friend drowning or get eaten by a shark? I should be thanking you!"
"But you nearly got eaten by the shark because of me! Now you're gone from the game for something that isn't your fault!"
Owen let out a laugh. "You'd be surprised by how many times I've gotten mauled by an animal. You get used to it. And hey, getting eliminated is worth saving a friend's life."
"But...you..."
Noah put an arm over Emma. "Better just give up babe. Getting Owen to hate you is harder than trying to keep him away from food."
Emma smiled as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Listen Owen. I'll make this up to you. I'll win the competition, and not only share the winnings with you, but I'll give you the yacht too."
"Thanks Emma!" Owen exclaimed. He then turned to Noah. "So, since it looks like our team is down a leader, you feel like taking over?"
Noah rubbed his arm in uncertainty. "That sounds like it'll be a LOT of work. Besides, other than you, I'm kinda lacking on experience with leading.
Emma tunred to Noah. "Come on No-No. After what I did, even I know I'm not ready to lead the team."
Noah sighed. "Alright. For you Owen."
"Whoo-hooo!" Owen raised his right arm in the air. "AUGGHHHH!" He yelled in pain.
Owen was about to wheel himself inside the Boat of Losers. His team was seeing him off. All of them were still on the S.S McLean. A small walkway connecting the yacht to the Boat of Losers.
"It was great to see you again big guy." Trent said. He and Owen fistbumped.
"Take care Owen." Dawn told him.
Gwen walked up to Owen and gave him a hug. "Get better soon, ok?"
"We'll miss you Owen." Kitty told him.
"Aww. I'll miss all you guys too." Owen said.
"Hey, aren't we invited?" Bridgette's voice asked. The Shortcakes turned their heads and saw both the Killer Blades and Team Heather there.
"Hey! You guys are here too! Even Al!"
In truth, Alejandro didn't want to come, but he knew that being the only one not to see Owen off wouldn't look good. What surprised him though was that Heather didn't hesitate on coming. His girlfriend has certainly softened up over the years.
"Gotta admit, I owe you one for saving me there big guy." Duncan said.
"You risked your life to save your teammate, and someone who wasn't even on your team. You have my utmost respect." Harold told Owen.
"Yeah. You're a pretty good leader after all Owen." Emma said.
Owen let out a big smile.
Chris came walking in. "Alright, this is touching and all, but it's time for the Boat of Losers, Owen. And the Blades and Shortcakes need to head to their cabin cruisers. You chose who the leader replacing you will be?"
"Yup. My little buddy, Noah!"
"Good to know. Now, off to-"
"Wait!" Kitty interrupted. She ran up to Owen, and got her phone out. She made sure to get the angle right before she took a selfie of her, Owen, and the rest of the contestants.
Owen gave a hug to Kitty before wheeling himself onto the Boat of Losers, Chef taking off.
"Alright everyone, back to your respective boats." Chris said.
Team Heather walked inside the yacht, while the Blades and Shortcakes headed to the walkways that led to their cabin cruisers. Emma took a look at Gwen, and noticed the expression of her face. Pure and utter contempt. Emma got the message. Gwen wouldn't be making a big deal out of it publicly anymore, but she was far from being on friendly terms with Emma.
"And so leaves one of the friendliest contestants in the game. Did the tensions within the Shortcakes and Blades explode this challenge? Or is there still more of it left to come? Only one way to find out. Stay tuned right here on Total! Drama! Voy-!"
A female intern with braces walked into the shot. "Letter for you, sir."
Chris frowned and took the letter. "What is it this-?" Chris widened his eyes. The letter was in french, but it was translated by the interns on the bottom half.
'I see that you bought back the award. But that payment alone won't suffice. Next, I'll be taking that boat of yours. - Arsène Lupin'
Strawberry Shortcakes: Noah, Gwen, Trent, Dawn, Emma, Kitty, Brody
Killer Blades: Duncan, Zoey, Bridgette, DJ, Leshawna, Scott
Team Heather: Heather, B, Harold, Alejandro, Sierra, Mike
Rankings
24th: Justin
23rd: Cody
22nd: Geoff
21st: Sky
20th: Owen
This chapter was fun for me to write. Light on action, but I enjoyed delving further into the tensions within the teams. Next chapter, we'll be taken away from the S.S McLean and onto the fanfic's first Aftermath!
And with that, the first leader of a team has been eliminated. With Owen gone due to injuries from saving Gwen and Duncan, Noah has been declared the next leader of the team. Will he be up to the task? And with Scott pitting Bridgette and Duncan against each other, what drama may arise from the Killer Blades? And perhaps biggest of all, is there a future yacht thief hidden onboard somewhere? Only time will tell. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and have a great day!