Chapter 4: Dodgebrawl

Reviews:

Gucci Mane LaFlare: Thanks. I can imagine it will be interesting.

DSX62415: Heather is capable of human emotion. I think Ella will survive.

QueenAzulaThinksYourWorthless: I know, right?

dm4487: Yeah, I didn't want Staci to last long, simply because I didn't think I could do much with her "character."

DangerousDill11: It should get easier as time goes on, but you're definitely correct.

QueenAzulaThinksYourWorthless: I didn't expect you or anyone else to be, and I don't think the TD writers did either.

Guest (1): Thanks. And yes, it is.

Guest (2): If it's any consolation, Aiden isn't the MAIN villain. Also, if Dave is one of your favorite characters, you should be glad he was booted first, because you would not like my portrayal of him if he hadn't been. Dave is my least favorite character, as I said before, and if I had kept him around, I would have made an effort to get everyone else to hate him too.

Knight: The answer to that is a definite maybe.

TDRoramie: Thanks! I knew from the start that I didn't want to have three teams of 17, I didn't want any team to start off uneven, and I definitely didn't want to include Mildred, so creating an OC for this story was the only real option. And given the reputation of OCs competing alongside canon characters, particularly those introduced by themselves rather than in an entirely new cast, I figured it would be extremely difficult to make a character my readers would like, so instead, I decided to intentionally make an unlikable character. I can't imagine who would ever miss Staci. I'll have to get rid of the more dynamic characters eventually, but I'll try to start with the flat ones.

"Last time, on Total Drama, our four teams competed to see who could stay awake longest. It was a long and brutal struggle, but in the end, Shawn emerged victorious, and Staci bored her teammates to sleep. And in the end, it was Staci's lies that got her kicked off the island. Who will be next? Stay tuned for our most dramatic campfire ceremony yet, on Total. Drama. Island!"


Theme song


The episode opened with the campers in the mess hall eating breakfast. Some looked very tired, particularly Scott, Brick, and Gwen. Shawn looked tired too, but not nearly as much so as the other three.

"Ugggh...How the heck are you not on the floor?" Scott asked.

"I've been prepping for the zombie apocalypse for years, dude. I sleep in a tree." Shawn responded as he picked a leaf out of his hat. "I can handle a little sleep loss."

"Hey there, campers." Chris greeted. "Challenge day!"

"But yesterday was a challenge day!" Dakota complained. "Today's supposed to be a free day!"

"Well, the last challenge spanned multiple days, so we had to have a few instances of challenges two days at a time. Don't worry, they'll be spaced out reasonably. But I'm not an unreasonable man..." Chris trailed off, leaving some of the campers hopeful that he would say something good for them.

"So," he continued, "Brick, Scott, Shawn, and Gwen, as the last ones to fall asleep on their respective teams, do not have to participate in this challenge, and are immune from votes this campfire ceremony. They can go back to bed." Some of the campers were disappointed, others seemed to think it was fair.

"Now, follow me to the challenge."


The scene shifted to reveal a plexiglass arena, with the campers in bleachers to the sides of the arena. A whistle blew, and the camera panned over to reveal Chef in a referee's uniform. Chris stood by a pile of red rubber balls.

Chris began speaking. "Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball. The first rule of dodgeball is—"

"Do not talk about dodgeball?" Noah interrupted. Some of the campers chuckled.

"As I was saying," Chris continued, "if you get hit by a ball," he threw a ball at Sammy, "you're out." The ball hit her, and she doubled over in pain. Amy laughed, which caused many of her teammates to glare at her.

"Nice throw, Chris!" Topher called to the host, tossing the ball back to him.

"Thanks, Topher." Chris responded. "As I was saying, if you catch the ball, the thrower is sent out, and the catcher gets to bring in another of their teammates."

"Nice catch, Chris!" Sierra blurted out.

"Thanks? It wasn't hard, but whatever." Chris said. "Let's see now...Lightning, try to hit me."

"Sha-Yeah!" Lightning shouted as he picked up a ball and prepared to throw it at Chris.

"If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect another ball. But..." Chris explained as he demonstrated with the ball Lightning threw at him. The he dropped his ball purposefully. "If it knocks your ball out of your hands, you're out."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Gee, throwing balls, another mentally challenging test," he deadpanned.

"I know, right?" Lindsay said, missing the sarcasm.

Amy grinned deviously. "So, what do we do when the ball comes flying toward us?"

Chris frowned. "You dodge!" He threw a ball at her, and Amy pulled Sammy in front of her, using her as a human shield. The ball hit her, and she doubled over in pain again. "You were supposed to dodge!" Chris chastised her. Amy's teammates glared at her even harder.


Confessional: Jasmine

"I don't like that Amy girl, not one bit. I think she's bad for the team, and as soon as we lose, she should b the first one voted off."

Confessional: Heather

"You're making this too easy, Amy. At this rate, Weird Wizard Kid will outlast you."

End confessional


"Are you all right?" Jasmine asked, concerned, as she helped Sammy up.

"I'll be fine..." the nice twin responded, a bit weakly.

"You know, you really shouldn't let her push you around like that," Jasmine commented.

"Moose won the last round, so they get the court to themselves for five minutes to determine their starting lineup." Chris called. The other three teams exited.

Jo spoke up. "All in favor of keeping Bubble-Boy off the court?" Everyone's hands went up. "Okay. Everyone else on the floor. I wanna see what you can do."

"Who put you in charge?" Lightning demanded.

"We're wasting time," Jo said. "We have to see who's good at the game, and who's not."

The Moose complied, albeit a bit begrudgingly in some cases. Lightning and Eva excelled in the practice round, as expected. Owen was also surprisingly excellent at dodgeball. So was Cody, for that matter. LeShawna, Aiden, Izzy, and Anne Maria were average. Noah did badly, and Harold couldn't do anything other than dodge.

"I've seen enough," Jo said. "Our starters will be me, Brightning, Choking Hazard, Psycho, and String Bean." She indicated Anne Maria, Izzy, and Cody. "Eva, Butter Ball, I'm keeping you in reserve in case we have to switch out our lineup. Forehead, Bubble-Boy, under no circumstances are you to play."

"Fine by me. Sports aren't my forte anyway," Noah said. Eva was upset, but she nodded.

The three other teams came back in, not having been allowed to watch the Moose practice. Chris called, "Matches will be best of three. Each team must switch out one member of their starting lineup per round, except the Badgers. And the Moose will have one win for each match to start with, as reward for winning last time. Now, let's begin. First match: Gophers vs. Bass!

===Round 1===

On the Gophers, Duncan was in a mood. He spread out on the bleachers, and said, "Wake me, and you're dead."

Jasmine decided to take charge. "B, Amy, Sammy, Beardo, you're with me on the court."

"Don't mess this up, Samey." Amy said rudely.

On the Bass, Courtney and Rodney were both trying to take charge. "Okay, So here's the plan," both said at the same time.


Confessional: Rodney

"Ordinarily, I'd let Scott take charge. He's the smartest member of our family. But he's not here, so it's up to me. I'm the oldest of five brothers, so I'm used to it."

End confessional


Courtney said, "I was going to recommend that you and I go on the court, along with Tyler, DJ, and Sugar. Do you have a better idea?" Rodney stared at her, starry-eyed.


Confessional: Rodney

"She can lead. It's never wrong to let love be your guide." He paused and began to look worried. "Oh no. What am I going to tell Scarlett?"

End confessional


The ten players took their places on the court. DJ opened by throwing a ball at Beardo. The hairy teen might have managed to avoid it had he not chosen to run in slow-motion with accompanying sound effects. He was hit and had to go back on the bench.

"You had one job," Heather said to her alliance mate.

"Sorry," Beardo said. Everyone looked at him, surprised.

"Afro Guy can talk?" Sugar asked.

"Yeah, I can talk. I'm just shy, and making noises is easier than talking for me," he explained.

"Well, fan-freaking-tastic. If I was as much of a loser as you, I probably wouldn't talk either," Amy said. Beth and Ella comforted their friend, while Heather glared at Amy.

"She is so going down," Heather said quietly, loud enough that her alliance mates could hear her but nobody else.

B threw at Rodney, who tried to catch the ball, but failed. He walked over to the bench. Courtney threw at Amy, who used Sammy as a shield again. Sammy was hit and taken out. Amy retaliated by throwing at Courtney, who caught the ball. Amy out, Topher in.

Tyler threw a ball, and hit Amy, despite her being on the bleachers. "Oww!" She shouted. "I'm out!"

"Sorry..." Tyler trailed off before being hit by Jasmine. Sugar then threw a ball at Jasmine, who caught it. Sugar out, Heather in.

Heather and B both threw at Courtney, who caught one ball, but was hit by the other. Courtney and B out, Ezekiel in.

Ezekiel threw a ball at Jasmine, who dodged. She threw back at him, hitting him.

DJ threw a ball at Heather, who dodged. She threw back at him, and he dodged, only to be hit by a ball thrown by Jasmine.

Chef blew his whistle. "Gophers 1, Bass 0!" Chris called.


The second match began with B, Jasmine, Heather, Beth, and Leonard vs Courtney, DJ, Ezekiel, Sugar, and Mike. Mike was shaking.

"I don't know if I can do this..." he said warily. Then he stood up confidently. "But Russian Olympic gold medalist Svetlana is up to ze task!" He (she? It's complicated with alternate personalities) said with a Russian accent.

Heather and Beth each threw a ball at "Mike," who dodged both. Sugar then threw a ball at Beth, while Ezekiel threw at B. B caught the ball. Beth didn't, and was hit. Beth and Ezekiel out, Dawn in.

Leonard shouted "Smiting spell!" He threw a ball at DJ, but it came up short. DJ picked it up off the floor and threw it back at Leonard, getting him out easily.


Confessional: Sugar

"Oh, he shouldn'ta done that. He was lucky the wizard didn't smite him the first time! Now he's gonna smite him for sure!"

End confessional


DJ dodged a ball from B, and Sugar caught the one thrown by Jasmine. Sugar tried to call Dakota in.

"Yeah, no. I am not setting foot on this court." Dakota said.

"Oh yes you are. I ain't lettin' you do nothin' this challenge," Sugar said belligerently.

"No, I really won't do it. You're better off not bringing me onto the court."

Sugar looked like she was about to explode, but Courtney interjected. "Just...pick someone else."

"Fine! Lindsay! Geet on down here!"

Lindsay obliged, only to quickly be hit in the face by a ball from Heather. Tyler ran over to her and helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Lindsay had a rather large bruise on her cheek, and said, "Do I look okay?"

Tyler smiled, a bit forced. "You look great."

Lindsay smiled too. "Aww. Thanks, Tyson. Wanna go for a walk?" The two of them left together.

"Enough of zis nonsense! Commence with ze dodging of ball!" Svetlana shouted as she threw both Heather and Dawn out.

B threw a ball, and it ricocheted off the wall and hit Sugar in the back. He then threw a ball at DJ and managed to take him out, but Courtney hit him before he could shift his attention.

"Gophers 1, Bass 1!"


The third round had B, Jasmine, Sammy, Ella, and Max vs. Courtney, Topher, DJ, Svetlana, and Sam. Courtney had wanted to bring in Dakota, but she had adamantly refused.

Max cackled inanely. "Now, you peons shall face my evil wrath!" He threw weakly at Sam, who caught the ball easily. Max out, Ezekiel in.

Ezekiel dodged a ball thrown by Sammy, and returned fire. Sammy also dodged. Topher dodged a throw from Jasmine. Svetlana tried to throw a ball at Jasmine, but she caught it.

Svetlana took a deep breath and hunched over, closing one eye. "Darn kids today don't know how to take a hit. Back in my day, we got hit with dodgeballs all the time, and we liked it!"

"Mike, you're out." Chris said.

"Mike? The name's Chester, sonny!" "Mike" said.

"O...kay? I don't care, go sit down." Chester complied, grumbling as he did so.

Sammy threw a ball at Topher, and hit him. Ezekiel threw at B, who caught the ball. Ezekiel out, Dawn in.

Courtney and Sam threw at Dawn, who dodged both balls. She caught Sam's ball as it flew past her, and threw it at Courtney, who caught it. Sam and Dawn out, Heather and Sugar in.

B managed to get Courtney using the back wall, but left himself open to a response from Sugar. Jasmine, however, managed to hit both her and DJ.

"Gophers 2, Bass 1! Next up, Moose vs. Badgers!"


The first Moose vs. Badgers round consisted of Jo, Lightning, Anne Maria, Cody, and Izzy against Alejandro, Justin, Zoey, Sky, and Trent. With one point already on the board for the Moose, the Badgers knew they had to play their best.

Jo threw a ball at Justin, who screamed, "Not the face!" He dodged—straight into a ball from Izzy. Jo threw again, this time at Zoey, who caught the ball. Jo out, Geoff in.

Geoff threw a ball at Anne Maria, and it ended up stuck in her hair. Chris asked Chef, "Does that count as her being hit, or her catching the ball?" Chef thought for a moment, then decided it counted as her catching the ball. Geoff out, Owen in.

Owen quickly grabbed two balls and threw them both at Zoey. She caught one, but the other hit her and she dropped the one she had caught. He then threw a ball at Alejandro, who caught it. Owen out, Bridgette in.

Trent threw a ball at Izzy, and hit her. Alejandro threw one at Lightning, but the football player caught it, and brought in LeShawna.

Cody threw a ball at Bridgette. She dodged it, but it curved back and hit her from behind. He then rubbed another ball against his vest, and threw it at Trent, and as he tried to dodge it, it chased after him. He couldn't avoid it, and he got hit, leaving Sky alone against Lightning, LeShawna, Cody, and Anne Maria.

Sky wasted no time in trying to turn it around. She hit Cody almost the exact moment that his shot hit Trent. LeShawna threw a ball at her, which she caught, then she threw it at Anne Maria, hitting her in the midsection. Sadie was brought in, but she was quickly hit by a ball from Lightning. "You just got struck by Lightning!" he shouted.

Sky and Lightning faced each other, both silently daring each other to make the first move.


Confessional: Lightning

"Lightning is the best in every sport he plays, always. So, he's thinkin', tiny girl did just take out three people in five seconds, but there's no way she can beat him, right?"

End confessional


Lightning threw a ball at Sky, and she jumped over it, spun in midair, and threw her ball at him, hitting him in the chest. Chef blew his whistle.

"Moose 1, Badgers 1! Next round decides!"


Confessional: Lightning

"Sha-dang!" Lightning said, obviously impressed. "If tiny girl can beat the Lightning in a sport, she's gotta be some kind of sha-superstar!"

Confessional: Sky

"I'm a gymnast, and I'm actually training for the Olympics. My goal here is to win the money, then use it to pay for the advanced training needed for that goal."

End confessional


Jo stared at her teammates. "That could have gone better. But it won't matter. Time to bring out our secret weapon."

The final round had Jo, Lightning, Owen, Aiden, and Eva going up against Alejandro, Zoey, Sky, Geoff, and Sierra. Eva went into a veritable beast mode, throwing all four dodgeballs in a matter of seconds. Zoey dodged one of them, but the other three hit Geoff, Sierra, and Alejandro, taking them out.

Sky and Zoey attempted to recover, throwing all of the balls at Eva, who was hit by the onslaught and taken out. But the damage had been done. Zoey fell to the four remaining Moose all throwing at her in rapid succession. Sky threw a ball at Owen's legs, and managed to hit him, getting him out. She then hit Aiden in the groin with a dodgeball, causing him to fall over, groaning.


Confessional: Aiden

"So, I have a strategy. Don't talk more than necessary, don't excel at challenges, but don't fail them miserably either, and discreetly expose what dirty laundry these brain-dead potatoes have. I'm practically guaranteed to go far." He paused. "I'm just glad I don't have to say much, because otherwise hiding how little I think of almost everyone here would be extremely difficult." He paused. "I also kind of wish I didn't have to take that hit, but five million dollars is a lot of money."

End confessional


Lightning and Jo grabbed the balls used to take out Owen and Aiden, and ran to opposite sides of the court. Sky tried, but she couldn't focus on both of them at the same time very easily. She threw a ball at Lightning, only to be hit by Jo as soon as the ball left her hand. Chef blew his whistle, signaling the end of the match.

"All right, Moose are playing for the win, Badgers to avoid last place! Next up, Bass vs. Badgers!"

For their first round, the Bass brought out Courtney, DJ, Topher, Sugar, and Ezekiel. The Badgers fielded Sky, Zoey, Alejandro, Sierra, and Katie.

Sugar threw a ball at Sierra, who dodged. Katie and Zoey retaliated at Courtney and DJ, but both Bass team members dodged as well.

"You people couldn't hit the broad side of a billboard!" Topher taunted, only to receive a ball in the face from Sierra.

"That was for you, Chris!" Sierra called. "I'm much better than that stupid faker, right?"

"Uhhh..." Chris hesitated, unsure what to say. Courtney decided for him by throwing a ball at Sierra's legs, and it connected.

DJ threw a ball at Alejandro, who caught it with one hand. DJ out, Geoff in.

Alejandro threw the ball at Ezekiel, who somehow managed to catch it, bringing in Sam. He didn't, however, catch the second ball that Zoey threw at him.

Sam picked up the ball and threw it at Sky, but he missed. Katie picked it up and threw it at Courtney, who caught it. Katie out, Scarlett in.

Geoff threw the ball at Sugar, and it hit her in her thigh. Scarlett, Courtney, and Sam threw a salvo at Zoey, like the one that had gotten her out the first two times, but Zoey had learned that trick, and dodged all three balls with the skill of an acrobat.


Confessional: Zoey

"So...I'm planning on performing in Cirque de Sol professionally, so, I do a lot of acrobatics practice." She sighed. "The kids back home just don't appreciate art."

End confessional


Zoey picked up one of the balls, and hit Sam in the gut. Sky took Scarlett out with another. Zoey then threw the last one at Courtney, who caught it, bringing in Mike.

Mike was sweating.


Confessional: Mike

"So, Chester wasn't in control, but neither was Svetlana. I wish I had a fedora, that would have made things easier. But I didn't. And I sure wasn't going to beat those three. So, I had to bring out...Vito."

End confessional


Mike took off his shirt before entering the court, revealing washboard abs. Justin took one look at this, and started sputtering. "He has washboard abs? He's as skinny as a pencil! His arms look like twigs! How does he have washboard abs?"

As Mike took off his shirt, his hair slicked back, and he began to strut confidently. "Da Vito is in da house!" he declared in a Jersey accent, and picked up a dodgeball. He then threw it at Sky, who dodged it. He caught a ball from Geoff, bringing in Rodney. He threw the ball at Sky, but she caught it. Vito then angrily stomped over to the bench, saying, "Da Vito's too good for dis game anyways." He put his shirt back on, took a deep breath, and sat down. Scarlett was staring at him the entire time.

Once Mike put his shirt back on, she asked him, "Would you please explain to us the purpose of your showboating?" Several of his teammates also looked at him.

Mike looked nervous at this. "I...am an actor," he said nervously. "And Vito, Svetlana, and Chester, they're all characters that I play."

Scarlett eyed him suspiciously, but then said, "Fair enough," and turned away. Mike let out a sigh of relief.


Confessional: Mike

"I envisioned that going a lot worse."

Confessional: Scarlett

"Mike is hiding something. At a guess, I'd say he has Dissociative Identity Disorder, though I can't rule out schizophrenia quite yet. I don't know why he hasn't told anyone, but I won't confront him about it yet. It could be useful if I need his vote later, though."

End confessional


Sky threw her ball at Rodney, who couldn't catch it. He was out. Courtney angrily threw the ball at Sky, who caught it. The round ended, with a victory for the Badgers.

The next round consisted of Courtney, Topher, DJ, Sam, and Scarlett against Sky, Zoey, Geoff, Alejandro, and Bridgette. Dakota had once again refused to go onto the court.

Scarlett tried a ricochet shot like B had used, but she didn't put enough power behind it, and it came up short. She received a shot from Alejandro after it left her hand, though.

Geoff threw a ball, which DJ caught, bringing in Ezekiel. Ezekiel threw a ball at Alejandro, who caught it. Ezekiel out, Sierra in.

Sierra took out Sam, only to be hit by a ball from Topher. DJ threw a ball at Sky, who dodged and threw one at him, hitting him.

Courtney caught a ball from Bridgette, bringing in Sugar. However, Alejandro managed to hit her with a ball.

Topher threw at Sky, who caught the ball and brought in Sadie. Sadie's time on the court was cut short, however, by Sugar's throw.

It was around that time that Tyler and Lindsay came back. Sugar caught a ball thrown by Sky, and she shouted at the two of them, "Where have you been?"

"We were just going for a walk," said Tyler.

"Well, you shouldn'ta done that durin' the challenge! Git yer lazy butt on the court!"

Tyler joined Sugar on the court in time to see Alejandro throw her out. He picked up the ball and prepared to throw. He threw it as hard as he could, shouting, "EXTREME!"

The ball hit Noah, who had been reading, not paying attention to the game. Jo smirked at him, and said, "Looks like sports really aren't your forte."

Alejandro took Tyler out, easily. Chef blew his whistle.

"And the Bass lose, for the first time!" Chris called. "Finally, Moose vs. Gophers! Gophers need to win both rounds to win!"


The Moose fielded Jo, Cody, Eva, Anne Maria, and Izzy. The Gophers began to look nervous, having not fielded anyone yet.

"That Sheila's bad news, at least for us," Jasmine remarked, referring to Eva. "Whoever handles her will have to be bloody tough."

All eyes turned to Duncan, still asleep. Jasmine took a breath, and shook him.

Duncan woke up, and stared angrily at Jasmine. She stared back.

"We need you on the court."

Duncan scoffed. "And why should I help you?"

Jasmine stared at him icily. "Cause if you bail, I'll make sure you get the boot, first chance we get."

"Fine, but on one condition. You do what I say, when I say it. Got that?" Jasmine hesitated, but nodded.

"Okay, here we go. We'll go with a little strategy I picked up in juvie. It's called 'crush the new guy...'"


Duncan, Jasmine, B, Heather, and Beth walked out onto the court. Chef blew his whistle and the match began.

Eva threw one ball, then another. Jo and Cody each threw a ball from either side of her.

B dived out of the way of Eva's first ball, but the other hit him in the midsection, and he doubled over in pain. Duncan caught Cody's ball, and Heather dodged Jo's. Sammy took B's place on the court.

Duncan nodded at his teammates, and he, Jasmine, Heather, and Beth all threw as one. All four balls hit Eva, who couldn't respond to all of them in time.

The Gophers repeated the tactic, and the score quickly went from 5-4 to 5-0.


Now it was the Moose team's turn to look worried. They hadn't just lost the round; they had been squashed. Jo glared at her team. "Now what do we do? I'm open to suggestions."

One person answered. It was Cameron. "I...I have an idea. Notice how Duncan was directing the team that time?" Jo nodded.

Cameron continued, "I think I know what to do. But you'll have to listen to me."


Confessional: Cameron

"All the athleticism around me was making me nervous, but I did manage to have an idea. I didn't know if Jo would go for it, though."

Confessional: Jo

"It wasn't a bad idea at all. Wish I had thought of it."

End confessional


The Moose fielded their best players for the final round: Jo, Lightning, Eva, Owen, and Cody. The Gophers fielded B, Jasmine, Duncan, Dawn, and Sammy. "Don't screw this up, Samey!" Amy called.

The Moose players quickly grabbed two of the four balls. The Gophers grabbed the other two.

Cody threw a ball at Dawn. She dodged, and Duncan grabbed it. The Gophers all threw at Eva, who dived out of the way, just in time. Jo picked up a ball and hit Sammy with it. Owen tried to hit B, but the silent genius caught the ball.

The round continued, with the Moose constantly keeping at least two of the dodgeballs on their side of the court. Players shuffled between the bleachers and the court, neither side able to boast a real advantage.

Eventually, it came down to B and Eva. They narrowed their eyes at each other, daring each other to make the first move.

Eva eventually did make the first move. She threw a ball at B, with all the force she could put behind it. It actually slammed B back into the plexiglass wall of the gym.

The camera moved to show that B had dropped the ball.

"The Moose win!" Chris shouted. "Bass, I'll see you at elimination!"


After the challenge, Courtney, Ezekiel, Scarlett, and Sam were discussing what happened with Scott.

"Well, it sounds to me like you want me to either vote out Dakota for not participating, or Tyler for sucking," Scott said to Scarlett, who had been describing the team's showing.

"That's what I'm asking," Scarlett replied.

"So, which one do we get rid of?" Scott asked.

Scarlett looked at Courtney, who said, "Dakota. Tyler sucked, but at least he tried. We can't afford to have team members that don't help."

Scarlett nodded. "Her refusal to participate likely will lead to trouble for us if we keep her. Besides, she clearly only cares about being on camera."

Sam wasn't pleased by this, and said, "Maybe we should vote for Tyler. He did mess up the challenge. I'm sure there's loads of stuff Dakota would be good at, if we gave her a chance."

Ezekiel looked at him. "You're just saying that cuz you think she's cute, eh."

Sam tried to deny it. "No! I mean, yeah, she is a tenth-level hottie, but that doesn't make her any less of a person! She wants to be here as much as anyone else!"

As if to make a point, Dakota walked out of the cabin just then, looking sad, and began to talk. "Hey, Bass team! I'm sooooo sorry that we lost the challenge, aren't you? I wish I could..." sadness fading, she pulled out a compact mirror, and touched up her makeup for a few seconds. Then she turned to go back into the cabin. "Take two!"

The other Bass looked at Sam skeptically.


That night, Chris stood over a tray of marshmallows. "Campers! You've already placed your votes and made your decision. First marshmallow goes to immune camper, Scott!" He threw a marshmallow at Scott, who caught it.

"Also safe with no votes are Courtney, DJ, Sugar, Topher, Ezekiel, Scarlett, Mike, Sam, Rodney, and Lindsay!"

Holding up the last marshmallow, Chris said, "Tyler, Dakota, this is the final marshmallow of the evening. With two votes to the other's eleven, the final marshmallow goes to..." The shot showed both Tyler and Dakota looking nervous.

"Tyler."

Dakota stood up. "No! This can't be right! I haven't gotten my spin-off series yet!"

Chris brushed her off. "Not my problem."

Chef grabbed Dakota's arm, and pulled her over to the Boat of Losers. He placed her on, and the boat sailed away with Dakota in it.

Chris looked at the camera. "Well, not the most dramatic campfire ceremony, but I get payed either way! Anyway, the rest of you are safe. For tonight."

Reasons for elimination: I originally had Dakota being eliminated last chapter, but that was before I decided to have Dave eliminated first. I also figured there was no way that Scott, a farmer used to getting little sleep, would lose the Awake-a-thon to Gwen. So I gave her Noah's canon elimination, which I thought would be in character for her. Yeah, Noah didn't participate either, but his team didn't want him to. I like Dakota, but her intern subplot seemed like the best way to develop her character.

Elimination order:

52: Dave, the Germaphobe

51: Staci, the Compulsive Liar

50: Dakota, the Fame-Monger