"Saving Private Leechball" Total Drama All-Stars Improved episode 3
(Recap from Chris) "Last time on Total Drama: All-Stars! Our teams went digging for pieces of famous statues on a beach full of booby traps, which some of our contestants experienced first-hand! The Heroic Hamsters tapped into one of Mike's alters to help secure their first victory, Cameron and Dawn started to have eyes for each other (which I wasn't expecting, believe it or not), and Courtney's short temper caused Gwen to really mess up her hand. Ouch! But in the end, despite making up with Gwen, Courtney was the one who left the game, with 18 out of 20 left. Who'll be shot into the horizon next? Find out right now on Total! Drama! All Stars!"
After the intro, the episode starts in the spa hotel, where the Heroic Hamsters were accommodated after winning the last challenge. Mike and Cameron were still asleep in their beds, with the latter eventually waking up. He thought he heard something outside their door, so he opened it to see what was going on. Dawn was right across the hall, sitting in a meditative position, but Cameron also saw that she appeared rather sorrowed. He slowly walked out of the doorway and sat next to her.
"Are you ok?" Cameron asked.
Dawn opened her eyes and looked at him. "Cameron?"
"Yes, it's me." Cameron responded. He paused for a second to think, and then continued, "Hey, you want to come join us?" he asked Dawn, eyeing the room he and Mike were staying in, "we can talk about everything if you'd like."
Dawn felt a bit more assured from this. "Alright," she answered. The two got up and went to the bedroom. When they got back, they sat on Cameron's bed, and Dawn spoke up. "You know, I feel a bit bad about myself since I was never really that good at interacting with the people on this show."
Cameron listened with concern. "I see…"
"Yes," Dawn continued, "but I was just thinking about yesterday. You know, I really appreciated how we were able to interact back there. I feel like that was the first time anybody has ever… Admired my abilities."
"Oh, of course!" Cameron reassured her, "I think that they're absolutely fascinating! I've never even seen anything like it! I'm glad we started talking after we weren't even on the same team last season." Dawn cracked a light smile when he told her this.
Cameron looked at the ground, ever so slightly blushing, and spoke again. "You know, I would be delighted to be there for you while we're both still in the game, I mean, as some sort of… um…" He took a long pause. "…friendship?" He finished with an awkward smile.
Dawn's face lit up in response to this. "I would love that."
"That's great." Cameron remarked. Dawn giggled. They said nothing else for a brief moment, then just smiled at each other.
All the while, Mike was just waking up. He stretched and let out a big yawn, and opened his eyes to see his best friend. "Morning, Cam."
"Hey, Mike." Cameron greeted him.
Mike also noticed Dawn sitting to the former Bubble Boy's right, and was somewhat confused. "Oh, hey, what's going on?"
"Oh, Dawn here was feeling a bit down," Cameron explained to him. Mike went and sat down on the bed beside Dawn. Cameron continued to explain, "so I invited her to come into our room to talk about it. So we did, and we got everything sorted out. And we've even formed a friendship out of this!"
"Oh, that's great, buddy! I'm glad you were able to make things right." Mike said to his buddy. He then looked at Dawn and put his hand on her shoulder. "And, hey, a friend of Cam's is a friend of mine!"
Dawn smiled at this. "Aww, that's good to know," she chirped.
At that moment they heard a knock on their door. "Hey, guys!" It was Zoey, who came to see her two best friends. "Good morning, everyone!"
She was a bit surprised to see Dawn sitting in between the boys. "Oh… hi, Dawn!"
The Moonchild looked up at her. "Hi, Zoey."
Cameron proceeded to tell Zoey, "I took her in, and we had to console her after she was a bit upset about things."
"I think we're all better now, though," Mike added.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Zoey replied, "but I'm glad everything turned out alright."
"Yeah, and we've become friends now!" Cameron said, putting his arm around Dawn. His newfound friend turned red as she smiled.
"Awwww, that's great!" Zoey exclaimed. She then asked the three of them, "Hey, maybe you guys should come down to the buffet for breakfast in a bit. I heard they've got quite the selection this morning!" She left the room, saying, "I'll see you down there!"
Mike, Cameron, and Dawn all looked at each other in agreement.
The rest of them all eventually went down as well. They made it to the dining hall, where they saw the rest of their teammates having breakfast. Mike and Dawn went to sit down.
"I gotta say, this food is really good!" said Tyler, eating a breakfast sausage.
"I know, right?" Lindsay agreed, sipping a glass of orange juice. "Juice with no pulp is the best!"
"Maple? Bacon? Let's never lose again!" Mike added as he stuffed his face with several strips of bacon. Zoey, who was sitting right next to him, giggled at this. Her nose had also healed up quite well from yesterday.
"Oh, this is the life!" Owen exclaimed. The big guy was surrounded by bowls and plates of every breakfast item there was. After swallowing a ridiculously big bite of waffle drenched in maple syrup, he let out a loud belch, which rattled throughout the entire hall. The rest of the boys cheered him on.
Brick, who had just finished a bowl of oatmeal, then spoke up. "It is indeed nice. But if we want to keep having this luxury, we have to continue playing our A-game against the enemy!"
"Sounds like a plan to me!" responded Tyler, who then proceeded to drink a glass of raw eggs similar to Rocky Balboa. The rest of his team cringed at this.
"Hey, everyone!" Cameron greeted his friends, getting himself some bacon and eggs from the buffet.
"Hey, Cam!" said Zoey, who was eating a bowl of fruit.
Mike, who was, of course, sitting next to Zoey, was still scarfing down bacon. "Mmph!" he let out in response with a full mouth.
Cameron took his food and sat next to his crush, Dawn, who was currently eating a slice of toast with jam.
"Hi, Dawn." said Cameron, blushing.
"Hello again, Cameron!" said Dawn, who was also slightly blushing.
After Cameron took a few bites of his food, he then proposed an idea to Dawn. "So, I was wondering, since we should have plenty of time before Chris announces the next challenge based on some calculations I made last night, maybe we could… go for a walk outside and get to know each other a little more?"
The rest of the Hamsters were quite surprised by this. They all had a feeling Cameron liked Dawn, but chose not to say anything out of respect for the two.
"Certainly!" Dawn beamed. "I'd be delighted to interact with you some more!"
"Great! I'll finish up my food and meet you outside!" said Cameron, returning to eating. Dawn, who had just now finished her food, told him, "I'll see you outside as well."
After some time, Cameron finished his breakfast and went outside with Dawn. It was nice and warm, the morning sky a light pinkish-orange, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon.
"Ah, what a perfect way to start the morning." Cameron sighed.
Dawn looked at him and smiled. "Of course." She jubilantly agreed.
They took a good, long walk near the cliff where they had their first challenge. They laughed and pointed as they spotted some wonderful fauna on their venture. The birds in the trees welcomed them with melodious chirping. They smiled as a huge family of rabbits ran by.
A monarch butterfly flitted by and landed right on Cameron's nose. "Oh, the wonderful danaus plexippus," he chuckled.
Dawn giggled gleefully. "Your favorite, I know!" she remarked. She reached out with her hand and the butterfly flew right to her and landed on her finger.
"Always has been," Cameron replied as the colorful insect flew away. He didn't question how Dawn knew he loved them the most, as he knew she could read it in his aura.
Once they got done with their walk, the two sat down on a good-sized tree stump by the water. They decided to talk about what their lives were like before the show. Cameron started the conversation by asking "Hey, Dawn? Can I ask, how did you get all your spiritual abilities?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure…" Dawn explained, "But from what I can recall, it was a couple years after my family and I moved from my birth country of South Africa to the woods in British Columbia. Basically, I was participating in an experiment up in Vancouver to try and increase my (At the time, average) intelligence and have my growth studied, but I believe that somewhere during one of the surgeries, something happened where I suddenly became more aware of the universe around me, and could do things like read auras and communicate with animals. Again, I'm not entirely sure how it all happened, but I believe that experiment had something to do with it."
Cameron raised his eyebrows. "Fascinating…" he stated.
There were a few seconds of silence, until Dawn spoke up again. "Well, I suppose I should ask something similar, how did you become so knowledgeable?" she asked the former Bubble Boy.
Cameron then told her his story. "Well, it was a long time ago. I was really young, I don't know how old I was exactly, but what I do know was that my father had passed away in a car crash back then…"
"Oh my goodness!" gasped Dawn, putting her hands over her mouth in shock. "I'm terribly sorry!"
"Yeah, but I hardly knew my dad since I was so little at the time, so I never knew whether or not I truly missed him…" Cameron explained.
"I see…" Dawn said remorsefully.
Cameron then returned to his backstory. "Well, anyways, after he died, my mom became very protective of me since she didn't want to go through that pain again, so I spent most of my time in an oxygen-filtered bubble in my room, both for protection and as a result of my incredibly weak physical strength. After some time, I decided to start reading a lot more while in my bubble, eventually learning complex subjects at much younger ages and being able to do things not many people expected for someone my age, like building robots or programming AI to beat certain video games. Eventually, I ended up here on Total Drama, believing my intelligence would help me to get far. And as you know, of course, I made it to the finale!"
"Wow, Cameron… that was very… insightful!" Dawn stated, now knowing a lot more about Cameron than before.
"Heh heh, thanks, Dawn." said Cameron.
The two nervously looked down at the ground, and then back to each other, and smiled. However, soon after their conversation, Dawn started to sense something. She had an unpleasant look on her face.
Cameron began to worry for the Aura Whisperer. "Dawn! Are you alright? What's wrong?"
She placed a hand on her forehead as she responded, "I'm sensing that someone, or something, is in trouble!"
"Huh? What's that?" Cameron asked. He and Dawn began to hear something coming from a bush nearby. The Moonchild walked towards the bush to discover a rabbit trying to wriggle its way out, but it was stuck.
"Oh, no!" cried Dawn. Cameron rushed over to her and discovered the rabbit and its predicament. "Oh, no indeed!" he said, "That oryctolagus cuniculus appears to be trapped in that undergrowth!"
"The poor soul," panicked Dawn, "we have to help it!"
Cameron put Dawn's hands in his. "No need to worry, I have an idea," he explained, "I'll figure out how to free it from the bush, while you communicate with it and relay its messages to me."
"Well, let's not waste any time and help this rabbit!" declared Dawn.
And so the two got to work. Dawn placed her hand on the rabbit's head to speak to it, while Cameron examined the bush to see what part of it the rabbit was stuck to. The little creature started squeaking to Dawn.
"It says that its foot is stuck to a branch in the shrub!" Dawn told Cameron.
"Uh-huh, I think I see it," said Cameron. He then reached into the bush to help the rabbit.
"It also says to be careful!" said Dawn.
"I'll do my best!" Cameron responded. He reached into the foliage, which was very uncomfortable for his hands, as he soon felt the branch that the rabbit's paw was stuck to. He carefully lifted the branch to free the rabbit, and it eventually released its foot and hopped out of the bush, pattering its foot in delight.
"It says 'thank you'!" Dawn said to Cameron. He nodded to the newly freed rabbit. They both watched as it then scurried off into the distance.
"Excellent! We seem to have a good dynamic!" proclaimed Cameron, high-fiving Dawn. Then, as if on cue, Chris' voice came over the loudspeaker and said "WAKEY WAKEY, CAMPERS! IT'S TIME FOR TODAY'S CHALLENGE!"
"Well, shall we rendezvous with the rest of our team now?" Cameron asked.
"I believe we should." Dawn responded in agreement.
Once Cameron and Dawn returned to the rest of the Heroic Hamsters and told them about what they did in the woods, their teammates all seemed impressed by their kindness and efficiency.
"Woah, you really did that?" asked Owen.
Cameron shook his head. "Indeed we did!"
"Wow, that's really impressive! Great job, you two!" commended Mike.
"Indeed! Your compassion and resourcefulness will definitely be helpful for our team!" said Brick.
"Aw, thanks, you guys! This really means a lot!" said Cameron. "I think our friendship is really starting to get off the ground!"
"Hey, that's what I like to hear, buddy!" Mike replied.
Moments later, Lindsay then said, "I know this is off-topic and all, but when's Beth gonna come back from Boney Island?"
"Any minute now!" Chris responded.
On Boney Island, Beth had fallen asleep on the cold, hard ground without even trying to look for the Invincibility Statue. Chef Hatchet soon arrived on a boat. He announced on a megaphone, "BETH! YOUR EXILE HAS CONCLUDED!"
Beth, who had slept very poorly that night due to how uncomfortable her surroundings were, got up feeling extremely groggy and trudged towards Chef's boat.
Meanwhile, back at Camp Wawanakwa, the contestants and Chris waited for Beth and Chef to return.
"Like I said, any minute now…" said Chris, who was starting to get impatient.
"Seriously, what's taking them so long?" asked Owen.
"I… don't know." Brick answered with a bit of concern. "But patience, soldier! She'll rejoin us eventually!"
Cameron suddenly pointed and said, "There they are!"
And as Brick predicted, Chef eventually returned with Beth, who exited the boat and shuffled towards her team like a zombie.
"Woah! Are you okay?" asked Zoey, concerned about Beth's appearance. She had very baggy eyes, her hair was all messed up, and her glasses appeared rather smudged.
"I didn't sleep too well..." Beth grumbled. "The hard ground isn't really the best place to lay down."
"Yeah, I can see that!" said Mike.
"Well, if you want," Tyler proposed, pulling out a brightly-colored can, "I do have this energy drink from the hotel, but I can give it to you if you want." He held up the unopened can to prove that he had what Beth might need.
"Gimme!" said Beth, grabbing the energy drink from Tyler's hand and gulping it down in a matter of seconds. Once she finished her drink, her adrenaline spiked from the caffeine and she was no longer tired. "I feel great!" she exclaimed.
"Good to know!" said Lindsay.
"Anyways," said Chris, "Now that Beth's back, I'd like to welcome you all to today's experiment with your pain thresholds!" Chris menacingly rubbed his hands together while chuckling, making the contestants nervous. An intern then wheeled in a TV behind Chris, showing visual aid as he explained the challenge.
"Get ready for an ingenious twist on the war movie challenge from season two. There are two weapon caches in the heart of this forest. The big one is filled with state of the art paintball weaponry, and the little one has a bunch of crappy old paintball slingshots. Whoever gets there first gets their pick, and then you've gotta pick off the competition."
"Heh heh, I look forward to it!" Scott scowled.
Chris then continued his explanation. "Your team will get one point for each opponent you hit. First team to 9 points wins, and one of the losers will get a dishonorable discharge tonight, Sling of Shame style!"
(Confessional: Brick)
(Excited) "Finally, a war challenge! This is where my military training is gonna truly shine! I'll show my teammates that I've got what it takes to be a REAL leader, and Jo and I can finally settle our old score once and for all!"
(End confessional)
"Paintball again? Ooh, so original!" Duncan mocked.
"Oh yeah, that…" Chris mentioned. "One of the conditions of my parole is that I can't use or be around hard projectiles like paintballs. So instead, you'll be using leeches!" Chef displayed a leech to the contestants, which disgusted all of them except Dawn.
(Confessional: Heather)
"Leeches? Ugh. Yeah, Chris is really going extra just for us to win the million this time. Jerk!"
(Confessional: Dawn)
"Yes, I am a bit nervous about doing this challenge." (holds up a leech) "I mean, we're going to be putting these innocent creatures in danger solely for Chris' enjoyment! Well, if we win again, then I'll at least have a bit less to worry about…"
(End confessional)
Chris then said, "As the winners of yesterday's challenge, the Heroic Hamsters get a full 1-minute head start." The Hamsters cheered, while the Vultures moaned. Chef blew an air horn and Chris shouted, "And… begin!"
Once the Hamsters left, Chris turned to the camera and said, "Which team will win using their combined might? And which will have someone leaving tonight? Find out when we return!"
After the break, while the Hamsters continued to rush into the woods, Brick decided to strategize with his teammates. "Alright, Hamsters!" he announced, "If we're gonna want to stay in that luxurious hotel again, we need a strategy! Do we have any ideas?"
While all the other Hamsters were thinking, Zoey scanned her teammates with her eyes. She then raised her hand and exclaimed, "Oh, I have one! Since there's 9 of us at the moment, I say we split up into 3 groups of 2, with one group of 3!"
"I dunno, wouldn't that mean I'd be leaving you all behind?" asked Brick. "I wanna remember what I promised I'd do when I started serving in the military and never leave anyone stranded!"
Owen patted him on the back. "You're gonna be with one of us anyway, man." he reminded Brick, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Very well then!" Brick concluded. "The groups of 2 will be me and Owen, Mike and Zoey, and Cameron and Dawn, and the group of 3 can be Beth, Lindsay, and Tyler!"
"Nice! We get to do this together!" Lindsay proclaimed to her best friend and boyfriend.
"I look forward to working with you again, Cameron." Dawn told Cameron.
"Heh heh, me too!" said Cameron, with him and Dawn blushing.
"Alright soldiers, let's move out!" Brick commanded.
Zoey began to look up. "Hang on, I'm gonna get to some higher ground and see if I can find the caches!" she announced.
"Great idea! Stand down, everyone!" Brick shouted.
"Time to get to work!" Zoey said to herself. She pulled out her inhaler and took a big puff in before beginning to scale a very tall tree nearby at a rather fast speed, grunting with every inch she climbed. This was very surprising to her teammates. "Wow, I never knew Zoey was so… athletic!" Mike enthusiastically.
"She's almost as athletic as me!" Svetlana mentioned in Mike's head.
Zoey made it to the top of the tree, wiping the sweat off her forehead and letting out a heavy "PHEW!" as her descent took quite a bit of energy. She pulled out a pair of binoculars and used them to search for the weapon caches. "Keep going straight! They're just up ahead!" she shouted, as she put her binoculars away.
Zoey then shouted, "I'm coming down!" and slid back down the tree. "Wooaaahhh! Look out below!" she yelled. Brick looked up and widened his eyes in fear, as he was unknowingly standing right under where Zoey was coming down. Before he knew it, she landed right on top of him, nearly flattening him in the process.
"Ow! Sorry…" Zoey said as she rubbed her butt.
Brick just gave a thumbs-up from under her. "No worries…" he groaned to her.
"Come on, guys," Cameron said, "we're wasting precious time!"
"Cam's right," Zoey added, "let's go!"
Brick gave a painful-sounding groan, then announced, "You heard her, now move out!" As Zoey got up from on top of Brick, she and Cameron helped him get back on his feet, and the Hamsters continued on their way towards the caches.
However, once the Hamsters arrived, they discovered that the Vultures had gotten there before them and took all the preferable weapons for the challenge.
"Huh? Where's all the good weapons?" asked Mike.
"It's quite simple, Mike." Cameron explained. "We seemed to have spent so much time planning how we would carry out our attack that once our head start had ended, the other team was able to find the good weapons before we could!"
"Aw, man!" whined Owen.
"Don't be dismayed, private." Brick pointed out. "We can still win this, we just gotta use our heads!"
"Oh, well now I feel a bit better about this!" said Owen.
The Hamsters took the slingshots that were available, as well as some leeches, and rushed off into the forest to hunt down the enemy team.
While Lindsay, Tyler, and Beth continued their trek through the woods, Beth decided to try and interact with the person who seemed to be in a healthy and happy relationship with her best friend, Tyler.
"So, Tyler," said Beth, "I suppose you and Lindsay have been together for a while now!"
"Oh yeah!" Tyler proclaimed. "And I doubt that'll be changing anytime soon, huh, babe?"
"I don't see it changing either, honestly!" Lindsay responded.
"Y'know, I've been thinking…" Beth mentioned. "Compared to a lot of other relationships in this show, yours is actually really healthy, even when Lindsay kept forgetting your name!"
"Yeah, I know she was a bit… forgetful," Tyler brought up, "But I never even thought of leaving her 'cause of that!"
"Awww, you're so sweet!" cooed Lindsay.
"Yeah, I wonder what made you decide to stay with her…" Beth asked.
Tyler then explained, "You know, it's kinda like sports to me, where even if I feel like even if it's not perfect and can be kind of embarrassing, I still stick with it because I have this feeling in the back of my head that's telling me it can get better over time, and sure enough, it does!"
"Huh, well that's interesting." said Beth.
After their conversation, however, the trio began to hear some rustling from the nearby shrubbery.
"Any of you hear that?" asked Tyler.
"Yeah, it's coming from the bushes!" responded Beth.
"Shhh! Don't let them hear us!" said Lindsay, putting a hand over Beth's mouth.
Soon enough, an all-too familiar figure emerged from the bushes, causing Lindsay and Beth to back away in horror. This figure was none other than the queen of mean herself, Heather.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Heather sneered. "Looks like Sportaflop over here decided to team up with Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold to try and take me down!"
"What's she talking about?" asked Lindsay, confused.
"Oh, of course." Heather realized, rolling her eyes, "I made the mistake of trying to teach history to Lindsay."
"She's calling us traitors for standing up against her bullying in season 1!" Beth explained.
"Oh yeah, I saw the rest of that season back home!" Tyler pointed out. He then turned to Heather. "And lemme tell you, seeing Lindsay layin' it down on you was awesome!" Heather just looked shocked.
"Oh, stop it, you!" said Lindsay, flattered.
"Indeed you should stop it, because soon you'll be out!" growled Heather, pulling out an airsoft gun filled with leeches.
"Okay, I'm kinda starting to get tired of you, Heather." said Lindsay, who then took her slingshot and fired a leech at Heather, getting a perfect hit on her forehead.
"Bullseye!" said Lindsay.
"NO!!!" screamed Heather, who angrily shot about five leeches at Lindsay's head and arms.
"Owww…" Lindsay groaned as she fell to the ground feeling dizzy from blood loss.
"Wait a second…" said Beth, "If Lindsay shot Heather first, shouldn't she still be in the challenge?"
"THAT'S RIGHT, BETH!" Chris announced over a nearby loudspeaker. "HEATHER IS OUT, BUT LINDSAY STAYS ON A TECHNICALITY!"
"UGH!!! Forget it, I'm outta here." whined Heather, as she threw her gun onto the floor and stormed off.
"Yaaaaay…" Lindsay moaned before vomiting. Tyler and Beth looked on at this feeling worried and grossed out.
Meanwhile, Cameron and Dawn, who were hiding in a tree, heard Chris' announcements to the other group over the loudspeaker, with Cameron being a bit confused.
"I wonder what he was talking about…" pondered Cameron.
"From what I can sense, Heather has been eliminated." Dawn clarified.
"Ah, I see." responded Cameron. He then thought of something he and Dawn could do in the challenge. "Oh, and Dawn!" he added.
"Hm?" Dawn turned to him.
"I have a strategy we could put to practice for this challenge!"
"Wonderful! What is it?"
"So, I was thinking that you could use your abilities to sense if any Vultures are nearby, so that I can shoot them without them expecting it!"
Dawn was impressed by Cameron's resourcefulness. "Wow, that's a great idea!" she said. "Plus, now I won't have to shoot any leeches at the other team."
"Huh, well I didn't know you felt so strongly about that sort of stuff!" Cameron stated.
"Yes…" said Dawn, who then closed her eyes and held out her right hand.
"Uh, what are you doing?" asked Cameron.
"I'm sensing the presence of a Villainous Vulture!" Dawn clarified.
"Oh! In that case, I'll get ready to ambush!" announced Cameron.
Soon enough, two Vultures arrived, them being Gwen and Jo. Cameron aimed his weapon at Gwen and fired, with the leech sticking to her right arm.
"And you'd think my arms have been through enough…" Gwen muttered as she plucked the leech from her skin.
"Eh, whatever." Jo replied. She soon spotted the top of Cameron's head poking out from a bush and shot a leech at it with a sniper rifle.
"Oh dear!" cried Dawn.
"Yeah, it looks like I'm out." Cameron affirmed, plucking the leech off his head. "But don't worry, I'll see you once the challenge is don-"
He wasn't looking where he was going, though, as he tripped over an exposed tree root and toppled onto Dawn, sending them both crashing to the ground.
"Oof!"
The two looked flustered as Cameron was laying on top of Dawn. They stared into each other's eyes, mouths agape, but then looked away with light blushes until Cameron got up.
"Well then…" he said, brushing himself off, "I need to, uh, get going. Okay."
He took Dawn's hand and got her back on her feet. "Right. Right. I'll see you then, Cameron!" Dawn told him. Once Cameron left, however, Jo walked up to the Moonchild (she didn't see the two fall on top of each other) so she could propose a bargain of sorts.
"Hey, Arctic Tan, nice prediction skills ya got there!" Jo slyly remarked.
"Johanna, I'm not really sure about this alliance." Dawn said casually.
Jo took a step back, surprised. "Wha- how did you know I wanted to team up with you?" she exclaimed.
"Well, for starters, my aura reading abilities. Also, you'll do anything to get an edge over your competition." the Aura Reader explained.
"Huh, I guess you're right, which is exactly why I want your help." the jockette went on. Dawn sat back and listened to what Jo wanted from her.
(Confessional: Dawn)
"I can clearly sense that Jo isn't someone that can be trusted, but I might as well play along. I could even rework this in my favor if I try hard enough, since I'm sure she doesn't think I can use her tricks against her, but I've learned from last time with Scott that I should try to be more active in the game. I still don't know why I didn't just tell my team outright that he was up to no good, but I suppose it just wasn't in the tea leaves."
(End confessional)
"And it'll definitely help you out later in the game, so why not give it a go?" Jo concluded.
"Hmm… fine, I suppose I'll work with you." Dawn announced half heartedly.
"Great!" said Jo.
"Well, with that settled, is there anyone in particular you're planning on targeting?" asked Dawn.
"Actually, yes!" Jo confirmed. "And that person would be Scott!"
Dawn, feeling uncomfortable from the memories that started flooding back to her, then said "Oh, right… It was him that led to my early elimination last season, after all."
"Right." said Jo. "And because of that, he'll be a massive threat for us the longer he stays! So we should stick together and do something that'll cause him to be eliminated! Maybe frame him for something, you know? Just like how he framed you and B…"
"Hmm, I'm not so sure…" Dawn countered. "I see where you're coming from, and I still find him to be an incredibly spineless person, but this sort of vigilantism could backfire if executed poorly. Plus, it would look quite hypocritical on my part."
"Well, if you want Scott to stick around and get you eliminated again, it's your funeral!" Jo remarked.
(Confessional: Dawn)
"Even I have to admit, Jo is very convincing!"
(End confessional)
Dawn sighed before responding, "Alright, I'll work with you."
"Awesome!" Jo proclaimed. "Meet me after the challenge, and I'll tell you what to do."
Scott soon passed by Jo and Dawn, and asked Jo, "Hey, Jo? What are you doing?"
He then noticed Dawn, and the two were instantly shocked. He quickly aimed his slug gatling gun at Dawn and fired, but Jo pushed Dawn out of Scott's line of fire, confusing the rural con artist.
"What the-? I had a clean shot!" cried Scott.
"Oh, I, uh, tripped on a rock, my bad." said Jo.
"Uh-huh. Whatever, I'm sure I'll find her or someone else later…"
Dawn hid behind a nearby tree, armed with only a slingshot and a single leech, but remembering that Scott can truly be a threat. So, she built up her confidence and once Scott turned to walk away, she fired her leech but missed, although she still ended up getting Scott's attention.
Scott turned around and saw Dawn holding her slingshot with a worried expression. "YOU!"
"Um, yes, it is me, hello..." Dawn said completely dead panned.
"I see what you're trying to do, you think that you can get your revenge on me because I got you out last season! Well it ain't gonna work!" barked Scott.
"That wasn't exactly the full extent of my plan…" said Dawn, with a hint of indecisiveness in her speech, "But I do feel it'd be a good sort of comeuppance for your cowardly behavior!"
"SHUT UP!" Scott hollered, as he punched Dawn to the ground. The girl sat there, stunned from what had just happened, until she started glaring at Scott, clenching her teeth.
Meanwhile, Zoey, who was walking nearby with Mike, overheard what was happening and became worried.
"Oh no, I think one of our teammates is in trouble!" cried Zoey.
"Yeah, I think so too…" said Mike. He paused for a bit, then exclaimed, "Oh, I know!" He then took off his shirt and transformed into his tough guy alter, Vito, who said "Ey, if you want me to drop this fella for ya, I can do that in my sleep!"
Zoey stared awkwardly before saying, "N-No, I have a better idea…" She then tore off a bit of her shirt and wore it as a headband and painted two dark lines on her cheeks, becoming the one and only Commando Zoey.
Mike, who had already transformed back to himself, said "Zoey? What are you doing?"
"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go help someone who needs it!" responded Zoey. She then rushed to the scene of the crime, where Scott was getting ready to do to Dawn what Courtney did to Gwen in the previous episode.
"Scott, this isn't going to work!" Dawn pleaded. "I know your childhood was difficult, but this won't help whatsoever!"
"You wanna know how much I was bullied for how weak I was?" Scott asked. Dawn stared blankly for a moment, until Scott continued monologuing. "Too much! That's how much! I was a pacifist, I couldn't stand up for myself back then, and guess what? That got me picked on! A whole lot!"
"I know, I saw it in your aura! But this won't make anything better, so please, just stop!" Dawn begged.
But he didn't stop. In fact, he seemed to be getting worse. "Well, guess what? Times change! I ain't some scrawny little farm kid anymore, I can stand up for myself! I can beat people up if they screw around with me! I'll say it one more time, I AM NOT A COWARD!" He then turned to the camera and said, "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, TREVOR?"
"He was one of your bullies, wasn't he?" Dawn asked.
"I dunno, what do you think, fairy girl?" Scott asked in an unhinged voice.
"Scott, this needs to stop right now!" Dawn pleaded as tears began to stream down her eyes.
"I think not!" Scott proclaimed.
"I THINK SO!" Zoey bellowed while she was hiding in the bushes.
"Huh? Who's there?" Scott worriedly asked.
"Pain! That's who's here!" announced Zoey, arising from the bushes.
Scott became furious and started firing a barrage of leeches at Zoey. However, she leaned backwards and dodged these leeches, but grabbed one while it was still midair, put it on her slingshot, and fired. To her and Dawn's delight, it stuck to Scott's chest.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" cried Scott. He then threw down his weapon and stormed off.
Zoey took off her Commando gear and went back to her regular self. She walked towards Dawn, worried about her safety. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yes." Dawn responded, wiping her tears from her eyes. "Thanks for your help."
"Ah, don't mention it!" Zoey beamed. "By the way, where's Cam?"
"Jo got him out." Dawn explained. "I'm not sure where she is now, however."
"Oh, okay. Well, good luck!" said Zoey before walking back to Mike. This ended up being a mistake, however, as Anne Maria had shown up while she was gone. The Jersey girl grinned deviously as she went up to Mike and ripped off his shirt, causing Vito to appear. Zoey saw this and shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
However, Mike had already transformed into his tough-guy alter, Vito, who said "Eh, heh hey! It's Vito time!"
"Oooh, Anne Maria likey!" swooned Anne Maria.
"What is your problem?" Zoey asked as she stormed towards Anne Maria.
"My problem's that you're tryin' to stop me and Vito from havin' us some fun!" Anne Maria responded, as she aimed a plastic pistol at Zoey and shot her chest.
Zoey was seething because of this, but she knew Mike was still in his head. So, she plucked the leech from her body and shouted "MIKE! I KNOW YOU'RE STILL THERE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Mike heard Zoey from his brain, and this was enough to give him the courage to try and regain control of his mind. So, he, along with Svetlana and Manitoba, stormed up to the control panel for Mike's body that Vito was currently operating.
Meanwhile, on the outside, Vito smugly told Anne Maria, "I've been waitin' to see you for so long, Anne Maria!"
"Oh, you don't know the half of it, Vito baby!" said Anne Maria.
Vito leaned towards Anne Maria to make out with her, but at that moment, Manitoba and Svetlana removed Vito from controlling Mike's head and Mike regained control and discovered his predicament.
"WHAT THE-?!" blurted Mike. He instantly shoved Anne Maria away and shot a leech at her hair, although it simply slid off.
"Ha! And that's why I use everything-proof hairspray!" mocked Anne Maria, patting her "pouffe".
This didn't deter Mike, however, as he aimed his slingshot again and fired another leech at Anne Maria's leg. This one actually ended up sticking to her.
"Ugh, you're way lamer when you ain't Vito!" Anne Maria complained as she plucked the leech off her leg and left.
Mike just shrugged. "To each their own, I suppose."
As soon as Anne Maria was gone, Zoey ran towards Mike. "Mike!" she cried. "Are you okay?"
"I… don't know…" Mike squeaked, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Mike…" Zoey said softly, putting her hand on Mike's cheek.
Mike began to cry very hard into Zoey's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Zoey!" he wailed. "I know I've been trying to get better at controlling my alters, but Anne Maria just got the best of me there and you probably hate my guts now!"
Zoey said nothing. Instead, she hugged Mike, which threw him off guard. "I don't hate your guts, Mike! I forgive you!" she said. "I know you weren't able to control what Vito did with Anne Maria, and it was mainly her desperation that caused her to have him show up."
"I know…" moaned Mike. "…But, you know the kind of stuff we did last season! Do you really want to forgive me?"
"Of course I do!" proclaimed Zoey. "You're a great guy, Mike, and I feel like what we have going on with each other is really special!"
"Heh heh, thanks…" said Mike, rubbing his neck with his hand.
Alejandro, who seemed to be walking in their general direction, asked them, "Love is a fine thing now, isn't it?"
"You're one to talk, you womanizing perv!" snapped Zoey.
"Yeah!" Mike agreed, as he shot a leech at Alejandro's arm, although the latter simply stepped out of Mike's line of fire and dodged the leech.
Justin was also near the group, and he remarked, "Boy, way to be subtle with how you interact with others!"
"Really? Because if I recall correctly, your intentions in season 2 were anything BUT subtle!" Alejandro pointed out.
Justin was dumbfounded by Alejandro's statement, but he rolled his eyes and left, only to run into Lindsay, Tyler, and Beth.
"Oh great, not this clown again..." groaned Beth.
"Hey, weren't you two into him back in season 2?" asked Tyler.
"Well… yeah," responded Lindsay, who still sounded dizzy. "And I'm sorry for liking him despite us being together."
"Eh, it's fine, you two didn't have anything going on beyond you liking him anyway." said Tyler.
"Thanks, babe!" Lindsay beamed.
"Yeah, we may have been into him at first, but after a while, we found out that he just wanted us as pawns in his game!" Beth explained.
"Honestly, I'm still surprised by your sudden change of heart towards me…" Justin mentioned.
"It's less of a change of heart and more of us getting tired of your crap! Which is exactly what's happening with me right now!" barked Beth, as she aimed her slingshot at Justin.
"Elizabeth, please, calm down! No need to resort to violence!" said Justin.
Beth stumbled back in astonishment. "Wha- how do you know my real name?" she asked.
"I found it on one of Sierra's websites." Justin answered smugly.
"Figures…" said Beth.
"But back on topic, I don't think your aggression is necessary!" Justin continued.
"Maybe it's a good idea we just head out now…" said Tyler, backing away slowly with his hands on Lindsay and Beth's respective backs.
"That is a good idea!" said a nearby Alejandro, who smirked as he aimed a crossbow at the trio and shot a leech at each of them (as well as Mike, since he was also nearby), with each one hitting their foreheads.
"Not again…" moaned Lindsay as she fell to the ground and vomited.
"LINDSAY!" cried Tyler. "ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"Mommy, my train went swimming in the piano again…" Lindsay mewled before her head dropped to the ground. Tyler and Beth then picked her up and carried her out of the woods so they could find a better place for her to lay down and recover from her blood loss.
"Well, it appears my team is headed towards victory!" Alejandro thought to himself. "I'm not sure where the other Hamsters are, but as long as I find them and take them down, we should be good!"
As Alejandro turned to leave, however, a leech unexpectedly came flying from above him and attached to his shoulder. He didn't see who shot him, but that was thanks to Owen with some help from Brick.
"You see," Brick told the food-loving jokester, "Although our weapons may not seem as good as theirs, it's how we use them to their advantage that can be the most helpful!"
"Huh, I never thought of it like that!" said Owen.
"ONE MORE VILLAINOUS VULTURE REMAINING!" Chris announced on a nearby loudspeaker. "I REPEAT, ONLY ONE MORE VILLAINOUS VULTURE!"
Alejandro growled.
"Oh! I wonder who's left!" said Owen.
"Whoever it is, we gotta make sure we don't let our guard down if they show up!" Brick explained.
Eventually, Brick and Owen saw who the last Vulture was: Jo.
"Alright, alright, alright. Clearly, this is gonna be a piece of cake!" she snickered to herself.
Owen beamed at the thought of cake, and shouted "CAKE?! WHERE?"
"Owen, calm down, it's just an expression." Brick mentioned.
Owen responded with a disappointed, "Aw, man."
"See, this is why: The only thing standing between me and victory, is a wet block, and a big, fat, marshmallow man!" Jo mocked.
"Hey I'm not a big fat marshmallow man, I am the big fat marshmallow man!" Owen gloated, not realizing how ridiculous he sounded.
"And I have more to me than just my slight habit of… uh… leaking." Brick added.
"I mean, whatever," Jo went on, "take this!"
She aimed for the two but chose Owen due to his size. This gave Brick an idea, and he rolled on the ground, aimed for Jo's arms, and fired.
"Oh, you stupid son of a-" She said before she passed out, while Chris announced that the Hamsters had won the challenge.
"Okay, campers, you all know the drill! Vote out your least favorite team member so we can have them eliminated!"
"See, Jo, you should never underestimate the enemy. Sorry I had to do this, just know that resp-" Brick began to say until being interrupted.
"Ugh, whatever." Jo muttered as she pulled herself back onto her feet.
"Excellent work, Johanna." Alejandro said in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, go blow it out your burros, Al-akin Skywalker!" Jo retorted before storming off, enraged that she had lost to Brick.
(Confessional: Jo)
"Now that I think about it, Alejandro does seem like the kind of guy who'd slaughter a room full of children. Or women, in this case."
(Pauses)
"Anyways, if I want to stay, I gotta find Dawn and have her help me frame Scott for something. Maybe I can fill a trash bag with everyone's stuff and have Dawn put it on his bed. You know, just like he did to her last season. Yeah, that could work…"
(End confessional)
While the teams were walking back to their lodging accommodations, Jo ran back to the cabins before anyone else could arrive and began to take the belongings of the other contestants and place them in a black trash bag. Once she was done, she took the bag and hid it in some bushes near the loser's cabin. Dawn soon arrived ahead of the other teams, and approached Jo.
"You know what we're gonna do?" Jo asked.
"Sabotage?" Dawn replied.
"You're dang right, pasty. Now listen, I'll distract Scott while you use your magic or whatever to put this bag on his bed and pin it all on him, got it?"
Dawn winced but knew it was too late to turn back. "Yes." she responded wearily.
Once the teams had returned and began doing their own things, Dawn and Jo waited in some bushes for Scott to leave the cabin. Jo watched for him with a pair of binoculars, but soon handed them over to Dawn so she could scan the area.
"Anything interesting going on?" Jo asked.
"It looks like Scott is leaving the cabin at this very moment," Dawn informed. She was right, since Scott had just walked out of the cabin to do his business in the woods.
"Great!" said Jo. "Now just run in there and put this bag on his bed, which is the second bottom bunk on the right by the way, while I distract him!"
Dawn set Jo's binoculars aside and asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Jo?"
"Listen, Scott was the reason why you got out so early last season. And the longer he stays, the bigger a threat he'll become. You don't want that to happen now, do you?" Jo explained.
"I understand." Dawn sighed. She took the black bag from Jo, which was filled with the other contestant's belongings, and hurried over to the loser's cabin.
(Confessional: Dawn)
"I saw in Jo's aura that she's trying to use me to get farther in the game, but I figured I should wait for a better time to tell her. It's like how I know Cameron likes me, only this time it involves Jo, and she doesn't have very good intentions."
(Confessional: Jo)
"Dawn seems surprisingly easy to sway into doing my dirty work! Hopefully I can find some more people for stuff like this in the future!"
(End confessional)
After Scott finished doing his business in the bushes and began to return to his cabin, Jo popped up to try and stall him.
"Scott! My good ol' chum!" said Jo in a nonchalant tone. This confused Scott, who hadn't interacted too much with Jo previously.
"Umm, hey Jo?" said Scott.
"Sooo, what have you been up to?" asked Jo.
"Oh, uh, y'know, just peeing in the bushes, nothing too special." Scott explained.
Meanwhile, Dawn snuck into the loser's cabin and was determining which bed was Scott's. She remembered Jo stating which bed was his and walked over to it, threw the trash bag onto the bed, and began to sneak out.
"Any plans for this season?" said Jo, still trying to distract Scott.
"Eh, I've been figuring out some strategies on how I can get some other people out easier. I'm still not so sure who I'll go for tonight…" said Scott.
"Cool, cool." said Jo. In her general direction, she could see Dawn exiting the loser's cabin and rushing back to the bushes she was in earlier.
"Uh, are you okay, Jo?" asked Scott. "You're acting kinda weird."
"Wha? Me? Weird? Oh, pshhh! Everything's A-O-good with me!" said Jo.
(Confessional: Scott)
"It might just be the fact that I have an IQ of 176, but Jo seems to be acting kinda odd… Eh, it's probably nothing to get too worked up about."
(End confessional)
"Uh-huh… Well, I'll see you around then." said Scott, who then turned around and began walking back to the losers' cabin.
Once Scott returned, he noticed a black trash bag on his bed. "What the heck is this?" he asked himself before picking it up and walking outside to ask someone else about it. Meanwhile, in the bushes, Jo was watching for him with her binoculars.
"Looks like he's taken the bait!" said Jo. "I'll head down there and accuse him."
"Umm, yes…" Dawn sighed, still feeling uneasy about getting someone framed like this. Jo set her binoculars aside and ran over to where Scott was standing, as he was confused about the trash bag that mysteriously appeared on his bed.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Jo sneered as she walked over to Scott.
"Honestly, that's what I was wondering…" Scott responded, completely confused.
Meanwhile, the other contestants, who were searching for their belongings, all came out to continue looking for what was theirs.
"Hey, has anyone seen my medication?" asked Mike.
"Where's my lipgloss?" asked Lindsay.
"Does anyone know where my notebook is?" asked Cameron.
"WHERE THE HELL IS MY FREAKIN' HAIRSPRAY?!?!" shouted Anne Maria.
"Hey, Jo, everyone doesn't know where their stuff is, do you know where it might be?" asked Gwen.
"Oh, I'm sure SCOTT over here knows where it might be…" said Jo, smirking at the farm boy.
"Huh?" said Scott.
"Maybe you should open the bag," said Dawn.
Scott followed Dawn's instructions and emptied the garbage bag, with everyone's belongings falling out.
"Oh, there it is!" proclaimed Lindsay, picking up her lipstick and immediately applying it to her lips.
"Remember what Scott did to Dawn last season?" Jo reminded everyone, "I'd think it's fair to say that he's to blame!"
"So, he tried to use the same strategy he used in another season?" asked Alejandro.
"Of course. Besides, I'm sure YOU'D know a thing or two about using the same strategies!" Justin remarked.
"At least what I did actually worked! You just foolishly let your victims stay longer so that they could see through your good looks!" Alejandro retorted.
"Well at least I was able to benefit from them longer! You just eliminated them as soon as possible like a coward!" Justin explained.
"Oh, I'm a coward? You hardly talked in season 1!" Alejandro pointed out.
"YOU WEREN'T EVEN IN SEASON 1!" cried Justin.
"Miercoles…" Alejandro sighed as he walked away from his newfound rival.
"…Well, that happened!" said Mike.
"So, you think Scott did this?" asked Tyler.
"Oh, trust me, Jockface! He did this or my dad's coming home with the milk!" Jo affirmed. She paused for a moment before muttering to herself, "Seriously, it shouldn't take someone 9 years just to get some milk."
Scott began to get nervous about the accusations coming his way, especially considering how everyone else was becoming more and more suspicious of him. "Look everyone," he said panickingly, "I know I've done this sort of stuff before, but this time I'm innocent! I swear!"
"Uh-huh, sure you are." said Jo sarcastically.
"No, really, I'm telling the truth! I have no idea how this even happened or who did this, but-" before Scott could finish his sentence, he stepped on one of the contestants' items that Jo had stolen.
"Hm? What's this?" Scott asked himself, crouching down and picking up a notebook with "Cameron W." written on the cover.
"Huh, Cameron's notebook." Scott paused for a second, and then snidely grinned. "Maybe I could try and find something to embarrass him in here! Yeah, that'll show him for beating me last season!"
"Uh, Scott? We can all hear you." Cameron pointed out. "And don't even THINK about revealing my personal information to everyone else!"
"Too late!" exclaimed Scott, who was flipping through the pages of Cameron's notebook until he found his most recent entry. Cameron, being much less physically capable, simply stood in pure, unmitigated fear.
Scott gasped as he landed on one of the pages. "HEY EVERYONE!" he shouted. "CAMERON LIKES DAWN!"
Everyone's eyes widened at this. They all then looked at Dawn, who was standing next to Jo. Dawn, who was slightly blushing, turned towards Cameron, whose face was giving off a much deeper, darker blush, and started walking towards him.
Cameron began to panic as he told her, "Okay, Dawn, the secret's out. I really like you. Wait, no, I'm in LOVE with you. I just wanted to give us some time to get to know each other some more before I told you since we hardly talked last season and have only just started to socialize a bit more now and, well, here we are now where Scott just told everyone else about my feelings for you, and it's really embarrassing and it's only happened three days in and… arrgh, I'm sorry Dawn! Please don't be mad at me for this, I've never had these sorts of feelings before!"
Dawn stood near Cameron and said nothing. She took another step towards him. Several seconds of silence passed. Cameron was hesitant at first, but he slowly lifted his hands around Dawn's waist. He gave a nervous smile as he did. Dawn lowered her eyelids and smiled lovingly at him. This alleviated Cameron quite a bit as his smile began to show more warmth. She wrapped his arms around him. A couple more seconds went by with them in this position until he pulled her in closer to him.
And then, they kissed. Everybody looked on in both surprise and enjoyment. Zoey gasped as she and Mike both smiled at them.
Cameron would have been surprised by this, since he expected the outcome to be much worse. But after he was assured by the girl he loved, nothing else seemed to matter in the moment. It was pure euphoria.
The kiss lasted a good thirteen seconds. Once they finished, the two newfound lovers pulled away, and softly smiled once again at each other. Cameron told Dawn, "Wow… that was the most… that was just… amazing."
"It was," Dawn cooed. She then went on to explain, "I saw in your aura that you were in love with me. And if you must know, I've also developed feelings for you."
"Really?" cried Cameron.
"Yes." Dawn assured him. "You're a very sweet person, and getting to know you more has been absolutely wonderful."
"Wow… I… I don't know what to say!" said Cameron, who still had fireworks going off in his head.
"You don't need to say anything." said Dawn, who put a finger to his lips, before pulling him in for a hug.
"I love you, Dawn." said Cameron.
"I love you too." said Dawn.
All the others seemed to be happy for them. Mike and Zoey held both of each other's hands. A tear even fell from Tyler's and Owen's eye, as they consoled each other.
Jo then broke the moment by asking, "Okay, so… are we gonna forget the fact that Scott literally stole your guys' stuff?"
"Oh, yeah, right. Screw you, Scott!" Duncan remarked. Anne Maria also decided to spray her hairspray in Scott's face for what he did.
"But congrats to you, Cameron!" said Zoey, as she and Mike walked up to him and Dawn.
"Yeah, I'm sure you guys will be fantastic together!" added Mike.
"Really?" Cameron asked.
"Really." Zoey answered. She turned to Dawn. "Also, Dawn, I probably should've said this earlier, but I'm sorry I thought you stole our stuff last season. Scott was really good at manipulating us back then, so I had no idea you were innocent!"
"Yeah, at least we can see through his lies now!" said Mike.
"Oh, right…" Dawn sighed, remembering that this time, she was guilty of what she was innocent of last time. "But I do forgive you, Zoey. Even I wasn't aware of how corrupted his aura was." After she said this, her face slowly began turning to a look of remorse. Zoey noticed this and asked her, "Dawn? Is something wrong?"
After a brief pause, Dawn continued, "Um, Zoey?"
"Yes?"
Dawn let out a sigh and amended, "I… just wanted to apologize for my behavior last season. You know, if it came across as kind of… strange to you."
Zoey also gave a similar look of remorse at this, but then said, "Oh, it's okay! I'm sorry too, for how I reacted and for what I said about you. I didn't really know you all that well back then! Hey, listen, I do appreciate how you tried to help me with Mike back then."
"She did?" Mike asked, a bit surprised. "How thoughtful!"
"Yeah!" Zoey continued, "That was really sweet of you, Dawn."
Dawn blushed and looked away. "Oh, it was the least I could do." She then had an idea. "You know, I was wondering, Zoey, do you think it's possible that we could form a sort of, um… friendship from all of this? I think maybe even… 'besties' as I think you all call it?"
Zoey gasped and exclaimed, "Oh, of course we can be friends, Dawn!" She held Dawn's hands in hers. "You know, I was really needing another girl to bond with here. I think we could be great besties!" She held a joyous grin.
Dawn smiled. "How wonderful to hear!" The girls both went in for a big hug as they started laughing playfully. After they broke the hug, Mike spoke up. "So… I guess that would make four of us?"
"I'd say it does!" Cameron answered.
Before long, however, Zoey turned toward Mike and said, "Oh, and Mike, this may not be the best time, but I just got reminded of something!"
"Really?" Mike asked the Faux Redhead. "What is it?"
"You see, ever since your elimination, I've kinda... owed you something..."
Mike was starting to connect the dots as to what Zoey was referring to. "Ok, go on..."
"And I guess I should finally give it to you know, so here it is!" Zoey then leaned towards Mike and kissed him. This took him by surprise, but he was glad it finally happened.
"Well, I'm glad we got that over with!" Mike said as soon as he and Zoey finished their first kiss. Zoey, Cameron, and Dawn just smiled at his remarks.
(Confessional: Zoey)
"You know, it turns out that Dawn isn't so bad after all! Yeah, I might have been weirded out by her at first, but it's really nice to realize that she's actually a very kind spirit. Cam's new relationship with her just gives me such warmth, I'm so happy that we gained a new member for the Friendship Finale!"
(Confessional: Cameron)
"Ok, I know I won a season and all, but if I can be honest… This is the happiest day of my life."
(End confessional)
Later that night, the Villainous Vultures were facing elimination for the second time in a row, so the only thing that was different about their elimination was that there was now one empty seat, but that would soon become two empty seats.
"Welcome back, Vultures!" announced Chris. "How does it feel to be up for elimination two times in a row?"
"It feels embarrassing!" whined Heather. "Especially since one of us embarrassed himself earlier today!"
Scott, knowing Heather was referring to him, said, "I was trying to embarrass Cameron! I didn't know Dawn would actually get together with him! Besides, I don't even know how that bag got onto my bed!"
"Uh-huh, sure…" said Jo in a somewhat foreboding tone.
(Confessional: Scott)
"I dunno, something ain't right with Jo..."
(Eyes widen)
"Maybe she could have something to do with me being framed earlier today…"
(End confessional)
"Before I announce who's safe, who on the Heroic Hamsters will be tonight's Boney Island exile?"
"I'll do it!" Mike announced.
"Really?" said Zoey, sounding worried.
"Look, it'll just be one night, and I'll use it to try and learn to control my alters a bit better. I'll be back before you know it, I promise!"
"Alright, just be careful…"
Mike got up from the peanut gallery and followed Chef to the boat where he would be driven to Boney Island.
"The following villains are safe for tonight: Gwen, Lightning, Duncan, Anne Maria, Heather, Alejandro, and Justin." Chris threw a marshmallow to each safe contestant as he called out their names.
"Sha-bam!" said Lightning as he caught the marshmallow he was thrown.
"Now it's down to Scott and Jo. Scott, you took quite a heavy beating from Zoey during the challenge, gave a heavy beating to Dawn during the challenge, and to make matters worse, you seemed to have stolen everyone's belongings trying to recreate something you did to her last season!"
Scott fell to his knees. "I'm innocent, I tell ya!" he cried.
"They all say that! And Jo, you could've won the challenge for your team, but you were shot thanks to General Pee-Pee Pants!" Brick glared at Chris from his seat in the peanut gallery.
"Meh, Scott's situation is far worse than mine." Jo reasoned.
"And now, the person going home tonight is…"
.
.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"…Surprising literally no one, Scott!"
"What?!" cried Scott.
"YES!!!" shouted Zoey.
"Justice!" exclaimed Dawn.
"B-bu-I-what?" Scott gaffed.
"Scott, if you could follow me to the Sling of Shame…" said Chris.
"Ugh, whatever…" groaned Scott.
Once Scott was placed in the slingshot, Chris asked him, "Any last words?"
Before Scott could say anything, Cameron raced up to the Sling. "Wait!" He called. "I actually have something for you, Scott. I just need you to come on out here."
"Really?" Scott responded, surprised at this seemingly considerate gesture. "Oh, how nice."
He climbed out of the slingshot, and gave a lamenting smile. Cameron smiled back and closed his eyes. But before anybody knew it, the brainiac gritted his teeth, wound his leg back, and let out a yell as he mightily swung it right into the farm boy's… unmentionables.
Scott reacted to this with a gigantic yelp, with all of the other contestants cringing in pain at his expense, although the rest of Cameron's newfound quartet gave hard smirks afterwards.
"That's for what you did to Dawn!"
(Flashback) (Unbeknownst to everybody else, he saw what Scott did to Dawn from a distance, as he was leaving the challenge area. Cameron looked like he was about to blow his stack.)
Scott didn't say anything else, as he simply dropped to the ground writhing in agony.
"Man, I've been waiting to do that," Cameron remarked, shaking his leg off and giving his target a wink. "Ever since I left that bubble!"
Chef then picked Scott up, who was still whimpering in pain, and hurled him back into the Sling of Shame.
"Allllrighty then," Chris started to speak back up, "Since now that's… uh… happened, as I was saying, Scott! You, eh, you still got the strength in you to say anything before you're outta here?"
Scott slowly climbed his way to the edge of the Sling, and was able to sputter out, "Yes…" before taking a deep breath in and yelling, "I HATE KARMA!" He was then launched out of the slingshot and flew into the distance screaming.
"Indeed, karma can be a pain." Chris narrated. "And now that's 3 down, 17 to go! Who'll be the next to leave? Will the Hamsters maintain their winning streak? And will Dawn's horrifying secret be revealed to everyone else?"
"What secret?" Cameron asked Dawn.
"It's nothing," Dawn answered quite nervously.
"Okay…?" Cameron responded.
"Find out all these and much more in the next episode of Total! Drama! All-Stars!"
VOTES:
Alejandro: Scott
Anne Maria: Scott
Duncan: Scott
Gwen: Scott
Heather: Scott
Jo: Scott
Justin: Scott
Lightning: Jo
Scott: Jo
ELIMINATION TABLE:
20th: Sierra
19th: Courtney
18th: Scott
NOTES FROM AUTHOR: Episode 3 is done! This was quite a fun episode to write, since I felt it was able to explore the Hamsters' interactions as a team more, similar to episode 2 being a Vultures-focused episode, and this is also the episode that marks the beginning of Dawnmeron! Yes, it may seem like a surprising pairing, especially when the two most popular Dawn related ships are Bawn and (hurls in mouth) Dott. However, co-author Drew and I both think Cam and Dawn could have a very good dynamic with their high intelligence, awareness of Mike's disorder before he announced it, and just them seeming like an adorable pairing helped me decided to make them a thing here! I still plan to shine the spotlight on Lyler and Zoke in some of the upcoming episodes, but Dawnmeron will definitely be a prominent thing here!
Anyways, it looks like this was also the episode where Scott was eliminated. Ironic, since he got third place in the canon All-Stars, but was the third person eliminated here. Now, get your pitchforks and torches ready, but I hated Scott. He was such a lazy and predictable antagonist with so much plot armor that he makes Alejandro and Island Heather look like Ezekiel! However, my personal bias is only part of why he got out so early on (Besides, I'm gonna try and get rid of some of the floaters pretty soon). The other reason is because I think it makes sense from a storytelling perspective to have Jo eliminate two previous main antagonists to make sure they wouldn't pose a threat later on. Also, in case you somehow haven't figured it out yet, Jo is this fanfic's main antagonist! Since she was a pretty solid secondary villain in ROTI, and since Mal isn't here, who better to have as the big bad than Jo? Oh, and don't worry, I'll make sure to give her plenty of development throughout the story, as well as interacting with other players and exploring her plans more in-depth.
Wow, those notes were long, as was this episode! Thanks again for reading this, and stay tuned for episode 4!