Guest/MaverickNerd: Glad you're looking forward to where the storyline with Mike will go! And yeah, I always felt that Mike's character was too reliant on Zoey, so I hope to flesh him out more here. As for Harold, B, and Leshawna being filler, it was mainly just because the most recent few chapters didn't have a major role for them to do. Though don't worry. All of them will get their moments to shine.

Cody Fanatic: Yeah. I wanted to keep Zoey for longer, but there wasn't much left for her to do. As for the breakup, I felt like it was a natural outcome for the tension between her and Mike from the past few chapters. Plus, I wanted to experiment with a breakup that's both mutual and amicable, something that was never really done in canon to my memory.

CI: Yeah, writing Chef was probably my favorite part about last chapter, and I loved writing the scene with Gwen's cake. I have a headcanon of her being a terrible chef due to "If You Can't Take The Heat" from Island.

MarkLevins: Glad you enjoyed it! And yeah, I agree with you about it being rushed at the end. I just wasn't quite sure on how to extend it without it coming off as repetitive.

Rockin' D-99 (Chapters 3 and 4): Glad you're enjoying the chapters! Personally, I just couldn't really imagine Sky trying to make up with Dave after what happened in canon. As for Scott, I just personally preferred his ROTI self. That doesn't mean he won't be having any redeeming qualities though.

The camera shown Chris standing in the corridors of the S.S McLean, looking oddly nervous. He gave himself a quick pat on the cheeks before giving his iconic narcissistic smile.

"Last time on Total Drama Voyage." He said. "Teams competed to both test their cooking skills, and see which one of them would do the best job at running a restaurant, Chef taking control of the challenge." Footage of Chef talking to the contestants in the dining hall is shown. It's followed by footage of the prisoners seated at various tables in the dining hall.

"Some contestants made up for bad cooking with solid strategy." A clip of Chef gagging after eating Gwen's cake is shown, followed by a clip of Gwen talking with Harold in the kitchen. "Some tried their hardest to not piss off the patrons." A clip of Duncan bowing and apologizing to the elderly inmate is shown. "And some tried their hardest to not get pissed off at the patrons." Footage is shown Alejandro stepping out of the way of alcohol being poured on him by the inmate with an eyepatch.

"After another blowup from Mike, it looked like he would be getting the boot. However, despite netting her team the win, Zoey volunteered for elimination in his place, the two of them breaking up in the process." A clip of Mike breaking the eyepatch inmate's arm is shown, followed by footage of Mike being chosen for elimination by Chef. Afterwards, a clip of Zoey running up to volunteer for elimination is played, followed by Mike and Zoey giving each other a kiss goodbye.

The camera cut back to Chris standing in the corridors. "But to not leave the Blades losing a member for nothing, I had Mike transferred over to the Killer Blades."

"Yeah. To make for more drama." Gwen's voice said. The camera zoomed out, revealing Gwen and Emma were in the corridors, holding a broom, and a mop respectively.

"Why do we have to clean around the yacht again?" Emma asked.

"Hey, if the losing teams are gonna be on the yacht anyway, I gotta give them some penalty for losing. Now shoo. The segment isn't over."

Gwen and Emma roll their eyes before walking off. Chris turned back to the cameras.

"How will Mike get along with his new team? And is Noah still in control over his team's votes? Find out on this exciting episode of...Total! Drama! Voyage!"

Gwen sweeped trash littering the floor onto a dust pan before emptying it in a garbage bag held by Brody. "I guess there are worse penalties than just cleaning up."

Brody started to tie up the garbage bag. "Yeah. Especially if it means we still get to hang on the yacht."

Gwen took a look at the other end of the hall. Emma and Noah were mopping the floors, the latter blatantly not putting any real effort in it. "Maybe I can last a few more days." She muttered to herself.

"Huh?"

"Noah and Emma control over half the votes, remember? If we lose a challenge, odds are, I'm going home."

"Don't feel so down dudette. You don't know if they'll vote for you. Plus, our superteam only got last place once. Maybe we won't be losing anybody."

Gwen let out a bit of a smile. "Glad somebody's optimistic." Gwen continued to sweep up garbage. "Still, look at the facts Brody. Emma and Noah think I offer the least to the team, and me and Emma still aren't exactly buddy-buddy."

"Didn't you two make up?" Brody asked.

"That was before she and Noah got Trent eliminated."

Brody said nothing for a little while. "Are you...mad at them?"

Gwen let out a sigh. "Maybe... it's not like they did anything underhanded but... to vote Trent out right after I made up with Emma... kinda a low blow. I keep forgetting that you really can't be so trusting in this game"

Brody rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Then he widened his eyes. "I'm gonna do some work in the kitchen. Think you can hold things up here?"

Gwen shrugged. "Sure."

Brody nodded and ran off.

Kitty sprayed a table in the dining room before wiping it with a rag. "I'm pretty sure it's pronounced Hydrocity."

"No way!" Harold yelled. He was cleaning another table. "It's a city full of water. Hydro. City."

"Then why isn't there a space between them? Besides, Hydrocity rhymes with velocity."

"Hydrocity isn't even a word!"

Duncan was seated at the bar drinking from a glass of vodka while reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. "I'll break the tie. I'm with pigtails."

"You don't even know what we're talking about! You're only saying that to go against me!" Harold protested.

"Your point?"

Brody came walking into the dining room with a ladder. "Ally-oop." Brody propped the ladder against the wall, and picked up a banner that was laying on the floor.

"What are you up to Brody?"

"Setting up for a party tomorrow night! The last time we all had free time together on the yacht was like, two weeks ago."

"I wouldn't mind another yacht party." Duncan said with a smile.

"And this time, I'll get to show off more of my mad rapping skills!" Harold exclaimed.

"How do you know we'll all even be on the yacht again tomorrow?" Kitty asked.

"Eh, as long as that Arseen Loopy guy is out there, Chris will want an easy way to keep an eye on us, right? So he'll probably have us all on the yacht again until the situation's handled with." Brody replied.

Kitty shrugged. "Fair enough."

(Confessional: Brody)

Brody was standing in the lavish bathroom. Usually only the winning team would have access to this confessional, but due to how all the teams were on the S.S McLean for the night, this was an exception.

"I feel like things have been really tense lately. And if there's one thing my bro Geoff taught me, it's that nothing can lighten the mood like a good party."

The camera cut to Heather and Alejandro at the top deck, cleaning the walls. Despite the situation, Heather was looking oddly smug.

Alejandro groaned. "Go on."

"What do you mean?" She facetiously asked.

"Rub it in how I'm in a bad position against you now that Mike's been transferred to the Blades."

Heather's smirk widened. "I don't need to. You just said it yourself."

Alejandro dipped his rag in the bucket of water next to him and continued cleaning. "I can still convinced Harold and B to vote with me you know."

"You could. But with my leader vote, I only need to convince one of them to vote with me. And after World Tour, we both know it'll be far easier for me to win Harold over than you. Especially now that you don't have Mike as your sympathy pet anymore."

Alejandro groaned again. He didn't want to admit it, but his girlfriend was right. From the looks of things, Alejandro's plan to get Heather eliminated was a failure. "I'll admit. It doesn't look like I can eliminate you before the merge anymore. Still, it just means our team has to avoid last place for the rest of the pre-merge. I doubt you'd throw a challenge and lose out on the S.S McLean intentionally."

Heather shrugged in agreement.

(Confessional: Alejandro)

"I'm not in the best situation right now. If our team gets last place, I'm the most likely member to be eliminated. And mathematically, there's at least three or four more challenges until the merge occurs. Maybe even more. Thankfully, Scott remains on the Killer Blades. It's been a while since the Blades got last place in a challenge, so I'm sure the coast is clear enough for Scott to sabotage them again."

Scott was looking underneath yet another bed. Still no immunity idol. He sighed and stood up.

"We need to talk." Leshawna's voice said.

Scott turned around and saw Bridgette and Leshawna enter the bedroom.

"Ah, sweet. Good timing. So, now that Mike's on our team, I'm thinking Bridgette tries to console him. He's not as close to Duncan as Zoey or DJ are, so he'll be easier to gain the -

"No. I'm not doing this anymore." Bridgette interrupted.

Scott raised an eyebrow. Leshawna seemed to have been told this from Bridgette before based off her reaction. "What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"This whole 'bonding with people to manipulate them' thing. I'm not doing it anymore."

"Bridgette, like we said before, you're not actually tricking them or anything. You're just-"

"Making them think I'm doing it out of concern for them, but really it's to get them on our side." Bridgette interrupted. "I'd say that falls under manipulating them."

Leshawna rubbed her arm awkwardly. She never thought about it like that before, but Bridgette had a point.

"When Zoey thanked me tonight, that was the guiltiest I've ever felt since World Tour. I'm not gonna do the same thing to Mike. From now on, I'm just voting with you guys. I'm not going to do anything underhanded like that again."

Scott turned around and brought his fists to his head in frustration, biting his tongue to prevent himself from yelling. He then turned back around to face Bridgette and Leshawna. "Alright. We ain't gonna force you to do something you're uncomfortable with."

Bridgette smiled in relief. "Thanks Scott."

(Confessional: Scott)

"Are. You. KIDDING ME?! Bridgette doesn't even have to lie to anybody, and she still feels guilty about this?! And the worst part about is that Mike's on our team now. Somebody who knows what I'm about, and isn't as sugary sweet as Zoey is. He won't be afraid to push the idea to vote me off if he's not an ally." Scott widened his eyes. "Wait a second..." He then let out a smirk.

Scott saw Duncan at the bar section of the dining room. The other teams seemed to be done with their chores as the only other person in the dining hall was Brody, who was just setting up baloons for some reason. "Hey leader. We need to talk." Scott whispered.

Duncan raised his unibrow. "What's up?"

Scott sat down next to the delinquent. Scott poured himself a glass of whisky. "Something tells me we'll be the most likely targets if we lose. The others are all too goody goody to feel comfortable with a little strategy. So they'll just vote for whoever they aren't close with. Meaning I'll be gone at our next loss, and you'll probably go home after me."

"Yeah, you mentioned something like that back in Paris." Duncan recalled.

"I know you kinda turned into a good guy and all, but we need to think about our placements in the game."

Duncan gew a bit annoyed. "When did I turn into a good guy?

Scott hid a smirk. Duncan wasn't quite as desperate to look like a bad boy as he was in All-Stars, but it was definitely still a touchysubject for him. "My bad man. Just because of all the goodie goodie's you hang around you know? DJ, Zoey, Owen, Geoff. Figured their niceness rubbed off on you. Especially with how often you've been comforting Zoey back when she was still here."

"Well it didn't. Sure, I do a nice thing sometimes but that doesn't mean I'm a good guy, alright?"

"Then that means you're not afraid of strategy, right?"

"Of course not. So, you want an alliance long term? Not just for getting rid of Bridgette?"

"Bingo. We still don't know how long we have until merge. We've been avoiding last place a good while now, but who knows how long that'll last?"

The delinquent nodded. "Makes sense to me."

"So, right now, our biggest worry is Mike. Now, I know he's -"

"Vote off Mike if we lose? Sure."

Scott was surprised. He didn't think it would be this easy to convince Duncan. "Wait, just like that? Ain't you pals with his girlfriend or something?"

"They broke up a couple hours ago, remember? Besides, that stuff doesn't matter in the game. Geoff's my best bud, and I voted him off literally every time we competed together. Mike's a threatening competitor, and I doubt he's fond of either of us. Makes sense to get him out."

"Well...yeah. Man, I thought it would be like pulling at teeth to convince you. You have no idea how hard it is to get the others on board with voting someone off."

Duncan chuckled. "I hear that. There are way too many softies on this team."

"Still, we'll need one more vote to guarantee Mike's elimination. You're pals with DJ right? Think you can convince him next vote?"

"Easily. I just need to make the big man scared of Mike, and he'll be joining in on it in a heartbeat."

Scott smirked. An alliance with Duncan was way easier than with Bridgette and Leshawna. "Consider that handled. I'll just provoke him into flipping his lid or something. Then we're golden."

Duncan looked uncomfortable for a second, then shrugged. "If it works, it works."

The two clinked their glasses together.

(Confessional: Scott)

"Heh heh heh. Now it doesn't matter that Bridgette and Leshawna won't get Mike on our side. Multi-brain won't be lasting for much longer."

(Confessional: Duncan)

"Don't think that this means I trust dirt boy. I remember that DJ's little screw-up last challenge was from an order Scott insisted on giving him. Not to mention what Zoey told me about him in Florida. I didn't take much stock in it at first, but add that with last challenge and this plan of his, and I gotta admit, he's more devious than I thought." Duncan let out a smile. "But a dude like that is exactly the kind of ally I need right about now."

The next day at around noon, contestants were standing with their teams in the dining hall. Chris walked up to them. "Sailors! I hope you still have some room in your tummies after today's breakfast. Because it's time to put your tastebuds to the test!"

Most of the contestants groaned. "Great. An eating challenge." Gwen complained.

"I felt like it would be fitting to have one after the cooking challenge."

"What gross things do we need to eat this time?" Heather asked.

"You won't have to worry about that. See, in a few hours, we'll be arriving at Kochi India, the spice capital of the world."

"So instead of eating gross food, we'll be eating spicy food, and the last team standing wins." Emma surmised.

"Bingo. For the first phase of the challenge anyway" Chris snapped his fingers. Chef and the interns came into the kitchen, wheeling in carts of food covered under domes. Chef also started pouring several glasses of milk. "Team leaders. You'll assign three teammates to taste various spicy dishes. If a contestant refuses to finish a dish or drinks from their milk, they're eliminated from the challenge. In the event that everybody finishes, then the last person to finish their dish will be eliminated. The winning team will get a major advantage for the second phase of the challenge."

Noah turned to his team. "Any of you good with handling spice?"

Dawn raised her hand. "I'm not the fastest eater, but years of focus techniques have helped me gain a high tolerance for spice."

"Count me in too. I love eating spicy food." Kitty said.

"Same here. Geoff and I chow down on jalapeno's all the time." Brody stated.

"Alright. So that's Kit, Dawn, and Brody." Emma said.

The camera panned over to the Blades. "Now this is my kind of challenge." Duncan said. "Me and my bros faced off in hot sauce chugging challenges all the time."

Leshawna cracked her knuckles. "Count me and DJ in too. Ain't no brother or sister who can't hanlde their spicy food."

DJ nodded. "You know that's right."

"Who whoa whoa." Scott said. "I grew up on a dirt farm. My stomach can handle anything."

"It's not about how gross they are though. It's if you can handle the heat." Leshawna said.

Scott scoffed. "Please. The chili back at the farm was basically lava. I got this."

DJ shrugged, and stepped back for Scott to compete.

(Confessional: Scott)

"Yeah, I was exaggerating. Still, I'm no stranger to spices. I'll just last for a bit longer than the others to prove my worth to the team. Then when I throw the challenge in the second phase. The team will still think I'm useful, so they won't vote me off. So either Mike or Duncan will go home."

Three members of each team were all seated in a circle at one of the tables. Eating for the Shortcakes were Dawn, Kitty, and Brody. Eating for the Blades were Duncan, Leshawna, and Scott. Eating for Team Heather were Alejandro, Harold, and B. Next to each of them was a glass of milk.

"Time for the first dish. Who here likes Sushi?" Chris asked.

"Kids? Who here likes sushi?"

"Love the stuff!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Ugh. Raw fish? No thanks." Heather said.

"You're not even eating, prom queen." Leshawna told her.

"Well, your first dish will certainly remind you of it. Though it's more of a condiment than a dish itself." Chris stated.

All of the eaters except for Brody and Scott realized where Chris was going with this. "Huh?" Scott asked.

Chef began putting small bowls in front of the contestants with filled with large globs of green paste inside. "Let's kick things off with what I like to call, Wasabi Porridge."

Brody touched the paste. "This stuff is pretty cold."

Scott smirked, and scooped up the entire glob with one hand. "I know it's just the first round, but come on Chris."

"Wait, you really don't wanna-" Kitty began to say.

Scott swallowed the wasabi in one gulp. Then, his eyes started to water. "EEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Scott collapsed and began rolling on the ground, howling in pain. "SWEET HURRICANE EARL! WHO WOULD EAT THIS STUFF?!"

Chris, Chef, and B were laughing it up. Noah, Gwen, Dawn, Heather, Alejandro, Duncan, and Mike were also looking pretty amused.

Harold grabbed a knife, and cut the glob of wasabi up into several small portions. "The key is division." Harold scooped a small portion of wasabi up with a spoon and swallowed it. Immediately, his face began to turn red. "MIGHTY MIYAZAKI!" Harold quickly grabbed his nearby glass, and gulped it down, eliminating him from the challenge.

Team Heather 3-2

Leshawna shook her head, being halfway done with her wasabi. "White folk."

(Confessional: Harold)

"Ok. Not the best display of my mad skills."

Alejandro held up his now empty bowl. "Acabado!"

Chris turned to Dawn, the only one still eating her wasabi. "You're lucky Harold dropped out. Otherwise you would have been out."

Dawn nodded, before finishing her bowl. Brody and Dawn looked perfectly fine. Most of the other eaters were a bit wattery eyed, but fine for the most part. Scott pulled himself back on the table. He looked like he was dying.

"Next up, a more proper dish. Phaal Curry!" Chris announced. Chef placedd plates of curry and rice in front of the contestants. The steam alone was enough to make some of them reel bacl. "Generally viewed as the world's spiciest curry, several chefs need to wear gas masks when preparing it."

"AND YOU MAKE THAT THE SECOND DISH?!" Scott yelled.

"Hey, I never said it would be a slow increase."

Brody began happily eating away at the curry, not even seeming to be fazed.

Kitty and Dawn started eating quickly after, though they were nowhere near as fast as Brody. They were definitely prioritizing a steady pace for the challenge.

The other contestants hesitated for a few seconds. "Just gotta go for it." Leshawna told Duncan and Scott. She braced herself and quickly began eating some curry, wincing a bit in pain with each bite, Duncan following suit. Soon, Alejandro and B started eating as quickly as they could too.

Scott took a look at his plate and moaned. He then started to chow down. He didn't handle spice well, but he was easily one of the fastest eaters in the game.

A couple minutes later, Brody let out a belch. "Done!"

Scott pushed his empty plate forward. Tears were streaming down his face. "Do...done..." He weakly said.

Alejandro raised an eyebrow at Scott's performance.

(Confessional: Alejandro)

"I expected Scott to have dropped out by now. It's not like the team will think he's sabotaging them for it. He could just be keeping up a cover for his team, but I hope he hasn't forgotten our arrangement."

B was wheezing, barely supporting himself on the table. He finished his dish, but as the last person to finish, he was eliminated. Food eating challenges weren't his strong suit.

Team Heather 2-1

"Gee Al. Better hope your spanish blood gives you a tolerance to spicy food, or else your team's done."

Heather patted B on the shoulder.

"You did your best, B. Thanks for sticking it out."

B nodded before leaving the table and standing next to Harold. Alejandro and Mike rolled their eyes at Heather's act.

"Next is something I expect multiple people to be dropping out from." Chris said. Chef placed down small plates with a handful of shriveled red peppers in front of them.

"What, a few chili peppers?" Duncan asked.

"These are more than simple chili peppers my man. What you have in front of you are an assortment of ghost peppers. Some of the hottest peppers on the planet."

"A single one of them is over million units on the Scoville Scale!" Harold yelled. Subtitles were required to decipher what he said as his burnt tongue mangled his speech.

Kitty gulped and stared at the plate.

(Confessional: Kitty)

"I tried a pepper that was milder than that in Ridonculous Race, and it still set my mouth on fire. Now I have to eat a whole plate of peppers even hotter than that!?"

Each of the contestants put a pepper in their mouth. In seconds, Kitty, Duncan, Leshawna, Scott and Alejandro howled in pain. Brody's eyes were wattering up a bit, but he endured. Dawn was looking completely unfazed as usual.

"Yahhhhh!" Kitty screamed, her eyes watering up. She then immediately took a glass of milk and drank from it, taking her out of the challenge.

Strawberry Shortcakes 3-2

Alejandro didn't last much longer. After two more ghost peppers, he closed his eyes and collapsed onto the table.

Team Heather 1-0

"Looks like Team Heather can't handle spicy food." Chris taunted. "Way to let your team down, Al!"

Alejandro let out a cough. "I hate you..."

"Team Heather is out of the challenge!"

Heather pat Alejandro on the shoulder. "It's ok babe. You did your best."

Alejandro gave a bitter chuckle. To an outsider, it would look like she's simply comforting her boyfriend. Alejandro was well aware that she was rubbing salt in the wound. He walked got up and oddly decided to stand nearby the Shortcakes instead of his own team.

A red-eyed Brody pushed forward an empty plate. "Whoo-hoo! Spice king, baby!" He then let out a slightly fiery belch.

Bridgette closed her eyes in frustration and let out a sigh.

Despite his cheering, the spice was getting to Brody by now. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last.

Duncan frantically chewed the last of his ghost peppers and swallowed them, his face glowing red. Soon, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, Duncan falling back to the ground.

"Uh-oh." Leshawna reacted.

Chris walked up to Duncan, and waved his hands in front of him. "You conscious?"

The delinquent strained to get up. "Urghhhh. Can't...move..." Duncan let out a few smokey coughs.

"Welp, looks like you won't be competing anymore."

Killer Blades 3-2

Gwen helped Duncan stand up, and sat him down on a different nearby table for him to rest on. Alejandro smirked. This was the opportunity he's been waiting for.

"Rather kind of you to be helping an opposing team member Gwen." He said to Gwen when she came out. He whispered, but deliberately had it be just loud enough for Emma and Noah to overhear.

"I know this is a foreign concept for you, but sometimes people help others out for the sake of it." Gwen replied.

"True. But sometimes, it's to build an alliance."

Gwen decided to ignore Alejandro.

(Confessional: Gwen)

"I don't know what Alejandro's angle is, but I'm not going to play his game. Gotta say, with everything Alejandro did, and Scott really getting on my nerves recently, it's a sad day when Heather's my favorite of the bad guy's this season."

Leshawna's cheeks were on fire, her eyes watering up. She was about to reach towards the glass of milk, but she grabbed her arm with her other hand and forcibly pulled it back, finishing off her final ghost pepper. Scott began swaying from side to side, his eyes completely dried up. It looked like he was about to pass out too. Suddenly, he slapped himself a few times before finishing off the last of his ghost peppers.

Dawn pushed her empty plate forward. Naturally she was looking none the worse for wear.

Leshawna turned to Scott. "Alright farm boy, it's up to us."

Scott started to chuckle weirdly. "Man...isn't it great how we can wear the same clothes every day?"

"Ummm..."

"He had too much spicy food. He's intoxicated." Dawn observed.

"Ah, sweet. Pepper high rules!" Brody exclaimed.

Scott took a look at his hands. "Hey...why do I only have four fingers on each hand? Why do...why do all of us only have four fingers on each hand?"

Brody took a few breaths before he put a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "We got this. You aren't even winded."

"Actually, I'm in excruciating pain right now." Dawn calmly answered.

"Now, our final dish." Chris said. "Oh Chef?"

Chef nodded and put down several plates covered by a dome. The contestants lifted them up. On each plate were three bottles of some kind of sauce.

"Oh, so we're basically chugging bottles of hot sauce to end things?" Brody asked.

"Correct. But that's not any ordinary hot sauce. That sauce is made out of Pepper X, the spiciest pepper in the world, and a little over three time spicier than the ghost pepper you kids just had." Chris answered. "And, since we're in the final round here, if both teams still have somebody remaining, then the one who finishes the dish first wins the first phase of the challenge for their team."

"I'm...I'm gonna win this." Scott slurred. He then turned to Gwen and pointed a finger at her. "I'll show you blue...I actually care about Courtney. ...You blue. Heh heh heh! Rhymes!"

Gwen rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Now, begin!" Chris yelled.

Leshawna, Scott, Brody, and Dawn immediately uncapped their first bottle of hot sauce and began drinking from it. Dawn widened her eyes and calmly put her bottle down. "I'm dying." She then grabbed her glass of milk, before frantically drinking from it.

Strawberry Shortcakes 2-1

Leshawna and Brody simultaneously slammed theur first bottles down on the table, and opened up their second. Scott was about three fourths of the way done with his first bottle before it slipped out of his hand and spilled onto the ground.

"You gotta finish that sauce if you wanna win, Scott. Floor or not." Chris said.

Without a word of protest, Scott got down on the floor, and sucked the spilled sauce. Most of the spectating contestants were grossed out by this.

Brody finished his second bottle, and opened up his last bottle of hot sauce.

"And it looks like Brody's taken the lead!" Chris yelled.

Leshawna still had about a third of hot sauce left in her bottle.

She took a look at Scott, who was struggling to stand up after finishing the hot sauce from the floor.

"Is...is this season 7? Or season 6? I never know with Pawky Two." Scott then collapsed onto the ground, having fallen asleep.

Killer Blades 2-1

(Confessional: Leshawna)

"I knew my gut was gonna hate me for this."

Before finishing her second bottle, Leshawna uncapped her final bottle. She then squirted both of the hot sauce bottles into her mouth at the same time.

"Oooh, Leshawna's double timing it." Chris observed.

Brody stopped chugging for a second. "Whoa-ho! Way to rock it, sis!"

"BRODY!" Emma, Kitty, and Noah yelled simultaneously.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Brody continued chugging the rest of his hot sauce. During Brody's moment of distraction, Leshawna finished off the rest of the second bottle, and was nearly done with her final one already.

"You can do it Leshawna!" Bridgette cheered.

"Faster, Brody!" Emma urged.

"Who's gonna finish first?" Chris asked.

An empty bottle was slammed onto the table. The camera panned up to reveal the victor.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"And Brody wins the spice-off for his team! Meaning the Strawberry Shortcakes get the advantage during the first phase of the challenge." Chris announced.

The Strawberry Shortcakes all cheered.

Leshawna quickly downed her glass of milk before banging her fist on the table in frustration. "Sorry ya'll."

Bridgette put a hand on Leshawna's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You did great."

Scott began to come to, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"We lost. Though I doubt you'd be upset about that." Mike said.

Scott rolled his eyes. As he figured, Mike was onto him."I lasted one of the longest, in case you didn't notice."

Mike crossed his arms, but said nothing.

"Listen guys, I know you have some bad history with each other. But pointing fingers isn't going to help." Bridgette said.

Scott stood up. "I didn't point any fingers. Though I could point out how I'm not the one who sent someone to the infirmary."

Several of the contestants gasped.

"Scott, that's too far." Bridgette said.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not just letting something like that slide. Sorry Bridge, but this needs to be said."

Leshawna put an arm on Bridgette's shoulder, and nodded. Sometimes, tough things needed to be said.

Scott turned back to Mike. "You want to talk about being trustworthy? After how you've been acting?"

"Whoa there bros. I don't think-" Brody began to say.

"Stay out of it Brody. You're not on our team." Bridgette firmly said.

Brody was taken aback by this.

"All you've been doing is taking your issues out on other people this whole season. Making things harder for your old team. Freaking everybody out. And you act like I'm the biggest risk for the Blades right now?"

"You don't know what I've had to deal with, Scott." Mike replied.

"You're not the only one with issues, Mike." Scott replied. "And you're definitely not the only one here with relationship troubles. You don't see us acting like maniacs, or throwing pity parties. And you know what? I wasn't going to say anything. I know you're dealing with a lot. But then you decided to start something. Not me. So get off your high horse already."

Scott took a look at Mike's angry face, and braced himself for yet another black-eye. It'd be worth it.

Mike took a breath. "Fine. Whatever." Mike walked off.

Scott raised an eyebrow. Not the explosive reaction he was hoping for.

Leshawna started fanning her mouth, an empty glass being next to her. "Yo! Can a sister get more milk here?!"

(Confessional: Gwen)

"I hate to say it, but...I kinda agree with Scott on that one."

Chris allowed the contestants about an hour of downtime before the second phase of the challenge. Bridgette was doing some swimming in the pool on the top deck to kill time and ease her mind. She knew that Scott and Mike had bad history with each other, but she was hoping they would have put that in the past for this season. Now things were even more awkward within her team.

"Yo, Bridge!" A voice called out.

Bridgette groaned as Brody ran up to the pool. "What is it Brody?"

"So, I'm setting up a party for later tonight, and was wondering if you were cool with singing. I remember that song you sang for Geoff after you fell for Alejandro, and it was really good! Was wondering if you knew any other songs."

Bridgette closed her eyes in frustratuin. She didn't appreciate the reminder about what happened with Alejandro during World Tour. "Brody, I didn't want to say anything. But have you ever took a minute to stop and think about how others might feel?"

Brody raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Bridgette got out of the pool, and started squeezing water out of her hair. "Look, it's all fine and good to be upbeat sometimes. But you don't seem to get how there's a time and place for everything. Do you really think now's a good time to talk about partying? After all the blowups that's been happening the past few days?"

Brody rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I...just thought it would be good for everyone. Things have been so tense, so I thought lightening the mood would help."

Bridgette sighed. "Listen, I know you have good intentions. But not every problem instantly goes away just because you act positive about it. Sometimes people need space. And right now, I need some space from you."

The surfer walked past Brody, heading towards the showers. Brody turned around. "Are...are you mad at me?"

Bridgette stopped walking for a second. She then continued leaving without giving an answer. That told Brody all he needed to know.

The camera cut to the contestants at the edge of a dock, Chris standing in front of them. In the water were eight speedboats. Three of them pink with the Strawberry Shortcakes' logo on them, three of them black and red with the Killer Blades' logo on them, and two of them gold with Team Heather's logo on them. "Welcome to Cochin port, sailors! One of the largest ports in all of India!" Chris yelled.

"I'm guessing this is a boat race of some kind?" Emma asked, pointing at the speed baots.

"Yup! Kochi apparently has a water metro in the works, so the producers figured you kids would serve as a bit of a prototype. For today's challenge, contestants will be split in pairs of two for each boat. One will be the driver, and the other" Chris got out a remote control, and pressed a button. Rising up from The Killer Blades and Team Heather's boats were turrets loaded with tennis balls. "Will be the shooter. Each turret is loaded with a couple hundred tennisballs."

"Huh. Pretty much like the boat challenge in Season 4." Mike said.

"Though thankfully, they're not loaded with innocent creatures." Dawn stated.

"Wait a second, why do they get the guns? Isn't our team the one that gets the advantage?" Noah asked.

"Slow your roll there, Noah." Chris pressed another button on the remote. Turrets rose up from the Shortcakes' speedboats. But instead of tennis balls, they were loaded with meatballs. "For winning the spice eating challenge Shortcakes, your ammunition will be a couple dozen of Chef's patented explosive meatballs. Less ammunition than the others, but one hit from these pretty much guarantees an enemy boat gets destroyed." Chris turned to the Season 4 contestants. "Fun fact, one of the challenges for your season was for Chef to fire these at you guys while you hold Mutant Squirrels that would zap you if they get startled. Don't know why the producers shot that down."

Everybody ignored the comment. "So, what's the goal of the challenge?" Scott asked.

Chris snapped his fingers. Suddenly, several interns began to bring in small supply crates. "There are two ways to win the challenge. Either destroy all the opposing team's boats, which will be much easier for the Shortcakes due to their ammunition, or be the first team to return here after all of you have picked up your golden containers for your final delivery. Last team will be voting somebody off."

"Final delivery?" Harold asked.

"You'll be going to two out of several potential areas around Kochi for you to reach that will be marked on maps we'll be giving you. Fort Kochi Beach, the ferry station, the fish harbor, Gundu Island, or the trans shipment terminal. You'll all have different routes but your paths may intersect from time to time. Either way, when you get your final package, inside a small golden container, you race to return here."

"What if every team only has some boats finish the task but not all?" Alejandro asked.

"In the event that happens, the team that has the most speedboats return here win. But if say, all teams only have one speedboat return here, then the one that came here first wins."

"I get it. Finishing first only matters in the event of a tie in numbers." Noah said.

"Wait, but our team only has two boats." Harold pointed out.

"Hey, not my fault you guys are low on numbers." Chris replied. "But don't worry. To make things a bit more fair, Team Heather will automatically win out ties in numbers. But you better be careful. Less boats means a tougher time winning through numbers. Anyway, you guys got five minutes to pair up teammates, and decide who'll be driving and shooting."

The camera panned over to the Blades. Duncan and DJ turned to each other and fistbumped. Bridgette and Leshawna high fived each other. That left Mike with Scott. Mike didn't look particularly happy with that.

(Confessional: Alejandro)

"I know that Scott and Mike don't get along, but I didn't expect it to blow up in public like it did back on the yacht." Alejandro was rubbing his chin, thoughtfully. "Scott is clearly intending to get Mike eliminated. But I might have use for Mike when the merge comes around. Then again, I have use for Scott right now in the present. Which one should I prioritize?"

The camera cut to the contestants all in their speed boats. Noah with Emma, Gwen with Kitty, Brody with Dawn, Duncan with DJ, Bridgette with Leshawna, Mike with Scott, Heather with Alejandro, and Harold with B. Noah, Kitty, Dawn, Duncan, Leshawna, Scott, Alejandro and Harold were manning their boat's turret, while their partners were driving the boat.

Chris got out several maps. "These will tell you your delivery points. Each pair will have a different route. Though odds are, some of you will come across each other. That's when you fire away." Chris tossed the maps to the drivers, who all caught them.

"You sure you wanna be the gunner?" Brody asked Dawn.

"Vehicles aren't a strong point of mine." Dawn replied.

"Well, I'm not great with map reading, so you think you can navigate when you're not shooting?"

Dawn nodded, so Brody tossed his map to her.

Chris got out an airhorn and sounded it off. "And begin!"

The speedboats all took off, most splitting off into different directions.

"Alejandro, I have a plan." Heather said.

"Because your last plan worked so well." Alejandro said from the turret.

"Just hear me out. Chris said whoever came with a golden crate first would be the winner, right? He never said we had to complete our route. So what if we just wait near Chris and take a golden crate from a team that did their route? Then we can save on time and energy."

"That is literally the same idea that resulted in us getting last place in Nottingham."

"Yeah, because Noah took us by surprise. We won't need to worry about that here. Chris isn't near a bunch of monitors showing all our locations this time."

Before Alejandro could respond, he was suddenly hit in the head with a tennis ball, nearly knocking him overboard.

"That was for Africa, Al!" A voice yelled out.

The couple saw Duncan and DJ's boat driving up next to them, Duncan giving a mocking wave.

Alejandro aimed his turret at their boat. "Allow me to return the fav-" Alejandro was interrupted as two tennis balls hit him in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the floor.

"And that's for the two girls you played games with!" Leshawna yelled out. On the other side of Heather and Alejandro's boat were Bridgette and DJ.

"Urg. A pincer strategy!" Alejandro observed.

"Crap!" Heather yelled.

Duncan and Leshawna fired tennis balls at Heather and Alejandro's boat from both sides. Some hitting Heather or Alejandro, but most hitting the boat. The dents were small, but the damage was slowly building up.

"Do something!" Heather yelled to her boyfriend.

Alejandro stood up, and started rapidly turning back and forth to fire at both pairs of Blades. DJ or Bridgette frequently drove out of the way of each of Alejandro's shots. Unfortunately, due to constantly needing to turn back and forth, along with the numbers disadvantage, the spaniard couldn't put nearly as much pressure on the Blades as they were to him and Heather.

"Looks like Heather and Al are in quite a sticky situation." Chris' voice played over the boat's intercoms.

"THIS is what happens when you pair up with the most hated contestant in all of Total Drama." Heather complained.

"It's not like you're particularly beloved by the contestants either, Heather." Alejandro shot back.

Heather then noticed something approaching from the horizon. A dorsal was sticking out from the water. She then smirked. "Hang on Alejandro!"

Heather jeered her boat to the side and crashed into Bridgette and Leshawna's boat, causing both of the boats to come to a halt.

"Whoa!" Bridgette exclaimed.

Leshawna turned her turret to Alejandro. "You just gave me a point blank shot, prom queen!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" DJ's voice yelled from the distance.

"Huh?" Bridgette and Leshawna reacted.

DJ was frantically driving the speedboat in the opposite direction they came from. Right behind him and Duncan was Fang.

"Dude, we're going AWAY from the first delivery point! Turn around!" Duncan yelled.

"You crazy, man?!" DJ asked. "I ain't sticking around to be fish food!"

The boat sped past Heather's and Bridgette's boats, the mutant shark in hot pursuit. Bridgette and Leshawna were stunned. "Why is Fang-?!" Bridgette began to ask."

"Come on Bridgette. I needed to spice up the challenge a LITTLE bit." Chris said.

"Have a nice swim!" Alejandro said.

While they were distracted, Bridgette and Leshawna both were pelted by tennis balls, Leshawna being knocked off the boat.

"So long, suckers!" Heather taunted. She drove away at high speeds.

"Augh! We blew it!" Bridgette yelled.

Leshawna climbed back onto the boat. "Don't throw in the towel yet, girl. It just means we'll need to deliver faster than her. Besides, who says this'll be the only chance we get to sink their boat?"

Bridgette nodded, before speeding away.

The camera cut to Gwen and Kitty's boat, Gwen driving through an empty sea.

"Looks like we got lucky with our route. No enemy teams around." Kitty said.

"We have to keep an eye out though." Gwen replied. "Who knows if a team's gonna ambush us?"

Kitty giggled a bit. "Geez, you're starting to sound like Emma."

Gwen chuckled. Kitty had a point.

A few seconds of silence rolled by before Kitty decided to break it. "So, since we have free time, how about that mystery crush of yours? Was it Trent? Or someone else?"

"Ugh. Seriously Kitty?"

"If you don't want to say it, that's fine. But life's short, you know? Would be a shame if you don't go for it."

"I told you already. Chris must have rigged-"

"Gwen, please, PLEASE don't do this. I had to deal with both a friend and my older sister stuggling to be honest about their feelings for like, half of Ridonculous Race. I do NOT want to go through that again."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Then maybe you shouldn't insist on playing Cupid all the time."

"Hey, when you a love detector as sensitive as mine, you can't just ignore-"

The speedboat came to a sudden halt, causing Kitty to fall on the floor of the speedboat.

"Hey!"

"Oh look. We're here." Gwen casually said.

The speedboat was in front of a small island, surrounded by coconut trees. The only building on the island seemed to be a factory.

Kitty stood up, and brushed herself off. "This is our first delivery stop, right?"

Gwen took a look at the map. "Yeah. Gundu Island."

On cue, a man came walking out of the foliage, carrying four crates. A green aluminum one, two grey metal crates, and a gold crate. The green aluminum and grey metal crates had a few holes to show what was inside it, while the gold metal crate was completely obscured.

"The golden crate!" Kitty pointed out.

"Remember, that's supposed to be our third delivery. The other crates must be for other routes." Gwen reminded her.

Gwen handed over her wooden crate to the man. In exchange, he gave Gwen the green aluminum crate. Inside the crate appeared to be a large amount of rope.

"Something tells me we're being tricked into doing free labor." She stated.

Kitty shrugged, before taking a selfie, making sure to get the island in view.

Gwen and Kitty's boat sped off to their next location.

The camera cut to Harold and B, their boat driving away from a ferry station. B traded his previous wooden crate for a green aluminum one, carrying several dead fish.

"Nice! First delivery done!" Harold cheered.

Suddenly, an explosion shot out from behind the two, narrowly missing their boat.

"What was that?!" Harold asked.

Approaching their boat was Noah and Emma, still with their starting wooden crate. "We barely missed! Try again!" Emma said.

"You know, we could just focus on our route." Noah suggested.

"That's not mutually exclusive with taking out a few opponenets. Besides, they're on our route."

Noah shrugged, and aimed his turret filled with exploding meatballs at Harold and B's speedboat.

"Step on it!" Harold yelled.

B didn't need to be told twice. He accelerated the boat as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Harold started shooting tennis balls at Emma and Noah's boat, keeping it at a distance.

"They're getting away!" Emma yelled.

"Relax babe. We basically have cannonballs." Noah reassured. Noah aimed the turret upwards, and fired one of the meatballs in an arc. Instead of hitting Harold and B's boat, it landed in the water in front of them.

"Uh-oh." Harold gulped.

A wave of water blasted Harold and B's boat, causing it to spin out of control.

Emma smirked. "They're about to be wide open."

"AUUUUGHHHHH!" Harold screamed.

B frantically looked around while their boat was spinning. Several rocks sticking out the sea, and a few floating buoys were near them. He could make this work.

Soon, their boat came to a halt. Completely stationary for Noah to blow it up.

B ran up to Harold, and pointed at a nearby rock.

"Huh? Oh, you're right!" Harold realized.

"They're wide open Noah!" Emma exclaimed. She had her boat come to a halt so that Noah could steady his aim. Noah began aiming his gun at Harold and B's boat once again.

Harold quickly fired a tennis ball at the rock. It then rickocheted off a few more rocks and a buoy, steadily approaching Emma and Noah's boat.

Right before Noah fired, Harold's tennisball hit the floor of Noah and Emma's speedboat, and bounced towards Noah's gun. The turret was suddenly aimed upwards, right when Noah launched.

"Ow!" Noah yelled.

"Oh no." Emma said. She started driving the boat away.

Noah looked in the air and noticed a launched meatball directly above their boat, coming down. He then sighed in annoynce. "Of course."

Emma sped up as fast as she could, but it was too late. The explosion from the meatball engulfed them and their speedboat, destroying their vehicle, and blasting them into the sea.

"And with some quick thinking from B and Harold, Noah and Emma are out of the challenge!" Chris's voice declared.

"Boo-yah!" Harold exclaimed. He and B fistbumped before B went back to the controls, having their speedboat drive off.

Soon, the Boat of Losers came driving by, operated by Chef. "Ya'll got played." He said.

"Gee. Thanks for letting us know." Emma replied.

Chef pulled Emma and Noah onto the Boat of Losers. "I'll drop ya'll off at the SS McLean. Ain't enough room to fit every loser in this challenge." The boat began to take off.

(Confessional: Noah)

"Chef is pretty much Chris' right hand man. Maybe he could tell us some more info about the Arsene Lupin impersonator."

"So Chef, I've been wondering. Dawn said something about Chris thinking one of us is the mystery thief. What's up with that?" Noah began to ask.

"I could tell you." Chef admitted.

A moment of silence passed. "But...?" Emma asked.

"I don't feel like it."

Noah sighed. It was worth trying at least.

A man on a shipping vessel pulleyed down a grey metal crate filled with rocks and minerals down to Dawn and Brody's boat. Next to Brody was a green aluminum crate filled with glass bottles.

"Thanks bro!" Brody took the metal crate, and then picked up his aluminum crate. "Heads up!"

"Brody, I don't think that's-" Dawn began to say.

Brody chucked the crate towards the sailor. The sailor failed to catch it, causing the crate to shatter on the floor of the shipping vessel.

"Oops. Proooobably should have put it on the pulley." Brody realized.

Dawn facepalmed, while the sailor glared at Brody. Brody awkwardly waved before driving away from the shipping vessel.

"I gotta say, you can definitely read a map! Or, are you like, sensing the water or something to know how to get there the quickest?"

"Bit of both." Dawn answered.

"Well, either way, we're making progress fast. We only have one more delivery to go!" Brody cheered.

"Stop for a little bit." Dawn said.

Brody did so. "How come?"

On cue, Brody heard some distant screaming. Then, he widened his eyes in panic. Passing by right in front of him were DJ and Duncan's speedboat, DJ screaming in terror, and Duncan rapidly firing tennisballs at the pursuing Fang. Thankfully, they passed by their boat without noticing them.

"If you kept going, we'd have been caught up in that." Dawn told him.

Brody nodded, before starting up the speedboat again.

A moment of silence passed. "Brody. I-." Dawn began to say.

"You sense that I'm bummed out, right?" Brody interrupted.

Dawn nodded.

"It's kinda a bummer to be disliked by Bridgette, you know? She's my best bro's girl. I hate upsetting people. And things are really tense on the team, you know? I thought that partying it up would help, but I don't think it's really working."

Dawn blinked in slight suprise. "That's...exactly what I was sensing. Usually, people aren't so open when I talk about their problems like that."

"So like...should I stop trying to make people happy?" Brody asked.

"I wouldn't go that far. You just need to be more aware of your actions. You're not a malicious person, but you don't tend to think before acting, no offense."

"None taken. I kinda realized that a couple minutes ago back at the shipping vessel."

Dawn smiled. "I think I did all that I can already."

"Thanks dudette! Now that I get Bridge's problems with me, I can definitely make it up to her!"

(Confessional: Dawn)

"Normally, people aren't so willing to co-operate when I talk about what's ailing them. This was very much a welcome change."

DJ was catching his breath. "Did we lose him?"

"Yeah, we lost him. We also lost track of where we are entirely." Duncan bitterly said. "We should have stuck and fought it."

"Man, our boat would have been torn apart, and you know it."

Duncan grunted, but he couldn't exactly protest that claim. "So Deej, since it's looking likely right now, we should talk about who to vote for if we get last this challenge."

"Hmm. Maybe Scott? Zoey was pretty suspicious of him back in Florida. But he's been pretty nice to me so far, so maybe not." DJ turned to Duncan. "I'm guessing you want to vote off Bridge or Leshawna?"

"Actually, I was thinking Mike."

This took DJ by surprise. "Is this about what happened in England?"

"Not for the reasons you think. Scott was right, the dude's been a short fuse recently, and it cost Team Heather two challenges in a row. Now that he's on our team, it could screw us over big time."

DJ rubbed his chin. "Well, I won't lie. Mike's been kinda scary lately. Plus, it's not like I really know him that well. Still, aren't you worried about how Zoey'll feel?"

"Eliminating people is the name of the game. Besides, she's gone anyway, so why does it matter?"

DJ raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. Soon, he and Duncan heard a motor. "Tip over the boat, and follow my lead!" Duncan whispered.

He jumped under the water. DJ was confused, but jumped into the water, making sure to tip the speedboat upside down as well.

Soon, Harold and B passed by, now having a grey metal crate that contained various bags filled with spices. They took a look at the capsized speedboat, and kept going, assuming one of the pairs of Blades got eliminated.

A few seconds passed before Duncan and DJ reemerged from the water. "What was that about, man?" DJ asked as he flipped the speedboat rightside up.

The two got back into the speedboat. "If we can't find our own crates, we'll just snatch theirs. Tail them."

DJ nodded, and slowly started following Harold and B.

The camera cut to Mike and Scott, their boat nearby a beach. Mike traded a green crate filled with fish to a young woman, who gave him a grey metal crate filled with glass.

"Nice! Just one delivery to go, and then we can head back to the dock." Mike said.

"Joy." Scott said half-heartedly.

Mike put the crate next to him and put his finger in the water. He then started adjusting the angle of the speedboat.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Scott asked.

"I'm getting the least resistance as possible from the currents." Mike answered. "That way we can get to the destinations faster.

Soon, Mike took off. Scott surprisingly hasn't done anything to sabotage their boat, or throw Mike off his game yet. Maybe Mike was just getting paranoid over nothing? Or maybe Scott was just waiting for the right time.

"Hey." Mike finally decided to say.

"What?" Scott asked.

"I want to let you know that I've got my eye on you. I still remember Season 4."

"Yeah, yeah."

"But for what you said on the yacht...you were right."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"I was making my own problems be everybody else's lately. Flipped out on more than one occasion. So yeah. You were right about that."

Scott was surprised before shrugging. "Alright then."

A few more minutes passed. Scott started to look around before widening his eyes, and pointing at the starboard side. "Look over there."

Mike turned around and noticed Gwen and Kitty from a large distance, seemingly heading towards the beach as well. Thankfully, the two didn't seem to notice them yet. "Uh-oh. We better book it."

"Book it? We got the element of surprise on our side. Besides, I owe goth girl a little something."

"They have way better ammunition than us Scott. Besides, I think that you're-"

Scott didn't let Mike finish that sentence, instead firing a stream of tennis balls at the girls' speedboat. Sure enough, all of them hit the water instead of their boat. This signalled Gwen and Kitty about their presence.

"...too far away to hit them." Mike finished.

(Confessional: Scott)

"Alright. Not my best idea."

Gwen smirked at Kitty. "You cool with a little detour before our second delivery?"

Kitty smiled, and gave a thumbs up. Gwen turned her speedboat around and started heading towards Mike and Scott.

"That's right! Come closer! That just makes it easier to-" Scott was interrupted as the speedboat he was on launched forward, causing him to hit his chin on the turret. "OW! Are you kidding me, Mike?!"

"Stop complaining and cover us!" Mike yelled back.

Scott rolled his eyes before firing tennis balls at Gwen and Kitty's speedboat, slightly slowing them down.

"Our turn!" Kitty fired multiple meatballs at Mike and Scott's speedboat.

"Oh no you don't!" Scott yelled. He started firing at the meatbalsl in the air as they were coming. Several of his tennisballs hit, causing multiple explosions in the air. But Scott wasn't able to hit all of them. A handful of meatballs landed in the water near Mike and Scott's boat, causing multiple explosions. Mike drove the boat way from each explosion, but barely.

"Kitty and Gwen are putting some massive pressure on Mike and Scott!" Chris announced.

"Scott, can you take over as driver for a sec!?" Mike asked

"What, you don't trust me as gunner?" Scott accused.

"I don't trust you with either role, but that's not why I'm asking."

Scott rolled his eyes and ran towards the front of the speedboat, taking over as driver.

"Does Mike have a plan to turn things around?" Chris asked.

Kitty fired one more meatballs at the boat, looking like it'd hit.

Mike took a breath and leapt in the air, gently picking up the meatball in the air before gracefully landing back on the boat.

"I know where this is going." Gwen said. She quickly turned the boat around and sped away from Mike and Scott.

Mike prepared to throw the meatball, but shook his head, and started tampering with the turret.

"Gwen's getting away. Why didn't you chuck it at them?" Scott asked.

"They were already too far away. Besides, it'll be better to load this meatball in our gun instead of just chucking them and hoping for the best."

Scott raised an eyebrow at Mike's tinkering. "Has B been giving you lessons or something?"

"Vito was a mechanic. He did a lot of stuff like this for my Uncle Vinnie." Sure enough, the explosive meatball was perfectly loaded in the turret. "There. Now we have a better chance at fighting against the Shortcakes if push comes to shove."

Mike walked back to the front of the speedboat, and took over the wheel again. "You can take control of the gun again Scott."

"You're not worried I'll blow us up on purpose?" The farmboy joked.

"Not when you haven't taken out Gwen yet."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know what for, but you seem to have some grudge against Gwen. Enough to prioritize beating her over sabotaging our team. Otherwise you wouldn't have even tried to protect our boat."

"Feh. Just don't think that I'm a softie inside like Duncan."

"Trust me. I won't."

Mike and Scott sped off.

Harold and B were at Gundu Island. A man traded Harold a golden crate for his grey one.

"Sweet! We got our final box!" Harold turned to the man. "What's in these golden ones anyway?"

The man held up a contract. "Sorry. Under NDA." The man then walked deeper into the forest.

"...Are we gonna get in trouble for this?"

"The producers know what's inside, and it's totally legal. It just means it's none of your business, Harold." Chris said over the intercoms.

Harold and B shrugged. B started to reverse the speedboat before a force suddenly crashed into their boat. "What the-?!" Harold reacted.

The two saw that DJ and Duncan crashed into their speedboat. DJ gave an awkward wave. "Sorry guys. No hard feelings, but we're taking that crate of yours."

Duncan suddenly fired a barrage of tennis balls at the surprised Harold, and B.

"Augh! Hey! Quit-" Harold was quickly knocked into the water by the tennis balls, B following.

The delinquent hopped onto Harold and B's boat, picked up their crate, and got back onto his and DJ's boat. "Thanks for doing the heavy lifting, Dorkus!"

"And it looks like Harold and B have been shipwrecked!" Chris yelled.

DJ took off, leaving Harold and B on Gundu Island with a wrecked speedboat.

"Now what are we going to do?!" Harold asked.

B smiled and opens up his jacket. Within it were various tools.

"Awesome!" Harold took a screwdriver from B's jacket before the two began fixing the speedboat together.

Bridgette and Leshawna sailed away from the fish harbor, a golden crate in tow. "How far are we from the port, girl?" Leshawna asked.

Bridgette took a look at the map. "Not that far at all. We might be the first ones to-"

Bridgette was interrupted by a bunch of tennis balls pelting the back of their speedboat, slowing it down.

"Not so fun when you're the one being ambushed, is it?" Alejandro asked. She and Alejandro were trailing behind Bridgette and Leshawna.

"We'll be taking that crate of yours now!" Heather yelled.

"What?! That can't be allowed! You didn't even do your route!" Bridgette protested.

"I never said contestants COULDN'T steal a gold crate from others. Just that they had to bring it to me at the end." Chris retorted.

"See?" Heather asked.

"So, ya'll ready for round 2, huh?" Leshawna started firing at Alejandro, Heather moving her speedboat to the side to avoid the tennis balls.

"We're slowing down!" Bridgette yelled.

"Just hang in for a little while longer girl!" Leshawna urged.

"I don't think so!" Heather yelled. She accelerated her boat, now neck and neck with Bridgette and Leshawna's. The tennis balls Leshawna were firing were being knocked away by Alejandro's.

"3...2...now!" Alejandro yelled.

Heather rammed into Bridgette and Leshawna's boat once again. This time however, it caused their boat to smash into a rock, totalling it. The golden crate went flying out of their boat, and into the ocean.

"No!" Bridgette yelled.

"Now you fools can't get it either!" Leshawna yelled.

Alejandro smiled and dived into the ocean. About half a minute later, he re-emerged, golden crate in hand. "My mother was a professional swimmer."

Bridgette tried to get the speedboat running. The engine sputtered and made a couple jolts forward, before dying.

"And it looks like Team Heather gave the Blades a taste of their own medicine!" Chris yelled. "Bridgette and Leshawna's speedboat is destroyed, so they're out of the challenge!"

Alejandro got back into the speedboat. Heather mockingly waved goodbye to Bridgette and Leshawna before taking off.

"It'll take a little while before Chef comes pick you guys up. He's busy getting Harold and B."

"Ugh! I can't believe this." Leshawna complained.

"We just gotta hope the rest of the team pulls through." Bridgette said.

The camera cut to Heather and Alejandro arriving at the dock. Standing there were Chris, Emma, and Noah, the latter two sitting down annoyed due to the two of them being eliminated. "Heather and Alejandro are the first pair to have returned!" Chris declared.

Heather turned to Alejandro and smirked. "Told you my plan would work."

"Only because you had my help." Alejandro smirked back.

"Oh please. Any idiot could have done what you did."

"I was the one who knew the timing."

Chris left Alejandro and Heather to their arguing. "Don't get too excited there, love birds. If either team has two boats return, you're getting second at best." He suddenly heard a buzz in his earpiece. "What's up Chef?"

"They're not here."

"Huh?"

"Harold and B. They're not on Gundu Island. Neither is their boat."

"Oh yeah. They probably fixed up their boat. B's got a way with tools."

"And you couldn't have told me that before I went all the way there to pick them up?!" Chef yelled.

"Sheesh, you act as if people don't make mistakes."

The camera cut to Gwen and Kitty's speedboat driving away from the ferry station. They finally had a golden crate.

"How are we looking on meatballs, Kitty?" Gwen asked.

"Not too good. We used up a lot of them on Scott and Mike. We only have, like, 5 left." Kitty answered.

"Figures. We just gotta hope we don't run into anyone."

"Why does Scott have a grudge against you anyway?" Kitty asked.

"He's mad about how I treated Courtney back in the other seasons, and says that I don't deserve to be friends with her again. Don't know why he's acting like it's any of his business."

"For real? Don't know how he can deny liking Courtney if he says stuff like that."

"I hear that."

Kitty paused. "He really shouldn't deny that he likes someone, huh?"

"I know, right?"

Kitty facepalmed.

They sailed in silence for a little bit, before suddenly, something bolted past their speedboat, drenching both Kitty and Gwen with water.

The two coughed a bit. "Hey!" Gwen yelled.

"What kind of boat was that?" Kitty wondered.

Gwen turned next to her and widened her eyes in shock. "Our crate's gone!"

"What?!"

The camera panned to the object that zoomed past Gwen and Kitty. A fully repaired, and heavily upgraded speedboat, piloted by B. The controls for the speedboat were now far more complex. What began as a wheel, key turned engine, and a lever or two now became half a dozen levers, rows of flashing buttons, radars, and various gauges measuring the boat's condition. There didn't even seem to be a wheel anymore.

Harold was wrapping his legs around the edges of the speedboat, hanging on for dear life while holding the crate. "IIIIIII GOOOOT THEEEEE CRAAAAATEEEEE!" Harold yelled.

B adjusted some levers before pressing a button. The boat came to a stop, Harold pulling himself back onto the speedboat. "Phew. Close one." Harold and B fistbumped each other before B adjusted a few more levels, the boat taking off in a fast, but much more easy to manage, pace.

The camera cut to Mike slamming the side of his and Scott's speedboat against Brody's. Both boats were carrying a golden crate.

"Whoa-ho! Sick moves, bro!" Brody returned the favor and slammed his speedboat against Mike.

Dawn and Scott both had their turrets aimed at each other, but neither were firing. Their boats were too close together, so the explosion from a fired meatball would engulf both of their boats.

"Get some distance!" Scott yelled at Mike.

"If I do, they'll fire at us!" Mike reminded Scott.

"We have nothing to gain from this conflict. Let's just return to Chris without attacking each other." Dawn suggested.

"As if! We ain't letting you guys get a leg up in the challenge." Scott said.

Dawn frowned. Both of the boats were getting pretty banged up. At this rate, she'd have to tell Brody to gain some distance so that she could fire. But then Scott might fire before her with the meatball he somehow had loaded. She'd need a distraction of some kind.

Soon, bubbles built up in the path in front of the boat. Fang rose up, letting out a roar.

"AUGHHHHHH!" Scott and Brody yelled in horror.

Brody and Mike both swerved around the shark, Fang chasing after Scott and Mike. That gave Dawn the distance she needed. While Scott was busy screaming at Fang's pursuit, Dawn fired a meatball at Mike and Scott's boat.

Mike noticed the incoming meatball. "Oh crap!" Mike stopped driving and leapt up to catch the meatball before it exploded. Unfortunately, now that nobody was at the wheel anymore, this caused the boat to slow down, allowing Fang to get closer.

Scott gulped before shaking his head. "Enough! I'm sick of you!" Scott grabbed the turret again and started firing at Fang, including with the explosive meatball that was loaded in the gun.

"Scott, wait!"

The meatball hit Fang, causing an explosion that blasted the shark away. Unfortunately, the explosion caused Mike and Scott's boat to be sent flying in the opposite direction, the two of them barely hanging on.

"AHHHHHHH!" The two yelled.

DJ and Duncan's speedboat arrived at the return point. The two brought themselves up on the dock, Duncan giving the crate to Chris. "And DJ and Duncan are the second pair to arrive!" Chris announced.

DJ and Duncan high fived each other.

"Seriously, when will our team be arriving?" Emma complained. "We're gonna get last at this rate."

"Shame that Bridgette and Leshawna couldn't be joining you." Alejandro mocked.

"Huh?" DJ asked.

"Not too far away from here, those two are stuck between a rock and a wet place."

"With a destroyed boat." Heather added.

"I wouldn't be so smug. We still have Mike and Scott. And it's not like Dorris and B will be coming either." Duncan replied.

"Actually, it sounds like Harold and B repaired their boat." Emma said.

"What?!"

On cue, Harold and B's speedboat started approaching from the horizon.

"Looks like Harold and B are about to arrive!" Chris announced.

Harold and B started to hear the sounds of distant screaming. "You hear that, B?" Harold asked.

B nodded, but couldn't tell what it was. The two then noticed a shadow began to cover them. They looked up in the air and found out where the screaming was coming from. Immediately, Mike and Scott's boat came crashing down onto Harold and B's, causing an explosion.

"Oh-ho! Ouch!" Chris exclaimed.

Harold, B, Scott, and Mike rose up from the water. "How did you guys-" Harold began to ask?

Mike tilted his head towards Scott. "You can thank him for this."

"Hey, I got us away from Fang, didn't I?" Scott retorted.

"Well, with both boats destroyed, both pairs are eliminated from the challenge!" Chris announced.

Both B and Mike glared at Scott, the farmboy rolling his eyes. The four were close enough to the port, so they started swimming their way there. Soon, a handful of unexploded meatballs bobbed their way up to the surface.

(Confessional: Alejandro)

"I don't know if that was clumsiness, or team sabotage gone wrong. But either way, Scott's actions interfered with my team. I might need to remind Scott of his situation."

The camera cut to Gwen and Kitty.

"So, you going to tell them we lost the crate, or am I?" Gwen asked.

"I'll take the blame. Noah and Emma won't vote me off." Kitty said.

Gwen smiled. Even though Kitty was part of Noah's alliance, she was glad Kitty had her back.

"Hey, look!" Kitty pointed in the air. Falling in the air was a golden metal crate, followed by a trail of smoke. Gwen slowed the boat down as the crate landed in the wanter next to it with a hard splash.

"Umm...what was that?" Gwen wondered.

Kitty reached into the water and pulled the crate out before it sank to far down. "I'm not complaining!"

A few minutes later, Harold, B, Scott, and Mike having now climbed onto the dock, Chris started to notice a Shortcake boat approach the dock. "It looks like Gwen and Kitty have arrived, gold crate in tow!"

"Way to go you two!" Emma exclaimed.

Emma pulled Kitty up to the dock, Duncan doing the same for Gwen.

"All teams have succesfully delivered one golden crate. Meaning that who gets last place all comes down to if Brody and Dawn bring a crate or not." Chris turned to the Killer Blades. "If he does, you guys will be in last place since you arrived after Team Heather, with both teams only having one crate." He then turned to the Shortcakes. "But if he doesn't, all teams will be tied for the amount of crates they've delivered, and your team will need to vote someone off for arriving last."

"So no matter what happens, our team is at least getting second." Heather surmised.

"Correctomundo!" Chris replied. Chris then felt his earpiece buzz again, so he answered it. "What's up?"

"Bridgette and Leshawna's boat. It ain't here."

"You sure you're at the right rock?"

"I checked every rock around the area. Nothing!"

"But how? Those two aren't mechanics like B is.

The camera cut to Bridgette and Leshawna's boat being slowly pulled by a rope that was attached to another speedboat.

"Thanks for the ride you two." Leshawna said.

"No need to thank me. It was Brody's idea." Dawn stated.

"Sorry that it's kinda slow. Our boat got damaged a bit by some of your teammates." Brody said.

"It's all good. I'll take this over the Boat of Losers. That hunk of junk is seasickness incarnate." Leshawna replied.

Leshawna and Brody laughed together. Bridgette was staring at her feet.

"We're almost there but...I sense negative energy up ahead." Dawn claimed.

"Is it Fang?" Leshawna asked.

"Can't be. He was blasted away from this direction."

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure we'll manage." Brody said.

Bridgette finally spoke up. "Why did you help us?"

"Huh?"

"You guys could have been back to Chris by now. But you took the time to pull us back to port. Aren't you worried this'll cost you the challenge? It's a race."

Brody seemed confused. "Why does that matter?"

Bridgette stood up. "Is this about getting me to forgive you? I told you, I wanted some space. This isn't gonna-"

"It's not about any of that, honest. You guys needed help, so we figured offering you a hand."

Bridgette widened her eyes. She was never so skeptical about somebody's good intentions before. She then sat down and started rubbing her eyes.

"Girl, you ok?" Leshawna asked

Only now was it sinking in to Bridgette. She was being so rude to somebody just for offering help.

"Trust me Bridge, I'll give you as much space as you want when we're back at the yacht. Swear."

Bridgette sighed. "I'm sorry Brody. I know you didn't have any illwill.

Brody was surprised before letting out a smile. "No worries, dudette. I'm sorry too."

Dawn couldn't help but shake worry. The negative energy was getting closer and closer. But she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. What was it?

Soon, the speedboat brushed by a few meatballs floating in the water.

A huge explosion sounded off.

"Wait, what's with the explosion? There's no enemy boats anymore." Emma pointed out.

Chris took a look in the air. Coming down from the sky were Brody, Dawn, Leshawna, and Bridgette. "Looks like your teammates bumped into a few leftovers."

Dawn landed gracefully on the dock. The other three landed in the water. "I understand now. A few of Chef's meatballs were floating in the ocean. That's what the universe was warning me about."

"Yeah, a little late for that now." Noah said.

Brody and Leshawna, having climbed onto the dock, pulled Bidgette up. "So, who won?" Bridgette asked.

"Well, since all teams only delivered one crate without having their boat destroyed, it would be the team of the first pair to have arrived. Meaning Team Heather takes the challenge!"

Heather, Alejandro, Harold, and B all cheered.

Chris then turned to the Shortcakes. "And since Gwen and Kitty made the delivery last, the Shortcakes are the team who'll be voting someone off."

The Shortcakes were all disappointed. "Sorry for letting you guys down." Brody said.

"It wasn't your fault Brody." Kitty reassured.

"Yeah, it was a few meatballs in the sea, right? You couldn't have seen them." Emma said.

Gwen was surprised but smiled. Emma was really understanding over what happened. Guess the Owen incident really stuck with her. Her smile then faded a bit. That means it was clear who was going home.

"But I'm sure you guys will be happy to hear that, just like last night, all teams will be staying on the S.S McLean once again. Though the losing teams will have to do some penalty chores, naturally."

(Confessional: Heather)

"Twice in a row? Whoever the thief that Sierra was helping is, they really got Chris paranoid."

Gwen and Kitty were wiping windows with spray bottles and rags. "Well, it was nice knowing you Kit." Gwen said.

"Come on, you don't know if they'll vote you off." Kitty replied.

"If Emma isn't upset at Brody for what happened, and couple that with his strength, then it's faur to say he's safe."

"Ok, but...what about Dawn?"

Gwen moved to another window. "Literal superpowers. Enough said."

Kitty sighed. "You might have a point." Kitty continued wiping. "Still, you could at least do something besides look at the downside."

"Like?"

"I dunno...make sure you don't have any regrets or something?"

Gwen widened her eyes. "...I'll be right back." Gwen ran off.

The camera cut to Scott alone in the indoor garden, planting a few seeds.

"There you are." A voice said.

Scott turned around and noticed Alejandro approach him.

"Hey Alejandro. Nobody on my team saw you enter here, right?"

"Give me some credit." Alejandro responded.

Scott smiled. "So, what's up?"

"I'm concerned about our deal."

"What? Why? I stopped Mike from making the final delivery to Chris, remember?"

"Yes, but you also stopped Harold and B, who are on my team from making said delivery."

"Look, how I was supposed to know that we would land there?"

"True. But it's also been quite a while since your team faced any major setbacks."

"What, are you kidding? Who do you think got Zoey to perform with Duncan back in London? Or the one responsible for DJ's little screw-up during the restaurant challenge?"

"Yet your team got first place on both occasions." Alejandro reminded him.

"Yeah, but come one. That was just bad luck on my end."

"Fair enough. Though I hope you understand that the next time you interfere with my team, the Blades might have to know about their traitor." Alejandro walked off, leaving behind a nervous Scott.

DJ and Duncan were in the hallways, reapplying paint on walls. "This bites." Duncan said.

"Just gotta try and win next challenge." DJ replied.

Soon, DJ accidentally tipped over one of the paint buckets. "Really man?"

"Uh-oh. I'll go get some towels. And more paint." DJ ran off.

The camera cut to Gwen walking down the hallways. She noticed DJ run down the hallways and gave a quick greeting. "Hey DJ."

"Hey Gwen." DJ quickly responded before continuing to run.

Gwen saw DJ run down before continuing to walk forward, recalling past challenges.

Soon, Duncan made it to the surface, Gwen in tow. "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..." A horn was sounded as Gwen was talking.

Gwen tapped Duncan on the shoulder.

"By the way, about last night..." She whispered.

"You already thanked me, remember pasty?" Duncan responded.

Gwen looked confused before her eyes widened. She then shrugged it off. "Oh, yeah. Right."

Gwen clenched her fist. "I can't believe he didn't hear it." She muttered to herself.

Duncan heard footsteps behind him. "You're back with the towels and paint, DJ?" He turned around, and noticed that it was Gwen who walked up to him.

"I like you." Gwen said.

"...Huh?"

"That's what I said back when you saved me. The boat must have drowned it out. So I'm telling you now."

Duncan blinked a few times. Was he hearing this right?

"Now, I'm not gonna ask you out, because quite frankly, we were a terrible couple. And I'm not gonna talk about the whole journey I had to realizing I felt this way or anything sappy like that. I just don't want to leave the competition with any regrets, and needed to get this off my chest."

Duncan stared at Gwen in silence for a few seconds. "Um...you sure you feel that way?"

Gwen nodded. "Positive." Gwen turned around, heading back to cleaning the windows with Kitty.

Soon, DJ came rushing back in with some towels, and a new bucket of paint. "I'm back!" He noticed Duncan's shocked and confused expression. "Um, did I miss something?"

Night fell. The shortcakes were on the topdeck of the yacht, all sitting in chairs. Kitty was looking very guilty.

The camera panned to the doorway. Bridgette was peeking her head out to take a look.

Chris held up a plate of shrimp. "So, normally, I'd pass these out in order of who has the least votes. You know, people with no votes get the shrimp first, the bottom two being the ones with the most votes. Stuff like that. However, since we all know about Noah's alliance, I think we'll start with the ones we know are safe."

Chris tossed pieces of shrimp to Emma, Kitty, and Noah.

"The next sailor who's safe is...Dawn."

Chris tossed a piece of shrimp to Dawn, who caught it.

Bridgette bit her lip. Both of the remaining two were people she didn't want to go.

"Gwen. You've been deemed to be the biggest threat if the merge comes around and have frequently butted heads with Emma. But you also provide a balanced set of skills, and a sharp mind to the team. Plus, you and Kitty were the only pair to succesfully deliver a golden crate this challenge. Brody. You're dumb as a bag of rocks. But you provide an endless source of positivity, and some not too shabby physical abilities. Along with that, you won the first phase of the challenge for your team."

Both Gwen and Brody looked pretty calm.

"The final shrimp goes to...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

... Gwen."

Chris tossed the shrimp to Gwen. Dawn and Gwen were both somewhat surprised. "Wait, me? But I thought you guys didn't blame Brody for the explosion."

"We don't." Noah said. "But Brody did use up time helping out Leshawna and Bridgette when that time could have been spent getting to the dock."

"But that had nothing to do with you losing the challenge!" Bridgette's voice said. She walked up onto the yach.

"You're not part of the team, Bridgette." Chris said.

"Leshawna and I were already eliminated when Brody and Dawn helped us out." Bridgette pointed out. "Then helping us out isn't what caused their boat to blow up."

"Yeah. This time. What's stopping Brody from doing that in a scenario that does cost us the game though?"

Bridgette glared at Noah, but said nothing.

"Brody..." Kitty said. "I'm sorry.

Brody turned to Kitty and offered a high five. Kitty was surprised, but accepted it. "It's no big deal." Brody said as he stood up. "If I'm gonna get voted out, I'm glad it wasn't because of anything heavy or below the belt. But by just being me, y'know?"

Dawn stood up, and hugged Brody. "Farewell."

"Thanks Dawn." He broke the hug and turned to Bridgette, offering a high five. "So...we cool?"

Bridgette smiled. "Definitely." She high fived Brody.

Soon, the Boat of Losers arrived. Brody walked onto the boat before it took off.

"About time somebody from Ridonculous Race got the boot. As for the rest of you, you're safe...for now."

The contestants broke off, Gwen walking inside with Bridgette. "You ok?" She asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for checking though."

"Honestly, it makes sense that Brody took it so well. He's basically a second Geoff."

Bridgette chuckled. "Guess so." The two entered the dining room, taking a look at the banner that Brody hung up last night. "Hey Gwen. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Gwen smiled. "You wanna throw the party Brody was thinking of, didn't you?"

Bridgette nodded.

The camera cut to a fairly luxurious bedroom. King sized bed, indoor hot tub, plasma screen television And well made paintings of Chris all around. Chris was placing the golden crates on the desk. Chris was talking to someone over his earpiece. "See? I told you everything would work out. ...How was I supposed to know the thief would steal it? It wasn't even the first place prize."

Chris opened up the crates. Within each of them were several stacks of cash. "The point is, the money from the sales we did this challenge more than makes up for 100 grand that Lupin stole. ...Yeah? ...Understood. Don't worry, I won't let this happen again."

Chris hung up, and let out a huge breath of relief. "I gotta find out which one of these kids is Lupin, ASAP."

Votes:

Brody (4): Noah (leader vote), Emma, Kitty

Noah (3): Gwen, Dawn, Brody

Strawberry Shortcakes: Noah, Gwen, Dawn, Emma, Kitty

Killer Blades: Duncan, Bridgette, DJ, Leshawna, Scott, Mike

Team Heather: Heather, B, Harold, Alejandro

Rankings

24th: Justin

23rd: Cody

22nd: Geoff

21st: Sky

20th: Owen

19th: Trent

18th: Sierra

17th: Zoey

16th: Brody

Man. Three months already. Well, at least it's one month shorter than the last gap.

I said this before, but originally Brody was meant to be eliminated much earlier. But I decided to have Geoff eliminated before him so I could focus a bit more on Brody as an individual, and how Bridgette would think of him. I always felt that he came off as more insecure than Geoff did, so I thought I might as well touch on that a bit by having him indirectly be a factor to his best friend's elimination. I also felt that he would make for the best character to try and lighten all the tension that's been going on lately given how he doesn't remotely care about strategy. I was actually considering having Brody make it to the merge, and it would have taken a longer time for him to make things right with Bridgette, but figured that it wouldn't really be in character for Bridgette to hold a grudge for that long, especially for something that wasn't malicious. And also felt that him being eliminated pre-merge would make more sense, Noah deciding to vote him off because of his friendly attitude to opponents.

And yeah, Gwen's mystery crush has finally be revealed to be Duncan. Was probably pretty obvious for those who have read Aura Therapy. How will Duncan react to this? And will Noah and Emma view this as a threat?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!