IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: The title has been changed from Total Drama: Back to Wawanakwa! to Total Drama Generations! Let me know what you think of this new title. I wasn't happy with my original choice and I'm still not sure I'm totally satisfied with this one. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions.
Time for part two of the challenge! Not much to say other than vote on the poll for this story! I will continue to obnoxiously remind you every chapter until the first aftermath!
Time to find out what happens. Are you guys excited?! I'm excited! WOOHOO!
Ahem.
"I don't want to fight you, Izzy," Zoey said anxiously, holding her hands up in a placating gesture.
"Aw c'mon, Izzy saw you on your seasons," Izzy said happily. The zany girl still had her fists raised, and was be-bopping around on the balls of her feet, ducking and swinging her fists in an exaggerated manner, "it'd be a glorious fight! Think of how entertaining it would be to the masses!"
Zoey still didn't look convinced, and was actually rather worried Izzy would just randomly take an actual swing at her. "Okay, sure, it'd be a hoot. I don't want to hurt you, though."
Izzy giggled, her face twisting mischievously, "that's a bold assumption for someone with a flower in their hair.
"Hey!" Zoey brought her hand to her long braid, where the yellow flower lived, "my flower is cute!"
"I think you guys should do it," Noah said, looking between the two. "It's part of our task, and you guys don't really have to wail on each other, right? Just spar a little bit."
"Yeah, listen to Noah!" Izzy said excitedly, "he's the smarty! I mean, just look at the size of his forehead!"
"Well…I guess…if it's for the challenge," Zoey said reluctantly, slowly getting into a fighting stance. "If we have to…I mean-"
"No, seriously, look at it," Izzy interrupted, dashing over to Noah and pulling out a ruler to his immense annoyance. She mashed it up against his face, "this baby has to be at least a quarter mile."
"Izzy, knock it off," Noah grumbled, trying to get the zany redhead off him and failing miserably. "It's not that big."
"It's pretty big, dude," Lightning told him, "Sha-gianormous! Sha-Egghead! Sha-
"Hey," Rodney scolded him, "don't be rude! Just because Noah has a freakishly large forehead doesn't mean we can just make fun of it, even if it is super huge and off putting."
"It's not freakishly large!" Noah snapped, "now shut up and watch these two girls fight!" He finally wrested the ruler from Izzy's hands and snapped it in two. "Jeez!"
Sky walked up to the two girls, a much calmer presence than the rest of her teammates. "Guys, I think you should do it too. It'll be a decent jumpstart on the points," she explained to them, "Rodney can go look for food, and the rest of us can get working on the tent and getting a fire started."
Izzy clapped her hands together twice, grinning, "don't gotta convince me, sister! Let's rumble, Zoey!"
"Okay, fine," Zoey agreed, still looking a little hesitant, "I'm not gonna hold back!"
"I'd be mad if you did," Izzy retorted.
The two took up kung-fu stances and sized each other up. After about five seconds, Zoey did the classic "bring it" hand gesture. Izzy cackled and ran at the Indie Chick. The first strike was from Zoey, which was an open palm strike directed right at Izzy's chest. Izzy twisted out of the way and sent a whirling roundhouse kick towards Zoey, bur Zoey caught the kick with one hand and pushed Izzy back.
"Whoa!" Izzy backflipped onto one hand and then returned to her feet to avoid tumbling into the dirt. "Hey! You're good!"
Zoey punched her palm with a confident smirk. "I know." The fight resumed, but this time Zoey sprinted at Izzy. Izzy tried to sweep her legs out from under her, but Zoey jumped up and made first contact, a solid right hook to the face. Izzy recovered quickly from the hit, though, and shoulder rammed Zoey into the dirt while she was still off balance from her landing. Izzy attempted to karate kick Zoey while she was on the ground, and succeeded in getting a glancing blow on Zoey's ribs as she rolled to the side to dodge.
The two continued to exchange more blows and blocks.
(Confessional: Chris.)
Chris sits on the toilet with a goofy grin on his face. "Man, did you see that catfight? I am so glad our contestants are all safely over legal age now, the stuff we get is so much jucier!" He rubs his hands together.
A noise is heard from outside the Confessional. T the door opens to reveal Rodney, an equally goofy grin on his face, and Chris gives him a strange look. "Oh, sorry," Rodney apologizes, "I didn't realize someone was in here."
"Come to talk about the catfight?" Chris asked, a small grin on his face.
Rodney flushed, "yeah."
"Sweet, eh?"
"Sweet." Rodney agreed. The two exchanged a fist bump, and Rodney turns to look the camera dead in the soul. "Their boobs jiggled nicely when they were fighting."
Chris, who was looking relaxed at first despite the interruption, looks skeeved out at this comment, and shies away from Rodney a little bit. "Jeez, Rodney. I take back my fist bump."
"Oh, sorry," Rodney said, going even more crimson, "I kinda forgot you were in here. I was lost in the…" he trails off, heaving a dreamy sigh, "mammaries…uh, I mean memories!"
"Dude, just get out," Chris says flatly, and Rodney retracts his head from the Confessional in shame. The door closes, and Chris turns to look at the camera. "That guy… has issues."
(End Confessional: Chris.)
The fight continued, but it was clear that Zoey was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed. Their four teammates, despite the fact that they could have and should have been setting up the rest of camp, found it hard to look away from the spectacle.
Zoey attempted to block the rapid flurry of punches and kicks that was Izzy, but she kept getting grazed here and knocked there. Getting more flustered and annoyed, she grit her teeth in pain as Izzy hip-threw her onto the ground. Suddenly, a Ding was heard from behind them.
A TV rose out of the dirt, and Chris's voice was heard. "You've completed a challenge!"
Izzy's fist stopped inches from Zoey's nose. "Aww," The crazy girl pouted, "no fun!"
Zoey, who was on the ground and panting heavily, coughed. "Wow, Izzy, you're really good," she said politely.
Izzy offered Zoey a hand and she took it gratefully. She was hoisted to her feet and dusted herself off. "No offense," Izzy told her, "but Izzy thought you'd be better. You kicked Chef's butt once, and that's not easy to do!" Little did Izzy know, Chef let out a happy squeal from his place in the surveillance room.
"Yeah, but I was in a dark place when I did that," Zoey told her.
"You mean what fans call 'Commando Zoey'?" Noah asked.
"Yeah," Zoey agreed, "but I think it's better for everyone if Commando Zoey never makes an appearance again.
Rodney gulped, "C-c-c-commando?" He winced, "uh, I'm gonna go find us some food!" He said, suddenly sprinting into the woods. The rest of his team gave his large back a weird look, especially since the farm boy was staring straight up. He plowed right through a small tree and continued deeper into the woods, unbothered.
"Ooh, new mission," Izzy said, walking over to the tent with Zoey, "we're gonna let you channel the fighting prowess of your inner Commando, without getting all brutal and barbaric!"
Zoey offered the girl a friendly smile, "I doubt it's that simple, but I guess we can try!"
"Alright team, as fun as this has been," Lightning said, "can we get these challenges done?"
"Sure, let's go get some firewood." Noah told him, beginning to walk off towards the forest.
"Oh, I'll come with you guys!" Sky said happily.
Noah turned to face her, unamused. "Help Zoey and Izzy with the tent. We won't be gone long."
Sky didn't look too happy about this, but didn't want to put up a fuss. "Okay, I guess."
(Confessional: Noah.)
"Finally," Noah rolls his eyes, "I get Lightning away from his second shadow. The fact that he's developed some semblance of social skills and smarts makes him one of the most formidable players in the game. If we were able to team up I think we'd be a pretty unstoppable duo, but it's been hard to get him alone with Sky crawling all over him."
(End Confesional: Noah.)
"Ooh, piece of wood!" Lightning said happily, bending down to pick up a piece of wood. He saw another. "Ooh, piece of wood! Ooh, piece of wood! Ooh, piece of wood! Ooh, piece of-"
"Yes, there's lots of wood," Noah said impatiently, "listen, Lightning, what do you think of the others on the team?"
Lightning straightened up, his arms full of wood. "Lightning's teammates? They're okay. Izzy is crazy and Rodney's a little weird. Don't think Zoey likes the Lightning much either. Sky is cool. Why you asking anyways?"
"I just think it might be smart to be in an alliance," Noah offered, getting right to the point. "If you, me and Izzy team up, we can get Sky too and have majority."
"Hmm," Lightning tossed the twenty-or-so pieces of wood up into the air and caught them one by one so they stacked together nicely, "Lightning's trying to play a clean game this time, Big-Forehead-Guy."
"Just Noah is fine," Noah said flatly.
"Anyways, Lightning don't need an alliance before the merge. He's gonna be the best team player he can be! We ain't even gonna lose!"
Noah did not look happy with this, "are you sure? You're so strong, people might target you so you don't make the merge."
Lightning rolled his eyes, "maybe they'll target you cause you're so sha-scrawny. Maybe you are just tryna buddy with me cause you're worried about you."
Noah didn't let himself look rattled by Lightning's observation, and bent down to pick up a stick. "Whatever, dude. If you don't want to ally, on your head be it."
"Sha-whatever indeed." Lightning began jogging back to the campsite. "C'mon, we gotta get this campfire going."
(Confessional: Noah.)
"Well, that was pretty much a complete disaster," Noah sighs, "Guess I'll have to just stick with Izzy for now. Maybe we can make nice with Zoey. Love-puppy Sky will probably vote with Lightning and Rodney is too much of a wildcard, so we at least need one extra person besides me and Nutzy to force a tie." He shakes his head, "this is gonna be brutal."
(End Confessional: Noah.)
"Alright, so that's what, 20 points?" Jo asked, looking at the crackling fire and the setup tent.
Duncan observed the board, "Yup. 130 more to go," he straightened up and looked at the rest of his team. "So, what next?"
"Jo, you're probably the toughest person on the team," Beardo told her, "would you wanna find and taunt a bear?"
Jo thought about it for a second, but ultimately shook her head. "Nah, we could waste tons of valuable time and not even find a stupid bear. Let's just get the rest of these tasks done."
"Uh, hold on a second," Duncan interrupted, shooting a look at Beardo, "who said Jo was the toughest person on the team?"
"Yeah," Scott agreed, "I've been through way more heinous injuries than you, Jo."
Jo laughed, "yeah, because you're a dumb loser that gets hurt because you're not smart enough to avoid it."
"Nuh-uh," Scott crossed his arms, "I'd like to see how you would've fared if you had a mutant shark after you all season."
"I woulda beat the snot out of it and made myself a nice pair of sharkskin boots." Jo told him.
"Sure you would've," Scott mocked, "say, didn't you get kicked out third last time we played?"
"Hah, yeah she did," Duncan added, "before that fat gamer dude too! Bet that musta stung, huh Jo?"
Jo's eye twitched, and she raised a fist threateningly, "you two better shut up before I shut you up."
"You don't scare me, Jo," Duncan rolled his eyes, "you're all talk."
Jo walked forward and hoisted Duncan up by his shirt. Since he was rather short, his feet dangled a couple of inches off the ground. "Wanna bet?"
"Hah. There were scarier looking cripples in jail," Duncan snorted, "now get your hands off me before I make you get your hands off me."
Two two growled at each other, glaring razor-sharp daggers.
"Oh my God, knock it off you two," came a voice, making the two look over.
Gwen glared at them, "we are on the same freakin' team, okay? So knock off this stupid Weiner measuring contest and let's win this thing, okay?" Duncan took this interruption to wiggle out of Jo's grasp, and Jo let him go without resistance.
"I dunno," Scott offered with a devious smirk, "fighting one another is one of the requirements for this stupid challenge."
Everyone paused at this, and Jo and Duncan shot each other a vicious grin. They both let out a battle cry as they dove at each other, and began wrestling viciously with each other.
"Ugh," Gwens blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Well, if it's for the challenge, I guess."
Sammy took a look around her at the rest of her teammates. Beardo was warming his hands by the fire, Gwen was looking at the grappling Jo and Duncan with contempt, and Scott was wringing his hands together as he chuckled darkly to himself.
"Uhh…Scott? What are you doing?" Sammy asked him.
Scott stopped his scummy mannerisms and quickly straightened up, whistling nonchalantly. "Uh, just thinking," he told her.
"Do you always rub your hands together and chuckle evilly when you think?" Sammy raised her eyebrows.
Scott crossed his arms and gave her the stink eye, "do you always ask such obnoxious, intrusive questions?"
Sammy flinched, "Uh, I didn't think I was being intrusive, but whatever." An idea seemed to strike her, and she quickly looked over to Gwen and then back at Scott. "Say, Scott, let's go hunting for some food, okay? I bet we can find something."
Scott didn't look happy about this, but began to walk off towards the forest anyways, "well, I know I'm good at foraging stuff, but I don't know what good some sissy whiny loser would do."
"Hmph," Sammy glared at the back of his head, but quickly jogged to catch up to him. After walking for a few seconds, she stopped and turned around. "Hold on a sec, I gotta run back to camp and grab a bag."
"Ugh," Scott whined, "god…whatever, slow me down, why don't you?"
Sammy ignored him and jogged the sixty or so feet back to the camp, where Duncan and Jo were still wrestling and Gwen was sitting by the fire, ignoring them.
"Where's Beardo?" Sammy asked Gwen, looking around for the chubby beatboxer.
Gwen shrugged, "he said he'd be right back, but I dunno what he's up to. As for the Wonder Twins," she jerked her thumb at Jo and Duncan, "they completed their challenge fifteen seconds ago, but they're too engrossed to have heard the notification."
Sammy leant closer to Gwen and put her hand up to her mouth. Gwen, curious, leaned her ear towards the ex-cheerleader. "So," Sammy whispered, "I'm gonna go get food with Scott, and I'll try and convince him to vote for Duncan when we lose for the first time. Sound good?"
Gwen turned a contemptuous glance towards the still wrestling Duncan and Jo and turned back to Sammy. "Sounds great."
Sammy gave her a thumbs up. "Alright!"
(Confessional: Scott.)
"Sammy's up to something," Scott confesses, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "she wanted to get me alone to talk to me about something, but I wonder about what…maybe she wants to vote off Jo. That'd be sweet."
(End Confessional: Scott.)
(Confessional: Duncan.)
A roughed up Duncan puts an icepack to his head. "Man, I gotta stop rising to Jo's bait," he laments, wincing. "As if I really give a crap about who the toughest person in the team is… but damnit, she's just so abrasive! I feel like I have to prove her wrong!" He sighs, and winces again, "Ow…."
(End Confessional: Duncan.)
Over at the Oddball campsite, things were going…rather well, actually.
"Alright!" Owen cheered, "we have fire and we have tent! Awesome, baby!"
"That's only 20 points, though," Brick told him, "we need more."
"Well I know a good way to get 70," Jasmine smirked. "I'm gonna go find a bear and taunt that sucker."
"You're really gonna do that," Bridgette asked nervously, "that's really dangerous!"
"Pfft, I'm from Australia, Bridgette. We've got more menacing house spiders."
Brick shivered at that, "yuck…"
"Do you want some help, Jazz?" Shawn asked her, "might be faster with the two of us if we combine our tracking skills."
Jasmine looked at the rest of her team. Owen was gnawing on some beef jerky, Bridgette was looking into the forest nervously, and Brick was at the ready. "How about you help the others find some food," Jasmine offered, "we're gonna need a bunch if we wanna get that task done about feeding the whole team."
Shawn looked a little disappointed, but nodded. "Alright, that's fair."
Jasmine put a hand on his shoulder, "don't get me wrong, Shawn, I'd love for you to come with, but we gotta put the challenge first."
Owen walked over to the two and clapped Jasmine on the back, making her wince, "don't worry Jasmine," he told her happily, "I'll take care of the food situation. I just gotta find me a river and then it's fish city, baby!"
Jasmine didn't look particularly convinced, "I dunno…"
"Seriously, I got this! You two should go kick a bears butt," the chubby boy shot Shawn a thumbs up, and Shawn smiled gratefully in return.
Jasmine still looked a little reluctant, but when she saw the content look on Shawn's face she relented. "Alright," she said with a little smile at Shawn, "let's go, babe."
The two ran off into the forest, and the three remaining Oddballs looked around at each other.
"So, Owen's gonna go get the food," Brick said, "but what should Bridgette and I do?"
"I'm fine with anything as long as we stay near the campsite," Bridgette said, still peering nervously into the forest, "I'd rather not go into the forest with such small groups."
"Well, I'm off to get some food. See you guys in a bit," Owen said, hoofing it into the forest.
Bridgette and Brick looked at each other, then walked over to the list and examined it.
"Uh, do you dance?" Bridgette asked Brick.
Brick shook his head. "Negative. Do you?"
"Yeah," Bridgette shrugged, "I've always liked to let loose on the dance floor."
"I'm guessing Owen would likely be your best competition for a dance-off." Brick told her, walking over to the fire, "there is one thing I feel I can do for my team, though."
"What's that?" Bridgette asked.
Brick bent down and scooped up a small handful of dirt. "This will not be enjoyable," he shuddered, quickly pouring the dirt into his mouth. He didn't bother chewing it and just swallowed, but immediately gagged and began coughing.
"Whoa!" Bridgette hurried over to Brick and began patting him on the back. "Brick, you okay?"
"Fine, fine," Brick wheezed, continuing to cough and hack. Eventually he settled down and straightened up, panting. "That was disgusting."
"You've completed a challenge!"
"Nice work, though," the surfer smiled at him, "a cool 10 points."
Brick wiped dirt-spittle off his mouth and headed over to one of the packs, snagging a bottle of water. He rinsed his mouth out and spat. "That's better. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you, Bridgette."
"Oh? What about?"
"We're in trouble," he told her, "Shawn and Jasmine are a strong couple and Owen has become good friends with Shawn. We need to stick together otherwise we'll be picked off one by one. We need to break up that power couple."
"Sure," Bridgette agreed, "but just the two of us won't be enough. It'll still be three of them against two of us."
"You and Owen are friends, right? Any chance you can convince him to switch platoons?" Brick asked, "Owen seems to be closer to Shawn, so maybe we can get him to vote out Jasmine."
"I don't know…I mean I can try," Bridgette said uncertainly.
"That's all you can do," Brick told her, "but we seem to be a pretty good team. I doubt we'll lose many challenges."
"Yeah," Bridgette looked a little pacified, "let's just focus on winning challenges, but I'm down to be in an alliance."
Brick held out a hand, "alright then, partner."
Bridgette shook his hand.
"I'm back!" Rodney called out from the bushes.
Around the blazing campfire, the five other Alphas turned to look as Rodney stomped into the campsite. He had half a dozen fish tied together, and also what looked like four skinned rabbits at his belt.
"Good thing DJ isn't here," Izzy giggled, eyeing the skinned rabbits.
"Or Bridgette." Noah added, "Nice haul, Rodney."
"Thanks," The farm boy smiled, "should be enough for everyone. What'd you guys get done?"
"A lot, actually," Noah said, beginning to tick off his fingers, "tent is done, fire is up, Izzy ate some dirt, and Izzy and Lightning had a dance off. With enough food for the whole team and counting Izzy and Zoey's sparring match, that puts us at…70 points."
"We'll have 85 if one of us eats a raw fish," Sky added.
"Ooh, me! I'll do it!" Izzy said, walking up to Rodney and swiping a fish from the bundle. "Cheers, guys!" She said, toasting her teammates with the wriggling, slimy fish. She then took a massive bite out of it. Chewing, her eyes widened and she winced in pain. "Ah! Bone splinter!" She spit out a fishbone. "Ew!"
"You've completed a challenge!"
Zoey looked at the retreating TV. "Nice, looks like you don't have to eat the whole thing." She gave Izzy a weird look, "uh, where's the rest of the fish?"
Izzy burped up a fishbone and gave her stomach a hearty pat, "sorry, I was hungry!"
Zoey shuddered, queasy.
"Alright, that's 85. We need 65 more to pass," Noah said, examining the board.
"Yo, how much does that bear challenge get us?" Lightning asked from the fire.
"70," Noah replied, "which would be enough, but I don't think any of us want to go out and taunt a bear."
"Pfft, Lightning'll do it," Lightning said, "once he fills his tummy it'll be," he flexed his muscles, "sha-easy!"
"I dunno, Lightning," sky said, a little worried, "that's pretty dangerous. Bears are fast."
"Ain't nothing faster than the Lightning," Lightning assured her, "like he said. Sha. Easy!"
"Well, you can go look for a bear if you want," Zoey told him.
"But there's no guarantee you'll actually find one," Noah added, and the two exchanged a knowing look.
"We'll need to have a back up plan," Zoey told him, "and Lightning, you need to accept the responsibility that if something happens to you while you're searching and we lose because of it, we're not gonna have much of a choice on who to vote off."
"Y'all worry to much," Lightning grumbled, looking a little offended. "Lightning will be fine. Now let's get some food cooking."
"Alright then," Noah and Zoey agreed, "Who's on Chef duty?" The egghead asked.
"I got this," Rodney said confidently, "me and my brothers went camping on the outskirts of our farm all the time. Heck, I'm probably more comfortable cooking on campfire spit than a gas oven."
"Okie-dokie," Zoey said, "we'll leave it in your hands, Rodney."
As Rodney busied himself finding some sticks to make a decent spit, the rest of the Alphas regrouped.
"So, what else can we do?" Zoey asked.
"Ooh, let's go for a swim while Rodney cooks," Izzy suggested, "that could be fun!"
"I mean for the challenge," Zoey told her, "and besides, I didn't bring my suit."
"There's not much we can do, unless we wanna wipe our butts with scratchy leaves," Noah said. "Everything else either involves the bear, sleeping outside the tent, or getting everyone up before the sun rises."
"Hopefully we won't need to do any of that if Lightning can find the bear," Sky said, "speaking of which," she turned to the strong jock, "do you want some help finding one? It might be better to have more than one person looking."
"Lightning appreciates the offer, Shorty," Lightning said kindly, patting an unamused Sky on top of her head, "but Lightning thinks it'll be quicker and safer if he's by himself. No offense, but he prefers to work alone."
Sky looked a little crestfallen. "Okay…"
"I don't think there's anything we can do," Noah said, "let's just relax for a little bit and eat up. We'll know what we have to do if Lightning can't find a bear, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Just make sure you do it fast," Zoey added to Lightning, "it's gonna start getting dark soon."
"You can count on the Lightning!"
"So…Scott…" Sammy said awkwardly.
The two had been foraging for berries but hadn't had a ton of luck.
Scott sighed impatiently, "what?"
"I was just wondering…who were you planning on voting for when we lose for the first time?"
Scott rolled his eyes, "might be you if you keep up these annoying questions."
Sammy flinched, "well…I was thinking, err, we were thinking of someone to vote off, but we'd need your help."
Scott, who had been a few paces ahead of Sammy, stopped abruptly and turned sharply to face the cheerleader. "I'm listening," he said seriously.
"Well, you'll have to promise not to tell anyone," Sammy said nervously.
"That's a pretty naive thing to ask of me," Scott rolled his eyes, "but look, I've been thinking I would probably first boot from this team since you all are a bunch of softies. If it means I don't get eliminated, I'll keep your secret plan secret. Now, spill."
Sammy looked at Scott for a moment, then finally spilled. "Gwen wants to kick Duncan off."
Scott initially looked surprised, but quickly knit his face into one of nonchalance. "Huh, I thought it would be Jo you guys would be targeting, but that's fine with me. That jerk annoys me."
"R-really? You're down for it?" Sammy asked, eyes wide.
"Sure," Scott said, eyeing the surprised blonde. "Look toots, it seems you got a lot to learn about strategy in this game. Stick with me, and maybe I can teach you."
Sammy let out a little giggle, startling him. "Sorry Scott, I'm not that gullible," she said playfully.
Scott lost his startled expression and shot her a crooked grin. "Eh, it was worth a try."
"Whatever you say. Now c'mon, this won't be nearly enough food."
Back at the Nuclear campsite, Duncan and Jo had finally stopped fighting and Jo had gone off in search of the still absent Beardo. That left Gwen and Duncan alone at the campsite.
"Ugh, why do I let myself stoop to her level," Duncan complained, sitting down on the ground next to a still irritable Gwen.
Gwen scoffed and rolled her eyes, "it's a mystery." She eyes the disheveled delinquent, "and you got your butt kicked."
"I know," Duncan grumbled, "she's gonna pay." He quickly widened his eyes as he realized what he said. After looking around the campground and seeing no one was there, he relaxed. "If you ever tell Jo I admitted to that," he warned.
Gwen cracked a smile, "you'll what?"
"I'll…" Duncan tried to come up with something good, "dye your hair pink in your sleep."
"You wouldn't dare," Gwen smirked, "you'd be so dead."
"Seeing you with pink hair might be worth it though," Duncan joked, and the two shared a quick laugh.
However, Gwen seemed to realize what was happening, and quickly wiped the smile off her face and quieted down. She angled her body a little way from the punk and blew her bangs out of her face.
Duncan noticed and reclined against a nearby log, the very picture of relaxation . "So," he ventured, "you catch the most recent Alien Massacre movie?"
"Yup," Gwen said shortly.
There was a few seconds of silence before Duncan tried again. "Personally, I thought the third one was better," he dropped his voice into a gritty growl, "Alien Massacre III, Massacre of the Aliens, Part III!"
Gwen digested this as she fought the emotions inside her. Part of her wanted to continue to ignore the punk, but the other part couldn't let him get away with the blasphemy he had just spouted. She whipped around to face him, offended. "As if. The second one will always be the best."
"The second one?" Duncan laughed, his tone mocking, "Alien Massacre II, Massacre in the Mines? As if! When the dude picks his pickaxe up and is all 'men! We must rally!'? I mean, come on!"
"What do you mean, 'come on'?" Gwen retaliated, "that was an epic speech!"
"Epicly dorky, maybe," Duncan smirked.
"Your face is epicly dorky," Gwen retorted, her own smirk threatening to return.
"Ooh, ouch, sick burn," Duncan mocked, "I dunno how I'll ever recover."
Gwen rolled her eyes and let out another dry laugh, "I'm sure you'll manage."
"Seriously, though, Alien Massacre III might've bit, but the newest Elmridge Slaughterhouse was amazing."
"That we can agree on," Gwen said with a nod, "when that little kid finds his dead grandpas feet dangling out of the air duct?"
"Or when the guy gets gored by the crane hook!" Duncan said with a dark chuckle.
The two continued to talk about horror movies as the sun began to sink down on the horizon.
Shawn and Jasmine were confidently running through the woods.
"Alright," Shawn said, looking at the ground as he ran. "These tracks are old, but there's multiple sets of 'em. Probably lead us right back to it's cave."
"Perfect," Jasmine told him, "then I run in, taunt the bugger, and we skedaddle. Easy as pie."
"Easy as pie," Shawn agreed. They continued running for a little while before finally reaching an ominous looking cave. Little did they know, it was the very cave Katie and Sadie had gotten lost in many years prior. "Alright, we're here," Shawn told her, "let's get to it!"
"Alright. You keep watch, I'll make sure the bear is actually home," Jasmine told him, jogging into the cave. She peered around, a little nervous because of of her fear of confined spaces, but kept her nerve. It helped that the cave was rather open and spacious, and she squinted around in the dim light looking for the bear. Luckily for her, the bear was sleeping soundly on the floor of the cave, snoring slightly.
"Perfect," Jasmine grinned, running up to the bear and giving it a firm poke on the nose. As it began to wake up, she blew a raspberry at it, and booked it.
"Alright Shawn let's move it!" She cheered as she bolted out of the cave. Shawn watched her go before hearing some disgruntled bear noises, and he too began to run off screen.
"You've completed a challenge!"
Brick and Bridgette looked at each other, surprised. It was starting to turn into dusk, and the sky was beginning to get a little orange.
"Huh, I wonder what that was," Brick said, "Shawn and Jasmine, or Owen?"
"Who knows, but either way we just got some points."
"Woohoo!" Came a voice from the forest. Heavy footfalls shook the earth as the joyful Owen emerged into the campsite, a bunch of fish tied up in his arms. "Can someone say dinner?!
"You've completed a challenge!"
"Wow, Owen!" Brick cheered, "what a haul!"
There had to have been a dozen fish, at least. Owen walked up to the fire and began setting up a spit. "Brick, you know how to gut fish?" He asked the cadet.
Brick saluted, "absolutely! That's a basic survival skill we learned in bootcamp!"
"Cool!" Owen tossed him a couple of fish, and Brick pulled out a utility blade from his combat belt. While Brick started gutting, Owen turned to Bridgette. "Hey Bridgette, I wasn't able to find any berries or something vegetarian for you," he looked down at the ground sadly, "I'm sorry…"
"Aw, don't worry about it, Owen!" Bridgette told him warmly, giving the sad guy a quick hug. "We brought some granola bars, I'll just have a couple of those! It'll be good enough for one night."
"Still, I feel bad," Owen sighed. The boy sat down next to the fire with a big thud and began working on a makeshift rack to cook the fish on. "Jerky and granola bars are good," the Fatboy said wisely, "but there's something about grilled meat that really brings out your primal instincts…mmmm…" he sucked a bit of drool back into his mouth and continued working.
More rustling, and Shawn and Jasmine burst gracefully into the campsite from the trees, breathless and grinning.
Brick eyed their smiles. "I take it you guys accomplished your mission?"
"You bet we did!" Shawn said happily. He and Jasmine walked over to the campfire, holding hands, and eyed all the fish.
"Wow, Owen," Jasmine seemed impressed, "you caught all these?"
"Yup! I've always had a knack for fishing," Owen told her. He finished his little grill rack and hung it over the fire. "Alright, I'm gonna help Brick gut the rest of these fish, then it's cooking city!"
"I'll take care of the rest, soldier," Brick said in his commanding voice, "you've done enough."
Owen paused from his attempt to leave the ground and shrugged, thudding back down. Instead, he grabbed the bundle of fish and tossed it at Brick. The bundle hit him in the face and he got fish slime all over his face. "Whoops, sorry…"
As Brick gagged and cleaned himself off, Jasmine let go of Shawn's hand and headed over to the noticeboard. "So," the Ozzie asked, "how many points do we need now?"
Bridgette joined her, "Brick ate some dirt while you were gone, so that means we were at 30. If we add the 70 from the bear and the 20 from finding enough food, that puts us at 120."
"Only 30 more," Jasmine said, "not bad." She scanned the list, "so, what are the odds of us all sleeping outside the tent?"
"I'd guess not good," Owen called from the fire. "Bridgette hates the woods so she probably wants to be in the tent."
Jasmine gave Bridgette a curious look, "really?"
"It's true," Bridgette admitted, "I don't think I'd feel comfortable with the sleeping outside thing."
"Alright, well let's see what our other options are." Shawn said, joining the two girls. "I know for a fact I can get everyone up before dawn, so that'll be another 20 points. We just need something that's 10 points…and I know just the thing!" He turned to Brick, "Oi, Brick! Toss me an un-gutted fish!"
Brick nodded and tossed the survivalist a fish. Without hesitation, he took a ginormous bite out of it's head.
Bridgette turned green and looked away. "Ugh, gross!"
Shawn chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. After a second, he pounded his chest, and burped up a pointy fish bone. "Fish bones," he told his teammates, "they can make excellent projectiles in the zombie apocalypse," he pocketed the bone.
"You've completed a challenge!"
"And we're done," Shawn smirked, tossing the rest of the fish into the bushes behind him.
"How can you just eat that?" Brick asked, looking a little queasy.
"I ate tree bark and moss last season," Shawn told him, heading back to the cozy fire and settling down, "this was a five-star meal compared to that stuff."
"Just don't expect me to kiss you anytime soon, fish-breath," Jasmine teased, ruffling his beanie-clad head as she sat next to him.
"So we just have to trust Shawn to get us up before dawn, huh?" Owen said. He began to lay the fish out on his makeshift grill, and they made pleasant sizzling noises as they began to cook. "That's a shame, I was kinda looking forward to a dance-off!" He leapt to his feet and hit the nae-nae. "Juju on that beat am I right, fellow kids?!"
(Confessional: Jasmine.)
Jasmine rolls her eyes, "That Owen bloke is something else, isn't he?" She says, unable to keep a smile off her face.
(End Confessional: Jasmine.)
(Confessional: Owen.)
Owen furiously nae-naes until he slips on the floor and wipes out. A fart sound and pained grunt is heard off-camera from the ground.
(End Confessional: Owen.)
Lightning jogged through the forest. It was beginning to get dark out, and the jock was a little nervous. "Sha-crap," he grumbled, "Lightning doesn't remember which way the camp was!"
He continued to jog around the forest, at this point just looking for his campsite rather than try to find a bear. The sun was quickly changed from orange to purple, and after purple came nighttime.
"Sha-crap-crap-crap!" Lightning yelled out, visibly frustrated.
He continued to run around, and eventually, by sheer coincidence, he found himself at the bear cave.
"Oh snap, Lightning found it!" Lightning exclaimed. He quickly lost his surprised look and adorned one of cockiness, "Uh, he means, uh, he knew he'd find it! Lightning wasn't worried at all. Nuh-uh!" He strode confidently into the den. "Here beary-beary-bear!" He yelled, "you should fear, cause Lightning's here!"
There was some grumbling from deep inside the cave, and Lightning continued on, undeterred.
"Man, it's dark in here," the jock observed. He crashed into something suddenly, and cried out in surprise. "Hey! What's this soft, fuzzy thing Lightning just hit? It's making all kinds of noise, too! Sha-OW! What are these sharp things that feel suspiciously like teeth!" There was sudden light as the bear Lightning had crashed into turned on a headlamp strapped to its head and shined it down on the jock. Lightning stared at it for a good three seconds before screaming like a little girl and turning to run. He ran almost to the mouth of the cave as the bear looked after it, perplexed. Right at the edge of the cave, Lightning stopped, still screaming, and turned around. He beelined back towards the bear. The bear watched as Lightning ran up to it and booped it on its nose, making it jump. Lightning stopped his screaming just long enough to yell, "Sha-boop! Gotcha nose!" before resuming his screaming and leaving the cave.
The bear shook its massive, furry head and sighed. It switched off its headlamp and plodded back into the cave.
(Confessional: Bear.)
The bear, still donning its hardhat/headlamp, looks disgruntled and irritated. As it grunts and snorts, subtitles appear underneath it. "I don't understand why these people keep bothering me. I'm just trying to work on my home renovations. Stupid nerds.
(End Confessional: Bear.)
"You've completed a challenge!"
The five Alphas looked around in surprise at the noise.
"Huh, looks like Lightning came through!" Zoey said, surprised.
The Alphas were sitting calmly around the fire, cooking Rodney's food and chatting amicably. Notably, Rodney had been a lot more relaxed talking to the girls.
"Like there was any doubt he would," Sky told Zoey, a trace of haughtiness in her voice. "You don't give him enough credit."
"And you don't know him like I do," Zoey retorted, "maybe he's a bit nicer than he used to be, but those memories of him are still in my mind. I can't just forget them."
"I watched Revenge of the Island and All-Stars," Sky shot back, "he wasn't that bad at all. Nothing like Scarlett or Max or Sugar or Dave or Leonard or-"
"We get it," Noah interrupted, "your season was full of wackjobs. Want a medal?"
Sky glared at him. "I just think you all should cut Lightning a break."
"Of course you do," Noah rolled his eyes.
Sky hunched up her shoulders, "what is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing," Noah said nonchalantly.
Awkward silence followed. Eventually, Izzy turned to Rodney, hoping to break it. "Say, Rodney," she said, "you've been more relaxed around us chicas. What's up with that?"
Rodney took a bite of fish and stared at the fire thoughtfully, "I dunno…maybe being out in nature makes me feel more in my element. I feel more like I'm at home and more relaxed."
"That's nice, Rodney," Zoey said positively.
"Yup, I'm taking it one step at a time," Rodney said, taking another bite of fish. "I just hope Lightning makes it back in time. It's officially dark out now."
As if on cue, screaming could be heard in the distance.
Sky shot to her feet. "Did you guys hear that?"
Zoey was on her feet in a second too, "I did!"
Another scream.
"Let's go!" The two girls said in unison. They began running towards the source of the screaming. As they got closer, they began to make out words like "where the heck is Lightning?" And "Holy crap it's dark!" And "AUGHUGHUH!"
Zoey and Sky exchanged a glance as they ran. "It's Lightning," Zoey said, a little relieved, "that's good."
"Hopefully he wasn't hurt. I knew someone should've gone with him for the bear," Sky lamented. "Lightning! Lightning!"
The camera cut to Lightning, who was blindly sprinting through the woods, panicking. He stopped at the sound and skidded to a halt. "Shorty?" He began jogging towards the voice. "Shorty! Where are you?!"
"We're over here!" Came Zoey's voice from the dark. Lightning ran towards it and crashed into something soft and warm. He hit the dirt and crunched the poor person underneath him.
"Oh snap!" Lightning hoisted Sky to her feet, "sorry, Shorty!" He gave her a rib crushing hug. "Lightning is so glad he found you guys! He thought he'd be lost forever!" He let go of Sky and made to give Zoey a hug, but she put her hands up and shook her head. Lightning awkwardly dropped his arms.
Sky, glad the darkness hid her flaming cheeks, pat Lightning on the shoulder, "Are you okay? She asked, "you're not hurt?"
"Depends," Lightning said, "did y'all hear Lightning screaming and panicking?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well then the only thing hurt is his integrity," he sighed. "Y'all know the way back to camp?"
"It's this way," Zoey said, "let's go. We have enough points now."
Sky and Lightning followed Zoey and before they knew it they were back at camp.
"Alright Lightning!" Rodney complimented, "nice work on the bear, dude!"
"Thanks," Lightning said, plopping down, "any more food left?"
Izzy tossed him a rabbit leg, and the jock went to town on it.
"Okay, we're back," Jo said, emerging into the shadowy light with Beardo in tow.
"Finally," Sammy exclaimed, "we were getting worried about you! Where were you guys?"
"Relax," Jo told her. The rest noticed her bulging sweatshirt pockets, "I tracked down Beardo, and it turns out he found a bunch of berry bushes. We got so many so this has to be enough."
Sure enough, "You've completed a challenge!"
"That puts us at 60," Gwen said, "we still need 90 points."
"Well what about a dance off?" Duncan suggested.
"No way, I don't dance," Gwen, Scott and Jo said at the exact same time.
"Oo-kay," Duncan said, giving them weird looks. "Beatbox, what about you?"
"Sorry man, I just make dance music." Beard shook his head.
"Sammy?"
The cheerleader shook her head, embarrassed, "I…don't think so. Too embarrassing."
Duncan looked annoyed, "ugh, fine. Well then I guess we're all wiping with leaves."
"Sure, only sissies wouldn't want to do that," Jo told him. "That's 30 points. We'll get another 30 if we all sleep outside and get up before sunrise. That'll give us 120 points. Still need 30 more."
"What about the dirt eating?" Gwen asked.
Scott stepped up. "Well, we do wanna win," he said, stooping down to grab a handful of soil, "and I'd be lying if I said this was my first time." He grabbed the small handful of dirt and toasted the others. "Cheers, losers."
"Ew," Sammy gagged, turning away. "Are you really gonna do that."
Scott shrugged and downed the whole handful.
"You've completed a challenge!"
"Okay," Jo gave him a weird look, "that'll still need us to get 20 points. We don't have any fish, raw or otherwise, and if no one is having a dance off…crap!"
"What is it?" Beardo asked, worried.
"We'll need to track down a bear!" Jo clapped her hand to her forehead, "we can't get enough points anyways."
Scott wiped dirt crumbs from his mouth, "screw that, I'll take a dance off over having to mess with a bear any day."
"It still won't be enough, we'll be five points off." Gwen sighed.
"Well we're not hunting a bear down in the dark without any light source, that's for sure," Jo said, "we'll just have to make a detour in the morning."
"No way, we'll totally be in last if we have to do that," Duncan complained.
"We don't have a choice!" Jo snapped.
"This sucks," Scott grumbled.
"Shut it, dirt face!"
(Confessional: Scott.)
"People are so judgmental," Scott says with a roll of his eyes. "Dirt ain't that bad. There are worse things to be forced to choke down."
The door opens, and Josee sticks her head in the Confessional, venom in her tone. "Like a silver medal!" She hocks up a loogie and spits on the floor.
Scott nods his head sagely, eyes closed. "Exactly…" his eyes shoot open, "wait, what the fu-"
(End Confessional: Scott.)
"You sure you're okay to keep watch, Shawn?" Jasmine asked her boyfriend, "want me to stay up with you?"
"No way Jazz, I got this." Shawn said confidently as he scaled a tree. "You can't afford to dose off in the apocalypse, so I'm an expert at staying awake. This measly ten hours won't be a problem at all!" He found a good spot and nestled in, "besides, I can tell it'll be exactly 9 hours 42 minutes until sunrise. I'll get you all up in time."
Jasmine scaled an adjacent tree, "alright, if you're sure." She looked down at Brick, Bridgette and Owen, all of whom were climbing into the tent. "G'night, guys!"
"Night!" Bridgette called, waving to them. They disappeared into the tent and zipped it up.
"I'm surprised Owen didn't want to sleep up here with us," Jasmine said to Shawn.
Shawn shrugged, "I dunno, he might have trouble finding a branch that supports his weight."
Jasmine snorted. "That's probably it."
"Okay, who's keeping watch for sunlight?" Noah asked.
"Izzy will do it!" Izzy volunteered, "Just let me get a couple hours of sleep first!"
"We could do two watches," Rodney suggested, "one of us stays up for a couple more hours and then wakes Izzy up to switch out?"
"Good idea," Noah said, "I'll take first watch."
"You sure?" Zoey asked him.
Noah held up a book, "as long as I have light for the fire, I'll be fine."
"Alright! Tent party!" Izzy cheered, diving into the tent. "Let's do it!"
"I'm gonna sleep outside the tent," Rodney told his team, "I'd just take up too much space."
"Yeah, that's true," Sky said, "alright then. Goodnight guys!"
The six Nuclears were lying outside on the hard ground.
"I can't believe we have to sleep on the ground." Duncan grumbled.
"Meh, it's not all bad. Better than sleeping on gassy livestock," Scott countered.
"Just shut up and go to bed," Jo barked. "We have a long day ahead of us."
They settled down and began to doze off.
Chris was settled in his private trailer. He was in a bathrobe and was clearly just about to turn in for the night. He was scrolling through his phone when it suddenly began to ring. Startled, he picked it up.
"Yo, this is Chris Mclean," he greeted. "Huh? No, he's not here right now. Nope. Probably tomorrow. Yeah, okay. Sure, I guess. Okay. Bye-bye, then." He hung up and gave the phone a weird look. "I wonder what this is all about…"
The night passed peacefully. Nothing too extreme happened nor did anyone get lost or burn their tent down. After a while the sky began to lighten, and one person was ready.
Shawn gracefully leapt from one branch to another until he got to Jasmine's tree. The Australian was passed out with her hat over her face. He reached out and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, Jasmine, time to get up," he whispered.
Jasmine groaned and tipped her hat up onto her head. After a few seconds of drowsiness, she remembered where she was and quickly woke up. "Time to head out?"
Shawn nodded.
"Nice work, babe," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "Let's go wake the others."
The two leapt down from their trees and headed towards the tent. Shawn unzipped it and poked his head in, where Brick, Owen and Bridgette were all sleeping soundly.
"Guys," Shawn called softly, "Time to get up. We've got about twelve minutes until sun-up."
The three began to wake up, and Brick was first to get functioning. "Copy that," the soldier whispered, reaching for his boots. Once he was all suited up, he headed out into the campsite. "Morning, Jasmine."
"G'day," Jasmine greeted. She was over by the fire, stoking the remains. "Figured we'd cook the rest of that fish for breakfast."
"Sounds good," Brick said. Behind him, Shawn was continuing to try and rouse Owen and Bridgette, both of whom were slightly more reluctant to get up. "I love this time of day," he said, observing the quietness of the forest and the way the grey sky was beginning to lighten just a little.
"It's good," Shawn agreed, joining them. "Owen and Bridgette should be with us soon."
Sure enough, they all heard "You've completed a challenge!" As Owen and Bridgette stumbled out of the tent.
"Alright everyone, eat up!" Jasmine commanded, "as soon as we see the sun, we're hoofing it back to camp! We have enough points and we're all reasonably quick. This challenge is as good as ours!"
The five began to dig in.
The sun was now definitely up. Unfortunately for teams Alpha and Nuclear, their members were not up. The sun rose higher in the sky. 7am became 8am. 8am became 9:30am, and still no one stirred.
Eventually, Scott woke up needing to use the bathroom. He opened his eyes and gasped. "Holy crap, guys! We overslept! Get up! Get up!"
The five other Nuclears scrambled to their feet, still half asleep.
"Oh, my back," Gwen moaned, holding her sore body. Beside her, Beardo made an exaggerated cracking noise as he cracked his bent spine back into place.
"Oh no! We overslept!" Jo cried, "who fell asleep during watch?!"
Silence.
Duncan slapped his forehead, "we didn't assign someone to keep watch, idiot!"
"Ugh!" Jo stamped her foot. "C'mon! We gotta go hunt down a stupid bear or we're totally screwed!"
"If we're not already," Sammy sighed.
The six ran off into the woods, Jo looking at the map as she went.
About half an hour later, the first Alpha member woke up.
"Gah!" Zoey jumped up. "Oh no!" She burst out of the tent, "Izzy, we overslept!"
Izzy, who was snoozing by the fire, jolted up. She saw the shining sun and paled slightly, "Crap!"
Zoey stuck her head back in the tent. "Guys! Wake up! We gotta go now!"
Noah, Sky and Lightning jumped to their feet.
"Oh man, c'mon Crazy Girl!" Lightning exclaimed, "epic fail!"
"Let's just go!" Izzy shouted. Lightning scooped Noah over his shoulder as Zoey grabbed the map. They sprinted off into the woods.
Team Nuclear ran down the trail towards camp.
"Keep an eye out for caves!" Jo barked as they ran.
"A cave!" Sammy shouted.
Jo shot her an annoyed glance, "yes, a cave! That's probably where we'll find a bear!"
"No, a cave!" Sammy repeated, "I see one!"
Team Nuclear skidded to a halt and turned to look at Sammy, who was pointing off the trail. "There's one!"
"Good," Jo growled, stomping past a startled Sammy and off the path. "I'll be right back!"
Team Nuclear watched as Jo stomped up to the cave and disappeared inside. They waited with bated breath. There was nothing but silence for a few seconds before they heard Jo's voice. "Hey, bear face! I'm not in the mood, so shut your stupid yap! There was a yelp and an animalistic squeal, and Jo came stomping back out of the cave, something that looked suspiciously like bear fear stuck to her fingers. "Taunting done," she told her shocked team, "now let's get moving!"
Team Oddball were running through the forest.
"Why is this taking so much longer than yesterday?" Shawn panted, looking down at the map.
"I dunno," Owen wheezed, "but I don't know if I can make it much longer."
"We have to be almost there," Bridgette panted, "seriously!"
"The map says we're close," Shawn assured her, "let's keep going!"
Sure enough, after a few more minutes of running, panting and wheezing, they finally approached the campground. Chris was there waiting for them.
"Team Oddball," Chris greeted, "you are…the first team back! And, if my information is correct, you have enough points, so you win today's challenge!"
Team Oddball erupted into cheers, but most were too tired to really celebrate.
"What's up with the path back?" Brick asked, examining his watch. "It's almost 2 in the afternoon! Why'd it take us 8 hours to get back?"
"I mighta had your maps switched out for a longer route while you guys weren't looking," Chris said mischievously, "Now, you guys are safe so you can go off and do whatever."
Team Oddball cheered again and headed off to relax.
"Now, let's see who the last team to arrive is," Chris grinned.
(Confessional: Brick.)
Brick looks relieved, "victory is sweet," the cadet admits, "especially since it would likely be my keister on the line if we were to lose. It's good to be safe another day."
(End Confessional: Brick.)
Team Alpha was sprinting through the woods.
"This is taking forever!" Zoey said, worried, "are we going the wrong way?"
"We're following the map," Noah said from over Lightning's shoulder. "We'll be fine, just keep going."
"Izzy knows a short cut," Izzy offered, "it can totally make up for sleeping through the sunrise."
"I dunno," Sky said, "no offense, but how do we know it's actually a short cut?"
"We're already pretty screwed," Rodney pointed out, "it can't hurt to try."
A silence settled over Team Alpha as they continued to run.
"He's gotta point," Lightning offered, "alright, lead the way Crazy Girl!"
Izzy took point and veered off the trail. "Let's go!"
The others followed her.
3pm came and went. So did 4pm. At 5:30, Chris was starting to look a little irritated. "Man, these guys are really taking their time, aren't they?"
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard, and six people came running out of the woods towards Chris.
It was…
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Team Nuclear.
"Oh man, there's no way we didn't come in last," Sammy said sadly, "it's so late in the day."
"That it is," Chris told her, "Team Nuclear, you are…the second team to arrive!"
"Wait, really?" Jo asked as the rest of Team Nuclear looked surprised. "Who still hasn't come back?"
As if on cue, Team Alpha burst from the woods.
"Oh no!" Lightning cried, "don't say we're the last ones back!"
"Afraid so," Chris told them.
Team Nuclear cheered as Team Alpha, Izzy specifically, looked downtrodden. Noah put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Then, Chris let out a very ominous giggle.
"However, it looks like a team is disqualified from the challenge," Chris said with a sly look at Team Nuclear.
Jo caught onto the look and raised an eyebrow. "What? What do you mean? We have enough points!"
"Actually, you don't!"
Team Nuclear gasped collectively.
Gwen did some quick math on her fingers. "Wait a minute, yes we do!"
"Nope, your bear scare didn't count!"
"WHAT?" Jo said loudly, "what do you mean, didn't count?!"
"Well, if you'll recall when I explained the rules, you'll remember I specifically said you had to complete all the tasks before leaving your campsite. Since you technically were on your way back here when you ran into the bear, that doesn't count! So, without those 70 points, you guys are short, and are thus disqualified, and are thus the big time losers!"
Team Alpha erupted into cheers.
"Phew! I thought I was a goner," Izzy sighed.
"We lucked out," Noah agreed quietly.
"Team Nuclear, decide who is getting the boot," Chris told them, "dinner is in an hour, and after that we'll hold the ceremony." With his bit said, he headed out. Team Alpha followed him, and it was just Team Nuclear standing at the entrance to Camp.
"Nice going, Jo," Duncan said.
"Me?" Jo repeated, incredulous, "how's this my fault?!"
"Uh, you were the one that said we needed to hunt bears in the morning!"
"Don't blame me," Jo protested, "we all forgot about that stupid rule."
"She's right," Gwen muttered, "we were stupid."
"I can't believe I had to wipe my butt with leaves," Duncan complained, "my ass is still scratched up!"
"Poor baby," Scott mocked, "back on the farm we had to use barbed wire!"
Duncan ignored him, "whatever, I'm going for a shower."
"Fine!" Jo snapped. The two stomped off in different directions, and Gwen and Scott soon headed out too.
Beardo and Sammy exchanged a look. "Uh, this is gonna be ugly." Beardo remarked.
(Confessional: Sammy.)
"Alright, It's time to get strategic," Sammy says, "Gwen's plan will succeed!"
(End Confessional: Sammy.)
(Confessional: Scott.)
"It's really good for me if Duncan goes home," Scott tells the camera, "with him gone, it'll probably be a contest between me and Jo on who goes next, and thats a contest I can win." He winks at the camera, "after that, I expose Beardo for being a challenge weakling, and as long as I'm doing good in challenges, I should be able to squeak by. And hopefully we won't lose again before the merge." He smirks, "methinks I just wormed my way out of a tough spot. I continue to impress myself."
(End Confessional: Scott.)
Sammy walked up to the boys showers just as Duncan was about to head in. "Hey, Duncan," she called, "you got a second?"
Duncan stopped heading into the bathroom and looked over his shoulder. A little surprised to see Sammy there, he shrugged and headed over to her. "What's up?" He asked.
"Well, a couple of us were talking, and we're gonna vote Jo off. She won't admit its her fault we lost, and maybe it isn't, but she is honestly just plain annoying."
Duncan pondered that for about one whole second. "Yeah, count me in."
Sammy beamed at him. "Great! Enjoy your shower!" She turned to leave.
"Thanks," Duncan said dryly, heading into the bathrooms.
As Sammy walked alone, she clasped her hands to her cheeks, which were a little flushed. "Wow," she said to herself as she walked, "being sneaky like that was…kind of fun!"
The seventeen teens were eating dinner in the Mess Hall when Chris walked in.
"Alright, Team Nuclear," he announced, giving said team finger guns, "time to boot someone! But first...Brick!"
Brick looked up from his meal, confused. "Yes?"
Chris held up his phone, "you had a phone call last night." He dialed a number and it began to ring. "Here ya go." He tossed the phone to Brick, who caught it.
"Alright then," Brick said, a little puzzled as he stood up and held the phone to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is Brick McArthur." He walked past Chris out into the silence of the night, and his voice faded from earshot.
While this was going on, Sammy pulled Gwen aside as the Nuclears were getting up and heading out too.
"The plan is all set," Sammy whispered to the goth.
Gwen blinked, "it is?"
"Yup!" Sammy beamed at her, "I got Scott on board and Duncan thinks we're voting for Jo! Didn't I do great?!"
"Oh," Gwen said quickly, "actually, about that, maybe we should—"
"Sammy, Gwen, c'mon!" Came Chris's voice from outside.
"Later, we gotta go!" Sammy told her, jogging out to catch up with the others.
Gwen watched Sammy go and looked conflicted. "Guess it's too late," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. She walked out to join the others.
The moon shone brightly as the six campers made their way towards the elimination ceremony. Crickets were chirping and the fire was merry. Chris positioned himself at his oil barrel and pulled a tray from behind his back. On it were just five marshmallows. "Team Nuclear, you guys made a fatal miscalculation and now one of you is going home. Who's it gonna be?" He paused to let the tension sink in.
The campers took a seat on the dilapidated stumps and looked expectantly up at the host.
"The first marshmallow of the night goes to…Gwen."
Gwen caught her marshmallow, trying her best not to look guilty.
"Also safe is…Beardo."
Beardo played a little victory tune as he caught his.
"Sammy!"
Sammy caught her marshmallow and smiled at Gwen, but the goth didn't return it.
"Three campers, two marshmallows," Chris said, looking between Duncan, Jo and Scott. Funnily enough, Jo was the only one that looked nervous. Scott and Duncan both looked pretty confident.
"The penultimate marshmallow goes to…
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Jo."
Jo breathed a sigh of relief as she caught her symbol of safety. On her right, Duncan straightened up, alarmed.
"Wait, what?" The punk asked. His head whipped to Sammy, who avoided his gaze. He turned to look at Scott, who gave him a wicked grin. Duncan gulped and faced Chris again.
"Scott, Duncan, this is the final marshmallow of the night. If you do not get it, you gotta get out. The last person safe tonight is…
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Scott!"
Scott smirked, catching his marshmallow. Duncan stood up, flabbergasted.
"No way!" Duncan spluttered, "how the hell am I eliminated?"
Chris gave him a weird look, "uh, cause you got three votes,dude."
Duncan turned to look at his ex-teammates. Scott was smirking at him, Beardo and Jo looked just as surprised as he did, and Sammy and Gwen were avoiding his gaze as if making eye contact with him would set them on fire. There was dead silence except for the occasional cricket chirp and pop of the fire.
"Gwen?" He finally asked, his tone hurt. Gwen scrunched her face up as if the word physically hurt her, but still refused to look at him. "Did you vote for me?"
Gwen's lack of answer was all he needed.
Duncan looked crestfallen. "No way…" he said, "I thought we were good! I thought we were-" he cut himself off, and anger was slowly beginning to take over the sadness.
Gwen finally found her voice. "Look, Duncan, it wasn't really what I wanted. I mean, yesterday I thought it was, but after talking at the fire, I wasn't sure and I—"
"Ooh, look at that," Chris interrupted, "we're outta time." An intern brought Duncan his duffel bag. "Time to go, D-man."
"Fine," Duncan spat, "screw you guys!" He hoisted his duffel bag over his shoulder and stomped down the Dock as the Boat of Losers pulled up, driven by Chef.
Gwen watched Duncan leave and wanted to call out to him. Wanted to explain herself. Tell him she felt bad about it already and would take it back if she could. But…she didn't.
Duncan stepped onto the Boat of Losers without looking back and it sped off into the night.
"Well, that was something," Chris smirked, "now, Team Nuclear, you're free to—"
"Wait!" A voice cried, coming from the direction of the Mess Hall. Footsteps were heard on the darkened path before a camper emerged into the firelight, panting from his mad sprint over to them.
"Brick?" Chris asked, "what's up?"
Brick tossed Chris his phone back. "I…" he panted, "I need to go! I need to leave the show!"
"Leave the show?" Jo asked, actual concern on her face for once. "Brick, is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Sammy added, "is there some kind of family emergency?"
"No, no, nothing like that!" Brick said, still panting a little, "It's great news! I…" he drew himself up, "I got accepted into Meilleur Collège de Mode!"
He was met with blank stares, and the cadet couldn't help but deflate a little.
"The university? In Paris?" He explained, "one of the most prestigious fashion schools on the planet?"
"Wait, you applied for fashion school?" Chris asked incredulously, "why'd you come back to Total Drama then?"
"This university has less than 3% acceptance rate," Brick told him, "I never thought in a million years I'd actually get in! It was one of the administrators of the school that called!"
"But it's summer," Scott pointed out, "classes don't start for another couple of months."
"I know," Brick said, practically radiating excitement, "the school said my application wasn't perfect, but with a few touch ups on some pre-requisites, I could enroll as a full time student come the fall."
Gwen seemed to realize what he was saying. "So, basically you need to get somewhere with internet so you can do some online classes before the fall semester."
Brick nodded. "Exactly."
Chris rubbed his chin, "Hmm…well I guess I could allow it." He turned to Team Nuclear, "can you guys give me and Brick a minute? Go get Team Oddball so they can say goodbye," He turned to the intern that had brought Duncan's luggage, "and you, go pack up Brick's stuff."
Once everyone had left, Chris turned to Brick. "Y'know," The host told him, "you signed a contract. I could choose to not let you leave." At Brick's nervous look, the host made a placating gesture with his hands, "but, I think that as long as you chill out at Playa Des Losers and make your Aftermath and finale cameos, you should be in the clear."
"Ooh, losers get to go to Playa Des Losers this year?" Brick said, a little excited.
"Yeah, but it's not common knowledge, which is why I sent the others away. They don't know about the Aftermaths either." Chris told him. "Anyways, like I was saying, I could deny you, but I won't…" hie smile grew a tad evil and he began to rub his hands together, "I won't…because I just had a very good idea."
Chef whistled a tune as he drove the incensed Duncan to the Playa. Duncan had been swearing and kicking at empty boxes in the back of the Boat the entire way, and Chef was loving every second of it.
Suddenly, the walkie at Chef's belt buzzed to life.
"This is Chris, Chef. Do you copy?"
Chef removed the walkie and brought it up to his mouth. "Chef here, what's up?"
"I need you to bring the Boat back. We've got another camper with a ticket for the Boat of Losers!"
Chef looked a little confused, but didn't argue. "Copy that. On my way back." He jerked the steering wheel sharply to the side, and the Boat did a dangerous U-turn. Duncan, in the back, was thrown to the ground.
"Hey!" He barked as he got to his feet. "What's the big idea, Chef?"
"Chris says we gotta go back," Chef told him, "you're gonna have some company on the way to Loserville!"
Duncan opened his mouth to complain, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Chef.
The boat sped back towards the mainland, where Chris and all the campers were standing.
"I'm sorry to bail on my squad," Brick apologized to his team, "but I just can't pass this up."
"No worries, mate," Jasmine said kindly, "go chase your dreams!"
"Yeah, no hard feelings," Owen smiled, giving the cadet another incorrect salute. Brick winced at this, but didn't correct him. Instead, he returned it with a salute of his own.
"Well, you are bailing on me big time, but don't worry, I don't hold much of a grudge," Bridgette said lightly, and the two high-fived.
"Ugh. Why are we here, exactly?" Noah asked the host, but was ignored.
After giving Shawn a fist bump, Brick turned to Chris, backpack strapped and ready to roll.
"Alright then, the Boat of Losers awaits, Brick." Chris told him, who hadn't undone that slightly evil grin yet.
Brick nodded and, after one final wave to the others, walked down the Dock and boarded the Boat of Losers.
"What, did Chris do a double elimination or something?" Duncan asked sourly as the cadet joined him on the Boat.
"Negative," Brick told him, "I'm heading to fashion school."
Duncan looked truly surprised by this, "fashion school?" He repeated, "What the heck?"
"Oi!" Chris interrupted, cupping his hands and shouting down the Dock. "Duncan, why don't you come here a second!"
Duncan groaned. "Great, what does he want now?" He clambered off the Boat of Losers and walked back down the Dock towards Chris and the others. "What's up?" He asked, pointedly ignoring his teammates.
"Well, Duncan, here's the thing," Chris said, his evil smile growing like the Grinch's heart on Christmas Day, "this season didn't really account any multiple eliminations, so with Brick quitting, I'm in a bit of a predicament."
Duncan raised an eyebrow. "And…?"
"And…I'm undoing your elimination!"
Everyone gasped.
"Wait, seriously?" Duncan asked.
"Yup! Welcome back to the game!"
Duncan shrugged, "Cool, whatever," he said uncaringly. On the Boat of Losers, Chef tossed the punks luggage back onto the Dock.
"Wait," Jasmine complained, "so we just lost a member for no reason, and both of the other teams are at six a piece? How is that fair?!"
"Why don't you just put me on Team Oddball?" Duncan offered, "Hell, I'd be glad to get away form my scumbag teammates." He glared at Team Nuclear.
"Yeah, I like that," Owen agreed, "let Duncan on our team!"
"I could do that," Chris considered it. Those that knew him knew, however, that the fact that his evil grin was still in place only meant bad news. "But nah!"
"No?" Duncan said, annoyed, "c'mon, it's a great solution!"
"Seriously! Just do it, man," Shawn argued.
"Nope! My game, my rules," Chris smirked, "Duncan is back on Team Nuclear. I just feel the team wouldn't be as…Nuclear-ly without him. Duncan, why don't you go say hi to your old teammies, eh?"
"You're a sick man, Mclean," Duncan spat, storming over to his old team.
"Welcome back?" Jo offered, and Duncan rolled his eyes.
Gwen mustered her courage up and stepped forward, looking Duncan in the face. "Duncan, look, let me explain."
"I don't wanna hear squat from you, Gwen," Duncan snarled, finally letting his anger spike and getting in Gwen's face. Gwen looked taken aback and took a step backwards. "I can't believe you went behind my back and convinced the others to kick me off."
Gwen crossed her arms, the very picture of defensiveness, "what makes you so sure it was me, huh?"
Duncan glared at her, a putrid mix of mockery and loathing, "Okay then. Was it not you? Tell me to my face that you weren't the mastermind behind the elimination…my elimination."
Gwen opened her mouth, prepared to lie, but found she couldn't do it. Her heart sank as she looked away. She couldn't remember ever feeling so ashamed.
"I thought not," Duncan snorted. He then turned to the others, who were all looking at the two with interest. "Hey, screw off you guys," he threatened them, "this doesn't concern you."
"Like hell, this is sha-juicy!" Lightning protested.
Forutnately for Duncan, Bridgette of all people was on his side.
"He's right, guys, this doesn't concern us," Bridgette said loudly. "C'mon let's go." She began to shoo the others away with little success. "Jasmine," the surfer implored, "a little help?"
Jasmine tore her eyes away from the drama and shook her head to clear it. "Oh. Yeah, of course." With the two of them, they were able to corral everyone back towards the Mess Hall.
Only the rest of Team Nuclear and Chris remained, but Duncan didn't seem to have a problem with that. Or, at least, didn't care anymore. His full focus was back on the ashamed and guilty Gwen.
"You rejected me. You have a boyfriend. That's fine, that's your call," Duncan told her harshly, "I have to pay for my mistakes when I was a dumb kid. That's life. That's fine." He took another step towards her, his arms crossed, "but what's not fine is telling me we can be friends. Then we chat and have fun at the fire, and here I am, thinking things are going fine! Hell, I was excited at the thought of being friends again!" He forced the sadness out of his voice and kept a strong hold on the anger, "but no, turns out you were stringing me along and plotting behind my back to get me voted off. Like what the hell, are you Heather now or something?"
"Duncan, no, I can explain. You don't understand," Gwen pleaded.
"Oh I understand," Duncan said, looking Gwen dead in the face. "I understand everything, now. I understand…that you," he leaned into her face, "are a selfish bitch."
Gwen took a step back as if the words he said had physically struck her. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to slap the shit out of him or cry, so she did nothing but stare at him, thunderstruck.
His piece said, Duncan turned to the rest of his team. "I won't forget this," he vowed to them. "Maybe some of you didn't vote for me, whatever, I don't care. I'm gonna give my all to this team out of spite. You won't get another chance to kick me off." He turned around and stomped off towards the trailers.
Gwen stood still for a little while before hurrying off towards the bathrooms. Sammy rushed after her, and a reluctant Scott followed suit.
Jo and Beardo were left with Chris, and none of them really knew what to say. Even the host looked surprised by the intensity of the situation.
"Y'know, Chris," Jo finally said, "you might be a total jerkwad, but damn if you aren't good at stirring up the drama."
Chris shook himself out of his slight stupor and grinned at Jo and Beardo. "I know! I'm good, aren't I?" He turned to the camera. "Well, things here have certainly exploded, and it's not even episode three yet! What will come of all this drama? Who will get voted off next? Find out next time on Total! Drama! Generations!"
Boat of Losers Clip:
Brick looked out over the water as they skimmed across the waves towards Playa Des Losers. An excited smile adorned his face and he couldnt' ever remember feeling so happy.
From the front, Chef called back to him. "Hey, soldier, if you become a famous clothes designer, can you pawn me some free swag?"
Brick raised an eyebrow at him, "I haven't even started fashion school and you're trying to leech off me? That's pretty lame, Chef."
Chef shrugged, "can't blame a guy for trying." He grinned darkly, "you're gonna have a rough time at the Playa though."
"Why's that?"
"Ohhoho," Chef chuckled darkly, "have fun being stuck with Anne Maria when she finds out you're going into fashion."
Brick paled and gulped, "uh-oh..."
"Yeah, uh-oh."
Voting Confessionals:
Beardo: Jo and I are voting for Scott. Just can't trust that guy.
Duncan: Jo's going down. That's what you get for messing with me!
Gwen: I...vote for Duncan. I don't know if this is what I want, but I think it might be what I need.
Jo: Duncan's annoying, but Slimy Scott is way more of a problem long-term.
Sammy: Wow, it's kind of exciting when a plan comes together! I vote for Duncan.
Scott: Excellent...bye bye Duncan!
Votes: [All Null]
Duncan - 3 votes: (Gwen, Sammy, Scott).
Scott - 2 votes: (Beardo, Jo).
Jo - 1 vote: (Duncan).
Team Alpha: Zoey, Lightning, Sky, Rodney, Izzy, Noah.
Team Oddball: Jasmine, Shawn, Bridgette, Owen.
Team Nuclear: Gwen, Duncan, Jo, Scott, Sammy, Beardo.
Eliminated: Anne Maria, Brick.
Reasoning for Elimination:
Now, I'm honestly not sure how this elimination will go over with you guys. Originally, Brick was going to be eliminated third, but he was pretty quickly moved to second boot. However, his initial reason for being kicked off was going to be him messing up in a different challenge, as this challenge wasn't supposed to be the second one. But, after some revising and tweaking, I came up with the camping challenge, which I just couldn't see Team Oddball losing. However, I still thought Brick needed to go here, and I knew i wanted to add some zest to the Gwuncan plot, so I cmae up with this: a voluntary, happy quitting situation. I tried to red-herring it as much as possible, and hopefully some of you were fooled right up until the Boat of Losers got called back, but I dunno. My readers tend to be pretty sharp. I like Brick, but there wasn't much for him to do, and he would've been next boot from his team [Spoiler Alert: his plan with Bridgette would've failed. No way Owen would vote for Jasmine over Brick.]
Okay! It's almost 5am but we're done! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I feel the post-elimination scene with Duncan returning was some of the better dramatic scenes I've written, but maybe that's just my tired brain thinking it's better than it is. I guess you guys are the judges.
SHIT. I just saw the word count and it's almost 14,000 words! Whoops...sorry guys.
- Who's side are you on here? Team Duncan or Team Gwen? Was Duncan justified in his reaction? Or did he take it too far?
- Will Zoey be able to eventually control her inner Commando?
- Will Beardo actually do something?!
Please remember to review, they make my day. Love you guys. Ciao!