A/N 4-23-20: Holy shit this took so long to get out. I apologize, and there is one sole reason for its delay. The fucking challenge. I lost inspiration for it. It was a cool idea in theory, but terrible to write out. I wrote about 6000 words in just under 24 hours to finish it up once the challenge was over though, so yeehaw.
A/N Sometime in fucking December 2019: What's up guys? Time for a new update for this. I'm really starting to grow fond of this cast. It's gonna get tough for me to cut them at a way earlier stage than my previous comp stories. In Total Drama Chaos I didn't really start missing characters until the Final 12, and in DI the only ones I missed writing were the ones in the Final 9. (Plus Zeke)
Now, some of you mentioned how poorly the ROTI cast have been doing. In the past I've been super OCD about gender ratios and team ratios ETC. I'm throwing that all out the window for this story. If the story works best by booting all 6 ROTI people first, then that's how it's gonna go. Same with genders. If the Final 5 is best suited to five girls, then it'll be five girls!
Basically, I'm just advising you guys not to base predictions off of statistics, like "oh, since Team X has only Y amount of members from Gen Z, SoandSo isn't going to get the boot next time they lose." NO ONE IS SAFE FROM ME…MUAHAHA!
Now, I had a lot of fun writing last chapter, but it's time to get back to the nitty gritty. Someone's going home.
*Insert generic reminder to vote on the poll and to review the chapter here*
The rain that had started as just a drizzle the afternoon of the Rest Day had persisted all throughout the night, and had only increased in it's viciousness. Rain lashed the trailers as the fifteen campers slept through the night. Fortunately, everyone was feeling back to normal after two nights of sleep.
The sun did not come out as a new day dawned on Wawanakwa, but the sky was illuminated by flashes of lightning.
"Sheesh," Shawn said as he peeked out the window, "I think I'm actually kinda glad I'm not in a tree for this one." Ever the early riser, he and Owen were currently the only ones dressed and ready for the day.
"It has been quite a while since the Naturalist has seen such a storm," Owen agreed from next to Shawn.
"Ugh, it's also been a while since the Naturalist put a sock in it," Duncan complained, still under his covers.
"I wonder what kind of challenge Chris has for us today," Noah shivered, also still draped in his blankets.
The door to the trailer opened in a spray of rain. Beardo hurried in, his hair smashed flat by the weight of the water in it. The beatboxer had just come back from the bathroom, and was soaked to the bone. "Man, I knew I should've brought an umbrella!"
Rodney followed him in, also sopping wet.
"Sha-damn, I'm surprised you guys didn't get lost out there," Lightning said, clad in just his boxers. He scrambled out of bed and began to dress.
"It's not that bad," Rodney told him, "like, you can still see and stuff. It's just windy and gross out."
Owen's stomach gave a loud rumble. All the other boys collectively took a step back. "Easy guys," he laughed, "It's just a hunger grumble, we're all good!"
The others relaxed.
"Yeah, I'm kinda hungry too," Beardo said. He had grabbed a towel from his suitcase and was now toweling off his hair.
"Should we brave the storm?" Shawn grinned, making sure his beanie was snug on his head.
"Guess we should," Lightning said unhappily.
"Whew!" Jo pushed some sopping locks out of her eyes, "it's a little wet out there!"
"You went for a run still?" Jasmine asked, a little surprised.
"Hah, a little rain isn't gonna stop me from getting my workouts," Jo smirked.
"You sound like Eva," Bridgette said with a shiver.
"Who?" Jo asked.
"I'm surprised Chris hasn't called us for a challenge yet," Zoey said from her bunk. The indie girl was sitting criss-cross applesauce on her bunk, fully dressed. She fiddled with her long braid as she spoke.
Gwen sat up from her bunk. Her bedhead, already not great when her hair was short, was even worse now that it flowed past her shoulders.
"You look like a mad scientist," Sammy giggled, reaching out and touching one of Gwen's bent hair strands.
Gwen gave her a dry smile as she wriggled a hair tie off her wrist. She bunched up her hair and put it into her now-signature messy ponytail. "My hair and I have had long-term issues with one-another. It's never forgiven me for starting to bleach it when I turned twelve."
Izzy sprung over to the two girls and laughed, "my hair has always been crazy, but we have no issues."
"I would kill for your curls, Izzy," Sammy said wistfully, "I've got dumb straight boring blonde hair."
"Oh shut it, you," Jasmine said jokingly from the door, "your hair is beautiful. Now, we gonna brave this storm or what?"
"I'm not even dressed," Gwen complained.
"Well, anyone that's ready, let's get going," Jasmine told the trailer, "stay behind me, I'll try and shield you guys from the brunt of the storm."
Jo scoffed as she walked past the Australian and outside into the storm. "I don't need anyone to take hits for me, thank you very much," she told her waspishly.
Jasmine rolled her eyes and exchanged a wry smile with Zoey. "I was just trying to be nice, mate."
Ten minutes later, fifteen shivering, soaked campers found themselves in the Mess Hall.
"Breakfast coming up soon, come and get it!" Chef barked from the kitchen.
Owen, unsurprisingly, was the first in line. "Ooh, what do we get today? What do we get?!"
Chef appeared in the window with a big pot. "Oatmeal! Nice and hot. Perfect warm up fuel for a nasty day!"
"Oooh, yay!" Owen held out his bowl, and Chef plopped a large ladleful into it. As Owen happily went to the table to eat, Noah, the next in line, looked at the pot with mild interest.
"My my," the bookworm said in monotone, "is this actual, edible oatmeal?"
"You can have mystery meat if you want it, Whiny Boy," Chef warned him, pausing in giving Noah his ladleful of oatmeal.
Noah smirked, tilting his head in submission, "I'm just kidding, Chef. By all means, ladle away."
Chef harrumphed, but filled his bowl all the same.
"Brr, Chef's right about one thing," Sky said once she got her bowl. "This'll warm us up nicely." She sat down on the bench next to Lightning, and scooted in close to him.
Noah gave the two a curious look, but ultimately said nothing and returned to his oatmeal.
"So," Rodney said, looking at his team, "looks like we might have a chance at being the Team Amazon of this season, eh?"
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked. "Team Amazon was a team in a previous season, right?"
"You never watched the old shows before you applied?" Sky asked Zoey curiously.
"I did, but that was a long time ago, and I only watched them once," Zoey told her, a little defensive.
"Team Amazon was a team on Total Drama World Tour," Noah told her, "it had Gwen, Courtney, Heather, Cody, and Sierra on it."
"And me!" Izzy chirped happily.
"Yes and Izzy," Noah agreed, "but you switched to our team in the first challenge."
"Cody?" Zoey questioned.
"Yeah, short guy, geeky. Fancied himself a ladies man." Noah said.
"I can't picture him," Zoey shook her head.
"He's the one who Noah kissed on the ear!" Izzy supplied helpfully.
Noah rolled his eyes, "Izzy, she's not gonna remember because of that, I mean come on-"
Zoey snapped her fingers in triumph, startling Noah. "Oh yeah! The guy Noah kissed, I remember that! I mean, it's an iconic Total Drama moment!"
Noah slammed his forehead against the table in defeat as Izzy erupted into maniacal giggles.
Zoey looked a little concerned by Noah's behavior, but decided to ignore it. "Err…back to the topic at hand, why does Rodney think we could be Team Amazon?"
"Team Amazon didn't lose a single person until the elimination before the merge," Rodney told Zoey, "they were the most successful, badass team in Total Drama history!"
"It's only been three challenges," Lightning rolled his eyes, "It's a little too early to be doing a victory dance."
"Feels like it's been six, honestly," Noah said, his voice muffled as his face was still mashed against the table.
"Still, we should try and keep the streak up," Sky said, her tone happy as she ate a spoonful of oatmeal. "We mesh pretty well as a team."
"Alright, guys!" Owen said happily, looking around at his teammates, "we've won the past two challenges, we're killing it!"
"We still have the least amount of players," Jasmine pointed out, "but yeah, we're doing well for being handicapped. Brick really hurt us when he quit."
"Well we can't really blame him for following his dream!" Owen told her, "I'm sure any of us would've done the same!"
"Meh," Shawn said, looking unconvinced. A clap of thunder shook the Mess Hall, and Owen and Bridgette jumped. The survivalists gaze found a window and he stared out of it. "Man, I wonder what kind of challenge Chris is gonna have cooked up for us."
"Probably nothing enjoyable," Bridgette sighed. She scraped the remnants of her oatmeal into a final spoonful and ate it. "But we just gotta keep up our winning streak…we have to."
Shawn and Jasmine shot each other a slightly guilty look, but said nothing. Owen, however, was as optimistic as ever.
"Pfft, of course we can keep winning!" He told her happily, "with our combined skills, there's no way we can lose!"
(Confessional: Jasmine.)
Jasmine sighs, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised Bridgette's figured out that she's the next gone if we lose again…it's tough, but with Shawn and Owen's friendship, it just makes sense to oust her next time we lose. It's a shame, cause she's a nice gal."
(Confessional: Jasmine.)
(Confessional: Bridgette.)
"I know I'm on the outs with my team," Bridgette sighed, "It just sucks cause they're all so darn likable. If we lose, they'll kick me out with sadness, which is almost worse than being voted off by someone who hates you!"
(End Confessional: Bridgette.)
Things were pretty quiet over with Team Nuclear. Duncan and Gwen were sitting across from each other, though they weren't speaking. They weren't glaring at each other, though, so that was good. Sammy was also pretty quiet, and chewed her food with a thoughtful and slightly troubled expression.
Only Jo and Beardo seemed normal. The former had her finger in her mouth, trying to pry something out from between her teeth. "Correct me if I'm wrong," she said, her voice muffled, "but I don't think oatmeal is supposed to be crunchy."
Beardo took his spoon out of his mouth and twirled it with a sophisticated air. He hummed out a classical tune as he did this. "I think it adds character to the oatmeal."
"Why am I not surprised you're not a picky eater," Jo said flatly, finally securing the crunchy morsel from behind he molar and flicking it behind her shoulder.
"Ehhhh-haaaa…"
Jo and Beardo turned to look at the sound of the unexpected noise. The culprit was Sammy, who had just heaved a large sigh as she stirred her oatmeal.
"You good there, Blondie?" Jo asked, spooning another mouthful despite her earlier complaints, "we need everyone on their A-game today. We can't let those Alpha-turds get a 6-4-4 advantage on the playing field.
Sammy jumped, startled as four pairs of eyes snapped to her. "Me? I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just wondering what the challenge is gonna be today." She pointed out the window, where the rain still poured down from the dark skies.
"Well whatever it is, we'll make sure to kick it in the ass," Duncan said confidently. He finished his oatmeal and slid his bowl across the table.
"It's nice to see you ready to work for the team, I gotta tell ya," Jo said, "I was getting tired of seeing you moping around all the time."
Duncan squared his shoulders defensively, but before he could say anything, someone cut in.
"Shut up," Gwen told her, "don't stir the pot."
Jo raised her hands up in surrender, "I'm not trying to stir anything. Just stating my opinion, which I'm entitled to."
"I wasn't moping," Duncan said through gritted teeth.
"Not to be a dick, but you totally were," Beardo pointed out.
Duncan's gaze snapped to the beatboxer. "Stay out of this, muffin-top," he snapped.
Beardo rolled his eyes, but quieted down.
Jo, meanwhile, glared down at the delinquent, who had returned to his meal with a sour expression.
(Confessional: Jo.)
"Duncan's up to something," Jo says suspiciously. "He needs us, so why is he being so abrasive?"
(End Confessional: Jo.)
(Confessional: Duncan.)
"Now that I've got the most power on my team, I don't have to take any more crap from Jo or her stupid lackey." The delinquent raises both of his hands. "On this side," he shakes his left hand, "I've got Gwen who's promised to work with me, and I bet I could get Sammy with that too." He shakes his right hand next, "and I'm still technically working with Jo and Beardo too, though that arrangement is a little more shaky." He crosses his arms and leans against the side of the Confessional, a smirk on his face. "This game might just have gotten fun again."
(End Confessional: Duncan.)
"Alright campers, it's time for today's challenge," Chris announced. The host had just entered the Mess Hall and was dressed head to toe in hardcore rain gear. "But first, you'll need to all get changed into your swimsuits!"
That announcement as met with nearly a dozen protests from the cast.
Noah shook his head and crossed his arms, disgusted. "I'm not even surprised anymore."
"Why did I ever think coming back was a good idea?" Gwen groaned.
Some of the campers didn't look too affected by the news, though.
"It's just a little rain, guys!" Owen told the group.
"Yeah, piece of cake!" Jasmine said easily. From the seat next to her, Shawn nodded in agreement.
"We get it, you're survivalists! Not everyone enjoys going through terror in the outdoors!" Sky told them, a little exasperated. Shawn and Jasmine just smirked at each other.
"Oi! We're on a schedule, guys," Chris told them, "let's get moving!"
Chairs scraped the floor of the Mess Hall as the fifteen campers headed towards their cabins to get changed. Heads buckled against the rain, they ran as fast they could to their cabins. After a quick trip to the bathrooms, they reconvened in the Mess Hall.
"So, what kind of uncomfortable, miserable experience are you gonna put us through this time?" Gwen asked dryly.
"That's for me to know, and you to soon find out," Chris said, flipping his rain visor down over his face. "Let's get going!" He led the others outside, towards the Dock of Shame.
"Brr, the rain gets chilly when it's on bare skin," Sammy said, shivering in her red-and-white bikini.
"Too bad Scott's not here to warm you up, eh?" Jasmine said, elbowing her smaller friend with a wink.
Sammy flushed, "Nuh-uh!"
"Sammy and Scott, sitting in a tree!" Izzy sang as she jogged by the two, "S-M-O-O-C-H-I-N-G!"
"Uh, that amount of letters doesn't work, Izzy." Bridgette smiled, looking more comfortable than most in her wetsuit.
"Yeah, and who are you to joke about smooching anyways?" Rodney said with a sly smile towards his fellow ginger. All he received in response was a blank look.
"What're you talking about?" Izzy asked, "Izzy can joke about whatever she wants!"
"No, I meant that you-"
"And, we're here!" Chris announced as the Dock of Shame came into sight. Notably, there were three jet skis floating in the water.
"Jet skiing in the pouring rain, this is gonna be sweet!" Lightning grinned, "the Lightning is ready!"
Sky grinned at him and his optimism, something which Noah noticed. The bookworm's brow furrowed slightly, and he lightly grabbed Sky's arm and led her from the group a bit.
"Oh!" Sky jumped in surprised, a little alarmed. "Noah, what's up?"
"Didn't mean to startle you," Noah said, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes, "just had a quick question for you."
"Okay, shoot…" Sky said, looking a little confused.
"Everything good with you and Lightning?" Noah asked, opting to go for an unexpected angle.
"Huh? Yeah!" Sky said, "we're good. Great, actually!"
"Oh? That's good to hear! What happened?" Noah said with a smile, "I noticed things were a little awkward between you two for a while."
"We had a good talk, and we think we're gonna try it out!" Sky said happily. A quick look of shock passed through Noah's face, but Sky didn't seem to notice. She opened her mouth to continue, but a flash of suspicion flickered across her face. "Say, why are you so interested anyways?"
Noah gave her an easy smile, "well it helps my game if you two are together, honestly," he told her.
"Oh really?" It was Sky's turn to look surprised, and the suspicion returned full force. "And how do you figure that?"
"I'll be honest with you, I tried to get Lightning into an alliance early on." Noah told her. "But he was distracted by you and turned me down. Maybe now that that's all cleared up, we can team up and dominate the team."
"Aren't you and Izzy in an alliance?" Sky asked him.
"Not officially, we're just friends. Mostly through Owen." Noah said baldly, "Besides, Zoey's hiding it pretty well, but she wants Lightning outta here. I'd say we take her down first. Then Rodney. Then Izzy."
"And what happens when it's just the three of us? No offense, but you'd be outta here." Sky told him.
"I'll hedge my bets on that," Noah shrugged, "I don't see us losing four times before the merge unless we really start sucking balls. Lightning's physical, I'm mental, and you're a good combo of both." Sky smiled appreciatively at the compliment, "And that's not even counting our other teammates, all of whom are pretty skilled in one way or another. I see it as a pretty much guaranteed merge for us. If we do make the merge, we take it on until the final three."
"That's…a pretty solid plan, actually." Sky admitted. "I'm down."
"Great," Noah said, looking over his shoulder as Chris approached. "Talk to Lightning about it, he seems to get annoyed whenever I bring it up, but I bet he'll listen to you."
Chris poked his head over the bookworm's shoulder. "Excuse me, Chatty-McChattersons…I'm trying to start a challenge here. Ya done blabbing?"
"Sorry!" Sky said bashfully, walking over to the rest of her team.
"What the heck did Noah want?" Lightning whispered to her.
"He asked me about some strategic stuff," Sky whispered back, "I'll fill you in after the challenge."
"If Team Alpha is all done chatting," Chris said, annoyed, "I will explain the challenge!" He gestured to the three jet skis. Predictably, one was gold, one was orange, and one was purple. "Each team will elect a driver of the jet skis. The driver will take one team member through the lake in search of letters." Chris paused to let that information sink in. "The letters will spell out "VICTORY" and there are three complete sets. You may not take duplicates. First team to gather all the letters wins the challenge!"
"And the last team to collect them all loses?" Zoey asked.
"Nope. Whichever team is farthest from completing the word once a team wins will lose. If it's a tie, we'll go to a tiebreaker," Chris told the group. He giggled and rubbed his hands together, "which will be awesome."
"Psst," Owen whispered to Jasmine, "when Chris says 'awesome', it's usually not that awesome."
Jasmine giggle-snorted. "Yeah, we kinda learned that on Pahkitew, mate."
"Where are the letters kept?" Jo asked, squinting through the pouring rain towards the lake. "I can't see anything out there."
"They're hanging from little drones suspended over the water. When you're going twenty miles an hour through a raging rainstorm, visibility will be just about zero. You'll need expert reaction time from both drivers and skiers to avoid wiping out into the drones. If a drone goes down, the letter floats in the water and will be pretty much impossible to find and recover."
"This is a fairly simple challenge," Rodney smiled, "I think we got this, guys!"
"I think you're underestimating how tough it is to see, Rodney," Chris said with a little grin. "Choosing your driver could make or break your run. Like I said, if a letter goes down, it's likely curtains for that team! With that being said, who's gonna drive? I'll give you guys a couple minutes to decide."
"Alright team, meet up!" Lightning said, pounding his knuckles together. "Who's gonna drive?"
"Oooh, I can do this!" Izzy said happily, raising her hand.
"I dunno," Zoey said uncertainly, "I think you'd be good at skiing. I'll do the driving!"
"Oh ho, challenging me, are you?" Izzy grinned. She flexed her right arm. "I'll arm wrestle you for it."
Zoey shrugged. "Sure, let's do it."
The four other members of Team Alpha looked on, a little incredulous, as Izzy and Zoey lay down on the Dock of Shame to brace their elbows.
"Why don't you drive, Lightning?" Rodney asked.
"We need someone like him on the skis," Noah told Rodney. "Physical challenge's aren't really my strong suit, and you don't look like the most nimble guy. I dunno how much help either of us will be on this challenge."
"Pfft, Forehead has a point," Lightning agreed.
Grunting noises were suddenly heard, and Rodney, Lightning, Noah and Sky turned to look at Izzy and Zoey, who were locked in a ferocious arm wrestle. Their elbows slipped on the wet wood and their arm veins bulged as they struggled. However, it was pretty clear who was getting the upper hand.
"Sorry," the winner said, slamming the other's hand into the Dock. "But I think this is better for the team."
Izzy winced as she rubbed her hand. "Fair enough, I've been bested!"
"Alright, Zoey drives," Noah said. "Hop on."
Zoey nodded and nimbly leapt off the Dock onto the jet ski. Her butt skidded a little on the wet seat, but she stuck the landing. She squinted into the dim light. "Man, visibility really is bad, isn't it?"
"That's what I've been saying," Chris said flatly. "Oddballs, Nuclears, who's driving?"
"Let me drive this one guys," Bridgette said, "I'm comfortable on jet skis but I'm a little clumsy. It's probably better for all of us."
"Sounds good," Owen gave a thumbs up.
Shawn nodded, and Jasmine added, "no problems here."
"Beardo's driving." Jo said to her team.
"Who died and made you leader?" Gwen scoffed.
Jo crossed her arms. "You want him trying to balance on jet skis? Dude can barely balance himself on dry land!" She paused and looked at her alliance member with the slightest hint of sheepishness. "Uh…no offense or whatever."
Beardo shrugged. "Can't say you're wrong," he admitted. "I'll do it."
Jo smirked at the rest of her team. "See? Told ya!"
Beardo and Bridgette climbed onto their jet skis.
"If a member wipes out or spends five minutes unable to locate a letter, they must return to the Dock of Shame." Chris told them. "Any letters found on the return trip will not be allowed to be collected."
Lightning, Jo, and Shawn were the first up for their teams, so they hopped into the lake and situated themselves on their jet skis.
"Ready…set…go!" Chris yelled.
The three drivers revved their jet skis and sped off into the dark rain.
From the docks, the nine campers squinted into the rain. Unfortunately, they weren't able to make out much.
"Damn, I sure hope Team Alpha screws up for once," Duncan muttered, giving a side-eye to the foursome of Rodney, Noah, Sky and Izzy. "We really gotta trim them down a bit."
Sammy tapped her chin thoughtfully. Gwen noticed and elbowed the girl slightly, smiling.
"Whatcha thinking about, Sammy?"
"Oh, nothing…" Sammy sighed, tapping her fingers together. "At least, hopefully it's nothing…"
Gwen looked confused, but offered no further comment.
(Confessional: Sammy.)
"I dunno why, but ever since I put together the pieces to eliminate Duncan I've been having all these…ideas." Sammy admitted, her tone hesitant. She looked down in shame, pondering her next words. "And they're not really nice ideas, but at the same time I think they're pretty good. I dunno what to do…"
(End Confessional: Sammy.)
Zoey sped through the rain, her face steely. Lightning easily rode the choppy waters behind her, a matching expression of determination.
"We're running out of time!" Lightning yelled to her, his voice barely carrying over the wind and rain. "You see anything?"
"Not yet!" Zoey called, "We just have to keep…whoa!" She swerved hard as a letter "Y" materialized out of seemingly nowhere. Her exceptional reflexes were just enough to keep the jet ski from clattering into the drone, and Lightning's equally impressive reflexes allowed him to dart out a hand and snag the balloon. The cord connecting it to the drone snapped easily, and they sped away in victory.
"Yes! Sha-got it!" Lightning hooted. "Who's the man?!"
Zoey ignored him, and instead turned around towards where she thought shore was. Unfortunately for her, the viability was so poor that she couldn't tell which way was which.
"Uh oh…you wouldn't happen to know the way back to the Dock, would you?" Zoey hollered over her shoulder.
"Sha-what?"
Zoey sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair. Suddenly, a neon flash erupted in the distance, and for a split second the Dock was visible right underneath it.
"The Dock! That way!" Lightning screamed.
Zoey didn't need to be told twice, and turned the ski towards it.
"My eyes!" Jasmine groaned, knuckles pressed into her sockets as she hunched over in pain. "You bastard, you coulda warned us about that!"
"Whoops," Chris said innocently, removing his sunglasses from his face. "Must've slipped my mind!"
"Oh that hurts," Gwen said, her face stuck in a permanent wince.
A few seconds went by before the roars of the jet skis were heard over the whistling wind.
"And here they come now!" Chris announced.
Shawn was the first to leap off his jet ski, landing gracefully on the slippery dock. He showed Jasmine and Owen the letter "C" he had collected.
"Nice work, babe!" Jasmine cheered, and the two high-fived.
"I'm next, I'm next!" Owen hooted.
Shawn bent down and tied the balloon to a dock post with the Oddball logo on it. Next to him, Lightning tied down the "Y" he had acquired.
"Well, that bit," Jo grunted. The "O" she had gotten was around her neck like a bizarre life-preserver. She tried to get it off, but it was stuck. "Blech, someone get this thing off of me!" Duncan walked over and were able to finally pry it off. Jo cursed under her breath as she tied it to her team's post.
"I'm impressed," Chris told them, "everyone was able to find a letter on the first go! Time for the next skiers."
Owen, Sky and Gwen were next, and their drivers sped off into the rain.
The camera focused on Team Alpha as they went, and showed Gwen squinting out over the water as Beardo sped around on the jet ski. A balloon appeared out of nowhere, but Gwen wasn't quick enough to grab it. "Turn around!" She yelled to Beardo, but the driver's floppy hair was now soaked, and covered his ears. He didn't hear her.
Gwen growled in frustration, determined to catch the next one. Unfortunately, they drove over a particularly choppy patch of water, and Gwen was unable to keep her feet. She crashed into the water with a hard splash. She surfaced, spluttering, and smacked the water with her palm in frustration. "Dammit!"
Another jet-ski zoomed past her, soaking her again.
The camera panned to said jet-ski to see Sky determinedly riding through the wind and rain. Despite her best efforts, though, she was unable to locate any letters. Soon the neon flash appeared, and everyone sped back to the dock.
"How did our skiers make out?" Chris asked as the campers disembarked.
"Woohoo!" Owen dangled the V balloon he had located. "Two for two, baby!" He highfived a smiling Jasmine.
"And Oddball pulls ahead of the other teams," Chris said, a little surprised. "Let's keep it moving, guys!"
Jasmine, Duncan, and Izzy hopped on the skis and sped off, and the camera did a quick cut to them returning to the dock.
"Looks like every team was successful in finding a letter," Chris narrated as Jasmine added a Y, Duncan added a T, and Izzy added a O.
"Let's go, guys. Keep it up!" Jasmine said, clapping her hands encouragingly. "Shawn, go get 'em!"
"Yes ma'am!" Shawn barked. Noah and Sammy joined him on the skis and they sped into the rain.
"Ow. Oww. Owww." Wave after wave smacked directly into Noah's face, stinging his eyes with salt water. "Owwwww."
"You doing okay back there?" Zoey hollered back.
Noah spat out a mouthful of water. "Peachy." He called. "Just great, thanks."
Zoey hit a sharp turn and Noah's skis left the water. He smashed headfirst into the water, but somehow held onto the rope and was able to right himself.
Over with Team Nuclear, things were going a little more smoothly. Sammy and Beardo had located the letter V, and were currently swinging around to go for an attempt to grab it.
Sammy reached out a hand and was just able to snag the balloon.
The neon flash erupted in the sky, and the teams headed back.
Sammy brandished her V, Shawn his I, and a roughed up Noah merely coughed up some more water.
(Confessional: Chris.)
"Heya folks," Chris greets the audience, "On account of this challenge being…rather repetitive to watch, we're going to skip ahead a bit! Please enjoy this montage of all the hilarious things that happened to our campers."
(End Confessional: Chris.)
The montage of wipeouts and fails began.
Beardo turned a little too hard in the water and skidded off the actual jetski. He made a baleful siren noise before being silenced by the choppy water. Jo, who was on the skis behind him, crashed into the now stagnant jetski and also bit water.
Noah went over to talk to Izzy about something, but slipped on the wet Dock and wiped out into Sky, sending both of them into the water.
Owen jumped a little too enthusiastically onto the skis from the dock, and the pressure of his weight caused the ski to rocket out from under him, nearly decapitating a terrified Bridgette.
The camera finally cut back to Chris, smiling at the camera, "well, after a grueling four hours, our campers have finally made some progress! Team Oddball is one letter away from victory, needing only the "R" balloon! Team Nuclear and Alpha need two, with Team Alpha needing V and C, and Team Nuclear needing I and Y! Let's see how our contestants are holding up."
"Alright guys, all we need is one more letter, we got this!" Jasmine said, looking a little worn out.
The same could be said for all twelve campers that had been subjected to driving on the jet skis. It was taking a toll on all of them, even the stronger ones like Lightning and Jasmine. Noah had taken to sitting on the Dock, being too tired to stand.
"Alright, breaks over kiddos," Chris called, "back on the skis!"
"My ass is chafing," Bridgette whined, gingerly settling herself back on the jetski.
"Same," Beardo groaned.
Shawn, and Sky hopped onto the skis, but Sammy was distracted by looking at the pillars where the balloon letters were tied.
"Hey, Sammy!" Beardo called, "let's go!"
Sammy turned to Beardo quickly with a sheepish smile, "oops, sorry!" She hopped on the ski and the three riders sped off into the rain.
The camera zoomed in on Sammy and Beardo as they sped through the choppy water. A golden glint caught Beardo's eye, and he whipped the ski around to go back. Sammy squinted through the rain and saw what looked to be the letter "V". She reached out to grab it, but Beardo pulled away at the last second, and Sammy just missed it.
"What are you doing?" Sammy hollered to Beardo.
"That's the V," Beardo shouted over his shoulder, his raspy voice hard to hear over the roar of the ski. "We don't need that!"
A bunch of possibilities ran through Sammy's mind. "No, it's the Y! We need it! Circle back!"
Beardo looked a little confused. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! I saw it! Go back!" Sammy's barked, her tone a little harsher than she perhaps intended.
Beardo flinched and circled back quickly. Sammy reached for the drone, but fell off the skis and crashed into the small drone. Balloon, drone and girl crashed into the water.
Beardo ground the jetski to a halt. "Oh snap, you okay?"
Sammy surfaced and pushed her blonde locks out of her face. "Whoops! Yeah, I'm okay!" She looked down for the balloon, but it had floated away on the water. "Oh no, I lost the balloon!"
Beardo made a censored noise. "That's not good…" He reached down and helped Sammy out of the water. "Let's get back to the dock."
As the two sped off. The camera panned to a golden glint in the distance. IT zoomed it to show the balloon, which was an unmistakable V.
The three jet skis returned to the Dock.
"Did you get it?" Owen asked excitedly.
Shawn stepped onto the Dock, tired and empty-handed. "Couldn't find it. We checked the entire south west side." He turned to look at Jasmine, who was up next. "Check north east next, okay?"
Jasmine nodded.
"Let's go!" Sky cheered, a C clutched between her hands. "Just the V to go!"
Sammy looked defeated. "I lost a balloon, guys!"
"No way," Jo groaned.
Gwen gave the twin a disappointed but patient look. "What happened?"
"I slipped going for it and crashed into the drone." Sammy explained. She hung her head in shame. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey, it ain't over till it's over." Beardo said. "We can't give up yet!"
"Tubby is right," Duncan agreed, stepping up. "Let's find the other letter, and then we'll worry about the lost letter."
"Alright, let's go!" Chris clapped his hands. "I'm already sick and tired of standing out here. Someone win already!"
Jasmine, Duncan and Rodney headed onto their skis and headed out. Unfortunately, a tiring Jasmine was caught off guard by Bridgette's start, and the Amazonian slipped and fell into the water with a large splash.
"Crap!" Shawn ran up to the edge of the Dock. "You okay, Jaz?"
"Ugh, I'm fine. Just slipped." Jasmine groaned. "Crap! I hope Rodney doesn't find the last letter!"
The camera split to show Duncan and Rodney racing through the lake. Grim determination filled their faces, though Duncan's quickly changed to one of excitement. He yelled to Zoey and they swerved towards it. Duncan snatched up the letter "I" and gave a whoop of excitement.
Rodney, on the other hand, was not as lucky, and he found himself empty-handed.
"Ooh, its narrowed down to each team needing one letter!" Chris grinned. "Who will win? Let's find out now!"
(Confessional: Gwen.)
Gwen is sopping wet and extremely irritated. "He should not have said that."
(End Confessional: Gwen.)
"It's now been two hours," Chris griped. "And no one has found their last letter. Are you guys joking right now? Do you like being out here?"
"Oh shut up," Jo snapped. "Excuse us for not being able to find a goddamn balloon in a lake during a rainstorm! What kind of stupid challenge is this anyways?!"
"I agree with Jo, which is not something I thought I'd ever say," Noah griped, now lying on his back on the Dock. His past three attempts had resulted in him falling immediately, and the bookworm was on the verge of passing out."
"Fine," Chris pulled out three small devices and threw them to the drivers. "These will give you a localized area to search. It won't give the exact location but it'll narrow it down. Just end this thing already."
Owen, Gwen and Sky stepped up.
"Alright Bridgette, you got this!" Owen said, "Just lead us to the bacon, baby!"
Gwen and Beardo were pretty defeated, as they were pretty sure their balloon was floating in the waves somewhere, and would be much harder to spot.
"Remember, we need a V. We got this," Sky told Zoey. "Let's get this win."
The horn blew, and the three sped off.
The camera decided to stay with the campers on the Dock instead of the campers on the water.
Over on the Oddballs, Jasmine was shooting Sammy a concerned look. "I'm worried about her, babe." She told Shawn quietly. "If they lose, she's probably gone. And she doesn't even look that worried…"
Shawn looked over at the Nice Twin, noticing that she indeed wasn't looking too concerned. If anything, he could've sworn he saw a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. "Weird," the scruffy boy said, matching Jasmine's concerned look with one of his own.
Over with the Alpha's, Rodney and Lightning were excitedly talking about their odds of winning.
"Sky has got this," Lightning said confidently, "Sha-definitely!"
"Yeah baby, another win in the bag, easily," Rodney agreed.
"It isn't over till it's over," Noah said from his place on the ground. "Don't get cocky."
Jo had pulled Duncan aside over on Team Nuclear. "If we lose the challenge I think we're all in agreement with who's getting the boot, right?" She said quietly, thumbing over her shoulder at Sammy.
Duncan shrugged. "Yeah, she screwed up. Seems fair."
"Good," Jo slapped the delinquent on the back. "Glad we're in agreement."
The neon flash erupted into the sky, and it wasn't long before a team arrived back on the Dock.
First to step on was Owen. He was beaming as he held up a shiny, glittery "R" balloon.
Shawn and Jasmine cheered as Owen ran over and tied the balloon to the post. "Nice job, Owen!"
Chris clapped politely. "And Team Oddball completes their word! However, they aren't guaranteed safety because if Team Nuclear and Team Alpha also complete their word, we move onto the tiebreaker!"
Next to arrive at the Dock was Sky and Zoey from Team Alpha. The looks of excitement on Rodney, Lightning and Izzy's face quickly faded as they took in Sky's empty hands.
"I don't know what to say," Sky said shamefully, "Zoey and I searched the entire area, but we couldn't find the last one."
"Seriously, we covered that entire area!" Zoey said earnestly. "That device Chris gave us was faulty!"
"Ok, maybe all hope isn't lost," Jo said, "we can just beat them in a tiebreaker." She gave Sammy a pointed look. "You might've just dodged a bullet there, Blondie."
Sammy gave her a rueful smile, "we'll just have to see…"
The final jetski approached the Dock and Gwen hopped onto the Dock.
Gasps rang out.
"We got it!" Gwen cheered, brandishing the letter "Y".
"No way!" Lightning exclaimed.
"Yeah, the weird thing was," Gwen started to say, but a quick eye contact with Sammy made her falter. The blonde subtly shook her head. Confused but getting the message, Gwen changed tracks. "Uhhh, yeah. Just got lucky I guess."
"Super lucky," Beardo agreed, "I couldn't see squat, next thing I know Gwen's whooping and hollering."
"And it looks like Team Oddball and Team Nuclear tie for first!" Chris announced, "Which leaves Team Alpha as the losers! You'll be voting someone out tonight."
Team Alpha collectively groaned, while the other teams broke out into celebration.
"Alright," Chris continued, "I'm going the hell inside. This weather sucks."
(Confessional: Gwen.)
"Somethings up…" Gwen said suspiciously. "I didn't find the balloon in the water. It was hanging from a drone like normal. Why would Sammy want me to not say that? It means she didn't mess up! Unless…" She furrows her brow in thought, but doesn't say anything else.
(End Confessional: Gwen.)
(Confessional: Noah.)
Noah sighs, looking exhausted. "Of all the days to have to put this plan into action, it has to be the one where I'm wiped out." He rubs his hand over his face, "Welp, looks like it's go time."
(End Confessional: Noah.)
Lightning was reclining on one of the couches in the Rec Center. He was idly bouncing a rubber ball against the far wall and catching it in his hand, trying to keep himself entertained.
The door opened behind him, and Lightning's arm froze. He turned his neck to look over his shoulder and saw Sky standing there, still damp from the challenge.
"Hey!" She said happily, walking over and plopping down beside the big jock.
"Hey Shorty," Lightning said, draping an arm around her as she settled into him. "Tough loss today."
"Yeah," Sky said, letting out a disgruntled sigh, "I can't believe I failed like that."
"Don't sweat it," Lightning said, "Zoey messed up top. Not that it matters. Scrawny guy is outta here."
"Scrawny guy?" Sky repeated, a little confused. "Oh! You mean Noah? Why him?"
"Pfft, ain't it obvious? He was useless today! He didn't grab a single letter. The rest of us are all champion athletes, or at least useful like Izzy." Lightning shrugged his massive shoulders. "Besides, something about that guy I just don't trust…"
"Oh…" Sky said, a little uncertain, "actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Noah actually approached me before the challenge and proposed a pretty good idea."
Lightning glanced down at Sky, a skeptical look on his face. "Oh? Let Lightning hear it."
"He wanted to team up with us." Sky explained. "And vote Zoey out tonight, because she doesn't like you."
Lightning mulled that over a few seconds, his brow furrowed. "Sounds kinda shady…" Lightning said, "Noah still seems like the better target. Like the Lightning said, he just don't trust him!"
"It was a really good plan, though." Sky pressed on, refusing to budge. "He said that we stick together to blindside Zoey, then we pick off Rodney and Izzy if need be. It's unlikely we'll lose three times before the merge happens, so that means the three of us could continue through the merge, maybe all the way to the Final Three!"
"That sounds like a good plan," Lightning admitted, "Almost too good…Lightning doesn't trust it!"
Sky stood up, exasperated. "Well I don't want to vote for Noah!"
Lightning groaned, also exasperated. "Well the Lightning doesn't wanna team up with Noah!"
They glared at each other for a few seconds.
"So what do we do?" Sky asked finally. "Will you at least meet me half way and vote for Zoey? We don't have to team up wit Noah if you don't want to."
Lightning huffed and puffed, but eventually relented. "Fine. Lightning'll vote for Zoey this time. But Noah next time, got it?"
"Deal," Sky agreed, and the two high-fived, exchanging a smile.
(Confessional: Lightning.)
"Sha-mmm! Shorty got some fight in her," Lightning exclaims, looking a little annoyed at first. The annoyed expression quickly melts off his face, replaced with a goofy smile, "Lightning likes that!"
(End Confessional: Lightning.)
"Another big win, baby!" Owen cheered. "Let's go!"
Currently all four members of Team Oddball were in the Tuck Shoppe, picking out some snacks to celebrate their win streak.
"And Sammy is safe too, which is a relief," Jasmine added. "I'd feel awful if she were to get eliminated so early off an honest mistake."
"Yeah, it all lucked out for us," Shawn agreed, pulling a bag of chips from the shelf to add to his basket.
Bridgette was on the other side of the shop looking at the drinks cooler. "You guys want Root Beer or Orange?" She called to them.
"Why not both?!" Owen replied, as enthusiastic as ever.
"Go for root beer," Shawn said with a suave look at Jasmine. "I like my soda like I like my girlfriend…sweet…and dark."
Owen erupted into laughter while Jasmine slapped her hand across her face. "Shawn, mate," she said, looking both humored and offended at the same time. "Just…no…"
"Too much?" Shawn asked, a little sheepish.
"By a mile," Jasmine replied, giving Shawn an affectionate noogie.
While Sky and Lightning continued to canoodle in the Rec Center, Noah had convened the rest of the Team Alpha in the girls trailer. Noah and Rodney made themselves comfy on the floor, while Zoey and Izzy sat on their respective beds.
"Okay guys, I found out some worrying info today," Noah told the group, "and that's why I've called you all here."
"Ooh, is it that the monkey's are invading China?" Izzy asked earnestly, "because let me tell ya, Noah…that is so last week's news!"
Noah shot the ginger girl a weird look, "errr…moving on…it seems that Sky and Lightning have started up a little romance."
"Huh, really?" Zoey asked. "I didn't notice anything today with them, they seemed as normal as they have been. What makes you so sure?"
"She basically told me when I asked," Noah explained.
"But why is that a bad thing?" Rodney asked, "Love is the best! We should be happy for them!"
Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was worried you'd feel that way…" He looked up at the big farm boy. "Look, Sky and Lightning are two of the most threatening people to ever play the game. If they're working with each other unconditionally with no threat of backstab, they're going to be near impossible to beat…especially when the merge comes."
"Well then we just boot Lightning," Zoey said easily, "I'm fine with that."
"That's the thing," Noah said, "I don't think we should eliminate Lightning. I think we should go for Sky."
"Isn't Lightning the way bigger threat between the two, though?" Rodney asked, "by that logic, I think Lightning would be the best person to target too."
"Look, I'm still a team player here," Noah said quickly. "After this, in my ideal world we don't lose another challenge until the merge. I want us to keep winning, and I think Lightning will help way more than that because, as you guys both said, he's the bigger threat."
Zoey drew her knees up to her chest, a little unsure. "I dunno," she said, "Sky's really nice, and Lightning's just…not."
Noah took a breath and chose his next words very carefully. "Here's the way I see it." He told them. "There's three main reasons I think it's better we keep Lightning over Sky. The first is that Lightning is straight up better at challenges than Sky. I sincerely doubt Lightning would've failed at finding that last balloon today. Sky did fail."
"That's not fair," Zoey argued, "she and I both searched the entire area. I'm telling you, it wasn't there."
"Be that as it may," Noah continued dismissively, "Lightning is more of an asset. Point number two: the other's reaction to the elimination of their new beau. Lightning will be upset, sure, but he's so competitive it won't affect his contributions to the team. Especially if we can convince him that us voting out Sky somehow came from the words of another team."
"Gee, Noah, that's pretty dastardly of you." Rodney said nervously.
"Just because the strategic highlight of your season was a psycho trying to kill you all doesn't mean a little skullduggery makes me a villain," Noah said calmly. "The fact is, just as Lightning is better in challenges, Lightning is less likely to have his performance and contribution hampered by the exit of Sky."
"Gee, Noah, you've really thought this all out!" Izzy said, munching on some popcorn she had retrieved from her blankets. "What's next, what's next?!"
"The final point is that I've already talked to Sky and Lightning and sent them a red herring. Just hear me out, cause it sounds bad at first." Noah looked to the others. "Okay?"
Rodney and Zoey exchanged dubious looks, but let the bookworm speak.
"I told Sky and Lightning I wanted to team up with them, and that we should probably vote for you, Zoey." Noah had the good sense to look a little sheepish.
"What!" Zoey exclaimed, "Noah, come on!"
"I know, I know, but I had to," Noah explained. "Now that leaves us wide open to take out Sky."
"You're going to use me as a scapegoat to Lightning," Zoey accused.
"No, I won't," Noah said quickly. "Seriously, all we need to do is break up this duo. I'm not asking for a big alliance or anything, but it's better for all of us if we do it."
"I'm still not convinced it's smart to boot Sky over Lightning." Rodney admitted. "Lightning in the merge would be pretty devastating for all of us…"
"I"m not saying to let him get to the merge!" Noah retorted, his frustration finally starting to show. "But he's gonna be way more useful to us. Why is this so hard for you to understand?"
Zoey groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Fine! Okay, fine!" She removed her head from her hands and glared at Noah, "but I'm only doing this because you've put me in their crosshairs! I can't believe you did that without talking to me first!"
"I'm sorry," Noah apologized. "But I made a spur of the moment decision after realizing they've gotten together."
Zoey let out a 'humph' and stood up. "Well, see you at dinner, I guess," she said coldly. She took her leave.
"Wait, one more thing," Noah said, and Zoey paused in the doorway. "Sky's gonna blame me when this goes down. I need you guys to just keep quiet when that happens. We gotta wait until she's gone to try and convince Lightning it was the fault of someone on the other team, okay?"
Zoey let out a disgusted noise. "I can't believe I'm going along with this!" And left the trailer with a slam of the door.
Rodney let out an awkward cough. "Uhh..yeah…see ya guys." He left as well.
That left Izzy and Noah in the trailer.
"I can't believe they fell for that," Izzy giggled.
Noah raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well that argument was pretty weak, Noah," Izzy said baldly, "I mean, first you said you were looking out for the team, then you said you weren't proposing a big alliance! What kind of contradictory phooey was that!?"
Noah rolled his eyes and stood up. "Okay Izzy, whatever you say."
Izzy let out a mischievous chuckle as Noah headed for the door. "You've grown, my sneaky young padawn…you've grown."
(Confessional: Noah.)
Noah scoffs. "I'm not sorry at all for that," he admits, "I don't know Zoey, and I don't owe her anything." He punches his palm with his hand. "I'm here to play this time around, and I need to set myself up for later on in the game. All I have for friends here is Owen and kind of Izzy, but Owen's on the other team and, even if we all make the merge, if they're back together by that point I'll be the odd man out; the third wheel." He shakes his head. "This is just phase two of this little operation," he smirks, "the best is yet to come."
(End Confessional: Noah.)
The Mess Hall was empty except for Chef, who was cooking dinner and humming to himself as he listened to music through his AirPods.
The camera turned to the door as it opened. Sammy and Jasmine entered and walked over to one of the tables.
"What did you wanna talk about, Jasmine?" Sammy asked, a little confused.
"Huh?!" Chef barked, noticing the two girls sitting at the table. "You two say something? I couldn't hear you because I was listening to my AirPods!" For emphasis, he pulled the case out of his pocket and brandished it at the girls.
"No, we weren't talking to you, mate." Jasmine told him, turning back to Sammy.
"Well, good! Cause I was listening to music! On my AirPods!" Chef told them. "Now, if you'll excuse me! I'll go back to listening to music! On. My. AirPods!" He gave the case a final, defiant little thrust in their direction, as if they hadn't properly grasped what he was doing.
"Err…right," Jasmine and Sammy shared as slightly concerned look. Once Chef had put his AirPods back in (he left the case for all to see on the counter), the two returned to their conversation.
Or…they tried to. The door opened again and Gwen walked in. She noticed the two sitting and quickly made her way over to them. "Sammy! Can I talk to you for a second?"
"We're actually in the middle of something, Gwen," Jasmine told the goth politely. She pointedly turned back to Sammy, "now, about the challenge…"
"That's what I wanted to talk about," Gwen interrupted, seating herself at the table. "What the heck was up with that, Sammy?"
"Uh..up with what?" Sammy said innocently, though the nervous look on her face didn't do her any favors, "What do you mean?"
Jasmine shot an appraising look at Gwen, but decided against speaking out against her presence in the conversation.
"What I mean is, you and Beardo said you knocked a balloon into the water, but I found our balloon tied to a drone." Gwen told her, "so what happened?"
"Ohh, that!" Sammy chuckled, still nervous. "Yeah, well I guess the balloon I accidentally knocked down was the V that Team Alpha needed, but I thought it was the Y we needed to win. Ask Beardo, we had a whole conversation about it on the skis!"
A look of realization passed through Gwen's face. "Oh!" She exclaimed, "that makes so much sense!" She let out a laugh, "that's what happened! Why were you acting so weird about it, then?"
Sammy let out a final nervous chuckle, "I dunno, I was just so relieved, I guess…"
Gwen smiled and stood up, giving the girl next to her an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Well, don't stress. We're safe, and that's all that matters!"
Sammy smiled gratefully at her, and Gwen turned to Jasmine with a smile of her own. "Good job today too," the goth told the Ozzie.
"Thanks," Jasmine smiled, "take care."
Gwen nodded and turned to leave, but accidentally made eye contact with Chef. Quick as a flash, Chef yanked his AirPods out and all but shoved them in Gwen's face before she could extricate herself from the situation.
Once that had finished and Sammy and Jasmine were alone again, the Nice Twin turned back to her best friend. "So what did you want to talk about, Jasmine?"
"Well, that, basically," Jasmine admitted, drumming her large hands on the table. "But I gotta say…something doesn't add up."
Sammy tensed, not daring to say anything.
"Is there something else you wanna tell me, Sammy?" Jasmine said cautiously, "I've got an inkling on what might've actually gone down, but I'm not gonna drag it out of ya."
Sammy looked up at Jasmine, and the taller girl was surprised to see nervous excitement on the others face.
"Okay, okay," Sammy whispered, looking around nervously despite the fact that they were alone. "Well…Beardo thought it was the V, the one we didn't need, and I kinda thought so too…but I saw at the post that the only letter Team Alpha needed that both teams had was the V…so I thought maybe if it fell into the water, we'd be able to win the challenge." Sammy's face was a mixture of shame and excitement. "I didn't think it would work so well…"
Jasmine let out a low whistle, "so let me get this straight, you sabotaged Team Alpha's chances to win? I dunno whether to be impressed, surprised, disappointed, or all three."
"I only did it because they were looking so unbeatable!" Sammy defended herself. "I would never do it to you or anything."
Jasmine raised her hands up in surrender. "Oi, no judgement here, Sammy. Actually, that was a pretty great plan, even if it was a bit dodgy on the morals."
"Oh, Jasmine," Sammy let out a huge sigh, "That's such a relief to hear! I was worried you'd think I was turning into my sister or something…"
Jasmine giggle-snorted. "Like she could ever come up with something that smart."
The two shared a good laugh. Looking much more comfortable now, Sammy rested he elbows on the table and put her head on her palms. "It's just, ever since that plan to kick out Duncan worked so well, I've been getting all these ideas. Being around Scott probably didn't help either."
"Well you play your game, Sammy," Jasmine said warmly, "I'll be here to check you if you get too outta line, though. Don't turn into a scumbag on me!"
Sammy giggled. "I'm glad I'll have you watching over me." Her smile faded a little, "will you keep this a secret between us, though?"
Jasmine smiled, "even Shawn?"
Sammy thought about it for a moment, "no, Shawn can know. He's a good guy and I trust him. But the other members of your team…"
"Don't worry, gal pal. Your secret's safe with me!" Jasmine said, standing up.
"You're the best best friend ever, Jasmine!" Sammy gushed, and the two shared a warm embrace.
(Confessional: Jasmine.)
Jasmine is chuckling. "Who woulda thought that Sammy could be such a little stinker! I'm honestly kinda proud of her." She settles down and cracks her knuckles. "Anything to help her grow into her own person. She's had enough of people telling her what she can and can't be. If she wants to scheme a little bit, who am I to stop her?"
(End Confessional: Jasmine.)
The rain had finally quieted down a little to a gentle sprinkle by the time dinner rolled around, and a gentle sprinkle was all that bothered Team Alpha as they sat on their stumps at the Bonfire Ceremony.
"Not much of a Bonfire tonight, sadly," Chris said, looking at the wimpy embers of the fire. He pulled out the tray with five marshmallows on it. "Little dark out here, sorry guys."
"It's fine," Izzy said happily, "I've got night vision!"
"Super cool," Chris did not soon very interested. "That's why you get tonight's first marshmallow." He tossed a marshmallow to the crazy girl.
"Ooh, yay!" Izzy grabbed the marshmallow and swallowed it in one bite.
Chris picked up another marshmallow. "The second marshmallow of the night goes to…Rodney."
"Haha, sweetness!" Rodney cheered, catching a marshmallow in his beefy paw.
"Also safe tonight is Lightning."
"Sha-duh," Lightning grumbled.
"Noah, Sky, Zoey, no marshmallows for you guys yet. Feeling nervous?" Chris asked the three.
"Nope," all three said at the same time. All three looked startled at the others confidence, and Sky and Zoey started to look a little worried. Noah remained unbothered.
"The penultimate marshmallow goes to…Noah."
Noah raised a hand and caught the treat without a word.
"Sky, Zoey, this is the final marshmallow of the night. Whoever doesn't receive it will have to leave via the Dock of Shame." He glanced between the two girls. "You guys were finalists in the last season you competed on, and now one of you will be the first booted from your team. Life's a b-word, huh?"
"Just give me the marshmallow already," Sky said impatiently.
Zoey rolled her eyes and remained silent.
"The final marshmallow goes to…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Zoey!"
"Sha-WHAT?" Lightning bellowed, instantly hopping to his feet.
"Yeah, wait a second, how the hell did this happen!" Sky snapped. She turned to Noah. "You did this!"
Noah put his hands up. "I don't know what the hell happened."
"Yes yes, shocking as ever," Chris said tiredly. Sky's luggage had been brought over by an intern. "The fact remains you've been eliminated Sky, and you gotta go!"
"Tell me the vote count!" Sky demanded. "Tell me!"
Chris shook his head, "Can't disclose that information I'm afraid." He eyed Sky carefully. "Am I gonna have to have Chef restrain you?"
Sky took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched her hands a couple of times. "No. Fine. I'll leave." She turned a betrayed look at her team. "I can't believe you guys did this to me!" She gave Lightning a sad look. "I'm sorry, Lightning."
"Shorty, you ain't got nothing to apologize for." Lightning assured her, glaring daggers at the rest of the team. "Lightning's gonna avenge you."
Sky grabbed her luggage and turned to leave. "Well, goodbye I guess. Traitors." She turned and began to walk down the Dock.
Lightning jogged past the others to catch up with Sky before she hopped onto the boat.
"Sky, I'm gonna win this for you," he promised her.
"I know you will," tears of disappointment dusted her eyes, and she angrily wiped at her eyes. "I just…I just wanted to stay longer…"
Lightning reached out and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. "Well, let the Lightning give you a little goodbye gift." He reached down and kissed her. It was a little sloppy, but he got the message across.
They parted, and a crimson Sky looked at a loss for words.
"See ya around, Shorty." Lightning said with a small smile, "I'll call ya."
Sky shook her head and smiled. "Okay, bye Lightning." With that, she boarded on the Boat, and it sped off into the distance.
Lightning rejoined the rest of the team. "Mark my words. Lightning'll find out who did this, and he'll make them pay." He warned, storming past them towards the trailers.
"Ooh, vengefulness is always juicy," Chris chuckled, noting the nervous looks a couple members of Team Alpha were shooting amongst themselves. "Team Alpha, you may go."
As Team Alpha dispersed, he turned to face the camera. "With that, each team has now lost a member. Four down, thirteen to go. Who'll join the losers next? Find out right here, next time on Total! Drama! Generations!"
Boat of Losers Clip:
Sky angrily wiped the tears from her eyes as they sped through the water. "It's just so unfair!" She screamed into the night, startling Chef in the drivers cabin.
"Ya lost, girlie, get over it." Chef grumbled, "now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna put in my AirPods so I don't have to hear anymore of your screaming."
"I bet it was Noah who betrayed me," Sky continued to rant. "Or that bitch Zoey convinced him it was smarter to separate Lightning and I! But why me? Lightning's the bigger threat!" She kicked the side of the boat and turned to glare into the camera. "When I find out who did this, they're gonna pay."
Voting Confessionals:
Izzy: Wowee, Noah's strategy is so crazy it makes me look sane! Heehee! Anyways, I'll play along for now...I vote for Sky!
Lightning: The Lightning don't really agree, but he votes for Zoey. If it were up to him, he'd be votin for Noah!
Noah: Phase Two is almost complete. I vote for Sky.
Rodney: Man, this is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be...I'll let Noah think I'm playing along, but I don't trust the guy. I vote for Noah. I don't think I can vote Sky off after she was my first kiss...it just wouldn't be right.
Sky: Sorry Zoey, but you gotta go! Nothing personal, girl.
Zoey: As much as I'd like to vote for Lightning, Noah raises a couple good points. Plus, he kinda has me in a corner here. I vote for Sky.
Votes:
Sky - 3 votes: (Izzy, Noah, Zoey).
Zoey - 2 votes: (Lightning, Sky).
Noah - 1 vote: (Rodney).
Team Alpha: Zoey, Lightning, Rodney, Izzy, Noah.
Team Oddball: Jasmine, Shawn, Bridgette, Owen.
Team Nuclear: Gwen, Duncan, Jo, Sammy, Beardo.
Eliminated: Anne Maria, Brick, Scott, Sky.
Reasoning for Elimination:
I originally had Sky being the first merge boot in an early draft, but that was when Lightning/Sky was way more of a slow burn. I decided to change it up a bit and make them hook up much earlier. Thus, I didn't think I could make them interesting enough to last until the merge together. It was a tough call because either Sky or Lightning could've been eliminated here, but I ultimately chose Sky because I think theres more I could do with Lightning outside of one half of the ship wanting vengeance for a betrayal.
Well, I'm so sorry for the delay. I'm gonna make it up to you guys, but I'm kind of at a turning point with this story. I'm basically writing this for the fandom, as I have it all planned out for me. Are there enough people interested in this for me to make a serious effort in continuing and completing this story in a reasonable amount of time? With quarantine especially, I could probably churn out a chapter once or twice a week, and would likely have the motivation to if I knew people were hinging on this story. So just let me know one way or another how invested you are. My plan is, regardless of feedback, to get the next chapter out by next Friday.
I hope you guys enjoyed. Reviews are much appreciated, and remember to vote on the poll in my profile for this story if you haven't already!
Stay healthy and safe,
Knifez