Back at it again with another chapter! Excited to write this one, since I get to write the new teams trying to work together! Hope you guys enjoy it too!

ONCE A CHAPTER REMINDER TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR WHO YOU WANT TO RETURN AT THE MERGE. WHOEVER GETS FIRST WILL RETURN. YOU DECIDE.

Morning dawned on Wawanakwa Island. The previous night, the campers had experienced quite the shock when the three would-be eliminated campers: Jo, Bridgette and Izzy, had all been spared the Boat of Losers when Chris had announced that they were not eliminated but would instead be switching teams.

It had been a restless and stressful sleep for most of the thirteen remaining campers. The events that had transpired the night previous had been strenuous, specifically the re-emergence of Commando Zoey. All others had at least some idea of what this meant, as she had left an infamous mark on the final few episodes of Total Drama: Revenge of the Island.

As a result, most of the campers were up before Chris even had woken them up. The morning was grey and the sun had barely peeked over the horizon as the door to the boys trailer opened. A tired Lightning stood in the doorway, looking out over the misty morning. He heaved a sigh and made his way towards the bathrooms.

Also coming out of the trailer was Shawn. He jogged down the two steps, but headed towards the woods instead.

The camera shifted and panned into the trailer, showing the remaining males. Duncan and Beardo were the only two asleep, crashed out on the comfy bunkbeds and snoring loudly. Underneath the snoozing beatboxer, Owen pulled on his shoes, a troubled expression on his normally happy face.

Noah, the only other one awake in the trailer, was in the process of debating whether or not to go back to sleep or not, having been roused by Shawn, Owen and Lightning getting dressed. The bookworm was under the covers, but had his eyes open as he watched Owen heave himself off his bunk and to his feet.

"Going to get some breakfast?" He asked his friend sleepily.

Owen turned to look at him, and Noah was surprised to see a cold sadness in his friend's normally jovial eyes. Without responding, Owen turned and left the trailer. Noah gaped after him, but didn't say anything else.

Jarred by his friends coldness, all thoughts of returning to bed vanished from Noah's mind, and he got up and began to get dressed.

(Confessional: Noah.)

Noah looks down guiltily, "Crap. I totally screwed up. I wasn't even thinking about Owen when I voted last night, I got so caught up in the moment. I still think keeping Lightning was the right move for me, at least game-wise. Friend wise," he shook his head sadly, "big mistake…" the book worm looks back at the camera, a little hopeful, "but maybe since Izzy's still here, he won't be that mad?"

(End Confessional: Noah.)

The situation was similar for the girls in their trailer, but it was a little more awkward cause of one particular woman.

Zoey practically radiated danger. It was like a dark cloud was looming over her head. Her eyes were hard and unforgiving, and she had undone her braid so that her waist length, cherry red hair flowed freely around her face and back. She was currently sitting at the wooden table in the trailer, drumming her fingers on it as she glared out the window.

The rest of the girls were having a silent communication behind her back. Fifteen minutes earlier, Jo had attempted to make a snide remark about Zoey, but the girl had just turned to glare so fiercely at Jo that the normally brazen athlete had quickly excused herself from the trailer to go for a morning run.

That left Jasmine, Bridgette, Izzy, Gwen, Sammy looking at each other awkwardly.

"You're friends, right?" Jasmine whispered to Gwen, "why don't you go talk to her?"

"I dunno," Gwen whispered back, "I've never seen her like this…"

Izzy, less wary than the other girls, walked up to Zoey and sat down next to her. "Hey Zoey!" She greeted happily. "Sleep well?"

Zoey's eyes softened a little when she saw her friend. "No," she said bluntly, "I slept like crap. Yesterday sucked."

"Lightning was way out of line," Izzy agreed, still grinning, "you gonna kick his butt?"

The troubled young girl nodded her head, her expression full of determination, "Without question."

"Great! Let's go grab some food, eh?" Izzy slung an arm around her shoulder and the two stood up. They left the trailer, leaving the other four girls surprised.

"Man, Izzy really has no fear, does she?" Sammy asked with a nervous chuckle.

Gwen shook her head, "nope, she's as insane as they come."

"Seems like a good gal, though," Jasmine offered. The four girls filed out of the trailer, heading towards the Mess Hall as well.

"I think her heart's in the right place?" Bridgette said, though her uncertainty made it sound more like a question. The surfer shook her head, "I think she'll fit right in with you guys, though."

Jasmine looked a little troubled, "yeah, we'll see…"

(Confessional: Jasmine.)

"Look, I haven't been keeping tabs on Izzy and Owen," the survivalist admits, "but they were swapping spit a few nights ago like a couple a' koalas in heat. Our team was great before, since it meant Shawn and I were guaranteed to be the last two standing on the team. Now, though…if Izzy and Owen get back together, that means we might be forced into a tiebreaker."

(End Confessional: Jasmine.)

Shawn whistled to himself in the grey morning, walking through the woods and occasionally popping a berry into his mouth. He was currently making his way back to camp, ready for some real food, when he heard loud footsteps and heavy breathing approaching from behind him.

"Ahh, zombie!" He screamed, leaping up into the nearest tree. He looked down to see a jogging Jo run up to his tree. She stopped to catch her breath, looking up at Shawn with an incredulous look.

"Uhh, earth to Crazy Boy, it's just me."

Shawn blinked away his shock, quickly lowering himself back onto the ground. "Whoops, sorry about that," he apologized, "what the heck are you doing out here this early?"

"Going for my morning run," Jo responded, leaning against the tree trunk. "As for why I'm up early, Commando Crybaby was keeping us girls up with her doom vibes."

Shawn looked a little stumped, and scratched at the back of his beanie awkwardly, "Commando Crybaby?"

Jo waved a dismissive hand, unbothered that Shawn hadn't picked up on her mocking nickname, "Zoey," she explained, "you were there last night when she snapped, right?" She peered at him through squinted eyes, "or maybe zombies really have gotten to your brains…"

Shawn clutched his head protectively, "No way," he said defensively, "I just didn't know there was a name for her, that's all." He removed his arms from his head and put a few fingers to his chin, looking thoughtfully upwards, "though now that you mention it, I do remember her getting all cold and bitter in her last few episodes of your first season." He looked down at the assortment of berries in his hand and offered it to Jo, "berry?"

After a moment of consideration, Jo swiped a few berries from him with a nod of thanks. "Yeah, and now I'm stuck on a team with her." She said as she chewed, "and she's got some weird hate dynamic with Lightning, who's a moron. Then we've got Whiny McScrawnypants to round out the circus."

Shawn chuckled, "yeah, sounds like a tough situation."

The tomboy rolled her eyes and began to walk back towards camp. Shawn matched her pace. "I just don't like knowing what's going on," she admitted as they walked, "I need to know what's been going on there, and why Zoey and Lightning seem to hate each other so much."

"Just ask each person on your team individually," Shawn suggested, "they've all probably got slightly different stories, but if you piece them together through all three accounts, you'll probably have all the info you need."

Jo looked surprised at Shawn's intuition, "Huh, not a bad idea. Maybe you're not a complete loon!"

Shawn rolled his eyes as the Mess Hall came into view, "how kind of you to say," he said sarcastically.

(Confessional: Jo.)

"Whether I like it or not, I have to adapt to my new team," Jo tells the camera bluntly, "I just need to figure out what's going on so I can actually form a plan."

(End Confessional: Jo.)

Everyone, even the sleepy Beardo and Duncan, had finally made it to the Mess Hall and were chowing down on some breakfast. They were excited to hear that cinnamon rolls were today's breakfast, and even Chef telling them that they were 'the best canned cinnamon rolls on the market' couldn't detract from their excitement at enjoying a tasty treat.

Even Owen, who had been glum all morning, seemed temporarily distracted as he chowed down.

"This team is gonna be so fun!" Izzy exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her chair. "We're all so tough, we're never gonna lose!"

Owen looked over at her, a nervous smile on his face. "Yeah, it's the best."

Izzy wrapped her arms around Owen's arm in her signature Izzy-hug. "We're going to kick all the butt together, you guys!" She told the team, "I just know it!"

Owen tried to cease his blushing in a very unsuccessful manner, "Uhh, yeah! Winning all the way! Woohoo!"

"Say, you're a little red in the face there, Big-O," Izzy said, releasing her hug and putting a hand to his forehead, "you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine!" Owen squeaked, "I uh, must have cinnamon bun fever!"

Izzy removed her hand, "well be careful. Izzy lost four relatives to that," her tone was deadly serious.

Jasmine tried to catch Shawn's eye, but the scruffy boy was too busy staring at the two with a happy smile. The big girl sighed uneasily.

You could hear a pin drop over at the Alpha table.

Zoey was eating in silence, glaring holes in her plate as she forcefully ripped cinnamon buns apart with her hands and shoved them into her mouth. Across from her, Noah was staring blankly ahead, his mind churning and grinding out different ideas and trying to ignore the wracking guilt making a home in his chest.

Lightning was glaring at Zoey as he ate, annoyed that the redhead was ignoring him.

Jo was observing the catastrophe that was her team, unsure whether to make a mean comment, snide joke, or both. "So glad to be here, guys," she finally said, "the vibes here are just great."

Lightning scoffed and turned his glare from Zoey to Jo. "Lightning can't believe that it was your stupid face that got put on our team! He'll never forget you eliminating him in All-Stars!"

Jo rolled her eyes, "are you really that sad to be kicked out of that train wreck of a season so early? I practically did you a favor!"

"Losing early is a favor? Sha-ridiculous," Lightning shook his head, "why couldn't they have kicked off someone cool, like that Beardo guy or Duncan. At least they're kinda fun to be around!"

"Well, I'm here now and you just gotta suck it up, Lame-ning," Jo told him snootily, "at least under my watchful eye, there's no way we'll lose a challenge."

Lightning and Zoey snorted at the same time, then both glared at each other.

Jo slapped her face and slowly dragged her hand down it, sighing.

"I'm so happy to be on this team!" Bridgette said happily, pushing her empty plate away from her.

"Really?" Duncan asked with mock enthusiasm, "you've only said it like 10 times since last night."

"Oh shut it, Duncan," Gwen smirked, "we're happy to have you here, Bridgette."

"Yeah," Sammy said happily, "and we have a person up on everyone else. Maybe we can use that to our advantage!" She gasped, "what if we won every challenge until the merge? Then we could all team up on the others!"

"Wishful thinking," Duncan said with a skeptical snort.

"Someone's cheerful this morning," Beardo pointed out.

"I'm just tired," Duncan said with a shrug, "tension has been up because of all the stupid stuff going on with Team Alpha. Lightning's been a real drag to have in the trailer."

"True," Beardo agreed, "he's been," he mimicked a crackling and sparking fire, "pretty heated."

"Well, whatever we have to deal with here can't be worse than the certain doom of getting booted off next time we lose," Bridgette sighed.

"That must have been stressful," Sammy said sympathetically.

"Super stressful," Bridgette agreed.

"I wonder what today's challenge is gonna be?" Beardo wondered, finishing the last of his cinnamon roll. He sucked the frosting from his fingers, "mm, that's good stuff right there."

"Well I'm happy you asked, Beardo my man," came Chris's voice from the entrance to the Mess Hall. The thirteen campers turned to look at him. "Because coincidentally enough, it's time for the next challenge!"

"Bring it!" Jasmine and Izzy said in unison, standing up from their chairs.

Chris put on a gas mask. "Great!"

"Wait, why's he putting on a gas mask?" Sammy asked nervously.

"Man, not again," Duncan whined.

A patch of the ceiling quickly retracted, and a fancy looking cannon replaced the tile that had vanished. It unleashed a thick purple smoke that quickly sprayed all over the Mess Hall, and the thirteen campers collapsed, snoring.

The cannon retracted and was replaced by a huge fan, which quickly sucked up all the gas. Chris removed his gas mask and shot a grin at the camera. "I love my job!"

Bridgette groaned and sat up. Her eyes squinted in the dim light and saw another sleeping body next to her. She pushed herself into a standing position, still a little dizzy, and walked up to the other person.

"Psst, Duncan, wake up!" She hissed.

Duncan groaned and opened his eyes. He put a hand to his head and let out a loud yawn. "What the…where are we?" He looked around, "where's everyone else?"

"I don't know," Bridgette said nervously, taking in her surroundings.

They were in a dimly lit hallway, or at least it seemed like a hallway. The walls were a dark red stone and torches lined the walls every ten feet or so. The floor was dirt, and it was surprisingly eerie.

"This place is weird," Duncan commented, "why is there a hallway with a dirt floor?"

A monitor popped out of the ground next to them, startling the two. The screen cracked to life to show Chris's grinning mug.

"Oi," Jasmine barked, startling a nervous Owen, "a monitor's just appeared."

The two walked over to the monitor as Chris began to talk. "Welcome to your next challenge, kiddos! Listen carefully, because this might be the most dangerous challenge yet!"

Owen and Jasmine exchanged a glance.

"You are currently locked in a large maze," Chris explained, "and your goal is to get to the center, where you'll be able to climb to freedom. You'll each notice you have something on your wrist."

Jo tapped on the strange device on her wrist, and was startled to see a holographic map pop out. Next to her, Noah had done the same.

"That little red dot you see is you," Chris explained, "and it will track your progress throughout the maze."

"So it's like a map," Noah realized, "that gets bigger the more we explore."

"Precisely," Chris confirmed, "be careful though, as there are plenty of dangers in your path to freedom. Most notably is Sasquatchanakwa, who's been let loose in the maze."

Izzy gasped, "ooh, I haven't seen Sassy in a hot minute! Fun!"

"Sasquatchanawka?" Shawn questioned.

"Yeah, remember that big purple ape dude?" Izzy told him. "Murderous rager, lover of TV documentaries?"

Shawn gulped. "Oh yeah…"

"He's going to be hunting for you guys, so it's best to avoid him at all costs," Chris advised, "and I know what you're thinking, it'll be hard to evade him in a tight maze with narrow corridors. Well to that, I say you're darn right! Hahaha!" He stopped laughing and the serious expression returned, "don't worry, though. He won't mess you up too bad, just rough you up a little bit and slow your progress down. There are other hazards too, not to mention booby traps. Keep a sharp eye out."

Sammy and Gwen exchanged a nervous look.

"I don't like the sound of booby traps," Sammy said nervously.

"Me neither," Gwen agreed.

"The first team to get all their members across wins the challenge and gets a reward," Chris told them, "the second place team is safe, but has to face an obnoxious punishment. Last place faces the worst punishment of all: elimination!" The screen shut off, and retracted into the

"Well, we better get going then," Gwen said, watching the monitor disappear. "Hopefully we can avoid Sasquatchanakwa."

"He sounds terrifying," Sammy gulped, turning her head to peer behind them. "Which way should we start."

Gwen tapped her wrist and looked at the holographic map that popped up, "well, we've got zero progress so it's a guessing game." She pointed forwards, "so let's just go."

Sammy nodded, and the two began to walk down the dark labyrinth.

"Why's it so dark in here?" Lightning complained, "Lightning can't see a dang thing."

Zoey was studying her holographic map with a frown. She was pointedly ignoring Lightning.

"And he can't believe he got partnered up with you." The alpha athlete continued, glaring down at Zoey. "Heck, Lightning thinks he might even take Jo over you!"

"The feeling is mutual," Zoey snapped, "but the fact of the matter is we need to find the center of this stupid maze so we don't lose." She turned to give Lightning a scathing look, "unless you're planning on throwing the challenge to try and get me out."

Lightning scoffed, crossing his massive arms over his equally large chest, "Lightning doesn't care how much beef he has with anyone. Winning will always be number one on his priority list. Sha-always!"

"Then you're not a complete idiot," Zoey told him, her mocking tone jarring. "Let's get moving."

Beardo gulped, eyeing the dark hallway in front of him. With the only light coming rom the flickering torches, the shadows were long and the silence was eerie. The only sound came from the crunching dirt under his heavy footfalls.

"Dark red stone, dirt floor," Beardo whispered, creeping along at a snails pace, "monsters hunting ya, barely any light…what could go wrong, right?" He looked around, "I just wish I had a buddy or something!"

He took a step forward and his foot sank slightly into the ground. He heard a sharp click from above him. The big guy froze, slowly looking up towards the ceiling. A piece of stone had slid aside, leaving a square of darkness. As Bearo stared, a pair of red eyes could be seen. Two more pairs joined him, and before he knew it he had twenty pairs of beady red eyes glaring down at him.

Beardo gulped, "Ruh roh," he said in a perfect imitation of Scooby-Doo. The twenty pairs of eyes descended on him, revealed in the light as a swarm of bats that instantly crowded the boy, making him scream and sprint off down the hallway.

"The Naturalist creeps along with his partner, ready for action as a moments notice," whispered a voice from off camera.

The camera was currently on Jasmine as she walked along, a tired expression on her face.

"Patience is key and keeping cool is law," the voice continued, "for in the wild, the calm are kings…"

Jasmine rolled her eyes but remained silent. She clicked open her holo-map and checked their progress.

"Step…step…step…step…never wavering," the voice continued as they walked, "step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…step…"

"Owen, mate, will you please keep it down?"

Owen paused both his words and his feet. "Oh, sorry Jasmine," he apologized, "I didn't mean to annoy you…I'm just in a troubled place right now."

"Yeah, it's fine," Jasmine brushed his apology off, "let's just stay focused. We don't know what's gonna be coming around each corner." As if to prove her point, the two rounded a corner and Jasmine tripped a tripwire. They both heard the snap of the wire and screamed and ducked as a bunch of darts flew over their head and clattered against the wall, where they fell onto the ground.

Jasmine grabbed a dart and sniffed it, "yep, these woulda put us to sleep for a little while," she noted, tossing the dart over her shoulder. "I've smelt that salve before, it'll knock ya right out."

Owen scooped up a couple of darts and put them in his pocket. At Jasmine's weird look, he shrugged his massive shoulders. "Maybe if we run into Sasquatchanakwa we can use them?"

Jasmine pondered that for a few seconds before shrugging, "not a bad idea," she admitted, pocketing a few darts of her own, "let's keep moving."

"So…" Bridgette said as she and Duncan traversed the maze.

The two had been making pretty good progress through the maze, and had taken a couple of fortunate turns to get themselves closer to the center of the maze. Luckily for the duo, they hadn't run into any traps either.

"So…what?" Duncan asked, two steps ahead of the surfer as they walked.

"How's it been going?" Bridgette offered.

Duncan snorted, "I didn't know you cared."

Bridgette raised an eyebrow, "oh, so that's how it's going to be?"

"You tell me, Malibu," Duncan said, "you're the one that chewed me out after All-Stars at that party."

"Because you were an ass, that's why!" Bridgette exclaimed, crossing her arms, "parading about that party, boasting about how cool you were that your jail sentence was only 60 days because you were famous. Don't even get me started on how you were talking about Courtney and Gwen! Even Geoff was pissed, and he'll defend you to the ends of the earth!"

Duncan turned around to glare at the steaming mad surfer, but couldn't find any appropriate words to defend himself.

"So do you deny the fact that you were a huge jerk?" Bridgette asked him.

"…no," Duncan finally said through gritted teeth.

"Then don't give me that sulky 'I didn't know you cared', crap," Bridgette said sternly.

"That was a long time ago," Duncan muttered.

"It was," Bridgette agreed, still looking annoyed with the sulking delinquent in front of her, "and from what I've gathered from Gwen you've changed…for the better. Right now, though? I'm not really seeing it."

Duncan exhaled at an obnoxious volume and turned back around, and the two continued their walk through the dark maze. "Things have been…weird," he eventually said, "I'm sure you know about all that BS that went down a few challenges ago?"

"The one that led to you getting kicked off but saved by Brick?" Bridgette said, a bit sour, "yeah, I'm aware. He totally screwed me by doing that."

Duncan bit back a laugh, but couldn't hide his smirk as he turned to face her, "so you and Army Boy were allied up? Why do I find that so hilarious?"

Bridgette gave him a sardonic sort of smile, "well with Shawn and Jasmine dominating the team and Owen being good friends with Shawn, I didn't have much of a choice," she said, "I mean, why do you think it was me that got voted off the Oddballs last night?"

"Fair point," Duncan conceded, "still a hilarious image though." The two were silent for a minute as they hanged a left, getting ever closer to the centre of the maze.

"Well, Gwen's a good friend of mine," Bridgette finally said, "and I need to make sure you aren't planning anything shady with her."

Duncan scoffed, offended, "give me some credit, Bridgette, I'm not-"

"She told me about the voting thing," she interrupted, and Duncan winced.

"That's just strategical, it has nothing to do with it being Gwen."

"I know," Bridgette said, "but do you have any…ulterior motives? Or lingering feelings?"

Duncan was starting to get angry, "my feelings don't matter," he growled, "and they don't exist either, okay? Even if they did, she has a boyfriend, so it's a moot point."

"She has a boyfriend? Huh, I didn't know that." Bridgette raised her eyebrows in surprise, "good for her."

"Yeah," Duncan grunted, "great."

"So what the heck has been going on in this crapshoot of a team?" Jo asked, her tone rude and impatient as she yanked the boy out of a pit of quicksand. "Also, watch where you're stepping."

Noah brushed the clumpy wet sand off of himself, "a lot of stuff," he told Jo, "do you want the short version or the long version?"

"I want the truth version," Jo said pointedly. She held up a fist in his direction, "and I'm pretty darn good at sniffing out liars."

Noah wiped his hands together to rid himself of the last of the quicksand and then held said hands up defensively, "fair enough, fair enough. I don't know everything for sure, but I can give you my best guess as to what's going on."

The two began to walk, "I'm listening," Jo told him.

"Well it all started off when Sky started making eyes at Lightning." Noah told her.

"Blech, gross," Jo gagged.

"Right? Anyways, Zoey and Lightning always had this sort of low-key animosity with one another. Once Sky and Lightning kind of 'officially' got together, I wanted to ally with them."

"But let me guess, Lightning didn't want to," Jo scoffed.

"Bingo." Noah nodded his head, "then I talked to the rest of the team, and we were all kinda in an agreement that Sky and Lightning were too dangerous together."

"So why boot Sky instead of Lightning?" Jo asked, "especially if Zoey's got beef with him?"

"Dunno," Noah shrugged, "maybe Rodney convinced her that Lightning was more of an asset to the team? Anyways, I had no problem voting for either of them, so I had no complaints with Sky going."

"And I'm guess Lightning didn't like that."

"No indeed," Noah said, nodding again, "he's convinced Zoey voted Sky just to hurt him, and their conflict reached an all time high."

"So how the hell did Rodney end up getting booted?" Jo scratched her chin, "that doesn't add up."

Noah shrugged, "I'm honestly not too sure about that one. Izzy and I just sorta voted for him and he ended up leaving. Dunno about the rest of the team."

"Why not kick off one of the two people who've been causing conflict?" Jo pointed out, "that would make it a lot easier to deal with challenges."

Noah shrugged and didn't respond. "Well, I'm actually glad you're on the team. With Izzy gone, my only ally left," he lied, "without you, I'd probably be gone next."

"What makes you think I want to ally with you?" Jo scoffed, "you're whiny, pathetic, and weak."

Noah glared at her, "what, you're going to buddy up with Lightning?"

"Well…no," Jo scowled, "I can't stand that idiot."

"Good, or you can choose Zoey, who'll just as soon throw you to sharks than vote with you in her current state," Noah shook his head, "no, Jo, I think I'm your best shot here. Which is nice, cause you're my best shot."

"We'll see," Jo said begrudgingly, "for now though, let's win this stupid challenge."

(Confessional: Noah.)

Noah sighs, tired and weary, "Welp, theres more lies I have to keep track of. I need a spreadsheet at this rate." He shakes his head, "but my hand is being forced here with all these Type-A personalities on my team. If I can ally with Jo and keep the fact that I'm allied with Lightning a secret, we can easily boot Zoey next time we lose, then Lightning and I can just kick Jo off in the event we lose again before the merge." He yawns, "y'know, this strategy thing is nearly as fun as I thought it would be. I don't have the sadistic, mustache-twirling energy to enjoy it."

(End Confessional: Noah.)

(Confessional: Jo.)

"Yeah, something doesn't quite add up with Noah's story," Jo frowns, "and I know just who to talk to to get to the bottom of this."

(End Confessional: Jo.)

"We're getting close to the center," Shawn said excitedly.

"Aw, this has been too easy," Izzy pouted, looking up to the ceiling and shaking her fists, "c'mon Chris, I thought you said there was supposed to be hazards and booby traps!"

The zombie enthusiast looked around nervously, "I don't think avoiding those is a bad thing," he gulped. The two continued walking, and turned a corner to see a pillar of light shining down on something shiny on a pedestal, midway down the hallway.

"Ooh, what's that?" Izzy gasped, racing down the hallway to inspect the pedestal.

Shawn raced after her, "Uh, Izzy, maybe we don't touch whatever that is," he looked down and gasped.

Sitting on the pedestal was a golden crown, embedded with dozens of gorgeous, sparkling jewels of different colors.

"Aw, I thought it would be something cool," Izzy pouted, "but it's just a dumb crown!" She put a hand behind her head and sashayed her hips, "Izzy doesn't need a crown to know she's a queen!" She boasted. "Anyways, let's get moving…Shawn?"

Shawn seemed entranced by the crown, and slowly reached a hand out to grab it, "shiny…" he whispered.

"Uh, Shawn, remember the booby traps?" Izzy said, raising an eyebrow. When she received no response, she just shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Welp, I did all I could do! Besides, I'm kinda interested to see what's going to happen!"

Shawn grabbed the tiara and removed it. The moment the crown parted from the surface of the stone, the pedestal crumbled and a huge rumble was heard, shaking the entire hallway.

The rumbling was enough to rouse Shawn from his trance, "huh? What happened?" He asked.

The rumbling continued as the ceiling at the far end opened up, and a huge boulder fell and slammed into the ground, making both Shawn and Izzy jump in surprise. They screamed as it began to roll towards them, picking up speed at an alarming rate. The two Oddballs turned tail and ran, Shawn dropping the crown as he did. It was crushed into dust under the boulder.

"Aaaaah!" The two screamed as they fled the boulder.

(Confessional: Shawn.)

Shawn shoots the camera a guilty look, "Ok fine, I have a bit of a fascination with shiny things…can you blame me?! They're so…shiny!"

(End Confessional: Shawn.)

Sammy and Gwen were currently running hard. However, it was excitement, not fear, that sped their feet forwards.

"Almost there," Gwen said excitedly, "just one more turn and…" she turned the corner and skidded to a halt. "Whoa!"

Sammy nearly wiped out into the back of Gwen, but stopped just in time. The two looked down the hallway with wide eyes.

Fifty yards away, a ladder led up out of sight, wreathed in a bright light.

"The exit!" Sammy said excitedly.

"Yeah, but getting there isn't gonna be easy," Gwen lamented.

It was true, between them and the ladder was a huge, gaping chasm. There seemed to be two ways to cross. One way was to hop across rickety platforms suspended over the chasm. The second was a shoddy set of rope monkey bars that went above the chasm.

"Monkey bars or stepping stones?" Gwen asked Sammy, not looking too thrilled about either options.

"Definitely monkey bars," Sammy said, walking over to the rope bars and yanking on them, "cheerleading means my upper core strength is pretty good."`

"Yeah, I'm with you there," Gwen said dryly, "alright, let's move it."

The two began to make their way across the monkey bars, and all seemed to be going rather smoothly. Until…

"Oh my gosh, what's that?" Sammy gasped.

Gwen, who was directly behind her on the woven monkey bars, couldn't see past her freind's long blonde hair, "what's what?"

"That thing crawling towards us…it's…it's…" She let out a loud scream, "a SPIDER!"

"C'mon, Sammy, a little spider won't hurt you," Gwen said comfortingly.

"Ahhh!" Sammy let go of the monkey bars, luckily dropping onto one of the platforms above the chasm.

After looking down to make sure Sammy was okay, the goth returned her gaze forwards, "Jeez, Sammy, how much do you hate bugs? It's just…" she saw the spider, the size of a small dog, scuttling towards her and let out a scream of her own, "holy crap!"

The spider bared down on Gwen, who was too freaked out to do anything. When its glistening fangs were just inches from her knuckles, a stone smacked it in the face, sending it flailing off the rope and into the chasm below.

Gwen looked around for her savior, but the darkness made it tough. "Who did that?" She called, "thanks for that!"

"No problem!" Called a voice from across the chasm. Gwen squinted to see Jasmine and Owen approaching the ladder from the other side. Jasmine had been both speaker and thrower, and she shot the two a thumbs up before beginning to climb the ladder. "You alright, Sammy?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Sammy called back, "thanks, Jasmine!"

"Wait, how'd you cross the chasm before us?" Gwen yelled to them.

"The ladders in the middle of a four way intersection," Owen bellowed back, cupping his hands around his mouth so they could hear them, "we just came from a different direction!" He began to climb after Jasmine, "good luck!"

Sammy looked up at Gwen, who was still hanging.

"You gonna be okay down there, Sammy?" Gwen asked her.

Sammy surveyed the platforms, a little nervous but not wanting to show it. "I'll be fine," she told Gwen firmly, "now let's get this challenge over with!"

"Lightning thinks we should go left!"

"I am not having this conversation right now!" Zoey snapped at him. She pulled up her holo-map and all but shoved it into Lightning's face, "we're here, see?" She pointed to the red dot, "going left takes us away from the center. Why would we do that?!"

Lightning scoffed and crossed his arms, "because it's a maze, sha-DUH. You always gotta go backwards to go forwards in these stupid things!"

"Well until we know for sure that the short route doesn't work, we're not taking the long route!" Zoey told him irately, "now shut up and follow me!"

Lightning gasped, "you don't get to tell the Lightning to shut up!" He said, angry, "not after all you've done to him!"

"I haven't done squat to you, but I'm about to," Zoey promised him.

"You don't scare Lightning, Commando or not," Lightning crossed his arms, "you're gonna pay after conspiring against him to kick off Shorty."

A vein in Zoey's temple began to throb, "I already told you it was Noah's plan, not mine. But don't worry, I'll reunite you with her soon enough."

"In your dreams! Now c'mon, we're going left!"

"I'm not going left!" Zoey shouted at him, "go left if you want, but I thought you weren't planning on throwing challenges!"

"Ugh! It's not throwing, you're just WRONG!" Lightning bellowed back.

"Guess we'll see," Zoey said, her tone dangerously grim, "but I'm going right." Fed up with Lightning's antics, she turned her back on him and took the right turn, not looking back.

Lightning gnashed his teeth, glaring at her back until it disappeared around the corner. "Sha-fine! Lightning'll show you." He turned left and the two separated.

Beardo whistled the tune to "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" as he walked, his eyes wide and nervous as he shambled through the maze. He had lost the bats, but only just. The scratch marks on his face proved that he hadn't escaped unscathed, and his afro was a complete disaster.

The terrified young man pulled out his holo-map and glanced at it. "Decently close," he said, looking at the outline, "I've retracted my steps, so I just need to hang a right instead of a left." He took a deep breath and shut off his map. "Easy-peasy." He turned right and instantly bumped into something hard and furry.

"What the…?" He looked up, right into Sasquatchanakwas' beady little eyes. Beardo took a step back and gulped.

The angry Bigfoot looked down at him and let out a angered roar, blowing Beardo's already messy hair back even more.

Knowing he couldn't dare hope to outrun it, Bearo did the only thing he was confident in: he made noise. His eyes narrowed and he straightened himself up as he let out a roar thrice as loud as the one just thrown at him. Sasquatchanakwa recoiled in alarm and turned around, beginning to sprint away from Beardo.

Beardo gaped after the fleeing creature, massaging his now sore throat with one hand. "I can't believe that worked!" He rasped. "Too bad I have to follow it to get closer to the center…"

Things had been quiet between Duncan and Bridgette as they walked. It was a comfortable enough silence, but the two knew they wouldn't call the other friends.

"We've gotta be getting close," Duncan said tiredly. The two had dealt with several different traps that they had to have sprinted away from, and both were tiring quickly.

Bridgette had a hand clutching a stitch in her side as she walked. She had her other arm up and her holo-map activated, glancing at the different paths they had taken. "Looks like if we hang a right, we'll be in mystery territory. We are pretty close to the center, though…"

"Great," Duncan grunted.

"So, you're sure Gwen has a boyfriend?" Bridgette asked him curiously.

Duncan shot her an annoyed look, "that's what she said. I can't see any reason why she'd lie to me."

Bridgette could see several reasons why Gwen might lie to Duncan about that, but she wasn't about to point them out to him. "Ok, just wondering," she said calmly, "I'm just surprised she hasn't told me about it."

"Probably because she's so anti-boy troubles," Duncan said, a warm smile threatening to crack his cold exterior, "poor Pasty, she's had to deal with her fair share of morons while on this show. I can't blame her for not wanting to talk about it."

"That's…mature of you," Bridgette looked at him, a little surprised.

Duncan just shrugged, "well, whatever." They turned a corner, "hey, look at that," Duncan pointed ahead.

A hundred or so yards away was the ladder of safety. Unfortunately for them, there were several obstacles in the way.

"Total…Drama! Chris…McLean!" Voices began to ring out from the dim light. Into the light of one of the torches stepped…Chris McLean.

"Chris?" Bridgette said, confused, "what are you doing down here?"

Chris raised his hands up and began shambling towards Bridgette and Duncan. From behind him, three more Chris's appeared, arms also outstretched. "Total..Drama! Winning! Perish!"

Bridgette and Duncan exchanged a look. "What the hell is this?" Duncan said flatly. "I've had nightmares just like this."

The two heard some noise behind them, and turned around to see Noah and Jo scramble around the corner, eyes wide and out of breath.

"You two look like you've seen a ghost!" Bridgette exclaimed, quickly turning to make sure Jo and Noah were okay before returning her wary gaze back to the small group of Chris's.

The floor began to rumble. Dust rained from the ceiling onto the fours heads and Noah and Jo screamed in terror.

"He's coming!" Noah screeched, booking past Duncan and Bridgette and running face first into a Chris. There was a painful-sounding crunch of flesh on metal as Noah bounced off the Chris and onto the dirt floor.

"I know he's hard headed," Duncan said, starting to grow alarmed as the rumbling began to get closer and more rapid, "but I don't think Chris's skull should make that noise!"

"Forget that, Sasquatchanakwa's coming!" Jo yelled, blowing by the two Nuclear members and scooping up Noah with one arm.

"Not so fast!" One of the Chris's exclaimed, stepping in front of Jo and holding his arms out wide, "autograph…$100!"

"Out of the way, dumbass!" Jo cried, shoulder ramming the host into the wall. The Chris flew back into a torch on the wall and the torch broke free, falling onto his head.

Duncan gasped and Bridgette let out a scream as Chris's head was engulfed in flames. He seemed unbothered, though, and continued to shamble back towards Jo, head ablaze.

Jo stumbled back, dropping Noah back onto the ground. "Oh my god!" She gasped, "are you okay? What the hell!"

The fire slowly died, running out of stuff to consume, and the cause of Chris's lack of care for his face was revealed. His skull was chrome-colored and shiny. Glowing red eyes glared at Jo, and a wire sparked behind his ear. "Total…Drama!" Chris roared.

"It's the Chris-bots!" Noah groaned from the ground, still groggy. "He's not real!"

The three others looked surprised at first, but Jo quickly grew excited, "well this is a great way to blow off some steam then!"

"Total…Drama!" The burnt Chris exclaimed, closing in on the jockette.

Jo drew back her fist, "You've had this coming all season, you whiny baby!" Her fist crashed into the cheekbone of the Chris, denting the metal and knocking the Chris onto the floor. Jo instantly held her hand, letting out a cry of pain. "Ow!" She examined her knuckles, which were now bruised. "Worth it!"

Noah got to his feet, still a little woozy. The rumbling was now right behind them, and Sasquatchankwa burst around the corner, letting out an enraged howl as he saw the four campers and small horde of Chris-bots.

"Let's get out of here!" Noah screamed, turning and scrambling towards the ladder.

The others didn't need to be told twice, and began to also haul ass towards the ladder. Sasquatchanakwa roared and began to charge down the hallway towards them. The burnt and dented Chris-bot, now recovered, intercepted the Sasquatch and punched it in the stomach.

Sasquatchanakwa roared, more in surprise at how much it hurt than anything else. It glared down at the Chris bot and picked it up in one hand, crushing its torso into a scrapheap with one flex of it's beefy hand. Now in two pieces, the Chris-bot fell to the floor and began to drag it's upper torso after the Sasquatch.

This distraction proved most helpful to the four campers, because as a Chris-bot dove at Bridgette, she lost her balance and hit the ground. She screamed and kicked the Chris-bot in the face, but it did little to deter it as it clambered closer to her.

"Look out!" Duncan yelled, kicking the Chris-bot's outstretched arm out of the way and grabbing it by it's hair. With a mighty yank, he hurled the Chris-bot to it's feet, away from Bridgette.

"Not the hair!" The Chris-bot exclaimed in terror. Duncan hurled the Chris-bot hair-first towards Sasquatchanakwa, who had just finished stomping through the chrome skull of the first Chirs-bot.

Bridgette scrambled to her feet, "let's keep moving!" More Chris-bots moved in, surrounding her and Duncan.

Fifty yards ahead, Noah and Jo had blown past most of the Chris horde and were now approaching the ladder. The two turned back at the base to see Duncan and Bridgette getting surrounded.

"Should we help them?" Noah asked worriedly, "Sasquatchanakwa looks pretty pissed."

Jo snorted, hands on the metal rungs already as she began to climb. "Duncan's a whiny back stabber. Serves him right. Now, c'mon!"

Noah sighed, but followed Jo up the ladder to safety.

Back with Duncan and Bridgette, the way to the ladder was completely blocked off by the Chris-bots. Behind the two, Sasquatchanakwa was ripping a path through Chris-bots, getting ever closer to them.

"What to we do?" Bridgette said, panic evident in her voice, "we're trapped!"

Duncan's head was on a swivel, looking for any possible escape. His mind raced as he came to the only conclusion available to him. "We're gonna have to sit tight until that freak gets here," he said grimly.

"What? We'll be trampled!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"We'll have to go under his legs as he races towards us. Once he starts annihilating the Chris-bots, we sneak around the carnage," Duncan said, not looking too thrilled with the plan either, "unless you've got a better idea, that is."

Bridgette didn't, so she merely gulped and prepared herself. They slowly backed up from the advancing Chris-bots, waiting for Sasquatchanakwa to charge. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wait too long. Now finished with the most recent wave of metallic Chris's, the beast roared and sprinted towards the rest of them. Once he was close enough, Duncan and Bridgette dove between his tree-trunk sized legs and skidded on the dirt. Sasquatchanakwa clattered into the Chris-bots, scattering them like bowling pins, and began to pulverize and stomp the bots.

"C'mon, now's our chance!" Duncan said hurriedly, helping Bridgette to her feet. The two squeezed behind Sasquatchankwa's large back as he kicked a mutilated Chris-bot into the wall over and over again. Their path now clear, they easily reached the ladder and climbed it.

"Here they come!" Duncan heard a voice from above him, and saw a pale hand reaching towards him. Duncan grabbed it and let himself be helped up into a room. He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily, as the person helped Bridgette up too.

"I'm glad you guys are okay, it sounds like hell down there," Gwen told them, eyes wide as she peeked her head through the hatch down into the maze below, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.

Duncan looked around, seeing Jasmine, Owen, Sammy, Jo and Noah as well. His head collapsed back onto the floor, exhausted.

"Thanks for leaving us back there," Bridgette scolded Jo and Noah. "We could've been seriously hurt!"

"You're fine, so stop whining!" Jo said dismissively. She looked around the room, which was made fully out of metal and only had candles to light it. "So…what now?"

"I think we just wait for everyone to be done," Sammy said nervously, "I'm pretty sure we're done with the challenge."

"We're just missing Beardo, right?" Gwen asked, looking around at everyone. She turned to Bridgette and Duncan, "he wasn't with you?"

Duncan shook his head, "I thought he'd be with you guys."

Gwen bit her lip, looking back down into the maze. "I hope he's okay…"

Izzy and Shawn rounded a corner to see Sasquatchanakwa kicking around the ruined remains of the Chris-bot horde. Behind him, the safety ladder gleamed in the light.

Izzy cracked her knuckles, "we can take him!"

"Or we can just run around him," Shawn whispered pointedly, "he hasn't seen us yet."

Izzy dropped her fists, a little put out, "but where's the fun in that?!"

"Uh…the fun is not getting horribly maimed by a pseudo-mythical beast!"

Izzy sighed, "whatever, let's sneak, then!"

The two began to tiptoe around the smashed piles of metal, getting ever closer to Sasquatchanakwa. Fortunately, stealth was in the two's skillset, and they were able to expertly avoid knocking over any metal or making any other noise.

Shawn and Izzy eventually approached the hulking beast, who was busy picking apart one of the more-intact Chris bots. It was facing one of the walls, meaning they could sneak around it's back.

"I'll go first," Shawn mouthed. He hopped over a small pile of metal, and, his back to the opposite wall, slid past Sasquatchanakwa.

Izzy shot him double thumbs up. "Not bad…but watch this!" She mouthed back. She began to sneak behind her obstacle, but paused when she was directly behind him. She raised her foot back.

Shawn saw this and frantically shook his head. "No no no no!" He mouthed.

Izzy saw Shawn's reaction and frantically nodded her head back, "yes yes yes yes!" She mouthed. She swung her foot forward with all her might, and a sickening crunch followed as her foot collided with the kiwis of the unsuspecting Sasquatch.

"Grarrarragh!" The Sasquatch collapsed onto it's side, its hand clutching it's groin in pain as Izzy let out a mischievous cackle, all pretense for stealth forgotten as she sprinted past the shell-shocked Shawn towards the ladder.

Fortunately, it seemed Izzy's kick had had enough 'oomph' to fell the beast at least temporarily, and Shawn and Izzy made it to the ladder unscathed.

"You might be crazier than a zombie!" Shawn chided as they climbed.

She just giggled, "Did you see the look on his face? Priceless!"

The two emerged into the safety room and were hugged excitedly by Jasmine and Owen.

"You guys made it!" Owen cheered, crushing Izzy's ribs excitedly.

"We won!" Jasmine smooched Shawn and separated, "I wonder what the reward will be?!"

"C'mon, Beardo…" Duncan groaned, "don't totally blow this for us!"

Zoey crept along the maze, brushing her now free-flowing hair out of her face, "maybe ditching the braid was a bad idea," she muttered to herself, annoyed by her own locks. She had her holo-map out and was slowly but surely getting closer to the center. She had taken plenty of wrong turns, but through trial and error was able to assume that the path she was on would lead her to the finish line.

"Three more rights, two more lefts," she told herself, eyes sharp for any traps or obstacles. She stepped over a trip wire, and then dodged a flurry of wall darts without even looking at them. "They'll have to do better than that if they want to stop me!" She vowed.

She continued her trek through the dingy maze, stopping or sprinting every now and again to avoid trouble. Eventually, she reached a long hallway. Further down was the ladder. There was no chasm or Sasquatch in her path though, but there was something else. Between her and the ladder was a large hollowed out cavern, and in the middle of that cavern sat an old foe.

"Larry," Zoey growled, beginning to walk towards the plant monster.

Larry the giant plant, at first eager at having someone to fight, saw who the person was. If a plant could scream in terror, it would've. It raised its giant tendrils to cover its head, shaking as Zoey approached it.

"Yeah, that's right! Remember me?" Zoey said, her tone angry and boastful as she got closer to the plant. "You better let me pass, or I'll have to repeat the butt-kicking I gave you last time we met!" Steel flashed through her eyes, and Larry lumbered to the opposite side of the cavern, letting Zoey pass unobstructed.

Zoey smirked, "good monster," she praised it as she reached the ladder. She hoisted herself up and was greeted by Jo and Noah.

"Where's Lightning?" Noah asked, looking down the ladder expecting to see him following.

"No idea," Zoey said bluntly, "he wanted to split up because he thought the way I wanted to go was wrong."

Jo slapped her forehead, "that idiot! No way he gets out by himself!"

Zoey shrugged, her face and tone uncaring, "I tried to get him to come with me, but you know how stubborn he is."

Noah groaned, "well, there's a chance he makes it back before Beardo, I guess…"

Lightning groaned as he wandered through the maze, completely lost. He pulled up his holo-map and smacked his forehead, as he was on the far top left corner of the maze. "How is Lightning supposed to get all the way to the center from here?" He lamented. His eyes squinted as he examined the path he had already taken to get there. "Agh, these lines are so darn confusing!" He closed his map and clapped his hands together, "so Lightning's just gonna sprint! He'll have to find the right path eventually! Sha-bam!" He began to sprint through the dark maze.

"Oh yeah, let's go! No way Lightning loses now!" He said confidently, "when he's on a roll, ain't nothing stopping him!"

"And Lightning loses!" A voice rang out through the maze. "Team Nuclear and Team Oddball have all their members out of the maze! Since Lightning still remains in the maze, that means Team Alpha lose…for the third time in a row! Hahah!" The voice revealed itself as Chris.

"No way!" Lightning said indignantly, skidding to a stop, "this is a farce!" The ground opened up beneath him, and he disappeared with a scream. The camera cut to him being flung through tubes and pipes, going up and down, left and right, screaming all the way. Eventually, he was spat out of a vent in the safe room, where he landed with a painful crunch. "Ugh…Lightning's head hurts!" He groaned, sitting up and seeing Team Nuclear celebrating with a roughed up Beardo.

"Way to go, Brightning!" Jo snapped, "you couldn't have just followed Zoey's directions? She got here before Beardo, and we could've avoided elimination!"

Lightning grit his teeth, "Shut up, Jo! Lightning doesn't wanna hear any crap from you!"

"Well you're gonna!" Jo snarled, approaching the mega-jock and jamming a finger into his chest.

Chris suddenly appeared between the two of them, startling them both. "Hate to interrupt this little love fest," he told the two mockingly, "but I trust you all want to get outta here, right?"

The thirteen campers echoed various urgent agreement.

Chris pulled out a remote and clicked a button, and a patch of wall to their left opened up, revealing sunlight. "There ya go, kiddos. Home free." He walked out into the fresh forest air, but paused in the doorway, "remember," he reminded them, "Alphas, you're booting someone. Team Oddball, your reward is…new mattresses, pillows, and sheets for your beds! All quality approved by yours truly! You'll be sleeping like babies from now on."

Izzy and Owen cheered, while Jasmine and Shawn looked a little more miffed. "You're the one forcing us to sleep in the trailers," Jasmine said flatly, "we'd be fine without any of that stuff!"

"Yeah, can't we have something different?" Shawn asked.

"Let me think about that," Chris said, putting a hand under his chin with a thoughtful expression. That lasted all of two seconds before he laughed in their faces. "No! Team Nuclear, it's punishment time! You guys have to scrub out the bathrooms tomorrow!"

Beardo smacked his forehead, "we have to scrub out the bathrooms and do a challenge! Man, I'm gonna be so wiped!"

"There's no challenge tomorrow, Beardo," Sammy reminded him, "remember what Chris said? Every three eliminations theres a rest day…so unless theres any more tricks up his sleeve," she eyed the innocent looking Chris with suspicion, "we won't have to do both in one day."

Beardo relaxed a little, but still looked pretty upset with the punishment. "Still…that's gross."

"You have no idea," Duncan grumbled.

"At least you're doing it of your own free will, not as Heather's lackey this time," Gwen teased him.

(Confessional: Noah.)

"This time, I'm almost relieved we lost," Noah rolls his eyes, "at least this way, the conflict will be resolved and Zoey goes home."

(End Confessional: Noah.)

The campers had all showered off the dirt and stress the maze had brought them, and were now in various places around camp, snacking, chatting, or planning.

Gwen, Bridgette, and Sammy were currently in the Mess Hall, chatting amicably about their lives.

"So, Gwen," Bridgette said with a twinkle in her eye, "why haven't you told me about your boyfriend back home?"

Sammy gasped, an excited grin appearing on her face, "Gwen! I didn't know you were taken!"

"Huh?" Gwen looked confused for a second, "I don't have a boyfriend."

Bridgette's eyebrows rose, "but Duncan said…"

Gwen gasped, her pale face getting even paler, "oh crap! That's right!"

"What is it?" Sammy asked, concerned.

Gwen smacked her face with her hand, "I told Duncan I had a boyfriend when we first got here, because I thought he was interested in me still!"

"So you don't have a boyfriend?" Bridgette clarified.

Gwen shook her head, "Nope. I just told him that because I thought it would really hammer home that I'm not interested in him."

"Oh," Bridgette blinked, "well…you said he isn't interested in you, right?"

"I think so," Gwen nodded.

"Well then just tell him it wasn't true. I don't think he'd care."

Gwen shrugged, "probably not, but I don't see a reason to bring it up outta nowhere. If he asks about my imaginary boyfriend I'll come clean."

Sammy nodded, "makes sense."

Bridgette relaxed in her seat, giving Gwen a curious look. Gwen noticed, and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The surfer was quick to hold her hands up innocently, "nothing…nothing!"

Owen sighed, walking along the campground with a sad gait. The poor guy had had a really rough twenty-four hours, and needed a friend to talk to. He wasn't sure who he could trust though, as Noah had betrayed him by voting off Izzy, and he didn't really feel that Shawn could help him or understand what he was going through. As he walked, the downtrodden optimist heard voices from the Mess Hall, and his eyes widened slightly. He approached the entrance and walked in, seeing Sammy, Gwen and Bridgette chatting happily at one of the tables.

"Oh, hey Owen!" Bridgette said happily, waving to him. She noticed the sad expression on his face and instantly grew concerned, "everything okay?"

"Hey Bridgette," Owen said glumly, "um…actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you…" his eyes zoned in on his target, "Gwen?"

Gwen eyed her long-time friend and noticed his trembling lip and general aura of sadness. "Of course, Owen," she said instantly, her voice warm as she stood up. "I'll see you girls later," she told Bridgette and Sammy. She walked up to Owen and put a hand on his back, leading him out of the Mess Hall.

"I hope he's okay," Sammy said worriedly, eyeing the two retreating finalists, "Owen's so nice."

"He is," Bridgette said, her tone a little glum, "I just think yesterday was a really tough day for him."

Gwen and Owen walked into the Rec Center and took a seat on one of the couches.

"What's up, Owen?" Gwen asked her friend. "Everything okay?"

Owen heaved a meaty sigh, resting his chubby arms on his knees and staring at the ground. "No, not really," he told her sadly, "I'm feeling pretty lost right now."

"Is it about Izzy?" Gwen asked, remembering her chat with Owen years ago in a hospital in Jamaica.

"That's part of it," Owen confirmed, "but I think I'm more upset about what Noah did."

"Noah?" Gwen repeated, confused, "what did Noah do?"

"Well, there were four of them on the other team last night," Owen explained, "and I know I'm not super great at math, but Zoey couldn't vote. That means Izzy voted for Lightning, cause Noah is her friend, and Lightning obviously voted for Izzy. But Izzy went home, which means Noah voted for her too!" His voice began to tremble, "I just don't know how he could betray me like that."

Gwen blinked, surprised by this information, "wow, I hadn't even realized that," she said slowly.

"What's worse, was that he was telling me how he was going to be a wingman and help me get back together with her! Especially since everyone was saying we kissed!"

"You did kiss," Gwen told him, a small grin on her face, "a lot." Her grin slowly faded, "wait, so you want to get back together with Izzy, for like a real relationship?"

Owen nodded, "I really do," he admitted sadly, "but I'm scared. Scared she won't want me…"

Gwen put a hand on his shoulder, "she'd be crazy not to want you, Owen. You're literally like the best guy ever," she told him warmly. "But what Noah did was seriously uncool."

"It was," Owen said, "and it's gonna take some time to forgive him for that. I think he feels bad…but he still did it. I know she's still here and even on my team, but I can't forget what he did."

"Nor should you," Gwen assured him.

"I just don't know what to do," Owen shuffled his fingers together, "I don't know who to turn to. I thought I could always depend on Noah for anything, but I just feel so lost now. And plus, I was annoying Jasmine earlier, and I don't know what to do about Izzy!"

"Hey hey, relax," Gwen told him soothingly, "look, I don't know what to do about Noah, but I'd love to help you with Izzy."

Owen looked eagerly at Gwen. "You would?!"

Gwen smiled at him, "for sure!"

"That's be amazing!" Owen gushed, "what's really been stressing me out is, I don't know if she remembers us kissing, because I don't. If she does remember, she hasn't said anything, which would be a pretty obvious sign she's not interested in anything more serious…"

"Hmm," Gwen tapped her chin thoughtfully, "want me to do some recon for you?"

"Recon?" Owen repeated blankly.

"Yeah, y'know, like talk to her. See if she remembers. She and I have never been super close, but we're friendly enough," Gwen told him, "and tomorrow being a rest day is the perfect time to do it."

Owen looked like Christmas had come early, "You'd do that for me?!"

Gwen laughed, "of course I would! We go way back, you and I," she elbowed him playfully, "we're Total Drama Finalist OG's!"

Owen laughed too, in much better spirits. "That day was one of the greatest days of my life," he admitted happily, "getting to compete against a friend and win it all!"

"Before you blew it and forced us into season after season of hell," Gwen teased him, and Owen chuckled sheepishly, "is there anything else that's been bothering you?"

"Just that and the Noah thing mostly," Owen sighed, "but I have to deal with Noah on my own."

"Alright, well I'll let you know how my talk with Izzy goes," Gwen promised him.

Owen scooted over and wrapped her in a crushing hug, "you're awesome, Gwen! Thank you so much!"

Gwen winced at the pain, but gingerly returned the hug, "No…problem…" she gasped.

Zoey sat on the Dock, her legs dangling over the edge as she stared out over the setting sun. A sigh escaped her lips. Despite her troubled expression, she was enjoying the serenity of the scene. That was…until someone shattered it.

"Oi!" Called a voice from the start of the Dock. Zoey grimaced as she heard someone clomp up to her and tap her on the shoulder. She turned to look up at the new arrival.

"We need to talk," Jo said.

"Do we?" Zoey questioned, turning back to look at the sunset.

Jo scoffed impatiently, "I have no time for your moody crap, Zoey. I need you to tell me everything that's happened on this team. Start from the beginning."

Zoey eyed Jo suspiciously, "why're you asking me?"

"Because I already asked Noah, and I want to hear your side."

Zoey scowled, "he probably told you I'm a jerk that voted off Sky just to hurt Lightning or something, huh?"

"He said it was a possibility, but wasn't sure," Jo walked up beside the girl and sat herself on the Dock. She crossed her legs and leaned back on her palms, looking bored. "So, you gonna tell me or what? They want me to vote you out tonight, but I wanna make sure I get the full story before I decide."

Zoey gave the jockette a suspicious side-eye, "that seems awfully…fair of you."

"Hey, when have I not been fair?" Jo asked, incredulous and offended. There was silence for a moment, before her indignant expression was replaced by disgruntledness, "don't answer that! Look, either you go home or I force a tie between Lightning and you. Either way, I'm safe, so I'll try and go with what I think is best for my game." She eyed Zoey shrewdly, "if Noah and Lightning are as buddy-buddy as I suspect they are, it's probably better for me to keep you around and have you send Lightning packing, so if we lose again we can annihilate the twerp."

"That does sound nice," Zoey admitted.

"Well then convince me," Jo said pointedly, "I'm listening."

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Fine, well you see, at first…"

(Confessional: Jo.)

Jo scoffs, smacking her palm with her fist, "I knew there was something about that twerp's story that didn't add up!" A wicked grin forms on her face, "He'll pay for his schemes…eventually." She loses a little bit of anger, "I suggested voting for Noah since Zoey could easily crush him, but she's adamant about getting Lightning out of here. Kinda risky if you ask me, but I can't dwell on it. For now, it's time to rid ourselves of one obnoxious musclebrained moron!"

(End Confessional: Jo.)

(Confessional: Zoey.)

Zoey has her eyes closed and legs crossed in a meditative pose. "It's time," she said calmly. "Time to win."

(End Confessional: Zoey.)

The camera cut to the elimination area, where Noah, Zoey, Jo and Lightning sat on their stumps from left to right. Tension was high and tight as the four looked between each other, uneasy and upset.

Chris strolled on screen, tray glistening with three pearly white marshmallows on it. "Alphas, Alphas, Alphas," he tutted, "you guys had such a strong start! What happened?"

"Zoey happened!" Lightning exclaimed, obnoxiously pointing at Zoey, "if it wasn't for her sha-scheming, we'd be a happy team of 5 right now, and neither Shorty or Rodney would've gone home!"

"For the last time," Zoey said through gritted teeth, "it wasn't my idea!"

Chris cackled, tossing the tray from one hand to the other, "Alright, let's get this over with. The first marshmallow of the night goes to…Noah."

Noah nodded solemnly, unaware of the glare he got from Jo. The bookworm caught his marshmallow, but didn't eat it.

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Jo!"

"Darn right," Jo grumbled, catching her marshmallow and popping it into her mouth.

Chris turned his attention to the bottom two, "Zoey, Lightning, this is the final marshmallow of the night. One of you is about to get your butt kicked off Total Drama Generations."

"Just give it to Lightning already," Noah rolled his eyes.

Zoey smirked, though it went unnoticed by all.

"The final marshmallow goes to…

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Neither of you!"

"What?" Noah yelped, startled. "What do you mean, neither?"

"Yeah, no way you're kicking both of us off!" Lightning exclaimed angrily. "What the heck is going on?"

"Ah-ah-ah, you didn't let me finish!" Chris wagged a finger in their direction, his tone dripping with faux-sweetness. "It goes to neither of you…yet! Because it was a tie!"

Realization washed over Noah and Lightning. The bookworm turned to glare at Jo. "You think I'd be surprised," he told her flatly, "but here I am, decidedly not surprised."

"Bite me," Jo smirked.

"This is perfect!" Lightning grinned, jumping to his feet. Next to him, Zoey rose to her feet, and the quiet confidence she exuded was almost palpable. The jock turned to Zoey, "you're going down!"

Zoey quietly removed a hair tie from her wrist and pulled her loose hair into a tight bun. She turned to Chris, "What's the tiebreaker?" She asked coldly.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Zoey," Chris smiled. Behind him, Chef appeared out of the darkness with a can of white paint and a brush. "Chef here will set up your guys's arena for you, so just give him a minute."

Over with Noah and Jo, the bookworm was shooting side-glares at the jockette, who was pointedly ignoring him. "You just made a big mistake," Noah said out of the side of his mouth.

Jo just scoffed, "I really didn't, dork."

"You can ignore Lightning all you want," Lightning continued to tell Zoey, "but it ain't gonna change the fact that whatever the tiebreaker is, he'll sha-smoke ya!"

"We'll see," was all Zoey said in response.

Meanwhile, Chef was painting white lines on the ground. Well, it was less lines and more one big circle that spanned about twenty-five feet. He also put a white dot in the middle of the circle. Satisfied with his job, he chucked the paint can over his shoulder.

"Alright, here's the deal," Chris told Zoey and Lightning, "you guys are going to be playing a good old fashioned game of…Sumo!" He looked expectantly at them, but the two campers just looked confused. "You guys don't know what Sumo is?"

The two shook their heads, and Chris sighed. "Fine, I guess I have to explain. Luckily, it's very simple." He pointed at the circle, "you guys both start on that white dot in the middle of the circle. First person to shove the other person out of the line wins the tiebreaker and gets to stay."

Noah breathed a sigh of relief and Lightning let out a victorious whoop, kissing both of his biceps.

Zoey, however, looked undeterred. She simply walked over to the circle and stood on the white dot.

"Alright, there's no rules in Sumo, so anything goes," Chris said, pulling a whistle out of his pocket and placing it to his lips, "the only goal," he continued around the whistle, "is to get your opponent out of the circle."

The firelight flickered around the dark campsite, radiating light off of Jo and Noah's anxious faces as they watched Lightning and Zoey square up to each other. The jock was the very picture of confidence, shoulders back and arms crossed over his chest. Zoey was calm and collected, stretching out her arms and glaring at Lightning with unwavering determination.

"Ready…" Chris began, "set…"

Zoey shot Lightning a feral grin, taking the boy aback.

"Go!"

Still unnerved, Lightning made a quick grab for Zoey but she ducked, diving at his legs. The two hit the ground, still close to the center of the circle, and began to wrestle with one another.

"C'mon, Zoey!" Jo called from the sides, "kick his ass!"

The two continued to tussle until Lightning was able to use his brute strength to push her off of him. He pushed himself to his feet with remarkable speed and grabbed the still prone girl by an arm and a leg. He hoisted her up and began to carry her to the side of the circle.

Zoey squirmed and kicked, eventually deciding to plant her foot into the side of Lightning's face. The jock recoiled in pain and surprise, dropping Zoey messily onto the dirt. She dashed to her feet and delivered a sucker punch to Lightning's gut.

"Ow!" Lightning said, backing up as Zoey advanced, "hey, that's a cheap shot! No fair!"

"There are no rules!" Zoey snapped, "the only rule is that you're gonna be out of here!" She dashed forward again, aiming a kick at Lightning's gut, hoping to push him further back towards the end of the ring.

Lightning was incredibly fast, though, and caught the kick. He yanked on her leg, bringing her closer and throwing her off balance, before reversing his momentum and shoving Zoey's leg away from him. The surprised redhead flew backwards, but managed to land on her hands and spring back to her feet in one fluid motion.

"This is no time to fight clean, Lightning!" Noah spoke up, nervousness creeping into his voice, "just take her down already!"

Lightning stepped back, dodging punches and kicks from Zoey and parrying when necessary. His face was unsure, and it was obvious from his body language that he was hesitant about hitting a girl.

"I'll only warn you once," Zoey panted, taking a step back to rest momentarily, "you better take me seriously if you want any chance of not walking this Dock in the next ten minutes."

Lightning sighed, "he was raised not to hit girls, no matter how schemy or mean they might be!"

Zoey scoffed, "welcome to the real world!" She darted forward again, swinging a vicious kick at Lightning's legs. The jock was able to leap back, but was surprised when Zoey left the ground in a full body tackle, smashing him to the ground while he was off balance from the leap.

Lightning grunted, thrusting his hips up and sending Zoey sailing over him, dangerously close to the edge of the line. The girl rolled to the side just barely as Lightning's foot whistled by her face, his kick having attempted to knock Zoey out of the circle.

Zoey sprung to her feet, jogging backwards towards the center. "You finally got take this seriously?" She challenged him.

Lightning took a deep breath, calming himself down. He wasn't used to anyone ever getting one-up on him physically, so Zoey's few strikes and taken him by surprise and started to annoy him. His face was now stony serious, and he chose not to respond to Zoey's taunt. Instead, he set his stance and held his hands up in front of his face, palms open and facing Zoey.

The camera cut to both of their eyes as they narrowed at each other, and a gritty melody began to play as they charged at one another.

They both let out pained grunts as they collided. Lightning had opted to go shoulder first, football style, and Zoey ate the impact full on her chest. Cleverly, she had opted to hold onto Lightning's jersey. This resulted in her remaining close enough to raise her foot, driving it directly between Lightning's legs.

Lightning screamed in pain, stumbling back and dropping to his knees. His hands instinctively lowered to protect his assaulted crotch, and Zoey used him dropping his guard to her advantage, winding up a vicious right hook and colliding her knuckles right into the side of his face. Lightning's scream of pain was cut short as he fell onto his side, dazed and woozy.

"Ooh, and Zoey delivers a vicious one-two combo on Lightning!" Chris narrated, entranced by the fight in front of him, "but he's still in the ring, so he's not out yet!"

Zoey took a step back and wiped her sweaty brow, observing the collapsed and shaky Lightning. She bent down to grab him by the back of his jersey, but the jock was still coherent enough to push out at her. She stumbled back and let out a huff of frustration. She attempted again, but was met with the same result.

"He's down!" Zoey told Chris impatiently, "that should be enough!"

"One rule," Chris said simply, "get him out of the circle, and you win."

Zoey rolled her eyes and approached Lightning again. The beaten down jock was slowly starting to recover, but Zoey had a plan to stop that. She used her foot to roll him off his side and onto his back. She sat heavily on his abdomen, making him yelp and cough. She leaned forward, beginning to apply pressure to his throat.

"Relax," Zoey grunted as Lightning began to thrash and squirm, "you're just gonna take a little nap so I can get you out of the ring."

The dramatic music began to swell as Lightning became more and more desperate to get out of Zoey's grasp. He pried at her arms, but his weakened state prevented him from removing her. The more oxygen he lost, the weaker he became, so it all began to spiral downhill for him.

Zoey stared down into his face as he struggled and choked. She felt his arms finally leave hers and thump to the dirt. Just as the boy was about to completely lose consciousness, the steel in her eyes began to fade. She let out a gasp and quickly released her hands, bringing them close to her chest.

Lightning coughed thickly, and Zoey quickly climbed off of him. The jock rolled over onto all fours and coughed and gagged. Zoey, meanwhile, stared down at him, in horror of what she had just done. "No…" she whispered, her hands clasped tightly together, as if she were afraid they would reach again for the boys neck if they weren't restraining each other.

"What are you doing, Zoey?!" Jo yelled, standing up, "get him out of the ring!"

But her words fell on deaf ears. Zoey was too mortified at her own actions to do anything as Lightning slowly hoisted himself to his feet, gingerly rubbing at his slightly swollen throat. "You're gonna pay for that," he rasped.

"I'm sorry, Lightning," Zoey began to apologize, all signs of Commando Zoey gone, "I don't want that part of me to have all the control, I-" She was cut off as Lightning shoulder tackled her to the ground. She cried out in pain as she hit the dirt. She looked up at him as he towered over her. His vice-like grip caught her upper arm, and he began to drag her towards the edge of the circle.

Zoey tugged on her arm, trying to break free, but it was pretty clear she had lost most of her fight. Unshed tears of shame glistened in her eyes as she allowed herself to be dragged to the edge.

With a face that was completely remorse-free, Lightning hurled the girl unceremoniously out of the circle.

Chris clapped his hands, "and that does it! Lightning wins the tiebreaker, and Zoey is eliminated!"

Noah let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, and Jo slapped her face and groaned.

Lightning turned his back on Zoey without a word, and limped over to his stump. He sat back down, eyes glued to the floor as he continued to rub his sore throat.

Chef returned with Zoey's luggage. The eliminated girl had managed to pull herself together, but her eyes were still wet as she accepted her suitcases. Without another word to her team, she turned her back on the island, and began her walk down the Dock of Shame.

The campsite was eerily silent as the three remaining members of Team Alpha watched her climb onto the Boat. Chef joined and revved the engine, and the Boat sped out of sight.

"Well," Chris finally broke the tension, "that was intense. Lightning, you okay? Do you need to see the camp doctor?"

Lightning shook his head, upset with how sour this so-called victory tasted. "He's fine," he grumbled, "he just needs to sleep it off."

"Whatever you say," Chris shot the jock finger guns, "welp, I'm done with you guys here. You're free to go."

Lightning was the first to get up, and quickly made his way towards the bathrooms. Noah made to follow, but he was yanked back down onto the stump by Jo.

"Do you mind?" He asked, annoyed.

"You're messed up, dude." Jo told him seriously, letting go of his shoulder. "All that crap that just happened," she gestured to the now empty ring, "that's 100% because of you."

Noah's stomach twisted guiltily, but he didn't let it show on his face, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jo scoffed, standing up, "sure you do. You're a piece of crap for that, and that means something coming from me." She turned her back on the bookworm, and left.

Noah remained by himself for a little while, sitting on his stump and staring into the fire. Eventually, he heaved a sigh and got to his feet, letting the guilt slide off his face to be replaced by his usual apathy.

Chris turned to the camera after Noah left, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Wow! Wow, wow, wow! What a night, what a tie breaker! Is Team Alpha doomed to become the next Team Victory after this catastrophic event, or will they be able to pull themselves together? Will Owen finally be able to get back with Izzy? And what's going on with Team Nuclear? Find out right here, next time, on Total!" The camera panned out, "Drama! Generations!"

Boat of Losers Clip:

Now alone, Zoey let the tears roll down her cheeks. She sat on one of the benches of the boat, knees tucked up to her chin and arms wrapped around her legs. Her bun had fallen out, and her long hair was free and messy. She was silent as the boat sped through the night bar the occasional sniffle.

Eventually, the Boat ground to a halt in front of the Playa, and a surprised Zoey looked up at the gorgeous, lit up resort. Laughs and shrieks could be heard in the distance. A shadow loomed over her, and she turned to see Chef standing over her, crossing his arms. After a moments consideration, he sat down on the bench next to her, and it creaked under his weight. "You okay?" He asked her gruffly.

Zoey wiped her eyes, "I guess," she hiccuped, "I'm kind of relieved to be gone, so I don't have to deal with any of it anymore."

"Mmm," Chef stared up at the resort, "well, if you want my two cents, it took way more strength to keep yourself from choking that boy out than it would've to win that tiebreaker," he said, standing up, "now come on, get your crap and get off my boat!"

Zoey stared at him, surprised and comforted by his kind words. "Thanks, Chef," she told him.

Chef just hemmed and hawed, and sped off quickly once she left the boat.

Zoey looked back up at the Playa, drying her eyes one final time. A voice surprised her.

"Zoey!"

She turned to see Brick and Anne Maria walking towards her. At first they were happy to see her, but when they took in her tear-stained face and messy hair, they quickly grew concerned.

"Hey guys," Zoey sniffled, offering them a weak smile.

"Ssh, doll," Anne Maria said, wrapping a comforting arm around the girl, "c'mon, let's get ya settled in."

Voting Confessionals:

Jo: I vote for Lightning! Noah tried to trick me, but I'm too smart for that!

Lightning: See ya later, Zoey!

Noah: I vote for Zoey. Hopefully this headache will all be over soon.

Zoey: I vote for Lightning. He's going down.

Votes:

Zoey - 2 votes: (Lightning, Noah) [Lost tiebreaker].

Lightning - 2 votes: (Jo, Zoey) [Won tiebreaker].

Team Alpha: Lightning, Noah, Jo.

Team Oddball: Jasmine, Shawn, Owen, Izzy.

Team Nuclear: Gwen, Duncan, Sammy, Beardo, Bridgette.

Eliminated: Anne Maria, Brick, Scott, Sky, Rodney, Zoey.

Reasoning for Elimination:

Alright, I don't know how this elimination will be received. Zoey was a bit of a red herring in the sense that I kind of built her up for a good bit only to have her be around for one episode before getting eliminated. I seriously considered axing Lightning here instead of Zoey, and letting Commando Zoey wreak havoc for a little while, but ultimately decieded that the potential plotlines I have for Lightning work way better for the story than Zoey's. Rest assured, she has plenty more plot with Sky, which will be explored in the next Aftermath. Lightning too, if he's eliminated before the next one.

I hope you guys don't think her tie-breaker loss was a cop-out, because it isn't. She was able to use her own strength to stop herself, and I think that takes more strength than just simply beating Lightning would've. Once Zoey's resolve was broken, she was no match for the spurned and angry Lightning. Zoey was super fun to write in this story, and I enjoyed her way more than I thought I would. Fun fact: In the first draft of this story, she never went Commando, and made it to the Final Four!

A/N - TIMESTAMP: 6ish hours after original posting:

Hey guys. It was brought to my attention that the Zoey/Lightning fight climax has some...similarities to a recent horrific event that happened in the US. I just want to reiterate that any similarities are completely unintentional, and I wasn't even thinking about that tragedy when writing the scene. The idea for Zoey and Lightning's choke out end to their fight has been in the works for months. Thank you for understanding :).

Welp, Team Alpha should basically be Team Nuclear at this point. They're a disaster. How'd you guys enjoy the chapter? I had fun writing the challenge and I also like writing Duncan and Bridgette together. I also have a serious fondness for the Owen and Gwen scene, as I adore their friendship. I hope I was able nail Commando Zoey, as I wanted her to be cold and distant but not a complete jerk or sadist or anything.

Next chapter is a rest day! It will be more light hearted than the past couple of chapters, but not nearly as fluffy as the first one, considering all thats happened since they played Truth or Dare.

Let me know in a review who you think will suffer the next elimination, and if you enjoyed the chapter! Catch you guys next time!