DISCLAIMER:
Greetings, here is chapter 15. We already watch the Aftermath, but while that is recorded, the competition continues. What will happen between Dawn and Zoey? Can Beth overcome Lindsay's elimination? And what will be the new challenge? Find out next on this chapter.
And if you like the story, please leave a review, that way I can know what you think about it or what you are enjoying. OR if you are not the type of reviewing, at least mark it as a favorite. Now before I start, let me answer the past reviews.
LovelyLuly: About the swimsuits, I just use the outfits of the Hawaiian episode, but you are totally right. They are not realistic.
gman5846: No problem, it was my pleasure, Regis was one of the best. I am glad you feel better now.
guest: Thanks, I am glad you like it. Yes, I see the piece by Kika-ila. IF you look on google Kika-ila Tyranny you will found it first. Thanks, guest, and a shutout to ACE_TD for commission it. You rock man.
Also, I fix the list at the end of the chapter. Now Brick and Mike are on their place.
Total Drama belongs to Fresh TV, its creators, and associates companies. I don't own anything from the properties used in this fic.
Cut down the tall poppies Part 1
Last time on Total Drama, Tyranny of the Masses, we have a challenge of intelligence, artistic skill, and pain endurance, in which the campers had to build a statue using EGO[1] pieces while walking barefooted in a room full of these little death traps.
The competition was fierce, and many campers stepped on a mine (ok, I mean a brick), but after 8 hours of work, the goofy ferret beat the modern art fox, getting the victory for the fans and sending one of the favorites home.
The one who took the fall this time was one of my favorites among the favorites, Lindsay, thanks to a spiteful Lightning. What will happen next? What will happen in the foxes now that her hotness is gone? And what kind of challenge we will have today? Find it next here, in Total Drama, Tyranny of the Masses.
It was already dark, a moment ago the chopper of Shame took away Lindsay, some of the foxes were already missing her, others were happy for her elimination. But for Zoey, there was something more important right now than the elimination of the blond girl.
The redhead went next to Dawn, who was returning to the cabin with Brick.
"Hello, Dawn, do you have a moment?" asked Zoey with a sad smile on her face, looking to the ground.
Dawn couldn't hide the surprise on her face. "Yes, of course. See you tomorrow Brick."
The cadet smiled and said goodbye to his friends. Zoey and Dawn then went to talk on the road at the entrance of the forest. The Indie girl walked in front of the moonchild, both in complete silence.
After a moment, the moonchild was the first one to talk. "It's a beautiful night, the sky is so clear that you can see Altair," she said, pointing at the stars.
"Yes, just as in my hometown. It's a small and boring place, but the sky is so clear that you can see the stars," replied Zoey looking at the familiar night sky. That gave her the courage she needed.
The redhead turned to face the moonchild. "Dawn, I wanted to apologize for what happened the other day. I said some terrible things to you, I'm sorry," said Zoey looking into the short girl's eyes.
"Oh no Zoey, I am the one that has to apologize. You already told me to not look into your aura. I'm sorry to freak you out," said Dawn, avoiding looking Zoey at the eyes.
"NO! It was not your fault. I said those things because I was mad at myself and afraid of someone else knowing about it. So I blame you for knowing instead of blaming myself. I will understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore," said Zoey looking ashamed at the ground.
"Of course not Zoey, since we met, I always wanted to be your friend. I forgive you if you can forgive me," answered Dawn with misty eyes.
Zoey hugged her with tears on her eyes. "Dawn, thanks. I will never again say something so mean to you. You are a great friend, and you are wonderful."
"Even with my gift?" asked Dawn sobbing.
"You are totally wonderful as you are, aura reading included," said Zoey drying Dawn's tears.
"Thanks, Zoey, you don't know what your words mean to me," replied Dawn, still crying.
The girls stood there, hugging and crying until both calmed down. Then they started to walk back to the cabins.
"Also you were right, I already know what you saw in my aura," said Zoey with a sad smile.
"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to," answered Dawn looking worried at her friend.
"Hum-um" Zoey shook her head, "I want to talk about it, is only fair after what happened."
Dawn only nodded, letting the redhead vent.
"I miss Mike, but more than missing him, I am afraid to be far away from him. You know, after he was cured of his MPD, I was so happy. We could go to the beach, the amusement park, or the movies without any alter interrupting us," said Zoey with sparkling eyes.
"But after some weeks, I realized that Mike maybe is too good for me. You know, I am quite simple. I don't have many talents and I am rather dull. And now he is wonderful, kind, smart, athletic. He is so much better than me, a pity and horrible person," continued the indie girl, biting her lower lip.
"That's not true Zoey, you are kind and gentle. You are as wonderful as him," said Dawn, not wanting her friend to being so depressed.
"You say that because you are not with him. Each day I felt he is more distant, and I am afraid he will leave me if I am not with him all the time," said Zoey containing the tears, "remember Brick welcome party? I wanted to make it for him, of course, but also it was just an excuse to see Mike again. That's why I was so upset when he was not invited."
Dawn heard in silence at her friend's confession, "I think you are wrong, I'm sure Mike love you more than anything."
"You see that in his aura?" asked Zoey, cleaning her face to not cry again.
"I don't need to see his aura, it's quite obvious. You are worrying because you love him too much," said Dawn with a small smile. "I mean, you have been dating for more than 1 year since he got cured, if he was to leave you, he would have done it already. You need to trust him."
"But it may be because he never knew another girl, and when he finds someone more interesting than me, he will leave me," said Zoey looking dejected at the ground.
"Zoey, you are a great and interesting girl. You need to have more confidence in yourself," said Dawn looking at her friend with a smile, "the only one that thinks you are boring is yourself."
"Thanks, Dawn. You are right, I have to trust him more and believe in myself. Sorry to bother you with my problems," said Zoey putting her arm across the moonchild's shoulder. She really wanted to belive her friend's words.
"No problem Zoey, that's what friends are after all," said Dawn smiling proudly as she pronounced the word friends.
Both laughed and kept walking back to the cabins, the day had been a long one.
Confessional: Dawn
"I'm so happy. I was afraid that Zoey and I would not be friends anymore. But not only was I mistaken, she already knew what I saw on her aura. I am sure that together we will overcome it," said Dawn smiling gladly.
Confessional: Zoey
"I am happy that Dawn and I are friends again. It was really childish of me to blame her for my own fears, but not anymore. Now I will back her up and will try my best to understand her," said Zoey smiling confident and nodding.
On the ferrets' side, the day was starting, as usual, Shawn, and Dramaman had already wake up and went out.
Mike was still sleeping, he was squirming and groaning. When he finally woke up covered in a cold sweat, it was the same nightmare he had the last few months. He usually woke very early, but some nights, he suffered from sleep paralysis and had this nightmare.
"Are you OK?" asked Topher after watching Mike woke up agitated.
The thin guy smiled quickly, showing the gap in his teeth. "Yes, yes, of course. I'm fine," then he noticed that the pretty boy was with a cloth tied around his hair and gloves, scrubbing the floor.
"What are you doing?" asked Mike raising an eyebrow.
"The Chris wannabe want to improve the team's morale by cleaning the cabin each morning, dude. He may be becoming like that neat freak from the past season," said Jay laughing, "Hey Mike, wanna skate a little?"
Topher only glared at the skater but kept scrubbing.
"No, thanks. I'm a little tired," replied Mike, rubbing his arm.
Jay shrugged, "your lose dude. I will be near the dock if you change your mind," and then went out of the cabin.
After a moment, Mike got up and stretched, before looking at Topher. "Do you need help?"
"If you don't mind. You know, our team lack teamwork, so I hoped that helping with these tasks we could get closer. But it seems like some members are not interested," said Topher, still glaring at the open door.
"Let me do it. At home, I always take care of cleaning the floor, sweep the yard and do the dishes," said Mike flexing, "only let me change my pajamas first."
"No problem," replied Topher looking at him with wide eyes. "Wow, you help a lot at home, isn't it? I only helped taking care of my hair, face, and my cat. And sometimes my mom fed my cat."
"It's not so hard. In my home, the older ones had to help to keep clean and tidy the place. And if you make a routine of it is quite easy," said Mike while changing clothes.
Topher looked at him surprised, blinking a couple of times. "The older ones? How many Siblings are in your family?"
"Hehe, is a long story," replied Mike starting to scrub the floor in front of the entrance, "do you have any siblings?"
"No, I am an only child," replied Topher, "it can be lonely sometimes, that's why I envy you and the twins."
"Yes, I know. Zoey is also an only child, and she said the same thing," said Mike, making a goofy smile while thinking in his girlfriend.
Then a loud knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
"Hey, Mike, Lilly and I are going to the beach to relax a little. Want to come? You are also invited, Toph," said the twin in a tender tone, showing a beautiful smile.
Topher gazed at the twin only to be sure who she was, and to his surprise, it was Amy. She was polite, kind, and since when she called him Toph?
"Sorry, Amy, we are cleaning the cabin, maybe later," said Mike with a sheepishly smile.
"Ok, if you change your mind, we will be there all day. And I will be wearing a red bikini," said Amy, winking at both boys and walking away while swinging her hips.
Both boys gulped and continued cleaning without saying a word about what just happened. But Topher was surprised. Amy may be a more dangerous opponent than he thought before.
Outside the Cabin, Lilly was waiting for her friend.
"How did that go, are they coming?" asked Lilly in her low and polite tone.
"It seems not. I need to think another way to become closer to Mike," said Amy biting her thumb.
"Are we still going to the beach?" asked Lilly, gazing at the ground.
Amy glared at the treehugger, raising an eyebrow. "You wanted to go, isn't it?"
Lilly nodded quickly, looking with wide eyes at the older twin.
"Then let's go, I don't have anything better to do anyway," said Amy shrugging, being followed by a smiling Lilly.
Confessional: Amy
"That Lilly is just like my sister. If they want something, they just have to say it. Ugh! I hate they are so indecisive. Then again, they cannot be as wonderful as I am." Said Amy smiling while closing her eyes.
Beth was sitting at the dock, looking at the skyline. Just some hours ago, the chopper took Lindsay away. Could she do something to save her? Voting for someone else instead of Lightning? The questions flooded her head.
"BOOH!" someone shouted near her ear.
"AAAHHHH! STAY AWAY!" shouted back Beth, almost falling from the dock, startled by the stranger.
The prankster took her by the arm, helping Beth to stay on the dock, laughing loudly.
"Take it easy, is just me," said Duncan, smirking and laughing.
"You, stupid, monster, how dare you?" said Beth, hitting Duncan as hard as she could on his arms and back.
"Sorry, Sorry, stop, I'm sorry," said Duncan still smirking, "you looked so serious that I couldn't help it."
Beth sighed sadly. "Well, you will also be sad if your best friend was eliminated."
"So? What will you do now? Sit here crying all day? Vote for yourself, so you can be together in loserland? If that's the case, let me know, and I will also vote for you," said Duncan sitting at the dock next to her, with his perpetual smirk. Beth now understood why Courtney hate it.
"I want to avenge Lindsay, yesterday Alejandro told me that Lightning wanted to vote her off, so we must vote for Lightning. But we didn't have enough votes," said Beth, playing with her ponytail.
"I don't know about that, last night sha-idiot and Don Juan had a harsh fight about that. And yes, the idiot was adamant about voting Lindsay off the island," commented Duncan, but he omitted the part in which they were an alliance.
Beth looked at the sky with sparkling eyes. "Alejandro, he is so dreamy."
"He is as charming as a snake, if you let him, he will eat you like a little bird," said Duncan, taking out his knife.
"That is a myth. There is no scientific proof that snakes can hypnotize their prey," said Beth raising a finger, like a teacher.
Duncan started to carve one of the posts of the dock. "Thanks for the useless trivia, Harold, but believe me, this snake CAN charm."
"Hey! Trivia is never useless. It can be a great ice breaker in any conversation," complained Beth putting a hand on her hip.
"Of course, keep dreaming," said the delinquent, "anyway I want to propose you something, let's make an alliance."
Beth's sports glasses steam up, "What? You and me on an alliance? Why?"
"Think about it, you are all alone, and I am also a lone wolf. It's a matter of time before the rest began to go after us," said Duncan, still carving a skull on the post.
The brunette girl took off her glasses to clean them. "You are right, but I am not sure. I had bad experiences with alliances."
"I'm not Heather. Together we can survive longer in the competition," said Duncan, his blue eyes seemed to be piercing her.
"But, even if I agree, that I don't, with only the two of us, we can't make a difference in the eliminations," said Beth, avoiding the delinquent eyes.
Duncan smirked and stopped looking at her, starting again to carve the post. "I know, there are other people I think we can call for help. Being a three-person alliance in a team of 10 is almost a third, we can make a difference."
"Ok, I agree, but we have to vote first for Lightning. That's my condition," said Beth folding her arms.
"Then we have a deal," said Duncan, closing his knife and putting it in his pocket. "I hope to introduce you to our third member soon."
Duncan stood up and began to walk to the cabins, Beth following him.
"What are you doing?" asked Duncan raising his eyebrow.
"Going with my partner," answered Beth, making a wide smile that showed her teeth.
Duncan glared at her. "The idea is keeping this a secret, not telling everyone that we are an alliance."
"But, I hate to be alone," replied Beth, looking sadly at the ground.
"Whatever, come with me if you want," said Duncan, Beth following him happy.
Unknown to them, someone else was watching the new-formed alliance, and hated it.
Confessional: Beth
"I am not an idiot. I know that Duncan had other objectives to form this alliance besides self-protection. But for now, if it helps me vote off Lightning, I will play along. Also is good to have someone to talk," said Beth nodding and smiling.
Charlotte was in the middle of the forest. Once again, she was trying to access the central computer DAM using the contraption Max invented. It was a miracle it even worked.
The gamer would prefer to have help, but this secret was too important, and right now, she didn't trust anyone. And Lilly, the only camper that knew the secret besides her, was too unreliable.
But it didn't matter. After all, she was making advances each day. It seems that Chris was not totally bluffing with the difficulty level of the computer defenses. It seemed like a unique system, but the layers around the core changed every 10 hours. Even then, she had made advances, but the voting records were in the safest zone, so she needed more time.
"Hello, Charlotte, what are you doing?" said a familiar voice, startling the gamer.
Charlotte threw the contraption on the bushes and looked behind her to find Sky. The Cree girl was blinking with a perplexed expression.
Sky titled her head. "Are you ok? Sorry I didn't want to surprise you."
"Yes, I only lost some hit point, but I will be fine after resting some time," said Charlotte, trying to assess if the gymnast saw the contraption or not.
"And what are you doing here? It's too far from the cabins, and you don't look like the kind of person that likes walking in the forest," said Sky, trying to help.
But for the gamer, her kindness was a problem, especially because she still needed to chase away Sky and recover the contraption.
"I was farming some items in the forest to help level up the team," lied Charlotte as if it was the more natural thing to do.
"Farming? You mean like foraging?" asked Sky, not understanding anything Charlotte said.
"Yes, that, foraging," said Charlotte, nodding with a forced smile on her face, "so if you excuse me, I like to forage alone."
"But you don't need to forage, they give us 3 meals a day. Well, maybe they are not very good meals but is better than trying to found food in the woods, surrounded by wild animals," said Sky, that didn't understand Charlotte insinuation.
"It also helps to improve my stamina and perception, that are skills I am leveling up, so don't worry about me." lied again the e-gamer. She needed a change of strategy. "Anyway, what are you doing in the forest? Are you also foraging?"
"Oh, I was looking for an immunity idol, yes, you know how fierce is the competition, so I thought that having an idol is a great advantage," said Sky putting her hands behind her back and avoiding making eye-contact with Charlotte.
The e-gamer tilted her head, "It's true, Chris said there were 3 immunity idols on the island. I didn't think you will be interested, though. Your character profile seemed that you were a more physical and direct class."
Sky once again didn't understand a word of what Charlotte said, "What else could you be looking in the forest, right? I mean, is a deserted island and all," she walked some steps and kicked a pebble.
Charlotte was looking at the bush were she hide the contraption. For some reason, Sky kept talking and talking and didn't continue looking for her immunity idol, then her luck took a turn for the worse.
A blue squirrel came out of the bushes with the contraption on its paws.
The e-gamer's eyes almost went out of her sockets as the small mammal ran away with the tool, that looked like a homemade I-pad.
"NO! come back here," shouted Charlotte, running behind the squirrel.
"Charlotte, what's wrong?" asked the Cree girl, running behind her 'friend.'
"That tree momonga[2] wannabe stole my-" Charlotte cursed her luck, but the had a great idea "stole my game console, yes, help me catch it."
Sky smiled. "No problem, leave it to me," and the gymnast began to run faster.
Charlotte jumped and tried to catch the little rodent, but the squirrel saw her and dodged her easily, laughing at the dirt-covered gamer.
Sky also tried to catch her, jumping like Charlotte, and the squirrel also dodged her. But the Cree girl used the momentum of the failed attempt to do a cartwheel and bounced on a nearby tree, catching the squirrel by surprise and snatching the tool.
The squirrel raised her first and cursed Sky in squirrel before going into the bushes again.
The gymnast ignored that drama and walked toward Charlotte, helping her to stand up, and giving her the contraption. The e-gamer was silent, looking at Sky with wide eyes.
"Thank you, gal," said Charlotte, holding the supposed game console firmly.
"Well I have to go, I want to look at the mountains near the forest one more time before the day ends, see you later Charlotte," said Sky running the road down the forest. The black girl only waving, absent-minded.
Confessional: Charlotte
"When Jasmine lost her last life, I thought this game had ended, that no other player could give me a challenge, but I was wrong. Sky, I want to beat her. At last, here comes a new challenger," said Charlotte, her eyes burning with determination.
Sometime after lunch, Cody was walking back to his cabin. He ate with Heather and Courtney, and contrary to what he expected, his former amazon teammates were cordial and polite. They even had fun trying to remember the embarrassing moments they live during the long flights during world tour.
The geek smiled, both Heather and Courtney were good looking, stubborn, dominant, with a fierce temperament. At first, he didn't want anything to do with either of them, but strangely, he ended befriending them and is now in a de facto alliance with both. Even if he and Courtney are not in the best terms, and he would prefer to be in an alliance with Beth and Lindsay. But if life gave you lemons, you made lemonade.
Cody was thinking this when suddenly something flew out of his cabin. The object bigger than Cody hit him on the chest and knocked him down, falling over the brunette guy.
He shook his head, staggered, and looked at the object over him. It was not a piece of furniture, it was a person.
"Alejandro? What the-" said Cody looking at the Spaniard, as staggered as him, with his shirt wrinkled.
"LIGHTNING ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT HE IS OK, AL. SO STOP PESTERING LIGHTNING, OR HE WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN AGAIN," said Lightning going out of the cabin toward the mountains.
Alejandro stood up and helped Cody to stand up. "Sorry about that amigo, it seems like our jock friend is still a little angry about what happened yesterday."
"It seems more than a little to me," said Cody shaking the dirt off his clothes, "Did he threw you out of the cabin?"
"En efecto, I mean yes, I was trying to cheer him up after what happened, but he is still too emotional. He doesn't understand that Lindsay always wanted to be just friends," said Alejandro, looking with pity at the athlete as he went away, fuming.
"It's strange, isn't it? I mean, they were good friends, but I don't understand why he got the wrong idea about their relationship," said Cody, he considered himself a love expert, and there was something weird about the whole situation.
Alejandro sighed. "I think our friend is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier if you know what I mean. And also, he had a short fuse and refuse to hear reason. I hope he doesn't ruin the next challenge for us."
Cody didn't say a word, he thought that Alejandro and Lighting were in an alliance, but maybe he was wrong, "He is heartbroken, but I hope he realizes he is in the wrong. Perhaps I should talk to him. I mean, I am an expert." the brunette guy smiled proudly as Alejandro snarled.
Then he realized what was happening, "NO, NO, I am an expert on love, not on being heartbroken, sheesh, stop making conclusions."
"I didn't say anything," said Alejandro, but his smile said everything his mouth didn't.
Cody decided to ignore him and began to follow Lightning. "I will go after him, are you coming?"
"No, I think it's better that you go alone. He may not want to see my face right now," said Alejandro, patting Cody's shoulder, "I hope you can help him."
Cody nodded and went into the road following the jock, but as he entered the forest, he found tracks of bears. Cody didn't fear bears, but after being mauled by one, he decided it was better not to take risks and make a detour.
But he continued to find more tracks and signs of bears being nearby, so the brunette guy kept making longer and longer detours until he heard a soft voice that distracted him.
"I am not sure we can do that," said the voice, then Cody heard some static as if she was using a radio, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I will try."
Cody went in the direction of the voice and found Lilly, the redhead who asked for his autograph with the twin the other day. She was wearing a yellow one-piece swimsuit with a pink towel on her waist covering her legs.
"Hey, Lilly, hello," shouted Cody, smiling.
The treehugger jumped with fear, dropping the device on her hands, she didn't expect someone to find her here.
She looked at her visitor, ready to cry, but to her surprise, the person behind her was Cody. Why was he here? This must be a nightmare, thought Lilly, so she did the only thing expected in these situations.
Meanwhile, Cody walked toward her, raising an eyebrow and asking. "Excuse me, you are Lilly, right? Why are you pinching your cheeks?"
Lilly stopped pinching her cheeks, now red in color. This was the worst kind of nightmare, those that you can't wake up because you are already awake. Now she felt dizzy, why these things always happened to her?
Cody looked at Lilly with a worried expression, maybe she had a sunstroke? Anyway, she needed help, "Can you walk? Do you want me to carry you back to the cabins?"
The treehugger turned red as a tomato and shook her head, "No thanks, I am fine," she said in a low voice twirling her fingers.
"You don't seem to be ok," said Cody, looking serious at her, and then smiling, "don't worry, I am stronger than I look, I can carry you without a problem."
There was an awkward silence, Lilly's heart was definitely not ready to be carried by him, "I am here with my friend, Amy. She is waiting for me at the beach. I can't leave without telling her," the treehugger was sure that would do the trick.
"Ok, let me accompany you to the beach then. We don't want you to trip on the way back," said Cody grasping her hand.
Lilly smiled, the nightmare became a dream, she was holding hands with Cody, the one and only Drama Brother Cody. She could be eliminated tonight, and she would be happy.
""*hiss* what are you doing ? "*hiss*" the voice of Max came from the device on the ground.
The dream became a nightmare again.
"What was that?" said Cody looking at the ground.
There was a moment of panic, but to her own surprise, Lilly recovered the composure and (slowly) ran to the device and picked it up, "It's just a, a…" the treehugger wanted to cry, she didn't even know what this device was.
"Wow, is that a homemade radio? I didn't know you were also a fellow techie. Man, I could fall for you," said Cody, Lilly blushing a lot, even if she knew it was just a joke.
"Yes, it is a radio, but it is not very good?" Said Lilly, smiling.
Cody winked at her ."I can take a look and try to improve it, even without tools, there are some things I can do."
"No," said the treehugger, Max would be furious if Cody discovered she was talking with him, "it was a gift, so it's fine as it is."
"From your boyfriend?" said Cody, he immediately bit his tongue, that was a WRONG question.
Lilly shooked her head wildly, why does he assume she had a boyfriend? She needed to clarify this now. "Oh no, it was a gift from, ehm, a Santa's elf?"
Cody chuckled, "Santa's elf? You mean the small men that work for Santa Claus?"
Lilly nodded as wildly as she shook her head before.
"Well, then I shouldn't touch it, I don't want to break a Santa's gift," said Cody smiling, playing along with her.
Both then walked to the beach, where Amy was already waiting. The three then kept chatting until dusk.
Confessional: Cody
"I took lunch with 2 beautiful girls and then stay for the rest of the day with other 2 beautiful girls in swimsuits. Who is the Codemeister?" said Cody waggling his eyebrows and making pistol fingers at the camera, "but I feel like I forgot something, but what?."
The next day Dawn went out of her cabin, she always the first one to wake up of the foxes. Of the ferrets, Shawn or Dramaman sometimes woke up before her (and Jasmine when she was on the game), but today was not one of those days.
Dawn walked the road to the forest and greet her friends, the blue jay family that lives in the forest entry, the old raccoon that hurt his leg fighting a bear, the curious squirrels that knew all the gossips of the island, and of course Miss rabbit and her lots of children. Even if the show was perverse, the animals were already populating the island.
Then she saw it, behind the trees, it was only for a moment, the moonchild looked at that person with wide eyes, it was an impossible sight.
Back at the cabins, the place was already awake and alive. Some campers were taking a shower, like Heather, Zoey, and Amy. Some were at the dining hall, eating their breakfast like Sky, Brick, and Cody. And some were still inside their cabins like Mike and Topher, that once again were cleaning the room. This time Dramaman was also helping them.
Courtney went out of her cabin, she had already taken a shower, so it was time to eat her breakfast.
"Good Morning Courtney," said Duncan, smirking.
"Good Morning Duncan, I am sure I told you to not talk to me outside the challenges," said Courtney sighing.
"And I am sure I never accepted," replied the delinquent, "Also, I wanted to show you something."
Courtney still has her doubts about him, but there was no harm in listening, "I hope is not something illegal."
"Nope, it is just a nasty surprise, look behind you," said Duncan raising his head and smiling, "it seems today challenge will be one of the old ones."
Courtney turned and see it, a few miles ahead, near the coast, was a giant cliff of 1000 feet, just like the one in Wawanakwa.
"You have to be kidding me," said Courtney with wide eyes, "When did that appear there?"
"Last night, probably," said Duncan shrugging, "we need you jumping down this time, just like in the All-star season."
"I know, I don't need advice from the likes of you," said Courtney turning her back at him.
"Great, but if you need it, I can jump with you," said Duncan waggling his unibrow.
"Get lost Duncan," said Courtney, she really hated him, but for some reason, part of her missed these conversations. But she couldn't trust him.
Outside the camp, Sammy was starting her routine supervised by Shawn. The younger twin making push-ups, sweating a lot.
"Are you already tired with only 50 push-ups? That is not enough to outrun even a slow Zombie. Put more effort, Sammy, your survivability depends on it," said Shawn, doing some push-ups, clapping his hands two times during each push-up.
"Yes, sir," said Sammy, but she was focused not on zombies, but to beat her sister.
Just then appeared Dawn. Shawn and Sammy didn't notice from where did she come from, but she was agitated and pale as a sheet. Sammy stood up quickly to help her.
"Dawn, are you ok? It seems as if you saw a ghost," said Sammy walking toward the moonchild. Sammy never noticed how short Dawn really was, almost a head shorter than her.
The moonchild then turned quickly and took the twin by the shoulder, "You have to help me, in the forest, I found him, I tried to follow him but I couldn't, it was too dangerous, and I-"
"Calm down, what did you found? I hope there were no zombies," said Shawn looking at her with fear on his eyes.
Dawn shook her head. "No, I mean, I don't know. I am not sure if it was a zombie or not. It was someone without an aura."
"Someone without an aura?" said Sammy, trying to understand what does she mean by that.
Then Shawn took Dawn by the shoulders and shook her. "Tell me, it was someone from the camp?"
"Everyone here has an aura. Even the evilest had a black aura, but this one didn't have it, nothing, empty," said Dawn with wide eyes.
"Answer my question! Was one of the campers?" said Shawn with a cold expression.
Dawn shook her head, "No, it wasn't. I know everyone's aura by now."
"Sammy, take the seer to the camp. I will go and look for this aura less person," said Shawn adjusting his torque.
"I am not a seer, and you shouldn't go alone," said Dawn holding his hand.
Sammy held his other hand. "Yes, Shawn, do you really think it's a zombie?"
"No, I sure hope not. That is the reason I have to go and find if it's him," said Shawn looking fiercely at the girls, but their argument was interrupted by a loud air horn.
"Hello dear campers, is challenge time. Please come to the foot of the 1001 feet cliff. I know you already know where it is. And put your swimsuits because you will have to swim," said Chris, chuckling.
"Darn it, is as if he was spying us," said Shawn throwing his torque to the ground, and picking it up again with his foot.
The campers were walking to the cliff, there Chris was already waiting, standing over a big stump.
"Hello campers, I think many of you have fond memories of what is behind me," said Chris with his perpetual mocking smile.
"Yes, someone is milking the nostalgia from the public, right?" said Heather narrowing her eyes at the host.
"Hehehe, sorry Heather, just the opposite, this is the second of the blast of the past challenges. This one was selected by our loving fans, so we will have the same challenge we all love with a twist," said Chris looking at the campers.
"You mean we are looking for keys again in the bottom of the lake?" asked Zoey, raising a hand.
"No, that becomes old very soon," said Chris shaking his head, "This challenge I call it 'cut down the tall poppy.' You will have to jump from the cliff to the shark-infested waters-"
Courtney huffed, "It sounds exactly the same as always."
"Patience is a virtue, as not interrupting the host. Anyway, after you jump, you will have to climb the cliff again, from the outside face of the cliff. Each team member that reaches the top will give you 5 points."
"So basically dude, we have to jump in the water, swim with sharks, and climb the mountain? Sounds like a chore," said Jay rolling his eyes.
"Well, there is more, only 9 of you will jump, the last member will be the cannoneer, using this sponge ball pistol, he will shot at the climbers. BUT you can only shot the climber in the top position. If you shoot any other camper, the opposite team will get the 5 points automatically," said Chris rubbing his hands, "you choose your cannonier, but you can't change it once selected."
Beth raised a hand."What if someone gets hurt in the challenge?"
"You will not, we test the challenge on our interns, and there were no casualties, even Klaus survive. Klaus great job there, now enjoy your holidays," said Chris winking at the camera.
"What if both teams get the 45 points?" asked Courtney folding her arms.
"Good question, usually it was Beth who did that kind of question. Beth you need to improve your game," said Chris pointing at the glasses girl, "if there is a tie on the points, the team who reach first the submit wins. You will have 3 hours to complete the challenge."
The teams groaned and whispered for a moment before they started to walk to the top of the cliff. Chris looked at them with an impish smile.
"Hey! One last thing, put extra effort into this one. There is a NASTY surprise for the losers," said Chris grinning.
The campers looked at each other, after that declaration, they definitely had to win this challenge.
Author Notes:
[1] Yes we still can't use Lego trademark, but our lawyers are working on it XD.
[2]Momonga is a generic squirrel-like enemy in many RPGs.
The challenge is just starting. Who will win? Who will be chosen as the cannoneer? And what nasty surprise is there for the loser? Find out on the next chapter of Tyranny of the masses.
The team swap and Lind's elimination had shaken the relationships on the teams. This chapter had some spotlight on characters who didn't have a lot before. I hope you enjoy it.
Immunity idols unused: 3
D.A.M. Eliminations left: 6
Favorite Foxes: Alejandro, Beth, Brick, Cody, Courtney, Dawn, Duncan, Heather, Lightning, Zoey.
Fan Ferrets: Amy, Charlotte, Dramaman, Jay, Lilly, Mike, Sammy, Shawn, Sky, Topher
Eliminated: Cameron, Jasmine, Max, Lindsay.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you like it.