The Bass sat around the campfire tiredly, some glaring at Heather, others focused on their own work. A heavy weight lay above them. Beardo was a cool guy, but, evidently, it takes more than being cool to win challenges.
"Sup," called out a voice from the campfire entrance. Trent held his guitar in hand and slowly strummed it while Beth waved earnestly. "Can we join you?"
Heather, almost in knee-jerk reaction, glared her eyes. "What are you guys doing up so late?"
"Dakota's raiding our cabin," Sammy said. "And we do have some more things from our tuck shoppe party. Want one?"
Sammy held up a gummy tarantula and walked over to Leshawna cluelessly. The girl screamed and whacked the spider into the air. "Don't do that to me girl!" she gasps, clutching her heart. "Holy heaven above."
"Sorry Leshawna," Sammy said with a blush. "It was just a gummy spider."
"Just a spider!" Leshawna crooned. "It ain't ever just a spider, baby. You know who says it's just a spider? People who get bit by spiders."
"And there goes one of my good plates," Shawn moaned. "Certified zombie proof as well."
"That's...not surprising," Scott said. "Kind of ironic, you do look like one."
If Shawn heard that remark, he didn't let it get to him. "Hey, anyone can be scared of anything!" Jasmine defended. "And zombies? Pretty high up on the phobia tier list."
Scott snorted but to his surprise, Scarlett nodded in agreement. "Fear is derived from all walks of life, but I assume Shawn isn't scared of Haitian zombies, but rather the zombies popularized by one George A Romero."
Confessional, Katie
I don't know how it happened, but we all started sharing our fears. I told them about my fears of bad haircuts. Beth went on and on about her fear of bugs, Sky spoke of her fear of drills, Dave said he was scared of fertilizer, and even Ryan stepped up and admitted his fear of bees!
"My worst fear?" Jasmine tapped the brim of her head before she shuddered. "Tight spaces."
"I don't envy you," Marilyn chimed in. "I'm...umm...well one of my worst fears is that padded cell in a mental asylum, just not talking to...anyone…" She seemed to realize something in her voice, maybe a lie, but quickly shivered.
"How about you Scarlett?" Katie turned to the redhead.
"While it may be a bit immature of me I must disclose that I suffer from herpetophobia," Scarlett said as she pushed up her glasses.
"Fear of Herpes?" snorted Scott. "One way to keep yourself up at night."
"Herpetophobia is the fear and aversion of reptiles," explained Scarlett, "in my case, lizards. I had a class lizard that once snuck its way into my backpack. I went home and the lizard fell into my bathtub whilst I was bathing. What about you Scott?"
"I'm not scared of nothing," Scott said. One look at Courtney and he knew he couldn't keep up the facade. "Okay...maybe one thing…" he swallowed, and then… "Sharks."
"What," said Duncan. "You watch Jaws one too many times as a baby?"
"You know Duncan," Courtney spoke up, "we'd all be better off without your constant backsass." Scott snickered, but she met him with, "And that goes for you too, farm boy!"
"Guys, guys, let's just chill," Trent said. "Duncan, you must be afraid of something. Come on."
Attention all on him, Duncan leaned forward on his stump. He let out an uncharacteristic sigh and rapidly let out, "C-C-Celilinedionmusicstorestandees…"
"Uh, sorry?" Dave asked, breaking a smirk.
"I think I heard 'Celine Dion Music Store Standee,'" Sammy bemusedly said.
"Shut up!" Duncan snapped. He looked around the circle and accusingly pointed at Brick, who was letting out a small laugh. "Come on cadet, you're scared of something too, what is it?"
"Well, the dark," he said rather briskly. "Need I say more?"
"It isn't Celine Dion and I think we can all understand that," Trent remarked. He stifled a yawn and stood up.
"Oh you're right, it's getting very late," Zoey chimed in. "Knowing Chris, there's a lot of borderline torture in store. Good night everyone!"
The campers sauntered off to their cabins, and before long, they'd dozed off.
The next morning the teens waited in the mess hall and waited for the day to continue. Several of them, notably Cameron, were kind of tired but for the most part the day seemed to be progressing rather swimmingly. "Alright Campers!" Chris announced as he walked into the store. Dakota held a bag of items down low and slammed it on the ground. "Careful with that, lowly intern," Chris hissed.
Dakota rolled her eyes and began opening the bag. "Today, Campers, is the start of a new challenge! One that we shall call, PHOBIA FACTOR!"
All of a sudden Sky let out a loud burp. Having drawn the attention to her, she meekly spoke, "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is…"
"I think it is…" Ryan stated a hint of worry crossing his voice.
"Marilyn! Please stand up and get your new digs for the episode!" Dakota held up a straitjacket and jangled a key rather tauntingly. The jock paled as she slowly stood up. "AND today you'll be staying in our patented Wawanakwa foam room!"
"Wait, how did they know about this?" Beth asked.
"Take a wild guess Genius," Scott snorted.
"I don't get it," Katie murmured.
"Well Katie, we have to thank you for all of this! We didn't get good enough footage of Beth, Dave, Sky, and Ryan talking about their fears. Wow, are you all not getting it?"
"It's...elementary," Scarlett winced. "It appears we all forgot about our… participation in this reality television."
"Yeperooni!" Chris shouted. "Anyways Scarlett, we have a new friend for you! Once we get Marilyn all set up, be prepared for our dear friends outside. And Heather, be sure to report to the amphitheater… for SUMO TIME!"
The mean girl spit out the cup of coffee she was drinking over the poor guitarist across the way from her. "Oh Chef?" Chris called out. "Don't we have a little… teaser for one of our dear contestants? Before their actual challenge?"
"Sure do, and this ain't no points, but this just goes to show you what's in store," Chef grumbled as he wheeled over a covered tray. He stopped in the middle of the aisle, where Jackson, Katie, Cameron, Ryan, Beth, and Sammy all were.
The six teens looked on in horror as Chef lifted the cover up. "Goat's head soaked in Tarantula blood topped with buzzing hornets and worms all over a gallon of green jelly, with a side of Saltine crackers."
A shrill scream came from one of the six campers as they remained petrified, staring at the horrendous meal. "Okay Campers, now that you're all warmed up, let's head out. Let's start off with dear Beth!"
Confessional, Cameron
What did Chris say? I think Jackson's high pitched screams burst my sensitive eardrums...
The camera feed switched to the common area where the campers all looked around a pool of assorted creepy crawlies. Gulping nervously, Beth took a dive in the pool and swam several laps. She emerged, screaming but earned a point for her team.
Confessional, Beth
I know that worms Technically aren't bugs but they're just as bad!
Meanwhile, Jackson held the saltine cracker in between his index finger and thumb, allowing it to hover near his mouth, with his mask raised just enough to expose the mouth...however, he couldn't move it any further.
Confessional, Jackson
When I was younger, my uncle and I went to my grandparents for the weekend. They had just bought a new hot tub and wanted us to check it out. I was eating some saltine crackers when I got there and saw the worst thing in my life...my grandma and grandpa in bathing suits…
The muscular teen spun around, raised his mask and barfed in the confessional toilet. "OH GOD, THE SIGHT OF THE CRACKER REMINDS ME OF THAT AWFUL IMAGE!" He barfed once more.
Jackson continued to struggle as Duncan and Katie watched nearby.
Duncan sneered, "It's a freaking cracker, you marshmallow!"
Jackson, trying to steel his nerves, put the cracker in between his teeth...however, he found himself unable to chew.
Duncan facepalmed. "Pathetic." He looked at Katie. "Starting to think that hockey mask is more trouble than he's worth."
This got a concerned look from Katie, who looked over at the mortified Jackson.
Confessional, Katie
I know I don't know Jackson very well...but I would HATE for him to get sent home THIS early in the game! I gotta do something!
Katie walked over to the horror film fan and took his hand and looked into his eyes and said, "Hey it's ok just call down you'll be okay."
"Th-thanks, Katie," Jackson smiled meekly...before Katie unexpectedly grabbed the saltine cracker. "Hey wait, what are—HMPH!" Suddenly, the horror movie fan had Katie hand covering his mouth after she jammed the cracker down into it.
"Swallow it. Jackson! Just pay attention to me and just swallow it," Katie said, trying to keep her ally from completely losing it.
After some time, a chewing sound and swallowing motion can be heard from the hockey mask-clad guy.
"And that's a point for the Killer Bass! Chris announced.
Katie cheered and wrapped her arms around Jackson in a hug...however, Jackson seemed a little preoccupied and petrified with what he just ate.
Cutting to Jasmine and Shawn they looked over a rather deep pit dug in the sand of Wawanakwa's beach. "Jasmine you have to stay in here for four hours, just as long as our dear nutcase friend Marilyn, who Dakota should be locking up right now."
A battered and bruised Dakota held up the straitjacket meekly. "Oh what was that Chris said?" she murmured as Marilyn fended off another intern from pushing her in. "Oh, yeah. HEY! MARILYN! KEEP DOING THAT AND YOUR TEAM WILL LOSE A POINT!"
Marilyn calmed down and looked at the straitjacket. Reluctantly she held her arms tightly and Dakota finally wrapped her arms in the jacket. She was summarily kicked into a padded room and led to her own devices.
Another screen wipe took the footage to a bunch of campers on the beach, where Jasmine laid in what appeared to be a plexiglass coffin. She winced as another shovel load of sand dumped over her.
"Shawn, whatever you do, I am BEGGING you. Do NOT leave me here, okay?" She asked with heavy amounts of fear, anxiety and hesitance in her voice.
"Don't worry Jasmine, you have enough air in there for an hour, plus an air purifier. I'll stay as long as I can." Shawn pulled a two way radio from his pockets and handed one to the taller girl. Jasmine gulped and hugged Shawn one last time before he closed the hatch to her coffin.
Once Chris buried Jasmine in six feet of sand, he turned to the next unfortunate contestant. "Scotty-scott scott scotty," Chris grinned.
Holding a boombox over her head and earmuffs over her ears, Dakota walked out of the bushes tailed by several interns, one of whom was wheeling a tank with a giant shark. "Do you have to play that annoying song out loud?!" Scarlett asked irately.
"Would you rather we play Karma Chameleon?" Chris taunted.
Zoey gave Scott a 'reassuring' shove towards the tank where he was given a wetsuit. "Five minutes with our dear nurse shark. And don't worry, it's a baby shark."
Scott looked towards his team with a death glare and took a step towards the shark. The shark blinked from the water as Scott recoiled. "You said their bites aren't...as painful?"
"Sure," Chris said with a sardonic smile. "Whatever you want to believe."
Scott looked over the pool and checked on his wetsuit. It was rather thick around the neck area and once Scott put it over him he felt the added heft to his butt. Pinching his nose, Scott jumped into the tank and stayed as far away from the shark as he could, which was to say not very.
Five uneventful minutes passed and the redneck jumped out of the water. "So, not that bad, huh?" Dave mentioned.
"Shove it, dweeb," Scott snored, pushing him into a pile of fertilizer.
"Well," Chris looked at Dave as he remained paralyzed in the fertilizer. "Dakota was supposed to put a timer for one minute, but it looks like you got it in your mouth. So…We'll give it to you!"
"Yay Dave!" Sky cheered as she leaned a hand over to help him out. The neatfreak stood as still as a statue as Sky poked him awkwardly. "Dave?"
Confessional, Dave
He remains standing, before falling into the toilet, finally screaming. It cracks the camera.
"Okay Brick, your challenge, will be explained after we put this blindfold on you and lead you off," Chris said. Brick looked at the blindfold and nervously wrapped it around his head. The host led Brick off as his teammates wished him luck.
On the other side of the mess hall, Tem was receiving the same set of instructions from Chef. "You'll get your instructions in the mess hall."
The two co-hosts led the two victims into the dark mess hall from opposite sides. Both were unaware of the other as they were seated. "Okay you can take your blindfolds off," Chris shouted. "Your challenge is to stay here for two hours without any contact. If you get out you forfeit a point."
"Katie!" Chris announced as he held up a razor. The perky girl's eyes shrunk as she looked at the razor fearfully.
Katie nodded quickly and stepped forward meekly.
Confessional, Katie
Okay...Okay…
WHY DO I HAVE TO DO THIS?! Wait… I'm not good at thinking, but...at that moment, I realized. If Jackson is the only one who fails, then he's the biggest target...And I don't want to lose a megahunk like him this soon! What would Sadie think?!
She took a seat on a chair in front of Chris as the razor began to buzz. "Katie, you must wear this wig for the rest of the day!"
"Don't look around Katie!" Scott warned.
Almost immediately, Katie whipped her head around to see the razor tied up in a mess of blond, black, and neon hair. Breathing heavily, Katie let out an ear piercing screech that even Marilyn heard in her padded cell. "I think I'm going crazy…" Marilyn said as she spoke into a corner.
"FUCK YOU CHRIS!" Katie screeched as she ran away.
Confessional, Katie
Did I overdo it? Not by much...but at least Jackson's safe...er…
Now we're both in danger...this is why I prefer to think things over with Sadie! Dangit!
"Jas," Shawn whispered into the radio. "What's going on down there?"
"It's darker than a kangaroo's taint!" Jasmine shouted.
"Look you've got only two minutes and thirty seconds left," Shawn mentioned.
"Tell me a story. Why are you scared of Zombies?"
"You know," Shawn started. "Well...I don't want to bore you."
"No, distract me! The walls are closing in!"
"I got you! Don't worry," Shawn said as he fixed his hat. "Look, when I was three my dad took me to this theme park, you might not know it, it's Killinger Falls Ottawa. I didn't know it at the time but he and I went onto this one roller coaster that was all dolled up for halloween. The coaster stopped midway and we were upside down. That's not the scary part. The coaster started up again and then there was a dog zombie right in front of us. It was scary as all hell and when we got off the dog zombie was there and barking!"
Once his story finished an intern crept up on him, wearing a zombie dog mask. Lightly tapping his shoulder, Shawn turned around. "ZOMBIE!" the paranoid nutjob shouted.
Before the intern could roar he was met with a radio to the face. "DIE ZOMBIE!" Shawn shouted, kicking dirt into his eyes. The zombie nutcase held the intern in a wrestling hold and slammed him over his head onto the sound. The camera shattered as Shawn threw the 'zombie' into the camera man. While the 'zombie' crawled away meekly, offscreen Shawn was heard grabbing the plaque that marked where Jasmine was out of the sand.
Confessional, Shawn
(wrapping his hands up) Yeah, I'm scared to death of zombies, but you just have to deal with them. You just gotta deal with your fears, you can't let them bury you….
CRAP! JASMINE! (he runs out of the confessional)
"Shawn has completed his challenge and so has Jasmine! But can Shawn find Jasmine in time? For legal reasons the answer is yes, but for dramatic purposes, I don't know!" Chris announced to the camera. "Next up, we have Scarlett at our elimination campfire, currently dealing with a new little friend of hers."
Again the camera changed to show Scarlett sitting on a stump, directly across from what looked to be a lizard. "I don't like you," Scarlett told the lizard bluntly.
The iguana tilted its head and the genius shuddered. "Come on Scarlett, Chris gave you three minutes to pet the damn thing." Chef held a stop watch that said two minutes and forty seconds, counting down.
Scarlett and the Iguana looked at each other again, neither moving an inch. The lizard seemed to break into a smile as Scarlett cringed. "If I must."
She placed a finger on the lizard's scaly skin before moving it down the tail. The iguana rumbled with content and smiled. "I'm done!" Scarlett shouted, accidentally throwing the animal into the forest.
"Come on," Chef said. "That was hardly a pet!"
"By the Cambridge dictionary if you pet an animal or a child or another living creature you touch them gently or kindly with your hands. You can view the tapes to see the smile appearing on our dear Iguana's hands. If you do not believe me I do believe we are on reality tv and you can see for yourself that our Iguana happened to smile, which I believe was a Duchenne smile, rather than-"
"ALRIGHT WOMAN!" Chef snapped. "You get the dang point, but I'm not fetching that thing, you are!"
"You can't make me!" Scarlett screeched.
"It's in your contract," Chef countered. "Have fun."
Confessional, Scarlett
(She holds the iguana in a thick but transparent net. Her hair is frazzled and she is none too pleased.) I hate you.
The camera shifted to another part of the clearing as a familiar tune began to play. "Duncan! You have to hug our Celine Dion music store standee as graciously provided by the legend herself. Also she told me to tell you to listen to her music."
The punk looked dead ahead at the lifelike cutout and gulped. "Duncan you have this!" Courtney shouted as she tried to walk up to Duncan.
"Actually Courtney, we're running low on time," Chris cut in. "But we can have you go through your fear now! Chef! Bring out the dunk tank!"
Confessional, Courtney
But I didn't give my fear out last night! Who told him?! Tabitha was it you?!
"All you need to do is walk into this dunk tank," Chris said reassuringly. "FULL OF GREEN JELLY!"
Courtney's normally tan skin turned green to match the gelatin in the tank. "Where...where did you get all that?"
"Not that hard," Chef shrugged. "Though I did wind up killing more caterpillars than I thought I'd need," he added in a small voice.
"Well, princess," Duncan said as he patted her on the shoulder. "I guess we'll see each other on the other side?"
The CIT stiffened up and took several robotic steps to the dunk tank. As her hand reached the ladder to the dunk tank, she turned to the punk. "I believe in you Duncan! She's pretty! Go for it!"
Steeled up, Duncan gulped a deep breath and ran forward, eyes closed and hugged the standee as the music swelled. Once he opened his eyes he was aware of the cheers from his teammates behind him and Courtney wrapped around his chest. "Huh! I did it," he said in awe.
"Good job!" Courtney said, arms still wrapped around the punk. As she realized the fact, she removed her hands and joined her teammates in applauding her.
"Courtney loses the point but Duncan gains the point! We're running a tight race here," Chris announced.
"Oh come on!" Courtney shouted. "I was reassuring my teammate! I would have done it eventually."
Confessional, Duncan
Hey, she was hugging me. I'll take that over the point any day.
"Jasmine, Jasmine, Jasmine," Shawn nervously murmured.
A quick pan over the mound where Jasmine was buried revealed that some of the sand was getting loose. A muffled curse was heard.
The camera cut again to show Zoey in the middle of a wide circle in the forest. "Now Zoey, our furry friend will be here momentarily," Chris announced. "In the meantime, Heather will be in the amphitheater, supervised by Chef and her team, in our Sumo of Doom-O challenge!"
Another camera pan to the amphitheater revealed that Heather was facing a sumo wrestler in the middle of a traditional ring. The sumo wrestler slammed his feet against the ground as Heather balked. With a single charge the Sumo wrestler rushed towards the queen bee.
Heather ducked.
The Sumo Wrestler tripped.
The wrestler bounced away.
Heather stood up and slapped her hands together. "I guess I'm done here."
Confessional, Heather
That was much easier than I expected, almost easier than getting rid of Beardo.
"And we're getting word that Heather's defeated the sumo wrestler! Pressure is on Zoey! Bring in the bear!"
As a bear slumbered into the clearing, Chris turned to the camera. "We also have another fear set up for another contestant. If you've been keeping track at home, you'll know that we've still got a couple of fears in store."
A roar came from the clearing as Zoey awkwardly stood still. "Zoey, you must pet our bear friend with your...bear hands!" ignoring the groans from the campers, Chris motioned for the camera to follow Zoey and the bear.
"Nice...Nice bear," Zoey was heard murmuring. "Nice bear…"
The bear stopped in its tracks and sat up, flashing a confused look at Zoey. "Hey, are you okay?"
Zoey took another step forward as the bear slowly prodded the ground. Zoey flinched but remained constant in her steps towards the ursine animal. Up close the camera zoomed in to reveal that the bear was fighting back tears. "What's wrong?"
The bear looked up and pointed one of its paws to another hand. Zoey gingerly prodded over and saw that there was a massive splinter. "Oh poor thing…" Zoey said apprehensively. "Here...I learned this from one of my favorite movies about a girl lost in the woods."
She bent over and pulled the splinter out. "Now, I don't have any bandages but are you feeling better?"
The bear nodded before it lay on the ground crying. In its other paw was a photo of a bear in makeup, rather large makeup to be exact. "Had a problem with your girlfriend?" Zoey asked. "Look, I'm sure there are other bears, even badgers, raccoons. You're a catch. Now come on. You're obviously worth more than that bear who dumped you thought you were."
Suddenly the bear lunged and grabbed Zoey in a hug. "There there…" Zoey awkwardly prodded.
Confessional, Zoey
I guess I can check off being a bear therapist off my bucket list. Wait (Zoey pulls out a list taller than her) Oh there it is, right between Marry an olympic genius and inhale fumes from a girl who's from new jersey.
"Well," Chris remarked. "That's a point. Let's see how her team reacted!"
Trent was suddenly pulled aside in front of a camera. "What am I doing here?"
"Just give us your opinion on how Zoey did," the cameraman explained off screen.
"But what's there to say? She petted the bear and made a friend. She's not going home tonight if the Bass lose, that's for sure. Umm, is that enough footage?"
"No," an intern next to the cameraman said. "Just tell us how you think things are going with Zoey."
"But I just did. I can say it eight more times and while it'll sound better on the ninth time it won't change anything."
As he took a deep breath he felt a tap on the shoulder. Turning around his breath seemed to escape him as his eyes dilated.
Confessional, Trent
I'm sure they're going to edit things to make things a lot more scary to you guys, but let me tell you...those...PEOPLE in person are much much worse!
Craning its neck the mime imitated Trent's look of horror on his face. "Just get away from me man!" Trent shouted as he backed away. Perfectly mimicking Trent's every move, the musician darted to the left at breakneck speed hoping that the mime wouldn't want to follow him.
The camera changed to an overhead shot of the camp as Trent hopped, skipped, and jumped all the way over his teammates and fear testers to the beach, dodging Shawn as he digged frantically.
"Jasmine!" Shawn shouted as he plunged his hands in the dirt again. Before he could continue digging a dark hand punched through some glass and grabbed him by the collar.
"Shawn!" Jasmine shouted. "Strewth's sake!" The much taller Aussie pulled herself out of the glass coffin and smothered Shawn in a hug before punching him in the shoulder. "You had me acting like a dorba, where in Canberra's grimey capitol were you?!"
Confessional, Jasmine
(She's outside the confessional, she's not risking it again)
It's a good thing the boy's bloody cute or else I'd be mad as a cut snake!
Confessional, Shawn
Yeah...I could have handled that a lot better.
"Dakota," Chris called into a walkie talkie. "Please prepare a contract for hiring. Yes, for a bear. No, I don't know how Zoey promised him a job. We looked through the tapes, none of us understand." Behind him Trent tripped over a root, with the Mime following suit shortly after. "Uh huh, the bear's negotiating wages? Why?"
Thinking frantically Trent jumped into the water and splashed water up at the mime as a diversionary tactic. "Try to follow me now!"
The mime madea diving pose and dramatically held in his breath. "Wait! You'll get your makeup wet!"
Dejected the mime walked off of the dock and onto the beach. "Unconventional, but people have gotten points for weirder! Trent gets the point for his team!" Chris announced to the cheers of Trent's teammates.
Confessional, Trent
Yeah...never leave me alone with those weirdos...please...
Brick and Tem, for the most part, had sat perfectly still. Brick let out a breath every so often and his eyes were getting acclimated to the darkness. He felt his leg falling asleep and stretched out, letting out a groan.
"Who's there?!" Tem exclaimed from the kitchen. She ran forward into a set of hanging pots and grabbed her head. Her groan of pain was masked by the clanging of pots.
"Show yourself!" Brick demanded, stumbling through the mess hall's dining area.
The floorboards creaked as Brick slowly made his way to the kitchen, occasionally bumping against the tables and stools. Tem backed away from where she knew there were hanging pans and started flailing her arms in the darkness. Not looking where she was going, she slammed her hand into the side of the fridge. "Dangit," she groaned.
Ever so slowly, and unknown to each other, Brick and Tem backed closer and closer to the window. Both put their hands on the countertop and breathed. Hesitating, the two moved their arms backwards ever so slightly, gripping blindly in the darkness. In one fateful seconds, their hands touched.
A loud scream came from both of them as they stumbled through the mess hall, tripping over the furniture, and falling out the doors.
Confessional, Brick/Tem
That could have gone a whole lot better.
Leshawna and Cameron sat in two identical chairs at opposite sides of the table just outside of the mess hall. Chef walked out of the brightened mess hall in a giant fuzzy spider suit. Cameron stiffened in his chair but remained seated, but Leshawna blankly stared at the eight legged creature. "Now power girl, all you need to do is hold out your hand."
Petrified, the loud and proud black girl looked at her teammates and held out her hand. With an unblinking gaze to Heather and Scott, who had both managed to pass their challenge, she gulped and Chef opened a small crate. As Leshawna held her breath, she was greeted with a furry friend in her hand, a surprisingly small and cute little spider. Its eight eyes blinked and Leshawna shuddered.
"Ain't that a beaut" Chris shouted from behind her. Shocked with the sudden appearance from the host, Leshawna flung her arm backwards and threw the tarantula. The arachnid landed in Chris' shirt and the host ran around in circles like a headless chicken.
As the other contestants laughed Chef patted Leshawna on her back. "That's a point in my eyes girl and I'll make sure it's a point in that pretty boy's eyes."
Leshawna cheered and ran off to the bathroom, giving a high-five to Scott and some other teammates as she ran by them.
Confessional, Leshawna
The later they realize the tarantula peed on me, the later they can attack me. But what can they do? I got the point for us!
Confessional, Scott
(The farm boy sniffed his hand with a baffled expression) Why do I smell like spider pee?
"Bubble boy!" Chef called. "Power Girl over there threw our only spider so you're going to have to go through the next best thing."
Cameron held a hand out and closed his eyes. Chef bent over and picked up a crawling Daddy Long Legs. Even as Cameron's hands shook, the Daddy Long Legs remained in his hands. "Eh good enough," Chef boredly murmured. "Point for you too. Now let's get pretty boy settled in."
Confessional, Cameron
The name daddy long legs refers to no less than three species, one of which is in fact a spider. I'm lucky that I didn't get that spider thing. Eugh
"Sammy!" Chris said once he regained his composure. "All you need to do is stand at the base of the thousand foot cliff!"
"Actually it's only like thirty-five feet," Scarlett interjected.
"SHUSH! We need it to be a thousand for marketing purposes! Sammy, you're just going to stand here for five minutes on that x."
Sammy quickly stood over the X. "Five minutes starting now?"
"Not quite, once we wrangle up our losers Brick and Tem we can start." Dakota found the two losing gophers and positioned them on top of the cliff. "Okay we're good to go."
Confessional, Sammy
If you saw me in person I was frozen to the x. I think I was more scared of losing the point than whatever avalanche...or Amy… was going to come my way.
Three minutes passed and Sammy started to get bored. She patted her hands on her skirt as she was sure there wasn't any sign of anything coming over. "So...is my test over?"
"Not yet!" Chris shouted from the top of the cliff. "In fact," he whispered to the camera. "It's just begun!"
A different camera angle showed that Chris was on top of a giant machine that bore resemblance to a slot machine. "This is going to be fun and painful! It'll be so hilarious that it'll hurt! And to make things better, her team will press a button!"
"Oh, well that doesn't seem so bad," Beth said quietly. Scarlett's eyes narrowed as she sauntered over to the button.
Confessional, Beth
What? I know Sammy, she's tough. A little button won't kill her.
Confessional, Scarlett
And Beth just sealed her grave. After what happened with Dave last episode I'm surprised that none of my teammates heard her.
"You know Beth! Let's see what we have in store with the Slot-O-Drama machine!" Gingerly, the farm girl pulled the lever and released bells and whistles.
Down the cliff, Sammy noticed she was currently knee deep in bells and whistles. "That didn't do anything!" Chris complained. "Sky! You're next."
The sound of a drill accompanied Sky's turn pulling the lever. The gymnast jumped in fear, avoiding the appearance of a giant drill bit and causing a bunch of stuffed animals to fall down.
Again, Sammy seemed more confused than everything. "THIS IS GETTING BORING! BRICK! DO SOMETHING!" Chris complained.
"And send something down to Sammy?" he gulped. "I'm not entirely sure that-"
"Chef!" Chris called out. The hulking chef pushed Brick towards the slot machine and he pushed the lever. From the machine came fifteen foot sized styrofoam boulders.
Confessional, Brick
Sorry Sammy...
"Good, but…" Chris started. Slowly the host walked over to the other gophers with a comically oversized flyswatter. "I'm just going to…"
WHACK!
The remaining Gophers, Brick included, tumbled down the mountain at a quick pace, hitting rocks, trees, and boulders on the way.
Down the mountain, Sammy gulped in fear as she willed herself to dig her feet in the ground. Despite getting hit by boulder and obstacle after obstacle, she remained standing. "Am I done?" she meekly asked. In response, Brick landed at her feet.
"Wow," Chris said, impressed. "Look at that, Sammy got the point! While we get Ryan set up with this beautifully made vest that will soon cause the gossip columns to be abuzz with furor," Chris announced. "Marilyn has passed her challenge! And Dakota is now bringing her out."
"Okay Marilyn," Dakota said as she opened the door to the padded cell. "You got a point for your team. Now let's get you…"
"Thanks Dakota," Marilyn sighed in relief. As Marilyn stood in the doorway, waiting for the key, she couldn't help but notice the intern become increasingly worried. "Umm. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Dakota panicked. "Everything is fine…" She backed away slowly. "Now I just have to find that key I lost."
"YOU LOST THE KEY?!" Marilyn shouted.
"It was an accident!" Dakota shouted.
The camera cut to the center of the campgrounds, where Ryan was sitting on a chair in front of the vest of bees, and was doing his best not to agitate them. "YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THIS DAKOTA!" Marilyn shouted, straitjacketed and thoroughly frustrated.
"Nope!" Ryan shouted as Dakota ran past the bees, causing them to buzz a little more. He sprinted in the opposite direction right into Marilyn.
"RYAN YOU DICK!" Marilyn shouted as she hit the ground. She flopped on the ground like a worm. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Confessional, Ryan
Look, you would have done the same so don't come at me with that pretentious shit.
Confessional, Marilyn
I get that fear makes people do weird things. But pushing people over? Ryan, you fucking dick.
"We're on a schedule Marilyn," Chris said placidly. "And at least you passed your test, not like Ryan over there. Next up, Sky! I believe yesterday you mentioned you were scared of drills, and we all saw that because of our Slot-o-Drama!"
Sky scratched her head as she felt a gas bubble slowly escape her stomach. "What do I have to do?" she nervously asked.
Chris dug his hands into his jacket. "Just stand still. I promise I won't hurt you."
Confessional, Chris
Well, in this case, it wasn't going to draw blood. Can you imagine the nightmare of litigation?!
The unmistakable sound of a drill stated while Sky looked for a way out. "Come on Sky! You're much tougher than that drill!" Dave shouted.
"I am tougher than the drill?" Sky asked. "I'm tougher than the drill?"
"Just focus on something else!" Dave shouted again.
"Or don't," Chris said bluntly.
"I am tougher than the drill," Sky murmured. A block of wood sprung up to Sky's right. "I'll focus on the drill. I'm just focusing on the corner of the wood. I'll focus on the corner of the wood."
Sky took a deep breath. Before she could take another the drill bit broke through the wood. As she focused on another corner the gas bubble in her stomach bubbled up and released. The wood splintered in many pieces and the drill malfunctioned. "Oh come on!" Chris complained. "That's a point but really?! We're on a budget Sky!"
Confessional, Sky
When I'm nervous I have the...weird tendency to burp. I know, I know, gross, but I can't help it! Knowing Chris he'd make me lose a point for a scream.
"That means we have one more test left. Dakota, that's Izzy, correct?"
"Yes Chris," Dakota replied out of breath.
"Go get Chef for me," Chris said formally. "Gophers, Bass, you are all tied up! Three of your members have failed and the rest have succeeded. If Izzy fails this, then the Gophers will win! If Izzy succeeds, then the Bass will win!"
The campers moved down to the common area, where a dangerous prop plane was set up. "You remember what Chris said, right?" Heather pulled Izzy aside.
"Me? Yeah," Izzy nodded.
Pilot Hatchet opened the door and a wing fell off.
Confessional, Izzy
I may be insane, but even I know that a big fat lovable tub of lard would help me out. I guess I just have to conjure him up….
…
Nope, but a parallel universe me is having fun! Stupid Parallel Izzy!
"Alright, Campers, you can come watch the flight plan with me or chill for the rest of the day. This flight will only take an hour, tops."
Chef looked at the camera as Izzy bent down and picked up a piece of dirt and shoved it in her mouth. "What? I want to remember what the ground is like."
Confessional, Izzy
What did Heather tell me? Wait what did Chris tell me to remember what Heather told me? Oh yeah! Don't eat yellow snow…
THAT DOESN'T HELP ME AT ALL!
Not ten minutes later, Pilot Hatchet was currently at wits end. He tried his best to focus on the sky in front of him but there was little that he could do to distract himself from the psycho behind him.
"GRANDMA SAID THAT YOU NEED TO HANG CLOTHES OFF AT LEAST THIRTY MINUTES AFTER YOU GET THEM OUT BUT SHE DIDN'T ACCOUNT FOR FALLING FROM CLOUD NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIXTY NINE!"
"Would you shut up?!" Chef shouted. In the brief moment he turned to the psycho hose beast, the plane flew in front of a poor bird.
"WE WILL SAVE YOU COMRADE CORPORAL AVIAN ALAN RICKSBURY!" Chef turned around to see Izzy climbing over his shoulders and placing both hands on the yoke. "I WILL NOT DIE IN AN AIRBORNE COFFIN WITH A MAN WHO DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THE VALUE OF SALT IN THE 1800!"
"Girl sit-!" In a moment of hesitation the burly Chef was thrown out of the plane when Izzy did an aileron high in the sky. Luckily, he was able to land, with a parachute, into the lake with no injuries, but the same could not be said for the duck below him.
Confessional, Duck
The duck puts a bandage on its wing and quacks angrily
"Alright it looks like-" Chris said as he looked through a pair of binoculars. "IT'S GOING TO HIT US HIT THE DECK!"
Campers, crew members, and Chris all ducked out of the way as Izzy flew dangerously low through the center of camp. The plane clipped the top of the outhouse confessional and a duck flew out. The plane crashed on the beach in a blazing ball of glory and Izzy hopped out, cackling all the way. "Does this mean Izzy failed?" Katie asked.
"Yes," Chris said as Izzy kissed the ground. "Yes it does. And for both losing the most and destroying my plane we'll be seeing the Bass at the ceremony tonight."
After Challenge
Confessional, Heather
I'm well aware that I can't save Izzy today. She's royally screwed. With that being said I'm going to see if I can throw Marilyn off by having Izzy and I vote for her. The main idea is to see if she'll blow herself up in trying to find out who voted for her.
Izzy and Heather were together in the forest. Izzy was more or less unaware of her seemingly imminent fate tonight. Heather figuring Izzy was a lost cause was going to try and squeeze every little last drop out of the crazy red head.
"Izzy look, I'm going to be honest with you. We're both on the chopping block tonight. But I think if we both vote Marilyn we could be safe," Heather explained to the crazy girl.
"But why Marilyn? She's really liked," Izzy questioned.
"I don't know. But I heard through the grapevine that she's going to be getting a couple votes tonight."
"I guess… oh well I trust you, so my vote is for Marilyn tonight?"
"Sounds good Izzy." Heather turned around and walked away. Smirking all the while as she mumbled to herself "I'm playing all of them like a fiddle. This game is mine."
Confessional. Katie
It seems as though Heather is in the bottom two or three every elimination. So I think now is the time we try to get rid of her. She keeps getting votes against her so surely those votes will continue to go her way.
The trio of Jackson, Marilyn, and Katie had decided to meet in the Mess Hall to discuss the vote tonight.
"You guys feel safe tonight right?" Katie asked the group.
"I mean yeah. It's probably going to be Izzy or Heather tonight. I doubt we'll see any real blindside," Marilyn responded.
"Well. Heather has been in the bottom the past couple times. Maybe we should vote for her this time and get her out," Katie suggested.
"I'm not opposed to that. But have you guys noticed we seem to vote for the wrong person every time? Maybe we should vote Izzy so we're actually on the right side of the vote tonight," Jackson suggested.
"So there is a strategic mind in there after all," Marilyn joked, knocking her fist against his hockey mask.
"Yeah yeah. But isn't Izzy the safe vote tonight?" Jackson continued.
"Maybe. But people keep voting Heather. If we vote Heather and there's a chance she goes. I think it's worth it," Katie mused.
"I'm on board with it. The sooner she goes the better," Marilyn agreed.
"I guess. But I don't know if it's worth it," Jackson reluctantly stated.
"Then it's settled. We vote Heather tonight."
Confessional, Courtney
Leshawna will be a key vote tonight. As much as I despise Heather, Duncan and Scott want to keep her around and I can see why. So if I can get Leshawna to vote Izzy instead of Heather tonight we'll be golden.
Leshawna and Courtney were both inside the Bass cabin waiting for Chris to call them to the bonfire pit for yet another ceremony.
"Hey Leshawna I wanted to talk to you about the vote tonight."
"You know I'm voting for Heather, Courtney. What is there to talk about?"
"Well I don't think Heather has the votes to go tonight. But Izzy does. Izzy seems close to Heather which would make her weaker."
"I get your point Courtney but I still just wanna keep voting Heather until she goes."
"But is that really a sound strategy? Izzy is likely to go tonight Heather is not. Why not make sure a close ally of hers goes rather than someone that we don't know will go."
"Ugh I hate it when other people make good points. Fine I'll vote Izzy but unless someone else royally fucks up I'm voting Heather until she's gone."
"Sounds good to me Leshawna."
Confessional, Leshawna
Courtney is right, voting Heather isn't the best strategy. So I lied to her. I'll only vote Heather if necessary. I don't care who it is, but if it makes sense strategically whether it be Courtney or Duncan or Jackson, I'll vote them out as I'm only looking out for myself.
Elimination Ceremony
"Welcome back to yet another elimination ceremony. I honestly expected the Gophers to be here today with how you guys go back and forth but it appears that that pattern has finally been broken and you guys will be sending yet another camper home and out of this game. Last time you guys sent the human soundboard Beardo packing, who will it be this time? Let's find out."
"First safe is… Katie."
"EEEEEEE."
"Jackson."
"Duncan."
"Courtney."
"Leshawna."
"Scott."
"Cameron…"
"And…Zoey."
Marilyn was both confused and shocked. Why was SHE in the bottom three? She swore she hadn't done anything yet to warrant getting to the bottom three. It made no sense. However, Heather expected herself to be in the bottom, it was a known spot for her to be in while Izzy was just plain crazy and was smiling all the while.
"You three all racked up some votes tonight. However Marilyn you had the fewest among the group so you're safe." Marilyn breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up and collected her marshmallow. She exchanged a hug with Izzy and nodded at Jackson.
"And lastly safe is…. Heather. Izzy sorry not sorry but you're eliminated from the game."
"BONZAI!" Izzy shouted giving everyone little time to register that she had been eliminated. She threw a smoke bomb into the ground and disappeared from everyone's sights only to reappear on the boat cackling like a madman or madwoman in this case.
"Well… with that interesting elimination the Bass lose yet another member. With Heather cutting alliance members left and right will she be the next to go or will she weasel her way out of it. How will the Gophers handle their obvious player advantage. Will they thrive? Or will they squander it? Only time will tell. Find out next time on Total Drama Island!"
Final Confessional, Izzy
HAHAHA. They made the best move in getting rid of me. I have no regrets in this game, I played the best I could which was to be crazy. I think Heather has the best chance of winning because she's playing all of them like fiddles. They'll all fall like dominos. In the meanwhile, I shall return in the near future.
Votes
Izzy: Heather says to vote Marilyn so I guess I'm going to vote Marilyn.
Heather: My vote at this point is practically useless. But a rogue vote or two Marilyn's way may spook her enough to screw herself over.
Leshawna: That Izzy girl is crazy and she's cost us two challenges now. Girl has got to go.
Scott: There's only enough room for one ginger on this island Izzy.
Marilyn: Bye bye Heather. It's about time you leave this island.
Jackson: Heather.
Katie: Please please please send Heather home.
Cameron: Right now I can proudly say I am no longer scared of spiders. However, Izzy, who I vote for, is my new worst nightmare
Zoey: I'm sorry but I have to vote Izzy
Duncan: Izzy plain and simple. Before you know it Heather will need me and only come to me for help. It's perfect.
Courtney: As much as I don't like Heather. I think Izzy is the safer vote tonight.
LordGemini: To elaborate on Beardo wanting to out Heather you have to go back to the Talent Show challenge where Heather insulted Ella. Beardo didn't take too kindly to that and he started to realize that aligning with Heather was a bad idea so he wanted to take her out. The more people vocal about outing Heather, which were Marilyn, Beardo, Katie, and Leshanwa until now were more so mad that she was such a prick and wasn't a major team player and used the Justin elimination as a huge example as to why she's a problem. It could've worked better but Duncan is a player who's open to options if it benefits him and he would know that Heather coming to him about Beardo would let him know that Heather knows something is coming and doesn't feel a need to snitch when he has no reason to. And well, Beth wasn't the next one so...
Gucci Mane Laflame: Glad you enjoyed, yeah we wanted Beardo to do something but knew that with how loaded this cast is it wouldn't be feasible to get him past like 15th.
Nobody245: Don't worry about Heather, she won't be an elimination houdini for no reason this time around. Her start was rough but by the cooking challenge I think you'll see what I mean with her. And I hope over time you enjoy Tem more.
28th Dakota (13-1)
27th Justin (8-4-2)
26th Noah (7-3-3)
25th Chloe (10-3)
24th Ella (6-4-2)
23rd Beardo (5-4-3)
22nd Izzy (6-3-2)
Screaming Gophers Tem, Trent, Ryan, Dave, Sky, Jasmine, Shawn, Scarlett, Sammy, Beth, Brick
Killer Bass: Jackson, Marilyn, Courtney, Duncan, Cameron, Zoey, Heather, Scott, Katie, Leshawna,