Here's the conclusion to last chapter! I'm excited to see what your reactions will be to it. I don't have too much to say other than thank you all for your continued support! Without you guys I'd probably have given up on this story a long time ago. But now I'm in the final stretches, and I've finished writing the chapters up to episode 10, meaning I've almost got the fic complete. It's surreal of me to think that, since I've never completed a multi-chapter fic before, but I'm so glad that this is the one I stuck with throughout it all!

And before I forget, I've been informed that my story now has a page on TV Tropes! Search up Twinning With a Twist and it'll be the first one you see. Having a page was actually one of my side-goals for writing this story, and now that I have one I feel like I've actually 'made it' you know? So go ahead and feel free to add to it! The more tropes the better!

That's all for now. Enjoy the chapter!


Chapter 7.5: The Ol' Switcheroo

"We're almost there!" Sammy cried out to Ella below her. They had been climbing for a nice bit now - Chris said something about 140 feet earlier, right? - and though she was starting to tire out, getting closer and closer was reinvigorating her drive to actually get out. "Just keep going!"

"I'm… I'm doing my best!" Ella called. She was definitely more tuckered out than Sammy was, being the non-athlete of the two, but she was keeping pace pretty well. Sammy had to give her props for that.

Another few minutes of climbing, they finally made it, but something was off. There was this thing covering the top of the hole, something made of cloth and colored in a weird beige pattern. "W-What is this?" Sammy asked, reaching her hand out for it. When it felt easy enough to move, she did just that, tossing it aside and giving herself the chance for freedom. "Finally!" she shouted, popping her head up out of the hole.

Only to see eight other faces staring at her in surprise. Before her stood the others in groups of two - Jasmine and Topher were covered in dirt and various amounts of scratch marks, Shawn and Sky were also covered in an off-color dirt and were wet from head to toe, Amy and Scarlett looked… none the worse for wear, really, and Chris and Chef were right in front of her, the latter strangely wearing a gas mask.

"…Wait, are we the last to get here?" Sammy asked after doing a headcount. "Seriously?"

"What's wrong?" Ella asked, almost directly beneath her. "C-Can you hurry? My arms are hurting…"

"Oh, crap, sorry!" Sammy clambered out of the hole and helped her friend up the last couple of rungs. She immediately fell to the ground to try and catch her breath, and Sammy did the same though she chose to sit instead of lie. It vaguely occurred to Sammy that she had pushed aside Chris's lawn chair and that the hole had coincidentally opened up directly beneath him, but she didn't dwell on that for too long.

"Elevators, secret tunnels, the confessional…!" Chris was saying rather heatedly, though Sammy wasn't sure what he was going on about. "Look, I don't care how many times you ask, none of you won!"

"There's no winner?" Sammy whispered to Ella, who just shrugged from the ground.

"I said 'the first team to cross the finish line', and none of you did!" He gestured off to the side, where a cave entrance with an actual finish line was sitting and waiting for someone to cross it. "You all skipped dozens of awesome challenges! We don't even have enough footage for an episode!" With arms crossed, Chris looked like he was seconds away from a temper tantrum. "You're all disqualified! This whole episode's a bust!"

"Wait, if the episode is a bust…" Scarlett was saying, a finger on her chin.

"Does that mean there's no elimination?!" Amy finished for her, practically shoving her out of the way to ask it.

"No elimination?! Alright!" Sky shouted, prompting cheers from the rest of the contestants, Sammy included. Ella tried as well, but her arms flopped right back down back to the ground in exhaustion.

"Ohhh no," Chris said over them, causing their cheers to stop. "There will be an elimination tonight. And this time, you're all expected to be there." With a dark chuckle both he and Chef walked off, leaving the campers to themselves.

"I don't like the way he said that," Jasmine said, though rather than dwell on it she started to walk off.

"It's probably going to be a bogus elimination," Topher said with a shrug, following behind her. "Probably another intern if it really isn't one of us. Seriously, Chris needs to start thinking in the long-term and give us something juicy. His methods recently have been so lack-luster."

"That's odd, coming from you," Jasmine replied. "Aren't you supposed to be one of Chris's biggest fans or something?" The rest of the conversation went unheard as they walked too far away from Sammy to hear them.

"How are you guys?" Sky then asked, coming up to her and Ella with Shawn in tow. "I wasn't expecting to get separated right at the start like that."

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy when everything started falling all around us," Sammy said.

"S-Sorry about that," Ella said. "I… don't gracefully throw up."

"Hey it's not your fault, we get it." Sky leaned forward to talk better with the two, but it was at that point that Sammy's nostrils began burning.

"Ew, gross!" she cried and recoiled away from them. "Why do you guys smell like crap?!"

Sky backed up somewhat, aware of her positioning, and Shawn winced a bit at the question. "Technically, it is."

"What do you-" And Sammy recoiled even more. "Eugh, the confessional?!"

"Yyyep. I…" Sky let out a long, drawn out sigh. "…need a bath. Desperately."

The two of them took off after that, and Sammy made sure that Sky wasn't planning on taking that bath at the waterfall. Sammy stuck around with Ella as she regained her breath and use of her arms, but it didn't take too long until they were approached by other people.

"How did you two access this secret tunnel and ladder?" Scarlett asked, inspecting the inside of the hole. "It goes an awfully long way down. And you climbed the whole way up?"

"Yeah," Sammy answered evenly, trying to not let her distaste for the redhead come through. "We, uh, we found a computer, and-"

Scarlett's head instantly shot up towards her. "A computer, you say?"

She flinched at the sudden movement. "Uh… yeah. I accidentally pushed a button on the wall, I guess, and the wall opened up and a computer slid out. We used it and managed to open the passage, and made our way up."

"I see… Fascinating indeed." She said no more, and walked away with a hand on her chin.

Amy, who walked up with her, stuck around. After making sure Scarlett received a scathing glare to the back of her head, Sammy said to her sister, "What was that about an elevator?"

"We found one," she said simply. "There was this robot crocodile or whatever, and Scarlett cooked up a remote with its insides that opened up the elevator door. We came out just behind that boulder over there."

Oh, so that's what the crocodile was for. "Does she still have the remote? She might be able to uncover something else about the island."

Amy sucked in a sharp breath. "I sorta… smashed it."

Sammy blinked. "…Why?"

"'Cuz she said something that pissed me off."

"Oh. Well, there goes that idea."

"What does it matter, anyway? We didn't win and now we're gonna suffer for it."

"Ah, yeah. That sucks." Is it just me, or is it getting easier to talk to her? It's… weird. But not necessarily in a bad way.

"Yeah, it does." Amy looked down at Sammy once more. It honestly seemed like she wanted to say something, as she was gripping her sleeve rather fiercely, almost like she was trying to force herself to do it. But in the end, she sighed and turned away. "You look like shit. As usual."

Aaand we're back to square one. Hooray. "Gee, thanks. You're not looking so hot yourself, either."

"At least I look better than you!"

"At least I don't care about that." She stood up and stared down her sister at eye level. "You know, if you stopped worrying about your appearance and trying to be better than me so much, maybe you'd be able to live a happier life."

The look of shock Amy had was a surprise to even Sammy, but not the murderous glare that she put on soon after. "You little bitch!" She gripped the front of Sammy's shirt and pulled her closer. "You think you know me so well, huh?! You think you know enough about me to tell me how my life sucks?!"

"I'm not trying to insult you!" Sammy insisted. "I'm just-"

"I don't care!" Spittle flew out of her mouth and sprayed onto Sammy's cheek. "You have no right to say that to me! I am the better twin, and you're the twin who has to respect me!"

"Respect? Ha!" Sammy shot back. "Maybe actually do something respectable for once and I'll consider it!"

"You piece of-" She wound up for a punch, and Sammy fully braced herself for it.

"Enough!"

A pale hand in a red sleeve stopped the blow before it connected, and Amy stared in astonishment as Ella did her best to keep it from moving. It didn't stop completely, as Ella was clearly the weaker one here, but it was enough for Amy to yank it away after a few seconds. "You stay out of this, puffball! This is between Spareamy and me!"

"You get angry with my friend, right in front of me, and don't expect me to do anything about it?" Ella asked. She was staring Amy down with anger in her eyes, but her voice remained steady and even. "Sammy was right. You've only ever attempted to demean and belittle her, and never made any friends for yourself, otherwise you would know I'd be there for her. Isn't that right?"

"What are you prattling on about?" Amy asked. "Obviously I have friends!"

"She means friends who stick around with you longer than a week, before they get sick of you!" Sammy countered, ripping her sister's hand off her shirt and wiping the spit off her cheek. "And don't tell me you have a 'secret friend group' or some sort of BS like that. We both know that isn't true in the slightest."

She tried to respond to that, but between the sputtering and quick, frenzied breaths, nothing coherent came out. She looked between Sammy and Ella, back and forth several times, her fists clenched at her side and quaking in anger. And just when Sammy was about to pull Ella away and leave Amy to herself, she spoke.

"How? Why?" She glared daggers at Ella, who managed to not flinch and hold her ground. "How is it that good for nothing Spareamy gets people to back her up, gets actual friends to stick by her side? She's useless! A good-for-nothing! She…" Her breathing quickened even more. "She doesn't deserve to have anyone like her!"

Ella gasped and took a step forward, but Sammy held her shoulder and moved in front of her. "Answer me this," she said firmly. "If I shouldn't have friends… why don't you? You've said it yourself before - you're the popular one. You're the pretty one. So why are you still alone? Why haven't you been able to make any friends this whole time?"

Amy's eyes twitched in raw fury, and she looked ready to tackle Sammy to the ground. Sammy knew she was agitating her sister, and was ready for anything that Amy was going to throw at her.

Or so she thought.

That's when Amy, suddenly, without warning, deflated.

"Because I don't know how."

It wasn't an answer Sammy was expecting, and she was thrown completely off guard by how sincere and defeated it was. Amy never admitted to weakness. Sammy only knew of the Amy who was overconfident and whose ego was triple the size of her head. But to have her sister, her personal demon, honestly say that she didn't know how to do something was… scary. She should've been thrilled that Amy was stepping off her high horse. Instead she just felt unsettled.

Amy had lost her composure entirely. She started sniffing loudly and her eyes became wet, which she hastily and roughly rubbed away with the sleeve of her arm. She sent one final glare to Sammy - though there was barely anything behind it - and she walked away, alone, without another word.

When she was gone, Ella slipped her hand in Sammy's and squeezed. "Come on. Let's go back."

"Yeah…" She wasn't sure what to make of this. But for some reason… she felt sad. And she didn't know what to do with that feeling. Something tells me it's going to be harder to ignore Amy from here on out.


"As you can see," Chris started once everyone was settled in the elimination area. "I had a special reward planned." He directed everyone towards Chef, who pulled a white sheet off a table to reveal a genuine smorgasbord of food - steak, full chickens, linked sausages, fish, all piping hot and ready to be eaten and so infuriatingly tempting.

"Food," Sammy breathed, her mouth beginning to salivate. "Real, actual, properly cooked food."

"Don't let it lure you in," Jasmine told her, sitting alongside her on the log. "The only reason Chris would show us this would be to get our hopes up before dashing them."

"Huh," Chris said, his smirk in full force. "I must be losing my touch. Because she's right: tonight's elimination goes to… this dinner! Chef?"

Chef Hatchet, with a grin just as evil as Chris's, doused the entire buffet with gasoline, lit a match, and threw it onto the table. Everything went up in flames, instantly burning all of the food and sending it up in smoke, just like Sammy's hopes and dreams. Everyone groaned out in frustration, and she swore she heard a few stomachs growling at the sight.

"Now!" Chris said once the food was done cooking and burning. "There's another reason why I called you all here this evening, and it has to do with the teams."

"What's wrong with the teams?" Topher asked.

"Nothing per se, but they've been a bit too… how should I say… friendly lately."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sky asked. She and Shawn had their baths, but Sky's was a bit more thorough than Shawn's. The stench had all but vanished from them, thankfully.

"It means exactly what I said! There's not enough drama! And as you all know, drama is our lifeblood! So I think a little team shuffling is in order to get things back up to speed."

Sammy's anxiety spiked through the roof, and she shared a frightful look with Ella.

"I'd spent most of the day trying to come up with the perfect solution to this unique problem," he continued, pacing in front of the contestants. "But in the end, there was really only one good answer. And thus, without further ado…"

Ella's hand once again found its way into Sammy's, who was thankful for the comfort. This could make or break our entire game… God, please don't be me, please don't be me, please don't-

"Let's go ahead and have ourselves a good ol' fashioned twin switch!"

"NOOOOO!" Sammy yelled, leaping to her feet.

"Aw, man!" Shawn exclaimed. "Why do we have to get saddled with her?" He sent an accusing finger towards Amy, but the only thing she did was grit her teeth and look away.

"Because I said so! And the host's word is law in these parts." Chris gave Sammy and her sister meaningful looks. "Amy. Samey. I'd tell you to pack your bags, but you don't have any. So go ahead and swap seats!"

This can't be happening. This can't be happening! This isn't fair at all! What did I do to deserve this?!

"Sammy… Sammy! Please, calm down."

She turned to Ella, who had also risen and was staring into her eyes. "B-But they're making me go!" she yelled. The tears were already threatening to fall, and her heart rate had increased dramatically. She was having a panic attack, and her mind was too flustered to do anything about it. "I don't want to go!"

"I know, I know, but it's okay!" she said as calmly as she could. "You're not eliminated, you're just going to the other side of the island! You're still here, I'm still here… Everything is okay!"

"But everything is not okay! I don't- I don't-" Her breathing hitched, uncontrollable even to her. "I don't want to be without you!"

If Sammy had been in the right mind, she would've noticed the tinge of red on Ella's cheeks. But her mind was elsewhere, and the sight went unnoticed. "Sammy, you will not be without me. This doesn't change anything. The only thing this is changing is where you're sleeping at night. Everything will be fine. Okay?"

"But- But I can't- But I won't-"

"Samantha!" she near shouted, forcing Sammy to shut her mouth. "Breathe with me. Please."

Ella had grabbed a hold of her cheeks and was staring into her eyes, and if anything that probably made her start breathing faster. But, she did as she was told and slowed her breathing to match Ella's, and slowly but surely her separation-induced anxiety attack subsided.

"Okay," she said, a bit more calmly than before. "I'm okay now. I think."

Ella's hands moved from her cheeks to her shoulders. "You'll be fine. I know you will."

"Mm. Thank you." Sammy was about to go in for a tearful parting hug, but two large, stone-like arms reached around her and hauled her away. "Ah- Wait, no!"

"C'mon, we have an episode to finish!" Chris yelled at her impatiently.

Chef Hatchet sat Sammy down in the seat Amy had previously been sitting in. As he was doing so, she thought she heard a deep whisper that sounded vaguely like, 'Sorry 'bout that,' but she wasn't entirely sure.

Chef walked away, and Sammy immediately turned back to see Amy had already taken her spot on the log next to Ella, who had scooted over as far to the end as she could without falling off. Both of them looked incredibly uncomfortable.

The swapping of the seats was only superficial, and seemed to serve the purpose of closing out the episode, as not long after Sammy was set down did Chris sign off and give everyone the go-ahead to go back to their camps.

Once the host and the cook were out of the area, Sammy felt herself once more suddenly dogpiled, but this time in the form of affectionate hugs from Ella and Sky. "Are you gonna be alright?" Sky asked her.

"I… I really don't know," Sammy replied, her head still attempting to wrap around everything. "But I guess I don't have a choice."

"Leave it to Chris to break us up like that, though," Sky grumbled. "No offence, but I really don't see how we're going to be able to trust your sister."

"Oh, no offence taken," Sammy said, "I know full well that she can be pretty awful. Just… don't let her get under your skin, okay?"

"Of course. And don't worry, if we lose tomorrow, we know exactly who we're voting off."

Sammy was surprised at the amount of mixed feelings she had at that statement. Still, best not to let it show. "Awesome. Thank you. Oh, Sky, random question. Do you still, uh, have Beardo's beatboxing CD?"

"Uh… I think so? Why?"

"Next chance we get, could I have it? It… probably sounds ridiculous, but that way it'll feel like we're all still here."

Sky smiled at her. "Yes, for sure. Maybe tomorrow after the challenge?"

"Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks!"

The trio let go of each other then. Sky wished her good luck, and started down the path back to their camp. Which is now no longer my camp… Geez.

Shawn came up then, looking rather awkward. "Uh… Sorry it ended up like this," he said.

Sammy shrugged sadly. "It is what it is, I suppose."

"Listen, I'll…" He took a look down the path, where they spotted Jasmine leaning against a tree, waiting for her, it seemed. He leaned in closer to Sammy, but not too close since this was Shawn and all. "I'll try talking to her tomorrow. I couldn't work up the courage today, but tomorrow is definitely going to be the day."

Sammy grinned lopsidedly at him. "I know you got this."

"Thanks," he said, and offered her a fist bump, which she gratefully accepted. "Good luck out there."

"You too."

He took off on his own after that, leaving only herself and Ella at the campfire. "So… I suppose this is it," Ella said sadly.

Oh, please don't look like that…! I'll start crying myself, again. "Yeah, I guess so." Sammy stood, taking Ella's hands in hers. "But… it'll be fine. Now that I think about it, tomorrow's the eighth day, so we should be coming to the merge soon, right?"

That seemed to give Ella some hope. Odd how it was her comforting Sammy, and now it was the other way around. "You're right. We'll be back together again soon, I'm sure."

"Just don't go getting voted off before then, you hear?"

"The same goes for you."

They smiled at each other, and as Sammy felt her cheeks heat up, a single thought poked itself into her brain:

Tell her.

That single thought sent everything into overdrive. Should I actually do it? Would that make things awkward and painful, now that we're going to be separated? Maybe I should just keep it to myself until we're together again… Ohh, but now is literally the perfect opportunity! Or… maybe not… If I outed myself here, would she even still like me as a friend…?

"You know, I still haven't gotten around to my poem," Ella interrupted, unaware of Sammy's inner turmoil.

"O-Oh, you're right, we didn't." Aaand there goes my one opportunity. Thanks again, brain, for holding me up.

"But you know, that's okay. I want to rewrite it anyway."

"Oh, yeah? Not up to your standards anymore?"

"Not that, silly. I just… have more to write now."

"Ooh, okay. Tell me all about it once we merge?"

"Absolutely."

They shared one more hug that lasted longer than it had any right to, and Ella pulled away with a sad smile on her face. "See you later," she said quietly.

"You too," Sammy replied.

She turned away, and Sammy swore she saw the smile turn to a frown and her eyes scrunch from tears. She took off at a fast pace, but not an outright run. Sammy wanted desperately to hug her again, but before she knew it, she was gone.

With a dejected sigh, Sammy made her way towards Jasmine, still waiting by the tree. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for waiting for me. I, ah, don't know my way to your… our camp."

"No worries." She motioned her head down the trail, and Sammy followed her down it. "Sorry about your girl. This must be rough for you."

"It is." It's going to probably weigh me down a bit… But I can't let it affect my performance. "But I'm going to try to give it my all tomorrow. So… try not to worry about me."

Jasmine gave her a small smile. "I understand. You do what you gotta do, but we'll be counting on you once tomorrow comes."

She nodded. "Got it."

The walk continued on in silence, and soon they reached the camp - or, rather, the treehouse. Sammy had forgotten that's what the Salmons had built back on the first day. It was shoddily put together, but it looked much more intact than the Bears' shack. A rope ladder was hanging from the railing all the way to the ground, and though Sammy had had enough of ladders for one day, there wasn't much choice but to climb it.

Jasmine wished her goodnight and scaled to the top of the tree, where another bit of rope was waiting for her on a branch. Sammy entered the girl's room and saw three beds - one a bunk bed, the other a single one on its own. Scarlett was asleep on the top bunk and, deciding that she'd rather not sleep under the person who helped to electrify her best friend, made her way to the sole bed.

"I wouldn't sleep in that one if I were you," Scarlett suddenly said.

Sammy jumped a bit in surprise, having thought the redhead was already asleep. "What? Why?"

Scarlett's head was turned to the wall as she spoke. "That was Sugar's bed. Let's just say that while she may be gone, she certainly left her mark behind."

Sammy looked back at the bed, sniffed once, and decided that sleeping under Scarlett didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

She sat on the edge of the lower bunk, looking out through the window at the night sky, and wondered how her old team was getting on with Amy. This whole situation sucks. But I gotta make the most of it. I need to do good tomorrow, and however many days until the merge, so that I can be with Ella and the others again.

With a nod, she stripped down to her nightwear and slipped under the covers. It only then occurred to her that this was a bed, mattress and all, and that it was leagues better than the one or two blankets she slept on for the last week.

Without another thought, she passed out and entered perhaps the best sleep of her life.


Ooooh team swap! Who saw this coming?! Probably all of you.

So SAMmy goes to the SALMons tonight. This was a decision made long ago, and will be an important factor in the chapters to come. It was a painful parting between her and the team, but they're still on good terms and are vowing to regroup once the merge comes.

Some of you may wonder why I switched up Chris's reasoning for swapping the teams. In canon it was to split up Sky and Dave, and he mentioned that the couples on the show were becoming a problem. And you might be saying, 'that would still work, since Amy and Topher are dating, right?' Well… more on that next time!

Also, something is up with Amy… but those details will have to wait til later!

In the meantime, thank you all for tuning in again! There are chances that the next chapter may not be out for a while because of the work I have to do for the chapter I'm now going to start writing, but I don't think it'll be THAT long. Regardless, I'll see you all next time! Take care, don't forget the TV Tropes page, and stay safe everyone!