Time for chapter four and challenge two! Done in six days (not bad), though you still shouldn't expect any specific posting rate from me. I'm giving more review response before anything else.
CosmicWarrior: It was obvious you meant to say Gwen and not Heather :P. Sorry if the reconciliation felt rushed, but with Courtney clearly wanting to show the goth she was sorry in canon after the chart fiasco and knowing that she would want to make amends sooner rather than later, I knew I had to give something before the first day on the island was over and it was hard to think of anything better. Not sure I'd say it feels "bizarre" to read Cody's POV in your "Cody's Redemption" story, though can understand why it might feel odd for people used to seeing this show from a camera's view rather than just focusing on what the individual people are thinking as they compete. Sierra is definitely crazier than Izzy and I was happy to take out the crazy Cody stalker. Mal won't go down without a fight once he shows up. Don't forget the series is called Total DRAMA for a reason; having a villain to cause drama helps the show live up to its name. It also wouldn't be as interesting without villains ever in the game.
xtremexavier15: Many thanks. I've also read and reviewed your latest chapter for "A Canadian's Redemption". Just so you know in advance, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to keep up with that (largely due to my focus on this story as well as my offline life), so it's best not to keep asking for views.
StarHeart Specials: "Destroyed" sounds rather harsh, but I definitely have plans for Lindsay as you'll see here, and feel the girl should've gotten further than she did in TDWT as well as canon TDAS.
That British Guy: Not sure if you're saying this more because you didn't like TDAS very much or you just felt my changes to the first challenge were simply brilliant, but I'm honored you liked it so much!
ShadowJcreed: "Kinda crazy" is an understatement for Sierra. Given how outraged Courtney was when Harold rigged the vote against her in season 1, I imagined she would sympathize with Cameron when Mal did the same to him during season 5 and want to prevent that from happening again.
GlitchWarrior: The less we have to deal with Sierra's craziness, the better. You'll see what happens with the CIT knowing about Alejandro's legs.
Phenomenal Ultra Instinct: Glad you've liked this so far! You can definitely say PurpleBandit3000 had quite an impact on fanfiction (probably more than he could've initially imagined). Our time-traveler certainly has learned from her mistakes and feels remorse for them. Scott definitely likes her already and she feels the same way, but thinks it's too soon for them to become a couple right now. The CIT feels their alliance is like a stepping stone towards that and wants it to build up gradually. There was also no way I could reasonably eliminate Lindsay when she didn't drive for the Hamsters this time or even have anyone vote for her then since Sierra's too insane to be worth keeping around.
Anti-hero 69: Much appreciated, and while Courtney is definitely friends again with Gwen, she and Scott aren't in a relationship now (even though they both want one) as she doesn't feel like suddenly jumping into things.
Chapter time!
I wake up feeling quite refreshed. Jo and Gwen apparently are already awake given how neither are in the bedroom now, leaving just Heather and me. That was easily the best sleep I've had since that night right before the merge when I first lived through All-Stars, which was also in this hotel. No Sierra waking me up by snapping her camera in my face this time (thank god!) to update her photo collection, and I'm sure Lindsay and Zoey can sleep more peacefully without her disturbing them.
Another bonus? There's no more waking up with guilty feelings of betraying Gwen or Scott for the first time since I made that dumb chart, and certainly no anguish over mercilessly targeting her for elimination back in season 3 or having to listen to Heather and Alejandro in their apartment while trying to fall asleep. While the future Mrs. Burromuerto is in my room and just waking up now (it seemed inevitable before I went back in time that they would eventually marry or at least get engaged), it's a welcome change to not have her wake me up or keep me awake. Chances are she or her "honey bunny" (to quote Lindsay) will be the first one I choose to vote off if our team loses unless someone else royally screws up in a challenge.
Speaking of Mr. Burromuerto, his legs should be awake again by now. I could put a foil to him pretending otherwise! Imagine the looks on their faces. This will have to be subtle, though. I exit the bedroom, and just my luck; he walks close by.
"Nice to have your legs back, huh?" I ask him loud enough for Heather to hear as my bedroom door is still open.
"It is! Just don't tell Heather yet." He replies.
Gotcha! His plans to trick her (and others) are now out the window. In response, I tell him "I see no good reason not to as she'd probably like to know that."
She then walks out from the bedroom and adds "Courtney's right; this IS something I'd want to know about."
"I, um, wanted to tell you myself later on?" he lies, obviously struggling to find a credible cover-up for his plans to pretend he couldn't use his legs.
"Whatever. Just make yourself useful today." Heather says before getting dressed, probably not believing the deceptive prick.
Now with Al not trying to fake asleep legs, he should be more of a team asset if he doesn't try any funny business. Time for some breakfast before the challenge. I walk over to the dining area where Scott and Gwen are sitting. The ginger boy is eating lots of sausages and the goth has a plate stacked with pancakes. Both things sound good to me. His face lights up when seeing me, but says nothing because his mouth is full, so he just greets me with a hand wave and I smile while waving back. After grabbing some pancakes and sausages, I join them at the table.
"Sleep well?" Gwen asks me while perking up, probably still bummed beforehand about being on team villain.
"Most definitely, and I hope both of you did too." I answer before taking a bite of pancake.
"The hotel beds are nice, so yes." The goth replies. "Too bad Lightning couldn't enjoy the experience."
Once Scott finishes his plate of sausages, he adds "The guy's been through worse. I'm sure he's fine."
Unfortunately for the sha-jock, I know from re-watching the season he ends up eating a foul fish on Boney Island that makes him vomit throughout the day and may have already done so by now.
Jo joins the table and tells us "I just hope Lightning doesn't find the invincibility statue" as a waiter serves her a plate of steaks.
No; he never does, but I clearly can't tell her that and just eat my breakfast in silence. She then continues "If we don't vote him off soon, he'll be too strong for us to beat later."
Scott then rubs his chin and suggests "So maybe we should do it right away. Throw the next challenge."
Jo scoffs "Pfft, and give up all this? No way!"
He then relents "True enough; this is sweet! You know what I slept on last night? A pillow filled with feathers!", sounding and looking very joyful talking about that pillow and then adds "Back on the farm, it's a burlap sack filled with small animals. You ever had a pillow bite your face?"
"I'd like to enjoy my breakfast now, and that will require you to stop talking." Jo replies before biting into one of her steaks.
Scott had every right to be ecstatic about the pillows; I love lying on those! Too bad he would still even momentarily consider throwing challenges a good idea to potentially get rid of people, but I know that mentality won't last. Once my plate is cleared, I use the toilet and brush my teeth. Alejandro can then be heard screaming loudly, which must be from that eyebrow wax he orders. Right afterwards, Chris announces through a megaphone "Attention campers, it's challenge time; get your hineys down to the beach pronto!"
We all then make our way to the beach for our second challenge. I of course already know that the Vultures must put together pieces of the clock tower Big Ben from London while the Hamsters must assemble New York City's Statue of Liberty. Having worked on the Liberty statue last time, though, I feel less prepared than yesterday as I now must build Big Ben. Can I win it for us now?
Another thought occurs to me; team hero might have a better chance with Lindsay still around as opposed to Sierra. Why is that? Because I remember the blonde somehow was able to put together almost all of a sculpture on her own in a season 3 challenge before DJ destroyed it with a cart, where he was focused on an absurd campaign to get rid of some supposed "curse" he had with hurting animals that in reality was all in his head as Leshawna tried to assure him and purely coincidence (especially considering how there were those that hurt him rather than the other way around). Better hope for the best here.
Everyone but Lightning gathers at the shore on their respective team decks. Sam is normal rather than woozy this time. Instinct tells me Duncan prevented this by killing the mosquito that somehow drained much of his blood and left him feeling light-headed the first time I lived through All-Stars. Regardless, the delinquent tries to wave at Gwen, who gives no response to his dismay. Chris then taunts "Ooh, somebody's invisible!" and chuckles a bit before adding "Harsh! TV couples; is it ever a good idea?"
Lightning then comes back from exile and flips onto our deck. It admittedly is an impressive move, but not important to what follows for us. Scott asks him "Any luck finding the invincibility statue?" with an elbow nudge and evil-looking grin only to get a narcissistic "No need; I AM an invincibility statue!" in response from the jock, which makes me facepalm and prompts scowls from all the other Vultures.
Our host greets us and informs "Some of you will recall our season 3 Parisian find-and-build-a-sculpture debacle. Well, this time our interns have buried 3D puzzle pieces all over the beach. 7 pieces per team. Find all your pieces and assemble them on your platform to recreate one of the landmarks visited on our world tour. First to finish wins."
He then pauses so we can process that. McLean then continues "Since the Villainous Vultures won the first challenge, they get to dig with shovels; incoming!" as Chef tosses shovels to us.
Like Alejandro and Jo, I catch a shovel as it comes to me while Heather screams. Scott unfortunately gets hit in the face with one. Gwen screams in fear of getting hit before Lightning catches it less than a foot away from her face. He then hands it to her and catches two behind his back, proclaiming "Sha-yoink!"
Heather then asks for one, only for Lightning to deny it, claiming "I need both; when this one gets tired, I'll use this one."
I then interject "Do you really think you can dig with one arm at a time!?" before Heather tells me "I sure don't" and smacks him hard in the face with one, taking it with her as he faints.
Sam asks Chris "Hey, where are our shovels?" and Mike adds "Yeah, what are we supposed to dig with?"
The host says "Sorry; shovels are for winners only" and chuckles before adding "I guess you'll have to use your hands. Also, getting on and off your platforms will be challenging due to the moats that are filled with crabs."
"What moats?" Lindsay inquires.
"The ones thinly covered near the bases of your platforms." McLean responds.
Jo then pokes some sand near our platform, which quickly collapses. Lightning then announces "No big thing for Light-o-ning. Sha-bam!" and jumps down only to get knocked into the moat by a plank, reminding me of the booby traps on this beach. He then yelps in pain as the crabs attack him. My whole teams look at him with concern except for Jo, who seems to enjoy the sight.
Chris sadistically laughs at this and says "I don't know why, but it gets funnier every time. You might also want to watch out for booby traps in the sand. Your challenge starts now!", blowing an air horn as he finishes the last sentence.
Before anybody can say anything else, I tell them "Let's separate the beach into quadrants and each pick a quadrant!"
"Glad somebody's trying to strategize." Jo compliments me. "However, it's better to start from one end and dig to the other one in a straight line."
"And what if the pieces are all at the far end, huh, huh?" Heather questions. "We need two lines that push in towards the center. Right guys?"
"Ain't nobody telling Lightning where to dig. I'm my own man!" sha-jock proudly tells us as he idiotically goes off to dig in the water.
Liking Heather's idea more than what Jo offers, I answer "Two lines are better than one as they cover more ground."
"Thank you, now we need to figure out who starts digging where." Heather says.
I jump to one corner to mark my digging area, and then start digging a line towards our moat. Heather smirks at a frowning Jo instead of arguing over leadership before they each go to other corners. Gwen then takes the last corner. We each dig towards the middle. On the other side, I hear Lindsay setting off one of the booby traps, which is a landmine with filthy clothing.
"Ew, Chef's dirty laundry!" our host announces from a distance and adds "Pretty Stinky!" as the blonde tosses some underwear away from her and yells "That's go gross!" in disgust.
Cameron then sees a fedora and walks over to Mike, telling him "We could use some of Manitoba Smith's treasure hunting skills right about now!"
Multiple Mike's Manitoba personality then takes over as the hat gets placed on his head. Manitoba then starts digging crazily fast through the sand! He pops up underground with a piece and says "G'day, beauty!" as he tosses it up the platform.
"Faster!" I tell my teammates with concern.
Heather luckily hits something, proclaiming "I found a piece!" as she tosses it up towards the platform, but it lands on Jo's foot as she walks over.
Jo angrily pushes Heather into the crab-filled pit where she gets attacked and then gets our piece onto the platform. At least we have some progress now.
"Two booby traps, two puzzle pieces, and two deliciously evil moats! It's still anyone's game but it won't be for long." McLean tells the camera it prepares for a commercial break. "Right here on Total. Drama. All-Stars!"
After an hour of digging, each team somehow has only found one piece and Lightning has more than once run off to vomit because of that fish he ate. What the hell is up with that!? Those interns did a damn good job of making them hard to find. I will give them credit for that. Our host can be heard saying to the camera "An hour has passed, and the teams are still tied at one all, which raises a pertinent question; WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG!?"
Every contestant complains at once, making it hard to hear anybody. All I know is I said that "They're too well hidden!" and Chris didn't really care.
"Blah, blah, blah, whine, whine, hurry it up; I have dinner plans!" McLean snaps.
Cameron steps on a booby trap soon afterwards that sends him flying over to our side of the beach right into Scott, who laughs at the bubble boy's pain until he gets hit. Wilkins then runs away as Scott turns around to see another one of our pieces. "Way to go!" I cheer as Scott tosses it to our platform.
"And that's two for the Villains!" our host announces, happy someone finally found something.
Zoey grunts while struggling to pull out another piece for the Hamsters. I see Manitoba running over to help and telling her "It's alright sweetheart, don't strain yourself; allow me" before he tries to lift it himself and she replies "Well, if you insist".
A cannon booby trap then pops out from the sand and fires out a boxing glove, barely missing Manitoba Smith as he dodges. It soars and hits Duncan, knocking him into the pit to get attacked by crabs. I'm grateful that isn't me getting hit this time. Those crab-filled pits are torture! He yelps in pain while getting pinched. My ex climbs out with crabs attacking him. The delinquent runs to the water to get them off and resumes digging.
Back on the Vultures, Gwen shouts "Yes; got one!" as she finds our third piece.
"Toss it up!" I tell her, and she happily complies as Jo proclaims "Finally!" while finding another piece and pulls it from the sand.
Lightning then snatches Jo's piece, announcing "Lightning to the rescue; way to go me!" to her irritation as she yells "Hey, come back here with that!".
Sam carries a piece and tries to tell his team about it only for a pole to pop out of the ground before he finishes his sentence and hits him right in the balls. Poor guy. Chris then taunts him with a pun by asking Chef "Nuts?" as he holds up a bowl of actual nuts.
Sha-idiot then announces "Ha! Too small for Lightning!" as he tosses one of our pieces behind his head and hits Jo, knocking her into the crab pit.
Focusing back on myself, I dig a deep hole, but find no pieces. I can hear water rushing and look up to see a soaking wet Gwen activated one of the booby traps. Lightning then tosses up two more pieces for our sculpture. Trying to take most of the credit, are we? He then asks his biceps "Aren't you beautiful?" and then kisses one and says, "Look at gorgeous you" before kissing his other one and calling himself a "sexy beast" and kissing them both again.
The next thing I know, Scott crosses over to the other side to steal one of their pieces with a devious grin on his face. No; you can't do that! Before I can say anything, though, Manitoba catches this and asks him "What are you up to, kookaburra?"
Scott fakes innocence and questions "Whatever do you mean?"
Manitoba sticks one finger in his mouth, sticks it in the sand, and tastes it. That's quite awkward. He then digs up the stolen piece and grabs Scott by the tank top, telling him "Ha! Nice try, you wily dingo!"
Scott steps back and accidentally activates a booby trap with bees. I shout to them "Watch out for the bees!" as Scott turns around to run and unintentionally hits Manitoba in the back of the head with his shovel, knocking him out.
A concerned Zoey comes over and attempts to wake up her boyfriend. She repeatedly calls his name while nudging him and then says "Oh, please be OK. Mike?"
"Oh, my head." he groans while regaining consciousness.
"No stop; you need to rest" the pigtailed girl cautions him.
He then gets up and walks while assuring her "I'm OK. Come on; we gotta get back to digging." as Scott screams while running away from the bees.
While digging for pieces of my own, I overhear Mike saying he can't bring out Manitoba Smith as he puts the fedora back on. Uh-oh! This reminds me that one of the early signs of Mal's emergence is Mike has no access to his other personalities (or at least not so easily). Looks like that shovel hit was in fact what brought out his suppressed inner demon. Not blaming you, Scott, since you couldn't have known this would happen.
It doesn't look like I can stop Mal from appearing, but maybe I can at least reduce his appearances by keeping Mike from hitting his head with a boulder to try to get himself back to normal, which I now remember was counter-intuitive as it made the evil persona appear much more often. Would another shovel hit be less dangerous, or should he just go get professional help? In any case, while we're about to be in danger, I unfortunately can't tell people about this now without giving away my time-travel and thus setting myself up for elimination as they'd surely want me out for having such a big advantage. While Mal doesn't exactly show up just yet, it's only a matter of time before his chaos begins.
Back to my side, I finally find a piece! It feels great and I toss that up to the platform. Cameron struggles to carry one of his pieces, and Lindsay helps him lift the thing up towards their platform. It's getting close when they now have six. I hear Zoey tell them "You guys start working on the puzzle; we'll keep digging" as she and Mike look for their seventh piece.
Looking at each piece the Hamsters have, bubble boy wonders aloud "A book, a crown, what the heck are we supposed to be building?" before reaching an epiphany and realizes they're for the Statue of Liberty and Lightning takes another piece, telling us "That's seven; let's start sha-building" and we head over to our platform.
Victory is within our grasp, and I can feel it! Seeing Lindsay and Cameron put Lady Liberty together without much issue (aside from missing their last piece), I promptly start assembling our clock tower. Unfortunately, fitting them together is harder than I thought it would be. Heather orders us "Come up people; put this thing together already!" as I retort "You try helping us!" and Alejandro tells me "Try those two together", and then grabs a piece to match what I have.
The progress feels somewhat slow, though there still is something. Heather then takes the pieces Alejandro and I put together and matches it with a third. Who hasn't even tried to help with the assembly yet? A certain narcissistic jock who instead brags "Lightning finds the final piece. I'm a hero! It's probably a statue of me being me." while flexing his muscles.
Gwen and Heather examine our sculpture to determine what it is and the former thinks for a moment we built it wrong (we didn't), though figure out we have Big Ben without its clock face. On the other side, the Hamsters are still missing their last piece, which is Lady Liberty's torch. None of them are quite sure where that can be found. Lightning tells us "Oh come on, let's just get it sha-done!" and puts a crab over the hole, causing our sculpture to collapse before I can say anything.
We all glare at him. An angry Jo reprimands "Ugh, way to go, liability!" as he defends "Hey; it's not my fault you put it together wrong" as the crab walks away.
That's when Alejandro speaks up. He tells Lightning "We didn't put it together wrong; there were only six pieces!" and Jo adds "Great; so Lightning miscounted" and I shout out "Keep digging!" before she can say anything else.
No surprise that the narcissist miscounted. He probably got so absorbed in himself that he couldn't think properly. Lightning then insists "I counted seven; this is a conspiracy" as Heather replies "Yeah, a 'conspiracy' of bad counting!" before Jo finds our last piece and cheers "Oh yeah!"
Sadly, this is too late as our opponents find the torch and Lindsay finishes their statue before we can reassemble our tower. They cheer as our host announces their victory and we sulk in defeat.
"Ahem, I do require a volunteer for exile duty!" Chris adds.
"I'll go; that yeti from last season probably still needs a friend" Lindsay unexpectedly tells her team, "plus I can get away from Mr. I-wanna-be-a-bad-boy this way", clearly referring to Duncan, and then Chef takes her to Boney Island.
That blonde is really shocking me lately. Not only did she take the first jump for her team last challenge (when not the driver unlike my initial run-through of the season which got her kicked off first when she did a terrible job), but now scored them their first victory AND volunteers for exile without any prompting from others. Even more surprising is she still remembers the yeti that kidnapped her last season which she then comforted after somehow learning about how he really felt deep down. The girl still does dumb things like touch a landmine earlier on the beach without any caution, and randomly going up to yetis is a bad idea, but I can't help thinking maybe something's changed her. Could she perhaps find the invincibility idol? Regardless, I think her being in the game now is better than Sierra's craziness; Lindsay at least is easier to reason with even if you don't get along with her.
Everybody else then leaves the beach, and I feel relieved not to be affected by any of the booby traps or crabs this time. As lucky as that was, Lightning's idiocy cost us the challenge. He certainly is on tonight's chopping block. When the jock isn't around, Jo goes on and on about how we must vote him off as if it wasn't already obvious. Eventually, McLean calls us over for the elimination ceremony. The winners take a seat in the peanut gallery and don't have to worry about voting off any of their own again this time. Our host opens things with "Welcome Hamsters! Sit back, enjoy the show." and then turns to us "Vultures, it's time for you to vote off your first villain."
Something unsettling comes up. I hear a malicious voice state, "One by one, they will ALL fall" and turn to see it coming from Mal (now with his distinct hair-over-one-eye look rather than the Mike disguise he uses when trying to trick others into thinking the real Mike is in control), and Zoey asks "Did you say something, Mike?" before he turns back into Mike and replies "Uh no, just sitting here".
Oh shit; Mal truly is here now! Duncan gives him a suspicious look from the back row and asks if the two have met elsewhere before. I can tell he's trying to figure the moment out and has probably gotten some sense of familiarity. That'll have to wait as Mike has thankfully regained control of his body for now, plus I need to cast my vote. Without hesitation, I vote for Lightning when my turn comes up because he made us lose. How did that fool even make the merge last season!?
Once all the votes are tallied, Chris tells us "The following players are safe for another day; Courtney, Gwen, Scott, Alejandro, and Heather" and we each get marshmallows as our names are called.
Sweet! I got the first marshmallow, plus my favorite teammates were declared safe right afterwards! This leaves only Jo and Lightning. McLean then gives reasons why each could go home.
"Lightning, you're on the chopping block for your crummy math skills and incessant bicep kissing" the host announces.
The jock then retorts "If they were yours, you'd do it too" before kissing each of his biceps repeatedly and Chris continues "And Jo, you're on the block for your annoyingly pushy campaign to send Lightning home"
An angry Lightning interjects "You did WHAT!?" only to get an evil smirk from Jo before McLean announces "And tonight's loser is…
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Lightning!"
"Sha-what!?" the jock asks in surprise as Jo gets the last marshmallow.
"Don't be so shocked when we sha-lost because of YOU!" I yell at him.
Chris then takes us to the docks and puts him in the giant toilet. "Tossing away your strongest team player? You're gonna regret this, especially you, Jo." Lightning tells us. "You're a total sha-" and gets interrupted by Chris flushing the thing, making him scream.
Our host signs off the episode by telling the camera "Family show, people, family show! Who else is in line for a porcelain goodbye? Find out next time, on Total. Drama. All-Stars!"
Let's be honest, Chris; this is far from a family show and we all know it. On another note, thank god we didn't get hit by the toilet's disgusting waters tonight. The less contact I make with that, the better. Us remaining Vultures then walk over to the cabins and the Hamsters are already in the hotel by this point. Too bad I didn't have a chance to give Mike any caution tonight. Scott and Alejandro of course take the boys' cabin as I go into the girls' one with Gwen, Heather, and Jo. Some interns have already moved all our belongings into there.
"Trust me when I say that getting rid of Lightning sooner rather than later was a good idea." Jo tells us.
"We get it; you both hate one another and wanted each other out." I snap with some irritation, getting tired of hearing her contempt for the guy. "Let's just agree he ruined our day by costing us the challenge and focus more on winning future challenges now."
"Sounds fine to me." she replies, and this should prevent her from bickering with Heather later over whose fault the loss was like they did when I first lived through the season; that kept Gwen awake and would likely keep me up as well.
After that exchange and some gross slop from Chef (he serves the losers crap and the winners delicious dinners this season), I don't feel much like talking or staying up late. The Hamsters are undoubtedly enjoying their dinner tonight. I know from winning this challenge the first time around as one of them that the night's dish was a roast turkey with baked potatoes and corn-on-the-cob. If only I could've won that again this time. Unfortunately, I know from all my past time competing that you can't win every challenge no matter how hard you try.
Deciding to end the night earlier than normal, I finish my slop and go to clean my teeth before heading for bed. Once I finish flossing and using the toilet, a certain ginger shows up outside. Scott then turns around to face me. He states "It sucks we lost today, but thanks for doing your part with that sculpture. Even if Lightning got the most pieces, he still fucked everything up with his poor counting and by using a crab instead of an actual clock face." as I nod in agreement.
"Not a problem, and I'm also grateful you could help more than him." I respond. "To tell the truth, this chat helps after a big loss and lousy so-called meal."
"Rich people food has nothing on this stuff." Scott tells me to my surprise.
Thinking he's just making a joke, I chuckle and say, "Good one, Scott, now let's hope to win again so we can get something edible for dinner."
"No really" he insists "I've gotten used to eating dirt and such on my farm when nothing else was available. It's actually not that bad."
Oh right. That reminds me of how he gladly ate my gruel when I didn't really want it during our first challenge as teammates when I initially lived through the season. The thought of him enjoying what Chef gave us tonight still irks me though, and I wince for a bit before replying with "Suit yourself, dirt eater."
"I gladly will" the boy states.
"Well, I need to get going for now. Have a nice night." I tell him, and we part after a brief hug.
Remember how I said I'd take gradual steps with this guy instead of jumping into things? So far, it seems to be going smoothly. Chances are we'll have a longer hug later before doing anything more than platonic. It's admittedly a bit hard to restrain myself from crossing the friendship/relationship line with him when I know he's attracted to me and the feeling is mutual, but we'll get more affectionate when the time is right. However, I'm not doing anything R-rated while we're on the show; the most we'll ever do before the season ends is make out with maybe some feeling up even after becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. Chris probably doesn't allow contestants to have sex on his territories in the first place.
Anyway, as I prepare for bed and get into one of the top bunk beds, Gwen joins in the accompanying bottom bunk. She's not ready for sleep yet, but it's still nice to have her company. Time to chat with the goth before Heather and Jo arrive.
"Hopefully we don't have to stay in these awful cabins for too long, but I'm calling it a night earlier than usual as it'll make our unfortunate day end sooner." I tell her.
"True, I forgot how crappy they are to live in." she agrees.
We exchange good nights and I find myself struggling to fall asleep, considering how subpar these bunk beds are, especially compared to what the hotel offers. Eventually I drift off and hope for another victory.
Second challenge complete now. Courtney continues to change things up, as does Lindsay. How will our time-traveler deal with Mal? Be sure to keep reading for more on how this affects the game!
Reason for elimination: Even though our CIT knows ahead of time what to build, she wasn't prepared enough for Lightning's dumb choices (mainly due to competing on the opposite team during her initial run-through which made her remember much more of what the Hamsters did in canon) and couldn't exactly stop him from screwing up, so he got the sha-boot for costing his team the challenge.
Elimination Order:
Sierra (14th place), Lightning (13th place)
Remaining Players:
Heroic Hamsters: Cameron, Duncan, Lindsay, Mike, Sam, Zoey
Villainous Vultures: Alejandro, Courtney, Gwen, Heather, Jo, Scott
Chapter posted: August 18, 2018.