Another chapter I got done earlier than I originally expected. After I respond to more reviews, we'll get to the story.
ShadowJcreed: It's great you liked the nighttime Boney Island chapter! It was fun to make, and of course Courtney doesn't want the others to find that idol she lost.
Phenomenal Ultra Instinct: An unfortunate loss for sure. Our time-traveler will definitely take advantage of her chance to get the idol back before it's too late.
That British Guy: Not sure why you didn't find Chapter 7 interesting, but sorry for that and I hope you like this one more.
xtremexavier15: There was also no dialogue in Chapter 1, only the CIT's narration :P. Anyway, you're about to find out about that idol.
GlitchWarrior: Yeah I wanted to keep readers on the edge and it looks like I succeeded (at least in your view).
dm4487: While I appreciate the praise for my fic here, I must decline on your idea for a Duncan redemption fic as I prefer to work with my own story concepts and won't take new story requests, though am open to suggestions for ongoing fics. I've also hated the delinquent's guts ever since his season 3 infidelity and refuse to give him the satisfaction of painting him in an overall positive/recovering light, plus I'm certain he cherishes his "bad boy" image too much to want to make up for his past bad actions anyway or feel remorse for them.
Yello: I would prefer if you posted future reviews in English. Anyway, getting to your point (presuming I translated it correctly), it's nice you like my fic and the idea of Courtney fixing her past mistakes. As for Duncan being more angry/jealous, I was trying to keep him in character with how he overall was in canon season 5.
Resuming the CIT's Crusade!
My back unsurprisingly feels stiff in the morning from sleeping in this cave. How late did I sleep in? The good news is that I'm in one piece and that nothing took away my stuff! Curious about what's outside, I peer my head out from my cave's entrance. I see a ripped backpack and two very big pots off to one of its sides. Never noticed those last night, but to be fair, it was dark and back then I was much more concerned about what was inside this cave. These must've belonged to the person who got eaten in here. Within that backpack I find a few plates, a pair of tongs, a lighter, a small pot, a pair of pot holders, some paper towels, a fork, a knife, a spatula, a spray can of cooking oil, an empty water bottle, a can opener, a roll of toilet paper, and a can of beans. Nothing to sleep with? Whoever that was evidently never planned to stay here overnight. It amazes me all these things are intact.
Thinking maybe the beans would be easier to prepare, I grab those along with the small pot and go off to fill the pot with water for cooking them. I thankfully am close to water and fill up the pot without a problem. A foul smell comes from the can of beans when I open that. It almost makes me gag! I should've guessed they'd gone bad by now. These also look very old, so I dump them out on the ground. Looks like that egg will be my breakfast after all. I should probably boil it with that big pot. That would be much easier than trying to crack the thing open, and even if I could without bringing out a live goat, I doubt I could so easily fit it on one plate. This small pot's water could still be used to extinguish my fire, though.
Grabbing one of the big pots with both hands, I take that to the water and fill it. This thing is heavy when full! I take it closer to my cave and set it down near the entrance. Better get the fire started. I take some of the sticks and place them in a pile for burning. To keep them in one spot, I grab a bunch of rocks and use those to make a ring around the stick pile. That pot still needs to be propped up, so I take three thick logs and stand them up in a triangle within that ring. After using the lighter to get a fire going on the pile of sticks in my ring, I blow on the fire to prevent it from spreading. It's a good thing I learned how to cook in the wild before coming here.
Once my fire heats up, I place the filled pot on top of the three standing logs and grab two of the plates. It starts to boil within five minutes. Time to put the egg in that water. I let it boil for about half an hour (keeping in mind these are much larger than typical chicken eggs and thus would take longer to boil) before putting it on one of my plates. Thank god for the pot holders! My switchblade can thankfully cut through the egg without issue, and there miraculously is only yolk along with solidified eggs whites on the inside! It would've been quite disturbing if I saw goat features after cooking that thing. How mutant goat eggs function compared to chicken eggs is beyond me, but what matters now is that I can eat it without being attacked.
I extinguish the fire with my small pot's water before cutting a slice of giant egg and placing it onto the other plate. Grabbing the fork and knife from that backpack (my switchblade should be conserved for inedible things when possible), I then cut that slice of it into bite-size pieces and eat a few of those. It unsurprisingly has quite a different taste from chicken eggs, but better than I expected. Not bad at all! Once the other pieces have been eaten, I repeat this process until about half the egg has been eaten. I'll save the rest for lunch later as I start feeling a bit full right now.
What I need to do ASAP is get that invincibility idol back from the bear cave! There unfortunately isn't anything decent I can find for making a trap with. Taking the rope and my switchblade with me as I head over to its cave, I have no choice but to lasso in the idol and will only stab the bear if it gets too close to me. Good thing I made that X on this cave entrance last night to find it. Peering inside, the idol and bear are out of sight. Maybe I won't have such a hard time after all. I regardless decide to play it safe by tying a loop in the rope to pull the idol away once I find it. With some hesitation, I start walking inside with my rope, hoping the bear didn't eat that idol.
After about five minutes, I thankfully can see the idol towards the end of the cave, but the bear is sleeping nearby it. Better get this over with. I toss my rope loop over the idol and quickly pull it back towards me with one hand before catching it in the other. Good thing the bear's still asleep! Not wanting to spend any more time in the cave than necessary, I promptly exit before that bear wakes up. There's no way I can risk losing this idol in the cave again, so I hold it tight in my hand as I run towards the entrance, not daring to stop or look back before I get outside. As I stop to catch my breath, I hear a roar from within!
To hide from the now awake and angry bear, I hide behind a bush off to the side of the cave's entrance. It apparently likes that idol as well. I see the bear poke its head outside the entrance and sniff around for several seconds. Who could blame Cody for having a phobia of them, especially after one mauled him in the first season? The bear then growls in what seems to be frustration before heading back into the cave. Thank god it didn't hurt me or find my idol!
Not wanting to become bear food, I steer clear of that cave entrance and make my way back towards the cave I slept in. I can recognize it because of the uneaten half of my egg and plates near the opening. After some thought, it occurs to me that this will probably go bad if left out for too long, so I decide to eat what remains while it's still edible. My stomach also conveniently somehow doesn't feel so full anymore. Like before, I cut off individual slices and then cut the slices into bite-size pieces before eating those. Good thing I finished this before it rotted.
Something then occurs to me; since our next challenge takes place during the night, Chef won't pick me up from Boney Island until sunset is approaching. It'll be a race in the dark through Camp Wawanakwa where the first team to have all its members reach the finish line wins. I therefore have lots of spare time on my hands as the sun is shining high and brightly right now. How should I pass it when the immunity idol is already in my possession? Camp Wawanakwa is too far away for me to just swim back there. In the meantime, I really need the bathroom and feel quite grateful that backpack I found had toilet paper in it. I take that roll with me and go relieve myself behind a bush, wiping once I finish, and return that roll to the backpack.
Since nothing better comes to mind, I decide to spend some spare time at the shore. I stuff my switchblade and little flashlight into my pockets before putting the idol into one of them and then grabbing my rope as well as the big flashlight, just in case it somehow gets dark before I return. Walking over to a shoreline, I put down the rope and big flashlight to take a bunch of rocks into my hands. Let's see how far I can skip these.
Taking one of the rocks, I toss it across the water and it bounces three times before sinking. Not bad for a start. My next throw goes a bit further with five bounces prior to its plummet. After that I get six bounces. This process continues until my hands are empty, and then I repeatedly refill my hands with rocks before also skipping those across the water. The most amount of pre-sink skips I got was thirteen. That just might be a new record for me! Anyway, after a few hours of skipping rocks, I start feeling hungry again. Luckily some berry bushes are within walking distance from here. I walk over there and pick a handful of berries.
The berries I gather thankfully are safe to eat. After finishing the ones in my hand, I pick another handful and eat those as well. If only something more filling was available. I would try fishing but have nothing to catch fish with. Asking Lindsay's yeti friend for help is risky when he doesn't even know who I am let alone trust me, despite her assurances that he's only harmful when agitated. How am I supposed to know what to do other than avoid putting clothes on him or taunting his appearance?
In the meantime, I grab a third handful of berries and eat them as well. Perhaps a walk around this island could help pass the time. Before beginning that, I go to the backpack and get that toilet paper out in case I need it again. With the toilet paper in one hand, my big flashlight in the other, my rope over one shoulder, and my idol, switchblade, and mini flashlight in my pockets, I head out to cross the island's perimeter. Just like when I visited back in season 1 with the Killer Bass, its atmosphere has a creepy vibe (which was probably the intent). After an estimated two hours, my gut gurgles a bit. Those berries don't seem to have settled as well as I thought even if this is a delayed effect.
Rushing over to a nearby bush, I have a bout of diarrhea. So disgusting and painful! Luckily none of it gets on my clothes. Thank you also to whoever invented toilet paper. Note to self: take more caution with berries in the wild. I wipe thoroughly once it's all over and walk away from the gross sight with all my belongings. The sun is bound to fade sooner or later, and I'm more than halfway across the perimeter. Better get back to the opening before sunset so Chef can more easily find me. It takes me a little over an hour (if I had to guess) to reach the docks where I was dropped off. I should probably return this toilet paper while I have the chance as the sun will set soon. Walking towards my cave from last night, I place it in the backpack, and then find a pile of fish near the cave with that bear.
Believe it or not, I take one fish from the pile. There's nothing else available for dinner and I won't get anything back at camp before the challenge starts. With the fish in my hands, I take put it on one of my plates and cut the thing open with my switchblade to remove its guts before cutting off the sides for cooking. It's a messy process but must be done. Those guts get thrown off to the side once everything has been cut. Thankfully that backpack had paper towels and I use them to clean the fish and my switchblade. I then go fill up the small pot with water for fire extinguishing, grab the frying pan I found last night, and start up another fire in the same way I did this morning (except of course with new burning sticks).
Once I spray the pan with cooking oil and get my spatula ready, I place that pan on the triangle of standing logs and one minute later place the pieces of fish onto it. After around five minutes, I flip each piece, and let the other sides cook for about the same time. The fish is then ready to eat, and I cut each slice into bite-size pieces. It's not very flavorful, but I wasn't expecting that when no seasonings where available. Still satisfying overall and much better than the losers' dishes at Wawanakwa. I finish each piece just as the sun starts to set, so I extinguish the fire and then head back to the docks with my big flashlight, rope, immunity idol, switchblade, and mini flashlight. It looks like I timed things just right.
In the distance, something can be seen flying in the sky. It must be Chef's helicopter. Hearing noises affirms my guess as they get louder and the object comes closer. I raise one hand in the air with the idol to show my success. Hatchet lowers his helicopter to the ground and then asks me "How the flying FUCK did you get into Fun Zone in one night on your own!?" with a look of pure shock on his face.
I truthfully respond with "After looking around the island for a bit, I came across a giant door with broken windows and carvings, and then decided to check out the area. This rope really came in handy for climbing over its wall as I refused to risk getting stuck in a window." as I walk towards the helicopter, climb inside, and take a seat next to him.
"In fairness, I previously saw Duncan had marked his territory there when picking him up at the door yesterday. Should've guessed he'd do something worse within 24 hours and get himself banned from competing on the show. Ezekiel is the only other contestant we ever had to ban before last night's explosion, which of course was because of the havoc he wreaked after going feral in season 3. As for the fake egg with the idol inside, I'd really like to know how you found that. Please do tell me." Hatchet inquires as he starts up the helicopter.
"Pure luck. I explored the so-called Fun Zone for a while, took a couple eggs with me I found for breakfast in the morning, and accidentally dropped one of them which happened to contain the idol." I lie as the helicopter rises, hoping he'd believe me.
"Definitely lucky on your part. Since you surely don't wanna drop the idol or let anybody else find it, I'll keep that idol until the next time you lose a challenge. Just come see me before the elimination ceremony then as I don't want Chris to know yet that any contestant found it." he replies.
"Thanks, and I will!" I affirm and hand the idol to the cook as he puts it in his pocket as we head off Camp Wawanakwa.
It only takes a minute or two before we arrive. I can hear Chris announce "Evening campers! Gather around the starting line for a BIG announcement." as we get closer to where the other contestants meet.
Once the helicopter hovers above them, I tell my team below "Somebody catch this!" as I let go of my big flashlight and Alejandro catches it.
Chef then holds some of my rope as I use that to make my way to the ground (there's not enough room for him to safely land it here). I then join the other Vultures, standing in between the goth and the ginger, and Chef releases the rope for me to catch before flying off. "Good news you guys!" our host tells us as he walks over "As a special treat, it's time for an extremely dangerous night time challenge!"
No shock that McLean of all people would consider this a "treat" or "good news" given how much of a sadist he is.
"How is this 'good news'?" Gwen inquires, making air-quotations around the "good news" part.
"Entertainment value, hello? This one is gonna be ratings gold!" Chris replies before Chef brings over a map of the island, and then he continues "In a nod to season 4's buried treasure fiasco, your challenge is to race to the far end of the island. First team to get every member across the finish line wins, and someone from the losing team WILL be taking the big flush", pointing downwards as he finishes the last part.
This really is more like last season's scavenger hunt where teams try to stick together to avoid penalties as they reach the end during the nighttime, so it beats me why he didn't compare tonight's challenge to that instead. Perhaps he didn't think things through here. It seems like Sam read my mind, asking "Don't you mean the evening scavenger hunt? That was closer to what you've just given us then the treasure challenge."
"I forgot about that. Regardless, tonight's full moon is an extremely rare blue harvest moon and let's just say it has an unusual effect on the island's animals." our host responds, chuckling afterwards. "Villainous Vultures, you won the last challenge, so you get this map with the fastest route across the island." he says and shows us said map. Chef walks over with bacon hats and sausage tails for each Hamster and places those on them as Chris continues with "Heroic Chumpsters, you get to wear nifty bacon hats and sausage tails, which should add to the fun when you come face to fang with the island's friendly creatures, and by 'friendly' I mean hungry'.", finishing with a laugh.
Mike then whispers something to Cameron, who I just noticed has his glasses in one piece now. Looks like Mal didn't get to break those like he did in the original timeline. Sam and/or Lindsay competing now must've somehow gotten in the way of that. It continues to amaze me how much that last-minute changeup to the team announcements is affecting things this time around thanks to me getting revenge on Alejandro with that push towards the water as well as Duncan freeing him from the robot suit after getting stuck between rocks. However, Zoey then whispers something Mr. Wilkins and points towards Lindsay, who asks her "He did WHAT!?" in shock.
Uh-oh! I'm guessing Mal did something to the blonde's property instead. Getting back to the game, Heather walks over to take the map from Chris and confidently tells us "This will be a piece of cake!" as she rejoins us and the goth hands her that big flashlight I brought to Boney Island.
"On your mark!" says Chris.
Al then sighs and tells his future girlfriend "You mean a piece of pie" for some reason.
"Get set!" the host continues.
"Listen you-" an irritated Heather retorts before getting interrupted by an airhorn, which begins the race.
Gwen cheers "Woo-hoo!" and Scott proclaims "Yeah!" as our team runs off with the map with the Heroic Hamsters following close behind.
That reminds me of how I saw Multiple Mike plan to do that when re-watching this episode, and how bubble boy liked the idea, but this time has his glasses in one piece. As I said before, Mal instead evidently did something to Lindsay or her property, which couldn't have been good. Did Mal steal her makeup or something? Without Sierra's smartphone around as she was the first one out and Duncan wrecking Sam's game system instead, it doesn't look like that evil persona has done as much bad so far in this timeline. That could later change, though. I need to keep a watch on him when possible.
To nobody's surprise, the sun sets within half an hour, and the moon rises well before we even see the finish line. Heather leads us Vultures with the map as I stay the furthest behind among our team, giving me a better chance to hear for any moments Mike turns into Mal, but still stay close enough to my teammates and keep enough distance from him to avoid suspicion. Good thing my mini flashlight is with me and will come in handy. Alejandro up ahead gives my big flashlight to our map holder. Even though the future Mrs. Burromuerto could read it in the moonlight already, it doesn't hurt for in case she gets herself in a very dark area.
At one point, I vaguely hear Sam comparing our challenge to the Slender: The Arrival, only with animals instead of Slender Man after people. No shock that he would find similarities to a video game. Now that our gamer mentions the actual Slender Man, though, it's a good thing that tall faceless freak won't hunt after us or we'd all probably die. I'd hate for that to be the way my life ended. As for the competition itself, it's a good thing my team still has the lead. I then hear something bad but don't dare turn around to face it as that'll be suspicious.
"Mike, why'd you chuck Lindsay's lipstick at animals?" Cameron asks his multi-personality friend.
"What!? I didn't! Who told you that?" an alarmed Mike questions.
"Zoey made me promise not to say she saw you do it." the bubble boy replies and continues with "Oops! Sorry Zoey." upon realizing he what he let slip.
Lindsay and Sam gasp in shock. It was obviously something Mal did. Mike wouldn't hurt innocent creatures like that.
"Seriously? Aw, man. I don't know what's been up with me lately." Mr. Multiple Personalities adds with remorse. "I haven't been able to summon my other personalities for days, and now I think I might be sleepwalking and messing with peoples' things and—ah, I'm SO sorry, Lindsay."
"It's OK Mike; the animals now can use that to look prettier." the blonde adds.
Are you fucking kidding me!? She just HAD to be air-headed right now. Should've seen that coming. Forest creatures know nothing about how cosmetics work.
"I promise I'll help you figure it out, whatever it is!" Mr. Wilkins assures Mike.
"You're a great friend, Cam!" a grateful Mike tells him.
At least the main persona is in control now instead of his inner demon.
"Look at the moon everyone!" Sam proclaims, and then we all stop to look up and see it turn blue.
"What in the world?" a confused Zoey asks.
"Blue moonlight? Extraordinary!" says Cameron.
"A blue harvest moon, how fortuitous!" I hear an evil-sounding voice mutter and glance towards its source from the corner of my eyes.
That unquestionably was Mal! He even has his hair over one eye.
"What was that, Mike?" Zoey questions him with an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
Mal coughs and brushes his hair away from his face before responding with "Uh, just, you know, sweet moon." in Mike's voice as he puts one hand on her shoulder and gestures towards the moon with the other hand.
There it was; I caught Mal trying to impersonate Mike! That's difficult to do but I did it. It'll probably be even harder to figure out when he turns back into Mike for real. Too bad I can't call him out for it without drawing unwanted attention to myself. He and Zoey share a smile before she walks on ahead. If this was the real Mike in control, then I'd say he and his girlfriend just had a nice moment, but Mal is now among us.
An alligator suddenly shows up in front of us Vultures. Oh shit! We all look at it in fear, and Scott hides behind me. However, instead of attacking, the alligator stands there and thumps its tail against the ground like a dog. What the hell!? I ask "Um, since when do gators do that?" as I point to it.
"This moon is like no other. It must be causing the animals to become their opposite." Alejandro observes as Heather hides behind the map.
How did I forget about the blue moon's effect on them!? That's a huge part of this challenge! Perhaps I focused so much on Mal moments ago as well as retrieving my idol today and surviving Boney Island that it never occurred to me what the animals would do, plus a gator showing up out of nowhere can easily shock people. It certainly took us all by surprise.
"Wow, Alejandro, you're so smart!" Heather compliments him and lowers the map from her face, showing big puppy eyes.
"Excuse me!?" a startled Al questions her as we all stare in shock.
This is totally out of character for his future girlfriend! She puts down the map and big flashlight to tightly hug the gator, almost chocking it. Heather tells it "Who's a little poochy poo? You are, yes you are!" in a sweet-sounding voice during that hug, much like what one would use when talking to their pet.
A disturbed Mr. Burromuerto shudders at the sight. I then remember something; she's just pretending to be affected by the moon just to mess with his head. Quite sneaky there. Lots of angry bunnies then show up, with one roaring like a tiger. I scream in fear and run off with Gwen, taking Scott with me so the bunnies don't hurt him.
"Hurry, there's no time to waste!" Alejandro proclaims as he joins us with the big flashlight.
Scott yelps in pain as a bunny bites him in the ass. He complains 'I'm being taken down by a gang of bunnies!' before I yank that bunny off and toss it away.
Who's left behind? A certain alligator hugger. Her future boyfriend notices this, and impatiently snaps "Hurry up, Heather; you have the map!"
She stops cuddling the purring gator and says "Yay! Running!" while getting up to retrieve the map and join us.
Yes, the alligator was PURRING like a cat! It even smiles while waving Heather goodbye. Our map holder tells us "Good work guys; we're halfway to the finish line! Yippee! This is fun!" before skipping ahead with big smiles.
"OK, this is sufficiently weird." my cringing goth friend tells me.
"I know." I affirm, and then remembering a joke she tells, beat her to the punch with "Maybe Heather's being affected by the Blue Harvest moon because she's part wolf."
We both then share a laugh. It lasts much longer this time because we've already made up. In the original timeline, I abruptly stopped because I still was mad at Gwen (to her disappointment) and didn't want to give her the satisfaction of enjoying any of her jokes. After about fifteen minutes, we approach a bridge that easily looks like it could break and stop. Ms. Goth is immediately wary of it.
Before she can complain about it being a trap, I gesture towards my rope and ask my team "Anybody up for a swing?".
Gwen states "I was about to say we should go around, but that just might work."
"Come on guys; nothing to be afraid of!" Heather pseudo-encourages us as she prepares to cross the bridge.
"Except you." one snarky Alejandro adds.
"Maybe someone BRAVE should cross it first and make sure it's safe." she replies with her puppy-eye look, probably trying to stroke his ego.
Not wanting Scott to get a beaver to bite off one of the bridge ropes, I speak up before he can volunteer to cross and insist "Fine; YOU cross that thing."
Heather shrugs her shoulders and walks across. Alejandro then follows when she's about a third of the way across. Two of the boards then snap under her feet halfway through! Al runs over to catch a screaming Heather by the wrists, who had accidentally dropped the map and big flashlight while falling.
"I knew you still cared!" she teases, revealing that the blue moon wasn't truly affecting her at all.
"This is why you don't cross rope bridges. Have neither of you seen how those things collapse in movies?" the goth asks them.
Both then snap "Shut up Gwen!" simultaneously as Alejandro pulls her out of the hole those snapped floorboards left, and he somehow carries her bridal style across the bridge without any other slips.
Yeah, that's much closer to something she would generally say to Gwen, who seems quite surprised that they didn't slip again. I'm sure Heather deep down also loves being carried across like that by the guy she not-so-secretly likes. It reminds me of that wedding challenge we had at the season 3 merge where the contestants were paired up for the day as a bride-and-groom. The grooms during one part had to carry their brides across a tightrope. She obviously loved the experience (based on her smile shown when re-watching that episode) and I was highly jealous of her that day as I was in love with Alejandro at that point, wanting to be paired with him instead of my ex. While I know I said before that he mostly would've been a rebound if we ever became a couple when I was heartbroken over Duncan cheating, I at the same time really wanted to be Al's girlfriend back then. During season 4, I of course found out thanks to Leshawna how Burromuerto had been shamelessly toying with me, which made me lose all interest in him and I've despised the bastard ever since. There obviously is no jealousy now over how he wants Heather.
Getting back to the game, Scott then asks me "What if we held your rope while crossing over in case anything else breaks on the way across?"
Not sure why I didn't think of that, but it sounds like a fine plan. I nod in agreement and give both him and Gwen some rope. The goth hesitates. After I insist "Chances are we'll lose if you don't, especially when I can't seem to find a good place to tie this to for swinging.", she shrugs her shoulders and accepts.
We cross slowly with Scott in the lead, me in the middle, and Gwen in the back. Being cautious to avoid the hole Heather made, the three of us safely reach the other end. No slipping up! Gwen relents "I guess not every rope bridge is as bad as I thought." while handing me the rope.
"Good thinking, Scott." I compliment the ginger as he hands back his part of the rope.
"It was nothing" he boasts, "I simply-"
He then gets interrupted by an angry beaver chomping his ass! Scott yelps in pain, proclaiming "My butt is not a chew toy!" while he runs around, probably thinking it'll help release the thing from him.
I yank the beaver off and tell it "Chomp this, freak!" while holding the thing over bridge ropes just like when first living through the challenge, but now do this to both as one was already done during the original timeline before I reached this end of the bridge.
The bridge predictably falls and hits the cliff wall on the other side. No easy cross for the Hamsters!
"Now the other team can't use the bridge. Brilliant plan, Courtney!" Alejandro compliments me.
"That's obviously why I did it." I brag and toss the beaver over the cliff as we continue.
Us Vultures abandon the rope and keep running for at least twenty more minutes until we see Chris. It sucks we don't have the map anymore. Our host then greets "Welcome to the finish line, villains. It looks like you'll easily win tonight!" as we approach the finish line exhausted.
Just when I thought we had this in the bag, an angry deer shows up. Seriously!? It growls at me and Gwen. Last time it just went after me until the goth saved me by shoving a stick into the deer's mouth until that snapped and it pounced upon both of us (shocking how that alone didn't get her placed on team hero, but Chris was probably getting too much joy from torturing her with team villain status to change that). Even though I still had a grudge against her at the time and didn't feel ready to be friends again, I was touched Gwen saved me like that and realized right then and there how serious she was about wanting to make amends. Both of us slowly back away, not wanting to be deer food. The evil thing unfortunately pounces upon Gwen and me again while growling.
Next thing we know, the deer gets hit with a rock. I turn to see Scott with another rock in one hand and a big stick in the other. He saved us! The ginger throws his other rock at the deer's nose as it approaches him. Unfortunately, the Hamsters have somehow caught up by now and are approaching the finish line. Scott is about to knock out the deer when the moon turns back to normal, making the deer harmless again, and it hops away.
Alejandro and Heather have already crossed the line by this point. He calls from up ahead "The moon curse is over, hurry!" only for her to snap "They know it's over; they don't need you to narrate, Bl-Alejandro."
Our ginger then throws his stick at Cameron's face to slow him down (probably because he was closest within range) and bubble boy falls to the ground. His glasses are now broken, and he struggles to find the finish line while all his teammates have already reached that. Scott helps me up and then Gwen as I hear Mike wonder aloud "How did I get here?" as he temporarily pauses when the blue moon is completely gone.
I'll be damned; it looks like he just turned back into himself. Did the blue moon affect him for real unlike Heather? Hopefully Mal didn't cause too much damage while in control and out of my sight.
"Mike, Cam, hurry!" Zoey calls from ahead of the finish line after she, Lindsay, and Sam cross it.
"Oh, right, come on Cam!" Mike tells Cameron, who says "Just go ahead now; I can make it by myself. I insist!" before his buddy can run back to help.
Us three Vultures take our chance to win and cross that finish line, though the goth looks concerned for Mr. Wilkins. Scott crosses the line followed by Mike, then me, and Gwen is our last team member to cross, beating Cameron by several seconds. Chris then tells everybody "And the villains win, again.", prompting the Vultures (including me) to cheer for victory and the Hamsters to groan over their loss.
Sam then pulls out an extra pair of glasses from his pocket and offers them to Cameron, stating "Even if they're not your prescription, these should help until your normal ones get fixed."
Bubble boy is grateful for the gesture, telling him "Thanks for that and helping us around the cliff when that bridge was down." as he picks up the pieces of his broken glasses and rejoins the Hamsters.
"Not a problem. Something us gamers don't get enough credit for in the outdoors is navigation. While playing Minecraft, I often had to walk my way around big gaps to avoid losing health, which I guess really came in handy here." the gaming nut replies as everybody leaves for the elimination ceremony.
Everybody, that is, except for Scott and me. He needs something that Chris and the others won't see or hear. I hold the ginger back for a personal moment. When it's just the two of us, I say "Chris might have placed us both on team villain, but now that we're alone I need to say thanks for your heroic rescue earlier, even if he finds you sabotaging Cameron shortly afterwards evil enough to cancel that out. Not letting our host make fun of you now for it." while hugging him.
He replies with "My pleasure. I knew I couldn't let you-" and gets interrupted by me giving him a quick peck on the lips, then freezing with the same look of shock on his face that he had when we first kissed in the original timeline.
"Let me get eaten?" I guess the ending of his sentence as he silently nods and then I continue with "Glad you don't want me to be deer food. It means more than you know, so I figured you could use some sort of reward for that. It's the type best saved for private moments. Now that we have an elimination ceremony to attend, let's focus on getting there on time."
Man does it feel good to let out more physical affection! I don't know how much longer I could've kept that in. All I knew is that I had to be alone with Scott for that to start up and to begin with something small. Further kissing will follow in the future when we have time to ourselves. On another note, since I know I was his first kiss and how much he likes me, the guy must be stoked on the inside right now. Completely understandable of him. We're not officially a couple just yet, but there's no doubt he sooner or later will ask me out, and only then will we get together as I don't trust myself enough to pop the question without timing it too early. Scott on the other hand bringing this matter up will help assure me we didn't move too quickly.
The two of us walk to the elimination ceremony, and he clearly got the hint to (at least for now) keep our kiss a secret from the other contestants. I see him at one point go over to the confessional, probably to unleash his excitement while he has the chance to get it out of his system without spilling anything to the wrong people, so I let him have his own moment as I head off. Heather probably would give us shit for that if she found out. I raise a fist in triumph and whisper "Score for the kiss!" so my own excitement doesn't get the better of me in front of others.
When Scott and I arrive at the ceremony, we take seats in the peanut gallery's back row as Heather, Alejandro, and Gwen have filled out its front row. All the Hamsters then arrive. Ms. Goth doesn't express dismay about her team placement right now even though I know she deep down wants to be on the heroes' team. It's where she belongs, but as Chris made clear before, complaining won't get her off the villains' team. Gwen does on the plus side have a friend (me) on her team. Things otherwise would probably be miserable for the goth like I'm sure it was in the original timeline when I hadn't yet made up with her.
Come to think of it, the goth is now the only Vulture competing who didn't serve as the antagonist of any previous Total Drama season. It kind of makes her the odd one out in a sense. First there was Heather in Total Drama Island. Next there was me in Total Drama Action after I entered the competition mid-season through a lawsuit. Then there was Alejandro in Total Drama World Tour. Most recently, there was Scott in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island.
All four of the show's prior villains (including me) toned the bad antics down afterwards without entirely losing our mean sides, though I really would like to shed my past reputation for being a bitch, and it's been challenging to do so. This season's baddie is of course Mal, which in a way makes his team hero placement ironic, but then makes more sense when considering how nobody knew in the beginning about Mike's suppressed evil persona that he thought he had gotten rid of before. The real Mike is one of the nicest guys in Total Drama history and truly a hero for somehow conquering him during the original timeline.
"OK peeps. Each if you is a loser in your own right, but the villains won the challenge, so they've earned themselves another night of luxurious luxury at my spa hotel." McLean tells us.
"I volunteer for exile on Boney Island!" Scott then interjects with one hand raised in the air.
"Sure, I don't care." our host nonchalantly shrugs.
"Good luck out there!" I tell our ginger.
"Thanks babe, now I gotta find that invincibility statue." He replies while Chef's helicopter claw takes him away from Camp and I wave him goodbye as they fly off towards exile.
He called me babe just like before! I remember being sad during my initial run-through and worried for him when he volunteered for Boney Island after this challenge as he was the only teammate then I didn't hate, but don't feel as bad now when I have Gwen as a friend plus already know he'll come out safe. This obviously made me miss him that night as well as when he went to exile following the pancake challenge. By that point, I knew he was into me and was grateful there was at least one person on my team I had no conflicts with. No, I didn't start returning his affections then just yet; that would begin the next challenge when we were egg hunting. What first won me over was realizing how loyally dedicated he was when someone (in this case me) truly mattered to him, plus I also admittedly liked that he was willing to take orders when needed. Scott would of course prove to be a loyal boyfriend once we did get together. As I said before, I won't fuck that up again.
Getting back to the ceremony, Chris continues "OK people, tonight we-" only to get interrupted by bubble boy, who stands up while blurting "Wait!"
"Now what?" an irritated Chris asks.
"I volunteer for the flush of shame!" Wilkins tells him.
"Seriously!?" a bewildered Sam inquires.
"Cameron, why?" a concerned Mike questions.
"Sorry Mike. I'd love to help you with your problem, but I'm the reason we lost tonight in the first place and will probably get voted off anyway, so I thought I'd save you all the trouble and just get it over with." Cameron replies.
"Well isn't this a perfect way to introduce the surprise twist? Today's ejected hero is tomorrow's new villain." Mr. McLean informs us.
"What!?" a shocked bubble boy asks.
"That's right. Instead of flushing Cameron, I'm sending him over to the villains' side!" Chris continues as we all gasp in surprise.
How did I forget about that twist? Probably by thinking so much about all that happened earlier. I then hear an evil laugh. Mal is here again with his distinct appearance! He then quickly brushes his hair up to resemble Mike. Never thought I'd catch that demon once let alone twice in one night imitating the main persona.
"I'll find a way to help you even from the villains' side. I promise!" Mr. Wilkins assures Mal (thinking Mike is in control) and extends one hand for a shake.
Mal shakes hands with him and (in Mike's voice) replies "Gee, thanks pal!" before the bubble boy walks over to join us Vultures and Mal's hair drops back down over one eye.
Too bad I can't call out Mal without him knowing I'm onto him, which won't be good.
Cameron awkwardly tries to greet us with "Uh, hi." and a hand wave.
He surely doesn't feel comfortable with being on team villain. That boy isn't evil by any stretch of the imagination. We then all leave the ceremony, us Vultures plus our newest member towards the hotel, and the Hamsters go to the cabins. My team doesn't bother staying around long enough to hear Chris sign off the episode, which I know is about to happen soon anyway. Cameron then turns to enter the confessional instead of our hotel. He's probably about to complain that he doesn't belong on the villains' team.
Once I enter the hotel, Gwen asks me "What was Boney Island like last night?"
"About as dark and intimidating as it was when we visited in season 1, but I overall came out just fine. It's probably best for the sake of my back that I don't spend another night there. Caves aren't an ideal place to sleep." I inform her.
"I'm sure Scott will have similar complaints if the bears don't get to him first." she teases.
"Don't give me bad mental images like that!" I snap.
"Relax, I was only kidding." the goth assures me. "Chris obviously will make sure he lives as his show otherwise would probably get cancelled or at least sued."
I reply with "Good point. Just please refrain from further jokes about contestants dying there."
"Sorry about that. It was a one-time-only thing." she apologizes.
"Thank you. Now I need to clean up and rest after a very long day." I respond and then turn to get my pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.
Boy did I need cleaning! Good thing the interns already have my belongings in one of the bedrooms. Once I collect my things and bring them into the bathroom, I take a long shower to get off all the filth from exile AND tonight's challenge. That was quite refreshing. After showering, I brush my teeth twice to make up for not having the chance this morning and floss thoroughly before using the toilet. Then I put on my pajamas and exit for the girls' bedroom. Gwen and Heather aren't inside yet, and I really need some rest now. My back is grateful to have quality beds tonight. I crawl into one of them, and silently whisper aloud "Don't get yourself in too much trouble in exile Scott" right before I close my eyes and sleep takes over me.
Courtney found her idol again, kissed Scott, and now has Cameron as a new teammate! I already know who gets the next flush, but you'll have to wait until Chapter 9 to find out. Expect that and probably Chapter 10 to be posted sometime during October 2018.
Elimination Order:
Sierra (14th place), Lightning (13th place), Jo (12th place), Duncan (11th place)
Remaining Players:
Heroic Hamsters: Lindsay, Mike, Sam, Zoey
Villainous Vultures: Alejandro, Cameron, Courtney, Gwen, Heather, Scott
Chapter posted: September 30, 2018.