A/N- Nothing much to say…Did I mention this story has two POVs? Enjoy!
Chapter Two:
The Villains were gathered in the kitchen the next morning eating breakfast. Well, except for Lightning, who was still on Boney Island, and Alejandro, who was apparently getting a massage somewhere.
"Alright, everyone! I propose we vote Lightning off next!" Jo announced.
"Yeah, sure."
"Whatever."
"I don't care."
She was met with a chorus of apathy.
"Good!" She decided, satisfied with their noncommittal answers.
"You better hope he doesn't find that statue," Heather trailed off.
"That guy? No way!" Jo grinned. "He won't find shit. Besides, he can't search while he's on Boney Island, right?"
"God, those pillows were so nice last night," Scott smiled dreamily. "So much better than the ones on the farm."
"You grew up on a farm?" Gwen asked in an attempt to be polite.
"Yup! We stuffed our pillowcases with live animals, so having a real pillow last night was super weird. But I liked it!"
"Oh, wow. Well, I'm glad that you slept well."
"Thanks, Gwen. For what it's worth, I never bought the love triangle for a second."
"Thanks, I guess."
"I'm gonna go find Alejandro," Heather declared.
"Unsurprising," Duncan smirked into his cereal.
"It's not like that!" Heather insisted. "I'm trying to catch him in the act with his legs."
"Alright, sure. Good luck."
The rest of the group waited until she left to resume speaking.
"She's so into him," Gwen rolled her eyes.
"Scott, why wouldn't you kill the animals before stuffing them into a pillowcase?" Duncan asked in confusion.
"Hmm? Oh. Well, that would be inhumane," Scott explained.
"Ah, I see."
Meanwhile, a completely different type of conversation was going on in the Heroes cabin.
"Damnit, Sierra! Put down the camera!" Courtney growled as Sierra took a picture of her.
"Sorry!" she giggled. "I'm just updating my blog! Zoey, wanna be in a picture?"
"Hmm?" The girl in question looked up. "Oh, sure!" She said, not really wanting to be in a picture, but not wanting to be rude.
"Yay!" Sierra squealed, holding up her phone. "Say cheese!"
"How often do you update your blog?" Zoey asked, trying to make conversation with her teammate.
"Oh God, don't indulge her," Courtney buried her face in her pillow.
"I update it every day!" Sierra beamed proudly. "Usually, even more than that!"
"Oh wow, that's impressive!"
"Thanks, Zoey! I work super hard on it," Sierra began to furiously type on her phone. "I even had to sneak this thing past Chris. Oh, shoot," she looked up. "You won't tell him, right?"
"Of course not," Zoey reassured her.
"I don't care enough," Courtney mumbled.
"Great, you guys are the best!"
This is gonna get annoying, Zoey thought to herself. I don't know how she could keep up with all that blogging. It would drive me crazy. But, oh well. To each their own!
At that moment, there was a knock on the door outside.
"Who is it?" Zoey called out.
"It's us!" Sam's voice answered.
"Oh! Come in!"
Sam, Mike, and Cameron filtered through the door. Sam looked paler than usual, and with every step Zoey thought he would fall over.
"Sam, are you alright?" She asked, voice full of concern. "You don't look too good."
"Oh, nah, I'm fine," he reassured her. "I'm all good," he sat down on an empty bed.
"Good mornin'," Mike smiled at her.
"Morning," she smiled back and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
At least Mike's here with me. I couldn't imagine if we were on different teams. But then again…
She surveyed her teammates. Courtney was fixing her hair and pointedly ignoring everyone else, Sierra was absorbed in her phone, Sam looked like he was about to pass out, and Cameron looked like an anxious wreck, as usual.
I shouldn't think like this… But the Villains team just seems so interesting! Not that I would want to be a villain, of course. It's just, I'd like to get to know some of them. Duncan and Gwen seem like they'd be so cool to talk to! Courtney won't even look at me… I don't know.
"How'd you sleep?" Mike asked her.
"Fine," she smiled. "Considering we're not in the Spa Hotel."
"We'll get them next time," Cameron reassured her.
"We better," Courtney muttered. "We have to get it together." She spun around to face her teammates. "You guys need to get it together."
"Us?" Cameron stared in wide-eyed fear. "What did we do?"
"You don't have that competitive edge," Courtney decided. "You're all too nice."
"I think that's why we're called the Heroic Hamsters, Courtney," Sam smiled from the bed. She was clearly not amused.
"Yeah, but not the Loser Hamsters," she glared at him.
"Courtney, why are you supposed to be a hero anyways?" Cameron asked, clearly upset at the prospect of being labeled a loser. "Just because your boyfriend cheated on-"
"He was never my boyfriend," she snapped at him. "Don't try to act like you know what you're talking about, because you don't."
"I… sorry," Cameron quickly apologized.
Wow...I knew all of those relationships were scripted, but clearly something happened… I can't pry.
"I'm just saying… We need to win. That's all." She sat back down.
Zoey looked at Mike, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was, but he was still looking at Courtney.
She couldn't handle the crushing silence, so she said, "Courtney has a point. Let's all try our best to win!"
"Yeah!" Sam echoed weakly.
"Alright, campers!" Chris announced from outside. "Cameras are going on! Come outside for your next challenge!"
"I guess that's our cue," Mike smiled, finished with whatever he was thinking.
The Heroes left their cabin to meet the Villains outside. Chris stood between the two teams, megaphone in hand.
"Alright, welcome to the second day of Total. Drama. All-stars! For your next challenge, you'll be taking part in a treasure hunt on the beach! You will need to find seven pieces of a statue, and then put them together to form a landmark that we visited in Total. Drama. World Tour! But look out! There are traps buried in the sand! Hehehe. Now, follow me down to the beach!"
On the Villains team, they were welcoming Lightning's return from Boney Island.
"Dude, you look like shit," Jo stared.
"Sha-what!? I'm totally fine!"
"Yeah, alright," Duncan looked at him sceptically.
If he throws up on me, I swear…
"Whatever, dude," Jo shook her head. "Just don't ruin the challenge for us."
"I won't! After all, I'm the leader of this team!"
"Hold on," Jo cut him off. "If anything, I'm the leader."
"Yeah, right. I'm always the leader."
"God, nobody cares," Gwen groaned.
"Wait," Duncan pondered. "Gwen, I thought you were the leader?"
"Oh, shit! You're right!" She smiled.
"Alright, you guys might think you're being funny," Jo voiced her disapproval. "But a team without a leader is like a chicken without a head. It just doesn't work."
"Exactly. That's why we elected Gwen," Heather grinned just because it would annoy Jo.
"Elected!? We never had an election. This isn't a democracy!"
"I also think Gwen should do it," Scott voiced his support.
"Shut up, Scott. You're just saying that because you don't want me to do it," Jo complained.
"Alright! We're here!" Chris announced. "Villains! As a reward for winning the last challenge, you get to dig with shovels! Heroes… you'll be using your hands! Hehe. Now, ready, set, dig!"
Each team scrambled to their respective side of the beach.
"Alright, I'm taking two shovels, one for each hand!" Lightning decided.
"So one of us is supposed to dig without one?" Gwen crossed her arms.
"Here," Heather picked up a shovel and thwacked Lightning in the leg with it, making him drop one. She picked up the spare shovel and handed it to Gwen. "Have fun!"
"Thanks, Heather! At this rate, you'll be my vice president," Gwen smiled.
"Aw, what?" Duncan pouted. "I thought I was gonna be vice-president."
"You and Heather can share."
"No, thanks," he scoffed. Heather flipped him off in response.
"Why aren't you guys digging?" Jo snapped. "Get to work!" She plunged her shovel into the sand only to hit a small land mine. A cloud of sand erupted from the ground, coating all of the Villains.
Oh, no way am I doing this... Duncan squeezed his eyes shut to prevent any sand from getting in.
"Alright… Now let's get digging," Jo wheezed once the sand cleared.
The Villains really had no plan. Everybody just started digging at random.
Should I tell everyone to split up into different sections? It would make this go way quicker… But I don't want to start another argument. Eh, I don't care if we lose. It's not like I'm getting voted off.
In the background, he could hear Lightning vomiting in the ocean.
Just wonderful.
The Heroes team wasn't doing much better. They were huddled near the center of the beach, trying to decide on a plan.
"Maybe we should split up into sections?" Zoey offered. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"Yeah, right," Courtney scoffed. "We should split up into quadrants. That's a better strategy."
...Did she steal my idea?
Zoey looked to her boyfriend to see if he would say anything, but he was staring at the floor.
Well, he does hate conflict…
"Hang on, isn't that what Zoey just said?" Cameron came to her rescue.
"Oh, is it?" Courtney smiled. "Great, we can use the plan that Zoey and I came up with!"
"Fine," Zoey sighed. At this point, she just wanted to get started.
"Great!" Courtney beamed. "Let's get digging!"
"But not too fast!" Cameron reminded everyone. "Remember, there are traps-Sam!"
In his state of weakness, Sam failed to remember Chris' warning. He hit the sand and was immediately thrown into the air, soaring in a perfect arc until he hit the water.
Zoey could hear her boyfriend laughing next to her.
"What's so funny?" She snapped.
"Oh, come on," he shook his head. "It's just too good...Why are you upset?" He saw the look of disapproval on her face.
I guess I DID snap at him…And it's not like Sam is hurt or anything.
Indeed, he was already swimming back.
"Sorry," Zoey apologized. "Dealing with Courtney brought out the worst in me, I guess," she whispered so the contestant-in-question wouldn't hear.
"Hmm," he grinned. "I guess she tends to do that to people."
"Hey, Mike!" Cameron crept up to the two of them. "Here, I found this for you," he produced a fedora covered in sand. "Now Manitoba can help dig."
"Aw, thanks Cam," Mike took the fedora. "I'm sure he'll love that." He put it on his head and switched into his Australian alter.
"Alright, I hear there's some diggin' to be done, yeah?" Manitoba grinned.
"Hi, Manitoba. We're trying to find some pieces of a statue buried in the sand," Cameron explained in an incredibly formal tone.
I wonder if he's actually comfortable with Mike's alters… Sometimes I think he gets freaked out.
"Oh, I see, fella! Well, you know I can find anything."
"Great," Cameron nodded. "Why don't you start over there?" He pointed to the section against the border between the two teams.
"Ah. Um. Over there? By the other team?" Manitoba faltered for a moment.
"Is that ok?" Zoey picked up on his nervousness. Then, she realized something. "Oh, I get it. Don't worry, Scott's not gonna do anything."
"What? Oh. Um, yeah! He's a tricky fella, hehe. It's alright, I'll go over there right now!" He seemed to get over whatever was bothering him.
"Good luck!" Zoey cheered. "And look out for traps!"
"Yeah, thanks!" He called out behind him as he marched towards the sand, determined to find the missing pieces.
Back on the Villains team, the search was slow-gowing. They had only found three pieces in an hour. Duncan was trying to mind his own business, as he found some of his other teammates to be insufferable.
"Hello, Gwen!" Alejandro sidled up to the goth, who was trying her best to dig in the sand without hitting any traps.
"What do you want, Alejandro?"
"I just wanted to say, I think you're as wise as your skin is translucent!"
"Great, thanks, Alejandro," Gwen tried her best to ignore him.
"Of course," he flashed a winning smile. When he noticed that Duncan was looking at them, he sent him a wink.
Godamnit. Why would he do that?
Duncan just flipped him off in return.
When Alejandro was far enough away, Gwen crept up to Duncan's side.
"He's so hot. I'm sorry. He just is."
"I know. I try not to think about it. It's so unfair."
"I'm gonna go bury myself in the sand."
"Take me with you?"
"Of course."
"Hey, stop blabbering and keep digging!" Jo barked.
"Ok, that has to stop," Gwen muttered as she returned to her spot.
Not even a moment later, and somebody was bothering Duncan again.
"Hey, Duncan, come here," Scott whispered.
"What?" Duncan didn't move.
"You have to come over here!"
"Fine," Duncan gritted his teeth and walked over to where Scott was standing near the barrier with the Heroes team.
"Watch this."
Scott crept over to the Heroes side, stole a piece of their statue from the sand, jumped back over to his side, and buried the piece in a hole.
"Pretty good, right?"
"I mean, I guess."
Unfortunately, Scott had attracted someone else's attention.
"Oi! What're ya doin', fella?" Manitoba was storming towards them.
Fuck…
"Tryin' to be clever, eh?" Manitoba immediately found the spot where Scott had hidden the statue. "I'll be takin' this."
"Fine, whatever…" Scott grumbled.
Then Scott accidentally nailed Manitoba in the head with a shovel, and Duncan nearly collapsed.
"Ah, shit," Scott stared down at his unmoving body. "Well… that's unfortunate."
"Um… do we help him?" Duncan had no idea what to do. He just stayed put.
"I'm alright!" Manitoba's muffled voice spoke up.
"See? He's fine," Scott shrugged.
"Good," Duncan took the opportunity to walk away. "I didn't want to deal with that, anyways."
Seeing what happened, Zoey ran over to check on Manitoba.
"Manitoba!" She sank her knees into the sand. "Are you alright?"
"M' fine, sheila," he propped himself up on his elbows.
"What happened?"
"Scott. Don't worry about it," he sat up fully. "We still have some diggin' to do, yeah?"
Scott… I should've known not to have Manitoba dig over here… I guess the Villains team really is that bad. Most of them, at least…
"Yeah. Just… be careful?"
"When am I not careful?" He winked at her, walking off to dig some more.
Zoey gave a final look to the Villains. They were all hard at work, digging away, except for Duncan and Gwen, who were goofing off.
I still maybe like those two…
"Alright!" Courtney yelled. "We've got all the pieces!"
Zoey shook herself from her thoughts and ran over to help assemble the statue.
Back on the Villains, Lightning announced, "Alright, that's all of them!"
"Great work, everyone," Jo voiced her pride for her teammates. "Now, let's get moving!"
It didn't take too long to put the statue together, but there was a hole in the stupid thing that the Villains couldn't figure out how to fix.
"Lightning, you said we had all of the pieces?" Gwen peered at the gap in the statue.
"Yep, all seven of them!"
"Alright… I'm only counting six."
Oh, that's classic.
"Umm… sha-what?"
"Lightning!" Jo freaked out. "What the fuck!"
"Alright, everyone keep digging," Scott groaned, not pleased with the idea of having to go back in the sand.
"I've got it!" Zoey screamed from the other side of the beach. The Villains turned to watch her throw her last piece to Courtney, who put it on the statue.
"Damnit!" Jo hissed.
Jeez, nice throw…
"And, the Heroes win! They'll be spending the night in the Spa Hotel! Villains, I'll see you at the elimination ceremony!"
Eh… Whatever.
"Gwen!" Chris ran up to her, holding a black garbage bag. "Throw this at Courtney."
"What? Ew, no. That's gross."
"Just do it. For the cameras."
"Fine," Gwen ripped the bag out of hand, knowing she didn't have a choice. "Courtney, look out!"
"Hmm?"
Gwen chucked the bag in her direction.
"Oh my God, ew! Chris, what the hell!"
"Thanks, ladies," he smiled.
"I swear, I don't know how much longer they're gonna have us do this," Gwen hung back with Duncan as the Villains walked to the elimination ceremony.
"I know, I know. Was there actual trash in there?"
"God, I hope not…"
The Heroes walked back in much higher spirits.
"At least we're out of the cabins for tonight," Cameron smiled. "That'll be nice."
"Yup," Courtney stared at the ground.
"You're not happy?"
"You know what, Cameron? No, I'm not. I'm covered in garbage. Gwen literally threw trash at me on camera to embarrass me. Sorry I'm not thrilled."
"Sorry, Courtney…" Cameron trailed off.
Zoey caught the redness in her eyes.
Maybe I was too harsh on her… She has been on this show a lot longer than I have. Who knows what else happened behind the scenes?
"I'll help you clean up?" Zoey offered.
"Thanks, but it's alright," Courtney rubbed one of her eyes. "I don't need any help. Just a shower. And good job today, guys," she attempted a smile.
"Yeah," Sierra spoke nonchalantly as she was completely absorbed in her phone. "Sorry 'bout the trash, Courtney."
Courtney rolled her eyes.
"I should've figured," she murmured, then began to walk faster to get to the Spa Hotel.
"I wonder why she's all upset," Cameron looked after her.
"She's probably embarrassed," Zoey whispered.
"Maybe," Cameron shrugged.
He just doesn't get it, I guess. Maybe it's a girl thing.
She noticed that Gwen and Duncan were walking apart from the rest of their team.
Speaking of the original cast… This could be my chance to make a good impression.
"I'm gonna go say hi to Duncan and Gwen," she said to no one in particular. "Anyone want to join?"
"What? Why would you do that?" Cameron was shocked.
"I don't know, I want to be friendly."
"Hmm," Sam was staring at his GameGuy. "Have fun."
"Do you want to come?" Zoey asked Mike.
"No, I'm good," he answered quickly.
"What? Why not?"
"I mean… they're villains for a reason, I'm sure," he offered his explanation.
After what happened last season, I guess he's nervous about meeting new people…It's better if I investigate first.
"Well, I'm still gonna say hi," she decided. "I'll report back."
"Have fun," he shrugged.
She stopped walking with her team and jogged over to Gwen and Duncan, trying not to seem like a creep who wanted to interrupt their conversation.
"Um, hi guys!" She snuck up behind them. The two of them spun around immediately.
"Oh! Hi, Zoey," Gwen smiled.
Duncan looked a little more unsettled.
"Hey, what's up," he quickly covered his look of surprise.
I shouldn't have snuck up on them like that… I hope they don't think I'm a weirdo or anything.
"Um," Zoey fidgeted with her hands, "I just wanted to say… good job today?"
"Seriously?" Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Because we didn't try, like, at all. And we lost."
"Right, well, um…"
Shit! What do I say? I knew this was a bad idea!
"Or did you just come by to hangout with us?" Gwen rescued her. "Because that's cool too."
"Honestly? Yeah," she blushed.
"Cool," Duncan grinned. "You can be an honorary Villain." The three of them started walking again.
"I guess I wouldn't mind that."
"Ooh? Drama on the Heroes team?" Gwen was invested. "Do tell."
"I don't know if I'm supposed to…"
"Hey, we won't say anything. Snitches get stitches," Duncan reassured her.
"In that case," she giggled. "I wouldn't say there's drama… But Sierra and Sam are pretty much addicted to their electronics, so you can't really talk with them. And I think Courtney's just upset about some stuff."
"Not because I threw garbage at her?" Gwen's eyes widened in concern.
I really don't want to get involved…
"Ahh… No."
"You don't have to lie," Gwen shook her head.
"Sorry," Zoey bit her lip.
"Don't worry about Courtney," Duncan reassured both of them. "She gets upset about this type of thing. Not that I blame her. The whole thing is a mess, she's just been getting screwed over more than usual lately… Don't take it personally, Zoey," he added on, sensing her distress.
"Alright," Zoey nodded. "That makes me feel better."
"Anytime."
"Vultures! Get to the voting booth!" Chris yelled from further up.
"Gwen, you're gonna vote for me, right?" Duncan asked.
"Yeah, yeah, but you have to vote for me too."
"Perfect, we'll cancel each other out."
They joke about being voted off without a care in the world… I panic every time my team loses.
"Well, I'll let you guys get to it," Zoey bid farewell and left to join her teammates.
"Bye Zoey!" Gwen smiled and turned back to Duncan. "She seems nice."
"Yeah, she does."
Maybe too nice?
Voting didn't take too long. It was already evening, since the digging had taken so long, so everyone was in a rush to get it over with. Duncan voted for Jo, because she was incredibly pushy and he couldn't handle it.
I can't believe I thought she would be cool…
"Alright! Welcome to tonight's elimination ceremony!" Chris announced as the teams sat around the campfire. "The Villains lost this challenge, which means one of them will be going home! The following campers… are safe! Heather, Duncan, Scott, Gwen, and Alejandro! Jo and Lightning, you're on the chopping block! Jo, you were constantly yelling at your teammates, and Lightning, you miscounted the pieces! The next camper is going home… Lightning! You'll be taking the Flush of Shame!"
"Aw, sha-what?"
"And that's our show! This has been Total. Drama. All-stars!...Alright, cameras are off."
Duncan wasn't looking forward to spending the night in that shitty cabin with his teammates, but after a day of sifting through sand, he was too tired to care.
"Good night," he called out to Gwen as she left for the girl's cabin.
"It's not gonna be good. But thanks."
The sounds of Heather and Jo arguing could be heard from outside.
Sorry, Gwen. I don't envy you.
In the guy's cabin, the heat was borderline unbearable. Still, Duncan laid on top of his bed and tried to fall asleep. Apparently, Scott could sleep under any conditions, because he was already out of it. Alejandro was in a sleeping bag, so the heat must have had no effect on him either. That left Duncan alone to ponder the day's events.
It was a common pattern he experienced on this show. He was always the last person to fall asleep. His thoughts usually kept him up, even when he was at home, but when he was surrounded by other people who fell asleep the moment their head hit the pillow, his sleeping problems became much more obvious.
He took the opportunity to grab the sketchbook he had stuffed in his bag. If he wasn't going to sleep, he may as well be productive. He flipped to a new page and began to sketch aimlessly.
Zoey was being so nice today... I wonder if she's actually like that, or if it's an act she's putting on to win...
In the girls bedroom in the Spa Hotel, none of the campers were asleep. Sierra was blogging, which meant she loudly narrated every word she typed.
"Dear blog, today, we won our first challenge! It's been really hard not having Cody here," she took a framed picture of him out of her bag and stared longingly for a moment, "but I'm still making a lot of new friends. Tomorrow, we-"
"Do you have to do that right now?" Courtney whined. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
For her part, Zoey couldn't get over the picture of Cody.
That's just weird. And creepy. I wonder if he knows she has it… People say I'm weird, but at least I would never do that.
"Yup! I have to update it every night!" She smiled.
"Is there any way you could… not narrate out loud?" Zoey asked while making eye contact with Cody, who was in her direct line of sight.
"Fine, I guess," Sierra huffed.
"Thanks, Sierra," Zoey smiled. "Um, is there any chance you could maybe turn Cody a little bit that way?"
"Why?" Sierra growled. "Is he bothering you? You don't like him?"
"No! No, not at all. It's fine. I'll just… deal with it."
Great, now he's gonna watch me while I sleep… Would it be obvious if I took a different bed? Probably… oh, well.
She sealed her eyes closed the rest of the night.