A/N In the middle of writing this chapter, my dad called me over and asked me what I was writing. I almost shit myself. I just said, "uhh… like, stuff." I couldn't tell him that his adult daughter was writing Total Drama fanfiction. I just couldn't do it. So, he probably thinks I'm writing erotic novels or something, which is better than him knowing the truth. Enjoy! :)
Chapter Three:
"Dude, how can you sleep like that?" Scott stared up at Alejandro, who was curled in a sleeping bag on the top bunk. "Aren't you drenched in sweat right now?"
It was nearly 6am, and the entire guy's cabin was wide awake. Nobody could sleep soundly in those uncomfortable beds, and the heat only made matters worse.
"After my stint in that robot suit, I'm unable to sleep all… spread out," Alejandro explained. "And the heat doesn't bother me one bit!"
For his part, Duncan barely slept at all, which wasn't unusual for him, but it didn't make him feel any more well-rested.
"You know, this actually reminds me of the farm," Scott sighed wistfully. "The beds are uncomfortable back there too."
"We know, Scott," Duncan rolled his eyes. "You sleep on pillow cases filled with live animals. You told us."
There was a sudden screaming in the distance.
"Heather, you bitch!" Jo shrieked.
"Fuck you! You're making everybody on this team miserable!" Heather screamed in response.
"Well," Alejandro smiled. "It sounds like they're having fun."
"Sounds like a shitshow," Duncan sighed.
"Duncan, did you sleep last night?" Alejandro asked. "I don't recall you ever going to bed."
"Why do you care?" Duncan narrowed his eyes.
"What? I'm not allowed to show concern for a fellow teammate?"
"No."
"I fucking hate this team!" Gwen could be heard yelling from far away. "Both of you, just shut up!"
"Guess we're not falling back asleep," Scott buried his head in his pillow.
"Gwen sounds pretty upset…" Alejandro noted. "Duncan, shouldn't you go over there and comfort her? Since you're her boyfriend and all?"
"I'm not her boyfriend," Duncan knew Alejandro was trying to rile him up. "I'm not Gwen's boyfriend, and I was never Courtney's boyfriend either."
"Hmm… I wonder why that is?"
"What are you saying?" Duncan challenged him.
"Nothing!" Alejandro put his hands up in mock-defense. "Your eyeliner is smudging, by the way."
That fucking bastard… He knows exactly what he's doing.
"Thank you for letting me know," Duncan smiled.
"Anytime."
"Will you two shut up?" Scott complained. "At least try to be quiet so the rest of us can sleep."
"Alright, campers!" Chris' voice echoed outside. "It's time for your next challenge!"
Scott tossed his pillow onto his bed. "Nevermind, I guess."
Breakfast in the cabins was completely different from the previous morning. Chef had left them buckets of gruel.
"Wait, this is actually so good," Scott shoved a fistful into his mouth. "Just like how we make it on the farm!"
"I'm gonna pass on that," Duncan stared at the slop, feeling the bile rise in his throat.
It's so wet and watery…
He expected Alejandro to make some comment, but he also looked a little bit grossed out.
"Ah… me too."
Over in the Spa Hotel, the Heroes were getting ready to leave for their challenge.
Well, most of them. Sam was still on Boney Island, and Courtney had gone off to do her own thing, which left Zoey, Mike, Sierra, and Cameron in the kitchen.
"I hope Sam's doing alright," Cameron fidgeted with his hands.
"We can take some food for him?" Zoey suggested. "At least he won't be hungry when he gets back."
"Good idea," Mike smiled at her.
"Yeah," Cameron added, taking an apple from a bowl on the kitchen table. "I still feel bad he missed out on the Spa Hotel…"
"What are we doing?" Sierra looked up from her phone. "I didn't hear you."
More like you weren't paying attention…
"We're bringing some food for Sam," Zoey kindly explained.
"Aw! That's so nice of you!" Sierra smiled. "I'll totally join, I just have to post this update."
"Um, Sierra," Mike scratched the back of his head. "What exactly do you post on there?"
"Oh! Do you want to read it?"
"Ah, not really… Like, is it stuff that happens off-camera? I guess I was wondering?"
Poor guy, I'm sure he's nervous that Sierra will say something terrible about him to the entire world.
Zoey looked on with anticipation.
"Oh! You mean if I post people's secrets and stuff?"
"I don't know if I'd go that far, but-"
"Nah. I can't post anything that crazy. I want to, though! I used to post those kinds of things, but then the other contestants got really upset. Especially Courtney. Actually, don't tell her that. Anyways, once I got onto the show, I realized how annoying it was when people talked about me online! So, don't worry. I just post stuff that happens when the cameras are rolling!"
Mike seemed incredibly relieved by her words.
"Why, were you nervous?"
"A little bit," he admitted with a smile.
"Me too," Cameron spoke up.
"Aw, don't worry, guys!" She reassured her teammates. "I'm not that crazy. You should read my blogs from World Tour! There was nothing too shocking there. I'm not trying to ruin any careers or anything!" She smiled brightly.
Now if she would just get rid of Cody's photo…
"Heroes, let's get moving!" Chris yelled from outside. "We have a challenge to start!"
"Guess he's done waiting," Cameron murmured.
"Alright, I'm ready!" Courtney appeared in the kitchen. "Let's go!"
By the time the Heroes made it outside, the Villains were already waiting. Duncan watched as an intern in a helicopter dropped Sam off on the beach. He looked even worse than he did yesterday, if that was possible.
"Sam, welcome back!" Chris smiled.
"Well, he looks like shit," Heather whispered amongst her teammates.
Please don't let me go to Boney Island… Duncan looked on in worry. At that point, I'll just quit the whole show.
"Here, Sam," Zoey smiled warmly. "We brought some food for you."
The Heroes, minus Courtney, all pulled various pieces of food out of their pockets.
Ew, what the fuck? That would never happen on our team…
He sent Courtney a look of confusion, which she returned.
"You guys didn't tell me you were doing that…" she looked upset at being left out of the plan.
"Ah, sorry, Courtney," Cameron whispered. "Guess you just had to be there."
Well, that sounds kind of dick-ish…
"Honestly," Gwen murmured. "I would rather starve than eat bread that's been shoved in someone else's pocket. Touched by their greasy fingers. Ew," she pulled a face.
"You should tell Sam that," Duncan offered. "I'm sure he'd love to hear it."
"Alright, campers!" Chris announced. "Congrats on making it to your third challenge! As a reminder, the immunity statue is still buried somewhere on the Island! I'd get on that if I were you! Anyways, for today's challenge, you'll be playing paintball in the woods. Except this time, there's a twist! Instead of paintballs, you'll be using leeches! Isn't that fun?"
Hell yeah!
All of the Villains seemed thrilled by the prospect.
The Heroes appeared less than excited.
"Um, Chris?" Cameron raised his hand. "When taking into account the different… abilities of each team, doesn't this challenge seem a bit unfair? I mean, they're overall athletic… and they have, um, people, who may be a little more… familiar, with weaponry."
...Is he talking about me at the end there? Oh, that's too funny.
He could hear Gwen snickering next to him.
"You're talking about me?" Duncan sighed in mock-dramatic fashion, "Cameron, you wound me!"
"Yeah, now he's gonna leech you first!" Heather grinned, much to Cameron's horror.
"Exactly!" Chris smiled, "which is why the Heroes team is lucky to have a one-minute head start due to their last victory! Inside the forest are two crates containing your equipment… each team can pick only one! And the challenge starts… now!"
The Heroes wasted no time running into the woods.
"I think Cameron is actually scared of us," Gwen looked as the Heroes ran away.
"He's scared of everyone," Jo explained. "It's kinda his thing."
On the Heroes team, Zoey was still reeling from what Cameron had said.
I know he can be oblivious… but come one. You can't just say that about someone to their face. Now Duncan's gonna think that I think he's crazy or something… Oh, Cameron…
"Let's go!" Courtney cheered on her fellow team members. "We have to find the better crate!"
"I think it's down here!" Mike yelled. "Come on!"
"Alright, Villains!" Chris announced to the team that was left behind. "Get ready!"
"Guys, can we please not scream at each other this time?" Gwen begged. "I'm sure we're all exhausted."
"Gwen's right!" Heather agreed. "Let's stop fighting."
Weird… what's Heather planning?
"Definitely!" Jo smiled. "It's not worth destroying our team in order to win!"
Oh, they're all trying to manipulate her. Nice.
"Alright, Villains… go!" Chris ordered.
The team ran for the trees.
"Let's go team!" Jo yelled. "I believe in all of you!"
Vomit.
"Alright, where's the crates?" Scott spoke between gasps.
"Up ahead," Jo noticed, "but they're gonna get there first."
"I think I know a shortcut!" Gwen yelled.
"That's a wonderful idea, Gwen," Alejandro managed to smile while running on his hands, which Duncan didn't even think was possible.
"Yeah! Sounds great, Gwen!" Jo agreed.
"Alright, this way!" Gwen lead the rest of the team through a dense patch of trees. Sure enough, they ended up right next to the bigger crate, beating the Heroes by mere seconds.
"Gotcha," Alejandro sent them a wink.
The Villains opened the crate to find several paintball guns, a cannon, and a large bucket of leeches.
"Aw, nice!" Duncan picked up a gun.
"Who's gonna take the cannon?" Gwen wondered.
"I'll do it!" Jo offered.
"No, I'll do it," Heather forced a smile.
"Guys!" Alejandro warned. "We should use it as a team."
"Exactly!" Gwen sighed with relief. "We should take turns!"
"That's a great plan, Gwen!" Heather beamed. "Jo, why don't you go first?"
"Why, thank you, Heather! That's so kind of you!"
Ok, now they're taking it too far.
"Sorry, am I missing something?" Scott looked baffled. "Why is everyone being nice?"
"Because it's the right thing to do, Scott," Heather nodded wisely. "Now, how should we do this?"
"Why don't we split up?" Gwen offered.
"Great idea!" Heather cheered. "I'll go with you."
"Actually, I think I'll go with Gwen," Alejandro interrupted.
"Oh my God, let's all go by ourselves!" Scott was clearly fed up.
"Good idea, Scott," Gwen smiled.
"What- really?" Scott was shocked.
"Yup! It'll be harder for them to find us. Now, let's go! We're a bigger target if we stay together like this."
Out of nowhere, a leech sailed through the trees, hitting Alejandro in the leg.
Welp, too late.
"Who was that!?" Jo fired the cannon in the direction of the attacker. Unfortunately, Scott was standing in the way, so he was blasted by a clump of leeches.
Duncan quickly looked to see if Heather was pissed, but she was somehow keeping it together.
"Jo… I… no! It's ok. It was an honest mistake," she smiled through gritted teeth.
"Everybody run!"
She didn't have to tell Duncan twice.
I can't listen to this shit anymore…
He picked a direction at-random and started to run, paintball gun in hand.
After three seasons on this show, surely Gwen can see right through what they're doing.
Then, Duncan remembered he was supposed to be doing a challenge. He slowed down and tried to listen for anyone who might be nearby.
At this rate, with everyone split up, this challenge is gonna take forever.
Duncan crept through the woods, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He risked looking down to observe his gun.
Let's see if I can figure out how this thing works…Is it even loaded? That would be funny.
He pulled the trigger experimentally, shooting a leech into the ground.
"Who's there!?" Cameron yelled frantically from nearby.
Well, that answers that question.
Duncan kept walking in the opposite direction he heard Cameron screaming from. No doubt he wasn't alone, and Duncan didn't feel like dealing with an ambush. Besides, if anyone was going home that night, it would be Heather or Jo, not him. He'd take the opportunity to be alone for a while.
On the Heroes, they were trying to figure out a strategy.
"I can't believe we have to use slingshots…" Courtney stared at the tool in disdain.
"Yeah… hah…" Sam was stumbling around.
There's no way he can continue like this…
"I'm gonna take Sam somewhere safe," Zoey decided. "He can't stay out in the open like this."
She grabbed onto his arm. He immediately put half his weight on her.
"Thanks, Zoey," he gasped.
"Stay safe out there," Mike wished her luck.
"The rest of us should split up. It'll be much harder to find us," Cameron informed his team.
"Oh, Cody-kins!" Sierra lifted Cameron into the air and held him close. "I won't let you go anywhere!"
The other members stared in confusion.
Um… what?
"Ah, Sierra? I'm not Cody. I'm Cameron," he wriggled in her grasp.
"Shh… I won't leave you alone," Sierra cooed.
This is so uncomfortable to watch… Is Sierra alright?
"Well, um, I think me and Sam are gonna get going…" Zoey trailed off. "So, good luck guys!"
"Yeah, bye," Courtney stared at Sierra's display in disgust.
I guess she really DOES need that picture of Cody to keep her sanity.
"Where we going?" Sam huffed. "Zoey? That you?"
"Yup, it's me, Sam," she sighed, trying to hold him up. "I'm taking you somewhere to rest."
"Oh! Thank you, Zoey…You're always so nice."
"No problem, Sam."
"Mike's a lucky guy, you know…"
She almost stopped walking.
I hate when people say things like that… Is it misogynistic? Maybe I'm overreacting. But I never know how to answer.
"Uh, thanks," she kept moving. "Maybe we should be quiet. I don't want to give away our location."
"Mh-hmm."
She had no idea where to put him. Hopefully, there would be a cave nearby, but until then she tried to stay as quiet as possible. Sam wasn't helping. He kept stumbling around and crashing into things.
What am I gonna do with him? Still, it was nice of him to go to Boney Island…
Meanwhile, Duncan was still wandering through the woods. He had yet to find anybody else, but Chris' announcements let him know who was still in the game.
"And, Sierra is out!" Chris yelled. "The Villains are in the lead!"
Well, she was always… odd. And during World Tour-
Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise in the bushes.
Ah, shit.
He drew his gun and stayed close to the ground.
How hard is it to shoot one of these things? I feel like it's really hard to aim a gun… It's gonna be so embarrassing when I miss completely.
Duncan figured his best course of action was to move away from the noise. He took a few steps towards a denser patch of shrubs and moved aside a branch to find Mike standing right there.
Oh, fuck.
Mike looked as shocked as Duncan felt. He stared at his opponent with a wide-eyed gaze, mouth partially open.
What do I say? Do I shoot him? What should I do?
It appeared Mike had no idea what to do either. They just stared at each other.
Um…
"Mike! Look out!"
They both turned to see Zoey standing there, half-holding Sam, who looked like a wreck.
She can't grab her slingshot while holding him…
"Hey, Zoey!" Duncan waved. "Well, I'll be heading off now! See you guys later!"
He turned on his heel and ran into the thick patch of trees behind him. There's no way Mike would recover quickly enough to hit him, and Zoey was too preoccupied. So, he vanished without issue.
Zoey watched as he disappeared.
"Why'd we stop?" Sam whined.
"Just a moment," Zoey bit back her frustration at his complaining.
Why didn't Mike shoot him?
"Are you alright?" She called out to her boyfriend.
"Sorry," he smiled at her and shook his head. "He just caught me off guard. I guess I should pay better attention… Do you want me to take Sam?"
"Nah, I've got him…I think we went in circles."
He does get distracted sometimes… But that was nice of Duncan to not eliminate all of us. He could have won the challenge if he wanted to….
"What are you guys doing, standing around?" Courtney's voice came from nearby.
Oh, great.
"Team reunion…" Sam wheezed.
"You still haven't put him somewhere?" Courtney noticed Sam hunched over. "Here, I'll take him."
"You're sure?" Zoey was surprised by her willingness to help.
"Well, you didn't do it," she offered Sam an arm. "We're gonna lose at the rate you're going."
Of course, she has to say something rude. But I guess she has a point.
"Fine," Zoey decided. "Let's all split up again. Good luck, guys."
I don't want to be rude back to her, right? She clearly cares a lot about winning. So, I'll just deal with it. No point in making a scene.
She ran off, hoping one of the Villains wasn't hiding in the bushes waiting to ambush her.
For his part, Duncan had returned to aimlessly wandering.
Fuck, ok… that was bad, but it wasn't tooo bad. It could've been worse.
"Duncan!" Someone hissed from nearby.
"Shit, who's there?"
"It's just me," Gwen stepped out from behind a tree and jogged towards him. "Did I tell you I hate this challenge?"
"Not yet."
"Well, I do. Those leeches are disgusting."
"Oh? You don't like how they squirm all over your skin?"
"Oh my God, stop it, stop it," she covered her ears. "I can't even think about it."
"You can use me as a human shield. I'm sure my blood is delicious."
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't see how that will- fuck, what was that?"
Duncan and Gwen could hear a slight rustling noise from nearby.
"There!" Sierra shrieked, Cameron in her arms holding his slingshot.
"Sierra, I thought you were eliminated!" Gwen yelled.
"But I can still hang around my Cammy-Bear!"
For his part, Cameron fired a leech directly at Gwen's face.
"Gwen, look out!" Duncan shoved her out of the way, taking a leech to the forehead. "Oh, gross," he ripped the thing off of his face.
She quickly raised her gun and fired at Cameron, but not before he fired another round in her direction, effectively showering both her and Duncan in leeches before Gwen hit him square in the chest.
"Ew! Oh my God," Gwen flailed her arms, sending the leeches flying in all directions.
"How dare you hit my Cammy!" Sierra growled.
"Sierra! Who cares? We're all eliminated now," Gwen was pissed.
"Well… you still shouldn't have done it," she pouted.
"And lose on purpose!?"
"I don't know!"
"Sierra, it's fine," Cameron tried to calm her down. "Let's just wait for the challenge to end."
"And, the Villains are down 3-2!" Chris announced from somewhere.
"Great," Gwen sighed. "Well, I guess they might pull it off. It's Heather and Jo, after all."
Back on the Heroes team, Zoey was completely alone. Well, Courtney and Sam were still out there, but Mike had been eliminated by Heather a few minutes ago, and that's what really mattered.
She considered herself to be fairly athletic, but she knew she couldn't compare to Jo.
I mean, she'd crush me. And she has a cannon. But maybe she won't even find me! Then again, is Heather that much better?
Brushing a few stray hairs out of her face, she jogged as quietly as possible through the forest.
When she saw Heather a few yards ahead, she almost fell over.
Heather had her back turned to her. Zoey knew she only had one chance to hit her, or she'd spin around and fire rounds of leeches in her direction.
Steady…
Zoey pulled back on the slingshot, one eye closed as she aimed at Heather's back.
Please work please work please work…
Zoey fired a leech right towards Heather, hitting her in the shoulder.
Yes!
"What the fuck?" Heather spun around. Upon seeing Zoey, she narrowed her eyes in disdain. "Oh, it's you."
Oh God, she's so intimidating, she probably hates me now.
"Um, hi."
"Well… you better get running. I'm sure Jo will be looking for you," she smiled. "You better not let her win, or I'll be really pissed. Good luck!"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks. Will do."
She took the opportunity to run away, unsettled by Heather's determination to eliminate Jo.
Why would she want her own team to lose? Makes no sense…
Still, she needed to find Jo. She wasn't too worried, since Courtney and Sam (well, mostly Courtney) were still in the game.
But where are they? Maybe they ended up finding a cave?
She tried to remember where she had last seen them, but she was spun around in the woods.
There's no way I'll find them…
"And, the Heroes are up 3-1!" Chris announced from somewhere.
Well, I can't give up now. I'm sure they're somewhere near here.
She was left to wander through the trees, hoping she would find somebody.
Fortunately, Jo was prone to yelling.
"Aha! Now I've got you!" She could hear the jock screaming from nearby.
That tipped her off. Zoey ran in the direction of the noise until she found a small cave tucked away. Honestly, it was impressive that Jo was able to find her teammates hiding in there. She crept closer and peeked inside, trying to hide her location.
Jo had Courtney and Sam cornered with a cannon full of leeches.
"Alright, who's gonna go first?" She prepared to fire the machine.
"Come on, Jo!" Courtney pleaded. "I'm sure we can work something out here. You seem very… reasonable."
"Fat chance!" Jo fired the cannon. Courtney grabbed Sam and ducked behind him, letting him take a faceful of leeches.
What? How could she do that? It's just so… mean. She knows that Sam's exhausted from Boney Island!
Zoey stepped out from her hiding place and fired a leech at Jo, ending the game.
"And, the Heroes win!" Chris announced. "Villains, head to the voting booth!"
"Woah, good job Zoey!" Courtney smiled at her.
"Yeah… thanks."
Back on the Villains, they walked over to the voting booths immediately after the challenge.
"What is this trend of challenges taking forever?" Gwen complained. "We were in the woods all day."
"I'm sure we would've won if somebody didn't eliminate one of their own teammates," Scott huffed, clearly upset about the earlier incident.
"That's so true, Scott!" Heather agreed. "That was definitely a major setback. Well, and the fact that another member of the team can't use their hands. Two drawbacks!"
Well, it's clear who she wants to eliminate… I guess I'll vote for Jo, since she's unbearable.
Duncan really didn't care whether they won or lost at this point. He just wanted the voting to be over so he could go to bed. Well, at least lie in bed. He already knew he wasn't sleeping, but he'd take any excuse not to talk to his teammates.
So, he crossed out Jo's picture and quickly waited for the ceremony to be over.
"Alright, campers! Welcome to tonight's elimination ceremony!" Chris announced as everybody gathered around the campfire. "Today, the Heroes snagged another win! Villains, you might want to pick up the pace, hehe. Heroes, who wants to volunteer for Boney Island?"
"I'll do it!" Cameron stood up.
"No!" Sierra shrieked. "No, no, no! He'll die out there," she wailed. "I'll do it!"
"Um, alright!" Cameron stared at her. "Thanks, Sierra."
"Anything for you, Cammy-bear."
"Oh, no…"
"Anyways, moving on!" Chris announded. "The following campers are safe! Gwen, Duncan, Scott, and Alejandro! Heather and Jo, you're in the bottom two! The following camper… is safe!...Heather! You're staying another day! Jo, you're out!"
"Oh, you fuckers!" Jo seethed.
"We can't use that footage, Jo," Chris reminded her.
"Fuck off, McLean."
"Alright! Now, instead of ending the ceremony, I have a little announcement to make!"
"Oh God…" Gwen shuddered.
"During today's challenge, one of the Villains acted like a Hero, and one of the Heroes acted like a Villain!"
Wow, I don't care.
"Anyways, to reflect this interesting development, I've decided to do some reshuffling on the teams!"
"Maybe he'll let me switch," Gwen whispered.
"What? You're not having fun with Heather and Alejandro?" Duncan whispered back.
"Don't make me laugh."
"Now, here's what I decided!" Chris commanded everyone's attention. "Two of you are gonna switch places! Courtney, you'll be on the Villains team, and Duncan, you'll be on the Heroes team!"
...Fuck.