Hey, everybody, and welcome to Area 51!
Before we start I owe you all an apology! I reread the story on and the formatting with the confessionals did NOT come out as it did when I typed it up on Google Docs. They are sort of difficult to read and I'd like to apologize for that.
Since the hyphens I'm putting in the story to separate confessionals aren't showing up on , I'm instead going to put the confessionals in bold to make them easier to read and separate.
As always, thanks for the kind words in your reviews, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Team Chris is Really Really Really Really Hot slept through the night in economy class, which was becoming their home away from home.
Noah stirred in his sleep slightly, slowly opening his eyes. In front of him stood a familiar delinquent, inches away from his face.
Noah's eyes widened in horror but quickly lowered back to their usual sarcastic deadpan. "So you're going to kiss me, now, huh?"
Duncan did not appreciate Noah's joke, as he grabbed the bookworm's lip in an apparent homage to their first ever conversation. "Listen up, little buddy," he threatened in a whisper. "I don't like that I have to be back on this stupid show, but now that I'm here, and now that everyone knows about me and Gwen, I ain't going out like this, okay? And I'm certainly not going out under the watchful eye of some big-headed dweeb."
"Give big-headed dweebs a break," Noah quipped. "They're the ones responsible for getting you out of prison."
"Oh, you think this is funny?" Duncan twisted Noah's lip, causing pain to shoot through his head. "Here's what's going to happen. You and I are going to convince our friend Owen to vote off Meathead next. If you refuse, there will be consequences. These consequences could involve your place in the game and your chance at a million bucks, or it could involve the use of all of your limbs. That's for you to find out." Duncan finally let go of Noah's lip. "Now, get some sleep, little buddy."
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Great, so now I have both Duncan and Heather making threats at me," Noah sighed. "I really can't catch a break, can I? I wonder how Alejandro would have dealt with all this. He probably would have just flirted with Gwen or something. Who knows?"
==CONFESSIONAL==
"I had to put Dweeby in his place," Duncan shrugged. "My days here were numbered if I did otherwise."
In victory class, Gwen, Heather, Ezekiel, and Courtney slept. Gwen had a look of guilt racked on her face - no doubt she was having a nightmare - and Courtney occasionally released an involuntary sob. Heather and Ezekiel slept like babies.
"Hey, Codykins," Sierra asked her crush. "You up?"
"You are literally sitting right next to me," Cody sighed. "I am up."
"I just can't stop thinking about the whole thing with Gwuncan," Sierra said. "If only I had my computer! This has about thirty blog posts written all over it! 'Duncan cheats on Courtney! Gwen a homewrecker!'"
"Hey, first of all, what home was Gwen wrecking exactly?" Cody defended Gwen. "Courtney and Duncan were in shambles. Weren't they broken up already?"
"Common misconception," Sierra explained. "They had broken up before, but as of when Gwen and Duncan kissed, Duncney was still together."
"Well, I still don't see how Gwen is responsible for this at all," Cody harrumphed.
"Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson!" Sierra creepily recited Cody's full name in scolding. "What did Heather say? Stay away from Gwen! She's gonna drag you down with her!"
"I kinda like that Gwen, eh," Ezekiel's head peeked over from the seat in front of Cody and Sierra. "Hey, do you guys think she's single?"
Cody and Sierra looked at each other in disbelief.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Does Zeke have any idea about . . . anything?" Cody wondered.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"I suppose it makes sense that Zeke doesn't understand the situation seeing as he's been stowing away in the cargo hold for weeks," Sierra thought aloud. "Still, though. Wow. I didn't think anyone could be that dense."
She then grabbed her ponytail. "Do you think Codykins likes the way I do my hair? I was thinking of wearing it out but I'm not sure."
"WAKEY WAKEY, PASSENGERS!" Chris' voice boomed over the loudspeaker, as the contestants groggily awoke, groaning. "PLEASE REPORT TO THE COMMON AREA AS WE APPROACH OUR DESTINATION. THANKS! OH, AND IN CASE YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE WAKING UP . . ." An immense airhorn noise sounded over the loudspeaker, causing all ten of the contestants to jump up in surprise.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"As so much changes, one constant remains the same," Gwen noted. "Chris sucks. I think everybody can agree on that."
The two teams made their way to the common area, where breakfast awaited them - bags of airline peanuts.
"Not only is this disgusting, but it's lazy," Heather criticized. "These are just the elimination peanuts."
"If there's one thing I've learned during my time in the cargo hold, it's not to take food for granted, eh," Ezekiel dug into his vomit-soaked peanuts. Heather stifled a gag.
"Hey, wait a second," Sierra moved her finger from, Noah to Owen to Tyler and to Duncan. "Team Chris still has all its members?"
"Duncan was supposed to get the boot, but Chris decided to spare him for ratings," Owen explained.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"THE ONE THING YOU DO ALMOST EVERY EPISODE, YOU COULDN'T DO - NOT BECAUSE IT WAS A REWARD CHALLENGE - BUT BECAUSE OF RATINGS?!" Courtney screamed into the camera. "YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER LAWSUIT COMING, MCLEAN!"
"Don't worry, Duncan's not going anywhere," Duncan smiled as he took a seat. Noah and Owen exchanged a glance as they sat with him, Tyler also swallowing a lump in his throat as he took a seat. None of this went unnoticed by Heather.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"That little punk's got his entire team wrapped around his pinky finger," Heather noted. "Maybe I gave Noah too much credit."
Courtney, however, was not ready to accept Duncan's quick remark. "Oh, rest assured, you brute, you will be out of that plane the next time your team loses! MARK MY WORDS!"
"Your words don't really mean much to me, Court," Duncan shrugged.
A fresh bout of tears pooled out of Courtney's eyes. "Did I mean anything to you?"
Duncan had not been anticipating this question. "Well, I-I mean . . . no, uh, yes, you did, of course . . . but things changed," the delinquent stood up in an attempt to be civil. "Sorry, Princess," he said genuinely.
"I TOLD YOU NEVER TO CALL ME THAT AGAIN!" Courtney shrieked, kicking Duncan in the groin. He doubled over in pain as Courtney cried. "WE ARE THROUGH! FOREVER!"
"Fine by me," Duncan said, his voice slightly squeakier than usual as he lay on the ground doubled over in searing pain. "But if it means . . . anything . . . I'm really, really sorry things ended up the way they did . . ."
"First of all, no, it doesn't mean anything," Courtney hissed. "Second, if you weren't happy, YOU COULD HAVE JUST BROKEN UP WITH ME!"
"Courtney, are you gonna eat your airline peanuts, eh?" Ezekiel butted in. Courtney gave him a monstrous glare that caused him to duck under the table, before turning back to Duncan.
"I hope you and Gwen are happy together," she said, scarily calm. "You're both disgusting, despicable traitors."
Every word from Courtney appeared to be a dagger in Gwen's heart. She couldn't bring herself to even look up, staring down at her soggy bag of airline peanuts. Cody noticed this, puffing up his chest.
"That's enough!" he mockingly pulled back his sleeves, marching up to Courtney. "Leave Gwen alone!"
==CONFESSIONAL===
"Oh my God," Noah deadpanned.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Kid's got some guts, gotta admire that," Duncan shrugged.
"Cody, no!" Sierra whisper-yelled to the apple of her eye. "Remember what -"
"Can it, Sierra," Cody interrupted, getting into Courtney's confused face. "Listen up, Courtney. Your yelling is just making the situation worse. Obviously Gwen is already upset that she kissed Duncan and not the Codemeister."
"You're not helping, Ladykiller," Duncan glared.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chris giggled as he entered the room. "Looks like I might be interrupting something! Oopsie! But your little drama is gonna have to wait until we get to today's challenge."
The plane began its descent as the contestants stood around Chris in bitter silence.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"I don't have anything against Cody," Courtney said honestly. "He's too pitiful to hate. His problem is he's under a witch's spell."
"Welcome, contestants!" Chris smiled at the teens, who stood around in the cool nighttime Mojave air, "to Area 52!"
"Could we not get the rights to Area 51, or something?" Noah asked. "Or are we not allowed in there on account of the fact that it's a secret military base and we could be shot on sight at any moment now?"
Tyler swallowed a lump in his throat and hid behind Owen.
"Actually, Area 51 is right over there," Chris gestured to another part of desert that looked identical to the one they were in at the moment. "Duncan's standing in it right now!"
Duncan was promptly fired at with a laser, causing him, too, to duck behind Owen. Courtney laughed maniacally at Duncan's misfortune.
"Anyway, the challenge - teams must sneak into Area 51 while the most elite of the American military tries to keep you out," Chris explained.
"Doesn't America have, like, the strongest military in the world?" Gwen asked meekly.
"Perfect! Then they couldn't possibly miss shooting you, New Heather," Heather smirked.
==CONFESSIONAL==
Gwen looked close to tears, though it was hard to tell if it was out of anger or sadness. "New Heather? Heather has no respect for anyone, and plays the game ruthlessly! She even kissed Trent when . . . I . . ." Realizing Heather's argument, Gwen began sobbing.
Gwen wiped the tears from her eyes as Cody looked on in concern.
"It's okay, guys, I have friends in the American military who are in the base tonight," Chris informed. "So I promise you that Chef and I are in absolutely no danger."
"That's a relief," Noah rolled his eyes.
"The rest of you have to find some way to get past security and into the base's storage facility. Find an alien artifact and bring it to me for your team's victory! Whichever team doesn't do this, or shows up last, is saying goodbye to a loser later!"
Courtney glared at Gwen and looked up in thought.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"As much as I want that boneheaded ogre to go home, I have a much easier opportunity to vote off Gwen," Courtney thought aloud.
"Aaaaaand go!" Chris blared an airhorn.
Owen began running, but quickly noticed there was no one else running with him. "Guys? Hello?"
"We're, uh, right behind you, buddy," Noah smiled sheepishly, as he, Duncan, and Tyler ran directly behind Owen, using him as a human shield.
A small rocket was fired from the base up ahead, but its shell merely bounced off of Owen, eliciting a ticklish giggle from him and sighs of relief from the rest of the team.
Team Amazon, on the other hand, wasn't running at all.
"What's the hold up, eh? Zekester wants to get movin'," Ezekiel ran in place, showing his determination.
"I think we're gonna sit this challenge out, actually," Courtney yawned. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we could really use a breather. We've earned it."
Heather gave Courtney a dirty look, and walked up to her. "Um, yeah, that's not gonna fly. We can all see right through you and why you're doing this - well, everyone but Homeschool - and it's not gonna fly. I don't know about you, but I really like victory class, and don't want to sleep on a sheet of metal because you have a chip on your shoulder."
Courtney's eye twitched at this direct refusal of her orders. All was quietly tense, until Ezekiel spoke up. "Ohhhh, wait, I'm Homeschool, right?"
"I agree with Heather," Cody shuddered as the words left his lips. "We're doing the challenge!"
"Whatever Cody says, goes!" Sierra squealed her mantra.
"Yeah, let's get out there, eh!" Ezekiel hopped up, reinvigorated again.
Gwen looked at Courtney, who, outnumbered, glared bitingly. "Fine. Let's go."
Duncan's ex took her sweet time getting to her feet and marching the team towards the base.
"The other team has a huge lead on us," Sierra lamented. As she noted this, an explosion rocked Team Chris in the distance. Even Duncan, Tyler, and Noah couldn't escape the fallout from this, as all four boys were sent flying into the air.
"Oh, and did I mention the minefield?" Chris' voice boomed over a loudspeaker somewhere. "Probably should have mentioned the minefield. Hehe."
"How could this get any less safe?" Ezekiel wondered.
With this, the familiar chime of a bell rang twice, signaling that it was time for a musical number.
"No way," Heather groaned.
"Yes way!" Chris' voice replied happily. "This is a Team Amazon song, but I only really need Courtney to sing, because I think she's got a lot to sing about!"
Courtney's frown turned even more bitter as she prepared to sing over a rock beat. "Boyfriend kisser, I thought she was my friend, but now it's time to diss her. Sure, we've had some fun times, but I'm not gonna miss her now!"
"Boyfriend kisser!" Heather sang backup as the team carefully approached the minefield.
"You're gonna get what's coming to you if it's the last thing I ever do!"
"That's right!" Heather added to Courtney, as the latter glared at Gwen.
"That's right!" Gwen looked terrified at Courtney
"That's right!" Cody frowned with concern at Gwen.
"That's right!" Sierra held Cody close.
"Let's go a little back we captured Duncan in a sack," Courtney reminisced.
"And had a laugh attack when you stretched me on the rack," Heather recalled stingingly.
"All those times you made me smile, you wanted my man all the while!" Courtney frowned.
"Duh!" Sierra shook her head. "It was so obvious!"
"It was?" Ezekiel asked.
"Boyfriend kisser!" Courtney continued passionately, glaring at Gwen. "You're not my new sister - you're a pussy, gothy, nasty blister!"
"Boyfriend kisser!" Heather added. Each word seemed to make Gwen less and less afraid and more and more depressed. However, even the queen bee looked around with concern, as Team Chris ran further and further ahead. Cody seemed to get an idea, throwing some candy from his pocket onto the minefield. This set off the explosives, and allowed the group to proceed.
"You're gonna get what's coming to you," Courtney, Heather, and even Ezekiel, who was having the time of his life singing again.
"If it's the last thing I ever do," Courtney ended the song by herself with one last glare to Gwen. The group followed Cody past the mines.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"When Duncan spilled the beans in Greece I was terrified of Courtney," Gwen explained. "But now . . . I'm just upset at myself. Don't get me wrong, I really, really like Duncan, but the least I could have done was ask him to break up with Courtney." She sighed.
Team Chris approached the fence surrounding the large building. As Owen reached out a hand to the fence, a laser fired right where he was about to touch. All four members of Team Chris dove behind a large rock nearby.
"Okay, what's our approach with this thing?" Tyler asked nervously.
"You got any ideas, little buddy?" Owen asked, turning to Noah for guidance. Tyler looked to Noah as he would have looked to anyone who seemed like they had a clue what was going on, and Duncan's bored gaze also fell upon Noah.
"Oh," Noah pondered. "Um . . ."
==CONFESSIONAL==
Noah appeared a little uncomfortable. "Since Alejandro left, I've kind of been the de facto team leader, I guess. To be honest, it's taken some getting used to."
Noah surveyed the environment around them, noting an opening in the gate. "Everyone make a mad dash for that opening!" he decided, earning reluctant nods from Owen, Tyler, and Duncan. "Owen, um, you mind going first?"
Owen became determined. "Of course not! I live for danger! WOOOO!"
Owen dashed for the opening, with Noah, Tyler, and Duncan close behind to avoid lasers. Laser shots were fired at Owen, but they did nothing but tickle him.
As Owen approached the gate and elicited one more giggle, a large tube appeared from the ground and tried to suck him up. Fortunately, this just elicited another set of giggles - the tube was far too small to fit him. The team was not expecting a larger tube to come out and suck up Owen, disappearing without a trace.
"OWEN!" Noah, Tyler, and Duncan cried out in fear.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"How was I supposed to know using Owen like a human shield would have consequences?" Noah said, visibly distraught. "This is all my fault!"
"Come on, before that tube thing comes back!" Duncan grabbed Noah and Tyler and sprinted from the gate to the facility. A few guards exited through a doorway; Duncan stuck his foot in the door before it shut and ushered in his two teammates.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"I guess having a criminal record does have its perks," Duncan shrugged.
Close behind them was Team Amazon, also finding themselves with the predicament of the laser defense system.
"Offer the lasers Gwen as a sacrifice," Courtney offered, completely serious.
"Maybe we shouldn't do that," Sierra swallowed a lump in her throat, eyeing the deadly laser as it shot at an innocent little rabbit hopping by. The rabbit became charred and sprinted away.
"I got this, eh," Ezekiel stood up triumphantly.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Back on the farm, my uncle got abducted by aliens one time, eh," Ezekiel explained. "So I know all about this crazy laser weaponry and how to deflect it."
"Zeke, what are you doing?!" Gwen whispered.
"No, I want to see how this turns out," Heather hushed her, smiling cruelly at Ezekiel.
The homeschool snatched a pocket mirror from Gwen's back pocket aiming it at the lasers. "The trick is to get 'em to shoot the mirror, and then shoot themselves back, eh," Ezekiel explained. As he informed his team of his methods, a laser fired, shooting Ezekiel where he had not been expecting - a direct shot to his crotch.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Right in the kiwis," Cody winced.
Duncan crept from box to box in the storage facility, keeping his eyes peeled for guards. A guilty-looking Tyler and a deadpan Noah followed suit.
"You sure seem to know a lot about escaping security," Noah quipped. "Wonder what that's all about?"
"Very funny, little buddy," Duncan retorted.
"I just feel awful about Owen," Tyler confessed. "Where do you think he is?"
"I'm . . . not sure," Duncan replied, a little upset as well. "I'm sure the big guy will be alright. Chris won't let him die onscreen."
The camera cut to Chris' quarters in the plane. The host smiled quizzically. "Won't I?" Chef shook his head, and Chris sighed, giving in. "No, I won't."
"Hey, I think I found an alien artifact," Tyler pointed to a large chamber with a locked garage door.
"I think Chris wanted something a bit . . . smaller," Noah reasoned. He walked over to a strangely-shaped, brightly-colored metal object near some boxes, gingerly picking it up. "Like this thing." As soon as the words left his lips, the object began blinking and beeping rapidly. Noah instinctively tossed it as far away as possible, which turned out to be a good decision as it exploded loudly, tearing a hole in the wall in the process.
"Nice going, little buddy," Duncan laughed.
"What was that? Hello?" From the chamber came Owen's voice. "Anyone?"
"OWEN?" Tyler yelled back. "ARE YOU IN THERE?"
Outside, Team Amazon approached the base, sneaking in through the new massive hole in the wall.
"Noah set off the security alarm!" Chris' omnipotent voice came over the loudspeaker. "That's gonna make finding an intact artifact a lot trickier! Everyone say 'thank you, Noah!'"
"Thank you, Noah," everyone groaned, except for Noah and Owen, the latter who was still locked away in a chamber.
"Alright, let's all split up," Courtney decided. "We'll have a better chance of finding an artifact."
==CONFESSIONAL==
"And, with a little luck, we won't be able to group up again at the end, or someone will get captured, and then it's bye-bye Gwen," Courtney smiled.
Unsurprisingly, Gwen used this opportunity to distance herself from the team. Courtney went off on her own, followed by a suspicious Heather.
"You and me, Codykins," Sierra squealed with her eyes closed. When she opened them, she saw she was standing alone. "Codykins?"
"She annoys you, huh?" Ezekiel asked Cody, as the two hid behind some boxes. Cody desperately hushed him, as Sierra sniffed the ground. "She does and all, but she'll find me eventually. I needed to get you alone to ask you for your help with something."
"What's that?" Ezekiel asked, once again at completely normal volume.
"Codykins? Was that you?" Sierra asked, approaching the boxes the boys were hiding behind.
Cody groaned. "Vote off Courtney next time we lose, okay?" he said quickly.
"Oh, okay! She's super scary, eh!"
"Who's super scary?" Sierra asked, smiling.
"Courtney," Ezekiel replied quickly. "Cody and I were talking about -"
"How scary she was," Cody interrupted.
"Oh, yeah, Courtney can get crazy, especially when she's mad!" Sierra nodded.
"Would you happen to think she's crazy enough to, say, be voted off next time we lose?" Cody tried.
"Oh, Codykins, we have to get rid of that horrible homewrecker first!" Sierra reminded him. "After that, we can vote off Courtney!"
"Gee, thanks," Cody rolled his eyes.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Sierra will do literally anything I ask her to do, except vote for Gwen," Cody groaned. "Or leave me alone."
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Wait, I'm confused, are we voting off Courtney or Gwen?" Ezekiel pondered.
"OWEN, DESCRIBE THE ROOM YOU'RE IN," Tyler yelled at the garage door. Duncan uneasily looked around to see if any security guards would inevitably hear Tyler's shouting.
"IT'S DARK," Owen yelled back, looking around. "OH, NEVER MIND, THE LIGHTS JUST TURNED ON. OH! THERE'S A PLATE OF COOKIES!"
"WHAT FLAVOR ARE THEY?" Tyler yelled.
Owen paused as he took a bite. "I DON'T KNOW. THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS ARE NEON BLUE AND THEY TASTE LIKE A FEELING I'VE NEVER ATE BEFORE."
"WHAT?" Tyler banged on the door desperately. A strange blue crate fell from the roof of the chamber to the top of Tyler's head, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Hey, that's an alien artifact!" Noah approached the box. He tried to pick it up, but failed.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Okay, so I don't have Tyler's abnormally strong fingers," Noah sighed. "Or really any physical strength at all. Heh."
"Hey, lover boy, can you give me a hand?" Noah looked up to find Duncan was gone. "Duncan? Hello?"
Heather stumbled upon a strange-looking portal, filled with a swirling blue liquid. She gently poked her finger at the strange liquid, and immediately found it impossible to get it back. Slowly, the portal began sucking her entire hand in, then her arm.
"HELP!" Heather called desperately, before her whole head was shoved into the portal. On the other side was a bizarre sight - a daycare classroom, operated by Chef.
"Okay, kids, it's time for lunch!" Chef said, dressed in a nice shirt and khakis.
"Lunch? Oh boy!" A small toddler who looked suspiciously similar to Owen ran ahead of his very familiar-looking classmates to the lunch tables.
"Hey, who's that lady on the ceiling?" a toddler that greatly resembled Noah asked, pointing curiously at Heather.
Back in the storage facility, Courtney watched Heather get sucked into this portal. "I need her vote to get rid of Gwen," she told herself as she grabbed Heather's leg, pulling her out of the portal.
The Queen Bee shuddered, before glaring at Courtney. "Took your sweet time, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Courtney couldn't help but giggle.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"The rack in London all over again," Heather frowned.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to, by the way," Heather frowned. "You're being uncharacteristically laid back about this challenge. And I have to remind you, I'm not going to take pity on you forever."
"You won't need to," Courtney shrugged. "Next time we lose and Gwen's gone, I'll never ask anything like this of you again."
"Funny. Like you had a choice," Heather rolled her eyes as she continued walking, looking for alien artifacts small enough to carry.
"Try not to get sucked into any more portals," Courtney yelled back - a little too loudly. She quickly jumped behind some boxes just before some security ran through, looking back and forth before leaving.
As Gwen sadly walked through the mountains of boxes, ducking occasionally to avoid Area 51 security personnel, she bumped into a familiar delinquent. Both looked happy to see each other.
"Thank goodness it's you," Gwen sighed.
"I get that a lot," Duncan teased.
"Look, the kiss was amazing. And so was the second one. But I still can't help but feel guilty for how everything turned out."
"I know what you mean," Duncan agreed. "I really should have broken up with Courtney. But the minute I got back on the plane she was all over me, pestering me and lecturing me but then hugging me and saying how much she missed me. I never had a minute to do it."
"I understand," Gwen nodded. "I get why things turned out the way they did. I just really, really wish they didn't."
"Hey," Duncan grabbed her hands. "We have each other, right?"
"Yeah," Gwen looked past Duncan, zoning out in thought.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"This whole thing is really getting to Gwen," Duncan sighed. "Obviously I'm getting flack for it too, but I've gotten flack for my every move for my whole life. I don't think Gwen is used to having everyone out to get her."
Tyler was finally conscious enough to pick up the large, metallic cube for Noah.
"Victory class, here we come!" Noah smiled.
"Hang on there, man, we can't leave Owen locked up," Tyler reminded the bookworm. "I never leave a man behind."
Noah nodded, as the two looked back at the chamber.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"This is where Tyler reminds me that he's not just a caveman, he's a caveman with a conscience," Noah frowned. "Voting him off is gonna be rough."
Before either of them could say another word, the box Tyler was holding started shaking violently. Tyler dropped it and both of them braced for another explosion. Instead, a strange, small Martian-looking alien appeared, joined soon after by an identical companion. The aliens eyed Noah and Tyler curiously.
Neither boy moved, frozen with shock and fear, until one of the aliens appeared to smile and hold out a finger. Noah watched with awe as Tyler held out his own hand, in a majestic display of contact between worlds.
Seconds later, the alien pounced on Tyler's face. The jock ran in circles, frantically screaming as the alien electrocuted him. Noah looked at the other alien and made a run for it, but the alien pinned him to the ground, giving him a massive electric shock as well. Both boys screamed in pain.
A few mountains of boxes away, Cody smiled triumphantly. "Look at these weird pod things! They look light enough to carry!" he boasted to Sierra and Ezekiel.
Sierra observed the strange, banana-shaped pods in front of them. Her look of curiosity turned into a smile. "Right you are, Codykins! First class is ours!"
Cody reached forward to touch one, and was met with a small electric shock. He winced, sucking his finger in his mouth as the pods began to vibrate. Suddenly, they burst open, and out emerged a half a dozen Cody clones, with green eyes glaring daggers at the group.
Ezekiel and Cody were horrified, but Sierra looked as though she was in Heaven. "LOOK AT ALL THESE CODYS!" the fangirl danced around, confusing the six Cody clones. Finally, she let loose a fangirl scream so shrill it shook the clones to their core, eventually exploding their heads and coating Cody, Sierra, and Ezekiel in green goop.
Duncan caught up with the rest of his team, watching Noah and Tyler squirm and scream frantically. He rolled his eyes, punching the alien attacking Tyler's face. The alien exploded into teal goop, to Tyler's disgust. Some of the goop went flying into the control panel of the chamber, short-circuiting it. The garage door slid open, and Owen emerged, with bizarre clown makeup all over his face and a large plate of cookies in his hand.
"Owen, what's the matter with your face?" Tyler asked.
Owen felt his face and recoiled in horror. Back in the plane, Chris and Chef laughed. The former took out a walkie-talkie. "Thanks, General! That was hilarious!"
"Duncan, get this alien off me!" Noah pleaded, as the alien continued electrocuting Noah mercilessly.
"Ah, maybe we should let it wear itself out," Duncan grinned at the bookworm, taking his sweet time.
Owen quickly ran over and pried the alien off of him. He held it squirming in his grasp like an angry puppy being lifted off the ground. "Someone get rid of this thing!"
Duncan grabbed a cardboard box from the mountain of boxes and scooped up the alien in it. "One intact alien artifact, to go."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tyler grabbed the box and made a run for the exit. Noah gave Duncan a dirty look as the two ran after him. Owen took up the rear, still clutching his plate of cookies.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Something about this challenge has helped me figure out who my true friends are, and who my true enemies are," Noah deadpanned.
"The boys are leaving!" Heather realized, watching Team Chris dash out the hole in the wall. "Do we have anything?"
Cody, Sierra, and Ezekiel approached, coated in green goop. They all shook their heads. Courtney desperately tried to conceal her joy. "Oh, no! We have no artifacts!"
"Not so fast!" Gwen said, dragging along the alien-summoning metal box that Team Chris had abandoned.
"Alright, Gwen!" Cody cheered.
"Ugh, fine," Sierra sighed. As the strongest member of her team physically, she lifted the box up and began the run to the exit. The rest of the team followed, and Courtney growled.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Gwen can only delay the inevitable for so long," Courtney warned.
"Hustle, guys," Duncan warned, peering over his shoulder to see Team Amazon approaching.
"No worries, Duncan, we got this in the bag," Tyler predicted triumphantly. No sooner had the last word left his lips than the unlucky jock stepped on a landmine, flying through the air and landing at Chris' feet. He held up a crushed box.
The host took a glance at its contents. "One box of deceased alien. That doesn't seem like an intact artifact to me."
The rest of Team Chris had arrived at the plane, and unhappily accepted their defeat as Team Amazon approached.
"Well, another elimination ceremony for Team Chris," Duncan looked at Noah. "And I think we all know how it's gonna go down."
"Cheer up, guys! You should have one of my cookies, they make you feel feelings you've never felt before! WOO!" Owen offered one of his bizarre, neon-sprinkled cookies to the group.
"Owen! You big, hungry genius!" Noah gasped, taking the cookie from Owen and handing it to Chris for inspection. "This is an alien cookie!"
Chris observed the strangely-colored cookie, cautiously taking a bite. His eyes widened, and he shuddered. "Right you are, Noah! This cookie is certainly not of this world. Team I Am So Smoking Hot wins!"
Owen brought Noah in for a victory hug, Duncan's eyes widened with pleasant surprise, and Tyler offered a weak thumbs-up from his faceplant.
Team Amazon arrived only a few short seconds later. The looks of enthusiasm on the faces of Team Chris told them everything they needed to hear.
"Everyone get on the plane!" Chris smiled. "It's elimination ceremony time for Team Amazon!"
==CONFESSIONAL==
"About time," Noah rolled his eyes.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Oh, Gwen," Duncan frowned with concern.
As some interns catered to Tyler's injuries, Owen and Noah clinked two soda bottles together.
"First class, baby!" Owen cheered, downing his soda in a single gulp and releasing a belch Immediately afterwards.
"Gotta say, I had forgotten how comfy these seats were," Noah agreed.
"I'm going to watch the elimination ceremony," Duncan walked down the aisle in between the rows. "Noah, why don't you take this time to talk strategy with Owen?"
Noah looked from Duncan's knowing expression to the unconscious Tyler. Duncan did not wait for an answer as he left the room.
"What's our strategy?" Owen asked Noah.
Noah sighed. "Well, Duncan and I were talking about maybe . . . voting off Tyler next."
Owen and Noah both looked at the unconscious jock. "Oh."
"Yeah, but . . . well, to be honest, I'm not sure, and I think we'll just have to wait and see who we should vote off next," Noah decided. "We just won, let's give ourselves some rest."
"Haha, great idea, little buddy!" Owen agreed. Another intern rolled out a cart filled to the brim with burgers, fries, and pizza. Owen drooled at the sight. "SWEET JFK AT A JUNIOR PROM, AN AREA 51 AMERICAN FEAST!"
He dove in immediately, as Noah looked out the window.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"I'm not telling Owen to do anything just yet," Noah frowned. "Let's wait to see how next challenge goes."
Duncan stood behind one of the elimination area's decorative tikis - ironically the same place Gwen had been hiding to make sure he was safe in the previous elimination ceremony.
But now the roles were reversed. Team Amazon sat in two rows. Courtney grinned maniacally at Gwen, Ezekiel's teeth chattered nervously, Cody looked at Gwen with concern, Sierra clutched Cody with worry, Heather simply crossed her arms with a smile on her face, and Gwen held a poker face.
Chris smiled at Team Amazon. "I have read and reviewed the stamped passports. Whoever received the most votes will have to grab a parachute and take the drop of shame, never to return. So who's it gonna be?"
"Gwen. It's obviously going to be Gwen," Courtney spoke up. Duncan silently snarled from behind the tiki.
"Easy, tiger," Chris smiled. "Let's go through who's definitely safe first. Heather, Cody, Sierra, and, for the first time ever, Ezekiel."
"Y-Yes! YES!" Ezekiel cheered happily, hugging Cody, Sierra, and Heather, the latter who pushed him off with a glare.
Chris' eyes went from Gwen to Courtney in a suspenseful silence. Finally, he spoke. "I know we did this in the Amazon, but I really want to see the votes. So let's do that!"
Chris took a remote from his pocket and turned on a wall-mounted monitor.
==CONFESSIONAL==
Cody stamped a passport and held it up to the camera - a picture of Courtney. "I'm not afraid of you, Courtney! I love Gwen with all my heart and I won't let her go down without a fight!"
Cody chuckled nervously as Courtney shot him a glare. Gwen offered him a friendly smile, visibly grateful for his loyalty.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Gwuncan is controversial and often popular!" Sierra explained. "But, that being said, I'm not a fan of how it happened. Poor Courtney! So, bye-bye, Gwen!" Sierra stamped Gwen's passport.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Cody told me to vote for Courtney, and she's also super scary, eh, so I'm doin' that," Ezekiel stamped the passport with a picture of Courtney on it.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"Courtney is annoying, but Gwen - that was just a terrible thing to do," Heather stamped a picture of Gwen. "Girls need to look out for each other!"
"That's the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard from you!" Gwen protested, before regaining her composure and sitting down.
"You heard Heather, she made her choice," Courtney defended the Queen Bee, while glaring at Ezekiel. She appeared to be a bit nervous by the fact that the votes were currently tied.
"Let's see the thrilling conclusion, shall we?" Chris resumed the votes.
==CONFESSIONAL==
Courtney scoffed. "This is the easiest vote in the entire history of 'Total Drama.' In close second will be Duncan's inevitable elimination."
==CONFESSIONAL==
Gwen sat and reviewed her options. "I keep thinking about the best thing to do here, and I always come back to the same realization - what I did was awful. Just awful. Not dating Duncan, I refuse to apologize for that. He was miserable with Courtney."
She sighed. "I just regret how it happened. No one deserves to be cheated on, especially not by a trusted friend. And I know nothing I can do will be able to undo the damage I've done, so . . . so . . . I'm voting for myself."
Gwen held up her own stamped passport. "I think I need to be out of here before Courtney can even begin to feel comfortable again."
The entire team, sans Courtney, stared at Gwen with shock.
Courtney stood up, prepared to do a victory dance, but couldn't bring herself to do so. She just stared at Gwen like everyone else did.
"I did not see that coming!" Sierra whistled, as Gwen accepted a parachute from Chris.
Cody stood up abruptly, rushing over to Gwen. "Gwen, I -"
"Gwen!" Duncan pushed Cody aside, staring into Gwen's eyes.
"Duncan, I-I'm sorry. I just can't get over what we did, and . . . I know quitting is the coward's way out and all, but -"
Duncan put a finger over Gwen's mouth. "You're not a coward, Gwen. In fact, I'd say this is a noble side I never thought I'd see before. Never pinned you as the noble type."
Gwen smirked, and opened her mouth for another kiss. This, however, was Courtney's breaking point. She stood up and marched over to the exit.
"Courtney, I . . . I . . ." Gwen searched for the words to say.
"Just . . . jump," Courtney said quietly.
Gwen closed her eyes and jumped out of the plane, Duncan watching her fall.
"I have half a mind to push you out after her!" Courtney shrieked at the delinquent once again, marching back to her team, where she sat with her arms crossed. Duncan trudged out of the elimination area.
==CONFESSIONAL==
"That was supposed to feel amazing!" Courtney sighed bitterly. "WHY DIDN'T THAT FEEL AMAZING?!"
"Courtney should be counting her blessings - she could be the next one to go!" Chris laughed at his seat in the cockpit. "Will this be the case? Will Tyler be the next target? Has everyone forgotten about Heather? Will Duncan pull a Gwen and vote himself out of the plane? You know, I've been with these kids for over a year now, and even I have no idea what could happen next! You'll have to tune in next time, on Total! Drama! World Tour!"
The contestant count goes from ten to nine as we have our first divergent elimination! Next up we have Australia, where both teams will find themselves reeling from the fallout of Gwen's elimination. Will new relationships be formed? Who will be the next target on Team Amazon? And, for that matter, who will be the next target on Team Chris? Find out next time! As always, thank you very much for reading!
Oh, and I hope you appreciated Heather's crossover into perhaps a familiar dimension . . . haha!
