Welcome to Africa!

For once, I actually got to discuss most of my major writing decisions at the end of the chapter, so there's not much for me to say here other than my usual: Thank you all so, so much for reading, for following, for favoriting, and for commenting! This story wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for you guys and all your support.

This chapter is definitely out late for three major reasons: the usual busy life stuff (school, work, exams), this chapter's status as the LONGEST CHAPTER YET, and, believe it or not, I actually had a major writing decision that I grappled with for a while.

I'll let you see for yourselves how everything plays out, of course.

This is also the first time I'm communicating with you since it was confirmed Total Drama will be returning with TWO NEW SEASONS! I'm trying to keep my expectations low since it sounds like they'll be the newer, thirteen-episode seasons, but I'm definitely excited nonetheless.

Okay, explanations and news aside, let's dive into the Serengeti!

Chef's eyes were focused straight ahead as he flew, while Chris lazed in the copilot's seat. Briefly, Chef's eyes scanned an instructions book, which sat open nearby. This did not go unnoticed by Chris.

"Dude, seriously?" Chris raised an eyebrow. "You've been flying this thing for how long now, and you still need to peek at the instructions?"

"I like to have the safety net," Chef defended himself.

Chris shrugged, looking boredly back out the window at the vast Chinese landscape. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Chef, tell me I'm not crazy," he squinted and pointed outside of the window, a smile coming to his face. "But is that …"

Chris allowed Chef's imagination to fill in the blanks as the pilot followed Chris' finger. His eyes widened as well. "Huh."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Chris' signature devilish grin appeared under his nose.

Chef gave the host an unconvinced stare. "Haven't we done that enough this season?"

It was clear, though, that Chris was sure, and looked excited. "Oh, no, I'm more thinking of how much it will mess with the others!"

Hearing this, Chef shrugged, and the plane began its descent. When it came to a full stop, Chef groggily got up, while Chris jumped up giddily, like a child who had persuaded his mother to take him to the toy store. "Sh! Make sure the other contestants don't see!"

"Yeah, yeah."

In economy class, Heather and Courtney sat on opposing ends of the bench. Courtney held her hands in her lap, occasionally glaring at Heather, but mostly looking anxious. Heather stewed quietly. Alejandro stood in the doorway, as if weighing over his options. Tyler looked just as unhappy.

Abruptly, Chris hurried Chef through the room, as the pilot clutched a huge bag. Something growled and squirmed inside, causing Chef discomfort.

"No one go into the cargo hold!" Chris giggled as they ran by. "The plane will be taking off in a few minutes!" With this, the two hosts sprinted towards the cargo hold. The four contestants in economy class looked incredibly nervous at the shaking, snarling bag, but said nothing.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I could have sworn I heard, like … muffled screams coming from in there," Heather shuddered.

A while later, after the plane had continued on its journey, the situation in economy class was just as tense and uncomfortable as it had been earlier.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Look, I guess I trust Alejandro, and everything," Tyler rubbed his arm awkwardly, before taking a deep breath, exhaling, and gaining a look of mild anger. "But … eliminating Owen? The dude was, like, the most chill guy here! I can't believe I actually cast my vote for him …"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I don't like Alejandro in that way," Heather scoffed. "The guy's a total scuzzball. I'm just fed up because he's my ally, and he's wasting his time on Little Miss Bossy-Braggy-Challenge-Throwy Nonsense." It was clear that Heather grew increasingly angry the more she described Courtney.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"There's no way Alejandro sees anything in Heather," Courtney smiled, though her eye twitched very slightly. "I'm sure he's just stringing her along. But I really wish he wouldn't, because … come on. No one likes seeing Heather happy."

In first class, Noah laid back in his chair. It was clearly a hollow victory for him, as he simply stared straight up at the sky, either dumbfounded or deep in thought.

If it was the latter, his thoughts were interrupted by banging and clanging coming from above his head. Abruptly, a ventilation shaft opened up above the seat next to his, and Ezekiel plopped down, clutching a strange meat-like substance.

Noah's misery was immediately replaced with disgust. His nose scrunched up. "What on earth is that?"

Ezekiel scratched the back of his head and gave the meaty substance a small taste. Disgusting as it seemed to Noah, this taste test clearly helped the homeschool remember. "Ah, genuine German sausage, eh!"

"I don't even want to think about how old that is," Noah tried to recall how long it had been since the jumbo jet left Germany, but decided it was probably best not to. His look of disgust turned to one of fierce determination. "Zeke. Listen up."

"Listening up, eh!" Ezekiel nodded, taking another cautious bite of his meat.

"Sierra blew herself up, and Owen got voted out," Noah said. "That means we're the only two people on this plane left against Alejandro's weird semi-romantic posse."

"What does that mean?" Ezekiel cocked his head like a confused dog.

Noah exhaled deeply. "Small words," he muttered to himself, before facing Ezekiel again. "If we don't stick together, Alejandro, Heather, Courtney, and Tyler will vote us off."

"Ohhhhh," Ezekiel nodded, counting on his fingers as he did the math. "Yeah, that wouldn't be good, eh. You'd get kicked out, and I'd have to choose one of 'em to eliminate once they invite me into their crew."

Noah's confused look turned to a deadpan. "Right, because that's definitely what would happen. Look, the way I see it, and as tough as this is for me to say as a sarcastic pessimist, all hope isn't lost yet."

"For real? That's good to hear, homes," Ezekiel grinned.

"Focus, Zeke," Noah held up a finger to pause the conversation, before walking to the back of first class. He peered out the door to make sure no one was eavesdropping, before returning to the homeschool with a hushed tone. "Alright. Courtney and Heather are probably going to be at each other's throats, and I'm going to use that to my advantage, okay?"

"Sounds good, eh," Ezekiel once again nodded.

"But I also have one very, very important mission for you, okay?" Noah turned to face his begrudging ally.

Now Ezekiel was very interested. "Oh, boy! What is it?"

"Vote with me. Always," Noah said. "I beg you. No more getting persuaded by Heather, or Alejandro, or whoever, to vote a certain way. I appreciated your vote in China, so keep that up."

Ezekiel shot Noah two thumbs up. "You got it, chief. I'll vote for whoever you want me to." He paused, before frowning. "Uh, who is that gonna be, eh?"

"That's going to depend on how today's challenge goes," Noah said. "I mean, obviously, Alejandro would be ideal, but right now we don't have the numbers for it. So if we turn Heather or Courtney against each other, we can vote for one of them." He sighed. "But this is purely hypothetical right now, so we'll really have to wait and see."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I don't feel proud of admitting this, but I owe a lot of my past victories to Owen," Noah recalled. "His appetite saved our hides in Area 51, his gassy quick thinking brought us from the brink of defeat in Sweden, and I would have never made it to the bicycle on the Great Wall of China without him throwing me to it." He paused as he reflected on his close friend. "In addition to his friendship, I'm going to be missing his ability to get me out of trouble."

The Mexican standoff in economy class finally ended when Courtney stood up and walked out of the room. After she went, Alejandro stood up after her.

"Psh, yeah, go hang out with your girlfriend," Heather rolled her eyes.

Alejandro took a deep breath, and smirked. "Please, Heather. I know you're too good to be that petty."

This had the desired result, as Heather visibly went from brooding to snippy. "Petty? Please, I'm the most serious competition you've got right now. You better remember that."

"Ah, of course," Alejandro teased. "The way you were scared of those mealworms truly struck fear into my heart."

"Yeah, because you're one to make fun of people for not eating in that challenge," Heather replied.

Alejandro continued his walk to the door. "Tyler, follow me."

Tyler, who had until then seemed despondent and slightly depressed, jerked up at hearing his name, and followed Alejandro out of the room.

"Uh, yeah, what's up?" Tyler asked.

"I wanted to offer you some advice, while Heather and Courtney are not around," Alejandro whispered, looking around to make sure they were not being watched. "I want you to hear this, since, to tell you the truth, I'm hoping the two of us can make it to the finale together."

Tyler seemed slightly taken aback. "Whoa! Really?"

"Not so loud, mi amigo," Alejandro advised. "But yes. Courtney and Heather will be in each other's way the whole time, Ezekiel is incompotent, and Noah is … well, slimy. But the two of us? Imagine that: the strongest men of Team Chris facing off in a gentlemen's battle!"

"Huh. That would be cool!" Tyler envisioned.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I mean, obviously I want to make it to the finale, too," Tyler said. "I guess I didn't realize how close we were. There's only six of us left! Even though I'm not totally vibing with Alejandro right now, I can't say I've got a problem with this plan."

"That being said, this is the advice that I have for you," Alejandro said, once again checking to make sure they were not being overheard. "Always remember that Noah has a trick up his sleeve, okay? Don't trust him. The sooner he's out, the better it will all be for us."

"Oh. Right, yeah!" Tyler nodded in the affirmative.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I remember when Noah tricked me into voting for Alejandro by lying to me about Lindsay," Tyler crossed his arms angrily. "There's no way I'm getting tricked like that again."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Noah really did give me a gift-wrapped treat by ignoring Tyler," Alejandro shrugged.

Alejandro patted Tyler on the back and sent him back into economy class, where Heather greeted him with an arched eyebrow.

"What was that about?" the queen bee asked.

Tyler turned to see that Alejandro had not followed him into the room, and thus would not be able to bail him out of this. "Oh, uh, we were just, uh, comparing … fingernails."

Heather was clearly so caught off-guard by this lie, which was so bizarre that she could only throw her hands up in response. "Sure. Okay, whatever."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I don't know what Alejandro's game is, but I won't be a pawn in it," Heather informed. "I've made it too far."

==CONFESSIONAL==

Courtney freshened up in the bathroom, unaware or uncaring that the camera was still rolling. "Oh, I don't know what to do. I really like Alejandro, but, well, Noah brought up a good point, he hasn't chosen me! And Tyler did say he had a 'way with the ladies.' What if I'm not the one for him?"

At this point, she wiped a small tear from her eye. "That would be two guys in a row who thought I wasn't good enough for them …"

Courtney stepped out of the bathroom just as Noah stepped out of first class, preparing to make a confessional. He could clearly see that she wasn't her normal, vengeful self, and that she was in a rare state of vulnerability.

His inner Owen wanted to reach out in consolation, but his inner Alejandro told him that this was an absolutely perfect scenario for manipulation. The bookworm stood in the doorway, unseen, rapidly going through his big head in search of a plan - a plan that he ultimately found as he looked past Courtney further in the hallway.

Noah walked up to the CIT, who immediately stiffened. "Noah."

"Hi, Courtney," Noah said somewhat quietly, his usual deadpan giving way to a look of concern. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Courtney said, apparently trying to convince both Noah and herself that these three words were true.

"You sure don't look fine," Noah said. "Is this about Alejandro?"

Courtney tensed up. "Well …"

"You know, this thing is all a misunderstanding, right?" Noah said, still talking in a low voice.

"W-What thing?" Courtney asked, distrust plain in her words.

"Why Alejandro always seems too busy for you," Noah said. "It's just a misunderstanding."

"What do you mean?"

"See, I didn't learn this until right after Sweden, but apparently Tyler's got a thing for you," Noah said, once again lying to save his place in the game.

"What?!" Courtney gasped. Noah quickly hushed her, as behind her shoulder Alejandro turned to make sure he wasn't being watched as he spoke to Tyler.

"Yeah, he's kind of been interested ever since you became single, and after you and him teamed up in Niagara Falls, he politely told Alejandro to lay off," Noah continued. "That's why Alejandro's been so distant. I was on a team with him myself, I can tell he's into you, but his hands are tied."

Courtney processed this. "How can I be so sure I can believe you? Alejandro hates you, this could be a total farce."

Noah shrugged, and pointed behind her. "Look for yourself."

Courtney turned and peered behind the wall. Through the shadows, she could make out Alejandro and Tyler, in the midst of a tight-lipped, hushed conversation. Alejandro turned to make sure nobody was around, prompting Courtney to instinctively duck behind the wall. "Oh my gosh," she said aloud.

"Do with this information what you must," Noah shrugged. "But I would tread carefully. You might not want to make it awkward between you and Alejandro, right?"

As Noah slunk back into first class, Courtney once again turned to look at Alejandro and Tyler. The former patted the back of the latter, pushing the clumsy jock into economy class. As Alejandro turned to walk towards Courtney, the CIT quickly leapt into the confessional and shut the door behind her.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I should have known, nobody gets cheated on twice in the span of a few weeks," Courtney wiped the sweat from her brow. "It's been Tyler's fault this whole time! Alejandro is just too much of a gentleman to get in the way of that dumb jock's advances. What a funny misunderstanding … though, obviously, this is getting in the way of my romantic endeavors. Hm."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I don't feel great about throwing Tyler under the bus like that, but I'm just covering my bases," Noah said. "There's a second part to this plan."

"Welcome, contestants, to the sunny savannahs of the Serengeti Plains!" Chris greeted the contestants as the six of them stepped out of the jumbo jet. He wore an orange robe, and a bald cap. "Try saying that three times fast!"

"How nice that you're finally accepting your age," Noah pointed out the host's baldness, eliciting chuckles from the others.

"Do you ever get sick of being annoying?" Chris asked, a bit ticked off.

"I don't know, do you ever get sick of pretending you're under thirty?" Noah replied.

"As I was saying," Chris continued, choosing to ignore Noah, "today's challenge will take all of you on a big game hunt in sunny Tanzania, Africa. But first, you'll need your ammo." With this, Chef stepped out of the plane and gestured towards a small soccer field, with a large pile of fruits at the opposing side. "This first challenge will combine Tanzania's two biggest sports, soccer and cricket! I call it 'Sock-et To Me," Chris said, to groans from some of the contestants. "To start, each contestant must run to the other side of this soccer field to that pile of plums, and grab as many as they can carry. The other five contestants get to pelt that poor sucker with soccer balls. Your goal is to get as many plums as possible to the end after one trip."

Alejandro smirked. "This will be fun."

"Our hunting ammo is … plums?" Courtney asked, confused.

"You'll see, you'll see," Chris hushed her, before turning to Ezekiel. "Ezekiel, since you won immunity in China, why don't you start us off?" The host gestured to the field in front of them.

"I'd be honored, eh," Ezekiel smiled, walking up to the starting line.

"Whenever you're ready," Chris said, chuckling maliciously as Chef dumped a small crate of soccer balls at the feet of the other contestants.

Ezekiel began his run across the field, grabbing a massive handful of plums from the pile.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Yeah, this is just like back at home, eh, I did all the heavy-lifting chores in my house," Ezekiel boasted. "Carrying eggs from the chicken coop, and stuff. I've kind of got this in the bag."

As Ezekiel walked his merry way back towards the other contestants, they all let loose. Alejandro, Heather, Tyler, and Courtney directed fierce shots at the homeschool, who clearly didn't see it coming. Noah winced as Ezekiel was sent careening to the ground, dropping all his plums.

Chris also winced. "Ooo! Tough break, Zekester, you dropped all your plums."

"Wow, eh, you guys really packed a punch," Ezekiel stood up, stretching.

"Thank you, mi amigo," Alejandro smiled politely, before turning to Noah. "Noah, why don't you go next?"

"That's a great idea!" Chris interrupted. "Noah, get on out there!"

"Oh, joy," Noah deadpanned. "It'll be like gym class all over again."

The bookworm ran across the field, dodging some shots that Alejandro and Heather seemed to be pelting for pure enjoyment. He scooped up some plums, and predictably received shot after shot to the face as he ran back. Upon making it to his fellow contestants, Noah only held three plums in his hand.

Ezekiel fired one soccer ball at him, knocking one more plum out of his hand and leaving him with two.

"Why," was all Noah could say.

Ezekiel shrugged. "Hey, man, if I want to win immunity, I've got to kick the most soccer balls, eh."

"This is only the first challenge today," Noah replied.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"It's like the overton window keeps shifting with how many stupid things that guy can come up with," Noah said, rubbing his bruised face.

"Seeing as you were so eager to see Noah compete, I think it's your turn, Alejandro!" Chris said.

"Happy to oblige," Alejandro walked up to the finish line, subtly winking at Courtney, who blushed. Alejandro ran across the field with a decent pace, making it to the plums quite fast.

Heather fired soccer ball after soccer ball at him, and so did Courtney, though she was clearly kicking softly as to not actually hit him. Tyler appeared unsure what to do, and glanced at Noah and Ezekiel, who were having a tough time.

"Come on, man, we have to kick as many as possible," Noah reasoned, kicking a few soccer balls towards Alejandro … which only went a few yards, given Noah's weak physical ability. Ezekiel was not faring much better, kicking soccer ball after soccer ball with decent strength, but which landed nowhere near Alejandro. The latter was making excellent time, a large pile of plums in his hand as he effortlessly dodged Heather's shots.

"Nah, guys, it's like this," Tyler instructed, leaning down and kicking a soccer ball straight ahead. "All in the ankle." This instructive soccer ball soared directly into Alejandro's shoulder - as he had not seen it coming, it caught him off-guard. The impact caused his shoulder muscle to briefly spasm, and Alejandro dropped about half of his plums before crossing the finish line.

Heather laughed, while Courtney gasped.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Props to Tyler, that was hilarious," Heather smirked.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I can't believe what Noah said was true!" Courtney frowned. "Tyler's trying to get revenge on Alejandro! I wonder if he saw him wink at me!"

Tyler rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as Alejandro approached him, a look of curiosity on his face.

"Uh, oops," Tyler said. "I'm real sorry, Al, that was a total mistake."

"Worry not, my friend," Alejandro plastered a fake smile on his face as he patted his "friend" on the shoulder.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Part of me almost wonders if that was intentional," Noah reflected, before shaking his head. "Nope, just Tyler being Tyler."

==CONFESSIONAL==

Alejandro let loose a string of swear words in Spanish.

Heather was next to sprint across the field, and faced a serious soccer ball barrage from Courtney. Alejandro also appeared more than happy to return the fire that she had given to him on his turn, sharing a smile with Courtney while doing so.

Tyler unsurely looked at both of them.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Is this how alliances are supposed to work?" Tyler scratched his chin. "I mean, I'm allies with Alejandro, right? And I'm pretty sure he's allies with Heather and Courtney … but man, they sure aren't acting like it."

Noah and Ezekiel also pathetically attempted to kick soccer balls at Heather, which was just as futile as it had been when they tried to kick them at Alejandro. With a few hits from Alejandro and Courtney, Heather crossed the finish line clutching about six plums.

"Okay, Little Miss Machine Gun, why don't you have a go?" Heather pointed to Courtney.

"I'd be more than happy to," Courtney retorted, revving up and dashing across the soccer field. At this point, Heather was the only successful attacker, as Noah and Ezekiel continued to flail, and neither Tyler nor Alejandro appeared interested in hitting Courtney.

"Um, hello?" Heather said to Tyler and Alejandro, before gesturing to Noah and Ezekiel. "At least those dweebs are trying. What the heck do you think you guys are doing?"

"I can't hit a girl," Tyler explained. "It goes against my bro code of honor."

"Please, Courtney's more of an obnoxiousness machine than a girl," Heather said, as she continued to fiercely kick soccer balls at the CIT. She briefly turned to face Alejandro as she continued kicking. "I guess I don't even need to ask you why you're lazing around, Mr. Courtney."

Alejandro offered her a polite smile, but said nothing. Heather released an unholy groan, kicking one soccer ball with enough force that it rocketed at Courtney, hitting her directly in the nose and knocking her to the ground. Chris, Chef, Noah, Ezekiel, Tyler, and even Alejandro all winced in sympathy, while Heather simply gained a huge smile on her face.

"What a wipeout!" Chris called out. "Courtney, looks like you don't get any plums, tough break!"

Alejandro ran out to help Courtney stand to her feet. "Are you alright?"

Courtney rubbed her nose, but mostly just stared into the eyes of Alejandro. "Now I am, hee hee."

Alejandro gazed down at her with a satisfied look as he lifted her up. Courtney, in turn, glared at both Tyler and Heather, but the latter was the focus of her immediate anger.

"Lighten up, I didn't break anything," Heather threw her arms up in an expression of innocence.

"You're lucky I don't sue you for that," Courtney retorted.

The last person to run across the field was Tyler. As the jock ran across the field, Noah took a seat in the grass.

"What's even the point?" he surrendered any attempt to kick a soccer ball.

Courtney, however, appeared more than happy to launch soccer balls at Tyler. As the jock picked up his plums, he was met with a shot in the back of the head, landing him face-first into the pile. As he emerged, covered in purple plum juices, Chris erupted in laughter.

"I'll give you a pity plum for that wipeout, seeing as you're technically in the pile right now," Chris said, wiping a tear from his eye as he chuckled. "Now that you've all got your plums - or, most of you have your plums - follow me!"

Chris led the six contestants a few yards over to a large display of gourds.

"Today's challenge is a carnival game?" Noah raised an eyebrow. "Knock the gourds, win a prize?"

"That's not the full extent of today's challenge, but for now, consider that a reasonable explanation," Chris nodded. "The plums you've collected are your only ammo to knock over the gourds, which you will have to hit with these cricket bats!"

"Ah, simple," Alejandro relaxed, picking up a cricket bat and hitting one of his plums at the gourds. Not to be outdone, Heather immediately began to hit hers as well.

"Uh, Chris? What do we do if we don't have any plums, eh?" Ezekiel asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Chris smiled in response. "You can beg your teammates to give you one of theirs, or sit on your butt and accept defeat."

Ezekiel's face became determined. "Oh, no way, homes. The Zekester never admits defeat."

"He's got that right," Chef murmured to Chris, who nodded, recalling a season's worth of stowaway antics.

Ezekiel marched up to Heather. "Excuse me, my former teammate. Spare a plum?"

Heather grimaced at him, turning to her small pile. "Sure, take this one."

Heather proceeded to hurl one directly at Ezekiel, sending the boy flying back a good few feet. Nevertheless, Ezekiel smirked. "Aw, thanks, eh."

Heather rolled her eyes, and turned back to the gourds - only to see that one of them was already knocked over and smashed.

Next to her, Alejandro crossed his arms in satisfaction. "Maybe you can get second."

Courtney giggled at Alejandro's smug comment to Heather, the latter who glared daggers at both of them.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Don't get me wrong, pretty much all of the people on this show are annoying," Heather said. "But there used to be contestants I could tolerate, like Cody, Lindsay, DJ … even Gwen doesn't seem so bad anymore, now that I'm surrounded by idiots and jerks."

"Congrats on being the first to knock over your gourds," Chris patted Alejandro on the back.

"Do I get a reward?" Alejandro raised a distrustful eyebrow.

"Of course!" Chris gestured towards the knocked-over, cracked-open gourd on the ground. "Why don't you look inside?"

Rummaging inside, Alejandro produced a handful of pink balls.

"What are they?" Alejandro glanced at his hand with uncertainty.

"Tranquilizer balls!" Chris explained, as he handed Alejandro a slingshot. "Don't squeeze 'em too hard, or your hand will be asleep for hours."

"Why are we going to need tranquilizer balls?" Noah asked, a bit cautiously.

"All will be revealed in due time. In the meantime, you guys still have gourds to knock over!" Chris said. "Well, except Courtney."

Courtney growled at this laughter at her expense. She turned her ire to Tyler, who gently caressed his only plum. "Why does he get a plum and I don't?"

"Because his pathetic wipeout made me laugh," Chris shrugged.

Alejandro walked up to Courtney. "Mi chica, I didn't use all of my plums. Take my remainders."

"Oh, you are so thoughtful," Courtney batted her eyes.

Tyler looked uneasily at the two of them, and then turned his attention back to the gourds.

"Alright, Tyler," he pepped himself. "You've got one shot at this."

With this, he let his plum fly, only for it to somehow bounce off of the gourd and hit him in the face, pinning him to the ground and eliciting a fresh bout of jeering laughter from Chris, Chef, and Courtney.

Groggily, the jock looked up to see that, despite the brief impact, his gourds were still standing strong. He laid back down in defeat.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Man, Total Drama gets intense when there's no more teams," Tyler noted. "I mean, it was plenty intense with teams, but, like … it's really hard now!"

Ezekiel strolled over to his gourd stand, as Noah nervously clutched his only two plums.

"Better make it count, homeschool," Noah gestured to the slightly-crushed plum that Heather had launched at Ezekiel.

"Uh … you first, eh," Ezekiel said.

Noah swung his cricket bat, missing one of his plums entirely. On take two, he swung successfully, only to hit Tyler's gourd.

"Nice job, Tyler! You got some tranq balls of your own!" Chris smiled.

"Of course," Noah deadpanned. Swinging at his final plum, he was pleasantly surprised as it made contact with his gourd, cracking it open. "Thank goodness."

"That doesn't look so hard," Ezekiel waved a hand dismissively. "Watch and learn, eh."

With this, he swung his bat widely, managing to hit Noah right in the kneecaps. The bookworm fell to the ground, clutching his knees. Ezekiel's plum, on the other hand, landed to the ground and, already weakened from its earlier, harsher through into Ezekiel's chest, splattered.

Alejandro watched the two pitiful contestants with a look of mild amusement.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"At this point, Chris should really consider just booting everyone but me and Heather from the game," Alejandro shrugged. "But then again, the absolute patheticness of Noah and Ezekiel, combined with the incompetence of Tyler and the lovestruck ineptitude of Courtney, probably makes for decent ratings."

"Hey, Queen of Mean," Noah quipped to Heather as he stood up, as the latter was standing next to her.

Heather was notably distracted, still clutching her cricket bat and her plums as she glared at Courtney, who was gingerly accepting plums from Alejandro. The two were locking eyes, and their eyelids lowered as they stared at each other in apparent, mutual affection. Heather's cold glare did not leave them until Noah addressed her, at which point she abruptly turned around, with the speed of a child whose hand had been caught in a cookie jar.

Upon seeing Noah, she scowled. "What do you want?"

"For someone who bragged to me at how great you are at this show, you haven't hit a single plum," Noah pointed out. "If you're waiting for Alejandro's help, he looks a little busy to me."

"Ugh. As if!" With this, Heather began feverishly batting plums towards her gourd with devastating velocity. One managed to hit its mark, around the same time Courtney finally managed to crack her gourd open.

Noah simply raised an eyebrow at the scene.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I've got nothing to lose from trying to knock Heather off her game," Noah shrugged. "Luckily, it looks like Alejandro and Courtney are doing most of the heavy lifting in that department."

"Alright, contestants! You'll get tranq balls in the order of your success," Chris announced. "Alejandro, for being the first to crack open your gourd, you get six tranq balls. Tyler, since Noah was so polite and helped you open your gourd, you get three, and so does Noah."

"Uh, thanks, Noah?" Tyler squinted at his former teammate, as Chris handed the two of them three tranq balls apiece.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Noah replied. Alejandro furrowed his brow, but said nothing.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Noah only hit Tyler's gourd because he is pathetic and weak, and missed his mark," Alejandro recalled. "Anyone with a brain cell could have seen that. Which means Tyler is probably in the dark."

"Heather and Courtney, in what could have only been a testament to their true friendship," Chris grinned sarcastically, "both hit their gourds at the same time, so they get two balls each. Ahh!" The host ducked at the last second as both Heather and Courtney tossed their cricket bats at him, and glared at the two as he gave them their balls.

"Old Heather was probably just following my lead," Courtney said.

"Please. It probably had something to do with Ale-handout over there," Heather gestured to Alejandro, who raised an eyebrow, feigning concern.

"Que? I was just trying to be a gentleman, to a lady who deserves nothing less," Alejandro said, as Courtney ate up every word. "She has had such a hard season, for such a beautiful lady, it is just … unfair!"

"Barf!" Heather exclaimed, scoffing and looking away, her arms crossed.

"Juicy!" Chris noted. "Zekester, you're our big loser."

"I'm eliminated?" Ezekiel asked with chagrin.

"That would be pretty funny, but I meant for this first challenge," Chris said. "Since you didn't break your gourd, you only get a single tranq ball, and no slingshot."

As Chris handed Ezekiel his solitary tranq ball, Chef divvied out slingshots to the other five contestants.

"So this is just a big game hunt, tranquilizing any ferocious, carnivorous animals we see?" Noah asked. "Because that's very in-line with my usual expectations for this show."

"That would be fun, wouldn't it?" Chris agreed. "But that's too expected. You guys wouldn't be surprised to run into a lion, or a rhino, or an alligator on safari." As the host gave his spiel, he walked towards a large cage, with a tarp over it. Whatever was under the tarp was growling, and the contestants grew fearful expressions on their faces. "No, to keep you guys on your toes, it would only be fair to have you hunt an animal you would never expect to see in the Serengeti …"

The contestants shuddered in anticipation, Courtney drawing near to Alejandro. Heather gave this interaction a brief glance, but was too preoccupied with the growling in the cage to care.

"... the Siberian bear!"

As two interns whisked away the tarp, the contents of the cage were finally revealed - a large, ferocious-looking black bear, growling and roaring at the sudden sunlight, and a familiar surfer girl, tenderly hugging its arm.

"Bridgette?!" all six remaining contestants exclaimed in shock.

"We found everybody's favorite pole-kissing loser wandering aimlessly in rural China on our way here," Chris explained.

"I was in Siberia visiting a Total Drama fan!" Bridgette defended herself. "We walked for miles looking for a port city or somewhere I could smuggle myself. I had Blaineley's passport, so I couldn't fly home."

"Blaineley?" Courtney asked. "That lady from 'Celebrity Manhunt?'"

"It's a long story," Bridgette said, before turning back to glare at Chris. "But apparently it ends with me and Bruno here getting kidnapped."

"Bruno?" Noah asked.

"The bear," Bridgette gestured. "I promise, he's harmless. Chris, release us right now!"

"Aw, don't be sad," Chris said, himself clearly not sad at all. "It's great to have you back."

As the contestants adjusted to their former competitor's presence in the cage with a befuddled bear, they began to react differently - Heather, Courtney, and Ezekiel with relative indifference, while Tyler and Noah looked mildly concerned that she was in a cage with a bear.

Alejandro, meanwhile, looked ready to die.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"This is not happening!" Alejandro said, sounding slightly panicked. "If Bridgette blabs to Courtney or Heather, I'm ruined! Why did it have to be one of my former victims to return?" He thought about this. "Then again, that is a pretty broad brush."

"So why exactly did you bring Bridgette here?" Heather asked impatiently.

"Glad you asked!" Chris replied. "With your tranq balls, you must be the first to bring down the mighty Siberian bear. Both sides will have their advantages - one side is a giant bear in an unfamiliar environment, and the other is a bunch of teenagers fighting one of nature's most fine-tuned killing machines. I think it could go either way, though personally, my money's on the bear."

"Of course," Noah said.

"You guys will have an hour to catch him," Chris said. "Whoever does so wins invincibility in tonight's vote."

"And … if we don't do it in less than an hour?" Tyler asked cautiously.

"Then Bridgette proves that her bear is better than all of you chumps, and she rejoins the competition!" Chris revealed.

"She what?!" Alejandro asked.

"I what?!" Bridgette asked at the same time. Both eyed each other with distrust, before Heather interrupted.

"Ugh, seriously? You've done this how many times now? It's how we ended up with Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber." With this, Heather gestured to Alejandro and Ezekiel, respectively, referencing their returns to the competition.

"Actually, it's Ezekiel," Ezekiel corrected.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"You really think she'd know that by now," Ezekiel shrugged. "We were on the same team and everything."

"Well, Heather, if you don't want Bridgette to rejoin the game, all the more reason for you to take down that big mean bear in less than sixty minutes," Chris said.

"His name is Bruno," Bridgette corrected. "And he's not mean! He's a sweetheart." As Bridgette wrapped his arms around the bear, he seemed to calm down, accepting and returning the gesture of kindness.

"Awwww, isn't that sweet?" Chris grinned, turning to the contestants. "You guys might want to take a step back. Interns, release the beast!"

The same two nervous-looking interns who took down the tarp now anxiously opened the cage, stepping back in anticipation of a mauling. Bruno, however, did not seem interested whatsoever in leaving Bridgette's side.

"Bruno's not going anywhere," Bridgette said. "He's not used to the sahara. He could get hurt!"

"I thought he might be stubborn," Chris said. "But you know what they say, you catch more flies with honey. Or in this case, bears. Chef?"

Chef removed a large, honey-filled beehive from a crate on the plane, and loaded it into his rocket launcher. Bruno began sniffing the air, and pushed his way past Bridgette, out of the cage. With this, Chef launched the beehive towards the horizon, and Bruno sprinted after it.

"Bruno!" Bridgette yelled in panic.

"The bear gets a sixty second headstart," Chris told the contestants.

"You know his name is Bruno!" Bridgette interrupted.

"I find if you name things you get attached to them, which wouldn't be good if the thing you name gets, oh, I don't know, attacked by lions, rhinos, crocodiles, hippos, elephants …"

Each word seemed to place a dagger in the animal-loving surfer's heart. Finally, Ezekiel spoke up.

"So what does Bridgette do? Is she gonna, like, try and stop us, eh?"

"Don't give him ideas, homeschool," Heather hissed.

"Well, the winner of the gourd challenge gets to use her as an extra guide -"

"NO!"

All eyes fell on Alejandro, the winner of the gourd challenge, who had interrupted Chris' plans. He quickly regained composure and spoke again. "I mean, uh, no, no! I will not allow it. Bridgette should go with the last-place finisher, as a handicap!"

Chris shrugged. "Whatever you want to do with your prize is fine with me."

"I'm not a prize!" Bridgette argued, glaring at Alejandro. "Although it might seem that way to some people."

Alejandro swallowed a lump in his throat.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Let Bridgette babysit the pathetic Ezekiel while I hunt for the bear," Alejandro shrugged. "It will keep her out of my way. And, far more importantly, it will keep her out of Courtney's way."

He sighed. "Between keeping Tyler's trust, and maintaining the romantic facade with Courtney while not angering Heather … this return of a former flame is the last thing I need. So, I must capture 'Bruno' as quickly as possible."

Bridgette uneasily walked over to Ezekiel, who was picking his nose. Noah stood nearby, offering her a bored, yet cordial head nod. Bridgette quickly raised her hand in a return greeting.

"Alright, that's about sixty seconds," Chris noted. "Now go, contestants! Fetch me a bear!"

Bridgette cringed upon hearing this, while Alejandro walked over and brought Heather and Tyler in for a huddle. "I'm going hunting with Courtney. Either of you want to join me?"

"Ugh, as if!" Heather rolled her eyes, walking off on her own.

"Uh … I don't know, bro," Tyler held up his hands.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I don't want to be a third wheel. That's, like, rule one of the bro code," Tyler explained. "Plus … Courtney's kind of scary."

Alejandro looked to Courtney, and then back to Tyler. "You don't have to worry about Courtney, if that's what you're worried about."

Courtney looked over and shot a fierce glare at Tyler, as though to prove Alejandro wrong.

Tyler swallowed a lump in his throat. "Uh … how 'bout I hunt a little by myself, and then catch up with you later?"

"That's a great plan!" Alejandro nodded. "Just remember what I said - you and I are going to the top. And don't trust … you-know-who."

Alejandro guided Tyler's vision to Noah, who was scanning the horizon for any sign of the bear.

"Right," Tyler nodded, before running off. Alejandro went to join Courtney, who had her arms crossed.

"Did you really ask Heather to come hunting with us?" Courtney asked, apparently hurt that he had huddled up with her.

"I did. She said no, of course," Alejandro replied. "But I don't think she'll get very far without these." He showed Courtney two pink tranquilizer balls.

Courtney gasped, and then grinned. "You took those from Heather?"

"Why else would I have huddled with her?" Alejandro smiled.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Heather is like a cat, Courtney is more of a dog," Alejandro explained. "Courtney wants attention, flat-out asks for it, so I must abide. Heather may pretend she is disgusted by me, and wants me from a distance, but she definitely still wants me. Which is … very good …"

Alejandro appeared to get lost in thought while thinking about Heather, but quickly snapped back to attention. "For me! Very good for me, in my pursuit of the million dollars."

Noah put down his arm. "Well, Bruno doesn't seem to be running back to his mother's loving arms," he quipped, looking to Bridgette.

"J-Just give him another minute," Bridgette insisted, still looking out into the horizon.

Noah sighed. "Look, even if he is somehow on his way back, he's just going to be intercepted by Alejandro. And let's face it, Alejandro can probably tickle Bruno's belly or something and have him melt in his arms."

"I don't know about melting, eh," Ezekiel looked up at the beaming sun. "It's hot, but it's not that hot, right?"

"No, Zeke. We're all in danger of melting into the ground. That's how hot it is," Noah replied with biting sarcasm.

Ezekiel perked up in concern, but after a few seconds, crossed his arms again, realizing he had been duped by Noah's wit.

Bridgette, however, was still stuck on what Noah said. "Alejandro." This name appeared to give the surfer girl newfound determination, and she immediately began walking. "Come on, we can't waste any time."

"Forward, march," Noah shrugged, as he and Ezekiel followed along.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Truth be told, I used to have a little crush on Bridgette," Noah recollected. "Even tried that cliche 'cuddle for warmth' trick on her in the Yukon. Though I guess I wasn't the only person to flirt with her in the Yukon."

Tyler, who had not yet gotten far, scanned the horizon before taking off. Noah used this time to talk to him.

"What's up, Tyler?" he asked.

"What? Oh, hey Noah," the jock nervously replied.

"Sucks about Owen, huh?"

Tyler sighed. "That dude was the best."

"Yeah, but what are you gonna do, right?" Noah shrugged. "What Alejandro wants, Alejandro gets, right?"

With this, Tyler appeared to develop a sense that this conversation was truly against Alejandro's wishes, and began to look around awkwardly. "Um, yeah."

"Look, seeing as we were on a team together, I'll extend the offer for you to join our roving band of freaks and geeks," Noah gestured to Ezekiel, who was once again picking his nose, and Bridgette, who waved kindly.

Tyler returned the wave, but shook his head. "Thanks, but, uh, nah, I really gotta hunt on my own."

"Suit yourself," Noah shrugged, as Tyler ran off. "Try not to become lion chow."

"Uh, thanks, you too!" Tyler called back.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"What did Al say? Something about Noah taking advantage of me, or something?" Tyler tried to recall. "All I know is I feel guilty for voting off Owen. Guess I should just be by myself right now."

Ezekiel held his hand to his chin. "Hmmmm …"

Bridgette cocked an eyebrow. "Is he okay?" she murmured to Noah.

"He's fine. I think he's about to have a thought. Takes a lot of brainpower from him," Noah deadpanned, turning to his homeschooled ally. "What do you got, Zeke?"

"If we find Bruno quick enough, Bridgette won't get back into the game," Ezekiel pointed out. "Bridgette, don't you want to wait an hour?"

Bridgette let out a forced laugh. "You think I want to rejoin this stupid game? These past few weeks have been the absolute worst for me. I was stripped away from my Geoffie-poo, made a fool of myself cheating on live TV, almost lost my job when the show nearly went bankrupt, was sent to Siberia by my jerk cohost, and then had to trek through the Mongolian wilderness to try and find my way home - just to get abducted by Madman McLean!"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"'Madman McLean,'" Noah tried, chuckling. "I like that."

As Noah, Ezekiel, and the newly-enlisted ally shoved off into the savannah, Tyler crept around the savannah, checking under rocks and in bushes.

"Uh, bear dude? You around?" Tyler called out. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you!"

He came upon a large mound in the sand, with bugs crawling all over it. The jock scratched his chin in thought.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Bears like honey, right? And bees, and all that junk?" Tyler said. "So, what if these bugs are like the African version of bees? They do have a giant, weird-shaped hive."

The jock took a deep breath and stuck his fist into the large mount, wincing and holding back screams as tiny bugs pricked his skin. He then whisked his hand back out for inspection, only to find no trace of honey, or any honey-like substance.

"Oh, come on!" the jock scowled, walking off. After a few more moments, he came upon a large gray surface. "I guess I can climb this rock to see better! Yeah!"

As Tyler hyped himself up, he climbed upon the "rock" - only to begin wobbling when it started moving. The "rock," which was actually a rhinoceros, stood up, leading Tyler to grab on for dear life as the beast began its run.

Elsewhere on the savannah, Alejandro and Courtney walked together closely - very closely.

"I can't believe Chris might actually let Bridgette come back," Courtney whined.

"Yes, that would be … rather unfortunate," Alejandro agreed.

"Rather unfair is more like it," Courtney crossed her arms. "She got booted in the Yukon fair and square. Serves her right for kissing a pole."

Alejandro swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "Aha, yes, I had forgotten. Um, any idea why she did that?"

"No clue," Courtney shrugged. "I was singing backup for her musical number, but I had a lot of trouble hearing what she was saying, seeing as her tongue was six inches out of her mouth."

Alejandro chuckled, which turned to a sigh of relief.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"What good fortune!" Alejandro clasped his hands together.

"You know, romantic African safaris for two can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars," Alejandro grinned charmingly, gearing the conversation away from Bridgette. "Perhaps one of the only saving graces of this show is getting to travel to far-off, exotic, exciting places with you for no cost … although, of course, mi chica, I would spend as much money as it took to do so."

Every word lowered Courtney's eyelids more and more, and she fanned herself. "Oh, Alejandro. I feel the same way."

"Ah, just think of the trips we could buy with one million dollars," Alejandro invited Courtney to imagine her wildest dreams.

Finally, Courtney stopped, and sighed. "You know what? You're such a gentleman, and I wouldn't expect you to behave any less, but it's just not fair what you're doing!"

Alejandro stopped with her. "What I'm doing? What am I doing?"

"You know … how you're helping Tyler."

Alejandro grew a puzzled look on his face. "How I'm helping Tyler?"

"Yeah, with …" As Courtney prepared to breach the topic, she became distracted and looked down. "Hey, are your legs stiffening, or is that just me?"

Alejandro looked down, and both he and Courtney realized that they were sinking.

"Quicksand!" Alejandro yelped.

"At least … we go out together," Courtney held Alejandro's hand. The two looked at each other dreamily, before both snapped out of it and began screaming for help.

Heather prowled through the landscape in search of Bruno. "Here, bear, bear bear," she cooed, attempting to attract it. She stood up in frustration. "How is a huge black bear this hard to find in a bright yellow savannah?" As she voiced her complaints to no one in particular, she began to hear rustling in the nearby tall grass. Instinctively, she reached down into her pocket to locate her tranq balls, only to find her holster empty. Out of the grass emerged a ferocious lion, which growled at her. She gasped with shock, looking around at her feet, before scowling.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Alejandro, that no good rat," Heather said angrily. "I thought it was a pleasant surprise when Alejandro roped me in for a 'huddle.' Now I know better."

Her eyes widened, and she cleared her throat. "Unpleasant surprise. I said unpleasant surprise."

After sprinting away from the lion, Heather paused to catch her breath. She heard more rustling, but this time it was accompanied by voices. She ducked into some nearby bushes, expecting Alejandro and Courtney, but peered out to see Noah, Ezekiel, and Bridgette, and rolled her eyes.

"So with Sierra … blown up, she was out of the game, but Chris still held an elimination vote because, y'know, he's Chris," Noah said to Bridgette, explaining the last few challenges. "And Alejandro and his posse voted out Owen."

"What a downer," Bridgette frowned. "Owen's the best!"

"Absolutely," Noah nodded in agreement. "Sure miss the guy. Don't tell anyone I said that, though, it'll hurt my deeply uncaring image."

Bridgette giggled. "Your secret's safe with me."

Both soon realized Ezekiel was lagging behind

"Zeke, what are you doing?" Bridgette asked.

"Makin' myself a slingshot, homes," Ezekiel ran up, clutching some twigs and roots and fastening them into a fairly impressible slingshot. "I've only got one shot, eh. Gotta make it count."

"Impressive," Noah raised an eyebrow.

"Living in the cargo hold of a plane for that long, you really pick up on your survival skills," Ezekiel boasted, while Heather rolled her eyes in the shrubbs. The homeschooled boy then elbowed Bridgette. "Do you think a man who can survive in the wild is hot?"

"Depends on the man," Bridgette replied sharply. "In your case, no."

"Yeah, Zeke don't forget about 'Geoffie-poo,'" Noah said.

Heather stifled a gag, as she retreated.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Noah and Ezekiel are such losers it's not even funny," Heather said. "I can't believe I ever considered Noah a threat. Though I guess it is kind of interesting that Ezekiel has such top-notch survival skills. It could make him a good ally … or a threat that can be voted off. You know, after Courtney."

As Alejandro and Courtney sank deeper into the quicksand, some nearby sniffing attracted their gloomy expressions. None other than Bruno came sniffing by the quicksand. Alejandro seized this moment by grabbing a nearby stick and holding it out to the bear, cautiously.

"That's it, boy, grab the stick," Alejandro encouraged. Bruno sniffed the stick for a minute, before seizing it in his chompers. Courtney grabbed Alejandro and hugged him tightly as Bruno pulled the stick - and, by extension, the two teens - out of the quicksand.

"Oh, thank goodness," Courtney murmured softly, still hugging Alejandro.

"Now all we need is to quietly grab a tranq ball," Alejandro reached gingerly into his pocket. However, before he could grab one of his tranq balls, Bruno stood to attention, peered off into the horizon, and ran off.

"No! Come back!" Courtney cried, as she and Alejandro stood up.

Alejandro turned to see what had scared off Bruno, only to be met with a charging rhinoceros - with a familiar jock grabbing on to it for dear life, screaming all the way.

Alejandro and Courtney dove out of the way, as the rhino charged onward. The beast came to a screeching halt as it saw the bog of quicksand, a quick stop that launched Tyler straight over the boy, landing with a thud at the foot of a tree.

As the rhino meandered off, Courtney and Alejandro stood back up, the former growing a look of rage as she saw who landed at the foot of the tree.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Agh! Again with Tyler!" Courtney threw her hands up in frustration. "His constant interruptions, and ruining Alejandro's success, are starting to get old."

"Ah, hey guys," Tyler dusted himself off, giving Alejandro and Courtney an awkward wave.

"Tyler, mi amigo, que pasa?" Alejandro asked him, and upon seeing the jock's completely bewildered expression, translated himself. "What's up?"

"Oh, heh, not much, just got stuck on a rhino," Tyler said, as coolly as one could possibly try to say that sentence.

"How did you get stuck to a rhino anyway?" Courtney asked, glaring daggers at him.

"Uh … I don't know, I climbed it," Tyler rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Why does your hand smell so bad?" Alejandro quickly noticed.

Tyler continued to rub the back of his head. "I, uh, may have stuck it into a big pile of bugs."

"A pile of bugs," Courtney repeated.

"A termite mound?" Alejandro pondered. "And, is it the same hand that you are currently rubbing on the back of your head?"

Upon realizing this, Tyler whisked his hand away, and stared at it like it was poisonous. "Aw, sick!"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Okay, so maybe he isn't a mastermind planning all of these interruptions," Courtney reasoned. "But I still bet his neanderthal brain is still causing him to interrupt me and Alejandro. Well, it isn't gonna work!"

As the now group of three wandered from the bog, Heather emerged from the grass. On the ground by the tree sat Tyler's three tranq balls, having fallen out of his pocket when he made contact with the tree. "Yes!" she quietly cheered as she scooped them up.

Noah, Ezekiel, and Bridgette wandered through the savannah.

"Bruno!" Bridgette called out. "Bruno, come to mama!"

"The Serengeti's a big place," Noah reasoned. "I don't know if he's going to hear that."

"Maybe we should get a vantage point!" Ezekiel pointed toa large, twisted old tree.

"Yeah, great, just give me a second to sign my will and I'll climb right up there," Noah quipped.

"Nah, I got it, eh," Ezekiel said, leaping up to the trunk and climbing effortlessly from branch to branch.

As Alejandro emerged from some tall grass, he observed Ezekiel's impressive feat. "Hm. Not bad."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Now that challenges are focusing less on tight-rope walking and rickshaw-pulling and more on survival stuff, I think I'm gonna shoot to the top, eh," Ezekiel boasted. "All those weeks of vent-sneaking and leftover-eating are finally payin' off."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I admit, I may have overlooked Ezekiel," Alejandro said. "But he did win immunity in China, and I am fairly impressed with his physical prowess. Hm."

Ezekiel peered off into the distance, scanning the horizon.

"You see anything?" Noah asked, before wincing and turning to Bridgette. "Poor choice of words. "Do you see a large, black bear?"

"Uhh, I see some birds, some lions … oh! I see a bear!" Ezekiel pointed in the direction he spotted.

"Climb down and let's go!" Noah rushed.

However, the ever-keen Alejandro, though at a distance, was smart enough to know what Ezekiel was probably excitedly pointing at. "Thank you for the help, amigo," he whispered, before turning to face Courtney and Tyler, the latter who looked like he wanted to die, and the former looking like she'd be all too happy to arrange that for him. "Alright, let us go. I believe Bruno is this way."

As the group walked in the direction Alejandro had seen Ezekiel gesture, a bush in front of them began rustling. Alejandro held out his hand and silently gestured for them to be quiet and follow his lead. They ducked into some tall grass, and Alejandro and Courtney revved up their slingshots.

On the other side of the bush, Heather prowled carefully, searching for any sign of Bruno, when the nearby tall grass began to rustle. She listened carefully for voices, but heard none. Her face did scrunch up, however, when she smelled something foul.

Now convinced that this had to be the bear, Heather revved up her own slingshot.

She charged from the bush at the same time Alejandro, Courtney, and Tyler charged out, Three of the four launched their slingshots - Tyler unknowingly did not have his, but planned on simply following Alejandro's lead - which resulted in all four becoming tranquilized, falling to the ground in a semi-paralyzed stupor.

All four of them groaned in agony, when a familiar bell chimed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Tyler whined.

Heather began. "Well it's a beautiful day, on the Serengeti - the perfect time to snag a cub. I'll find Bruno and win this dumb game, as soon as my leg wakes up."

"Going alone makes you look sad and pathetic, plus you'll die just like a pest!" Courtney mocked, feeling for her face.

"We teamed up and almost had the bear," Alejandro recalled his time in the quicksand. "I could smell the fish right on his breath. Seriously, we were quite close!"

"'Almost' gets you nowhere around here," Heather jeered, struggling to point to Alejandro and Courtney. "You're a loser duo, that's all."

"'Loser' is what the lion called you, when you couldn't find your balls," Alejandro could not help but bring up, though he attempted to somewhat backtrack. "Tranq balls, that is. I wonder where they went?"

"I guess I better sing, I don't want to get kicked out," Tyler struggled to his feet, his eyes closed and his weakened arms desperately feeling for his face. He was clearly quite out of it. "I really don't feel right. What … Al? Lindsay? Owen? Owen, is that you? Ugh …"

"Well it's a beautiful day, on the Serengeti - the perfect time to snag a cub. I'll find Bruno and win this dumb game, as soon as my leg wakes up." Heather weakley attempted to lift her leg. "My leg!"

Alejandro grabbed his limp right hand with his slightly-less-numb left hand. "My hand."

Tyler accidentally launched a punch into Alejandro as his arm recoiled, as Courtney opened her eyes just in to see it. 'My arm!"

"My face," Courtney struggled to keep her eyes open, glaring briefly at Tyler.

"Wake uuuuuuu-uuu-up!" Alejandro, Heather, Courtney, and Tyler sprang to their feet to sing. "Wake uuuuuu-uuuuup!"

"Very nice!" Chris clapped, emerging from the nearby foliage. "You guys have fifteen minutes to find the bear, or the final six will become the final seven! Haha!"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I truly cannot allow that to happen," Alejandro noted. "Bridgette would be an extra vote for Noah, and could potentially persuade Courtney away from me. I do not wish to take that risk."

Ezekiel whistled a folk song as he led Noah and Bridgette in the direction he had pointed.

"Bruno!" Bridgette called. "Bruno! Are you here?"

Noah scanned the savannah for any sign of the bear. He shook his head in disappointment. "He must have wandered off."

Bridgette was clearly getting distressed. "Oh, gosh, it's been almost an hour now. I hope he's not hurt, or lost, or scared."

"He is in one of the few places on Earth where he's not at the top of the food chain," Noah quipped, only to be met with a frown from Bridgette. "Sorry. Not helping."

"Hey, look, eh! Bear prints!" Ezekiel looked down at some muddier ground by a small pond. Indeed, there were bear tracks. Ezekiel immediately got on all fours and sniffed them.

"Dude," Noah recoiled in unease, as did Bridgette.

"Sorry. Force of habit, eh," Ezekiel stood up. He pointed towards the tall grass. "He definitely went that way!"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Don't think it hasn't dawned on me that I've gone from Owen and Sierra bailing me out to Ezekiel bailing me out," Noah noted. "With Alejandro around, I'm at constant risk. But I also don't think that his little gang is as tight-knit as he's letting on."

Tyler stood up uneasily. "Owen? Owen, buddy is that you?"

His vision became clear, and it was Alejandro who stood before him, looking a bit miffed. "No Owen here, mi amigo."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Oh, Al. Hey. I had the weirdest dream while I was unconscious, hanging out in first class with Owen."

"That does sound quite strange!" Alejandro nodded, helping the jock up.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"The weird part was, Noah was there, too, but I figured I better not mention that to Al," Tyler said. "Reminded me of our time as a team together. I wonder if it's because I still feel guilty for voting off Owen? Because, man, I miss that dude. Nicest guy around." He paused for a moment, then added: "Except Al."

The jock shrugged. "I guess."

"You idiots have fun hunting together," Heather prepared to storm off. "I'm going back on my own."

"With what tranq balls, senorita?" Alejandro reminded her. Heather scowled as she once again felt up her empty holster. "We are better off traveling as a group. There is safety in numbers in the African savannah."

Courtney frowned. "Ugh, fine."

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I love Alejandro, but if one of us wins, he's probably gonna make us vote off Noah or Ezekiel," Courtney sighed dreamily. "But how satisfying would it be to take out Tyler, or, and this has always been a personal fantasy of mine, Heather!"

"Hey, Bridgette, I hope this isn't weird of me to ask you," Noah asked as the small group walked together, "but knowing your … 'relationship' with Alejandro, do you have any pearls of wisdom to offer me?"

"Well, it might be pearls of wisdom for me to keep to myself, if I actually end up rejoining," Bridgette said. "Feels like close to an hour by now. But I really don't have much to offer, as long as you already know the guy's a total snake who will stop at nothing to win."

"I prefer 'eel,' but yeah, same slippery, distrustful motif," Noah shrugged.

Ezekiel readied his makeshift slingshot and fell to a crawl.

"Be careful!" Bridgette warned, assuming that Ezekiel had found Bruno. "Don't you dare hurt him!"

"Relax, eh, he'll be fine," Ezekiel said. With this, he launched his only tranq ball at a large, gray figure in the grass.

Unfortunately, this large gray figure turned out to be a small elephant, which turned to face the group, yawned, and passed out.

"That was close, eh," Ezekiel wiped his brow, turning to face Noah and Bridgette. "You know, I always thought elephants were a lot bigger than that." Noah and Bridgette's faces paled as a shadow slowly loomed over Ezekiel's head. The farm boy turned to see an actual elephant, looking over the unconscious body of its baby.

"Way to go, baby slayer," Noah deadpanned. The mama pachyderm gave chase, and the three were forced into a sprint.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I have experience with tons of different kinds of animals, eh," Ezekiel boasted. "But, uh, not elephants."

Meanwhile, the group of four continued into the brush, before Alejandro stopped. "Look who's up ahead," he whispered, peering over the brush.

Sure enough, Bruno the bear was nestled under the shade of a tree, lapping up water from a small pond.

"Now's our chance!" Tyler shouted.

Bruno, clearly on-edge from being in a strange new environment, stood up and growled defensively upon hearing Tyler's triumphant yell. He wasted no time in leaping forward, managing to pin Alejandro to the ground.

Courtney screamed immediately, racking her pockets for tranq balls. "I must have used all mine earlier!"

Tyler, too, checked his pockets. "Mine are gone? I didn't even use them!"

"Seriously?" Courtney turned on him. "How thick-headed can you be?! Alejandro is about to be eaten alive, it's like you want that!"

Tyler could only muster a confused "wha?"

In the midst of the chaos, Bruno began sniffing - first Alejandro himself, then the ground near him. Finally, the bear turned his attention to Tyler.

"Uh, hi … Bruno, was it?" Tyler smiled sheepishly.

"You idiot, you smell like gross bear food," Heather reminded him.

Bruno continued cautiously sniffing as he walked towards Tyler. Alejandro waited a few seconds - until Tyler was backed up to a tree - and then let his tranq balls fly, managing to bring Bruno to the ground.

"Excellente!" Alejandro cheered. Courtney cheered as well, and Tyler let loose a sigh of relief. Heather merely rolled her eyes at the theatrics.

Chef drove up to the group in his ATV, with Chef standing on the back, a smile plastered on his face. "And Alejandro nabs the nasty old bear, winning himself immunity!"

"He's not nasty!" Bridgette argued, as she, Noah and, Ezekiel emerged from the brush. The surfer girl sighed and turned to the two. "Sorry, guys. Some 'tour guide' I turned out to be."

"Yeah, in terms of helpful rewards, you're definitely towards the bottom," Chris noted. "I bet Alejandro's thankful that he pawned you off to these two dweebs."

"I bet that's not the only thing Alejandro's thankful for," Bridgette shot back, glaring cryptically at her former crush.

Chris checked his watch. "Tough break, Bridgette! If Alejandro took three more minutes, you'd be back in the game! But no such luck."

"For you, at least," Bridgette replied.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I'm certainly feeling pretty lucky," Alejandro said.

The teens returned to the plane, Chef lugging Bruno on the back of his ATV with Bridgette riding on to make sure he was looked after. The other teens boarded the plane and prepared to cast their votes.

"Pretty crazy to see Bridgette back, huh, Alejandro?" Noah said, purposefully loud enough for the others to overhear.

"Ah, certainly," Alejandro replied. "That Chris is always finding new ways to play around with us."

"Well he's not the only one to 'play around' with -"

"Mi chica, after you," Alejandro interrupted Noah to gesture towards Courtney, allowing her to step onto the plane's walkway first.

"What a gentleman!" Courtney battered her eyes as she stepped on. Noah rolled his eyes as he stepped onto the plane, followed by Ezekiel. Alejandro patted Tyler on the back, and the jock stepped inside as well.

This left Alejandro and Heather outside, and the former turned to face the latter.

"Will you be voting with me tonight?" Alejandro asked.

"Unless you plan on voting for Courtney," Heather replied, her voice drenched with malice.

"Come on. You saw Ezekiel's survival skills firsthand," Alejandro reasoned. "Surely if the game gets tougher, he'll have an edge."

"He's an idiot," Heather said. "And before you bring up Noah, he's a total wimp. Courtney's annoying, and she could beat up both Ezekiel and Noah with a hand tied behind her stupid back. She's got to go."

Alejandro sighed. "I did not want to have to resort to this, but … if you vote with me, I will take you up to first class with me."

This got Heather's attention.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I haven't been in first class since Team Amazon won in Australia," Heather remembered. "My back has certainly been suffering as a result. I have to give Alejandro credit, he knows what a girl wants."

"I'll think about it," Heather said, as she boarded the plane.

Alejandro frowned, unhappy that this was the best he could get, but shrugged as he stepped on the plane.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Hey, whatever happens, I'm safe," Alejandro rationalized.

"Who are we voting for if Alejandro's safe, eh?" Ezekiel asked Noah, as the two sat in loser class waiting to cast their votes.

"We go for his girlfriend," Noah whispered, looking to Courtney, who looked away from both of them with contempt. "Alejandro still loses a vote and an ally. Plus, I think Tyler might vote with us."

"Oh, okay, eh," Ezekiel nodded.

With this, Noah stood to approach Tyler, who leaned against the wall towards the exit.

"Hey, dude," Noah said to his former teammate. "I couldn't help but notice -"

Once again, Noah was interrupted, as Alejandro stepped into the room. "Ah, Tyler, I believe it is your turn to vote, my friend. Better go make it count!" He playfully slapped the jock's back, giving Noah a knowing look.

==CONFESSIONAL==

Tyler looked over six passports, aware of which contestant Alejandro wanted to get rid of, and available of the regret he faced from voting for Owen. Finally, he sighed in anticipation, and stamped one.

==CONFESSIONAL==

Heather looked over a few different passports, before rolling her eyes and stamping one.

==CONFESSIONAL==

Noah stamped a passport, a look of determination in his eyes.

==CONFESSIONAL==

In a relaxed manner, Ezekiel stamped one of the passports. He then double-checked to make sure it was the right one, nodding upon his confirmation.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Alejandro was specific with who he wants gone," Courtney reasoned. "But, oh, the temptation to vote for Tyler is so strong, after seeing the lengths he was going today …"

The CIT looked over her passports, finally finding the one she confidently stamped.

The six contestants sat on the bleachers in the elimination area. Bruno and Bridgette stood by the drop of shame, the former now awake once again and growling softly, as if daring anyone to come try and push them.

"You know, there was just a double elimination," Courtney realized. "Maybe today's just a reward challenge?"

"Yeah, about that," Chris grinned as he shuffled through the passports. "You guys are the final six, debatably the best of the best - emphasis on 'debatably.'"

"Emphasis noted, thank you," Noah said with his usual deadpan.

"Anyway, knowing that, there will be no more reward challenges for the rest of the competition!" Chris revealed, to the gasps of all six contestants.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"We're entering a total new stage of the competition!" Courtney gasped, before clapping her hands with amusement. "I'm so excited! As long as I'm not the one Chris expects to get the boot today."

"Alright, let's hand out some peanuts in a dramatic fashion," Chris said, after letting his reveal set in. "Alejandro, you won invincibility, so you're safe."

Alejandro caught his airline peanuts gracefully. "Thank you."

Chris turned his attention to the five remaining teens. "All of you guys have reasons to receive votes. That said, only three of you actually did receive votes."

"Who didn't get any votes?" Heather demanded impatiently.

"Well, as upset as this makes me, you didn't get any," Chris tossed her a bag of peanuts. "And, surprisingly, neither did Noah."

Noah perked up as he frantically caught the bag of peanuts, not expecting to be given one so soon.

"Wow, congratulations, Noah," Alejandro smirked.

"Same to you," Noah frowned back.

Chris shook his head, feigning disappointment. "Courtney. Tyler. Ezekiel. Why did each of you have to go getting into trouble?"

"Trouble? W-What?" Tyler asked. Alejandro perked up at this turn of events, watching the events unfold with a look of caution.

"Tripsy Tyler, you might need to be careful about the enemies you're making," Chris said cryptically.

"What?" Tyler looked around the room. Noah stared back at him boredly, Ezekiel and Heather looked uninterested, and Alejandro smiled warmly. Courtney, on the other hands, crossed her arms and looked away.

"Courtney, I think everyone's just about had enough of your 'tude by now," Chris said.

"Ugh, if people didn't like obnoxious jerks, then Heather would be long gone," Courtney challenged.

"Well, I didn't get a single vote," Heather replied smugly, reducing Courtney to a red-faced growl.

"Ezekiel, man of the wild, you're gross and weird, but maybe, just maybe, you were nearly, almost, dare I say, a semi-threat today?" Chris said, smiling.

"Uh, thanks?" Ezekiel beamed, taking this as a compliment.

"Today's drop-of-shame victim will be …"

As these words left Chris' mouth, the familiar air of anxiety filled the room, for most of the contestants.

Heather, for her part, checked her nails, and looked around the room, boredly - clearly not having a stake in this elimination, though she did sneak a glance at Courtney, hoping she would be the one taking the fall.

Noah and Alejandro both looked at Chris with intense focus, each having a horse in this race that they definitely did not wish to lose.

Tyler's teeth chattered as he furled himself into a ball, sweating heavily.

Courtney attempted to read the room, and did not like what she was seeing - awkwardly picking her shirt collar as she, too, began sweating nervously.

Ezekiel did not look too bothered, and excitedly waited for Chris to reveal the votes.

Even Bridgette watched the host with anticipation, having been drawn back into the drama and eagerly awaiting the outcome of this nail-biting elimination ceremony.

"... Ezekiel!" Chris finally revealed.

The eager smile that had been plastered on Ezekiel's face fell. "Wait, what?"

Noah put his head in his hands. At the exit, Bridgette bit her lip, realizing that this elimination would make getting rid of Alejandro all but impossible.

The other contestants did not seem to mind very much. Tyler slumped over in exaggerated relief, while Courtney simply let her posture relax with the news of her safety. Heather continued to play with her nails, and Alejandro leaned back in his seat, positively pleased with himself.

Ezekiel stood up, crossing his arms. "Well, eh, you guys have all just voted out of the coolest contestant this show's ever seen."

Chris chucked a parachute at Ezekiel. "That's enough blabbing. Time to get out of here. For real this time." With this, he pushed Ezekiel into the arms of Bruno. "This homicidal bear oughta make sure you go where you're supposed to go."

"He's not homicidal!" Bridgette defended, before groaning and facing the rest of the crowd. "And you know what? Zeke may be gross, but at least he's just the normal kind of gross, and not shifty and … eel-like!"

Noah smirked at this reference, while it caused Alejandro to scowl. "Chris, can you get to the part where you push them all out?"

Chris moved towards the exit at an extremely slow pace, shooting the fed-up contestant a grin. "I'm going as fast as I can, Alejandro."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment, eh?" Ezekiel asked unsurely from Bruno's grasp. The bear simply licked the prairie boy's toque, seemingly as a sign of truce.

"I don't see why all of you are cozying up to Alejandro," Bridgette scolded. "I did the same thing, and you know where it got me? Stuck to a pole and out a million dollars!"

Courtney instinctively backed into the arms of Alejandro, who continued to rush the host. "Chris?"

"Almost there," Chris replied, still moving at a snail's pace, eating up the drama.

Bridgette noticed Courtney, and turned her attention to her. By this point, Heather was back to paying attention, clearly very invested in this. "Courtney. Listen. I know we haven't always gotten along but, girl-to-girl, you've got to watch yourself." Chris was almost up to the surfer girl by now, so she finished strong. "Don't trust Alejandro. Okay? Or you might be the next girl who ends up stuck to a pole."

Finally, Chris threw a parachute at Bridgette, who backed up into Bruno, who backed up straight out of the plane, with Ezekiel in his grasp.

Chris leaned down and watched them fall. "Sorry to rush along the drama. Seeing Ezekiel actually fall from this plane has come to be a sort of fantasy of mine."

"Stuck to a pole?" Courtney raised an eyebrow, looking at Alejandro. "That's what happened to Bridgette in the Yukon."

"It is," Alejandro nodded, recalling their earlier conversation on this topic in the Serengeti.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Bridgette's probably just … jealous. Jealous that she lost her chance," Courtney attempted to reason, before staring back at the camera in the mirror. "But, then … why do I get this feeling that Alejandro isn't telling me everything?"

==CONFESSIONAL==

"Three allies in two challenges," Noah counted on his fingers. "I guess four, if you count Cody getting the boot right before the merge. I've really got to start picking up the slack now. I literally have no choice."

He smirked. "Still, it was nice of Bridgette to give me that last boost."

As Chris gathered the passports and threw them away, he turned to the teens. "Alejandro, there's still the matter of who you're taking to first class with you."

Alejandro's eye caught Heather for a moment, but quickly looked back to Courtney. "Of course, I will be taking Courtney!"

Heather scowled, as Alejandro had broken his promise to her.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"That louse!" Heather swore, punching the door to the confessional. "Ugh, I just hate them so much!" She cleared her throat. "Him. I hate him so much. I mean, I hate Courtney too, but not because the two of them are together, or anything …"

As her thoughts trailed off, she focused her rage on another key issue. "And I lose out on victory class! Another night in stupid loser class with the stupid losers."

Courtney smiled at Alejandro, but did not blush, and Alejandro cautiously guided the CIT out of the room and towards first class.

Noah looked to Tyler and Heather and nodded to them in acknowledgement. Heather simply crossed her arms, still stewing about the first class situation, while Tyler offered a nod in return.

==CONFESSIONAL==

"I think it's finally time I breach Alejandro's little gang once and for all," Noah struck his hand with his fist in determination.

==CONFESSIONAL==

Alejandro put a hand to his forehead, going over the previous five minutes in his head. "This will require a lot of explaining."

"Oh-ho-ho, I sure think so!" Chris said excitedly from his spot in his copilot seat. "Everybody's least favorite stowaway is finally off the plane. And with reward challenges a thing of the past, that's going to make life very stressful for our final five contestants. Is Alejandro serious about Courtney? Will Noah's strategizing let him make it another day? And will Tyler survive the night, or will Courtney smother him with a pillow while he sleeps? Find out next time, right here! On Total! Drama! World Tour!"

As always, I will reaffirm my deep gratitude to all of you for reading, following, favoriting, and commenting! You really make this little story so fun to return to. And once again, thank you for your patience - life keeps me very busy, I'm afraid, but we're in the final stretch! We've got five more chapters to go, starting with the show's next stop - Easter Island!

[SPOILERS ABOUND!]

So, believe it or not, when I wrote this chapter, Ezekiel wasn't the one getting the boot. (I'll refrain from saying who was supposed to, but we'll have to see in future elimination ceremonies - of which there are only two left!). It ended up being kind of poetic, in a way. In the actual timeline, Duncan showed up after the London challenge and got the boot in the Serengeti. In this timeline, that still happened, but Ezekiel also rejoined the game after the London challenge … and then he got the boot in the Serengeti.

Ezekiel was a very fun character, and he survived quite a few hypothetical situations where I planned to kick him out. Noah's now left completely allyless, but cracks are definitely showing among Alejandro's allies.

As for Bridgette, I thought it would be a fun idea to throw her into this challenge for a few reasons. One, obviously, there was no feral Ezekiel, and Bruno the bear seemed like a solid, semi-interesting replacement.. Two, Bridgette was in Siberia around this point in canon, and with the show leaving China, they could have been kind of close. Three, I liked the idea of strengthening the ties between the show and the aftermath show a little more. And four … come on, one of Alejandro's former flames reappearing in the midst of his extremely chaotic balancing act to keep Heather, Courtney, and Tyler supportive? It just adds so much drama!

Wow, I'm starting to sound like Chris, aren't I? Anyway, thank you guys for everything, and I'll be starting work on the next chapter right away!