Author's Note: Hey guys, so, it's been a while since my last update and I just wanted to let you know that the fic isn't dead (which you clearly know if you're reading this). Unfortunately though, pretty much everything before this chapter was written some time ago and we have just caught up to the point where I originally stopped writing for a plethora of reasons that I'm sure you'd all be bored stiff by. I am still writing for the story though, as can plainly be seen by this new chapter, but I just wanted to let everyone know that the gaps between chapters are more likely to last longer than they did when this fic was first posted (though I am setting myself a two week deadline for the next chapter, so if I haven't posted anything more by the 20th bug me until I do.
Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has been reviewing the story so far, I realise that this is a fairly undiscovered niche of fanfiction and the first YJ/TDI crossover that I'm aware of.
Anyway, enough boring stuff... on with the story!
For the most part, Wally breezed through the first part of the next challenge as did, surprisingly, Cody. The boys, both of whom having a credible claim on the title 'teen genius', easily constructed themselves functioning bicycles from the scrapheaps they were given.
For the most part, so did the others, but Wally and Cody's designs had the benefit of being structurally stable enough to actually survive the first round of racing. Of the six other bikes in the game, only one other could say the same. Izzy.
When it came time for these three to race, however, Cody was at a distinct disadvantage to his more physically gifted opponents which, as it turned out, was his saving grace.
Wiping out early in the race, it came down to Wally and Izzy in a dash for the finish, with Wally crossing the line mere centimeters ahead of his opponent, earning him the coveted invincibility for the week. Invincibility that, as it turned out, was redundant given the nature of the challenge.
"Congratulations Wally," Chris offered heartily, before turning to Izzy, "Sorry Nutty, you're out."
"Huh?!" "What?!" "Why?!"
Chris shrugged unapologetically at the tide of confused protests, "Rules are rules. I said, and I quote, 'last one to cross the finish line gets eliminated'. Codester wiped out and never finished, so... Izzy, please make your way to the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers."
In the crowd, as others voiced their protests, Heather quietly released a hushed cheer. She'd survived another challenge and Crazy Girl was officially gone!
Throughout it all, however, Izzy was quiet, until eyes turned to her, expecting to see her outrage, sure to be legendary considering her usual disposition. Instead, she smiled.
"Oh well," she shrugged, "It's been fun. Later guys!"
With a jubilant wave, she began to walk towards the docks, halting in her step as she walked by Wally.
Before he had the chance to offer any apologies or goodbyes, Izzy suddenly grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling him down and forcefully capturing his lips with her own, much to the surprise of her small audience, not to mention the viewers at home.
She released him a moment later, a sly grin on her face, the complete opposite of the stunned shock frozen on Wally's. She turned around, holding up two fingers in a 'V' on each hand.
"Peace out, hombres!"
With that, she giggled madly as she made her way to the dock, already making plans to search out the mysterious 'Artemis' that had captured Wally's heart and either congratulate her or remove her from the equation. She hadn't quite made up her mind just yet.
Back at the makeshift racetrack, Wally still stood stunned, mouth agape, as some of the others started to find their voices.
"Wow..." Chris finally spoke up, "That was unexpected."
Turning to face the cameraman, he continued, with a great deal more enthusiasm, "Well, Izzy's gone, and I don't think any of us saw that coming. Especially not Wally."
"Man, I wonder how..." Chris paused, snapping his fingers expectantly before an intern appearing at his side in an instant, handing him a scrap of paper, which Chris quickly glanced at before continuing, "Artemis, reacts to that one."
"Wait," Chris's eyes turned back to the paper for a more appreciative look at the photograph that went along with the name. "Wow. Wally, how'd you land this hottie?"
"..."
"Wally?" Chris turned to find the contestant still in a mild comatose state after Izzy's surprise lip lock.
"Uh," Chris turned back to the camera, "Wally seems to be a little out of it, but he should be fine... I think." The thud of an unconscious body hitting the floor was heard in the background, but Chris, suppressing a mild wince, ignored it, "Tune in next time to find out what happens next, right here, on Total! Drama! Island!"
Seated amidst the small amphitheater of the island campgrounds, seven teens, the remaining contestants of 'Total! Drama! Island!', endured through the cinematic 'masterpiece' known as 'Camp Psycho Killers: Unleashed', for the most part bored out of their minds, only two three individuals feeling anything akin to the true terror that the film was intended to inspire.
Really, the only one who actually seemed to be enjoying the experience was Geoff, and that was purely because Bridgette would jump, unwittingly huddling closer to him each time, with every poorly acted scream.
Two seats over, Wally was in a similar situation... only he very much did not appreciate it when DJ tried to jump into his arms.
Amongst the others, Heather was filing her nails with disinterest, Leshawna was paying only the barest hints of attention to a film that had long since lost her regard, but which was currently offering quite possibly the only entertainment on the island and Cody was idly glancing at the video projector, wondering if he could cannibalize the parts to create something that would destroy all copies of this offense to the art of cinematography.
Eventually, mercifully, with the final stand of the piece's 'heroine' against the poorly digitized villain, the movie came to an end. And that's about when they heard the roar of a motorboat's engine.
The scramble to find the source, for the roar of a motor could never be a good sign at Camp Wawanakwa, was immediate, leading the teens to the docks, giving them just long enough to catch a glimpse of Chris and Chef aboard the motor propelled dinghy, leaving in a mad rush without even a glance behind them towards the teens they were supposedly responsible for.
"They can not be serious," Heather muttered at the back of the group, watching their host disappear critically.
"Hey, what's this?" Geoff reached down to the wooden surface of the dock, picking up the stray newspaper that had found its way to his feet. "Uh, guys? I think you should probably take a look at this..."
He held out the paper so the headline was bared for all to see.
'ESCAPED SERIAL KILLER WITH A CHAINSAW AND A HOOK FOR A HAND ON THE LOOSE: BE CAUTIOUS. INFORM THE AUTHORITIES IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THIS INDIVIDUAL, BUT DO NOT APPROACH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AS HE IS CONSIDERED EXTREMELY DANGEROUS'
Wally scoffed, sharing Heather's earlier sentiment, "They can not be serious."
"What?" DJ asked, eyes nervously flitting about, "You think it's a fake?"
"Duh," Heather sneered derisively, "They show us a horror flick about an escaped psycho right before one conveniently escapes from an asylum? Please. It's just Chris trying to mess with us."
"But how can you be sure?" Geoff challenged uncertainly.
"Uh, hello?" Leshawna interrupted, grabbing Geoff and DJ's attention before gesturing to the water that lay just a few feet beneath them, "We're on an island. Far from any forms of civilization, let alone an insane asylum."
"Exactly," Heather nodded, before turning away, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and shower."
"Hold it, Heather," Wally laid a hand on the girl's shoulder to halt her, "This whole thing stinks like McLean, so it's either a prank or a challenge. And since we've been bored stiff for three days now? My money's on challenge."
Heather considered the other teen's logic and found it to be flawless. She also had her own logic, however, which tended to be a bit more persuasive. "So, where's the challenge? What? Are we meant to just stand around scared all night? Not even Chris is that stupid. It's a prank. And I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of falling for it."
"Now, if you'll excuse me," she repeated, as she walked off towards the communal bathrooms.
Wally shook his head as she left.
"So, you really think it's a challenge?" Bridgette asked.
"No doubt," Leshawna interjected with a nod, "Chris is way too lazy to dash off like that unless ratings are involved."
"Okay? So, what?" Cody asked the group uncertainly, "Where's the challenge?"
The teens looked at each other with the same thought. With Chris? Who knew?
Wally had been right. The whole setup had been a challenge. Not that it came as much of a surprise, I mean, come on... a serial killer on the loose? Seriously?
Still, Wally kind of wished he'd been wrong.
One by one, Chef, dressed as a deranged killer with a chainsaw and a hook, had scared the crap out of them, grabbing them for good measure. No matter how hard Wally tried to keep them all together, Chef caught them when they were alone.
Heather, already alone and in the shower besides, had been the first target. Geoff and DJ, summoned away from the group by the unyielding call of nature, had been next. Bridgette hadn't lasted much longer. Not entirely convinced that the dangers had been staged, she had gone to the showers in order to check up on Heather, only to find herself falling into Chef's grip.
Wally had tried to keep Cody and Leshawna together after that point. The three of them had tried to maintain the belief that their friends' disappearances were all simply a part of Chris's deranged challenge.
Unfortunately, sticking together didn't help them that much against Chef.
All it took was the rustling of some bushes to distract them for but a brief moment, and when Wally and Leshawna turned back around Cody was gone.
Wally and Leshawna had spent the rest of the night in the midst of the bonfire area, back to back, eyes rarely blinking until sunrise for fear of Chef's arrival.
Though he was loathe to admit it, Wally came extremely close on more than one occasion to grabbing Leshawna and running the hell out of there, already making tactical plans to return with the full might of the Justice League behind him.
"Calm down White Boy," Leshawna told him, feeling him flinch and shudder against her, as he'd been doing all night (unknown to her, repressing his instinct to runrunrun). "That no good, two-bit excuse for a cook ain't got nothing on my cousins. He and Chris are not going to get the satisfaction of seeing us quiver and quake as we run screaming home to Momma!"
"Got it," Wally confirmed, repressing another shiver. The other girl had been confident from the start of this ridiculous ordeal that it was simply Chris's idea of a joke, and it was only that unrelenting confidence that had allowed Wally to keep himself from doing anything stupid on national television in his own moments of doubt.
"How much longer do you think he's gonna keep us out here?" Leshawna wondered idly.
"I don't know," Wally admitted, slumping as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Did anyone actually survive the 'Psycho Camp Killer' movie?"
"I think so," Leshawna told him, unsure, "I wasn't really paying much attention by the end. But I'm pretty sure that the movie ended at dawn."
Wally peered out over the horizon, noting that daybreak would be at least another hour away. Sighing defeatedly, "I hope we can stay awake that long."
"Me too, White Boy," Leshawna yawned. "Me too."
"Oh, come on!" Chris whined as he walked up to the slumped duo in the bonfire area, the crack of dawn behind him and his hair and makeup adjusted perfectly despite the ungodly hour. "You guys are just so boring!"
"Game over," he conceded, Chef appearing, disappointedly, at his shoulder, throwing his chainsaw to the ground in frustration before crossing his arms and huffing irritably. "You guys win."
"Huh?" Leshawna blinked sleepily as she peered at the host, only just now actually registering his presence, "What do we win?"
"Invincibility," Chris reluctantly admitted, before adding brightly, "Not that it's worth much this week. This episode's loser has already been decided."
"Who?" Wally asked, as Leshawna added, hopefully, "Was it Heather?"
"Are you kidding me?" Chris snorted, "That girl is gold. Nah, loser this week is the one who did worst in the challenge."
"But..." Wally began confusedly, "Didn't Heather get caught first?"
"Technically," Chris nodded happily, "And, normally, that would've been enough to ensure her elimination. But DJ managed to eliminate himself from the challenge before Chef even got a chance at him. Dude totally ran for the hills at the sound of a bunny hopping up alongside him. It was priceless."
"DJ?" Wally moaned. "Not DJ."
"'Fraid so, Wallman," Chris smirked. "The gentle giant crybaby is already on his way aboard the Boat of Losers, leaving just six contestants for the next horrifying episode of Total... Drama... Island!"
Later that day, once Wally had been given the time to at least try and catch up on a full night's sleep, Wally and Geoff strode steadily through the door of the boys' cabin, catching Bridgette's eye as she herself emerged from the girls'.
Without much more than a simple gesture on Wally's part, the trio began to walk away from the cabins, making their way down to the dock.
As they walked, things certainly appeared normal. Geoff and Bridgette eyed one another almost habitually whenever they thought nobody was looking and Wally rolled his eyes as they danced around each other, all the while the trio chatted about one topic or another.
To the other contestants, it wasn't all that suspicious. Or, at this point in the game at least, it wasn't any more suspicious than anything that anyone else was doing. Paranoia had a way of getting to people like that, where one would start to believe that even something as innocuous as three friends chatting on the docks was a part of some dark scheme.
Well, you know what they say. It's only paranoia if you're wrong.
With only six contestants left in the game, and Chris steadily increasing the number of challenges where players could be eliminated without a vote, everyone knew that their chances of surviving the next episode were going to depend on their skill to get them through the game and, on the off chance that their was actually a vote at this point, their allies.
"We really need to stick together guys," Wally told his co-conspirators seriously, safely out of earshot of the rest of the competitors. "I don't know about the others, but Heather's definitely got us all slated for the chopping block. We need to eliminate her next chance we get."
"You're telling me," Geoff scoffed. "That girl is just a little ball of mean. She totally sold out Deej back in that hide and seek challenge!"
"She is the only one here who's actually evil," Bridgette agreed hesitantly. "I mean, I don't really know Cody, but Leshawna's actually pretty nice... except to Heather. But, I kind of understand that."
"Exactly," Wally nodded seriously. "And look at what she did to the Gophers. She made alliances with half the group and then stabbed them all in the back to make sure she got this far. Who knows what she'll do if she stays here any longer?"
Though Bridgette was kind of reluctant to agree to anything bad about another person, the fact was that the surfer had already seen Heather play both Leshawna and Cody in the past, through misinformation and the barest hint of flirting respectively.
"Girl has got to go," Geoff agreed wholeheartedly. Righteous anger concerning his friend's betrayal aside, Heather had been making way too many comments about his and Bridgette's 'alliance' and its dangers over the past few days.
Bridgette nodded uncertainly, uncomfortable with the behind the back scheming her former teammates were doing, but also knowing that Heather was a dangerous threat to leave unchecked.
"Okay then," Wally confirmed. "After the next challenge, we vote off Heather. That means that she can't be allowed to win, or we might not get another chance to get rid of her."
Both blondes shared a solemn look before nodding their agreement. Heather was a strong competitor in her own right and not nearly so averse to underhanded tactics as the rest of the remaining contestants. She was, without a doubt, the single biggest threat to the very idea of any of the others walking away with the prize money.
Working together though, Wally was sure that they could get rid of her.
"I'm pretty sure that if we stick together, we'll all make it to the final three."
Safely hidden away in the editing room, Chris watched the conversation idly whilst Chef bobbed his head obliviously to the music playing from his headphones.
"I'm pretty sure that if we stick together, we'll all make it to the final three."
"Huh," Chris acknowledged, seemingly surprised for the benefit of the camera. "Finally, someone besides Heather is actually playing this game. Sheesh, I was worried we'd get through the whole season without another alliance."
"Still," Chris grinned as Chef remained willfully ignorant to his very presence. "This late in the game... an alliance really is an unfair advantage. I can't just let that go on. It wouldn't be fair to the other contestants."
Chris's grin evolved into a smirk. "I suppose I'll just have to do something about that. Tune in next time on Total! Drama! Island!"