Disclaimer - The rights of Total Drama Island and its characters belong to Teletoon, Cartoon Network, and all those associated with the show. No profit is being made by this fanfiction. If you are injured or suffer a major pancreas failure during the reading of this story, I cannot cover your health insurance.
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Chapter 10 (Day 03, Part 2) - The Horrors Outdoor'ors
With a shot of the starting pistol, the four rafters hurried to their inner tubes. Leaping in, they began to paddle off, but not without a paddle war between Duncan and Beth.
"En guard, Duncan," Beth shouted as they dueled while floating down the river. Bridgette and Katie took this opportunity to speed up their efforts.
"Thou will not defeat me, oh puny woman," the punk shouted back with a swing of his paddle. Wood against wood, they exchanged blows.
A sudden drop in the river almost made both of them lose their balance. Remembering the challenge, they sat down and began to paddle for real. Bumping Beth's raft into the side, Duncan sped off down the river.
"I'll get you for that, you knave," Beth shouted, grinning despite it all. She began to paddle, but her small arms weren't able to generate enough speed to catch up with Duncan.
Duncan caught up with Katie and Bridgette, who were both furiously paddling and splashing the other as a distraction. The punk rammed his inner tube into both of theirs, and let out a loud cheer.
"Having fun yet, fellow rafters?" he asked, grinning insatiably. He jabbed at their rafts, saying, "Now let me through."
"Yeah right, Duncan," Katie replied, stick her tongue out at him.
"Then allow me," the criminal said as he jammed his paddle under Katie's raft, wedging it between their rafts, "to flip you off!"
He leapt onto the handle of his paddle, and the force of his makeshift lift flung Katie and her raft up into the air and crashing down on the riverbank.
"Woohoo, now that's how I roll," Duncan shouted, pumping his fists and his paddle in the air. When he looked forward again, he realized that Bridgette now was racing down the river.
"Damn, forgot that girl is the queen of water sports," he said, getting back to rowing.
Katie, who had recovered from her little flight, tossed her raft back in the river and leapt back in. She rowed furiously, cursing Duncan under her breath.
Beth was still far behind. She was paddling, but she was singing a song to pace herself, and it wasn't a very fast song.
When Bridgette saw the waterfall up ahead, she picked up her speed a little more and went over. She let out a wild cheer as she felt herself fall, her ponytail whipping above her. With a wet smack, she landed back in her raft, almost sinking it. Wiping the water off of her face, she paddled for the left side of the bank.
On the shore were Trent, Leshawna, Izzy, and DJ. The musician saw Bridgette approaching the beach alone, and waved excitedly at her.
"Bridgette, way to go," he cheered for her. She smiled as he helped her from her waterlogged ride.
He ran over to the four available wheel vehicles, standing next to the sleek and shiny motorcycle with two helmets upon the seat. With a wicked grin, he plucked one of the two helmets off and tossed it to Bridgette. "Take off the life jacket and put that on, because we're going on a wild ride."
"Um, Trent?" Bridgette said after she caught the helmet. "Do we really have to take the motorcycle? Can't we take the... um, tricycle instead?"
"The tricycle? You kidding, Bridgette?" Trent said, walking over to her with his helmet in his hands.
"Not really. I don't like motorcycles," she admitted. "What about the bicycle? How about that?"
"Bridgette, we don't have much time before the others arrive," Trent said, looking over at the waterfall to see if anyone was coming. Sure enough, Duncan, with a very loud 'whoo,' plummeted down the waterfall.
"Trent, those things are really loud and dangerous and-"
"Bridgette, hear me out, okay?" Trent put his hand on her shoulder. "I've been working on motorcycles for some time now, driving them almost as long. I promise I'll go as safe as possible, but we have to go now before Duncan grabs it and we lose our lead, okay?"
Bridgette looked into Trent's eyes. He seemed so honest and trusting that she felt most of her apprehension melt away. "O... Okay," she caved in.
After putting on their motorcycle helmets, Trent got on with Bridgette behind him, her arms around his waist. He started the vehicle up, and it was much quieter than the surfer chick thought it would be.
"I thought motorcycles were really loud," she shouted to Trent as they took off across the campgrounds.
"Only if you modify them to be," the musician replied.
Duncan was now getting on the shore, looking around for Bridgette. "Where's Malibu Barbie?"
"If you mean Bridgette, he and Gwen's man sped off in the motorcycle," Leshawna said, angrily jerking a thumb behind them. "We could've had that if your scrawny arms had paddled a little harder."
"Yeah well, at least we got the bike," Duncan said, gesturing at the dual-seat bicycle. "Better that than the unicycle, 'cause your very un-scrawny butt would burst that poor tire."
Leshawna twitched, then leapt at Duncan, forcing him down into the sand. "What did you say?" she shouted as she pushed his face into the sand. "Say that again, I dare ya! I'll rub your piercings right off!"
Izzy and DJ exchanged perplexed looks. Both knew it would be best to stay out of the fight, but there was no harm in watching. Izzy suggested they make bets, but since they both knew Leshawna was winning, they just enjoyed the fight.
After several minutes of struggling, Duncan and Leshawna finally calmed down enough to get on the dual-seat bicycle. The criminal, seated on the back seat, mentioned how she was obscuring his view. Leshawna shook with pent-up rage, but managed to refrain from leaping off her seat and killing him.
DJ and Izzy, now bored, sat on the sand and watched the waterfall. "Think they fell off their rafts or something?" DJ asked the redhead.
"Happened to me once, when I was tubing down the Amazon."
"You've been to the Amazon?"
"Or maybe I'm thinking of the Mississippi River! Anyway, I fell off my raft, and then I had to make a new one out of branches, vines, and a dead crocodile!"
"You killed a poor crocodile?" DJ asked, looking heartbroken.
"Was either him or me, he sank my raft after all," Izzy said, miming how she stabbed the crocodile with a spear. DJ winced as if he was the one being stabbed. "I made some boots out of him when the whole ordeal was over. You know, so that he was useful after life. I would've worn them here, but the producers said that PETA would complain."
DJ sat there, scared pretty bad as Izzy hummed a tune and bobbed her head. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the crazy girl looked over at DJ again. "So, I hear you have a girlfriend back home?"
"Oh yes. She's really something, ya know?" DJ said, happy to talk about something that did not involve killing critters. "She's part of the pet club at my high school."
"Ah, the pet club," Izzy said, nodding her head and beaming at him. "I was once part of the pet club, but for some reason, they don't consider snakes as pets."
"You got... a snake for a pet?" the large guy whimpered, remembering how much he feared snakes. "Is that safe?"
"Not all snakes are poisonous or able to eat a man whole," the redhead said, grinning at DJ. "Though I doubt even the biggest snake could swallow you, DJ."
"Gee, thanks."
Before their awkward conversation (at least, for DJ) could continue, they heard a high-pitched scream. Katie had fallen down the waterfall, and now, losing her raft, she had to doggie-paddle over to the shore.
"Alright, Katie, way to conquer those rapids," Izzy cheered as her teammate swam to shore. "Now quick, let's get the unicycle!"
"Wait," Katie sputtered, spitting water out and ringing it out of her pigtails, "the unicycle? But... the tricycle is still there!"
"That slow thing? I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot spear," Izzy said, waving her hand at the three-wheeled vehicle. "Now the unicycle, that's made for speed!"
The crazy girl propped it up, then leapt onto the seat. WIth perfect agility, she rolled back to Katie, who stared flabbergasted. "C'mon Katie, climb on my back! I'll take you for a ride you'll never forget!"
(Confession Cam - On no wheels to speak of.)
Katie - " 'A ride I'll never forget' was exactly the reason I didn't want to get on her back."
Swallowing nervously, Katie crawled up on Izzy's back, her legs around the crazy girl's waist and her arms around her upper chest.
"Hold on to your pigtails, because here we go!"
Like a one-wheeled rocket, Izzy sped off with Katie wailing. DJ watched them go, wondering just how safe that really was.
A chubby finger poked him from behind, and he turned to see a drenched Beth looking up at him. "Ready to go, DJ?"
The big guy nodded and smiled. With only one vehicle left, DJ had to wedge himself into the front seat of the tricycle, and Beth was a little squished behind him in the passenger seat. When DJ started off, Beth noticed a passing butterfly cut them off.
"Go, DJ, go," Beth cheered, positive as ever. She rubbed the big guy's shoulders. "You can do this, yes you can! Go go go!"
"I'm going, woohoo," DJ said with a cheer.
A grasshopper bounced past them as they rocketed off at a little less than a mile an hour.
Bridgette was hugging close to Trent, hoping to everything above that they did not crash. Even though Trent kept the motorcycle at a decent speed and was driving sensibly, she still couldn't help but be scared.
"You doing alright back there, Bridgette?" Trent, as if reading her mind, called back to her.
"I... I'm fine!" Then she saw, ahead of them, DJ's Bunny hopping across the campgrounds, directly in front of them. "BUNNY," she shrieked, pointing at the fluffy, soon-to-be roadkill.
Trent turned, riding the motorcycle at a forty-five degree angle as he swerved to miss the gray rabbit. He zoomed right by, missing Bunny as he hopped along, oblivious to what would have been a violent death.
Bridgette let out a relieved sigh, then saw something else in front of them. "CHEF!!"
Trent swerved the motorcycle to avoid hitting the big man, who had come out of the cafeteria to throw the food scraps away. The musician managed to avoid hitting the cook, but the big man was so startled that he threw up his pot of revolting scraps in the air; it came down on his head, coating him in his own revolting work.
Bridgette and Trent both laughed as they drove off. A raccoon came out of the Confessional Can, and was almost hit by the motorcycle. It chattered angrily, then went back in the Confessional Can to complain about society more.
Chef, furious and shaking with rage, removed the pot from his head. Then he was knocked down when Izzy clotheslined him as she zipped by.
"Yeeehaw," she screamed, "ten points for the bad cook!"
"That was so totally awesome," Katie screamed, whooping and laughing. They passed by Duncan and Leshawna, the two girls cackling and squealing in joy.
Far behind them, DJ was pedaling as fast as could. A fat toad with three legs bounced by his vehicle. When he saw Bunny outdoors, he took time out to go put his furry friend back in the boy's side of the Killer Bass cabin.
Bridgette and Trent arrived at the shore far ahead of the others. The blond surfer removed her helmet, and let out a relieved sigh.
"Well, I'm still not a fan of motorcycles," she said to Trent with a smile, "but you drove really well."
"Thank you," Trent replied, smiling back.
"Trent," came the sharp voice of Heather, who was looking impatient. "Stop chatting with surfer girl and let's get going before those losers catch up."
"Good luck," Bridgette said as Trent ran to the canoes. She then called out in addition, "And don't kill her!"
Trent put on his life vest and pushed the canoe, with Heather, into the water. He managed to wave to Gwen, who was waiting by her canoe. The goth girl waved back.
"I'll never understand why you're dating her," Heather said to Trent after he got in. "I mean, she is-"
"Save it, Heather," Trent snapped. "I don't want to hear you talk trash about Gwen while we work together."
The queen bee was astonished at first, then shrugged. "Fine by me. Let's just keep this lead."
(Confession Cam - With a special surprise guest.)
Heather - "I truly don't understand what Trent sees in her. He's handsome, talented, skilled, and articulate... she's something out of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I hope he drops her like the rodent she is."
\The raccoon falls down from the ceiling, where it was crawling. It lands her in her lap, she screams, and the two scramble to get away from each other.\
Gwen watched as her boyfriend and her worst enemy left in the same canoe. She sighed, then was startled when Courtney let out a frustrated scream.
"Where are they?" she hollered, stomping her foot on the sand. "How could DJ be so slow?"
The next couple to show up were Izzy and Katie, racing past the checkpoint, across the beach, and crashing into the ocean. They rose up, laughing and cheering, as Izzy held up the unicycle and tossed it on the beach.
"Ready to go, Gwen?" the redhead shouted as she leapt into the canoe that Gwen was next to.
"Is one ever ready for their demise?" the goth girl muttered as she shoved the canoe into the water.
Before Izzy and Gwen started to paddle, Leshawna and Duncan arrived at the beach. The punk waved good-bye to Leshawna, who ran over to her canoe. Noah was already in it, reading his book as usual.
"Duncan slow you down much?" the egghead asked as Leshawna shoved the boat into the water.
"Don't give me any of your snide back talk, I am so not in the mood," the large sister replied as she got into the canoe herself.
"DJ," Courtney screamed, grabbing her hair. "Where are you?"
"Noah, why aren't you paddling?"
The egghead was still reading, sitting in the back of the canoe. "You probably want to fully exercise both your upper and lower body," he said with a wry smile. "The bicycling helped you exercise your lower body, the rowing will help you with your upper body strength."
"Oh no no no no!"
Leshawna was at the other side of the canoe in a heartbeat. She grabbed Noah's book and slammed it down on the canoe floor. "You are not gonna be slacking off here, you get me?"
Noah was almost stunned by this, then angered. "You can act as loud and sassy as you want, but I'm not intimidated by you."
"Listen you skinny sweater vest-wearing twerp," Leshawna snapped as she grabbed Noah by the collar, "if you think I'm gonna cave in because you're throwing me attitude, you've got another think coming! If I can handle Duncan, or a household of siblings, I can certainly handle you."
She thrust a paddle into his chest, almost knocking him down. He took it in his hands, most grudgingly, and started to paddle. "The older sister routine, huh?" he muttered. His face was twisted in an ugly sneer. "Why don't you just threaten to scratch my face off, or go gossiping about me at school?"
"I don't give a flying canoe about what your siblings do," Leshawna replied, rowing hard. "I just don't want to put up with your ego while we are losing."
Noah grumbled more. "And people wonder why older sisters are detested by their little brothers. What is it with you older siblings that makes you think you're so much better?"
"Well maybe if you actually tried to help your team out, I wouldn't need to be kicking your scrawny butt every step of the way."
"Like it'd do any good in the end. It wouldn't be appreciated or recognized."
"What makes you think that?" Leshawna asked, turning around to him. Though her nerves were shot and Noah was one of her least favorite campers, her natural desire to help others need in need was kicking in.
Noah sighed, still rowing albeit slowly. "I come from a big family. Nine siblings, and I'm the youngest. My dog gets more attention than I do, and that's because he drools."
"That ain't no reason to not try, boy," Leshawna replied. "What, you think your parents had you because they thought nine would be a nice number or something?"
"Well, when the third kid is getting married, the fifth kid thinks she's pregnant, and the eighth kid is going off to college, no one around the house cares about your latest achievement or grade," Noah shrugged. "I once flunked a test on purpose to see if I could get a reaction out of them.
"Of course, none of that really matters to me now. I know they prefer me to just stay out of the way."
"Don't be so quick to diss your family," Leshawna replied. "How bad it could be? You're not a psycho or an idiot."
Noah looked away from her eyes, into the water. He had never told anyone what had haunted him for nine years, and he wasn't even sure why he was telling her; however, it was high time to get this off his chest.
"When I was seven years old, I fell down the stairs at my house and broke both my legs. I had to be in a wheelchair for several weeks. But right after I broke my legs, I overheard my father telling my mother about it. And she said..."
" 'Well, good thing it was Noah. He barely stands up anyway.'
He sighed, then shrugged. "After that, I just decided to stay at my computer or read. It'd just be easier for everyone else."
Leshawna exhaled at this, then looked at him sympathetically. "That sounds pretty harsh, hon. But, and not to be devil's advocate, are you sure she wasn't just stressed out? She had a house full of kids and other problems to check with."
"I'm sure she was stressed, but when you're seven, you don't think about that," Noah said with a shrug.
"Have you ever talked to her about this?"
"No. I don't think I want to. It's been a long time."
"Don't think like that, egghead. Bad memories just eat you up inside if you don't face them. You don't want to be an angry witch like Heather, now do ya?"
Noah couldn't help but smile. "No, no I don't. I'd look bad in a tube top."
Leshawna laughed. "That's the spirit, bookworm. Now, you gonna help me paddle?"
The know-it-all looked down at the paddle, a tool of physical work that he hated on principle. "I say... let's head up the creek!"
The two began to paddle, before they were almost knocked over by a surging wave, caused by DJ pushing the canoe Courtney was in.
(Confession Cam - In last place, since it cannot move.)
Noah - \smiling\ "I guess I underestimated Leshawna. It might be worth getting along with some of the other campers here. At the least, they'll say something new." \He lifts up his book.\ "This has been a little bit repetitive after the fifth read, and all I can think about when I read it is, how last time I was trying to, Lindsay was complaining about blush colors."
As DJ and Courtney sped by Noah and Leshawna, they were quickly coming up on Izzy and Gwen. The redheaded girl looked back to see them, and gasped.
"Oh no, it's that really crabby girl," she cried out.
"Heather?" Gwen asked, baffled because she was certain Trent and Heather were ahead of them. When she looked back at Izzy, the crazy girl was tying her shark fin on her back.
"Izzy, dare I guess that you're about to-"
"Time to strike fear in the heart of the competition!"
She jumped out of the canoe, then swam towards Courtney's canoe on an interception path. When the C.I.T. saw that gray fin approaching, she froze up.
"DJ?" she whimpered, too quiet for him to hear.
DJ didn't notice the shark fin until it was several feet from him. He let go of the canoe, which shot forward without him, and he screamed.
"Boo," Izzy shouted as she sprang up from under the water.
The gentle giant shrieked, and swam in the opposite direction. Courtney, furious, had to start back-paddling. "Izzy, you'll pay for this!"
The redhead giggled, and spat a stream of water into Courtney's face. Sputtering and furious, the brunette continued rowing for her terrified teammate, calling out to him.
As Izzy pulled herself back into her canoe, she giggled to Gwen. "Was that awesome or what? And he didn't hear me humming the Jaws theme either!"
The goth girl had been watching with a shocked expression, then she felt herself smirking. "Izzy, you're crazy and unpredictable and at times, utterly insane, but you're alright."
"Why thank you," the redhead said as she began paddling again. "You know, you never answered my question."
"Which one?"
"Has Trent seen your boobies yet?"
Gwen sighed. "Izzy, I'm not really for talking about that, okay?"
"Okay," she chirped, and continued rowing. The goth girl was startled by this, she had thought Izzy would be impossible to dissuade.
(Confession Cam - Impossible to dissuade too.)
Izzy - "I don't really need to ask Gwen if Trent's seen her boobs, 'cause I know he has. There was one of her bras in the boys' cabin when I was in there for a short hide-out from the RCMP. I'm sure it was hers, even though I found it near Cody's bed."
At Boney Island, Harold and Ezekiel were carrying Heather on the stretcher. Taking it easy because of Harold's health issues, the queen bee was not satisfied with the speed.
"Can't you two pick it up?" she grumbled as she filed her nails in the stretcher. "I've seen Chef's food move faster."
Ezekiel grumbled, the urge to drop the stretcher and let Heather hit her head on the sandy beach was growing every second. "Do you ever stop complaining?" he grumbled.
"I only complain when someone is doing something wrong, and you two are the slowest mammals on the planet," Heather replied, then tapped her chin with her nail file. "No, you two look more like reptiles to me."
(Confession Cam - Venting on Heavy.)
Ezekiel - "How much more do I have to take of that girl, eh? No wonder Gwen hated this island so much first time, she was stuck with her the whole time! I wanted to take that nail file and shoo've it up her nose!"
"Tyler, Geoff, let's get going," Gwen shouted as jumped out of the canoe. "There's another team ahead of us!"
"We saw them already," Geoff said, jerking his thumb in the direction that the Round Rectangles had headed off. "Don't worry Gwen, Tyler and I are gonna smoke them!"
The goth girl laid down on the stretcher and the two boys picked her up. They started to run, and Gwen had to grip the sides to stop from being flung out.
"If you two don't be more careful, I'm going to actually need this stretcher!"
"Sorry Gwen, but we don't want to lose," Geoff cried out. "Charge! For Canada!"
"For Canada," Tyler and even Gwen cheered.
Still on the shore were Justin, Cody, Lindsay, and a very very very upset Eva were waiting. When Courtney and DJ approached, they came at such a high speed that the canoe shot up past the beach, and then crashed and splintered against the boulders of the mountainside.
"Nice landing," Cody called to them as Courtney came running to them.
"Stop joking and get running," she cried out, looking desperate. She sat down on the stretcher, then Cody and Justin lifted her up and started to run off.
"Where are those slackers?" Eva bellowed after she watched the third team depart from the beach.
"Maybe they got lost, and had to ask for directions," Lindsay suggested as she checked her make-up with a compact. "You know how Nova can be when it comes to physical activity."
Eva was about to smack her when Lindsay offered her the compact. "Want to check your make-up while we wait?"
"I don't... wear... make-up," the fitness buff snarled, hissing air through her teeth.
"Aww, you totally should," Lindsay said. She cupped Eva's face in her hands, then studied it up close. "You could use with a dark-colored lipstick, since your lips are so dark naturally. And I have something can cover up marks like that," she poked Eva's mole, "let me get that now!"
Lindsay began rummaging through her purse, which was full of all kinds of cosmetics. Eva approached from behind, her hands open and trembling for Lindsay's neck.
"We're here," Leshawna called to them, waving as she and Noah rowed in. Eva snapped to attention, while Lindsay waved back.
"Good. Now get the bookworm on the stretcher, we're in last place!" the fitness buff shouted.
Noah got out of the canoe, holding his book. He stopped when he heard Eva's comment, then looked determined. "That means we'll have to lose every bit of weight possible!"
He handed Leshawna his book, the ultimate sign of trust for him. "Take care of this," he shouted as he went to go lie down on the stretcher.
Leshawna nodded, then was surprised as Eva wrenched Lindsay's purse from the blond's hands and gave it to the large sister. The fitness buff then shoved Lindsay onto the stretcher, right on top of Noah, lifted both of them up and over her head before sprinting after her opponents.
"Dang, that girl is like a mom with her kid stuck under her car," Leshawna said with a whistle. "Gets superhuman strength when determined."
She, Izzy, Trent, and DJ exchanged looks as they wondered what next to do. Trent then saw the Boat of Losers, driven by a very angry Chef, heading towards them. The musician waved at their escort. Izzy was hiding behind Leshawna, knowing Chef would still be ticked about the clothesline incident.
Eva's furious sprinting passed the Asymmetrical Parallels (which made Tyler furious, since he saw Noah and Lindsay lying on the stretcher next to each other), then the Circular Cubes. She was almost heaving from the effort, but her heavy training over the years kept her endurance high.
"No, we cannot lose to her," Courtney wailed, panicking. "Justin, can you do that?"
The male model nodded, then did the same as Eva by putting Cody on the stretcher, holding them over his head, and ran forward. It was obvious that Cody had been slowing them down, because they passed the Circular Cubes.
Gwen cried out in frustration. "We're in last place now! Can't you guys hurry it up any more?"
A quick look at Tyler and Geoff told her the answer was no. Tyler's headband was soaked in sweat, and Geoff's hat was drooping as if to signify his exhaustion.
"Am I that fat?" she asked, trying to keep a sense of humor so she wouldn't be shouting in frustration.
"No, babe," Geoff replied, trying to talk as his tongue was hanging out, panting hard. "Just... not good at... this kind of thing."
"Want... water," Tyler whined.
At the far end of Boney Island, the Round Rectangles had let Ezekiel run into Boney Island. Harold had asked him if he really wanted to go, but the prairie boy replied, "Anything to get away from Heather, eh," before he dashed in.
Eva made it with Noah and Lindsay a few seconds later, threw the two down with the stretcher, and bolted into the woods. A bear came out of the bushes to chase her, but a solid uppercut left the bear on his back seeing stars. Noah wasn't too worried about her safety after seeing this.
Justin came up about a minute later, placing his teammates on the ground much more gently. Courtney yelled at Cody to get going, and the sly geek went running in, shouting out battle cries that the C.I.T. didn't recognize and only worried her more; especially when Cody ran into a tree before even getting into the forest.
Geoff and Tyler, both beat and gasping for air, showed up a couple minutes. Gwen had to splash water in the jock's face before Tyler finally had the strength to trudge into the forest; he ran into the same tree Cody did.
Ezekiel was not having fun. Five minutes into the forest, he had to wade through a swamp, was almost bitten by a snake, and a jagged branch tore through his pants and scratched his leg.
Another five minutes in, a herd of carnivorous, prehistoric beavers saw him, and gave him the biggest run for his life. "Chris Maclean, if I live throo' this, I'm gonna kill you," he screamed to the heavens as he fled the horrible beasts.
Eva, who was not used to the wild, was finding that beating it down was best way to make her way through. She had uprooted bushes, climbed over rocks, and knocked down a tree that seemed to be purposefully blocking her way.
As she smashed her way through, something swung nearby her ear. It was Cody, on a vine, swinging from tree to tree with loud, wild yells.
"See you at the finish line, Eva," he called to her as he disappeared from sigh.
Snarling, she grabbed a vine of her own and prepared to swing. She did manage to catch the next one, but her incredible strength pulled the tree down. Pretending that didn't happen, she carried on her normal way.
Ezekiel, who was still being chased by the meat-eating beavers, leapt over the tree in his attempts to escape his predators. Luckily enough, even though they were carnivorous, the beaver monsters still had the insatiable urge to cut down trees, so they stopped their pursuit to chew the fallen tree into sensible sections for their cave.
Tyler, who wasn't anywhere near the others, was having just as bad as time. He had just barely managed to pull himself out of some quicksand, then he was chased by an crow that wanted his headband for his nest.
As the prairie boy stopped to catch his breath, he saw a pack of evil-looking razorbacks staring him down. With a scream, he ran as the vile pigs gave chase.
"This place sucks!!"
All of the other campers, including Chris and Chef, were standing on the beach of Wawanakwa Island. Several of the campers and the host were looking through binoculars, watching the top of Cranium Mountain.
"Can you see any of them yet?" Lindsay asked Noah, who was one of the binocular owners.
"Lindsay, if I did, I would have said something," he snapped. He had grown tired of her asking after the eighteenth time in the past three minutes.
"Oh. Well, are they there now?"
Noah was starting to shake with indignant frustration. "How do you cope with her?" he asked Leshawna.
"I just accept the fact that she won't ever remember my name correctly," she replied, then smirked. "I would think a boy would not care about her brains when she looks that good."
"A computer game with great graphics will still suck if there are too many bugs in the system."
The campers waited anxiously for a couple more minutes until Beth let out a cry of joy. "I thee thomeone... and it's... it's Cody!"
Most campers were astonished, even his teammates. While the teenagers started to chatter, Beth continued to watch. "Oh, and Eva's coming up behind him."
Cody, far away on top of Cranium Mountain, was positioning himself on the edge of the cliff when he heard Eva coming. The fitness buff was heaving, bloody scratches and beaver gnaw marks on her body. She dashed towards him, hands outstretched.
With a scream higher in pitch than Cody would ever admit, the geek dove off of the cliff, narrowly avoiding Eva's grasp at him. Letting out a relieved sigh, he soared over the ocean. The thermals kept him up in the air, and he was enjoying himself now.
Eva, furious that the scrawny geek had escaped him, grabbed the second hang glider and took off. She had never hang glided before, so she could only hope that she could somehow make it go faster than Cody.
Cody's thin frame was easier on the hang glider than Eva's muscular body, and the nerd was able to pilot his right to the beach. Tilting it up, he landed right before the finish line with a gentle plop. Letting go, he stepped over the line with a wide grin.
"The Asymmetrical Parallels win first place," Chris shouted, pumping his fists into the air.
Justin, DJ, Courtney and Beth let out wild screams of delight. The two girls hugged Cody, while the guys slapped him on the back and congratulated him.
"I gotta admit," Courtney said to the smiling geek, "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to do it, but you proved me wrong! You're amazing!" She gave him a big hug, much to Duncan's annoyance.
Someone cleared their throat nearby. That someone was Eva, who was looking directly at Cody, her left eyebrow jutting sharply.
(Confession Cam - Sick of these comments yet?)
Eva - "Okay, I admit that I wanted to paste him into red pulp, but my mother once told me something. She said that competition is not worth the time without worthy competitors. So I decided to be nice. Also, he didn't cheat, he played fair. So I respect him."
Eva extended her hand. "Good job, Cody."
Cody stared at it, worried she was planning something rather painful. Bravely, he extended his hand and shook hers. It was a firm and painless handshake.
"You did good too, Eva," he said, smiling politely though his heart was racing.
"Second place isn't so bad," she agreed. "We still get the pillows."
"That's the spirit, tough girl," Leshawna said, patting Eva's rock-solid shoulder. Lindsay and Noah nodded, while Duncan shrugged a 'whatever' shrug.
Five minutes passed. No sign of Ezekiel or Tyler had made their teammates worry. Bridgette and Geoff were looking especially nervous, Harold was pacing back and forth, and Izzy was bouncing around on the beach, volunteering for the 'suicide mission of bringing our boys back home.'
"Chris, what if they've been hurt?" Gwen asked, looking out at the island.
"We'd know about it," Chris said, holding up a walkie-talkie. "The camera crew I hired to film the four campers going through Boney Island are watching them, and would contact me if they needed medical help. Here, I'll contact them now."
He pressed the button on the walkie talkie and said, "Come in, BIFT. BIFT, how are the two remaining campers doing?" The reply was this:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-" Crunch! Crunch munch munch slurp snarf... "Burp!"
Chris was silent as the campers looked at the walkie-talkie, absolutely horrified. The host grinned nervously and said, "They're on lunch break." "They were the lunch break," Duncan snapped.
Beth, shaking, looked back at the top of Cranium Mountain through her binoculars. "Oh," she cried out. "I thee someone! It's... I think it's... Ethekiel! It's Ethekiel! And Tyler's right behind him!"
The campers cheered, glad the two had survived.
Over on Boney Island, the two boys stared over the water to see Wawanakwa far off in the distance. "Well, Tyler," Ezekiel said as he turned to his friend, "looks like it's you agee'nst me, eh?"
"Yep," Tyler replied, nodding his head.
Both of them, dirty and sore and scratched up, grabbed the last of the two hang gliders. "See you on the island, bud'day!"
"You too, dude! Wooohooo!"
The two ran and jumped off the cliff. Ezekiel shot off like a bullet towards the island.
"How are they doing?" Gwen asked Geoff, who was holding the binoculars.
"Ezekiel's doing good. And Tyler is...," Geoff stopped. He raised his head, then dropped it quickly.
"Um, what's that mean?" the goth girl mimed Geoff's head motions.
"Tyler just swooped straight up," the party animal looked crestfallen, "then he fell right in the water." The Circular Cubes gasped in horror, while the Round Rectangles cheered.
"We're gonna win," Bridgette shouted in joy, high-fiving Trent and Harold. "Trent, how is Zeke looking now?"
"Looking good, very good," the musician said as he watched through the binoculars. "Oh, heh heh. There's a seagull bothering him. Little rat with wings. Wait..."
" 'Wait'?" Harold wheezed. "No, no no no! No 'wait'! What's 'wait' mean, dude?"
"There are more seagulls... they're all pecking at him and the hang glider! It's a whole flock attacking him!"
(Confession Cam - Never had a seagull in here.)
Chris Maclean - "I had Chef smear one of the hang gliders with seagull bait, which is a strange paste that smells like bugs, fish, and dumpsters. Works like a charm when out at sea. Guess Zeke didn't notice it since he was trudging through Boney Island!" \He laughs a whole lot.\
Ezekiel, far off in the distance, let go of the hang glider. Although far away, the campers saw him plummet into the ocean. Heather cried out in frustration.
"Why did he let go, it's just a few birds," she screamed, gripping her head.
"Will you calm down?" Bridgette snapped at her. "He can swim the rest of the way. Tyler's way behind him."
"Actually," Geoff, who had wandered over next to Bridgette, said as he continued to watch through his binoculars, "Tyler swam back to Boney Island, and now he's rowing over here!"
The Circular Cubes cheered while the Round Rectangles looked worried. Ezekiel, gasping and struggling, swam as fast as he could towards Wawanakwa. Tyler was rowing as fast as he could, heaving from the effort.
Trent, still watching through the binoculars, let out a terrified gasp. "Shark! There's a shark closing in on Ezekiel!"
His friends and teammates gasped. Bridgette then let out a relieved sigh, much to their surprise. "It's just Izzy," she said. "She's trying to scare him so her team wins."
"But I'm right here," Izzy said, who was standing behind Bridgette.
The surfer chick lost all color in her face. She started screaming, "ZEKE! SHARK! SWIM FASTER," as did her teammates.
"It must be the husband of that shark I killed," Izzy screamed. "He won't stop until he gets revenge! This ain't good!"
Tyler noticed the shark before Ezekiel did. His friend's life more important than the contest, he started smacking at the shark with his paddle, and the splashes alerted Ezekiel. The prairie boy looked back to see a pointed, gray face with enormous, sharp teeth coming at him.
Even though he was a good distance from Wawanakwa, everyone heard his bloodcurdling scream as the shark lunged forward.
Tyler, bellowing too, smacked the shark on the nose. Thrashing angrily, the shark snapped at the jock, and Tyler jammed the paddle vertically into the shark's open mouth. With his mouth wide open, the shark thrashed again, then went back to Ezekiel. The prairie boy screamed as he grabbed the paddle and went under.
The jock screamed out his friend's name, looking down into the water. The shark surfaced mouth-first, Ezekiel standing on the paddle as it was bending in the middle. With a rubbery snap, the paddle sling-shotted the prairie boy into the air, screaming and flailing. He plummeted towards the beach, bouncing once on the wet sand, then landing on the drier part of the beach. Not daring to move but heaving in terror, the prairie boy lay there.
Letting out a relieved sigh, Tyler took his other paddle and started to row towards the beach. The shark decided that these humans were too much trouble, and swam off.
The campers stared at the terrified Ezekiel. "So, um, does he win?" Lindsay asked.
"No, he has to cross the finish line," Chris said, pointing at the line.
Ezekiel, hearing this, started to get up. He went stiff, cringed, then screamed and fell down. A crab had pinched him right on the tendon. Wailing, he tried to pry the angry crab off of the back of his foot.
Tyler, realizing the challenge wasn't over, paddled faster. He jumped out of the boat when he thought it was shallow enough, but ended up plunging underwater.
The prairie boy, with tears of pain in his eyes, finally managed to pry the crab's claw open. He threw the crustacean away, shouting, "I... hate... the outdoors, eh!"
The brunette jock, surfacing and gasping for air. Swimming as fast as he could, he managed to step onto the beach as his opponent limped towards the finish line.
With the last of his strength, Ezekiel thrust himself forward, stumbling, and fell over the finish line seconds before Tyler could get to it.
"And the Round Rectangles win," Chris shouted, clapping.
Bridgette, Trent, Heather, and Harold all let out wild cheers, while the Circular Cubes hung their heads in disappointment. Bridgette and Harold went to their friend's side, asking if he was okay.
"Sharks... beavers... snakes... seagulls... crabs...," he was whimpering. "I never wanna go out a'geen, eh!"
"That means the losers are the Circular Cubes," Chris shouted, gesturing towards the five teammates. Tyler had fallen to his hands and knees, looking terribly ashamed.
"You did your best, dude," Geoff said, kneeling down and patting Tyler's shoulder. "Don't feel too bad. You did save Zeke's life." He waved his hand towards Ezekiel, who right now looked like he wished he had died.
"Now the immunity challenge begins in one hour," he said. "Those injured, dirty, and/or seeing their life flash before their eyes, you might want clean yourselves up. Because in this follow-up challenge, looks are quite important!"
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Continued in Part 3, the Immunity Challenge and the dramatic, shocking, marshmallow ceremony!
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Stay tuned, for this story is going to be getting much more gripping!
Who is going to be voted off: Katie, Izzy, Gwen, Geoff, or Tyler?