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. Many sodas were consumed during the making of this story.
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Replies to Questions and Comments:
ReaperXIII - Since Izzy hasn't found out who the jellybean smuggler is, we don't know either. But eventually, she'll found out like we will.
SSBFreak - Yeah, Justin being so handsome works for a few good jokes, but not much else. Makes me wonder why he's coming back to TDA (though the movies do love their pretty boys).
Phantomhorse1810 - Welcome to the story! And once every two weeks? I think my update process is a little better than that. Hehe.
Raven Hufflepuff - Cross dressing will happen later on in this story. Mark my words, I do have something like that planned, just later on.
Volvochick - Yay, I was hoping someone would comment on the Courtney memory / dream! That one was for all you who like D+C and have been asking for more in this story.
Everyone Else - Woohoo, this story just isn't stopping, now is it? If you all are wondering how I can type so much, it's because I live for writing. I started this story to get my writing surge starting, and it's SURGING well!
And now, on with the show!!
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(narrated by Chris Maclean)
Last time on Total Drama Comeback... the campers took part in a ninja larp, in which they used electric katana blades to fight their opponents. While people like Izzy, Harold, and Cody were skilled and ready for this challenge, some like Heather and Lindsay were at the unfortunate side of a katana blade... sometimes their own!
So, after surprise attacks, intense sword fights, and a merry ninja song, the winners were Harold's team, proving once again that nerds, though highly unpopular, can amount to a great deal of potential! Izzy's team was in last place, and after twelve votes were cast, it was the gorgeous Justin who had to walk the Dock of Shame. It's a tragedy in my opinion.
The climax to it all was the oombulb tea that Bridgette's mom sent them. Thanks to the environmentalist's tea, the campers all dreamed of events that happened after TDI, during TDI, and... some of them just had really strange dreams.
Now that things are cooling down on Wawanakwa Island, will we expect to see what is up with Tyler's past that has made him the Hawaiian shirt wearer that he is? Will we get a hint at who Katie's crush is? And just how cool am I, huh, how cool am I?
All this and more (or less) will be answered on this episode of Total... Drama... COMEBACK!!
(cue the theme song, and we're good to go!)
Chapter 18 (Day 06, Part 1) - The Cold Warm-Up
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It was the morning two days after the ninja challenge when most of the campers found themselves shivering in their beds. Heather mumbled in the sleep for someone to turn up the heater. Cody was shivering so bad, he finally got up to get a sweater.
The geek approached the window, and saw powdered sugar fall down from the sky. He blinked, then realized it must be because he hadn't been sleeping enough.
A snowball hit the window, causing him to shout in surprise. Waking up Noah and Trent, the robot builder pointed at the mashed snowball against the glass.
"The heck?" was Trent's response.
"Well, that certainly explains the cold," was Noah's response.
The boys put on jackets and looked outside. Wawanakwa Island was blanketed with snow, and it was still drifting down in white, frosty goodness.
Ezekiel and Beth were already up, hurling snowballs at each other and laughing. The two then spotted the three Screaming Gopher boys, and tosses some snowballs at them. Trent and Cody leapt to the side, while poor reaction skills Noah only had time to widen his eyes before he was clobbered by snowballs and knocked down to the ground.
"You're dead, farm hands," Trent shouted with a laugh, jumping into the snow and gathering himself a weapon.
Cody and eventually Noah grabbed snow of their own and began snow fighting. The members of the other teams and the Screaming Gopher girls eventually peeked out to see what the five campers were doing.
"Will you shut up," Heather shouted, "you're louder and more annoying than Chris in his plane!"
She was hit by six snowballs; the sixth one was from Eva, who was out in the snow the moment she saw an opportunity to hit Heather in the face with a snowball.
The campers all poured out on the snow, even Heather, and began pelting each other with snowballs. Though it was rather harmless, Eva did have the pitching arm to knock over people with merely a snowball.
"Who would have thought that Wawanakwa Island could have snow?" Tyler said.
"Actually... it normally doesn't."
Chris was standing there in a thick snow suit, blue and extra fluffy trimming. He had on his hood, which had such fluffy trimming that his face was almost obscured.
"We pulled some strings, and thanks to some expensive equipment, we managed to alter some snow clouds over the island," he explained to them. He juggled a snowball in one hand as he talked.
"Ith it part of the challenge today?" Beth asked him.
"Good question, Beth! You get a snowball," he chucked the snowball at her, but she ducked just in time. "Nice dodge there! Yes, the challenge has something to do with winter wonderland goodness! It will be taking part in mid-afternoon, so you all have plenty of time to prepare!"
"Are you...," Heather started, then she sneezed, "kidding me? Most of us didn't bring snow clothes to this damn island? We're gonna freeze -achoo!- to death if we do stuff out in this weather."
Lindsay, standing next to her and shivering harder in her skirt and tank top, nodded a great many times. Tyler heard her whimper, and hugged her close for warmth.
"Chef took the liberty to ordering snow suits, jackets, and other snow clothes," Chris said, smiling generously. "Frostbite is something we'd like to avoid here, so we made sure you all had the proper clothes. Oh, and there are ice skates for all of you, since the lake nearby has frozen over."
The seventeen campers and Owen were found themselves standing in front of the frozen lake, staring at it closely.
"You think it's safe?" Katie asked them.
"Chris did say it had frozen over," DJ pointed out.
"Chris would also love to see us plunge through and freeze to death for ratings," Heather snapped. She was still shivering and shaking, and looking quite miserable; it was making a lot of the other campers very happy to see.
Noah tapped the ice with the tip of his boot. "Well, I volunteer anyone who knows how to ice skate to test it for us. We can get a rope or something if you plunge through."
"How very thoughtful," Trent replied, rolling his eyes.
"I know, right?" Lindsay said, nodding and smiling.
"Will someone just go check it out?" Courtney asked, shivering in her gray jacket. She clung to Duncan, sacrificing her usual attitude of avoiding him in public to some body warmth; he was quite happy with it. "I don't want to stand out here all day-"
She was interrupted when Harold zipped out on the ice, skating on one foot. After a couple twirls and a splits-jump, he skated back to them and came to a strong stop; the ice sheet that he kicked up blanketed Bridgette and Izzy.
"Seems fine to me," he said, smiling.
Katie let out a loud squeal and got on her ice skates. As smooth as graceful as Harold, she skated backwards and twirled around.
"When did you learn how to skate, Katie?" Bridgette called out to her, brushing herself off.
"Sadie and I have known for years," the BFFF called back. "Any of you want to learn how?"
"Oh no no no," the surfer girl replied, shaking her hands. "You know me, I'm awkward enough on land."
"Just plain awkward, you mean," Heather quipped as she rubbed her nose. The queen bee took a snowball to the face by a vengeful Ezekiel.
"I'd be glad to learn, Katie," the prairie boy called out. "Do you have to learn how to walk on ice first, eh?" He was talking as he started walk on the ice. "I hear that helps when preparing for ice ska... whoa... whoa-whaaaaa!"
Ezekiel's feet started sliding, gave out from right under him, and he slammed down on the ice. The crowd groaned in sympathetic pain.
"Zeke buddy, get some skates on," Harold said as he skated over. "It helps a lot more."
"Yes, sir!" The prairie boy did as he was told, and while he wobbled on the ice, Katie began to help him keep steady. Gwen, dressed in green and black snow clothes, requested to learn too, so Harold began to guide her.
The learning process between the two was obvious. Ezekiel was landing on his butt, his back, his chest, and sometimes his face; Gwen hadn't fallen down once.
For the spectators, Owen had hauled over a couple benches. They sat and waited their turn. Izzy cared not to wait, and so she excused herself for the time being; she was really going back to the cabins to inspect everyone's belongings for any traces of the illegal jellybeans.
"Aww, snow," Trent said as he juggled a snowball between his hands. He turned to the person sitting next to him: Cody. "You ever play out in the snow, Cody buddy?"
"Sure, lots of times!"
"Kids must enjoy pelting you with snowballs," Heather said, honking and sneezing next to her.
"Actually, yes," Cody admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. "At school, the snowball fights were a little uneven. And I, um, once hit the head cheerleader in the face with a snowball on accident."
Lindsay, who had curled up to Tyler, gasped in the utmost horror. "You didn't!"
"Yep," Cody said. "No one at school talked to me for a month."
"That's too bad, man," Trent said, rolling the snowball in his hand. "Me, I just played out in the snow a whole lot when I was young."
"Fascinating," Heather grumbled. "Utterly fascinating. Not!"
"Does cold weather make you cranky?" Cody asked. "... -er?"
"Cold weather isn't exactly fun," Eva, in a tight, dark blue jacket, said. "It's a pain in the ass in exercise in."
"You exercise in the snow?" the geek asked, startled.
"Not anymore, actually," Eva said with a shrug. "I once tried it, and I had this massive cold for about a week."
"That's too bad," Cody said, patting her shoulder.
"Don't touch me."
"Right, sorry!!"
After his nth painful fall on the ground, Ezekiel called it quits. Katie asked Cody if he wanted to skate, but he turned her down because he was certain he'd fall as much as Ezekiel. So the tan-skinned girl asked DJ, and the big guy agreed.
"You ever play out in the cold weather, DJ?" Katie asked him as she helped him balance.
"Well, my brothers and I used to play in the snow all the time. But coach is nice enough not to make us practice when the snow is thick."
Courtney watched them as she pressed up against Duncan. "K-Katie seems to be close to DJ, don't you think?"
"... I'm sorry?" Duncan asked, far too distracted by his girl being cuddled up against him.
"Maybe," Bridgette replied. "DJ is seeing someone, but maybe she has a crush on him."
"Nope," Izzy shouted as she popped up between the surfer girl and the cuddling couple. "Katie does have a crush on one of the campers, but it's not DJ!"
"Really?" Bridgette looked excited. She was thrilled, because she enjoyed love mysteries.
Izzy nodded a great many times. "Yep yep! And I know who it is!"
She ducked out again, then appeared behind Ezekiel, hugging him tight. "Maybe it's Zeke here!"
"Grk," replied the prairie boy, unable to speak while the redhead squeezed him.
"It's obvious it is J-J-Justin," Courtney said through her chattering teeth. "K-Katie and S-Sadie are always all... all over him!"
"Nope," Izzy chimed. "Justin doesn't count, because that crush is obvious! All the girls here have a crush on Justin, even some of the guys have a crush on Justin!"
The male campers looked disgusted by this remark; that is, except for Owen and Ezekiel, who looked away in silent shame.
"Katie's crush, I'll give you a hint," Izzy said as she appeared behind Owen, jumping up on his shoulder, "it is one of the boys on the island here! And he's single!"
"Really?" Bridgette shouted, looking at all the available boys. "So it's either Noah, Cody, and Ezekiel!"
"Right," Izzy said, then abruptly changed the subject. "So, who here likes snow? I heard you guys were talking about snow, and I remember this one time that I had to hide from the RCMP up in the mountains! I made friends with some yetis, and they were really nice and fluffy, and we hunted mountain goats and mountain lions!"
Noah was reading a book while he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Izzy. "Snow doesn't interest me," he said. "I had eight older siblings. If I stepped outside on a snowy day, I'd be a living bruise within minutes.
"I hate the snow," Lindsay said as she held onto Tyler. "It's cold and chilly and frosty and cold and nippy and cold... and cold... and I hate wearing thick snowsuits! I prefer bikinis!"
"Me too," said Tyler. She gasped.
"You wear bikinis too?"
The jock looked away, flushing at Lindsay's mistake. "Err... no. Anyway, I don't like snow either."
"What about snow sports?" Cody asked him.
"Except for hockey, not a big fan."
"I love skiing!"
Gwen skated by, slid off the ice, and into Trent's lap. "I have gone skiing a few times! And my brother and I love to ambush the neighborhood kids and pelt them with snowballs!"
"I have gone up to the mountains several times myself," Harold said as he skated up to the others. "Possum Scouts are into skiing, skateboarding, and other winter sports."
"I've gone up to the mountains once, eh," Ezekiel said, looking up at the sky. "I was six, and I saw snow on TV. I begged my parents to let me see it in real-life, and when I was up there, I played in the snow for hours."
"Sounds like you had a great time," Bridgette said, smiling as she fluffed out her light blue, snow jacket.
"Well, I did until a moose chased me up a tree and kept me up there for a couple hours, so I begged my parents to never take me up there again," Ezekiel said, shrugging his shoulders. "Shame, that."
Harold took Beth out next to teach her how to skate. As the two, Katie, and DJ skated (and fell down a few times), the campers continued to talk.
(Confession Cam - It's really cold in here.)
Heather - \still shivering\ "I hate this weather! It's so cold, the thick clothes I have to wear that aren't flattering, and the dorks throw snowballs at each other!"
Lindsay - \shivering more\ "I, like, hate this weather! It's so so so cold, the cold clothes I have to wear are cold, and the cold snowballs people throw are cold."
Harold approached Tyler next after Beth felt like she had fell enough times. "Hey dude, you want to learn how to figure skate next?"
"Naw, man, I know how."
"You do? Then why don't you skate out here, dude? We could play hockey or something."
Tyler sighed. "I... don't really feel like playing sports these days."
"But you're the jock," Noah said, looking over at him. "You gotta be kidding us, man. Why don't you want to do sports anymore?"
"That's... something I'd rather not talk about now," the brunette said with a sigh.
"Can you at least show me how to skate?" Lindsay asked him. Her baby blue eyes were looking at him, pleading. Tyler felt his defense fading fast.
"Oh... okay."
He put on skates, stepped on the ice, and fell down after one stride. He continuously tried to stand up, but fell down.
"Ouch," Eva remarked when he fell on his face, "ow," she said when he fell on his butt, "yikes" she said when his legs went separate ways and unintentionally did the splits.
Lindsay winced as Tyler crashed into the side at the other end. "Ow... guess it's not his thing, skating. Poor Riker."
" 'Tyler'," Gwen corrected her, rolling her eyes. Lindsay constantly forgetting her boyfriend's name was becoming a major annoyance to her.
"You guys wonder what happened to him?" Trent asked aloud.
"I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready too, eh," Ezekiel said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't try to pry it out of him," Bridgette suggested. "But I'm interested in finding out who Katie's crush is, since that requires investigation."
(Confession Cam - I am... so chilly, mon. I want put more clothes on!)
Bridgette - "Okay, I know I'm into finding out crushes a little much; I blame my friend Gardenia. But hey, it'd be really neat to find out!"
Ezekiel - "I would say that girls are a little bit weird when it comes to finding out crushes, but since it might be me who Katie has a crush on, I wanna know too, eh!"
Harold and Katie, unable to find anyone else who wanted to try skating (and falling on their bum), skated together. The BFFF was secretly happy, because her skating partner normally was Sadie, who was more than twice the skinny Harold's weight.
Beth and Izzy began making snowmen (though Izzy's were mostly monsters eating Beth's snowmen), Trent and Gwen made snow angels, and Lindsay helped nurse Tyler's bruises.
Heather went back into the cafeteria for hot cocoa, still sneezing and sniffing. She was a little disturbed to see Chef Hatchet in a snowsuit just like Chris's, mainly because his was bright pink.
When he poured her some hot cocoa, the queen bee looked up at him with a pouty face. "No little marshmallows?"
He slammed his fist on the counter. "Wait and see if you survive the challenge, Grim 'Heether'!"
"Yes sir," she shouted, scurrying over to a table. Watching him out the corner out her eye, she let out a sigh when he was gone.
"Note to self," she whispered, "one person who cannot be bossed is Chef."
She glanced to the side, then muttered, "Probably should have learned that by now. Must be the cold."
The door to outside burst open, Bridgette and Cody holding Ezekiel, who was coated in half-frozen water and a long icicle hanging down from his toque.
"Chef," Cody shouted in a panic, "get some hot water, stat! Zeke fell through the ice when he tried to skate a second time!"
The large cook ran over to the sink, cranking up the hot water valve. Then he noticed his extremely powerful water gun in the corner, and a wicked grin formed on his wicked face.
Heather grimaced when Bridgette and Cody laid the shivering, chattering Ezekiel on the table. "I thought that lake was solid enough," she said with a scoff, wincing when the half-frozen boy sneezed violently.
"I'm sure telling him that makes him feel better," Bridgette snapped.
Chef burst out of the kitchen, pumping his large water gun. "Um, Chef?" Cody said, looking nervous. "What is that for-"
The pink snowsuit-clad cook pointed his water blaster at Ezekiel. Bridgette managed to yank Cody out of the way before Chef let loose the gushing flow of steaming water. Heather, not expecting this, was caught in the blast. She and Ezekiel were sent sprawling up against the far wall, the queen bee shrieking.
Wincing, Bridgette and Cody walked over to the far wall to see if the two (mostly Ezekiel) were okay. What they saw shocked then.
Heather was lying on top of a dazed Ezekiel, both soaking wet. The ravenhair let out a relieved sigh, then she smiled.
"Ahhh, I'm warm now, at long long last," she said, sighing happily. "Warm... warm..."
She slowly realized where she was, and who she was lying on. With a high-pitched gasp, she tried to pull herself off; however, she slipped on the wet floor and landed right back on him.
Ezekiel spat out water on her face as he choked and began to breath normally. After a few seconds, he realized who was struggling to get off him.
"What's bin going on, eh?" he asked as she finally managed to get off him.
"It was nothing, nothing," Heather shouted, and headed for the door. When she opened it, she was hit by the frigid air of outside. Standing there, she pondered what would be more painful: going outside in the cold when soaking wet, or being in the same building as the boy she had been accidentally lying on.
With a pained grunt, she pulled the door shut and sat down at the other table. Glaring at Bridgette and Cody from under her wet bangs, she snarled, "Don't any of you say a word. Consider yourself lucky you don't go to the same school as me."
"I already am glad of that," Bridgette said as she went to Ezekiel to double-check on his condition.
Cody looked over at Heather, and put on a sly grin. He laid his arm on the table in front of her. "You got numbers of any of the cheerleaders at your school, perchance?"
(Confession Cam - Think she'll give him the cold shoulder?)
Heather - "This is all Chris's fault! He directed this stupid, cold weather to the island! Now I'm freezing my butt off, and I wound up tangled up with that rapper-wannabe, toque-wearing, sexist, Bridgette-crushing, prairie-dwelling, homeschooled twerp! I hate him so much... Chris, I mean! I detest Ezekiel too, of course."
Ezekiel - "Well, that was awkward, eh. Nearly died, got steam water sprayed, and ended up with... her on me. That Zed-stealing, backstabbing, insulting-spewing, self-appointed, close-minded, evil skank!
\He pauses, looks to the side, then lowers his voice.\ "Oh, and ya knoo', Tyler was right about girls in cold weather! Her nipples were hard, eh! And right through the snow jacket too, I didn't that was possible, eh!"
Ezekiel sipped some hot cocoa that Chef made. "Thanks, Chef."
"No problem, little man," the big man said, patting his kitchen assistant on the shoulder before heading back into the kitchen. Bridgette and a spurred Cody joined him as he drank it down. "So, Zeke," the surfer girl began to say, a sly smirk on her face.
"No, it wasn't fun, I didn't enjoy it, and I'm still in shock over almost freezing to death, eh," he said, rather quickly.
She quirked an eyebrow. "I was going to ask what you thought the challenge was."
"I'm sure ya were, eh," he replied, though he smiled a little. "Probably making snow sculptures."
"Too tame," said Cody.
"Ice skating competition?"
"Possible, but he wouldn't make it snow here if he wanted ice," Bridgette said, drumming her fingers on the table.
Ezekiel stared up at the ceiling. "Something about snow?"
Heather, over at the other table, let out a sneeze. "Maybe it'll be like that stupid sleepless competition from first season," she spat out. "Everyone freezes to death, last one alive wins invincibility."
Cody drummed his fingers together. "You... think he would do that?"
"It's Chris," Heather spat out, "he likes to makes us suffer. If it's not painful torture, it's shackling me up with losers like you people."
"The feeling's mutual, Heather," Bridgette snapped back, rolling her pale green eyes. "Would it kill you to be... I dunno, not insult people every time you open your mouth?"
"Give me one good reason why."
"Karma."
"I don't believe in that sh-"
The door flew open, and Lindsay came running in. The blond beauty threw her arms up in the air with a loud 'whoop,' hitting Heather in the face with a handful of snow.
"You gotta see this," she squealed, leaping up and down. "Duncan peed out his and Courtney's initials in the snow, in a heart," she swooned. "So romantic!"
Heather, shaking the snow off of her, let out a long, disgusted side.
(Confession Cam - Karma kicks butt!)
Heather - "I still don't believe in karma."
\The side of the outhouse falls off, and the cold wind and snow blow in on her.\
Heather - \shivering, shaking with rage\ "... That was coincidence!"
Chris stared at the seventeen campers in front of him. "Well, campers, I see you have been enjoying the snow we have provided. Snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, and more things with snow. Hope you have been avoiding the ye-"
"Yes, yes," Noah interrupted. "That joke died years ago. And honestly, who would try eating yellow snow?"
He was clobbered by a ton of snowballs, knocking him down. "Ow! What was that for?"
"You'll give him ideas," some of the campers yelled in unison.
"No, nothing like that," Chris said with a chuckle. "Been done before, and we aim for originality.
"Now all you snow bunnies and you snowmen, there are two ways to beat the coldness. One is to find someone to cuddle up with to share body warmth with!"
Lindsay was cuddling up close to Tyler, Izzy was hugging Owen's huggable girth, Gwen was comfortable in Trent's arms, and Courtney was, although trying not to show it, very happy with Duncan's arms around her waist.
However, Chris wasn't looking at any of them. He kept looking between Ezekiel, who was finishing his cocoa, and Heather, who was huddling herself up and shivering hard.
It took a few seconds for the campers to see who Chris was looking at. The murmuring began, and the host's grin got wider.
"Don't worry, hon," Bridgette said, patting Ezekiel's shoulder. "I'm sure that they wouldn't gossip about this; a lot of them are smart enough to know it's just Chris making waves."
(Confession Cam - E x H? Is that popular?)
Harold - \astonished\ "Ezekiel likes Heather?!"
DJ - \incredulous\ "Ezekiel likes Heather?!"
Duncan - \startled\ "Ezekiel likes Heather?!"
Gwen - \surprised\ "Ezekiel likes Heather?!"
Lindsay - \dumbfounded\ "Ziggy likes Heather?!"
Beth - \astounded\ "Ethekiel likes Heather?!"
Tyler - \thunderstruck\ "Ezekiel... likes... Heather?!"
Katie - \flabbergasted\ "OhmygoshEzekiellikesHeather?!"
Noah - \horrified\ "Heather likes Ezekiel?"
All nine of them - "... NAH!!"
Heather was livid. "Stop insinuating things, Chris! Chef blasted us with his stupid water gun!"
When the campers started snickering, she nearly screamed. "Just because someone falls on someone doesn't mean there is anything going on! Look!"
She shoved Katie into Noah, knocking the two to the ground with Katie on top of Noah. After the initial startle, the egghead smiled coyly up at the pigtailed girl. "You... maybe want to have coffee sometime?"
Giggling, she gave him a flirty look. "Oh, I dunno. There a coffee shop around here?"
Heather let out a frustrated shout, then turned on Chris. "What's the damn challenge?"
Chris, who was smirking through the whole ordeal, snapped back into announcer mode. "As I was saying, two ways to hold off the cold. The second way... is strong exercise! And what's more exercising than... a war?"
The campers looked very confused by this. "A snowball war." Most of them looked happy by this.
"That's right! You see, we are setting up five forts around the campgrounds, a good distance from each other. Your job in this challenge is for your team to dominate all five of those forts."
"Wait a minute," Courtney spoke up. "How can you take over the forts? It's hard to really force someone to leave."
"Have you ever been pelted with snowballs by a bunch of determined teenagers?" Chris asked. "About five people wailing on you with hard-packed snowballs will make you leave that fort. Or just Eva would enough."
The muscular girl beamed at being recognized.
"Well okay," Courtney admitted, though the CIT wasn't done yet. "A lot of us haven't been major snowball pelters, unlike," she poked Duncan, "Mr. Strong Arm here."
"Hate to let you down, princess," the punk said, shrugging, "but I haven't really been known for playing in the snow."
Chris clicked his tongue. "That's okay. We know who are snow experts, and those who are no experts!
"Harold and Katie, you're ice skaters. Gwen, Trent, Cody, DJ... you all are experienced with the snow. Izzy, you... well, let's just say we'll take your word for it. And Zeke, it may have been some time, but a scarring childhood memory is hard to remove."
"You're so funny, eh," Ezekiel replied. He, along with the other campers that Chris mentioned, went to go stand at Chris's left.
"Why thank you! You guys are the Winter Wonders, those experienced with all things frosty! Now for those you who grew up with 'snow' clue:
"Tyler, Noah, Eva, Beth, Lindsay, Courtney, Duncan, Bridgette, and Heather! You guys are Snow Experts!"
"How does pairing all the people who aren't experienced help us out?" Courtney asked, while Noah and Bridgette nodded in agreement.
Chris shook his finger at her. "Don't think I'm doing this because I want a one-sided 'snowbath,' my dear Courtney! You guys are not only have more campers, but you have some of the best muscle and brains. Eva and Duncan's muscles, and Courtney and Heather's brains. Oh, and Heather?"
He smiled and shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't put your new boyfriend on the same team!" Chris chuckled and turned to the other team. "Now you guys are going to start at the Dock of Shame-"
The host was struck in the back of the head by a hard-packed snowball, knocking him down. Looking over at the Snow Experts, he saw Heather looking around innocently, then shrugging at him when he glared.
"Um, anyway," he said as he stood up. "The Winter Wonders will all start at the Dock of Shame, while the Snow Experts will be starting at the boathouse.
"The forts are in front of the boathouse, the bonfire ceremony area, the center of the campgrounds a.k.a. here, the clearing in front of the forest, and in front of the talent stage.
"Do you all have any questions?"
Lindsay raised her hand. "How do you make snowballs again?"
Chris rested his fist against the bridge of his house. "I gotta remember not to ask them if they have questions."
(Snow Experts)
"So," Lindsay approached Heather as the team arrived at the boathouse, "what is it you see in Zenith?"
"Lindsay, go away!"
"Is it his thick accent? His obedient attitude? His toque?"
"I said leave me alone!"
"It's really nice you like the new guy. I didn't see him during TDI!"
Heather slammed her fists against the boathouse. "Stop! Talking! About it!"
"I agree with her on this," Noah said to the others. "Discussing Heather's love life is making me nauseous."
He was fast enough to dodge the snowball that the queen bee chucked at him. With a dry chuckle, the egghead crossed his arms. "Nice try, Heather. Care to try throwing some more as a warm-up?"
Beth was blowing on her hands to keep warm. "Tho, what is the game plan? Courtney?"
"Uh... oh," the CIT looked surprised when Beth asked her, mostly since she barely knew the farm girl. "I... don't think I'm too good at violent activity like this. Duncan?"
The punk looked surprised. "Me? Hmmm, I always dreamed of this. Leading troops into war, asking them to put their lives on the line."
"Comforting," the brunette replied, slapping her forehead. "Heather, you want to..."
She stopped when she saw that Heather was chasing after Noah, who was loudly singing, "Heather and Zeke, sitting in the trees..."
"Okay then," Courtney said, turning back to her boyfriend. "Duncan, how about you and Eva give us a few pointers, and tell us what we should do?"
Eva was surprised to hear her name. "Me? You want me to lead?"
"You feel up to it?"
"Hell yeah, I feel up to it," Eva shouted, clapping her hands. "I don't care how many years those upstarts played in the snow, they are going down!"
(Winter Wonders)
"Gwen, you got this one?" Cody asked the goth girl.
"Yes, I'm good," she said, grinning wickedly. "I think my years of experience with my little brother have prepared me for this."
DJ slapped her on the back, gentle to not knock over the much smaller girl. "You go, girl! Got a plan?"
"I do, indeed! But I have a few questions for you all! DJ, are you going to be okay with throwing snowballs as hard as you can at your friends and former teammates?"
"I believe I can."
"Cody, Harold, you two still feel like using your ninja skills to ambush people?"
The two boys nodded, though Cody winked as well and grinned.
"Katie, Izzy, do you mind staying at the bonfire base to defend it?"
The tan-skinned girl nodded, while the redhead looked a little disappointed. "But I wanted to go pulverize my enemies into a finer powder than the snow their blood would be collected in."
Gwen looked more than a little disturbed by this.
(Confession Cam - You make us dizzy, Miss Izzy!)
Gwen - "Maybe she's just the type of girl who likes to do and say things that shock people. But the way she says things makes me want to hide in a bomb shelter."
The goth girl shook her head. "Errr, just be nice with Katie, okay?"
The BFFF hugged the redhead from behind. "We get along just fine."
"That's good. Now Trent, you're with me, that's okay?"
"As always, Gwen."
"And Ezekiel," the goth turned to the prairie boy, and her green lips spread into a wicked smirk.
There was a long pause, then Gwen lost her smile. "It's no fun if you don't start protesting over what you haven't been accused of yet."
"I figured that you of all people knoo' how no respectable guy would be involved with her, eh."
"Hey now, I didn't think you were respectable."
Ezekiel couldn't help but laugh when she grinned playfully. "Seriously now," she said. "I'd like you to ambush who they leave at their base, and take it over."
"You think they'll leave two like we did, eh?"
"Possibly. But I think with luck, they'll leave one person.
"You gotta think like the enemy," she continued, tapping her temple, "and though I don't know Eva that well, I think she and Duncan have the same strategy of Rush Them and Kick the Crap out of Them!"
"And of course," Izzy spoke up suddenly, "both Duncan and Eva are not going to be on the defense!"
"Um, y-yes," Gwen stammered, surprised by the crazy girl's intervene. "I'm guessing it will be something they think will be dependent enough, like Tyler or Bridgette. You know, your actual crush!"
"Will you stop, eh?" Ezekiel cried out as some of his teammates chuckled. "Geoff will be watching this at Playa des Losers, and I'm certain he won't like that, eh."
"You're too polite nowadays," the goth girl remarked, cocking one of her eyebrows. "Where's the nose picking redneck I used to know?"
"I'd pick my nose to make you happy, but...," the prairie boy sighed, "I think the snot froze in my nostrils, eh."
"Ewww, that's more like it," she said, clapping lightly. "Alright, guys and gals, we need to win this for one very big reason, bigger than the fact that we'd have to vote one of us off if we lose.
"To them voting off Heather!"
"To them voting off Heather," they all cheered.
Chris, standing in the center of the campgrounds, watched Owen make a donut-shaped fort. Though the host knew that he had told Owen to make a circular fort, he had to draw the line at Owen putting sprinkle-shaped snow clumps on the fort.
"Why can't I, boss?" the cheerful guy asked him.
"Because I'm certain you would eat the fort then."
"Aww, I'm not that dumb. That'd cause some major brain freeze."
Chris realized that Owen might not be as utterly clueless as he thought him to be, though he still was pretty slow; he had eaten three snowballs, thinking they were powdered donuts. The host felt a little mean telling him that lie each time.
"Okay, Owen, it's only a few more minutes until this challenge starts," Chris said, looking at his watch. "This should be the challenge I've been asking Santa for!"
He turned to the camera. "For you folks at home, we leave these dire questions to be answered...
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"Who do you think is Katie's crush: Noah, Cody, or Ezekiel? Think you'll get to find out this day?
"Who is going to win this contest: the tougher, more numerous rookies... or the more experienced, outnumbered snow veterans?
"And are you amused by the idea of Heather and Ezekiel? Or is it making you physically ill and ready to send in angry e-mails in protest?"
--
Part 2 coming soon! We're cleaning the next chapter with a zamboni, so stay cool!
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Here are the two teams, in case you need a reminder:
Snow Experts (not experienced with snow) - Tyler, Heather, Noah, Eva, Beth, Lindsay, Courtney, Bridgette, Duncan
Winter Wonders (experienced with snow) - Harold, DJ, Gwen, Trent, Katie, Ezekiel, Cody, Izzy