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. There is total and drama and an island here, but those are universal.

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Replies to Questions and Comments:

Bad-to-the-Bone457 - I am writing my own book, yes. I'm working on it at the same time as this story. Hehe.

ReaperXIII - Cody and Beth is a really popular pairing. Not sure if I'll do that, but they will be good friends.

Tall T - Yes, there is something else that happened to Courtney besides the vote switching. You'll find out on Day 09 (yes, I'll give you that).

wingedfighter - I think all of the episodes of TDI have been censored. All mentions (except one) of crap, shut up, and sucks are changed, and most of the remarks about boobies are taken out. The bull testicles became beef, Lindsay's bleeped out blue streak became a streak of lame insults, and more. Blah.

rhiannon-rings - I dare to do stuff, yes. I know Courtney fans aren't too pleased with this story, but hey, there is a TON of C x D stories out there, so mine is just a little different.

Sealeena - Yes, I try my best to avoid grammar and spelling errors. I usually go back and edit a story if I catch one. I'm anal like that.

rambo103.7 - No, no death by tickling! I'm extremely ticklish for an evil necromancer!

memnarch - Yes, the lady doth protest too much. \wink, wink\

jster1983 - Look up draco-flame's profile on DeviantArt. He does the animé versions of the characters, the girls in cat costumes, and fans paired with their TDI crushes.

To Everybody - I am terribly sorry about how it took so long to get this chapter out! Blame me, World of Warcraft, and work! Blame everyone! Except Canada, don't blame it on Canada.

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And now, without further stalling, on with the show!!


Chapter 26 (Day 08, Part 3) - Heartburn and Heartbreak

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Heather stirred in her sleep. She could sense how comfortable she was, and she wanted it to stay this way. Strangely though, what was so warm was moving in and out, and was a lot more lumpy than her mattress. Still, it was cozy, and she loved it.

What she was cuddled against murmured in its sleep. Her eyes shot open, and slowly panned upwards.

Ezekiel was sleeping against the tree, unaware consciously of Heather's body against his. Subconsciously, he had been aware, for his arms had wrapped around her protectively. As all this sank in, Heather considered her options.

"I could smack him really hard, and shout about what a pervert he was," she thought, her mind racing. "No no, not harsh enough. I could start throttling him... no, that might startle him so bad, he'd fight back...

"... Why is he so comfortable?"

The ravenhair tried desperately not to think about that, but it was too distracting. Ezekiel's body seemed to fit hers perfectly, and his arms felt like they could protect her from anything.

"Damn it, Heather," she chastised herself in her mind, a harsher tone than she'd ever used on Leshawna, Beth, or even Gwen, "don't you dare get comfortable! Do you know what'll happen to your social status if you get involved with this poor prairie boy? He's unkempt, uncool, unpopular-"

Ezekiel muttered softly in his sleep, pulling her closer.

"No no no no," she whimpered in thought, "don't you dare, you farm rat! Stop touching me... stop..."

She lost her speeding train of angry thought, as she found herself more comfortable than she'd ever been. Heather had had a few boyfriends at her school, all of whom were super popular themselves, and none of them lasted long. When they held her, it felt like an obligation on her part, a rough hug at best.

This... this felt so much better. And it drove her crazy with emotions she wasn't used to, that she began shaking. Ezekiel was woken by this, and he grunted softly.

"Mmmmrgghr?" he muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. Heather panicked, and did what came naturally: scream.

And it wasn't just a normal scream. The trees shook, the wildlife scattered in heart-pounding panic, and Ezekiel scurried halfway up the tree he had been resting against. Clinging to the trunk, he looked around with bugged-out eyes.

"What was that, eh?!" he screamed. "Did a thousand cats get their tails stepped on, eh? Did red-hot, rusty nails get scraped across a jagged blackboor'd?!"

"Get your prairie butt down here before I kick it, you groping pervert!"

"You kind of contradicted yourself there, eh." Regardless, Ezekiel slid down the tree, staring nervously at her. "What'd I'd do, eh?"

"You were groping me, you pervert!"

"Wha'? I was asleep, eh."

"You were still-"

"How could I grope you, eh? Weren't you cuddling me-"

"Shut up," she shrieked, so loud and shrill that Survivor the Rat bolted out from under Ezekiel's toque and ran off.

"GAH! Survivor, come back," Ezekiel shouted, running after the rat. Heather, shrieking at the prairie boy, chased after him.


Noah was woken up by the shrieking. "Tyler, Izzy," he shouted as he bolted upright. "There are banshees attacking! Their deathly screams of tortured sorrow will bring upon our instant death!"

Tyler woke up with indignant frustration, Izzy woke up making a cross with her fingers and chanting holy passages. When the three of them were fully awake, they realized that not only were there no banshees, but Quarterback the Goat was far away from them.

"How'd he get away again?" Noah shouted.

"I think he chewed through the rope again," Izzy admitted. "Or those sneaky banshees freed him!"

"Shut up about non-existent undead women and GET HIM," Tyler shouted, running towards Quarterback. He tripped several times before getting near the goat, who ran off in what he thought was a fun game of chase.


Courtney, Harold, and Gwen were all awakened in unison by the Heather shrieking. "They threw an air horn in the blender," Harold shouted as he jumped to his feet.

"Shut up," Courtney hissed. "Just go get Stupid and let's hurry. We might lose this contest if you two don't pick it up."

Gwen's eye twitched. She motioned to strangle Courtney when her back was turned, but Harold put his hand on her shoulder to stop any furious impulses.


(Confession Cam - Camper Roll Call!)

Gwen - "What is wrong with Courtney, huh? She's becoming a second Heather, and it's getting worse and worse. I cannot stand having two people on the island like that."

Courtney - \She snarls and crosses his arms.\ "Gwen is ticking me off. If she bungles this, I'll make her pay. No one gets in my way for the revenge I so rightly deserve! After all I've suffered because of Harold..." \she shakes her fist\ "... I won't let that loner goth girl ruin things for me."


Cody and Katie screamed and clung to each other when woken up by the shrieking that was of Heather's. "Soccer moms," Katie shouted in fear.

"Bomb timer," Cody wailed in terror.

The two finally figured out where they were, and how they weren't in major danger. With a sigh, they nodded at each other. "Let's get going," Katie said.

"Yeah, c'mon, Groucho. Groucho? Ducky?" Cody called out to his pet. He noticed the duck was nearby some bushes, and he was tossing something into them. Though Cody never thought a duck could throw something, he certainly couldn't comprehend that it was a machine gun into the bushes.

"Ummm, Groucho?" Cody called out again, an astonished look on his face.

"Wack?" the duck honked and turned to him. "Wack."

Katie looked around at the tech-geek, who was staring at the duck incredulously. "Cody? Everything okay?"

"Umm, yeah. I think I was just, hehe, still a little woozy from being woken up so quickly," he said with a nervous chuckle. "You ready to head out, Katie?"

"Sure thing, Cody! Let's go, go, go!"


(Confession Cam - Cody! Katie! Chris! Groucho-oooooo!)

Cody - \He looks a little weirded out.\ "I'm almost certain that duck had a... nah, never mind. I may have been spending too much time out here. Katie's sweet and all, but I'm not much of an outdoors person."

Katie - "Cody seemed a little weirded out after we woke up. He's such a nice guy, we talked about all kinds of things on the way to the goal point, like dating, ice cream, animals, Sadie and Noah and Gwen and Trent. It amazes me how he still likes Trent even though Trent got Gwen."

Chris - "Watching Cody and Katie was boring! All they talked about was dumb stuff like dating, ice cream, animals, and their friends! I wanted to see more of that duck.

Groucho the Duck - \He has a cigar in his mouth, and a magnum revolver under his right wing; he quacks with subtitles in the bottom.\ "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. And one morning I napalmed a shark in my pajamas; how he got in my pajamas, I dunno."


"Stop that pig from squealing, he's...," Duncan shouted as he was woken up, "hey wait, it's not the pig?"
Beth and Trent woke up from the combination of shouting. The farm girl comforted Dinner the Pig, who was also agitated.

"You guys ready to head out?" Trent asked them. "We can win this!"

"I dunno about that, Elvis," Duncan remarked as he looked ahead, then down at Dinner. "I cannot see how fast a groggy pig is going to move."

"Yeth, it'sth not going to be easthy," Beth said, smiling nevertheless. She rubbed Dinner behind the ears, and he grunted happily. "But I have faith in this piggie."
Trent clapped his teammates on the back, and the three headed off.


(Confession Cam - If you're wondering how they eat what Chef cooks...)

Duncan - "Trent's one cool frood. He's the kind of guy who you'd hang out with all day. Sure, he is a bit of a law-abiding prude, but hey, he's wild enough to date Gwen."

Beth - "Trent is tho nice. Gwen's tho lucky to date him."

Trent - "Duncan and Beth are a couple good eggs."

Quarterback the Goat - "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaah?"


Eva murmured in her sleep as Heather's banshee / pig squealing / soccer mom / bomb timer / chalkboard scratch / cat screaming / air horn screaming pierced through the woods. The fitness buff was barely stirred by it, while Bridgette and Charger the Zebra were up in fits.

"Murlda mnn Mssmus murri mm mrah," Eva grumbled in her sleep.

"Come on, Eva, wake up," Bridgette said as she shook the fitness buff; however, the fitness buff was a solid sleeper, and wasn't waking up. "C'mon, I cannot carry you to the finish line!"

"Mmmt mm mwmrtd moo mme mmth Emmemmrl."

Bridgette let out a frustrated sigh, then looked up at Charger. The zebra grunted curiously, not realizing what she was about to do.

In a couple minutes, a sleeping Eva was placed on Charger's back, and Bridgette led the striped quadruped along.


(Confession Cam - And other camper facts.)

Bridgette - "Things get awfully weird around here without anyone trying. It's like some science fiction aura that causes improbability on the island."

Eva - "... I really would like to know how Bridgette managed to lift me onto that zebra."


Ezekiel, Survivor, and Heather had run almost all the way up the 1000 foot cliff, and the prairie boy was closing in on the terrified rat. He dove for him, and finally managed to catch the rodent; however, it was right in the middle of a muddy puddle. His front drenched in mud, he turned around sheepishly to Heather.

The queen bee glared at him with narrowed eyes. "Well, now that you're done chasing him," she shouted as she grabbed Survivor from his hands, "and wallowing in mud, care to get your butt in gear?!"

"You mean you doo'nt want to cuddle me now, eh?" he couldn't resist saying to her.

"NO!!"

Ezekiel shook, the trees shook, even the very cliff seemed to shake from the ear-piercing scream. Before the prairie boy and the queen bee could continue, the earth really did begin to shake.

"Um, Heather?" Ezekiel began. "What are the odds of an avalanche, eh?"

"What," she continued to scream, "are you talking about, you stupid, home schooled-"

"It was snowing a whole lot a few days ago," he continued, "and we're near the top of a cliff, eh. Doo'nt avalanches start from... loud... noises?"

The two froze in horror as the land started to shake. They looked up to see a mass of mud tumbling down towards them.

"RUN," Heather shouted.

"RUN AWAY, EH," Ezekiel screamed.

"SQUEAK," Survivor yelled, squirming in Heather's hands.

The two human beings retreated down the hill, Survivor in Ezekiel's hands. The landslide was a muddy crash of charging fervor, a slimy plow of terrible proportion, a tremendous stampede of slushy earth, and it was rather yucky too.

Heather was almost about to collapse, heaving for air. Something struck her in the middle of her back, knocking her to the side. Clutching Survivor in her hands, the muddy landslide passed by her.

After the ground stopped shaking, Heather managed to finally catch her breath. The ravenhair sat up, then stared down the hill. A trail of mud led down the middle of the sloping cliff, and no sign of Ezekiel.

"Ezekiel?" Heather whimpered.

"Squeak?" Survivor whimpered.

Still no sign of him, no matter how far down the cliff she looked. There were two courses of action: go look for Ezekiel, or go win the contest so that she'd get immunity.

She chose to go win the contest. Survivor, as if in protest, squirmed more in her hands. "Stop it," she hissed at the upset rodent, "I have got to win this contest! I refuse to let those cretins win this!"

Survivor squirmed more in her hands, squeaking sadly. "Look, you don't understand, worm tail," she growled at him. "If I don't win, they vote me off, and then they'll all laugh at me. I refuse to let that happen, don't you get that?!"

Heather suddenly realized what she was doing. "I'm arguing with a rat," she muttered before heading forward.


Chris, Chef, and Owen were sitting at a small table, playing a game of cards.

"Got any fives?" Chef asked Chris.

"Go fish," the handsome host replied with a sly smile.

With a frustrated grunt, the large cook took another card from the pile. Owen grinned at him, a smile as sly as Chris's. "Got any fives, Chef?" the large teenager asked.

Chef roared in frustration. "Not again! You got all three of them for the third time! No no no!!"

He smacked the table from underneath, knocking it up into the air. The cards showered the ground, Chris, and Owen. Bellowing in rage, he stomped on the table and the cards, ripping off one of the legs and smashing the table with it. Knocking Chris over on the ground, the giant cook took off grumbling and swearing and muttering.

Owen, eyes wide in terror, watched as the furious man stomped off, still clutching the table leg in his hand. "That's the third time he's done that, Chris."

"Maybe we should let him win next time," the host remarked, still on his back from where Chef had knocked him over. "It would be safer for our health."

Owen nodded, then looked over at the forest's edge. He saw four figures emerging from the far right side where they were facing. "Ooo, look, Chris! I think the first team is coming!"

He farted in excitement; Chris bolted upright, then moved away from behind Owen, now unofficially the most dangerous place for a human being to be. The handsome host looked over at where Owen was pointing. The four figures were Courtney, Harold, Gwen, and Stupid. He smiled and waved at them.

"Ooo, look," Owen shouted, pointing over at the far left side of the forest clearing. "It's another group!"

Bridgette was leading Charger on a rope, Eva snoring on the back of the zebra. The blond surfer saw Owen waving at her, and waved back at him. The very large teenager pointed over at the far right side, and she saw the crocodile team.

"Oh no no no," Bridgette shouted, pulling desperately on Charger's rope. "I cannot let them win, they'll order meat! C'mon, Charger!"

The zebra reared back in fear slightly; he sent Eva off her back, still snoring away. Bridgette, trying to stay calm, looked Charger in the eyes. The zebra calmed down, and the blond surfer mounted up on his back.

"Hi-ho, Charger," she shouted, "AWAY!"

Whinnying, the zebra bolted forward. With tremendous speed, the striped quadruped raced towards the goal. Bridgette's ponytail whipped in the wind, and when Charger stopped at the base, her hair was sprayed all over. Owen pointed her in the direction of the large cage she was supposed to store him in.

Bridgette managed to lead Charger into the cage, and shut the door. Stroking his long muzzle, he neighed happily.

"The zebra team wins," Chris shouted, pumping his fists into the air.

"Mrrrggrr... we did?" Eva grumbled as she walked up to the goal finish.

"No," Courtney bellowed, "we lost! This is all your fault," she shouted at Harold, then looked at Gwen, "and your fault too!"

"No, it's your fault," Gwen shouted, shoving Courtney. The CIT shoved her back, and it became a shoving contest. With a long sigh, Harold pulled Stupid the Crocodile towards his cage and shoved him in. A few seconds after he was in the cage, Stupid began blaming everyone else as well in his crocodile tongue.

"The crocodile team comes in second," Chris announced. "Only one more team can get immunity now!"

"Your fault!" shouted Gwen.

"Your fault!" shouted Courtney.

"Girls girls girls," Owen cried out, pushing the two girls apart. "Don't fight! You're both pretty!"

"Why are you so mad, Courtney?" Harold dared to ask her. "We won, we got immunity!"

"That's beside the point," the CIT hollered back. "We didn't get first place! If we had won first, we would've gotten the meal! You didn't try hard enough!"

"He did his best, damn it," Gwen shouted, throwing her fists into the air. "You're impossible to please, you know that?"

"Oh, this coming from the crankiest goth in the whole world," Courtney shot back.

"Listen, you-"

"What are you all yelling about?"

A disheveled and slightly muddy Heather was looking at all of them, a curious eyebrow quirked. "Goth girl getting her panties in a knot, as per daily schedule?"

"Ooo, harsh words, Heather," Chris Maclean remarked as he surveyed the teens. Gwen seethed at Heather as the queen bee headed for the cages, Survivor still in her hands. "Say, Heather, where is Ezekiel?"

"I don't know."

There was a brief pause. "Wait, what?" Bridgette managed to say after the initial shock died down. "What do you mean? Where is he?"

"I don't know," Heather repeated, annoyed now. "I lost him back there."

"You lost him?" Harold wheezed, his eyes going wide behind his thick glasses. "How could you lose him?"

"Look, I'm sure he's okay," Heather snapped. "Though there was that mudslide..."

" 'Mudslide'?!" Bridgette shouted, grabbing her head in terror. "There was a mudslide?!"

"Yeah, just up at that cliff, I'm sure he was okay when it hit him."

"It hit him?!" Gwen cried out, a hand over her mouth.

"Look, I'm fairly certain he isn't dead, though I didn't see him after the mudslide took him."

"You... you didn't see if he was okay?" Courtney said, her eyes wide in fright.

"You left him there?" Bridgette cried out, horrified. "You left him all alone... buried?"

"Buried alive?" Eva asked, astonished too. "Buried... alive..."

"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN," Chef bellowed, shaking his fists up at the sky.

"We...," Bridgette stammered, wringing her hands, "we gotta go find him! If he's hurt or trapped..."

"How could you do this?" Gwen yelled at Heather, storming over at the queen bee and getting right up in her face. "You lousy wench! You left your teammate to die? You cannot possibly win because of this."

"Chris said at the very beginning," Heather replied, holding up a finger, "that it didn't matter if your teammates made it, just the animal."

"Indeed," Chris said, nodding in agreement. "And thus, the rat team wins third place, and the last team to get immunity."

"But... but what about Ezekiel?" Courtney declared, looking around nervously. "I mean, what if he was seriously injured by the mudslide? I'm not really fond of him, but he's alone in that forest now, and there's bears!"

"... Oh, yeah, bears," Heather said, looking to the side. "Forgot about that. Maybe he'll just get mauled like Cody was."

Bridgette let out a furious cry as she grabbed Heather's shoulders, shaking her fervently. "You let him die out there, you self-centered harpie! How can you not even care?! I've been a peaceful person all my life, but I," she narrowed her pale green eyes at Heather, "am about to kick your scrawny-"

"Um, Bridgette, you're not going to get violent, are you? That's not like you, eh."

Ezekiel, with enough mud for three coats on him, was staring at his fellow campers. He hacked, spitting mud out.

"Zeke," Bridgette cried out in delight, rushing over to him. "Are you alright? Anything broken?"

"Nope, nope I'm good."

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Ayup. My goodness, eh... I hate the outdoors, eh."

And he fell over. It was a very wet, muddy splat on the ground when he hit. "Oh my," Chris remarked, "he might need a good hosing off. Chef, Owen, could you two get a few buckets of water or something?"

As the two headed off to get water, Bridgette and Gwen looked over the fainted, muddy Ezekiel. "Boy," Eva said after a long pause, "I knew he was going to be in poor shape if he was with Heather, but I didn't think he'd look that bad."

"Oh shut up," Heather remarked. "It wasn't my fault that little pervert got hit by a mudslide."

"It's still your fault you left him there," Bridgette snapped at him, her pale green eyes flaring.

"Well, he just happened to get hit by it," the ravenhair exclaimed, "I was knocked out of the way by some flying object. If I had been hit, he would've left me. He wouldn't have cared."

Heather stormed off, away from the other campers. Bridgette noticed something rather unusual about the queen bee's back: a pair of muddy hand prints on her back.

"Yes he would," she replied.


(Confession Cam - Just repeat to yourself, "It's just a reality show.")

Gwen - "Heather pisses me off to no extent!"

Heather - "Gwen pisses me off to no extent!"

Courtney - "Wow. And I thought I was mad at Harold. He pisses me off to no extent, but I wouldn't leave him buried alive..."

Chef - "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! Yeah baby, I love yelling that!"


The following teams came soon. Cody and Katie arrived shortly after Ezekiel and Heather, and the two were upset to learn they were fourth. While the thin BFFF sulked, Cody comforted her. Groucho the Duck quacked at her in comfort from her cage, rustling his feathers as he filed away at the side of his cage with a survival dagger he had smuggled under his wing.

"We did our best, Katie," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And hey, I'm sure we'll be fine. No reason to vote us off."

The thin BFFF let out a long sigh, then managed to smile. "I guess you're right."

The pig group was next to arrive, fifth in place. Duncan let out a frustrated cry and cursed how slow their pig had been. Beth tried to comfort Dinner, patting the oinker's head.

"Well, it wasn't so bad," Trent told the others. "We got along fine-"

"Better than how any of us did, then," Gwen replied, smirking.

Cody slapped the musician on the back. "You managed to get Beth and Duncan to be nice to each other! Rather impressive, Trent mah man!"

"Hey now, it's not as impressive as Eva and Bridgette finally getting along together," Trent admitted, gesturing to an wide table that had been set up for the first place winners.

"That might change soon," Eva grumbled as she held up a leaf of lettuce. She glared at her veggie patty, as if it was a mortal enemy. "How can you eat this crap?"

"It's an adaptive taste, I'll admit," Bridgette said as she ate more of her vegetarian meal.

"How many years did it take?" the fitness buff snapped, looking disgusted.

Bridgette didn't answer, because the last team finally arrived. Scratched, bruised, dirty, and miserable, the goat team arrived. Izzy's red hair was frizzed up and her skirt chewed on, Tyler's red sports jacket was torn and stained, and Noah looked he had been dragged along the way.

"That damn goat dragged me when he was trying to play," Noah complained to Katie, who tried to wipe the dirt from his clothes. "And my allergies have been acting up, and the goat ate at all our clothes..."

"And this bear with a bloody maw chased us, and vultures circled us for several hours, and the goat headbutted Tyler a couple times," Izzy babbled to Harold.


(Confession Cam - You, unlike them, should really just relax.)

Eva - "Seriously. How can you EAT that vegan crap? Gimme a steak any day!"


Ezekiel was zonked out in the communal restroom, underneath the shower head. Chef had let the water run on top of him, which rinsed off a great deal of the mud; however, the prairie boy was so worn out from his ordeal that he barely had the strength to shut off the water before he fell asleep in the shower stall.

"Mm mmrmma mmlay Mmmrd mmf Murmmrft mmym mrr," he grumbled in his sleep.

A couple people came into the communal restrooms, and then into the stall he was in, without noticing he was there.
"You sure -mmm!- you want to be here, Gwen?" Trent asked between their kisses.

"I'm sick of us never getting any privacy," she whispered, muffled by their passionate kissing. "All of the couples here have been making out... but I prefer no one watching."

They continued to make out, rather heavily. Gwen put her hands under Trent's shirt, while the musician wrapped his arms around her lower back. Their moaning and lip smacking managed to wake Ezekiel.

"Murrmmo mmi mmh mmay... wha?" the prairie boy muttered as he woke up.

Gwen and Trent both noticed him at long last, and let out startled cries. Ezekiel, startled, leapt up in the air, and slammed his head against the shower head.

"Ow," he cried out as he gripped his sore head. "Soo'ry, Gwen, Trent."

"What on earth are you doing in here, Zeke?" Trent asked him.

"Chef had to rinse me oot', and he left me to drown, eh," Ezekiel muttered. He began to hobble towards the door. "I'll go, you two carry on, eh."

"Indeed," Gwen replied, grinning up at Trent.

Before Ezekiel left the communal restrooms, he heard them starting to make out again. He couldn't help but smile, they sounded so happy and they both deserved a little happiness after such an exhausting challenge.


"Wait, what?" Duncan exclaimed, looking at Heather and Courtney as if they were insane. "Vote off Trent? Why?"

"You should have seen how his girlfriend treated me during that filthy challenge," Courtney shouted, crossing her arms stubbornly. "And I want her to pay for crossing me like that. She was also defending Harold, and-"

Heather grabbed her shoulder, stopping the CIT from continuing shouting. "Hon, calm down," the queen bee instructed her. "We'll vote off Trent, don't worry," she said, then turned to Duncan. "You have a problem with that, Duncan?"

"Well, it's just that he's not that bad a guy, after hanging out with him so much," the criminal admitted, rubbing his arm nervously. "But, um, if you want to, better him than me, you know."


(Confession Cam - For Total Drama Island 3000!)

Duncan - "I didn't want to vote off Trent. I would have been a lot more happy voting off Izzy, Tyler, or Noah. Courtney's desire for revenge is getting a little too serious for me."


"Good you agree, Duncan," Courtney said, smiling a little. "Now, we have to convince enough people to vote for him too, since only you can vote this time around."

"Well, who can vote this time?" Heather said, tapping her knee. "Bridgette, Eva, Noah, Katie, Beth, Trent, Tyler, Izzy, and Cody."

"Cody, easy," Courtney replied. "He loves Gwen, he'd vote off Trent in a heartbeat."

"Naw, he wouldn't," Duncan said, waving his hand. "I've been hanging out with him during some off-screen time."

"With that geek?" Heather said with a scoff.

"He's not that bad," he replied. "Anyway, he wouldn't vote for Trent unless there was anyone else he could."

"Really?" Courtney asked, sounding amazed. "Um, well, alright then. Duncan, you and I will try to convince anyone we can to vote off Trent. Let's go then."

Courtney and Duncan left the cabin, the CIT heading left and the criminal heading right. Heather followed after the punk, waiting until Courtney was out of hearing range.

"Hey Duncan?" she called out. "When you tell people you are voting off Trent, tell them we already have people besides you, that someone asked you do this. Like, maybe..."

When she told him who, Duncan looked surprised. "What? Why?"

"It'll give people comfort in knowing they aren't the only ones voting for Trent."

"No, why him?"

"Just because okay, stop being a skeez," Heather snapped, crossing her arms. "But if you must know, it's because people would believe he would vote for him the most."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled.


The marshmallow ceremony that night had the eight unfortunate campers sitting on the stump chairs, looking nervous or concerned. All of the other campers were standing nearby, and the six animals in their cages were also watching.

"The three last teams are all here, wringing their hands and biting their lips in nervous anxiety," Chris announced, knocking on the plate that had seven marshmallows. "You all cast your votes, as did the first place team of Bridgette and Eva.

"Of the eight of you, only seven of you are getting a marshmallow. One of you has failed the contest, has lost the game, is walking the Dock of Shame, and is boarding the Boat of Losers. And you aren't going to come back...

"FOREVER AND EVER!!"

The eight campers on the logs flinched, except for Izzy, who leaned forward and gave Chris an "I dare you" look.


(Confession Cam - TWANG!)

Izzy - "I voted for that jellybean smuggler, Duncan! I think I know where the fiend is hiding them: in his mohawk!"

Duncan - "I managed to convince Noah and Katie to vote for Trent, since I said there was a high chance Noah might be voted off. Also told them who had 'planned' this voting, like Heather asked. What is she up to?"

Cody - "I voted for Noah, but I hope he doesn't get voted off. Just had no one else I would've voted for."

Bridgette - "I know this'll sound mean, but I still don't like Duncan, so I voted for him."

Trent - "It was hard to vote for someone this time around, since we all got along fine this time as well. I just picked Noah, because he's still a little too cynical for me."

Eva - \She shrugs.\ "Courtney asked me to vote for Trent, so what the hell. I wonder what she's up to."

Beth - "I know who I voted for will more than likely not get voted off... but I still have a really bad feeling about this one. It'sth... foreboding... like a really bad omen."

Izzy - \She cries out in pain, yanking something out from where she was sitting.\ "How weird, a splinter in the shape of a black cat."


Chris eyed the eight campers sitting down, then smiled. "Okay then, people! First off will be the people who didn't get any votes! One of those people is... Katie!"

The thin BFFF cried out in joy, then smiled at Noah. They hugged, then she retrieved her marshmallow from the plate.

"Cody! Tyler! And Beth!"

The three picked up their marshmallows. Cody high-fived Trent as he walked over to the crowd of campers. Ezekiel and Tyler bumped fists, and Beth glomp-hugged Gwen in her excitement.

"That leaves only you four," Chris said, grinning wickedly at the last campers.

Trent took a deep breath, and smiled confidentially. Noah crossed his arms, looking even more confident than Trent. Izzy grinned at Chris, taunting him without words. Duncan snarled at Chris, drumming his fingers against his arm.

"The first marshmallow goes to... Noah!"

The know-it-all nodded as he retrieved his marshmallow. As he approached the other campers, he was tackled by a very happy Katie, knocking him to the ground with an, "AWK!!"

"Next one goes to... Izzy!"

The wild redhead cheered as she swiped her marshmallow and pranced over to the other campers. Owen, who was with them, let out a loud cheer.

"Now we're down to Trent and Duncan," Chris announced. "One of you is leaving this island. Who's it gonna be?"

Courtney took a deep breath, crossing her arms and looking determined. Gwen was almost shaking in anticipation, Bridgette holding her shoulder in comfort.

"Hey man," Trent said to Duncan, startling the criminal, "good luck to you."

"What?" he stammered, then tried to shrug it off. "Oh! Um... good luck to you too, dude."

"Now then," Chris said, "the final marshmallow of the night... goes to...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Duncan."

The criminal couldn't help but sigh in relief as he picked up his marshmallow. Behind him, Trent slumped in his seat, shaking his head.

"No," Gwen shouted, cringing. "You cannot be serious!"

"Sorry, Gwen. Sorry, Trent," Chris remarked, "but you're out, dude."

Gwen let out a choked sob, almost falling over in her grief. Trent managed to arrive right before she did, and hugged her comfortingly.

"It's okay, Gwen," he told her, "it's not good-bye, remember that."

"Except that I am saying good-bye to you right now," Gwen said, her voice small.

"It won't be long, unless you win the whole thing," Trent said, stroking her hair. "And I know you can do that."

Gwen managed to smile up at him, and they kissed. Her green lipstick smeared on his, and it looked a little silly when they parted.


"Bye, Trent," the goth girl called out to Trent, waving good-bye to him as the Boat of Losers left the Dock of Shame.

Most of the campers had gathered on the dock as well, waving good-bye. Beth, Cody, Bridgette, and Duncan looked almost as upset as Gwen.

"Take care of yourself, my lovely goth girl," Trent called out to her. Her pale face flushed pink in embarrassment.

When the boat was out of sight, Gwen let out a long sigh, covering her eyes with her hand. Tyler and Bridgette put their hands on her shoulders, both trying to comfort her because, like them, she had lost the one she cared about to the Boat of Losers.

"This sucks," Ezekiel blurted out. "All the couples are getting separated, eh!"

"Yeah, no more watching people making out?" Izzy declared, stomping her foot. "That really sucks!"

"Why's that keep happening?" Ezekiel asked aloud, trying to ignore Izzy's comment though he silently agreed. Courtney scoffed, which she regretted because Gwen glared at her from behind her hand.

"You were involved in this, weren't you?" she shouted at the CIT. Even though Bridgette tried to calm her down, Gwen was furious now. "You had Trent voted off to get revenge on me, didn't you?"

"Don't look at me, Gwen," Courtney replied, crossing her arms and taking her 'innocent politician' stance. "I couldn't vote this time around."

"Then you had your boyfriend do it, didn't you?" the goth girl yelled, pointing at the criminal. "How could you do it, Duncan?"

The punk held up his hands in defense, then Noah stepped in-between them. He was determined to stop this fight, because Katie was cringing in fright from the yelling and hostility.

"Look, Gwen," he said to her, trying his best not to back away from her furious look, "it was nothing personal, okay? Someone has to go, ya know? Like Queen says, 'another one bites the dust'."

"So you voted for Trent too?" the goth girl snapped, getting up in Noah's face.

"It was only to make sure Katie or I were not the ones voted off," the egghead replied, leaning so far back that he was tilted at a 45 degree angle. "We also only did it because we were told that Cody had organized this to keep us safe-"

"WHAT?!"

Gwen's shout, a mix of horror and fury, startled everyone, especially Noah, who tipped over and collapsed on the dock. Cody, horrified, watched as his dream girl turned towards him, heaving in fury. "You... you planned this?" she hissed, stomping over to him. "You told them to vote off Trent?"

"What? ... Wait," Cody stammered, terrified as Gwen approached him with that hurt, furious face. "N-No, I didn't-"

"YOU LITTLE CREEP!"

She slapped Cody across the face, very hard. The tech-geek reeled from the blow, a red imprint left on his left cheek. Bridgette desperately tried to push Gwen away, getting in-between the two.

"No Gwen, don't do this," the surfer girl pleaded to her friend. "C'mon, let's just go!"

"I can't believe he did that...," Gwen said, new tears rolling down her face as she and Bridgette left the dock. "I can't believe it... he told me he was over it... he was lying this whole time..."

The other campers were looking at all those involved in the tragedy right now. Cody fell on his knees and hands, taking in deep, shuddering breaths. His thin body was shaking hard.

"Cody?" Beth called out to him softly. "Cody? I know you didn't do that, right?" She put her hands on his shoulder. "Cody? Are you-"

"Just...," he managed to sputter out, "please. Just leave me be..."

Tears spilled from his eyes; he tried to cover them with his hand, but Beth and several other of the campers saw them. The farm girl almost cried too, but her emotions were directed elsewhere when she saw Duncan leaving the dock.

"How could you do thisth to him?" the short girl shouted at him, chasing after the punk. "You told the others Cody planned thisth, didn't you?"

"Quit shouting at me, I'm sick of all this shouting," Duncan replied, blowing her off and picking up the base.

"Well if you didn't, who did?" Beth called out to him, her face twisted in anger. "Cody didn't plan this, so who did?"

Someone chuckled beside her, and that someone was Heather. "You sure have a lot of faith in Cody, pig girl. You should realize that he's all for Gwen, though it looks like he's blown it."

"Shut up, you sthkank," Beth hollered before stomping off. Most of the campers past by as well, some shooting suspicious looks at Heather. Courtney was last, and stopped once everyone was out of hearing range.

"Heather," she whispered, "did you tell Duncan to tell the others that Cody was the one who planned this?"

"Of course," the ravenhair said, flipping a strand of hair behind her, "and it worked just as well as I hoped for it to."

"But... but...," the CIT stammered, looking back at the dock. Cody was still there, sobbing on his hands and knees. "Why?" she managed to say. "Why would you do that to him?"

"It's only strategy," Heather replied, not looking at Cody; she seemed to avoid looking at the devastated tech-geek. "This way, they'll have someone else to vote off next time."

"It... it doesn't seem right," Courtney said, still looking at Cody. "He looks so hurt!"

"Oh, he'll get over it, he never had a chance with Gwen anyway," the queen bee replied, shrugging and still not looking at Cody. "What, you actually feel sorry for the little geek?"

She walked off, having said her piece. The CIT looked over at Cody one more time, and whispered under her breath, "I do, actually."


(Confession Cam - 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6...)

Courtney - "I cannot believe she did that! Cody's done nothing to deserve this! I wanted revenge on Gwen, but... this was too much!"

Duncan - "Damn it, I should have seen that coming. Man, poor Cody. People cannot die of heartbreak, so I'm told, but he looked close to it."

Izzy - "Izzy really mad at Duncan now, but Izzy is mostly mad at Heather; I overheard that she was the one who gave Duncan this idea! So I fed her Royale Threads coupon she won the second day to my goat! HA!"

Heather - "People keep acting like I'm a bad person for my strategy. Look, the show is called Total Drama Island! That weird goth girl would vote off Ezekiel if she felt it would hurt me! ... Which it wouldn't, because I don't like him!"

Beth - "I cannot believe they did that to Trent and Cody! How dare they! It makesth me tho mad that they don't care about who they hurt to win thisth game!"

Katie - "Poor Cody... oh..." \She cringes, looking close to tears herself.\ "It's like watching a drama, and I'm at the tear-jerking moment, and I'm shouting at the TV for the characters to not fight... oh wait, Sadie's the one who shouts at the TV."

Cody - \His eyes are bloodshot from crying, and he is staring down at the stall's floor. He tries to say something, but takes a deep, shuddering breath instead.\


(Where They Are Now)

Dinner the Pig was adopted by Beth's family. He lived a long, happy life, as happy as a pig could. He died of natural causes.

Charger the Zebra also lived a long, happy life. Bridgette took part in making sure he went to a nice zoo, where she visited him often.

Goat the Quarterback lived in a petting zoo, one close to Izzy's house. Many kids visited him, wanting to see the first 'celebrity goat.'

Survivor the Rat escaped from his cage and lived on Total Drama Island, swiping food from the kitchen and sleeping in holes in the cabins. He listened in on all the conversations of the campers (like the audience), and snuggled up in Ezekiel's spare toque when he slept.

Stupid the Crocodile escaped from his cage too, and tried to eat the campers in their sleep. He was assassinated by an unknown being, and made into a nice pair of boots and a purse.

Groucho the Duck escaped as well, and became an assassination of justice. With feathery, extreme prejudice, he took out terrorist groups, murderous extremists, fascists and communist dictators, and also he smacked people who let their cell phones ring in movie theaters.

After he destroyed the base of a well-known terrorist group, the United States president George W. Bush took a political risk when he stated before a press conference, "The world needs more ducks like Groucho." Groucho the Duck's whereabouts are unknown, but he still strikes at the enemies of Canada and the USA.


Bridgette - Duncan

Eva - Trent

Noah - Trent

Katie - Trent

Duncan - Trent

Beth - Izzy

Trent - Noah

Tyler - Izzy

Izzy - Duncan

Cody - Noah

--

Trent - 4.

Noah - 2.

Izzy - 2.

Duncan - 2.

--

Voted off List - Owen, Sadie, Geoff, Leshawna, Justin, Lindsay, DJ, Trent.


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The tragedy has increased now. And it will continue to increase. I'll give you all a couple hints about Day 09:

1.) You're finally going to see Harold and Courtney comfront each other.

2.) The gross factor that TDI had is coming back here.

3.) Concerned about the issue between Gwen and Cody? There'll be more of that too.

4.) It's going to be a lot more dramatic and gripping than you think.

5.) You'll only get more Ezekiel and Heather if enough people ask for it.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Total Drama Comeback! \wicked grin\