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. Seat belts are installed into the fanfiction, and it is required by law that you wear them; you aren't cool if you think they're not necessary.
Replies to Questions and Comments:
To Everybody - I've sent replies. If you got two replies to one review, then it's because I love reviewing. And please, write as much as you can! They allow that many characters for a reason!
--
And now, without further stalling, on with the show!!
Chapter 31 (Day 10, Part 2) - Wawanakwa Kart: Double Rash!!
Joel sat in a reclining chair, tossing popcorn kernel after kernel into the air, all landing into his mouth. He munched them as he watched the multiple cameras, thoroughly enjoying his karts being used on national TV.
"Better than being on the show, I think," he said between kernels to Owen. "My golly gee, they look good, don't they?"
Owen nodded, trying to mimic Joel's popcorn catching skill. Sadly, all of the large teen's kernels wound up on the floor. This would have discouraged most people from eating them, but Owen was not most people.
"Do you have to lick the floor too, dude?" Chris asked his intern, disgusted.
"Well, I don't want to lose any of that butter."
"Ah, butter," Joel remarked, grinning. "The condiment that makes so many foods worth it."
Chef nodded, then took a pot of melted butter and poured it in one bowl. Butter ran out the sides but the giant cook still ate it. Joel felt slightly sick watching this.
"Want some more popcorn on your butter, Chef Hatchet?" he asked.
"Nuff, Ah'f fawn," muttered Chef with a full mouth, butter running down his mouth; Joel felt more sick watching this.
"Butter gives me gas, by the way," Owen admitted.
"Oh crap," Chris shouted, running out of the tent. His guest for next season was prepared, however, and the inventor put on a gas mask.
"Hehe, you look like you got a snout," the overweight teen remarked. Then he belched. Then he farted. The green gas of it all slowly filled the tent, but Joel seemed unfazed.
Then Chef Hatchet belched. Then he farted. The tent was full with green gas now. Joel's eyes began to water.
"Mah nose," he shouted as he ran out of the tent, "ze gas mahsk does naw'ting!"
Noah's motion sickness medicine was also doing nothing. His vomit had managed to hit a raccoon, deer, badger, and a chipmunk; oddly enough, Izzy's near-suicidal driving had failed to hit anything.
"Go, Izzy Racer," the redhead was singing happily, "go Izzy Racer, gooooo!"
"I...," Noah heaved, after heaving, with heavy eyes glaring at the back of her head, "am going... to kill you, Izzy!"
"So am I," Bridgette wailed, clinging to her seat and whiter than sour cream.
"I'll raise you from the dead so Bridgette can kill you again," the know-it-all sputtered as he pulled himself back in the kart.
"I'll raise you again after killing you again for a third shot," the surfer girl added.
"And then I'm gonna vote you off this island!"
Izzy looked around at them, which terrified them more since she should have been looking ahead of her; she still wasn't hitting anything, but that doesn't ease a passenger's worries. "I never took you two for being that violent," she stated, quite calm, "or into voodoo."
"Who's into voodoo?" Noah asked. "Not all necromancers are witch doctors!"
"But that's the best kind of necromancy!"
Bridgette didn't know how they could have opinions about this kind of stuff, and frankly, she didn't care at this point. Other than the hope that if she was about to die, it'd be painless and quick.
"Can you please slow down?" she whimpered to Izzy.
"Don't you nuts want to win?" the crazy girl yelled, pushing the gas pedal more.
"You are calling us crazy?!" Noah shouted, indignant once again. "That's rich! That's like getting a moral lecture from someone in jail!"
"Are you comparing me to jailbirds?"
"Your driving should result in you being in jail!"
"That's it, you bigheaded bighead, I'm driving it up a notch," the redhead screamed, then stomped on the gas pedal hard with a, "BAM!"
"No... please...," Bridgette whined as the wind blew her face and hair back, her ponytail smacking Noah in the face.
(Confession Cam - I Am Iron Cam!)
Noah - "Izzy should be locked up. With a straight jacket on. In a room with padded walls. And people in white uniforms being very nice to her so as not to provoke her."
Raccoon - \splattered with vomit, speaking with English subtitles\ "holy hel, wht waz tht kid eatin today, huh?"
Heather snuggled up to Ezekiel, having lightened her attempts to, in a nutshell, be all over him. Her being this way was distracting, to say the least, but it wasn't as bad as Courtney had it.
"Am I going too fast?" she whimpered.
"Courtney, you were passed by a turtle a few minutes ago," Harold said, visibly frustrated. "Can't you pick it up a little? Gosh!"
"But I don't want to hit anything!"
"Then look a'heed of you while you drive, eh," Ezekiel cried out. "C'mon Courtney, the others have probably visited a Hot Spot by now!"
As luck would have it, they turned a corner around a large rock formation, and a Hot Spot was right in front of them. A towering loop de loop, Courtney shrank into her seat as if it were a giant monster.
"Sweet," Harold shouted enthusiastically. He pointed to a sign nearby it, which Courtney pulled up to. "Let's see what this challenge is:
"Loop de Loop.
Drive your kart around this Loop de Loop to claim the flag. You may try as many times as you and your kart can take it."
"Doesn't say much about the passengers," Heather noted after Harold was done reading it. "That's Chris for you."
"Well, which one of you wants to do this?" Courtney asked the others after a second's pause.
"Me," Ezekiel spoke up, "I'll do it-AWK"
As he tried to get out of the kart, Heather yanked him back in. "You're staying back here with me."
"No, I'm not," the toque-wearing teen replied, trying again to leave the kart, "because I'm gonna do this challen-"
"You're staying back here and holding me while we go around that thing," the queen bee yelled, tugging him back in.
"Guys, I'm trying to leave, but she keeps pulling me back in," Ezekiel explained to his teammates.
"No problem, Zeke man," Harold said, then turned to Courtney. "You gotta do it."
"What? No! I couldn't possibly-
"Heather won't let Zeke, and I'm not exactly able to drive," the brunette nerd pointed out. "You gotta do it."
"C-Can't we just skip this one and move on to the next?"
"You know that if we leave it, one of the other teams will ace it. Like say... Izzy?"
The CIT realized that if anyone would be okay with driving up this daredevil track, it would be the daredevil. "But... but..."
"Courtney, you can do this," Harold declared. "Ya just gotta believe!"
"Please do it soon, eh," Ezekiel whimpered from the back, "Heather's gripping my arm so hard, I'm losing feeling in my fingertips."
The CIT took several breaths, then backed the kart up. Revving up the engine, she sped forward. Screaming as the wind blew her hair back, she aimed dead center at the Loop de Loop. Harold raised his hands and whooped as the kart went from ninety degrees to upside-down. Heather and Ezekiel screamed, clutching each other.
The kart raced back down the other side, tires squealing as Courtney hit the brakes. There was a few seconds of heavy panting, then the CIT let out a triumphant shout.
"That was awesome," she cried out.
"So very wicked," Harold agreed.
"Let's do it again!"
"No no no no," Ezekiel and Heather shouted from the back.
With a shrug, Courtney merely drove over to the sign post and removed the flag. "That's one, people. Now who's next driving?"
She looked at Ezekiel and Heather, who were still holding each other tight. She cocked an eyebrow and added, "Or do you want some time alone?"
"I'll drive, I'll drive, I'll drive," Ezekiel chanted. He managed to writhe his way out of Heather's grip, and place himself in the driver's seat.
"Can you drive?" Harold asked him as the prairie boy buckled up.
"I've driven the tractor back home, eh. This should be a little like that."
"About several tons lighter, though."
"Yeah," he replied. He began to push down on the gas pedal. "So how much pressure do I need to appl-"
The kart raced off again. Ezekiel grabbed his toque and proceeded to drive with one hand, which made Courtney wince in fear. She noticed that Heather didn't look that nervous; in fact, she looked as smug as a popular, rich girl could.
"What are you so happy about?" Courtney asked her.
"We did win our first flag, Courtn-"
"You know what I mean," the brunette snapped at her. "You've been wrestling with Ezekiel like if you two were Geoff and Bridgette at the Playa de Losers. What are you trying?"
The ravenhair merely shrugged. "Strategy."
"By switching tactics? You claim you hate his guts every time someone brings him up, then you act like you two are, I dunno, in..."
She finally managed to spit it out, like if it was a foul word, "... in heat or something!"
Heather chuckled, smirking at her. "You don't understand, do you Courtney?"
"I don't think I want to," the CIT replied, turning away. "Flirting with a guy to get him to do what you want brings women down to the lowest peg. I don't see how you can justify this sudden change of mood any other way."
The queen bee looked the other way too, scowling. If anyone was looking at her, they would've seen a look of sorrowful confusion cross her face.
Heather's dream didn't have the bear dancing in it, and it was taking place on Wawanakwa Island, on the Dock of Shame. She was pretty sure it was a dream though, because the stars and moon were gloriously bright, harmonic music that usually accompanied Justin drifted in with the tide, and there was a mermaid waltzing with the man-eating shark.
And Ezekiel was there, wearing the most handsome suit she had ever seen; however, he still had on his dorky toque. Flashing her a sly grin, he pulled her up to her feet.
"Hello, beautiful," he said. "Why alone here on the Dock of Shame?"
"What... I'm not alone...," Heather started to say.
"You've always been alone," the dream Ezekiel replied. "Every dream you've had is you alone, brooding and lonely."
"I am not!"
"You think you can fool your dream?" he replied. "All of this is based on what you're thinking."
"Well, I don't want a romantic night with you, Zeke," she harumphed, turning away. "Maybe, just maybe, I'd like to have some time with you, but I-"
"You're so in denial. There are two Heathers, as far as I'm concerned."
Heather felt the presence of someone standing next to her, and she was most startled when she saw who it was: her. Her with angelic wings, a pure white toga, a glowing halo over her head, and holding a harp.
"You need to take a good look at yourself, me," Angel Heather said. "That tail isn't very alluring."
This was one of the weirdest things Heather had heard (aside from anything Izzy said) until she felt something swish around her hips. She looked down and saw a devil's tail whipping around. She cried out in terror.
"Who put me in these tacky pants?" she shouted. The queen bee was now wearing red pants, which looked like a dancer's tights. She was wearing a low-neckline, long-sleeved shirt as bright red like the pants. The queen bee was also suddenly holding a pitchfork, and her forehead felt heavy.
"Horns?!" she cried out as she felt what had suddenly appeared on her head.
"Devil Heather and Angel Heather," Ezekiel summed up what had transpired. "The two Heathers. And Devil Heather is the one that always shows, eh."
"There's no angel me," Heather shouted. "Being 'nice' is such crap! It gets you nowhere."
Ezekiel slung his arm around Angel Heather, who held him back. "You're so wrong there, eh," he replied, grinning still. "Just because you've had bad experience doesn't mean nice doesn't profit."
He pulled a small photo from his pocket and showed it to the Devil Heather. When the horned girl took it, her face blanched and a cold sweat came down her forehead.
It was a picture of her in her youth, pimply and overweight and brace-faced. "No no no...," she whimpered, beginning to panic. "Where did you get that? HOW DID YOU KNOW, EZEKIEL?!"
"It's a dream, Heather," the prairie boy replied. "I know everything you know."
Still quivering, Devil Heather threw the picture into the water and picked up her pitchfork. "Don't make me use this."
Angel Heather swatted the three-pointer out of her hands, where it landed in the water. The pure queen bee grinned at the corrupted version of herself. "You better get your act together," she said, "before you start growing horns for real."
After that, she woke up.
Heather felt her forehead as the kart drove on. When she started checking her butt for a tail, Courtney saw this.
"Seat uncomfortable, Heather?" "Checking for a tail," she muttered unconsciously. "GAH! I mean-"
(Confession Cam - Transform and roll on!)
Heather - "That dream was plenty clear. I be nice to Ezekiel, things will get better. I may not be an angel, but being 'nice' is the way to go so I can get an ally: Zeke. There's no way he suspects me."
Ezekiel - "I suspect Heather is trying to be nice to me so I will be her ally, eh. I thought a girl trying to be all over me would be fun... but it's not, eh! It's like wrestling an octopus... or..." \he shudders\ "... C'thulu!"
Gwen came to a screeching stop nearby a large cave. A very familiar cave to some of the campers, and one that most wouldn't want to get anywhere near.
"The bear cave has a Hot Stop?" Eva asked aloud, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't Chris put that bear through enough?"
Cody began shaking, which Gwen noticed. The goth girl looked over at the Hot Stop sign:
"Bear Cave Raid.
One of your campers must go into the bear cave, snatch the picnic basket from the back, and bring it back to the kart (enjoy the food inside). The bear may or may not be in there."
Eva raised her eyebrow again. "That's easy. Here, I'll go get-"
"No," Cody shouted, quite suddenly. "I want to do this."
Gwen looked at him incredulously. "What? Cody, are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. We may need Eva for something more challenging than this."
The fitness buff looked at him as if she didn't understand how this scrawny boy grew a spine. "The bear that mauled you last time may be in there."
"If so, drive like heck, Gwen," the tech-geek replied as he left from the kart and started to head into the cave.
Gwen gripped the steering wheel tight. Eva crossed her arms and tapped her fingers against her strong muscles.
"Shouldn't I drive next?" the muscular girl asked the goth. "After he's done in there?"
"Fine."
After the switch, Eva cracked her knuckles. Then she tapped her foot against the pedal. Then she growled in impatience.
"What's taking him so long?" she growled.
"He's probably still looking, Chris probably hid it somewhere."
"It's a cave," Eva shouted, "how hard do you have to LOOK!?"
After she burst out, the world around them shook as a bear's furious roar came from the cave. Cody, holding a picnic basket and terrified, came out of the cave with the large, brown bear in pursuit.
"DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE," the brunette nerd screamed as he jumped into the kart, landing on Gwen in the back seat. Eva revved up the engine and shredded grass, kicking up dirt and smoke into the bear's face. It winced and growled as the kart sped away.
"Um, Cody?" Gwen muttered. "You can get off me now."
"Huh? Oh," Cody scrambled to get in the other back seat. "Sorry about that."
"I'll let it slide this time," the goth girl said as she straightened out her black clothing, "since you were running for your life."
"I almost peed my pants when that bear woke up," the tech-geek continued, "and I'm not sure how that happened. I was certain I was quiet..."
Gwen glared at the back at Eva's head, while the fitness buff shrunk down in her seat a little. "Um, so," Eva stammered, "what's in the picnic basket?" Cody pulled out a few sandwiches, a banana bunch, a six-pack of sodas, and a pot of honey. The three teens ate up hungrily.
(Confession Cam - What's all this then?)
Gwen - "Real food..." \She sighs happily and leans back.\ "So much better than that crap they serve us."
Cody - \grinning like a cheshire cat\ "Gwen is so soft..." \He sighs happily too.\
Eva - \sighs happily and crosses her arms\ "I love driving that kart."
The Tire Squealers stopped in front of a Hot Stop; it was in front of a very large tree. Noah, after recovering somewhat from his motion sickness, got out to read it.
"Lumberjack Routine.
"You must chop down the mightiest tree on Wawanakwa Island. WITH... A HERRING!"
Noah blinked. "You gotta be kidding me."
"Here's the herring," Izzy cried out, standing next to the tree. She grabbed it and started hacking against the tree. "Gimme a minute, I'll have it down soon!"
"Izzy, it'll take a million minutes," the egghead snapped at her, rolling her eyes. "Stop trying."
"That's quitter talk!"
Noah slapped his forehead and cast an eye at Bridgette. With each slimy smack of fish against tree, the know-it-all's faith in today's generation fell. He continued to stare, an intense look of frustration on his face.
"Shouldn't we take her back to the kart and try to find a new one?" Bridgette asked.
"No, let her learn the hard way," Noah replied, not bothering to look back at the blond surfer. "Plus, the longer she doesn't get to drive, the happier my stomach is."
Bridgette scoffed, looking away. "Fine, fine. I'm gonna take a quick look around and see if there are any more Hot Spots around."
"I doubt Chris would put one so close to the other."
"But that one is obviously a joke, so a real one might be around!"
"You keep talking as if Chris has a heart. Faith in humanity should have been destroyed by now."
The blond surfer rolled her eyes and headed off, hands in her jacket's pockets.
(Confession Cam - Loading. Please Wait.)
Bridgette - "How can Noah be so negative over a little Izzy-craziness? I mean, he got himself a girlfriend here!"
Noah - "I really miss Katie, but I know she's friends with Izzy. Do I have to make friends with Izzy too?" \He shivers.\
Tyler and Beth were whooping, holding their arms up in the air as Duncan flew the kart over bumps and hills.
"Woohoo," Tyler cheered, "this is better than any roller coaster!"
"I could do this all day," Beth cheered in agreement. "You're a great driver, Duncan!"
"Thanks," the punk replied. "I should get a license!"
Coming to a spinning, screeching halt at a Hot Stop, the punk grinned as he leaned over the side to read the sign.
"Stake Your Love.
You must take one of the signs attached to this sign, and stake it against the tree nearby. You must use the sledgehammer leaning against the tree to stake the sign to the tree."
Tyler, spirits and excitement amplified by the kart ride, pumped his fists into the air. "I'll do this one! This should be loads of fun!"
"Are you sthure thisth will be sthafe?" Beth asked, looking nervous at the sledgehammer. "Thisth doesthn't look very easthy."
"That makes it more fun," the athlete shouted as he looked through the signs. "Let's see... Geoff and Bridgette, Duncan and Courtney, Gwen and Trent, Izzy and Owen, Leshawna and Harold, Heather and... Ezekiel?! Yuck."
He tossed that one away, then continued. "Noah and Katie... oh, here it is! Lindsay and Tyler! Woohoo!"
The athlete bolted over to the tree with the sign in his hand. He tapped one of the stakes into the tree, then pulled back the sledgehammer.
"This one's for you, Lindsay," he shouted out, then swung. He missed the stake and hit the sign, shattering it violently.
Tyler screamed out in horror. Beth winced. Duncan grinned. "You're not doing mine, dude," the criminal remarked.
Almost in tears as he held the shattered remains of the 'Lindsay and Tyler' sign, the athlete hurried back to get another of the signs. Beth and Duncan watched as Tyler tried to stake Izzy and Owen. This one also became a smashed mess.
"This should be fun to watch," Duncan remarked as Tyler stomped on the pieces of the signs in frustration.
"He really putsth a lot of effort into what he doesth," Beth said.
They continued to watch, Beth shouting support and Duncan barking laughter as Tyler continued to stake a sign to the tree. Leshawna and Harold, Noah and Katie, and Duncan and Courtney all became smashed splinters, and the athlete was losing his patience.
"One of the funniest things I've seen," Duncan giggled as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"You're being rather mean, Duncan," Beth snapped at him, glaring at him through those thick glasses of hers. "Why do you have to be tho mean? I know you're not a bad persthon."
"Hey hey, I'm just who I am," the punk shrugged.
"Do you have to be so blunt, though?"
Duncan thought back to something that had been on his mind for some time now.
"Duncan," Courtney said to her boyfriend, "I have something to tell you."
The chaos of Harold nearly being killed by puréed gummi slugs was getting to her, and she had to talk to someone.
"Really, Princess?" Duncan asked, cocking his eyebrow. "So do I."
"Mine's pretty big."
"Mine's bigger, Princess."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Mine's still bigger."
"Duncan," she almost shouted, but she managed to quiet herself down, "I did it."
"What?"
"I...," she wrung her hands, looking very nervous. "I put those gummi slugs in all the soup bowls."
"Whoa," was all Duncan could say at first. After a few seconds of awkward silent, he asked, "How'd you know?"
"I found his original allergy sheet," she admitted. "Oh Duncan... I wanted revenge, but I didn't want... to kill him." She slumped against the wall and slid down, tears in her eyes. "This is too much."
"Hey hey hey," Duncan came over to her, cupping her face in his hand. "Harold is not going to die. Trust me, he won't. The guy's a survivor."
The CIT looked up at him with misty eyes, then looked down. "I've become something awful, Duncan. I doubt I could look myself in the mirror."
The punk lifted her chin. "Baby, you aren't a monster or a creep. I would know, I'm both."
It didn't cheer her up. He kissed her lightly on the lips and whispered, "I won't tell anyone. Harold will be voted off, and it'll be all over. He'll be fine, he'll be with Leshawna on that sweet resort."
Courtney stared at him, then managed to smile. "Duncan... I cannot believe I'm seeing you like this. I half-expect you to say something to make fun of me."
"Not this time, Princess."
Sighing at her unwanted nickname, she still managed to smile. Even though she hated being called that, he said it with so much affection, it didn't bother her much this time. "So... what was your secret?"
"That I know you did it."
"How'd you know?"
"A guess. You proved it right, Princess."
Duncan shrugged. "I can be serious, Beth, just not now. Not when I see Tyler crushing all the couples here."
Beth couldn't help but laugh as he watched Tyler break Heather and Ezekiel, then smash it into more pieces when it fell on the ground.
With sweat running from his forehead, Tyler finally managed to stake the Gwen and Trent one into the tree. Snatching the flag, he sat down in the kart in a huff. "Beth," he said between heaving pants, "you can drive."
As they drove off, Bridgette walked around some trees to see their departure. She walked up to the sign and sighed as she noticed the victory flag was missing from the Hot Spot. Then she noticed the last of the couples' signs.
She walked back to her kart, wearing the Geoff and Bridgette sign around her neck. "No luck, Noah," she called out to him. "The nearest Hot Spot was completed by another team."
"Well, I have bad news too," Noah replied, looking up from the book he was reading in the back seat of the kart, "Izzy has failed to chop down the tree with a herring. And when she took a break, some duck came up and stole her weapon."
(Confession Cam - Your call is important to us.)
Izzy - "Well, at least I tried."
Noah - "I still cannot believe she tried that."
Groucho the Duck - \Quacking indignantly, there are English subtitles as he waves his wings in the air.\ "That crazy, redhead human had my lunch! And she was bashing it against a tree! She's nuts, I tell ya! I'm glad she's on our side, the evil fanatics don't stand a chance against her!"
Bridgette and Noah sat in the back as Izzy got back in the driver's seat, grumbling to herself as she sped ahead. "At least she's going a mite slower this time," Noah said to Bridgette.
"Yep."
"Nice sign, by the way."
"Thanks," she said, then sighed. "Gods, I miss Geoff."
"Well, I think your never-ending making out would have distracted you during these challenges."
Bridgette blushed and covered her red cheeks. "Geoff and I didn't make out that much."
"I hate to break it to you, but there was one day at Playa de Losers where you two missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Both of you had lips more swollen than Angelina Jolie."
The surfer blushed more, then blanched when Izzy shouted from the front, "And I got it all on film!"
The Red Light Runners approached a Hot Stop that was in front of a field of peculiar looking plants. Ezekiel read the sign out loud:
"Poison Ivy Wade.
Please walk from this side of this small field of poison ivy to the other side. You may go around it on the way back. And if you think you'll be safe in shoes and long pants... hehehehe."
"Poison ivy?!" Courtney declared.
"That really doesn't sound good, eh," Ezekiel noted.
"Then it's perfect for me," Harold said cheerfully. "I can wade through, and since I cannot feel anything in my legs, I can get all the poison ivy rash I can take!"
Ezekiel smiled in agreement. Courtney winced in disagreement.
"Wait wait wait," the CIT replied. "You cannot do this just because you cannot feel your legs, Harold."
"I'll be fine, Courtney."
"But... but...," she stammered. She wanted to say how she was worried that someone with a large amount of allergies shouldn't be wading through poison ivy. "Harold, are you sure?"
"Sure," Harold replied, lifting his crutches up in the air. "I got these, and I can-"
They were suddenly swiped from his hands by Heather. "Stop being so overcautious," the queen bee snapped. "I'll just do this stupid challenge, and none of us will get the rash."
"What are you doing, Heather?" Courtney asked.
"You can use these as stilts, see?" Heather replied, as she stood on the handlebars, sitting on the armrests and holding them as she started to, very awkwardly, walk towards the poison ivy.
"Gosh," Harold remarked. "That looks...," he then tried to suppress wheezy laughter, "really... really dorky!"
He burst out laughing. "Shut up," Heather shouted at him. "You calling me dorky? That's rich, Four Eyes!"
"Why are you doing this, Heather?" Courtney called, trying desperately not to laugh too.
"Because I've done this, Harold is crippled, you did a challenge...," she looked over at Ezekiel and winked slyly, "and I wouldn't want my Zeke to get hurt here."
(Confession Cam - Mouse not found, please left-click to continue.)
Harold - "Ugh. When she said that, I threw up in my mouth a little."
Ezekiel - "My stomach did all kinds of flip-flops, and I didn't knoo' if it was good or not, eh."
Heather - "When I was younger, I broke a leg practicing ballet. I managed to learn how to walk like that in fun, until my evil brother tried to film it."
Heather then did a stilts-walk into the poison ivy. Harold, Courtney, and Ezekiel watched, half-hoping she'd make it across and half-hoping she'd fall.
Groucho the Duck, licking his wing tips for the last bits of herring, saw Heather on those stilts, and freaked. Quacking in fury, he flew towards her head and began pecking on her head.
"Ow! Stop it! Stupid duck," she screamed as she desperately swatted at the fowl.
"That duck probably thinks she's an enemy troop trying to avoid the land mines planted by us," Harold shouted. Courtney and Ezekiel looked over at him with strange looks, and he looked to the side. "I mean, that's what I think he's thinking right now."
"It's a duck, Harold-" Courtney started to say, then there was a loud shriek. Heather toppled over and fell in poison ivy.
As she sat up screaming her head off, Harold scratched behind his ear. "Dang. I did that once in Possum Scouts, and it felt like heck."
As Heather continued to scream, standing up and fervently rubbing herself, Ezekiel started to go after her. "No, Zeke," Courtney said to him, grabbing his shoulder. She then called out to the queen bee, "Heather, quick, get through the poison ivy now! We'll drive back to camp to get itching cream!"
Heather did as Courtney instructed, cursing heavily; her three teammates winced at some of the things she said. As she made it through, she bolted over to the kart. "Drive," she shouted, "NOW!!"
Courtney looked at her. "But Zeke and I have driven already, you need to-"
"No," Heather barked, "I am already starting...," she began to scratch her arms, "... to itch!"
The solution looked very ridiculous. Harold was sitting in the driver's seat, hands on the wheel. Courtney was sitting next to him, their legs pressed together as she operated the pedals with her feet. Ezekiel was rubbing Heather's skin, which was starting to redden.
"Ow ow ow...," she whimpered, "this... really... hurts!"
"We'll be at camp soon," Courtney said, comfortingly. "Just hang on, Heather!"
"No," Heather snapped, glaring at the CIT. "We got two flags now. Go find a third one, then we will win, you got that?!"
"But... you practically bathed in poison ivy. Don't you want to get some-"
"No, I don't want to lose this, damn it," the reddening ravenhair raged. "If we lose this, then those losers are going to leap on the opportunity to vote... one of us off! Now go find a third Hot Spot and..."
She began to strain, scratching herself and whimpering. Ezekiel began rubbing her back in circles. "Gaaah... hahhhh... oh God... this HURTS!"
Courtney looked back at the suffering queen bee. "Are you sure that-"
"Yes," Heather cried out, already in agony. "For the love of God... stop talking..."
Heaving as she writhed in the back, Heather managed to look up to Ezekiel. "Hey babe?" she asked, managing to smile despite her pain. "If you could... ow... a little... ow... lower?"
Ezekiel nodded and massaged her lower back. Harold and Courtney exchanged looks.
(Confession Cam - Cam SMASH.)
Courtney - "Okay... Heather really needs to learn some limitations! Victory is important, I love to win more than... well, anyone I know. But if I was in that much agony, I would be begging them to get me itch cream, and promise them that I'd convince the others not to vote them off."
Heather - "I have to win this, no matter what. It doesn't matter what Courtney did or that Duncan helped, all those losers will be thinking about is how I helped. And they'd vote me off, because of their stupid grudges. Man, I hate these people; it's almost impossible to understand how they could hate a popular girl like me."
Ezekiel - \is looking at his hands incredulously\ "I... I had my hands on her... I almost touched her butt, eh!" \He looks at the camera desperately.\ "If only she wasn't screaming in pain and scratching herself like if her skin needed to come off, eh."
The Sunday Drivers and Vroom Vroomers met up at the same Hot Spot. Exchanging challenging glares.
"This Hot Spot is ours, punks," Eva roared. "Don't make me," she cracked her knuckles, "get rough with you!"
"Bring it on, Ms. Mortal Kombat," Duncan shouted back, shaking his fist at her.
"Fight! Fight! Round one, fight," Cody chanted.
"If you two are done flirting," Gwen said, rolling her eyes, "shouldn't we at least find out what the Hot Spot challenge is?"
Beth ran up to the sign and read it out loud:
"Fiery Jump Rope.
"Do thirty jumps in the jump rope that will appear just as soon as you're done reading this."
A short distance from the Hot Spot sign, a rope about thirty feet long caught fire. Connected to two posts, the rope began to swing. Over and over, in a classic jump rope movement, the flaming rope was a roaring scare.
"That's the challenge?!" Duncan shouted, looking horrified.
Even Eva looked intimidated. "Wait a minute," the fitness buff declared, "how the hell did he turn that on when Beth was done reading it?"
(Confession Cam - You killed my father, prepare to die.)
Chris - \one-hand juggling a remote\ "Hehe, that Joel sure made a fine invention there. My genius ideas and his handy skills, we could go far."
Joel - \staring blankly at the camera\ "... If he tells them I made that challenge, I don't stand a chance in season two. ... Or season three! Jeepers, don't they plan this things out?"
Beth let out a happy squeal and jumped into the center of the flaming rope. After three leaps, Gwen was suddenly in there too, leaping.
"Count the jumps," Tyler shouted, already using his fingers. Cody did too, very much enjoying watching Gwen and Beth jump up and down. As they leapt to avoid the burning rope, Beth and Gwen couldn't help but break into song.
--
Chris Maclean is evil, he's pleasant as a rash
If I could get away with it, I'd kick him in the-
Actually I'm driving, a kart that's rather swell
I wish I could run over Chris, and send him straight to-
Heather is a schemer, she's really quite a witch
I want to shave her hair off, to punish that mean-
Bet Chef Hatchet is listening, or he's skulking in the kitch
I'd really hate to tell him, but his cooking tastes like-
--
The song ended abruptly when Beth's pant leg caught fire. Screaming in terror, she ran out of the rope's pathway and leapt onto the ground, rolling in the grass to put out the fire. Gwen watched, managing to keep up the rhythm until Cody called out to her.
"Gwen, you got thirty jumps," he shouted, "you can get out of there!"
The goth girl eagerly left the circle of the flaming rope, which extinguished and stopped swinging once she was out. Beth, laying on the ground and panting, gave her a little wave as the goth girl hugged her teammates in victory.
As the Vroom Vroomers sped off with Cody at the wheel, Tyler helped Beth get to her feet. "C'mon, little lady," the athlete shouted. "We gotta hurry, we still only got one."
As they got in the kart, Duncan was staring and smirking at Beth. He continued to stare until she shouted, "Okay, I know, I looked sthilly when I rolled around like that."
"No, actually," the punk replied. "Just thinking of how cute you two looked doing that. You two girls were something else."
Grinning and flushed slightly, Beth hummed the tune some more as she drove the kart ahead. Duncan and Tyler began humming along, then began to sang the jump rope song some more.
Chris and Chef Hatchet watched the TV screen that was showing Beth, Duncan, and Tyler singing away. The lyrics were not pleasing them, and they watched with grim expressions.
Joel and Owen began singing along, and the two adults glared at them.
"Ehehe, sorry," Owen apologized.
"It's catchy," Joel admitted. "Don't push it, soldiers," Chef remarked. Owen whimpered and nodded. With another shrug, Joel began to narrate his thoughts aloud:
"So is going to win this? Will it be the Sunday Drivers, the Tire Squealers, Vroom Vroomers, or Red Light Runners?
"Does Heather really like Ezekiel? Or is she just leading him on? And how bad is she gonna look when that poison ivy starts to kick in and her break out?
"Who is going to be voted off? Will the grudges of last episode bring someone's end?
"And who loves how fast and sleek my karts are, huh?"
Joel tossed another kernel of popcorn into the air and caught it in his mouth. "Yum," he commented.
Chris blinked, then shouted, "You did it again! You stole one of my best parts!"
Chef Hatchet, Owen, and Joel burst out laughing, while Chris sulked.
Part 3, with the checkered flags a-waving, is coming up! Patience!
--
--
--
The dramatic ending is racing up! Who is going to win, who will lose, who will crash? And most of all, who is going to be voted off?
Red Light Runners - Ezekiel, Heather, Courtney, Harold (2 wins)
Sunday Drivers - Tyler, Duncan, Beth (1 wins)
Tire Squealers - Izzy, Bridgette, Noah (0 wins)
Vroom Vroomers - Gwen, Cody, Eva (2 wins)