Encore Chapter 3: The Fast and the Artistically Challenged, a total drama series fanfic

Note: Sorry everyone, been a huge procrastinator recently but I plan on getting back in the swing of things this weekend. I apologize for the wait, so I hope you like this chapter!

"The Fast and the Artistically Challenged" – Third Challenge

Chris grinned wickedly at the camera, showing his pearly whites. He cleared his throat as the camera crew counted him down. "Last time, on Total Drama Island: our twenty-one campers competed in a water balloon fight! Within the fight, there was much verbal abuse, black eyes and get soaked by your own water balloons! Duncan tried to make a move on Courtney and both of them ended up soaked and Duncan got punched in the face! Eva and Heather nearly got into a fist fight when Eva accused Heather of being useless!

"Gwen, Trent and Bridgette were the last campers still in the challenge, and when Bridgette pulled a Tarzan-Surprise-Attack, the Coral Fish nearly won the challenge! However, Gwen was able to soak Bridgette first, making the Marine Cows the winners! At the Campfire Ceremony, it came down to Lindsay, who was taken out of the challenge immediately when she popped her own balloon on her finger by accident, and Eva, who had invoked Heather's rage when she ruined the girl's hair with a water balloon. It ended up being Eva who left, but not before ticking Heather off by calling her a manipulator!

"This time, the twenty remaining campers will be split slightly: one camper from each team will be competing in a Painting Challenge against another camper while the rest of the team builds a Soap Box Racer for a derby! Who will win, who will lose, and who will get paint all over themselves! Find out in the most exciting Campfire Ceremony ever!"

Geoff had been an insomniac since he was ten. He was quite used to getting only three or four hours of sleep, which was why he was still awake at one a.m., slightly starving. There was hardly any part of Chef's food that was actually edible, last night's dinner had been soggy oatmeal lathered in a slick, pink substance that tasted a bit like a melted pig, or so he'd been told by Izzy.

He wondered exactly how crazy the girl was, if she actually ate what she'd been served. Maybe that's why she and Owen hit it off so well, he'd eat anything because he was perpetually hungry, and she was just crazy enough to do the same. He slipped out of bed, trying his best not to wake Trent, who occupied the bunk below him. As if on que, his stomach rumbled. But it was not Trent, but Duncan whose eyes popped open as he simultaneously sat up in bed.

He noticed Geoff immediately and raised an eyebrow, as if asking the party-goer what he was up to. Duncan opened his mouth, but Geoff put a finger over his own, to tell him not to wake the other four guys in the room. DJ was situated in the bunk above where Duncan was, Noah was sleeping in one of the two single-bunk beds in the room and Trent was, as stated, in the bunk across from Duncan, below where Geoff should have been. The sixth male of the team, Cody, was across from Noah in the second single-bunk.

Geoff quietly slipped out of the cabin and Duncan followed, still wanting an answer. "I'm hungry, dude," Geoff replied to the unasked question, simply, with a shrug.

Duncan grinned, "Yeah, same, wanna try sneak into Chef's kitchen?"

Geoff gave his big party-boy smile and nodded. "Two brains are better than one, especially when one of them belongs to a guy who's been to juvy." Duncan wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so he shrugged and started walking to the kitchen, Geoff trailing behind.

Bridgette wasn't too pleased with her sleeping arrangements.

Heather had claimed the top bunk of the first double and demanded Lindsay sleep below her. LeShawna had taken one of the singles, as had Eva, and although the freaky athletic girl wasn't there anymore, the bed reeked of her sweat.

Which left one of the doubles for her and Izzy. The slightly-crazy girl had claimed that she really needed the bottom bunk, for she would certainly be unable to resist the urge to howl at the moon were she placed on top. Which meant Bridgette, unfortunately, had the top bunk of the double.

And dang, did she hate heights. Even when surfing, she avoided the extremely tall waves for fear of losing balance at the peak. Apparently, psychiatrists traced this phobia back to her mother, whose hobby had been skydiving when she was younger. According to multiple tests and phone calls, her mother had kept skydiving even when pregnant, which resulted in Bridgette's fear of heights.

She peered over the edge of her bunk, looking for an excuse to not be up as high as she was. Her prayer was answered when her stomach growled quietly; loud enough for her to notice but not loud enough for it to wake the other girls in her cabin. She sighed, it was barely one a.m. She descended the ladder quietly and made her way to the door of the cabin.

As she crept outside, she noticed another figure on the steps of the Marine Cows' girl's cabin. She approached and realized it was Courtney, who was just as shocked as Bridgette to find someone else awake. "What are you up to out here?" Bridgette asked, while Courtney sighed.

"I was starving, so I came out here thinking I could get into Chef's fridge. But I chickened out," she let out a nervous giggle, "you?"

"Pretty much the same," she paused. "Wanna go together?"

Courtney's face lit up and she nodded, glad that the surfer girl had suggested they team up. And so, they set off in the direction of the Mess Hall, unaware that Duncan and Geoff had just made their own way there just five minutes prior.

Duncan had used the knife he always kept handy to pick the lock on the door to the Mess Hall and soon both boys were inside, headed for Chef's kitchen. The door to the kitchen swung open with a creak as Geoff pulled it aside, making the party-goer look nervously at Duncan, who shrugged. "Whatever, I don't think he even sleeps in here."

The duo proceeded to the fridge, where Duncan pulled it open, amazed at the amounts of edible food in the white rectangle. "Dude!" Geoff said, awed, "I can't believe he serves us crap while he has this! There's gotta be three types of cheeses, hams, sodas," the boy continued to list the contents of the fridge, but Duncan had stopped listening.

He was face-to-face with a shocked Courtney, Bridgette close beside her. "What are you doing here, Duncan?" Courtney asked, wondering what mischief the boy could be making.

"Geoff?" Bridgette asked, making the other boy swing his head around to the side of the fridge, a piece of sliced turkey in his mouth.

He quickly pulled it out, embarrassed. "Uh, hey, Bridge, what's up?"

"We were here to get some food…"

"Oh, right! Yeah, Duncan and I were just, uh, doing that too. You should see what Chef has in here! It's amazing," Courtney, curious, walked forward, allowing Duncan a second to breathe, free of the CIT's glare.

"This is…cruel!" She broke out, getting angrier by the second. "He has this, this, and feeds us melted pig on oatmeal!" She continued to babble, but Bridgette, Geoff and Duncan were looking elsewhere, paralyzed.

Chef was at the door, knife in hand.

(Confession Cam – Duncan)

"Oh. Crap."

(Normal Perspective)

"Eh-hem," Chris said, standing in front of the four only five minutes later. "Breaking into the kitchen, were we?" He glared at Courtney, who had the courage to raise her head to meet his eyes, but quickly shrunk back. "I say that calls for punishment, no?" He looked at Chef, who grinned evilly.

"The boys," Chris began, "are assigned to cook the meals for the rest of the week," Chef nodded at this decision, and the two boys sighed. "The girls will receive their punishment tomorrow, at the challenge," the girls put out a sigh, glad that their punishment would not involve cleaning, until Chris finished the statement, "in front of everyone; and national TV."

Only a few hours and one "Disturb-Loaf Ala Geoff" (as so named by Heather), the twenty remaining campers gathered around Chris at the Dock of Shame, feeling slightly queasy. "Well, campers," Chris barked, sounding peppy. Bridgette and Courtney were uneased by this, worrying about what he had in mind. "Today, your teams will lose a member for this particular challenge. Bridgette and Courtney," he looked at both girls, "will be competing in a special challenge as punishment for breaking into the kitchen last night.

Both teams, except Geoff and Duncan, stared at the two girls in question, thus being their first hearing of the crime the girls committed. "Ah, you seem angry. Too bad! Both girls will be granted full immunity and therefore cannot be voted off the island this week. You two will stay behind after I set the rest of the campers going, alright?"

The girls nodded, so Chris continued. "The rest of you will be competing in a Soap Box Derby! You will be given supplies for your racer and six hours to build and test a winning car. After your six hours are up, you will pick a driver at random and the two chosen drivers will race to the finish line! The driver who gets to the finish line first wins not only immunity for their team, but also two TVs for each cabin of the team!" The campers all started murmuring, obviously excited by the prospect of entertainment for the cabins.

"So, where are the supplies, man?" DJ called out.

Chris just grinned, "Well, that's the hardest part! You see, I'm not going to give you the supplies, not exactly. There are supplies being hidden around the camp by Chef at this very moment. You and your teams, excluding these two ladies, will have thirty minutes to gather the supplies and then meet here to begin your six hours…Go!" The eighteen campers competing in the Derby challenge shot off, with either high hopes of finding something worthwhile to contribute to the car or just worried about being counted a slacker.

The only three people left at the Dock were Chris, Bridgette and Courtney. "Well, ladies, you two are in luck. You see, I thought it would be fun if I made you two compete against each other, seeing as how you snuck into the kitchen together last night. That's why I'm going to give you both Vote-Immunity and make you compete in one of my favorite pastimes – Stalker Paint!" the girls both raised an eyebrow at the…unusual name. "I'll give you paints and an easel, which you'll use to make a portrait of someone on the island. Brownie points rewarded if it's me," he grinned and the two girls rolled their eyes. "The camper with the best painting after two hours have passed will not have to join the boys in cooking this week."

Bridgette sighed, knowing she stood no chance against Courtney in a painting competition. Oh well, maybe she could get to know Geoff a bit more while she was cooking…

Heather was, by no means, an idiot. She was a strategist, and a cautiously clever one at that. She was fully aware that if she wanted to win, she had to avoid getting kicked off at all costs. Of course, to do that and still be able to ruthlessly manipulate losers into getting kicked off like she had done to Eva, she would need protection.

The large, exuberant kid and the guy who thought he was good at sports sounded like excellent targets for her alliance-plan.

"Owen, Tyler, may I talk to you two for a moment…"

Gwen was not enjoying the search; so far all she had found were a few bolts and someone's (she suspected Owen's) underpants. Trent, who had stayed close to her – although she didn't really know why, sure he was nice and all, but she wasn't sure if he liked her or not – hadn't fared any better.

Chris' voice, which Gwen noticed was annoyingly screechy, buzzed from over the intercom. "All campers competing in the Soap Box Derby have five minutes before they have to be at the Dock! Any late campers will be taken out of the competition!" She paused and looked at Trent, who was frowning.

"It's not like we can do anything about it," he began, trying his best to find a silver lining – Gwen could tell he was an indefatigable optimist – they walked back slowly. "Hopefully the rest of the group found some stuff worth using. Its better not contributing than getting kicked out of the challenge," he continued to rant a bit, making Gwen realize that he was talking to calm his nerves.

He wasn't any surer of himself than she was, thankfully.

They arrived last, lucking out; apparently, their almost-late arrival caused the majority of the team to just be glad they were there, rather than worry about what they had to contribute.

(Confession Cam – Noah)

"Yeah, I saw Trent and Gwen nearly arrive late. What can I say? Lack of motivation."

(Normal Perspective)

"Alright campers!" Chris called, holding a megaphone, "your thirty minutes are up! It's time to begin building your cars!"

"Alright," Heather commanded, deciding instantly that she was taking over, "in order to win this we'll, unfortunately, have to work as a team. So I say we split up."

"Uhh…" Lindsay started, voicing the obvious opinion that splitting up didn't actually let them work as a team.

"Ugh, listen. LeShawna, Lindsay and I will be in charge of making the design for our racer. That leaves you boys, and Izzy," she grinned at the girl's obvious discontent at being left with the boys, despite her bouncy attitude, "to build the stupid thing," LeShawna raised an eyebrow, concerned about the lack of her consent in this plan.

"It may be strange," Owen said, "but at least it's a plan," the other campers mumbled their agreement and the girls, minus Izzy, broke off from the guys to design a winning car.

Working on a car was a dream come true for DJ, who, despite his success in the athletics field and his love of nature, had always grown up wishing to be a mechanic.

Unfortunately, the thing in front of him and the rest of the team was barely a pile of scrap metal, let alone a car.

Duncan had, surprisingly, been the biggest help, obviously conning Chef out of multiple necessary parts for their car, as he had brought back a large crate of assorted pieces. "So what sorta car are we building here? Something like a Volvo?" He grinned in a way that he knew would have earned him another slap to the face had Courtney been there.

"A racecar," Beth said sweetly, unfortunately not catching his sarcasm and earning herself a "what an idiot" look. Gwen put her hand on Beth's shoulder, giving Duncan a small glare.

"So can we try to do this right the first time or do some of you need a lesson in 'pain-where-you-don't-want-pain 101?'"

"You're one to talk," Noah said, "Miss I-was-too-busy-flirting-with-my-boyfriend-and-almost-got-kicked-out-of-the-challenge."

Gwen reddened and Trent twitched. "Boyfriend?" was both of their replies, although Gwen's was quite a bit more audible than Trent's.

"Oh, dear," DJ sighed. His dream was crumbling right before his eyes already.

(Confession Cam – Heather)

"I can't believe how easy Owen and Tyler are to convince. A promise to Owen of half of my disgusting meals for a week was all it took for him. As for Tyler, all I had to do was weave a lie about how I planned on taking him to the top ten with me. Which I do plan to do, of course, I may need the protection after all. What total losers."

(Normal Perspective)

"Heather," Lindsay called from outside the outhouse in which the confessions were recorded, stretching the girl's name out a bit. "Are you done yet? I really have to go to the bathroom."

"Will you shut up? Devious planning going on in here!"

"Who are you painting?" the simple question, asked by Bridgette, probably should have been left unsaid, for it launched Courtney into a frenzy of 'I'm-so-obviously-nervous' rants.

"Well at first I was going to do Chris because I had no one else to think of but then I thought I might do Chef because his attitude could really come through in the painting and then I decided on Dunc-" she shut up instantly, not completing the name.

Bridgette grinned, "Duncan? Don't be ashamed; I'm painting Geoff." Courtney attempted to smile at the other girl but instead ended up frowning, head down. They stood in front of their easels, ten minutes after receiving them from their 'gracious host'. "Don't be worried about expressing it if you like him, Courtney."

"I do not like that Neanderthal!"

Bridgette just grinned as Courtney began to paint an awkward blob of what looked like Katie and Sadie dancing.

Oh yeah, she had it bad for Duncan. And Bridgette could tell.

Five hours passed, bringing the time to just after two in the afternoon and the Derby countdown to under an hour. Both Bridgette and Courtney sat on the Dock, their painting results still being "examined" by Chef. They weren't allowed to actually help their teams build the car, so they sat watching.

Courtney couldn't help herself from staring at Duncan, despite the annoying bouts of friendly laughter Bridgette was giving off. The surfer girl was, of course, admiring Geoff as he helped DJ add some finishing touches to their racecar, which was actually looking quite good.

CRACK.

Oh, that wasn't good.

"You idiot!" The Marine Cow team had crowded around Beth, who in one single motion had knocked her glasses off her face, tripped over her shoes and crushed their racecar. Duncan was currently the one abasing her, while the other campers just looked at the wreck, frowning.

"Duncan!" Beth cried, saddened. "You don't have to try and belittle me, it was an accident! I didn't mean it! Stop being such a jerk!" she ran off in tears, leaving a slightly confused Duncan to gripe about their chance of winning to the rest of the team.

"Listen," Gwen started, attempting to keep a level head, "this can be fixed. I think."

"Hah, good luck with that," Noah called from behind his book.

The hour passed quickly for the distressed Marine Cow campers, furious and horrified at the same time. Beth had been comforted by a few kind words from Cody and DJ and was back with the rest of the team, awaiting Chris' arrival.

He arrived less than a minute after the six-hour bell rung, signaling the end of the challenge. He eyed the Marine Cow car suspiciously but grinned at the Coral Fish car that they had managed to produce.

"Well, campers. I have your names in two separate hats here. The first hat is filled with names of the Marine Cow campers, the second with Coral Fish. Whoever's name I pull from each hat will be the designated driver for tonight's derby. And for the Coral Fish…Izzy will be driving! And…Noah will drive for the Marine Cows!"

It was over before it started, really, and everyone could tell. As the Marine Cows wheeled Noah up in their car, the bolts already began to shake and tremble. Chris eyed the car once more, wondering who would get the boot that night. "Well. Ready! Set! Go!"

Izzy and her car pushed off from the line at great speed, momentum pulling her down the hill. Noah, however, could barely get the racer to move. When he finally got his act together and the car started rolling down the hill, he began to scream in fear.

Izzy took the first turn with ease, but Noah was not so lucky. He was unable to turn the steering wheel of the car, as it broke off in his hands. The geeky camper throttled full-speed into a patch of brush, crashing to a stop in-between rose thorns and briar roots.

"Well, that sure was a shocker," Chris said, bored. "Marine Cows, congrats on losing your first challenge! Coral Fish, come see me after the Ceremony to pick up your prizes! But first, dinner. And then, it's time for someone to say goodbye to Camp Wawanakwa!"

(Confession Cam – Multiple Campers)

(Courtney) – "So, I may not have been part of the dumb challenge in the first place, but I saw what happened. Beth and her whole "I lost my glasses, oops crash bang" routine was a major disappointment."

(Beth) – "I'm really worried about the vote tonight. Noah may have lost the race, but I did mess it up by falling on the car…I voted for Duncan, he has been bossy and rude ever since we got here!"

(Noah) - "Yeah, so I ruined the race. Whatever. I don't really care if I stay or go, but I voted for Gwen."

(Duncan) – "What's with that girl Beth? She has the guts to try and tell me off after she completely ruins our chances of winning?"

(Trent) – "Boyfriend? What? Noah dude, what are you thinking!"

(Normal Perspective)

The Marine Cows slowly flocked to the Dock of Shame, awaiting the verdict of their votes.

"Well," Chris started. "Marine Cows, you've lost your first challenge. I can't really say I'm surprised, that Soap Box Racer didn't look too good. Courtney…what was up with that painting! It was supposed to be of me, girl, not Duncan!" Courtney fumed silently as the delinquent raised an eyebrow to the statement. "But that's beside the point. One of you eleven campers is going home tonight on the Boat of Losers. Oh, and you can never come back. Ever. Really."

Courtney yawned ungracefully, exercising her right to attempt to get back at Chris.

Chris sighed and tossed her a marshmallow. "Courtney, Gwen, Trent, Duncan, Sadie, Katie, DJ, Geoff, Cody." He looked at Beth and Noah, who were both biting their lips. "Beth – you losing your glasses cost the team the racer, forcing them to rebuild a crappy one. And Noah - your horrible driving skills cost the team not only immunity but also the two TVs for the cabins."

He re-read the sheet of paper he had, just to make sure he got everything right. "Alright, your team has decided that the last marshmallow goes to………Noah. Beth; the Boat of Losers awaits, you're going home."

The small girl sniffled as Gwen, who had taken a liking to her, gave her a hug and told her to be strong. She then grabbed her bags, walked down the Dock of Shame and boarded the Boat of Losers, waving to the group who had gathered on the dock to watch her go, albeit not all with friendly intentions…

Well, there's the third chapter for you guys, hope it was enjoyed. I felt like I rushed the actual challenge, though. Once again I apologize for being so late with this. :D

Challenge suggestions, anyone? Need a few more so I can fill up gaps I left where I didn't have any ideas. :o

"Next time, on Total Drama Island, the nineteen remaining campers are tricked into a Marshmallow Hunt, where the object is to locate and retrieve one of eighteen marshmallows. Whoever doesn't get a marshmallow shall be kicked off the island! What wild urges await the campers?"