Now, Amee should get ready to diet...sorry, Chris' typo...get ready to die. Not! Thanks for reviewing, CvluvFoxy and Ali6132 (too lazy to continue the lyrics chain right now, but congrats on getting an account!)

"Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines, it's time..."

We were all on the dock at the right time, but then...Owen was with us too.

This is where that pin Dawn told me to hang on to comes in. Believe it or not, Chris actually had each All-Star put in a balloon filled by Owen's gasses. I know, disgusting! I'd had to put up with Owen's toxins for a season already – we were even on the same team – and being trapped in a tiny space filled with it was a total nightmare.

Anyway, the finalists would have to try to pop the balloons. Any All-Star who got taken out of their balloon would help them in the finals.

I timed it to perfection. Just as I felt a projectile touch but not pop my balloon, I popped it with my pin, calling out as I fell to the ground.
And a good thing too! The unpopped balloons started floating away (don't worry, no one died, I saw them all later on). The other helpers, I noticed, were Gwen, Cameron, Heather and Alejandro.

All of us joined up, and I looked at Mal. Yeah, he looked just as he did in the confessional, seeming to have dropped the Mike act since the last episode. Zoey was standing beside him, with an unreadable expression.

"Alejandro, Amee and Heather!" called Chris. "You will be helping Mal, slash Mike." I sighed. Why had whatever hit me been Mal's weapon? I'd rather help Zoey. Oh well, at least I was working with Alejandro and Heather this time.
"Gwen and Cam, you're on Team Zoey." continued Chris. "But you five are here as helpers only. Meaning you can't win." For some reason, he looked at Heather. She didn't say anything. "Meaning no money." Another pause. Heather, Alejandro and I all exchanged glances. "Zero money, plenty of pain." We didn't react.

"HEATHER, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Chris yelled through a loudspeaker.

"Yes, Chris, I hear you!" Heather snapped. Her face softened. "Alejandro and I – and Amee – are fine with the rules."

Chris gasped, looking horrified. "Oh no! Are you – all three of you – DATING?"

I burst out laughing. "Nearly. Only difference being that Heather and I are just friends." Chris didn't look any more horrified at this to his credit, just more surprised. But considering he was horrified in any case...well...

We explained in the confessional that the reason none of us cared about the million any more was because after we were eliminated, Heather and Alejandro didn't have to argue all the time or backstab each other, Alejandro didn't have to ditch me every time winning was at stake, and manipulation and skill didn't have to come into it. We could just be ourselves.

"And together, all three of us are happy." Alejandro said.

"That's what I was going to say." Heather said.

"We both knew you were going to say that." I put in.

"I knew you both knew." Heather said. She was about to kiss Alejandro when there was a knock on the wall from Chris.
"Out! Get out! That is THE most disgusting thing that has ever happened in there!"

Chris took us to the finale's location in a trailer. I was in one with Mal and the others. I cuddled really close to Alejandro, actually, partly because Mal scared me. It sparked a memory, actually – that Mal had tried to kill Cameron, which made me scared enough to stay a good distance away, but loyal enough for me to protect everyone else (except Chris) from Mal if possible. I just wanted comfort and a feeling of being protected myself while in the trailer.

The challenge seemed to incorporate each season. First, Mal and Zoey would have to cross several moats. The first one was full of toxic waste, which reminded me strongly of the fourth season. The next one was lava, reminding me of the challenge in the third season. The third moat was regular water, but Fang lurked beneath, reminding me of the repeated sharks in the first season (why couldn't Justin be here to help Zoey – he'd distract Fang). Finally, the finalist would have to get past the "Mad King" (Chef with a pasta bazooka) and pull a sword out of a stone, going with the movie theme from the second season...I don't know. Well, it was the only season not represented with the moats.

"Let's try not to hurt Mal!" Zoey said to her helpers. "Mike's still in there. Right, Cameron?"

"I don't think so, Zoey." Cameron said from inside his bubble. "And it's possible that Mal was always Mal and Mike was just one personality. Either way, Mike's gone."

Zoey looked sad for a moment, but then her face hardened. "Well, if Mal is really Mal, then let's get out there, let's crush him, and win this!"

I scowled at Mal. I might be on his team, but I wasn't going to help him unless it benefited someone else.

As it happened, I was one of the ones put in danger. While Zoey got across the moat by her and Gwen floating across on Cameron's bubble (which disintegrated just as they got to the other side, leaving Cameron exposed), Mal looked thoughtfully at Heather and I. "How are you two at floating?"

I caught it immediately. "No. No way. You are NOT doing that to me or Heather."

Mal smirked. "And how are you going to stop me? You really can't remember my capacity for chaos, can you?"

I glared at him. "I remember enough to know that I will take you on."

Mal muttered something like "next time, I'll make sure that your memory is completely wiped" and grabbed Heather, ready to turn her into the boat across the toxic waste.

"Wait!" Alejandro gave him a stick of bamboo. "We can pole vault!" Yeah, a bunch of stuff was put around the moats to help everyone get across. Mal dropped Heather and crossed with the pole.

"How do we get across?" Heather called after him.

"I'm not here to help you. You're here to help me!"

Suddenly, I felt something. I'd had some headaches since I'd been back at the Playa, but nothing like this. My head felt like it was going to burst, and I sank to the ground in pain, trying not to cry out. As it was, Alejandro knelt down next to me. "Amethyst, is something wrong? What is it?"

"Headache..." I managed. "Don't help Mal...Zoey needs to win...I can't..." And with that, the world went black around me.

The last thing I heard was Heather asking "What's happened to her?"

Sorry about the shortness of the chapter. We'll pick up again...next chapter! Please review!