Well, I promised to continue. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, Katie Grimm, and queenoftrouble!

That night, the nightmares came back. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the stressful day, the first time I'd felt so horribly threatened since juvie. Maybe it was seeing Mike for the first time since juvie. Or maybe my mind knew, deep down, that juvie wasn't the end. My dreams were scarier than ever...

I sat on my bed in my room in the spa hotel. It was nighttime, yet I was alone.

"Gwen?" I called out. My voice echoed strangely, as if I was in a room full of stone.

"Gwen's not here at the minute, doll face. Don't worry, you're alone."

I didn't want to look in the direction the demonic voice was coming from. It was deeper than the last time I'd heard it, but I still wouldn't look up. I couldn't face it. I wouldn't!

"I see I've been away for too long." the voice continued. "My slave-girl wouldn't keep her back to me like this. Turn around, doll face. I want to see how pretty you look, now that you're all grown up."

I burned at the humiliation, but I still wouldn't turn. Or reply.

The voice gave a mocking sigh. "I suppose I'll just have to come over there and make you look at me." I was still frozen, as the owner of the voice stepped in front of me, and forcefully turned my head to make me look him in the eye.

Mal was back in my dreams. He was taller than when I'd last seen him, older and the marks around his eyes were darker. And to make it more disturbing, he looked hotter.

"Miss me, doll face?" he whispered. "I've been missing you, since I've been locked away. But I'm getting stronger. And I'm just dying to finish what I started."

He paused, waiting to see if I'd say anything. I didn't, so he continued "You are prettier than I remember. I'm glad that I've had to wait, if the rest of you got that pretty, too. I think I'll test if you're as easy as you were then, too...but not now."

"Why would you drag it out?" I whispered at last.

Mal's smirk disappeared. "Because you wouldn't feel it here. But you wait until I get you alone in real life." His face hardened. "I haven't forgotten how you disobeyed me, cheated me, let me think I was the one with you when all the time you were imagining someone else." He paused. "You know, maybe you're not the only one who needs to learn her lesson. I've been longing to get my hands on that little girlfriend of Mike's...what's her name again? Zoey, isn't it? Yes, maybe I could get both of you girls together for a little 'playdate', shall we say?"

I glared at him, suddenly angry. "You can't do that! I'm never letting you do that to me again, and there's no way you're going to haunt Zoey's dreams the way you haunted mine!"

Mal's voice was like ice. "Speaking out of turn, are we? I'll be sure to give you a lesson in obedience. But for now, my darling slave-girl, I suppose I should let you go." He kissed me so quickly I barely felt it, and chuckled darkly. "I'll see you soon, doll face. You can be sure of that."

I opened my eyes, my heart still pounding. It was early morning, 6:30, and Gwen was still asleep, so I got up. I noticed the door to Heather and Jo's room was still closed, as was the one Lightning would be sharing with Alejandro when he got back, but the door to Duncan and Scott's room was open and the room was empty, with the beds unmade. Slobs.

I heard the TV blaring downstairs, and heard someone showering in one of the bathrooms, so I went along and showered in one of the other bathrooms, before taking my bikini and having an early soak in the hot tub.

"Hey, hot stuff, mind if I join you before I have breakfast?" I looked up at my friend and ex.

"Won't Gwen be mad at you if she hears you calling me that?" I teased.

Duncan shrugged. "Whatever. I'm still technically dating her, but she doesn't own me. What Gwen doesn't know won't hurt her. It's not like I'm cheating on her or anything." He slipped into the hot tub, next to me. "But seeing you in that bikini would drive any guy wild. Heck, I bet even Jo would wanna jump you right now, and I'm still only 90 percent sure that she's a lesbian."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure that she's bi or straight. You should've seen the way she was pretending that she wasn't into Brick. I mean, no girl pays that much attention, positive or negative, to a guy unless she likes him. All you have to do is look at Heather to tell that."

As I chatted away to my friend, then finally went back up, got dressed and went to have breakfast (I got top-notch waffles with syrup and a small bowl of baked beans for health), I began to forget my dream. As if Mal could come back! Mike seemed pretty much in control now – better than he'd been even after he managed to banish Mal.

"I can't wait to be a millionaire." Scott remarked from one side of the table. "I got up at five am this morning to watch the releasing of the doves, and I'm just gonna say it...it was beautiful."

I laughed. "So I guess you were the one watching TV this morning before I was up?"

Scott didn't seem to hear me, since he was blowing his nose on the tablecloth (Ugh! Gross-out), and Duncan spoke. "Yeah, this is the life. And if we keep winning challenges, we can live like kings all season!"

"To villainy!" I clinked my orange juice glass with the boys'.

Gwen, who was at the far end of the table with a stack of pancakes, sighed. "Yeah. Villainy."

"What's up with you, doll face?" Duncan asked. I couldn't help wincing at the name.

"Oh, nothing." Gwen said quickly. "Just...um...you know, wondering how Lightning's doing on Boney Island?" As she spoke, Jo put in an appearance with a plate, piled high with steaks (I knew the others were up, but only because I'd heard Heather in the massage room making her displeasure of having to wait clear – and I figured that since the rest of us were here, Alejandro had somehow gotten to the room first).

"Lightning'll never survive." I said nonchalantly. "Not if he's as dumb as he was last season. If he does, well, more power to him."

"I just hope Lightning doesn't find the invincibilty statue." Jo said, sitting down next to me. "If we don't vote him off soon, he'll be too strong for us to beat later!"

"So maybe we should do it right away." Scott said slyly. "Throw the next challenge!"

I took a bite of my waffles and swallowed. "I watched the fourth season, Scott. That didn't work the first time, either, so don't think it's going to be any better the second time around. We all know that the only reason you eliminated Dawn instead of Brick was because she'd figured you out. The only person who believed you about stuff was Zoey, and you even screwed that up after the merge by kicking off Mike. Get a new strategy!"

"Besides, giving up all this?" added Jo. "No way."

"True enough." Scott agreed, finally. "This is sweet! You know what I slept on last night? A pillow, filled with feathers! Back on the farm, it's a burlap sack filled with small animals. You ever had a pillow bite your face?"

"I would like to enjoy my breakfast now," Jo said, "And that will require you to stop talking!"

I finished my breakfast and slid over to the other side of the table to talk to Gwen. "What's wrong?"

Gwen sighed. "Courtney's gone. The only reason I came back to Total Drama was to make things better with her. But she still hates me and I don't have any way to make things up to her now."

"It's better this way." I told her. "Courtney doesn't want to forgive and forget. Let go of what happened with her. Move on."

Gwen gave a sigh. "I guess."
"Cheer up!" I told her. "Our team isn't all bad. I'm not that annoying, am I? And Duncan's here, of course. Plus, we do have some really strong players, like Alejandro and Jo."

Gwen managed a smile. "I don't mean to be so sad. And I don't find you annoying – you're trying to help. But I hate being classified as a villain. I'm not one. To be honest, I could quit right now."

"Don't!" I said. "I need a female friend on this team! And Chris would probably do something different, like make you switch teams or something...not that you'd hate that, I'm guessing." I added.

At that moment, Chris called us all to the beach. It was time for the second challenge.

There were platforms on the beach, one per team. I should add here that Alejandro, still claiming everything below his waist was numb and paralyzed, was walking on his hands (yeah, remind me where he learnt to do that like it's normal?), and Heather still didn't believe him about it.

Duncan winked at Gwen as she passed but she didn't see him. "Ooh, somebody's invisible!" Chris chuckled. "Harsh. TV couples – is it ever a good idea?"

At that moment, the boat came back, and Lightning showed off his skill as he got to our platform.

"Any luck finding the invincibility statue?" Scott asked him.

"No need!" Lightning said arrogantly. "I am an invincibility statue!"

"Minute we have a mental challenge, he's a goner." I muttered under my breath. Some of the other Villains were looking annoyed, too. Later on, when we were doing confessionals, a lot of us overheard each other's confessionals. Alejandro called Lightning "arrogant", and Lightning's reaction in front of the camera was priceless.

"Arrogant? Be fair now. Look at me. Sha-yeah!" Oh yes, that wasn't arrogant at all.

The challenge? Basically like the one in Paris where they had to find and assemble a statue. Except this time, we had to look for seven pieces in the sand, and they would make up a statue of a landmark from somewhere they went in the third season. Like the Eiffel Tower, or one of the pyramids in Giza. Whoever assembled their landmark first won.

But at least, since we won the first challenge, we all got shovels, although Lightning tried to take two.

"Um, shovel, please!" snapped Heather, who didn't have one.
"Nuh-uh." Lightning refused. "I need both. When this one gets tired, I'll use this one!" Heather managed to hit him in the face with one of them, and walked away with it. The Heroes, on the other hand, didn't get shovels.

Then Sam, who was pale and wobbly on his feet for some reason, fell off his platform and discovered the moat full of crabs. We had one two. Jo prodded the sand with her shovel, so we would know where to jump on and off.

Naturally, Lightning was the first to fall in. He missed the moat, but a pole popped up and hit him in the face, knocking him back into it. And Chris warned us that it wasn't the only booby trap in the sand.

I couldn't help laughing at that.

Anyway, it was time to start. The Heroes went into a huddle, and I soon heard all of them shouting an enthusiastic "Go, team!"

Over at my team, things were very different. "Strategy, people, strategy!" Jo called out. "We should start from one end and dig to the other end in a straight line."

"And what if the pieces are all at the far end, huh?" Heather challenged. "Huh? We need two lines that push in towards the centre. Right, guys?"

No one was listening. I certainly wasn't going to listen to the queens of dictatorship. Although Lightning's idea to dig water probably wasn't a good one. But no one else here was that stupid. And this was the guy who made it to the last finale?

We did have a bit of bad luck when one of the Heroes booby traps included a fedora, which Cameron gave to Mike to bring out Manitoba Smith. He found their first piece easily, before flirting with Zoey.

Jo and Heather wouldn't shut up.

"Some team." I heard Gwen muttering from where she was digging.

"Exactly!" Heather said. "A team without a leader is like a horse without a head, it just runs around blind."

Gwen raised her voice a little. "I'm pretty sure a horse without a head doesn't run anywhere!"
"Agreed," Jo said, "Which is why I should be this team's leader!"

"No, I should!" Heather argued.

"Let's let the team decide!"
"Fine!" Then Jo started calling to Scott and Heather to Lightning. At least neither of them had paid any attention to me yet. The only recognition I'd gotten on my team was a few curious stares, a couple of conversations with just Duncan and Gwen, and that one thing Jo said to me during the first challenge. To be honest, I liked it that way. I'd rather be ignored by someone like Alejandro than to have him attempt his tactics from the third season on me.

"Attention, team!" Jo called, a few minutes later. "I am your leader!"
"No, I am!" Heather yelled. That's when she found our first piece, and she and Jo started arguing again.

Still, an hour passed with a lot of holes and no pieces, and Chris started yelling at us. "WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG!"

From the Heroes' side, I heard "We don't have shovels!"

From our side, I heard a lot, but Lightning drowned the rest of us out, yelling "I'm amazing!"

I turned around and gave the sha-moron a shove. Not that I really moved him – I was too skinny and he was too strong, but I was getting sick of his attitude.

Scott was the first to find another piece. Meanwhile, Manitoba helped Zoey with one, accidentally uncovered a cannon, which sent Lindsay flying into the moat.

Gwen, and then Jo found another one, and I found the next.

I heard Manitoba flirting with Zoey again, but her quietly refusing his advances, since she was with Mike, and not another personality.
"Yep, she's a loyal one." Manitoba remarked. "Mike knows how to pick 'em."
"Aren't you married, Smith?" I called over, but I didn't get an answer.

Time passed. Scott attempted to cheat. Lightning started showing off, kissing his biceps. "Aren't you beautiful! Look at gorgeous you! Sexy beast!"

"Stop it and get digging!" I shouted at him. As I did, I heard Scott scream and a thud. I turned to see Scott running from bees and Manitoba on the ground. Scott had turned too fast and hit him with a shovel, and at that moment, I wondered what was going on in Mike's mind.

In the last season, Scott had knocked Mike out on purpose, and he'd fought all of his personalities and won. Just like when he fought Mal for me back in juvie, and again, he'd won.

I got a bad feeling as Zoey ran to her unconscious boyfriend. What if a blow to the head brought Mal back? Had my dream meant something?

"Mike!" Zoey called to him. "Oh, please be okay! Mike!"

Mike finally came to. "Oh...my head..." he groaned. He was Mike again. He immediately went back to work with the team, this time as himself again, and I shook the thought away. Mal was gone. No way was he coming back, no matter what my unconscious mind was scared of.

After a few minutes, we finally heard some good news.

"That's seven!" Lightning called out. "Let's start sha-building!" All of us went up the platform. Most of us ended up using Alejandro as a bridge when he got stuck.
"Coming through!" Jo yelled out.

"Woo-hoo!" Scott cheered.

"Sorry, Alejandro." Gwen said politely.

"Thanks!" I grinned.

"Keep still!" Heather snapped.

"Thanks, buddy!" Duncan laughed, the last one up. Lightning was already up.

"Come on, people!" Heather shouted. "Put this thing together already!"

"Try those two together!" Alejandro suggested. "No, those two!"

Lightning spent the time boasting about finding the last piece. "I'm a hero! It's probably a statue of me, being me!"

"It's tall, whatever it is." Gwen said, looking at it analytically. "And boxy, like a tower. Oh, Big Ben!"

But there was a hole in the middle of our statue. Finally, it was Alejandro who pointed out why. "There are only six pieces!"

"Great." Jo scowled. "So Lightning miscounted. Come on, everyone, we've still got digging to do."

But we lost. The Heroes found the torch for their Statue of Liberty statue just before we found the clock face. All of them started cheering.

Sam volunteered for exile. "This one's on me, guys, to make up for my lack of digging skills, and-" Chef immediately took him away on the boat.

The Heroes were sitting in the peanut gallery, and at that moment, I could've sworn I heard a horribly familiar voice mutter seven words.

"One by one, they will all fall."

I looked over, just as I heard Zoey say "Huh? Did you say something, Mike?"

Mike gave a gasp that meant he was switching personalities, and said "No, just sitting here." in his normal voice.

I gave a sigh. Maybe it was nothing. I hoped.

I voted for Lightning. No contest. He'd cost us the challenge. I think the only person who had a problem was Gwen, because I heard her confessional. "I don't know who to vote for! They're all evil!" Wow, Gwen, nice. Her boyfriend and I are evil? Thanks a lot, really. No wonder her label online is "the Loner".

But we all got marshmallows, until just Lightning and Jo were left. "Lightning," Chris said, "You're on the chopping block for your crummy math skills and excessive bicep kissing."
"If they were yours, you'd do it too!" Lightning protested. He started doing it again.

Chris ignored him. "And Jo, you're on the chopping block for your annoyingly pushy campaign to send Lightning home."

"You did what?"

But Lightning was still shocked when he turned out to be the loser, and he wouldn't shut up, even while he was floating in that giant thing. "Tossing away your strongest team member? You're gonna regret this, especially you, Jo! You're a total sha-AHHH!" He was cut off as Chris flushed him.

Two down, twelve to go until I won this thing. I would. Courtney and Lightning were strong people, and they'd gone. If I made it to the finale, chances were I'd have a really easy time, fighting against someone like dumb Lindsay, or weird Scott.

I headed back to the cruddy cabins with the rest of my team.

Second challenge done, and yes, no different elimination this time, but things WILL change. Maybe not every elimination, but at least ten of them will.

Next chapter: Leeches, another nightmare, and a team switch of a different kind!