Chapter 5: Into the Woods

After a good-sized meal, the group met again in the cabins.

"So, what do you think we should do?" Duncan asked.

"I think that there's only one thing to do… to find Chris," Courtney responded.

"But where?" Alejandro asked.

"It doesn't matter yet," Gwen responded, "None of us are strong enough to fight him yet."

"Besides," Cody said, "Look at our numbers. We definitely need more people before we can even consider it."

"Well, then I guess," Courtney said, "We'll try to find everyone we competed against, and see if they can help in the cause."

"And where do you suppose we'll be able to find them?" Noah asked, "I mean, it's not like everyone is going to be sitting in a cage waiting to be rescued."

"That's true," Courtney said, "Which is why we'll have to be thorough. If they are ready for combat, they should be around here somewhere."

"So, what you're saying is that we should search this entire general area for them," Duncan said, "That's great, princess, except for one thing."

"What?" Courtney asked.

"What if they aren't around here?" Duncan asked.

"We can send a small group to check for communications," Courtney said. "But first, let's see what we can see over here."

"In the woods?" Gwen asked incredulously, "I really don't think that they'll end up in the woods…"

"Hey, it's worth checking, isn't it?" Courtney asked. "Remember: one oversight by us could mean one more casualty for our friends."

"Okay, Courtney," Duncan said, "Look, I know you're right... we'll have to check everywhere."

The group headed directly for the forest. A young reporter was being chased into a small hut by a man. "But you don't understand!" he shouted, "I'm awesome! Ask anyone in the biz!"

"It doesn't matter," the man chasing him said, "You're in my way, and as such, I'm going to have to block your exit."

"Well, that's just not cool," he said, locking the door behind him.

"Hey!" Courtney shouted, when her resistance met up with the man, "What are you doing with that man?"

"He's trying to get 'the scoop' on Chris or something. Whatever it means, he's dangerous, so we trapped him," the man said.

"Well, you know what? You just earned yourself a world of hurt," Duncan said.

"Oh really?" he said, "Whatever. You guys… reinforce… or something."

"You seem… really happy to be here," Noah said.

"So do you," the man said.

"Touché," he replied.

The enemies appeared from every side. "Oh no!" Courtney shouted, "Courtney's Resistance! Charge!"

Noah, Cody, Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney headed toward the east, where they ran into the man in charge. He was a producer, and he was quite bored. Cody and Noah each briefly stopped at a hut. Cody stopped at a hut to his southwest, in which there was an old woman. She said, "Oh, my darling. You poor thing. It's a shame you poor youngsters have to do all the fighting. Here. Take this sword. It will help you on your journey." He held onto the sword and equipped it. Although it was slightly more unwieldy than his last sword, his power needed all the help it could get.

Noah stopped at a house where someone in his thirties was standing. "This war is ridiculous," he said, "Here, take this spell book. It's useless to me, but maybe you can find a use for it." He was handed a book of wind spells, for which he was quite grateful. It was lighter, which made it easier for him to focus on casting quickly.

Alejandro and the co-dependent girls attempted to block all entrances to the clearing so that no more reinforcements could show up. Katie and Sadie had both noticeably improved since they joined, but it was not apparent that Alejandro had. In fact, as the difficulty of the battles increased, one could even find the illusion that he was getting worse.

Geoff and Bridgette headed to the southwest, where they found the hut the reporter was in. Bridgette stood in front of it. "Who… who is it?" the man asked from within.

He opened the door. "Oh, it's a Total Drama alumnus! Thank goodness! I thought for sure that all of you had died! The fact that you're alive… it's juicy! And more importantly, aMAAAAAzing! Listen, guys, I don't know how to thank you for protecting me today, but I'm sure I'll come up with something along the way… Ask for Josh!" He closed the door without giving her anything.

DJ stood by Noah, Cody, Gwen, and Courtney, being ready to heal each at a moment's notice. Every single one of them was noticeably improving, although Courtney's bow ran out of arrows. Luckily, she still had her spell book to rely on, but chances were, it wouldn't last long.

Soon, most of the enemy soldiers had been taken out, and only the bored producer remained. Duncan went up to attack him. "Hey, wake up, or I'll take you out," Duncan threatened.

"You don't have the guts," the bored producer said.

"Try me," Duncan said, and then he stabbed the bored producer hard enough to weaken him severely. He had a vulnerary, and so healed himself immediately after giving Duncan an electric shock with his magic.

Noah attacked next. "Well, I suppose perhaps a fight will be mildly exciting," the producer told him. He sent off two harsh gusts of wind that battered the producer. The shock barely left Noah dazed. A third gust blew over to the producer, but missed.

Courtney had just enough power to finish off the bored producer. He said to her, "Oh, that's great… a rebellion or something…"

Courtney responded, "Better not fall asleep or this battle will become too easy for me."

"Easy fights are boring," the bored producer responded. Courtney managed to land the blow. He said, falling, "Whatever." The area had been cleared of enemies.

Josh walked out of the hut and ran over and hugged Courtney. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Okay," Courtney said, "Uh, Josh? Josh? You can let go now."

"Oh, right! I'd love to get the scoop on you guys! What are you trying to do?" he asked.

"Well," Duncan answered, "We're trying to save the world from Chris!"

"My, how noble…" Josh said, "Do me a favor, and call me when you do, okay!" Josh said. "Josh, off!" He hurried away.

"That was strange," Courtney said.

"And not very useful," Duncan said.

"Well, just because we couldn't find any here, doesn't mean we should stop looking," Courtney said, "After all, we haven't checked by the river yet."

"You know, Courtney," Gwen said, "I'm beginning to seriously question your skills as a leader."

"Gwen, it doesn't matter what you think," Courtney responded. "This is Courtney's Resistance. If you want to start Gwen's Resistance, that's fine with me. But don't expect a whole lot of defectors from the larger group to the smaller one."

"Well, I guess there is always the power in numbers argument…" Gwen said.

Author's Note: Goodies for this chapter include alternate versions of the ending dialogue (Didn't visit Josh; Duncan died; Gwen died) and Bridgette and DJ's Support (Level C) (note the last bit of the exchange at the beginning only happens if you take out Noah. At this point, there is no reason not to.)