Has it been a while? I can't tell anymore. Anyway, I like this chapter. I think I did it well. Everyone gets screen time. And a lot of confessions compared to the past. Enjoy!
Trust Building
Confession Cam:
(Zak) He's not really facing the camera… more, he needs a place to practice a speech. "So, I was thinking, since we're stuck here for who knows how long, it might not be a bad idea to try to get to know one another a little… better. You're a nice girl, I'm a nice guy… not so suave as others, but you can trust me when I say that I'm not trying to manipulate you or use you… No, that sounds stupid.
"How about… Phoebe, what a surprise to see you here… no that's even worse." He sighs and looks at the camera. "You know, at home, I never need to practice."
(Nessa) "So, Rufus is planning to use the fact that there's one girl and three guys on the Honking Toucans to convince them that, should they lose again, to vote off Bex, the 'weak link.' It's never going to work."
(Todd) "So, since our last challenge, Brooke and I actually spent some good quality time together." He smiles. "I think I might be falling in love."
Brooke and Todd were walking up the stream, having passed the waterfall, they were almost exploring new territory. "Okay, what's your favorite day of the year?" Todd asked.
Brooke smiled. "Well, usually it's the first snowfall of winter. But, this year, I think it'll be the day that I escape this island."
"Oh, well, I'm sure your team could work something out for you, if you'd like," Todd said.
Brooke rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "You know what I mean, when this is over," she said. "What about you?"
"Usually, the last day of school," he said. "But, like you, this year is different. This year, I'd have to say it was the day we arrived."
Brooke gave him a confused eye. "Why? You like being humiliated and tortured by Chris?"
"No," Todd said. He took a step in front of her and looked her in the eye. "It was the day I met you."
Brooke felt her cheeks flushing and she couldn't help but smile.
Confession Cam:
(Rufus) "So, Brooke and Todd have been going on 'dates' these past few days." He made air-quotes around the word 'dates.' "Yeah, right. He'll me lucky if she lets him kiss her hand by the time this torture is over."
(Bex) "I think it's cute that Brooke and Todd are semi-dating, if you can call anything that involves this island dating. And it's about time too. It's also good for me, because there was a little moment when they were too shy to speak to one another that I think Jamie almost got jealous of my friendship with Todd."
Zak cleared his throat as he approached Phoebe. "Uh, hey… Phoebe… can I, uh, talk to you for a moment… alone?"
Phoebe looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "We are alone, Zak." She had been sitting alone with a pad of paper, just doodling away.
"Oh, well, remember a few challenges ago… when—" He was cut off by the intercom.
"Campers!" Chris's voice rang out over the intercom. "Please report to the campground to start today's challenge."
Ten annoyed teenagers soon appeared and saw Chef and Chris both smirking. "So, as you may have noticed, there are five guys, and give girls," Chris said.
"Oh, so we're doing gender challenges today?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes, only, your teams aren't complete," Chris said. "We decided that, there's been a lot of squabbling among you, so today, we're having trust building challenges. And, to make sure that you're being truthful and trusting one another, we're adding a character to each team."
Chef turned to the boat and yelled, "Get your sorry butts out here now!"
"To the girls team we're adding…"
Christie jumped off the boat, a mad look in her eyes, like she was ready to kill rather than to build trust.
Confession Cam:
(Nessa) "She is so going to kill all of us… except maybe Bex."
(Bex) "So glad I wasn't on her team and couldn't vote her off. And, hey, that was one of the challenges that I didn't too well, seeing as I lost against Nick."
"And to the boys, we're adding…"
The annoying barks indicated that Russell would be seen very soon, and indeed, he did climb off the boat after catching Mr. Muggles.
"People from the viewing audience, being me, decided that these two were voted off, not because they were unable to do the task provided, but because of something about their attitudes," Chris said. "So, we're giving them another chance at the $250,000 prize."
Confession Cam:
(Christie) "Betting you wish you hadn't voted me off now, suckers."
(Russell) "Mr. Muggles and I are taking home a bunch of money to buy Mr. Muggles and me new beds, aren't we, my little poochie-woochie."
(Mr. Muggles without Russell) Runs in circles chasing its tail. Bites it, then howls in pain.
(Phoebe) She sat is silence for a moment. "I really don't know what to say."
(Walter) "Well… this sucks."
"As I mention before, today we will be doing trust challenges," Chris said.
"If only I could trust any of you," Christie hissed as Chris continued on. The four previous Iguana girls shivered in fear.
"They are relatively well known challenges, with a special TDI spin. First will be the Spider web. Then trust falls. Third, fitting everyone on your teams on small shoebox sized platforms. Fourth, lifting a team member using just fingers from each hand. And finally, blind guidance. Now if you will follow me, we can get started with the Spider webs."
Chris led them to where two giant spider webs had been set up between two sets of trees using wires. "As you can see there are six openings in the web. A triangular one at the bottom, two triangular ones near the base on either side, two triangles near the top, half the size as the one on the bottom, and over the whole thing. Now, who knows how this trust challenge works."
"We have to manage to get everyone through the web to the other side without touching the web at any point," Todd said.
"Yes," Chris nodded. "Now, usually, bells will be attached, or something like a leaf will be placed between where the web strands cross, so that touching the web can be seen by the leaf dropping, or heard by the bells ringing. However, Chef and I decided that, instead, we should make the webs out of wires, and if you touch it, you'll get a nice high shock of voltage poured through your body. If anyone from your team gets shocked, you all have to start over."
A few of the campers stared at Chris with tics in their eyes, or other various parts of their bodies.
"The first team to get everyone from one side to the other wins."
"Okay, lets get going," Walter said.
Jaime approached the web and reached out with a finger, barely touching it. The electric shock threw him thirty feet back and into the sand. He looked a bit charred and his (very dirty now) blonde hair stood on end.
Christie burst out laughing. "What an idiot!"
"Jamie, are you trying to get yourself killed?" Bex asked. She turned toward him, but Nessa and Phoebe grabbed her.
"We're not wasting time," Phoebe said.
"First things first, we need to decide who is going through what holes," Brooke said.
"I'll take the top," Christie said. "If two of you can launch me, I can make it over no problem." She stared them down. "And you better be able to launch me properly."
"Brooke and Nessa we can pass through the top two triangles," Bex said. "Phoebe and I can probably contort ourselves through the two sides. And that leaves Genevieve for the bottom."
"I can do that," Genevieve said. "I'll go first."
"Wait," Christie grabbed a large leaf and swept at the sand, seeing a wire lying on the ground. As Walter suddenly was thrown a few feet, it seemed the guys hadn't checked for a bottom wire.
"Be careful," Brooke said to Genevieve. "We'll help you."
Genevieve began crawling, the other girls helping to keep her body low enough to keep from hitting the top of the triangle.
Russell and Walter had made it to the other side of the triangle through one side and the bottom triangle.
"We're passing Jamie now," Todd said and he and Rufus lifted the youngest boy. They began passing him and Russell and Walter had a good grip on him. Suddenly, Russell heard Mr. Muggles nearby and looked down to see the dog was about to touch the wires.
"Baby, no!" Russell shrieked and rushed to keep his dog from getting electrocuted. Unfortunately, he dropped Jamie in the process, and Walter was too quickly surprised to catch the side of Jamie that Russell had been holding, dropping him to the wires. Jamie got shocked, and Walter, Todd, and Rufus (all still holding him) got a filtered shock through Jamie. For a short moment, they had been beating the girls. They all turned angry eyes to Russell, coddling Mr. Muggles.
Confession Cam:
(Rufus) "The moment this challenge is over, I'm drowning them both. Or, I know where I can get a hired gun." He wiped a bit of ash off his cheek.
Once Genevieve was over, Bex and Phoebe practiced launching Christie a few times, making sure they could get her over. Once they were sure, they set up, Christie ran and jumped onto their connected hands. They held tight and threw her up as she jumped. She flipped a few times in the air, then landed on the other side of the web.
"Brooke now," Bex said and lifted her up with Phoebe's help. Genevieve and Christie easily received her on the other side.
"Hold it," Rufus said handing Mr. Muggles to Zak. Zak took the dog, making an annoyed face. Mr. Muggles was struggling and yapping, but he managed to hold it long enough for the guys to get Jamie over. It was then passed through the web to Russell while Rufus and Todd passed Zak to Jamie and Walter. Once that was complete, Todd and Rufus realized their problem. They now had to get one of them over the web, and neither of them was all that strong to more or less throw the other across.
The girls got Nessa through the web as the guys argued how to get either Rufus or Todd over. As soon as Nessa was clear, Bex and Phoebe both slipped through the side triangles in sync with one another, then they all cheered.
"And the girls win, without a single one of them getting shocked!" Chris announced. "Now, on to our trust falls."
The campers all looked up at the forty-foot high platforms. "Two from each team will have to fall into the waiting arms below. For the guys, Zak and Russell will be falling."
Confession Cam:
(Zak) He gulps.
(Rufus) "Well, it could be Walter that we have to catch."
"And for the girls, Brooke and Genevieve."
Confession Cam:
(Nessa) "Genevieve's not exactly the smallest person here… in fact…"
(Christie) "If I wanted my arms to break off catching someone that side, I would have done anything but this."
(Genevieve) "They didn't look too happy when Chris said my name."
"Chef and I will be judging which team is more trustful," Chris announced. "Now, will the catchers please gather below while the fallers climb up the platforms."
"Okay, Brooke, I'm fine with catching her," Bex said. "I actually like the girl… but Genevieve?"
"Let's just get through Brooke first, and then we'll have her to help with Genevieve," Nessa said.
Confession Cam:
(Phoebe) "You'd think spending about a month on this island and she'd lose a bit of weight by now, right?"
(Bex) "Okay, I haven't spent a ton of time with the girl, but I do know that she could stand to lose a pound or two… or fifty."
(Walter) "I kind of feel bad for the girls."
"Okay, first jumpers, go!" Chris yelled.
"Ya Hoo!" the feminine voice yelled and the four girls on the ground all looked up surprised to see Genevieve had taken he fall first. They tried to brace themselves, but she hit their arms too quickly and her weight pulled all their fronts down, flipping their feet out from under them.
Zak, however, had just crossed his arms over his chest and fell backwards, landing in the guys' arms. They put him down and cheered their first fall as a success.
"Well, it looks like the guys did better this round. Second fallers, prepare."
The girls all stood up and got ready to catch Brooke. She stood at the edge of the platform. At the boys' platform, Russell picked up Mr. Muggles. "We only had to fall a few feet." He turned around. "I'll just take a few steps back…" he was suddenly falling. "AHHHHHH!" His legs were flailing as he clutched Mr. Muggles so tightly that the dogs eyes seemed to be popping out.
Brooke took a deep breath and tried to fall, but kept stopping herself.
The boys caught Russell and his dog. Brooke was still at the top of the platform.
"And, since Brooke doesn't trust her team enough to catch her, we're giving this round to the boys."
Confession Cam:
(Todd) "It's cause we're all tight… or, some of us are."
(Brooke) "They're going to hate me now."
"Now, bring out the boxes," Chris yelled.
Chef appeared with two shoebox-size wooden boxes. "Have fun," he said with an evil laugh, placing one box in front of each team.
"Now, the object of this challenge is to get all six members of your team onto the box for a full ten seconds straight," Chris said.
"Easy," Nessa said, smirking because the girls all around were smaller.
"How about someone steps on a box," he said.
"Sure," Jamie said and stepped up. Suddenly, it was wobbling and he tried to keep up his balance, but quickly fell. "What was that?"
"They're special wobble boxes we designed for this challenge," Chris explained. "So, get going."
"Gather round it," Bex quickly said and the girls surrounded their box.
"How do we do this," Rufus asked, looking at Zak and Walter.
"Okay, girls," Nessa said. "We have to hook our arms around each others' waists, and then hoist up at the same time. One foot on…" they each put a foot on the box, then wrapped their arms around one another.
Confession Cam:
(Nessa) "Girls aren't afraid to get a bit touchy in these competitions… guys… well, that's a different story."
(Jamie) "They were groping one another almost!"
"One, two, three, up," Nessa called out and they all hoisted one another up at the same time. While they were all up, they were all also leaning slightly back, which was keeping the weight mostly balanced.
"Arms in," Walter said. "Grap someone else's forearm and then we lean back a bit with one foot on each."
They tried, but it seemed that Todd and Zak had grabbed one another, and the leaning back didn't work when Todd's weight pulled Zak easily, throwing all the boys off.
"Nine, ten!" the girls celebrated after their ten second count. They held for an extra three seconds, just in case.
"And the girls have two challenges to the boys' one," Chris said. "So, time for our next challenge. Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board!"
Confession Cam:
(Russell) "It's that a witch thing?"
"What's the catch?" Phoebe asked.
"Your person to be lifted will first take muscle relaxers, so they won't exactly be 'stiff.'"
Confession Cam:
(Jamie) He's sweating a bit. "It won't count as a relapse if I volunteer… will it?"
"Okay, so, Phoebe, you'll be the female board, and Todd, the male board."
After they both had time for the muscle relaxants to sink in, both teams set up. "And go!"
"Okay, girls, we can do this," Nessa said. "Two fingers on each hand. Gen, Brooke, take the legs. Christie and I can get the mid section. And, Bex, under her shoulders."
"Wha' abou' my head?" Phoebe asked in her whoozy state.
Confession Cam:
(Zak) "Not sure what kind of relaxants they used, but whatever it was… it was strong."
"Dudes, you're all spinning," Todd said, trying to sit up, but failing.
"On the count of three," Rufus said. "One two three."
The five guys lifted and, though Todd was flopping about, they got him fully into the air. The girls were having trouble getting Phoebe off the ground at all.
"And we're tied again," Chris announced. "So, it all comes down to the blind challenge."
They all went to the obstacle course, which happened to be the same course that Chef has forced them to do. "Teams, pick your representative."
"I'll do it," Nessa said. "I did it the most out of all of us. I think I've memorized it."
Confession Cam:
(Nessa) "Seriously, last night, I had a dream that I was doing it over and over again."
Rufus smirked. "Leave this to me."
"Okay, you will go one at a time, and we will be recording your times," Chris said. "Girls first. You will wear a blindfold that must stay on at all times. Your teammates will yell instructions to you. The faster time wins."
"I want Bex to give the instructions," Nessa said as she stood at the starting line and tied on her blindfold. "She has the loudest voice."
"Will do," Bex said.
There was a gun shot and Nessa set off.
"Another three feet before you hit the…" Bex yelled, but Nessa dropped to her hands and knees and was crawling through the tires.
"Eight," she said to herself. "Nine… Ten."
"Okay, got straight until you're at the wall…"
Nessa was suddenly climbing the wall, without anyone telling her where to grab. She was quickly on the platform.
"Do you actually need my guidance?" Bex yelled.
"I'll call out if I do," Nessa said as she swung herself across the monkey bars, then slid down the net ladder. She wiggled through the mud under the barbed wire. Then she was back on her feet, jumping from stump to stump. Finally, she just followed the voices that led her through the finish line.
"Just under two minutes," Chris said. "Okay, Rufus, you're up."
At the gun shot, he began running. "Stop!" Jamie yelled. "You've passed the tires. Go backward and to your left."
"To your right," Walter corrected.
"No, no, no," Bex yelled in a low voice. "Jamie was correct, to your left."
"Who was that?" Rufus yelled as he stopped.
"To your right, Rufus," Zak yelled. Rufus trusted that and found the tires. He trudged through them, then approached the rock wall. He reached out for rocks, but hadn't established the same rocks each time he climbed like Nessa had.
"I need guidance," he yelled.
They began yelling different things, the girls giving him bad directions. Finally, he got up.
"He, Chris, hasn't it been longer than Nessa's time?" Brooke asked when Rufus was pulling himself ungracefully onto the platform.
"Yeah, but tell me this isn't fun to watch," he said.
So, Rufus went through the whole course, taking a total of fifteen minutes.
"And the girls won… around the time you reached the rock wall," Chris announced. "So, girls, pack a small bag because you're going on a spa cruise with three servants for each of you. And guys, well, you may return to your tent."
"Wait, did you say tent… as in no S, as in one?" Walter asked.
"Oh, yeah, you now have two tents, one for the girls, and one for the guys," Chris said. "Just find your stuff. Just be lucky none of you are going home."
Confession Cam:
(Walter) "We'd all vote for fur boy as it is."
The girls all celebrated.
"You all bought yourself another day to life," Christie said. "Especially you, Nessa." She held up her fist for a fist bump. Nessa bumped it cautiously.
In the middle of the night, five guys were lay on their backs, all trying to fall asleep. Only Russell had managed to. Meanwhile, Mr. Muggles was howling at the moon for hours on end.
"Todd, do something about it," Rufus said.
"I'm still having trouble moving," Todd said. "You do something."
"Oh, shut up, you two," Walter snapped.
