Hello, it is I! Creaturemaster back here with yet another chapter for your viewing pleasure!
First off, I could not have done this chapter without the help of a very loyal reader. Give it up for JVM-SP150 aka the creator of Alan! Seriously, I don't think this chaper would have even been written had he not given me a lot of help with it. You rock, dude!
And to be honest, I really have nothing else to say right now. I doubt I really ever will have anything worth while saying, so I'm gonna shut up now and let you go ahead and read!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Onwards!
"Last time on Total Drama: Pahkitew's Vengeance! The contestants went head to head against some old veterans that still proved they had what it takes in another Virtual Reality map that was both brutal and highly amusing. For me at least." Chris chuckled as he stood on the docks, working the camera like he was born to. "The rookies came, they nearly saw, but in the end lost to the veteran contestants, proving that just because you have super powers doesn't mean you automatically win. In the end, it was the freak show of a thorn in my side Micheal that was sent packing! Man, is it good to have him gone, because I never liked the guy! Constantly threatening me and ruining my fun!" Chris grumbled.
"Package for ya!" Chef announced as he shuffled down the dock with a package in hand.
"Who's it from?" Chris asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Doesn't say." Chef shrugged, handing the package to Chris. The host curiously examined the parcel before shrugging and tearing open the package, eager to find out what was inside. Just as his fingers curled on the flap of the cardboard box and lifted it up, the box suddenly exploded in Chris's grip, splattering him with a dark, black substance.
"GAH! My beautiful face!" Chris wailed.
"Hope you like octopus ink," Chef read a small note that had been blown into his grip from the small explosion. "Hope your life is short and miserable, love Micheal." Chef concluded.
"AAAGH!" Chris roared with rage. "Even when he's eliminated he continues to drive me insane!" Chris fumed before returning his attention to the camera. "Will anyone ever trust Zelda again? How long will Toni and Paul remain a couple? And when will I ever get my revenge on Micheal? Most these probably won't be answered on this episode of Total! Drama! Pahkitew's Vengeance!"
(theme song plays)
Caroline felt something nudging her head gently; she stirred in her sleep slightly, trying to brush off the minor annoyance and return to her lair of dreams. Seconds later, the nudging became more forceful and tough, as if someone was poking her with a plank of wood. She groaned and blinked her eyes before yawning, inhaling the sweet scent of hay and fresh apples, with a hint of the warm earth to spice things up; standing over her, his tail swishing back and forth to ward off a cloud of annoying flies was Fracture, starring at her with his wide eyes.
Morning, Cupcake. Fracture said.
"Morning, Roger." Caroline stretched. "How'd I end up in the stables?"
You came walking in here last night snoring your noggin off, Fracture explained. You actually shoveled hay and manure in your sleep too before you stopped.
"Sorry if I woke you up." Caroline apolgized.
Don't sweat it, kid. From the things you were murmuring, you were pretty upset about something. Fracture waved it off.
"Attention, freaks of all respective nature!" Chris's obnoxious voice rang out loudly over the island. "Meet me down at the dock for your daily dose of pain, humiliation, and PAIN!"
Remind me to kick him in his kiwis when I get the chance. Fracture frowned. You better get going, Cupcake.
"Later, Fracture! I'll try to smuggle you guys some sugar cubes when I get the chance!" Caroline bid her horse friends farewell as she rushed out of the stables and through the woods to the dock.
Confessional
"I suspect the reason Chris acts so cruel to us is because he was bullied as a child, much like I am," Caroline hypothesized. "I very well could have ended up like him had I not met Micheal, Maurananei, and Toni. I hope I can stay in touch with them once the game's over; I'd love to see everyone's reaction when they meet my friends." she smiled.
End Confessional
When Caroline arrived at the docks, she found everyone else waiting for her, save for Chef; Chris was impatiently tapping his foot and checking at his watch before Caroline scampered up onto the docks and took a position beside Maurananei.
"About time!"Chris snapped. "It's a half hour show, people!"
"Why does it matter to you? The editors will just cut things until everything's in a thirty minute clip." Alan said.
"Whatever!" Chris frowned, apparently ticked off at something. "Anyway, today's challenge will test your intellect, it will test your strength, it will test your endurance, and it will test how many bites, scratches, and possible maulings you can receive!"
"That does not sound like fun." Zelda whimpered.
"It's supposed to sound like fun to you! It's supposed to sound like fun to me!" Chris cackled.
"Get on with the challenge already!" Maurananei snapped.
"Fine, fine. Geez, talk about high strung." Chris rolled his eyes. "No wonder parents hate teenagers."
"I'm gonna let that comment pass." Maurananei narrowed her eyes, imagining Chris's neck between her fingers, his skull underneath her feet, and her knives driven into his vital organs; it was a rather pleasant thought.
"Anyways, today you'll be going into the dank, dark, bug-infested woods of Pahkitew to find and bring back an animal," Chris explained. "And you have to bring it back unharmed." he added upon seeing Maurananei's devious look.
"This sounds suspiciously like a redo of a challenge from Season 1," Wilson frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. "Are you getting so old you're having trouble figuring out ideas for new challenges?"
"I am not old!" Chris snapped angrily. "Now stop interrupting me!"
"Well, excuse me." Wilson frowned.
Confessional
"Chris is on edge," Wilson tapped his chin. "Maybe he forgot to take his morning coffee today?" he wondered before suddenly gasping and clutching his chest, coughing violently before he was finally allowed a breath of fresh air; his airs had turned a deep violet in color and a dark demeanor had fallen over the boy. "And that's the way I like it." Serphonus grinned darkly. "That means he'll be too grumpy to care if I . . . mess with the others."
End Confessional
"Now, step right up and draw an animal out of the hat." Chris ordered, holding up a safari hat filled with cards with pictures on them.
Caroline was the first to step forward and dig around in the hat, pulling out a card after a few minutes. "A deer?" she wondered.
"A buck to be specific." Chris added as Mitchell slipped a hand into the helmet and pulled out a card between his fingers.
"A fish? A FISH!?" Mitchell yelled. "Are you trying to put me at a disadvantage here because, let me make this clear to you, fire and water do not mix!" he snapped angrily.
"Hey, you're the one that drew the card, not me." Chris shrugged without a care.
Mitchell walked back to the group, grumbling under his breath as Maurananei stepped up and plucked a card from the top pile. "What the- what the heck is this thing?" she wondered, holding up the card for Chris to see.
"That would be my dear pet, Larry," Chris grinned darkly. "You know, dinosaur-sized, meat-eating plant with an appetite to match?"
"That's a plant, not an animal!" Caroline protested.
"True, but do plants actually move around in search of prey?" Chris raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think so. Plus, I don't care." he added.
Maurananei actually seemed rather okay with her selection as she had a broad, dark smirk on her face, a series of plans and traps already forming in her head as she crumbled the card between her fingers; Trey came up next and dipped his hand into the bottom of the hat and pulled out the card.
"A polar bear?" Trey was skeptical. "Last time I checked we were in British Columbia, not the Arctic Circle."
"We had it flown in special." Chris grinned.
"But, aren't polar bears an endangered species or something?" Trey wondered.
Chris was about to answer before it dawned on him. "Note to self, ready the lawyers." he mumbled into a recording device he had drawn from his pocket; Paul came up next, digging around in the hat for a few seconds before pulling out another card.
"What is this, a tiger?" he wondered.
"Lion, actually." Chris grinned. "Good luck with that one, dude."
Paul frowned as Toni gave him a sympathetic smile and dipped a hand in the hat, grabbing one of the few cards left and pulled it out. "Alligator?" she guessed.
"Crocodile, actually." Chris corrected. "Now hurry up! We're on a limited schedule here!"
Wilson rolled his eyes and came up next, pulling out a card and glancing over the picture. "A monkey?" he wondered.
"Orangutan." Chris corrected. "Seriously, is it that hard to tell the difference between a monkey and an ape?"
"Not a lot of people care, unfortunately." Zelda sighed. "I mean, you'd think it'd be obvious considering primates of the Hominidae order don't posess prehensile tails, such as primates belonging to the Cebidae or Callitrichidae families. Really, it should be obvious considering great apes are not as arboreal as other primates, due to the fact that they lack the prehensile-"
"No one cares, Zelda!" Chris interrupted. "Stop trying to sway them with your lies and pick a card already!"
"But I-" Zelda protested before she was cut off by a stern glare from Toni. The genius gulped and merely took a step forward, digging a hand into the hat and grabbing one of the few cards left. "I . . . don't think I recognize this animal species." she quirked an eyebrow.
"That's because it is none other than the elusive Ezekiel nerdus!" Chris grinned. "Turns out that our little freak of nature, Ezekiel, has managed to elude my grasp once more and is hiding out on the island." Chris explained. "Also, you have my complete permission to hurt him as much as you want." he added before his pocket buzzed and he whipped out his cell phone.
"Yello?" Chris recited. "Hhh-mmm. Are you sure? Ugh, fine." Chris sighed with annoyance as he hung up. "Legal says you have to bring Zeke back unharmed as well. Apparently it's 'child abuse' or something like that."
"Are you sure he even qualifies as a child?" Maurananei quirked up an eyebrow. "Or even a human?"
"I dunno. I just do what the lawyers tell me." Chris shrugged. "Most of the time anyway. Now, get on with it!" he frowned.
Alan gulped and reached a trembling hand into the hat before pulling out a card and nearly fainting. "A Komodo dragon? You want me to find a Komodo dragon!?"
"Cool, right?" Chris grinned.
"Yeah, if cool means that you'll probably get your pants sued off for smuggling one of the world's most endangered reptiles out of its natural habitat." Zelda glared at the host.
"If anyone asks, it was Chef's idea!" Chris said quickly before tossing the hat at Anuok and running off as fast as he could. "You have six hours! First one back with their animal gets to bring a contestant of their choice into the hangout of Awesomeness! Last one back with or without their animal gets sent home! Now go!" he called over his shoulder as he ran back to his luxury trailer; he had a few phone calls to make, and fast.
"I'll help you find your animal if you help me find mine." Paul offered his girlfriend. "Do we have a deal?"
"Did you even have to ask?" Toni smirked before pecking him on the cheek and running off into the woods with Paul on her tail.
"A polar bear, huh?" Trey rubbed his chin, pacing along the ground before sitting down on a rock and plucking a few strings on his guitar to clear his thoughts. "Well polar bears live in cold places, so Chris would naturally place it somewhere cold."
"You would correct, Trey." a high, squeaky voice smiled. Trey glanced behind him and fell off his rock as he yelped; the small girl with platinum blonde locks and light teal eyes giggled slightly as a smile crept across her pale skin. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
"No problem." Trey chcukled, climbing to his feet and towering over the girl. "Are you a new contestant?" he asked.
"No, I was a previous contestant on this dreaded show for their fourth season." the girl replied. "I demanded to be brought back so that I could oversee the well being of all the helpless creatures Chris uses in his awful challenges."
"Hmmm. What was your name again?" he wondered to himself. "Dusk? Twilight?" he listed.
The girl giggled again. "No, my name is-"
"DAWN!" Alan practically screamed as he rushed over to the moonchild and shook her hand rapidly. "I can't believe it's really you!"
Dawn smiled as she grabbed Alan's hand in her other and stopped the jerking movement. "Hello, Alan. And yes, it really is me." she replied.
"What are you doing here?" Alan wondered.
"I am watching over the well being of all the innocent children of Mother Nature Chris insists on using in this awful challenge." Dawn replied.
"Do you . . . do you think you can help me catch my animal?" Alan asked.
"A Komodo dragon, right?" Dawn hummed.
Alan nodded eagerly.
"I would love to help you, Alan, I really would, but Chris has forbidden me from helping any of you in your challenge," Dawn apologized. "I am merely here to make sure he does not break any laws and that the creatures he uses are kept in perfect conditions until they can be returned home."
Confessional
"That's what I like about Dawn," Alan smiled. "Even when she's apologizing, she's nice and gentle. And the way she cares for animals is so endearing." he sighed.
Change Confessional
"I know Alan has a crush on me," Dawn smiled. "His aura always gets a wonderful shade of pink whenever I'm around him. I'd hare to crush his dreams though; I'm not really looking for a companion in helping Mother Nature right now. I'd crush Zelda and Maurananei." she added with a small smile.
End Confessional
Alan pouted for a moment but immediately brightened up and waved good-bye to Dawn before running into the forest, his mind not entirely on the fact that he was hunting down the world's largest and most poisonous lizard with nothing more than his bare hands.
"Well, it's been nice meeting you, Dawn," Trey gave her a two-fingered salute. "I'll see you around."
"Farewell, Trey." Dawn waved good-bye. "Just don't let your fillings for Mortisha cloud your judgment!"
"Wait, what?" Trey whirled around.
"Nothing." Dawn smiled innocently; Trey starred at her for a few more seconds before shrugging and stomping off through the bushes, wondering whether he should have brought something warmer to wear.
Dawn felt a slight tapping on her shoulder and turned to see Anuok standing there with a kind smile. "Hello, Anuok. Long time, no see, hmm?"
Anuok nodded and scribbled something down on her notepad before showing it to Dawn.
"I haven't seen you in my dreams for a while?" she read. "Yes, I suppose that is my fault." Dawn apologized. "I have been rather busy and haven't had a chance to do my usual rounds."
Anuok nodded and stuffed the notepad back into her pocket. "Good luck finding Sasquatchanakwa." Dawn waved good-bye as the rest of the contestants took their leave to various parts of the island, leaving Dawn all alone to meditate on Trey's rock.
"If I were a lion, where I be?" Paul wondered as he walked along a deer trail through the thick woods, holding back branches for Toni as the two made their way through some tall grass.
"Ideally, some place where you could doze off in the sun." Toni remarked. "That, or somewhere close to its natural habitat."
"Do you ever come across lions in Nigeria?" Paul wondered as he scaled a tree and looked out over the island.
"Not often," Toni replied. "Has it ever actually occurred to you how you might actually catch your lion?"
"Not really." Paul admitted. "I was hoping you might have an idea. What motivates a lion in the first place. Because, just for the record, I am not in the mood to die."
"I wouldn't want to see you die either." Toni smiled. "As for your lion problem, either food, a rival lion, or a lioness in heat. And let me make it clear that there is no one way I am going to turn into a lioness. That is a privilege I am saving for you." she added with a smirk upon seeing Paul's red face.
"S-so we're left with bait." Paul hummed. "Any chance you'd be willing to turn into a zebra or something and lure it back to Dawn?"
"That's a little much to ask." Toni frowned.
"Sorry." Paul apologized as he swung down from the tree.
"I didn't say no." Toni smirked as she helped Paul to his feet and hugged him tight, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll do it on the condition that you take me with you to the Hangout of Awesomeness should you be the first one back."
"I was planning to anyway." Paul grinned. "Now lets find me a lion!"
Maurananei leaped through the trees with the skill of a monkey, jumping from branch to branch with ease. She had stuck leaves to her arms and clothes, and constructed a makeshift hat out of twigs and grass to camouflage herself from her prey; that, and she just thought it'd make her look cool, especially since she painted tear lines under her eyes to set the mood just right. Her quarry was crafty, she had to hand that to him. She had been tracking him for a half hour at least, and she hadn't found any sign of him at all.
"You'd think it would be easy to find an animal the size of a dinosaur." Maurananei grumbled under her breath as she clambered up to the top of a large oak tree with thick roots and burst through the canopy. All she could see for miles was the bright green canopy that was occasionally pockmarked by clears of varying sizes; there was no sign of any monster plant in any direction whatsoever.
"He's crafty, I'll give him that." Maurananei mumbled to herself before a slight rustling overhead caught her attention. She looked up just in time for a figure to slam into her, sending the both of them falling through a few branches before they crashed into a sturdy with a painful whack!
"What the- you again!?" Maurananei screeched like a harpy.
Pinning her to the branch with his shoulders trapping her shoulders and arms, his opposable feet curled around her ankles, and a considerable amount of corrosive saliva dripping from his jaws was Ezekiel; his greasy strands of hair were just barely touching her head as the little freak of nature starred at her with an ever familiar look that sent shivers down Maurananei's spine. "Get off me, you hobgoblin!" she roared, shoving Ezekiel off of her and farther down the branch.
Ezekiel snarled and stalked closer, a creepy smile on his face as he never stole her eyes away from her. Maurananei gulped nervously and started to back away along the branch for every step he took, never tearing her gaze away from him for fear of being caught of guard. "Um, can I help you with anything?" she asked.
As if he had read her mind and deliberately chose to do the one thing she didn't want to, he puckered his lips and made a series of kissing noises; Maurananei gagged and tried to hold down her breakfast. "Uh, yeah, about that? I don't think you're my type." she scratched the back of her head nervously. "I think we should see other people."
"RAAAAAGGH!" Ezekiel squealed, launching him at Maurananei; she ducked just in time, letting the little hobgoblin sail over her head and crash into the tree behind her. With very little time on her hands and a freaky ex-contestant dead set on making her his girlfriend, Maurananei was motivated, in more ways than one, to put the pedal to the metal. She jumped down from the branch and to the ground, pumping her arms vigorously as she sped through the brush; she could just barely hear Ezekiel's enraged bellows from behind her as he swiftly moved through the canopy after her, taking potshots at her with his acidic breath.
Maurananei huffed and puffed, her chest heaving in and out as she ran and came to a large river. With little choice left, she latched onto a nearby vine and swung across the river, just barely making to the other side as Ezekiel exploded from the brush and came to a halting stop at the riverbank. The diminutive mutant glared at Maurananei as she did a small victory dance before he scanned the area for anything that might help him across the river when he caught sight of a branch that just barely stretched out about half away across the river. While Maurananei was too distracted in rubbing her victory in his face, Ezekiel scurried up the tree and out onto the branch before bunching up his legs and launching himself across the stretch of rough water, landing right next to Maurananei on the riverbank, a devious grin on his face.
"Of course." Maurananei frowned before she scooped up a handful of mud and chucked it at Zeke's head, hitting him in the face and giving her a chance to run away.
"You'll never take me alive!" Maurananei wailed.
"Who's bright idea was it to invent snow!?" Trey griped as loud as he could as he shielded his face from the harsh winds that swept across the snowy peaks of the mountain that he had been forced to climb. In addition to his legs and arms feeling like rods of molten lead, and a numbing, burning sensation that tingled in his hands and feet, he could no longer feel any part of his face whatsoever.
"I'm s-s-s-so c-cold, that I'm sh-shivering!" he chattered to himself.
"I'm s-s-s-so c-cold, that I can use my nose drippings as a pair of ch-chopsticks!" a voice in blizzard responded back.
"I'm s-s-s-so c-cold that . . . I'm shivering!" Trey bit back before he realized what he had just said and who he had said it to. "H-hello? Anyone out there?" he called through the storm; his voice felt small and frail against the howling rage of the snow as it whipped across the mountain and painfully pelted him with its sharp flakes.
"Yoo-hoo! Barney!"
"What the-" Trey started to say before something slammed into him. He shook his head and blinked the snow out of his eyes to see a pair of ruby red orbs starring back at him. With a yelp he quickly sat up and found that the short figure was clinging to him with an iron grip, her pale finger clutching tightly to his shirt and guitar strap. A thick, black cloak enveloped her, hiding most of her small, frail body; Trey found that the parts of him where the cloak covered his body were becoming warm and toasty.
"Miss me, Barney?"
"Mortisha!?" Trey blinked.
"The one and only." the pale, creepy girl smiled. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
"Your neck of the woods?" Trey repeated, utterly confused. "Since when do you live on Pahkitew Island?"
"I don't!" Mortisha grinned happily. "I just snuck back to annoy Chris!"
"Ah. Well, it's been nice seeing you again, but I have a polar bear to catch." Trey said, climbing to his feet and dusting himself and his guitar off. "See you around, toots." he waved good-bye before trudging forward through the ankle deep snow, shivering as the damp cloth of his jeans slapped against his legs. It was a couple minutes before he realized that he was being followed; he could just barely hear another set of feet pushing their way through the snow behind him.
"Why are you following me?" Trey sighed without even turning around.
"Do you have eyes in the back of your head?" Mortisha wondered. "Because my Uncle Seymore has eyes all over his body and-"
"Answer the question." Trey interrupted without looking at her, focusing on moving forward.
"I wanna help!" Mortisha replied. "It's so boring at home now, and I only get to have fun at the Aftermath's! But those only happen every four episodes, and it takes way too long! Plus, it's fine to irk Chris!"
"Can't argue with that last one." Trey sighed as he stopped and crouched down to the ground. "Get on. As long as you're tagging along, you might as well keep me warm while you're at it."
"Yay!" Mortisha cheered as she jumped onto Trey's back and suddenly spanked his butt, sending him running across the snow drifts as fast as he go as Mortisha would interrupt the roaring winds with cries of "YEE-HAW! GET ALONG, LITTLE DOGGY!"
Caroline was calmly walking through the woods, her attention shifting to different parts of the forest whenever she heard a loud rustling that usually turned out to be a squirrel or a rabbit, neither of which she was looking for. Any attempts to locate a deer by asking any of the animals she came across were fruitless, as not many had seen any deer as of lately.
Confessional
"I know it's not their fault, considering they have to spend the majority of their time trying to find food and survive, but you'd think animals would be able to remember things like this." Caroline sighed. "I mean out of everyone in this challenge, me or Toni have the best chance at winning. Although, I'm pretty sure turning into your animal and then turning yourself in is against the rules."
Change Confessional
"With everyone split up, this allows me to spend time messing with them and ensuring that they won't win this challenge." Serphonus grinned maliciously. "The one person that stands between me and victory is Toni; I just have to get rid of her without getting mauled." he mused.
Change Confessional
"Yeah! Mortisha's back in the game!" Mortisha cheered happily. "I bet you were expecting Micheal, weren't cha!? Well guess what? My creator won't allow it!" she added. "People think I'm crazy for believing that we were created by some omnipotent being or other for their amusement! Hah! They don't know the truth! Only I do! Well, me and Izzy, but we're the only ones!" Mortisha cried. "Well, maybe Dawn knows too. I dunno. I'll have to ask her."
End Confessional
Caroline was about to ask a crow if it had seen any sign of any deer at all when a loud scream made her jump nearly three feet into the air; the brush in front of her suddenly exploded into a cloud of leaves as Maurananei came charging out at top speed with a slobbering Ezekiel but a few seconds behind her, loud snarls and longer strands of drool escaping his jaws
"Help! Someone, anyone, get him anyway from me!" Maurananei screamed as she reached down while running and chucked a stick at Zeke's head, missing by just an inch or so.
Caroline didn't know what made her do it. She didn't know what made her suddenly chase after the mad, feral Ezekiel and her friend. Maybe it was an impulse, and maybe it was just an instinct to protect a fellow person from harm. Or maybe she simply wanted to punch Ezekiel again. Whatever the reason, Caroline suddenly dashed after Ezekiel, her arms pumping up and down as her feet crushed twigs and dry leaves underfoot, her chest heaving in and out as sweat dripped down her face. Branches slapped at her arms and legs as she ran through the forest, her focus locking entirely on the snarling, growling figure in front of her.
She had once talked to some of the animals at her local zoo, curious as to what their lives were like; naturally, some people thought she was insane while others thought she was simply trying to hold onto her childhood dreams before being thrust into the real world. Ignoring the visitors, the animals had responded with mostly bored answers, either complaining that they weren't given enough of their favorite food or griping about who they were housed with; Caroline actually had to act as a wedding counselor of sorts for a pair of gibbons and a trio of river otters that liked to stay up late. So far, she hadn't really been impressed with what the animals had told her until she had stopped to talk to the zoo's pair of cheetahs. While the big cats were somewhat lazy, they were kind enough and told her stories of their lives in the wild before they had been captured as pets before being shipped to the zoo. Caroline found this interesting, as most of the animals in the zoo were bred in captivity and thus had no real knowledge of the outside.
The cheetahs had created a vivid image of what a hunt had been like before they were confined to a spacious exhibit that let them hunt a fake rabbit on a race track every other day of the week. She would numbly feel her subconscious tapping into those memories, the words of the cheetahs as they described the thrill of the hunt filled her mind. She could smell the rotting, earthy stench of her prey, hear his sharp, ragged breaths as he ran, feel the adrenaline pump through her circulatory system as she pushed herself forward and quickly caught up with Ezekiel. With a low, guttural roar that startled even her, she lunged forward and swiped Ezekiel's legs out from under him with a quick movement of her arm; the little mutant went rolling and tumbling through the brush before slamming into the trunk of a tree.
Caroline came to a screeching halt, kicking up a small cloud of leaves as she caught her breath and made as stern of eye contact as she could with Ezekiel. The ex-contestant growled something incomprehensible even to her and staggered to his feet, stalking forward a few steps before giving a savage roar and lunging forward, claws raised; Caroline flinched, expecting to be hit when a loud twang! caught her attention and she looked up to see Ezekiel's right ankle trapped in the cord of a loop trap that dangled him from the air, helpless.
"And you can stay there until Zelda finds you, you . . . mean person!" Caroline yelled, jamming a finger at Ezekiel as he snapped his jaws at her.
"Is that . . . is that the best insult you can . . . can come up with?" Maurananei gasped as she staggered through the brush, utterly exhausted as she tried to catch her breath.
"Well, what would you say?" Caroline wondered.
"Several words that no person should ever say on public television," she replied. "And those same words would probably scar you for life."
"That's . . . comforting?" Caroline flinched.
" I guess." Maurananei sighed. "Either way, I owe you big time for getting that little freak off of me.
Ezekiel snarled and struggling in the air to no avail.
"Yeah, I meant what I said, you little BEEP!" Maurananei yelled, jamming a finger at him; Ezekiel immediately shut up. "Seriously. I owe you one." she added.
Caroline bit her lip. "Well . . . there is one thing I could use help with."
Maurananei grinned. "Name it."
"A-are you sure? I don't wanna bother you during a challenge . . ." Caroline stammered as Maurananei put a kind hand on her shoulder.
"I promise I'll help you, whatever it is." she reassured Caroline. "We're friends, and friends help friends through thick and thin."
"Alright." Caroline nodded. "I'm having trouble tracking down a deer. None of the animals I've talked to have seen any lately."
"A deer, huh?" Maurananei put her hands on her hips. "Compared to the other things I've had to track down, a deer will be a piece of cake."
Confessional
"I meant what I said to Caroline," Maurananei declared firmly. "She's pretty much like a younger sister to me, and I hate to see her said. Which means I will gladly avenge Micheal by making Chris's life miserable if it will make Caroline happy.
End Confessional
"Attention, contestants!" Chris's loud voice rang out over the island. "As a warning, I may have forgotten to tell you to watch out for booby traps! I really went to town with them!"
"Now he tells us." Alan grumbled as he rubbed his sore head; he had been walking through the woods, minding his own business as he searched for places a gigantic lizard might find appealing when he suddenly stumbled over a trip wire and landed in an open mud puddle before a sack of sand was dropped onto his head and neck, knocking him out for a few, painful minutes. When he had awoken, a woodpecker had been attempting to drill into his skull before swatted it away and managed to get the bag of sand off of him.
"Come on, you big, ugly, lizard, where are you?" Alan muttered under his breath as he pushed aside a group of bushes.
"There is no need to be rude, simply because you are not having as much luck as the others." a familiar, feminine voice said.
Alan jerked his head up to see Dawn sitting cross-legged on a branch above him. "I sense you are emotionally disturbed, Alan. Care to talk about it?" Dawn asked.
"Shouldn't you be back at the start waiting for the others or something?" Alan wondered.
"They won't arrive for a couple more hours." Dawn smiled. "We have plenty of time." she reassured him as she daintily jumped down from the tree limb and landed on the ground without a sound.
Alan sighed and pushed onwards, talking as Dawn seemed to float alongside him; Alan found that, as hard as he tried, he couldn't prove it. "I guess I'm just lonely." he shrugged. "I mean, what are the odds that you'll just suddenly fall all over me at the last second? And the other girls here are either already taken or think I'm too much of a pervert to even talk to."
Dawn saddened a bit. "While it is true I am not looking for a companion in life, I can assure that you will find in happiness in life," she told him. "Sooner than you think even."
"What's that supposed to-" Alan started before he realized that Dawn was no longer beside him; there was no sign of her where she could possibly gone, no trail, no broken branches, absolutely nothing to track her location. Alan sighed and continued to make his way through the brush before he came out into a somewhat dusty clearing dotted by large stones and rocks; wiping sweat from his brow, Alan sat down on one of the rocks to take a rest, leaning back and setting his head on a ledge.
It was then that a loud hissing sound met his attention as the ledge underneath his head started to slide to the side, the rough surface rubbing uncomfortably against his skin. Alan sat up to see what the heck was going on when his blood ran cold; lying in front of him was a massive lizard, a hungry look on its face. Alan couldn't help but trace his eyes over the Komodo dragon's right foot length and seven hundred pound weight, the wicked claws scrapping loudly against the rock as the lizard slowly crawled off the rock and plopped down into the dust. It starred at Alan with its soulless, intelligent, black eyes and flicked out its bright, yellow tongue before it seemed to yawn, opening its jaws to reveal a row of saw-like teeth and dozens of thick, gooey strands of saliva connecting the two jaws, a putrid stench wafting through the air that made Alan want to drop dead if only to get away from it; Alan didn't know much about Komodo dragons, but he figured getting bitten by something with that bad of breath would not be a pleasant experience.
"N-nice, d-d-dragon." Alan trembled as he backed up; for every step he took backwards, the Komodo dragon took another step forward, lifting it's entire bulk off the ground and slowly sampling the air with its long, forked tongue. Alan had seen Komodo dragons on a few nature documentaries before, but back then, they seemed far smaller than now; this one was far more impressive and far more frightening than when he had the safety of the TV screen to protect him from the huge lizard. He was so busy trying to keep distance between the Komodo dragon and himself that he barely even noticd when his foot stepped on a small stone in the ground, shoving it down with a loud clanking sound.
"Uh, oh! Some triggered a boo-boo!" Chris's teasing voice rang over the speakers as the ground began to tremble and rumble, as if an earthquake had suddenly struck the island.
"What's happening!?" Alan managed to scream as he attempted to stay standing; the Komodo dragon seemed equally confused and frightened, flicking its forked tongue out as it lumbered over to Alan and curled its tail around his trembling legs, as if to keep him upright.
The rumbling and trembling got louder and louder as the brush and forest in front of Alan and the Komodo dragon suddenly exploded into a shower of leaves, twigs, and splinters to reveal a massive herd of snorting rhinos; whether the nearly three dozen animals were robots or actual rhinos was up to debate, but Alan was pretty sure that getting hit and run over by either one of the two was going to hurt incredibly, regardless of whether they were made of metal and wiring or flesh and bone.
"Truce?" Alan spoke to the Komodo dragon. The large lizard blinked its eyes for a second before hissing and nodding its head, quickly climbing up onto Alan's back and digging its claws into his shirt and jeans, attempting to avoid putting its claws into ts ride's vulnerable skin as Alan gave an almighty scream and ran away as fast as he could with the herd of rhinos right on top of him.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Paul asked as he fiddled with the long vine in his hand and the large ham they had stolen from Chef's kitchen when he wasn't looking; really, Paul had distracted him while Toni made off with the meat, dodging swipes of the angry cook's frying pan, rolling pin, and spatula.
"Trust me." Toni reassured him. "Now give me a second to change." she added as she concentrated on an image in her head. A light coat of fur sprouted all over her body, remaining the same mocha brown color as her skin as her arms were sucked back into her shoulders like pieces of spaghetti, leaving her hands to be perked on her shoulders, frozen like that as other changes continued. Her black hair ran down her neck and between her shoulder blades like river as her face bulged outwards into a pointed, rounded muzzle. Her teeth became square and flat, perfect for grinding up plant material as her eyes rotated to either side of her head. Her ears migrated up to the top of her head and became pointed as muscled built themselves up around her chest. A pair of equestrian legs suddenly burst out of her gut like some alien nightmare as her hand finally slithered into her shoulders that moved down toa bove her new legs with a grinding sound. Her toes fused together into a single toe, a hard covering surrounding her changed feet, forming a solid hoof as her clothes vanished off her body. Her new form ground and shifted into its final state as a tail made entirely of long, black hairs sprouted out from the base of her spine.
"So, I just hang on an hope he doesn't catch us?" Paul asked as he hefted himself up onto the horse's back; the chocolate brown mare snorted and tossed her head as she clopped off through the woods, her ears rotating every few seconds to catch the slightest bit of sound that might mean trouble. Toni had previously soared over the island had not seen any sign of a lion with her laser-like hawk eyes, although she did see a rather large swamp that had the potential of being the lair of her quarry. A sudden rustling noise caught her attention and she looked out of the corner of her eye to see a stand of tall grass quivering back and forth in the shadows of the forest; she felt Paul tense up on her back as she froze on the spot, tensing her muscles to run.
A loud roar met her ears as the lion erupted out of the brush, claws pushed out and ready to dig into her flesh as she reared and galloped off as fast as she could with Paul tossing the meat behind him to keep the lion chasing after them. The big cat was far bigger than he imagined with teeth like railroad spikes as paws as big as dinner plates with claws as sharp as daggers. "Run!" Paul screamed as the lion lunged at the ham and nearly caught it in its jaws before he managed to yank it out of harm's way.
The lion snarled and ran faster raking the air with its claws as it made another move for the hunk of ham tied to the vine. Again, Paul pulled out of the way at the last second, occasionally taunting and teasing it just to make sure it didn't lose interest. "Your mother was a hyena!" he yelled. The lion's eyes widened considerably before it let out an earth shattering roar and raced after Paul and Toni even faster if that was possible, murder in its eyes as it managed to inch past the dangling piece of meat and edge closer and closer to the fleeing horse.
"AGH! Toni! Run faster! He wants to use me as a chew toy after he uses my bones as a tooth pick!" Paul wailed as he jammed his heel into the horse's side and forced her to move faster. The lion growled and lunged once more, managing to latch onto Toni's backside with its razor sharp claws, eliciting a terrified whinny from the horse as the lion struggled to hang onto the moving animal while Paul beat it over the head with the stolen ham.
Just when it seemed that the lion would have its way with Paul before finishing Toni off for a desert, a loud rumbling sound caught their attention and the three of them took a quick glance behind them to see a terrified Alan with an equally scared Komodo dragon on his back as a herd of enormous rhinos thundered through the forest after them, obliterating every thing in front of them.
"RUN FASTER!" Paul screamed as the lion growled an agreement and scrabbled further onto Toni's back, forgetting its feud with Paul for the moment as Alan with his lizard struggled to catch with them.
"Help! We need a lift!" he cried.
"What do you think, should we help them?" he asked Toni. "I mean, you are our get away vehicle, er, horse."
Toni snorted and tossed her head as Paul shrugged and twirled the tied up ham over his head like a lasso before throwing it at Alan and succeeding in looping it around his and the Komodo dragon's waist; the pair were drug along the ground for a few yards before Paul pulled them up onto Toni's back, shifting himself a little to allow more room as Toni started to slow down, allowing the rhino's to edge closer and closer to them. "I hate to be a stickler, Toni, but is there anyway you can go faster!?" Paul shrieked.
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"Look, if you were in my situation, sounding manly would be the least of your problems, alright?" Paul frowned.
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If horses could roll their eyes, Toni would have as she took a sharp detour and dove into the brush as the rhinos rushed past before stopping, snorting and pawing the ground as they deliberately searched for the missing campers and animals. Toni demorphed in a fluid motion before concentrating on another image in her head and disappeared into a whirl of body parts and bones before emerging as a full grown elephant and wrapping her trunk around Paul's waist, lifting him up onto her back as the lion, Komodo dragon, and Alan scrambled on after him as Toni bellowed and rushed out of the brush; the rhinos snorted and charged right after her, their numbers far too great for Toni to take on once.
"Run! Run like the wind!" Paul screamed as the rhino's ran after them.
"This is the most boring thing I have done in my life." Mitchell frowned as he sat on the end of the dock with an old fishing rod in hand; he had been sitting there on the pier for roughly two hours without a single bite of any kind to show for it. He was bored out of his mind as the waves gently lapped up against the wooden poles of the dock, bobbing the lure up and down in a placid pattern that slowly lulled Mitchell into a sleepy daze. He was almost half asleep before a loud roar caught his attention and he turned to see Trey come jogging out of the forest with a billowing, black cloak on his shoulders; following closer behind him with a hungry look on its face was a polar bear with what seemed to be Mortisha on its back, whooping happily as she rode the bear like a bucking bronco.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!" Trey screamed as he suddenly slammed into Mitchell and sent the both of them tumbling into the water as the polar bear dove after them, swiping at them with its claws as they quickly swam for the surface and back to shore.
"What did you do to make him so angry!?" Mitchell wondered as he ran.
"I didn't do anything!" Trey protested as the polar bear chased after them. "I just happen to look delicious!"
"So why is he chasing me!?" Mitchell cried.
"I think he thinks your delicious too!" Trey yelled. "No shut up and keep running!"
Mitchell found that he could argue with that logic as they ran along the beach with the polar bear in hot pursuit, gnashing its teeth hungrily as Mortisha whooped and hollered with joy. Just when it seemed the two boys might have managed to elude the hungry carnivore, the forest in front of them exploded an African elephant came thundering out onto the beach and turned in their direction, trumpeting in panic as it rushed at them and scooped them up in its trunk, dumping them on its back as it thundered down the beach.
"What the-" Mitchell started before he noticed that their other passengers were Paul, Alan, a lion, Komodo dragon. He also managed to notice the herd of angry, charging rhinos right behind them.
"Do I want to know?" Trey asked Paul.
"Probably not," Paul shrugged. "Do you want us to pick up your friends?" he wondered.
"Well, if it's not too much trouble." Trey shrugged as the polar bear paused upon seeing the strange scene before it scrambled to turn around as fast it could; Toni slammed into the carnivore before it could do that, the bear clinging to her tusks as she ran, just barely able to see past the animal's white fur as they ran.
"I'm normally not one to remain calm in these situations, but this is by far the strangest thing I have ever been involved in." Trey wiped his brow.
"YEE-HAW! This is the best day ever!" Mortisha whooped as they continued to flee the enraged herd.
"A-are you sure this'll work?" Caroline asked as Maurananei carried her through the forest on her back.
"Positive." Maurananei nodded her head as she came to a stop and easily lifted Caroline off of her shoulders and down to the ground. "All you gotta do is follow this deer trail for a while. You'll find your deer somewhere along there."
"Y-you aren't c-coming with me?" Caroline sounded frightened.
"Wish I could, but I have to find Larry before the challenge ends in order for me to stay in the game to help you." Maurananei replied as she shook her head.
"Th-that makes sense." Caroline nodded.
Maurananei smiled. "I'll see you at the end of the challenge. Besides, it's just a deer. How hard it could it be for 'Caroline of the Jungle'?" she joked before giving her friend one last hug and leaving her alone along the deer trail. Maurananei knew Caroline could handle herself in the wild, surrounded by the wild animals and poisonous plants; it was around other people and in the city that she was uncomfortable with. Due to several quiet confessionals with each other, Maurananei knew Caroline's slight phobia of people came from the constant verbal abuse of her classmates and girl scout troop, as well as the constant labor she had to perform for her lazy parents.
A small smile came to Maurananei's face; if anyone could help straighten Caroline's life, it would be her boyfriend Micheal. And if her parents didn't approve of their relationship, Micheal had ways of persuasion.
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"I really do hope Caroline makes it past this challenge," Maurananei said. "She's really nice and sweet. It's easy to see why Micheal likes her; if I wasn't straight, I might actually make her my own girlfriend." she grinned before realizing what she had just said. "Does that sound wrong?"
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As Maurananei pushed her way through the brush, she heard several minor curses that would have made most swearers like herself double over in laughter. She peeked over a large rock to see Zelda struggling in a pit of mud; Maurananei debated whether she should help Zelda out of the muck or leave her to her own struggle.
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Maurananei tapped her chin in thought. "On one hand, I help Zelda and possibly gain an ally, helping her win the challenge and save her for a later elimination," she mused. "On the other hand, I could leave her to struggle and let her get eliminated tonight, thus leaving me vulnerable at a later date." Maurananei weighed her options before sighing. "I'm only helping the traitor to save my skin at a later time, should I somehow fail."
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"Need a hand?" Maurananei spoke up as she climbed up and over the rock and out into view. Zelda startled slightly before she realized who was talking.
"R-really? Your offering to help me?" she wondered.
"Hey, we all can't stay mad at you forever." Maurananei shrugged as she grabbed hold of Zelda's hand and effortlessly hauled her out of the muck with a loud, slurping noise. "Have any luck finding Ezekiel?" she wondered.
"No," Zelda sighed. "He's one tough BEEP!" she cursed under her breath.
Maurananei tapped her chin in mock thought. "Well, me and Caroline actually ran into Ezekiel early today. Caught him in a loop trap about a dozen or so yards East of here," she recalled. "He might still be there."
"Thanks!" Zelda practically squealed before hugging Maurananei in a somewhat awkward and speeding off to gather her quarry.
"Now if I could only find my prey." she mumbled to herself before an odd scent caught her attention. It was an alluring scent that was a combination of chocolate and sweet, fresh fruit with a hint of tropical breeze. Curious, Maurananei followed the smell through the woods, taking to the trees after a while and swinging from tree branch to tree branch effortlessly as the environment around her began to change, the trees becoming more low to the ground and the air becoming more hot and muggy as she touched down in the middle of a large swamp. Mosquitoes filled the air, nearly spilling into Maurananei's lungs as she trudged through the muck and mud of the swamp, following the sweet scent when she wasn't trying to keep the bugs out of her respiratory system.
Eventually, she came to a small island in the middle of the bog where a large flower about as big as a basketball sprouted out the center, surrounded by jagged, teeth-like rocks. "Huh. It's just a flower." Maurananei scratched her head; a small bird landed on one of the rocks and tweeted happily before hopping down to the ground and pecking the ground. The little bird tweeted again and landed on the large, firm flower, sipping some of the sweet nectar. Before the bird could even twitch, a pair of massive jaws snapped shut around it, swallowing it alive in a cloud of feathers and startling Maurananei.
"Ah-HA! There you are!" she cheered as Larry swallowed its meal and settled back down, its jaws opening wide once more and the large flower popped back up into place. Cracking her knuckles, Maurananei screamed a battle cry and lunged at the flower, grabbing it tightly as the massive jaws closed around her. With a broad grin, Maurananei let go of the flower as it slithered down Larry's throat and swiftly kicked one of Larry's teeth. The inside of the mutant plant's mouth rumbled a bit as Larry growled a warning, but Maurananei didn't stop fighting against the muscles that were trying to force her down its gullet. She swiftly grabbed hold of his tongue, shuddered for a few seconds before viciously biting the wet organ she was standing on.
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"Can I just say that I have some pretty sharp teeth?" Maurananei wondered. "Doctors really can't explain it, but when I want to, I can bite through a whole soup can." she grinned before tapping her chin worriedly. "Is it wrong that I actually kinda wanna kiss Larry again?" she wondered.
Change Confessional
"So I'm wandering through the forest, looking for this big, hairy ape, when I come across an elephant with Paul, Alan, Trey, Mitchell, Mortisha, a polar bear, lion, and Komodo dragon on her back being chased by this massive herd of rhinos," Serphonus summed up, a devious smirk coming across his face. "Now I could have messed with the rhinos, made them bigger, faster, or even breath fire, but the others were pretty well distracted. Meanwhile, I'm stuck looking for an oversized monkey."
End Confessional
Larry roared in agony, allowing Maurananei to jump out of the Larry's mouth, grab hold of his upper lip, and swing herself up onto his head where she viciously bit him again. The mutant plant screeched as the ground beneath it rumbled and shook, the earth cracking and splitting as Larry pulled himself out by the roots and rose up into the air, roaring loudly as it snapped its roots and vines in an attempt to swipe the annoying pest on it. Maurananei ducked under a sweeping tentacle before slugging another one that came at her and then biting yet another vine with her teeth. Larry howled in agony as he began to run madly, Maurananei grabbing the tips of two vines and yanking back on them as hard as she could, steering Larry in the way she wanted to go, grinning madly as they stormed through the trees in the direction of the beach.
It was then that a shrill scream came to her attention and Maurananei glanced downwards to see Caroline running as fast as her legs could carry her, her legs little less than a blur as she tried to avoid being crushed underroot by Larry. With a loud grunt, Maurananei raised up her foot and drove her heel into Larry's head, forcing Larry to lash down with a root and scoop a terrified Caroline up and to her jaws. Maurananei gasped and buried her foot deeper into Larry's head, forcing him to stop.
"No! Bad, Larry! Bad!" Maurananei scolded the gigantic plant. "We don't eat our friends!"
Larry whimpered and politely set Caroline down on his head next to Maurananei before stomping forward for fear of more pain. "You okay?" Maurananei asked Caroline as she steered Larry along.
"Y-yeah." Caroline stammered, slightly shaken up. "I see you found Larry."
"Yep." Maurananei grinned. "You find a deer yet?"
"No." Caroline sighed.
"I think I can help with that." Maurananei smirked as she yanked back on Larry's roots and made him halt in his tracks. She then stomped her other foot into Larry's head and tapped her toe three times; Larry growled and thrust a vine down into the thick forest, rummaging around for a bit before pulling his vine back out with a terrified buck in his clutches; the mutant plant was about to shove the poor animal into its gaping jaws before Maurananei raised her foot up again and Larry halted.
"Good, Larry." Maurananei cooed. "Now bring the deer up here, and I'll make sure you get a good treat." she purred. Larry yipped happily and passed the deer up to his head where Caroline took control and began the somewhat long process of calming it down as Maurananei snapped the vines like a pair of reins and drove Larry back towards the beach.
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"I've heard the rewards of a pet are well earned," Maurananei grinned. "And now, I can say that it's true. I wonder if they make dog collars in Larry's size. Or if my Dad will let me keep him. Or if Chris will let me take his plant away. Or if . . ."
End Confessional
Dawn sat on the edge of the dock with her eyes closed, her legs folded up into a lotus position as she meditated. The air was cool and crisp and stung her lungs with the fresh scent of sweet flowers. Song birds tweeted happily in the distance, and the cool breeze gently whipped through her platinum blonde locks. She wondered why no one else could be as peaceful as she was feeling right now.
A low rumbling caught her attention and she cracked open her eyes open to see an African elephant stampeding across the beach at her with Paul, Alan, Trey, and Mitchell on its back with a terrified lion, Komodo dragon, polar bear, and an overexcited Mortisha clinging on for dear life. An even bigger thundering caught her attention and she turned to see Larry storming through the woods, bellowing loudly as Maurananei whooped with joy and Caroline and a jittery deer clung on as hard as they could as Zelda riding on Ezekiel's back came rushing out of the underbrush, drool flying everywhere as the diminutive mutant tried to shake its passenger.
Now she knew why everyone was so high strung.
Dawn didn't flinch as the three groups rushed at her, each trying to get there before the first as Toni thundered across the beach and swung her trunk, sending Ezekiel and Zelda flying into Larry's face, blinding his sensory organs. Unable to see, the gigantic plant tripped over the elephant and her passengers and sent the both of them flying, the three groups tangled up in a mess of arms, legs, tails, teeth, claws, trunks, and roots as they skidded along the ground and stopped a mere foot away from Dawn; she hadn't moved in the slightest.
"I did it!" Trey groaned as he pulled himself lose from the pile and collapsed at Dawn's feet where the polar bear had ended up in the scuffle. "I won!"
"I hate to disappoint you, Trey, but Anuok got here a long time ago with her animal." Dawn told him, nodding with a smile towards Anuok and the Sasquatchanakwa as they sat around a large stump and had tea; Anuok gave a friendly wave as she poured the large ape a drink.
Confessional
"Wow." Trey gaped. "That's all I can say."
Change Confessionals
"So me and Caroline didn't win." Maurananei shrugged. "At the very least, neither of us will get eliminated. And as an added bonus, I got a new pet too!"
End Confessionals
"Whose a good boy? Whose a good boy? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Maurananei cooed as she scratched Larry under the chin, ignoring the happy plant's strange behavior as it stomped its foot. The others watched the spectacle for a few seconds before turning back to Dawn as Chris approached the dock, his ever familiar grin on his face.
"And today's winner is Anuok!" Chris announced. "So, who'll be joining you in the Hangout of Awesomeness?" Anuok scribbled something down on her notepad and showed it to the Sasquatchanakwa, the large ape chuckling before Anuok handed the notepad to Chris to read.
"Ugh, fine." he grumbled. "Anuok has opted to let Toni and Paul have the prize instead of her," he announced. "This also technically saves Toni from elimination, which means it's down to Mitchell and Wilson tonight, people!" he added before noticing Maurananei and Larry. "Hey! Get away from my plant, freak!" he yelled. Larry let out a loud growl and showed a cage of teeth at his former master, who decided it was best not to anger his former pet any further.
"Aw, thanks, Anuok!" Toni cried happily once she was back in her human form, hugging her friend tightly as Paul gave her a thumbs up.
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Anuok shrugged and blew on her nails with a smirk on her face.
End Confessional
The campfire crackled quietly as the stars shone brightly overhead, the large, round moon glowing in the night sky; a wolf howled in the distance as the wind rippled across the sky and made the flames hiss and dance as the campers sat around the bonfire, anxious looks on their faces.
"You've all cast your votes," Chris began. "Anuok, Alan, Trey, Maurananei, Toni, Paul, Zelda, and Caroline, you're all safe for tonight." Chris announced as the contestants grabbed their respective marshmallows; Larry grabbed Maurananei's marshmallow with a vine and hand it to his master as she sat on his head.
Chris frowned at the sight, but ignored it when it came down to Mitchell and Wilson. "You both failed to catch any of your animals at all. In fact, neither of you came even close." he added with a sick grin. Mitchell gulped as Wilson nervously bit his fingernails.
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"There are those of us with, and without super powers," Paul said, leaning against the outhouse door. "So far, Wilson hasn't shown any sign of any power whatsoever. Making him the more desirable of the two to compete against."
Change Confessional
"Tonight's vote was really hard," Caroline sighed unhappily. "I really hate to vote for someone I've known since the beginning of the season, but he's a much bigger threat."
Change Confessional
"Mitchell. End of story." Serphonus frowned.
End Confessional
"Wilson, you're safe," Chris grinned as he tossed the blonde teen his marshmallow. "Mitchell, Torpedo o' Shame awaits." he quirked his eyebrows up.
Mitchell sighed and got up from the barrel that he had to sit on. "It's cool. I've had my run." he shrugged. "Good luck to you all, and that stuff."
"I am afraid I must intervene," Dawn's voice piped up. "If Mitchell is shot out of the Torpedo of Shame, we will never see him again." she said gravely as she walked up behind Chris.
"So? We live all across Canada," Paul pointed out. "What are the odds that we''ll all see each and every last one of us again?"
"No, I mean we will never see him again," Dawn looked really scared. "If Mitchell departs on the Torpedo of Shame, he will not live to see another day."
"So? Who cares?" Chris exclaimed. "With any luck, we'll see his demise on camera!" he chuckled, just barely dodging a ball of fire that exploded at his feet; Mitchell frowned and summoned another ball of hot coals into his fingers. "Alright, alright! Enough with the fire!" Chris yelped.
"So how does he get home?" Alan wondered.
"The safest route would be with me," Dawn replied. "In just a few short minutes, I will be taking the boat back to the mainland with the poor creatures Chris used in today's challenge, along with poor Ezekiel; hopefully I can restore his humanity." she lamented sadly.
"Yeah, what she said." Chris grumbled. "Now leave already! We're on a schedule!"
"So you keep on reminding us." Trey grumbled. "And, on an unrelated note, would you mind getting Mortisha off of me?"
"But why?" Mortisha whined as Trey grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her off of him, fiddling with the clasps of her cloak for a second before handing it to her.
"Because you're not competing anymore," Trey replied as he hauled himself to his feet. "Plus, Chris'll probably send you back on the boat with Dawn."
"Awww." Mortisha pouted. "I was having so much fun!"
"Well, hold onto that feeling until I get booted," Trey smirked as he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I'd like to get to know you some more." he grinned.
"WA-HOO!" Mortisha cheered happily before she grabbed Trey's face and smashed her lips to his; the contestants all cooed and awed as Larry clapped his roots together happily; Chris resisted the urge to throw up his very expensive dinner. With one last hug, Trey sent Mortisha on her way with Dawn trailing behind her, promising to keep her safe until she rejoined the other eliminated contestants at the new Playa des Losers; Mitchell threw Chris another warning glare before firing twin fiery beams of flame from his eyes at the host's feet, a smirk crossing his face when Chris jumped out of the way at the last second.
"Will Trey stay hooked up with his new girl?" Chris began to close up. "Can Paul and Toni stay together through trial and error? And how long will Maurananei and Larry stick together before the later comes crawling back to me?" he wondered as Larry growled loudly until Maurananei started to scratch him under the chin again.
"Find out next time, on Total! Drama! Pahkitew's Vengeance!" Chris declared.
And there we go!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it. And I hope you all enjoyed Dawn's appearance; she is one of my all-time favorite Total Drama characters, and I was beyond furious when she didn't get picked for All-Stars. I mean, seriously. Just what makes Sam and Sierra All-Stars is beyond me, considering Owen won a season, and Dawn is a bigger favorite than Sam or Sierra. No wonder All-Stars isn't as well liked as the other seasons.
Okay, I'm done venting right now.
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!