Chapter 6: Phobia Factor

Shortly after the campfire ceremony, the Killer Bass were sitting around the fire and the Screaming Gophers came over. Courtney sighed. "What do you guys want? Come by to rub it in?" "We got some extra dessert after our party", Trent replied. "Thought you might want some." "So, what? You're just being nice?" "Okay", Gwen said, "Owen stank up our cabin and we need some time to air it out." Beth carried some jello over to Courtney, and she screamed. "NO! I mean, no thanks! I'm good." Duncan raised an eyebrow. "What, are you on a diet or something?" "No! I just don't like green jelly, okay?" Beth took it over to DJ, and he screamed too. "SNAKE!" He knocked the food to the ground, and Cody picked some of it up. "Chill, dude, it's just a gummy worm." "Sorry for tripping. Snakes just freak me out." Tyler patted DJ on the shoulder. "I feel you. Chickens give me the creeps, dude." Gwen raised an eyebrow. "You're afraid of chickens?"

Confession Cam: Gwen
"So suddenly everyone's having this big share fest by the fire. Beth went on and on about how her mortal fear is being covered by bugs, Harold's afraid of ninjas, even Heather admitted she's afraid of sumo wrestlers."

"What's my worst fear?", Gwen said, "I guess being buried alive." "Walking through a minefield... in heels!", Lindsay said. Sadie sniffled. "Bad haircut!" "Okay, I change mine", Lindsay said. "That's sooo much scarier than a minefield." Katie shrugged. "I think being stuck in a bad outfit would be worse." The others told their fears. "Flying, man, that's some crazy stuff!" "I'm scared of hail. Small, but deadly, dude!" "Having to defuse a time bomb under pressure." Courtney smiled. "I'm not really afraid of anything. "Liar", Duncan said. "Oh, really? Well what exactly is your phobia, mister know it all?" "...Celine Dion music store standees." "Ooh, I love Celine Dion!", Lindsay said. "But what's a standee?" "You know, that cardboard cutout thing that stands in the music store." Duncan glared at Trent. "Don't say it, dude!" Courtney smirked. "So if we had a standee right now..." Duncan covered his ears. "Shut it!" He pointed at the Gophers. "What about you guys?" "Okay", Trent said, "Well I hate mimes. Like, a lot." Justin sighed. "I'm afraid of turning into an ugly monster. Courtney, you're afraid of something, spit it out." "Nope, nothing", she said. Duncan laughed. "That's not what she said last night." "Duncan, did you ever consider that maybe I was just humoring you and your stupid story?" "Sure, sure, princess, whatever floats your boat."

Three days later at breakfast, Chris came into the mess hall, whistling. "Campers! Your next challenge is a little game I like to call... Phobia Factor! Prepare to face your worst fear!" Leshawna lifted her fork. "Worse than this food?" "We're in trouble", Gwen said. "Now", Chris continued, "For our first victims... Heather! Meet us all in theater! It's sumo time!" She spat her drink into Trent's face. "What!" "Gwen. You, me, the beach? A few tons of sand?" The goth girl gasped. "Wait, how did they know those were your worst fears?", Lindsay asked. Gwen facepalmed. "Because we told them at the campfire the other night." "Wait, they were listening to us?" "It's a reality show, Einstein. They're always listening to us." Chris cleared his throat. "Chef Hatchet! Didn't you have a special order here for Tyler today?" He came over with a wire basket, and Tyler picked up a fried chicken. He bit the head off of it, and then a real chicken head popped out. Yeah, somehow it was still alive, and Tyler screamed.

The campers went outside and the challenge began. Beth completed her challenge, but Owen fainted after he saw it. Then, Chris put wigs on Sadie and Lindsay, dressed up Katie and sent Owen up in a plane. Harold was attacked by ninjas while in the bathroom, and though he did hit himself in the head, he still tried to fight them. Leshawna ran screaming from Chef dressed as a giant spider, but Heather stood up to the sumo wrestler. Meanwhile, Justin was given a makeover, making him look like a rotting zombie. An intern handed him a mirror. "Oh my gosh, I'm hideous!" Chef laughed. "Dude, you just gotta stay like this for a few hours, can you handle it. "I... I don't know..."

Next, Chris buried Gwen at the beach. "There's enough air for an hour", Trent told her. "You only need to do ten minutes." "As long as we decide to dig you up", Chris said. "Not funny, Chris!" "Sheesh! Take a pill..." Trent gave Gwen a handheld radio. "I'll be listening the hole time. Just yell for me if you panic and I'll dig you right up. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I promse." But, then a mime came and chased Trent off, leaving Gwen yelling into the radio.

Back at the theater stage, the Killer Bass tried to help DJ face his fear of snakes. "Hey, you can do this, buddy!", Duncan said. "It's the smallest snake ever, DJ, come on!", Courtney yelled. "Yeah, but it's slimy and scaly and slithery!" Courtney stood up and glared at him. "We need this point, DJ! Suck it up!" The others shook their heads. "What? We're heading straight to loserville, people." Finally, DJ picked up the snake. Then, it was Cody's turn to do his challenge. "Alright, Cody, this garbage bomb is going off in exactly ten minutes. Everything you need to know to defuse it is on these schematics." "What? No way, I can't do this!" Chris chuckled and threw him the schematics. "Then I suggest you find a good place to hide, brah! See ya later!" He ran over to the cabins where Duncan was about to do his dare. Courtney walked up to Duncan. "She's pretty, she's nice. Just one hug and you're done." Duncan turned to Courtney. "That looks really... real, man." Tyler yelled at him. "Dude, she's made of cardboard! Get in the game!" Courtney smiled. "Hey, it's okay if you can't do it." Duncan sighed, and Courtney grabbed his hand. He smiled. "Alright, I'll try." "You can do this." "Okay..." He ran at the standee and hugged it. The Killer Bass cheered and Courtney ran up to hug him. "Duncan, you're awesome!" After a few seconds she backed away, though.

The mime was still chasing Trent. He ran to the dock and into the lake, and the mime stood at the edge of the dock. "What's the matter, mime? Can't swim?" The mime prepared to dive in. "Stop! Uh... your... makeup will run!" The mime nodded and walked away. "Take that, you makeup wearing freak!" He then ran to the beach to dig Gwen up, while Geoff was pelted by a remote controlled hail cloud, which apparently exists here. Lindsay saw him run by, screaming. "Look, that cloud is following him! Awww, it's like his own baby cloud, I want one too! Here, cloudy cloud!" Then there was an explosion. Trent stopped shoveling. "What the heck was that?" "If I had to guess, I'd say Cody just blew himself up." Over near the bomb, Cody walked by Justin, covered in trash. He went wide-eyed. "Oh my. Even I'M not that ugly right now!" He smiled. "Yeah, that's right! I'm not that ugly! Never will be!"

Trent finished digging Gwen up, and she hit him with the radio. Owen's plane landed and he fell to the ground. "Oh, thank goodness, I made it!" Over by the cabins, Katie ran into hers and threw her clothes out the window. "I can't take this anymore, I'm changing into my old clothes!" Chris shrugged. "Well, alright. Sadie, Lindsay, I guess you've suffered long enough. Lindsay cheered. "Yes, we made it through the whole day! Are you ready? One, two, three!" They pulled their wigs off. Lindsay gasped. "I totally forgot how cute you are!" "Oh my gosh, you are too!" Katie walked up to them. "Hey, what about me?" The girls ran up and hugged her. "You are too, Katie!", Sadie said. "Sorry you couldn't make it through your challenge. I'm not sure I could've!", Lindsay said.

Then it was time for Tyler's challenge. "Alright, gang", Chris said, "We're in the ninth inning. Tyler, for you challenge you need to get into this pen for three minutes with these chickens." "You can do it, Tyler!", Sadie yelled. "Yeah, unless of course you're 'chicken'", Duncan said. Tyler climbed in and sat in a fetal position. Courtney walked up to the pen. "Tyler, this is the last challenge. Quit being such a girl! You have to do this or we're going to lose!" Cody pulled out a calculator. "Actually, if you do the math, there's no way you can possibly win. The score's seven to four." "Not necessarily", Chris said. "We've got one more challenge set up." "Who? It can't be me... I didn't-" "You didn't have to", Chris said, cutting Courtney off. "We're always watching you, and your reactions." "Oh, who cares? It's not going to make a difference anyway." "Let's make this interesting, then. I'll give you triple points if you can complete it, and if Tyler can finish his dare, you guys win. Now, let's do this!"

The campers walked over to a tank full of jelly. Courtney just stared at it. "Oh my..." Duncan laughed. "You're afraid of jelly?" "Shut up! Only the green kind. It's like sugary, jiggly snot!" "You can face your fear and Tyler can face his, or you can let your team lose yet another challenge." Courtney sighed and climbed up to the diving board. "This is insane. I could seriously die doing this!" "Ugh, that is just cruel!", Gwen said. "It's probably warm by now. Warm, green, jelly, snotty, bouncy- ugh!" "You're not going to make me quit!", Courtney said. Duncan yelled up to her. "That's it, keep climbing! You can do this! But like you said, Courtney, it's okay if you can't do it!" "It is? But we'll lose!" Courtney went to the edge of the board and covered her eyes. "I can't do it! I'm coming back down!" The Screaming Gophers cheered, and Heather high-fived Gwen. "Way to go on the scare tactics, goth girl." Gwen smiled. "No prob. Horror is kinda my thing." "Then there you have it", Chris said. "The Gophers win invincibility again!"

Confession Cam: Courtney
"I'm so embarrassed... How could I be so weak? I deserve to go home! Gah, okay stop it! You're pathetic! Show some confidence, Courtney..." Then she started sniffling and slapped herself.

At the campfire ceremony, it was down to the final two marshmallows. "There's only two marshmallows left on this plate. The three of you did not complete your challenges today. One of you is going home tonight and cannot return. Ever. The next safe camper is... Geoff. And the final marshmallow of the night goes to... Courtney!" Tyler got up and walked away. "Looks like a new pecking order has been established here", Chris said. "It's not like he can cry 'fowl'." "Time for Tyler to fly the coop!" "He won't be flying high tonight!", Harold said. Courtney got up. "Okay, that's enough." She walked back to the cabin and Tyler left the island.