Hello to all my readers. Thanks for staying with me this far! I spend a lot of time on this story- one to two hours per chapter- so I like that people are enjoying it. I appreciate the reviews, very much. So, some big news. At the rate things are going, the story will be finished in one week. Seven more days, six more chapters, and that's it. So look forward to it. As I've sorta said before, I'm already planning the sequel. It'll be a lot like this story, but based on season 2. Sound good? Hope so. Well, anyway, on with the story.

Chapter 20: Paired Problems

Three days later, the campers woke up to the sound of Chris flying a helicopter over the cabins. "Keep it down out there!", Leshawna yelled. "We were trying to sleep!" "Welcome back to Total Drama Island!", Chris yelled. "For the past several weeks, we've watched sixteen campers push themselves to the limit, and then get their butts kicked off the island by their fellow campers. Stinks to be you guys: Ezekiel, Eva, Noah, Bridgette, Izzy, Tyler, Owen, Justin, Beth, Duncan, Harold, Courtney, Eva again, Geoff, Cody, Lindsay, DJ and Izzy again!" He landed the helicopter and got out, going toward the campers. "Only six campers remain, and after six weeks of bugs, gross camp food, and even grosser bathrooms, our six finalists are about to thiiiis close to losing it. We strove to come up with the best way to help the campers de-stress, then decided it would be way more fun to handcuff them together and see if we could push 'em over the edge." He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and smirked. "Did Duncan's parole officer send a care package?", Heather asked. "Nah, we got these for the challenge: the tri-armed triathlon!" "Tri-armed? Like... three arms?", Katie asked. "Yes. Three challenges, three teams of two, three arms per team." "I'm not sure that's a good idea", Heather said. "Winning team members both get invincibility from tonight's vote."

Confession Cam: Gwen
"Six loooong weeks. I don't know how much more of this I can take, even with Trent here. And I don't know who's creasing me most, Heather, Katie or Sadie. Heather can be such a jerk, but Katie and Sadie both drive me crazy with their whining. If I get stuck with any of them, I might throw the challenge just to get away."

Confession Cam: Trent
"The camp is great and all, and I'm stoked to be here. Still, I wish it was over already. The only person I can deal with here is Gwen, and I'm starting to go a little crazy. Things don't go well when I go crazy. I need to get out of here..."

Confession Cam: Katie and Sadie
"I can't believe we're in the final six!" "Yeah, only a few more days til it's just you, me and Heather!" "What's gonna happen then?" "I dunno. It'll be two against one, so we can probably beat her, right?" "Yeah, right! You're so smart!" "No, you are!"

Confession Cam: Leshawna
"Yo, this is a shout out to all my sisters back home. What's up, y'all? Girls, you would not believe the crazies they got up in here. But, I came to win and I'm hangin' on, baby! Only five more campers to go."

Confession Cam: Heather
"So, to all the campers that have already left the island, I just wanna say, first of all, that I personally prefer to call you... winning challenged. Secondly, I know that some of you may have thought that I was kinda mean to you. But I just want you to know, I'm a changed girl. I'm nice now! You can thank Katie and Sadie for that, and I'll prove it to you by sharing my prize money if I win! Sound good? Good. Vote for me!"

Chris brought the campers into the mess hall and cuffed them together. "Our three teams for today are Gwen and Trent, Leshawna and Katie, and Heather and Sadie. First of our three challenges: competitive chow-down. Each team will choose a feeder and an eater. Eaters must put their hands behind them to make it even more difficult for the feeders. One last thing..." Chris pulled out a key. "This is the wimp key. It'll open your handcuffs. You'll be offered the wimp key at each challenge to unshackle yourselves from your teammate. But, if you choose to accept it, you'll both be eliminated." Gwen raised her free hand. "Hello, how do we win this thing?" "Chef's getting platters for each team. Point goes to the team that finishes their platter of delicacies fastest." Trent looked at Gwen. "So, you hungry?" "Just for victory..." "Alright, I'll eat then." Chef brought in three plates of rotting food. Heather looked at hers. "I don't think chicken is green in nature." "Um, maybe it's lemon lime chicken?", Sadie asked. Meanwhile, Katie started shoving food into Leshawna's mouth. "Oh, even just feeding you this stuff is gross!" Trent started eating, then Heather started feeding Sadie. Her face turned as green as the chicken. "Oh gosh, I don't feel so good..." Heather groaned.

After a few more minutes, the challenge ended. "And the winners are Leshawna and Katie!", Chris announced. "Okay, follow me to the dock for part two of the challenge. Also, anyone think they need the wimp key?" "No way", Heather said. "Sadie and I are gonna win this!" "What's the challenge?", Trent asked. "On the beach you will find three canoes, one for each team. Your challenge is to paddle your canoe, while wearing handcuffs, all the way to Bony Island. Once there, you will open a package waiting their for you and follow the instructions. Go!"

The campers set off toward the other island. Sadie turned toward Katie's canoe, then to Heather and asked "Do you think Leshawna's gonna be mean to Katie?" "I doubt it. She can be a little short tempered, but she's not that bad." "Well, okay... I hope so." Meanwhile, Trent and Gwen were rowing faster and faster. "Okay, keep up the pace", Gwen said. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." "Nine!", Trent said. Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sorry. Force of habit." Gwen smirked. "You're weird. I like that." "And I like that we're the first to reach Bony Island", Trent said. They paddled up to the beach and jumped out. They went up to a backpack on the beach and pulled something out. "Wait, isn't this part of the tiki thing that Beth brought to camp?" Chris flew by in his helicopter and pulled out a megaphone. "Yeah, it is! Welcome to the second part of the second challenge!" Leshawna and Katie got to shore next. "Wait, Beth said she returned that piece of junk!" "She lied. She broke it up and flushed it down the septic tank", Chris explained. Katie and Sadie groaned. "Eww!" "I know! Those tiki doll pieces need to be returned to the cave of treacherous terror, and you'll wanna do it quick before you get cursed like Beth did. Oh yeah, and one of you has to piggyback the other. Enjoy!"

Gwen climbed on Trent's back and they went off toward the cave, followed by Katie and Leshawna and Heather and Sadie. "It's great that we got paired up, huh?", Trent asked. "Sure is. I don't think I could take being paired with anyone else." Trent sighed. "Yeah. It's... really hard to be here with them." Gwen frowned. "Trent? Are you okay?" "Not really", he said. "I have OCD and I ran out of medication last week. I'm starting to go crazy." Gwen hopped higher on his shoulders, bent over and kissed him upside down. "I'll try to help you focus. Deal?" Trent smiled. "Deal."

While they were talking, Leshawna and Katie got to the cave, followed by Heather and Sadie. "I'm glad you're in front of me", Katie said. "If there's any bats or something, they'll run into you first!" Leshawna smirked. "You know, that gives me an idea." She pulled Katie off her shoulders and carried her in front. "What the heck!" "If we run into anything, YOU can get hit first. Besides, I'm the one who needs to see, so I can't run into spider webs and stuff and get it all over my eyes." Sadie glared. "That is so mean!" Heather patted her shoulder. "Focus on the challenge, please?" "Yeah, fine..." The teams went in, and came out screaming a few minutes later with some monster beavers chasing them. "Well that's convenient", Trent said. He picked up the piece of tiki doll and took aim. "Okay, let's see..." After a minute, Gwen sighed and took the chunk of wood. "Here, let me do it." She chucked it into the cave and smiled. "There, done." Trent groaned. "Oh come on, I was trying to get the angle right!" "Oh, sorry..." "No, it's fine, I need to not obsess over it so much. Let's get back to camp."

An hour later, everyone was back at camp and it was time for the last challenge. "Okay, we've got one point for Leshawna and Katie, and one for Gwen and Trent. Let's see if they can win this round! Today's final challenge..." He pulled a sheet off a table in front of Gwen and Trent, then did the same for the other teams. "the totem pole of shame and humiliation. Your task: to assemble the heads in the order in which your comrades were voted off. Unless you guys want the wimp key? No? Alright, time for heads to roll!" He blew a whistle and the campers started stacking.

"Okay, Duncan was next, right?", Katie asked. "No, girl, the next one was Beth, then Duncan." "I think I'd know when my alliance partner got voted off", Katie said. "And I think I need to smack you upside the head!", Leshawna yelled. Sadie glared. "Okay, no one talks to my best friend that way! Come here, you meanie!" she dragged Heather over and started using her as a club, smacking Leshawna. "Hey, cut it out!" Meanwhile, Trent and Gwen were struggling with their totem pole, with Gwen standing on Trent's shoulders. "Alright. Owen, Justin, and then Beth was ninth." "Thanks, Trent! Hand me the heads!" He picked one up to hand to Gwen, but fell over. "Oww! Ah, my shoulder!", he whined. "Oh, my head!" Gwen looked at the ground and picked up a chunk of wood. "And Beth's head! We broke it!" Over by the other table, Katie was building her totem pole from the ground up. She finished, then turned to Leshawna. "Hey, help me get this thing on the table!" Leshawna growled at Sadie, then did as Katie asked. "Okay, and now we- wait, you finished it?" Katie nodded.

"We have a winner!", Chris said. "Okay, they have invincibility, so go vote for someone else. Got it?" They did so, and then a few hours later it was time for the campfire ceremony. "You've all cast your votes and made your decision", Chris said. "The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the dock of shame, to catch the boat of losers, and never come back. Marshmallows go to Katie, Leshawna, Sadie, Gwen and... Heather." Trent looked confused. "Wait, seriously?" Chris nodded. "Sorry, bro. You're out of here." Heather smirked. "It's because you're too cool. I'm guessing that all the old campers are gonna vote for their favorite remaining one, so popular guys like you gotta go." Gwen glared at her. "You're gonna pay for this, Heather." Heather laughed. "Oh please, you couldn't make me pay a library fine." Gwen sighed and kissed Trent. "I'm gonna miss you so much..." He smiled. "It's okay. I'll be rooting for you the entire time. You beat Heather and everyone else for us. Okay?" "Okay." He hugged her. "Bye for now. See you later, babe." He ran off to the dock and waved goodbye. Gwen waved back until Trent couldn't see her so she could cry alone.