Time to start the challenge! Thanks for reviewing, Piecesxoxo, RebelToasters12, Nicky Haugh, Liz The Sweet Writer, Bloodylilcorpse, Pokemon FTW, yeezynight14, SuperKitty4789, That British Guy (well, maybe some characters need redemption and have you forgotten that she won two individual challenges plus beat Heather in badminton and made up all the lines for Admiral Lindsay Her Hotness?) and the guest reviewer.

Our challenge was actually quite simple. The prams were from the Central Park challenge. Basically, we'd choose one person to "drive". The rest of us would cliff-dive, one at a time, and find a key embedded in the sand while eluding the sharks. Then, the diver would jump into their team's pram, and the driver would take them to the spa hotel, where they could try their key. If it didn't fit, they'd have to go back in the pram, and the next diver had to wait until they got back to dive. The team that found the right key and opened the spa hotel got to stay there for the next two nights. Then the battle would start all over again with the next challenge.

Our team was pretty agreeable with who should drive. Too agreeable.

"You could do it." Mike suggested to Zoey.

Zoey smiled back. "Well, maybe you should do it."

I deliberated. We'd never get anything done if they kept on like that, and I wasn't sure who had more stamina.

I replayed last year in my head. Who had been the more successful person? Who had shown the most stamina combined with speed.

Finally, I made my mind up. "I agree with Mike. I think Zoey should do it. All in favour?" I raised my hand. With it, most of the original season girls raised their hands.

The Villains seemed to have made their choice, too.

"Okay," Chris said, "Everyone but Lightning and Zoey, up the cliff you go!"

I offered to jump first for the Heroes. I mean, I really just wanted to get it over with, especially when a familiar mutant put his head out of the water and waved.

"Fang!" Scott, Mike and I said in one voice.

Gwen looked over the edge with us. "Who?"

While Chris finished giving us the rules, I gave Gwen a quick explanation. "Toxic wasteland, mutants, Fang is basically a shark with legs and arms. Oh, and he HATES Scott."

Evidently, even giving the shark tooth back hadn't changed too much between the two. Scott was still afraid enough of Fang to step as far behind the rest of the Villains as possible.

The first Villain to jump was Justin. I'd have to hope he still had the same effect on sharks he used to, then they'd stare at him and not even notice me.

Well, I reached the shore first, and jumped into the baby carriage with the key. "Let's go!" I exclaimed, and Zoey started pushing.

"This feels so weird." I commented. "You know, being in a pram with one of my friends pushing."

Zoey giggled. "It feels a little weird to me as well, but what does it matter? This challenge isn't actually that scary. I mean, yeah, about level for Total Drama, but we've faced worse than sharks before."

I nodded. "Yeah! Just have to hope-" I was cut off as Lightning ran past, wheeling the pram with Justin in it. I gave a sigh. "Why did this have to happen? I wish Lightning was a Hero, too."

Zoey looked a bit unsure. "Well, no offence, but...Lightning kind of is more Villain than Hero. I guess you don't get to see it, because he's always been nice to you, but you didn't see the way he used to look at our team last season when we won, and I know he was mad at your team for losing."

I gave a sigh. "No, I see it. It's just he did so little that was really villainous that I could've believed that gave him an edge. Plus, I've almost forgotten what he was like on the show, as opposed to how he is when we hang out...although he does make me work out. As it is, it means one of our biggest threats is on the other team. Well, physical threats."

As it was, we got to the spa hotel just as the Villains were heading back. At least they didn't have the right key – then Zoey would've been on the chopping block for just being too slow. But I didn't have the right key, either.

"Sorry." I said. "We'll have to wait for the next person to dive."

At least our next diver was quick. Sierra took about ten seconds to reach the shore, a key clasped in hand. "I found one that looks like Cody!"

Meanwhile, Duncan had already gone with Lightning.

Things went on like this for a while. However, while I was waiting, I talked with Beth and Lindsay. I remembered that last time Beth had faced this challenge, she was too scared to jump. "Why don't you do it this time?" I suggested. "No one else has died yet. If you were brave enough to jump into a kiddie pool of worms, stand up to Heather, and get into a comet full of puke, you can do one tiny little cliff dive."

Beth nodded slowly. "Well...I really wanna prove myself. I didn't think I was going to be on this show at all."

"But you made it so far!" Lindsay protested. "You are a star, Beth! And we all know you can do it."

A determined look came over Beth's face – the same one I'd seen her have that one episode when she stood up to Heather, and the one she had when Leshawna taunted her during the badminton game – again, against Heather. "I'll do it." she said firmly.

And after our third jumper (Mike) had come back and had no luck, Beth closed her eyes, and stepped into thin air. And she actually managed to get to the pram pretty quickly – enough that the Villains didn't widen their lead, at least.

But we still didn't get the win. You see, Lightning had gone through six Villains, and Scott was refusing to jump. Duncan was trying to pull him off the rock he clung to, while Anne Maria (she'd jumped fifth) was standing there, giving him a sizzling death glare. "If I risked my looks jumping, you're gonna risk it too! Not that you have any looks to speak of." she added more quietly.

"You have to dive!" Duncan insisted. "It's you, or the robot, and I'm pretty sure the robot isn't water-proof."

"Yeah, but it's shark-proof!" Scott stammered, still refusing.

Wouldn't you know it, the robot fell off the cliff, anyway. There were a few seconds, before an explosion happened in the water. A figure flew up, and even from the distance, I could see a few key features.

Longish dark hair. Caramel skin. A heartmelting smirk.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Heather shrieked.

I couldn't help a giggle at the queen bee's reaction. But as I turned my attention back to the eighth Villainous Vulture (which was actually a pretty good description), I couldn't help agreeing with her.

He may have desperately needed a shave and a few darns on his over-a-year-old clothes, and he may have looked a lot better than he had last time I'd seen him, none of those things could stop me from recognizing the one and only Alejandro Burromuerto.

Why? WHY? Why did that guy have to be on this season? Yeah, yeah, I know, they brought back all the other finalists, but how many people actually wanted to see...OK, scratch that, at least a quarter of the cheer squad thought they were in love with him...but who actually wanted to have that guy on their team? Oh well, at least he wasn't on my team. As long as I ignored him, I'd be fine.

But I couldn't ignore him and his achievements this time. Not only was Alejandro free from the robot, but he also had managed to find a key. He couldn't walk, though, so Lightning had to lift him into the baby carriage and carry him up the porch to the spa hotel door...but the key worked.

The Villains had won, and we had to vote someone off.

I discussed the voting with Zoey and Mike. "It's not really fair." I sighed. "I like our team. None of us deserve to go that quickly. And obviously the three of us aren't going to vote each other off yet. We should make a final three deal again. Then if that happens, all three of us will have had at least one chance at the million." I grinned at Zoey, communicating that even if she didn't win the semifinals, Mike or I would take her to the finale.

"So...who should we vote off?" Mike asked. "How are we going to do this? No one screwed up today."

"I guess we could go by process of elimination?" Zoey suggested. "Like, who's been the strongest before?"

"Well, we can't boot Beth." I said firmly. "She refused to jump in the first season, but she did it today. And I somehow think having Lindsay along will make her braver. They're best friends, after all, and very protective of each other."

"I think we should keep Brick, too." Zoey spoke up. "He always tries his best, and I felt really bad when he left last season. He deserves to stay."

"That leaves Sierra and Owen." Mike surmised. "Who should we keep?"

There was a silence, as the three of us started sizing up the crazy fangirl against the big lovable lug. After some more discussion, we made our choice, and promised to stick to it.

After that, we moved our stuff into the cabins. This one was clearly the old Killer Bass cabin, and I wasn't sure who slept where. But Sierra knew. "That over there was Katie and Sadie's bunk," she pointed out, "And that bunk was the one Bridgette and Courtney shared-"

"I call Bridgette's one!" I said instantly. "My big bro says I'm like the second-generation Bridgette, so makes sense, no?"

Sierra giggled. "Okay, if you're taking that one, I'll take the top bunk."

While I'd been planning to share with Zoey, I didn't feel like I could say no, even though Beth and Lindsay were sharing and Zoey would be left on her own in Eva's old bunk. Once I found out the spa hotel housed two bedrooms for three and one for two, I resolved to ask Zoey to share one of the rooms with me (if it was a three-bedroom one, we'd just have to ask Sierra too). And it wasn't like we weren't sharing the cabin, right?

Elimination was set to be before dinner. The seven (once eight) of us would have to go to the mess hall and eat Chef's slop, while the Villains got to eat gourmet at the hotel. But meanwhile, before elimination, I hung around outside the hotel, hoping that one of the more sympathetic Villains, or in the best scenario, Gwen, would come out so that they would get Lightning for me. I wanted to talk to him.

Luckily, I saw a tall, broad figure step out of the hotel. He wasn't looking at me, though. He was still watching himself in a mirror.

"Justin!" I called out.

The model looked up and saw me, blinking in confusion. "Um, aren't you on the other team?"

"Yeah, but I'm not in your hotel, am I?" I pointed out. "Look, could you do me a favour? I assume Lightning's still inside. Can you bring him out here. Tell him Danni misses him."

Justin gave a sigh. "I'll tell someone else to do it, okay?"

"Ask Gwen." I suggested.

It took ten minutes, but eventually, Lightning raced out of the doors and pulled me into a hug. I smiled up at him and whispered "Shall we talk somewhere quieter? I don't want all our teammates watching us. Maybe the forest?"

So that's what we did. We didn't talk that much, just exchanged little stories about our teammates, mourned not being on the same team, and laughed over little things.

"Don't forget, though," Lightning warned me, "I'm not gonna go easy. You Heroes are going sha-down!"

I laughed at him. "Heroes rule! We're so gonna cream you Villains next challenge. But whatever. We can keep our relationship out of the game. We can hang out between challenges. We should make this our meeting place. Every evening, before dinner on rest days, and before elimination on challenge days."

"Sha-totally!" agreed Lightning. "I'm not missing a chance to see you every day! You better remember!"

I shrugged. "If I don't, come find me in wherever I'm rooming that day. But I will. Today, I was just hanging around the spa hotel, waiting for someone to come out so I could ask them to tell you I was outside." I paused, and asked "How's Alejandro doing? Can he still not walk?"

Lightning shrugged. "Dunno. He hasn't tried. He hasn't talked to anyone except bossy girl. You know the one?"

"Heather?" I guessed.

"Yeah. That's the hot one who tried to bean me last year, right?" When I gave him a stern look, he laughed. "Don't worry. I mean, yeah, she's hot, but she's not cute like you. My type's cute, and that's you."
That comment made me smile, and I said "Okay, so yeah, that's Heather. Anyway, I'm betting Chris is going to call my team to elimination soon, so we'll have to talk later. Bye for now!"

Lightning pulled me back before I could go. "Wait!" He wanted to get in a kiss before I got back to my team, and I was only too happy to comply.

Chris called us to elimination about ten minutes after I got back to my team. Actually, the Villains had to come too. They'd sit in a little peanut gallery while us Heroes went to the confessional one by one, and crossed a photo of the person we wanted out.

Oh, and one more thing. As Chris said "I need one person from the winning team to volunteer for a special reward."

I knew the volunteer before I even heard his voice. "Ha! Sha-Lightning!"

Yeah, Lightning was smarter than he was last year, but not enough to accidentally accept spending the night in exile on Boney Island. Then again, he could look for a hidden invincibility statue there, so maybe it was a reward.

"Now he tells us." Scott muttered.

We went alphabetically, so I went third, after Brick and before Lindsay. I crossed the smiling face of the person, feeling guilty, but knowing there was nothing else I could do.

Chris, as per usual, threw us our marshmallows. "Zoey. Beth. Mike. Lindsay. Danni, and Brick." Only Owen and Sierra were left. "I'll be honest. I don't know why either of you are on the chopping block. Maybe people are just voting randomly." Chris grinned. "Great tension, having all of you squirm over voting out a friend. I wouldn't expect any less of Heroes! And the loser is..."

Both of our teammates looked nervous. Owen was a hair away from gnawing at his nails. Sierra looked like she was about to cry. Then Chris spoke again.

"Owen!" Then he frowned. "Sorry, dude. I wish I'd voted. Sort of."

We all had to watch the lovable goof be flushed, and yeah, I do mean flushed. The way an All-Star left was to be flushed down a giant toilet.

But I had to ask. "Um, Chris," I said, "It's not actually a real toilet, right? I mean, it's not used and it doesn't go into the sewers, right?"

Chris shrugged. "You are way too paranoid, Danni! Here's the deal – the pipes go somewhere else every time I flush. An intern will pick up the flushed contestant, and no, no one uses it. We have to get a little creative with the way home each season!"

I sighed and accepted that. Still, I was going to miss Owen. I'd wanted him to stay, but ultimately, he was just one of the weakest members of our team.

I know there are lots of people who absolutely adore Owen. There's also those who think he's overused. He gets a lot of canon screentime, so if he's your favourite, sorry, but he's not mine and this story wasn't for him. I'm here to give characters that deserved more time or a better sendoff what they deserved, and Owen's sendoff took place after this season, in the Ridonculous Race. So one early elimination is fair enough.