All right. Episode 5 of the original All-Stars heavily featured Mal. Now that he's gone, what shall happen?

Thanks for reviewing, BluXRE, yeezynight14, Nicky Haugh, RebelToasters12, Pokemon FTW (I see your point, but she DID win the badminton challenge it was based on), Bloodylilcorpse and OmniPlanckInstant.

Although I was sad that Mike was gone, it was sort of a relief. The tensions had been high while he was still there and stressing about causing trouble.

I spent half the day talking to Gwen, who came out of the spa hotel, looking miserable. "I just wanted to get away from my team for awhile." she explained when I asked. "Honestly, I don't think I can like any of them."

I frowned. "Why are you still with Duncan if that's true?"

"Oh." Gwen realized what she'd said. "Okay, so that wasn't quite true. It's not easy to be a couple while on the show, but at least no one's calling me 'New Heather' or anything. Duncan wants me to lighten up, but he gets why I don't feel like it. I've promised to get through things once the show's over. But I don't like Scott or Lightning, and I've never liked Heather or Alejandro."

I quirked an eyebrow. "You've never liked Alejandro? Not even when you first met?"

Gwen shrugged. "I never really talked to him, so I didn't get the chance to like him before everyone realized he was evil all along." She paused. "So...you don't have a problem with me not liking Lightning?"

I shrugged too. "My other TD friends don't like him much, either. My friends at home are okay with him, but I totally get why he's not at the best during competitions. He makes an effort to always be nice to me, but...well, I know how much he hates losing. And I know you lost that one-woman hockey thing to Sierra?"

Gwen actually laughed. "I knew that was going to be a nightmare. Sierra doesn't like me much as it is, and I'm not sure if Chris estimated her physical skills right – she's actually really tough and she has no problems with getting violent."

I paused, before asking the next question. "By the way, can I ask you something? Does Lightning ever talk about me?"

"Are you kidding?" Gwen said, smiling a little bit. "Besides the competition, you're all he talks about."

That made me smile too. I started to wish Gwen was on the Heroes team with me. She'd fit right in – okay, so Sierra didn't like her, but Beth had probably forgiven her for that whole challenge-throwing thing in Action (not that Gwen should've been blamed at all since she didn't ask Trent to do it, and made it clear that she didn't want him to) and I knew Zoey would like to hang out with her.

As a matter of fact, even when I saw the other villains, none of them seemed to be doing anything that villainous. Scott had done nothing influential in the game, Lightning wasn't one for evil plans anyway and nor was Duncan, Heather had barely said a word that wasn't about the game, and Alejandro was pretty much the same. The only person I'd seen him say anything to that wasn't about challenges was Heather.

As for the Heroes? Don't make me laugh. The only way we were going to get a Heroic Hamster villain was if Zoey went into that scary evil-twin mode she told me about last season.

We didn't have to wait until the next day for the challenge, though. Chris called us around sunset. "Gather around the starting line for a big announcement!"

As I walked with my teammates, I asked Sierra "What do you think he wants from us on a free day?"

Sierra shrugged. "I have several ideas. 25 percent says he's making team switches. 10 percent the merge – but probably not at this stage of the game. 15 percent it's a legit announcement...but most likely it's the 50 percent idea – he's making us do a challenge tonight instead of tomorrow."

She was absolutely right. Scott had already left for Boney Island, but he was dropped back down just after we reached Chris.

"Good news, you guys!" our host said cheerfully. "It's time for an extremely dangerous nighttime challenge!"

"How is this good news?" Gwen wanted to know.

"Entertainment value, hellooo? This one is gonna be ratings gold!"

The idea was just that we had to race the Villains to the other side of the island. The thing was, they got a map with a route for winning last time, and we had to wear hats with bacon and sausage belts with tails.

Oh, and even worse. Tonight was supposed to be a blue harvest moon. And if you've seen any cartoon ever, you know what that means – I just had to hope us Heroes wouldn't swap personalities like the I was almost glad that Mike wasn't around. With the fragile state he believed his mind to be in, there would've been a large chance the evil one would've taken over.

"We better follow the Villains at first, since they have a map." I whispered to Sierra. "Pass it on." She obligingly whispered it to Brick, who was standing on one side of her. He passed it on to Zoey, who passed it on to Beth, so we were all ready to run when Chris let us go.

"The moon doesn't look blue right now," Beth said, squinting up at it through her glasses. "Did Chris get it wrong?"

"Something tells me no." Sierra said, looking troubled. "Chris wouldn't get something like that wrong. But it is weird that it's normal at the moment."

"Well, even so, we need to be prepared for the situation, should he be right or not." Brick said decidedly. "Does anyone have any idea what to expect?"

"This is just a guess," I said, "But I think the animals will become their opposites. We'd have to avoid the usually harmless creatures. The usually aggressive ones will be harmless...that is, if the moon does end up going blue."

"Does it affect people?" Zoey asked, looking slightly pale.

I shrugged. "I don't know if that is the effect – it's guesswork. So I don't really know. Probably not."

We kept running with less conversation, but the Villains managed to lose us anyway. And then, it happened.

A shadow passed over the moon, and the light beamed out weird vibes. I started to get a weird feeling – like I wanted to just stop doing the challenge and wander off. I didn't care if we won or not, and I didn't need to try. They were faint feelings, but they were there. I tried hard to push them down. I wanted to win – we'd already lost two challenges in a row!

"What in the world..." Zoey began to say, but then the look in her eyes changed. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but a second later, she seemed to have this...confidence that wasn't there before.

"We can't just stand here while the Villains get ahead." she said in a harsh low tone, a voice I'd never heard my friend use in a whole year. "Let's get moving, team – we can't let the others beat us again. I am going to make sure this time, we win!"

"Um, you mean we are going to, right, Zoey?" Beth spoke up timidly.

"Of course." Zoey said dismissively. "Now let's get going!"

Brick glanced up at the moon again, looking apprehensive. He gave a sigh. "At least the blue moon is giving off more light than usual. I can see everything clearly."

Everything was in a weird blue light, but it was lighter than most nights, so no wonder Brick wasn't so worried about being stuck in the dark.

"Is it just me, or is this not normal for Zoey?" Beth said in a loud whisper to me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, it is kind of weird. But maybe that's me, too, because I've been feeling weird, too. Like I don't care so much about this challenge. It just came on suddenly."

Beth frowned. "Kind of weird. A minute ago, I started feeling angry that we'd lost two challenges in a row. I really want to win this one. And I'm even more angry at myself for not being the best teammate."

"Don't say that!" I insisted. "Just because you have some weaknesses doesn't mean you don't have strengths! You were known for being the nice one on the second season, weren't you? I remember the voting booth – DJ said he was voting for you because you were gentle."

Beth only shrugged. "I'm just saying, it's unusual for me to be so down on myself and the team. If you think you're feeling weird, times that by ten."

"OMG, feeling weird?" Sierra exclaimed, overhearing. "Don't even say any more. For some reason, I'm kind of over this show. I NEVER thought I'd be over it, but right now, I think I am."

"You guys are slowing me down!" Zoey yelled over her shoulder. She was several paces ahead. "Come on, people, pick up the pace! We have to win this one!"

The girls and I exchanged glances. We were all feeling weird, and Zoey was acting...well, kind of like Jo acted.

I think we all came to the same conclusion. I glanced up at the moon again. That could explain a lot.

To be fair, the challenge itself wasn't too interesting. It was our behaviour...well, mainly Zoey's. No one else was acting too different, but we all felt different. Brick later on mentioned that he'd felt like deviating from the straight and narrow and taking a leaf out of Duncan's book for once. But like me, he'd pushed the feeling away.

As we were heading for the finish line, the light changed. We passed the finish line, but the minute we had, Zoey stopped. The look in her eyes had changed back, and they suddenly welled up.

But whatever had happened, we'd won. Most of the Villains had crossed the finish line, but Gwen came running up late. Apparently the Villains had crossed the rope bridge, but Gwen had been too wary of it breaking to do so, and had gone a different way.

It was almost morning by the time we got back, so Chris told us to meet him at the bonfire the next night. "Meanwhile, Heroes, go enjoy the spa hotel. Villains, go back to the cabins."

Before catching up on sleep, I tried to get Zoey to talk to me.

"I guess I need to tell you." she admitted. "You remember what I told you last year, about assaulting the football team?"

I paused, thinking. "Yes...but you didn't hurt anyone. You were just...kinda competitive."

"But that's it." Zoey said softly. "I was in focus that time, because it was the moon, but...that's the me, the one I become when I get too stressed. If you or one of the others had argued with me or challenged me..." Her eyes welled up again. "I hate to think what I might have done. And it was this whole 'me me me' thinking going on. I don't want to be that version of me."

"You're not." I said in comfort. "We all felt weird during the blue moon. Like the animals. You're not the only one – we're all the same."

That seemed to comfort Zoey momentarily, but all the same, I told the rest of the team to be nice to her, especially since I wouldn't be around for the next two nights.

Yes, I volunteered for exile. I might as well have a crack at finding the invincibility statue, and...well...Brick and Mike had done it. I would rather take a turn now than do it after a tougher challenge.

As for the vote off?

Gwen. But at least she seemed happy about it. She had lost the challenge for them, after all, and now she got to do what she wanted and get back in contact with Courtney.

She even took the chance to kiss Duncan goodbye, so even her wish to make up with Courtney hadn't changed that relationship. That was cute.

I didn't stay around to see Gwen get flushed. I was on my way to Boney Island.

Took me a while to finish that. I wasn't originally planning to bring in Commando Zoey so early, but I'm not great at writing her, so I didn't put much of her in. But yeah, in this AU, the moon affects everyone, not just animals and people with disorders. It's just that Zoey ends up showing it more and not realizing it's not the real her, while some of the others recognize their feelings as being unnatural.