Finally, I was waiting for this ep! Thank you for reviewing, Derpimelt1000 and Ali6132.

After my conversation with Cameron, I confided in Zoey. She was the person I trusted most, and she was pretty rational.

"Don't forget, he said 'for now'." she told me. "Remember, he's not used to social situations yet – he's been living in a bubble for sixteen years. It's been about a week since we got here. If he really does like you, he'll go to you when he's ready."

"Dawn said that he liked me." I murmured. "Why is this so hard? He likes me, I like him, what's the hold up?"

"I think you should probably let it go for now." Zoey advised. "I think we both know Cameron well enough to know that waiting is the only thing you can do."

The next morning, I was sitting outside on the steps early, when my new least favourite teammate came and sat down next to me.

"So, why are you up so early?" he asked me.

"Go away, Scott." I said flatly. "And FYI, I'm usually one of the first girls up. Jo's the only one who ever got up before I did, and now she's on the other team." I gave a sigh. I didn't like Jo much, but she was an efficient leader, at least. I wouldn't have minded Scott so much, though, if I hadn't known what he did to Dawn.

"Hey, why the hostility, sweetheart?" Scott asked innocently. "We're on the same team. I thought maybe we could hang out, get to know each other, you know..."

I turned to look him in the eye. "Don't. Call. Me. Sweetheart."
"OK, OK, you don't have to get all mad about it." Scott said, pretending to inch away from me in fear. He paused. "'Baby doll' suits you better, anyway."

I slapped him, hoping that would shut him up. "Ow!" Scott cupped his now scarlet cheek. "Forgot how hard you can slap." he muttered.

"Then you can stop calling me those stupid names. You know my real name, use it!" I snapped.

Scott seemed to recover from the slap and stepped out of my range, saying "By the way, I was going to ask you something."

"No, it didn't hurt, cause I didn't fall from the sky." I said, remembering what he'd said on the boat.

"Oh...I forgot I asked that question." Scott said thoughtfully. "Anyway, there was something else I wanted to ask. Are you really sixteen, like everyone else?"

"Yes." I said forcefully. "In fact, I'm going to be seventeen next winter."

"Wow..." Scott murmured, his blue eyes focused on me in such a way that I was sure he was trying to imagine what I'd look like without my jeans and T-shirt. Before I could tell him to stop staring at me that way, he asked "Do you have a twin?"

I gave him a weird look. "No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

Scott smiled creepily. "I just wanted to make sure I was right. And I was – you are prettier than anyone else that's not totally out of my league. As in, one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen."

"We're in completely different leagues! Do you want another slap?" I threatened. "Anything more and you would've confessed to being a thief because you were just about to steal my heart. Oh, that's right – I hate you, and by the way, the supposed thief this season despises you too." I was careful not to be too specific – I was pretty sure that what Dawn had told me was true – Scott had framed her after the water challenge.

He still didn't seem to know when to quit. But at least this time, he remembered to use my real name. "Shannon, just give me a chance, please." he said seriously. "I just want to get to know you better. I'm not a bad guy, seriously. Besides, we have to work together now."

"We'll get to know each other during challenges then." I said shortly, walking back into my cabin. Anne Maria was brushing her hair, and Zoey was just getting her stuff together.

Everyone was soon in the bare dining hall. No Chef, no Chris – no one was around, not even Dakota or one of the other interns. And no Chef meant no food – not that I would've complained about not having disgusting food in another situation, but Chef's stuff was all we had to eat on the island.

We decided to make our own breakfast, but there seemed to be nothing in the fridge or cupboards. Finally, a suspiciously familiar voice said "We should check the walk-in freezer!"

Although I was pretty sure that was Chef's voice, I followed Lightning in there with everyone else. But when the freezer predicably turned out to be the back of a truck, it was just Chef taking us to our challenge.

We were dumped outside the mines with a TV of Chris telling us about our challenge. We had to go into a mine full of toxic waste and find golden statues of Chris standing on our team colour – red for us, green for the Rats. We also had to carry packs (which we weren't allowed to look in) and wear chemical badges.

Our badges would start off green, and measure our exposure to the hazardous waste. They would turn orange after fifteen minutes, and red after twenty-five. We only had thirty minutes to do everything, so red meant five minutes to live.

"And if you see a skull and crossbones, we'll dedicate this episode to you, but no way is it gonna come to that. I sent Dakota down for forty minutes, and she's gonna be fine!"

I found out later that Dakota lost all her long blonde hair to the mine, but I didn't think about her at the time. Chris was insane. Was he trying to kill us all?

We had no clues about where to find the statues, but Chris said there were flashlights and fireflies in the mine, so those would help.

We took the lift at the top of the mine, and found the flashlights. We ended up at the base of the mine.

"Is everyone OK?" Zoey called out.

"We're alive." I groaned, pulling myself up.

We immediately ran for the nearest tunnel, with Cameron and Zoey carrying the flashlights.

Interestingly enough, we found a fedora in the middle of the mine.

"Wow, I always wanted a hat like this." Mike remarked.

"And I always wanted to die underground with a hat-loving loser." Scott quipped.

I gave him a shove. "Shut up! Our badges are still green!"

"Well, well, you can't seem to keep your hands off me, can you?" Scott replied slyly. "Whether it's violent or not."

I would've slapped him if I hadn't realized he was right.

Mike tried the hat on, and a strange confident smile appeared on his face.

"Mike, are you okay?" Cameron asked.

"Vito? Baby, is that you?" Anne Maria threw herself at him.

"G'day, sheila." Mike said in an Australian accent. "Name's Manitoba Smith." He took Zoey's torch, dropping Anne Maria. "Here, leave the torches to the menfolk, beauty."

"They talk like that in Manitoba?" Zoey frowned.

"It's another character." I whispered to her. Another personality, I meant, but I still needed to ask Mike about it. When he was Mike and not someone else, of course.

But Manitoba seemed like a competent helpful personality, at least. He seemed to know where to go. "We go left." he said. There were apparently giant creatures on the right, and mining cart tracks to the left.

"I say we take the one of the right, because it's the 'right' way to go." Scott suggested. Stupid idea.

"He's a sandwich short of a picnic." Manitoba muttered to the rest of us.

Sure enough, we found mining carts and a track.

"No way, too dangerous!" Scott argued.

"If you're a girl, maybe." Manitoba answered. Zoey, Anne Maria and I protested, just as Anne Maria's badge turned orange. One by one, ours changed to orange, too.

Fifteen minutes already! I fingered my amber necklace anxiously. I always made me feel less scared.

We piled into the carts. "I'll keep the ladies safe in the back!" Scott volunteered.

"In that case, I'm going in the front." I decided, jumping in beside Manitoba and Cameron, while Scott pulled Anne Maria and Zoey into the back.

It was like a rollercoaster. A very unsafe rollercoaster. Our cart hurled us onto a bunch of rocks at the end of the tracks, while the other cart went another way. I heard Zoey yelling "I'm too young to die!" But other than that, it was just me and the two guys.

Manitoba...well, Mike...was unconscious, but Cameron and I were okay.

We both nudged him. "Mike! Wake up!"

"I've read about situations like this but it's so different in real life!" Cameron stressed. He didn't even seem to notice me. "Think...what would Jo do?"

I smirked. "Jo would yell at him to get up and then drag him up before he was even conscious."

Cameron nodded, then hit Mike with his flashlight, though not too roughly. "Move it or lose it, bubble brain!"

Whatever. It worked, since Mike woke up. He looked up at us. "Cameron? Shannon?" he said. He wasn't Manitoba anymore – he was Mike again.

"We got separated from everyone else!" I explained.

"Come on, we've gotta find them!" Cameron added. That was when we realized we were standing on the head of a very pissed off giant blind gopher. All three of us screamed and ran.

Less than ten minutes later, Cameron was starting to feel sweaty and weak, and Mike had to piggyback him. I wasn't feeling too good either, but Mike seemed fine.

"First signs of chemical exposure are fever and nausea." Cameron murmured.

I frowned. "So why are you and I feeling worse?"

"Probably because we're smaller." Cameron answered. "The chemical exposure is bound to attack the smallest or those with the weaker immune systems first."

"I hope Zoey's OK. " Mike said. He grinned at both of us. "Thanks for coming back for me, guys."

Our chemical badges were changing to red again, but suddenly, Mike was knocked over.

"Mike! Thank goodness you're OK!" it was Zoey, with Scott behind her, scowling. "We lost Anne Maria." Zoey continued.

We found Anne Maria holding what looked like a diamond, sitting among a bunch of giant gophers, three of which were each holding the Rats in their mouths. And in the middle of it all, was another old competitor who was staring at her as if she was a queen.

Ezekiel was always voted off first in the two seasons he'd been in, first for being sexist, and second for making his team even go to elimination in the first place. But on World Tour, he snuck in the cargo hold and stayed there. However, the malnourishment and isolation turned him feral, and he even stole the prize money and fell into a volcano in Hawaii, and still made it out alive. Now, somehow he'd gotten into the mines and survived, and I could see the sooty suitcase – the money that should've been in winner Heather's possession.

"Oh well, we'll never get those statues now." Scott said, suspiciously happy about it.

It was Brick who saved us from the gophers, using the scent of his army boots to drive them away. Jo used their jar of fireflies to make the other ones let them go, while Lightning spotted the statues and went for their one. Chris' voice on the intercom told us to discard our packs – there were bombs in them, and then it was time to go. Mike grabbed the statue, but when he realized not only Cameron and I, but Zoey, too, were not up to anything at that moment and up against a gopher, he handed it to Scott and tried to fend it off.

We could hear Jo yelling over at the carts. "Brick? Brick! Forget those rejects, we have to win!"

"Zoey, there's something I have to tell you!" Mike called as he tried his hardest to keep the gopher away. "I have-"

But Brick came back for us. He stuck to his code – never leave a man behind, and we won, despite the fact that Scott had dropped the statue – it landed in Anne Maria's hair.

We all cheered. "Great." Scott muttered, looking pissed. And Chris also got to seal the mine off.

"Well, that's low, McLean, even for you." Jo remarked.

"I just keep getting better and better." Chris said smugly. Finally, Chef doused us with water just to make sure the toxic waste wouldn't leave any lasting effects on us.

That evening, Cameron and I coincidentally sat outside. After our little talk the day before, it was pretty awkward.

"We need to ask Mike about his MPD." I said, looking at the ground.

"We can do it now." Cameron suggested. When I stole a look at him, I saw he wasn't looking at me, either.

It was easier when we talked to Mike, since there was a third person.

"Um, Mike?" Cameron began. "Do you have Multiple Personality Disorder?"

Mike's brown eyes widened. "What? Who told you that?"

"We figured it out." I explained. "Well, Cameron mostly did and I picked up on more. You wouldn't have been Vito so many times if it was acting – not with Zoey around."

"Sixteen years in a bubble makes a guy pretty observant." Cameron added. "I don't get why you're keeping it a secret. But I think I can help you control it."

"And I want to help, too." I added.

Mike's face completely lit up. "You will?"

"But you have to help me with Scott." Cameron added. "I don't trust that guy."

"This is huge!" Mike enthused "Thank you, thank you!" He pulled first Cameron, then me, into a bone-crushing hug. We were both glad to help Mike – he was such a nice guy – but we could do without the hugs.

Once he put us down, I asked one more question. "I just want to ask something. May I ask why you are keeping it secret? I mean, you're still you, right? I think Zoey would understand if you told her."

Mike frowned a bit. "I don't want to tell her. You would not believe how many times I've had something good going, and then my personalities ruin it. That's why I can't tell her – not yet, anyway. Promise you won't say anything to her?"

I pretended to zip my lips. "Don't worry, Mike. I've suspected it several times, and I didn't tell her, so there's no way I'm going to start now."

Brick was voted off that night for saving our lives instead of helping his team win. We all watched him as he waited in the catapult – Mike, Zoey, Cameron and I.

"Brick, wait!" Zoey called. She saluted, and the rest of us copied. Brick managed a smile and saluted back.

Then came another surprise. Anne Maria, clutching the jewel Ezekiel had given her, jumped into the catapult, saying she quit. "I don't need this stupid show any more! Look at this thing – I'm rich!"

"Not unless cubic zirconia has suddenly become priceless." Chris grinned. But when Anne Maria wanted to change her mind, Chris hurled her anyway.

"Maggots, you're down a player." Chris said. "And one of my interns just isn't working out. But I can't fire her, or her Daddy will want all his money back. So say hello to your new teammate – Dakota!"

"You can't do this to me, McLean!" cried a bald Dakota. But he could, of course. Chris could torture us in any way he wanted.

I asked Cameron one more thing that night. "So...things are kind of awkward right now. And I can't stand it. Why isn't it working? It worked for Harold and Leshawna – why isn't it working now?"

Cameron looked at me properly. "I know things have been awkward. But I am still friends with you, Shannon. We'll talk about it later, OK?" He disappeared into the boys' cabin, while I went back to the room that now had no Anne Maria, but had added Dakota.

We all know what will happen to Dakota next, poor girl. Please review!