Paintball...sorry, I mean leechball! Let's keep going. Thanks for reviewing, Ali6132 (leechball) and AvrilLavigneFan2001(yeah, Alejandro flirting with anyone except Heather ends badly for the girl).

The next day was as bad as I imagined. Worse, actually. We started the day with a bucket of gruel thrown into our cabin by Chef, splattering all over us and the room. After I'd sneaked out of the cabin and hidden while I ate one of my hoarded snacks (Doritos), we were called to the next challenge.

On the way, Jo and Heather both apologized to Gwen and I for arguing. If the fact that they both smiled and apologized hadn't tipped me off that they were trying to get both of us on their side, the fact that Jo didn't call me Strawberry Shortcake would've.

"Bet we can use this to our advantage!" I whispered to Gwen.
The goth grinned. "Yeah. It means we have a little power around here! For once." she muttered the last part.

The challenge was supposed to be like the war movie challenge from the second season. Except nothing like. It was more like the paintball deer hunter challenge from the first season, except we didn't use paintballs, and everyone was fair game. We would use leeches. Basically, there were two crates in the heart of the forest – one with machine guns, and one with slingshots. One team would get each – first come first serve. Each team would try to shoot everyone. The last person standing would win immunity for their team. The Heroes got a minute's headstart to the crates, since they won the last challenge.

"You know who could outrun the Hamsters even with a headstart?" Heather scowled. "Lightning! Way to ruin everything, Jo!"

"We all voted him off, remember?" Jo argued back.

"We may not need to worry." Alejandro spoke up. He pointed out how Sam, who'd just arrived back from exile, was huffing and puffing, unable to run. Mike and Sierra both had to run back and help him.

I sighed in wishful thinking, and so did Gwen. "Now that's teamwork."

"Yeah." Heather said quickly. "Work together now, crush each other later. Like you and Courtney."

Gwen frowned. What Heather meant was that every time Gwen tried to talk to Courtney, it resulted in the brunette getting hurt. Gwen had tried to be friendly, but something went wrong every time.

"I love how you insist you want to be friends so she never sees it coming." Heather grinned. "Talk about evil genius!"

"But I really didn't do those things on purpose, really!" Gwen protested.

"Suuuure..." Heather winked at her.

I scowled. "Heather, you've been on like four season with this girl, and you don't know when she's honest? You can't tell when she's lying? That was an obvious truth there."

"I've only known Gwen for two days, and even I could tell that!" Jo spoke up, although Gwen and I both knew that she was just trying to curry favour with us. She probably thought the same as Heather.

At that moment, we were told we were allowed to go. We took a different path to cut the Heroes off on Gwen's suggestion.

"Go Vultures!" Alejandro called out as we ran.

"Yes we can!" Jo yelled. I winced, wishing we could just merge already. I hated being on a team full of people who would turn on everyone else the first chance they got, but acted all team-y whenever it benefited them.

As we got to the crates, we heard Courtney yelling at her team. "The big one! Go for the big one!" The seven of us jumped in front of the crate before the Heroes could get there.

"Whoa, where'd they come from?" Mike exclaimed as we went to open the crate and found our guns, as well as a cannon.

"I'll take the cannon!" exclaimed Heather, Jo, Scott and Duncan, then to each other, "No, I'll take the cannon!"

"We use it as a team." Alejandro spoke up. "Right, Gwen?" His eyes flickered over to me. "Shannon?"

"Yeah, obviously!" Heather cut in, trying to be supportive again.

"That's what I was going to say!" Jo added. "Go team!"

"You guys are right!" Gwen smiled. "We need to stop attacking each other and start attacking the other guys. Fire the cannon!"

We hit a cameraman.

After we actually got into the forest, the seven of us stuck together for a while, until Gwen suggested ditching the cannon.

"No! I haven't even had a turn to fire it yet!" Jo protested. She then proceeded to stroke the cannon, talking to it like it was a beloved child. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

I burst out laughing. "Perfect match! I am going to tell Sierra about pairing you with the cannon after I shoot a leech at her!"

Gwen gave Jo a weird look, but simply said "Okay, then we should split up."

"Agreed." Alejandro said. "I'll go with Gwen."

"No, I'll go with Gwen!" argued Heather.
"As if I'm letting either of you go anywhere with Gwen!" Jo snapped.

"What part of split up don't you three understand?" I asked innocently. "Ugh, forget it. How about Jo takes the cannon and goes it alone, Heather and Alejandro go together, Gwen goes with Duncan, and I go with Scott?" Before Scott could say anything, I added, "And don't get any ide-"

I was cut off by a cry from Alejandro. "I'm hit!" Sure enough, a leech was already stuck to him.

Zoey popped up from behind a bush. "Sorry – but not totally!" We began shooting as she ran, but then Jo fired the cannon...and hit Scott.

"Oh, come on!"

"That's two points for the Heroes, and zilch for the Villains!" Chris' voice rang out from a loudspeaker.

"But Zoey only hit Alejandro." Duncan pointed out.

"True, but friendly fire counts!"

All of us glared at Jo. "What? Dirt boy got in the way!"

Heather shot a death glare at her. "You can take your excuses, and stick 'em in your-" she was cut off when Mike showed up and shot a leech at her. She tugged at it. "In my hair! What is wrong with you?"

"Okay, I'm out of here!" I called.

"Avenge me!" I heard Heather yelling as the rest of the team split up.

I made a run for it on my own, looking around the whole time to make sure none of the Heroes could pop up and shoot me before I spotted them. Gwen and Duncan did end up going together as partners. Later on, I heard that Sierra accidentally shot herself when she aimed for Gwen, then Cameron aimed for Gwen, but Duncan jumped in front of her. Then Gwen shot Cameron, but Mike shot her (why are all the good players my friends?).

I found a cave before I heard the announcement of a second Hero being shot. I could see two dark figures inside, neither having noticed me, so I shot, prompting a squeal of disgust and shock from the skinnier one. I recognized Courtney's voice and bolted before the other Hero could shoot me, but ran straight into Jo. She nearly shot me before realizing it was a teammate.

I kept running out of the cave, but as I sped for the forest, I felt a pressure and sucking motion on the side of my neck. I whirled around and turned to see Zoey, who had just shot the leech that was now sucking at my neck like a vampire. She smiled and mouthed "sorry", before heading for the cave. I followed, plucking the leech off me.

I saw it all from outside the cave. Jo shot Sam, the other Hero, several times, but she would've had a heck of a harder time doing so if Courtney, who was already shot, hadn't pulled him into the line of fire to shield herself from any more leeches. Zoey missed when she first tried to hit Jo.

"Nice try, apology breath!" I heard Jo say, and then, "It's jammed!" What was with every weapon Jo touched not working out in her favour?

"Nice try...mean nickname-giver!" Zoey replied. I didn't see exactly what happened. Next thing I knew, Zoey had shot Jo. "Not sorry!"

That was it. The Heroes won again. "Although some of them didn't behave all that heroically," Chris said via loudspeaker, "Even after already being taken out...Courtney!"

"My survival instincts kicked in!" Courtney defended herself. "Anyone would've done the same!"

I'd already decided my vote. I knew either Heather, Jo or Alejandro had to leave...Gwen was stuck in the middle of them. All three of them were pretty good at the game, but I'd glad to be rid of any of them. Jo and Heather were both so bossy and threatening players, but they were assets, too. I ruled out Alejandro, since he was more of a team player, so it would be better to keep him around for a few more challenges. I couldn't trust him, but he was still someone to keep in a team situation. Jo had shot Scott because he "got in the way", and Heather was too smart to accidentally hurt a teammate. That was a good thing about her. On the other hand, she was even more of a threat than Jo.

I decided that Heather was the one that was more valuable to keep. She was more useful, so my vote was for Jo. Besides, I kind of wanted to see if Heather and Alejandro's relationship became romantic. It was obvious they still had something for each other.

I managed to talk to Sierra again before elimination, and told her about Jo/Cannon, the new crack pairing. As I expected, she took it ultra-seriously, and started typing away on her SmartPhone about an "eyewitness of a new love".

"Also," I said, "Can you tell me...how many people ship Alejandro and Heather?"

"Oh, tons!" squealed Sierra. "I'm one of the Aleheather shippers! Well...a percentage of people thought Alejandro didn't survive the lava, but now that he and Heather are around each other again...oh my gosh, you have to tell me EVERY development in their relationship!"

I nodded, "Okay, Sierra, I will." I giggled. "This is kind of fun." Although, what wasn't fun was when Sierra told me about another blog involving me...Scannon. Yes, you got that right – people were shipping me with Scott. And Sierra had a blog on it. I told her to take it down, but she smoothed things over by telling me that most people thought of it as one sided. "Although some people thought you were in denial. Most of them don't like it, but they know what you think."

I didn't get a chance to talk to Cameron before the bonfire ceremony, but I did find a minute to talk to Zoey. We talked about the challenge a little bit, and then I asked her how everyone else was. As it turned out, she was getting worried about Mike.

"He tried to bring out Svetlana today so he could be more stealthy when finding your teammates, but he couldn't do it. Same thing yesterday – after he got hit on the head, Manitoba wouldn't come back out when Mike put the fedora on. Earlier on, he told me that he tried taking his shirt off, but Vito didn't come out either."

I frowned. "That's weird. Anything else happen?"

Zoey shook her head, but still, that was worrying. If none of Mike's triggers were working, did that mean the hit on the head...cured him? Or was it something else, something more sinister?

But there was another problem coming up, something that came to light at the campfire ceremony. And it started with an S.

I mean, I knew Cameron had said he was becoming friends with Sierra, so I wasn't surprised when she started discussing with him who was going home. . "My money's on Jo."

"Unless she can convince them-" Cameron began.

"To cut Heather!" they said at the same time.

Sierra's eyes went all dreamy, and she seemed to be hallucinating, because the next words out of her mouth were "Oh, Cody, we really do think alike!"

"Yeah," Cameron said, "Except I'm Cameron, not Cody."

"Oh, Cody, don't be silly!" Sierra said. "Who wants a foot rub?"

Cameron screamed, and I would have gone to pull them apart, had Chris not seen me going to stand up. "Shannon," he said warningly, "If you leave your place before I announce the loser, the vote won't count, and you'll be the one eliminated. If you want any chance of staying in the game, don't move." I slumped down again, scowling.

Before Chris announced the loser, he asked for a hero to volunteer for exile. "Ooh, me, me, me!" Cameron called out enthusiastically, although most of his team protested.

"Don't you think someone on your team might more deserving of a night on Boney Island?" Chris asked, quickly coughing out "Courtney!"

"That's okay, I want to go." Cameron answered, glancing at Sierra with a look of fear.

"Good luck, Cameron!" Zoey and I both called out.

"He's so little, maybe the animals won't notice he's there?" Mike said, sounding hopeful.

As it was, I got a marshmallow, as did Alejandro, Gwen, Scott and Duncan. "Heather and Jo," Chris said, "You're on the edge – Heather for being a pain in the kiester, and Jo for being a pain in the kiester, who also took out her teammate in today's challenge."

"He should've ducked!" Jo protested.

But that didn't help matters. I'd voted for her, and it turned out most of our team had done the same. "What?" she exclaimed. "Are you all nuts?"

But before Chris flushed Jo, he wanted to do some reshuffling. "Today, one Hero acted more like a villain, and one Villain acted more like a hero. So pack your bags and switch your teams..."

I wondered who on our team was switching. I knew, I just knew, Courtney was coming to join us. But who was swapping to the Heroes?

"...Courtney and Duncan!"

The one-time couple gasped.. Of course, Duncan had taken a leech for Gwen.

"I don't wanna be a Villain!" Courtney whined.

"And I don't wanna be a lame-o Hero." added Duncan more calmly.

But Chris wasn't going to listen to them. "Yeah, yeah, just do it!"

Duncan sighed. "It was fun while it lasted." He kissed Gwen on the cheek and began walking towards his new team. As they switched places, Duncan smirked at his ex-girlfriend. "At least now you have to stop blanking me and admit I exist."

"Yeah." Courtney replied. "You exist. SO WHAT?"

"I...I think I liked the blanking better."

Gwen smiled at Courtney. "So, uh, hey. Welcome to the team." As she stood up, she accidentally kicked a bucket of leches, that appropriately landed on Courtney. "I swear, I didn't see the pail!"

Chris laughed. "Pure evil!"

No one missed Jo, I'm sure, but who wanted Courtney? I tried, halfheartedly, to welcome her. All I said was "Hey, welcome to hell on earth. It sucks, but what do you expect out of a bunch of villains." She scowled at me.

"So," I added casually, "Last time I saw you on TV, you were willing to do anything and everything for Alejandro. I thought you'd be happy to be on the same team as him. What changed?"

Wow, that made Courtney mad. "What do you think?" she hissed dangerously. "It couldn't possibly have been the way he kissed Heather in the finale?"

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Yeah, I knew they belonged together, but that seemed to be the minute Courtney worked that out. She'd already had her heart broken by Duncan earlier in the season. Alejandro just had to break her heart all over again, poor girl.

Still, I was thankful that she wasn't sharing her bunk with me. She was worse than Heather by this point.

I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with the rewrite! Hope you're enjoying it more than I am!