Okay, so I'm really sorry about taking so long to update this story. I've been working on it for ages, but I'll spare you the details of my life so we can get on with the story.
I don't own Total Drama.
"Sphinx's Scavengers"
"Last time on Total Drama Island, our campers experienced the great outdoors!" Chris announced. "The Gophers were pretty divided – Dakota and Cody got separated from the rest of the team and almost spent the entire night in the woods alone together. Meanwhile, Alejandro and Jo competed for the loyalty of the other Screaming Gophers. Gwen and Duncan scared the crap out of their teammates by telling some pretty gruesome horror stories – it was hilarious! Courtney banished Brick from the team, Bridgette burned down her team's tent and Scott got them all chased by bears. Then the bears – the animals, not the team – found the Screaming Gophers and they were forced to spend the night in a tree. So basically, nobody got much sleep last night. Who will get sent home tonight in the most dramatic campfire ceremony, ever?"
Cue theme song.
Trent was sitting on the front steps of the cabin playing a song he'd written for Gwen, who was blushing as he sang to her. Zoey sat with them, looking as though she was feeling pretty bittersweet about the whole thing.
"Trent, that song is so adorable." Zoey told him sadly.
Trent raised an eyebrow at her tone and Gwen nudged him, pointing at Mike. Zoey had been staring at the spiky-haired brunette throughout Trent's song. When he caught the redhead looking at him, he smiled and waved at her. She waved back before staring at the table as though the knots in the wood were the most interesting things she'd ever seen, her face flushing red.
Then the loudspeaker crackled to life and Chris's voice began to speak. "Attention campers, it's time for the next challenge. Come to the Mess Hall to find out what you have to do."
"Aww man, good luck in today's challenge." Trent said to Gwen.
"Yeah, you too. . ." Gwen answered. "Hey, I gotta get something from the cabin, you and Zoey run ahead – I'll catch up later, okay?"
"Okay." Trent and Zoey said in unison, nodding before they went to join their teams.
Confessional
"Okay, so Zoey totally did me a favour when she hooked me up with Trent." Gwen said. "I'm kind of getting tired of watching her stare at that guy Mike. So I figure it's about time that I repaid the favour."
"Hey – Bridgette? Can I ask you a question?"
"Hey Gwen. Sure thing. What's on your mind?"
"Are you going out with Mike?"
Bridgette's eyes grew wide with surprise. "No. We're just friends."
"Do you know if he is seeing anyone?"
"Not as far as I know. He's never mentioned a girlfriend before, so I'd say probably not."
"Awesome." Gwen said with a smile.
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I know someone who really likes him."
"Really? And who might that be?"
"Oh. . . uh, I'm not sure she'd want me to say who. . ."
"I see."
"So, that's really great. I'd – uh – better catch up with my team. Talk to you later!" Gwen said, jogging off to meet up with her teammates.
Confessional
"Step one, check." Gwen said, satisfied for a moment. Then she seemed to become hesitant. "Okay, so I totally hate meddling in other people's love lives, but I owe Zoey a hand with this." Gwen looked almost concerned for a moment, before she spoke again. "Zoey and Mike are going to be going out by the end of the week!"
"What do you think today's challenge will be?" Bridgette asked as she sat down at her team's table beside Scott.
"No idea, but I think we're about to find out." the flame-haired boy responded drily.
"Oh. Right." Bridgette said, blushing.
"Good morning campers!" Chris greeted the teens as he walked through the doors and into the Mess Hall with Chef only a pace behind him. "Are you ready for today's challenge?"
"Do you even care either way?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow at the host.
"Nope!" Chris answered with a wide smile. "This is gonna be a fun one."
"What? You bring the sharks back?" Scott asked with a frown.
"Close!" Chris said.
"You're bringing back the bears, aren't you?" Bridgette asked, her green eyes stretched wide with fear.
"With any luck – yes!" Chris answered with a broad smile "Today's challenge uses the entire island: the woods, the cliffs, the cabins – everything! This one's a camp favourite: a scavenger hunt!"
"Oh yippee." Noah said sarcastically.
"And what exactly will we be hunting?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow at Chris.
"I'm glad you asked!" Chris said.
"You do realize this isn't an infomercial, right?" Gwen asked, raising her eyebrow at the host.
Chris frowned. "Alright, if everyone could just stop talking for a minute and let someone more important talk-"
"You got someone more important for the challenge?" Noah asked. "Where are they?"
"I was talking about me!" Chris said, glaring at the teens. "Okay, the next person who interrupts me is going to be automatically eliminated from the competition. Yeesh."
The teens went deathly silent.
"That's better." Chris said with a satisfied nod. "I have a riddle for each team. These riddles will lead you to a block in your team's colour, with a piece of your team's logo on it. Each block you find will have another riddle. There are four blocks hidden on the island, and you need to find all four to complete the challenge. Together, the blocks make your team's logo. The first team to put their mascot together wins immunity!"
Chris handed Mike, Noah and Leshawna each a piece of paper.
The three campers took the riddles to their respective teams before two of the three teams left the mess hall to start the search.
"I'm square, plastic and dusty. I keep sharp things in my mouth, so you might want to watch your hands. And just what is that fishy smell?" Noah read from the piece of paper in his hands. The Bass had been the only team to remain in the mess hall after the clues had been given out to the teams.
Alejandro turned up his nose at the mention of a fishy smell. "Comrades, to where do you think our clue refers?
"This has to be a trap." Noah stated. "I mean, come on, this is too easy."
"What's the answer then, Brainiac?" Jo asked, raising her eyebrows at the bookworm.
"Our block is hidden inside a fishing box." Noah said in irritation, rolling his eyes.
"Where are we going to find a fishing box?" Dakota asked aloud.
"The docks?" Zoey suggested with a shrug.
"Or the boat house." Noah suggested.
"I'm over but under, wet but dry, one of you may step on me tonight if you don't find me today. Wouldn't that be a shame?" Leshawna read aloud to her team as the Gophers sat on the steps of their cabin.
"I wonder where it's hidden." Beth said, looking at Lindsay whose blue eyes seemed especially vacant that morning. "What do you think?"
The blonde blinked, before furrowing her brow, searching her brain for the answer, but coming up with nothing. She shrugged.
"I wonder if it's an anagram." Harold suggested.
"Oh my gosh, I love candy grams! They're just so sweet!" Lindsay said, clasping her hands together by her cheek. Then she turned to Beth. "Don't you just love candy grams?"
"Not a candy gram, an anagram. It means the letters are all swapped around and stuff." Harold said, rolling his eyes. "Gosh."
"Hey, guys, what about the docks?" DJ suggested. "It could mean the Dock of Shame or something."
"Nice going, man!" Geoff said, giving the gentle giant a high-five. "Let's get it, man!"
"You took a dive in challenge one, your next clue is hidden there. I'm not on the boat, and I won't stay afloat, and please wring out your hair." Mike said, a bewildered expression on his face as he read the Bear's clue aloud. His team had decided to make the campfire their team meeting place.
"Obviously it has something to do with the first challenge." Courtney said, tapping her chin with the end of her pencil.
"Really?" Scott asked facetiously. "What was your first clue?"
Courtney frowned, but did not rise to the bait. "Taking a dive in challenge one – we probably have to go to the top of the cliff, where we all had to jump from."
"What is everyone waiting for? Let's sha-go!" Lightning said, jumping to his feet and taking off in the direction of the thousand foot cliff, pursued by his teammates.
Alejandro opened the door to the boat house and went to take a step inside, when he caught a whiff of half-rotted fish guts, and halted in place. Then, ever so smoothly, he turned to the side and gestured that Jo should walk ahead of him. "Ladies first."
Jo rolled her eyes and pushed past Alejandro into the cabin. She made a face but managed not to start retching when the foul odour infiltrated her nostrils.
"You're such a gentleman, Al." Zoey said, looking enamoured by the handsome young man's good manner, and failing to notice him twitch as she walked past him into the cabin.
"We're looking for a plastic fishing box." Noah said, stepping past Alejandro and into the boathouse. He put a hand over his nose in an attempt to ward off the stench. "Ugh, it smells like Owen's been in here."
"Yeah, we heard you the first time." Jo said.
Alejandro took a deep breath of fresh air and turned to follow Justin, the last of his teammates to enter the cabin, when Justin halted and made a sound like he was choking. Alejandro almost bumped into his teammate as the male model cried out about an assault on his nose, then sprinted out of the cabin.
"I'd, uh, best go check that Justin is alright." Alejandro volunteered, slipping out of the boathouse. Letting the door close behind him, he walked over to his teammate. "Amigo, are you alright?"
"Ah, fresh air!" Justin said, fanning himself with his hand as he drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Excellent." Alejandro said with a nod. "It would have been such a shame if one of our most valuable players had been unable to continue with the competition."
"Oh, I know!" Justin said with a nod.
"It's such a blessing that we have you on our team, it would have been most unfortunate if we were on opposing teams." Alejandro continued. "I'm not sure I would have stood much of a chance against you."
"Well, it's a good thing we're on the same team then, isn't it?" Justin said.
"Indeed. At least the girls on our team are safe from your good looks."
Justin frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if I were as handsome and God-like as you, I would use my looks to distract the girls on the other teams, so that our team would have the advantage."
Justin smiled. "Oh, that."
"I mean, I'm sure the girls on our team could be swayed to vote for whoever you wanted to vote off." Alejandro said. "I mean, aside from Jo."
"Why not Jo?" Justin asked.
"Haven't you heard? She thinks you're the 'second most unattractive guy she's ever met'." Alejandro said.
Justin gasped in horror.
"But I assure you, you have the envy of every man at this camp, for aside from Jo, every woman here swoons over you."
Confessional
"Vanity and pride play off one another so nicely. Farewell, Jo." Alejandro said, blowing the confessional camera a kiss.
"Got it!" Zoey shouted, grabbing the green block and the attached scrap of paper and rushing outside, followed by her team. Once outside where the air was fresher, she read the next clue aloud. "Go back to the location of challenge six, but be careful not to step on too many sticks. I'm sure your next clue is just hanging around."
"That was the talent show, wasn't it?" Dakota said.
"Challenge six. . ." Cody said, counting off the challenges on his fingers. "No, challenge six was the last challenge – the night in the woods."
"Oh right. That's what I meant!" Dakota said, blushing.
"Then let's go!" Jo said, leading the team towards the forest.
"Wooo!" Tyler cried out as he jumped off the dock into the lake, before crying out when he tripped off the end of the dock and did a belly-flop.
"Wicked wipe-out, man!" Geoff cheered from the dock, before jumping in to join his buddy in the water, splashing an unhappy Gwen in the process.
"It's gotta be under the dock somewhere." Harold reasoned.
"I'll get it!" Tyler volunteered, making to dive under the dock, but not ducking low enough and instead smacking his forehead off the edge of the dock.
"Got'cha!" Geoff announced, withdrawing his hand from under the dock. "Man, that was so close! It almost fell into the water!"
"Good job! Where's that riddle?" Leshawna asked, holding out her hand for the block. Geoff, mistaking her outstretched hand as her offering a hand up, reached for her, but she only took the block and riddle, and he fell backwards off the dock and back into the water, on top of Tyler.
"What does it say?" Harold asked.
"You'll find it if you can stand the smell, just remember this isn't a wishing well. And be careful not to flush your chances." she said aloud.
"Haha, I bet our next block is in the toilet!" Tyler joked.
"Ew." Heather said, turning up her nose.
"Aw, man, that's gotta be it!" Geoff said, giving Tyler a high-five.
"Wow, it's a really good thing this team has so many guys on it, eh?" Ezekiel said, giving his teammates a thumbs-up.
"Why's that?" Beth asked with a smile.
"Because girls are much weaker players than guys, eh." Ezekiel said, causing his teammates to gasp in shock. "My dad told me to look out for all the girls here 'cause they can't take care of themselves."
"What did you just say, homeschool?" Leshawna demanded, her hands on her hips.
Ezekiel smiled at her and spoke more slowly. "I said guys are stronger and more physically fit than girls are, and that us guys need to look after the girls on our team, make sure they're okay."
"I'll show you looking after myself, you scrawny lil' white boy!" Leshawna said, balling her hands into fists and stalking up to Ezekiel.
"You do realize this is the twenty-first century, right?" Gwen asked, an unamused glare on her pale face.
"Chill bras!" Geoff said, stepping between Ezekiel and a raging Leshawna. "At least he doesn't think guys are smarter than girls."
"But they are, eh." Ezekiel said. His next words were sympathetic. "It's not their faults they don't know, eh. Wouldn't expect 'em to know, 'cause they're not as smart as guys are."
"Oh, that's it!" Leshawna shoved Geoff out of the way and punched Ezekiel straight in the face, knocking him to the ground. Then, slapping her hands together as though brushing off dirt, she turned her back to him, grabbed the block and the clue and stalked off, followed by most of the team.
Harold stayed behind with Tyler, although the latter only remained because as he turned to walk away with the team, he'd walked straight into a wall and fallen backwards.
"You shouldn't have said that." Harold said to Ezekiel as he offered him a hand up.
"Why not, eh? It's true, isn't it?" Ezekiel asked, putting a hand to his eye, which was quickly bruising.
"Not really. Recent statistics have proven that males and females have equal intellectual potential." Harold said.
"And girls don't like being called dumb!" Tyler said, having picked himself off the ground and joined Harold and Ezekiel.
"I agree." Harold said with a nod. "And they definitely don't like being called stupid or weak. They're pretty ticked off right now."
Ezekiel frowned. "I don't wanna get voted off if we lose today, eh. Is there anything I can do to fix it?"
"You could try apologizing to them." Harold suggested with a shrug.
"But what if I say the wrong thing and make 'em even more mad at me?" Suddenly Ezekiel smiled. "Can you guys teach me?"
Harold frowned for a moment, then nodded. "I am kind of a Casanova. With my help, the girls will probably forget you even insulted them."
Searching the plateau at the top of the thousand foot cliff, Sadie frowned. They hadn't found their block yet, and Courtney was starting to panic that they were going to lose yet another challenge. And when Courtney started to panic, she cracked the whip on everyone else.
"B, can I ask you your opinion on something?" Sadie asked, looking up at her male best friend.
B nodded his head in response.
"Without Eva, our alliance isn't as strong. I think we need to add a third person."
B nodded and gave Sadie a thumbs-up.
"But who should we invite?" Sadie asked.
B tapped his lips with his index finger as though contemplating the answer, the shrugged.
Sadie put her hands on her hips and turned to survey her teammates. Then she brightened. "Oh, I know!" she said to B. "How about Cam?"
B didn't take very long to consider this idea before he nodded.
"Great! Let's ask him later tonight!"
B nodded.
"This is hopeless!" Courtney cried out, throwing her hands up in the air. Her teammates gathered around her. "We must have answered the riddle incorrectly, because clearly it's not up here."
"What does the clue say again?" Bridgette asked.
Mike read it aloud to the team once more. "You took a dive in challenge one, your next clue is hidden there. I'm not on the boat, and I won't stay afloat, and please wring out your hair."
Bridgette smacked herself in the forehead as she came to a realization. "We're in the right place, only a few thousand feet too high. Guys, the block is in the water."
"Oh." Chorused the entire Thrashing Bears team as the answer suddenly became clear to them.
Bridgette sighed and walked a few steps towards the edge of the cliff before turning back to her team. "So, who wants to go first?"
"Lightning always strikes first!" Lightning announced, sprinting to the edge of the cliff and diving into the water.
Izzy, who was next, crouched down and took a run at the edge of the cliff on all fours. The rest of the team followed, except for Courtney, who waited until the rest of her team had jumped before backing away from the edge and making her way down the trail to the bottom of the cliff.
Halfway down the trail, Courtney tripped and fell. Frowning, she got up and dusted herself off and turned to see what she'd tripped over. She saw something large, brown and furry. A paw. Eyes wide, she looked up to see the entire creature and found herself face-to-face with a massive Grizzly bear. She screamed and took off in the opposite direction of the bear – and of her team – and ran into the woods.
The Gophers had split up so they could fan out and cover more ground. The woods here were huge and their block was hidden somewhere in them. She was starting to think they were never going to find it. But she had to be positive. They'd find it! Wouldn't they?
"Oh man!" Zoey said, halting, her brown eyes wide. There was a low bush in front of her, and she couldn't see any ground behind it. It was like the earth just ended on the other side of the bush. "I would not want to fall down there."
And of course, it was then that Courtney came sprinting out of the woods, chased by an angry Grizzly bear, and collided with Zoey, accidentally sending them both over the ledge.
"Ooof!" The girls grunted as their bodies hit the ground. Fortunately, instead of plummeting to their deaths, the two had landed on another ledge. It was far enough that they were safe from the bear, which also meant that climbing back up the cliff would be a challenge.
"Are you okay?" Zoey asked as she sat up and dusted herself off.
"Uh-huh." Courtney nodded, looking up the edge of the cliff. "At least we're safe from the bear down here."
Scott was the one that found the next clue. It was his third dive, and he spotted the little flash of purple out of the corner of his eye. He swam to the bottom of the lake to get it, but instead of grabbing it so that his team could move on to the next part of the challenge, he tried to push it deeper into the small space between the sand and the rock under which it was wedged.
Finally, he had to take a breath and swam to the surface for a momentary breather.
Just as he was about to dive back down to finish the job, Bridgette broke the surface, holding the plastic bag with the purple block in it over her head. "I got it!"
"What?" Scott asked in alarm, turning to the surfer girl.
"I saw you found the block and were trying to get it free. It must have been really stuck, but you loosened it enough that I managed to get it out!" Bridgette explained.
"Oh really?" Scott asked, but Bridgette missed the agitation in Scott's voice. "Wow, first you figure out the riddle, then you manage to get the block loose - you must be like our team's good luck charm."
"You think I'm good luck?" Bridgette asked, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Definitely." Scott said in a mildly sarcastic tone that Bridgette once again missed.
Confessional
Bridgette sat in the confessional with her cheeks still bright red. "Oh my gosh. Scott said that I was our team's good luck charm. Scott thinks I'm good luck."
"You must be the strongest player on our team, maybe even in the entire game." Scott said to Bridgette with a fake smile as the Thrashing Bears team stepped onto the sandy shores of Camp Wawanakwa.
"You're just saying that!" Bridgette insisted, blushing anyway as she wrung out her ponytail.
"No, I mean it. It's a really good thing you're on our team. It'd be really tough to compete against you."
"Aww, you mean it?" Bridgette's face was starting to resemble a tomato.
"Of course." Scott said. "If you had an alliance, you could probably even make it to the finals. But if you're not – well, Courtney doesn't seem to like having competition."
"You think so?" Bridgette asked, seeming to be slightly alarmed by the implications of Scott's words. Then she glanced around at her teammates. "Hey – where is Courtney?"
"How should I know?" Scott shrugged as though he didn't really care. "And of course I mean it – you're probably the fiercest competitor here!"
"But what about you?"
"Oh come on, I couldn't get that block out and you could-"
"It was a team effort." Bridgette insisted. "Hey, we should team up and make an alliance – like you said!"
"Wow, that's such a good idea!" Scott said with false enthusiasm. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Well, technically, you did." Bridgette said, batting her eyelashes at Scott.
"Well, I can't take all the credit for your great idea."
"It is a really great idea, isn't it?" Bridgette said enthusiastically. "And I bet Mike would team up with us! And maybe even Cam too!"
Confessional
"Bridgette does realize that the entire team can't be in the alliance, right?" Scott asked the confessional camera. "Because we actually need to be able to vote people off when we lose challenges." He shrugged. "As soon as my little good luck charm ceases to be 'lucky', she's gone."
"Ugh." Heather said in a tone of disgust. "Beth! Come here!"
The farmgirl appeared at the queen bee's side almost immediately. "Yes, Heather?" She asked eagerly.
"Reach into the toilet." Heather commanded her.
"Okay." Beth nodded, stepped forward, then grimaced. "Ew, are you sure?"
"Completely."
"Okay then." Beth got on her knees and stuck her arm into the opaque green-brown water in the toilet bowl. Heather gagged and had to turn away so that she wouldn't throw up. After a few moments of feeling around in the water, Beth cried out. "I got it!"
Her teammates appeared to find Beth holding up a ziploc bag with a cube in it, her arms covered in brown-green sludge up to the elbows. Her teammates cheered, but nobody would touch the bag that Beth held. In the end, Beth had to hold the bag open so that Geoff could reach in and pull out the clue, uncontaminated.
Of course their first clue had been easy – their second clue was impossible! Sure, it was easy enough to say that it was somewhere in the forest, likely hanging in a tree, but there were literally hundred, possibly even thousands of trees on that one tiny island, so the chances that they'd actually find the next clue were slim to none.
Aside from excess physical activity – which was most certainly not Noah's preferred way to spend his time - his day had been fairly decent thus far. He hadn't been injured or anything. And his team actually seemed to appreciate his existence – for once.
Of course, all good days must come to an end, and so Noah's did when he tripped over a log as he walked into a clearing. He wasn't injured, and all would have been well, had his entrance into the clearing not startled a family of skunks.
Still laying on his stomach from when he'd tripped, Noah covered his face as all five skunks turned their backs to him and prepared to spray him with their noxious fumes.
"My children, this is no way to behave!" came the gentle, scolding tone of a familiar female contestant.
Noah risked a peek and saw – to his disbelief – Dawn, who he was certain had not been there a moment before, now crouched in the middle of the clearing with all five skunks winding around her lovingly. All five skunks were acting just like domesticated cats. As she lowered herself to a sitting position on the forest floor, she picked up one of the smaller skunks and gave it a cuddle.
"See? Noah's not going to hurt you." Dawn told the skunk, before looking to the Indian boy. "You can come and pet them now."
"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." Noah said as he got to his feet.
"Oh but you must." Dawn insisted. "They'll be ever so offended if you don't."
"But I'd rather not smell like a skunk-"
"You won't if they don't spray you. And they won't spray you so long as you don't offend them."
Noah rolled his eyes and walked over to the blond girl whose weirdness continued to surprise him. Every time she did something strange, he thought she couldn't get any stranger. And yet, somehow, she always did. Squatting down beside the girl, he offered a hand to the nearest skunk, who brushed against his hand.
"There, I pet one. Can I go now?" Noah asked.
"Aww, ain't this sweet?" said another male voice as a third person entered the clearing. "Fairy Princess found more weird pets. And with you, Bookworm, it's like a little family."
"Scott, you're upsetting them. Please stop using that tone." Dawn pleaded with the redheaded male.
He rolled his eyes. "Why should I? I've caught larger vermin than those rats before in my kitchen back home."
Dawn gasped in horror. "How could you say such a thing?! They're not vermin!"
"Oh dear, now you've done it." Noah deadpanned. "Now you're going to have to apologize."
"That's right! You come right here and apologize for upsetting my friends!" Dawn said in a tone that almost seemed authoritative.
"That was sarcasm, honey." Noah muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes at Dawn's absolutely absurd antics.
As the Killer Bass team moved away to search for their next clue, Lindsay finally arrived on the scene. When she saw Beth with brown-green sludge covering her forearms, she smiled. "Oh my gosh, you guys are doing facials?" She hurried over to Beth and scooped a handful of the sludge off of Beth's arms. "Silly, you don't put it on your arms, you put it on your face!" And then she proceeded to smear it on her face.
"Lindsay, that's not mud!" Beth told the blonde girl in alarm.
"Then what is it?" Lindsay asked, before sniffing the air. "Ew, what is that smell?"
If the skunks were on edge before, then a blood-curdling scream that could only have belonged to Lindsay was not going to help matters. And it certainly didn't. In fact, it made things much, much worse. At the sound of the scream, the already-spooked skunks lifted their tails and sprayed noxious fumes on everyone in the small clearing, including their precious Dawn.
As Scott and Noah sprinted out of the clearing, coughing and choking on the stench of skunk-spray which was now clinging to their bodies, Dawn promised to visit the skunks again later, then took off after the two boys, calling out that her little friends hadn't meant to spray them.
"HELP! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HELP!" Courtney screamed at the top of her lungs, her hands cupped around her mouth as she looked up at the top of the ledge.
"I don't think anyone's nearby, Courtney." Zoey said with a sigh. She was sitting with her back against the steep wall of the cliff, and her knees drawn to her chest.
"We can't give up!" Courtney said with a frown, stepping back so that her voice might carry better to the top of the cliff. "HELP!"
"Be careful." Zoey cautioned her.
"I'm fine." Courtney said. "HELP!"
"Why don't you take a break and we can take turns yelling for help?"
"Okay." Courtney said, sighing and coming to sit beside Zoey against the wall of the cliff.
After a few moments, Zoey finally spoke. "So. . . how long do you think it'll be before someone finds us?"
"Not very long, I hope." Courtney said with a sigh.
"Find anything yet?" Cody called his teammate Dakota as he bent down to check inside a hollow log for their team's cube.
"Huh?" Dakota asked, hardly paying attention. "Oh, uh, no, I don't see anything."
Cody sighed as he straightened up. "I sure hope someone else on our team is having better luck than we are or we might never finish this challenge." Then something glinted through the trees. "Hey, what's that?"
"What's what?" Dakota asked.
"I saw something through those trees." Cody said, leading Dakota through a cluster of trees. When they came out on the other side, they found a clearing with Justin sitting in the middle of it, checking himself out in his handheld mirror. "Darn, I thought we finally had something." He approached the male model. "Hey Justin, how's the search going?"
"What search?" Justin asked.
"The search for our team's second cube." Cody answered, frowning.
"Oh, that. I haven't been looking. I have better things to do." Justin replied.
Confessional
"Like what?" Cody asked the confessional camera, clearly frustrated by Justin's lack of participation. "But, I guess it's not my problem."
"Aren't you concerned about getting voted off?" Cody asked.
"No. Should I be?" Justin asked, raising an eyebrow at Cody.
"I don't know – maybe. If the rest of the team saw you-"
"Are you threatening me?" Justin asked, frowning.
"No, of course not!" Cody said in earnest.
"Dakota?" Justin called, flashing the blonde his million dollar smile. "If you had to vote either me or Cody off, who would you vote for?"
"Huh? Dakota asked, shaking her head as though to break a trance. "Uh, I guess I'd vote for Jo."
Justin and Cody only exchanged a puzzled look.
"Mike! Guess what!" Bridgette called as she caught up with her friend.
"What's up Bridgette?" Mike asked his friend.
"Scott called me his good luck charm!" Bridgette gushed, positively beaming.
"Uh. . . congratulations." Mike paused for a moment. "I didn't know you had a crush on Scott."
"He's really great. He's sweet and charming and totally cute too!" Bridgette said, blushing. Then, she tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and then her eyes went wide. "Oh! I almost forgot! Gwen likes you."
Mike halted and turned to face Bridgette, one eyebrow raised skeptically. "Where did you hear that?"
"From her."
"Wow, that's really . . . unexpected." Mike said after a moment, and the two began walking again.
"You two would be totally cute together!" Bridgette gushed.
"I didn't think Gwen was 'my type'. She doesn't seem into me at all – she seems really into that Trent guy, not me."
"Isn't Trent dating that redheaded girl - Zoey?"
"Oh, right, Zoey." Mike said, saying the name 'Zoey' with a tone of absolute disappointment. Then he frowned. "No, I'm pretty sure Gwen likes Trent – remember the talent show? Heather read Gwen's diary and she was gushing about some guy who can play the guitar."
"Yeah, but she also said the guy she likes is dating Zoey – maybe she's moved on."
"To me?"
"To you."
Confessional
Mike looked both puzzled and skeptical as he sat in the confessional. "Well, I've never really thought of Gwen that way before, but I guess she's kind of cute." Mike scratched the back of his head. "And Bridgette wouldn't lie to me. So. . . I guess I should get to know Gwen better?"
Jo was walking through the woods, searching the treetops for the next clue, desperate to be the one to find the next clue. Or at least, she needed Alejandro not to find it. She really couldn't have her biggest rival getting one-up on her. She had to find the cube, or at least someone on her side of the alliance had to find it.
And then, she saw it. Just as she'd expected it to be, it was hanging from a tree.
"Gotcha." Jo said in unison with a familiar male voice.
Eyes narrowed, Jo looked in front of herself to find herself nearly face-to-face with her arch-rival himself, Alejandro. One more step and they would have collided.
"Senorita, what a pleasure it is running into you here." Alejandro's smooth, charming voice said, earning a glare from the blonde jock as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I thought I smelled a sleazeball." Jo growled, then she made a face. "Ugh, you smell worse than usual."
Alejandro seemed about ready to make a retort about his usual smell being wonderful when the stench hit his nose too. His hand flew to his nose to shield it from the smell. "What is that smell?!"
"I told you they didn't spray you on purpose!" Dawn hissed at Noah as the two walked into the clearing. "They were afraid! And they said they're sorry! They'll be very distressed if you don't forgive them!"
"They're animals, I really don't think they care if I accept their apologies or not." Noah rolled his eyes.
"But they do care, very much in fact-" Dawn was saying, but stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jo and Alejandro with disgusted looks on their faces, and halted.
"What happened to you two?" Jo asked, raising her hand to her nose to hold her nostrils closed against the awful smell. "You both stink."
"The animal whisperer here was playing with her pet skunks and well, I'm sure your sense of smell is strong enough for you to figure out what happened next." Noah deadpanned.
Alejandro made a sound like he was choking, before crying out in disgust. "I can taste it!" Jo rolled her eyes as Alejandro staggered to the nearest tree, but did not stop holding her nose.
"Well, at least you're here, brainiac." Jo said, pointing up to the cube that was hanging from the tree above her head by a piece of twine. Alejandro backed away as Noah and Dawn approached the hanging cube.
"It's very high up." Dawn commented, before holding out a hand for a nearby bird. Bringing the bird closer to her face, she gently stoked its head. "Hello friend, would you mind-"
"No need for that." Jo told Dawn, picking Noah up by his shirt and tossing him into the air at the cube. She frowned at her teammate as he grabbed onto the cube. "You scream like a girl."
Noah clung to the cube. "So would you if someone randomly threw you at a tree!"
Looking at her hands disdainfully, Jo brought them to her nose. "Ugh, now my hands smell like skunk."
Noah grunted as he hit the ground in front of Jo. "You couldn't catch me too?"
"You already made my hands stink of skunk, I don't want to make it any worse."
"Of course." Noah muttered as he picked himself out of the dust, unfolding the riddle for their next cube. "At least this is an easy one. Follow me."
"What about the rest of the team?" Dawn reminded them.
"Oh, right, them." Jo rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't pretty boy go find them?" Then she frowned. "Actually, no, Alejandro can go with you two. I'll go find the rest of the team."
"Two heads are better than one, senorita, I will accompany you and we will find the rest of the team in half the time!" Alejandro insisted.
"Whatever." Noah said, rolling his eyes again. "Meet us at the beach."
And then he stamped off through the forest, followed by Dawn.
"Well that was an easy one." Sadie commented to Cameron as the team made their way away through the mess hall. Their second clue had been hidden in a bread box in Chef Hatchet's kitchen.
"Yeah, it was." Cameron said with a nod.
"Can I ask you something, Cam?"
"Sure! What's up?"
"Well, B and I were wondering if you would like to be part of our alliance." Sadie said in a half-whisper.
"Oh boy! Really?!" Cameron exclaimed, before he lowered his voice to a half-whisper as well. "I mean: oh boy! Really?"
"Yeah, definitely!" Sadie said with a nod.
"Sure! I'd love to be in an alliance with you and B!" Cam said with a nod. Then he glanced around and spoke once more at his normal volume. "Speaking of B, where is he?"
"That's a good question." Sadie said. "I should probably go find him. I'll catch up with you later, Cam!"
"Ok, bye!"
Confessional
Cameron sat in the confessional looking so excited that he might wet himself. "My first alliance!"
"Hey, did I hear you say you were looking for B?"
"Oh my gosh, what is that smell?!" Sadie exclaimed, covering her nose as she whirled to greet the newcomer.
"I got sprayed by a skunk." Scott answered, displeased.
"Ew, that really stinks."
Scott was not amused. "So, you said you were looking for B?"
"Oh, yeah. Have you seen him?"
"You know, as a matter of fact, I have. He went to check inside Chef's freezer for the clue, maybe he doesn't know we found it already?"
"Oh, maybe!" Sadie said, turning around and walking back into the mess hall.
Confessional
Scott was whittling another spear out of a stick. "Hook, line and sinker."
Sadie opened the door to Chef's massive freezer and stepped inside. B obviously wasn't there, and Sadie was just turning around to leave the freezer when the door slammed shut and she heard the lock click into place from the outside.
Scott, on the other side of the metal door, chuckled to himself. "Did I do that? Oops, my bad."
And then he walked out of the mess hall and rejoined the rest of the team, leaving Sadie screaming for help in the freezer where nobody could hear her.
"You'd think someone would have found us by now." Courtney groaned. "Without my CIT training, my team is probably losing this challenge."
"My team probably hasn't even realized I'm missing." Zoey said with a sigh.
Courtney was silent for a few moments. "I'm sure that's not true. What about your boyfriend? Trent - is it? I bet he'll notice that you're missing."
"Boyfriend?! Trent?! Oh gosh no!" Zoey said. "No, we're just friends. Totally platonic."
"Oh."
"There is someone else though, he's so cute but I think he already has a girlfriend."
"Who?"
Zoey's cheeks were bright pink and her voice was hardly a whisper. "Mike."
"Mike? As in my teammate Mike?" Courtney asked, astounded.
Zoey nodded. "But I'm pretty sure we've only ever actually talked once, and that was on our first day here. Maybe if we'd ended up on the same team, things would have been different." she lamented. "You're so lucky."
Courtney was puzzled. "How so?"
"Well, you and Duncan -"
"You think I like that – that – Neanderthal?!" Courtney exclaimed, outraged.
Zoey flinched away from Courtney's temper. "I guess you guys just seem really into one another every time you two talk."
"Well, for the record, I cannot stand to even be in the same room as that – that – delinquent freak!"
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Kind of a shame though. I think he really likes you."
"I would not stoop to such a level as to fall for the likes of him."
"Really? I think you two would have been really cute together."
Courtney fell silent.
"I found it! I found the last block!" Cameron cheered, holding it up in the air victoriously. Mike, who was nearby, began to cheer alongside him, and gave him a high-five. Cameron cried out at the sting of the high-five.
"Aren't we lucky." Scott said as the rest of the team, minus Sadie and Courtney, gathered around Cameron.
"Way to go Cam!" Bridgette cheered.
"Now we just gotta put them together!" Cameron said, and the team began their mad dash to victory. They arrived at the finish line within a few moments, only to find that the Gophers were already there and had already begun to assemble their puzzle. And with Noah putting the blocks together, it was taking even less time than it otherwise might have, which was none at all.
Their last clue was hidden in the mess hall, Harold was sure of it. His team had brushed him off and gone to search elsewhere, but he was sure the answer to the riddle was the mess hall, so here he was.
The intermittent sound of thumping caught his attention, and drew him into the kitchen to investigate. "Oh, that's rank." He commented to himself, wrinkling his nose at the stench before calling out. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
Suddenly the thumping became more like a panicked knock, and almost immediately a muffled female voice called out. "HELP! HELP!"
Harold walked towards the sound of the banging, and pulled opened the door to Chef's freezer. Sadie, shivering with cold, stumbled out of it. Her arms crossed over her chest, she did a bit of jogging on the spot, presumably to warm herself up.
"Sadie? Why were you in the freezer?" Harold asked, looking bewildered.
"I was looking for B, and the door shut behind me." Sadie said. "It must have locked, because I couldn't get out. I must have been in there for more than an hour!"
"Why was B in the freezer?"
"He wasn't. I only thought he was."
"Why did you think he was?"
"Because Scott said he thought he saw him go into the fridge to look for our clue." Sadie told him. Then she gasped. "Is the challenge over? Did my team win?"
And before Harold could answer, Sadie, her lips still blue from cold, sprinted from the mess hall towards the finish line.
"We won!" Jo began to cheer, giving Noah a high-five so hard that afterwards, he turned away to inspect his hand, which was stinging from the force of the five.
"THIS IS A DISGRACE! LIGHTNING NEVER LOSES!" cried out the Thrashing Bears member in outrage.
"We got second though. At least we don't have to vote anyone out tonight." Bridgette reassured her team as Cameron slotted the last piece of the puzzle into place.
"Ah-ah-ah." Chris tutted, smirking. "Your entire team has to be present for you to win."
"Please don't tell me you mean them." Alejandro asked, jabbing a thumb at Noah, Dawn and Scott, whose teams had forbidden them from coming any closer than twenty feet from the rest of them.
"No, they're fine. Phew, do you think I want to smell their stink? They can stay where they are." Chris retorted. "Gophers, Bears, better figure out who you're missing and find them before the Bass get here or one of you will be sending someone home tonight!"
Confessional
"A darned shame, too." Scott said sarcastically as he continued to whittle away at his spear.
"Zoey!" Trent cried out suddenly, looking around for his cherry-topped friend. "Where's Zoey?"
"DAMNIT!" Jo exclaimed, and Alejandro began to speak in Spanish. Quickly, they divided the team into two – a search party and a cube guard.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Sadie cried out, panting as she fell to her knees at the finish line, gasping for breath. She needed to start jogging again. All of Eva's training was going to come undone otherwise.
"Yes! We win!" Bridgette exclaimed, causing the Gophers to halt.
"Not so fast, campers." Chris taunted.
The Bears turned to one another and finally it was Brick who exclaimed "Courtney!"
They took off after the Gophers.
"Did you hear that?" Zoey asked suddenly, turning to Courtney with wide eyes.
"Hear what?" Courtney asked.
"That! There it was again! I can hear voices! Listen!" Zoey said.
The two fell silent, and after a moment, there it was again. It could have been a bird's call but then again it could have been their teammates, having finally realized they were missing. Scrambling to their feet, the two girls began screaming for help at the top of their lungs.
They were fortunate, and soon the search party found them. B, Cameron, Mike, Bridgette and Scott had finally found them. They were saved!
"Don't you worry your pretty little heads, sheilas, I'll save you." Mike announced in what sounded like an Australian accent. Then, he turned tail and marched towards the woods.
"Mike, where are you going?" Bridgette called, following her friend.
He turned to face her. "Let a man handle this one, sheila." And tapped her on the nose with his index finger. Then he tore vines from the nearest tree and bound one end to the nearest tree before pitching himself over the side of the cliff. Unfortunately, Scott accidentally stepped on the vine, pressing it against a triangular stone. The vine snapped and sent Mike plummeting to Courtney and Zoey's cliff. His new hat floated down after him and landed on his head a few seconds after he'd crashed onto their small plateau.
"Oh my gosh! Mike!" Bridgette exclaimed, rushing to the edge of the cliff.
"He's okay!" Courtney called up to her as Zoey helped him to his feet.
"You sheilas will be alright." Mike told them both. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, there's a man here to save you."
"Actually, I'm not sure!" Courtney called up to the others. "I think he may have hit his head when he fell! He's not acting like himself!"
While the rest of the team was talking, B was thinking. He'd seen Scott step on the vine that could have sent Mike plummeting to his death. But he said nothing because B never spoke. Instead he simply frowned and set about his work, and before any of his teammates even noticed that he was not with them, he was almost finished his task anyway.
He walked to the edge and tossed the braided vines over the edge down to the three stranded teens. Then he walked back to the wheel he'd somehow managed to fashion, in the short time they'd not been paying attention to him. And then he began turning the wheel and one-by-one, pulled each of them to safety.
It was then that Zoey's teammates showed up, having been drawn to the area by all the commotion.
"Thanks for saving me!" Zoey said.
"Yeah, you were great!" Courtney agreed before both girls threw their arms around B.
"I hate to break up this sweet little moment, but Zoey? We're still doing a challenge." Jo reminded her.
"Oh right." Zoey said, before following her team back through the woods. Glancing back before she disappeared from sight, she called her thanks back to the boy once more.
Then it seemed to hit Courtney like a brick. "Guys! The challenge!"
And the team took off running through the woods towards camp.
"Congratulations Bass! You're the winners of today's challenge!" Chris announced as the remaining Gophers rejoined their team. "Gophers are second. Bears, I'll see you tonight at the campfire ceremony to find out who you're going to be sending home tonight."
"Lightning thinks you should all be going home for poor sportsmanship!" the athlete told his team before storming off.
As the teams made their way back to their cabins, Bridgette was chattering away to Scott, who didn't seem to be as put out by the team's loss as the rest of the team. And Bridgette seemed to have mixed feelings about the loss, which she described to Scott as being excited that they had an alliance, but disappointed that they were going to have to put it to use so soon.
Suddenly, a gust of wind took Mike's hat off and blew it into Cameron's hands. Mike turned to retrieve his hat, then gasped, no longer Manitoba Smith. "Hey Cam, why do you have my hat?"
"Mike, oh thank goodness!" Cameron exclaimed, earning a bewildered look from his teammate. "The team thinks you hit your head. You haven't exactly been yourself."
"Oh, uh. . ." Mike said, scratching the back of his head. "And d-do you-"
"I know the truth." Cameron said with a nod.
"Y-you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"No, but I might be able to help you control it." Cameron said. "I-if it's not out of line me offering to help."
"You can? That would be great, Cam!" Mike said. Then he seemed to remember something. "Oh Cam - Bridgette, Scott and I are going to make an alliance. You should be in it too."
"Oh, you want me to be in an alliance with you?" Cameron asked nervously.
Confessional
Cameron sat in the confessional looking nervous. "I already said I'd be in an alliance with Sadie and B, but I just promised to help Mike with his MPD! What am I going to do?"
"Oh, yeah, sure! That sounds, uh, great! Yeah, great!" Cameron said with a nervous nod that could have been easily mistaken for an excited one.
"Awesome! Let's catch up with Bridgette and Scott and see who we're voting for tonight!"
"Uh, actually, I will be right back!" Cameron said, turning around and hurrying over to Sadie and B, who were discussing something.
"Oh, hey Cam!" Sadie greeted him, while B waved. "Did you wanna discuss who we're going to vote for tonight?"
"Uh-" Cameron began, nervously, but at the hopeful look on Sadie's face, he folded. "Okay."
"We should vote for B." Scott suggested in a low voice to Bridgette as they sat on the steps with half of the team. Missing were Sadie, B, Courtney, Brick and Cameron.
Bridgette, who seemed to think she was the leader of the alliance, announced Scott's choice to the alliance. Mike frowned. "Why B?"
"Well, if it weren't for him, our team would have got second place!" Scott explained when Bridgette seemed at a loss for words. "He's the one that pulled Zoey up that cliff."
"What was he supposed to do? Leave her there?" Mike asked, still frowning.
Scott rolled his eyes. "Her own team could have saved her."
"But that's not fair."
"Mike, Scott's right. We should vote for B tonight." Bridgette said firmly.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Sadie asked as the remaining members of the team joined the others on the steps, leaving no more time to discuss who would be voted out that night.
"It's time to cast our votes." Courtney said with a disappointed sigh. At her words, the team rose and began to make their way towards the voting booth.
On the way, Mike caught up to Cameron, who was walking by himself. "Hey Cam? We're voting for B tonight."
"B?" Cameron squeaked in alarm.
"Yeah." Mike said, also sounding uncomfortable with the choice.
"You don't say." Cameron said, looking rather nervous.
"You're back at the campfire again tonight." Chris stated. "You've cast your votes. One of you will be leaving the island forever."
"Here you go." Chef arrived with a tray of marshmallows, which he handed to Chris before walking away.
Chris picked up a marshmallow and tossed it to the player whose name he called. "Scott. Izzy. Bridgette. Brick. Courtney. Mike. Cameron. Sadie."
It was down to two players. B glanced at Lightning, who didn't seem to have realized he was in the bottom two that night.
"Lightning, I'm sorry to tell you. . ." Chris began with an evil smirk. "But you're still in the game!"
"Sha-duh." Lightning said, catching his marshmallow as Sadie gasped.
"No! B!" Sadie cried out, starting to cry. "You can't be eliminated!"
"You voted out B?!" Courtney demanded, turning to her team with her hands on her hips, a look of disgust plastered on her face. "If anyone, he's the one who deserves to stay!"
"You can take his place if you like." Chris offered, but B held up his hand before Courtney could even refuse the offer. She shot an apologetic look at B.
"I can't believe you'd vote him out after he saved the day!" Courtney said finally.
"B, it's time to walk the Dock of Shame, take the Boat of Losers and leave the island forever." Chris said, prompting Courtney and Sadie to accompany B to the Dock of Shame.
"Thanks for saving me today." Courtney said sheepishly. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you before. You were just trying to help."
B gave the freckle-faced brunette a smile and a thumbs-up, letting her know that it was all good.
Courtney smiled at him, and thanked him once more before she backed off and made her way back to the beach.
"B, I'm gonna miss you!" Sadie told him, teary-eyed. "You'll always be my BMFFL!"
B pointed at her, then made a W with his fingers.
"W – I – N." Sadie said aloud as B signed to her. "4. K. E. B. Win for. . . K-Katie, E-Eva and B."
The boy smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
Sadie burst out with a fresh round of tears, and wrapped her arms around B's shoulders, surprising the grey-eyed male with the tearful embrace, before declaring that she would indeed win for them. B patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, before having to push her away because Chef was making his way down the dock with a look that said he wasn't taking any prisoners.
Sadie sat on the dock waving to her friend as the boat drive him out of sight, crying as she had done when both Katie and Eva had been eliminated.
The Votes
"B." Scott said simply.
Static.
"Lightning was so mean earlier." Sadie told the confessional camera.
Static.
"Sorry buddy. B." Mike said with a frown.
Static.
"Lightning." Brick said. "He's not a team player."
Static.
"Scott's right. We have to vote for B." Bridgette said.
Static.
B made the letter 'L' with his fingers.
Static.
"B!" Izzy said, her face beet red as she stood on her head in the confessional.
Static.
"I vote for Lightning." Courtney said with a shrug.
Static.
"I think they should all go home. Lightning should be a team of one!" Lightning had his arms crossed. "B's gotta go, helping the other team win! The traitor!"
Static.
Cameron sat in the confessional, looking frazzled. "I-I don't know! I told Sadie I'd vote with her and B! But I told Mike I'd vote with his alliance! I don't know what to do!" He looked as though he was going to break down, when he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Oh, I know! I vote for myself!"
Eliminated so far:
37th: Katie
36th: Staci
35th: Sierra
34th: Sam
33rd: Eva
32nd: Owen
31st: B
So the Phobia Factor episode is coming up soon, but I've come across a problem: Brick is the only ROTI character with an explicitly stated fear. So, if you guys have any suggestions for characters' fears (especially Dawn's, I'm completely stumped with a fear for her), I'd love the help!
I've also started an accompaniment fanfic for Total Drama Island: Rewritten – it's called Total Drama Island: the Loser Chronicles. As you might be able to guess, it follow the eliminated characters' drama on to Playa Des Losers.
Please subscribe and review!