My apologies for how long it takes me to update. College eats so much of my time and muse, so it makes progress far too slow for my liking.

Screaming Gophers: Dawn, Alejandro, Noah, Cody, Trent, Zoey, Jo

Killer Bass: Duncan, LeShawna, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, Beth, DJ

Thrashing Bears: Sadie, Cameron, Courtney, Scott, Lightning, Izzy, Bridgette, Mike

"Last time on Total Drama Island, the teams were given three challenges that tested their trust in their teammates. The rock-climbing challenge revealed more than just Heather's grudge against Gwen. Geoff got the bad end of a blowfish, courtesy of Beth, and so did Izzy, although that was self-inflicted. Because Izzy's insane. Mike almost managed to fix things with his crush, Zoey, until Scott revealed that Bridgette had betrayed his trust and Mike stood her up, quite possibly throwing away his last chance with her. DJ trusted Geoff with his pet Bunny – huge mistake, by the way. Some campers got dropped on their butts, and Duncan shocked Courtney by showing her his softer side. Yeah, touching moments. Stay tuned for the most dramatic bonfire ceremony yet on Total Drama Island!"

Cue theme song.

Dawn sat up in her bed, chest heaving and her grey-blue eyes stretched wide with fear. Taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, she found her stomach churning far too much to just go back to sleep.

Swinging her legs over the side of her bunk bed, the bed-frame creaked loudly and the blonde cringed.

"Dawn?" A groggy Zoey asked, half-sitting up in her bed across the room. "What's the matter?"

"I just need some air." Dawn said softly. "Go back to sleep."

As Dawn padded across the room to the doorway, Zoey did as she had been told and laid back down, resuming her slumber. Careful not to make the door creak, Dawn let herself out onto the front deck of the Gophers cabin.

Pulling her pajamas tighter around herself in the cool early morning air, she shivered, the shock of the cold under her feet waking her up even more than her unsettling dream had.

But the chill of the air had nothing on the chill in her soul.

The waiting cobra was preparing to strike.

Making her way down the steps of the Gopher's cabin, Zoey put her hand up in a half-wave. Speeding up her pace to catch up to the duo, she called out to them. "Hey Gwen, Bridgette."

"Hey Zoey." They greeted in unison.

"Either of you figure out who wrote that poem or who it's to?"

"No," Gwen said, shaking her head. "But we think it's from Trent."

"Gwen thinks it's from Trent." Bridgette corrected. "I don't think Trent is a poetry kind of guy."

"Oh, and Scott is?" Gwen retorted, rolling her eyes.

"It's entirely possible!"

"If it's possible for Scott to have written that poem, then it's also possible that Trent could have been the one who wrote it."

"Girls, girls," Zoey said, putting up her hands in an almost surrender-like pose to try and calm the two. "There's no need to fight over it."

"In all honesty, I think there's a bigger chance that Mike wrote these poems than Scott." Gwen said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Zoey's eyes grew wide and she grabbed for the poem. Reading it over, she couldn't help the small grin on her face. "You think Mike could have written this?"

Confessional

"Maybe Mike wrote the poem to make up for not meeting me for a swim when he said he was going to!" Zoey said, her voice full of hope. Reading the poem over again, she held it against her chest, swooning. "Awww, he's so sweet."

"Gosh darnit! Back in my day, we didn't keep secrets." Mike muttered to himself, pacing back and forth outside the mess hall. His hand was in his hair, and he was the picture of frustration. He was hunched over forward and his pacing slowed. "We didn't care what people thought about us! Back in my day, things were straightforward! These young whippersnappers are all the same – lying, secret-keeping little morons!"

Alejandro began to make his way towards the mess hall, but halted when he heard the tail end of a rant that sounded much more wheezy than Mike's usual voice.

Confessional

"Mike seems quite frustrated with something." Alejandro said, a smirk on his face. "It almost seems like he's in need of a good friend that he can talk to."

"Mike?" Alejandro ventured, calling out to the frustrated male. "Are you alright?"

Mike gasped and turned to him, a look of confusion painted across his face. "Huh?"

"I asked if you were alright." Alejandro repeated. "You seem a little frustrated."

"Oh, it's nothing." Mike lied, running a hand through his hair.

"If you say so." Alejandro said, nodding.

"I should go." Mike said, turning away from Alejandro and taking a few steps in the direction of the cabins.

"Mike?" Alejandro called out softly.

The brunette male turned back to the Spaniard.

"In Spanish, we say: 'Amigo en la adversidad, es amigo de verdad'. It means: 'A friend in adversity is a true friend'." Alejandro said. "I won't press you, but I'd like you to know that you can trust me."

Confessional

Alejandro sat in the confessional, smirking. "I never specified just what, exactly, he could trust me to do or not do."

"Today's challenge will test your minds, your teamwork and your skills in the kitchen." Chris told the teens, which were, as they always were, assembled in a large group in front of him at the location of the day's challenge. "You'll be cooking a three-course meal and serving it to me, for tasting. The winners get a reward, the losers will send somebody home. Each team will appoint a head chef to choose the theme of the meal, and to oversee the cooking. To cook, you need ingredients. Every morning, a truck brings us food. Today's task starts there."

The sound of a helicopter approached, and in only seconds, a box truck hanging from chains was lowered to the ground. When the wheels touched the ground, the chains were released and fell to the ground around the truck with a dull thud! With Chris's challenge explanation having been said and done and the helicopter now headed away from the island, the back door of the box van opened and the teens approached the vehicle.

"We could do a killer Italian theme!" Geoff said, his face lighting up.

"Hello Head Chef!" Duncan grinned.

"Seriously?" Geoff asked in wonder.

Duncan grinned, nodding in response.

"No, not seriously." Heather snapped, glaring at Duncan and Geoff. "I called being Head Chef."

"What? When?" Duncan responded, obviously irritated.

"Just now."

"That's not fair – Geoff was Head Chef first."

"I didn't hear him call it." Heather said smugly.

"She's right bro." Geoff said with a disappointed sigh. "Bummer."

Confessional

"I had to take the leadership role. Hello, we're on a losing streak!" Heather said. "And really, everyone else on the team is pretty useless."

As the two other teams made their way out of the truck and back up to the lodge with their supplies, the Killer Bass set to work gathering their supplies from the delivery truck.

"LeShawna, mangoes. Gwen, tomatoes. DJ, molasses. Geoff, peaches." Heather recited off her checklist, observing as each member of her team took the mentioned food items to the kitchens. "And Beth, pineapples."

As the team began to make their way back to the lodge, Heather fell into step beside teammate Beth.

"And try not to mess up this time." Heather said, her voice dripping in venom and warning.

"Oh-okay." Beth stuttered, dipping her head submissively as she scurried off towards the lodge, careful to heed Heather's words.

"Just ignore her, girl." Leshawna said, rolling her eyes as the queen bee moved to the front of the group.

"Yes, that would be most advisable." A soft female voice made the two girls start with surprise and they turned to see a short blond member of the Gophers' team.

"Oh, uh, h-hey Dawn." Beth said with a nervous smile.

The moon-child placed a reassuring hand on Beth's arm. "Letting people walk all over you doesn't make you happy, I'm sure."

LeShawna nodded. "Listen to her, girl. She knows what she's talking about. You've gotta be yourself – don't let anyone else get you down."

Beth gave a nervous smile to her teammate and turned to the tiny blonde. "Thanks Dawn."

But the girl was nowhere in sight.

Confessional

"Dawn's right." Beth said, looking down at her hands nervously. "I'm just not sure if I'm ready to do what I need to do."

"We have six people and three courses. Does anyone have any objections to working in pairs?" Alejandro asked, looking around at his teammates, five of which shook their heads. "Alright, partner up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jo said, glowering at Alejandro. "Who died and made you head chef, Al Spico?"

Alejandro made a face. "After your, uh, team pep talks in previous challenges, I think everyone would agree that alternative team leadership is in order."

"What-"

Before Jo could finish protesting, Alejandro cut her off. "Do you have any ideas for a three-course meal that Chris would like?"

That promptly shut her up.

"So I was thinking today we could serve Salmon en Croute with asparagus and sweated mushrooms as our main course." Alejandro said, pausing for a moment. "With Alfredo Pasta as the appetizer and a Lemon Mousse for dessert."

"I know how to make a great Alfredo sauce." Zoey said, grinning. "It's a family recipe."

"I can, uh, boil pasta." Jo said, sheepish that that just about explained the extent of her skills in the kitchen.

"Alright, Zoey and Jo will work together on appetizers." Alejandro said, turning to look at Zoey with a concerned expression. "If that's okay with everyone."

"Definitely. It'll be fun." Zoey said, her enthusiasm obviously forced. "Yay."

"I took Home Ec last year." Cody admitted, causing most members of his team to snicker at him.

Confessional

"What?" Cody asked with a shrug. "At my school, only girls take the cooking class, so for a whole semester, I was alone with twenty two girls! And the teacher. But mostly twenty two girls!"

"My grandmother always let me help her cook for my grandfather when I was little." Trent said. "And I don't want to boast, but I'm not bad in the kitchen."

"Trent and Cody can work on our main course then, which leaves Dawn and Noah to work on our Coconut-Lemon Mousse for dessert." Alejandro said, turning to Dawn. "Which I have a vegan recipe for, Chica."

"How very considerate," Noah quipped, rolling his eyes.

"Yes," Dawn said, smiling. "I can see in your aura that your older brothers' mistreatment-"

"Perhaps another time, Pequeño?" Alejandro asked, cutting off the blond mid-sentence. "After the challenge, perhaps?"

"Oh," Dawn said with a nod. "Okay."

And with that, the Gophers set to work on their tasks.

Confessional

"I'm neither vegan nor vegetarian, although I understand how Alejandro may have come to that conclusion. It was very kind of him to do that for me." Dawn said, pausing a moment before she shivered. "I sense great darkness on the island."

"Alright, if we work in teams of two, we should be able to divide up the tasks fairly evenly." Courtney pointed out. "As the only one with CIT experience, I elect myself as head chef. Does anyone have any objections?"

"Where do we begin?" Duncan commented, smirking.

The brunette whirled to face the punk. "You aren't even on this team!"

"Sha-Lightning knows how to make a high-protein pasta sauce."

"That is surprising," Courtney said, raising her eyebrows at the unexpected confession. She seemed doubtful, but resisted the urge to ask for an alternative. "But that works."

"I know how to boil pasta." Bridgette said, grinning.

"Sha-girl, boiling pasta is easier than dribbling a basketball." Lightning said, not looking impressed by the blonde.

"Okay, so Bridgette can work with Lightning on the main course." Courtney said, tapping a finger against her lips as she thought. "What if we do an Italian theme?"

"Oh, Katie and I made this super cute antipasto platter this one time-" Sadie began.

"Alright, Sadie's on antipasto duty." Courtney cut her off. "Who wants to work with her?"

After a moment of silence, Mike spoke. "I, uh, guess I can."

"Alright, so that leaves Izzy and Cameron on dessert detail. How do you guys feel about custard pastries?" Courtney said, to which both Izzy and Cameron nodded in response. "So that's everyone."

"What about me?" Scott asked.

"You're my assistant." Courtney answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "To help supervise and make sure that everything is going smoothly."

Confessional

"Quite frankly, I'd be afraid to let Scott anywhere near a kitchen, even if we weren't in a challenge." Courtney said. "Besides, the fact that he might be throwing challenges, I'm not entirely sure that he wouldn't use dirt as seasoning if he was trying to win."

"Duncan, Geoff, you're on the peach cobbler." Heather said as her team made their way into the kitchen, everyone but Heather carrying supplies. "DJ, you and Gwen are on ribs. LeShawna and Beth, you're on pineapple skewers and mango dip."

"Girl, let me handle the appetizers." LeShawna said. "I know how to make a pineapple chutney that would melt the socks off the devil."

"Oh really?" Heather said. "That's so great. But since I'm head chef, we're gonna stick to my plan. And that's pineapples with sticks through them. Got it?"

As Gwen helped mix the homemade barbeque sauce that DJ was still preparing ingredients for, Trent walked by with some supplies he'd gone back to fetch from the truck when it had become apparent that they were missing a few things from the recipe. As he passed, he made eye contact with the goth girl.

When the raven-haired boy had returned to his own team's area, DJ glanced over at the goth, who was staring at the bowl of barbeque sauce like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I think he digs you."

Gwen looked up suspiciously. "What makes you say that?"

"He can't keep his eyes off you." DJ said with a grin.

Gwen glanced over at Trent and caught his eye before looking down at the barbecue sauce once more. After a moment of silence, DJ shrugged and focused on his task again, careful not to push Gwen too much.

And then, as he added another ingredient to the sauce, Gwen spoke, her voice almost a whisper.

"He is kind of cute."

And as a blush spread across Gwen's cheeks, DJ grinned. "Called it."

As she wandered from work station to work station, trying to keep an eye on her teammates' progress and make sure that Scott didn't interfere, she came to a stop at the pasta station. She couldn't help but be somewhat sceptical of Lightning's supposedly delicious pasta sauce.

Stopping by the stove, looked down into the pot with a look of low expectations. Taking a deep breath, she took a ladle of the sauce and lifted it to her lips, eating a small test bite.

"Oh my gosh," Courtney said, her eyes wide with surprise. "This is so good."

"Lightning said it would be." Lightning said, annoyed that she didn't trust his skills.

As Scott and Courtney moved on to check on other stations, Bridgette moved over to the stove to stir the sauce, taking a taste test of her own.

"Lightning, this sauce really is amazing." Bridgette said, moving back to the table to continue cutting tomatoes. "I think you surprised a lot of people today – I don't think anyone expected you to be a master chef."

"Athletes need protein and carbs." Lightning said. "And the Lightning is the greatest athlete, so he needs more protein and carbs than anyone. Sha-duh. Besides, pasta is Pops favourite food."

"So, like, how big should we make the antipasto platter?" Sadie asked, looking at her teammate Mike for direction.

"I dunno." Mike said, shrugging. "Smaller than the pasta plate, I guess?"

"Okay."

"Hey guys, Courtney sent me to check on your progress." Scott said, a warning tone in his voice.

"Everything is all fine over here." Sadie said nervously, forcing a smile.

"Yep." Mike said, equally nervous. "All good."

"I'll let Courtney know and check back again soon."

"Okay." Mike and Sadie chorused.

Confessional

"I promised I wouldn't tell." Sadie said. "Scott doesn't have to police me to make sure I keep my mouth shut. I don't wanna get kicked off any more than he does."

Static.

"Scott knows about my personalities but he promised he wouldn't tell people if I do whatever he says." Mike said. "But it feels like he's holding me hostage."

Static.

"Somebody seems a little nervous." Scott said with a smirk, whittling away at his spear. "Like when vermin see Pappy with his bat. Reminds me of home."

"These slices are totally uneven." Heather said, pointing at the chunks of pineapple that Beth was taking so much care with. "Switch places with LeShawna."

"What are you talking about?" LeShawna asked before Beth even had a chance to think about protesting, and the brunette ducked her head submissively and did as Heather had ordered. But LeShawna wasn't buying Heather's act. "They look fine to me."

"Um, I didn't get to be head chef because of poor presentation!"

"No," LeShawna said, getting in Heather's face. "You got to be head chef because you called it. And who you think you're fooling with this crispy white apron power trip you're on?"

"Are you gonna be a team player or not?" Heather's raised voice immediately attracted the attention of every other contestant in the room.

"Oooh, I'm a team player alright, but I'm also allergic to pineapples!"

"Just get slicing. Now." As LeShawna grabbed the knife that Beth had been using, Heather put a fake smile on her face. "Thanks guys."

As LeShawna began to slice the pineapples, clearly angry, a tingling feeling began to spread through her hands and up her wrists as the pineapple juice began to cause an allergic reaction.

"Oooo, two-faced, bossy little-" LeShawna looked down to see the almost immediate response of her skin – hives. Swollen red bumps covered her skin where the tingling feeling was. Annoyed, she turned to Heather. "Ugh. Yo, what do you recommend I do about this?"

Heather took one look at the state of LeShawna's hands and arms as her allergic reaction spread, and made a face. "Yo, I recommend you scratch after we win. Get back to work."

LeShawna was so done with Heather's attitude, but Gwen, DJ and Beth held her back from giving the queen bee a piece of her mind.

As Bridgette made her way to the sink to wash the tomato juice off her hands, she found herself with Gwen and Zoey, washing barbecue sauce and Alfredo sauce off of their hands respectively.

"Any idea who those poems were written by yet?" Zoey asked, smiling at the other two girls.

"No, but I'm sure it was Trent." Gwen said, casting a glance over to the dark-haired musician, who caught her eye and smiled.

"I don't think they're from Trent." Zoey said. "He's my best friend, so I know him pretty well – he doesn't seem like he writes poetry, just songs."

"Song lyrics are a type of poetry." Gwen pointed out.

"No, they're probably from Scott." Bridgette said. "When I was freaking out over the toboggan challenge, he just walked away. He probably felt bad and wrote these poems to make up for it."

"Yeah, I seriously doubt that." Gwen said, rolling her eyes.

"Bridgette, we're in the middle of a challenge right now." Courtney said, coming over to the group with her hands on her hips.

"I know Courtney – we're just talking while we wash our hands." Bridgette answered.

"Maybe it's from Duncan." Zoey said, to which Bridgette and Gwen both burst out laughing.

"Maybe what's from Duncan?" Courtney asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"We found this poem, and we've been trying to figure out who it's from." Zoey explained. "Gwen thinks it's from Trent, Bridgette thinks it's from Scott, and I think it could be from Mike. But maybe we're all wrong. Maybe it's from Duncan."

Courtney rolled her eyes.

"It's possible." Zoey said, grinning.

"I doubt it." Courtney said. "Duncan is hardly cultured enough to be the poetry-writing type. If anyone here was capable of writing poetry, it would probably be Alejandro."

"But if they're from Alejandro, then who are they for?" Zoey asked as the four girls glanced over at the handsome Latino.

It was Gwen who had the punchline for what they hadn't even realized was a joke.

"Heather."

And with that, the four of them burst out laughing at the most preposterous idea any of them had ever heard. Someone as charming and handsome as Alejandro would never go for someone as vindictive and mean as Heather.

"What is this?" Courtney asked, standing in front of Cameron and Izzy with her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to make custard pastries."

"Iz-Izzy thought we should make cake instead." Cameron said, regarding the brunette with wide eyes.

"But I'm head chef, I'm supposed to make the decisions and I decided that we were going to serve custard pastries-"

"Chill out Courtney, you can have your cake and eat it too, you know." Izzy said, grating an orange over the cake. Courtney clenched her fists in irritation.

"Don't worry Courtney, I made sure we followed the recipe precisely – there shouldn't be any surprises." Cameron said in a low voice as Izzy focused on the cake.

The brunette, realizing that it had been a losing battle from the start, trying to tell Izzy what to do, sighed. "Okay, well, just don't screw it up."

"Excuse me, I need a bathroom break." LeShawna said, tapping Heather on the shoulder with her hands still covered in a swollen red rash from the pineapple juice.

"And I need evenly cut pineapple chunks and a hundred thousand dollars," Heather snapped, looking down with disdain at the pineapple chunks that LeShawna had cut. "But we can't always have what we want, when we want it, can we?"

"Well then how 'bout that old sayin' that if you want something done right, you do it yourself?" LeShawna snapped.

"I'm head chef." Heather pointed out, putting extra emphasis on the title.

"And I'm going to the bathroom." LeShawna said, turning around and walking towards the door. "Later, Queenie."

"Ugh." Heather took out her frustrations on the table. "It's like I'm on a team of morons!"

LeShawna paused for a moment by the door before nature's call reminded her why she was walking out in the first place.

Confessional

"Oh, that is it!" LeShawna said, outraged. "Someone's gotta teach this girl a little respect."

"You really know how to rally a team, Heather." Alejandro called, smirking at the raven-haired beauty.

"Oh, stuff it." Heather said, clenching her fists in annoyance.

"I commend you on your team leadership skills." he added, still smirking.

"How about you commend this." Heather said, grabbing the nearest food item – an orange – and whipping it across the room at Alejandro's face.

"Nice try." Alejandro taunted as he sidestepped the orange easily.

"Oof!" Unfortunately Trent was not so lucky, and took an orange to the gut. "What was that for?"

"Hey, be careful!" Zoey said to Heather, putting a hand on Trent's arm as if to ask if he was okay. When he nodded, she looked over at the Bass' Head Chef. "Someone could get hurt."

"I was about to suggest we make bass instead of salmon, but they seem to be doing a pretty good job roasting themselves without our help." Jo commented, a mean grin on her face.

"Shut up!" Heather demanded, throwing another orange at the Gophers, this time aimed at Jo, who also dodged as easily as Alejandro had.

But Jo was less forgiving than Alejandro, and instead she narrowed her eyes. "Oh, it is so on!"

And with that, Jo took a handful of the Alfredo pasta that she and Zoey had been making, and tossed it across the room to where Heather was standing.

Heather had not been expecting return fire, and shrieked when the Alfredo sauce splattered against her shirt.

"You should duck." Dawn advised teammate Noah, and for the first time since they'd arrived on the island – he didn't question her. A custard pastry splatted against the wall behind him, passing right through where his face had been only seconds prior. And with that, most of the Gopher team ducked behind their work station for cover.

War had been declared.

Despite not being directly involved in the food fight, all members of the Thrashing Bears had ducked behind their own counters for cover, lest a stray handful of pasta make its course towards their team. As it was, spaghetti shrapnel had already spattered against the sides of their work-stations, and Courtney had grabbed all the food and moved it to a safer location the moment the first handful of Alfredo had begun to fly.

Behind the counters, Cameron sat with his back against their work station, his eyes wide with fear. He'd grabbed the flambe cake that Izzy had insisted they make and taken cover, trying to keep their precious dessert safe from the food fight, just as Courtney had instructed.

"Oh no, what do we do?" Cameron heard Sadie asked her partner Mike as they sat behind the next work station over, occasionally peeking out over the counter-top to check to see if the Gophers and Bass were still flinging food across the room at one another.

"I don't know." Mike replied, glancing over at one of the other tables for their team, his eyes wide with questions for team leader Courtney. He gasped and suddenly his voice became all wheezy. "Back in my day, we didn't have food fights, we respected our food and didn't waste it!"

"Aaaaah-ah-ah!" Izzy let forth a war cry that sounded suspiciously like George of the Jungle's signature cry, and hopped from counter to counter with a handful of pasta.

"Izzy, don't you dare throw that!" Courtney commanded, regarding her teammate with a look of scorn. But the redhead fired anyway before diving behind the counters for cover. "Izzy stop it! I forbid you to get involved!"

"Wow, the nerve of those other teams, eh?" Scott asked, glancing over at his super-jock teammate with a raised eyebrow. When Lightning didn't respond immediately, the redneck continued. "Just throwing things everywhere like they don't even realize you've probably got the best throwing arm of anyone."

"You're sha-right!" Lightning said, suddenly enraged. Standing up, he grabbed a handful of whatever food was nearest and flung it across the room, not even caring what it was. When the red pepper that he'd thrown hit and stunned Beth, Lightning did a fist pump. "Sha-score!"

Courtney stood up, her hands on her hips and her nose scrunched up in anger. "Stop it this instant! This is completely undignified-"

She almost didn't duck in time to dodge the handful of chocolate pudding that hit the back wall with a splat!

Peeking over the counter top again, Courtney was surprised when a hand grabbed her and pulled her back into the safety zone.

"You know, you'd be a lot more fun without that pole up your butt."

Courtney scoffed. "I'm, like, the most easygoing person I know!"

"Oh, yeah, you're totally laid back, princess." he said sarcastically, smirking as he took a pastry bag full of custard and drew a line across her cheek.

"Ugh. Why are you even over here?" She frowned as she wiped away the pastry filling. "You're not even on this team!"

And with that, she grabbed a bowl full of the custard that Cameron had made prior to Izzy's complete upheaval of the dessert menu, and dumped it on Duncan's head.

Then she giggled. "You're right. This is fun."

Laying back on the floor as food flew above her, Beth blinked. After being struck dead in the forehead by a red bell pepper thrown by Lightning, the dorky farm girl had been knocked flat on her back. Her tin-and-tooth mouth was still agape as she lay there, still completely stunned.

LeShawna, having been away from the kitchen when the food fight had initially broken out, stopped dead when she walked back into the area and saw the three teams engaged in a war of epic proportions. Quickly, she rejoined her team behind their work station for cover, debating pouring an entire bowl of mango puree on the queen bee as she did so.

Meanwhile, Heather grabbed for a handful of custard pastries to throw at the enemy, but found her arsenal empty.

"Beth!" Heather commanded. "Get me more pastries!"

But Beth was still too stunned to realize that Heather had given her an order.

"Letting people walk all over you doesn't make you happy, I'm sure." Dawn's words from that morning repeated over and over in Beth's mind.

"Beth! What are you staring at?!" Heather demanded. "Get me more pastries!"

It was then that Beth seemed to finally be broken free from her trance and stood up, bracing herself for a moment as the world spun.

"I said: get me more pastries."

"Um. . . no." Came Beth's reply.

And for a moment, the entire hall went completely silent.

"What did you just say?" Heather demanded, her voice dripping with venom. When Beth didn't suddenly cower and do as she'd bid, the queen bee gave a new order. "Take it back."

Beth took a deep breath before re-asserting her answer. "No."

"Take. It. Back." Heather ordered, clenching her fists.

"No." Beth said firmly. "I'm tired of being your slave."

"You tell her!" LeShawna said, grinning in support of the dorky farm girl, earning a dark look from Heather.

And with that, the ceasefire in the hall ended and the battle resumed.

Cameron was still huddled behind the counter, trying to protect the flambe cake from harm when a ginger-haired girl half-caked in food fight shrapnel bounded over the counter, sliding across it like she was headed for a home run. Her hands grabbed the edge of the counter as she went over, using the grip to twist her body around so that she landed on her feet in the safe zone.

Cameron, startled, regarded her with wide eyes before having to use his body as a shield to protect the flambe cake when Izzy shook like a dog to rid herself of bits of food.

Blinking a few times, the girl observed the cake in the boy's hands, a thoughtful expression on her face.

After a moment, she spoke.

"I've always wanted to be kissed during an explosion."

"Wait, what?" Cameron asked, turning to regard his challenge partner Izzy with a bewildered look. And before he could process what had just been said, Izzy grabbed the front of his shirt with one hand and pulling him against her while she lowered a lit match towards the flambe cake with the other.

BOOM!

Cameron, stunned by both Izzy's forwardness and the massive explosion, seemed to deflate against the counter as the wild ginger-haired girl flung herself back into the midst of the battle.

Confessional

"That was probably the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me." Izzy said, a dreamy expression on her face.

Static.

A high pitched squeak was the only sound that a shocked and somewhat disturbed-looking Cameron could muster.

Heather glared, before grabbing the back of the dorky girl's shirt and pulling her back down under cover before the girl could fire her latest ammunition.

"I've decided to give you one last chance." Heather said before the girl could protest. "If you take it back, you can re-join the alliance."

"Take back what?" Beth asked, puzzled.

"The 'N' word. 'No'."

"I don't wanna take it back." Beth said.

"You are nothing without me!" Heather said, glaring.

"You know why we keep losing challenges?"

"Because they're lame and stupid?"

"No; because you're so busy being mean that you don't even try." Beth said, still trying to be civil. "All you can think of is bossing us around!"

Heather gasped, before grabbing a custard from her newly replenished ammunition pile, and tossing it at Beth's face.

"Oh, that's it!" Beth said, losing her temper.

"Bring it, dweeb!" Heather said, challenging the shorter girl.

And then a tomato hit the queen bee in the back of the head and she went rigid, turning around slowly with a murderous look in her eyes.

"You." Heather said accusingly, before holding a hand out to Beth. "Give me that tub of oranges."

But instead of obeying her, Beth grabbed an orange from the tub and threw it at Heather.

LeShawna had the most mischievous grin on her face as she spoke to the Bass' head chef. "If I were you, I'd find somewhere else to hide."

And with that, she and Beth both began to pelt the queen bee, forcing the thinner girl to run for cover elsewhere.

"Oh, I've got an idea!" LeShawna said, smirking as she pointed at a door nearby. And with that, she and Beth pelted both sides of the door, trapping Heather between two war-zones and getting closer with each fruit thrown as the two approached.

Heather yanked the door open and ducked behind it to use it as cover, but LeShawna wasn't satisfied with that, so she sprinted forward and pushed the door closed, trapping Heather inside the fridge.

"You can't do this!" Heather called from inside the fridge. "I'm head chef."

"Do you think Heather's going to be really mad at us?" Beth asked, regarding her teammate with a concerned expression.

"I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU." Heather screeched from inside the fridge, banging on the inside of the door.

"She'll get over it." LeShawna said with a shrug. "Girl needs to learn how to chill."

Having soothed Beth's nerves, the duo re-engaged in the war efforts of their teammates.

A hat that was sitting on the counter was suddenly hit off by a stray orange and knocked onto a brunette male's head. His partner for the challenge, Sadie, looked over at him when he gasped.

"What's the matter, Mike?" Sadie asked.

"Name's Manitoba, sheila." he said in an Australian accent, tipping his hat to her.

"Sorry." Sadie said, genuinely sorry for her mistake despite her confusion. She jumped when an orange hit the back wall with a very loud thud!

Poking his head up to survey the situation, the brunette male dipped down to dodge a handful of spaghetti and turned to grin at her. "Seems we're in a bit of a tight spot."

"Is it bad?" Sadie asked, regarding him with her eyes stretched with with concern.

"Don't worry sheila." Manitoba assured her, still speaking in an Australian accent. "I'll keep you safe."

And with that, he grabbed the orange from the floor that had rolled to Sadie's feet after hitting the wall, and leaped over the counter as Izzy had done only moments prior.

Confessional

"I feel, like, so embarrassed. I totally thought his name was Mike! Some teammate I am!" Sadie said, facepalming at herself for a moment. Then she looked at the confessional camera again. "But that was a totally scary situation! I was, like, legitimately scared for my life."

The aftermath of the battle was grim.

The kitchens were an absolute disaster area. Pasta of all varieties clung in clumps to walls, counters and some campers. Fruits and vegetables, badly dented and squashed from having been thrown at other campers, but most having collided with other objects instead, now lay scattered on the floor. Fruit juices oozed from the damaged produce, making the floor slippery in some places and sticky in others.

Beth, Courtney and Alejandro made their way out into the presentation area where Chris waited at a table with a crisp white table cloth. Alejandro lit a three-pronged candlestick, Courtney set up a vase of wildflowers and Beth placed a small ornament in a ring of flowers.

Smears and splatters of sauces and marinades decorated the teens like war paint.

"Your meal is coming right up, sir." Beth said, giving the host her best smile, despite the two lines of barbeque sauce someone had drawn on each of her cheeks.

Courtney subconsciously wiped her cheek, where Duncan had drawn a line of custard earlier, not even realizing that several strands of spaghetti were in her hair, looking very much like a crown. Alejandro, for the most part, looked unscathed aside from a hand print in what might have been ketchup on his forearm.

Chris regarded the teens with a smirk.

"Your food will arrive shortly, monsieur." Alejandro said, bowing to the host.

"We hope everything will be to your liking." Courtney said, bowing as she had no skirts with which to curtsey.

LeShawna regarded what her team had made for the challenge with a scrutinizing frown. Some of the custard pastries were less than pristine, having been salvaged from the aftermath of the food fight. The pineapple skewers had been splashed with pasta clumps, but they seemed alright now that they'd been wiped off. Their only saving grace was the glorious rack of ribs that DJ and Gwen had worked on. It had somehow managed to escape the worst damage of the food fight, which was more than they could say for the rest of their meal.

Inhaling deeply above the rack of ribs, LeShawna smiled. "We might just win this thing yet, ya'll. Alright, let's do this!"

And with that, she and Beth grabbed the plate of appetizers – the pineapple skewers with mango sauce, and moved out into the dining area.

Sitting with the Bears' appetizer in front of him, Chris tested the first dish, chewing thoughtfully. After swallowing the first few bites, he paused, before giving a thumbs-up to a nervous Sadie, and a now hatless Mike. Despite the food fight, most of their dishes had escaped contamination as Courtney had been very proactive in ensuring that people were protecting the precious dishes she'd had them prepare.

"Your antipasto passed the test-o." Chris said. "Seven points."

"We did it, Manitoba!" Sadie said, holding out her hand to high-five her partner, who only regarded her with wide eyes and left her hanging.

"M-Manitoba?"

Confessional

"Manitoba must have taken over during the food fight." Mike said, eyes wide with distress. "I admit that I've never been able to control my alternates, but up until joining this competition, at least I was in the driver's seat most of the time."

Mike anxiously ran his fingers through his hair. "Now I feel like I'm always losing control of me."

"Pass the pasta, please." Chris said cheerfully as a plate of delicious-looking spaghetti and meatballs was placed in front of him. Twirling his fork in the dish, he lifted several noodles to his lips and began to chew.

Bridgette fidgeted, nervous for the result. Her partner, Lightning, seemed to have little worry that his sauce would be less than spectacular.

Chris swallowed the first bite of pasta and grinned, clearly pleased. "On a scale of one to ten: fifteen!"

"Sha-duh!" Lightning said, grinning in victory.

Bridgette grabbed the plate of pasta and took it back to the kitchen with Lightning, just as Sadie had done with the antipasto only moments before.

Izzy, with a Cheshire cat grin on her face and Cameron, wide eyed and looking like he was in some kind of trance, brought out the Bears' final piece: the orange flambe cake.

Confessional

"Izzy was actually my first kiss." Cameron said, still looking stunned. "It feels like pressing your face against meat, but nice. And orange-flavoured."

"This looks promising." Chris said, sticking a fork into the orange-iced cake.

Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving. As the Thrashing Bears, particularly Courtney, watched in horror, the cake collapsed into a puff of soot and ash the moment Chris touched the delicate dessert with his fork. Now wary, Chris took a forkful of the cake to try, but began to cough and choke the moment it touched his mouth. After Courtney got him a glass of water to wash out his soot-filled mouth with, they nervously awaited their results.

"Disappointing." Chris said, frowning. "This is so bad I should take points away from you."

The entire team tensed.

"But I won't." The Bears' breathed a collective sigh of relief. "For now."

"Next up: Gophers." Chris said, turning to the teens. A plate of Alfredo pasta was pushed closer to the host, which he regarded with a frown. "There's hardly any left."

"We – uh – didn't want to spoil your appetite!" Zoey said quickly, feigning the most innocent smile she could manage as she nudged a sheepish-looking Jo, who forced a smile too.

"Whatever." Chris said with a shrug, taking a bite of the Alfredo appetizer. After a moment of thoughtful deliberation, he shrugged. "Passable. Four points."

Jo and Zoey tried not to look too disappointed at the outcome as they grabbed the dish and made their way back to the kitchen.

"Hey Red," Jo said, glaring at her teammate. "Don't ever nudge me like that again."

"Don't be mad at me – I was just covering for you." Zoey said, putting the plate on the counter and holding her hands up in surrender. "After all, you were the one who used almost all of our Alfredo for the food fight."

Jo opened her mouth as though to argue, but closed it indignantly when she realized Zoey was right.

"Our main course is Salmon en Croute." Alejandro announced as Trent placed a delicious looking dish before the host.

"This has potential." Chris said, taking a bite of the fish. Thoughtfully, he tasted the accompanying asparagus and mushrooms. A moment of tension-filled silence ended with a nod. "Nice work. Nine points."

Confessional

"Yes!" Trent said, pumping his fist in the air. "There's a reason why nine is my lucky number."

"And for dessert, we have a vegan lemon mousse." Alejandro said as Dawn came forward with the vegan dessert and her challenge partner Noah looked on with an annoyed expression.

"Vegan, huh?" Chris said reluctantly, poking at the mousse with his spoon. After a moment, he shrugged. "Pretty good, considering it's vegan. Seven points. That brings the Gophers up to twenty points, only two points behind the Bears."

Noah rolled his eyes in annoyance before he grabbed the mousse and took it back to the kitchen with Dawn. Alejandro glanced at the host, irritated, then followed his teammates back to the preparation area.

Finally LeShawna and Beth made their way through the saloon doors with the pineapple skewers and mango dip. Placing it down in front of the host, he sniffed. He took a bite and made a face.

"It's warm and tastes like tomatoes." He said. "Three points."

Next, DJ and Gwen brought out the ribs. The host took a good sniff of the ribs, and grinned before tasting the dish. He chewed slowly, deliberating carefully before giving the team eight points.

Unfortunately, when Geoff and Duncan brought out the custard pastries, Chris looked less than impressed. They were all damaged, some more squashed than others. Most had managed to lose their custard filling between when the pastries were used as ammunition for the food fight, and when the boys picked them up and put them on a serving plate for Chris to taste.

"These look . . . used." Chris said, poking at one of the squashed custards.

"You can thank our head chef for that." Duncan said, rolling his eyes.

Beth gasped. "Oh my gosh! Heather's still in the fridge."

And with that, she sprinted back into the kitchen, leaving teammate LeShawna with all eyes on her.

"What? Girl was making everyone trip." LeShawna said, hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Oh, I hear that." Chris agreed.

"You guys are s-s-s-so dead." Heather said, teeth chattering before she turned to Chris. "Is it over?"

"Yes." Chris said. "The Bears win twenty-two to fifteen, and not just because the pastries sucked. The appetizers were pretty bad too."

"Great. That's just great!" Heather said, clearly irritated. "Why do we keep losing, people? These custards look awful! Did you even try?"

"Yeah." Duncan said, shaking his head in annoyance. "Until you started throwing them at people."

"Major hard to make them look good after that, brah." Geoff agreed with a nod.

"You mean these were on the floor?!" Chris asked, horrified as he regarded the custard pastries he'd had to taste test.

Marching over to the table where Chris had tested the food, she glared at the small wooden idol that stood in the ring of flowers. "What is this? I didn't approve this."

"I-I brought it back as a souvenir." Beth said, grabbing it. "You know, from the other island."

"You did what?" Heather asked.

"You mean Boney Island?" Chris asked, horrified. "You mean the deadliest island in Muskoka? The one I specifically said not to take anything from or you'll be cursed?"

"Yeah." Beth said, cringing. "I didn't know, I'll put it back."

And with that, she grabbed the idol and fled to do as she'd said she would.

"Okay, so the Bears lead eight members to the Bass's soon to be six." Chris said. "And as promised, the winners will be enjoying a reward tonight. A five star dinner under the stars."

"I don't know about ya'll, but Heather has got to go." LeShawna told Gwen, Duncan, DJ and Geoff as they sat on the steps outside of their cabin.

"Yeah, but Beth cursed us with that wooden tiki doll thing, brah." Geoff reminded her.

"True." LeShawna said before folding her hands together and looking up. "Dear curse, please hit Heather next. And if possible, hit her upside the head."

Confessional

"Today's vote was really hard." Heather said. "But only because there are so many annoying people to choose from."

The teens seated around the campfire were extremely tense. Heather kept shifting her glare from LeShawna to Beth.

"I have seven Gophers sitting in front of me tonight, but only six bits of sweet, fluffy safety in my hands." Chris placed the tray of marshmallows on a nearby stump. "So, good luck. When I call your name, come up and get your marshmallow."

Chris paused for a moment, before beginning his list of names.

"Gwen. DJ. Geoff and Duncan."

He paused again, letting tension mount once more between the three angry ladies.

"LeShawna."

And then there were two.

"Heather, Beth. Down to you. Whoever doesn't get this last marshmallow must immediately walk the dock of shame and leave on the boat of losers. Forever."

Beth trembled, her fingers crossed desperately for luck. Heather cast a glare at her teammate.

"The final marshmallow goes to," Chris began, before pausing yet again. After a very extended dramatic paused, he finally said a name. "Heather."

The raven-haired girl immediately began to grin, and spoke to Beth sweetly. "You heard him. Boat of losers – that way." And then because she needed to rub it in further. "That really was silly of you to take that doll from the island."

"See ya, girl." LeShawna said, lifting her hand in a farewell wave.

"Well, that's it for tonight." Chris said. "You might want to burn some sage to get rid of any lingering curse vibes."

"Cool, will Chef give us some sage?" LeShawna asked.

"Nope." Chris said, smirking. "Good luck with that."

After the campfire ceremony, the teens had made their way back up to the main lodge to finish the leftover of the day's challenge. The Bears got a five star meal under the stars, but the other two teams were willing to settle for room temperature leftovers.

"What are you maggots doing?" Chef's drill sergeant voice startled the teens.

"Uhh. . . eating the leftovers." Zoey supplied after a moment of silence.

"Oh no you don't." Chef said, glaring at the teens. "Is my food not good enough for you maggots?!"

Another silence was followed by Zoey's attempt to be polite. "We – uh – just didn't want to waste all this food-"

"It's not going to go to waste." Chef shouted, making the teens flinch. "Anyway, it's good that you're all here."

"Why?" Heather asked.

Chef got a very wicked look on his face as he pulled out a handful of toothbrushes and distributed them to the teens.

"Hey, this is my toothbrush-" Gwen began to protest.

"You're right, it you maggots had better start scrubbing A.S.A.P." Chef said, glaring at all the teens. "If I come back here tomorrow morning and find a single speck of spaghetti sauce on the underside of a table, you'll all be on latrine duty for the rest of your days!"

And with that, he began to wheel out the cart of room-temperature food from the day's challenge, leaving the teens to sigh in frustration.

The Votes:

"Nobody says 'no' to me." Heather said, filing her nails. "Buh-bye Beth."

Static.

"Heather is the queen of mean." LeShawna said. "It's time for her to say sayonara."

Static.

"Mama always told me not to go messing around with magic and curses." DJ said, shuddering. "Why couldn't Beth just have listened to Mama?"

Static.

"Shouldda just let Geoff be head chef." Duncan said. "I vote for Heather."

Static.

"I vote for Heather." Beth said before taking a deep breath. She looked kind of relieved. "Oh my gosh. I did it. I actually did it. I voted for Heather."

Static.

"Heather's mean, but Beth totally cursed our team with that freaky tiki idol." Geoff said. "Sorry brah."

Static.

"Heather is a royal pain, but we have lost every challenge since we went to Boney Island." Gwen said, shrugging. After a moment, she sighed. "I vote for Beth."

Eliminated so far:

37th: Katie

36th: Staci

35th: Sierra

34th: Sam

33rd: Eva

32nd: Owen

31st: Beverly

30th/29th: Lindsay & Ezekiel

28th: Justin

27th: Brick

26th: Dakota

25th: Anne Maria

24th: Harold

23rd: Tyler

22nd: Beth

Still in the Game:

Screaming Gophers: Dawn, Alejandro, Noah, Cody, Trent, Zoey, Jo

Killer Bass: Duncan, LeShawna, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, DJ

Thrashing Bears: Sadie, Cameron, Courtney, Scott, Lightning, Izzy, Bridgette, Mike

Do you have a favourite moment or quote from this chapter or from the fanfic as a whole?

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