The Peralta Challenges: SYOC Edition

by thedragonrooster

It's season two of the famed spin-off of Total Drama Island. John Peralta is back as host and he's looking for a new cast of characters, made by YOU. (SYOC Closed, 16/18 remaining) *team logos drawn by The Feline Overlord, John Peralta drawn by yours truly

4. New Kids on the Dock

Hey everyone, I've returned in quick fashion to give you the very first episode of this story. I basically pulled an all-nighter because I was so excited to get this episode out. Just don't expect the next episode to come out so soon as I do plan on going back to my other story (Total Drama Metamorphia) next.

This is a lengthy introduction chapter with quite a bit happening but it's definitely something I'm proud of. I hope you enjoy and be sure to leave me a review to tell me how I did with your character.

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EPISODE 1: NEW KIDS ON THE DOCK

Winds and waves filled the ambience. Birds in trees sang their chirpy tunes. Things were quaint and calm within the confines of a small coniferous island miles away from civilization. However, things were going to change soon. Alongside the nature of this pleasant land mass were some buildings of various identities. While perhaps utilized in other matters, they were now the focal point for an upcoming competition. One led by a certain cheery and sarcastic individual named John Peralta.

John stood by a lengthy dock that spat out from the north shore of the island, eagerly anticipating for a camera crew's go-ahead. Along with the shirts he had worn during the introductions, he also had on a nice pair of khaki shorts and white sneakers with blue markings along the sides. After a silent count of three from the head cameraman, John cleared his throat and smiled brightly into the camera. "Welcome everyone!" he exclaimed, holding out his arms to the side with excitement. "To season TWO of The Peralta Challenges!"

He jutted his thumb towards himself, his teeth glistening through his iconic smile. "I'm your host John Peralta," he continued, now pointing down at the creaky planks of wood that he had been standing on. "And I'm back here at Bennington Island with eighteen brand new campers on their way, ready for the ultimate competition of their lives."

John promptly turned to the side and pointed off towards the lake horizon. "Instead of coming here individually by boat," he explained. "We decided to bring them all together in one larger ship." He winked at the camera. "Give 'em a chance to break the ice, as they say, before we jump straight into our first challenge."

Afterwards, he strolled down the dock, the camera following with his pace. "We took some of the criticism from the first season," he admitted. "In order to come back with a much more polished and professional product with this new season. And to show you all what I mean, how about I reveal to you the first thing we added since we were last here."

Inside a small gray room, there was a white padded chair under a fluorescent light and a small camera set up to face the chair directly. John entered the room from a door on the left and took a seat. "Yep, we got a confessional room now," he announced, growing a smirk in the process. "A vital part of reality TV that was somehow missing with our first endeavor."

Things quickly returned to John at the dock. He checked his watch real quick and nodded. "By this point, our lovely campers have just departed from Milwaukee," he said, taking a gander towards the horizon again. "So, before we cut over towards them…" He faced the camera again and smiled. "I just want to thank you all for watching. I've missed you guys." After another glance at his watch, he continued. "Alright, wholesome time's over. Let's meet up with our new crew via the camera's on the ship. Until then, I'll see you back here real soon."

/

Wading through the cold waters of Lake Michigan was a large yacht of sorts. Its destination; Bennington Island. And as the host mentioned, it carried the eighteen campers assail. The first in particular was the cheery Yana, who leaned up against the railing of the top deck of the yacht, staring off at the increasingly diminishing view of the Milwaukee skyline. She hung her arms over, holding onto an apple before taking a small bite and sighing longingly. "Well, no turning back now I guess," she mumbled to herself. "I swear if I come back and that little rascal causes any trouble…"

She stopped herself when she heard someone approach behind her. Startled a little, she dropped her apple into the lake, groaning frustratingly at her mishap. When she turned back to see who had snuck up on her, she saw that it was the esteemed royal, Kai. He greeted her with a gentle wave as he seemed a bit embarrassed. "My apologies," he said. "Didn't mean to frighten you and cause you to lose your snack."

Yana shrugged with an assuring smile, seeming to not be too bothered. "Oh, it's okay dear." She adjusted herself so she could comfortably lean back against the ship railing. "What's your name?"

"You may call me, Kai," the royal answered, holding his hand out to her.

"Yana," the rock-climber shared, shaking his hand. "You actually share the same name as my brother."

A small smile grew on Kai's face as he placed his hands on his hips. "Is he the little rascal you were referring to earlier?" he asked.

Yana laughed nervously as her cheeks reddened a little. "Oh, you overheard that, huh?" she remarked as she adjusted her sleeves to cover her entire fists. She held them to her face, hiding an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, he's quite the gremlin sometimes. But he's my brother, so I love him." She dropped her hands to her side, seeming to be quite amused with the conversation now.

Kai found amusement as well as his smile grew much more, showing off his well-maintained pearly whites. "Ah, I see now," he responded, nodding his head a tad. "I don't have a brother but I do have a sister. She's not much of a gremlin though."

Yana let out all a small snicker. "Heh, lucky."

Kai kept his gentle smile as he pulled out a pocket watch that was stuffed in his suit. After checking the time, he placed it back and cleared his throat. "Well now, I must be going now," he said. "There's still quite a few fellow competitors here that I have yet to meet."

"Oh, yeah," Yana agreed, nodding understandingly. "It was super neat meeting you. Plus may I just say that your outfit is top tier."

Kai wasn't quite sure how to take the compliment, despite feeling like he must. "Oh, I see," he replied, a bit awkwardly. "Well I suppose it is quite expensive." Yana responded with an amused giggled, leaving Kai to awkwardly shuffle himself away.

"Oh, don't get like this now," the royal mumbled quietly to himself with his head down as he strolled along the deck of the ship. "She was being nice. She doesn't know your ills." Suddenly, water splashed onto him, much to his shock. He immediately looked up to see Gerald, holding an empty glass.

The hacker faked an apologetic look and covered his mouth. "Oh, so terribly sorry," he lied, trying his best to not seem suspicious. "You sort of startled me."

Kai sighed and wiped some water off of him, while letting most of it drip. "You're forgiven," he replied. "Not the first time I've done that."

Gerald held his cup to his side and smirked. "Why are you even wearing a suit anyways?" he asked. "You know it's a summer camp and not a ball, right?"

The royal seemed pretty much defeated. "Yeah, I'm aware," he answered. "Now, please excuse me. I need to go dry up." He quickly made his departure while Gerald watched along before turning away and cackling to himself.

"Oh, what a dumbass," he insulted, placing a hand on his jiggling stomach. "I swear, some of these dweebs are just so stupid looking."

"Nyeh, what are you blabbering about?" said a monotone voice. Gerald looked around but didn't spot anyone who could've said that. The voice beckoned him again. "Up here."

Gerald looked up to see Miriam crouched over on the top of the ship cabin. She peered down at him with expressionless eyes while Gerald shot back with a bewildered stare. "Okay, found the most stupid looking one by far," he mocked.

Miriam seemed to deflect the insult without much reaction. Instead, she adjusted herself to now have her legs dangle down the ship cabin. "You be giving out loads of crap with your mouth, I see," she said bluntly.

"Yeah, I'm in a giving mood today," Gerald countered with a snicker. "So, wanna tell me why you're dressed like a dorky ass LARPer or something?"

Miriam rolled her eyes before hoping down from the cabin and standing beside the hacker. "Nyeh, you ain't someone to talk," she responded dryly. "Might wanna keep that beer belly of yours in check. Didn't need to know that you're an outie."

Gerald scoffed with an accompanying eyeroll. "Whatever, dork," he crossed his arms, looking as smug as usual before shaking his head. "Why am I even bothering here? I've only just met you and can tell you're easily the most dorkiest of all dorks that there is." He snickered to himself a little at his rather lame insult.

Miriam squinted her eyes threateningly. "You watch your sorry behind," she said sternly before hoisting up her bow. "I can easily make that an innie for you, if you want."

Gerald just laughed disbelieving right in her face, his foul breath not affecting her too much as she had her face covered. The hacker then walked away, shaking his head mockingly while the archer just stared off into the lake with a blank expression. Eventually, she would go perch herself back up on top of the cabin, pretending like this interaction never happened.

/

"So, you seemed to have packed quite a lot of stuff," said Vela, who sat next to Rae on one of the benches inside the cabin. Rae had three large suitcases overstuffed with various things while Vela just had her one suitcase with a plastic bag full of her candles. Vela tilted her head in intrigue. "Why so much, may I ask?"

Rae fidgeted with the zipper to one of her suitcases. "Oh, just a lot of tabletop games and stuff," she mentioned, almost seeming unsure of herself here. "Um, got some other things as well but I'm sure it's not that interesting."

Vela smirked and placed a hand over her plastic bag. "Mate, I brought a bunch of candles," she admitted. "Can't get much more uninteresting then that."

"I, uh, I like candles," Rae defended. "Did you make them on your own?"

Vela nodded her head and scavenged through her bag. She pulled out a small blue candle. "Of course," she affirmed, holding the candle out to her. "I even brought some wax and scents so I could make a few while I'm here. Here, this one's on the house, bub." Rae stared at the candle for a bit, causing Vela to chuckle a bit. "Don't be shy, take it," Vela offered.

Rae placed the candle on top of one of her suitcases and smiled a little. "Uh, thanks," she said.

"And he runs into the endzone for a touchdown!" shouted the voice of Tyson, who ran into the cabin carrying a football. He spiked the ball on the floor and mimed a celebration, whispering crowd cheers to go along with it. His actions definitely surprised the two girls as they couldn't help but stare at the guy. He noticed this and nodded his head towards them, a big wholesome smile on his face. "Hey dudes."

Rae and Vela shared looks before the candler spoke. "Well, that was quite the introduction," she quipped.

Tyson let out an amused chortle, picking up his football. "Sorry if I was disruptive," he apologized. "I'm just so pumped to be here. What about you two?"

"Oh, I, um, I guess I am a little," Rae shrugged, looking over to Vela, who smirked at the athlete.

"Oh, I'm so ready," Vela added. "And you seem like a fun cute guy to me. So perhaps we could hang out some more later?"

"Haha, sure," Tyson smiled, pointing the football at her and giving a wink. "You're pretty cute as well… even though you're dressed like a pumpkin."

Vela was a bit taken aback by his comments but brushed it off with a rather obnoxious laugh. Rae just awkwardly watched the two, not one to really flirt but she was soon caught off-guard by a football thrown at her stomach. She grunted in shock as Tyson clasped his hands over his head.

"Oh, shoot! Sorry, dude," he apologized profusely, running up to her to check if she was okay. "I totally thought you were gonna catch that."

Rae coughed and massaged her stomach. "It's fine, it's fine," she reassured meekly. Vela just looked amused by the entire ordeal as Tyson took his football, looking highly embarrassed.

"I, um, I'm gonna head out," the athlete stammered as he stepped back awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, I guess." Vela waved farewell and chuckled while Rae just groaned in pain. Tyson then promptly left the cabin while Vela geared her attention towards Rae, who was still trying to recover.

"You gonna be alright, bub?" she asked.

Rae looked up and nodded her head. "Yeah, I've been hit with worse," she assured. Vela chuckled again and patted the girl gently on the shoulder.

Meanwhile outside of the cabin, Bo leaned up against the wall staring off into the lake. He kept a stern silent composure, having his arms folded in front of his body. He kept his coolness when Tyson came running. The athlete spotted Bo and greeted him with a nod. Bo nodded back.

"What's up, dude," Tyson said, approaching him while tossing his football back and forth in his hands.

"Not much," Bo answered, as chill as ever. He pointed at the football with his eyes. "You play ball?"

"All kinds, man," Tyson affirmed before accidentally dropping the ball on one of his tosses. It rolled down the top deck of the cabin and fell to the bottom deck. Tyson looked frightened as he peered down to see the ball resting in some bins. "Phew…"

Bo didn't say much as Tyson decided to go retrieve the ball and left. The real one seemed to be deep in thought with something until he was interrupted again by someone else approaching. This time it was Neda, who smiled and waved excitedly at him.

"Sup, girl," Bo greeted casually, shooting a sly smile in her direction.

"Oh hi!" Neda cheered, excitedly stepping up to him with her hands behind her back. "This is my first time in America so it's just so exciting to meet all kinds of different people."

"Oh for real," Bo replied, raising an eyebrow a little. "Where're you from?"

Neda pointed upwards. "Oh, just up north in Canada," she explained. "But I lived in Turkey and Iran as well. What about you? Where're you from?"

"I'm from the burbs in the Nashville area," he informed. "Franklin to be precise. Ever heard of it?"

Neda took a few moments to think but ultimately shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she answered.

"I've been to Franklin a few times," said another voice. This time coming from the artiste himself, Clifford. He approached the two rather unknowingly as his presence surprised both of them but he didn't seem to care. He had a pretty stern stature but seemed rather easy-going in demeanor as he greeted the two with a nonchalant shrug. "Road trips with the fam, in case you're wondering."

"Ooh, hi! I'm Neda," the superfan greeted, holding her hand out to him in which the artiste promptly shook it.

"Clifford," he replied.

"And I'm Bo," the real one added, pointing at himself.

"Nice, nice," Clifford responded with a simple nod. "I suppose you two individuals are all ready for the madness we're about to endure this summer, huh?"

"Who's mad?" Neda asked obliviously while Bo rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Right…" Clifford replied, rather disinterestedly. "Well, I'll leave you two to continue conversing with one another. Farewell." He scooted between them to make his exit, while the others said goodbye in return. Clifford continued down the top deck until he was bumped into by a dancing Sienna.

"Oop, sorry," the plump girl apologized as she covered her face embarrassingly.

Clifford faked a smile and brushed off his polo. "Not a problem, Miss…" he trailed off to goad Sienna into introducing herself.

"Valencia," she answered abruptly, shaking Clifford's hand without much notice. "Sienna Valencia."

Clifford just stared at his hand before shrugging. "Alright then," he grunted before walking away, leaving the former YouTuber to awkwardly shuffle her feet around. Eventually, she went back to her dancing, just seeming to enjoy herself until another camper showed up.

This time it was the critic, Kyla. "Bonjour," she greeted with a warm smile and a wave. She quickly noticed something and rubbed her chin. "Oh, I think I may recognize you."

Sienna stopped her dancing and looked intrigued. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Kyla thought for a second before nodding her head in realization. "That's right, you used to run a YouTube channel, oui?" she asked. Sienna nodded her head quietly which prompted Kyla to stare a bit more analytically at her. "Ah, great. Although you look a bit… different."

Sienna sighed and continued dancing as a way to ignore her. Kyla tapped her chin for a sec but soon raised her finger in the air as she came to another realization. "Oh yes, you seemed to have gained a lot of weight."

Sienna stopped in her tracks again and glared at Kyla, obviously not appreciating such a blunt observation. Kyla noticed this and immediately blushed in embarrassment. "Ack, sorry, sorry, sorry," she apologized profusely. "I meant no disrespect."

Sienna sighed and turned away. "Whatever," she mumbled.

Kyla hung her head in shame and decided it was best to just walk away. When she was far enough from Sienna, she grew angry and facepalmed herself multiple times. "Stupid idiot!" she groaned to herself. "Way to muck up your very first social interaction on the show, Kyla."

That's when she noticed that she was being watched by a bored, disinterested Edgar. Her face was as red as an apple. "Sacre bleu, you didn't hear all of that, right?" she asked sheepishly.

Edgar sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't really care if I did," he said bluntly.

Kyla's expression changed from embarrassment to bewilderment as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Gee, you seem like a fun personality," she grunted.

Edgar seemed not to be bothered much by her little snark. Instead, he just gazed off into his own world. "Fun is rather useless," he replied unemotively. "It doesn't last as long as you want."

Kyla froze with confusion, her hand held up in front as she gave the emo a look. "O… kay…" she replied uneasily. "You're kind of weird." Edgar just let out an empty sigh and walked away with no emotion. Kyla watched him go, as bewildered as ever before shaking her head. "Americans…"

/

At the bottom deck of the yacht, Tyson dug through the bins and pulled out his football, cheering to himself in relief. All the while another camper sat by and watched with a smile. This was Aditi, who swung her feet to and fro. Tyson waved at her and left, tossing the football around to himself. Aditi seemed quite relaxed, admiring the view around her. "Lake Michigan is so beautiful and vast," she remarked. "Perhaps I should explore America some more after the show."

Just then, a lady in a maid outfit skipped around. This was Jaz, of course, and she seemed oblivious to Aditi's presence. "They're not gonna know what hit 'em," the maid blabbered on. "I will win this entire thing and shove it in my sisters' faces, teehee!"

Aditi shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand and watched Jaz encourage herself before eventually speaking up. "Merhaba," she said.

Jaz stopped and quickly glanced over towards the wanderer. "What did you call me?" she asked interrogatively.

Aditi adjusted her parka as she stood up. "Merhaba means 'hello' in Turkish," she explained, trying her best to be welcoming and kind. "I see that you're pretty excited for this show."

"Yeah, I am," Jaz replied, crossing her arms. "I mean, like, duh. I get to be on TV showing off my sexy maid outfit to everyone. Everyone's gonna love me." Aditi seemed oblivious to her arrogance and smiled along, however, someone else wasn't as keen with it.

"Too late for that, tutz," said Felix, who walked up to the two, riffle-shuffling a deck of cards in his hands.

Jaz gave him a disgusted look. "Uhhh, who the hell are you?" she asked.

"Name's Felix," he answered, sliding his deck of cards in his jeans with a swift motion. "I'm assuming you're the cleaning lady of the ship."

Jaz pursed her lip in annoyance. "Ha ha, very funny," she responded dryly, before twirling around. "I'm wearing this because I'm promoting my web show, Cosplaying Services. You've probably heard of it."

Felix shook his head with an uninterested look on his face. "Doesn't ring a bell," he answered matter-of-factly. Jaz just rolled her eyes with a disgusted sneer.

"Oh, how fascinating," Aditi butted in. "A cosplayer? I believe I've met a few of those in my travels. Including this one martial artist lady that you wouldn't have expected to be into that kind of stuff."

Jaz was a bit intrigued. "Oh really," she said. "Well perhaps you can check out my show sometime. It's me and my sisters that run the whole thing."

"Perhaps I will," Aditi agreed.

"While I'm sure this is such riveting stuff to talk about," Felix said sarcastically, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I think I'm gonna go place my bets elsewhere."

Jaz shooed him away without paying him much attention. "Yeah, yeah, go do that," she mumbled before piping back up to speak with Aditi. "So, where have you traveled to? Because there's a few places that I'd like to travel to, myself."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," Aditi replied as Felix rolled his eyes and walked away. "I've been to many places like Nepal, Argentina and Mexico but this is my first time in America."

"Interesting," Jaz said, tapping her chin. "What, like, did you go to these places as some sort of missionary trip or something?"

Aditi laughed and shook off her rather ignorant assumption. "No, I just like exploring fascinating places," she explained. "I don't try to mess with the cultures there either. I am simply an observer."

While the girls continued their conversation, Felix strolled along the bottom deck, deep in thought until he could smell the scent of aerosol. Curious, he searched around until he found Celia crouched down and spray painting some obscene words on the walls of the yacht. Felix furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Celia looked up and smirked, shaking her spray paint can. "Making the yacht of whatever rich dude this belongs to have a little more spunk," she confessed smugly before darting her eyes at Felix and pointing a finger. "You better not snitch either."

Felix chuckled, admiring her blunt honesty. "Nah, I'm not gonna snitch," he assured before pointing directly at the camera. "It's all being recorded anyway."

Celia stared blankly at the camera for a sec before getting up and spray painting the lens, much to the dismay of the camera guy. However, unbeknownst to her, things were still being recorded by a camera perched from above. Celia went back to her spray painting, finishing up her little art mural and then wiped some sweat from her forehead when she was done.

Felix stood there and read what she sprayed closely. "Fuck the Elites," he said aloud with a smirk.

Celia stepped back and brushed off her hands. "Hell yeah," she responded with a prideful grin. "You down with tearing down the establishment?"

Felix stared at her for a bit before shrugging. "Hey, being a rebel is full of interesting risks," he said. "I respect the lifestyle."

Celia smirked, twiddling with her hair as she chewed on some gum she had in her mouth the entire time. "I'm a little devil for sure," she confessed. "What's life without a little risk anyways?"

Felix grew a sly grin and nodded. "That's my kind of girl right there," he answered, a little flirtatiously.

Celia laughed and flipped her hair back to face him directly. "Flirt all you want, honey," she mocked. "But I'm only into girls with nice booties, you hear?"

"What a coincidence, so am I," Felix quipped with an amused grin. Celia couldn't help but laugh, which made Felix chuckle a little as well. Their laughter was shortly stopped when the final camper to make his appearance showed up.

This was Preston and he was reading the graffiti that Celia had just made. "Real nice," he said dryly.

"Appreciate it, dude," Celia replied.

Preston faced the two with a rather blank expression. "So, you two will be some of my competitors this summer," he remarked, analyzing the two curiously. "I hope you put in the best effort."

"Likewise," Felix replied, folding up his arms.

"Oh right, I forget we're heading to a competition," Celia admitted, finger-brushing some of her own hair. She grinned facetiously. "Too busy making my art to remember."

"And what an art piece it is," Preston commented sarcastically. "So you met anyone else?"

Celia shook her head but Felix pointed off towards where he had come from. "Just two other ladies as of now," he explained.

The rebel pushed herself forward with excitement. "Oh word," she said, flipping her hair back once again. "Shoot, Imma go check them out then." She winked at Felix as she gestured her hands to mime herself grabbing an invisible butt. Felix chuckled while Preston rolled his eyes.

After Celia left, the culinarian adjusted himself against the deck railing. He could see the island in the distance approaching. "Welp, looks like we're here," he said, glancing over to Felix. "You feeling nervous?"

Felix shook his head and leaned with him. "Not really," he answered.

Preston smirked and nodded his head. "Same," he agreed.

"Out of my way! I'm gonna throw up!" screamed a scrambling Sienna, who shoved both of the men aside to hurl into the lake. She coughed and spat before looking apologetically at the two. "Sorry, I think I got seasick from dancing too much." Preston and Felix just gave each other looks.

/

John stood at the dock, shading his eyes with his hand as he observed the yacht coming in. "Looks like they're finally here," he couldn't help but smile as he said this. "It's showtime, Samson!"

As prompted, Samson showed up next to John with a big grin on his face. "Gonna be even better than last year," he remarked as the two best friends watched the yacht pull in slowly. "So, we're jumping straight into the first challenge, right?"

John nodded his head and cocked his head to the side. "Yep. So, you can go and set everything up," he ordered. "It'll be about fifteen minutes until then."

"Understood," Samson replied, holding up a rope that he had with him. "Have fun with the kids."

"Oh, I will," John replied, nodding farewell to his friend, who made his exit shortly after. The yacht had seemed to finally reach the dock and that's when John pulled a radio up to his face. "Okay Zack, send them out."

Aboard the ship was the head of security himself, Zack. He was actually piloting the ship all along. When he heard the radio call, he quickly made haste to prepare everyone for unboarding. First, he walked out of the captain's cabin and pulled out a ladder, hanging it against the side of the bow. Afterwards, he called up every camper through an intercom to meet him at the appropriate location.

John remained on the dock with his trusted camera crew, hands behind his back as he saw Zack order each camper to climb down one by one and allow John to introduce them. With that said, the very first to show up was, once again, Yana. She scurried down the dock and waved happily at the host. "Hi, Mr. Peralta sir," she greeted.

"Please, call me John," the host requested with a charmed smile. "And welcome to the Peralta Challenges, Yana. It's fascinating to have two blonde girls from Milwaukee in back-to-back seasons."

"Ooh, how neat," Yana replied, adjusting the collar of her shirt. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise," John nodded, gesturing her over to the side. "Now make way for our next camper."

Celia was next as she kinda butted her way in front of the line to do so. She hopped down onto the deck and crossed her arms as she walked up to John. "So, you're the host of this little show?" she asked, lowering her sunglasses to get a better glimpse of the man.

"Brilliant observation, Celia," John replied effortlessly with a sly smile.

Celia smirked and raised her sunglasses so that they now rested atop of her head. "Well, cool to meet you," she said, shaking John's hand. Afterwards, she walked over towards Yana and sent her a flirtatious wink. "Hey, cutie." Yana giggled and waved off the flirty compliment bashfully.

"Hello there, Preston," John greeted the next camper as he approached the host. "Welcome to the Peralta Challenges!"

Preston shrugged and looked around the island. "Not so bad, I guess," he remarked nonchalantly before carrying on down the dock, noticing Celia. "Ah, it's the artist."

Celia smirked and playfully shooed him away with a sassy hand wave. "Yeah, yeah," she grunted.

Miriam was next and she walked up to John with her arms crossed, seeming to be upset. John furrowed his eyebrows in intrigue. "What's the matter, Miriam?" he asked.

"The captain guy took my bow," she explained monotonously. "What's the big idea?"

"Yeah sorry," John replied with an apologetic shrug. "But no weapons like that are allowed here."

Mirian scoffed and looked miffed. "What a bummer," she mumbled.

"Hah, looks like your dorky LARPing won't be happening anytime soon," mocked a chortling Gerald, who was next up from the ship. Miriam just glared at him and walked away as Gerald smirked at the host. "Sup, nerd."

"Hey, watch who you're talking to, Gerald," John frowned, shaking his head. "You should be respectful to the staff first and foremost, you hear?"

"Tch. Sure thing, host," Gerald replied, rolling his eyes a little.

"Move out of the way, you're wasting my screen time!" Jaz shouted as she shoved Gerald abruptly to the ground and then smiled brightly at the camera. "Hi everyone! I'm Jaz and uhhh… Watch Cosplaying Services, okay?"

John stared at the two with a befuddled look as he rubbed the back of his head. "Right…" he said. "Get going, you two." Gerald picked himself up and grumbled some obscenities to himself while Jaz twirled around and flaunted her main outfit to the cameras. John just shook his head in disapproval until the next camper showed up. "Welcome to the Peralta Challenges, Rae."

Rae tapped her pointers together nervously. "About my bags," she spoke softly. "I was told to leave them on the ship. Any idea why?"

"Ah yes, don't fret," John reassured with a smile. "Zack will simply look through everyone's baggage to make sure nothing illegal is in them. Then he'll give them back once we've decided which cabin you'll be in."

"Wait shit, for real?" Celia asked in worry.

John nodded his head. "Yeah, for real," he affirmed. "Don't worry, as long as you're not smuggling drugs in them then you should be alright."

Celia crossed her arms and wobbled on her heels nervously. "Okay, I guess," she sighed.

"I have a lot of fragile pottery stuff in those bags," Rae explained. "He'll be careful with them, right?"

"Yeah, that's totally fine," John said, gesturing her off to the others. "We'll take care of your stuff, don't worry. Now, come on, let's speed things up." He then pointed towards the next camper. "Come over here and say hello, Edgar."

As Rae nervously walked over to the other campers, Edgar slowly trudged his way towards the host with that same disinterested look on his face as before. "Well, here I am," he said breathlessly.

"And we're glad you're here," John replied with an encouraging thumbs up.

Edgar rolled his eyes and trudged further. "Whatever," he grunted, causing John to once again look disappointed. Edgar stopped by Gerald, who couldn't help but snicker at his appearance. Edgar paid him no mind, however.

"Hey there Felix," John greeted the next camper, reaching out for a fist bump.

Felix returned the gesture, eyeing over towards the other campers. "Pleased to meet all of you," he said gentlemanly before nodding towards John. "And you too, of course."

"Appreciate it, my friend," John replied, jutting his thumb towards the others. "Wait over there, please."

Felix did as ordered while the next camper arrived, carrying her bag of candles. Vela pulled one out and handed it to John. "Here you go, bub," she offered. "Made specifically for you."

John took the candle, looking quite impressed. "Well thank you, Vela," he said, giving it a little sniff. "Ah, lavender. My favorite."

"Had to do a little research on your preferences," Vela explained. "Surprised that the Tennessean isn't a fan of whiskey."

John chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah well, you know… Gave it a shot and couldn't get into it," he confessed, feeling flattered as he admired the candle in his hand. "But this was very thoughtful of you, thanks again."

"My pleasure," Vela replied, taking her bag of candles and heading towards the other campers.

"Wait, did I hear that right?" said Bo, who was next to enter the dock. "The homeboy is from Tennessee?"

John laughed and nodded. "Nashville, baby," he affirmed, holding his fist out.

Bo went up to him and gave him a fist bump. "Hell yeah, brodie," he said, elated in his own cool way. "That's what I'm talking about. Go Titans."

"Ooh, now I've met two Tennesseans!" gawked Neda, who was next up as she excitedly pranced her way to the two of them. "I'm Neda! Oh, and you must be the host. Cool!"

John tipped an imaginary hat towards her. "Indeed, pardner," he said in a faux southern accent, which amused her greatly. "Now why don't you and Bo stand over there for me."

Next up was the artiste, Clifford. He walked up to John and greeted him with a friendly handshake. "Afternoon, sir," he said, adjusting his glasses after.

"Good to meet ya, Cliff," John replied.

Clifford shuddered a little. "Just call me Clifford," he suggested. "I don't like being referred to as Cliff that much."

"My apologies, won't happen again," John assured as Clifford shot a thankful smile at the host. He walked towards the other campers where Neda was first to greet him.

"Oh, it's you again," she waved happily.

"Wow, what a shock," he quipped dryly, which made Neda chuckle. Clifford looked over to Bo and faked a cheery smile. "Oh, it's you again!"

Bo smirked amusingly, finding Clifford's lousy impression entertaining. "What up, fam," he greeted.

Neda reached for both of the men's wrists and smiled brightly. "Already an iconic trio, aren't we?" she beamed as Bo and Clifford shared shrugs.

"Woo!" shouted Tyson as he hopped around the dock, hyping himself up. "I'm here, baby, let's go!"

"Easy Tyson," John calmed, holding an arm out instinctively. "You're damn near shaking the entire dock."

Tyson blushed with a chuckle as he went up to John and gave him a big hug, much to the host's surprise. "Ah sorry, I'm just so pumped dude," he explained, letting John go from his embrace shortly after. "I hope you have lots of awesome challenges planned."

"Appreciate the enthusiasm and we certainly do," John replied, unable to not feel a little mutual excitement. "Now go on and share your excitement with the other campers."

"Right on!" Tyson beamed, holding up a thumbs up. He strutted over to the others, his big grin still intact. "What's up, my dudes?"

"Not much, dude," Clifford responded with a mocking tone on the final word. Bo chuckled quietly alongside him as Tyson obliviously carried on, greeting some more campers.

Meanwhile, Aditi was next to greet the host and she did so with a high-five. "Wow, what an island," she remarked in awe.

"You can explore Bennington to your heart's desire, Aditi," John permitted before holding up his pointer. "After we get through some things here first."

Aditi nodded her head rapidly. "Sounds great, John," she responded, adjusting her parka so it wrapped around her more loosely. "Whew, it's surprisingly hot here."

John nodded as he fanned himself. "Summer's aren't as bad down south but they can still get up there," he explained. "Just wait until winter's here, however. That's when shit gets real."

Aditi let out a small chuckle. "Oh, I'm sure that Wisconsin weather can get pretty rough," she said. "But I think I'll be able to handle it when that situation comes."

"I mean, it's your funeral," John quipped with a defensive shrug before pointing at the next camper. "Hey there, Sienna. Come over and say hello."

Sienna hobbled over to John, clapping her hands excitedly as Aditi made way for her arrival. "Ooh, hi John," she greeted with a cheery smile. "It's super neat to see you in person."

"Oh, why thank you," John appreciated with a grateful nod. "And how were things going for you over there in Italy?"

"I mean fine, I guess," was all that Sienna really had to say.

"Well, you got a fellow European with ya now," John said, pointing over towards someone. "Bonjour, Kyla."

"Bonjour," Kyla greeted as she made her way down the dock. She stopped next to Sienna with a curious look on her face. "Oh, you're from Italy?"

Sienna looked over towards her and bit her lip. "Yeah…" she said shyly before taking a deep breath and smiling. "Hey, I forgive you for earlier."

"Oh, that's great to hear," Kyla replied in relief as she placed a hand over her chest. "I do not mean to offend whatsoever."

"I get ya," Sienna smiled. "It's just a touchy subject for me."

"Heh, fatty," Gerald mumbled under his breath with a smirk. He then noticed Miriam staring right at him and rolled his eyes but the archer clearly wasn't having any more of his rudeness. In her head, she was thinking of all the ways she could humiliate the guy but alas, she kept it in for now.

"Hey, uh, add one more European to the club," John interjected, pointing over towards the final camper to depart from the yacht. "This is Kai, a Spaniard who's also a prince, by the way."

Everyone stared back at the guy, who seemed to hold himself up high. "Greetings everyone," he spoke, his voice boisterous in tone. "It is an honor to meet all of you. I look forward to having you as both competitors and teammates." He cleared his throat and smiled after.

"Oh yeah, sick dude," Tyson cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "What a cool bunch of people you got here, John."

John laughed modestly and held his arms out. "What can I say," he said. "I have a knack for finding great personalities. So, since now everyone is here, I say we go ahead and move things along."

/

The exotic brick structure that was the Main Hall was now filled with all of the campers and John. Each one took a seat on various lounge chairs in the area while John stood by a mahogany podium. Some of the campers chatted away but were soon silenced by a swift whistle from John. "It's good to have everyone here and all," he said. "But there's still one thing that we have to do… And that is to decide your teams."

John stepped away from the podium, pacing back and forth in front of the campers. "But we're not going to do what we did last season, where both teams were predetermined," he explained, stopping in the center of the Main Hall. "Instead, we're gonna have our first challenge to determine what our teams will look like."

"Ooh wow, this is interesting," Neda remarked as she sat up in her seat in intrigue.

"Now, Samson is currently outside where our challenge will take place," John explained, pointing off behind him. "Let's say we all get up and go see what he has in store for us."

As John led the way outside of the Main Hall, he quickly made a left turn. Many of the campers were both curious and a little bit nervous of what they would be doing. John seemed relaxed as he whistled some nameless tunes until he could spot Samson right by a sand-box. On closer inspection, however, the box wasn't filled with sand but rather mud and next to the box was a long braided rope.

Samson wiped some sweat from his head with his forearm where he soon saw John with all of the campers. "It's time?" he asked with a smile.

"Indeed so, pal," John answered, taking a gander at the big collection of wet dirt. "Care to explain to the kids what they'll be doing?"

Samson patted his hands together a few times and nodded, approaching in front of the crowd of campers. "Hello there, kids," he greeted. "I'm sure John has explained who I am already but in case not, I'm Samson." He gestured back to show-off the mud filled sand-box. "Today, you'll be playing some tug-of-war, only you'll be doing it over this mud pit."

"Seems simple enough," Preston remarked.

"And so how does this relate to our teams?" Kai asked curiously, finding the whole thing already fascinating.

Samson stepped aside and prompted John to take the answer. The host stepped forward and nodded. "Easy," he said. "We'll have random match-ups determined each time. Winner of that match-up can decide whether they want to be a part of the green team or the orange team." John pointed off towards a set of two rugs that appropriately matched their respective team colors. "Whatever team the winner doesn't pick, that's where the loser will go."

"You can't tell me that they're just called the green team and orange team," Gerald complained, looking disgusted. "That's super lame if so."

"Oh no, don't worry," John assured him. "Names will be revealed after the challenge as well as a special gift that I have for each of you."

"Alright, this is sweet," Vela remarked, rubbing her hands together with anticipation. "What are the match-ups?"

John responded by simply nodding and calling out for someone via a simple hand gesture. In came a young boy wearing a purple t-shirt with black jeans and brown sneakers. This was, of course, John's son, aptly named Johnny. In his hands was an upside-down cowboy hat with many slits of paper stuffed inside. He handed the hat to his father and stepped back to scan all of the campers.

"Oh my goodness," Yana squeaked. "He's sooo precious." Johnny giggled and kicked some dirt bashfully as a response.

John watched him and smirked in amusement. "Yeah, he's a real ladies man too," he added sarcastically before pointing towards the cafeteria. "You can go back with your Mommy, if you like."

Johnny shook his head and wiped some imaginary dirt from his face. "I wanna watch them do this," he stated, his voice both tiny and crackly. He cleared his throat rather obnoxiously afterwards, getting some of the girl's to gawk at his cuteness.

John couldn't help but smile, clearly enjoying his little boy stealing the show here. "That's fine with me," he said, before garnering the attention of all of the campers again. "So, here's what we're going to do. I'm gonna pick two names out of this hat at random. Those two names will be a match-up. We do this until all eighteen of you have participated, got it?"

Many of the campers responded with affirmation to which John promptly dug in the cowboy hat, pulling out the first name. "Bo," he read out. "And your opponent… Sienna. Both of you come over by the mud pit."

Bo quietly stepped forward but Sienna was hesitant. "Um, excuse me," she raised her hand. "How does one win a match-up?"

John pointed right at the mud pit. "By tugging their opponent right in there, of course," he answered. "Now come on, get to it already."

As Sienna and Bo were both getting set up, Jaz crossed her arms and pouted. "Ugh, I do not want this maid outfit to get dirty," she groaned before looking around at her fellow campers. "Hey, um, to whoever I end up being paired up against. Just let me win please."

Felix smirked and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like anyone would wanna do that," he snarked.

"Hush!" Jaz shushed angrily.

"Both of you, zip it," John demanded bluntly as Samson gave both Bo and Sienna an end of a rope. Jaz pouted and stuck her tongue out at Felix, who made a silly face to mock her back. John shook his head. "Kids…"

Samson stepped back and nodded his head at the two standing by the mud pit. "You may begin," he announced to which Bo immediately yanked Sienna into the mud with no warning. Samson scratched his head in mild surprise. "That was quick."

"Well Bo," John said, almost bursting out in laughter. "Go ahead, j-just pick a team." He coughed a bit, really struggling to hold it in.

Bo smirked and pointed at the orange rug. "Let's go with that," he said. Meanwhile, Sienna picked herself up, covered in mud and not looking pleased whatsoever.

John coughed some more. "Oh, don't worry too much," he assured the girl, practically covering his mouth with his shirt to hide his quivering smile. "You'll be able to clean yourself up soon. Just go head to the green team now." Sienna and Bo both went to their designated teams, one proud, the other not so much.

Johnny watched his father trying not to laugh which, of course, made the child giggle and chew his fingernails with delight. "Hehe, you're so funny, Dad," he squealed, picking up the cowboy hat and handing it to him. "They fell in the mud and you almost laughing, haha."

John seemed to finally be able to recompose himself a little as he placed a hand on his son's back. "Whew, I was not expecting that at all," he muttered to himself before taking the hat and drawing some more names. "Alright, next we got… Miriam and… Gerald."

Gerald cracked his knuckles and stepped forward. "Feels kind of scripted but I'll take it," he said as he approached the mud pit. Miriam quietly followed, her eyes locked intensely on the hacker with contempt. Gerald rolled his shoulders as he shot a smirk in her direction. "It's gonna suck when your LARPer gear gets all muddied up, huh? Well good!"

Samson handed a rope end to the both of them and promptly started the match. It wasn't as immediate as the previous bout but it seemed the fierce determination in Miriam's eyes still kept it relatively short as she effortlessly pulled Gerald closer bit by bit. Gerald grunted and squealed, trying his hardest to pull back but it was to no avail. He soon fell face first into the mud as Miriam held up the rope proudly.

"Well done," John complimented, pointing towards the two rugs. "Which team do you want, Miriam?"

Miriam eyed at both of her potential teammates. The fresh Bo and the muddied up Sienna, who wasn't even looking up or anything. Miriam shrugged and pointed at the girl. "I'll have a crack at the green team," she decided before making her way to the corresponding rug. "Hey, teammate."

Sienna looked up and smiled a little. "Hi there," she greeted back softly.

Begin Confessional

Miriam entered the confessional booth, being the first camper to do so. She sat on the padded chair and stared around in curiosity before facing the camera. "When it came to picking a team, it was simple," she said. "I didn't want that bumbling loudmouth to be on the same team as Sienna. I could only just imagine how terrible he would be to her on a regular basis."

End Confessional

"Okay Gerald, go stand over by Bo," John ordered.

The hacker wasn't too happy as he pulled himself out of the mud pit, disgusted at his current state. "Stupid ass challenge," he grumbled as he stomped his way over to the orange rug. He didn't even pay Bo any mind, who didn't do the same to him either.

"Felix, you're up next buddy," John called out, pulling another name out of the hat. "And you'll be squaring off with… Rae!"

Rae nearly shrieked at the sound of her name, which made Felix chuckle as he made his way to the mud pit. The odd girl gulped nervously and slowly shuffled her way there too, fear filling up in her eyes. Samson gave them each an end of the rope to which Felix calmly held on to it with just one hand.

"Why not?" he said with a smug grin. Rae was practically shaking as she held on to the rope with both hands. And as expected once the match-up began, the poor girl was yanked right into the mud without much warning.

This, of course, got to John again. "Oh geez, another one," he remarked, stifling his chuckling by covering his smile with the back of his hand. "Well okay Felix, just p-pick a team." John couldn't hold it in anymore and wheezed. He practically fell to the ground in uncontrollable laughter.

Meanwhile, Felix shrugged and went over to the green team, pinching his shirt. "Seems like I'm already appropriately dressed for this," he said to his fellow teammates.

"Nyeh, seems so," Miriam replied nonchalantly.

Rae pulled herself out and went over to the orange team. "Hi…" she greeted sheepishly. Gerald and Bo didn't respond as they just shared amused smirks with each other.

Up next was Vela versus Yana and the two girls were ready for action. Yana waved at the candler as they were given the rope ends. "Good luck," she chirped with a cutesy smile.

Vela just glared at her, her eyes seeming to have some sort of fire to them. "It's on," she grumbled. Yana would immediately drop her smile. She clenched on tightly to her rope and then the two girls readied themselves for Samson's signal.

They actually managed to put up quite a fight as it seemed even for a bit. However in the end, Vela was victorious as Yana would stumble face first into the mud. "Eat it!" Vela cheered, slamming her fist into her palm. Yana just laid there dazed and defeated.

"What team, Vela?" John asked.

Vela turned around and scanned each option closely but she noticed Rae was stuck with two rather blunt men. "I'll go with the orange team," she picked, taking her bag of candles and scurrying up next to Rae. "Don't worry too much, bub. It's just a little mud."

"Yeah…" Rae sighed, scooping some mud off her face and flinging it to the ground. "I guess I'm used to it since I work with clay a lot."

Vela smiled and patted her on the back. "That's the spirit," she soothed, making the odd girl feel a bit more comfortable in the process.

Yana would head to the green team, seeming to be rather okay with all the mud on her. "It is what it is," she said with a shrug.

"I guess so, huh?" Sienna replied with a chuckle before realizing something. "Hey we're, like, mud buddies."

Yana glanced at all the mud on her then at all the mud on Sienna before smiling. "Ha, I guess we are," she agreed, giving her fellow mud buddy a high-five.

As the two girls continued to chat, Johnny poked his Dad in the leg. "Can I go play in the mud now?" he asked.

"No, you can not," John refused, shaking his head. Afterwards, he pulled some more names out of the hat as his son swung around his arms like a total goofball. "Okay Tyson, you're up next."

"Aw yeah," the athlete wooed, taking his spot by the mud pit.

"And your opponent will be… Jaz," John added, much to the dismay of the maid.

"Of course, out of all of the match-ups I could get," Jaz whined. "I'm paired with the most athletic of men possible."

"Whatever," John deflected, gesturing her to come. "Just get over here already."

Jaz pouted with her arms crossed as she made it all the way to her side of the pit. Once given the rope by Samson, she quickly grew an idea. "Hey Tyson sweetie," she called out. "If you let me win this, I'll give you a kiss."

Her offer was too good to refuse for the athlete because as soon as Samson started the match, Tyson leapt right into the mud pit on his own will, thus giving Jaz the victory. John scratched his head in confusion as the athlete chuckled to himself. "Well then," the host said, awkwardly staring around. "Uhhh, what team Jaz?"

Jaz eyed each team individually until she noticed Felix at the green team. "No one would wanna do that, huh?" she mocked.

"Shut up," Felix grunted, rolling his eyes.

Jaz perked her head up snidely. "Fine then," she scowled. "I'll go with the orange team so I can feel extra great at kicking this loser's ass! Hmph!" She stormed over to the orange team where Gerald was snickering at her. She glared at him. "And what's your deal?"

Gerald snorted before coming up with his ingenious line. "Make me a sandwich, bitch," he replied with ultimate smugness.

Jaz scoffed in offense and proceeded to slap Gerald right in the face. She then turned her back on him, crossing her arms and fuming. "Ugh, I absolutely hate it here," she growled with a fed up look on her face.

Tyson then came up to her, all covered in mud. "So, how about that kiss you promised?" he asked flirtatiously.

Jaz shooed him away. "Ew, not right now," she denied. "You freakin' stink."

Tyson walked to the green team with his head drooped low in disappointment. Bo watched this and glanced over to a recovering Gerald. "Damn, shawty is fucked up," he remarked. Gerald just rolled his eyes and growled to himself.

Over by the host, Johnny tugged on his Dad's shorts. "Why they always saying bad words?" he asked obliviously.

John instinctively covered his boy's ears and chuckled awkwardly. "Hey, uhhh, why don't you go with your mother now?" he suggested.

"Okay," Johnny conceded while picking his nose.

John adjusted his shirt nervously and stared at the camera. "I'm sleeping on the couch tonight for sure," he quipped before taking the cowboy hat. "Clifford… you're going up against Edgar."

"The first male on male match-up, I see," Clifford remarked, peeking over to Edgar, who just sighed in boredom. The two made their way to the pit and were handed a rope end. Samson then started the match and so the two men started tugging back and forth.

"Ooh, another close one," John remarked as he watched closely.

Edgar eventually decided to just give up and get himself yanked into the mud, much to the dismay of the others. "So useless… who cares what team I'm in?" he groaned.

Clifford adjusted his glasses and glanced over to John. "I will choose to be a part of the orange team," he informed him, immediately heading over to his fellow teammates. He looked at all of his teammates until he saw Bo. "Not that bad of a choice, I would say."

Bo sucked in his cheek and nodded. "There's a few crazies here but yeah," he agreed.

"It's nothing that I couldn't handle," Clifford replied with a shrug.

Begin Confessional

"Out of the two possible sets of teammates that I could've chosen to be with," Clifford recalled as he slouched back on the padded chair. "The orange team seemed to fit my style more. Bo looks to be quite the easy-going guy, one that I could possibly ally with if I felt like it. There's a few other susceptible people that maybe I could work with too. Whatever I end up doing, it's only so I can come through on top. No hard feelings."

End Confessional

Edgar sighed and dragged himself to the green team where he was greeted by both Yana and Sienna. "Welcome, mud buddy!" they said in unison. The emo just stared blankly at the two before sighing again. He carried on behind all of the others and sat down by himself at a lone tree.

Yana leaned over to Sienna and whispered in her ear. "We'll break him out of his shell eventually," she told her, in which Sienna nodded in agreement.

Preston was called up next and his opponent was the rebel herself, Celia. "Well honey, sucks to know you and I won't share teams," she said to the culinarian. "But I also don't want to get my hair dirty so I ain't going easy on you."

Preston rolled up his sleeves and took his end of the rope from Samson. "Right, okay, bring it," he said stoically. Celia smirked with confidence and took her end. Then the tugging began with the two having the closest struggle yet.

"It could go either way honestly," John remarked.

Celia gritted her teeth as she pulled with all of her might. "Come on, just give it up already," she grunted in a mocking manner.

Preston kept quiet, focusing completely on his pulling but unfortunately, he felt his grip loosen. In an attempt to regain control, he stumbled a little. This was just enough for Celia to take advantage and yank Preston with all of her might. It was so strong that she ended up falling on her behind as Preston crashed into the mud.

"Woo!" Celia cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "That's what I'm talking about."

John clapped his hands while grinning ear to ear. "What a show," he remarked, cocking his head over to the teams. "What will it be?"

Celia pushed herself up and wiped her hands, eyeing her potential teammates. She smirked when she saw the green team. "I'll go with them," she decided, strutting over to her new crew. She scooted up next to Felix. "Ooh, I got you and the blonde cutie." She gestured over to Yana, who was cracking jokes with Sienna.

Felix scratched behind his ear. "I don't think Yana is into girls, chief," he predicted.

Celia furrowed her eyebrows at him. "And how do you know?" she asked.

"I don't know," Felix shrugged, watching Yana play a few rounds of rock paper scissors with Sienna. "Guess it's just a gamble."

"Tch. Of course," Celia said, rolling her eyes in amusement.

Meanwhile, Preston observed the mud all over his body as he stepped out of the pit. "Do you have a washing machine or something we could use?" he asked.

John nodded and pointed at the Main Hall. "It's in there," he informed. "We got spare detergent if you need it."

Preston shrugged and walked over towards his team. "How's it going everyone?" he greeted nonchalantly.

Vela was the first to respond. "Oh quite well, thank you," she said, hoisting up her bag. "Want a candle?"

"No thanks," he declined bluntly.

"Nyeh, who's next John?" Miriam asked, who was kind of getting impatient.

"It's gonna be Kyla and Aditi," the host answered, calling the two ladies up to the mud pit.

As they made their way there, Kyla held her hand out to Aditi. "Good luck, mon ami," she said.

Aditi returned the handshake. "Oh, I've been to France a few times," she replied, with an energetic grin.

"Oh, oui?" Kyla responded with an intrigued expression on her face. "So, you must've heard about my blog then, is that correct?"

"No, I don't really care much about stuff like that," Aditi denied as she grabbed an end of the rope. This caused Kyla to frown deeply as she grabbed the other end. After Samson gave the go ahead, it was another quick ordeal as Kyla unexpectedly yanked Aditi with much force.

"Hah," Kyla boasted, watching Aditi wriggle around in the mud. "That'll show you for not respecting my work!" Suddenly, she felt the eyes of most of the other campers on her and blushed profusely. "I mean, ha ha, just kidding?"

Begin Conessional

Kyla was sitting down and filing her nails. "Ack, this is just perfect," she scoffed with an eye roll. "You let your ego get the best of you again and now everyone thinks you're super crazy. Ai yai yai."

She sighed and continued her filing. "My image is quite important to me as you can tell," she added with a little shrug. However, her shrug caused her to accidentally file her fingertip a little. "Ack, son of a bitch!" She yelped, immediately sucking on the scraped finger and giving the camera an embarrassed pout.

End Confessional

"Alright Kyla, pick a team," John ordered as Aditi pulled herself out of the mud, seeming to not be so upset by her predicament.

Kyla tapped her chin while she thought of who to be with, ultimately deciding to go with the orange team. She greeted her teammates with a wave, trying to be friendly despite her already showing a meaner side to her earlier.

Vela was the first to respond, a sly smirk on her face. "You got some spunk to ya," she said. "I like it."

Kyla blushed, not really expecting such a compliment. "Oh merci, merci!" she replied, scooting right up between her and Rae. She wrapped an arm around the two and beamed. "The three of us can be the best of friends!"

"Uhhh, okay…" Rae squeaked indecisively.

Meanwhile, Aditi casually walked up to her team, admiring each camper individually. "Merhaba everyone!" she greeted cheerfully. "I look forward to working together with all of you."

"Hell yeah, girl," Celia said, holding out her fist to which Aditi would then inexplicably grab the whole thing. Celia obviously looked bewildered as she pulled her hand back. "Okay then…"

There were only two campers left who hadn't had a match-up yet. Kai and Neda. John called them up to the mud pit and Samson gave them a rope end each. "Good luck," Neda wished with a friendly wave.

"You two, madam," Kai replied with a bow. Afterwards, Samson started the match and the two tugged back and forth, seeming to be even in strength. Kai was definitely more at risk as he could potentially ruin his expensive suit by falling into the mud.

Neda seemed to be enjoying herself, despite her struggle. It's like she couldn't help but have a little fun. One thing that worried her, however, was how sweaty her hands were getting. They were making her grip loosen bit by bit. This would be the superfan's downfall as she soon lost so much of her grip that she stumbled forward into the mud.

"And our final winner; Kai!" John announced, clapping his hands before eyeing over to the royal. "What will it be, yer majesty?"

"Please, no need for that," Kai replied graciously. He took a moment to think until he noticed Neda getting out of the mud pit. "Excuse me, madam, which team would you prefer to be a part of?"

Neda wiped some mud off of her and checked the current teams. She noticed Bo and Clifford standing next to each other. "The orange team!" she chirped.

"Very well," Kai nodded, gesturing towards the green team. "I'll go with them, she can go to the orange team."

Neda clasped her hands together, her eyes dazzling with joy. "Oh, why thank you!" she swooned.

"Perfect," John said, allowing the two to go meet up with their respective teammates. Neda cheered and skipped over to Clifford, offering a high-five. Clifford shrugged and returned the gesture to which Neda would then do the same with Bo.

Begin Confessional

Neda sat on the chair with her legs crossed. "I'm playing the bubbly fun innocent girl very well," she said with a giggle. "All part of my strategy. 'Oh, I'm just a non-threatening little girl who just wants to make friends'." She faked a pouty, cutesy face.

Neda then clenched a fist and looked determined. "And then I come out of nowhere and win this entire thing!" she declared before giggling again. "I'm almost like a villain trying to strategize and stuff, haha. But it's all in good fun, don't worry."

End Confessional

Kai greeted his team with a bow. "Pleasure to make all of your acquaintances," he said benevolently.

Tyson went up to him and shook his hand, although a bit roughly. "Sick dude, we got the Fresh Prince on our team," he wooed.

Kai gave him a look. "No, I'm just a normal prince," he corrected innocently. "Nothing fresh or cool about me."

"Ah nah, dude. It's just a reference," Tyson replied with a smile. Kai still didn't quite understand so Tyson started dancing to an imaginary beat. "Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down…"

Kai nodded his head slowly. "Ah I see," he said, admiring the athlete's energy. "I suppose there's still a few things I need to learn about what kids are into these days."

Tyson chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh actually, that show came out in like the 90s," he informed the royal.

"Oh…" was all Kai's response.

Things were quickly interrupted by a swift whistle from John, garnering the attention of all of the campers. "Congratulations to everyone for getting through the first challenge," he said. "And with that, we now have our teams, which means it's time we reveal the official names. But first…"

Samson was now dragging two blue burlap sacks with him, stopping them right by John's feet. He brushed his hands and stepped forward with a proud grin on his face. "We've got team shirts," he announced. "Designed by yours truly."

John opened up one of the sacks and pulled out a green t-shirt with a duck silhouette on it (the same shirt Samson had teased in the prologue). "We start with the green team," the host explained, revealing the full shirt to everybody. "You guys will be known as the Mallard Ducks!"

He tossed the shirt over to Yana, who caught it with excitement. "Cool," she remarked. Eventually, everybody on the Mallard Ducks got a shirt and so John moved on to the orange team.

"You guys…" he said, pulling out an orange shirt from the other burlap sack. "Will be the White-Tailed Deer!" He revealed the full shirt, the logo in the front being a white silhouette of a deer mid-prance. He then tossed the shirt to Gerald, who took it and sneered.

"Wow, these team names are incredibly lame," he insulted, garnering the ire of the host.

"You could just have no team and be kicked off the island, if you want," John said, crossing his arms.

Gerald shrugged defensively. "Hey, I'm just being honest with how I feel," he replied.

John rolled his eyes and focused back to giving out the rest of the shirts. When he finished, he stood between both teams with a smile. "So, we got our teams all set," he declared. "From now on, challenges will be a team versus team affair. The winning team will earn a small reward. The losing team will have to face a possible elimination ceremony."

He quickly pointed back at Samson while still looking at the campers. "Challenges will be done every weekday," he explained. "On weekends, you'll have those days off to give my buddy here a break. During those times, you're free to do whatever you wish around the camp. We'll even have special activities planned on such days."

"Like a movie night, perhaps?" Vela asked.

"Sure, not a bad idea," John agreed. "But on Challenge days, things will mean business. Everyone will have to be up and dressed by eight o'clock. Not every challenge will take all day but some definitely will and we need you all to be prepared for such."

Suddenly, Zack and his security crew entered the scene. They had everyone's baggage with them, which pleased John. "Looks like my brother is all done checking everything which means it's time I show you where you'll be staying," the host said, glancing over to Zack afterwards. "Everything go well?"

"Yeah, just one problem," Zack said, handing over some spray paint cans to John. Celia gulped nervously once she saw this. "Turns out someone's been vandalizing the yacht as well as one of our cameras. These cans were in their bag."

"You mean someone graffitied all over our Dad's yacht," John gasped, putting a hand to his forehead. "Shoot, he's gonna kill us for this."

Zack looked at the label closely. "The paint seems washable at least," he stated before eyeing over to the campers with a menacing look on his face. "Whoever did this needs to fess up now because you don't want me to find out later. There are cameras everywhere so don't think I won't figure out who did this eventually."

Many of the campers kept quiet, while Felix eyed over to Celia. She looked annoyed but regretful at the same time, which led her to sigh and hold up her hand slowly. "It was me," she confessed reluctantly.

"Makes sense," John said with a smirk.

Zack wasn't as pleased and walked right up to her, almost scaring her with his intimidating presence. "You're gonna have to wash that paint all off," he ordered. "And if I catch you vandalizing again, you'll be in serious trouble… Understand?"

Celia gulped nervously and nodded her head. Zack then held up the spray paint cans. "I'm keeping these too," he added, much to the rebel's dismay.

"Oh come on, I paid for those with my own money," she whined, stamping her foot on the ground in protest.

"You'll get them back when the show's over," Zack assured bluntly as he walked off towards the Main Hall. Celia was now quite angry as she mumbled some swears under her breath. John just observed everything and ultimately shrugged it off.

Begin Confessional

Celia sat in the booth, disappointed with herself. "Man, I really felt like telling that dude off right then and there," she grumbled with a pout. "I hate narcs so much… But I don't want to get DQ'd or anything. Like, I really need the money, y'know?"

End Confessional

Outside two rustic and old cabins, John stood in front of both teams, some with their brand new shirts on. They also now had all of their baggage. The host made his way onto one of the cabin porches, leaning against the wooden railing. "These will be your home for the next four weeks," he stated. "We did some remodeling in these places since our time last year. So that means each team will be able to share a cabin."

The host stood up straight and pointed behind him. The door to this cabin was painted orange. "Deer, this is your cabin," he explained, before pointing over towards the other cabin that had a green painted door. "Ducks, that's your cabin. They're both split into two sections. One for the boys and one for the girls and they have separate bathrooms on each side. Sound good?"

Many of the campers responded with affirmation, which led John to hop off the cabin porch and gesture towards them. "Alright, you all may pack your things inside," he permitted.

/

Bo was the first to step into the boy's side of the Deer cabin where he saw a line of three bunk beds spread amongst the right side wall. They each had soft pillows with orange cases and orange sheets. Folded up into a square on the lower corner of each mattress was a white comforter. On the other side of the room was a row of dressers as well as a small flat screen TV that had the basic channels. In the far left corner of the room was the new and improved bathroom. There was a clean toilet tucked at the end that rested right next to a stand-in shower. On the front side was the sink that had a full bottle of fruity hand soap accompanying it. The floors for both the bathroom and the bunk area were mostly made of hardwood but there was an orange fuzzy rug laid out in front of the shower.

Bo plopped his suitcase on the bottom bed of the center bunk and looked at his fellow male teammates. "Two of y'all will have to pair up," he suggested, unzipping his bag.

Gerald shook his head and plopped his suitcase on the top bed to the right of Bo's. "It ain't gonna be me," he claimed.

Clifford stared over to Preston and shrugged. "Guess we're the bunk buddies," he quipped to which Preston smirked in response.

As they placed their suitcases on their respective beds, Preston clenched onto his muddy clothes and glanced over to Gerald. "Well then I get to shower first," he demanded nonchalantly.

"Whatever," Gerald replied, as he went over towards the TV and turned it on. There wasn't much to watch so he just put the news on for background noise. Preston took some toiletries with a spare set of clothes and went inside the bathroom, locking the door as he did.

Bo laid back in his bunk, resting his head on his hands. "Welp, guess we livin' the summer camp life from now on," he said.

"Yippee," Clifford wooed sarcastically.

"It's dumb but a chance to win a million bucks can make you do a lot of dumb things," Gerald added, picking at his teeth.

"Damn straight," Bo agreed.

"Well as long as you guys aren't super disruptive, I should be fine," Clifford mentioned, folding up some spare shirts that he brought. "I joined this show to escape my crowded house anyway."

"I feel you," Bo said, staring at whatever the news was. "Family life can be quite hectic, fo sho."

Clifford poked his glasses and smirked. "You have absolutely no idea," he stated blunty.

Gerald hopped down from his bed with a mischievous grin. "Hey, wanna go sneak in on the girls?" he asked.

Clifford rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'm not interested in getting myself into unnecessary trouble," he declined. Bo shrugged in agreement.

"Bah, you two are no fun," Gerald scolded, taking a Polaroid camera with him. But before he could really do anything, he was stopped by Zack. Gerald tapped his fingers nervously. "Uhhh, hey?"

"Don't even think about it," Zack denied sternly.

Gerald sighed in disappointment and went back to his bunk with Clifford smiling with vindication. "Nice job," he mocked as Gerald stuck his tongue out at him while Bo just chuckled quietly.

/

The girl's side of the Deer cabin was pretty much the same except with the layout reversed, having the beds on the left side wall and the bathroom in the far right corner. Rae and Vela decided to split a bunk, with Rae getting the bottom. She struggled to carry all of her bags up the porch earlier but had some help with the others. Vela peeked down at the odd girl from her bed. "So seriously, what's in those bags?" she asked curiously.

Rae cleared her throat as she unzipped one of her bags. "Pottery stuff, a bunch of tabletop games, my theremin," she counted off.

"A theremin?" Vela interrupted as she leapt down from her bunk with her bag of candles.

"Yeah…" Rae sighed, looking quite despondent. "I'm weird, I know."

"I like it," Vela said, lighting up a candle and placing it on top of one of the dressers. "Being weird is cool." She shot a wink in Rae's direction, who couldn't help but smile a little.

Neda was also by the dressers, folding away some of her clothes. "I think I might take a shower before dinner time," she announced, collecting a new set of clothes to wear.

"Have at it, bub," Vela said, waving her lighter casually at her.

Unfortunately as Neda went to enter the bathroom, she noticed that Jaz was already there. She was checking herself in the mirror. "My, my, Jazmine," she admired. "You are absolutely gorgeous. And not a speck of that gross mud on you either."

Neda cleared her throat to get Jaz's attention. "Can I help you?" the maid asked with a bit of disgust.

"I just need to use the shower, if that's alright," Neda answered sweetly.

Jaz shooed her away with her hand. "Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute, okay?" she denied.

Neda sighed and conceded, walking over to one of the bunks. She plopped her clean set of clothes on the bottom bed before Kyla suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Excuse-moi, but I already called dibs on this bed," she said. "You can share a bunk with that maid lady, oui?"

"Ummm, no," called Jaz's voice from the bathroom. "I'm getting a bunk all to myself, sorry losers."

"Ack, tais-toi! You didn't call dibs so non!" Kyla shouted back as Neda just watched on in shock.

There was a bit of an awkward silence in the room before Jaz spoke up again. "Uhhh, I don't know what you just called me but… if you don't give me a bunk to myself then I'll kick your ass," she countered.

Kyla rubbed her temples. "Ai yai yai," she groaned before noticing Neda staring at her. She blushed a little before sighing. "Fine… you can share a bunk with me."

"Thank you," Neda appreciated as Kyla mumbled some French obscenities under her breath.

Vela just looked over to Rae with a smirk. "Some team we got here, eh?" Rae just shrugged and went back to unpacking her games.

/

The boy's side of the Ducks cabin had a similar layout to the Deer cabin with the exception that instead of orange and white beddings, it was swapped with green and black ones. Also the rug in front of their shower was a shaggy moss green. Kai stepped forward with his bags, scanning his surroundings. "Ahhh, life like a true commoner," he remarked before looking back. "I have no issue with sharing a bunk with any one of you."

"Sweet," Tyson said, spinning his football on his finger. "I'll bunk with you, buddy… Catch." He tossed the football towards the royal, who just barely caught it. Tyson held his arms out with a smile. "Alright, now throw it back."

Kai stared at the ball for a bit before beaming. He chucked the ball right at Tyson, almost like he was way too thrilled about the opportunity. The ball went zooming past the athlete, however, and ended up hitting a passing Edgar square on the head. He fell to the floor, not even making a sound of distress. Kai covered his mouth apologetically and ran up to the emo. "My dearest apologies," he said mournfully. "I didn't expect to throw it so far. It was a complete accident."

Edgar sat on the ground, holding onto his head. "Is this, like, your first time playing catch or something?" he asked unemotionally.

"Why yes," Kai answered legitimately. "Back at home, I never got to play many games with other kids my age."

"Lucky…" Edgar mumbled.

Meanwhile, Felix stood by the doorway with the most disinterested look that you could imagine. "Anyways…" he said with a slow breath. "I get the far left bunk." He scooted past the two, nudged away the athlete who was in his way then plopped his bags on the bottom bed.

Tyson glanced over towards the bathroom and then at Edgar, who still sat on the floor with his head held. "Do you mind if I take a shower before you, dude?" he asked.

"I don't care," Edgar answered.

"Cool, man," Tyson replied with a small chuckle mixed with his words. He grabbed a new outfit with his three-in-one body wash and headed into the bathroom with speed.

Felix sat on his bed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Do any of you know how to play Texas Hold 'Em?" he asked.

Kai turned to him and shook his head. "I'm afraid not but I am willing to learn how to," he answered honestly.

Felix shrugged and pulled out his deck of cards. "Well, we typically need more than two people for it but I can teach you other kinds of poker, if you like," he suggested, slipping out the cards from the box.

Kai smiled and bowed slightly. "That would be just exquisite," he said.

Felix looked over to Edgar. "What about you?" he questioned. Edgar just sighed as a response which made Felix roll his eyes a little.

Begin Confessional

"Right now, I'm basically trying to get a good read on all of my teammates," Felix said as he riffle-shuffled his cards in his hands. "Tyson seemed very naive and easily manipulatable. Kai, I felt, could be similar in ways but he also had this curiosity to him that I found intriguing."

Felix flicked a card up from the deck, catching it without revealing it. "But Edgar…" he shook his head. "Not much that I see in him. He doesn't seem all that willing to socialize so perhaps I should do something about it." He smirked and flipped the card over, revealing it to be the Ace of Spades.

End Confessional

Finally, the girl's side of the Ducks cabin had all of the attributes of the girl's side of the Deer cabin, except, of course, the sheets and rug now being green and black themed. Celia was the first to claim a bunk and she twirled around, flicking some finger guns at Yana. "Wanna share a bunk with me?" she asked, a little flirtatiously.

Yana looked around the cabin then spotted Sienna. "Uh actually, I'd like to bunk with my mud buddy if that's alright," she denied, sharing smiles with her friend.

"Well, I tried," Celia mumbled to herself as she shrugged it off. As she unpacked her stuff, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Aditi and smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

"Sorry to bother," Aditi stated, holding out her hand. "I was just wondering about where you're from?"

"Oh no problem, doll," the rebel replied, shaking her hand. "I'm from Queens, New York."

"Ah, the Big Apple," Aditi remarked. "I definitely want to visit there sometime."

"Cool, cool," Celia nodded along. "Although we don't really call it the Big Apple that much. That's a touristy thing. We just call it the City, ya know what I mean?"

"I suppose I do," Aditi answered, spotting around the cabin curiously.

Meanwhile, Yana and Sienna were unpacking together by their beds. "This is so cool," Yana said as she folded up some spare shirts, in a very neat manner. "I've never really been to a summer camp but I can't wait. I promise to keep everything nice and tidy here, okay?"

"Oh you don't have to do that," Sienna said, admiring her offer. "It's not our house or anything. Why not be a little messy?"

Yana immediately frowned. "No!" she shouted, which startled Sienna and the others a little. Yana realized this and chuckled awkwardly to ease the tension. "Sorry, it's just something I have to do, okay?"

"I mean, I guess," Sienna shrugged, choosing a spare outfit to change into. "Some people prioritize cleanliness above all it seems."

"Well, I've always been the one to clean up around the home ever since I was a little girl," Yana explained before smiling cutely. "I'm like a Mom at heart." She turned around only to drop that smile immediately. Celia had basically thrown her clothes from her suitcase onto the floor which did not sit well for Yana. She stormed up to the rebel with her arms crossed. "I hope you're not planning on keeping those clothes on the floor."

"Why does it matter?" Celia deflected with an eye roll as she laid back in her bed.

"Pick them up!" Yana yelled again.

"Alright damn, relax for fuck's sake," Celia grumbled as she bent over to pick up some of her clothes. "No need to get so bossy all of a sudden."

Aditi just watched everything with an oblivious smile before realizing something. "Hey, where's the archer lady?" she asked.

/

"Welp, it's almost dinner time," John mumbled to himself. "Guess I should alert the kids." He walked from the Main Hall, heading towards the cabins when he spotted something in the upper right corner of his eyes. He looked up to see Miriam, resting in a tree. "What the? Hey, why are you up on that tree? Did you pack yourself into your cabin yet?"

"Nyeh, I prefer sleeping up here if that's alright," Miriam replied without much emotion as she dangled her legs from the branch.

John scratched his head in bewilderment before shrugging. "Whatever," he said. "Dinner will be served in five minutes." He then walked away to tell the others as Miriam stared deep into the woods, quietly thinking of whatever she could possibly think.

/

One by one, each camper lined up to retrieve their dinner from the serving station. At the front was Michelle, the sole chef of the place, and she seemed quite cheerful. "Come on kids," she beckoned warmly. "There's plenty for you to eat."

Sienna was the first in line and she held out her tray. "Ooh, what's for dinner?" she asked.

Michelle stirred something in a pot before hoisting up some saucy noodles. "Spaghetti and marinara with some freshly baked garlic bread," she answered, dumping her scoop of noodles into a bowl and placing it on Sienna's tray. Afterwards, she used some prongs and placed a sizzling piece of garlic toast over a small paper plate. "If you want seconds just ask after everyone's had some, okay sweetie?"

Sienna's mouth couldn't help but water as the smell of the sauce was irresistible. She took her food happily and then grabbed a carton of chocolate milk from the ice tray. Michelle continued to serve each camper their meal until it was down to one final camper, Preston.

He held his tray out, as quiet as he typically was but Michelle stopped and looked at him curiously. "Hey, aren't you that young chef John told me about," she asked.

Preston looked around unsurely before shrugging. "Yeah, I suppose I am," he affirmed quietly.

Michelle seemed quite intrigued by the guy, as if she knew something about him. She took his bowl and filled it up. "Do you typically cook pasta?" she asked, placing the bowl back on his tray.

"Whenever I can cook? Yeah, sometimes," Preston explained, staring at his bowl of noodles. "It looks delightful, I will say."

"Why thank you very much," Michelle appreciated as she plopped his piece of garlic toast on his tray. "Enjoy your meal, darling."

Preston nodded and took his tray to his team's table, which was the one closest to the serving station. He sat next to Bo, who greeted him with an aloof nod. "Sup, brodie," he said casually.

Preston took his fork and dug into it, twirling the saucy noodles around it. "Not much," he replied. "Just a little hungry obviously."

"Food's hella good, fam," Bo added, taking a bite of his garlic bread.

Preston raised his fork to his mouth and took a bite. Immediately, his eyes widened as the taste nearly overwhelmed him. "Wow…" he whispered to himself.

"Eh, I'd give it just a seven out of ten," Gerald lied, as he sat across from the two. "I've had better Italian, just saying."

Preston gave him a blank look. "I'm sure you have," he said bluntly.

Eventually, John entered the cafeteria and whistled to get everyone's attention. "Good evening, campers," he called. "I hope you're enjoying your dinner. I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow there will be a challenge since it'll be a Tuesday after all. So, I advise you to get some sleep early and be ready in the morning. Remember, 8'clock."

After his little announcement, he then strolled up to the Ducks' table, the one closer to the windows and placed a hand on Celia's shoulder. "Zack expects you to meet him after dinner," he told her.

Celia looked up from her plate. "What for?" she asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"You're gonna be washing all of that spray paint you left on the yacht, of course," John explained, holding a finger in the air. "Not one speck shall be on there by the end of tonight."

Celia furrowed her eyebrows, getting pretty agitated. "And what if I don't wanna?" she protested.

John laughed a little in disbelief. "Well, you could just pay for an entirely brand new yacht instead," he countered with a smug look on his face.

Celia sighed and stared down at her plate. "Fine, I'll do it, whatever," she grumbled.

John patted her back and then walked away to the entrance of the cafeteria. He turned around to view all of the campers one last time. "Until tomorrow, my friends," he farewelled before making his exit.

/

As the final shot of the episode was being played out, John sat in his office going over some paperwork before he shot a grin at the camera. "That's it for today, folks," he said. "We've met all of our campers and know what teams they'll be in. Tomorrow, we have our first challenge and our first elimination as well. So who will it be? And who do you got to win it all? I hope to see you all again when we return for another episode of The Peralta Challenges!"

---

Well, that was it everyone. How did I do? It was definitely fun to work with these new characters and they surprisingly bounced off of each other quite well. If you have any suggestions/criticisms, please let me know.

A little detail on how this season will work. Each episode is essentially a day in the camp with this episode being a Monday. As stated by John, every weekday is a challenge day but on weekends, the campers have the day off. So, you're getting five straight challenge episodes (starting with the one you just read) then a special episode that will focus on the weekend break (Saturday/Sunday will be done as one single chapter). This sort of in-universe schedule will continue until the final challenge, of course. I'm not gonna say how much total episodes I have planned but if you're smart, you could possibly figure it out.

Okay, here's what the teams look like at the moment:

The Mallard Ducks: Aditi, Celia, Edgar, Felix, Kai, Miriam, Sienna, Tyson and Yana

The White-Tailed Deer: Bo, Clifford, Gerald, Jaz, Kyla, Neda, Preston, Rae and Vela

As how I do with Metamorphia, I'll give you the name of the next episode as a hint on what the challenge of that episode will be...

EPISODE 2: THERE'S NO PLATE LIKE HOME

With that said and done, stay hydrated and have a wonderful day :)