After the Pahkitew Island implosion, everyone sat in the dining area, soaked and traumatized.
"How could you guys do this to me!" Chris yelled. "This was my island and you completely destroyed it! You're lucky that I don't kick you all out of my show!"
"Chris, I didn't mean anything by this." Courtney said. "It was an accident!"
"Silence!" Chris yelled. "Now you are all lucky that I haven't booted one of you off today, but because there was no completed challenge, nobody will be eliminated."
The contestants sighed and looked at each other.
"Okay, thank you for doing this for me. I really appreciate it and I'm sorry with how it went down. You guys can have the rest of the day off from any work, including you DJ."
"Thanks, Chris. But the group still needs to eat so if you don't mind I'm going to fix everyone some food." DJ responded.
"Let's do a quick headcount to make sure we didn't leave anyone. I already did a staff check and all of my camera men and sound guys are here." Chris said. "So now, we need to make sure all of you are here! Jasmine, Devin, Lightning, Bridgette, Zoey, Sierra, Jazelle, Dawn, Scott, and Blaineley."
"We're all here." Bridgette said.
"Good. Harold, Heather, Courtney, Mike, Gwen, Eva, Sammy, Trent, Carrie, Lindsay, and Cody."
"Yup, got it." Eva said.
"Okay, I will be in first class with Chef if you need anything." Chris said before exiting.
"Gwen and I are going to get some towels to dry off with." Trent said, helping Gwen up. "We'll be back."
Courtney nodded and turned to Scott and Bridgette.
"How are you feeling?" Bridgette asked.
"Awful." Courtney said. "I put all of us through this, you guys ran through a forest fire because I started a horrible thunderstorm. Then you two had to jump in the tunnel and save me."
"How… did the thunderstorm start?" Scott asked. "It wasn't on purpose, was it?"
"Well, not exactly." Courtney sighed. "I wanted to give you a tiny scare because you made me go down and get firewood by myself. So when I went down there, I saw the lever. I was trying to pull it down and it got stuck, then I tried harder and it went all the way down! I p-panicked, so I tried pulling the lever back up and it snapped. So I went over to his monitor to shut it off but I got the password incorrect three times. That caused the door to slam and lock up. Then this bright red light kept flickering, you know? And they repeated the word Intruder over and over again and it wouldn't stop. I kept crying out for help but nothing changed. That's when water began to fill in the room and it was up to my knees before I got out."
"How did you escape?" Scott asked.
"I don't know." Courtney exclaimed. "The door opened and I got out as quickly as possible."
"Wait, wasn't Heather the one who pointed out to Harold the error in the control room?" Bridgette asked looking over to Scott.
"Yeah… and Harold is the one who shut it down!" Scott exclaimed.
"Well I'll have to thank them soon. Because I'm kind of in a rush." Courtney said.
"A rush?" Scott asked. "Why?"
"I don't want to be on this show anymore." Courtney said. "At least not in the game. I need to leave."
"Courtney? What are you saying? We can get through this!" Scott said, hugging her.
"I know, but it's what I need to do. I can't stay here and Chris is going to paint me as a villain because I sunk the island." Courtney sighed.
"If you want to quit the game, you should." Bridgette said. "And I'm not saying that because you're on the other team, just because you should focus on your mental health first."
Courtney smiled. "Well I better tell Chris. Thank you both for everything."
"Wait!" Scott exclaimed, shooting up. "We're not breaking up, are we?"
Courtney kissed him on the lips. "Of course not. I want you to fight to the end for me. For us."
Scott kissed her back and smiled. "That's relieving to hear, thanks."
Courtney smiled and patted his shoulder. "I'll be back to hopefully say goodbye to everyone."
"Bye Courtney." Bridgette waved.
"Where is she going?" Blaineley asked. "Apologizing to Chris?"
"Not exactly." Bridgette said. "She wants out."
"Of the game?" Heather asked as Gwen and Trent came back and handed her a warm towel.
"She's traumatized and her mental health, as Bridgette said, needs to come first." Scott answered.
DJ brought out some plates and glasses. "Lunch is ready and I also have a special beverage for everyone too."
"I'll go help you." Heather said.
"Okay, I'd appreciate it." DJ responded.
"Courtney has been put through a lot today." Dawn said. "There's a dark cloud storming her aura when she's at Stalakanava. She can't stay for too long."
"This is all her fault!" Lindsay said. "She needs to own up to what she did!"
"We can't just put the blame on Courtney." Zoey said.
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.
"Gwen, you were the one who yanked Harold's arm." Sierra said. "Which caused him to lose his grip of the only working monitor and set off the 10 minute implosion."
"Well… you're not wrong." Gwen sighed.
"Courtney wants to leave." Cody said. "We need to give her space and let her."
"He's right!" Harold exclaimed. "If Courtney wants to go, then she should go."
DJ and Heather came out of the kitchen, with DJ holding a pot of spaghetti and Heather with a lemonade pitcher and bag of mozzarella.
"We have vegan safe spaghetti made with boxed pasta noodles and fresh tomato sauce. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic and onion powder." DJ said as he began serving plates.
"Along with a glass of lemonade and optional cheese for your meal." Heather said.
"Smells delicious!" Trent exclaimed. "You are constantly going above and beyond with these meals!"
"Thanks." DJ said. "Where is Courtney?"
"She's talking to Chris." Sammy answered. "She's been through a lot today and she wants to quit."
Courtney came back to the room with Chris standing next to her.
"Hey everyone." Courtney began. "Before I go, I want to apologize for everything that happened today. It was my fault and I wasn't meaning to hurt anyone or put anyone in danger."
"So, you're leaving?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah." Courtney responded.
Gwen grabbed a towel and handed it to her. "Take this, you're freezing and still soaked."
Courtney smiled and took the towel. "Thanks."
"Courtney, what's the rush?" DJ asked. "I thought you were hungry."
"I am." Courtney said. "But I still need to get going."
"Nonsense. We got you a plate of food prepared and maybe you can think over your decision." Heather said.
Courtney walked over to her plate. "Pass the cheese?"
After a joyful half hour of eating, talking, and drying; Courtney was ready to leave. Everyone walked down to the old elimination area.
"Okay, to keep this 'Courtney is the bad guy' storyline going. I'm going to yell at you and tell you to jump." Chris said. "After I finish with that, you can say your goodbye for real."
Courtney nodded as Chris began to yell.
"Actually! I've decided there will be an elimination! You! You sank and destroyed my island and you think you can stay on Stalakanava to try to win the money? Well you're wrong! Now open the door and get off my plane!" Chris yelled. "Okay… go ahead and say goodbye."
Courtney began to sob and she hugged Scott. "I don't wanna leave! But I need to."
Scott held Courtney and rubbed her back. "This show won't be the same without you competing."
Courtney wiped her tears away. "I know, I know."
Scott let go and kissed Courtney for a final time.
"I suppose this is goodbye." Courtney said, opening the door. "I'll miss you guys."
"Great stuff Courtney, now I want you to argue that you don't want to be eliminated but make sure your parachute is on tight because I'm going to shove you out." Chris said.
Courtney cleared her throat. "Chris you don't understand! It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it!"
"That's what they all say!" Chris yelled as he shoved Courtney out of the door.
"THIS ISN'T FAIR…" Courtney screamed, her voice fading as she fell.
"Don't mess with me!" Chris said to the others as he slammed the door shut. "Anyway, we'll be landing in 3 hours."
The plane landed on Stalakanava and everyone got off.
"And then there were 20." Devin said.
"Only 17 are gone." Mike added.
Everyone exited the plane, with Heather and DJ being the last two.
"I almost forgot my necklace!" Blaineley said as she turned around, seeing Heather and DJ kissing. She hid behind the plane and listened to them.
"Well it's been a long day, DJ." Heather said. "I'm going to head to the cabin to get relaxed."
"It's only 5." DJ said, pulling his watch out of his pocket.
"I know, but I'm tired and the spaghetti was very filling." Heather said.
DJ kissed her on the lips and patted her head. "Goodnight pumpkin!"
"Goodnight." Heather said as she walked back to the cabin. DJ went back into the plane so he could clean up.
"Hey Deej!" Blaineley greeted, creeping up on him from behind.
"Blaineley!" DJ exclaimed. "You scared me!"
"Sorry, didn't mean to. Is Chris around?" She asked.
"No, he and Chef went to the Main Lodge." DJ answered. "Why are you in here?"
"I was coming back to get my necklace when I witnessed something very secretive going on. Funny enough, it was between an all knowing employee and a contestant." Blaineley said.
"There's no cheating going on." DJ insisted. "And please don't tell Chris."
"Don't worry DJ, I believe you." Blaineley said. "And I won't be telling Chris. And I can make sure he doesn't find out."
"What are you talking about?"
"DJ, Chris watches all of these episodes before they air. Meaning he'll know what's going on even if he's not told." Blaineley said.
"So we're screwed." DJ yelled.
"Shh. Keep calm." Blaineley said. "I can help you out and make sure Chris doesn't know anything about this, but I need you to get me the keys to Chris' trailer and office."
"Anything else?" DJ asked.
"Yeah, I need you to get Chris and Chef off the island for a night. Can you do that?"
"I was walking into first class after we got back onto the plane and they were planning details on a day trip. Chef's new show got renewed for a third season and they wanted Chris for an episode. I can persuade Chef to ask Chris to go with him longer and since their friendship is so fragile Chris will give in."
Blaineley smiled. "I'll make sure Chris doesn't find out."
"And when you say that, how?" DJ asked.
"The less you know the better, and if you can't get me those keys and them off the island, your relationship will go up in smoke." Blaineley said.
"How can I trust you'll work with me today?" DJ asked.
"Because, you're kind, DJ. And I think we can work together well." Blaineley said, patting his shoulder. "Let me get my necklace and then I'll leave you be."
Blaineley got on her phone and called somebody while walking away from DJ. "Hello? Hey! I need you to do me a favor. Yeah, it's for DJ and Heather. Chris can't find out and DJ is going to help me. What? Oh that's bad! Make sure he doesn't see that either or any conversations about this. Wait… who was DJ talking to? Oh… Okay, thank you. Goodnight." The camera zoomed into Blaineley. She looked over to it, winked, and walked away.
Eva walked to the shower house by herself with her bag and towel laying on her shoulder. She looked over, seeing a woodpecker pecking at the ground.
"That stupid bird." Eva laughed as she threw her bag at the bird.
The bird flew away and Eva walked to her bag and picked it up. "What's that?"
She picked up the little wooden statue and wiped the bottom off. "No… way…"
She read the bottom of the statue. "This is an immunity idol which will automatically play if you have the most votes in the game. Expires at final 5."
She stuffed the idol into her bag and looked around herself. "Thanks stupid bird."