Chris was sitting in his office, glancing around at the security cameras that recorded the campgrounds before him. He swivelled around on his chair, planting his feet down to come to a stop in front of the camera that was recording.
"Last time on Total Drama," Chris started, adding that extra dramatic flair by throwing his hands up in the air. The video cut from Chris to the events that had been transcribed from the prior episode, as Chris's voice continued to ring out after them.
"It was a long first day for our campers, as they all got introduced to each other," Chris explained, as a clip of Rina and Toxa's tense meeting was played as well as another clip of the Sal shooting the putt from the shuffleboard game, with it ricocheting into Indigo's abdomen.
"That was until the ship blew into smithereens," Chris added, as the explosion that rocked the ship played. "The campers had to get creative in order to meet me here on the island."
Kendra almost drowning Jolt was a prominent clip here, as well as Aakira face-palming at the discussion between Ebony and Sal. Malcolm plummeting down on top of Maddy was another clip that was played.
"In the end, based on their finishing placements, the campers were separated into their teams of The Cutthroat Crabs and The Perky Parrots. Tensions remained hot and the teams were blazing to go."
The dynamics of the teams were played next, Malcolm tripping up Ian and Clayton and Kai sharing a smile was the next clip.
"What'll happen when fourteen turns into thirteen? Find out here, on…"
"Total!"
"Drama!"
"Inferno Island!"
Theme Song
The night quickly transitioned to day, as the sun shined down upon the two cabins. Zooming into one of them, the seven guys were slowly rising up from their slumber.
The bunk was nothing remarkable, simply consisting of four bunk beds, each with a small bedside table next to it with a drawer for each person. The decor was rather bland too, with a simple orange rug on the hardwood floor, which contrasted the green curtains that shielded the guys from the light of the sun.
André was huffing, using his bunk bed to do pull-ups on. While he was sleeping on the top bunk, the bottom bunk had his bag tossed on it as a makeshift shelf. He hoisted himself up, currently wearing a white and red jersey, the number sixteen still plastered onto it, as well as a pair of white and red basketball shorts.
"Nineteen," André grunted, lowering himself down again. "Twenty."
"For Pete's sake, would you shut up!" Malcolm complained, tossing his head into his pillow. Malcolm wore a matching beige, satin pyjama set, his glasses set aside on his respective table. He was on the bottom bunk, with Sal just above him grinning at André.
"Wow, he's beaten my record of three already!"
Sal was on the top bunk, cheering on André much to Malcolm's annoyance. The boy was wearing a white T-shirt that was paired with black and red plaid pants, pumping his fist into the air with each successful pull-up.
"Don't egg him on!" Malcolm squealed, thumping the wooden frame that separated him from Sal.
"Why don't you just enjoy the show," André grunted, dropping down to the floor after he hit his twenty-fifth pull-up. He stretched on the spot, turning to look at the other side of the dorm. He raised his eyes at a certain poet who was staring at him.
Indigo squeaked, red from being caught, as he turned away to face the wall. His poetry book was clutched close to his chest and he shut his eyes in fear. Indigo was still under the covers of his bottom bunk, wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt and black pyjama bottoms. He gingerly opened up his eyes and turned around, seeing André's face right in front of him.
Indigo yelped, jumping up and hitting his head off the top bunk, eliciting the once-snoring Ian to jump awake.
"Fess' up boy," André accused, leaning over and grabbing Ian's book. "What were you writing about me?"
Indigo was growing pale as André dangled the book in front of his face. He made feeble attempts to grab it back, but André tossed it from hand to hand, out of the other boy's reach.
"I.. I... I wasn't," Indigo mumbled. The boy was almost in tears as André easily held the diary out of his reach, taunting him.
"This doesn't seem that pleasant anymore," Sal summarised, frowning at the action.
"Oh buzz off! Things are interesting now!" Malcolm rebutted, gleefully viewing the interaction before them. He also, in the short amount of time in which the conflict had started, had put his glasses on, his eyes skittering over the two boys like he was watching television.
"Ah, come on now," Ian yawned, hopping off the bunk and looking towards André. He wore a loose-fitting black tank top, as well as a pair of boxer shorts. "Let's not fight."
"What are you going to do about it, pipsqueak?" André taunted, causing Ian to frown.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ian]
"Pipsqueak?" Ian asked, confused. "I'm 5'11! That's practically six feet, and six feet is pretty much 6'2. If I am 6'2, then I can basically say that I'm 6'4 and that just easily goes to 6'6 which then goes to 6' 9. 6 '9 is practically seven feet then, which means I'm seven feet tall!" Ian justified, with a bizarre expression.
*Confessional End*
—
"What is with all the ruckus, my lads?" Kai asked, glancing from his bunk at the others. He was wearing a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms, in red and black, as he was chatting to Clayton on his lower bunk.
"No! Don't say my," Clayton corrected. The boy was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and had a lilac T-shirt on as well. "Just say lads, and use what's instead of what is!"
"I am not exactly sure what the error is with not using contractions," Kai surmised, looking back at Clayton, confused.
"I honestly don't have a clue, but it's like so not hashtag hip!"
"I suppose there is a contrast…"
Kai shook his head with a smile, hopping off the bunk and looking over at André.
"Now, my friend. Let us take a moment to compose ourselves, and return what is whose to whom."
The cabin blinked in unison, not sure what Kai had just said and if it had even made sense. Indigo's face turned up into a slight smile, appreciating both the Spaniard for standing up to him, as well as his nifty wordplay.
André grumbled, tossing the book onto the floor and retreating to his own bunk. He pulled out a towel from his duffel bag, swung it over his shoulder and grabbed his baseball uniform as well.
"Whatever. I'm hitting the showers."
He sauntered out of the cabin, as Kai bent downwards to pick up the book. He smoothened out the cover, handing it over to Indigo.
"Here you are!"
Indigo blushed looking away, and muttering out something that sounded like a thanks. Malcolm observed, with a sneaky suspicion on his mind.
"Woah," Sal commented, whispering towards Malcolm. "That was so heroic of him."
"Oh, shut it you!"
—
*Confessional Start*
[André]
"I have nothing in common with any of the guys here," André complained, his hair damp. "Indigo, Clayton and Malcolm are too nerdy, Kai sickens me and who knows which planet Ian came from? That leaves Salamander… That name says enough about him."
*Confessional End*
—
Saying that things on the girls' side were a lot more peaceful would be a blatant lie. Their cabin was similarly set up to the boy's one, with four bunk beds and respective drawers. The only difference lay in the colour scheme, as the girls instead had a green carpet with orange curtains instead.
Aakira was sharing a concerned look towards Ebony, as the two were sitting in their shared bunk. Aakira had claimed the top one for herself and was wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. Ebony was fiddling with some device anxiously in the bottom bunk, wearing an oversized yellow T-shirt, and a pair of black shorts as well.
Aakira hopped down, sitting next to Ebony with a nervous look.
"Do you think they're going to talk about what happened last night or?" Aakira asked, looking across the room at the main girl causing the tension, then at the other girl.
"For our own lives?" Ebony whispered back, pushing up her glasses. "I hope not."
Rina was the one in question, filing her nails as she glared at Toxa on the opposite side of the room. Rina was wearing a cropped white T-shirt, with a Disney logo on it and a pair of boxer shorts in blue. She coughed, trying to get the attention of the other girl.
"Bless you!" Maddy responded cheerfully, from the bed below Rina. The make-up artist was wearing a grey and white vertically striped T-shirt, and a pair of booty shorts. Like Ebony, her top was oversized and Maddy had tied her curls back into a ponytail.
"I coughed," Rina stated, confused, but went back to her harsh glare at Toxa, who was doing a very successful job of ignoring her and tuning her guitar. Toxa was in a simple black sports bra and black shorts, as she fiddled with the strings carefully.
"Yes," Toxa asked, looking up and glaring over at Rina with her sharp yellow eyes. Rina squinted back looking her up and down with a scoff.
"Punk wannabe."
"Slut."
Rina gasped, hopping off her bed and striding her way over to Toxa on her lone bunk. "What did you just call me?"
"Toxa. Said. You. Were. A. Slut."
Rina growled, huffing as she turned on her heel and marched back over to her bunk. She grabbed a towel from her bag, leaving with it from the cabin in a fit of rage.
Aakira and Ebony shared a concerned glance, both of them peering over at Toxa.
"What?" The punk asked with a grin on her face. "Was it something I said?"
"This is going to be a long summer…" Aakira muttered to Ebony, flopping down on the bed.
"You said it sister," Ebony responded, as she let go of her contraption. Turns out, it was a Sharp-Inator, which Ebony used to… sharpen… her pencil.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Madison]
"Hello to my Glossies back home!" Maddy welcomed, with a small wave to the camera. "It was my first night here, and I am having so much fun. Everyone is so kind, and I really think I've made lifelong friends already. Rina and Toxa are already so interesting and they have such different aesthetics, and I think I can help them become really good friends. Stay tuned, and stay glossy!"
*Confessional End*
—
"Why are you still following me," Jolt grunted, jogging lightly through the woods. Her eyes were scanning around the nearby trees, as she took her morning jog.
"I want to talk to you," Kendra panted, trying to keep pace with the runner.
The two girls were taking a morning jog around the island. While this was an easy enough task for Jolt, Kendra was struggling a lot more to keep pace. They approached the beach, and Jolt sighed, coming to a pause. Kendra fell to the sand in heavy pants, regaining her breath as Jolt took the time to stretch on the spot.
"Talk about what?" Jolt asked bluntly. "Simply put, I don't like you."
"You don't like me!" Kendra asked in shock, in pants.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"You tried to drown me?"
"I suppose I did do that," Kendra lamented, laughing nervously. Jolt rolled her eyes, turning away to head back to the cabins. "Wait!"
"What is it?" Jolt asked, looking Kendra up and down with a distasteful scowl on her face.
"What's the deal with you and André?"
"What do you mean?"
"You guys have a weird dynamic," Kendra explained, studying Jolt's face carefully. "Like, are you into him?"
Jolt paused, bursting out in laughter. "Yeah, I'm so into him. I love it when guys are constantly picking fights with me."
"I knew it!" Kendra gasped, looking towards the cabins. "I hate to break it to you, but your man is chatting up some other girl."
"What!" Jolt said with a gasp, turning around and seeing Rina and André chatting outside the communal showers. "How dare he! I'm heartbroken."
"I've been there girl, don't worry," Kendra comforted, reaching in and wrapping her arms around the short girl. "Things will get better."
"Why are you touching me?"
"It's being a good friend!"
"I still don't like you."
"I know."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kendra]
"Little does Jolt know that André is smitten for her!" Kendra laughed. "I am rooting for those two hard! Besides, there are some other really cute guys here. Kai is someone I have my eyes on, he's so hot! Jolt can have André, there's bigger fish to catch."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Jolt]
"I'm gay."
*Confessional End*
—
"Why are you even so angry?" André asked the seething Rina, as the two were drying off in the warm breeze just outside the showers.
"I could ask you the same thing," Rina replied, looking André up and down.
André scoffed, looking off to the side. Rina raised an eyebrow, glancing the taller boy up and down and waiting for an answer. She followed his eyes, to see him glancing over at Jolt and Kendra.
"Seriously?" Rina scoffed. "You're worked up over a girl you met yesterday?"
"Shut up, that has nothing to do with it!" André rebutted, turning back to Rina with a face that was growing red.
"Then what's it about?"
André sighed, running his hand through his damp hair. "It's just the dudes in the cabin."
"They seemed fine to me?"
"They are fine, it's just… It's just," André lamented, leaning back against the bathroom's wall. "It's just that these aren't the people I'm friends with back home."
"I can't help much with your boy problems," Rina teased, flipping her blue hair back behind her shoulder and winking at André. "They can't be as bad as the girls though?"
André grew more red, shaking off the implications as he took his turn to question Rina. "Why, what's happening with the girls? I thought they were all chill."
"I suppose Aakira and Ebony are fine enough," Rina confessed. "Maddy too, but the other three…"
"Those two included?" André asked, surprised, pointing over at Jolt and Kendra. Rina nodded, rolling her eyes in response.
"Last night… I don't even want to talk about it."
"Oh, okay?" André said, shrugging and heading back towards the cabin. Rina whipped around, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
"No!" Rina shrieked, pushing him back against the wall. She huffed, crossing her arms and looking back at André. "That's just something us girls say when we actually want to talk about it."
André blinked in confusion. "Then what's the point in saying you don't want to talk about it."
"You have so much to learn," Rina commented with a shake of her head. "My problems stem from Toxa being an actual buffoon. I have never met someone so gross, so blunt and so wretched in my whole life!"
"Seems to me you're having girl problems," André quipped back, moving away from Rina. "Come on, you can tell me over breakfast. I'm starving."
—
*Confessional Start*
[André]
"What do I think of Rina?" André asked himself, thinking of it. "She reminds me of any basic cheerleader back home, but hey, it's someone I'm familiar with." He paused for a second before his eyes widened in fear. "Oh, don't let her catch me calling her basic. If she is like anyone back home, I'm so fucked."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Rina]
"HE CALLED ME WHAT!?"
*Confessional End*
—
As Rina and André entered the mess hall (separately, so no one would get any fishy ideas about them according to Rina), most people were already assorted around the tables in light conversation.
"Man, what is this?" Ian asked, his bowl filled with some sort of gruel. He lifted up his spoon, prompting the whole bowl to lift up with it.
"It looks delicious," Clayton grimaced, his eyes scanning his own bowl. He looked up at Ian disappointedly. "I don't think my manifestation is working."
"Hi, Ian! Hi, Clayton!" Maddy greeted, taking a seat at the bench with the two. Her own bowl didn't look much better, but it seemed to be glowy.
"Okay, what's the deal?" Clayton interrogated, sniffing at Maddy's food. "Why does yours look so much better?"
"It's just positive thinking!" Maddy replied, happily scooping up a bit of gruel and putting it into her mouth. Her face widened, turning slightly green as she struggled to chew through it. "On second thought, I had a big dinner last night…"
"So much for positive thinking," Clayton mumbled, pushing his bowl away from him as well.
"Hey look guys," Ian beckoned, a bit of the gruel on his nose. "If you eat it like a dog, it makes it taste so much better."
Ian resumed his eating, abandoning his spoon and going face-first into the bowl. Clayton glanced at Maddy, both of them shrugging, and diving into their bowls too.
"IAN!" Malcolm snapped, striding over to the table. "What are you doing here- Wait. What are you doing in general?"
Maddy resurfaced from her meal with her broad smile still intact. "Oh hi, Malcolm! We're being dogs."
"That's rough," Malcolm plainly said, grabbing onto Ian's arm. "Now Ian, stop fraternising with the enemy. We need to talk!"
Malcolm hoisted Ian off his seat, dragging him across to a separate table as Ian blindly followed, not exactly sure what was happening.
"You know what," Clayton said, cleaning off his face with his sleeve. "As fun as that was, it didn't do anything for the taste. In my professional opinion."
"You are so wise, Clayton!" Maddy commented, cleaning off her face as well.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Clayton]
"It's so nice being appreciated for once!" Clayton boasted. "Typically, people are like… 'Clayton, no, you can't just pretend that you're the long-lost relative of Marie Antoinette. You know what I say to that? Let them eat cake!"
*Confessional End*
—
Malcolm plopped Ian down on the bench and sat across from him, narrowing his eyes.
"Ow," Ian moaned. "My food!"
"Oh shut it," Malcolm put it. "You can't be talking to the enemy team."
"Why not?" Ian asked, confused. "Maddy and Clayton are fun people!"
"Sure they are, I know," Malcolm lied, glancing at the two who were making a castle with the leftover gruel they had. "But they aren't on our team, and we have to make sure that we win this challenge."
"I guess you're right."
"I always am!"
"Why did you drag me over?" Ian asked, gesturing over to another group of people. "I mean, Indigo is over there with Kai and Kendra?"
Malcolm's eye twitched, following the barista's finger to the crowd of people. He sighed, turning back to Ian.
"Listen, I don't think Indigo is one of the strong people on our team."
Ian frowned at this. "I like Indigo though."
"Yes Ian, I like Indigo too. But I think you and I could run this team pretty well. We can include Indigo too!"
"I'm confused…"
"Who's surprised," Malcolm bluntly said, shaking his sour expression back for a huge fake smile. "What I'm trying to say is that I think we'd be a really good pair for an alliance. My brains and your brawns. We'd be unstoppable."
"So what you're saying is…" Ian pondered, looking back at Malcolm. "You think I'm strong."
Malcolm deadpanned, sighing. "Yes, you're so tall and strong and you're much better than André."
"This is what I've been saying!" Ian yelled, reaching his hand over to high-five Malcolm. He begrudgingly returned the high-five, as Ian continued to yap away to Malcolm.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Malcolm]
"That was so much harder than I thought it'd be," Malcolm summarised, taking off his glasses to clean the lenses. "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realise that alliances are important, and with Ebony and Aakira already being close, I need numbers on my side. I came to win!"
*Confessional End*
—
On the other side of the table the two boys were at, was Kai happily munching on his bowl of gruel.
"This is a unique experience," Kai summarised, swallowing another clump.
"Really?" Kendra asked, surprised as she brought another spoonful to her mouth. "It tastes bad in my opinion."
"I believe that is simply perspective, Kendra," Kai explained. "I feel as if we should be grateful for each and every new horizon this competition opens up to us."
"Well, let's do some quick maths," Kendra informed. "If you like the gruel, and I like you… That means I should like the gruel too!"
"Precisely Kendra!"
"So Kai, I think we should get to know each other better! Who's rooting for you back home? Any girlfriend or lover or something?"
Kai chuckled, slowly chewing on the next bite. "I am pretty sure the word to describe myself is single."
Kendra's eyes widened, as she shoved her bowl away from her. She placed her arms on the table, twirling her hair as she fluttered her eyelashes at the royal.
"I do not believe that my Father would be supportive of any relationship I would find myself in," Kai continued, slowly thinking about it. "Not that he has provided an opportunity for me to meet a potential suitress."
"Sounds like you need the perfect girl to bring back home to him."
"Perhaps, however, romance is not of my utmost concern. I would like to take this opportunity to make some friends, as I believe they are called."
"You can count me as one," Kendra finished off with a wide grin. "Who knows what'll happen next."
"Me too," Indigo mumbled, catching the attention of the two. He blushed, looking away as they directed their eyes on him. "I wanted to say thanks for what happened earlier."
"It was no issue, Indigo," Kai replied. "I just hope that we can all grow closer as the days pass."
Kendra nodded with determined confidence, as Indigo gave a much more meek nod. Kai returned to his bowl of gruel, happily tucking into it.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Indigo]
"Why is this so hard," Indigo groaned, curling up in a ball on the toilet seat. "Saffron really got the wrong idea when I told her what my therapist said… I don't know what to do."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kendra]
"This is going perfectly!" Kendra cheered. "We're already friends, the next step is just to convince him we'd be perfect together. No one will stop me from finding love, and if they try… Well, we'll just have to eliminate them."
*Confessional End*
—
On the other end of the bench of Clayton and Maddy were Toxa and Sal. Similar to Kai, Sal was happily tearing into his own bowl of food as Toxa kept quiet watching him.
"Do you want the rest of Toxa's?" She asked, sliding her bowl over to the boy.
"Always!" Sal cheered, dumping her leftovers into his bowl and continuing to munch away.
Toxa kept quiet, her eyes still on Sal. She paused for a second, before asking the question she had been holding on to.
"Sal?" She asked, catching the boy's attention.
"What's up!" Sal replied, with a toothy grin.
"I was thinking… Toxa and Sal would make a good pair," Toxa mentioned, waiting for Sal's reaction.
"In what way?" Sal asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the punk much to her disgust.
"In a sense that, I think Sal has what Toxa doesn't," Toxa explained, watching his expression carefully.
Sal grinned, flexing his arm. "Is it my radical muscles?"
"Pipe down boy," Toxa laughed, flexing her own arm. "It's more that you're friendly."
"That's one I haven't heard before," Sal confessed. "I'm not complaining though."
"Toxa just thinks people can come to you."
"They can't come to you?"
"Look at Toxa," She gestured, pointing at her contacts and her multiple piercings. "This doesn't exactly say be my friend."
"Well, I won't lie," Sal mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I did think you were pretty scary when I first saw you on the boat."
"Shut up," Toxa laughed, playing along. "You know you like it."
Sal shrugged, finishing off his bowl of food. "I'm not mad about it." He finished, responding with a wink. Toxa smirked back at him.
"You in?"
"We'll see how things go."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Toxa]
"What a dork," Toxa snickered, looking at her nails and fixing her hair in the reflection. "That dork will save me for one round though."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Salamander]
"I'm more into the good girls and guys," Sal explained, lounging back and relaxing his arms behind his head. "But, Sal knows how to be bad too."
Sal tried to flick imaginary sunglasses down over his eyes but ended up flicking his head downwards. The momentum carried him off the seat and sent him crashing towards the floor with a loud bang.
*Confessional End*
—
Just between that pair and Clayton and Maddy sat Aakira and Ebony. Aakira was slowly scanning around, studying everyone else while Ebony was disgusted by her own food.
"What's the matter, Kira?" Ebony asked, pushing her bowl away from her.
"Something doesn't feel right," Aakira explained, narrowing her as she accounted for everyone.
"What do you mean?" Ebony inquired scanning around. "Everyone's here."
They followed around to the different pairs and trios, including Rina and André who were sitting together with Jolt a little way off to the side.
"No you're right, everyone is here," Aakira agreed, although she still was shifting around to gaze at everyone. "But, something is missing."
Ebony followed her friend's gaze, although she didn't really pick up on anything. "All I see are people having conversations."
"Exactly!" Aakira yelled, snapping her fingers. "Everyone is getting along."
"And?"
"I don't know, I feel like I should be getting along with people too."
"I thought we were getting along well," Ebony said, sort of sadly. Aakira focussed her attention on the girl in front of her, her eyes widening in realisation.
"No! Don't be silly Ebony!" She cried out. "Of course, we're getting along well. I'm just used to getting along with everyone, it feels weird that the only true friend I have is you."
Ebony nodded slowly, looking up at Aakira. "Speak for yourself, Kira. I'm not exactly Ms. Popular back home."
Aakira giggled, reaching her hand out to Ebony. "Hey, we'll have each other til' the end at least."
Ebony grabbed onto Aakira's hand, nodding up at her. "Us until the end!
—
*Confessional Start*
[Aakira]
"I'm so used to being friends with everyone, it just feels weird to not constantly be talking to everyone here." Aakira expanded upon. "Sounds like a challenge for myself though to meet a whole bunch of new different people."
*Confessional End*
—
André glanced between Rina and Jolt, as the two were sitting quietly next to him. He sighed, taking another bite of his food. It was awkward somehow, despite these two girls being the closest things he had to friends.
"You lose again Pinky!" Jolt taunted, showing off her empty bowl to the other boy. Rina looked confused at this remark.
"Mate, we weren't even racing that time," André deflected back, wolfing down his food now.
"Pinky?" Rina asked in confusion, glancing at Jolt.
"Have you seen him?" Jolt asked back, to which Rina gave a coy smile. "Hey, you can be on my side then Bluey."
Rina's smile quickly turned into a frown, as she grabbed a strand of her hair. "Bluey? Seriously?"
"Have you seen yourself?" Jolt simply said, kicking her feet up on the table.
"Your hair is just as blue as mine."
"Please, I'm not going to go around calling myself Bluey. That'd be stupid."
"Girls?" André interjected but was met with no acknowledgement from the two.
"Still, I don't see any fit reason for that nickname," Rina retorted. "Especially not from you of all people."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jolt apologised with a snicker. "Do you prefer slut or?"
"Girls!" André asked again, yet again to no avail.
"Oh, you're pushing your limits now. We all saw that rendezvous earlier with Ms. Romantic over there," Rina scoffed back, jostling her thumb towards Kendra.
"Bold coming from you. I saw you guys flirting by the toilets," Jolt huffed back.
André eyes widened, as he flushed a small bit. "GIRLS!"
"OH SHUT IT PINKY!" The two girls chorused out together, before sharing a knowing look between them.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Jolt]
"Rina? She really ain't all that bad once you take everything she says with a grain of salt. She's hot too," Jolt commented, relaxing back in the confessional toilet.
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[André]
"Shit!" André cursed, rubbing his hands through his hair. "I hope Jolt doesn't think I'm into Rina. I mean, she's hot but like…" André paused before his eyes widened in realisation. "SHIT! I HOPE I'M NOT INTO RINA!"
*Confessional End*
—
"WAIT!" Aakira shrieked out, snapping her fingers. "I've got it."
"What is it?" Rina snapped, looking up from her own conversation.
All eyes were on Aakira, as she flustered for a moment. "Guys, this was a private thing?"
"Too bad," Malcolm mocked. "You have all of our attention now."
"What's up Aakira?" Maddy asked, flashing her a reassuring smile.
"It better be important," Jolt mumbled, pushing her empty bowl away from her and looking up at the girl.
"You got this," Ebony whispered, flashing her a thumbs up.
Aakira, now a bright red, got up on her chair and pointed around at everyone. "I mean… Look at us."
"What about us?" André asked, looking at Aakira with an eyebrow raised.
"We're all getting along really well, and I'm sure that's not great TV for them back home."
"And, I'll take it from there," Chris called out, bursting through the door. His usual attire was changed into an explorer's outfit in a beige jacket, beige shorts and a white shirt underneath. He had a map in his hands and a fedora on top of his hair that was gelled to perfection as always. Chef came out from the kitchen, standing by him.
"Split off into your teams," Chris commanded. "The Perky Parrots might as well go where Aakira is standing. Cutthroat Crabs can take the other bench. Oh, and Aakira? You can sit back down."
Aakira was a bright red, as she sat back down in her seat. Ebony gave her an apologetic look, as the rest of their team sat down next to them, as the Crabs manned the other table.
"Uhm, Chris, sir?" Sal asked, pointing up and down at him. "What's the deal with the outfit."
"Sal?" Chris asked, prompting the boy to smile up at him. "Has anyone told you that patience is a virtue?"
"Everyone, sir!" Sal replied with a quick salute.
"That's not-" Chris faltered, shaking it off. "Never mind that. I hope breakfast was good guys."
"It was shit," Toxa replied, with many others nodding in agreement.
"IT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION!" Chris snapped. "You're all a bunch of! Uhm!"
"Degenerates?" Chef suggested.
"Exactly! Now stop distracting me!"
Chris extended his map out and read it carefully, before tucking it under his arm. "Welcome to Inferno Island."
"Did he read that off the map?" Clayton snickered, as Chris shot him a death stare.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Clayton]
"I didn't mean it in a bad way!" Clayton defended, crossing his arms in a huff. "I once had to give a presentation and I forgot my name. Thank God for flash cards!"
*Confessional End*
—
"As I was saying. Welcome to Inferno Island! Yesterday you saw the lush beauty of the island, but I think it's time for you guys to seriously explore it."
Chris tossed maps over to both teams, with André and Jolt catching them. They opened them up to see a plain enough-looking map, with an X marked on it.
"What better way for you to explore the island than with a treasure hunt? Your task is to figure out where your treasure is buried, dig it up, and return it back here to me."
"What's buried?" Ian asked, trying to peek in at the map that André kept just out of his sight.
"Just a little ornament for each of your teams. Nothing too special," Chris explained with a wink. "Good luck, you're going to need it."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Malcolm]
"You saw that wink too!" Malcolm exclaimed. "There's something about those ornaments that Chris isn't telling us, and I'm sure to get to the bottom of it or my name isn't Malcolm Lake."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Salamander]
"I thought his name was 'The One Who's Going To Run Away With The Competition'?"
*Confessional End*
—
André sprawled the map out on the table that the Parrots were at. Immediately, Rina and Malcolm jumped to attention, peering at the map carefully, practically squeezing André in the process.
"What…?" Rina asked in confusion, squinting at the map.
"This can't be right!" Malcolm retorted, cleaning off his glasses and studying the map carefully.
"Mind letting the rest of us see?" Aakira asked, jumping over Malcolm to get a look at the map. Her eyes widened realising what the other two were so confused about.
"McClean!" Rina snapped, glaring at the host. She pointed at the map which was just one X plastered on the map. There was no trail leading up to it, and there was barely an outline of the island showcased. "This has to be a mistake."
"No mistake Ms. Belle," Chris said, a sinister smile on his face. "I did say you'd need some luck after all.
"You kids are so ungrateful," Chef huffed. "Man, you think it's hard finding the treasure? Try just marking an X on the map."
Rina huffed, stomping her foot down as the rest of the parrots were lost.
"Maybe we could do it blindly?" Ian suggested, getting a heated stare from Malcolm and Rina. "Or not…"
"Ebony?" Aakira asked, looking at the girl, who was studying the map from the other side of the table. "Any ideas."
"What use is she going to be?" André asked, rolling his eyes. "I mean, she's looking at the map upside down."
"Actually, we don't know," Indigo mumbled out. "The map could be right-side-up for us for all we know."
André growled, looking at the map carefully. "So what's the plan then?"
"I… I don't know," Indigo anxiously said, not prepared to be put on the spot. Ian gave him a reassuring tap on the soldier and looked over at the others.
"I don't think spending any more time here is going to help us," Ian added. "Maybe we should just head out and start there."
Rina snapped her fingers. "Of course! We can use the beach as the starting point since that's a coast near us."
"Sounds like a plan," Aakira nodded.
"The volcano is probably in the middle of the island," Ebony continued. "We could head there and use that as a starting point."
"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we're cooking now!" Malcolm nodded, although he shot a quick look over at the other team. "You guys head to the beach, I'm going to make sure we're not missing something."
Rina shrugged, snatching the map off the table and leading her group out the door. "Here's to winning this challenge."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Rina]
"I'm not stupid, I saw Malcolm checking out the other team," Rina stated, looking at the map carefully. "But, I'm not against it. We're going to need all the help we can get to make sure that our team is on top, and theirs is on the bottom."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ebony]
"Darnit!" Ebony proclaimed with a snap of her finger in frustration. "I knew Pops was wrong about me not needing my Treasure-Finder-Inator on the island. I wonder if I could recreate it?"
*Confessional End*
—
"They're already moving," Jolt snapped, glaring at the map. "We gotta move too!"
"Halt, Jolt. Let us make sure we have a plan set in motion before we take off," Kai advised, looking at the map in sheer awe. "This is a magnificent map."
"Not much help to us without any landmarks," Toxa scoffed, crossing her arms and waiting for the rest of her team to step up.
"Oh! What if we set it on fire!" Sal asked, pulling out a lighter from his jacket's pocket and flicking it on.
"How'd you even manage to sneak that in?" Clayton asked, stepping away from him carefully.
"Perhaps we should save that as a contingency plan?" Kai asked, prompting Sal to wink knowingly and put the lighter back in his pocket.
"Okay, no fire… But what about water?"
"Oh not water," Maddy moaned. "I didn't put on my waterproof mascara today!"
Kendra rolled her eyes at Maddy. "You can join the rest of us girls not wearing any makeup."
"Toxa's wearing makeup. Is that a problem?" Toxa threatened, marching over to Kendra who jumped back.
"Nope! Not at all! Love makeup!"
"Oh my god! Toxa you have to let me do your make-up soon!" Maddy cheered out, not aware that Jolt was repeatedly slamming her head into the table. "One of my sponsors gifted me this really awesome glow-in-the-dark palette that I haven't gotten to use yet."
Clayton jumped up, hearing that. "Wait! Kai, you got that too."
"Are you perhaps suggesting that this map is glow-in-the-dark, or created with invisible ink?"
"No, I was actually just going to-" Clayton started, but caught himself with a wide smile. "Wait, that's so clever, I'm so glad we're on the same wavelength!"
"I am positive we are," Kai said, with a twinkle in his eyes that caused Clayton to laugh nervously in response. "Madison, would you like to show us this… palette? I believe you said, to us?"
"Of course!" Maddy responded with a beam, running out of the cabin, with the others following behind her. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Crabs, was Malcolm observing them from under the other table.
"Interesting…" Malcolm muttered, rubbing his hands sinisterly, but whacking his head off the top of the table.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kai]
"Truthfully told, I do not believe that Clayton and I were on a similar train of thought," Kai confessed with a small grin. "I do not hold any remorse however, that boy is certainly a character."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kendra]
"What is it with everyone getting between me and my man!" Kendra complained, stomping her foot aggressively against the floor. "Like Maddy is so pretty, but she needs to cool it with the flirting. It's like, so obsessive."
*Confessional End*
—
The three boys stood outside the girl's cabin, waiting for them to retrieve the makeup palette.
"You guys are so smart," Sal complimented. "Invisible ink is just as exciting as setting things on fire."
"Okay, firstly, I know," Clayton boasted, flicking his short hair back. "Secondly, that's very concerning."
"I must agree with Clayton there," Kai added with a coy smile towards him. "Where does your affinity with fire spur from?"
Sal whipped out the lighter, flicking it back on and watching the flame burn carefully. "It's honestly just so crazy how dangerous and reckless fire can be. It can warm you up, or it can burn you to the core. It can both cook or leave you as ash. It's chaotic and uncontrollable."
He flicked the lighter back off and flicked it back on. "I've always wished that the orphanage would burn. Just to save everyone. To fight fire with fire."
Sal beamed back up at Clayton and Kai, who were sharing concerned looks and backing up from the guy. Sal looked confused, shrugging it off and tossing the lighter from hand to hand.
"Okay, so my best friend back home is also a bit of a pyromaniac," Clayton started in a low tone, shooting a nervous look over at Sal. "He's like this circus performed, don't worry, but that's a new level of flame crazy."
"I will admit," Kai subsided. "It is concerning to hear that his desire is for orphanages to burn. Perhaps he got his words twisted?"
"Twisted?" Clayton whispered back in a sharp tone. "The only thing twisted is his mind! He wants the orphans to burn!"
—
*Confessional Start*
[Salamander]
"Honestly, growing up in an orphanage wasn't all that bad," Sal explained, with a sad smile. "It was a revolving door of new people and new stories. My parents both died when I was just a baby in a house fire, and I guess that's why I want to be a firefighter when I grow up."
*Confessional End*
—
Inside the cabin, Maddy was carefully looking through the different palettes she had stored in her suitcase. She shuffled through each one, trying to find the glow-in-the-dark one that she had mentioned earlier.
Jolt was sitting on the floor, tossing a bouncy ball off the wall and back into her hand. Her leg was jittering up and down, bustling to get the treasure hunt actually started. "Find it yet?"
"No," Toxa bluntly stated back, peering at herself in a hand mirror. She blew a kiss at herself, taking the time to adjust her piercings to make sure they all looked right.
"I forgot I had this in here," Maddy chirped out, swinging out a singing bass from her luggage.
"How? Why did you even bring that here?" Jolt asked, appalled, catching the ball swiftly.
Kendra rolled her eyes, standing off to the side with her arms crossed in a huff. She gazed out at the boys on the porch of the bunk longingly. Toxa raised an eyebrow, striding up to the girl.
"What's up?"
"Huh?" Kendra asked, surprised that it was Toxa coming up to her. She shook herself out of it, turning back to the window. "It's nothing."
"Toxa don't bite… Well, most of the time."
"That's seriously weird."
"Depends what you're into," Toxa replied, wiggling her eyebrows at Kendra. "But seriously dude. What's your damage?"
"It's Maddy," Kendra confessed, glancing at the influencer who pulled a comically large lipstick out of her luggage. "She's just…"
"Your type?"
"Huh, no, I'm straight," Kendra said, with a shake of her head. "She's just so perfect. How am I supposed to find love on this island with her roaming around it."
"Tell you what," Toxa planned. "How about us two in an alliance, and we'll take her out."
Kendra's eyes widened in response, with a wide grin. "Thanks, girl, you're not as bad as they all say."
"Wait, who's saying-"
"FOUND IT!" Maddy cheered out, as Jolt hopped into action. She sprinted over to Maddy, grabbing her hand, and the palette too and immediately bustling out the cabin. Kendra and Toxa followed quickly behind them.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Toxa]
"Number two secured," Toxa bragged, counting them down on her hand. "I'm practically running this team now."
*Confessional End*
—
"Wicked! Let's see if this is a bust or not," Clayton cheered, seeing the girls burst through the door. He laid the map flat down on the porch, as the seven of them surrounded the map.
"Okay, first, we have to make the area dark," Maddy read, as the Crabs huddled together to emit the light from shining down.
"Then, we use the blue-light ray to see the pigment," Maddy finished reading.
"In this particular case, ink," Kai finished off, as Maddy brought the mini light-rod closer to the map.
They all waited anxiously, yet sure enough, slight markings were able to be identified. The beach, cabins, volcano, mess hall and other amenities appeared on the map as well as a dotted trail that looped to the bright red x that was marked on the map.
"Oh my God? That actually worked?" Jolt asked, high-fived Maddy in response.
"Let's go find that treasure!" Sal cheered, the rest of the team pumping their fists up into the air and leaving the cabins.
"What's taking him so long," Rina muttered, as she and her fellow Parrots were on the beach, looking for anything useful. She was patrolling the dock, with André by her side as Aakira and Ebony sat by the pier and Ian and Indigo were on the beach together.
André looked at Rina in confusion. "Who?"
"Malcolm! Who else?"
"There's a lot of guys on our team," André defended himself, and Rina looked him up and down.
"Yeah, clearly I was looking for you."
"Shut up, you could've meant Ian or Indigo."
Rina blankly stared at André, pointing off to her side. André followed the finger, as it landed on Ian doing a handstand in the sand, while Indigo laughed at him.
"They aren't that hard to find." Rina rebutted.
"Okay, fine. I forgot Pipsqueak was on our team," André confessed.
"Awh, love you too," Malcolm sarcastically said, marching his way over to the two of them. "Right, this is what I learned from the other team."
Aakira looked back at the three of them with a sad sigh. She turned to Ebony, with an upset look on her face. "Do you feel like we're just not a part of the group?"
"I always feel that way," Ebony replied, letting the sun shine down on her. "I like it though."
"I'm just having such bad FOMO. I'm smart enough to help them with their plans, and so are you! We should march right over and tell them what we think!" Aakira proclaimed, jumping up to her feet.
"Woah, Kira," Ebony laughed, grabbing a hold of Aakira's hand and dragging her back down. "Let's just take a break while we have a chance to."
Aakira glanced between the trio that were in a heavy discussion, and back down to Ebony with a conflicted look.
"Tell you what," Ebony continued. "Let me just tell you why I don't mind."
This piqued Aakira's interest, who took a seat back down next to Ebony. The inventor smiled, looking up at the sky with closed eyes and letting the heat warm her up.
"I come from a small town, with small people," Ebony began. "It's as generic as it comes, and I don't have many friends back home. I don't mind it. My mind works better on its own, and inventing was my main passion."
"I don't get it?" Aakira asked, confused. "How come you signed up for this?"
"Well, my Pops inspired me. He told me that my inventions needed to be seen by the world, and he was right. I want to show that I'm a smart and capable person able to create totally unique and nifty contraptions."
"Totally unique.." Aakira said, laughing nervously.
"My girlfriend also isn't the most outgoing person either. We met through being penpals in school, and she's been there for me this whole time, despite every explosion. They're another reason I'm here, and I'm going to enjoy myself while I am here."
"Ebony, I didn't realise you were so wise!" Aakira exclaimed, looking towards her.
"I may be quiet, but my mind is like a clock," Ebony replied with a wink. "Why rush into everything, you're one of the first proper friends I've made and I want to just enjoy the summer with you!"
Aakira gave a wide grin back to Ebony. "I can promise you that much for now then."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ebony]
"Saoirse, I miss you so much!" Ebony said heartfully, before pausing. "I mean, I suppose I always do since you're like an ocean away from me but the point still stands! Just wait til' I finish my Teleportinator. WAIT, I wasn't supposed to name it! Awh drat!"
*Confessional End*
—
Ian fell forward, getting a face full of sand as Indigo snickered away. Ian frowned, shaking like a dog to free himself from the sand that got all up in his hair.
"Is this what Mother Earth feels like?" Ian said as the last couple of grains fell from his ear back down to the beach.
"Mother Earth?" Indigo quipped. "Is she sentient?"
"Don't say that in front of Mother!" Ian quickly rebutted, looking around in panic. "She might hear."
Indigo rolled his eyes, quickly scrawling something down into his notebook. Ian got back onto the floor, sitting next to Ian and looking up at the sky.
"That cloud looks like a volcano!" He exclaimed, pointing up at the sky. Indigo followed his finger, with a confused look.
"Ian, there's nothing there?"
"I'M GOING BLIND!" Ian cried out, falling back and lying flat on the sand.
Indigo rolled his eyes again, with a faint smirk on his face and continued to write away in his journal. Ian rose, shaking more sand off of himself rather unsuccessfully, and turned to face Indigo.
"So when am I going to get to read one of your poems?" Ian inquired, wiggling his eyebrows at Indigo.
This seemed to strike a nerve though, as Indigo quickly snapped the book back shut and tucked it back into his pocket.
"It's no good," Indigo mumbled, tugging at his sleeves. "It's just junk anyways."
"Nonsense!" Ian declared, turning Indigo's face to look back at him (oblivious to the growing red on the poet's face). "Poetry is something that needs to be shared with the world!"
"Maybe for talented people," Indigo muttered.
"There can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don't believe in you but all it takes is one and it just changes your whole life."
"Is that… Is that a Lady Gaga quote?"
"My point is!" Ian continued, ignoring the call out. "Poetry is to be shared with the world. Song lyrics are always poetic, and lyrics are just poetry to a bit of music."
"Hey bozos," Rina beckoned from up on the wooden dock. "You guys want to come up and help us?"
Ian hopped up from the floor, extending his arm to Indigo with a wide smile. Indigo flushed, looking away but taking the hand and allowing himself to get hoisted upwards.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Indigo]
"I suppose I do need to break out of my shell," Indigo explained, biting his nails anxiously. "I just don't know what the first step to that process is…"
*Confessional End*
—
"What's the deal?" Ian asked as the Parrots gathered together.
"I figured out that the map isn't utterly useless!" Malcolm proclaimed, with a snap of his finger.
"What he couldn't do was figure out how to read it," Rina added, smirking at Malcolm who tried to stutter out an explanation.
"Woah, slow down," Aakira interjected, looking at the trio. "What do you mean isn't useless."
"Something about invisible ink," André answered with a scoff.
"It's typical protocol for whoever made the realisation to explain it!" Malcolm snapped, whacking André and Rina over the top of their heads.
"Invisible ink?" Indigo asked, more to himself than anything.
Aakira shook her head at her team's antics, turning to Ebony whose face was furrowed in thought.
"Eb? You alright?"
"The sun!"
"Pardon me?"
"The sun!" Ebony exclaimed. "Invisible ink needs a heated component in order to be activated, and we can use the sun as that heat source."
"It's worth a shot," Rina replied, holding the map up to the sun.
Lo and behold, it somehow worked, as a faint marking could be observed on the map. Cheers came from the team, as the team decided to make up for lost time, heading into the lush vegetation to hunt for treasure.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Malcolm]
"The sun," Malcolm grumbled angrily. "I could've thought of that! I just wanted to give Ebony her screen time."
*Confessional End*
—
"I feel like we've been wandering for ages," Clayton moaned, pushing back a branch and sending it flying back into Sal.
"Stay vigilant Clayton, I believe that we must be approaching our target," Kai replied cheerfully, helping Sal back up.
"Thanks, man!" Sal, jumping back up to his feet. "I think we should go left."
"You both are so strong and brave," Kendra gushed, eyes fluttering from Sal to Kai. "I'm sure you'll both lead us to the right place!"
"Uhm, hello," Clayton interjected. "I'm also a guy on this team?"
"Sucks to be you," Toxa snickered, pushing past Clayton and sending him crashing to the floor.
"Ow," Clayton groaned, as Kai once again backlogged to help him up.
"Floor guy is right," Jolt said.
"Floor guy?" Clayton asked appalled.
"We've been wandering around for ages. Someone show me the map, and let's go from there."
Kai nodded, passing the map to Jolt.
"Are you okay Clayton?" Kai asked, helping him to dust the dirt off his clothes.
"Just peachy!" Clayton frowned, staring daggers at Toxa and Kendra who were chatting to each other in hushed whispers.
"A part of me fails to find the truth in your statement," Kai inquired, turning Clayton to face him. Clayton sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Kai, I don't want to talk about it right now," Clayton responded, leaving Kai and sitting on a log off to the side. Kai frowned, not sure how to handle the situation.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kai]
"Was it something that I said?" Kai asked in confusion. "Clayton is someone I have found myself growing close to, yet, it appears that he has something pent up. I will get to the bottom of this!"
*Confessional End*
—
"Sounds like a plan," Kendra replied to Toxa. "So it'll be us, Sal and one other person?"
"Any ideas?" Toxa asked, looking over at the rest of her teams.
"I'm sure I can use my charms on Kai," Kendra answered with a wink.
"Toxa don't think that's going to work."
"Are you doubting my flirting?"
"Yes."
"Fine, what do you suggest then?" Kendra asked, looking around at the rest.
"Toxa thinks that a certain runner will understand who's the weak link on our team."
"She's a hard shell to crack," Kendra mentioned, turning to look at Jolt. "I'm trying my best, and I think I'm making serious progress!"
"I really don't believe that either."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Toxa]
"Kendra is rather incompetent," Toxa said with a laugh. "She's a tool that I can use to help myself and blame the shit I do on her. Starting with Maddy's elimination, this game is going to be Toxa's bitch."
*Confessional End*
—
"Maddy," Jolt called out, looking at the map. "Can you pass me the UV thingie?"
"The what now?" Maddy asked, bouncing her way from the flowers she was smelling over to Jolt.
"The thing that lights up the map? Whatever it's called."
"Oh, that!" Maddy yelled out in understanding. "I left it back at the cabins."
"You did WHAT!" Jolt roared, grabbing the attention of everyone else on their team.
"Woah dude, what's the deal?" Sal asked, skidding forward to separate the duo.
"We are lost in the woods because she didn't bring the UV ray!" Jolt accused, pointing angrily at Maddy.
"I didn't want to damage it!" Maddy defended causing Jolt to grow increasingly agitated.
"How are we going to win now?" Jolt asked, looking at Maddy who looked down to the dirt in embarrassment.
"Let us all calm down now," Kai interjected. "There are multiple ways to elicit a reaction from the invisible ink, other than a chemical source. A heat source would also be sufficient."
"Got it!" Sal yelled out with a snap of his fingers.
Sal quickly pulled out his lighter from his pocket and flicked it on to sprout a flame. He held it close to the map, as the faint marks could be seen again. Unfortunately for Sal, the flame jumped forward and lit the entire map aflame.
Jolt yelped, dropping the burning map to the ground and the group watched the fire spread. Sal quickly stopped his foot down on the flame to extinguish it but the damage was already done. The Crabs surrounded the scorched map, with a boot mark right in the middle of it.
"NOOOOO!" Jolt roared, ready to lunge at Sal but was restrained by Kai.
"Did you guys hear something?" asked Aakira, as the Parrots whistled their way through the forest.
"It was probably just a bird or something," Ian replied, taking a deep breath of the air in. "Man, there must be so many different creatures in these woods."
"Save it for after we win," Rina interjected, as she held the map and closely followed it. She was confident in her own leadership skills, but she'd feel a lot better if the pests in the woods stopped bugging her.
"I think we go left here," Malcolm, the pest in question, added as Rina huffed.
"Yes, I know that!" She snapped, turning left. She, in fact, was going to go right until the pest had intercepted her.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Aakira]
"I feel like I'm in this weird place where I'm one of the more level-headed people in the team, but also not one of the more malicious people," Aakira explained, holding up three fingers on both her hands. "I could be mean if I really wanted, I'd just have to channel that energy in my role like any good actress does!"
*Confessional End*
—
Malcolm gave up on aiding Rina, more so to avoid getting a smack over the top of her head, falling into line with Ian who was looking around in awe at the wilderness.
"What in heavens are you looking at?" Malcolm asked, trying to follow Ian's gaze.
"The animals dude," Ian replied, pausing and taking a breath of air in. "There must be so many different kinds of birds and monkeys and other creatures on this island."
Malcolm furrowed up his nose at the thought. "Sounds disgusting."
"Nature is beautiful man," Ian replied, pointing up at at something. Malcolm followed the point up to two brightly coloured parrots who were together on a branch.
"Look at that for example," Ian suggested, the sound of screeches from the parrots echoed down to them. "They're communicating. I wonder what they're saying."
"I didn't realise you were such an animal kid," Malcolm confessed, with the slightest hint of a smile.
"Dude, I love animals. I wanna win the money to go on this South American tour. This is like a taste test of what I want to see."
"I can't believe you actually have a legitimate reason for wanting to win the money!" Malcolm proclaimed. "Here I was thinking you'd waste it on some party."
"Oh, I would so host a party too. There's nothing better than having a great time with your friends, just like those birds are!"
"And there it is," Malcolm finished off, rolling his eyes. He glanced back up at the parrots and his mouth jaw-dropped at what he saw.
"Ian, are those parrots having sex?"
"Huh?" Ian asked glancing back up. "No, they're just very good friends."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ian]
"They were so fucking," Ian chortled, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "You should've seen the look on his face! Who knows though? They could've just been friends!"
*Confessional End*
—
Just back from that pair were the duo of Ebony and Indigo, who were walking in silence as the group hunted for treasure.
"Hey, Ebony?" Indigo asked, causing the girl to look over at him, caught off guard.
"Oh! Hi Indigo! Everything okay?"
"I suppose so," Indigo summarised, looking over at Ebony with a soft smile. "I… I wanted to try and get to know someone else."
"What do you want to know," Ebony replied cheerfully. "Y'know, us two are really similar."
"Hmm? We are?"
"Yeah! I don't know what you're doing with your journal, but it must be something creative. That combined with how shy we both are, I'm surprised we're only talking to each other now."
"I think the shy part might have something to do with it."
"I guess you're right," Ebony chuckled. "Sorry, I ramble when I'm nervous."
"I shut down when I'm nervous so I guess we were made for each other," Indigo added, causing Ebony to laugh in response.
"I know. I feel like we're such children, with Ian and Aakira guiding us around everywhere."
The duo looked up at Aakira, who was sassily saying something to André, whereas Malcolm and Ian were still paired together and talking to each other. Ebony noticed Indigo's slight smile and beamed back at him.
"Tell you what," Ebony asked, drawing Indigo's attention back to her. "We both have to branch out and start talking to more people before the season ends."
"That sounds difficult… It was hard enough building up the courage to talk to you."
"We'll do it together," Ebony finished, raising her hand up for a high-five. Indigo nodded and went to return it but missed by a wide margin.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ebony]
"I didn't realise til' Indigo mentioned it, but I've been spending practically every moment with Aakira! I wanted to branch out when I came here, and it's time I do so! I already had a good time talking with Sal and Ian and Maddy, so I should talk to them again."
*Confessional End*
—
"Is that why you cornered me," Aakira toyed. "For relationship advice?"
"Shut it," André growled, regretting having even opened up his mouth.
"It's cute," Aakira said, before bursting into laughter. "It's so typical."
"Why did I even say anything."
"Why did you choose me to tell is the better question," Aakira retorted.
André grumbled, accelerating his pace, but Aakira jogged back up to catch up to him.
"No seriously. Why did you tell me?"
"Who else was I supposed to tell?" André lamented. "You're just one of the smarter people on our team, and I'd choose you over Malcolm."
"Awh, you really know how to butter a girl up!" Aakira said, before keeling over in laughter again.
"Are you done yet?"
"Let me take one last swing at this whole love advice thing," Aakira continued, mimicking a baseball bat.
André rolled his eyes, as Aakira finally stopped herself from laughing, clutching onto her stomach. "Okay, okay, I'm done now."
"Save it," André huffed, moving away. Aakira rolled her eyes, jogging back up to catch up to him.
"I will say I'm definitely not the best person for relationship advice," Aakira confessed. "I've been single my whole life, although Ebony has been in a long-term relationship so I'd say bring it up to her."
"Great," André said with a defeated laugh. "Another person to tell."
"Oh, knock it off with that attitude," Aakira tutted. "You're a great catch after all."
Aakira continued to cackle away to herself, as André pushed forward and joined Rina at the front again.
—
*Confessional Start*
[André]
"I'm actually a batter, not a pitcher, so jokes on you Aakira," André taunted in the confessional. He crossed his arms and sat there in silence. "No, the joke is still on me."
*Confessional End*
—
"We made it!" Rina cheered, as the group pushed their way into a clearing in the middle of the woods. It was rather bare, with just a tree in the middle as well as two marked Xs on the ground in front of it, one in orange and the other in green.
"Okay boys, get to digging!" Rina commanded as she moved away to stand off to the side of the X.
"Are you not going to help?" André asked, looking Rina up and down. The soprano scoffed in response.
"Obviously not. Imagine the dirt that'd get in my nails."
"On that note, count me out," Malcolm added, moving his way next to Rina.
"Seriously," Aakira deadpanned, turning back to Ebony. "Any tool for this?"
"Fraid I didn't bring anything for digging," Ebony confessed, looking through her tool belt.
"Let me cook!" Ian announced, jumping forward and tearing into the dirt like a dog. Everyone else gave him looks of disgust as he tossed dirt and mud over his shoulder, fully committing to getting the treasure.
"Oh! I actually have this spade-inator!" Ebony mentioned, pulling out a mini shovel from her belt and holding it up in the air.
"I think it's a little late for that now," Indigo surmised, as they continued to watch Ian dig himself into a hole.
Jolt was pacing back and forth, seething in silence. Toxa was equally as miffed but wasn't as vocal about it as she sat down on a log with Kendra watching the runner go back and forth.
"What if-"
"What about shut it do you not understand," Jolt snapped back at Salamander, who looked away sheepishly.
"I'm just suggesting-"
"Oh my God!" Jolt yelled, exasperated. "Fine, what's your game plan?"
"What if we climb a tree to get a better view of where we are?" Sal suggested, pointing to a skinny-looking tree next to the group.
"Be my fucking guest." Jolt fired back, Sal returning a determined nod.
Sal hoisted himself up onto one of the branches. He leaned forward to grab onto the second one, but the branch he was on snapped underneath him sending him crashing back down to the floor.
"Great, just great," Jolt scoffed, pulling Sal back up. Sal dusted himself off quickly, gazing back at the tree.
"I'm sure I can do this," Sal said, striking a pose and heading back to the tree again. As he, once again, went crashing down, Jolt let out a scream and kicked a rock deep into the woods.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Jolt]
"Jolt Roxas does NOT lose," She proclaimed, pointing from her eyes to the camera. "But when I'm surrounded by idiots… That's a different case."
*Confessional End*
—
Clayton watched the kerfuffle with the two, letting out a sigh. He turned to watch Kendra whispering into Toxa's ear and the two snickering about something and rolled his eyes, shuffling his foot in the dirt to dig a small hole with it.
Kai frowned, walking over to Clayton and sitting down on the log next to him. "Clayton, my friend, is everything alright?"
"I'm just great," Clayton bluntly replied, letting out a yawn. "Just sick of this mess."
"I believe we will find a way out!" Kai told him, with a bright smile. Clayton gave a dull one back, shifting away from Kai a small bit.
"Clayton, I am unsure that I believe that you are truly okay."
"Kai, please. I don't want to talk about it right now," Clayton groaned, looking away. Kai sat there in silence with him, pondering about what to say.
"Is it something I might have done?" Kai inquired, as Clayton let out a mirthless laugh. He ran his hands through his hair, looking away.
"Yes? No? I just don't want to talk about it right now Kai. Please," Clayton begged, turning away from Kai.
Kai sighed, getting up from the log and leaving Clayton sitting there. He wandered over to Maddy, who was picking berries from a nearby bush.
"Oh, hi Kai!" Maddy welcomed him, showing him her handful of berries. "I'm picking berries for us to have tonight, just in case we're stuck in here tonight."
"That is very intuitive of you," Kai complimented, before leaning to whisper something in her ear. "However, I do have a favour to ask you?"
"Anyway to help!" Maddy responded, jumping into a saluting position and, in turn, dropping her berries to the ground.
"May I ask you to discuss with Clayton?" Kai explained, gesturing over to him. "I fear that I may have done something to upset him. It is my wish to remedy that."
"Of course, Kai," Maddy replied with a determined nod. "I'm sure you didn't do anything and that it's all one big misunderstanding."
"I hope it is as simple as that," Kai lamented, glancing back at Clayton. "The friendship of Clayton is one I have sincerely enjoyed in these few days. I do not wish to squander it."
"Understood chief!" Maddy nodded. "I will have a chat with him."
"Thank you, Madison," Kai finished, turning away from the girl and moving back to the centre of the group.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Madison]
"Clayton and Kai have been such a cute pair this whole time!" Maddy gushed. "I really hope I can help them with their problems!"
*Confessional End*
—
"Look at her," Kendra scoffed. "Talking up Kai like that."
"Mhm, yeah," Toxa replied, looking at Maddy and Kai chat together.
"Oh my God! Did he just whisper something in her ear?"
"Mhm, yeah."
"What do you think they're talking about?"
"Mhm, yeah."
"Toxa, are you even listening to me?"
"Mhm, yeah,"
Kendra growled, pushing Toxa causing her to jump up and stare back at her. "What the fuck!"
"I was trying to have a conversation with you!"
"You know, a conversation is normally two ways," Toxa rebutted. Kendra huffed, standing up.
"Well, I'm going to talk to him."
"You go do that," Toxa replied, watching Kendra walk away. She shook her head in disbelief, turning her attention to Jolt instead.
Kendra strolled up to Kai whistling while she did so. She 'accidentally' bumped into him. Kendra immediately jumped back, twirling her hair between her fingers.
"Oh, Kai! I didn't see you there," Kendra giggled, looking up at Kai.
"Greetings, Kendra," Kai said back, turning his attention from Maddy and Clayton to the girl in front of him. "How are you managing currently?"
Kendra gave a fowl look noticing who Kai was looking at it, but didn't drop her facade. "I was just thinking about what you said earlier, about the romance thing?"
Kai furrowed his brow. "I believe I stated that my goal was not to achieve romance."
"I'm just saying that there are worse things than finding love."
"I suppose the possibility of a romance did escape my thoughts," Kai admitted. "I did not believe that a romantic relationship was one people were seeking."
"Don't be silly!" Kendra laughed, lightly shoving Kai. "I think a lot of people are lost in love."
"I am unsure whether I am part of that equation."
"I think there are some people who have their eyes on you…"
"Truthfully?" Kai asked slightly shocked. "I was not aware of that."
"I'm just saying," Kendra continued, toying the waters. "I wouldn't be opposed to getting to know you better on a more personal level."
Kai flushed, looking at Kendra carefully. "Are you suggesting that the two of us, would…"
"I'm not saying we have to rush into anything," Kendra said with a soft smile. "I just find you so charming. The way you lead the team and the way you brighten up our moods. You're like the sun."
Kai paused, snapping his fingers. "Kendra, you figured it out!"
"I did!"
"Yes! We should be able to use the sun as a heat source in order to view the ink on the map. It might just let us catch up to the other team!"
"Oh, that," Kendra faltered, nodding her head. "I guess that would work."
"Follow suit, we must inform our team of this discovery," Kai added, extending his hand out. Kendra smiled, taking it in her grasp and letting Kai lead the way.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kendra]
"I think I made some progress!" Kendra squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. "I don't know what we would be classified as, but love is love!"
*Confessional End*
—
"Comrades, we made some pro-" Kai began, but was cut off by a scratchy, echoing voice.
"Campers, we have a winner. With a very dirty Ian, the Perky Parrots have won immunity. Cutthroat Crabs, I will see you tonight for your first-ever elimination," Chris's voice ricocheted through the woods, eliciting Jolt to scream and kick another rock.
"Great. Just great," Clayton moaned, as Maddy patted his back.
"So geniuses," Toxa asked, getting up off her log. "How do we get out of here."
A rustling in a nearby bush caught everyone's attention, as the team screamed and cowered. Maddy, Clayton and Kendra all hid behind Jolt, Sal, Toxa and Kai; Although Sal was practically shaking at the knees.
"We're going to die!" Maddy cried.
Jolt glanced down to notice another rock. She gave a quick shrug, firing another kick to smack the rock right into the bush.
"Was that really the best idea?" Kendra accused, glaring at Jolt. "I don't think bears like being pelted with rocks."
"You have a better idea blondie," Jolt fired back, kicking another rock.
"I fear that Jolt may have the best idea," Kai admitted, preparing a rock to kick himself.
Toxa smirked, grabbing a handful of pebbles and getting ready to toss them herself. The trio sent their rocks flying into the bush, as painful grunts came from the bush.
"Wait a second, doesn't that sound like-" Clayton started, but was interrupted by movements from the bush again.
"You're damn right it is!" Chef growled, emerging from the bush with marks all over his body. He gave a dirty look to the Crabs, as Kai gave an apologetic smile back to him.
"Follow me," He grunted, tossing over a statue to Jolt, who nimbly caught it.
"Is this-"
"Yes," Chef bluntly replied, striding through the bushes. "You need it for something coming up. Don't ask me what, Chris doesn't tell me shit."
"Interesting," Jolt mumbled, placing the statue in her pocket and following Chef through the woods.
"We're going to be walking for ages, we got seriously lost!" Sal commented as Chef gave him a blank stare back.
"Kid, you were barely out of the campgrounds," Chef proclaimed, pushing through one last branch, leading to the back of the mess hall.
"Oh…"
"Clayton!" Maddy called out, waving over at the klutz. Clayton strolled over to her.
The Crabs had made it back to the camp and were roaming around and talking about the vote. Maddy beckoned Clayton over to the porch of the cabins, patting the spot next to her. Clayton subsided, sitting down next to Maddy.
"What's up, Maddy?" Clayton asked, turning to face the girl.
"I wanted to check in with you!" Maddy cheerfully responded as she pulled out a small make-up bag. "I also wanted to show you these palettes! I wanna style a look for tonight but have no clue what to do!"
Clayton chuckled, reaching over and rooting through the bag. He pulled out a mini-pallette and opened it up, looking carefully at the different colours.
"Well, I would do a galaxy look," Clayton informed, pointing at a purple eyeshadow, then to another midnight blue one. "It would be out of this world."
Maddy giggled, reaching in and pulling out a star stencil from the bag. "It'll let me shine!"
Clayton laughed in response, watching as Maddy swatched the different colours on her wrist. "Those colours would look really pretty together."
"They would!" Maddy agreed, grabbing Clayton's hand and doing a line of purple on it. "Hmm, I don't think it's your colour."
Clayton gasped, raising his hand to his face dramatically. "But purple is my whole personality!"
Maddy giggled in response, snapping her fingers. "We'll make it work!"
"We'd better!"
"Hey Clayton? Can I ask you something?" Maddy questioned, glancing up at Clayton. The boy nodded in response. "Is everything okay with you and Kai?"
Clayton sighed, pulling his arm away from Maddy. He looked at the influencer's concerned face, before subsiding. "Sort of? Somewhat? I don't know, it's a lot."
"I'm here if you need me, Clayton."
"It's actually so stupid," Clayton laughed, shaking his head. "I'll tell you about it after the elimination if that's okay. You are voting for Sal right?"
"That's no problem!" Maddy chirruped. "Voting Sal? Why?"
"I mean, he burns down orphanages!"
"Oh, that's not-"
"Exactly." Clayton finished, standing up and walking away.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Madison]
"Okay, I may not be the smartest person here, but that's not normal… Right?"
*Confessional End*
—
Ian whistled, towelling off his hair in front of the mirror. He stroked his beard, shooting himself some quick finger guns in the mirror before redressing.
"How do dogs stay clean all the time?" He wondered, as he fastened his belt buckle and tossed his towel over his shoulder. He walked out of the bathroom, noticing Clayton walking past the toilets.
"Yo yo yo," Ian greeted, walking over to Clayton. Clayton smiled back, shooting him a peace sign.
"Heya Ian! How are you?"
"Just like the Taylor Swift song, I am finally clean," Ian joked back. Clayton laughed, nodding his head.
"I suppose that you're lost in wonderland."
Ian's eyes lit up and he nodded his head. "You got that reference? Are you a mastermind?"
"I'm certainly not a mad woman," Clayton replied with a wink. "But, seriously, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure! Is it to do with a love story?"
"Sort of, but it's more to do with a Mr. Perfectly Fine. I'll talk to you tonight about it Ian," Clayton nodded, waving goodbye.
"Bye-bye, baby!" Ian called out, as Clayton strolled away. Ian shrugged, returning to his whistling as he headed back towards the cabins.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Ian]
"I loved that!" Ian cheered, pumping his hand into the air. "There's nothing better than having a conversation with someone who just gets you. Told you there'd be people like me here Peggy!"
*Confessional End*
—
Tucked away in the nearby forest, not that far from where the team had gotten lost, were Sal, Toxa and Kendra. Toxa had dragged them for a quick meeting to discuss the vote.
"It's simple," Kendra scoffed, peering out of the woods in case Kai walked by. "We just vote for Maddy, like we've been saying all day."
"Awh, I really like Maddy," Sal moaned, which caused Toxa to pinch the bridge of her nose.
"What don't you two understand about voting!" She growled, thumping both of their arms.
"Ow!"
"Hey!"
"Now listen up," Toxa commanded, huddling the other two closer to her. "One, there's seven people on our team. We need one more vote to make sure we get our way. Two, it's going to be either Maddy or you tonight Sal, so we gotta make sure it's right."
"Why's it going to be me?" Sal asked, confused.
"You. Burnt. The. MAP!" Toxa roared, shaking her head in agitation. Sal leapt back, raising his hands in surrender.
"So we're asking Jolt to vote with us, right?" Kendra asked, chuckling at Sal's antics.
"No. That's a job for Toxa," Toxa stated, looking out of the woods. "And right on cue."
Kendra and Sal followed Toxa's gaze, to see Jolt coming to the end of a run. She paused in the middle of the camp, doing some stretches and breathing heavily. Toxa turned to the others, motioning for them to stay put as she grabbed the bottle of water she had taken with her.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Toxa]
"Toxa misses the good old days when you command people to do shit for you, and beat them up if they did it wrong," Toxa lamented, rolling her eyes. "Now Toxa has to do the shit herself. What a load of shit!"
*Confessional End*
—
"Hey Jolt," Toxa announced, jogging her way over to Jolt. Jolt looked up at Toxa, simply acknowledging her as she finished off her set of stretches.
"Here," Toxa continued, tossing over the bottle to Jolt. Jolt caught it, slurping down the water in quick breaths.
"Thanks, I don't know what happened to the one I grabbed before my run," Jolt explained, as she tossed the half-empty bottle back over to the punk.
"Don't mention it," Toxa shrugged, knowing full well that she had stolen the water. "Can Toxa talk about the vote with you?"
"Yeah sure," Jolt agreed, as she sat down on the ground and continued stretching. "It's Sal, right?"
"Toxa was thinking… Wouldn't Maddy be a better option?"
"Maddy?" Jolt asked, raising an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Take a look at the bigger picture. What use is Maddy going to provide in other challenges."
"What's Sal going to provide," Jolt rebutted. "He clearly was no help today."
"I think he has a certain use, unlike Maddy," Toxa reinstated, shrugging. "Just Toxa's thoughts."
Jolt went to add to the conversation but Toxa was already leaving, whistling as she did so. Jolt sighed, storming into the mess hall and sitting at a table, her leg bouncing up and down as she did so.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Jolt]
"I don't know… The two of them really messed up today, and I don't know who's more valuable," Jolt groaned, smacking her head against the outhouse's wall.
*Confessional End*
—
Malcolm watched everyone meticulously, carefully analysing them. His tray of food sat in front of him, peering over the different groups. Aakira was sat across from her, studying Malcolm's own expression.
"Malcolm, what on earth are you doing?" She asked, finally breaking the silence between the two.
"Oh, hush! I'm trying to gain intel on the other team. I bet it's going to be Jolt going, look at her face," Malcolm rapidly said, pointing over at the runner.
Aakira shook her head in disagreement. "It's going to be Sal or Maddy."
"How in heavens do you know that?"
Aakira pointed over at Jolt, beginning her explanation. "The way Jolt is thinking. It's not the face of someone who's in danger, it's the face of someone who has a difficult decision to make, and she can't decide on who to keep."
Aakira continued, pointing behind her and through the window. Malcolm followed her finger, to where Sal, Toxa and Kendra were. "Those three are clearly voting together. Why it's for Maddy, I actually am not sure, but I want to guess she either messed up today or Kendra has something against her."
Malcolm's mouth practically dropped, as Aakira then turned around and pointed over at Kai and Maddy. "Kai clearly likes Maddy, so I don't think she was the weakest link. However, his face also reads that she is at risk tonight. I haven't seen Clayton, so I don't know how he's voting but from what happened at breakfast this morning I want to guess that he's also on Maddy's side. That leaves Jolt as the tiebreaker, which is why she looks nervous."
Aakira bit into her apple, crunching into it as Malcolm tried to regain his composure.
"How on earth do you know all that?" He managed to splutter out. Aakira simply shrugged back.
"I'm just good at reading people, it's a part of acting and theatre after all," Aakira stated, crunching into her apple again.
—
*Confessional Start*
[Aakira]
"Who knew being a self-proclaimed thespian would have so many advantages," Aakira said, contorting her hand in a bewitching way. "It's like I'm casting a spell on everyone else, hah!"
*Confessional End*
—
André sighed, looking over at Ebony who had a watch in her hands. He watched as her finger moved quickly, dismantling different parts of the watch and piecing different cogs and hands together in an efficient and quick manner.
"Ebony, can I ask you something?" André finally said, causing Ebony to quickly look up and nod her head. She placed her screwdriver back into her belt and focussed her attention towards André. "How did you meet your boyfriend?"
Ebony shook her head. "Girlfriend," She corrected, causing André to flinch.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."
"Hey, at least you're apologising for it," Ebony replied, as André smiled back at her. "Why do you ask?"
"I've had on-and-off relationships for the longest time, so I don't know why I'm so stuck. There's two girls here I think I like, but I'm not sure if I actually like them or not."
"Two!" Ebony replied shocked, scanning around the room. "Jolt and Rina?"
"How did you-"
Ebony snapped her fingers, pulling out a couple of magnets from her tool belt. She placed them flat on the table and looked up at André.
"See this magnet?" Ebony asked, placing it down on the table. "It has two sides to it, a positive and a negative side. Let's say it's you."
"What is this nerdy shit-"
"Do you want the help or not!" Ebony snapped, squinting her eyes at André and catching the attention of other people in the room. André raised his hands in surrender.
"Okay, I'm sorry, keep your voice down, please," André conceded.
"So let's say you have two magnets that are both positive," Ebony demonstrated, holding a positive magnet up to the positive side of the other magnet together. The magnet fired across the room, going straight into Malcolm's tray of food and covering him in it.
"Sorry!" She called out, turning back to André. "They deflect off each other. The same happens with two negative magnets."
She repeated the demonstration, this time the magnet fired out through the door, and a guy shrieking 'Ow' could be heard.
"Was that Sal-"
"SORRY! But when you hold a positive and negative magnet together," Ebony added, watching as the last two magnets clicked together. "You have a perfect match!"
"So are you saying that opposites attract?"
"Where did you think that saying came from," Ebony deadpanned, shaking her head. "I'm just saying, you and Jolt are very similar and very competitive. Is that what you want, or do you want a diva who'll challenge you?"
"That's exactly what I don't know," André groaned, smacking his head off the table. "What's your girlfriend like?"
"We're like two peas in a pod! We're like the same person but we're also so different at the same time!" Ebony giggled.
"So that goes against the advice you gave me completely…"
"I guess… Sorry…"
—
*Confessional Start*
[André]
"Turns out love seriously burns on this island," André groaned, flipping his baseball hat around and letting the visor cover his face.
*Confessional End*
—
"Greetings Madison. Did you gain intel on the situation with Clayton?" Kai asked as Maddy looked down at her chunky soup with disgust.
"I think we're going to talk about it tonight!" Maddy answered as she tried the soup. She immediately splurted it back out onto the table in disgust, as Kaia laughed and handed her a napkin. "Thanks."
"It was my pleasure Madison," Kai replied with a cheerful smile. "I do appreciate the fact that you are doing this favour for me too."
"It's what friends are for!" Maddy responded as she finished wiping the broth from her face.
"Friends?" Kai paused, before responding with a determined nod. "Yes, I would consider the pair of us friends."
"I'm so glad to hear that!" Maddy added, with a soft smile. She went to say something back, but the same scratchy voice from the announcer came before she had a chance to speak.
"Cutthroat Crabs, the time has come. Head on over to the firepit!" Chris yelled out, as Maddy and Kai gave each other a nervous look. The two of them, along with Jolt headed out of the mess hall and started heading towards the fire
The sun had set and a cold wind breezed through the air. The seven members of the Cutthroat Crabs were all sat on different stumps, different expressions on their faces.
"Welcome to the first-ever campfire ceremony of Inferno Island," Chris announced, menacingly laughing at the teenagers that sat before him. "Man, you guys flopped and flopped hard."
"Shut it," Jolt replied, shooting daggers at the hosts.
"What can I say, misery brings me joy," Chris replied. "Chef, if you would?"
"Maddy," Chef snapped, causing the girl to jump in fright. "You had the potential to stop all this drama before it even started, but you forgot to bring your blue-light ray into the woods."
Maddy gave a meek smile, shooting an apologetic look to the rest of her team. Kendra stuck her tongue back out at her with a wicked grin.
"Sal!" Chef continued, pointing to the next boy who was surprised.
"I don't think I did anything that bad!"
"You burnt the damn map to ashes!"
"I suppose I did accidentally do that," Sal confessed with a laugh.
"And Kai!" Chef finished off causing some people to look confused.
"What did Kai do?" Clayton asked, glancing at Kai who had a mixture of shock and shame.
"Kai, as the leader of your team, you failed to notice your team had left with the blue-light ray, and failed to order them after that mishap."
"I apologise for my shortcomings," Kai said with a glum smile to the rest of his team, leading Kendra to push Clayton off his stump in order to console him.
"It wasn't your fault!"
"OW!"
"Right!" Chris shouted, drawing attention back to him. "You may now cast your votes."
—
*Confessional Start*
[Kendra]
"Bye bye Maddy," Kendra gleefully laughed, writing the name down on the page. "You won't be able to steal my boys anymore."
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Madison]
"I'm really really sorry Sal," Maddy apologised as she wrote the name down. "I really want to hang out with you after the show ends though!"
*Confessional End*
—
—
*Confessional Start*
[Toxa]
Jolt looked like she was debating two options in her mind before she sighed and wrote down a name on her parchment.
*Confessional End*
—
"Now! You have all cast your votes, but would anyone like to play a hidden immunity idol before I read the votes?"
Toxa glanced at Kai, ushering him forward. Everyone else remained, while also scouting if anyone had an idol to play.
"No? Very well. In this game, marshmallows represent your life. Receive one, and you'll continue on, but don't and that's curtains for you." Chris explained. "The first one goes to Jolt."
Jolt easily caught the marshmallow, tossing it in her mouth and jogging up next to Chris to look on at her team.
"Also getting marshmallows are Kendra and Clayton. So are Kai and Toxa."
Kendra caught hers with ease, as did Clayton. While Kendra tossed hers in her mouth running up to Jolt, Clayton left his behind on the stump and strolled up to the two girls.
Toxa threw hers in her mouth, joining the rest of the safe crowd while Kai let his bounce off his head and into his lap. He looked down at it in awe, grabbing his and Clayton's discarded one and heading to the safe zone.
Maddy gulped looking over at Sal, who seemed equally as nervous.
"Maddy, Sal. This is the last marshmallow that I have and the person who does not get it will be asked to board the Boat of Losers, and will be asked to leave Inferno Island."
"The last marshmallow goes to…"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Maddy twirled her blonde hair around while Sal fiddled with his lighter in his pocket, both staring at the marshmallow on the platter.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Madison! Salamander, you have been eliminated, and I can't say I'm surprised. Something about you wanting to burn orphanages or something?"
"What?" Sal asked in shock, as Maddy caught her marshmallow. She ran over to Sal, giving him a huge hug.
"I'm so sorry!" She squealed, looking up at Sal with tears in her eyes.
"It wasn't her," Clayton commented, rolling his eyes. "You told me yourself that you wanted to set fire to an orphanage!"
Sal sat there appalled for a second, before bursting out in a fit of laughter. "Man, okay that does sound bad!"
He got up, ruffling Maddy's hair and going over to the rest of his team. "I really should've given more context! I grew up in an orphanage, and my parents died in a fire. I really want to be a firefighter when I grow up to save others and help them and I guess my words didn't come across clearly."
Clayton's eyes widened, as he looked away ashamed. "Shit, I'm sorry."
"Nonsense!" Sal replied, pulling Clayton in for a hug. "You did the right thing knowing what you did, it's on me and I did mess up today."
Sal moved onto Kai, giving him a wide grin. "Dude, you did an amazing job today and you better keep it up now. Kendra, Jolt, you guys have been such fun people to be with and keep fighting the good fight."
"I'll miss you so much!" Kendra sobbed as Jolt rolled her eyes, nodding her head towards Sal. Kai also gave a determined nod to Sal, giving him a soft smile back.
Sal moved onto Toxa, leaning in to whisper something in her ear. "I'm rooting for you know. You're going to kill it."
Toxa scoffed, extending her fist out which Sal returned.
"Okay, this is too sappy for me," Chris announced, as Chef grabbed Sal and started pushing him towards the dock. Sal waved goodbye, as Chris looked towards the camera with a smirk.
"And with that, the first camper has left us on Inferno Island. Tune in next time where there'll be just as much drama, pain and suffering, and we might get some answers to questions asked. Will Indigo open up? Will Kendra find love? And what is the deal with Clayton? Find out next time on…
Total!
Drama!
INFERNO ISLAND!"
—
Voting Confessionals:
Clayton: "Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with a fire hazard. Ask Chander and he'll tell you himself. But think about the kids! I'm voting for Sal.
Jolt: "We need strong members on our team, and when it came to usefulness today, Maddy was a lot more useful than Sal. I also heard he burns down orphanages, which is not the vibe."
Kai: "Unfortunately, I must admit that what Salamander informed us about is strongly concerning. Combined with the incident from earlier today? That is enough to warrant my vote tonight."
Kendra: "Bye bye Maddy. You won't be able to steal my boys anymore."
Madison: "I'm really really sorry Sal. I really want to hang out with you after the show ends though!"
Salamander: "Toxa told me the only way to save myself was to vote for Maddy, which is a shame since I really like her. I guess she made the next biggest mistake though."
Toxa: "Step one is to vote for Maddy. Step two is to blame it on Kendra. This is child's play."
Votes:
Salamander: 4 (Clayton, Jolt, Kai & Madison)
Madison: 3 (Kendra, Salamander & Toxa)
Elimination Order:
14th: Salamander Ashe ~ The Cheeky Hero
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Teams
Cutthroat Crabs: Clayton; Jolt; Kai; Kendra; Madison & Toxa
Perky Parrots: Aakira; André; Ebony; Ian; Indigo; Malcolm & Rina
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Thus, we have lost our first contestant. Salamander is someone who I used to enjoy so much, but lost interest in. He's always been one of the OCs I've had that I've wanted to workshop for the longest time, and Inferno Island has definitely helped to do that. He was always set in as the first boot when the story was planned. I just didn't expect I would enjoy him so much during the process of writing and I'm sure that his flame will be reignited sometime soon.
The episode itself was not very action-packed I won't lie. I'm glad to get a bunch of character interactions out of the way since I do believe I'm a stronger dialogue writer than an action writer, but we still have a whole season to work out the kinks to that! Hindsight tells me that I wish I included more animals in the challenge, since the fake-out animal scene with Chef was very last minute and if properly incorporated, it could've worked out to be funny, but alas. Maybe we will have an animal challenge sometime soon!
I don't have much else to say, so here are some questions! How was everything? Is there anyone you want to see more / less of? Are there any plots not working or any advice? And what do you think will happen next time on [Episode 3: Beach Brawls].?
Til next time, I've been Space and remember to stay stellar!
