Cody awoke… pretty happy all things considered.

He spent his first day in a constant state of worry, trying to figure out what he should do but… this was his second chance. He could win big! Hell, he could win it all! Show up that stuck up Alejandro, make everyone see him as more than just 'the pathetic little guy', and above all, never get mauled by that bear.

His heart sped up in anticipation at these thoughts. Him. Nobody else, but him, got this chance. He could rectify the worst day of his life, make it like it never happened. He could maybe even woo Gwen.

'Gwen…' The goth girl still held a place in Cody's heart. She was everything to him at one point, his hormonal urges directing him to his current fetish of the moment, and he thought he truly loved her. But, setting her up with Trent, and then later having her break that up followed by running into Duncan's arms, all while he sat on the sidelines.

He couldn't blame her, he didn't even resent her. He just knew he should be over her at this point. He'd purposefully avoided her all of the first day to not suffer through that embarrassment all over again, but here he was desperately thinking about her once more. But, these thoughts were interrupted by the expected announcement of the twenty kilometer run.

Everything went as he remembered it, though thankfully Cody knew to pace himself this time. No point sprinting as hard as you can, only to end up ready to pass out before the challenge even begins. Still, the full run was already killer, and he was surprised that Gwen and Duncan spent days following it just sitting by the campfire.

Of course, he also knew not to indulge himself too much on the food. Eat too much, and you wind up feeling bloated and wanting to rest even more. Eat too little, and your body wants to hibernate. Eat just the right amount, and you're all set!

Sadly, Cody was never one for self-control.

"You're matching Owen for speed man!" Geoff shouted in shock as Cody stuffed whatever he could grab into his mouth. In his mind, he was rationalizing really hard about this whole thing, how there wouldn't be anything edible if he stayed in the game, or that he really needed the energy. But, truthfully, if Heather was pride or Alejandro was wrath, Cody was gluttony through and through. It didn't help that he spent the last season (or is it future season now?) chowing down as fast as he could before a certain stalker caught up to him.

Cody stopped briefly, gulping down all the food he just consumed en masse, and blinked at Geoff, a wry smile on his lips. "Sorry, I just have a huge appetite!" Cody bashfully scratched the back of his head, his smile going to a grin.

Eventually, the teens managed to polish off the feast given to them, only to be met with Chris' announcement of the next challenge. The Awake-A-Thon.

This was the first truly big hurdle Cody had to cross in his mind. Not win or anything, hell, not even come out looking all that good. Gwen won the competition and he did little to assist there. No, the biggest factor was a certain event that would haunt him for the short time he was aware of his presence in the public eye.

Looking at Noah, Cody ensured he was as far away from him as possible. Then, smiling, he closed his eyes and collapsed onto the grass.

"Seems like Cody is our first to go."

Cody yawned as he awoke, the sky pitch black. Must be close to reaching the first day mark of the challenge. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and to little surprise he saw mostly everyone else still up. Nobody paid him much mind as he moved back over to Noah, who either had just awoken himself, or was still participating in the challenge.

"Finally come to join us, Sleeping B-" Cody quickly put a stop to that sarcastic remark by roughly putting his hand over the other boy's mouth. Noah, giving Cody an annoyed glare, promptly slapped the hand away. "Be glad I know not to vote you out just yet."

"Huh? Why would you say that?" Cody was genuinely curious. He hadn't talked to much of anyone yet, so seeing someone actively choosing to not see him as a liability was interesting. Noah merely glanced at him with another annoyed look before sighing dramatically.

"The way I see it is this. We already have one alliance forming with Heather and her two pet goldfish. Whoever gets on Heather's bad side will be the first out, and be thankful that you aren't on her shitlist."

"How'd you figure that?"

"The only person complaining about you falling asleep almost instantly was miss daddy problems and a few of the tryhards like roid rage." He jerked a thumb out to Gwen and Eva respectively, and thankfully they were out of ear shot. "Heather, meanwhile, seems to have plans of her own. She's likely looking to stamp out any other potential alliances if given the chance."

"Wouldn't that make us prime targets right now? Don't see anyone else talking secretly like us."

"I think she's more focused on the current pairing of the season." Again, a dark skinned thumb jerked over to Gwen, who was deep in conversation with Trent. "Our little Queen has been throwing them dirty looks all night."

"So…" Cody looked at Noah expectantly. "What do we do bro?"

"Well 'bro'," Noah cast another annoyed stare, "I think what we should do is absolutely nothing. Let those drooling idiots fight it out, while you heap praise onto me for my intellectual superiority and ability to gauge the situation."

"Well, shouldn't we make our own alliance?" Cody was genuinely curious where Noah was going with this. He seemed to get the idea but had no real long game in mind based on all of this. Just to sit on the sidelines and let everyone else fight. His suspicions were soon confirmed.

"No way." Noah chuckled haughtily, as if to make Cody ashamed that he even considered the idea. "Paint a target on my back with all the attention that'll inevitably get me? No way." He snorted before briefly continuing, "Chris will pull something eventually to air out all the alliances. It's called 'Total Drama' for a reason, don't you think?"

Cody stared at the other boy, now it was his turn to be annoyed. No wonder Noah had changed so dramatically in the third season, his game plan was just to hang back and that failed him only three challenges in. He had to learn to be proactive, and if Cody let things be, that would take two whole seasons.

"Well, I dunno man." Cody held his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky once more. "I think you should consider getting people on your side. One day, our team will be looking for someone to vote off, and if there's no easy targets, then it'll just be down to people like you."

Noah just gave Cody a dismissive stare, as if to say 'Do you really believe that will happen.' Cody just smiled in response.

As expected, the Gophers won this challenge as well. Heather made her play with Eva's MP3, and soon enough, 'Roid Rage' as Noah had dubbed her was gone. But now, Cody knew he was out of the safe zone.

Laying in bed, he looked around the cabin. Unless he could stop Courtney from waking Duncan up, they'd be going to lose someone, and if things played out like they did before, it'd be Noah. He wouldn't really call Noah a great friend, hell, even just a friend was stretching it. He was fun to talk to, but he was far less easy to talk to than any of the Drama Brothers, party animals like Geoff or Owen, or a pacifist like DJ.

'I guess he's better than Duncan.' Cody thought dismissively, remembering the boy who stole Gwen and broke Courtney's heart… Did that really have to happen?

Shaking his head, he found some resolve. This was his predicament, and he should damn well take control of it! He let things remain unchanged here, but… no matter what he was gonna save Noah. He vaguely knew the details of later episodes, and Duncan controlling the game after the merge was the worst case scenario for him. If he could save the guys he needs though… that'd be perfect.

'Listen to me… I sure sound like Heather right about now.'

CONFESSIONAL

Noah

"Being surrounded by dullards all day doesn't exactly make for riveting competition. So far, Chris has excelled at giving us physical challenges, which I guess suits the rest of these morons, but that is definitely not my thing. I'll just let the meatheads fight it out amongst themselves… for now. Eventually Chris will get around to more intellectually demanding competition, I'm sure.

"As for the Awake-A-Thon, Cody seems like a potential problem. He's on my side now, sure, but he's so eager to make an alliance. Wouldn't be surprised if an egoist like Justin, or that slimy Heather manage to wrap him around their fingers. He hides it well, but the kid is the definition of a pathetic horndog with all the looks he's giving Miss CIT and goth girl. *Lightly laughs*. For now though, he'll be a good ally, so long as I can steer him in the right direction. I get the feeling he's hiding something though, everything he's done seems planned. His actions… strained. Wouldn't put it past Chris to leave a plant in the game, make sure things go according to script and all. Why not someone like Cody?"