Cody scratched the side of his head, though he only met the rough bandages wrapped around it. It was a weird feeling, being bandaged up and not anticipating a quick ride to the Playa. It could be seen as lucking out by getting injured when he did, or it could be seen as the worst case scenario- injured the day before a challenge.

It honestly could be worse, the vast majority of this challenge was just hiking. Cody's head ached a bit, what with walking in the blistering sun of Canadian summer, but he'd been through worse. It was enough to keep his mind off the thoughts that spun around in his head the prior day at least.

Trent was no help in this regard, choosing to ignore Cody rather than make smalltalk or talk strategy. It was odd, since the boy was content to antagonize Cody at every turn ever since the merge, but he seemed to have mellowed out some. Perhaps he recognized that Cody didn't have much fight left in him? Whatever, it was his mistake to underestimate him.

The last time he'd been this close to victory… he preferred not to think about it. He let Noah catch on way too late and got taken out in the most pathetic way possible. This time, he knew he just needed to reach the pole in the morning before anyone else- Trent didn't even need to be there and he'd get a safe spot in the final three.

"Alright, let's make camp here." Trent finally said, dropping the duffel bag of supplies. He pulled out a couple sleeping bags and tossed one Cody's way, along with a granola bar. "You can have it, you're still injured. If you lose your energy out here, who knows if anyone will come to help us."

Cody stared at the bar and then back up at Trent. "Why… are you helping me?"

Trent just tossed a side glance at Cody. He kneeled down and began to dig out some dirt, making the fire pit for the night. "Trust me, I hate you. If there was ever a good opportunity to vote you off, we would've taken it."

"You had one, but you wasted it on Courtney." Cody smiled softly, causing Trent to become visibly irritated, as his digging became rougher. "Why did you guys choose her instead of me?"

"She was the bigger threat. You've been a known factor the whole time, while she had her little gameplan with you. If we voted you out first, she would've been able to act all chummy with us right to the end."

Cody let out a hollow chuckle, one low enough that it barely registered with Trent. "I planted that too. Way back during the treasure challenge… I never liked her that much."

Trent was busy placing the sticks for the fire, not bothering to look over at Cody. "I got the impression that you didn't like any of us. Why would she be any different?"

"I actually like almost all of you." Cody unfolded his sleeping bag, and laid it on the ground. "I only did what I did because I had to. Nothing more than that."

A flash of sparks to Cody's right signified Trent had started the fire. He never liked the glow of them too much, too many bad memories at this point, but it was nice to see a fire that had nothing to do with the culmination of any great bout of manipulation or dread for his own safety. It was hard to feel too nice about it though, since this fire was made around a discussion of those factors, one with someone he had considered his best friend in one life.

"You have a real odd way of showing how much you like someone." Trent said, unfolding his own sleeping bag. "Attacking us, manipulating us, treating all of us like crap… I don't know how you can say you like any of us."

"Would you believe me if I said I liked Noah?" Cody said, settled into his sleeping bag with arms folded behind his head. "Every moment I regret what I did to him, but I had to do it."

"It's money Cody." Trent deadpanned, glaring at the smaller boy. "Money and fame, what good will it do you if people see you as the guy who got someone almost killed on live TV."

"It's not the money." Cody sighed, rubbing his thumb against the bandages around his head. "The money is worthless to me, and fame is overrated. I just… want to escape. I want to escape and change. "

"Escape what?" Trent asked, now settled into his own sleeping bag, though not quite ready to fall asleep. He'd need to put out the fire at some point, after all.

"This life." Cody said. He couldn't exactly reveal his true identity, and after everything with Noah, he dreaded the very idea of that. This answer was truthful though. Everything about his current way of life was wrong, his predicament of being trapped in the past, as well as what Dawn described as a desire to change. He couldn't succeed at either, and the only option left was to win.

"Good luck with that." Trent sniped, clearly cutting the conversation short. Cody felt his chest tighten, remembering all the long conversations he and Trent would have in their hotel room, talking about their various ideas for the band, or the girls they'd hooked up with, wild adventure during and before Total Drama- the guy was so easy to talk to. But, now everything was strained and to the point.

Taking one last look at the campfire, he saw it bathed in the light of the moon, dividing him and Trent. Cody then closed his eyes, and drifted to sleep.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

The pair hiked through the woods once more, not really talking to each other. The awkward silence was eventually broken by Trent though, once Cody felt they'd reached the halfway point to camp.

"How are you feeling right now Cody?"

Cody rubbed the part of the bandage directly covering the wound he had received. "Head doesn't hurt as much, and I've been keeping up with you. I should be fine."

"Good."

Trent was surprised when Cody dodged his tackle, the taller boy running right into a tree to the right of Cody.

"Come on, you think I didn't know where this was going? Out of the four of us, I'm the one you guys want to leave the most, so you figure stopping us here will get me sent home." Cody rushed at Trent with all his strength and shoved him roughly against the tree, sending the taller boy into a brief daze.

Cody then reached up and tugged on his bandages, completely freeing them and revealing the still fairly raw wound underneath. "I won't just leave you here, but I do want to put some distance between us!" Cody quickly crouched down and tied one of the most complex knots he could think of using the bandage, keeping Trent's ankles secured tightly together. Shoving the taller boy against the tree one last time, Cody jumped away and began running. "Sayonara, Trent!"

He didn't need a compass or a map. This island had been him home for so damn long that he could find his way back on pure instinct alone, long before Gwen, Heather, or Trent ever reached the pole, and, so long as one team member was there, they won (and if Chef decided to change the rules, Cody didn't see himself getting eliminated for his performance).

As Cody dashed through the woods, using all the energy he had in his body, he reflected on everything. On how close he was to finally escaping, to reaching the end of this hellish nightmare. All the sacrifices he'd made, all the people he'd alienated time and again, every last bad decision that only made him feel worse inside… surely it would all be worth it! Just to get off this island once and for all.

He thought back on his fourth major loop, the one where Noah had secured Cody's failure in this challenge. All the mud, blood, tears, and everything else… God he had been so pathetic. But, he'd done it! Trent was out of the picture, and he could smell the sticky buns on the horizon!

Reaching the pole, panting and with his wound pulsing, Cody glared at Chef, a viscous grin on his lips.

"Looks like it's my win."

"This is unfair!" Heather shouted as Chef picked her to go home. "Cody didn't even arrive with his teammate, Trent showed up an hour after us! How is that not against the rules!"

"The rules were to be the first one to make it back here. If you wanted to ditch your team to do it, that's fine by me. We all have to do risky things in war!"

Heather glowered at the final three. The final three! Loverboy Trent, Gothgirl Gwen, and Manipulative Cody. There was no real place for the Queen Bee here, and Cody was all for it.

"You know what? Fine!" Heather stomped off to the dock, ready to leave for the Playa. "I better not see Cody or Gwen or… any of you win!" Her spite truly knew no bounds. With that, she walked off, boarding the boat with Chef right behind her.

Cody, Gwen, and Trent eventually tore their eyes away from that and looked at each other. Gwen's eyes softened at both boys, clearly not invested in any rivalry anymore. Trent was the complete opposite, glaring at Cody after what had happened in the woods.

Cody was just happy though. He'd reached uncharted territory, and while he knew what was going to happen, he was still excited. Just two more challenges, and it would all be over. Surely he would be free once he won.

He tried to push down the voice telling him that he was wrong.

"Cody!" It had been ages since he heard a voice not his own in his dream, and this familiar voice was welcome after the terror of his head injury.

"Dawn?" Cody whispered excitedly, seeing the girl materialize in the void. She looked exactly as she had a few weeks ago, same green sweater, same blonde hair. "It's been weeks! What took you so long?"

"Taking on your spiritual change and astral projecting physically… takes a lot out of you, you know?" She smiled at him, a genuine, warm smile at his presence. "I take it you can see me here now as well?"

"Yeah… Why couldn't I see you before?" Cody asked, genuinely curious.

"It was a mix of it taking too much energy, in addition to you not knowing what I look like. But, now I have a part of you in me, and you've seen my body. That's not important though."

"What do you mean?" Cody wondered, not knowing what she meant. Dawn sent him a downcast expression.

"Even if I'm not here, it doesn't mean I don't see what you're doing Cody." She got closer to him, and cupped his face in her hands. "You've been getting worse, and being with you now I can see that. You could really destroy yourself if this keeps happening."

"But, I'm this close to winning, right? It'll all be over when that happens, right?" Dawn's disappointed look was all Cody needed to know that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"It's not about winning some money Cody. I'll come back to help you soon, but you have to recognize what you truly desire. What you truly wish to change." She released Cody's face, and drifted away. "When I return, I hope you will have found the answer."

Cody's smile quivered as he watched the one person who still genuinely cared for him, the one person who understood him, drifted away. He was once more, alone.