Cody didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

Maybe he should have expected it - having nightmares was the norm now, and the late nights and early mornings were really starting to wear on him. But there were, on occasion, some lucky nights he'd be blessed with a dreamless sleep, or be able to force himself to sleep in on days where there wasn't a challenge.

Today, unsurprisingly, wasn't one of those days. It took a lot of good things to happen during the previous day for there to be a chance at peace at night - and that was the exact opposite of what had happened to him yesterday.

Befriending Lindsay was nice. Her nearly killing him with her horrible cooking less so, and finding out about Bridgette and Geoff hooking up was all it took to crush him.

Damnit! Was he really that much of an idiot? He thought he had seen the signs that she might have been interested in him. He thought she wanted to spend time with him. He thought he was her closest friend on the island.

Cody thought wrong, apparently, and now he had to suffer the consequences of his delusions.

He wasn't hungry in the slightest, and even just being around people sounded (and felt) terrible, so the moment he received his tray from Chef he deposited right in front of an eager Owen and left the mess hall. He didn't care about the stares he was sure were being drilled into the back of his head by his team. He couldn't be around people (Bridgette) right now, especially with how sad she looked over Geoff's departure.

Cody didn't know what he was going to do - going back to the cabin and trying to sleep more didn't sound very appealing, and he hadn't touched his keyboard since Trent had been given the boot. Just walking around would make him all nostalgic and melancholy, and working out would only… well, actually, maybe going on a run wasn't the worst idea in the world. If nothing else, it would give him something to do for a while, keeping his mind off of the more unpleasant things that plagued his thoughts.

—

Confessional: Heather

"Although it's annoying to be back to mopey-Cody," Heather explained, filing her nails meticulously as though the confessional were an afterthought, "When he's like this, I've found it's ridiculously easy to get him to do things - once he gets reassurance that he isn't going to be voted out, he's like putty in my hands."

Heather finally looked straight at the camera, smirking. "Thanks, Bridgette. You just delivered the game's second strongest player to me on a silver platter. Hope you and Geoffy work out!"

—

Confessional: Gwen

"I feel for Cody," she admitted, "But it is kinda romantic to hear that Geoff went out and confessed his love as he was eliminated. It almost reminds me of… Trent…"

Gwen sighed. "I miss him."

—

Confessional: Lindsay

"I don't get it," She questioned, thinking deeply with her hand on her chin, "Why's Cody sad again? Didn't he have a nice time in the hot tub last night?"

—

Confessional: Owen

"I don't like seeing Cody sad, I really don't!" Owen defended, "But when he is sad, he always gives me his food!"

Owen sagged. "Why can't he just give me his food all the time? Or at least put in a good word to Chef for me?!"

—

Confessional: Leshawna

"Alright, I'm gonna make this quick because I can not deal with this shit again," Leshawna said, "Cody didn't deserve getting served like that by Bridgette, no way. I saw the way those two would steal looks at each other at dinner, and how they'd always make excuses to hang out in between challenges. Seriously, I don't know what Bridgette was thinking stringing that poor boy along."

Leshawna's face shifted, going from a soft frown to a determined scowl. "But I am not about to let Cody lose track of the game because of this! He's one of the most important people on the team, and I ain't risking going to a vote against Heather because he's too busy thinking about a girl. Nuh-uh! I'm here to win, and I'll be damned if this is what costs me a hundred thousand big ones!"

—

Confessional: Bridgette

Bridgette eyed the camera nervously, unable to keep her gaze on it for more than a few seconds before she forced herself to look away. "I…" she began, quiet, "I'm sad Geoff's gone. He's a great guy, and I do like him… but…"

She sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I admit it. It was kind of dumb of me to just go and kiss him last night, but can you blame me? How was I supposed to say no to him there? I don't know him, at least not like how I did with Cody…"

Bridgette shook her head. "I need to stop. I made my choice. I can deal with this… stuff later. Right now, I need to focus on the game."

She gulped. "Or I might be going home next."

—

The main lodge was quiet, even before Cody decided to skip breakfast.

Now, though?

You could hear a pin drop.

The Screaming Gophers were concerned for obvious reasons, but the Killer Bass were in just as tense a state. Courtney was the only one who seemed unbothered by the tension permeating across the building, even if she did pause from picking at her food every so often to shoot Tyler a dirty look.

Duncan usually would have found it funny (or kind of hot), but this wasn't the time for jokes. He had been content to coast in the game so far, only trying when he deemed it necessary (or Courtney threatened him, she just hit all his buttons), but things were serious now. Geoff was gone, and Duncan knew that Harold and Tyler had something to do with it - and judging by the way DJ hadn't been able to meet his eyes since last night, the vote was pretty easy to dissect.

Duncan had voted for Harold, as he was positive Geoff had. He had expected DJ and Tyler to join them and finally give dorkface the boot despite Courtney's nagging that Tyler needed to go, but it seemed like Harold had somehow gotten into their ears and convinced them to vote for Geoff. Bridgette must have gone along with Courtney and voted for Tyler as well, since there was no other way for the vote to have gone down without a tie taking place.

It was a good move on Harold's part, all things considered - this was likely his final chance to save his skin, and lucky for him it came at the only time there was any discourse between the guys (even if it was Geoff's fault). Duncan would have respected it if it hadn't gotten rid of one of his best friends on the island AND jeopardized his position on the team. Well, that, and if it wasn't Harold who had made the play.

Duncan knew that he couldn't rely on the social game anymore, at least not the way he had been. He had hoped that he could fly under the radar for a bit longer, let Courtney, Heather, Cody, and the rest of the Gophers prioritize each other and catch them by surprise, but that wasn't an option.

He knew he was in DJ's good graces by virtue of them being friends, and even more so thanks to his botched attempt to convince him that he had 'found' Bunny. DJ had still appreciated the gesture, and he knew the two of them were tight as ever. DJ would never vote for him. He had at least two votes in his hands, and he knew it would be easy to hit three with Bridgette - once he told her how the only reason her new boyfriend was gone was thanks to Harold, that was.

But on the other hand, if he could convince Tyler that Harold was doomed, and he held the team together long enough that they all made it to the merge…

Oh yeah. The plan was coming together.

Now if only he could get Courtney to finally stop acting like she wasn't totally into him!

–

Chef stared down the twelve remaining campers with a sharp glare. He was dressed in his green army outfit, with his tattoos on full display.

"Stand at attention!" He barked, "You call this proper formation? Legs together! Arms down! Eyes forward! Head up!"

With each critique, he used the stick in his hands to smack someone into the proper position. He took a little too much fun whipping Harold into the correct posture.

"Oh, this is gonna be a fun day," Gwen whispered to Leshawna.

Chef was on her in an instant. "What did you just say to me, soldier?"

Gwen froze like a deer in headlights. "Uh… nothing!"

"And you will continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something!" Chef yelled into his megaphone, "Today's challenge will not be an easy one. In fact, I do not expect everyone to come out alive!"

Owen chuckled, but Chef was quick to smack him to shut him up. Wisely, he didn't talk back to Chef outside of a muffled groan of pain.

"My orders are to make sure that all of the babies in front of me drop out of my boot camp except one," Chef explained, "The last one standing wins immunity for their team."

"Uh, what happened to Chris?" Heather questioned.

"Rule number one!" Chef shouted, completely ignoring the queen bee, "You will address me as Master Chief. Have you got that?"

"Yes Master Chief!"

"You will sleep when I tell you to sleep, and you will eat only when I tell you to eat!" Master Chief Chef barked, getting right in Tyler's face. "Is that clear?"

"Yes Master Chief!" Tyler responded shakily, throwing up one arm in salute.

If Chef was happy with the answer, he didn't show it. "Rule number two! When you are ready to give up, you will walk to the end of the dock and ring the bell, which brings me to rule number three. I'd like to get one quitter before the end of the first day. And that day will not end until someone drops out! Now get your butts down to the beach, soldiers! Now! Now! NOW!"

Everyone hurried to the beach, where two canoes awaited, with some of the teens even screaming as they ran. Chef was intense, and it was clearly working wonders on the fragile psychies of the remaining twelve campers.

Cody held back a grimace in his mind. This challenge was going to suck.

—

Confessional: Gwen

"Okay, whoever's sick, twisted idea it was to put him in charge of this challenge, I have to say… I'm a little bit impressed!"

—

"Listen up! Each team must hold a canoe over their heads. I catch you taking your hands off the canoe, and you will be eliminated. And no one eats lunch until someone drops out."

Chef chuckled darkly. "Canoes up!"

As he and the rest of the Gophers lifted their green canoe into the air, Cody immediately knew that he was going to be in for a rough day. He was just tall enough to get his hands high enough to help hold the canoe up, but short enough that he really had to stretch to get there, putting him in an awkward position that left him sore after just a few moments. And this part of the challenge alone would last a few hours.

Great.

"Psh, this isn't that hard!" Owen said enthusiastically. Cody wasn't sure if he was trying to rile up Chef or encourage the rest of the Gophers, but neither worked.

"Yeah!" Tyler agreed, "Piece of cake!"

–

Three hours later, it was no longer a piece of cake.

Cody's arms had gone numb long ago, with the only bit of relief he had being that Owen was easily able to bear the brunt of the canoe's weight thanks to his sheer size. He had lost most of the feeling in his legs as well, the pain of standing in one spot for so long being downright awful.

He distantly heard Leshawna groaning as her stomach rumbled, and if he really focused he could make out Courtney and Harold's complaining from a few feet away.

"C'mon, you sissies!" 'Master Chief' Chef mocked, "It's only been three hours!"

Chris, who had come over a while ago to watch the challenge unfold, smirked. "Looks like they missed lunch today."

"Mhm," Chef nodded, "Guess they just weren't hungry! Unless someone wants to quit now!"

Cody didn't know why Chris had come over to watch them suffer. To be fair, it was probably pretty amusing - especially since Chris and Chef were sitting on the canoes to try and force someone into quitting - but it just made Cody want to stay and fight harder. He didn't want to be the one to satiate their amusement.

Owen's stomach growled, and he looked nervously towards the main lodge.

"Don't even think about it, Owen!" Gwen hissed.

It wasn't Owen she should have been worrying about, Cody thought, as his arms began to quiver.

–

Owen snored loudly from the front of the canoe, still holding up the front despite being asleep. The fire crackled loudly as Chef narrated his story, the light orange glow being the only source of light on the beach anymore.

"Twenty-five of us went into the jungle that night," Chef continued, "Only five came back out."

Gwen yawned. "What war were you in, anyway?"

Chef's calm tone was gone in an instant. "Did I ask you to speak? Because I don't remember asking you to speak!"

"Whatever," Gwen mumbled, rolling her eyes, "He so wasn't in a war."

Cody sighed. Chef's story had actually been pretty interesting, and any form of stimulation was welcome at this point. Not only did it distract him from his arms slowly turning to jelly, but it also kept his mind off of those… unpleasant thoughts that had been lingering since he came back, and were only exacerbated by past few eliminations.

He missed Trent. He missed when he and Bridgette were close. He missed when he was just a dumb teen with no skin in the game, and was able to just hang out with his friends on this show.

"Guys," Lindsay whispered, "I can't do this anymore. I can't feel my arms!"

She took her arms off the canoe, ashamed, and made her way down the dock, ignoring the pleas from Owen and the jeers from Chef (and Heather) as she rang the bell in defeat.

It only took a moment before even Owen's arms gave out and the canoe collapsed on top of them.

"Listen here," Chef consoled, "You have nothing to be ashamed of… except being a little baby that let your team down! As for the rest of you, head to the mess hall! Dinner is served!"

Owen was up in an instant, fatigue forgotten as he sprinted towards the mess hall.

He would be disappointed.

–

"Alright maggots, open your ears!" Chef shouted, "You've got ten minutes until night training begins, so get to it!"

Groans rose up immediately, but Duncan didn't do anything more than frown. This was nothing.

"Um, excuse me, Master Chief," Gwen questioned, "Where's the food?"

Chef gestured to a row of trash cans. "You're looking at it!"

Owen was the only one brave enough to take off a lid and peek inside. "This is the leftover garbage from this morning's breakfast."

"Damn right!" Chef nodded, "When you're at war, you take what you can get!"

Even Duncan was disgusted as Owen shrugged his shoulders and began to chow down on trash. Real classy.

"Ugh, I am not eating this!" Heather snapped, disgusted,

"Me neither!" Agreed Courtney.

Duncan ignored them as Chris and Chef left, leaving him free to ransack the kitchen for anything edible. Unfortunately, he had no such luck, but he did have access to a glass of kitchen grease that he had found.

"Psst, DJ!" Duncan whispered, causing his friend to turn towards him, "I found a glass of kitchen grease! Wanna prank Harold with it?"

"Uh…" DJ looked away. "I don't know if we should be doing that stuff anymore, y'know?"

Duncan blinked. DJ and Geoff had been right behind him the entire time Harold had been ruining their cabin leaving his underwear around, what changed?

"Seriously?!" Duncan shot back, "Did you forget about how he's been leaving his dirty underwear around this whole time? Or how he tricked you into voting out Geoff?"

"No, but he stopped after the cooking challenge, didn't he?" DJ mumbled, "And he didn't really trick me, per se -"

"You mean you wanted to vote out Geoff?"

"N-no!" DJ was on the backfoot now. Good. "I-I just think that maybe, y'know, we should give Harold another chance?"

Duncan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. As if things couldn't get any worse.

"Hey guys!" Tyler waved, walking over to the duo, "Where'd you find the apple juice?"

"It's not - nevermind, forget it." Duncan huffed. "If you want a nice glass of kitchen grease, it's right here for your enjoyment. DJ, can I talk to you outside?"

"Kitchen grease?" Tyler muttered in confusion, now looking at the glass with caution.

"W-wait, dude!" DJ argued, lightly fighting against Duncan, who had begun to drag him outside by the wrist, "I haven't eaten anything yet!"

Duncan gave him a deadpan stare. "You had plans to eat this garbage?"

DJ paused, looking to the trash cans, and then back to Duncan. At least he had the decency to be embarrassed.

"Whatever, dude," Duncan finished, "We need to talk strategy. Let's go."

As DJ obediently followed, Duncan pretended to ignore the cute little C.I.T. that tried to sneakily follow them out. He'd deal with her later.

Heh. She was so into him.

–

(The Thriller dance thing happens I just couldn't do the scene proper justice lol)

–

"For your next challenge, you must complete a three-hundred word essay on how much you love me. Anyone who falls asleep, or fails to complete the challenge, will be eliminated!"

Cody blinked. 300 words wasn't exactly an essay. He could probably do it with his eyes closed.

Eyes…

Cody yawned, exhausted.

Bridgette had such pretty eyes. Why didn't she like him? He knew he liked her. She was just going to leave him, like everyone else always did.

Cody felt like crying. He was such a baby. He should just shut up and start writing. Maybe he could be honest about how he felt about Chef in his paper. The man might appreciate it.

As his pencil hit the paper, Cody let the words flow freely. Chef might not even read it, but it felt nice to just let out how he felt on the paper.

The two hour limit passed quickly. He was focused intently on the paper, finishing the final paragraph as Chef Hatchet began marching around the tables and swooping the essays up.

He reached for Duncan's first, a small grin on his face as he began reading, while Duncan merely smirked. "I love Master Chief Hatchet, because he is very, very, very, very… very… This is just one sentence with five pages of 'very' in between!"

"It's three-hundred words exactly!" Duncan countered, "You can count 'em if you want!"

Chef glared, patience with the delinquent clearly running thin. He continued to grab the rest of the essays, barely skimming them once he realized how many people had copied Duncan's strategy.

And then he reached Cody.

"Your paper, soldier."

Cody just stood up, dumping the small stack of pages into Chef Hatchet's open hand. The man eyed him suspiciously, before deciding to read the first page.

And then the second.

And the third.

By the time Chef Hatchet reached the fourth page, the tears were flowing.

"Okay," he choked out, "All of you pass! Get to bed, you got two hours, and then meet me at the playing field!"

With that, Chef hurried out of the mess hall, leaving Cody alone to wilt under the stares of the contestants that hadn't fallen asleep.

"Dude…" Leshawna breathed out, "What the hell did you write to get Chef to cry?"

"And please do it again!" Duncan howled, banging his fist against the table, "Damn, that's hilarious! I might puke!"

Gwen's jaw was on the floor. Heather's too, for that matter. Lindsay just looked confused.

Courtney shot Duncan a dirty look and began to lecture him, but Cody tuned it out.

"I… don't know?" He shrugged, causing Leshawna to give him a suspicious look. "Really, I don't! I was just honest!"

Leshawna just shook her head, eyeing up the little card on the table next to her. "I can't with this show sometimes man…"

"Wait a second," Harold interrupted, "Did he say we only had two hours of sleep?"

Oh right. The challenge wasn't over. Everybody groaned as one as they realized this challenge was going into its second day.

Cody just sighed in relief. The distraction allowed everybody to forget that he made Chef Hatchet cry with his paper - and he still wasn't exactly sure how he had done it.

—

Confessional: Chef Hatchet

Chef was sniffling, slowly reading the rest of the essay Cody had written for him. He jumped as someone knocked on the door.

"Occupied!" He yelled, voice cracking as he wiped away his tears away and continued reading.

—

"You will all run this course until you can all complete it in under one minute. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal." Duncan responded dryly.

To say the course sucked would be a severe understatement. A flat wooden wall they needed to climb, a handful of loose ropes they needed to swing from, a section where they needed to jump through tires, and swinging axes they had to crawl under.

Cody immediately knew he wasn't making it through the course - and by the looks of things, most of the campers weren't going to either. Harold was the first to fall, collapsing in the mud after a particularly bad fall off the wooden wall, followed by Leshawna sinking in the mud and requiring Chef's assistance in being freed, and finally Duncan, who defied Chef one too many times and landed himself a few hours in the boathouse.

Cody was trying his best - he really was! But even with all the extra effort he had put into training himself so far, he just wasn't good enough. The only people who even made it through the course for the Gophers so far were Gwen and Owen, while Courtney, Tyler, DJ, and Duncan had all finished (even if Duncan was banished to the boathouse, Cody knew he'd be back for the final part of the challenge) for the Bass. He had even seen Heather twirled up in rope a bit behind him, so there was a very real chance they just… lost the challenge. That hadn't happened last time, when Cody wasn't around to hold the team back.

It sucked. He was never good enough.

He would just keep failing, as he always had.

He collapsed in front of the tires, sinking up to his knees in the mud.

"Thirty seconds left, soldiers!" Chef called, "If you don't finish by then, you are eliminated!"

Cody attempted to push himself back up, but it was no use. He was done.

"Seriously, nerdling? That's all you got?"

Cody's head shot up, eyes darting around as he heard Duncan taunting him.

But wasn't he in the boathouse?

Great. Now he was hallucinating.

"Oh, pendejo, it's no hallucination!"

Alejandro stood above him, sneering down on Cody just like he had in Hawaii.

"Even with the greatest gift of all, you still decide to squander it? Pathetic! No wonder you're such a failure!"

Cody knew he was right. He just stared down into the mud, silently hoping it would swallow him up.

"Seriously?!" Heather snapped, suddenly beside him, "You're unbelievable! You come back with the chance to change the world, and you just give up?"

"I-" Cody tried, unable to form the words he desperately wanted to say. "I just-"

"You just what?" Gwen interrupted, "Just wanted to get to relive the 'good old days'? Wanted to get the girl?"

"Seriously, get a grip," Bridgette sneered, "No wonder she chose Trent over you. Why would anybody ever want to hang out with a loser like you?"

Cody squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to get away from the jeers and humiliation, and the world shifted.

Cody stood in front of his locker, hurrying to stuff everything in his backpack and run as the bell rang. The end of the day had come, and he had maybe five minutes to get out of the building if he was lucky.

He was not lucky.

"Hey, dweeb!" One of his classmates shouted, running towards him from the other end of the hall, "What the hell were you doing hanging around with my girlfriend today?"

Cody flinched back against his locker, quickly shutting it with all his stuff inside. He didn't need his notebooks getting thrown in the toilets again.

"I-I was just giving her the answers to our physics homework!" He tried, "Honest!"

"Bullshit!" The jock roared, lifting him up by one hand and slamming him against the wall of lockers. His friends quickly surrounded the duo, preventing any chance of Cody escaping.

"I thought I told you to stay away from her!" He roared.

Cody had never so much as talked to the girl before today, but that didn't matter.

"I-I did!" He cried, tears already beginning to build up in his eyes, "Sh-she just said that she missed yesterday's class a-and I thought I could-"

Cody was cut off by a punch that landed squarely on his jaw, his head slamming against the lockers as the majority of the football team began to laugh.

"Maybe I should teach him a real lesson," the bully mused, causing a small cheer to go through the crowd, "I think shitwipe here needs a makeover!"

–

Cody trudged home, on high alert as his eyes constantly shifted across his field of vision. The latest restraining order against Sierra had been instated, but that had never stopped her before.

Miraculously, he made it home without incident, hurrying to lock the door behind him the moment he was inside.

His parents were seated together at the table.

That was never good.

"Hi, mom, dad." He greeted weakly.

"Cody, we need to talk."

"What a waste of potential."

–

Cody gasped, lurching forward and slamming himself against the wooden planks as he puked, the majority of the contents of his stomach suddenly finding themselves split across the ground.

"Fifteen seconds, soldiers!"

Cody threw himself to his feet. He wouldn't fail again.

He couldn't.

His head was swimming with thoughts and memories of all the times he's failed, been humiliated, beaten up, and more.

He thought of losing in Hawaii.

He thought of losing to the bear.

He thought of all the lost opportunities he's had throughout the years.

He wasn't going to lose again.

Cody jumped through the tires, nearly stumbling again as he landed on the slick mud. He hurried his way over to the axes, and dropped like a stone as he used the last of his strength to pull himself through them, collapsing at Chef Hatchet's feet in exhaustion.

He didn't stay conscious long enough to see the man's face, staring down at him and glowing with pride.

–

Cody wasn't feeling up for the little party Duncan and Courtney were throwing back at the Bass cabin - he was pretty sure any food that he tried to stomach at the moment was sure to come back up immediately.

And to be honest, he wasn't feeling the whole 'talking to other people' thing right now, either. He knew his hallucinations at the end of the obstacle course were just that, and most of the people here truly did care and worry about him, but those memories that had been dredged up really soured his mood.

Besides, he couldn't fully shake the small voice in his ear that was telling him those visions were right.

So he decided to get some air (and more importantly, a shower), and had plopped himself down at the end of the Dock of Shame, staring out into the night as he tried to gather his thoughts. The lake shone with the moonlight, and Cody had become entranced by the view.

So much so, in fact, that he failed to realize that someone had come and sat down beside him.

He was only snapped out of it once he was shoved to the side, grunting as his body put up no resistance and he fell against the side of the dock.

"What the he-" Cody cut himself off in surprise, staring up at… "Heather?"

"What're you doing out here, Cody?" Heather questioned, "You know we have some actual food back at the cabins, right?"

Cody shrugged. "Most of the food here is actual food. You might just be a bit spoiled."

Heather gagged. "As if! You're just as bad as Owen, you know?"

Cody cracked a smile at that. "I dunno, was I the one eating out of garbage cans earlier?"

She scoffed, but Cody could tell she found it funny when she looked away so he couldn't see her smirk.

"Whatever," She said flippantly. "They just sent me to go and bring you back. So let's go!"

Cody turned away, looking back towards the lake again. "I'm not feeling it right now, y'know?"

"No, I really don't, considering you actually like the rest of those morons! I'd get it if you didn't want to be around them because they are total losers, but that doesn't seem to be the case." Heather snarked.

"Most of them aren't bad at all, and you know it," Cody corrected, "DJ, Harold, Bridgette, everyone on our team -"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Heather gagged, "Don't even joke about them being on the same level as me."

"Where do I fit into that pecking order then, hmm?" Cody questioned sarcastically.

Heather turned her nose up at him. "You are marginally better than the rest of them, but still miles beneath me."

Cody full on laughed at that one. "If you say so. It's an honor."

"Of course it is!" She huffed, taking a seat to his right, "I'm me!"

Cody laughed as she continued to talk in her unique, pseudo-superiority way.

Maybe the Heather he knew from World Tour really was in there after all.

–

Gwen, Owen, and Cody.

Duncan, Courtney, Tyler, and DJ.

A tree.

It all came down to this.

They couldn't have been hanging for more than a few minutes, but Cody was already starting to feel a little bit light-headed.

"What you are experiencing is an ancient form of torture," Chef explained, "By now the blood has begun rushing to your head. The next stage is nausea, followed by dizziness and a flushed appearance, as the blood begins to pool in your eyes. You may even experience fainting spells!"

As if on cue, Tyler collapsed, Bridgette rushing over to check on him.

After a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay, he's alright!"

Courtney rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she grabbed onto the branch she was hanging onto for extra support. The rest of the campers quickly followed suit - except for Owen, who lacked the upper body strength to do so, and quickly found himself falling down onto the ground.

Lucky for him, he had a cushion - Heather just so happened to be walking past, and was able to cushion the blow for him.

Courtney burst into giggles, with Duncan and Gwen not far behind.

"Stop laughing this instant!" Chef barked at them.

"I'm sorry!" Courtney said, continuing to snicker, "I-I can't help it - woah!"

She lost her grip, tumbling to the Earth where Chef waited, disappointed. "I expected more out of you, soldier."

Courtney cleared her throat before responding. "Master Chief," she began politely, "I just have one thing to say to you."

Chef raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"You really need to take a chill pill!"

Duncan howled with laughter as Chef began to simmer like a kettle, nearly falling off the branch himself. "That's my girl!"

DJ, Gwen, and Cody were slack-jawed.

"Okay, Deej, Duncan, it's all up to you!" Courtney called, DJ nodding resolutely as Duncan fell off right on cue. "Duncie!"

"Duncie?" Gwen repeated, flabbergasted, "What kinda lame ass pet-name is that, am I right?"

Cody was too busy trying not to puke to respond.

"You got this guys!" Owen cheered, "Just one person left and we win!"

"Don't worry Owen," she replied calmly, "I can hang here all day."

"S-same here!" DJ challenged, only to fall immediately after speaking.

And not a moment too soon, since Cody dropped like a sack of bricks right after.

"Ooh," Courtney hissed, "That's going to leave a mark."

"Gwen! Cody!" Chef shouted, "Congratulations soldiers. I'd go to war with the two of you anytime!"

He saluted the two of them, and Gwen and Cody shared an awkward look.

"We'll keep that in mind when choosing our careers!" Gwen said, already walking away (and dragging Cody with her).

"You do that soldiers!" Chef nodded, trying hard not to shed more tears, "You do that!"

–

Tyler walked back towards the Bass cabin, utterly exhausted from the hell that had been the challenge over the past two days. It sucked to have lost (again), but at least this time he had really put his all into it, and gotten pretty far in the challenge!

As he opened the door, he realized that DJ and Duncan were already there, leaning on their bunks.

"Hey guys," Tyler greeted, "Anyone seen Harold?"

DJ shrugged while Duncan sneered. "Why would you want to see Harold? Gonna decide on who to vote out next?"

Tyler tried to hide his surprise at being called out like that, but evidently he didn't hide it well enough. Duncan hopped off his bed, before walking over to Tyler and giving him a dirty look.

"What, did you think I wouldn't find out that the two of you were behind Geoff getting eliminated?" Duncan asked, scoffing as Tyler struggled to come up with an answer. "I was fine to hang back and let the votes come down as they may, but when I see the two bottomfeeders of the team band together to kick one of our friends off, it gets personal."

"S-so what?" Tyler shot back nervously, "Was I supposed to just let myself get voted off?"

"Dude, neither of us would have voted for you!" Duncan replied coolly, "We just wanted to get rid of the weak link in Harold, and things would have been good. But now you've made things difficult."

"You have two options, jockstrap," Duncan continued, "Option one is you vote with Harold tonight, try to find someone else on the team who's willing to vote with you - which isn't gonna happen - and at best he loses a tiebreaker to me and you're both screwed. Option two, the smart option, is to vote with me, DJ, Courtney, and Bridgette and get rid of Harold. Once dorkahontas is gone, we'll let bygones be bygones and everything will be back to normal. If you don't cooperate, I can assure you that you'll be going home next."

Tyler froze. Was Duncan really threatening him like this?

He glanced towards DJ for support. Surely he wouldn't leave Harold out to dry like this, right?

"C'mon, dude," DJ urged, "Just do what's best for the team. I'm tired of all the drama, let's just put it behind us!"

"But Harold -"

"But nothing!" Duncan cut off, "I was being generous with my offer, y'know. I know for a fact that I have four votes tonight - I don't even need yours. I'm extending an olive branch, and if you wanna spit in my face, fine by me. Just know that you only got one chance, and if you get sent home, who knows when you'll see your girl next?"

Tyler's will to fight died the moment Duncan brought up Lindsay.

–

"I only have five marshmallows on my plate," Chris began, finally returning to his duties as the host, "And these marshmallows represent the campers, that will continue to be… campers! Here! You've all cast your ballots in the confession cam. If I do not call your name, you must immediately go down to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and go home. And you can't come back. Ever."

Tyler, Harold, and Bridgette gulped as one, while Duncan and Courtney shared a sweet look.

"Duncan."

Duncan pumped his fist. "Yeah!"

"DJ."

DJ breathed a sigh of relief, hurrying over to Chris and Duncan and collecting his marshmallow.

"Bridgette… and Tyler."

Both were quiet as they grabbed their marshmallows, one contemplative and one regretful.

"Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the night." Chris smiled. "The camper who will not be receiving this marshmallow, and instead be forced to walk the Dock of Shame is…"

"..."

"..."

"Harold. Sorry dude, you're done like dinner."

Harold sighed. "Damn. Well, it's been fun, guys."

Courtney smiled triumphantly as she picked up the final marshmallow off of Chris's plate.

"Sorry, bro." Tyler apologized, giving Harold a fist bump as he walked past them.

"It was nice getting to know you!" DJ tried weakly.

Right as Harold was about to pass him, Duncan turned around, stopping him with a hand on the nerd's shoulder.

"What do you want, Duncan?" He groaned, clearly tired of the delinquent.

To Harold's surprise, Duncan said nothing, only holding out his hand.

When he continued to stare confusedly, Dunan raised an eyebrow (half his unibrow) and smirked. "You played well, Harold. Good game."

Harold smiled weakly as he shook Duncan's hand. "Good game."

As he approached the Boat of Losers, Harold suddenly stopped, turning back towards the cabins. "Farewell Total Drama Island!" He called, waving, "I loved, I lost, and I played the game fairly. What more could a man ask for?"

"You loved?" Gwen questioned, having overheard him from the end of the dock (where the entire Screaming Gophers team had gathered, bar Heather).

"You're a man?" Leshawna snarked.

"Leshawna!" Harold shouted, "I meant every word of those poems!"

Leshawna looked shocked. "Poem? That was you?!"

Lindsay smiled triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Gwen asked, turning towards her.

"You'll see!"

Just like that, Leshawna and Harold ran to embrace each other in the middle of the Dock of Shame, Harold gladly jumping into her arms.

"Baby," Leshawna laughed, "You some kinda freaky!"

"Give daddy some sugar!" Harold wheezed out.

Even Chef Hatchet had a small smile on his face as the two of them kissed, before he reluctantly pulled Harold away to the Boat of Losers.

The girls (minus Courtney) and Owen all cooed at the romantic scene that had unfolded in front of them. Tyler and DJ even had tears in their eyes.

While Cody was no doubt happy for Harold and Leshawna, he couldn't help the bitterness that had begun to fester inside of him.

How come no matter what happened, all his friends were getting their happy endings, while he was doomed to loneliness?

–

Bonus: Detective Lindsay is on the Case!

Lindsay watched in horror as Omar consumed plate after plate of breakfast slop, not even stopping to breathe. How was it even possible for him to do that? Was he even human? Not even Lafonda ate that much!

Omar burped loudly, causing the table they were sitting at to shake. Heather gagged in horror, getting up and stomping off to who knows where in the process.

Lindsay blinked as a white card flew out of Owen's mouth, landing facedown on the table. It had a heart on the front, which made Lindsay want to pick it up.

A heart meant romance! Maybe it was a love letter!

As gross as it was to pick up something Owen had almost eaten, the poem inside was so sweet!

But who wrote it? And who was it for?

Lindsay knew that she didn't write it - even if she forgot things sometimes, she wouldn't forget writing this! Besides, she didn't even know what some of the words in the letter meant!

"Whatcha got there?" Leshaniqua asked, leaning over her shoulder to get a better look.

"A love letter!" Lindsay replied happily, "I don't know who wrote it, or who it's for, but I have it!"

"Oh, those are for me, hun! Been getting those haiku thingies all week!" Her smile dipped. "Don't know who's been writing them, though."

Lindsay lit up. "Aww, that's so sweet!" She gushed, "Don't worry Leilani, I'll figure out who wrote it for you!"

Leshawna decided to ignore the fact that Lindsay had completely butchered her name (again), and decided to just smile. "For real, girl?"

"Mhm!" Lindsay nodded.

"Alrighty then, thanks hun." Leshawna giggled, "Good luck!"

"Pssh!" Lindsay rolled her eyes, "I don't need luck! Detective Lindsay is on the case!"

–

Lindsay hummed thoughtfully as she thought about the list of remaining suspects. DJ, Duncan, Tyler, Harold, Cody, and Owen. The only boys left.

She knew it wasn't Tyler - he was her boyfriend, not Leshawna's! - and it probably wasn't Oneil either, since he almost ate it, but she couldn't be sure!

Lindsay tapped the pen she had found against her chin, unknowingly smearing ink all over the bottom of her face.

Duncan was mean, and Herod was kinda weird, so that left just DJ and Cody?

Oh! Colby could help her! He knew a lot of stuff about people, didn't he?

He might know who wrote the note!

–

Turns out, Cody did know! He told her Harold wrote it, which was weird, but Cobalt hadn't been wrong before!

So she went to Larold, he confessed, and they made a plan for him to confess tonight to Leshawna after the bonfire! Lindsay didn't know why he wanted to wait until after the elimination instead of telling her immediately, but he was the one in love!

Plus, Hank seemed kinda smart - he probably knew more than her about that kinda stuff!

So Lindsay did her part, getting Leshawna and the Gophers to the dock at the end of the elimination ceremony to witness poor Hartwell getting voted out. And just when she thought he wouldn't get the chance to confess his love, bam!

It was so adorable!

And it was all thanks to Detective Lindsay!

—

A/N: Alright, back on track! Felt good to push this chapter out so soon after the last one.

Surprised by the elimination? You shouldn't be. Harold can't (and didn't even want to) rig the votes this time, since Duncan didn't push him over the edge, since DJ and Tyler stood up for Harold, since Geoff wasn't here, since… well, you get the point!

We also got to see some flashbacks from the Codemeister - something we'll certainly see more of later on, and a nice little moment between him and Heather. Speaking of! The pairing has NOT been officially chosen yet, and for good reason that we'll see once we near the end of Island. Everything is falling into place.

Also, I left a little secret in the last chapter, but no one pointed it out. Kudos to the first person who figures out what it is!

Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoy, and make sure to review!

P.S. Hope you enjoyed the Detective Lindsay thing, wanted to do the love letters this episode without immediately spoiling the elimination. The getting names wrong thing kinda sucked, though, since I'm not creative enough to come up with a bunch of different sounding names, but extra stuff is extra stuff!