The plane tilted a bit here and there as it soared onwards to its next destination. The teams within were jostled about in time with each sudden movement, but at this point they were already used to it. It was a hassle, but not the end of the world.
At least not yet.
Inside of Economy Class, Team Victory and Team Chris Is Really Really Really Hot sat on the benches in a tense silence, everyone wearing expressions of frustration or defeat. Twice in a row they were denied First Class, with Team Amazon already showing their domination.
All except Izzy. She seemed distracted as she looked out one of the small windows, watching small wisps pass by as they flew over a blanket of fluffy water bags. It had a sort of beauty to it that Izzy was somewhat entranced by. Even if it paled in comparison to what she saw elsewhere.
The Psycho Hose Beast kept her eyes glued outside, although she did start paying a little bit of attention when idle chatter started up around her.
"So where do you think we're heading next, little buddy?" Owen asked innocently.
Noah hummed in thought. "Based on the direction we took off… I'd say somewhere in Canada's frozen north."
"And how confident are you with that?" Eva asked gruffly.
Izzy angled her head ever so slightly so she could catch Noah shrug. "I have zero confidence when it comes to predicting Chris. He kept this stuff so tight lipped when I was his assistant that aside from the knowledge of a new season, I got nothing."
"Well, that's reassuring."
Owen gazed out the window, then back to his friends. "Well, I'm excited. We all got home field advantage, and unless someone here lives up here, we're all on equal ground!"
"That's… actually pretty insightful, lunchbox", Noah said in an impressed tone.
"I just want us all to play fair…" He tapped his fingers nervously together. "After what I did in Action, I want to prove I'm not a liar."
Eva snorted and Izzy giggled, fully facing the conversation. "You're anything but a liar, lardball", the Fitness buff said bluntly. "You had to do Chris' dirty work because your family was broke, so no one blames you."
"Yeah, you big oaf", The wild child leaned over and pecked her boyfriend on the cheek, aiming him giggle lightly. "You're one of the sweetest guys out there, so never assume otherwise."
"They're right, lunchbox. You're the glue that keeps the four of us together and sane. Or, well, as sane as you can get in Izzy's case."
The Psycho Hose Beast's eye twitched, but she kept her smile plastered on her face. "Darn right, Noah!"
Eva rolled her eyes with a smile, and Owen quietly giggled. But he shuttered when the plane rocked a bit, making him instinctively strap himself into place. "When are we gonna land?"
"Hopefully soon, I need fresh air." Eva stood up and stretched. "I'm going to take a jog, see if that helps pass the time."
"Cool if I join you, Eva?" Tyler asked innocently.
Eva glared at her Ex-Bass teammate, but then nodded. "I'm not going to stop if you trip over your own two feet."
The jock's smile faded, and he gulped nervously. "Gotcha'…" he stood up and followed after the Raging Bull, careful not to step into her bubble. When they vanished, Alejandro faced the rest of his team.
"Well, I must say it's surprising Eva has such a distrust for Tyler", the Spaniard said in slight surprise. "Would any of you care to explain to me why?"
"Seriously?" Noah droned out in disbelief. "What, didn't you watch the show?"
The young man shook his head. "I was just hired by Chris to help trick you all, while he promised me a spot on this season. I never got a chance to catch up, as my family is very busy."
"Awww, that sucks Al", Owen said sadly. "Because that means you missed two rocking seasons!"
"You mean the same seasons where you pelted by apples", Leshawna spoke up, "Attacked by a bear, stranded and lost your mind, ate a bunch of fake food, got your teeth smashed in, and was told your mom was broke?"
Owen's innocent smile fell, and he looked hurt. "Well, aside from that…"
"To answer your question, Alejandro", Izzy said, trying to correct the conversation. "Eva hates Tyler because they were part of the Bass back in season one. DJ and Bridgette were too." The surfer nodded, though the brickhouse seemed a bit… distant.
"Her team voted her off after the second challenge", Noah continued. "Because Heather stole her iPod. Eva blamed her team, lost her mind, and was voted off."
"Although she did come back right at the merge", Bridgette mentioned. "Izzy too, but even still Eva was set on taking me and only me down. Singled me out during the challenge…"
Izzy giggled. "Yeah, Eva still hates your guts, but she's willing to be civil."
The surfer flinched back, then gained a sheepish smile. "That's… that's good."
"What else did I miss, if I'm allowed to ask?" Alejandro said.
Beth shot her hand up, looking super excited. "I won last season! It was soooooo cool!"
"Eeeeeeee, that's right!" Lindsay squealed. "You, like, so deserved to win. It helped us go to Paris!"
"My, it sounds like I have missed a lot." The Spaniard flashed a seductive grin, which made the girls on Team Victory coo and melt. "It seems like we have plenty of heavy hitters this time around."
"Damn straight!" Leshawna said in a confident and sassy tone. "I was in the first season's final five, Lindsay was in season two's final six, and all of us have competed together. So don't expect us to go easy on ya', sugar."
Alejandro's smirk widened, and while Owen giggled along obliviously, Noah shared a look with Izzy. The bookworm's eyes glinted, and the Psycho Hose Beast subtly nodded. This seemed to catch Noah off guard, as he froze for the briefest of moments, before recovering and subtly nodding back.
As the conversation drifted elsewhere, Izzy decided to go and stretch her legs, so she stood up and made her way out of Economy. Stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets, she made her way into the Common Area, where she saw some interns chatting by the doorway that led towards the elimination area.
The two interns gave her a quick glance and disappeared into the room, sealing the door behind themselves. The Psycho Hose Beast shrugged and sat down at one of the tables, resting her head in her arms. She glanced around the space, trying to find a way to pass her time and kill her boredom. That's when she thought about something, and pulled out her phone.
She turned it on and selected the music app, scrolling through the gargantuan list of songs that greeted her. As she scanned the song names, she tried to piece together a plan of some kind. But she kept reaching a blank space, and soon gave up.
With a defeated sigh, she set her phone down and face planted on the tabletop.
She heard a whistle. "What's got you all in a tizzy?"
The Psycho Hose Beast looked up, and was greeted with the cocky smile of Merida. The princess slid a pop bottle next to her friend's head and sat down across from her, giving the wild child a look.
"Okay, what's messing with ya' this time?"
Izzy shrugged, sitting up and cracking the bottle's cap off. "Just bored, that's all. I was hoping to maybe have music pass my time, but I don't know what to pick."
Merida shrugged. "Then why don't we just talk till we land?"
Izzy's eyes crossed for a moment, then she looked at Merida with an overdramatic frown. "Man, I'm an idiot."
The princess snorted, then took a swig of her soda. "No you aren't. You just weren't seeing all the angles."
Izzy gave Merida a pointed look, and ever so lightly smirked. "You got that from Rory, didn't you?"
The princess pouted. "Maybe I have… So what?"
Izzy let out a laugh, and shot her friend a grin. "Just saying…"
The princess scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You shush and enjoy your soda. It was hard getting it past Heather."
"Alright, alright, only if it makes you shut up."
The two redheads shared a laugh, and spent the next hour or so chatting the hours away. Smiles were glued to their faces as they simply talked, only for their conversation to be cut short when Chris walked on in from the elimination area.
"If it isn't my two favourite wannabe pop-singers!" He definitely tried to make it sound condescending, but rather it sounded like a genuine compliment.
"We're fine, just passing the time", Merida said with a shrug.
"Good, good. Well, since you two seem to be okay, I'm going to check on the losers." The host walked off into Economy class, leaving the two friends alone once again.
Izzy watched him go with a flat look. "We should get some winter clothes on."
"Why?"
"Noah thinks we're heading supper north in Canada, and it gets cold up there." The Psycho Hose Beast tilted her head. "You do have a coat, right."
Merida scoffed. "I have two. It was almost like Caleb was swapped with my mum for a moment, with how overprotective he was."
"He was just worried", Izzy chided with a smirk. "C'mon, we should get ready before we land."
Izzy ran off towards the cargo hold, with Merida slowly in tow. However, both were unaware of a certain superfan who was in the confessional, who watched them run off with a curious look.
~X~
The plane had a fairly rough landing, which was expected at this point considering Chef was the pilot. He hated them all, the redheads knew that, so him trying to scare them with fake turbulence. While it did slow them down, it didn't stop them from getting prepped for the hostile cold.
Izzy put on a thick grass green parka, with white fur lining the hood opening and sleeve cuffs. She put on a thick pair of orange winter pants over her normal pants, and swapped her green boots for winter boots that matched her coat.
After putting on some orange gloves (the kind where all fingers are in one pouch, she faced Merida. The Dun Broch princess had put on a deep dark blue snow dress, which had a popped collar by her neck and a built in pair of snow pants. She stuck some earmuffs on her ears which matched the dress, wrapped a scarf with golden accents around her neck, and finally put on a pair of gloves that Star got her for archery.
With the two of them prepared, they began to make their way back to the Economy Class, and were just able to catch everyone falling out one by one.
"Welcome to the Yukon!" Chris announced after the final contestant, Owen, jumped out.
The host was about to head to his quarters when he spotted the prepped redheads.
"Wow, and here I thought no one actually packed stuff for this kind of weather", he said in mild disbelief.
"Trust me, we have a friend who'd lose his mind if he saw us running around without proper protection", Merida said flatly. "Be lucky he isn't here, or you'd be buried under six feet of snow."
The host balanced for a moment, before smiling. "You've got a lot of secrets, Izzy. One little slip, and all the ratings we'll rake in…" He sauntered off towards his quarters, presumably to gear up like them.
Izzy swallowed nervously, but luckily Merida putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder helped keep her grounded. The Psycho Hose Beast sighed and jumped out of the plane, landing firmly on the snow covered ground.
"Guess you were right, Noah", she said as she joined up with her team. "It was the Yukon."
"Y-Y-Y-Yeah, and it looks like you came prepared", the bookworm spat in annoyance, shivering from the cold.
Izzy shrugged. "Pays to come prepared."
"Now you tell us…" Eva growled in a low tone. She looked better off then the others, but still lightly shivered and rubbed her hands on her arms.
Izzy frowned, then glanced at Merida, who had joined up with her team. Once everyone was together, the entire pack moved towards a nearby start line that was set up not too far from where they landed. Everyone was shivering like crazy, sans the two appropriately dressed redheads, who glanced around at their friends and rivals with frowns.
Neither said anything, however, as they all reached the start line. Looking around, the wild child already didn't like how it looked like they had to cross a below zero river which had various ice chunks floating about like platforms.
Chris finally arrived, wearing a full white and grey snowsuit, while Chef simply wore a vest and grey ushanka. He looked fine though, surprisingly.
As he stood before the shivering teenagers and warm redheads, Heather scowled.
"Um, hello? Where are our jackets?!" The Queen Bee complained.
"Relax, I ordered coats for everyone." The host received cheers. "They won't be ready for weeks, but as soon as they arrive, I'll be sure to hand them out."
Everyone deflated and groaned, which only made Chris grin grow more.
"Maybe we should… huddle for warmth?" Courtney suggested. Everyone immediately looked at Izzy and Merida, which earned them a glare from the princess.
"Touch me and I shove an arrow in your eye", Merida snarled. Everyone winced and backed off, with Izzy eagerly hugging Noah and Eva close to her person as Owen wrapped them all up in a group hug. Everyone else did what they could to stay warm, but considering there was a lot of bad blood, not a lot of warmth was shared.
"Little chilly without mittens", Chris said smugly.
"Cocoa?" Chef asked, offering the host a cup of the warm liquid.
"Don't mind if I do."
As the host loudly sipped his drink, Izzy rolled her eyes, smirking a bit when she heard Merida scoff.
Once the host was done, he let out a loud sigh of relief. "Much better."
Owen, abandoning the Team E-Scope cuddle ring, darted over and took a big whiff of the cocoa. "You gonna finish that?"
"Of course he is", Sierra said as she appeared on the other side of the host. "It's Chris' favourite drink."
"Wrong, my-"
"Second only to tomato juice."
The host suddenly looked very alarmed. "That's… Not on the fansite. How'd you-"
"I went to your high school and interviewed all your old teachers for the unauthorised biography I'm writing. They said-" The fangirl's rambling was cut short when Chris covered her mouth quickly.
"Okay, okay, moving on!" He pushed Sierra back towards the group, quickly doing the same to Owen and finished the last of his drink. Izzy and Merida were staring at the superfan with wide, horrified eyes, the girl completely oblivious to the line she crossed.
When Chris cleared his throat, all attention was back on him. "Crossing the frozen river of Canada's frozen tundra used to be easy, back when the river was frozen solid. But thanks to global warming…" Owen farted just then, making his teammates cringe, "…And Owen, Earth is finally becoming a lot more interesting. By which I mean… DEADLY!"
No one said a word, with the only sound being a gentle hum from Izzy.
"Today's challenge is called 'Total Drama, The Icicle'!" He gestured to the river before them. "Teams must make their way across this watery chasm by jumping from ice flow to ice flow. First team member across must make their way to the dogsleds on the far shore and become the dog..."
Izzy cringed at how that was worded, already disliking how things were going.
"…Pulling their sled all the way to the finish line as you grab the rest of your team along the way at marked meeting points."
All the contestants gazed up at the sprawling mountain with slack jaws and wide eyes.
'Sleds are first come, first serve, so move fast." He paused with a grin. "Don't worry, if you fall into the water we're legally required to save you. So, we have two divers downstream ready to pull you up." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder and said two divers who were frozen solid.
The sight of them made Izzy tune out everything else, so she didn't quite catch anything that was said after. She was just too focused on the divers, eyes wide and glued to them both. Her heartbeat became louder in her ears as the show continued on without her. She heard nothing, getting sucked into a deep inky blackness until the sound of a moose call snapped her out of her trance.
Chef had blown a horn, and all the teams were off, so Izzy mentally slapped herself and dashed ahead with her team. She scanned the surroundings, watching as Tyler slipped and fell into the water, emerging perfectly fine.
That wasn't right-
Izzy shut the voice in her head with a shake, returning her attention to the ice flow. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she began to do repeated backflips from one chunk to the next with ease.
She paused halfway, glancing around at the others. Owen had catapulted Noah backwards, Leshawna was crossing with ease, Alejandro and Bridgette were crossing together, Beth and Lindsay were taking turns jumping like they were playing hopscotch, and Gwen landed on one to catch a break.
She also spotted Eva and Merida, who were both neck in neck with each other, using the same flows while lightly glaring at each other with a competitive spirit burning in their eyes.
The Psycho Hose Beast rolled her eyes, and was about to continue along when she saw Cody get fished out of the water by a desperate Sierra. He looked perfectly fine, which made her glance back at the divers.
Only to find them both completely gone.
Izzy shook her head in disbelief, darting her eyes about to try and locate them. But they had just vanished into thin air.
She shook her head again, breathing getting heavy, so she decided just to cut her losses and march on. But as she jumped to the next ice flow, her foot caught the edge and made her slip, resulting in her face slamming right into the sheet of solid water.
The Psycho Hose Beast blinked, dizzily recovering and attempting to stand. But when she looked down at her hands, she saw it.
She saw her outline.
She always tried to ignore it, but at this moment it was almost like it was getting thicker. She started to grow panicked, so frantically she tried to get it off. She went to pull at it… Only to freeze when she could feel her gloved hand on it.
It was a part of her.
Frantic and terrified, Izzy just ran and jumped, making her way across the rest of the river. Her head was spinning when she reached the other side, but she didn't stop running. Not until she tripped over the final dog sled that had yet to be taken. When her forehead collided with the edge of the wooden box, she hissed in pain and finally snapped out of her spiral.
"Holy cow, Izzy!" She heard Tyler cry. "Are you okay?!"
The Psycho Hose Beast groaned, blinking slightly. "I'm… ack… I'm fine Tyler." Were you here first?"
"Yeah, I was."
"Good, because I need to rest." Izzy went to sit atop the crate, only to pause when she saw the logo on the side, which was the same as the ones on the two small orange canisters.
"Wait… this stuff is radioactive?" She asked, looking over at Chris. The host, however, was focused entirely on Team Amazon, with Heather and Courtney being the two at their sled.
"I already asked, so don't bother", the jock mumbled in worry.
The Psycho Hose Beast didn't respond, instead choosing to silently sit at the front of the sled. As Tyler clicked on the harness and began to pull the sled along, Izzy stared ahead with a blank expression.
She swore she could hear the crackle of the material inside the crate, which rang in her head like a scream. In an attempt to silence it, she covered her ears and focused on the snowy wasteland ahead.
But it was hard when she couldn't stop looking at Tyler's outline.
~X~
Tyler was surprisingly strong, able to pull the sled along with Izzy and the recently picked up Noah adding so much more weight. But that wasn't the main focus of both boys. They shared a silent look, worry etched on their faces as Izzy remained silent still. Ever since the sled set off, the Psycho Hose Beast hadn't said a word, instead choosing to glance continuously between the jock, her hands, and now Noah as if looking at something.
She could swear the outlines were getting thicker…
No one said anything, instead choosing to leave her be for the time being. This wasn't like her, at all. It was like she knew something no one else should, that she saw something before the show, hence the wardrobe change.
If only they knew…
Izzy was still staring blankly ahead when she spotted Alejandro and Bridgette at one of the meet-up points. When the Spaniard did… something, to the surfer, he hopped onto the sled and ushered Tyler to continue.
As the Jock mushed onwards, Alejandro glanced at Izzy, then to Noah. "What's going on with the Senorita?"
"I don't know…" The bookworm whispered. "Tyler says she's been like this since the ice flows. Honestly, she's probably just plotting something… Or I hope."
Alejandro hummed, then leaned over. "Izzy, Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah…" She said quietly. "I'm all good. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you don't seem okay", Noah said flatly. "It's not like you to be this quiet."
Izzy didn't respond.
"See?! Normally you'd say something back at this point! What's gotten into you?"
"Noah, amigo, please…" Alejandro shot the bookworm a light glare, then focused back onto the Psycho Hose Beast. "Izzy, if it's because your homesick, I understand. I miss my mama and papa as much as you do. But do you know why I keep going?"
"Why…?" Izzy finally looked over at Alejandro with wide eyes.
"I keep looking forward, and do what I can to make them proud."
Izzy nodded, and shook her head. Then, slowly, she stood up and leaned against the crate. "Yeah… For my mom. I'm doing this for her…" She took a deep breath, and snapped her eyes open with her usual spark glowing back inside them.
She spun around and faced the two boys, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry about that guys, I just… I just got really distracted."
"It's all fine, Senorita. We all have our dark moments eventually."
The Psycho Hose Beast nodded and faced ahead once again, glad she was able to find something to distract her. Even still, she couldn't not notice the outlines around herself and the guys. But it wasn't getting to her.
Nope, no it wasn't.
Luckily, before her thoughts spiralled again, Eva and Owen were picked up at the next meet up point. And thankfully, Owen looked more tired than usual, which meant it was time to focus on him.
"What's the matter, Big O?" Izzy asked in worry.
"I haven't eaten in hours", the blonde boy sighed. "Oh I wish we were in Russia right now. They're building the world's largest cake!"
"Ooooooo, what flavour?"
"Who cares? It's cake!"
"Okay Tyler", Noah said suddenly. "Time to get moving."
"I am moving!" The jock cried. The team all looked at him, and watched as he was stuck running in place, the sled not budging an inch.
"No, you're miming."
Tyler groaned. "It's my court shoes. They're no good on ice!" He turned to his team. "If the contest was pulling the sled across a volleyball court, we would've already won!"
"Are you serious?!" Eva roared angrily. She paused and joined her team in watching Team Amazon, with all of their members, ran past while cheering. The Fitness Buff's eye twitched, and she let out a scream of pure fury. "TYLER! YOU BETTER GET THIS THING MOVING NOW OR SO HELP ME-"
Izzy silenced her by dashed next to her and covering her mouth. "The cold's getting to her. Tyler, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can warm up back on the plane. Just try and put your back into it!"
The jock nodded and began to use all his strength to try and pull the sled along, seeing him struggle, the rest of Team Chris sans a certain member all shared flat looks. Then glanced at the seemingly cause of their problems.
Owen, confused at the attention, glanced behind him then back to his team. "What?"
They all rolled their eyes and watched as Tyler struggled to pull the sled along. Izzy breathed out a sigh, then decided to maybe get some music going to hopefully pass the time. She took off a glove and pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling through the list of songs. Soon enough, she selected Spiderwebs by No Doubts, and began to sing along.
You think that we connect
That the chemistry's correct
Your words walk right through my ears
Presuming I like what I hear…
Izzy sat atop the crate, letting her voice flow along the melody of the song. She set her phone down next to her, and her teammates on the sled with her saw that there were lyrics flashing on the small screen. Sharing looks, they shrugged and decided to play along.
And now I'm stuck in the
The web you're spinning
You've got me for your prey…
Alejandro took up the next verse, getting a quick glance at the lyrics before singing out a beautiful call. It made Izzy smile that she wasn't alone with the excellent singing when Merida wasn't around. She looked around to see if she could spot her team, but sadly they were nowhere to be seen.
Sorry I'm not home right now
I'm walking into spiderwebs
So leave a message
And I'll call you back
A likely story, but leave a message
And I'll call you back…
Eva rolled her eyes and sang the next verse, arms crossed all the while. She never liked singing, and she knew this season would be the end of all the dignity she built up.
You're intruding on what's mine
And you're taking up my time
Don't have the courage inside me
To tell you please let me be…
Noah sighed and took over the next shorter verse, although Izzy could read him well. Deep down, he was a fan of the singing, as it was a change of pace.
Communication, a telephonic invasion
I'm planning my escape…
Owen sang the next part bombastically, smiling wide and bright as he scooped Noah and Eva up into a pair of headlocks. The two friends looked surprised at first, then gave him a flat look. But after a moment, they both smiled lightly and shared a look, shrugging. Alejandro cocked an eyebrow, and Izzy giggled.
Sorry I'm not home right now
I'm walking into spiderwebs
So leave a message
And I'll call you back
A likely story, but leave a message
And I'll call you back…
The music was helping Tyler out massively, who subconsciously sang the next verse as his legs found convenient traction and pumped him along. The team was carried a good distance before the jock lost his steam, and was back to struggling.
And it's all your fault
I screen my phone calls
No matter who calls
I gotta screen my phone calls…
Izzy capped the song off early, the instrument adjusting to be a more calmer finale. As she finished singing, the Psycho Hose Beast whistled a gentle tune as the song ended.
Now it's gone too deep (now, it's gone too deep)
You wake me in my sleep (wake me in my sleep)
My dreams become nightmares (dreams become nightmares)
'Cause you're ringing in my ears…
An hour had passed at that point, Tyler still struggling to pull his team's sled along, but luckily they only had to cross a treacherous ice bridge till they made it to the downhill slope just before the finish line.
"C'mon Tyler, you got this!" Alejandro encouraged.
"I resent my earlier threat", Eva grunted. "Keep it up, jock!"
"Yeah, you got this Tyler!" Izzy cheered.
Noah, instead of cheering on his teammate, glanced at Owen. "What's gotten into you, lunchbox?"
The boy was leaning forward a bit, crossing his legs. "I really need to go, like now. Dude!" The living garbage disposal called out to the jock. "Get moving already, I need to hit a john or another river fast!"
Owen began to bounce a bit, which started to rock the sled. The rest of the team cried out as they were nearly thrown off their feet.
"Owen, stop!" Noah called out. "You gonna'-"
The bridge crumbled, and the team were sent downwards with the sled. Tyler was luckily able to somehow hold their combined weight, all the team dangling over the bottomless chasm.
"Sorry!" Owen cried.
"Okay, each of us will need to climb up", Alejandro ordered. "Owen, you go first, then Eva, then Izzy, then me and finally Noah."
The team all nodded, and one by one they all climbed back up to solid ground. They weaved around Tyler, who didn't look too tired, and helped each other to their feet. After they were all situated, Izzy and Alejandro helped the jock up, and then assisted him with pulling the sled up.
That proved trickier than expected because of the weight. They pulled and pulled, only for their ride to get slingshotted over the edge and right into them. Izzy, Alejandro and Tyler were knocked on board, with Owen, Noah and Eva hopping on as the sled sped past.
There was no stopping the sled as it shot down the snowy incline, heading straight towards the finish line. The other two teams were neck-in-neck, which meant this was an extremely close race. Izzy finally recovered, squinting down as the freezing wind whipped past her face. She leaned forward ever so slightly, soon joined by Eva and Owen, which helped their sled speed up just enough to steal second. Team Victory came in first, and Amazon was in last.
"Last place?!" Heather bitched. "I can't believe I did all that work for nothing!"
"Actually…" Chris spoke up. "Team Victory crossed the finish line without Bridgette, so they come in last." Leshawna, Lindsay, Beth and DJ whined. "Which means Team Amazon comes in second place and Team Chris Is Really Really Really Crazy Hot takes first!"
Izzy cheered and hugged Owen in victory, while Noah and Eva shared a fist bump.
"Alright!" Tyler cheered, sharing a high-five with Alejandro. The Spaniard seemed a bit off-put by the action, but recovered quickly and smiled gratefully.
"Team Victory, this is the third time in a row you sucked it and choked", the host continued with a disappointed look. "Be sure to know who you're voting out, because tonight is another elimination, baby!"
"WHAT?!" The Sister With 'Tude roared. "Three elimination challenges in a row, and it's just us?!"
"I know, I'm shocked too. But maybe it's because you guys just suck." The host walked off, hopping onto his snowmobile. "The rest of you are safe, and can relax till our next stop. Team I Am Really Really Really Really Hot, you finally get to claim First Class!"
"Finally!" Eva groaned. Tyler unstrapped himself from the harness, and as a group they left to the plane. "I was gonna start claiming the game was rigged if the team with the three-headed hydra won again."
"You and me both, E", Noah droned out as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Feels too good to be true."
"It's simply because we have better team synergy, my friends", ALejandro said confidently. "You all saw Heather whipping Courtney, that's what made them slow down."
"I feel bad", Owen said sadly. "I get she was mean last season, but Heather… That seemed like a bit much."
"Totally", Tyler said, glaring at the Queen Bee. She glared back, but stopped when Merida smacked her upside the head with a scowl. "I still haven't forgiven her for what she did to Lindsay. All the lies and insults just so she could win season one…"
"At least she got her karma", Izzy said with a grin. "She needed to be humbled hard after everything she did."
"I take it you all have your own thoughts on Heather, I see…" The Spaniard mentioned as they finally made it to the tarmac.
"She's a skank", Eva snarled.
"She's manipulative", Noah said flatly.
"She's mean", Owen said sheepishly, looking around as if he didn't want the Queen Bee to hear.
"She's a liar and terrible leader", Tyler spat.
"She's a toxic bitch", Izzy grumbled, making her team freeze at her sudden mood change. They all looked at her with wide eyes, but she paid them no mind as she climbed the boarding stairs and made her way inside to get out of her winter equipment.
As she made her way into the cargo hold, she took a deep breath. Today was a bad day, so she just wanted to get out of her coat and relax in First Class. After everything, she needed it.
When she finally found her suitcase, she took off the coat, pants and cloves, and stuck them back in.
"You're mad", she heard Merida say when the princess joined her. "I can tell because of your shoulders, before you deny it."
The Psycho Hose Beast let out a loud sigh. "Today was just… Not good. I think the cold got into my head, because I had this nasty shut down after me and Tyler set off."
Merida hissed. "Let me guess… You didn't like what happened to the divers."
Izzy paused. "Yeah, that was it. Just… Freaked me out, that's all." That was a lie, but Izzy was good at lying. So many of her stories were lies, simply as a way to keep people off her back.
Merida gave her friend a look, and sighed. "Whatever you say, Iz. And, hey, remember what Gladius taught you when it came to handling anger." She dusted the last bit of snow out of her hair. "Well, I gotta go and make sure my team doesn't kill each other, so I'll catch you later. Try and snag me a soda from First Class, you owe me that."
Izzy finally smiled and snorted, waving her friend off. Now alone in the cargo hold, Izzy thought back to what Merida mentioned, a memory playing in her head.
~
"Remember, Isabel", the sword said in a gentle but orderly tone. "You need to expend your anger. I have taken it upon myself to study the thousands of way different cultures handle it, and I believe one of them could work for you."
Izzy gave Gladius a questioning look as they hung out in her room. Earlier in the day, Izzy got a tad bit too heated with a recent Mario Kart tournament, so after she had calmed down enough, Gladius took her to her room to chat.
"So, what?" The Psycho Hose Beast said in confusion. "I'm just locked in here until I find some way to cool off that doesn't involve smashing something? But smashing stuff is so fun! I did it constantly when I was at Playa De Losers or the Aftermath Studio." She shot her arms up in excitement.
"I understand that." Gladius grabbed Izzy's wrists and lowered her arms. "But there's a time and a place. So now, we're going to start simple. Try meditation, just for me."
Izzy gave the sword a dubious look, but conceded. She knew she couldn't slip past a sword with telekinesis, so she did as she was told and sat on her bed, taking deep, slow breaths.
"How are you feeling?" Gladius asked.
"Better", the wild child responded. "This is nice, but I definitely prefer smashing stuff."
The sword hummed. "In that case… how about me and you meditate some more, then we'll head to the scrapyard and find some stuff you can destroy."
Izzy nodded eagerly, and together the duo went on with their semi-peaceful anger management.
~
Izzy sighed as the memory ended, and decided this was as good a time as any to fix this. She went deeper into the cargo hold and scanned around till she found a completely isolated spot. It was a little cubby under some boxes, so using her phone as a light source, the Psycho Hose Beast got herself situated and began her relaxing meditation.
Already, she was feeling more at ease.
~X~
A while later, the plane was back in flight and Team Victory was making their way back towards the elimination area. Bridgette had her tongue stuck to one of the flags from the challenge, with a look of misery on her face. Izzy, who just left the confessional, watched probably the unluckiest team of the show so far trudge off to boot another member.
The Psycho Hose Beast felt a bit bad, considering at this point they were at four members against Team Chris' and Amazon's six members. All's fair in love and war, but even kicking someone while they were down had its limits.
With a sigh, she turned around and headed back towards First Class. As she passed the disgruntled Amazons, she waved at Merida with a smile, who smiled and waved back. Heather went to stop the show of friendship, but the princess caught the queen bee's and hand shoved her off the bench after Izzy passed.
As the all girl (and Cody) team devolved into chaos, the wild child slipped past and joined her team in their luxurious accommodations. Owen was going to town at the buffet bar, Alejandro was absent, Tyler was napping on the couch, and Noah and Eva were sitting at the juice bar.
Izzy smiled and joined those two at the bar, setting her phone on the countertop and asking the bartender a simple order of a chocolate milkshake.
As the server worked, Noah glanced at the Psycho Hose Beast's phone. "So…" He started slowly. "I want to know the full story behind the phone. Where'd you get it?"
Izzy looked at the device and shrugged. "It was a gift from a friend. His name was Caleb, and he is the sweetest. He's kinda like a mix of…" She pointed at Noah, "…You…", she pointed at Eva, "And Big O."
"Did he have glasses?" Eva asked with a raised brow.
The wild child deflated a bit. "Yeah… Why?"
"Just checking…" The Fitness Buff muttered, taking a sip of her soda.
"He was on the footage", Noah said. "Of the movie lot's monster going nuts. We all saw you, him, and a bunch of other weirdos take it on."
"Oh, yeah… That…" Izzy looked to the side, and when she received her drink she took a slow sip. "That was… I'd rather not get into that. A lot happened…"
"That's fine, Iz", Noah said with raised hands. "I was just saying. We won't pester you about it, but I can't say the same for Ms.Stalkerlicious in Economy."
Izzy nodded silently, not really looking forward to facing Sierra's privacy shattering questions. She was already pressing during the Gemmies, so if she slipped up once…
She shivered at the unfinished but all too ominous thought. Just the idea of Sierra figuring out the truth and sharing it around her blogs would cause everything to crumble.
So she made a note: Avoid her at all costs.
~
(Confessional - Not the snow day you hoped)
Izzy - "Okay…" The Psycho Hose Beast said quietly. "Today wasn't my best, I'll be honest. But I won't let that stop me. I have a whole season ahead of me, and I want to make it far. Me and Merida are gonna crush the competition after the merge!"
Her devilish grin fell. "Although… There's still some things that… I'm not…" She glanced at the camera. "Nevermind." It cut to static.
~
Merida - "Izzy told me about how she was in this funk a little bit ago, and how her song helped a bit." The princess gave the camera a pointed look. "But I know Al had something to do with it too, and he reminds me too much of a Flowey/Majima fusion with social skills."
Her eyes widened when she remembered the camera. "Those are some of my friends' names. They're weird, yes, but I love them. And if any one of you think otherwise, it won't just be me coming for ye'."
She sighed. "I just hope we catch a break soon…"
The camera cut to static, but before it turned off there was a brief glimpse of something. It looked like a man with an eyepatch glaring at the audience, brandishing a knife. After a second longer, the camera cut off.
~X~
Chapter 6 is finished! Boy, this was a heavy one, with the first of Izzy's many mental spirals I have planned. I won't go into more details because spoilers, shush.
Also, spurred by a certain comment I got on one version of this story, I need to say: THIS IS AN IZZY FOCUSED FIC. Everyone else here is for progression, but only Team E-Scope and Merida really matter. Don't expect a massively changed elimination order till later.
I need to say this so I don't get spammed with comments and 'reviews' saying "Who are you going to ship X with?" This is my story, and I already have total control over what I want to do. So screw you.
Btw, special shoutout to my buddy Dagur! They're an amazing artist, an incredible friend, and are currently writing a TD fic of their own called Total Drama Island: Replaced on Ao3. Go give it a read, it has a lot of passion behind it!
Also, I posted the first chapters of the two stories paired up with this one: WorldWide Wreck-It and Claw My Heart Out. They won't be updated till I finish this fic (I'm going in order), so don't expect much from them until later.
As always, love you all, and I hope you enjoyed!
Up next: The show takes the team to the Big Apple, where Izzy tries and fails to keep herself under control…
~Caleb~