Total Drama Uncharted
Episode 6: Alberta Calls!
-o0o-o0o-
"Last time on Total Drama Uncharted," Chris McLean kicked off, sitting at a host-exclusive bar with a bottle of wine resting on the table in front of him. "We traveled to our first revisited location of the season, Switzerland! After climbing a ridiculously steep cliff face rigged with a whole bunch of explosives, our steely competitors scavenged through endless piles of crap to find whatever they could and build themselves a way to get down the mountain. Chef and I, of course, made it difficult. Really difficult. Let's just say, some of us may not be having kids any time soon," Chris chuckled while a clip of Tyler's never ending injuries graced the screen. "On a more heartfelt note, Courtney and Gwen had a one-on-one conversation about the various sins they committed in the past, revealing that they were sorry for treating each other the way they did. Sierra stood up for the Bears on multiple occasions, cementing Cody's respect, which took a while to form. In the end, the Ballistic Bears and Leaping Lions finished the challenge with some awesome vehicles intact, while the Vicious Vipers were stuck with a glorified cardboard box that ultimately lost them the challenge in an unbelievable photo finish. Still, none of them went home as a result of the reward-only challenge, so we can only hope that this episode ends up in a gut-wrenching elimination. It's likely, but only time will tell, so stay tuned for this episode of - Total! Drama! Uncharted!"
The familiar, run out theme song so commonly associated with the show began its runtime, complete with new visuals to accommodate for the new season and its fresh locales. All 24 original contestants could be seen partaking in their usual antics within the clips, all the way to its fateful end, when it faded to black and allowed the cameras to focus on the game once more.
The sun shone bright on the horizon, slowly inching higher with each passing hour. Eighteen days had flown by since the beginning of the competition, marking the start of tense relations and a heightened sense of awareness coinciding with the dawn of more drama than ever.
Despite this, the campers maintained a sense of optimism. Four of their number had been forced to evacuate the contest by leaping out of a moving plane, which just so happened to be of opulent first-class conditions, but it was refreshing to be back.
The dining quarters were crowded with contestants helping themselves to lunch, the noon sky visible through the windows strewn throughout the room.
"Hey, Noah!" Owen shouted, sitting across from his accomplice at a roomy table. "Check this out!" he added, brandishing a sausage from his pocket.
"Damn," Noah muttered. "Exactly how long have you carried that around for?"
"Since we got out of Switzerland!"
"It smells like dog shit with a side of sewage," said Noah.
"Ah, that's the good part, you see!" Owen claimed, shoving the entire sausage into his mouth with exuberant expressions on his face. "Really adds to the authenticity."
"You're gonna get food poisoning if you don't store your food properly, big guy."
"Store food?" Owen asked, confused. "I have been storing these!"
"Yeah, in your pocket!"
"Okay, maybe there are better places," said Owen, who then proceeded to grasp a sausage and instinctively put it inside of his pants. Noah stared without speaking.
Tyler had gathered his lunch as well, sweating profusely as a result of an intense workout that was intended to target areas of the body no one had ever heard of.
"'Sup?" he kicked off, taking a seat.
"Working out, huh?" asked Noah.
"You know it," Tyler boasted. "Working on my dorsal pectoral arch muscles."
"Your what?" Noah queried.
"I never did understand gym guys," added Owen.
"So, Noah," began Tyler. "You have your eye on any chicks yet?"
"Not really. Why?"
"Nothing, man," Tyler said. "Just asking."
"He's got a point though," Owen interjected. "Him and Lindsay have their thing going on, and then there's me and Izzy. When are you gonna hook up with someone, buddy?"
"And who do you propose I hook up with?" asked Noah.
"Well," stuttered Owen. "There's… Uh…"
"How about Courtney?" Tyler thought out loud.
Owen and Noah instantaneously burst out laughing in response, with Owen's orange juice spilling onto the table in an uncontrollable guffaw. After realizing what he'd said, Tyler joined in, admitting his fault.
"She's got more baggage than an airplane," Noah quipped.
"I wouldn't touch her with that whole love triangle thing," Owen advised.
"Who else even is there?" asked Tyler.
"Good question," Noah replied.
"Everyone's kinda taken, huh?" Owen agreed. "Oh, well. There's always us," he followed, grabbing Noah's head from across the table and rubbing it playfully with his large fist.
"True," said Noah before stopping for a moment as if pondering. "Listen, I've got an idea, but I don't know if you'll like it."
"What is it, dude?" Tyler inquired.
"An alliance," Noah responded. "You know, since we're friends and all. Our whole team is crazy and we need the numbers."
"Are you kidding?" chortled Owen. "That's an awesome idea!"
"Yeah!" Tyler agreed. "We should totally make an-"
"Be quiet!" Noah stepped in with a loud whisper. "We don't need everyone hearing us!"
"Right," said Tyler.
"We're gonna be unstoppable!" Owen claimed, reaching in for a high five, which was accepted heartily by Tyler and reluctantly reciprocated by Noah.
At a nearby table, Geoff, DJ, and Ezekiel sat eating their breakfast in a quieter fashion. Ezekiel was behaving noticeably more similar to the average human and appeared to stray further from his feral self with each passing day. At the moment, he was attempting to cut into a girthy pancake with a fork and knife, but struggled to find success.
"Lemme get it, dude," Geoff said, reaching to his right and grabbing Ezekiel's plate, cutting the pancake with his own hands, which were stronger and more coordinated than the recovering Zeke's.
"I swear I heard some human noises out of him yesterday," DJ remarked.
"For real?"
"On my Mama."
"Can't argue with that," Geoff concluded, now having cut the pancake into digestible pieces and sliding the plate towards Ezekiel, who flashed a thumbs up and a hearty grin.
"Thanks for helping out, dude," said DJ.
"No problem, buddy," Geoff responded. "I gotta tell you," he continued through bites of his pancakes. "This plane rules! Me and you are going all the way, baby."
"You know it."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Geoff
"Honestly, I don't know how I'm gonna get past all this stuff with Alejandro and Bridgette and all that, but I think I'm doing pretty good out here. Not much to do except chill out, party, and enjoy life on this wicked plane while it lasts. Peace out, dudes!"
-o0o-o0o-
Having just woken up, Gwen trodded at a sluggish pace through the corridor, passing by a few contestants' rooms on her way to the dining hall. Upon passing Trent's room, an audible guitar rang out, enriching the morning air with bright tones and a soft voice.
"Nice song," Gwen called from outside.
After a few seconds with no response but shuffling feet, Trent elected to open the door and speak to Gwen face to face instead of yelling back at her. "Thanks," he smiled.
"Enough with the love and happiness!" Chris interrupted through the blaring megaphone. "Time for today's challenge, boys and girls! Get your butts over to the common room in ten!"
After the loudspeaker cut off, Gwen looked at Trent with a deadpan expression. "This'll be good."
-o0o-o0o-
Ten minutes later, all the contestants were gathered in the common room, as large and luxurious as ever. Through the glass floors in between the sofas, large green landscapes and rolling waterfalls were visible.
"Gosh!" Harold exclaimed after a stark bout of silence. "You think Chris would hurry it up a little?"
"When Chris says ten minutes, he means ten minutes," Sierra explained. "He doesn't usually lie about something so small."
"Shut it, Sierra," Heather interjected.
"Girl, why do you always have to get all up in other people's business?" Leshawna chimed in.
"You're doing the same thing right now."
The two were cut off by a sudden bump, knocking a few competitors off their feet, including Cody, who was caught by Justin and helped back up.
"Landing time!" Chris announced through the PA system.
The plane touched down upon a grassy hill sprinkled with the remnants of once glistening snowflakes. On the hill was a wooden pathway leading up to a sleek, modern deck of white, decorated with countless glass windows and a Canadian flag towering over the sprawling landscape. Attached to the deck was a long steel rope, resembling a zipline and plunging downwards into the valley below.
The contestants exited and walked the wooden path until they found themselves at the top of the deck, with Chris and Chef standing at attention beside the steel line.
"Is that a tightrope?" Lindsay asked.
"You wish," mumbled Chef.
"Eh-em," Chris intervened. "What Chef means to say is, welcome to Banff National Park!" The host was met with no response but comedically timed crickets chirping. "Banff National Park? Alberta? Aren't you guys Canadian?"
"What's with the tightrope?" Izzy asked, off topic.
Chris facepalmed as Courtney sighed and said, "Does nobody know anything around here?"
"So if it's not a tightrope," Owen added on. "What is it?"
"I was just getting to that," Chris answered. "This is the deck of the world famous Banff Gondola."
Justin eyed the steel line and observed its emptiness, questioning, "How can there be a gondola without a-"
"Justin," Chris jumped in. "It would really do me a big favor if you guys could shut up for two seconds." After Justin closed his mouth and nodded in approval, Chris continued. "So, as you can see, there are no gondolas. That's because we made the track into something even better - a zipline!"
"A dangerous one," said Chef.
Among a couple disgruntled noises from the teens, Chris explained, "Each team will choose two of their own to ride the zipline. The ground below us is separated into zones which will grant you a certain amount of points depending on where you fall. The farther you get, the more points you'll earn. It's not gonna be easy though. The tee bar may or may not be heavily greased, and Chef will be shooting at you."
"With what?" Bridgette queried.
"With rock hard apples!"
Courtney gulped as Alejandro chipped in with, "Please tell me Chef is blindfolded."
"Honestly," said Chris. "He'd probably hit you either way. Alright, teams, choose two helpless volunteers and let's get to it!"
The Bears came upon their decision fairly easily.
"Alright," Trent began. "We've gotta choose whoever has the best grip."
Cody piped up, "You know, I'm not so bad at-"
"I nominate Cody!" Sierra shrieked.
"Good idea," said DJ. "He's small, so that zipline won't have to carry that much weight."
"But Trent has the best grip," Justin raised.
"Two people, remember?" Gwen corrected him. "Cody and Trent sounds good."
"I'm up for it, too," DJ voiced.
"Don't worry, dudes," said Cody. "The Code-Meister's got this in the bag," he finished, met with a hug from Sierra.
"Same here," Trent confirmed.
"Cody and Trent it is," Justin said.
The team quickly formed a circle and clasped hands, performing a traditional collaborative chant as the camera switched focus to the Lions, who were still discussing.
"Let me do it," Alejandro began. "I'm a champion zipliner back home. This'll be a piece of cake!"
"Cool," Geoff agreed. "Anyone else?"
"Ooh!" Izzy cried. "Me! Me! I've always wanted to be like Tarzan!"
"Alejandro and Izzy sounds like a plan," said Bridgette.
"We're totally gonna win!" Lindsay concluded, optimistic.
The Vipers, meanwhile, stayed true to their hearts by consistently arguing about any minute disagreement they could surmise.
"Dudes, I've totally got this!" Tyler yelled. "We did ziplines in gymnastics all the time!"
"Gymnastics?" Duncan scoffed.
"I'll have you know that gymnastics is a very manly sport," Harold countered.
"No one cares if it's manly or not," said Leshawna. "At least it's something."
"But if Tyler's our best option," Courtney started. "Then we're screwed."
"Hey!" Owen exclaimed. "Tyler's a team player!"
"And you're worth three team players," said Heather. "There's no way you or Leshawna can go more than a few meters up there."
"Oh, boy," Noah said under his breath.
"I never even nominated myself!" said Owen.
"I would knock you upside the head if you didn't make a point," Leshawna added, staring Heather down.
"I can't go either," said Harold. "I'm violently aller-"
"Allergic to apples," Noah butted in. "We know."
"As team leader, I nominate myself," Courtney suggested. "Tyler, too, I guess."
Duncan asked in response, "Who died and made you the-"
"I did! Now shut up!"
"Aren't you still alive?" asked Tyler.
"Look," Courtney sighed. "We have our two choices. I think that's that."
"Then that's that," Leshawna capped off.
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Tyler
"I don't think these guys understand how clutch gymnastics comes in," explained Tyler smiling and sitting as straight as an arrow in the confessional booth. "I haven't done it in like, ten years, but where else do you think a guy learns how to zipline? Yeah, baby! It's Tyler time!"
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Cody
Cody crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the bathroom as he led with, "Imagine how much Gwen is gonna love it when I win this challenge for our team. Girls love a guy who's good at ziplining."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Izzy
"Hahahahahahaha!" Izzy cackled. "Bombs away!"
-o0o-o0o-
After selecting their competitors, whatever was left of the Ballistic Bears, Leaping Lions, and Vicious Vipers, along with Chris and Chef, flocked beneath the zipline to watch their teammates. The ground was covered by a large safety net and separated into zones marked by crooked colored tape, as if Chef had rushed himself to draw them in a drunken stupor. The points each zone was worth increased in 10 point increments and continued until a lucrative 100 point zone signaled the end of the zipline.
Meanwhile, Cody, Trent, Alejandro, Izzy, Courtney, and Tyler, the contestants chosen to partake in the challenge, stood shaking in anticipation on the deck, awaiting Chris' megaphone until it finally came.
"Look for the flares, campers!" Chris bellowed at full volume. "When your team colors come up, send one of your competitors down the line. That's red for the Bears, yellow for the Lions, and green for the Vipers, in that order!"
On Chris' cue, a red flare tall enough for those on the deck to decipher rose through the atmosphere, signaling one of the Bears to begin their descent.
"Guess I'm up," Cody said, high-fiving Trent.
"You've got this."
Cody stood under the tee bar in an awkward squat as Chris took notice of his arrival, honking his megaphone's horn with a piercing screech. Having built up the nerve to plunge into the valley, Cody gripped the tee bar with what strength he could muster and zipped into the challenge.
"And he's off!" Chris shouted as the Bears cheered exuberantly. Chef immediately cocked a comically large gun and aimed it directly at Cody, unloading it as crisp red apples flew through the air at blinding speeds. His aim was flawless, shooting over five apples in rapid succession and hitting his target each time, pelting Cody with an unavoidable storm of fruit.
Upon a glancing blow to his forehead, Cody yelled, "What are these things made of?"
"Nothin' but GMOs," Chef whispered, launching even more apples at Cody.
"Ow!"
"Keep it up, Cody!" DJ encouraged. "Chef ain't nothing!"
DJ himself was hit by an apple after his comments and briefly shrieked in pain, prompting Chris and Chef to snicker. Meanwhile, Cody was preoccupied with the pine trees now obstructing his view. They were massive and colored with dark wood, with branches protruding in every direction and blocking the zipline's path.
The Ballistic Bears wore nervous expressions as the sounds of Cody crashing into the branches and yelping in pain shot through the valley, but against all odds, he emerged, spitting out a myriad of pine needles.
It was after conquering the pine trees that the grease administered onto the tee bar took full effect, as Cody felt himself slowly losing grip.
"I'm gonna fall!" he exclaimed as his hands gradually slipped further from the center of the bar.
"This isn't gonna end well," said Justin, keeping a watchful eye on his teammate.
"You can say that again," Gwen concurred.
Cody's last couple fingers let go of the tee bar at last, sending him hurtling towards the safety net beneath him, where his fellow campers flocked. As he screamed in terror, a few odd gasps could be heard from the crowd, who looked on worriedly, with Ezekiel wincing and covering his eyes with his clawed hands. Luckily, Cody landed safely in the net without much of a sound.
"Alright!" he cried, sitting up.
"Are you okay?" inquired Sierra.
"Never better."
Chris, now speaking into his megaphone, eyed the area where Cody had landed and awarded him his points. "That's 60 points for Cody and the Ballistic Bears! Not a bad start! Can the Lions beat it?"
"Is the sky blue?" Izzy giggled as a bright yellow flare launched into the air. "Wish me luck!" she hollered, but unlike Cody, she didn't hesitate for a second to leap onto the tee bar and ride away from the dock, meaning nobody had adequate time to wish her luck.
"Here she comes!" said Chris.
"Go Izzy!" Lindsay cheered, dancing innocently as she waved towards Izzy, who was busy being pelted with apples, many of which hit her directly in the face.
She merely cackled as she usually did and screamed, "That was fun!"
"What the heck is wrong with her?" Chris asked Chef.
As Chris' reliable co-host carried on shooting projectiles and landing nearly every single one of them, Izzy ran into about ten branches in quick succession, only reacting with a single giggle as she made it to the other side of the pine cluster that Cody had endured prior.
"Girl just won't fall!" Chef cried, shooting one more apple at Izzy.
This time, however, luck was on his side, as the projectile hit Izzy straight in her left eye, resulting in her releasing her left hand from the tee bar in order to clutch her injured eye. The unbalanced weight of the tee bar threw Izzy off of it as it tipped to one side, sending her tumbling towards the ground.
"Woohoo!" she yelled, landing onto the net with a swift "Oof!"
The Lions cheered in their knowledge that Izzy had made it further than Cody had, granting them the advantage for the time being.
"That was awesome!" Bridgette said, helping Izzy off of the net.
"Wow, Izzy…" Owen trailed in awe, prompting a swift kiss on the cheek from his ecstatic girlfriend.
Chris turned on his megaphone once more and said, "We have a new high score! 80 points for Izzy means the Leaping Lions are in the lead!"
Alejandro crept up beside Courtney on the deck and asked, "Nervous?"
"Of course not," Courtney answered with a gulp.
"Any fool can see it," said Alejandro. "Just try not to think about losing."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Alejandro
"Courtney is a tough competitor, and I need to win to ensure my safety," Alejandro explained. "Any effort to weaken her game is a good one, just as long as I don't act too suspicious," he grinned, winking.
-o0o-o0o-
"Vipers, get ready!" Chris howled.
"Break a leg," said Alejandro from beside Courtney.
"I probably will," Courtney muttered, trembling until the lime green flare shot into the sky, accompanied by the piercing squeal of an air horn.
She hesitated for a moment in the wake of impending danger, but slowly lifted her feet and sailed off the deck.
"Go ahead, Chef," Chris chuckled, pointing dramatically at the flying Courtney as Chef unloaded a number of apples at her.
"Ow!" Courtney yelped in response to being hit twice in the abdominal region by Chef's killer apples.
As the Vipers cheered her on, Chris looked towards Chef and suggested, "You know, we should really spice this up a little."
With merely a nod, Chef brandished an oddly shaped whistle that was composed of a long gray body and two branches that resembled wings on either side.
He blew into the whistle, producing a shrill, dog whistle-esque sound that resulted in a few campers instinctively plugging their ears. In response to Chef's whistle, a few of the gray-colored prehistoric geese previously featured on Total Drama screeched and circled Courtney from above, with their sharp teeth and glowing red eyes visible from all the way below.
Courtney screamed while the geese swooped at her, dodging one of them by reactively pulling her body off as the goose attempted to bite her legs. Chris and Chef guffawed unrelentingly as the latter continued to pelt Courtney with apples.
"Are you crazy?" DJ barked.
"Of course not," said Chris. "You might want to ask the geese, though."
Two of the geese were now perched on top of Courtney's head, pulling at her hair and scratching her face with their claws. All the while, she was coping with the seemingly infinite amount of apples colliding with her body.
"Get them off!" Courtney screeched.
Heather responded from the ground by picking up a rock and throwing it in Courtney's direction, evidently trying to hit one of the geese in order to buy her teammate more time.
She missed, instead hitting Courtney in the face hard enough to loosen her grip on the tee bar, causing her to fall onto the net below, screaming all the way.
"What was that for?" Leshawna asked.
"I was trying to help."
Courtney, now at the bottom with the other contestants, merely glared at Heather and covered the gash on her forehead left by the rock. Her hair was grizzled and her face was covered in scratches, courtesy of the geese, who began to fly away.
"Why didn't you send the geese on them?" Courtney asked the hosts, pointing to the other teams, specifically Izzy and Cody.
"Didn't feel like it," Chris replied.
"Ugh," scoffed Courtney. "Whatever."
"We weren't gonna win anyway," Noah added.
"Gee," said Harold. "Nice team spirit, captain cynical."
"Okay," Chris started. "Courtney made it to the 50 point mark, which means the Vipers are currently in last place and the Lions are in first with 80 points. Chef, send up the flare!"
Chef held up a bright flare, throwing red smoke into the air and letting Trent know that he was next up on the zipline.
"Here goes nothing," Trent said under his breath as the air horn sounded. He initially shouted as he leapt off of the platform, but eventually, his screams of terror gave way to screams of excitement. "Wicked!"
Chris comically thrust his pointer finger forward from beside Chef as the military man shot Trent with a rapid fire burst of apples, which all hit him near his oversized forehead, prompting a few grunts of pain as he was met with a barrage of pine needles.
"Time to bring the heat!" Chris exclaimed, brandishing a large green gun filled with a red liquid. "Hope you can handle spicy food, bro!"
Chris pulled the trigger and held it, spraying Trent with a stream of the spicy red liquid, which entered his eyes.
"Ow!" Trent cried, forced to let go of the tee bar for a moment in order to rub his eyes free of the liquid. He floated in the air for a moment, as cartoons do, and looked down for a second before falling and yelling for his life.
"Ghost pepper," Chef said, looking at the camera, pressing his thumb and index finger together. "Muy caliente!"
The Bears gathered at the area where Trent began his descent, and Duncan laughed maniacally at Trent's blunder. He was met with a death stare from Gwen.
"What?" Duncan asked.
Gwen didn't reply until Trent hit the net next to her, continuing to stare at Duncan. "Nothing."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Duncan
"Since when does Gwen not laugh at other people flopping at challenges?" Duncan said to himself in the confessional booth, rubbing his head in thought. "She sure had a good time laughing at me back in Vietnam."
-o0o-o0o-
As Trent was helped up by Gwen and DJ, Chris began his spiel, adjusting his megaphone and doing his best to address everyone, including Alejandro and Tyler, who were far away and had yet to jump.
"That's 40 points for Trent and the Ballistic Bears! They've got 100 points in total, counting Cody's score! Alejandro, get ready!"
Alejandro looked at Tyler beside him and laughed. "So I only need 20 points to match them? This is gonna be easy."
The air horn sounded, coinciding with a vibrant yellow smoke rising through the air. Alejandro leapt into the valley with grace, gliding down the zipline effortlessly and maintaining flawless form as a champion zipliner would.
Apples soared towards him, but Alejandro contorted his body while clutching the tee bar tightly, managing to dodge every obstacle thrown his way.
"Man!" Chef groaned. "Guy won't get hit!"
"That's what the kids call a skill issue," said Chris. He was promptly tackled to the floor by Chef, who threw his apple launcher to the floor and focused all his attention on the man who had insulted him.
"Uh, hello?" Heather hissed. "Hit him!"
Chris and Chef obliged, pausing their scuffle as they looked up to see Alejandro clearing the pine forest. Chef, who was on top of Chris, jumped to his feet and picked up his gun. Realizing he wasn't going to hit Alejandro with his unlimited supply of apples, Chef opted to throw the weapon itself instead.
With force, the apple launcher hurtled through the air and caught Alejandro by surprise. He was unable to dodge the larger projectile, which hit him directly in the gut and sent him cannonballing onto the net far below.
"I take it back, Chef," grinned Chris, fist bumping his co-host.
The Lions grabbed Alejandro by the arms and pulled him up, with Geoff asking, "Did we win?"
"Well," said Chris. "You guys just scored 60, which puts you up to 140 points in total. The Vipers are at 50, so they can technically win if Tyler goes all the way."
"Crap," Alejandro mumbled.
"It's Tyler," said Bridgette. "I think we've got this."
Lindsay gasped and clasped her hand to her mouth. "You just-"
"Shhh!" Geoff cried, pressing his index finger to Lindsay's face to shut her up. "The less bad karma, the better!"
Chris sniggered before turning to address Tyler directly. "Alright, dude! You need a full hundred points to win this thing, and Chef isn't gonna make it easy!"
"I've got this!" Tyler yelled.
"Make us proud, man!" shouted Owen.
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Owen
"I'm lucky to be on such an awesome team," said Owen, smiling and crossing his arms with pride. "It feels like everyone's always so supportive of one another, especially when there's a lot of pressure. Let's go, Tyler!"
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Noah
"Yeah, he's gonna lose."
-o0o-o0o-
Chris' signature air horn blared as green smoke shot upwards, and Tyler jumped off of the platform without hesitancy. The Vipers egged him on from beneath.
"Come on, big guy!" Leshawna cheered.
"Woo!" cried Owen.
Chef slowly lowered his customary apple launcher to the floor and picked up a second gun that seemed to have magically appeared out of thin air. He smirked and looked at Chris.
"This might sting a little," said Chef.
He pulled the trigger, releasing an undisclosed ball of fur that sped in Tyler's direction with inconceivable speed, revealing itself to be an authentic Wawanakwan squirrel as it hit Tyler in the chest and clawed at him wildly.
"Ow!" he yelped, rapidly waving one of his arms in the air in an effort to swat the squirrel off of his face, but to no avail. Similarly to Izzy before him, Tyler found only one of his arms attached to the tee bar, resulting in him tipping over and losing his balance. He fell all the way down before he even reached the pine trees.
"Come on!" Courtney complained as Tyler hit the net.
The Vipers barely moved from their positions, too dejected in their loss to care about Tyler, who had gotten himself tangled.
Chris snickered once again as Chef called, "Bullseye!"
Duncan facepalmed as the two hosts laughed even more, with Chris finally regaining composure and announcing the results. "20 points means the Lions win advantage! Way to go, Tyler!"
"Alright!" Geoff shouted.
"Nice going, Tyler," said Harold. "Your feet were at the worst possible angle considering the amount of acceleration you would need to-"
"Shut up, Harold," Heather butted in.
"Thank you, Heather," said Chris. "You guys get fifteen minutes to rest up before the next part of the challenge. This one's gonna be good!"
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Chef
"Let me get one thing straight for all the feds watching this," Chef began, crossing his arms and bearing a serious expression. "That gun is not a 'deadly weapon,'" he continued, making fake quotes with his hands in accordance with the last two words. "How do you like them apples, you assholes?"
-o0o-o0o-
The competitors, along with Chris and Chef, were now standing beside a quaint body of water, not quite small enough to be considered a pond, but not quite large enough to fit the description of a lake. Floating on the surface were three inflatable orange lifeboats with oars inside them, placed directly on the water's bank so as to allow easy entry. The body spilled into a wide river which, as evidenced by the sound of rushing water crashing against rocks in the vicinity, eventually became more violent. The mud and rocks the teens stood on were moist, making it uncomfortable to remain in one spot for too long, resulting in a number of awkward shuffles.
"Okay," said Chris. "Here we are at the Bridal Veil Falls, home of water, authentic nature smells, and your next challenge. Each of the three teams will get into one of these three lifeboats and use the oars to steer your way down the falls. The water drains into Nigel Creek, which is where Chef and I will be waiting at the finish line to crown the winner. Make sure to watch out for the rocks, because those things are everywhere! Also, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but it's really hard to control yourself when the water runs this fast, so, uh," he chuckled. "Good luck with all that. Lions, since you guys won the first challenge, you get to go first. Bears, you'll go ten seconds after them, and Vipers, you'll have to wait an additional ten seconds before you can head in."
"Great," Leshawna murmured. "Always in last place."
"And whose problem is that?" Chris asked rhetorically, as Leshawna merely stared at him while everyone else neglected to even acknowledge the question.
"What are you waiting for, maggots?" Chef spat. "Move, move, move!"
The camera skipped the next minute or two as the campers climbed into their lifeboats, some arguing less than others. It would be a waste of time to explain all of what happened considering the repeat offenders were well-established at this point. Once the teams were primed to take off, Chris looked at the stopwatch he held in his left hand and clicked a button on the top to start it.
"On your marks," he said. "Get set…" he continued. "Go!"
At his command, the Lions commenced by vigorously rowing out of the still waters and into the roaring tides of the Bridal Veil Falls. The other two teams were visible, squirming in their rafts as the Lions drifted out of sight, with Izzy's maniacal laughter audible from miles away.
"Woohoo!" Lindsay beamed.
What ensued was the longest ten seconds known to mankind, as the Bears waited and waited for the stopwatch to dictate their move. Chris stared at it and brandished a revolver from his pocket, raising it with his right hand to indicate that the ten seconds was nearly over. He shot it without a word as the Bears followed the Lions before them, desperately rowing in an attempt to make up lost ground.
The Vipers didn't seem to care about the fact that they were at least ten seconds behind the others, as they had accepted their fate after Tyler's blunder in the previous challenge. With the exception of Courtney and possibly Heather, their energy looked depleted.
At long last, Chris shot his gun once more, and the Vipers sped off as fast as they possibly could, with the Lions still in a comfortable lead, although the gap between teams was ever so gradually closing. Alejandro, who was the lookout for the winning team, looked behind him and took notice of that fact in the form of the Ballistic Bears.
"They're gaining on us!" he announced. "Faster, amigos!"
"What?" Lindsay inquired in a raised voice. "I can't hear you over the water!"
"Behind!" Izzy shouted.
Lindsay looked behind her and squinted at the Bears to get a better look while Alejandro thought of ways to sabotage them and Geoff and Bridgette led the charge from the front, paddling like their lives depended on it. Izzy was reaching her arm into the water for no apparent reason.
"Izzy!" Bridgette yelled. "Paddle!"
Before the surfer girl could finish her sentence, Izzy miraculously hoisted a fantastically girthy trout from the water, kissing it on the lips as Bridgette winced in disgust.
"You're hungry now?" Alejandro barked.
"No, but they are!" replied Izzy, nodding her head in the direction of the Bears, who were getting closer.
"Aw, yeah!" DJ cried.
Trent, who was standing in front giving directions and trying to paddle at the same time, pointed at the Lions and said, "Might as well give up now!"
"No way!" Geoff retaliated from the front of the Lions' raft.
"Yes way!" said Sierra, turning to face Cody, who was beside her. "Cody, get up. I'll throw you!"
"Throw me?"
"We have no projectiles and you're the lightest one on our team!"
Gwen turned around and said, "Have you considered just, you know, racing them?"
"Where's the fun in that?"
"Fine," Cody said through a breathy sigh, standing up and posing in a T-formation. "Bombs away."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Sierra
"I gotta say," Sierra began, sitting cross-legged with one palm facing the ceiling of the lavish bathroom. "I'm impressed with Cody taking one for the team. I guess there's nowhere to run to if you're stuck in a tiny lifeboat with seven people in it," she giggled. "Anyway, those guys were totally gonna win. I had to give it a shot!"
-o0o-o0o-
Sierra stood up alongside her accomplice, picking him up and walking towards the front of the raft.
"Uh," said Justin as Sierra swung Cody back and forth at her side. "Please tell me this isn't what it looks like."
"It's exactly what it looks like," Cody answered, with Trent standing speechless beside him.
"Three!" announced Sierra. "Two! One!"
On the count of one, she threw Cody at the Lions' boat, engendering many panicked screams from the boy and faces of genuine confusion from the leading team.
"Look out!" Alejandro wailed, pointing frantically in Cody's direction and ducking in evasion. Cody managed to land squarely between Lindsay and Izzy and picked up Izzy's spare oar with force.
"Haha!" he bellowed. "Bet you didn't see that coming, Al!"
"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?" Alejandro asked.
The Spaniard grimaced and raised his own oar above his head as if preparing to strike Cody, which he did. He would have swiftly stricken Cody between his eyes if not for a reflexive intervention by the boy, who blocked the danger effectively.
After a couple more blocked strikes and a few seconds of dueling, akin to the likes of two Jedi Knights sparring over treacherous terrain, the Lions' raft skimmed a rock on its right side and began to spin uncontrollably. The team traveled through a narrow pathway surrounded by cliffs on either side. Alejandro looked up with concern as the air seemed to get darker, and Cody knocked him off balance.
In the blink of an eye, Cody was slapped on either side of his head with two large trout, causing him to fall onto the floor and clutch his ears in pain. Lindsay, meanwhile, caught Alejandro from the back as Izzy picked up Cody and threw him behind the boat as both the Bears and Lions rocketed through the passage.
He was rescued by Ezekiel and Trent as the Bears finally caught up with the Lions, with the two teams now side by side. Izzy opened the mouth of one of her fish, trying to use its teeth to poke a hole in the Bears' boat, but she was being fought off by both DJ and Justin.
Sooner or later, it became an all-out brawl, as various members of the Bears and Lions began to jump ship and try to win by neutralizing the opposing team's players. All the while, the Vipers continued to lag behind.
"Go faster!" Courtney commanded.
"We can't possibly go any faster!" replied Heather, immediately before the raft hit a sharp turn and left her doused with water.
As she rubbed her eyes, the rest of the team froze in their place as an obstacle presented itself in front of them, too close for them to efficiently evade it.
"Rock!" Owen howled.
The Vipers screamed in terror as they rammed into the rock, which was tilted at a slight angle, almost as if it were a ramp. This threw them up into the air as they continued to cry out with fear. Harold closed his eyes and cowered in a crouched formation. Heather and Leshawna were in the back, clinging onto one another while the raft flew through the sky.
Beneath them, the other two teams were visible skirmishing with one another. Izzy and Sierra were fighting at lightning speed with their fists, Justin had Geoff in a headlock, pounding him relentlessly with an oar, and the likes of Bridgette, DJ, and Gwen did their best to ignore their enemies and focus on the real threat - the environment. Ezekiel wasn't necessarily gunning for anyone in particular. Instead, he was using his semi-feral form to his advantage by wildly leaping from raft to raft and swiping at anyone who crossed his path, effectively subduing them for a decent amount of time.
At last, the Vipers fell to ground level, skidding across the water and landing directly behind their competitors. They got to their feet, trembling, finding it difficult to stomach the situation they had just endured and the one they had now stumbled into.
About half of the Lions and Bears turned around in shock, coming to a momentary ceasefire, while the other half acted as if nothing had happened at all, displaying stark tunnel vision and battering their opponents as they had been doing.
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" said Duncan, instantaneously leaping onto the Lions' boat to tussle with Alejandro, who challenged him gladly.
There wasn't much conversation as all twenty competitors were caught in the middle of the most rampant free-for-all the show had ever seen. All three lifeboats were filled to the brim with members of various teams who had invited themselves over. The boats themselves were quickly changing positions and rotating around one another in a glorious set piece. It got to the point where the competitors forgot which boat was meant to be theirs.
They dodged rocks, trees, and a couple odd birds perched in unfortunate locations before coming up to two split paths. Everyone was now involved in conflict, even DJ, who was being ganged up on by Tyler, Heather, and even Cody, who had forgotten they were both members of the Bears.
"Same team, dude!" DJ reminded him, being brought to the floor. "Same team!"
Bridgette was the only one to take notice of the fact that the paths were about to split, as she had been actively avoiding conflict and hiding in the corner of her team's boat, watching the surroundings.
She gasped before shouting, "Get back!"
Lindsay heard her teammate and broke off from a scuffle with Harold, scampering away from the Vipers' boat and back onto her own. Izzy backflipped away from Sierra and joined Lindsay, pushing both Courtney and Trent onto other boats. Alejandro, who was still fighting Duncan, got the upper hand by kicking him in the shin and smacking him in the face with his oar, sending him flying onto another boat.
The Lions' boat now only consisted of their own team, except for Geoff, who was busy trying to overwhelm Justin and take him for a swim by pushing him over the edge of one of the rafts. He was speedily grabbed by Bridgette, who leaned over the edge of her lifeboat and grasped his ankles once the boats drifted apart. Geoff was swept back onto the Lions' raft as they sped down the left path, with the other two teams remaining deadlocked on the right, far enough away not to be a bother.
Although the waters were still rushing at rapid pace and Lindsay wasn't necessarily succeeding in guiding the lifeboat away from nearby rocks, there was a sense of peace without the constant wrestling.
Bridgette panted heavily as a result of her efforts to bring the team together. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah," Geoff breathed. "Thanks, Bridge."
Izzy laughed as the raft hit yet another rock and shifted direction slightly, and Lindsay looked to the right to admire the other teams, who were still engaged. The fight, however, wasn't what caught her eye. It was the fact that the path was winding down and to the right, where there was a massive waterfall spilling into a creek. Hanging over the creek was a checkered, black and white banner marking the finish.
"Guys, the finish line!" Lindsay shrieked, pointing in the direction of the other teams, who were headed towards the end.
The Lions collectively moaned.
"We're screwed!" said Bridgette.
"Man, why do we always get the worst luck?" Geoff queried, stomping the raft mightily. After a second or two, he felt an odd moistening sensation creeping its way up his sock. He looked down to find he had stomped a hole into their vehicle, spawning a leak.
"And…" Bridgette said. "It just got worse."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Alejandro
"Ugh!" groaned Alejandro, his arms gripping the toilet on either side of him. "Even with Geoff on my side, we can't afford to keep losing! It's only a matter of time before he jumps ship and votes me out. No, no, no," he said. "That can't happen."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Bridgette
"For the record," said Bridgette. "Chris and Chef suck. Just wanted to get that out there."
-o0o-o0o-
"Find something to plug the hole with!" Alejandro suggested.
Izzy turned her oar upside-down and began to ram it into the hole, but the wooden beam was too thin to successfully close the hole. Geoff tried taking off his shoe and using that, but it proved too unstable to remain in place.
"I got it!" Lindsay chimed in, spotting a fish swimming in the river. "Izzy, grab a fish!"
Bridgette grinned in agreement as Izzy obliged, reaching into the water and pulling a fish out within seconds, giving it to Lindsay as she placed it carefully into the leaking hole. For the time being, water stopped rising.
"Genius!" Alejandro cried.
"Okay," said Geoff, pointing at the finish line, which appeared to get farther and farther away. "Now how are we gonna get over there?"
"Let's just go with the flow," Bridgetted answered. "We'll get there eventually, I hope," she gulped.
As the Lions found themselves farther and farther away, the Bears and Vipers slowly toned down their brawling, realizing that the competition was likely going to end up between the two of them. The fight continued, but its peak had concluded after the three teams became two, and everyone had regrouped back to their own boat.
Courtney and Noah managed lookout duties, while Tyler and Owen steered the boat in accordance with their directions. Duncan, Harold, Leshawna, and Heather sat in the back without doing much in particular seeing as it was their turn to rest.
"So we have no idea where the Lions are?" Harold asked.
"They're gone, dude," said Duncan. "Did you see that path? They're halfway to the Middle East by now!"
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful, moron," Heather added, being knocked over after the two boats bumped into each other for the seventeenth time in the last minute. "We need to take out the Bears."
"We tried," said Leshawna. "They're just gonna keep fighting back."
"Unless we play dirty," Duncan smirked, talking louder on account of the waters growing increasingly loud for a reason he couldn't put his finger on.
"Is that really necessary?"
"Absolutely," Heather agreed. "They'll never expect it."
"Well," said Harold. "You guys don't exactly have the best-"
"Shut up, Harold," Duncan butted in.
"Guys?" Owen piped up from ahead. The water was thundering enough that the team had trouble understanding his words. "You might wanna hold off on that."
The Vipers looked up, taking note of the Bears frantically holding on to one another and attempting to paddle in the wrong direction. The source of their despair was the giant waterfall Lindsay and the Lions had spotted from across the way. It roared deafeningly as its crystal waters cascaded down an array of jagged rocks and foliage, dropping over a thousand feet before emptying into calmer territory. To drop from that height would mean certain death. If they were lucky, they would escape with a couple broken spines and some moderate to severe brain damage. They had no idea that Total Drama follows the laws of cartoon logic and not those of real life.
Ezekiel was madly swimming away from the falls, positioned behind the Bears' boat and pushing persistently. Everyone else, from inside the raft, helped to guide their vehicle in the direction he was pushing it. The team stalled their imminent demise for the time being, although their efforts would surely become futile. In their panic, they failed to notice a path converging on their left.
"Save yourselves!" DJ wailed, the two teams' boats being dragged closer and closer to the edge.
"This is it!" Trent joined in.
"We're gonna die!" cried Owen. "I love you guys!" he continued, strangling Courtney and Noah in a binding hug.
The teens cried out in pure horror as the drop came into full view, filling them with an indescribable sense of dread and fear. Campers clung onto one another, screaming and praying that they would make it out alive.
"Quick!" said Duncan, giving Heather his switchblade as he fell to the floor. "Sink their raft!"
Heather rushed forward, soldiering on and pushing through her team, diving to catch the Bears, but flopping as she slipped on a stray patch of water inside the boat. Duncan's blade flew through the air, nearly lost forever in the surging falls until it was caught by Harold, who looked at it with concern before eyeing the Bears once more.
"Do it!" Courtney barked.
Harold contemplated his options, but it was too late. The waterfall loomed closer and closer, eventually swallowing the competitors as they plunged towards the stream below.
The camera briefly cut away from the action, focusing on Chris and Chef stationed at the finish. The host was shown using a pair of binoculars to zoom in on the teams falling, seeing them grab hold of each other and their rafts in the process.
"Well, looks like they've arrived," said Chris, lowering his binoculars.
"Yup," Chef agreed. "Sure looks like it."
Owen continued to crush his teammates with hugs, Cody and Sierra clasped hands with looks on their faces that couldn't be described in words, and DJ's screams echoed the loudest out of them all, even over the ear-piercing sounds of the waterfall.
Before they could hit the bottom, Courtney snatched the switchblade from Harold, who was too preoccupied with their surroundings to think about sabotage.
"See you later, suckers!" she yelled, stabbing the Bears' raft with the blade and slicing through its inflatable exterior with ease.
"You asshole!" Gwen screamed, witnessing her team's raft deflating and losing all its buoyancy.
At last, they hit the bottom. The Vipers, while still screaming at the top of their lungs, remained in their lifeboat and drifted downstream effortlessly. The Bears had no working raft, and their deflated monstrosity hit the creek with a thud, slipping away from them as they bobbed up and down without coherence. The current wasn't strong enough to carry the team to the finish without effort on their end.
Half paralyzed with leftover fear and half jubilant in their success, the Vipers neared the finish and glided past it, being stopped by a makeshift wall put up by Chris and Chef to contain the teams and conclude the challenge.
"Finally!" Leshawna cheered. "Team number one!"
"Congrats, guys," said Chris. "You finally won something!"
"About time, too," Chef added.
"And it looks like the Bears are gonna come in second," Chris announced, catching sight of the Bears swimming through the stream.
Before they could arrive, however, the sounds of petrified screams could be heard from atop the waterfall, followed shortly by a visible orange raft plummeting at full speed towards the creek.
"Ooh, never mind!" Chris corrected himself. "We've got ourselves a race!"
"That's not good," said Justin.
"Swim for it!" shouted Sierra.
The Lions were still airborne, but gaining on the Bears fast, as they didn't make any attempt to slow their fall knowing they were likely in last place. The Bears swam as quickly as their tired bodies would allow them, inching closer to the checkered flag that represented safety and another three days in the contest.
In the end, it wasn't a photo finish. The Lions hit the water aggressively, bowling straight through the Bears, tearing past the finish, and crashing into the wall.
"The Lions win immunity!" Chris bellowed, prompting unfiltered celebration from the team.
"We did it!" Geoff cheered. "Lions rule!"
The Bears, still floating in place behind the finish, were approached by Chris and Chef and broken the bad news they had been dreading.
"Well, at least we're alive," said Trent.
"Unfortunately for you, that means you have no excuse to skip tonight's elimination ceremony," Chris explained. "I'll see you tonight. Vipers!" he continued, turning around to face the winners. "You guys get a private gondola ride experience tonight, totally free from Chef's killer apples."
The Vipers celebrated as Courtney handed Duncan his knife back, while the Bears floated in silence, looking down in dejection.
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Harold
"I'm glad we finally won a challenge," said Harold, pushing up his glasses. "I just wish we didn't do all that sabotaging stuff. It's always better to win with honor," he rambled on, saluting to no one in particular. "That's what real samurais do."
-o0o-o0o-
Back at the plane, the Vipers collected some spare food, water, and jackets to take with them on their reward trip. The Lions opted to rest, with all but Izzy, who was now trying to stuff as many chicken wings as she could into her mouth, deciding to check in early for the night.
Trent, Justin, Cody, and DJ were congregated in one of their rooms. Justin and Trent sat on the edge of the bed and Cody and DJ stood closely across from them.
"So," said Justin. "It's gotta be Zeke, Sierra, or Gwen."
"I thought we said we'd leave Zeke alone," said DJ.
"I don't know," Cody pondered. "Gwen and Sierra are more useful in challenges."
"Did you see him today?" DJ asked. "Guy put his life on the line!"
"Did it work?" Justin countered.
"That was never going to work," explained Trent. "I say we vote out Sierra."
"Why?" Cody inquired.
"No," said Justin. "We need to vote out Gwen. She's too dangerous with Duncan in the game."
"We'll deal with that when we merge," DJ claimed. "She's solid for us."
"Fine," Justin folded.
"All in favor of Sierra?" Trent asked, extending his hand with its palm faced down so that it was positioned in the middle of the group. Justin and DJ joined in, but Cody eyed the center with concern.
"Come on, dude," said Justin.
Cody reluctantly neutered his expression and lowered his hand as the four boys smiled at one another in agreement.
"Alright," Trent concluded. "I'll get Gwen in on it."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Trent
"Losing sucks, but at least I'm in a good position for now," Trent explicated. "I'm just shocked I haven't died yet. I mean, geez, it's like Chris is trying to kill us at this point."
-o0o-o0o-
Cody searched the plane in an attempt to find Sierra, eventually locating her as she exited the bathroom. Ezekiel was trailing him, wobbling on two feet as he grew accustomed to walking.
"There you are!" said Cody.
"What's going on?" Sierra asked.
"I just talked to the guys, and, well," Cody stumbled. "They want to vote you off."
Ezekiel nodded in agreement, despite not being present for the briefing.
"That's not good," said Sierra. "But three votes isn't enough. We're a team of seven!"
"It's a start," Cody answered. "I think we should go for Justin. The guy's cool, but he's slimy. I don't trust him."
"Good call. Who's most likely to flip on him?"
"I don't know."
As Cody and Sierra pondered, Ezekiel growled to garner their attention, flashing both his hands in a "G" formation.
"Gwen!" Cody and Sierra shouted in unison. Cody dashed out of the camera's eye, and it cut ahead to display Cody sliding into the common room, out of breath and trying to get to Gwen first.
Trent and Gwen were in the midst of conversation, alone on one of the two sofas and apparently discussing the crucial vote.
"Guys!" Cody interrupted. "What are you talking about?"
"The vote," said Gwen. "Obviously."
"Oh, yeah. Of course. Of course."
"Why are you acting weird, bro?" Trent asked.
"Promise me you won't snitch."
"I promise."
Cody sighed. "Ok, I have three votes against Justin right now. Why don't we kick him out instead of Sierra?"
"That's risky," Trent said.
"Is it any worse than voting Sierra out?" Gwen queried.
"Not at all," said Cody, evidently appearing to sell his game as much as possible. "Come on, guys. I can count on you, right?"
"Sorry, man," Trent answered. "I know you and Sierra are friends, but we made a deal."
He stood up, walking away and patting Cody on the shoulder as he headed to the dining hall to indulge in a cursory meal before the elimination. Gwen remained seated in the common room with Cody.
"You didn't make a promise, did you?" Cody asked.
"No," said Gwen. "I'll think about it, ok?" she added on, placing her hand on Cody's thigh in sincerity before departing, resulting in a heavy sigh from the boy as the camera abruptly shifted scenes.
-o0o-o0o-
The Bears sat in angst, all seven of them within the bleachers of the elimination room as Chris and Chef stood at their customary podium, preparing to narrate their favorite part of the episode.
"Welcome back to the elimination room, Ballistic Bears," said Chris, leaning forward onto the podium and clutching it with both hands, Chef standing behind him and nodding. "It's officially time to throw someone out of this plane. You know the deal - inside the confessional bathroom are passports for each member of the team. Stamp the passport of the person you want to eliminate, and we'll count up the votes. Off you go!"
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Justin
Justin, without contemplation of any sort, stamped Sierra's passport and laid the stamp to rest on top of it. "Less crazy, more winning. Probably."
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Ezekiel
Ezekiel was standing up in the bathroom, shuffling through the passports until he located Justin's, stamping it with a satisfied growl.
-o0o-o0o-
Outside of the voting booth, Chef wheeled in his cart of pretzels, with the symbols of immunity becoming incrementally more desirable with each passing day. The competitors had now spent eighteen days battling, and no one wanted to leave now. That goes without saying.
"The votes are in," Chris declared. "This was a close one, and considering the fact that all of you were equally suck-tacular in today's challenge, I'd say anyone is up for elimination tonight. If I call your name, you're safe," he continued, raising a bag of pretzels and tossing it to the first safe contestant. "DJ!"
"Yeah!" DJ cried, opening the pretzels.
Chris let the suspense ride out for a couple of seconds before adding to his list. "Ezekiel, Gwen, and Cody are all safe," he said, chucking three more bags to those who earned them. "Trent, you, too."
Trent caught his reward as DJ and Ezekiel gave each other a fist bump.
"This is my favorite part," said Chef, snickering.
"Campers, there is only one more bag of pretzels left," Chris announced. "That leaves Sierra, probably for being a creepy stalker who-"
"Knowledgeable superfan," Sierra corrected him.
"Fine," Chris caved. "That leaves Sierra for being a knowledgeable superfan, and Justin, for, uh…" he floundered. "Well…"
"For what?" Justin asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea. Just take the pretzels," replied Chris, throwing the final bag in Justin's direction, engendering a relieved sigh.
"Wait, I'm out?" Sierra cried.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're the only one without a bag of pretzels."
"Aw, man," said Sierra. "Thanks for trying, Cody."
"No problem," he responded. "I'll, uh, I'll miss having you around."
"Me, too," smiled Sierra, hugging Cody. "At least I'll have time to work on my blog now."
"Make me sound as handsome as possible, yeah?" Chris interjected.
"We'll see about that."
"Whatever," scoffed Chris. "Here's your parachute."
Sierra trudged towards the door, which was opened by Chef, allowing powerful gusts of wind into the plane and causing Sierra to instinctively shut her eyes for a moment as she adjusted to the shift in weather patterns.
"Bye, everyone!" said Sierra. "Bye, Total Drama Uncharted!"
Before she exited, she looked behind her and smiled at her team, singling out Cody specifically and saluting as she flipped back around and cannonballed out of the plane.
As her screams faded into the distance, the Bears proceeded to sluggishly prepare for bed, with Chris walking through the plane and continuing his spiel, passing by contestants and their menial shenanigans.
"Now that this show just got at least 50 percent less creepy, I can officially say that next episode will be our most exciting one yet! How will Cody fare without his clingy girlfriend? Will the Bears ever forgive Courtney for sabotaging them? What's gonna happen with Owen, Noah, and Tyler's alliance? Will our competitors ever recover from today's deadly challenge? Stay tuned for the answers and for yet another dramatic episode of - Total! Drama! Uncharted!"
-o0o-o0o-
Confessional: Gwen
"Yeah, I didn't flip," said Gwen, arms crossed and a serious look on her face. "If it comes down to it, I think Cody would pick Sierra over me. I don't think I could say the same for Trent."
-o0o-o0o-
That night, two gondolas dimly lit with lanterns inched on their tracks through the pitch black sky, each one filled with four contestants on their first reward trip of the competition.
Each gondola was spacious enough to allow ample leg room, decorated with a sleek table of white maple in the center. The exterior flourished with a blue trim and windows taller than the teenagers themselves.
In one gondola were Courtney, Duncan, Heather, and Leshawna, who didn't speak as much as the boys who were a bit farther down the track, supported by the fact that neither one of them particularly cared for one another. They had brought Duncan's speaker and an MP3 player to make the ride more bearable.
"Just so you know," Leshawna broke the silence. "I'm not a fan of winning by cheating."
"And I'm not a fan of your whining," Duncan snapped.
"She has a point," said Courtney. "That was unnecessary. I kind of feel bad."
"Hey," Heather intervened. "We won, and that's all that mat-"
"I know," said Leshawna. "But was it really a good idea to be so obvious about it?"
"Obvious?" Heather asked. "Who cares?"
"This is a social game," Leshawna answered. "Trying to kill the other team isn't exactly a smart move."
"I wasn't trying to kill them," Courtney explained.
"But you still popped their boat!"
"Duncan made me!"
"No, I didn't!" Duncan argued.
"I'm just saying," Leshawna continued. "They're gonna have it out for us."
"And we'll crush them," said Heather. "What are they gonna do? Sick Ezekiel on us?"
"I'm terrified of that guy, to be honest," Duncan claimed. "He's like half human, half animal. It's disgusting!"
"What happened to you, Mr. Fearless?" Heather smirked.
"I wouldn't call him that," giggled Courtney, picking up the MP3, scrolling for a couple seconds and clicking a button.
The flute intro of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" blared at full volume, followed by roaring laughter from all three of the girls in the gondola. Duncan held his ears shut strenuously, grimacing.
"Okay, okay!" he shouted.
Courtney paused the music and giggled, beaming exuberantly and losing her breath, letting out an unflattering snort in the midst of her laughter while the camera panned to the right and depicted the other group sitting around their own table.
In the second gondola were Owen, Noah, Tyler, and Harold. The four of them stole two boxes of pizza from the dining hall to take on their expedition. One was for Owen, and the other was split between the rest.
"Dude, you know nothing about Star Wars," Tyler claimed through a hefty bite, looking at Harold. "Revenge of the Sith is easily the coolest one."
"No way!" retorted Harold. "The storytelling of the original trilogy is far superior, and don't even get me started on how hard they butchered Vader's backstory."
"Let's ask the big guy," said Noah, turning his head towards Owen.
"I like the lightsaber fights."
"Ha!" shouted Tyler. "Which movie has the best lightsaber fights, again? Huh, Harold?"
"Whatever," Harold said. "When this competition is over, we're gonna go to Magic Steve's Movie Magic Camp. Then I'll show you."
The topic changed as Owen swallowed his last bite of pizza, belting out a sigh, and peering through the window of the gondola and into the valley below.
"Sightseeing?" Noah asked him.
"Yeah," said Owen. "This is a pretty good valley. Definitely one of the better valleys I've seen recently," he kept going, yawning and stretching his arms.
After he nestled into a slouched position, a creak was audible from above.
"What was that?" Harold asked.
Before anyone could provide a response, the gondola snapped off of its track, falling a few stories into the forest until it was caught by the same bunch of pine trees that had acted as obstacles in the ziplining challenge. The boys howled in fear as they fell, breathing heavily, but in contrast to their earlier escapades, they avoided plummeting the entire way.
Noah sighed in relief, but that sigh dissipated as the sounds of screeching geese circled closer. The boys all looked up and noticed a few geese perching themselves above. So it goes.
-o0o-o0o-
Eliminated:
Katie and Sadie
Beth
Eva
Sierra
Voting Chart
Justin: Cody, Ezekiel, and Sierra (3)
Sierra: DJ, Gwen, Justin, and Trent (4)