(Narrator's POV)
With the first shot shown being that of Chris McLean standing by The Dock of Shame, the camera-ready grin on his face indicates just what time it is for everyone watching at home...
"Previously on Total Drama Island..." Chris begins, giving a moment's pause for the editors to splice in footage as needed for his episodic rundown. "The campers searched for treasure, and yours truly put in an impressive performance as a pirate." Chris smirks, all too glad to be complimenting himself. "This was no ordinary treasure hunt, however; Some campers put their lives on the line to snag their booty, while others valued their health and safety over a chance for some treasures that, in hindsight, probably weren't worth the effort. Boring!" Chris exclaims, staging an eyeroll that the cameras can easily pick up on through his tone of voice alone. "However, after some friendly advice was given to our bad boy Duncan by none other than resident know-it-all Noah in exchange for his key to victory, Duncan gave us some real treasure." Chris states, all too eager to get into the real dirt from last episode. "After tricking Gwen into meeting up with him at the docks, the delinquent began making moves towards winning over the goth girl's heart, which all culminated in a shocking kiss from Gwen! Hell of a way for Duncan to win back his 'princess', especially considering how her majesty even watched on as all of this occurred!" Chris lets out a laugh, only partially genuine, before getting back to his spiel. "In the end, even though Duncan tried his hardest to throw the know-it-all under the bus, it was the delinquent who wound up receiving his own form of treasure: A one-way trip on the Boat of Losers, free of charge."
Waiting a few seconds to continue, Chris' smile returns to the neutral sleazy grin it typically is, as he looks at the camera once more. "Who will be the next unlucky camper to walk The Dock of Shame? Who will lose their cool? Who will lose their lunch? Find out on the most shocking episode yet of Total. Drama. Island!"
-0-
After the typical pause between Chris' rundown and the TV opening comes to a close, the focus shifts off to Lindsay and Heather, who are both sitting together on the steps to the girls' cabin. Lindsay, notably, is seen with a soda bottle in hand, its purple label matching the contents inside, while Heather is holding onto a bag of chips; dill pickle flavored, specifically.
"I am so glad they included Grapetastic Pop in your reward, Heather. It's totally my favorite and it's the only thing I've really been craving on the island." Lindsay states, her focus shifting back and forth between her soda and Heather, all the while her voice takes an...oddly sensual tone to it upon mentioning her craving of it.
Despite this, Heather can seemingly care less about Lindsay's craving, her mind wandering elsewhere as she robotically takes another chip from the bag.
"I cannot believe that Duncan and Gwen kissed. What a pair of losers." Heather replies, clearly not caring about Lindsay's...prior addition to the conversation.
"I know, right?" Lindsay turns towards Heather. "I can't believe Noel told him to do that. That's pretty major." Lindsay turns away, nodding her head with a more serious expression.
"Are you serious?" Heather asks, her eyes narrowing in on her blonde-haired ally. "Do you really think that Noah was the one behind those two kissing?"
"Yeah! Duane said so at the ceremony, didn't he? Why would he lie?" Lindsay retorts, showcasing more of her blind trust in those around her.
"Because, Lindsay," Heather starts to argue, annoyed at Lindsay putting any amount of faith into the boy they just kicked off the island. "He's nothing more than a punk. Not to mention a criminal, a delinquent, a total player..."
As Heather continues to ramble on, however, Lindsay takes a swig of her bottle of pop, no longer paying attention to the alliance leader's words.
(CONFESSIONAL)
"Heather is my best friend on the island." Lindsay starts off, a smile etched onto her face. "I mean, sure, she steals my food and borrows my clothes and calls me names, but that's what BFFs are for. Best female friends!"
(STATIC)
"Who cares about friends?" Heather asks, unknowingly retorting Lindsay's point from the confessional prior. "In this world, there are shepherds and there are sheep. And Lindsay is a major sheep." The queen bee states, even going as far as to let out a mocking "baa" sound while she's at it.
(STATIC)
"Lately, though? I think she's been really distracted." Lindsay offhandedly adds. "Ever since Nolan and Christine came back to the island, all she has been talking about is how difficult it's made her plans or whatever."
(STATIC)
"Ugh, if it weren't for that, I would so have cut Lindsay off by now. But with Noah and Courtney being brought back to the show, I need all the help I can get!" Heather exclaims, frustration on display. "Let's face it people, since they've come back, everything's just been going wrong for me!"
(STATIC)
"Last night, she kept going on about how Noam messed up her plans to get rid of Travis, but..." Lindsay stops, an expression of confusion forming. "She never told me about any plans to get rid of Travis?"
(STATIC)
"Okay, sure, I won invincibility last week, but that delinquent went and ruined things by getting a smooch in from the weird goth chick! If he wanted to throw a wrench in that weirdo's alliance, all he had to do was get Trent to kiss another girl and pin the blame on him!" Heather remarks, before suddenly silencing herself, a blush forming onto her face. "Not that I was planning on doing that, anyways. Just an observation on how places like these work."
(STATIC)
"But anyways, then I asked her why she doesn't just try to bring Noel into our alliance? He's like, super smart, and Heather's really good at being sneaky! It's like they're a match made in Heaven!" Lindsay calls out, excited over the prospect of playing matchmaker with the two of them.
(STATIC)
"And then Lindsay has the gall to suggest bringing Noah into our alliance?" Heather's scowl deepens at this notion. "Sure, we're at the top ten, and every vote matters, but..." Suddenly, Heather trails off, a devious expression forming on her face as a plan begins to formulate in her wicked mind.
(CONFESSIONAL END)
-0-
From their conversation, the camera's focus shifts off towards the edge of the forest, as Gwen and Trent are seen sat together on top of one of the blankets from the cabin. A couple bottles of pop, as well as an opened bag of chips, sit between the two, as the pair laugh at something unheard by the audience at home.
The camera zooms in, showing a blush form on Gwen's face, and a similar matching smile on Trent's own, as the two exchange loving looks at one another.
(CONFESSIONAL)
"Okay, so maybe Noah isn't all that bad of a guy after all." Trent states, sitting on the bench of the confessional with a foot up on the side. "I thought he was going to wind up like Heather, but after hooking up Gwen and I? He seems to be alright." Upon saying that, Trent pauses, looking to be deep in thought. "I don't know, though," Trent states, shifting his posture to now sit down properly. "He seems way too smart for this type of game." Trent reasons, coming off just as unsure in himself as he was when the confessional started.
(CONFESSIONAL END)
-0-
With the confessional's end, we cut to a shot taken a little while later, as all ten of the remaining campers now stand, lined up on The Dock of Shame, with Chris McLean before them, grinning evilly as always.
"Today's challenge is a good old fashioned game of hide-and-seek." Chris begins, drawing some confused looks from the campers. "You all get ten minutes to hide before Chef Hatchet comes looking for you." The host explains, and as he does so, into frame walks the man himself, wielding an orange-and-lime colored water gun that looks to be way too modified to ever be sold on store shelves. "With his military background and advanced degree in man-hunting, he's uniquely qualified to make this game excruciatingly hard." The host finishes, leaving Chef to begin pumping the water gun with a grin on his face...until Geoff raises his hand.
"What's with the water gun?" The party bro asks, seeming unimpressed...before suddenly crossing his eyes to look at his forehead, a red dot appearing just below the rim of his cowboy hat.
"The lifeguard chair is home base." Chris continues on, ignoring Geoff's question. "When he finds you, Chef will try to spray you. If you escape his blast, you can try to run to home base." The host puts his hand on the lifeguard chair for emphasis. "But if he catches you on the way, he'll douse you."
"Oooh, so we're going to get splashed by a bit of water! Now I'm terrified!" Noah sarcastically quips, rolling his eyes at the sadistic grin lining the face of Chef Hatchet as the host gives one of his own.
"Why don't you demonstrate, Chef?" Chris asks, leading all eyes to turn to Chef as he pumps the gun once...twice...and then lets out an ENORMOUS jet of water...all over the host's form, sending him flying backwards, almost into the woods with such a powerful blast. For a second, Chef stands there with a smile on his face, until he realizes just who he shot, and his expression falls.
"NOT ON ME, DUDE!" Chris yells out, his clothes and hair now drenched from the blast.
"So how do we win this game?" Heather asks, impatient as ever with the ongoing shenanigans.
"You've got three options." Chris states, trying to wring out some water from his shirt as it drips out of it, as well as his hair, onto the dock below. "One, don't get discovered in your hiding place. Two, run to home base before Chef blasts you. Three, once you've been caught, help Chef find other campers. Do any of those, and you win invincibility. All clear?" Chris asks with nobody having any questions thus far; Nobody except Lindsay, that is, who raises her hand, only for it to go ignored. "You've got ten minutes to hide. Go!"
With that, nine of the ten campers opt to scatter to the wind, wanting to make the most of the ten minutes allotted, while Lindsay is left behind, confused by what's going on, before she lets out an alarmed and panicked scream from needing to find a hiding place.
(Noah's POV)
With only being given ten minutes to hide, I know that my options are quite limited; The screams of that brain dead idiot Lindsay certainly aren't helping things as I try to catch my bearings before the challenge truly takes hold.
"Hiding in Chef's kitchen is probably a no-go, as are the cabins or the confessional. Anywhere out in the open is just asking to get sprayed. I could try to hide out somewhere in the woods, I suppose, but-"
Before my train of thought can get any further, I feel a tug on the back of my collar, and suddenly I am getting dragged into just about the last place I want to be in regards to this challenge: The mess hall. However, what's more alarming to me isn't where I am getting dragged off to, but who is the one dragging me in the first place.
"Alright, nerdling, listen up." The sharp, concise voice of Heather cuts through the mess hall, her quiet yet determined tone causing my eyes to ever so subtly widen. "We're getting close to the end game, and I need another ally." Heather states, and my eyes reset to neutrality as I come to terms with exactly why Heather brought me here in the first place. "Normally, I'd be more than fine just sticking with Lindsay until I have to dump her like I did Beth, but thanks to Chris bringing both you and Courtney back into the game, and with how this game is shaping up thus far, I'm looking for some more help."
At this point, I stop wasting my attention span on the words of the queen bee, as she prattles on and on about the 'benefits' of being in her alliance, how I'll 'make it to the final three', how I'll have to follow every vote she makes without questioning her reasoning, yadda, yadda, yadda. As she extends her hand out, looking to make a deal, a soft smirk forms on my face while my hand stays put, leading to Heather desperately extending her hand once more, trying to get me to sign on to this surefire method of throwing my own game away.
"Oh, gee, I don't know, Heather." I start, rolling my eyes while ensuring there's as much sarcasm in my tone as humanly possible. "Is going to the final three worth being betrayed by you after following your every move like a lost puppy?" I ask, causing Heather to momentarily blink in shock, her face going flush for whatever reason, before a scowl emerges.
"Are you actually considering turning this down?" She asks in a hushed tone, and I wave my hands to the side, putting on a defensive act for her.
"No, no, of course not." I tell her, giving her hope as her scowl turns into a smug grin, only for me to match hers with one of my own. "I've already decided that I'm turning this offer down." I state, my own smirk growing wider as hers is wiped from her face; However, before she can launch into another tirade, I fold my arms, giving a knowing look her way. "However, allow me to provide you with a counter-offer." I reply, already knowing how this will catch her attention; When it predictably does so, I give a small nod. "How about you join in on my alliance, and you can follow my every vote, in exchange for immunity from being backstabbed by yours truly? Does that sound good, worker bee?" I ask, and Heather almost screams out in frustration over such a belittling offer being made, only stopping herself as she remembers the challenge of the day.
"You've gotta be joking! As if I'd ever join someone else's alliance! I am a shepherd, not a sheep!" She states with indignance and pride, leading me to put my hands into my pockets.
"Whatever." I roll my eyes, looking to walk away, before an idea hits me; Heading over to where Chef keeps the utensils, I snatch a straw for myself and pocket it, before turning back to Heather. "Just let me know if you ever reconsider. The offer's always on the table." I snark, pointing a pair of finger guns her way as I quickly rush away from Chef's turf.
-0-
As the sounds of Heather's frustration plays like music in my ears, I head off towards the boys' cabin, a gameplan formulating in my mind, and make my way inside right as the PA system crackles to life.
"Campers!" I hear the grating voice of McLean sound off. "You have two minutes left to hide!" Chris calls out, the speaker shutting off right after he's finished with the announcement.
Stepping out of the cabin, I give a small grin at my own brilliance, having swapped into my bathing suit for the first time since the first ever challenge here on the island. Heading off back towards The Dock of Shame, I take a quick glance around my surroundings, and upon noticing a significant lack of the presence of Chef Hatchet, I look to the camera following me the entire time, giving a cocky smirk as I lower myself into the water, placing the straw into my mouth and letting it just barely hover over the surface, giving me room to breathe as I begin to enact my plan...
(Narrator's POV)
Back at Chef's kitchen, the sounds of Heather's grumblings eventually die down, leaving the queen bee to her own devices; So far, things seem to be working well for her. Perhaps a bit too well...
After a couple seconds, the creaking of a door is heard, and as a certain airhead pokes through the crack in the door, she gives a huge smile and heads on in. With Heather ducked beneath the waitress station, she is left wholly unaware to who has decided to join her.
"Hey, Heather!" Lindsay suddenly exclaims, the shock of it causing Heather to rise up, only to bump her head on the underside of the mobile table, eliciting a pained expression to cross her face. "What a coincidence! We're just like, destined to hide together." She continues on, unaware of the pain she's caused to her alliance leader.
"What? What are you doing here?" Heather whispers, trying her hardest to hide the frustration bubbling inside of her for the sake of the challenge. "Can't you find your own hiding place? This challenge is called 'hide-and-seek', not 'hide-in-groups-and-seek'!" Heather exclaims, quickly losing her cool.
"But..." Lindsay mutters, trying to reason with Heather, but this proves to be the exact wrong call to make, as Heather finally snaps.
"Lindsay, get lost! I'm trying to win this challenge, because otherwise I'm going to be left vulnerable to getting eliminated tonight, and you are not helping! Dig yourself a hole! Disguise yourself as a canoe, I don't care! Just do it somewhere else!" Heather lashes out, unaware of the sound of the door to the kitchen opening a second time. "I swear, ever since that know-it-all got brought back to this game, absolutely nothing has gone right for me, and any time there's even a chance of something happening that falls in my favor, someone like you comes along and absolutely ruins it!"
With a gasp coming from Lindsay, it seems as though the queen bee is ready to add onto this verbal tirade of hers...but the two are quickly cut off by the pumping of a water gun, as Chef Hatchet cackles to himself, adding onto the tension as the two ladies find themselves in the crosshairs of the man who runs this kitchen.
"This is my kitchen!" Chef proclaims, a dangerous smirk on his face as he pumps the water gun again and again. "Also known as forbidden territory!" He exclaims, but before he can take aim, a rather makeshift idea pops into Heather's mind.
"Take her!" Heather calls out, shoving Lindsay into Chef Hatchet's chest before making a break for it, with Lindsay just a few feet behind her as she screams out in terror over almost being caught.
With the chase being on, Chef Hatchet busts out of the mess hall, trying to take aim, but as Heather and Lindsay draw nearer to the lifeguard chair, Chef is forced to follow on foot. With The Dock of Shame just a couple yards out, Heather picks up some speed, trying to keep herself calm and composed in contrast to Lindsay's panicked screeching, but in the end, it does little for her, as Chef takes aim after a couple more pumps of the water gun, and lets out a monstrous stream that takes out both Lindsay and Heather, stacking the blond on top of her for added effect. With Chef taking pride in this victory, planting a foot onto the both of them, only then does Heather let out a scream that seemingly rattles the entire island, her anger reaching its peak with this defeat.
(CONFESSIONAL)
"That's IT!" Heather screeches out, wringing out some last remaining water droplets from her hair. "I am sick and tired of everything working against me! Whether it be the weird goth girl, or Lindsiot, or the know-it-all, or Chris McLean, or-" At that, Heather suddenly stops, a wicked grin forming on her face. "...Wait a second..."
(CONFESSIONAL END)
-0-
Cutting from the confessional, Heather is shown to be leading Lindsay along, a gleam in her eye as she draws closer to the boys' cabin, nodding her head in devilish delight.
"Knowing that lazy know-it-all, he should be right in here!" Heather exclaims, swinging the door open...only to find it completely desolate.
Not a single person is in sight, as all of the bunks are as clean as ever, the underside host only to the countless cockroaches as expected, the roof clear of any foul play...even Noah's bunk seems to be taken care of to avoid any signs of him being there, as his luggage lays where it normally does, the only difference being his most recent read sitting atop his pillow.
With shock in her eyes, Heather is left utterly speechless at this revelation, but Lindsay seems more confused than anything else. "So...who was supposed to be here, Heather?" She questions, and as this brings Heather out of her state of surprise, she glares at Lindsay, ready to explode once more...
But that doesn't happen. Not this time around, anyhow. Instead, Heather slumps her shoulders forward, looking down to the floor in defeat as she shakes her head silently, a solemn look crossing her face as she comes to terms with the fact her self-assured success and guaranteed immunity in tonight's vote has just gone up in smoke.
-0-
Back with Chef Hatchet, he is seen back in the confines of his kitchen, examining the entirety of the room with a smirk on his face. However, as the search continues on, that smirk slowly fades as it turns out that everything else is exactly in the place its meant to be. Still, the feeling of there being something wrong with this scene cannot be shaken by the cook, as he stands up in the center of the room...
And a loud fart suddenly bellows out from the top of the room. Turning his eyes upwards, Chef Hatchet is shocked to find none other than Owen somehow hanging from the ceiling support beams, a nervous smile adorned on his face.
"Haha," The big lad chuckles nervously, knowing his cover's blown, "Oops. I guess you heard that, huh?" He asks rhetorically.
Just as Chef begins to pump his water gun, though, a deus ex machina transpires for the big lad, as his support beam fails him, causing all three hundred-plus pounds of the big lad to come crashing down on top of Chef Hatchet, flattening the poor cook beneath his girth with a tsunami-esque splash and knocking the water gun halfway across the room. With little to no other options available, as Owen stands, he does the one thing that he can think to do - and that's book it.
Stampeding through the door of the mess hall, Owen charges right for the dock, having a good lead on Chef Hatchet after splashing down on top of him, but unfortunately for the big man, that lead is cut down considerably by Chef making it double time on trying to catch the large lad. Moving at what must be roadrunner-type speeds for the big man, he draws closer and closer to The Dock of Shame, the lifeguard chair right in his sights...but after suddenly slipping forward, Owen begins to slide along the dock, screaming all the while. With a display of surprising intelligence, Chef locks and loads, and fires a stream directly over Owen's head, leading him to let out an exaggerated sigh of relief...until he realizes the puddle that was formed just a couple feet ahead of him, and he lets out a small scream as its slippery nature causes him to rocket forward, going past the lifeguard chair, and instead providing just enough momentum to send him crashing into the water below.
"OH, COME ON!" Owen yells out, his voice muffled by the water surrounding him.
As Owen looks around at the surrounding waterscape, his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates, seeing as to how a certain know-it-all is desperately shaking his head towards the blonde-haired buffoon, trying to prevent his cover from being blown...
(Noah's POV)
Upon hearing the muffled sounds of a crash from above, I give a small wince towards whoever was unlucky enough to be blasted by Chef Hatchet this time around...but with another crash coming even closer this time, I look around, only to suddenly have my eyes widen at the sight of Owen, now sitting down on one of the rocks at the bottom.
"...Owen?!" I mentally exclaim, before realizing just what the sound of that crashing truly meant. "...Oh, crap."
With little time to lose, I rapidly begin shaking my head, trying to motion to Owen not to blow my cover here, lest I wind up like him in losing my chance at immunity, even pointing upwards to indicate to Owen to just head back to the dock, rather than let Chef come down here and catch the both of us...and after a couple of seconds, Owen gives a hearty thumbs up, and begins swimming back up to the surface.
A sigh of relief escapes through the straw in my mouth, and I feel my body partially relax as the sounds of Owen getting nabbed by Chef is soon accompanied by a grouping of footsteps heading away from the dock, and it's in that moment I realize it is now or never; There might very well not be a next time if someone comes close to home base, and so, once their footsteps are sufficiently out of range, I make my way to the ladder leading up The Dock of Shame, struggling to keep myself silent as I discard the straw and head towards safety.
(Narrator's POV)
With Owen's chase done and dusted, the focus shifts off towards our resident surfer chick as she is seen hiding out behind a rock. With a focused look in her eyes, she forces her leg to stop shaking, settling it down as she looks off to the side, a loose cord laid a couple feet away that normally belonged to the lights strung up above the elimination ceremony area. Having thankfully ditched the cord that nearly attached itself to her ankle, Bridgette's focus is turned back to her hiding spot as, just behind her, a family of skunks look on in confusion at her perceived antics. As soon as she catches sight of the skunks, Bridgette's eyes widen, as a gasp escapes her lips, before she begins to back away from the animals, slow and deliberate movements made so as not to alarm the wild creatures.
"Ah...n-nice little skunks..." Bridgette stammers out, hoping and praying she winds up avoiding being sprayed...but that proves to be the least of her concerns, as she backs right into the arms of one Chef Hatchet, who taps her on the shoulder, causing her to jump in fright.
Without saying a word, Bridgette motions to the skunks, causing Chef to gain a look of shock as well, the animals watching the both of them on in perplexity.
"Technically, I don't have to spray you..." Chef mutters, to which Bridgette enthusiastically nods, allowing herself to be led away from the skunks by Chef Hatchet, who looks to get away from the situation himself, pronto.
-0-
Another shift of focus later, and the camera now follows Chef as he makes his way throughout the forest, leading Bridgette, Owen, Lindsay, and Heather along with him. As he continues on his path, an errant footstep leads to a sharp cry of pain coming from beneath him, as Gwen jumps up, having her heel accidentally stepped on by the cook.
Turning around, she looks toward Chef and the others with alarm, but after a moment's hesitation, the goth simply hangs her head in defeat, joining the other four who have been caught out.
-0-
Not too long after, Chef is seen stood in front of a tree, his gaze sent upwards. As a smirk crosses his face, he kicks the base of the tree, and what follows are the pained cries of one party cowboy as he hits each, and every, branch on the way down from the top of the tree, eventually falling onto his back, looking out towards the wincing expressions of his fellow campers, as well as the disappointed look on Chef Hatchet's face.
"You're done, son." Chef states simply, and Geoff cannot find it in him to argue; Instead, he looks out towards those already caught, and extends a hand.
"Yo, can someone help me up?" Geoff calls out, and immediately, Bridgette rushes over, pulling him to his feet and, incidentally, into her grasp.
The two gasp in surprise at the sudden closeness between the two, and a blush forms on Bridgette's face, while Geoff looks over towards Chef Hatchet.
"Hey, is it okay if I just head off to the cabin? I don't think I'm finding anyone with what just happened, bro." Geoff reasons, leading Chef to scowl his way.
After a few moments, Chef relents, sighing. "Fine, party boy, you're dismissed." He states, heading off alongside Lindsay, Heather, Owen, and Gwen towards the next potential destination, leaving Bridgette behind as well, perhaps unknowingly.
As Geoff and Bridgette are left alone, the party bro suddenly feels a pain course through his spine, particularly the lower half, causing him to cry out in pain once more. A concerned expression crosses Bridgette's face as she steps back, letting out a gasp of surprise.
"Geoff! Are you okay? That was quite a fall you took from up there." She asks, but Geoff simply chuckles it off.
"Ah, s'nothing I haven't felt before, brah. No worries." He states; oxymoronically so, as he winces, clutching at his back. "Besides, it's not the first time I took a huge fall on the island." He reassures her, leading to a look of confusion to cross the surfer girl's face.
"Wait, when?" Bridgette asks. "I don't remember you falling during any of the challenges." Bridgette adds, now seeming unsure about her own memory, only for Geoff to suddenly grasp her hand in his own.
"Well, duh, it's when I fell for you, Bridge." Geoff replies, taking Bridgette by surprise; As the surfer girl blushes at his remark, Geoff's face gains a confused expression, as now he's unsure. "Wait, did that come out properly? I mean, I kind of fell during the Boney Island challenge, but-"
Fortunately for Geoff, his own babbling gets cut short as Bridgette takes his head into her hands, and pulls him into a massive smooch, the two sharing a kiss for a couple seconds before breaking away from each other, both of them surprised by each other's actions...until Geoff leans back in, and the two become a bit more...passionate with their display of affection for one another. So affectionate, it seems, that the camera quickly cuts away from the two, turning back to Chef Hatchet's search.
-0-
Sniffing the air, Chef Hatchet looks around the island for a couple seconds, before finding a singular black hair on the ground. Picking it up, Chef smirks, and after a few seconds, he goes rushing off to the caves, and just a couple more seconds, he returns, now with a certain musician being carried out with him by the scruff of his collar.
"A-All right already, you got me." Trent exclaims, before being unceremoniously dropped to the ground. "Sheesh." Trent begins brushing the dirt off his clothes, before then joining the others.
-0-
Another shift of focus later, and the camera finds itself on the roof of the mess hall. There, DJ is seen clinging to the shingles, happily observing as a pink-colored bird perches on the very top of the roof. However, after the roofing suddenly shifts beneath him, DJ suddenly hops off, trying not to damage the structure's integrity any more than it already has been. Unfortunately for him, his landing is spotted by Chef, and while the lovable giant seems all too unaware of this, smiling as he turns to go find another spot, a splash of water from Chef's gun douses those chances in a hurry, leaving him looking down in defeat at his own capture.
-0-
With eight down, Chef Hatchet turns around, examining the nearby area, before licking one finger and raising it to the air, gauging the direction of the wind. After a few seconds, it seems that a realization hits Chef Hatchet, and so he goes off racing once more, this time towards the cliffside where the first challenge took place.
Cutting up to the top of the cliff, Courtney is sat there, idly sitting close to the edge, working on a list of some kind with the dip pen that Noah had ensured she received following last challenge. The sound of a twig snapping, however, snaps her out of her work, as she turns around, only to find Chef Hatchet standing there, his water gun cocked. Stepping backwards, she realizes she is right on the edge of the cliff, and looks back once more...only for her gaze to narrow.
Grabbing the bottle of ink her pen came with, she initially goes to toss it in the face of Chef Hatchet...only to freeze. For whatever reason, something in her inner workings prevents her from performing this action that, if she were to go through with it, would nearly guarantee herself immunity for the evening. But as she looks down at the bottle of ink, as well as the pen in hand, the C.I.T. simply sighs, and takes a step back towards the other campers, bringing a smirk to Chef's face...
"Chef, catch!" Courtney suddenly calls out, safely tossing the pen and ink her way, before then stepping back and diving right off the cliff, having sufficiently stunned the cook with her initial toss that he had no time to fire at her. Shoving the bottle of ink and the dip pen into the arms of Owen, he walks over to the edge of the cliff...but upon seeing nothing but open air and the water way, way down below, he shakes his head, grumbling as he goes to walk off.
-0-
Unbeknownst to him, as well as to the rest of the eliminated campers, Courtney would be mere feet beneath them, clinging onto the root of a tree that had somehow grown its way out of the dirt and provided just enough of itself for the C.I.T. to grab onto. With a victorious smirk on her face, she manages to get one hand onto the edge of the cliff, and with some exertion required, she pulls herself up to the top once more.
"Yes!" Courtney huffs out, panting from partaking in such a daring effort, before she suddenly beelines it for the lifeguard chair, realizing that her window of opportunity is closing with every second that's wasted.
-0-
Meanwhile, with Chef being unsuccessful in taking out Courtney, he would be gathered with the other eliminated campers, sans Geoff and Bridgette, and be thinking things over to himself. After a few seconds, he lets out a sigh, holstering his water gun.
"Seems like this challenge is all over." Chef states, proud of his work here today: Heather, Lindsay, Gwen, Owen, Bridgette, Geoff, Trent, and DJ all fell today, and even if Courtney managed to slip away, it meant that he still had a success rate of 8/9ths of the remaining campers-
"Wait...aren't we missing someone?" Gwen calls out, leading to confused looks between each of the campers, especially Chef, as he re-dos his mental math.
"Yeah, what about Noah?" Owen calls out, trying his hardest not to give away his little buddy's whereabouts.
"Noah?" Chef questions, before the realization dawns upon him that the know-it-all is indeed missing from the current grouping. "But I searched everywhere!" He exclaims...until his eyes narrow, one final location dawning on him. "The water!"
(Noah's POV)
"God, this is so boring...I should've brought a book with me..." I mentally complain to myself, sat atop the lifeguard chair with my sunglasses on to try and protect my vision from the harsh rays of the sun. "Then again, it probably would've gotten wet if I did, and leaving it up on the chair would have been a dead giveaway of where I was..." I reason with myself, a small swelling of pride forming in me at how my plan had worked to perfection; "Perhaps a bit too well, as this challenge seems to be dragging on-"
Suddenly, my thoughts are cut off by the sounds of footsteps racing toward the lifeguard chair, and as I look down from my perch, I spot Courtney rushing towards me, a look of determination on her face. Without even acknowledging my existence, she manages to plant her hand on the chair, letting out a huff of breath as she begins celebrating, smiling wide at her own success.
"A-hem." I clear my throat, a smug smile forming on my face as Courtney looks around in confusion. "Up here." I snark, leading her gaze to trail upwards, until finally...
"Noah?!" Courtney calls out, her expression turning to one of perplexity. "When did you manage to get here?!" She exclaims, before a scowl forms on her face. "Don't tell me you just hid out in the cabins. That'd be so on brand for you, you lazy little-"
"Actually," I cut her off, not wanting to hear any more slander of my ever-so-cunning gameplan, and before she can say anything else, I gesture down to the waterfront.
"Huh?" Courtney turns, looking out to the water, before finally spotting the straw that is floating just on the surface, then turning her gaze to me in shock. "W-Wait, you just...hid in the water?!" She exclaims, my smirk widening as I nod.
"Glad to know you can still put two and two together, Courtney." I snidely comment, watching as her expression turns from shock, to indignation, to irritation, all in the span of about five or so seconds.
Before Courtney can get another reply out there to my successful endeavor, however, the sound of marching footsteps cuts the both of us off, as I lazily turn towards the other side of The Dock of Shame. There, Chef Hatchet is seen charging headlong, most of the other campers rushing right behind him, only for the war veteran to come to skidding halt at the sight of both myself and Courtney at the lifeguard chair, one of my legs crossing over the other as I cock an eyebrow towards the lot of them.
"Gee, what took you so long?" I sarcastically quip, but where I expect an angry response instead I get...cheers?
It's...a weird feeling, admittedly, as seven other campers head over to the two of us, applauding our efforts and our respective victories. Unsurprisingly, it's Heather who is glaring daggers my way, probably upset by the fact I'm the one sitting here in the chair, rather than her, but she seems to be the only one that shares that sentiment. Even Chef Hatchet seems to be impressed, giving a nod towards Courtney's way with a small smirk to go along with it, and while the boost to my ego is admittedly nice, no matter how small of a self-confidence gain it is in the long term, it's quickly dashed by Chris McLean walking onto the scene, nodding at both myself and the C.I.T. before facing the other campers.
"All righty, campers. Game's over." The host states, killing off the celebration dead in its tracks. "Time to pick the loser and send them on home."
"Aaaaaaaaaand all clear!" Chris yells out, having left a few seconds of silence between the prior statement and now to indicate for the camera crew to cut there. "Whew, I don't know about you guys," Chris says, wiping his brow, "but today was a scorcher." The host quips, as those of us campers that were eliminated, as well as Courtney, scowl at the host.
"Must suck to be them." I mentally quip to myself, smirking at their own failures...well, most of their failures.
"I'll be seeing you all at the bonfire ceremony in about an hour." Chris says, walking off, before turning back to Chef Hatchet. "And Chef, please go and fix the lights that Bridgette knocked over earlier? I told you to do it after last ceremony, and now it's gotten even worse." The host demands, admonishing his co-host, who simply rolls his eyes at Chris' demands.
"And I told you, Chris, my show was on!" Chef exclaims as the host walks away. "Not my job to do every little thing here on the island..." He grumbles to himself, watching as the other contestants walk off; As I get off of the lifeguard chair, however, he stops me, looking down at me with a stern gaze. "So bookworm, where the hell were you hidin', kid?" He asks, and like I did with Courtney, I simply point out to the water, my straw still floating at the surface.
After a second or two of recognition, Chef turns back to face me, and while keeping his gaze as stern as ever, he nods his head my way, showing me just a touch of respect; Game recognizes game, or whatever that jock saying is, I suppose.
"Good job there, know-it-all. You earned that immunity." He tells me, before walking off; Presumably to go handle another of Chris' messes.
-0-
Without much else to do, I go to head off from The Dock of Shame and make tracks towards the boys' cabin, wanting to relax for the remaining time that I had; Maybe cozy up with some more Norton Juster, maybe just take a nap ahead of my own immunity, but instead, my eyes fall onto a certain gentle giant who seems to be looking quite nervous about the upcoming elimination ceremony, and an idea plants itself in my mind, rapidly growing from the rather devilish seed it once was into a blossoming tree, just about ripe for the picking.
Making my way towards DJ, I let myself 'accidentally' bump into him and fall down on my rear, catching his attention as he turns, trying to hide his nervousness.
"Oh, sorry about that, man." DJ states, wasting no time in picking me up and helping me to my feet.
"Thanks." I drone, dusting off my bathing suit, before looking around the area for a couple moments. "Hey, can we talk? Just the two of us?" I ask, catching DJ off-guard.
"Oh, uh, sure?" He offers, and without wasting any time, I head off towards the edge of the forest, knowing that DJ will be following along.
Once we are there, I turn on my heels to face him, looking past the giant for a moment to ensure nobody had followed us. Once my scouting is sufficient enough, I give a small smirk as DJ awkwardly smiles my way.
"So, uh...what do you want to talk about?" DJ asks, his voice stilted in its tone and delivery, allowing my smirk to fade beneath my mask of indifference once more.
"It's about tonight's vote." I tell him, and the nervousness from before returns, forcing me to work harder on hiding my smirk. "As well as that secret of yours, DJ. I've got a way we could potentially rid ourselves of this little problem we have regarding how your last vote went." I explain, catching DJ's attention further, yet he remains silent, allowing me to explain further. "This may sound insane, but if we work together, the two of us could theoretically vote off Geoff, thus ensuring your secret remains safe, as it'd remove the only other person who'd even care about you voting Duncan off." I state, reasoning with DJ on this potential elimination.
However, the response that I get from DJ is...not what I was expecting, to say the least.
"No!" DJ yells out, forcing me to step back in alarm from his sudden anger, before he rapidly calms down, looking around to ensure nobody else heard him. "I-I mean, I get your point, Noah," DJ states, taking a much calmer, much more diplomatic approach this time. "But I...I just can't do that to my bro, you know?" DJ asks, and I force myself to nod along, silently fuming that my plan to get rid of the party cowboy seems to be going up in smoke.
"Look," I sigh, letting a small amount of frustration shine through, "I get it, DJ. I figured it would be a bit too much to ask you to just vote him out like that. I know you've got your loyalties, so I won't push it any further." I reply, causing DJ to smile in response.
"Thank you, man." He answers, but as he goes to walk away, I try to make the best of this opportunity.
"But," I start, getting him to cease his exit. "You have to admit, Geoff's in a really good position right now." I state, making it sound as though I was almost speaking offhandedly about this regard. "Not only does he have you on his side, but probably got Bridgette as well...having a core of three votes to your name is very dangerous at this point in the game." I state, hiding the gleam in my eye as DJ considers my words.
"So...what are you implying? You want to vote out Bridgette now?" DJ asks, folding his arms...and while this wasn't exactly according to plan...why not go with it anyway?
"Exactly." I state, my voice full of confidence, as DJ's arms drop in shock. "I get that you have your loyalty to Geoff, but that doesn't expand towards Bridgette, does it?" I ask, and for a second, DJ's resolve wavers, giving me more than enough time to formulate my next thought into words. "Besides, think of it this way: One of them is going to have to be eliminated soon anyways. It's not like they both can win the hundred thousand dollars, right?" I offer, and DJ continues considering this, before his face falls to a frown.
"...I don't feel good about doing this, man." DJ starts, to which I'm ready to reply and reaffirm this as the best plan possible, only for DJ to cut me off. "But...I guess it won't hurt them, right? Geoff's a strong man, he should be able to handle being away from Bridgette for a few weeks. Besides, if he wins, he'll get to split the prize with her, so it's not like Bridgette's walking away empty-handed either." DJ responds, and once more, I find myself forced to hide my smirk as much as possible whilst nodding my head at his words.
"Sounds like we've got a plan, DJ. Pleasure doing business with you." I tell him, before making my way off back to the boys' cabin, smirking all the while.
-0-
With another vote secured in my favor, I opt to head for the cabin once more, wanting to turn in for the night and simply let the votes fall where they may, knowing it isn't my head on the line, at least for tonight. However, practically right as I settle down into my bunk and pull my book up to the page I left off on, a knock at the cabin door interrupts my precious reading time, causing me to groan as I set the book down once more, standing up and heading for the door. Opening on up, my eyebrow quirks upward as behind the door stands the queen bee herself, looking straight at me with her typical 'resting b-face' on display.
"Hey there, Noah." Heather greets me, my name laced with pure venom as per standard with any time the two of us interact with one another.
Rolling my eyes, I keep my hand firmly on the door, ready to slam it shut at any given moment. "Ah, Heather, what a pleasure it is to see you." I sarcastically drawl, before looking down at the nails of my free hand. "What do you want this time?" I ask, causing her to scowl at me in response.
"Me and you need to have a little chat, Noah." She states, and while a million and one sarcastic replies come to mind, quite frankly? I don't exactly feel up to going toe-to-toe with her yet again, so I opt to keep things simple for her this time around.
"No, we don't." I state bluntly, taking her by surprise as my eyes meet her own. "In case you haven't noticed, I got invincibility tonight, so I think I'm just going to stay here, read my book, and enjoy the safety from ten other judgmental teenagers, our host included." I tell her, before moving to shut the door in her face and lock it behind myself, ensuring she can't just barge in afterwards.
However, before the door can be slammed shut like I wanted to do, Heather suddenly juts her foot out in the path of the door, blocking it from slamming shut and ensuring this conversation continues on. Looking to retort, I take a glance at her gaze once more, but stop myself from making any comment, as rather than the bored, resting b-face she typically sports, or any of her various scowls and sneers she gives off to those who have wronged her like I clearly have just now, this expression of hers...this is something different. Something I have yet to see from the once-dictator of the Screaming Gophers, something I, to be quite frank, enjoy seeing from the woman who thinks herself to be ruling this game with an iron fist and stern gaze.
Heather, the queen bee of the island and the woman responsible for some of the most heinous acts of the show thus far...looks desperate.
"WAIT!" Heather cries out, fighting through the pain of her sandal-clad foot being crushed between door and frame, just to maintain my attention as I look towards her in confused intrigue. "I..." She starts to speak, clearly conflicted by whatever it is going through her mind, but in this rare moment of her guard being lowered for both myself, as well as the entire viewing audience, to see and behold, she lets out a sigh...and utters some of the most magical words I've ever heard in my entire life.
"I...I want to join your alliance..."
At that singular moment, I understand why people tend to seek out dopamine as much as humanly possible. Why people would turn to excessive, hedonistic, self-destructive habits, just to chase another high. Why empty-headed girls like Lindsay were constantly giggling, and bouncing their bodies around without a care about who exactly gets to see her do such a thing. Why convicts like Duncan stole and vandalized people's property, despite knowing the consequences of what would happen if they got caught in such a deplorable act. All of it, each and every last bit of it, was because there is nothing that beats the feeling of pure satisfaction; There is no other parallel to be drawn, no other idiom or turn of phrase that can come close to describing this sensation that, at this very second, I am experiencing for myself for what may very well be the first time in my short, boring life...
And it's utterly euphoric...
Not allowing for my smile to be shown too much to the queen bee, I back up a step and open the door once more, allowing for Heather to enter the boys' cabin and stand alongside me, before shutting the door and locking it behind the both of us, ensuring nobody can come in and ruin what may very well be the greatest moment I've experienced in the game. Sitting down on my own bunk, I motion for Heather to take the one across from mine; The very same one a certain delinquent sat in when I traded him some impromptu advice in exchange for his key to victory in the challenge prior, and let my smile settle into my typical smug grin.
"Alright then, Heather, so you're saying that you are willing to go along with my votes from now on?" I ask, and Heather groans in annoyance at my persistent questioning.
"Yes, okay! Yes, I'm willing to..." She stops, almost having to build up the courage to even repeat what I just asked of her. "...To go along with your plans..." She spits out, her tone full of venom and tarnished pride, but before I can celebrate this any further, she glares my way, seemingly more intense than before. "But only because I want to stay in this game, okay?! I'm only doing this to not get eliminated: There's no other reason to me..." She struggles once more, before her eyes shut entirely. "To me lowering myself to this level!" She exclaims, and I nod my head, trying to bask in this moment for as long as I can.
"Okay then, worker bee, let's make a couple things clear before this little alliance of mine even gets off the ground." I state, noting the displeasure in Heather's expression at her new nickname. "First off, I am making zero promises about our success together. Even with Lindsay blindly following you around, three votes isn't a majority around here yet, so if you end up getting voted out regardless, then I don't know what to tell you." I bluntly state, caring not for Heather's blustering that follows suit, as I quickly shut her up with a hand outstretched her way, my palm facing her gaze.
"However, I am also going to tell you this:" I state, before putting my hand down. "I am not going to betray you." I tell her, leaving Heather more than a bit confused. "If I am going to get rid of you, I am going to tell you up front how you are of no use to me anymore, and subsequently cut your strings off like the puppet you are going to be for me." I explain, looking down at my own nails as her face morphs to one that is full of shock. "But, if I think that you are, in your own words, pulling a Beth?" I continue, glaring Heather's way; Something that surprisingly seems to get Heather to shudder, even if just for a split second. "I will cut you down before you even get the chance to betray me." I tell her, before letting my gaze soften to neutrality once more. "I'm not going to pull any last-second swerves on you, Heather, so I expect you have the decency to do the same for me."
Rolling my eyes, I refuse to let a chance to put out another sarcastic quip slip by this time around. "I know, I know, you're Heather, betraying other people for your own personal gain is embedded in your DNA, but I am giving you one chance, so don't make me regret it, m'kay?" I snark, letting my terms settle into Heather's mind for long enough that she can understand them, but for a short enough time that she can't get a reply in before I stand up, marching my way over towards her side as I sit next to her.
"Now then, listen good. We're going to be voting off Bridgette tonight. Any problems with that?" I ask, Heather's eyes widening at this reveal.
"W-Wait, Bridgette? Why her?" She sputters, causing me to groan in exasperation from having to explain myself to her.
"Oh, I don't know," I drone, "because she's athletic, extremely likeable, and currently aligned with Geoff, who's got one of the strongest potential alliances on the island between her, himself, and DJ?" I reply, and Heather's eyes widen once more, this time in understanding of just how dangerous a competitor Geoff truly is.
"Seems she didn't even realize that there was such a threat forming right under her own nose..." I mentally quip, before re-focusing on the task at hand.
"So, are you in?" I ask, and after a couple seconds, Heather nods.
"Fine, we'll vote off Bridgette. I'll make sure Lindsay gets it through her thick skull that we're getting rid of the other blonde on the island." Heather replies, and for a second, her sarcasm being aimed towards someone else brings a genuine smile to my face, before it is dashed by my own efforts to focus on the game.
"Good girl," I snide, smirking at being able to deliver such degradation straight to the queen bee without any sort of punishment awaiting me for doing so. "Now run along now, go make yourself a good little worker bee for this hive of ours." I mockingly command, and while Heather clearly doesn't enjoy the verbal digs thrown her way, judging off how she's turned away from me entirely, eventually she does indeed stand up and make her way out the cabin, leaving me alone once more, a smile adorning my expression.
-0-
Looking across the room, I spy my book, still face down and ready for me to dive right back in...but after what happened, I feel that now's not the time for reading; It's the time for gloating. With that, I let a couple minutes pass before I too head out the boys' cabin, and make my way over to the confessional, a smug grin making its residence on my visage the entire time.
(CONFESSIONAL)
Entering the confessional and sitting down, I let out a drawn-out exhale before chuckling to myself, almost uncontrollably so, before turning my gaze to the camera.
"This..." I start, trying to stop myself from chuckling, albeit unsuccessfully so. "This is so perfect!" I exclaim, riding the high of my own schadenfreude without a care. "With both DJ and Heather wrapped around my fingers thanks to their own little scares, not to mention that blonde ignoramus following Heather like a lost little lamb, I might as well be running this game!"
At this, my laughter finally dies down, suffering from a death of natural causes as I wipe my eye clear of any tears that may have formed. My smile settles back to a knowing smirk as I sigh, my gaze rising once more.
"I can't be too arrogant, though." I begin, tapping the side of my head. "After all, knowing Heather, this may be the only challenge where I have control over her like this, so I better make it count."
With that, I begin rifling through the ten different headshot photos provided for voting purposes, taking notice that Chris, in his laziness, forgot to remove both mine and Courtney's, as expected of our oh-so-diligent host, before grabbing one of Bridgette's and stamping it goodbye with the same small smirk as before.
"Sorry, surfer girl, but you just got caught in the crossfire tonight." I state, not a care in the world actually being shown for her as I submit my vote, and make my way out of the confessional, the bonfire pit awaiting...
(CONFESSIONAL END)
(Narrator's POV)
With the sun set, and the top ten competitors here on Total Drama Island gathered around the fire, Chris McLean stands front-and-center, pride adorned on his face and a plate full of nine marshmallows total. Noticeably, the lights from before have been strung back up, with Chef grumbling in the background about it inaudibly.
"Alright, campers, it's time to see which of you is heading on home!" Chris exclaims, a blunt tone on display as two marshmallows are quickly tossed out. "Noah, Courtney, you two are immune, so take your taste of invincibility!" He calls out, to which Noah and Courtney seem to do so eagerly; Noah, especially, seems to be all too happy with his performance tonight, as a smug smirk crosses his face upon devouring his treat.
"Now then, the next marshmallow goes to...Owen!"
However, at the call of the three hundred pounder receiving his safety from elimination, that smirk falls into a look of alarm as his mouth gapes open wide.
(CONFESSIONAL)
"OWEN!" Noah exclaims, slapping a palm to his face in frustration. "I forgot to get Owen to vote with me tonight!" Looking back at the camera, Noah's arrogance seems to have vanished entirely, as he comes to terms with what this might mean. "Well, I guess in the worst-case scenario, I did tell Heather that I couldn't promise her safety from tonight's vote..."
(CONFESSIONAL END)
"Next up...Lindsay!" Chris calls out, tossing a marshmallow the bubble-headed bleach blonde's way.
"Trent!"
"Gwen!"
"DJ!"
"Geoff!" Upon his name being called, the party animal lets out a small cheer as he's tossed his marshmallow, before exchanging a look with Bridgette, some of his own confidence on display.
With eight names called, Chris looks between the two remaining campers; Bridgette's attention seems to be fixated on her newfound boyfriend, Geoff, while Heather's is fully on the face of McLean, a bout of nervousness coursing through the once-queen bee as she anticipates what might very well be her own demise.
"There is only one marshmallow left on this plate. You each racked up a lot of votes, and one of you is going home tonight. And cannot return. Ever." Chris states, leading to even more anxiety to be put on display by Heather, whilst Bridgette's attention snaps towards the ceremony. "Although...I am confused why there was still a vote for Courtney tonight. I thought it was made clear that she had immunity tonight?" He asks, and while most others are just as confused as he is at such a vote being cast, Courtney's annoyed scoff at someone wasting their vote covers up the real culprit's own surprised gulp of air.
"Either way, with four votes to her name compared to the other's five, the final marshmallow of the night goes to..." Chris hesitates, pausing for dramatic effect, as the focus switches between Bridgette's tense expression and Heather's ghastly gaze.
...
...
...
...
...
"...Heather!"
At that, everyone at the bonfire ceremony let out a gasp, shocked at the safety of one queen bee; Herself included, even as she is tossed a marshmallow by McLean, which is the only thing that allows for her nervousness to transition into a satisfied grin, Heather popping the marshmallow into her mouth as a sign of her own survival.
"Okay, that was a shocker." Chris states, seeming to be just as taken aback as everyone else there. "Even I'm shocked, and I knew the answer." Turning his gaze towards Bridgette, the poor surfer girl looks as though she has seen a ghost; The same ghost that many others have seen in this same exact position as hers, but before she can head off for The Boat of Losers, Geoff stands up, rushing towards her.
"Bridgette, I'm sorry. I'm gonna miss you." Geoff calls out, getting Bridgette to pause and turn around toward her boyfriend.
"Me too!" She calls out, before her face scrunches up in confusion. "So you didn't vote me off?" She asks, to which Geoff's smile widens.
"No way! I could never vote you off, babe! You're my girl!" He states, before a sheepish expression forms. "I uh, just wish I remembered that Courtney was immune tonight, haha..." He laughs awkwardly, leading to a glare from behind him, coming directly from Courtney as she comprehends the sheer stupidity needed to have voted for her while she was immune.
Bridgette, however, doesn't seem to care too much, as she rushes off towards Geoff, launching herself into his arms. "Aww, it's okay!" She states, before drawing even nearer to the party cowboy, looking him dead in the eyes, a loving smile on display. "I believe in you, Geoff."
With that, Bridgette allows herself to be pulled away from her boyfriend, being escorted off to The Boat of Losers, waving goodbye to Geoff all the while, to which he does the same, sniffling and trying to prevent himself from crying.
"Uh...okay. Bye!" He calls out, giving one final wave towards Bridgette, who reciprocates by blowing the cowboy a kiss from afar; The last thing she gets to see is the sight of Geoff catching her kiss, holding it with torn pride as The Boat of Losers speeds off, this game claiming another victim, off to go join those who have fallen thus far.
(Noah's POV)
"Aaaaaaaaaand clear!" Chris suddenly announces, breaking any and all romantic tension in the air as he turns to the rest of us, a shocked look on his face. "Honestly though, guys. Bridgette?" He asks, still in disbelief over the events that have transpired, to which nobody has a comment; Nobody except for one person, of course...
"Yeah Heather, really? Bridgette?" Gwen hisses, only for Heather to shrug her shoulders.
"Hey, believe me, I'm just as surprised as you all are." She admits, before getting up to walk off with Lindsay in tow, seemingly uncaring of how she nearly revealed our alliance without even trying.
"Moron, don't go revealing our alliance just because you're not the one in charge!" I mentally chastise, yet remain silent on the outside, watching as the others make their way back to the cabins, leaving me by the dying embers of the fire.
-0-
Not too keen on sticking around any longer than I have to, I go to head off, only to once again be caught up to by a certain miss C.I.T. Sighing with exasperation, I turn towards Courtney, rolling my eyes.
"Let me guess, you're going to ask me 'why did I do it' or some other cryptic question like that in regards to getting Bridgette voted off?" I ask, my condescending tone seeming to stun Courtney into silence, allowing me to continue my pre-emptive reply. "I'm feeling rather good about myself right now, having won immunity and all, so I'll be kind as to answer whatever question it is you have." I state, letting my smirk fall at having to go into this diatribe again. "Geoff was a threat in the competition, having an alliance between himself, Bridgette, and DJ that would prove to be unshakeable if left untouched. I voted for Bridgette because it was easier to get her voted off than it would be getting rid of Geoff, and she's also the more athletically gifted of the two. And don't even bother asking who else voted for her, because I don't have a clue who else wanted her gone, princess."
Turning to walk off to the cabins for a good night's rest, I start to depart, only for my ears to pick up Courtney mumbling something under her breath. Stopping in my tracks, I turn back around, rolling my eyes at the mocha-skinned teen, and how she seems...almost embarrassed by what she just replied.
"Can you speak up, please?" I snark, cupping my ear for emphasis. "I may not be hard of hearing, but even a gnat's buzzing is louder than whatever it was you just said to me." At that, I let go of my ear, only for the C.I.T.'s eyes to light up in indignance.
"I said that YOU'RE WELCOME, Noah!" She exclaims, taking me by surprise.
"I'm welcome? Welcome for what?" I ask, curious as to her meaning by this response.
"Are you serious right now?!" She asks, staring at my perplexed gaze. "I just helped you vote off one of my only friends on this island, and you can't even say thank you?!" She yells, causing my mind to grind to a halt.
"You...voted out Bridgette?" I choke out, in utter disbelief that she would do such a thing, only for her head to nod in reply.
"Yeah, I did! But seeing how ungrateful you are, I should have just voted off Heather!" She exclaims, crossing her arms in a huff; Incidentally, this causes her bust to rise up as she places her arms just beneath it, as if emphasizing-
"FOCUS, NOAH!" I mentally chastise myself, averting my gaze back to her eyes.
"Anyways, just consider this us getting even for...y'know..." The C.I.T. trails off, her gaze shifting away for a moment, a blush forming onto her face. "...Helping me out the other night." She states, her voice soft and...almost dainty, in a way? "T-That's all this is though, okay? Don't go looking any deeper into it! This is just us two getting even, nothing else!" She suddenly blurts out, cutting off my train of thought with another indignant cry, to which I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders, opting to take her words at face value.
"Whatever." I curtly reply, before turning around and walking off, paying little attention to whether or not Courtney continues to follow me or not.
-0-
To my own dismay, I am stopped once again once I make it to the cabins, and it's with an annoyed groan that I slowly turn around, only to find myself face to face with...Gwen? Still, I barely have the energy to even stand right now, let alone get into it with the resident goth chick, so I make no effort to hide my displeasure at this ongoing event.
"Sorry, vampire queen, but unlike you, I actually need sleep. So, if you wouldn't mind, I'm just gonna..." I trail off, looking towards the door, only for Gwen to roll her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just coming by to thank you for giving Trent those chips you won during the treasure hunt. But by all means, don't let me stop you from getting your beauty sleep, Noah." Gwen snarks, the grimace on her face almost enough to drive me away...but it's her words that catch my ears; Sarcasm, done so beautifully that even I can't help but smile, as I turn my attention back towards the goth.
"Wait, you're thanking me? I don't remember giving Trent those chips." I quip, testing to see if it was just a one-off, or if Gwen's got more to her than just that one line.
"Oh, you know, that bag of sour cream and onion chips you gave him. The ones you told him to use for a picnic between him and I?" She replies, catching on to my playing dumb. "Unless my boyfriend magically started learning from Duncan and stole them from you." She remarks, and as a smile forms on my face, so too does one on her own.
"Oh, Yeah, watch out for that musician of yours, gothie. He's definitely got some sticky fingers to him. How else would he keep such a good hold of that guitar pick?" I mockingly respond, and suddenly the two of us are laughing at one another, neither of us able to keep a straight face any longer.
It feels...weird, in a way, sharing this moment with Gwen of all people. But I suppose that if there would be anyone on this island that could appreciate the beauty of my sarcastic wit, it would be her...
"So," Gwen cuts through the moment, her smile fading. "You're sure you didn't tell Duncan to...y'know..." She trails off, looking askew, to which I groan in exasperation once more, what's left of my energy being sapped away at having to explain this again.
"For the last time, all I told him was to show off his bad boy nature, not to go around two-timing with the only other girl on the island worth kissing." I snark, my rolling eyes unable to catch the look of shock on Gwen's face as I say this aloud. "It's a shame you were the unfortunate soul who got stuck kissing a green-haired delinquent, but it's not like I wanted him to do that in the first place."
After a couple seconds, a chuckle escapes from Gwen's lips, and she brushes some of her hair out of her eyes. "Y'know, a simple 'no' would have sufficed." She quips, before looking towards me once more. "I believe you, for the record. I may not know much about you, Noah, but I doubt you're that good of a manipulator to be able to get Duncan to kiss me, just to get him voted off." She states, before walking off, leaving me in a rather awkward emotional dilemma; On the one hand, I should be feeling offended at the verbal dig thrown my way in regards to my own cunning play of this game we all take part in...but on the other hand, something about the way she went about it is preventing me from doing so.
After a couple moments, I simply sigh, and enter the guys' cabin, collapsing into my bunk and near-immediately passing out, exhausted from the efforts of the day...
A/N: So, it's the first "canon" elimination of the story. Admittedly, I am not exactly a huge fan of utilizing canon eliminations in stories that don't necessarily need them to happen, but this one needed to be here for the sake of future storytelling. Admittedly, it's not quite on the same level as Duncan's was in the chapter prior, but I had always planned on Bridgette being something of a "buffer elimination" for when I needed to trim the fat from those remaining in the game, and this chapter just turned out to be the place that she got sent packing in.
Otherwise, as I said in the previous chapter, we got to see the beginnings of Noah's embracement of his role as "The Schemer", managing to not only turn DJ further against Geoff by getting him to vote off Bridgette, but also pulling Heather (and, by association, Lindsay) into his grand machinations, thus ensuring a majority vote on the island!
Hopefully you all have enjoyed the story thus far, and I really hope that you all feel that everyone who I've focused on thus far have remained as close to in-character as possible. I know my writing isn't exactly the best (or, at least, I don't think it is), but I am really trying to fix some of the mistakes from the first go-around that I made in this story, and trying to keep things more in-line with canon whenever I possibly can!
As always, remember to drop a favorite if you enjoy, follow the story for future updates, and leave a review to show your thoughts on the story thus far~! Any type of support helps, and I'll be more than happy to respond to any criticism or feedback that is offered my way! Until next time, this is MrLeedles, signing off~!
REMAINING CONTESTANTS: Courtney, DJ, Geoff, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Trent
ELIMINATED CONTESTANTS: Ezekiel, Eva, Justin, Katie, Tyler, Izzy, Cody, Beth, Sadie, Harold, Leshawna, Duncan, Bridgette