WARNING: English isn't my first language, but I'm going to do my best to write as grammatically correct as possible.
Happy new year everyone! I finally got the time to get the new chapter out and I have to say, I hope you had a great time with your families and I wish you the best in this new 2024, without saying anymore, lets go with the chapter.
"Speaking" character speaking
'[Language] Speaking' character speaking in another language
'Speaking' character thinking
~Speaking~ song or character singing
(Scene change)
TDI. Chapter 8: Where do I go?
(Dock of Shame)
We can see Chris in the center of the Dock of Shame "Last time on Total Drama Island..." The camera changes to show the campers listening to Chris's instructions, and then it cuts to the teams making their way to their assigned areas. "The campers tested their survival skills by spending a whole night in the forest."
Now, Heather is shown lunging at Naruto to start a fight. "On the Gophers' side, tensions rise with Naruto and Heather expressing how much they 'love' each other on national TV." The host laughs at this.
At the same time, the Bass have a more peaceful moment, and then the focus shifts to Duncan's story. "For the Bass, they had a calmer afternoon, so calm that Duncan decided to tell them a story that ended up scaring the hell out of his team and gets rewarded with something to keep comfortable." There's a playful tone as the camera shows Courtney hugging the punk out of fear of what is hidden in the woods.
Back to the Gophers, they are attacked by a bear. "I don't know what's up with the Gophers, but it seems that the more divided they are, the more problems they have. They received a visit from a bear last night that got them wetting their pants out of fear... literally!." The host laughs again as Cody is shown wetting up his pants.
The image is cut to the campfire with Trent being eliminated. "In the end, Trent was eliminated by Heather's alliance because our queen bee wanted to take complete control of her own team. Unfair? No idea. Smart? It sure is."
Finally, back to Chris in the campfire area, smiling at the camera. "Four campers are out, and eighteen are left. Who will endure what we have prepared this time? Who will be kicked out of this show and will never return? Find out right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!" he announces as the camera zooms out to show the island from afar, a new effect thanks to the growing budget.
(Opening, if you're curious, read the chapter "Not so Happy Campers - Part 1")
(Campfire pit - night)
"Great, this is just great" Gwen complained after Trent left a few minutes ago; he was one of the few people she liked to hang out with in this show.
"You said it, girl," Leshawna agreed.
"Well, this day has been pretty taxing, so I want to go to sleep in a bed where there are no bears around, night" Heather says, standing up, unless Naruto grabs her arm to stop her.
"Now, what do you want, idiot?" The queen bee wasn't really in the mood to deal with him right now.
"Look, I know we don't get along at all. Our 'conversation' last night proves it. But if we want to win, we have to at least tone down our dislike for each other. Deal?" The japanese guy extends his hand, only for the girl to snort with crossed arms.
"Don't get all cliché, idiot. But let me make something clear to you..." the girl emphasizes, face to face with Naruto, only a few centimeters between them. "Get hurt, don't contribute enough, do anything that jeopardizes victory, and you're out." Heather declares. After this, she'll have to talk very seriously with Lindsay and Beth for considering betraying her. Harold isn't a problem, she already has him threatened and has no idea about her alliance with the blonde airhead and the farm girl.
But before Naruto or any gopher says anything else, they were interrupted by someone else. "Get a room already, lovebirds. Seriously, you need to relieve that stress," and as if by magic, all the tension crumbles when Duncan and the rest of the Bass arrive with some of the snacks and sweets they bought as part of their reward.
"And who invited you here?" Heather refutes, quickly moving a couple of feet away from Naruto for that comment. Great, now she has the mental image of her and the idiot 'relieving stress together.' She'll need a really cold shower to forget about that, damned teenage hormones.
"Don't look at me, the princess wanted to act all saint-like by bringing you some of our snacks. One thing led to another, and here we are" the punk replies, but he receives an elbow in the ribs from Courtney.
"Well, I was talking to Naruto and Heather the day before the challenge, and I know that you are having problems with supplies" the polite girl mentions while all the Gophers give Owen a dirty look, who can't help but try to make himself small with a nervous laugh.
"Sorry" was all the guy could say.
(Confession)
"Well, on the one hand, all of us really need some sugar with the normal menu we have here. But on the other hand, this will make me more loved by the other contestants" Courtney mentions with a victorious smile before looking more closely at the camera while crossing her arms.
"What? This is a competition after all. What would all of you do if you were in my place?" she asks the entire home audience.
(Campfire pit - night)
"Thanks for this, Courtney, really" Cody wasn't afraid to admit when he needed something, and no one can blame him. The food on the island is absolute crap.
"Just like that? Without asking for a favor or anything?" Gwen wasn't sure at all.
"Just pay the same prices from the tuck shop, and we're good" DJ clarifies for the Gophers to shrug. That's fair enough.
"At least we can sleep more peacefully with some sugar; our supplies really were running out" Leshawna relaxes without knowing that Heather gave Owen the last of them to buy his vote.
"We're glad to help" Bridgette tells them with a smile as she hands a box of chocolates while receiving the money in return.
"Don't you want to stay and chat for a while? It's like, not usual that both teams socialize with challenges and that" Harold invites them, and the Bass gladly accept.
"Sure, dude" Geoff accepts without any problem, and then sits on one of the cut logs next to Bridgette and Leshawna.
"Are those two a couple or something?" Cody whispers to Katie, who smiles amused.
"Nope, just friends, I think. Although it's pretty obvious that Geoff wants to date her" the tallest of the BFFF whispers back while the two of them sit together in the circle they form with the log pieces.
"Is this seat taken?" on the other hand, Tyler is with Lindsay, asking if he can sit next to her.
"No..." she responds without problems but freezes when she sees Heather giving her a warning look. "I mean, yes, maybe, I... umm" now the girl stumbles, not knowing what to say until the clumsy jock sits next to her. The guy identified that Heather has something to do with it, so she decided to just help her a little.
"You should be more confident in yourself" Tyler advises Lindsay, causing her to turn her head with a shy blush, while Beth, who sees this, doesn't know what to think.
(Confession)
"It's obvious that Lindsay wants to date him ..." the farm girl sighs. "But she's putting herself at risk of provoking Heather's wrath, and I don't want that for her" Beth admits. Lindsay is very innocent in that aspect.
(Campfire pit - night)
"Izzy, get off from Owen" Eva instructs the crazy girl as she uses Owen as a chair and taps his head like a drum.
"Wow, it sounds pretty hollow. Your head is a great musical instrument, buddy" although obviously ignoring Eva, Izzy continues with her antics.
With an amused laugh, Owen dismisses everything. "I have no problem with this" the oaf then opens a jumbo bag of chips to eat alone, only for Heather to snatch it away.
"Don't even think about it. We don't know how long this food will last, so I won't risk you finishing it all at once" the queen bee declares, and Owen shrinks very intimidated.
"She seems kinda intense" DJ murmurs quietly next to Harold.
"Buddy, you have no idea" the nerd replies. At least he hopes to make friends here and break free from the control of the queen bee.
"Since when did this become a social club?" Gwen wonders aloud, only for Naruto to put his hand on the goth's head, to her confusion.
"Come on, Gwen, you have to open up a little more. You might find lifelong friends here" the japanese guy advises, causing Gwen to roll her eyes as she removes his hand gently.
"I remind you that this is a competition. In the end, we'll be against each other to get the money" she tells Naruto, who dismisses it.
"True, but at least I plan to enjoy what I can of the situation. You should do the same" the guy advises, leaving Gwen to think about it for a moment.
"Hey guys, what are you doing back there? Don't you want to play?" Cody indicates while holding a glass bottle of soda, it seems they are playing truth or dare.
"Sure man" Naruto goes enthusiastically, leaving Gwen behind.
"Just open up a bit more? I think I can do that" the goth whispers to herself, walking towards the others. It seems they challenged Duncan to do push-ups with Katie sitting on his back, to the embarrassment of the latter.
(Mine - 2 days later)
"Since when does the island have a mine?" Beth blinks, quite surprised to see the place.
"I don't know, it was already here before I bought the island..." Chris admits to the curious campers through a television. "But well, today's challenge is to enter the mine and find this location" the host explains while the TV shows various shots of a specific cave in the mine. There are three quite tall waterfalls, one in the background and two on the sides. Each waterfall connects to other locations in the mine. Parallel to the waterfall in the background, there are two cave entrances, and above those same entrances, a few meters above the height of the waterfalls, there are two interconnected caves with minecart tracks. Finally, in the center on the rock floor, Chris is standing on a circular yellow mat.
"Whoa" Katie awes, amazed. That cave looks like it's taken from a movie. How she wishes she had her phone with her to take some selfies in that place.
"You can locate yourselves by finding various signs with the map of the ground level and each of the two available sublevels of the mine where you are" Chris continues to explain while the TV now shows the maps of the ground level and the mentioned sublevels. All these were delimited by red circles, and within these, there were red and green squares, apart from some spaces and routes in blue.
"You can only stay within the area delimited by the red circle. The routes are blocked with yellow tape for easy identification, and anyone 'smart' enough to want to tear them will disqualify their team" the host indicates so that everyone understands.
"The red squares are the elevators, the green ones are the stations of the minecart routes, and the blue areas and routes are the underground rivers and lakes," Chris clarifies for them.
"The cave you should look for is on the second sublevel, so good luck... oh, before I forget, we modified several aspects of the mine to make the challenge more interesting, so I recommend you to stay as together as possible. McLean out" with that, the TV turned off, leaving the teams to plan what to do.
"Now an underground adventure? Awesome. Once I met a family of moles that taught me your tracking and locating techniques," Izzy announces, lying face down on the ground, sniffing a path.
"Yeah... well, how are we going to do this?" ignoring Izzy, Leshawna looks at the ground level map next to the entrance. There seem to be four elevators and three minecart stations.
"Obviously by taking the nearest elevator" Heather indicates, seeing that the closest one is in the north part of the map. The entrance they are located at is in the northwest part of the mine. At least she's thankful that there are arrows indicating where they are currently standing.
"It's good to know that" Duncan and the rest of the Bass also look at the map, but everyone blinks as they notice that everyone wants to go there. It wasn't until after some awkward two minutes of both teams looking at each other that they finally reacted.
"RUUUN!" Heather and Courtney shouted at the top of their lungs so that everyone tries to reach the elevator first, and Eva tackles Naruto while the others advance.
"What the heck are you doing?!" the Japanese guy asks, trying to break free, but he couldn't. The girl had a very strong grip.
"Obviously, slowing you down. You're the fastest one out of all of us" the athletic girl replies, she then throws him back when she noticed they were getting too far and runs to catch up with her team.
"Oh no, you won't!" now seeing that he was the last, Naruto decides to sprint to catch up with them.
(Inside the mine - ground level)
"Holy... pancakes... I need... to rest" Owen was already on his last legs, falling somewhat behind, but Heather wouldn't have any of that.
"There's food in the elevator, Owen!" the queen bee shouts, already knowing what motivates the oaf.
And as if by magic words, the boy's tiredness vanished, and he seemed turbocharged instead, as he shot straight to the elevator location.
"FOOOOOOOD!" the boy yells, not realizing he just knocked Bridgette down in his frenzy.
"Watch out!" an alarmed Harold warns, who was also knocked down. Apparently, Owen couldn't distinguish between allies and enemies at this point.
"Owen, what the hell are you doing?" Heather scolds, seeing how the big guy knocks down Lindsay, Tyler, and Geoff.
Although this didn't do much as she was caught and knocked down shortly after.
(Goal)
We can see Chris and Chef sitting, laughing as they watch Owen make his way like a bulldozer through a TV they have with them.
"Man, this is good" the host laughs, only to notice where Heather landed.
"And it looks like Heather found one of our surprises" he enjoys thinking about how the campers will adapt while giving Chef a high five.
(Inside the mine - ground level)
"What just happened?" Eva wonders to herself as she passes through the area, ignoring the knocked down Gophers but taking Geoff with her while Tyler closely follows, carrying Bridgette.
"Owen was what happened" the clumsy jock replies.
"Really?" Naruto, not far behind and carrying Harold and Lindsay, couldn't help but notice Heather and decides to help her get up. However, the queen bee didn't realize she cut a thread, making the mine cave shake, and suddenly they started falling.
"Now what?" Gwen complains, turning back, but only to open her eyes as wide as possible, amazed and horrified to see the ground behind her starting to break and fall.
(Confession)
"IS CHRIS TRYING TO KILL US?!" the goth girl shrieked as she clutches her head.
(Inside the mine - ground level)
"Every man for himself!" Duncan yells out as everyone tries to run faster. Owen, DJ, Leshawna, Beth, Courtney, and Gwen manage to enter the cave containing the elevator just before the ground collapses, leaving another route to go.
"Quick, people, move!" Eva shouts, giving her all to reach the other cave still carrying Geoff, next to Duncan, Cody, Katie, and Izzy.
"Run, Tyler!" Bridgette shouts, gripping tightly from terror, but a stumble from the guy caused them not to make it in time, falling below.
"Guys!" Geoff shouted, extending his arm while Eva continued running.
"We'll see them again, Geoff. I don't think Chris will kill us on national television," Eva tries to reassure him before stopping as the ground stops breaking.
"Whoa, that was amazing! I can feel the adrenaline in my body!" Izzy, on the other hand, was having fun with what just happened.
"What are we going to do? The collapse of that route sent us here, and we have no idea where to go" Katie mentions, somewhat worried, only to calm down a bit when Cody touches her shoulder.
"Everything will be okay, Katie. Right now, we just need to move forward" the geek replies for Duncan to nod.
"True, the only thing we can do is move forward. Izzy, can you find the nearest elevator?" Duncan asks the crazy girl, who salutes militarily upon hearing it.
"At your command, Captain!" the girl acts very animatedly to start searching like a mole.
"Umm... Is that normal?" Cody asks confused.
"More than you can imagine" Eva replies to lower Geoff and follow Izzy.
(Mine - elevator on the way to sublevel 1)
"We only have the first sublevel available, great" Leshawna mentions sarcastically, risking their necks just to go down one floor.
"It's something we can't change. Let's move forward and hope to reach Chris" Courtney reassures.
"With the teams mixed up, I have no idea who's going to win" Gwen clarifies with a thoughtful look.
"I just hope those who fell are okay" Beth murmurs quietly, making the mood worse.
"I hope that too" DJ replies. Falling in a mine collapse doesn't sound very pleasant, to say the least.
"Everyone hopes for that," Courtney replies, just noticing that they reached the next sublevel and with the map on the side, apparently, this sublevel already has water routes to the south, although there are only two, it has five elevators, counting the one they just came out of. Something to highlight is that it has ten minecart route stations, much more than the floor above, although that could be because there are many hollow areas, especially in the northwest and southeast, indicating that there is not much area to walk.
"How did Chris modify this place?" Leshawna wonders looking at the map, this already seemed like it was taken from a video game.
"I have no idea, but look, the nearest elevator is near the center," Gwen indicates to show that location, in fact, they have to walk a bit.
"Yes, a minecart ride!" on the other hand, Owen is very excited and was going to continue if not because several splash sounds were heard.
Approaching to see, they can identify a hole from which several rocks fall, probably from the route that just collapsed.
"Well, at least we know there's water below," DJ sighs pleased, at least his other teammates will fall into the water.
"We better keep going. This challenge won't be won on its own" Leshawna clarifies, so she and her momentary companions agree.
(Mine - sublevel 2)
Rocks are falling into a large underground lake, although if we focus on one of the shores, we can see a hand coming out of the water and then see Harold crawling out.
"Note to self: get out of Owen's way when food is involved." Now completely out of the water, he lies on his back to let the shock of the moment leave him.
(Confession)
"That was, like, one of the scariest things I've ever experienced in my life..." Harold admits to the audience at home, although he then acquires a confident smile and crosses his arms. "But now I can say with camera evidence and all of Canada as a witness that I survived a cave collapse." Oh yeah, he can now imagine people asking for his autograph.
(Mine - sublevel 2)
After the nerd calms down, he can see Naruto reaching the shore as best as he can while carrying Heather and Lindsay with him. Although Harold doesn't like the queen bee, he's not a monster to let her die, so he stands up and goes to the shore to help the japanese guy by taking Lindsay and helping her out. Apparently, both girls are unconscious, so he lays Lindsay down and helps her expel the water she swallowed by performing CPR, which he learned at one of his camps, which helped a lot as the bombshell wakes up and coughs up the swallowed water.
"Thanks for the help, Harry" Lindsay thanks him, already calmed, although the guy gives her a flat look.
"I'm Harold" he corrects her, making the bombshell look confused.
On the other hand, Naruto does the same with Heather, causing her to wake up and expel all the water out of her lungs. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Dweeb" he tells her, but the girl slaps him.
"The hell is wrong with you, woman?" he scolds, only for Heather to smile smugly.
"Just wanted to make sure I was alive," she replies cheerfully before getting up.
(Confession)
"Great way to thank someone who saves your life" Naruto snorts with crossed arms.
(Mine - Sublevel 2)
Finally, Tyler and Bridgette emerge from the water, taking several breaths to control their breathing.
"I h-h-hate th-this mine" the surfer says, struggling to get Harold to lie on his back and let the shock pass.
Next to her, Tyler notices the guys from the other team, but needing help to get out of there, he calls them once he found his voice, getting their attention.
"Oh no, no way" Heather flatly refuses to team up with them, something everyone notices, unable to believe she's willing to leave them there.
"I'm sorry, Dweeb, but I'm going to help them. We can't leave them like this" Naruto just goes to help them, with Harold and Lindsay following him, although the latter wanted to take the opportunity to spend time with Tyler.
With a frustrated growl, the queen bee has no choice but to follow them.
(Mine - Ground level)
"How much longer are we going to keep going like this, Izzy?" Katie asks, quite confused. They've been walking for a while and haven't found anything. She appreciates that the cave routes have lights, attributing it to hidden cameras because Chris does not want to miss any details.
"Silence, don't interrupt a mole in its work" the girl scolds until she suddenly stands up, startling the others.
"Aha! There's worked metal nearby. Follow me, guys" the crazy girl says, running and leading the others to find a station of mine carts.
With a surprised whistle, Geoff can see that everything is functional. The carts have brake levers and everything. "I'm impressed, dudette" the party guy congratulates her, getting on the one in front with Cody and Katie. Meanwhile, Izzy and Eva take the one right behind.
"As far as I can see, we're in the southern area of the level. We really got lost" Duncan clarifies, looking at the map. The nearest elevator is in the east, but he doesn't want to risk it.
"Hey, dude, the map doesn't indicate where this leads" Geoff calls his attention, but the punk denies.
"No, it just tells us where we are," Duncan replies before going to sit with Eva and Izzy, allowing the temporary team to release the brakes and move forward.
"You know, this is more relaxing" Cody relaxes in his place as the others nod.
"True, but we have no idea where this is taking us, so keep your eyes open for an elevator," Eva instructs them, and everyone agrees.
"Ooh, I see a light at the end, maybe we're going outside" Izzy indicates at the front, confusing the others. The zone map doesn't show an exit other than the entrance, and this one didn't have rails when they entered. But when they finally arrived there, they could glimpse something that left them with slacked jaws, a path worthy of a roller coaster, probably one of Chris's surprises. Although if they look down, they will notice an underground lake all the way down.
"Um ... guys ... we should stop" Katie was ready to pull the lever, but Geoff stops her.
"Best … roller coaster … ever" he mentions excitedly, as Izzy and Duncan are equally thrilled. Eva and Cody wanted to stop, but it was too late since gravity takes its toll, and the two carts go straight into the lake at the bottom.
(Confession)
We can see a completely trembling Katie from fear. Her hair was all backward due to the speed at which they were going, and her skin was somewhat pale.
"I-I-I'll n-n-never be on a r-roller coaster a-a-again," she speaks as best she can.
*Static*
"That was amazing, people!" on the other hand, Izzy was completely euphoric, with a smile that threatened to split her face, eyes wide open, and all her hair backward, for the same reasons as the mining roller coaster.
"Again, again...!" she repeats, then laughs like... well... Izzy.
(Mine - Sublevel 1)
"Again? Ugh, this is infuriating" Courtney is usually quite calm, mostly because her parents took her to anger management. But they had already covered a large part of the sublevel, finding two more elevators that only took them back to the floor level.
"Alright, the only ones left are in the southwest and northeast" Owen fills the rest of his temporary team with what's going on, pointing to the remaining locations. They can see there are only maps in the elevators and mine cart stations.
"Let's just get this over with" Gwen irritably says, walking alongside the others along a path they hadn't taken before.
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if that elevator takes us back up," Leshawna was already quite tired of the challenge.
"Hey, do you guys hear that?" DJ asks as they walk.
"Water?" Beth blinks, as they didn't have to walk far to see an underground river, not too deep, barely reaching their ankles. It seems they found one of the routes that connect to the south.
"Let's just finish this already" the goth didn't want to argue anymore and starts walking in the direction of the river, with the others following.
"I just hope it's not polluted" Courtney says to herself, following the goth with the others.
"I don't know what you guys are complaining about; this seems like a great adventure," at least Owen finds this amusing.
"Not everyone has your optimism, Owen" Beth clarifies as they walk carefully.
"But it's like a treasure hunt," Owen pouts as if he were a child.
They walked a bit more until they reached the route's limit, with two options, a natural slide to the left and a normal path to the right.
"To the right without a doubt" Leshawna clarifies for almost everyone to agree, but Owen decides to launch himself down the slide.
"Owen!" Courtney scolds him, but it's already too late.
"Great" Gwen had had enough of this.
"We can't leave him alone, girls" DJ clarifies to go down the slide too.
"You must be kidding" Leshawna couldn't believe what she saw.
"At this point, we don't have options," Beth resigned herself before going down as well.
The last three, having no other choices, decided to slide down too.
"Can anyone see anything?" Leshawna asks Gwen and Courtney, who are behind her.
"No, it's a path without deviations" the goth girl clarifies, while they hear Owen's amused laughter.
"Owen, DJ, Beth, can you hear us?!" Courtney tries to call her teammates, but the big guy's laughter prevents them from hearing.
"Don't bother, girl. I doubt they can hear us" Leshawna indicates, and then they are surprised to hear that from laughter, it turned into screams.
"Um, I don't think I want to know what happened there" Gwen was already quite worried about that.
"Well, get ready, we're about to arrive" Leshawna announces to exit the natural slide and fall directly into an underground lake that curiously has a rail route above, similar to a roller coaster.
"Damn it, Chriiiiiisss!" Gwen curses as best she can while falling and screaming alongside Courtney and Leshawna.
(Confession)
"What? It's to add excitement to the challenge" Chris explains himself to the audience at home, though he crosses his arms indignantly.
(Mine - Sublevel 2)
"Why do you never listen to me?" Heather's frustrated voice can be heard as the temporary team travels through the carts. When they reached the station and saw the map, they realized how much they've descended. To their surprise, they are on the cavern level. The sublevel, on the other hand, has two underground lakes, one in the northwest and one in the southeast, both creating various water routes in the sublevel. Heather didn't want to get herself wet anymore, so they had to use one of the four minecart stations in the north, heading to one of the five stations, making a total of six. Besides that, there are only two elevators, in the southwest and center, probably the ones Leshawna and the others were heading to before Owen deviated down the slide.
"I listen to you, I just choose to ignore your paranoid comments" Naruto replies, much to the bee queen's irritation.
"What do you think will happen to her being with those two? They can take advantage of her" Heather accuses, but the Japanese dismisses it.
"As if that could happen. Unlike you, I know something called socializing, and those two won't do anything to Lindsay" he retorts, Heather really wants to strangle him right now, and is barely holding herself back.
"Everyone on the other team is not trustworthy. Why can't you understand that?" the girl accuses him.
"Seriously, my life is a constant suffering" the japanese guy puts his hand on his temples to prevent the headache.
"When did you figure that out?" Heather snorts.
"Remind me again how long we have known each other" Naruto retorts back with a smug grin, leaving her stunned for a few seconds before returning to herself to continue bickering without realizing how they sounded.
'Mom, dad, have you finished fighting?' a grumpy Harold sarcastically wonders in his head, being in the same cart as those two. They agreed that Lindsay would travel in the back cart with Tyler and Bridgette, and as always, Heather wants nothing to do with the Bass because she fears Lindsay will reveal something. And as always, Naruto is against her, but right now, those two look like a married couple arguing whether their daughter's group of friends are good people or not, although ...
'Heather is hiding something,' that's more than obvious to Harold. He helped eliminate Trent after all, and apparently, he wasn't the only one because with only two votes wasn't enough, someone else had to help. He turns around to see Lindsay laughing with Tyler and Bridgette. Undoubtedly, the bombshell knows how to make friends, and even if he feels bad about what he's thinking of doing, she does know something. That's why Heather protects her so much.
They were so caught up in their argument without realizing where they were going.
"Wow, it seems we have the first ones to arrive" Chris announces to see the carts, but for some reason, they didn't stop and just passed by, causing confused blinks from Chef and the host.
"Or maybe not" he mutters to himself to see what happens with the other two groups on TV.
(Mine - Sublevel 2 - Water routes)
"Where are you taking us this time, Izzy?" Eva asks while everyone is swimming in the route they are on. At least they can use the stone wall to grab and rest.
"We just have to go straight, I can feel the victory" with that, the girl guides the rest of her group to notice that the current increases. "Oooohh, the water does the work for us, thanks Mother Nature" with that, the girl lies down in a floating position and lets herself be carried, ignoring the others.
"Izzy, come back here!" Duncan couldn't believe the girl would abandon them like that.
"To hell with this" Eva decides to swim to catch up with her. They wouldn't lose their only guide in this cave.
"Wait, don't leave us!" Cody also starts swimming with Katie and Geoff following closely.
"Crap" Duncan follows them without having much choice.
They continued like this for a couple of minutes, only to see another illuminated exit.
"Izzy, what do you have with taking us to possible deaths?" Katie was already turning around, but she couldn't because of the current.
"I'm just adding excitement to our lives Kate, enjoy it. Maybe we'll find a mega slide this time" she suggests, starting to swim ahead.
"Get ready!" with that warning from Geoff, everyone passes to see the objective cavern, too bad they were at the top of one of the waterfalls, causing them to fall.
"Hey, guys, you're the first ones to arrive" Chris greets them when they come out of the water and reach their mat.
"Finally!" with that, Katie lets herself fall, while Izzy pouts.
"Ahhh, I wanted my slide" the crazy girl complains.
(With Owen's group)
"I already told you I'm sorry, girls" the oaf felt quite nervous because of the looks from Gwen, Leshawna, and Courtney, who were in a cart ahead as they traveled on the rails.
"Don't expect a simple apology next time, big guy," Leshawna clarifies.
"Are there still no clues about the cavern we have to go?" DJ asks Beth, who accompanied him in the front cart, and she shakes her head.
"No, at this point, we'll have to consider taking the water routes to get there." Although she sees something ahead that piques her curiosity "Hey DJ, don't you notice something over there?" With that question, the jamaican turns to see that indeed there is something ahead that is gradually getting larger.
"It seems so..." As the seconds pass, he can make out that they are other carts and getting closer to collide, DJ gets an alarmed look "Everyone, stop!" he shouts to the others, getting concerned looks.
"What's going on, man?" Leshawna asks, alarmed, but everyone opens their eyes to see that they are on a collision course.
"You heard him, everyone stop!" Gwen signals for everyone to use their brakes.
Harold, on the other hand, was already resting his head on one side of the cart, completely regretting sitting with his teammates who continued bickering with each other. It wasn't until he lifted his gaze to notice something in front of them, focusing his vision a bit, he sees with horror that they are on collision course. In an act of bravery and human stupidity, he pushes Naruto and Heather aside to check that they are indeed about to collide with other moving carts.
"What the hell is wrong with you, you damn idio-" Heather was about to scold him until she gasped in terror at the impending collision "Everyone stop!" she screams as best she can, grabbing the attention of those in the back cart who, upon looking closely, are equally terrified.
"Stop now!" Bridgette exclaims, so everyone in their part pulls the brake lever. However, it wasn't until an agonizing couple of minutes in which everyone was screaming that they managed to stop just a few meters away from each other.
"That was close" Courtney murmured, sliding into her cart, now relaxed after being able to avoid the collision.
"Wait a minute, Naru, Heather? Guys, you're safe!" on the other hand, Owen was glad to see the others alive, giving each of them a bone crushing hug.
(With Chris)
"Oh, come on, that collision would have been awesome" the host complains, seeing that there was no crash.
"I know, what terrible service! I want my refund!" Izzy also complains, agreeing with the host, getting concerned looks from the others.
"At this point, I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore" Duncan mutters to himself.
"Well, if you can't get action, create the scene yourself," Chris says, pulling a remote out of nowhere and pressing a button to continue with his show.
(With the unified team)
"I'm glad you guys are okay" Courtney gives a hug to those who fell, well... almost all, as Heather refused to be hugged.
"And now we have a larger group. What will we do from now on?" DJ asks, making everyone blink.
"We can split into our respective teams" Leshawna suggests, something the Moles consider.
"Or we can stay together" Bridgette offers her idea. They are options to consider.
"We're just risking them taking advantage when we're close to the goal" Heather informs them.
"Or we're risking them getting there first by finding a better route" Naruto counters, leaving everything at a standstill. But before they can decide, everyone feels the ground shaking again.
"And now what?" Gwen exclaims, seeing that now the ceiling is falling on them.
"Run!" Tyler indicates for everyone to go through the route from which Harold's group came.
(Confession)
"It's official, I hate mines" Gwen says, hugging herself in a fetal position with a terrified look.
(With the unified team)
"I see... a... light," Harold indicates as best he can due to the tiredness of running for his life.
"As weird as it sounds, run towards it" Leshawna instructs so everyone can pass in time, narrowly avoiding the collapse.
"We made it!" raising his fist with joy, the big guy is somewhat calmer.
"But where are we?" Beth asks, noticing they were on a bridge, and everyone looking down can see that they reached the indicated cave.
"Wait a moment, have we been here before?" Bridgette barely realizes that data, making her and her provisional team feel like idiots.
"Hello, campers!" Chris speaks to them through a megaphone, "I'm glad you finally made it, but to register that you have arrived, you have to step on the mat we are standing on. You better hurry because I'm charged for every extra second if we go over the time given per episode, and we're already on the edge!" he instructs them all.
"You've got to be kidding me," Gwen complains.
"It's Chris, at this point, I'm not surprised he would do something like this," Leshawna comforts her.
"Alright, time to go down, let's take the waterfalls," Courtney indicates, so she, along with Tyler, Bridgette, and DJ, move to jump into the nearest waterfall, which is to the right.
"Move it, we won't be last" Heather orders, so the remaining Moles do the same.
"Idiot, immobilize one" Heather orders as she tackles Courtney in the water, at least preventing everyone from arriving first.
"Sorry for this, dude" Naruto apologizes to Tyler, who happens to be the closest, so while this happens, everyone manages to fall from the waterfall directly into the water at the level where Chris is.
"Great, the show just got better" Chris says as he watches Gwen and Leshawna emerge from the water, heading towards the carpet, followed by Harold, Bridgette, and Owen.
Meanwhile, it seems that Lindsay swallowed some water again, making it difficult for her to breathe and swim. Naruto and Tyler, who saw that, immediately went to help her.
DJ and Beth, on the other hand, swim to the shore and reach the carpet later.
"All right, only five more to go, hurry up, guys, time is money, and in this case, not for me," Chris tells them, prompting those who already arrived to give him a blank look.
(Confession)
"Enough money to modify an entire sector of a mine, but not enough to pay for overtime seconds" Cody questions with a puzzled look.
(Cave)
Returning to Tyler and Naruto, they manage to help Lindsay out of the water. However, they are not yet on the carpet. Tyler uses the Heimlich maneuver to help her expel the water, and she takes deep breaths.
"Better?" Tyler asks, concerned, only for Lindsay to nod in gratitude.
"Round 2," but everything is interrupted by Naruto, who tackles the two, causing them to resume their struggle.
(Confession)
Duncan is laughing hysterically, "Dude, don't ruin a moment like that."
*Static*
"What? As much as I dislike the Dweeb, I know she and Courtney will end up in a tie, so I'll keep Tyler entertained until those two reach the carpet."
(In the cave)
"Hey, Dweeb, drop what you're doing and go to the carpet!" Naruto shouts, causing the Korean, who is still grappling with Courtney, to notice that they are the only ones left. Trusting Naruto for once, she decides to let go of the struggle, allowing Courtney to advance to the carpet.
"Three left, finish already, I can see the bill" Chris scolds them.
Heather is also advancing, but seeing that those two are still struggling doesn't give her as much confidence as before. Wanting to secure victory, she grabs a rock, big enough to throw without any problems, and takes the opportunity to throw it with all her strength directly at Tyler's private parts. The guys who witnessed this cover their parts and close their eyes, feeling phantom pains, with a collective "Oooohhh" except for Izzy, Chris, and Chef, who laughed at that.
Now taking advantage of the opportunity, Heather grabs Naruto by the ankle without giving him time to react and drags him to the carpet.
"And... the... victory goes to... the Gophers" Chris announces amid laughter, leaving the winning team unsure whether to celebrate or feel embarrassed about the way they won. Lindsay, however, looks genuinely worried.
(Campfire pit)
"All right, just for today, I'm going to skip the usual drama and go straight to the marshmallows," Chris announces, looking at his watch to get on with it.
"Bridgette, Eva, Izzy..." the three mentioned sighed as they received their marshmallows.
"DJ, Duncan, Geoff, Katie..." they receive their marshmallows, with Geoff trying to catch his with his mouth, but it bounces off. Now, only Courtney and Tyler are left, exchanging a worried look.
"Normally, I'd do the dramatic stuff, but I think we all know who's going home. Sorry, man, being the only one on your team not to make it is a bummer" Chris says, throwing the last marshmallow to Courtney, who sighs in relief. Tyler, on the other hand, lowers his head in disappointment.
"Nooooooo!" Everyone is surprised to see Lindsay emerging from a bush while holding her head.
"What da fu...?" Geoff couldn't finish as he watched Lindsay hug Tyler, surprising the clumsy jock even more.
"Normally, I'd accept this, but we're already over the limit... Chef." With a snap, the host separates the two, throwing Tyler into the Boat of Losers and sending Lindsay off with a wave, somewhat disheartened but also strangely hopeful for some reason.
"What a day our campers had..." Chris puts his hand on Lindsay's face, then pushes her, capturing the camera's attention. "Who will be the next person to leave? How long will it take for Heather to realize that Lindsay isn't with the rest of the Gophers?" he mentions, just as the bombshell gasps and quickly rushes to her cabin at max speed.
"Find out next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!" he concludes, getting another zoom-out showing the island, but his voice can still be heard "If you'll excuse me, I'll be checking how much they charged me for overtime minutes."
End of the chapter.
Campers:
Screaming Gophers: Beth, Cody, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Naruto, Owen.
Killer Bass: Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Geoff, Izzy, Katie.
Eliminated: Justin, Noah, Sadie, Trent, Tyler
My first original challenge, I hope you liked it. I'll try to publish a bit faster now that I'm somewhat free, if you guys have any ideas of original challenges, you can suggest them if you want and I'll see what I could implement them in the future.
If you are curious in how the story continues and can't wait to see what happens, you can read the spanish version, even though you'll need a translator or know the language.
And well, that's it for now from the not so much of a reader now.
I will be reading the reviews, accepting constructive criticism and interesting ideas.
Until next time.
(Off-camera post-credits)
Tyler was quite disappointed sitting on the Boat of Losers, he lost in a pathetic way and doesn't know what to think. He just wanted to go back home and resume training for better balance and coordination.
He placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket to warm them a bit due to the cold night, but he was surprised to feel something odd in the right pocket. Upon taking it out, he found a folded piece of paper.
Upon seeing what was written, he couldn't help but smile and recall his little discussion with Duncan during the talent show challenge. It seems that joining the show wasn't such a bad idea after all.
And what was written on that piece of paper after all? Just a phone number along with the words 'I want to know you, Lindsay.'