Team E-Scope sat by the empty resort pool, watching the still water ripple before them. On a table beside the chairs they were using, there was a stack of paper. The stack of over 20 pages was nothing but notes that was sent into Izzy's room to try and communicate to her. It only took a few moments to get a response, and all of them were concerning, but not nearly as bad as that first one.

Why do you guys care?

I dragged you down enough.

I'm just the freak who can't catch a break.

All the other responses were in a similar ilk, and while it didn't make their hearts stop, it was still really concerning. This was forgien to this whole show, both in and out of the main competition. No one had spiralled this bad. Not even Katie was this wild when she and Sadie were separated in season one. Not even Eva after season one's merge, and she showed up at the Playa in a straight jacket.

This whole situation had the trio stumped. Izzy didn't seem like she was going to hurt herself at all, but she had yet to actually say anything. No one could get into her room, and after yesterday, staff really tried.

Because of her costing the second chance challenge, trashing the stage, and basically wrecking the shows budget, they tried to enter her room to demand answers. But they couldn't get through the room's front door, and trying to take the way from the balcony revealed she had blocked the whole thing from the inside. So, as of this moment, she was completely isolated in that dark room.

Most of the staff had talked to Team E-Scope if they could get her out, but when Noah explained their side of the situation, they weren't questioned again. It was kinda frustrating, with how dead said the producers seemed to getting to Izzy. They didn't get that she shouldn't be cornered, and that doing so would make things worse.

So, so much worse.

It was a rough time.

"So… What's the plan?" Eva asked as she leaned forward, staring out at the water. "We can't keep doing just this. Izzy hasn't eaten since she got back, and we have no way to get her any food. So what do we do?"

Noah didn't look over at his friend, instead leaning back in the lounge chair he was in and looking up at the tropical blue sky. "I'm… I'm honestly not sure. For once, I don't know what to do. Iz won't listen to us at all, so…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "So I'm stumped."

"There has to be something we can do!" Owen cried out desperately. "We can't just give up on her!" He looked over at the papers, which were weighed down by an empty glass. "I'm… I'm gonna write another letter." The blonde boy got up and ran inside, his other two friends watching him go.

When the door closed behind him, Eva sighed. "How many more do you think it'll be till he gives up?"

"Knowing Owen, never. He's too nice to give up on anyone." The bookworm stood up and stretched. "Wanna walk around the resort and make sure no one sets any fires?"

The Fitness Buff shrugged, but followed her friend regardless. "Got nothing better to do…" She made sure to grab the pile of letters and pen before they both left.

The duo headed inside, passing by some of the resort staff along the way. The employees shot them unreadable expressions, but it was clear they were hoping Team E-Scope could get Izzy out of her room. The producers were being very loud and obvious about it, using the staff as a load of puppets to get the message across.

Blaineley herself was making a big stink about the whole thing as the auditorium getting completely trashed means she took a credibility hit, and the damages meant she had to have her next check docked when she was entirely innocent in the whole debacle, even if you ignore she wasn't and that Geoff and Bridgette got equal pay cuts.

Team E-Scope especially made sure to avoid Blaineley at all costs if Eva wasn't nearby, as despite her build she could be pretty violent and aggressive. Thus meaning Noah and Owen, if the Raging Bull was doing something else, would order room service for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

As the duo entered the front foyer, they were surprised to see Gwen walk in, looking a bit confused.

"Hey there, Gwen", Noah said calmly as the duo walked up to her. "You seem a bit lost."

"Yeah… The intern that was escorting me just kinda… Left me at the front and ran." The goth looked at the other two. "I'm assuming that has something to do with Izzy?"

The bookworm nodded. "Yep." He punctuated the P. "It has all the staff in a very… irritable state, the best way I can put it. They keep trying to get into Izzy's room, but she completely barricaded herself in there."

"Even you can't get in?" Gwen looked at Eva in surprise.

The Fitness Buff shrugged. "We tried at first, but she moved the vanity perfectly so the door would barely budge. Then she locked the door. So Owen's been slipping letters under the door to hopefully get her to talk."

"And?"

"She's been… vague about it", Noah said with a light frown. "All the responses we get from her are… very concerning to say the least."

Eva handed the goth the letters, and she read over all the messages. The more she scanned over, the more her face twisted in horror. When she reached the final note, she looked sick, and quickly handed the letters back while she stumbled on weak legs.

"Holy crap, now I get why Merida is so worried…" Gwen said, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. "That… That was a lot…"

"Yeah, and now you know." Noah took her hand and led her away. It was custom for eliminated contestants to be kept away till the next Aftermath, but with the tension within the resort, Noah wasn't taking any chances.

"Your room is upstairs with the others", Eva told a confused Gwen. "So if you want, I could get you a room key and you could set up down here with us."

The goth looked to the left as they stopped, glancing at the scratched and dented door into Izzy's room. "I'll think about it."

The Fitness Buff nodded and walked into her room just as Owen left his, slipping his newest note under the Psycho Hose Beast's room door. He sighed as he stood up, before turning around and looking at Gwen.

"Oh, Gwen!" The blonde boy said happily. " You're here now!" He reached forward and hugged her, knocking all the air out of the goth.

"Nice… To see you… Too… Owen", she croaked. The loveable lug put her down, and she took a deep breath. "It was… definitely a lot less fun without you around."

"Awwww, shucks, you don't mean that." Owen blushed, and that made the goth smile. The two of them headed down the hall, talking and catching up considering they never talked much.

Noah smiled as they walked away, before his gaze slowly moved towards Izzy's door. His smile fell, and he found himself subconsciously walking over, pressing his back on the wood, and slid down to the floor.

"Hey Iz", he began quietly. "I know you… I know you aren't happy right now. After everything that's happened, I don't blame you. I just worry. You're my best friend, Iz. One of them, at least. You made me open up a bit more, and look at what I achieved by it! It's thanks to you I'm even here…" His slowly growing smile fell again. "So I just… I want to help you through this. Please."

He was greeted with dead silence, and let out a sigh. But as he stood up to leave, the note slipped back under. The bookworm looked down at it in surprise, and when he read it, he only became more confused.

JUST YOU

A click behind him made him jump to his feet and spin around, seeing the door open that tiniest bit. With his heart beating loudly in anxiety, he carefully walked in and closed the door behind him. The light was still broken, but it was clear that the vanity was moved just enough so he could squeeze in.

He couldn't see Izzy anywhere from where he stood, but when he took a step, a voice spoke up.

"Lock the door and stay there."

Noah froze for a moment, then did as he was told. He locked the door, and sat on the vanity. He made sure to brush some of the broken mirror shards on the ground before sitting on the flat surface. When he rested on the wooden surface, he caught sight of movement from behind the bed.

Izzy was behind the bed, the odd cord like things still jutting out of her head.

"Izzy?" Noah asked quietly.

"Why?" The redhead droned out. "Why do you keep trying?" Her voice sounded like her vocal cords were shredded from constant screaming.

"Because you're my friend. After everything, I'm not going to give up on you so easily. Especially since all of this is scaring me as much as you."

A moment of silence. "You see it, don't you? My broken outline."

"Your… Your what?" Noah asked in surprise.

"You see it, the black line that's snapped. You have it too… I just noticed it sooner."

The bookworm was silent as he looked down at his hands, that thick line that surrounded his hands finally being noticed. Did… Did he always have this? This thick black line that traced around his whole body.

"I couldn't escape it", the redhead whispered. "I could see it in every reflection, along with her."

"Her?"

"The me that was happy. The me that was still with Owen. The me that didn't have a care in the world. I was okay, but here… I'm broken. I lash out, I'm an emotional mess. I freaking kissed a girl. I'm not the Izzy I'm supposed to be…"

Noah looked at the barely visible wild child, letting everything she was saying sink into his head. "You… You saw something you shouldn't have, did you…"

"I didn't want to, but I was too curious for my own good…" She shook her head. "I can't tell you. At least not now." There was a beat of silence. "But… I needed this."

Noah perked up. "Really?"

"I do love you guys… I just need time. Maybe when Merida finally shows up, then I can tell you guys. But… not now."

"Okay, Izzy…" The bookworm said sombrely. "Just… Let us know when you need us, okay?"

There was a subtle nod visible in the darkness, and the boy took this as his cue to leave. He stood up and walked towards the door, pausing as his hand rested on the doorknob. In his mind, he was contemplating asking one last thing.

And when he couldn't handle it, he looked over his shoulder and asked it.

"Do you love Merida?"

SIlence.

"I do love her. But I'm not supposed to. She's not from here…"

That was all Noah got before leaving, closing the door behind him. As soon as it closed, he heard a click as the lock was turned again, and a thump as he presumed Izzy moved the vanity back to block it. The boy found himself standing all on his own in the hallway, near silence except for the whirring of the ventilation. He looked down at the note that was still in his hand, taking note of the thick border that outlined his body.

This was why Izzy was so weird this season. He didn't know that this meant for himself or anyone else on this blasted show, but he'd be sure to get to the bottom of it at a more appropriate time. Right now, he needed to go and relax after all of that, so he walked off, hoping to run into Owen and Gwen at some point. Maybe Eva if he was lucky.

As he walked down the hallway, however, he could faintly hear what sounded like soft sobs, which made him stop and turn around. The sobs were muffled as they came from the locked bedroom door, and each one broke his heart more and more.

Merida needed to get her ass here soon. Otherwise it'll keep getting worse.

Despite everything, Noah was hoping for a double elimination. He did honestly miss Merida, she was snarky and sassy in all the right ways.

And if she was the key to fixing his friend, he'd keep hoping she'd walk through those stupid front doors soon.

He always hope for things to be fixed soon.

~X~

Merida paced in the common area in frustration, a contemplative look on her face. Courtney was in First Class with her ex, the manipulative duo of Alheather were in Economy with Tyler, and the fangirl and geek were with the princess. Sierra and Cody watched the princess pace with worried and guilt ridden faces at their lack of communication.

Gwen was gone, so now they lost the numbers advantage they had against Alejandro and Heather. Which meant they had to hope the tiebreaker wasn't that bad. One that would let any of them take down Tyler, who was the weakest link on the enemy team.

Well, 'team' was a bit superfluous right now, considering they were merged, but it felt like that. It was still two teams, with the remnants of Team Amazon going up against Team Chris and the traitor Heather. It was suffocating, with how tense the hatred and aggression between the two teams was.

Chris walked by the pacing princess, shooting her a smug grin. It was clear how he felt about all of this.

When he disappeared into Economy, Merida growled and spun around. "That bloody bastard doesn't care about all of this. All he sees is little dolls he can discard."

Sierra looked very uncomfortable. "I'll be honest… If I knew this season would end up like this, I wouldn't have joined. I know it can have a lot of drama, but this is… A lot more than I bargained for."

"I'm with ya', Sierra", Cody said. He then looked at the archer. "How are you holding up, Merry?"

She sighed and slumped down across from her friends. "Not well. All of this is stressing me to 'ell and back, and it's all because that manipulative snake is really pushing me to my limit. Alejandro acts all high and mighty, but he's no different than Mor'du…"

The other two shared a look, then looked back at the princess. "Who's More Do?"

"Mor'du", the princess said again slowly, tracing the letters in the air with her finger. "It was this story my mum told me constantly, about how one brother of four decided he wanted more, and it caused not just his family but his whole kingdom to fall apart. It was her way of making sure I didn't become too rebellious."

"Dang", the fangirl said. "And you don't like how Alejandro is no different."

"Aye. He acts like he should be the king of it all, but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen. Just have to knock him down a peg…"

"And we'll help you with that for sure this time", Cody said with a determined fire flickering in his eyes. "No more accidentally voting for the wrong person."

The princess smiled at her two friends. "Thanks." She sighed and leaned back. "I'm gonna head to the Cargo Hold, just get some space before the next challenge. Knowing, McLean, it'll be soon. Catch you two later."

The two friends waved the princess goodbye as she headed through the elimination area and all the way into the Cargo Hold. She never would've expected it, but this massive, somewhat cold room filled with crates was becoming her favourite place in the plane. It was just so isolated, so separate from the rest of the plane, and almost no one was ever in there. It was nice, as it let her get some escape from all the noise.

The Dun Broch heir massaged her temples as she sat on a crate, before lying down on it and looking up at the ceiling.

She said and did nothing as she just sucked in the quiet interspersed with the hum and shifting of the plane. It was somewhat cathartic, but didn't ease her worries and anxieties.

As she laid there in the swirl of worrisome thoughts, her phone buzzed with activity. She pulled the device out, hit the answer button for the call, and brought it up to her ear.

"Hey", the princess said in a tired tone.

"Hey there, Merry", Iris' voice called through the speaker. "Just calling to check up on you, make sure everything is okay."

The princess sighed and rubbed her face with her free hand. "It could be better, but I'm fine right now. More just tired of all this bull."

"Yeah… Yeah I don't blame you." The cyclops sighed herself. "Things have been really stressful here, on our end. Everyone is trying to figure out what we should do, but we're stumped. Izzy isn't answering her phone, The Doc and Zomboss can't hack the rest of the resort's cameras for some reason… We're just stuck."

"I feel you, Iris…" The princess sat up. "I'm constantly battling up a mountain with this show. After everything, I seriously wonder if any of this was worth it. Bloody 'ell, I could tell something was wrong with Izzy months ago. I should've sat her down and talked to her then, rather than… All of this…"

"We're all worried about Izzy, Merry. Heck, she's basically my sister! So I'm constantly worrying if she'lol be okay or not."

The princess nodded. "What… What are you guys hoping to have happen?"

"Well, Zomboss is planning on going to the resort to hopefully get something hooked up so we can check out the security feed or something. I don't know the full details, this science stuff has never been my strong suit."

"When is he going?" Merida asked, suddenly extremely invested.

"Very soon. In fact, he'll probably head out by the time your next challenge starts."

Merida pulled the phone away from her to mutter something, then brought the phone back to her ear. "Okay, yeah, that's good. He just better make sure he doesn't get spotted."

"Don't worry, Merida, he won't. Mainly because… Amy and Rory are tagging along with him."

"Wait, really? Then why doesn't The Doctor go with them, while Zomboss stay behind?"

"Something about The Doc needing to hang back in the TARDIS to make sure things are running smoothly or something. That's what they said to all of us, anyway."

The princess groaned. "Okay, that's better. But after the challenge, update me on how things go, got?"

"You got it, Merry!" There was a distant voice on Iris' end. "Oop, Ruby's calling me. I should get going. Nice talking with you!"

Before she could say goodbye back, the call hung up, and the princess was left sitting on the crate with her mouth agape. She closed and stuck her phone into her pocket, looking off into space as everything Iris told her repeated in her head. Zomboss, Amy and Rory were going to sneak into the resort… They could potentially run into Noah, Eva and Owen. They could talk, and find out more about what happened.

"I swear you better be okay, Izzy…" The princess whispered. She stood up, only to stumble when the entire plane shook a bit roughly. As she tried to refine her footing, the intercom blared to life.

"All passengers report outside now!" Chris announced as his voice echoed through the large room. "We're at our next destination! So get your butts into high gear, we're on a schedule!" The PA fizzed out, and the princess immediately rolled her eyes.

She made her way out of the room, making sure her bow and quiver were still on her person, and marched through the elimination area to the drop of shame door. She jumped down to the grass covered ground and looked around, quickly catching sight of a large stone wall that snaked over the mountains.

"Ever been to China before, Merida?" Courtney asked her friend.

The princess shook her head. "Never. Japan a few times, but never China. Kind of surprising, considering how 'world trotty' me and my friends are. China was always on the list, but we never found much reason to go yet."

The Ex-CIT shrugged and nodded. "Fair. It can be pricey, so you guys waiting for the perfect reason makes sense."

"Have you travelled a lot?" The princess asked, shooting her friend a curious look.

The Type shook her head. "Not really. Unless you count inside Canada when it comes to going to Wawanaka and then the movie lot, then no. This season is the most I've travelled worldwide, so… Yeah. I bet everyone else here would say the same. Except maybe Alejandro."

"Maybe…" The redhead stopped in her tracks when she joined up with the rest of the contestants, all of them standing before Chris. Off to the side, there was a start line set up at the bottom of a ramp that led up into the Great Wall.

"Ni hao", Chris said with his usual grin as everyone gave him undivided attention. "Welcome to China! A vast country rich in history, culture, innovation and… delicious sauces. Our first challenge is torn from the pages of a rich history. In eight million BC, King Dim Sum led a battalion of donkey warriors down…" The host spun around and gestured towards the Great Wall, "… this very Great Wall."

Merida's face twisted in horror at the brazen, very nearly there racism. Like, this wasn't even like Japan, this was just full stop the host being completely clueless at what he was saying.

"Eight Million BC was the Miocene Era", Courtney corrected. "There were dinosaurs!"

The host crossed his arms and shot her a scowl. "Yeah, what she said." His grin came back. "We've provided a selection of vehicles to trace to our mystery destination. They're first come first serve, it's the Chinese way." Merida's look of horror only grew, but that was discarded when the host raised his hand.

"Ready! Set-" Chris stopped, leaving everyone standing awkwardly as they posed to start running. And it was all because his phone began to go off. "I better take this." He pulled the device out and started talking into it, making the contestants all shared looks.

"Do we go or what?" Heather demanded.

"Yep", the host said to whoever was on the other side of the phone.

"Yep, we go?" Alejandro asked.

"Yeah, can we do this later?" The host looked at the contestants and held up a hand, silently telling them to stay there.

"So we go now?" Duncan asked.

"Okay, fine!" The host barked into his phone.

Tha seemed to come across to the others that they could go, so they all ran off. Except Merida, who didn't get going as she looked at the host.

"Hey, who said you could go?!" The host waved at the contestants, then looked over at Merida. "Well, at least you listened."

"I had a feeling", the princess said with a shrug. "Should I go now, or…"

"Yeah, just go. Since you waited like you should've, you get first dibs on the vehicle of choice. And you get to know about the little surprises I left in your path. Oh, and be sure to get over the finish line before the gong rings. Otherwise, you're out for the next part of the challenge."

"Yeah, yeah, I got…" Merida shook her head and ran after the rest of the pack, quickly catching up to them all. She ran ahead of them all, shooting Courtney a very knowing look, making the Type A nod.

When she reached the top, she quickly made her way towards the pair of roller skates, and quickly put them on. Scrap Baby had helped her practice with them, and at this point Merida was really good. Not a pro, but still really good. So when the skates were strapped on, she blasted off down the wall's battlements. The wind whipped passed her as she did her best to stay steady and calm, but that was thrown out the window when she passed over a mine she only just saw.

She cried out in shock and pain as she was engulfed in the explosion, then slowly wheeled forward a bit as she came out of the explosion covered in soot. Her hair was a disaster, but with a shake of her head she focused back on the task at hand. Looking behind herself, she could see the others all gaining on her, so she pumped her foot and returned to her max speed.

She made sure to dodge more mines in her path, but heard them go off behind her. She winced as Duncan, Courtney and Tyler could all be heard crying in pain, but steeled herself and kept going forward. She needed to win, and this was her chance. So she just kept going all the way down the wall, giving it her all.

~X~

Noah left the lounge room all the contestants were in, watching the next episode of World Tour live. He just needed a break from how stuffy it was, and the constant silent commentary from everyone was getting to him. So he made his way through the halls of the resort towards the back, heading outside onto the pool deck.

He was honestly grateful the producers rented out the whole resort for the season, but it might've explained the whole 'budget running low' thing. Well, that and Chris egregious spending on superfluous things that only benefit his wants and not the show's needs.

It made the bookworm very angry that this was the man he played assistant for a whole year for. This man was so ego driven he'd be willing to kill his own show for his personal gain. It made Noah wonder if Chris only became a host so he could get a bunch of free cash and basically get free vacations.

"Knowing McLean, I wouldn't be surprised if that is true", the bookworm said out loud to himself as he sat on one of the beach chairs. He looked out towards the still waters of the pool, listening for the distant cheers and cries of joy of distant vacationers.

It was pretty peaceful, and it helped the bookworm relax after the endless emotional turmoil.

Only to jump when he heard a gate nearby to slam closed. He sat up and looked over, catching three strangers in intern equipment staring at him like deer caught in headlights. One was a short green man with a head bigger than his own, another was a woman with long red hair and the third was a man with short brown hair.

"Uhhhhhh… Hi", the brown hair man said sheepishly. "Sorry we startled you… We thought all the contes…tants would be inside."

The bookworm shot him a weirded out look. "Right… Well, if you three need to head in you can."

"Yes, thank you", the short green man said.

Noah shot him a look, and the more he started, the more tense things got. But then, when the short man looked him dead in the eye, it all clicked for Noah.

"You're that intern from Action!" the bookworm shouted. The trio gasped, and the red haired woman dashed forward and covered his mouth.

"Zip it!" She hissed, her Scottish accent making Noah's brain spark. "We aren't supposed to be here, so if you let us go and do our thing, we won't tie you up in a closet."

"But- No, wait." Noah wiggled free, facing the short man in surprise. "You three are friends of Izzy, aren't you?"

The trio froze. "How do you know?"

The bookworm sighed. "Izzy locked herself in her room, so we stuck her luggage from the plane in Eva's room. I ended up catching a glimpse of a photo that slipped out of her bag, and you three were in it. So who are you?"

The short man sighed. "Okay, this makes it a lot easier." He took off his glasses, hat and wig, revealing his bulbous head. "I am Doctor Edgar George Zomboss, and these two are Amy and Rory Pond." Zomboss gestured at the red haired woman and brown haired man, respectively.

"I… I see." Noah couldn't stop staring at Zomboss. "Are you…"

"A zombie? Yes. A super genius zombie who doesn't like to be kept up and distracted. So stand aside and let us do this." Zomboss shoved the bookworm aside, with Amy and Rory following close behind.

"No, wait, hold on!" Noah ran up and beside the zombie scientist. "Why are you guys here? Are you going to force Izzy out of her room, because if you do-"

"Just going to stop you there", Amy said in a firm tone. "We aren't here to do that. We just need to get into the security system so we can watch the cameras."

Noah was in shock. "Wait… you're trying to hack into the cameras?"

"Zomboss and The Doctor did it already", Rory said like it wasn't a big deal. "We've been able to watch all of you live since the show started. So we know about… What's happened with Izzy."

"Oh…" Noah became silent, slowing his pace just a bit, before picking it back up before he could fall behind. "So… Why do you want to hack the cameras."

"So we can keep tabs on Izzy", Zomboss said quietly, peering around a corner before passing. "She won't answer her phone, and we've all been worried sick about her. And with Merida still on the show, we're all kinda stressed out. So the three of us are here to get into the cameras, then we are gone."

"And it's that easy for you three how exactly?"

"You'll learn soon enough, Noah", Amy whispered. "Now just pretend we weren't here." She darted off with the two guys, Rory mouthing a "Sorry" as they disappeared around the corner, Zomboss quickly putting his disguise back on as they did so.

Noah was left standing there, looking at where the trio once was. His mind was working overtime, trying to register that he just met three of Izzy's mysterious friends from elsewhere. And one of them was just a straight up zombie. The intern that snuck onto Action all that time back was an undead human scientist with no ears and a brain almost half the size of his body.

And they never realised it.

He trashed the whole city set of the movie lot battling the animatronic monster trying to protect that group of freaks Izzy was seen with.

This… This really recontextualized everything. But then he realised something, and looked down at his hands.

Amy and Rory didn't have these thick black lines like he did. In fact, neither did Merida. And slowly, everything began to click in his head, in regards to everything about the show, his life, this world.

"Izzy… What did you realise?" The bookworm said in fearful disbelief, looking down at his own hands. He shook his head, and looked ahead with a determined scowl. With a newfound fire, he ran after Zomboss, Amy and Rory, intent on getting to the bottom of this.

~X~

Merida used a hill in the wall to launch into the air above a line of mines, then landed firmly and kept up her speed. She was shooting towards the finish line, and she smiled as it neared, the gong glinting in the sunlight. As she reached the bottom of the slope, she angled her feet upwards so the brake bumpers on the back dragged on the stone ground.

"Watch out, McLean!" She called out. The host looked up, and sidestepped as the princess shot by, slowed then stopped a bit past the gong.

"Nice stop right there, Merry!" The host congratulated with a few impressed claps. "This is what happens when you actually listen to me!"

"Yeah, sure", the princess said with an eye roll. She looked over behind the gong as she moved to take off the skates, only to freeze when she saw a confused Cody sitting in a driverless rickshaw. "Cody? How the bloody 'ell did you get here before me?"

The geek looked around, looking very lost. "I don't know. All the other vehicles were already taken by the time me and Sierra got to the top, so she took the donkey and I was stuck with this. In the blink of an eye, I was here."

The princess shot her friend a weirded out look, before looking over at the finish line. Duncan and Alejandro barrelled over the line, followed closely behind by Sierra. All three of them looked like complete disasters, covered in soot and their hairstyles a mess.

"You three okay?" Cody asked as he walked past Merida and to Sierra's side.

"All good… mi amigo", Alejandro said weakly as he stumbled around a bit, tripping off his skateboard and onto the ground. Duncan followed shortly after, tipping over on his bike and crashing on the ground.

Merida rolled her eyes and quickly took off her skates just as Courtney rolled off across the finish line. She looked catatonic in shock, staring ahead while her hair looked like she went through a wind tunnel. When she slowly came to a halt amongst the others, her tricycle comically fell apart and she landed on her butt, gripping the small handlebars tightly still.

Heather came across right after, wearing traditional sandals. She had lost balance, and ran straight into the gong before crashing on the ground on her back.

Chris chuckled quietly at everyone's misfortune, and walked over to the gong. He grabbed the mallet, and prepared to swing. "Alright people! It's time to start the next part of the challenge!" He bashed the gong, making everyone but himself wince.

"Wait, what about Tyler?" Alejandro asked in worry.

Everyone perked up at the sound of a distant explosion, and looked back to an earlier part of the wall to see a series of three explosions be set off, one after another.

"He seems a bit preoccupied right now", Chris said with a smug grin. "The interns will bring him to us when he finally catches up. Until then, the rest of you, follow me!" The host began to make his way over and down a ramp much like the one at the start, and everyone followed after him. It was a quiet walk, but when they reached the bottom, they saw what looked to be a restaurant of some kind not too far away.

The seven contestants followed the host inside, and when he gestured for them to take a seat at a long white table, they all did so with zero hesitation. After they were all situated, Chris faced the camera that was across from them.

"To win today", the host explained. "You'll have to eat more than anyone else at this totally awesome Chinese restaurant."

"Who doesn't love wan tans?" Cody said happily. "Last New Years, I ate about a thousand of-" He was cut off by the host.

"Except, this is the world's most authentic Chinese restaurant. You'll be enjoying real street food delicacies, like deep fried grasshopper, king pow larva."

He stopped when Alejandro gagged, looking about ready to hurl. "You okay, bruh?" Duncan asked in surprise.

The Spaniard took a sharp breath to try and recover. "I'm fine. Where I'm from, we eat barbecued Guinea pig. This is-", He gagged again, "-nothing."

The host looked down when his phone rang again, and with a scowl he accepted the call. As he walked passed towards the kitchen, muttering angrily at whoever was on the other side, Merida shared a look with Courtney.

"So, we both know we gotta do everything we can to not lose immunity, right?"

"Right", the Type A responded, giving a firm nod. "Just beat Heather and Alejandro, that's all that matters."

The princess nodded as the host hung up the call and put his phone back into his pocket. "Okay, you have to eat each bowl of delish food, opening your mouth to prove it went down. If you're the last to finish, or ya' puke, you'll sit over here on the loser bench with Tyler… When he decides to show up."

Chef came by pushing a cart loaded with food, and tossed one bowl before each contestant. Cody gave it a very worried look as he picked it up with chopsticks to get a closer look.

"What is it?" He asked.

Rather than getting a proper answer, a familiar double ding sounded off, making everyone's eyes widen.

"Allow me to begin today's number", the host said happily. Much to everyone's ever growing embarrassment, the host began the number as a way to introduce the dish.

"Uhhhhh… Is it roasted eel?" Cody asked.

"It's donkey meat!" Chris responded happily. "Local delicacy."

Alejandro, Duncan and Heather looked close hurling, while Courtney cringed, Merida's face warped in disgust, Cody gagged and Sierra swallowed nervously.

"Chris… Is this made out of the donkey I…" The fangirl said.

"Who knows." The host shrugged and smirked, which didn't inspire confidence.

It was painful, but eventually everyone went to take a bite…

Only for Alejandro to throw up the moment the food entered his mouth.

"Alejandro! Disappointed to say that you're the first one out!" Chris said. The Spaniard slumped in shame and defeat, making his way over towards the loser bench. "The rest of you, eat up!"

The remaining contestants frowned and shared looks, before they all engulfed the donkey meat cube in one bite and began to chew. Courtney was the first to swallow, followed by Heather and Sierra, though none of them were exactly thrilled. Merida was the next to swallow, and she gagged heavily but kept the food down.

"I eat bloody Haggis! How is this so bad?!" She slammed her face onto the table top, groaning as her stomach gurgled in protest.

"Welcome to Total Drama, sister", Duncan said as he swallowed, leaving Cody as the next one out of the challenge. "This sort of stuff is just every day for us."

Merida could only moan in disgust as Chef took the empty bowls and swapped them with bowls filled with still very much alive bugs. Merida got one look at it as the host sang the second verse of the song, and her vision blurred.

"It's still moving its feet!" Heather cried in horror. "It's hundreds and hundreds of disgusting little feet!"

"Live mealworms!" The host said with an excited grin. "Local delicacy!"

Everyone at the table gagged, but did all shovel back the mealworms eventually. Merida was second to swallow after Duncan, with Courtney and Sierra shortly after. That left Heather as the last one.

"Heather, you're out!" Chris said. "Loser bench!" The Queen Bee, still with a bunch of mealworms in her mouth, puked them up onto the host's face, leaving everyone in silent shock.

Although Merida did look close to following shortly after. Thankfully, however, she didn't.

The next meal, given out after the third musical verse, was, as Chris called it, Starfish On A Skewer. Merida gave the impaled sea creature a look, picked up the stick, and choked the starfish down. She was the first one done this time, with Courtney and Sierra following right behind. This meant Duncan was the one eliminated, which he took with meek pride.

The next meal given to the trio was… simply just a green slop with an octopus tentacle and eye stalk sticking out.

"Yeah, even we don't know what that is", the host said with a shrug as Chef stood beside him.

"Well that's comforting", Courtney said with an eyeroll. Sierra got one look at the food and began to guzzle back some kind of tea, which she had been doing since the eating challenge began.

Chris was about to kick off the next verse of the song, but was interrupted when his phone went off again. He let out a loud sigh and quickly took it out, scowling as he talked to whoever was on the other end. The three girls at the table all shared looks, each in different states of pain from all the food they had to eat.

"I can't bloody take this…" Merida hissed, clutching her stomach. "I'm not used to eating shit like this." She made sure to swear quietly, but based on Chef's glare, it was still heard.

"I feel you, Merry…" Courtney groaned.

"Maybe since we're all on the same side", Sierra whispered, glancing at those that were out. "Two of us just throw so one of us gets immunity."

"I say Merida", Courtney said quietly. "That way she doesn't have to deal with a tiebreaker in a weakened state."

"You two are the best", the princess weakly said back with a small smile. "Thanks."

The fangirl and Ex-CIT smiled back with a nod, and they both took a big bite of the meal. It seemed like they didn't even need to pretend in the end, though, as they both got the taste of the final thing and let it rip, puking their guts out on the table.

Chris looked up from his call, and ended it with a sadistic smirk. "Well, it looks like Merida wins today's challenge!"

"But she didn't even touch her final dish!" Heather whined, pointing angrily at a pained Merida.

The host shrugged. "Hey, this was just meant to be a process of elimination. Merida is the last one standing, so she wins!" The princess weakly cheered, lifting her fists above in victory. "And as a bonus, she gets to take someone of her pick into First Class with her! After the elimination, of course."

Everyone sighed and stood up, ready to get this day done and over with. Merida weakly stood up, but that was enough to get her heart beating and blood flowing, which helped her push aside all the nausea. Although she did get close when she glanced at the vomit on the table. So before she could crack, she ran out into the fresh air and took a deep breath.

Much to her shock, the plane wasn't that far away, which was pretty nice.

"Hey guys!" A new voice called out. Everyone jumped and looked over to the left, seeing a very discombobulated and banged up Tyler. "Sorry I took so long, I got lost after… One of the explosions knocked me away. So, when are we starting the next challenge?"

"You missed it, mi amigo", Alejandro said, walking up to his friend. Merida rolled her eyes and walked away, drowning out the rest of their conversation just so she could vote and then relax.

She quickly boarded the plane and beelined towards the confessional, which luckily already had passports of all the current contestants. Merida made quick work and stamped Tyler's passport with no hesitation, dumped it in the voting box, and then quickly left without a word. She pushed past Duncan a bit roughly, and made her way over to the elimination area's bleachers.

She sat down at the bottom row, and as the contestants all took turns filling their vote, the plane took off. Chris made his way over behind his podium as everyone slowly filed in, with glares being shot between the two sides. Courtney and Sierra sat with Merida, with Cody right behind them. The other four all sat on the opposite side, the air tense and angry.

Chris got the passports from an intern and began to read them off. "Courtney. Tyler. Courtney. Tyler. Courtney. Tyler. Courtney, and the last vote is for… Tyler!" The host flashed the final passport. "It's a tie."

"Alright, prepare to suck it in the tiebreaker, Tyler", Courtney snarled.

The mood shifted when the host's phone rang again, so he simply picked it up and tossed it behind him. "As much as I would love a hilarious and lopsided tiebreaker, we sadly can't do that. The producers are breathing down my neck about the budget, and what Izzy did is still leaving its mark. So they asked me especially to boot two people at once." He held up two parachutes with a grin. "So today is perfect."

"What?!" Everyone shouted in shock.

"Hey, it's not entirely my fault. It turns out the producers actually miscounted, and we don't have enough episodes to boot you all. Apparently if we did have someone come back, then it would have thrown everything out of whack. So Courtney and Tyler are taking the drop."

The host tossed the parachutes at the two eliminated contestants, and then had two nearby interns push them forward. They both complained relentlessly, and in Court's case even tried to get free, but it was no use. Both contestants were shoved out of the plane, their cries fading as the grew farther and farther away.

The host scowled, sighed, then faced the remaining contestants. "Consider yourselves lucky. This whole season has been a mess because of Izzy, with a bunch of psychologists sending complaints at us for how we treated her. Whatever happened at the Aftermath was the tipping point, so now I just want you six to be yourselves and rake in the ratings." The host shook his head and walked off towards the cockpit, grumbling all the way.

Merida was just frozen in shock, the host completely forgetting about her bonus for winning. Sierra and Cody shared a look, and quickly got the princess to her feet and led her away from the others and all the way to First Class. Once she was in the luxurious part of the plane, Merida stomped her foot in rage.

"For fucks sake!" She cried angrily. "Of course, of bloody course the producers decide they have to be all whiny and complainy. This was our chance to turn the tables on Al and Heather, and now we're still in the same place as before."

"Maybe the producers are unknowingly being biassed", Sierra said. "Alejandro is probably a big money maker for them, being a new face and all. Like me and you! So they'll unintentionally pull the strings to keep the new faces around longer, maybe even till they're finalists."

"Reality shows like that do tend to do that a lot", Cody mentioned as he walked over and sat down in one of the chairs. "They have their biases. Heck, maybe Chris is also in on it because, I mean, he used Alejandro to trick all of us onto a season."

"He's why Izzy got roped into all of this…" Merida snarled. She groaned, burying her face into her hands, and sat in the chair across from the geek. "I hate this stupid show."

"We all do, Merry", Sierra said, leaning beside her friend and giving her back a reassuring rub. "But we'll squash that Spanish poser, the three of us together!"

The princess looked at the superfan, and nodded. But even with that as a support, the princess couldn't help but worry about how this changed things. How she could even really come out on top. With all these odds stacked against her, she could only hope.

And pray that things were going better at the resort for Noah and the others.

~X~

Noah peered around the corner with Zomboss, Amy and Rory, scanning for any staff that could stop their plan. After catching up with them, the bookworm had offered to help them with the cameras if they could answer him a single question afterwards. But right now, it was espionage time.

"I'll be honest, this is more up Izzy's alley", Noah said as the quartet snuck down a hall and into the security office.

"Trust me, this isn't our forte either", Rory muttered as he glanced into the hallway one last time before closing and locking the door. "Okay, the sooner we get this done, the better."

"Already on it, Williams", Zomboss said. He pulled out a laptop, set it down on the desk, plugged it into the computer already there, and got to work. "This won't take long, these primitive whelps have inferior tech to what I'm used to."

Amy rolled her eyes, and leaned closer to Noah. "He always acts like this. All bark and no bite."

"I heard that!"

"Maybe I wanted you to!"

The zombie overlord and Girl Who Waited began to spark into a quiet bickering match, making Rory bury his face in his hands as he released an exacerbated sigh.

Noah shot him a raised brow. "Is this common with you guys?"

"Yes. It's all out of love, but some of us just really but heads. It is a bit tiring, but hey, it just makes us closer in the end."

The bookworm hummed, then faced the bickering pair again. "So you and Amy are married, did she take your name?"

"No. My last name was Williams, but our friend the Doctor showed up, announced me as Mr.Pond, and it just kind of stuck. No complaints here."

The bookworm snorted with a light smirk, and things fell into a silence as the bickering petered out. Zomboss worked tirelessly, and soon enough he closed the laptop.

"And we're done. Who has all he needs to get this done now." The zombie faced Noah. "Now, what is your question Noah? We should get going soon."

"Right." The bookworm took a deep breath. "My question is… Who are you guys?"

The trio all shared looks of contemplation, then all faced Noah again.

"Just a bunch of weirdos from different worlds, kid", Amy said with a smile. "One kid brought us all together, and now we can't escape each other."

"Although none of us would have it any other way", Rory elaborated. "Caleb did a lot for us, and now we're all here."

"Consider it the weirdest, most dysfunctional family ever", Zomboss finished. The trio swiftly left after, leaving Noah standing there to process it all. When the door clicked closed, he shook his head and ran after them, only to be greeted with an empty hallway sucked into a silence.

He looked around, but saw no trace of them.

He looked down at his hands, closed them, then decided that was enough weirdness for now. He closed the security office door and left, trying to locate his friends. But he couldn't stop thinking about what they had said.

Different worlds.

Dysfunctional family.

And that kid was named again. Caleb. It was definitely the same person from Action. He was there… Travelling…

Noah decided that when Izzy was comfortable, or whenever Merida showed up, that was when he would finally ask.

Because he wanted to learn more about Caleb.

Hear about why he's so special…

~X~

And chapter 22 is finished! Getting closer and closer to the grand finale of this fic, and I am really excited for when that happens. Because then I'll have written over a total of almost 700k words across 130 total chapters. This is, like, the most effort I've put into writing ever.

Now, a lot has happened. Izzy opened up a bit, Noah met three of her weird friends, and Courtney and Tyler were eliminated.

First, the eliminations. Merida getting immunity was so the Courtney vote made sense, and Tyler just simply reached the point he wasn't needed. I still wanted China to have a double elimination, and without Blaineley, Tyler was the most obvious choice.

Izzy is healing, but she needs more than just what she's doing, so following chapters will have her interacting with Team E-Scope more. Maybe even Gwen and Courtney?

And then Noah meeting Zomboss, Amy and Rory… I won't say much on the front. Gotta wait till later, shhhhhhh…

Anyway, hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter! Only eight more to go!

Up next: Izzy begins to slowly open up more while Merida hunts wild game in the grasslands of Africa…

~Caleb~