"Heather," Cody snarled, "What the fuck was that?"

If Heather was bothered by his attitude, she didn't show it - instead, she merely raised a questioning eyebrow at him, which only made him angrier.

"What?" She shot back, "I got rid of Tyler, which means Lindsay won't be at risk of getting swayed from us anymore. A thank you would go a long way, you know - it was a genius move!"

Cody felt like he was going to burst a blood vessel. "Thank you? Why would I thank you for hurting Lindsay even more? How the hell did you get her to vote out her boyfriend?"

"It really wasn't that hard," Heather said cheekily, ignoring the way Cody was steadily losing his cool even further, "All I had to do was turn on the waterworks and give Lindsay a show. 'Oh, Lindsay, I'm sorry I haven't been as nice as I should have been, but I have to warn you! There's an alliance forming to get rid of us because of how close we are, and I hate to say it, but Tyler's right in the middle of it! They wanted to vote me out tonight, but since I have invincibility, they're going to vote for you! We have to vote Tyler off to protect you!'"

Cody's jaw dropped. "She… she believed that? It was really that easy?"

"Of course not," Heather snorted, "For some reason Lindsay is really attached to that oaf. But with enough pleading, subversive threats about cutting her hair in the middle of the night, and tears, it didn't take long. I don't know exactly how the vote went down, but with me, you, Lindsay, Izzy, and Bridgette voting for Tyler, there was no way he was saving himself. The rest are too divided to pose a threat to us, and with each person we pick off the easier this will become."

Heather narrowed her eyes. "Looking back on the vote, Tyler probably threw his on Izzy or Courtney or something, while DJ, Courtney, and Duncan did vote for Lindsay, which definitely helped make it more believable. However, that means there's a target on our backs, so we might need to ditch her if we ever get put into a risky vote -"

"Holy shit," Cody breathed out, ignoring the dirty look Heather briefly sent his way for interrupting her, "You're horrible."

And like an ice pick to his soul, Heather had the audacity to laugh.

"Thanks, Cody!" She chuckled, "You're too kind."

Cody was dumbfounded. Where was the girl he knew from World Tour - hell, even Action? Where was the kindness she had shown Sierra, DJ, and himself? Shit, even earlier this season he had thought he'd seen Heather start to change for the better?

What an idiot he was. Clearly she was just as manipulative and villainous as ever.

And he had helped her get here. He had just about handed her the game on a silver platter.

Well, for no longer.

"Hello?" Heather repeated, "Earth to Cody!"

Cody blinked, refocusing and returning from his own head, and Heather grinned.

"There you are!" Heather grinned, something that made him positively sick. "Now, where were we? Next, we should -"

"No."

Heather raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean I'm not helping you anymore," Cody said simply, "You've gone too far."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Heather asked, "I literally paved the way for us to win!"

"And I don't care!" Cody spat, finally raising his voice. "Do you not remember the deal we made, after the cooking challenge? I told you I would save you from that vote and work with you, so long as you worked on being a nicer person. Not an angel, not a savior - just to not be such a prick to everyone! Treat Lindsay and the others with a smidge of respect! And this is how you repay me, by going and ruining Lindsay's relationship with one of the only people that she cared about on this show!"

"Why are you so hung up on Lindsay?!" Heather shouted back angrily, "She's just a -"

"It's not about Lindsay." Cody spoke with finality, his rage having boiled over to a calm simmer. "It's about you. I thought there was something good about you, I thought you could change from the nasty girl everybody else saw you as. I thought you were my friend."

"I was wrong."

For the first time since he had met her, Heather was speechless.

Good.

"You're not going to win this game," Cody said simply, already walking away from the queen bee, "I'll make sure of it. Adios, Heather."

"Oh, yeah?" Heather shouted back, finally finding her voice, "Well it's your loss, loser! I don't need you, so get bent!"

Cody didn't bother to respond, or even turn around. He had said his piece.

Now all that was left was to make good on his promise.

After all, unlike some people, he followed through on his word.

–

"She really did all that?" Bridgette asked, bewildered as Cody explained what had transpired to her the night before, "I mean, I knew Heather was mean, but…"

Cody sighed. "Yeah, I know. And part of it's my fault."

Bridgette turned to him with a fond look in her eye. "Hey," she said gently, "Don't beat yourself up over it. You thought that you could help her better herself, and saw some actual progress! It's just too bad that she didn't apply it to anyone aside from you, but sometimes you just can't change people."

He just sighed again. "I guess. I still probably should have known better than to trust her. Poor Lindsay…"

Bridgette nodded sympathetically. "I know. But think of it this way - the sooner we get rid of Heather now, the better! It's not like she can win invincibility every challenge, right?"

Cody almost laughed at the irony in her statement. "Yeah," he agreed, despite knowing better, "Definitely not. But I can't even talk to Lindsay about it - she's practically inconsolable, and when she isn't crying her eyes out, Heather is playing guard-dog."

"Maybe you'll get a chance to talk to her alone during the challenge today?" She tried, "We were pretty free to roam around last time, so -"

"All remaining contestants!" Chris boomed out over the P.A., taking both of them off-guard, "Meet me at the docks in five minutes for your next challenge!"

The noise cut itself off just as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the duo (and the rest of the cast, wherever they were) scrambling to get ready for the onslaught that awaited them.

"Well," Cody said, chuckling as he picked himself up, "I guess we're about to find out."

–

"Today's challenge is a good old fashioned game of hide and seek," Chris explained, "You all get ten minutes to hide before Chef Hatchet comes looking for you!"

"Seriously?" Courtney interjected, "We go from ten seconds of torture to fighting bears to this?"

"I'm glad you're finding this challenge boring so far Courtney," Chris said, smirking deviously, "So allow me to continue. "With his military background and advanced degree in manhunting, he's uniquely qualified to make this game excruciatingly hard."

Chef nodded along from the other end of the dock, pulling out a plastic water gun and pumping it a few times to build up the power.

"What's with the water gun?" Duncan questioned, only to pause as a laser dot from said gun became pointed right between his eyes.

"The lifeguard chair is home base," Chris continued, ignoring Duncan's question, "When he finds you, Chef will try to spray you. If you escape the blast, you can try to run to home base. But if he catches you on your way, he'll douse you."

"Ooh, so we're gonna get splashed by a bit of water," Duncan jeered, throwing his hands up in the air like he was surrendering, "Now I'm terrified!"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you demonstrate, Chef?"

Chef nodded eagerly before pumping the water gun a few more times, aiming, and…

Turning on his heel and shooting Chris.

The teens were left to stare in awe at the flood that erupted from the small water gun, sending Chris flying.

"Not on me, dude!" He shouted once it had finally ended, only for the group to have to strain their ears to hear him.

"So," Heather asked, "How do we win this game?"

"You've got three options," Chris said simply, dripping wet as he returned to the docks, "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?"

Silence greeted Chris.

He nodded. "You get ten minutes to hide. Go!"

At his mark, everyone immediately split off - except for Lindsay, who slowly followed Heather, and Cody, who watched that happen with a frown.

Looks like he'd have to find another time to get her alone.

But where should he hide?

–

Cody walked through the woods quickly, nimbly avoiding the fallen branches and leaves around him as he hurried towards, well, nowhere in particular.

He had a solid idea on where he wanted to hide, and invincibility was pretty appealing to him at the moment - with Heather against him and Duncan trying to play ball, he didn't know when he'd be targeted - but he had to wait for Chef to leave the campgrounds first.

Besides, considering what happened in this episode last time around, he had a pretty good feeling that someone might want to have a chat with him.

And as two hands reached out to yank him back into the cave he had just run past, he realized that he was right on the money.

"Shh!" Duncan whispered, "Keep it down."

Cody nodded as he stared back at the punk, idly realizing that DJ was also present. "Uh, hi."

"Listen up boys," Duncan said seriously, looking between DJ and himself, "We're in trouble, okay? There are seven chicks on the island and only three dudes."

"Yeah," Cody nodded with a grimace, playing along, "Not great odds."

"No kidding!" Duncan scoffed, "If I noticed it, chances are that sooner or later they're gonna notice it too, and when they do, they're gonna pick us off one by one! We've gotta do something about it!"

"What did you have in mind, Duncan?" DJ asked politely.

He may have been nice, but his acting skills left much to be desired. Cody had an odd feeling that the two of them had been planning this for a while, or at the very least been planning it since before Cody showed up.

"We need a guys' alliance!" Duncan said, leaving no room for argument.

"Small problem," Cody interjected, "Like you said, there's seven of them and three of us. How exactly do you expect us to outvote them?"

"Oh please," Duncan laughed, "Don't act like I haven't seen you and Malibu sneaking around. There's no way the two of you aren't in on some kinda deal together."

Cody sputtered.

"Besides," he continued, uncaring for Cody's embarrassment, "Courtney is definitely gonna be willing to work with us on this one. It might be a guys' alliance, but we can use the help from those two for now until the odds are better in our favor."

He mulled over Duncan's reasoning for a moment, unwilling to be a pawn in his scheme. An alliance here would definitely be beneficial for him, that much was for certain, especially since he was willing to include Bridgette. However, there was little to no way that the delinquent was eager to throw Courtney under the bus the moment he had the chance like he was saying - which more than likely meant that he either considered Cody, DJ, or both of them, as expendable, and was going to be willing to go behind their backs if the need arose.

"Uh, are you in, dude?" Duncan asked.

Cody opened his mouth to respond, but closed it a moment after. Was he?

Well, it couldn't hurt now, could it?

"I… yes, I'm in," Cody agreed, putting his hand in with DJ and Duncan, "I'll talk to Bridgette and see if I can convince her to join us."

Duncan nodded. "Good, but I don't think you'll have to worry about that too much. Now clear out!"

"What?" DJ squeaked.

"I was here first, dude!" Duncan said confidently, "This is my hiding spot!"

DJ gulped and ran out the cave quickly, followed by Cody (albeit in a much calmer manner).

He didn't feel the best about teaming up with someone else so soon after forming an alliance with Bridgette, much less with Duncan of all people, but he didn't really feel like he could say no in that moment either. To an outside perspective Duncan was right with his reasoning, and declining would have just put a second, even bigger target on his back.

But who were they going to target first?

Hopefully Heather - Cody was done trying to help better her, and didn't want to risk waiting until the final three to eliminate her either - but she might just win invincibility and ruin that plan. He wasn't exactly eager to vote out Gwen, Leshawna, or Lindsay either, and if it came down to it he didn't know if he had the heart to follow through with that kind of vote.

Oh well. Questions for another time.

Right now, he had to focus on finding his hiding spot. Hopefully Chef was done searching around the cabins…

—

Confessional: Duncan

"Heather's my other big enemy right now, especially after she somehow got Tyler eliminated," he explained, arms crossed, "Getting Cody on my side really cuts into her alliance, and pulling Bridgette over is just the icing on the cake! Once Heather's gone I won't really need them anymore - I'll cut them loose when need be, and me, Courtney, and DJ will coast to the final three."

He smirked at the camera. "This game is in the bag!"

—

"Bridgette!" A voice called quietly, "Hey, Bridgette!"

Bridgette jumped in surprise, quickly turning in fright to see Courtney waving at her from above her hiding spot below the bonfire pit.

"Courtney!" Bridgette whisper-shouted, "What are you doing?! I'm trying to hide!"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "You're not doing a very good job, what with that garland wrapped around your leg.

"The what?" Bridgette asked, looking down at her foot, only to realize that the wire that held the lights around the bonfire pit up was wrapped snugly around her ankle. "Oh."

She quickly untied it and threw it off, embarrassed that it had escaped her notice for so long. "Thanks, Courtney. I can't believe I didn't notice that."

She waved off her concern. "Don't worry about it, that's what friends are for!"

Bridgette just nodded.

"Anyways," Courtney continued, "Since I've got you here, mind if I ask you something real quick?"

"Uh, sure," Bridgette shrugged, "What's up?"

"Great!" Courtney exclaimed, before quickly closing her mouth at the realization that Chef might have heard them, "Um, I just thought that maybe we could form an alliance!"

What.

To put it mildly, Bridgette was taken aback by the offer. While she and Courtney had long since made up from their little spat after the dodgeball challenge, they weren't exactly close either.

"Um," Bridgette said after a moment, "Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather form an alliance with, uh, Duncan?"

Courtney nodded. "You catch on quick - we already have one! Me, DJ, and Duncan were putting together a Killer Bass alliance, since the former Gophers outnumber us six to four! When push comes to shove, those six could definitely unite and work together to vote us off!"

Bridgette blinked. "Um, have you seen them? I don't think Heather could convince any of them to work together. Besides, if they outnumber us how can we stop them?"

"Yeah, but what about Cody?" She prodded, "If he leads them against us, then they might actually work together! He's somehow friends with Gwen, Leshawna, and Heather! Plus, since you're friends with him, if you try we can probably get him on our side instead!"

"I don't know, Courtney," Bridgette said, unsure, "I mean, thanks for the invite, but I'll have to think about it…"

She trailed off meekly, unsure of how Courtney would respond.

Of all the things the CIT could have done, Bridgette didn't expect her to laugh.

"Oh, Bridgette," she chuckled, "Is this because you and Cody have a secret alliance on the side?"

"W-what?!" Bridgette shrieked, "How do you know about that?"

"I didn't!" Courtney gleefully informed, "But you just told me!"

Crap.

"Look," she finished, "Like I said, I don't care that much. You too can go do… whatever it is you do to spend time on this crappy island, but just work with us! We can finally get rid of these other losers, and each get a greater shot at the prize!"

Bridgette just sighed. "I'll talk to Cody about it."

"Great!" Courtney smirked victoriously. "Glad to have you on board. I don't think you'll have to worry about convincing Cody, though."

"What you should be worried about right now is the challenge, kids."

Bridgette froze. Courtney did too.

They both knew they were screwed the moment Chef began to laugh.

–

Cody eyed the cabins cautiously from the treeline, not exactly feeling reassured by the screams and Chef's laughter that he could hear from somewhere near the bonfire pit.

Oh well. It was a little bit late for him to try and think of a new hiding place, he just had to hope that Chef didn't double back for him.

He shuddered as he remembered the (frankly incredible) skills Chef had displayed at manhunting last time around. There was a pretty damn good chance he could sniff Cody out at this point, or find a single thread of his shirt that would tell him exactly where he was.

Cody wrinkled his nose at the filth that had accumulated underneath the Guys' cabin, having to crawl through mud, fallen leaves, and other miscellaneous debris just to get underneath the building. Even more gross was pushing up that muck back against the rim of grime that he had broken through to make it under here, but he wasn't going to be cowed by some dirt.

It was dark, with only a few scant rays of light reaching him from beneath the cabin, as well as uncomfortably damp and smelling rancid. Most of the time, Cody wouldn't dream of doing this.

But this was hide and seek. Who was going to look for him in a place as gross as this?

Also, he was by the cabins, which would mean Chef would have to clear the area out a third time if he wanted to find him. As efficient as the man was at this game, he couldn't imagine being caught in a timely manner this way.

It did give him some time to think, though. Mainly about the game - making the final ten was something that he had never really put much thought into, but it was honestly kind of nerve wracking being here now. All that stood between him and the hundred-thousand dollar prize was Heather, Duncan, Courtney, Izzy, DJ, Lindsay, Leshawna, Gwen, and Bridgette.

Oh yeah, and the fact that the money still wasn't his priority.

…It would be pretty cool to win, though.

A lot of the remaining campers were his friends, and that made this kind of tough. He had little to no problem with voting out Heather now, and Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy all kind of scared him for different reasons, but what about everyone else?

Leshawna and Gwen were some of his best friends on the island, and there was no way he was voting out them or Lindsay, at least before he could talk some sense into her. DJ was a really nice guy too, and he'd gotten to know the gentle giant a lot better this time around thanks to making it to the merge with him. And Bridgette was Bridgette - if there was anybody he was bringing to the final with him, it would probably be her.

Cody snorted at the idea of having to vote off Gwen to protect one of his other friends. Last time around, the mere thought of that would have been sacreligious. He could see why DJ had such a tough time during World Tour - this game was brutal when everyone was your friend.

"Hey!" A voice (Courtney's if he had to guess) shouted, "I think I heard something!"

Shit.

Cody froze like a deer in headlights, immediately sucking in a breath and holding it for as long as he could. He could see shadows dancing around outside the cabin, occasionally blotting out one or two of the small pinpricks of sunlight in his view.

"There's no way Cody or Leshawna are here," Gwen(?) reminded the CIT, "You said it yourself - Chef has been through here like three times already, there's no way he missed either of them. Besides, weren't we going to check the water or something?"

Right on cue a cheer rose up from the docks, and Cody couldn't help but smile. It looked like Leshawna had won once again.

But what did that mean for him? Did he also have to make a mad dash for the lifeguard chair?

"Alrighty, campers - specifically Cody!" Chris called out, once again using the P.A. to make sure the geek heard him, "Leshawna made it to the lifeguard chair and everybody else has been caught, so you're also safe! Please return to the docks as soon as possible, and please don't end up eaten by a bear!"

Cody rolled his eyes at that last part. Chris really had a gift at making jokes that didn't land.

Regardless, he felt pretty good about himself as he crawled back out from underneath the cabin, before grimacing at the filth that caked his hands. That was gonna be a pain to wash off.

He began to walk over to the docks, trying to shake some of the crud off his hands all the while, and it wasn't long before DJ noticed him walking up.

"Yo," he called, catching the attention of the rest of the cast, "Nice job, Cody!"

"Thanks!" He shouted back, eager to regroup with everyone. DJ offered him a high-five and he almost reciprocated it, but thought better of it at the last moment. He didn't think DJ would appreciate getting a bunch of crud on himself.

Gwen gave him a weird look, eyeing the mud that had caked itself into his clothes. "Where were you?" She asked, "You look like you just crawled out from under a rock."

"Under the cabins, actually!" Cody replied happily, smirking at the way Courtney hit her palm with her fist.

"I knew I heard someone there!" She groused, "Darn it!"

"As touching as this is," Chris interrupted, "We're a thirty minute show. It's time for you to pick the loser and send them home!"

Oh yeah. That was happening tonight too.

DJ and Duncan shared a look with him as they began to head back towards the cabins.

It was time to make a choice.

–

"So…" Duncan drawled, checking the door one last time to make sure there were no unwanted listeners, "Any suggestions, boys?"

"Heather?" Cody asked, already fearing the response.

Duncan shook his head. "No dice, she's got immunity today thanks to catching DJ, and same goes for Leshawna. Both would be nice to get rid of, but that'll come later."

"So it's just Gwen, Izzy, or Lindsay?" DJ confirmed, "I don't know if I want to vote off Lindsay, we're friends, but she did kind of vote her own boyfriend off…"

"Well I don't know about you," Duncan chimed in, "But I think all three are pretty solid choices. But if it was up to me, I'm getting rid of the one that's in Heather's pocket."

"Actually," Cody interjected, "I'm pretty sure Lindsay and Izzy are both in Heather's alliance. And if I may…"

As Cody explained his plan to the two remaining guys, Duncan couldn't help but nod along in agreement. For all his shortcomings, Cody was a pretty clever guy - it was a really good thing that he wasn't on Heather's side at this point.

"All right wonderboy," Duncan said approvingly, "You've convinced me. We'll go with your plan. I'll talk with Courtney before the vote, and she and Malibu will get it done. That work with you, DJ?"

The brickhouse nodded. "No skin off my back, dude."

Duncan bringing up Bridgette again reminded Cody of their little talk that they had right after the challenge, where both awkwardly brought up Duncan and Courtney's propositions only to realize that they were both being pulled into the same alliance. The two of them agreed to go along with it for now, but that their partnership would still come first.

If only the game was as simple as that.

–

"Alright, campers," Chris droned, "You know the drill! I have nine marshmallows on my plate here and there are ten of you here tonight, which means that one of you will not be receiving a marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must -"

"Get on with it already!" Courtney shouted, causing Chris to roll his eyes.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Chris continued before sending a dirty look Courtney's way, "The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately walk the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and never come back. Capiche?"

Silence greeted the host, and whether it was out of boredom or fear didn't matter.

Heather, for her part, kept quiet out of boredom. She knew she was safe already, so why should she care about Chris talking for the sake of hearing his own voice? Courtney should've known to keep her mouth shut, though. Everyone knew Chris had favorites at this point, even if it remained to be seen if that would influence anything.

"Heather, Leshawna, Cody, each of you won today through a different part of the challenge. Congrats, you're safe tonight."

Heather caught her marshmallow happily, sending a vicious look at the other two for good measure. Leshawna had been a five-hundred pound pain in the neck since the first day, and she honestly couldn't believe the girl had made it this long.

She was a little more upset about Cody. She told herself it was only because he had been a useful pawn and was willing to play ball with her when it came down to it, but she knew the truth in her heart.

Oh well. What was a scrawny, nerdy, noodle-armed guy compared to a hundred-thousand dollars?

Absolutely nothing. And Heather was going to make sure that that geek knew that.

"Next up is Bridgette, followed by DJ, Courtney, and Gwen!" Chris announced, tossing each person their little snack.

Gwen surviving yet another challenge was also a pain - how did she not get eliminated three weeks ago? Weird goth girl needed to get lost.

"There are only two marshmallows left on this plate," Chris began again, giving Duncan, Izzy, and Lindsay each a once-over. None of them looked fazed; Izzy and Duncan were completely unbothered, while Lindsay was just continuing to mope around. "You each wracked up a lot of votes. One of you is going home tonight! The next marshmallow goes to… Duncan!"

Heather froze. He did not just say Duncan.

He caught the marshmallow deftly, looking at it for a moment before eating it without a care in the world.

Izzy blinked in surprise, but still kept that annoying smile on her face. Heather wondered if she even understood what was happening right now. Lindsay sure didn't, and even if she did Heather doubted the crybaby would care.

But Heather understood it.

Her alliance was under attack, and one of her votes was getting taken away.

This wasn't good.

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to…" Chris paused to allow the tension to seep in, which only let Heather attempt to rationalize which loser she'd rather lose here.

By the time Chris called out Lindsay's name, she still couldn't figure out if that was for better or worse.

—

Confessional: Duncan

"Cody put it pretty well," he explained, "Izzy and Lindsay are both part of Heather's alliance, but Izzy is a loose cannon and Lindsay is about as creative as a blade of grass. Better to get rid of the threat you don't know than the one you do."

"Besides," he added, almost as an afterthought, "Wonderboy here seemed pretty determined to keep Lindsay around for some reason. No clue why, though."

—

For all her craziness, Izzy seemed pretty poised in her loss.

"Ah, well," she shrugged, "We've all gotta go sometime, right?"

Silence. Chris made a vague 'get on with it motion', and Izzy just laughed at it.

"Goodnight everybody!" She shouted, standing up haughtily, "Thanks for coming out!"

And with that, she pulled a smoke bomb out of her pocket and threw it at the ground. Heather looked away briefly to shield her eyes, and by the time she looked back crazy girl was gone.

She'd say good riddance, but that was a valuable, controllable vote she just lost.

And now she had to figure out how to play damage control.

If she even could.

–

A/N: Got this one out quick, surprise surprise. When I focus more on the stuff I want to write in the far future, it makes me trudge through the stuff I'm struggling with in the here and now a bit quicker. Another shorter chapter, but it can't be helped sometimes. This challenge is pretty boring.

But we're down to nine! Who expected Izzy to go here? Everyone left has some pretty big importance to the story in some capacity, so now it's a toss up! I'd like to think no one's expecting the next eliminated contestant.

But yeah, let me know what you thought! The balance of power has swung, Cody's playing for keeps, but so is everyone else, and we've finally made it to the single digits of contestants! Hope you enjoyed!