"What do you mean Alejandro is evil ?" LeShawna asked Bridgette, the two girls and Lindsey forming a small trio within Team Victory. They had come in second, but despite escaping elimination, being in economy still sucked. "He seemed pretty nice to us girls! Finally getting the respect I deserve 'round here."
"Yeah, Alberto has been really nice. If I wasn't looking for Tyler, I would've gone out with him." Lindsey chirped, and the three girls did their best to ignore the pained moans of the aforementioned Tyler drifting from first class.
"I'm telling you! He tricked me and left me stuck to a stupid pole!" Bridgette shouted, trying to shake some sense into the two girls, though she was failing miserably.
"Really? 'Cus I heard from Ezekiel, who heard from Owen, who heard from Alejandro that you were trying to cheat on Geoff with him, and ended up falling into the pole." LeShawna's skepticism was painful, though Bridgette hadn't been much of a friend to the girl. Can't help it when this is the first time the two were on the same team. "Can't say I blame ya girl, but still, really ."
Bridgette snarled and clawed at her hair in frustration. Why wouldn't anyone believe her!? Her anguish was interrupted when she saw Team Amazon finally drift in from the elimination ceremony.
First was a particularly relieved Heather, followed closely by a glaring Gwen. Bridgette was surprised Heather scraped by the first elimination after what she saw in the Yukon, but there were plenty of other players to go after. She would've felt bad for Dawn and Cody… had they not immediately followed behind the two girls.
Sierra then?
Nope, the tall fangirl walked in, glaring daggers at the wheelchair bound boy, which was nothing out of the ordinary. What was her problem anyways? The only person who rivaled her hatred was Noah, and he had a pretty good reason as to why.
Can't say I'm surprised Duncan got-
No, Duncan was here as well. Bridgette took a moment to resent the unfairness in size regarding Team Amazon's… team, but then she realized what had happened along with the other two girls in her group.
"You voted off Courtney?" Bridgette asked, shocked. "Sure, she's a bit bossy, but come on! I mean, Cody helped me, and he got all of you eliminated in the first season! Heather's… Heather!"
"Can it tuts." Duncan dismissed Bridgette, walking past her and towards the back of economy, clearly wanting to be alone. He must've taken it hard…
"It was best for both Courtney and the team." Dawn nodded, eyes closed. Creepy girl, huh? "It's not best to let an ailing relationship stew in such an intense environment."
LeShawna voiced Bridgette's thoughts as soon as they entered her head. "Y'mean Duncan voted her? Again? "
"Yeah, and she deserved it." Heather was the next to brush past Bridgette, taking up the 'comfortable' spot of economy- one of the seats not situated beneath a nest or a leak. "She wants to get bossy on the show, that's fine. But what she did to Duncan? That was giving Cody a run for his money on the psycho meter."
"Shut up!" Duncan shouted, exasperated. "You don't get it at all prom queen, so why don't you shut your trap and give us all some peace and quiet."
"For once, I agree with him." Gwen crossed her arms and leaned against one of the walls. How she could stand the constant shaking was anyone's guess. "You wouldn't know a thing about love Heather."
"Oh, and you would?" Heather snarked, before a devilish smirk crossed her lips. "How about what I found in your diary back in Toronto-" one of Gwen's shows ended up meeting Heather's face, and the Asian girl growled in frustration while her goth rival laughed. "Laugh it up now gothy, but you're the one up next for free falling."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Gwen responded before drifting over to one of the tables.
There was a thick silence, only interrupted by Sierra's clicking on her 'laptop' as she situated herself, or Dawn's proddings towards Cody. It seemed everyone had written off Cody's brief burst of speech as a hallucination, but Dawn knew better.
Eventually, Lindsey finally said something, though of course everyone could only groan in response.
"So, did like, Curtsy and Dan break up? That's so sad!"
"Took ya' long enough white girl."
"Tyler! It really is you!" Lindsey shouted as she hugged the boy who was now gripping his parachute. The New York challenge had gone off the rails a bit, but was ultimately unchanged in its conclusion, ignoring one simple fact- they had two extra people. So, Chris had made the New York challenge an elimination one.
Team Chris inevitably came in last due to their lacking teamwork, even against Teams Victory and Amazon, and the odd one out of the group ended up being Tyler. Well, at least he got a somewhat happy ending.
As Tyler and Lindsey made to kiss, Chris broke them up. "Hey! It's a half hour show, get a move on."
"Win it for us Lindsey!" Tyler shouted as he leaped out of the plane, though it seemed his parachute had been left in Lindsey's hands. Dawn winced, but Tyler had a pretty high pain tolerance… she hoped.
Cody's light laughter beneath her added some levity to the situation.
"I'm really scared that all of this bad luck our team gets hit with, it's because of me, you know." DJ sighed, clearly tired from participating in all of these seasons, as well as Victory's aforementioned luck- or lack thereof. "That animal curse might be real! If only momma was here."
"Well DJ…" Dawn strokes Cody's hair, registering his ideas about the situation. "If you really feel that way… you can save your team from a more sad vote. You can go home if you really want to, and go back to your mother. At least, that's what Cody says."
"Cody huh?" DJ said disbelievingly, looking over at the pair. "Y'know, I never really talked to the guy while we were on the Island, but he always seemed kind of odd. Are you really 'talking' to him, or are you just saying what you think is best? Momma always believed someone could change, but getting mauled by a bear… that's a harsh thing to do to someone."
Dawn cast a somber gaze to Cody, though it was matched by the soft smile on her lips. "Cody's changed more than any of you could ever know… I hope some of you could come to see that, but I understand he needs to speak for himself eventually."
"I hope you're right Dawn. Well, I got a voting ceremony to go to." DJ stood, making his way to the front of the plane.
"Do what you think is best DJ. Don't hesitate." That… wasn't Dawn. DJ spun around and looked back, but Cody seemed as unresponsive as ever. There was something in his eyes though, a sort of shine to them. DJ didn't realize what that was until he was falling and screaming, completely of his own volition.
There was hope in those eyes.
"What is your problem!?" Gwen finally shouted at Sierra, who had been ranting about complete nonsense for most of the time they'd been tied up. While Heather was resting on her throne, the group had been tied up- and Duncan's knife had been taken away. Dawn knew this was all an act, but it was best not to say anything- this wasn't her future to manipulate. She just spoke for Cody.
"My problem is… him!" Sierra shouted, glaring at the tied up Cody who was as unresponsive as ever.
"He didn't even do anything to you crazy." Duncan sighed in annoyance. "Pack it in before the zing-zing whatevers try to sacrifice you."
"Didn't do anything?" Sierra quirked a crazed eyebrow. "Didn't do anything!? He's a liar, a cheat, he's everything awful in life!" Sierra continued to rave past that point, but everyone just did their best to tune her out. Dawn could feel Cody's aura shrink back at the accusations though, and she could feel his most innate desire- to speak, to ask her why she feels this way. How she went from his biggest fangirl to hold a single minded hatred for him.
"Alright Team Amazon, been a while since you were last here." Chris clicked his tongue, looking over the worn out group. "Let's take a look at all of your votes. I'm sure this will be interesting." As expected, a TV descended from… somewhere. Can you install something like that on a plane?
"Sayonara Cody. I feel no shame in throwing him out of the plane- that blame lies entirely on Chris and that Dawn girl." Heather.
"Hopefully, everyone realizes how bad Heather is this time." Gwen. It seemed like the harshness of her stamp shook the entire confessional.
"See ya prom queen. I'd be torn up about it if, you know, you had anything beyond your body going for you."
"Cody."
"And it seems Dawn and Cody decided not to vote! It's a tie!" Chris laughed.
"Just toss him out Chris, how could he win a tiebreaker in that state?" Heather smugly chuckled, taking a nail file out to show just how uninterested she was in the current proceedings. "May as well hand me the million while you're at it."
"You know, you make a good point Heather. Which is why this is a special tie breaker!" Chris cheered. "Cody has three hours to become responsive and place a vote for someone else. Should he do that, he doesn't get eliminated, and hopefully, our ratings shoot up! "
"You can't be serious." Heather laughed, looking at Cody dismissively, light disgust on her features. "He's been like this since when, the Island? You think he'll wake up in three hours?"
"Maybe he will!" Chris laughed. "If he doesn't, I'm sure a video of a kid in a wheelchair falling out of a plane will do pretty well too."
And so began Dawn's most desperate quest. She refrained from voting on Cody's request, but she knew that Cody needed to stay here. She also knew that the push to bring him back was somewhere in here.
"Come on, wake up!" Gwen gently shook the unresponsive boy- it was an odd sight considering their rivalry during the Island, but it seemed to have cooled off at the end. Perhaps she had also seen the true Cody at some point.
"It's no use pasty." Duncan sighed, leaning against a wall. "Spirit girl's been with him for over a year, and if she saw no change, I doubt we'd see any now."
Gwen was about to argue, when another voice entered the fray. A voice the two collectively groaned at, while it merely piqued Dawn's interest.
"Just dump him out of the plane already!" Sierra's hatred of Cody had been an enigma. From the constant glares to the spiteful side comments, she detested every aspect of the boy despite being his biggest fan in the original timeline. It pulled at Dawn's heart to see Cody's own aura shift around the girl- a confused mess concerning how he felt about her then, versus how she had changed here.
The distinction between the ultimate fangirl and the ultimate hater. Both equally as crazy, equally as viscous, but one was far more disheartening than the other- especially when the two were one and the same.
"Shut it Sierra." Gwen growled, sick of the girl. "Go talk to Heather, maybe she'll be your friend." Sierra hardly looked affronted by that comment, though Gwen barely intended it as an insult. Duncan couldn't care less about the catfight happening in front of him, so resumed his nonchalant wall leaning.
"No, I don't think I will." Sierra snarked, getting closer and shoving Gwen out of the way, looking down at Cody. She snarled fiercely. "I hate you, Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson."
Duncan whistled. "You know his full name huh? A bit psycho to know that off by heart despite hating the guy." Dawn, on the other hand, began to piece the puzzle together in her head. This was another consequence of Cody's actions- and something only he could solve. No intervention from her could prevent Sierra's war path, much like how her intervention had only kept Cody stable, but he needed more than that to fully heal.
Sierra glared at the mohawked boy. "Shut it!" She turned back to Cody, rage in her eyes. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" It was inane shouting, but Dawn knew there was little true malice in those words- rather, it was a pitiful last gasp of something deeper within Sierra. Something slowly being exposed through her words.
That was when the unexpected happened. While everyone was focused on Sierra's near incoherent ramblings of hatred, nobody noticed a small hand reach out and grasp her pants. At least, nobody noticed until Cody tumbled out of his wheelchair, almost sprawling on the floor, but his grip on Sierra saved him.
Dawn wanted to smile as Cody finally moved his head, his eyes beginning to shine with a spark of life that hadn't been seen in so long, his mouth opening a far more natural, emotive way. But, she could still feel his aura, still feel the conflicted feelings weighing on him as he made to move on his own for the first time.
"Sierra." His voice came out somewhat raspy, dry. It was unlike when he had 'spoken' before, those words had come from his mind. His understanding of the situation. These ones came from his throat, his chest, his heart. These were words expressing the deep love he had gained in the final loop.
"I'm sorry."
He collapsed onto the floor, splayed out and breathing heavily- but he was conscious. Dawn and Gwen rushed over, making sure he was okay, while Duncan got ready to lift him back into his chair. While this happened, nobody paid any mind to Sierra slowly backing away, her face contorted in a mix of shock and anger.
Nobody except Cody, who looked at her with eyes full of life, eyes that expressed a forlornness. A deep sadness over the situation he ended up creating.
As it turned out, nobody would be going home that night. The world would keep on turning, and with it these teenagers. But, whether this outcome was positive had yet to be seen.