"Lift your arms up for me, please."

The doctor watched clinically as Cody slowly rotated his limbs around, wincing slightly as he reached over his head but making no attempt to stop. This had been going on for nearly half an hour at this point, with the show's on-sight doctor repeatedly asking him to test his motor skills and jotting down notes every few seconds.

"That's enough," he said stoically. Cody awkwardly put his hands back down to his sides, sitting silently on the medical cot as the doctor once again scribbled something down onto his clipboard. "You say you're a fast healer, huh?"

The doctor's tone was neutral, but the way he stared at Cody disbelievingly, with his shrewd eyes peering over his glasses, made him feel quite awkward. "...Yes?"

He kept up his gaze for a little while longer, before giving an over-exasperated sigh that made Cody think the doctor knew he was getting a little too old for this.

"Well," he breathed out, "I guess you're right, considering you were able to walk here on your own accord. I'd avoid any strenuous activity for the next few days, but it looks like you'll be cleared to compete in the next challenge. I would advise that you don't go out of your way to do stupid shit, however. I know how you teens can be, and how important one-hundred-thousand dollars could be to you, but it's not worth throwing your life away for."

Cody nodded at the doctor's words, making sure he knew he was taking the warning seriously. He'd been lucky enough to survive impossible situations on the show time and time again; if he kept playing with fire it would only be a matter of time before he got burned.

"You're free to go." The doctor waved him off, already packing his things away, back turned to the geek. "I don't want to see you again before the end of the show, understand?"

"Got it." Cody didn't bother saying his goodbyes - the doctor was already gone.

He made his way over towards the main lodge, stomach burbling unhappily as he was reminded of the fact that they hadn't gotten dinner last night due to Chris and Chef's absence. He was ready to rip the door off its hinges on route to one of Chef's quality breakfasts, but stopped himself as he heard shouting erupt from the other side.

Did he really want to deal with… whatever that was? So early in the morning, too?

Not really.

Too bad his stomach wouldn't take no for an answer. He reached out for the handle, slowly opening the door…

Only for a plate of oatmeal to fly right into his face with a sickening splat.

He wasn't sure why he was surprised at this point.

At least it tasted okay.

Once he was finally able to wipe the gruel out of his eyes (but not his hair - that would be a pain in the ass to clean later), he was treated to a sight that really shouldn't have surprised him.

From the looks of things, the main lodge had been turned into a warzone. Trays of food were splattered all over, tables were upended, and Leshawna and Heather looked ready to rip each other a new one… with plenty of food splattered all over them, as well.

He couldn't tell who had thrown the bowl at the door, but it was almost certainly one of the two. Duncan, Bridgette, and Courtney were all preoccupied with trying to hold the girls back - Bridgette had one hand wrapped tightly around Heather's wrist and one gripping a support beam for dear life, while it took all of Duncan and Courtney's combined strength to keep Leshawna from lunging at the queen bee.

Lindsay, for her part, was hiding behind one of the upturned tables. Her hands were covering her ears as she curled up tight against the bench, miraculously having been spared from the foodfight.

Chef Hatchet was just standing behind the counter stoically, glaring at the teens who were wasting his food (although it seemed to be directed more at Heather and Leshawna than anyone). His glare lightened a bit when he realized Cody had arrived, and the boy offered him a friendly (if awkward) wave.

"Let me go!" Leshawna snarled, struggling against Duncan and Courtney, "She deserves a makeover!"

"Oh yeah?" Heather sneered, "I'd like to see you try!"

In her free hand sat a bowl of scrambled eggs, and it looked like she was really itching to throw it. Heather attempted to raise it up and take aim, but Bridgette yanked her backwards at the last second, nearly toppling both of them over.

"Uh…" Cody began slowly, still taking in the scene, "Did I miss something?"

At the realization that he had finally arrived, the five of them paused as though they had been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar. Bridgette hesitantly smiled at him, but between Heather and the several large stains on her hoodie, it was quite strained.

Duncan was the first person to break the silence. "Cody!" He cheered good-naturedly, "Good to see you! Glad to have a little more testosterone in here, y'know? Lord knows what happens when the estrogen runs a little too wild– ow!"

Courtney looked quite pleased with herself as she kicked Duncan in the shin. "Good to see you on your feet again, Cody," she said warmly, before turning back to glare at her boyfriend, "Duncan, keep it up and I won't miss next time."

"Oh, I don't know, Courts," Heather said tauntingly, "Your criminal boyfriend might be onto something! Even between Mr. Most-likely-to-be-arrested and big, loud, and proud, there isn't exactly a surplus of men on the island anymore!"

Leshawna roared in anger, surging forward again - but this time, instead of holding her back, Duncan and Courtney shared a brief, unimpressed look and let her go.

Bridgette immediately hit the deck, abandoning Heather to her fate as quickly as possible in the hopes that Leshawna didn't take her down as well. Heather, for her part, simply threw the bowl of eggs she had been saving, hitting Leshawna square in the face.

But it didn't matter. It only took a few seconds for her to rip the bowl off her head, eyes full of fire, and lunge at Heather like a woman possessed.

Heather, for all her bravery earlier, shrieked at the sight of Leshawna charging at her, immediately turning and sprinting for the door like a bat out of hell.

Now, Cody was never a fan of violence, but he certainly wasn't going to get involved in the fight between those two… especially with the doctor's reminder to not do anything stupid and try not to hurt himself in the next few days. He threw himself out of the way, barely avoiding Heather as she bolted through the screen door, with Leshawna in hot pursuit.

"Get back here!" Leshawna shouted, her voice already starting to fade as they sprinted away from the building, "You earned this beating!"

Cody turned to the others slowly. "Do I even want to know?"

Courtney, Duncan, and Bridgette all shared an awkward look. "Uh…"

"Fat girl wanted your plate of breakfast," Chef grunted, "Nasty girl told her she should be skipping meals instead of doubling up on them, and then they started throwing my food! Lousy ingrates, guess who has to clean up their messes everytime…"

Chef grumbled out a few more expletives regarding the teens, storming out the back of the kitchen in anger as he threw his apron into the corner.

Right as Chef exited, the front door creaked open one more time. "Hey guys," Chris greeted, "Is everything okay? I heard… uh… shouting…"

Their host trailed off slowly as he took in the state of the room, the state of the teens, and the lack of a large portion of the cast.

"Um, I'll leave you guys to it," he said quickly, already moving to leave, "I'll see you guys in two days!"

Chris shut the door quickly behind him, exiting just as quickly as he arrived and leaving the five of them alone in an awkward silence once again.

Cody sighed as his stomach rumbled again, taking in the disaster of a room that greeted him. It looked like breakfast would have to wait.

Duncan gave him a weird look as he started working on the mess, watching in confusion as he struggled to right a table. "You're seriously going to clean this dump up?" He asked, "You heard Chef, that's his job. And if it isn't, then it'll be Heather and Leshawna's."

He didn't bother looking back to respond. "Maybe," he huffed, scraping dried oatmeal off of the wall, "But it's not fair for him to take all the crap for stuff we do."

"Your loss, dude," Duncan replied easily, "I'm out of here–"

"Oh no you're not!" Courtney hissed, yanking him back as he moved for the door, "You're going to make up for your little comment about women earlier by helping Cody clean up this mess! Maybe it'll teach you a thing or two about how to act!"

Bridgette nodded, moving to pick up the dirty silverware that had been splayed across the floor. "Cody's right," she asserted, "It's not fair for Chef to have to deal with the consequences of our actions, or, well, some of our actions, I guess. Do you guys remember the hissy fit everyone threw on our first breakfast here?"

"Ava punched a hole in the wall," Lindsay giggled, "And Noah and Harold both refused to eat, Chef was so mad!"

Duncan rolled his eyes, clearly not one for sappy spiels, but relented underneath Courtney's gaze. "Whatever. Where's the stupid mop bucket?"

"That's better!" Courtney praised, "We'll make a civilized person out of you yet!"

"Whatever you say, Princess."

Cody hid his smile as the couple continued to bicker, mainly because he knew it was just banter to the two of them.

But also because he had a funny feeling that all of them were starting to be a little more appreciative of Chef Hatchet, and a little less self-centered about themselves and the show.

It was like Courtney said… he'd make better people out of them yet.

–

Thankfully, the next few days had much calmer meals… and slightly higher-quality food as well, if your name wasn't Heather or Leshawna.

Speaking of Leshawna…

"I mean, seriously!" The sister complained, throwing her arms up in frustration, "It's like I'm trying to eat a bowl of wet concrete!"

She picked up her bowl by the spoon that was buried inside of it for emphasis, waving it around like a flag to show how viscous the paste was. "How are you people eating this right now?"

Bridgette shrugged lamely as she poked at her own bowl. "Maybe you just got a bad batch?"

Leshawna rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, because I'm sure that me being the only one who got a cinder-block-in-a-blender is a coincidence. Real nice, Chef!"

Chef Hatchet calmly ignored her raving (as well as Heather's, whose complaints were similarly loud and obnoxious) as he tended to the kitchen, whistling a merry tune that Cody knew was just pissing them off even more.

It was pretty damn funny. He was struggling to not burst out into laughter.

"And all this after that little cage stunt Chris pulled earlier!" Leshawna whined, "This might be the worst start to a challenge ever!"

Cody did sort of agree with her on that. Just like Owen had been, Leshawna was caught by a snare and whipped up into the air, dangling from a tree branch by a single flimsy rope wrapped around her leg. Before any of them could react (or laugh, in Heather's case), a cage had fallen on them, trapping all six of them inside. He didn't even see it coming; he'd completely forgotten about it happening the first time around.

"Yeah, yeah," Chris chuckled, waving her off, "It was all in good fun! No harm no foul, y'know?"

Leshawna looked like she was struggling not to flip him off.

"Anywho," he hummed, "Campers! There are only seven of you left on Total Drama Island. After tonight's dramatic bonfire ceremony, only six of you will remain! We're nearing the end, people! Look alive!"

—

Confessional: Duncan

"What are my chances of winning?" He repeated, staring uncaringly into the camera, "I'd say they're pretty darn great because anyone who doesn't vote for me is a dead man!"

As he continued on, he quickly got up close with the camera, giving all the viewers a dirty look that promised trouble. "Are you listening out there, all of you who've been kicked off? If you don't vote for me, I'll find you!"

He blinked, and suddenly returned to his relaxed demeanor, sitting back down on the confessional. "Also, me and Courtney agreed to split the prize sixty-forty if one of us wins. Whoever wins gets the bigger cut, unless I win, in which case she gets it. Funny how that works, huh?"

—

Confessional: Cody

"I, uh, I'm kind of surprised I'm at the final seven in the first place," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "To be honest, I never thought I'd get this far - let's face it, I'm not exactly a TV star, you know? But now that I am here, I guess I could see myself winning. There's some pretty stiff competition, but I think I'm pretty stiff competition myself!"

—

"Today's challenge involves making like our province's great rangers and game wardens," Chris explained, "You'll each have eight hours to trap an animal!"

Duncan (who had had his patience ground to dust by Heather's complaining over the past hour or so) quickly reached over to Heather, grabbing her arm and lifting it into the air for Chris to see. "Got one!"

Chris offered the punk a blank stare. "A wild animal."

Heather yanked her arm away from Duncan quickly, a dirty look on her face that turned into a vicious sneer as she kneed him in the crotch beneath the table.

Duncan gasped. "I don't know," he squeaked out, voice unnaturally high, "Seems pretty feral to me."

Leshawna put a hand to her chin as though she were deep in thought. "I dunno Chris," she said slowly, "Duncan might be onto something there."

"Maybe so," Chris admitted, ignoring the shouts of indignation from Heather, "But let's bring it back around to the challenge. You'll have to bring it back to the campfire, unharmed."

Bridgette let out a sigh of relief. "So we're not actually hunting?"

"Call it what you will," Chris replied easily, "But no, you're not going to be beating the tar out of the local wildlife. We still get complaints about your deer-noogie from the first episode, Duncan. Rangers and game wardens often have to relocate animals for their own good, and the good of campers."

"Can I eat my animal after I catch it?" Heather asked, "I'm starving. It's like Chef forgot how to cook!"

"No," Chris asserted, "You can't. And Chef didn't forget how to cook, either, he just doesn't like you. But it's funny you should mention that, Heather, because the reward for winning today's challenge is a meal of all of your favorite foods!"

Heather's eyes lit up. "Oh, I am so winning."

Courtney shot her an unamused look. "Good luck with that," she taunted, "You'll definitely need it."

—

Confessional: Courtney

"I think my odds of winning are really good!" She smiled into the confessional camera. "I know I said that I was going to win it all after the first challenge, but that may have been fueled by a bit of bluster…"

Courtney shook her head. "But now that I'm at the final seven, things are looking better by the day!" She was practically vibrating with excitement. "Heather and Leshawna are crazy and are definitely going to take each other out sooner or later, and Lindsay is about as likely to win it all as Ezekiel thanks to that peanut she calls a brain. Cody and Bridgette will be tough, but between Duncan and I? Piece of cake!"

—

"Everyone, choose an animal assignment!" Chris waved them over to him, arm outstretched with a hat filled with tiny, paper slips.

They all shared a brief, hesitant look with each other.

"Ladies first?" Cody offered.

Heather rolled her eyes, stepping forward confidently. "You people are such pansies!"

She dug around in the hat for a few moments, before narrowing her eyes at the slip of paper that had ended up between her fingers. "Chipmunk? How am I supposed to catch one of those things?"

Chris shrugged as Bridgette stepped up behind her. "Your problem, not mine."

The surfer gasped as she read her slip. "A deer?! That's impossible!"

"Trust me," their host chuckled, "It could be a lot worse."

"Beaver?" Lindsay repeated back to herself, as though she couldn't believe she had been assigned that animal. "Where are they?"

"In dams," Leshawna said, rolling her eyes, "They're our national animal! How do you not know where they live?!"

"Oh, please," Heather snorted, "It's a miracle she even remembers her own name!"

Duncan snorted at the jab, and even Courtney couldn't suppress her giggles. Lindsay's face was flush red with embarrassment (or perhaps shame), and an ugly grimace came over Cody's visage. He was really getting sick of some of the people's attitudes on this show.

Once he realized the laughter wasn't going to stop on its own, he opened his mouth in protest–

"Knock it off!" Bridgette's harsh, no-nonsense tone cut right through the noise, bringing the mirth to a screeching halt and a half-dozen pairs of eyes onto her. "Leave her alone, you guys are acting like total assholes!"

Duncan raised one lazy eyebrow at her. "What's it to you, Malibu?"

"It doesn't matter." She turned her nose up at him. "Lindsay is my friend, and I'm not going to let you guys treat her like crap!"

—

Confessional: Bridgette

Her arms were crossed as she sternly glared into the camera. "I'm sick and tired of the way everyone has been treating each other! Ever since the teams merged, everything's been so cutthroat! It's awful!"

—

"As fun as this is," Chris interrupted, "We've got a challenge to start. Leshawna, Courtney, Duncan, Cody, get over here and pick an animal!"

"Frog," Leshawna said simply.

Duncan didn't look too impressed either. "Duck."

Courtney was quick to grab her own slip of paper, but as she opened it up her eyes went wide.

"I– You–" She sputtered like a faulty engine. "Y-you rigged it!"

Chris gave her a weird look. "What? You're picking slips of paper out of a hat, how could I rig that?"

Courtney shook her head. "I don't know! But you did! There is no way I got a bear! Again!"

"Again?" Chris put a hand to his chin in thought. "I can't recall you getting… ohhh, yeah! For the key-chest challenge! Well, sucks to be you!"

"Heather got a chipmunk, Leshawna got a frog, and I get a bear! This is so unfair!" She cried, but her complaints fell on deaf ears - aside from Duncan. Heather and Leshawna didn't care, and Bridgette, Cody, and Lindsay weren't exactly in the empathetic mood for her.

"Raccoon," Cody finished, looking at his own slip, "Hmm."

"Anyone want to switch?" Courtney tried again.

"How about no?" Heather said cheerfully, barely-concealed disdain seeping through every word.

"You guys get sixty seconds in the boathouse to gather any equipment that might help you catch your animals, if that makes it any better." Chris continued.

Courtney looked like she wanted to rip his head off. "Nothing in there is going to help me catch a bear!"

Chris just shrugged. "That's a you problem."

She was seething now. Cody could practically see the steam coming out of her ears now. "You know what?" She hissed, "Fine. I'll take my chances at the bonfire ceremony, thank you very much!"

Courtney moved to walk past Chris and back to the cabins, but that was when he struck. "I don't think I've mentioned the penalty yet," he began, "Loser cleans the communal washrooms."

Even Chris didn't look pleased at the announcement. Courtney stopped in her tracks, eyes wide in horror, and slowly made her way back to the rest of the (equally disgusted) group. "Got it."

—

Confessional: Courtney

"I think Chris might hate me."

—

"Alright campers," Chris announced, "You have just one minute in the boathouse to grab your critter-catching gear!"

And with that, they made their way inside. It wasn't quite a madhouse, but with the way Leshawna and Heather were fighting over what little they could find it might as well have been one step down from it.

Duncan went for the chainsaw first. No surprises there.

Bridgette and Courtney seemed to be searching around aimlessly for something that could help them, with little luck. It wasn't exactly shocking to him that a place mainly used for fishing gear didn't have anything to help with catching deer. Or bears.

To be honest, Cody was a little surprised Bridgette was as willing as she was to go out and compete in this challenge. Only DJ surpassed her in terms of appreciation for animals, and she wasn't a natural hunter.

Lindsay was doing… something. She had grabbed a few paddles and other boat-related objects, so he just assumed she was going to be taking a boat around to find a beaver dam. Not the worst plan in the world.

And as for him?

He remembered a little trick Izzy had pulled last time around.

"Ten seconds remaining!" Chris called.

Looks like that was his cue.

"Coming through!" He called, carrying several large boxes out towards the exit. Chris watched in amusement as he dumped them all out onto the dock, with whatever was inside the crates shaking around like crazy.

Courtney popped her head out of the door, eyeing up the boxes. "Can he do that?"

Chris shrugged. "There's no rules against it, fair game to me."

The other six filed their way out of the boathouse as Cody began to dig through his crates, with Heather silently glaring at him the entire time.

—

Confessional: Heather

"I assume I'm the favorite to win," she said, meticulously filing her nails as she talked, "I mean, look who's left! A criminal, a bimbo, a hippie nature girl, a psycho control freak who is dating the criminal, whatever the hell Cody is, and Leshawna. And the only thing she has going for her is that she hasn't made any enemies. Whoop-de-doo!"

Heather glared into the camera. "We're not here to make friends. We are here to win, and that is exactly what I plan on doing!"

For emphasis, she snapped her nail file in half. It took a lot more effort than it should have.

—

Most of the junk inside the crates Cody ran out with was exactly that - junk. Stale provisions, fishing gear, and the like littered the boxes, as well as some stuff he wouldn't touch with a ten-foot-pole.

But he didn't have an eye or most of that stuff… although he did pocket a stale sandwich that had been in the crate for some reason for later. There was a chance that a raccoon would still eat it, right?

No. His eyes were only for the orange tranquilizer gun that laid at the bottom of the final crate he had secured.

"Score!" He shouted, the weapon gleaming in the sunlight as he pulled it out.

Bridgette stared at him with wide eyes, before turning towards Chris in shock. "You guys have guns in there?!"

Chris looked over towards Cody calmly, then turned back to Bridgette. "Eh, that's just a tranquilizer gun. Mostly harmless… I think."

Courtney eyed it like a dog eyed a well-done steak. "Hey, Cody," she began slowly, walking towards him awkwardly, "Any chance I can trade you for that tranquilizer gun?"

Cody regarded her coolly. "Sorry, but no."
"Please?" She tried. It was pretty clear she was desperate. "I mean, you probably won't need it just to catch a silly little raccoon, and we are in an alliance, right?"

"No."

"But–"

"Everybody ready?" Chris asked, interrupting the CIT before she could continue to plead with him.

"Yes!" Was the overwhelming response.

Courtney looked mortified. "No!" She cried.

Chris threw his hand into the air. "Game on!"

Leshawna and Heather immediately rushed into the woods, with the former carrying a bucket and the latter holding a net. Lindsay ran towards the beach, and Cody thought two things.

One was that she wasn't blindly following Heather anymore, and that that was very good.

The other was that Lindsay was definitely not going to win this challenge.

Courtney slumped over in defeat. "It's hopeless…"

Duncan patted her on the back. "Relax, babe," he said smoothly, "We'll figure something out!"

"'We'?" She snarked, "I don't think you have to catch a fucking bear!"

He shrugged. "Sure don't, but do you really think I'm going to let you go and try that on your own?" Duncan eyed her amusedly, a smirk already forming on his face. "At the very least, I'm going to record it for posterity."

She rolled her eyes, but that fire was certainly back in Courtney's eyes thanks to Duncan.

She still shoved him to the ground for the joke about recording her failing, but it seemed like the punk had been expecting that.

"Besides," he smirked from his position on the ground, "Worst comes to worst, I just steal the tranquilizer gun from Cody."

Well then. It seemed like that was his signal to leave.

He better watch his pockets.

–

Heather sneered up at the chipmunk she had been chasing for the better part of an hour, hate filling her eyes. "When I catch you," she hissed, venom flying out with every word, "I'm going to skin you alive."

The chipmunk just ignored her, easily hopping over to the next tree in its path.

"Damn it!" She hated this challenge. Why did she have to be the one out here getting her hands dirty? Where was Lindsay when she needed her?

Oh yeah, she had been avoiding Heather like the plague over the last two days. This had Cody written all over it, what was with that dweeb? Why did he keep white-knighting for that idiot?

This wasn't worth it. She only had to get through two more weeks of crappy food, and then the hundred-thousand would be hers. Why was she going through all this just for a nice dinner?

She knew why. Because she needed immunity. Because Leshawna and Cody were salivating like starving mutts at the chance of eliminating her. Hell, it might already be too late for her, depending on how everyone else's hunts were going. As snarky as she had been about getting a chipmunk as her animal, it might be the only thing keeping her from going home tonight.

But she couldn't even catch the damn thing! It was like it knew she needed to catch it, and was mocking her every step of the way.

Did Heather ever mention that she hated this show sometimes?

"Screw this," she hissed, stomping into the underbrush, "I'm going to make you wish you were dead, you hear me rodent?!"

"Am I losing it, or did that bush just talk?"

Heather pushed her way out from the shrubbery, and ended up in front of two of the people she hated here the most - Duncan and Courtney.

"Oh." She made a face that definitely pissed the CIT off. "It's you two."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Nice to see you too, dollface."

Heather sneered at him. "You should control your horndog of a boyfriend, Courtney," she warned, "A girl might get the wrong idea with those kinds of nicknames flying out of his mouth, y'know?"

If looks could kill, all three of them would be dead. "I don't get what your problem with us is," Courtney hissed, "But I don't care anymore. Get lost, Heather."

"No." Heather smirked at the brunette. "I don't think I will. You see, I'm hunting chipmunks, and I just so happened to see one scurry on over this way! So how about this - you two 'get lost', go and do whatever you weirdos do to spend time on this backwater island, and you let me through, hmm?"

"I don't know if I'd be making demands if I were outnumbered and the other group had a chainsaw," Duncan chimed in, seemingly amused, "Just saying."

Courtney scoffed, already moving to roll up her sleeves. "I don't need a chainsaw to teach daddy's girl here a lesson. You seriously want to try me?"

Heather saw red, and her eyes narrowed viciously. "Don't call me that, bitch."

Courtney smirked as the nickname struck home. "Oh? Did I strike a nerve, princess? I would have guessed that you'd get more offended at insinuations that you were flat as a board, or that no guy would ever touch you with a twenty-foot pole, but I guess we all make mistakes."

The queen bee was practically frothing at the mouth now. "I'll show you striking a nerve, you fucking–"

Duncan was quick to step between the two, although it was clear he was enjoying the oncoming catfight. "Ladies, ladies!" He interrupted, "You're both pretty. How about we all take a chill pill?"

"Stay out of this, Duncan!" Courtney shouted.

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon now," he tried, "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"Absolutely not," Heather snarled, "Listen to your handler. Get out of this!"

Duncan sighed in frustration as the girls began attempting to hit each other while he held them apart, with most of the blows landing on him. "Well I don't know about you two, but I want to win this game - and that isn't gonna happen unless the two of you start making nice."

The surprise declaration made both of them hesitate, which finally gave Duncan the opportunity to push them away from each other.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Courtney asked in disbelief.

Heather didn't look much better. "Elaborate."

Duncan rolled his eyes again. "Have you two not noticed how the game has been trending?" At their combined silence, he trekked on. "Well I have. The friendship brigade–"

"Who?" Heather demanded.

"Cody and Bridgette," Duncan corrected, "Aren't exactly the most ruthless competitors imaginable, and it's a miracle Lindsay has lived this long. But you think Leshawna is just gonna sit around and let any of us coast any longer? She's been gunning for you since day one, Heather, and by the looks of things you don't have any more safety nets to fall back on now that Cody and Lindsay aren't listening to you. In fact, I'd wager to say they both want you gone! Cody and Leshawna are friends, and Cody and Lindsay are friends, you don't think you're going home the moment you're vulnerable?"

"Of course I know that!" She hissed, "So get out of my way and let me win!"

"For once," Courtney said, "I kind of agree with her. Why should we tie ourselves to Heather? She's a sinking ship!"

Duncan was starting to get tired of these two. How did they make it this far with this kind of attitude? "You need to look at the bigger picture," he explained, "Once primadonna is gone, we'll be the two on the outs! Do you really wanna be eliminated in one week just to watch a friendship finale between Cody and Bridgette?"

Courtney opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself. "That… that's kind of true…"

Heather turned up her nose at the pair. "I don't care. I have a chipmunk to catch, and every moment I spend with you two is another moment it gets away!"

Duncan hefted the chainsaw he had been sporting on his back into his hands. "You know," he said bemusedly, "I bet this thing could help catch a chipmunk, hmm? Knock down the tree, catch the chipmunk, win the challenge?"

She gave him an absolutely vile look. But said nothing refuting him.

Heather looked like she really wanted to kick him in the crotch again.

"Fine," she hissed, "But I win invincibility today, and I choose who goes home. Got it?"

Duncan shrugged. "Fine by me. Let's go catch a chipmunk."

He turned to follow the girl as she passed him, but Courtney caught his arm.

"I don't know about this," she whispered, "What if we get targeted because of her?"

He just snorted. "And how would anyone find out?" Duncan smirked, before lowering his voice so that only she could hear him. "And it's not like we need to keep her around for long, we'll just ditch her the moment we don't need her anymore."

Courtney gave him a hesitant look for a moment, before finally relenting with a sigh. "Fine," she agreed, "But if we lose it's your fault."

Duncan chuckled. "I'll take that bet."

"Hey!" Heather shouted, "Where are you two! I need that chainsaw!"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Shall we?"

Duncan gestured towards the queen bee. "After you, Princess."

The couple quickly turned to follow, unaware that they had a secret listener eavesdropping the entire time.

Leshawna held her breath until she couldn't hear footsteps anymore, silently fuming all the while.

So that was how they were gonna play, huh?

Fine then.

The gloves were off.

Now she just needed to find Bridgette and Cody…

—

Confessional: Leshawna

"I'm not gonna lie," she admitted, "Hiding in that bush might have been what saved my bacon. I had been planning to sabotage Heather all day to make sure she couldn't win invincibility, but what can I do when Duncan and Courtney are gonna be helping her? Cleaning the washrooms is a small price to pay for getting rid of little-miss-psycho, but I'm not gonna throw away my shot at winning the game for nothing!"

Leshawna sighed. "I'm just lucky those three ran into each other when they did. Who knows how screwed I'd be if I didn't… and Courtney, damn. You think you know a girl!"

—

Cody was silent as he stalked through the forest, keeping a safe distance from his prey while making sure it couldn't escape. Duncan had trouble with the raccoons last time around, but Cody wasn't going to make the same mistake of underestimating it that the delinquent had.

He had been following it for a good while now, and he had seen the raccoon he was pursuing pass by several others of its kind already. That was fine, though, since he just needed to wait for a moment when the raccoon was alone… and in an area where Cody would have a clear shot with the tranquilizer gun.

And it looked like his moment had just arrived.

The raccoon had paused to stretch, right in the middle of a small clearing. Cody was quick to pull out the orange weapon, kneeling behind a fallen log for cover.

He could taste victory as he readied the gun, turned the safety off, and–

"CODY!"

The raccoon immediately bolted at the noise, scurrying off into the darkness quicker than Cody could believe. There was no point in trying to chase it anymore; it was long gone.

"Cody! Where are you?"

Cody sighed, pocketing the tranquilizer gun as Leshawna's voice got closer and closer. "Hello?" He called back, confused and slightly irritated.

In no time at all Leshawna burst into view, with Bridgette being dragged along behind her. "We need to talk!"

Her tone left no room for argument, but Cody raised an eyebrow nonetheless. "Why? You just cost me my animal with your shouting, you know."

Leshawna's eyes widened. "Damn it! Sorry."

Bridgette looked slightly nauseous as she stood behind the larger girl, before finally taking a shaky seat on the ground. "W-why- ugh, why did you drag me through the woods?" She groaned, "I think I might puke."

"Nope! You've done enough puking on this show!" Leshawna chastised, "No puking! You two just need to listen for a second. I overheard Duncan, Heather, and Courtney talking, and they're forming an alliance to get rid of us."

What.

Cody's heart stopped. This was not good.

At all.

"Well," he said after what felt like an eternity, "Shit."

"What?" Bridgette gasped, "Why? Doesn't Courtney hate Heather? Why would they team up against us?!"

Leshawna shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Only thing that matters is making sure one of us wins today so that Heather can't save her scrawny behind yet again. I'll cut to the chase; I know we voted together to try and save Gwen, but we need to make an alliance - right here, right now. The three of us can take on anything this show throws at us! Until the end of the game we work together, vote together, and stick together."

"But…" Bridgette trailed off, voice going quiet, "Can we even beat them at a vote? Heather and Lindsay were in an alliance too, right? Even if one of us wins today, won't they just vote someone else off instead?"

Leshawna's eyes were hard. "Maybe. But if Heather still had Lindsay's vote, I have a feeling that she wouldn't be so willing to work with Courtney and Duncan." She glanced between the three of them. "She definitely hasn't been around her as much, at least not since the last challenge."

Cody winced and the girls both fell silent. Just thinking about what had happened, and even worse, what could have happened just three days ago was enough to put him out of commission for a while.

It wasn't everyday that you had to face your mortality in such a way, afterall.

"Look," Leshawna finally said, "I know you aren't losing sleep over whether or not you win, Cody. Maybe it's the same for you too Bridgette. But me? I want to win. I really want to win. And I really want to make sure that Heather, Duncan, and Courtney don't."

She reached her hand out expectantly. "We might not have a chance to stop them anymore, but if we don't act now then we definitely won't. Are you two in or not?"

Bridgette nodded, reaching her hand up from her seated position and meeting Leshawna's own. "I'm in."

"Cody?"

He mulled it over in his mind for a moment, but he had already decided. "Yeah, I'm in. Whatever it takes to keep Heather from winning."

He reached his hand into the pile.

"To stop Heather," Leshawna reiterated.

"To make sure Duncan and Courtney get what's coming to them," Bridgette added.

It was Cody's turn now. "To, uh…" he shrugged, "To make sure one of us doesn't have to clean the bathrooms and so that we get a nice dinner tonight."

He was rewarded with silence.

And some giggles from Bridgette.

"Really?" Leshawna asked, "That's the best you could come up with?"

Cody just shrugged again. "It felt childish. What was I supposed to say, 'To ensure victory and prosperity'?"

Leshawna just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. On three, we say, uh…"

She tapped her foot against the ground for a moment. "We need an alliance name. Something to show we mean business!"

Bridgette gave her a funny look. "Says who?"

"Says me!" She shot back.

"Because an 'alliance name' makes us seem that much more serious," Cody joked.

Leshawna stomped on his foot, making him yelp. "Because it gives us cred! You two just don't get it."

"Yeah." Bridgette nodded, sharing a glance with Cody (who was trying not to laugh). "Clearly we don't."

Cody hummed. Maybe there was one name they could repurpose.

"Alright," he finally said, letting Leshawna have her moment, "How about Team Victory."

Leshawna's eyes lit up. "Team Victory…" she repeated slowly, testing out how the name rolled off her tongue, "It's perfect! Team Victory, on three!"

"This just feels even more childish than before," Bridgette mumbled.

"Don't care!" Leshawna replied, loud enough to drown out Cody's similar complaint. "One! Two! Three!"

"Team Victory."

"Team Victory?"

"Team Victory!"

Leshawna huffed as she heard their cheers. "You guys have no spirit!"

"I have spirit!" Bridgette countered, "This just feels weird and forced."

"Can we focus on something else?" Cody asked finally, "Such as catching a frog, raccoon, or deer so that one of us can win?"

Leshawna and Bridgette froze like deer in headlights.

"Shit!" Leshawna swore, "How did I forget about that! Quick, we gotta move!"

Bridgette spared the clearing a quick glance, before her eyes landed on something far to her left. "Or maybe not…"

She quickly pointed over, and Cody and Leshawna both stopped in their tracks as they saw a lone deer skittishly walking into the woods.

"Jackpot!" Leshawna cheered, before quickly covering her mouth. "Cody, how good of a shot are you?"

He shrugged. "Not good enough to make this one."

Based on his best guess, the deer was at least over fifty meters away. With the amount of foliage in between the group and the animal, it was a miracle they could even see it from this distance. If he tried to hit it with the tranquilizer, there was a solid chance the dart didn't even make it that far.

Leshawna frowned. "Guess that means we're going to have to do this the hard way, huh?"

"The hard way?" Bridgette asked nervously.

Cody sighed, nodding along with Leshawna. "The hard way. Hope you're able to keep up with a deer."

Bridgette's face fell. "Oh no…"

In unspoken agreement, the three of them immediately burst into a sprint, all aiming for the deer. Quite impressively, it didn't take long at all for them to reach where it had been standing.

Of course, the moment they started making noise the deer had turned towards them, eyes wide, and darted back into the forest to hide.

Cody groaned silently as he continued to chase it.

This was going to be a long challenge.

—

Confessional: Bridgette

She sat silently in the confessional, rubbing her arm awkwardly as she avoided eye contact with the camera. She was also covered in leaves and twigs, especially in her hair.

"I don't know if my odds of winning are that great," Bridgette admitted, "I mean, my biggest strength was that I hadn't really made any enemies, but with Heather, Duncan, and Courtney targeting us that's kind of out the window. And Cody and Leshawna are great, but I feel like they've worked a lot harder than I have to be here now… all I've done is throw up all over myself and sit in the woods for a few hours."

—

Confessional: Leshawna

Leshawna was also covered in twigs and leaves.

"I think I got as good a shot as anyone else!" She said defiantly, "And I'm not gonna let anything stand in my way, especially not that cow Heather. No matter what it takes, I'll make sure I'm the one who gets her butt booted off the island!"

She paused for a moment, mulling her words over. "And you know what?" Leshawna added, "Same thing for Duncan and Courtney. You wanna mess with me? I'll show you exactly what I'm made of! By this time in two weeks, I'll be holding the hundred-thousand in my hands, mark my words!"

—

Lindsay was seen rowing her boat downstream, keeping an eye out for a beaver dam.

It wasn't going well.

Especially considering she couldn't remember what a beaver dam looked like.

—

Confessional: Lindsay

"I don't know!" She cried out, "This challenge is hard! I don't want to clean the bathrooms, and I can't go home either!"

—

It sucked having to chase down that deer.

It sucked even more to have to wrestle it down to the ground alongside Leshawna and Bridgette once they had caught up with it.

It sucked even more to have to knock it out with the tranquilizer gun and carry it all the way back to camp.

Cody's muscles were screaming in protest as he and Leshawna helped Bridgette hauled the several-hundred pound deer back to the cage, and the fact that its antlers kept poking him in the back of the head wasn't helping.

He was definitely going to be feeling this tomorrow.

"We're nearly there, y'all!" Leshawna encouraged, panting with exertion, "Just a little bit further!"

This was the third time she had said it in the past five minutes. It didn't feel anymore true on this attempt. He felt dirty, tired, and hungry, and the only thing keeping him going was the promise of Bridgette sharing her reward dinner with them.

And eliminating Heather. That was a reward all on its own.

Bridgette (the only one who wasn't actually helping to carry the deer - despite her repeated protests and offers to help, Leshawna assured her it would be quicker if she and Cody carried it) was ahead of them, constantly looking around and keeping an eye out for camp.

"Anything?" He grunted, sweat trickling down his forehead.

She pursed her lips as she looked ahead. "No, I don't–"

Bridgette gasped. "We're here!"

"Score!" Leshawna whooped. "Let's get this over with! I bet you can taste the brisket now, right Bridgette!"

"I'm a vegetarian!"

Cody and Leshawna started to run behind Bridgette - which was really tough while carrying the deer - and it wasn't long at all until both of them were able to make out the bonfire pit in the distance.

He smiled. This was it. They had finally won!

Victory was–

"Oh, there you losers are! I was beginning to think you guys just gave up!"

The group came to a dead stop right in front of the cage, with Heather sitting at a set dining table off to the side. Inside the cage sat a chipmunk and a duck. Chris was off to the side, watching with an amused expression on his face.

"Oh hell no!" Leshawna roared, "You did not get away with this shit again!"

Heather smirked. "I believe I did. It must suck to try so hard every challenge to beat me, just to lose every time anyways!"

Great. Just great. How did Heather keep pulling off invincibility?

"If it's any consolation," Chris tried, "I'm impressed you guys bagged a deer. I really thought that and the bear would be impossible."

Cody wanted to pull his hair out. He thought they had made good time, but clearly not if Heather and Duncan were able to get both of their animals already.

Speaking of the couple, they were probably out there hunting for a bear.

Yeah, good luck with that. It wasn't lost on him that Heather wasn't helping her new alliance members in the same way that they likely had for her.

Cody and Bridgette slowly dragged the deer into the cage as Leshawna struggled to not attack Heather again. For her part, she merely watched the three of them interact in disgust.

"Did you freaks kill that deer?" She asked.

None of them bothered to respond. It took a lot of his self-control to not flip her off.

Heather clearly didn't appreciate the silence. "Um, hello," she repeated, irritated, "I'm talking to you!"

Again, there was no response. Heather's scowl deepened at the slight, clearly offended, and opened her mouth to spit venom one more time–

"One gourmet meal for Heather," Chef announced, "Coming through!"

Chef walked past Leshawna carefully, pushing a small cart draped with white cloth and carrying several silver platters.

"Wow," Chris hummed, slowly stirring the drama pot, "That all looks pretty good!"

Heather clapped her hands as Chef prepared the table for her. "Wonderful!" She crooned, "Now, shoo! I don't need an audience of peasants to watch me eat!"

Cody was pretty sure he could pinpoint the exact moment Leshawna's blood vessels burst.
"That's it!" She screamed, lunging at Heather. "You are dead!"

She knocked Chef, the tray, and the table into the dirt as she charged at Heather, who screamed in terror and immediately ran for the hills.

Bridgette and Cody looked at each other in worry. "Do we step in…?" She asked, trailing off as they ran back towards the cabins.

"Go get Cody his animal!" Leshawna shouted, voice fading quickly in the distance, "I don't care about losing! I'll clean the bathrooms, just get this challenge over with!"

"Get away from me!" Heather shouted, before the two finally left Cody's field of vision. "You're insane!"

Their voices quickly faded into the distance.

Chris clapped his hands together. "You heard the woman!" He said, "Go fetch that raccoon! You guys only have a few hours left, better not waste them!"

Cody sighed. "This challenge sucks."

The host just nodded. "That's the point! Now get out there and wrangle some critters!"

–

Catching the raccoon was easy, funnily enough. It was like the animal didn't care to fight him and Bridgette once winning the challenge was no longer on the table.

He didn't even have to use the tranquilizer gun, much to Bridgette's relief. She had been eyeing it with worry ever since he'd found it, and he was quick to toss it into the trash once the opportunity presented itself.

As of right now, the two of them (and a scratched up Leshawna) were sitting in a circle in the boys' cabin, silently staring at the floor.

"So much for Team Victory," Bridgette mumbled, "We're screwed."

"Not true," Leshawna corrected, "We just can't vote for Heather. If we had won the challenge, we'd be in the exact same position for this vote."

Cody sighed. "Yeah. Still sucks."

Bridgette glanced towards the door in worry. Duncan, Courtney, and Heather had been in the main lodge eating dinner with the rest of them when Leshawna had not-so-subtly motioned for them to leave. "At best it's a tied vote, isn't it? With–"

"Lindsay being the tiebreaker," Cody finished, "Yep."

"And at worst I'm going home," Leshawna said, "Ain't no way Heather would let me slide past tonight after the whooping I laid on her."

She clearly said it in an attempt to raise their spirits, but it certainly didn't have the desired outcome.

"You guys fight so much," Bridgette whispered, "This place is driving us crazy."

Leshawna shrugged. "That or Heather is just getting worse. I dare say that we'd have been able to achieve world peace on this show if it weren't for her."

"We're getting off-track," Cody reminded, "Who do you guys want to vote for? I say Duncan."

"I don't really want to vote for Courtney or Duncan," Bridgette mumbled, "But with what they're trying to pull on us I guess we don't have a choice. Weren't we supposed to still be in an alliance with them?"

Leshawna reached over and patted the surfer girl on the back. "Better to find out now than when you're getting backstabbed during the vote, hun," she tried, "But I think we should vote for Courtney. Somehow, she's way more of a loose cannon than he is and tries a lot harder in challenges. Might make it easier for us to knock the other two out later."

"Yeah, but Courtney and Heather really don't like each other," he reminded her, "If we get Duncan out, there's a pretty good chance they just lose it at each other."

"Have you seen Courtney?" Leshawna asked, "Girl was willing to scarf down cockroaches to win a reward challenge, I think she'd swallow her pride to win a hundred-grand."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "So were you?"

"Touche."

"Guys," Bridgette interrupted, "Don't we need to get Lindsay on our side first?"

Leshawna snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Either of you guys know where she–"

"NO!"

The three of them froze in tandem at the sound of shouting, eyes slowly moving towards the open window the scream had come from.

"What do you mean, no?!"

"Uh, isn't that Lindsay and Heather?" Cody whispered.

Leshawna's eyes widened. "It is."

The three of them peered through the window, heads low as to try and avoid detection. Right outside of the girls' cabin was the pair of Lindsay and Heather, with Lindsay looking defiant and Heather looking downright murderous.

"You will be voting off Leshawna, got it?" The queen bee hissed, stepping forward into Lindsay's personal space, "Or else!"

"Or else what?" Lindsay dared. "We're not friends anymore Heather. You don't even like me! You just want my vote! You want me to vote off another one of my friends!"
"Or else I can make sure that you go home." Heather sneered down at her. "Leshawna isn't your friend. She's a total psycho. And you're right, I'm not your friend; I'm your boss, and you better listen to me or else you're going to get fired."

Lindsay gasped, and for the first time in Cody's life, actually looked angry. "I don't care!" She shouted, loud enough to make the birds in the trees fly away in fright, "I'm not listening to you! I defended you! I've given you everything you've asked for this entire time and more! Cody and Leshawna and Gwen and everybody else was right! You really are a two-faced, backstabbing, lying little–"

What followed next was the most intense, most violent, most volatile, longest chain of swears Cody had ever heard. He was pretty sure Lindsay didn't even stop to breathe during the entire five-minute curse out she laid on Heather.

Whatever people thought the bleeped out version was originally, Cody could safely assume that it was so much worse than that.

But… honestly?

He was proud of the way Lindsay stood up for herself, and the way she made Heather look completely mortified.

Looking around the cabin, he realized Bridgette was in a similar state of shock to Heather - and that Leshawna was completely incapable of holding in her laughter.

"O-oh- oh my- oh my goodness gracious!" Leshawna was struggling to get a single word out thanks to her giggling fit, "I– I can't! It's too much!"

She was hysterical, toppling over onto the ground and holding her sides as she continued to howl.

"Do you need help?" Bridgette asked cautiously, "It wasn't that funny."

Leshawna was practically in tears. "N-no," she wheezed, taking several deep breaths, "I'm okay, I'm okay."

With their assistance, she was able to pull herself to her feet. "I'll go talk to Lindsay," she decided, "You two just sit back and wait for the vote - it'll be easier to get her to vote for one of them if she gets to pick who goes home."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?" he asked, "You do remember the last time you tried to get Lindsay on our side, right?"

Leshawna just nodded. "Yeah, but this time is different. Trust."

Bridgette nodded along, but still looked unsure. "It's not like we have any other choice…"

—

Confessional: Lindsay

"I don't know what came over me…" she mumbled, before smiling brightly, "Oh, wait! Yes I do! Heather is a total–"

The rest of the words were censored, and for good reason.

The confessional camera quickly cut out.

—

The mood at the campfire was tense… unless you were Lindsay. She was a beacon of happiness among her fellow competitors.

Heather especially had a face of stone, completely emotionless as she stared Leshawna down - but the sister was more than happy to stare back.

"You've all cast your votes and made your decision," Chris said with a smile, "And man, was it a tough one! We've got so much footage from this episode, we don't know what to do with it!"

"Get on with it." Heather said coldly.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, "Whatever. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers and leave. That means you are out of the contest, and you can't come back. Ever."

—

Confessional: Leshawna

"One thing I'll be happy to never see again?" She repeated. "Definitely the food."

"The food." Heather said simply.

"The food," Duncan replied.

Bridgette looked queasy. "The food."

"The bathrooms!" Lindsay exclaimed, "They're so gross!"

"The confessional," Courtney whined, trying not to make a face, "This place smells worse than the guys' cabin!"

Cody hummed as he pondered the question. "Well," he said slowly, "I certainly won't miss the flies. Or Heather. The rest has been pretty good!"

—

"The first marshmallow goes to Heather," Chris began, "For winning immunity."

She looked mighty confident as she strode up to claim her marshmallow.

Cody would make sure that didn't last.

"Bridgette, Cody, and Lindsay."

Duncan, Courtney, and Leshawna were the only three left seated at the bonfire. None of them looked particularly worried or surprised, but that was about to change.

"Duncan."

The delinquent walked slowly up to the plate, calmly grabbing his marshmallow and joining the other five behind Chris.

"Courtney, Leshawna," Chris said solemnly, "One of you has spent your last night on Total Drama Island. And since the two of you were the only ones to receive any votes, I wouldn't be surprised if the next ceremony has the one of you who survives tonight getting the boot too."

At that little nugget of information, Courtney blinked. "Wait," she said quickly, "What?"

Leshawna said nothing. All she did was smile viciously at the girl beside her.

—

Confessional: Lindsay

"I couldn't vote for Heather," she explained, "But Leshawna told me that Heather made a new alliance with Duncan and Courtney, and that I could help get back at her by voting one of them off!"

Lindsay smiled brightly at the idea of sticking it to Heather yet again. "I don't really like Duncan, but Courtney's been mean to me since day one… and she was always mean to Tyler!"

—

"The final marshmallow goes to… Leshawna!"

"WHAT?!"

Chris flicked the last marshmallow on his plate over to Leshawna, who happily snatched it up as Courtney watched on in disbelief. "You– you're kidding!" She gasped, "That's impossible!"

Duncan nodded. "Seriously!" He groaned. "Can we get a recount or something?"

Chris shrugged easily. "Sure. Courtney loses, recount complete. Any other questions?"

She looked behind Chris - towards the three contestants who she knew decided the vote. "You guys voted for me?!" Courtney cried out in betrayal, "What the hell, Cody! And Bridgette, I thought we were friends!"

Bridgette opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Leshawna standing up and blocking Courtney's view. "She doesn't owe you anything, much less an explanation! Maybe you'll get one if you explain why you and Duncan tried cozying up with Heather, hmm?"

Courtney's eyes shrunk to pinpricks. "I– uh– you–"

"How do you know about that?!" Duncan demanded, immediately wheeling on Heather.

Leshawna just scoffed. "I got ears all over the place, hun. Ain't nothing gonna slip past me! Maybe you can think about how you never shoulda thought about working with her on the boat ride home."

She stood up in defiance at Leshawna's comments, eyes alight and ready to shoot right back, but the fire in her eyes died.

"Tick-tock, Courtney," Chris said, "You got a hot date with the Boat of Losers!"

Courtney nodded, eyes trained on her shoes. "...Okay. Bye, Duncan."

She hurried down towards the Dock of Shame, with a disgruntled Duncan immediately beginning to chase after her. Heather, for part, simply watched the scene unfold with a sick smile.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your new friend?" Leshawna asked rhetorically.

Heather just scoffed. "Oh, please. I don't have friends and I don't need friends. What I need is a hundred grand, and a hundred grand is what I will soon have. I'm going to take a shower."

And with that, there were four… well, five if you included Chris.

"Leshawna, Lindsay," their host called, catching their attention once again, "As the losers, or, well, co-losers I guess, you realize you still have to clean the washrooms, right?"

Lindsay and Leshawna collectively groaned. "Seriously?" The blonde cried, "I thought you were kidding!"

Chris shook his head. "Afraid not. The cleaning supplies are already waiting for you at the washrooms. Make sure you guys really scrub the drains, they're filthy!"

Their host walked off, presumably back to his quarters, and Leshawna and Lindsay both trudged to the washrooms to begin their punishment, leaving Cody and Bridgette alone with the dying bonfire.

"I still don't know if this was the right thing," Bridgette admitted after a moment, the fire casting long shadows across her face, "I mean, Courtney was my friend…"

"There's only seven people left," Cody reminded her, "With Heather safe, there's only so many options to vote for, even without working with Leshawna."

Bridgette sighed. "I know, it just feels like this show is bringing out the worst in all of us, you know?"

A million memories flashed through his head at her words. None of them were good.

"Trust me," he sighed, "I know."

—

A/N: Quick updates ftw. Did miss my deadline though, classes started for me today, so I can't promise the next update will be as soon as this one.

Also, the last three chapters are the three longest chapters I've written for this story, with this chapter the first to hit 10k words - if this trend continues World Tour chapters will be like 50k juggernauts lmao.

But let me know what you think! Did you expect Courtney to go? We're down to six now, and fair warning, I am going to be making some very big changes to canon over the next three or four chapters. You'll see what I mean when we get there. But anyways, tell me who you want to win! Or think will win!

Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!