After a little while of lounging around in his bed, Cody noticed that the others were starting to head towards the dining hall, so followed them. He arrived at the mess hall and got in line. Not that he enjoyed the food, but he did need something to eat. Once handed his "food", Cody sat himself down at his team's designated table. Soon after, Ezekiel sat himself down next to the geek. Though the prairie boy didn't notice, Cody was constantly taking glances at him.

"Welcome to the main lodge!" Chris announced, more for the camera rather than for the teens, as most people had already taken a seat.

"Yo, Chris my man. Can we order a pizza?" Suddenly an ax was thrown across the hall. Despite knowing what would happen, Cody still jumped. Even a warning can't get rid of the nerves from a flying ax. "Woah! It's cool, G! Brown slop is cool!"

"Your first challenge begins in one hour," Chris said as he turned to leave. Cody overheard Katie asking DJ what the challenge would be, and DJ replied with, "It couldn't be too bad." He nearly laughed at the irony of the statement, with this first challenge being one of the most life-threatening they'd ever face.

Chris came back in to tell them that they would need to be wearing their swimsuits, so most people decided to head back to the lodges to look around camp with the time that they had. Cody, already knowing the layout of the camp well, decided to observe the other contestants. Sitting on the stairs of the mess hall, he saw the majority of people exploring the main area alone. At this point, people didn't know each other well enough to look together. Well, besides Katie and Sadie.

Owen was an exception to that rule, as he tried to talk to as many people as possible. Pretty much everyone just gave some awkward small talk as they tried to subtly ditch the fat kid. Others, namely Duncan and Heather, told him to leave them alone outright. Eventually, Owen ended up coming towards Cody.

"Hey, man! My name's Owen! How about you?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh, my name's Cody. It's, uh, nice to meet you."

"Cool! So, why are you just sitting here? Shouldn't you be lookin' around the island?"

"Eh, I don't know. I'm not sure I even want to stay." That part was true, and considering he was supposed to have been tricked into thinking this would be a nice resort, it was a pretty believable fib.

"Oh, what?! C'mon man, there's no reason to quit! I mean, yeah, it's a bit gross, but there's so much to do! You can make friends, you can get famous, you could win a bunch of money. There's tons of reasons to stay!"

Cody didn't want to ruin the future. It was hardly one he cared for, but he'd seen enough science fiction movies to know that even the slightest change could ruin everything. Yet, it was too late already. Even in the five minutes he had spent on the island, his change in behavior had likely done irreparable damage. Instead, a new possibility had just opened up to him. He could change the future. He knew firsthand just how miserable this show could leave its victims. He could use his knowledge to help others, save them!

"You know what, Owen? You're right. I will stay. Thanks for the talk." Cody responded, a smile on his face.

"No problem, man! See ya!" he said before running off to talk to someone else. Cody's spirits were significantly raised after that talk. He had a slight grin resting on his face until it was time for him to put on his swimsuit. Chris led them up the mountain to reach the first challenge. On the way, Cody decided to make small talk with his teammates. Specifically, he tried to talk with a few of his teammates.

He had a lengthy conversation with Noah about some online MMOs, which was a complete nostalgia trip for Cody. The bookworm seemed on edge, almost jittery. Cody hadn't ever seen him like that before, but didn't ask why. With Beth, he discussed her home life, and the farm she was raised on. He and Leshawna discussed the challenge ahead and what they thought it would be. Gwen; however, gave him the cold shoulder. Not that Cody was surprised. He knew Gwen wasn't the most sociable person on the island. Yet, he was still a bit disappointed. Cody knew they could actually be decent friends, as long as he wasn't lusting after her.

Eventually, they reached the peak, where they first got to see the drop that they would soon be taking.

"Oh, shit."

Cody could only nod in agreement to DJ's fear. Chris explained the challenge to them, to which most of the contestants were left dumbstruck.

"You're telling me we have to jump off of this?!" Eva yelled. More protests rose until Chris firmly stated that they could cost their team this challenge, which shut them up.

The teens stood there, frozen. None wanted to go at all, and they definitely didn't want to go first. Cody realized this and came to an unfortunate conclusion. He'd jumped off the cliff the first time, mostly to impress the goth girl he found pretty. Now, he had nothing to prove. But if he didn't jump and he cost the team his challenge, he'd never live the shame down.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists until his knuckles were white, he slowly edged towards the cliff. Each step felt like he was dragging a school bus by a rope. Eventually, he found himself at the cliff's edge, the others murmuring behind him. Closing his eyes, he took a step forward and let himself fall.

The fall seemed to last a lifetime, Cody not able to take a breath. Eventually, Cody landed in the water. The impact knocked out of his breath, but he was able to notice that he had landed in the safety ring. Cody rose to the surface of the water and saw the many shocked faces leaning over the edge of the mountain.

"How in the hell did you do that so easily?!" Gwen yelled.

"Are you insane?" DJ screamed.

"No, he's not. Trust me," Izzy replied.

Cody's jump ignited some sort of fire needed for the others to follow suit. Owen and Zeke ended up being the last two to jump. Owen eventually did, which just left Ezekiel, as well as a few Bass.

"If you don't hurry up and make up your mind now, I will kick your ass off the cliff!" Courtney yelled. This scared the homeschooled kid into nearly chickening out. However, Cody thought quickly.

"Come on, Ezekiel. Trust me, it isn't that bad. It'll be over in just a few seconds." he yelled up to him. Still nervous, Ezekiel nodded as he inched towards the cliff, only to fall off anyway.

Ironically, Courtney, who was pushing for Zeke to make up his mind, was the last to be on the cliff. She also ended up chickening out. Katie and Sadie also ended up not jumping. Cody suspected that the two were so happy to be reunited in the original timeline that they barely even noticed that they jumped off. Now, they couldn't distract themselves.

When Ezekiel reached the shore, Cody helped pull him to his feet.

"Thanks, dude. You really helped, eh."

"No problem. I didn't want you to maybe cost us the challenge. Not that it mattered, I guess. We still would have won, regardless if you had jumped or not. But thanks for doing it anyway."

Of course, the Gophers got the wheelbarrow, making their life much easier. He ended up carrying his alongside Ezekiel, whom he talked with the entire way. Despite his initial reservations to talk to him due to Cody's confusion with the team swap, the homeschooled kid was turning out to be a pretty nice guy, if a little dim. They made their way back to camp and were told they had to open the crates with their teeth.

After showing a beautiful demonstration of teamwork, the Gophers were halfway done with their hot tub. Just then, the Bass showed up, looking much worse for the wear.

"Aren't you guys missing a couple of white girls?" Leshawna asked. They were indeed, as Katie and Sadie had gone off to who knows where. Well, Cody did, but he kept that a secret.

"Oh, God dammit! Where'd they go? And why weren't you two watching them?!" Courtney yelled at Harold and Tyler. They fought back, and the rest of the Killer Bass were dragged into the argument. During this time, the Gophers made steady work on their hot tub, as the Bass' crates remained unopened. By the time Chris made his way there to judge the pools, there was a clear winner.

"So our winners are the Screaming Gophers! Killer Bass, this is a sad first showing. Meet me by the campfire tonight to vote off your first teammate."

The Gophers cheered as the Bass sulked. As much as Cody felt bad for the Bass, they had brought it upon themselves.

The teens later found themselves at the mess hall, eating their dinner. During this time, Katie and Sadie showed up, sparking yet another major argument from Courtney. However this time, her team backed her up. As much as they hated her attitude, she was in the right this time.

Cody did his best to ignore their drama and focused on his food.

"I'm tho glad we won the firtht challenge!", Beth said, while spitting.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either, eh? I mean, we had-"

"EZEKIEL!" Cody suddenly yelled, slamming his hands on the table as everyone jumped and turned towards him. "Could I please speak with you outside?"

"Y-yeah. Sure, eh."

As they got up to leave, Cody sheepishly apologized for his outburst, receiving a few disgruntled mumbles.

"W-what were you about to say in there, Ezekiel?"

"Well, I was going to say I was surprised we won considering we had five girls, until you screamed at me!"

"Yeah, okay. See, that's the problem. That's sexist."

"S-sexist?"

"Oh, how do I explain this to you? Girls are as good at everything as guys are. We are equal."

"But my dad said-"

"I'm gonna be honest, Zeke. Your dad probably isn't very knowledgeable about these subjects. Just trust me, okay?"

"But he's so smart, eh! He knows exactly when to get up to help our crops!" Ezekiel received a deadpan stare from the geek. The homeschooled kid sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Aw, man. So, I shouldn't follow everything he says?"

"No. Please, no."

The two went back inside, avoiding eye contact from their sudden exit. Heather gave them a scrutinizing look, which Cody ignored. They finished their meal, and Cody went out to relax with his time. Over the next two hours, he spent some time relaxing by himself, before joining his team in their hot tub. During their party, the Killer Bass both went to and from the campfire. They went in with eleven and came back with ten. Sadie was noticeably absent from the group when they returned, so it was obvious who was gone. Making it even clearer, Katie was bawling her eyes out, only being comforted by Bridgette. It was a bit of a damper to their party, but the Gophers continued.

Cody called it in early and returned to his bunk to think.

"It makes sense that Sadie's gone. With no sexist Ezekiel to be mad at, and with the pair of girls costing them the challenge, it only makes sense. Plus, Katie's more… athletic figure would probably help more with future challenges."

Cody's pondering continued into strategizing for future challenges, before he succumbed to his own exhaustion and fell asleep.

A/N: So, for this chapter, I wanted Cody to really second guess himself on being on the island. If I were a time traveler, not messing up the future would be one of the first things I'd think about. Owen was a good fit to get him out of his funk. It's kind of hard to write for the guy, mostly because of how extroverted he is. It's hard to have him either be serious or have a close personal relationship with someone. But to be fair, early Island Owen seemed to be pretty close to Cody, being really good friends, so Owen fit the role really easily.

I didn't go too deep into the conversations when climbing up the cliff for a multitude of reasons. For one, I'm lazy. Secondly, I think it would be a bit boring and formulaic as he goes up to four separate people. Outside of mentioning Gwen's aloofness, the other conversations aren't really meant as meaningful steps in a friendship, rather Cody is just trying to be friendly to get some friends. It's important to have those in a show like this, of course.

Ezekiel's quick turn around might seem a bit fast, but there's a reason for that. I don't think Ezekiel's sexism is inherent in him, rather it was instilled in him by his father. And I think he was just blurting something out, so quickly changing his mind isn't too far fetched. Also, as we know due to his multilinguality, Zeke's a smart guy. I'm sure he could recognize that Cody was trying to help him socially.

Sorry Sadie fans, all two of you. She never had a role in this story. There was never a point where she got past the first elimination. Someone has to take the role of first eliminated, and without Ezekiel as fodder, it was obvious one of the twins had to go. Sadie left because she got further in canon, so I let Katie get further this time.