The golden rays of the sun poured down, Cody's eyes instinctively opening at such a bright sky. The world around him spun as he suddenly realized that he wasn't asleep, or even just waking up. He was standing, and not just anywhere. In front of him was a steep drop, and after focusing his eyes, he realized that it was the one-thousand foot drop that he'd taken on his first day.
"Well?" Cody spun around to find Leshawna tapping her foot impatiently. "You said you were gonna jump." The others nodded in both confusion and agreement.
Cody grasped for words but couldn't find any, so he followed instructions. Standing at the edge of the cliff, he peered over it. He didn't want to take the drop again, but what was the harm right? This had to be a dream.
A nagging voice crept into the back of Cody's mind. "And what if it isn't?"
It was only one thought, yet the idea of him truly being back at the top of the dreaded cliff made his heart stop. Suddenly, he lost his footing and began hurtling toward the ground. The wind howled around him, Cody staring back up at the ever-fading faces that watched him fall. For an instant, he felt the water slam against his back until…
"Well? You said you were gonna jump." Leshawna said.
Cody's heart raced as he frantically ran his hands over his entire body, making sure he was still alive. "No, no… What's happening?" Cody gasped, his hand resting on his forehead.
"Dude, are you okay?" Trent asked, taking a step forward. Cody stuck his hand out, signaling him to stop.
"I-I'm not sure. Why am I here?" Silence rang out amongst the campers.
"I'd thay it'th probably to jump off the cliff?" Beth joked half-heartedly.
"Dude, it's okay if you don't want to do it first, you know," Owen offered.
"Oh, would you just get on with it, already?" Heather said as she walked up to Cody. Suddenly, she shoved him off, leaving him to fall once again. Cody remained speechless as he plummeted towards the water.
"Well? You said you were gonna jump."
To Cody's horror, he was teleported back up to the top of the cliff. "What the hell is going on?!" he yelled. The others flinched at his sudden outburst, though they just assumed he was nervous. Cody fell to his knees, his hands covering his face. "Please, please don't let me be stuck in this loop! I can't go through this show for a third time! Let me out!" Cody began to get hysterical, pounding at the ground. The others didn't know what to do, so they just stood there and watched him.
With a jolt, Cody raised his head from his pillow, slamming it into the bunk above him. Cody groaned, falling back into his pillow. There was no one else in the cabin, thankfully, so his pain went unnoticed. After massaging his head for a few minutes, Cody began trying to make sense of his dream.
"What the hell was that? Am I going to end up looping this contest over and over? Or was that just some meaningless dream?"
After waiting for his heart to finally calm down, he stepped outside to see very few people. One look at the sun and he determined that most people must still be eating breakfast. As Cody entered the dining hall and looked at the Killer Bass. The previous night's elimination clearly took its toll on one of their members.
Duncan sat at the edge of the Bass table, not touching his food. This action itself wasn't out of the ordinary, as only Owen was currently eating anything. However, Duncan seemed to have darting eyes and jittering hands. However, when Cody walked down the room to collect his breakfast, Duncan's eyes locked with his once again. As Cody held out his tray, Duncan stood up and walked to him.
"Hey, you," Duncan said, pointing at Cody.
"Uh, me?" Cody nervously asked.
"C'mere, idiot," the delinquent said, dragging him out of the mess hall.
"L-look man," Cody started, putting his hands up in front of him.
"I'm not gonna punch you, dork. I've already got one nerd on my team to deal with," Duncan said. "I came to… uh…"
"Apologize?" Cody asked hopefully.
"Hell no! But," Duncan said, running his hand over his face, "I don't wanna get one the bad side of your team, alright? So, can we consider last night forgotten?"
"Yeah, sure thing," Cody said, extending a hand.
Duncan eyed it but didn't take it. "And that means you have no idea what I was doing at the Dock of Shame, right?"
"You know, for some reason, I feel like you don't actually care about making nice with me," Cody said, retracting his hand.
"If you don't accept, I can make you forget another way," Duncan punched his palm.
"Alright, alright!" Cody said. "I've completely forgotten what you said to your girlfriend last night."
"Why you-"
"Relax, Duncan. Your secret's safe with me."
"It better be. I can make your life a living hell."
"As if this show already doesn't," Cody said, returning to the mess hall, Duncan at his feet.
"What was that, eh? What'd you do to make him angry?" Ezekiel asked when Cody sat next to him.
"I didn't make him angry," Cody said. "We just had a talk."
"A talk with the opposing team?" Heather butted in. "What, are you conspiring against us?"
Cody looked at her before returning his eyes to the lump of meat on his tray. "Do you honestly think that Duncan would work with me?" Looking over at the boy, Cody saw him growl at Harold for speaking.
"Don't think I'm not onto you," Heather said. Cody just shook his head and returned to his meal.
Soon, Chris would enter, sporting a look of excitement. "Alright, campers! Better chow down now, since we've got a challenge ready for you guys in half an hour!"
"Half an hour?!" Beth cried out.
"We've already had two challenges in two days…" Bridgette complained, poking at her food.
"Couldn't you cut us some slack?" Trent asked.
"Nope! Meet me on the beach in thirty to see exactly what's in store for you guys." Chris laughed menacingly. As the host stepped out, the teens looked between themselves in a mix of shock, annoyance, and fear.
"Surely it can't be as bad as last time!" Owen offered. The others glared at him.
"Do you even remember the first challenge when I said that? Then we had to jump off a cliff!" DJ yelled.
"Oh, would you kids shut it!" Chef yelled. He turned around to continue working on something in the kitchen. "Children these days… Always complaining about jumping off cliffs and whatnot… Never worked a day in their lives…" he muttered to himself. With the teens silenced, they poked at their meals until it was time to leave.
As they were walking out, Cody spotted Beth stop Heather off to the side. The queen bee rolled her eyes at whatever Beth had to say and pointed in the direction of the outhouse. Cody recognized what was happening, but stayed quiet to help later.
"Bass, Gophers…" Chris addressed the teams. "Today's challenge is a true summer camp experience- a canoe trip. You'll be paddling your canoes all the way to… Boney Island!" Although the campers knew nothing of the dangerous island yet, from both Chris' tone and their previous challenges, they expected the worst.
"Next you'll have to portage your canoes all the way across the island, which is about a two-hour hike across this deadly frontier."
"We have to pour what?" Ezekiel asked.
Geoff, looking equally as confused, scratched his head. "I think he said port-a-potty!"
"Portage?" Chris reminded them.
After receiving the same looks from the two, DJ stepped in. "Portage, guys. We've gotta walk our canoes across the island."
"Once you've gotten to the other side of the island, you'll build a rescue fire, which will be judged by yours truly. The first team to paddle their way back from there will be the winners. Move, campers, move!" With that, the two teams bolted towards the beach as fast as they could but were stopped before making it.
"Wait! One more thing I should mention… legend has it, if you take anything off the island, you'll be cursed forever! Okay, you're free to go now." The teams resumed their sprint, with Cody ending up next to Gwen.
"So, you gonna ask Trent to canoe with you?" Cody asked with a grin.
In response, Gwen rolled her eyes. "I mean, I want to. But when I told him I liked him, he kind of brushed it off. We haven't talked about it since."
"Wait, you asked him out?" Cody gasped. What had he missed during his time in banishment?
"Drop it," Gwen said. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh, come on. There's no time like the present, right? I'd say give it another shot."
Gwen shot him a questioning look. "And why do you care so much about me and Trent? It seems like you want him to date me more than he wants to."
"I just want to see you both happy," Cody said.
"And if you end up staying with Trent, you'll hopefully never kiss Duncan," he added in thought.
As the teens arrived at the beach, they began to split up into their natural friendships. Duncan, Geoff, and DJ all shared a canoe. Izzy dragged Bridgette along, though Bridgette seemed pretty hesitant to share a canoe with her. With all other options unavailable, Harold and Tyler looked at each other and shrugged. On the Gopher's side, Ezekiel quickly walked up to Cody, who nodded without even being asked. Gwen and Cody exchanged glances, as he gestured to an open Trent with his eyes. Gwen began to walk up to him before quickly coming to a stop.
"Hey, Trent! Want to come with me?" Heather said coyly. She wrapped herself around his arm, essentially forcing him to say yes.
"Yeah, sure Heather, that's fine," he said cooly, earning him a confused look from both Gwen and Cody.
"He seemed rather fine with going alongside her," Gwen said suspiciously.
"I'm… I'm sure it's nothing, Gwen. Just, try to focus on getting a different partner." Cody reassured, although he couldn't quite relieve himself.
As Gwen scanned her options, she hoped that Leshawna was still available. However, her friend was currently sitting in a canoe with Owen. Lindsay was with Beth, who had recently rejoined the group. The two were chatting whilst in their canoe. However, Gwen noticed that they had taken the canoe with three seats. She growled to herself, before walking up to the duo.
"Uh, you guys took the three-person canoe."
"Huh? Oh yeah, we totally did," Lindsay giggled.
Gwen waited for an invitation that wasn't coming. "There's nowhere else so I'm riding with you guys, I guess.
"Oh, thure Gwen! You're fine." Beth said enthusiastically.
"Like, totally, Glenda! You're welcome here!" Lindsay added. She quickly turned back to Beth and continued her earlier chat with Beth. Cody glanced over at the trio and grimaced, as Gwen already fidgeted uncomfortably. However, before Cody could offer to switch places with her, Ezekiel pushed their canoe into the water.
"There we go, eh! Now we can get this thing started!" Ezekiel said with a smile. Quickly remembering, Cody looked over and was lucky enough to be right next to the farm girl.
"Yo, Beth. I don't know if Chris told you or not, but he said not to take anything off this other island. He said you could get cursed or something."
Beth nodded along. "Thankth, Cody! You're thuch a thweetheart!"
As Cody leaned back, Chris fired his gun, signaling their start. Cody and Ezekiel swiftly began paddling, alongside everybody else. The two stayed silent for the first few minutes, purely concentrating on their paddling. As Cody began to grow bored, he noticed Ezekiel looking off at the Bass canoes. Specifically, he noticed that his homeschooled friend was staring at Bridgette and Izzy's canoe.
"So… Bridgette?" Cody asked slyly, nudging his friend.
Ezekiel, now violently blushing, stumbled on his words. "H-huh? What do you mean? I don't like Bridgette! No, I hate her, eh! Wait, no that's not right…" Cody chuckled at his friend.
"Dude, it's fine, I won't tell." Ezekiel breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's just so pretty. I like her hair, eh."
"So are you gonna go for her?"
"Go… for her?"
"You know, try to ask her out. Date her?" Cody suggested.
Ezekiel's eyes widened, finally understanding what Cody was saying. "No! No no! Definitely not! Do you think I should? Maybe I should!" Cody couldn't help but laugh at him, before sighing to himself.
He'd sworn to himself that his second trip on the show would be to make things better. Stop the tragedies, help those that needed it, that sort of thing. Yet, as he stared at Ezekiel, who continued to stare at Bridgette, he couldn't help but sigh. What chance did Ezekiel have getting a girlfriend? If Cody could help him out here, that would be a huge step in making him "normal", so to speak. And it wasn't as if Geoff and Bridgette's relationship was the steadiest one.
Cody looked back at said homeschooled kid, who was no longer paddling. His head rested upon his hands, staring lovingly at the other canoe. After Cody lightly coughed, Ezekiel quickly picked his oar back up and continued rowing. A small smile spread across Cody's face. He wouldn't force the relationship. But if Bridgette were to happen to fall for Ezekiel, then who's to stop her?
As Cody contemplated a potential plan, the air around them suddenly became much greyer. Snapping out of his trance, Cody looked around to find fog surrounding the duo. The canoes that were once scattered across the lake were now invisible, leaving only the two friends left alone.
"Uh, what's going on, eh?" Ezekiel asked, grabbing his toque for comfort.
"It seems like it's getting foggy. That doesn't bode well for the challenge." The two once again fell into silence as they took in their surroundings.
Suddenly, the canoe reached the beach. The two stepped out and carried it above their heads. Luckily, the canoe wasn't that heavy, or else Ezekiel would be having a much harder time with Cody not being able to help. As they got further inland, they were able to meet up with the rest of their team. Cody scanned the regrouped team, looking for Gwen. When he spotted her, she was in a much fouler mood than she was in before the trip.
Her eyes were now bloodshot, staring at the trees ahead of her. The two girls she shared a canoe with had seemingly been chatting for the entire trip. The two locked eyes and Gwen shot herself with a finger gun. Cody laughed a little, although was more sympathetic than amused.
As the Gophers were the first to arrive, they quickly began to portage their canoes to outpace the Bass. Cody and Ezekiel ended up running right next to Trent and Heather. Cody tried to make out what they were saying, but the chatter from Beth and Lindsay masked their conversation. However, the geek couldn't help but notice that Trent had a genuine smile on his face, and was nodding along. Heather seemed to also be in a cheerier mood, although Cody didn't think it was quite as genuine.
As he turned to face back to where they were going, Cody quickly skidded to a halt. "STOP!" he yelled, frightening the rest of his teammates. All heads swiveled around to face him, as Cody set his part of the canoe down. Walking to the front of the line, Cody picked up a stick and thrust it into the ground. As he lifted it back up, the others gathered why he had stopped their run.
"Quicksand! Good catch Cody!" Owen said gleefully.
"How'd you notice that?" Leshawna asked.
Cody quickly thought of an answer. "I was a scout when I was a kid. You learn a lot about the wilderness through that." The others accepted the answer, and carefully tip-toed around the quicksand.
Running into no other problems along the way, they were the first to arrive at the beach. Heather quickly took charge. "Alright dweebs, get any sticks or pieces of wood. I doubt Chris is gonna give us a lighter, so we've gotta start fast." Although the Gophers were anything but willing to follow Heather's orders, she was making too much sense to be ignored.
The Gophers began to split back up into their canoe groups, though much to the goth's relief, Cody motioned for Gwen to come with him and Ezekiel instead.
"I just can't stand anything they say! Omigosh! That shirt is just… so fab!" Gwen imitated. Cody grinned along, although Ezekiel was struggling to follow along with her lingo. "I swear, if they mention how hot Justin was again, I'm going to drown myself." As Cody bent down to pick up another stick, an idea struck him.
"Hey, Gwen? What if we switched spots? So you'd be with Zeke and I'd be with the girls." A wave of happiness washed over Gwen's face, though she quickly looked at Cody suspiciously.
"Why? Do you just want to be with the girls?" she asked coyly.
"If spending 30 minutes with them drove you to near insanity, I couldn't imagine what it would be like dating one of them. I'm just doing it to keep you sane, Gwen. We don't need another Izzy," Cody remarked. "You cool with that Zeke?" Ezekiel nodded, as he planned to continue staring at Bridgette the whole way anyway. Assuming the two teams were close, that is.
The trio returned to drop off their collection, as they spotted the Killer Bass, now formulating a plan. Interestingly to Cody, Duncan was the one taking the lead. Although with Courtney gone, Cody correctly presumed that Duncan was now the de facto leader. As he ordered his team into the forest to collect wood, he reached into his pocket and found his trusty lighter. Smirking to himself, he put it back in his pocket.
"And it seems that the teams are all tied up!" Chris announced from his helicopter. As he was not using his megaphone, his words were nearly lost to the contestants, although only the few on the beach would be able to hear him anyway. Only Cody, Duncan, and Owen, who was ordered by Heather to guard their sticks, heard him. Whether she assigned Owen as guard because she genuinely believed that the Bass would sabotage their fire or if she did it so that Leshawna wouldn't have anyone to help carry her sticks, Cody didn't know.
"We can't hear you, McLean!" Duncan yelled up to the helicopter. Chris got the idea, whipping out his megaphone.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, DUNCAN?!" Chris yelled. The shock of the volume drove Duncan to close his eyes and cover his ears. Cody, taking note, quickly took advantage of the situation. Cody ran over to the punk and swiped the lighter that was sticking out of his back pocket.
As Cody returned to his team's pile of sticks, Owen noticed what he had in his hand. "Is that Dunc-MMPH!" Cody swiftly cut Owen short, putting his hand over his mouth.
"He doesn't have to know, Owen. I'm not doing this out of spite, this is for the competition." Cody reasoned. Owen nodded in agreement, so his mouth was set free.
As Gwen returned with a few more sticks, Cody pulled out the lighter and flicked it. A fire erupted from the sticks. Gwen noticed her friend shoving a lighter into his pocket but didn't say anything.
"And it looks like the Gophers take the lead! Though the fire's gonna have to be bigger than that, brahs!" Chris announced.
The rest of the Gophers hurried back to the beach, curious to see how they had taken the lead. They were shocked to find that they actually had a fire. They froze in shock but quickly snapped out of it. "Hurry it up, guys! We can win this!" Heather ordered. The others followed, throwing down their sticks as fast as they could.
"How the hell did they do that?" Duncan wondered aloud, as most of the rest of his team emerged from the trees.
"What?! They've got a fire already?" Tyler cried.
"Don't worry guys. I've got our solution right… here?" Duncan reached in his pocket for his lighter, only to find nothing. He quickly checked the rest of his pockets, but came up with the same thing. "Where's my lighter?!" Duncan yelled out.
Cody tried to ignore it but was caught off guard by Gwen staring directly at him. It took a few seconds, but Cody realized that she knew. With a sly grin, Cody winked at his teammate. Gwen continued to stare back at him but ultimately shrugged and let it go.
"Gophers! You are good to go! That fire is looking mighty big!" With a cheer, the Gophers ran to their canoes. Cody quickly explained the swap to Beth and Lindsay, who didn't seem to mind. As the team set off, Cody turned around.
Duncan was roaming the beach, searching for his lost lighter. The other Bass sat down in defeat. "Don't give up guys! I know how to cheer you guys up!" Izzy yelled, sprinting towards the pile of sticks, yet to be lit. Throwing it down under her, a geyser of fire shot out from where Izzy once was, leaving a fire nearly reaching Chris' helicopter.
"Woah! The Bass come out of nowhere with a nuke! You guys are good to go, you just have to catch up to the Gophers!" Their energy renewed, the Bass sprinted over to their canoes. Unfortunately for them, it was Izzy who arrived first.
"Hm…" the crazy girl pondered to herself. "Yep! That fire could be a lot bigger!" As Duncan and Geoff reached for their paddles, Izzy scooped them up, alongside the rest of them, and threw them into the fire. A moment of silence took over.
"Are… you… kidding me!" Duncan yelled.
"Izzy?! Brah, not cool!" Geoff gasped.
"Aw, man! I thought we had a shot!" Tyler pouted.
"Never fear, my good jock! We've got this!" Izzy said excitedly.
"Oh no. We are not doing what you want, Izzy. Look where you've got us so far." Duncan said, putting his foot down.
"But we could get DJ to push us all with his legs!" Izzy whined.
"No!" Duncan said, before getting a few looks. "...Fine. That's not an awful plan. Everyone pile on!" he ordered, as he set the canoes on top of each other.
Turning back to his team, Cody saw that the rest had witnessed what he had. "Guyth?" Beth said worriedly.
"We gotta paddle FAST!" Leshawna yelled, kicking it into overdrive. The rest of the Gophers did the same, as the Bass finally got off the beach.
It was a close race, and it was getting steadily closer. The Bass, or perhaps DJ would be more accurate, had caught up to the Gophers. However, the beach was just ahead. As the two canoes landed, the Gophers were quickly able to pick up their Canoes. Though he was able to perform underwater, carrying all the canoes and the campers proved to be too much for DJ, so the Bass had to sort their canoes out. Because of this, it was the Gophers who made it to the finish line first.
"The Gophers win it! What a roller coaster!" Chris said wildly. Composing himself, he turned to the Bass. "Bass. See me at the campfire ceremony. Again. You guys really gotta step it up, you know." With Chris' parting words, the teens went their separate ways. With the challenge taking so long, it was sunset when Cody arrived at the dining hall.
After grabbing a spoonful of food, Cody sat down next to Tyler. "So, how was your challenge?" Cody asked with a grin. Tyler rolled his eyes.
"Dude, can you believe Izzy? I thought she was loco, but now? She's definitely crazy!"
"So is that who you're voting off?" Cody pushed. "I can't imagine who else I'd even vote for! Especially not Geoff. Did you hear about the guy's injury? Brutal, dude."
Cody thought back to watching the episode for the first time, bursting out laughing at Geoff's "wound". He could never tell if they were being serious or not but considering it was Tyler saying it here, Cody was inclined to believe the former.
"Did you take it, nerd?!" Duncan yelled, startling the two. Duncan picked Harold up by his shirt, lifting him completely off the ground. Harold frantically shook his head. The punk tossed him aside, storming out of the hall.
"Although, if he doesn't get his act together, I could see Duncan over there being voted off soon," Tyler said. Cody looked intrigued, so Tyler elaborated. "Sure, the guy's been helpful, in pretty much every challenge, actually. But living under the fear of a beatdown isn't exactly comforting. And it's only getting worse. First Courtney, now his lighter. He's had a rough go of it, sure, but he needs to back off a bit or else he's gonna end up just like Eva."
Cody was left staring at the door that Duncan had exited through. He felt bad for taking his lighter, sure. But he was a threat. A big one, at that. Cody silently debated whether or not he should exploit this, but was cut off by Tyler. "I've gotta go, dude. Important business, and all that." Cody looked at him confusedly, before turning to see Lindsay sitting at the other table, alone. In a flash, Tyler had joined his girlfriend, who looked grateful to see him.
Cody forced down another bite, before yet again throwing away his food. As the full moon shone above him, his exhaustion began to wear him down. Dragging his feet to the cabin, he found only Owen inside, who was currently snacking on some candy bars he had smuggled in. The two waved at each other before Cody slumped down on his bed. He had not had a free day since he banished himself to the woods. Hoping for a break tomorrow, Cody fell asleep to the helicopter whirring from above, signaling a not-so-shocking elimination.
A/N: This chapter continues Trent's distance from Gwen. We'll see how that plays out eventually. Trust me, it'll pay off at some point soon.
I added Ezekiel's crush on Bridgette, since it makes that he'd still be attracted to her as he is in canon, even if they were never on the same team. Will Ezekiel and Bridgette get together, or will Geoff and Bridgette prove too strong? Only time will tell.
If the last line didn't make it clear, Izzy was eliminated. She's fun, but I struggle to write something crazy that doesn't seem completely unrelated to what's going on.
Cody's kept Duncan's lighter. A smart choice? Absolutely not! We'll see how that plays out.