The skies of Wawanakwa remained silent throughout the night, only broken up by the occasional bird's song. Suddenly, the whining of a megaphone coming to life pierced through the pleasant air. "All campers are to report to the dock at oh-nine hundred on the dot! Not a second late!" a loud voice rang out through the intercom, waking every sleeping teen. A groggy Cody could barely keep his eyes awake as he struggled to fully comprehend what the voice had said. However, he was able to tell that that wasn't Chris. That was Chef.
Having to force his eyes to blink, Cody's mind swirled as he remembered what was coming. A boot camp hosted by Chef Hatchet. He couldn't stop the shudder that went down his spine. No matter how much he knew about the challenge beforehand, Cody couldn't prepare himself for the physical gauntlet that was to come. Cody pulled himself up as Trent groaned and shoved his face into his pillow.
"That was Chef's voice, dude. You don't wanna make him mad, do you?" Cody teased. In return, he got Trent's pillow to the face.
Throwing on a fresh set of clothes, the teen stepped outside to hear Harold's pained groan echo across the campground. "Who made s'mores out of my underwear? Real mature!" He received a mixed reply of 'ew!'s from the girls and plenty of laughter from the Bass guys.
Cody and Harold locked eyes as the inedible s'more was held above the latter's head. The former raised his eyebrows, as if to say, "You see? Apologize," but Harold just closed his eyes and looked the other way, still holding the underwear high for everyone to see.
"Would you put it away, Harold?!" Bridgette cried, as Harold, bright as an apple, quickly ran inside to throw it away. Cody wanted to both sigh and laugh, but could only manage a yawn. Gwen matched him as she stepped out of her cabin, hair sticking out to the side.
"What's all the noise?" she tiredly asked, rubbing her eyes. Cody looked at the doorway of the Bass cabin and back to her.
"It… might be better if you didn't know." Gwen only shrugged and trudged to the bathroom, Cody following close behind.
He entered the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. A few other boys were also in there, and all were scared when an air horn went off over the intercom. "Time's up, maggots! Meet me at the dock ASAP!" A round of sighs went off as the boys, joined by the girls once outside, shuffled along to the dock for another challenge sure to be painful.
The teens lined up at the edge of the dock as Chef marched over to them wearing his military uniform. "Feet together!" Geoff's legs were whacked with a stick. "Arms down!" Duncan's arms, which were previously crossed, were forced down by Chef. "Eyes forward!" He whacked a nervous-looking Beth. "Heads up!" Heather's head was lifted by Chef's stick. Harold, who had somehow broken all four of Chef's rules, was whacked repeatedly until he corrected himself.
"Today's challenge is going to be grueling. Unforgivable. I don't expect everyone to come out alive." Chef announced, pacing across the dock. "You're gonna wish you were back home with your mommy."
Gwen raised her hand. "Uh, Chef? What happened to Chris?"
"Chris is… busy," he replied in an overly cryptic tone.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Gwen whispered to Cody, who silently chuckled next to her.
"What did you say to me, soldier?!" Hatchet yelled into his megaphone. Nobody moved a muscle.
"Uh, nothing?" Gwen said, barely keeping it from sounding like a question.
Chef didn't seem to buy it but didn't push it further. "And you'll continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something!" Gwen and Cody shared a look of fear and amusement.
"My orders are to make sure all of the babies in front of me drop out of my boot camp except one. The last one standing wins immunity for their team." The campers nodded in understanding. "Rule number one! You will address me as Master Chief. Got that?"
A wave of hesitation spread throughout the campers before they came to their senses. "Yes, Master Chief!"
"You will sleep when I tell you to sleep. And you will eat, only when I tell you to eat!" Chef explained. "Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master Chief!"
"When you are ready to give up, you will walk to the end of the dock and ring the bell. Which brings me to our final rule. Today will not end until we get one quitter! Now get your butts to the beach, soldiers! Now, now, now!" The teens followed his order and marched straight to the beach and encountered two color-coordinated canoes lying on the ground.
"Listen up, each team must hold a canoe over their heads. I catch you taking your hands off the canoe, you will be eliminated." The campers groaned as they picked their positions and began to lift the canoe. "Oh, and no one eats lunch till someone drops out," Chef warned. "Canoes up!"
"Ha! This won't be that hard!" Tyler naively boasted.
"Cha! Piece of cake!" Geoff agreed.
Hours passed, and Cody was currently glaring daggers at Geoff and Tyler who were no longer as confident in their win. By this point, the sun was high in the sky, sweat was dripping down everyone's face, and many's arms were trembling.
Behind him, Cody heard a stomach rumble. "Leshawna…" Gwen warned.
"I know girl, I won't quit. I'm just hopin' someone else does!" Leshawna complained.
"Come on you sissies!" Chef jabbed at the contestants from on top of the canoe.
"I guess they didn't want lunch today." Chris continued, having joined Chef in sitting on top of the canoes about an hour previous.
Cody took a glance at the Bass and caught Geoff mid-fishing rod. "Ow! Gosh!" Harold yelled, his butt in his hand.
"We got a problem down here?" Chef yelled down, looking over the side. "No." Harold lied. Harold glanced at Cody who was staring him down. The former shook his head and tried to ignore Cody's gaze.
Another two hours went by of grueling pain. Cody was a weak teenager, and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. He frantically looked over to the Bass, hoping one of them was showing a sign of weakness. Yet, even the weakest of them, Harold, was showing no sign of stopping soon. Cody couldn't help but be jealous of the nerd's long legs.
Yet, just as Cody began to contemplate quitting, he was relieved when he heard one of his teammates cry out. "I'm thorry guyth! I jutht can't hold out any longer!" Beth announced, lowering her arms. Chef jumped down from the canoe just as Beth began to slowly trot towards the bell, her head facing the ground the whole way. When she arrived at the bell, she simply raised her head and dropped it into the bell.
"Listen here…" Chef spoke softly as he approached the farm girl. "You have nothing to be ashamed of." A glint of hope sparked in Beth's eyes before being immediately torn down. "Except being the little baby that let your team down!" Chef yelled into her ear.
From both the defeat in the challenge, as well as the sudden shift in weight, the Gopher's canoe fell on top of the exhausted campers, whilst the Bass were easily able to toss theirs to the side.
"Like I said, not so hard!" Tyler affirmed his past self. Just as he gave a double thumbs up, both of his arms wiggled and fell to his side. "Uh, oh that's not supposed to happen," Tyler commented with a look of concern on his face, swinging his unresponsive arms around.
"But we won!" Geoff cheered, along with the rest of his team.
"Not so fast, maggots! That's not it." The Bass groaned. The Gophers wanted to cheer, but after the previous challenge, didn't dare get their hopes up.
"Everyone except farm girl, head down to the mess hall. Dinner is served," he said with a devious grin. The Bass began to make their way there, as the Gophers continued trying to escape from underneath the canoe. Gwen was able to get out and kick it to the side, helping Cody, Leshawna, and Lindsay who were all still struggling.
"This is one hell of a challenge, that's for sure!" Leshawna said with a grunt as she picked herself up.
"I do not have the build for this," Cody said with a confusing mixture of comedy and misery in his voice. Gwen rolled her eyes and helped him up by the arm.
"No, you do not. I don't wanna know who came up with this idea for a challenge, but honestly? I'm impressed."
The three continued their chat on the way to the mess hall. Upon arrival, they took notice of there being no Chef behind the counter. "Alright, maggots. Open your ears." Chef instructed the teens. "That there is dinner. Dig in!"
"Uh, isn't that just this morning's trash?" Harold asked.
With an evil smirk, Chef nodded. "Finish this up quick, since you've got ten minutes 'til night training begins."
"Night training?" Cody gulped. The others looked at Chef wearily. He nodded in response before leaving the contestants alone.
Geoff was the first to step up and look at the trashcan. "Well, there's a half-eaten banana in here," he said, picking it up by the stem and squeezing it into his mouth. He recoiled but was able to keep it down. Soon after, the others joined him.
Cody poked at the trash can, hoping to find something even remotely edible. "Oh, I am not eating this!" Heather said with disgust.
"Hey, it's your choice. This or starve." Cody said, finally finding a half-rotten apple.
He sat down at one of the tables and began to scrape off the mushy parts before looking over to the other table. "Hey Harold. We felt really bad about the whole underwear fishing incident thing, so here. We found you some apple juice." Duncan lied with a smirk.
"Oh, thanks I guess." Harold accepted the glass and began to down it. Cody cringed in anticipation as Harold drank the kitchen grease, spitting it out immediately. "Agh! Really guys! How mature are you?" he complained as he wiped the grease off his lips. The duo of Duncan and Geoff cackled at his misfortune and couldn't even respond. Harold looked for a seat away from his tormentors and found one next to Cody.
"So I see not apologizing is going great for you." Cody taunted, only to be met with a sigh.
"You… may be right. It seems the problem is only going to get worse," the other nerd lamented, taking a look at the glass half empty still in his hands.
"So… maybe you should go over there and own up. Just a suggestion." Cody nudged him. Harold looked over at the punk, who was calmly talking to Geoff. Duncan caught his eye and sneered at him before turning back around.
"But he doesn't deserve an apology! Look at him and his smugness. He thinks he's so great! You try apologizing to someone you hate."
Cody looked over to a different table and saw Trent sitting next to Heather, who was actively trying to avoid his gaze. His stomach twisted at the sight of the musician before he snapped himself out of his thoughts. "I… see you have a point there. I guess it's your choice in the matter, but as a fellow nerd, I'm tired of seeing you being bullied. You really should take any chance you've got of getting out of it." Harold responded with a shrug and a halfhearted 'maybe', which was good enough for Cody. The two continued to eat their 'meal' with great disgust before Chef returned and dragged them outside.
The teens were told to line up in a specific formation as Chef began to prepare for their next challenge. "What do you think it'll be this time?" Gwen asked her neighbor, Cody.
"Ooh, I hope it'll be another few hours of horrible exercise! My body just loved that last time," he replied, with more than a hint of sarcasm. Gwen grinned and opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the person in front of her.
"Oh my god, will you two just shut it already?" Trent complained in an agitated voice. Cody and Trent locked eyes, and the nerd was ready to go off on him but bit his tongue. He remained silent as his aggravator continued to stare him down, before eventually backing off.
"Looks like he hates you more than he does me," Gwen whispered curiously. Cody nodded.
"Yep, that's about right. He thinks I… what was it? Stole you from him? Then convinced Heather to not like him back? I think that sums it up."
"Woah, he seriously hates your guts," Gwen said, stunned. "He thinks you've got me and Heather wrapped around your finger, huh? You're a real ladies' man, Cody," she said with a snort of laughter. Cody giggled at the thought, yet couldn't help but feel a bit bitter at the joke. What, is he not enough of a man for her? Is that what she's trying to say?
A sudden pang in his chest brought sweat down his face. Why was he upset? He had no interest in Gwen anymore. It had been years since he'd thought about her in a romantic light, so why was that insult such a pain to hear?
"Atten-tion!" Chef spoke up, after fiddling around with a few cords surrounding a boom box. "You maggots are gonna copy my dance moves precisely. Failure to keep up will result in your elimination from this challenge. Do you hear me?!"
"Yes, Master Chief!" the teens said in unison. With a nod, Chef walked over to the boom box and pressed play before hurrying back to his small platform. As the music began to play, Chef followed and began dancing.
Cody did his best to keep up with the army man. His arms were still weak from the previous challenge, though luckily the challenge focuses mostly on leg movement. The whole situation was bizarre to the teen, seeing his peers do this random dance. Cody wanted to ask Chef if this was some sort of ritual they did in the military, but he feared that if he did, he'd be eliminated just for asking.
The dance went on for another twenty minutes. By the end, Cody had found his answer: they were dancing to wear out their legs. Just as his arms began to feel better, his legs felt like they were about to collapse.
Beth sat on the sidelines, grinning ear to ear at her friends. She was initially confused when she found them dancing, but quickly grew grateful that she had quit early. She didn't want to miss this, especially seeing Heather and Duncan dance.
Just like the previous challenge, just as Cody began to think that he couldn't do it any longer, a savior came. Duncan decided that he was done making a fool out of himself and walked over to the boom box. With a click, the tape stopped, as did Chef. When he left to confront the troublemaker, Cody fell to the ground and lay there, as did many others. There was a common aching in everyone's joints as they lay on the sandy beach, staring at the stars. A moment of tranquility and peace spread throughout.
"Alright, that's enough laying around in the dirt you worms!" Chef yelled, interrupting them. With a series of groans, the teenagers pushed themselves up. "You!" Chef angrily said, swiveling to point at Duncan. "Drop and give me twenty." Duncan complied and dropped to the ground. "Anyone else got anything to say?"
"Uh, yeah," Gwen replied with a hand raise. "Can I go to the bathroom?" Chef grew a devilish smirk.
As Gwen was sent to swab the bathroom, the others were led to the mess hall. They were given time alone to wait for Gwen to finish her punishment. During this time, Beth tried to talk with Leshawna, who was not having it. Her complete exhaustion, paired with the annoyance of Beth's quitting, made her ignore the girl. Upset by Leshawna's reaction, she decided to just sit next to Cody.
"Uh, h-hey Cody," she said nervously.
"Hey Beth," Cody said with obvious exhaustion. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna shoo you away."
Beth laughed shakily. "H-heh, thankth for that. Any idea why Lethawna theemth tho fed up with me?"
Cody looked at Leshawna, whose face was collapsed on the table. "This challenge sucks, Beth, and now we're down a member thanks to you. Granted, we've still got one more person on our team even without you, but still…" Beth nodded in solemn understanding. "You should watch out, Beth. If we lose, there's a real chance you go home tonight."
"Y-yeah, I know," Beth said quietly, her fingers tapping on the table. "How do you think I should try and get out of this?"
Cody thought for a second. "Honestly? Just hope we win, and if we don't, hope people hate Heather and Trent more right now. I'm afraid any plea is only going to make anyone even more grumpy." It was at that moment that Gwen entered, covered in sweat. She collapsed next to Leshawna, who barely acknowledged her presence.
"I… hate… Chef," she huffed before the man in question arrived.
"For your next challenge!"
"Ughh…"
"You will complete a three-hundred word essay about how much you love me."
Cody replied with an eye roll, which he was lucky Chef didn't notice. Papers began to be passed out, Cody staring at his blank page with no inspiration. He had no idea how he was meant to compliment someone like Chef.
"Anyone who falls asleep or fails to complete the challenge will be eliminated. Begin!"
With Chef's word, Cody got straight to work. Even though Cody didn't like Chef at all, he was still a nerd at heart. He could crank out an essay pretty quickly. With more than thirty minutes left in the challenge, Cody had finished, far before anyone else. Well, except for one, who was currently poking around the lodge for something to do.
"Finished already?" Cody asked Duncan.
"Got a problem with me, dweeb?" he replied defensively. Cody put his hands up to defuse the situation.
"No, no. Just bored is all."
Duncan snorted and turned around. "Whatever. I know you're friends with Dorkahontas over there," he said, nodding towards the nerd, who was currently deep in thought about how to compliment Chef.
"You know he's sorry about being a bad roommate."
"Pffh. I doubt it. He could have come forward a thousand times, but he still hasn't, and so I'll still put him through the wringer. He either owns up like a man or faces the consequences."
Cody sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"Will you two shut it?!" Leshawna grumbled, the others muttering in agreement. The two parted ways without another word and returned to their original seats. Cody looked back down at his essay and decided to make sure there weren't any grammatical errors. His finger scanned the paper, drifting across it slowly. He read each word in his mind so that it sounded right, but this proved fatal. Cody's hand drifted off the paper as he collapsed onto the table, asleep.
When Cody awoke, he was met with a bright blue sky. His eyes squinted at the rough adjustment as he sat up. Taking a second for his eyes to calibrate, he quickly noticed where he was. "Playa des Losers…" he said softly. Looking around, the resort looked just as it did during his stay there. The pool glimmered in the summer sun, an unused beach ball floating across its surface. Drinks filled to the brim with a variety of liquids sat at the poolside bar. A perfect temperature, despite the proximity to the overwhelmingly hot island, spread throughout the resort. And yet, despite the perfect peace that came with an area like this, Cody began to freak out.
"Wait, what? I haven't lost yet! Why am I here?" he cried out, looking around frantically. He stood up and began to walk around aimlessly. "Hello?" he called to no response. "Where is everyone? Is this a dream?"
Suddenly, as fast as a bullet, he was slammed into the wall, held only by his throat. "Ack! Huh?!" he coughed. "Eva?!" He realized that the person currently attacking him was Eva, who he was quite surprised to see.
"You twerp!" she growled. "You got the opportunity to go back in time, but didn't even help us?!"
"Yeah, that's like, totally unfair!" Katie said indignantly. Sadie, whose hands were clasped together with her BFFFL, nodded in agreement. "Yeah! How rude!"
Cody's confusion was only amplified when the three girls harassing him suddenly disappeared into a cloud of smoke, replaced by Noah.
"You couldn't have just gotten me to play one round? I was so unimportant you forgot about me? Some friend."
"Noah, please!" Cody cried, reaching out to his friend. But he was too late, and Noah disappeared and just as suddenly reappeared as Justin.
"Why Cody? Why couldn't you have helped me?!" Justin dramatically yelled, his hand covering his eyes.
"I'm sorry- wait, what? Dude, what did you want me to do for you?" With a shrug, Justin disappeared and out came Courtney.
"Thanks for mocking me, Cody. Way to prey on my fears to make me feel worse." she spat out.
"Courtney… I'm-". She faded away, as the sound of Izzy's cry began to grow louder. But luckily for Cody, the cry faded before the dreaded nutcase ever showed up.
"Why did you make me head chef?" Owen asked quietly, looking down at the ground. Cody's throat shut in guilt, as he walked up to pat the boy's back. Before he could though, Owen was gone.
"You prioritized your friendship with Harold just to get him further, huh?" DJ asked a confused Cody.
"I-I guess you're right. I'd already solved the issue of him rigging the votes. But still…" DJ wasn't there to hear the rest.
Cody had finally picked up on the pattern and quickly deduced who was next. Just as the smoke began to clear, Cody stepped forward. He opened his mouth, ready, no, begging to apologize. Yet, the words never came. He tried to apologize, but only muffled grunts came. Looking down, his mouth was covered in the gauze meant to keep Cody safe after the bear attack, the same ones that went to Ezekiel. He clawed at his mouth, fervently trying to shred the cover before returning his gaze up. The entire cast of eliminated contestants stood in front of him, Ezekiel noticeably hidden behind the rest.
All at once, they spoke in unison, almost robotically. "You played God and messed up everything, selfishly bending the game to your will."
Cody dropped to the ground, the weight of his body held by his hands planted firmly on the ground. "Please. I didn't mean to screw with the timeline! I just wanted a better future. For all of us!" he pleaded to an unhearing crowd.
"Your time is up."
"Huh?"
"I said… YOU'RE TIME IS UP MAGGOT!" Cody's head shot upwards as the sound of Chef yelling in his ear awoke him. "You are out! Go ring the bell and get out of my sight!"
Cody looked around to see his teammates looking at him disapprovingly. With a groan, Cody pushed himself up and slapped the essay into Chef's hands. "Glad I wrote this for no reason."
Cody paused as he left the dining hall, waiting to see if he was joined by anyone else. When Trent was the only one who followed, Cody swiftly rang the bell and went to bed, ignoring Trent when he followed suit.
When the time-traveler woke up, he was alone in the cabin, and it was still night. He dug into his bag and drearily looked at the time. "Ugh… four in the morning. Yikes, that is not enough sleep." He glanced up at Trent's vacant bed. "Though I guess enough for him. Oh well, might as well stay up. I remember this episode, aren't they gonna meet in an hour anyway? Might as well be there to cheer them on, given how useless I was in this challenge."
So, he got up and went straight to the bathroom. He combed his frazzled hair and stepped outside. He saw a figure sitting alone at the end of the dock, so he decided to approach. Squinting on his way there, he saw that it was Beth, who was quietly humming a tune as she swung her legs.
"Always up first, eh Beth?" Cody spoke quietly, sitting down next to Beth, who shifted to give him room. "Even waking up at four, I can't beat you."
Beth giggled. "Nope! Never!" she teased. The two remained in silence for a while, listening only to the waves crashing against the shore. "So I heard you got out?" Beth asked.
"Yep, lost to sleep. It sucks, but I doubt I was gonna be going much further."
Beth nodded in solidarity. "Yeah, thith wath a hard one. I'm almotht glad I quit early. Almotht."
"Yeah, I get what you mean. I can't imagine the challenge getting any easier from here on out. But, uh, definitely don't say the second part in front of them," Cody gestured toward the forest behind them. Beth nodded, embarrassed.
The two continued to chat for a while until they saw a figure in the darkness approach the cabins. Covering their ears in advance, Cody and Beth witnessed Chef's wake-up call that came as a shock to the others.
After the teens were dragged out of their beds and marched to the obstacle course, Cody and Beth, now followed by Trent, watched their teammates try and fail the course over and over again. Cody was sweating just watching them go. Eventually, Harold, who tripped up after the wall, began vehemently vomiting mud, leading to Chef sending him to the infirmary.
"Oh no, I hope he'th alright!" Beth worriedly gasped.
"Don't worry, I'll go with him to make sure he's okay," Cody said, following the slow-walking Harold.
"That looks… rough, to say the least." Cody joked as he caught up.
Harold nodded before coughing again. "My lungs are- ACK! Full of mud. This sucks."
Cody patted him on the back as they arrived at the tent where the felled nerd took a seat on a cot. "Gosh! I so had that! Outrageous." he complained, kicking the dirt.
"I feel you, man. This show's getting harder by the minute."
"Nothing my mad skills won't be able to handle!" Harold boasted, puffing out his chest and bumping it, only to make himself cough out the last bit of mud stuck in his lungs.
Cody only rolled his eyes. "I'd cut it on the ego, dude. As helpful as you are…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Stop it with the grossness." Harold lay down on the cot. "It's just hard to work up the courage to apologize. What if it doesn't matter to him? What if he just continues to harass me?"
"Then you'll know you took the high road and acted as the better man. And what if he does stop?"
"You're right, but…" Harold trailed off, looking at the ground without a real answer.
Tired of his indecisiveness, Cody stood up and pulled Harold off the cot. "Look, I know it's hard to apologize to someone you hate. But I've got a solution. I may have… done something to wrong Duncan, something he doesn't know about yet. And I promise you, that what I did will anger him more than what you did. So if he really does get mad at you, I'll take the heat. I just need to take a quick pitstop back at the cabins."
Harold pondered over the offer for a moment before nodding. The two stepped outside of the tent to see Duncan being led to the boathouse in the distance. "Perfect timing, I guess," Cody remarked. "Just wait here, I'll be right back with what I need."
Cody took off into a jog, passing by the ongoing challenge. He saw that Leshawna and Bridgette had both since dropped out. Ignoring them, he ran into the cabin and dug through his bag until he found what he was looking for. Duncan's lighter.
Cody still had no idea why he decided to keep the lighter this long. He had plenty of opportunities to just throw it away. But he was lucky that he had finally found a use for the item. He raced back to Harold, who was tapping his shoe and looking at his watch. Not revealing the item, Cody gestured for Harold to enter the boathouse.
Harold arrived outside the door and took a deep breath before working up the courage to open the door.
"Agh! Who's there?! I'll kill you!" Duncan screamed, frantically waving his pocket knife around.
"Woah! Calm down dude, it's me and Harold." Cody said, putting his hands up.
"Oh, Dork and Dorker," Duncan said, his voice suddenly becoming much calmer as he lowered the knife. "What do you two dweebus' want?"
"I've… come to apologize, Duncan." Harold wheezed. Duncan's eyebrow shot up.
"Oh really?" he asked, both shocked and sarcastic.
"I shouldn't have left my dirty underwear around. It was gross, and I should have apologized sooner. I know I wouldn't want your undergarments near my face. Truce?" he asked, sticking out his hand. Duncan stared at the hand, wondering if the apology was true, or if the nerd was trying to trick him.
He eventually took the hand and said, "Truce. From now on, me and Geoff won't prank you unless provoked. Just, don't leave your underwear around again, ya hear?" Duncan suddenly squeezed Harold's hand tightly. "Because if you do this stuff again, there'll be hell to pay. Capiche?"
Harold frantically nodded his head up and down. "Capiche! Capiche!" Duncan let go of his hand, to which Harold held it close to recover it.
"So, is that all you wanted? Why are you here, dweeb two?" the punk asked, turning to face Cody.
"Harold, you're good to go. You should leave." Cody ordered his friend, to which he confusedly agreed.
Duncan eyed Harold as he left. "Why'd you want him gone?"
"I don't want him involved. Duncan, I've got to apologize too." Cody said meekly. A fraction of an idea glossed Duncan's mind as he waited for Cody to continue as if he was able to tell what Cody was about to say.
"...I took your lighter."
Cody dug into his pocket and pulled out the very same lighter he had stolen weeks ago. Duncan's face grew red, though he remained still, waiting for an explanation.
"I took it so that we'd get a head start on you guys during the Boney Island challenge. I saw you fiddling with it, and I guess I just decided to take your advantage for myself. I didn't give it back because I knew you'd kick my ass." Cody admitted, gripping his arm.
"You're damn right I would!" Duncan yelled after a moment's hesitation to let the information sink in. He stood up and snatched the lighter out of Cody's hand, before delivering a swift yet hard punch to the shoulder.
Cody grimaced at the pain and awaited the next, but it never came. Much to his confusion, Duncan only let out the one. "Only… one?" Cody asked hesitantly.
"I'm not feeling very punchy right now. Plus, it takes a lot to admit that you did something wrong, especially to a guy like me."
Cody sighed in relief. "So we're good?", he asked.
Duncan shook his head. "Oh, no. We're not good. It'll take a whole lot more to make me not hate you than just apologizing. But you know what? I've got an idea to help you get started."
Cody raised his eyebrow cautiously. "Like what?"
"You're gonna help me steal food from Chris and Chef's fridge."
The color quickly drained from Cody's face. "Oh no."
"Oh yes," Duncan said with a crazed smile. The two quietly snuck out of the boathouse, looking around to see if Chef was anywhere around. Confirming that he wasn't, the pair ran off in the direction of the crafts tent. They got close before realizing that both the host and his partner were in there.
"Twenty-five of us went into the jungle that night. Only five of us came out." Chef somberly recounted his tragic tale.
Completely ignoring him, Chris rubbed his chin. "I mean, come on! I am nothing without my stubble!"
Dressing up as bushes, Duncan and Cody slyly snuck into the back of the tent and opened the fridge. Met with foods unlike anything they had experienced for weeks, the two began to drool. Duncan put a finger over his mouth and pulled out a bag from his back pocket. They began to quickly shove anything they could into the bag, including a whole turkey.
Just as quickly as they'd arrived, Duncan and Cody left, with a stash of food now joining them. They arrived at the cabins and knocked on each of the doors to get them outside. Revealing their haul, Cody and Duncan watched as the teens clamored to get their fair share.
Once the food was handed out, everyone began to hang out wherever they pleased. Cody sat outside alone, eating his sandwich. He was pleased enough just seeing how happy he had made his friends. It was only in this moment of peace that he noticed his shoe had come off.
"Huh? Now where did I lose that?" he asked quietly. Before he could think about it anymore, he was joined by Duncan, who was drinking a grape soda.
"Hey." Duncan greeted. Cody responded with a wave. "So, are we cool now?" the latter asked.
The punk thought over it for a minute. "I won't hold anything over you anymore. At least for now. Doesn't mean I don't still dislike you."
Cody shrugged. "With you, I think that's the best I could hope for."
"Attention remaining competitors!" Chef's voice rang out through the speaker, silencing the party. "The next evolution of your training will begin in exactly one hour!"
The speaker went silent again, before blaring to life for one last announcement. "Oh, and Cody? Please report to the mess hall."
The party that had been going on for a half hour suddenly came to a stop and everyone began to stare at the one who brought the party to life. Cody and Duncan locked eyes as the latter felt a faint grin forming.
"Seems one of us has been figured out, eh? Better hop on over there dude, wouldn't wanna keep Chef waiting." he teased as Cody began walking to the mess hall.
When he arrived outside, Chef was standing on the steps. "This yours?" he asked, tossing Cody's shoe back to him.
Cody picked up the shoe and stared at it. "Damn you, shoe. How dare you rat me out."
"I know you stole our food," Chef said, Cody gulping out of fear. "But you're definitely too wimpy to do this alone. So, twenty push-ups. I'd stand on your back, but that might break you." So, Cody dropped to the ground and began his exercise as Chef started to walk away.
"Ha!", laughed Duncan, who stepped out of the shadow. "Nice one." Cody only rolled his eyes.
"Hey, at least he didn't find out you were helping me." Duncan boasted a bit too loudly.
"What?!" Chef yelled, spinning around.
"Damn, thought he was further away than that." Duncan grumbled, snapping his fingers.
"Another night in the boathouse for you, punk." The delinquent groaned as Cody began to laugh.
"Oh, is that so funny?" Duncan asked, kicking Cody's hand out from under him, making him fall on his face. Despite the shock, Cody began to laugh even harder, to the point of it becoming uncontrollable. Duncan stared on in confusion, before succumbing to his good mood and chuckling himself. Chef only rolled his eyes before turning around.
"Listen up, cadets! Our perpetrators have been punished. Any behavior like this in the future will not be tolerated. Do you hear me?!" he screamed through the megaphone. A faint and distant chorus of "Yes, Master Chief!" could be heard. Cody couldn't tell if their response was out of fear or sarcasm.
The next hour went by fast as the party wrapped itself up and the remaining boot campers prepared themselves for the worst. Cody asked Gwen and it appeared that she, Heather, and somehow Lindsay moved on, as did Tyler and Geoff.
Soon, the time came and everyone gathered around the tree that the contestants were told to climb and hang from. The contestants watched in silence as the five remaining hung, trying to keep cool.
"You know what? I'm not doing this." Heather said abruptly, hopping down gracefully. Trent rushed to make sure that she was okay, but she brushed him off and ignored him yet again.
"Well, if Heather's not doing it, then neither am I!" Lindsay proclaimed, jumping down as well. However, she was less graceful and landed straight on her head.
"Lindsay!" Tyler desperately yelled, dropping down to help his girlfriend, much to the annoyance of the other Bass. After ensuring she was okay, the challenge went on.
Geoff seemed confident, though Gwen remained stoic. That was until Trent spoke up. "You got this Geoff!" The Gophers turned to Trent incredulously.
"Are you kidding me? Do you want us to lose?" Heather asked.
Cody nodded. "For once I agree with Heather. What's your goal here?"
"The longer Gwen stays here, the worse it is for me," he continued, even as the Gophers tried to make him stop.
"Oh, you know what? I've had it!" Gwen yelled, dropping down. She stormed up to Trent and began to smack him relentlessly.
"Agh! Heather, help!" he cried as he dropped to the ground.
Heather responded with an eyeroll. "Why? You just made us lose, idiot."
"Woohoo!" Geoff yelled as he dropped.
"Geoff! As shocked as I am to say this, congratulations! I'd go to war with you anytime soldier!"
"'Cha! Rock on bro!" he cheered, fistbumping the veteran, much to his disgust.
"Gophers. You lose! You know the drill." The disappointed team sulked as their rivals cheered.
Although they were granted the whole day to think about their votes, their exhaustion from both the challenge and the party brought just about everyone to sleep.
At the campfire ceremony, Cody sat confidently between Leshawna and Gwen. Chef walked up and began to sort through a dozen cue cards. "Oh, what the hell? Does he expect me to read all this? I'm not doin' all that!"
"Goth girl, geeky thief, sista', airhead. You all received no votes."
Gwen, Cody, Leshawna, and Lindsay all respectively grabbed their marshmallows and sat back down.
"We've got this in the bag, finally," Gwen said with a smile. Cody and Leshawna nodded.
"Yeah, he's finally going down." Cody agreed.
Leshawna looked over in confusion. "He?"
"Heather and Trent, you both received two votes. And since Beth got three, that means you're out, farmer."
"What?!" Leshawna, Cody, Gwen, and Beth all cried.
"What happened?!" Cody asked frantically.
"Well, it seems that you and goth girl voted for the creepy guy," Chef announced as he sorted through the cards, Trent looking at his teammates with a sneer. "And Leshawna and Beth voted for mean girl." Heather, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased with her nickname.
The four collectively groaned as Beth picked herself up. "It'th alright, guyth. Mithtaketh happen. Jutht promithe me they won't win." They nodded and apologized to her. Beth stepped onto the Boat of Losers and disappeared into the night sea.
Exhausted from the unlucky turn of events, the teens went to sleep upset that night. They no longer had the numbers advantage against the other three. But Cody vowed that he would fulfill Beth's wish. Heather and Trent would not win.
A/N: Damn, that was a long chapter. By far the longest one I've written, so I hope you guys enjoyed it. The original episode was very Killer Bass oriented, and although that's been a struggle in the past, it actually worked out well for me this time. Duncan and Harold are two characters that are really important to this story, but I just haven't found the right time to really give them the limelight they both deserved and needed. Now, Harold's fate has been altered and Cody and Duncan have a bit of a rivalry. How fun. Beth's elimination didn't really serve a particular purpose. She got further than she did in canon, but that was more so because she didn't have a good place to be eliminated earlier in this story. So, this was just kind of a necessity to weed out more "extra" characters. Trent's a real asshole now, that's fun.
I want to talk about the purpose of the dream sections here. The reason they exist are usually to provide either a goal or a question to Cody that would be hard to propose in the real world. Like, this time was about Cody's guilt towards those he's not helped. I'm saying this now because the next chapter is a dream chapter. And not only is it a dream chapter, it's the last one. And that includes dreams like this time, which was tucked into a different episode. Since dreams are there to push Cody's ideals and goals forward, having them too far in the story doesn't allow for time to flesh out the outcome.
And on the other hand, free days are more for expanding Cody's relationships with people. Free days typically just provide fun character interactions, a few plot progressions, and a break from the fast pace of challenges.