"Last season on Total Drama Island," This was it; the next season of Total Drama was officially starting! And to start the season off strong, the host with the most, Chris McLean himself, was giving the audience a good refresher of what happened last season. "Heather and Lindsay battled it out for the one hundred thousand dollars. In the end, Lindsay, the beautiful but naive, dyslexic girl who has good athletic moves and a mind to destroy the dreams of people who love the franchise of movies, won the super-sized check. But then gave it all up for the chance to win one million big ones! With the million smackeroos stuffed into a briefcase, our twenty-two campers set off on The Race for the Case! Which led to Ezekiel catching the suitcase, and by destroying their pride one by one, the homeschooled boy, without knowing, made all the other campers try their strategies to trap him up. However, instead of working together, each camper went against each other and started a huge fight. Ezekiel didn't like it one bit, and with a move that hurt my heart… it really hurts, he launched the suitcase money into the water, which was eaten by a shark. Hahahaha! I bet none of you saw that coming. But then Ezekiel decided to use his knowledge of being the only one who read the contract and challenged everyone for the second season of Total Drama, and I'm not going to disappoint him. He challenged all the 21 campers with a new chance to win another million dollars…"
We see Chris walked up in front of a film lot, with various props, recording equipment, and other such things for making movies littered all around. "They've been told to report this old film lot for a whole new set of challenges!" Chris announced before taking out a film clapper and clapped it, changing the screen to show a film reel that showed the faces of all the 22 past campers that would be returning. "Forty-four days, one million dollars, and 22 contestants all duking it out for it!" Just then the film reels changed to show black silhouettes with a question mark in them. "Welcome everyone to…TOTAL DRAMA ACTION."
In the Total Drama Action theme song, the song once again begins with spotlights and cameras appearing out of various places, bringing up a rat from the sewers and knocking a raccoon out of a tree, before a clapperboard clamps down in front of it. The camera then makes its way through the abandoned film lot, where Chris is seen driving a golf cart.
The camera goes through some fake prop sets and then a rack of clothing. It then goes up the replica of the 1,000-foot cliff and then down into a small pool. Owen is seen swimming in it, with a shark approaching him from behind. However, Owen farts into the shark's mouth, propelling himself away and disgusting the shark, making it cough. The camera then goes up to the beach movie set, where Bridgette is evading the seagulls that are shooting at her while she stands on the surfboard. And she was doing fine until it hit one bird, which made her distracted just for the next one hit on her face.
Cody was the one who managed to make the hit, which he shared the victory with Tyler and DJ, just for them both to see Bridgette walk outside of the water with a very furious look on her face, and from the angry look of the raccoons and seagulls, both Cody and Tyler hugged and screamed while the animals attacked them. DJ screams as he runs away in panic.
The camera passes through them, and by a Sasquatchanakwa wearing a bra and a pink wig to a large metal door opening, revealing a big flash of light as Katie and Lindsay were following it as they were holding more costumes and makeup to try to make the creature even more beautiful for the next scene, while the creature is running away from the duo of fashionistas. Then passing by Beth, two more sharks are now seen relaxing on beach chairs on the beach set, wearing sunglasses. The camera zooms in on Beth, who smiles and shows that she is no longer wearing braces. While jumping up from the group of sharks and the farmer, it was Jude who gave a skate trick, which was done almost flawlessly, and he didn't even have 5 seconds to cheer up when his body slammed with one of the background paintings, where his face was on the other side of the said background screen, where Sadie was working out and eating ice cream at the same time. And when she looked behind her and saw Jude staring at her, she offered the ice cream, which he smiled at and nodded his head.
Justin is then seen in the confessional, getting his make-up done. He turns around, only to get sprayed in the eyes by some kind of spray.
Ezekiel was pressing a few keys of the laptop, writing a new chapter of his book as Noah was reading a few papers nearby him, making the notes and doing his work as editor, when on the next second DJ was running in panic and approached them. Ezekiel pointed at the screen, which DJ shrugged at, and just for the next second he continued to run screaming in terror and tried to run away as fast as he could, which both Ezekiel and Noah looked at each other as they then saw a bunch of angry animals going after him, then they shrugged and nodded in satisfaction and resumed their work.
With DJ running and screaming, he hit Trent, who was playing his guitar calmly, probably developing a new song, but that accident managed to make them crash, and the guitar flew away in the direction of a bear, who immediately roared in rage, but then the person the bear roared at was its worst nightmare when Eva growled in such anger, and her roars made the bear flee in panic and pee on the ground. Eva scoffed, and Heather and Leshawna are then seen on top of two platforms, fighting each other with jousting sticks. Heather and Leshawna fight back and forth until Leshawna knocks Heather down, and Harold, who was passing by, managed to catch Heather with both his arms, and Heather scoffed while blushing angrily and pushed Harold, but the next second she was about to walk away, she slipped and sat on his face. Which made the blush deadpan, and she kicked the nerd while he was down and ran away. Leshawna saw everything and shouted from far away.
The camera pointed at Chef, who just did a terrible soup for the people to eat as lunch, and when Geoff looked left and right, he pointed in a direction where the bear went and crashed the place in panic, and Chef, in reflex, started fighting the bear, while Geoff used the opportunity to throw the soup away and take a few potato chips with him.
The camera pans over to who is in the control tent. Izzy smiled in delight as she cracked the fingers and pressed the exact sequence of buttons, which made the buildings visible on the screen explode many times. As she then kept pressing a few keys to see all the other cameras, she just saw the recordings of everyone's confessions while she smiled sadly at one of them, Ezekiel, who was talking on the screen.
The explosions revealed both Cadet Sanders and McArthur with smoke coming away from their clothes after the explosions, as they looked very angry at who did it, but then on the next second there was a bunch of animals who also were attacked by the explosions, as they stared angrily at them. Both cadets took their tasers and went after them, creating a huge fight against the crime.
As the camera kept rolling, there was Gwen opening the Lame-o-sine, as she smiled at the camera, and while pointing to the other side of the said car, she opened the doors, which revealed the red carpet after her, and the camera followed. Multiple pairs of arms are seen leaning in front of the camera with cameras of their own, wildly taking pictures and with camera flashes everywhere, and the camera eventually comes to the stage, where Chris is standing at the podium with a blue tuxedo. Chris opens an envelope, and Chef, wearing a well-tailored gray tuxedo, points his fingers at the screen, and the cadets are once again, but this time with pink transparent dresses, handing them a tray of Gilded Chris Awards. The cadets frown angrily while the duo simply rolls their eyes and looks back at the camera. The image of Chris and Chef then becomes slightly more static-like, and the camera pulls back to reveal that this is on a giant screen.
Below the screen, Duncan and Courtney are sitting on a couch in the middle of the stage in the aftermath studio and about to kiss. But they realize that everyone is looking at them and stop, looking at the camera with shocked expressions. As Duncan grinned, Courtney crossed her arms happily as she showed the sidelines of the studio where Jane was using a headphone and a clipboard to make sure everything was going fine, and sitting in the bleachers on the side of the hosts of the aftermath was Dawn, Sky, Enui, Crimson, Junior, and an empty place that there was an '?' mark on it, which the screen above them then changed from Chris and Chef to the logo for Total Drama Action.
At the entrance of the film lot, which consisted of an entrance gate and booth with the caution lines being made of decayed wood showing their age. At the very top was a golden-colored metal sign, but many of the letters were missing, having either fallen off or been taken, making what the sign originally said impossible to figure out. The place looked crappy just for the sake of the entertainment of the pattern of how terrible the service the contestants would have for another season.
As on the next second a bus, which could have better days, finally arrived, but not before one of the parts fell down from the place where the contestants would be.
As soon as the door went open, Duncan was the first who came out, but to the surprise of the cameras and all the viewers, Duncan wasn't wearing his usual outfit, which came from season 1 on the Island. A maroon vest with buttons down the front. A beige long-sleeve shirt underneath the vest, with brown bands around the upper arms, brown gloves with a fingerless design, brown pants, black boots, and two rings, one on the index finger and the other in the middle finger, while on the fingerless gloves, there were a few letters written as a tattoo, which indeed would cause the curiosity of the fans.
Duncan took a deep breath with his nose until he gave a satisfied sigh.
"Man, just the smell of the city in this crappy place already made me have a better impression over here than that crappy island." Duncan said while people who never saw Duncan before wouldn't believe it was him until they heard his voice. What just happened to him in just a few days for him to make a sudden change of clothes?
Until they heard another voice.
"Duncan, can you help me here?" The voice of Courtney called for her boyfriend, and in the time Duncan turned his back, he saw the heavy luggage being stuck on the door, which he released, and he helped the girl finally get out from the bus.
The fans would lose their minds after seeing Courtney in her usual wolf cut hairstyle, a black sleeveless top, and white shorts. Over her arm, nobody would ever imagine seeing Courtney exposing her arm, which had a thin line of tattoo covering the upper arm like a line of fishes following each other. Courtney of all people having a tattoo would make people wonder if it was because of Duncan who made her do it. She was wearing a choker she bought at the Goth clothing store while still having the one made by Duncan himself sculpted in wood. And for the final touch: black sneakers, as she had to thank Harold for once again fixing her hair, she was glad that most of the time a good friend like him also gave some points on how to make her hair look great.
As Duncan took out the luggage and released it on the floor. Courtney passed by him, and she could see him still annoyed.
"Come on, I know my parents will love to see you wearing this; I bet that even your parents would love to see you like that." Courtney teased her girlfriend as Duncan simply rolled his eyes. As she even winked at him. "And don't forget that I'm just wearing this because of you too."
"I gotta admit, you look sexy in this." Duncan said as he was voicing everyone who saw the new clothing Courtney came from in season 2.
Courtney and Duncan took their luggage and stepped away while the next person was Leshawna, who walked with her luggage in hand while whistling.
"I can't believe that all of you came here with a new wardrobe. I should have done that." Leshawna didn't think about it, even after remembering the part of one of them telling them they should have used another type of clothing. With a different set, it would surprise their fans more. While she was still having an elegant haircut done by Harold himself, she had to be satisfied with what she had.
"I send you a text about our plans of coming here and give the best first impression we could, Leshawna," Harold appeared as while he was doing his Rubik's cube, anyone wouldn't believe that boy was actually Harold. He was wearing a dark red beanie, his usual glasses, and a black long-sleeve shirt with a gray strap running horizontally across the chest, while on the bottom of the said shirt it was showing a purple color, which would give a better view, while he was wearing beige pants and black and white sneakers with purple accents.
"Well, you took a total glow-up; you went to the mall with all the Killer Bass to buy clothes, not complaining, but I should also have taken something different to catch the eyes of the fans." Leshawna said as Harold couldn't help but ask. "I can't believe that all of you got a tattoo as well."
"It was a situation that escalated quickly, but to be honest, I don't think anybody regretted doing it." Harold commented until he heard someone pushing them.
"Can you two get out? I'm tired of waiting here." The voice of Eva echoed as the duo gave space for Eva, the iron woman, to finally get out of the bus while holding 5 leather bags, but that wasn't something that surprised the others. But the outfit she was wearing was a white hoodie with a zipper and a front pocket. The hoodie has a relaxed fit and covers the upper body, which revealed another DarkStateBlue top under the hoodie. She was also wearing DarkStateBlue pants that complemented the white hoodie. Additionally, Eva was wearing earphones in both ears, with the wires hanging down in the pocket.
"Ouch, okay, okay, we are leaving." Leshawna said annoyed as Eva passed by them, while Harold smiled sheepishly at the bodybuilder, who nodded as his way to apologize.
"And then she had the audacity to call the police; can you believe that? If it hadn't been for Duncan's uncle, it would have been a mess." Katie said, looking frustrated as she was explaining the situation for one of the contestants who seemed to be a friend who just commented.
"Oh come on, that's so low. There's no way someone would be so low as to call the police about a missing person not once but twice. She refused to drop charges after everything? That girl is crazy." Tyler seemed to be the one who was surprised by the story of how Cody had to request the detective to dismiss the charges of him being missing around because of a stalker. Since he was with his girlfriend, but then Sierra insisted on doing another missing person report of the other local police of another city, it was maddening. "And how are you holding up?"
"I'm doing great. Duncan's uncle was awesome; he said he will help to drop the charges today. He even called me after his trip with his wife, Duncan, and Courtney to Niagara Falls. I still think it was my fault for making them almost miss the trip," Cody said sheepishly, and in the next second there was a slight slap that surprised everyone. "Ouch, why did you slap my butt?"
"Because it's a cute butt, but also it's for you to snap out of it." Katie said as she got out of the bus, Katie was wearing a black and pink striped crop top with long sleeves. The top has a snug fit and ends just above the waist. She was also wearing gray shorts that complemented the top. For footwear, she was in black sandals, which add a casual touch to the outfit. Katie also changed her hair to make it short, styled with bangs that frame her face.
Cody got out from the bus, and while he was still wearing the same pants and sneakers that he wore on the first season, Cody was also wearing a plain white sweatshirt. The sweatshirt has a crew neck and long sleeves. There are no visible logos, patterns, or designs on the sweatshirt, making it simple and casual in style.
Which people had to admit, Cody looked very cute wearing something simple like that.
"I gotta admit Katie was right on this one: you already apologized to them on Gwen's birthday, and they were chill with you; they had their trip." Tyler got out with his bags with him, as he was wearing a different clothing style but still with the same theme; instead of a headband, he was wearing a red visor, a red sleeveless jersey with a number 10 on the front worn over a white shirt, his usual red pants, white and red sneakers, and his wristbands.
"Yeah, I get it. Also, I'm surprised we have been the only ones to change our clothes. I thought after Ezekiel explained we needed to change clothes, everyone would have followed his advice." Cody commented as he helped to carry the luggage of his girlfriend, while Tyler accidentally slipped and made the luggage come on his face. "Ouch, are you okay, dude?"
"Yeah…" Tyler said in mumbling, until Sadie came and easily carried some of his bags with her and helped to set up; she was so much focused with the chocolate she received from Justin that she didn't pay attention to most of the conversation.
"NO OWEN, I SAID NO." Sadie could see Owen trying to touch one of her sweets, which the fat boy was whimpering.
"Come on, Sadie, just a tiny bite." Owen begged as Sadie, who helped Tyler to get up, narrowed her eyes at him.
"That was what you said when you ate my whole bar of chocolate a last minute ago." Sadie said as she ignored the fat boy as she walked outside of the bus, while she still was a bit chubby, there was a slight definition of her biceps forming, as she was now wearing a different cloth… FROM KATIE.
Sadie was wearing a pink jacket with rolled-up sleeves, adorned with various pins, including stars, ice cream, and a heart pin. Underneath the jacket, she was wearing a black top, and over her hair, which was in a wild short hairstyle, there were heart-shaped pink sunglasses and a bracelet on the wrist with the word LOVEBFF. And Star-Shaped Earrings. She was also wearing gray shorts and black sandals, which seemed to fit Katie's, but the changes were still there.
"Owen, I think you shouldn't anger Sadie like that," Justin calmly walked as he passed over, and the views of the presence of his being bring the usual song of where everyone would be awestruck at him, made Owen look sheepishly and apologize to Sadie as he went after the chubby but strong girl. "I'm usually never a big fan of rolled-up sleeve jackets, but it suits you so well that you look great in them."
"Why, thank you, Justin." Sadie smiled as she helped Justin carry his luggage with her own. Which once again surprised the supermodel from how much stronger the girl was becoming, and while they were walking… he suddenly froze, as Cody was nearby him… staring at Eva, who was listening to her mp3… Slowly both of them tiptoed around the bodybuilder, who simply scoffed at them.
"Pff, wimps." Eva said as the duo who underestimated and even manipulated her got the other side of suffering and pain, which she was now over that. She knew she had anger problems, but she smirked from seeing nobody would dare to do the same stupidity with her again.
As the next person to go out, Trent was carrying his luggage. As he calmly stared at the entire place where he was going to stay, he remained calm and quiet, as he didn't want to open his mouth and mess up the new chance he had. He brought his usual baggage that he had on the island and at the resort, which he didn't unpack. But now he has better experience with the contracts. He felt more nervous than ever, because he knew all the eyes of the fans would be on him. And it was his only chance to turn into a better light.
He took his guitar and calmly passed away from the campers, but he could see Justin smiling at him and Cody waving as he calmly showed a small smile.
"And then we started talking about our lives, and when I got so excited that I accidentally asked if he wanted to be my boyfriend, and he said yes." Beth commented as she gave Heather, Lindsay, and Izzy the friendship bracelets as Lindsay clapped her hands happily.
"OH MY GOD, YOU GOT A SUPERMODEL BOYFRIEND?" Lindsay hugged Beth as Heather and Izzy calmly got out of the bus. As Izzy was staring at the backseat for one person, Heather was still glancing at Beth in disbelief, not because of her friend. But from something else.
"Beth, you shouldn't be going around asking such questions like if someone wants to be your boyfriend, you don't know what kind of person that Brady is and how shady he can be." Heather scolded the farmer girl, as even she believed Beth met someone beautiful and hot, and no, she's not jealous of her friend. Nobody could be this nice without at least some flaws.
"Oh come on, Heather, you worry too much." Izzy, on the other hand, laughed as she placed Beth, Heather, and Lindsay. "But just to be sure, if he's some sort of criminal or something like that, I can click my tongue, and nobody will know where he is."
"What do you mean?" Beth asked, paling as Izzy simply smiled.
"Nothing, just a friendly reminder for him not to mess up. Capiche?" Izzy looked at one of the directions that the others didn't know; it was the camera, and she blinked as a threatening Brady for in case he messed up with the farmer and potential best friends of Lindsay, Heather, and her. "But I have a good feeling about your boyfriend; call it a hunch of a bird telling me."
"You can speak with birds?" Lindsay asked in surprise, which Izzy laughed at.
"Hahahahahaha, no, I speak with camels." Izzy replied as Heather rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe this is my life now." Heather said as the quartet walked outside of the bus, not lying, her experience of being with Lindsay's family was overwhelming; in comparison to Lindsay, she felt her family was poor. Sure, they have a social gathering and have a lot of money for a mansion, but Lindsay's father has a theme park for himself. Thankfully her mom slapped the mind of her father in case he wanted to buy a golf club just for himself. "Also, when are you going to Hollywood again?"
"When the new Sherlock Holmes movie is going to be aired, my daddy said Robert Downey Jr. is going to be Sherlock Holmes, and I hope to be surprised." Lindsay commented as she always listened to her daddy read the books for her, which she wanted to see how the actor will go on in the movie.
"Wow, that must be amazing to be able to go to the official first edition being published in Hollywood of all places." Beth said she was a bit envious of her friend, but that feeling was quickly pushed away since her experience of being with Lindsay had been amazing all the time, and while being rich, Lindsay had always been her best friend, with Heather.
"Well, at least we can try to do something nice when all this terrible show is over," Heather commented as she looked at Beth and raised her eyebrows. "Did you take the passports for going to France?"
"Don't worry; my mom helped me with all the documents." Beth said eagerly, as she was happy to receive some tips coming from both Heather and Izzy when it comes to going on a trip to another country. "Do you guys want to go to France with me?"
The question made Lindsay, Heather, and Izzy pause as they looked at the farmer, who felt nervous about going alone.
"Well, I suppose I could ask my parents about that," Heather said as she crossed her arms, which she couldn't help but admit that going to France and enjoying Paris would be awesome, and she would enjoy expending the one million dollars she would receive; of course, she lost the money for the homeschooled boy, but now she was going to be more ready. And she was in the finals of the last season; of course she could do it better and win the whole game.
"Well, my parents kicked me out of home since I became independent and have my own enterprise of maple syrup. I can now use my money to buy a house for me around here, and my lawyer is still dealing with some issues. I cannot leave the American continent for a while, but if things go well, I think I will be allowed to visit another country." Izzy said as she walked nearby the farmer while she decided to whisper in her ear. "Of course I, Kaleidoscope, accept the invitation; even if I have to fly illegally, I will be there."
"Okay?" Beth said as she blinked slowly, trying to not show reaction and hoping the cameras and microphones didn't listen to what Izzy said about leaving the country illegally. Beth then looked at Lindsay, who was thinking about it. "And how about you, Lindsay?"
"Oh, me? I'm thinking what type of clothing I should be buying in France," Lindsay smiled, as Beth was very eager to go to the country of love, the place where the quartet would enjoy the good clothing and even some art… which Beth also recalled on Ezekiel's words. About her being careful around Lindsay and being sure nobody would cause an accident just in case. But thankfully with Izzy and Heather around as well, she would be more … she thinks.
The quartet of girls left the bus, and the next person was no other than Geoff, who was still wearing his Stetson hat. He showed that even as his usual style changed, it was not from something too different. Geoff was dressed in a pink open shirt with darker pink flower patterns, worn over a purple bandana around the neck, adding a pop of color and a casual vibe. The beige cargo shorts provide practicality and comfort, while the purple shoes match the bandana and add a cohesive element to the outfit.
"Come on, Bridgette, you look perfect in this outfit. The most beautiful girl I ever saw in my life. I swear." Geoff said as he was carrying both his and her luggage, as the girl was groaning in shame as she tipped out of her head outside of the bus.
"I know, but I think I messed up choosing these jeans in the mall. I love the style, but I took the wrong size." Bridgette said as she still blushed slightly.
"I don't think it's the wrong size; it looks perfect on you." Geoff said as he tried to kiss his girlfriend, just for later he was attacked by the water spray with hot sauce. "COME ON."
"You are just saying that because you are drooling at seeing my panties." Bridgette said, as she sighed, but then got enough courage. "Okay, here I go."
At the time Bridgette left the bus, Geoff smiled with the view he was seeing. Bridgette was wearing a white long-sleeved crop top that ends just above the waist, giving a trendy and relaxed look. Blue jeans adorned with star stamps, which seem to be slightly different sizes since the pants were dropping slightly, which, while she could walk and run fine… the sides of her black panties were showing as well as giving a slight mark on the tights. Which made her even more sensual, as also a way to finish the touches, the sneakers she was wearing were the same colors as her jeans.
And as for her hair, she wasn't using her ponytail, but Harold did a great job of doing the curtain bangs in just a few minutes. She was taught by him how to maintain the style of her loose hair.
But still, with the style she came, all the fans would lose their minds imagining it was Bridgette, and they would curse Geoff for being a lucky bastard, for scoring the girl, and would understand why he passed most of the time getting pepper sprayed by kissing the girl; that girl was worth all the pain of pepper spray.
As Geoff was about to try to kiss her again, he was surprised by Courtney, who came to spray on his face again.
"AW, COME ON. REALLY?" Geoff couldn't even touch the lips of his girlfriend, and now he was going to get more and more sprayed with that crappy recipe of disaster.
"You two should be getting out now, and Bridgette, don't worry about it; you can ask Katie to add a pant elastic on your jeans; that way they won't drop." Courtney said as the blonde surfer smiled as she didn't need to drag a surfing board since there wouldn't be water for them to surf anyway.
"Thanks." Bridgette was happy as she wasn't the only one who was dressed in such an astonishing way, since Courtney and Duncan clearly made a lot of changes… which she giggled at seeing him pout, but she decided to just give a kiss on his cheek, which she regretted since her mouth was burning and she was feeling the taste of the hot sauce.
After a few seconds of the couple leaving the area.
"It was a great birthday party, DJ; you don't need to worry about it." Gwen smiled as she walked outside of the bus with new goth clothing, A black mesh fishnet top worn over a blue crop top, adding a layered and textured look. A black skirt that complements the mesh top and adds to the overall edgy style. Black fishnet stockings that enhance the outfit's bold and fashionable appearance. A pendant necklace with a green stone, while there were spiked wristbands over her fishnet sleeves, resembling a glove.
"Are you sure? Because I think your brother has an allergy." DJ asked in a worried tone as he got out from the bus by wearing a more simple style. A green shirt worn underneath an orange jacket. An orange jacket with green stripes on the sleeves, featuring a white collar and cuffs. Gray pants that complement the colorful upper body clothing. Green shoes that match the shirt and add a cohesive element to the outfit. As he wasn't using his white beanie, he showed the brown hair, which is short and curly, with a small tuft on the top.
"Don't worry about him; it was the dust he got when he tried to read an old book from our grandma. Still, he would like to eat more from you and your momma." Gwen rolled her eyes, but with a grin on her face, she could see how DJ sighed in relief, while she couldn't help but ask. "Why did you ask Ella to take care of the bunny again?"
"Well, Momma says it would be too much responsibility for her to keep cooking, and she would eventually forget to feed it. And Ella seems to be so well with the animals I think she would be the best choice to let Bunny be with her." DJ explained as Gwen chuckled from remembering how Ella gave a peck on his cheek at the birthday party, from which DJ even fainted from being caught off guard like that.
With a happy sigh, Gwen decided to walk with her luggage as DJ followed her.
With now only two people remaining on the bus…
"So now that you brought the computer, it wouldn't be needed to use all the papers from your typewriter." Noah commented as he walked outside with books he had in hand, "I still have a sore hand after signing all those books. I have no idea how you managed to do that, and my siblings really annoyed me to do all that extra work for you."
"Yeah, but come on, you gotta saw many interesting things happened in that mall when we were signing all those books." Ezekiel dismissed the boy's complaints, as it was now part of Noah's responsibility and his new style of life of working as Ezekiel's editor, which would be the responsibility of him to understand how the work of a writer wasn't easy.
And the camera finally could see the view of the homeschooled boy leaving the bus. His short, messed hair without his iconic winter hat, a green jacket with 2 short horizontal white stripes on the right side and a "10" emblem on the left side where there was a giant vertical white strap covering the green jacket. A jacket made by no other than Katie, which Ezekiel was glad to use as a homage to the future book he will be writing… Ben 10. On his wrists there was clearly the weight he had been using for most of the days, especially on how Eva inside of the bus made him use more weight for the second season… and the worst part, a working-out schedule with even a few hints on how to throw punches like a boxer.
Under the jacket there was a black shirt underneath where there was a skull and a red sword crushing it. Then there were teal pants to complement the green jacket and blue shoes with white soles as a way to add a pop of color to the outfit. And under his pants there was a shin guard with there was also the weight for him to use around as his training.
"When you mean interesting, you mean all the kinds of fans we saw appearing? Yeah, there was one that would be in my nightmares." Noah commented that he was terrified of seeing that scary little girl once; imagining seeing her in the future would really make him have more nightmares.
"Well, she loves Courage the Cowardly Dog, and I think that one work well done can change the lives of the others in a way that we never expect." Ezekiel said as both of them got out from the bus, and with both Noah and Ezekiel out. The 22 campers were on the place… which, in the next minute, the bus departed, leaving all the contestants alone.
"Where's everyone?" Leshawna asked as the group looked around, finally realizing they were alone, without someone to greet them, or even Chris to tell how it was going to start the show.
"Maybe the bus brought us to the wrong stop." Gwen suggested, but she had no other choice but to sigh. She didn't tell them that she knew this was the location, because the group who were inside of her birthday party knew it was in an abandoned movie studio set, and it was for the best not to reveal they knew the information all along. Thankfully, Justin helped her without noticing.
"That wrecked bus only has one stop." Justin said as he explained the situation as everyone turned around to see how crappy the place was.
"And believing how the pattern of the last season happened. I think this is the actual place we will be passing our weeks around doing challenges." Courtney commented as Duncan scoffed but nodded his head, knowing how Chris had his name all around the place.
Heather would have enjoyed the idea of leaving the place, but knowing that she was near winning the 100 thousand dollars by being at the final 2. She decided to focus more on the other contestants as she slightly narrowed her eyes. She thankfully wasn't stupid, as she also brought more clothes with her; Lindsay probably did the same thing; thankfully, Beth also did the same thing. But if she knew everyone was going to appear on the first episode already dressing differently, she should have at least used her time to place more makeup and use something more provocative for her fans as well.
"Let's admit, the 1 million dollars is the only reason for us to tolerate Chris," Beth said as Trent blinked from seeing the farm girl showing her teeth being clean, white, and without braces.
"Wow Beth, you took out your braces. That's so cool," Trent pointed out happily for the girl, who just smiled happily, which Justin also approached and had to give the compliment.
"Hot as always." Justin liked how great treatment Beth got from the dentist since it was so clear that he could see his own reflection on the farm's smile. To the point that he even liked the tip of his finger and placed it on his eyebrow while he used her smile as a mirror for himself. "Your dentist did a great job, Beth."
But on the next second, Leshawna took the beautiful boy and threw him away while she went ahead to talk to Beth.
"You look fine, girl." Leshawna said as Beth was gathering more attention, which Heather rolled her eyes at.
"She really does." Gwen admitted as she looked at Izzy and Heather and Lindsay. Which, from the lack of their reaction, it seems they already knew that. As she decided to give another approach. "Hey Lindsay, how have your days off been?"
"Oh Gemmy… I mean… Gwen, it had been fantastic; my sisters and I had a lot of fun going to the mall, doing shopping sprees, and going to the spa, and my parents invited Heather, Beth, and Iz—err… I mean Scope—to our house, and we even went in my daddy's theme park." Lindsay explained as Gwen blinked in surprise, which at the time Lindsay was about to tell Izzy's true name, Izzy coughed on her fist, which made the blonde bombshell quickly change the name of the military girl. As it seems, the goth girl's week wasn't the only one who was busy around.
"My mom said my world would totally open up when I got my braces off. And she was right." Beth said as she was squealing happy from all the attention she had. "From having a boyfriend to even having a great time with my best friends, it had been amazing."
And on the other side of the group of campers, Courtney was looking around and seeing if there was something that she could be doing. As Duncan was talking with Geoff and Bridgette, DJ and Tyler were drinking water from the bottles they brought with themselves on their trip.
"Wow, this place is giant." Ezekiel commented as Courtney was surprised by the sudden comment from her friend, and one of the pillars, she smiled at seeing how Ezekiel looked more decent than the first season… and being honest, she never thought her team would look more stylish and better than their first version of the show. Ezekiel was right; giving the first good impression for the fans will make them boom their popularity in a good way.
"Yeah, seeing from here, it seems there would be dozens if not hundreds of sets inside of it." Courtney mused as she tried to identify the quantity of challenges they would be having across the place.
"43 to be exact." Then a voice came nearby her, as both Ezekiel and Courtney were so focused on looking at the studio that Courtney simply nodded her head.
"Really? I thought it was more, thanks Jude." Courtney said she was happy until suddenly she blinked… and slowly she turned her head to see the same blonde hair, white shirt, black beanie, shorts, and skate on hands.
"No problem, dudette." Jude commented as he was staring at the studio as well, where both Ezekiel and Courtney had their mouths dropped as they stared at him in disbelief.
"JUDE HOW DID YOU GET HERE?" Courtney shrieked as, at that time, everyone simply turned their heads to see Courtney, and while for the Screaming Gopher, former members looked at the stranger boy who came from nowhere, the Killer Bass former team, on the other hand, recognized that person.
"Wait, why is your childhood friend here, Courtney?" Tyler pointed out as Jude was about to greet everyone or even say the reason he was there.
beep beep
Until the sound of horns made the whole group of 23 people see Chris arrive in a tour cart, with enough space to carry everyone.
"About time." Duncan said as he could see Chris blinking and staring at most of the campers, who seemed to be wearing a lot of different clothes.
"What the hell happened to all of you?" Chris said that he had no idea what had just happened, but it seems basically everyone from Killer Bass, including Cody, had their clothes changed, and if he hadn't known them for so long over those 9 weeks, he could have sworn it was other people taking their place. "You know what? Never mind. Hop on, everyone! Come on, people! Sheesh, we haven't got all day! This cart's rented by the hour."
Chris commented as everyone was placing their luggage and getting to their seats, and to Courtney and Duncan's surprise, Jude simply shrugged it off and also went inside to sit in one of the seats on their side, while the others tilted their heads in trying to figure out where the hell that boy came from.
Ezekiel was placing his stuff when he saw Izzy planning to stay behind.
"SCOPE LET'S GO." Ezekiel knew that her plan was to make her being named after the name change; it was one of her tricks to pass the loophole of the contract, and as he had been out of the show without talking to her all these days, he could see how she was happy the person who was the first to call her that was Ezekiel. Since he came from the future, he knew that it was one of her tricks, and he was going to help her set up for the loophole abuse.
"Coming," Izzy said as she jumped, and sitting nearby Ezekiel, she was already enjoying the plan she was doing over the show, and now she just needed to figure out the new boy; she didn't know why, but Courtney shrieked, and from the look of the Killer Bass team, they knew who that boy was. So she decided to ask for the source... "Hey, who's the new boy?"
"His name is Jude Lizowski; he's Courtney's childhood friend, and he works in the mall where I did the book signing. The Killer Bass went to the mall to pass the day there, and we ate his food. I have no idea how he got here, or why he's here..." Ezekiel said as Izzy was placing her stuff, while she tilted her head in surprise…
"Not even."
"Nope, not even that." Ezekiel confirmed her suspicions by saying that even from his future, he saw Jude appearing on the show, which means one thing.
Jude was a time anomaly, something that was placed over the ripples of coming back from time travel, and now he became something that nobody knows what's going to happen from now on.
"So let's just wait and see how things will go?" Izzy asked, as she could see Ezekiel nodding his head, it was indeed a very intriguing situation, but there was nothing they could do about it.
As Chris was driving everyone, and not paying attention to who was behind him. As since it was dozens of people inside of the cart. He decided to give the explanation anyway.
"Welcome to the set of Total...Drama...Action… This season's hottest reality show will be shot here, on an abandoned film lot," Chris explained as the group watched from the sidelines, the movie sets appearing as Lindsay gasped in excitement.
"Does that mean we're going to be in the movies?" Lindsay asked excitedly, as she couldn't help but imagine her family's reaction to seeing her, the first season winner, becoming a movie star.
"No, it means you're going to be on TV, and don't interrupt me, ever," Chris said as he narrowed his eyes while he flicked his finger on her nose.
"Oops, sorry…" Lindsay said as she scratched her nose.
As the time passed, the group passed over the sets, which one of them was the Wild West. Which now Ezekiel wondered on how things will go after dealing with the 22 contestants of Total Drama Island, as now there weren't 14 members but way more than that. It would show the further challenges for the sake of their future and also for the entertainment of the public.
"You'll be spending the next six weeks here, and while you will only have 2 days of rest after each challenge, you all will be competing against each other in challenges, and for the rewards… All for the chance to win some monster cash," Chris said as he was feeling happy until Owen decided to say something.
"Yeah, baby, I'm gonna win me some moolah," Owen said until Chris was about to shush him, but then a blonde boy with a beanie shushed.
"Dude, didn't he say for us not to interrupt him?" Jude gave a comment as Chris blinked at the boy that looked as if he had the most beautiful voice he could ever have heard, but he had no idea where the hell that boy came from.
"Who are you?" Chris asked as Jude raised his hand.
"Hi dude, name's Jude," The blonde boy commented as Chris blinked a few times, not ever knowing someone with that name before.
"Jude, can you please tell me what you are doing here? I thought you were working on the mall; why are you here?" Courtney sighed as she decided to ask the most important question.
"Oh yeah…" Jude said as he decided to tell the whole journey he had to pass across Canada just for the sake of delivering the kebabs for his childhood friend.
.
.
.
"And that's how I got here…" Jude finished with a lopsided grin, leaning casually on his skateboard as if his story had been the most natural sequence of events.
Courtney's eye twitched, her jaw tightening with every word. "This is what I woke up to today?" she thought, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Chris stood motionless, his usual smug smirk replaced by a rare, vacant expression. For the first time in his life, the overconfident host appeared genuinely baffled. "How... how did someone so mind-bogglingly dumb manage to bypass security and legally sign a contract? Even as his voice was wonderful and perfect, there was no way someone would be fooled that easy." He shook his head, muttering, "I've got to raise the bar for security screenings. I'm going to complain a lot to the cadets today."
"Yep… that's something Jude would do." Ezekiel concluded, as he himself never thought to see a member of 6teen actually being officially part of the Total Drama Cast, and the ironic part. He would fit well with the group of people just like he did in Dramarama. "What a crazy journey just for the first episode."
"Also, Courtney, do you want kebabs for change? I forgot to bring the change." Jude asked, to which immediately Courtney facepalmed her head strongly. "Oh, Jen also facepalms like that when she is very annoyed."
"Ughhhhh," Courtney moaned as she didn't even know what to say to her childhood friend. "No, Jude, I don't want Kebabs for change."
"Oh… okay, here's your money change." Jude decided to place the kebabs back in the backpack as he took a few notes from his pocket, remaining the money he used from his whole journey… "So… what's next?"
And that was the silence coming from Chris facepalming, while the whole group of contestants looked amused at both Courtney and Chris having a migraine. Thankfully, for one of them, the boyfriend came for the rescue and would find a way to make her more comfortable. While the other, nobody gives a damn what Chris thinks.
"You can give me the kebabs if you want." Owen offered, as he was sitting nearby the blonde boy, as the skater nodded his head as Owen licked his lips as he was going to enjoy the food stick, and from getting the good food even after days of being made, the fat boy didn't care since he enjoyed the good taste of cheese and meat. "Wow, it tastes great."
Some of the former campers had the desire to vomit, but they knew Owen would have been disgusting like that.
"MOVING ON." Chris said as he stepped further, driving further in the direction of a vehicle, "Like last season, one team will win, and one team will watch one of their own make their way down the dread Walk of Shame to the Lame-o-sine."
As Chris pressed the button, the glass over his cart started going up, while the people behind him were affected by the smoke produced by the trashed Lame-O-sine, as a way to show how terrible obsolete limousines were at even broken-down releasing the smoke on the contestants.
Everyone with the exception of Chris coughed as Noah rolled his eyes.
"Let me guess, you didn't want to waste money to buy a better car instead of this junk, right?" Noah gave the sarcastic remark as Chris smirked at him.
"That's right, now, since we don't have the outhouse to dump your deepest, darkest secrets in," Chris was explaining while Bridgette and Geoff wanted to pass their time kissing each other, Tyler was between them with two bottles of the anti-horny spray to make sure they would pay attention. "You'll ditch the dirt in our new makeup confessional."
The moment Chris explained, the group could see the trailer on their left.
Confession—Sadie
"OH MY GOD, WE HAVE A CONFESSIONAL THAT HAS MAKEUP HERE." Sadie squealed happily as she then saw a hand approaching her with a lipstick. "Why, thank you. I accept."
Confession – Lindsay
"Oh my God, a trailer full of makeup?!" The same hand that gave a makeup on the chubby girl appeared as Lindsay raised her hand, refusing. "Oh, sorry, I don't use that brand."
Confession – Katie
"OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, yes please." Katie said happily as she was receiving a treatment like her best friend and sister of another mother. "I love that brand."
As the trio of girls were the first ones to use the confessional, Ezekiel could see Izzy being excited about wanting to know what would be the first challenge. And Ezekiel couldn't lie; he was also hyped to have the experience of Total Drama Action, and while it didn't go the way it should be, he was happy to see everyone was eager to win that 1 million dollars.
As they progressed further, Chris brought them to the dining room, where suddenly Chef was chasing a raccoon, followed by the cadets, who were holding their tasers to hunt down the thief.
"To your left is the craft services tent, catered by Chef." Chris explained as he pointed to another tent far away. "That will be the security hall, where the cadets… and even a few more interns, who I will be glad to have a word with, are responsible for making sure no one else gets inside of this show. Or have dangers that aren't part of the challenges designed by me."
Chris glared at Jude, as the other contestants raised their eyebrows at the boy who was staring at the cadets running after Chef, who he felt someone was talking about him, but then he just shrugged, ignoring completely the host, who was having his eyes twitching.
"In case you get hurt, there will be another tent a few kilometers from here, where there will be a team of 25 medical interns ready to take care of you, with 2 of them having experience in nursery at the local hospital from the other side of Canada." Chris explained, as even the tone of his voice said, as he was being a cheapskate, he was very considerate in having a better medical team for the group, which reassured some of them who had terrible experiences with the injuries in the past.
While Chris was explaining the situation, Lindsay managed to take a few pictures with her camera, since she promised that she would show pictures to Charlie and Paula when she returned back home.
On the next second Chris brought everyone of what would be a stage where there was 2 giant golden statues of Chris.
"If you survive Chef, you'll have to make it through our dramatic awards ceremony. Where all but one loser will receive a Gilded Chris Award," The group stared at the stage, at which Ezekiel raised his eyebrows.
"It's chocolate, isn't it?" Ezekiel asked as Izzy's eyes sparkled, while Chris simply ignored his question. And continued driving.
Confession – Gwen
"That Gilded Chris? Ha, what a narcissist… Don't get me wrong; I still want one." Gwen laughed at the idea of Chris being so narcissistic as to make gilded statues of himself, but still she couldn't deny that she would like to have a gold statue in her hands. Until she blinked… "On second thought, Ezekiel commented it was chocolate, and knowing Chris, he would never give us gold, even if it was a statue of himself… Hmmm, well at least chocolate wasn't bad at the end of the day."
"Hey, is it still going to take long to be done?" Geoff asked as he was feeling bored; some of the other contestants, Bridgette was yawning, and Tyler was sleeping on the chair.
"I have an eject button, and I'm not afraid of using it." Chris threatened Geoff, but he didn't get the reaction he expected.
"Cool, DO IT." Geoff said, as Chris smirked and simply rolled his eyes, as he continued driving to the next set.
As the time passed, Harold was impressed into seeing the replica of a moon in a space movie set. Which he was in awe.
"Ohhh, awesome! Is this a dream?" Harold asked as his inner fanboy wanted to explore more of the lunar set and have some fun playing around.
Chris smirked at him.
"No Harold, it's not, but soon you will wish it was only a dream." Chris said, as he could see Harold slowly flinching in fear, as it was now the time for business, he arrived at the place he wanted to be. As he arrived in a trashed town, where a few skyscrapers had some monster marks as bites and claw marks. "A few months ago, this was home to a high-budget monster movie until the star began experiencing some...ah, ug, difficulties."
"Oh no. Did she have, like, a mental breakdown?" Lindsay gasped as she heard about the times of celebrities losing their minds over how stressful making movies was.
"Actually, the star wasn't a 'her'… It was an animatronic monster!", Chris explained as every other contestant looked around and saw the bite marks of the movie set.
"Cool, a monster breakdown." Jude said as he raised his hand, and Geoff couldn't say no to a high five, which the duo seemed to be enjoying the idea of such a crazy thing happening around.
"What happened to it?" Gwen asked as she soon realized the mistake she had just made.
Confession – Gwen
"In retrospect, I shouldn't have asked that question." Gwen sighed as she knew that she regretted how the challenge went on that day.
Confession – Katie and Cody
"I'm confused; how's it possible for an animatronic monster to have a breakdown?" Katie asked her boyfriend, who paused for a few seconds, thinking.
"Maybe it had an accident that made the wires on the head go crazy, and the robot trashed everything in its path." Cody said a"Wow, he then saw Katie smiling at him.
" that makes sense, Cody," Katie giggled as she then started kissing the boyfriend on the confession trailer.
Confession – Ezekiel.
"A giant monster movie challenge," Ezekiel nodded his head, as the group could see a few bruises and marks of dirt and ashes on his face. "I'm planning to set up a Tier List of movie genre challenges during the whole show. I think this will make the Total Drama forum happy to have something to work with. I won't tell how the challenge ended. But boy, this is a good first episode."
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"Everyone heard the roar that even the surroundings trembled from the intimidating factor of the animatronic Kaiju.
"Come on, dudes. He's yanking our chains," Duncan said as suddenly the robotic sounds were heard and a scaly tail topped a steel tower in front of everyone. Chris slammed the cart on the brakes, narrowly preventing them from crashing, but everyone was still shaken in fear.
"Wow…" Trent gulped as he wasn't the only one afraid; DJ was on the verge of panic, while Tyler was also shaking in fear.
"Since we're on a film lot, this season's challenges will be based on movie genres. Today's genre?" Chris explained how the challenge would be to the group when suddenly the giant animatronic monster roared as Chris raised both his arms in happiness. "MONSTER MOVIES. Hahahahahaha." Chris laughed as the group couldn't help but watch the giant monster walking around and passing around them. DJ started babbling until he passed out on the next second.
Chris poked him with a stick, just to confirm he was knocked out.
"Down for the count; for your first challenge, everyone must get from here to the cast trailers while our state-of-the-art monster prevents your every move, hahahahaha," Chris explained the rules of the challenge as the group looked at each other, even Jude, who was now caught on the craziness of the show in the first hour. "Chef has kindly offered to control the beast. Aaaaaaaaand... action!"
Ezekiel was the first to jump off the cart, and while the group saw something crazy, he was wearing one big suitcase on his back as a backpack.
"KILLER BASS, FORMATION DELTA 21, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE." Ezekiel shouted as the contestants blinked in confusion; however, the former Killer Bass had their eyes wide open and quickly left their luggage and jumped away from the cart. Katie pulled her boyfriend out of the cart as Sadie and Eva took DJ, crossing his arms on their shoulders, and quickly left the cart by the side. It was quick; in just 5 seconds, all of the former Killer Bass, including Cody, were gone. And on the next second only the former members of Screaming Gophers remained on the cart. Nobody saw Izzy disappearing...
"…" Chris remained in silence as he watched most of the contestants leaving; the remaining members looked at Chris, who decided to cough his fist and then proceed. "When I said action, that means go."
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
"LADIES FIRST!"
"MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!"
And while the Killer Bass were the ones who jumped from the side of the cart, the former members of Screaming Gophers fought over themselves on who should be the first one to leave in the front area.
Chris looked as the two operatives worked and couldn't help but shake his head.
"This is going to be a long season," Chris said in exasperation while he decided to check on how the contestants who left the cart earlier were doing.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE EZEKIEL SAID DELTA 21!" Courtney groaned as she was running with Duncan, which both 2 pillars of Killer Bass never thought there was an actual situation that would require that.
"It makes sense, monster movies; the only thing people should do is run away. It was the basic rules of the movie genre." Duncan explained as both were running and doing their best to separate from the other members of their team.
"Yeah, but what kind of situation is the operation? Drop all your beep and run for your lives in groups of 2 while one of us will be used as bait is actually used in real life?" Courtney asked, as she herself was against that formation, but here they are. If she had known the challenge would have been like that, she would have formed a better plan than actually running for her life with her boyfriend.
"Well, Princess, here we are, a giant monster hunting us down. I think there's no better situation for that formation than this one." Duncan rolled his eyes as Courtney scowled at him.
"Don't defend him. You know who he would suggest to be the bait." Courtney glared as her boyfriend narrowed his eyes at her.
"He's an archer, and you saw how he kicked everyone's ass when we were against him in the middle of the forest." Duncan said as the C.I.T. girl glared at him. Even as she was dressed so sensually and with that amazing hair. "Do you want to make out now?"
"FINALLY," Courtney said as she jumped on Duncan. They were different than Geoff and Bridgette; they had no one to check on them and use the water spray, which she was going to enjoy with her boyfriend dressed so elegantly.
Jude used his skate to follow the track as he was feeling his eyes widening from the shock of how real things were. But then he gave a usual smile as he continued to use his skateboard.
"Dude, that's awesome." Jude at least could have some awesome stories to tell his friends when he returned home, since it was way crazier in comparison than the television.
"Jude, are you alright?" The skater turned his head to see the Stetson boy, Geoff, asking as he himself was using a long skateboard, while behind him Bridgette was using safety equipment while she was holding tight the waist of the party boy.
"Yeah, I know a shortcut from where the trailers are." Jude commented as Bridgette slowly opened her eyes.
"You do?" Bridgette asked as Jude used his foot to make his skateboard faster.
"Follow me, and don't be in the middle of the street; this will give the monster the space for him to catch you." Jude said as Geoff went after him.
"What did Ezekiel say the formation was?" Cody asked as he saw Eva and Sadie slowly slapping DJ's face as a way to wake him up. Which soon he did, he started to be in a fetal position and talk about his past.
"It was leave everything you own and everyone for themselves and God for all of us." Katie said as suddenly Sadie corrected.
"No, it was leave everything you own, grab the essentials, and do your best to survive." Sadie said as Katie crossed her arms.
"Oh,I think you are wrong."
" you think so?"
"Now I know so."
"Quiet, both of you." Eva interrupted both best friends and decided to correct it once and for all. "Neither of those two were right; it was to separate into groups of 2 or 3, leave everything that could drag behind, and leave for someone to be the bait."
"Oh yeah… that's right." Sadie commented as Katie nodded her head.
"Ah, makes sense, yeah, they said that." Katie confirmed it as it stopped their discussion, which made Cody sweat drop from seeing that happening.
"So that means there's one behind as a bait?" Cody asked, unsure if he understood the formation, since he never was on their meeting of planning to work together as a team, and their interactions on the aquarium made him know that his team lacked teamwork. As he saw the trio nodding their heads. "Who will stay as bait?"
"The one who offered called the formation." The trio said as Cody's eyes went wide open.
"You mean Ezekiel will be the bait?" Cody asked, as he didn't believe what he was hearing from the girls.
"I felt stupid; from all the Kaiju movies, of course the first rule that we always should be doing is running for our lives." Harold commented as the group passed away from the Beach movie set and went in a different direction. "Scattering is always a good way to confuse the monster while we have better chances of someone reaching the save point."
"Well, this challenge isn't so bad, what? No explosions, no burning buildings? No bears?" Gwen commented as Harold pressed a finger to his lips, shushing her.
"Shhhhhh. Don't jinx us; you never know if Tyler's unluckiness will drag that to us." Harold said as Tyler was nodding his head.
"Yeah… HEY," Tyler shouted, offended, as Harold looked in all the directions.
"Tyler is known for being a karma collector, and from what the stories we heard about his family, it will always drag unluckiness to him until he reaches the jackpot." Harold commented as the group wasn't nearby the movie set of the lunar space movies. "Let's hide here for a few minutes, then we go again."
"Right," Gwen nodded her head, while Tyler rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.
"I'm not that bad." Tyler mumbled as he was also paranoid, because while he didn't like to hear about bringing bad luck to the others, he wasn't stupid; he was trying to see if there was a bear around or some explosions nearby.
It didn't take long until they heard explosions, but instead of being nearby them… The trio just blinked; it was into an area far ahead.
Both Harold and Tyler slowly looked at Gwen, who slightly turned her head to not meet their eyes. Since she was the one who jinxed someone.
"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT BEAR COME FROM?" Heather screamed as they were being followed by the creature who ran after them; after a sequence of explosions and the buildings burning in fire, they didn't provoke the bear, but it went after them anyway.
"Follow the good-looking people," Justin said, as even he was running in panic; he was confident on where the trailers would be.
"Yeah, follow Justin." Beth said in excitement, believing Justin may have found a path for their safety.
"Why do I even bother?" Heather rolled her eyes as Lindsay was running in the opposite direction. "LINDSAY, NO, YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY."
And in a moment like that, the blonde couldn't see, but from nowhere a giant claw already captured Lindsay.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," The blonde girl screamed, as the contestants had to the blonde girl being dragged away, which Heather and Beth couldn't do anything about. Since there was a freaking bear after them.
Chris was watching the whole scene from the camera room with Chef as he started laughing happily.
"I thought the bear was tranquilized and returned to its handler." Chris asked in surprise as Chef continued to use his robot suit to make the animatronic robot capture the other campers while he was walking backwards to bring the blonde bombshell to a safety bouncy castle. As he released the girl, who was still screaming in panic.
"He had one day left on his contract," Chef answered as he continued his journey to capture the cast; however, some of them proved to be way more difficult to capture since they had scattered like ants.
"Nice." Chris said as he checked cadet Sanders and MacArthur checking the cameras one by one.
"We have movement on Camera 7," Sanders warned the boss, as she checked the movement of 2 people on skateboards traveling towards the set number 35. "Why are they taking that route?"
"Look, movement on camera 2." MacArthur pointed as suddenly as it happened, a slight flash of light, incapacitating the camera. "What was that?"
"What's going on?" Chris asked until suddenly Chef got a few sparks of electricity on part of his robot control suit. As Chef turned around and looked at one of the cameras. "What the?"
"I saw something on Camera 3." Sanders said as Chef and Chris saw on the camera, there were two people aiming at them.
(A few minutes ago)
Ezekiel ran across the sandy beach set, his every step sinking slightly under the weight strapped to his body. Walking directly on the sand would drain his stamina quickly, so he chose the smarter route—cutting through the backstage area. As he reached the edge of the town movie set, he paused to inspect the buildings. His shoulders slumped in frustration upon realizing most of them were just hollow props.
"Seriously?" he muttered under his breath. "No real roofs? Figures."
Without a proper structure to rely on, he resorted to tying ropes around himself for safety as he climbed. As the process was happening, Ezekiel started to whistle a song from his mind. One of the songs of the future. As he even started humming as well.
"Hyabababa padabadaaaaaa, pararaaaaaaraaaaaa, pararapapa payaapá parapararapara bayadabada parapa pa rá," To the point where even Ezekiel was doing a scat, but differently than being a blues, it sounded smoother, slower, like in tones of Bossa Nova. "What's a girl to do? Lying on my bed, staring into the blue. Unrequited, terrifying. Love is driving me a bit insane. Have to get this off my chest. I'm telling you todayyy…"
"Telling what?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH," Ezekiel jumped from surprise to see the girl look amused at Ezekiel with his hand on his chest. "Iz-Kaleidoscope, you never should scare someone like that, especially when someone was alone with a song in their head."
"Yeah, I heard your whistling; kinda nice, by the way." Izzy smirked as she looked at the boy rolling his eyes. "So, what's the song you were singing?"
"Er… well, it's an… Adventure Time song." Ezekiel said nervously as he looked around and noticed the cameras staring at him. And he couldn't say anything about the song being from 2023. Which he likes Laufey, but for him what made the song so catchy was the A.I. version of Finn the human singing the song. "Finn was singing this song… I'm still in the process of planning the lyrics."
"Huh, nice." Izzy smirked as she could see that a part of Ezekiel was lying straight away, but from looking at them around the cameras, she could see Ezekiel would clearly make that lie true. Which she was now interested to know more about. "It sounded like Jazz."
"It's Bossa Nova." Ezekiel corrected as it made the girl blink, which she could see that genre somehow meant something for the boy, as she didn't press further. "It's a song for Finn to sing for his crush, but I think we should be focusing on what's more important now, Scope."
"What's the plan, Zeke?" Izzy decided to let it go, as she could see how he was still looking at the rope around his torso. Now she was with her eyes alight with curiosity.
"I'm going to be the bait. Stall the robot for as long as I can," Ezekiel replied, tightening his grip on the ropes. "I need to get to the top first, though."
Izzy's smirk widened. "Ha, that's easy! Let me help." Her sharp gaze caught on the professional compound bow he was adjusting. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What's with that?"
"It's a professional compound bow," Ezekiel said plainly, blinking in confusion at her reaction. Then realization dawned. "Oh, you're wondering why I didn't bring the one you made for me. Don't worry—I did!"
He opened another compartment in his suitcase, revealing the handmade wooden bow Izzy had crafted. Her expression softened, her surprise evident.
"Why do you have two compound bows?" Izzy asked, tilting her head.
"I actually have three," Ezekiel corrected, pulling out another bow from the suitcase and handing it to her. "This one's a gift—for you. I figured we might need backups for a challenge like this."
Izzy stared at the bow for a moment, her expression shifting between astonishment and delight. Then, she abruptly hugged him, catching him off guard.
"Thanks, Zeke! You're full of surprises, huh?"
Before he could respond, Izzy grabbed a rope, tied a secure knot, and fired a grappling hook arrow into the wooden framework above them. Ezekiel's eyes widened as the arrow embedded itself with a satisfying thunk.
"This'll do the trick. You should ditch the weights—you'll climb faster that way," Izzy suggested.
"Yeah, good idea," Ezekiel agreed, quickly unstrapping the extra weight as a smirk tugged at his lips. "Alright, let's do this."
With Izzy's help, they reached the top of the set. The view from above gave them an edge, but the precarious perch reminded them how risky their position was without a solid backup plan.
"Now that we're up here, what's next?" Izzy asked, glancing at Ezekiel with a mix of curiosity and anticipation.
Ezekiel crouched and opened his suitcase, revealing several small orange balls made from tree sap and sand, wrapped in paper tissue soaked in gasoline. A long wick extended from each, designed to delay ignition. Izzy's eyes sparkled with excitement as she realized what they were.
"The sap bombs, it will help a lot as we can make these arrows like a time bomb. Light the wick, and it'll take a while before the flame reaches the payload. Should buy us enough time to cause some chaos before the robot figures out what hit it," Ezekiel explained.
Izzy's grin grew almost feral. "Explosives? Zeke, you just said my favorite word!"
Ezekiel chuckled.
"So, what d'you say, Explosivo? Ready to take down a giant robot?" Ezekiel suggested as he triggered the word of what Izzy wanted so much to use. One part of her who always had liked explosions and punishing everyone, but the idea of using that to cause the controlled chaos?
Confession - Izzy (Scope)
Izzy slapped her cheeks repeatedly, trying to shake off the flush rising in them.
"GET IT TOGETHER, WOMAN!" she yelled at herself. "Sure, Ezekiel's cute and awesome, and he gets me more than anyone else, but we're still in a challenge! No time for distractions!"
She exhaled sharply, glaring at her own reflection as if it were mocking her.
"Focus. Sure, you've teased him a lot, especially with that gift you gave him back at Playa Del Losers, but he doesn't see you like that. Now CONTROL YOURSELF!"
Izzy slapped herself a few more times for good measure, scaring off a production assistant who had been holding a makeup kit.
"Yeah, you better run," she muttered, her grin returning as she refocused on the mission.
"KEEP FIRING, SCOPE!" Ezekiel shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos below. Both he and Izzy perched atop the fake wooden buildings, their vantage point offering a clear line of sight. With compound bows in hand, they unleashed arrow after arrow at Chef's towering animatronic robot, which lumbered down the mock street in relentless pursuit of the former Screaming Gophers.
Each arrow was more than it seemed—covert time bombs set to detonate at just the right moment. The robot didn't even notice as the projectiles embedded themselves along its path.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Izzy cackled with unrestrained glee, her laughter echoing as if she were a comic book villain reveling in their master plan. She practically vibrated with excitement, her eyes gleaming as fiery explosions erupted in the distance. "Chef's gonna lose it when he figures out we planned this all along!"
As Lindsay was captured in the chaos below, Ezekiel's focus sharpened. His fingers gripped the bowstring, his gaze locked on the countdown in his mind. Timing was everything.
The animatronic stomped through the street, oblivious to the trap it was walking into. One arrow, perfectly timed, slipped loose from its perch and landed near a camera stationed on the ground. A moment later, it detonated with a fiery burst, sending smoke and shrapnel into the air. The camera was obliterated.
Seconds later, another explosion erupted. The robot froze mid-step, its head swiveling in confusion as it tried to process the sudden destruction. Its mechanical whirs grew louder as it scanned the area, searching for the source of the attack.
Ezekiel exchanged a quick glance with Izzy. They knew what came next.
"We've got its attention now," Ezekiel murmured, nocking another arrow.
"Time for the big finale," Izzy replied with a wicked grin, already moving to untie herself from the safety ropes.
The robot's head turned sharply, locking onto their position. Its gears churned as it began its approach, each step shaking the flimsy set beneath them.
"Alright, Zeke—jump! I'll catch you!" Izzy called, her voice laced with both confidence and mischief as she climbed down the fake building with remarkable ease.
Ezekiel glanced over the edge, his stomach twisting at the height. He hesitated, muttering to himself, "Oh, Ma's gonna freak when she hears about this…"
Still, he knew there was no other option. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and leapt.
"HERE I GO—OH BEEP!" Ezekiel yelled, his voice cracking as gravity took over.
The fall felt like an eternity, though it was only a few seconds. His heart pounded in his chest, but true to her word, Izzy was there to catch him. Well… mostly.
"Gotcha!" Izzy exclaimed, stumbling back slightly from the impact but managing to keep them both upright.
Ezekiel groaned as he regained his footing. "You call that catching me? Felt more like a half-dump!"
Izzy smirked, brushing off Ezekiel's complaint with a wave of her hand. "Relax, you're alive, aren't ya? Now come on—we've gotta wait for the explosions."
Ezekiel returned her grin, a mischievous glint in his eye as he turned to glance at a nearby camera. A sudden idea sparked in his mind. "I knew these would come in handy," he said, pulling a pair of sunglasses from his pocket.
Izzy blinked, momentarily surprised, before her expression mirrored his. A wide, devilish smirk spread across her face. "We're really doing the whole cliché thing, huh?"
Ezekiel rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his amusement. "It's only called a cliché when it stops being awesome. Let's do this." He slid the sunglasses onto his face with deliberate flair, the lenses catching the glow of distant sparks.
Chris watched the screen with a mix of confusion and intrigue. "What are those two doing?" he muttered, leaning closer. The footage showed Ezekiel and Izzy strolling away from the set in exaggerated slow motion, their backs to the camera.
"Are they… walking in slow motion?" Cadet Sanders asked, blinking in disbelief.
"It looks like it," Chris replied, still puzzled.
Suddenly, sparks erupted from Chef's clothing. "OW! OUCH! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Chef bellowed, his voice echoing as a jolt of electricity surged through his body. The shocks, tied to the animatronic robot's systems, made him convulse in frustration.
"BEEEEEEEEEP!"
Onscreen, the explosions began. One after another, fiery bursts lit up the backdrop behind Ezekiel and Izzy. The duo didn't flinch, didn't look back, and their slow-paced strut only added to the drama.
"Oh, look at that," Chris said, gesturing at the screen. "One of them's even wearing sunglasses. Extra points for style. They're following all the rules of a proper action movie!"
Chef, meanwhile, was livid. "THOSE CRETINS! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THEM—" He paused mid-sentence, gritting his teeth as another shock jolted him. "I'LL MAKE THEM WISH THEY NEVER SIGNED UP FOR THIS SHOW!"
The animatronic robot, now fully under Chef's control despite the occasional sparks and malfunctions, rumbled forward in pursuit of the culprits.
"Oh, Chef is gonna flip when he sees this!" Izzy laughed, tossing a bag of supplies over her shoulder.
Ezekiel joined in her laughter, securing his wrist weights and shin guards as they moved quickly to clean up their gear. Despite the added weight, he kept pace, determined not to slow down. "Yeah, but we bought the others a lot of time. That's gotta count for something."
Their victory was short-lived as the mechanical whir of the animatronic grew louder. Explosions still crackled behind them, a testament to their earlier handiwork, but now the beast's focus was entirely on them.
Ezekiel swallowed hard, his nerves betraying him for a moment. "Okay, this is bad… but nothing I didn't predict."
Izzy tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have a plan, Zeke? Or are you just stalling for dramatic effect?"
Straightening his posture, Ezekiel pointed at the monster's legs. "I shot 15 arrows into its right leg—every single one rigged to explode. The trick is timing. We've got one big advantage left, though."
"Our legs," Ezekiel declared, grinning.
Izzy blinked, her curiosity piqued. "Our legs? For what?"
With a dramatic flourish, Ezekiel unfastened his weights and dropped his luggage. He flexed his arms briefly, relishing the newfound lightness. "To unleash a secret technique passed down by our ancestors, perfected in times of great peril." He paused for effect, letting Izzy's curiosity peak.
"And what's that?" she asked, leaning in.
"TO HOTFOOT IT OUTTA HERE, SCOPEEEEEEEE!" Ezekiel shouted, taking off at a dead sprint.
Izzy stood there, dumbfounded. Her mouth opened, then closed, before she facepalmed and burst into laughter. "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT? WAIT FOR ME!" She took off after him, laughing at both her disbelief and how much sense it made.
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!" Behind them, the animatronic let out a deafening roar, the sound rattling the faux buildings. The ground trembled with each step it took, and explosions continued to ripple across its body, sending sparks and debris flying.
"This whole place is fake?" Trent exclaimed, his voice tinged with disbelief. He, Noah, Owen, and Leshawna had just stepped through the door of one of the buildings, only to discover that it was nothing more than a façade. The "structure" turned out to be a flimsy, wood-supported front with an open area behind it, leaving the group fully exposed to the giant mecha monster outside.
"Your deduction skills are truly unparalleled," Noah deadpanned, arms crossed. He glanced at Owen, who was trembling as he crouched under a cardboard cutout of a car painted to look realistic. "From all the hiding spots you could've picked, you went with the one that's the most embarrassing. Congrats."
"What are we going to do, guys?" Owen whimpered, his voice barely audible over the distant explosions and the monster's mechanical growls.
"Don't worry," Trent said, trying to sound confident. "The animatronic monster looks like it's glitching. Those explosions must've done a number on it. I'm guessing they didn't spend as much on this thing as they bragged about. If we wait it out, maybe we'll have a chance to—"
A deafening roar cut Trent off, followed by the screech of gears grinding faster and louder.
"Okay, maybe not!"
"We need a plan," Noah interjected, peeking through the cracks in the flimsy wall. He surveyed the scene outside before adding, "In a worst-case scenario, we could use Owen as a human shield. Let the monster grab him while we escape."
"That's a great idea!" Trent started to agree before Owen's panicked shout cut him off.
"YEAH, BABY... WAIT, I'M OWEN!" he cried, huddling tighter under the cardboard car as if that would save him. The sound of another explosion made him flinch. "Oh, man! What do we do? What do we do?"
"Let's run now!" Trent shouted, pointing toward the direction where Justin, Beth, and Heather had disappeared moments earlier, narrowly escaping the monster. "We'll stand a better chance if we stick together."
"Guys, don't leave me! I'm terrible at running!" Owen wailed, scrambling to his feet as Trent and Noah bolted from the scene.
Before they could make it far, Leshawna grabbed Trent by the collar, stopping him mid-stride. "Oh, no, you don't! You all aren't leaving this poor boy behind like that!" she barked, her voice stern and commanding.
"Leshawna, the giant killer robot?" Noah hissed, gesturing frantically to the approaching monster.
"Don't sass me, Noah! You want me to leave you here too?" Leshawna snapped, already hauling Owen to his feet with surprising ease. "Get up, Big O! You aren't about to be anybody's bait today!"
Owen whimpered but managed to stumble after her as she shoved him forward. "Thanks, Leshawna!" he gasped, still wobbling as he ran.
"You can thank me by moving your behind faster!" Leshawna shouted. Turning to Trent and Noah, she added, "Now hustle, fools! I'm not dragging all of y'all outta here!"
Behind them, the mecha monster thundered past, its focus fixed elsewhere. It seemed more intent on chasing two other figures running in the distance, allowing the group a fleeting chance to escape.
"I can't believe she made me come back," Noah muttered, glancing at Leshawna with a scowl.
"I can't believe you thought leaving Owen was a good idea," she shot back without missing a beat.
"UGH, AHHHHHHHHHH!" Owen tried to use all his strength to keep up with the group, panting heavily.
"See? He's doing— Leshawna was about to brag that everyone was going to survive until the next second Owen went down to take a long breath and to recover himself. Leshawna didn't like the look Noah was giving to her.
"What were you saying again?" Noah gave a sarcastic remark, which Leshawna pushed the boy away from her.
"I can't believe we passed almost an hour kissing here." Courtney blushed, as part of her hair was messed up, while Duncan was without his shirt, revealing his version of Killer Bass Tattoo, which since they were now passing the beach.
"Worth every second." Duncan said as he felt more relaxed after both of them being less stressed over the situation, even as they were at the start of the episode, and even how things were getting crazier with the time.
"Anyway, we don't know if the challenge is still happening. But I hope everyone is fine." Courtney commented as she suddenly saw Eva, Katie, Sadie, Cody, and DJ, who could have been in better shape. "Hey… what happened?"
"DJ just woke up, but it seems that he's still having problems focusing." Cody told the situation as suddenly DJ was sucking his thumb.
"Momma, I like to hear your lullabies."DJ said as Katie was calmly patting his back.
"It's just Chef; I don't know why he's scared like that." Eva rolled her eyes, as she could see the boy still in shock. "Courtney, do something."
The pillar who once knew how DJ had been in such a traumatic state knew exactly how to ease him up.
"DJ, wake up. I know that you are scared. But come on, you forgot about the tattoo on your arm? What would Courage do in a situation like that?" Courtney said calmly as Duncan was placing back his clothes, which the group raised their eyebrows at him. But then they looked at Courtney helping DJ, who finally started to blink again.
"Wha-What?" What just happened?" DJ broke up from his trance as Courtney made him remember Courage the Cowardly Dog, his personal hero, the purple beagle who looked too scared but had to deal with the situation.
"Welcome to the world of consciousness, DJ; you lost many things." Eva rolled her eyes as Sadie and Katie hugged DJ, who finally recovered his senses. "The giant robot is just Chef; he's not going to hurt us."
"He's not? Ah, that's gre-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" DJ said, as suddenly he screamed in fear as the group saw DJ pointing to the direction of where Heather, Beth, and Justin were running to their direction with a bear coming after them. "RUN."
The group was seeing until the situation was in panic.
"Guys, Formation Beta 7C." Duncan commanded as before Katie, Sadie, or Eva's reactions. Even DJ, who was about to leave, suddenly remembered the plan.
"GOT IT." DJ, Eva, and Sadie said in unison. As DJ took Cody and Katie with his arms and gave space for Eva and Sadie to walk in opposite directions. As Justin, Beth, and Heather passed by them, the bear was going to attack. Duncan crouched to make the bear stumble on him. As Sadie took the left arm and Eva the right arm of the bear, both girls gave an arm lock.
The trio who were running away stopped just to see the bear roaring in pain and anger, but then Sadie and Eva took the bear off the bear and pressed strongly on the sand.
"SHUT THE *BEEP UP*." Eva roared as the bear freezes from the position it was. "Listen to me closely: the last bear I had a fight with, I took out its genitals and fur, and I had a feast and clothing for me… So if you don't want to have something bad for you. At the time we release you… you better run away from us…GOT IT?"
The bear stopped and, trembling, moved its paws in submission to the iron woman.
"Good." Eva smirked as she gave a look at Sadie, who nodded her head, and the group stepped away the quickest as possible. While Eva released, and when the bear was about to look at the bodybuilder, she growled angrily, which made the beast simply run away in fear. Not knowing to have any destiny like the last bear who made her angry.
"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Heather asked in disbelief, as she DJed, and Katie sighed in relief, while Courtney walked to Duncan.
"Seriously? Beta 7C?" Courtney commented as she could see her boyfriend chuckling in a situation where it was possible to happen.
"You know there would be a bear waiting for us in any moment, and having Eva, Sadie, and DJ? Three juggernauts on our side? That was the best solution." Duncan smirked as Courtney rolled her eyes again.
"The worst part is having to admit you're not wrong." Courtney said as she moved her hair to the side. Which the group was now having a time to focus on the challenge, as she looked at the trio once again. "Are you guys alright?"
"Well, to say you saved my beautiful skin was an understatement. Great work to hold the bear down; all that run and sweat was making me dehydrate." Justin took out his t-shirt as the good sound of his theme music played, and the view of the girls was in a trance, but Eva slapped herself to recover herself from the last shameful act, Cody pinched Katie's arm, and Duncan enjoyed the opportunity to slap Courtney's ass, making her yelp. And glares at her boyfriend. Beth, Heather, and Sadie were still in a trance, but a few seconds later they recovered themselves.
Duncan chuckled, which made Courtney narrow her eyes, as she knew she would do the same with him later.
Cody saw Katie getting excited about seeing Justin; she was even giving side glances at Sadie, who was fawning over herself and giggling.
"This is going to be a long challenge." Courtney said the responsibility of being one of the pillars was still on her hands. But nothing out of the ordinary for her and Duncan.
Lindsay sat in the middle of the bouncy castle, idly poking at the inflated surface. What had started as an hour of gleeful jumping had quickly turned into boredom. Sure, she'd had the time of her life bouncing around with no one to stop her, but now, the novelty had worn off. Worse, she couldn't leave—the castle's inflatable walls made it tricky to find an easy exit.
She sighed, glancing wistfully in the direction of the white cart where she'd left her makeup bag. The giant robot monster rampaging outside had complicated things, and all she could think about now was how much she wanted to touch up her face.
As she sat there, lost in thought, a faint sound drew her attention. From the side of the castle, a longboard skateboard rolled into view, carrying a laid-back figure.
"Here we are, dude and dudette," Jude said with his signature calm demeanor, coming to a smooth stop. Behind him, Bridgette and Geoff hopped off the longboard.
"Looks like we made it first," Geoff said, grinning as he steadied himself and gave Jude a grateful pat on the shoulder.
"That's great! Thanks for the help, Jude," Bridgette added, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
Jude gave them a thumbs-up before stomping on the end of his skateboard. It flipped into the air, and he caught it effortlessly. "No prob. I scoped out this shortcut earlier. Figured it'd come in handy."
"How did you know about the shortcuts, Jude?" Bridgette blinked in surprise.
"I was here a few hours ago, dude. Had nothing to do, so I wandered through the abandoned studio. Counted how many buildings, sets, and paths were around. It was... kind of a boredom thing." Jude shrugged, his tone as casual as ever.
"Whoa, no way," Bridgette said, impressed.
"There were some rad spots for tricks too," Jude added, his tone brightening as he recalled his earlier exploration.
"Seriously? That's awesome!" Geoff's face lit up. "We should totally try out some tricks when this whole challenge is over."
"Totally," Jude agreed, his tone mellow as always.
Meanwhile, Lindsay watched the trio from her spot in the bouncy castle, her boredom momentarily forgotten. She waved her arms dramatically, calling out, "Hello! Is someone there?"
Bridgette, Geoff, and Jude turned toward the sound of her voice.
"Hey, Biddette, Leoff, and Rute, can someone help me?" Lindsay called, her voice tinged with desperation.
Jude blinked, tilting his head. "Uh, nah, dude. There's nobody here with those names. It's Bridgette, Geoff, and Jude. But yeah, we're here. How can we help?"
Oblivious to her mistake, Lindsay continued, "I've been stuck in this bouncy castle forever! I tried to get out, but nothing's working."
The trio exchanged glances, thinking for a moment.
"Maybe there's a key or something around here?" Bridgette suggested.
Jude shook his head. "Nah, rubber keys for bouncy castles don't work. Trust me, dude. One time, Jonesy lost his mall job when kids got stuck in the bouncy toboggan slide. I even tried making a balloon key. Didn't work."
Bridgette and Geoff blinked at the oddly specific story.
"Wait, how did he lose his job?" Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, and how did the kids get out of the toboggan slide?" Geoff added.
Jude grinned. "Oh, easy. He got fired because he had to pop the bouncy slide." His eyes lit up. "DUDE! We just gotta pop the bouncy castle!"
Confession – Jude
"JONESY, DUUUDE! Popping the bouncy castle—classic move." Jude grinned, throwing up a peace sign as he leaned back in the confessional. "Man, that time at the mall was wild. Oh, wait—I just remembered I forgot to tell my boss I wasn't gonna show up today. Eh, maybe Jonesy and Wyatt can cover for me." He paused, glancing off-screen. "Oh, does someone else need the confessional? Cool. I'm out."
Confession – Bridgette
"Well, I never thought a single pin would do the trick," Bridgette said with a small laugh, brushing her hair behind her ear. "But honestly, Jude's stories are pretty interesting. I think Geoff just made a new best friend." She smiled warmly. "I can already tell he's gonna fit right in here."
Confession – Geoff
"Okay, first impression: Jude is awesome. Period." Geoff grinned, pumping his fist in the air. "Dude's got the chillest vibe. I hope we end up on the same team. Maybe he can join the Killer Bass! Wait, are we still doing Killer Bass vs. Screaming Gophers? That'd be so rad. But if we switch teams... eh, I'll worry about that later. Right now, I gotta try some new tricks."
It only took a few seconds to deflate the bouncy castle. With a loud hiss, it sagged, creating an opening for Lindsay to finally escape her inflatable prison.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lindsay exclaimed, rushing forward to hug the trio. Her enthusiasm was met with amused smiles as the group reveled in their small victory.
"No problem, dude," Jude said, giving her a thumbs-up while Geoff grinned.
"Let's just be glad we made it to the safety zone," Bridgette added, glancing toward the nearby trailers.
Before they could settle in, a familiar voice broke through the moment.
"Well, well, well, look who made it here first," Chris said, stepping out of the control center tent. His trademark smirk was plastered across his face as he eyed the group. "And even the new kid managed to keep up. Impressive."
Jude raised an eyebrow but said nothing, while the rest exchanged wary glances. Behind Chris, Chef was hopping on one leg, shouting a string of expletives.
"What just hap—" Bridgette started, only to be interrupted by a deafening crash. The ground trembled beneath them as a distant part of the set collapsed in a cloud of dust and debris.
"What the heck?" Geoff blurted, turning to see the source of the chaos.
From their vantage point, the group could make out a massive animatronic robot sprawled across the ground in the far distance. The once-menacing monstrosity was now a heap of twisted metal. Two small figures were running toward the trailers.
As the dust settled, the group squinted to identify the approaching figures. Even Chris looked momentarily stunned as he tried to process the scene.
"Wait a second... is that—?"
"It's Ezekiel and Izzy!" Lindsay shouted, pointing.
The duo stumbled into the safety zone minutes later. Izzy was drenched in sweat, her hair sticking to her face as she gasped for air. Ezekiel collapsed onto his back, panting heavily as though he'd just run a marathon.
"That… thing… didn't stand a chance," Izzy wheezed, her voice shaky but triumphant.
Ezekiel raised a hand weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. "We… made it, eh…"
The group stared in stunned silence, a mixture of awe and disbelief on their faces. Even Chris looked impressed, his smirk softening for a moment before snapping back into place.
"Well, I'll give you this," Chris said, his tone dripping with amusement. "You two sure know how to make an entrance."
"Well, going stealthily worked just fine," Harold said as he, Gwen, and Tyler navigated through the quieter areas of the set. Their pace was slower, but it gave them a chance to assess their surroundings. When the trio spotted the massive animatronic lying on the ground in the distance, Harold's eyes widened. "Looks like that thing's down for the count. Should we check it out?"
Gwen shaded her eyes with her hand, squinting. "I think it's still moving, Harold. One of its legs looks busted, but... yep, definitely trying to get back up."
"Noted," Harold replied, his enthusiasm dialing back. They turned their attention to the crowd forming farther away. Two figures were sprinting toward it at full speed.
"Hey, isn't that Ezekiel and Izzy?" Tyler asked, pointing toward the distant runners.
"Kaleidoscope," Harold corrected. "She said she changed her name. Something about rebranding for her maple syrup business. It's called Kaleidoscope's Happy Sap now."Harold explained as he recalled the conversation where Izzy, Courtney, and Duncan were with him while they were trying to make a trap to capture the suitcase of 1 million dollars, but Ezekiel was already far ahead of them and managed to make traps to attack them when they wanted to take the suitcase of money.
"Oh yeah, I recalled you telling that on the mall." Gwen raised her eyebrow as the trio went in the direction passing by the giant animatronic while trying to not be in the vision of its eyes since it shows some movement that it's still working. And trying to lift from the floor, but one of the legs isn't working.
"Guys? I think we should be running." Tyler said as he then noticed that both Harold and Gwen had already left him behind. Which he started to run after them. "NOT COOL, GUYS."
.
.
.
"I can't believe you two not only marked yourselves as bait but actually managed to take down that animatronic behind us," Gwen said, her voice laced with both amusement and disbelief. She watched as Harold and Tyler slumped against a crate, both panting heavily. Bridgette handed Tyler a glass of water, which he gulped down gratefully, while Harold clutched a paper bag, his breaths shaky as he tried to steady himself.
"It was a good plan," Ezekiel admitted from his position flat on the ground. His breath was steady, but his body refused to move. "Sadly, I used all my sap balls to make those explosive arrows. If I need more, I'll have to find tree sap and sand again." He winced slightly, his voice tinged with exhaustion. "Right now, I can't even lift a finger, let alone stand up."
"No kidding," Izzy chimed in, nodding as she surveyed their surroundings. Her movements were calm, even after the chaos, a testament to her military-style training during childhood. "We ran for so long I lost count, and that animatronic fight wasn't easy. We threw everything we had at it. My body's fine, but Ezekiel… yeah, this isn't his usual pace. Being stuck on the floor makes sense for him right now."
Gwen crossed her arms, her gaze shifting between the two on the ground. "Well, it wasn't exactly a leisurely stroll for us either," she said, her tone dry. "Still, it's good to see Bridgette and Geoff made it through. And hey, they're not kissing, which is honestly—"
Before she could finish, Bridgette and Geoff, who had been catching their breaths near each other, leaned in for a passionate kiss. Gwen groaned loudly, rolling her eyes. "My big mouth. You have fifteen minutes, guys. Just... fifteen."
Bridgette and Geoff didn't even look up, too engrossed in each other.
"Anyway," Gwen continued, turning her attention back to Ezekiel with a sharp glare, "what the hell were you thinking, Ezekiel?"
"Well, he said the formation, Gwen," Tyler interjected, attempting to mediate. His voice was calm, though he looked slightly nervous under Gwen's scrutiny. Her unimpressed look made him falter, but he pressed on. "You know the rules: whoever suggests the idea is the person who offered themselves to do it."
"Yeah, I know the rules," Gwen shot back, her expression unyielding. "But wasn't that a bit extreme?"
Tyler gave her a wide grin and flexed his arms dramatically. "Yeah, but that's how it needs to be—TOO EXTREME!"
Lindsay giggled from her spot nearby, her soft laugh drawing Tyler's attention. He beamed at her, the tension from earlier forgotten as he basked in the joy of being reunited with his girlfriend.
"Well, at least we can say everything went fine for us," Harold said, still catching his breath. "We didn't have to go through the same madness as the marathon in season one, but it was tough enough to deal with the challenge."
Jude rolled up on his skateboard, handing Harold a glass of water.
"Thanks, man," Harold said, gratefully accepting the drink.
"No problem, dude. So, this kind of thing happens every time? Not just on TV?" Jude asked, glancing around at the group.
Harold chuckled grimly, while Gwen rolled her eyes.
"If you mean a challenge so crazy that there's a psychotic host who wants to make us run for our lives, humiliate ourselves for the sake of the public, and deal with future dangers…" Gwen said sarcastically, shrugging. "It's practically a Tuesday to us. But you're with the right crowd."
"Huh, cool," Jude said, sounding a little nervous but quickly regaining his easygoing demeanor as he sat on his skateboard. "So now we just wait for the others, right?"
"Yes, you must," Chris said with a smirk, eyeing the group.
With their part of the challenge done and the animatronic monster now limping along with only one leg working, the others shouldn't be too far behind, right?
"Why's that animatronic limping?" DJ asked, still tense as he glanced over his shoulder. The giant metal creature was closing in on them, but at least it was slower than before, giving the group a little more breathing room.
"Who cares? Just keep running. We can't get caught like this." Heather's voice was sharp as she kept a steady pace, glancing back to check for any stragglers. "Did you see the punk, the growling girl, and the bossy girl?"
"Who's bossy?" Courtney's voice cut through as she approached with Duncan. Eva was beside them, a suitcase slung over her shoulder and a few weights hanging from her arm.
"We found Ezekiel's suitcase," Courtney said, raising her brow slightly. "There were still a few arrows left, but he left his weights behind. Eva's not happy about it."
"He better have a good explanation for that," Eva growled, clearly irritated. "Once I see him, he's gonna wear those weights, you bet."
"Oh, bow and arrow! Let me try it! I'm great at shooting from a distance," Sadie piped up eagerly, eyeing the weapon.
"NO!" Katie shouted, catching everyone off guard. She quickly corrected herself, flustered. "I mean… You've been doing a lot of exercises, Sadie. You've got too much strength. What if you break Ezekiel's bow by accident?"
Cody raised an eyebrow, while Duncan and Courtney exchanged confused glances.
"Ah, yeah, you're right," Sadie said, her enthusiasm fading as she thought it over. "It would be a disaster if I broke it. Alright, maybe another time." She nodded and handed the bow over to Duncan and Courtney before running off with Justin.
Katie sighed in relief. DJ and Eva joined her, both looking a little puzzled.
"What was that all about?" Cody asked, tilting his head as he watched Sadie sprint ahead.
"Sadie has a lot of talents... but shooting at a distance?" Katie hesitated, looking around to make sure no one else was close enough to overhear.
"She's not good?" Eva raised an eyebrow, sounding mildly uninterested.
Katie glanced at the group, then leaned in slightly. "She's Tyler-level."
Courtney, Duncan, DJ, and Eva all flinched at the mention of Tyler. Memories of the disastrous Dodgeball Challenge were fresh in their minds. If Sadie was on the same level, then nobody was safe if she tried to shoot with the bow and arrow.
Justin was distracted until suddenly from nowhere a giant green hand captured him. Which made everyone jump in surprise. As the animatronic robot raised its hand towards the giant eye, the supermodel couldn't help but wave at the creature with the beautiful view, which made the creature's pupils grow up.
Which Chris was staring at Chef, who was looking closely at the camera, as Cadet Sanders was staring at the camera with awe as well.
"What did I miss?" Cadet MacArthur appeared with a donut in her mouth and with a few cups of coffee. Which made her raise her eyebrow at both Chef and her partner Sanders.
"What can I say? The kid's hot." Chef explained as both MacArthur and Chris stared at each other as Chef walked in limp towards the safety zone, which while the bouncy castle deflated. The challenge was practically over; they would just need to bring all the other contestants back.
Confession—Justin
"I'm just not another gorgeous face, and abs, and butt, and shoulders, okay?" Justin said, as he smirked, feeling very confident of himself, as he laid his back on the chair and placed his legs on the table, he was happy to see how the things were going on the next season. "I'm also a master strategist. This year, I'm in it to win it!"
The animatronic monster slowly lowered its massive hand, carefully placing Justin down among the group.
"What are you all staring at?" Justin asked, brushing himself off. His tone was calm, though his curiosity was evident.
"You," the group responded in unison, even Ezekiel, who was lying flat on the ground but still managed to glance up.
"Oh, right," Justin said sheepishly, realizing his appearance had momentarily stolen everyone's focus again. "Also… What happened to you guys?"
"To summarize," Harold began, pushing his glasses up, "Ezekiel and Scope managed to make the animatronic limp. Pretty impressive, honestly. But they've been running for almost an hour straight without rest. Bridgette, Geoff, and, uh… Jude?" He paused, pointing to Jude, who gave a laid-back nod from his skateboard. "Yeah, Jude—they got here first using skateboards. Gwen, Tyler, and I had to sneak behind the monster and run the last few minutes to make it here. Oh, and Lindsay got captured."
"Hi, Justin!" Lindsay waved enthusiastically from her position in the animatronic's grip.
"Hey, Lindsay," Justin replied, giving her a casual thumbs up.
He scanned the group, taking in their exhausted appearances, and made a mental note to work on his own fitness. His gaze landed on Ezekiel, who was sprawled on the ground, clearly drained.
"Not to be that guy," Justin said with a smirk, "but Eva's hunting you down to return those weights you left behind."
Ezekiel let out a weak chuckle. "That's really nice of her and all, but given the situation, I had to drop them. I needed to run as fast as I could. I'm sure she'll understand."
"Uh-huh." Justin raised an eyebrow. "And why are you just lying there?"
"Yeah, about that... I can't move my body right now," Ezekiel admitted, his voice a mixture of exhaustion and resignation.
Justin shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, good for you, I guess."
He turned his attention back to the rest of the group. The mission—making it to the trailers without a scratch—was technically a success. Ezekiel's immobility? Not Justin's problem.
A few minutes later, the distant sound of the animatronic's clanking steps reached the group. Despite its damaged leg, it was still making its way toward them. On its massive hand, a few more contestants were held precariously.
"I'M COMING FOR YOU, LINDSAY!" Beth's voice rang out, loud and determined, as she clung to the animatronic's hand.
Heather, next to her, looked slightly annoyed. "Can you not yell in my ear, Beth?"
"Sorry." Beth said sheepishly, as the queen bee rolled her eyes; it was humiliating to be captured in such a way.
Alongside them were DJ, Katie, and Cody, all looking sheepish and embarrassed about being captured.
"Uh, guys?" Ezekiel piped up, still lying flat on the ground. "I don't think Chef is going to drop them gently like he did with Justin. And there's no bouncy castle this time."
The group collectively paled at the thought.
"Can anyone grab some rubber or something to use as a safety net?" Ezekiel suggested.
"On it!" Geoff, Tyler, and Harold sprang into action, grabbing a large sheet of rubber from the nearby supplies and spreading it out as quickly as they could.
"This thing's not big enough," Harold muttered as he struggled with one corner.
"Then let's spread it wider!" Justin, Lindsay, and Jude rushed to one side of the sheet, while Bridgette and Izzy moved to the other, helping to stretch it out as much as possible.
The animatronic finally reached the drop zone. With a loud creak, its hand tilted, and Chef unceremoniously released the group.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Screams filled the air as Beth, Heather, DJ, Katie, and Cody plummeted toward the ground.
The makeshift rubber net caught them, but the weight of the impact was too much for the untrained group holding it. Everyone stumbled and fell, collapsing into a heap as the net sagged under the pressure.
"Oof!" Geoff groaned from somewhere under the pile.
"Okay, that... could've gone worse," Harold muttered as he pushed himself up.
At least the fall was cushioned enough to avoid serious injuries. Beth and Katie were the first to scramble out of the pile, looking frazzled but unharmed. DJ groaned, rubbing his back, while Heather muttered complaints about the whole ordeal.
"Note to self," Justin said, dusting off his shirt, "next time, we need training on how to use a rubber sheet as a safety net."
"Yeah," Jude agreed with a lazy grin, sitting up on his skateboard. "But hey, no broken bones, right? That's a win in my book!"
The group collectively groaned in agreement, still recovering from the chaos.
"HOW DID THAT ANIMATRONIC CAPTURE FIVE OF US?!" Sadie's outraged shout broke the uneasy silence. She was trembling, her voice filled with anger and worry. Of all people, she was the last one the group expected to lose her composure like this. "It was limping! A giant, slow-moving monster! How did it grab Katie, Cody, DJ, Beth, and Heather?"
The group exchanged awkward glances. Sadie's frustration was understandable—her best friend, her "sister from another mother," was among those taken. And Cody—Katie's boyfriend—had also been snatched, leaving Sadie even more on edge.
"Well, who knows?" Duncan shrugged nonchalantly, jamming his hands in his pockets. He glanced in the direction the animatronic had gone. "At least we know where it's headed: toward the trailers. All we gotta do is follow that direction, and if it shows up again, we take cover."
"This is ridiculous." Courtney's sharp voice cut through the tension as she adjusted the bow and arrow she'd been carrying since the start of the challenge. "I don't know why, but I feel like this challenge should've been over ages ago."
"Strange," Eva grumbled, hoisting the weights she'd been carrying effortlessly. "I feel like it's gonna drag on even longer—for some stupid reason."
Duncan rolled his eyes. "Can we not do this? Sure, we lost a few people, but it's just the first challenge. There's a ton more stuff waiting to mess with us. We just need to stay sharp and keep moving."
Before anyone could respond, the distant clanking of the animatronic's steps grew louder. Duncan froze, his eyes narrowing. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath, bracing himself.
But to everyone's relief, the animatronic didn't come toward them. Instead, it turned and lumbered down a different path.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Okay," Courtney said, regaining her composure. "Let's use this distraction to our advantage. If it's heading the other way, we should keep going toward the trailers."
"The sooner we get to a safe spot, the better," Eva grunted, still carrying both her own weights and Ezekiel's. She glared at Sadie, who had been trying to avoid eye contact. "Here," Eva barked, shoving some of the luggage and weights at her.
Sadie flinched but took the items reluctantly. "Why do you have to be so intense all the time?" she muttered under her breath as she adjusted the load.
Eva's sharp hearing didn't miss a beat. "Because you're still slacking," she snapped. "And no, it's not enough yet."
Duncan and Courtney exchanged bewildered glances, unsure whether to laugh or feel bad for Sadie.
Sadie swallowed hard, her mind racing. She didn't blame Eva for wanting to help her get stronger—she appreciated the progress she'd made. Even Justin's occasional side glances at her were a confidence boost. But did Eva really have to push her so hard? Aren't she and Ezekiel tortured enough?
"No, it's not enough yet," Eva said firmly, as though reading Sadie's thoughts.
Sadie gulped, her heart sinking. She could already imagine the grueling workouts waiting for her in the coming days.
"Alright," Duncan said, stepping in to redirect the group's focus. "Let's move before that robot decides to double back."
The group nodded, their resolve steeling as they pressed onward.
Noah leaned casually against a nearby tree, arms crossed, his smug grin aimed squarely at Leshawna. She glared back at him, her expression a mix of frustration and disbelief. Trent stood nearby, frozen as he tried to process the absurdity of what had just happened.
"I can't believe it," Trent muttered, scratching the back of his head. "The idea of using Owen as a meat shield actually worked?"
"Of course it worked." Noah adjusted his glasses, his smugness practically radiating off him. "Sometimes, all it takes is a little brainpower. Something I'm clearly bringing to this group in spades."
Leshawna threw her hands up. "Brainpower?! That's what you're calling it? You just tossed your friend in front of a giant robot like he was a bag of marshmallows!"
"Correction," Noah said, holding up a finger, "I didn't toss him. I simply... strategically repositioned him. Big difference."
Meanwhile, Owen was still dangling awkwardly in the grip of the animatronic. The robot had managed to grab him by the waist, but lifting him any higher seemed to be an impossible task. Sparks flew from the animatronic's joints, its mechanical groans growing louder as it struggled against Owen's weight.
Cut to Chef Hatchet, piloting the robot suit from a hidden control room.
"Come on, COME ON!" Chef grunted, his hands gripping the controls tightly as he attempted to raise the robot's arm. The strain of Owen's weight was causing the entire system to overload. Sparks flew from the console, and with a loud pop, the circuits gave out.
"Gah!" Chef yelped as a sudden jolt of electricity surged through the controls, leaving him momentarily stunned and slumped over.
"YEAH! I'M TOO HEAVY FOR YOU!" Owen cheered triumphantly as the animatronic finally released him. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, his grin as wide as ever. "Take that, giant robot!"
The animatronic shuddered, its movements jerky and erratic as its system declared an error. After a moment, it slumped forward, frozen in place.
"See?" Noah gestured toward the defeated robot with a smirk. "I told you Owen's weight would work in our favor. It's science: heavier object, greater resistance. The poor robot couldn't handle him."
Leshawna's eye twitched. "You're seriously standing here bragging while Owen was dangling like a piñata?! What's wrong with you?"
Noah shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, relax. The big guy's fine. Worst case, he lands on his butt. It's practically a built-in cushion."
"Well, at least we won," Leshawna grumbled, crossing her arms.
Before anyone could celebrate, Chris McLean strolled into view, his trademark smirk plastered across his face.
"Not exactly, Leshawna…" Chris said, dragging out his words for dramatic effect. "You still need to find the trailers to win this challenge."
Owen let out a dramatic sigh, slumping even further onto the ground. "Aw, come on!"
Noah rolled his eyes. "Of course. Can't let us have a single victory without strings attached, huh?"
Trent, still blinking in surprise, shrugged. "Well, it's just finding the trailers, right? How hard could that be?"
Eva stood over Ezekiel, her expression a mix of impatience and mild amusement as she dumped a pile of weights onto him. He braced himself, wincing at the impact while the wrist weights and shin guards already strapped to him made moving a challenge.
"You dropped this," she said flatly, folding her arms as she waited for him to adjust the new load.
Ezekiel groaned, his voice muffled as he struggled. "Can't... move. Can you help me place them properly?"
Eva rolled her eyes but crouched down to fix the weights around him. "You better start pulling your weight—literally. I'm not your personal assistant."
Nearby, Katie and Sadie reunited in a dramatic display of friendship.
"KATIE!"
"SADIE!"
"I missed you so much!"
The two lunged at each other in an exaggerated hug, tears streaming down their faces like they'd been apart for years.
The rest of the Killer Bass rolled their eyes but smiled, amused by the duo's over-the-top reunion. Even in the face of chaos, their antics were oddly comforting.
Courtney, meanwhile, crossed her arms and eyed her childhood friend Jude, who casually flipped his skateboard in the air.
"So, let me get this straight," Courtney began, her tone half incredulous, half impressed. "Before the show started—after signing your contract—you spent all your time wandering through movie sets, counting buildings, scenarios, and pathways?"
"Pretty much." Jude shrugged, expertly catching his skateboard. "Helped us navigate this place without dealing with that giant robot monster. Courtney, this day has been gnarly."
"Humph… crazy is just the start," Courtney muttered, rolling her eyes but allowing herself a small smile. "Only you would be crazy enough to wander halfway across the world by yourself. Don't your parents or friends worry about you?"
"They probably do…" Jude admitted with a sigh. "But honestly? I'm more worried about whether I'm going to get fired."
"You're with us now," Duncan chimed in with a smirk. "Better get used to the fame, dude. Misery loves company."
"Who's Misery?" Jude asked, genuinely confused.
Duncan rolled his eyes while Courtney and a few others chuckled at the exchange.
As the group gathered, Beth glanced around. "So… are we all here?"
Heather scanned the crowd, narrowing her eyes. "We're still missing Owen, Noah, Leshawna, and Trent."
Izzy, seated nearby and shuffling cards, grinned. "Yup, four people still out there." She paused to show Harold a card. "Bet you can't guess this one!"
Harold raised seven fingers in response, earning a bewildered look from Izzy.
"Seven? Are you out of your mind?"
"Graduate from Camp Steve for Magical Prodigies, then we'll talk," Harold replied smugly.
Izzy rolled her eyes and hurled the entire deck at him. Cards scattered everywhere, with a few sticking to Harold's glasses and one landing in his mouth. Calmly, Harold plucked the card out and held it up.
"Is this your card?"
Izzy's jaw dropped slightly, but she quickly masked it with a scoff. "Now you're just showing off."
Heather wandered off, her irritation mounting. "Why is it taking so long for that robot monster to bring them back already?"
Her attention turned to a line of interns struggling with luggage, their faces slick with sweat. Sanders and MacArthur were among them, hauling Eva's dumbbell-packed suitcase with visible effort.
Heather approached, crossing her arms. "What's going on here?"
Sanders, panting, wiped her forehead. "Chris is punishing the security team because someone got onto the set who wasn't supposed to be here. Since he signed the contract, we're stuck carrying all the luggage while the cameras focus on the remaining four contestants."
MacArthur groaned as she adjusted her grip on the suitcase. "Why does Eva even need dumbbells in her luggage? My glutes are about to give out!"
Heather smirked and turned away, muttering, "Better you than me."
"Wait, hold on—what do you mean we have to sleep here?" Gwen snapped, her voice tinged with both frustration and disbelief.
Chris shrugged nonchalantly, clearly unfazed by her anger. "Sorry, but you can't check in until everyone is reunited. And we're still missing four people."
The group groaned collectively, glancing at the clock. It was already 10 PM, and the missing quartet was nowhere to be seen.
"I can't believe this," Heather muttered, crossing her arms as she leaned against a luggage cart. "We've been waiting forever."
"THANK GOD, WE FINALLY MADE IT!"
The shout drew everyone's attention as four figures stumbled into view. Trent, Noah, and Leshawna looked utterly exhausted, while Owen lumbered behind them, a noticeable streak of dirt smeared across his shirt.
"I don't care if you saved us from that giant robot monster, Owen," Trent huffed, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "You really need to take better care of that heavy body of yours."
"My brain has always been my greatest asset," Noah added with a scowl, wiping sweat from his forehead. "But my body? Not built for hauling over three city blocks." He shot an annoyed glare at Leshawna, who was equally out of breath.
"Hey, it was your idea to use him as a human shield!" Leshawna fired back, pointing at him.
"Yeah, but it was also my idea to let him walk at his own pace instead of carrying him!" Noah retorted. "Do you have any idea how painful this was?"
"Wait a minute." Gwen stepped forward, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "Are you telling me it took you five and a half hours to bring Owen here?"
"That's… that's just sad," DJ chimed in, shaking his head sympathetically.
"Sad?!" Noah snapped, throwing his hands up. "Try traumatizing. My legs feel like they're on fire, and my dignity? Gone."
Owen, oblivious to the group's complaints, plopped down onto the nearest bench with a loud sigh. "Man, I could really go for a pizza right now. Anyone else hungry?"
Heather groaned audibly, rubbing her temples. "This is what happens when you work with amateurs."
"Amateurs?!" Leshawna shot back, hands on her hips. "Girl, say that again, and I'll personally carry you out of here next time!"
"Need I remind you who was the finalist of the last season?" Heather said as Lindsay, Beth, and Izzy oohed as it made Heather smirk even more. Sometimes having these girls as friends really made her day, especially seeing the ghetto girl even angrier.
Trent slumped against a nearby wall, waving a hand to stop the brewing argument. "Can we just… not fight? I've had enough chaos for one day."
"It looks like you all made it; I guess I lost the bet. I owe Chef 100 bucks. I need to stop losing to him. Anyway, that was just the warm-up; the good news is your next challenge is a reward. Chris gave the good news, which everyone celebrated for nobody going home and also getting a prize from all those problems. Some of the prizes on the last season were always good news: a hot tub, a trailer, a cruise trip, yeah. It was good for everyone to celebrate. "It will be boys against girls, with the winner getting the first pick of the trailers, where you'll be living for the next forty-four days or more! You will have your choice of trailer A," he said as he pointed to the trailer on the left, "or trailer B," which was the trailer on the right side.
"What's the difference between them?" Ezekiel asked, tilting his head in curiosity. Coming from another world, he had learned the hard way that appearances could be deceiving. In his experience, trailers often ended up trashed by the end of the day, only for Chef to miraculously rebuild them. Still, these trailers were bigger than any he'd seen before, clearly designed to accommodate the now 23 contestants.
Chris grinned wickedly, thrilled that someone had taken the bait. "I'm so glad you asked, Zeke!" He dramatically stepped between the trailers, ready to break down the choice with his trademark flair.
"Trailer A," he began, pointing back to the first one, "has all the bells and whistles. I'm talking plush couches, state-of-the-art air conditioning, a fully stocked mini-fridge, and even a flat-screen TV with cable. Luxury on wheels, baby! Also a telephone signal for a winner of the reward of last season to use the communicator."
"Heathermmunicator." Izzy corrected as she gave emphasis, which Chris rolled his eyes at, while Heather had her eyes sparkling with newfound interest.
The group oohed and ahhed, imagining themselves lounging in the lap of mobile luxury.
"And Trailer B…" Chris paused for effect, turning to the other option. "...has character!"
Everyone squinted at the second trailer. It looked pretty ordinary, which was still big enough to carry the others, but in comparison to not having any of the luxuries, it was like a slap in their faces.
"Hey, don't judge a trailer by its...uh, structural integrity!" Chris shot back. "It's cozy, it's rustic, and it's got personality! Plus, the fridge has snacks. Not good snacks, but snacks."
"Why even give us a choice?" Gwen asked, unimpressed.
"Because," Chris said with a mischievous grin, "the winners get to pick first. And who knows? Maybe you're not all superficial. Or maybe you'll make the wrong choice and regret it for the next six weeks. Off to the craft service tent!"
"OH YEAH, BABY, I'm starving." Owen said he was finally happy to be full of energy again and was ready to eat everything since it had been a long day of challenge.
Confession – Owen
"My mom says I eat when I'm upset, and happy, and tired, not to mention bored, gassy, morose, joyous, comatose, semi-conscious, and avancular, hahahaha, avancular," Owen explained as he passed through too many emotional stages until he suddenly appeared with a fake mustache on his face while he giggled with the last word he said.
Even though it was night, many people also looked surprised to see what would be a banquet in front of them: fruits, legumes, meat, chicken, turkey—everything was in front of them. It was like a celestial choral was singing in front of them.
"Woohoo, this is awesome," Owen said as he looked at all the dishes on the table.
DJ was carrying Ezekiel on his back, even with all the weight on his body. As Ezekiel whistled in surprise. Indeed, it looked realistic, and he never would believe all those were fake. As he couldn't help but see Chef, who did an amazing job doing a fake food just like that.
"Duuuuude, this is a banquet." Jude said as he was impressed as Chris raised his eyebrows at the boy who had almost exactly his voice.
"Yes, indeed it does, Jude." Chris commented as he nodded his head.
"Dude, this chow looks like something out of a commercial," Geoff said as he was impressed with the food in front of them.
"Uh, can I start?" Lindsay asked as she offered herself happily and with puppy dog eyes.
"LOOK KATIE, THERE'S TURKEY THERE." Sadie said happily as Katie nodded her head.
"Also, there's also watermelon," the tan girl commented, as Cody looked a bit better and surprised at how everything looked good.
"Wow, there were even chestnuts; that's amazing." Cody commented as suddenly the group saw Owen appear nearby.
"Let's get this speed-eating contest started!" Owen was excited, to the point that he felt like he was preparing himself for a race and even got into position: "On your marks, get set, come to papa!" and with that everyone just had their eyes wide open to see Owen going straight to the food.
"No, wait," Chris tried to stop him, but Owen had already started. Making him facepalm.
And then Ezekiel had to relive that crazy cartoonish experience over again, this time personally feeling he was watching the same scene from another angle. He took a turkey leg and ate it in one bite; he did the same thing with the other leg, and then he took the remainder of the turkey and, like a garbage disposal, he placed it entirely in his mouth and gulped it down in one try. Then he went on to the sandwiches, and like a slow train, he pushed all of them in line to his mouth, and without chewing, he simply swallowed them. Next he took the baked breads and launched them in the air like juggling, whoever the focus was, to eat all of them as his mouth was opened like a garbage can…
"I don't know if that was physically possible to happen." Ezekiel said as he could see all his friends nodding their heads in disgust and concern.
"I think I'm going to get sick." One of the cadets commented as the other tried to not vomit. Which some raised their eyebrows at.
Then the group was in shock at seeing something they had never seen before. Owen took a look at the salad bowl and simply tossed it away.
"Owen refusing food? No way." Noah said, his eyes wide open in surprise.
"OWENNNNNNN," However, there was one person who was angry. Which made him freeze… As he saw Eva taking the bowl of salad with him. "You ate all that beef, and you are not going to eat salad? REALLY? SALAD?"
"I—I…"
"Don't know, don't care… Eat it." Eva growled as the fat boy made an ugly face as he gave 5 forks and ate the whole bowl, which Eva closed her eyes and took a few steps away. "Proceed."
Then Owen went to eat a whole pineapple while taking out the middle and the crown, and he then placed his entire lips to drink all the cold water directly from the jar in a bizarre form.
"Ohhhh! Is this veal? It must be veal; I've never tasted anything like this," Owen said as he was very excited to eat more food. "Does everything taste the same when you're hungry?"
Owen commented as the group looked in disgust and unsure on what to say.
Confession – Eva
"That stupid fat boy had the audacity to eat all those kinds of food while he simply threw away the salad; how dare he do that?" Eva said as she was annoyed from the fat boy making things difficult for everyone. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have waited 5 hours and a half for him, and we are in the middle of the night. If he thinks he can throw away the idea that his fat body is going to be an advantage for him? Oh, he's very wrong… not on my WATCH."
Once everything was over, and Owen was done, he lay back on the table with a noticeable stomachache. Which Chris slowly approached him.
"Owen, the man of many appetites." Chris chuckled as he looked more amused than annoyed, as he couldn't help but from all the challenges Owen surpassed himself after the events of The Wicked Palette.
"The *BURP*. Turkey was a bit… *BURP*" Owen tried to comment; however, the burp escaped from him. "Dry,"
"Not surprising since the food was fake." Then it was the good time to give the reveal for everyone in the room.
"Fake?" Owen asked as his eyes shrunk as he saw Chris gesturing to Chef and cadets Sanders and MacArthur holding all the material they used to build all the fake food, while their faces showed nothing more than smugness for being able to trick someone to the point of eating the whole banquet.
"Yep!" Chris commented as he decided to proceed to tell all the products used. "Just props from foam core, silicone, sawdust, and wax. It wasn't a speed-eating contest; it was a contest to find the key."
"What key?" Owen asked as he had never seen the key before until he burped out the key into his hand, "Oh! You mean this key?"
"That'd be the one." Chris commented as he was startled at how everything happened so fast.
"Does this mean I win?" Owen asked hopefully and grinning as Chris nodded his head with a smile.
"Yes, yes, it does." Chris said as he gave the good news for the boys, who immediately cheered for their victory.
"Alright!" Owen raised both his arms in victory.
Confession – Duncan
"Hahahahahaha, did you see that? The dude ate foam core and wax; full props for that, man, hahahahaha." Duncan laughed, as he never thought he would see someone so insane as to do something like that. But then he remembered Owen was one of the only one or two people who had the courage to eat and survive eating a spoon of El Mongo and La Muerte.
Confession – Geoff
"Way to find the key, dude! I used to think Owen was just some party dude, but he's really a stand-up guy. Party on!" Geoff cheered as much as he could; he didn't have much impression or much time with Owen after the merge on the last season, but he was now happy to see that side of the big guy.
Confession - Harold
"Okay, let's break this down. Owen just consumed approximately 5 kilograms of foam core, 7 kilograms of silicone, 3 and a half kilograms of sawdust, and 10 kilograms of wax. That's just under 25 kilograms of synthetic material," Harold said, adjusting his glasses as he wrote down the numbers on his clipboard.
"With the bacteria that were likely present in his system after that 'Triple Dog Dare You' challenge—when Beth's challenge on the wheel was to him to eat a science project for Scarlett's fair I was helping her with—I'm now responsible for monitoring everything Owen consumes for scientific analysis. That's a total of 56 pounds of non-biodegradable material inside his body. Given Owen's stomach acid levels, I'm not sure how long it will take for him to digest—or if it will even break down properly. It's possible that the bacteria inside him could either thrive or be destroyed depending on the chemical reactions happening in there."
Harold took a deep breath and scribbled more notes, his face now more focused, but his expression still showed a hint of frustration. He glanced at the camera, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm doing your homework for you, Scar," he said, his voice still calm but with a touch of sarcasm. "You really owe me this time. So, make sure to get me something extra special for Christmas this year. I'm serious."
Harold went back to writing, though he shot one more look at the camera, fully aware of the task he had taken on for his cousin.
Confession—Owen
"Oh wait, wait, wait. There's still one more, *BURP!*" Owen felt something coming from the stomach as he gave a strong and loud burp, which trembled the confession trailer.
Confession - Noah
"Should I be surprised? Nah, that man is like a garbage disposal; you can throw anything in his mouth, and he's going to eat it." Noah rolled his eyes as he knew the strength when it came to the chubby boy. "But to make the whole banquet made of fake food while nobody had lunch nor dinner? It was very tempting, and I was surprised that nobody else tried to eat if it wasn't for Owen's insistence of a speed-eating contest."
Confession – Eva
"I think I'm going to get sick." Eva said, looking disgusted at what she saw.
Confession – Courtney
"My stomach hurts just remembering everything Owen just ate a few minutes ago; it was terrible, and now that it was all fake food, I think I need to drink water." Courtney said that even on her beautiful hair, her face looked displeased.
Confession – Ezekiel
"I wish I could say I was surprised… but knowing Owen, that wasn't the worst thing he ever ate. It could have been worse. But now with Owen giving us the victory, it comes to choosing which trailer we would take." Ezekiel said as he took his laptop with him. And decided to write down a few things. "Hmm, no, this place doesn't look good to write. I will check another place."
Confession - Leshawna
"Know what that boy has? Guts, guts full of foam core and rubber but guts just the same."Leshawna said as she pointed out how impressed she was by the fact Owen ate everything and had the courage to do it until the end.
Confession – Katie and Cody
*blurg*
Katie was vomiting in a bucket while Cody was comforting his girlfriend by patting her back.
"Owen did great in finding the key; however, Katie and Sadie." Cody said with a weak smile while the sound of the tan girl was heard as she kept vomiting. Which made him give a small chuckle.
Confession – Jude
"DUUUUUUUUDE, That was sinister; Owen ate everything without caring about the world, and man, the food looked so real that I almost wanted to have a try, but Owen would have eaten my hand if I was in front of him." Jude commented as he was now learning more of the other contestants, as he was still surprised into being part of the show.
At the time the boys were walking and feeling very exhausted, he could see Duncan, Tyler, Geoff, Harold, and Cody were already walking to the line where Owen was getting ready to take the laxatives to help him to alleviate his stomach. He knew what was ab"What dout to happen.
"Guys…" Ezekiel called almost like a loud whisper, which brought the attention of the boys. "We are in a win-win situation…"
" you mean?" Duncan said as Ezekiel tried to look if the cameras were aimed at him, and thankfully they were all focused on Owen as Chef was preparing the drink for him.
"It's obvious Owen will choose the trailer we are going to have… and as much as I would love to take the fancy trailer. In case Owen decides by himself to choose the bad trailer… we, as not only Killer Bass boys, adding Cody since he's also a boy… you all are in a relationship with the girls of the other side." Ezekiel commented as Duncan raised his eyebrow with the implication that he was saying something absurd. "My Pa gave me one amazing piece of advice before I came here. The girls love to be right, and it's better to be in peace than to be right."
"So you mean we all should tell Owen to let the girls have it?" Tyler asked in confusion, which, to the surprise of everyone, Ezekiel shook his head.
"No… I mean, in case Owen chooses the bad trailer, just don't complain and give support," Ezekiel commented as suddenly Duncan's eyes went wide open, as Geoff realized as well.
"Damn, your dad is a genius." Geoff commented that it was a surprise for Ezekiel to hear someone saying his pa was a genius, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Pretend this is a gift from us to the girls in case it was Owen's choice. Of course the girls will love it." Duncan nodded his head, and Cody nodded his head, and Tyler was also grinning.
"Yeah, this way if Owen chooses the good trailer for us, it's going to be awesome, but in case it doesn't, we can have a great time with our girlfriends." Harold liked the idea. "To be happy and in peace than being right. Yeah, I can live with that."
And with that, the group did in secret a good plan to show their support for the girls, in case Owen chose to mess up for the boys.
Owen glanced between the two trailers: one was sleek, luxurious, and undeniably fancy, while the other seemed humbler, with a rustic charm Chris had described as having "character." After a moment's thought, he pointed decisively.
"I'll choose Trailer B," Owen declared.
A mix of groans and cheers erupted. Trent, DJ, Noah, and Justin groaned in disappointment, while Duncan, Geoff, Tyler, Harold, and Cody smirked in approval. Jude and Ezekiel exchanged knowing smiles.
"Way to go, Owen. Great choice. I'd have done the same," Duncan said, clapping the big guy on the back.
"Woohoo, great job, dude! Bridgette's going to love that place," Geoff chimed in, giving a thumbs up.
"Yeah, man. The trailer's got character anyway. Leave the luxury stuff for the girls," Harold added in support.
"Katie would feel terrible if she couldn't watch her favorite show with Sadie. Great pick," Cody agreed with a smirk.
"Lindsay's already a winner. What's one more win for her?" Tyler said with a shrug.
Their words drew a wave of reactions. Chris blinked in surprise, and the girls, touched by the gesture, began cheering. Some even rushed over to hug Owen.
"Guys?!" Justin exclaimed in disbelief, staring at them as if they'd lost their minds.
Owen only shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, but Trailer B just has more character."
The girls erupted in celebration, surrounding Owen with hugs and praises. Bridgette leapt into Geoff's arms, giving him a kiss he wouldn't soon forget. Lindsay showered Tyler with affection, while Leshawna grabbed Harold for a bear hug that nearly crushed him. Harold, keeping his composure, promised himself he'd take things slow with her, but a good hug was a great start. Meanwhile, Katie couldn't stop planting kisses on Cody, while Sadie hugged him tightly enough to leave him gasping for air.
Duncan, unsurprisingly, was locked in a passionate make-out session with his girlfriend.
As the night unfolded, it became clear that each girlfriend had decided it was the perfect time to show their appreciation to their boyfriends. The romantic energy was palpable.
"GUYS!" Chris's sharp voice cut through the moment, bringing everyone back to reality. He looked utterly flabbergasted, throwing his arms up in frustration. "As much as I love the mushy romance or whatever, this is a reality show. We've got an episode to finish! So here's the deal: you've got two days off before the next challenge—down from three days last season, by the way. My advice? Save the mushy stuff for tomorrow or let it be a pay-per-view bonus. For now, go to your trailers and get some sleep."
The campers nodded, some sheepishly, others reluctantly, before splitting up into their respective groups. The girls headed to their luxurious trailer, laughing and celebrating among themselves.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel, Cody, Duncan, Tyler, Harold, and Geoff marched into their humble trailer, victorious smiles on their faces.
It was better to be in peace than being right, was the words of Ezekiel's Pa the boyfriends are going to remember for a long time. Made them look good in front of their girlfriends while they could throw Owen under the bus for the boys.
"Want to be on top again, Zeke?" Geoff asked as Ezekiel went on about the above bunker of the big trailer that could sustain 12 boys inside.
"I will also be on the top." Jude said as he jumped on the bunker where Harold was preparing his stuff.
"Okay, may I know what the hell happened?" Justin said as he glared at the group of boys. As everyone pointed at Owen.
"We just supported Owen for whatever reason he chose; if the fancy trailer was good for us, it was good for us, but if it was for the girls, our girlfriends would enjoy our gift." Duncan said as he was taking his trusted knife to make a wood sculpture and enjoy a good time. But then he felt uncomfortable with his shirt to lay on the bed. So he took it. As Trent saw Duncan with a tattoo.
"Whoa, that's cool. Is that—
"Yep, it's the Killer Bass." Duncan said as he even closed his fists which there was written the whole words, Killer Bass with the letters on his fingers. "Not just me, but everyone here made a tattoo."
"No way," Owen said in surprise and awe, as each Killer Bass boy raised their sleeve, which each of them had some symbolic tattoo of their former team. Even catching a glimpse on the camera where they were being watched.
"Ezekiel had to do a tattoo as he lost a bet to Izzy, so we decided, what the heck, why not have the whole Killer Bass group do a tattoo as well?" Duncan said as Ezekiel took everything he needed as he took his laptop with him. As the group of boys looked at and admired the tattoos of the former Killer Bass boys, Ezekiel took his laptop with him outside, as he wanted to find a good place to write something.
Ezekiel wandered around as he used the idea of Jude of walking across the place to learn more about the areas, even as his soreness across his body and every inch of his being was screaming in pain. He was already looking for a place where he could use it for his own. A place similar to an aquarium, or a secret spot only for him to get inspiration… which, as the time he walked away, he then saw someone approaching him. He looked surprised to see Izzy.
"Hey." Ezekiel commented as Izzy looked secretive, and before he could say anything, she raised her finger to shush him.
"I found a place. Follow me." This was everything Ezekiel needed to hear, a secret spot without cameras. It seems Izzy was aware of what Ezekiel was looking for, as the same way Izzy wanted to have their secret talks when nobody was around. "The girls are really loving the place we got. Heather was about to be bitchy about which bed she preferred to sleep in, but Lindsay managed to convince her to sleep near her and Beth."
"Hehehe, Owen wanted to give the trailer to the girls since the beginning. I wanted the boys to use that as a way to have fewer problems with their relationships because of complaining about something." Ezekiel smiled as he glanced left and right, which, at the time, Izzy knew there were no more cameras around, she could finally go even further.
"So this was from the future? Owen really chose the worst trailer on purpose without the boy's consent?" Izzy asked as Ezekiel nodded his head. Since it was Izzy, and no more secrets he wanted to hold against her, not anymore.
"The difference from that time was the robot Chef was controlling crashed one of the trailers, and Owen chose the crushed trailer." Ezekiel commented as the duo kept walking and talking without the presence of the cameras. "Also for the fact you destroyed the trailer by having a personal crush persona on the monster, which you made Owen jealous about. I think it was still the payback of what he did to you in the last season."
"Hahahahaha, yeah, that was something I would have done. Hahahaha." Izzy laughed, and even as crazy as it sounds, Izzy was happy to see Ezekiel being honest with her. But it was time for her to also be honest with him. "My parents spied on me when I was eliminated… they discovered you are from the future."
That comment made Ezekiel freeze… as he slowly turned his face to the girl.
"They aren't going to kidnap me to be interrogated for the government, are they?" Ezekiel asked in hesitation as she simply shook her head.
"No, they just want to meet you, since you have been a great person in my life." Izzy explained as she also gave a sheepish smile. "Also, thank you so much for letting my other mom stay at Playa Del Losers for the time while they are doing the construction around there."
"That's fine. To be honest, having someone you can trust take care of the Playa while I was away is a good thing. I don't know her, but you being the one trusting her, I think she won't destroy your trust, so that's a good thing… But yeah… can I say no to the invitation to meet your parents?" Ezekiel said as he hesitantly offered himself a way out since he doesn't want to meet two freaking legendary spies in the Disney Universe. Or what would be the reference versions of them?
"Sorry, Zeke, but even if you want it. They are going to do it, whether you want it or not." Izzy said sheepishly, as she knew that her friend would be okay, but still being called to meet her parents like that? He wasn't her boyfriend, but it feels like they were treating him like one.
Ezekiel simply sighed as both continued their walk.
"Hey Izzy, there aren't cameras around here, right?" Ezekiel asked as Izzy found a good place between the sets, under the water tower, which the duo took the stairs until they got inside of the water tower. "Why are we here anyway?"
"Because it's the time for us to meet Chef." Izzy commented as she took her communicator, which Ezekiel blinked at as it looked exactly like the one Heather has. "Oh, and my parents finally gave me one, which means I can use it when I'm not on the cameras, since Heather was the only one who had permission to use "Huh,t on the trailer."
" neat." Ezekiel commented as he while disliked for not having access internet, it was against contract for him to use his laptop only for internet access, and while it was annoying for the group not have television with cable on their trailer, at least he could enjoy by preparing himself for the future. And then he saw Izzy offering something to him. A paper bag to him, "What's that?"
"Tacos, since nobody had eaten over the challenge and how crazy it had been Owen eating all that fake food, I thought you would want something to fulfill the stomach." Izzy said as Ezekiel opened and appreciated the gesture.
"Thanks. To be honest with you, I forgot the food was fake." Ezekiel sheepishly commented as he felt his stomach tremble from everything he watched Owen eat. "I don't doubt there were people who were starving into seeing Owen eat the food; heck, even I was eager to participate in the speed-eating contest hahahaha."
Both laughed as they talked for a few minutes, waiting for the time Chef Hatchet would appear in secret, for finally they discuss their secret alliance.
"You two have any idea how much I wanted to strangle you after what you two had me pass during this annoying challenge?" Chef Hatchet said as he still felt a few twitches of electricity around his body, since his robot suit had a lot of internal problems, which made both the robot and the chef himself get electrocuted dozens of times. "But still, great job, you two. You seemed to have made the first good impact inside of the challenges. Which now you two should be checking this."
Chef gave Izzy and Ezekiel envelopes, which made them look at each other as they slowly opened them, as there was something strange in the title.
"MVPA System?" Ezekiel asked as he looked in more as he then inquired to the chef. "Most Valuable Player Acting? And what are these items on the list?
"These are the options for what you can do with the system of MVPA. Chris is planning to use the public to talk more about their favorite scenes of each episode, which means great moments will be selected in every episode, which will give the highlights of people who made the difference in the challenges." Chef explained as Izzy hummed in interest. "You two rascals managed to not only make the robot go down, but also using the camera in your favor into making like an explosion montage, this will cause a large amount of points."
"Which also Owen will get another large amount of points since he, by himself, ate all the fake food while getting the key." Izzy also pointed out, which made Chef nod his head in agreement.
"I don't know what kind of sick people would have that type of son able to eat more than a garbage disposal, but there are some mysteries in the universe that we should never know the answer to." Chef commented as he simply shrugged, which made Ezekiel start to read more and more of the options they could be doing with the points.
"What the… is that for real?" Ezekiel said in disbelief as he looked shocked beyond words. "It's going to be too crazy if the others know what they can do with this list."
"This is where Chris came with his devious master plan. Nobody will know what they can do with the points. There will be the options of the quantity that are unnamed… which they will be trying to guess and spend the money without knowing what it can do until they paid the points. Which can be given by them in secret." Chef explained that at that moment both Izzy and Ezekiel had their eyes wide open in surprise.
"Wow, Chris really is going beyond anything he had done with this. The budget is large enough for all of this?" Ezekiel commented as Izzy knew the hint the homeschooled who came from the future told her… Chris never did this in any season, which means they are now in a surprise new future that they have no idea what's going to happen. Which Izzy was now more eager and excited to be part of that.
"Boy, last season was the best season of his entire carreer, he thought he would receive 30% of the budget after the finale, however we got 300% percent of extra budget." Chef explained, which made both Ezekiel and Izzy have their eyes wide open in shock. "While a good part of the money is coming from his own pocket, that money-hungry bastard, the other part is going to be used a lot more this season, which means this one and a few others will look a bit like crappy challenges, but others will be focused more on acting, and this is where you both need to strike harder, like you did on this challenge."
"What do you mean about the others focusing more on acting?" Ezekiel asked as Chef glanced left and right, which immediately Ezekiel walked around and looked in the stairs if there was someone following them, as Chef blinked and recognized the boy and Izzy were also right to be paranoid like him to be sure they wouldn't be recorded on making the alliance. "Okay, the coast is clear, just in case we need to find an even better and more secret place in the future."
"I can try to find more places without cameras," Izzy offered, as Ezekiel looked at Chef.
"We need someone to take care of curious interns and cameramen who want to record us by surprise." Ezekiel pointed out one of the mistakes that happened in the past when Izzy exposed the alliance Chef tried to have with Izzy and then focused on doing the alliance with DJ.
"I can do that." Chef growled at the idea that some cockroaches would even think they would record him without consequences. "Anyway… Chris will give each team a recording device that can be used in the challenges or even after the challenges. Which means whenever the people would use the camera to make sure to have more points for MVPA, they could be willing to do that and give to us as a way to amplify the points just for later being used by whoever wants to use them based on the acting skills of the person."
"Uhhhhh, you mean each person who actually acted will receive the points? Okay, now Mama likes this idea." Izzy smirked as she was now having an even better opportunity than before. She's going to win a lot of points for herself.
"How many times can we make use of the camera per challenge?" Ezekiel asked as he could see Chef's eyes sparkling from the boy asking the right questions.
"Three times after each challenge, the 3 recordings you are going to place for the editing team or me, and I will see if I can find someone willing to do the editing of whatever you kids do when you record the v-"
"Oh, oh, why not give the twins? They are very experienced in making things way better than the editing of this crappy intern. Izzy exclaimed as Chef stopped and placed a few seconds touching his chin.
"That's actually not a bad idea." Chef commented on using Kim's brats as a way to make them some good penny work and help their sister to win the show. Also, he would use that as an excuse to visit and talk with Ron, Kim, and the kids again. "I will try to see with Wade if he has some good recommendations for the girls who know about video editing."
"Great." Izzy said, Which Ezekiel gave a cough that brought the attention of the duo?
"If you don't mind suggesting. I have a friend working for me as a freelance musician; maybe we can also use the songs to make the editing even better. Ezekiel gave the suggestion, which surprised not just Chef but Izzy as well.
"How did you manage that?" Izzy asked in curiosity, as she had no idea how Ezekiel got in contact with a musician.
"To answer your question, you're going to be surprised, because Jude is also the answer." Ezekiel chuckled at seeing the unpredictable and military ginger surprised by the revelation. "Where Jude worked, he has a group of friends whom I met, and one of them is a musician who just got fired after working for me in the book signing. He has a lot of potential. I can hire him to do the songs."
Ezekiel could see the smirk from both of them glowing in the dark.
"Boy, when Izzy told me she wanted you in this challenge, I was skeptical, but now I know why she wanted you so much as an ally." Chef said as Izzy giggled menacingly. But then Chef narrowed his eyes. "Also, while your aim of using the arrows is impressive, your stamina has a lot of work to do. Especially after running for hours without weight."
"Well, since we are in an alliance, why not train him?" Izzy suggested, as Ezekiel blinked to his own dismay. "I mean, you need to learn martial arts."
"Okay, okay, hold on. Eva is giving me a training schedule that I will need to work on, and she said she was going to teach me boxing and capoeira." Ezekiel raised his arms as suddenly the duo blinked their eyes before tilting their heads in confusion and surprise.
"Capoeira?" Both said as Ezekiel felt a slight part of his other aura wanting to shout at them.
"Wow, that's a martial art that I didn't hear about for a long time." Chef commented as he chuckled, which made the boy raise his eyebrows at him. "I knew some people who came to the military to do a presentation, and Shego once said it was only fake. The next second she got on the floor, while her face was so red that I could swear that she was going to become a pepper."
"Didn't Mom promise to make your life a pain if you ever tell this story to someone else?" Izzy said, as she crossed her arms, which Chef laughed at.
"Hahahaha, as if my life wasn't painful enough to deal with Chris; whatever she would do would be simple mid. Anyway, if you want some books and VHS tapes about their presentation, I have Wade to record everything, especially Shego's humiliation… Ah, the good times." Chef laughed as he recalled one of his squad members and friends to record for whenever he needed to laugh, and now using it as a good way to make people humbled in a good way.
"That actually would be good." Ezekiel blinked but nodded his head in appreciation for the help.
"But still, you can give me the training schedule; I will see if that's good enough, and I will train you myself as well. This is non-negotiable." Chef said as Ezekiel gulped from the intimidation done by Chef. "I will use the excuse of me being sore of both of you to make you two suffer in my hands and train you to the ground."
"But will this work? For how long?" Izzy asked as she raised the good point, which Chef simply rolled his eyes at.
"You are the prankster; you know how to annoy me. Just keep doing that, and then we can use it for your own training and development." Chef gave the strategy, which both the boy and girl parts of the alliance nodded their heads in appreciation. "The challenges, I can…"
"Chef, not to interrupt. But I think it would be for the best if you just told us the genre of movie; we don't want liability of people getting suspicious of us by knowing how to win each challenge right off the bat." Ezekiel said as he could see the chef frowning at him. "So how about you tell us the movie genre of the challenge, the reward, and if it was an elimination challenge? This way we can prepare ourselves for the genre that's going to happen in the future and use the points in our favor."
"Ezekiel has a point; we need to lose a few times." Izzy gave a description of a better way to make their acting solid. "Even if we lose, we can use the MVPA in our favor, right?"
"That's true… Alright then, this way we can avoid suspicion as well. I agree with you two..."Chef had to give to the duo, who have good heads on their shoulders, "Which means the morning of the challenge will happen at 6 a.m., which I want you both to wake up at 3 a.m. every single day for our morning training session. And before you say anything, no, you cannot refuse."
Ezekiel was raising his finger, but then had to drop it with a sigh, which made Izzy giggle, which made him deadpan at her. But having nothing else to do, he sighed.
They formed an alliance after all.
As the morning progressed and Ezekiel's dismay was with his body sore, he had to train at 3 a.m., which Izzy, also Chef, seems to be ready to make his days even more troublesome in comparison to who he dealt with on season 1.
Which was without the presence of Izzy, Ezekiel, and Chef. The contestants who were sleeping on the trailer were enjoying their good night of sleep, while most of the girls, in comparison to the boys, were not complaining.
While the trailers were sound asleep at 5 a.m. and slowly the sun was rising, Chris walked out in silence from behind one of the trailers.
"Shhhhush. They are sleeping." Chris pointed his finger at his mouth as a way to shush the camera aimed at the trailers. As he was ready to make something very devious. Which was to bring the megaphone with him and already prepared to wake them up. "HEY, IT'S THE 5 A.M. WAKE-UP CALL."
Chris jumped as he laughed, probably waking up everyone from inside the trailers.
"I'm only kidding; you can all go to sleep." Chris said happily as most of the people groaned and mumbled for them to go back to their sleep. Until Chris pressed the button to make the horn loud sound in the direction of the boy's trailer. Which suddenly the reaction was of a giant explosive fart made the earth tremble from how Owen's laxatives had been working from all the fake food he ate on the challenge. Which Chris flinched for a few seconds, but then he smiled for the camera. "That's a wrap on day one. New challenges, a new contestant, How Owen will fare with a stomach full of foam core and sawdust? How will Izzy and Ezekiel, a dynamic duo, work on the future challenges? Who knows what drama is in store for our cast? Well, I do. But I ain't tellin', See you next time for another thrilling episode of TOTAL...DRAMA...ACTION! Hahahahahaha, McLean out." Chris said as he gave a signal to the director.
"Cut." Which, with the voice of the cameraman, said Chris smirked.
He was back, with a new season… It's good to be back.
