Walk Like an Egyptian
POV. Cody
Darkness.
That's all around me, everywhere I looked there was only darkness, "Where...?", wait a minute. I feel like I've been here before. I looked around, instead of a thick fog, there was only a dark void that stretched for miles and miles. But there was no doubt, this place was very familiar.
I started walking, it's not like there's anything else to do. I could hear as if I was walking on water, but I could see absolutely nothing.
For a moment I thought I would be walking for hours. But then I saw something in the distance. I headed in that direction and gradually it became clearer what was in front of me.
A chessboard on a table, my friends sitting in galleries on the sides, completely still, silent, very attentive. And sitting in the other seat was none other than...
"Ah, hello little amigo, would you mind having a friendly game of chess... with me?" he said, pointing to the board.
"Alejandro...", I said seriously when I saw him.
Sitting on the other side of the chess table, the seductive Latino waited patiently, totally confident and carefree.
"Were you expecting anyone else?" he asked calmly and amused. I took a seat at the other end of the table, "I took the liberty of making the first move," he said, pointing to the knight that had left its place passing over the pawns, "the knight, so majestic, and it's also the only piece whose movement is totally independent of the rest of the pieces," he looked at me suspiciously, "Doesn't it remind you of someone?"
I was just staring at the board in silence, moving a single pawn, "Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself?"
"Ha, I guess we're both knights this time, aren't we?" said Alejandro as he moved his own pawn. I moved a bishop, "let me congratulate you on coming this far, you've come a long way," he said in a friendly manner. He moved a piece. His attitude suddenly became more serious, "however... What makes you think... that you will be able to go further?" he asked, his gaze darker and more threatening.
"...", I just looked at him and moved my piece.
"You should know by now that I'm not like the rest of your little friends, to me, you're all just mere pieces on a board," he said with a confident smile as he pointed to the game, "I've been watching you closely, I know exactly who you are, what you're useful for, what each piece is for, your strengths and weaknesses," he said as he took the queen with affection which looked just like a certain queen bee and used it to attack one of my towers, which was Noah, "they are not even a threat, it was so easy and satisfying to throw them off the plane one by one without understanding what was happening until it was too late", he said with a sinister laugh as he swept one of my bishops, DJ, "check. And you of all people... not even in your wildest dreams can beat me," he declared, looking at me with twisted amusement, "you are clever, I grant you that, you have prepared yourself, good for you... However, you're still full of... other weaknesses," he said, pointing to three people in the gallery, Izzy, Lindsay and Heather. Then he pointed to the other side where Noah, Owen, DJ, Harold, LeShawna and Bridgette were. Then to a Sierra with a perpetual creepy smile.
I swallowed as a drop of sweat trickled down my neck, and moved my king out of harm's way, "I won't let you get away with it, Al."
He seemed more amused than insulted, "you think you can beat me, pequeñin? No matter what you have prepared, that will not beat my natural superiority and innate talent, whatever you plan and think, I will tear it down like a tower of cards, any strategy you invent I will eventually turn around, any attempt to eliminate me that you can think of, I will throw it on any of your friends," he said as he got rid of my other tower, "I'll use them against you and put you in check at every chance I get, do you really think you can beat me? When can you still not even face her?" he said sadistically while using a Sierra bishop to put me in check again.
I flinched, clenched my fist, it irritates me that I can't get over that specific trauma.
Alejandro smiled, "what I thought... you may think you're strong now, but deep down you're still too fragile... you really think you can beat me just because you learned to pull strings a bit from the shadows? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am the shadow and said threads...", I felt something pull on my hands, when I saw them I was stunned to see threads tied to them, and these threads came from Alejandro's own fingers who was now smiling sadistically as he moved the strings and made everyone in the gallery raise their hands, me included. I gritted my teeth, no matter how hard I tried to fight he had me under his control, "you have been at my mercy from the moment we first met, your fates were in the palm of my hand from the moment we met... no...", he said with amusement, "I would say that yours has been for much more than that, or am I wrong? "Amigo?" he looked at me darkly, "come to me if you dare," he said threateningly, "I'll kick you out of that plane along with the rest of your silly and pathetic friends, this time there won't be a hero who wins the competition," he declared as if he were a king imposing an absolute mandate.
...
..
.
Fuck off.
*Fall*
Alejandro raised an eyebrow when I used my mouth to knock his queen down with my horse, "you're right, no matter how much I learn how to manipulate people, I'd never be like you," I said with the knight between my teeth.
"..."
I took the fallen queen claiming her with other pieces he lost, which were not few, "a year ago when all this madness started, I honestly didn't see myself standing on the same stage as you once again, I wasn't sure if it was worth going back to that death trap called an airplane and going back to that hell that was Sierra's arms," I said remembering everything that went wrong in a past life, "I didn't know if I could handle the guilt of going back to being one of the demons that was responsible for said hell burning in the first place", I said regretfully, I really regret everything I did and didn't do during the third season. However, I looked Alejandro straight in the eye, "but someone has to take responsibility for the mistakes we made back then as teenagers and I don't know about you, but I don't see another adult around here," I said defiantly, I looked at my hands, the strings were gone, "I'm not going to be your puppet Al."
He rolled his eyes, "nice words my friend, but they're still nothing more than that, words for someone who doesn't even exist," he said pointing around.
I smiled wildly, "then I'll show it to the real Alejandro with real actions," I said as I took my knight and moved it once more, "Do you think I'm going to bow my head waiting in fear for the right moment to attack you from behind? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, that Cody died eaten by Dobermans," I said as I dropped my piece on Sierra's, "this time I'm going to go head-on," I challenged him with fire in my eyes, "you might think you know everything about us, but you don't know anything about me, about the real me, about the new me. While I know everything about you, including what you ignore and fear, 'José'," Alejandro shuddered at hearing that name, "I'm not going to hide in the shadows anymore, from now on it will be all or nothing and I'm not going to hold back anymore, if you want to eliminate me, then come find me yourself."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
I got up from my chair, "... checkmate."
...
..
.
"...", the Latino smiled smugly as he began to fade, "as you want mate", his gaze sharpened, "I'm not pulling punches too, then", he said seriously as he faded, "get ready...", was the last thing he said.
"... so be it," everything around me dispersed like fog.
-0-
I woke up suddenly. I felt the busy movement of the wrecked bus and the first thing I saw were some large melons above me, belonging to a sleeping Lindsay. My head was resting on her lap as we rode in the back of the bus.
That was a very strange dream...
One second, strange dream? I put my hand on my neck and my eyes widened.
It was not there.
Dawn's dreamcatcher wasn't on my neck. I carefully got up from Lindsay's lap and looked around, the others were distracted chatting with each other or sleeping, the floor of the bus was clean... more or less... Well, not really, but my dream catcher was nowhere to be found.
"ohhhhhhh... Dawn's going to kill me," I said with a grimace.
"Mm~...", Lindsay's head fell on my shoulder oblivious to my current uncertainty.
-0-
POV. Third person
Chris was standing in the middle of an airport looking at the camera, "Season three of Total Drama, folks! The world is gonna be mine," he said ambitiously, "sea to shining sea."
*Broken engine*
"Sadly, I'm forced to share my world with a free-range travelling teen freak show. They'll be competing all around the globe for another million dollars. Let's get to know our players, the odd couple, Duncan and Courtney."
The couple who had gotten off the bus waving to the public gave him a bad look, "Hey!"
"Hahahaha, the bad and masochistic girl who likes to be punished by a nerd, Heather."
"You're a dead man Chris!" the queen bee shouted to him as she came down.
"I doubt it, the girl we all have suspicions of, Gwen."
"Suspicious? Suspicions about what?" she said, looking everywhere, "I'm not hiding anything."
"Yeah, sure. The girl who keeps rejecting Harold, LeShawna."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" said the big sister as she went downstairs.
"Of course, you guys make it so easy hahahahaha, Lindsay," she got off the bus sending a kiss to the camera.
"Friends and work colleagues, Owen and DJ."
"No! They can't do this to me! I'm too young and hungry to die!" shouted Owen.
Chris was shocked when DJ pulled Owen out of the bus caught in a bear hug, "What's wrong with him?"
"He's afraid of flying, remember?" said the gentle giant.
"You'd think he'd guessed it when Chris said it would be a trip around the world," Courtney said.
"Pff, it's Owen, he just lives in the moment and that makes him very funny," said the delinquent with humor, the CIT rolled her eyes.
"Music superstars Cody and Harold... and also Noah and Ezequiel," Chris said starting with enthusiasm and ending with indifference.
...
POV. Cody
"Did you know that airplane food tastes so bad because of the altitude?" Harold told us as he got off the bus, "and aerophobia is the opposite of the Latin aeronausiphobia."
"Yes, Harold, we knew," I said, "you've been talking about it all the trip," just like last time.
"And it's still as interesting as it was the other 23 times you talked about it," Noah said sarcastically.
"Hey, why don't we have a cool presentation, Chris? I was arrested, you know? I'm officially a bad boy eh," Zeke said as he stepped off the bus behind us.
"I only buy that you're bad," Chris said borelessly, then perked up again, "Cody's lunatic lover and famous supporting actress Izzy."
My red-haired, lunatic girlfriend jumped on Zeke's shoulders, "Let's fly! YEAH!" she said totally excited.
"AH!"
*Fall*
She caused both of them to fall to the ground, the others grimaced.
"Izzy! Get off him you don't know where he's been!" complained Heather, it's nice to see that she cares about Izzy.
"Hahahaha, yup. Izzy's back. Also returning this season, Tyler."
"Cool dude- Ah!", the athlete tripped over the bodies on the ground adding to the pile.
Chris followed as if nothing had happened, "and the co-host of Total Drama Aftermath, Bridgette."
She got off the bus waving to the camera, bad idea, "AH!", because she wasn't looking where she was stepping and also fell on the bodies on the ground.
"Hahahahaha, I really missed you guys," Chris said as he wiped away a tear, "and now to mix things up and keep it all fresh...", I tensed up when he said that, "we're adding two new competitors. He's an honor roll student with a diplomat for a dad and an amazing ability to charm the pants off most species", and has a secret inferiority complex, stomach of paper, and a very twisted dark side, "Alejandro".
The incredibly handsome Latino got off the bus with a kind and charming smile, very different from the irritated frown he had when we met him a few days ago.
I looked around, everyone was looking at the Latino without suspecting absolutely anything, everyone except... I smiled when I saw Heather's unconvinced face.
It was more than clear that she didn't trust Mr. Charming, though that was more due to the fact that she didn't know anything about him, which was why she kept her guard up. She will not trust someone she has just met, even if he seems friendly.
Despite having opened her heart to some people, she is still quite a bitch with the rest of the world. Partly because that's her personality and partly because of all the fans who love her attitude. As she said, being bad works when you're famous.
Now that I look closely her hair is a little longer than last time, a year was more than enough time for it to even out again and then grow a little longer. Now it reached a little below the shoulders and she still wore it tied in a ponytail, she looked pretty good.
I couldn't resist, I moved my hand covertly and stroked along the back of her thigh. She was startled at the unexpected touch, looked at me with hatred and pushed me sharply, I raised my hands in surrender. This will sound bad, but I really missed making her angry. At least now I know how to deal with her.
"Perhaps I can assist?" Alejandro offered his hand to Bridgette and Izzy and helped them up.
Izzy immediately placed her hand and without saying anything and in an apparently absent-minded way, ran out somewhere ignoring the handsome Latino in front of her. A very different reaction from last time, I guess due to his slight change of tastes she is no longer curious about the handsome Latino as before.
Bridgette, on the other hand, was more than a little enthralled.
"Ah, I have a boyfriend," she said reflexively.
"And amigos, please, allow me," Al said as he offered a hand to Zeke and Tyler.
"Wow, eh," Zeke said impressed.
"I like girls," Tyler reflexively said.
"And she's a sugar-addicted super fan with sixteen Total Drama blogs," Chris said.
On the outside I had a serene smile, but on the inside I was moaning, 'I know she was on the bus, but please say any other name.'
"Sierra".
'Shit!'
The Total Drama, me and anything that looks like me psycho fan got off the bus totally excited, "Oh my gosh, I love you guys and this is the greatest day of my life and" she began to gasp erratically, "Anybody got a paper bag I can breathe into?"
"Wow, what a crazy girl," Izzy said to Lindsay, the blonde stared at her.
"Ah!", the crazy woman ran in front of me faster than I expected, I put myself on guard with a panicked face and my hands in karate pose (I don't know karate, but I wouldn't fall into her clutches without a fight), but she didn't seem to notice, "Oh my gosh, Cody! I've dreamt of this moment, I'm a big fan of yours since TDI and I have all your band's CDs! And, and, and, and, I totally love your new style!" she hurriedly said until she lost her breath, "Will you let me take a... dozen... photos?" Is it my idea or is she drooling at that idea?
"Ah...", while I was thinking about what to answer, Heather looked at Sierra with the same suspicion as at Alejandro, she didn't trust the super fan at all.
At the right moment a ramshackle plane rolled onto the runway attracting everyone's attention, which gave me the opportunity to get away from Sierra without her noticing.
Hello Jumbo jet, I never thought I would say or think this, but I'm glad to see you in one piece, I thought as I looked at the plane with a nostalgic smile. Despite being a death trap, it never disappointed us when it came to flying and similar to the island that ended up sunk, the plane did not deserve the fate it had.
"Excuse me, but I'd like to express some concern about the safety of our plane," Courtney said in a formal and very concerned manner.
"Relax is perfectly safe," Chris said to appease her.
*Fall*
A second later one of the plates that formed the plane detached falling to the ground, "Now boarding!" said the presenter without flinching.
"No! I can't ride in that! Call the United Nations! Call a cab! Call my mom!" Owen shouted desperately. Chris got fed up, pulled out a frying pan, and walked over to the delirious boy, "No! I'm not doing this! I'm out! This is unethical!"
*Metallic Blow*
We all cringed when Chris hit the huge guy on the head, "Mommy."
*Collapse*
"Anybody else got a problem with it?" asked Chris with the pan in hand.
"I think we're fine," I said as the others nodded awkwardly.
"Now boarding on a voyage to a million big ones! We're saving you a first class seat for all the action," he said, pointing to the camera, "right here on Total... Drama... World touuuur~!", he ended singing.
"Seriously?" Duncan said rolling his eyes.
Chris stood still pausing for the intro, "okay, everyone get on the plane," he finished.
-0-
Inside the Jumbo jet...
Our first stop was none other than the dining area.
"Singing? Really? I thought Chris was joking about that," Gwen said.
"Well, I don't have a problem with it," Courtney said.
"Me neither, superstar, remember?" I said, although the songs themselves are already set, sorry Courts nothing freestyle.
"Well, I don't," Duncan said, "girls sing, little birdies sing, Duncans do not sing."
"That explains a lot of things about you," Noah said.
"Think I'll get to beatbox?" asked Harold.
"I'll beat you if you try," Duncan threatened.
"This is stupid," Heather said.
"At least you didn't have to do it dressed up as a princess," Gwen said with her arms folded.
"Singing reality shows are huge," according to whom?, "and the worse the singing, the higher the ratings, which is why on this show, there will be no vocal coaches or rehearsals or warning," said Chris.
As the others complained about this, I couldn't help but remember how good we all got at improvising songs throughout the show.
"Anywho, this is the dining area where you'll enjoy in flight meals," the host said.
"Not for long, eh. Prepare to lose to the Zeke," the home school said.
"My memory may be wrong, but weren't you expelled on the island first?" asked Lindsay innocently.
"Yes, he was," Courtney said rolling her eyes.
"It's different now, eh, I'm stronger, faster, smarter."
"Chattier, blabbier, can't-shut-up-ier," Chris said annoyed, "Now zip it and let me finish the tour so we can get this bird in flight."
"Is there a ladies room?" asked LeShawna.
"Just through there," Chris said, smiling at what awaited the big sister.
"Good, 'cause I gotta make a deposit," she said.
Confessional.
LeShawna
She closed the bathroom door and was about to pull down her fly, when she noticed the camera in front of her, "There's a camera in the potty? Again?! Ugh! Can't a sister get a little privacy on this program?" she asked angrily looking at the door.
End of confessional.
...
"Losing teams will enjoy luxurious economy class accommodations between destinations," said Chris as he introduced us to the impressive economy class.
"I don't see the beds anywhere," Lindsay said, looking around.
Izzy gasped excitedly, "Are we going to sleep hanging from the ceiling like bats!?"
"I really hope not," Bridgette said, I think a certain talent show came to mind.
Confessional.
Bridgette
"You know something? I'm starting to believe that being here without Geoff is the best, I mean, last time we were kicked out first for kissing all the time. This time I'll be 100% focused on the competition, yes sir," she said confidently, but then she looked less confident.
End of confessional.
"Very good idea Izzy, but not this time, Owen, care to demonstrate?" said Chris. Owen was strapped to the wall with harnesses as he drooled and talked in his sleep.
"That does not look comfortable," Heather said.
"You can sleep on my lap whenever you want," Izzy told her.
"No comfort for losers. Safety harnesses and an emergency exit. But no comfort here, here, or here," Chris said.
"Can I sleep on your lap?" Lindsay asked me.
I smiled at her, "of course, whenever you want", she smiled happily. Although I don't know if we are going to be in the same team.
"Hahahahaha, OMG, Chris, I am just LOL," Sierra said, I don't know what the little imp said was funny.
"We should hit the winner's compartment, eh? 'Cause I ain't never gonna sit back here. Ha, never!" Zeke said.
"Dude, you really should shut your mouth," I said, "Do I have to remind you of the consequences of tempting fate like that?"
Zeke quickly covered his mouth with his hands as the others shuddered. Alejandro raised a curious eyebrow and Sierra, on the contrary, seemed enthusiastic.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Never say anything compromising because you don't know who might be listening, of course I know, it was one of the most important things Cody said throughout the show, he said it like twelve times in total," she pulled out a small book, "I have recorded every word he said during the show, EVERY WORD!" she finished with her face close to the camera focusing her crazy eyes, "I want to see someone more capable of something like that," she said proudly.
End of confessional.
...
"This is the first class cabin," Chris said as we all looked around the luxurious cabin, I remember Sierra once saying that I was the contestant who spent the most time in this place, curious, "The domain of each week's winners."
"Now this is the kind of accommodation ladies deserve," Alejandro said in front of Lindsay.
Heather narrowed suspiciously, I think someone is being possessive.
Cockpit confessional.
Heather
"Hello? Didn't that Alejandro watch the show? You should know by now that Lindsay is more than engaged. Who does he think he is to go and flirt with her like that? It's so..."
"Deliciously seductive?" the chef said as he prepared to take off.
"What? No! I was going to say transparent, please, the dude is completely fake, who does he think he's fooling? Because I'm not falling."
"That doesn't take away from the fact that he's a pretty good looking guy to boot. I'm just sayin'."
"Shhhh, I'm making a confession here."
End of cockpit confessional.
I glanced sideways as Alejandro made a not at all discreet move about my girlfriend, bad idea friend, "Really? I'm flattered Alfonzo," Lindsay said.
I had to hold back my laughter when Alejandro lost his serenity for an instant when Lindsay said his name wrong, in this franchise that only had one meaning, she is not interested in you in the least, "it's Alejandro, Lindsay", he said putting his calm façade back on.
"Where?" she said, looking around. Al hit his forehead.
"Lindsay look," Izzy said as she hooked her arm to the blonde's and dragged her away from Al, "there are a lot of distractions here."
"Distractions? Where!?" she said excitedly.
As they were leaving, Izzy looked at Al and stuck out her tongue mockingly. It seems that someone is protecting her territory.
Confessional.
Izzy
"Izzy doesn't trust that Alfonzo, I've dated enough heartthrobs to know that they're all liars, besides, with the exception of Cody I think I prefer girls. So find another sexy blonde because this one's round, bubbly butt belongs to Izzy."
End of confessional.
Alejandro stood there genuinely surprised. He didn't expect in the least that Lindsay would simply lose interest immediately or that Izzy would show such an obvious rejection of him.
I'm sorry Alfonzo, but these aren't the Izzy and Lindsay you cajoled right off the bat back then, they know what they want and that's not a handsome guy.
Did I just insult myself?
Confessional.
Alejandro
"So that's how disinterested those two have become to male charms," he said, rubbing his chin. Then he smiled, he didn't look very worried, "very interesting, I guess I already know who to set my eyes on first," he said threateningly.
End of confessional.
...
After showing off his quarters Chris took us back to the dining room, "And that's pretty much it. I skipped the cargo hold and galley, but I'm sure you'll find those exciting destinations later, when I accidentally lock you in them."
The plane shuddered, "wow," and Bridgette fell into Alejandro's lap.
"Señorita, are you okay?" asked the seductive Latino.
"Is the Earth moving?" she asked as she looked at Al with a smile.
Izzy suddenly jumped on my back, "Nope. We are! Whoo! Hahahahahaha."
"No, it's the plane," I said as I pulled myself together with her on my back, from here I could hear the engines firing.
"One more thing," Chris said, "I'm sure you all remember a little something called the elimination ceremony? Takes place right in there, my friends."
...
Chris took us to the lower back of the plane, where the gallery and tikis totems were next to the exit door. At the time I wondered why the décor was so specific, but looking at the place now, I realize that the décor was actually a clue to what our final destination would be, Hawaii. And it was also the final destination of each competitor.
"If you don't receive a barf bag full of airline issue peanuts, you will be forced to take the Drop of Shame," Chris said sadistically. Zeke still had his hands over his mouth.
Everyone's eyes widened, "wait... Did you just say 'Drop'?" asked Noah more than a little worried.
"Yes, I said that hahahahahaha," Chris laughed making everyone nervous, "but don't worry, you'll only be a few hundred feet in the air, and you'll have one of these of course," he said as he showed us some parachutes.
"Aren't those the old parachutes of the extreme sports challenge?" asked Gwen worriedly.
"Yes, they are," said the diabolical host.
Confessional.
Gwen
"Great," she said sarcastically.
End of confessional.
-0-
Some time later we were in the dining room while the plane was making part of its journey to Egypt, of course no one but me knew it.
I was sitting away from Sierra being as inconspicuous as possible, if Alejandro who I'm sure is looking at us all surreptitiously, notices my animosity towards Sierra he will definitely look for a way to use it against me.
At this moment my greatest advantage against him is that he does not know that I know his true face. And he's not fully informed of everything I'm capable of now, neither is Sierra.
"Every second, we're getting closer to adventure," DJ said, "and further from mama."
"Look on the bright side, you'll get to know a lot of dishes around the world for your restaurant," Courtney said trying to cheer him up.
"Hey, it's true," he said.
*Ding, ding*
Oh god, that damn sound...
A light went on on Chris, who was already wearing a tuxedo, hat and cane, "Whenever you hear that friendly little bell, it's musical number time! So, let's hear it," this wasn't our best song frankly.
"But... what are we supposed to sing?" asked Courtney.
"You have to make it up as you go. Wouldn't be challenging otherwise," said Chris, "would it?" the music began to play.
Musical moment (always in third person).
Courtney: "Up ~!".
Izzy: "Up ~!".
Sierra: "Up~!"
Lindsay: "Up~!"
They stood up in that order.
Harold: "Sing ~!".
Noah: "Sing ~!".
DJ: "Sing~!"
Tyler: "Sing ~!".
They did the same.
Girls: "We're flying!~".
Guys: "And singing!~".
All: "We're flying and we're singing!~".
Sierra: "Come fly with us~," she was pushing a snack cart around the plane.
Cody: "Run away with us~", he was running away from Sierra, "AHH!".
Izzy: "We got a lot of crazy tunes to bust, ha ha!~", she left the space of the economy class suitcases.
Bridgette: "Come fly with us~", she sang in a first-class armchair.
Lindsay imitated her.
Bridgette and Lindsay: "Come fly with us~",
Alejandro: "It's a pleasure and an honor and a must~", he came out of nowhere and helping them down from the seats, to which they both smiled, but for different reasons.
Duncan: "Dudes, this is messed. You're singing in a plane~" he said, still sitting in the dining room boredly.
Harold: "What did you expect~? Chris is freaking insane~", he was standing near Duncan with his nunchakus, then hit himself on the kiwis.
"Yeah, but guys, you're singing on TV," Gwen said.
Courtney: "Haven't you always wanted to~?", danced around Gwen, "It can't just be me~", ballet was done.
DJ: "Come fly with us~", he tried to dance, LeShawna did the same next to him.
DJ and LeShawna: "Come fly with us~".
The plane shook a little, in the control cockpit Heather clung to the co-pilot's seat while the chef relaxed in his.
Heather: "Do you know how to steer this thing~?"The queen bee asked in panic.
Chef: "I try," was the response of the cook-driver who had no intention of taking the wheel.
Zeke: "Ooooh things will be different for me this time~", he sang from the cargo area, "Everyone will see the new Zeke, and the million will be miiiiine~".
"Squeals."
Zeke: "AHHH!", the rats on the plane pounced on him, "Wild Rattatas!".
Noah: "Come fly with us, come die with us~", he sang in panic as he watched through the window as one of the plane's engines smoked.
Owen: "We're flying~? I hate flying~! Stop the plane~!" in another window Owen had woken up.
*Metallic Blow*
Chris knocked him unconscious again.
Everyone: "Come fly with us~", Gwen and Duncan refused to open their mouths with their arms crossed.
DJ, Heather, Sierra and Cody: "Come sing with us~".
"No!"
Chris appeared alongside them, "Would anyone care for a copy of the season three rules? Because in order to escape instant elimination..."
Bridgette: stole his papers, "Aaaaall contestants~, must sing in each shooooow~", she read.
Cody: He put his arm around Gwen's neck, "come on Gwen~, you just haaaave to siiing~, It's a million buuuuucks~?".
Gwen: She thought about it, "agh, I want a million bucks. Come fly with us, come fly with us, Coooooome aaaaand fly with uuuuuus~".
Courtney "Duncan~, come on, please~?", she begged.
Duncan: "Thiiiiiiis suuuuuuuuuuuucks~!".
Everyone else: "YEAH~!"
End of the musical moment.
Well, it's not our best song, the others are by far much cooler. We all looked at Chris who was now reading a newspaper for some reason.
"Enough singing, fruitcakes," said Chef over the plane's speaker, "Strap yourselves in! We are now beginning our descent into Egypt. Musical numbers. Worst idea ever. Chris is such an idiot," the presenter opened his mouth offended, "Hey, why's the PA light still on? Oh sh-".
"We'll be right back," a grumpy Chris said to the camera.
The rest of us held back our laughter.
-0-
Everyone was shocked when we got off the plane, miles and miles of crystal clear yellow sand stretched out in front of us, it was a bit hard for some to imagine that we were actually in Egypt, I felt that way the first time, surely I would have enjoyed all the places more if it wasn't for Sierra constantly dragging me around like a ragdoll. It's sad that none of the girls on my team were interested in helping me, even though of course, they were dealing with their own problems.
"Wow, it's the pyramids," Lindsay said approaching me, "How many buckets of sand did it take to build them?"
The others stared at her, "it's a little more complicated than that. For starters, they're made of stone, not sand," I told her.
"What? And how did they stack them like that?" she asked curiously.
"They had more than enough people willing to do the job," Chris said as he was carried into a chair by two inmates all dressed as a pharaoh and his and servants.
"You mean slaves," Harold said.
"Yes, the Egyptians knew how to do things, it is very difficult to find such good manpower these days," said the host looking at his inmates, who rolled their eyes.
*Fall*
And they dropped the chair with everything and Chris on the floor, "Hey!"
"Hahahahahahaha!", of course we laugh about it.
Chris got up and dusted himself off, "whatever," he said looking at the inmates with half-closed eyes as they whistled innocently, "I call today's challenge... Pyramid Over-Under."
"An eleven-hour flight, Chef's in-flight cuisine, a forced musical number, now we've got a challenge?" complained LeShawna.
"Don't you love this game?" asked Chris as he was fanned.
...
We stood in front of a starting line, Harold was sweating like crazy, "It's like we're being cooked in a giant oven."
"It might help if you weren't dressed by a giant baked potato," LeShawna scolded him.
"Aluminum foil means the aliens can't read your brains. It's a real problem in this area," Harold said.
Sorry buddy, but you're looking for aliens in the wrong place, and even if you did, they'd probably fall asleep staring at your thoughts.
*Clank*
Chris tapped some cymbals to get our attention, "Man, that's satisfying! All right, Pyramid Over-Under means you choose how you'll get to the finish line. Either over or under the pyramid. Got it?" we all nodded, "Ready, set... GO!"
We all ran towards the entrance of the pyramid, once there some stopped to go over the top while others continued along the open passage.
I paused for a moment, "Cody, do you want to climb the pyramid with me?" asked Lindsay.
I would have liked to say yes, but out of the corner of my eye I saw DJ enter with the others inside the pyramid, "I'm sorry Linds, but I'm going to try my luck in there".
"Oh," she looked disappointed for two seconds, but then smiled again, "good luck then," she kissed me on the lips.
I smiled, "good luck to you too", I ran into the pyramid.
-0-
POV. Third person
Cody entered the pyramid following the others, Izzy was the first to notice his presence, "Hi Cody! Guess what, this pyramid has a lot of different paths, isn't that fun?"
"That seems problematic," the geek said as he looked at the hieroglyphs around him after catching up with the others.
"Yeah, different ways we can die down here, that's great," Noah said sarcastically.
"That's the attitude, egghead," the redhead said excitedly as she slapped him on the back.
Heather saw the drawings on the different doors, "Which one should we go for?"
"Does it matter? Chris must have filled this whole place with nasty stuff," LeShawna said.
Cody smiled at Heather, "Well, you heard her," she pouted.
"For my part, I will go through the middle," continued the big sister.
"I'm with you, in case you need help," Harold said.
LeShawna stared at him, "Very good, but no 'Mister Romantic' or I will turn you into a mummy myself," she warned him.
"I promise," the nerd said.
"I'm going too," said DJ.
"Becoming a mummy sounds fun, Team E-scope, let's go right, they have mummies there," Izzy said as she pulled Noah and Owen with her, "see you on the way out my loves," she said goodbye to her two lovers.
"I'm not sure about this," Owen told Noah.
"I'm not sure about anything anymore," the know-it-all said borelessly.
"Wait, that means we're just left...," Heather said, her eyes wide.
"You, me and Cody! Isn't that exciting!?" said Sierra.
Heather looked at her irritably, "no, it's not in the least," she complained, then sighed, "at least with you we'll surely get out of here quickly," Heather said looking in Cody's direction, but her geeky boyfriend was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Cody?" asked Sierra, then gasped in fright, "What if he fell into a trap? CODY! CODY! CODYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Heather's eye began to tremble.
Confessional.
Heather
"That cretin abandoned me in a pyramid with that irritating psychofan, Sierra! Oh, when we're back on the plane he better have a very, very, good excuse!" she reneged, wanting to strangle something.
Sierra
"Separating from Cody was terrible, he must have been so scared," she said tragically, "on the bright side, Heather and I are left alone, it's time to start the operation "whisper in the queen bee's ear so that she realizes that their relationship has no future and it's better if she walks away from Cody, accepts that she's better off with only girls and finds a shorter name for the operations," she stopped, gasping for breath, "that last one is a priority," she said tiredly.
End of confessional.
...
Lindsay, Bridgette, and Tyler were looking at the great pyramid in front of them.
"It seems... a little high," said the surfer worried.
"I got it, what if we use the elevator?" Lindsay proposed.
"The pyramids don't have elevators, Linds," Tyler said.
"Really? How inefficient," she said crossing her arms.
"It looks like we're going to have to climb," Tyler said, "luckily I have impressive mountaineering skills, follow me and I'll take you to the top."
"Alabama is very good too," Lindsay said as she pointed to Alejandro who was climbing the pyramid with great dexterity, "he looks like a mountain goat."
Alejandro saw them and jumped down, " May I be of assistance?" he said, offering his hands to the girls.
"You're very kind Alberto," Lindsay said.
*Crash*
Something broke inside Alejandro's mind, "not at all, it's just what a gentleman does," he said with a stiff smile, his eye trembling slightly.
Confessional.
Alberto
"I'm starting to wonder if Lindsay is worth approaching," he said with his arms crossed, "on the other hand she's the most susceptible to being deceived and being close to her would give a better impression of me," he revealed his intentions.
Lindsay
"Alex and Cody have so much in common, they're both good climbers, they're very friendly and they're incredibly handsome, I'm sure they'll become really good friends."
Tyler
"Dude, I'm not sure Cody will be very happy if he finds out that Alejandro is getting so blatantly close to Lindsay, or worse, Heather... oh hell, heads are going to roll if Izzy finds out," he said fearfully.
End of confessional.
...
Courtney finished tightening the knot around Duncan's waist, "and voila, this method of tying is the most suitable when it comes to team climbing. In a short time we will be the first in front of the finish line," she said proudly.
"Whatever you say," the criminal said indifferently, however, when he looked towards the pyramid something caught his attention, "hey, Gwen is also going to the top," he said while looking at the girl having trouble climbing, "we should let her join us."
Courtney made a face uncertain at the idea.
"Hey, what's wrong? Don't tell me that you are still with that nonsense that there is something more between us?" the criminal reproached her.
"Of course not, it's just...", she sighed, "I guess a three-way tie is stronger", she said defeated.
"Great," Duncan said immediately, "Hey Gwen!"
"Woah!" he ran dragging Courtney up the rope.
Confessional.
Courtney
She was sitting idly by, "no, he wasn't excited to include her at all," she said sarcastically.
End of confessional.
...
Izzy, Noah, and Owen were walking through the mummy section together.
"Hey Izzy, it's not that I don't enjoy your very warm company, but shouldn't you be dragging one of your lovers to some dark corner of the pyramid to do things I can't say on television?" asked Noah.
"Pff, my life doesn't revolve around them, it's more fun to follow my gut, and right now it's telling me to go my own way... although, if we run into any of them, I don't promise that I won't do exactly what you just said," said the lunatic, What is an affair, but to do it in the strangest places you can find?
"I hope you don't end up getting lost inside the pyramid," Owen said.
" Oh~, look. We're in a nurse's office," Izzy said pointing to a pile of bandages on the floor, "costume party," she threw handfuls of bandages at both boys, "mummy me."
The other two exchanged a look, "Alright," Noah said
Confessional.
Noah
"I feel like this is not going to end well."
End of confessional.
...
"So Heather, I hope I don't sound a little nosy, but... Do you really like Cody? Why did you agree to go out with him? How far have you come? Don't you prefer girls?" asked Sierra closer and closer to her face while looking at her with irritated eyes open.
Heather put a finger on her nose and pushed her away, "ah yes, it's complicated, I won't tell you that and yes, I prefer girls, but Cody is an exception," she replied without giving many details, "What's this interrogation for?" she asked suspiciously, "let me guess, you like the geek, don't you?", Heather wouldn't be surprised, Cody has become quite famous now.
"What? No, of course not," Sierra said exaggeratedly.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Gak!" Sierra spat blood, "Yes! I love him! I absolutely love him! Telling Heather no, it was so painful that it caused me internal bleeding," she said while holding her stomach dramatically, "I can't tell her yes, she probably wouldn't take it well," she grabbed her eyelids and pulled them, "but if Izzy hears the slightest rumor, she'll move heaven and earth so that I'm in that cursed circle known as Cody's harem." she cried desperately, "Now don't get me wrong, I'm not homophobic, what's more, I've shipped more than half of the girls in this competition with each other on social media, I started the Gwether campaign, so no, it's not that," she banged on the sink, "The thing is, my heart, flesh, being, and toenails belong completely and exclusively to Cody! And I would never stain my devotion by loving anyone other than him!" she said fully committed, "I am everything he could want in a compact and unique package! Why doesn't he notice!? Waaaaaaaaa," she began to cry inconsolably.
End of confessional.
"It's just that after spending so much time listening to gossip, I couldn't help but wonder if you really like him. Aren't you angry at him like… 90% of the time?" asked Sierra, trying to sound only curious.
"Yes, he usually drives me crazy," she admitted with a dark smile that promised pain.
Sierra was a little scared, "ah... so why?"
Heather stopped and Sierra stiffened, however, she was surprised when the queen bee looked at her with a totally blank face, but with noticeably red cheeks, "for the other 10%", was her quick response, then she turned around and continued walking.
Sierra understood, she was referring to the fact that the geek always seemed to be there for her.
She always found Cody's attraction to Heather strange, she's not the kind of girl who would give a second look to a geek like him, in fact, at the beginning of the first season Heather hated him. However, Cody was always around her.
At first Sierra believed that he was doing it purely for strategy since Cody was very smart, but he always treated her with a certain affection and desire. To the No. 1 fan this was a total incongruity and made no sense, they didn't know each other before, they didn't have a history together before the show, and Cody didn't have a predisposition for bad girls. She made sure to leave no stone unturned when she researched them and many things did not fit, she could not understand it.
For Sierra this couple was the one that made the least sense, "well, you may like him," she said reluctantly, "but didn't he abandon you inside this pyramid? How do you know he likes you if he does something like that to you?" she asked trying to sound purely curious.
"You fans are a total nuisance, you know?" replied Heather, "that fool always does things like that at the moment you least expect it and yet it works for him, I've been with him long enough to know that, even though it drives me crazy sometimes," she said still irritated.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Fine, but there was no reason to brag about it, thank you."
End of confessional.
Sierra decided to try another approach, "and tell me, what do you think of this Alejandro, that charming new boy? Is... handsome... No?", Sierra felt that she was swallowing glass for saying handsome without saying the word Cody.
"He's a complete charlatan! I don't buy that false kindness of his! He's up to something, I'm sure!" said Heather angrily without thinking too much, she was a little burned by the heartthrob's attempt to flirt with Lindsay.
Sierra deflated, there it was her plan D to try to interest her in another boy, although there were already suspicions that the queen bee was losing her interest in boys, this only confirms it.
*Click*
Both petrified when one of the tiles Heather stepped on sank slightly, making a noise in the silent hallway.
The two looked down, "ah... Maybe it's hollow?" said Sierra nervously.
*Clank*
They were horrified when the sound moved up the wall, "Run!" said Heather wide-eyed.
Several spears shot out of the walls towards them as they fled, "AHHHHHHH!"
"If I die here! I'll curse you for the rest of your life Chris!" shouted the queen bee as they ran.
...
Alejandro arrived at the top of the pyramid with Lindsay and Bridgette carried on his shoulders.
"Well, ladies, it seems that we have succeeded," said the heartthrob.
"Yes~," Bridgette said, looking at Alejandro.
Lindsay looked around, "wow, we're so high, look, there's the finish line. It looks so small, it's like it's so far away that it looks tiny."
The other two exchanged a look.
"Wait a minute, where's Tyler? He was following us," Bridgette asked, looking around.
...
Tyler climbed the pyramid behind them, gasping with exhaustion, "I'm... almost... there."
He put his hand on a tile where a scorpion rested, "(Hey! This is my territory! Get out!)".
*Sting*
"AH!" Tyler let go of the rock, "Ouch! Ouch! Woah! Oh!" and began to fall step by step backwards.
"(Tourists)".
...
Duncan was struggling to climb, however, he was having some problems, "heavens, your form is appalling," Courtney said as she tried to get Gwen to catch up by pulling on the rope.
"I'm sorry, I haven't had time to catch up with my school's climbing club," he said sarcastically, "since I don't know, I didn't anticipate I'd be doing another season of this madness."
"Hey! Don't take it out on me, I wasn't the one who got us into this!" said the CIT.
"But it seems like you're really enjoying it, people don't respect me anymore because of that damn doll and watching me sing on TV will only give them more fuel to throw into the fire," Gwen complained with her usual pessimism.
"That doll is genius, I don't know what you're complaining about, I would have done anything to make a doll out of me," Courtney said.
"Maybe if you weren't so in need of attention you'd understand," Gwen said.
Courtney gasped offended, "take that back right now!"
"Duncan! Tell her something!", they both said at the same time.
"Yeah, yeah, that's my name," the criminal said rolling his eyes.
"Ouch! Au! Ah! Ouch!", the three stopped what they were doing while Tyler rolled past them.
...
DJ, LeShawna, Harold and Cody, ran down the corridor they chose.
"Hey Cody, it's not that I mind you joining us, but isn't Heather going to be furious with you for leaving her alone with that obsessive fan?" asked LeShawna.
Cody just smiled, "oh sure I do, in fact, she must already be considering 101 ways to kill me," the geek said humorously.
"You really have very little attachment to life, don't you?" said LeShawna rolling her eyes.
~0~
A while before the competition...
"Hmm...", Cody opened his eyes slowly, he hadn't slept so comfortably in weeks, the soft hands combing his increasingly long and tousled hair were helping him relax, and the soft thighs where his head rested gave him a feeling of floating, the scent of flowers and the sound of birds also contributed to the serene atmosphere, 'Hey fool, it's your conscience again, don't you really notice the elephant in the room?', his eyes snapped open, pale curls surrounding an angelic face invaded his sight.
"Oh, you woke up," Dawn greeted him with a lazy smile from her place leaning against a tree, the geek's head was lying on her lap.
"What-?" he tried to get up, but Dawn's hand held him in place.
"Ah-ah, you still have to rest for another 10 minutes," she told him strictly.
"Ah... I remember," said the geek, he had promised her that he was not going to overexert himself anymore, she was being very strict about it.
"Just relax, time isn't going to pass faster all of a sudden just because you're not seeing it."
"I really appreciate you worrying Dawn, but it still feels weird to not do anything for so long," Cody said, looking up at her face.
"Hmm... you're right, doing nothing will only make you think things over," she smiled and grabbed his head from the sides forcing him to look at her, "I won't stop you then."
"Huh?"
"But in return you have to promise me something. That you're going to have more fun."
Cody blinked a couple of times, "have more... fun," his face turned red.
"Pervert".
"You were the one who said it!"
"But not in that sense, this will be the last season you'll spend with most of your friends, right? I know you're worried about Alejandro and Sierra, but don't let that stop you from enjoying the little moments, both now and later, or else you'll end up missing out on a lot of things, a balanced mind is the most powerful weapon of all."
"... Did you take that last thing out of a movie?"
Dawn just laughed into her hand, "just enjoy a little more of life, silly, it can't all be crazy plans and conspiracies," she said while slapping her forehead with her hand.
-0-
"Na, in fact, it's the other way around... I just try to enjoy the experience as much as I can, I mean, we're exploring one of the real pyramids of Egypt," Cody said excitedly, "How crazy is that?", the first time he couldn't savor the trip because he was constantly dragged by Sierra, however now? He had never felt so free.
"Yeah, it's a big leap from the movie set where everything was fake," Harold said, "What do you think DJ?... DJ?"
"Guys, look at this," said the gentle giant from behind them, "that's a real dog," he said as he looked at a mummified dog, Cody's eyes widened, "poor little guy."
"DJ, we do not have time to cry over a stuffed dog," LeShawna said.
"Hey there, little buddy. Wish I had a biscuit to give you," said DJ raising his hand to pet the mummy dog.
"No," but Cody stopped him holding his hand, "don't touch it, mummies are a sacred thing around here and they usually curse those who desecrate their tombs," the geek told him seriously.
"What!?" said DJ pushing his hand away quickly in fear, he wasn't Trent, but the giant was also very superstitious.
"I would listen to him, I still have bad memories of that cursed idol," LeShawna said, recalling her second trip to the island of bones.
"Okay, maybe touching anything in here is not a good idea, that was a close one," said DJ much more scared of the pyramid than before.
Cody exhaled in relief.
"Look at these hieroglyphics," Harold said near a wall, "it's the same beetle from the entrance, I wonder what it means," he said, reaching out to his hand.
The other three widened their eyes, "No!"
The drawing of the beetle sank slightly into the wall under Harold's fingers.
*Tremble*
The pyramid began to shake and beetles began to rain down on the four of them, Cody, LeShawna and DJ looked at Harold with bored expressions.
"Oops," said the nerd removing his hand from the drawing.
"Harold, honey, you're a fool," LeShawna said in a dead voice.
Confessional.
Harold
"Yes, I messed up, but she called me honey, we are progressing," a beetle ran across her face, "... Take them off!" he said shaking like crazy.
End of confessional.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", the four of them were running to escape the beetles, unknowingly ending up separating.
...
"Dude, how did we lose her? She was in front of us," Owen said as he looked around, after wrapping Izzy in bandages the three of them continued walking, but in an oversight, their unofficial leader disappeared.
"I don't know, that girl defies common sense," Noah said looking around.
They both stopped when they heard footsteps running towards them, "Izzy?"
"No eh... it's the Zeke," Ezequiel said as he paused, catching his breath.
"And where were you? We didn't see you after the race started," Noah asked him.
"I stopped to tie my shoelace and before I least expected it everyone was gone eh," the home-schooled boy said.
"Well, since you're here you can help us find I-."
"Uh What does a button do in the middle of a pyramid?" said Zeke as he pressed a black button on the wall.
A hatch above them opened and threw a ton of heavy bandages at them burying them alive.
"Uff... new rule," Noah said, only his feet and his hand raised were visible, "no one touches anything."
"Got it," Owen said.
*Pffffff*
Then a powerful gas was thrown, "I'm sorry."
"Not again!" shouted Noah.
"Ah! This burns eh!" said Zeke.
...
"It's too steep for me to carry you down," Alejandro said, looking towards the finish line.
"There must be an easier way," Bridgette said. Then he noticed the 'you are here' sign at the top of the pyramid with them, "I'm a surfer, I can surf," she said as she pulled the sign.
As she did that, a tired Tyler finally made it to the top, "me too," he said.
*Blow*
"Ouch!" Bridgette slapped him on the chin unintentionally as she pulled out the sign. The athlete was falling down again when a hand held him by his red shawl.
"I've got you," Lindsay said.
The athlete smiled, "thank you Lindsay," he said as she helped him up.
"I'm sorry Tyler," Bridgette apologized.
"No problem," he said, standing in front of the descent, "let's hurry up to be the first."
"That's the spirit," Bridgette said as she patted him on the back.
"Woaaaaaah! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!", the obvious happened and Tyler began to fall step by step on the other side of the pyramid while Alejandro, Bridgette and Lindsay grimaced with each step he hit.
"I'M SORRY!" cried Bridgette guiltily.
"I'M FINE!"
*Blow*
"¡OUCH!", not really.
Confessional.
Bridgette
"I feel so embarrassed, sometimes I'm too clumsy when I'm on land, I think being out for a whole season could have made me rust a little bit," she said guilty.
Alejandro
"hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, hahahahaha, ha… pff, hahahahahahahahahahahaha".
End of confessional.
...
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", Heather, and Sierra screamed as a real mummy walked towards them.
"Girls, girls, does anyone want to mummify with me? This is so fun hahahahaha."
"Wait a minute, I know that psychopathic way of talking," Heather said, "Izzy!"
The mummy threw herself on top of her giving her a big hug, "hello honey, did you miss me? What am I saying? Of course you missed me," Izzy said affectionately.
Heather for her part had a disgusted grimace, "Izzy, you're wrapped in the bandages of a corpse! Take that off right away!" scolded Heather, undoing the hug and trying to pull the bandages around her girlfriend.
"Oh~ Do you want to undress me~? Right now~? Who am I to refuse~? Hahahahaha," Izzy laughed as she began to move.
"Stand still!" the queen bee said to her with a red face.
"Woah!"
The two collided and when Heather got up she was entangled with Izzy.
The queen bee tried to break free, but she couldn't break the bandages, "Why are these things so strong?"
"Well, they were made to wrap someone around for centuries, so we can assume it's 100% Egyptian cotton," Izzy said next to her face.
"Sierra help us," Heather said, but the crazy fan wasn't there, she ran away when Izzy showed up and no one noticed, "great, now what?" said the queen bee.
"...Do you want to go to a dark corner of the pyramid?" asked Izzy caressing her leg mischievously.
Heather actually went silent and her face turned while considering it, but then shook her head to clear her thoughts, "no, challenge first, nonsense later," she said as she walked dragging Izzy with her.
Confessional.
Izzy
She snapped her fingers, "damn, almost."
Sierra
"I should have known that this was not a real mummy," she said embarrassedly.
End of confessional.
...
"AHHHHH!".
*Blow*
"Ouch!" Tyler landed right at Chris's feet.
"Congratulations Tyler, you are the first," the presenter congratulated him.
"¡Y-yeah!", raised a temblorous arm.
"AHHHHHHH!", DJ ran out of the pyramid with Sierra on his shoulders covering his eyes by accident, both screaming in fear as they passed Tyler and Chris.
"DJ! We are out of the pyramid! We did it!" said the violet-haired woman.
"We did it?" he asked, raising one of Sierra's hands and looking around, "hahaha, we did it."
"DJ, Sierra, you're both on the first team, stand over there," Chris said.
"¡Woo hoo!", said Lindsay.
"Here we come!" said Bridgette.
She, Alejandro and Lindsay standing on her shoulders, came sliding from the top of the pyramid.
"Hahaha, that was fun," Lindsay said happily.
"Definitely," agreed the other blonde.
"Ladies, after you," Alejandro said kindly.
"Hey Tyler, let me help you," Lindsay told him as she grabbed him by his shawl and dragged him with them.
She and Bridgette met with DJ and Sierra.
Alejandro followed them, "not so fast", but Chris stopped him, "This season, three teams! Bridgette, Lindsay and Tyler round out team one," he put a hand on his shoulder, "Alejandro, you're the first member of team two, which means you get...," he said pointing to the exit of the pyramid.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", a huge ball of bandages rolled out of the pyramid, Alejandro's eyes widened.
*Crash*
"Phew," the ball crashed into him disarming, there were limbs of Owen, Noah, Zeke, LeShawna and Harold scattered everywhere.
"I think I'm going to throw up," Noah said dizzy and green.
"I've already done it," Harold said, surrounded by his own vomit.
"Haha, how about it, a whole full lineup in one go, you will all be on team two with Alejandro," Chris said.
"Yeah!" said LeShawna, barely conscious.
"That's... wonderful," Alejandro said in a stiff voice, the only thing that could be seen of him was a hand that squeezed the air as if he wanted to strangle something.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Maldito montón de idiotas, fracasados, *beep*, incompetentes, *beep, beep, beeeeeeep*!"
End of confessional.
Heather and Izzy left the pyramid as best they could in the position they were in, "What were you two doing?" asked Bridgette mockingly and suggestively, the others laughed in the background when they saw the two girls trapped.
"Wow, that's embarrassing," said Owen, who was also still tangled.
"Shut up all of you! I'll kill that asks!" promised Heather.
"Damn, what happened to you two?" asked Cody coming out of the pyramid, he took his hands out of his pockets and some beetles fell to the ground and ran away, then he shook his head and one more fell by his hair.
Heather turned around with murderous intent at having one of the reasons for her irritation at her fingertips.
"Hi Cody! Look! I'm a mummy! Don't you want to unwrap me~?" Izzy offered.
"Run away Cody! Heather wants to kill you! Again!" Lindsay warned him.
"Well, she'll have to catch me first," the geek said humorously as his angry girlfriend tried to reach him with her arms.
"Screw you, loser!" she said without being able to reach him, "just wait for me to put my hands on you."
"Now, now, if you kill me I won't be able to get you out of this entanglement," Cody said as he approached them from the side.
His bad joke only made her snort, "pff, good luck, we've already tried everything," she said annoyed.
Cody took the end of the bandage sticking out of the space between them, "I guess there's nothing I can do then."
*Pull*
"Woah!", both fell to the ground when the bandage came loose.
"Or maybe I do," smiled the geek.
Confessional.
Sierra
"AHHHHHHH~!".
*Fall*
She fainted with emotion.
End of confessional.
"Hahahahaha, we're free," Izzy said as she stood up and hugged the geek by kissing his cheek several times.
"I hate my life," Heather complained from the ground.
Sierra bit her fingers in frustration.
...
POV. Cody
As Izzy gave me a warm hug and pressed her rough lips on my cheek several times, Chris walked up to us, "Cody, Izzy and Heather all three will be on Team 3," the host warned us.
"Owww, we're not going to be on the same team again," Lindsay was saddened. Now that I look at the teams undergoing a realignment, it seems that only our team maintains its original lineup.
"Yes, but it'll be like one of those forbidden love novels," Izzy said trying to cheer her up, "where we sneak away from everyone in the cargo zone and *beep*, I put my hands on your *beep* while you use your finger to *beep* my *beep* at the same time as both *beep* our *beep* with a lot of passion until *beep* completely," she said while making suggestive gestures.
The face they all made was priceless, it seemed strange to me that Izzy hadn't said anything completely reprehensible at this point.
I think the one who had it worst was Lindsay who trembled with her face burning while Izzy explicitly said in front of everyone, all the things she wanted to do to her.
It was definitely not a good idea to let her see those magazines.
"Alright, alright, I get it! You can stop now!" Lindsay begged her, about to cry with embarrassment.
Confessional.
Lindsay
"I had never imagined myself in a relationship with a girl, but having this with Izzy has been a very, very pleasant experience, she may be crazy and say a lot of inappropriate things in public most of the time, but she is always very affectionate with me and is always supporting me, I can't help but love that curly redhead ball of nerves."
Izzy
"Lindsay is a huge, soft and sweet, very sweet! Hot and sexy hottie, what other reason do I need to want screw her like I was a power drill?
End of confessional.
Chris wiped the blood from his nose surreptitiously, "Okay, first of all, you didn't need to be so detailed, we're on TV. And second, where are those who are missing?"
...
POV. Third person
"I'm telling you, we need to untie!" complained Gwen from the top of the pyramid.
"And I'm telling you it's unsafe! I'm in charge, and...," Courtney said.
...
POV. Cody
Chris picked up his megaphone.
*Ding, ding, ding*
"It's time for whoever's not finished yet to give us a little musical reprise."
"You said one song per episode!" shouted Duncan irritably from the top.
"Yeah, and this is a reprise! Not a new song. So if you don't sing, you're out! Now let's hear it."
"You know what!? No!" Duncan said, then began to descend dragging Gwen and Courtney behind him banging their butts with each step, "no, no... No, no, no, no, no. Three hours of these two squawking on this stupid pyramid in this stupid heat, and you want me to sing? Forget it!" said Duncan angrily.
"Dude, you have a contract," Chris said.
"Eat it, McLean! If you need me, I'll be in the plane waiting for a ride home because I'm out," he said, pulling out his knife and cutting the rope that bound him to Gwen and Courtney, literally and figuratively, "I quit!"
Both girls gasped in surprise as I walked past them. Courtney looked very indignant, while Gwen, she was disappointed.
I sighed, walked to the pair on the ground, grabbed them by the collar of their clothes and stood them up with an ease that surprised both of them, (I would swear they were heavier), "it looks like we'll be on the same team, third team together huh?", I said wrapping the neck of both of them amicably, even if I don't like their situation, they are still my friends.
It's funny that I'm now slightly taller than Gwen.
She smiled genuinely, "yeah, third team together."
"I can't believe he really left," Courtney said dumbfounded as she watched Duncan retire to the plane, "he didn't even consulted it with me, he just left," it seems that she still didn't fully process it.
"He was going to explode sooner or later... it seems that it was sooner rather than later," was all I told her.
She looked at me and smiled slightly, "It's the first time we're going to be on the same team, isn't it?"
"Uh... Now that you mention it, yeah... weird," I said thinking about it a little.
"Too bad it's not all good news," she said, looking at Heather rolling her eyes.
The queen bee stuck out her tongue in such a mature way.
I felt like I was easily grabbed and picked up, "Yes! Three of the top four finalists back together!" said Izzy hugging us with emotion.
"Yeah, yeah, what a joy, now put me down so I can breathe again," Courtney complained.
...
After that the three teams met with our groups.
"Okay competitors, now I'll proceed to name your teams," Chris said.
My eyes widened, Chris is going to name the teams?
Chef brought three closed boxes in a cart which moved around a lot.
"Team one, from now on they will be known as... the Migratory Seagulls or team Kevin," said the host.
One of the boxes opened and something flew out, "(Freedom! Those boxes don't have breathing holes)."
"Kevin?" I asked in surprise.
It stood on Tyler's head, "(the one and only)."
"Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh!" said a super excited Sierra, "one of the most iconic animals on the show and one of Cody's mascots," she said on the verge of drooling.
"(Ew, that ape is angry, I'm leaving)."
"Come back! I have peanuts!" cried Sierra.
Confessional.
Sierra
"I ended up on a team where Cody isn't, and worse, I ended up on a team where Cody isn't and Heather and Izzy did, oh those ivies just planted more and more of their roots in Cody's naïve head. My only consolation is that Lindsay is here so I can reach out to her and convince her to end this. Can you imagine if I had been on a team with that Alejandro? Look, I'm the number one Total Drama super fan. It says so right in my blog. But Alejandro? He's never even been on TV before. I've never seen him in QT Monthly. I do not know what these girls see in him. They're loco."
End of confessional.
"Team two, now it's going to be the Prairie Dogs or team Butchie," Chris said.
Another of the boxes fell to the ground and something was buried in the sand, a lump went to the named team that looked on with surprised faces.
*Bite*
"Ouch!", Butchie came out of the ground and bit Harold on the foot, "Gosh!".
"(This is all my territory! You are invaders! Get out before I release the worms! They'll eat you alive!)"
"Aw, Butchie, you're still as charming as ever," Izzy said.
"And finally team three, you ladies will be the Wild Cats or Team Dennis," Chris said.
"Hey," I complained, I expected it, but it still offends. The last box did not react, in fact, it did not even move, I approached and opened it to see inside. I rolled my eyes, "Why am I not surprised?", she was asleep, she looked incredibly adorable, but she was still asleep.
"Did you really name the teams after those vermin? You? But you hate them," Gwen said.
"Yeah... about that, I lost a bet," said the host with a frown.
"What kind of bet?" Noah asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chris began to reminisce.
~0~
POV. Third person
Chris was sitting at a poker table just in his underwear, "watch and cry, gentlemen," he said as he put his cards on the table, with him were Sasquatchanakwa, one of the show's many bears, the raccoons and Cody's three plagues, "come to papa," he said as he tried to get his hands on the pile of money that also had his clothes.
"Squawk," Kevin spat out a set of cards that he was choking on.
"What? I lose again?" said Chris upon seeing the letters, "I don't have anything to offer anymore," said the man in his underpants.
*Fall*
A contract with what appeared to be scribbles, scratches, and paw prints was placed on the table in front of him.
Chis narrowed his eyes, "I don't know what's written there, but Chris McLean is not a man who sells himself," he said crossing his arms haughtily.
-0-
POV. Cody
"The kind you should never do unless you know how to read animal," Chris said with a frown, "anyway, they will be the representative animals that will accompany your teams sometimes, but they are not your responsibility, so it doesn't matter if a crocodile eats them by accident hahahahaha," the three animals looked at the host with hatred, "They can be regarded as good luck charms."
"Great," Heather said, rolling her eyes sarcastically.
"And here are your rewards, Wild Cats, you win a camel," Chris said. Izzy clapped her hands enthusiastically, the other three had no idea what the camel was for, "Seagulls, you win a goat."
*Blow*
"Uff," the goat hit Tyler in the nuts.
"Aww, she's so cute," Lindsay said.
"Team Butchie, here you go," Chris said, showing them a stick.
"The other teams get a camel and a goat, and we get a stick?" complained LeShawna.
Wow, didn't expect that the order of the rewards would also change, either the branch is chasing Zeke to get him removed first, or it was always meant for the team with the most members.
"All we be explained if I feel like it. Next time right here on Total… Drama… World tour~!" sang Chris pausing later to end the first episode, "well let's move on."
Alejandro took the branch and rubbed his chin while thinking, I didn't miss the smile he put on later, the damn man immediately realized what it was for. That's one of the things that worries me the most about him. He's very smart and cunning, not to mention adaptable, even if I have an advantage, he could flip things at any time.
I'm lucky that so far he hasn't focused on me, I didn't know who he was going to team up with after all, but now that that's fixed he's starting to look for ways to destabilize us.
I clenched my fist.
Well, let him do it, two of us are playing this game.
Chris put our rewards on the mats of the teams, at least the colors remained the same.
"Ooh~, look. Team colors!" said Izzy.
As the others argued and Chris explained the challenge, I approached someone I hadn't seen in years, and stroked her prominent snout, "Hi Ruby, it's been a long time," I said to the camel wistfully.
Yeah, last time she smeared my face with her excrement, but that wasn't necessarily her fault.
She looked at me with intrigue in her bored eyes, "(huh... Do I know you?)".
"Not for now, but you will."
She chewed again indifferently, "(if you say so, you're a very strange human)."
"(Super strange)," Dennis climbed to Ruby's head, "(Now can you fully understand us?)"
"You could say I had a little help," I replied to the kitten.
"(Hmm... you're full of surprises)," she said, looking at me with a sadistic cat smile, "(by the way, listen)," she pointed with her paw behind me.
"A'ight. Nile's that-a-way," Chris said, pointing in a random direction of the desert, "Kinda big, blue, and watery. Can't miss it. Or I guess you can, but then you'll die," how encouraging, "Probably get killed by the local scarab beetles. It's mating season and they get all... kill-y when they're in heat."
"Izzy too," I said, remembering the scratches she left on my back when she stayed at my house.
"Hahahahahaha," she just laughed.
"I am glad there aren't any out here. Those things are nasty," LeShawna said.
"I'll tell them you said so," Chris said while pointing to Chef.
The cook laid down a huge Egyptian ornamental vase, hundreds if not thousands of beetles came out of there scaring everyone.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", we all gathered in our teams while the beetles surrounded us. I don't even want to think what those little vermin are saying.
"Hahahahaha," Chris was laughing at us.
*Ding, ding*
"Ooh! Time for a song! Think of it as a mini challenge. Music can soothe the savage mate-seeking scarabs, so make up a good song and maybe they won't kill ya. Or don't and get disqualified like Duncan."
"Yay!" said Izzy as the rest protested.
Musical moment.
Cody, Noah, Tyler, DJ and Alejandro lined up and snapped their fingers, the song was started by Al.
Alejandro: "No need to get crazy~... It's lovin' time at laaaast~", the others were wiggling in the background.
Guys: "You don't wanna eat us up~."
Owen: "We're mostly full of gas~", the beetles began climbing him, "No, no~!"
Heather, Courtney, and Gwen: "It's mating time for scarabs~."
LeShawna: "So what you waiting on~?", brought two beetles closer to each other.
Izzy: "Just ignore us huuuumans~", she had a beetle in her hand.
Cody: "Oh~, oh~".
Everyone: "And make out 'til the break of dawn~".
Girls: "It's lovin' time~, lovin' time~".
Alejandro: "Scarab mating season~".
Gwen, Heather, and Courtney: "It's lovin' time~."
Izzy: "We have to show them how is done~", she jumped on Cody lovingly.
Cody: "Oh-oh~".
Girls: "It's lovin' time~".
Alejandro: "Scarabs… get busy now~".
Harold: "It's lovin' tiiiime~"
Girls: "It's lovin' time~"
All: "Scarab mating season~".
Cody: "It's lovin' time~", he gave Lindsay a hug that made her happy.
Girls: "It's lovin' time~, lovin' time~".
Everyone: "Scarab mating season~", they tried to sneak away.
"Seasonal, eh?" Zeke said cutting the song, "no, wait," he said alarmed.
End of the musical moment.
The beetles came out of their song-induced reverie and were now angrier than ever.
Neat.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", we all screamed and ran away, my companions threw themselves on Ruby's back like... well, scared cats.
"Wow," Izzy was surprised when I climbed up behind her and crushed her a bit as I approached the camel's ear.
"Ruby, take us to the Nile please," I whispered in her ear.
"(If that's what you want)," he said, starting to move.
"Wow, we're moving," Izzy said straightening up only to then lean her back against me and look me headfirst, "Do you speak camel?" she asked intrigued.
"Oh... you don't?" I asked him back.
She blinked a couple of times, "touché".
"Nice one. Go!" Chris said.
*BEEPPPP*
Then his horn sounded, officially starting the challenge. The three teams separated on the way to the desert.
...
The Wild Cats were heading straight for the Nile, of course only I knew, "Come on, camel. Faster!", otherwise Courtney wouldn't try to rush us.
"(This is as fast as I can go)," Ruby replied.
"That is not how you talk to a camel," Heather said, "Ahem! Freakin' move it!"
"(Sorry, I hadn't noticed I was still)", Is it my idea or does this camel remind me of someone sarcastic I know?
"Much better," Gwen said to the queen bee sarcastically.
"Shh, guys. Keep it down, okay? I'm trying to tell her a fairy tale," Izzy said, then began making camel noises.
"(Meh, I've heard better)."
"Are we going in the right direction?" asked Heather.
"Camels know where to look for water when they're thirsty," I said, "just let Ruby go on her way and take us to the Nile."
The other two teams were not in sight, the Seagulls did not have the precision to ride the goat and although Alejandro could have followed us, that would only be in case he was alone. Plus he has no idea that I know the right direction.
"Ruby? Did you really name it?" asked Gwen.
"Well, it's a nice name," Courtney said.
"Too bad this girl isn't a gem in the slightest," Heather said, looking at the flies on the camel's butt.
...
POV. Alejandro
My team and I were walking through the desert, after fleeing from the beetles we were faced with the first of the many flaws I had already noticed in my team.
I shook my head as I looked at everyone lying on the hot sand.
"Get up, the dry sand will only dehydrate you faster," I told them.
"I think... that I became one with the sand," Harold said without being able to get up.
I hit my forehead.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Pros and cons of my team, pro, they are all naïve and easy to persuade, con, they all lack physical condition," he finished bitterly.
End of confessional.
"Do not give up, señorita and gentlemen. Fortune always smiles on the brave, you should never throw in the towel until you finish and when you start, just think about how refreshing it will be when we reach the river, that flowing fresh water."
"I see it," Noah said dreamily.
"The palm trees that provide pleasant shades."
"I could use one of those," LeShawna said wearily.
"Then rise up, mis hombres, because these prairie dogs will not be defeated by a little sand," I finished dramatically.
"Yeah!"
"Wow, this guy makes me want to blindly follow him and swear absolute loyalty to him huh," Zeke said.
"I know, me too, Al is the best! Al, Al, Al, Al," gave me a chill when Owen started chanting that.
"Al, Al, Al, Al, Al," and unfortunately for me the others followed the gordo.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"I have no problem with people calling me Al," despite saying that, he shuddered.
End of confessional.
Now that the others have risen, we begin to walk through the barren and burning desierto. Looking for the other two teams didn't make any sense at the moment, so for now I'll let them savor their small advantage, that will make them confident little by little.
"Agh, do we at least know if we're going in the right direction?" asked LeShawna.
I couldn't help but let a twisted smile take over my lips for a moment, "Have some faith, señorita, if the noble beasts of this desert can use their instinct to find water, maybe we can do the same."
"What? Are you some kind of human camel or something?" asked Noah sarcastically.
"Oh something like that, my friend," if any of them were in front of me, maybe they would have noticed the branch in my hands pointing in a specific direction. Oh poor ignorant people.
Cockpit confessional.
Alejandro
"So every reward has its advantages and disadvantages, huh? Very cunning Chris. By the way, you're doing a magnificent job flying this plane," he told the cook-pilot.
"Who, me? Nah...", said the chef flattered.
"Now now, don't blush. It's true."
End of the Cockpit confessional..
Confessional.
Noah
"Alejandro intends to take us through the desert until we find the river by accident? Either he is not as smart as he seems or there's something fishy here," he said suspiciously
End of confessional.
...
POV. Sierra
"So Lindsay, I heard there were a lot of handsome guys when you were in France, it must have been nice to have to choose from, right? Come on, tell me what doesn't appear on camera, how many you were with? I promise you this won't get out of here."
We were walking through the desert a little lost, we had no way of knowing where the Nile is. But I wasn't worried, statistically there was a 40% chance that someone would come up with something that would get us out of this problem and that would be an absurd idea, 45% that the Nile is not as far away as Chris made us believe and a 15% chance that we would run into the river by accident.
Also, at this moment there were more important things, like finding any dirt that Lindsay is hiding from Cody that I'm not imagining out of desperation! It is impossible that she has not done something shady in the long period of pause where she spent in a foreign country playing with little Frenchmen.
Lindsay may seem innocent but based on her clothes, flirtatious and very daring way of being, she is actually a big horny pervert.
Do you really expect me to believe that she didn't do something to vent by not having Cody, Izzy, and Heather around? It smells suspicious to me (and no, I'm not being paranoid because I want her to break up with him, my whole approach has solid foundations).
"Hahahahaha, it was nice to know that we've become famous all over the world," Lindsay said, "but don't be silly, I have a boyfriend, it was actually a bit suffocating that all those guys bothered me and Beth during the trip, I couldn't find the big green lady because of that, just that huge tower where we took some pictures," Shoot!
"Are we near the river yet?" asked DJ in front of us.
"I don't know, but this sun is very sweltering," Bridgette said as she fanned herself, the desert must be harsh for a surfer, "How's the goat, Tyler?"
"Bad goat, give me back my bandana!" said Tyler as he circled after the goat that stole the bandana from his head and chewed it.
"Aww, they're playing together, how cute," Lindsay said.
"Got you!", wow, he got it, but isn't this the moment when-?, "Woah!", oh the goat started dragging him away from the group, it doesn't matter.
"Tyler! Where are you going!?" shouted DJ.
"What do I know!?" the athlete shouted as he walked away.
Lindsay gasped, "maybe the goat is thirsty and is looking for the river," you see, I told you it would be absurd.
"Well, we need to get them back anyway, let's go get that goat... oh and Tyler," Bridgette said.
...
POV. Cody
Ruby finally stopped, " I can't believe it," Heather said, the four girls staring in amazement at the huge river in front of us.
"Did this bag of farts and poop really bring us to the river?" said Gwen dumbfounded.
"(I'm more than a bag of farts and poop, there's also milk)."
Chris was standing by the finish line on the other side of the river saying something, but because he was so far away we couldn't hear him.
"What!?" They all shouted, I smiled and covered my ears.
"I SAID, WELCOME TO THE THIRD AND FINAL EGYPTIAN CHALLENGE, BASKET CASES!", the host shouted into his megaphone, "EACH TEAM MUST WEAVE A BASKET OF RIVER REEDS. YOUR BASKET HAS TO BE BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD YOUR WHOLE TEAM, INCLUDING YOUR REWARD FROM THE LAST CHALLENGE. A.K.A. RUBY THE CAMEL!", the four of them looked at the camel that was not at all light, "THEN YOU'RE GONNA USE THE BASKETS TO GET AWAY WITH WHOSE OARS TO ROW YOURSELVES ACROSS THE FINISH LINE. FIRST TEAM ACROSS FLIES FIRST CLASS TO OUR NEXT DESTINATION!".
"Do any of you know how to weave baskets?" asked Heather, none of the other girls raised their hands.
"I know how to weave hot air balloons, boat sails, and opera stage curtains, but not baskets," Izzy said with a shrug.
Confessional.
Heather
"Four girls in one team! And none of them know how to knit? That's pathetic!" said the queen bee.
Courtney
"Great, I was only taught how to inflate rubber rafts, not how to weave navigable baskets."
End of confessional.
I stretched out my arms, well, it's time to apply one of the few things Sierra taught me that is useful, ironically.
"Izzy, Courtney, bring reeds, as many as you can," I asked them.
"On command," Izzy said, grabbed Courtney's arm and left without question.
"Hey! Let go of me, I can walk!" complained the CIT.
"You know how to knit?" asked Gwen.
"Why am I not surprised?" said Heather.
"Yeah, and you two are going to help me," I told them. I can't knit at Sierra's monstrous speed and even doing it alone would take me a long time, but my number one fan made sure she hammered all the concepts into my head.
"What if you get trapped on a deserted island with nothing but reeds?".
That was his excuse to spend more time with me before she went to All Stars.
At the moment we have a time advantage so we can achieve it without Heather having to make the stupid mistake of bringing Sierra into the team (I think my desperation with that idea is a little noticeable).
Last time, Sierra came for a host of reasons, the first being her friendship with Izzy in which they both wanted to be with the person they liked, and Heather wanted Sierra because she believed she was the only one she could trick into helping her at this point (ironically Sierra knew her intentions), the other reasons were because she wanted to use her knowledge of everyone while taking it away from Alejandro, preventing the two new ones from joining in an alliance and because she was Chris's bootlicker.
However, the latter was rendered useless by Alejandro in New York when he made Chris sick of Sierra. Which bothers me a lot since because of that Sierra tormented me for nothing. And since she still was useful to Heather, she didn't eliminate her all at once, as it was one less vote against her, especially after Courtney and Gwen formed a friendship based on their mutual hatred for the queen bee.
However, now it's different, all factors are useless, Izzy doesn't have a reason to leave, Heather doesn't need her, she's not with Alejandro and the licking of Chris' boots will probably be disabled by Alejandro again.
So you can imagine my excitement and relief right now.
"Here are the reeds," Izzy said bringing a large amount with Courtney.
"Well, come on you two too," I said smiling, took a couple of reeds, "pay attention because I'll only say it once, that's how it's done."
...
POV. Third person
Alejandro and his party reached the Nile.
"I can't believe it, we actually did," LeShawna said in surprise.
"Vamos, I told you to have faith in me," Alejandro said.
"I will never doubt you again, my friend," Harold said.
"Neither do I, ever, ever," Zeke said.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Keeping the truth about the stick a secret so that everyone may believe that I will save them? This game is a piece of cake," he said smiling sadistically.
End of confessional
"Wow Al! That was awesome!" said Owen with total admiration.
Confessional.
Owen
"Al is like Justin, but with super powers, he is sensation-Al."
Alejandro
"That's not my name, damn butter barrel!" he shouted, losing his temper.
End of confessional
The team Butchie arrived to see the Wild Cats with a half-made basket, Cody is the fastest mover.
"The next challenge I guess," said the handsome Latino.
"What a pity, we have a big advantage over you," Heather scoffed.
"Oh, it doesn't bother me, I think it wouldn't be a loss to be beaten by such lovely girls," Alejandro said gallantly.
Heather grimaced, "Take your compliments and stuff them right in your behind!" she replied violently.
"You're badass Heather... I think that's sexy in a girl," said the heartthrob.
"Why you-!?"
"Heather! Stop arguing with that handsome man and keep knitting!" shouted Izzy.
The queen bee gritted her teeth with a growl as she returned to work.
She looked at Cody who had not stopped knitting, had not said anything, just watched in silence as everything unfolded.
Heather was upset, not that she wants someone else to defend her, but she would have liked him to at least say something to Alejandro.
The Latino smiled discreetly at this.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"I don't know if I can really earn Heather's trust, but that doesn't mean I can't use her in another way, it's so easy to push her buttons after all."
End of confessional.
Cody was well aware of Al's intentions, he was trying to gauge him while also creating animosity between him and Heather. That's why he didn't react by making a scene, even if Heather is offended he can talk to her later, it's better not to give Alejandro a clear idea of his thoughts, because that would be falling squarely into his psychological traps, there are still things he doesn't know about Cody after all, and that's what he's looking for while using Heather as an alibi.
This is a long-term and short-term battle on all fronts, where every action, no matter how minimal, is an important move.
...
The Seagulls finally caught up with her goat, and just as Lindsay said she was looking for water, the problem is that it wasn't the kind of water they needed.
"A cactus? Really?" said Bridgette looking at the goat eating from a cactus.
"Owwww, sorry guys, I think I was wrong," Lindsay said.
"Oh don't feel bad," Sierra said, "even though... on the other hand, Cody would never be wrong like that, I wonder what he would think if he sees that you keep making so many mistakes? Because you were supposed to be getting better, weren't you?" she said dramatically as if she were talking to herself.
Lindsay gasped worriedly.
Confessional.
Lindsay
"He wouldn't be disappointed... Would he?" she asked doubtfully.
End of confessional.
DJ put a hand on Lindsay's back, "Don't worry, I'm sure Cody-".
"Hey DJ there's a snake near your foot," Sierra said hurriedly.
"Snake!? Where!?" said DJ in panic, jumping into Lindsay's arms.
"Squawk."
Bridgette covered her eyes as she looked at the sky, Kevin flying in circles.
"Kevin?" the surfer said.
"Maybe he's waiting for us to kick the bucket to eat us," Tyler said on the ground.
Kevin stopped circling and chose a random direction, "wait a minute, Kevin is a seagull, and seagulls are seabirds, he must know where the river is," Bridgette said noticing that.
"Everybody follow that seagull!" said Sierra, pointing her finger.
-0-
Back on the Nile, the other two teams had already made a breakthrough with their baskets, the Wild Cats were close to finishing and the prairie dogs were already more than halfway through.
"Is anyone else happy that LeShawna knows how to knit?" said the big sister.
"I'm pretty happy," Alejandro said, LeShawna blushing slightly.
"So am I," Harold said, but he was being ignored for the most part.
This was the sight that the Seagulls received when they arrived at the Nile.
"Lindsay!" said Izzy excitedly as she went to hug the girl.
"Yes! We did it," Lindsay said happily returning the hug to her redhead.
"Do we have to weave baskets?" said Tyler looking at the other two teams.
Sierra gasped and ran to the Cats basket, "Hey!" complained Courtney as Sierra began to grope her work.
"This braiding, this symmetrical finish, these fine edges, who is the author of such a work of art?" she asked about to drool.
"Cody," Courtney and Gwen said at the same time.
Cody made the gesture of don't say anything behind Sierra, but he hit his face when they said it anyway.
Sierra turned around slowly, her mouth open, panting rapidly.
Cockpit confessional.
Sierra
"Is Cody a fourth generation basket weaver? Can you be more perfect than that!?"
"Ask him to fly a plane with no experience at all, that's amazing," the chef said.
End of the Cockpit confessional.
"The other teams are far ahead of us," said DJ.
"I've braided all my friends' hair," Lindsay said, "I think I can-."
"Leave it to me!" said Sierra more motivated than ever, "I'm fourth generation basket weaver!" she said, taking a pile of reeds, and with a monstrously impossible speed she began to weave a basket at the speed of light.
The other teams looked at this in utter disbelief, "What the hell?" said Heather with wide eyes.
Confessional.
Sierra
"If an A-grade basket weaver is what Cody wants, I can be that weaver."
End of confessional.
The geek shuddered, Sierra was very much like a spider, she could spin cocoons to catch her favorite prey. Helpless-looking boys, that girl was totally a predator.
He shook his head, "It's ready!" he said, it was different from the previous time, but it was more than functional.
"Quick, everybody on board," Courtney said.
"Izzy, bring Ruby now!" Heather called her.
"Goodbye my beloved! The sea is calling me!" said the redhead dramatically while kissing Lindsay's hand making her blush, but then he pulled her hand and gave her a deep and passionate kiss on the lips that temporarily stunned the blonde, "hahahahahaha", then jumped on Ruby's back, "(come on mate the adventure on the high seas awaits us)", she speaked in camel.
"(Today they have made me move more than in my entire life)", Ruby boarded the boat and the Wild Cats began to navigate the river.
"Done!", the other two teams also finished their baskets.
"Quick, everyone get on, we have to catch up with those Cats," Noah said.
"Come on Tyler, get in the basket," Sierra said.
"Here I come!" he made a great Olympic leap.
*Splash*
And he missed the basket, DJ pulled him out of the water as they passed.
"Quick! We all row, we can still come back!" said Bridgette.
Chris and Chef relaxed by the finish line as they watched the teams sail towards them.
"Watch them sail," Chef said.
"Well now. Clearly this part of the challenge isn't hard enough," Chris said, "so..."
*Ding, ding*
"Time for a musical reprise!" said the diabolical little man. Everyone in the three baskets protested, "Hey, if you'd finished the song the first time, you wouldn't be here now. Zeke," his entire team looked at him, "Start singing! And put your backs into it."
Musical moment.
"Deep growl," everyone turned pale when crocodiles appeared in the river.
"(We're dead)," said the goat in DJ's arms.
Alejandro: "Uhm~, uhm~, crocodile amigos~, what you swarmin' foooor~?", he sang with fear.
Courtney: "We don't mean to bug you~"
Gwen: "Please let us reach the shore~," she begged.
Ruby: "Uh-uh~".
Lindsay: "These crocs are gettin' killy~"
Harold: "Just bop 'em on the nose~... I learned that in Muskrat Boys~, It vanquishes all foes~," he sang as LeShawna punched one in the face.
Alejandro: "It's rowin' time~!".
Wild Cats: "Vanquishin', vanquishin'~".
All: "Crocodile season~.
DJ: "It's rowin' time~".
Seagulls: "Crocodiles, crocodiles~".
Sierra: "We will get out of this alive, I tell you~".
Cody: "Yeah, it's rowin' time~"
Gatitas: "Rowin' time, rowin' time~".
Izzy: "Give me a kiss I beg you~", she kissed her boyfriend passionately.
Alejandro: "It's rowin' time~"
Wild Cats: "Rowing, rowing~", their basket touched land.
Cody: "It's time~, oh, ohhhhh~!", Cody sang.
Wild Cats: "For the Wild Cats… to win~"
End of the musical moment.
POV. Cody
"Yeah!", my team celebrated having arrived first. Izzy rushed in to give Heather some love in the form of many kisses to her utter embarrassment.
"Congrats. You're alive," Chris said, "And since all teams brought their rewards across the finish line, there will be no elimination tonight."
The other two teams were happy about this, as Alejandro kept the branch all the time, Zeke couldn't give it to the crocodiles, so this time he avoided being eliminated first, that should be enough to prevent him from going feral, despite being one of the most exaggerated cases, it could actually be easily solved, just the first step had to be avoided, which was his elimination.
A lot of things started out differently this season, I hope the butterfly effect doesn't destroy everything I know, that would be very problematic.
-0-
When we got back on the plane Chris took us straight to the elimination ceremony, which confused several.
"Ah... I thought you said there would be no elimination this time," Courtney said.
"I did, but it would be disappointing not to kick someone out in the first challenge," Chris said as he dropped a parachute to Duncan who was waiting leaning on one of the big tikis.
The criminal caught the parachute with a surprised face, "What? No, no, no, no. You're supposed to give me a ride home," he protested.
"Yeah, but... we're going the other way, so...", Chris said pointing to the door.
"You'll pay me for this one," Duncan warned him as he walked.
"Before you jump, any last words?" scoffed Chris.
"No, none," Duncan said sullenly.
Beside me, Courtney folded her arms with a disappointed expression.
"Come on, anything you want to say to someone specific...?" insisted Chris, pointing at us.
Duncan looked at us and sighed, "I guess so," Courtney perked up, "Harold wet his pants on the bus."
"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone! Gosh!" the nerd shouted as some looked at him with disgust.
"Hahahahahahahaha," Duncan laughed, while Courtney deflated in disappointment.
"Well, I tried," Chris said.
*Push*
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" then pushed Duncan out the door and closed it.
"Hahahahaha, I love my job, Wild Cats, you will enjoy first class until our next destination," said Chris, the girls, except Courtney, were excited, "Seagulls and Prairie Dogs, you have economic class."
"Owwww".
-0-
POV. Third person.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Most alpha girls on the same team with Cody, and Sierra and Lindsay on the other, it may seem like things are balanced, but I have the upper hand, the crazy Total Drama fan? She doesn't know a thing about me. No one does. And I intend to keep it that way. Because compared to me, Heather's a saint."
End of confessional.
Chris and chef were in the cockpit, "Oh, finally. A real competitor," said the host, "What beautiful exotic destination will we visit next? Can Owen overcome his fear of flying? What kind of dangers will I throw these kids into next? Who will be the next to be thrown off the plane? I hope it's Zeke, hehehehe, all this and more next week in Total... Drama... World Tour!"
-0-
Economy class at night...
Despite the discomforts, they all fell into a deep sleep due to the exhaustion of the last challenge. All except one person.
A shadow hung over a sleeping Noah, "MM!", the know-it-all woke up surprised when someone covered his mouth so that he would not scream.
...
He was quickly dragged out of economy class to the cargo hold, where he was finally able to see his assailant.
"Sierra?" said the know-it-all in surprise.
"Shhhhhh," the fan made him shut up, she looked both ways in case someone spied on them, but even the animals slept in their cages, she looked at Noah seriously again, "I know you've been looking for answers."
Noah's normally lazy eyes widened in surprise.
"Me too," Sierra pulled a tarp showing a mural of hundreds of photos of Cody and other things tied together with red, blue and green cords that related one thing to another, drawings, theories and other crazy things.
Noah saw all this with stunned surprise, and only one thing came to his brilliant mind, "When did you have time to put all this together?"
"It's not important, the important thing here is that there's a big secret surrounding the person known as Cody and of all the people here you're the second to realize."
"I can't imagine what kind of crazy guy is first," Noah said sarcastically as he looked at the mural.
"Oh, what a typical response from you Noah, hahahaha, but seriously, I've been analyzing Cody and a lot of things about him don't add up," she said.
Noah raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
Sierra pointed to a photo of Cody in the first challenge of the program. He was standing on top of Wawanakwa Mountain in his bathing suit, someone had drawn hearts on the picture, "Cody was never attacked by a bear before the show."
Noah opened his eyes wide, "he also didn't have a lost friend like he told Izzy in the canoe, at school he was a boy who spent his time in the computer room and has never camped in his life, he hasn't made baskets of reeds before, he's never played the guitar, many of the things he says or does are not true!" Sierra said dramatically, "but they are not a lie either, because he has shown that he can do them, it doesn't make any kind of sense!"
Now the painting in front of Noah made much more sense instead of just looking like an unhealthy obsession... No, it still seemed like an unhealthy obsession.
"And how do you know all these things?" the know-it-all wanted to know.
"Oh, I just pretended to be other people and called his family, loved ones, teachers, friends, and everyone who knows him, nothing special," Sierra said.
Noah looked at her dismayed, definitely obsession, "... And what do you think that means?" he asked now really interested in the matter.
"I've put together three theories about it," Sierra said, "the first, Cody developed clairvoyant powers before the competition."
"..."
"..."
"I'm afraid to ask, but what's the second one?" said Noah skeptically.
"This is an imposter who is using the identity of the real Cody," Sierra said.
That sounded more plausible than the first, "And what's the last one?"
Sierra became serious, "this is the most elaborate and also the most likely, Cody is...", Noah waited expectantly for what he was going to say, "...secretly a werewolf!", she said while showing him a drawing of werewolf Cody carrying her, Sierra's face was red and she was almost starting to drool.
"...Is that a theory or a personal request?" said Noah in dismay.
"I'll need your help to test these theories and find out the truth once and for all," Sierra said, ignoring his previous question.
Noah really thought about it, honestly he was already forgetting that secret, but this seemed like a golden opportunity to discover it once and for all, although Sierra seemed to be crazy, "And what do you gain from all this?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh nothing special, I just ask you to help me with something small," she said, "Get those damn opportunistic prettying off my innocent and naïve Cody!" she said violently.
"...What?" said Noah not believing what he heard, "I don't know if you noticed, but I think he's good with them, too good if you ask me."
"Pff, Cody doesn't know what's good for him, he's too naïve and impressionable," Sierra said, "And that's why those three have taken advantage of him! Cody had everything to win on TDI, but he ended up losing because he gave his pass to Izzy! And in the second season he could easily make it to the finals, but he was kicked out because of Lindsay! And don't even get me started on Heather, she doesn't even treat him like someone that amazing he really deserves!"
"What? Placed on a golden pedestal?" said the know-it-all sarcastically.
"Exactly!" said Sierra pointing in his face, "a girl who really loves him would do anything for him to win, for him to be at the top not the other way around, he should be her top priority, but instead they take advantage of his nobility, none of them are worthy of having him."
"... so, what you're saying, is it that in exchange for helping me know the truth, you want me to help you expel them?"
"What? No! I don't want to kick them out, if they leave I won't be able to convince them to break up, what I want is for you to help me persuade them to stay away from Cody."
"... of course... because that does make sense," Noah said with his eyes rolling.
"So what do you say? Will you help me in the name of true love?" Sierra offered her hand with a gloomy smile.
"You know what? You seem to have something solid here," Noah said looking at all the photos, "I'm in," he said shaking her hand.
In her excitement, Sierra didn't see how the know-it-all crossed his fingers behind his back.
Confessional.
Noah
"Like I'm going to help her with something like that, Izzy and Cody are my friends and that redhead would kill me if she found out. Besides, Sierra is crazy. At least that way I'll keep an eye on her while I discover the truth, you owe me a very big one for this Cody," he said pointing to the camera.
End of confessional.