Jamaica Me Sweat
POV. Cody
"Woo hoo~, come on Cody, sit here with me," Izzy asked me.
"Eh... Izzy, I don't think this is safe," I said fearfully as I shuffled across the flat surface of the Jumbo jet's top. How do we end up standing on top of the plane and why isn't the wind sending us flying? I'm not understanding anything.
Izzy came and took my hand, "come on or we'll miss it", she dragged me to the front of the plane, we sat watching the sky full of clouds.
"Exactly what are we going to miss?" I asked.
She smiled, "that," she said pointing forward.
Out of nowhere a pod of killer whales appeared from the clouds. Swimming through the sky as if it were the bottom of the ocean itself.
"It's the annual flying whale migration season, we almost missed it," Izzy said with a laugh.
"I'm almost completely certain that there is no such thing," I questioned myself as I watched the impossible event.
"Hahahaha, of course there is, silly, but what are we seeing?"
"A hallucination from eating clams?" I suggested, perhaps gorging on clams wasn't the best idea.
"Don't be ridiculous, if this were a hallucination, which of us would be hallucinating?" she asked me with a sly look.
"... That's a good question."
We both looked forward again, "think what you want... Anyway, I just wanted us to do one last thing together before I go."
"Before you go-?" I looked in her direction but she was gone. I quickly stood up and looked around, "Izzy? Izzy where are you?", there was no one else, Izzy was gone, now he was completely alone, "Izzy! Izzy!"
"Hahahahaha, find me if you can~", I turned around, in the middle of the roof there was an open hatch that I swear wasn't there before and one of Izzy's shoes too.
I walked over and picked up the shoe, looked down through the hatch. All I could see was darkness. I took a deep breath and decided to go down.
...
"¡AHHHHHHHH!".
*Blow*
"Uff... A warning that there were no stairs would have been fine," I said with my lungs crushed after falling several meters from the hatch, "it's good that there was a bed in the end-", my eyes widened, "no... It can't be possible," I said in disbelief, I recognize this bed.
I quickly got up and moved through the darkness until I could feel something. I flipped a switch and the whole room was filled with light.
"I'm... In my apartment?" I said in disbelief, I looked around, the walls, the furniture, the photos, the clothes, it may have been a year but I still remember it, everything is exactly the same as that night, "Why-?", an idea came to my head.
I left the room and ran to the bathroom, opened the door and the first thing I did was look in the mirror, the image of a 22-year-old adult stared back at me.
"I'm back...", I said with absolute bewilderment as I ran my fingers over my face, everything felt too real, "Why... how?" had so many questions.
"Hahahahahaha," Izzy's voice caught my attention.
"Izzy," I walked down the hallway to the living room expecting to see my girlfriend getting into some mischief.
"This one time, I saw a bear eating our garbage! He had old spaghetti noodles hanging from his big, huge teeth! It looked like blood and guts, have you seen something like that Lindsay?".
I sighed, "It's... just the TV", I think I left the tapes on the player before going to sleep, "I don't understand...", I sat on the sofa, "Was anything that happened real?", Was I imagining everything that happened during the last year? Nothing really happened? As I questioned everything, I realized something that didn't make sense.
I looked at Izzy's shoe in my hand, I never had this.
"Cooooody~", I quickly got up and turned around.
"Izzy!"
Then I saw something that was definitely not here when I left.
Missing.
Have you seen me? Call this number if you do.
Be careful, she could have rabies.
Reward is offered.
Wanted, dangerous criminal.
"I remember this," I whispered, they were wanted posters with photos of Izzy making weird faces, many of which were circulating in the newspaper a few weeks after her disappearance.
"Why is this here?", one article in particular caught my attention.
The only clue to the missing woman.
It was a picture of a shoe in the middle of the forest, the same shoe I have in my hand.
"I don't ... this good, this is...".
"So what? Would you rather knock on the door and...?"
"Well...".
"This is ... Should... more often."
"Huh?" I heard voices coming from my room, but I just got there.
I walked slowly down the hallway, I could hear the whispers but I couldn't understand them.
"This one? Are they...?"
"Perhaps... think it over, statistically... a huge ... of what-".
"Who ... that? I speak... ... I don't like his...".
Agh, I can't make out any voices, but they all sound extremely familiar.
"Here...!"
"No, no, wait!", the two voices shouted to a third.
Everything suddenly turned white and the last thing I remember was seeing a pattern of bright lights.
-0-
POV. Third person
Chris begins to narrate, "Last time on Total Drama World Tour. We visited the homeland of yours truly," scenes of teams being thrown into the water were shown, "Newfoundland was quite an experience for some of our competitors," Prairie Dogs and Seagulls screamed as they entered the iceberg field, "while others had more than a few surprises and disappointments," Priya hugs all the Wild Cat team members and Courtney and Gwen are disappointed to see Duncan's shaped rock, "despite leading for much of the challenge thanks to Sierra's rekindled spark, the Seagulls failed to advance to the second part of the challenge and were relegated to clearing fish and clams. Leaving the Wild Cats and Prairie Dogs to face off in the final challenge, a Screeching competition. Both teams were evenly matched in every part of the challenge, but in the end it was Gwen and her repulsive act against nature that decided the winner," everyone shows traumatized expressions, "Heather was ready to push Sierra off the plane, but let's just say that by a sudden turn of events, Sierra will be able to stay in the game for another week, much to Heather's chagrin hahahahaha. The episode ended with an anniversary celebration of the show's most iconic couple and a few off-camera action. Meanwhile, Alejandro prepares for his next big play," Alejandro talks to Tyler. Chris is in the cockpit with Chef as they fly through a storm, "What's in store for us at our next destination? What unexpected twists will unfold? Who will be eliminated and who will live to fight another day? Find out in another exciting episode of Total... Drama... World Touuuuuur~!".
-0-
POV. Cody
I woke up suddenly and straightened up in my chair. I was back in first class, it was early in the morning, and the others were still sleeping. I could see out the window that it was raining outside.
"Rain...", we shouldn't be far from Jamaica.
I looked for Izzy with my eyes, she was sleeping on the couch curled up and purring like a cat, Dennis slept the same way on her back.
I stood up and approached her, watching her sleep. I took the dreamcatcher on my neck.
That dream didn't make any sense, why did I have it then?
An idea formed in my head, "unless... not everything was a dream", but then what was it? And whose voices were I heard? It's too much to think about.
"Mmm...," Izzy squirmed in place.
"And then there's you," I whispered as I tugged at her cheek... I think I know why I had that dream.
It was because I'm scared of what's coming, Brainzilla might be the key to helping me understand why I'm here, but letting Izzy become her might mean having to let her go, just like Owen did.
A year ago I considered that she could help me and that everything would be easier from there, but that was when I only saw her as one more friend that I didn't want to abandon. So many things have changed since then, I have changed so much since then. I ended up falling in love with her and her crazy spontaneity, and somewhere along the way Lindsay and Heather ended up joining this crazy ride.
The most logical thing would have been not to make ties with anyone until everything was fixed, but these are my friends, friends I ended up losing at some point in my life. It was impossible not to want to approach them again. Besides, I'm not an omnipotent being, I can't have everything under control, many things happened without me being able to control them.
If Izzy becomes Brainzilla I don't know how she's going to react, and I don't know how Lindsay or Heather are going to take it, so many things can change from this point of the competition... Not to mention, the idea of letting a plane fall on her doesn't sound good no matter where you look at it.
I sighed, I don't know exactly what the right decision is.
"Don't you think it's a little early to get into mischief?" Heather was standing behind me with her hands on her hips looking at me suspiciously.
Talk about the devil and he'll appear I guess, who says you need a summoning pentagram and a sacrificed goat?
"It's only been a few days since Newfoundland, and don't think I don't know what you two were doing", yes, the truth is that Izzy was a little wilder than usual, I had to cover her mouth at all times because she insisted on screaming.
"Are you sure you're not jealous for not having action that day?" I asked, "it's a shame that I can't see you in those nice two-piece pajamas you have anymore."
During this season no one slept in pajamas, mainly because that is not a custom on airplanes, and because unlike cabins, the entire team shares the cabins. So I never had the chance to live the classic scene of walking into the room and bumping into a bunch of beautiful girls changing. Which I appreciated when Sierra was part of the team, but I really regret that it can't be the case now.
"Pff, jealous? Yeah, sure, and you say it as if you haven't seen me with less than that already", why did that sound strangely like an accusation?
"You don't understand a boy's longings," she rolled her eyes, "... How are you conducting your war of hate against Alejandro and Sierra?"
"Al-ejandro is unbearable and Sierra is despicable, and I'm sick of Chris making excuses to keep her in the game, all of them drive me crazy," she complained.
"Try not to just think about that."
"Why? Because vengeance isn't good or something silly like that?" she asked rolling her eyes and with a sarcastic voice.
I gave her a cruel smile, "No, because you'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning so hard."
"AH!" Heather put her hands to her head in concern.
"Hahahahahaha".
"You don't know how much I hate you."
I got up and approached her, when I had her in front of me I gave her a hug, which she did not resist... but she didn't reciprocate either. I wrapped my arms around her small neck, feeling her warmth and inhaling her scent. Similar to Izzy Heather and I were now the same size, it's funny how these two seem to grow up together, it must be because they have similar bodies.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I steal your body heat while I clear my head a bit, I have too many things on my mind," I replied, I think her ears turned red from the proximity.
"Pff, more conspiracies that you don't tell me anything about? One day I'm going to take everything you're hiding from you, and at this point I don't care if I have to do it by fucking you, I can't fall lower even if I try," she threatened me.
"I'm sure I'm going to enjoy that interrogation."
"Tks... Did you mean it? The thing about you not feeling anything for Sierra," she asked changing the subject, "it was very unreal to see you reject someone, I thought I was going to have to pull you by the ear every time you fell in love with another girl, Izzy may be okay with others falling in love with you and Lindsay may not care, but don't think I'm going to be so permissive, I don't want just anyone to approach us without knowing their intentions."
Of course, Heather's paranoia was going to make her the most jealous of the three, although it's funny to see how she tries to disguise it.
"I meant it, I don't know what image you have of me-".
"A trickster who seduces girls slowly to become his girlfriends."
"..."
"..."
I undid our hug with a bored look, "like I said... I don't know what image you have of me, but I'm not going to date any girl who falls in love with me, I'm sorry for Sierra but she doesn't catch my attention in that way one bit."
Heather looked at me contemplatively for a second, I remember she used to do it a lot in the camp when we were just allies.
"What exactly did you like about me?", I didn't expect that question.
"Your charming personality?"
"I'm serious," she said, rolling her eyes.
"What? You'd rather I say "your sexy, fiery model figure."
"I would believe that more... I know I'm sexy, I haven't tried to hide it in case you haven't noticed," she said, pointing out her rather revealing appearance.
Yes, I still remember her audition tape, talking to the camera softly with a towel as the only garment right after showering. You can say what you want about Heather, but she was really the only one who knew what she was getting into when she signed up for this show. It is a pity that even that did not manage to save her from the consequences of karma. Meeting Alejandro was a before and after for her more than for any of us. Unfortunately, what seemed like a happy ending for the villain of the first season, was only the first step to what would be a life of extreme loneliness...
But now it's different. She can still be grumpy but at least she has things that really matter to her, and not just because of the competition.
"I didn't lie at all, that fierce attitude you have... it did make you look hot."
Heather's cheeks turned red to her ears, "seriously... you don't know how much I hate you," she means it, but I think what she really hates is the fact that she likes me to say these things to her.
"Although I'm not going to complain about that affectionate side that you had been hiding," I said shamelessly referring to her behavior from the previous challenge.
"That was purely strategic! Don't get the wrong ideas!" she said much redder than before.
"Hahahahahahaha", I approached and gave her a quick kiss, "see you later, I'll see if Chef already prepared breakfast".
She pouted inadvertently, "I still don't understand how you can stand that man's attempt at food."
I turned around walking backwards as I watched her, "what can I say? His food tastes nostalgic."
Confessional.
Chef Hatchet
"Finally someone besides that barrel of butter appreciates my work."
Heather
"Uhhh... That nerd drives me crazy!", to everyone's surprise she smiled and laughed, "really... it drives me crazy."
End of confessional.
-0-
Later that day...
POV. Courtney
I disgust myself.
That was what I thought as I covered my face. I'm pretty sure there was smoke coming out of my head.
I can't believe I did it again, and this time willingly, what kind of decent human being does something like that? This is all the fault of those four! Showing affection to each other anywhere and at any time, can't they be a little more discreet? There are those of us who have not taken that step yet and we do not have our partner here to make the attempt...
Although probably all Duncan and I would have been doing would have been fighting... Agh... we are seriously stagnant. In Newfoundland I was excited to see him again, but now with a cooler head, I realize that actually seeing him again is not going to fix things, that would only be the first step... no, not even that... The first step would be to get him to accept my proposal of tolerance... Agh, who am I kidding? Would first have to hit him on the head with a hammer until he puts his stubbornness aside and accepts that we have a problem.
The more I think about it, the longer the road seems to be a moderately decent couple, or at least more tolerant of each other. I frowned, that's clear if he's willing to cooperate, because knowing him the first thing he'll do when he hears my proposal is laugh out loud, and then, he'll say it's stupid, like all my other proposals, claiming that we don't have any problems and that we're fine as we are, which would make me angry to the point of kicking him in the faces. no, no, no, remember Courtney, you're trying to change that... however tempting it may be.
I sighed, I'm hopeless, he's not even here and I'm already angry with him again... I wonder if ours is really worth it... I'm so tired of thinking and planning without even knowing if it's going to be worth anything.
*Blow*
I hit my cheeks.
No! Don't think like that, that's the mentality of a loser, and Courtney is no loser! I'm a winner! I can definitely do it.
"..."
But I could definitely use advice from someone with experience in the subject. Even if that person is...
I grimaced and looked at the person sitting right in front of me with cucumbers in their eyes.
She.
"Ahem, excuse me, Heather".
"Ah~... Courtney, except for a few events my morning has been good so far, don't ruin it by talking to me, will you?"
I clenched my fists and suppressed my desire to strangle her... No, no, remember, you're trying to ask her for help.
"Look, there's something I want to ask you, if you could pretend you're not a complete bitch for just 5 minutes, I promise not to make your life miserable for the rest of our trip, and keep in mind that I've memorized more than five manuals on civil rights, you don't have me," I warned.
To my satisfaction she's shuddered, "5 minutes."
How do you and Cody do it?"
"Agh~... well, I promised... It usually starts with him stroking my leg and squeezing my butt, then-"
"I DON'T MEAN THAT!" I shouted hysterically.
"I know, but that's what happens for not being specific," she said with a disgustingly arrogant smile.
Confessional.
Courtney
"Forget about strangling her! I bet she'll melt if I throw some water on her!" she shouted annoyed.
End of confessional.
"Argh, I was referring to how do you two function so well as a couple? Personally, you're not so different from Duncan and me-"
"Gross."
"... so how do you do it?"
"I don't know what gives you that idea, I remind you that technically I'm with him because I lost a bet with Lindsay, who gets infatuated with Izzy's stupid fantasy."
"Aha, I know the story, I was there, blah, blah, blah, but I'm not interested in the lie you tell everyone, that doesn't work for me, I want the truth," I demanded, talking to this girl is like running your fingers through a cheese grater over and over again.
Heather reached into her eye and removed one of the cucumbers. She looked around to make sure we were alone, then stared at me.
"Well... To begin with, never, ever, dare to ever compare your pathetic attempt at a cheap soap opera with my relationship again," she told me annoyed. There were so many ugly things that I wanted to tell her, "you may think it's the same but it's not, I was very lucky."
"Lucky of what?"
"That Cody was a boy."
"Ah?" I'm so confused right now.
"... I'm a shitty person, you know it, I know it, the whole world knows it... and Cody definitely knew it."
"..."
"I'm trying to accommodate my life and the three people who now make it up, and it hasn't been easy being the person I am, I have doubts, I'm paranoid, distrustful and very controlling. And it was much worse during camp. Anyone would have preferred to send me to hell and cut ties, than burn their feet trying to help me... it took me time to understand that Cody didn't want to be my ally because of the game, that he wasn't a pervert to annoy me, that he didn't get me kicked out of revenge, that he didn't stay around when I had fucked up my chances with others out of pity, that he didn't show me affection just to maintain my trust."
"..."
"He did it because inside his strange, stubborn head, all that time, he believed I was worth it."
"Even if you didn't believe it... Did you?" I said when I realized.
She put the cucumber back in her eye, "give the girl a cookie, she's smarter than she looks. Anyway, he was the first person who stayed by my side long enough to generate... something... That's the only reason I put up with him."
"Why do you say we don't look alike? You may not believe it, but I'm trying to help Duncan."
She pointed her finger at me... or at least she tried, "because you're not really doing this for Duncan... it's because you're a girl."
I frowned, "What does that mean?"
"The only reason why Cody put up with me so much is because boys are simpler than girls, in most cases they prefer to avoid fights, "girls are always right" Does that phrase ring a bell? It was what my father always told my brothers after he fought with my mother, it seemed that he was always the one who chickened out first, but in reality he was the one who ended the argument, if it was up to my mother, they could argue for days."
"Yes, I've heard that phrase, but it always seemed stupid to me."
"Says the super competitive girl that probably won all the debates at her school."
I opened my mouth to answer her about it, "...", and then closed it in bewilderment when I realized what she was doing.
"Your silence is revealing. You don't want to help Duncan, you just want to think you can do something about it, because throwing in the towel would be accepting defeat."
"..."
"Unfortunately for you, yours is a very unusual case, since here Duncan is the stubborn donkey, and you may think that you are his opposite, but the truth is that you two are exactly the same person. You are super competitive and don't like to accept any perspective other than your own, that's why you fight so much."
"But I'm trying to change that," I protested, "to change myself."
"And you think you're doing a good job? Please remind me how many things you have already crossed off your list."
"..."
"If you want yours to work, it must be Duncan who is willing to step back," she took off her cucumbers and looked me straight in the eye, "and we both know that Duncan is not man enough to do that."
"..."
"And even if he were, what would it change? You two live off conflict. You wanted my advice, didn't you? Ask yourself if really, genuinely, all this circus... It's worth it. Because eventually one of the two will end up cowing from this farce... And I think we both know who it will be... Your five minutes are over," she put the cucumbers in her eyes again, "the next therapy session will cost you 20 dollars, good day," she said as he waved me away.
"... agh," I got up from my chair ready to leave, "thank you... for advice," I said sarcastically as I left. I don't need the same silly advice that my parents already gave me. It seems that I am back to square one.
"Whatever," Heather said nonchalantly.
Confessional.
Courtney
"That's ridiculous, I'm not as stubborn as that caveman... Right? Right?"
End of confessional.
-0-
Cargo hold...
POV. Noah
"What did you say?" I asked Sierra in disbelief, of all the things she has said so far.
"I said we're going to put aside the investigation into Cody's private life and focus on taking Heather, Izzy and Lindsay out of the competition. I said it clearly, I don't know why you didn't hear it, Noah."
Yes, that's exactly what I was afraid she would have said, "I thought you were going to drop the Cody thing now that he rejected you outright."
"Oh Noah, Cody didn't reject me, he just made a very hasty decision in a situation of extreme pressure... Pressure exerted by those boy-stealers!" she said angrily.
"Sierra, I agreed to help you in exchange for information, without that there is no alliance," I made clear. I'm not going to get involved in this if my life is going to be even more in danger than before, someone already discovered Sierra once, and if they find out that I was helping her (whose help now that I think about it has only been to not give her away) then everyone is going to get the wrong idea and I'll lose my head at the hands of Izzy or Heather.
Sierra put his hands on my shoulders and invaded my personal space, "Noah, think about it, help me now and when Cody and I are married and have at least 6 children, there will be no secrets between us, then you can know whatever you want."
"I think you skipped a significant number of steps in that plan," I said boredly.
"Please...", she begged with puppy eyes, "you are the only one I can count on".
"... agh, alright."
"Yes!" she said excitedly.
"Shhhhhhhhh, this time we have to be very discreet, you were already discovered once," I reminded her.
"Sorry, how discreet?"
"Like we're not up to anything... in fact, we probably shouldn't do anything for a few weeks, you know?"
"I understand perfectly," she said with a wink.
Confessional.
Noah
"That should keep her still... for a day or two."
End of confessional.
-0-
POV. Third person
"These necklaces that little girl Priya made for us out of seashells and clams are pretty cute," Bridgette said, "they remind me of the ones my mom and I used to make when I was learning to surf."
"And they match all these leaks," Lindsay said as water dripped around her throughout the economy-class cabin, "... okay maybe that's not so good," she realized.
On the other side of the cabin, Alejandro watched as Kevin swam into the open mouth of a sleeping Owen who had been pouring water all night.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"It's a miracle that Owen didn't drown, but is a little bird flu too much to ask?" the Spaniard complained, "anyway, once again stuck in economy class. Las gatitas have won most of the challenges and dodged all elimination ceremonies. Maybe it's time for a change, and the key to that is in the main axes that move the whole team."
End of confessional.
Tyler walked into the booth, "Hey Tyler, come sit with us," Lindsay said patting the space next to her.
The athlete smiled enthusiastically. But before he went his eyes met Alejandro's, who frowned and shook his head.
"Ah... I'm sorry Lindsay, but I just finished my complicated training session and I'm all sweaty and stinky, I think I'll sit over there," she said going to a secluded place away from both girls.
"Oh... It's okay then," said the blonde.
Sierra also entered the booth, Lindsay gave her a friendly but tense look, "h-hi Sierra, you'd like to join a-".
The fan made an exaggerated expression of annoyance and moved to the space opposite Tyler away from them.
"Uh... I guess that's a no?" the blonde asked the surfer. Bridgette for her part hit her forehead with her hand and shook her head.
Confessional.
Bridgette
"This team has started the day so well," she said sarcastically.
End of confessional.
-0-
The Jumbo jet was flying over Central America when certain unforeseen events began to be felt in the engine.
Cody was playing cards next to Izzy on the couch when he noticed the plane starting to shake strangely.
"What's wrong with you, honey? You look worried," Izzy asked Cody. She smiled happily, "Could it be that you realized that you can't beat me?"
"It's hard when you're always cheating," Cody said without looking at her, his sight shifting from the first-class exit door, which he'd made sure to lock, to the loudspeaker on the wall.
Izzy blushed embarrassedly, "well, you discovered me, maybe I cheated a little bit," she said raising her hands, took them to her top and stretched it, a bunch of cards fell on the cushions.
...
In the cockpit...
"Um, are we out of gas?" asked Chris to the chef.
"Yeah. 'Cause you spent all our gas money," the cook-pilot accused him.
Chris took the microphone from the loudspeaker.
...
"Attention passengers...", the host's voice was heard throughout the plane. Cody's entire body tensed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", all imitated the host's action and proceeded to scream in panic as the plane began a forced descent.
Heather, Courtney, and Gwen hugged together as they screamed. Izzy got up and ran out, "Izzy!", Cody followed her as best he could.
...
In economy class Tyler bounced crashing into the walls of the cabin, "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Who put these wooden boxes in the middle of the hallway?!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" shouted Owen as he strangled Alejandro and Noah in his arms, the Spaniard and the know-it-all were turning blue.
Sierra clutched her most prized possession, a photo of Cody sleeping in his room.
...
"If this is the end! Courtney, there's something I want to confess to you!" shouted Gwen.
"Oh shit! I swear that if the last thing I hear before I die is that you actually like girls I'm going to curse you from the afterlife!" shouted Heather.
"I... I...!"
...
"(This is all folks, it was a pleasure to live this adventure with you)," Kevin said in the cargo area.
"(Can't you fly?)" Dennis asked with his nails buried in the ground.
"(Yes, but I'm going to miss you when you die)."
"(It's because of things like this that I hate birds)," Butchie said as he tied himself to a wooden box.
...
Cody ran down the hallway to economy class chasing Izzy, but she was very fast, "I can't believe I didn't consider the door to economy class", he was so distracted that he didn't consider Izzy wouldn't use the same door specifically. The geek finally made it to economy class, "IZZY NO-!".
And he froze at what he saw.
"If Izzy is going to die, she wants her death to be against something soft!" said the redhead who had sandwiched herself between Lindsay and Bridgette, who had hugged each other in panic before they arrived. Izzy's face was crushed between the melons and apples of both girls, who could only think about at that moment their imminent death.
Cody stood there with huge owl eyes trying to figure out what was going on, 'this isn't how it's supposed to happen.'
*Crashing*
"Woah!" Cody fell to the ground as the plane crashed on a beach. The sand helped cushion the fall.
-0-
"A safe landing! Only one! Is that too much to ask?!" shouted Courtney angrily.
After the fall, Chris had gathered them all on the beach, and as expected, the unofficial security officer was more than a little angry.
"You have to give credit to the Jumbo jet for staying in one piece after so many forced landings," Alejandro said as he looked in surprise that the plane was still in one piece.
"It should be impossible for scrap metal like this to last that long," Noah said.
"It must be because of the magic of television, you know, no one gets hurt on TV," Owen said.
Noah and Alejandro exchanged a look.
"Ah... Izzy, we're safe now," Lindsay said.
The redhead was still clinging to her, rubbing her face against her breasts, "5 more minutes."
Cody stared at Izzy, 'she's... well, Owen too,' he thought, looking at the big guy. Lindsay hugged Izzy and stroked her head several times, 'our relationship changed her decision, she preferred to take a risk on the plane with us than save herself alone, I... I hadn't considered that.'
Izzy noticed that Cody was looking at her, let go of Lindsay and jumped up to her boyfriend, "What's wrong Cody? Are you worried about us?" she took his hands and put them against her cheeks, "look, no damage," she said, shaking her head several times.
"Yes... I see... It's a relief," the geek said sincerely while stroking her cheeks.
"Now let's check on Lindsay~," Izzy said mischievously as she wiggled her fingers.
"I'm fine... Really!" said the blonde in panic when she saw Izzy's face.
'I guess Brainzilla is no longer an option,' Cody thought as he watched Izzy chase after Lindsay, 'my only hope now is that there's something in Area 51 that can give me answers,' another question that came to Cody's head was what will Izzy's presence in the competition mean now?
Chris and Chef approached the competitors, "Two airports on an island the size of a Post-It stamp and he misses both," the host criticized Chef, "but somehow it's my fault."
"You blew our money for the season on Chris World," the cook reproached him, "I thought you had learned your lesson after the incident in the first season."
"What incident?" asked Noah.
Cody bit his tongue to keep from laughing.
"One that is none of your business," Chris replied, "it's a good thing they're all safe and sound. We only have limited travel insurance in case someone is seriously injured."
"What are we going to do now?" asked Gwen.
"Well, we're out of gas, plane's busted, and we're broke. But the show must go on."
'Yeah, even if the plane explodes,' Cody thought rolling his eyes.
"We can't waste any of this footage! Think of the hits we'll get on ClipTube."
"Where are we?" asked Tyler.
"Jamaica, mon!" said Chris.
"Jamaica?!"Lindsay and Bridgette said enthusiastically.
Confessional.
Lindsay
"I can't wait to get a tan on the beach."
The door opened and Izzy peeked out with a glass in her hand, "yes, just imagine lying on the sand semi-naked with Cody and Heather looking at you in a perverted way all the time," she said happily.
Lindsay's face burst red.
Bridgette
"Jamaica has very good waves, I haven't surfed since the season started. I think that might help clear my mind, maybe being stranded here for a while isn't so bad."
End of confessional.
"We were supposed to land in Ochos Rios, but since somebody forgot how to glide," Chris said, squinting at the chef, "we'll have to do the challenges here instead. And fast. Before whoever owns this dump shows up and asks for a location fee."
"Didn't you guys budget for the whole season?" Noah asked Chris.
"Some things cost more than expected," Chris said, "Airplane-ready hot tubs don't grow on trees, you know?"
Cody sighed. This was something he didn't bother to handle, whatever Chris did he was going to waste the money. He was probably the only lost cause of all here.
Either way, Geoff and the guys in the Aftermath were going to take care of the problem... unless they have also been affected by Cody's actions.
'I guess I'll have to trust her to take care of that,' he thought with one person in mind.
"You must have an emergency fund," Heather said worriedly.
"Spent it on our last fuel-up," the host said.
"Which went so well," Noah said sarcastically.
"Even Geoff isn't that irresponsible with money," Bridgette said.
"Didn't you bet your hundred thousand big for an even bigger million?" asked Owen, to which the surfer could only lower her head.
"Grab your board shorts and meet me at the waterfall," was the last thing Chris said to them before leaving.
-0-
Some time later, most of the participants were already at the top of the waterfall that overlooked a lake just below.
Cody as expected was taking his time to appreciate the figure of the girls in bikinis, it had been a year since he had such a view, certainly water challenges were his favorites, for the geek it was always a shame to have never been able to see the Pahkitew girls in swimsuits, many of them were quite cute.
'Pervert'.
'Shut up conscience'.
"Don't you have something better to do?" asked Courtney rolling her eyes when she realized that the geek was looking at her, she herself was trying not to look bellow the neck.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm still amazed that such a simple swimsuit can look so good on someone," Cody said humorously, "I guess the fact that Courtney has a great figure contributes a lot to that."
"Are you flattering me or insulting my fashion sense?" the CIT asked him, narrowing her eyes and with her hands on her hips.
"...Can't it be both?" said the nonchalant geek.
"You're a clown, and not the kind to laugh at," Courtney said boredly.
"Please, there is no such thing as a clown that makes people laugh, those things are made to scare. But seriously, the game has been good for all of you."
"You think so?" said the CIT while looking at her own body, "I guess I hadn't noticed", it was not easy to notice small changes when all they think about is always surviving.
"Oh Cody~," the geek froze as he heard Sierra's voice behind him, "What do you think of my swimsuit~?" the fan asked.
Cody wondered if this anticipation of certain death was what the warriors felt when they had Medusa right behind them.
A pair of hands were placed on his cheeks. Now he was looking Courtney straight in the eye as she invaded her personal space.
"Don't worry Cody, I'm almost done getting this garbage out of your eye," the CIT said, she looked at Sierra, "sorry Sierra, team matter, Cody will see you later," she apologized with a smile.
"Grrrrrrr, it's not fair!" the sound of a tantrum was heard as Sierra walked away.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Damn, that was the perfect opportunity to show Cody what he's missing out on and that it's so much better than any of those three garfish can give him."
End of confessional.
Cody finally breathed easy again, "thank you," he whispered to the CIT.
"It was nothing," she said back.
"Wow, is this what you look like under your clothes?", they both noticed the arrival of Bridgette and Lindsay. The surfer looked at the geek with pleasant surprise.
"Hehehehe, pretty amazing isn't it?" Lindsay said humorously, in her case it was more surprising considering what they were doing when she first saw him.
"Thank you Bridge, you guys don't look bad either, though... I think I was hoping to finally see you in a swimsuit," he said when he saw that the surfer was still wearing her wetsuit.
Bridgette blushed, "yes, I really expected it too," Courtney said.
Lindsay pouted, "and I offered her one of my spare swimsuits, but she refused", the blonde saw Tyler and greeted him, but the athlete ran away, and ended up crashing into a tree, 'weird', Lindsay thought.
"What a waste," Noah said as he passed by, Owen nodded.
"Oh dear, don't say that, I'd die of grief," the surfer said covering her face with her hands, "and if I put on one of Lindsay's swimsuits the top would probably fall off," she whispered negatively.
'Ha, who knew Bridgette was actually a shameful person? I thought the wetsuit was just about theming,' Cody thought humorously.
...
"Hehehehehe, pretty blouse," Noah mocked Chris when he saw him dressed in a traditional way.
"It's a dashiki, mon," Chris replied.
"Yeah, a woman's dashiki," Cody said, "that happens when you don't investigate things for yourself."
"What?" said Chris surprised.
"Hahahahahahahaha," the others laughed.
"I like to call our first challenge 'The Treasure Hunt of Death'," Chris said, "We were supposed to do this at Dunn's River Falls, but this far more dangerous waterfall will have to do."
Confessional.
Bridgette
"Finally, a challenge in which we can do well."
End of confessional.
"Your challenge begins with a dive off beautiful Wherever We Are Falls… into the lagoon down below," Chris explained.
"Which is full of what, sharks?" asked Noah.
"Nope... electric eels and sharks," Chris said, the contestants sighed, "Players must tag team dive into infested waters for as long as you can hold your breath to search the lagoon floor for pirate treasure. AKA, the gold chain Chef always wears on karaoke night."
"ohhh~, Mama wants that treasure!" said Izzy excitedly as she shook Heather.
"First team to bring me Chef's treasure wins a major advantage in the next challenge," Chris concluded, "so, good luck."
...
The ones chosen to make the first jump were Cody (who has a better chance of making it the first time), Sierra (who volunteered when she saw that Cody was going to jump) and Noah (who lost Rock, Paper, Scissors).
"Why can't I jump first?" complained Heather with her arms crossed as she tried to blow Sierra's head out with her mind.
"That's why," Courtney said, "if you go out now all you're going to do is attack Sierra."
"I don't see how that's a problem, one less hindrance," Heather replied ominously.
"I know she makes you angry, but you shouldn't let her take your attention off the game, besides, Cody already rejected her, what more do you want?" asked Gwen.
"What I want is not something I can say on television," Heather replied, disturbing the two girls a little.
Izzy stuck to the queen bee from behind and wrapped her arms around her waist, "awwww, now, now, mama is going to spoil you to make you feel better," she said while rubbing her cheek against her back.
Heather had no choice but to surrender resignedly.
"Good luck Noah and remember, if a shark comes near you, play dead," Owen said.
"That will only make them want to eat me," the know-it-all said.
"Ready, steady, Freddy, go!" announced Chris.
The three competitors jumped into the water.
"So... what were you going to tell me before the plane went down?" Courtney asked Gwen curiously.
The goth's eyes widened, she felt a lump form in her throat and her stomach fell to her feet.
"Oh... that... yes... I... what I was going to say at that moment... it was that I'm... that I'm...," Gwen said with sweat running down the back of her neck as she looked at Courtney's curious, innocent smile, "that I'm... I'm very happy that despite all the controversy we were able to become friends," she said with a tense smile.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Because... We're friends now... Right?" said Gwen doubtfully.
Courtney latched onto her arm, "aw, of course, I'm glad we're friends now, too," she said enthusiastically.
"Great...", Gwen now felt a different weight in her stomach.
Confessional.
Courtney
"I must admit that I am surprised that I became friends with Gwen, I thought we were very different but we have many things in common, the most important being that we both like to see Heather get hurt," she said with sadism.
Gwen
"Agh~," the goth sighed as she put her hands on her face.
End of confessional.
...
Under the water Cody tried to find the chef's chains. He knew they were in the mouth of the skeleton of some kind of sea monster, but the lake was quite large and he didn't know where the skeleton was exactly.
In addition, he had two other problems to deal with. Like the shark that was currently chasing him and Sierra who was chasing the shark waiting for an opportunity to save him.
Her plans are so blatantly obvious that they are scary,' thought the geek.
Noah had his own problems, as he wasn't exactly the fastest swimmer and another shark had noticed this.
"MMMMM!", the know-it-all abandoned the search while trying to reach the surface chased by his new friend.
'Oh shit, I never regretted so much in my life never kissing a girl', thought the know-it-all believing that his life ended here.
Fortunately for him, Cody swam quickly past the shark, who looked at him in confusion.
*CRASHING*
What he didn't see was the other shark that he couldn't brake before crashing directly into him.
*CRASHING*
And of course, Sierra also didn't consider braking to be an option when Cody is involved, so she crashed directly into the stunned sharks, which led the three of them into a group of electric eels.
*ZAP, ZAP, ZAP*
The three were more than a little electrocuted.
Noah rubbed his eyes wondering if what he saw was real, Cody swam over to him, the two shrugged.
Noah continued on his way to the surface, but Cody noticed that Sierra was not moving.
"Mmm," the geek rolled his eyes and went after the fan.
Confessional.
Cody
"What? I don't like her, but I'm not Heather either."
Sierra
"Cody held me in his arms~, it was the most magical moment of my entire life~," she said dreamily, "even though I was passed out... but he held me in his arms~"
End of confessional.
Noah took a deep breath once he reached the shore. Cody also pulled Sierra out of the water while holding her by the armpits, he could have carried her but that would mean receiving a more intense reproachful look from Heather. Whom he could already feel judging him in silence from the top of the waterfall.
Once on the shore she laid Sierra on the sand, "cough, cough, cough, oh~ Cody~, this is just like that dream I had," said the fan, "only in it you gave me mouth-to-mouth breathing," she said expectantly.
Both guys grimaced, "I'm glad you're good enough not to come to that," Cody said quickly, "well, my team is waiting for me, Noah, your turn," Cody said quickly fleeing from there while patting Noah on the back.
The know-it-all opened his eyes in surprise, "What? Wait-".
"I'm sorry Noah... I would have preferred it to be Cody too," Sierra said without a hint of appreciation that at least there is someone to take her.
Confessional.
Noah
"That's what happens to me because I didn't run away when I had the chance," he said borelessly.
End of confessional.
...
Cody reached the top and high-fived Heather, "sharks won't be a problem for a while, take the opportunity," he let her know.
"You could have left her in the water," Heather complained.
Cody smiled and intertwined his fingers, "you know I couldn't", took her by the waist and tilted her kissing her on the lips to her total surprise.
"Hahaha, that's the way to go Cody!" shouted Owen.
"YEAH! Hahahahahahaha," Izzy shouted amused.
"Hahahaha," Lindsay laughed while Bridgette just smiled humorously.
What no one expected was what happened next. Cody broke away from Heather and pushed her out of the waterfall while she was still in a daze.
"Now we're at hand!" the geek shouted cheekily.
"CODY! YOU'RE A DAMN SON OF-!"
*Splash*
At least he fell better than last time.
Confessional.
Heather
"Uhhhhh... That insufferable nerd!" she shouted while covering her face, which was very red.
Alejandro
"I admit it was fun to watch her fall like that."
Courtney
"Hahahahahahaha, oh... that was so-".
Gwen
"Funny," she said as he wiped away a tear, "and in a way also poetic," she said humorously.
Lindsay
"Oh, she's going to be so angry," she said as she held back the urge to laugh.
End of confessional.
...
Heather returned to the top with nothing in her hands, she was going to take over from Izzy but she stole a resounding kiss and then jumped from the waterfall, "Geronimo!".
*Splash*
The queen bee crossed her arms looking at Cody with contempt, "you're not angry, are you?" asked the geek somewhat nervously.
"Pff," Heather tried to maintain the façade but couldn't, "well played," she said humorously.
Cody relaxed, but Heather grabbed him by the dreamcatcher and pulled him until they were nose to nose, "now if you know me well you know you must get those chains or else I'm going to have to... take revenge~", she whispered seductively in his ear.
Cody became very nervous when Heather stroked a certain part of his body over his bathing suit. It felt like a poisonous snake crawling through his body ready to bite.
"S-Sure, I do, why wouldn't I?" he said extremely nervously.
Heather smiled sweetly at him, "good boy, muack~", she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before letting him go.
Confessional.
Cody
"Wow, it's the first time in a while that I've seen her this angry," the geek smiled cheekily, "But what can I say? It was completely worth it," he shrugged.
End of confessional.
Noah finally made it to the top of the waterfall while dragging Sierra, the know-it-all was panting quite a bit.
"Finally," Alejandro said annoyed.
"You don't know... how much… this girl... weights," said the know-it-all between gasps.
Alejandro touched Noah's back and ran towards the waterfall. He jumped into the water without thinking twice.
"It's Tylering time," the athlete said as he high-fived Sierra. He also ran towards the waterfall, but tripped over his own feet near the end, "Woah! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
*Splash*
"Uhhhhh~...", everyone winced in pain at the loud ironing with which Tyler hit the water before sinking.
...
Inside the water, Alejandro diligently searched for the chef's treasure. A shark approached him, opening its huge jaws ready to eat him.
*Blow*
But without even looking at him, Alejandro gave him a blow on the nose and the huge animal slowly collapsed on the seabed.
The Spaniard smiled when he saw something glowing in the mouth of the skeleton of some marine animal, quickly swam to investigate.
*Lunge*
"MMMMM!"
"MMMMMMM!", but he was hit by a shark that was being ridden by Izzy herself.
The shark dragged him everywhere in his eagerness to get the lunatic off his back.
Alejandro detached himself from the animal's nose and darted away, right towards a school of electric eels.
*ZAP, ZAP, ZAP*
Confessional.
Alejandro
"E-Esa... lo-oca has to... g-go," she said with static running through his body.
End of confessional.
"Hahahahaha, that was fun," Izzy said as she climbed out of the water and headed toward the top.
"Aha! I got them!" said Tyler as he climbed out of the water. Unfortunately for him, all he had in his hand was an angry baby seal, "oh shit."
*Bite*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", that made some birds fly.
Confessional.
Tyler
"I don't see well underwater. I guess it's a trade-off for my super strong fingers. This one can bench press eighty pounds," he said as he flexed the thumb of his right hand, which was bandaged.
End of confessional.
Alejandro crawled out of the water panting and spasming from time to time.
...
Cody waited for Izzy with his hand outstretched, but as expected the redhead jumped into his hugs and gave her a deep kiss.
"Moo~! Good luck!" said Izzy pushing him forward. Cody a little dazed jumped from the waterfall back into the water.
"I hope this challenge doesn't last too long, I'm starting to burn," Gwen said as she looked at the pale skin on her arms.
Tyler climbed to the top holding his bitten hand, "Tyler," Bridgette called him with her hand outstretched.
*High five*
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", the athlete high-fived her with his damaged hand.
"Oh holy cow, I'm sorry Tyler," the worried surfer said.
"No, it was... my fault," he said grimacing, "go... now," he told her.
Bridgette became serious and also jumped from the waterfall, "imagine that they are dolphins, imagine that they are dolphins", she repeated over and over again when she saw the sharks' fins.
*Splash*
Alejandro climbed to the top of the waterfall still shaking from time to time.
"Nice, Al. It's my turn," Owen said as he patted him on the back.
"I got them!" was heard from below, Cody raised his hand showing the chef's chains.
"Yes!"
"Well done Cody!"
"That's how it's done, love!"
"I love you!"
Izzy looked at Sierra at the latter but the fan only whistled innocently.
"Oh, I'm sorry Al, it seems that we'll lose," Owen said as he looked out over the lagoon.
Alejandro noticed that everyone was looking down, "oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that mi amigo", the Spaniard picked up a coconut from the ground and pointed directly at Owen's back, "this is for ramming me with a shark, and for continuing to call me Al".
*Throw*
As if he were a professional quarterback, Alejandro threw the coconut perfectly.
*Blow*
It hit Owen in the back, knocking him off balance and pushing him into the void, "oh for the love of yellow sponges," the big guy said wide-eyed upon realizing his situation, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", he fell from the top of the waterfall quickly.
...
Underneath Cody was putting the chains around his neck when he noticed his surroundings suddenly went dark.
"Watch out below!" he looked up only to run into Owen's huge butt falling towards him.
"Oh shit," he tried to swim out of his range, but Owen was no different from a ballistic missile right now.
*SPLASH*
Similar to the first episode of the first season, a lot of water was scattered everywhere, even wetting the contestants on top of the waterfall.
Cody was too close to the epicenter and was pushed hard toward the seafloor.
*Blow*
"MM!" the back of his head hit a rock, and his eyes slowly closed as he lost consciousness.
...
"What happened?" Noah asked as he shook off the water.
Alejandro lifted the coconut from the ground, "I think this coconut fell on Owen and made him lose his balance," he said deductively.
"Where's Cody?! He was right underneath!" asked Lindsay worriedly.
Everyone else also looked at the water for any trace of the geek.
...
Bridgette stabilized after the shock wave hit her. Owen was in the water a little dizzy but otherwise fine.
The surfer caught sight of something bright beyond him, so she swam in that direction. She smiled when he realized that they were the chef's chains, picked them up and put them around her neck. It was at that moment that she finally saw Cody floating unconscious on the seafloor. Her eyes widened, turned around and beckoned to Owen who also opened his eyes in concern.
Bridgette grabbed Cody's arm and brought him to the surface.
...
"Oh!" everyone saw Bridgette come out of the water holding the unconscious geek.
"CODY!", shouted almost everyone at the top of the waterfall when they saw their friend.
The blonde, the redhead and the Asian with dismayed looks.
"He's alright! He's just unconscious!" reported Bridgette after checking him, "I think he might have a concussion!"
"Cody!" Sierra shouted as he ran down.
Heather gritted her teeth angrily and went after the fan, the others followed close behind.
"This could be bad," Chris told the chef as they followed the boys.
...
Bridgette swam to shore and put Cody in the sand, laying his head on her legs.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, what have I done? What have I done?!" shouted Owen as he paced back and forth, "This is my fault, I almost killed Cody!"
"It's okay Owen, it was an accident, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down, I can't handle you both right now if you have a panic attack," the surfer tried to reassure him.
"Ah uh, ah uh, it's okay... it is ok... I'm calm," said the big man after taking several breaths.
"Step aside!" Bridgette was shocked when Sierra came out of nowhere and pushed Owen away with extreme ease.
"Oww, my poor Cody, don't worry, I'll wake you up with a kiss of real true love!" said the fan, approaching him with pursed lips.
"Sierra, that's to help you breathe, not to wake someone up unconscious," Bridgette said with a frown.
"It is when it's done with love," the fan said stubbornly.
Confessional.
Noah
"And that's where discretion goes," he said borelessly.
End of confessional.
"Damn opportunistic bitch!"
*Crash*
"AH!" Heather slammed into Sierra and they both rolled on the ground pulling their ponytails.
"Did you really think I was going to let you take advantage of this?!" the queen bee scolded her.
"You have no place to talk! You were the one who sent him back into the water! This is your fault!" said Sierra.
"Uh~... right where it hurts," Noah said.
"And you think I don't know?!" replied Heather, "Anyway, that doesn't give you an excuse to try to steal my man from us, you fuck-!"
*Take, take*
"SHUT UP, YOU TWO!"
To everyone's surprise, the adorable and innocent Lindsay screamed angrily as she pulled both girls' ears.
"You've got me, you've got me, you've got me, Lindsay, Lindsay!"," Heather said.
"Ah! My ear! You're ripping it off!" shouted Sierra.
Everyone else took a step away from the blonde, with looks of bewilderment and fear.
Izzy put his hand on her ear subconsciously and shuddered.
"Cody got hurt and you guys are acting like immature little girls, I don't care who started it, you're both going to behave now!"
"Shit," Noah said with his eyes wide open, the others were the same.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" said Sierra desperately.
"Yes, whatever she said!" replied Heather.
"Good," Lindsay let them go, dropping them on the sand.
"See, I told you she was my favorite for a reason," Chris told the chef, the cook just rolled his eyes.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Lindsay can be scary," she said scared as she rubbed her ear.
Heather
"I guess it's true what they say, the sweeter they are the worse they are when they get angry, Ouch!" she complained when she touched her ear.
End of confessional.
"How is he Courtney?" asked Alejandro looking worried.
The CIT was checking Cody's head for wounds, "he's mostly fine," she said, "no serious or open wounds," she grimaced, "the most concerning thing is the blow behind his head, but other than that, he's fine," she finished her diagnosis, "but I doubt he'll wake up anytime soon."
"I know how to wake him up, it always works," Izzy said, taking Cody's hands and putting them on her breasts.
...
..
.
"He's not waking up!" said the redhead on the verge of tears. Courtney patted her head uncomfortably, the lunatic clung to her childishly to her frustration.
"Oh, if only I had seen the coconut coming and warned Owen," the Spaniard said regretfully.
"Don't worry, dude, no one saw the coconut," Tyler encouraged him.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Oh, I'm truly sorry Cody, I'm sorry that you're not going to be there to prevent your team from losing, and stay together hahahahaha... Hahahahaha!"
End of confessional.
The interns put Cody on a medical stretcher and took him away to rest.
Chris took the chains from Bridgette's neck, "since Bridgette has the chains, the Seagulls win the first part of the challenge," he announced.
"What? Cody had them first," Heather protested.
"You've heard Chris," Sierra told her as she stuck out her tongue.
"Ahem," but she cringed in fear when he heard Lindsay.
"Bridgette was the one who brought the treasure to the beach, so her team is the one who wins, period," Chris said.
"Sorry girls," the surfer apologized.
"No, that's okay," Courtney said.
"Will Cody wake up before the last challenge? Will Chef be able to repair the plane so that we can finally get out of here? Will Heather rip Sierra's head off or will it be the opposite? Find out after the break right here on Total... Drama... World Tour!" said Chris to the camera, then paused dramatically, "well, everyone follow me to the next challenge."
-0-
"Seagulls, as winners of the first challenge, you've also won this advantage for challenge number two," Chris said.
Chef pointed to the helmet on his head.
"Do you have one that matches my hair?" asked Lindsay.
"No budget, remember?" said Chris.
"Why would we need helmets?" asked Bridgette worriedly.
"That's why," Chris said, pointing behind them, "I call it, The Bobsled of Death," it was a complex improvised slide built with materials of dubious quality. It looked like it could fall apart at any moment.
"Now I know what pain looks like," Noah said worriedly.
"Yeah. The intern who tested it will be out of commish for... ten months, was it?" said Chris as he exchanged a sadistic smile with the chef, "We can't afford bobsleds, so you're gonna ride longboards in teams of two, bobsled style, down Chef's track and into the pool," he said, pointing to the empty pool where the slide ended, "Each team gets three runs. Fastest total time wins. Ready?"
"No," Noah said.
"Let's get started then," Chris announced.
...
The first three teams were Lindsay and Bridgette, Alejandro and Owen, and Izzy and Courtney (because Heather didn't want to go first), in that order.
"Isn't this better than being mad?" said Chris to the chef. Both were lying on sun loungers, "So we have to wait for a cash influx before we can jet. Great. Make the interns fill the pool and it's a paid vacation, bro," he clinked his glass of soda with the cook's.
Heather, Gwen, and Noah looked at them in annoyance
"Round one, Seagulls ready?", the host asked into his megaphone.
Bridgette was sitting at the front of the skateboard with Lindsay behind, "I may not be good at a lot of things, but I was born to surf, we're definitely going to win this," she said determined.
"Okay, I trust you Bridgette," Lindsay told her.
"Thank you, when I tell you I want you to lean forward as far as you can," Lindsay nodded.
Confessional.
Lindsay
"At first I was embarrassed that Cody and the others would see me in a bathing suit again... but now... I would give anything for Cody to be there looking at me," she said sadly.
End of confessional.
"Here we go," Bridgette and Lindsay dove down the slide.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", started well, were moving pretty fast.
"Do you realize that now you and I are now going to have to go on the same skateboard together?" Gwen complained to Heather.
"Shut up, I didn't think things through, okay?" said Heather, "agh, why couldn't you get along better with Izzy so that she would choose you instead of that stuck-up, Courtney?"
"Sorry that Izzy and I haven't spent enough quality time together," Gwen said sarcastically.
Bridgette and Lindsay were nearing the end of their ride, "Now!" the surfer said, she and Lindsay leaned forward as far as they could and had a noticeable increase in speed.
"AHHHHHHHH!".
*CRASHING*
"Uhhh~," Chris said with a grimace, the others did the same.
Bridgette and Lindsay had crashed into the edge of the pool.
"Hooray... for the helmets," said the surfer with her eyes spinning.
"Mom look at me... I'm just like you," Lindsay said in the same situation.
"Hahahahahaha, Lindsay and Bridgette achieved a time of 43.79 seconds, not bad for the first start, the other teams must overcome that if they want to win. It's the turn of the Prairie Dogs."
"Come on Al, I know we can do this," Owen said.
"For sure, yes," said the Spaniard, had made Owen sit in the front, either for his weight to propel them faster or as an airbag in case they crash.
"Here we go! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted Owen.
"Oh my poor, poor Cody, you must feel so lonely being in the infirmary with no one by your side," Sierra said without paying attention to the race.
"Wasn't he unconscious?" asked Tyler.
"That's not relevant," she said, "I know! When all this is done I'm going to go see how he is, maybe he needs a sponge bath huhuhuhuha, oh yes."
"What did you say?" asked Tyler without understanding the latter.
"Nothing!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", Owen and Alejandro weren't doing badly either, they had reached the entrance of the tunnel.
"Tuck your belly in!" Alejandro ordered Owen.
"AH!" the big guy tensed his stomach as much as he could.
*Chup*
He narrowly entered the tunnel, "Keep it up!" Al ordered. They went through two more tunnels and shot into the pool.
*CRASHING*
Owen crashed headfirst into the edge of the pool and Alejandro protected himself with Owen's body.
"Thank you for your sacrifice, amigo," Al thanked him with a sadistic smile.
"No, I swear... I can drive."
*Fall*
"Owen and Alejandro achieved a time of 42.85 seconds, it will be difficult to beat that. Now it's the Cats' turn."
"Izzy... I'm sure you don't want to play it safe, do you?" asked Courtney to the redhead.
Izzy shook her head, "Izzy wants to vent," she said.
Courtney smiled, "I think we finally agree on something, I don't want to play it safe either," she said as she wrapped her arms around Izzy's waist, "Let's show them that these Cats have claws!"
Izzy smiled madly, "HERE WE GO!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!".
Confessional.
Courtney
"I don't know if it was Chris's underestimation of us, the fact that I've had too much on my mind lately or the feeling that Cody wouldn't be here this time to figure things out. But something took hold of me and I just screamed at me, 'Win!'"
End of confessional.
Izzy and Courtney not only traversed the slide quickly, but they could even afford to show off across the track. As if both had skated on slides all their lives.
"AHHHHHHH!".
*CRASHING*
"What did I tell you mom... you didn't raise any losers!" shouted the CIT dizzy.
"No, I didn't eat the last cookie," Izzy said as she crawled along the edge of the pool to the ground.
"Incredible, Izzy and Courtney defied all logic and placed first with a time of 40.47 seconds, a new record."
"That's how it's done, girls!" encouraged Gwen.
"The first round is over, the Cats are leading the race, will the other teams be able to beat that?"
Alejandro frowned at the scores.
...
Inside the makeshift medical hut, Kevin, Butchie, and Dennis watched Cody sleep. The geek's head had a bandage around it.
"(We should draw on his face)," Butchie said.
Dennis and Kevin gave him the wrong look.
"(It was just a suggestion)," said the prairie dog with his hands up.
One of Cody's fingers moved.
...
The next round was about to begin, the teams now being Tyler and Sierra, Owen and Noah, and Gwen and Heather.
"Let's do this Tyler, let's show her," Sierra said, pointing to Heather, "what we're made of."
"What did you say?"
"And... Get started!" Chris said.
"FOR CODY!"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!".
"How many times do I have to tell you that he's not yours?!" shouted Heather.
"Forget it, I don't even think the words stick in her head," Gwen said.
"No, they definitely don't," Noah said boredly.
...
Sierra and Tyler were making good progress.
*Blow*
"Ouch!"
Despite Tyler's unforeseen events.
*Blow*
"Ouch!"
*Blow*
"Oh! Really?!"
*Blow*
"Oops!"
*Bite*
"AHHHH! Where did you come from?!" asked Tyler as the baby seal clung to his butt.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!".
*CRASHING*
Tyler, Sierra, and the seal ended up in a pile on the ground.
"Tyler and Sierra achieve a flawless time of 40.10 seconds... well, almost flawless hahahahaha, will Owen and Noah be able to top that?".
"Can we?" asked Owen to Noah.
"Yes, we sure can," the know-it-all said sarcastically. Unlike Alejandro, Noah was in front because he couldn't see behind Owen and didn't trust him to lead.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!".
Both threw themselves down the slide but were nowhere near the speed that Alejandro and Owen reached.
They completed the route until they reached the first tunnel, where Owen got stuck and Noah hung by his foot, "oh god, I forgot to put my belly in", the big man sucked and they both slid to the exit.
*CRASHING*
"Hmm... 45.03 seconds, it's the worst time yet," said Chris.
Alejandro hit his forehead.
"Cats... whenever you like".
"Don't even think about hugging me!" Heather warned Gwen.
"What? I could fall if I didn't!"
"That's not my problem."
"Then let me go to the front," Gwen said.
"No! I would have to hug you, that's worse!" Gwen frowned, leaned over and clung to Heather's waist, "Hey! What do you think you are-?!"
"HERE WE GO!" the goth pushed the ground with her foot and sent them down the slide.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!".
Confessional.
Gwen
"I have to admit... that hearing Heather scream in terror was quite cathartic."
End of confessional.
Both girls crossed the track quickly, they were so scared that neither had time to annoy the other.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!".
*CRASHING*
"Gwen and Heather achieve a time of 40.92 seconds, which means that overall the Cats are still leading."
"Oh... not for much Chris," Alejandro said with a dark smile.
...
The teams for the third round would be the same as in the first, except for the prairie dogs, where this time Alejandro and Noah would compete.
"Last round gentlemen, everything is decided here, you better work hard if you want to win," Chris said.
Lindsay looked at the slide thoughtfully, then looked at her wide cleavage and smiled, "Bridgette, this time I want to go ahead," she told the surfer.
"... well," Bridgette replied seriously.
The two settled into the skateboard with Lindsay in front, "Here we go!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!".
With Lindsay's weight in front of the front, both girls reached a new speed around the track, quickly reaching the final stretch.
"Little ones! Don't fail me now!" said the blonde looking at her chest.
The two leaned forward and shot off the slide.
*CRASHING*
"Lindsay and Bridgette score an impressive 39.48, far surpassing their first mark, giving the Seagulls an average of 1 minute and 23.37 seconds, an impressive mark, but will it be enough?" Chris said.
"Noah, I'm going to need you to focus completely on the race, all you have to do is look ahead, let me direct the skateboard" said Alejandro.
"Okay, if you say so," the know-it-all agreed. Alejandro pushed them down the slide, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
When they reached a descent, Alejandro raised his fist and hit a wooden board on the ground, lifting it up. Noah didn't notice it because of his own screams.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"I'm sorry Izzy, nothing personal... No, wait, if it's personal, very, very personal," he said with narrowed eyes.
End of confessional.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH", Alejandro and Noah shot off the slide but instead of crashing they climbed the edge. The Spaniard landed on his feet and caught Noah and the skateboard in his arms, "it's okay... This is very awkward," said the know-it-all.
"When is the honeymoon, boys?~" Heather sneered, to which both boys looked at her with spite.
"Alejandro and Noah get a decent 40.08, which gives them a total of 1 minute and 27.91 seconds, heck, they were very close," said Chris.
"Agh, hell," Noah said.
"We only have one team left and their results will decide which team takes the win and which team will go to the elimination ceremony," Chris announced.
"Let's do this!" said Courtney as she hugged Izzy.
"You read my mind!" said Izzy with emotion.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!".
They threw themselves down the slide at full speed, until now they were the team that had the most speed in general and could make explosive starts.
But it was that same speed that would work against them this time. Because even though Izzy was able to see the broken board.
"Oh-oh."
"Oh-oh? Oh-oh whaaaaaaaaaaat?".
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!".
She was not able to slow down.
This is how everyone saw with total perplexity and concern how the skateboard, along with Izzy and Courtney, flew into the sky, getting lost in the horizon.
"And... it looks like Izzy and Courtney didn't make it, which means there's no points, that means the seagulls are the winners and the Cats lose this challenge, join us after we retrieve Izzy and Courtney's bodies for the elimination ceremony."
Everyone looked at the host in horror, "What? It was just a joke, gosh."
"Go get them!" shouted Heather.
"They could be injured!" said Bridgette.
"You better get them before everyone here mutiny," Chris whispered to the chef, "well, we'll postpone the ceremony until the evening when most of the Cat crew is... less unwell."
...
"Hmm... my head," in the middle of the jungle Courtney hung from a tree half-unconscious with blows everywhere.
Izzy was on the ground a little further ahead with her face stamped against a huge rock, the skateboard at her feet was split in half.
*Crash*
The rock crumbled and Izzy got up with a smile and a huge bump on her head, "no mom, I didn't lick the doorknobs... but I did put my feet in the mayonnaise... hahahaha
*Collapse*
And then she collapsed, unconscious.
-0-
POV. Noah
"Sierra we better reconsider this," I warned the fan who was walking determinedly in front of me. The Wild Cat team had already suffered enough today for Sierra to make things worse.
It had already been a few hours since the chef got Courtney and Izzy back. Miss CIT had some bumps and scratches, but overall she was fine. Izzy had no visible damage beyond a huge bump on her head, if I didn't know her better I would think she only did it to match Cody. Those two are like peas in a pod, peas that Izzy took and put in the pod on purpose.
The thing is, Sierra wanted to pay Cody a visit to make sure he was okay at all costs, and of course she'd drag me along with her.
"Heather isn't going to be very happy if she finds you in the medical hut with an unconscious Cody," I warned.
"Silence," she said, putting her hand on my mouth. Of course she wasn't listening to me, it's not that I was saying something important, "look at that," she said, pointing to the entrance of the cabin.
"What do you mean we can't see them?!" Heather yelled at the chef.
Heather, Lindsay, Bridgette, and Gwen were standing outside the medical hut. Chef was standing in the doorway standing guard.
"Chris' orders! Patients need to rest! We don't have enough supplies in case any of them get worse because of some silly thing they do in there!" said Chef.
"But we want to see Izzy and Cody," Lindsay claimed.
"And I want a triple-digit salary! Now get out or I'm going to have to use this!" the cook said as he pulled out his water gun.
The four girls panicked and walked away. I don't blame them, that thing has more power than rationally possible.
Chef stood there like a soldier with gun in hand.
"Well, it seems like it's impossible, at least we tried," I said turning around.
But Sierra held me by the sweater, "there is nothing impossible for love."
"Agh," I sighed resignedly.
Confessional.
Noah
"First Izzy and now Sierra, am I a crazy chick magnet or something?"
End of confessional.
...
POV. Third person
A saw was inserted into the roof of the medical hut and began to cut a round hole.
*Fall*
"AH!"
"AH!"
*Boom*
The roof fell, Noah fell on top of it and Sierra fell on top of Noah, "I told you that standing on top of the hole was a bad idea," said the know-it-all with his face against the wood.
Sierra got up looking around. Until she could finally see Cody sleeping on a gurney, "Aw, look at him Noah, he's like a beautiful angel fallen from heaven," Sierra said with huge bright eyes.
Noah finally stood up looking around, noticing Courtney with bandages on her head and bandages on her body sleeping on the bed next to her.
*Write, write, write*
The sound of scribbling caught his attention, so he turned around, "What-?" he said in surprise. Izzy was turning her back to him as he wrote a bunch of math formulas on the wall, "Izzy?"
"Not now, being partially intellectual known as Noah, I'm in the middle of something, something big," the redhead said enthusiastically.
"What... the hell?" was all the know-it-all could say. Noah was smart, very smart, but he didn't understand anything Izzy was writing on the wall.
"Mmm...," Cody moved.
Sierra gasped, "He's waking up!" she said excitedly. Cody slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Sierra's wide smile, "Good morning sleepyhead!"
"AHHH!" the geek got scared and fell out of bed, "wait, Sierra?" he said in surprise as he stood up again, "Are you okay? H-How... why? The plane, the explosion, your legs," he said incredulously.
"My legs? What about my legs? Do you like them?" she said as she checked her own legs.
Cody looked around completely lost, "Noah?" narrowed his eyes, "Brainzilla?" he said looking at them all, "Where am I? What are you doing here?"
Noah frowned, 'Brainzilla?', "We're in the medical hut, you were injured during the scavenger hunt challenge. Sierra insisted on coming to see you," he said, pointing to the crazy woman.
"I didn't want to leave you alone! Unlike certain harpies who surrendered at the first try! You're grateful! Right?!" said Sierra with huge puppy eyes.
Cody ignored her because he didn't understand what she was talking about, nothing made sense, "Treasure hunt? Medical hut?" the geek's eyes widened, "Am I in Jamaica again?" he said in disbelief.
The pen with which Brainzilla was writing stopped abruptly.
"Again?" asked Noah confused, "Did the blow to the head do something to him?".
"This is not possible, we were supposed to be in Drumheller, Sierra brought that birthday cake, then the plane exploded and Chris ejected her, after that... after that...", he said confused, "Ouch!", he put his hand to his head when he felt a strong pang, "my head, I can't remember, what happened after that?".
Noah couldn't believe his ears, "Drumheller? We haven't been to Drumheller."
"It must have been just a dream," Sierra said, "the plane didn't explode, it just crashed, and Chris would never kick me out, I'm the founder of his fan club," she said naively.
"It's not possible... It was too real to be just a dream," the geek said looking at his callus-covered hands.
"Let me through."
Sierra was shocked when Izzy pushed her aside, she stood in front of Cody invading his personal space and making him back away while staring at him.
"Ah... you are... Brainzilla right now, right?" he said uncomfortably.
'Did you mean her?' Noah thought.
"Do you mind if I ask you a couple of simple questions?" asked Brainzilla as a light flashed over his eyes.
"It's okay... I guess," he said dizzy.
"What's your name?"
Sierra opened his mouth, and Noah covered it with his hand.
"Cody Emmett Jameson Anderson," the geek said.
"What are your parents' names?"
Sierra tried to take Noah's hand off but he wouldn't let her.
"Connor and Rachel," Cody replied.
"...Do you find me attractive?" the brainiac asked casually.
"MMMM!" Sierra suddenly became erratic.
"Calm down, damn, this is important," Noah told her.
Cody was puzzled by the question, "Uh... A little?" he said nonchalantly.
Sierra froze, and Noah's eyes widened.
Brainzilla touched his chin, "Who was the winner of the first season?"
Cody frowned, "Owen."
Noah was completely incredulous upon hearing her answer, the same with Sierra, "uh... no, the winner was Geoff," said the know-it-all.
Cody widened his eyes, "What? That's impossible, Geoff was ejected in episode 20, in the tri-triathlon challenge."
"Cody... Owen was ejected in that episode," Sierra said worriedly.
"But he and Gwen faced each other in the finals! We were all there," Cody said convinced.
"Yes, we were, but it was Geoff and Izzy that went head-to-head in the final," Noah said.
Cody looked at the super genie and she nodded her head.
"I don't understand, what's going on?" asked Cody on the verge of panic.
Brainzilla put a hand on her shoulder, "calm down, you lost your memory, I assume from the blow to the head," the redhead said looking at the bandages on his forehead.
"That doesn't make sense," Noah said, "he's talking about things that never happened, how can that be a simple loss of memory?" he questioned in dismay, the whole situation was very strange.
Brainzilla smiled slyly, "it is if the things he lived through were actually different," she said.
Sierra tilted his head completely lost, smoke coming from her head. Noah carefully analyzed Izzy's words, coming to his own conclusion.
"You say... that Cody is...".
"A time traveler," the redhead term.
Sierra, Noah, and Cody widened their eyes, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
Outside the cabin the chef snored lying on a deckchair.
"A time traveler? Do you say I came back from the semifinal to here?" asked Cody.
Brainzilla made a gesture to take off his glasses, until he realized that he had no glasses, "no, from the things you said... you've been a time traveler since long before the first season, and you'll probably come from long after this one as well," she said while recalling Cody's general behavior, now it made sense because he seemed so mature being a teenager, "that would explain why events are different from what you remember, your presence in the past has generated changes."
Noah put a hand to his forehead, "That's why you were so close to everyone in the camp!" he realized, "it seemed strange to me that you were the only one talking to us with such familiarity even in the first few weeks," it was all starting to make sense now, "heck, for a year I wanted to know what you were hiding and now that I know I can't even believe it," he said puzzled.
"It's impossible!" Sierra suddenly shouted.
Brainzilla raised an eyebrow, "Impossible?"
"If Cody was a time traveler, the first thing he should have done was look for his future wife instead of playing around with just anyone, but he never looked for me and instead rejected me."
...
..
.
Noah and Brainzilla looked at her with bored expressions.
"I rejected you?!" said Cody incredulously, "What the hell have I been doing?!", he blinked several times, "wait, what did she mean by playing with anyone?" he asked confused.
"For anyone... she refers to your girlfriends," Noah said.
Cody's eyes widened, "Girlfriends?! In plural?!"
"Yes, plural," Brainzilla said amused with her exaggerated reactions.
An idea came into Cody's head that made him hugely hopeful, "Could it be... that one of those girls is Gwen?"
...
..
.
*Collapse*
"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!", Sierra fell to her knees and shouted to the sky.
"No," Noah said ignoring her, "it's Heather, Lindsay and...", he said pointing to her side.
Cody followed his finger to the super genie who smiled politely at him.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!", he screamed.
"For an infirmary it is quite scandalous here," said the redhead as an afterthought.
"B-b-b-b-but, you're dating Owen!" the geek said.
"Izzy and Owen?" said Noah with a raised eyebrow.
"I agree with Noah, we're not compatible as a couple, we're just friends," Brainzilla said confused.
"And Lindsay is supposed to be Tyler's girlfriend, and... Am I dating Heather? With Heather?! How the hell am I still alive?" there were so many questions running through Cody's head right now.
"Nobody knows," Noah said exaggeratedly, he is not so surprised that a Cody with no memory was afraid of Heather, although he was surprised to know that there is a timeline where Tyler did succeed, who would have thought?, "Why did you ask about Gwen? I never saw you show interest in that goth."
Cody looked at him surprised, "What? Dude, I've been in love with her since camp, everybody knows that."
"Well, if that was the case, you did know how to hide it," Noah said, it was fascinating and strange to talk to a time traveler, although the girl crying on the floor probably didn't think so.
"The future is terrifying, the future is terrifying, the future is terrifying," Sierra repeated over and over again as she rocked in fetal position.
"There's a chance that in the future you've surpassed Gwen," Brainzilla said, giving the most logical answer.
Cody frowned, for him that wasn't right, I swear to be faithful to Gwen before any other girl, in fact, this was supposed to be his season, but Sierra kidnapped him and then...
Cody clenched his fist.
Then he came back and took her from him.
'One second, if I'm back in the past... that means that... I can prevent it from happening,' he thought excitedly.
He gave Brainzilla a look who was thoughtful, was he really dating her? Why would I even consider something like that? Izzy was completely insane, how come she didn't accidentally kill him a long time ago? Owen certainly came pretty close several times. And then there was the matter of Lindsay and Heather.
"Well, there's good news and bad news," Brainzilla said to applause, "the good news is that Cody just proved that my formula for time travel is functional, for which I'm eternally grateful."
"Are those the good ones? What would the bad ones be then?" asked Noah.
"That there are still many unknowns that even I can't answer," said the super genius, "Why was Cody sent to the past? Who did it? Since what year did you come? And what was your goal in participating in the program again? Etc, etc," she said while rambling.
"It's true," Noah said, "a lot of answers disappeared with Cody's memories, but wasn't it the you from the future that sent him back in time?" he asked Brainzilla, "you made that time-travel formula," he said, pointing to the scribbled wall.
"It's possible... On paper my formula should be theoretically possible, but as with all scientific discovery, putting it into practice is not so easy or cheap. I don't see myself in a situation where I can prove my theory unless I'm a filthy millionaire and have unlimited resources. In fact, my plan was to sell this to the government as a patent to fund future experiments. If my formula works in the future, there's no guarantee that I was the one who tested it. And new questions arise, how exactly would I send Cody back in time?"
"So... that's still a mystery," Noah said, "...What do we do now?"
Brainzilla slapped her chin, "well, I could try to restore Cody's memories,"
The geek looked at her, "Can you do that?"
"I can try, Sierra, can you come for a second?"
The fan teleported next to her, "What?! What is it?! Do you need me to remind Cody of our good times with a kiss?!" she said as she began to drool, Cody walked away reminiscing about Niagara Falls. For a moment he forgot how crazy Sierra was about this point, however, somehow it seemed much worse now.
"Close," said the super-genius as she grabbed Sierra's head by the back of the neck.
*CRASH*
"FUCKING HELL!".
"HOLY SHIT!"
Cody and Sierra screamed when Brainzilla smashed the fan's head against the geek's forehead.
Sierra collapsed on the ground holding her head.
"What the hell was that?!" asked Noah in dismay.
"Did you regain your memory?" she asked Cody.
"I remember exactly why I kept myself away from you," Cody said as he held his throbbing head, now hurting front and back.
"I'll take it as a no... how strange, that almost always works, it seems that recovering his memories is not going to be so easy. And I'm running out of time."
"What?" said Noah.
"I'm going to leave the competition. Right now there are more important things for humanity than wasting my time on a game show," said the redhead.
Cody had a feeling that this must have meant something to her... but I couldn't feel anything.
"Oh yes, that reminds me that your team lost, you have to send someone off tonight," Noah told them.
"It seems that the situation is favorable then, I'll just go out and that's it," said the super genius.
"Heather isn't going to be happy about it at all," Noah said.
Sierra was celebrating in silence, because she didn't want another blow to the head.
"Heather? Are you on my team?" asked Cody to Brainzilla.
"Noah, I'm going to need you to catch up on Cody in my absence. I'm going to investigate everything I can about his situation and the strange circumstances surrounding him," the redhead said.
"I guess I can do that," he said, now that he knew the truth there was no way he would back down, there were many things he wanted to ask the Cody with whom he had been living all this time, "but, in return, I want to know everything," he told Cody.
"I'll tell you what I can, but right now I'm as lost as you are," the geek said.
"Sierra," Brainzilla said seriously.
The fan turned pale, "YES?!"
"Not a word about this to anyone, now I have the mental capacity to make that long-distance laser satellite I always wanted to finish off my enemies," Sierra swallowed, "I don't care about your little game of love, however this?" he said pointing to Cody, "this is serious business, open your mouth and who knows what government jail you'll wake up in next."
"I... I will take it into account," she said with fear.
"What about Heather and Lindsay? Don't they deserve to know?" asked Cody, he couldn't remember them as his girlfriends, but he felt this was something they had a right to know.
"Not for now, they can know that you lost your memory, but nothing about time travel, they wouldn't understand, I'm sure that's what you thought when you kept your mouth shut," said the redhead.
"I guess this is the end for us too, right? As a couple," Cody said doubtfully, he didn't know how he's supposed to feel.
Sierra bit his tongue to keep from screaming with emotion.
Brainzilla blinked twice with owl eyes, "Noah, Sierra... you can leave us alone now."
"Understood, let's go Sierra," said the know-it-all pulling his arm.
"What? But-".
"I said let's go!" he pulled her out of the cabin, who knows what could make them this new Izzy.
...
..
.
Cody and Brainzilla fell into an awkward silence.
"You don't feel anything for me, do you?" said the brainiac going straight to the point.
Cody cringed a little, "T-that's not true, I always thought you were really cool... when I wasn't around to suffer the consequences," he said while rubbing his head.
"I don't blame you if you don't feel the same way anymore. Ours wasn't love at first sight," she said as she shrugged, "from your words I deduce that I broke up with Owen at this stage of my life, right?"
"Yes... he told us you traded him for an army soldier," Cody blinked, "ah... Come to think of it, aren't they supposed to come pick you up?" he said as he looked around.
The redhead shrugged, "I don't know anything about it... How did I get injured last time?"
"The Jumbo jet hit you and Owen when we crashed," Cody said.
"I hit my head on a rock in the last challenge, and she was hanging from a tree," she said, pointing to Courtney, "that difference in events and time must be the reason."
"Courtney," Cody said with a sneer.
Brainzilla blinked in surprise, "Don't you like Courtney?"
"Why would I? She's one of the worst people I've ever met... and it's only going to get worse... Besides, I'm sure she hates me," the geek said.
"... how strange, you two usually get along very well."
"Courtney and I?" said Cody dumbfounded, "seriously, what the hell was I doing all this time?"
"Oh Cody, Cody, Cody, what weren't you doing?" said Brainzilla mischievously.
Cody shuddered at the sight of the brainiac's face, "What does that mean?" he asked in panic.
"It means what it means."
"… How did we become a couple? And why are there two other girls involved? And why are those girls Heather and Lindsay?"
"It's a very, very long story, involving many, many sentons both outside and inside the bed," she said thoughtfully.
Cody's eyes widened, "Are you saying that you and I...?" he said red-faced.
"Like beasts, Cody, like beasts."
"Heather, too!" he said on the verge of panic.
"You're forgetting about Lindsay," he said simply.
"...," Cody collapsed on the gurney, "this can't be real, are you telling me that I accomplished the ultimate feat and I can't even remember it? Why can't it be another part of my life that I don't remember?" he complained frustrated.
"Pffff," Brainzilla held back the urge to laugh, "no matter what, Cody is always going to be a pervert," she thought gracefully. She sat up on the bed and patted him on the chest, "now, now, cheer up and be a big boy, if it bothers you so much just go and ask them to do it again."
Cody's head turned almost with a whip, "That's an option?!"
"As far as I know, it always is... but I warn you that if you're not careful Heather could kick you in the face, she's usually possessive of Lindsay."
"Possessive?... wait, do you mean they-?... Oh my fucking god," he said with a trickle of blood dripping down his nose. Brainzilla handed him a tissue, it was funny to see him lose his mind, "How did that happen? From what I know, they stopped being friends after Lindsay was kicked out because of Heather."
"Well, this time the same thing happened... more or less, I would say that the changes happened because you were involved, in terms of how they ended up getting into this... well, it's part of the long story that I don't have time to tell you."
"That would mean I would go all the way to the bicycle episode," Cody reasoned, "How far did I go?"
"You were the third runner-up."
"So far," he said in amazement, "it seems more and more like I was an amazing person... but then... Why did I give up Gwen?"
"You really like her, don't you?"
"I'm sorry," he said guiltily.
"Don't apologize, apparently we both had different interests, and at the end of the day I was the one who proposed this relationship."
"Really?"
"Uhm... It was more like I held you responsible for falling in love, but it's the same thing."
"..."
"I think we deviated a lot from the topic," she said, "so I'm going to get straight to the point... I'm not breaking up with you."
"You won't?" he said in surprise, "but I thought science was your priority?"
Brainzilla opened her mouth to answer him, but closed it with a better idea, "You know something? I'm sure you'll understand once you regain your memory, so work hard, so you can draw your own conclusions," she told him with a playful smile as she kissed him on the forehead.
Cody sighed blushingly, he had a lot of doubts about everything right now, and he didn't even know if he was going to be able to regain his memories.
...
Jumbo jet camera room...
"You know something? I'm sure you'll understand once you regain your memory, so work hard, so you can draw your own conclusions."
*Press button*
Deleted video.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" shouted Chris as he entered the room.
Dennis, Butchie, and Kevin were playing with the control board. The prairie dog pulled out a toy gun and shot Chris in the forehead.
"Ah! Not in the face!", everyone took the opportunity to escape. Chris walked over to the board, "damn plagues, I hope they didn't delete something by accident," he squinted at the cameras, "How the hell does this stuff work? What does it matter? It shouldn't have been anything important," he said, turning around and leaving the room.
-0-
Once night came, everyone was standing in the pool in front of a military helicopter, in the end the army did come to pick up the new super genius.
"Sir! Everything is ready to go!" said a teenager in military uniform after loading Izzy's bags into the helicopter.
"Excellent, rest cadet Brick," said the soldier in charge.
"Sir, yes sir!" said Brick as he boarded the helicopter.
"Okay Izzy, we're ready to take you home," the soldier in charge said.
"Give me a minute," the brainiac stood in front of her lovers, "well, I guess this is goodbye."
They had already explained to Heather and Lindsay the condition of Izzy and Cody, skipping some things of course. Both had a hard time assimilating it, Lindsay more than Heather for obvious reasons. But they were already more or less aware of it.
Courtney walked up to Gwen and Bridgette rubbing her sore head and remained silent.
Lindsay pounced on Izzy with tears in her eyes, "now that you're a super genius, aren't we going to laugh together at jokes we don't understand?" asked the blonde on the verge of tears.
"Now, now, mama promises to explain you the jokes as many times as necessary," Brainzilla said.
Lindsay sobbed against her chest. The blonde kissed her before separating, then ran into Cody's arms, forgetting that he didn't remember their relationship. So the geek was surprised by the sudden action. He tried to return the hug as best he could.
Brainzilla gave him a look of pity. She then approached Heather, who refused to look her in the eye for any typical Heather reason.
"... I guess you're not going to have to worry about me doing stupid anymore-"
*Embrace*
Brainzilla's eyes widened as Heather hugged her wrapping her arms around her neck, "listen to me well, I don't care how smart you think you are now, you better not do anything stupid, did you hear me?", she warned her in a watery voice.
Heather never, ever, imagined she was going to miss her hyperactive girl, and now she was paying the price.
Brainzilla was moved by Heather's words, "I don't promise anything," she said returning the hug, now she could clearly understand the person that Heather was. The queen bee kissed her quickly and moved away from her as fast as she could.
In the end, only she and Cody remained, both with mixed feelings for each other.
"I guess it's a see you later," Cody said unsure, still wearing the bandage on his head.
"Yes...", Brainzilla took him by the chin and kissed him. Cody was surprised.
Images of Izzy climbing above him in a clearing full of fireflies while kissing him invaded his head for a second.
*Ding, ding*
Everyone looked at the host irritated.
"Hey, I was going to skip it this time due to lack of budget, but since certain plagues eliminated several minutes of content, we're going to have to fill it up, so how about a farewell song, Izzy?" said the host.
"It's fine for me," said the brainiac with a shrug.
Musical moment.
The soldiers pulled out traditional Jamaican instruments and began playing.
Brainzilla: "Some time ago~, a free spirit I was~", she was running through a field that looked like it was drawn by a 6-year-old kid, "then I met all of you~, and everything changed so fast~", drawings of Cody, Heather and Lindsay appeared and she hugged them, "always for the better~", she sang with a smile. "For this weird girl~, who sometimes grabs you for a snack~", she bit Heather's arm with shark teeth, Cody and Lindsay tried to separate them.
Heather y Lindsay:"Oh, uh, ohhhh~".
Brainzilla: "Even if sometimes~, it gets you mad~", she ripped off Heather's arm and she looked at her annoyed, Izzy smiled guiltily. "Oh my lovers~, oh my beloved~ Cody, Heather and Lindsay~", she sang to each of them, "oh my beloved~, my family~, I have to say goodbye~", she took a pair of glasses from the floor and put them on.
Lindsay: "Don't go~," she asked sadly, Brainzilla tousled her hair.
Brainzilla: "It's all been pure jooooy~, and lots of fun~," she sang in a party hat while blowing out some candles, "though there's also been ~... one or two concussions haha~", appears bandaged everywhere. "I'll miss giving youuu~, A nice goodnight kiss~", Izzy lays the three of them down on a bed.
Heather y Lindsay:"Oh, uh, ohhhh~".
Brainzilla: "Or even~, or maybe keeping you awake in pure bliss~", Izzy jumped on them as a curtain reading "censorship" appeared and many hearts flew behind her. "oh my lovers, oh my beloved~, Cody Heather and Lindsay~", the three yawned as they fell asleep, Izzy looked at them happy, "oh my family~, I have to say goodbye~", she walked away from her lovers, put an ice cream cone on her head and rode a unicorn powered by rainbow farts towards the horizon. In reality, Brainzilla sang hanging from the helicopter ladder, "please do not cryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy~...", she finished as she flew away in full view of everyone.
End of the musical moment.
"Goodbye Izzy," Cody said as he watched her walk away, he'd never been frustrated before that he couldn't feel something for someone.
"It wasn't bad... but it's not the same without the screams," Chris complained.
*Bite*
The host turned around to see the baby seal biting his butt.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!".
Inside a bush Kevin, Butchie and Dennis laughed at Chris as he ran around the pool.
Confessional.
Alejandro
"Goodbye Izzy, I hope your sad departure isn't going to complicate things for your team," he said with a sadistic smile.
End of confessional.
-0-
Noah was in the cargo hold checking some boxes when Cody arrived.
"Hey Noah, do you know why I'm being followed?" the worried geek asked. Behind him Kevin, Dennis, and Butchie walked in a row like ducks following him around.
"I've been asking myself that same question for as long as I've known you," the know-it-all said borelessly, "you usually talk to them when no one's looking... in fact, in general you are very good with animals, did you forget that too?"
"Me? Good with animals?" said Cody incredulously, "but even the carp in the ponds have tried to eat me," not to mention the bears and sharks.
"Then you're probably not going to believe the part where you fight bears," the know-it-all said.
"What?!" said Cody terrified, "Are you insane?! I've had a phobia of bears since camp!"
"Hell, we have a lot of work to do," Noah said, realizing the immensity of his problem, how did he go from detective to psychiatrist in a single day, "if only someone was more willing to collaborate," he said in the direction of a cage.
A bear with glasses put down the newspaper he was reading and looked annoyedly at the unwanted guest in her cage. Which cried and ate its hay for some reason.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Cody when he saw Sierra like this.
"I wish I knew," Noah said as he dipped back into the box.
Confessional.
Sierra
"Just when I'm finally free of one of my opponents and Cody is free of her influence, another usurper appears who I didn't expect in the least!" she whimpered with hay between her teeth, "I hate you, Gwen! I hate you and all the gothic Codys thieves in the world!" she shouted hysterically to the heavens.
End of confessional.
Noah put a lot of stuff on the ground, "well, the good news is that we're going to be stranded here for a while, so we can take it easy."
"Four days to be exact," Cody said, "while the guys in the Aftermath are raising money for the show," he hadn't seen the Aftermath, but Chris told them where the money came from when they left Jamaica, "assuming everything happens as I remember it, of course," he said doubtfully, as he saw that Bridgette was still in the competition.
"Well, that gives us a margin of time," Noah said touching his chin, "well, this is what we will do, Sierra smuggled the first two seasons and the special on this laptop, while we watch it trying to refresh your memory you can tell me what was different for you and I will write it down in this notebook. Then you will have to tell me what will happen from this point onwards, because I am sure that there is a big can of worms waiting to be opened," he said, already having some theories.
"You have no idea," said the exhausted geek.
"Okay, let's get started, episode 1, part one," he said as he clicked on play.
What Noah didn't know is that the small notebook he chose wasn't going to be enough for everything that would be revealed to him when he opened Pandora's box.
-0-
Chris was standing in the sand outside the plane, "and so this episode concludes, will Heather be able to keep her sanity with an amnesiac boyfriend and one gone girlfriend? Has Alejandro finally become the ultimate threat? Will Gwen survive Sierra's grudge? Will we ever leave Jamaica? Will Courtney sue us for damages to her person?"
"THAT'S FOR SURE!" the CIT shouted out.
"Find out in the most unpredictably predictable episode of Total... Drama... World Touuuuur~!".