Last time on Total Drama Island…

The campers had their scavenging skills tested as they were put on opposite sides of a maze and told to find two statues before getting out. Several traps and obstacles got in their way, from pitfalls to sneezing powder. Courtney and Liam grew closer than ever, enough that at least one of their teammates definitely noticed. And while some managed to work out how to get around the traps, others like Owen ran right into them.

At the bonfire that night, Owen and Justin ended up in the bottom two. When the last marshmallow went to the big guy, we got a shock: it was Justin that had arranged for Cody and Ezekiel's eliminations, working with the girls to make sure that he was the last guy on the island. But at this point, Leshawna's alliance didn't need him anymore, so it was buh-bye for Justin McHotness. How will these different loyalties play out today, especially in light of the challenge we've got in store? Find out right here, right now on Total… Drama… Island!

True to Chris's word, the experimental fertilizer he had used caused the maze hedges to all die by the next morning, after which he had the interns clean up the remains. As the campers walked into the lodge, they saw that Chef was not waiting behind the counter with his usual glare. Instead, both he and Chris were standing by the front door wearing identical smirks.

Owen, predictably, asked "Hey, where's breakfast? I gotta eat before we do any challenges!"

"Oh, don't you worry, Owen," Chris said. "There will be plenty of food later." Then both he and Chef looked at each and snickered. That got suspicious looks from all of the campers, even as more of them filed in and sat at their team tables.

Once all of them were present, Chris began "Congratulations are in order. The eleven campers standing before me have managed to make it past the halfway mark on Total Drama Island. All of you are in the running for the season finale."

Several of them had different reactions–Owen called "Whoo hoo! We're on fire!" while some pumped their fists and or just smiled. Their host continued "Next week, the two teams will officially dissolve. But before that, all guys will move into the Bass cabin and all girls will be in the Gophers cabin. After everyone's settled in, I'll announce today's challenge and you'll get a… bite to eat."

Then he and Chef broke into another round of snickers, making Daphne grimace. "I suddenly don't feel so hot about breakfast," she said, and Heather nodded in agreement. The campers quickly broke apart to start moving luggage. Liam and Courtney, however, lingered in the lodge.

Once all of the others were gone, the two of them instantly moved so that Liam's right hand rested over her left. They smiled at each other, both suppressing blushes.

Confessional Stall - Courtney

"Okay, I haven't really had a relationship like this before," she admitted. "People usually find me too bossy or controlling or focused on success… I don't really know how to do stuff like this."

As the C.I.T. was mulling over this, Liam cleared his throat. "So…" he began. "It's safe to say our partnership is no longer one of just allies. I suppose there are some things we need to decide, then."

Courtney paused. "Such as?" she asked.

"Two things come to mind. First off, how much of this…" He held up their hands. "Do we want to show in front of the cameras? And second, how this affects the terms of our alliance, if at all."

She raised an eyebrow. "The terms were that we would stick together through thick and thin all the way until the final two. I don't see why that has to change."

"It doesn't," he agreed. "But I'd like to add a clause that, regardless of who ultimately wins, there won't be any hard feelings about it."

At that, Courtney had to suppress a snort. "You mean you think you can beat me?" she said with a challenging grin.

Liam grinned back. "You never know. So I thought we should make sure now," was his reply.

She was silent for a moment, considering it. "Well… alright. Even if I don't win, I won't resent you for it. And when I do, you won't hold it against me."

He chuckled. "That's all I ask. We can't trust any of the others; all we can rely on is each other," he said, to which she nodded.

Courtney looked down at their hands, her confident posture wavering. "As for this…" she said, squeezing his hand. "I'm… not sure how to go about this. I know there's kissing, going on dates, and other things if it gets more serious…" she said, going faster the longer she spoke. "But I haven't done a lot of that stuff, so I don't know when to schedule it, or what milestones we should celebrate, or how any of that applies to being on TV–"

Then she stopped, as Liam turned his seat and reached up to gently place his other hand on her cheek. The blush she had been holding back appeared. Not only that, but seeing the edges of his lips quirk, she could tell he was holding back a smile at her rambling. Which only made her face warm even further.

"You're most comfortable when you're in control, right?" he asked, and she nodded. "In that case, I'll let you decide the pace we move at. Kissing, making out… You can be the one who decides when we do that. Sound good?"

In other words, he was putting the responsibility for pushing their relationship forward on her shoulders. She couldn't say she was surprised… or that she wasn't relieved. "Most of the guys I've gone out with don't like to wait," she said, holding off the urge to lean into his hand.

"You're a very beautiful girl, Courtney, and I'd consider it a delight to kiss you," he said frankly, making her blink. "But I'm in no rush to 'reach the summit'. Doing that without you being into it as well would ruin it for me."

Courtney gave him a wide smile. "Same here," she said. "Plus, you're laid back, reactive, unwilling to take the initiative if you don't have to–exactly the kind of guy my parents wouldn't want me to date, yet I am."

He smirked. "So in other words, going out with me… is another form of rule-breaking?" he asked.

She nodded. "Which only makes it more thrilling," she said, making him grin in delight. She pulled back and he lowered his hand as she held up the one she was holding. "In front of the cameras, stuff like this or hugging each other after a win… We'll start there and see where it goes."

He nodded. "Excellent," he replied. "And… off the camera?" he asked, deliberately glancing at the camera located in the corner of the room.

Courtney's answer was to stand, pull him to his feet, and then lead him out of the lodge.

Confessional Stall - Liam

"To win, I'll do anything, including lie, cheat, sabotage the other players and set them up for failure. But if there's one lesson my psychotic mother drilled into me, it's that real partners require communication and trust. And if I can actually trust Courtney… who knows?"

As Trent was pulling his guitar case out of the cabin, he stopped when Gwen entered the door in front of him.

"Oh! I, uh–" Gwen said while Trent blurted "Sorry, I was just–"

Then they both stopped, and Trent took a deep breath. "Listen, I know I messed up with the whole 'supposed to dig you up' fiasco. Big time," he said.

Gwen looked away, crossing her arms. "You got that right," she said flatly.

He rubbed the back of his head. "But I've been trying to make it up to you. And I'll keep trying if I have to," he swore. "I just…don't want that to be what ends this. What we have… I feel like it's special," he said.

The goth was silent for a moment. Then she looked over at him. "I haven't forgotten that thing with the hot sauce. If you had let go, I could have fallen off that wall and really gotten hurt," she told him. That got Trent to smile, but he refrained from saying anything as she still had a thoughtful look on her face. Another moment passed… and then she sighed. "I'm...willing to give things another try. A fresh start," she said.

This time, his smile nearly blinded her. "Alright!" he shouted, dropping his guitar to pump both fists in the air. "A fresh start, yeah!" Then he heard Gwen chuckling at him and calmed down, but kept his smile. "I gotta say, if there's one upside to this whole crappy island experience, it was being teammates with you," he declared.

That caused a spot of pink to appear on her cheeks, making Gwen inwardly curse her pale skin for making it so noticeable. Outwardly, she said "Yeah. Getting to know each other has been… really nice."

The two of them looked down at the floor, then at each other. No words were said, just looking at each other. Then they both took a step forward–

"Well, at least both cabins suck the same amount," Heather complained, standing in the door and looking around the room. Then she 'spotted' the two of them and her eyes widened. "Oh, sorry! I'll… just go," she said, stepping back outside.

Once she was gone, Gwen and Trent looked at each other. "You should… probably finish moving," the former said.

Trent nodded. "Yeah, I guess so," he said. "But we should definitely talk later. Without someone barging in," he said.

That got her smile to come back. "Definitely," she said, moving aside so he could finish carrying his guitar out of the room.

As Bridgette stepped back into the Bass cabin, she froze.

Courtney and Leshawna were standing on opposite sides of the room, both sending glares at each other cold enough to frost the windows. Gwen and Lindsay were also present, but were silent as the two squared off.

"Just so you know, I keep track of all my stuff. You do not want to mess with my things, especially my Pudding Pops," Leshawna warned.

Courtney scoffed. "As if I'd be such a pig to steal desserts from you," she said. "And I keep a record of my belongings, too. So don't you get any ideas, like breaking or stealing any of it."

The larger girl's eyes narrowed. "You implying that I'm a thief?" she said angrily, reaching up to pull back her sleeve.

Courtney didn't back away an inch, saying "I haven't seen the shoe yet, but if I do and it fits…"

Before Leshawna could reply, the surfer chick stepped between them. "Girls, girls, time out!" she called. She looked at Courtney. "You don't want anyone messing with your luggage…" Then she looked at Leshawna. "You don't want anyone messing with your luggage…" She looked at both of them. "You both want the same thing. So let's just agree to not mess with each other's things, okay?"

Both of them were silent, glaring past Bridgette at each other. Then Courtney said "I think we should go further. No matter what happens out there or in challenges, I move that we declare the cabins to be neutral ground. No girl messes with anyone in here or their stuff."

Bridgette quickly nodded. "That sounds like a great idea!" she said brightly, before looking at Leshawna. "Right?"

Leshawna shrugged. "Sounds great to me," she said, still sending a mild glare at Courtney, which the C.I.T. was all too happy to return.

Bridgette just smiled.

Confessional Stall - Bridgette

"I knew that stuff about girls being catty when living together was made-up. Maybe this can end up being a good thing!" she said hopefully.

Inside the Bass cabin, Harold had used one of the functions on his keyboard to have it play music for them. Owen, meanwhile, had produced soda pop from somewhere while Liam had stepped back into the lodge to swipe some plastic cups.

"Now this is pretty nice," Liam admitted.

Owen nodded. "I don't know what the rest of these challenges are, but one of us has gotta win it so we can party like this all the time," he said, chugging his cup and letting out a loud belch.

"Being able to attend parties all the time would be sweet," Harold agreed, before copying Owen and also belching. His wasn't quite as loud, though.

Getting into the mood, Liam also downed his drink and burped, but only got as loud as Harold. Then Trent took a moment and unleashed a burp not only loud enough to rattle the cabin windows and open the door, but long enough for him to raise and lower the pitch several times before he finished.

Once it ended, all of the guys stared at Trent. "Nice one, bro," Harold stated.

Owen asked "How did you do that?"

He grinned nervously. "I guess all that singing gives me good control of my diaphragm," he said, making the others look impressed.

As she brought her stuff into the Gophers cabin, Heather paused. She could see Leshawna putting away her stuff on one side and Courtney on the other.

Behind her, Daphne raised an eyebrow. "What's the hold up… Oh," she said, peering over her shoulder.

The queen bee nodded and backed out of the cabin, pulling Daphne with her. Once they were out of earshot, she said "Okay, we need to decide who to bunk with. Because who we sleep next to will determine who we have an alliance with."

Daphne opened her mouth, likely to point out that they could still sleep next to someone and be their enemy. Then she thought better of it and said "Okay, but we already know who to pick, right?"

Heather rolled her eyes. "Just because we made a deal with Courtney doesn't mean we have to honor it," she said as it were obvious.

The brunette frowned. "I guess… But we agreed to make an alliance with her after the merge in exchange for voting out DJ. If we go back on that, I'll have voted out a friend for nothing."

"Not for nothing. For the opportunity to keep your strongest ally–me–with you," Heather corrected. "Remember, I was the one who picked you up after Izzy was eliminated. And before that, I helped you get rid of Eva even when I didn't have to. Who else is going to protect you?"

There was a long pause and Daphne looked away, her hair momentarily blocking her face. "I guess…" she said, before looking at her with a submissive expression. "So, we're making an alliance with Leshawna, then?"

"Yep. But…" Heather said. "You make a good point about Courtney being upset–and probably shouting about it for others to hear–if we break our deal…" Her expression turned thoughtful, before she suddenly smiled. "I've got it. Follow me," she said. Daphne just nodded, and once they were inside she joined her on Courtney's side of the cabin.

When the campers finished moving and returned to the lodge, they found that one table had a women's sign on it while the other had a men's sign. They sat themselves accordingly, and once they were all present Chris spoke up.

"As the signs might have told you, this week's challenge is as old as history itself: a battle of the sexes!" he announced. "And here's the twist: Whichever team loses today's challenge will vote one of their own sex off the island tonight!"

The guys looked at each uncertainly. At the girls' table, Courtney and Leshawna glanced at each other while Heather sat straight with wide eyes.

Confessional Stall - Heather

"So if the girls lose tonight, one of us gets the boot. And we happen to have an odd number of girls left…" she said. Then she grinned. "This could be it."

Harold raised his hand and asked "Can we at least have breakfast before we do this?"

Chris and Chef immediately started snickering again, causing Gwen to snap "Will you cut that out?"

Forcing back a chuckle, Chris said "I suppose we might as well tell you the challenge. Today, we have… the Brunch of Disgustingness!"

"The birch o' wha?" Lindsay repeated.

"Brunch, Lindsay. Each team will be served a nine-course meal. Originally, we were going to require that every member of either team eat the dish to get their team a point. However, we didn't anticipate that there would be nearly twice as many girls remaining as guys." He waved at the four guys and seven girls, and the girls grinned victoriously. "So, to balance things out and reward them, one of the girls can choose to sit out each course while all four guys will be required to complete each dish. And no, it doesn't have to be the same girl each time," Chris said. "You will not know if the next course will be more gross, less gross or just as gross as the last. Just know it will be gross."

Chef grinned. "Tell them about the reward!"

"Oh, yeah. In addition to the losing team voting someone off, the winners of this challenge will receive a two-day stay at a nearby five-star resort. There, they will be pampered, given gourmet food and receive antibiotics for anything this challenge gave them," Chris told them. "The losing team will also receive antibiotics, but they'll be administered by Chef. Who will also be staying on the island."

Chef gave them all a wave and a menacing grin.

Confessional Stall - Liam

"Making food for someone else to eat is one thing. Heck, I'll even make food and eat it myself; I trust my cooking. But eating food that's specifically made to be disgusting?" he said, his casual expression replaced with a grimace. "I've been dreading a challenge like this since the beginning."

Heather, Courtney and Leshawna all faced each other. "Can we all agree that we have to win this?" Heather asked, and the other two nodded. "Good."

Owen smirked. "We've got this, guys; there's not a thing I won't eat to win, even my gitch," he said, holding up a pair of boxers.

Liam reared back. "We… won't have to eat anything like that, right?" he asked their host.

"Maybe, maybe not," Chris replied, getting Liam to glare at him. Chef then emerged from the kitchen with a series of platters with lids. One was placed in front of each camper. "For this first course, however, we have some hors d'oeuvres," he declared.

Chef then pulled off the lids, revealing plates of… meatballs?

"Alright! Bring the meatballs on!" Owen said, immediately tipping the entire plate into his mouth.

Chris chuckled. "I mean, yes, they are meatballs. Just very special ones. Chef?"

Holding up one, Chef said "It's beef testicle bourguignon."

The guys all froze, looking down at their plates. "...Testicles?" Owen said, before his face turned green.

Harold's eyes widened. "Outside, man, outside!" he said, quickly pulling Owen to his feet and turning him towards the door. Thankfully, Owen managed to keep it in until he was just outside, though they could all hear him vomiting.

Trent, meanwhile, looked down at his plate and slowly picked a meatball up. "This just feels wrong…" he said, slowly taking a bite.

As he sat back down, Harold nodded and slowly began to eat one, holding back tears. When Owen re-joined them, he visibly cried as he ate.

Heather, by contrast, picked up a 'meatball' and bit it in half, making all four guys rear back. Across from her, Lindsay was muttering "For the mani-pedi. For the mani-pedi," over and over as she ate.

However, Bridgette shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't eat meat like this. I'm a vegetarian," she said.

Courtney shrugged her shoulders. "If you want to sit this one out, fine. I don't have an issue with the 'food'," she said, before biting into a meatball.

The other girls either nodded or just ate, making Bridgette sigh in relief. "Thanks, girls," she said.

Liam looked down at his plate. "Surprisingly, this wouldn't be the first time I had prairie oysters," he stated. "First time I haven't had them fried, though." And with that, he picked up a meatball and tossed it in his mouth, chewing it with a thoughtful expression. "...This was braised in red wine. I approve," he concluded, while his teammates' gave him horrified stares.

Trent shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't do this," he declared.

Owen sniffled. "Me neither," he said, and Harold nodded in agreement.

Chris grinned. "Well, it looks like the first round goes to the female campers!" he announced, making the girls celebrate.

The redhead frowned. 'You are all weak,' was the first thought that came to mind. That dish wasn't even disgusting. Like so many other first responses, however, he pushed it back and just sighed. "We'll get the next one, guys," he said, making Owen smile.

"Funny you should mention the next course," Chris said, as Chef wheeled said course out. "Any of you like pizza?"

Daphne raised her hand. "As long as it has pineapple and jalapeños," she said, ignoring the bemused looks from the other campers.

Except, that is, for Owen, who said "I'll eat pizza anytime, anywhere, and with any toppings."

"Any topping?" he said, and Chef raised the lid. "What about toppings such as jellyfish sauce, live anchovies and recently-crushed grasshoppers?" he revealed.

"Ewww!" Lindsay said, backing away at the sight of the anchovies while Owen just shrugged.

Daphne frowned and leaned closer, taking a look at the pizza itself. "Why does the whole thing look… flattened?" she asked.

"Well, we were going to serve it with live grasshoppers, but they kept jumping off the pizza. So Chef had to improvise," Chris told them. Chef punctuated that by holding up a meat tenderizer and slamming it against his palm.

A slice was then given to each contestant, and Leshawna looked at hers. Due to the grasshopper being crushed, its head was half-buried into the cheese, making it almost appear as if it were rising out of it. The fact it kept being jostled a little in response to the anchovy flipping around didn't help. She shook her head. "Uh-uh. That is just straight-up nasty. I ain't eating that," she declared.

Heather frowned and leaned over. "Oh, yes, you are. I am not missing out on a heated massage and mud mask just because you can't keep down a few bugs," she said fiercely.

Leshawna glared at her and looked like she was preparing to argue. Bridgette, seeing that, quickly said "I'll eat it! And Leshawna can sit this one out."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What happened to being a vegetarian?" she asked.

Bridgette looked down. "I… never worked out my position on eating live fish," she admitted. "Or insects, for that matter. But I'm willing to take one for the team."

Heather snorted. "At least someone is," she said, before picking up her slice and taking a bite. Her eyes bulged, but she continued chewing and eventually swallowed. "See? Not that hard."

Courtney tried to take a bite, but the anchovy on her piece flipped away. "Come on…" she said, trying again only for it to flip again. "Stay still and let me eat you!" she said, watching it flip away a third time. "Alright, that's it!" she yelled, and stuffed the entire slice into her mouth. A moment later, her eyes widened and she clasped both hands over her mouth. "Hnnn… Hrrngh!" she grunted, before swallowing her vomit with a pained grimace.

Seeing that, Lindsay leaned away from her plate. "I can't do it! I can't eat that!"

"Well, we can't have both you and Leshawna sitting out," Gwen said. "One of you has to eat it."

Leshawna frowned. "You know what? Fine," she said, before grabbing her slice and tearing a section off. As she chewed however, she looked at her slice… and saw that she had only taken the grasshopper's head off. The rest of it was still on the slice. "Ohh… On second thought," she groaned, dropping the rest of her slice onto her plate.

Lindsay appeared ready to quit as well, so Bridgette leaned over. "I have an idea. Let's try a little meditation, okay?" she suggested, and Lindsay nodded.

The two of them moved to be in lotus position atop the table. As Lindsay chanted "Om…" repeatedly, Bridgette grabbed a slice and placed it in her mouth in between chants.

Daphne nodded her head, impressed. "Nice thinking, there," she commented.

Bridgette smiled, before seeing the brunette's plate was empty. "How did you get yours to go down?"

She smirked and pulled out her lighter, flicking it on. "Once you burn anything into a flaky black brick, it all tastes the same," she stated.

With the guys, Harold looked at his piece. "You know, insects are actually part of the local cuisine in several different cultures. As are jellyfish," he stated.

Owen licked his fingertips, his plate already empty. "Well, wherever those cultures are, I hope they have them on pizza there, too," he stated, grabbing another slice. None of the other guys tried to stop him.

Liam bit into his slice, then shuddered. "This is not thin-crust. Non-thin-crust pizza should not crunch," he declared, slowly chewing and trying to visualize something better-tasting. "Uugh."

Trent stood up. "Okay, I know a way to get me to eat this. Liam, Harold, I need you guys to hold me down while Owen forces the pizza into mouth. And don't let go or stop feeding me, no matter how much I beg," he said forcefully.

The other guys looked at each other, before shrugging. "If you say so," Owen said. Trent nodded and lied down on the table. Once the two redheads each had hold of an arm, Owen stepped forward with the slice.

The guitarist's eyes widened. "Uh… actually, I'm having second thoughts about this," he said.

Liam snorted. "Of course you do," he said, before nodding at Owen to proceed.

Trent began to struggle, forcing them to tighten their grip. "Wait, I was just kidding! Don't feed me that slice, man, seriously!" he protested.

Owen hesitated… then shook his head. "Sorry, buddy," he said, holding up a slice.

The teen thrashed harder, flailing his legs as well. "I'm warning you, my dad's a lawyer! So don't feed me–!" he yelled, before being cut off as Owen force-fed him the pizza slice. His flailing ceased, prompting Liam and Harold to let go, and a moment later his pupils dilated.

"Mama?" he asked, latching onto Harold.

The nerd stood frozen. "Uh…" he said, unsure of what to do.

Confessional Stall - Trent

"I was just being dramatic for the cameras, honest. I'm not actually grossed out by… grasshopper pizza… with jellyfish…" he said, before turning around and throwing up into the toilet.

Once Trent was extracted from Harold, Chris declared "Looks like this round ends in a tie. Girls are still one point over the guys. Now, onto the third course…" Chef brought out the next round of platters, removing their lids. "Earthworm spaghetti with snail-slime sauce and hairballs!"

Harold stared at his serving. "At least…" he said, swallowing. "At least they aren't live worms."

Trent's stomach rumbled. "Oh, man. I could maybe pretend it was spaghetti if I didn't have to see it. Or smell it," he said.

Owen, who was currently slurping on a worm, said "Come on guys, it's not so bad!"

Liam stared at him, then looked at his teammates. "Thank goodness we have him," he said, jerking his head in Owen's direction. "How about this? We close our eyes, pinch our noses shut, and we just might be able to pretend it's not worms."

Harold shrugged. "I can definitely try," he said, and Trent nodded.

While the three of them were trying that, Heather pushed her plate away. "I'm out for this one. I am not eating balls of hair," she said in disgust.

Gwen frowned. "And you think I want to?" she said, wrapping several worms around a fork.

Daphne just grinned and flicked on her lighter again, burning her food until it was completely tasteless. "I can do this for any of you, too," she offered.

Courtney shook her head. "No thanks. Burnt food just makes me throw up," she said. Bridgette and Lindsay were using meditation again, and ate theirs with little issue one bite at a time.

As the other girls were slowly eating, however, the guys wolfed down their plates as quickly as possible to maintain the illusion of it being spaghetti. Once Harold was done, he raised his plate over his head and called "Done!"

"Also done!" Liam added a moment later.

"Been done!" Owen said, holding up his plate.

Trent said "I'm done t–" before stopping. "...'Cuse me one second," he said, before running out the door for a place to throw up that course as well.

As he exited, Chris said "And the winners: the guys! The score is now even." The remaining guys cheered at that, and Trent joined them in doing so once he made it back in.

Confessional Stall - Chef

I hope they enjoy the next dish. I made it from scratch," he said, scratching his back with a chuckle.

"Any nine course meal would be incomplete without soup, and this one is no different," Chris said as the fourth course was served. "Today, you will be enjoying French Bunion Soup with hangnail crackers."

Liam stared… and then hung his head. "Sorry, guys. I just can't," he said flatly.

"Oh, come on, man!" Owen said. "At least try it."

But he shook his head. "I refuse to eat something that likely came off the bathroom floor," he declared.

Trent frowned. "Hey, if I can have pizza stuffed down my throat, you can at least have some… hangnail soup…" he paused, shuddering. "Besides, we gotta do this or the girls will get the lead again!"

"I agree. Plus, if we eat it fast enough like the last one, we'll taste it less," Harold added.

Liam looked at each guy in turn.

Confessional Stall - Liam

"I hate vomiting. It's not even tasting the vomit itself, or the runny nose, or the heaving. It's the burn from the stomach acid going up my throat and nose. I can't stand that crap."

Cornered from three sides, the slacker sighed and slouched. "I'll… try," he ground out, before taking a deep breath and picking up his spoon.

At the girls table, Daphne glared down at her bowl. "Well, this blows," she muttered, wishing her glare could somehow turn the soup flammable.

"Is that a… band-aid?" Heather asked, gently scooping it out of her bowl and holding it up. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed half of a band-aid, making Heather gag before she lowered her spoon. "Spa or no spa, I have my limits. This is it," she declared.

Now the goth glared. "You are not sitting out two dishes in a row while the rest of us suffer. Now eat that soup."

Heather glared back for a moment, sparks flying that were not as figurative as some of the other girls would have liked.

After a long moment, however, Heather let out an explosive sigh. "Fine!" she replied, before looking over and seeing some of the guys try to drink it in large gulps. Grabbing her bowl with both hands, she took three gulps before she had to set it back down, her stomach already rumbling ominously.

As usual, Owen was the first guy to call "Done!", though Harold was surprisingly close behind.

As the other two guys tried to force theirs down, Bridgette emerged from the kitchen with a funnel. "Lindsay, hold still," she said, placing the funnel in the other blonde's mouth. Lindsay obediently remained still, and Bridgette picked up her soup bowl before gently pouring it down the funnel. Lindsay began to swallow, and once it was all gone she smiled.

"I didn't even taste it that way!" she said, prompting every other girl to line up behind her.

Trent groaned. "Come on…" he muttered, before picking up his bowl and taking a gulp. Then his eyes widened, he set it back down, and he said "'Cuse me again," before running out to throw up a third time.

In the time he was gone, Bridgette also helped Gwen, Daphne, Leshawna and Heather finish their bowls. Once Trent came back, Liam took the last drink from his bowl and stood up. "Alright, that's it. Owen, Harold, hold him down again," he declared.

Trent took a step back. "Wait. I can finish it the normal way!" he protested.

Harold and Owen looked unsure, and Liam prepared to snap at them to get them moving. But then Chris called "And the girls finish this round first! Point goes to them!" and he looked to see Lindsay returning the favor for Bridgette.

The slacker glared at the other guys. "All that pressuring me, and for nothing," he said bitingly, causing Trent and Harold to lower their heads.

Chris chuckled. "Five courses left for you to get through. Bon appetit," he declared mockingly.

Following that declaration, Chef served each of them a ball made of pre-chewed bubble gum. Besides the lack of taste, both teams could finish that one, especially since some of the gum wads actually had some fruity flavor left to make it slightly more bearable. Next was a shake made from skunk spray. After Bridgette's stunt with the funnel, Harold went into the kitchen and got one for the guys, letting them tie that round as well.

Course Seven consisted of used sandals with silicone icing. For that one, the boys' lower numbers let them squeak by with a win, re-evening the then there was the penultimate course, a stew that had been quite literally made from the kitchen trash. Courtney flat-out refused to eat it, but the rest of the girls and the guys were able to force it down.

Once that round was called, all of the campers were either sitting up or had their faces against the tables, groaning in discomfort. "Wow," Chris remarked. "We're down to one course left in the challenge, and the teams are still tied. Honestly, I'm almost impressed. But now, we're down to the wire."

Chef handed out the platters once more, and Chris said "It's… dolphin wieners! Made from dolphins."

Bridgette gasped, looking down at the wiener. "But dolphins… are our friends!" she protested, aghast.

Heather rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing you'll be the one to sit this out, then?" she asked, and the surfer rapidly nodded. "Whatever. It's already dead," she said, flipping open a ketchup bottle.

Lindsay looked from her to Bridgette. "...Sorry, Brisa," she said, before picking up her wiener and biting into it. The other girls did the same, and Bridgette did her best to keep her distressed keens to a minimum. Just the idea of dolphins being ground into hot dog meat was bad enough. Seeing her teammates and the guys eat it with little issue was making her light-headed.

Both teams finished at the same time, making Chris grin. "Well, since that was all nine courses with no winner, we get to do what I was hoping for: a final, tie-breaker course!" he declared. "Both teams pick one person for this part."

The guys all immediately looked at Owen, who smirked. "I got this, guys!"

The girls, meanwhile, didn't have an easy decision. "If this is a tie-breaker, it's probably a speed-eating contest," Daphne pointed out.

Lindsay groaned and placed her hands over her stomach. "That skunk juice… Oooh, I don't think I can eat anything fast after that."

"Me neither," Gwen added. "That garbage stew was the last straw for me."

Heather looked at her teammates with a calculating expression. "I'd… be willing to try," she offered. "But this one decides who gets that spa. Does anyone think they have a stronger stomach than me?"

That caused a look of determination to flare up on Leshawna's face. "I'll do it," she declared.

Chris had the campers move so just her and Owen were seated at one of the tables. Chef then placed a platter filled with fifteen shot glasses on the table, confirming their suspicions about the nature of the challenge. Then he held up a blender full of live cockroaches and the others grimaced. "I am so glad that isn't me," Liam stated, and several of the other campers nodded in agreement.

"Our winner will be the first one to drink eight shots of blended cockroach. Rich in vitamins, this combination of eight different species of cockroach is an excellent supplement for any balanced lifestyle," he claimed. Once Chef had blended the roaches and poured them into the drinks, he called "And go!"

Owen and Leshawna each hesitantly picked up a shot glass, before downing their contents. Both of them immediately gagged, even Owen put off by the taste of liquid roach. He was slightly faster in taking the next shot than Leshawna, but they both finished the second shot at around the same time. The third shot went by a little slower, as did the fourth, but it remained even.

Then they reached the fifth shot. As Leshawna was holding it up, she caught sight of something: one of the cockroach's heads hadn't been completely turned to mush. One eye stared lifelessly at her, making her groan. "This is just wrong…" she muttered, before throwing back that shot as well.

Next to her, Owen drank his sixth shot…and his pupils dilated. Moving on auto-pilot, he took a seventh shot, then an eighth. And then, even though that was enough to secure the win, he still drank the ninth shot and immediately fell over.

"Owen wins it for the guys!" Chris declared, and Trent, Harold and Liam began whooping and cheering. From his position on the ground, Owen also gave a shaky thumbs-up.

"Nice job, Leshawna," Heather sneered, with Courtney also sending a glare at the other girl.

Then every single camper ran out of the lodge to throw up one final time.

By the time night had fallen, the yacht that would take the guys to the spa was about to take off. Meanwhile, the girls were seated in front of the bonfire.

As Chris stood with six marshmallows, he said "Ladies, today was one of the hardest challenges you've experienced thus far. But you're through it now, and all but one of you will be…" Then he trailed off, noticing that a camper was absent. "Where's Courtney?"

Focusing on the flame from her lighter, Daphne raised her other hand. "She said all that throwing up gave her a migraine, so she cast her vote and went to bed," she supplied.

"Huh…" Chris said, before shrugging. "Well, it's not as if she's been voted out tonight, so I'll just eat her marshmallow for her," he stated, before tossing one of the marshmallows into the air and letting it fall in his mouth. "Mmm, these are good. As for the rest of you, all but one of you will be making it to the merger. The remaining marshmallows go to Heather…"

Heather smirked before walking up to snatch her prize from him.

"Gwen…" She walked over and collected hers much more calmly.

"Lindsay…" The blonde accepted hers with a relaxed sigh of relief.

"Daphne…" Flicking her lighter shut, she took hers and ate it whole.

"And the final girl remaining is…" Chris said.

…

…

…

"Bridgette."

Bridgette also relaxed and collected her marshmallow, while Leshawna stood up. "You guys voted for me?" she said incredulously. "I know I say to hate the game and not the players, but why me? Why not the bossy lawyer sleeping over there?" she asked, waving a hand towards their cabin.

When none of them answered, Heather sighed and stood up. "I'll walk you to the Boat," she said, placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her towards the Dock.

As they walked, Leshawna looked back at Lindsay and Gwen. "I'll be rooting for both of y'all, so go ahead and win this," she called.

"We will!" Lindsay called, while Gwen smiled and said "Count on it."

Leshawna waved, but before she could resume walking they heard a voice call "Waaaaiiit!"

Looking in the direction it came from, they saw Harold running down the path to the bonfire from the yacht. He skidded to a stop in front of them, panting, and Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Were you watching the elimination?"

He nodded. "I was wondering… who would be eliminated," he panted, before taking a deep breath and standing up and looking at Leshawna. "Now that I know it's you, I know this might be my last chance to say it."

Now Leshawna raised an eyebrow. "Say what?" she asked.

Taking another breath, he said "That I meant what I said in those poems. Every word."

She blinked. "Poems… Wait. Those love notes were from you?"

The two of them locked gazes, Harold smiling widely at finally having confessed. Leshawna smiled as well, and they began to run towards each other. Once they were within arm's reach, Leshawna picked up Harold in a hug.

"Baby, you are my kind of freaky!" she declared.

Despite the embrace giving him trouble breathing, Harold didn't lose his smile. "Give Daddy… some sugar…" he managed to get out. Leshawna immediately set him down, and they leaned in closer to each other. Their lips grew closer, only inches apart… and then Chris cleared his throat.

"Very cinematic, but we're on a schedule," he said, taking a step forward.

But Leshawna froze him with a glare, the same one she had from the plane. "Unless you want to go sky-diving again, back off," she warned. Chris put up both hands and stepped away, and she turned her attention back to Harold. "Come here," she said, before placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling him into a kiss.

The other girls watching, especially Gwen, Bridgette and Lindsay, smiled at the scene. "That's so romantic!" Lindsay swooned.

Bridgette leaned closer over to Gwen. "Just so you know…" she whispered, getting the goth's attention. "I had a feeling Harold was the one writing the letters. But I promised not to say anything before he did."

Gwen thought about that, before slowly nodding. "I can understand that," she whispered back, before focusing on Harold and Leshawna.

The two of them continued kissing until Harold finally broke away, gasping for air. "That was…" he began before trailing off.

Leshawna smirked. "The best kiss you ever had?" she offered.

He quickly nodded. "Absolutely."

She chuckled. "You try your best to win this too, okay? And don't let anybody push you around," she told him.

"I won't," he promised.

Leshawna smiled, before looking over at the cameraman. "Hey, you got a pen on you?"

The cameraman jumped at being addressed. "Uh… sure," he said, before pulling a pen from his pocket and handing it to her.

Leshawna took it before holding up Harold's palm, writing onto it. "This is my cell number. Win or lose, when you get off this island, you call me, you hear?" she told him.

Harold looked down at his palm in slight awe, before holding it to his chest. "I swear I will."

She nodded. "Good. See you later then, honey," she said, and then resumed walking with Heather. Once they came to the edge of the dock next to the Boat, she looked at her. "You also try to win. We may have stopped being in an alliance together, but I still think you're alright."

Heather smiled widely. "It makes me so happy to hear you say that," she started, before suddenly pulling Leshawna into a hug of her own.

The sassy girl was frozen for a second in surprise, before slowly reaching up and returning it. "We've come a long way since that first challenge," Heather continued.

"I'll say," Leshawna replied, before snorting. "Remember when I had to throw you off that cliff to keep us from losing?"

Heather nodded. "I do remember that, yeah. And do you remember what I said after that?" Leshawna shook her head, and Heather pulled back until her hands rested on either of her shoulders. Leaning forward, she placed her lips right next to her ear.

"I said I'd get you for that."

Then she pushed.

Leshawna gasped and windmilled her arms, before falling backwards into the Boat with a shout. She landed on her back and groaned, before quickly gathering her wits and staring up at Heather. "You…"

Looking down at Leshawna–figuratively and literally–Heather crossed her arms. "You know, I did have this whole plan where I would start my alliance with you back up. Then I was going to use that time to eliminate Courtney, whittle away your support, and then get rid of you. But when Chris said we'd be voting off one of our own tonight… Well, I just couldn't resist," she revealed.

By now, the shock was starting to fade. "So you made a deal… with her? Miss 'I'll Let People Get Hurt to Win'?" Leshawna asked.

Heather grinned. "Actually, I had already told her I'd join her in an alliance. This just helped me decide whether to actually go through with it."

Leshawna stared, while the Boat revved and began to pull away from the Island. "You… scheming… backstabbing…two-faced little…!" she shouted, growing fainter as she grew more distant. "This ain't over, you and me! Not by a long shot!"

The queen bee just snorted. "I'm looking forward to it," she declared, smugly waving as Leshawna disappeared from view.

As that was happening, the other girls made it back to the cabin and went inside. "Well, this whole day officially stinks," Gwen said, dismayed at losing both the challenge and a friend.

Bridgette nodded. "It sucks that none of us get to join the guys at the spa," she said, before walking over to Courtney's bed. "Hey," she said, giving her a shake. "You should know that Leshanwa's been eliminated." When there was no response, however, she said "...Courtney?" before grabbing the blanket and pulling it away.

Where there had been a C.I.T., there was now just a pile of pillows. "What the–?"

At the front of the yacht, Courtney grinned at the night sky. "So worth it," she declared.

Liam chuckled and hugged her from behind, causing her to lean into him. "Another rule that you didn't let hold you back. And now we get to enjoy ourselves together," he said, and she hummed in satisfaction as they were ferried off to the lap of luxury.

Thus one of my top four favorite episodes this season comes to an end, and the merger cast decided. I realized about halfway through writing this chapter that Heather would see this as a chance to finally get rid of Leshawna. And if I saw it then, Heather would have realized it even sooner.

Leshawna, Gwen and Lindsay → Courtney

Heather, Daphne, Courtney and Bridgette → Leshawna

Eliminated:

1. Beth, the Wannabe

2. Noah, the Know-It-All

3. Duncan, the Delinquent

4. Eva, the Female Bully

5. Sadie, the Sweet Girl's Friend

6. Geoff, the Party Guy

Teams are reorganized.

7. Katie, the Sweet Girl

8. Izzy, the Psycho Hose Beast

9. Ezekiel, the Home-Schooled Guy

10. Cody, the Geek

11. Tyler, the Jock

12. DJ, the Brickhouse with Heart

13. Justin, the Eye Candy

14. Leshawna, the Sister with 'Tude