~Last time on Total Drama Island~
~A talent contest brought out the worst, except one, in our campers. It was awesome! The Killer Bass struggled with any talent on their team, and Bridgette's clumsiness pretty much removed their best prospect, Courtney, by smashing her violin to pieces~
~But a split-second decision from Wednesday scored her team with points by rocking out a classic with her cello!~
~Gwen stood up to Heather, so Heather swore to make her life miserable by stealing her diary. Then read it in front of the entire viewing world, revealing Gwen to have a secret crush on someone at camp~
~On the same night, Heather saved her own butt by convincing her team to vote off Justin Mcgorgeous.~
~Who will be the next one to walk off this crappy dock? Will the Screaming Gophers finally manage to break their pathetic losing streak?~
~Find out tonight in the most dramatic marshmallow ceremony ever! On Total. Drama. Island!~
The next morning, Caine is carving a branch into a bass figure by the cabin steps while looking over at Courtney interacting with the other girls more often than usual. His overall assessment of her leadership skills in the previous challenge had proven effective in adjusting the CIT to be more assertive, open, and socially active with people on the island. She even looked happy when talking to Bridgette, despite the violin incident.
However, the work is far from done in Caine's perspective, and there are still some areas that require some work before she reaches her full potential. As of now, he has his sight focused on his wood carving, and he looks proud of the results.
"Cool fish, man," Geoff complimented as he stood in front of him,
"Thanks," Caine said, "It helps to pass the time before Chris tells us about the challenge this week."
"That reminds me, there's this thing I found sticking out of your bag when we woke up, and it's meant for you," Geoff revealed,
"What thing?" Caine asked as he stopped carving and turned to him,
"This," Geoff showed what appeared to be a folded letter, and the front had Caine's name written in the middle. The latter would take it off the former's hands, unfold it, and read the contents,
Once he's finished, he looked confused despite the appropriate use of words on each sentence and brought questions rather than appreciation to the writer, "When did you find this?"
"About this morning, though you weren't there when I found it sticking out," Geoff replied, "What's it about?"
"It's a love letter... Sincerely written by Wednesday Addams," Caine revealed,
"Wednesday? Dude, I didn't know she had a thing for you," Geoff expressed with utmost surprise,
"Neither did I," Caine clarified, then it brought up a previous matter within the Killer Bass. Harold's mysterious prankster, the girls' ghostly trespasser, the occasional sensation whenever he felt like they were being watched, and now this letter addressed to him specifically.
He didn't even hear the door open or close when all the boys of the Killer Bass slept in for the night, and whenever he woke up early in the morning...
Therefore, he felt the same way as Wednesday and was determined to find their little interloper. But that had to wait when Chris' voice was heard from the loudspeaker, "Attention, campers! Please gather by the campfire, it's time for your next challenge."
Caine would look at the loudspeaker, glance at the letter, and stow it in his pocket. After that, he walked to the campfire while Geoff watched him go before following Bridgette, as he saw her walking alongside Courtney. If Caine could fall under Wednesday's interests, the same may happen between him and Bridgette as he thought...
CAMPFIRE SITE
"Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills." Chris announced as both teams were present, "I'm not gonna lie to you. Some of you may not come back alive."
Many gasped at this information, while a few either felt neutral or made an eyeroll at the host's words as he laughed a bit at their obvious reactions, "All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need is at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it. Oh, and watch out for bears. Lost a couple of interns in pre-production. First team back for breakfast wins invincibility!"
Chris then handed each team a map and compass, and blew an airhorn in the forest, "Well off you go!"
"Did he say there are bears up in here?" Leshawna asked in a scared tone. Heather was already a pain to begin with, she didn't want bears added into the equation.
"Who needs to worry about bears when we've got three with us?" Duncan questioned as he pointed his thumb at Caine, Eva, and Wednesday. The Bass understood Caine's overall skills, Eva's strength, as she shattered a rock in her hand like eggs, and Wednesday's unpredictability.
"Easy for you to say! We've got nothing compared to your team," Leshawna complained,
"I had a little encounter with a bear once. Let's just say his head looks real nice up on my mantle," Owen bragged to his team, and was met with his team's gazes.
"Ooh! This one time, I saw a bear eating our garbage!" Izzy excitedly mentioned, "He had old spaghetti noodles hanging from his big, huge teeth! It looked like blood and guts! It was so gross. And we thought he was eating the neighbor's cat, Simba, but it turns out he was just lost for a week...
Izzy then turned to Lindsay, who looked disturbed and sick by her tale, "Uh, you didn't eat spaghetti, did you?"
"Oh, Good to hear!" Izzy told,
"Regardless, you all stay safe out there. There's no telling what lurks on this island," Caine warned both teams, and everyone went to the forest to do Chris' challenge.
SCREAMING GOPHERS
The Gophers would follow the path to their designated path to their campsite. Though Gwen remains far from the others without actually separating from the group. She also had her head slumped to the ground, then Trent caught up to her, "Hey, Gwen, wait up! Can I walk with you?"
"No," Gwen replied without sparing a glance at the guitar boy, and paced up on her walking,
"Hey, if this is about that whole diary thing..." Trent tried to say, but the mere mention of this incident caused Gwen to walk further away from him.
Trent soon sighed as he slumped his head down. He didn't mind the whole diary thing and even felt stoked that she had a thing for him. It may be true that the girl has a gothic vibe, but he was charmed by her mysterious appeal and attractive look. He even wanted to make some progress between
"Ugh! Stupid bugs!" But the one straining their progress complained as Heather was swatting away a few flying bugs still flocking around her. Not even sweet revenge from Gwen's part was enough to remedy the issue, "I swear she's the one who's going home!"
"Who?" Trent questioned with a light glare,
"Who do you think?" Heather yelled and pointed at Gwen as the goth walked ahead of everyone, "She dumped Harold's red ant farm into my bed!"
Though she's aware that dumping Harold's red ant farm into her bed was on Gwen's part, she had no clue that the hand-mixed spray was on Caine's part. She had no reason to suspect him, as the fragrance was sweet and soothing, but it didn't stop the ants or the mosquitoes from biting his skin throughout the night. And when she removed a few from her body, more always came.
"Yeah. But you did read her diary out to the entire world," Trent responded,
"So?" Heather growled while finally swatting the insects away,
"So...that was pretty harsh." Trent clarified, not at all intimidated by her.
"She is going down," Heather swore loudly before moving forward,
KILLER BASS
The Killer Bass would walk towards their designated campsite with Caine holding the map and compass. But Katie and Sadie's attentions were diverted by a blueberry bush that everyone passed by,
"Sadie, look." Katie gasped as she excitedly pointed to the bushes. "Blueberries!"
"I love, love, love, blueberries!"
"Oh my gosh! Me too!" Katie happily agreed and she joined hands with her BFF to feast on the blueberries... Unaware that they've separated from the Killer Bass...
CONFESSIONAL – KATIE & SADIE
"Sadie and I are BFFFL's," Katie informed everyone with Sadie right next to her.
"Best Female Friends for Life," Sadie phrased the acronym Katie used.
"We even got the chickenpox together!" Katie happily recalled that memory.
"Oh my gosh, that was so fun." Sadie happily said.
"It was so fun to have someone to scratch all your little scabs!" Katie said with Sadie nodding in agreement.
"How much further before we reach the campsite?" Wednesday asked as she walked alongside him,
"Not far, it's just a few meters from here," Caine replied, "Though I find it strange that you'd stay close to me. Shouldn't you be plotting behind my back how you'd get rid of me?"
"Better to keep you within my sights than far from my reach, also you have the entire team hogging by command," Wednesday clarified, "One word, and you'll turn them all against me,"
"If that's how you see it," Caine stated and continued onward with the hike,
But as those two were ahead of the group, a conversation struck between the boys, mostly DJ, Duncan, and Geoff, while Harold was far off from the three.
"Hey, dudes. Do you think I've got a chance with Bridgette?" Geoff revealed,
"That depends, what've you been doing with her?" DJ inquired,
"Well... Nothing at the moment," Geoff admitted, "But I'm willing to try anything if I get a shot with her."
"Then you might want to start off fast and careful," Duncan jokingly advised, "You wouldn't want a bear popping out of nowhere and ruining your chance."
"Can we not find a bear out here and just focus on the challenge?" Courtney complained with a disapproving frown at him,
"Aaaaaw, what's wrong, princess? Afraid of a little bear?" Duncan teased with a smirk,
"No! We've got a good win streak on this show, and we can't afford to lose it because we ran into a bear in the woods." Courtney yelled with a glare,
"Oh, just chill, would ya. Duncan told, usually unintimidated by the CIT's glare, "If any bears are coming along, I might just protect ya~"
"Ugh!" Courtney groaned with disgust and walked ahead to be behind Caine while Duncan smirked and kept walking. All the while, DJ brought up a question towards Geoff, "Why are you asking about you and Bridgette all of a sudden? Merely curious,"
"Oh, it's cuz I learned Weds has a thing for Caine," Geoff revealed,
"For real?" DJ asked in a surprised tone, and Duncan felt the same as he shot him a look as well.
"Yeah. Around this morning, I found a letter sticking out of his bag, and he wasn't there to see it. So I took it and gave it to him," Geoff revealed, "Pretty weird in my opinion."
"You sure you didn't slip it in yourself?" Duncan questioned,
"No, dude. Also, I saw the letter was written in cursive and I'm really not confident in writing like that," Geoff told,
"Huh... That kinda explains the other day they were together," DJ remarked,
"Dude, give us the details," Duncan asked, and most of the boys soon learned just how close those two were... As well as a mysterious follower of the Killer Bass...
SCREAMING GOPHERS
After the hike, the Screaming Gophers were presented with mostly an open area of the woods, and various camping supplies were waiting for them, such as an unfolded tent and sleeping bags. Owen would put his hands on his hips for the most important question, "Uh... There's no food here."
"This is a survival task," Trent informed, walked over to the supplies, and removed a note that was attached to it, "And here are the instructions."
"I wonder if there are any bears around today," Owen wondered, then he turned to Izzy, who had a smile on her face, "Wouldn't it be funny if we made some bear sounds and then they came?"
"Ha! That would be funny!" Izzy laughed as she agreed,
"ROOOOOAR!" Owen mimicked in a deeper voice, "I'm a bear!"
"Would you please shut up? I'm trying to read here!" Heather yelled directly at him, and Owen flinched as the queen bee looked into the instructions she took from Trent's hand, "It says we're supposed to find our own food."
She looked around the area and frowned at the complete lack of food."I still don't see it."
"I think they mean in the woods," Trent implied, and pointed towards the woods. If this is a survival challenge, they'd have to, well, survive by searching things they can find around them, baring the tent and sleeping bags.
"I'll go!" Owen volunteered, "I'm good at finding food!"
"Well, at least this will be a good week for my diet," Heather sighed as she had no other choice but to accept whatever food Owen might find out there.
SADIE AND KATIE
Hours had passed, and the two best friends were still lost in the woods. There was no sign of their team or anything that wasn't... well... in the woods for that matter.
"You don't know where we are, do you?" Sadie asked as Katie took the lead in finding their team,
"Yes... Okay, no," Katie admitted as she slumped her head down, "It's so not my fault. Have you noticed that all trees look the same?"
"Ooh, I knew I should have known better than listen to you," Sadie groaned as her feet started to ache,
"What?!" Katie exclaimed as she quickly glared at her friend, "You don't think I'm smart enough to find them?"
"You're not exactly the best with like, directions," Sadie told as she sat down and shook off some dirt and pebbles from one of her shoes,
"Yuh-huh, I am!" Katie yelled,
"Nuh-uh! Apparently, you're not!" Sadie yelled back as she walked ahead of her best friend after cleaning her shoes, "'Cause we're L-O-S-T. Lost!"
Katie blew a raspberry at Sadie before following behind her.
KILLER BASS
After they arrived at the site and read the instructions, they were quick in making camp under Caine and Courtney's supervision, mostly the latter since the former chose to do something different. As of right now, Geoff and Bridgette were setting up the tent, but the party boy had been trying and failing hard to flirt with the surfer girl. Duncan and Eva worked around the fire pit while Harold gathered the firewood and kindling.
As for Sadie and Katie's absences, they remain unnoticed, but the team is completely unbothered in the slightest bit.
A while later, they heard the rustling of branches and leaves, and all looked up to see Caine climbing down the tree and jumping onto the ground with ease. "Looks like everything's in order."
"Yep, and it's looking better than we had hoped," Courtney revealed, "Though I've got to ask why you were up the tree again?"
"Making sure our area remains bear-free, and it's safe to say that there won't be any bears near our area," Caine told.
"Well, that's good to hear," Courtney said, then she saw him walk towards the forest. "Where are you going?"
"Off gathering some things," Caine answered, "I won't be long."
Courtney would normally stand against such a decision, but she learned to ease down since everything's still working out from the tent to the campfire. All that remained was the food that DJ and Wednesday were searching for in the woods...
SCREAMING GOPHERS
After they set up their camp, all they waited for was Owen's return with their food. However, they're all currently groaning from the sounds of their growling stomachs...
"Ugh, I'm so hungry..." Heather complained as her stomach practically roared.
"I think my stomach ate my stomach..." Izzy painfully groaned while clutching her stomach,
"Yo!" The Gophers turned to the new voice nearby, saw what appeared to be a pizza delivery boy with a box in hand, "Who ordered the pepperoni, with extra cheese?"
"It's for the camera crew, over here!" The cameraman said as his hand waved by the shot to get the delivery boy's attention,
"No way!" Heather complained. If they aren't getting the luxury of good food, then neither should the camera crew.
But then came the rustling of bushes, and Owen returned with a handful of fresh fish tied properly on a rope, "I bring food!"
"Are you kidding me?" Heather let out in complete disbelief, especially when she didn't expect the foodie of their group to be so good at finding their food.
All the while, the other Gophers made compliments for Owen's labor and gathered around him for the amount of food he had. Izzy quickly took one from Owen's hands, "Oh, I love fish! I love fish!"
Though she quickly sank her teeth into one, and everyone gasped and cringed at the sight. As soon as she noticed the looks of her team, she quickly pulled her teeth away from the fish, "I... I guess we should cook it first,"
"How do you know how to fish?" Heather demanded, wanting to know how Owen was able to haul in a bunch of fish by himself.
"My grandpa taught me. I once caught a shark; it bit me in the butt" Owen told, turned around and showed his butt for the bite mark, "Check it out,"
Most of the Gophers cringed in disgust at sight of both his butt and bite mark while Izzy wasn't particularly disgusted, just fascinated by the bite mark, "That is so awesome!"
NIGHTFALL...
With the moon hovering above the skies, the two best friends were still lost in the woods and unable to find their team. If anything, they've spent their time arguing at each other rather than finding the trail of their team, "Well, at least I know how to drive, you...you have-to-walk girl."
"Trip to the beach last year ring a bell?" Sadie brought up.
"Oh, I can't believe you're bringing that up." Katie complained, having brought up that incident countless times, "I did have a totally fetch bikini on that day, though. Ha."
"You drove my mom's car into a snack shack!" Sadie yelled as she glared at Katie's eyes,
"It was totally in my blind spot!" Katie yelled back, "Whatever! If it wasn't for me, you'd be riding the bus to the mall!"
"Well, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be able to find your way to the mall!" Sadie shot,
"Oh, I know my way to the mall!" Katie exclaimed right near Sadie's face,
"You lean on me!" Sadie stated that she wasn't pushed back by Katie and kept up the argument. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be on this show!"
Katie gasped at her words, then growled at her, "You're just saying that because I'm prettier than you are!"
This time, it was Sadie's turn to gasp while a couple of squirrels giggled at the two, "I knew you thought that!"
"It's true." Katie simply said with closed eyes and crossed arms. "Everybody thinks so."
CONFESSIONAL – KATIE AND SADIE
"Sadie's like the prettiest girl I know," Katie claimed as she pointed at Sadie next to her.
"Aww, well, you're the prettiest girl I know," Sadie said back to her best friend.
"We are really pretty, aren't we?" Katie smiled as she and Sadie giggled.
"Don't you love that we can say that to each other and not feel totally conceited?" Sadie eagerly asked her best friend.
"I love that about us!" Katie happily said.
"Me too!" Sadie let out an excited gasp.
"That's it!" Sadie angrily yelled as she started walking away from Katie. "When we get back to camp, we are so splitting up as BFFFLs!"
"Fine!" Katie yelled back as she started walking forward.
"DOUBLE FINE!" Sadie yelled in retaliation.
KILLER BASS
The team was still waiting on DJ and Wednesday for the food, but Duncan and Geoff were sitting away from everyone and in the middle of an embarrassing conversation from the party boy's side. The rest were doing their own business or double-checking the condition of their camp.
"Dude, what did you say to her again?" Duncan asked, and Geoff sighed in embarrassment,
"I said... Wow, you pitch a tent like a guy," Geoff revealed, and Duncan mustered every bit of his will to not laugh at the party boy's failure to flirt with a girl,
"Dude, I don't think any guy has struck out harder than that before." Duncan remarked, while shaking his head and Geoff slumping his head down, "You really need to sharpen up on your lady skills, my friend."
On cue, their stomachs loudly growled from their hunger, and Duncan used this to his advantage to teach the party boy a bit, "But ya can't do that on an empty stomach. Hey woman!"
Courtney quickly glared at him, though Duncan remained unintimidated by her, "What's for dinner? I'm starving over here."
"I hope you don't expect me to dignify that with a response," Courtney remarked, then everyone heard the bushes rustling. Though Bridgette flinched out of fear, but was soon relieved when DJ appeared with a rabbit he found in the forest, "Hey guys. Look what I found,"
"Well, I've never had rabbit stew before, but what the heck? I'm game." Duncan said as he and a few others gathered under the assumption that rabbit stew is for tonight's dinner,
But DJ pulled the bunny away from everyone, "No, this is my new pet! I'm callin' him Bunny!"
"You mean you couldn't find any food?" Courtney questioned, and DJ shook his head, making the CIT sigh, "Alright, but what about Wednesday? Where is she right now?"
"She said she had places to be, but said she'll be back with all we need," DJ revealed, and sat by the campfire while petting his new pet rabbit.
Courtney sighed once more, but decided to wait a little longer. If Wednesday couldn't find any food for them to eat, she could always ask for Caine's help. But said girl had soon arrived when everyone heard the rustling sound of bushes and turned to see Wednesday returning to their camp.
The CIT didn't even need to ask anything, as Wednesday brought a sack full of fruits on one hand, and a rope dragging what appeared to be a bunch of hanging fish and dead medium-sized deer onto her right shoulder.
"Whoa! That's... quite the haul you've got there," Geoff unsettledly remarked, as he and his team felt rather disturbed by the sight of the deer. "But where'd you find a deer?"
"You're already sitting around the answer," Wednesday bluntly remarked, and Geoff gullibly looked down at the ground, and with a few clueless others. As for the rest, they knew she was referring to the forest, but chose not to question it.
"How are you even going to cook that thing?" Courtney asked the important question as she stared at the deer,
"I can help with that," Caine said as he returned with some materials he found in the forest, and walked over to the deer that Wednesday caught. "It'll take a while, but I'll get the work done on this deer. Though Chris may feel concerned that his contestants had caught a live animal,"
CONFESSIONAL - CHRIS
"Just to be clear to all animal lovers out there. The producers and I have covered every precaution for the show," Chris revealed after hearing the whole conversation from afar, "As long as we're within the legal boundaries, such as today, we're in the clear. Suck it, PETA!"
Minutes later, Caine took the deer to a place where the Killer Bass wouldn't watch the process. He shortly started cooking up some venison and fish while some settled for the fruits and berries only. As for the remains of the deer, they were buried rather than kept around for ethical reasons.
Right now, everyone was feasting on tonight's meal like crazy. Though Caine settled with a skewered fish and a few bits of fruit, and Wednesday sat next to him with a slice of cooked venison.
"Your knife work around the deer's carcass was impressive," Wednesday nonchalantly told, and disturbed a few campers within earshot, "Such precision and skill would make you an excellent assassin."
"Part of my father's training, and I've practiced it since I was seven," Caine admitted, "But these days, I try to steer clear from it all. It's bad enough that I have to do such things to those poor animals,"
Caine looked at the fish by the campfire and the ones Duncan and Geoff had on, "The fish included."
"If you detest it so much, why carve the deer yourself?" Wednesday questioned, "After all, you were feeling so squeamish as you spilled-"
"I'm going to have to stop your sentence there before someone throws up their dinner," Caine cuts in with a raised hand, "But as for your answer, you can tell that the team wasn't up to the task. And I doubt you'll do a fine job of carving the meat,"
"I'm not above demonstrating a few tricks on you," Wednesday threatened,
"I'm well aware, but what I've said is the truth. You don't seem like the person who spends their time hunting animals in forests. If anything, you'd spend it all at home than anywhere else," Caine admitted, "If you think I'm lying, then by all means. Do what you must and prove me wrong,"
Wednesday stared at him with her apathetic eyes and would've preferred to prove him wrong. But she remained rather silent as she processed this information into her mind and constantly looked between her meal and him. Eventually, she continues to eat without saying another word out of her lips. All the while, Bridgette watched with knowing eyes as their conversation.
"Why are you staring at them like that?" Courtney inquired,
"Oh, it's nothing," Bridgette playfully denied, and continued to eat her fruits and berries,
All the while, Duncan soon noticed one particular problem with their team, "Has anyone seen Tweedledumb and Tweedleidiot?"
KATIE AND SADIE
"Katie, look. It's the tree with the fork in it." Sadie pointed out with a smile as she looked at a fork that was currently stabbed into a tree. "That's good, right?!"
"No. It's not good." Katie said with a frown as she remembered seeing that tree before. "It's the same tree we saw two hours ago! We just walked in a gigantic circle!"
"HOOT! HOOT!"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Both Katie and Sadie screamed in absolute terror at hearing the sound of an owl hooting. The two girls ended up running into a cave and hugged each other for comfort.
"We'll be safe here until morning," Katie said as she and Sadie shook violently.
However, a bat screeching made them doubt that as they clung onto each other tightly. "We're going to die here. We're going to die here."
SCREAMING GOPHERS
"Okay. Fire's hot. Fish are grilling. Tent is tenting." Owen listed off the things going on in their campsite, with all the Gophers looking pretty relaxed right now. All except Izzy, who wasn't even with the group right now.
"Nice goin', man." Trent complimented the big guy. "Fish looks awesome."
"Thanks, man. I owe it all to grandpa." Owen said as he recounted all the times he and his grandpa went camping, fishing, or hunting together.
"So, you and your grandpa actually fought a bear once?" Trent asked, pretty curious about that story.
"Heck yes, it was the scariest day of my life," Owen said as he proceeded to tell his teammates the story. "We were out in the woods when we came upon the great beast. I tell you, he was ten feet high if he was a foot! And then he roared his terrible roar! 'ROOOAAAR'! We grabbed our shotgun. We knew it was either him or us. It was nothing personal, just the law of the wild. And then, bam! One shot was all it took to fell the great beast. We took his blood and marked ourselves to honor him. It was a good death."
"Yeah, right. There's no way you took down a ten-foot bear." Heather doubted, then she noticed the headcount among their team, "Hey, has anyone seen crazy girl?"
I think she had to pee." Lindsay said as she remembered Izzy saying she had to use the bathroom...quite a while ago.
"That was over an hour ago!" Trent immediately stood up with a concerned expression as he called out to their missing teammate. "Izzy! Izzy?!"
"Izzy the Gopher, where are you?!" Owen called out loudly, then they heard the bush rustling nearby, "Hehe, good. We thought we lost you there for a minute-"
But what emerged from the bushes was not the crazy girl of the Gophers, but a wild bear, "GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA!"
"We're all going to die! We're gonna get eaten alive by a bear! Oh, the horror! Somebody help us! I want my mommy!" Owen panicked as he ran around his circles, some of the Gophers gasped, and Cody peed in his pants out of fear,
But Heather would grow increasingly annoyed by Owen's screaming and tripped him with one foot before exclaiming the following, "The trees! Climb into the trees!"
And all of the Gophers climbed up the trees to escape the bear...
KILLER BASS
After a satisfying dinner, everyone decided to pass the time around the campfire before going to bed for the night. All the while, the sound of an owl hooting caused Bridgette to flinch in fear and take a few deep breaths.
"Be cool, it's just an owl," DJ assured while keeping Bunny close to him.
"Sorry." Bridgette apologized as she rubbed her arm. "I just get really freaked out in the forest."
"This reminds me of this really scary story I heard once," Duncan recalled, getting everyone's attention. Though Caine raised an eyebrow at his intentions,
"Awesome," Geoff said, already wanting to hear this story. "Tell it, man."
"Are you sure?" Duncan asked with a bit of a smirk. "Because the story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore."
"Ooh, we're so scared." Courtney sarcastically said with a roll of her eyes.
"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you," Duncan shrugged, then began, "One night, a lot like this one..."
Duncan narrated the tale as he wanted, and most of the Killer Bass were already shaking in their boots as the story pressed on. The only ones who weren't scared were Caine and Wednesday, with the former smirking in amusement and the latter showing indifference to the tale.
"So suddenly...they-they heard this tap-tap-tapping on the side of the car." Duncan narrated while enjoying most of the looks his team was giving him, "The girl started to freak out, and by this time, even the guy was getting a bit scared. So he turned the car on and he stepped on it. When they got back to the girl's house, she opened the door and screamed! Because there, hanging from the door handle...was the bloody hook. They say that this killer is still alive, wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere, really."
"Maybe even right here!" Duncan would pull a hook out of another as he yelled, and it brought everyone screaming as most hid behind DJ as the brickhouse stood and screamed. Caine, on the other hand, shook his head while Wednesday rolled her eyes.
Once their fears had come to pass, Duncan maliciously laughed at their reactions. Then Courtney frowned right at him, "Duncan! That was so not funny!"
"Oh, yes it was! I just wish it was all on camera!" Duncan told, then recalled the camera nearby, "Oh wait, it is!"
"You are so vile! Do your parents even like you?" Courtney yelled with a hard glare at the punk,
"I don't know, Jumpy McChicken. I haven't asked them lately," Duncan told with a smirk on his face, then Courtney flinched at the sound of a wolf howling and ended up leaning toward him.
Duncan smirked at this and looked at Geoff, who gave a thumbs-up to the punk. Then Caine stood up from the campfire, "I think we've all had enough drama for one night in the woods. So why don't you all get some shut-eye in the tent? If you need me, just knock on the tree to wake me up."
"Wait, you sleep in trees?" Bridgette asked,
"Yep, and if it gives everyone a clear conscience. I'lldivert whatever predator that wanders around this area. Now get some sleep, we still have a challenge to complete." Caine told, went to the tree, and climbed his way up to the largest branch where he had set up a sleeping bag and improvised tarp.
There was also a tarp set up on the tent after Caine felt a breeze from the tree and smelled the dirt in the air. No one seemed to question his motives, just accept them as he seemed more experienced in survival training than most.
SCREAMING GOPHERS
With the Bass having only dealt with Duncan and his horror story. The Gophers' situation was worse as a bear had chased them all to a tree.
"So what do we do now?" Trent asked while sharing a branch with Gwen and Heather.
"Don't look at me," Heather told,
"It was your idea to climb the trees," Gwen clarified, as it was Heather's fault they were in the position they were in now.
"Well, why don't you ask the bear hunting expert?" Heather yelled as she looked up at the person who claimed to have killed a bear far bigger than the one terrorizing them right now. "Hey Owen, what now?"
"How should I know?!" Owen yelled while clinging to the tree for dear life.
"Dude, you said you killed a bear!" Leshawna pointed out Owens' story of him and his grandpa killing a bear once.
"I was being theatrical!" Owen expressed.
"This is all your fault!" Heather yelled harshly at Owen while glaring at the big guy. "If you hadn't been growling like that, we never would've attracted him to our site!"
"Excuse me for living!" Owen cried as he started to bang his head against the tree.
"Hey, hey, hey. Ease up on the guy." Trent tried to get everyone to both calm down and stop yelling at Owen. "He did bring us all that fish."
Right on cue, the bear set its sights on the campfire where they're cooking their fish and started sniffing around. Which greatly upsets Heather, "Hey! Lay off our fish!"
"It's probably already eaten, Izzy!" Lindsay cried out as she held on tight to the tree.
"Then it shouldn't be hungry anymore!" Heather claimed causing everyone in her team to gasp and look at her in shock. "What? This is survival of the fittest. She should've just peed in her pants like Cody."
As Cody looked down in shame, the branch Leshawna was on suddenly snapped causing her to scream as she fell to the ground…where the bear was. The bear growled as it inched closer to Leshawna, with the girl backing away slowly as her teammates gasped.
"Dear Abby, she's going to die!" Owen yelled as they watched Leshawna be backed into the tree, completely cornered.
"Eh, nice bear." Leshawna squeaked out fearfully as the bear stood up and growled viciously. Then proceeded to scream. "Somebody help me!"
As her teammates told her various things to do to avoid the bear, it proceeded to smile and speak words without its lips moving, "Hehe, hey, are you ok?"
"Uh, did that bear just ask me a question?" Leshawna asked while the Gophers looked down in confusion…until a few gasped as they recognized the voice the 'bear' just spoke with.
Everyone then watched as the 'bear' reached for its head and popped it out... To reveal that it had been Izzy in a bear costume.
"Oh my goodness, I did not see that coming!" Owen laughed as he slid down the tree. He's never been happier to see Izzy before.
"Okay, I'm so confused right now," Lindsay said as she and everyone else made their way out of the tree.
"What are you some kind of freak?" Gwen asked as she glared at Izzy.
"I thought it would be funny!" Izzy laughed.
CONFESSIONAL – IZZY
"Okay, okay, that was so funny," Izzy stated while still wearing her bear suit. "Like 'Oh, it's a bear! Oh no!' and like 'We're all gonna die now! Help! Help!' Hahahaha! And I'm like 'Rah! I'm gonna eat you!' Ahahahaha! Like, I could actually do that! There's no way, okay?"
KILLER BASS
After Duncan's horror story and , most of the Killer Bass were still awake while Duncan, and Wednesday slept rather peacefully. Bridgette, however, was feeling uncomfortable as she constantly fidget inside the tent and DJ would be the one to take notice, "What's wrong? Gotta go pee?"
"Like crazy," Bridgette remarked, then looked outside the tent. For there wasn't any light besides the lit campfire, "But I'm too scared to leave the tent."
"Yeah, me too," DJ said as he held up a jar containing his own pee.
Bridgette took a breath and looked outside the tent once more. Then she recalls Caine sleeping in the tree and asks for his assistance,
Therefore, she had to calm her nerves and walk outside the tent while cautiously wandering her eyes around the woods for any potential predators. Before she reached the tree where Caine's sleeping, she soon heard rustling in the bushes and the pupils in Bridgette's eyes shrank before letting out a scream, "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Those who were still awake had peeked outside the tent while Caine stirred himself up from Bridgette's screaming, while the latter fell and quickly scampered away from the rustling bushes.
"IT'S A BEAR! IT'S BEAR! IT'S BEAR!" Bridgette frantically yelled, and Caine quickly climbed down the tree to handle a potential predator in the woods. Though he was certain that there weren't any bears nearby,
Everyone else, sans Wednesday, flinched at the rustling bushes and waited for something to appear. They were either prepared to run or fight against a wild animal...
...
...
...
But instead, they were met with a hand with several stitches crawling on the ground towards them. Which changed their fears to concern for a potential victim, maybe one of Chris' interns, from a bear attack.
"Yo! That guy must be one of Chris' interns, and he doesn't look all too good!" Geoff asked,
"It's either he's the luckiest and unluckiest intern to have ever lived," Courtney remarked,
DJ, being the man with a heart of gold, went over to the hand, bent down, and grabbed onto the reaching hand, "Hey, man. It's alright now. I've got-"
But as soon as he pulled and stood upstraight, DJ realized that he had been holding a dismembered hand, and it caused the brick house's eyes to shrink just as Bridgette's and throw the hand upright after he screams bloody murder, "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
The rest of the Killer Bass gasped in horror while DJ ran back to them, and Harold passed out on the ground.
"W-W-Why was there a disembodied hand here?" Courtney stuttered as she hid behind Duncan, "Did you have something to do with this?"
"How should I know? I only told you a story to freak you guys out! Not this!" Duncan denied, as he felt startled,
What's more freaky was that the hand moved on its own even before DJ picked it up, and all eyes soon turned to Caine as they were hoping for a solution from him. The latter felt their gaze and picked up a long stick on the ground. He carefully approached the disembodied hand and poked it with a stick a few times.
The hand doesn't seem to move at all, then Caine turns it over and pokes the topside of the hand a few more times. He could've sworn the same as his team when it moved on its own, therefore, he resorts to one final measure... He'd narrowed his eyes towards the hand.
Once his hunch was right, he decided to end whatever charade this was, raised the stick high, and went about to smash the hand. In which the latter quickly sprang to life and jumped out of the danger. Making the Killer Bass gasp once more.
"That hand really is moving!" Bridgette exclaimed,
In that moment, the hand rushed past between Caine's legs and towards the other Killer Bass. DJ still shrieking like a girl, Eva would grab a log on the ground and try smacking the hand before it got close.
But the hand had proved itself to be quite elusive as it avoided Eva's swings and rush towards Courtney, who was panicking while trying to step on the hand. "Somebody kill this thing!"
Duncan, after snapping a branch nearby, stepped in and tried smacking the hand down. But as soon as the hand jumped back from the hit, it quickly climbed the branch and lunged at Punk's neck. At this point, he began to choke as he struggled to remove the hand from his neck.
Then he fell to the ground while clutching onto the hand's wrist, and the ones trying to pry the hand off of Duncan's neck were Caine and Geoff, though the latter had something to say in the matter, "Geez! For a single hand, it has one killer grip on him!"
Eva's last resort was to smack the hand and Duncan with the log altogether, but someone else had intervened...
"ENOUGH!" All eyes turned to Wednesday, who was now awake and looked displeased by the sight. Particularly, the hand grasping Duncan's neck, "Let him go, Thing,"
With her command, the hand known as 'Thing' released the punk's neck and crawled towards Wednesday while Duncan raggedly coughed with his hand above his neck. Then he stared at the Addams girl with the same dumbfounded look as most of his team.
"I knew you were spying on us since last week. Now, what are you doing here, and did my parents send you to spy on me?" Wednesday questioned, and 'Thing' replied through hand signals, "My sympathy won't earn you my mercy, so you'd best be prepared for the consequences."
"Wait, you know this hand?" Courtney questioned,
"He's Thing," Wednesday nonchalantly introduced,
"He is like... Your pet, or something?" Geoff inquired, and 'Thing' felt offended and gave the finger to the party boy. Which surprised the party boy and the rest of the Killer Bass,
As for Wednesday, she only had one thing to say about his behavior: "He's sensitive."
"Sensitive is an understatement," Caine said,
"Especially when it got a strong fingers," Duncan remarked while rubbing his neck, "You sure have a way of living freaky, don't you?"
Wednesday said nothing nor shrugged, instead, they soon felt a few drops of water above their heads, and what followed was a downpour of rain as Caine had predicted. For that, every other question in mind had been put on hold as most of the Killer Bass went inside their tent while Caine just shrugged and climbed the tree again.
For that matter, everyone in the Killer Bass had some sleep though few wondered what's going on with the Gophers' side of the camp.
SCREAMING GOPHERS
But had they known, they weren't faring well with the situation as the Gophers spent the night sitting on the trees again, and a real bear had wandered into their camp after Izzy's supposed prank and tonight's dinner.
The rain didn't even help them lighten the mood, only made them even more bitter about their situation...
MORNING
As soon as a bird chirped onto a sleeping Caine's shoulder, he opened his eyes and stretched his arms around. He then turned to the bird and smiled as he gently stroked its head and back. Then he hears a commotion down below, ""Oh my gosh! Ew!"
Courtney had been the first to wake up and walked out of the tent. "You were cuddling me!"
"I was calmly lying on my back and trying to catch a few Z's. You were snuggling up to me." Duncan stated with a smirk on his face as he left the tent,
"You are such an ogre," Courtney rebuked,
"I've been called worse," Duncan shrugged, which made Courtney growl
Caine only rolled his eyes, shook his head, and let the bird fly freely before climbing down the tree as everyone started waking up again. As for their new addition, 'Thing' would remain by Wednesday's shoulder and the team makes their way back to Chris.
CONFESSIONAL – COURTNEY
"Okay, I just wanna say for the record, that I was totally asleep and therefore, unconscious at the time of the "alleged cuddling" with said Neanderthal." Courtney quickly denied her cuddling with Duncan. "So essentially, it's like it never happened."
SCREAMING GOPHERS
Though they didn't fare well at night, the next morning brought some relief after the real bear had left camp elsewhere. The only thing they're feeling is aching backs after spending a night sleeping in the tree.
"Oh! I think it's safe, guys. The bear's gone." Trent told everyone after cracking his back,
"And the map," Gwen added as she held up a completely soaked map,
"Kay, I don't know how raccoons sleep in trees, because I'm so stiff." Izzy, still wearing her bear costume, said while cracking her back.
"They must be really limber." Owen guessed as he stretched out as much as her could.
"You know what, crazy girl? I don't wanna hear another word from you or the bear hunter here." Heather yelled as she glared at both Izzy and Owen. "If you two hadn't been acting like bear bait all night, we could have actually slept in our tent!"
Moments later, a bird landed nearby and started tweeting, and all three campers frowned at it, "SHUT UP!"
Piling firewood by the campfire was Chris, who soon turned to see the Killer Bass first back. Though the host looked awfully concerned by the dismembered and stitched hand on Wednesday's shoulder than the missing two campers of their team, "Um... Where'd you get that hand?"
"It's Wednesday's 'Thing'" Duncan stated with a smirk,
"That was just low, Duncan," Caine remarked at the obvious pun, "But don't worry, no one died, and it's Wednesday's companion from home."
"Oh, I see..." Chris said, and saw 'Thing' waving its fingers at him. Then came the Gophers after they'd found their way back, but Heather was distraught to see the Killer Bass there first,
"Oh no! They beat us here!" Heather raged at losing four times in a row! She then turned to glare at Owen and pushed him down. "This is all your fault!"
"Uh uh uh uh. Not so fast, Gopherinos!" Chris spoke up, causing everyone to look at him with a confused look. "It seems that the Killer Bass are missing a few fish. And you can't just replace them with a living hand,"
"Oh, you mean Katie and Sadie?" Courtney asked as she looked around and, sure enough, the best friends still weren't with them. "I'm pretty sure they got eaten by wolves last night."
"Darn shame." Duncan shook his head, not upset about them being lost one bit.
But then came a set of two people arriving at the campfire, and it was none other than the best friends of the Killer Bass,
"We made it!" Katie said with massive amounts of relief.
"We're safe!" Sadie smiled as she and her best friend narrowly avoided a bear with torn fur on its head, as it turned out the cave they sheltered in was its cave. Sadie then looked to the Killer Bass and started explaining what exactly happened to them. "Oh my gosh, guys! We got totally lost and then got in this massive fight!"
"And there was this huge bear, and he was all 'Rahhhh! You're in my crib, so get out!" Katie continued.
"And we had to run, and it was like, so scary!" Sadie finished the story as Katie turned to her best friend.
"Oh, Sadie, I'm so sorry I said I was prettier than you." Katie sincerely apologized to her best friend.
"And I'm so sorry I brought up the snack shack." Sadie also gave her own apology.
"And I'm sorry I said your butt was too big to fit in the bus seats." Katie gave another apology, with Sadie becoming confused with this one.
"You did?" Sadie asked as she didn't recall Katie saying that last night.
"Um…well…not to your face." Katie sheepishly admitted.
"Oh, who cares?" Sadie shrugged it off, and she and Katie hugged. "And you're my best friend, and I love you!"
"Oh, I love you too!" Katie and Sadie hugged harder
"Are you both done making up?" Wednesday questioned with a visible frown on her eyes, and the two best friends could even feel the animosity within her eyes.
"If you are, you both should know that you cost us the challenge!" Courtney finished and everyone in the Killer Bass frowned at the two girls,
"All right, Killer Bass. One of your fishy butts is going home." Chris declared the Killer Bass the losers of the challenge before pointing to the Gophers. "Gophers, congrats on breaking your losing streak. And to celebrate, you're going on an all-expense-paid trip to…the Tuck Shop!"
The Screaming Gophers cheered in response while the Killer Bass glared at Katie and Sadie. Eva tried to walk up to them with ill-intent on hurting them, but DJ and Geoff stopped her before she could get close. 'Thing', on the other hand, pointed at both girls with two fingers and cracked its knuckles at them.
"Yeah, what the hand gestured," Courtney agreed with a disapproving glare,
THAT NIGHT
And so, the fifth elimination ceremony had come. Though it was the first after the first elimination for the Killer Bass and Chris carried a tray of ten marshmallows, "You've all cast your votes. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately hit The Dock of Shame, grab the Boat of Losers, and get the heck outta here. And you can't come back. Ever. Now. I can see you're all tired, so tonight, I'll just throw them to you. Savvy?"
Most are relieved not to get up and pick up their marshmallow, and Chris tossed the marshmallows accordingly, "Caine, Courtney, Duncan, Bridgette,"
The four caught their marshmallow, and Courtney glared at Duncan for showing off his marshmallow while Chris continued, "DJ, Eva, Harold, Wednesday, Geoff."
The remaining two were Sadie and Katie, and both clutched onto each other as if their lives depended on it, as Chris announced, "Ladies, this is the final marshmallow of this evening..."
And after a suspenseful silence for the two girls, Chris would reveal the last contestant to be saved for today, "Sadie,"
"No! Why Katie? Why her?!" Sadie yelled out as tears started to build up in her eyes.
"It's so unfair!" Katie sadly yelled, not wanting to be separated from Sadie.
"I so can't do this!" Sadie shook her head as she wished there was some way to avoid this. "I've never been anywhere without Katie! We have to be together or I'll totally die!"
"Sadie, listen to me," Katie said as she grabbed Sadie's face and looked her best friend in the eye. "You can do this. You are strong and beautiful, and like, maybe even smarter than me. And plus, you're like, the funnest girl I know. You have to do it for both of us!"
Sadie cried a bit, but nodded as she took her best friend's hand and was ready to take her friend over to the Boat of Losers. And after that, Sadie would be left to fend for herself on Total Drama Island.
Though the two best friends did cost the team the challenge, Caine couldn't help but feel some bad memories in the obvious absence of Sadie's best friend from the competition. He even looked at the bracelet he wears in his wrist and looked at it with sorrow in his eyes.
Eventually, he sighed and watched the Boat of Losers take Katie away from the island.
"You pity them, don't you?" Wednesday inquired,
"I pity their separation, Wednesday. But it'll pass," Caine told, "Speaking of which, at least we now know who had been sneaking around our cabins."
"Agreed, and as of tonight. I've locked him inside my suitcase until he learnt his lesson for sneaking around," Wednesday informed.
"Good to know, and let him know that I liked that letter he wrote under your name," Caine revealed, and he could feel Wednesday slowly turning her head towards him.
"What?" Wednesday asked, and Caine knew she was unaware of what he meant. Therefore, he pulled out the letter from his pocket and showed it to her,
She would open it and skim through the contents while Caine remarked on the letter as a whole, "I really liked the words he's chosen, it feels so genuine and sweet."
These two keywords made Wednesday crumple the sides of the letter with her fingers and even rip the paper with her fingernails. When she had finished reading the letter, she immediately excused herself to have another word with 'Thing' while Caine watched her leave the docks.
Part of him pitied 'Thing's' ongoing predicament, but it'll serve as a lesson for sneaking around their cabins and plotting behind their respective backs...
That's it for this episode, everyone. As for the next one, I've got one important question...
What is Wednesday Addams truly afraid of? The reason is that there's barely little information I know about her fears, and I'm awfully curious to hear possible alternatives from you guys.
If nothing, I might settle on the idea that she's a free point for the Killer Bass.
That is all I have to say, and I'll see you all in the next episode!
"Phobia Factor"