Last time on Total Drama Island…
Our campers set out on a canoe trip to scenic Boney Island. What they didn't know until they got there was that the canoes they rode in determined their placement on the new teams I organized. Some were happy with the news, while others were less pleased about their existing alliances being broken up. Daphne nearly set the island on fire when she saved everyone from some giant geese and Izzy almost set herself on fire while making a rescue fire for the new Killer Bass.
At the bonfire that night, the Gophers were fairly split among who to vote for. The loveable oaf Owen nearly walked the Dock of Shame, but Gwen and Trent came to his rescue and voted for Katie instead. Will our new teams be able to work together in the next challenge? And can my teeth possibly get any whiter? Find out here on Total… Drama Island!
Following the creation of the new teams, all campers that were moved to a new team had to move their luggage to the other cabin. For Liam, who slept best the fewer people were around, this meant he had a net loss of two roommates, losing Justin, Ezekiel and Cody in favor of DJ. He still had Harold and Tyler, which he was glad for since it gave him a chance to keep the nerd in his sphere.
As he put away his clothes, he looked over as Harold did the same thing next to the bed across from him. He reached for his bag and produced a familiar comic. "Here you go," he said, holding it out to him.
Harold looked over and nodded, taking it without a word. That caused Liam to raise an eyebrow. Given how into the idea of 'honor' his fellow redhead was, he usually said 'thanks'. "Something on your mind?" he asked.
Harold was silent for a moment… and then sighed. "I'm bummed that Cody and I aren't on the same team anymore," he admitted. "After we joined forces to stop Duncan from picking on me… I don't know. I guess we became friends, you know?"
Liam nodded in understanding. "And now you're going to have to actively work so he loses in order for you to stay in," he pointed out.
"No kidding. I just hope, even when I win challenges and he doesn't, he stays long enough for the teams to break up," Harold replied.
There was an opening, Liam realized. "But until then, we need to stay alive whenever our team loses as well," he said.
"We?" Harold repeated, looking over at him. "Meaning you still want an alliance with me?"
Liam raised both his hands. "How could dumping you help me?" he asked honestly.
Harold lowered his head, considering it. "...I suppose you and Courtney are still working together?" he asked, to which he nodded. "With me, that makes up a third of our votes. That isn't a lot," he said.
Suppressing a frown, Liam replied "Courtney did point that out. She suggested we also recruit a fourth person to be safe."
"Anyone in particular?" the nerd questioned.
He shrugged. "Not really; if you stayed in, she wanted to get your input before we made a decision," he claimed.
The lie did its job of making Harold smile slightly, hearing that someone else valued his opinion. "Well, there is someone I can think of," he said, making the other redhead look at him curiously. "We can discuss it later though. For now…"
And with that, Harold reached into his luggage and handed him the nextBatmanissue. He then resumed putting away his clothes, missing Liam's annoyed expression.
The next morning, before most of the campers had woken up, two were busy in the lodge's kitchen. Daphne and DJ were moving to and fro, the smell of sizzling meat and baking goods filling the kitchen.
"How in the heck did you convince Chef to let us do this?" Daphne asked, looking back at DJ.
The larger teen shrugged. "Turns out, Chef doesn't really like all the cooking he has to do. He's required to make it all bland and barely edible as part of the show," he revealed.
She leaned back in surprise, thinking it over. "Huh… Makes me wonder what Chef'srealcooking tastes like," she thought aloud. "If one of us wins, we should use some of the prize money to hire him and find out."
DJ smiled. "Sounds like a plan," he agreed. Then he stepped over to the stove, where he had one pan with bacon and another with eggs. "Now for Mama's special ingredient," he added, producing a spice shaker from his pocket. As he began adding its contents to both items, Daphne moved in front of the oven next to him.
As she put on a pair of oven mittens, she grimaced. "I hate that it's bad if I don't wear these," she muttered. If humans were fireproof, she could surround herself in all the fire and heat she wanted without any worry. Alas, she had to be as cautious as anyone else. Flipping the lid open, she then slowly extracted her own culinary creation: a dozen banana-blueberry muffins.
By the time they had finished cooling, DJ had finished his portion of the cooking. Nine of the muffins were placed on one plate, as well as most of the bacon. The remaining bacon, eggs and other three muffins were divided among three other plates, which DJ then carried on both arms into the dining area.
Seated at one of the tables was both Owen and Tyler, both of whom perked up upon their arrival. "Hmm, that smellsreallygood," Owen said, visibly salivating as the plates came closer.
Daphne chuckled and placed the plate with the muffins in front of him. "Thanks again for agreeing to taste-test our stuff. It's been a while since either of us has cooked," she told them.
Tyler nodded. "No prob. I'm probably gonna need a lot of protein and carbs for today's challenge," he said. It wasn't a bad guess; whatever the challenge would end up being, Chris would probably ensure it was physically exhausting. Or mentally exhausting. Or both.
"And I'm always up for trying out food!" Owen enthusiastically added. He then picked up one of the muffins and tossed it into his mouth, eating it whole. As he chewed, his eyes gained a sparkle and he moaned. "Fruity… buttery… so good!" he said, before grabbing one more in each hand and biting into both at once.
While Daphne was making a fist-pump–"I knew the extra butter would do it!" she muttered–Tyler stabbed a forkful of eggs and began to eat them. Similar to Owen, a set of hearts appeared in his eyes and he looked at his plate in awe. "It's like scrambled Heaven…" he said, tearing into his eggs with a gusto.
DJ crossed his arms and smirked in pride. "I owe it all to Mama," he declared, before sitting down to eat his own plate. Daphne did the same, though she did take one muffin back from Owen to save for Izzy.
The day after that, Chris had apparently decided the new teams had gotten enough time to get used to each other. Rather than use the loudspeaker or a megaphone, Chris decided to be a little 'creative' with their latest wake-up call. As in, by flying a helicopter over the cabins.
For Liam, the sound of the helicopter was enough to snap him wide-awake, eyes bulging in terror. "Get away!" he screamed, lunging out of bed and waving his arms around him. "You're not getting me today!" he added, before diving under the bunk bed that DJ was using. Even in a frenzy, he recognized the value of putting a large meat shield between him and his fear.
DJ looked down from the top bunk with a raised eyebrow, but refrained from commenting.
On the other side of the Bass cabin, Heather woke up much more calmly. As she took in her new roommates, she grimaced. 'Right. No Lindsay to warm up my shower for me,' she thought. On the other hand, at least she was finally away from Leshawna. She'd have preferred to have her eliminated, but this would do for now. She just needed new alliesto secure herself on her new team.
As she began to gather her clothes, she took stock of her options. There was the Psycho Duo, but she wasloathto pick them. Courtney was a possibility, especially because she suspected she had an alliance with that sleeper Liam. 'He probably just does whatever she says so he can get back to lazing around,' she thought. Hmm… if she did form an alliance with them, and then kicked Courtney out down the line, she could have her own Lindsay 2.0 to boss around. One with an actual functioningbrain.
She put Courtney on her list of 'maybes'.
And then there was Bridgette… who she knew nothing about aside from being a surfer chick and having a fear of being in the woods alone. Oh, and she had seen her drop things several times during the first challenge. Not enough to go on yet, but learning more would have to wait.
For now, she had a shower to heat up. Byherself. Ugh. Though, as she exited the Bass cabin, she could hear Leshawna finishing shouting "...Getting on mylastnerve!" and she grinned.
Ooooh, she was going toenjoytrying to crush her.
After the campers were given time to shower and dress, Chris informed them via loudspeaker to gather at the bonfire pit for breakfast. When they all arrived, they found him standing next to a pyramid of… canned beans? Before they could ask what that was about, he began "Alright, campers. Are you ready for today's…extreme, maximum-impactchallenge?!"
Tyler grinned. "Yeah, baby! Bring it on!" he cheered, making Lindsay giggle next to him.
Owen likewise yelled "We're ready!" while Leshawna rolled her eyes to his right.
Chris grinned. "Loving the enthusiasm! But first, incoming!" he called, before grabbing one of the bean cans and pitching it at Gwen. Her eyes widened as the can sailed towards her face. Its impact was halted by Trent, who caught it and gave her a grin. Gwen looked away, though with a smile that she knew he saw. "This is breakfast!" Chris added.
Ezekiel gave the can a look-over. "Sure beats Chef's eggs," he remarked.
Heather shook her head. "Even that stuff is at least cooked. Raw food from a can isnotbreakfast," she scorned.
Cody, meanwhile, raised his hand and asked the most pertinent question. "Can we get a can opener?" Chris's answer was to toss him a bean can and can opener at the side time, clocking him on either side of the head with both. "Thanks…" Cody moaned as he swayed before falling over.
Turning away from the geek with a satisfied grin, Chris said "Today's challenge is one of survival. But instead of camping this time, we're goinghunting." And with that, he pulled out a green painted gun from behind his back.
Courtney took a look at the gun and her brow furrowed. "We're hunting withpaintballguns?" she asked.
"Correctamundo, Courtney," Chris confirmed. "This will be the first paintball deer hunt! Eat up and then follow me into the woods where I'll explain," he told all of them.
All of the campers heard a large belch, and they looked back towards the can pyramid. Seated next to it was Owen, over a dozen empty cans scattered around him. "Got any more?" he politely asked with his face covered in beans.
After eating and following Chris, he led them to a billboard that had several paintball guns racked on it, all of them planted either green or red. And in front of it was a small green chest.
"Now for how the teams will be broken down. For the Screaming Gophers, your hunters are Ezekiel, Lindsay, Leshawna, and Justin," he said, tossing them each a green rifle. "The paint in your guns will be orange. And using blue paint for the Bass, we have Izzy, Liam, Daphne and Bridgette."
Each of them was tossed a red rifle, and Izzy grinned. "Alright,nowwe're talking," she said, holding it up to aim down the sights.
"You also get these wicked orange sunglasses and awesome camo hats," Chris said, pulling a pair of such items from the chest to show them off. "Stylish. The rest of you, meanwhile, will be today's deer." Reaching into the chest again, he finished "Here are your antlers, shining red noses… and cute fluffy tails."
Heather crossed her arms and glared at Chris. "There is no way I'm wearing one of those," she said flatly.
But Chris placed the antlers on her head anyway, saying "Take these off, and your team is out. Feel free to gamble your odds if you do that." While Heather's glare turned positively nuclear, he simply turned his back to her and faced the other campers.
"For those of you who are deer, your goal is simple: don't get shot. For you hunters, you have to try to hit as many of the other team's deer as possible. Whichever team has the least painted deer when the time runs out wins," he explained.
As Heather and Courtney raised their hands, he quickly added "We'll know if you try to wash it off." Their hands went back down. "Screaming Gophers, since you have one fewer deer to worry about, I'm giving you a head start. Get ready…" he said, and Trent, Owen, Gwen and Cody quickly tensed. "And… go!"
They quickly took off into the woods. A minute later, he let Harold, DJ, Courtney, Tyler and Heather run off as well.
Once they made it far enough from camp, the Gophers deer slowed to a walk.
Looking down at her bright red nose, Gwen sighed. "Just when I thought I couldn't be made to do anything lamer," she groused.
In an attempt to lighten her up, Cody said "Come on, it could be fun!"
While that got him a glare from Gwen and a raised eyebrow from Trent, Owen nodded. "Yeah! It's a classic game of hunter and prey! And we, as the prey, must be able to evade and outwit the hunters for survival!" he said, looking left and right with narrowed eyes and an excited smile.
Cody grinned. "And I'm both small and quick, so I'm great at dodging."
Owen grinned back. "Then shall we be the elusive prey together, and outsmart the hunting Bass?" he asked over-formally.
"We shall, good sir," Cody replied just as formally, adding on a bow. Then he turned to face Gwen and Trent. "See ya, guys!" he said, and they both turned to run off in another direction.
The other two watched then equally, equally flummoxed by what just happened. "O...kay," Trent eventually said. Shaking his head, he then said "Guess that leaves just us… alone. In the woods. Away from everyone else." By the end, his expression had transitioned to a smile.
Gwen looked around, just to be sure. They were indeed alone. A smile of her own, much wider than she usually showed, grew on her face. "So we are," she agreed, and the two of them walked deeper into the forest.
Once the Bass deer were allowed into the woods, the first to speak up was DJ. "Good luck to y'all, but I'm out of here," he declared. He then proceeded to prance away on all fours at high-speed, making the others stare.
Tyler was the first to recover, and he said "So should we stay together or, like, scatter?"
Courtney crossed her arms. "I say we should stick together. We'll be better able to tell if a hunter is coming if there's more than one of us," she stated.
"I don't think so," Heather suddenly disagreed. "Maybe if we were actualdeer, but we just have these stupid tails. I say we scatter so that if one of us gets caught, the others don't."
Harold looked between the two of them. While he did agree with Courtney, the thought of staying around Heather caused him to flash back to the dodgeball game. And the trick she played on him then. "I agree with Heather," he said, causing Courtney to look at him in surprise. "If we scatter, the hunters will be forced to do the same instead of working together," he quickly justified.
In his mind, he added 'And we don't have to save her if she gets cornered.'
The C.I.T. flight back the glare she wanted to send him. Harold was part ofheralliance, but couldn't he take her side? And Liam assured her that he had taken care of him… She'd have to have a talk with him after the challenge. For now, she ground out "Fine. Every deer and doe for themselves, then!" before turning and angrily sprinting away.
Heather grinned, turning and walking off.
Confessional Stall - Heather
"That was a little test to see how well Courtney would respond to being overruled. And now I know: not well at all," she said with a smirk. Then it switched to a frown. "But this does mean that, if I want to avoid making more enemies, I'll have to keep being polite to my teammates. Even whentheyshould be the ones going out of their way forme," she said, looking away.
Then she glanced back at the camera. "What? Any and all people should worship me. Sooner or later, someone's going to figure that out," she said matter-of-factly.
As they waited for Chris to let them start hunting, Ezekiel couldn't help but grin. "This challenge is right up my alley. We've got this," he said confidently.
Lindsay smiled as well. "Tyler's a deer, right? So I should go look for him! Then we can find somewhere quiet, talk for a while…" she trailed off with a sigh.
"And shoot him, right?" Leshawna asked her.
"Huh?" She blinked. "Oh, right! Yeah, that too!" she assured them.
From the looks of Leshawna and Justin's faces, they were not convinced. The former exhaled and looked at the model. "At least you not talking is gonna help here," she said.
The model grinned.
With the Bass, Bridgette was less enthusiastic, and she sighed as she held up her gun. Seeing that, Liam said "Just remember: These paintballs will only sting slightly. We're not hurting anyone."
"I know, but I'll still feel bad," she said. "Especially if we find Cody. He was a teammate."
He bowed his head, choosing not to argue the point. "Then if we see him, you can choose to let him go. That still leaves three other deer," he offered.
She smiled. "Thanks, Liam," she said. Then she paused. "Um, by the way. Since we'll be going into theforest, I was wondering if, um…"
He could see where this was going. "If I could stay with you so you don't have to relive your phobia again?" he asked, and she nodded. "Sure thing," he said, before turning to Izzy and Daphne. "How about we split into pairs?" he called to them.
"Sounds good to me!" Daphne replied while Izzy gave a thumbs-up.
Just then, Chris came onto the loudspeaker. "Hunters, start your paintball. It's… game on!" he declared, and all eight hunters rushed into the woods.
"The prey is a tensely-coiled spring, ready to snap into motion at any second," Owen muttered. "His senses are sharpened in anticipation of the hunt."
He crawled along the ground through the bushes. Not far from him, Cody was using his greater speed to dart from tree to tree for cover. "He never knows when the moment will strike. And that is why, at all times, he must remain calm and controlled…" he said.
And then a large fart ripped through the space, making both his and Cody's eyes widen. Cody sniffed and groaned. "Beans…" he muttered.
DJ stopped at a clearing in the forest. Seeing a small patch of grass on the ground, he leaned down and ripped it with his teeth before he began chewing. Birds sang from the treetops above that, combined with the sunlight, turned it into a picturesque setting.
He took a moment to sigh and relax. It wasn't often he had the chance to just be at one with nature during these challenges. Even the camping challenge hadn't really given the time besides finding Bunny. But now, he could bask in it.
As DJ continued to enjoy the woods, he was unaware of a pair of eyes trained on him. They moved closer, unseen amidst the foliage.
Once the Gopher hunters split up to find more deer, Lindsay quickly became lost in the woods. She sighed at reaching the start of the hunting grounds again. "That's the third circle I've gone in… or maybe the fourth?" she thought aloud, before sighing. "I should have asked LeSheena if I could stay with her."
Then she heard a voice say "Lindsay?" and perked up.
Turning around, she confirmed her suspicions and smiled. "Tyler! How'd you know I'd be here?"
The jock grinned. "I didn't. But I figured if I wanted to find you, I should start with looking where you were, you know?" he said.
Shedidfollow that, actually. Reaching up, she twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "So… we haven't gone under the docks since the talent contest…" she began.
Tyler grinned. "Blowing off another challenge to be with my girl? Sign me up," he declared. Challenges and thrills were nice, but this waslove, he was sure of it.
"Then let's go!" Lindsay said, running forward to grab his arms.
However, just then, the heel of her boot landed on a small pebble.
"Wh-Whoa!" she said, windmilling her arms. Tyler rushed closer to steady her, but she fell forward before he could get close enough. As she landed on her front, her hands instinctively tightened and adingresounded as a paintball fired from her gun, sailing through the air and hitting Tyler… right in the groin.
His eyes bulged. "Whhhyy…?" he managed to squeak, before falling over with his hands going to the front of his now-orange pants.
"Tyler?!" Lindsay cried, scrambling to her feet and rushing over to him.
As Leshawna continued through the forest, she stopped upon hearing the sound of running water. "A river…" she muttered, moving slower. As she reached the edge of the bushes next to it, she peeked over them for any campers.
Luck was with her, as she spotted Harold standing in plain view. And he was, for some reason, in the middle of the river.
"Don't move, string bean!" she called, rising to her feet and aiming at Harold. "Stay still, and I'll be sure to hit you somewhere painless."
Harold did freeze, but otherwise didn't appear concerned. "You won't be able to get me in here," he boasted. "Several species of deer ward off predators with their antlers by standing in deep water."
Leshawna raised an eyebrow. "And did any of those predators have a gun?" she asked, raising her own to take aim.
He smirked. "No, but when that fails…" he said, before diving into the water. Her shot went wide and he kept his head down, letting the current propel him as he swam downriver.
"Oh, no you don't!" she called, taking off after him and firing whenever he came up for air.
Not far away from that was the clearing DJ was in. The sounds of her shooting made him open his eyes and look around, body tensing. Seeing that, the eyes in the brush sharpened and a single shot range through the air.
Acting on pure instinct, DJ sprang forward and to the right. An orange paintball sailed an inch from his side, and he quickly took off in the opposite direction.
From inside the brush, Ezekiel's head popped out with a frown as he watched DJ flee. "Man, I almost had him!" he complained. "Now he's gonna be expecting an ambush. I'm gonna need to think of a plan," he said, before disappearing into the foliage again.
Owen and Cody had found a small cave to take shelter in. However, Owen's gas had picked up in frequency. And being in a somewhat-confined space caused Cody todefinitelynotice. "Dude, how many cans did you eat?" he asked, covering his mouth. Thankfully, the fake nose blocked his sense of smell.
Owen hummed. "I kind of wasn't keeping track. But… maybe twenty?" he said. Another fart ripped, and he continued "Sorry, man. It's just that beans are my favorite food. Well, that and pizza." Then he smiled. "Ooo, a pizza with baked beans on it…" he thought, nearly salivating at the thought.
Cody shook his head, eyes nearly watering. "Well I'm sorry, fellow prey, but I need some air," he said, walking towards the exit of the cave.
As he exited the cave, he breathed in a lung full of fresh air and wiped his eyes. Sighing in relief, he opened them… and froze.
Bridgette and Liam were right in front of him, rifles raised.
Liam smirked. "I thought we picked up a scent-trail," he said, making Cody wince. "Now don't shout, and we won't shoot."
Bridgette nodded. "Since we were teammates, I said I'd let you go," she told him, before waving her gun at the woods. "So get going," she said.
Cody stared at her a moment, before smiling. "Thanks, Bridgette. You're pretty great," he told her, before running off.
As they waited, they eventually heard Owen call "Hey, was it really that bad, Cody?" When he stepped out of the cave, however, Liam had his gun aimed at the entrance. His shot struck Owen in the forehead and knocked his antlers off, sending him onto his back as well.
The two of them turned and gave each other a high-five.
After fleeing the first shot, DJ had come to rest by a small stream that connected to the river. However, he was there for less than a minute before another shot came from the woods. Unlike the last one, this one only came close to DJ, hitting the dirt next to him.
Already on edge from before, the larger teen turned and galloped away. The pattern repeated itself three more times, with each shot slightly changing the course he was traveling on. Eventually, however, it became clear: whoever was pursuing him was corralling him towards the mountain.
Only once he was at edge did Ezekiel reveal himself. "Sorry about this DJ, but I gotta bag ya," he said.
DJ looked to the left and the right. On either side was nothing but rocky cliffs, the same as behind him. The only way to escape was past Ezekiel. He tensed his arms and legs, ready for a single massive leap.
Ezekiel aimed.
DJ tensed further.
He began squeezing the trigger.
DJ leapt higher than the ball would travel.
The barrel was raised further, andthenEzekiel finished squeezing the trigger.
This one struck DJ in the stomach, and he went down to the ground curled into a ball.
Ezekiel grinned. "Thanks, Pa," he said. Knowing he was on camera, he only mentally finished 'Some of the other stuff, I'm unsure about, but no one knows hunting like you.'
Half an hour later, Chris came onto the megaphone again. "Attention, hunters and human. Please report back to camp to tally up the scores," he announced.
As the campers slowly trickled back to camp, Chris waited for them by the totem pole. As he did, he raised an eyebrow at seeing Daphne and Izzy come from the direction of the main lodge, rather than the woods. "Mind telling me what you were doing?" he asked.
Daphne shrugged. "We thought Gwen and Trent might have blown off the challenge, so we came back to camp to look for them," she told them. Seeing the aforementioned duo walk out of the brush, their shoulders practically rubbing against each other, she added "I guess we were wrong."
He locked eyes with her for a second, before shrugging. As the others arrived from the forest, he saw the paint marks on DJ's stomach and Tyler's groin. The latter made him chuckle. "I'm going to enjoy watching the playback on how that happened," he said, making Tyler bow his head in embarrassment. Cody then arrived without a spot on him, making Chris nod in respect.
One of the last two to arrive were Leshawna and Harold. While both of them were soaking wet, Leshawna had a triumphant smirk on her face while Harold had an orange stain on his shoulder. Owen was the final arrival, and once he made it Chris tallied up the hits.
"Well, with three hit Bass versus one hit Gopher, we have a clear winner: The Screaming Gophers!" The Gophers began cheering, with Leshawna and Owen even breaking out into dance. Cody was ecstatic as well, but as he celebrated, he sent a grateful smile to Bridgette.
She sent one back, which Liam watched with a smile. That is, until Heather sent a venomous smile at Courtney. "At least they didn't shoot usall," she said, referencing her and Courtney's lack of paint. "Good thing we split up, huh?"
As she walked away, he felt a familiar hand grab his arm. "We need to talk," Courtney said, and he nodded as he let her drag him away.
"There are only eight marshmallows on this plate," Chris began. "When I call your name, come up and claim one. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow will board the Boat of Losers, nevereverto return." He held up the plate.
"Our survivors are Bridgette…" She caught it with a grateful smile.
"Harold…" He let out a quiet "Yes!" as he caught his in both hands.
"Tyler…" Tyler caught his then winced as the movement of his core caused the pain in his groin to throb.
"DJ…" He caught his with one hand and a smile.
"Izzy…" She took hers without reacting.
"Liam…" He caught his marshmallow with his trademark yawn.
"Daphne…" Next to Izzy, she had similarly little reaction to being spared. "And the last remaining camper is…"
The last two, Courtney and Heather, looked at each other. Both of them had defiant glares, but it was easy to see their nervousness. Chris inhaled, prepared to announce it...
…
…
…
Before Chris could drag it out farther, the sound of a helicopter rotor reached their ears. Liam's eyes widened and he unconsciously tightened his grip. The marshmallow in his hand was turned to paste, while the others and Chris looked skywards.
A chopper bearing a Canadian leaf flew down and hovered over them. A floodlight on its front turned on and aimed down at them. "Izzy!" the pilot called over a megaphone. "You are under arrest!"
All of them turned to look at the crazy girl, who was sporting a wide grin. "Wait. All those stories you told weretrue?" Courtney asked incredulously.
"Aw, of course not," she assured them. "Well, except for the part about the RCMP." Then she stood and pointed at the chopper. "You'll never take me alive!" she yelled, before running off into the woods.
"Good luck, Daph!" she called behind her.
"What? Izzy, wait!" the brunette called with wide eyes.
But by then, Izzy had already disappeared into the woods, her cackling growing more distant as the chopper pursued her. While the others stared with varying degrees of shock, Chris was quick to recover. "Well, that was exciting. Good night, you all," he said, before walking away.
Eventually, the other Bass began to head back to the cabin. One that lingered, however, was Daphne, who continued to stare at the woods long after Izzy had vanished.
Heather, seeing her not moving, said "Going to spend the night here?"
But then Daphne turned to face her, and the queen bee had to avoid taking a step back at how…emptythe look on her face was.
"Izzy's gone… I just lost my best friend to a bunch of cops. Just like that," she said faintly. "Maybe forever," she added, hugging herself. "What… what am I going to do?"
Heather looked at her for a moment, unsure how to respond. Then she reflected on her thoughts earlier today… and had to suppress a grin that threatened to appear. "It's tough, losing friends," she said gently, sitting back down next to the brunette. "When we lose that one person we can count on."
Daphne nodded, not looking up from her lap.
Seeing that, Heather took another step and wrapped her arm around her comfortingly. "But don't worry about it. Even if Izzy's gone, you can rely on me," she stated.
She did look up at that, giving Heather a look that justscreamedhopeful. "You really mean that, Heather?" she asked.
Like before, Heather felt a flicker of something at seeing so trusting an expression. Guilt… remorse… regret, maybe? But then also like before, she crushed that feeling and nodded. "Of course I do. Come on, let's head back," she said.
Daphne nodded and stood, not dislodging Heather's arm from around her. The two of them began to walk to their cabin together. Both of them wore smiles, though for entirely separate reasons.
Earlier that day...
"So… what should we do now?" Daphne asked, looking over at Izzy. Once the other hunters ran off into the woods, they had started walking.
The orange-haired girl hummed. "I'm… not sure. But I say we give it a few days. If nothing changes, we'll change it," she said.
The brunette nodded in acceptance. "Hopefully it will be during a challenge we lost anyway."
"Well, that's why we're here, right?" Izzy suggested, waving a hand at the area they arrived at. "Nice choice, by the way."
Daphne smirked. "As long as someone with Owen's weight isn't up here, this place is really sturdy," she said, giving the surface under them a knock. "And hardly anyone looks here."
Izzy nodded in acceptance. "Just gotta wait 'til the challenge is done, and we should have this in the bag."
Votes were as follows:
Liam, Courtney, DJ and Harold → Heather
Izzy, Daphne and Heather → Courtney
Tyler → Liam
Bridgette → Daphne
Cody → Lindsay
And of course, all this gets derailed by the RCMP showing up an episode late. The Watsonian reason is that it took them a few days to confirm that the girl competing in a televised competition was the same one suspected of blowing up one of their kitchens. Doylist reason? I wanted to mess with y'all.
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
7. Katie, the Sweet Girl
8. Izzy, the Psycho Hose Beast