Last time on Total Drama Island…

Our campers were divided into hunters and deer. Courtney and Heather started fighting almost immediately, neither Bass willing to take orders from the other. Owen's game was way off, enabling the Killer Bass to catch 'wind' of him wherever he went. Ezekiel, meanwhile, put all that time he spent out in the wilderness to use and managed to catch DJ.

At the bonfire ceremony, it looked like either Heather or Courtney would be the ones to get the boot. But then, out of nowhere, the RCMP showed up and tried to apprehend Izzy! Man, I knew that chick was crazy, but not criminally insane! She high-tailed it out of there, becoming our next elimination. Will the Bass be able to avoid fragmenting further, or is their fish finally fried? Find out tonight on Total… Drama Island!

The day after the hunting challenge, Liam, Courtney and Bridgette were lying together on the beach in their bathing suits. A sufficient space had been cleared of trash, and they could now lie back in a set of chairs they had stolen from the boathouse.

"This was a great idea, Courtney," Bridgette said, leaning back with a sigh. "The sound of the waves is really calming."

Courtney smiled. "I usually enjoy relaxing by doing work. But it is nice to unwind like this every now and then," she admitted.

Liam chimed in, a relaxed grin on his face. "I'm more of a 'catch up on sleep' person. I guess we all have our ways of relaxing, right?"

Bridgette laughed and nodded in agreement. "Definitely. It's all about finding what works for you."

Courtney nodded, her expression calm. With a light tone, she said "...Speaking of finding what works, have you ever thought about alliances? You know, in the game?"

Bridgette's brows furrowed slightly. "Alliances? Yeah, I mean, I guess they could be a good strategy. But it seems sort of underhanded, you know?"

Liam stretched and yawned. "I totally get what you mean. But if it's between people who trust one another, that just means they're looking for each other, right?" he asked.

Courtney glanced at her. "Like there was between Katie and Sadie. Daphne and Izzy were definitely in an alliance, too," she pointed out.

Bridgette hummed as she thought about it. "Both of those examples were between friends… I guess friends working to help keep each other in the game does make some sense," she admitted. "But like Liam said, it would have to be with friends I really trust." She crossed her arms, looking down and to her right. "I wouldn't want to be a part of something that would cause drama between us or us backstabbing each other."

Courtney's smile sweetened. "Absolutely. And building trust takes time. You need to know the people you're working with really well."

As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, the surfer girl turned her head back to them. "...You two seem pretty tight. I can tell you've got a good dynamic."

Liam stifled another yawn. "It's pretty simple. Courtney makes good leadership decisions, and I'm happy to follow them," he said. While the C.I.T. preened slightly from that statement, he continued "But more friends is always merrier, I say."

Bridgette slowly nodded. "I can agree with that," she said. She then looked towards the afternoon sun, seeing it slowly descend towards the horizon while the sound of waves lulled them into a comfortable silence.

Confessional Stall - Bridgette

"An alliance with Courtney and Liam? I'm not sure. I mean, I can see that Heather's not the nicest person, and Daphne makes me worry every time she's near an open fire. But Harold and I had that great talk, while DJ's such a sweet guy, and I think he's friends with Tyler! I don't know about trying to get rid of any of them," she said with a worried expression.

She brought a hand to her chin. "Can you do temporary alliances? Is that a thing?" she thought aloud.

The day after that, Liam had been doing his daily comic book reading, making sure to do it in view of Harold. Once he had done that for over twenty minutes, he began walking in the direction of his cabin to put it away. As he did, he spotted Gwen sitting and reading some dark gray book on a bench across from Leshawna. Meanwhile, Daphne and Heather were walking towards the docks.

The latter scene made him frown. Just one day and someone was already playing guardian angel? He had to give Heather credit, she worked fast. And given how much time Daphne and DJ spent in the kitchen together, this could be a real prob–

"–ith Heather?" he heard Gwen say incredulously, and snapped his gaze in her direction even as he kept his head turned towards the cabin.

"Shhh!" Leshawna said hurriedly, looking around. He quickly averted his gaze before they could lock eyes and continued with his walk. She spotted him, of course, but didn't seem alarmed and merely waited until he was out of sight. Once he was inside, Liam grimaced.

Was Heather also making alliances outside the team? Setting up for the future merger? Or was their conversation not about an alliance with her at all, and he was being paranoid? He sighed. Either way, he doubted he'd be able to listen in on that conversation, not with Leshawna keeping an eye out. Following Heather and Daphne it was, then.

Putting the comic book away, he stepped outside, absently noting Gwen and Leshawna walking away towards the lodge and suppressing a chuckle. But when he turned towards the docks, he heard a familiar voice call "Hey, Liam! Eh!"

Stopping, he suppressed an annoyed frown and turned to face the voice's owner. "Can I help you, Ezekiel?" he asked.

The homeschooler smiled. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me out, man. All that stuff about guys being faster, stronger or better hunting than girls? That last challenge really got me thinking," he revealed.

Despite himself, the slacker stopped and fully faced him. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, Owen and I told each other stories about how much we like being outdoors with our Pa's, but he still got hunted during the challenge. And so did Tyler, even though I know he's really athletic. And Leshawna's a girl, but she's really strong and she hunted Harold," he listed off.

Liam raised an eyebrow. "This isn't the first time you've brought up hunting with your dad," he said, remembering the talent show challenge.

Ezekiel nodded. "Hunting with Pa was one of my favorite things to do growing up. Ma would never go with us, and we'd talk when we weren't trying to sneak up on something. But if what he told me about hunting with girls can be wrong, what else was he wrong about?" he said.

The redhead stared at him for a moment. This… was a level of maturity he wasn't expecting from the farmboy. "...And because I helped you stay on long enough to see this, you now feel indebted to me?" he asked.

"Sort of." He shrugged. "I know we can't really do anything when we're on different teams, but I heard Owen mention that these shows always get rid of the teams eventually. Maybe we can team back up then?"

Liam was silent. After a moment, he said "I don't see why not."

Ezekiel grinned. "Sweet! Good talking to you, man," he said, and walked off.

As he did, Liam allowed a grin to form. He had been fairly annoyed at losing his investment during the canoe challenge. Maybe it would pay more dividends than he expected? And if he was right about Heather, he might need it.

The morning of the next challenge, several snores could be heard throughout the male side of the Bass cabin. With each of them having a bunk bed to themselves, everyone had their pick of top or bottom bunk. Tyler, most comfortable on the top bunk, was also the first one to be hit in the face by the morning rays.

As the light went straight for his eyes, he groaned and rolled out of bed. He landed on his fingers and, miraculously, held himself up perfectly vertical. Not even opening his eyes, he then began to take deep breaths as he did a set of handstand finger push-ups. Three reps into his morning exercise, however, a smell consisting of sweat and lotion reached his nose. Opening his eyes, he saw a pair of underwear on the ground right in front of him.

"Ah, gross!" he called, stumbling back and hitting his legs against his bed. "Whoa!" he called, losing his balance and tumbling to the ground.

The noise was enough to wake his fellow cabin mates. Liam groaned at being awake, while DJ chuckled at seeing him sprawled out on the floor.

"Harold, dude! Not cool!" Tyler said, glaring at the nerd.

Harold glanced at the pair of briefs. "You have no proof those are mine," he declared.

DJ, who had gotten out of bed at this point, pointed. "Isn't that your name sewn on 'em?" he asked.

"Whatever! I'm going to take a shower!" he replied, grabbing his towel and walking out of the cabin.

The other redhead peaked one eye out from under his blanket. "It's too early for this nonsense…" he muttered.

After breakfast, Chris had the campers join him on the beach. As they stood in a line before him, he began "This challenge will test your minds, your teamwork and, above all, your skills in the kitchen."

That made both DJ and Daphne smile, while he continued "Both teams will cook a three-course meal consisting of an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert, and then serve them to me for tasting. Each team will also elect a head chef to oversee the cooking and devise the theme of the meal."

He then waved his hand towards the shore. To their collective confusion, a food truck backed out of the water and onto the beach, appearing perfectly fine despite being underwater. "Every day, a food truck delivers food to the island. Your meals must be made from the ingredients inside," Chris told them. Then, to add to their confusion, the driver window rolled down and a dolphin wearing a driver's outfit leaned out, saluting them.

"...I have so many questions," Courtney muttered, staring at the dolphin, while Chris chuckled and left them to get started.

Seeing that she was distracted, Heather said "I call head chef! Any objections? No? Great!"

The C.I.T. blinked. "Wait. But I–You–!" she said, before gritting her teeth. "Rrrgh, fine! What's the theme, then?" she asked.

Heather's response was to walk over to the food truck and open the rear door, letting both teams take a look inside. They could see crates full of different fruit, eggs, several meats, the list went on. 'I see that when it's his taste buds on the line, Chris spares no expense,' Liam thought. Something told him their host wouldn't have gotten ingredients this nice and varied if they had to eat their own food.

As she examined the truck's contents, Heather said "Since we are at a summer camp, I'm thinking we should go with a summer barbecue theme." Spotting a rack of ribs, she said "We can oven-bake those."

Daphne grinned. "If it's working with an oven, I can do it," she offered.

DJ smiled. "I'm really good with spices. If we make ribs, I can put together the spices and sauces for them," he said.

"Perfect," Heather said with a smile. It was so nice when people obeyed her. "That'll be our main dish."

Courtney crossed her arms and pouted. But as much as she wanted to take charge, she could also see the others getting into the idea. "...I know a glazed fruit salad I could make for dessert," she ground out.

Seeing her willing to help, Liam quickly added "I can help with that and make strawberry lemonade to drink. Chris might give us bonus points for that."

"He might," Heather allowed. "But do that only once you and Courtney have finished making dessert," she said sternly, and Liam acquiesced with a nod. Seeing the others in such a volunteering mood, she said "Any takers for the appetizer?"

As a vegetarian, Bridgette looked away from the meat and towards the other parts of the truck. And as her eyes landed on a crate of cheese, her memories of the Surf Shack came to mind. "How about fried cheese bites with a dipping sauce?" she suggested.

Heather thought it over before nodding. "That'll do. Tyler, you help her with that. Harold, you're also on ribs duty," she ordered.

Harold frowned. "I think I would be better served helping with the appetizer. I'm a black belt at cutting cheese," he declared.

That made several of his teammates snort or chuckle, while Heather rolled her eyes. "Whatever, fine. Tyler, you help make the ribs," she said. Once she got nods from them, she said "Then let's move it!" and they quickly moved to gather their ingredients.

Meanwhile, with the Gophers, none of them were as quick to take the role of head chef as Heather. "So… who wants to be the leader?" Ezekiel asked.

Leshawna crossed her arms. "I can do it if none of y'all mind," she said. The others gave various nods or shrugs. "Good, 'cause I know a recipe for pineapple chutney that'll knock Chris's socks off," she proclaimed.

Owen spoke up. "Speaking from experience, chutney is usually best served with grilled meat," he told them, starting to salivate at the thought. "How about a nice, juicy steak? Oh, oh! Or steak and potatoes?"

Cody hummed. "What if we cut steak into strips and served it over rice?" he suggested.

"I like that idea," Leshawna replied. "Gwen, can you help Lindsay make the rice?" she asked, giving a meaningful glance over at the blonde.

Gwen grimaced, but when she looked over at Lindsay playing with her hair she sighed. "Sure," she said, to which the larger girl gave her a thankful look.

"Justin, you can help me with the pineapple part of my chutney. Stuff gives my skin a rash," Leshawna told him. The model gave her a nod, and she said "Owen, since you wanted to do the steak, you and Ezekiel do that."

"Sounds good to me!" Owen said, while Ezekiel replied "Can do!"

Cody and Trent looked at each other. "Guess that leaves you and me for dessert, man," the former said. "Any ideas?"

Trent rubbed his chin. "Hmm… Well, Chris is pretty vain, right?" he said.

"That's an understatement," Gwen said flatly, and the other team members chuckled.

Trent laughed as well, and continued "So he'd probably want something fancy for dessert. And my mom had this really simple recipe for chocolate mousse," he said.

"Sounds great! Let's get what we need and get started," Leshawna said, and they joined the Bass in crowding the back of the truck in search of ingredients.

Once the teams made it back to their respective kitchens, they broke off into their arranged groups to handle each of the courses. In the Bass kitchen, Harold and Bridgette were taking a large mound of mozzarella and pulling pieces off it, then rolling the pieces into balls.

As they worked, the latter looked over at her teammate. "So… I had a nice time with Liam and Courtney the other day," she began with forced casualness. "We had a conversation. About alliances."

Harold looked over from the tray they were laying the cheese balls on. "They told you about our alliance?"

Bridgette blinked. "Wait. Our alliance? You mean you're already with them?" she asked.

He winced, realizing that he had given it away by accident. Well, since he was being honest… "Before the swap, it was actually us plus Ezekiel and Cody. That was how we were able to vote off Duncan," he revealed.

She was silent for a moment. "...Wasn't he giving you a hard time at the start of the show?" she asked.

"Exactly. So Cody and I agreed to join them if they helped kick Duncan off the show before he could keep bullying me," Harold explained. "Then once he was gone, it made more sense to stick together. Did they invite you to join too?"

Bridgette frowned. "Sort of. I told them I wouldn't make an alliance without taking the time to build up trust. And they seemed to take it pretty well."

"That makes sense. Liam's definitely okay with taking time to do something, even if he's pretty smart," the nerd told her.

She raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure that? It seems to me like he does nothing but sleep or whatever Courtney tells him to," she pointed out.

"Maybe. But you remember during the phobia challenge, when he jumped with Courtney to make sure she would?" he asked. She nodded, and he continued "And don't forget that he was the first to jump off the cliff in the first challenge. Which made it easier for the rest of us to work up the nerve."

Bridgette looked across the kitchen to the other redhead, who was busy chopping fruit. "So you're saying that he knew we'd definitely lose if he didn't do those things?"

"I'm saying he might have guessed it, and decided to act on it," Harold replied. "Between that and him being in an alliance at all, I think he may be smarter than he lets on."

"Hmm…" she said. "...And what about Courtney? Do you think she can be trusted?"

He nodded. "Courtney really likes winning, and being an alliance makes it more likely for her to do that. Once it's just us, though, I don't know how far she'll go. I just hope I have someone else to watch my back by then."

Bridgette slowly smiled. "Well… you've got me, right? We could look out for each other and our alliance-mates," she said.

Harold smiled back. "Our alliance-mates?" he quipped.

She chuckled and lightly tossed a cheese ball at him, which he caught. "It sounds better if you're a part of it. I think I can trust you." Then she leaned forward, smiling fading somewhat. "And if Duncan had stayed and you got hurt, I'd have definitely said something."

Harold nodded. "I believe that. It's why staying in this alliance sounds better to me if you're joining," he said, before extending his hand. "I see this as the start of an awesome friendship," he said.

Bridgette shook his hand with a grin, and the two of them switched to making the bread crumbs for the balls.

Their handshake did not go unnoticed by Courtney, who said "That seems to be going well."

Liam nodded. "I hope so. Things are looking more and more troublesome," he said quietly, switching his gaze to Daphne, DJ and Tyler. From this distance and over the kitchen noise, he could make out a few words of their conversation. It appeared to be about spices.

Courtney glanced in the same direction long enough to know what he was talking about, then both looked back down at the fruit they were cutting. "I saw her come back into the cabin with Heather the other night. She was pretty quick to make friends once Izzy was gone, wasn't she?"

He shrugged. "I saw it as the reverse–that Heather was quick to make friends with her."

She tilted her head. "Maybe so. Either way, if she gets either DJ's or Tyler's vote too… Or worse, both," she said, shaking her head. "You're right, this could be trouble. Even with Bridgette, we'd be evenly matched."

"Exactly. So we need to deal with this before it becomes a problem," he said, sticking his cutting knife into the board. He then wiped his hands off with a cloth and said "That's all the banana slices you needed. What's next?"

"Next, you can start making the glaze. Get some sugar, lemon juice and strawberries," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Liam replied, walking off while she smiled.

Standing in front of one of the stoves, Lindsay rubbed the back of her head. "So, if we're going to steam some rice, how do we make the steam?" she asked.

Gwen had to resist facepalming. "We need a pot of water to boil. Here," she said, reaching into one of the cabinets and pulling out a measuring cup and a pot. "You see this mark here?" she asked, pointing at the 1 cup mark. "Fill this to that point with water. Add that to the pot and then do it again. Can you do that?"

"That's it?" Lindsay asked. "I can do that!" she said, taking the cup and walking off.

The goth sighed. Maybe if she finished making this early, she could have some time to write in her diary. It had been a moment since she had written anything. As she looked over at Trent, who was carrying a carton of eggs in, the two of them exchanged glances.

Once she had a pot on the stove and was awaiting water, she walked over to him. "Where's Cody?" she asked.

He jerked his thumb back towards the door. "I think he went with Owen to get the steak. Was worried he'd eat it even though it's not cooked yet," he explained.

She raised an eyebrow, but the flatness of her expression showed she was unsurprised. "We should probably have someone watch the food after it's cooked, too," she stated.

"I can do that. Plus, I'm making a second serving of mousse just for him, in case he gets any ideas," Trent told her, setting the eggs down.

Gwen paused. "That's… really nice of you," she said.

He grunted. "Owen's not such a bad guy… once you get past the food and smell. He's pretty cool," he said. She was about to remark on that when she heard a voice behind her.

"Gwyneth? I finished adding the water," Lindsay said, holding the measuring cup up as she turned around.

A full measuring cup.

Gwen frowned, replaying her earlier words. Then she groaned and walked over to the pot. Sure enough, it had a single cup of water in it. "I meant to add them both to the pot," she snapped, grabbing the cup and pouring the rest of the water in while she threw her a glare.

"Ooohhh," Lindsay said in realization, before blinking. "Sorry..." she said, bowing her head and grabbing her arm.

Despite her irritation–both at Lindsay and being interrupted–a part of her twinged at that. With the sorrowful look Lindsay was giving her, and those wide eyes… she felt she'd be kicking a puppy if she kept going. Her glare faded, and she said "It's… it's fine. Can you get me the bag of rice now?"

The blonde perked back up, grinning at being trusted to do something else too. "Be right back!" she said, and rushed off.

Once she was gone, she refocused on Trent and saw him smiling at her. "You know, you can be pretty nice, too," he said.

Slowly, she smiled back, before walking over and helping him crack the eggs. She had definitely some writing to do.

Once the spices for the ribs were mixed and the sauces prepared, DJ and Daphne nodded in satisfaction. "Now we just got to get this baby ready for the oven!" DJ said.

"I'll get the ribs!" Tyler said eagerly, running over to where they had the rack on a platter on another counter to give them space. As he rushed back with the platter in front of him, Heather stepped into his path, looking down at a clipboard and pen in her hands. "Comin' through!" he called.

Heather looked up and quickly jumped back. In doing so, however, her pen slipped from her clipboard and rolled across the floor. Then, as Tyler passed over it, his foot landed on the pen and he immediately slipped. "Whoa!" he called, falling onto his back and reflexively tossing the heavy metal platter up so he could brace himself.

Every Bass's eyes widened as, in almost slow motion, both the platter and the ribs went into the air. The rib rack was sent forward towards DJ, who opened his arms to catch it. The platter, meanwhile, went upwards. As it came to stop, Daphne could see where it would fall: directly onto Tyler.

"Watch out!" she called, diving forward. The platter fell in front of her and she caught it with both hands. A moment later she landed, and both she and Tyler froze.

The platter had nearly landed on his family jewels.

"...Well… that was a close one, huh?" Tyler said. Two nut shots in two challenges, and on international TV? He couldn't imagine the humiliation. "Thanks, Daphne."

The brunette nodded and stood up. "Don't mention it," before giving him a hand to stand up.

Heather reached down to pick up her pen. "Yeah, catastrophe averted. Great. Now, shall we get back to work?" she called, getting her teammates to refocus on cooking.

As he cut strawberries into small chunks, Liam's eyes narrowed in Heather's direction. He honestly couldn't tell if that whole event had been planned or not. That… unsettled him.

Cody, Owen, and Ezekiel walked briskly back to the lodge kitchen, Owen hoisting a massive steak over his shoulder. Both Ezekiel and Owen were laughing over a joke Cody had made, but said laughter halted once they rounded a corner. A low buzzing sound reached their ears, and their eyes widened in alarm as they stumbled upon a nest of angry hornets. The insects swarmed around the nest, forming a small dark cloud that appeared ready to move.

"Oh, jeez. What should we do?" Owen asked fearfully, backing away and hugging the steak to himself.

Cody's forehead creased in worry. "I have no idea, man. I say we just run; I don't want to get stung if those hornets get to us."

Ezekiel spoke up. "Well, I know that peppermint oil usually repels hornets. Maybe if we can find something that smells minty, we can keep 'em away," he suggested.

Cody's eyes lit up with a spark of inspiration. "Mint, huh? I got this!" With a swift movement, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. A large label on it read 'Super-Strength Mint Mouthwash'. Ezekiel and Owen exchanged puzzled glances, but Cody was undeterred. He uncapped the bottle, allowing the potent scent of mint to waft through the air.

As the fumes diffused, the hornets seemed to hesitate, their aggressive flight patterns disrupted. "Whoa, dude, it's actually working!" Owen exclaimed, relief washing over his face.

Cody waved the bottle of mouthwash until there was a wall of fumes between them and the hornets, creating a barrier. With the hornets reluctantly retreating, the trio cautiously edged along on the path to the lodge, keeping Cody between them and the hornets the entire way.

Once the nest was out of sight, the three of them finally relaxed. Small bits of laughter began to erupt from them as they realized how absurd the situation had been. "Well, glad that went well," Ezekiel said, looking over at Cody. "How come you have that stuff on you anyway?"

The geek grinned. "Cause ya never know when some pretty lady's gonna want some action with the Codemeister," he said 'smoothly', capping the mouthwash and pocketing it.

"Wow. I have so much to learn about being around women," Owen said in awe, and Ezekiel nodded in agreement.

Cody's grin grew, and he placed an arm over each of their shoulders. "Then friends, let me introduce you to the Cody School of Awesomeness with the Ladies, name pending," he declared.

A few hours later, both teams were putting the finishing touches on their meals. While Chris sat at one of the bench tables (covered in cloth for the occasion) Heather pulled out a set of matches and lit the candles on the table. "Your dinner will be ready momentarily," she said gracefully.

Chris, ever used to be waited on hand and foot, simply nodded. "Nice presentation," he said, making her smile while, behind her, Liam and Courtney did the same.

Then Leshawna and Justin walked out, and their smiles faded as they saw the pitcher of iced lemonade in the model's hands. Leshawna smirked at them. "I had extra time after I made the chutney. It was Justin's idea," she said. That got them to glare at the model, who gave them a shrug and an apologetic smile.

Chris grinned as he accepted a glass and took a sip. "Aah, nice. No points just for this, but it certainly puts me in a better mood for your actual courses," he said, making Leshawna pump her fist as she went back to the Gopher kitchen.

Once he was gone, Heather hissed "That chiseled man-candy stole our idea!"

"If only we had time to make it," Courtney muttered.

Liam frowned, tempted to point out that he would have had time to make at least a little lemonade if the C.I.T. hadn't forced him to triple-check the ingredient portions while they were cooking. Then again, seeing her upset, it probably wouldn't help.

As it was, the appetizers were the first to be served, with the Gophers being allowed to serve theirs first. What Chris received was a bowl containing several chunks of pineapple in a thick brown sauce along with… "Is that garlic and onions?" Chris asked warily.

Leshawna nodded. "My own pineapple chutney. Trust me, you'll love it," she assured him.

Chris raised both eyebrows, but nonetheless scooped up some with a spoon. "Well, I can always score a zero…" he muttered, making some of the Gophers appear nervous.

As he took a bite and chewed, he hummed. "Tangy… spicy… Yet sweet… And do I taste cinnamon?" he asked, and Leshawna nodded. Swallowing, he smiled. "You know what, I think I like it. Eight points for the Gophers!" They cheered and Heather stifled a grimace.

For the Bass, she brought out a small plate covered in golden brown balls along with a small saucer of red sauce. "Fried cheese balls with marinara dipping sauce, our gracious host," she said, backing away.

Chris hummed and took one of the balls, squeezing it between his fingers. When it didn't immediately break into crumbs, he nodded and dipped it before popping it in his mouth. After swallowing it, he said "On their own? I'd give these a six…" The Bass began to deflate, and he added "But since I have weakness for tomatoes, the inclusion of the sauce gets you another point. So seven."

Courtney pouted but didn't protest in case Chris decided to dock them points. "We'll just make it up with the main course," she declared.

Chris hummed. "Sounds promising. But first…" he replied, looking away as the next Gopher course arrived. Looking down at it, he said "Nice idea to follow that stuff up with meat." Picking at the rice, he said "But steamed rice, instead of fried? And you didn't even add any cilantro to it."

"Cila-wha?" Lindsay repeated.

As he bit into one of the steak strips, he added "And I prefer my steak medium rare, not well done."

"How were we supposed to know that?" Ezekiel muttered, but was also ignored.

"Still, the steak's not that bad. Decent texture. And this…" Chris continued, taking a sip of lemonade. "Makes it go down easier," he said, making Justin grin. "Seven out of ten points," he finished.

Once that tasting was done, DJ carefully placed the platter of oven-baked ribs in front of him. "Made will tender love and care," the teen said.

Chris inhaled. "Hmm… Smells like good barbecue," he said. Taking a rib, he attempted to pull off a piece of meat. It came away easily, making him smile. "Almost ready to fall off the bone. No burnt edges, not too thick on the sauce…" Then he ate the piece while also taking a bite into the rest of the rib.

A moment later, his eyes flew open. And if the competitors didn't know better, they could have sworn there were stars in his pupils. "Holy mother of pearl! That is good rib meat," he said, taking another bite with gusto. "Mmm, not just good, but great. A perfect ten!"

Now it was the Bass who cheered, including Daphne and DJ giving each other a double high-five. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" DJ exclaimed, and Daphne nodded.

Confessional Stall - Daphne

"I knew it! I knew my cooking skills would come in clutch eventually! Every reality show has cooking!" she cheered, before facing the camera. "Mom, if you're watching this, I'm sorry for all the stuff I ever set on fire trying to cook new things! But, uh, it always smelled nice! Usually…"

"Well, that puts the Killer Bass up by two points. Screaming Gophers, I hope your dessert wows me," Chris said.

Owen, who was holding an empty glass bowl and a spoon, nodded. "Oh, it will," he promised, licking any traces off the spoon.

Chris blinked. Before he could ask whether Owen had just eaten his dessert, Trent walked out of the kitchen with another glass bowl, this one filled. "Chocolate mousse, my man," he said, handing him the spoon.

The host accepted it and grinned. "And here we have my other culinary weakness: cocoa," he said, causing the Bass to have worried expressions. He took a scoop and swallowed it. "Creamy, smooth as velvet, yet light. A fancy dinner for a fancy host…" Their worried expressions grew, while the Gophers grew excited. "Almost perfect. Nine points!"

The Gophers cheered again, and several of the Bass looked down. Courtney, on the other hand, took a deep breath and did her best to appear confident. Walking forward, she placed the final course on the table. "Fruit salad with a glazing strawberry sauce," she announced.

Chris hummed. "Looks to me like you made the sauce from actual strawberries, instead of just using syrup," he remarked.

"Of course," Courtney replied. "Only the best for your judge."

"As it should be," Chris agreed, spearing pieces of orange, banana, grape and blueberry onto his fork, all of them covered in sauce. As he chewed, he said "Good choices in fruit, nothing too heavy. And the sauce… all the flavors complement each other. No one ingredient stands out over the others…"

At that, Courtney threw a smug look Liam's way, which he pretended not to notice.

Chris swallowed, and waited for the teams to become good and tense. "For the final dish, I award… eight points!" Those quick to do the math gasped, and were confirmed when Chris called "The Killer Bass win it!"

"Woo-hoo!" the Bass celebrated. Daphne and DJ traded high-fives again before doing the same with Tyler, Bridgette and Harold both began dancing, and Heather crossed her arms and smiled victoriously.

Courtney and Liam, meanwhile, reached forward and grabbed each other's hands. "We did it! And because of my recipe!" Courtney declared.

Liam nodded. "You were right to be exact about it," he conceded. The two of them smiled at each other and prepared to face their teammates… when they realized they were still holding hands.

Both of them immediately let go, neither saying a word as they focused on Chris's next announcement. "Screaming Gophers, I'll see you at the bonfire after you enjoy Chef's mandated dinner gruel. Killer Bass, your reward as winners is… a five-star dinner under the stars."

Cue further cheering from the Bass, while the Gophers appeared either angered or dismayed.

Confessional Stall - Courtney

"Me and Liam? Asif. He may like making little schemes, but he's got zero motivation about his career! He also slouches almost all the time, he'll wake up at noon and start the day with lunch if someone doesn't wake him up sooner, and don't even get me started on how worn and faded his clothes are! As if he doesn't care enough to even look nice!" she ranted, turning her nose up at the thought. "Still, he's at least smart, doesn't get up to trouble for no reason, and actually does what I tell him to. So there's that."

At the bonfire ceremony that night, several of the Gophers were looking at each other nervously. No one person was to blame, so they didn't have a scapegoat to boot out. Which meant that none of them knew for certain who was going.

Chris didn't help things by saying "I've got eight Gophers in front of me, and only seven marshmallows of sweet salvation. I wish you all luck… not that it'll help much in a voting system." He chuckled, and then said "Catch your marshmallow when I call your name."

"First one goes to Leshawna…" She caught hers with a smirk.

"Trent…" He caught the marshmallow and gave a thumbs-up back.

"Owen…" The larger boy caught his marshmallow with his teeth.

"Cody…" The geek almost caught his marshmallow with one hand, then briefly fumbled it before catching it with both.

"Gwen…" She reached up and caught hers with barely a glance.

"Justin…" He caught his with a dazzling smile and flex towards the cameras.

"Ezekiel, Lindsay, it's down to you two. Whoever does not get this last marshmallow must walk the Dock of Shame and leave via the Boat of Losers. For good," he said, causing them both to sit straight. "The last marshmallow goes to…"

…

…

…

"Lindsay."

"Yay! Alright!" the blonde cried, leaping up and catching her marshmallow with both hands.

Ezekiel sighed before looking at the ground. Chris came forward and told him "Gotta say, man, you lasted longer than I thought you would."

"Yeah… I guess so," he said morosely. Then he stood and looked up towards the sky. "But I'll be back, eh. Sooner or later, I'll be back, and I will get my hands on that prize! I swear it!" he declared with determination.

Chris leaned back. "Yeah… sure you will," he said skeptically. "Now get outta here."

Ezekiel nodded and stood up, walking along the Dock with his head held high.

As he stepped onto the Boat, he looked towards the camera. "I left a wiser man than when I arrived. I'll see you again, Total Drama!" he said, before the Boat powered on and carried him away.

Interestingly enough, I had these courses figured out before I thought to check if Chris's favorite foods are known. And while they are not, it is known his favorite drinks are hot cocoa and tomato juice, so I extrapolated from there.

Ezekiel, Cody and Owen → Lindsay

Trent → Cody

Gwen, Leshawna, Lindsay and Justin → Ezekiel

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