Authors Note: Well, I planned to give you all a little surprise, 2 chapters in one go. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Most of the campers looked down the 100-foot-high cliff with either fear or even some excitement. They all wore swimsuits and looked at Chris, who stood by a crate with a chicken picture.
"Okay!" Chris said he wanted to make sure he had all 24 teenagers attention. "Today's challenge is threefold. Your first task is to jump off this 1000-foot-high cliff into the lake."
Bridgette looked down the cliff without fear and saw that there were indeed two areas. The area consisted of a large, wide zone surrounded by a smaller circular area.
"Piece of cake." Bridgette smiled and confidently said.
"Wait fooooor it." Ezekiel informed Bridgette, who was about to inquire, that Chris had decided to reveal the remaining details of the challenge.
"If you look down, you will see two target areas." Chris explained while pointing to the different zones inside of the water. "The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic, hehehe, man-eating sharks."
Everyone looked down and flinched when they saw the fins of sharks appearing in the large zone area.
"Also, inside that area, there is a safe zone." That's your target area, which we're pretty sure is shark-free." Chris finally gave the explanation for the areas. Which didn't help their anxiety at all.
"Excuse me?" Leshawna responded to the host's final words by asking Chris to excuse her. Who seemed to take it as a signal to continue?
"For each member of your team that jumps and actually…survives, there will be a crate of supplies waiting below." Chris gestured to the beach at the bottom of the cliff, where everyone could see two stacks of crates waiting below. "Inside each crate are supplies that you'll need for the second part of the challenge… building a hot tub. The team with the best one gets to have a wicked hot tub party tonight. The losers will be sending someone home."
The group stared at each other until Chris pointed at the Killer Bass team. "Alright, Killer Bass, you're up first.
"Hey Eva." Ezekiel, who was seeing someone going in front of him, walked beside the bulkiest woman, who just raised her eyebrow at him. "Can you do me a favor and be the last?"
Eva found the favor a bit odd and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why?" She asked why the boy seemed to be nervous and even gulped.
"I'm excited to do the challenge, but I think it would be for the best if everyone gets down. Knowing Chris we must have the advantage… so in case I stall too much time or froze in one place… Can you just launch me on the safe zone?" Ezekiel decided to be polite and not say anything that could trigger the anger of the female bodybuilder.
Eva then looked at the boy weirdly, but also in surprise; by remaining calm, she nodded her head.
Their musings are interrupted when Owen laughs optimistically.
"Hey, don't sweat it, guys." The big guy reassured everyone over the cliff. "I heard that these shows always make the interns do the stunt first to make sure it's survivable."
"Oh yeah, we totally did that." Chris nodded as everyone tried to avoid his gaze.
"Was it Chef, wasn't it?" Ezekiel asked, which Chris smiled like a kid who got caught taking the cookie from the jar.
"Yep, it was hilarious, and I even added on the episode." Chris shamelessly replied, which made the entire group stare at the host like he was a maniac.
Now knowing what was probably one of the reasons the Chef was so pissed towards them.
"It's really no big deal, just an insane dive into a circle of angry sharks." Bridgette tried to reassure herself. So she takes a dive as everyone runs up and looks at her diving into the safety zone. Bridgette came out and waved to everyone, showing that she was fine.
"AWESOME! I'm next! Cowabunga!" Tyler yells as he takes a run off the cliff with his chest puffed up with pride and runs at the cliff before leaping off with a yell, but the high dive ends with his groanings of pain. His body fell on one of the buoy's towers before he slid into the safety zone.
"Woooooo! Hahahah!" Geoff cheered and laughed as he dove down the cliff next; his hat was still stuck in his head.
Duncan remained in silence with his arms crossed, ready to take the jump. Ezekiel stared at him, and one scene remained similar in his mind.
"Duncan will resurrect an old favorite. The single scoop strawberry cone with chocolate dip." Ezekiel thought, as he could see the delinquent just stepping outside the cliff and falling down. "JUST LOOK AT THAT CONCENTRATION."
"..." Duncan remained with his arms crossed in complete silence until he hit the safety zone.
DJ walked up trembling near the cliff as his fear of heights was finally hitting him in full force, his every instinct telling him to back out.
"Fear of heights hitting you hard?" A familiar voice spoke out as the owner walked near him to the cliff's end, and the giant jamaican stared at the small boy, who was also staring at the cliff with no small degree of trepidation.
"Yeah, since I was a kid." DJ confessed, since he never liked anywhere that isn't the ground.
"It's okay to be afraid. People never understand the true meaning of courage anyway." Ezekiel calmly said it, which brought the attention of the giant.
"What do you mean by that?" DJ avoided looking at the cliff and stared at the homeschooled boy, who simply tried to reassure the giant.
"You remind me of Courage, the cowardly dog." Ezekiel smiled, but the name itself made DJ stare at the boy confused and a bit offended. But Ezekiel's smile got even bigger. "There isn't a dog more cowardly and yet the most courageous dog who has tons of heroic feats."
"I don't understand." DJ didn't forget the fear of being nearby the cliff, but he was feeling intrigued by what the homeschooled talked so great about a dog who is a coward. "What does a dog have that makes it so special?"
"That dog has saved his family hundreds of times, even facing challenges more frightening than others." Ezekiel addressed the issue directly. And DJ got baffled from the revelation. "The initial reaction was always the same as the first. Scream in fear until his lungs passes out… But all the challenges focused into trying to go after to something, which was the most important of that simple little dog… His owner is Muriel. And one quote that he always says when he is going to save her, even if he has to deal with whatever crap the world is going to launch at him, is "The things I do for love."
"The things I do for love." DJ seemed to be understanding little by little what Ezekiel was saying to him.
Courtney walked a few seconds to try to warn them to go quicker to make the other teams pass or they possibly would be disqualified, but the talk of how the little boy was talking about the definition of courage by being contradictory by a coward dog… She couldn't help but also feel touched by wanting to know more about it. So Courtney remained nearby the cliff with the duo.
"Ever imagine if it was your loved one who was jumping off a cliff this high?" Ezekiel asked, which made DJ stare at the situation wide open.
"Momma." DJ kept looking until he saw someone offering him a hand.
"Do you want to hold my hand while we jump together?" Ezekiel said, "Do you want to hold my hand while we jump together?" DJ was trembling but comforted himself by holding his hand.
"Okay, now let…" Ezekiel was almost convincing DJ to jump with him until he got surprised by strong hands holding his shorts.
"JUST GO, YOU COWARDLY DOGS." Eva shouted until she pushed both boys towards the cliff.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Both DJ and Ezekiel screamed until they noticed a third voice shouting in fear, which they had no idea who it was until Ezekiel's eyes went wide open in such surprise. It was Courtney who was also falling with them and screaming in fear.
Ezekiel was awed by the view of the fall, from the whole island to the safety zones approaching, even if it was the scariest butterflies on his stomach.
Instinctively, the trio who were falling decided to hold their legs with their hands and take a deep breath, doing a cannonball. This action was sufficient to enable them to dive into the water with confidence. Ezekiel, who opened his eyes, noticed that DJ was almost going into a panic underwater, but seeing Ezekiel doing a classic dog swim, DJ did the same thing until the duo got out of the water.
"Ahhhhh." Both DJ and Ezekiel took a deep breath when they finally reached the surface, both staring at each other in such frenetic rapid breath.
Ezekiel felt a wide smile spread across his face as he couldn't resist shouting out.
"WOOHOOOOOOOOOO. THAT WAS AWESOME." Ezekiel shouted as he had never felt so alive, the adrenaline rush affecting all the parts of his body. And he felt so happy to be doing a thing he never thought he was going to do. Ever again. "DJ, you did it."
"What?" DJ said he was confused, as he was still feeling scared as any kind of kid. But Ezekiel gave a tap on his back.
"You became courageous." Ezekiel said proudly, but that made DJ stare at him like he was insane.
"They pushed us onto the cliff." We didn't do it by our own decision." DJ said it as he was stating a fact, but Ezekiel shook his head.
"The fact we survived. And we have to face our fears, even if we are scared as (beep) to accept and deal with the fear, even if it was by accident. Makes us courageous." Ezekiel spoke with pride, causing DJ to smile slightly. "Now let's get the boat and take our crate."
The duo was almost ready to get out, but a shout came when a person came out of the water.
"EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA." A female pure hatred shout from Courtney was enough to be heard, which made both boys flinch, as they saw the grey swimsuited girl stare angrily at the top of the cliff. "HOW DARE YOU TO DO THAT?"
Both DJ and Ezekiel stared at that scene and decided that it wasn't their place to ask, and neither would like to risk their lives to try to understand what happened.
(Confession Eva)
"I was aiming to push both of the tiny bean and the coward giant; I didn't think I pushed them so strong that I accidentally pushed the tan bossy girl as well." Eva commented as she stretched herself, which seemed to be a recording from the future. "But they survived. And maybe with that we can win the challenge."
Ezekiel and DJ helped Courtney get out of the boat since the trio got together in their fall. And when they managed to get to the beach, it seemed that each crate was important and that they should take one for the challenge.
"Yes!" Harold cheered as he jumped down and performed the splits.
Which made the entire group of men feel the same pain just by seeing Harold hit the water, crotch first. And Bridgette and Courtney turn their faces away from the view.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Harold's shout was so loud that even the birds had to fly away from the terrible pain he was feeling. Even the sharks had to wince from seeing how the pain over the nerd also took over their bodies; it was something difficult to watch. Even making the sharks acknowledge that they wouldn't have attacked him if he was outside of the safety area, since they were sharks, not monsters to attack a man who wanted to kill his future children.
Harold exited the boat, prompting the entire group to attempt to assist him. Surprisingly, after receiving another dose of painkillers, the nerd appeared to be completely fine.
"Dude, is your crotch made of steel?" Ezekiel's question drew everyone's attention. "It's the second hit in the nuts you have, and you seem to be totally fine."
Dunca, DJ, and Geoff looked at Harold, and they couldn't help but nod their heads towards him— someone hurting himself on the nuts twice on the same day and still being fine? He wasn't normal.
Harold was about to reply when a shout came down with a jump of 3 people.
"Finally they are here. I was asking myself why they are taking so long." Courtney huffed angrily until she noticed that Izzy didn't have jumped. "What happened?"
"One of the twins dunderheads complained so much that Chris got annoyed and asked who would want to exchange with Katie… And Izzy offered herself." Eva grunted as she noticed that her entire team was down.
Courtney stared angrily at the bodybuilder, but she contained herself as she took a deep breath and counted the group around her.
"Wait, there is all of us down here… So that means?" Bridgette analyzed the situation, which made Duncan grin.
"We have all the crates and possibly won a perfect victory on the first phase of the challenge." Duncan declared, which made the whole Killer Bass team cheer in a victory, which made Chris smile by looking down.
"Well, Gophers, it seems the Killer Bass team has 11 points, and now you have two options. To all of you: jump to make a tie and disable the Killer Bass to achieve the advantage for the next challenge. Or quit and leave the advantage to the team with the possibility of a victory on their hands?" Chris was enjoying the drama around; he could see the ratings getting up from the first episode. Having a touching scene being broken by the impatience of a team member and also pushing another member, which not just makes the scene more dramatic but also, by pure coincidence, makes the team have almost a guarantee over the advantage for the prize.
"Nice! Okay, guys." Trent spoke up as he turned to his teammates. "Who's up first?"
"I'm sorry." Heather said firmly as she crossed her arms and shook her head. "There's no way I'm doing this."
"Why not?" Beth asked, looking slightly worried.
"Um, hello, national tv." Heather said as if the answer to the question was too obvious. "We already lost the challenge; I'm not going to get my hair wet for nothing."
"You're kidding, right?" Gwen asked while looking at Heather in disbelief.
"If she's not doing it, I'm not doing it." Lindsy uttered those words as she and Heather exchanged smirks.
"Oh, you're doing it." Leshawna spoke in an aggressive tone, directly addressing Heather.
"Say's who?" Heather crossed her arms and glared back at Leshawna.
"Says me." Leshawna responded, gazing intently into Heather's eyes. "There is no way that I'm going to let them have the advantage and lose the entire challenge 'cause you got your hair day, you spoiled little daddy's girl."
"Back off, ghetto-glamour, too-tight-pants-wearing, rap-star wannabe." Heather insulted Leshawna right back in her face.
"Mall shopping, ponytail-wearing, teen girl reading, peeking in high school prom queen." Leshawna responded without lowering her voice.
"..." Heather then smirked after being in a moment of silence. "Well, at least I'm popular."
Everyone watching that flinched, knowing that the tension could be cut with a butter knife, and some were even enjoying the idea of a catfight. Except the handsome teenage boy who preferred to stare at himself over his own mirror he brought with him.
"Do you think anyone from the Gophers will jump?" Tyler asked his teammates after having a good time drying himself from the water.
"That's clearly illogical. Since we have our entire team jumped… or specially pushed towards the water." Courtney commented and stretched herself; she was feeling sore from the fall she had over the cliff, and she gave an indirect to the buffed woman who remained in silence and put on her clothes. "We have a total of 11 people who did this madness; there is no way that they would make everyone go down here."
"Well, the fewer people they jump, the fewer crates they will have, so that would give us not just the advantage, but all the needed material around here." Geoff commented as he stared at the crates, and every single one looked heavy. "Man, these things are heavy. Do you think they would give some sort of carriage for us to take this with us?"
"Perhaps that would be the reward." Duncan logically agreed, since he just understood what kind of challenges would be from now on. "Knowing Chris now, we already can say that he is a creatively sadistic bastard."
Duncan, Tyler, and Courtney were debating what possibly would be their victory, while a bit far away the woman bodybuilder Eva was focusing on getting ready herself, until she saw from the corner of her eyes the boy who asked the favor before the jump and a nervous giant Jamaican nearby him.
"Hmm. Eva." The boy called her, causing her to raise her eyebrows toward the duo. "I know Courtney must have lashed out at you for pushing her off the cliff… But I came here to thank you for your help. If it weren't for your help, we could possibly have lost the first part of the challenge, and you have no idea we would need the advantage."
Eva remained in silence until she finally could say her answer.
"You're welcome." Eva was direct with her reply, but then she turned her back and left the duo alone. But after nobody saw her face, the cameras showed a positive smirk of happiness on the way she helped her team to the possible victory.
DJ and Ezekiel shrugged as they went back towards the crew; Sadie and Katie were both being dorks together and having a good conversation between themselves. Harold and Geoff were still looking up to see if there was someone who actually would jump from the other team, and until then, nothing must have happened.
"Did we take this long to jump?" Ezekiel asked Bridgette, who just used her hand to give a more or less feeling. He was about to ask another thing until… A shout was enough to get all the Bass to look at the cliff top.
"YOU'RE JUMPING!" Leshawna yelled at Heather aggressively.
"MAKE ME!" Heather didn't realize her mistake until it was too late, since Leshawna took her entire body and launched the spoiled girl off of the cliff. Heather screamed with all her lungs until she got down into the water inside of the safety zone. Currently she came off; Heather hatefully stared above the cliff. "LESHAWNA, YOU ARE SO DEAD!"
"Hey, I threw you into the safe zone, didn't I?" Leshawna yelled down to Heather, which made the entire group of Killer Bass stare at each other.
"Do you think they will push each other to force themselves to tie against us?" Ezekiel walked towards Courtney and Bridgette, who seemed to be thinking about the same question.
"Well, at least we have the entire team down here, so maybe we have a chance." Bridgette tried to act positive, which made the homeschooled boy smile.
Then after the next second, Leshawna jumped herself over the cliff, which landed her safely over the safe zone with Heather.
Then Lindsay came down, waving her limbs around frantically as she fell down the cliff. Next was Gwen, who also screamed as she fell into the water, who was followed by Cody. And after him, Izzy was laughing hysterically as she fell down the cliff. She was thoroughly enjoying the experience herself.
After Izzy came, she confidently took a dive into the water, just for fear of everyone landing outside of the safe zone. Everyone yelled at Justin to swim away from the sharks until the impossible happened. Currently the sharks appeared near him; they stopped swimming until they saw the water dripping off his body and his sparkling eyes and smile. Which made the sharks enamored with the teenager and helped the handsome boy to pick him up and gave him a ride to the shore.
After that, everyone's jaw slackened.
"You are mistaken, Duncan. It wasn't the jocks." The delinquent turned his head when he saw the homeschooled boy looking surprised and also with a bit of disappointment. "They always fell for the handsome guy."
Duncan recalled his quote over the afternoon and seeing the handsome boy smiling towards all the girls who were enamored with the eye candy idol. Duncan slapped his forehead.
"Oh, I will be damned; I stand corrected." Duncan commented that he understood that it was always an unfair competition against someone who makes all the girls enamored.
Beth stared at the cliff, and the height was too big for her; she was so afraid that she backed away.
"I can't do it." Beth said as she slumped down, which made Chris smile at her.
"Afraid of heights?" Chris commented, which made Beth nod at him. Chris smiled at her. "That's alright, girl; unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken. So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day."
Beth stared; currently, he brought a box he was standing next to and pulled out a rubber chicken hat and placed it on Beth's head.
"Really? Oh no." Beth discovered that now she was messed up, and with Chris finally finding a chicken, he decided to rub salt on her wound.
"Bawk bawk bawk!" Chris mocked while doing a chicken dance before pointing to an escalator that was on the cliff for some reason. "That means the chicken's path is down that way."
Beth stared at the entire team, even the ones who fell from the cliff.
"I'M SORRY!" Beth shouted as she decided to take the cowardly escalator way.
Leshawna, Heather, and Lindsay stared towards above the cliff.
"Oh, she didn't." Leshawna looked in disbelief, while Heather and Lindsay couldn't help but scoff.
"That is, like, so lame, right?" The blonde girl asked Heather, who couldn't help but agree in both anger and disgust.
"Fully lame." Heather commented, but still she saw Leshawna and Cody doing a chicken dance to mock Beth for being a coward; she couldn't help but snicker at that attitude. The little farm girl cost them the tie, and now the other team would have the advantage.
"So that means?" Harold noticed that one of the team chickened out, and he stared at the other boys of the Killer Bass team.
Duncan grinned and hit his palm with his fist, showing a huge victorious smile.
"WE WON!" Ezekiel and Geoff shouted as Sadie and Katie cheered and screamed by jumping happily at the results of their jump.
Courtney and Bridgette hugged happily, while Ezekiel, Duncan, Harold, DJ, and Geoff shared high fives. The first day is the first phase of the challenge as their victory.
The screaming Gophers, staring at the celebration, noticed that indeed they had screwed up a good part of their chances.
Chris saw the celebration of the victory for the Killer Bass team, so he decided to give a final warning for the Screaming Gophers boys.
"You have the choice to quit jumping right now, but know that each person who does so will have one less crate to help the team build up the hot tub for the challenge. "No pressure, guys." Chris commented until he saw the relief on their faces. He then snickered. "Okay, there's pressure!"
"Let's do this!" Trent passed by Owen and gave him a high five. Trent then jumped off the cliff and landed in the safe zone. And after him, Noah came by jumping off by himself.
"Ok campers!" Chris addressed everyone below using a megaphone, while Owen stood by the edge of the cliff. "The Killer Bass won the first part of the challenge. But the Gophers have one last person to jump, and the more quantities of crates they have, the better."
Down below, the Screaming Gophers were all shouting to the fat boy to jump off the cliff, since they would need all the materials possible to make the challenge.
"JUMP! JUMP! JUST DO IT, OWEN. DO IT!" Heather shouted between the group, who was doing their best to convince Owen, since he was with fear, and doing his best to take a deep breath before strapping his floaties around his arm and backing away a bit to give himself a running start.
(Confession - Owen)
"Oh, I was pretty darn nervous." Owen gulped as he remembered the feeling of how it went before his jump. "See, the thing is, I'm not that strong a swimmer."
(Confession - Geoff)
"I'm looking at this guy and thinking, there's no way he's gonna make it." Geoff said while looking right at the camera. He was telling in disbelief and confident with himself the possibility of the largest camper to die.
(Confession - Gwen)
"I actually thought, if he jumps…" Gwen looked sadly and in concern at the camera, showing that the possibility of the worst outcome for her teammate until her cold nature came back again, and with her sarcasm, finished the sentence. "He's gonna die."
(Confession - Ezekiel)
"I'm calling right now… *whistle*" Ezekiel said as he raised one hand and let it near his lap. And like a cartoonish whistle, while his raised hand was slowly moving towards his other hand until both were meeting, and then he raised both his arms wide open like a huge explosion arc. "SPLASH. OH *BEEP* GIANT WAVE… I wouldn't be surprised if one shark were stuck in the tree."
"Take a good run at it, buddy." Chris encouraged Owen as the big guy turned around after getting enough distance. "You got this!"
"I'm going to die now." Owen said with resolve, looking forward to where he was going to dive. "I'm going to freaking die now."
Owen stood frozen in place for him to have the last final seconds to be in peace with himself and be ready to give his jump. His entire team looked at him in anticipation.
"Come on, big guy." Leshawna said as she hoped that the last member of Screaming Gophers would actually jump. Hoping that he would work up the courage to jump.
Finally, Owen clenched his teeth and fists and narrowed his eyes at the edge of the cliff, so he gave a battle cry, surprising Chris as he passed by the host, who looked shocked to see him actually jumping.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Owen shouted as he finally did it, and he could see the target on where he should aim. Trent and Noah were looking above them happily until they realized that the big guy was going towards them like a meteor. And they realized how screwed they were. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CRAAAAAAAP."
SPLASH
At the moment Owen hit the water, it was like an explosion came towards him in the air, with water reaching up almost halfway to the top of the cliff. When the water came back down, all the campers could be seen spread out throughout the beach, completely soaked. One shark was stuck on the beach, while the remaining one was holding itself on the tree nearby.
"Yes! Yeah!" Owen soon emerged from under the water and started pumping his fist in the air. "Oh, yeah! Who's the man?"
The entire group of Screaming Gophers cheered as the big guy managed to help them to have another crate on their teams. And even the Killer Bass couldn't help but cheer up Owen, who managed to do the best dive of the day.
"Damn, this was much more fun." Ezekiel remarked, viewing the situation from a different angle and experiencing it firsthand, that he had never felt as wonderful as he did in the Total Drama universe. This was just the minimum of what would be a 8 weeks of pure madness…
"That was awesome!" Chris shouted with his megaphone, enjoying what would be the greatest first episode he ever created so far. "Now the winners! The Killer Bass!"
The entire Bass team cheered as they managed to see the biggest advantage they have now, the carts, which would help them to travel faster to the next part of the challenge.
Trent got up on his boat, but he was staring at the big guy who was looking around for something.
"What's wrong?" He asked, which made Owen continue looking through the water around him.
"I, uh…" Owen awkwardly began. "I think I lost my bathing suit."
He said it loudly enough, which made the entire group of campers show their remarks of disgust.
"Now, Gophers, since you have 10 courageous individuals who survived the jump, you can select 10 crates." Chris had his signature smirk as he approached the groaning team.
"Great." Heather already had a few names on her mind for who she should send home on the first day. While she would have preferred to lose by her choice, she went to the damned water by force, and yet she still lost the game.
(Confession - Heather)
"Knowing Chris now, we already can say that he is a creative, sadistic bastard. So I know that in the future, if I am threatened with being eliminated, I must have the support of possible pawns to help me achieve the top three... But my question is, I wonder... Who is desperate enough to try everything to achieve my victory?"
Heather narrowed her eyes, trying to find two perfect paws around her team, trying to verify who would be willing to follow her orders without any question. And by seeing a familiar chicken hat on the corner, Heather grinned.
"She is perfect." Heather commented by walking slowly towards the farm girl, who seemed to be disappointed with herself. Meanwhile, the other members of the Screaming Gophers are making all the necessary preparations to manually carry their crates. Heather already developed a brilliant plan for her first pawn. Coughing and trying to make her voice show the utmost concern, she called the farm girl, who was feeling alone and outcast. "Beth, are you okay?"
"Hu?" Beth looked around and found the black-haired queen bee walking towards her. "Huh, hello Heather. Yeah, I'm doing fine. I'm just trying to have some time alone."
"Are you still upset because you have to give up jumping?" Heather still tried to use her concerned voice, and she smiled internally when she saw how vulnerable Beth was feeling at that moment. "If that would make you feel better, I also didn't want to jump from that height… I was forced by that brutus of Leshawna. So you don't need to be too harsh on yourself. You are not going to have my vote if we lose today."
"Really?" Beth asked in a hopeful tone, which the queen bee nodded her head to with all her sincerity.
"Of course? Our team was already fated to lose this challenge; currently the other team jumped with all their members; some were even pushed against their will. But we are not like that. Don't worry, you will have my protection." Heather smiled kindly, which made the glass girl show some tears of gratitude.
"Thank you, Heather." Beth went and hugged the spoiled rich girl, which made her gulp her anger at being hugged by someone she doesn't like.
"That's fine. But now we must think of a plan. We cannot let you go away because of a choice you just had. For me, you made the smartest decision." Heather gave a half compliment, which made Beth even happier. "So we need to find a way to make someone else receive all the votes."
"But how can I avoid being eliminated? Since most people can possibly blame me if we lose this challenge." Beth sniffed but tried to look hopeful to Heather, who just gave her signature smile.
"Not if you show your hard work. If they perceive you as a well-mannered and helpful girl, they will be more inclined to support you. They will try to find another person to vote it out today. Don't worry, I have a plan. You just need to follow my orders, and I guarantee that you will be in the top 3 with me." Heather showed her determination and confidence to the little girl, who just started looking up at her.
"Do you think so, Heather? That would be so great— me and you as the top 3." Beth was feeling excited, which Heather gave a smile for, but from the camera, they could see a smirk appearing on her face.
(Confession - Heather)
"Too easy, one down… one to go." Heather smiled as she placed her makeup on her face, enjoying how she was having control over one of the competitors.
(Confession - Beth)
"I can't believe Heather is willing to help me out. She is so nice and great. She will save me from the problems I did today. I hope what she said is true… I don't want to go home soon." Beth smiled with hope in her eyes. She was filled with a deep desire to have a great friend by her side. "Wait, so that means Heather is my friend? THAT'S GREAT. MOM, I HAVE A NEW FRIEND."
"Heather, are you sure that carrying your crate will make the others fine with me helping you? Wouldn't that make them suspicious of you and have you possibly vote out from the show?" Beth asked worriedly, as she was doing her own best to push the crate. She was sweaty and already losing most of her strength while the black-haired girl was using a fingernail polish to make herself more presentable on television.
"I know you are concerned, Beth. But you don't need to worry about me, Beth; I have my ways to make sure to not be voted out today." Heather smiled, trying to make it sound like she was doing a favor for the poor farm girl. "Now if you excuse me, I will find a way to take you out of this situation. Now keep moving this crate. And make sure the others notice you are doing your best."
"I'm trying." Beth commented as she kept pushing the wooden crate, which was enough to make her walk around the others who were having the same difficulty.
Leaving Beth alone carrying her crate. Heather decided to act and walk in the opposite direction, just to see most parts of her team were having a terrible time using their strength to keep moving the crates. A bit on the sidelines, the queen bee just found out a bunch of poison ivy around the floor. Which gave some kind of an idea… But now she would just need a victim. From the time she was walking, it took a few minutes until she realized the two people were having the most difficulty moving their heavy crates.
A skinny bookworm, who was sweating but also having a long time complaining of every single effort he was doing on his place. He was joined by a familiar blonde bombshell who was still struggling to push her crate.
"Hmm… Hello, scapegoat." Heather smiled as he approached the duo.
"AHHH." Lindsay shouted as she looked at her fingernails. "I broke my nail; this day is the worst. Please, someone, take me from my suffering."
"Oh, look at that, the little princess is having a problem outside her castle?" The booksmart Noah sarcastically rolled his eyes but still tried to figure out how to move the crate. "This crate weighs approximately 45 kilograms, so I would need to find a good way to move it, probably by making it as a backpack of sorts. But that doesn't seem plausible. If I use the elasticity effect, maybe I could move it in one shot."
The mumblings around the bookworm weren't something that interested Heather, since she had already chosen him as possibly her target; she just smiled and waved at the duo.
"Hello, I see that you guys are taking so long." Heather tried to sound gentle, but then she narrowed her eyes. "I came here to tell you guys to hurry. You are way far behind."
"Ha, you ask like you had to even lift your crate. Please, Yoko, do me a favor and disappear. I'm going to do it at my speed." Noah wasn't going to buy it, knowing that Heather was planning something; he knew that he would probably be a target, but he needed to be certain what her strategy would be. But she wasn't going to outsmart him… In the mind games, he was set to surpass that simpleton.
"Oh hey, Melery. I'm still having problems pushing this giant box. And now I just broke a fingernail. It appears that this day couldn't get any worse." Lindsay said as she sighed, already wanting the day to come to an end.
"Well, whatever. I already said what I need to say. See you at the camp." Heather scoffed as she turned her back and walked away. She walked a few meters away from the scene. It was a good time for her to put her plan into action. "Yoko, huh? Well, let's see if you are going to enjoy being the scapegoat, you little insect."
Heather stared at the bunch of poison ivy leaves on the ground, and by having a stick nearby her, she brought one of the leaves and placed it calmly on the purse she was using. Smiling evilly, she was ready for the setup of her strategy.
In the far ahead over the Scream Gophers side, the only people who were having a well-managed way to carry their crates were the group of boys Justin, Trent, and Owen, while some who were pushing or even using ropes to help them to pull their crates with force were Izzy, Cody, Gwen, and Leshawna. But still, one girl who was wearing a chicken hat was sweating liters trying to keep up with everyone.
"Are you okay?" Cody inquired, feeling uneasy after hauling his crate for several minutes. "I thought you wouldn't need to carry a crate since you gave up jumping."
"I'm doing fine." Beth replied as she tried to clean up her sweat, but her entire shirt and blouse were wet from all her sweat, and it wasn't helping her very much. "I need to carry this and show that I can help... I don't want to go home."
"Woah, woah, woah. Take a deep breath..." Cody alarmed as he tried to help the farm girl into breathing deeply to help her to calm her entire mind since she was too focused on trying to show her usefulness. "Calm down,"
Beth nodded her head, as her entire body was screaming for her to stop, since the crates seemed to be so heavy, and she didn't want to make the others lose because of her cowardice.
"Nobody is blaming you for giving up the challenge. We were already facing significant challenges." Cody clarified, knowing that her entire situation was risky, and he would rather not upset her by using the wrong words. "I mean, they really got lucky since one of their teammates pushed three of them at the same time." Can you imagine if some of them weren't there when she pushed? We could have tied or even possibly won."
"You really think so?"...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Suddenly a terrifying scream was enough to make the group nearby the shout stop carrying their crates by the surprise scared scream. Until the group looked toward the voice until they found who was the person who was screaming. "My face, my wonderful and beautiful face...RUINED."
The entire group walked towards the model, who was covering his face.
"What happened?"
"It seems that a fly just bit Justin in the eye while he was staring at himself in the mirror." Trent said as he tried to see the damages done by the fly, and by seeing the eye starting to get red, it was already a bad signal. "This can't be good, man. I recommend you go to the medic after we are done with the challenge."
"My beautiful face." Justin lamented as he couldn't even look at himself in the mirror. So he closed one of his eyes and gritted his teeth to continue carrying his crate and finish the challenge as fast as possible to go take care of his beauty once again.
As the time passed, Chris, as he promised, the Killer Bass were giving the carts, which allowed them to easily pull their crates back on the camp. That action significantly boosted the morale of the entire team. Since the entire team was in silence but walking happily with something, it helped them towards their crates.
Ezekiel recalled how thrilled the Screaming Gophers were since they won the challenge; they even had started to sing.
The team Killer Bass preferred to walk as the crew started to know more about each other. Since the duos for each cart were Bridgette and Courtney, Harold and Tyler, Katie and Sadie, Eva holding a cart by herself, DJ and Ezekiel, and Duncan and Geoff. It was a great time to have an excellent talk while on the trip towards the camp.
"Zeke?" A voice called, which made the boy, fully dressed with his usual clothing and winter hat, look to his side, just to see the big jamaican gold hearted boy looking at him. "Can I call you Zeke? I was unsure if it was acceptable to use that name. I'm sorry."
"Nah, that's fine. You are free to do it. So?" Ezekiel smiled as he knew that since everyone is happy carrying their carts, everyone is having a way easier time in comparison to what has happened on the actual episode of the show.
"I must have said that while it was one of the most terrifying things I ever experienced in my whole life. I'm glad you were by my side and decided to help me try to jump. If I hadn't jumped, we could have tied, and who knows what Chris must have done if it was a tie." DJ was honest since he felt almost guilty for he couldn't have helped the whole team out. "And I still wish to learn more about the story of the coward dog you were telling me this morning."
Courtney, who was in the cart in the front, actually decided to listen too, since she was also a few fractions of a second away from giving up on the challenge, but she got interested in hearing both boys talking about what would possibly be a fantasy story created by someone, and yet it got her curious. And that curiosity caused the accident that led to their victory over the show.
"Oh, you mean Courage? Sure, I have tons of stories of his legend. If you want, I can share some with you before you go to sleep." Ezekiel smiled, but then he saw the frown on the big jamaican and nearby him, the group of boys started snickering from the way he told. And that made Ezekiel look confused toward them. "What's wrong?"
"You made it sound like a bedtime story." DJ asked as he pouted at him, which made Ezekiel stop his track. "I'm not 8 years old."
"Yeah, want some warm milk before sleeping with that bedtime story?" Duncan made fun of it, which made Ezekiel roll his eyes as Geoff, Harold, and Tyler were snickering.
"Dude, Courage stories can be scary, but they usually end happily. Ezekiel explained, which made Duncan raise his eyebrow, and Courtney looked behind her in surprise. DJ looked at Ezekiel horrified from the revelation but also relieved. "Trust me, DJ, you can learn valuable lessons with those stories."
"Oh yeah? Then give me one example of a horror story, then." Duncan made a challenge, and the entire group of teenagers looked at the homeschooled boy waiting for his answer.
"Okay…" Ezekiel accepted the challenge and thought of dozens of episodes, and which one of them would have been unforgettable from how traumatic and yet interesting the plot was ever done. Then he coughed in his hand and turned to the delinquent, who had nothing more than a dead-eyed face and a deep voice, which surprised everyone. "Retuuuurn the slaaab."
Duncan felt shivers on his back from the way he said it. The entire group remained silent, focusing on the homeschooled boy. And Ezekiel decides to give a little hint as to where the story will lead.
"It seems that I caught your attention. I may not have much time to explain until maybe a campfire, but I can give you guys the story of… Courage the Cowardly Dog against King's Ramses Curse." Ezekiel's smile made DJ gulp, knowing that if he didn't listen to the end of the story, he would have a nightmare. "In a farm, in the middle of Nowhere. There is a family of three. Muriel is the kindest old lady in the entire world. Her husband: a grumpy, greedy, and envious bald man with a hat named Eustace. And a little dog with Pink fur named Courage"…
And then the story has begun…
Heather passed a few minutes before returning in the direction she came; while she was in a hurry, she accidentally bumped into one of her teammates, a skinny bookworm who was still forcing himself to carry a heavy crate.
The force of her bump was enough to make each of them fall over on the floor. And at the time Heather got up, she looked furious.
"Watch where you are going, stupid." Heather snarked.
"For your information, I was going ahead; it was you who bumped behind me. You should give yourself an eye check." Noah rolled his eyes, not noticing something being pushed inside of his T-shirt.
"Whatever, you have been a smartass for your own good far too many times. You better watch out, book boy," Heather scoffed before glaring towards him with animosity, which leaves the sarcastic boy scoffing at her.
"Gee, I'm really scared. Now if you excuse me, I have more important things to do than lowering to your level." Noah rebutted, which made Heather's eyes twitch.
"Oh? Okay then." Heather narrowed her eyes and decided to ignore him and go towards the blonde bombshell. "Lindsay, it seems you are struggling a lot. Do you want me to help you carry your crate?"
"Wow, would you really do that to help me?" Lindsay gasped as she looked surprised to see someone willing to help her carry the heavy box on her hands. "Thank you, thank you. This has been a nightmare for me for so long."
"Don't worry about it." Heather smiled, knowing that her objective was accomplished. "Let's just hurry up and go after the others.
Heather gave a provoking smile towards the book boy, who just shrugged and ignored them both, who quickly went faster by working together.
Leaving someone behind, both Lindsay and Heather worked together quickly to come near the group of Gophers who were still struggling to go in the direction of the camp.
"What took you so long?" Leshawna saw Heather approaching the group, but then she realized that the spoiled girl was actually helping someone with her own crate.
"I went far behind to help Lindsay carry her; what do you think?" Heather spat as she tried to hold the heavy box with the help of the blonde. Lindsay was still experiencing fatigue due to the heavy weight on her. "The bookworm didn't want my help, so he said he would be fine."
"Well, that's actually considerate of you." Gwen asked with her eyebrows raised but frowned when the queen bee scoffed at her.
"Please, I want to win this challenge, and if we lose because two people were far behind and unable to help us to make the hot tub, I would make their lives a true hell." Heather glared at Leshawna and Gwen but decided to continue carrying the box with Lindsay. All her teammates were unaware that she had already placed two pieces around the game, and only those who watched would understand the true scheme she had devised.
"And in the end… inside of the world-renowned museum. Eustace's voice screams could be heard from inside of the slab, as the final part of the curse was saying the constant nagging: WHAT IS YOUR OFFER?" After Ezekiel concluded his speech, the entire group eagerly absorbed the entire story, and Harold was forced to reveal the truth.
"I have to go change my clothes when I get to the cabin." Harold said this, causing some of the campers to look at him with disgust.
"I have too; that shit scared me good, and I have forgotten to go take a leak." Tyler commented, as he was so fascinated and terrified of the story, that made Courtney and Bridgette stay be away from them…
"Err… I also did in my pants." Katie's words caused Sadie to gasp in surprise.
"Yeah, me too." Sadie and Katie smiled at each other, while Courtney thought that her entire team must be filled with several weird people.
"Dude." Duncan whispered. "I have to say it would have been far scarier if there was some gore or more scares. But that was indeed impressive and hardcore."
"I don't know what to say." DJ commented he was trembling in his place but holding his fist tight. He was with mixed feelings. He was terrified of the story; he was happy that in the end Courage saved his whole family, many times… And he kind of felt cathartic since Eustace was a jerk and deserved the end he got.
"Yeah, and I have dozens of stories like that. Some are sad, some are scary, and some are beautiful with good messages. Ezekiel was proud to tell one classic story of one of his favorite shows of all time… He still feels the pain of being inside a world where nobody ever heard about it or in a place where Cartoon Network never existed.
They finally arrived at their destination after more than five minutes of wandering around.
"Well, we are finally here." Ezekiel said as the entire group of campers reached the middle of the camp. And at the comfortable pace they walked by using the carts, it was clearly a good advantage to have more time to open the crates and develop a strategy to construct the new hot tub.
"Well, I don't see the other team nearby; how long do you think it will take for them to reach us?" Bridgette asked, making Courtney leave the cart and walk towards to take off the crates from the cart.
"Depending on the speed we were walking and with the possibility of them giving pauses to rest themselves before continuing to carry their crates? My guess would be 1 hour or 2." Courtney decided to take a wild guess as she helped the blonde surfer to carry their crates and leave them on the floor.
Harold tried to lift his crate, but it was so heavy that he couldn't even lift a single centimeter from the cart. Tyler, who was on the other side, not seeing his teammate on the other side of the crate, raised it with such speed and force that it hit Harold's chin, making his head raise from the impact and his body fall from the cart, groaning in pain. Tyler looked around to see if he heard something, but then he just shrugged and launched one of the crates on the floor, not seeing that it was Harold's body that got smashed by the weight of the crate.
Geoff and Duncan snickered and ignored the poor nerd struggling to get out of the biggest wooden box above him.
It didn't take long for the whole Killer Bass team to let all the crates on the floor. Which was in the right timing since Chris was smiling at them with his iconic smirk and sadism.
"Welcome to the camp Killer Bass, now that your whole team is here, I guess it's time for you to open your crates." Chris decided to explain the next part of the challenge, making the whole group shrug and place their hands over the crates. "Ah ah ah ah. You are not going to open your crates with your hands."
"Then, genius, if we aren't opening the crates with our hands, how do you think we should do it?" Duncan scoffed, like he found it so absurd Chris was making them not open their crates.
Chris smiled, and that smile was something that made the entire Killer Bass team uneasy.
Confessional - Duncan
"I remember the guard of the juvenile telling me that one day I would regret asking how I should do things... Mark, sorry for breaking your nose. You were right all along. (beep) dammit.
After what would be 10 minutes of pure strength toward their teeth, Chris smiled toward the camera.
"You must use your mouths to open your crates." Chris made an announcement to the entire Killer Bass team, encouraging them to use their mouths to open every single crate they had. Chris looked towards the camera and whispered to it with a wink. "I created this rule."
Every single crate was like torture for each camper, who used all their strength until every single one of them got opened.
"Ugh, I can feel the taste of wood in my mouth." Sadie made this comment while her best friend's and another mother's sister gasped in surprise.
"Oh, me too, that's an awful taste." Katie also complained, which made the whole group roll their eyes towards the duo.
"Yeah, yeah, we know; every single one of us got a taste of wood in the mouth. That's why all of us used our mouths to open the crates." Duncan expressed frustration but then proceeded to examine the crate he was holding. "Huh, nice. Hey dudes, check this stuff out."
Duncan showed the tools as he pulled out the hammer and the pool liner. As Ezekiel opened his, he showed a piece of paper and the motor and water filter. He then looked closely until his eyes went wide open.
"JACKPOT." Ezekiel shouted as he raised the piece of paper. "I got the instructions manual."
"Nice." The whole team smiled, now knowing that they wouldn't need to use their minds to build the whole hot tub, and having the manual in their hands, the challenge would become far easier to deal with at that moment.
"Great, let me have this so we can start building it." Courtney smiled as she already offered her hand to Ezekiel, who already gave the papers to her.
"Woah, woah, woah, calm down, princess." Duncan uttered these words as he approached the pair, explaining his unconventional situation. By giving the tan girl a nickname, he successfully irritated her. "Who died and decided to put you in charge?"
"What did you just call me?" Courtney glared at the delinquent, showing that she wasn't going to step down from her rebellious attitude toward her.
"You heard me right, princess." Duncan smirked, knowing that he had found a way to provoke the girl, who was bossy toward the whole group.
"For your information. I'm the only one with C.I.T. camping experience here. I'm the best possibility to take the leadership and help with this challenge." Courtney confronted the delinquent, ready to argue, but they just raised their voices.
"What is C.I.T.?" A single voice asked, which made the duo stare on their side and see the winter hat boy looking at them confused.
"You're kidding, right?" Duncan asked until he remembered the morning from what he was told in the boys' cabin. "Oh, right, you really don't know."
"What do you mean he doesn't know? Is he truly unaware of this? Courtney said in disbelief, but what shocked her most was the fact that the person in front of her tilted his head.
"In reality, I received my education at home on a farm." The sound of innocence coming from Ezekiel was indeed enough to make the prideful C.I.T. in training shut her mouth and taste it, like she just managed to eat her whole foot. "I hope I haven't asked something that offends you. But initials usually make me confused, and I don't know what C.I.T means..."
Duncan smirked; seeing the girl who was bossy finally shutting up was a beneficial way to control everything, but then he realized that the whole team was nearby watching that scene.
"Is he telling the truth?" Eva inquired. Eva asked, surprised to see the shrimp camper who asked her for help didn't seem to have any kind of interaction in a school.
"Yeah, from what he told us, he lived on a farm until now, and this show was the first time he had the opportunity to see outside." DJ nodded his head as he placed a suitable amount of wood on the floor. "We were shocked because he was the most excited to be here."
"Yeah, he got so impressed by my incredible skills." Harold said proudly, but then he remembered a bit of the pain over his crotch. "Well, I still need to train a bit more, though."
"But how would that work? He doesn't have someone like Katie to talk to him?" Sadie asked, already showing her fear of not being able to have her best friend on her side. This was a terrifying experience for Sadie.
"I would die if I didn't have Sadie on my side. How could he live that way?" Katie agreed with her bestie, which made Tyler facepalm. However, she managed to bring more materials and supplies for the hot tub.
"Guys." Geoff called the group around. "While I agree, we may find Ezekiel's homeschooling shocking. We have to focus on the challenge."
"That's right," Courtney affirmed, nodding to the home-schooled boy. "C.I.T." specifically stands for "counselor-in-training."
"Definitely 'in-training,'" Duncan scoffed to the side.
Eyes narrowing, Courtney was about to rebuke the delinquent when Ezekiel snapped his fingers. "Ohhh, you mean that's like camp counselors from the movies?"
Courtney smiled as she turned to Ezekiel. "That's right. Counselors help the campers out with any problems they have or if they need help."
She cast a side-eye at Duncan. "At least with the people who admit they need help."
Duncan tsked. "Then you definitely need more training if you think ordering people around makes you a counselor."
Courtney's jaw tightened, hands clenching into fists. Duncan simply rolled his eyes, amused at her anger. Ezekiel cringed at the animosity between the two but still put himself between them.
"Let's put this issue on the back burner for now, okay? If we fight the situation out now, we'll only make it easier for the Gophers."
Courtney's and Duncan's gazes met, and though neither wanted to back down, Ezekiel's logic was sound. The homeschooled teen sighed with relief and turned to the rest of the Bass.
"So, what do you think we should do then?" Sadie spoke up, directing her question to Ezekiel.
Surprised by the address, his mind began to race. Eyes flickering over the resources in front of them, a plan formed just as fast.
"Let's split into teams of two to work on each part of the hot tub. For example, I and DJ can hold the wood, you and Katie can bring water buckets, and maybe Bridget and Courtney could use the tools to fix the hot tub into place?"
The group thought it over.
"I'll take care of holding the wood in place," Eva declared. "Your arms wouldn't be able to take the strain."
"I'm pretty strong myself, too! And we're going to need muscle for this job!" Tyler declared, quickly sharing a bro-fist with Geoff.
"And that leaves me with the buckets and the twins. Could be worse." Duncan turned to the brunette, deep in thought. "Well, Counselor?"
"This… this is actually a very reasonable plan! Everyone is where their skill sets would suit them best and work with others!" Courtney's expression was open with surprise, but also relief that she hadn't been alone in planning this. She also didn't notice Duncan getting a peek at her expression with interest.
Ezekiel nodded with a thumbs up. "Then let's get to work!"
"So what about the rest of the campers?" Katie decided to ask since the good part of the group would already be doing their parts of doing the hot tub.
"Me, Harold, and DJ will organize and sort the materials. This approach eliminates the need for us to randomly gather materials from the crates. And like a sturdy jigsaw, we could place piece by piece until it's perfectly built." Ezekiel made this suggestion as he observed the guys in blue and green shirts approaching him.
"I like this idea. Furthermore, I can bring many with me since my size will help me carry more material." DJ smiled as he already went toward the wood and the other crates and started bringing the objects.
"I'm fine with that." Harold nodded his head, since it wouldn't need to be needing to make much effort, but doing an excellent work together with the others will accelerate the process perfectly.
"Perfect, now that everyone knows their positions, focus on our skills; this way we could end the challenge with an excellent pace." Courtney never felt so relieved, seeing that the whole team's organizing by itself was indeed a great way to start the challenge.
"ALRIGHT KILLER BASS, LET'S GO." Geoff was already excited, and with a clap of hands, the entire crew walked towards their stations and prepared the work.
"Finally we got here." Gwen said after reaching the camp with her teammates just to see what would be the killer Bass team already with a half hot tub done. "Oh, you have to be kidding me."
"They are already half done with the hot tub." Beth asked in worry since she saw the entire crew of Killer Bass working together in groups of duos, which the Screaming Gophers noticed that the entire team was using their flow of work.
"Oh, look at that. Finally, the Screaming Gophers arrived at the challenge. And with the other team halfway done." Chris smirked, which made most of the other team irked in anger.
"We know." The entire crew of screaming Gophers commented, which made Chris smile even wider.
"Well, in the same way I explained to the killer bass team, you guys must open the crates with nothing else than your mouths." Chris got the satisfaction of seeing the anger and disbelief towards all the participants who came with their crates with nothing else than exhaustion and impatience.
"I didn't come here to carry all this weight just to then use my mouth to open this stupid crate." Heather rolled her eyes as both the goth girl and the big black woman stared at her unimpressed.
"That's that you didn't even lift a finger to carry your crate. You let someone else take the crate for you." Gwen commented as she scoffed, knowing how terrible of a teammate Heather will be.
"Oh, hello? I went far behind to help Lindsay to carry her crate." Heather then made a point that Lindsay was still feeling sore from carrying all that weight. Heather hated to be sweaty from all the walks just for the point of just opening the crates with her mouth.
Before the group would even start to get into a fight. They then heard chris coughing with his fist, which made everyone stare at him.
"Well, if you are not going to open the crates, then know that you are wasting your time, since the other team looks halfway done and there are just a few hours before the night and the challenge is concluded." Chris remained professional, not actually caring about the feelings of the other campers since he usually liked the drama, but he wanted to make the others start the challenge as soon as possible because that way the show would have to go on. "So you better hurry."
"Well, guys, we have to start from somewhere." Trent decided to act positive, and like Cody, Owen, and Izzy, they decided to try to open the crates without complaining.
"If you guys want, you can use ropes to knot around the lid and then use your strength on your teeth to open the crate by pulling the rope." Izzy gave an idea as she tried to do the same. But would that be enough for them to accomplish in time?
"So that's how I managed to participate in the Kung Fu summer camp." Harold said as he managed to place another bunch of nails to DJ, who was staring at him with wide eyes open.
"Dude, you went to 12 summer camps?" DJ asked in total disbelief, while Ezekiel stared at him with the utmost surprise.
"Yep, I learned a lot every single year. Therefore, I am confident in my ability to demonstrate a wide range of skills here. Harold proudly puffed his chest.
"Well, a true meaning of jack of all trades." Ezekiel said, which made the brown-haired nerd smile proudly. "But you know that jack of all trades is also the master of none."
And just like that, his ego deflated.
"That wasn't actually bad, Harold." Ezekiel said this as he wanted to prove a point. "Jack of all trades is a wonderful wildcard. Nobody knows what you can do next. And the fact that no people know would be your best advantage."
"What do you mean by that?" Harold asked curiously, while he still was upset about people saying he wasn't the master of his skills; being called a wildcard somehow still stroked his ego.
DJ nodded his head and decided to explain.
"Having skills that the other team doesn't know means you can always surprise them, so it's best not to brag about them, as that warns them of their impending defeat." DJ chose his words carefully but also confirmed with the homeschooled boy, who nodded his head.
"Yeah, in the movies, guys who always brag about themselves always have the biggest targets on their backs. So being a wildcard is wonderful because people don't know what you are going to do next. The next time you catch them by surprise, they won't be able to defend." Ezekiel made this point because he remembered that people generally dislike boasters. But they always love someone who surprises them with unpredictable skills. "Being a wildcard is awesome, but you must know how and when to use the skills."
"Well, I can understand that." Harold nodded his head as the trio carried more material for Eva, who, with all her strength, remained in position, and Tyler, even as he was physically adaptable, was still having some struggles with his clumsy hands, but the fear of seeing Eva's angry eyes made him remain on his spot, rock solid.
"Do you need some water, guys? I can try to bring something for you guys to drink." Ezekiel inquired as he observed Tyler, who was perspiring profusely, and Eva, who remained composed yet focused.
Eva blinked her eyes, and with a nod, she decided to accept the help.
"I accept it." Eva was using all her strength to remain in the same position for what would be like an hour, and even replacing every single piece of wood to be sure to be stable was very difficult, and a good water would be appreciated at that moment.
"Can you bring me some too, dude?" Tyler asked which, and the homeschooled boy gave a thumbs up and proceeded to tell DJ and Harold that he would be leaving.
By having Courtney and Bridgette use the tools, each step of the hot tub was firmly constructed. Courtney smiled as she saw that everyone was working together for one simple objective. The objective was to win the first challenge.
"Courtney, let's prepare the stairs." Bridgette called the tan girl, and the C.I.T. turned her head and saw Eva and Tyler already stretching themselves after a long time holding the wood. Seeing the hot tub looked solid, Sadie, Katie, and Duncan started to bring the water by turns, which would help each of them to quickly place the water inside.
Harold and DJ both assisted Geoff, who was reading the instructions, in placing the motor inside the hot tub and ensuring it remained properly positioned to initiate the hot tub's operation.
"Alright. Team." Courtney clapped her hands as she saw Ezekiel coming with what would be bottles of water to help the team to refresh themselves. Taking one and offering a gratitude smile, she looked at the entire team. "It looks perfect. We did it."
Each Killer Bass team enjoyed seeing the results of their teamwork with a bottle of water in their hands. They found it a refreshing way to rejuvenate themselves after a demanding challenge. Duncan and DJ gave high fives, while Katie and Sadie hugged themselves in victory on their hands.
Ezekiel, being the last one with the water bottle, gave a gulp as he cleaned up his sweat. That day was indeed exhausting in many ways. But now, he came to a conclusion.
"Because of one accident… It led us to victory." Ezekiel whispered to himself, knowing that he would be the one to change the canon, but who would leave the show first? He wouldn't dream of being on fire, like the actual canonical version of him did by being sexist and too naïve.
The Gophers, who were tired of pushing and carrying crates, were on the other side of the camp. The group still worked together until they managed to make the whole hot tub into an excellent place and time.
"Okay, it seems all the structure is halfway done. Now we just need to finish it and fill it with the water, and then place the motor to make it perfect." Trent smiled as he saw every single one of the 10 members of the Screaming Gophers working together as one to try to win the challenge. Wait a second… weren't they supposed to be 11? "Err… guys? Has anyone seen Noah?"
"Oh, you mean Noir? I saw him scratching himself a lot behind us. I think he is still scratching himself." Lindsay blinked her eyes and placed her finger on her lips, trying to remember the details, and from the expression of everyone in the camp looking at her strangely, she couldn't help but ask. "What?"
"Great, now we have to go back; if he was still in the back, he must still have one crate with him. Why didn't you guys find out about it sooner?" Heather asked angrily as she was placing blame on Owen and Trent, who were doing their best to avoid gazes with her.
"It seems that you are taking on a bit of a problem. WOAHHH, what happened to your eye?" Chris was happily approaching the Gophers until he found a deformation in one of the eyes of the handsome Justin, who seemed still afflicted with his self-image being damaged like that.
"Please, don't look at me; I'm a monster." Justin looked away, trying to look away from the camera.
"A fly bit Justin on his eye. He still needs to take care of it." Trent commented, which made Chris nod his head towards him.
"Geee, I turned my back for a few hours, and this is what happens…that's AWESOME." Chris smiled widely as he saw the clothes the camera was giving towards the eye candy dismantle himself. "Anyway, I have to say that your hot tub is looking fine, but now that the Basses managed to finish theirs first, you have 20 minutes to finish yours or they win the challenge today."
Chris smiled as he heard the groans of the Gophers, who seemed annoyed that their time was running out. And with that he moved his ATV in the direction of the beach, trying to find the last camper and why it took him so long.
"Great. Now we better finish this before Chris comes back to end the challenge." Gwen pointed out that the boys had decided to team up to pursue the skinny bookworm, who was still quite far behind. And the hours were getting shorter and shorter.
Currently the group of boys ran in the direction towards where the last camper was; they found something perplexing: the crate unmoved and Chris Maclaine on the floor laughing with his back on the sand. At the moment the group turned around to see in the water, there was a person who was taking a bath in the water. And surprisingly, the same boy seemed to be with his entire body scratched with insufferable pain and itchy torture.
"What's going on?" Cody approached the boy, who was clearly annoyed by what had happened, and asked, "What's going on?"
"I tell you what happened. Toxicodendron Radicans is what happened." The skinny boy replied as he came outside of the water, while his entire body was red from all the scratches he gave to himself, and any kind of movement would be like torture for him to move.
"Err… what?" Owen commented, which made the nerd boy roll his eyes.
"Poison Ivy." Noah angrily stated, as he, even with all his pain, couldn't help but still scratch.
The boys gaped at Noah, not able to know what to do in that moment, but Chris was still laughing and having a great time.
"Hehehe, I can't believe that happened. Well, gophers, you better hurry up, or you all are going to lose the challenge and have to send someone home." Chris smirked as he could see the annoying look of the bookworm Noah.
"Dude, I think you should try to check it out later." Trent tried to make sure Noah would need some kind of help, but the annoying face from the bookworm seems to indicate that the guy in front of him knew about that.
"I know, I specifically gave a note about my potential allergies, which can be fatal for me, but it seems nothing will change… Let's just go and end this challenge." Noah knew that something was up; currently, he found his back was itching, but then when he found a poison ivy leaf left on his t-shirt, he knew someone played him. He simply lowered his defenses.
"So what do you think is going to happen now?" Dj asked after passing a delightful time watching the whole group of Gophers working together as they tried to finish the hot tub as quickly as possible. Still failing to correct some little details from placing the wood into the wrong place and, at the same time, fulfilling the inside of the said hot tub.
"I don't know." Duncan shrugged as he himself cleaned his own sweat from all the work the Killer Bass did in their own time.
"We did the best we could, everyone." Courtney, seeing that their hot tub was actually perfect, couldn't help but feel nervous and anxious, but she tried to remain confident and show the whole team of Basses that they did their best. "Everyone did their parts correctly, and while I believe there is a slight chance of them winning. We did a calculated risk."
Harold sat on the stairs while he gave himself into his tiredness and sleeplessness. Ezekiel remained on his own spot, and while there is a high chance of their victory, his nervousness was so extreme that he couldn't help but scratch his hair.
The whole Killer Bass team kept in their positions as they kept watching the Screaming Gophers doing their own work. Even if some of them went far back to recover one of the crates.
Now it was a matter of time; Katie and Sadie watched all the movement of the whole team approaching as the final crate finally reached the camp.
"Quickly, before the time is over?" Trent commented as the whole group of boys used their mouths to try to open the crate. And at the moment the entire group managed to open the crate… One unfortunate guest finally arrived again.
"Alright everyone, it's time to evaluate the hot tubes." Chris smiled as the entire group of gophers stopped, and then noticed there was the most important part of the hot tub wasn't able to be coupled towards the wood… The motor, which can make the water warm.
The look on the Gophers face was enough to make the Killer Bass have some kind of hope towards their victory.
As the moment Chris appeared in the middle between the hot tubs… It was the time…
Firstly he went in the direction of the Gophers' team, and gave a deep inspection… Trent, Beth, and Leshawna were looking anxiously, while Noah was still scratching himself. Heather also had a bit of itchiness in one of her hands, but she wasn't scratching for many obvious reasons.
Chris narrowed his eyes and decided to click his tongue.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, it looks solid. But the water could be warmer." Chris gave an impression of moving his hand from side to side, making the Gophers disappointed with themselves.
Chris turned his back and went in the direction of the Bass and went to check every single detail. Bridgette, Geoff, DJ, Harold, and Courtney gulped their saliva as Chris narrowed his eyes and noticed the bubbles passing with the steam around the hot tub.
"This hot tub looks sensational… It seems we already have a winner." Chris smiled as he looked at both of the teams until he raised his left arm, raising it in the direction of the bass. "The Killer Bass."
The moment Chris said their team name, all the Killer Bass team raised their arms in a joyful cheer. They did it. The Gophers couldn't help but feel disappointed with themselves.
"The Bass, you are safe from the elimination, and you will be able to enjoy this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer, bonus." Chris pointed at the camera while the whole Killer Bass team couldn't help but give hugs and high fives to each other. Then Chris turned his head in disappointment toward the gophers. "Gophers, what can I say? I wouldn't like to be in your place. After this disappointment, I will see you at the campfire this night."
"We did it, guys." Geoff said it as he raised his hand, and every single member of the Bass gave a high five and finally got a bit of air to breathe in relief. "We survived for 3 days."
Duncan and Eva grinned, DJ raised both of his fists in happy victory, and Tyler tried to do a backflip but ended up with his face planted on the ground. Ezekiel smiled in relief; Harold gave a victory pose by doing a karate kid parody. Courtney smiled proudly; Katie and Sadie hugged Brigdette, who seemed to be also happy for their victory.
Heather, looking towards the group, saw that every single one of them seemed bothered for not being able to have the victory. Beth looked sadly at the fact that it was her fault for not being able to win the game and be free from elimination. But even if her hand is itching like hell, Heather still has a plan in motion to make her have a solid position on the Gophers.
(Main Lodge)
The moment the group was back in the main lodge, Chef already prepared a porridge with unknown substances for them, but gladly Bridgette found something she could eat without knowing it was meat or something that looked like meat. Sometimes ignorance was a blessing in disguise.
The side of the bass had the moral high ground since they became the winners of the challenge by a perfect score, while the other side of the lodge, the Gophers, were in silence, staring towards their food.
"Well, who do you think they will vote it off?" Katie asked the Bass, and the only response she received was a shrug from everyone at her table.
"We don't actually know. It can be possibly anyone." Courtney commented as she tried to eat the terrible food Chef did for them.
"Hello? We appreciate that if we decide this by ourselves, we don't want you bosses interfering with our decisions." Heather called out to the group since they were on the other side of the table.
"Pfff… I just wish that this Heather would leave this show as soon as possible." Bridgette was already annoyed by how the other team's nagging was consistently from the queen bee, and every single hour she was grateful for not being on the same team as her.
"Don't even try, Bridgette; on television, usually the villains always find a way to remain in the game until the final three." Ezekiel commented as he forced himself to eat his porridge, a disgusting food, but something he always wanted to taste just to see if it was that terrible; he wasn't disappointed.
"Well, at least I know someone has faith in me. Especially the weirdo." Heather called them from the other side, which made Ezekiel notice something… And he wasn't the only one.
"Okay, guys..." Courtney whispered as she called the entire group. "This is a terrible place to talk just between us with the whole Gophers hearing us… for us to have good strategies for the next challenges, I think it would be best if we just found a place just for us to talk and do our meetings."
Ezekiel nodded his head, but then he noticed a point that he needed to tell.
"I think that's a great idea, but just to make sure the show would approve, we must ask for some interns to actually place a camera in the same place so the watchers can see us talking and having our time over there. If the public can see us talking, then I think Chris would allow us to do that." Ezekiel pointed out, since many reality shows love when teams have leaks over the public, while the groups plan around the game, the viewers always have the perspective of knowing the truth every single day. Because of the cameras.
As the ideas, both made by Courtney and Ezekiel, seemed really appealing, every single member of the group decided to give some ideas for help to find a place that can allow them to make their plans as a team while not being heard by unwanted people.
Like a personal place for the entire group to chill, excluding their cabins since most of the time boys and girls cannot be at the said cabin, so creating somewhere for the Killer Basses would be a start of a big strategy that can probably make a difference in the future. Nobody knows for sure.
As the Killer Basses morale seemed high because of the ideas they were developing, the other side of the main lodge, the Screaming Gophers, seemed to still be tense, with only one girl who seemed annoyed by having to hear the loudly happy team.
"Can you believe this group?" Heather commented, as she rolled her eyes, annoyed by the group who couldn't stop talking about things that weren't their business.
"So who do we vote for anyway?" Beth gulped as she tried to go straight to the point, knowing that she possibly was on the possible way to elimination.
"Well, I would vote for the white chick brat." Leshawna said as she pointed to the queen bee, who narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"And why, pray tell, should I be voted off?" Heather crossed her arms, knowing that she was already seeing a possible target in the future.
"I think currently you should go away; everything will be calmer in our group." Leshawna expressed her anger directly to Heather.
"Well, I can say the same about you." Heather glared back as the duo of angry girls was already ready to jump into each other's throats.
"Guys, I think we should be reasonable about this issue of voting off." Trent tried to placate the fight between the girls, who seemed to cross their arms and huff away from each other.
"I don't understand why this issue. It's obvious that we should vote for the one who couldn't jump over the first phase of the challenge." Noah, as he was still recovering with his entire body being red from all the itchy and scratchy things he did on his entire body, accused the farm girl, who was the primary reason the team must have lost.
Beth wanted to protest and tried to open her mouth, but thankfully, not just one but two teammates managed to raise their heads in the bookworm direction.
"Hey, even if she didn't jump, she managed to help to carry the entire crate quickly to the camp." Cody was the first who defended Beth, knowing that she literally did her best to make up for not jumping. "She helped all that she could."
"I have to agree with the geek." Heather pointed out the farm girl, who seemed relieved to have a backup. "She not only carried my own crate, but she didn't complain about it and managed to do it way faster than what you did, Mr. I got so itchy that I didn't carry my crate at all. We lost the second part of the challenge since your crate had the motor to make the hot tub actually work."
Noah narrowed his eyes; something didn't add up on that accusation, but still he gritted his teeth because of the itchy body he was having at that moment.
"So you are saying this is my entire fault?" Noah asked, which he was starting to get suspicious over, if the queen bee did something to him.
"Well duh, I offered my help to carry the crates, and you just dismissed me. It wasn't my fault since I helped Lindsay carry her crate." Heather scoffed, while she hid one of her hands, which the itchiness was starting to take the best of her, but she gritted her teeth, not wanting the boy in front of her to notice that.
"So just because I was the last, and I didn't receive any help. I should be the first to be voted off?" Noah asked in disbelief as he tried to look around at the entire group of Gophers, who seemed to be unsure of what to do.
"Well, that's obvious." Heather chuckled, mocking the bookworm. "In case future challenges would be more physical, we would prefer a person who actually can carry things on their own.
"And in case of intellectual challenges? I know that I can outsmart any of you in any possible intelligence challenge in the future." Noah rebutted, but then he noticed something he understood, and it was too late. He saw the affronted look from the other campers, while the queen bee seemed to be pleased that her trap finally got him. "Oh crap."
Noah came to understand that he was constantly under duress. And nothing he could say would avoid being voted off on the same day... he just lost.
Night has fallen on Camp Wawanakwa. All the members of The Screaming Gophers were sitting on the stumps at the campfire site with Chris in front of the metal barrel. Many members of the team looked at each other nervously, not knowing what would happen next.
Noah knew that right now he must have fallen into a trap, and Beth gulped her saliva, as she hoped that someone who defended her would have helped her to not get voted off on this day.
"Screaming Gophers." Chris got everyone's attention as he spoke in a serious tone. In Chri's hand was a plate holding 11 marshmallows. "Marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life."
Gwen and Trent looked at each other, unsure of how things would go after seeing that anyone could leave that night.
"You've all cast your votes and made your decision." Chris said while holding up his plate of marshmallows. "There are only ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the dock of shame to catch the boat of losers. That means you're out of the contest, and you can't come back… ever."
Most of the Screaming Gophers tensed up as Chris said that. "The first marshmallow goes to… Owen." Owen smiled and gave a big smile as he walked up to Chris, who pierced a marshmallow onto the party dude's stick.
"YEAH, BABY." Owen cheered as he was pretty pleased to be safe at that time. Chris, enjoying the tension, decided to continue saying the names.
"Trent, Gwen, Cody, and Leshawna." Chris called out the next four, who were all happy, and walked up to Chris with sticks with the host attaching marshmallows to them.
"Justin, Izzy, Lindsay, Heather." Chris called the next four campers, who eagerly went to get their marshmallows.
In an instant, only one marshmallow remained. Two campers remained. Beth and Noah.
"Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening." Chris's statement heightened the tension between Beth and Noah. The farm girl's face started to sweat as her heart was racing like a speed of a car. while the bookworm was indeed worried, especially with this itchiness still taking better hold of him, he couldn't help but to continue scratching himself at that moment. Chris raised his hand, causing both of the remaining campers to drop their sticks as their eyes focused on who the host would point to.
After what would be like an eternity, Chris was enjoying the suspense he was creating until he decided it was enough to mess around with the campers.
"Beth." Beth didn't believed at the moment she was called, but she smiled so widely that she actually jumped from her place and quickly grabbed her stick and went to go get her marshmallow as Noah discovered the reason of why he was leaving, until he saw something…
Heather was scratching her hand, as her hand was starting to become red.
Noah's eyes widened as he discovered all the puzzle pieces.
"You…" Noah said as he narrowed his eyes, earning a smirk from the queen bee while the whole group had no idea of what happened. "You know what? see if I care. Good luck because it seems I was her first victim… well played… Let's see if you can replicate this behavior with everyone from now on.
The whole screaming Gophers looked at each other, trying to understand his words, while Heather smirked and rolled her eyes. She managed to have a loyal pawn, and that was what mattered.
Noah took his things and walked to the dock of shame and stepped into the boat before leaving the place.
"I can't say I was outsmarted, but they just lost the one with brains on the team… But I swear that this is going to have a payback… you just messed with someone who actually thinks Heather… You better hope I don't have a chance to get you back, because if I do… you are going to regret ever messing with me." As the boat carried him away into the unknown, the bookworm pondered in his mind.
Chris, watching Noah leave the island, couldn't help but say to the rest of the team.
"The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows." Chris told the remaining members of the Screaming Gophers as they started to roast their marshmallows over the fire. "You're all safe… for tonight."
(Outside of the camp)
Ezekiel finally got out from his cabin while he was using the usual shorts that he used to jump from the cliff, and now he walked towards the only thing that he never thought he would ever have an opportunity to actually get inside of: a hot tub.
He usually always saw it in the movies or even in the cartoons, and now it was the first time he was actually going to enjoy a hot tub with the other winners of the Killer Bass.
"I wanted to make almost equal like the first episode, with only a tie to make sure that we wouldn't lose badly… But who knew that, by accident, we actually won the whole challenge, and we have our own hot tub?" Ezequiel smiled, as he pondered on how the canon was screwed up because he refused to follow the example of the canon Ezekiel who was voted off by his terrible mistake… It was lucky that Eva managed to launch him, DJ and even Courtney over the cliff… It was a reason for what he should be grateful for.
"Hey Zeke, are you going to get inside of the hot tub too?" Suddenly a voice came nearby him, and it was Geoff who first called him by a nickname like that.
"Yeah, it's actually the first time I ever got inside of a hot tub, so I'm actually nervous and excited." Ezekiel couldn't help it, but he was telling the truth since he never, in both his lives, would ever get inside of a hot tub like that.
"Duuuuude, we need to make you get out more often from your farm." Geoff whistled, now knowing that it was time to show the ways of the party for the smallest boy of the island. "Well, since it's your first time, why don't you take the honors?"
"Really? Are you sure?" Ezekiel looked surprised, but seeing the big smile of the hat party boy, Ezekiel didn't think twice. "Alright."
And from going slowly, the homeschooled boy never thought he would have an experience like that, enjoying for the first time something he always saw on the television… And since the start of his first day… He never thought that he would both love and hate the experience he had today. It was a pure addiction to adrenaline with causes and consequences. One thing was from watching on television and knowing they were cartoons… Another thing was about how they live on the island and know that indeed all of this was real, and you have to survive and play the game until you become the winner.
But still… Ezekiel never felt so alive than that moment… And seeing the teams approaching him to cheer their victory with him… He can say… it was the best day of his life.