Well a lot has happened. The guys had a lot fun and all friendly(didn't last long). While the girls were split between Gwen with Eva and Heather with Lindsay while Courtney was in the middle.
Beth came back and she did some changes to the situation but man Beth is so dumb. Beth basically confirmed Courtney's theory and man that can lead to interesting places. This weirdly could mean that Jason and Heather are safe from Courtney because she wants it to happen but if it takes too long Courtney might make a move for Heather to get the ball rolling. And it wasn't cringey to me and the characters were in character. Other than that most people still think Beth took the diary(except Jason). Which gets her voted off.
Izzy is back and its everything that Chris wanted with her. Do love that Jason thinks She's very kinky(she kinda is if my memory is right). Can see Izzy not wanting to get rid of Jason with him thinking the same. Let's be honest they are gonna encourage each other's doing what they want. Did Heather feel jealous right there(XD)?
Jason won the challenge not surprising and safe from the vote. Jason learned a few things like Heather wants him gone and Justin is in the Heather alliance now. Not to mention confirming his theory on Heather actually taking the diary and that she is very much a schemer. Can easily guess Trent is against him. Jason is probably the person who got the most out of the confessions votes. Now what will Jason get out of Beth trying to call out to him about Heather like will it more confirmly his theories or think there is something more?
For what other people got out of this. Anyone with a brain now knows Justin is in a alliance with Heather and if anyone been paying attention during the game and confession vote they know Lindsay follows Heather. Gwen probably didn't like the implication of Trents theory on if Beth didn't take the diary they wouldn't have a problem(basically saying he didn't do anything wrong) the fact it was a confession doesn't help Trent. For other stuff it all depends on how smart they are and what they saw from it.
Heather's probably the next person that learned more from the confessions. Like Jason's probably just confirms her thinking Jason been going against her. The fun thing can weirdly be seen as a complement because it basically says Heather makes the game more fun with her scheming. Also likes messing with her(XD).
Edit: Also the skull Heather threw. Was that's Duncan's present to Courtney that he has been making for her? If so that could have Duncan very against Heather now. All that effort just for it to be gone and having to start over now because of Heather.
Yeah, alliances/friendships/sympathies/etc are changing rather rapidly now that the teams are dissolved.
Courtney probably won't vote for either Heather or Jason unless something drastic happens, simply because she wants to see how things work out between them - she's emotionally invested in the idea at this point. "Shipper on deck", as it were. And if you thought the scene wasn't cringey and that everyone acted in-character, then maybe I'm just overthinking things. Again. I have a bad habit of that.
Hey, how else would he see her after that display? (XD) From the look of things the two will probably get along great, and so won't want to vote each other of for that reason alone. And Heather may or may not have felt just a hint of jealousy...
Oh, yeah, Jason learned a lot about the... uh... "political" landscape from those confessions. I plan on adding a short scene in the next chapter wherein Jason ponders Beth's calling out to him about Heather.
Everyone pretty much already knew/suspected Lindsay was in Heather's camp, but Justin took most everyone by surprise. And Gwen definitely didn't like Trent's implications of innocence, there... I think I might put in something about that in the next chapter, but it's not 100% certain.
Yup, Heather was a bit weirded out by that one. On the one hand she's probably a bit offended, but at the same time, kinda flattered. It's a weird juxtaposition, really.
Oh, I have it that Duncan's been carving multiple skulls (and likely other things, as well) as a way to pass the time. The one Heather threw was simply his latest one, as it wasn't finished yet. Since Courtney hasn't been voted off here, he hasn't given her one yet, so he was more annoyed by Heather's stunt than anything.
Gwen and izzy and the real swings with the other former gophers a loose alliance with justin and linsay in a dedicated one with heather and trent easily manipulated by her
Though if gwen where more like sky she could manipulate trent like sky did with dave (dislike phrasing it like that since I dont blame sky for the dave situation at all)
Former bass all on friendly terms with courtney and duncan in a dedicated alliance by way of relationship.
from what I remember invincibilityis random in the next challenge if what your suppose to do just happens to be the right key. And I dont think anythings changed that prevent heather from getting the key from the fridge, also no kissing trent scene to get rid if a gwen ally is necessary for her
Tension grows as comrades are turned against one another... Or does it? Most of the contestants are remarkably civil at the moment! That poor bear though, I figuratively shed a tear.
With the confessionals revealing Heather has a alliance going on with with Justin and Lindsay the other players are probably thinking of making their own alliances. Trent is basically in the Heather alliance from just wanting to get rid of Jason(which is pretty obvious but I guess it depends on how smart people are but to Jason it should be pretty obvious). Which means Heather got four votes.
Jason should realize Heather is aiming for him with a good number of people so he'll probably think he needs to make a alliance of his own. Eva, Gwen and Jason get along pretty well so wouldn't surprise me if they formed one. Which gets them three votes.
Courtney and Duncan could form their own little group from liking each other. They could join Jason's group or have a non aggression pact to go against the Heather alliance. Courtney shipping Heather and Jason is in the air so she probably won't vote for them personally but could target people in their alliance's. Duncan is friendly with Jason so can see him leaning towards working with Jason in some fashion.
The two left out is DJ and Izzy. DJ is leaning towards Bass players so could join either Jason's or Duncan's groups. Izzy is leaning towards Jason just from the fun she would have but I can weirdly see Izzy seeing all these alliances forming and thinking she wants to make her own too. Which means she might try to convince DJ to work with her to make the Izzy alliance(probably have a better name though)!! XD
I may or may not have already written up a scene regarding potential alliances in the next chapter... Rest assured, things will get moving on that front
I may or may not have already written up a scene regarding potential alliances in the next chapter... Rest assured, things will get moving on that front
As a man once said "where update" not to be mean or anything obviously. speaking of updating, I gotta go update my own story.... nah. Tomorrow I guess.
As a man once said "where update" not to be mean or anything obviously. speaking of updating, I gotta go update my own story.... nah. Tomorrow I guess.
And here we go. The episode where alliances form to Heather's horror. Pretty much know who I think will form with who but something could happen to throw it off.
There won't be the Gwen and Trent scheme like canon from just Gwen hating Trent now. Now if Heather saw Courtney and Duncan getting together? Heather might do something to break the relationship and a little personal from Courtney's shipping. Can totally see Heather getting back at Courtney.
Now for the challenge. Its basically random on who wins technically. All depends on if you follow canon picks or making it truly random on who gets what. As for who will be voted off? Little up in the air. Trent maybe from Gwen just tired of him with Jason and Eva supporting it from friendship and/or tired of Trent too. Courtney and Duncan could be on the line depending on if she actually does a scheme involving them. Well Justin could go if he is involved in the scheme in someway or Jason just tired of Justin.
And here we go. The episode where alliances form to Heather's horror. Pretty much know who I think will form with who but something could happen to throw it off.
There won't be the Gwen and Trent scheme like canon from just Gwen hating Trent now. Now if Heather saw Courtney and Duncan getting together? Heather might do something to break the relationship and a little personal from Courtney's shipping. Can totally see Heather getting back at Courtney.
Now for the challenge. Its basically random on who wins technically. All depends on if you follow canon picks or making it truly random on who gets what. As for who will be voted off? Little up in the air. Trent maybe from Gwen just tired of him with Jason and Eva supporting it from friendship and/or tired of Trent too. Courtney and Duncan could be on the line depending on if she actually does a scheme involving them. Well Justin could go if he is involved in the scheme in someway or Jason just tired of Justin.
Yeah, this chapter will see alliances form... or at least cooperative efforts.
That is a possibility, both on Heather kinda/sorta wanting to get back at Courtney for her part in her humiliation in the previous chapter, and to break up what she sees as an alliance... assuming she sees it. Remember, Duncan and Courtney's relationship has developed a lot slower this time around due to 1) Courtney not seeing Duncan's softer side like she did in canon and 2) because Duncan never took her raiding for food, the latter due to Jason doing his own raid of the kitchen earlier in the same chapter/episode. As it is, their relationship has kinda stalled a bit, partially due to Courtney putting so much effort into shipping Jason and Heather.
I've decided to go with canon picks for the most part, but randomized who got what among the campers that weren't there in canon. And I can at least say that, from Jason's perspective, the main targets are Trent and Justin.
In related news: Due to last-minute scheduling changes, the next chapter may end up late by a day or two. I will of course try to finish it by Sunday, but I wanted you all to know it might get delayed.
The next chapter is officially delayed. The reason being that I've spent the past couple days helping out relatives with demolition & construction work (sledgehammering concrete and moving big rocks, mostly). The chapter will be released sometime next week.
Now, for the more problematic news: the aforementioned demolition/construction will continue for much if not all of summer, and so will take up much of my spare time, including most of the time I would have otherwise spent writing. As a result, story updates will unfortunately slow to a crawl, and I can no longer hold to updating every other Sunday. I won't be putting the story on hiatus, though. Rather, chapters will turn up when they turn up, whether it takes two weeks, four weeks, six weeks or what-have-you.
Feel free to discuss in the meantime, and I will weigh in every now and then.
Yeah, this chapter will see alliances form... or at least cooperative efforts.
That is a possibility, both on Heather kinda/sorta wanting to get back at Courtney for her part in her humiliation in the previous chapter, and to break up what she sees as an alliance... assuming she sees it. Remember, Duncan and Courtney's relationship has developed a lot slower this time around due to 1) Courtney not seeing Duncan's softer side like she did in canon and 2) because Duncan never took her raiding for food, the latter due to Jason doing his own raid of the kitchen earlier in the same chapter/episode. As it is, their relationship has kinda stalled a bit, partially due to Courtney putting so much effort into shipping Jason and Heather.
I've decided to go with canon picks for the most part, but randomized who got what among the campers that weren't there in canon. And I can at least say that, from Jason's perspective, the main targets are Trent and Justin.
In related news: Due to last-minute scheduling changes, the next chapter may end up late by a day or two. I will of course try to finish it by Sunday, but I wanted you all to know it might get delayed.
Eh can see Heather just wanting to get rid of Courtney from the shipping and her just seemingly working together with Duncan. Even if they aren't in a relationship yet. Heather arrogance and being petty has bitten her in the ass before. Really much depends on what wins out in her head really.
Ah that basically means Heather gets invincibility for the episode. While most others either get something weird, maybe something useful or nothing at all because some of the chests don't open. And yeah Jason doesn't really like Trent or Justin and they are a threat to him from the alliance they have and Trent just not liking Jason.
Well the new people are Jason, Eva, Courtney and Justin. So the four either get a bunny from Bridgette, the stinky and dirty bathroom drains from Geoff(can easily see Courtney or Justin not doing this one), a bear from Owen, or a weird setup with alligators from Leshawna. Either way they all get something interesting.
Eh can see Heather just wanting to get rid of Courtney from the shipping and her just seemingly working together with Duncan. Even if they aren't in a relationship yet. Heather arrogance and being petty has bitten her in the ass before. Really much depends on what wins out in her head really.
Ah that basically means Heather gets invincibility for the episode. While most others either get something weird, maybe something useful or nothing at all because some of the chests don't open. And yeah Jason doesn't really like Trent or Justin and they are a threat to him from the alliance they have and Trent just not liking Jason.
Well the new people are Jason, Eva, Courtney and Justin. So the four either get a bunny from Bridgette, the stinky and dirty bathroom drains from Geoff(can easily see Courtney or Justin not doing this one), a bear from Owen, or a weird setup with alligators from Leshawna. Either way they all get something interesting.
Pretty much. Unless, of course, she gets "distracted"...
Pretty much, again. Technically Lindsay is also a threat to Jason, but due to his previous interactions with her he doesn't view her as much of one outside of her getting a single vote just like everybody else. So in his head the main threats are Heather, Justin and Trent, and he enjoys tormen- er, "competing" with Heather, so that leaves him to prioritize the other two.
Yup. I've decided who gets which clue/challenge, now, though I haven't written up all of the relevant scenes, yet. I ended up having even less time last week than I expected, and what little time I did have I wasn't really in a writing frame of mind, unfortunately... All in all, the chapter's been stuck at about 60% completion for a week and a half, now. I have a fairly good idea of what to put in the remainder scenes, though, so once I have both time and inclination to sit down and write I should be able to finish it fairly quickly.
Pretty much. Unless, of course, she gets "distracted"...
Pretty much, again. Technically Lindsay is also a threat to Jason, but due to his previous interactions with her he doesn't view her as much of one outside of her getting a single vote just like everybody else. So in his head the main threats are Heather, Justin and Trent, and he enjoys tormen- er, "competing" with Heather, so that leaves him to prioritize the other two.
Yup. I've decided who gets which clue/challenge, now, though I haven't written up all of the relevant scenes, yet. I ended up having even less time last week than I expected, and what little time I did have I wasn't really in a writing frame of mind, unfortunately... All in all, the chapter's been stuck at about 60% completion for a week and a half, now. I have a fairly good idea of what to put in the remainder scenes, though, so once I have both time and inclination to sit down and write I should be able to finish it fairly quickly.
Oh yeah she could get "distracted" by something.....*CoughJasonCough*.....
Oh Lindsay is a threat from just having a vote like everyone else. Problem is her big weakness is she isn't smart to the point she can easily be manipulated by anyone that has some brains. Lindsay does have her strengths like her looks, very friendly(even if people think she's annoying from being stupid people don't hate her)and loyal to the person she considers her best friend/friends. Sadly Heather has her claws in Lindsay more than canon I say. So can see why Jason is going for Trent and Justin who are smarter and more skilled than Lindsay but she surprisingly does very good at weird times.
Looking forward to who does what challenges. Yeah real life taking priority. Take your time man. Again looking forward to their suffering. XD
Now, for the more problematic news: the aforementioned demolition/construction will continue for much if not all of summer, and so will take up much of my spare time, including most of the time I would have otherwise spent writing.
Disclaimer: Total Drama belongs to Fresh TV Inc. I’m simply borrowing it to tell some stories.
Author’s Notes: Okay, so this chapter was written in far more sittings over a far longer time period than normal. As a result, it may potentially be a little less coherent than normal in terms of how it flows from one scene to the next. I’ve tried to make things work, of course, but you never know. You have been warned.
Chapter 16: Bootylicious
Chris stood on the dock as he addressed the camera.
“Last time, on Total Drama Island…”
Clips began rolling, showing scenes from the previous episode.
“The teams were dissolved, leaving each and every camper to look out for number one. And just to add a little more drama to the mix, Izzy and Beth returned for more fun!
“The campers remained to suffer all manner of abuse in the No Pain, No Game Challenge!
“In an act of vengeance, Beth stepped up and doomed Heather to the perils of the leech barrel, and, in a deft display of log… uh… jump-kicking, a grizzly got a piranha haircut, winning Jason invincibility.
“Now that the campers are forced to fend for themselves, who will be selfless? Who will be selfish? And who will eat shellfish? Stay tuned for the most thrilling episode yet on Total. Drama. Island!”
It was the day after the last challenge, maybe an hour or so after breakfast.
“Hear ye, hear ye, I hereby call to order this meeting of the People Who Don’t Hate My Guts Club.”
“Snazzy name,” Gwen said dryly, while next to her Courtney giggled.
I shot the Goth girl a look, then smirked. “So, how’s the coffee?”
“I’ll be good,” Gwen said quickly. As she spoke she protectively cradled the steaming cup in her hands.
Coffee was one of the many things my new trailer had been stocked with. I didn’t drink it myself, but there was nothing stopping me from using it to bribe- er, “entertain” guests. Like Gwen, who had been so elated to be presented with coffee that she had spontaneously given me a hug while having tears of joy in her eyes.
Courtney raised her hand. “Aren’t we missing someone?”
I looked around the trailer. Arranged in a semi-circle around me, alternately sitting down or standing up as the space and furniture allowed, were Eva, DJ, Gwen, Courtney, Duncan and Izzy. Oh, and one of the cameramen. All in all, it was far more crowded in the trailer than I would have preferred.
After a moment’s consideration, I said, “I’m not sure Chef could fit through the doorway.”
“That’s not- Never mind.” The Hispanic girl took a sip of her orange juice and looked away.
“… Okay, then,” I said and turned my attention back to the rest of them. “As I was saying, all you in here don’t hate my guts. To the best of my knowledge, anyway,” I said jokingly, giving everyone a quick, suspicious glare. “And so, I figured you’d be the people to have a bit of a discussion with.”
“About what?” Izzy asked. Then she giggled. “Ohhh, is it about me? I can give you all the dirt!”
I chuckled and shook my head. “About Heather.”
There was a muffled “Yes!” from somewhere, but when I looked around I didn’t see anyone in the midst of speaking. Did I imagine that? Well, whatever.
“Specifically, about Heather’s alliance,” I continued. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. “I’m sure you all know about it by now, but she, Lindsay and Justin are apparently in some kind of alliance to help each other advance in the competition.”
“Yeah, the confessional reel kinda made that obvious,” Duncan shot in, to widespread nodding.
I nodded as well. “Right. Now, I already knew about Heather and Lindsay, but Justin being in it too was a bit of a curve ball. That’s three votes right there, and since there’s… eleven of us, that’s a sizable chunk of the vote.”
“So, what, you wanna make some kinda anti-Heather alliance?” Duncan asked, only to instantly receive a glare and an elbow to the ribs courtesy of Courtney. I studied the girl briefly, but she looked away in an oh-so-nonchalant way.
The hell’s that about…? I wondered, while aloud I said, “Sort of, except not really. I’m thinking something less… formal than an actual alliance. Think of it something like a loose coalition, of sorts. Or maybe a non-aggression pact. Now that the teams are dissolved, sooner or later we’re gonna have to go up against each other, no matter who we ally with… so instead of an alliance I’m thinking we just watch each other’s backs as long as we can.”
“So are we voting Heather off or not?” Eva asked. She smiled a predatory smile.
I shook my head. “Not. I’m thinking we vote off Justin.” Looks of surprise and puzzlement followed my statement, and I quickly continued, adding, “There might be more people in Heather’s alliance than we know of, and I’m sure she’ll try to recruit more. Hell, there might even be one or two in here right now, for all I know, though I’m hoping not. I’m thinking we should erode her power base before she has enough people to just vote off whoever she likes.”
“So why not just vote her off right away, instead?” Eva asked impatiently. “If she’s the leader-”
“The devil you know,” I interrupted with a smile. “We know Heather. I know Heather. I know how to distract her and how to counter her. If she’s voted off, somebody else will take over the alliance… probably someone less intelligent, but also less predictable. It’s safer to keep Heather around while getting rid of all her allies.”
“Oh, dude, I never thought of it like that,” DJ commented. He was idly petting Bunny who rested contentedly on his lap. “That’s real clever!”
“Wow, you’ve… really thought about this, haven’t you?” Courtney asked, looking at me with wide eyes. “I didn’t know you could be so… so sneaky.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes you gotta be sneaky.”
“Isn’t this just because you’re envious of how hot Justin is?” Gwen asked. She was smirking playfully over her cup as she looked at me.
I shot the Goth girl a flat look. Then I smiled. “Did you want some more coffee?”
She immediately bowed her head and held up the mostly empty cup towards me. “I’m sorry, please forgive me!”
Upon leaving Jason’s trailer, Izzy looked around and hummed thoughtfully. As she did, the other campers walked past her, headed every which way.
“Psst! Hey!”
Blinking, Izzy looked this way and that before spotting Heather crouched behind the corner of the main lodge. The Asian girl was motioning for her to come closer and, seeing as she had nothing else planned, Izzy obliged. The moment she steered her steps in that direction, Heather ducked behind the corner and out of sight.
“Hey, Heather, what’s happenin’?” Izzy asked once she reached the corner and once more had the girl in her sights, only to find herself roughly yanked behind it.
“Don’t talk so loud!” Heather hissed. She looked this way and that suspiciously before she focused on Izzy. “So what happened in there?”
“Ohhh, we had coffee, and tea, and juice!” Izzy supplied eagerly. “And cookies, too!”
“I didn’t mean the refreshments,” Heather deadpanned. “Why did Jason call you all in there?”
Izzy tilted her head in thought. “Hmm… to talk.”
A triumphant look made its way onto Heather’s face. “I knew it! Did Jason try to get everyone into an alliance to get rid of me? That sneaky, two-faced-”
Izzy shook her head. “Nuh-uh.”
Heather blinked. “What?”
“He didn’t try that at all.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“… Wait, then he didn’t say anything about me at all?”
“Weeeeeell… now that you mention it, Jason did say something…”
“He did? What did he say?”
“He said you were predictable.”
There was a brief pause. Nearby, some birds chirped happily.
“PREDICTABLE?!”
The birds flew off in a panic.
The next day, some time after breakfast, it was time for the next challenge. To that end, Chris had a bit of a surprise planned.
An explosive surprise.
“Oh, man, this is gonna be awesome,” Chris said between giggles as he aimed his recently-acquired cannon… right at Jason’s fancy new trailer. The cannon was a reproduction of a ship cannon from the Age of Sail, and while the cannonballs weren’t explosive in and of themselves, they certainly hit with enough force to utterly wreck something like a trailer. “I can already see the look on his face! … Hey, Chef, what’s with the body bag?”
Chef Hatchet, who was indeed carrying a black body bag folded over one arm, gave the host a flat stare. “You’re about to fire a cannon at the trailer of the guy who made Boney Island his bitch. If he survives, you won’t.”
“Oh, he’s not in the trailer, he’s- Okay, I see your point.”
“So, will I be needing this?”
Chris sighed irritably and petulantly kicked the ground. “No…”
Chef Hatchet nodded and walked away, carrying the body bag. Chris watched him go, then turned his attention back to the cannon and quietly cursed.
“Darn it, what am I gonna fire this at, then…? It was a big part of the budget for this challenge, you know! I can’t just let it go to waste…”
The host thoughtfully looked around. Surely, there had to be something that- Oh.
A smile slowly blossomed on the sadistic man’s face. Oh, that might work…
The past few days had been rather warm, so was it any surprise that I spent a lot of time in the water? Certainly not – it had even become something of a routine for me, to go for my morning walk, return and have breakfast with everyone else, and then go for a swim.
Today, Gwen had decided to accompany me. Not into the water, mind you, but to the shore. While I took a swim, she sat down under a tree near the shore and sketched… something in her sketch pad. It was such a common occurrence that a lot of the time I didn’t even ask her what she was sketching; if she liked the end result, odds were she’d show it to me after, anyway. So I just took it easy swimming back and forth and occasionally floating on my back and looking up at the sky.
Everything was peaceful… until it wasn’t.
There was a loud bang not far off, followed by a whistling noise… and then I found myself flying through the air, violently ejected from the water when it suddenly decided to explode on me. Unprepared as I was, there was precious little I could do to adjust my trajectory, and I somehow ended up slamming into and knocking over Gwen, the pair of us tumbling along the ground before coming to a stop in a tangle of limbs, pencils and loose papers.
It was rather unexpected, all told. I mean, how often does water just explode? Obviously, the bang and the whistling noise I heard before had something to do with it. It sounded kinda like a cannon, come to think of it…
“Jason, what the heck?!” I heard Gwen exclaim in a high-pitched voice from somewhere underneath me.
“Don’t ask me, I didn’t ask to go flying,” I murmured as I pushed myself up on my hands. Opening my eyes, I saw that Gwen’s blushing face was almost right below mine. I blinked, then smiled and gave her an upwards nod, the action causing droplets of water to fall from my hair onto her face. “Yo.”
“Jason… you’re getting me all wet.”
“Heh.”
The Goth girl’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of crimson. “Not like that! Get off me!”
I winked at her. “You sure?”
“Yes!”
“Alright, then,” I said and got up before offering my hand to her. She took it, and I pulled her to her feet. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said while looking down. She groaned and immediately knelt and began gathering up her belongings. On reflex I mirrored the action, but stopped myself when I realized my hands were still wet. After a split-second’s hesitation I settled for gathering up the pencils while leaving the papers and sketchpad to the Goth.
“What were you drawing, anyway?”
“N-nothing!” she answered, her voice going high-pitched again as she pressed the sketchpad to her chest as if to hide it from view.
I quirked an eyebrow at the display, but didn’t question it; clearly, she wasn’t ready to show anyone whatever it was she’d been sketching. No biggie. I stood back up and looked out over the lake, but the lake’s surface had already returned to normal following… whatever that was. I was about to ask Gwen if she’d seen what happened when a familiar, megaphone-amplified voice rang out from the other side of the camp… though for some reason, on this particular day it carried an unusual, if highly distinct, accent.
“Arr, mateys! Meet me at the amphitheater in five minutes and I’ll tell you about today’s challenge!”
“Five desserts says today’s challenge is pirate-themed,” I deadpanned.
“Yeah, as if I’m taking that bet,” Gwen returned with a roll of her eyes. “Let’s just go see what Chris has cooked up for us this time.”
As it turned out, I was right. We – meaning the campers – sat ourselves down before the amphitheater, while upon the stage Chris stood waiting. Once we were all seated, he struck a pose.
“Well, my little scallywags. Have we got an adventure in store for ye!”
Oh, yeah, and he was wearing a pirate costume, complete with a black hat adorned with a white skull-and-crossbones symbol, an eyepatch and what appeared to be a stuffed parrot on his shoulder. It must have been sitting on a mechanism of some sort, because as the host talked there was a metallic creaking noise as the parrot fell forward. He quickly adjusted it.
“What’s under the sheet, Captain Chris?” Duncan asked sarcastically, indicating the large pile of something covered by a white sheet in-between the host and Chef Hatchet. The Chef hadn’t gone quite as all-in with the dressing-up as Chris had, having simply switched out his chef’s hat for a pirate hat identical to Chris’s.
“All in good time, laddie. Who here has a hankerin’ for a good ol’-fashion treasure hunt?”
Next to me, Gwen rolled her eyes and hummed noncommittally. I lightly elbowed her in the side and said, “Oh, come on. It could be fun!”
“Says you,” she murmured, even as she gave a wan smile.
“Now, this treasure hunt’s got a twist, mateys,” Chris continued. “What yer looking for isn’t hidden and it isn’t treasure.”
“If there’s no treasure, then what’s with the eyepatch and the plastic parrot?” Duncan asked.
In response, Chris grabbed said parrot and tossed it off the stage. “Arr, shiver me timbers! Good question, me boy! Yer lookin’ for keys to a treasure chest!”
As he spoke, Chef Hatchet pulled the sheet away to reveal a pile of pirate-y treasure chests underneath.
“Inside each of these chests is a treasure that will pamper you landlubbers and one of these chests will even give you... invincibility! Ha-har! Now, come ’round and pull a clue out of this bucket or you’ll have to walk the plank!”
Chef Hatchet presented a metal bucket filled with what looked like pieces of flotsam. We all got up on the stage and, on Chris’s signal, withdrew a piece each.
“These clues will tell ye where your key be stowed,” Chris explained.
I looked down at my piece. There was a piece of paper tacked to the flotsam, and upon it was drawn an image that looked like… “Crocodiles?”
Chris chuckled and dropped his pirate accent. “I was hoping you’d get that one, dude.” He turned to Heather and said, “Haha, Chef’s fridge. Nice. I hear he brushes it daily for fingerprints ever since Jason’s kitchen raid.”
Heather shot me a flat look, but I merely whistled innocently and looked away.
Chris, meanwhile, turned to Justin. “That there is the septic tank. For the washrooms.”
As Justin stared in abject horror at his clue, Chris turned to address all of us, once more adopting his fake pirate accent. “All you scallywags, go find yer keys and bring them back by six P. M. Eastern Standard Time, to open up your chest and get yer loot! Fair thee well, young scallywags. Now, get to it!”
Heather sighed as she sat in the confessional. “I don’t know who came up with these lame-o challenges, and memo to Chris: Those pirate tights do not exactly flatter your legs. Savvy?”
“Okay, I’m all for a treasure hunt, but why is my clue a bunch of crocodiles? Or alligators, or whatever,” Jason said as he sat in the confessional, holding up his clue for the camera. On it was a crude drawing of what appeared to be a pair of crocodiles sticking their heads out of a hole, their maws open and displaying rows of sharp teeth. “I can’t seriously be the only one feeling concerned, here, can I?”
After Chris’s explanation, I found myself too busy pondering the clue in my hand to really think about where I was going, and ended up following along with Gwen.
When the Goth girl let out a disgusted groan, I looked up. “Something wrong?”
“My key is in that skunk hole,” Gwen said. Following her gesturing hand, I saw what looked like the entrance to a burrow between some bushes. “Skunks totally freak me out.”
“Hey, I haven’t even figured out where my key is, yet” I said, shrugging, “so why don’t I help you out with yours, and then you can help me find mine?”
“But this is practically impossible.”
“Pfft. As if. You just need the right approach…”
If there was one thing I had learned in my time on this island, it was that the animals around here were a lot more receptive to human communication methods than they were in my world… provided they were in the mood to listen, anyhow. With that in mind, I bent over and called out into the burrow.
“Hello? Excuse me? Anyone home?”
There was a rustling noise. After a moment, a skunk emerged from within. It looked this way and that, as if checking for danger, before it focused on me.
“Yeah, hi, sorry to bother you,” I said as the skunk looked up at me with inquisitive eyes. “I was wondering: have you seen a key? It should be about this big and is probably made of metal. I think someone might’ve tossed it into your burrow. Have you seen it?”
The skunk tilted its head and frowned in apparent thought. Then its eyes lit up and it scurried back into the burrow. After a moment or two, it returned, carrying the key in its mouth. It dropped it right outside the burrow and looked up at me with an expectant expression on its furry face.
“Yes, that’s it exactly!” I exclaimed happily. I straightened and then bowed in gratitude. “Thank you very much!”
The skunk let out a pleased noise, then returned to its burrow. I picked up the key and presented it to Gwen.
“Here you go.”
“You are the weirdest guy ever,” she deadpanned. Then she smiled and took the key. “Thank you.”
“That was moderately cool of Jason to help me avoid the skunks. He’s okay,” Gwen said casually in the confessional. Then her expression changed from laid-back to delighted. “Okay, he’s more than okay! He’s so incredible! But don’t tell anyone I said that!”
“Jason is helping Gwen, now? That does it! They’re definitely in an alliance!” Heather exclaimed in the confessional. She scowled and crossed her arms. “I saw it with my own eyes, so there’s no mistaking it. I can’t allow another alliance besides mine, especially if Jason’s in it! Did he figure out Izzy’s in my alliance and intentionally mislead her with that ‘tea party’ of his the other day so she wouldn’t notice? I wouldn’t put it past him, that cunning bastard. And I’m not predictable!”
“Oh, you’re not getting the key out that way,” Chris said, barely containing a snicker as he watched Justin working a plunger inside one of the toilets. They were in the communal bathroom, and the host had followed the youth inside along with one of the cameramen to watch.
Justin straightened and turned to face him. “Then what am I supposed to do?!” he asked, spreading his arms wide in exasperation.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Chris said, smiling. He pulled out a snorkel from behind his back. “We’ve got you covered. Here’s a snorkel. The way inside the septic tank is out back.”
Justin’s face visibly paled. “You… You’re joking, right?”
Chris shook his head. “Nope. You’re gonna have to really, heh heh, plunge into it.”
The statement was followed by complete and utter silence. After several moments, the host spoke again.
“Justin? Hello?”
The handsome youth did not answer. He was staring into nothing, his face frozen in a mask of horror. Chris waved his hand in front of Justin’s face, but there was no reaction.
“Whoa, wait,” the host said, amazed. “Did you seriously just faint standing up? That’s awesome!”
There was another moment of silence before Chris gently poked Justin in the chest. The handsome youth dropped backwards like a felled tree, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Chris snickered.
Eva had gone further inland in search of her key, and finally she found what she was looking for: the entrance to the bear cave where her clue indicated her key was hidden. She stalked inside, head swiveling left and right as she kept her eyes open for signs of danger.
“There you are,” she murmured as she saw the key hanging from around the neck of a bear lying in the middle of the cave. It looked to be asleep. Sneakily – or as sneakily as she could, as stealth was not her forte – the gym girl approached the ursine.
Alas, someone had strategically placed a small twig on the ground, and without seeing it she stepped on it, snapping it in two with an audible snap.
The bear rose up, yawned, and scratched itself. It looked around blearily, its gaze sweeping over and past Eva before suddenly reorienting on her. They stared at one another for several seconds before the bear stood up and growled menacingly.
Not to be outdone, Eva adopted a wide-legged stance, her arms held up and out to the sides, and growled right back.
The bear blinked, taken aback, clearly not having expected the action.
Not one to waste an opportunity, Eva lunged.
The poor bear didn’t stand a chance.
Courtney was faring better than some, but worse than others. While she and Duncan had initially searched the camp together, they soon decided to split up to cover more ground. Courtney, for her part, had wandered into the woods, thinking that the drawing of a bunny on her clue indicated the key was in the possession of – you guessed it – a bunny. And where would a bunny be but in the woods?
… Okay, so she actually checked with DJ’s pet Bunny, first, but he turned out not to have it, so clearly she had to find a different bunny.
After a good while wandering around the woods, Courtney came to a small clearing where she did, indeed, see a small, fluffy bunny sitting next to a key lying in the grass.
“Oh, finally!” the Hispanic girl exclaimed at the sky. Then she cleared her throat and slowly approached the bunny. “Hey, there, little bunny! Who’s a nice-”
The bunny bared its teeth and let out a roar that was far too loud and too deep to have possibly been produced by such a small critter… or so she would have thought right up until that moment.
Then the bunny lunged and Courtney screamed and ran for all she was worth.
It took a while, but eventually we found the location where my key was. There was a particularly wide section of a brook on the island, where two low, wooden towers had been erected on either side and a primitive suspension bridge hung between them. I had never bothered to use the bridge in my wanderings, as it was very old and rickety, and there were plenty of places I could easily jump across. However, in this instance it turned out I didn’t have much choice but to make use of the bridge. Why?
Because my key was lying inside a glass which itself was set on a rock jutting out of the middle of the brook, right beneath the bridge. Normally I would’ve just waded out and grabbed it, but there were two crocodiles in the water, slowly circling the rock. Clearly the idea was for me to climb the bridge, reach down, and grab the key out of the glass while avoiding the crocodiles.
“Be careful, Jason!” Gwen called out from the sidelines as I climbed up the tower on our side of the brook.
“Nothing to worry about,” I said casually, giving her a smile before turning my attention to the bridge. Several of the boards were missing while others hung loose, and the ropes holding it all up didn’t look to be in the best of condition, either. It was kinda iffy if the bridge could hold up my weight without the ropes snapping in twain.
Oh, and the crocodiles were eyeing me intently from the water. As I watched, one of them opened its elongated jaw and licked its teeth, its eyes never leaving me.
I shot the reptiles a flat stare, then stepped out onto the bridge, making sure to divide each foot’s weight between two boards to minimize the risk of one breaking. Step by step, I moved to near the center of the bridge, and the entirely board-free middle section. At that point, I had to put my feet directly on the ropes.
The crocodiles raised their heads and started taking turns snapping at me. Fortunately, they couldn’t leap high enough out of the water to reach me, but there was no doubt in my mind they would reach me easily once I went for the key.
Stupid Chris and his stupid challenges!
I took a deep breath and locked my ankles around the ropes as I let myself fall forward and downward. If I relaxed my hold for even a second, I would drop off completely. As expected, the crocodiles immediately lunged for me.
I backhanded the first crocodile on the side of its face, causing it to fall back into the water, and used the momentum from the impact to swing out of the way of the other’s lunge. I heard its jaws snap shut before it dove back into the water with a splash.
I reached out for the key, but swinging like a pendulum as I was I found my fingertips barely grazing the glass. The glass wobbled alarmingly, but remained standing, and I resolved to wait until I swung closer.
Unfortunately, the crocodiles weren’t content to watch. They lunged at me again, and this time I was able to deliver a straight punch to the underside of one’s jaw. The impact sent me swinging the other way, closer to the glass, and I reached out and narrowly grabbed the key. Letting out a triumphant shout, I pulled back and prepared to get back up on the bridge… only to have my oncoming victory celebration halted as the other crocodile’s jaws snapped shut…
… around the rope someone had attached to the key.
The crocodile fell back into the water, and the momentum threatened to pull me with it, but I managed to retain my hold on both the key and the bridge. Then began the strangest game of tug-o’-war I’d ever been engaged in.
“Let go!” I exclaimed, holding the key with one hand while the other closed around the rope for extra leverage. The crocodile did not heed my command, however, and instead swam backwards as it pulled on the rope. “Drop it, damn you!”
I felt rather concerned that the other crocodile would take the opportunity to bite me – seeing as how I was now basically hanging at something like a rigid 45-degree angle down from the bridge, what with its companion pulling on the rope with all its might – but it didn’t. Instead, it lunged upward, opened up its jaws and…
… bit into the rope, slightly higher up than the first one, and joined in trying to pull me off the bridge.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
When I got out of bed that morning, I had not expected to engage in a tug-o’-war with a pair of crocodiles. Indeed, I freely admit the thought had never so much as crossed my mind on that day or any other. I struggled to keep my various holds as the reptiles pulled harder and harder, the bridge creaking more ominously with every passing second.
“Let go, you fuckers! Loss! Loss, säger jag! Släpp, för i helvete, era jävla små-!”
"Loose! Loose, I say! Let go, for hell's sake, you fucking little-"
And then, as one, they let go of the rope.
It was my second involuntary flight that day.
Sans Justin, who was unconscious in the medical tent, Heather gathered everyone in her alliance – Trent, Lindsay and Izzy – on the Dock of Shame to discuss what she had discovered earlier that day: that Jason was officially in an alliance with Gwen.
“Okay, listen up. We’ve gotta break up Jason and Gwen’s alliance.”
“They have an alliance?!” Trent exclaimed, his eyes wide, his expression going from surprise to hurt to anger. “I knew it, he’s got her wrapped around his little finger! Don’t worry, Gwen, I’ll save you! I swear!”
Internally, Heather rolled her eyes at the boy’s melodramatic declaration. “Right. Anyway, I have a plan. Lindsay, I need you to- What happened to you?”
Lindsay winced at the question. All the bare parts of her skin were covered in angry red welts. “Izzy tried to help. Bees stinging. Terror. Lost keys.”
Almost as if to agree, the rattlesnake that was attached by fang to Izzy’s skull and coiled around her body released its bite and hissed, right before it bit the girl again. Izzy herself paid it no heed, her content smile unwavering.
“Uh… yeah,” Heather said, her eyes flitting from the redhead to the blonde. “Now here’s the plan: First, I need you to-”
At that precise moment, something whooshed past her. Heather barely had time to widen her eyes in surprise before something impacted the water with a loud splash that rained droplets of water down on the dock. She stared as the water bubbled for several seconds before none other than Jason broke the surface with a gasp. The young man quickly swam up and climbed onto the dock.
Heather watched the boy with wide eyes. “What did you-”
“Not a word,” he said curtly and stomped past her, water dripping from his drenched clothes and hair as he clutched a key in one hand. “Not a fucking word.”
Before Heather could say anything else, they were interrupted by Chris’s voice coming from the camp’s PA system.
“Okay, campers, meet me at the campfire in ten! Oh, and bring your keys.”
Heather silently cursed. Her plan to break up Jason and Gwen’s alliance would have to wait.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that,” Izzy said as she began awkwardly hopping toward the camp. “Jason was all whoosh and then splash!” The girl giggled.
“Yeah, he’s really unpredictable,” Lindsay chimed in in agreement. Upon noticing Heather’s glare, she blinked. “What? Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”
Heather didn’t dignify the question with a response.
For once, people gathered at the campfire with plenty of daylight left. As I drew near the people already there, I caught the tail-end of a conversation.
“You ran from a bunny?” Duncan asked, stifling a laugh.
“It was a bad bunny!” Courtney replied defensively next to Gwen, who giggled.
“Oh my gosh, Jason! Are you okay?!” she asked upon noticing me. Then she paused as she looked me over. “Did you land in the lake?”
“Yes,” I said and scowled. I shrugged, spreading droplets of water everywhere.
“Hey guys! Wazzuuup?!” Izzy asked as she hopped up to the group, trailed by Lindsay, Heather and Trent.
Duncan gave the redhead an amused smirk. “Heh, Izzy, you’ve got a snake on your head.”
Indeed, she did have a snake coiled around her body, its head resting on her. Looking back through my recent memories, I actually had noticed it when I climbed onto the dock, but I’d been so annoyed that I hadn’t paid it any heed.
Izzy, for her part, didn’t seem upset at all. “I know, but don’t worry. He’s friendly,” she said, right as the snake bit into her head, to widespread gasping from everyone around. “See? Kisses!”
The redhead’s eyes then rolled into the back of her head right before she fell over with a thud.
“Uhhh, should we get her to the medical tent?” I asked, feeling mildly concerned. The girl clearly had a masochistic streak, but losing consciousness was another matter entirely.
“Yarr!” Chris exclaimed then, and we all turned to see the pirate-outfit-wearring host stand before us with one foot on the pile of booty, which the interns must have brought over from the amphitheater while we were off searching for the keys. “It be time to claim yer treasure! Who’s fortunate enough to bear the precious key, come forth with it!”
And so, while a pair of interns hauled Izzy off to the medical tent, we all – or those of us with keys, anyhow – claimed our hard-earned booty.
“Is this the best you can do?” I heard Duncan ask, clearly unhappy with – I looked over – the snacks he’d pulled out of one of the chests.
“My key won’t open any chests,” Eva complained.
“Oh, yeeeaaah,” Chris said and let out a brief chuckle. “I forgot to mention that some of the keys don’t open up any chests.”
Eva, of course, did not take kindly to this revelation. “Are you kidding me?!”
“Eva, temper,” I said curtly, and the gym girl lowered her fist as Chris hurriedly backed off.
I continued testing chest after chest with my key while around me people kept doing the same. I watched with half an eye as Gwen opened up a chest and pulled out a toaster, while next to her Heather rummaged through another chest before pulling out a gift basket with a card attached to it.
“Oh, and look, an invincibility pass!” the Asian girl exclaimed happily after detaching the card. “Lucky me.”
I tsked in irritation as I tried another chest. This time, there was an audible click when I turned the key. Score!
I opened the chest and pulled out…
“The hell?”
… a floor lamp, with a foot in the shape of a woman’s leg in fishnet stockings and a high-heeled shoe. I stared at it, feeling more than a little nonplussed.
“I hope everyone got the treasure they were looking for,” Chris said a few minutes later, once we had all finished collecting our booty. “And more. But now, it’s time to do your duty and send one of you off the island for good. So cast your votes.” Then he switched to his pirate accent. “And I’ll see ye buccaneers back at the campfire after sundown! Arr har har!”
“Okay, well… I wasn’t expecting a lamp. Better than nothin’, I suppose. At least it’s got a nice leg!”
Jason shrugged as he sat in the confessional, holding the lamp under one arm as he faced the camera. His face broke into a grin.
“Sooo… My gambit the other day paid off. Justin’s finally gone! Yes!”
The boy fist-pumped the air before turning somber.
“Oh, but that’s just the first step. Next up? Trent. Yarr!”
“Damn him!” Heather cursed loudly in the confessional. She shook her fist at the door before turning her attention to the camera. “Justin got voted off. I don’t know how, but I know it was Jason’s fault! He’s trying to undermine me, I’m sure of it.”
The Asian girl crossed her arms over her chest.
“This makes things more dangerous for me, for sure… but I’ve got a plan to break up that little alliance he’s got going with Gwen. Just you wait, Jason! I’ll show you just how unpredictable I can be!”
The gay moose sat in the confessional, bawling its eyes out and cradling a framed photo of Justin in its forelegs. The photo was even signed!
Clearly, there were some questions in the world that were better left unanswered.
While I'm not really a big fan of Total Drama I have to admit this story is pretty good. The protagonist seems a bit overpowered but it's still a very funny story. For instance that gay moose was just comedy gold.
While I'm not really a big fan of Total Drama I have to admit this story is pretty good. The protagonist seems a bit overpowered but it's still a very funny story. For instance that gay moose was just comedy gold.
Thanks! And yeah, the SI can be a bit OP in some ways... but that's to be expected, seeing as he was a full adult with years of experience and learning (not to mention 30 years of martial arts and street fighting) over the canon characters before ROB turned him into a teenager and tossed him into a world with cartoon physics. A lot of the challenges in Total Drama can't be won through brute force alone, though, and the SI has major weaknesses in some areas, which I'm hoping gets through in the writing. And above all, this story is a comedy.
Well lets start with the alliance. Well not really a alliance but more coalition. Destroy Heathers support base and then start playing against each other. Good idea in theory but we'll see who sticks with it. Jason going with the "you can trust Heather to be dishonest and to scheme" but can't guess what idiots will do. Well hopefully this will help Jason against Heather or to at least soften the blow of Heathers schemes.
What I find most interesting is Izzy being at the meeting but only mentioning what Jason said about Heather but not Jason's plan for Justin. Hmmm is Izzy trying to play both sides and keep weakening them to her benefit? Very much a high risk high reward if true but has the downsides of if she is caught by one or both sides she is gone.
Jason's challenge was good and very funny. Flew a lot during this episode. Hey at least he got a nice lady leg lamp for his trailer now. Really getting points with Gwen. Getting her coffee and helping her with her challenge. Gwen starting to get a crush on Jason?
Now Heather didn't like what Jason said about her. Now she is basically down to four people in her alliance(three if I'm right about Izzy) with Justin gone. I'm guessing Jason was the last person to get his marshmallow? Not really sure if the canon scheme would of worked on Jason and Gwen because they very much don't trust what Heather does. So how would Heather try to stop the Jason and Gwen alliance? Hmmm maybe Heather will try using the Heather/Jason ship Courtney loves against Gwen? Maybe claim that Gwen was being mean to Heather and keeping Jason away from her? Courtney would get Duncan to help so that would be five votes(Trent wouldn't vote for Gwen to make six but Heather could trick him to just vote for Jason).
