Camp Total Drama

After the big success of Ridonculous Race, Chris is back on Pahkitew Island with an all new cast. This season Chris has a plan and that plan is to create a cast that is torn down the middle in terms of popularity. Sure, it's cliché but it just might bring in more viewers. With the help of Chef and two interesting interns, Chris is determined to put RR to shame. The high school atmosphere may seem overwhelming to some of the contestants, but they know it's not really high school. It's a summer camp. A summer camp with a prize of one million dollars!

Characters

Staff

Chris McLean - Host

Chef - Co-Host

Digit - Intern

Brad - Intern

Contestants

Ally - The Darling

Bree - The Flirt

Britney - The Blonde

Casey - The Journalist

Clifford - The Jock

Dominic - The Jokester

Floyd - The Bad Boy

Garret - The Shy Twin

Gavin - The Social Twin

Jared - The Poetic Soul

Jesse - The Boy Next Door

Lyla - The Songwriter

Natalia - The Mean Girl

Peter - The Actor

Quinn - The Handicapped Cynic

Ramona - The Fairy Godmother

Veronica - The Snitch

Violet - The Thug

Wendy - The Clutz

Will - The Cheetah

Chapters

Chapter 1: Our Very First Episode

It was a bright and sunny day on Pahkitew Island. Chris McLean stood on the dock with his co-host Chef and two interns. The interns looked like they were in their twenties. One intern was a boy and the other was a girl.

“Hello viewers!” Chris said while looking at the camera. “It’s me, Chris McLean and I’m here to welcome you to our newest, most dramatic season of Total Drama yet.”

“Don’t you say that about every season?” Chef asked.

“Probably.” Chris answered. “This season we’re back at Pahkitew Island with 20 new campers. Hopefully none of them try to blow the island up this time.”

“Hopefully.” Chef agreed.

“This season the teams are also being made a little different.” Chris said. “The teams have already been predetermined and based on the contestants’ levels of popularity. One team will consist of the tip of the social pyramid and the other will consist of the rock bottom.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little cliche?” The girl asked.

“What does cliche mean?” The boy asked.

“Shut up, Brad.” The girl said.

“You shut up, Digit!” Brad snapped back.

“You’re both lucky the network is only giving me two interns this season.” Chris said. “Or I’d put both of you on shark feeding duty.”

“That’s a duty?” Brad asked.

“I’ll make it a duty.” Chris threatened.

Brad and Digit’s eyes both widened.

“That’s better.” Chris said. “Oh look, here comes our contestants now.”

Chris was looking at a boat that was stopping at a nearby dock on the island. He walked over to the boat, followed by his sidekick and his interns.

“Is that one of the contestants?” Brad asked as a figure emerged from the boat.

“No, Brad. That’s the President.” Digit said sarcastically.

“Really?” Brad asked in awe.

“Can we please put him on shark feeding duty?” Digit asked.

“Not yet.” Chef said.

“That is our first contestant.” Chris said. “Lady and gentlemen, give it up for… Ally!”

Ally’s pink dress and curly hair bounced as she skipped off the boat.

“Hi.” Ally waved. Her smile practically radiated positive energy.

“She doesn’t look like the President.” Brad whispered to Digit. “But she does look real pretty.”

Digit rolled her eyes.

“I’m really excited to be here.” Ally said.

“We’re excited to have you here, Ally.” Chris said.

“Really?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Chris shrugged.

“Wow. That sounded sincere.” Digit said sarcastically.

“I will put you on shark feeding duty.” Chris threatened. “I will do it.”

“Is that another contestant?” Brad asked as another figure exited the boat.

“That is our second contestant… Bree!” Chris said.

Bree stepped off of the boat and scanned her surroundings. She then tightened her ponytail and adjusted the skirt on her blue cheerleading uniform.

“Where are all the others?” Bree asked.

“In the boat you just exited.” Chris said. “Oh, and right here.” He pointed at Ally.

Bree took a good look at Ally. Ally fidgeted uncomfortably under the cheerleader’s gaze.

“So far, so good.” Bree said with a smirk upon finishing her examination.

Ally’s cheeks turned red and she started to giggle as Bree continued walking down the dock.

“And here’s our next contestant…” Chris said as someone else stepped off the boat. “Jesse!”

Jesse walked off the boat with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. There seemed to be a certain calmness to him.

“Hey,” Jesse waved to the two girls.

Bree smiled and waved back, but yawned once Jesse wasn’t looking at her anymore.

Ally, on the other hand, happily greeted the newcomer. “Hello! I’m so sorry, but I think I missed your name.”

“Jesse.” He said with a friendly smile.

“Don’t miss our next contestant…” Chris said. “Lyla!”

Lyla swung a guitar case over her shoulder before walking off the boat. Her gray cardigan blew gently in the breeze.

“Cute sweater.” Bree said.

“Thanks.” Lyla said.

“Technically, it’s a cardigan.” Ally said.

“Cardigan is still a form of sweater.” Bree said.

“That is true.” Ally said. “But…”

“So, you play guitar?” Jesse asked Lyla, as the other two girls continued their debate of various sweaters.

“No.” Lyla slung her guitar case over her other shoulder. “This is just for decoration.”

“It’s a nice decoration.” Jesse said. “You really had me fooled.”

“Thanks.” Lyla gave Jesse a half-smile.

“Here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Britney!”

Britney spun around in circles while exiting the boat, trying to look at the whole island at once. She stopped in front of the contestants and brushed her blonde hair out of her face.

“Now we’re talking.” Bree smirked.

“Is this Paul-kite-chew Island?” Britney asked.

“Never mind.” Bree said.

“Close enough, Britney.” Chris said.

“Wasn’t there already a dumb blonde on this show?” Digit asked.

“She was a fan favorite.” Chris said.

“So, you got another one?” Digit asked.

“If you have a problem with the cast then you can go chill with the sharks.” Brad said.

“Thank you, Brad.” Chris said.

Brad smirked while Digit glared at him.

“Kiss up.” Digit muttered.

“And here’s our next contestant…” Chris said. “Peter!”

Peter stepped off the boat. He wore a t-shirt that read “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

“Shakespeare?” Ally asked, pointing to his shirt.

“Yeah.” Peter said.

“Who’s shaking a spear?” Britney asked.

“This is going to be a long summer.” Lyla muttered while Bree laughed.

“Alright, blondie,” Bree said. “You can’t seriously be that dumb.”

“Who?” Britney asked. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Bree said. “You know what, just stick with me. I’ll make sure you don’t get yourself killed or something.”

“Okay.” Britney said while absentmindedly braiding her hair.

“The cheerleader and the pretty blonde.” Lyla whispered to Jesse. “Surprise, surprise.”

“What do you mean?” Jesse whispered back.

“Well…” Lyla began. “Never mind. You seem smart, you’ll figure it out later.”

“Here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Jared!”

Jared walked off the boat and scanned the other contestants.

“Shakespeare?” Jared asked, pointing at Peter’s shirt.

“Yeah.” Peter said again.

Bree raised an eyebrow. “You read Shakespeare?”

Jared looked down. “No.”

“I’m not trying to be mean, you just don’t look like the type of guy that reads Shakespeare.” Bree said.

“It is a popular play.” Peter said, trying to help.

“I’ve never heard of it.” Britney said.

“It’s not the greatest play Shakespeare wrote.” Ally added.

“It’s not phenomenal, but it’s still good.” Peter said. “There’s a happy ending.”

“The ending was awful.” Jared said.

“Awful, yet happy.” Peter said.

“For someone who claims they don’t read Shakespeare, you seem to know a lot about Shakespeare.” Lyla said.

“No, I don’t.” Jared said.

“Whatever you say.” Lyla shrugged.

“And here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Ramona!”

Ramona smiled as she stepped off the bus. She absentmindedly ran her thumb over a faded tattoo of a fairy on her arm.

“Wow, you’re cute.” Bree gushed. She quickly shook her head. “I mean that’s a cute tattoo.”

“Thanks.” Ramona said. “My little sister gave it to me before I left for good luck. Of course, it’s only temporary.”

“That’s sweet.” Bree blushed.

“Update,” Lyla whispered to Jesse. “I may have been wrong about the cheerleader and the blonde.”

“Update,” Jesse whispered back. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You will.” Lyla said.

“Here’s our next contestants…” Chris said. “Garret and Gavin!”

“Wow, we’re doubling up on introductions already?” Digit asked sarcastically.

“They’re twins.” Chris said.

“That’s original.” Digit said sarcastically.

“Are you trying to be put on shark feeding duty?” Brad asked.

“Why do you care?” Digit asked.

Someone cleared their throat. Chris and the interns turned around and saw the twins. They looked the same but dressed very differently.

“Sorry, are we interrupting something?” Gavin, the one who had cleared his throat, asked. Garret stood behind Gavin and scanned the group of contestants nervously.

“Not much, just your own introduction.” Digit said.

“And now someone else’s.” Chris said. “Here’s our next contestant… Will!”

“Seriously?” Gavin asked.

“I’m okay with it.” Garret said. He was still hiding behind his brother.

Will ran off the boat and skidded to a stop on the dock.

Gavin looked at Will and raised an eyebrow. “I think I’m okay with it too.” He whispered to Garret.

“Calm down, it’s the first day.” Garret whispered back.

Will didn’t notice the two of them as he scanned the other contestants.

“Why are you in such a rush?” Jared asked.

“No reason, I just like running.” Will said. “Is this everyone?”

“You wish.”

Will turned and saw a girl standing next to him. She put her arm on his shoulder.

“Who are you?” Will asked.

“That is our next contestant…” Chris said. “Natalia!”

There was a glimmer of mischief in Natalia’s emerald green eyes. Will happened to be staring directly at them.

“I didn’t catch your name.” Natalia said as she raised an eyebrow at Will.

“I didn’t throw it.” Will said before shrugging her arm off his shoulder and walking away.

Natalia smiled to herself as she moved towards some of the other girls.

“His name is Will.” Bree whispered to Natalia.

“I thought it was Wayne.” Britney said.

“Wasn’t that a movie or something?” Ramona asked.

Ramona and Bree gasped and at the same time they shouted “Wayne’s World!”

“Party time! Excellent!” A boy sang as he walked off the boat. “Sorry, was I not supposed to walk out yet? I heard my name.”

“Your name is Wayne?” Ally asked.

“Sometimes I wish it was, but I’m just joking around.” The boy said with a smile.

“This contestant’s name is not Wayne, it’s…” Chris said. “Dominic!”

Dominic moved next to Ally and smiled at her.

“Don’t you think Wayne would sound cooler though?” Dominic asked.

“I think your name is just fine.” Ally said.

“I personally think that name is stupid.” A girl said from the doorway of the boat.

“Wayne or Dominic?” Dominic asked the new arrival.

The girl shrugged. “Both.”

“Ouch.” Dominic muttered.

“Here’s our next contestant…” Chris said. “Veronica!”

Veronica’s face was devoid of emotion as she walked off the boat and onto the dock.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Ally said.

“Oops.” Veronica shrugged.

“You and I are definitely going to be friends.” Natalia said.

“Are you sure about that?” Veronica asked as she walked over to Natalia.

“Very.” Natalia smiled.

“And here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Violet!”

Violet ran off the boat holding a notebook.

“Hey!” A voice from inside the boat shouted. “Give that back!”

“Finders keepers.” Violet smirked.

“You didn’t find it!” The voice shouted. A boy with bright red hair appeared in the doorway. “You stole it from me.”

“Same difference.” Violet said nonchalantly.

“Here’s another contestant…” Chris said. “Casey!”

Casey stomped off the boat and snatched his notebook out of Violet’s hands.

“Whatever.” Violet said before strolling away.

“Of all the things in the world you could take,” Lyla said. “Why take a notebook?”

“Because I can.” Violet shrugged.

“But that’s not very nice.” Ally said.

“Well aren’t you adorable.” Violet said. “You’re gonna learn pretty quickly that my morals are nonexistent.”

“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” Casey said sarcastically.

“I didn’t have to give you your notebook back.” Violet said. “Why are you carrying around a notebook anyway?”

“For your information,” Casey said. “I’m a journalist.”

“Those are still a thing?” Britney asked.

“And here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Wendy!”

Wendy ran to the doorway of the boat when she heard her name…

But tripped and landed face first onto the dock.

Most of the contestants laughed.

“Guys, stop it!” Ally said.

“She’s right.” Natalia said while still laughing. “We’re not being very nice.”

This caused everyone to laugh even more.

“Are you okay?” Jared held a hand out for Wendy.

Wendy looked up and immediately blushed. She took Jared’s hand and stood back up.

“I’m fine.” Wendy said quietly while fixing her glasses. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Jared smiled.

“And here’s our next contestant…” Chris said. “Clifford!”

“Like the dog?” Britney asked excitedly.

“For some odd reason, I feel like they didn’t get Clifford the Big Red Dog to compete on Total Drama.” Natalia said.

“But they could have.” Britney said.

“We didn’t.” Chris said.

Clifford walked off the boat. To Britney’s disappointment, he was a boy, not a dog.

“Hey guys,” Clifford waved. “My name is Clifford.”

“We heard.” Gavin said.

“What a contronym.” Britney whispered.

Garret looked at Britney with a mix of astonishment and fear. He appeared to be the only one who had heard her.

“You didn’t hear anything.” Britney whispered to Garret.

Garret nodded before stepping away from the blonde.

“What sports do you play?” Ramona asked Clifford, referring to the varsity jacket he wore.

“Oh, I play football.” Clifford said.

“That’s original.” Veronica said sarcastically.

“Here comes our next contestant…” Chris said. “Floyd!”

Floyd walked off the boat. He looked like a male love interest that had just walked out of a cliché teen romance novel. Floyd looked around at the other contestants. His eyes stopped on Violet.

“Hello.” Floyd flashed a cocky grin.

Violet yawned. “Try it on someone who’s interested.”

Floyd’s grin vanished. “That hurt.”

“Good.” Violet said.

“And here comes our final contestant…” Chris said as a ramp emerged from the boat, connecting it to the dock.

“How come they get a special ramp?” Dominic asked.

“I’m not sure.” A voice said from inside the boat. “I think I could’ve made the jump.” A girl sitting in a wheelchair appeared in the doorway.

“We don’t entirely doubt that.” Digit said. “But we would’ve had to fill out a lot of paperwork if you didn’t.” She paused and looked at Chris, Chef, and Brad. “And by we, I mean me.”

“Quinn!” Chris said, somehow keeping his voice at a cheerful tone while glaring at Digit.

“That’s fair.” Quinn shrugged before wheeling herself down the ramp.

“Now that everyone is accounted for, it’s time to get this game started.” Chris said. “I hope none of you became too close because now we’re splitting you all up!”

“We were kind of expecting that.” Lyla said.

“Isn’t that the whole point of this show?” Peter asked.

“Anyway,” Chris said, clearly annoyed. “Everyone meet at the mess hall in ten minutes so we can assign teams before your first challenge. If anyone gets lost, just ask our two sub-par interns for help.”

“First day and we’re already sub-par?” Brad asked. “Ouch.”

“I can’t believe this actually surprises you.” Digit shook her head.

“Will you two knock it-” Chris was stopped mid-sentence by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket. “I have to go.” Chris took his phone out of his pocket and began speed walking away. “Mess hall! Ten minutes!”

“That was strange.” Digit said.

“Do you know what’s up, Chef?” Brad asked. There was no response. “Chef?” Brad looked around and saw that Chef had vanished.

“That was stranger.” Digit said.

“Do either one of you actually know what you’re doing?” Violet asked.

“Brad doesn’t, but I do.” Digit said.

“Hey!” Brad protested. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Really?” Digit asked. “Then lead the way to the mess hall.”

“Alright, everyone follow me.” Brad walked off the dock and onto the ground. He looked to his left and then to his right before turning back to the dock. “Which way is it again?”

Digit sighed as she shoved past Brad.

“Alright, everyone follow her.” Brad said, making sure that all of the contestants were following Digit before taking up the rear of the group.

Garret kept his distance from the others as he walked in the back of the cluster.

“So, what brings you here?”

Garret looked down and saw Quinn rolling beside him.

“What?” Garret asked.

“Everyone’s here for a reason.” Quinn said. “Why are you here?”

“My brother.” Garret said.

“Care to elaborate?” Quinn asked.

“He made me sign up with him.” Garret said. “He said that since we were twins we were more likely to get on the show.”

“Hasn’t there already been twins on this show before?” Quinn asked.

“That’s what I said.” Garret said. “But hey, it worked.”

“Fair enough.” Quinn said.

“So why are you here?” Garret asked.

“Not sure.” Quinn said.

“But you said everyone was here for a reason.” Garret said.

“And I’m here for a reason.” Quinn said. “I’m just not sure what it is yet. None of us really do.”

“Oh, so you were talking about fate.” Garret said. “Not why we’re literally here.”

“I guess so.” Quinn said.

“That’s cool.” Garret said. “I guess…”

Meanwhile, Britney and Natalia were walking in the front of the group.

“So, where are you from?” Natalia asked.

“My mom told me not to tell strangers where I live.” Britney said.

“Okay, whatever.” Natalia said. “Have any hobbies?”

“Yeah.” Britney said.

Natalia waited for Britney to elaborate. Britney twirled her hair around her finger absentmindedly and walked ahead of Natalia.

“Nice talking to you, I guess…” Natalia said.

“Look at you, making friends.” Will said sarcastically as he appeared next to Natalia.

“You were walking in the back.” Natalia said. “How did you get up here so fast?”

“I’m fast.” Will said.

“Wow, you’re almost as specific as Britney.” Natalia smirked.

“Huh?” Britney stopped twirling her hair and turned around.

“Nothing, Brit.” Natalia said.

Britney shrugged and continued walking.

“I’m on my school’s track team.” Will said.

“Alright, now we’re getting somewhere.” Natalia said.

“What about you?” Will asked.

“I’m certainly not on my school’s track team, if that’s what you’re asking.” Natalia said.

Will chuckled. “Do you do anything else?”

“I’m my school’s student council president.” Natalia said.

“Really?” Will raised an eyebrow.

“Why so surprised?” Natalia asked as she put her hands on her hips. “Is it because I’m a woman?”

“No, no, not at all.” Will stuttered.

“Good.” Natalia said.

“I just didn’t peg you as the type to be interested in student council.” Will said.

“Those elections are just popularity contestants, which I always win.” Natalia said. “Besides, my fundraisers were amazing.”

“I’m sure they were.” Will smiled.

“If you’re lucky enough to be put on my team,” Natalia said. “I could tell you all about them.”

“I’m already looking forward to it.” Will said as he turned his head.

Will’s eyes met Natalia’s green ones again. She smiled, but there was still a glimmer of trouble in her eyes.

After a brief walk, everyone had reached the mess hall. Brad made his way to the front of the group and joined Digit at the entrance.

“Alright campers, this is the mess hall!” Brad said while excitedly motioning to building behind him.

“I think they figured that out, Brad.” Digit said.

“Anyway,” Brad said while casting a sideways glare at Digit. “This is where you’ll be eating and…” Brad turned to Digit and whispered “What else happens in the mess hall?”

Digit sighed and addressed the contestants herself. “The mess hall is where you’ll be eating, as Brad was surprisingly able to figure out. In the event of some emergency or special circumstances, we may call you to the mess hall for a meeting. To the left of the mess hall you’ll find the bathrooms and the interns’ quarters, which is home to any and all personal files we have of you.”

“And us!” Brad added.

“Yeah, Chris squeezed two beds in there for us in between all the filing cabinets.” Digit said. “Also, to the right of the mess hall you’ll find the confessional. The confessional is an old and smelly porta-potty with a camera taped to the door.”

“You can confess stuff in there!” Brad added.

“That too.” Digit said. “Does anyone have any questions?”

“Where do we sleep?” Veronica asked.

“Funny story actually,” Digit chuckled nervously. “We have no idea.”

The group of campers erupted in protest.

“Everyone please settle down!” Brad shouted. “I’m sure Chris has somewhere nice for you all to sleep.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Digit whispered to Brad.

“I’m not either, but they were all freaking out.” Brad whispered back.

Suddenly the doors to the mess hall swung open, nearly hitting the two interns, and Chris McLean was standing in the doorway.

“Looks like you all made it.” Chris said. “Everyone inside! Now! Quickly!”

“Something about him seems a little off.” Lyla whispered to Jesse.

“Let’s just do what he says for now.” Jesse replied. “It’s the first day, what’s the worst that could happen?”

***

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Lyla said in the confessional. “Now that he said that, literally anything. He’s so earnest, it’s painful.” She paused as a hint of blush appeared on her cheeks. “But I guess it’s kinda cute.”

***

“I’ve seen enough movies to know,” Jesse now sat in the confessional. “That I really shouldn’t have said that. Especially to the super cool and pretty girl I just met.” He stared off for a moment, but his eyes widened and quickly darted back to the camera. “Not that I like her. I mean, we just met and… Oh no, mom warned me about this.”

***

All of the contestants were sitting at tables in the mess halls. Chris stood in the front with his two interns and Chef was close-by behind the counter.

“Alright, campers!” Chris was talking in a rushed tone with a nervous expression on his face. “I’m hoping my interns have briefed you about everything. Now it’s time to give you teams!”

“Where do we sleep?” Veronica asked again.

“We’ll get to that later!” Chris shouted. He took a deep breath and continued. “As I was saying, teams. If I call your name, stand on the left side of the room with Digit.”

Digit, who was holding a green flag, waved from the left side of the room.

“Ally, Casey, Dominic, Garret, Jesse, Lyla, Peter, Quinn, Violet, and Wendy.” Chris said as the ten contestants got up and walked to the left side of the room. “You will hereby be known as… The Confused Freaks!”

“Why?” Violet asked.

“Because you’re the freaks.” Chris said.

“Great.” Quinn rolled her eyes.

***

“Not again…” Ally muttered in the confessional.

***

“Now if I call your name, stand on the right side of the room with Brad.” Chris said as Brad waved his red flag. “Bree, Britney, Clifford, Floyd, Gavin, Jared, Natalia, Ramona, Veronica, and Will. You will now be known as… The Popular Salmon!”

The remaining ten campers walked to the right side of the room. Floyd and Clifford high-fived. Britney and Will both stayed close to Natalia.

***

“It’s pretty clear that a few of them are already following me.” Natalia sat with her legs crossed and her arms folded in the confessional. “The rest will be following me too by the end of today. And anyone who doesn’t? Well…” Natalia paused to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “They won’t be here tomorrow.”

***

“Your first challenge will also be today.” Chris said.

“You told us the first challenge was tomorrow.” Digit said.

“Well, there’s been a change of plans.” Chris said through clenched teeth. “Meet me outside in five.” Chris ignored everyone’s confused faces and walked out of the mess hall.

“What’s his deal, Chef?” Brad asked.

There was no response.

Brad turned around and saw that Chef had once again disappeared.

“First day and I’m already tired of this BS.” Digit said.

“You and me both.” Violet agreed.

“Oh, come on, guys.” Ally stood in front of the Confused Bears. “This is exciting! We’re a team now!”

Ally was met with uncertain and bored expressions from her teammates. A few of the Popular Salmon laughed at her from the other side of the room.

“Ally’s right.” Dominic smiled at Ally. “We’re a team now.” He looked around at his teammates. “Am I right, Garret?”

The shy twin gave a slight nod.

***

“I’m kinda nervous about being on a different team than Gavin.” Garret said in the confessional. “He’s the only reason I even signed up. Besides, I’m not that good at talking to people.”

***

“What about you, Peter?” Dominic asked.

“I mean, I guess it’s cool that we’re a team.” Peter shrugged. “But the other team is making fun of us right now.”

“The other team can go to hell.” Violet said.

“That’s the spirit!” Ally cheered.

“What do you think…” Dominic trailed off when his eyes landed on Wendy. “Girl who fell?”

“It’s Wendy.” Wendy’s cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry.” Dominic said.

“You almost got the team pumped.” Jesse said.

“We still can.” Ally said. “We still have the whole summer to be a team.”

“But we’re not a team.”

The Confused Freaks all turned to look at Quinn.

“A team is more than just a label.” Quinn said. “We have to actually work together. We also don’t have the whole summer to be a team because most of us won’t be here by the end of summer. Haven’t you ever seen one of these shows before?”

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” Casey said sarcastically.

“If I’m being completely honest, I haven’t seen one of these shows before.” Ally said. “But I’m still confident that we can make this work.”

“Whatever.” Quinn rolled her eyes and slumped in her wheelchair.

Meanwhile, the Popular Salmon eyed the other team from their corner.

“This summer is gonna be easier than I thought.” Natalia said. “Those losers clearly don’t know what they’re doing.”

“And we do?” Floyd asked.

“I know what I’m doing.” Natalia put her hands on her hips. “Stick with me, and you will too.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Veronica asked.

“Well, Veronica,” A slight smile crept onto Natalia’s lips. “You really don’t. That’s the fun part.”

“So, you’re suggesting that we blindly follow you all summer,” Gavin said. “And hope that you don’t get rid of us.”

“That doesn’t sound fun.” Clifford said.

“Oh, it isn’t fun for you.” Natalia said. “But it’s fun for me.”

Bree and Veronica both raised an eyebrow.

***

“I’m not sure I’m buying what Natalia’s trying to sell, and I know I’m not the only one.” Bree said as she looked down at her nails. “It’s obvious that she’s just going to use us, but I guess I’ll just keep quiet and go along with it.” She paused and looked up at the camera. “For now.”

***

Jared and Will stood towards the back of the group.

“What do you think about this?” Jared whispered to Will.

“I don’t know.” Will replied. “Maybe letting her lead us won’t be such a bad thing.”

***

“Okay, I know letting Natalia lead us could be a very bad thing.” Will said. “I can almost tell she means no good just by looking at her!” Will paused to calm himself down. “If the rest of the team is alright with Natalia taking over, I guess I am too. It’s not like we have anyone better to lead us.”

***

“Most of you seem hesitant, so I’ll make you a deal.” Natalia said.

“How kind.” Gavin said sarcastically.

Natalia ignored him and continued. “After today’s challenge, you guys can decide who you want to lead this team. It’s most likely going to be me, but you all look like you need the extra persuasion.”

“What if we don’t want you to make yourself queen bee on the first day?” Veronica moved so she was standing face to face with Natalia.

“Then try to vote me off.” Natalia crossed her arms and glared at Veronica. “We’ll see how well that works out for you.”

***

“Who does she think she is?” Veronica had her arms cross and was clearly annoyed in the confessional. “She can’t tell me what to do. No one can.” She uncrossed her arms and then glared at the camera. “Not anymore.”

***

Britney and Ramona stood back in the corner of the room.

“Whose side are you on?” Ramona asked Britney.

“What do you mean?” Britney’s head tilted in confusion.

“Well, it’s clear that either Natalia or Veronica are gonna end up being in charge.” Ramona said. “Which one do you want it to be?”

“Can I be in charge?” Britney asked, eyes wide with hope.

Ramona smiled at the blonde, but then cautiously glanced at her other teammates. “Maybe next time, Brit.”

“Then I guess I’ll pick Natalia.” Britney shrugged.

“How come?” Ramona asked as she eyed Natalia suspiciously.

“Well, Natalia clearly wants to lead us because she feels that she has the needed leadership skills to do so.” Britney said all of this faster than Ramona could even comprehend. “Veronica, on the other hand, seems to be challenging Natalia just for the sake of challenging her. If we were to choose Veronica, we would most certainly become something similar to the likes of the Titanic. However, if we choose Natalia, we just might be able to formulate winning gameplay strategies and come out on top.”

Ramona’s jaw was practically on the floor.

“I mean, I guess either one.” Britney nervously twirled one of her blonde locks around her finger. “I don’t know.”

***

“That was a close one.” Britney said while twiddling her thumbs. “I’ll definitely have to be more careful next time. Luckily, I don’t think Ramona noticed anything peculiar about my behavior.”

***

“What. Was. That.” Ramona sat in the confessional with her mouth still agape.

***

Brad and Digit both left their respective sides of the room and met in the middle.

“Things are looking pretty tense.” Brad said.

“They are?” Digit said. “The Confused Freaks are all about sunshine and friendship.”

“Oh, well, the Popular Salmon are already threatening each other.” Brad said. “No physical injuries yet, though.”

“I guess that’s a plus.” Digit said. “Should we tell them to get outside?”

“I guess so.” Brad said.

“Alright then.” Digit grabbed a bullhorn off of a nearby table. “Hey, Freaks! You too, Populars! Get outside!”

“Is Populars a real word?” Clifford asked.

“Now!” Digit shouted into the bullhorn.

The contestants took the hint and made their way outside.

Chris McLean was waiting on the other side of the mess hall doors. Chef stood close behind at a table with lots of paper on it.

“Well, now that introductions are finally over,” Chris said with a wicked grin on his face. “It’s time to get to the interesting stuff. Welcome to your first challenge.”

The contestants’ reactions ranged from excitement to horror.

“Which you will all be able to see in the next episode of our two-part pilot special!” Chris said directly to the camera.

“Since when do we have a two-part special?” Digit asked.

“I’ll see you next time on…” Chris began his famous outro.

“Don’t ignore me, McLean.” Digit glared at him.

“Camp…”

“Seriously dude, we want some answers.” Brad added.

“Total…”

“Chris!” Both the interns shouted.

“Drama!”

Chapter 2: Our Very First Challenge

“Welcome back to Camp Total Drama!” Chris said to the camera. “Normally I’d do a recap of the previous episode, but all of the contestants are standing right in front of me.”

“And interns!” Digit shouted.

“Ah, yes, how could I forget my two interns?” Chris said.

“I mean, you already forgot to tell us about the two-part special.” Brad said.

“That’s-”

“And today’s challenge.” Digit added.

“That’s right, today’s challenge!” Chris exclaimed. “Today’s challenge will be a scavenger hunt!”

A few contestants groaned.

***

“I’m not the best at scavenger hunts.” Wendy said in the confessional. “When I was in elementary school, we had a school-wide scavenger hunt. After the first ten minutes, I got lost, panicked, and then…” Wendy’s face turned red with embarrassment. “I fell into a dumpster by the cafeteria. Don’t ask me how. I was trapped in there all day until a group of first graders found me. The lunch ladies didn’t even notice me when they were throwing the old food out!”

***

“Each of you will be given a list of items that are symbolic to previous seasons.” Chris said. “Whichever team finds the most items will win. The team that loses will have to face the first elimination ceremony.”

“Excuse me,” Ally raised her hand politely. “Where exactly are we supposed to look for these items?”

“All of the items should be hidden in the forest.” Chris said.

All the contestants turned to look at the forest. Thunder and lightning crashed in the distance.

“I’ve got another question for you.” Quinn turned back around. “Is this island still robotic?”

“Yes, this island is 100% unnatural.” Chris said with a smile.

“So, there’s still a bunch of robotic animals running around too?” Natalia asked.

“Of course!” Chris said. “And I can program them to attack you!”

“Great.” Violet said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry, I have a special surprise for all of you after this challenge.” Chris said.

***

“A special surprise? From Chris?” Jared said in the confessional. “That can’t be a good thing.”

***

“Do you have any special surprises for the interns?” Digit asked. “Like an explanation about what’s going on?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Darla.” Chris said as Digit glared at him. “Now the rest of you can grab a list from Chef and start looking starting… Now!”

The two teams eyed Chris and the table behind him cautiously.

“I said, now!” Chris shouted.

The teams ran to the table and started grabbing lists. Once everyone had a list, the group broke off into separate team huddles.

“If we split up, we’ll cover more ground.” Natalia said the Popular Salmon. “But the smaller the groups are, the more danger we’re in with the robotic animals.”

“Hey, you’re not in charge yet!” Veronica snapped. “No one has to listen to you.”

“You’re right, they don’t.” Natalia said. “But we need some sort of a plan.”

“We could all look together.” Veronica suggested.

“We would never find enough items. The forest is too big.” Natalia said “Listen to me, we have to split up.”

The Confused Freaks were having a similar conversation.

“Alright, team,” Ally said. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“We can follow the other team around and steal their stuff.” Violet suggested.

“That sounds a little risky.” Jesse said.

“That’s exactly why we should do it.” Violet said. “It’s time to ride on the wild side.”

“That sounds like a corny slogan for some gang.” Quinn said.

***

Violet held her leather jacket close to her chest. “So what if it is?” There was a design on the back of her jacket. It appeared to a pretty flower… engulfed in flames.

***

“Splitting up is probably the easiest way to find more items.” Casey said.

“What about the robots?” Wendy asked.

“If you see one, just act like you’re dead.” Peter said. “I’ve tried it, it works.”

“You’ve encountered a robot before?” Garret asked.

“We could split up into bigger groups.” Ally said. “Just in case we see any of those scary robots.”

“That sounds like a rad plan.” Dominic said.

“Are you gonna talk like you’re in a 70’s movie all summer?” Violet asked.

“I’m considering it.” Dominic said.

“We should probably start heading into the forest.” Ally said. “The other team already left.”

The Confused Freaks all stared at the forest with worried expressions on their faces. None of them were particularly eager to enter the forest.

“You’ve been standing here for five whole minutes.” Chris said. “Get into the forest!”

The Freaks split up and ran into the forest with their lists in hand.

“They were having a moment.” Brad said.

“Now they-” Chris was cut off by his phone ringing.

“Who keeps calling you?” Digit asked.

“That’s classified.” Chris pulled out his phone and walked away.

“Maybe Chef knows what’s up.” Brad said. “Chef? Chef!”

Chef appeared to have suddenly vanished.

“Why does he always do that?” Brad asked.

Meanwhile, Quinn, Casey, Garret, and Peter were searching the forest together.

“What are some of the things on the list?” Quinn asked.

“Don’t you have your own list?” Casey asked.

“Yes, but I’m a little busy wheeling myself through this forest to look at it right now.” Quinn rolled her eyes.

“Right, sorry.” Casey said.

He started to grab the list from his pocket, but Peter had already starting reading off items.

“Here are a few of my personal favorites,” Peter said, holding his list with both hands. “A chicken hat, a Gemmie Award, a pole, a seagull machine gun, and, ooh, an immunity idol!”

“A pole?” Quinn asked. “Is it in the ground or something?”

“It just says a pole.” Garret said.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll just be lying on the ground.” Casey said.

“I doubt it.” Quinn muttered. Just after she said this, her wheelchair stopped in its tracks. Quinn tried to push her wheels, but they appeared to be stuck.

“Quinn, you just found one of the items!” Casey exclaimed.

“I did?” Quinn asked as she continued to struggle with her wheels.

“You did!” Casey lifted Quinn’s wheelchair from behind while Peter and Garret grabbed the item that was beneath her.

“Can you please warn me the next time you’re gonna pick me up?” Quinn asked as Casey gently placed her wheelchair back onto the ground.

“Yeah, sure, but look!” Casey excitedly pointed at Peter and Garret.

“We found the pole!” Peter swung the pole around, almost hitting a terrified Garret in the face.

“Great.” Quinn said. “Now can you stop swinging it, you’re gonna hit-”

Garret groaned and doubled over after being hit in the stomach with the pole.

Quinn sighed. “Peter, give Garret the pole.”

“Sorry, buddy.” Peter said to Garret as he handed him the pole. Garret immediately grabbed the pole and used it to steady himself.

“One down, a lot more to go.” Casey said as he began pushing Quinn’s wheelchair through the forest.

“Aren’t journalists supposed to be a bit more specific?” Quinn teased.

***

“As a whole, I think my group is pretty good.” Casey said in the confessional. “Sure, Quinn is a bit of a stick in the mud, Peter’s loud and unpredictable, and Garret doesn’t even talk, but as a whole, they’re nice.” He paused and scribbled a few notes into his journal before looking back at the camera. “I’m a journalist. I observe everything.”

***

Ally, Dominic, and Violet were walking together in another part of the forest.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Ally said.

“This is boring.” Violet said.

“What were you expecting?” Dominic asked.

“Explosions, toxic waste, things that are actually dangerous.” Violet said. “Not a scavenger hunt.”

“Toxic waste barrel is an item on the list.” Ally said.

“How thrilling.” Violet rolled her eyes.

Dominic stopped walking and looked at something behind a tree. The two girls kept walking.

“And a chainsaw!” Ally’s eyes widened.

“Is it a working chainsaw?” Violet asked.

“I’m not sure-”

“Hey, Violet!” Dominic called. “Is this dangerous enough for you?”

Dominic slowly backed away from the tree he was standing behind. Ally and Violet walked over and stood at either side of him. The three of them stared at the bear that was crouched over a bush. Its back was to them.

“It’s just a bear.” Violet shrugged.

The bear’s head spun around at an ungodly speed. Its eyes turned bright red.

“What do we do?” Ally whispered.

“I could tell it some jokes.” Dominic suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Violet said.

“Really?” Dominic asked.

“Yeah, try it.” Violet said.

“Alright,” Dominic took a step forward. “Hey, Mr. Bear, would you like to hear a joke?”

The bear slowly approached Dominic.

“What did the ocean say to the sand?” Dominic asked the bear.

The bear roared in Dominic’s face.

“Come on.” Violet grabbed Ally’s hand and ran off.

***

“Nothing, it just waved.” Dominic sadly finished his joke in the confessional.

***

“What about Dominic?” Ally asked.

“It’s too late for him.” Violet said.

“But-” Ally tripped over a mysterious object.

Violet stopped in her tracks. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It is.” Ally picked up the item with a look of determination on her face.

In another part of the forest, Lyla, Jesse, and Wendy were walking together.

“So, you play the guitar.” Jesse said to Lyla.

“That I do.” Lyla nodded.

“I thought I saw you holding a guitar case!” Wendy exclaimed. “I wasn’t sure at first because my head was still spinning after falling.”

“I almost forgot you fell.” Lyla said.

“I never did get the chance to ask if you were okay.” Jesse said.

“Oh, don’t worry about me.” Wendy said. “I fall a lot.”

“That’s kind of sad.” Lyla said.

“I get lost pretty easily too.” Wendy continued.

“Good thing you got us here to make sure you don’t get lost.” Jesse said.

“I once got lost on a field trip to the zoo and fell into one of the cages.” Wendy said.

“That’s just,” Lyla was at a lost for words. “Wow.”

“Well, there’s probably no animal cages here.” Jesse said.

“What cage did you fall into?” Lyla asked.

“I can’t remember.” Wendy said. “I passed out right after I fell.”

“I guess you pass out easily too?” Jesse asked.

“Only when I hit my head.” Wendy said. “Or get really scared. Sometimes both.”

Jesse, Lyla, and Wendy continued walking in silence for a few minutes. Soon, Wendy spotted something in the distance. She carefully turned and started to walk in the opposite direction. Jesse and Lyla didn’t seem to notice she had left. After a little more walking, Wendy was staring at one of the items hidden in a tree.

“Guys, look!” Wendy turned around and saw that her teammates were gone. “Oh, no…”

A creature of some sort roared in the distance. Wendy also heard the faint sound of machinery starting up.

“Robots!” Wendy shrieked. She tried to run, but tripped over a fallen tree branch…

And tumbled down a steep hill…

And hit her head, knocking herself unconscious.

Jesse and Lyla were still walking together, now much farther away from Wendy.

“Jesse, remember when you said ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’” Lyla asked.

“Yes.” Jesse said. “But so far nothing really bad has happened, so that’s good.”

“Oh yeah? Does that mean you know where Wendy is?” Lyla asked.

Jesse stopped in his tracks.

“Wasn’t she just here?” Jesse asked, his normally calm demeanor replaced with panic.

“She was.” Lyla said. “She must’ve wandered off while we were walking. I didn’t even notice she was gone until now.”

“Okay, this is probably the worst thing that could happen.” Jesse said.

“Don’t freak out.” Lyla gently placed her hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “We’ll just put the scavenger hunt on hold for a bit and find Wendy. We’re gonna find Wendy.”

“What if the robots find her first?” Jesse asked.

“I’m sure Wendy will be fine.” Lyla said. “Chris probably made up all that stuff he said about the robots.”

“Okay, you’re probably right.” Jesse began to calm down. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, you’re kinda cute when you panic.” Lyla grabbed Jesse’s hand and started leading him back in the direction they came, while Jesse blushed.

Meanwhile, Bree and Ramona were walking through the forest together.

“Do you really think the robots are dangerous?” Ramona asked.

“Honestly, not really.” Bree said. “They’re probably just here to scare us.”

“I hope so.” Ramona said. “What do you think about this whole leader fiasco?”

“I don’t really like either of them.” Bree said. “But if I had to choose one, I think I’d go with Natalia.”

“How come?” Ramona asked.

“She seems like the more stable pick, I guess.” Bree said. “Veronica is too unpredictable.”

“I think they both deserve a fair chance to try.” Ramona said.

“That would be nice, but we’d be at risk of losing way too many challenges.” Bree said.

“I guess you’re right.” Ramona said.

“Forget about all that, what are some things you do at home?” Bree asked.

“Well, I play soccer.” Ramona said. “I would ask what you do, but it seems pretty obvious.”

“Really?” Bree twirled around, showing off her cheerleading uniform. “I thought I was being subtle.”

***

“It’s really nice talking to Bree.” Ramona said in the confessional. “Most of the cheerleaders at my school are pretty stuck-up, but Bree is super easy-going. I really hope neither of us get caught in the cross-fire of this leader war. I’d like some more time to get to know her.”

***

“Get off of me!”

Bree and Ramona both looked at each other and then in the direction that the voice was coming from.

“I don’t know if I want to look.” Bree said.

“We have to at least try to help.” Ramona grabbed Bree’s hand and walked in the direction of the voice.

***

“Ramona is really sweet.” Bree said in the confessional. “I really like talking to her and I want to hang out with her more, but… What if I’m not a good enough person for her? She’s so selfless and nice, and I’m just… me.”

***

Ramona and Bree turned a corner and found Veronica wrestling a squirrel with what appeared to be an old soda bottle. Veronica also appeared to be losing the fight.

“What do we do?” Bree asked.

“Help!” Veronica shouted. “Please!”

The squirrel scratched the bottle out of Veronica’s hands and was now aiming its claws at her face.

“I’ll save you!” Ramona charged at the squirrel and kicked it off of Veronica. The squirrel sailed across the sky.

“Thank you.” Veronica sat up gasping for air.

“Told you I played soccer.” Ramona turned around and winked at Bree.

“I never had any doubts.” Bree smiled at Ramona, then walked over, grabbed Veronica’s arms, and pulled her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Veronica said.

“I think you found one of the items!” Ramona exclaimed as she knelt down and picked the old soda bottle up.

“I did?” Veronica asked at the same time Bree said “She did?”

In another part of the forest, Will, Jared, Floyd, Clifford, and Gavin were all walking together.

“So, what are some of your guys’ hobbies?” Will asked the group while they searched the forest.

“Burning stuff.” Floyd said as he leaned his back against a tree.

“How original.” Gavin said sarcastically.

“Oh yeah, what’s your hobby?” Floyd retorted. “Is it… Um…”

Gavin turned his attention away from searching to raise an eyebrow at Floyd.

“You alright, buddy?” Clifford asked Floyd. “You look confused.”

“I got it!” Floyd exclaimed. “Wearing pink.”

“It took you that long to point out the color of my shirt?” Gavin asked.

“I wouldn’t call wearing pink a hobby.” Will said.

“Whatever.” Floyd rolled his eyes and went back to pretending to look.

Will and Clifford both shrugged and went back to looking as well.

“There’s nothing wrong with wearing pink.” Jared said to Gavin.

“Yeah, I know.” Gavin said. “There’s nothing wrong with liking Shakespeare either.”

Jared nervously looked at the others before lowering his voice to a whisper. “You weren’t even here yet when I mentioned Shakespeare.”

“I hear things.” Gavin shrugged.

“Can you at least try and keep whatever you think about me a secret?” Jared asked.

“There’s only about 20 of us here now, and that number is gonna get smaller.” Gavin said. “Even if I do agree to keeping that a secret, secrets won’t stay secrets very long.”

“Fair enough.” Jared said.

“If it makes you feel any better, from what I heard, people were mostly talking about you and that girl who fell.” Gavin said. “It was nice, what you did.”

“She fell off a boat, I wasn’t just gonna leave her there.” Jared said.

“Most of the people on our team would’ve.” Gavin said. “But you know that already, don’t you?” Gavin moved forward to catch up with the rest of the group. “Hey, maybe check the area one last time just in case we missed something.” He called back to Jared.

Jared stood still in his place. He scanned the area one last time to make sure they hadn’t missed any items. Something in the distance did catch his eye. He ran in the opposite direction of his team to further investigate.

***

“I’m not really sure what Jared’s deal is.” Gavin said in the confessional. “But he’s clearly hiding things about himself. He seems like a nice guy though. I can’t say the same for some of my other teammates.”

***

Meanwhile, Will, Floyd, and Clifford were still walking together. Will walked ahead of the other two at a faster pace.

“Um, Will?” Clifford asked.

Will stopped and turned around. He blinked a few times before asking “Where are the others?”

“I was hoping you knew that.” Clifford said.

“I didn’t even notice they left.” Floyd said.

“Shocking.” Will said sarcastically. “They must’ve fallen behind. I’ll go look for them.”

“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Clifford asked. “You know, with all the…” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Robots?”

Floyd burst out laughing. “You’re scared of those stupid things? Dude, you’re huge!”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not made of metal.” Clifford said.

“I’ll be alright.” Will said. “Besides, if any of us were to not survive a robot attack, it would be Floyd.”

“Hey!” Floyd interjected. “I could take a robot.”

“Really?” Will raised an eyebrow. “Here comes one now.”

Floyd shrieked and jumped behind Clifford. Clifford raised his fists and assumed a fighting stance. Will laughed at both of them as no robot approached.

“See what I mean?” Will said. “I’ll catch up with you two later.” Will turned and started running down the path they came from.

“I knew there wasn’t really a robot.” Floyd said.

“I’m sure you did.” Clifford patted Floyd on the back. “Come on, let’s keep looking.”

***

“I don’t really think Floyd is a bad person.” Clifford tried to keep a straight face, but then sighed. “I just think he’s a little... Misguided? No, that’s not the word I’m looking for… It’s on the tip of my tongue, I swear.”

***

Natalia and Britney were searching together nearby.

“So, Britney, are you finally going to tell me what you do back home?” Natalia asked.

“Oh, when I’m home I usually play games on my phone.” Britney said. “Or sleep.”

“Hobbies.” Natalia stated impatiently. “What kind of hobbies do you have?”

“Oh!” Britney exclaimed. “I’m in my school’s astronomy club.”

“Astronomy?” Natalia raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, my dads are super smart, so they wanted me to sign up for at least one academic club.” Britney explained. “I joined astronomy because the stars are pretty.”

“That’s not terrible reasoning.” Natalia said. “Wait, did you say dads, like, more than one?”

“Yep.” Britney nodded. “Double the dad jokes for me.”

“Nice.” Natalia said. “I’d happily take that any day over-”

“Look!” Britney stopped in her tracks and pointed up at the tops of the trees.

“What am I looking at?” Natalia asked.

“I think I see something.” Britney ran to the nearest tree and began climbing.

“Okay.” Natalia raised an eyebrow as she watched Britney climb. “You have fun with that.”

Soon Britney disappeared into the leaves of the tree.

“What are you doing out here alone?”

Natalia turned around and saw Will walking towards her.

“I’m not alone.” Natalia said. “Britney’s up there.” She pointed to the tree above their heads.

“Hi!” Britney’s head popped out of the foliage and waved.

“Oh, hey.” Will waved back before Britney disappeared into the trees again. “She can climb trees?” He asked Natalia.

“Apparently.” Natalia shrugged. “So, what are you doing out here alone?”

“Looking for some of the others.” Will said.

“Don’t tell me your group already lost people.” Natalia said.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘lost’, I’d say it’s more of a…” Will trailed off searching for a better choice of words. “Divide and conquer?”

Natalia sighed. “Who did you lose?”

“Jared and Gavin.” Will said.

“And you left Floyd and Clifford by themselves?” Natalia asked.

“Well, I wasn’t gonna let one of them go off alone searching for the other two.” Will said.

“Fair enough.” Natalia said. “I still don’t trust the two of them though.”

“Hey, I know Floyd is annoying, but Clifford is a good guy.” Will said.

“That doesn’t make him a smart guy.” Natalia said.

“Whatever.” Will rolled his eyes.

“I found something!” Britney shouted from the top of a tree.

“Great!” Natalia shouted back.

“There’s just one problem!” Britney continued to shout.

“What?” Will asked.

“What?!” Britney shouted. “I can’t hear you!”

“What’s the problem, Britney?!” Will shouted.

“I don’t know how to get down!” Britney cried.

Natalia and Will nervously glanced at each other and then up to the tree branch Britney was perched on.

“Just jump!” Natalia shouted. “I’ll catch you!”

“Are you sure?” Will whispered to Natalia.

“Britney probably weighs 100 pounds at most.” Natalia whispered back. “You think I can’t catch her?”

“Is it because she’s a woman?!” Britney shouted at Will.

“No!” Will shouted back. “And I thought you couldn’t hear!”

“That’s the miracle of life.” Britney said before spreading her arms and falling from the tree.

Natalia caught Britney and swung her over her shoulder with ease. Natalia wore a triumphant grin on her face and Britney wore a chicken hat on her head.

“Okay, I’ll admit it.” Will said. “That was impressive.”

“Damn right, it was.” Natalia gently placed Britney back on the ground.

“Let’s keep looking!” Britney exclaimed as she grabbed Natalia and Will’s hands.

“Please don’t climb anymore trees.” Will pleaded as Britney dragged them further into the forest.

Back to the Freaks, Dominic was backed against a tree with the bear closing in on him.

“A comedian being taken down by something with no understanding of humor.” Dominic said to himself. “How cruelly ironic.”

Dominic flinched as the bear raised its claws.

“Hey!”

Dominic and the bear both looked and saw that Ally and Violet had returned. Ally was holding a chainsaw in her hands.

“Listen, Mr. Bear,” Ally said sternly. “I have a chainsaw and I am deathly afraid of using it, so I kindly suggest that you leave my friend alone!”

The bear eyed Ally curiously.

“Um, Ally?” Violet said. “You might want to turn it on.”

Violet reached over and hit the power button. Ally jumped as the chainsaw revved up. The bear jumped too and ran off as soon as the chainsaw roared to life. Dominic was frozen in place, staring at Ally in awe.

“That was…” Dominic trailed off.

“Aggressive, I know.” Ally rambled as she cautiously turned off the chainsaw. “But the bear was going to hurt you and I couldn’t think of anything else-”

“Awesome!” Dominic finally exclaimed.

“Wait, really?” Ally asked.

“Yeah!” Dominic said. “For a second, I thought you guys just left me for dead, but that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I was gonna leave you for dead.” Violet said. “I only came back to watch Ally swing a chainsaw around.”

“Fair enough.” Dominic said. “It was pretty amazing.”

“Oh, stop it.” Ally blushed.

***

“Wow, it’s only the first day,” Violet said in the confessional. “And I already want to barf.”

***

“Can we go back to looking for things now?” Violet asked impatiently.

“We sure can!” Ally said as she swung the chainsaw over her shoulder.

Meanwhile, Casey, Quinn, Peter, and Garret were still looking together. Quinn had a pile of items sitting on her lap.

“Do you think the rest of our team is finding items too?” Garret asked.

“They better be.” Casey said.

“The real question is, did they find anything as cool as the pole?” Peter continued to swing the pole around.

“Who gave you the pole back?” Quinn asked after almost being hit in the face.

“No one.” Peter said. “I took it!”

“I’m sorry.” Garret sighed.

“It’s okay, Garret.” Quinn said. “I don’t think there’s much that could’ve stopped him.”

“Yeah!” Peter triumphantly raised the pole to the sky.

“Peter, you’re practically begging the robots to come and eat us.” Casey said.

“The robots are no match for my pole.” Peter twirled the pole in circles, threw it in the air, and caught it with one hand.

“Okay, that was impressive.” Casey said.

“Yeah, considering he’s hit Garret with the pole five times already.” Quinn added.

“I was a spoon in my school’s production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’.” Peter explained.

“Were you the big spoon or the little spoon?” An unknown voice nearby asked.

“Robots!” Peter held the pole like a baseball bat, ready to strike.

“That’s not a robot.” Garret sighed. “That’s my brother.”

Gavin stepped out from behind a tree with his arms raised in surrender. “I was just kidding.”

“Where’s your team?” Garret asked.

“I don’t know.” Gavin shrugged.

“Really?” Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Because I wouldn’t be surprised if your team was hunting down unsuspecting groups and stealing their items.”

“Sorry about her.” Peter placed a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “She’s not exactly a people person.”

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t be surprised either.” Gavin said. “That’s why I ditched my team a while ago.”

***

“It is a little grim to immediately assume that your teammate’s brother was already plotting sabotage on the first day.” Casey said in the confessional. “Personally, I think Quinn is just the type of person who naturally assumes the worst.” Casey paused for a moment and then sighed. “Which will most likely lead to trust issues within our own team.”

***

“So, you’re just wandering the forest by yourself?” Garret asked.

“Pretty much, but I’m glad you’re making friends.” Gavin ruffled his brother’s hair.

“Yeah, yeah.” Garret swatted his hand away. “Have fun getting eaten by robots.”

“Oh, I will.” Gavin said as he started to walk away. “It was nice meeting you all.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Garret called to him as he walked away.

“Shut up!” Gavin said without turning around.

“He seems nice.” Peter said once Gavin was gone.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy.” Garret said.

“Does it bother you at all that he’s on the popular team?” Casey asked.

“Not really.” Garret shrugged. “He’s always been way better at talking to people than I am.”

“How so?” Casey asked.

“Well, you know how in cheesy teen movies there’s always that scene in the cafeteria where the main characters give you insight on all of the different cliques, table by table?” Garret asked.

“I’m assuming your brother would be placed at the table with all of the cool people that coincidentally bully the protagonists.” Quinn said.

“No, actually.” Garret said. “Gavin floats around to almost every table. He likes talking to people.”

“And you?” Casey asked.

“I’d rather die than have conversations with that many people.” Garret said.

“Then what table do you sit at in the cafeteria?” Quinn asked.

“The library.” Garret stated.

“I’m pretty sure our whole team eats lunch in the library.” Casey chuckled.

“I don’t, you losers.” Peter objected.

“Ah yes, who could forget about the beloved ‘drama geeks’ table?” Quinn asked sarcastically.

“Laugh all you want, but it’s a lot more fun than the library.” Peter said.

The four of them continued talking and laughing as they searched the forest for items.

Meanwhile, Lyla and Jesse were still searching for Wendy. The contestants had been in the forest for so long that it was nearly nighttime.

“What if something bad happened to her?” Jesse asked frantically.

“I’m sure if something really bad happened, we would have seen something by now.” Lyla said.

“Attention all campers!” Digit’s voice rang through the forest via various intercoms. “In case you couldn’t tell by the stars in the sky, night fall is upon us.”

“What is this, Lord of the Rings?” Brad’s voice joked in the background.

“Shut up, Brad!” Digit shouted. “Anyway, start heading back to the mess hall with all of the items you’ve acquired.”

“What if Wendy can’t find her way back?” Jesse asked.

“I will now begin reading Chef Hatchet’s bestseller ‘A Dummies’ Guide to Stars and Navigation’ until you’re all accounted for.” Brad said while Digit groaned in the background.

“That should help her find the way.” Lyla shrugged.

“Train your eyes onto the north star.” Brad said.

“You really think they know what the north star is?” Digit asked.

Jesse still looked worried.

“This forest isn’t that big.” Lyla said. “She couldn’t have gone this long without bumping into someone.”

“Or something.” Jesse added.

“True, but all of the somethings in this forest are robots that Chris programmed. I’m pretty sure that Chris doesn’t actually want anyone getting severely hurt.” Lyla said. “At least not on the first day.”

Jesse considered this for a minute and then sighed. “I guess you have a point.”

“You know what this reminds me of?” Brad asked Digit.

“What?” Digit asked with a complete lack of interest.

“That line from Peter Pan.” Brad said. “Follow the second star to the left-”

“It was the second star to the right, you idiot!” Digit interjected.

“Thank goodness they’re not in charge.” Lyla shook her head.

“Yeah.” Jesse agreed. “But that would definitely make things more interesting.”

“I think I’ve had just enough interesting for one day.” Lyla said.

In a nearby part of the forest, Jared had come across something rather interesting. More specifically, someone.

***

“Okay, when Gavin told me to check the area one last time, I didn’t think I’d find much.” Jared said in the confessional. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to find someone unconscious at the bottom of a ditch.”

***

“What happened?” Wendy asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing her head.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, I have no idea.” Jared said, offering his hand to help her up. “I just found you here. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well, I was looking for things with Lyla and Jesse.” Wendy grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. “Then I thought I saw an item and accidentally lost them. Then I thought I heard a robot and got scared. Then I… Well, I guess I tripped and fell.”

“How long were you unconscious?” Jared asked.

“I’m not sure.” Wendy said. “But the sun was still out when I fell, so I’m guessing a while.”

“Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?” Jared asked. “The sun went down a while ago.”

“I’m sure I’m fine, I pass out all the time.” Wendy said nonchalantly. “Sometimes it’s because I fall, sometimes it’s because I’m scared. I guess today was a mix of both.”

“Okay, seriously, are you okay?” Jared asked again. “Does your head hurt?”

“Oh, my head never hurts.” Wendy said. “My mom tells me I have a metal plate in there.” She knocked on her head a few times.

“I thought those were only in cheesy alien movies.” Jared said.

“You watch alien movies?” Wendy asked.

“Um…”

“I love alien movies!” Wendy exclaimed.

“Oh, cool!” Jared smiled. “Look, I don’t know if you heard, but they’re calling everyone back to the mess hall. If we happen to find any more items on the way, we’ll split them.”

“Deal.” Wendy and Jared shook hands before continuing through the forest.

Meanwhile, Bree, Ramona, and Veronica were making their way back to the mess hall.

“Well, we’ve been in the forest all day and we found a grand total of one item.” Bree said. “Our team is definitely going to kill us.”

“Maybe the rest of our team found so many items that they won’t notice we found nothing.” Ramona said.

“Your optimism is adorable, but I really doubt that.” Bree said.

“Do you think they’ll at least be a little sympathetic to the fact that a squirrel almost killed me?” Veronica asked.

“Oh, not at all.” Bree said. “In fact, I really think they would just make fun of you.”

“Gee, thanks.” Veronica said sarcastically.

“Especially after you challenged Natalia this morning.” Bree continued.

Veronica rolled her eyes and ignored Bree.

“Hey, Veronica,” Bree continued. “Why did you pick a fight with Natalia, anyway?”

“Why do you care?” Veronica asked.

“I’m just curious.” Bree said.

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Veronica said without even turning to face Bree. She continued walking and didn’t look back.

“What the hell?” Bree whispered to Ramona.

“So, she has a mysterious problem with authoritative figures, so what?” Ramona whispered back while nervously chuckling.

“Why is she talking to me about cats?” Bree said. “Last time I checked, the squirrel almost killed her.”

Ramona did her best to stifle a laugh. “Hey, she’s not that bad.”

“Yeah, if you can look past her gigantic ego.” Bree said. “I think the only reason she challenged Natalia was her own pride.”

“I don’t know, I think it’s a little deeper than that.” Ramona said. “Come on, we gotta go before we lose her.”

“Oh no, we don’t want that.” Bree said sarcastically.

Ramona laughed again and grabbed Bree’s hand, dragging her through the forest.

Meanwhile, Clifford and Floyd were still searching for items. Clifford was also looking up at the stars.

“Brad said to find the north star.” Clifford said. “I think that’s it.” He pointed upwards. “Or is it that one?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Floyd said. “We’ll make it back eventually, this chapter can only go on for so long.”

“What?” Clifford asked.

“Nothin-” Floyd cut himself off with a yell as he tripped and fell to the ground.

“Dude! Are you okay?” Clifford asked.

“I think-”

“Wait a second, you found one of the items!” Clifford exclaimed as he picked up the item that Floyd tripped on.

“I did?” Floyd asked as he sat up.

“You did!” Clifford held up an immunity idol from the previous seasons.

“That’s an immunity idol!” Floyd said as he stood back up.

“Yeah, man.” Clifford said. “And it’s on the list! Right after ‘Seagull Machine Gun’.”

“We can use that!”

“Yeah! To win the scavenger hunt!”

“No!” Floyd shook his head. “To save ourselves from elimination! Have you ever watched this show before?”

“Well, yeah.” Clifford said. “But I still think we should hand it in for the challenge.”

“Oh, come on, we already found a ton of items. I’m sure the rest of our team has too.” Floyd said. “What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em.”

Clifford looked down at the immunity idol and sighed. “Alright, fine.”

***

“Stupid! That’s the word I was thinking of before!” Clifford said in the confessional. “But I’m not the sharpest banana in the shed either, so I guess I’ll listen to Floyd.”

***

About a half an hour later, Natalia, Britney, and Will were approaching the mess hall with all of their items.

“Do you think they’ll let me keep this chicken hat?” Britney wondered aloud.

“Only if they let me keep this sword.” Natalia said, wielding the Sword of Victory.

“I think that might be a bit of a stretch.” Will said as he held open the door to the mess hall for his teammates.

“Well aren’t you a gentleman.” Natalia teased as the three entered the mess hall to find that all of the other contestants were already there.

“Finally!” Digit exclaimed. “Now give us your stuff.”

“So we can count them.” Brad added.

“And get this challenge over with.” Digit scowled.

Natalia, Britney, and Will dropped their items on the table in the back where Digit and Brad were seated, then joined the rest of their team at a nearby table.

“Okay, how much did everyone find?” Natalia asked.

“Nice to see you too.” Floyd said sarcastically.

“Floyd, I swear, if you didn’t find anything-”

“We found stuff!” Clifford interjected.

“They actually did.” Gavin nodded.

“Alright,” Natalia scanned the table before glaring at a now familiar face. “Veronica, how many items did you find?”

“Well…” Veronica’s gaze fell to the floor.

“Well?” Natalia raised an eyebrow.

“I only found one.” Veronica muttered.

“What?!” Natalia said.

“She said she only found one.” Britney repeated.

“Oh, that’s bad.” Will said.

“Didn’t Ramona find that item?” Bree asked.

“Shhh” Ramona gently nudged Bree, but Bree only shrugged.

***

“Okay, I told myself I wasn’t gonna take sides in this Natalia v.s. Veronica thing,” Jared said in the confessional. “But one item. I found more than her and I split all my items with Wendy!”

***

Meanwhile, the Confused Freaks were sitting and talking at their own table.

“I think we did a great job today, team!” Ally exclaimed.

“Whoopee.” Violet said unenthusiastically.

“That’s the spirit!” Ally said.

“I’m sorry we lost you before.” Jesse said to Wendy. Lyla nodded in agreement.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, I got distracted. Totally not your fault.” Wendy said. “Besides, we found way more items by accidentally splitting up!”

“I wonder how much stuff the other team found.” Ally said.

“We may never know, since it’s taking Digit and Brad over an hour to count all the items.” Quinn said.

“You guys got here first, right?” Dominic asked Quinn, Casey, Garret, and Peter. “How much did it look like they got?”

“That’s kind of hard to tell.” Garret said.

“Yeah, some groups walked in with armfuls of stuff.” Casey said. “While others walked in with almost nothing.”

“How did they find nothing?” Peter said. “They were barely hidden.”

“This challenge was supposed to be tomorrow!” Digit shouted from the back.

“And now it’s time to announce a winner!” Chris said as he waltzed in the door.

“Dude, where have you been?” Brad asked.

“That’s for me to know, and you to not know.” Chris said as Digit rolled her eyes.

“Who won?” Chef asked as he suddenly appeared behind Digit and Brad. The two interns jumped.

Chris walked to the back table and looked at Digit and Brad’s calculations.

“The winner of our first challenge is…” Chris announced. “The Confused Freaks!”

The Confused Freaks all cheered.

“And they won by one item!” Brad added.

Natalia shot a deadly glare at Veronica.

“It looks like one of the items that wasn’t found was the completely powerless immunity idol.” Digit added.

Clifford and Floyd looked at each other with wide eyes.

***

“Is it bad that I’m extremely surprised that we won?” Lyla asked.

***

“The Freaks are all safe tonight.” Chris continued. “The Populars will be joining me tonight at our first campfire ceremony to vote off one of their new friends.”

“Or enemies.” Digit added.

“Now you’re getting the hang of it.” Chris said. “And I have that surprise I promised all of you! It’s waiting outside.”

The two teams hesitantly left their tables to investigate. They exited the mess hall to find two shabby, run down cabins in the previously empty clearing. The cabins were nearly identical to the cabins of the first season, the only noticeable difference was that each cabin had a ramp leading inside alongside the steps.

“Thanks?” Ally said.

“You’re welcome!” Chris said before his phone rang again. “Populars, I’ll see you tonight.” He began walking away.

“Wait just a minute!” Digit shouted after him. “When are you gonna fill us in on what’s going on?”

“This a grown-up matter.” Chris said. “Don’t worry about it, kid.” He soon disappeared while talking on his phone.

“Who’s he calling a kid?” Digit angrily muttered. “I’m old enough to drink alcohol!”

“I don’t even think I wanna know what’s going on.” Brad said.

“Um, what do we do now?” Ramona asked.

“Oh, um,” Brad looked at all the very confused contestants. “Go check out your new cabins, I guess.”

“Freaks have the cabin on the left, Populars have the one on the right.” Digit said. “Girls on the left side of each cabin, guys on the right side.”

The contestants all shrugged and dispersed.

“I can’t believe we won our first challenge!” Ally cheered as she jumped onto one of the top bunks in the Freaks’ cabin.

“That makes two of us.” Lyla said in complete seriousness as she claimed the bed underneath Ally.

“I think we make a pretty goo-” Wendy tripped and fell onto one of the bottom bunks.

“Well said.” Violet said sarcastically as she climbed onto the bed on top of Wendy’s. “Why the long face, wheels?” She turned her attention to Quinn. “Did you want the top bunk?”

“No, thanks.” Quinn glared at Violet as she put her stuff on the bottom bunk closest to the door.

“How did you even get around the forest, anyway?” Violet asked. “Seems like it would be pretty hard for you considering-”

“I got around just fine.” Quinn snapped.

“I fell in a ditch.” Wendy said while laughing nervously as an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room.

“Really?” Ally asked, happy to change the subject. “What happened?”

***

“And so, the inevitable begins.” Quinn said in the confessional. “It was stupid to think I would at least make it through the first day without someone saying something about my chair.”

***

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cabin, the boys had already claimed their bunks.

“Who wants to hear a joke?” Dominic asked, but gained little response. “Garret, you wanna hear a joke?”

“What?” Garret turned his attention to Dominic. “Oh, um, sure?”

“What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?” Dominic asked.

“R.” Garret responded.

“AAAAARR!” Dominic shouted while squinting one of his eyes shut and holding up one of his fingers in the shape of a hook.

The boys all laughed at Dominic’s overdramatic joke-telling.

“You tell a lot of jokes, don’t you?” Jesse asked.

“Oh yeah, tried telling a joke to a bear today.” Dominic said. “What about you?”

“Oh, I don’t really tell jokes, especially not to bears.” Jesse said.

“Nah, man, what do you do for fun?” Dominic asked.

“Not much.” Jesse shrugged.

“You don’t do anything at school?” Casey asked.

“I’m homeschooled.” Jesse said.

“So, you’ve never left your house before this?” Peter joked and everyone, including Jesse, laughed.

***

“I know the guys were just joking around, but I really haven’t left my house all that much before coming here.” Jesse admitted. “My mom thinks I’ll be safer that way.”

***

In the opposite cabin, the Populars had already claimed their bunks and began to wander the camp grounds. Natalia, Britney, Ramona, and Bree all sat in the field in front of the cabins.

“The cabins may be a little crappy, but it’s so nice out here.” Ramona lied down on the grass.

“Yeah, it really is.” Bree stared at Ramona as the sun began to set.

“Let’s hope we’re all still here tomorrow.” Natalia said.

“Way to kill the mood, Natalia.” Bree said.

“We’re totally gonna be here tomorrow.” Britney said as she played with a few stray flowers. “And the next day, and the next day, and the next.”

“That’s the spirit, Brit.” Ramona said.

“Since we’re on the topic, who are we voting for?” Bree asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Natalia replied.

“No.” Britney shook her head.

Natalia sighed. “The only girl not here.”

“Ally?” Britney asked. “I don’t want to vote her off, she’s nice.”

“She’s not on our team, Brit.” Ramona said.

“Bree?” Britney guessed.

“I’m right here, Brit.” Bree said.

“Veronica.” Natalia stated. “We’re voting for Veronica.”

“Ooooh.” Britney picked a flower from the grass. “That makes sense.”

“Do we have to?” Ramona asked. “I feel bad.”

“Ramona, we have to vote someone off.” Natalia said. “Might as well be someone who doesn’t contribute much to the team.”

“I guess you’re right.” Ramona sadly stared off into the sky.

“I should probably go tell the guys that too.” Natalia got up and Britney followed her off.

“You okay?” Bree asked Ramona once they were alone.

“I don’t know, I just feel really bad.” Ramona said. “We were with Veronica all day! It doesn’t feel right to send her home so soon. I wish there was something I could do to help…”

“It’s not your job to help her.” Bree said. “She did this to herself.”

“What do you mean?” Ramona asked.

“Natalia may be a little harsh, but she’s here to win.” Bree said. “Veronica got in her way.”

“And now Natalia is getting rid of her.” Ramona said.

“Yep.” Bree nodded.

“But she likes us, right?” Ramona asked.

“She does.” Bree lied down next to Ramona. “We just have to keep it that way.”

Meanwhile, Natalia and Britney were talking to the guys in their side of the cabin.

“It already smells like guy in here.” Britney muttered to herself as she scrunched her nose.

“So, we’re voting for Veronica?” Will asked.

“Yes. Unless any of you have any objections.” Natalia said. None of the boys voiced any concern. “That’s what I thought. Come on, Brit.”

“Gladly.” Britney pinched her nose shut as she followed Natalia out of the cabin.

“It doesn’t even smell that bad in here.” Gavin muttered.

“It smells great knowing we’re not in the middle of that drama.” Jared said.

“Yeah, for now.” Will added.

Gavin, Jared, and Will continued to talk as Clifford and Floyd stepped outside.

“I feel really bad about this, man.” Clifford said.

“Why?” Floyd asked.

“Because it’s our fault we lost!” Clifford exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down!” Floyd said. “Neither of us knew we were gonna lose by one point. Besides, we found other stuff. Veronica didn’t.”

“I guess that’s true.” Clifford said.

“And we didn’t decide to make enemies with the alpha female of our team.” Floyd added.

“Well, you did kinda make enemies with some of the other guys-”

“That’s different.” Floyd said. “Just don’t say anything about the idol and we’ll be fine. Got it?”

“Got it.” Clifford nodded.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Floyd showed the idol peeking out from one of his pockets. “I have to go dispose of the evidence.”

“Alright, man.” Clifford patted Floyd on the back. “Good luck.”

Floyd didn’t get far before bumping into one of his teammates. Veronica sat leaning against the back of the cabin. She was sadly picking at the grass and tearing the leaves apart. Floyd stopped and sighed.

***

“A good person would probably go and comfort her or something. But I’m no good person!” Floyd said, but paused and hesitated for a moment. “Okay, maybe I feel a little bad for her. I guess there’s no harm in talking to her for a bit.”

***

“Hey, Veronica.” Floyd said as he approached the girl. “Why the long face?”

“Why do you think?” Veronica lifted her head to reveal a single tear rolling down the side of her face.

“Aw come on,” Floyd wiped the tear away and sat next to Veronica. “What’s wrong, V?”

“Everyone hates me.” Veronica choked out.

“That’s not true!” Floyd said. “I don’t hate you.”

“Everyone else does.” Veronica said.

“Nah, only Natalia hates you.” Floyd said.

Veronica glared at him.

“What? That’s not everyone!” Floyd said.

Veronica’s glare intensified.

“Alright, fine.” Floyd sighed. “You think you’re a screw up? I have a story that’ll make you feel better.” He slowly pulled the powerless immunity idol from his pocket.

Veronica gasped.

Later, the sun had finally set on Pahkitew Island. A fire was blazing a short distance from the cabins.

“Attention Populars!” Digit’s voice rang over the loudspeaker. “Please start heading to the campfire to cast your votes!”

All of the girls, minus Veronica, sat in their cabin.

“Ready, ladies?” Natalia asked as she stood up. The other three girls nodded.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin swung open and Veronica stormed in.

“Campfire is the other way, V.” Natalia taunted.

“I want to make a truce.” Veronica said.

“Well, you have certainly have bad timing.” Natalia said.

“Wait, let’s hear her out.” Ramona said.

“Attention Populars!” Digit’s voice once again said. “Can you hurry up? I want to go to sleep!”

Natalia paused and considered for a moment.

“Alright, fine.” Natalia rolled her eyes. “But you better make this quick.”

When all of the Populars were walking to the campfire, Bree ran over to Gavin and whispered something in his ear.

“Really?” Gavin asked.

Bree nodded.

“No way.” Gavin said.

“Way.” Bree nodded.

“Okay.” Gavin shrugged.

Will and Jared watched from the back of the pack.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Will muttered.

“Hello, Popular… Salmon? Is that what I named your team?” Chris said once all the Populars were sitting around the campfire. “Whatever. Cast your votes in the confessional. Whoever gets the most votes must leave the island and never return.”

“Until it’s convenient for ratings.” Digit added.

“Hush, Daphne.” Chris said as Digit rolled her eyes. “Now go vote!”

***

“I wish I could say it was nice meeting you, but it really wasn’t.” Natalia said as she cast her vote.

***

“Man, I hope Floyd hid that idol good.” Clifford said as he cast his vote.

***

“God, I hope this works.” Veronica said as she cast her vote.

***

“Alright, campers,” Chris spoke to the campfire of contestants. “The votes are in. The following campers are safe. Ramona.”

Brad handed Ramona the first marshmallow of the season.

“Will, Britney, and Jared.”

The three received marshmallows from Brad.

“Bree, Gavin, and Natalia.”

Clifford, Floyd, and Veronica all stared at the remaining two marshmallows with wide eyes.

“Clifford.”

Clifford let out a sigh of relief as Brad handed him his marshmallow.

“And the first person eliminated from Camp Total Drama is…”

“Floyd.” Chris announced. “Say your goodbyes.”

Floyd stood up, shocked, as Brad handed Veronica the final marshmallow. Clifford was the first one to get up and gave Floyd a hug.

“I’m sorry, man.” Clifford whispered.

“Don’t be. It was my stupid idea.” Floyd replied. “I buried the idol about ten feet behind the cabin if you want something to remember me by.”

Clifford stepped back and Veronica pulled Floyd into a hug.

“You little snitch.” Floyd muttered angrily in her ear.

“Oh, Floyd, you were right about one thing.” Veronica whispered back in his ear. “That story did make me feel a lot better.” Veronica took a step back and smirked.

“When the hell did everyone switch votes?” Will asked, clearly not pleased.

“Well, Floyd,” Chris said. “It’s time for you to take the Canoe of Catastrophe-”

“The what?”

“The Canoe of Catastrophe to the Island of Losers.” Chris continued.

At the end of the dock, a small canoe with a loan paddle waded in the water.

“It was nice meeting you guys.” Floyd waved his final goodbye and the others waved back as he entered the canoe.

“Bye, Flynn!” Britney waved cheerfully.

“Um, how am I supposed to use this?” Floyd asked.

“You’ll figure it out.” Chris said as Chef pushed the canoe off the dock and into the ocean.

“Where am I even going?!” Floyd shouted.

“Alright, Populars, you can all head back to mess hall for some extra special first day pudding!” Chris exclaimed.

The Populars all cheered.

“I want pudding!” Floyd shouted as he became a small dot in the ocean from the campfire.

“Fun fact: the ‘special first day pudding’ was here before Chris even had ownership of this island.” Digit said.

The Populars all groaned, but still went to the mess hall.

“Well, I guess I learned a very important lesson.” Floyd said to himself as he continued to drift to sea. He looked up at the night sky and smiled.

His smile quickly turned into a grimace as he muttered “Snitches get stitches.”

The Confused Freaks were all waiting in the mess hall to see who the Populars eliminated.

“I bet it was that girl in green.” Violet said.

“No way, it’s definitely the cheerleader.” Dominic said.

“What about that football player?” Jesse suggested.

“Come on, it has to be that chick in red.” Peter said.

The Populars all entered the mess hall.

“What’s up, Freaks.” Natalia said. “Where’s the pudding?”

“Decomposing in the back.” Quinn said. “Where’s that tenth teammate of yours?”

“Oh, Floyd?” Natalia said. “A canoe in the middle of the ocean.”

The Populars all made their way to the back room of the mess hall to inspect the pudding.

“Well, that was a twist.” Garret said.

“You know what this means?” Casey asked.

“Those primadonnas and meatheads might be smarter than we thought.” Quinn said.

“But, none of us are athletic or ridiculously pretty.” Ally said. “If we’re not smarter than them, then what are we?”

“Roadkill.” Lyla deadpanned.

“I was roadkill for Halloween once!” Wendy added.

“That pudding looks an awful lot like mud.” Will said to Jared, but Jared didn’t seem to notice.

Jared was staring at the bubbly red head as she went on about her eclectic Halloween costumes.

Gavin noticed this and smiled to himself.

***

“I knew exactly what I was doing when I sent Jared the other way during the challenge.” Gavin said in the confessional. “I don’t necessarily believe in love at first sight, but I do believe in crush at first sight, and that’s what Jared and Wendy have. Of course, this will blow up in their faces if their teams find out, but, hey, I’m not gonna tell anyone.”

***

The campers were all interrupted in their conversations and pudding investigations by the loud sounds of a helicopter whirring overhead.

“Put your hands where we can see them, McClean!” A voice boomed from outside.

Loud sirens started going off as the campers all ran outside. Digit and Brad stood by the door of the mess hall, looking confused as ever. A helicopter was flying just above the mess hall with a flock of officers inside.

“You’ll never get me alive!” Chris shouted as the field in front of the cabins opened up.

Another helicopter rose from the ground. Chef Hatchet waved from the pilot’s seat. Chris narrowly avoided the tasers of the officers as he ran into his own helicopter.

“Why didn’t we bring actual guns!” One of the officers cried.

“There are children watching this show!” Another officer responded while slapping the first officer.

Chris’s helicopter departed, but not before dropping a smoke bomb that obstructed the vision of both the officers and the campers.

Once the smoke cleared, Chris, Chef, and their helicopter were nowhere to be found.

“Gosh darn it, we lost him!” One of the officers shouted.

“Excuse me?” Digit called from ground level. “What the hell is going on?”

“Your buddy Christopher McClean is a criminal.” The officer said. “And we’re not gonna rest until we find him.”

“We’re not?” One of the officers asked sadly as their helicopter flew away.

Digit, Brad, and the other campers stood in stunned silence.

“So, what now?” Ally finally asked.

“Go to your cabins, I guess.” Digit shrugged.

“We’ll figure something out.” Brad added.

The campers all silently made their way to their respective cabins. Digit and Brad looked at each other.

“What should we do first?” Brad asked.

“Well, we should probably end the episode.” Digit said.

“Right.” Brad nodded and turned to face the camera. “We’ll see you next time on Camp…”

“Total…”

“Drama!” Digit and Brad both announced with tears in their eyes.

Chapter 3: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Digit

Only a few hours had passed since the first bonfire ceremony and Chris’s unexpected departure. The moon still shined over the camp. Digit sat alone in the back of the mess hall, scribbling furiously in her notebook. She blinked a few times after noticing the camera.

“Oh, um, hi?” Digit said. “Welcome back to Camp Total Drama, I guess. I’m supposed to tell you what happened last time, right?” She paused and then sighed. “Last time on Camp Total Drama, our contestants competed in their first challenge, a scavenger hunt. Very original.” She added sarcastically. “Anyway, the Populars lost and after a last-minute truce between former rivals, Natalia and Veronica, the ladies decided to send Floyd home.”

Digit went back to scribbling in her notebook. “Am I forgetting something?” She muttered to herself. “Oh yeah!” Her head snapped back up. “Apparently Chris is currently evading the authorities, so, as of right now, we have no host and Brad and I have no idea what we’re going to do.” Digit flashed a strained smile at the camera. “And that’s what you missed on Camp Total Drama.”

“Digit!” Brad ran into the mess hall. He waved a large folder in his hand. “I think I found something that could help!”

Meanwhile, Ramona was wandering the clearing by the cabins when she noticed that the lights were on in the girls’ washroom. Her curiosity got the better of her and she went to investigate.

The inside of the washroom had a row of shower stalls on one side and a row of toilet stalls on the other side. The center of the room was lined with sinks and mirrors.

Ramona found Bree standing in front of the last sink doing her makeup.

“Isn’t it a little early to be doing your makeup?” Ramona asked. “The sun isn’t even up yet.”

“Well then, what are you doing up this early?” Bree smiled at Ramona.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Ramona shrugged.

“How come?” Bree asked.

“I don’t know.” Ramona started walking down the center aisle, moving closer to Bree. “I guess I just needed time to process everything. Yesterday was a lot.”

“You still managed to save Veronica.” Bree added.

“It wasn’t just me.” Ramona smiled softly and rolled her eyes.

“Do you really think Natalia would’ve even listened to Veronica’s truce if you weren’t there?” Bree raised an eyebrow.

“I guess you’re right.” Ramona said. “I still can’t believe Floyd threw the challenge.”

“I can.” Bree said. “He was a self-proclaimed loner, all he cared about was himself. And that’s exactly why he took that immunity idol for himself instead of turning it in for the challenge.”

Ramona stood in front of the sink next to Bree and stared at her reflection. She then glanced at Bree in the mirror.

“You still never answered my question.” Ramona pointed out.

“What question?” Bree asked as she packed up her makeup and began to walk out of the washroom.

Ramona sighed and followed her out.

The sun was slowly beginning to rise and Jared watched from the dock.

“Fancy seeing you here!”

Jared turned around and saw Wendy giggling as she made her way down the dock.

“I never did get the chance to properly-”

Wendy cut herself off by tripping over a stray plank and almost toppling over the edge of the dock. Jared ran over and caught her before she could hit the water. Wendy’s arms instinctively wrapped around Jared’s neck while his hands grabbed her waist.

“Thank you.” Wendy blushed. “For this and for yesterday.”

“No problem.” Jared was blushing too as him and Wendy awkwardly let go of each other.

“So, what do you think today’s challenge is gonna be?” Wendy asked.

“I’ll be surprised if we even have a challenge after what went down last night.” Jared said.

“A helicopter came out of the ground!” Wendy exclaimed as she jumped around with excitement.

“Careful!” Jared said as she hopped dangerously close to the edge of the dock.

Wendy giggled as she stopped her jumping. “I hope we have a space themed challenge soon.”

Jared raised an eyebrow at the girl.

“What?” Wendy asked. “They’ve done it before!”

“On seasons that didn’t take place in a crappy summer camp.” Jared said.

“But this is a crappy robotic summer camp.” Wendy said.

“Touché.” Jared smiled.

Later on, the sun was finally shining over the camp. Jesse was the first to leave the guys’ side of the cabin and began to make his way to the mess hall. He stopped, however, when he heard faint music coming from the direction of the forest. After walking past the cabins and a little further into the forest, he found Lyla sitting in a small clearing, playing her guitar.

“What are you doing all the way out here?” Jesse asked.

Lyla looked up from her guitar and blushed. “I didn’t think anyone would hear me.”

“How long have you been playing the guitar?” Jesse asked.

“Like out here or just in general?” Lyla asked.

“Just in general.” Jesse said as he sat down across from Lyla.

“Well, I started playing the guitar in fifth grade, so… 6 years?” Lyla said. “Yeah, 6 years.”

“That’s really cool.” Jesse said.

“Thanks.” Lyla mindlessly played a few stray chords. “I used to play the violin too.”

“Really?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, my music teacher practically begged me to join the school band in middle school.” Lyla said. “I quit once I started high school, though.”

“How come?” Jesse asked.

“I don’t know.” Lyla shrugged. “I guess it just wasn’t my thing.”

“You prefer playing the guitar?” Jesse asked.

“Definitely.” Lyla smiled. “So, what about you? What do you do?”

“Oh, well, um…” Jesse blushed. “Not much.”

“How come?” Lyla asked.

“I’m homeschooled.” Jesse said.

***

“I guess that explains why he thinks I’m so cool.” Lyla said in the confessional.

***

Jesse stared at the ground and picked at some stray blades of grass.

“Hey,” Lyla reached her hand out and lifted Jesse’s head until their eyes met. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I can even teach you how to play guitar sometime, if you want.”

Jesse smiled. “I would like that.”

“Good.” Lyla returned his smile as she let her hand fall from his face.

A little while later, both teams were eating breakfast in the mess hall. The Confused Freaks sat at the table closest to the entrance while the Popular Salmon sat at the table in the back.

“Who even made breakfast?” Quinn wondered aloud.

“I did!” Brad shouted, appearing behind the counter in the back of the mess hall. He was waving a spatula and wearing an apron.

“So, are you gonna tell us what’s going on now?” Natalia asked.

“Um…” Brad slowly ducked back behind the counter.

“Yes, we are.” Digit announced as she entered the mess hall.

“Finally.” Veronica muttered.

“Are Chris and Chef okay?” Ally asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Digit shrugged. “But we do know that Chris is on the run from the authorities so, that’s fun.”

“So, are we going home?” Casey asked.

“I wish.” Digit said. “Legally, the only person who can send us all home is Chris and he’s, you know, a little busy.”

“So who’s gonna host? You two?” Violet laughed.

“Yes!” Brad exclaimed, reappearing behind the counter, this time without the spatula and apron.

“Sadly.” Digit added.

“Really?” Will asked. “You guys can do that?”

“Well, someone has to.” Digit said.

“And we have a plan!” Brad slid over the counter with the large folder from before in his hand.

“Within that folder is a detailed description of every challenge that has ever happened on Total Drama.” Digit said. “Ever.”

“Where did you even find that?” Gavin asked.

“The interns’ quarters, among any and all of your personal files!” Brad said.

A few contestants’ eyes widened at the mention of the cabin filled to the brim with filing cabinets.

“That we should really stop mentioning.” Digit glared at Brad.

“Anyway, I guess that brings us to our challenge of the day.” Brad continued. “Everyone meet in the clearing! But like, not in the center of the clearing.”

Brad walked out, leaving the contestants confused by his last statement.

“Just wait outside the doors to the mess hall.” Digit added as she followed Brad out.

The contestants all sat in stunned silence.

“What just happened?” Britney asked, breaking the silence.

“Digit and Brad are taking over.” Natalia shrugged as she got up and started walking out of the mess hall. The rest of the Populars followed her out.

“I give them a week before everything starts to crash and burn.” Quinn said.

“Oh, come on.” Casey said.

“Yeah, have some faith in them.” Ally added.

“This isn’t gonna last a day.” Casey finished.

Quinn, Casey, and a few of the other Freaks laughed while Ally sighed. They all walked outside shortly after.

Digit and Brad stood waiting at the edge of the clearing.

“Today we decided to bring back a classic challenge.” Brad said. “Dodgeball!”

“Um, where are we supposed to play dodgeball?” Bree asked, staring at the empty clearing.

“Well, as some of you may know, this island is completely robotic.” Digit said. “Which apparently means we have this in the ground.” She pressed a button and a dodgeball court identical to the one from the first season rose from the ground.

Digit, Brad, and all of the contestants filed into the dodgeball court.

“Alright, I’m assuming you all know the rules of dodgeball.” Brad said. “We’re gonna play 9 on 9, so Freaks have to sit one person out per round. There are five rounds total. Best 3 out of 5 wins.”

“Are you sure 9 on 9 is safe?” Digit whispered to Brad. “That’s a lot of people throwing balls.”

“They’re high schoolers, they’re practically indestructible.” Brad said. He started to look for something near the referee chair.

“Alright kids, just remember the five D’s of dodgeball.” Digit said to the contestants. “Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and…”

“Digit!” Brad called.

“I don’t remember that last one from the movie.” Jared said.

“I can’t find the whistle!” Brad said.

“You seriously don’t know how to whistle?” Digit asked.

“Hey, lots of people don’t know how to whistle.” Brad began to argue.

“Ahem.” Natalia coughed. “Are we gonna start anytime soon?”

“Oh, we’re starting.” Digit said. “As soon as you all put on your uniforms for the day.”

“Uniforms?!” The cast exclaimed.

“Yes, uniforms.” Digit rolled her eyes. “It’s impractical to make you all play dodgeball in some of the getups you weirdos have.”

The teams begrudgingly took their respective uniforms from their benches and left to get changed. A few minutes later, the Confused Freaks returned to the dodgeball court wearing yellow t-shirts with red athletic shorts. The Popular Salmon returned wearing purple t-shirts and black athletic shorts.

“How many more references to the movie Dodgeball are we planning on throwing into this challenge?” Digit whispered to Brad.

“So many.” Brad smiled. He rolled a few balls to each side of the court. “Alright, teams! Line up at your end of the court! Freaks, who are you sitting out?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious.” Violet said as she pushed Quinn’s wheelchair into their team’s bleachers.

“Try taking your anger out on the other team.” Peter glared at Violet.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Violet said as she picked up a ball. “I have plenty of anger to spare.”

“Pssst,” Jesse knelt down next to Quinn while their team huddled in the center of the court. “Do you know how to play dodgeball?”

“If you get hit by a ball, you’re out.” Quinn explained. “If you catch a ball, the person who threw it is out and one of your teammates gets to come back in.”

“Oh, that seems simple enough.” Jesse shrugged. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Quinn said. “Worry about yourself.”

“So, do we have any plan?” Will asked Natalia as the Populars huddled on the other side of the court.

“Yeah.” Natalia said as she picked up a ball. “Don’t get hit.”

“What happens if we get hit?” Britney asked with wide eyes.

“Go! Dodge!” Brad shouted as Digit whistled, signaling the start of the challenge.

Violet immediately threw her ball at Britney, who fell backwards upon impact.

“Brit, you’re out!” Brad shouted.

“I don’t like this game.” Britney muttered as she sat on her team’s bleachers.

Natalia was the next to throw, aiming her ball at Wendy. Wendy screamed and tripped, causing her to fall to the floor and allow the ball to sail over her head.

“Damn it.” Natalia muttered.

Bree and Ramona each picked up a ball and simultaneously threw them at Casey and Peter. Peter was able to block the throw with a ball already in his hand, but Casey was hit in the arm.

“This challenge is going to be a blood bath.” Casey muttered as he sat on the bleachers next to Quinn.

“You’re telling me,” Quinn said. “This is like watching a group of baby ducklings get wiped out by a tsunami.”

Garret, Jesse, and Lyla shortly joined their team on the bleachers. All of the Populars, except for Britney, remained in the game.

“At least not everyone on our team completely sucks.” Quinn noted as Peter threw a ball at Jared, hitting him in the leg.

“Who would’ve thought musical theater would make a guy good at dodgeball.” Casey said.

“I think the fact that he’s the tallest guy here might help a bit too.” Quinn added.

Violet managed to hit Veronica in the stomach, but while she was snickering at Veronica doubled over in pain, she was caught off guard by a throw from Will. Violet and Veronica both stormed off to their team’s bleachers.

“Ally has a pretty good throw.” Casey noted as a ball thrown by Ally bounced off the back wall so hard that the walls surrounding the court shook.

“Yeah, but she has terrible aim.” Quinn said as Natalia dodged one of Ally’s throws with ease and threw her own ball at Ally’s leg.

***

“I’m not really used to talking to someone who’s as observant as me.” Casey said in the confessional. He shrugged and smiled a little. “It’s actually kind of nice.”

***

Ally’s leg that was hit buckled and she fell to the floor. Dominic, whose ball was just caught by Clifford, ran over.

“Are you okay?” Dominic asked as he helped Ally up.

“Oh, yes, I’m alright.” Ally said as she dusted herself off and walked to the bleachers. “But it looks like our team might be in trouble.” She frowned to herself.

Peter and Wendy were the only ones left for the Freaks. Natalia, Will, Clifford, Gavin, Ramona, and Bree were all still standing on the Populars side, and Britney was now reentering the game. All seven of them grabbed a ball.

“What do we d-” Wendy tripped before she could finish her question.

Peter caught Wendy just before she hit the floor, but not before all of the Populars fired their balls at the two. Peter and Wendy fell to the ground as Brad blew the whistle.

“Populars win the first round!” Digit announced.

“I’m sorry.” Wendy sighed as she sat up.

“Don’t worry about it.” Peter said. “It was two against seven, but we’ll get them next time.” Peter helped Wendy up and the two joined their team on the bleachers.

“Okay team, I think we did pretty good for our first round.” Ally said.

“Pretty good?” Violet said. “We lost.”

“And we only got two people out.” Lyla added.

“Technically we got three people out.” Garret quietly interjected. He instinctively blushed a little when his team turned their attention to him. “Britney was out before, she just got to reenter the game at the end.”

“Bottom line, we still lost.” Violet said. “And most of us suck at dodgeball.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t win!” Ally said.

“Sorry, Ally, but it kinda does.” Violet said.

“Well, we still have to try.” Ally said firmly.

“Alright kids,” Brad said. “Who’s ready for round two?”

The Populars cheered while the Freaks groaned.

“Don’t worry, there’s no dodgeball in college.” Digit said.

“There is if you want there to be.” Brad added with a smile.

“Anyway,” Digit rolled her eyes. “Get back on the court.”

The two teams returned to their respective sides of the court, while Quinn remained sitting in her wheelchair to the side of the Freaks’ bleachers.

“I still don’t get this game.” Britney said.

“It’s really not hard, Brit.” Gavin said. “Just don’t get-”

Digit whistled and Violet immediately threw her ball at Gavin.

“Hit.” Gavin muttered before going to the bleachers.

“Is your only strategy really just hitting whoever is the most distracted as soon as the whistle blows?” Natalia taunted while bouncing a ball between her hands.

“So what if it is.” Violet picked up another ball and glared at Natalia.

Everyone else on the court paused and eyed the two girls nervously.

“Just the fact that it won’t help you much now.” Natalia reeled back her arm in preparation to throw and Violet did the same…

But before either of them could throw their balls, Britney had thrown a stray ball directly at one of the Freaks’ faces.

“Is that how you play?” Britney asked innocently.

“Hey, Britney, maybe don’t kill my brother!” Gavin shouted from the bleachers.

Garret rubbed his cheek where Britney had hit him and blushed when all of his teammates asked if he was okay.

“Your brother?” Britney asked with wide eyes. “You have a brother?”

“Brit, we’re twins.” Gavin said. “How did you miss that?”

“No way!” Britney walked to the other side of the court, grabbed Garret by the hand, and dragged him to the Populars’ bleachers.

“She was almost focused for more than two seconds.” Bree sighed as gameplay resumed.

“Brit, you know you’re out now, right?” Gavin asked as Britney carefully examined the twins while they were sitting next to each other.

“I am?” Britney asked. “But I didn’t get hit.”

“Well, you did just walk off the court.” Garret said. He winced when Britney grabbed one of his cheeks.

“Oh, sorry about that.” Britney blushed and pulled her hand back.

“Have you confirmed that we’re indeed twins yet?” Gavin asked.

“I guess.” Britney shrugged. “But I’ve got my eye on you!” She pointed directly at Garret.

“Run while you still can.” Gavin whispered to Garret.

Garret immediately retreated to his team’s bleachers. Dominic and Lyla had been sent back to the bleachers since Garret had been dragged away.

“Are you okay?” Quinn asked Garret.

“I’m alright. A little scared.” Garret cast a nervous glance at Britney. “But alright.”

The two watched as Clifford threw a ball at Jesse, hitting him in the leg.

“I hate dodgeball.” Garret muttered.

“I actually kinda liked playing dodgeball when I was little.” Quinn’s eyes shifted to the ground. “Back when I could actually play it.”

Garret’s eyes nervously shifted between his obviously upset teammate and his own fidgeting hands. The two sat in an awkward silence.

“There’s no reason you can’t play now.” Garret finally stammered out. “I’m sure Digit and Brad wouldn’t care.”

“Yeah, but people on our team would.” Quinn said.

“Like who?” Garret asked.

Quinn looked back up to watch Violet throw a ball at Natalia, hitting her in the arm.

“Not so tough anymore!” Violet shouted as Natalia promptly flipped her off.

“Other than her.” Garret said.

Peter threw a ball and hit Bree in the leg.

“Oh my god, it’s actually even!” Dominic exclaimed.

“Don’t jinx it.” Lyla warned.

Almost as if on cue, Will and Ramona threw their respective balls at Casey and Peter, hitting both of them.

“And you jinxed it.” Lyla sighed.

“Okay team, we can still do this.” Ally said to Wendy and Violet, the only remaining members of the Freaks.

“Yes, we ca-!” Wendy tripped and landed on top of Quinn, outside of the court.

“Are you okay?” Quinn asked Wendy, who was practically sitting in her lap.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Wendy said with a smile.

“Okay, can you get off of me?” Quinn asked a little impatiently.

Ally and Violet each grabbed a ball and scanned the other side of the court. Will and Veronica were both holding balls. Ramona and Clifford were empty-handed, but ready to dodge. Jared was holding a ball as well, but he seemed distracted…

“Jared, look out!” Will shouted as Violet’s arm reeled back.

Jared snapped into focus when Violet’s ball knocked his out of his hands and hit him in the stomach. Veronica tried to throw her ball at Violet, but she dodged it.

Ally was the next to throw, but her ball nearly hit Violet in the back of the head before falling harmlessly on the other side of the court.

“Jeez, Ally,” Violet said. “You trying to take me out?”

“Oh heavens no.” Ally said. “This is scary enough.”

“Well, it’s about to get scarier.” Violet said as each of the remaining Populars grabbed a ball.

“Not again.” Peter sighed as Ally and Violet tried, and failed, to dodge the four balls that were simultaneously thrown at them.

“Populars win again!” Brad announced as Digit whistled.

“And if the Populars win the next round, it’s game over.” Digit added. “Remember, this is best 3 out of 5.”

The two teams huddled on their respective sides to regroup. Natalia stood in the center of her team’s huddle.

“Alright team, just because we won the last two rounds doesn’t mean we can start getting lazy.” Natalia said.

“I don’t think any of the Freaks are miraculously gonna stop being terrible at dodgeball within the next five minutes.” Veronica said.

“Don’t jinx it!” Bree and Ramona shouted.

“Have you ever even watched a cheesy sports movie?” Will asked Veronica.

“Guys, focus.” Natalia said. “Especially you.” She pointed at Jared. “Seriously, what happened?”

“I don’t know.” Jared shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Whatever.” Natalia shrugged. “Brit, could you do me a favor and try to stay on the court this round?”

“Okay!” Britney nodded excitedly.

“Any final words of wisdom?” Veronica asked sarcastically.

“Yes, actually.” Natalia glared at Veronica. “The only Freaks that are kinda good at dodgeball are Violet and Peter, try and get them out first. That’s it.”

“Go team!” Britney giggled, filling the silence.

The Populars dispersed before the next round started. Jared sighed and sat on the bleachers.

“You know you’re not even being a little subtle, right?” Jared turned and saw Gavin sitting next to him.

“What are you talking about?” Jared asked.

“You’ve been staring at Wendy all day.” Gavin said with a smirk.

Jared’s face turned red. “Did you know she was in that clearing when you told me to look there?”

“Dude, she has bright orange hair. She’s pretty hard to miss.” Gavin said. “Yes, I knew she was there. And I had a sneaking suspicion that you might potentially like her.”

“Well, you were right.” Jared sighed. “But now I have no idea what to do.”

“Keep doing what you’ve been doing.” Gavin patted Jared on the back. “Just try and stay focused during the challenges.”

“Okay teams,” Brad announced. “Time for round three!”

The teams returned to the court and Quinn remained in the bleachers. Digit whistled and everyone scrambled to grab a ball.

Natalia immediately threw her ball at Violet, who cursed under her breath as she stalked off the court.

“Someone else get Peter out!” Natalia said as she dodged multiple throws from the Freaks.

“Did she just say ‘someone else get Peter out’, or was that just my imagination?” Peter whispered to Casey.

“Oh, she definitely just said ‘someone else get Peter out’.” Casey nodded.

“Run, man, run!” Dominic appeared between the two, holding two balls. He handed one to Peter. “We’ll cover you!”

Peter moved behind Dominic and Casey as the Populars prepared to throw.

“Dominic, I don’t have a ball.” Casey stated with wide eyes.

“Then brace yourself!” Dominic shouted.

Jared, Ramona, Bree, and Gavin all simultaneously threw their balls at the pair, aiming for the person behind them.

Dominic was able to deflect one ball, but Casey was hit by the other three. On his way to the bleachers, another ball almost hit Casey in the head.

“Hey, I’m already out!” Casey shouted.

“Well, walk faster!” Veronica, who had thrown the ball, responded. “Do you want to get hit in the head or something?”

Peter moved out from behind Dominic and hit Will in the leg. Will joined Natalia and Britney on his team’s bleachers.

“I don’t like how this round is going.” Natalia said.

“I said it before, this is just like a cheesy sports movie.” Will groaned. “The underdogs found a new sense of determination and now we’re gonna lose.”

“Wait, that doesn’t sound right.” Britney said.

“What do you mean, Brit?” Natalia asked.

“Well, if we lost yesterday’s challenge,” Britney said. “Doesn’t that make us the underdogs?”

“Brit, you’re a genius!” Will exclaimed.

Britney simply giggled and twirled her blonde hair around her finger.

***

“Well, we were never going to win with that attitude anyway.” Britney explained in the confessional. “No one ever wins a ‘cheesy sports movie’ with a negative perspective and poor demeanor. Besides, basing our odds of winning entirely on a movie genre is a pretty stupid plan.”

***

“Sorry, Gar.” Gavin said as he threw his ball at Garret.

“Oh, thank god.” Garret sighed as he retreated to the Freaks’ bleachers.

Bree threw her ball at Wendy, but Wendy slipped, allowing the ball to sail past her, and causing her to fall on her face. Her nearby teammates gasped and a few of the Populars even looked concerned.

***

“I don’t want to say Wendy’s good at dodging,” Quinn said in the confessional. “But her movements are so… sporadic that she’s nearly impossible to hit!”

***

Before Wendy could pick herself up, Veronica had thrown her ball at her, hitting Wendy in the butt.

“Owie.” Wendy muttered as Jesse and Lyla helped her up.

“What’d you do that for?” Jared yelled.

“To get her out?” Veronica responded. “Duh.”

“She was on the ground. She could’ve been hurt!” Jared argued, completely forgetting the game of dodgeball happening around him.

“Guys, not the time!” Gavin shouted.

“Why would you even care about that?” Veronica raised an eyebrow at Jared.

“Because he’s not a terrible person.” Bree muttered as she threw her ball at Ally, but missed.

Peter and Dominic each threw their balls at Jared and Veronica while they were distracted, hitting both of them, as Lyla and Jesse safely escorted Wendy to their team’s bleachers.

“Are you okay?” Quinn asked Wendy.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Wendy tried to shrug it off, but winced as she moved her arm.

“You may have to actually play.” Casey whispered to Quinn.

“Don’t even go there.” Quinn warned.

“Really, I’m fine!” Wendy insisted. She began to stretch her body, only wincing slightly at the movement.

“I don’t know.” Violet said. “You slammed into that floor pretty hard.”

“I fall all the time though.” Wendy said. She shrugged again, this time with no wince of pain. “See? Totally fine!”

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Violet said calmly, before reeling her own arm back and clenching her fist.

“What are you doing?!” Casey quickly interjected.

“I’m checking to see if she’s really hurt.” Violet explained, her fist still in the air.

“Ooh, good idea!” Wendy said, having just noticed Violet was preparing to punch her.

“No! Bad idea!” Casey argued.

“You’re no fun.” Violet rolled her eyes. “What do you think, wheels?”

“Please don’t punch Wendy.” Quinn sighed.

“Whatever.” Violet shrugged and lowered her fist.

“I still think I’m fine.” Wendy bounced happily in her seat.

“Good thing, because we don’t really have a plan B.” Violet said. She glanced over and smirked as she watched Quinn roll her eyes.

Back on the court, the Populars continued trying, and failing, to hit the Freaks.

“Is it just me, or did the Freaks just magically get kinda good at dodgeball?” Ramona asked Clifford.

“Like fairy magic?” Clifford said with wide eyes.

“Um, sure?” Ramona responded.

“Then you must have had something to do with it.” Clifford pointed at the faded fairy tattoo on Ramona’s arm.

“Oh, Cliff, that’s not real.” Ramona explained. “My little sister-”

“Here!” Clifford threw a spare ball to Ramona. “Use your fairy powers!”

“Okay…” Ramona threw her ball at Jesse, hitting him in the leg.

“I knew it!” Clifford cheered.

Peter threw a ball at Clifford while he was distracted.

“It’s okay, Cliff.” Ramona patted Clifford’s back as he went to the bleachers.

“Did he genuinely think she has magical powers?” Bree whispered to Gavin.

“I’m afraid so.” Gavin said.

“Oh my god!” Dominic started to cheer. “We’re actually in the-”

“Don’t jinx it!” The Freaks all shouted.

Ramona, Bree, and Gavin all grabbed a ball. Ally, Peter, Dominic, and Lyla did the same on their side of the court.

“Do we have a plan?” Ramona asked.

“We never have a plan.” Bree sighed.

“I guess we just all throw at once?” Gavin suggested. “And then keep going until they’re all out.”

“Good idea!” Peter said from the other side of the court.

“Dammit.” Gavin muttered as everyone on the court prepared to throw.

A flurry of dodgeballs sailed across the court from both sides. Even the contestants in the bleachers took cover as the people on the court went down one by one. Digit whistled when only one person was still standing on the court.

“Congrats, Freaks!” Brad said, motioning to Ally standing in the center of her team’s side of the court. The others were lying on the floor, holding their respective body parts that were hit.

“We did it, team!” Ally cheered.

“We still have to do it two more times.” Lyla groaned as she limped off the court.

“And I believe we can!” Ally said.

“Alright teams, that round ran a little long.” Digit said. “Let’s start round four.”

“Why are there so many rounds?” Lyla groaned as she limped back onto the court.

“Because Digit and I are terrible at time management.” Brad explained. “Now start dodging!” Digit whistled, signaling the start of the round.

The fourth round went similarly to how the three before it went. The Freaks, minus Quinn, struggled to hold their own against the more athletic Populars.

At one point, Ally had gone to the back corner of the court to grab a ball that had rolled out of bounds.

“Here.” Quinn, who had been sitting near the back corner for most of the challenge, said as she handed Ally the stray ball.

“Thanks, Quinn.” Ally smiled. “How do you think we’re doing this round?”

“Honestly, not as bad as the first few rounds.” Quinn said.

Peter, Jesse, Lyla, and Garret were already out, but the Populars had the same amount of people on the court.

“Great!” Ally began to reel her arm back, preparing to throw from the back of the court.

“Um, Ally,” Quinn said. “Maybe you should move a little further up-”

Quinn was cut off by the sound of Ally’s ball smacking into the back of someone’s head.

“Casey!” Quinn shouted as Casey fell to the ground.

“And I thought Wendy hit the floor hard.” Violet said. “Holy sh*t, Ally!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Ally’s eyes were wide as she took a step back.

“Is he moving?” Brad whispered to Digit.

“I swear, if our first casualty is because of dodgeball…” Digit muttered.

“I feel like we should pause gameplay.” Brad said.

“Do you see anyone still throwing dodgeballs?” Digit asked.

Brad looked around and saw that everyone had stopped what they were doing. “Fair point. Follow up question, do we have a first aid kit?”

“There’s most likely one in the mess hall.” Digit said. “Probably.”

“That didn’t sound very confident.” Will said from the court while rolling his eyes.

Peter crouched down beside Casey and gently turned his head to the side.

“Hey, Casey,” Peter said gently. “Please don’t be dead.”

Casey’s eyes slowly blinked open.

“He’s not dead!” Peter exclaimed.

Everyone, including Digit and Brad, cheered.

“What happened?” Casey asked.

Peter turned and saw Dominic trying to calm down Ally, who was on the verge of hyperventilating. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Are you okay?” Natalia stood over the two with an eyebrow raised.

“Just peachy.” Casey muttered as he sat up. He rubbed the back of his head and winced.

“You should probably go try and find that first aid kit.” Wendy said. “Trust me, I know injuries better than anyone.”

“Thanks, Wendy.” Casey said sarcastically.

“You’re welcome.” Wendy smiled genuinely.

Peter helped Casey stand up and not fall back over.

“Uh, Quinn.” Garret leaned over towards the girl in the wheelchair.

“Don’t.” Quinn stated.

“Quinn, I think you have to play.” Garret said.

“Well, we had a good run, guys.” Violet sighed.

“You shut up.” Casey groggily pointed at Violet.

“He’s still surprisingly with it for someone who might have a concussion.” Peter said, patting Casey’s back.

“If he doesn’t have one now, he’s going to in about three seconds.” Violet warned.

“Order in the court!” Digit shouted. “Get it, because we’re in a dodgeball court?”

No one laughed.

“Geez, tough crowd.” Digit muttered. “Anyway! You!” She pointed at Peter. “You’re already out. Go with Brad and find the first aid kit. The rest of you-” Digit stopped upon realizing Peter and Brad were already walking out, without Casey. “Um, guys!” She caught Casey just as he was about to collapse on the floor again. “Take him with you!”

“That makes a lot more sense.” Peter grabbed Casey and slung him over his shoulder. “Let’s go, buddy!” Casey groaned in pain as they followed Brad out.

“Okay, the rest of you.” Digit continued. “Just to recap, the only ones on the court for the Freaks were Ally, Wendy, Dominic, Violet, and Casey. The only ones left for the Populars were Natalia, Will, Gavin, Bree, and Veronica. Since the Freaks have one extra player, Quinn will substitute for Casey and gameplay will resume. Problem solved!”

“We still don’t know if Casey has a concussion or not, though.” Wendy pointed out.

“That is an entirely separate problem.” Digit stated. “Now get back on the court! Or just on the court for Quinn, I guess.”

“Thanks.” Quinn rolled her eyes as she wheeled her way onto the court.

***

“At least now when we lose, we’ll have Wheels’ inevitable epic fail to laugh about.” Violet said in the confessional. “And, more importantly, someone to vote off.”

***

“Don’t worry, Quinn. We got your back.” Ally said. “Well, I have your front. I should definitely stay in the front now.” She moved up until she was almost touching the center line.

“That’s probably a good call.” Natalia taunted from the other side.

“And…” Digit got ready to whistle. “Dodge!”

Natalia and Violet both simultaneously threw balls at each other. Violet was able to dodge, but Natalia was hit in the arm.

Veronica tried throwing a ball at Wendy, but Wendy tripped and fell before the ball could reach her.

“Might want to try some new tricks next time.” Veronica said as she grabbed another ball she had waiting nearby.

“Oh, that wasn’t a trick.” Wendy began to ramble as she stood up. “I just fall-” Veronica’s ball hit her in the leg, making her slip again. “A lot…”

Bree threw a ball at Dominic, hitting him as he tried to help Wendy off the court.

“These guys are ruthless.” Dominic muttered as he sat on the bleachers.

“Unless one of you has some master plan,” Violet said to Ally and Quinn. “I think we’re going down. Again.”

Ally was still standing towards the front of the court, directly in front of Quinn in an attempt to shield her. Violet was cautiously eyeing the four remaining Populars on the other side.

Will threw a ball in Ally’s direction. Violet grabbed Ally’s arm and pulled her out of the way, giving the ball a path to sail directly at Quinn…

“Sorry, Wheels.” Violet muttered.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Quinn caught the ball.

“Yay, Quinn!” Ally ran over and gave the girl a high-five as Will went to his team’s bleachers.

“Um, that means Freaks get to bring someone back, right?” Digit said with uncertainty.

The Freaks on the bleachers all looked at each other with wide eyes, none of them actually wanting to go back in.

“You!” Violet pointed at the entrance of the court where Peter was now standing. “You’re back in!”

“I am?” Peter asked. The three girls on the court nodded eagerly while the rest of the Freaks cheered.

“Hey, just out of curiosity, does your friend have a concussion?” Digit asked Peter as he was walking past.

“Not sure.” Peter shrugged.

“Great.” Digit said sarcastically. “Well, keep going, I guess. Am I supposed to whistle again? Why do you all keep stopping?”

“Dramatic effect.” Bree suggested.

Violet threw a ball at Bree while she was distracted. Bree rolled her eyes as she stomped off the court.

Peter and Gavin each threw their balls at the same time. Gavin’s ball missed, while Peter was able to hit Gavin in the leg.

Veronica was the only one left on the Populars’ side, but only one ball remained on the Freaks’ side, and it was still in Quinn’s hands.

“What are you gonna do?” Veronica began to taunt Quinn. “Hit me?”

Quinn wordlessly threw the ball at Veronica, hitting her in the stomach so hard that she doubled over.

“I’ve been pushing myself around in this chair for years.” Quinn said. “I’d like to think I have some upper body strength.”

The Freaks all cheered as Digit whistled, signaling the end of the fourth round.

“You guys just had to be tied after four rounds, didn’t you?” Digit said. “Fine, I guess we have to do round five. There’s supposed to be a twist for round five, but I have no idea where Brad put the paper that we wrote the twist on.”

“So, no twist?” Ramona asked hopefully.

“No!” Digit said. “I’m gonna find the twist!”

“What if you tell us the twist and then we decide if we want to do the twist or not?” Dominic suggested.

“This is not a democracy!” Digit said. “If I find the twist, we’re doing the twist! Now go mingle amongst yourselves!”

The teams dispersed on their respective sides of the court. Veronica was sitting in the back of her team’s bleachers.

“Hey, Veronica.” Clifford said as he took a seat next to the girl.

“What do you want?” Veronica sighed.

“Well, I know Floyd told you about the thing from the scavenger hunt.” Clifford said.

“And?” Veronica raised an eyebrow.

“Is that why he got voted off?” Clifford asked.

“Yeah, it is.” Veronica said. “And it could’ve very easily been you in his place instead.”

“What do you mean?” Clifford asked.

“I mean, I could’ve twisted that story any way I wanted to get rid of you instead.” Veronica said.

“Oh.” Clifford said. “That’s not very nice.”

Veronica rolled her eyes.

“I think this conversation is going worse than I thought it was.” Clifford continued.

“You thought this conversation was gonna go well?” Veronica asked.

“My mom always says I’m optimistic.” Clifford shrugged.

“That’s nice.” Veronica rolled her eyes again. “You can go now.”

“Okay.” Clifford stood up. “But I don’t think you’re really that bad. I mean, Floyd had faith in you.” Clifford turned around and smiled at Veronica before walking away.

“Well, that’s gonna be a problem.” Veronica muttered.

Meanwhile, Natalia and Will were sitting on the court and talking.

“Why did you all switch votes yesterday?” Will asked. “I thought everyone was voting for Veronica.”

“We were.” Natalia said. “But Veronica and I made a truce. I told you that already.”

“Yeah, and I still don’t believe you.” Will said.

“Veronica may have been useless, but Floyd practically threw the challenge.” Natalia rolled her eyes. “And don’t act like you actually liked him because I know you didn’t.”

“A bit of a warning still would’ve been nice.” Will said.

“Oh, I’m so terribly sorry.” Natalia said sarcastically. “I’ll be sure to fax you my vote two to three business days in advance.”

“Whatever, forget it.” Will rolled his eyes. “What’s our plan for the last round?”

“Well, that all depends on what kind of twist Digit and Brad pull out of their asses.” Natalia said.

“I found the twist!” Digit exclaimed as she pulled a piece of paper out of her back pocket.

The contestants groaned.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not that bad.” Digit said before beginning to read the paper. “The fifth round will be a four against four match. Each team must send out two boys and two girls to compete. The loser of this match will have to eliminate one of their teammates tonight.”

“That’s not so bad.” Will stood up. “What’s the plan?” He offered a hand to Natalia.

“I can name a few people who definitely aren’t going back in.” Natalia took Will’s hand and stood up. “Britney, Veronica, Jared-”

“Jared?” Will asked.

“I don’t know what’s up with him, but he’s way too distracted.” Natalia said.

“I don’t think you should go back in.” Will said.

“Why not?” Natalia asked.

“The Freaks have been targeting you every round.” Will said. “Besides, we don’t need any more surprises.” He started to walk back to the bleachers, where the rest of the Populars were waiting.

“Well, that’s gonna be a problem.” Natalia muttered.

Meanwhile, the Freaks were making their plan for the final round.

“Okay team, who are we sending in?” Ally asked.

“Peter.” The whole team, except Peter, said in unison.

“Sure.” Peter shrugged and smiled.

“You’re a saint, Peter.” Ally said. “And I think I’m speaking on behalf of everybody when I say I probably shouldn’t go back in.”

“Hey, there’s less people for you to accidentally knock out.” Violet joked. “But I’ll go back in.”

“Great!” Ally said, although a few of the Freaks looked wary. “Anyone else?”

Jesse and Garret both looked at Dominic.

“Me?” Dominic asked. “Why me?”

“I’m not good at dodgeball.” Garret stated.

“I don’t even know how to play dodgeball!” Jesse added.

“We need another guy.” Violet said, glaring at the three remaining boys.

“You know what, maybe Casey wants to give it another go.” Dominic said as he stood up. “I’ll go get him now.”

Dominic tried to run as the rest of the Freaks began to argue. Ally grabbed Dominic’s arm before he could get away.

“Dom, please.” Ally looked at him with wide eyes.

Dominic sighed as a faint blush creeped up his cheeks. “Okay.”

“Yay!” Ally hugged him.

“Yeah, whoopee!” Violet sarcastically cheered. “We still need another girl.”

“I’ll go!” Wendy stood up. “I think we’d make a great team!”

The Freaks all looked at Wendy and noted the multiple bruises she already had from the previous rounds.

“I don’t know, Wendy.” Peter said. “We really don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

“Ooh, then I probably shouldn’t go.” Wendy sat back down.

“Well, come on down, Lyla.” Violet said sarcastically. “It’s your lucky day.”

“No.” Lyla stated, not moving from her seat.

“I think Quinn should play.” Peter said.

“I second that!” Ally agreed.

“Really?” Quinn asked.

“Really. On one condition,” Ally turned to Violet. “You play nice.”

Violet raised her hands in mock innocence. “Whatever you say.”

“Alright teams, get back on the court.” Digit said.

Peter, Violet, Dominic, and Quinn reentered the court and found Will, Ramona, Clifford, and Bree staring back at them.

“On your mark, get set,” Digit said. “Dodge!” She whistled.

“Just out of curiosity, do we have a plan?” Quinn asked.

“Ooh, I have a good one!” Dominic said.

Dominic walked to the center of the court and cleared his throat. The other team eyed him suspiciously.

“Gee, there sure are a lot of balls out here!” Dominic joked, slapping his own knee.

The court was silent. Some of his own teammates even booed him from the bleachers.

“I don’t get it.” Jesse whispered to Lyla.

“Good.” Lyla replied.

This didn’t stop Clifford from bursting out laughing, though. Peter took advantage of the distraction and threw a ball at Clifford.

“Really, Clifford?” Natalia said as he walked to the bleachers, still laughing. “A balls joke?”

“It wasn’t even funny!” Veronica added.

“Yeah! Let’s go te-” Dominic was cut off by a ball hitting him in the stomach. “I’m okay.” He said weakly as he started to walk off the court.

Bree threw a ball at Quinn, but Quinn caught it.

“Alright!” Dominic cheered. “I’m back-” Dominic was hit in the stomach again. “Never mind…” He stumbled back off the court.

Violet threw a ball at Ramona, but Ramona deflected it with her own. Will took the opportunity to throw his ball at Violet, hitting her in the leg.

“Do we have a plan?” Ramona asked Will.

“Yeah, grab a ball.” Will said.

“Peter,” Quinn nervously looked at her only remaining teammate.

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna be okay.” Peter said. He was standing further up from Quinn, holding a ball defensively.

“Go!”

Will and Ramona simultaneously threw their balls at Peter. Quinn threw her ball at Ramona in retaliation. Peter and Ramona both gave their respective teammates a reassuring pat on the back before walking off the court.

Will grabbed a nearby ball from off the court. Quinn looked around and saw that there were no balls on her side.

“Are you ready for this?” Will asked, only partially tauntingly.

Quinn gripped the sides of her wheelchair, her eyes brimming with determination. “Bring it.”

The Freaks all cheered from their bleachers.

***

“It was that moment I realized something.” Will said in the confessional. He sighed. “We weren’t the underdogs in this cheesy sports movie.”

***

Will threw his ball at Quinn.

“The Freaks win!” Digit announced.

Quinn held the ball that was just thrown at her in her hands and smiled.

“Okay Populars, you know the drill. Campfire, tonight. One of you will be eliminated.” Digit said. “And Freaks, go see if your teammate has a concussion or not.”

The Freaks all set off in the direction of the mess hall while the Populars scattered near the cabins.

The Freaks entered the mess hall and found Casey sitting at one of the tables, holding an ice pack to his head. Brad was standing near the entrance, facing Casey, but with his back to the door.

“Okay, man,” Brad said. “How many fingers am I holding up?” He held three fingers in the air.

“I really don’t think this is going to give any indication on whether or not I’m concussed.” Casey said.

“Humor me.” Brad said.

“Three.” Casey sighed.

“Yay!” Ally cheered.

Brad jumped and turned, finally noticing the Freaks were all standing in the entrance. Ally ran past Brad and pulled Casey into a bear hug.

“I’m sorry I maybe almost gave you a concussion!” Ally squeezed Casey tight.

“It’s okay, Ally.” Casey choked out while awkwardly patting her back.

“Try not to suffocate him on the same day, Ally.” Violet said.

“Oops!” Ally let go of Casey. “Sorry, again.”

“It’s okay.” Casey took in a deep breath. “Again.”

“Good news, buddy!” Peter led the rest of the team over to Casey. “We won!”

“Either I hit my head a lot harder than I thought,” Casey said. “Or you just said we won.”

“Probably both.” Quinn said. “But we really did win.”

“Figures.” Brad said. “The underdogs always win in the cheesy sports movies. Especially the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story-”

“Can you please stop referencing that stupid movie?” Lyla asked. “We’re still in the uniforms and everything.” She motioned to her yellow shirt and bright red shorts.

“Fine, go get changed.” Brad said. “I feel like it would be dramatic to say that I’ll see you all at the campfire ceremony, but I won’t, so… Bye?” He walked out.

The Freaks collectively shrugged and continued talking. Meanwhile, the Populars were in their respective sides of their cabin discussing the upcoming elimination.

“So, who are we voting for?” Britney asked on the girls’ side of the cabin, twirling her hair around her finger.

“Clifford.” Veronica said, at the same time that Natalia said “Will.”

“Here we go again.” Bree groaned.

“Wait, we can talk through this.” Ramona said. “Veronica, why do you want to vote off Clifford?”

“He’s stupid.” Veronica shrugged.

“Oh, that’s not very nice.” Ramona sighed. “Natalia, why do you want to vote off Will?”

“He’s nosy.” Natalia said.

“Okay, so neither of you have very good reasoning.” Ramona said.

“Great.” Bree rolled her eyes.

“Just because Clifford isn’t smart, doesn’t mean he won’t be useful in future challenges.” Natalia said.

“He lost us the challenge over a balls joke!” Veronica argued. “I know Will ended up losing the challenge to a crip in the end but-”

“Woah! Can we not use that word?” Ramona cut Veronica off. “Like it or not, Quinn kicked our asses in today’s challenge. Try and show a little respect.”

“She’s not even on our team.” Veronica said.

“And?” Ramona said. “She’s still a person.”

“Who the hell are we voting for?” Bree asked, clearly annoyed.

The girls continued to argue while the guys talked on the other side of the cabin.

“Can you hear anything?” Will asked.

“Not much.” Jared said with his ear to the wall of the cabin. “But it doesn’t sound like they’re agreeing on anything.”

“Well that’s good. We might actually be able to vote one of them off.” Will said. “As long as someone doesn’t switch votes at the last second.” He glared at Gavin.

“Do some basic math before you try and insult me next time.” Gavin said. “It’s 5 against 4, the girls don’t need my vote.”

“Suddenly I miss Floyd.” Jared said as he sat down.

“I miss Floyd too.” Clifford sadly sat next to Jared.

“I know, buddy.” Jared patted Clifford’s back.

“He’s in a better place now.” Gavin joked.

“Floyd died??” Clifford exclaimed.

“No!” Jared said. “Floyd is alive and well.”

“Assuming that canoe got him to god-knows-where they’re sending us.” Will added.

“Anyway, who are we voting for?” Gavin asked.

“Can we vote for Veronica?” Jared asked.

“I think I second that.” Clifford said.

“I don’t know.” Will said.

“Well, we all know who you want to vote off.” Gavin said.

“Oh yeah?” Will asked. “Who?”

“Natalia.” The other three guys said simultaneously.

***

“I was actually gonna say Britney.” Will said in the confessional. “I mean, yeah, Natalia is a bit of a loose cannon, but as of right now, she’s our leader. Britney’s just confused all the time. I’m worried she’s gonna hurt herself. But whatever.” He shrugged. “I’ll let the guys think what they want. Besides, I doubt Natalia’s going anywhere anytime soon.”

***

“Whatever.” Will said. “We have time to figure this out.”

“Attention, Populars!” Digit’s voice said over the loudspeaker. “I hope you all know who you’re voting for because you’ve run out of time to figure it out! Please come to the campfire immediately!”

“Never mind.” Will sighed as his team began to trudge to the campfire.

“Okay, Popular Salmon.” Digit said once they were all gathered around the campfire. “You know the drill, go vote.”

The Populars all started making their way to the confessional.

“Who thought of these team names?” Brad whispered to Digit. “What even is the other team’s name?”

“Someone and something stupid, I’m sure.” Digit replied.

***

“I’m pretty sure this is who we all agreed on voting for.” Britney shrugged as she cast her vote.

***

“Here’s to hoping the girls didn’t agree on who they’re voting for.” Jared said as he cast his vote.

***

“You know, I think I might’ve actually learned something today…” Natalia cast her vote.

***

“The votes are in.” Brad said. “And the following people are safe.”

“Gavin, Bree, and Jared.” Digit said.

Brad tossed them marshmallows.

“Ramona and Natalia.” Digit said.

Brad tossed them marshmallows as well.

“Britney.” Digit said. She paused before adding, “And Will.”

Brad tossed the two marshmallows.

***

“…I can’t let my own personal agenda affect the team.” Natalia sighed. “So I guess Will can live another day. For now.”

***

“Welcome back to the bottom two, Veronica.” Digit smirked.

Veronica rolled her eyes while Clifford looked around nervously.

“And the last marshmallow goes to…”

*

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*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

“Veronica.” Digit said as Brad tossed her the last marshmallow. “Sorry, Clifford.”

“That’s okay.” Clifford stood up and sighed. “It was fun while it lasted.”

The guys, and Ramona, all gave Clifford a hug before he started making his way to the dock.

“Alright, buddy.” Brad joined Clifford on the dock. “Have you ever ridden a canoe before?”

“Nope.” Clifford said, but he was still smiling.

“Bless your soul.” Brad put a hand on his heart before abruptly shoving a canoe paddle into Clifford’s hands. “Good luck! Who knows, you might find Floyd along the way.”

“You still don’t know if Floyd made it to… wherever the losers go?” Natalia asked.

“We’re pretty sure he made it.” Digit shrugged.

“I’m coming, buddy!” Clifford exclaimed as he jumped into the Canoe of Catastrophe. “Bye, guys!” He waved as the canoe began to drift away.

The rest of the Populars all waved back.

***

“Crisis averted.” Veronica sighed. “I almost feel bad. He seemed like a nice guy. But, then again, every guy seems like a nice guy… until they’re not.”

***

Meanwhile, Quinn and Casey were sitting outside their cabin.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah, I should be fine by tomorrow.” Casey said. He was still holding an icepack to his head, but he seemed to be in less pain than before. “Maybe it’s for the best, I heard you kicked some serious ass after I left.”

“No, I didn’t.” Quinn blushed.

“Oh, really?” Casey asked. “Because that’s all Peter and Garret were talking about.”

“What about Peter and Garret?” Peter jokingly asked as him and Garret walked out of the guys’ side of the cabin. “I would pat your head, but I don’t want to kill you.”

Casey rolled his eyes, but smiled. Quinn and Garret both softly laughed to themselves.

***

“I’m really happy with my little group of friends.” Peter said in the confessional. “I know the three of them aren’t the most social people in the world, but they’re starting to come out of their shells!” He smiled warmly before leaving the confessional.

***

“There goes Wendy.” Casey observed as he watched the clutz wander in the direction of the dock.

“I don’t know if I trust that girl by the dock by herself.” Peter said. “Hey, Wen-!”

“Wait.” Quinn put a hand on Peter’s arm. “I don’t think she’s alone.”

The four of them watched as Jared met Wendy by the dock.

“It’s like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet!” Peter gasped.

“Don’t Romeo and Juliet both die in the end?” Garret asked quietly.

“Okay, bad example.” Peter said.

“After today’s challenge, I almost forgot you were such a theater nerd.” Casey said.

The three boys continued to talk while Quinn continued to watch the two opposing contestants by the dock.

***

“Perhaps,” Quinn carefully adjusted her glasses in the confessional. “I’m not the most expendable one on my team anymore.”

***

Digit and Brad had returned to the mess hall to recover from their first challenge run by their lonesome.

“I guess one of us has to close the episode.” Brad said.

“I opened the episode.” Digit was laying across one of the tables with an icepack of her own resting over her eyes. “You do it.”

“Fine.” Brad sighed before turning to the camera. “Will the Freaks continue their winning streak? Will the Populars ever be able to get along for more than five seconds and win a challenge for once? Will anything ever happen between Wendy and Jared and how will their teams react?”

“Nice.” Digit said.

“Thank you.” Brad said to Digit. He turned back to the camera. “Find out next time on…”

“Camp Total Drama.” Digit said dryly without looking up.

“Yeah.” Brad sighed. “What she said.”

Chapter 4: What's New Piggy-Cat?

“Welcome back to Camp Total Drama!”

Brad and Digit were sitting in the mess hall, waiting for the contestants.

“Can I tell them what happened last time?” Brad asked.

“Sure.” Digit rolled her eyes.

“Alright, last time on Camp Total Drama,” Brad said. “Our contestants played everyone’s favorite game: dodgeball!”

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there.” Digit said. “Dodgeball is the worst and one of our contestants might have a concussion because of it.”

“Okay, whatever, can I tell them the rest?” Brad asked.

“Fine.”

“After Casey left the game due to injury, Quinn led the Freaks to their second win.” Brad continued. “The Populars were faced with their second elimination and everyone’s favorite dumb jock, Clifford, was eliminated.”

“Don’t forget about what happened after Clifford’s elimination.” Digit said.

“What happened after Clifford’s elimination?” Brad asked.

Digit sighed. “A certain group of Freaks stumbled upon Wendy and Jared’s budding forbidden romance.”

“Oh yeah!” Brad said. “Who was that again?”

Quinn, Casey, Garret, and Peter were talking near the front of the mess hall, close to where they were gathered the night before.

“How long do you think that’s been going on?” Peter asked, the four still being hung up on what they discovered the night before.

“Considering we’ve been here for less than a week,” Quinn said. “Not long, I’d assume.”

“Jared already appeared to have an attachment to Wendy during the dodgeball challenge.” Casey said.

“How would you know? You were unconscious for most of the challenge!” Peter said jokingly.

“I was conscious when Wendy got hurt!” Casey interjected.

“Wendy gets hurt a lot.” Quinn pointed out. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”

“You know what I mean!” Casey threw his hands up in exasperation. “When she fell and then that other girl hit her and Jared started yelling-”

“I know what you mean.” Quinn giggled.

“Maybe we’re just overthinking this.” Garret said, his quiet voice turning the attention of the other three. “I mean, I overthink things all the time.”

“What do you mean, Gar?” Peter asked.

“Well, what if Wendy and Jared just bumped into each other by accident last night?” Garret shrugged. “What if there’s nothing going on between them?”

“Bless your kind, naive soul.” Quinn put a hand over her heart.

“Yeah, something tells me they’re not just bumping into each other by accident.” Casey pointed in the direction of the dock, where you could see the clutz and the jock meeting again.

“Oh.” Garret paused. “In that case, I know exactly who to ask if we really want to know what’s going on.”

By the dock, Wendy and Jared were talking.

“I think today’s the day we finally have a space challenge.” Wendy was walking back and forth across the dock with her arms spread in an attempt to keep herself balanced.

“Oh really?” Jared asked from the post he was sitting on. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know.” Wendy shrugged. “I just have a good feeling about today, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Jared smiled. “Whatever today’s challenge is, it can’t be worse than yesterday’s.”

Wendy stopped walking and tilted her head. “What was so bad about dodgeball?”

“You mean other than your teammate getting a concussion?” Jared joked.

“Casey’s fine!” Wendy said. “I checked his pupils to make sure they were the same size and everything!”

Now Jared was tilting his head at Wendy.

“My sixth-grade health teacher told us if someone’s pupils were different sizes, they had a concussion.” Wendy explained. “Or maybe it was something else, I don’t really remember. But he’s fine!”

“I believe you.” Jared nodded. “I just don’t like dodgeball.”

“How come?” Wendy asked.

Jared paused for a moment as his cheeks turned red. “I don’t like hurting other people. Even in sports. It’s stupid, I know.”

“That’s not stupid at all.” Wendy shook her head and then smiled. “It’s actually really sweet.”

***

“I really don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling right now. I’m pretty clumsy with feelings too.” Wendy blushed in the confessional. “I really like talking to Jared and I’ve never really had friends that I’ve talked to as much as him.” She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face as the blush faded from her cheeks and her shy smile turned more to a grimace. “I’ve also known the guy for less than a week, so I’m probably overreacting. Besides, why would he like me? No one’s ever liked me before…”

***

Meanwhile, Garret had found his informant sitting in the mess hall.

“Hello, Gavin.” Garret spoke in a deep voice and sat across from his twin, folding his hands over the table in mock seriousness.

“What’s up, Gar?” Gavin lightly rolled his eyes.

“What do you know about a certain… forbidden romance happening on the island?” Garret asked.

“Well, that depends.” Gavin said. “What do you know?”

“I asked you first.” Garret said.

“Fine, well-”

Gavin was interrupted by a thump coming from the entrance of the mess hall. Peter, Casey, and Quinn were huddled in the doorway, leaning in to listen on the conversation. Gavin couldn’t see them because his back was to the entrance, but Garret’s eyes widened at their sudden noise.

“Sorry.” Casey whispered to Quinn after accidentally knocking her wheelchair into the wall.

Gavin slowly began to turn around, but the three had managed to disappear before being spotted.

Gavin turned back around and smirked. “Look at you, making friends.”

“Shut up.” Garret blushed, dropping his serious façade.

“I don’t think he saw us.” Peter (loudly) whispered from outside.

Quinn and Casey shushing Peter could also be heard from inside the mess hall.

“You were saying.” Garret folded his hands again. “You know, uh, about the… the thing?”

“Ah yes, Jared and Wendy.” Gavin said. “They started talking during the first challenge after yours truly sent Jared to go make sure she wasn’t dead.”

“How did I know you had to be directly involved in this?” Garret asked.

“Because I’m me.” Gavin said. “Now I don’t know about Wendy, but Jared’s been a bit… unfocused ever since.”

“Well, I don’t think Wendy’s ever really that focused.” Garret said. “But none of us really thought anything was off until me and… some others-”

Peter, Casey, and Quinn slowly crept their way back into the entrance.

“-saw the two of them talking by the docks last night.” Garret finished.

“I told you all I know.” Gavin said. “Tell your Scooby Doo gang you guys cracked the case.”

“Can I be Daphne?” Peter asked excitedly.

This time Casey and Quinn loudly shushed Peter while pushing him out of the doorway.

“Are we interrupting something?”

Peter, Casey, and Quinn turned around to see that the Populars, save for Gavin and Jared, were standing behind them, waiting to get into the mess hall. Natalia, the one who had spoken, was tapping her foot impatiently. Peter grabbed Quinn’s wheelchair and the three of them fled the scene. The Populars all shrugged and entered the mess hall just as Garret was leaving.

Britney gasped and ran over to Garret, grabbing his face with both her hands. “How’s your face?” She looked at him with wide eyes, remembering how she’d smacked him in the face with a dodgeball at the last challenge.

“What?” Garret stammered. “Oh, yeah, that. It’s fine.”

“Good!” Britney ruffled Garret’s hair before releasing him.

“I think you’re scaring him, Brit.” Natalia whispered to the blonde as Garret ran from the mess hall as fast as his friends before did.

“Don’t worry about him.” Gavin turned around in his seat. “He’s just a little shy.”

After breakfast, Digit and Brad had gathered all of the contestants in the clearing for their next challenge.

“Okay kids, today we’re doing something a little different.” Digit said. “Today’s challenge will be an obstacle course!”

“The notes said it’s an Oof-stacle Course!” Brad interjected.

“I was trying to maintain any shred of dignity we still had, but thank you, Brad.” Digit said through gritted teeth. “The obstacle-”

“Oof-stacle!”

“-course is comprised of five parts.” Digit continued, ignoring her co-host. “A walk over a grease covered log slide, a trip over a very steep cliff on a grease covered zip-line, going through a grease filled set of pipes, a jump over grease covered tires, and a climb up a rope wall.”

“Is the rope wall also covered in grease?” Casey asked.

“Very observant.” Digit said. “And yes, yes it is.”

“This whole challenge sounds a little…” Britney paused to find the right word. “Greasy.”

“And Digit left out the best part!” Brad said. “Instead of using batons like a normal relay, you’ll be using pigs!”

“Pigs?!?” The cast exclaimed.

“Yes, you really didn’t notice the two pigs sitting behind us.” Digit said, stepping to the side, revealing two pigs wearing leashes.

“That can’t be humane.” Ally shook her head.

“They look happy to be here.” Dominic said.

The two stared at the pigs. One was rolling around aimlessly on the ground and the other was gnawing at its leash.

“…Or maybe not.” Dominic shrugged.

Ally was still frowning while looking at the pigs.

“Hey,” Dominic nudged Ally’s shoulder. “What do you call when a pig gets hurt?”

“What?”

“A ham-bulance!” Dominic exclaimed, immediately making Ally smile.

“Anyway,” Digit continued. “Since there are five events, you will be sending in teams of two for each one. Populars, since you’re already two people short, two of you will be flying solo. Got it?”

The contestants all nodded and split off into their respective teams to start planning.

“Alright team, let’s get the hard part out of the way first.” Natalia said to the Populars. “Who wants to go alone?”

“I’ll do it.” Will raised his hand.

“Our hero.” Natalia teased.

Will rolled his eyes in response.

“You should do an event by yourself.” Bree said to Ramona.

“Really?” Ramona asked.

“Yeah!” Bree said. “Of course, I’d love to do one with you, but you’re probably the most athletic one on our team.”

“I don’t know.” Ramona’s cheeks were red.

“Bree’s right.” Natalia cut in. “We’ll start strong and finish strong with Will and Ramona. Everyone else, pair up.”

Britney immediately latched onto Natalia’s arm.

Bree grabbed Gavin before he could approach Jared. “Sorry, but I really don’t want to get stuck with Veronica.” She whispered.

Veronica and Jared both glared at each other.

“You know what? This is great.” Will said. “You two can learn to work together.”

Natalia pulled Will aside. “That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, would you rather be Veronica’s partner?” Will asked. “Because it doesn’t look like Bree and Gavin are splitting up.”

“I thought we were partners!” Britney said, still gripping Natalia’s arm.

“We are, Brit.” Natalia pat the blonde’s head.

“Can’t we just send her alone?” Britney asked.

“No, Brit.” Will said.

“Why not?” Britney asked.

“Because we’ll lose if we send her alone.” Natalia sighed.

“But we always lose!” Britney threw her free hand into the air.

“But we’d like to win.” Will said. “For once.”

“Fine.” Natalia turned back to the rest of the team. “You two go sing kumbaya and work together.” She said to Jared and Veronica. “Preferably in the pipes.”

“You’re gonna send me into the pipes with him!” Veronica cried as Jared recoiled.

“You can’t get much closer than that.” Britney giggled, twirling her hair around her finger.

“Exactly.” Natalia said before turning to Bree and Gavin. “Do you two want the zip-line or the tires? Please say zip-line.”

Britney gasped. “Can we do the zip-line?” She was bouncing and gripping Natalia’s arm even tighter.

“Never mind.” Natalia rolled her eyes. “Let’s go, team.” She added dryly.

Most of the Freaks had already paired off with little complications.

“Hey, Wheels!” Violet approached Quinn. “You wanna be my partner?”

Quinn stared back at Violet with her eyes wide in fear. “Why?”

Violet shrugged. “Maybe so we can actually finish the chall-”

“Actually!” Ally cut in and grabbed Violet’s shoulders. “I was hoping you’d be my partner, Violet. Just like the scavenger hunt!”

“Whatever.” Violet rolled her eyes.

“Great!” Ally smiled before dragging Violet away from Quinn.

“You okay?” Casey asked Quinn.

“You’re my partner.” Quinn put her hand on Casey’s arm.

“Okay.” Casey shrugged.

“I guess that leaves us, Wendy.” Dominic said, watching Lyla and Jesse and Peter and Garret pair up.

“Can we do the zip-line?” Wendy asked, beaming.

“Yeah!” Dominic agreed.

“Yay!” Wendy high-fived Dominic before setting off to the zip-line…

And before tripping and falling on her way there.

“I’m okay!” Wendy yelled back to Dominic.

“Good!” Dominic called back.

***

“Maybe Wendy and I doing the zip-line over a cliff isn’t the best idea…” Dominic said in the confessional.

***

“I hope you’ve all decided who’s doing what,” Brad said. “Because it’s time to start the challenge!”

Ally and Britney cheered while the rest of their respective teams groaned. Britney skipped over to Ally and gave her a high-five.

“Come on, Brit!” Natalia called as everyone else got into their starting positions.

“Bye, Britney!” Ally waved as Violet dragged her off to their event.

“Here’s your pigs.” Digit said as she dropped a pig into Quinn’s lap.

“On your marks…” Brad handed the other pig to Will.

“Get set…”

“Go!” The two co-hosts shouted in unison.

The pig on Quinn’s lap squealed in her face and then tried to run away.

“Not so fast!” Casey grabbed the pig’s leash and held it in the air.

Will tightly held onto his pig and carefully started to walk across the log slide.

“Any words of advice?” Casey turned to Digit and Brad, still holding his team’s now very angry pig in the air.

“Don’t hit your head again.” Digit joked before the two left.

“She is right.” Quinn said, watching Will slip and almost fall on his log. “You probably shouldn’t go across the log.”

“I’m fine.” Casey insisted.

“I know.” Quinn said. “But I have a plan.”

“You do?” Casey asked.

“Yeah.” Quinn nodded. “Push my wheelchair across the log.”

“That’s even less safe!” Casey argued.

“The worst that could happen is I tip over and fall,” Quinn said. “And there’s only one person from the other team here to make fun of me if I do.”

“I’ll cover my eyes if you fall.” Will cut in, currently being halfway across his log.

“Give me the pig.” Quinn held her arms out.

“Fine.” Casey sighed and handed Quinn the pig. “Just… be careful.”

Will had nearly made it across his log when Quinn was vaulted across her own. Quinn’s wheelchair tipped forward as she landed, sending their pig flying…

Directly into the hands of Dominic, one half of the next pair for the Freaks.

“Nice!” Dominic said while Wendy clapped.

“Are you okay?” Will asked Quinn, who was lying on the ground next to her now grease covered wheelchair.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Quinn gave a sideways thumbs up as Will’s pig started licking Quinn’s face.

“No! Bad pig!” Will said, dragging the pig away by its leash. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to respect women on the farm!”

Natalia and Britney started audibly laughing behind Will.

“Take the stupid pig.” He sighed as he handed the pig to Natalia.

“You’re something else.” Natalia said, still giggling.

“Yeah, yeah.” Will turned and saw that Casey had ran over and helped Quinn back up. “You two better hurry up, the Freaks are on a roll.” He said to Natalia and Britney.

Dominic and Wendy were trying to figure out how to get the two of them and the pig across the cliff nearby.

“Okay, I’ll go to the other side.” Dominic said. “And then you send the pig over on the zip-line.”

“Got it.” Wendy nodded. “Do I go across the zip-line after?”

“Um…” Dominic peered over the very steep cliff and into the rough waters far below. “Maybe you should just wait here.”

“Okay!” Wendy happily grabbed the pig.

While Dominic was getting ready to go across the zip-line, Natalia was preparing to send Britney across with the pig in her hands.

“Are you sure this harness can hold us?” Britney asked, hugging the pig to her chest.

“Yes, Brit.” Natalia tightened the harness around the blonde. “You’ll be fine.”

“Okay…” Something caught Britney’s eye seconds before Natalia sent her across the zip-line. “Is the leash supposed to be around your arm-”

The two girls screamed as they were both sent flying across the zip-line, Natalia only dangling from the pig’s leash. Natalia and the pig crashed to the ground on the other side while Britney landed safely, thanks to the harness.

“No, the leash was not supposed to be around my arm.” Natalia groaned, still lying on the ground.

“Well, you were right!” Britney added with a smile. “The harness did hold us. All of us!”

“Yay.” Natalia muttered sarcastically.

Dominic had made it to the other side shortly after.

“You ready, Wendy?” Dominic shouted across the cliff.

“Yep!” Wendy gave a thumbs up.

“Okay,” Dominic prepared himself to catch the pig. “Just be careful!”

Wendy giggled to herself as she strapped the pig into the harness and sent it across. Dominic kept his eyes on Wendy until the pig was so close that he couldn’t see her anymore. Dominic grabbed the pig once it made it to the other side and unstrapped it.

“Nice!” Dominic said.

When he looked back up, however, he noticed that Wendy was no longer standing on the other side of the cliff.

Dominic sighed and slowly looked down over the edge of the cliff.

“I’m okay!” Wendy shouted from on top of a rock at the bottom of the cliff.

Dominic turned to the pig, completely baffled. “How does she do it?”

The pig, equally confused, shrugged in response.

At the start of the pipes, Veronica and Jared were still trying to get their pig to go in the pipes while Lyla and Jesse waited for their teammates.

“One of us is gonna have to carry the pig through.” Jared said.

“Well, it’s not gonna be me.” Veronica scoffed.

Jared rolled his eyes in response.

Before their argument could continue, Dominic ran over with his team’s pig.

“What took so long?” Lyla asked, grabbing the pig.

“Oh, nothing much.” Dominic said nonchalantly. “I just have to go make sure Wendy isn’t severely injured at the bottom of the cliff.”

“What?!” Lyla and Jesse exclaimed.

“What?!” Jared echoed.

“Why do you even care?” Veronica glared at Jared.

“See you guys later!” Dominic darted off.

Veronica’s glare slowly turned to a look of understanding mixed with a hint of mischief. “Oh, I think I know why you care so much.” A smirk formed across her face.

In a moment of panic, Jared shoved the pig into Veronica, sending both of them into the pipes. What Jared didn’t realize was that the leash was still wrapped around his arm, causing him to be dragged through too.

“I guess we should get going too.” Lyla stared into the pipe, pig in hand.

“Yeah.” Jesse nodded. “Ladies first? Or is that considered rude in a situation like this?”

“Come on.” Lyla smiled and grabbed Jesse’s hand before dragging him into the pipes with her.

Lyla and Jesse somehow made it out of the pipes before Veronica and Jared.

“Where are they?” Gavin wondered aloud while Ally and Violet (mostly Ally) cheered.

***

“I had a feeling partnering Veronica and Jared was a horrible idea.” Bree said in the confessional. “But, once again, I wasn’t about to partner up with Veronica.”

***

The six contestants all turned their attention back to the pipes when they heard noises coming from inside the Populars’ pipe.

“Are they still arguing?” Jesse said.

“Whose bright idea was putting those two together again?” Bree asked Gavin.

“Will’s.” Gavin said. “But technically it was our fault for partnering up with each other.”

“Let’s just ignore that part.” Bree waved a hand, dismissing it.

“You have a crush on her!” Veronica shouted as her and Jared fell out of the pipes.

“What?!” The surrounding contestants, minus Gavin, exclaimed.

All Gavin did was mutter “Oh no…”

“You have a big crush on Wendy!” Veronica continued as Jared’s cheeks turned red. “One of the Freaks!”

The group fell into an awkward silence.

“Well, we’ll be taking this.” Bree tip-toed over and grabbed the pig from Jared. “Sorry, buddy.” She gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before grabbing Gavin and dashing off.

Ally and Violet followed close behind.

Meanwhile, Digit and Brad were watching everything unfold from a screen of different monitors at the end of the obstacle course.

“I think we need something to make this challenge a little more…” Brad paused. “Interesting.”

“I’d love to hear what you think would make this more interesting.” Digit said sarcastically.

Brad pulled an old looking speaker out from behind the screen. “Check this out.” He pressed a few buttons and Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual started playing over the loudspeakers scattered throughout the course. Digit rolled her eyes.

“Why?” Violet asked herself back by the tires.

“I love this song!” Ally said.

Violet sighed. “Alright, Ally. Do you remember our plan?”

“Yes!” Ally nodded. “But… tell me again. So I know you remember.”

Violet rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna go across some of the tires while you wait here with the pig. When I’m done moving, you’re gonna throw the pig to me. Then, you’re gonna go farther across the tires, and then I’ll throw the pig back to you.”

“And we keep doing that until we’re across!” Ally finished.

“Yes.” Violet said. “At least you got the important part.”

Bree and Gavin were both walking across the greasy tires together while Gavin held the pig.

“Did you know about Jared and Wendy?” Bree asked.

“No.” Gavin lied.

“You totally knew.” Bree said.

“If you’re so sure, then why’d you ask?” Gavin said.

“You know, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” Bree said.

“Oh really?” Gavin raised an eyebrow. “You’re not the first cheerleader who’s said that to me.”

Bree opened her mouth to speak, but she interrupted herself with a shriek as the Freaks’ pig flew over her head. The two Populars looked and saw that Ally and Violet were already ahead of them with their strategy.

“They have a plan?” Bree asked, clearly annoyed. “What the hell!”

“We have to distract them.” Gavin said. “We’ll lose if we don’t.”

Bree looked to her side and saw Ally holding her pig close to her chest while gently stroking its head. “Say no more.” Bree smirked before making her way over.

“Hush little piggy, don’t you cry,” Ally hummed quietly. “Ally’s gonna sing you a-”

“Hey, Ally!” Bree smiled at her competitor.

“Oh, hello, Bree.” Ally returned the smile while still cradling the pig in her arms. “What are you doing here?”

“No reason, I just wanted to chat.” Bree said. “So, what do you think about what just went down?”

“You mean the thing with Jared and Wendy?” Ally said. “Well, I’m a little surprised, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“Really?” A playful smile was plastered on Bree’s face.

“Yeah, I mean it shouldn’t matter what team you’re on.” Ally continued.

Bree nodded along before asking “Are you dating anyone back home?”

“What?” Ally’s cheeks immediately turned red. “No.”

“I don’t believe you.” Bree’s Chesire Cat smile intensified. “You’re way too much of a catch.”

“No, I’m not dating anyone back home.” Ally shook her head, still blushing furiously.

“Well, you have to have your eyes on someone here.” Bree insisted. “Or someone has their eye on you…” She added with a wink.

“Oh, well, I-” Ally stammered.

“Ally!” Violet was waving her arms from across the tires. “What are you doing?!”

Gavin had already successfully made it to the end of the tires with the pig.

“Sorry, Violet!” Ally tossed the pig to her partner as quickly as possible. “Goodbye, Bree.” She gave a shy wave before awkwardly shuffling away through the tires.

Violet ran the pig the rest of the way across the tires and handed it off to Peter and Garret in front of the rope wall, but Ramona was already halfway up the rope with her pig in hand.

“Come on, Gar.” Peter grabbed the pig. “We can still do this!”

“And the Populars win!” Brad announced from the end of the course as Ramona hit the ground on the other side of the rope wall.

“For once.” Digit added.

“Never mind.” Peter sighed and released the pig.

“So, let me get this straight,” Gavin said to Bree once she made it out of the tires. “Your master plan to distract them was to flirt with one of them?”

“Yep.” Bree smiled confidently as she tightened her ponytail. “And it worked.”

“Maybe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” Gavin said as him and Bree shared a smile.

Most of the contestants had gathered at the end of the obstacle course.

“Freaks, we’ll be seeing you at tonight’s campfire ceremony.” Digit said.

Dominic and Wendy joined the group, both of them soaking wet.

“We lost?” Wendy asked. “What else did I miss?”

“Um…” Lyla and Jesse shared a look. “We’ll tell you later.”

“We didn’t lose!” Britney pulled Natalia and Will into a group hug.

“Alright, you’re all dismissed and we’ll see you at the mess hall tonight.” Brad said, holding one of the pigs. “We’re having pork for dinner.”

A few contestants booed him. Ally, in particular, looked like she might cry.

“I’m kidding!” Brad held his hands up in surrender. “These things are all metal anyway.”

“So, what is for dinner?” Ramona asked.

“I don’t know.” Brad shrugged. “Starve.”

Now all the contestants were booing Brad.

“We’ll figure something out!” Digit cut in. “Just get lost for now.”

The teams all dispersed around the cabins as the Freaks discussed their first elimination. Quinn, Casey, Garret, and Peter were gathered behind the cabins.

“So, who are we voting for?” Casey asked.

“I think that’s pretty obvious.” Quinn said.

“Well, well, well,” The four turned and saw Violet walking towards them. “If it isn’t the loser bunch.”

“We’re all losers, Violet.” Peter said. “That’s kinda the point of our team.”

“Whatever.” Violet said. “I just came to bid farewell to Wheels. You had an okay run.”

“What are you talking about?” Casey asked as Quinn’s gaze dropped to the ground.

“Oh, please.” Violet rolled her eyes. “Who else do you think people are gonna vote for?”

“You.” A quiet voice spoke up.

“What did you say?” Violet glared daggers at Garret.

“You and Ally are the reason we fell behind.” Garret continued. “And Ally’s actually nice, so-”

“And no one else on our team was really watching that other than you and your buddy.” Violet cut him off, jabbing a finger towards Peter. “I’m also one of the only athletic people on our team. Good luck trying to get rid of me.”

“Why do you hate me so much?” Quinn finally asked.

“Oh, I don’t hate you.” Violet said. “I just want to win.” With that, she turned and walked away, leaving the four with even more questions then answers.

“What are we gonna do?” Peter asked.

“Put someone else up for elimination.” Casey said. “Someone other than Violet.”

“But there’s no reason to vote off anyone else.” Garret said.

Quinn gasped. “Yes, there is!”

***

“I’m not really used to having friends who care about me.” Quinn said in the confessional. “I don’t want to lose that. Not yet. So, maybe I have to throw someone else under the bus who doesn’t deserve it.” She sighed. “It’ll all be okay in the end. I can prove Violet wrong. I can prove them all wrong.”

***

Meanwhile, Lyla, Jesse, and Wendy were sitting in the girls’ side of the Freaks’ cabin.

“Wait, what?!” Wendy exclaimed after hearing what had happened during the challenge.

“Yeah, Veronica basically confirmed that Jared has a crush on you.” Jesse said.

“Wendy, how come you never mentioned this?” Lyla asked.

“I thought we were just friends!” Wendy said. “I didn’t think he actually liked me!”

“Well, congrats!” Jesse held his hand out for a high five, but Wendy was too stressed out to process this.

Lyla lowered Jesse’s hand. “Bad time.” She whispered.

“Sorry.” Jesse whispered back.

“What do I do now?” Wendy asked. “Do I talk to him? Do I ignore him? Can I just ignore him?”

“Maybe don’t completely ignore him.” Lyla said. “But take some time to think about it.”

“And don’t forget about elimination tonight.” Jesse added.

Lyla and Wendy both gave him a look.

“Bad time?” Jesse asked.

The two girls nodded.

“Sorry.” Jesse muttered.

“Well, thanks guys.” Wendy said as she stood up. “I think I’m gonna go for a walk to clear my head. I’ll see you at the campfire.” She turned, opened the door, tripped over the doorframe, and then left.

“So, who are we voting for?” Jesse asked.

“Quinn.” Lyla said.

“Seriously?” Jesse asked. “We’re listening to Violet?”

“I don’t want to, but there’s only one other option.” Lyla said, motioning to the now empty space in the room where their friend was just sitting.

“Oh.” Jesse frowned. “Okay, I guess.”

“Look on the bright side.” Lyla said. “If Quinn goes home tonight, she doesn’t have to deal with Violet anymore.”

“You’re right.” Jesse cracked a small smile.

Ally and Dominic were seated on the steps outside the cabin.

“This doesn’t feel right.” Ally said.

“What doesn’t?” Dominic asked.

“Voting for Quinn.” Ally said. “She did nothing wrong.”

“No one did.” Dominic said.

“I did.” Ally said. “I got distracted and cost us the challenge.”

“Don’t say that.” Dominic put a hand on her shoulder. “It was a close race. No one deserves to go home because of it.”

“Yeah.” Ally nodded sadly. “But… there are people who have other stuff going on that might hurt our team.”

The two stared out and watched Wendy and Violet wander through the clearing by themselves.

“I take back what I said.” Dominic said. “Violet kinda does deserve to go home.”

“But we need her for challenges.” Ally said. “Her and Peter are the only ones who are… I don’t know, fit?”

“Not complete couch potatoes.” Dominic suggested. “Actually leave their houses once in a while. Do physical activity for…” He shuddered. “…fun.”

Ally giggled. “Yeah.”

“So, that leaves our very clumsy Juliet.” Dominic said.

“I know.” Ally sighed. “But that doesn’t feel right either.”

“Well, whatever you decide on, I’m with you.” Dominic said.

“Thanks, Dom.” Ally smiled. “You really are a sweetheart.”

Dominic blushed. “Not as much as you are.”

Ally pulled the jokester into a hug before skipping off. Dominic sighed as he watched her skip away.

Some time later, the Freaks had all regathered around the campfire.

“Wow, I didn’t even have to make an announcement to get you all here.” Digit said. “I would say you guys know the drill, but you don’t, so here’s the drill. Go into the confessional, vote for who you want gone, and whoever has the most votes gets to take a ride on the Canoe of Catastrophe.”

“A ride on the what?” Jesse asked.

“You’ll see.” Digit said. “Now go vote.”

***

“That’s what you get for being a bully.” Wendy said as she proudly showed that she had cast her vote for Violet.

***

“This still doesn’t feel right.” Ally sighed as she cast her vote.

***

“I’m really sorry about this,” Quinn said in the confessional. “But it was either you or me.”

***

“Okay, Freaks, when I call your name, Brad will throw you a marshmallow, which means you’re safe.” Digit said. “The first marshmallows go to Jesse and Dominic.”

The two boys high fived as they caught their marshmallows.

“Garret, Lyla, and Peter.”

The three caught their marshmallows.

“Ally and Casey.”

Casey cast a nervous glance towards Quinn as he caught his marshmallow.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Violet, you’re safe.”

Violet smirked as she caught her marshmallow. Wendy and Quinn both looked at each other with wide eyes.

“The final marshmallow of the night goes to…”

*

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*

“Quinn.” Digit said. “Sorry, Wendy, but your time here is up.”

“That’s alright.” Wendy sighed as she stood up. “I still had fun.” She turned to Lyla and Jesse. “And made some pretty great friends.”

Lyla and Jesse both stood up and pulled the clutz into a hug.

“Is there any message you’d like us to deliver to Jared?” Lyla asked.

“Wait, this is perfect!” Wendy gasped. “Now I don’t have to deal with that!”

“That’s the spirit, Wendy!” Dominic laughed.

“Before you go, you have to answer the big question.” Peter said. “Do you like him back?”

“Where’s that canoe you were talking about before?” Wendy hurriedly asked Digit.

“Right at the end of the dock.” Digit said.

“Awesome!” Wendy started to run down the dock, but then tripped and fell into the canoe.

The canoe started drifting away and all the Freaks ran to the dock to see if Wendy was alright.

“I’m okay!” Wendy gave a thumbs up from the canoe.

The Freaks all cheered and waved as the canoe drifted farther and farther away.

“Do you think she noticed she forgot the paddles?” Brad whispered to Digit.

“She’ll figure it out eventually.” Digit responded.

“What do we do now?” Ally asked the two cohosts.

“I don’t know.” Digit shrugged. “Go away?”

“I heard the Populars were having a little pool party by the lake if you guys want to crash that.” Brad said.

“Seriously?” Digit asked. “Don’t the Populars all hate each other?”

“This is the first time they’ve won, I think that calls for celebration.” Brad said. “Right, guys?” He turned and saw that the Freaks had all already vanished.

Meanwhile, Bree and Ramona were talking near the lake. Bree was lounging in a bikini while Ramona still had her athletic shorts on over her swim bottoms. The rest of their team was far enough away that they couldn’t hear the two.

“You destroyed that rock wall challenge.” Bree said, making the soccer player blush.

“It was nothing, really.” Ramona said. “We only won because of you anyway.”

“I think we would’ve been fine either way.” Bree said. “The Freaks could’ve been halfway up the rope and you still would’ve dominated.”

“Thank you for what you said before the challenge.” Ramona said, smiling at the ground and blushing even harder. “For believing in me.”

“My pleasure.” Bree smiled. “So, who do you think the Freaks booted?”

Ramona paused, seeing something approaching them from the clearing.

“Why don’t you ask them?” Ramona said. “Here they come now.”

“Well, this pool party just got a lot more interesting.” Bree stood up and started walking towards the Freaks.

“Hello again, Bree!” Ally waved.

“Hey!” Bree smiled. “We were just coming to get you guys.”

“We were?” Ramona mouthed to Bree when she turned around.

Bree shrugged at Ramona before turning her attention back to the Freaks. “So, who got the boot?”

“Way to be subtle.” Ramona whispered in Bree’s ear, having gotten up to join her.

“Wendy, sadly.” Ally responded, not thinking anything of the two girls’ whispering.

“Wait, really?!” Bree said, her smile suddenly dropping.

“Yeah,” Ally continued. “None of us wanted to see her go-”

“Hold that thought.” Bree said. “I’ll be right back.” She gave a courteous wave goodbye before practically sprinting towards the lake.

“Don’t worry about her.” Ramona addressed the now very confused Confused Freaks. “And welcome to the party!”

Bree found Gavin sitting at the edge of the lake. She casually sat next to him.

“So,” Bree started calmly. “Do you want to tell Jared his girl just got voted off, probably because of him, or should I?”

“They voted Wendy off?!” Gavin exclaimed.

“Well, in their defense, if you were screwing around with a girl on the other team, I’d probably vote you off too.” Bree said.

“Trust me, the last thing you need to worry about is me screwing around with a girl on the other team.” Gavin said. “But that’s besides the point! Who’s gonna tell Jared?”

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out himself once all the Freaks get here.” Bree said. “Oh look! They’re all here.”

Ramona waved to the pair from the entrance of the clearing, the rest of the Freaks filing in behind her. Bree smiled and waved back, while Gavin groaned and put his head in his hands.

“This is gonna get ugly fast.” Gavin muttered.

“Oh no! How come?”

Gavin’s head snapped up and saw that Garret was now sitting on the other side of him.

“My favorite brother!” Gavin breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Garret into a hug.

“I’m your only brother.” Garret stated.

“Unimportant.” Gavin grabbed Garret’s shoulders. “Who voted for Wendy?”

“Um, me?” Garret said hesitantly.

“What?” Gavin asked. “Why?”

“Well, it was actually kinda complicated.” Garret said. “Violet was trying to get rid of Quinn and Wendy’s always hurting herself and then, you know, that other thing happened-”

“Your bro’s got a point.” Bree cut in.

“Oh, hi.” Garret shyly waved to Bree.

“Don’t worry about her, Gar.” Gavin said. “She’s harmless.”

“Excuse you.” Bree crossed her arms defiantly. “I am a force to be reckoned with.”

“Sure you are.” Gavin said sarcastically.

“Speaking of Wendy,” Garret said. “Where’s that guy from your team? Jared?”

“Oh no…” Gavin and Bree both muttered upon seeing Jared was nowhere in sight.

Meanwhile, Digit and Brad were lounging on their own beach chairs by the dock.

“What other teen shenanigans will ensue at arguably the worst pool party ever?” Digit asked into the camera.

“Will the new bonds that were formed in today’s challenge last?” Brad asked.

“Probably not.” Digit stated.

“And where did Jared go??” Brad asked.

“Find out next time on Camp…”

“Total…”

“Drama!”

Trivia

Chapter 1

• The title “Our Very First Episode” is a reference to the first episode of Full

House titled “Our Very First Show”

• This cast was originally created by me in fifth grade
  • Jesse, Dominic, Will, and Jared were the only four boys in the original cast
    • After deciding to resurrect this story, I realized that this was insane and changed a

lot of the characters

• The original title of the story was Total Drama Newbies and was later changed to

Total Drama Revenge of Pahkitew Island, but finally changed to Camp Total Drama

• Peter wears a t-shirt for the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” because that was the

play I was currently reading in Shakespeare club at my school

• • Peter is also named after a character from the same play

• Chapters 1 and 2 were originally going to be only one chapter, but they were split up due to how lengthy Chapter 1 was
  • This is lamp shaded at the end of Chapter 1 when Digit and Brad are complaining about how they didn’t know they were having

a two-part special Chapter 2'

• The title “Our Very First Challenge” is also a reference to the first episode of

Full House titled “Our Very First Show”

• Chapters 1 and 2’s titles are both references to the same thing because the two chapters

are supposed to be a two-part special

• The following is a list of all the scavenger hunt items mentioned and what seasons

of Total Drama they’re from

• • Chicken Hat (Season 1, cliff diving challenge)
  • Gemmie Award (Season 2, aftermath recap special)
  • A Pole (Season 3, specifically the one Bridgette got stuck to)
  • Seagull Machine Gun (Season 4)
  • Immunity Idol (Season 4, the one shaped like Chris’s head)
  • Toxic Waste Barrel (Season 4)
  • A Chainsaw (Season 1, from the horror movie challenge)
  • Freebies (Season 1, soda bottles from the final 3 challenge)
  • Sword of Victory (Season 5, finale)

• It is implied that the noises Wendy gets frightened by are the bear attacking Dominic

and Ally reeving up the chainsaw

• The main movie Garret is referencing when he starts talking about different cliques

sitting at specific lunch tables is Mean Girls

• Floyd was originally planned to go farther, but after other character arcs changed,

his was unfortunately cut short

• Floyd was also one of the later additions to the cast, filling in one of the last

open slots

• After the elimination ceremony, when all the Freaks are wondering who got eliminated,

they don’t refer to any of the Populars by their actual names. “That girl in green” is Veronica, “the cheerleader” is Bree, “that football player” is Clifford, and “that chick in red” is Natalia.

• Wendy being roadkill for Halloween once is a reference to a line from the musical 25^th

Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

• Chris’s almost arrest at the end of the chapter was inspired by the pilot episode of

the web-series Camp Camp

• • Digit and Brad were also partially inspired by the counselors in the same show

Chapter 3

• The title “Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Digit” is a reference to a quote from the

movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story that describes “the five D’s of dodgeball”

• • The title is also a quote from the chapter. Digit begins to reference the five D’s

of dodgeball when Brad cuts her off and unintentionally adds her name to the quote.

• The past space challenge that Wendy is referencing is the one from Season 2

• The dodgeball challenge is taken from Season 1, Episode 4, Dodgebrawl

• The uniforms both teams are forced to wear are also references to the movie Dodgeball:

A True Underdog Story

• • The Freaks wear the uniforms of the Average Joes to signify that they’re the

underdogs, while the much more athletic Populars wear the uniforms of the antagonists, the Purple Cobras

• The characters actually acknowledge the movie references multiple times throughout the

chapter

• Clifford is one of the characters that was considered to be the first out, but he was so

likeable that it wouldn’t make sense for him to go before his more obnoxious counterpart, Floyd

• Clifford was another late addition to the cast
  • Clifford and Floyd were actually made to replace two girls from the drafting stage that

were supposed to be on the Populars named Aubrey and Phoebe, one of them being a control freak and the other being a cheerleader, two roles that were already filled on the Populars Chapter 4

• The title “What’s New Piggy-Cat?” is a reference to the song “What’s New Pussycat?”

  • 

    The Salt and Pepper Diner

    The idea

of using “What’s New Pussycat?” actually came from a popular John Mulaney skit that is lightly referenced later in the chapter. In the skit, Mulaney has the song “What’s New Pussycat?” play on repeat on a diner jukebox, throwing one play of “It’s Not Unusual” in the middle. Brad starts playing “It’s Not Unusual” in the middle of the challenge.

• The challenge is taken from Season 6, Episode 2, I Love You, Grease Pig!
  • The challenge is slightly altered, the original having an additional obstacle of

going through a pit of grease. The extra obstacle was cut to make dividing the teams easier.

• • Brad insisting that the obstacle course is an “oof-stacle course” is a callback to

what Chris repeatedly called the challenge

• Wendy’s original name was going to be Willa, but that was changed due to Willa being incredibly

close to Will’s name

• Wendy also wasn’t always going to be a clutz, she was originally going to be your

standard shy and nerdy girl, but I felt she needed something to set her apart from the rest of her team