Hey worldwide web,

Back with another chapter, woo! I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten on the past two and I hope you all enjoy this next installment! I've been able to get a lot of writing done thanks to a summer writing challenge I'm a part of, so hopefully we'll get some more frequent updates coming up. For now, enjoy this chapter! Here we go~

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A loud crash woke Samey up from her restless sleep. She had been having a nightmare that Amy had managed to join her team and once again convinced everyone on it to vote her out. Only this time, even Jasmine had turned on her. She at first welcomed the chance to wake up, but a loud screeching from the next room only worried her further.

"Scarlett?" She called out into the hallway. "Is everything okay?!" There was another crash from Scarlett's room. Samey ran down the hall and threw open the door.

Inside, Scarlett was engaged in a fight with what looked like a monkey. It was hooting loudly and throwing pillows at her as she tried to hit it with her suitcase.

"Don't move!" Scarlett ordered, not that she had to tell Samey twice. "You'll only aggravate it further. Baboons can bite their way through human bone if provoked into doing so." Samey only stared helplessly at the aggravated creature. It jumped around on Scarlett's bed, flinging feces, which Scarlett blocked with the suitcase.

The baboon lunged at Scarlett, landing on the suitcase. It began to claw at the fabric, trying to get to her. Scarlett grunted and hurled the suitcase out the open bedroom window with the baboon still attached to it. Scarlett stood near the window, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Samey asked, taking a few steps into the room, making sure she didn't tread over any monkey droppings.

"I'm fine," Scarlett said flatly, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. "The baboon came through my window as I was getting dressed. It startled me, but I'm fine." She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the floor. "They're disgusting animals, but it could have been much worse."

"Well...I'm glad you're not hurt," Samey said, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

"Thank you," Scarlett said as she picked up the scat covered rug and tossed it out the window before shutting it. "I advise that we keep the windows closed unless absolutely necessary. The air conditioning works fine so we don't have to worry about it getting too hot."

"Okay," Samey said. "I'm going to go get dressed then." Scarlett just gave her a dismissive wave.

Confessional

Samey: Scarlett really helped me out last time by not voting for me. She's kind of scary because of what she did last season, but she's a way better roommate than Amy, that's for sure. I mean, even the baboon would have been a better roommate than Amy. Heh.

Over on the other side of the resort, a sharp whistle pierced the silence in Room 5A. Bridgette let out a surprised shriek and Courtney immediately shout out of bed at the sound. The two girls exited their rooms, spotting one another in the hall.

"What was that?" Bridgette asked, pulling her sweatshirt on over her regular t-shirt.

"I'm not sure," Courtney said, still in her pajamas. "But if I had to guess-" Another whistle blow. "Ugh, it's Brick!" She stomped down the stairs, Bridgette too groggy to follow her, to find Brick standing near the door and blowing his whistle.

"Rise and shine, ma'am!" Brick said eagerly, giving Courtney a salute. Courtney was half tempted to give him a "salute" of her own, but decided that it would be lacking in tact. "You might want to get dressed," Brick continued. "We've got a busy day waiting for us.

"Brick what are you doing?" Courtney asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm getting ready for morning exercises," Brick explained. "I want our team to be in tip-top shape, and in order for that to happen we need to make sure we're putting in all the right effort. So each morning we're going to do some exercises as a team."

"I see," Courtney said, her expression still not amused. "And how do you plan on getting our less cooperative team members to participate? They're hardly all the cooperative type."

"I'm sure they'll be willing," Brick replied, shaking his head. "Can't be on a team if you don't act like it. I take it you'll be joining me?"

"As pathetic as it would be to see you doing exercises alone..." Courtney said, "...no." She turned around and went upstairs, leaving a dumbfounding Brick.

"What was all that about?" Bridgette asked, having gotten completely dressed.

"Just Brick being a loser," Courtney said, shaking her head. Bridgette gave her a look. "What?"

"He's our teammate," Bridgette reasoned. "Be nice to him."

"He was trying to get us to all exercise as some sort of group bonding session," Courtney scoffed. "I don't want to bond with these people. Most of them can't stand me! Not to mention the feeling's mutual..."

"If you say so," Bridgette said with a shrug. Courtney returned to her room to get ready for the day and Bridgette went downstairs to get some food.

Brick continued to go to the rest of his teammates' bungalows to get them to participate in his morning drills. They all declined, some more respectively than others.

"I need my beauty sleep," Leshawna explained. "All this lusciousness has to happen overnight somehow, if you know what I'm saying."

"Fucking loser," Amy simply spat at him.

After getting his final rejection from Trent, Brick went about doing his morning exercise by himself. It was kind of sad, but he was used to working out alone like last time he was on Total Drama. Having Jo around as a workout rival would have been nice, for maybe three seconds before she started belittling him.

Confessional

Brick: So the first day was more rough than I had expected. The team's not too big on cooperation right now. I'm sure that'll change soon. We have to start working together sometime.

It was actually two days before the next challenge came around. Brick had woken up his team each day to try and convince them to exercise with him, and each day he had been told no.

"I just prefer to do my own thing," Jasmine admitted. "Nothing personal mate."

"Dude some of us don't want to get up at six in the morning," Geoff groaned.

By the time challenge day rolled around, the two teams met in the main lodge for breakfast. The Not Favorites, while still gross and weird, didn't seem as exhausted as some of the Favorites did.

"We'll still crush them again today," Courtney said confidently. "They're down a member, and we've already proven to be superior."

"Plus we've got some great teamwork!" Brick added.

"Yeah sure, that too or whatever."

The Not Favorites ignored their competitors. With Max gone, everyone seemed to be a lot less irritated.

"It sure is nice to have my own room," Sugar said happily. "With Max gone, I get to use one bed for sleepin' and another bed for jumpin'! And sometimes, if I leave my window open, a free midnight snack will climb in. Last night I had some porcupine pot pie. And look!" She pulled a quill out from somewhere on her body. "I got some toothpicks for later!"

"I'm glad you told me to shut our windows," Samey told Scarlett with a nervous laugh.

"Agreed," Scarlett said, not taking her eyes off of her food.

"Um..." Samey looked around. Most of her teammates were busy eating or chatting among themselves. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" Scarlett asked.

"For not voting for me," Samey said. "You could have easily voted for me with the others and I would have been done. So thank you."

Scarlett blinked. "Well," she said after a while, "you're welcome. My decision was influenced more by my annoyance with Max than anything, but I suppose that by default I consider you a more valuable asset."

"Really?" Samey gasped.

"Not by much," Scarlett said. "You're still too submissive and socially weak, but you're better than Max. I also respect your choice back in Pahkitew. While I personally saw through your disguise almost immediately, it seemed to do the trick in fooling all the others."

"Oh...that," Samey mumbled. "I shouldn't have done that. It didn't get me any further than Amy in the end. Plus she still treats me like garbage."

"You are kind of garbage," Scarlett pointed out. Samey gave her a pained look. "Even garbage has its use and can be refined into something that's, well...not garbage."

"I don't think I like thinking that way," Samey admitted.

Scarlett shrugged. "I suppose as of now you can consider us temporary allies," she explained. "You'll obviously need my help if you want to get any further, and I'll need yours."

"Why?" Samey asked. "If I'm 'kind of garbage'."

Scarlett winced. "I don't believe in taking back what I said, or apologizing unless it's necessary, so I'll stand by my point. People root for you, especially when they see how Amy treats you. By association, I'll look better with you on my side. Understand?"

Samey thought about it for a few seconds, but began to slowly nod. "I think so...does this mean we're an alliance now?"

"Not until we lose a challenge," Scarlett said. "If that happens today, well, you're going to need me."

Confessional

Samey: Scarlett's really going to help me this season! Well, in a backwards sort of way. I don't like her calling me garbage, but I've been called worse so I guess I'll just deal with it. This is already going way better than Pahkitew!

"Dudes," Geoff said over at the Favorites' table, "I know the challenges and Chris kind of suck, but it actually feels really good to be back. Hopefully I'll be staying for a long time."

"As long as you don't go nuts again," Trent said with a laugh.

Geoff gave Trent a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"You know," Trent replied, "like how you were on the Aftermath. All arrogant and desperate for ratings. Kind of like, the Chris 2.0"

Topher's eye twitched as he talked with Dave and Leonard.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Geoff said defensively. "I mean yeah, I got a bit harsh, but I don't think I was as bad as Chris." He turned to Bridgette. "Was I as bad as Chris?"

"Uh..." Bridgette glanced at Trent, Courtney, and Leshawna, who just looked right back at her. "No babe...of course not. Nobody's as bad as Chris."

"I think you're just trying to make me feel better," Geoff admitted. "Gosh dudes, I didn't know I was that bad. Are you sure it was me?"

"It was definitely you," Trent said. Courtney nodded in agreement.

"Don't feel bad sweetie," Bridgette told her boyfriend, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You realized what you were doing wrong...I think, and you got better. That's all that matters to me. Who cares if you were like Chris?"

"Somebody say my name?" The aforementioned host asked as he entered the main lodge. "How were you two days of rest?" He was already continuing before they could give an honest answer. "Today is another challenge day. That means the winning team will get immunity and some sort of African themed reward. The losers have to vote somebody out in an African themed elimination. You guys have three minutes to finish eating and then meet me at the entrance to the resort." With that, he left the contestants to finish up.

"Have you guys seen Chef since we first got here?" Topher asked as the teams left the main lodge.

"No," Sadie said, "that's soooooooo weird. Do you think he, like, died?"

"Oh I hope not," Staci said, "Chef reminds me of my great-great-great-great-great-great-" she stopped when Sadie gave her a look. "Whoops, sorry. Force of habit, which was invented by-"

"Maybe let's wait until we get to the challenge to talk," Sadie suggested. Staci nodded in agreement.

Confessional

Staci: Ugh, being a good friend is sooooooo hard. I want to help Sadie, ya, but I also really want to impress my team with my family. I so wish my great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt Ursula was here. She was really good with making tough decisions.

Sadie: Katie I miss you so much! Being friends with Staci is soooooo hard. But like, I'd feel awful if I left her with no one. I wish you were here. You're really good with making tough decisions...

The contestants met Chris at the resort entrance, where he was waiting with Chef and a couple of actual, working safari vehicles. "We're going to have a small challenge first before we get on to the main event," Chris explained. "The winners of the first challenge will have the advantage of going first in the second one."

"Going first for what?" Jasmine asked.

"I can't tell you that just yet," Chris replied, waggling his eyebrows. Jasmine just rolled her eyes. Chris gestured to a small clump of trees about a hundred meters away. "See those trees? Those are the perfect habitat for the boomslang, a highly venomous African snake."

"Don't tell me our challenge is to catch one," Dave groaned.

"Boomslang skin is an important potion ingredient," Leonard gasped.

"No no no," Chris said, shaking his head. "We already found a boomslangs. It's going to be used in a game called Tanzanian Roulette." Chef wheeled out a large, circular cart with six urns on it. "Much like the similarly named game, we'll spin around the cart and a volunteer will stick their hand down the urn closest to them. First person to get bitten loses the challenge for their team."

"That's horrible!" Courtney complained. "Your challenges are always dangerous but this one's the worst!"

"If you think this is bad, you should see what else I have in store for today," Chris said with a smirk. "Besides, Chef is on-site with an antidote to the boomslang's venom." Everyone looked over to see that Chef was now wearing a nurse's outfit and holding a first-aid kit.

"Whoever goes will have a one in six chance of being bitten," Scarlett calculated.

"Dawn can't you just tell us which urn the snake is in?" Jasmine asked.

"No she can't," Chris said. "Or she'll be disqualified."

"I'm sorry my friends," Dawn sighed. "The host has spoken."

"Let's get this challenge started then," Chris announced, clapping his hands together. "Who's going first?" Nobody looked at all eager to volunteer.

"I guess I'll do it," Jasmine said with a shrug. "I mean...one in six isn't so bad, right?" Chef spun around the urns for a few seconds. Jasmine stared at the one closest to her. She gulped and reached down into it. Everyone was looking at her. "I...oh, it's the bottom." She let out a sigh of relief and pulled her unharmed hand back out.

"Next!" Chris yelled. "Someone from the Not Favorites please."

"Samey's the only one you could afford to lose," Amy said. "Have her do it."

The Not Favorites looked at Samey. "Oh," the lesser twin said, "um...alright. I can do it I guess." She approached the urns. Chef spun them around and a different urn, even though they were all identical, sat in front of her. Samey nervous lowered her hand into the urn and eventually found the smooth bottom of it.

"Lame!" Amy exclaimed. "It would have been funnier if you had been bitten."

"Girl you have got issues," Leshawna told Amy.

"Now for a Favorite," Chris said.

"I'll do it," Geoff said, raising his hand. He approached the urns.

"Geoff be careful," Bridgette called out to him nervously.

"Relax babe," Geoff replied, "life's all about taking risks. I'll be fine." He still hesitated slightly before sticking his hand down into the urn. "Hm...I don't feel anything...there's the bottom! Alright!"

"Oh thank goodness," Bridgette sighed.

Leonard decided to go next for the Not Favorites. "The chance to acquire such a rare ingredient for my potions, without having to use my mom's credit card, is too good of an opportunity to mess up."

Confessional

Leonard: The last time I tried to brew a potion using my mom's credit card, I ended up purchasing the ingredients on some dark site in the shadowy realms of the Internet. The police officers weren't very understanding, even after I showed them my official wizarding crest. Luckily my mom could drive the both of us to community service.

Leonard reached into the urn closest to him and felt around. "Drat," he said, coming back with nothing. "I suppose I won't be the envy of my guild when I get back."

"Is it bad that I wanted the snake to be in that urn?" Dave asked Sadie. "Like...I really wanted it to be in there."

"I guess I'll go to get this over with," Noah sighed. "Although I'm sure with my luck I'll end up getting bitten." Chef spun the urns. Noah stuck his hand down the one closest to him. Within a few seconds he jumped. "Yep, called it." He lifted his hand out of the urn, revealing it to have two punctures on it that were starting to turn purple.

"This should only take a second," Chef grumbled as he lifted Noah over his shoulder and took him back to the resort.

"Is he going to be okay?" Samey asked.

"Be quiet Samey," Amy snapped. "He won't let you touch his dick even if he dies, gawd."

"That's not what I-" Samey attempted to say, before being cut off by Chris.

"Moving on," Chris said. "That's okay, because the Favorites would have had to sit somebody out in this challenge anyway." Chef returned a few seconds later.

"The snake only got a little venom in him," Chef explained. "I gave him the antidote and left him with the medics to keep an eye on him. He should be fine."

"Sounds good," Chris said. "Alright, the rest of you, get into one of the vehicles. We're going out into the savanna for the next challenge." The contestants, separated by their teams, climbed into the vehicles and the two hosts took off into the brush.

"Well at least the only person we lost was Noah," Courtney said, holding on tightly to the side of the vehicle. "He isn't very useful in challenges anyway."

"We should never leave a man behind," Brick told her. "Noah should have come with us." Courtney just rolled her eyes.

Confessional

Brick: Courtney hasn't responded well to my attempts at getting the team working like a well oiled machine, but I'm sure she'll come around. She has to realize that the best way to win this game is to work together.

"At least he won't be able to pull that thing back in season one where he sat out on purpose," Geoff said.

"What are you talking about?" Bridgette asked.

"Noah," Geoff answered, "he did that thing where he chose not to participate. Yeah, not cool."

"That was like, three years ago or something," Trent said.

"Exactly," Geoff declared, "It just goes to show that we all do things in the past that we aren't proud of."

The others gave him a couple weird glances as they arrived at the challenge destination: A large open field with tall grass and a large rocky structure jutting out of the middle of it.

"This is a kopje," Chris explained, "a geographical phenomena found all over Africa. More important than that, animals like lions love to use them for shelter."

"Please don't tell me this is going where I think it is," Scarlett grumbled.

"Conveniently for us," Chris continued, "a pride of lions is using this kopje as their home right now! Chef and I had placed two statues, one green and one yellow, in the center of the kopje. Your challenge today will be to retrieve your team's statue."

"Question," Sadie said, raising her hand. "Isn't that, like, really dangerous? What if we get eaten?"

"You won't get eaten," Chris answered. "Probably. Now the way this works is that you can make attempts at getting the statues individually, or in pairs. We'll alternate which team makes the attempts starting with the Not-Favorites because they won the pre-challenge."

"Can we have a moment to strategize?" Scarlett requested. Chris shrugged and nodded. The two teams formed separate huddles. "Okay," Scarlett whispered, "this is our chance to stop the Favorites' number advantage. They have Dawn, who can apparently talk to animals, but we have someone who was an actual animal." She looked over at Ezekiel.

The farm boy blinked in surprise. "No way, eh," he said, putting up his hands. "I'm not like that anymore. I'm doing better. If I tried to act all feral again, I could relapse."

Scarlett's eyes narrowed. "If you don't, we could lose this challenge, and then you'd be sent packing! Surely a million dollars is worth the chance of relapse?"

Ezekiel folded his arms over his chest. "I'm not doing it," he said firmly. Scarlett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. Her eyes stared at him fiercely. "Er...maybe I should give it a try...just once."

"Good," Scarlett said, releasing him. "Took you longer than it should have, but I'm glad we've reached a consensus." The others just watched the scene unfold, not sure what to say.

Confessional

Scarlett: My methods may be harsh, but they're effective.

Over in the Favorites' huddle, Courtney was laying down a plan. "Even if we go second," she said, "we can still beat them. I'll be going first, so we can end this challenge as quickly as possible."

"Ma'am," Brick said, raising his hand. "Permission to speak?"

"Ugh, what do you want Brick?" Courtney asked, rolling her eyes.

"I firmly believe that we should decide an order to participate in as a team," Brick said. "We can't leave this all on the shoulders of one person."

"Fine," Courtney huffed. "All against me being the first to risk my life for the sake of the team say 'Aye'." Nobody said anything. "Well that's that then, looks like I'm going first." Brick just frowned as the huddle broke up.

"Ready to go?" Chris asked. "You don't really have a choice. Not Favorites, who is going first?"

"I will, eh," Ezekiel volunteered. Chris shrugged and pointed to the entrance of the kopje. Ezekiel gulped nervously.

Confessional

Ezekiel: I can do this yo. I have to start doing actual challenges if I don't want to be kicked off early.

Ezekiel walked toward the kopje, entering the waist high grass. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to be waiting for him, aside from lions.

He was about halfway to the kopje when he heard grass rustling. He instinctively fell to all fours and began growling, before shaking his head to clear it. "Keep it together Zeke," he told himself, "remember what your doctor said. Control." He slowly got to his feet, coming face to face with a female lion.

The lioness growled and Ezekiel began to step back, still on the ground. He let out a few growls and the lioness looked confused. It was working! He continued to growl, trying to remember how he communicated with animals in the past.

A couple more lionesses joined the group, surrounding him. They didn't appear to be malicious, more curious. That was a good thing right? Ezekiel took another deep breath and remembered what he needed to stay. He opened his mouth...

...and nothing happened. Ezekiel tried again, but nothing came out. The lionesses snapped out of their daze and growled. Ezekiel jumped up to his feet, holding up his hands in defense. He tried to let out a few growls, but found himself unable to. His therapist would be frustrated with him, his parents would be disappointed. He couldn't do it. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he began to run back to the others, the lions only giving chase about halfway.

"And Ezekiel is...back?" Chris's voice trailed off as Ezekiel broke down sobbing in the dirt. "Uh...okay, weird, but he doesn't have the statue so it looks like it's time for the Favorites to go next."

"Ugh," Scarlett groaned, "what happened to you?!"

"I'm sorry," Ezekiel said, trying to wipe his eyes. His entire body was trembling. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it." He continued to repeat the phrase as the rest of his teammates stared at Scarlett.

"What?!" She snapped. "It's not my fault he wasn't up to the task! I should have known better than to place the team's trust in someone of such a low mental caliber."

"Hey that's not very fair," Bridgette said with a frown. "You tried to take advantage of his mental health issues and it didn't work."

"Mind your own business," Scarlett spat. "I believe it's your team's turn anyways. I'll enjoy watching one of you get eaten by lions." She laughed sinisterly at the thought.

Confessional

Samey: Maybe being allies with Scarlett isn't such a great idea after all...she's kind of a terrible person. But she's really smart so I don't know.

Courtney bent down to pick up some small rocks that she found in the dirt. She stuffed them into her pockets and began to slowly creep into the grass. She couldn't hear anything moving around, which was a good sign. She slowly retrieved one of the rocks and tossed it as far as she could. It landed somewhere in the grass, and was followed by a growl and far away rustling. It was working.

Courtney figured that if she could distract the lions with other things that might be moving around in the grass, they wouldn't pay any attention to her. She crawled through the brush, making sure she didn't rustle any grass or kick up any dirt. She tossed another rock and the lions supposedly went for it. The sounds were closer this time, and she shivered slightly at the thought.

Soon enough, she found herself at the mouth of the kopje. It was dark inside, but she could see the glittering of the statues. Perfect. She took a step forward. Crack! The bottom of her shoe came in contact with a stick, splitting it in two. The rustling in the grass stopped. Courtney stood, frozen in place, looking over her shoulder. A single lioness emerged from the grass.

In an instant, Courtney was gone. She launched herself at the side of the kopje, pulling herself onto the rock and up toward the top. The lioness snarled and tried to follow her, but Courtney had too much of a head start. Mentally reprimanding herself for not first grabbing the statues, the CIT slid down the other side of the kopje and ran back to the others.

"I was...so...close," Courtney gasped, sitting down and putting her head between her knees in an attempt to recover her breathing.

"Kind of like your track record with this show, huh?" Chris remarked. The leftover rock in Courtney's pocket hit him in the face. "Ow! Ugh, someone from the Not-Favorites go."

The Not-Favorites all looked at Scarlett, who rolled her eyes. "Ah yes," she deadpanned, "pick me because I'm apparently the mean one. Well luckily for me I've had experience dealing with lions on this show. This will be a walk in the park, literally." She walked off toward the grass.

"Um," Samey said, confused, "weren't the animals in Pahkitew Island robots?"

"Ugh of course they were Samey," Amy groaned. "Gawd, way to ask such an obvious question nobody else needed answered." The others shook their heads at the siblings.

Scarlett had picked up a large clump of grasses and wove them into a thick rope. She stayed on the outer edge of the field, not entering the grass. She had determined that the lions wouldn't attack her unless she walked in it. This fact was later proven by all the lions watching from inside the field. Undeterred by their presence, she continued to collect enough grass to make a large rope. Then, she tied a large rock to one end of the rope, and a smaller rock to the other.

Confessional

Scarlett: It was a rudimentary grappling hook. The large weight was woven through a tree to keep it steady, while the smaller weight served as a "hook" of sorts that would allow me to reach the kopje without having to touch the ground. From there, I could lower myself down into the den, grab the statue, climb back up, and take the rope back outside the field. It was so easy, even the other members of my team could have likely come up with it.

As Scarlett did just what she had described in the Confessional, she found herself unsure how she was going to make it across the rope. Walking across it would require the utmost stability, and someone with her mindset was anything but stable. Climbing across it like a child would climb monkey bars required upper body strength, which she lacked, and would leave her vulnerable to the lions jumping up at her. After much deliberation, she ended up crawling across it like a squirrel on a power line. She wobbled a bit, but eventually reached the kojpe. Now for phase two.

Scarlett found the smaller rock and tied it to another length of grass rope that was already looped around her waist. She found an opening in the top and slowly began to lower herself down, eyes on the statue. It was a few feet away from where she was, but she slowly began to rock back and forth to gain enough momentum to grab the statue. Just as her fingers reached out to touch the statue, the rope snapped.

Several curse words echoed through the kopje as Scarlett fell to the ground, thankfully only having been about a foot from it in the first place. She quickly regained her senses and reached for the statue, but instead grabbing a small ball of fur.

"A lion cub!" She exclaimed to nobody but herself, doing one of those monologues. She quickly dropped the baby lion, causing it to cry out. Within seconds a female lion came running into the den, and Scarlett barely had enough time to jump for the rope and pull herself out.

"Harder than it looks, huh?" Chris asked mockingly as Scarlett returned to the group.

"I didn't calculate for the possibility of lion cubs being present in the den," Scarlett growled. "Surely there are some international regulations preventing us from doing this challenge with them around..."

"Oh there are," Chris admitted, "we're just ignoring them. Next!"

"Trent let's try teaming up on this one," Geoff suggested. "One of us can act as bait and the other one can go in and grab the statue!"

Trent shrugged. "Sure," he said, "but you'll be the bait."

Geoff rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Actually..." he said, "I was thinking you could be the bait."

Trent frowned. "We'll flip for it," he said, pulling out coin. "Heads you're the bait, tails I'm the one that sneaks and gets the statue."

Geoff nodded. "Sounds good- hey wait a second!" He glared at Trent, who just laughed.

"Alright," Trent said, putting a hand on Geoff's shoulder, "if it means that much to you I'll be the bait."

"Thanks man!" Geoff said, giving Trent a fist bump. "Let's do this!"

"Be careful Geoff," Bridgette called to him as he and Trent disappeared into the field. "Oh I hope he'll be alright." Courtney raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Courtney said dismissively, "just that it's the first season you two are actually competing on together as a couple. It's been, what, three years? You'd think by now you'd have been on together. Unless you count Action, which uh, you shouldn't."

Bridgette rolled her eyes when Courtney wasn't looking. "I guess you're right," she remarked. "This is the first real time Geoff and I are competing together. It's kind of weird to think about. You don't think that's a bad thing do you?"

"Definitely not," Courtney scoffed. "As I'm sure you know, my experiences with relationships on reality TV have been nothing but awful. Be glad you got this far without having to compete with him."

Bridgette decided it was probably in everyone's best interest not to continue the discussion of Courtney's past relationships and the many flaws they had. Instead she focused on waiting for her boyfriend to get back.

Said boyfriend was almost to the kopje. Trent had ran ahead, getting the attention of all the female lions and luring them over to a tree he was hiding in. Geoff, crouching so as not to be seen over the grass, made it to the kopje and went inside.

"Woah," he said, not caring about being loud since as far as he knew the kopje was empty. "It's really dark in here..." He made sure to step over the little cubs that were curled up on the floor as he looked for his team's statue. There it was, right up against some large rock. "Sweet!"

Geoff bent down to the pick up the statue, and that was when the "rock" moved. IT rolled over, revealing itself to actually be a massive male lion that was too far asleep to be woken up by the Geoff's presence. The lion yawned and draped a large paw over Geoff's crouched form, pulling him close to its body. Geoff whimpered, holding the statue tighter in his hands. The sleeping lion wiggled around on the ground for a few more seconds before beginning to snore.

Confessional

Geoff: It takes a lot to put me out man, like, a LOT. But that was one of the freakiest things I had ever done. This lion was just spooning me in the cave. I didn't know what I was gonna do.

Geoff slowly began to squirm out of the lion's grip, but as soon as he was free the lion began to get up. Geoff threw himself back under the lion's leg and it dozed off again. Crap.

Trent meanwhile was up in the tree, watching the lionesses try and get him from high up the branches. "Come on Geoff," he said, watching the kopje off in the distance, "hurry up."

Back inside, Geoff had tried three more times to leave the kopje without waking the lion, and all three times he had failed. Still, fourth time's the charm.

He wiggled out of the lion's grip and just as the lion stirred, he got an idea. It would mean giving up the win, but it was better than getting eaten. Geoff placed the statue back under the lion's paw and it relaxed before going back to the sleep. Geoff quickly sprinted out of the kopje and toward the others.

Trent saw Geoff in the distance as the female lions took off and assumed that meant they had won. Needless to say, he wasn't pleased when he got back.

"It was really hard," Geoff said, telling everyone what had happened.

"So you couldn't have just ran off with the statue?" Courtney said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Naw brah," Geoff told her. "It needed something to snuggle with. Also, I totally get why girls like being the little spoon now."

"Why didn't you just put the other team's statue in your place?" Harold asked. "That way you could have placated the lion and won the challenge."

Geoff blinked. "Uh..."

"Great," Courtney grumbled, "now it'll be even harder for whoever goes next to get the statue. Great job Geoff!"

"Fun as this is," Chris interrupted, "we've kind of got a time limit here. Not-Favorites, you're up!"

"I guess I'll do it," Topher said confidently, marching out into the grass.

"That's it?" Dave quipped. "No plan?"

"Oh I have a plan!" Topher called back to his team. "I've got to impress the lady lions, and I know just how to do it." He took a deep breath. "Attention campers!" He yelled. "We've got a challenge today!"

"Is that supposed to be a Chris impression?" Sadie asked. "Because it's really...bad."

"Ooh!" Staci said. "I can do a really good impression of my..." Her voice trailed off as Sadie gave her a look. "I mean...someone else's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He invented impressions."

Confessional

Sadie: Well...it's an improvement. Kind of.

"Come on we've got an elimination ceremony," Topher continued. He heard lots of rustling grass near him. "I think it's working! Come on ladies, it's the one and only Chris- AAAAAAH!" A lioness leapt out of the grass and clawed at Topher, scratching up his arm. He screamed and ran back to his team.

"Well that was...interesting," Chris said awkwardly. "Next!"

"I'll give it a shot," Bridgette volunteered, walking into the grass. "I learned some things from working with Bruno that might be able to help me." She made her way toward the kopje. When a female lion approached her, she passively crouched down. The lioness limped toward her.

"Here, let me see your paw," she said softly. The lioness hesitated, but allowed her to take a look. A thorn was stuck in it. "Oh dear..." She gently pulled the thorn out and the lioness scampered off. Bridgette stood back up and slowly made it to the kopje. She took care to avoid the cubs and found the statue. "This isn't so bad- woah!" Her foot hit something soft, but thick, and she fell forward.

The male lion roared. The thing Bridgette had tripped over was his tail. He got up and growled at her. Bridgette, knowing she couldn't grab the statue and escape, turned and ran back to her group. Fortunately the male lion was rather lazy and didn't give chase.

"Let me show you how it's done," Sugar boasted, cracking her knuckles. "Imma go and wrassle that lion and show him who's in charge."

"Sugar I don't think that's-" Samey began, but was cut off by Amy throwing a rock at her. "Ow!"

"Ugh Samey, stop standing in the way of my rock throwing," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "You're so useless!"

"Don't you worry," Sugar told her teammate. "I've been wrasslin' bears since I could walk. And before that, I fought gators! But that's a young girl's game now..."

"Every time you talk I'm more and more confused about where you're from exactly," Dave remarked, but didn't get any response.

Sugar entered the grass and was immediately found by one of the lioness. "Pffft," Sugar scoffed, "fightin' kittens is for city folk. Outta my way!" The lioness roared at her. "Ooooh, those are fightin' words!"

Sugar and lioness lunged for one another, landing on the ground in a heap of claws, nails, blood, and dust. The others couldn't see what was going on within the cloud. Sugar's cries of pain pierced the air.

"That doesn't sound good," Chris said. "MEDIC!"

Two medics and Chef ran into the field and were able to separate the lion from a bloody and scratched up Sugar.

"Did I win?" She asked deliriously.

"Not even close," Chris told her flatly. "Take her to the infirmary where she can wait with Noah. Favorites, you're up."

As Sugar was taken away, Brick marched toward the grass. "I can use a similar method to the one I used on the gophers on Revenge of the Island," he explained. "My boots should smell bad enough to scare the lions away." He puffed out his chest.

"He really shouldn't be proud of that," Amy deadpanned.

Brick unlaced one of his boots and picked it up. He slowly walked toward the kopje. A couple lionesses found him, prompting him to throw his boot at them. They gave it a sniff and that batted it away with a paw.

"Oh," Brick said, "well...let's see how you like another load of that!" He threw his second boot, getting the same result. "Shoot!" The lionesses snarled and jumped at him. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" Brick turned and ran back to his team.

"How'd it go?" Chris asked. He was playing some mobile game on his phone and not paying attention to whether or not Brick had the statue.

"Mission failure," Brick said with a dejected sigh.

"I figured," Chris replied, still not looking up from his phone as he tapped the screen a couple of times. "That means the Not Favorites are up next."

Scarlett looked over who was left. "We're doomed," she said.

"Fear not!" Leonard announced. "For my fellow adventurer Dave and I will bring our party to victory!"

"We will?" Dave asked dryly.

"Of course we will!" Leonard cried. "Come quickly my brother in arms. Glory awaits us!" He charged off into the grass, Dave following with an unenthusiastic demeanor.

Confessional

Dave: Normally I wouldn't have gone into that field with Leonard, but even if we don't make it back with a statue there's no way they'd vote out me over him...

"So what exactly are you planning to do?" Dave asked.

"I am going to use my newly obtained perk," Leonard explained. "I spent weeks before the showing leveling up my Animal Husbandry skill and now I have the ability to use the Animal Legion skill. It will allow us to take control of this pride of lions for our use in the next battle! And hopefully they'll hand over the statue too."

"So basically we're doomed then," Dave sighed. He looked over to see Leonard drawing something in the dirt. "What are you doing?"

"My spell needs a special rune for it to work," Leonard said. "I want to finish before the lions show up."

"Too late," Dave said as a couple lionesses walked over to them. The lions were likely fed up after so many people were coming to their den. One of them stamped out Leonard's "rune" with her paw.

"We may have to change our plans," Leonard said.

"Run away?" Dave suggested.

"No, I haven't leveled up my Running skill yet."

"Well I'm out of here," Dave said, running off. Leonard followed behind him. The lions just watched them leave, knowing that it wouldn't be worth chasing after them.

"None of you have gotten the statue yet?!" Chris asked, throwing up his hands in frustration. "This is ridiculous. Somebody please just end this!"

"Who's going to go next for us?" Courtney asked her team. "Preferrably someone who won't mess up."

"Fine, I'll do it," Amy and Leshawna said in unison. They turned to glare at each other. "Hey! Stop that! Quit saying everything I'm saying. No, you quit!"

"Why don't you both go?" Bridgette suggested, stepping between the two. "Maybe if you both go and use two different plans, we'll have a better shot."

"Hmph," Amy grumbled, "fine." She and Leshawna stormed into the grass. After a few seconds of walking in place, Amy turned to her teammate. "Can you like, not?"

"What am I doing?" Leshawna asked, narrowing her eyes.

"You're casting a huge shadow all over me!" Amy snapped, gesturing to Leshawna's shadow which was covering Amy's feet. "How am I supposed to get a tan with that in the way?"

"Girl you're wearing boots," Leshawna pointed out, "you wouldn't get a tan there anyways! Quit tryin' to a pick fight with me. You'll regret it."

"More like you'll be the one to regret it," Amy said, blowing a raspberry at Leshawna, who just rolled her eyes. "Ugh, so what's your plan anyway?"

"I'm not tellin' you," Leshawna said simply. "After what you pulled in the last challenge, I don't want to risk you trying to sabotage me."

"Did you take an extra stupid pill today or something?" Amy scoffed. "I was trying to help our team by sabotaging the enemy."

"That 'enemy' was your own sister," Leshawna said, poking Amy in the chest.

"Oh you did not just poke me," Amy growled. She lightly shoved Leshawna, who shoved back even harder. "That's it!" Amy threw herself at Leshawna, but the girl moved to the side and tripped up the blonde, sending her face first into the dirt.

"At least let me take my earrings off," Leshawna scolded, quickly removing her earrings. "Now I hope you're hungry, because I'mma give you a knuckled sandwich with some whoopass, on the side of course."

"Ew even your slang is tacky," Amy said, rolling her eyes. She got to her feet. "And here I thought Samey was the biggest loser on this show. If we lose this challenge you are so getting eliminated." She stormed back toward her team.

"Now just where do you think you're going?" Leshawna asked. "We didn't even try to get the statue!"

"Who cares?" Amy shot back. "We both know we won't get it, and besides, do you really want to mess up your hair trying to win this when we both know you can't.

Confessional

Leshawna: Girl's a bitch, but she wasn't wrong. Besides, it's not like getting everyone to vote for one person isn't my specialty.

Leshawna and Amy returned empty-handed, meaning it was time for the Not-Favorites to go. Scarlett looked over who was left. B, while inventive, was too big of a target for a pack of angry lions. That of course left Sadie and Staci.

"We'll go together," Sadie said excitedly.

"That's a terrible idea," Scarlett told her. "If just one of you goes, it means the other gives us another chance at winning."

"But we have a plan," Sadie insisted. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?!"

"Ugh, fine," Scarlett said, uncovering her ears after Sadie's high-pitched screech. "I don't really care if either of you get eaten so whatever."

"Come on Staci," Sadie said, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling her into the grass.

"So what happens once they lose?" Courtney asked Chris. "Do we just get the automatic win?"

"I'm not sure," Chris admitted, "we didn't think you guys would be this terrible at the challenge. I guess we'll just pull a name out of a hat to see who wins. Chef, go get the hat." Chef nodded and left to go get said hat.

"So um, what is our plan?" Staci asked Sadie once they were in the tall grass.

"Okay," Sadie said, clapping her hands together, "so, I'm going to squeal really, like, loud. Like, suuuuuuuper loud. And none of the mean lions will know where it came from. So while they're looking for me, you get to go get the statue!"

"But isn't there still one lion inside?" Staci asked.

"True," Sadie said, thinking for a little bit. "Oh! But remember, it's asleep with the other team's statue? So you just have to grab ours and get out. You can do it!"

"Um, okay," Staci said, smiling at the idea. "Let's do it, ya?"

"I'll go over here a little bit and then when you hear me, go for it," Sadie said. She walked a few meters away from Staci and gave her a wave. Staci began to slowly move toward the kojpe.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A loud, shrill squeal filled the air. Birds in the distance took flight, some nearby glass broke, and the lions scattered to figure out what was making the noise.

Staci ran as fast as she could, which wasn't that fast, until she was inside the kopje. Now she just needed to find the statue. She could she a glittering object underneath the male lion's paw, but she knew that wasn't her team's statue. Instead, she found the proper statue toward the back.

"Oh my gosh I did it," Staci said to herself. She picked up the statue and turned out to exit the kopje, only to come face to face with the now awake male lion. "Oh..."

The other contestants had heard Sadie's squeal, but were surprised that she hadn't come back yet. They sat around, most of them bored, as they waited to see what would happen.

"So," Samey whispered to Scarlett, "um...who do you think we should vote for if we lose?"

"You mean when we lose?" Scarlett whispered back. Samey winced, but didn't say anything. "Well it would seem this alliance of ours is starting earlier than I thought. I guess my vote would go between Ezekiel or Leonard. Neither are mentally strong, but I guess after today's challenge we could still manipulate Leonard. So we'll vote out Ezekiel."

"Okay..." Samey said, glancing at the farm boy. He hadn't said much since his attempt at the challenge, and was still sitting on the ground.

"Is there a problem with that choice?" Scarlett asked, her brow furrowing.

"No," Samey said quickly. "I'm fine with that. But who knows...maybe Staci and Sadie will come through for us."

Samey's opinion might have been different if she could see Staci, who was currently cowering behind a rock with the statue in her lap. The male lion clawed at her, but couldn't fit behind the rock to get to her.

"Please, please, please," Staci said, her hands pressed together and her head bent in prayer. "Save me ancestors! Oh I wish you were here great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandpa Wilkins. You invented lion taming. Or great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt Velma, who invented spelunking. Ya."

Staci paused as a large yawn echoed through the kopje. She peered out from behind the rock to see the lion staring sleepily at her. He shook his head and then growled.

"Oh, do my stories about my relatives put you to sleep?" Staci asked, obviously not getting an answer because it was a lion. "Well...how about I tell you about my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother Rachel. She invented fountains. Before then, water was just used for plumbing." Another yawn. "Or my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great uncle Jack, who invented beans!"

The lion slumped down on the ground, but his eyes were still open. Staci took that as a sign that she needed to keep going. "Well...my great-great-great-great-great-great-great cousin twice removed named Humphrey invented hamsters. And before him, his dad invented hamster wheels. But hamsters hadn't been invented yet so they were just called wheels." Staci continued to go on and on about her relatives until the lion began to snore really loudly.

"Phew," Staci sighed with relief. "That was all the relatives I had." She stood up with the statue and, for some reason, felt a little lighter.

Confessional

Staci: I'm not sure why, but getting to share all of my relatives with someone feels really good. Sort of like I don't have to tell them to everyone now. Unless I forgot some. Then I'll have to tell someone.

Staci exited the kopje to find everyone waiting at the start, including Sadie. Scarlett stormed over to her. "Where have you been?!" The redhead shouted. "It's almost sunset!" The sun was indeed almost setting.

"Well I was just in the cave and the lion scared me so I told him about all my relatives," Staci explained.

"Ugh, you should have gotten eaten by the lion for wasting our time and-" Scarlett stopped when she saw what Staci was holding. "Is that..."

"That's the Not-Favorites' statue!" Chris exclaimed. "Which means the Not-Favorites win!"

"Are you serious?!" Courtney cried as the Not-Favorites cheered. Well, some of them. Most of them were in complete shock that they had managed to win the challenge.

"That means I'll be seeing the Favorites at the elimination ceremony tonight," Chris said. "Now let's head back."

The two teams loaded back up into the vehicles and rode back to the resort. The Favorites were mostly quiet, save for a few glares exchanged between them. The Not-Favorites were buzzing with excitement.

"I knew you could do it!" Sadie squealed, hugging Staci. "You are so brave. I never would have been able to go in that cave."

"Your Animal Husbandry skill must be even higher than mine," Leonard said in awe. Dave just rolled his eyes.

"Good job eh," Ezekiel said weakly, still not making eye contact with anyone.

"Yes, it would seem that I miscalculated," Scarlett remarked. "It doesn't happen often, and don't expect it to happen again. Nonetheless you have my gratitude for providing our team with victory. This time around."

"Thank you guys so much," Staci gushed. She was still holding the statue. "It really means a lot to me, ya."

Upon reaching the resort, Chris announced the reward for the winning team. "Not-Favorites, you get exclusive access to the resort's pool until the next challenge in a few days. You also get an endless supply of snack bar food. Enjoy."

The Not-Favorites went to go check out the pool or change into their swimsuits. It was almost nighttime, meaning the Favorites had little time to prepare for the upcoming ceremony.

"Don't worry team," Brick said as everyone prepared to split up. "Today was just a fluke. My code is that we always use a loss to prepare ourselves for a victory. Now maybe this is the wake up call some of us need to realize that if we don't work and train as a team we won't be getting-"

"Shut up!" Courtney interrupted.

Brick frowned. "Ma'am with all do respect-"

"I said shut up!" Courtney repeated. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" She lunged at Brick, but Bridgette and Geoff held her back. "Gah!" Courtney screamed as she was dragged back toward her bungalow.

Confessional

Brick: Maybe it's time I took a less direct approach with Courtney. She's a very headstrong young woman, and I respect that, but my methods are proven to work in the actual military. She has to see that it'll work!

"I want him gone," Courtney said flatly as Bridgette and Geoff sat awkwardly on the couch of the bungalow the two girls shared with Brick.

"I understand your frustrations," Bridgette soothed, "but Brick means well. There's definitely some people I could do without seeing again. Like that Amy girl."

Geoff nodded. "She's not cool," he said.

There was a knock at the door of the bungalow. Geoff opened it and Brick nervously walked in. Courtney glared at him, but he quickly went upstairs.

"He is going down," Courtney said. There was another knock at the door. "Ugh, who could that be?!" Courtney walked to the door and opened it up, revealing Amy. "What do you want?"

"I'm just hear to let you in on a little secret," Amy said. "I share a bungalow with Leshawna, and thought you'd be interested in knowing that she's having a meeting to get you eliminated right now."

Courtney just looked at Amy, unimpressed. "Really?" She said. "And why is that?"

"She says you're a huge bitch," Amy continued. "And that she wants you out. So we should definitely team up and vote her out."

"Not happening," Courtney said, "good night." She slammed the door on Amy's face.

Confessional

Amy: Okay, wow, rude! Is it my fault that I want my lame-ass roommate gone so I can have the bungalow all to myself? Of course not!

Brick came downstairs. "Teammates," he said to Bridgette, Courtney, and Geoff with a polite nod, "I couldn't help but overhear the conversation that just occurred. It would seem that Leshawna is someone we need to vote for tonight."

"No way," Bridgette said, "Leshawna's my friend. I'm sure Amy was just lying."

"But what if she's not?" Brick asked. "A secret meeting would throw off our teamwork even more than it already is. It'd be best to take out this threat now then later. I would vote for her if that's what you want."

Something went off in Courtney's head, and she stood up. "Would you really?" She asked. Brick nodded. "Just to make things right between us?"

"Yes ma'am," Brick said, giving a salute. "I didn't mean any offense with what I said earlier. I respect your leadership."

"Yeah, yeah," Courtney said with a dismissive wave. "But really, you'll vote for Leshawna?" Another nod. "Good, because now that I think about it, Leshawna would be the type of person to hold a secret meeting against me."

"I'm glad we can work together on this ma'am," Brick said with a nod. "I'll see you at the ceremony." He went back upstairs to his "room".

"Courtney," Bridgette said worriedly once she heard the bathroom door shut, "what are you planning? You aren't really going to vote out Leshawna are you?"

Courtney smirked. "You're my friend, right Bridgette?" She asked. Bridgette nodded. Geoff stared at his girlfriend and her friend. "Good...and you're Leshawna's friend too right?"

"Of course," Bridgette replied. "And I don't want to choose between the two of you."

"You won't have to," Courtney promised, "because there's a way you can continue being a good friend to both of us."

Confessional

Bridgette: Looks like Geoff's not the only person I've forgotten what it's like to compete alongside. Courtney's good at this.

As it would turn out, Amy hadn't exactly been lying when she came to Courtney's bungalow. Leshawna was having a meeting of sorts with her teammates, but they weren't after Courtney.

"I'm telling y'all," Leshawna said to the others in her bungalow, "we need to vote out Amy." Harold, Jasmine, and Dawn were sitting around the living room area, listening to her.

"Amy has one of the cruelest auras on the team," Dawn pointed out, "eliminating her would be quite wise."

"Yeah, she's bad news," Jasmine agreed. "I was on the same season as her, and she was vile. I'll gladly help you vote her out."

"I'll do anything for you my love," Harold said, taking Leshawna's hand. "Just say it and it'll be done."

"Thanks guys," Leshawna said. "It'll be nice having this bungalow to myself."

"There are only four of us here however," Dawn observed, "would it be a good idea to talk to some of the others to get a majority. Six people are needed to guarantee someone's elimination."

"Don't worry about that hon," Leshawna said confidently. "I'm sure there's at least two other people on this team that want Amy gone as badly as we do. Girl won't stand a chance."

"I will admit, I'm a little worried about the elimination ceremony," Dawn said. "Even if we are targeting Amy, my lack of participation in the challenge may be used against me."

"Don't sweat it," Jasmine told the aura whisperer, "I'm in the same boat. But that's why we all need to stick together and get rid of Amy before we worry about stuff like that."

"Don't worry about us either," Leshawna told the two girls, "Harold and I are cool with you two, so we won't vote you out. We gotta stick together." The others nodded in agreement.

Eventually, the contestants on the Favorites team were called to the elimination ceremony. They cast their votes and took their seats. Chris explained how the postcards were used and what elimination device would be utilized.

"Let's get started then," Chris said. "The first postcards go to...Bridgette, Geoff, Trent, and Noah." The first four contestants collected their postcards. "Next we have Courtney and Harold."

"Secret meeting to elimination me, huh?" Courtney asked Amy. The cheerleader just rolled her eyes.

Chris looked between the remaining five contestants. Leshawna, Jasmine, Dawn, Amy, and Brick. "Jasmine...Dawn...despite not competing in the challenge today, you two are safe with zero votes." Dawn let out a sigh of relief and took her postcard.

"Wait, why do I have votes?" Leshawna asked, confused. Bridgette shot Courtney a look, who just shrugged.

"Enjoy going home," Amy whispered to her. "I'm going to have fun living by myself."

"The next postcard goes to...

...

...

...Leshawna."

"What?!" Amy, Leshawna, and Bridgette said in unison. Leshawna caught her post-card while Amy's eyes widened.

Chris held up the final postcard. "Amy...Brick...only one of you will be receiving this postcard tonight. The other will be sent home, where they can never return...ever. That person is not...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...Amy." He tossed the postcard to the twin. "Brick, you're out."

"Already?!" Brick cried. "But...but I thought..." He turned to look at Courtney, who just glared at him. He sighed in defeat. "Well that's a shame. I was really looking forward to working with all of you. Sorry we couldn't make it last." He stood up and gave them a dejected salute.

"Yeah," Chris said, "where are those lions?"

"Lions?" Brick repeated. "What for-" A couple of snarling lions ran out from the bushes. Brick screamed and took off into the desert, the lions chasing after him. Chris laughed as the cadet disappeared over the horizon.

"Well I did not see that coming," Chris said. "Way to once again be the more interesting team, guys. Now get out of here." The contestants got up and returned to their bungalows.

On the way back, Bridgette approached Courtney. "So you were never planning to eliminate Leshawna?" She asked.

"Nope," Courtney replied, "as much as Leshawna and I don't get along, I wanted Brick gone more. But I knew it would be hard to get your vote unless you needed to protect your friend. Sorry I sort of manipulated you."

"You could have just told me you wanted my help," Bridgette pointed out, "but hey, it's fine. Just be honest with me next time, okay?" Courtney nodded. "Alright, goodnight." Courtney waved to her friend as they went to their separate rooms. The bungalow felt bigger now that one person was gone.

Voting Confessionals

Amy: So I've never voted on this show for anyone but Samey before, but I guess I'll vote for Leshawna since I want the bungalow to myself. Buh-bye loser!

Brick: I'm a man of my word, and in keeping that word I am voting for Leshawna!

Bridgette: Courtney's right, the only way I can be a good friend to both her and Leshawna is to vote for Brick. Sorry, nothing personal...

Courtney: Brick! Duh!

Dawn: I must cast my vote for Amy. While I can feel my fellow teammates are planning other things, I must honor my commitment with Leshawna.

Geoff: Bridgette says she's voting for Brick, and I agree with her. He's a nice dude, but he gets on people's nerves easily.

Harold: Like Leshawna asked, I am voting for Amy.

Jasmine: Amy's got to go. Even if Samey isn't around for her to bully on this team, she's just going to find someone else to make miserable.

Leshawna: Do you even need to ask? I'm voting for Amy!

Noah: Meh...Brick's kind of annoying so...I guess I'll vote for him.

Trent: Brick's kind of been rubbing me the wrong way the past few days, so I'm going to vote for him.

Votes: Leshawna (2 - Amy, Brick), Amy (Dawn, Harold, Jasmine, Leshawna), Brick (5 - Bridgette, Courtney, Geoff, Noah, Trent)

Team Favorites: Amy, Bridgette, Courtney, Dawn, Geoff, Harold, Jasmine, Leshawna, Noah, Trent

Team Not-Favorites: B, Dave, Ezekiel, Leonard, Sadie, Samey, Scarlett, Staci, Sugar, Topher

Eliminated: Max, Brick

This elimination wasn't as easy of a decision to make as the last one. I knew Brick wasn't going to get very far, so I decided second out would be best for him. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a character, but when put on a team with people like Courtney and Noah who aren't really interested in being best friends, he's not going to do as well. I hope I didn't write him coming off as an intentional jerk, because he's more an annoyance to the others in this story. Oh, and he's fine, the lions didn't eat him or anything.

That's all I've got! See you guys next time, don't forget to tell me your thoughts in a review!