Chapter Text
Luke sat at the edge of a pond, with his feet dangling into the water. It was nice and refreshing, but it was also cold and early into the day. He knew they had a challenge today, but he truly couldn’t care. When he heard twigs snapping behind him though, he jumped a little.
“Hey.” Kaylee said behind him. Luke sighed, knowing that Kaylee still wanted to talk about Tanner’s vote off.
“I still don’t forgive you. You’ve practically sentenced me to my death.” Luke said bitterly.
“Hey, just hear me out. I had to sneak past 3 girls in my cabin to get here, I think I deserved that at least.” Kaylee said with a forced smile.
“Fine, what is it?” Luke looked at her with unamusement in his eyes.
“Look, I’m sorry about voting off Tanner. But it was the right call! Imagine this; I vote with you guys, and Tanner loses the tie breaker. Then, I’m stuck in a minority with just you and we both get voted out. What good will that have done?!” Kaylee logically thought out.
“Oh, but I’m expendable? You know once I get voted out, you’ll have to turn on each other like you’re in lord of the flies! The tie breaker was a safer bet…” Luke sighed.
“What if we just don’t have to vote anyone out…?” Kaylee tried to ask.
“You know that won’t happen. We will return there eventually.” Luke rolled his eyes.
“Okay, then I’ll just convince Mai to vote with us. She’s smart enough to know that she’ll be a target after our alliance are the only members left.” Kaylee told Luke. Luke laughed.
“It’s funny to realize that your alliance sucks because you have too many members.”
Tiptoeing around the area, Riley made sure he didn’t wake anyone in his cabin up. Cedar was asleep comfortably and Isaac seemingly was too. He snuck out of his cabin and was ready to go out to look for the statue. He desperately needed it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t accounting for Alice to be wide awake.
“Hey, Riley. What’re you doing up…?” Alice asked non threateningly.
“Uhh, I could ask the same for you?” Riley said nervously.
“Yeah, I guess. I’m just… thinking.” Alice said with a sluggish look.
“Thinking? At this early of an hour?” Riley asked with curiosity in his voice.
“Yeah, it’s just… moral stuff.” Alice said with a nod. Riley sat down next to her.
“What do you mean?” He further prodded.
“I don’t like that our team is cheating. It just feels… unfair?” She told Riley.
“Ah. So that’s it? I mean, it’s just a game Alice. If you’re not playing to win, are you even playing at all?” Riley said with a shrug.
“Uhm… I guess. You know, Isaac told me something similar. Maybe I should listen.” Alice smiled weakly.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with him, haven’t you?” Riley said with a frown.
“Huh? Yeah, I guess so. Is that an issue…?” Alice was confused.
“No, I mean… Katie got voted out because we were a pair… but now it feels like everyone in our team is a pair.” Riley replied.
“Well… Eliza isn’t.” Alice tried to reaffirm him.
“Yeah, I guess. I’m gonna get going now, nice talking to you though.” Riley got up and left, to go on his search for a statue.
“Alright…” Alice replied.
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Confessional: Alice
“I’d say I’m kind of smart, so believe me when I say that I’m pretty sure Riley is off to look for a statue. I should tell Isaac once he wakes up…”
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Applying makeup to her face, Sherry looked deeply into the mirror.
“It’s warped.” Sherry said monotonously, sighing deep into the room.
“What? It looks fine to me.” Malorie replied.
“I wasn’t really talking to you, but yeah. The mirror is warped. You can tell from the way you can press your hand to the mirror and it’s slightly bent.” Sherry explained, showing a demonstration.
“Oh. Well, who cares.” Malorie just shrugged and plopped onto her bed.
“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t. So, anyways, do you have an alliance on this team?” Sherry asked wholeheartedly as she sat down next to Malorie.
“What? Why do you wanna know?” Malorie was caught off guard by the question.
“It’s an honest question. You and your band of misfits did leave for like 3 hours before the challenge started. Find anything you were looking for?” Sherry raised her eyebrow.
“No. I don’t have an alliance and we didn’t find anything. Focus on your own game.” Malorie crossed her arms.
“Touchy… look, since neither of us have an alliance, why don’t we make our own? That would be nice.” Sherry proposed.
“Uhmm… sure. Yeah, why not.” Malorie extended her hand forward after some thinking.
“Nice.” Sherry shook her hand, and went back to applying her daily makeup.
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Confessional: Malorie
“Another alliance with Sherry couldn’t hurt things. If anything, it’ll just make sure we have the majority.”
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Confessional: Sherry
“This alliance with Malorie is just a way of me getting closer to her alliance. I know she lied. Did Angel put me up to this? No. I just want to have complete control over our team, and this is probably the best way to do it. Playing both sides.” Sherry smirked.
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“If we climb that tree, it would make a good hiding place.” Caspian pointed out as he looked at the tallest tree in the area.
“Yeah, but then we run the risk of falling and dying.” Daniel said and crossed his arms, the immunity statue in his hands.
“You probably should take some care into hiding that. Who knows if anyone out here is watching…” Caspian said cautiously.
“Fine.” Daniel stuffed the statue in his pocket.
“Okay… how about we just climb a shorter tree and hide it there.” Caspian suggested, to which Daniel nodded.
“Not sure what you mean by we… I’m clearly gonna have to be the one to climb the tree myself.” Daniel sighed as he began to do exactly that.
“Hey, I’m not a narcissist. I gotta incorporate the team dynamic somehow.” Caspian said with a smirk as he leaned on the tree.
“Right…” Daniel slowly climbed the tree, making sure not to fall. He stuffed the statue into a tree knot and climbed back down.
“Nice. Let’s get going before Angel starts talking about us again. I swear he’s obsessed with us.” Caspian sighed as he led the way back to their cabin.
“Let’s hope our hiding place doesn’t get found. That would suck.” Daniel thoughtfully said as he walked alongside Caspian.
“Don’t jinx us.” Caspian remarked. The two approached their cabin, where Angel and Ethan were sitting outside of. They seemed to be talking about cars.
“Ah, look who it is. The wonder twins.” Angel pointed out.
“Huh? Oh. Them.” Ethan rolled his eyes as he saw Caspian and Daniel approach.
“Well thanks for the warm welcome. I can always count on you guys.” Caspian said coldly as Daniel snickered at the comment.
“Hey dudes.” Oliver said, alerting everyone to his presence. He seems to have just returned from the bathroom.
“Hey, Oliver.” Daniel waved at the teenager.
“What's going on here?” Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Nothing much. Just these two sneaking off and making out in the woods or something.” Ethan smirked as the words fell out of his mouth. Caspian looked unamused while Daniel blushed.
“Excuse you?” Caspian said with a monotone reply. Angel laughed.
“Dude, come on.” Angel mocked and pointed at Daniel, “You sneak off like every day to be with your boy toy and expect us not to catch on?”
“Weirdos galore here.” Caspian rolled his eyes and walked into the cabin without another word. Daniel stood there awkwardly before deciding to follow him.
“Dude, uncalled for? There was no need.” Oliver scolded Angel and sat down on the porch with them.
“They’ll be fine.” Angel replied without care.
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Confessional: Oliver
“I don’t think being in a functional team is in the cards for me. Whatever, as long as I don’t get voted out, I’m fine with it.”
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“Listen up team!” Eliza called out to her team. The five other members, Isaac, Alice, Brooke, and Cedar, sat in front of her. “As we are well aware of, we have the paper for the challenges. So, let’s read what today's challenge is!”
“Hooray.” Riley said unenthusiastically.
“Don’t be rude.” Isaac said with an eye roll.
“Great.” Eliza sighed.
“What? Is it cut off?” Cedar asked concerningly.
“No… it just says relay race.” Eliza showed them the paper, and sure enough, that was all that was said.
“So, what, we practice racing?” Brooke snorted.
“Isn’t it best we just… wait and not tire ourselves?” Alice tried to explain.
“It was a joke, sweetie. I was commenting on how useless this paper has been so far.” Brooke explained instead.
“Hey! It hasn’t been useless! It’s pretty much the only reason we won last time.” Eliza tried to assure.
“Yeah, but that had more to do with luck than anything.” Isaac sighed.
“All this cheating is gonna catch up to us eventually, maybe we should stop cheating?” Alice attempted to convince her team.
“What? No way. I don’t really like it either, but now that we have the paper, we might as well use it.” Cedar argued.
“Cedar’s right. It would be a waste to not use it, considering we’ve already stole it.” Eliza tucked the paper back into her pockets, “Let’s try to strategize instead.”
“Sure thing…” Riley replied for the team.
Luke and Kaylee walked together back to their cabin, mostly looking for Mai. However, all they found was Zara.
“Hey you two!” Zara smiled at them warmly.
“Hey, Zara, have you seen Mai?” Kaylee asked as she reciprocated the smile.
“Uh… Mai? Why do you need her…” Zara asked as she lifted her eyebrow at the pair.
“Does that matter?” Luke cut in, until he realized his mistake and tried to backtrack, “Er… I mean… look, do you know where she is or not?”
“Yeah. She’s in the communal bathroom. Can I ask again, why?” Zara was getting slightly impatient.
“It’s not relevant.” Kaylee said as she walked off to the bathroom, with Mai following.
“Hm…” Zara thought to herself.
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Confessional: Zara
“After the last elimination, I kind of figured Kaylee, Luke, and Tanner were somewhat working together. I’m glad Kaylee voted with us, but I’m starting to get suspicious of them…”
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“Is there a problem, Zara?” Julienne asked, having just woken up and exited the cabin.
“Yeah… I think-“ Zara was about to explain, before the loud speaker interrupted them.
“Attention campers, it’s challenge time! Please get in front of the canteen A.S.A.P! That means now!” Chris announced.
“…I’ll tell you later.” Zara decided to say.
Luke and Kaylee were annoyed since they didn’t have time to talk to Mai, but they resorted to talking to her later.
Chris smiled widely as the Penguin and Flamingo team walked in. The Flamingo team’s strategizing had been unsuccessful, but the Penguin team had gotten on each others nerves all day.
“And here comes the Peacock team! Penguins and Flamingos getting their first look at the missing Tanner!” Chris announced.
“Dude, they’re totally picking the guys off one by one!” Cedar commented, which got Mai’s attention.
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Confessional: Mai
“Is the girls alliance really that obvious?! Ugh, I might have to change tactics… an obvious alliance is nothing but foolishness waiting to happen.”
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“Are you all ready for today's challenge?” Chris asked rhetorically, but got the unanimous answer of “No.” anyways. He just laughed it off.
“For today, I will need 2 people from the Penguin team and 1 person from the Flamingo team to sit out. In the interest of fairness.” Chris explained to the campers.
“I’ll sit out.” Malorie raised her hand, to which Ethan quickly did the same.
“Oh! I will too!” Riley quickly announced.
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Confessional: Riley
“On the first challenge, everyone dog piled on Alice for costing us the challenge. I can’t let that be me! It’s better to do nothing then to do something bad!”
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Confessional: Eliza
“Not gonna lie, Riley is really proving how useless he can be. He immediately volunteered to sit out. Like, dude!”
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“Alright! Sit outs, please go off to the side. Or just leave if you want, I don’t care.” Chris directed, and the three sit outs did just that. They left for their cabins.
“Moving on…” Chris chuckled, “This challenge will be a 5 part relay race! It’ll go like this! In part 1, one person from each team will race through a mud path to grab a shovel! Each shovel has different durabilities, but the higher quality shovels are further away! So pick wisely! They’ll then pass it to the next person.”
“The second part will have the second person in your team use the shovels to dig! They’re looking for a key hidden in a small designated area. There’s only three, so look carefully!” Chris continued to explain.
“Hmm…” Eliza thought on that last sentence.
“The third part is a straight marathon! You’ll have to run from the forest where the first half of the challenge is taking place, to the beach where the second half of the challenge is happening, and deliver the key to the fourth person!” Chris showed off a map that showed the runners route.
“The fourth and penultimate part will have the fourth person grab the key and use it to open a chest that’s underwater, on the beach! You’ll have to find the chest with your team's logo, otherwise you’ll open an opposing team's chest by accident! Unless you’re looking to sabotage your own team, you definitely don’t want that!” Chris smirked.
“And the final part! Once the chest opens and releases three balls with your team logo, the final team member will use those balls to hit your team's target that’s floating on the water! Once you knock it over, your team will win and will be safe!” Chris finally finished explaining. “Alright, any questions? No? Great! I’ll give you 5 minutes to decide who’s doing what.”
Malorie and Ethan made it back to their cabin.
“Lucky us, we don’t have to compete in today's challenge.” Malorie sighed in relief.
“Yeah… so… you got any plans…?” Ethan reluctantly asked.
Malorie just looked at Ethan, “… I think I just got the ick.”
“Alright! It is Daniel, Luke, and Isaac doing the first part! Followed by Caspian, Kaylee, and Eliza! The third part is Angel, Mai, and Cedar! Then we have Sherry, Julienne, and Brooke going underwater! Finally, Oliver, Zara, and Alice are throwing the balls for the finale!” Chris announced.
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Confessional: Daniel
“It really all comes down to the final part, right? I mean, the first part hardly matters. So as long as I don’t do anything drastic, I'll hardly be noticed. It’s called going under the radar. I’ve been pretty great at it all my life!” Daniel shouted proudly.
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“Alright! Daniel, Luke, and Issac, you guys ready? Go!” Chris released them, and the three teens sprinted into the muddy path. Covered in dirt and wet grass, Isaac grabbed the closest and flimsiest shovel, and began heading back.
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Confessional: Isaac
“An early lead is everything! It won’t matter if you have the best shovel on earth, if you’re too far behind to do anything with it!”
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Daniel and Luke both opted to go deeper into the mud path, but both settled for the middle option, a durable shovel.
“Disappointing! No one went to the best shovel, those had the most traps!” Chris whined.
“Wait, did he say traps?” Luke confusedly asked Daniel, until he suddenly stepped on a pressure plate and zapped him.
“Jesus!” Daniel kept running, trying to avoid any traps.
By now, Isaac had made it back to the beginning and handed the flimsy shovel to Eliza.
“Nice!” Eliza shouted and got to digging for keys.
“Looks like Team Flamingo is ahead! Who would’ve seen that coming!” Chris yelled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Issac retorted.
Luke finally managed to get back up, and passed Daniel, who had seemingly fallen into quicksand.
“Dude! Help! I’m literally sinking!” Daniel extended his arm to ask for assistance from Luke.
“Sorry man, it’s a race. You understand!” Luke kept running.
“Rude!” Daniel complained, and resorted to crawling out of the path himself.
Luke made it back to the beginning and handed the durable shovel to Kaylee.
“Thanks, Luke!” Kaylee extended her gratitude to the teenager, and got to digging.
“Damn, we need to shower.” Isaac told Luke, who instantly agreed.
Eliza eventually managed to find herself a key, and grabbed it immediately. She thought for a moment, but kept digging anyway.
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Confessional: Eliza
“You heard Chris. There’s only three keys.” She laughed maniacally.
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“Ugh…” Daniel eventually crawled out of the path and handed his shovel to Caspian.
“What took you so long?” Caspian grabbed the shovel and got to digging.
“Ugh! Where’s this dumb key!” Kaylee was getting frustrated, and eventually accidentally snapped her shovel. “Dammit!”
“Got you!” Eliza found her first, technically second key. She dropped her flimsy shovel and handed her second key to Cedar.
“Thanks!” Cedar went running off to the beach.
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Confessional: Eliza
“I’ll be keeping this,” She showed off her extra key, “to myself.”
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Eliza walked off to the side, to which Kaylee immediately grabbed Eliza’s discarded flimsy shovel. She tried digging with it, but it broke apart immediately. “NO! AGH!” She slammed the pieces to the floor.
“Got it!” Caspian announced, and ran to hand his key off to Angel.
“Please! Caspian! Let me use your shovel!” Kaylee begged.
“Sorry, I would, but I can’t risk you beating my team. Come back in, like, 5 to 10 minutes and I’ll gladly give you it.” Caspian walked away, shovel in hand.
“Agh!” Kaylee groaned in annoyance. “Stupid shovel!”
“Wow, something tells me we’re not winning this.” Luke sighed.
“Here!” Cedar eventually made it to the beach, and handed the key to Brooke, who was in her swimsuit.
“Thanks…” Brooke stared at Cedar for a second…
“Go!” Cedar, who began blushing, yelled at her, and immediately set her off. She ran into the water and dove in, looking to open her teams chest.
“Here! Go!” Angel shoved the key Sherry.
“Don’t I look good Angel? I don’t even care about my hair getting wet…” Sherry flirtatiously showed off her swimsuit to Angel.
“Does it look like I care? Go find that chest!” Angel directed.
“Ugh…” Sherry grimaced and dove into the water.
“I’m pretty sure she was hitting on you.” Cedar commented.
“I care more about her winning than her trying to seduce me.” Angel rolled his eyes.
“Weirdo…” Cedar said under his breath.
“What’d you say?!” Angel threatened and raised his fist.
“Nothing!” Cedar immediately out his hands up.
“I can’t wait five minutes for another shovel…” Kaylee thought to herself, before looking at the mud path Luke came from. She grimaced for what she had to do. “I hate getting dirty…” Kaylee ran through the mud path, grabbing as many flimsy shovels as possible, and hauling them back.
“This is so sad to see…” Eliza shook her head.
“She’s stubborn, that's for sure.” Luke tried to look on the bright side.
“What’s for sure is we’re about to lose if she doesn’t find that forsaken key.” Mai shook her own head.
“How deep did Chris hide this thing!” Kaylee had dug up the whole area at least a foot deep.
Brooke gasped for water as she resurfaced, still looking for her chest.
“Anything??” Cedar asked from the shore.
“No! All I’ve found is the Penguin teams chest!” Brooke confessed.
“What?? You have?? Look, I’ve found your chest, you’re the Flamingos, right? If you tell me where my teams chest is, I’ll tell you where yours is.” Sherry proposed to Brooke.
“Ah… deal! I found it by those rocks over there!” Brooke pointed to somewhere nearby.
“Thanks! I found yours over by those fishes!” Sherry pointed, and hurried to the rocks.
“Thanks!” Brooke swam over.
“CHRIS! THERE'S NO DAMN THIRD KEY IS THERE!” Kaylee shouted as she stood in a large three feet deep hole she had created looking for the keys.
“Well of course there is. It’s no fun if every part of the challenge isn’t used! If it’s not there, then someone must’ve taken two keys.” Chris explained.
“What?! But who would’ve done something like that!!” Kaylee shouted in disbelief. She looked at Caspian and Eliza.
“Don’t look at me, I wouldn’t risk my team winning in exchange for only potential sabotage.” Caspian shook his head.
“Uhh…” Eliza said after she realized both Caspian and Kaylee were looking at her.
“Eliza… you didn’t…” Isaac asked in disbelief, holding in his laughter.
“YOU!” Kaylee tackled Eliza with her muddy hands.
“Ew, gross, you’re dirtying me! Just take the damn key!” Eliza shoved the key into Kaylee’s hands.
“You’re evil.” Mai commented as Kaylee threw the key to Mai.
“Who cares!! JUST GO!!” Kaylee shouted, exhausted by all the digging. Mai complied and just ran.
“That was cold. We won’t forget that.” Luke told Eliza, who looked slightly guilty.
“I’m just doing what it takes to win. My team will appreciate it. If you guys had thought of it, you would’ve done the same. I bet you’ve already used similar tactics.” Eliza argued.
Luke and Kaylee looked awkward at that comment.
“That’s what I thought.” Eliza rolled her eyes.
“Well, I appreciate how underhanded it was.” Isaac smirked.
“Not now, Isaac.” Eliza sighed.
Daniel, after watching the whole event unfold with Caspian, looked at him with piqued interest.
“What a strange set of campers indeed…” Caspian smirked.
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Confessional: Caspian
“I’ll keep it noted that Eliza is willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
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“Well, I have a lot of spare time, but I still can’t find this damn statue! I’m hoping they don’t come back soon…” Riley was talking to himself deep in the woods. After abstaining from the challenge, Riley had been searching for his team's statue of immunity in the woods. However, he had no luck thus far.
“Wait.. what’s that’s?” He suddenly saw a suspicious looking rock hidden under a tree root. After yanking it out, he realized there was something written on it. It was a clue to the statue.
“Yes! Oh yes!” Riley exclaimed, “I need this lucky break!” He stuffed the rock into his pocket and ran back to the cabin, hoping to get there before his team did. He’d have to read it later.
“I GOT IT!” Sherry exclaimed, as she held out the three balls that emerged from her team's chest. She quickly swam to shore and handed them to Oliver.
“Thanks!” Oliver expressed his gratitude.
“Way to go Sherry!” Angel shouted.
“Brooke?! Have you found it yet?!” Cedar asked, worried.
“No! I don’t think it’s here!” Brooke shouted back, confused.
“Oh, whoops, did I say by the fishes? What I really meant was by the targets. My bad!” Sherry feigned regretfulness, to which Angel chuckled at.
“Looks like you got played.” Angel remarked.
“Gah! Brooke!! Look by the targets!! Sherry tricked us!!” Cedar shouted.
“WHAT?? That dirty eel!” Brooke whined, as she swam to the targets.
“What’d you even do that for, Sherry!” Cedar asked confusedly.
“It’s nothing personal, I just want my team to win.” Sherry explained with an indifferent look.
“Jesus! Mai! What took you so long?!” Julienne asked as she saw Mai approach.
“It’s a long story, just GO!” Mai shoved Julienne along. Julienne wasted no time and dove into the water, attempting to find the chest.
“I got the balls!” Brooke announced as she resurfaced after finding and opening the chests. She swam back to shore and handed the balls to Alice.
“Thanks!” Alice went to get closer to the targets.
“Come on, Julie!” Zara exclaimed.
“Julie? Is that a nickname?” Mai asked.
“Well, yeah?” Zara was confused by the question.
“Cool…” Mai commented, taking an interest in that. It was at this point that the other campers had arrived at the beach. Even Riley, Ethan, and Malorie had arrived to watch the end game.
“What happened to you?” Cedar asked Kaylee.
“Don’t. Don’t talk to me about it.” Kaylee collapsed on the sand, exhausted.
“Eliza took the third key and hid it, and didn’t tell anyone until Kaylee dug up the whole area.” Luke explained, shocking everyone.
“Eliza did what??” Riley exclaimed.
“Look!” Daniel pointed at Oliver.
“Gah!” Oliver threw his last and final ball with all his force, knocking down the target.
“And Penguin team is the first to win immunity! Only one team left to win…” Chris announced.
The Penguin team cheered happily, thankful they’d escaped another elimination ceremony.
“Come on Alice! Hurry!” Eliza told Alice.
“I'm trying!” Alice exclaimed. She had thrown one ball already, to no avail, and was now on her second.
“Guys! I got the balls!” Julienne exclaimed as she swam back to shore.
“Yes! Yesyesyesyes!” Mai shouted.
Zara made quick work and grabbed the balls, running to get closer towards the targets.
“Ugh!” Alice threw the second ball with all her might, but it just barely missed the target.
“Come on!!” Isaac yelled out.
“Zara! Get throwing already!” Luke shouted.
“Thanks, Luke, I didn’t realize!” Zara shouted back. She threw two balls in quick succession, knocking the target back a bit. “Come on!”
“I did NOT do all that work for us to lose at the last minute. Just knock down the target, Zara!” Kaylee shouted at her teammate.
Alice was trying to make a calculated throw, but when she realized Zara was about to throw her last ball too, she knew she had to hurry.
“ZARA!”/“ALICE!” Multiple people shouted at once. Both girls threw their balls with all their might at the target. While one missed completely, the other hit their target and not just knocked it down, but broke it to pieces. That was…
“And Alice wins it for the Flamingo team! They’re safe once again!” Chris announced.
“No…” Zara collapsed to her knees in shock.
“YES!” Alice shouted in disbelief and relief.
“Congratulations to the Penguin and Flamingo team! Peacock team, I’ll be seeing you once more at the elimination ceremony!” Chris laughed at their misfortune.
Luke, Kaylee, Mai, Julienne, and Zara all sighed in unison.
“We have to go… again…” Kaylee whined into the sand.
“Alice! Amazing work out there!” Isaac shouted as he grabbed onto Alice. It was just minutes after the challenge and everyone was packing up their things to get back.
“Eliza, that tactic…” Riley began, before Eliza cut him off.
“I get it. It was shady, and untrustworthy, but it got us the win we needed. And it wasn’t against the rules…” Eliza explained
“And we all know we’re below the rules anyways.” Brooke laughed.
“Hey, quiet. Chris is near.” Cedar scolded lightly.
“We’ll be fine. Let’s just leave this place before Kaylee continues to give me a dirty look.” Eliza told her team as she got up to leave.
“I don’t blame her.” Riley said with clear disapproval.
The Penguin team was already on their way back, having taken their win in happiness and confidence.
“Sherry, was telling Brooke to go the wrong way really necessary?” Oliver asked, genuinely curious.
“Of course it was.” Angel confirmed as he walked by the two, Ethan in tow.
“Wait, she did what..?” Ethan asked as he also walked by.
“Anyways… look, I wanted the win, and you never know. Look what happened to that team. They almost lost because they were delayed. That could’ve been us.” Sherry told Oliver.
“I guess… but doesn’t that make their near loss our fault?” Oliver asked.
“Eh, but they didn’t lose. So it didn’t really matter.” Sherry just shrugged it off.
Behind the four of them, Caspian, Malorie, and Daniel were walking.
“I think Ethan likes me.” Malorie told the two.
“Yikes. But useful.” Caspian said thoughtfully.
“You’re not seriously thinking of using Ethan’s romantic interests to our advantage, are you…?” Daniel asked with nervousness.
Caspian seemed caught off guard by the question, “Well… yeah? Anything for us to win, right?”
Daniel and Malorie looked at each other in varying degrees of surprise.
“I guess it makes sense.” Malorie agreed.
“Look, I don’t think it’s necessary. We have the statue and we have Oliver somewhat on our side. We really don’t need to use someone like that…” Daniel tried to convince them.
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we’re all good.” Caspian told him with a smile.
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Confessional: Daniel
“I appreciate Caspian for how far he’s willing to go to help our alliance make it further into the game, but… sometimes… it feels like he just goes too far with it. Using someone’s romantic interest for his own gain? I’m not sure if I’m down for that… but… I’ve made my bed by joining them, now it’s time to lie in it.”
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“If you really think about it, this is all Zara’s fault.” Kaylee whispered with clear intention to Mai. The Peacock team was walking back to their cabin after their unfortunate loss. Luke was trailing right behind them, listening to every word, while Zara and Julienne were a bit ahead.
“Is that why you were looking for me this morning? Thinking about voting our alliance mates already, are we?” Mai spoke, shocking both Kaylee and Luke.
“I would never…” Kaylee tried to explain.
“Zara told me you were acting suspicious with Luke, and looking for me. With your recent comment, I put two and two together. You didn’t exactly make it hard.” Mai spoke softly.
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Confessional: Kaylee
“Crap, that was bad! Without Mai’s vote, me and Luke are so screwed!”
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“Look,” Luke cut in abruptly, “You know who me and Kaylee are voting for. You can either vote with us, and form a new alliance that will go further, or you can stick with your old one and vote for me, but then what happens when it’s just you four?”
“I vote for Kaylee for the treason. Duh.” Mai said sharply.
“Oh…” Luke said, realizing Mai had a point. Mai walked off, clearly seeing the conversation to be done.
“We have a problem.” Kaylee said sternly.
“We’ve done all we can.” Luke said with conviction.
Mai walked up to Julienne and Zara, and began to eavesdrop on their own conversation.
“So after we get Luke out, do we vote Kaylee or Mai?” Julienne asked Zara.
“Kaylee would be a guaranteed vote, but if we vote our Mai, Kaylee will be in our debt and therefore more loyal. Plus, Mai is smart. She’ll probably realize it’s better to split us two once Luke is gone then to vote Kaylee who is already on the outs. It’s our safest bet.” Zara explained. Mai quickly began to back away once she understood what was being said.
——————————————————————
Confessional: Mai
“Now why, oh why, does everyone think I’m such a genius? First Tanner, now Zara? Whatever. I have no idea what I’m gonna do now. If I vote out Luke, it just guarantees I’ll be voted out next, unless I can convince them. But if I vote out Zara, I’ll screw over my alliance. Plus, Luke and Kaylee have no real allegiance other than each other. I’ll just be a third wheel that they’ll get out once I’ve served my purpose. So basically. I’m screwed either way. I just need to get to the merge before I get voted out by either group.”
——————————————————————
Everyone had looked up to the sky, as it had become night once more. The moon replaced the dim and cloudy sun, while the Peacock team was currently making their way out of the cabin. Lined up in a row, the team walked down to the elimination ceremony. Torches were lit on the path, giving off a bright glow along the way. Dried up mud crunched under each footstep, and a bug was crushed by one such step. Mai walked in the front, a clear idea of what must be done in her head. Zara is right behind her and Julienne behind Zara. Kaylee was the final girl in the row, while Luke walked in the back, the lone and final guy on the team. They made their way to their destination.
Chris stood behind a podium, where he had a plate of marshmallows that contained one less than it did before. Once the team had all arrived and sat down in front of him, Chris decided to begin.
“Petite Peacocks.” Chris began, “At camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life.”
Mai rolled her eyes, having heard this speech once before.
“Welcome back once more! Second time here? I’m starting to get used to some of these faces.” Chris laughed and chuckled.
“Whatever…” Luke sighed.
“Not a fan? I thought this place looked nice. Besides, this is all of you guys’ fault as to why you’re here.” Chris pointed to the team.
Julienne raised her hand and covered her mouth in slight discomfort.
“If anything, there are two distinct people to blame for our downfall today.” Mai pointed out.
“Oh really? Fill us in.” Chris smirked.
“Kaylee and Zara. They’re the ones who lagged behind the most in this challenge. Kaylee took far too long looking for the key and Zara missed the target.” Mai explained.
“Excuse you! I only lost because Kaylee took way too long! I almost managed to make a comeback, with that time Kaylee lost we all could’ve won!” Zara rebutted.
“What the hell are you talking about? I only took so long because the key was literally stolen! Let’s not act like this is my fault.” Kaylee argued.
“It doesn’t even matter whose fault it is! We’re here now, shouldn’t we focus on how to vote?” Julienne yelled out.
“Isn’t the vote obvious? You guys have an alliance, I’m not in it.” Luke pointed out with an eye roll.
“Oh please, we all know Kaylee is far more loyal to you then she is to our alliance.” Zara sneered.
“Okay, but I’m not gonna vote out my only loyal ally! Once Luke is gone, who would be the next vote out? Me!” Kaylee argued.
“Well, actually, as I believe Zara said, ‘I’m smart and the safest bet to vote out’, isn’t that right?” Mai voiced out.
“I- uh…” Julienne sputtered out.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that, but it’s true! Change my mind now, vote with us!” Zara pleaded.
“Mai, if you vote with those two, they’re gonna vote you out once you’ve served your purpose, they’re more loyal to each other then they’ll ever be to you! Be smart about this!” Julienne defended.
“Mai, you already know they’re planning to vote you out after this vote, you can’t trust anything they say! Not anymore!” Luke told her.
“If you vote with us, we’ll be in your debt! You know it in your heart!” Kaylee continued.
“This is all very much intriguing, but times up! It is now time to vote.” Chris rubbed his hands together and let everyone know the discussion was over. The team looked around each other, knowing very well that today has solidified the division of the tribe. “Soon, you will all cast your votes and make your decision. When I call your name, please come up and vote in the confessional. You will write down a vote on the parchment, and drop it in the pot. Afterwards, I will count and read the votes out loud. There are only five marshmallows on this plate here, but four of you. The campers who either don’t receive votes or haven't received the most votes, will earn a marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately walk down the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers. That means you’re out of the contest. And you can’t come back. Ever. Now, it's time to vote.”
Chris called each and every member up to vote one by one. Mai, Zara, Julienne, Kaylee, and finally, Luke, all voted.
“I’ll go count the votes.” Chris said, as he went to do exactly that. He returned with the pot of votes, and smiled before the team. “If anyone has managed to find a statue of invincibility and would like to use it, now would be the time to do so.”
Chris waited a bit, and when he saw no one would get up, he decided to continue. “Alright. The following people received no votes and have earned themselves a marshmallow. Mai!”
“Well, that one felt obvious.” Mai smiled.
“Julienne!” Chris shouted.
Julienne showed no reaction though, still worried about the vote.
“And finally, Kaylee.” Chris revealed.
“Ah…” Kaylee looked at Luke. Luke looked uncertain.
“Well…” Zara sighed.
“Let’s hope Mai came to her senses.” Luke crossed his arms.
“Campers.” Chris said in a more serious tone, “As to be expected, the rest of you each received at least one vote. I’ll read the votes.”
“First vote…” Chris picked up the parchment and read it, before turning it around. “Luke.”
“Oh gosh…” Kaylee put her head in her hands.
“Second vote…” Chris picked up the next parchment and read it, before turning it around, “Zara.”
“Come on…” Julienne sighed.
“Third vote…” Chris turned around the parchment after reading it, “Luke.”
“It’ll be okay.” Luke assured both himself and Kaylee.
“Fourth vote…” Chris smiled as he turned around the parchment, “Zara. We are tied. Two votes Luke, two votes Zara, one vote left.”
Zara and Julienne looked at each other worriedly. Luke and Kaylee held each other's hands. Mai looked up with conviction, knowing she made the right move.
“Final vote…”
…
…
…
Chris read the final parchment. “Third person voted out and 18th place overall, Zara. That’s three votes and that’s enough. It’s time for you to go.”
“No…” Julienne choked out.
“Oh man. Mai, you are gonna regret this.” Zara stood up and picked up his things and began to walk down to the dock.
“The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows. You’re all safe. For tonight.” Chris told the team.
“Zara, I’m sorry…” Julienne exclaimed. Zara turned around.
“It’s alright. You don’t have to apologize.” She walked away.
The Petite Peacocks looked around at each other. Julienne was visibly very upset at this reveal, while Mai was remorseful. Kaylee and Luke were very happy with the turnout.
“Well. I tried.” Zara got onto the boat of losers, and left the island.
Votes:
——
Voting: Mai
“As much as I hate to admit it, Tanner was correct. This alliance is gonna turn if I don’t take care of it now. Plus, it’s not a good alliance if it’s obvious, so I vote Zara.”
——
Voting: Zara
“I’m sticking to the girls alliance once more, but this is already dodgy. I’m voting Luke.”
——
Voting: Julienne
“If Zara gets out, I have no idea what to do. I vote for Luke.”
——
Voting: Kaylee
“Sorry, Zara. These votes almost never feel good.”
——
Voting: Luke
“Last time didn’t work out for me… I hope this time it goes differently.”