Akuma Class Reacts to Spots & Sharks
"Dude we sent Marinette to Total Drama!"
Nino exclaimed. Alya quickly gets her phone out of her pocket, and presses the speed dial button to call Marinette, ready to demand to have all the details. Getting some details along with Marinette being on a reality-show would have people come back to her Ladyblog, make it be back on top along with dethroning that one blog that is her competition, Wake Up & Face Reality, and hopefully get some recognition and will have a spot of her dream workplace, Daily Planet.
However, her hopes fell in a blink of an eye when she suddenly heard, "We're sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected."
Alya's eyes widened in shock after hearing she let those words sink into her quicker than quicksand, "Her number's disconnected!" she gasped, getting the rest of her friends' attention. They all looked shocked, knowing that Marinette's number was now disconnected. Though the only one who was shocked the most at that, was Adrien. He tried to call her number on his phone and got the same message.
They all then quickly put a pin on it for now as Marinette first spoke on the tube.
"Bonjour. It's very nice to meet all of you."
The screen flickered as Marinette’s face materialized on Alya’s television, her voice tinny through the speakers. She then looks shy but then offers them the baked goods she had brung with her. "Macarons?" Chris gladly takes one. "Merci." Marinette then headed to the other campers and gave them some while heading to put her luggage up with the others. "These are really good!" Owen says, happily enjoying his.
The class then watches as Lucy gladly takes one that must be a vanilla-flavored one—which is pretty obvious, as everyone knows that Lucy is a big fan of vanilla. And sometimes chocolate—When Lucy took the first bite of it, her eyes sparkled more than a pair of diamond earrings, and her smile became wider than usual. "Oh my stars, these are divine," "T-thank you!" Marinette said, flustered at Lucy's sudden compliment. Annabelle takes one while Jessamine pops one into her mouth and grins, "Wow. These are insane. Did you make these?" Marinette nods. "Yeah. My parents own a bakery back home." "These are great." Ann said, enjoying her macaroon. Adrien smiled, even though he was still a bit upset with how he couldn't reach her, he's just glad that Marinette's doing okay and is happy. But he could already feel it in his bones that she's probably not happy with how he and the rest of their class sent her there.
Then, Chris continued, "And last but not least, is someone you all will really like. She is a combination of a gothic and a character from all classic shows your folks might have known back in the days, Daria Morgendorrfer." "Who?" Kim questioned. Alix rolled her eyes while the rest were shrugging and saying, 'who cares?' or 'I don't know.'
'For crying out loud.' Alix thought, as she rolled her eyes, tossing a popcorn kernel into her mouth while lounging on Alya's couch. 'I knew Kim doesn't know much about classic shows, but the rest of the gang do not know a simple animated character?' She sighed, shaking her head before glancing back at the screen. 'I pray that their folks at least know who she is and will be glad to tell them for me, 'cause this is already getting tiresome.' She thought, before hearing Chris continue, "It’s none other than my daughter…Amanda!"
Then, the class watches as the TV shows a teenage girl with Chris's hair color though the tips look like they’ve been dipped in violet dye and eyes that are pale blue—like ice—dressed in dark punk-like clothes and wearing dark makeup, crossing her arms, looking not-so pleased. "That’s his daughter?" Alya said, looking at Amanda weirdly, "She doesn’t look like him." Kim snickers, "She looks like she’s about to flip the entire camp upside down!" Meanwhile, Adrien suddenly feels his heart skip a beat when Amanda starts grumbling something that he can hear clearly, "I can’t believe you and mom are making me do this." "Now, Amanda dear, this is for your own good to find some friends and for us to bond like we used to." Chris tells her while patting her head, making her roll her eyes again. "What’s so wrong with that?" Rose asked, looking confused about why Amanda is not very interested in making friends. Alix shrugged, "Beats me."
After a little while of watching the show and it goes to commercial, the class continue on talking with what they just realized after watching that, "I still can’t believe we sent Marinette to Total Drama. I thought that camp Lila was talking about was-" Alya cuts herself off as they all look at the flyer Lila once showed them way back earlier. There, they looked carefully at the small print and saw the words 'Total Drama' written clearly, "Oh…" They all now see that they missed the small print and realize their mistake too late.
Before Alya can call Lila to confirm, the commercials end and the show comes back on. They watch as the TV shows Marinette and the rest of the campers at the campfire pit, listening to what Chris is now telling them, "This is Camp Wawanakwa. Your home for the next few weeks. The campers sitting around you will be your cabin mates. Your competition. And maybe even your friends. You dig?" The class looked not-so surprised when the TV showed them Duncan glaring and shaking his fist threateningly at Harold. "Typical." Alix muttered while rolling her eyes. Chris continues, "The camper who manages to stay on Total Drama Island the longest without getting voted off will win one hundred thousand dollars!" The class’s eyes widened when they heard the amount of the prize money. "One hundred thousand?!" Alya gasped. "That's—that's enough to fund Ladyblog's expansion into a full-fledged news site!" Juleka looked at her as if she were crazy. Even Ivan and Mylène looked at her weirdly. "I wouldn’t go that far." Alix muttered while tossing another popcorn kernel into her mouth.
Then, they hear Duncan speak, "Excuse me, what will the sleeping arrangements be? Because I would like to request a bunk under one of those two," he said, motioning to Marinette and Ann, making the two glance at each other, looking uncomfortable. "You keep those thoughts to yourself, Duncan!" Alix shouted at the screen, throwing a handful of popcorn at it.
"They're not co-ed, are they?" asked Heather. "No, girls get one side of each cabin, and dudes get the other," Chris said, making the class all sigh in relief. "Good." Juleka muttered. "That’s a relief. No way am I watching Marinette share a cabin with Duncan." Alix snorted.
"Excuse me, Kyle? Can I have a cabin with a lake view since I'm the prettiest?" asked Lindsay. "Okay, you are, but that's not how it really works here. And it's Chris," said Chris. "I know that Lindsay’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but someone should really tell her that she’s not at a luxury resort," Alya muttered, rubbing her temples as the class collectively nodded in agreement, not hearing how Sadie and Katie were saying how they want to stay with each other.
"This cannot be happening." Gwen lets out with sarcasm written all over the tone of her voice. "Tell me about it," said Amanda. The class then watches as Owen headlocks the two and Tyler says with a positive vibe in him, "Come on, guys. It'll be fun. It's like a big sleepover." Rose smiled, liking how Owen is still positive about all of this.
"At least you don't have to sleep next to him," Tyler whispers to Gwen, motioning to Duncan as he gives the poor deer a headlock and a noogie, that most of the class weren’t surprised of seeing. "Yeah, that's something I'm relieved to be away from," Amanda whispers. "You and me both, Amanda." Alya muttered while Rose and Mylène were shocked after seeing what Duncan was doing to the deer.
They then watch as Chris tells them, "Here’s the deal. We're gonna split you into two teams. If I call your name out, stand over there." With that, Chris starts calling the names of the campers. "Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, and Noah. From this moment on, you are officially known as the Screaming Gophers." He says tossing Owen a flag that holds a green logo of a gopher that looks like it’s screaming as it is about to go to war.
"Screaming Gophers? Seriously?" Kim snorted, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "That’s the dumbest team name I’ve ever heard." On screen, Katie questions, "Wait, what about Sadie?" Chris moves on to the second team. "The rest of you over here. Geoff, Bridgette, D.J, Tyler, Sadie, Izzy, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva, and Harold." As they head to the other side, Sadie complains, "But Katie’s a gopher! I have to be a gopher!" "Sadie, is it?" Courtney said taking Sadie’s hand, "Come on. It’ll be okay." Some of the class looked unfazed at how the two twinsie girls were upset about being separated. "I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they beg to be in the same team later." Alix said, making most of the class nod in agreement.
"You guys will be officially known as the Killer Bass." Chris tells them while tossing Harold their team flag with a red circled logo of a bass looking deadly. "It’s awesome. It’s like…amazing." "Of course Napoleon would like it." Alix jokes, making most of the class laugh and snicker at that.
"Wait, what about them?" Cody asked, motioning to Marinette, Ann, Jessamine, Lucy, and Amanda. "Well, since there's an odd number of you, and we can't decide which team they will be in, we decided to let them switch teams. Isn't that fun?" Chris said. "He has me at odd number." Max honestly said, adjusting his glasses. "I mean, he’s not wrong." Nino shrugged while Max’s IT, Markov nods in agreement, floating next to Max, "Indeed. Statistically, maintaining balance between teams is optimal for competition fairness."
They then hear Chris add, "So for right now, they will be part of the Screaming Gophers." "No surprise there." Kim snickered. Alya rolls her eyes, "That figures."
Chris continues, "Alright, campers. You and your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition."
They then watch as the screen changes to what seems to be an outhouse-slash-confessional. Though some of them find it odd while some guessed that this was the best the producers can come up with and were probably on a budget. As they watch the confessional, they see Chris explaining, "You'll also be able to share your innermost thoughts on tape, with video diaries, anytime you want. Let the audience at home know what you're thinking. Or just get something off your chest."
"Out of all places to share thoughts and feelings, they chose to have it in an outhouse?" Alix muttered, looking both weird and unimpressed at the same time. "Well, some reality-shows do tend to have budget cuts." Nino shrugged, tossing a popcorn kernel into his mouth. Max nods, "Indeed. Statistically speaking, portable confessionals reduce production costs by—"
"Probably best to save the math later, Max." Alya interrupted, shushing him as the TV screen flickered the fifth confessional from Lucy.
"First, I would just like to say 'ello to all of my friends and family from London. And I must say, this show some dear acquaintances of mine have recommended me to be on is becoming impressive so far. Even though it is already getting its ups and downs, as they say, I still believe I am going to be just fine here in Wawanakwa."
The class smiled at how Lucy was so polite in the confessional—very much like her—though were wondering who in their right mind would recommend her being in a show like this. Then, the screen changed to Marinette’s confessional, "Okay, I don't really know what to say in this confessional. But I like to say, this is gonna be a good camping experience for me." "Well, it’s good to know she’s getting comfortable in the camp so far." Adrien said, feeling glad that Marinette is okay despite being sent there against her will. The class nodded in agreement.
They then watch Jessamine’s confessional, "Honestly? I expected worse. At least there’s nothing that is worse than what Annie and I saw on this island so far. But other than that, I just wanna say that I’m looking forward to being in this camp for the next few weeks." Then Ann’s confessional came on next, "This won’t be so bad." She said, sounding a bit pumped, "At least I have Jes with me. And I made friends already…And honestly, that’s the first time I ever made more friends. I can thank Jessa for that." The class smiled at how Ann sounded so happy, though they found it a little odd, as her tone sounded a bit melancholic when she said she made friends for the first time.
They then put another pin on that for later while Amanda’s confessional came on, "I can’t believe my parents agreed to have me on this show. NOT how I wanted to spend my summer vacation." "Why isn’t Amanda excited about this? This is like a huge opportunity. Anybody would do anything to be in her place." Kim said, crossing his arms.
The screen flickered back into the campfire pit when Chris asked the campers, "Alright, any questions? Cool. Let’s find your cabins."
The scene changes to the cabins the campers will be staying in. "Gophers, you’re in the east cabin, Bass, you’re in the west." Chris easily explains.
"Bunk beds? Isn’t this a little, summer camp?" Heather asked when the Gopher girls entered their side of the cabin. "That's the idea, genius." Gwen said, passing her. Heather scoffs, "Shut it, weird goth girl." The class then sees Amanda rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Gwen and Heather end up enemies later either." Alix said, crossing her arms while Alya nodded, "They’re already butting heads."
Juleka looked surprised and confused when she sees Cody walking to Amanda who rolled her eyes and starts unpacking her luggage, telling her, "You're so smart. I feel that." "Shouldn't you be on the boys' side?" Gwen asked him suspiciously.
After that, Gwen threw Cody out of the girls' side of the cabin. Kim laughs at that while Alix said, "Serves him right." "What was that dude thinking?" Nino asked, shaking his head. "He's lucky Gwen didn't do worse." Ivan adds. They then hear Lindsay asking a question, "Where are the outlets? I have to plug in my straightening iron." "There are some in the communal bathrooms, just across the way," Chris explained. As the screen shows the communal bathrooms outside, the class could tell that Lindsay got confused in her perspective when she said, "Communal bathrooms? But I'm not Catholic." "Not communion. Communal." Chris corrects. "It means we shower together, Lindsay." Jessamine explained. "Yeah, but I wouldn't worry about it. It's not like those shower rooms from the book and movie versions of Stephen King's Carrie. There's a difference." Ann added. "Ohh, okay." Lindsay said, now understanding and looking relieved.
"Any idea what that means?" Kim asks. Markov then explains, "The American horror story Carrie, written by Stephen King has both a book version and movie version. Though the book version is the original before it became a film. As it is described in the book version of Carrie, the shower rooms were described as public showers with no privacy whatsoever, compared to the movie version, which had curtains for privacy." "Ohhh." The class said in unison, now understanding. "I guess that makes sense." Alya said. "Well, glad to know that they don't have to worry about that." Adrien said, feeling relieved for the campers in that camp. "Yeah, I wouldn't want Marinette to have any traumatic experience in the showers." Alix said, crossing her arms. "That would be the last thing she needs right now." Juleka muttered.
They then continue on watching the show as Geoff asks Chris, "Excuse me, Chris. Is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?" "You're all sixteen years old," Chris says, "As old as a counselor in training at a regular summer camp. So, other than myself, you'll be unsupervised. You've got a half an hour to unpack and meet me back at the main lodge. Starting now." "Nice." said Geoff.
"Ooh. I think we forgot to tell them that Marinette's fifteen." Nino mutters as he and the rest of her friends realize that they didn't tell Chris and the producers about Marinette's actual age. Adrien looked at Nino, "Wait. So you're telling me Chris thinks she's sixteen?" Nino shrugs, "Looks like it. But I think Marinette won't mind being grouped with older teens. She's mature enough." Adrien sighed, rubbing his temples, "This just keeps getting worse."
Just then, they all heard a loud scream, and they all watched as some of the campers looked at the Screaming Gophers cabin to see where that scream came from. "Oh, man that blonde girl can scream." Leshawna quietly commented.
They then watch as the screen changes to Lindsay on top of a drawer, looking scared at a cockroach on the floor, "What is it? Kill it! Kill it!" she yelped. DJ lets out a gasp of horror, and then jumps and screams in fear, and then lands and breaks a bed. "That was my bed." Gwen said, looking and sounding unfazed.
The roach then continues to crawl, causing most of the campers to scream in fear and avoid it. Then, Duncan holds an ax, ready to decapitate it. Mylène gasps in horror as Duncan was ready to use the ax, until Ann stops him while holding the roach in her hand, "I wouldn't even use that if I were you." She said, "Because even if you did, both halves will continue to move due to their decentralized nervous systems." "She's right." Harold commented, "And cockroaches can live for weeks without their heads." Most of the class shuddered at the very thought of what would've happened if Duncan did decapitate the cockroach. "Yeah, no way do I want to see a headless bug running around." Alix muttered, still shuddering at the thought of it.
The screen then changes to Ann taking the cockroach outside and letting it go free. "There we go." She says with a proud sigh while dusting off her hands. Marinette sighs in relief, "Thank you." "Well, that's one way to get rid of a cockroach." Gwen said, looking impressed with how Ann handled the bug situation well.
Even the class was impressed with how Ann handled the situation—especially Adrien, who leaned forward slightly with an intrigued hum. "She's...different," he mused, watching as Ann brushed her hands off with casual ease. "Like, the kind of difference that makes you wonder what else she can do." "Dudette's got guts." Nino added, tossing another popcorn kernel into his mouth.
They then watch Tyler going to Lindsay telling her, "If you ever see one of those again, just let me know, okay? 'Cause, you know, I could do that, too." Lindsay smiles at his offer. The class smile, mentally not surprised that Tyler and Lindsay would probably get together on the later episodes of the show. The screen then changes to Duncan who scoffs, "They always go for the jocks." They then hear Jessamine snort, "Not all of them. But hey, we all have our types." She says with a smug and shrug. "Girl's got a point there, Duncan." Alya jokingly said while laughing, while most of the class laughed and snickered at that.
The screen then changes to another place, which the class then finds out that it must be the main lodge that Chris was talking about earlier. There, they watch as a tall, muscular African-Canadian man with a yellow-green shirt with folded short sleeves, dark green pants, black pointed boots, white apron, and white puffy chef hat. Which made the class believe that he must be the camp's chef. Though it was tough to tell with the way he's now speaking to the lined up campers, "Listen up!" He said, sounding like a drill sergeant, "I serve it three times a day, and you'll eat it three times a day! Grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down NOW!"
"That's their chef?" Kim muttered, squinting at the screen as the towering man glowered at the campers. The man's thick arms crossed over his chest, his glare sharp enough to silence even Heather's usual snide commentary. Adrien swallowed hard, suddenly grateful Marinette had grown up in a bakery—she could probably handle bad food better than anyone else here.
"Excuse me," Beth said, looking a bit uncertain at the food the chef is now serving her and Harold, "Will we be getting all the major food groups?" "Yeah, 'cause I get hypoglycemic real bad if I don't get enough sugar." Harold added. "You'll get "SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN"!" The chef yelled, causing Harold to quickly retreat with his tray.
"Have a cow." Owen whispered. "What was that?" The chef asked, "Come closer, big guy. I didn't hear you." "Uh, I didn't really say anything important." Owen said, quickly grabbing his tray. "I'm sure you didn't."
"Woof." Alix muttered while the rest of her friends were already feeling both the tension and second-hand intimidation from the chef. "That guy makes me feel like I'm back in elementary school lunch detention." Kim chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
On screen, as the chef was giving Noah his portion of his food, Amanda turned her eyes to Ann, Jessa, Lucy, and Marinette, and started tapping her finger to them. Which got most of the class confused on what she's doing. But only Max, Adrien, and Markov know what she's doing. When Amanda was done tapping, the three looked surprised.
"This is normal for her?" Adrien questions aloud, causing the rest of his friends to look at him surprised. "You know what that is?" Nino asked. "Amanda was communicating to them via Morse code." Markov explained, floating around. "She was telling them to not worry about the chef's temper. As it turns out that this is normal for her, and them, once they get used to it."
The class looked surprised at Markov’s explanation. "Morse code?" Alya repeated, as she and the rest were confused. They then turned to see another confessional. This time from both Ann and Jessamine.
"We're used to hearing yells like that all the time. And most of them are from my dad when he's talking to his workers on his phone calls." Jessamine said. "We're witnesses." Annabelle added, making Jessamine smirk at the joke. "But still, Chef Hatchet's yelling is nothing compared to what dad does when he's working at his job." Jessa added. "That's the understatement of the century." Annabelle replied.
"I don't know if I should be worried for them or not." Mylène murmured, clutching Ivan's sleeve while he nodded slowly. On-screen, Gwen and Lindsay were getting their portion of their food. "Excuse me," said Lindsay, "My nutritionist says I shouldn't eat any white sugar, white flour, or, like, dairy." "I don't think that's gonna be a problem." said Gwen. "Cool." Lindsay walks off with her tray, while Gwen tells Chef, "Okay, I hate to be predictable and complain on the first day, but I think mine just moved." The chef, who's apparently named Chef Hatchet according to Jessamine, then gets a kitchen mallet and it hits her moving food, making the class flinch. "Right. Okay, then." Gwen said, quickly heading off.
As she does so, the class watches as Marinette, Amanda, Ann, Jessamine, and Lucy get their trays and food, and then, "Thanks, Chef." Ann said, sounding thankful in her tone. "Thank you." Jessamine says happily. "Merci." Marinette said. "Grazie," said Lucy. "Thanks, Uncle Chef." Amanda said as they walked off. Chef nods at them as they walk off.
The class was stunned with how Chef was actually reacting positively to the five girls. "Wait, wait—Uncle Chef?" Alix repeated, blinking at the screen. "Did she just say 'Uncle'?"
On-screen, it shows Chef's confessional, "Of course I care for my niece. But she's gotta earn her keep like everyone else. That girl's got grit, I'll give her that." "Possibly a close family friend." Max guessed as Chef continued, "And the other four? Polite kids, not gonna lie. Refreshing change from these other whiners."
The class exchanged glances—Amanda's connection to Chef explained her earlier Morse code confidence. But before they could dissect it further, the scene shifted to the campers sitting at long wooden tables, some ate theirs, and some, still looking and poking at theirs. Though Marinette, Ann, Amanda, Lucy, and Jessamine, they were already enjoying their portion. Amanda was eating it like normal, Lucy was enjoying hers as if she was in a fancy restaurant, Jessamine was enjoying it and liking it as if she was back home, Ann was enjoying hers like she hadn't had anything good since she was small, and Marinette was enjoying hers with a look as if it was saying, 'Not bad...could use a bit of salt though'.
Adrien smiles, pleased to see Marinette already liking the camp so far, though was still surprised with how Amanda finds the chef's temper normal. Then, Chris walks in, "Welcome to the main lodge," he said. "Yo, my man. Can we order a pizza?" Geoff asked. Then suddenly, a butcher knife was thrown and hit the wall, missing an inch of both Chris on his left, and Marinette on her right.
The class was both shocked and horrified at what they just saw. Then, Amanda's confessional came on. "Like I said in Morse code, Uncle Chef's yelling, and that knife-throwing thing? Totally normal. He used to do worse to dad during Thanksgiving when he'd steal the last drumstick." She crossed her arms, "And don't even get me started on that one time he replaced dad's pepper spray with powdered sugar. Knives were the least of his problems."
"...I'm sorry, what's that now?" Kim's voice cracked as the entire class gaped at the screen, frozen mid-bite of their own snacks. Adrien was surprised when learning about Amanda's past how she'd dealt with Chef Hatchet's temper, but now he's just outright horrified. He wasn't even sure if he should be more concerned about Amanda's childhood or Marinette nearly getting impaled.
Lucy's confessional then comes on next, "Oh, posh. I have been there plenty of times back in the day. Chef Hatchet's knife-throwing is nothing compared to the dear servants I knew and worked with one summer back in London. And one even starts a fire to the kitchen all the time. Sometimes with his flamethrower even." "Seriously?" Alya said, looking surprised at how Lucy actually knew someone with a flamethrower, "Who the heck needs a flamethrower to cook?" "Someone who cooks?" Juleka asked, shrugging. The class looked confused, but shrugged it off.
As they continue watching, they watch as Ann and Jessamine's confessional comes on, "Oh, please. That was amateur hour," Ann scoffed, rolling her gunmetal-blue eyes. Jessamine nodded. "Back in L.A., a chef we once knew threw cleavers whenever someone asked for ketchup. Sometimes whenever they have an attitude, snapping their fingers, and saying, "Excuse me?" and then, "I specifically asked for no" and then it's always no something, something. Like that one couple who loathes mayonnaise, saying that mayo is the "Devil's Condiment", and that was one of our classmates' distant cousin complaining all that lousy useless nonsense," Jessamine added, spinning one of her multicolored ponytails around her finger, "But hey, better that than a chainsaw one of them used to shave some ice." Ann shuddered, "Don't remind me."
The class shuddered at that as well, the L.A. chef throwing cleavers at whiny customers was one thing, but ice-shaving with a chainsaw? Adrien couldn't even imagine Marinette's reaction to that—though, knowing her awfully well, she'd probably just sigh and ask for earplugs.
And finally, Marinette's confessional comes on last, "Eh, I've seen, and been through worse. There was this one time this one akumatized villain threw knives too, but they were plastic knives, though they sure did hit the walls like actual ones. Mom and dad were shocked and horrified seeing me almost getting hit by one of them." The class shuddered once more, remembering that time the akumatized villain really did, nearly got Marinette. All the plastic knives the villain threw at her hit the wall, outlining her silhouette like a cartoon. Though that wasn't really the first time Marinette almost got hit by something sharp—but she always ended up unharmed, somehow.
Marinette then subtly adjusted her earrings under her pigtails, "But seriously, why the heck do people keep throwing sharp objects near me?" "Who knows, girl?" Alya sighs, knowing that no matter where Marinette goes, there's always going to be danger—whether it's random knives or wild animals that could probably be worse than Hawk Moth's akumatized villains—following her around.
"Whoa! It's cool, G!" Geoff says, "Brown slop is cool! Right guys?" The campers agreed in fear while Ann, Jessa, Lucy, Amanda, and Marinette nodded in honesty. Chris then continues, "Your first challenge begins in one hour."
"What do you think they'll make us do?" Katie asked. "It's our first challenge," said DJ, "How hard can it be?"
Then, the screen changes to all the campers outside, in their swimwear. "You were saying?" asked Amanda. Then, the screen zooms out, and shows that they're all up a cliff.
"...Oh snap." Nino muttered.
The class then hear Marinette ask, breaking a bit of the silence, "Guess nobody here has seen this coming, huh?" "I suppose not." Lucy said honestly. "So much for having our hopes up." Amanda comments. The class then heard Ann and Jessamine both let out a 'Eh' and said at the same time, "We've seen worse."
The screen then goes back to all of them with Chris explaining their first challenge, "Okay, today's challenge is threefold. Your first task is to jump off this one-thousand-foot-high cliff into the lake. If you look down, you will see two target areas. The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic man-eating sharks." The screen then shows sharks' fins, swimming around, and some sharks jumping out and are chomping, as if they're ready for fresh meat.
The class was shocked at the sight of sharks in the camp's lake. "You have got to be kidding me!" "There's sharks in the camp?!" Adrien couldn't believe what he was seeing with his very own eyes. 'This was the camp she thought it would be good for Marinette to be sent to?' He thought, horrified at the thought of Marinette falling prey to those sharks.
Even he wasn't the only one who believed that the camp Lila found turned out to be both a mistake and a dangerous one—even worse than that whole debacle that happened on Heroes' Day. "They didn't say that there were going to be sharks in the fliers!" Alya exclaimed in disbelief. Even Kim shuddered at the sight of the sharks, "I mean, I like danger, but not that kind!"
On-screen, it showed Lucy tilting her head when she saw the sharks, Ann and Jessamine were looking at them as if this was normal for them—which slightly concerns Adrien—Marinette gulps in fear, though Amanda, on the other hand, rolls her eyes. Before any of the class can question that, her confessional comes on.
"Of course." She says, not looking amused about the challenge she and the rest of the campers are now doing, "Dad has to have sharks in this camp. No wild surprise there." "Wait, she knows?!" Alya gasps. "And don't get me wrong. I'm not afraid of sharks, not one bit." She says honestly, "Been there, done that, I am not amused. Believe me. I know my dad." Alix started to put two and two together, "Ohh. This probably wasn't the first time she's been around sharks." She muttered. "That explains it." Juleka muttered while Rose nodded. Then, Ann and Jessamine's confessional comes on next.
"Don't get us wrong. We're fine with the sharks." Ann starts while Jessa nods. The class looked surprised hearing that from Ann first while Jessamine adds on, "We’re used to them when it happened on our trip to the beach. We were swimming, minding our business, and not much to anyone's surprise, sharks came up. But instead of letting them attack us, we grabbed the shark by the gills the same way a child would to a mother's hoop earrings." Hearing how those two did that made the class even more surprised than ever. "No kidding!" Kim yelled out, amazed. "I'm sorry, pulled them by the gills?" Alya gasped, looking horrified.
"Yeah, those sharks regretted it." Ann finishes nonchalantly, as if discussing yesterday's weather. Jessamine crosses her arms proudly, "So, long story short, sharks? Nothing. We can deal with them." The class exchanged glances—some impressed, others deeply concerned. Adrien swallowed hard, already feeling just as bad for them as he is for Marinette. Ann possibly never had more than one only friend growing up is one thing that he understands, but the two having to go through something that doesn't feel right for anyone their age is another.
On-screen, Chris continued his explanation, oblivious to the Killer Bass team's mounting horror. "Inside that area is a safe zone. That's your target area. Which we're pretty sure are shark-free." Leshawna's voice cracked, "Excuse me?" The way she said it made it sound like she was both terrified and offended—like Chris had personally invited the sharks to dinner. "The way she said it in that tone sounds right." said Alya, not liking the sound of that either.
"For each member of your team that jumps and actually survives, there will be a crate of supplies waiting below." The screen then pans down to the lower level of the camp's beach, where it shows the crates Chris was talking about, "Inside each crate are supplies that you'll need for the second part of the challenge. Building a hot tub. The team with the best one gets to have a wicked hot tub party tonight. The losers will be sending someone home." After explaining the challenge, Chris starts the challenge. As he holds up his clipboard, he says, "Let's see. Killer Bass, you're up first."
"So, who wants to go first?" Bridgette asked. The rest of the Killer Bass team were silent, not volunteering to be the first to take the first dive down from the cliff to the Safe Zone. The Screaming Gophers were even quiet. The class could feel the atmosphere outside of the TV, being so thick, that it's like if Cat Noir hadn't retired, he could've sliced it with his claws. That was until Owen broke the ice, reassuring the rest of the campers, "Hey, don't sweat it, guys. I heard that these shows always make the interns do the stunt first to make sure it's survivable." Marinette and Lucy smiled at Owen's optimism.
"Owen's right," Marinette said, smoothing her hands over her swimsuit nervously. "I'm sure they did test it out. After all, the last thing this place needs is a lawsuit." Lucy nodded beside her. The class smiled at how Marinette was trying to reassure herself and others—typical Marinette, always finding the bright side.
Then Amanda snorted, arms crossed. "What's she snickering about?" Alya questions, looking at her with suspicion. That was until the screen warped to what seems to be a behind-the-scenes before the show started.
There, they see Chris talking to the camp chef, who is in his swim trunks, swim goggles, and around the camp chef's waist, an orange floatie. "We need to test the stunts first. You know that." Chris tells the camp's chef. "Do I look like an intern?" The camp's chef questions sarcastically and looks at Chris as if he's nuts. "No," Chris said, "But the ones we had are all in the hospital." Some of the class were shocked and surprised to hear that, while some weren't as they kind of figured that out already. "That, and the others chickened out like that Lex Luthor guy who bailed when that Darkseid guy came around." Amanda added while reading through a notebook in her hands. "Who and who?" Kim questioned.
Markov immediately explains it to him and the rest of the class, "Lex Luthor is infamously known to be founder of LexCorp, one of the most powerful corporations in Metropolis. While Darkseid is the tyrannical ruler of a planet called Apokolips." Some of the class were surprised to hear that, while some weren't as they knew who they were already. "According to some research, Lex Luthor has threatened the safety of earth for his own personal gain by allying with Darkseid and his army of Parademons. Though in his claim, he was only trying to ensure humanity's survival in the events of the heroes known as the Justice League fails. However, the battle was won, and Metropolis's known hero Superman triumphed, while Lex Luthor was sentenced to imprisonment in Stryker's Island."
The class was surprised at that reveal. Though they snapped out of it when they heard Amanda let out a, "Hey." They turned back to the TV where it shows Chris who took the notebook out of Amanda's hands, "As much as I care about your grades just as much as you do, kiddo, it's probably best if you lay off the whole research for your essay for now." "Fine," Amanda says, rolling her eyes, "But I'm still going to finish that essay." "You do that." said Chris.
"Lucky." Alya mutters, envy for Amanda doing a research essay on superheroes instead of the usual boring assignments. But before she could dwell on it, Chris turned back to Chef, "C'mon, just jump it, you big chicken." He tells Chef while balking like one. Kim snickers at that while Alix rolls her eyes and gently elbows him, "Don't encourage him." Chef glares at Chris before sighing dramatically and adjusting his swim goggles, "I don't get paid enough for this, man." After saying that, Chef jumps and makes it to the water of the island.
After they see him jump, and not much to the class's surprise, Chef jumps up mid-air, and runs off just in time before the shark can get him. "Well, that seems safe enough." Chris says while writing on his clipboard.
"Did you have to add the sharks on this island?" Amanda questions non-amusingly while taking back her notebook. Chris shrugged, "Eh, it's not my idea when the producers wanted to add sharks to the island." "Why the heck am I not surprised?" Alya mutters as some of the class were surprised that it was the show's idea, while some weren't as they could tell that he's also involved in that idea. "And besides, Chef survived." Chris added, "Barely." Amanda says sarcastically, "You're terrible." "I know." Chris says with a wink and grin.
"Terrible sounds like an understatement." Alix said, making the rest of the class agree. "I mean, I'm glad he cares about his daughter's education, but sharks? Really?" Nino muttered. The screen then jumps back to where the Killer Bass were trying to decide who should take the first leap of faith.
"So, who's up?" asked Eva. "Ladies first," said Duncan. "Fine. I'll go." Bridgette said. "You got this, Bridgette," Marinette said, "No regrets!" Bridgette smiles at Marinette's encouragement before preparing to jump. "It's no big deal. It's just an insane cliff dive into a circle of angry sharks." As she jumped, the rest of the campers all watched as she made it safely into the Safe Zone. The campers were happy seeing that she made it into the Safe Zone. The class all sighed in relief at how Bridgette made it down safely.
"She did it!" said Tyler, "Yeah! I'm next!" With that, Tyler jumps next, letting out a 'Cowabunga' until he lands on a buoy, which Bridgette winces at the pain she had witnessed, while Tyler groans in pain, yet he is still in the Safe Zone. "Ouch. Didn't see that coming." Nino winced. "That looked painful." Rose said in sympathy.
They continued on watching some of the Killer Bass taking jumps and making it safely into the Safe Zone. Geoff, Eva, and Duncan, who was just crossing his arms, looking normal with no fear whatsoever, which most of the class were not-so surprised of seeing while Juleka quietly snickers and Rose smiles while shaking her head.
DJ was next. However, "Uh-uh. No way, man. I'm not jumping." "Scared of heights?" asked Chris. "Yeah. Ever since I was a kid." said DJ. "That's okay, big guy. Unfortunately that also makes you a chicken. So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day." Chris explained, putting a chicken hat on DJ's head. "Oh, man. For real?" said DJ. "Just be glad that he isn't making you wear a turkey suit." Amanda muttered while her father was balking.
Kim quietly snickers at that while the rest of the class looked unfazed at the whole "chicken" system Chris has now made. "That means the chicken path down is that way." Chris said, pointing to an escalator that was surprisingly there at the cliff. The campers, minus DJ who was ready to walk, and the class watching were surprised and confused at how an escalator got there. "How did an escalator get there?" Adrien questioned, blinking. "Eh. Probably the same way they got sharks in the lake." Alya shrugged. They then watch as the campers glance at Amanda. "Don't ask." Amanda says, shrugging, "Dad's weird."
As DJ walks to the escalator, Marinette stops him saying, "It's okay, DJ. There's no shame about not doing it due to a fear of heights. Everyone has fears. Even me." Marinette says honestly. DJ smiles at Marinette's words. "Thanks, Marinette." DJ says gratefully.
Adrien smiles softly at Marinette's kindness on screen, then, her confessional comes on, "Seeing DJ's fear... it reminded me of my own struggles. Heights never bothered me much, but bugs aside from ladybugs and butterflies? Well...all I could say is that it took me a long time to overcome it. But seeing someone else facing their fears? That's something I understand deeply."
The class smiled at Marinette's confessional, but their attention snapped back when the challenge was still on, and Ezekiel was next to jump. As he jumps, he accidentally bumps into a rock on the cliff, causing him to spin in circles like an old cartoon character, yet makes it safely into the Safe Zone. The Killer Bass, who jumped off, cheered while Ezekiel gave a thumbs up. "How the heck did that guy not get dizzy from that?" Kim questions, disbelieved with what he just saw. "No idea, but you gotta admit, he got lucky." Alix said.
Next was Harold. However, as he jumped, he landed into the Safe Zone on his crotch, which caused him to scream in pain, which made everyone, including the sharks surprisingly, wince the pain he was now in. Including the class who just saw that with their very own eyes.
"Yikes." Juleka winced, instinctively crossing her legs as the screen changed to Chris, Courtney, Amanda, Ann, Jessamine, Lucy, and Marinette. Chris, still smiling which wasn't surprising to anyone, Courtney was crossing her arms with a look that is not a wince nor a look of sympathy nor anything else in between, Amanda, Marinette, and Lucy had the same expressions as those three monkeys you see in stores—one covering their eyes, one covering their ears, and the other covering their mouth—and Ann and Jessamine both held each other, shuddering and still wincing at what they just witnessed.
"Oh, hate to see that happen," said Chris. "Tell us something we don't know." Amanda said with her eyes still covered and still wincing Harold's pain. "I second what Amanda just said just now." Max said, adjusting his glasses. "That poor boy." Lucy said softly with her mouth still covered. "You can say that again." Ann said as she and Jessa both shuddered after hearing Harold in so much pain. "Preach, sister." Nino muttered while Kim and Alix both winced at the sight of Harold "landing".
"Excuse me, Chris. I have a medical condition." Courtney announced to him. "What condition?" "A condition that prevents me from jumping off cliffs." "Acrophobia." Ann corrects. The class snapped out of their wincing state and looked surprised at Ann's correction just as much as Amanda, Lucy, and Marinette. "You know what it's called?" asked Marinette. "She's been learning medicine a bit. It's a small habit of hers when she was reading books." Jessamine explains to them. "Really? A girl who dresses like a band roadie is a bookworm?" Alya said, looking disbelieved with what she just heard.
"She's got layers." Alix shrugged. Jessamine then adds, "And one of them was a medical school book that was in a bookstore that sells pre-owned books." Ann shrugged, "It was interesting." She says in defense. Rose was both surprised and amazed with how Ann reads medical books while Juleka just nods in understanding—probably because she knew Ann was just full of surprises.
They then hear Chris speak, probably talking to Courtney, "You can chicken out if you want. But it might end up costing your team the win. And then they'll hate you." "It's a calculated risk." Courtney said, "I've seen the other team, and I don't think any of them will jump." Alix rolled her eyes, knowing that sooner or later, Courtney is going to jinx it for both herself and her team.
"Alright, here's your chicken hat." Chris said, putting the chicken hat on Courtney's head. After that, he looks at his clipboard, tallying up the results. "That's eight jumpers and two chickens. We're missing one."
"I'm not jumping without Katie!" said Sadie while Katie adds, "We have to be on the same team, Chris." Most of the class looked unfazed once more as they watched as Sadie and Katie beg Chris to let them both be on the same team. "Jeez, and here I thought Ella and Etta were clingy." Alya muttered, rolling her eyes while Nino chuckled quietly beside her. "I'll switch places with her." Izzy offered. "Please do! This is taking too long!" Kim groaned, both impatient and tired with how their begging was slowing everything down.
"All right, fine," Chris says, giving in and looking not too pleased as the class who are still watching, "You're both on the Killer Bass now. Izzy, you're on the Screaming Gophers." "Finally." Alix muttered, crossing her arms while watching as Sadie and Katie cheered, hugging each other tightly while Izzy just shrugged nonchalantly—as if this was just another day for her. 'How did I know that was gonna happen?' Alix thought while rolling her eyes. "That means you're up, girls." Chris says to Sadie and Katie. With that said, the two jumped and made it safe in the Safe Zone.
"Okay. So that's nine jumpers and two chickens. Screaming Gophers, if you can beat that, we'll throw in a pole cart to put your crates on." Chris said to the Screaming Gophers. "Nice." said Trent. Adrien smiled at that idea for Marinette and her team. "Okay, guys." Trent says to the rest of the Gophers, "Who's up first?"
"I'm sorry," Heather said, crossing her arms while turning her head as if she was letting out a huff, yet the huff is a rude 'I'm sorry' instead, "There's no way I'm doing this?" "Why not?" Beth asked. "Hello? National TV. I'll get my hair wet." Some of the class groaned, some rolled their eyes, and some snickered. "She's seriously worried about her hair?" Kim said, shaking his head. "Guess some people just care more about vanity than survival." Alix shrugged.
"Oh, please." Ann said, "We were soaked earlier today after the dock collapsed." "Yeah." Jessa added, shrugging, "And you were pretty much fine after we got back up to land." "That was different." Heather said. Juleka shook her head, "Excuses." Rose quietly giggles beside her.
"Oh, you're doing it." Leshawna said. "Says who?" Heather scoffs. "Says me." Leshawna shot back, "I'm not losing this challenge 'cause you got your hair did, you spoiled little daddy's girl." "Back off, Ghetto-Glamour Too-Tight-Pants-Wearing, Rap-Star Wannabe." "Mall-Shopping, Ponytail-Wearing, Teen-Girl-Reading, Peeking in High School Prom Queen!" "Well, at least I'm popular." "Something tells me that this won't end well." Max said as he and Markov both looked just as unfazed as some of his classmates. "If by that, you mean Heather and Leshawna having a rivalry like Heather has with Gwen, then you're not wrong." Alya added.
"Oh, are you?" The class quickly turned their heads back on the TV after hearing Amanda's growl. As they did, they watched as Amanda stomped over to Heather, picking her up like a piece of wood from a construction site, surprising both the campers and the class. "I'm sorry, Heather, but I have about enough of this messed up drama that we all have witnessed. Your lousy little excuses and talk-backs are just nothing but a giant waste of my time, and everyone else's. So, shut your trap, shove it down, and get in there, NOW!" After saying that, Amanda throws Heather into the Safe Zone. On screen, they see Ann looking like she's getting some sort of dèjá vu, while Jessamine looks like she's been reminded of something else.
Seeing that got the class wondering what the two were thinking after seeing that. "And that, campers, is Life Lesson number one. Do NOT make my little girl mad." Chris said with a nonchalant smile on his face.
Then, Amanda's confessional comes on, "I had this stress and anger issue combination since my first day of middle school. After going through some things, I've been having these two issues all my life to this very day." Ivan hums quietly, feeling a bit bad for her, knowing how it feels to struggle with anger issues—though he was getting better with Mylène's help.
Amanda continues, "The only thing good to know is that I have two systems of calming them both. And one of them that tops it off, is my two essential oils one of my distant relatives gave me from their metaphysical shop." Amanda then shows two small bottles of essential oils labeled Stress and Anger Management. "These two are the only things that can help me calm down when I'm out. Without them, who knows what could happen."
"Well, I think it's great that she has something to help," Mylène said softly, fingers tracing the edge of her sleeve. "Anger can be... a lot." Ivan nodded beside her, his large hand resting gently on her shoulder in quiet understanding.
On screen, Heather gets up from the lake, catches her breath, and glares daggers at Amanda, "Amanda, you are so dead!" she yelled for Amanda to hear. "Hey! She threw you into the Safe Zone, didn't she?" yelled Leshawna. She then turned to the rest of the team and said, "Now I just hope I can hit it too." After that, she jumped and made it safely into the Safe Zone as well.
"Heather pretty much deserved that." Kim admits, making most of his friends agree. Though Adrien himself believed that was a little extreme, he kept silent—knowing full well that Heather had been asking for trouble with her attitude. On screen, Lindsay was looking scared as she was next to jump.
"I thought this was going to be a talent contest." She said in fear, Chris laughed, "Yeah, no." After Lindsay jumped, it was then Gwen, followed by Cody, and then Izzy, who was laughing like a maniac while heading down to the Safe Zone. "Well, at least one is taking the jump well." Kim muttered under his breath.
Justin was then next, but after he jumped, he made it outside of the Safe Zone. The class's eyes widened in fear and worry for him as the sharks started swimming towards him. However, as they did so, the sharks stopped, and to the class's shock and surprise, because of Justin's looks, instead of attacking him, the sharks took him to land along with the rest of the jumpers and two chickens.
"Holy freak, he's even popular with dangerous sea creatures." Amanda said, looking surprised. "No. Way." Alix breathed, her fingers tightening around her soda can. The entire room couldn't believe what they just saw onscreen—sharks, actual sharks, acting like lovesick groupies for Justin. Even Alya's usual snark died in her throat as she gaped at the television.
Adrien, on the other hand, couldn't help but not be surprised at that, as he quietly figured that even sharks have standards. At least, that was what his father told him the time when he met up with an old distant acquaintance of his who visited Paris for the weekend—though Adrien was sure that wasn't what his father meant at all.
Then, "I—I can't do it." Beth said, "I'm too scared." She then tells the Gophers down the land while Chris holds out a chicken hat, "I'm sorry!"
"Well, not everyone's a brave jumper." Adrien said, making the rest of the class agree. "For real, dude." Nino added, nodding. "At least she's honest about it." Mylène said softly, her hands clasped together with Ivan's.
On screen, Beth walks off, passing by Marinette. After Noah jumped, "Let's do this!" Trent said. He then jumps and makes it.
Then, it was Marinette's turn to jump. However, she looks uncertain, making the class look worried for her. Until Lucy and Amanda stood beside her, "Hey, we'll tag with you." Amanda says softly, "No one jumps alone." Lucy nods, "We will be with you on this." Marinette smiles gratefully. "Okay." She says softly, "Let's do this." The three girls hold hands, and jump together. Marinette lets out a cheerful "Allez!" as they dive down, landing safely in the Safe Zone. The campers and the class both cheered, happy to see the trio making it safely. "That was awesome!" Owen cheered, "You three rock!" Bridgette smiled, "Way to go!"
"Alright, girl!" Alya cheered from the couch, nearly spilling her soda as she punched the air. The screen then shows Ann and Jessamine stepping up, and then, the two jumped. Ann gracefully flipped in midair, arms up like a bat spreading its wings, while Jessa tucked into a cannonball, her multicolored hair whipping around her as she whooped. Both landed cleanly—Ann silent as a shadow–which was surprising to the class–Jessa splashing water onto Heather's freshly dried hair, earning a shriek. "Oops, my bad." Jessa grinned, not sorry at all, while Ann rolled her eyes but nudged her friend's shoulder fondly. The class laughed at that, until they noticed the shark fins, "You two get out of there!" Alix yelled at the screen, though knowing they couldn't hear.
However, before the sharks could do anything to them, the two grabbed them by the gills and pulled them, making the sharks retreat and the two laughed. "Still got it." Jessamine smirked while Ann nodded silently. The class looked just as surprised at the campers who saw that. "Huh, they weren't kidding when they said they dealt with sharks before." Kim muttered.
They then watch as the TV screen shows Chris talking to the campers down below via megaphone, "Okay, campers, there's only one person left." The class then sees that it was Owen who's the last one to jump. "You guys need this jump for the win." Chris added before turning to Owen, "No pressure, dude." The class smiled at that as well as Owen, until Chris then said, "Okay, there's pressure."
The Screaming Gophers all cheered for Owen to make the jump. As well as the class.
"You can do this, Owen!" "Come on, dude!" "Don't think about the sharks!"
The screen showed confessionals, starting with Owen's, "Oh, I was pretty darn nervous. You see the thing is, I'm not that strong a swimmer." Then Geoff's, "I'm looking at this guy and thinking, there's no way he's gonna make it." Then Gwen's, "I actually thought that if he jumps this, he's gonna die." Then Amanda's, "Yup. Owen is definitely going to die. Or...gah, I forgot what my dad said, but I do know that the word he says from time to time was another way of saying Owen is going to die. Still don't know what that word is, but I'll figure it out later." She says while shrugging. "But hey, at least he'll die trying." She says sarcastically.
The class chuckled at that while Lucy's confessional came on next, "I am not one to judge on people nor their shape and size, but I must say, Owen's courage is admirable. Though I do hope he does not injure himself." She pauses, adjusting her pearl necklace thoughtfully. "I have seen enough accidents during ballet rehearsals to know momentum can be... unkind."
"I can't imagine what must've happened." Juleka muttered as Rose shuddered at the thought while Ann and Jessamine's confessional came on, "Don't get the two of us wrong. We're rooting for Owen, but—" Ann pinched the bridge of her nose as Jessamine snorted, spinning a lock of her multicolored hair around her finger. "Hey, we're still rooting for him, no matter what. Besides, he'll survive, and not feel any pain like that one swim-jock I once called a stick-up punk who had the gall to tried to make a move on all girls by impressing them with what he calls it, a "Swan Dive of Eternal Beauty", until he almost drowned, and bruised his ego after everyone knew he can't swim." The class laughed at that while Ann snickered, "Made me wish I was there to see that...May sound a bit wrong to laugh and all, but I still wished that." Jessa nods, "Still though, wish Owen luck. He'll need it." Ann nods.
And lastly, Marinette's confessional, "On one hand, I believe Owen can jump this easily, but on the other hand, I'm scared for him. He's such a sweet guy, and I don't want him to get hurt." She pauses, twirling her pigtail hair around her finger. "But...I have faith in him." Adrien smiled at that—Marinette always had a way of seeing the good in people, even in impossible situations.
Back onscreen, Chris tells Owen, "Take a good run at it, buddy. You can do this."
"I'm going to die now. I'm going to totally die now." The atmosphere was now tense as they watched and waited for Owen to make the jump. "Come on, big guy." Leshawna said. And then, Owen runs with confidence, and makes the jump, until the fear comes to him as he falls and screams. But while he screams, he arrives down safely at the Safe Zone, the splash he made became huge that even caused the sharks to be stuck in the trees, surprising the class.
"...Whoa." Kim muttered, blinking at the screen where it shows Owen in the Safe Zone, "Yeah! Who's the man!" he roots. "The winners, the Screaming Gophers!" The class cheered with the campers.
After that, the screen changes to all the campers all back in their casual attire, taking their crates to the campsite.
The Screaming Gophers pulled their crates with the pole cart they won, some were singing 99 Bottles of Pop on the Wall, while the Killer Bass all had to carry all of theirs on their own with their hands and strength. Which was not surprising to the class as they watched Courtney try to do so. However, "Ow! I think I just got a splinter." Eva then walks and picks up the crate with her amazingly strong strength and tells Courtney, "Shut it, and pick up your crate." She then drops it, causing Courtney to back away, then said, "Chicken." Though it did seem a little harsh, the class couldn't help but agree with Eva, as it was a bit silly of Courtney to complain about something simple as a splinter.
"Girl really needs to get a grip." Alya muttered, rubbing her temple as Courtney took offense at what Eva said, "Hey, I'm the only one with CIT camping experience here, you need me." Both Eva, DJ, and the class looked unfazed at that. "Sure, they do." Kim sarcastically said, rolling his eyes, "Not even my dads acted this way when I first went camping with them."
On screen, it went back to the Screaming Gophers, who were still pulling their crates with the pole carts. As well as Marinette, who seems to be having a conversation with Gwen, Leshawna, Ann, Jessamine, Lucy, and Amanda. They hear Lucy telling them her reason why she's in the camp. "The people in London suggested it to me once when my Nonna and I were visiting Italy for the summer. They suggested believing that it would help me overcome my shyness," she explained, her sapphire blue eyes softening. "But I think they underestimated how much I have grown."
"Yeah, they sure underestimated you, girl." Alya said, nodding along with the rest of the class. "Sure explains why she's there out of all places." Kim said, "Weird how she never told anyone on social media though." "Probably doesn't have one yet?" Nino guessed with a shrug. Adrien nods, "Could be."
They then hear Jessamine explain her and Ann's reason, "My folks thought it would be fun for us to try something new—and to keep us out of trouble for our summer. May be odd of them to sign us up here, but honestly, I don't mind it." "Because you didn't wanna get dragged into another "boring" family vacation?" Ann asked knowingly, raising an eyebrow. Jessamine laughed and flipped her ponytails dramatically. "Duh. Plus, not gonna lie, aside from the whole shark situation, this island camp stuff is actually a nice change of pace—way better than sipping fruit juice in some stuffy building while ma and pop are having it as their working vacation...with all due respect, of course." "Makes sense to me." Amanda said.
"Yeah, I would've been the same too if I were in her place." Alix admitted, leaning back on the couch. The class all agree—though none of them would ever admit to being caught dead in a place like Total Drama Island, the thought of escaping family obligations was universally relatable. On screen, Amanda then tells her reason while adjusting her spiked wristband. "My dad signed me up for "character building". Translation, he needed ratings gold...Well, that, and he and mom thought it would be nice to have me be out of the house for the whole summer." "Bummer." Annabelle muttered. "Bummer is right." Nino muttered as well, shaking his head. Adrien glanced at the screen, noting the flicker of something unreadable in Amanda's eyes. She continued, "Hey, but it's fine. I mean, with all due respect, it beats seeing another round where two of my three friends back home rumble with the rest of the teens in our local comic shop. Those two were just as collectible-crazy as those four guys decades ago." "The Eltingville Comic Book-Science Fiction-Horror-Fantasy-and-Role-Playing Club?" Jessa asked as she and Ann looked surprised.
"The what now?" Kim questioned. "Yeah, I don't even know who those people are." Alix said, scratching her head. The screen showed Amanda nodding, "But hey, unlike them, those two knuckleheads don't fight over an original twelve-inch Kenner Boba Fett figure that is still in the Star Wars box, Wookie Scouts, blah, blah, and not to mention, never removed from the said box...until those two Eltingville knuckleheads ended up fighting over it, breaking it, head off the body almost like Sub-Zero's Fatality."
The class shuddered as they thought of what she said and already pictured the horror. "Jeez, those guys sound like total losers." Kim muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "Seriously, breaking a rare collectible? That's just sad." Ivan added, wrinkling his nose.
"Well, glad to know that your friends are still sane compared to those idiots," Annabelle muttered with a wry smirk. "Yeah, I don't think the world is ready to have another Eltingville-level disaster," Alix added, even if neither she nor the rest of the gang know who they are, she still shudders at the idea of such next generation comic book-science fiction-horror-fantasy-and-role-playing club maniacs who'll probably be worse than any geek-like-akumatize villain Hawk Moth will probably send in the later future.
"Hey, look, there's the camp grounds." Beth said, pointing to where their cabin is at. Owen smiles, "That was pretty easy." "I'm pleasantly surprised." Cody added with a pleasing nod. The class chuckled at that.
The scene then changes, and the class sees the Screaming Gophers opening their crates.
"With their teeth?!" Alya gawked at the screen as the campers still pulled the ropes with their own chompers. Chris walks in, saying aloud, "Remember, you guys can only use your teeth to open the crates. I added that one." He says, muttering the last part. The class couldn't believe what they just heard. 'How is that man Amanda's father?' Adrien thought, though he kept silent—some family trees had questionable branches.
"Hey, I think I got it open." Izzy happily said. As the crate opens, Izzy lets out an 'ow', "Ow, rope burn on my tongue." She says, shaking her head. "Here, Izzy." Marinette said softly, handing her a water bottle she brought from her purse. "Thanks!" Izzy says, taking the bottle and rinsing her mouth. "Thank goodness for the dudette being there to help them out." Nino muttered, feeling pity for the campers, along with Amanda for having a nutjob like Chris for a father. 'And here I thought my dude's old man was bad.' Nino thought, glancing at Adrien.
On screen, the Screaming Gophers got all their crates open, and are going through with what's in them. "Hey, check it out, I got wood." Owen says, holding up some pieces of wood. "I've got some tools here, and what looks like a pool liner." Trent added. "And I've got the jets." Gwen said. "Alright, we got everything we need, let's get to it!" Amanda said, clapping her hands together. "But how do we put it together?" Beth asked. "Don't worry, Beth." Marinette said, smiling softly. "If I learned anything from helping my parents at the bakery, it's that teamwork makes the dream work." Lucy nodded, "Indeed. We shall assemble it like a puzzle—one piece at a time."
The class smiled at how well Marinette and her team were working together. As they were getting the rest of the supplies out of their crates, the Killer Bass arrived with their crates. "Finally." said Harold. Kim snickers, "Took you guys long enough." he said to the screen, making the rest of the class laugh. "Hey, what's up, guys?" Trent said in greeting. Amanda then noticed something off, "Hey, aren't you guys missing Sadie and Katie?" she asked. "They're getting a drink." Courtney said.
The class's eyes widened in shock as they saw Courtney's eye swollen up as if a bug bit her there. "Holy cow, that's bad!" Alix yelped, recoiling slightly. Onscreen, Marinette's eyes widened in shock when she herself saw it as well, "Courtney, what happened?" Marinette asked softly, pointing to Courtney's eye, causing Courtney to hide it with her hand, "Nothing, just an allergy." she said. "Think it's getting worse." Ezekiel commented. "Shut it." Courtney whispered to him, "We don't want them to know that." Though they were still shocked at what they all saw, the class were not surprised with how Courtney doesn't want the Screaming Gophers to think she's weak—it was like a dead ringer of Chloé, who would instead scoff and roll her eyes. Or something like that.
As a few seconds go by, they watch as the Screaming Gophers worked hard on their hot tub. And the class were impressed with how they were doing so. Knowing Marinette well with her skills they knew back when she was with them, and Lucy's ballet graceful problem-solving from ballet, Ann and Jessa's combined street smarts, and Amanda’s methodical precision, who directed the assembly to the rest of the Screaming Gophers, "Trent, Owen—you two handle the frame. Gwen, Leshawna, unroll that liner. Marinette, Lucy, help Ann and Jessa with the jets."
The class smiled at how amazing Marinette and her team worked together—the Screaming Gophers moved like clockwork, each member slotting into place without hesitation.
When the hot tub building was done, Chris announced, "Well, I think we have a winner here...the Screaming Gophers!" Chris announced. The Screaming Gophers cheered upon hearing that they had won the challenge. "Gophers, you're safe from elimination, and you get to rock this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer. Bonus!" he said to them.
The class cheered, feeling happy for Marinette and her team. Adrien smiled at the screen—his friend was thriving in an unexpected situation.
Then, Chris continued while turning his head, "Killer Bass, what can I say? Stinks to be you right now. I'll see your sorry butts at the bonfire tonight."
Then, Amanda's confessional comes on once more, "Okay, so first day at this tacky summer camp, I won my first challenge, and I made some new friends like my folks wanted me to do since the very beginning...I guess this won't be a bad summer vacation after all. Just as long as nothing else crazy and brutal doesn't happen in the future, I'm all good." "Preach it, 'Manda." Alix said with a nod.
The scene then changes back to the main lodge, where all the campers were probably having dinner. Then pans to the Killer Bass, who were discussing something. "So, what do we do now?" Katie asked, breaking the ice in the Killer Bass table. "We have to figure out who we're gonna vote off." Courtney tells her. "Well, I think it should be Princess or the brick house here," Duncan said, pointing to her and DJ. "What? Why?" Courtney asked. "Because unless I'm mistaken, you two are the only ones here wearing chicken hats. And if we ever have to lift a truck, I like our odds with the big guy." Duncan explained, pointing to DJ.
"I don't blame him for that honestly." Alix admits. The class nodded, "Yeah, and plus, Courtney's attitude wasn't helping either," Ivan added. "Not gonna lie, DJ is probably the strongest guy in the Killer Bass, and Duncan's right—they'll need him if they ever get stuck with another lifting challenge," Alya points out while Nino nods in agreement, "Dude's got muscles on muscles."
"But you guys need me," exclaimed Courtney. "I'm the only one-" "We know," Bridgette said, interrupting Courtney before she could finish her sentence. "You used to be a real CIT." "And being a CIT doesn't count honestly." Alya added. "It's always the same excuse." Juleka mutters. The class looked at the screen as Bridgette asked Courtney, "Who would you pick?" Courtney looks around and then points to Tyler. "What about him?" "NO!" yelled Lindsay. The Screaming Gophers and the Killer Bass turned to look at her, even the class looked at her surprisingly. "I mean no...salt, There's no salt on the table, bummer." "Oh, sorry, Lindsay, I lent it to Cody. Here." Marinette says as Cody passes it to Lindsay. "Thanks," said Lindsay.
"Hey, at least he jumped off the cliff, chicken wing." Duncan pointed out. "Duncan makes a solid point." Max said, adjusting his glasses once more, "From a logical standpoint, eliminating Tyler would be statistically unwise—his performance during the cliff challenge demonstrated adequate risk assessment despite..." Max then gets cut off when Courtney says to Duncan, "Shut it!" Causing him, and the class to watch her unfazed.
"Okay, let's just chill out," Geoff said, trying to stop the argument between Courtney and Duncan. "This is getting way too heavy." "Glad to see that Geoff's being reasonable." Rose whispered to Juleka, Ivan, and Mylène, who nod in agreement. "At least there's another dude who's got chill vibes." Nino says to Alya and Adrien.
"I've had enough prison food for one day," Duncan says as he gets up. "I'm gonna go have a nap." "You can't do that! We haven't decided who's going yet!" yelled Courtney. "Ah, give him a break." Kim said. "Yeah, even with a record, Duncan's the only one who has common sense in that group." Alya said, sipping on her soda.
"Well, I just don't get why we lost, eh. They're the ones that have twelve girls. And one of them is the daughter of a host, and the other is a rich-British wannabe." Hearing Ezekiel say those words caused everyone, including Duncan, to freeze in shock. Marinette spat out her water while Amanda's eye was twitching, and Lucy coughed from her water after hearing those words come out of Ezekiel's mouth. Even Ann and Jessa too both spat out their water after sipping some. Even the class froze, and Alya and Nino spat out their drinks, and Adrien choked on his popcorn kernel.
"Did...did he just..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Bridgette. "Yeah, homeschool. Enlighten us!" Eva said, putting her fist on the table. "Well, guys are much stronger and better at sports, music, and other stuff than girls are," said Ezekiel. "What did he just say?!" Rose asked, offended by the words Ezekiel had said. Juleka's eye started to twitch as she also heard what Ezekiel said. "Okay, now that's just wrong." Kim said, not liking Ezekiel's statement either.
Ezekiel continued, "My dad told me to look out for the girls, eh. And to help them in case they can't keep up." Eva then grabbed Ezekiel by the neck with her two hands and lifted him up. "Still think we need your help keeping up?" she asked, shaking him to prove her point. "Not really," he said. "You show him, Eva!" Alix said, encouraging Eva to prove a point to Ezekiel. The rest of the class cheered, backing up Eva and the rest of the girls in the show. "Guys, it's probably not even Ezekiel's fault. He's probably trying to look after them like his father told him to." Adrien said, trying to calm his friends down.
That was until Geoff jumped in. "Okay, guys. Let's give him a break," he said, while Eva dropped Ezekiel. "I mean, at least he doesn't think that guys are smarter than girls." "But, they are," said Ezekiel. Before Alya could say anything, Jessamine beat her to the punch, "Okay... THAT DOES IT!" She yelled, grabbing Ezekiel. The scene then changes and shows her taking him back to the cliff, throws him outside the Safe Zone, and yells, "FORGET YOU, YOU ALPHA-PUNK! GO BURN IN A VOLCANO'S LAVA!" After that, she walks off, dusting off her hands and ignoring all the screams from Ezekiel while he was swimming away from the sharks. The girls cheered when they saw her do that. "You show him, Jessa!" said Alya. Adrien looked at Jessamine in disbelief. 'Why did she do that? All he was doing was trying to prove a point that he was trying to protect them.' he thought to himself. That was when they watched Ann's confessional.
"Probably should've told the gang the things Jes despised the most. One is sexist punks, sexism, misogyny, misogynists, chauvinism, and chauvinists. Oh, and those wannabe guys who always believe all those lame alpha-male nonsense too, of course. Can't forget about that." She said, crossing her arms, "People and things like that always get on her nerves ever since we were both nine. And don't even get me started on that play we once watched back in the day," Ann shudders, remembering, "Hoo, boy." She shakes her head, "But yeah, Ezekiel got off easy." She shrugs, "Could've been worse."
"I can't imagine what it was," said Juleka. "I don't think I wanna know." Kim muttered, shuddering as well. The class nodded in agreement—whatever it was, it must've been bad if Annabelle was reacting like that. 'But that still doesn't explain why she has to do that to Ezekiel.' Adrien thought.
Then, Jessamine's confessional came on, "Mom, dad, Di, 'Kenzie, Jay, if you guys are watching right now while in the middle of work, uh...hi." Jessamine muttered to the camera, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly before clearing her throat. "Okay, confession? That felt GOOD. Like, really good." She grinned, flexing her fingers. "Of course it does, girl! You did what was right." Alya said, nodding approvingly as Jessamine continued, "Not as satisfying as the times you guys put the people who did all wrong in their place, but still. I'm starting to see how you guys feel." She twirls her hair around her finger, suddenly thoughtful, "Still though. That Ezekiel guy was worse than the one guy dad told me about who tried to make mom's life miserable. I can see why you guys loathe people like that punk." She scoffs. "Can't imagine who that guy must've been." Alix said, shaking her head. "If he's someone my dad knows, I don't think I wanna know either." Ivan said, shuddering at the thought of some guy his father might've known back then trying to mess with Jessamine's mom.
"I know I'm not one to talk down nor wish anything bad on people, but I really hope one of these days that punk and Ezekiel will face what they justly deserve." "You and all of us both, Jessa." Juleka muttered, rubbing her temples as Jessamine continued, "But yeah. That's lesson number one on why you shouldn't underestimate girl power, kiddos!" She said with a wink. Mylène proudly nods, agreeing with Jessamine on that fact, "Amen to that!"
The scene changes to night, where all the Killer Bass were at the Elimination Ceremony. And not much to anyone's surprise, the girls were all glaring at Ezekiel. Even the class themselves were already glaring at him. All but Adrien, who was still trying to understand Jessamine's outburst earlier—though he didn't agree with Ezekiel's words, he still didn't think throwing him off a cliff was necessary.
"Dude, you've got a lot to learn about the real world." Duncan told Ezekiel. "Tell him, Duncan." Nino said, crossing his arms and adjusting his cap.
"Killer Bass," Chris said, getting their attention, "At camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life." "I mean, it's already obvious." Alya says with a small shrug while Chris continues, "You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight, must immediately return to the Dock of Shame. To catch the Boat of Losers. That means, you're out of the contest. And you can't come back. Ever." Though the class already figured out the whole elimination process, they still shuddered at Chris's words—especially Adrien, who couldn't help but wonder if Marinette would ever have to face this moment.
Chris then starts calling out the names of the campers who are safe from elimination, "The first marshmallow goes to...Geoff. Tyler. Katie. Bridgette. Eva. DJ. Harold. Sadie. Duncan." Now, it was down to Courtney, and Ezekiel. "Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening..."
There was a brief pause, though the class were not liking Courtney for being a whiner with a CIT experience as an excuse, they still didn't like Ezekiel's sexist remarks either. So the pause was becoming a bit tense for them just as much as the two. Chris then holds up the last marshmallow before announcing the final name, "Courtney." Which of course, was none of the class's surprise nor Chris's.
"Serves him right." Alix said, crossing her arms and glaring at Ezekiel on the screen while Ivan and Mylène agreed with her. "Duncan was right about one thing." Ivan said, "Ezekiel has a lot to know about the real world."
As Ezekiel walks off, Chris turns to the rest of the Killer Bass, "The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows. You're all safe. For tonight."
Then, Gwen's confessional comes on once more, "Yup. This camp pretty much still stinks. But now that I'm here, I guess I might as well actually try to win."
After that, the screen shows the Screaming Gophers celebrating their victory with their earned hot tub party, with BIGBANG's song Bang Bang Bang being played in the background.
"Bet you one of them suggested they play some K-Pop for their party." Kim whispers to Alix who snickered, "I honestly wouldn't be surprised." she said, "Though there's nothing wrong with music like that, really." Kim shrugs, "That's true. Ondine also likes their music, and she's pretty cool." The class chuckled—Kim's girlfriend had been known to have eclectic tastes—but their attention snapped back to the screen as Cody raised a juice box as a toast, "To the Screaming Gophers!" he said. "The Screaming Gophers!" The rest of the Screaming Gophers cheered, raising their juice boxes as well. "I made celebratory macarons!" Marinette announced proudly as she held a tray of macaroons.
The class smiled at how Marinette and the Screaming Gophers were celebrating their victory, though looked unfazed when Courtney turned to face the camera, "Are you recording this? Good. They can enjoy their little party all they want. But I'm gonna win this competition. And no one, is gonna stop me." she said. That was until a water balloon hit her on the head. "My bad! I meant to do that. Also, foul ball!" Amanda yelled.
After that, the show ended and the end credits rolled. The class were still not surprised at Courtney's little "vow" at the end, but were pleased with how that water balloon hit her after.
After that, they all agree to meet back to watch what will happen to Marinette all week. After the agreement, they all went home. As they were, neither of them were aware of Lila leaving the house and heading home, still growling, gritting, and grinding her teeth on the way, gripping onto the straps of her bag.
When Adrien heads back home, he sees that Nathalie is there. "Your father is expecting to talk to you in the morning." "Thanks, Nathalie." Adrien said with a nod. When Adrien finishes changing into his nightwear, he lies on his bed, thinking about what will happen to Marinette while she's in Wawanakwa. Adrien hopes that when the show is over, Marinette will come home, apologize for her behavior towards Lila, his friends will all make up, and they can all stay friends again. With those thoughts in his mind, he falls asleep, hoping that those ideas will happen soon.
Masterlist
