Episode 2: Smashed In-Immunity Challenge

"Welcome back!" Chris announced, "Before the break, the campers were informed of their challenge: a deadly struggle for keys in an attempt to get puzzle pieces to solve a puzzle. Having changed into their swimwear, let's see what they have planned for their strategy."

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"Alright, before we go any further, we need to figure out which guy will sit out," Daniel declared, trying to be a leader.

"I'd like to interject," Alexander remarked, not looking for permission, "Matthew, I know that you won us the last challenge, but I just don't think that this challenge is ideal for you."

"I get it, and it's fine," Matthew agreed, "Unless someone else wants to sit out, I'll do it.

"I was afraid that this would happen. I really want to prove that I'm not a hindrance to my team, but I also don't want to seem stubborn. I guess I'll just sit this one out and hope that I can play in the next one."- Matthew

"Okay. Now, I think that our more athletic people should swim," Amalia noted, "Opinions?"

"Well, Veronica and Tory had success in the water last challenge," Daniel pointed out, "They should swim for sure. Then... maybe Amalia and Alexander can join them. All we need is one more."

"Why not you, man?" Matthew asked, "I mean, you did throw yourself off a cliff backwards."

"If I'm gonna be honest, I got kinda banged up at Boney Island," Daniel admitted, "I kinda want to avoid physical activity for a small bit, but if you guys want me to swim, I'll be a team player and fight through the pain."

"I'm not actually banged up. But considering that I'm a part of a majority alliance, I don't see the need to make myself a physical threat. I'll take a back seat if I can."- Daniel

"I'll swim then!" Fedor exclaimed.

"I've been waiting for a big opportunity to prove my worth to the team! What better than to be the man to step up when a fellow team member goes down?!"- Fedor

"Sure," Daniel agreed, "I'll do the puzzle then."

"I'm pretty good at puzzles," Callie commented, raising her hand so she'd be seen, "Can I do the puzzle?"

"I see no problem with that," Veronica admitted, which received a series of nods from the other campers.

"What about you two?" Fedor asked, pointing to Ellie and Cassie.

"You can choose," Ellie allowed, talking to Cassie, "I'm fine either way."

"I guess I'll unlock the chest..." Cassie replied unconfidently.

"Not gonna lie...I'm not very good at puzzles. Or swimming. Those aren't my strengths. Back home, I'm known for being a decently-skilled contemporary dancer. Hopefully I can just slide under the radar this challenge and show my true skills in another one."- Cassie

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While the Wild Wolverines were quick to make their decisions, the Merciless Moose took much longer, mainly due to a constant disagreement with regards to who should do which part. Unsurprisingly, the loudest voices in the conversation belonged to Katelyn, who was the de facto leader, and Zeyad, who wanted to regain control of the team after being in the minority in the last vote.

"Look, we have it all planned out!" Katelyn claimed, "Why can't you just swim?"

"Have you seen this hair?" Zeyad asked, pointing at his quiff hairstyle, "I can't afford to have it wet. I'm doing the puzzle."

"Dude, we've already agreed on everything else," Alejandro reminded, trying to persuade Zeyad to make the right decision, "Katelyn, Devin, and Kiana are doing the puzzle, Betty will unlock the chest, and the rest of us will swim."

"I didn't agree to anything!" Zeyad declared, upset, "Why can't Kiana just swim? She's so tall that she'll scare the sharks into leaving her alone!"

"I don't want to!" Kiana exclaimed, running to hug Katelyn, "Don't make me do it! Please!"

"Y'know what? Screw it. I'll swim," Betty conceded, "Zeyad can unlock the chest."

"Are you sure?" Aaron asked, more out of fear for Betty's lack of strength.

"Well, he's not gonna do it, so I'll do it," Betty explained as she tied her long hair up into a ponytail.

"I really don't want to do it; I came here to win a million dollars, not get eaten by sharks. But this is a chance to prove to Katelyn that I can be a useful ally. Plus, this'll make Zeyad look even worse than he already does. If we lose, he'll be voted off for sure."- Betty.

"Alright then," Rhythm commented before turning to Zeyad, "Does Mr. 'I can't get my hair wet' have a problem with digging?"

"Nope!" Zeyad responded, smiling, "This'll work perfectly."

"Look, I know I sound rude, but I'm not a strong swimmer. So if I go in the water, I know that I'm gonna let the team down. If we lose, I know that I'm next, so I have to do what I can to make my contribution the most effective."- Zeyad

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With both teams having decided their lineups, everyone promptly got into position, ready to begin the challenge. Both teams had something to prove: the Wild Wolverines wanted to cement their position as the dominant team, while the Merciless Moose wanted to create a redemption story and prove that the first challenge was a fluke. Before long, Chris presented himself on top of a large pedestal in the water, clutching his airhorn in his right hand.

"Ready! Set!" Chris began before sounding the airhorn, "GO!"

Upon hearing the airhorn, Tory and Alejandro sprinted out to the water and began swimming. Both teams chose their first swimmer strategically. For the Moose, Alejandro insisted that he was the most physically fit, and the team reciprocated by allowing him to go first. The Wolverines wanted to start with their most energetic member, and considering that Tory drank four cups of coffee before the challenge, it helped him gain an early lead over Alejandro and outswim the sharks. Unsurprisingly, Tory reached the platform first, climbed up, and smashed the first box. Within a few seconds, Tory grabbed the key and began to swim back, all before Alejandro could get to the platform.

"Hurry up, dude!" Aaron called out, "You're way behind!"

"I'm trying!" Alejandro replied as he climbed to the top platform, jumped off, and smashed the box.

"This is why I should've gone first..." Laila muttered to herself.

"I've got it!" Alejandro exclaimed as he began to swim back.

"HYAHHHH!" Tory shouted as he got out from the water, sprinted towards his team, and tagged Amalia, allowing her to head out into the water.

"Nice job, man!" Alexander remarked, tapping Tory on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Tory replied, breathing hard, "Looks like the group is still digging."

Alexander turned around to see Daniel, Ellie, Callie, and Cassie digging furiously in the ground. They appeared to be digging at an equal pace; Callie pushed herself so she could appear stronger, Daniel held back a bit to feign weakness, and Ellie & Cassie continued to dig as well as they could. Within a minute, the quartet had the chest out of the hole and resting on the sand.

"Awesome job, guys!" Fedor praised.

"Dude! It's your turn!" Tory shouted, causing Fedor to turn around and see Amalia running towards him, key in hand.

"Go!" Amalia ordered, tagging Fedor and allowing him to head out and swim.

"They're way ahead!" Betty exclaimed, frustrated, "Can you go a bit faster!"

"I'm swimming as hard as I can!" Aaron replied, having just recovered his key.

"And you guys: dig harder!" Betty ordered.

"Sorry!" Devin agreed whilst continuing to dig with Zeyad, Kiana, and Devin.

"Hold on..." Kiana panted, stepping back, "I need a break!"

"No!" Zeyad ordered, "We need to keep going!"

"Go ahead, Kiana," Katelyn allowed, "We'll pick up the slack."

"It frustrates me that Katelyn has this kind of power! But I've got to keep calm. I've got to channel all my hatred of Katelyn towards winning the challenge. It's do-or-die for me."- Zeyad

"I'm back!" Aaron announced as he tagged Betty's hand, "Go!"

"Do you think she can do it?" Alejandro asked, unsure.

"I really hope so," Laila admitted.

"AAHHHHHH!" Fedor screamed as he swam towards the platform whilst being chased by a shark.

"Don't look back!" Daniel shouted.

Following Daniel's advice, Fedor reached the  platform and climbed to the second level. To his luck, the shark took a bite out of the lower platform and swam away, seemingly full. After a brief period of hesitation, Fedor jumped and hit the box. He than began searching the water for his key, but to his surprise, he couldn't find it. After going up for a breath, he spent another thirty seconds looking for the key, but to no avail.

"What's going on?" Amalia shouted.

"I can't find the key!" Fedor replied, resulting in a series of groans from his teammates.

That wasn't the only source of drawback for a team. Betty, having evaded the sharks, now stood on the lower platform. But once she reached the higher platform, she froze in place, as if she were encased in a block of ice. She stood in fear, while the remainder of her teammates shouted at her to get moving.

"Yeah...I don't do well with heights. I get that it's only like, ten or fifteen feet above the water, but it's still high! I mean, I could faceplant on the water and break my face! It's a lot of pressure!"- Betty

"GO FOR IT!" the entire Merciless Moose team shouted.

"Well...fifteen years is a pretty good life..." Betty muttered as she jumped, obliterated one of the boxes, and landed in the water, "I'm alive!"

"Find the damn key!" Aaron shouted, causing Betty to dive down and find the next key.

"Got it!" Betty exclaimed, followed by her placing the key in her mouth and swimming back,

"Dude! Are you blind?!" Amalia shouted, fed up with Fedor, "Get the f**kin' key!"

"It's not here!" Fedor claimed, "I don't know what happened to it!"

"Just come back!" Daniel ordered, allowing Fedor to swim back, "We'll send someone different to look for it later!"

For the first time in the challenge, the Merciless Moose held the lead. This motivated both teams: the Moose felt the need to keep the lead, while the Wolverines pushed themselves into a higher gear to try and get back the lead. After roughly thirty seconds of swimming, Betty reached the shore and ran to tag Rhythm, allowing her to run out for a swim.

"Nice job, Betty!" Katelyn praised, having finished digging up the chest.

"Thanks!" Betty thanked as she went to lay down on the ground, "Time for a nap..."

"Aside from her hesitation to jump, Betty did pretty well today. Maybe I didn't give her a fair enough chance..."- Aaron

"Come on, slowf**k!" Amalia screamed, "Get back here!" 

"Amalia..." Daniel whispered in Amalia's ear as he picked her up off the ground so she had to listen to him, "Can you tone down the cursing a little bit, please?"

"Sorry..." Amalia apologized, saddened that she made Daniel upset.

"I don't swear that often in public, but it's only because my parents watch me like a hawk. Here, I feel free to act out and say whatever the f**k I want! Wait...my parents are gonna watch this, aren't they? S**t! Oh, I mean, Darn!"- Amalia

"Sorry guys!" Fedor apologized as he walked back to the group, "I really couldn't-"

"Just tag me!" Alexander ordered as he grabbed Fedor's hand and tagged himself with it, allowing him to run out to the water.

"Fly!" Rhythm exclaimed as she jumped off the high platform, smashed the box and landed in the water, grabbing the key as she resurfaced from the water.

"Keep going!" Devin shouted.

"Pretend that there's a shark behind you!" Alejandro suggested, hoping to motivate her.

"I don't think that she has to pretend..." Laila muttered.

What Laila pointed out to Alejandro was that Rhythm was actually being chased by a shark, but she didn't know that. Knowing that she would be involved in water challenges, she ensured that she brought waterproof headphones and a waterproof iPod. If anything, the headphones were what made her a good contributor: she didn't focus on the danger of the sharks, or feel the pressure from her teammates. She was able to swim back to shore at her own leisure.

"Go!" Rhythm ordered as she tagged Laila, who proceeded to run out.

"We are so far behind..." Cassie whispered to Ellie.

"I know, right?" Ellie agreed, "Hey, if we lose, do you think that we should vote for Fedor?"

"Maybe," Cassie answered, "Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that."

"After what Fedor and Alexander said about Cassie and I during the first challenge, I am so eager to vote one of them out. I need to know if I have the votes. Cassie and I, Callie, maybe Amalia. Eh...this is gonna be tough..."- Ellie

"Get ready!" Alexander shouted as he sprinted towards Veronica and tagged her, allowing her to sprint towards the water.

"You caught up big time, man," Daniel remarked, tapping Alexander on the back, "We're not that far behind anymore."

"Hopefully we can find the last key," Alexander replied before turning to the group, "Hey, when Veronica comes back, who are we sending out to find Fedor's key?"

"Tory, are you up for it?" Amalia asked, not wanting to go herself.

"Yeah, I can do it," Tory assured, jumping up and down to get his heart pumping.

"C'mon Laila!" Alejandro shouted, "You can make it!"

"Zeyad, get ready!" Aaron ordered, causing Zeyad to get up from sitting on the chest.

"Here!" Laila called out as she handed Zeyad the final key, allowing him to dash back to the chest and begin unlocking it.

"Comin' back!" Veronica called out as she grabbed her key and began swimming back.

The two teams watched intently as they hoped to finish the current task quickly. Veronica did her best to speed up, sensing the need to make up time for Fedor's failure. Zeyad on the other hand hastily worked on unlocking the chest, hoping to act like a team player and gain favour back with his team.

"There!" Zeyad exclaimed as he turned the chest around and opened the lid, "There ya' go!"

"Let's get this done!" Katelyn exclaimed as she, Devin, and Kiana took the bag of puzzle pieces out of the chest and carried it towards their puzzle table.

"And the Merciless Moose are on the final part of the challenge!" Chris announced from his pedestal.

"Go get it!" Veronica ordered as she tagged Tory and allowed him to head back out.

"You've gotta go fast, okay?" Daniel asked to Cassie.

"Yeah..." Cassie agreed, visibly nervous, "You've got it."

"We're so far behind! And eventually it'll be up to me to hurry up so we have a chance at winning! Honestly, I'm kind of hoping that the other team finishes the puzzle before Tory gets back. Too much pressure!"- Cassie

Within thirty seconds, Tory made his way back to the platform and swam down, doing his best to search for Fedor's key. To his shock, Fedor was right: the key was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until he resurfaced and looked at the shattered boxes above him that he had his answer.

"The key's still in the box!" Tory shouted, pointing to the half-shattered box with a key resting in it.

"Get it down!" Daniel called out.

"I don't have my club!" Tory exclaimed. He thought that he only had to look in the water; the thought that it was still stuck in the box never crossed his mind.

"Use your f...fist!" Amalia ordered, doing her best to not swear.

Although Tory didn't want to, he needed to do whatever he could to get the team back in a position to win. With minimal hesitation, Tory climbed up to the higher platform, jumped, and smashed the remainder of the box with his fist. the next time he came up, he thrust his left hand in the air, in which was the key. But it came at a cost.

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Tory screamed, visibly in pain, "My f**kin' hand!"

"Chris, can we go get him?" Daniel asked.

"Eh...why not?" Chris allowed, causing Amalia, Veronica, and Alexander to swim out to save him.

"Now I really hope that this challenge ends soon," Cassie admitted.

"Done!" Katelyn shouted as her, Devin, and Kiana backed away from the puzzle table.

"Hmm..." Chris muttered as he looked at the completed puzzle with his binoculars before sounding his airhorn, "Game over! The Merciless Moose have won immunity and the right to stay in the mini-mansion!"

Immediately after, all nine members of the Merciless Moose began cheering, elated that they were allowed to stay in the mini-mansion. The Wild Wolverines couldn't care less: they were all focused on ensuring that Tory was alright. At least, most of them were.

"Yes!" Cassie exclaimed as she went to hug Ellie.

"What?" Fedor asked, unsure if he heard her correctly, "Why are you cheering?"

"I'm not-" Cassie began before being cut off.

"Did you want us to lose?" Fedor questioned, jumping to conclusions.

"No! I-" Cassie replied before being interrupted.

"You wanted us to lose!" Fedor exclaimed.

"No!" Cassie shouted, wanting to defend herself.

"Alexander! Alexander!" Fedor called out, eager to tell his ally of Cassie's apparent betrayal.

"This is the perfect time to take control. Once I tell the team that Cassie wanted us to lose, they'll vote her off, and the tribe will view me as a hero for voting off the snake! Awesome!"- Fedor

"Nooo! He's got it all wrong! I cheered because I didn't have to feel the pressure to act quickly anymore! Ugh! Why did I say that? I've got to get talking to the others before he talks to them!"- Cassie

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"That was one tough challenge!" Chris remarked, still on the pedestal, "Who will the Wild Wolverines vote out? How will the Merciless Moose enjoy their mini-mansion? And who will be sent to Boney Island? All will be revealed after the break on Total...Drama...Island:... Return to Wawanakwa!"



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