"Welcome back to Total Drama Island: Return to Wawanakwa!" Chris welcomed as the camera panned in on him sitting at a fancy table in the mess hall, "Before the break, the campers were informed that they had two hours to cook me a three-course meal. Let's take a look at how they're faring."

--------

For the Wild Wolverines, they immediately ran to the truck and pulled out as many ingredients as they could. They wanted to get a good look at all the ingredients before they decided on what dishes to make. Within a few minutes, they had every single crate, fruit, and protein out of the truck and on the kitchen counter. With that out of the way, one camper decided to take the lead.

"Okay, we need to decide on a specific type of cuisine to make," Alexander declared, "It'll make all of our meals seem much more in sync and deliberate."

"I'm more than willing to take on the role of a head chef. I know how to cook good food, and I expect Chris to be understanding of what true good food is. Then again, Chris is unpredictable, so who knows what he'll like?"- Alexander

"Any ideas on a cuisine?" Alexander asked, wanting input.

"Well, what can we each make?" Amalia questioned.

"I can make risotto," Devin revealed.

"Good, can anyone make any sort of pasta?" Alexander asked, hoping for a good response.

"I've made Fettuccine Alfredo a few times," Amalia admitted.

"Perfect! Both are Italian dishes, so we can do an Italian theme!" Alexander rationalized.

"What kind of Italian dessert is there?" Tory asked.

"I've got that covered; don't worry," Alexander assured, "Devin can take the lead on making the appetizer, Amalia can take the lead on the entrée, and I'll take the lead on the dessert. All we need is to pair up."

"I'll work with Devin!" Kiana declared.

"I'm not much of a cook, so to have someone like Devin to help me out would be really good for me. And it also gives us a bit of time to talk and try to strengthen our allegiance with one another."- Kiana

"I'd love to see what Alexander has in store, so I'll work with him," Laila declared.

"After my conversation with Amalia, I've pretty much wanted to avoid her. If I can't trust her, there's no way that I'm gonna work with her in this challenge."- Laila

"Looks like I'm with Amalia," Tory remarked.

"Alright then, let's get started!" Alexander declared as the group began grabbing their respective ingredients.

--------

With the Wild Wolverines on a winning streak, they wanted to take the safer route. By having the campers cook simple dishes, it would minimize the margin of error and lessen the possibility of getting a low amount of points. However, the Merciless Moose had a different strategy. Now that their plan was to try and win a reward instead of immunity, they wanted to shoot for the stars and cook the most complicated dishes that they knew. If the risk paid off, they would score lots of points. If it didn't pay off, they'd lose by a landslide.

"We need to play to our strengths," Daniel noted, "Chris is looking for flavour and presentation; what is the most flavourful dish that you guys can make?"

"Well, I see cheese, potatoes, onions, veal, and some tomatoes here," Veronica noted, "I can make this incredible dish called 'Frico'."

"I'm part Italian, so I know how to cook a thing or two. Frico is a pan-fried tart made of cheese, potatoes and onions. I usually serve it with a side of veal, just to give it a bit of saltiness. I've cooked it for people at my school, and they liked it, so I think that Chris will like it."- Veronica

"I like the sound of that," Daniel admitted as he turned to look at the ingredients.

"What meats are there?" Aaron asked, curious.

"There's pork ribs, beef filets, brisket, flank steak..." Daniel listed as he continued to search through the ingredients.

"Is there any fish?" Rhythm asked.

"Um....yep, there's salmon," Daniel confirmed.

"Alright, I can do an entrée with salmon," Rhythm assured as she walked over to look at the ingredients.

"What did you have in mind for a side dish?" Daniel asked, wanting more information.

"Vegetables; probably asparagus & kale," Rhythm answered, "Maybe with some sort of tomato sauce."

"Back home, my family tends to eat a lot of fish, poultry, and seafood. Coming from an Indian household, cooking is a skill that I learned when I was young, so hopefully I can put it to use now."- Rhythm

"Alright, that's fine then," Daniel allowed, "If no one minds, I've got a good idea for a dessert."

"I'm not stoppin' ya'," Aaron assured, "So, who's working with who?"

"Honestly, Frico takes a lot of work, so I need someone who can pay attention to detail," Veronica declared.

"I'll join you," Katelyn offered.

"That's fine," Daniel allowed, "I'll take whoever can't cook."

"That's me!" Aaron interjected, causing everyone to chuckle.

"That means I'm with Rhythm," Matthew rationalized.

"Good, now that we're on the same page, let's get to work!" Daniel ordered, causing everyone to go and grab their needed ingredients.

--------

With both teams having decided their pairs and dishes, everyone set their focus on cooking. Oddly enough, even though the dishes were the ones being judged, it could be argued that it was more important to be working with someone that you were compatible with. For Amalia and Tory, they didn't seem to have any problems.

"Alright, so I just stir the pasta?" Tory asked.

"Yeah, but do it slowly," Amalia warned as she began whisking the alfredo sauce, "The last thing we need is the pot to go flying off the stove."

"Cooking with Tory is like cooking with a five year-old; he asks too many questions and can't use common sense. For example, he didn't wash his hands before we started cooking!"- Amalia

"Hey, I haven't really had the motivation to learn how to cook. I guess I've spent more time around beer stores and rock concerts than in the kitchen."- Tory

"What is the purpose of stirring the pasta?" Tory asked, curious.

"It ensures that it doesn't stick to the pot," Amalia answered as she walked over to the counter next to the stove, "Hey, mind if we talk a bit of strategy?"

"Sure," Tory agreed, "What's up?"

"How close are you to Alexander?" Amalia asked.

"I mean, him and I were close at the start, but I'm not so sure now," Tory admitted as he continued to stir the pasta, "Honestly, he's starting to become annoying."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Amalia insisted, "He's really trying to suck up to you guys."

"Knew that," Tory remarked, "Why is he trying so hard?"

"It's because he wants me out," Amalia answered, "He needs your vote to get me out."

"Well, I'm tellin' you that I'm not voting you out," Tory declared.

"Thanks," Amalia thanked.

"By the way, from what I can tell, the original majority alliance from the Wild Wolverines is still intact," Tory assured.

"You, me, Matthew, Daniel, & Veronica? Amalia asked, wanting clarification.

"Yeah," Tory confirmed, "I'm hoping that we can take this alliance far."

"Ideally, I'd like the final seven to be me, Matthew, Veronica, Aaron, Rhythm, Amalia, & Daniel. Then, the guys can band together and have a cakewalk to the final four. Of course, it's easier said than done."- Tory

--------

Everyone had a long-term game plan; it gave everyone some sort of goal to shoot for with regards to staying in the game. One could argue that Daniel had thought the most about his plan; he paid a lot of attention to changes in his surroundings and changed accordingly in order to keep himself in the prime position to win. It was as if he never stopped thinking. Even with his cooking, he constantly thought about how to make each dish perfect.

"1 and 1/2 cup of heavy cream..." Daniel muttered as he slowly measured out some heavy cream.

"Hey, the timer rang," Aaron announced, simply following orders.

"Okay, take it out and put it in the fridge to chill," Daniel ordered, causing Aaron to walk over to the oven.

"I've got no clue what's going on. I'm just doing what Daniel is telling me and hoping that it pays off."- Aaron

"What exactly are we making?" Aaron asked as he lifted the cakes out of the oven.

"It's called a trifle," Daniel answered, "It's an English dessert commonly made with cake, fruit, custard, and whipped cream."

"What fruit are we using?" Aaron asked as he placed the cakes in the fridge.

"We're not making a fruit trifle," Daniel revealed, keeping his attention to creating fresh whipped cream, "We're making an Irish Creme Chocolate Trifle."

"Ah, 'cause Chris likes chocolate, right?" Aaron remarked as he closed the fridge.

"Of course," Daniel confirmed, "Okay, you can take over mixing the cream, while I'll get started on the next task: making custard."

"You need to make custard?" Aaron asked, confused.

"Yeah, it's complicated," Daniel assured as he cracked four eggs simultaneously, "Takes a bit of practice."

--------

In all fairness, cooking was a skill that took years to learn and refine. Whether it was learning how to crack eggs smoothly or how to gauge how long to bake a cake, it was something that came with experience. For Devin, he had been cooking for quite a while, and seemed to be at home in the kitchen. Kiana on the other hand appeared to be struggling.

"Ah!" Kiana exclaimed as she moved her hand away from the stove, "Hot!"

"Are you burned?" Devin asked out of caution.

"No," Kiana assured as she wildly shook her heated hand, "Just hurt a bit."

"Here," Devin assured as he grabbed Kiana's hand and placed an oven mitt over it, "There you go."

"Thanks!" Kiana thanked gleefully as she returned to cooking.

"No problem," Devin replied, "Now, back to shredding cheese!"

"The shrimp looks pink now," Kiana declared, "Do I put in the rice now?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Devin confirmed, allowing Kiana to pour rice into the pan, "Just be sure to keep stirring it."

"Alright," Kiana replied as she began to move the rice around the pan slowly.

"This is a lot to take in. I'm really glad that I have Devin here to help me out. I mean, he's the friend that I've always wanted to have. He's loyal, observant, caring....nice....sweet....gentle...." *blushes* *chuckles*- Kiana

"Mind if I give you a little tip?" Devin offered.

"Um....sure," Kiana agreed, smiling.

"First, hold the spoon as if you were holding a pen," Devin suggested, causing Kiana to switch the position of her hand, "Then, stir the rice by starting in the centre and slowly making your way outwards."

"Like this?" Kiana asked as she attempted to stir.

"Try it like this," Devin proposed as he gently grabbed Kiana's wrist and gently moved it in circles, "See? Slow, soft, and gentle, right?"

"You have no idea..." Kiana remarked, doing her best to hide her blushing.

"Well, I'll leave you to that, and I'm gonna go finish off melting the feta," Devin declared as he walked away from the stove.

"Alright, thanks!" Kiana thanked as she turned her attention to the risotto.

*blushes* *sighs*- Kiana

"Kiana is definitely one of the nicest girls that I've ever met. It's a shame that people in her everyday life don't give themselves the chance to get to know her. She's a good friend."-Devin

--------

Even though people came here to win money, everyone wanted to see if they could make friends. The campers couldn't spend hours upon hours strategizing; they all were more than willing to take time out of their day to socialize with others and learn more about each other. Rhythm and Matthew were no exception to this concept.

"Honestly, I haven't paid much attention to oldie's music," Matthew admitted as he continued to chop asparagus and kale, "But hey, good to see that people still value the past."

"Not many people do that nowadays," Rhythm noted as she stirred a pot of tomato sauce, "I've learned to appreciate the past and how the future can't exist without it."

"I've been thinking that way for years," Matthew admitted, "Well, you've told me something about you, so I guess I'll tell you something about me."

"I don't meet people like Matthew everyday. He's been through more in the past few years than a lot of other people have gone through in their lives! He's a tough guy, and he should be proud."- Rhythm

"If you don't mind me asking..."Rhythm began, a bit unsure if she wanted to finish her sentence, "Y'know, just out of curiosity..."

"You want to know about my car accident?" Matthew asked, having anticipated the question.

"Yeah....sure," Rhythm agreed, "Can you pass the figs?"

"Sure," Matthew replied as he handed over a bowl of figs before beginning his story, "I was twelve years-old, I was getting driven home from hockey practice by my mom, and we were driving through an intersection when a drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned the car right where I sat."

"Oh my God..." Rhythm remarked, shocked.

"Hey, keep an eye on the sauce," Matthew reminded, causing Rhythm to face the sauce once again, "The collision gave me whiplash and a few cuts to my face from the shattered window, but the force of the crash was enough to compress my lower-back vertebrae and slightly injure my spinal cord in that area. I was lucky enough to get the injury decompressed very quickly, but it left me with some nerve damage. I've managed to recover some use of my legs, but I don't think that it'll get much better than this."

"That's terrible..." Rhythm commented, not really knowing how to respond.

"Don't worry about it; I stopped worrying a long time ago," Matthew assured with a smile on his face, "Right when my parents told me what was going on, I knew that I had two options with how to view it. I could be sad and say 'my life sucks', or I could look at myself in the mirror and say 'Hey, the rest of me is alright'. This accident helped me appreciate everything that I had in my life, and I am grateful for everyone that had supported me so far."

"Wow, that's amazing," Rhythm remarked, "You are something different, Matthew. And I mean that in a good way."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Matthew replied, chuckling soon after, "Hopefully there's a kid out there like me who can see where I'm coming from and live happily knowing that there's someone else who made it through with a positive attitude."

"Matthew truly is an inspirational figure. What him and I sorta have in common is that we both want to help the world by sharing our experiences. I know that it took a lot of strength to recover, and I'm sure that he's gonna help somebody watching."- Rhythm

"It's really sweet for Rhythm to be willing to listen; that's something that we just don't find anymore in this world. There are so many people in the world who are self-centred and all they want is to brag to the world about themselves. We need people like Rhythm who are willing to sit back and listen; without people like her, those with good intentions aren't able to show who they really are."- Matthew

--------

It was this kind of genuine bond that people wanted to build; to know that there was someone in the world that you could feel connected with on a deeper level was very relieving. Although, some people simply didn't have the time to build true relationships. Alexander was a perfect example; he was willing to make short-term connections in order to survive, due to the fact that he had no solid allies. His closest ally was Laila, which wasn't saying much.

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" Laila asked.

"I need you to take the lobster out of the pot," Alexander ordered.

"Uhh...what lobster?" Laila questioned, confused.

"The lobster that's been poaching on the stove," Alexander clarified.

"Umm..." Laila muttered as she turned to look at the stove, "There's no lobster on the stove."

"What?" Alexander remarked as he turned to look at the stove, "You didn't poach the lobster?!"

"You said that you would take care of it!" Laila noted.

"I was making the brioche!" Alexander exclaimed, "Any person with common sense knows that anyone making a brioche can't be interrupted! Go get the lobster!"

"Ugh....fine!" Laila conceded as she turned around, only to see a lobster sitting on the table, "Hmm..."

Anyone would be upset with Alexander after his refusal to take responsibility, and Laila was no exception. Before doing anything, she turned to see what Alexander was doing, and noted that his full attention was on creating some sort of mystery drink. Knowing what she had to do, she quickly took the lobster and hid it in a pot on the stove.

"Hey, there's no lobster here!" Laila claimed.

"Wha...did you not grab the lobster?!" Alexander shouted.

"I thought you grabbed it!" Laila insisted, "Well, I'll go get it."

"Nope! Nope! I'm gettin' it!" Alexander declared as he walked outside.

"Man, it's hard to find good help these days."- Alexander

"Now, let's see..." Alexander remarked as he climbed into the food truck, "Where could it be?"

"Sucker..." Laila muttered as she slammed the backdoor of the truck shut and locked it.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Alexander screamed as he began banging on the door, "LET ME OUTTTTTT!"

"It's what you get, jerk!" Laila retorted, laughing as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey, if he wants to fight me, I'll fight back. I'm not afraid, hehe." *smirks*- Laila

--------

"One minute left, campers!" Chris announced, "One minute left!"

Much like an blockbuster fight, the intensity appeared to increase during the final moments of the challenge. The real-life example of this was with Veronica & Katelyn who were racing to finish their dish. Everyone waited patiently in the mess hall dining room while those two attempted to finish cooking.

"C'mon!" Veronica ushered, "Where's the marmalade sauce?!"

"A few more seconds!" Katelyn insisted as she rapidly stirred the sauce in a pot.

"Thirty seconds!" Chris warned.

"Screw it, bring it over!" Veronica ordered, "We have no time!"

"Back home, I can create this dish by myself in one hour, tops! I don't know, maybe working with someone who doesn't know what the dish is makes time go by faster or something!"- Veronica

"Coming!" Katelyn declared as she ran towards Veronica, only to trip and spill the sauce all over her, "Ow..."

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Veronica exclaimed as she ripped off her apron and ran over to the sink to get some cold water.

"Well... I guess we're not serving a sauce," Katelyn rationalized as she picked up the plate and took it into the dining hall, only to trip and faceplant the dish on the ground soon after.

"To be honest, for a dancer, I'm a pretty clumsy person."- Katelyn

"Ouch..." Chris remarked, "Welp, it's time for the taste test! Merciless Moose, may I please have your appetizer?"

"Uhh...it's right there?" Aaron noted, pointing at Katelyn.

"Hold on," Daniel insisted as he walked over and picked up Katelyn, revealing her face smothered with cheese, veal, and frico, "Go on; take a bite."

"Ew..." Rhythm muttered.

Under normal circumstances, Chris would simply give the team a zero and move on to the other team. However, he couldn't deny that the food radiated the scents of onions and veal; spicy and salty. Being cautious, he peeled a cheese, cucumber, & veal roll from Katelyn's face and took a bite of it. He took a few seconds to examine the taste before speaking.

"Y'know, the presentation is pretty messy, but it's pretty creative," Chris admitted, "And the taste isn't that bad. Five points!"

Even though five points was barely a passing grade, the Merciless Moose felt pretty lucky to have gotten that score, given that their dish was almost pulverized by Katelyn's face. Their hopes of winning stood on the shoulders of the their two remaining dishes. Most of these hopes were dampened when they saw Devin & Kiana present their appetizer to Chris: a shrimp & feta risotto with Parmesan cheese.

"Hmm..." Chris muttered as he took a moderately-sized bite of the risotto, "Light...moist...flavourful....but a bit too much cheese. Umm....seven points!"

"Yes!" Devin and Kiana exclaimed as they hugged each other in excitement.

"I don't see anything wrong with too much cheese. It adds a sweet element to the dish, which isn't a bad thing."- Devin

"Right now, the Wild Wolverines lead with a score of 7 to 5," Chris announced, "Would the Merciless Moose please present their entrée to me?"

With that, Rhythm & Matthew approached Chris and presented their dish to him: baked salmon, a tomato & fig sauce, with sides of asparagus & kale. Visually, it was well-put together, but a small part of them wondered if the dish was too sophisticated for Chris' liking. They all watched quietly as Chris cut a piece of salmon and ate it. To the their luck, the salmon was cooked properly, and Chris seemed entertained with the braised kale.

"Wow, do you know how hard it is to braise kale this well?" Chris asked, content with the dish, "Nine points! Now, let's see what the Wild Wolverines have to combat that."

Amalia & Tory eagerly presented Chris with their dish: Fettuccine Alfredo with a tall glass of tomato juice. It was arguably the simplest dish of the six, but it was definitely the cleanest of them all. If anyone of them took a picture of the dish and sent it to a food magazine company, they'd probably use it. As a bonus, Tory spend a lot of time hand-making tomato juice, hoping that giving Chris his favourite drink would pay dividends for them.

"Mmm....now that's what I call flavourful!" Chris commented as he took a swig of tomato juice, "And you definitely played your cards right with this drink. 10 points!"

"I gotta say, these campers are trying really hard to impress me. But hey, free food is free food."- Chris

That score meant that the Wild Wolverines kept their lead by three points, leaving their team quite happy. This was when the Merciless Moose became worried; they were actually trying to win this challenge, so falling behind discouraged them a fair bit. All they could hope for was that Daniel & Aaron's trifle could score big with Chris.

"Hmm...Irish Creme....chocolate sponge cake....fresh whipping cream....homemade custard....and crushed chocolate buttons," Chris noted as he took a bite of the dish, "Y'know, you two put a lot of work into this dish, and it definitely paid off. Ten points!"

As much as the Merciless Moose wanted to cheer, they knew that they were only ahead by seven points. Alexander & Laila could easily get another ten points and win the challenge; and just by looking at the dish, the odds were stacked against the Moose.

"This is a lobster cappuccino with a side of a tomato and egg brioche," Laila described.

"Where's Alexander?" Rhythm asked, noting his absence.

"I locked him in the truck," Laila answered, as if it were normal.

"The food truck?" Chris asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Laila replied, "He was being way too annoying."

"I figured that Alexander would get locked up eventually; I just thought that it'd be for putting me in the hospital."- Daniel

"Someone's gotta get him out of there!" Chris demanded, causing Tory to run out towards the back of the mess hall.

"Why?" Chef Hatchet asked, confused, "We're not at fault; Laila was the one who locked him in the truck."

"But it's our truck!" Chris reminded before turning back to his dish, "Now, let's see what y'all have in store."

Chris carefully took a bite of the brioche, and found it to be oddly tasty. It was the perfect brunch dish; the sweetness of the tomato and the well-seasoned egg meshed very well to him. To finish, he picked up his spoon and took a spoonful of his cappuccino. After a few seconds of tasting, he was prepared to reveal his opinion, but was interrupted by Alexander angrily walking into the room, shivering as he did so.

"I-I....h--hate....y-you...." Alexander muttered to Laila.

"You should be happy," Laila retorted, "Now the rest of your body can match your heart."

"If she weren't a girl, I'd beat her to a pulp right now."- Alexander

"Anywho...which one of you cooked the lobster?" Chris asked.

"I did," Laila replied, raising her hand.

"How long did you poach it for?" Chris asked.

"Um...maybe five minutes?" Laila answered, a bit uncertain.

"Well, that explains why it's undercooked," Chris rationalized.

"C'mon Chris, you're not a professional chef or anything," Alexander argued.

"But I know a thing or two about lobster!" Chris claimed, "I eat freshly-cooked lobster everyday!"

"And I cook it everyday..." Chef Hatchet muttered to himself.

"I know that it's undercooked, so....five points," Chris declared, "And, with a score of 24 to 22, the Merciless Moose win reward!"

"Yes!" Katelyn exclaimed as she ran to hug all of her teammates and cheered in unison.

"Yes! We won! Now that we have a reward, I can finally use this as an opportunity to bond with my team, and hopefully something good can come out of it."- Katelyn

"Way to go, Alexander," Tory commented sarcastically.

"Why is it my fault?" Alexander asked, confused, "Laila was the one that undercooked the lobster!"

"You were the one that forgot to do it in the first place!" Laila reminded.

"Whatever," Alexander remarked, brushing it off, "You can't vote me off; there's no elimination."

"Ah! Correction, Alexander: there will be an elimination today," Chris revealed, causing everyone to gasp.

"What?" Kiana questioned, "But you promised that we wouldn't have to vote someone out tonight!"

"Correction: I said that you won't have to vote one of your own teammates out tonight," Chris recalled before turning to face the Merciless Moose, "Moose, for winning the challenge, your reward is that you get to vote out one member of the opposite team!"

"Knew it...but this could be really good. Now that my team is in power, hopefully I can influence them to vote for who I think should be voted out."- Daniel

"Honestly, my best hope is that Daniel, Katelyn, Matthew, & Veronica can keep me safe tonight and vote for Alexander. I just know that he's gonna blow up."- Amalia

"F**KKKKKKKKKK!"- Alexander

"Wild Wolverines, I'd recommend that you get all buddy-buddy with the other team; it might do you some good," Chris remarked before turning to face the main camera, "What will the Merciless Moose decide to do tonight? Find out after the break on Total...Drama...Island:...Return to Wawanakwa!"