(A/N) Hey you guys! It's been so long since I've written something, like at LEAST 2 or 3 years! In regards to my last story Killer Game Night I doubt I'll finish that anytime soon. MAYBE I'll re-do it someday given the amount of new Total Drama characters that have been introduced since then that could potentially replace the previous characters in the story. Anyway, I got the idea for this story after hearing the main song of the story more than a couple of times this summer haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Total Drama characters (they belong to FreshTV) or any of the songs mentioned/performed in this story (they belong to their original artist/composer).


It was the last day of school at North Ontario High School and a carnival-like bash was taking place on the school grounds just like in past years. There was a karaoke contest going on in the cafeteria, while several booths were around the school grounds giving out food and drinks or having some sort of game in the booth. Several inflatable attractions such as the 15 ft slide, inflatable sumo-wrestling pit, "Inside the Dragon" inflatable obstacle course, etc. were around the school football field as well as a standard rock-climbing game. In the gymnasium students can relax on the bleachers or take in a game of soccer, basketball, or volleyball. For the first hour or so any of these activities seem like a blast, but then the heat kicks in and soon boredom becomes a factor once students don't have money for activities. As much as they want to, no students are allowed to leave campus (unless taken out by a parent) until the end of the school day; and since all grade levels are sent to the bash during lunch time, the students have to deal with about four hours in either the heat or in the gymnasium. Despite the obvious complaints from students, Principal McLean's response as to why they can't leave campus is merely because he "wants them to enjoy themselves before summer vacation starts".

However, if students are lucky enough to buy a ticket for the talent show going on during the bash then they get the privilege of staying in the air conditioned auditorium to watch students (and occasionally faculty members) perform their very best or their very worst. Either way the students are entertained and in a cool environment rather than bored in the blazing heat. Anything goes for the acts in terms of talent, but the act could not contain nudity or any extreme vulgarity/sexual content and each act had to be ten minutes or less. Already twelve out of fifteen acts had performed; amongst them were Harold McGrady, a red-haired nerd who had managed to surprise everyone in the audience with his awesome beat-boxing skills and Leshawna Jones who danced to Beyonce's Single Ladies, however the audience misinterpreted it as a comedy act and applauded in a howl of laughter once the large girl was finished but she believed it to be applause toward her "talent". Other notable acts included a green eyed boy named Trent who sang Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved for his girlfriend Gwen (and also made several female audience members swoon) and a young Cree girl named Sky who performed a gymnastics/dance routine to the song Chandelier by Sia and gained a great amount of applause.

The current act was a girl with mocha skin and dark brown hair wearing a grey vest over a sky blue long-sleeved shirt and a flowing purple skirt with black leggings that led into a pair of brown boots. She was playing a violin while doing several dance moves around the stage. Behind her was a large dark-skinned boy about a year or so younger than her, he had messy black hair with a similar colored goatee and was wearing a grey hooded jacket. He appeared to be operating a turn table system. As he alternated between knobs and switches the girl approached the microphone stand and was about to sing the last phrase of her song.

Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me! [1]

She played the last few chords on the violin before the music died down and brought the instrument to her side.

The audience whistled and loud applause escaped from them causing the girl to smile, she then gestured to the boy behind her and he too earned a loud amount of applause. Just then two teenagers appeared on stage, also applauding a great deal, the first was a tall blonde boy wearing a cowboy hat, a closed pink dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, a pair of khaki slacks and black vans. The other was a blonde haired girl, who was about the same size as the female performer she was hugging, her hair was in a ponytail and she wore a sleeveless blue dress that went to her knees along with a pair of black high heels. "Weren't they awesome you guys?!" the boy asked the audience enthusiastically and was met with a hand full of cheers. "Let's hear it for Courtney and Beardo!" the girl cheered and immediately the audience followed as well.

"Thanks Bridgette! Thanks Geoff!" Courtney said as she and Beardo waved to audience one last time before heading into the wings of the stage and into the dressing rooms where all the other acts were. As they entered Courtney was caught off guard when she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Oh you were awesome Courtney!" said the girl who was hugging Courtney. The girl released Courtney and the latter came face to face with her friend Sammy. Sammy had a kind look on her face along with shoulder-length light blonde hair and teal eyes; she was currently wearing a long sleeved black dress that came down past her feet, presumably for her act. Although to be honest Courtney was not entirely sure what Sammy's act was. Beardo stepped behind Courtney and Sammy took notice, "Oh, and so were you Beardo!" she said almost in an apologetic tone, but kept a smile regardless. He nodded in gratitude and walked further into the dressing rooms to converse with the others in the room. Just then a girl with short black hair came up to the two.

"Oh, yes you were truly magnificent Courtney!" the black haired girl exclaimed in a sing songy manner. Courtney rolled her eyes in slight annoyance at this, but still returned the girl's compliment with a smile. "Thank you Ella", she began ", and you too Sammy! It means a lot that you guys supported me out there, and I wish you guys luck!" She then studied the two girls' costumes to tried to figure out what they were doing; of course she had already seen Sammy's outfit but Ella was wearing a pale yellow dress that stopped at her knees with sleeves that went up to the girl's elbows additionally she wasn't wearing the gloves Courtney had usually seen her wear, she also wore a white ribbon styled as a bow in her hair and light yellow slippers. "So what exactly are you guys doing?" Courtney asked. The other two girls looked at her, they wanted to keep it secret but felt that as their Courtney did have a right to know. Sammy was about to answer, but a bitter voice cut her off before she could breathe a word.

"HA! Like it even matters what Samey's talent is, she is just gonna blow it anyway haha!" The voice mocked and it was a voice that Sammy recognized too well. Everyone in the dressing room went silent in total shock. The source of the voice soon became visible to the three girls; it was girl who looked identical to Sammy with the only difference being a small beauty mark on the former's right cheek. This was Amy, Sammy's twin sister whom she described to be "the epitome of evil itself" and made it her life's goal to always make Sammy feel inferior. Currently, Amy was wearing a black and gold version of their school's cheer uniform and she was joined by two other cheer squad members dressed similarly. Courtney wasn't taking this insult to her friend too kindly and approached the mean twin with a glare in her eyes.

"What is your problem Amy?!Why do you insist on tormenting Sammy every chance you get?!" She yelled at the cheerleader putting emphasis on how the kinder twin's name was actually pronounced, however the meaner twin brushed off this statement in annoyance. "Because," Amy retorted, "SAME-y is pathetic, naïve, weak, and hopeless! Hell, she wouldn't even have gotten a spot on the cheer squad if it wasn't for me! I'm doing this talent show just to remind her that I'm coming out on top no matter what and that she'll be dead last! Always. And. Forever." She directed her last words towards her sister, who had a look of heartbreak in her eyes and was beginning to tear up. Just then a girl who was about their age came in holding a clipboard: she wearing a yellow sweater and had her orange hair tied into a bun. "Amy," the girl sighed "your group is up next." Amy scoffed as she smiled evilly at her twin "Saved by bell Samey, break a leg out there, literally! Out of the way Scarlett!" She laughed as she forcefully nudged the girl with the bun to the side and her backup dancers exited the dressing room. Scarlett glared at Amy as she exited, but she and the other two cheerleaders shared a look of sympathy toward Sammy before leaving as well.

All eyes in the room were on Sammy. Everyone just stood in shock at the way Amy berated her sister and didn't even take into account the people who were in the room. But their emotions couldn't compare to how Sammy felt; she was just frozen in place, her confidence was shattered and replaced with hurt. "How could she just say those awful things in front of everybody?" Sammy asked herself. She couldn't stop the tears that began to stream down her cheek and ran into the restroom within the dressing room and locked the door behind her. No sooner than she walked in, Sammy was already on the floor sobbing into her palms. Meanwhile the other acts on the opposite side of the door nervously began to chat again to break the silence, although it was no question as to what their topic of discussion would be. Ella and Courtney were standing outside the door worrying about Sammy; their attempts of getting her to open the door were not going so well.

"Oh dear," Ella began"I can't believe Amy said all of those horrible things to her! Sammy is a wonderful person and just because Amy couldn't inherit some of the niceness Sammy was gifted with it doesn't give her the right to be so cruel! " It was rare to see Ella as anything other than happy, but when it came to the people she cared for Ella wouldn't be so forgiving. She noticed three of the people helping with their act and decided to wave them over to ask a favor. "DJ, Rodney, B could you come here for a second please?" she called. The boys, all of whom were rather tall, walked up to Ella all with looks of concern on their faces.

"Ella is Sammy going to be ok?" asked Rodney, a farm boy who was the tallest of the three. Courtney stepped in to answer "Let's hope so, she and Ella are going up soon." Ella nodded slightly at the girl's answer. "Yes, and we'll keep trying to get her to open the door. I just need you three to check and make sure the set is ready and the wires are prepared, ok?" The boys nodded and made their way out of the holding area. Ella's last comment had caught Courtney's attention "Wires?" she thought "What could they need those for, and did she mention a set too?"

While the two girls outside the door kept trying to get through to Sammy, the blonde haired girl was still overwrought with the hurt. "How could I be so stupid?" she whispered to herself "I should have known Amy would do something like this! This talent show isn't even a competition, but SHE had to go and make it one like she does with everything in my life!" The younger twin continued to cry as she said these words; it had been true after all. No matter what Sammy did whether it was something like dance or volleyball Amy had to be seen as the superior of the two. Even if it was something Sammy tried to do her on her own Amy would show up and take the thing her sister enjoyed and turn it into another thing she couldn't beat Amy at. When they both tried out for the cheer squad and Amy was made captain she added Sammy to the team for the sole purpose of being able to boss her sister around. To Sammy it didn't matter if she made the team or not, she only went because of Amy (who wanted to again outshine her younger sibling) and once Amy was captain her fate was sealed. That's why Sammy chose to enroll in choir and theatre classes, she knew Amy would rather drop dead then be caught around choir or theatre kids. Even though she was only doing it to get away from Amy at first, Sammy eventually grew to love the fine arts classes and continued to take them each school year. She befriended people like Ella, Courtney, DJ, and Jasmine because of these classes and found something that made her happy each day. Even though she still had to put up with Amy in cheer practice, a few classes, and of course at home, Sammy felt all of the horrible things Amy did/say fade away once she entered the choir hall or stepped on stage during acting class. It was like she was finally becoming her own person.

She thought back on how she signed up for the talent show in the first place; she had watched the talent shows freshman and sophomore year to either see one of her friends perform or as a means of getting away from her sister. Both years she and her friends loved the show, but it wasn't until this year that Sammy was encouraged to sign up by Ella who brought up the idea of doing an act together.


2 weeks ago

Sammy was sitting on the risers in the choir hall talking with some of the mixed choir members, it was about five minutes before class would end and her choir director had given the class a chance to relax before the bell. She noticed Ella walking over and waved at the princess-like girl.

"Hello Sammy!" she greeted "Are you excited the talent show in a couple of weeks?" Ella asked.

"You bet!" Sammy replied "I'm really looking forward to see who performs this year!"

"Well that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Ella began "How would you like to sign up for the talent show with me? We could even do an act together oh it would be so much fun!"

Sammy was startled at the girl's request, but a small part of her actually liked the idea Ella had pitched. Knowing Ella she'd probably want the two to sing a duet, and that in itself would be an honor for Sammy considering Ella was one of the best singers in their choir; sure she and Ella had sung together many times at choir concerts or for fun in the choir hall, but this time it would be just the two of them performing in front of an audience. After gathering her thoughts she looked up at Ella, still with a smile on her face, who was still waiting for a response."Let's do it!" she answered eagerly causing Ella to gasp with joy.

"Hooray!"she cheered "We can sign up during lunch and decide what we should sing together! Thank you Sammy!" Ella hugged the blonde haired girl before walking to the other side of the room to talk with other members of the choir. Sammy stood there smiling, sure the talent show would be a little nerve racking but at the end of the day it'd still be a fun experience for her.

A few days had gone by after the girls had signed up, and the two were in their theatre classroom during lunch looking over several pieces of sheet music from a variety of songs ranging from Broadway musicals, Disney films, music from movies, and hit songs from the past couple of years. Ella mainly looked through the former two while Sammy did the latter two. They had two weeks before the talent show and they still had to prepare the song and discuss what they wanted to do in terms of staging. Sammy put aside her selections after a couple minutes then walked over to Ella's selections, ultimately realizing they'd have a better chance of finding a song if they looked through the same genre of music. About fifteen minutes had passed, Sammy was looking through Mamma Mia and Shrek the Musical for possible songs until she heard Ella gasp in excitement. Before she could say anything the songbird approached her clutching one of the booklets that contained all of the songs of a particular musical. Ella eagerly placed the booklet in front of Sammy then removed her finger from the song she had bookmarked.

She gasped when she had seen the song Ella had suggested. "No way! I can't believe you found this song!" Sammy said as she continued to read through the song in the booklet. Ella giggled at her statement "Well, it is a very popular musical so there was no doubt that Mrs. Armour would have the song booklet in her classroom." The blonde nodded at her statement before returning to the song, there was no doubt that this song plus the musical itself were very popular and performing the song would no doubt be a challenge. However, this only made Sammy want to perform it even more! She looked up at Ella "Would you want to do this song together?" she asked nearly excitedly. Ella had the biggest grin in the world as she nodded quite quickly. "OK!" Sammy responded "So we have our song, I guess you'll be taking the lead part?" she asked Ella.

"Well…I was actually going to suggest that you take the lead for the song Sammy" Ella confessed. Sammy was stunned at what Ella just said; she loved the song, but the girl wasn't entirely confident that she would be able to be the lead for it. "I-I don't know Ella, I mean your range would be better suited for the song than mine…" she explained with a shed of insecurity."Samantha you're just as suited to sing the lead for this song as I am" Ella told the girl. "Besides it takes more than just great vocals for the song; you need to be able to channel the emotion behind the song." Sammy could tell where Ella was going with this statement; she wanted the girl to feel a sense of empowerment which she could only gain by taking the lead."You really think I'd be able to do it?" Sammy questioned. Her friend nodded in response "I just know you'll do an amazing job Sammy, if anyone can relate to this sense of wanting to feel empowered it's you. You just have to believe in yourself and become one with the music! It comes from in here!" the girl pointed to her own heart after saying this.

"She does have a point" Sammy pondered "I have wanted to feel empowered for as long as I could remember. These lyrics and the story behind them…It's almost like I was meant to sing this song...This song could definitely be my moment of empowerment!"

The blonde looked up with a hesitant smile "You're sure you don't mind me having the lead?" Ella giggled at the girl's question "Is that you're way of saying you'll sing the lead?" Sammy nodded happily causing Ella to squeal in delight. "Oh, wonderful! Now that we have our song let's talk about staging; we don't want an empty stage with merely spotlights right ha-ha" Sammy laughed as she shook her head in agreement. "We could have the three step platform go through the second row of curtains then perhaps arrange a couple of the pylons behind the curtain to lead up a platform-" Sammy raised her finger to signal Ella to pause her idea. "That sounds really exciting, but how will we make sure the platform is sturdy enough to hold me for a while before the big ending?" She thought Ella's idea was creative, but she didn't want the set to injury herself or her friend in the process. "Simple," Ella began to explain "we won't have the platform balancing on something; the stairs will lead to a path of pylons that lead to a couple of stacked square platforms, perhaps at least two to three feet tall. All of it will be behind the curtain and so you don't strain yourself climbing onto the platforms we could ask a few of the stronger boys from our classes to quickly lift you onto it before the big finale!"

So far Ella's idea seemed reasonable enough, but Sammy wanted to know how they could do the ending part of the song. Then she remembered their theatre department doing Peter Pan earlier in the school year and quickly brought it up to Ella. She asked, "Were you thinking of using the flight system that we used for Peter Pan this year to help with the finale?" Ella answered her positively "Yes, and we can ask the boys who help you up if they'd be willing to help with that as well."

That was another part of act they could check off and once they had the two had the other pieces they could finally get started on rehearsing."We have our song and our set! Oh, what about costumes? Maybe we could see if Cody could help with lighting after all he is-"Ella's train of thought was cut off when she heard Sammy's stomach grumble causing the blonde to cover her stomach as she gained a look of embarrassment on her face. "Umm, perhaps we can talk about this more at the cafeteria Sammy haha. I apologize we should have gotten lunch before coming here" the raven haired girl had a look of guilt on her face.

"It's ok Ella" Sammy reassured her "we can just grab some lunch then head back here, no big deal. Besides the costumes should be easy to find or make and I can ask Cody if he'd help with technical stuff for the show during tech class later. Sound good?" Ella agreed with Sammy as the two left the classroom. The girls decided to check the talent show signup poster on the wall across the class to see who had signed up in the last few days.

"Let's see Harold McGrady…" Ella started.

"Trent's performing too" Sammy added.

"Oh, it looks like Courtney is doing something with… Beardo? That's an odd pair but I'm sure they'll be great!" continued Ella.

"Sky, Leshawna, Duncan's rock band "Der Schnitzel Kickers" [2]…"

"And the most recent ones are Justin, Ms. Pattie; oh she has a fantastic voice! Then there is the two of us, Benji, Cindy, and Robert from our choir class are performing together and- oh dear…" Ella paused before she could read the last name. Sammy followed Ella's gaze to the most recent filled slot on the signup sheet, she read the name almost in a whisper.

"A-Amy McAuley [3]…"

Amy had signed up for the talent show. Any hope that Sammy had for having fun with her performance for the show just went down the drain. Yet another thing her sister will try to best her at, and will probably succeed.

Ella eventually broke the silence between the two. "It looks like she is doing something with two members of the cheer squad" she observed "perhaps a cheer routine to try and keep the school spirit strong during the summer?" Her attempts at trying to make Sammy less worried were very obvious; Ella knew why Amy was doing the show but Sammy decided to go along with the girl's "assumption".

"Yeah you're probably right Ella" Sammy said, trying to hide how she actually felt "C'mon let's go get lunch I'm starving!" She faked a smile as she and Ella continued down the hall, her mind racing with thoughts.

"Why am I not surprised that Amy wants to make a competition out of something that's supposed to be fun…Why can't she just leave me alone and let me be happy for once? So much for getting empowerment…"


Back with Sammy, the girl's tears began to subside but she was still on emotional roller coaster. She was embarrassed for being belittled by Amy in front of everyone, she was pissed that her sister signed up for the talent show just so she could turn it into another unnecessary competition, and she was beating herself up for not thinking Amy would pull something like this. The sound of several knocks at the restroom door managed to bring Sammy to her senses. "C'mon Sammy open up!" Courtney called from the other side. The two girls in the dressing room eventually heard a clicking noise as Sammy unlocked the door then entered the restroom alongside her; Ella was holding what appeared to be a black witch hat in her hands. The songbird held out the item to the darker dressed girl in front of her before she spoke. "Remember why you're singing this part Sammy…this is your moment to feel empowerment and you can't let Amy take that from you!" A smile slowly crept upon the blonde's face as she looked to Ella with gratitude. She took the hat from the girl's hands and fashioned it upon her head, her confidence slowly revitalizing itself "Y-yeah you're right! Let's go get set up then." Courtney managed to piece together what the girls were going to do once Sammy had the final piece of her costume "So they're doing that song! Why didn't I realize it sooner?!" she let out a small chuckle as at the thought of her last statement then walked out to join her friends.

Scarlett had re-entered the room at this point, still holding her clipboard. "Ella and Sammy you have two minutes before you're on!" she informed the two. "Thanks Scarlett we're just going to check on our set behind the curtain if that's ok." Sammy retorted. The girl with glasses nodded in response "That's fine just don't get seen by the audience." The duo walked out of the room, being sure to follow what Scarlett advised and walked along the wall of the wings to keep from being spotted. As they made their way behind the second row of curtains Sammy couldn't help but glance at her sister's dance: it was very similar to their usual cheer routine only with a few additional dance moves and of course a different song choice. Regardless, Sammy could see most of audience in the first three rows of seats enjoying her sister's routine making the younger of the two begin to feel insecure once again. Ella gestured for her not to pay attention to the act; Sammy nodded as the two continued to walk to B, DJ, and Rodney who were nearly done preparing the set.

"How is the set coming along boys?" Ella asked politely. B, who is known around the school as being very silent yet greatly intelligent, gave the girl a thumbs-up to signal their progress. DJ decided to be a bit more vocal than his friend to give a better response "The pylons, stairs, and platforms are all set back here we just need to put Sammy in the harness and you guys are all set." Sammy walked over to the Jamaican-Canadian boy after his last statement and stood still as he and Rodney wrapped the harness around her waist. B flicked the thin steel wires to test their stability and shot Sammy a double thumbs-up. Once the harness was around the girl he and DJ went over to two cables that were clipped to a pole; they unclipped both cables then pulled down on them slightly, taking Sammy by surprise as she briefly floated about ten inches off the ground. Ella clapped quietly knowing the system is still in good condition (it was working during their rehearsals as well, but better safe than sorry) then motioned for Rodney to get in position by the stacked platforms while signaling B and DJ to remain where they were.

The girls noticed Scarlett waving at them, meaning Amy was close to finishing her act and for them to walk over to her. Ella and Sammy looked at each other; both had butterflies in their stomachs (Sammy probably more than Ella) but were still looking forward to their performance. The girls hugged one another, as they separated Sammy, with a confident gleam in her eye whispered "Let's do this thing Ella!" Ella nodded eagerly as the two walked over to Scarlett. When they were by the door Ella quickly went inside, telling Sammy she needed to get the others who are in the act with them and get them to the left wing of the stage. Sammy decided to take this moment to gather her thoughts while she could.

"You can do this Sammy; don't let Amy get in your head this time! This is my moment to feel free and I won't let her take this from me!"


"I got one less one less problem!" [4]Amy sang the final note of her song as she and her fellow cheerleaders struck their final pose, ending their performances. There was a great deal of applause and several male audience members shouted Amy's name and/or cheered louder than other audience members. Geoff and Bridgette, who were both standing behind the podium to the side of the stage, were clapping for the girl as well. However, Bridgette was trying her best to hide how unimpressed she was the act; she and Amy weren't on the best of terms considering Bridgette knew how she treated her sister and that Amy made fun of Bridgette a great deal. Geoff was aware of both this situations and was trying to follow in his girlfriend's manner. Geoff brought his microphone up as the applause began to soften

"That was such a great performance right guys?" the male host asked with a speck of sarcasm, however he became a bit irritated when the clapping grew once again and several guys chanted Amy's name.

"You can say that again Geoff" Bridgette agreed, although she secretly agreed with her boyfriend's sarcasm. "I've never seen moves like that before!" Bridgette smirked as she fired her own metaphorical shots at Amy, who only wickedly smiled at the false flattery. The pale blonde blew one final kiss and her fellow cheerleaders waved once more to the audience as the group exited stage right. As her back up dancers entered the dressing room Amy decided to have one more "chat" with her sister before she, in Amy's terms, "made a total fool out of herself".

"Don't forget to break that leg of yours Sparemy!" Amy hissed almost in a whisper as to avoid letting the audience or the hosts of the talent show hear. She went into the dressing room with glares from Sammy, Scarlett, and even Ella following her up until the door was shut. Sammy took a deep breath once Amy was inside as a means to calm herself; there was no way she was letting her sister get to her after all the hard work she and Ella put into performance.

Not now, not ever again.


"Alright everyone our last act is about to perform, and before you get confused I can assure you dudes that you're NOT seeing double!" Geoff informed to the audience.

"That's right Geoff!" Bridgette remarked. "Because you're not going to see Amy perform, but instead you'll be seeing her younger sister Sammy McAuley perform along withElla Winters!" she explained, trying to keep the fact that Sammy was the nicer of the two sisters to herself. The two girls had then come out onto the stage and got into their positions as they waited for Geoff and Bridgette to explain the act. Geoff meanwhile was reading off his note card to reveal the girl's act to the audience.

"That's right Bridge, and the two are going to perform a piece from Wicked. Never seen that movie but it sounds awesome, or should I say wicked haha!" The party dude, the two girls on stage, and about twenty people in the audience laughed at his cheesy joke.

Bridgette giggled at her boyfriend's dumb joke and decided to give him a little information as a way of teasing him. "Actually Geoff Wicked is a musical that takes place before the main story of The Wizard of Oz," She playfully bantered "and it mainly follows Glinda and Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and how the go from enemies to being the most unlikely of friends! But enough of my blabbering, without further ado here are Ella and Sammy!" She and Geoff gave them a pre-act round of applause and the audience joined in too before slowly coming to a silence. The stage became illuminated with blue lighting at about sixty percent brightness mixed with regular lighting at about thirty-five percent; the spots where the two girls stood had regular lighting and appeared to be significantly brighter [5].

Sammy stood stage right with her hands crossed across her chest, seemingly upset. She was facing away from Ella, who also had her arms crossed, and was standing about ten feet away from Sammy with a look on her face that appeared to be annoyance mixed in with disappointment. Her arms came down to her side as she began to speak, "Elphaba, why couldn't you have stayed calm, for once! Instead of flying off the handle!" she angrily extended her arm out behind her at her last words, as if referring to an event that occurred offstage. A beat of music played quickly and Ella began to make her way toward Sammy.

[Ella]
I hope you're happy
I hope you're happy now
I hope you're happy how you've
Hurt your cause forever
I hope you think you're clever

Sammy turned around to face Ella, still bearing a glare on her face. She too slowly made her way to the girl in pale yellow as the same single beat quickly came.

[Sammy]
I hope you're happy
I hope you're happy too
I hope you're proud how you would
Grovel in submission
To feed your own ambition

Both girls were now about three feet away from each other, though their glares slowly faded into an upset expression as they prepared for their harmony.

[Ella & Sammy]
So though I can't imagine how
I hope you're happy
Right now

As the music became a bit more subtle Ella, with a look of concern, firmly placed a hand on Sammy's shoulder, "Elphie, listen to me. Just say you're sorry!" she advised.

You can still be with The Wizard
What you've worked and waited for
You can have all you ever wanted
-

The blonde "witch" sighed, "I know." She then removed her friend's hand from her shoulder.

But I don't want it - No!
I can't want it anymore

Sammy began moving toward center stage, a look of nervousness made its way upon the girl's face as she reached her place. Her eyes closed as she brought her closed palm closer to her chest.

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by
The rules of someone else's game

Her eyes became open once again as she sang the verse, now baring a look of determination and shedding her anxiety.

Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes
And leap...

Her arms began to move freely as Sammy walked around the stage. She could feel the song become a part of her as a grin began to form on her face.

It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down

Ella worriedly rushed to the blonde, once again placing her arms on the girl's shoulders in an attempt to get through to her.

Can't I make you understand
You're having delusions of grandeur?

However, Sammy merely walked ahead causing the girl to remove her arms from the former's shoulders.

I'm through accepting limits
Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try I'll never know

The girl took notice of a broomstick lying on the ground and in her excitement picked it up off the ground as she prepared to sing her next verse in the song.

Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love, I guess I've lost
Well if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

"Glinda, come with me." Sammy said as she gestured to the broomstick in her hand.

"Wait, what?!" Ella asked startled.

"Think of what we could do -together!"

Unlimited
Together we're unlimited
Together we'll be the greatest team

There's ever been - Glinda!

Ella began to make her way towards Sammy and placed one hand on the body of the broomstick then the other by her friend's hand at the end of the of the stick. She smiled as she prepared to join Sammy's verse of the song.

Dreams the way we planned 'em

If we work in tandem

Both girls smiled at one another and gazed over the audience as they prepared for their second to last duet of their act.

There's no fight we cannot win
Just you and I, defying gravity
With you and I defying gravity

They'll never bring us down!

"Well, are you coming?" Sammy asked Ella with a look of hope. Ella lowered her head slightly at the girl's question then walked over to a pylon on the stage to retrieve a long black cloak. As she raps it over Sammy's shoulders she looks to her friend with a slight smile.

I hope you're happy
now that your choosing this -

The raven haired girl placed her hand on her Sammy's shoulder and looked at her with a mixture of sadness and happiness. Although Sammy was visibly upset she placed her hand over the one already on her shoulder and returned a smile to her friend.

"You too."

I hope it brings you bliss

The two friends faced each other once again, a smile across both of their faces. Hand in hand they prepared for their final duet.

I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy my…friend

"Stop in the name of the Royal Guard!" someone shouted from offstage. This made Sammy run up toward the steps in a panic and she disappeared through the curtain. Ella had stayed behind, still a bit shaken up as she called out to her friend "Elphie wait!" Suddenly two males walked onstage wearing some sort of guard uniform. Ella tried to reason with them "Excuse me a moment sir. Elphie! Sir I-"she was caught off guard when two female citizens grabbed her arms, preventing her from moving. Four more citizens had come onstage at this point. "Oh let go of me!" Ella shouted.

Sammy was backstage on top of the platform, thanks to Rodney, with her broomstick still in hand. The lower portion of her dress had also been changed; her dress's sleeves remained but now she had a black frilled skirt that stopped slightly above her knees as well as a loose black fabric that hung from behind her waist in a cape-like fashion. She was prepared to say her next line until she saw Amy in the wings staring daggers directly at her. If looks could kill Sammy would have been dead a long time ago, but she'd come this far and was not about to let Amy's jealous ruin her performance. She faced the curtain as she shouted to the guards "Leave her alone! She had nothing to do with it, it's me you want! It's me!"

She leaped through the curtain and at the same time B and DJ tugged down on their cables. The lights came down on the Oz players and Ella, but their silhouettes could still be seen. At the same time a single spotlight, that had been set to shine light green, was switched on in the lighting booth by Cody and shined on Sammy. The girl was levitating about 10 feet off the ground and the fabric behind her was flowing as if it was being blown by the wind. Everyone in audience, including Bridgette and Geoff, were in awe at the feat that was being performed and were stunned at how incredible Sammy had looked.

Her empowerment moment had finally come and Sammy clenched the broomstick in excitement as she proceeded to sing the final piece of song.

So if you care to find me
Look to the Western sky!
As someone told me lately
Everyone deserves the chance to fly
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who ground me
Take a message back from me!

Her last two phrases seem to echo throughout the auditorium giving sending slight chills down everyone's spine, including her own. And the blonde had hoped a certain someone in the wings heard the part about someone who grounds her to listen to her message!

Tell them how I am defying gravity
I'm flying high, defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

The note seemed to echo throughout the space as Sammy continued to hold the note. She was clutching the broomstick with both hands as she continued to sing the powerful ending phrase.

"I hope you're happy!" Ella shouted to her friend from the shadows.

[Topher, Zoey, Trent, Katie, Sadie, Tyler, Lindsay, and Brick as Citizens of Oz]
Look at her
She's wicked
Get her!


Bring me down!

No one mourns the wicked
So we got to bring her-

Ahhhh!

-Down!

Sammy raised her broomstick up triumphantly as she and the chorus sang their last notes. The auditorium roared with the applause as the girl descended to the stage. Her fellow performers, as well as DJ, B, and Rodney circled around her and Ella as they too joined in the applause. Ella pulled her friend into a tight hang as they stared into the standing ovation in front of them. Nearly everyone in the large room was chanting Sammy's name and the blonde could feel tears of joy begin to form in her eyes. Courtney had come onstage and joined Ella in giving her friend a tight hug as a means of congratulating her. From the corner of her eye Sammy saw the other acts come onto the stage joining in the applause, all except for her sister (although Amy's cheerleaders applauded at her younger twin's performance).

As the acts joined hands with the hosts for the final curtain call Sammy could feel Amy's intense stare in the back of her head. For sure she'd have to deal with a whole lot of complaining once the two got home, and Amy would probably be five times bossier and crueler than usual…

But it didn't matter...Sammy finally felt free and she'd be sure to make Amy very aware of this when the two got home.


Hope you guys enjoyed this story, Sammy (or Samey whichever you guys want to call her) is currently one of favorite Total Drama characters because I can relate to her SO much (I don't have a bossy twin, but I do know how it feels to be bossed around by older siblings. Plus I do consider myself an underdog of sorts as well). Please leave a review and let me know what you guys thought!

Oh yeah, here are some of the references in the story:

[1] Courtney is performing Lindsey Stirling's recent song Shatter Me.

[2] This is a reference to Duncan's band in Total Drama World Tour.

[3]Amy and Sammy's last name is a reference to their voice actress Bryn McAuley

[4] I thought of songs that were very overplayed on the radio stations and Problem by Ariana Grande was one of the ones on that list.

[5] I couldn't quite describe it, but the lighting would look similar to the lighting in one of the performances of Defying Gravity. If you want to see find a video titled "Wicked-Defying Gravity Director's Cut".