Total Drama Odyssey
Created by Brandon Cash
Dedicated to my friends CragmiteBlaster, DarkShockBro, BaconBaka and AnOptimisticSnarker (a.k.a A Shining Yoshi Star)
Prologue, Part 1: The End of an Era
Camp Wawanakwa...a rusty old summer camp that has all of the typical facets of any other camps like it. Questionable living conditions, a large quantity of creepy crawlies, camp food that would make you sick as opposed to fill you up and all of the dangers of the wilderness packed into a nice little package; perfect for filming a reality show there, right?
That's the idea one Christopher McLean had in mind when creating his now mega-hit franchise Total Drama. The subpar conditions of the island were perfect for generating all sorts of drama for the contestants he would bring there to compete on his show. For eight painful weeks, Chris would put twenty-two teens through the wringer in a variety of rigorous, often painful and sometimes downright disgusting challenges and revel in glee as they proceeded to humiliate themselves on national television to pick up the prestigious grand prize of one hundred thousand dollars in cash. In the end, after much pain and misery, Gwen was the one who took home the hundred thousand, and thus marked the end of the competition...or so everyone thought.
What followed afterward was a revelation that would change the course of the series: the prize was raised from a meager one hundred thousand dollars to a full million, which raised the stakes even higher than before. After a massive goose chase across the island to see who would take the coveted case of money home with them, the million was ultimately lost to a shark who swallowed the case whole...which paved the way for a second competition called Total Drama Action.
The camp was abandoned for several years, leaving it to rot and fall apart at the seams while Chris moved on to using other places to call his show's oyster. The second season's battle for the million in an abandoned movie lot was another rough and strenuous exercise in patience and fortitude – somehow even more so than the previous season – but eventually after much deliberation, Beth was the ultimate winner of Total Drama Action, allowing her to go home a million dollars richer and reunite with her (actually existent) boyfriend Brady.
The pain and sadism was only ratcheted up further in the third season, Total Drama World Tour, where Chris took the contestants on an all-expenses paid tour around the world...naturally with the catch of having to suffer through even more painful challenges. Ultimately, at the end of the season, Heather managed to win out against new contestant Alejandro and would have took home the million dollars if not for a transformed and newly feral Ezekiel (it's a long story) pulling the case into a Hawaiian volcano and nearly getting everyone killed (and Alejandro almost irreversibly crippled in the process) as a result. Thankfully, this proved to not be the case, as the fourth season demonstrated before revealing the new batch of contestants competing for that season.
In fact, that's the season we're currently looking into right now! It's been a hellish ride throughout this season. Not helping matters is all of the toxic waste, radiation and mutant animals now surrounding the once relatively pristine Camp Wawanakwa that Chris put there to raise the stakes further. One would think that for all of the things Chris has done with his show, he'd get some sort of comeuppance to show for it. Unfortunately, nothing's ever that easy. Anyways, you're probably getting tired of the recapping rambling, I believe you're probably thinking.
Well, you need not worry, fellow readers. For our tale begins as this one comes to a close...
-Camp Wawanakwa, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada-
-Exact Date Unknown, 2012, 5:32 PM-
Geez... Cameron thought. How did it all turn out like this?
It had been a rough eight weeks for everyone involved in the fourth season of Total Drama. Toxic marshmallows, giant killer plants, threats of mutation...it all seemed so surreal to Cameron. He remembered the first season of Total Drama, how normal and grounded in reality it seemed despite all of the crazy challenges Chris put them through. He remembered that while Chris was still a sadist, he was nowhere near this level of sadism in the past. He also remembered that things were never this deadly before.
He looked at all of the chaos occurring around him. The contestants running for their lives, trying to avoid certain death at the hands of the mutants. The mutants themselves making every token attempt to kill everyone present, including Chris himself. And none other than his opponent running towards him in cheap-looking armor cobbled together from various bits of scrap, brandishing a mannequin leg with spikes driven through it at the end...
"C'mere, ya intellectual dweeb! Lightning's gonna pound your wimpy body into the soil for that sha-million!" Lighting shouted as he charged towards Cameron.
Despite this, Cameron was oddly calm and collected, which was a far cry from what he was when this all began; a meek and feeble bubble boy who was introverted and scared of many things. But, he thought back and remembered all of the things that he had accomplished getting to this point. And he hadn't forgotten: he had reached the final two. He had come a long, long way from the bubble boy he started out as, and his technological engineering feat of wonder had not only impressed everyone present, but he knew in his mind that this suit of armor – while imperfect – would be able to last against whatever Lightning had to throw at him, at least for a little while...which also meant that he could fight back against the mutants and save everyone!
"Sorry, Lightning, but times have changed! This fight's gonna be put on hold for now!" Cameron shouted as he blasted off. Lightning swung his weapon down where Cameron stood, but only hit soil. He looked up and saw Cameron jumping away with his boosters ignited, and grew pretty irritated.
"Hey! Quit runnin' away already! This ain't over yet!" Lighting said as he started to run after Cameron.
Although Cameron knew that Lightning was the primary threat, he had to take care of saving everyone else first.
Okay, there's a lot going on right now. I'm going to have to be quick if I want to rescue everyone present. Cameron thought to himself. And preferably avoid Lighting until things calm down.
Scanning the area quickly, he noticed that about five contestants were in danger of getting eaten by Larry, a giant mutant Venus fly trap that Chris owns. Staci was already swallowed, and Jo, Brick, Mike and Zoey were all in danger of sharing her fate, so Larry was top priority at the moment.
He shouted up to the monster, "HEY! You carnivorous jerk! Leave my friends alone!"
Larry growled at the armored challenger and roared right in his face. A little panicked, Cameron reflexively fire upon Larry with his electric gauntlet blasts, which prompted the mutant plant life to attempt to eat him in response. Cameron jumped upwards and onto Larry's head when he missed and ran up his body to rescue the others. However, a stray tentacle got a hold of him...then another...and another... Cameron attempted to blast them all, but because there were so many of them and the fact that he was trying to conserve as much power as he could for his suit to save everyone, he ended up getting pretty ensnared and ultimately ended up finding himself dangling over the waiting mouth of the mutant fly trap.
"Oh geez... This won't be pleasant..." Cameron said before being dropped into Larry's mouth, where he was swallowed. Larry grinned at his second successful meal before turning his attention to the other four campers who were rightfully panicking.
"As a soldier, I am prepared to die for everyone present. ...Wait, no! I'm not ready to die! I'M TOO YOUNG FOR THAT!" Brick shouted.
Jo rolled her eyes and said "Oh, brother..." under her breath.
"Zoey... If we don't make it out of this alive... I just want you to know that... I've always loved you!" Mike yelled out to Zoey as he started to get lifted to Larry's gaping maw.
"I know, Mike! I've always loved you too!" Zoey shouted tearfully.
Mike could only look towards the toothy grin of Larry as he opened wide to receive his next meal. All Mike was able to do was scream.
As Larry was about to devour Mike, his mouth seemed to contort into a pained expression and Mike stopped short of the horrific mouth. All of a sudden, Larry dropped all of the contestants he was holding and seemed to start dry heaving and attempting to perform the Heimlich maneuver on himself. It then started to occur to the freed contestants that something was happening inside of Larry.
"Everyone better take cover! I think he's gonna blow!" Jo shouted. The four ran for cover, taking care not to get attacked on the way there, and watched as Larry continued to writhe around in pain some more before finally... A hand exploded out of Larry's stomach, a familiar armored hand that everyone almost immediately identified as Cameron's hand. A moment later, Cameron managed to wrench his way out of Larry's stomach, holding onto what appeared to be another contestant's arm which everyone figured out was Staci as soon as Cameron pulled her out of Larry's stomach.
Larry let loose a horrible wail in response to having its guts ripped open. Cameron pulled Staci to safety and everyone gathered around.
"Is everyone alright here?" Cameron asked the contestants.
"Affirmative, Private Cameron! I can't believe you did that for us!" Brick said to the bubble boy.
"I couldn't just stand back and focus solely on Lightning. I had to do something about everyone else first. And I'm going to do that as soon as I make sure Staci-"
Cameron failed to finish his sentence as Larry snapped him up by his upper torso. Apparently having your digestive tract shredded open hardly impedes your health in any manner. His legs flailing in a panic, Cameron tried to activate something in his suit – anything to help him avoid getting swallowed a second time – but nothing seemed to be working.
Oh no! Larry's chlorophyll must be causing the suit to short out! Cameron thought as Larry tossed him into the air. He then came back falling down to Larry's open and bleeding mouth, but instead of letting himself go down the gullet, he grabbed a hold of Larry's upper lip and planted his feet on his lower lip, holding Larry's mouth open with all of his strength, desperately trying to get his suit to function properly again.
"Come on... Please work!" Cameron said in desperation, trying to get his suit to fire a shot down into the beast's gullet. As Larry's jaw strength began to overwhelm him, by pure and total luck, his gauntlets started to work again.
"Excellent! Now, taste the power of intellectual engineering!" Cameron quipped as he shot a few blasts down into Larry's throat, which not only damaged him significantly, but it might of finally finished him off. Larry wailed in pain as he started going into his death throes, with Cameron bailing from his mouth as he fell over. Crashing to the ground, Larry began to wilt, signifying that his life was finally coming to an end. In his final moments of sentience, a feeling of calm washed over Larry's mind. He remembered when he was Chris's cared for and prized plant. He remembered how well he was watered and remembering all of the flies he ate in his life...and he remembered when he was left behind on Wawanakwa to rot with the rest of the island and eventually mutated to hurt everyone. To his surprise, he felt bad for that, but in hindsight, he was simply acting on instinct, like any other living wild being would.
As his mind began to fade, he felt something warm place itself against his head. He had felt it few times before, but he seemed to recognize it as the touch of a human. He also heard a voice that he seemed to recognize...the human who had slain him in battle. Although his senses were fading, he heard the human say "I'm sorry. For everything. I'm here for you... And I hope you'll have a better life next time around, okay?"
To his amazement, even though he was slain by this human, he still showed compassion towards him in his final moments. Those words seemed to put him at peace. With one final sigh, Larry passed on; a casualty in this final battle of Brains vs. Brawn.
Chris was the first one to cry out at Larry's passing. "NOOOOOOO! Not Larry! I swear to God, if I make it out of this alive, you're going to pay for that, dude!" Chris shouted as he attempted to outrun the mutant gophers tailing him.
Cameron sighed as he let his hand leave Larry's head, then began to turn toward the other contestants...before being stopped mid-turn by a stray swing from Lightning's weapon, which connected with his head and made him stumble backward.
"Ow! Lightning, I was having a bit of a moment!" Cameron shouted at Lightning.
Lightning seemed to be indifferent. "Moment schmoment, bubble boy! You gonna fight Lightning again or are you gonna run away from Lightning again with your tail between your legs?"
"Not until I've finished getting everyone out of trouble!" Cameron ducked another swing at his head, then ran off to take care of another problem.
"When are you gonna man up, sha-baby?" Lightning shouted. He clearly wasn't enjoying having to chase Cameron around like it was a marathon, even though he was perfectly fine with running a marathon in any other case.
Thanks to a chain of misfortunes, Scott was stuck trying to roll around in a trauma chair that barely broke five miles per hour and could only communicate through beeps. And even more unfortunate for him, he's being attacked by Fang, who is in the process of toying with him. Scott may not be able to show it, but from the amount of times the red light keeps beeping rapidly, it was pretty clear that Scott was freaking the hell out.
Fang was taking his sweet time stalking Scott, knowing that he could barely run in that trauma chair of his. For an agonizing five minutes, Scott panicked and floundered, trying to outrun the mutant shark to no avail, unable to scream for help or fight back. Eventually, Fang got bored and grabbed Scott up, giving Scott his trademark sinister grin. The red light on Scott's trauma chair let out a long beep in terror as Fang opened his mouth to start mauling Scott...
But Scott never got close enough to Fang for that to happen. A ball of pure electric energy nailed Fang upside the head and stunned him long enough for him to drop Scott. To Scott's unsaid dismay, he ended up falling on the flat side of his trauma chair and not on the wheels, creating problems in case Cam were to fail protecting Scott from Fang.
"...I know Scott was mean to me the entire competition, but it'd disturb my consciousness if I left him to die." Cameron was a little nervous to fight a mutant shark, but he fought back his worries, clenched his fists and prepared to battle Fang. "Don't worry, Scott! I'm not about to let some amphibious carnivore eat you alive!"
The two came to blows, but since Fang was a bit smarter than Larry, Cameron took more than a few blows. And as much as his suit protected him and gave him more confidence, his fighting skills in close quarters combat were sort of lacking. As such, he took more than a few blows that lowered his suits energy a bit. It didn't help that he was trying to conserve energy by not firing any blasts at Fang, but if he was going to stand any chance of fighting Lightning when it was all said and done, he had to be careful.
Cameron attempted to sweep Fang's feet out from underneath him, but Fang, anticipating that move, jumped over Cameron's leg sweep and ended up knocking him flat on his back with a tail sweep instead. Fang then enclosed his fist around Cameron and wore his trademark sinister grin.
"...You think you have me now, don't you?" Cameron said with a twinge of resignation. Fang only nodded slowly in response, clearly looking forward to watching Cameron squirm.
"Well... It pays to have an intellectually-advanced brain, fish face!" Cameron quickly activated a function of his suit that sent an electrical discharge that was strong enough to electrocute whatever is touching him at the given moment...and since Fang was pinning him down, he got the brunt of the volts discharging through his body.
"Now's my chance!" For a few moments, Cameron just went wild. He threw as many punches as he could at the shark's body, letting his actions do the talking and beating Fang black and blue. Towards the end of his panicked bubble boy beatdown, he got Fang onto his back and started punching him in the snout repeatedly.
He spoke with every punch, "YOU. ARE. A. BIG. AQUATIC. BULLY. AND. NOBODY. LIKES. YOU!" And then, after getting up, he tossed Fang up into the air, and flip kicked him out of the Chrisseum with the assistance of his suit.
Fang flew a fair distance across the island before crash-landing and coming to a stop on the dock near the ceremony area. Fang recovered from the beatdown and growled in anger, thinking about how he would tear that runt in the metal suit apart. He moved to get out of the contraption he found himself in...but when he tried to get out, he seemed to trigger it. Frantically flailing about, he was far too late in his escape as the Hurl of Shame catapulted him off the island, most likely to crash somewhere and be brutally injured as a result.
Back in the chaotic fight scene, Cameron helped prop Scott back up on his wheels. He didn't seem to be responding, but that was sadly a characteristic of his for the moment.
Cameron kneeled down and asked Scott, "Are you alright, Scott?"
Scott seemed to be silent for a moment, but the green light lit up, signifying he was saying 'yes'.
"Um, he didn't hurt you at all, right?" Cameron asked again. The red light beeped this time, meaning that Fang barely did anything to him before Cameron entered the fray.
"Okay...good." Cameron went silent for a second. "...Look, I know we weren't always on the best terms with each other. I mean, yeah, you were pretty hard on everyone, you often got your teammates eliminated for your own gains and you had a bad attitude, but looking back on it...you didn't deserve this." Cameron said. "What Fang did to you wasn't right...and the others laughing at your wasn't right either. I think I'm gonna give them a stern talking to about that when this is all over. And...you know what? If I win the competition and get the million dollars, I'm going to put forth some cash for you. You know...to help you get better and recover from what's happened to you. Heck, I'll give everyone some money if I win this season. But I'll definitely give you a larger sum of it to make sure you can fully recover. You have my word on that...buddy." "he concluded with complete sincerity.
The moment was broken when Cameron heard the telltale voice of Lightning calling for him.
"Hey, where you at, sha-chicken?! Show yourself already so Lightning can win the sha-million!"
"Ugh, you'd think that was the only thing he cared about..." Cameron muttered to himself. He then turned his attention back to Scott. "Look, Scott, find shelter and stay out of sight until the challenge is finished. I'm gonna take care of everything else that needs taking care of." Cameron then blasted off again, leaving Scott sitting there, not reacting.
...A few seconds later, Scott actually managed to smile a little bit. A tear fell from his eye as the green light lit up on his trauma chair. It was there that he realized that, yes, there was someone who cared about him. With Fang pacified and at Cameron's urging, Scott rolled off to find some sanctuary from this chaotic scene.
Dakota had her own collection of problems. As if mutating into a twenty-foot tall monster wasn't enough to damage her rising star of a career, now she was fighting off a giant mutant turtle (affectionately dubbed "Gamera" by Chris after the Friend of All Children himself, as an ironic gesture) who was threatening to crush her boyfriend Sam underneath his titanic girth and weight. Even worse, he would not budge at all, no matter how many times Dakota socked him in the face.
"WHY WON'T YOU GET OFF SAM?!" Dakota screeched as she slammed Gamera in the face with a brutal left hook, followed by a right hook. Neither attack did much to move the hulking tortoise. Sam was looking like his head was about to explode from the pressure being applied to his body.
"Uggggggggh... I'm feeling a flat as a Goomba, Dakota! Please, help me!" Sam groaned.
"I TRY! TURTLE NO MOVE WHEN PUNCHED!" Dakota shouted. Much like any Hulk knock off, it seems her transformed state leaves her intelligence much to be desired. Kind of harsh, considering that her only "crime" was an insatiable hunger for attention and fame.
As she continued to vent her rage on Gamera, she heard something flying towards her. She looked behind her and saw Cameron, in his suit, speeding towards her. She growled and prepared to attack Cameron, but then he shouted at her.
"DUCK AND COVER, DAKOTA!"
Dakota's rage ebbed a little, turning into confusion at what his words could possibly mean. Maybe it meant put a duck under a cover. No, that wasn't right. Put a duck undercover? That wasn't right either. What did it mean?
"GET DOWN NOW!"
That got Dakota to understand. Dakota ducked down as Cameron, flying at high speeds towards Gamera, socked him across the face with a energy-charged punch and sent the titanic tortoise flying off of Sam and into one of the Chrisiseum's walls. Unfortunately for Cameron, his heroic entry into Dakota's problem ended with him also crashing right into Chris's throne head over heels.
"Okay...that kinda hurt..." Cameron groaned. Dakota ran over to Sam and scooped him up.
"YOU OKAY NOW, SAM?" Dakota wondered with concern.
Sam wheezed and winced a bit. "Yeah... I'm okay... That turtle was heavier than an iron ball... Thanks for saving me there..."
"THANK CAMERON BOY FOR HELPING GET TURTLE OFF YOU!" Dakota said to Sam. Sam looked behind him and saw Cameron shaking himself out of a daze after crashing into the throne. He weakly waves at the two. Sam took a moment to give a passive wave to Cameron before turning back towards Dakota.
"I think you may wanna get me out of here before that turtle guy wakes up again." Sam warned his mutant girlfriend.
Dakota simply nodded and ran off carrying Sam to a safe area before running back to return to the fight.
Cameron was taking a brief breather to recuperate and glanced at his suit's power reserves.
Forty-five percent of my suit's power is left… Cameron thought to himself. I've been taxing this thing's abilities to the limit throughout this challenge. At the rate I'm going and the feats I've managed so far, I don't know if I'm going to be able to have enough power left to defeat Lightning…
As Cameron lamented his suit's steadily draining power reserves, Lightning showed up yet again to make Cameron's chances of winning a bit slimmer. Cameron's suit managed to alert him to the sneak attack, which he barely managed to dodge.
"Lightning strikes a third time! Sha-bam!" Lightning said, flexing his biceps in affirmation.
"I'll give you an A for persistence, Lightning. You sure know where to look for me." Cameron said.
"Buddy, please. Lightning always knows where you at. Lightning knows you stick out like a sore sha-thumb!" Lightning countered.
Okay… I'll give him that one. I'm not exactly the most subtly presented guy here right now… Wait, what am I thinking?! Cameron thought. I gotta keep my head in the game here!
"Regardless of that, I'm not going down without a fight, Lightning!" Cameron said, with as much triumph in his voice that he could muster.
"Fair enough, sha-fool! Put up your dukes, because you're about to be struck by Lightning! Sha-pow!" Lightning said.
Cameron kicked a blunt piece of wood up into his hands and brandished it like a sword. Lightning hoisted his mannequin club over his head and smiled confidently at Cameron as he stared his physically inferior-yet-technologically superior rival down.
And then the two started to fight. It was clear that Cameron was at a disadvantage yet again. He just wasn't exactly cut out to fight hand to hand, and it was even more apparent that weapon fighting was just not his bag either. While he did get a few good hits on Lightning, Lightning had far more combat experience and was able to parry some of Cameron's strikes. Eventually, Lightning broke the piece of wood Cameron was wielding and kicked him onto his back.
Crud… That fight wasn't a good idea. Now my power reserves are at thirty percent. Cameron thought worriedly.
"Oh yeah! Who's the man? Lightning's the man! I'm totally gonna sha-destroy you, nerdette!" Lightning said as he raised his weapon over his head.
Cameron braced himself for the beatdown, but as Lightning was about to bring his club down, Gamera's fist plunged into Chris's throne where Lightning was and got a hold of him, leaving a huge hole where he was standing.
"Oh crap! No! Little help here, bubble boy! Lightning's in sha-distress here!" Lightning yelled in a panic. No matter how hard he tried to struggle, Gamera's grip was too strong.
Without hesitating, Cameron sprung into action. "Hang on, Lightning! I'll see what I can do!"
Cameron figured that close combat wasn't exactly going to work, so he was hoping to try and whittle the beast down with continued energy blasts. Although it seemed to be hurting it a little bit, it wasn't doing much else aside from annoying it, especially since he was now starting to duck inside his shell to avoid blasts.
Nothing seems to hurt this thing! Cameron thought to himself. All I'm doing is annoying it and making it angrier! We need something bigger than my energy blasts to stop this tortoise. Something like…
As if on cue, Dakota came leaping into the fray, over the wall and right onto the mutant turtle, tackling him and knocking Lightning loose from his grasp. Lightning flew up into the air, screaming all of the while, but his descent was cut short when Cameron caught him mid-flight.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Lightning don't need help from you!" Lightning shouted at Cameron.
"In case you haven't noticed by now, everyone needs help! And while you may be my opponent, I'm not about to abandon you to the mutants either!" Cameron said.
Lightning merely scoffed. "Forget that! Dad's reputation's on the line! Let me go already and fight Lightning on the ground like a sha-man!" Lightning shouted at Cameron. He started trying to nail Cameron with his weapon, and despite Cameron's protestations, he hit one of his gauntlets and made Cameron let go, dropping him back down in the middle of the chaos.
Cameron couldn't help but sigh. "Why can't he just understand that there's more at stake right now than personal pride?"
As he scanned the area, Dakota shouted "HEY, CAMERON BOY!"
Turning towards her, he saw that she had managed to beat the tar out of Gamera and had him by the tail now. "GONNA THROW HIM AT YOU! SEND HIM FLYING, CAMERON BOY!" True to her word, she was winding up for the aforementioned throw by spinning around and hanging onto Gamera's tail, building up more momentum and throw strength.
Cameron seemed to catch on pretty quickly and started to charge up a powerful punch that would hopefully send the giant turtle flying. He had to be careful not to overcharge the punch or else he would run the risk of overloading his suit and giving up his chance of winning the million to Lightning. Plus, he had to time this just right or else the big beast would plow him out of the sky and humiliate him further.
Finally, Dakota had spun up enough power and alerted Cameron with a fierce-sounding "HEADS...UP!" before tossing her foe at Cameron in the sky. The speed at which Gamera was travelling towards him surprised Cameron a bit, but he kept his composure long enough to finish charging the punch to just the right amount of power and threw a powerful, cracking uppercut straight to Gamera's chin!
The punch ended up having enough of a kick to send Gamera flying completely off of the island, away from the fight and ending his involvement altogether.
"Phew! Glad I pulled that off without messing that up!" Cameron said in relief.
Dakota gave Cameron a thumbs-up for the help he gave. "ONE LESS MUTANT TO WORRY ABOUT," she said afterward.
"Hah! Yeah! I think this might end well after all! Now, see if you can't take care of some other problems while I go and save B and Dawn!
Dakota grinned and nodded before going to take down some more mutant monsters. Cameron glanced at his power percentage once again.
"Twenty percent and dropping… I need to finish this up and quickly." Cameron said with a twinge of concern. He dove down to go and rescue the last two people he figured needed rescuing.
Poor, poor B. While he kept all of his pain inside, it certainly could not have felt good to be punched in the nuts for a solid several minutes and counting. And Dawn...well, she certainly didn't want to hurt the Tree Squid (which Chris hasn't given a name too since it would either have been too raunchy for Total Drama or too demonic and risk summoning some kind of indescribable horrors), so all she could do at the moment was pray for the thing to calm down and stop thwacking B in the nuts. Though given the rate it was going, it didn't show any signs of slowing down.
It only seemed to stop when something flying over its head nearly toppled it over by hitting it with enough force. The mysterious assailant landed in front of it and made his presence known.
"Alright, that's enough private punching, buddy! Let my friend go and I promise that I won't attack you in return!" Cameron said to the Tree Squid.
The Tree Squid didn't know how to react to this armored dweeb in front of it, so it simply returned to doing what it did best. By now, B looked positively delirious.
"It always has to be the hard way with everything…" Cameron said in exasperation. Wanting to conserve his power, Cameron hunched down into the best sumo position he could muster and prepared to charge at the Tree Squid.
"Wh-What are you doing, Cameron?!" Dawn asked.
"Something that's probably really crazy! ...And really stupid." Cameron said. With that, he charged at the Tree Squid and began to push into it and try to shove it back with sumo-style attacks. Never mind the fact that Cameron was literally watching a sumo video and trying to replicate what they were doing on an opponent that didn't even match the same physical description of a human. And yet...despite all odds, Cameron's insane plan seemed to be steadily working. The Tree Squid was clearly punching and swatting at his armor, but at the same time, Cameron was tipping the creature over and causing it to fall over. The impact stunned it and caused it to let B go from its grasp, who doubled over in pain. Dawn, having been silently praying the whole time, ran over to B to check on his vitals.
"Is he going to be alright?" Cameron asked.
"...Yes… He will be… His aura is a little bit dim, but he will be okay… I hope." Dawn replied.
Cameron glanced back over to the Tree Squid and saw it begin to recover. "You guys might want to run… Now!" Cameron urged.
"Okay… Stay safe, Cameron." Dawn said, then with all of her strength, she began to drag B out of the arena as the Tree Squid got back upright...and boy, it was angry.
Okay… There has to be some kind of weak point. Cameron thought, relying on his suit's scanner to find out what to do. The targeting reticules suggested pulling out its eye, stretching its eyestalk to the maximum stretch distance it could go (apparently the eyestalk must be made of rubber) and then let it snap back into the eye socket, which made Cameron shudder at the thought. Even worse is that the scanner recommended that its tentacles should be torn off to make the pulling of the eye easier.
"Ugh! That's rather gruesome! But if it's the only way to make sure that it doesn't hurt anyone else…" Cameron gulped and and kept his breathing level as to not lose his lunch inside his suit before goading the Tree Squid into attacking him.
Enraged, the strange creature attacked him by whipping its tentacles at him. While the suit enhanced his abilities, it certainly didn't enhance his endurance. As such, his dodging was getting a little sloppy and he took a few hits he should have been able to dodge. But in spite of becoming tired out, Cameron managed to grab a hold of one of the tentacles and - after spending a few moments trying to keep a hold of it - pulled it clean off of its body, leaving it to writhe around on its own before becoming still.
Cameron nearly blew chunks at the sight. "Ugh… I think I'm gonna be sick…" he said as he clutched his stomach. Still, despite his rising nausea, he managed to get a hold of the second tentacle and pull it off as well, taking care to avert his gaze or just close his eyes outright as to not reach his breaking point.
"Now...the eye." Cameron winced as he ran towards the now armless beast and leapt at its singular bloodshot eye. It tried to shake him up, but he managed to hold fast; after all, you can only do so much shaking and bucking around when you're a mutant tree. Cameron plunged his hands into the eye socket and started to pull at the eye. The Tree Squid screeched horribly as Cameron pulled harder and harder on it until he yanked the eye out of the socket, leaving it still attached to its goopy red eyestalk.
"After this competition is over, I think I might want to see a therapist about this encounter…" Cameron shuddered as he started backing up, causing the eye stalk to stretch out. The eyestalk continued to get more taut as Cameron stretched the stalk to its limits. The eye itself started turning purple and the pupil shrunk, starring in pleading shock at Cameron as he was about ready to let the eye go flying back into the socket.
"Sorry… I want this to end as fast as you do…"
Cameron then let the eye go, making it speed back towards socket, which sent the beast flying into the sky before coming back down somewhere else on the island and - from the sound of it, not quite clearing the island - splattering where it landed in what can be assumed is one heck of a mess of its remains.
Breathing heavily, Cameron looked at his power percentage once more.
"...Ten percent… If I'm going to beat Lightning… I'm gonna need a miracle…" Cameron stood up, a little bit shaky and tired. He was worried he wasn't going to last much longer.
Lightning walked over to Cameron, brandishing his club in his hand. He looked pretty beaten up himself, not exactly helped by the fact that he got dropped from several feet up in the air because he denied a rescue by his opponent.
"You...are gonna pay for dropping Lightning to the sha-ground, bubbly boy!" Lightning shouted.
"I'm gonna pay? You're the one who made me drop you in the first place, Lightning!" Cameron protested. He wasn't going to sugar coat that fact, but Lightning was so intensely focused on winning that he wasn't listening.
"Well, Lightning's gonna sha-drop you like a stone into the ocean, nerd girl!" Lightning shouted.
And that's when Lightning barrelled toward Cameron, yelling all the while and rearing his club back in an attempt to strike him down. Cameron tried to steel his nerves as Lightning continued to rush full tilt at him; with only ten percent of his suit's power remaining, he knew he couldn't risk firing any blasts at this point or else his suit would power down and he'd be doomed. And he knew that it meant one thing: either face Lightning down in close quarters combat and hope to whatever deity came to mind that he could win against his physical superior or sit there, take the brunt of the damage and watch as his suit's energy drops like a lead balloon before being pinned.
It wasn't long before Lightning finally closed the distance and leapt at Cameron, throwing his arms and weapon backward and poised to finish his jumping strike with a crushing blow. And then he brought the weapon down on Cameron and…!
Silence. Everyone present sat in stunned silence, looking onward at the scene unfolding in front of them. The tension hung in the air as time seemed to stop dead in its tracks. Something had happened in the center of the arena...something big.
There should have been a huge thwack of metal resounding throughout the area, signifying that Lightning finished off Cameron...but there was no such noise. It sounded rather muffled, as if it had connected with something soft.
...In fact, Lightning's swing had been stopped dead. He was no longer carrying momentum, no longer bringing the weapon down, nothing.
"What the heck? Why's Lightning no longer sha-movin'?!" Lightning shouted.
Lightning looked down at his short armored opponent...and to his complete shock, Cameron was actually holding his club at bay with both of his hands. While it did appear that Cameron was straining to hold back the might of Lightning, he was still holding his own.
"...Sorry, Lightning, but the only one who will be getting dropped this time is you!" Cameron said. What happened next was a move that shocked everyone. He tossed Lightning's club off of his hands and socked Lightning in the face with a punch that had as much force as Cameron could muster behind it!
Lightning looked like he had been told something horrible after Cameron landed the punch, but he seemed to recover.
"Little girly nerd finally standin' up to Lightning, huh? That's sha-fine with Lightning!" Lightning said, then came after Cameron again. He swung his club at him, but this time, Cameron seemed to have a surge of adrenaline and dodged the club to the best of his abilities. Another swing was aimed at Cameron's legs, but he managed to jump the attack and ended up nailing Lightning with another surprise punch.
"Tricky fool!" Lightning taunted, but it was clear that Cameron was getting to him. He swung his weapon again and again, but Cameron wasn't about to take this sitting down. He had the good fortune of being a hard target to hit thanks to his smaller frame, but did get scraped by a few glancing blows that did decrease his suit's power a little bit.
This was all about wearing down Lightning with plenty of small attacks, so Cameron took the opportunity to sneak as many good blows into his opponent's weak spots as possible, while dodging as many weapon blows as possible. Cameron did end up getting surprised by a big boot to the chest, which knocked him backwards a fair distance. At only six percent power remaining, he needed to wrap this up soon. Lightning ran at Cameron and leapt into the air for another leaping strike, but Cameron managed to counter the incoming blow with an uppercut that knocked Lightning out of the air and to the ground. Cameron attempted to capitalize on this, but Lightning recovered remarkably quickly by first catching the charging Cameron in a chokehold and delivering a powerful haymaker to the nerdy bubble boy, flooring him. Lightning attempted to stomp Cameron's face in, but once again, Cameron was quick on the draw, rolling out of the way before turning jumping back to his feet and, in a risky maneuver, quickly firing two energy blasts at Lightning simultaneously, which impacted his chest and sent him flying across the arena before crashing into a wall.
Neither side was willing to back down, as demonstrated by Lightning recovering from his crash. He was looking a little injured, but he held together in spite of that.
"A couple of blasts won't stop Lightning, nerdette!" Lightning shouted. He then tossed his club at Cameron, who was running after him. As he was not exactly expecting the club to be sailing towards him, he ended up getting hit by it, draining his power to a meager four percent.
"Oh geez… Lightning's a lot tougher than I gave him credit for!" Cameron said. "I gotta think of something to end this fight with before my suit runs out of energy!"
Lightning was charging yet again towards him, so trying to conserve some physical energy, he stood his ground and prepared to take Lightning's charge head-on. Lightning eventually clashed with Cameron and pushed him a fair ways to the other end of the arena, but Cameron managed to get his feet onto the ground and dug in as much as his armor would allow him to...and surprisingly, he was slowing Lightning's advance down, eventually stopping him completely and deadlocking him into a power struggle.
"Why the heck are you fighting so hard against Lightning, bubble nerd?! You know you got no chance against the Lightning strike! And besides, what are you gonna do with the million, huh?" Lightning said to Cameron as he struggled to gain superiority over the armored bubble boy.
"Th-That's what you think, Lightning…" Cameron began. "I haven't gotten here purely on chance and luck… I've managed to make it this far because I had the support from my teammates - my friends - that kept me going until this moment! And yes, it's true that I might not have had a huge advantage over you when I began this challenge, but looking at how far I've come and what I've accomplished, maybe I've stood a bigger chance against you than I originally thought! I won't let my team down, I'm not going to lose and after this is all over, I won't need a bubble anymore BECAUSE I had the courage to leave it in the first place!"
Cameron began to push Lightning backwards. Now he was going on the offensive, which surprised Lightning a fair deal. "Wh-What the sha-heck?!"
"I had the courage to speak to people that I considered complete strangers and make some good friends!"
Cameron pushed Lightning backward more.
"I survived challenges that were life-threatening, went the distance and defied everyone's expectations!"
He pushed him even more.
"Most people thought I would have been the early boot, but I most certainly wasn't! And I'm hoping that whoever watches this in the future will take after my example and never give up, even in the face of impossible odds!"
And with that, Cameron finally managed to push Lightning away with a powerful energy-charged shove that blew him head over heels and crashing into the mutant gophers, blowing them away in the process and (unintentionally) saving Chris from getting mauled further.
Cameron, completely full of determination, finally came to a conclusion.
"This fight's about to be decided...and this Lightning storm will come to an end!" Cameron said, with a surprising amount of confidence. "Computer, divert all remaining power conduits to charge an electromagnetic blast!" Something beeped inside of his suit and he crossed his arms as the suit charged all of its remaining energy.
Lightning recovered from being blown backwards a third time. He got back up and saw Cameron standing in the middle of the arena, arms crossed over his face and doing nothing. He also looked towards the ground and saw his club sitting on the ground, having bounced off of Cameron's armor after nailing him. Lightning grinned; it looked like the perfect opportunity to finish this once and for all.
"Lightning says that this game is set and sha-matched!" Lightning jumped through the hole in the wall and ran towards Cameron as fast as his well-toned legs could carry him. A battered and bruised Chris groaned and surfaced from the rubble.
"Ugh...where was I the last several minutes…?" Chris muttered in a daze.
Cameron's suit was alerting him to an incoming threat; he already knew it was Lightning since he was the only one present who could be considered a threat that hadn't already been neutralized by him beforehand.
"Lightning's coming in fast...but the charge isn't complete yet! Come on, come on…" Cameron urged, pleading for the charge to hurry it up and complete.
50%. Lightning was closing fast.
60%. Lightning managed to pick up his club in his mad dash towards Cameron.
70%. Lightning was rearing his weapon back as he continued to charge.
80%. Cameron hoped and prayed that the charge would finish by the time Lightning got close enough to strike…
90%. Lightning was right on top of Cameron at this point. He let his arm fly towards Cameron, with weapon in hand in the hopes to strike him down…
And that's when Cameron's armor finally finished the charging process. Cameron thrust his arms out to his sides as a massive white ball of electric energy filled the air and enveloped the arena in a ghastly glow of light. For a few seconds, the arena was naught but a void of white light. Then, it all faded to reveal that...nothing seemed to happen. Lightning had been pushed back a few centimeters by the surge of energy, but otherwise was still poised to strike at any moment.
Cameron's arms finally went limp to his sides as his armor seemed to shut down. He tried with all of his honest effort to move inside the now-inert armor, but it just wouldn't budge.
"That final charge must've overloaded the armor and drained its energy! I can't move!" Cameron said from inside the armor.
Lightning knew that was his cue. "Hah! Now Lightning's gonna sha-destroy...huh?"
However, when he lifted his weapon to strike, all of the armor on his body seemed to be shaking and reacting to something.
"Wh-What's goin' on?!" Lightning wondered with a twinge of worry.
Lightning wasn't able to see it, but Cameron smirked inside his suit. "Oh, nothing. I've just turned your armor into an industrial-strength magnet, capable of attracting all sorts of metallic objects towards you." Cameron stated.
"You sneaky little…" Lightning wasn't quite able to finish as he glanced around the arena. Since all of the metal scrap had been cleared out, there weren't many metal objects in the arena aside from Cameron's suit and the barrels-
The barrels of toxic waste. All around him, Lightning realized that all of the barrels were shuddering. And since they were made of metal…
Lightning barely had any time to shriek in fear before the barrels flew at him and enveloped him, leaving his outstretched weapon holding arm visible to the sky and everyone else. A cloud cover had been taking over the sky since the chaos began, but it was here that a bolt of lightning finally came down and struck Lightning's club, which eventually caused all of the barrels to detonate and uncover Lightning. The combination of the chemicals and the electricity coursing through his body had the added side effect of bleaching his formerly brown hair completely white. After a few seconds, Lightning fell over onto the ground, clearly out of it after getting struck by lightning.
Cameron's team cheered in response to Lightning's fall, followed by Sam quipping "Sha-bam!" afterward. And then, they started chanting his name, cheering him on to finish this for good.
My armor may be shut down...but I can still win this! I just...gotta...push… Cameron thought as he strained his body to move the armor even just an inch forward. For a few moments, nothing seemed to be happening, but after a bit more effort on Cameron's part, he finally managed to make the suit fall over...onto his dazed opponent! And then…
Everyone counted. "1! 2! 3!" And that was it. Cameron had fought hard, survived impossible odds, and now...he was the proof positive winner of Total Drama Revenge of the Island.
Chris rolled into the shot on his chariot courtesy of Chef, but thanks to his previous encounter with the mutant gophers, he looked pretty darned injured.
"He's done it! Cameron has done it! Cameron has won Total Drama Revenge of the Island and the million dollar prize!" Chris said. He winced in pain afterward and followed up with a weak sounding "ow".
Everyone lifted Cameron into the air as they celebrated his victory. So… This is what victory feels like… Cameron thought to himself as he was carried by his friends. Heh… It feels amazing. I think this might be the start of something new for me!
(Confessional: Guess who's back again, bitches?)
Cameron: From a boy in a bubble to a million dollar winner… I wouldn't have believed it myself if it wasn't all on tape! Lightning, if you're watching this… You fought well. Good game.
Lightning: This is an outrage! The challenge was rigged! I did not lose to that bubble nerd! It's impossible! *He starts to tear up, dropping his masculine facade, then starts to sob.* Sorry, Pops…
A few hours later, everyone had gotten on the boat off Wawanakwa, having been given some time to recover before heading home. Chris and Cameron were the only ones not on the boat, seeing as Cameron had not yet been properly compensated for his efforts.
"Congratulations, Cameron. That was a heck of a fight you put on for the show there. That'll draw in tons of ratings for sure!" Chris chuckled for a moment before continuing. "Well, to the victor goes the spoils. One million dollars in cold. Hard. Cash!" he finished before handing the case to Cameron. Now that Cameron was outside of his suit, he struggled to even carry the case to the boat, so he settled with dragging it across the dock. He stopped before all of the other contestants.
"Thank you guys for all of your support. It really helped make a big difference." Cameron said with a sincere tone.
Anne Maria was the first to speak up. "So, what're you gonna spend the million on first? Hair or shoes? Because both need a loooooot of work." she said, weighing in on the matter.
Sam responded afterward. "Didn't you hear his mom? He needs the money to pump up his bubble."
Cameron seemed to be silent for a moment. Then, he spoke up. "...You know, back when I started out, I was going to think about maybe using the million to heal any crippling injuries I might have suffered in the competition if I ever made it this far. But because I've made it this far and survived everything Wawanakwa had to throw at me, I don't think I'll ever need a bubble again!" Cameron said confidently. "And you guys...you've helped me out so much during this crazy ride. Signing up for Total Drama was, in hindsight, probably the best thing to ever happen to me, because if I hadn't I wouldn't have made some great friends on this journey."
A resounding "awwwww" came from everyone following that sentence.
"Things were shaky in the beginning, but I've come out a better person through my experiences on the island. And before I forget, I want everyone to say sorry to Scott." Cameron said.
Everyone promptly let a big "WHAT?!" fly in unison.
"A shocking sentence, I know, but in all honesty, while he was rough around the edges, he probably had a rough childhood or something. You can't really blame him for the way he was brought up, right?" Cameron questioned them. "And sure, he was, by all accounts, a team killer, but honestly guys, you should be ashamed for laughing at his pain! I mean, look at him! He's little more than a head and a trauma chair at this point! At least show some kind of compassion instead of pointing and laughing! That's as bad as laughing at someone who has some other kind of debilitating injury and they weren't the bad guy! So until you guys actually apologize to him with complete sincerity, I am not coming onto that boat with all of you!" Cameron declared, and turned away from everyone defiantly.
The contestants on the boat looked at each other, then at Scott, and then back to Cameron. They were clearly the guilty party here, and it showed in their faces. Chris, on the other hand, rolled his eyes in exasperation, wanting Cameron to get the show on the road. After some talking among themselves, they all turned towards Scott and said with all of their sincerity "We're sorry, Scott…"
The green light on Scott's trauma chair lit up in response. It seems that all was forgiven. Cameron smiled and turned back around towards the boat.
"Thank you, guys. Anyways, since my reasoning for entering this contest in the first place is null and void, I'm deciding to go ahead and spend it all on you guys!" Cameron said after their apology. Everyone broke out into cheering at that announcement. Not only was everyone able to finally get off the island and return to their homes, but they were going to be heading back to their homes with a sum of the million dollar prize that Cameron was more than willing to give to them out of the kindness of his heart.
"Hello, world's biggest television and every game system in existence!" Sam said triumphantly.
"I can finally open my dream gym!" Jo also exclaimed.
"Fashion school, here I come!" Brick shouted out loud. The whole boat stared at him like he was a crazy person. He regained his composure and stated "Yeah, you heard me!" to try and keep his military image as the boat began to pull out with Cameron on board.
The camera cut back to Chris, who was ready to close the fourth season out.
"Well, that's it for another season! Except for one last surprise I hid on their boat…" Chris gasped in excitement at the prospect of what he was about to do. "First rule of showbiz: always go out with a bang!" Chris pulled out a grey remote with a big red button on it, and pressed it with the intention of detonating the boat and putting all of the contestants six feet underwater.
...Fortunately for the contestants and Chef, and UNfortunately for Chris, the bomb he had planted was not on the boat at all. Instead, when he pressed the button, the portion of the dock he was standing on exploded from underneath him, sending him flying and crashing into the water. Chris sputtered about and spewed water, wondering what the heck just happened. To his shock, he saw Chef looking straight at him with a devilish smirk on his face as he drove away from Wawanakwa, indicating that Chef just double-crossed him.
"CHEF!" Chris shouted at his partner-in-crime. Quickly regaining his composure, Chris turned back towards the camera. "Until next time, I'm Chris McLean, and this has been Total! Drama! Revenge of the Island!" Chris said as he closed out the season.
...for what would seem to be the final time.
"YOU'RE BUSTED, MCLEAN!"
Chris looked up towards the source of the gruff voice and saw a few guys in hazmat suits. "For what?" he defiantly said.
Government helicopters flew in and surrounded Chris as the hazmat guy explained his crime.
"For creating an environmental disaster, that's what! Residents of Wawanakwa, this island is now under government protection! Chris McLean, you are hereby quarantined! Prepare for heavy scrub decontamination!"
The shouts of the sadistic host could be heard as the boat sped away from the heavily contaminated island, with all of the occupants laughing at Chris the whole way.
It wasn't long before Wawanakwa disappeared into the distance and the contestants could finally relax, knowing that the intense dangers of Total Drama Revenge of the Island was long behind them. As they drifted back towards the mainland, everyone congratulated Cameron on his win, and Cameron passed his sums of cash on to everyone present on the boat. All of them were excited to finally be able to do what they always dreamed of doing with their newfound moolah, and Cameron has almost gotten to everyone on the boat. All that remained was Lightning, who had not yet gotten a sum of his money yet.
Cameron walked up to the athletic overachiever and initiated a conversation.
"Uh, hey there, Lightning. You still feeling alright after...you know?" Cameron began.
Lightning seemed to be unfazed by his loss. "Oh, please, bubble boy! Lightning ain't saddened about that loss! In fact, Lightning considers that a win in his book! Sha-win!" Lightning said.
Cameron looked a little concerned and confused. "Are you sure? I mean...during the cooldown period, I could have sworn I heard you crying in the confessional…"
Lightning's expression seemed to darken a bit in response. "...You heard that, huh?"
Cameron gulped and nodded, thinking Lightning was about to get angry. He was surprised and a little relieved to hear him simply sigh in resignation.
"...Alright, I'm gonna be honest with you here… Yeah… I'm pretty broken down about that loss…" Lightning began. "Pops bet all of his championship rings on my win on Total Drama… You don't know how much work he put into winning those championships and helping our family name actually mean something. And I put my all into making sure I was the pinnacle of the physical condition so when I eventually got into the big leagues, I could make my father proud...and maybe then, he'd finally acknowledge my existence," he solemnly continued. "That's why I wanted to win the million, man. To build a stadium and train myself in it so that I could finally make my father proud of me. But now...not only did I lose to a guy like you, my hair is probably stuck bleached white for the rest of my life, Pops lost his championship rings and he's probably ashamed to know I'm even his son…"
Lightning couldn't take it anymore. He began to sob right there on the boat in clear view of everyone. Cameron looked guilty as he rubbed his arm. While Lightning may have been a serious threat and kind of a bully to him, he never would have thought that this was the reason that Lightning acted all holier than thou the whole time.
"His aura...it's full of sorrow and misery…" Dawn spoke up.
"What the heck happened to him, Private?" Brick asked Cameron.
Cameron was silent for a moment. He wasn't sure how to respond to Brick's question. However, considering that he had promised to help Scott recover during the fight, he figured that even his biggest rival shouldn't have to suffer either.
Cameron took charge and walked up to Lightning. Lightning stopped crying for a moment and looked up at the former bubble boy.
"You know, Lightning, I know we've been at each other's throats for the whole season for one reason or another, and we fought each other pretty fiercely in the final challenge… But I now understand why you fought so hard against me, even when I was trying to save everyone else. You wanted your father to not lose what made him the man he is today. You wanted to have your father notice you. You just wanted to be accepted by him...correct?"
Lightning didn't answer, but wiped a few tears from his eyes and nodded in response.
"Well…" Cameron brought out what was still remaining of the million dollars. "I could help you recover your father's rings for you. And maybe even help build that stadium you always wanted. After all, I'm making sure I help everyone I've competed with and against, regardless of what they've done in the past."
Lightning sniffled. "...You...You really mean that? You're not going to...you know...turn around and say it was all an elaborate prank to further drive me down?"
Cameron blew a raspberry at the notion. "Are you kidding? Why would I think of doing that? Besides, that sounds like something Chris would do...and considering his penchant for life-threatening challenges, I sadly wouldn't doubt that. But you have my word, Lightning. It just wouldn't be right if you got left out of my promise." Cameron said.
Lightning was silent for a second or two, and then he gave Cameron a surprisingly genuine smile.
"...Thanks, Cameron. I appreciate the help you're willing to give to me." Lightning said.
Cameron smiled back. "You're welcome, Lightning. Here's to a brighter future for all of us!"
Everyone cheered for Cameron as the boat sailed off into the moonrise, eagerly awaiting to return to their lives and enjoy using their funds for their own purposes.
And thus, an era of Total Drama ended where the fourth season ends. The contestants managed to make it back safely to their respective places of residence, were allowed to fulfill their dreams through Cameron's generosity and ultimately enjoy themselves more than they ever have before. To make matters even better, Chris was now behind bars under government watch in a maximum security prison thanks to his haphazard pollution of Wawanakwa Island, which all but ensured that maybe, just maybe, Total Drama could finally have some fresh new air breathe some new life into it and make it enjoyable again.
…
...Alas...some things never change.
TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART 2 OF THE PROLOGUE…
WKLV LV MXVW WKH EHJLQQLQJ