Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all had a happy 4th (or Wednesday if you're an international reader). Today, we're doing the obligatory horror challenge.
Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama, the shuffled concept or the (most of) the characters.
And to answer some reviews:
That British Guy: I'm glad you think so.
Guest: It's very interesting that you say that, because I'm not really changing her canon lines that much aside from fitting the new cast. Also keep in mind I don't consider who's won how much until the merge. So the Rats could just suck at challenges.
StarHeart Specials: The canon Maggots do to, it's just an episode earlier here. And you noticed that change with Lightning :). No comment. I hope the rest of the season lives up to your expectations, and that you had a good weekend.
Derick Lindsey: I can't answer that, I don't really think about a team's win-loss ratio when decided pre-merge eliminations. Natasha did make a mistake, he's not perfect. But the thing is what he does with that mistake. And for the first time this season, 'wait and see'.
Gucci Mane LaFlare: Fixed, thanks. It sucks that she had to go, but I didn't really have anything for her this time. Yeah, it's weird to think that I'm almost halfway done right now.
Pastatoxic: It's other's reactions to Jo that make her hard to write sometimes. But she won't have an easy a time here as she did in canon. Natasha's fun to write both before and after he drops the act. The guy's just naturally in control of everything. But whether people assume B is the same depends on who he debuts with. That's a good thing about me doing this expanded universe, I don't feel as bad eliminating characters in these shorter seasons.
TheChrisanthemum: If I could have swung it, she would have. I hope you like what he does next.
Piecesxoxo: I know, even I'm surprised and I'm writing it.
Remaining Campers:
Toxic Rats: Ella, Lightning, Lily, Natasha
Mutant Maggots: Angel, Beardo, Bridgette, Cody, Ezekiel, Jo
I hope no one's scared of spiders, or the dark. mwahahaha.
Episode 04: Finders Creepers
"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over a stock shot of the camp, the recap montage starting off with a clip of the contestants racing off towards the side of Mt. Looming Tragedy. "Eleven erratic easy marks engaged in an explosive extravaganza," Chef was shown gleefully dropping ice blocks on the climbing campers, catching Lightning and Eva but narrowly missing Jo and Ezekiel; Lily was shown getting punched by the mutant beetle; and Cody was shown completing his high-powered grappling gun. "Why all the 'E' words?," Eva was shown protesting after Lily named herself team captain in the ice shack, "Because Eva elected to earn her team a win," the iron woman was shown grabbing the Maggots' flag.
"However, she was enraged when her team's fort was eradicated," Jo was shown being chased back to the Rats' base by the mutant beetle. "Meanwhile, errant evil-doer Natasha tried to frame her enemy Lily as a thief," Lily was shown finding Eva's mp3 player, then Natasha was shown admitting to planting it in the confessional. "But Lily exploited Eva's enmity to make herself seem the victim," the host finished over the cynic running away crying and her later confessional. "Which meant that Eva was eliminated," the iron woman was shown being flung into the night.
"And now," Chris said, popping up in front of a shot of the full moon in a cloudy sky with a lit candle in his hand, marking the end of the recap montage, "tonight's challenge is about fear." He made a devilish look and clenched his fingers menacingly. "And everyone knows fear is a dish best served, in the dark!" he said in an exaggeratedly spooky manner, an eerie sound playing as he laughed evilly. "Huh?" he stopped suddenly, the camera pulling back to reveal Chef standing next to him...dressed like a showgirl with lots of peacock feathers. "Chef!" the host said in annoyance.
"Wardrobe was all out of vampire costumes," Chef explained as the series's capstone then began to play.
"It's all scary!" Chris said, walking off to the left. "Other than that," he scowled and gestured back toward his off-screen assistant. "Right here! Right now!" he resumed his usual demeanor. "On Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!" He adopted his spooky tone as he finished the title, and ended with another evil laugh.
XXXXX
[The sequence begins much as it did three seasons ago, with an open into letterbox format as the camera focuses on the tops of a few distant pine trees. A rusty stage light rotates up and turns on; then the shot changes to a cobwebby spotlight swinging down and turning on as well; then a small security camera popping out of one of several leaky toxic waste barrels; then another camera bursting out of a tree hollow, held by an octopus tentacle and dislodging a few bones; then a pair of fair-skinned arms clapping a film slate in front of the camera which switches to a shot of the island, briefly showing a giant octopus looking out of the lake to the right, then flying forward down the dock and past the buildings, passing under a totem pole that Chris was sitting on and which was being carried by a trio of male interns of mismatched heights.]
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
[The camera rapidly flies through the trees as the lyrics begin, quickly reaching the top of the thousand-foot-high cliff.]
You guys are on my mind!
[It looks down at the ring of buoys in the water below and dives, immediately cutting to an underwater view as the bubbles disperse to reveal Cody gagging with several vicious-looking fish watching him hungrily.]
Ya asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
[Cody frantically swims up and away from an approaching tentacle, passing another fish wearing a gas mask. The camera pans up to reveal Bridgette on one side of her surfboard; Cody surfaces and slumps against the other side, then flashes her a flirtatious smile. The tentacle surfaces and slams into the middle of the board...and in doing so, sends Bridgette into the water and Cody high into the sky.]
I wanna be...famous!
[The scene lingers on Cody in front of the sun for a moment, then quick-pans down to Jo working out with a punching bag in the middle of the woods; a falling Cody abruptly falls into her arms. Cody tries one of his flirty smiles on the jock-ette, who just scowls and drops him before going back to her workout. The camera pans right to Ella, happily singing to a number of hairless squirrels and three-eyed birds.]
I wanna live close to the sun!
[At the top of a waterfall, Angel and Lily float downriver in a canoe. Angel appears to be gushing about something to her sister, and the cynic is clearly only pretending to listen for a second before turning around and spotting the fall. Both scream as they go over the edge.]
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won!
[The camera pans down to Lightning, deadlifting a large log while standing on another log suspended across the rocks at the bottom of the falls. the twins and their canoe land on his makeshift weight, breaking the log supporting him and sending all three into the water.]
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
[Ezekiel walks up to the outhouse confessional and a monstrous shark with arms and legs bursts out of the outhouse with a toothy grin, causing the homeschooler to scream and run away as the shark chases after him.]
I'll get there one day
[The camera pans to the Main Lodge, Chef's silhouette visible in the window. Zooming in to the room shows him stirring a pot of some greenish slop with an annoyed frown, and the shot pans over to show Gary making various hand signs and rapping. A spoon flies from the right and hits him, knocking him out.]
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
[Another pan to the left reveals Natasha looking Gary's way and sighing in relief, he turns to the camera and gives an all-knowing smirk. The scene zooms back out of the lodge to the beach, where Eva is alternating reps with a dumbell in each hand.]
Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa
[The camera pans away from Eva and on to Sam happily playing a handheld game. A furry hand taps him on the shoulder, distracting the gamer and allowing the arm to snatch away the console. Sam realizes what's happened, and rushes angrily at the large hairy ape-man now playing the game, and the camera moves on watch an odd, almost rattlesnake-like gull floating on the water. A bulbous-headed fish jumps out over it on the right and a shark jumps out of the left with its mouth wide open, but the first fish blasts the shark with some sort of laser, turning it into a skeleton which is swallowed by the first fish as it finishes its jump. A tentacle rises out of the water to grab the gull, but it quickly lashes out and bites it with its snake-like fangs.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[The camera pans down to the end of the dock to show Beardo moonwalking to the edge of the dock. He brings his hands to his mouth and vigorously beatboxes, spit flying from his hands.]
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
[A sudden splash of water comes down on the hairy boy, interrupting his music and causing him to send a blank look upward – Chris is hovering above him in a jetpack and helmet, holding an empty bucket. He drops the bucket then flies off, the flames from his jetpack taking over the screen. It becomes night as they peter out, and the camera pans down across the stars and treetops and full moon to Angel and Bridgette, sitting at a campfire together. As they lean towards each other with expectant smiles they are interrupted and separated by Chef, wearing a hazmat suit and holding a glowing green marshmallow between them with a pair of heavy tongs.
The shot zooms out to show the rest of the cast looking shocked, whistling the last few notes of the song – Ezekiel, Cody, Natasha, Beardo, Lightning, and Lily on Angel's side; Ella, Sam, Eva, Jo, and Gary on Bridgette's side; and Chris standing next to Chef on Bridgette's side as well. The shot continued to zoom out until a signboard was shown marking the presumed entrance to the fire pit; it read 'TOTAL DRAMA REVENGE OF THE ISLAND' in block letters, the third word being the largest and the last word relegated to a board tacked on at the end.]
XXXXX
Frogs and crickets chirped and croaked, joined by an owl's hoots as the episode opened on a shot of the full moon. The camera panned down to the cabins as the sound of snoring was added to the nighttime mix, and the scene cut inside to the girls' side of the Maggots' cabin where Bridgette and Angel were sleeping peacefully in the bunk they shared. Cody and Ezekiel were also shown sound asleep on the boys' side, and the scene cut to the Rat girls to show Ella and Lily also sound asleep.
The camera cut next to show Lightning sleeping, almost falling out of his bunk and without a doubt the source of the snoring. Cutting to the other side of the room showed Natasha, his eyes open and slightly bloodshot as he tossed and turned.
He groaned in annoyance and pushed his pillow over his ears, and after a moment he seemed to have gotten to rest...until the sudden shrill wail of a blowhorn pierced the air.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Chris hollered from off-screen as the scene cut back outside, the blowhorn continuing even over the panicked shouts of the campers.
The camera briefly cut to a close-up of the blowhorn still blowing, then over to the Maggots' cabin as they ran outside fully dressed – first Bridgette screaming "What's going on?!"; then Angel just screaming; then Cody calling out "What's happening?!"; then Ezekiel just hollering; then Beardo making an alarm sound; and then finally Jo jogging out more annoyed than afraid, calling out "Move it or lose it!"
The Rats were shown next, Natasha looking in wide-eyed panic as he slid down the railing; Lightning quickly running after him; and Ella and Lily coming out last at around the same time – Lily shouting "What now?!" while Ella just screamed.
They assembled nervously in the common area between cabins, where Chris – wearing a pair of heavy earmuffs – finally eased up on the blowhorn. "Glad you all could make it," he grinned as he took off his headgear. The camera focused in on Beardo as he blearily looked around and soon met the gaze of Ella; the princess waved in a childish but flirtatious way, and the beatboxer blushed and returned the gestures.
XXX
"Okay," Beardo said to himself confidently. "Today, you're gonna ask Ella out." He suddenly looked nervous and added "Y'know, if she reads that note I left her. And likes it"
XXX
"I hope you're all ready," Chris continued, "'cause it's challenge time!" He stepped to the side as Chef rolled up a large widescreen television on a wheeled cart. It was currently displaying an aerial map of the island with several additional colored icons – six bright green skulls scattered around the island; three yellowish envelopes over the campfire pit, the western edge of the campgrounds, and deeper into the forest; and a large purple spider in the middle of it all.
"Really?" Lily spoke up in annoyance. "We're having a challenge now?!" As she voiced her grievances the camera panned away from her and on to Ella, who was rooting around in her pocket with a confused look on her face. She eventually pulled out what appeared to be a wadded-up napkin, unfolded it, and smiled brightly.
XXX
"It's a love poem from my prince!" she gushed. "He is just as skilled with words as he is with his music." She sighed dreamily. "I must tell him that I feel the same way."
XXX
"Your challenge," Chris continued as though there'd been no interruption, "a scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs. Your locations? A haunted forest," he walked across to the other side of the television, "a scaaary pet cemetery, and an extra spooktastic cave. First team to each location gets a special clue," he said, the camera zooming in as he pointed towards the westernmost letter icon on the screen. "But watch out for booby traps," he added jovially as he moved his finger to one of the skulls, "I really went to town with them, heheh." The campers were shown watching warily.
"So move fast," the host added, "and stick together. You'll be penalized for each player you lose!"
"Umm, what's with the giant spider?" Cody asked nervously.
"Oh yeah," Chris answered as the shot zoomed in on the icon in question, "there's some kinda gigantic mutated spider sorta running around loose on the island."
The cast immediately started to voice there fears and protests, the shot zooming on on Bridgette in particular as she shivered and looked around, moaning "Oh no..." in terror.
XXX
"I get really freaked out by the woods," she admitted nervously. "At least on the beach you can tell what sounds are normal and which ones you need to run from. And there some things in the woods that running from is a bad idea and... I just don't like it."
XXX
"Now remember, there's nothing to fear but mortal terror itself! Talk soon," he added impishly, sounding his blowhorn once again.
The ten campers ran off towards the woods.
\
The footage flashed ahead to another shot of the full moon over the forested hills of Wawanakwa, an owl hooting as the scene cut down to ground level. The logo of the Toxic Rats appeared in the corner of the screen just before the team itself did, running up and stopping in front of a tree with a loudspeaker set up in its branches.
"First place! That's right~," Lightning cheered just before the loudspeaker whined into activity.
"Welcome to the Haunted Forest!" Chris announced over it, the shot panning downward to show the four Rats gathering around a small crack in the ground. "Your clue can be found at the base of this tree!" Lightning reached into the hole...and screamed in pain as something metallic snapped inside the hole.
"Inside a bear trap," Chris finished his announcement with a laugh as the uber-jock glared at the loudspeaker.
Lightning withdrew his hand from the hole, the trap clamped down firmly on his arm – though he was at least clutching a note in his hand. "Here Singer Girl! Read the clue," he said, passing it to a mildly shocked Ella. Just as the princess was about to read it, the sound of approaching footsteps distracted her and her teammates.
"Well well well," Jo commented from the front of the six Maggots. "Look what we have here."
"Hey!" Lightning shot at her. "Find your own piece of paper!"
"Let the runts have their clue," Jo said, looking back towards her teammates. "I've got a plan," she said, running ahead and waving for her teammates to follow.
\
The shot cut to the Maggots as they stopped at a clearing further along the trail. "So, what's the plan?" Cody asked the girl in front.
"Find a place to hide so we can follow the Rats and their clue to our first souvenir," she answered. "Into that bush!" She said as she dived and painfully tried to hide in a thorn bush.
The rest of the Maggots looked at each other, then ran off to their own hiding spots. Ezekiel jumped up and started climbing a tree; Beardo hid behind another one, his hair still very visible; and Bridgette and Angel hid behind the thorn bush.
"Shh," Jo hissed, "They're coming."
"Inside a knot is a nest," Ella read as the scene cut to the Rats. "Your souvenir lives with a pest. Find Polaris to travel northwest? Polaris is the North Star."
Natasha pointed up at the sky, then toward the right.
"That way's northwest?" Lily asked to which the mastermind nodded.
"Sha-look!" Lightning declared. "A path!" He ran off eagerly, the rest of his teammates following suit.
"They're getting away!" Jo hissed as the rest of her teammates came out of their hiding spots.
\
The Rats' logo reappeared as the footage skipped ahead again to them running along through the woods; Ella in back then Lily, Lightning, and Natasha in front.
"Inside a knot is a nest...a souvenir...then something...," Lily muttered to herself as the shot zoomed in on her. "Hey Ella, what was the rest of that poem again?" she called back without taking her eyes off the path ahead.
When she didn't get an answer she immediately skidded to a stop. "Ella?!" she yelled in rising panic, and looked back to see nobody behind her.
The shot cut back to show that the rest of the Rats had stopped in their tracks as Natasha raised an eyebrow.
Lily gulped. "We get a penalty for each player we lose right?" she asked nervously.
"And there's some kinda wacked out spider crawlin' around right?!" Lightning said, gripping the sides of his head in panic. The shot cut outward as he did so, showing a large purple spider crawling down through the shadows of the forest trees.
Natasha snapped his fingers in front of their faces and pointed off to the right; the camera quick-panned over to a large tree with a noticeable hollow knot in the trunk with the hints of a nest inside; a few green and red marks had been spray-painted on the bark under it.
"There it is!" Lightning said, immediately rushing towards it, "Sha-score! We'll look for Singer Girl after we get the souvenir." He started climbing up the trunk as the rest of his team ran up to join him, and soon began to root through the tree hollow with one arm.
Suddenly, a large eye opened up inside the hollow and stared directly at him. He screamed, and several squid-like tentacles reached out of the tree's other hollows. One quickly grabbed him around the neck and held him up, while another gave him a few wet slaps then poked him in the eye.
"Ow! Ow! My eye!" he yelped in pain and terror. In response the tentacle tightened its grip, and Lightning began to choke.
"Aaahh! What do we do!?" Lily yelled, gripping her head in panic.
Natasha looked around, then bent down and picked up a handful of small stones. He then nudged Lily with his elbow and mimed throwing one of the rocks.
"Got it!" Lily said as she picked up a rock of her own and both began throwing them at the creature, but they seemed to be hitting Lightning more than the mutant squid-tree monster. Eventually, the thing just raised its captive up even higher, then slammed him down onto the ground and hissed at the others.
"RUN!" Lily shouted, turning to flee as a tentacle shot towards the two villains, forcing them to scatter. Unfortunately, Lily was unable to get away in time and was lifted up by the leg.
"Why is it always me?!" Lily cried in pain as the mutant began to punch her in the stomach with a curled-up tentacle.
The sounds of pain and wet punches caused Lightning to stir...and quickly become angry. "No calamari does that to the Lightning or his girl!" he declared, getting back on his feet and climbing up the tree-squid's trunk while it was distracted. "Sha-bam!" he cried as he punched the mutant in the eye.
The beast bellowed in pain, dropping Lily and retracting into its tree.
Lightning reached into the knot once again, quickly and triumphantly pulling out a brass key. "Aw yeah! The key!" he called down to his teammates...just before a strand of spider's webbing shot down from above, sticking on to his head and pulling him away into the treetops.
The key dropped down to the forest floor, and landed in front of Lily who grinned when she saw it, unaware of what had just happened. "Score! We got the key! Great job Rudy." Once again she received no response as Natasha rejoined her.
"Rudy?!" she yelled out in concern. "RUDY?!"
As she panic the shot changed to a perspective further away, and the footage switched to an infrared shot of the two Rats.
Natasha grabbed the key from her and waved it in her face, then frantically pointed off into the distance.
"We've lost two players!" Lily retorted. "One of them was our strongest! We need to look for them."
Natasha waved her off dismissively, then patted himself on the chest.
"You want me to trust you?" Lily said nervously as the scene returned to normal, "You're trying to convince me to ditch our teammates!" Just then, the six Maggots arrived on the scene.
Lily quickly stopped panicking and stepped to the front of the group. "No luck here," she said with disappointment, "You wanna see if Ella and Rudy had better luck?" she looked back and asked the mastermind.
He nodded his agreement, backing up with Lily before turning and running off.
"Ooh! Ooh! I see something!" Angel piped up excitedly, pointing off to the camera's right – the direction of the squid-tree. "I think it has our colors on it!" The camera briefly cut over to the knot in question, with a focus on the marks below it in the two teams' colors.
"Could be a trap," Jo told the team. "We should send in our most expendable player."
"No one's expendable!" Cody shot at her in outrage as Beardo walked off screen.
"Do you wanna play nice?" she asked the geek as she got in his face. "Or do you wanna win?"
A two-note whistle got their attention, and the camera cut to Beardo who was in the tree's hollow and holding out a key. He made a move to climb down, but misstepped and fell from the tree. The key flew out of his hands and landed in front of Angel and Bridgette.
"Awesome!" Bridgette said. "Great job Beardo!"
XXX
"The boys are kinda the only reason we've been on our winning streak," Bridgette confessed. "But because they're not athletic Jo treats them like crap." She sighed. "Why does Chris always have to accept horrible people for this show?"
XXX
"I don't think Jo's a bad person," Angel confessed. "Maybe all she needs is someone to be nice to her!"
XXX
The static cut back to Angel. "Jo, do you think-" she began to say, but stopped when she noticed Jo wasn't paying attention to her. Before she could say anything, however, a line of spider silk shot down from the treetops, wrapped around her mouth, and pulled her up out of sight.
The camera cut over to Jo, Bridgette, Cody, and Ezekiel, who had just regrouped with Beardo. "Well there was something there, so either the Rats wanted to throw us off or-" he paused and furrowed his brow, looking behind his teammates. "Wait, where's Angel?"
The other four looked behind them and everyone aside from Jo gasped. "Oh no, Angel!" Bridgette cried out. "Angel!" she called out, beginning to run around the area. "Angel, where are you?!"
Jo rolled her eyes. "Aaand we call off the search and forge ahead. Let's go."
"We can't just leave her behind!" Cody retorted in anger.
"Angel!" Bridgette cried out from off-screen.
"We're not leaving her," Jo shot back. "She left us. Now let's go!"
XXX
"Besides, with all her constant flirting with Bridgette, she would've just slowed us down anyway," Jo added in the confessional.
XXX
"I've been thinking," Lily said as the scene moved back to her and Natasha running through the forest. "If this is a challenge, then Rudy and Ella have to be at the last souvenir. What do you think?" she asked causing him to look back.
Natasha nodded his agreement.
XXX
"Admittedly, trying to send Lily home was a mistake," he confessed. "But while any other strategist would continue focusing on the one goal, I prefer to adapt to the situation and learn from my mistakes."
"And what I've learned is Lily is now in control of the team and has noticeable trust issues. Which means all I have to do is agitate those issues to get her to eliminate the player of my choice, and then she'll take the blame for my actions."
XXX
"Okay, enough with the chatter," Lily said, snatching the key from Natasha and jogging ahead. "Let's win this thing!" The mastermind followed her, but the camera kept its focus on Lily as she passed a tree stump, then a rock; then stepped on a mysterious clump of dirt...which exploded and sent her flying.
Natasha stopped immediately, the shot showing only the shock and occasional glow on his face as he watched Lily get launched from one land mine to the next off-screen.
The camera finally cut back to her, singed and groaning on the ground in an awkward but still holding the Rats' key. The Maggots approached her moments later - Jo in front, then Beardo, Cody, Ezekiel, and Bridgette bringing up the rear. "Thanks for clearing the way!" Jo taunted as she ran past the cynic.
"Angel! Angel!" Bridgette yelled out.
With a pained groan, Lily's body collapsed into a flatter position.
\
The scene cut to the lantern-lit cemetery. The camera panned left across its headstones and crosses, several of which were pet-themed, to the entrance as the five remaining Mutant Maggots arrived, huffing and puffing from their run.
"Welcome to the Wawanakwa Pet Cemetery!" Chris greeted them over the loudspeaker.
"See Shortstuff, we're first," Jo said with the key in her hand as she wrapped an arm around Cody's shoulder. "Now go get the clue!" she added as she pushed the geek away.
The camera cut in close as he opened the lid to a small coffin in an open grave, revealing a ragged piece of paper within bearing a list of numbers: 5 in the first row; 5 in the second; 5 in the third. Notably, while most of the numbers were plain black there were three 6s and the 18 were all an eye-catching red. "That's not good," Cody said with a nervous chuckle.
"Let's fan out and look for numbers!" Jo said as the perspective cut back to its usual sideview.
"By ourselves?" Bridgette asked nervously.
\
"Okay, you can handle this. You're only in a creepy cemetery in the middle of the night looking for three 6s, it's no big deal," Beardo said warily as he backed through the graveyard. "Good news is, no spider monsters. I think I'm safe," he told himself, pausing to smile. "Now, lets see if I can find any numbers..."
He turned around and started examining the nearest headstone, and the shot cut to a view from afar, the footage switching back to infrared. The monster serving as the camera's viewpoint blinked, and when it opened its eyes it had gotten much closer to the beatboxer, and had extended four sharp limbs with tiny claws on the end towards him...
Beardo's scream echoed through the cemetery, quickly catching the attention of Cody, Jo, Bridgette, and Ezekiel as they looked up in shock. "Beardo?" the geek asked out in concern, the footage quickly skipping ahead to show all four arriving at the location the hairy young man had been snatched from.
"I could've sworn he was just here," Cody said in confusion.
He, Ezekiel and Bridgette gasped. "Where'd he go eh?" Ezekiel asked in mild terror.
"Oh well," Jo said plainly. "Two words: Dead. Weight."
"Beardo might be a little weird," Ezekiel said in mild anger, "but he's still a person eh."
"Yeah, I'm getting real tired of your attitude," Bridgette told her.
"It's called a winning attitude," Jo told her as her three teammates crossed their arms and glared at her. "Get used to it, or get out of the way."
\
The scene flashed to the Rats, who were walking through the pet cemetery, stopping to check the headstones as they passed by. The camera focused on Natasha as he squinted and looked around, quickly spotting something and smiling. He nudged something off-screen, the camera zooming out to show the cynic giving him her attention. He pointed off to the right, the camera panning over to show Ezekiel next a large, grimy coffin propped upright against a couple statues.
"Hey!" Lily called out as she and Natasha approached, "You're that homeschooled guy from my sister's team right? Where's the rest of you guys?"
"Well Jo, Cody and Bridgette went off to find the rest of the clues," the homeschooler told her. "But Angel and Beardo were captured by the spider."
"Angel was WHAT?!" Lily screeched in shock, but any reply Ezekiel had was interrupted by Fang bursting out of the coffin with a menacing grin.
"AAAAHHHHH!" The homeschooler ran away screaming.
Fang moved to chase after him. The camera followed Ezekiel as he ran past two open graves, one of which with a mound of dirt in front of it.
The mutant shark followed his quarry, but where Ezekiel ran past the mound of dirt Fang tripped over it. The shark fell into the open grave and growled, and Ezekiel walked over to it and wiped the sweat from his brow.
A line of webbing shot in from the left, wrapped around Ezekiel's head, and dragged him off with a muffled cry for help.
\
The scene cut to Chris, who was watching feeds of both teams on a trio of monitors and laughing hysterically. "Will anyone make it to the spooky cave?" he turned and asked the camera, holding a covered cup with a straw in it. "And if so, how can they possibly make it all the way to the finish line? Less brain, more pain, when we return!" he said, finishing with a sip of his drink.
\
(Commercial Break)
\
The episode resumed with a shot panning down from yet another shot of the moon onto Jo, Cody, and Bridgette walking through the pet cemetery, the latter two keeping their backs towards each other.
"Don't you think Zeke should've been back by now?" Cody asked.
"He's the one that went off on his own," Jo said dismissively. "Whatever happens is his fault."
"Hey guys," Bridgette called out, gaining the attention of both, "I think I found something over there!" The shot cut to a large headstone. "See?" the surfer said as the shot came in for a close-up, detailing both a skull mark and a date engraved below it. "June 06, 1806," Bridgette read. "That's 6, 6, 18, 6, right?"
"Yeah!" Cody said with a smile. "Good eye, and look," the camera cut back to the headstone's close-up as the geek pointed a finger at the skull mark's oddly-shaped nose hole, "there's a keyhole too."
The shot cut back out to show the whole group as Jo inserted the key, turned it, and was promptly flung backward out of sight by a large, spring-loaded coffin bursting out of a trap door in the ground.
Cody laughed while Bridgette asked "You okay?"
"Very funny," Jo said bitterly. "Just check the stupid coffin."
"Check it out!" Cody called out. "We got flashlights!" The camera cut to the inside of the now-opened coffin, revealing several flashlights standing on a shelf in it.
"Awesome," Bridgette smiled, as Jo rejoined them. "Let's grab them."
Cody smiled and scooped up the flashlights, then ran off with Bridgette. Jo lingered long enough to close the coffin and shove it back into its hole, then ran off to join them.
The camera panned in the opposite direction, eventually stopping on a large tree. After a moment Lily leaned out from behind it, followed by Natasha stooped over her. The two Rats met eyes and nodded, then ran out into the open and to the grave they'd just seen their rivals make use of.
"Okay," Lily said as she slowly reached out to put their key into the keyhole, "we have to do this carefully so we don't get flung."
Natasha nodded and moved to the other side of the headstone.
Lily bent over, turned the key, and was flung off-screen when the spring-loaded coffin caught her in the chin. Natasha winced at the sound of her crash, and Lily moaned "Why do these things always happen to me?!"
\
The footage flashed to Jo and Cody standing before the entrance to a cave, the mouth flanked on either side by flags bearing the team logos.
"Welcome to your final destination!" Chris announced over an unseen loudspeaker, laughing evilly before adding "The clue is just inside the entrance...aaand down the tunnel...into total darkness. Good luck! Yooouuu'll neeeeed iiit!"
Cody gulped and Jo snatched a flashlight from him. "Follow my lead Pencil Neck," she told him as she turned it on and walked into the cave.
"Wait," Cody said with a hint of anxiousness, "Where's Bridgette?"
"Who cares?" Jo answered back, her words echoing from inside the cave.
Cody lingered for a second, before running off and calling "Bridgette?!"
\
The scene flashed inside and Jo peered around with her flashlight. "It's so hard to find good help these days," she said as she noticed what appeared to be the skeleton of an intern suspended in a web, a note taped to its tattered plaid shirt. "And there's the clue," Jo remarked, looking closely at the note then reaching out and lightly touching the web. "By hook or by crook the end is near if you look," she read.
"Ugh, who wrote these?" she asked, "William Shakespea-gah!" She was interrupted by a line of webbing shooting down from the ceiling and wrapping around her body and head, and she struggled to break free. "Hey! How dare you?" she asked before she was pulled up and away with a "Noooo!"
\
The scene cut to a close-up of Cody's sneakers as he ran through the graveyard. The camera cut outward as he ran up to Bridgette, who were wandering the area with flashlights in her hand, and said "Hey, Jo and I found the cave. Let's go!"
"What about Angel?" Bridgette asked warily.
"Well if video games can be believed," Cody told her, "then that cave is where the spider is. And if the spider took our teammates, that's where we'll find them."
"R-r-right," Bridgette said, trying to seem determined but coming across as scared.
\
The scene flashed back to the cave entrance. "Jo!" Cody called out as the shot cut to him, and Bridgette standing just inside, flashlights already turned on. "Jo, where are you?"
"Uh, Cody," Bridgette said as she pointed out the jock-ette's discarded flashlight.
"Well that's not good," Cody said nervously.
XXX
"I don't really like Jo, but with her and Zeke gone I was kinda starting to question how we were gonna win this challenge," the geek admitted. "Bridgette and me aren't exactly capable of fighting off a giant spider."
XXX
"Look over there!" Bridgette piped up as the static cut away to the two Maggots walking through the cave. The camera panned ahead along their beams of light to show a creepy skull-like rock with several metal hooks sticking out of it, and the two smiled.
"Those must be the last souvenirs," Cody said with a hint of determination, rushing over to the skull-shaped rock. "We must still be in the lead."
"Wait, Cody, watch out!" Bridgette cried out in sudden panic.
"Huh?" the geek said, looking back nervously just as a line of web shot down from the ceiling and quickly wrapped him up, encasing just about everything but his head. "Oh no," he moaned before getting hauled up by the spider. It hissed at him menacingly and he screamed in terror, and with a hiss the spider tossed him to the side.
He landed on a larger web suspended in the ceiling, and the shot zoomed out to reveal that the others who'd been captured were within – Ella, Lightning, Angel, Beardo, Ezekiel, and Jo.
"Who's landed in the web now?" Jo asked. "Malibu? Silent Treatment? Dye Job? Come on, don't leave me hanging."
"Just me," Cody said, more annoyed than before. "Shortstuff."
"Wow," the jock-ette said, clearly impressed. "You lasted longer than I expected."
XXX
"You know what's sad?" Cody asked. "That's the nicest thing she's said all season."
XXX
The shot cut back down to the cave floor, Bridgette still looking up nervously just as Lily and Natasha finally arrived on the scene.
"Well, I guess we've found the right place," Lily commented in a dry shock, moving her flashlight to the hook-bearing skull-rock.
Natasha nodded, then pointed up at the ceiling. The camera followed his gaze to the web full of captives. "Angel! Rudy!" Lily cried out in relief. "You're okay!"
"Lily! Look out!" Angel called out in concern.
Lily looked up at the giant hissing spider, "Man that's one ugly spider."
The spider seemed to take offense to that, narrowing its eyes and shrieking. It turned around and shot a line of silk out of its abdomen toward the three campers; all of them shrieked, but only Natasha and Bridgette were able to duck away in time. The webbing hit Lily and quickly wrapped her up, and seconds later the spider pulled her up to the ceiling and threw her screaming into the web without a further gesture.
"Oh crap, what do we do?!" Bridgette asked in a panic, her hands gripping her head and her legs separated.
Natasha smirked and ran off to the clue, only to trip on the surfer's outstretched feet and fall on the ground. Moments later a string of web wrapped around him; he gave an utterly unamused look to the camera.
"Oh no," Bridgette said in a panic. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
"Bridgette!" Angel called out in concern
"Worry about us first, sis," Lily spoke up nervously. " Because we're trapped by a giant SPIDERRRR!" she screamed, the shot cutting outward to show the giant mutant arachnid crawling towards them, its fangs dripping green venom.
"Somebody do something!" Ella shouted, snapping Bridgette out of her panic.
The spider was hissing right at Angel, and the shot cut in for for a close-up of the girl's sweating, trembling, and utterly terrified face. "Bridgette help me!" she yelled out as the camera panned over to Lily's twitchy, trembling, and utterly angry face.
And then, with a yell of "Don't. Touch. My. SISTER!", Lily burst free of her silken cocoon - causing her sister to fall from the web in the process - and tackled the giant spider clear off the web. They swung away on a line of silk attaching the spider to the ceiling, and the cynic began to pound furiously on the back of the mutant's abdomen.
XXX
"I will do anything to protect my sister," she explained calmly.
XXX
Angel fell screaming into Bridgette's arms. "Oh," she said shyly as the surfer gently set her down. "Nice catch."
"Yeah," the surfer said softly. "You are." The two girls blushed and started to lean in.
"Hey Lovebirds!" Jo called out from off screen, causing the two to snap out of their trance. "The challenge!"
"But what about you and the boys?" Angel called back. "We can't just leave you!"
"Go Quiet Dude, go!" Lightning called out suddenly, and the camera panned to the skull-rock, revealing that Natasha had managed to get himself upright, walk over to the rock, and pull a hook from it. He smirked, then started - rather slowly - to the left.
"Hurry up!" Jo yelled out again.
"Wait, no, stop!" Ezekiel hurriedly called out from the web as he and the others watched Angel and Bridgette pull a hook from the stone and run off while Natasha trudged on. "You're gonna make us lose eh!" Ezekiel finished his objection.
Jo huffed in annoyance. "No they're not," she countered.
The two Maggot girls quickly looked around, spotting a zipline tied to a nearby stalagmite that led down over an underground cliff. They smiled and ran towards it while; and after a few moments Natasha smirked and continued his progress.
The two managed to reach the start of the line at about the same time. Bridgette hooked herself onto the line and took off with Angel holding on to her back just as Ezekiel cried out "NO!"
Natasha finally reached the zipline and took off, but the shot quickly cut to Lily and the spider, the redheaded twin now jumping up and down on the mutant's back.
"You wanna be a bully?" she asked it. "Let's see how you like it when someone fights back!" The shot cut to the stalactite the spider's line was attached to, the rock beginning to crack. "Yeah," Lily continued, "not so fun is it?!"
With one final jump the silk line snapped, sending her and the spider to the floor and causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. Those stuck in the web screamed as dust filled the air, and there was an ominous snap followed by thuds and grunts. The dust dissipated to reveal that all the captives – as well as the web itself – had fallen to the cave floor.
Several groans filled the air as everyone tried to recover, the silken prisons beginning to unravel.
\
The scene cut to near-complete darkness, lit only by the eyes of some unknown creatures – and two known ones, based on their screams. Angel and Bridgette zipped through the darkness screaming, with Natasha silently zipping past a few seconds later, and soon enough made it to the other side – a smaller tunnel in the side of a cliff face, with the zip line tied to the end of a small stalactite on an overhang just outside. The girls arrived first and dropped when their hook slammed into the end of the line; Natasha arrived moments later, and landed on top of the blondes when his hook slammed to a stop as well.
The shot panned down to them as they quickly shook away the effects of the impact and started to get to their feet. "We made it!" Bridgette said, dusting off her clothes.
"Looks like both teams made it out," Chris chimed in, walking up from the left and looking the three over. "Mostly, anyway. Today's winning team iiiiss," he announced, pausing for effect, "the Rats!"
Natasha immediately sighed in relief, but the blondes just looked dumbfounded. "What?" Bridgette asked. "But me and Angel got here first!"
"True," the host admitted, "but remember when I said stick together, 'cause there'd be a penalty for each team member you lost?" He placed a hand on Bridgette shoulder, and said "Yeah, you guys lost four. Natasha only lost three. So, the Rats totally win!"
The two girls hung their heads in depressed defeat.
\
The scene cut back to the cave as Lily approached the camera coughing. She looked down and gasped. "What the?" The perspective inverted and the camera panned across what looked like a canister of artificial webbing, nuts and bolts and the tattered remains of a spider costume, and the all-too-familiar legs and torso and arms and groaning head of Kitsune.
"Ow...," the goofball groaned, holding her head as she got to her feet. "I so didn't get paid enough for this," she said, glaring at Lily before walking off into the caves.
The other teens just watched her go with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"...huh," Lily said after a moment.
XXX
"Turns out Chris brought back a classic competitor to mess with us," she explained in the confessional. "I feel kinda bad now," she admitted sheepishly.
XXX
The footage flashed ahead to all of the Mutant Maggots except Jo assembled at the steps leading up to their cabin. The camera focused on Cody, who was standing on the ground in front of the others. "So we're obviously voting out Jo right? I mean she's a horrible person."
"I don't know," Angel replied. "I know she's a little abrasive but if we just give her another chance I'm sure she'll change!"
"You didn't hear what she said after you were captured," Bridgette said bitterly.
"It makes sense that we lost eh," Ezekiel spoke up. "We have more girls than they do."
Cody gasped, Beardo imitated a record scratch, and the two blonde girls turned their angry gazes upon him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Bridgette asked.
Beardo made a warning alarm sound.
"Well, guys are much stronger an' better at sports than girls are." Ezekiel explained, oblivious to his teammates' growing anger.
"Zeke, stop talking." Cody said nervously.
"My Dad told me to look out for the girls here eh, and to help 'em if they can't keep up." Ezekiel continued, digging himself deeper.
Angel gasped. "How could you believe such a thing?"
"I don't agree with him." Cody interrupted moving to separate Ezekiel from the two blondes. "But he grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere! It's probably all he's seen. It's not like he thinks guys are smarter than girls, right?"
"But they are!" Ezekiel said. Cody and Beardo palmed their faces.
XXX
"I tried to help him," Cody told the confessional.
XXX
The scene cut to a shot of the island at night, the camera zooming in then cutting to the six Mutant Maggots at the campfire pit – Cody and Jo together on the left side of the back row with their arms crossed; Angel and Bridgette on the front left; Beardo on the back right; and Ezekiel on the front right.
"Team Maggot, welcome to your first elimination ceremony," Chris began as Chef walked up in his hazmat suit carrying the box containing the Toxic Marshmallow. "And I gotta say, given some of the less than useful players on your team I'm surprised it took this long." The shot cut in close to Jo and Cody as the jock-ette nodded her agreement. "But who the useless ones are depends on who you ask! Right Zeke?"
The homeschooler looked down in shame.
"Maybe it's Angel or Bridgette," Chris added with an almost taunting tone as the shot cut to the girls, who promptly stiffened and looked down. "They did cost you guys the challenge after all," the host laughed.
"The following players are safe," Chris said, holding up the first marshmallow from his own platter. "Cody."
The geek caught his prize with a smile, and stuck his tongue out at Jo.
"Bridgette." The surfer raised her head and caught her marshmallow with a scowl.
"Beardo," the host continued, the beatboxer smiling in delight before getting hit in the forehead with his treat.
"And Angel," Chris finished, the blonde seeming almost shocked as she caught her marshmallow in open hands.
"Which leaves, Ezekiel and Jo," Chris announced, the shot pulling back to show the homeschooler gulping nervously and the jock-ette sitting up straighter. "And the loser is...," he said with an impish smile, pausing for effect.
"Ezekiel."
Ezekiel, thoroughly dejected, got up and started to trudge to the exit. "Looks like old-school values and reality TV just don't mix!" Chris commented happily.
Ezekiel stopped, looked back at the faces of his former teammates, and opened his mouth. "I guess I was wrong about...a bunch a' stuff, I guess. Sorry, eh."
The point-of-view shifted to the front of Ezekiel as he walked off, only for Chris to grab his arm and stop him. "Oh, I guess I forgot the Marshmallow."
Chris and Chef looked at one another and shared a mischievous smile, and the cook walked forward with his strongbox still shut tight. He presented it to Ezekiel, who cringed in anticipation as it was slowly opened...revealing nothing inside.
"What?" Ezekiel said in confusion.
"Hah!" Chris laughed. "You see, tonight's eliminated Maggot is tomorrow's new Rat."
"So, I'm not taking the Hurl of Shame?" Ezekiel asked.
"Nope," Chris answered with a smug grin. "From now on, you and the people who just voted you out will be on opposing teams," the host added.
"Thanks eh!" the homeschooler said happily. "I won't let this happen again!"
"Whatever," Chris said, rolling his eyes. "Kinda disappointing no one's going for a catapult ride, though." He looked over at Chef, who'd returned to his side and taken off his protective helmet.
\
The scene flashed to the Dock of Shame, Chef in the catapult's bucket with Chris standing nearby.
"Chris, man, why am I up here again?" the cook asked nervously, an inflatable duck-shaped inner tube around his waist.
"Because somebody needs to get hurled tonight," Chris explained as he walked over to the catapult's lever. "Plus, I'm giving you a flotation device so you can swim back."
The duck-shaped float suddenly deflated, startling the cook. "Yo Chris! I need a new-" he tried to say, interrupted by Chris pulling the lever and launching him screaming "DUUUUUUUUUCK!" into the night sky.
"Wanna know who I'm gonna catapult off the island next?" he turned and asked the camera as the capstone theme began to play. "You'll have to come back and find out, right here on Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!"
Author's Note Post Script: And thus we come to the team swap. Why Zeke and not Jo? Tow reasons. First, The Rats have enough antagonists to deal with. And second, think back to Dodgebrawl all the way back in season one. Like with Noah there are plenty of fics where Zeke doesn't get eliminated on his canon episode. However it's always the same thing, he says something along the lines to someone before they get to the main lodge and that person tells him how the world really works.
I knew I wanted to keep Zeke around for longer than a couple of episodes, and the team swap gave me the perfect opportunity. Now I can keep him in the game, and he still says all the crap that got him eliminated. Plus, I can give some character development with him dealing with the girls on his new team. One of which won't trust him.
Also I get to keep the main source of conflict within the Maggots. Jo and Cody's rivalry is fun to write because this is a side of Cody we very rarely got to see in canon, and I can drown out his more creepy aspects. Angel and Bridgette continue to grow closer, and Beardo's trying to work up the courage to ask out Ella.
As far as the Rats, it's pretty much all centered around Natasha and Lily. Those are some dynamics I'm really excited to work with in the coming weeks.
Kitsune being the spider here just seemed to be so obvious a choice to me, and it gave me a chance to show Lily's more caring side. Something else we'll be seeing as the season progresses.
And as always I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something.
I hope you all enjoyed the episode, or some part of it.
With that I'm signing off
-TotalDramaFan14
RDRotI ELIMINATION TABLE:
13th Place: Sam
12th Place: Gary
11th Place: Eva