Zoey found herself floating in a white space of nothingness. She turned her head one way, then the other, searching for anything or anyone other than herself.
Suddenly...
[Zoey...]
Zoey snapped to attention as she tried to figure out who was calling her, and where that person was. Again, the voice called out to her.
[Zoey...]
"Hello? Who's there?"
[A friend, Zoey. A friend.]
Zoey suddenly came to a realization.
"Wait! Does this mean... I... and you as well..."
[No. This is not, and we are not...]
Zoey looked upwards, towards an imaginary ceiling.
"What happened to you? The last time I saw you..."
[I know. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to believe that Scott has betrayed us.]
"Kinda late on the uptake, girl."
[Only you can stop them, Princess! You must find the eight...]
The voice faded away before she could finish her sentence.
"The eight? Eight what? And when will I get to see you again?"
Zoey listened for a response, but there was.
"Hello? HELLO! How do I get out of here?"
Zoey opened her eyes, and saw that Ezekiel's face was just inches away from hers. He had a murderous look on his face, and that made Zoey remember that he was trying to cut her head off. But, to her relief, as her eyes darted down and to her right, Ezekiel had missed, and his scythe was planted firmly in the ground.
Seeing that he had failed, Ezekiel sneered before rising upwards towards the ceiling, disappearing from battle. The second he was completely off of the field, his scythe dematerialized as well.
"He missed?" questioned Anna Marie. "HOW?"
Anna Marie's secretary pulled out a pocket laser pistol, which he used to shoot Zoey. The hit resulted in '24' points of damage...
"OUCH!" cried Zoey.
She started gasping for breath as she clutched her left arm with her right hand. She was down to '1' life point, but it was now her turn.
She just hoped it was not her last.
Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
And with that cold open, here's a plot-advancement episode! Oh, and the conclusion of the party's battle with Anna Marie. 'Cause that's important too.
Disclaimer: The characters of the 'Total Drama' series belong to Fresh TV, Inc., Teletoon, and Cartoon Network, not me. Any songs used are property of the respective owners and such, except when noted as parody.
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Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Episode 8 [34]: Eight What? (11.19.12)
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Zoey pulled out a bottle of Strawberry Sauce and threw it at Brick. He was revived instantaneously, and he got back to his feet.
"Thanks!" he said in return.
Vito growled. "What's all this then?"
He raised his laser rifle and fired at Brick. It only did '7' damage.
"Hmph," huffed Brick. "Is that all you got?"
Princess Anna Marie charged for Brick, giving him a hard slap across the face with her right hand. Again, though, the damage was minimal, as it cost him '3' life points. The secretary aimed at Princess Zoey, in another attempt to take her out. But she dodged it.
Brick pulled out Gwen's marble, contemplating whether to summon her or not. After a few seconds, he put it back into his pocket and instead pulled out a Strawberry Sauce from his pack in order to bring Cameron back to life.
"I'm alive again!" he squeaked.
Cameron pulled out the Spirit Marble he had equipped.
"This one? But..."
He was just learning that Mike had changed his out since their last battle. Despite that, he decided to use it anyway.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 10, ready to summon!]
"I can do this!" Cameron told himself.
He tossed the marble hard at the ground. Trent emerged from the resulting smoke cloud a few seconds later.
[Trent, the Cool Guy! He is a spirit! Do not die!]
"Alright," Trent said coolly. "What can I help you with, man?"
[Trent's Attacks... Number 1! Tune Up!]
Trent pulled out his guitar and played a few chords. A few seconds later, Brick was engulfed in an orange pillar of light.
[Brick's attack power increased!]
The pillar disappeared and so did Trent. But the stat boost effect stayed. Zoey used her turn to heal herself, as she pulled out a bottle of Crystal Juice and downed it in one gulp. She restored '50' life points, which was more than enough.
Vito was next to go, but he suddenly clutched his stomach in pain.
"What's wrong?" Zoey asked, concerned.
"I knew I had one too many Coney Isles," Vito grumbled, although that was not the real reason why he was hurting.
[Vito is unable to move!]
Anna Marie charged forward and slapped Brick for the second consecutive turn. Her secretary pulled out a Crystal Juice and used it on his princess. But it was pretty much wasted, since she had not been hit yet in the battle.
"Thanks!" she complimented anyway, unaware of that fact.
Brick once more reached for Gwen's marble, but this time, it was not a fake out. He was summoning her.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 03, ready to summon!
Gwen, the Loner! She is a spirit! Do not die!]
Gwen, for once, seemed enthusiastic to battle.
[Gwen's Attacks... Number 2! B.T.T.H.]
Gwen charged at Anna Marie's secretary and promptly gave him a hard boot to the head! The hit resulted in him taking '27' points of damage. Gwen smirked, pleased with her work, before departing the battle. The secretary, meanwhile, shook his head in dismay.
"..."
He then ran from the battle.
"HEY!" yelled Anna Marie. "Come back here, you twit!"
Cameron and Zoey used their turns to attack Anna Marie with well-aimed laser shots, causing '8' and '13' damage, respectively. Vito, meanwhile, was back in fighting form after his stomach stopped aching, and he took another shot at Zoey.
"Why, Mike, why?" cried Zoey, after taking the '20' point hit.
Next up...
"Oh, you're gonna get it now," said Anna Marie, with a grin on her face.
[Anna Marie is preparing to attack.]
Brick fired at Anna Marie and got a critical hit, as she lost '40' life points as a result of the shot.
"I swear," she said, "I'm winnin' this! And when I do... OFF WITH ALL YOU MUG'S HEADS!"
Zoey took out a Spirit Marble and used it.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 17, ready to summon!]
"Please help me, wise spirit!" Zoey begged.
A few seconds later, the spirit inside Number 17 emerged.
[Cody, the Geek! He is a spirit! He's not wearing underwear!]
"Why do you insist on telling people that?" Cody questioned, as he blushed red.
He pulled out a red rubber ball and prepared to attack.
[Cody's Attacks... Number 1! Weapon of Destiny!]
"Here goes everything!" Cody exclaimed.
He reared back and threw the red ball right at Anna Marie's face. It hit her dead-on, causing a whopping '4' points of damage.
[Anna Marie has been inflicted with Rage status.]
"Uh oh," gulped Cody. "Time to go!"
With that, Cody fled the scene. Cameron spent his turn taking another shot at Anna Marie, trying to whittle down her HP a little more. Vito, meanwhile, clutched his stomach as it started to act up once again.
"Hang in there, Mike!" shouted Cameron.
"For the last time, that's NOT my name!" barked Vito.
[Vito is unable to move!]
With that, it was Anna Marie's turn.
"Never, never, EVER doubt the power of the poof!"
[Hairspray Overdose]
Anna Marie pulled out an aerosol hairspray can and used it on her hair. As she did, chemicals sprayed out, quickly spreading all over the battlefield.
[Zoey has been poisoned!
Brick has been poisoned!
Cameron has been poisoned!
Vito has been poisoned!]
Everyone on the battlefield except for Anna Marie herself had been poisoned as the result of her using the entire can in one go. She then tossed the can aside without even a second thought.
"There! Much better!"
Brick decided to spend his turn helping out Zoey. He pulled out a black bottle labeled Sick-B-Gone, and tossed it at the redhead. She caught it and downed the contents in a matter of seconds.
[Zoey has been cured of poison!]
But in return for healing someone other than himself, Brick took poison damage instead, as a '7' appeared above his head. Zoey was next, and she took aim at Anna Marie.
"I'm taking the shot, and who cares if you're not okay with it!"
She fired, zapping away the last of her rival's life points.
"Are you kiddin' me?" questioned Anna Marie. "Do you know who I am? I am the Princess of Joisey! Nobody be disrespecting Joisey!"
"We beat you fair and square," Zoey said, "so give up Mike AND your Spirit Marbles!"
"FINE! These thangs were useless, anyway."
[Zoey, Brick, and Cameron each received 185 EXP.
Zoey leveled up!
Brick leveled up!
Cameron leveled up twice!
Party received 3000 C for winning!
Party received Marble 02 - DJ!
Party received Marble 16 - Ezekiel!
Party received Marble 21 - Justin!]
After the battle, the royal secretary, who had since returned, was holding out a pillow with the three Spirit Marbles his princess' team used in the battle. Zoey smiled as she took them and placed them in her case.
"Wait!" Anna Marie spoke up.
Zoey turned to her rival. Anna Marie took off the brass knuckles she had put on prior to the battle, and offered it to the redhead.
"You didn't earn it, but without any of them marbles, I gots no use for it. Yeah, that's it! I'm not giving it 'cause I believe you're the one true monarch of the entire planet or anythin'. I fig there will be a day when your crown will be rightfully mine."
"Um, okay? I guess I'll take that as a compliment."
[Party received the Double Wielder.]
Suddenly, everyone's attention turned to Vito, who shook his head as if he had something in it that needed getting rid of.
"Ugh. What happened? And where are we?"
Zoey smiled upon hearing Mike's voice.
"MIKE!"
She ran over and quickly hugged him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her body against his. Mike blushed.
"Okay, it's really going to suck if someone tells me I got to first base even though I don't remember it!"
"Yep," Zoey said with a smile. "Mike's back."
Zoey let go, giving Brick and Cameron a chance to hug Mike in relief.
"I, uh, we missed you," Cameron said, quickly correcting himself.
"Didn't know how we'd complete our mission without you, sir," stated Brick, in relief.
Anna Marie was confused.
"But... you said your name was Vito!"
"No," Mike denied. "It's Mike!"
"You... you mean you lied to a princess?"
"Huh? I don't remember lying about that!"
"Hmmm..." Zoey thought aloud. "Say, Mike? This morning, you were responding to the name Chester. Does that ring a bell?"
Mike chuckled. "What kind of name is Chester? C'mon, Zo, that's hilarious!"
The party members all looked at each other. Now they were confused.
"Does he really not remember?" thought Cameron.
Zoey looked at Mike again.
"Mike! Do you remember ANYTHING that happened today?"
Mike looked towards the ceiling, as he tried to recall the day's events.
"I remember waking up. Then Scott seeing us and challenging us to battle. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by medics in a moving carriage of some sort. Then..."
An hour ago, in the castle infirmary...
Mike was lying on a table, half-conscious as a nurse stood to his left, making some notes on a clipboard. Once he was done, he walked out of the room. The second he left, a red-haired doctor in scrubs walked in.
"My name is Doctor Bizzy," she said, "and everything will be fine once you take this medicine!"
She opened Mike's mouth with one hand and placed a green-colored lima bean inside it with her other. She then forcefully made Mike chew until he could swallow it.
"There you go! You're as crazy as me now! HA!"
With that, she left.
"Hold on one hair pickin' minute!" objected Anna Marie. "What female doctor? I have no stinkin' other women on staff!"
"Huh?" Zoey asked, surprised.
"I mean, why would I? If some beautiful prince were to come to try and sweeps me off my feet, I didn't want some other kook outshining me! That's why I only employ men!"
"Then..." Mike wondered, "who was she?"
Anna Marie shrugged. "I dunno. Some floozy lookin' for a cheap one-timer?"
Mike gasped. "Don't... don't even joke about that!"
Zoey looks around the throne room, and then suddenly makes a decision.
"It's been a long day, guys. Perhaps we should get some rest and resume our journey in the morning."
That made both Anna Marie and Cameron freak out.
"You can't stay here! Joisey is MY domain! I rule this kingdom!"
"Besides," Cameron added, "you said you didn't like this place!"
"I don't, Cam," Zoey said to him, before turning to Anna Marie. "But Mike's sudden memory loss and recurring stomach aches have me concerned. Besides, we need to figure out our next course of action before moving on. Oh, and Anna Marie? You may be the princess of Joisey, but I'm the princess of everything! If I ask you to do something, you have to comply."
Anna Marie sighed. "Fine. But if some prince trots through them doors while you're here, I call dibs! Got it?"
Zoey nodded. "I see no problem with that."
With that, the royal secretary led Princess Zoey and the others towards the guest chambers.
That evening...
Zoey was sitting alone in the castle library, which was illuminated only by candelabra with three lit candles in it. Her eyes were reading from a brown, hardcover book, while several more sat on the table in front of her in two piles: ones she had already gone through, and ones she still had to.
The royal secretary appeared, rolling up a cart that had about 30 scrolls or so on it.
"Here's all the news reports on Spirit Marble sightings and the Intergalactic War that I could get on short notice, Princess Zoey. I should warn you, most of these are based on rumors, at best."
"That will be fine," Zoey said in reply. "You did well for such short notice."
He bowed before her. "Thank you."
He started to head out, leaving the cart behind. But he stopped, remembering something.
"Oh! Princess, the one who calls himself Mike wishes to speak with you."
"Yes. Let him in."
With that, he exited the room. A few seconds later, Mike came in. He sat down next to Zoey, but she did not immediately acknowledge him, as she was intently focused on finishing the page she was on first.
Mike decided to break the silence beforehand.
"So... what are you up to?"
Zoey stopped, deciding to immediately tell Mike about the strange vision she had during the battle with Anna Marie.
"She was the other researcher in your group, wasn't she?" asked Mike, connecting the vision to Zoey's earlier story.
"Yes. At the bare minimum, I'm grateful that she's still alive. But that doesn't mean I think she's okay. I have to find out what happened to her."
"So that's why you're here being a bookworm? To get clues as to her whereabouts?"
Zoey shook her head.
"The last couple of days have revealed a lot more information about the Spirit Marbles than I was initially aware of. I feel I can't be an effective guide in this hunt unless I know what's truth and what isn't."
Mike reached for the cart and grabbed a scroll at random. He unfurled it and quickly scanned it. Once he was done, he spoke up again.
"I just realized, what will we do with the Spirit Marbles once we obtain them all?"
"That's the confusing part. Call it a hunch, but I'm not sure if we need all of them."
That revelation made Mike do a double take.
"R-really?"
"In my vision, my friend said that we need to get eight..."
"Eight? Eight what?"
"I don't know. But I think she means eight Spirit Marbles."
"Well, that's good. We already have more than eight."
"Yeah, but... there are 24 in total, remember? I have a feeling that it can't be just any eight random Spirit Marbles. There's a specific eight that we need."
"Okay, okay. Let's say your friend knows what she's talking about. Then which eight do we need, and how many of them do we already have?"
Zoey went silent, as she did not have an answer for him. She frowned, sad that she was unable to do so.
"Don't worry, Princess!" Mike assured her. "I'm sure you'll figure it out with time."
But Zoey still was not convinced.
"I'm not so sure time is a luxury we can afford to play with."
Mike got up, patted Zoey on the shoulder, and then headed for the library exit, leaving the redhead to continue her research alone. Zoey was silent for a few minutes, as she found her place in the book and continued to read on.
She then stopped, as she had a thought she had to get off of her chest.
"It's times like these I wish the old research team was back together."
Meanwhile, up in space, aboard the McLean Army space cruiser Orange Fox...
"Stupid Chris," Scott grumbled under his breath, as he walked down the hallway with a tray full of food. "If he thinks getting rid of Princess Immadorka and her Hatchet Army bodyguards is that easy, why doesn't he just face them himself? Why does he keep sending me to do his dirty work?"
He let out a sigh... and then started smiling.
"Then again, he never said I couldn't send someone else to do it."
He reached his destination, and pressed a button on the wall, which made the door slide upwards. That allowed him passage into the room.
"Hello, my lovely concubine! I'm here with dinner that I cooked myself! Well, the microwave actually did the cooking, but you get the idea..."
From the dark corner of the room, a young blonde girl stepped out. It was Dawn. She was not wearing much, as her clothes were made completely out of leaves. All the inappropriate parts of her body were covered, if just barely. In fact, her skirt was so short that bending over ever so slightly would allow anyone to look up it.
And that excited Scott every time he laid eyes on her.
"Thank you, Master, for feeding me!" Dawn said cheerfully. "It's nice to know you care to give one good meal a day!"
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, Dawn, remember that promise we made?"
Dawn's face lit up. "You mean... we will..."
Scott nodded. "Uh huh! I just need you to do one thing for me."
Dawn sat down on the bench in her room and watched as Scott placed the tray into her lap.
"I'll do anything you want for the nookie."
"Uh huh."
"The nookie."
"Go on."
Dawn picked up the chocolate chip cookie on her tray and held it up, tilting it towards Scott.
"So you can take this cookie, and stick it up your..."
"WHOA, WHOA!" Scott stopped her. "That cookie will look better in your mouth."
Dawn shrugged. "Suit yourself."
She then took a bite out of it. Her eyes flashed red for a second, and then returned to normal. Scott pulled a manila folder out of nowhere, placed it on the bench next to Dawn, and then he gently rubbed the inside of Dawn's left leg, just above the knee. Dawn quivered at the touch of Scott's fingers against her skin.
"You leave first thing in the morning. Complete this mission, and tomorrow night, I'm all yours, babe."
Dawn giggled like a schoolgirl as Scott moved away and headed for the door. Once there, he stopped to take one last look at Dawn before leaving. He closed the door behind him, and, as he walked back to the bridge, he started wringing his hands in joyful anticipation.
"Tomorrow, you're gonna make Red wish you never came back into her life. MWA HA HA HA HA HA!"
*** To be continued... ***
