Total Zeksmit Plains

Chapter 10: Campers Vs the Future

Beginning AN:

...Fair warning that I am not very proud of this chapter as a whole. A lot of it stemmed from me trying to keep things short and just decide when to end something, so that I'm not in some kind of rut where each succeeding chapter of a given story ends up being longer than the last. On the plus side, this doesn't drag on, but... I feel like I've screwed up the ending.

Well, all the more reason to get hyped up for everything after this! The finale! An Aftermath that hopefully won't be boring! And... well, you'll see. Eventually. Let's "just" start with the final challenge to determine who gets the cash prize. I think that's enough "hype" on its own to power through this.

(Playa Des Losers, Three Days Ago)

"Blaineley, wh-what are you doing here?" Ezekiel asked from the tip of the rooftop.

"Stopping you from making what would have been the second biggest mistake of your life. The biggest was to pick a name like Total Semtip Plains. What kind of a name is that?"

"It's uh, Zeksmit, not Semtip. And Zeksmit's like my cool nickname, you know? You just slam together the 'Zek' in 'Ezekiel' and the 'Smit' in 'Smithy.'"

Blaineley had to blink. "Oh, right. Your last name is Smithy, I forgot. Well I think it's still a dumb name, but hey, you're just a kid."

"We're the same age dawg! We grew up as kids, remember?"

"Physically, yes. But in terms of celebrity status, you're still a small fry." She smirked at him. "I got a lucky headstart - you could say an early puberty. Remember?"

"Yeah... believe me, if I could skip the danger and just fast-foreward my way to being a super loved talk-show host like you did, I'd totalicitly do it. But... this was my only shot, one of my campers was caught in something... I okay'd a challenge after it was falling apart... but was that really because Eva kind of threatened me?"

"Blah blah blah. If we're gonna beat Chris in showbiz together, we have to both be at our top games. I know you can be good enough to dethrone his ratings and, maybe... help us give him what he deserves?"

"What are you asking for eh?"

"If I could give you a little... loan."

"Oh heck yeah! Wait, in money, right?"

"Yep."

"Hell yeah!"

After realizing what he just said, Ezekiel clapped his hands over his mouth, his eyes doubling in width.

*Cue intro.*

(Zekitunakwa, Two Days Ago)

Justin tweeted his whistle twice, ignoring the small droplets that have been falling on him from the graying skies. "People, people! This is our biggest, most expensive challenge in the entire game! It's like, where half of Ezekiel's budget went! Make sure all electronics stay in their protective bags! I haven't heard from Ezekiel all day, but he'd hate it if part of this is ruined."

(Confessional)

Justin: You heard that right. It's not the finale. I'll tell you right now that the finale's pretty cheap. I just needed to sculpt some wooden heads and the rest of the challenge... *shrugs* is on them.

This was when the Car of Failure started driving up to Justin and the huge army of interns, Eva popping out of her distant cabin to near them at the same time. Obviously, the car made it first, and its driver sprang out, hopping so quick that he was barely able to keep his toque on his head.

"Justin! Justin, Justin, Justin! Oh, and Geoff." Ezekiel cheered. "Blaineley dropped by last night. We got a loan from her."

He shrugged. "Oh. Well, let me know if Chris gives a loan. His lawyers are hard to deal with and-"

"I'd never take loans from that guy. But, we got a higher budget. And we're making things a bit bigger!"

Justin sighed. "Does this mean the interns will have to do more work?"

"Maybe, but I'm gonna increase their pay by a lot no matter what happens. I'm in that good of a mood!"

This was when Eva spoke up. "And is this a little preview of the challenge? Whatever it is, I know I have this game in the bag."

"Yes..." Justin started his answer. "Ezekiel, you're okay with the campers getting an early look on what we'll be using?"

"Yeah sure, why not?" The host shrugged. "This episode's, like, mostly about muscle. They should see what they have to power through."

(Confessional)

Eva: Mostly about muscle? *Brings arm down in front of herself.* Yyyyyyes!

"We originally had the challenge set up outside." Explained Justin. "But... there's a sudden forecast of heavy rain, and now I'm guiding several interns to move it indoors so that none of the electronics will get ruined. Right over to the paintball maze, with a temporary roof thrown on it, built by... well, actually built by Geoff. He thought it would be a good idea to try to have a 'hard mode' version of the first challenge, for a special or something... and then he started building the roof just in case Ezekiel said yes."

Eva smirked. "Nice. You know Justin, there's two things I like in a man. Being a good leader, and rebelling against a bad leader. Up until now I only saw you as rebelling against a bad leader, and doing a poor job at it. But if these interns really are gonna do what you say..."

"Heh, I'm practically the one signing their paychecks, not Ezekiel." He reached over at another tube from the bag, pulling it around. On his own, he did have to drag it and thanks to the rain it was starting to leave some mud... but he found the other end of this pipe being held up by Eva.

"I thought you could use a hand."

Justin was trying to keep a grin from bursting from his face. By the end of the day, he could probably give a triumphant 'That's four!' to the camera.

"So does this mean I don't have to be your wingman anymore and practice with the interns?" Asked Geoff. "That's good, because some of them are a tough crowd and-"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Blurted Justin.

"Hey, you don't have to put the roof on." Ezekiel said, while giving Justin a dismissing wave. "I got a better idea, all thanks to Blaineley. Follow me."

(Outside the Maze, Still Two Days Ago)

None of them could believe how that helicopter was able to carry such a huge (if empty) building hovering to the side of the first challenge's maze. If not for long, since right after the entire chain connecting the two snapped, causing it to land on the ground with a thud loud enough to reach the cabins. The exterior of it was rather... odd-looking, being heavily plated in blue metal. Its roof formed a very steep slope upwards, and was capped by a massive metal spike sticking straight in to the air.

Courtney simply rolled under the covers and tried to keep herself asleep. Izzy, lying sprawled around snoring, barely seemed to notice any disturbance or noise. Ezekiel took a step towards the crowd and guestured behind him to the newest building.

"Welcome to what I like to call the Fighting Room, eh! It's long enough to fit the entire challenge in there and we don't need to resort to making it all maze-like."

Geoff pouted. "But... three more campers... three entrances to the maze... we set up blockades and everything should take care of itself!"

"This is a huge rainstorm coming." Was Justin's comment. "And as we saw right here, this doesn't even have a foundation! Remember the last challenge we had in a place with no foundation? And how that ended, on a bright, clear day no less? You know, that challenge we had YESTERDAY?"

"Yeesh, keep it low Justin. I'll get things taken care of. Becides, I don't think that maze will survive the storm either."

The helicopter changed course slightly and landed by Ezekiel's side. However, unlike the last helicopter to land by him, this time it was Ezekiel that hopped in. As it took off, another hook lowering from it, the host called out to everyone else:

"Remember my catchphrase: Never underestimate the power of Zeksmit!"

The second hook picked up the Car of Failure, and lifted it on its way back to Playa Des Losers. Justin sighed.

"When was the last time he even used that 'catchphrase' anyway?"

"Apparently not long enough." Huffed Eva. "Because I'm cringing again like he said it yesterday."

(Fighting Room Entrance, One Day Ago)

Even at the current time of high noon, the clouds above cast a large gloom over the prairie grounds. The weather had gone from 'Eh, maybe take an unbrella and a light jacket.' to 'You need an unbrella and a heavy jacket unless you want to suffer.'

Izzy didn't exactly want to suffer but... none of the final three really packed either of them. But it wasn't really suffering to her anyway.

So, she hopped around getting her next daily exploration around Zekitunakwa. Rain's coming down harder than yesterday. But, she picked now to leap into the newest building. This was where she found Justin, chatting along on the phone, and about two dosen interns. The co-host immediately grinned and hung up when he spotted Izzy.

"Hey! You uh, hate Eva as much as me, right?"

"I don't think anyone hates Eva more than me! Well... Courtney might come close. And so would Katie and Bridgette, since Eva kinda tricked them into getting voted off... Lindsay was beat by her and Sadie was kind of bullied a lot... yeah... wow, I feel like a jerk now."

(Confessional)

Izzy: You know, I once said "When Zekitunakwa floods over, I'll side with Eva" back around... eh, it wasn't important. That was a day after Lindsay went home. And now... well, there's still no flood watch, but I can still be, like, a semi-prophet or something, right?

"Listen, I'm thinking of pulling a prank on her. And you... I see you as the kind of girl that's good at spying on others."

"Spying? Try stalking! You know before the game, I used to kinda stalk people?"

"Heh heh, yeah."

(Confessional)

Justin: *His palm is firmly planted on his forehead.* I can't BELIEVE I'm relying on her of all people!

Izzy: I can't believe I might rely on Hypno McMind Control to take Eva down... which is also against the rules? But hey, I'm already relying on Courtney. But then again she's actually doing pretty good and keeping on her toes and spraying herself with Eva repellant. Metaphorically, I mean. If there was a real Eva repellant, I would be the first in line to buy it! Even if it was illegal! Especially if it was illegal!

"So," Continued Justin, "Yesterday she kind of told me that she has a thing for good leaders and people who rebell against bad ones."

"I knew that about her since day one. Before I even really considered her a big enemy like I do now. You really need to get your stalking facts straight."

"I uh... yeah. Okay. Well, how would you feel if my prank also did just a tiiiiiny bit to Ezekiel too? You know, like, villify him? Maybe even turn him against Eva?"

"Well I don't see how that will help me too much," Izzy shrugged, "But go for it. The only thing we really have in common is that we both have a maybe-kind of creepy obsession with Bridgette. I can tell he's something of a good person - better than Eva at least - so don't go too hard on him, okay?"

He chuckled. "He liked getting thrown into that lake. I don't think you have to worry about that. In fact, I was thinking of pulling something like that, but Eva's involved..."

"Ooooh! Tell me more!"

(Today, West Cabin)

Resting on the roof of the cabin, a brave rooster dared to give his morning call in the roaring rain around them. A triumphant yell into-

And a bolt of lightning struck dangerously close to him. He flew out of there, lowering the number of (non-aquatic, those might start having to be not-counted) animals by the cabins by one.

Courtney needed neither a rooster call nor a strike of lightning to wake her up - she was already up inspecting the dropplets of water leaking into her cabin, with a heavy sigh. Later, she found Izzy's face pressed up by her's, doing the same thing.

"Morning, Courtney! Ready to kick Eva's butt?"

"...Well, we can't do that if we don't even know what the challenge is."

"I know where it takes place! Will that help?"

"I already know and so does Eva. There's a 'temporary building' out by the maze. He hasn't learned from last time and dropped this barely-crafted monster out into the camp grounds, while the ground is in danger of flooding."

"Zektiunakwa is on a hill, isn't it? We don't have to worry about flooding!"

"Zekitunakwa's entire area is on a hill, but the camp itself is in a small depression. You never did a short geologocial survey of the camp? I did it one day before... ugh, 'the naked challenge.' The only reason why we're not sleeping over a lake right now is because this ground right here is very absorbant. And... if I'm remembering right, the maze area has a similar problem."

When Ezekiel bust the door open - clad in an even thicker coat than usual and holding up an umbrella - both of the cabin's sleepers were already on high alert. Something Ezekiel took note to.

"Had trouble sleeping?" He asked as he tried to keep his umbrella from flying off with the wind. "Oof! Because you're - OH NO YOU DON'T - like, really woken up."

"Yes, but not because of the rain." Said Courtney. "It's because of a lot of things."

"Agreed." Said Izzy.

"Okay. So, if you could meet me by the maze-ish area one last time... I've got your second to last challenge... I'll let you dress up inside the building it's gonna take place in. Oh yeah, and you might not wanna talk anything bad about Eva right now. She's right behind me."

"DARN RIGHT I AM!" Eva herself made her persense with that line, which ruined the already stormed-day even more for them.

"So... if you're all ready... I think we should, like, try braving the storm together eh?"

(Fighting Room Entrance)

Ezekiel took a step towards the crowd and guestured behind him to the newest building.

"Welcome to what I like to call the Fighting Room, eh! It's long enough to fit the-"

"We know, all three of us have seen it at some point two days ago." Said Courtney. "It was pretty hard to ignore. And Eva was, um, 'kind' enough to just flat-out tell us."

Ezekiel's arms dropped. "Well. Let's not waste any more time out in this rain then, and get in."

The doors appeared to instantly keep all heat shut in. (In other words, shut out all the cold, but this was less scientifically accurate.) And obviously, the rain was completely sealed out, which means that the final three could get a better focus on what lied in front of them without having to put a higher priority on the weather. It was long, divided by three thanks to a pair of lengthy metalic boards, and currently decorated by a large row of black, rectangular... robot-like things. None of the campers could tell what the heck they were supposed to be.

"Okay, so, I thought by this point, I'd get a ton of complaints about the game's bikini rules?" Ezekiel said.

"No, that was what I thought." Justin cleared. "You just rolled along with the bikinis and didn't listen to me until you were planning the game's challenges."

"...Yeah, okay. It was what he warned. But it still my idea to make this into a challenge. You see, these are things called Censorbots, and they don't take kindly to ladies in bikinis."

"We're not wearing our bikinis." Courtney said.

"Which works out! Because they're not attacking yet. Once you get changed into them, I'll explain how you'll fight through wave after wave of them - six to be exact - and that the first two to the finish will earn a marshmallow and a spot in the game's finals. Oh... wait. That's pretty much everything. Yeah, I'm gonna split them up into 'rooms,' each time you win, you quote unquote 'get' an item. I said the quotes because, to make things interesting, you don't actually have the item yourself. You must pick one of the two other campers and send it to them via these electrical pipes littered around."

Demonstrating, Ezekiel walked down the middle path, stopping just past the first bot to point over to a clear tube. This traveled up, to a large multi-legged tube near the ceiling, then split across to several the different end-pipes for each of the thirds the room was cut in. By the base of this part Ezekiel was standing over, there was an opening slightly larger than a mailbox, with a split-screen showing an image of Izzy's face on one side, and Courtney's on the other.

"This is the electrical stuff that we didn't want to get wet two days ago, and boy do I have no idea how it really works. But Geoff and Justin did so that was taken care of. Anyway, once you enter each... 'checkpoint,' you can check into the next pipe up here. It's optional, but I know you don't wanna run all the way back to the start to get what item you were sent, so you'll probably want to check in, since checking in lets the system know which tube to send things to."

"How do we 'check in?'" Asked Courtney.

"Just tap this button underneath the imput slot. Anyway, it's no secret that these 'Censorbots' are really interns in costumes. They are interns that will make sure that you at least send the item you're given to one of the other campers. And yes, the items are the same for all three of you in each level. So... if, for some reason, both Courtney and Eva want to send their stage 1 prizes to Izzy, Izzy will get two copies of that prize. For example.

"While you have to send an item to another camper, you're more than free to just ignore items sent to you. But... I wouldn't recommend it. They all make the challenge a bit easier! Anyway, each of the six rounds will have a different theme, starting you off with a simple one-on-one fight with nothing special, then a fight on a freezing floor, a fight in a brush-covered area, a fight underwater, a fight in the dark, and a battle against two of them at once! And uh, one last rule before you get dressed and get these puppies mad: You win kinda like the last move Eva did to Homer; just take the bot's head off. Now, any questions?"

His smile faded when he got only one raised arm - Eva's.

"Y-yes?"

"THIS IS UNFAIR! You hated me for voting off your sweet Bridgette, so you rigged the challenge! Now Courtney and Izzy will help each other out all they want, while I'm stuck giving them even more tools!"

"...I'm not sure how to prove this to you, but I swear, the item rules didn't come from you being in the finals. I just thought it would be more interesting if, instead of upgrading yourself, you upgrade the ones you're supposed to be against. And speaking of that, I thought you were trying to turn Courtney and Izzy against each other again? I mean, how's that going? It should be easy, right, they're already kinda aggressive and you had three days..."

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Ezekiel: One tiny little last thing. Because of the weather, we installed another temporary confessional off over here. It's really just an empty room with a camera in it, there's a lot of empty rooms and you girls only needed three dressing rooms - less if you weren't in some cold wars or whatever - so hey, thought I'd be nice. Now Chris, on the other hand-

Izzy: So I decided that if I win the challenge, I'm gonna make a message here, then a message back in the outhouse, and then I'll travel allllll the way over to the towers and make a message there! Like, parts of a chain! It'll sound sooooo coooooll! I'll be like, zip, zip, zip! ...If Justin edits it right.

Courtney: *Sighs, stretching out.* This is... this is pretty nice. I like having a place where I can talk to the camera and that's not like ten miles away from camp. Well- I don't want to get off topic: Yes! This challenge will be easy! Well, maybe not easy, but if Izzy and I can still pull it together, we'll have the advantage over Eva, and she'll be out of here and I get a spot in the final two! Two birds with one stone... but really, it's not like we can eliminate Eva and I won't be part of the final two or anything... so...

Eva: *Huffs.* I still think this is Ezekiel flipping the bird to me.

Courtney and Izzy were quick to break out of the temporary dressing rooms, both of them lining up at a given third of the room Ezekiel directed them to. Izzy, right. Courtney, left. Eva, sighing, stepped out next, just to get Justin to lean in towards her.

"Hey, I think I can see what you mean. These rules here... are kinda bias." He said.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. I was thinking about it, and... maybe he just wanted a sort of lesser-of-two-evils situation here. I mean, if all of us hated each other equally, that would have made it interesting."

"Really? You of all people think that?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with it?"

"No, it's just... well, Izzy and Courtney will be handing items to the other, while you're forced to give one or the other an extra copy! It's a painful choice for you, but not for them..."

"You know, Izzy did confess to me three days ago that she was actually thinking about making a very temporary team-up with me just to stop Courtney and Beth."

"...Really? I uh- yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I hope you have a good time in the challenge-"

"You're really treating me like you're my personal coach or something. It's weirding me out."

"Sorry." Justin said, clearly directing Eva to get on with the challenge itself as soon as possible.

(Starting Line)

"Three!" Ezekiel cheered, "...Two! ...One! Begi- one last thing..."

He whipped a remote from his sleeve, pressing it. Blue, transparent lines appeared to divide each hall down the line.

"Yeah, we're using forefields to keep you from skipping all over the place. You know... the future! We kinda blew the last of our budget on this challenge... well, go on! The challenge starts now!"

The sudden burst of 'forcefields' did catch Izzy and Courtney back a little, but that stopped as soon as Eva ran up down her column and quickly ripped off the top part of her first bot, leaving a stunned, chubby intern in blond hair standing with a dazzed look on his face.

"Holy crap!" Ezekiel announced. "That's one point for Eva!"

He didn't need to announce that, though: Courtney and Izzy were still at the starting line, and still saw it.

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Blond Intern: I'm one of the five guys in this massive otherwise-female group! It's not just the costume-wearers, but the people who work outside, fill the water tanks, darken the room... ugh. Nobody will remember Bobby the Intern...

(Courtney and Izzy)

As shown through a handy split-screen, the other members of the final three were both practically strangling their respective first Censorbot, yelling borderline gibberish at their head-portions to get torn off. Courtney got hers finished first, barely just before Izzy's, and she smiled when something was sent down the first tube.

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Courtney: Okay, I have to admit. I felt a little... good about Eva picking me as the lesser of her two evils. I mean, it does mean that she doesn't think I'm as big of a treat as Izzy, but it means that given the choice between the two, since finds me more... bearable? Maybe I'm just over thinking this.

Courtney dashed over to get the ice skates, slipped her feet out of the TZ shoes and into them, and slid along the ice of the next region. But not before sending Izzy her skates as well while recieving a second pair from Izzy herself. Because sending was what was needed to disable that force field and expose the ice-covered portion that is the next challenge. (Guess the interns did not have to use force themselves to keep any sequence breaking.)

Izzy had a similar process, bolting to press Courtney's icon, taking the skates given from the CIT, and skating circles around the next Censorbot while laughing wildly. Then she sucker-punched the bot before it could deal another attack.

The first time any of the final five witnessed the fake-machines attacking was when Eva slipped on the ice after a single step. She found a red laser light on her chest. Followed by several shots of black paint. And, since she was on ice, each shot sent her sliding backwards on to the regular ground of the first square. Eva growled.

"YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?" She asked, just as Izzy and Courtney both sliced the head-piece off of their bots with a well-placed boot kick. The two rushed up to give one-another the next reward.

Heading back to the center, Eva sighed. Izzy to her right, Courtney to her left, both laughing as they got their prizes and preparations for the brush-filled section flew through the pipeline and to the other. She stood up, just barely dodging the next wave of black paint.

Checking into the next zone - now littered with bushes, thorns, and even an occasional indoor tree, basically setting up a miniature forest - was made easier due to the small knives Courtney and Izzy gave one-another. Hacking away at them was all good, fair fun, as was using the environment to their advantage and duck underneath the next Censorbot's paint blast. Well, the latter was really more of something only Izzy took advantage of.

Hunting like that wasn't exactly Courntey's style, which may be why she became the second of them to get hit with paint as she powered her way through the foilage and smacked the Censorbot's head off, with the reward of being able to make it to the next round before Izzy did. Still, she of course sent Izzy the flippers and walked foreward to see a large, clear box full of water. With the next Censorbot in the middle. Even checking into the next slot was going to be a tiny bit annoying.

She still climbed the ladder as quick as possible - didn't want to waste a second when sudden death against Eva was what was at stake here. Plunging in was nothing compared to the acrobatic feats in earlier challenges. Swimming to and fighting off the Censorbot was nothing compared to wrestling with Homer back there. And dodging the black paint was nothing compared to the intern army way back in the first challenge. And speaking of challenges...

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Courtney: Why is this even called a 'challenge?' *Giggles,* it's really easy, after coming this far! This should be called, something more like... some things you need to do. *Shakes head.* No, that's stupid, just because I'm allies with Izzy - which will break off the second Eva's out of here - does not mean I should think like her!

Ezekiel: *Crosses arms.* ...Hey, I thought this was pretty cool.

Eva was finally on her way through the fake-forest fields around her. She couldn't cut away any branches and spines, but she figured that her fists were good enough tools to get that job done.

...Until it also made her fists less special of tools to actually deal with the Censorbot of this challenge. The intern using the costume clearly winced when they noticed all the cuts and bruises in her knuckles - though for Ezekiel's defense, said intern appeared to care about about the injuries more than Eva herself did.

"Just shut up and lose. I'm wasting precious seconds talking to you!"

This was easier said than done (especially because the intern didn't even want to really do that - it would be disobeying their job), as Eva wasn't looking after a side-step and slammed herself right into a tree a few steps away.

"You placed an entire tree in here! Seriously, Smithy?"

"Not a tree!" Ezekiel said, "Three trees! I thought that being completely even plant-by-plant was stupid, but Justin wanted to make sure that, at least, we have the same number of anything for each camper. You can ask Izzy and Courtney if you want to check."

But Courtney had already de-masked the underwater intern, revealing her to be in a diving suit the whole time. Izzy took a different approach: Splashing her intern up to the surface and dashing foreward to get her headpiece off. Treading water at the top of the pool, both of them got a closer look at their penultimate challenge: They'd have to get into a pair of doors first. Luckily, the item that they subsequently sent one-another was a flashlight.

Even so, Izzy needed to shine the light around wildly to get a good view of the room. It wasn't just in darkness, a number of still walls apparently made of steel gave it a bit of a maze-like quality. Not much. Especially given how adept Izzy was to mazes.

She used the flashlight in a way that wasn't exactly intended. Well, in two ways. One was to shine the light right by where the intern's eyes probably were. The second, after seeing no real response from her Censorbot and assuming correctly that the intern was stunned, was to whack them on the side of the head with the handle. Izzy ripped the mask off, giggling as she proceeded to the final part of the challenge.

(Courtney)

When it came to her section of the darkness, Courtney needed to shine the light around to even find her Censorbot.

She heard something slide down her present tube followed shortly by Izzy's giggling. Okay, she was ahead. And followed by that, Courtney got blasted a few times by this Censorbot.

(Izzy)

"Okay everyone!" Ezekiel announced. "I should have said this before one of you - Izzy - made it to the final part, but... well, not only do you have to fight two Censorbots, but I had also made them the most elite of the bunch! Yeah, out of the interns, I got my six best fighters to play the roles! Get ready!"

Izzy chuckled to herself. "Well, I've been through a lot of rough scraps and fought animals in the past. How bad can it b-"

One of them dashed over to her at near-invisible speeds and gave her a swift hook to the gut.

"Oof! Really?" Izzy asked to the assailant. "Well, I have a-"

The other one held her by the arms.

(Eva)

"Pure one-on-one fighting, you say?" Eva asked to herself as she was about to dive in. "With 'elites' that might not even slow me down? ...Cool."

"Hey Eva!" Ezekiel announced. "Just FYI! Courtney totally nailed the second-to-last challenge, she got the katana Izzy sent her, and now they're both duking it out with the last two bots! Fun fact, the katanas were Harold's idea. Wanna hurry up?"

"With PLEASU-"

She got shot by the submerged bot.

Being flipperless barely mattered to her. Eva dove back in, charged towards her fourth Censorbot, and managed to de-mask it. Just in time for her following sending of the flashlight to Courtney to coincide with the clashing of swords against the double-wave.

The navy-clad contestant lept out of the pool, bolted to the doorway, and charged herself in. Her grin was more than enough to illuminate the darkness.

"Come out come out wherever you are..." she borderline chanted, "You dark-hiding intern!"

The same thing that caused Izzy and Courtney to gasp their respective rooms over was shortly followed by an "Ow!" when Eva was shot with ink.

"Izzy!" Courtney cried from one end of the building to another. Her sword just barely managed to hold the two bots from pushing at her. "How is it going over there? Are you standing ground?"

"Of course I am!" Izzy replied, braving another wave of shots as she shifted her strategy to just 'go right up towards them' - only to find that her opponents still moved much faster than she had, swerving around the course and firing at her back. "It's just... well..."

"Eva's catching up! Fast! We need to strategize! Get yourself to-"

And just like that, Courtney's own sword knocked the helmet off of one of her Censorbots.

"Oh." The gray-clad contestant said. "That was easier than I-"

She proceeded to get barraged by the other remaining Censorbot. Her entire back half was nearly pitch-black before she began turning back towards it. And even then, she continued to be pelted.

(Izzy)

The sole redhead contestant, meanwhile, had been seeing herself make a growing number of slip-ups with the information of Eva catching up.

In a number of cases, this involved literally slipping on the ink.

Still, Izzy was not discouraged from making a comeback. No matter what, she was-

"Courtney, here's your marshmallow! You are already in the final two!"

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Izzy: I don't know why, but this was the first time that it really clicked with me: I can really lose this game! I-I never really thought of it like that until now. I mean, when Courtney wins and it's just me against Eva...

Eva: *Sighs.*

Courtney: ...Honestly, do you want to know a secret? When I got that marshmallow, for a moment, I stopped caring which finalist would be the lesser of two evils. I mean, it's obviously Izzy, but going up against both of them... I think I would rather face the moral dilema of going up against Beth, instead.

True to Ezekiel's statement, Courtney stood by the last two unmasked interns as Ezekiel handed her a marshmallow.

"Now, you can do whatever you want. I mean... you're in the final two. You can watch the other two, just leave and try to brace through the storm..."

Geoff ran up to him, tapping his shoulder frantically.

"Um... Ezekiel..." he said in a slight whisper.

"What?"

"We got an emergency... a big one, too. You see... lightning's striking everywhere, and you know that big antenna on top?"

"What? You mean my decoration to make the place more sci-fi-y? That's freakin' awesome, eh."

"So it's pointless? Getting rid of it won't kill our power or anything?"

"Not at all."

"Good. Because that's a giant lightning rod, and the lightning from this storm is only getting worse. We were almost struck."

"Oh. Oh. You know, I'm someone really good at science - at least, my homeschool science - but I actually forgot that. Both because I was not expecting such a huge thunderstorm, and because I'm really letting the fame get to me. But you have to admit, it is fame yo."

Ezekiel redirected his attention to the first finalist.

"Hey, Courtney, you can still do whatever you want, buuuuut... I'll pay you two hundred bucks out of my own pocket if you help us with a little something."

"I heard you. You want a potential lightning rod removed."

"Yeah. If you could-"

"That's not really gonna help us that much. This entire building is still one tall structure out in the middle of nowhere. Becides, if lightning strikes a building... well... it's not like we're all blasted with the highest voltage imaginable right away."

"The problem with that is that I made it really tall. Like, it sticks that high into the air. It won't mean we won't get struck, it just means that we have a much lower chance of getting hit if you help me take it down."

Courtney shrugged. "Well, alright. It's not like I have to worry about elimination today anymore. And getting two hundred dollars sounds nice..."

(Fighting Room Rooftop)

"ALRIGHT COURTNEY! GLAD TO SEE YOU SO DEVOTED TO HELPING A BROTHER OUT!" Ezekiel cheered while he braced himself against the harsh, wet storm.

"BROTHER?" Courtney asked. "I CAN'T THINK OF A SINGLE THING WE HAVE IN COMMON!"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! THIS IS A LOUD STORM!"

"NEVERMIND!"

"I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU! TAP ME IF IT'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT!"

...

"NO? OKAY THEN, IT MUST NOT BE. SO, THAT RIGHT THERE, UP ON THE VERY TOP! THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO REMOVE!"

"IT SEEMS KIND OF OBVIOUS!"

"WHAT?"

"NEVERMIND!"

"STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU SIS!"

Courtney sighed at the mention of 'Sis.'

She marched her way through the spike-needle... decoration thing that lied at the top of this mechanized building. Fighting against the... slight breeze of the storm, she simply took it off with one chop.

"'KAY! THANKS!" Ezekiel shouted. "I NOW OWE YOU TWO HUNDRED BUCKS!"

"SO WE CAN GO BACK INSIDE NOW?"

"WHAT?"

And that was when lightning struck the building. Specifically, it struct Ezekiel first, but it did end up going down to the building.

Power flickered off as Geoff nearly ran over to Justin for comfort, before giving a quick sigh when it was just a power failure. Justin himself could only shake his head, looking up at where Ezekiel was.

Ezekiel himself, meanwhile, stood still while on the top. He was rendered pitch-black from the bolt's strike, the only motion of his being that his eyes blinked.

Courtney gasped as she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

This was when he could finally hear her through the storm.

"Never felt better! Like I just drank eight energy drinks! Now, let's get back in the game and see who wins!"

(Fighting Room Interior, Moments Ago)

"Okay campers," Justin explained under the now-dim lights of the room, "the power's out. But, the Censorbots have their own power source, we have backup lights - which is why you can see now - and this should not really matter that much since it's affecting the two of you equally. This challenge is not on hiatus. Continue fighting away!"

This was not to say that they were still not already on it, both of them trying to de-mask their respective duo of Censorbots. The one thing that did break the challenge was the sound of Justin rushing to the edge of the room.

Izzy looked over to where she thought Justin was at. "Uh... Justin?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

He stopped his run, looked up with his eyes closed, started going down Izzy's part of the challenge to make sure she got a look at him, and proudly announced with a smile.

"I am doing what a proper, selfless person would do and assessing the damage caused by the lightning strike. Judging by Ezekiel's muffled voice, he might have been the one that was hit."

And he noticed Eva by his side.

"Really then? Shoot, I'm going after him."

"...Really? What?" Asked Justin.

"Hey, getting hit by lightning is a serious thing. I may hate Ezekiel as much as you do, but I'm not just gonna let him die. Are you?"

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Izzy: I would have backhanded a Censorbot that came after me without looking to show how cool I was, but that would have been like saying "Nah, I'm gonna stay back and win the challenge for real." So I just...

Izzy ended up getting shot in the back of her head with paint.

(Fighting Room Exterior)

A small raft with a light attatched to the front burst its way out of the front door, with Justin acting as the lead. Geoff followed, actually smiling at the ride as he held on to his hat. Eva sat behind the both of them, cross-armed, while Izzy trailed behind them by swimming through the water.

"HEY GUYS!" Ezekiel, still on the roof, cried out to the raft-party as Courtney began climbing her way back down. "YOU DON'T REALLY NEED TO COME GET ME! THIS IS JUST A LITTLE SPRINKLE, EH!"

Justin got out a megaphone, using it to speak back to him.

"YOU SEEM TO BE A LITTLE TOO HAPPY RIGHT NOW."

"I JUST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!" He replied, finally hearing something in the storm. "AND I FEEL MORE ALIVE THAN EVER! WHOO!"

"YOU... ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE OKAY, BUDDY?" Justin asked. "I MEAN, GETTING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IS... UM... YOU COULD USE SOME HELP."

"Buddy?" Eva silently asked to no-one in particular.

"WELL, TO BE HONEST, I AM FEELING A LITTLE STRANGE!" Replied the host.

"HOW? I'M COMING TO HELP YOU!" Courtney was already on the raft when Justin said that.

"WELL, MOSTLY MORE ENERGETIC, BUT I THINK I'M ALRIGHT! SEE, LOOK, I CAN JUST FOLLOW WHAT COURTNEY DID!"

He successfully managed to get down, if through the sides as Courtney did so that he could land on the raft.

Just after he gave a triumphant stance, lightning struck the distance right when Izzy lightly pushed Ezekiel off the boat's edge with a push from her boot. She gave a wink to Justin, who winked back at her.

"What happened?" Courtney asked. "I think I saw Izzy trying to push Ezekiel out there? This is a bad storm-"

Her point was strengthened by a loud crack, followed by the Fighting Room appearing to be lifted up to the surface of the water. It drifted along the pseudo-sea, and more importantly, began making its way far past the raft at a dangerous speed. Ezekiel, from the water, could only partly emerge before his body was pulled back down by what appeared to be a rather thick complex of mud.

"He uh, he'll be fine." Said Justin. Izzy eyed Eva, and eyed the water, practically getting her shoving hands ready. "He just survived getting struck by lightning. He'll live from this too. It's not very deep water, after all."

"I'm also kind of stuck here... if you could save me and alls, that'd be pretty great eh." No, 'alls' was not a typo. Ezekiel said that.

Sighing, Eva diving out in to the new sort-of lake while the raft began making its pursuit of the Fighting Room.

As Justin began rowing their way over, Courtney and Geoff happened to notice Eva practically sink underneath the water. Ezekiel also appeared to be struggling to stick his head out, as he said:

"HEY GUYS! I THINK THE MUD HERE IS, LIKE, KEEPING ME STUCK? SO, IF YOU COULD - OH, NEVERMIND, I SEE EVA EH!"

Geoff tapped Justin on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't we like... get to them? So you could save her, and maybe she'd be impressed and be the fourth girl you charmed in the game?"

"WHAT?" Eva cried.

Oh, of course, she could hear anything in that storm.

(Fighting Room Confessional)

Courtney: ...So Justin's making a "bet" to try to "play" the other campers and "charm" them. Izzy is... yeah, she is cheating the challenge by trying to set Eva back in the name of petty revenge. Geoff's going along with whatever Justin is. And Eva... is Eva. It seems like the only uncorrupt person left in the game becides me is Ezekiel. And that's a terrifying thought.

Justin quickly bit on his nails when he saw Eva lift Ezekiel out of the water (with a good amount of mud solidifying around his feet, and some fish that flopped out of his hoodie) and make a running charge towards the raft.

Thee group managed to make it back to the drifting Fighting Room on time, and both Justin and Izzy belted in further down the latter's third of the room.

"HEY, EVA!" Ezekiel shouted through the storm. "WE MIGHT NOT BE ON THE BEST TERMS, BUT THANKS FOR SAVING ME ANYWAY!"

"You did a lot of things over the summer that made you punch-worthy." Answered Eva. "But nothing kill worthy."

"WHAT?"

"Now Izzy, on the other hand..."

"WHAT? CAN'T HEAR YOU. STORM."

(Fighting Room Interior)

Eva rushed towards the end of the line with Ezekiel in-hand, plopped him down by the far wall, and faced the pair of Censorbots that awaited her. Although her eye twitched and she only stared at them.

As the setting rocked. Again.

Izzy had already been wrestling with the last two of her Censorbots, and had one of them in a firm hold.

Courtney simply stayed by the main entrance, crossing her arms and shivering.

"EVA! I'M ALMOST THERE!" Bragged Izzy. "HOPE YOU ENJOY THE CAR OF FAILURE, BECAUSE YOU'RE GETTING SENT INTO THAT TONIGHT!"

"Um... Izzy?" Said Justin, standing by Izzy's third of the building. "I think we might have a problem..."

"What problem?" She said as she ripped one of the Censorbot helmets off.

"Eva's coming right for us..."

"No, I'm coming for you!" She said as she finished making her way to Izzy's sector. "We have some unfinished business! I know exactly what's going on! You're trying to flirt with me, aren't you?"

"I-I-uh-that..." Justin trailed off.

"So you think this game is all about a cheap thrill getting girlfriends?" Eva asked. "Is that it? Well, let me-"

"DONE!" Izzy cheered.

Ezekiel clapped out as the redhead stood, with the upper piece of a rectangular black costume in her hand, and a recently-defeated intern with pink hair below her.

"Great job, Izzy! You have just earned a spot on the final two with Courtney! And now, normally I'd be scared of Eva right now, since both you and Justin did things that provoked her, but seeing as she's leaving right now - oh right. I hang out with the eliminated campers in between challenges. Shoot."

Steam was practically coming out of Eva's nostrils as she poked Justin on the chest. "So you were not just using me, but EVERY OTHER GIRL IN THE GAME, as a 'SCORE?'"

"I can explain!" Said Justin.

"REALLY?" Asked Eva, snarling by him. By this point, she had him backed up against a wall. "THEN DO IT!"

"Well... uh... I..."

"That's what I thought. I thought staff-contestant relationships were against the rules. You should be fired."

"Actually, they're not." Ezekiel explained. "Courtney and Harold can still date and everything. Also, you're out of the game since, you know, you failed the sudden death challenge. Um... get your things - assuming there's no flood damage, head out and... hopefully we'll find something for you, I don't really know."

"FINE!"

She began to march off towards the entrance, but not before punching Justin in the shoulder.

(Fighting Room Entrance)

The final two, recently-eliminated third-placer, host, two co-hosts, and the last interns Izzy unmasked all gathered by the front door as they looked outside of what the storm had caused. Eva had a number of soaked bags in her hand, folding her arms as she stared out ahead.

It might have been because of the thick fog and haze around them. It might have been because of the darkness. It might have been due to the water pushing them a great distance away from camp. But it certainly looked like, at this point in the storm, that they were out in the middle of the ocean itself.

"Justin, what time is it?" Ezekiel asked to the co-host still rubbing the shoulder that was hit. A bruise even threatened to form.

"Three in the afternoon."

"...Wow. Anyway, Eva, it was... uh, 'nice' having you here, congrats on making third place - I'm sorry, I promissed myself to congratulate our third-place winner no matter who it is, but with you... uh..."

"Can it, Smithy."

"...I don't have any cans."

Geoff whispered something in his ear.

"Oh! Right, yeah, I didn't want to keep this up either. Now, our Car of Failure can't drive on or under water, obviously, so I think you might have to stay a few more days with Izzy and Courtney until the storm clears up."

Both finalists gasped. Until everyone spotted a light in the distance, growing closer, fighting the storm.

There, was a boat easily larger than the fighting room, driven by Blainelely.

"Ezekiel!" She shouted. "What the heck are you doing out here by the cow pastures? You're not even in Zekitunakwa anymore!"

"The storm's that bad?" He asked back. He looked over at the contestants. "By the way, the cow pastures are like, really far up north. Like, the distance north to get there is more than the distance east to get to those two towers over there."

Blaineley replied with a fit of laughter. Her boat was still moving at a quick pace just to catch up to the drifting room. "Oh yeah, it's bad. So, I understand that you have a contestant that needs to be driven somewhere in this storm."

Ezekiel pointed at himself. "And a member of the show staff."

"Then hop on. And try to find a way to not get sued by the owners of the cow pastures."

Ezekiel excitedly did (the former option, that is) - Eva following closely behind him with much less excitement - and the new... assist... or whatever took off driving among the waters.

Ezekiel peeked under the water for a moment before turning his attention to Blaineley and pointing his thumb behind him.

"Er, Playa Des Losers is actually that way, eh." He said.

"You could tell where we were- oh. Right. You were always obsessed with this place. Always. Fine, I'll go back."

He then ran over to the edge of the boat, gripped the handles, and looked over at a camera that was somehow filming this.

"So! Final two! It felt like it was only yesterday when we started! But in just three days, our winner will be crowned! Who will it be? Will this storm let up in time? Is everyone but Eva and I just gonna die out there? And will the final challenge involve these cow pastures? Find out, next time! On Total! Zeksmit! Plains!"

(Fighting Room, Front Door)

"So," Izzy asked to her last opponents, "how'dja get so strong, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm from... well, I was basically taught to keep calling it Nebraska," said the one with blonde hair, "but that area of Mid-North, Westhemisphere Canada. I was taught plenty of things, and dealt with lots of criminals. You really are a criminal, right?"

The one with pink hair did not say anything. Instead, she swiped a sword straight out of Courtney's hands, pointed at it, and then brought her finger to her neck.

"Heh heh... I bet I could come up with a story that'll top both of these." Izzy replied. "Like this one time where..."

(Audition - Eva)

"ZEKSMIT!"

Eva growled that, wearing a tight navy blue suit while lifting a dumbell.

"I've seen your ad for this mini game-show. And I know exactly what to expect from a show like that. And you said you want drama too?

"You will NEED someone like me. Someone STRONG. Someone BLOODTHIRSTY. Someone who GOES IN FOR THE KILL!"

She broke the dumbell by crushing it in to powder with one hand, and the camera cut to static.

Finalists: Courtney, Izzy

Eliminated: Heather, Gwen, Leshawna, Katie, Bridgette, Lindsay, Sadie, Beth, Eva

Closing AN:

First of all, you could probably tell where I just decided to go "screw it" and wrap up the chapter. You might also be able to tell the point where this fic went on hiatus for about ten months.

So here's the update of 2016, not to imply that I won't try to get the last handful of chapters all out in 2017 instead of spreading them out year-by-year. To be honest, I'd kind of want to get this all out of the way and behind me. This story even mentioned things that were only going to come up in a spinoff - something about elemental powers in "Beware of Homer" and power limiters near the beginning... expect that stuff to silently disappear soon.

I originally wanted this story to branch off into something huge, and so throughout it I was constantly trying to put in references to later events and cryptic foreshadowing in a way. Although looking back, it's coming off as a bit awkward and I'm way more against the idea of turning this into an expanded world (the biggest reason why being that I'm having trouble thinking of ways it would still feel tied to Total Drama in some way and not as something that might as well switch the names out and be its own story. By the way, switch Total Drama with Gravity Falls and this is also the main reason why run:gifocalypse probably won't be getting any sort of real sequel), but I still have a lot of plot threads that look like they should be going places... you can probably see the regret a mile away. It's also not that much of a shock that I haven't really been following Total Drama at all. My new obsession, despite its ending, is Gravity Falls - heck, between this chapter and the last one, I managed to publish just about all of a fan fic of it - run:gifocalypse - except for the three-part finale and alternate ending. Basically, I've been updating RG on average of once a month. But this is starting to turn into an average of once a year.

On a lighter note, with this done, I'm going back to working on naruto the guy with the ninja for this "fan fic slot" (basically a "slot" is whatever I work on out of a set number of stories, and once a chapter is out I usually "replace that slot" with something else) until chapter 3 gets out. Or maybe 4. I have this character that I'd really like to introduce - although she already made a cameo in chapter 4 of Journals of Wisdom, Power, and Courage... (QUICK EDIT: Actually, no. I'm going to Journals instead. guy with the ninja will have to wait until after I'm done with the third SBIGlet.)

But enough about that. Let's get back to Total Zeksmit Plains, since that's this story. Next up: The True Heroine of Zekitunakwa. It was already given away that this final challenge did not use up too much of Ezekiel's given budget from the special EMDHS challenge. Well... Courtney and Izzy face off in a "memory test," followed by a race with a twist. To be honest, this kind of just takes two challenge ideas from canon's first season. But not in execution.