An Underdog's Destiny (Story 4 of 4 of my Underdog Series)

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

He has spent more than a decade preparing for this day, and his fated final battle is drawing nearer. But with his greatest foe knowing just how to get under his skin and his best friend under that foe's thumb, it might turn out to be too much for even him to handle. Can he defeat his foe and protect his friends, or will he give in and lose everything?

10. You Regatta Be Kidding Me

In the typical Total Drama fashion, Chris started off the episode with a recap of the events of the previous episode, or rather what he knew of, only this time from atop the Flush of Shame instead of on the Dock of Shame "Last time on Total Drama All Stars: A brutal teens vs mutant fisticuffs free for all proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that these freaks will do just about anything for the sake of winning a million bucks. Even the season three sweethearts Adam and Bridgette had to battle it out with people who were hell bent on getting revenge on them for previously initiated grudges, but only Bridgette tried to satisfy the fans with a brutal smackdown where as Adam has once again gone out of his way to piss me off! Duncan and Mike on the other hand, assuming that it actually had been Mike, took the chance to settle an old score, which went about as well for Duncan as it could've. In the end the Heroes won the day but in a last minute twist the Heroes got to send a loser Villain home and the Villains got to send a winner Hero to exile duty on Boney Island, so in the end it was a see you tomorrow for Leshawna, and a see you on the other side of the toilet for Duncan."

"Oh yeah Chris your genius knows no bounds." Mal popped up on the Dock of Shame below him and rolled his eyes.

"Oh well that's just perfect, first Adam goes out of his way to make me snap and now you're doing it too?"

"You make it way too easy."

"Just say that after today's challenge. Anyway only 9 players are left in the game and none of them are ready for the notch I'm about to crank things up to right here and right now on Total! Drama! All Stars!"

"Nice recap McLean, just one question: How do you plan to get back down from on top of the giant toilet?" and then Mal walked off chuckling.

"...CHEF!"

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(And keeping up with the new trend, once again here's my version of the full intro for the season)

Shots of four brand new spotlights popping out, following by the camera zooming through the camp past the spa hotel and the crappy cabin, up to the top of the thousand foot cliff, and then down into the lake below "Dear mom and dad I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind!"

Underneath the lake, Anne Maria and Leshawna are tugging back and forth over a treasure chest, which opens to reveal Cody inside of it, along with Mr Coconut and several McLean Brand Invincibility Statues floating out of it until they rose to the surface, where Bridgette is lying on top of a surfboard "You asked me what I wanted to be, and now I think the answer is plain to see!"

In the nearby forest, Jo is jogging through the forest past the are where Dawn is meditating, surrounded by several animals, with Duncan just watching without giving a damn "I wanna be famous!"

In a nearby river, Alejandro and Heather are glaring at each other until their canoe is about to go over the waterfall, with Alejandro leaping out onto dry land while Heather goes over along with the raft "I wanna live close to the sun!"

Down below, Brick is standing on top of a cracked log doing sit ups until Heather lands on top of him, causing the log to give out and for both of them to fall "Go pack your bags cause I've already won!"

Scott is watching and laughing at this until Fang comes out of the outhouse confessional and starts chasing him "Everything to prove, nothing in my way! I'll get there one day!"

Pan over to where Chef and Adam are both just relaxing in lounge chairs in front of the Spa Hotel "Cause I wanna be famous!"

Mike and Zoey both sitting on the Dock of Shame staring romantically at each other, which is ruined when Sasquatchanakwa and the bear start to get into a slap fight "Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!"

Pan over to the lake where all 14 contestants (Anne Maria, Jo, Scott, Alejandro, Heather, Duncan and Leshawna on one side, and Adam, Brick, Bridgette, Cody, Dawn, Mike and Zoey on the other side), are standing on poorly built platforms holding jousting sticks and all preparing to duke it out "I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!"

The teams clash, Brick and Jo taking each other out, Zoey shoving Scott back, Dawn shoving Anne Maria back, Bridgette pushing Heather back, Cody and Duncan pushing each other back, Mike going up against Leshawna, and Adam locked in a power struggle against Alejandro while keeping his gaze solely on Mike "I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!"

The scene changes to the blackness of night, with Brick and Dawn holding hands awkwardly and gazing into each other's eyes, only for Chris to ruin the moment just to be a jerk "(Insert whistling tune as the song ends)."

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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies of Spain.

Adam made his way off of a random couch and found Emiliano working at his desk "As My Little Pony-like as this may sound it felt like I slept on a marshmallow. Thanks again for letting me stay the night."

"Keep in mind that I mainly did that so that first thing in the morning you and Alejandro would be able to test his new powers to the fullest extent." Emiliano pointed out without looking up from his desk.

"Yeah I know." Adam glanced out the window at the rising early morning sun "The Cosmic Elementals of Metal, Earth and Fire are getting closer every day, from what Aurora tells me they're gonna get here sometime tomorrow."

"The day of reckoning is nearly upon you, over the last year you've both trained as hard as you've been able to. But it would be foolish to allow my youngest son and the apprentice of my eldest son to charge into battle without testing the fullest extent of your newfound powers, and there is only one way you can do that."

"Yeah, I know that all too well."

That was when Alejandro stepped out into the living room, fully dressed and armed with his brand new Garras Carmesi "Now then Adam, I believe that the time has come for the two of us to face off. Both of us have reached the highest peaks of our powers that we possibly could in the time span that we had, and now we both need to test it."

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It was only a matter of moments before the group had taken things to a nearby wasteland void of any life.

Emiliano resided over the two of them as a sort of referee "Are both of you now ready? This battle will be a one on one match between the two of you, but keep in mind that you don't want to do anything that will cause any permanent harm or anything too severe so as to not permanently hinder the other. The last thing we need is anyone hurt too severely right before a major conflict."

"When have I ever gone overboard?" Adam received two dull looks "Okay okay I get your point but I think I might actually be the one to get hurt, Alejandro has come a long way too since this whole thing started."

"On that I can agree, but whether or not your beliefs reign true have yet to be seen. Still it brings me joy to see this day, my youngest son and the apprentice of my eldest son having mastered powers even the likes of my own grandfather was unable to achieve."

"And we're gonna keep going higher."

"Of that I have no doubt." so Emiliano leapt back away from the battlefield "Begin when you're both ready."

The ground began to shake beneath their feet as Adam promptly dropped into a combat stance, with Alejandro doing the same "So do you wanna take the first move or can I?"

"How about I make the first assault!" Alejandro suddenly burst forward and charged at Adam, which resulted in the two of them clashing and trading even blows but none of them even connecting, the force of their clash creating a crater beneath their feet.

Adam found himself forced on the defensive even as their clash took to the skies, only to be forced to block a kick to the face that sent him skidding backwards down on the ground, but he managed to stop himself "I've gotta admit Alejandro, you're getting pretty good."

"Do you truly believe so?" Alejandro lowered himself back to the ground "Then I suppose it's only fair to warn you that this is only the beginning."

"Yeah well don't get overconfident, be sure to keep in mind that I'm only getting warmed up myself."

"Believe me I know that all too well."

"So now I guess it's my turn to make the first move." and so Adam charged into the fray at full speed.

Alejandro blitzed in front of Adam and slugged him in the gut full force.

Adam quickly recovered in time to block a kick from Alejandro and slugged him in the face, sending him skidding backwards.

Alejandro stopped himself, flared his crimson aura and charged forward as he let a single fist fly forward.

Adam met the fist with one of his own, resulting in a brief trade of even blows in which he appeared to have a clear disadvantage, but they continued their clash in the skies "Looks to me like someone's finally got his warrior's edge back!"

"Redemption can send a warrior's moral to new unseen heights, so now why don't you try to handle this attack to its fullest unrestrained extent! Garra de Redención!" Alejandro fired a full power Garra de Redencion as he did the day before in his battle with Jose, now fully unrestrained and at its newfound maximum power, engulfing the battlefield in a massive column of crimson light.

Deciding not to dodge the blast, Adam instead braced himself to catch the blast, which promptly engulfed him in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Adam, his jeans and quarter zip singed and shredded, but he was pretty much unharmed "I'm gonna give you points for effort Alejandro, but it's gonna take more than that to take me down."

"Well then how about this!" Alejandro suddenly blitzed in front of Adam and unleashed another attack, unleashing an explosion that shook the entire battlefield.

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Adam had countered the blast with a Roaring Thunder at the last second "Lucky me I countered that at the last second or I might have ended up in pretty bad shape, looks like when you're not holding back you're one hell of a force to be reckoned with. You might actually have a shot at beating me now, but that being said I've still got a few tricks up my own sleeve."

"Believe me I am well aware of that, but I'm far from being done just yet. Now is when the real battle begins."

"On that we can agree. Now come on, let's get started on round two already. This one is gonna go the distance, I have to admit I'm curious as to what's gonna happen when we both go all out."

"Agreed, we haven't fought like this since before Vilgax."

"And we've both gone the distance since then." Adam promptly flared his blue aura "So come on already, what are you waiting for? Give me everything you've got."

"Very well then. Crimson… DRIVE!" with a roar filled to the brim with strain, Alejandro powered up his Crimson Drive to the absolute brim, shining across the land like a crimson colored star "I hope you're prepared Adam, this is what I appear as when I'm at my current maximum power."

"You think you can keep up with me when I get serious?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I do, and now I have a new goal. I will surpass the Crimson Jaguars that have come before me, and I will reach of level of power no one in my family has ever achieved before, not even Carlos. And so far I've pursued this form by taking a different path than the likes of you or Carlos did, something that I will continue to do. I will honor his memory and restore the good name of my family, but I will do it in my own way."

"We've got one last day until the Cosmic Elementals arrive, and they're said to be the most powerful beings the universe has ever known. I know that they've gotta be brought down because they've the evilest of the evil but at the same time part of me wants to use them to test my limits, to know that all of my years of training has been worth it. But to be honest I had forgotten about you, all this time and the best challenge that I could ever hope to face has always been right there beside me!" he charged forward.

Alejandro let out a roar and met Adam's charge head on, resulting in a blinding light and a massive shockwave as he received an elbow to the jaw, but he quickly recovered and began quickly trading blows with Adam at blinding speeds across the early morning sky, which ended when their fists collided in an epic clash.

Adam broke away first and fired off a barrage of miniature fireballs and blasts of cosmic light energy.

Alejandro clawed his way through and deflected every blast being thrown at him in a primal frenzy.

Adam blitzed around the battlefield and dealt Alejandro a rapid barrage of punches and kicks, which eventually sent him crashing into a nearby mountain "You ready to call it quits yet cause I'm already fired up! ROARING THUNDER!" he unleashed a Roaring Thunder blast at full power, still not transformed mind you.

"Lanza del Relampago!" Alejandro countered with a crimson colored energy javelin, the two attacks colliding in a blinding light.

"Come on already Alejandro, shoot your power up even higher!" Adam suddenly blitzed out of the way of the collision, blitzed in front of Alejandro and then dealt him a solid kick to the torso, sending him skidding backwards, before he continued his assault, most of his attacks being dodged or blocked but a few of them making solid connection.

"Cero Oscuras!" Alejandro quickly took the first chance he could to slam a Cero Oscuras straight into Adam's gut, sending him flying across the clearing

Adam quickly recovered and the two of them took their clash to the skies, their auras spiralling together in a brilliant double helix formation.

Alejandro blitzed above Adam and smashed him towards the ground, then kneed him in the spine twice in a vicious combo attack "And you must not hold back on me either!"

"Fine!" they both slugged each other in the face, kneed each other in the gut, and then caught each other in a power struggle.

"I told you to take this seriously!" Alejandro grabbed Adam by the arm and flung him into the air before charging after him "I know that you're still holding back on me, come one and fight me with everything you have!"

"You wanna see everything I've got?! Well fine!" and so with a furious roar, Adam ascended into his Cosmic Force form, his hair a bright sky blue color but his irises now sporting a shining silver color "This is my full power too Alejandro, now come at me!"

"When I say all of it I mean all of it, because that's what I'm giving you here and now, just like back then when you gave me everything I have now!" so Alejandro met Adam's charge and slugged him clear in the gut, receive a fist to the jaw in the process, but he countered with a fierce uppercut of his own, sending Adam hurtling away.

Adam recovered and flared his aura as high as it was able to go "Come on Alejandro, BRING IT!"

"RIGHT!" so with one final roar and with all of the power that he could muster, Alejandro then charged upwards towards Adam, resulting in a blinding clash that shook pretty much the entirety of the continent.

When the blinding effect subsided, Adam had powered back down to his base form but his aura was still going strong.

With a strained roar, Alejandro readied himself for one final attack on Adam as he let a fist fly, but it turned out to be in vain as he lost consciousness and began plummeting towards the ground below.

Adam blitzed downwards and caught Alejandro by the arm before gently lowering him onto the ground "We're gonna keep on pushing each other, we'll both get as strong as possible and we'll do it together." he glanced over at Emiliano "You got something to deal with this? We've got anonther challenge in about an hour and a half."

Emiliano just pinched the bridge of his nose "Give me about 20 minutes and then you can both head back."

"Awesome, in the meantime I have something else that I have to do." and so Adam disappeared in a flash.

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Meanwhile, in the city of Magnolia, in another dimension…

The rain was pouring down over the hall of the Fairy Tail guild.

Happy let out a sigh as he glanced back to Natsu and Gray beating the crap out of each other, and then glanced back out through a window "Well this sucks, I mean it's been raining for days on end. Geez guys when do you think it's gonna stop?"

"This is all your fault!"

"The hell it is!"

"You get your damn head away from me!"

"Not until you stop drooling all over my clothes!"

"What clothes?! You're naked again!"

"Shit!"

So yeah, Natsu and Gray were ripping into each other like they usually did.

"ENOUGH!" quickly losing her temper, Erza proceeded to smash both of their faces together in a comical fashion "I'm sick of your mindless feuding, now play nice!" and this led to comical whining.

"But Gray started it this time…"

"Are you lying or just stupid?"

"Takes one to know one you icy son of a-" Natsu paused and let go of Gray's face when he picked up a scent and he gave a cocky smirk "Well what the hell do you know?"

"Looks like there's someone at the door." Happy noted.

"I've got this guys." Natsu then proceeded to deal Gray one last blow to the gut and gave the visitor a cocky grin.

The doors creaked open and Adam slowly wandered his way inside, fully equipped in all of his armor, his cloak fluttering in the wind and showing the Fairy Tail guild mark on it as he shot them a cocky grin "Oh if 14 year old me could see me now." he was soon followed in by a nervous looking Sierra.

"So you actually showed up after all."

"Sup Natsu, been a couple months hasn't it."

"Try a year and a half." they fist bumped.

"Listen this is kind of a flying visit but I've got a new member here for you, I only came with her in order to recommend her. Her name is Sierra and she got kind of f*cked up because of this thing between us."

"Ex girlfriend?"

"Not a chance in hell, I really don't wanna explain it. All you need to know is that she needs a place to heal and she's as broke as you and Gray are like bitter ex girlfriends." this was met with a chuckle from Erza "Look I've gotta get going because I've got my own shit to take care of at the moment, end of the world stuff so you know how it is. Just take care of her okay?"

"...I didn't understand most of what you just said but you're saying she's broke and we've got a new member?"

"Pretty much yep."

"Okay."

"Great, see you later. Oh and before I forget, I might be calling on you and the rest of the guild in a battle to save the universe in the next two days or so. Later." and then Adam disappeared in a flash.

"...What?"

Sierra nervously looked around "So… hi I guess."

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The sun had risen over the skies of Camp Wawanakwa, and everything was calm, until…

"Attention victims, join me outside in front of the Spa Hotel! It's challenge time, and this one is gonna be a real doozy!"

...So yeah.

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15 minutes later…

Adam and Alejandro blitzed onto the scene behind the Loser Cabin and made their way out front to find everyone already gathered, and the former shot a glance over at Leshawna "Huh what do you know, surviving a night on Boney Island without so much as a scratch. Not too shabby, how did you pull that off?"

Leshawna gave a shrug "It's all about having the right attitude, plus I have a way with the big tough looking ones."

"...You scared them shitless?"

"Damn right."

"Respect." they fist bumped.

"Yeah yeah yeah enough with the bromance." Chris ruined the moment "Anyway I have an announcement to make, today the time has come to merge the teams!" this was met with a few gasps "Yeah you got that right, from now on challengers are for individual winners only and that also means that everyone is at risk of getting the not so royal flush." then his phone rang "Yeah hold on I have to take this, it's my stylist. Hey dude why the heck do my socks not match my shirt?"

Dawn glanced over at Brick "Excuse me my dear Brick, now that our team is no more I hope that we can continue to work together. Perhaps an alliance is in order?"

In a chivalrous fashion, Brick got down on one knee in front of her "Milady, I would be honored." and he kissed her hands, causing her to blush.

"Chivalry at its finest, you're welcome." Adam dealt him a fist bump.

Cody glanced over at Bridgette "So you wanna work together? See if you can make it to the finale twice?"

Bridgette gave a shrug "Sure why not, it could be fun. What are Adam and Alejandro gonna do though?"

"I'm pretty sure either they'll team up or Adam will start working with you know who." he threw a glance at Mal over his shoulder.

Zoey on the other hand glanced over at Leshawna "Hey you wanna form an alliance? I think it would be really cool."

"You mean like the Friendship Finale thing you talked about last season with the bubble boy and the jock with an IQ in the single digits?" Leshawna gave a shrug "Alright I'm in."

"Hey can I get in on this?" asked Mal.

"...Yeah sure. For now at least.'

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Zoey let out a sigh "Leshawna thinks that Mike is just an alternate personality for an evil guy named Mal that Duncan told us about before because he knew this guy in juvie, well I would believe that Mal is one of Mike's alternate personalities but there's no way it could be the other way around. Anyway Mike is in control again, just ask my deck of anime based tarot cards I got from Adam awhile back. What is next for Mike?" she pulled out three cards with references to three different anime "The lonely wanderer with the sword, the creepy tower being controlled by some guy with a tattoo on his face, and the white haired guy drinking blood? Okay Adam is officially into some really weird stuff."

"They're anime references!" Cody called from outside "The wandering swordsman is supposed to be based on Rurouni Kenshin, the tower is the Tower of Heaven from Fairy Tail, and the white haired guy drinking blood is Hendrickson from the Seven Deadly Sins!"

"...Maybe I should just make up my own set of cards from now on."

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Mal let out a sigh "Pretending to be Mike can get pretty exhausting sometimes, Zoey doesn't have a clue and I plan to keep it that way. But either way keeping her around for very long is too much of a liability, so my next move should probably be to vote her off. I know Adam will agree with me once I run this by him."

"I do!" Adam called from outside.

"And there we go. Anyway hopefully Mike is having some luck up here, if not then we're all screwed."

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(Meanwhile, inside Mike's mind…)

Mike continued attempting to force his way through his mindscape, feeling the thick waves of energy emitting from deep within his subconscious "This… This is impossible!" and then he noticed a large menacing looking tower surrounded by spikes and a black and white light shining throughout his mindscape "What the heck is up with that tower? Wait a second, could that be the powersource that Mal was talking about?"

"Yeah nothing gets by you." a new voice grumbled.

Mike continued forcing his way forward until he found Chester at a stand made up of his brain matter, as well as being chained to it "Chester! Wait a second are you… selling Mal-branded skateboards?"

Chester gave a shrug "It was Mal's idea, thank that whippersnapper for that one. He said something about remaining incognito."

"...Well Mal was always into some weird stuff, but anyway he and I need your help in order take down Sordibus and get him out of my mind for good!"

"That psychopath? Why he's the whippiest snapper whippersnapper that ever snapped a son of a-"

"CHESTER! Will. You. Help. Us?"

"...You know what what the heck, I'm with ya Mike."

"Alright!" Mike quickly snatched a skateboard and used it to break the chain on Chester's leg, freeing him "Alright let's get going, to that weird creepy tower!"

"...You know what this is probably gonna end badly."

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"Yeah you know what, screw it!" Chris threw his phone in frustration "That idiot thinks that I'm colorblind, of all people!"

"Are you?" asked Bridgette.

"No! Anywho, the challenge for today is a regatta around the island."

"A regatta, like the boat race." Adam noted "Nice touch."

"Yeah I know, I happen to be cultured."

"And I'm mentored by the son of a diplomat."

"Fair enough, anyway the first contestant to completely circumnavigate the entire island and cross the finish line wins invincibility and a night in the Spa Hotel with one person of their choice. You don't have to worry though, Chef will keep things interesting by providing some obstacles for all of you. Some of the boats are sea worthy while some are sinkerific and they're all first come first serve, starting… NOW!" he blew on an airhorn, signalling the start of the regatta race.

"DIBS!" Adam suddenly bolted faster than a majority of those present were able to react and dove straight into the water.

Mal on the other hand pulled Cody and Bridgette aside "I take it Adam told you about my little ruse."

"While Mike is journeying through your mind, yeah we already know." Bridgette told him "So what's your plan then?"

"To put it bluntly, vote off Zoey in the next elimination. She's too much of a liability because she's so gullible so it's for her own good."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Cody.

"I promised Mike that I would protect her while he's on his mission and the best way to do that is to get her the hell out of here, she can't be in danger if she isn't here."

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Cody gave a shrug "Sad thing is that I can't really argue with him. I still remember what went down with M'Baku back in Africa, and the more I think about it the more I realize that maybe it was for the best that Gwen was eliminated before then. If anything happened to her then I would never forgive myself."

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Chris observed from above on his jetpack as Alejandro grabbed a boat and took off in second place, behind the point where Adam was swimming the old fashioned way at an incredibly fast pace "And it looks like our resident bromance has taken first and second place, whereas season three finalists Cody and Bridgette have teamed up by choice despite the fact that only one person can win the challenge. Well that's gonna be interesting."

Not long after Cody and Bridgette took off in one of the speed boats, Dawn and Brick reached the dock and came across a swan like paddle boat "I suppose this one will be sufficient, would you not agree? After all, swans are the avian symbols of love."

Brick found himself blushing furiously "You know you really don't play fair, but the fact that you're taking so much initiative on the navigation is impressive."

Mal wasted no time in weeding out all of the boats that didn't work, which were at least three of them, until he came to the Boat of Losers "Well you've gotta weed out the failures somehow, and trial and error is probably the only way to go about that I guess." and so he took off on his own.

"Mike hold on a second!" Zoey and Leshawna rushed up to the Dock of Shame, only for her cries to fall on deaf ears "He left us the power boat!"

"Well don't just stand there!" Leshawna hurled Zoey into the power boat and attempted to start it, only for it to sink almost immediately.

Zoey found herself on the receiving end of a glare from Leshawna "Well… to be fair it was already rusty."

"Screw it, let's just settle for the raft." so they climbed onto the raft and started paddling after the others, at an incredibly slow rate.

Chris observed all of this from above "And the rift raft ride the rickety raft, I am hilarious and you will quote everything I say." (leave a review if you get the reference)

"No you're not!" Adam called from the distance.

"...I hate him."

"I know!"

"I really hate him."

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Alejandro was speeding along in a battle for the lead, right beside where Adam was swimming the old fashioned way "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the fact that you want to do things the old fashioned way or the fact that you're almost outpacing me."

"You say that like anything about me is surprising anymore." Adam told him flatly "Also I'm pretty sure that your boat is about to explode."

"What do you-" Alejandro was cut off when his boat promptly exploded on him, and his charred smoking form rose up from the water as he let out a weak cough of smoke "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"How could you tell?" this was followed by Mal passing them by a narrow margin on the Boat of Losers.

"And Mike takes a narrow lead but the question does remain, will he be able to keep it all the way through Coconut Alley?"

"Coconut Alley?" Mal poked his head out of the front part of the boat, only to receive a coconut to the head "Ow, son of a mother f*cker!" he glanced up to see Chef throwing coconuts down at the boats from where he was stationed in a hot air balloon, and as a way of non lethal retaliation he promptly flipped him off.

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"And now Cody and Bridgette have reached Coconut Alley but the question remains, will they live to tell the tale?"

Cody slowly looked up to see a barrage of coconuts being hurled down towards them "So just to be clear, you see the coconuts coming too right?"

"Yep." was all Bridgette said.

"Just checking." he promptly accepted the bombarding of coconuts that ended up throwing him out of the boat almost entirely.

Bridgette wasted no time in pulling him back into the boat "Are you okay?" she received a not at all enthusiastic thumbs up.

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Cody let out a sigh "For the record, that is the closest I'm ever coming to surfing. Yes I've gotten a lot stronger but strength and agility are two totally different things."

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"Well that was boring, how exactly did they make the finals in season three again? Oh yeah, because THAT one BLEW UP MY PLANE! Anyway Chef you better kick it up a few notches before your pay goes down by a few notches!"

"Yeah yeah." Chef held up a stick of dynamite "Okay so it doesn't pay as well as Vegas did but this job does have a few perks I have to admit." he threw the stick of dynamitye downwards towards Cody and Bridgette's boat.

"...Well that sucked." Cody muttered.

"Seriously?" Bridgette shot a look up at Chef, only to receive a smile and a shrug from him in response.

"You ever have one of those days were you just get sick of doing what you've been doing and start questioning why you ever did in the first place?"

"You mean coming back here after you already won a million dollars."

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Dawn and Brick made their way along the race course around the island, the former looking out over the bow of their boat "I can see the others up ahead, we're approaching them rapidly. How are you faring at the moment?"

As it turns out, Brick was paddling faster than even the cameras could follow "I've trained under some of the greatest generals that our 13 provinces have to offer, and on top of that ever since I was given this battleaxe by Adam things like this and my usual workouts have been getting a lot easier."

"Such attributes are included in the properties of Shatterstorm, the weapon amplifies the abilities and energy within the user." Dawn's mood suddenly turned deadly serious "You will need that strength for what is coming."

"Adam told me about those Cosmic Elementals, how long do we have?"

"I estimate 24 hours."

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Zoey and Leshawna were paddling their way along the course, though now they were trailing significantly behind the other groups "Well this is getting us nowhere, if only we had a motor or something."

"You know I think I actually have an idea." Leshawna glanced back to the fin sticking out of the water "Just give me a minute okay?" and so she cracked her knucles and then dove into the water, which ended up turning an ominous shade of red.

"Okay, this is really uncomfortable."

Moments later Leshawna burst back up from beneath the water while holding a very bloody and beaten Fang "Let me tell you how this is gonna work fishstick, you're gonna pull our raft and you're gonna get us back into that spa hotel or I will gut you with an honest to god smile on my face and then proceed to build the cabin I build with your various mangled body parts with your very blood! Do I make myself clear?!"

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Zoey shuddered "You know looking back Leshawna is a lot more intimidating than I remember her being, at least she was only kidding about that stuff she was gonna do to Fang. She was only kidding right?"

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Chris took the chance to sign off for a commercial break "So far all nine of our remaining contestants are still alive, but what exactly is the likelihood of that trend keeping up? The only way to find out is to tune in when we return right here on Total! Drama! All Stars!"

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Leshawna held Fang in a chokehold in front of the raft and proceeded to was the blood off her hands in the river "Alright we're almost ready, Indie Chick you tie Fish Sticks over there to the raft."

"Come on Leshawna this is totally crazy!" and yet Zoey tied Fang to the raft regardless of her clear concerns, which was all that Fang needed in order to start pulling for his life out of pure fear.

"Yeah that's right you overgrown suit, mush like there's no tomorrow! You heard me! Mush mush mush!"

Fang let out a quiet whimper, but he complied nonetheless.

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Zoey shuddered "You know I hate to say this out loud, but now I'm starting to see the main reason why Chris put Leshawna on the Villains' team."

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"This just in, Adam, Alejandro and Mike are still battling it out for the lead! And thanks to the rift rafters' new engine as acquired by Leshawna in a very unnerving and villainous, our season three finalists are dead last!"

"Last place you say?" with an extremely smug expression, Cody flipped a switch as the boat roared into life once more "What was that you were saying?"

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Adam was now swimming with a narrow lead on Mike and Alejandro, catching a stick of dynamite being thrown at him "Nice try Chef, sorry but you don't have what it takes to wreck my shit! Not today, not any day!"

"Hey guys isn't that the resort from season one?" Mal pointed at the Playa de Losers sitting on the side of the island.

"One can't help but wonder." Alejandro noted "I mean considering all of the torture this island has had to endure."

"You mean with all of the mutations from last season?"

"I was thinking more on the lines of having to be owned by McLean, but that works too. But not as bad as having to house him." Adam commented.

"Ha ha idiots three, very funny. I'll have you know that I take very great care of things that I care about."

"Hence why you let the rest of the island look like it got sent to the dump from hell."

"Exactly."

"Figures. Hey why didn't you guys use it again after season one?"

"It was a one time deal, the producers wouldn't stop nagging me about giving the campers some reasonable accommodations that season so I had to let them use my cottage out of the kindness of my heart, to my great reluctance."

"Wait back up a second." Mal glanced back at him "Did you just call that thing a cottage, are you kidding me?"

"Yeah, what else would it be?"

"A mansion obviously." Alejandro pointed out.

"It's not a mansion you idiot."

"No it's a resort."

"...I'm not wasting my time arguing with you idiots." and then Chris pretty much ended the conversation.

"I'm serious though, it's not a cottage or a mansion. It's a f*cking resort, anyone with half a brain cell can see that."

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Leshawna and Zoey continued their path along the course, only to see Mal and the others in the distance ahead of them "Looks like idiots one and two are still battling it out for the lead and your boyfriend is about neck and neck with them." she glanced around to see a large number of pirajnas surrounding them "And that's happening too, hey guppy you might wanna double time it."

"But if we do catch up to Mike and the others then who exactly go you think we're going to catch up to?" asked Zoey "If only there was some way to make sure that it's really Mike in there and not some evil alternate personality."

"Well I've got one idea, if you ended up in some kind of danger."

"Wait are you serious? I can't do that!"

"Why not? You had no problem letting him save your ass all sorts of times last season didn't you?"

"That was a totally different thing, those involved a lot of convenient and coincidental situations that almost killed me! I can't just try to kill myself on purpose, I know that Mike would never want that! There has to be another way-" she was cut off by the raft hitting a sharp rock that threw her off, leaving her hanging from a low hanging tree branch "I just had to open my big mouth, now I feel like Adam all over again! Mike, help me! MIKE!"

Hearing this from his race for the lead, Mal looked back to see that Zoey was about to be killed, and so he let out a sigh and pulled his boat to a stop "Dammit."

"And just like that Adam and Alejandro are now the only runners in the race for first place, who will come out on top?"

"The things I do to keep a promise." Mal jumped out of the boat and ran towards Zoey at full speed on foot.

"Seriously I don't wanna die-" and as the branch snapped, Zoey could only close her eyes and wait for the inevitable, but it never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes and her expression changed to one of relief "M-Mike?"

Sure enough, Mal stood on the edge of the pathway holding Zoey in his arms bridal style, only he had dropped his Mike charade and he had returned to using both his normal voice and his normal hairstyle "Hey, are you okay?"

Zoey's relief almost instantly turned into a bit of dread "You… You're not the Mike I know are you?"

"What gave it away, the smooth silky voice or the 20's gangster hairstyle?"

"You're Mal, aren't you?"

"...Yeah, I'm totally him. What Duncan told you is just what he knows from his own personal experience. I can't tell you everything, not now at least, but what you can know and need to know is that inside our head Mike is alive and well, and he's fighting his way through there with everything he's got with one thing in mind: Protecting you and Adam."

"It's dangerous in there?"

"If the plan that Adam and I came up with works then it won't be for long."

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Zoey wiped away a few tears "I'm just relieved to know that Mike is okay, and that he's still fighting for what he loves. It's one of the things that made me fall in love with him."

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Mal let out a sigh "Maybe I should tell her and Le-Bomba the truth, granted Adam will probably kill me for it but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"You know we can hear you out there!" Adam called from outside the confessional.

"...Well shit."

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Dawn and Brick observed Mal rescuing Zoey from afar "It appears that he has decided to tell her the truth about his plan."

"What plan is that exactly?" asked Brick.

"I'm sorry dear but I cannot reveal the details, for he may very well be listening."

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Chris was waiting with Chef on the Dock of Shame "All of the boats are in the final leg of the race but the question remains, who's going to win immunity for tonight?"

"You wanna bet?" Adam and Alejandro were both still swimming for the lead, not far ahead of everyone else.

"Oh joy, Adam and Alejandro are battling it out for the lead. Anyway it looks like they're neck and neck. And now battling it out for second places is the team Mike and Zoey vs team Bridgette and Cody!"

"Not anymore!" Bridgette and Cody bolted past Mike and Zoey's boat, but she waved back at them "Sorry guys, nothing personal but I guess you'll just have to row row row into second place!" she was met with some odd looks "Yeah you know what I'm just gonna go ahead and drive the boat."

"Sorry about this Bridge, but you're gonna have to settle for second place after yours truly takes the gold!" with a sudden burst of speed, Adam shot past Aleandro into first place, right before they past the buoy with the checkered flag.

"Dammit." despite his clear distaste, Chris made the call "And just like that Adam wins it and he does it in style. Not that it matters but Alejandro is in second place by a few seconds, third place goes to Cody and Bridgette, while Mike and Zoey take fourth. Fifth place to Brick and Dawn as they somehow managed to get past all of the carnage, and while Leshawna and Fang may have come in last she was definitely the most sadistic."

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Leshawna let out a scoff "Only a real sucker would think I was actually gonna gut the damn shark. I'm leaving that open to interpretation."

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Chris rubbed his temples in what appeared to be frustration "As the winner of today's regatta challenge Adam gets immunity and a night in the spa hotel, and as a bonus reward he can bring one person along with him."

"And I think my choice is obvious." Adam gently took Bridgette's hand in his "Sorry guys but the rest of you are stuck on the short end of that stick."

"Whoo freaking hoo, as for the rest of you it's time to hit the voting booth." and so Chris just walked off, with most of the others doing the same.

Mal took the chance to pull Zoey and Leshawna both aside "I think it's safe to say that there are a few things that you both need to know, and please don't sick the shark on me. What I have to tell you might end up deciding the fate of the entire universe."

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Nightfall came, and the time for the elimination ceremony had begun.

Chris gathered everyone by the bonfire, not as enthusiastic as one would think "Well I've got some good news for you victims, as a reward for you making it to the merge, no one will have to be exiled on Boney Island tonight." this was met with a few various cheers "Yeah yeah rah rah whatever, just get to voting before I lose my patience with all of you."

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Zoey crossed out a picture while refusing to reveal it to the camera "After what Mal told me, I know that this is what I have to do."

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"Well this was somewhat unexpected." Chris studied the voting results intently, and then turned to the others with a plate of marshmallows in his hand "Alright guys listen up, the following players are safe. Adam. Bridgette. Cody. Alejandro. Dawn. Brick." he tossed the marshmallows to each of them in that order "Zoey and Leshawna, the two of you are in our bottom two for the night. Leshawna, you acted like a total sadist to Fang to get him to cooperate, and for that you've earned my respect, but it also earned you last place. Zoey, you spent a lot of the time today just brooding/ whining over Mike and nearly ended up as piranha bait because of it. And for those reasons, tonight's recipient of the Flush of Shame is… Zoey." he then proceeded to toss the final marshmallow to Leshawna, sealing Zoey's fate officially.

Zoey let out a sigh as she got to her feet "Well I guess some things just can't be helped, and if you guys get to stay if I leave then I think I'm okay with that." she pulled Mal into a tight hug, the same with all of the others, and she gripped both Adam and Mal by the shoulder "I want both of you to be tough and fight to the end, whatever is coming for you I know that if anyone can handle it then it's the two of you. Don't let me or anyone else down" and with that, she made her way out of the bonfire pit towards the Flush of Shame.

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A few moments later…

Chris stood in front of the Flush of Shame, ready to send Zoey through her disgusting yet watery departure "Any final words?"

"Just do what you have to do." Zoey's tone seemed like she was resigned to her elimination, something that left Chris unamused, and so she was promptly sent down the Flush of Shame with a quick scream.

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Adam let out a sigh as he held up is vote, that being Zoey "There are times when tough choices have to be made, but this is for the best. Zoey just doesn't have what it takes for what's about to come, and if we make any mistakes then we'll all die. Not even trying to exaggerate, failure means death right now. Which is why I'm making sure that what I'm about to do goes down tonight, if I do die then I'll die with no regrets."

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Chris took the chance to sign off from outside the confessional "And as this episode comes to a close we're six players down with eight to go but the question still remains, who's gonna be the next one to take a paddle in the big porcelain pond? I personally hope it's Adam."

"F*ck off!" Adam barked from within the confessional.

"The only way to find out for sure is to tune in when we return with an exciting new installment of Total! Drama! All Stars!"

A/N:

And thus foreshadows the battle that has yet to come. Before anything else, let me start by apologizing to for taking as long as I did to update. After the last one, I had to start preparing for finals and I started working on my newest fic, A Dragon Slayer's Story, so updating this one was put at the back for the time being. But I do intend to finish this story, no matter what it takes, though the next chapter won't be for awhile since in a few days I'll be going on vacation.

Like I said, Zoey is too much of a liability with everything that's going on and since this isn't the Total Drama version of that sitcom Mike & Molly, pun not intended, I decided to have her cut by having everyone vote for her, if for no other reason than keeping her safe.

Sierra joining the Fairy Tail guild is an idea that I intended to have in the last chapter but forgot to add, so here it is now. It'll play into what I have planned for the next few chapters, so don't worry.

In case it wasn't clear, with no Duncan in the competition at this point there was no need for anyone to blow up Playa de Losers, so it'll stay standing.

With this I'll start picking off the former members of the Hero team on the way to the finale.

Elimination Order:

Anne Maria: 14th

Jo: 13th

Scott: 12th

Heather: 11th

Duncan: 10th

Zoey: 9th