A/N: Four episodes left! I can hardly believe it! :o
"Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Total Drama Explore Party!" Topher greeted from the Helipad of Losers. "In our last episode, we went from below water to above it, as the explorers scoured the swamp for an alligator which wore a tattoo of Beardo's face. Outside of the challenge, Joel and Trinity conspired to get each other eliminated. Reese was quick to take her friend Joel's side and vote for Trinity, while River was more than happy to take his friend Trinity's side and vote for Joel, leaving Brittany in the middle of two friendships and alliances. Meanwhile, Vladimir, who, unbeknownst to him, was also a target, checked in on his Team Beer allies to make sure things were still running smoothly. Within the challenge, River and Trinity were quick to pick fights with the alligators of the swamp, Joel spent most of his time fleeing, Vladimir had very little luck in even finding alligators, and Brittany didn't even try due to a phobia of reptiles. In the end, luck found Vladimir at the last second, as he was the one to find the Beardo alligator, subdue it, and win the challenge. This left Joel and Trinity as the targets, and, although the majority of the explorers voted for Joel, Brittany not casting a vote combined with Joel playing the Topher idol led to a complete turnaround, resulting in Trinity's elimination. How will Trinity's elimination affect the game? Find out, right here, on Total! Drama! Explooooooooore Party!"
Brittany tentatively approached River, who had been eating breakfast.
"Hey, River, can we talk?" Brittany asked.
"What's there to talk about?" River scowled. "You screwed Trinity over, and probably both you and me by extension."
"I know, I know, and I'm sorry," Brittany admitted. "I felt terrible about it when it happened, and I still feel pretty bad about it now."
"What the hell were you thinking by not voting?!" River snapped. "On what planet could that possibly, potentially be a good idea?!"
"The targets were Joel and Trinity, right?" Brittany asked. "I've already voted off several people who trusted me, and I didn't want a reputation as a backstabber or a traitor or someone who's untrustworthy."
"By not taking a side, you betrayed both sides," River leered.
"I know," Brittany said. "But I'm not just going to sit back and complain about what I did. I'm going to fix what I did."
"How so?" River asked skeptically.
"Well, I've thought long and hard about it, and I've come to the conclusion that, if I want any chance at winning, I'll have to vote out Joel sometime soon," Brittany explained. "He's a big threat, he's started to drift away from me and more towards Reese, and I know you don't really get along with him."
"Glad you've finally come to your senses, though it's a bit too little too late for Trinity," River pointed out.
"I know," Brittany said. "My point here is: I'd like to form an alliance with you. If we can get Vladimir to vote with us tonight, and if Joel isn't invincible tonight, we can still get rid of Joel."
"Interesting..." River thought aloud. "You know what? You've got yourself a deal. Joel tonight."
"Glad you understand," Brittany smiled. "I'll leave you to your breakfast."
With that, Brittany walked away. River scoffed in amusement.
Confessional:
Brittany: I made a big mistake last night in not voting. I can own up to that. Now I'm going to do my best to fix it. I've apologized to River, I already apologized to Trinity as she left... I know I can't really bring Trinity back, but the least I can do for her is vote out Joel like I should have last night. Maybe if I win I'll give Trinity some of my prize money. I don't know. I just feel awful for what I did.
River: Maybe some guys would be willing to forgive Brittany right away, either because she's really good-looking, or just because they're stupid, but I know better. If Brittany wasn't going to vote for Joel last night, what makes me think she'll vote for him tonight? I only agreed to it because, if we really do get rid of Joel, it'll be her versus three Team Beer members, and I know Reese and Vladimir trust me more than not only Brittany, but each other. So basically, if Joel goes tonight, I'm guaranteed final two.
Vladimir found Reese sitting alone in the tent.
"Morning, Reese," Vladimir greeted.
"Morning, Vladimir," Reese greeted back.
"What are you doing in here?" Vladimir asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't want to be bitten by mosquitoes," Reese shuddered. "Itchiness is the opposite of cuddliness, and I don't want that at all."
"I see," Vladimir said. "Well, I just came here to talk to you about the future of the game," Vladimir said.
"What about it?" Reese asked.
"Well, we're at the final five," Vladimir pointed out. "That's a huge deal, and every vote is going to count from here on out."
"You sound like you have a plan," Reese noticed.
"I do," Vladimir smiled. "As you may or may not have noticed, since the merge started, only members of Team Weed have gone home. This puts the old Team Beer threesome in the majority."
"So you want to vote out Brittany and Joel?" Reese asked.
"I think we can pull it off," Vladimir said. "Joel's a big challenge threat, and Brittany's a wild card right now. Keeping either of them around could be detrimental to our chances at winning."
"Okay, so say we take one of them out," Reese said hypothetically. "And the other one wins the challenge the next day. What's stopping you from voting me out?"
Vladimir looked taken aback for a second before chuckling.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to guilt me into a final two deal," Vladimir chuckled. "But if a final two deal is what it takes for you to be onboard with this, then you have my word."
"And what if you make a final two deal with River?" Reese asked skeptically.
"I won't, don't worry," Vladimir smiled. "I don't trust River nearly as much as I trust you. You're in safe hands."
"I don't know..." Reese said.
"Well, think about it," Vladimir said politely. "I'll leave you to it."
Vladimir left the tent.
Confessional:
Reese: I want to trust Vladimir, because we were friends at the start of the game, but ever since he voted out Ray... I don't know, I just have trouble seeing him as anyone but the guy who backstabbed Ray. That's probably irrational, but I can't help feeling the way I feel.
Vladimir: I've had the hunch for a couple days now that Reese doesn't really trust me and is trying to sever ties with me. I can't have that. My plan is to bring both her and River to the final three with me. That way, it'll be me plus the two weakest people left in the game, making the final challenge a breeze. Executing this plan won't be so easy, but I'm not going to give up so easily either.
As Brittany left River alone, Joel bounded right up to her.
"Hey morning Brittany!" Joel greeted.
"Oh, hey Joel," Brittany greeted back half-heartedly.
"Hey what's wrong I can tell something's on your mind is it Trinity because I know you guys were friends but hey at least you still have me right?" Joel asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Brittany admitted.
"That's cool that's cool but hey like I said you still have me and I'm aligned with Reese and kind of with River so you're still safe and don't have anything to worry about," Joel assured her.
"I'm not worried about my safety in the game," Brittany clarified. "I'm worried that I'm not playing a good game."
"Well you've made it this far right so I can't imagine you've been playing an awful game," Joel said.
"I've backstabbed my original alliance, my negligence led to Trinity going home, and now we're getting down to brass tacks, where the slightest mistake could screw me over," Brittany listed. "It's stressful."
"Why if I didn't know better I'd say you wanted Trinity to stay over me like I get that you two were friends but you and I are friends right so would you rather have me go home over Trinity?" Joel asked.
"That's not- I didn't- You're putting words in my mouth!" Brittany stammered. "Besides, I didn't ask you and Trinity to vote each other out. You guys both wanted the other gone and I was caught in the middle."
"I get that but I'll be honest the fact that you were considering Trinity over me kind of hurts I mean she's been nothing but rude especially to Angie and sometimes to me so the fact that you even thought about siding with her doesn't give me a lot of hope," Joel admitted.
"You're being unreasonable," Brittany frowned. "I'm friends with both of you. Of course I'd be torn between both of you. If you had to pick between voting for Reese or voting for me, would you be able to make an easy decision?"
"Well if you had asked me yesterday I'd say I'd vote for Reese because you and I have been friends longer and I trust you more but now I'm honestly torn," Joel said.
"Not a fun position to be in, right?" Brittany asked.
"Well thankfully to my knowledge the vote isn't between you and Reese so I don't have to worry about that," Joel smiled. "Right now if it was up to me I'd vote for Vladimir since he's the only one I'm not aligned with but like last night proved he could always win Invincibility in which case I guess my backup would be River so yeah don't worry you should be good."
"You'd think," Brittany muttered.
Confessional:
Brittany: Well, things just keep getting better and better, don't they? As soon as I promise to vote out Joel, now all of a sudden he remembers that we're friends and allies. So now I'm stuck between voting with him and being more secure in my chances of making it to the end, or voting for him and being more secure in my chances of winning the final challenge.
Joel: As much as I like Brittany I'm starting to wonder just how trustworthy she can be I mean on top of not voting last night she did turn on her alliance back on Team Weed once she found a better option so what's stopping her from doing that now I mean sure there really aren't any better options for her right now but I think that's probably what Jean-Marie thought too and look what happened to him I don't want that to happen to me.
River stepped into the tent to find Reese still sitting there.
"Oh, hey, Reese, just the girl I was looking for," River smirked.
"Me?" Reese asked.
"Yeah, I've got some plans in mind, and I want you to hear me out," River said.
"Well, right now my plan is voting for Vladimir," Reese said.
"Just hear me out," River repeated. "Tonight, we vote off someone from Team Weed. Preferably Joel."
"But Joel is my friend," Reese frowned. "I know you two don't get along, but please don't drag me into it."
"The fact that I can't stand him isn't the reason I want to vote him out," River denied. "Well, okay, that's not the main reason. The main reason is that he's a massive threat. He's by far the fastest one here, and in a game where the challenges require speed, he'll be a nightmare to face in the final challenge."
"You said someone from Team Weed, preferably Joel," Reese recalled. "So what about Brittany?"
"Brittany's not super trustworthy, but she's not as big a threat as Joel," River explained.
"What about Vladimir though?" Reese asked. "He's not super trustworthy, and he won yesterday's challenge."
"But Vladimir would be more likely to go with the plan to vote Joel than Brittany would be," River pointed out. "Think about it. Tonight, we lose a Team Weed. Tomorrow, we vote out the remaining Team Weed, or, if they're invincible, then we vote Vladimir. Day after that, we vote out whichever person isn't us."
"And what if that person's invincible?" Reese asked.
"Then they'll probably take you over me," River shrugged. "You're way more likable and, frankly, probably easier to beat in a challenge. You have nothing to lose here."
"I could lose Joel's trust and friendship," Reese frowned.
"It's just a game. He gets that," River said.
Reese wore a thoughtful look on her face.
Confessional:
Reese: First Vladimir, and now River want to get rid of Team Weed. On one hand, it makes sense to stick with my old team. Both of them seem to want to keep me safe. On the other hand, it wouldn't feel right voting off a friend just because it could keep me safe in the game.
River: So, Brittany says she'll vote for Joel, and I know I'll vote for Joel. Getting Reese to vote for Joel is risky, but it could be just what I need, especially since I don't know how much I can trust Vladimir after he voted for Trinity last night.
Joel found Vladimir sitting alone on the canoe dock.
"Hey Vladimir what's up whatcha doing?" Joel asked.
"Just taking some time to relax," Vladimir said. "With all the strategy going on in this game, it's nice to have a break every once in a while."
"Well sorry because I'm going to have to make you take a break from your break for a second," Joel said. "I just wanted to talk to you about Brittany because I don't know what's on her mind these days and I was wondering if she told you anything."
"Brittany, huh?" Vladimir asked. "Come to think of it, she hasn't spoken with me in a while. Rather suspicious if you ask me. That, plus you saying that you don't know what's on her mind... makes me wonder if we can really trust her."
"Yeah I'm having some doubts myself but I figured I'd ask a neutral third party about it just to see if I'm really being irrational or not," Joel admitted. "But now that you mention it it does sound like she may be withholding information and I don't like it. Thanks Vladimir."
"You know, you and I don't really talk very often," Vladimir pointed out. "Why not stay and chat?"
"I mean sure I guess I don't really have any commitments or anything right now," Joel decided as he sat on the dock. "So like what did you want to talk about I guess there's a lot of things we could talk about since we don't really know each other all that well?"
"Why don't you tell me about yourself?" Vladimir suggested. "Your hobbies, your hopes and dreams, why you joined the show, what you'd do with the money. There's a lot of stuff I'm curious to know."
"Um well okay I guess for starters I'm kind of into movies um my hopes and dreams are to get a stable job to be able to support myself which in today's economy isn't so easy uh I joined the show because it looked fun and I've been a fan for a while and as for what I'd spend the money on..." Joel continued to ramble as Vladimir looked to be struggling to take all this information in.
Confessional:
Vladimir: I asked Joel to tell me about himself so I could have an easier time disguising myself as him, but the kid's brain moves at a mile a minute, and I couldn't really keep up. Hopefully I was able to plant some seeds of mistrust to Brittany in him, though. Right now, she's my current target, because I believe she's the least likely to work with me long-term.
Joel: Man Vladimir has a point like I honestly don't know what Brittany plans on doing and that kind of worries me like I want to trust her but I don't know.
Brittany entered the tent to find Reese still there.
"Oh, that's where you are," Brittany said. "I was wondering why I couldn't see you out in the Helipad Zone."
"Yeah, mosquitoes are not my friends," Reese admitted. "Why? Were you looking for me?"
"Well, it wasn't really my goal, but hey, let's talk since we're both here," Brittany offered.
"Actually, I do have something to tell you," Reese said uneasily.
"What is it?" Brittany asked, now seemingly worried.
"Well, River and Vladimir have both talked to me earlier today about getting rid of the rest of Team Weed," Reese admitted.
"Really? But River..." Brittany started.
"What about River?" Reese asked curiously.
"Well... never mind, it's not important," Brittany denied. "Why are you warning me about this?"
"Well, getting rid of Team Weed would involve getting rid of Joel, and I like and trust Joel," Reese explained. "More so than River and Vladimir, at least."
"I thought you were friends with River," Brittany pointed out.
"It's complicated," Reese admitted. "I'm trying to get to know the real him, but it's not easy. Plus, he did vote out Ray - I haven't forgotten about that."
"I see," Brittany said. "Well, Joel told me his target is Vladimir right now, but I assume you knew that already."
"I did," Reese nodded. "I would like to vote him out for sure. Are you going to join us?"
"I'm honestly not sure," Brittany said. "I'm in a bit of a moral crisis at the moment. I still have a lot to think about."
"Oh no," Reese said empathetically. "Do you want a hug?"
"That'd be nice, actually," Brittany smiled.
Reese pulled Brittany in for a hug.
"Wow, hugging is underrated," Brittany joked.
"I know, right?" Reese agreed.
Confessional:
Reese: Brittany seems like a nice enough girl, though I do worry that I'll have to vote her off soon. We're at the final five, and I don't have very many options anymore. Maybe it'd be best not to get too attached to her. Oh, that sounds like an awful thing to do. But I couldn't bear to become good friends with her only to vote her off!
Brittany: Reese is a sweetie. I can see why she and Joel hit it off. Though her friendship with Joel could be dangerous for me if I'm not careful. I know Reese trusts Joel more than she trusts me, and I'm worried that Joel might be headed in a similar direction...
River approached Vladimir, who still sat on the canoe dock.
"Hey, Vladimir," River greeted.
"Ah, River," Vladimir smiled. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. Not important," River said dismissively. "I just wanted to know where your head's at strategy-wise."
"Right now I'd like to get rid of Joel," Vladimir said. "He strikes me as a big potential threat."
"Ugh, thank you!" River exclaimed. "I talked to Brittany about it, and she claimed she'd be willing to vote Joel, but who knows what Brittany's actually thinking?"
"I certainly don't," Vladimir admitted. "Maybe, if Joel wins Invincibility, we should consider voting for Brittany."
"My sentiments exactly," River smirked. "Team Beer to the end, right?"
"Looks like we're on the same page," Vladimir smiled.
"Yeah, neat coincidence," River admitted. "But yeah, Joel's our first priority, and if not him, then Brittany."
"Reese would probably be more likely to vote Brittany than Joel," Vladimir thought aloud.
"Yeah, but she's more likely to vote for you than Brittany," River pointed out.
"I thought as much," Vladimir sighed.
"Yeah, she mentioned your name to me earlier today," River nodded. "Says you're an untrustworthy threat. You'd best watch your back with that one."
"And yet here you are throwing your ally under the bus to me," Vladimir chuckled. "How do I know I can trust you?"
"Because I know that, no matter what, Reese will be loyal to Joel above anyone else here," River explained. "I should be prepared to cut ties with her if need be."
"And if you don't need be?" Vladimir asked.
"Then I still trust you way more than Brittany or Joel," River said. "At this point, you're probably the person I can most rely on."
"I'm honored," Vladimir smiled.
"So yeah, I've got your back if you've got mine," River said.
"All we can do now is wait to see what the game has in store for us," Vladimir said.
Confessional:
Vladimir: I couldn't help but notice that, despite all River said, he made no mention of taking me to the finale. I think he plans on taking Reese to the finale with him. Not that I can blame him. I would too if I was him. But it's still concerning. For now, though, we should focus on taking out Team Weed.
River: Though I do trust Vladimir more than I trust Reese, I know that, if the rumors are true and Vladimir doesn't really have cancer, I'll have an easier time beating Reese in a challenge than Vladimir. He doesn't need to know that, of course, but he should be of great help to me in getting to the finale at all.
Joel entered the tent to find Reese still there.
"Oh hey you really are in here I was wondering why I couldn't find you around the swamp and I'd heard someone mention that you're just chilling here in the tent," Joel noticed.
"Yeah. Lots of people have come in here to see me," Reese chuckled. "I think, now that you're here, it's been everyone."
"Well it is the tent where we all sleep and keep our backpacks so I imagine that people will want to come in here for some reason or another probably to get something out of their backpacks or hey maybe even to talk to you," Joel said.
"Could be," Reese thought aloud. "So which reason are you here for?"
"The latter," Joel answered. "I just wanted to talk with you about Brittany because after what she pulled last night I'm not so sure I can trust her which hurts to even say because she was my first friend in this game and I've had a crush on her for a while but I have to think realistically and realistically I'm just not sure about her."
"Well, I know she's kind of stressed about the game," Reese said. "But I also know that we're running out of people to vote for and that we may need to consider letting her go sometime soon."
"But we still want to get rid of Vladimir next right because I don't trust him and I don't think you trust him whereas with Brittany I trust her a little more than Vladimir and with River I know you trust him even if I don't so Vladimir's definitely our best option still right?" Joel asked.
"Of course," Reese nodded. "Though I'm not a hundred percent sure how much I trust River. I definitely trust you, though, there's no doubt about that."
"Aw thanks and I definitely trust you too it's like we're the only people that each other can fully trust in a way so that's nice," Joel grinned.
"Huh... I guess we kind of are," Reese realized. "That's kind of sad."
"How come?" Joel frowned.
"No offense, but I thought I'd make more friends in this game," Reese said. "And I did make a couple more, but they're either eliminated or too shifty to fully trust."
"Yeah that does kind of suck though I'm not really in any similar position like the only other friends I made in this game were Angie and Brittany and you can see how that turned out," Joel said.
"Well, at least we have each other, right?" Reese asked.
"You know it!" Joel beamed.
Confessional:
Reese: This game ended up a lot more cutthroat than I thought it would. Going in, I kind of just expected a fun little game where we'd get to see some nice sights and make friends with each other, but voting people off has made this a lot harder than I thought. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised I'm still in it, what with all the sneaking around and backstabbing that's gone on.
Joel: Honestly I kind of hope that once this game is over all our friends can go back to being friends and we won't have to look back and think "Oh yeah that person went behind my back that one time in the game" and like maybe the fourteen of us can go out and have lunch together or something like wouldn't that be nice?
The five contestants, with their backpacks on, gathered in the center of the Helipad Zone, where Topher stood before them.
"Alright, explorers, it's time for the next challenge," Topher announced.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have gathered that by the fact that you're here and the five of us are in our backpacks," River remarked.
"It's what I'm here for," Topher remarked back.
Just then, the ground beneath several trees near the back of the Helipad Zone blew up in a large explosion, launching the trees into the air. The trees landed all over the Helipad Zone, including one that landed upon River.
"Looks like River's bark is worse than his bite," Joel chuckled.
"Hey, leaf him alone," Vladimir chuckled.
"I hate everything," River grumbled.
From the opening that the explosion left came a red haired girl. Her hair was in a bun and she wore round glasses on her face. Her outfit consisted of a faded yellow sweater, a navy blue skirt, white calf-high socks, and black espadrille shoes.
"Ah, Scarlett, just in time," Topher greeted.
"Of course," Scarlett boasted.
Confessional:
Reese: Scarlett, huh? I hope she doesn't try to kill any of us. She made it clear in Pahkitew Island that she'd have no qualms about doing that.
Topher and Scarlett led the five explorers outside of the swamp and into a much dryer area. There were rocky hills surrounding the area, and what little grass was there was dying and crunchy. Beneath some of the hills seemed to be what were once buildings of an ancient civilization.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Ruins of Discovery!" Topher greeted.
"I would like to clarify that this name is a misnomer," Scarlett said matter-of-factly.
"Shhh!" Topher shushed.
"All I'm saying is that the name implies the opportunity to discover something previously unknown, which is ludicrous because-"
"Shhhh!" Topher shushed again.
"This island is artificial just like Pahkitew was," Scarlett said flatly to the contestants.
"Dammit, Scarlett, that was supposed to be a big twist!" Topher whined.
"How? There was little to no prior buildup to it and the chances of anyone caring whether or not this island is artificial are minimal at best," Scarlett pointed out.
"It ruins the illusion," Topher frowned. "Especially since these are supposed to be ruins."
"The name of this area is now the Badlands of Prevarication," Scarlett decided.
"Geez, even when you're not trying to take over the island and kill people, you're still evil," Topher grumbled.
"Who said I wasn't trying to take over the island and kill people?" Scarlett said with a wry grin.
"Just explain the challenge," Topher said exasperatedly.
Confessional:
Brittany: The way those two argue reminds me of how my grandparents argue. Only I don't think they're as tongue-in-cheek about it as my grandparents are. It's still cute, though.
"The goal of the challenge is as follows," Scarlett began. "There are four buildings in these so-called ruins. Three of them house five gems, and each house holds gems of a different color. The fourth house leads to the Helipad Zone, and requires one gem of all three colors to grant entrance."
"Sounds easy enough," Vladimir thought aloud.
"A foolish assumption," Scarlett sneered. "For you see, each gem house is loaded with traps and obstacles that will make not only access to the gems strenuous, but exiting the house as well. I expect at least one of you to come out of this challenge in a state of notable injury."
Reese gulped.
"The individual who unlocks the door to the Helipad Zone will win Invincibility for the remaining duration of the round," Scarlett continued. "Thus guaranteeing them a place in the final four, as well as leaving the other four vulnerable for elimination."
"That about explains it," Topher said. "Any questions?"
"Yeah, I just got attacked by a damn tree. Can I sit this one out?" River asked.
"No," Topher smiled. "Anything else?"
Silence.
"Alright, let's get this started," Topher smiled. "On your marks... get set... GO!"
The five teenagers dropped their backpacks and ran off to different houses.
Confessional:
Joel: You know I was kind of wondering how an island is able to change climates and environments so easily so the fact that the island is artificial does make sense though my question now is why are people making artificial islands like that sounds super expensive and probably not worth the money.
Brittany: Man, the stakes are getting higher and higher with each round, aren't they? Well, I came here to win, so I'm not giving up anytime soon. Bring it on!
Joel and River ran to the house on the far left. Inside the house was a hallway that led straight to a pedestal which housed five green gems. The floor was tiled, and a number of the tiles had symbols on them.
"Of course we'd end up picking the same one," River mumbled.
"Well this one seems simple enough though on the other hand if there's one thing movies have taught me it's that tiled floors like this are really suspect so I think we ought to proceed with caution," Joel pointed out.
"I know this symbol," River said as he looked at the first symbol in the tiled hallway. "That's the symbol for Capricorn, and I happen to be one of those."
"Wait Capricorn you mean like that zodiac stuff that people only really use for symbolism in fantasy?" Joel asked.
River stepped onto the Capricorn tile.
"Well, no arrow traps have killed me yet," River chuckled.
"Yup yup yup I knew it this is just like Indiana Jones where we have to step on the right tiles in the right order like how much you want to bet we have to stand on the zodiac tiles in order on the calendar?" Joel guessed.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," River remarked as he tentatively stepped onto the Cancer symbol in front of him. He heard a clicking noise, and arrows flew above his head as he ducked just in time to avoid them.
"Which one did you step on?" Joel asked.
"The mind-your-own-damn-business tile," River said.
"Well Aquarius is after Capricorn I'm pretty sure so you should probably try stepping on that one," Joel suggested.
"If you're so confident about that, then you come step on it," River leered.
Joel stepped first onto the Capricorn tile, and the onto the Aquarius tile. River wore an annoyed look on his face.
Confessional:
Joel: I happen to be a fan of fantasy so I know a thing or two about the western zodiac even though I don't really buy into that stuff but hey knowing about it helped me in the challenge so that's pretty cool.
River: I only know the symbol for Capricorn, but even if I did know them all, I couldn't tell you the order to save my life. I knew I should have just not tried today.
Brittany and Reese entered the house that skewed more to the middle. Inside were three medium-sized pools of water.
"Water, huh?" Reese asked.
"My guess is that each of these pools leads to a different room," Brittany guessed. "And we'll have to figure out which is the right one."
"The pools lead to different rooms?" Reese asked.
"Yeah. I think that you can swim underneath the walls and come out on the other side," Brittany deduced. "I'm going in."
Brittany dove into the middle pool. Sure enough, she was able to swim past the wall and surface on the other side, where she was faced with another room, this one with green walls with two more pools.
"Bingo," Brittany smiled.
Meanwhile, back on the other side, Reese looked concerned.
"She hasn't come up for a while," Reese noted.
The cuddly girl peered down into the pool Brittany dove into. She did not see Brittany.
"Maybe you really can swim to the other side," Reese shrugged. She took her hoodie off and dove into the pool on the left. Sure enough, she was able to swim underneath the wall and emerge into another room with green walls and two more pools.
"Two more pools?" Reese frowned. "Oh, exploring this place won't be easy, will it?"
Brittany, meanwhile, found herself deciding between the two pools before her.
"I have a good feeling about the left," Brittany decided as she entered the pool on the leftmost side of the room.
Brittany swam through the path she had chosen. When she emerged, she found herself in a room with red walls and three more pools. As Brittany stepped out of the water and into the room, Reese emerged from one of the pools.
"Reese? Were you following me?" Brittany asked.
"Huh? No," Reese said. "You chose the one in the middle in the first room, right? I chose the one on the left."
"Hm... which one did you choose in your second room?" Brittany asked.
"The one on the right," Reese said.
"Yeah, that makes sense. I chose the one on the left," Brittany nodded. "As if this wasn't confusing enough, the paths can intertwine with each other."
"Really?" Reese whined. She scanned the room. "Well, there's two pools here that lead forward. I'll take the one on the left, and you take the one on the right."
"Sure," Brittany agreed, and the girls entered their respective pools.
Confessional:
Reese: In hindsight, maybe picking the water challenge first wasn't the best idea, because I spent the entire challenge wet. At least the outside of the ruins were warm and sunny enough, I guess.
Brittany: This is definitely a more mentally-oriented challenge, which I guess is a nice change of pace from tobogganing, running aimlessly around a desert, and, you know, fighting alligators. I guess that's fitting since Scarlett's the one who explained it.
Vladimir chose the house on the far right. Like the room on the right, this one consisted of one long hallway which led to a pedestal covered in gems, this time with red gems. In lieu of a tiled floor, this room was dotted with a neat array of four-sided pillars, each about six feet high. All four sides of each pillar sported an open-mouthed tiki face.
"I get the feeling that this room won't be as simple as it looks," Vladimir remarked as he slowly approached the array of pillars.
Sure enough, as Vladimir came close to the array of pillars, some of the tiki faces began breathing fire, preventing him from progressing any further.
"Surely they don't expect us to run through the fire?" Vladimir winced.
Vladimir paced back and forth in front of the pillars. They all spat a wall of fire except for when he stood between two particular pillars.
"I get it," Vladimir figured. "It's yet another maze, but the walls of this one are fire, and the tikis don't breathe fire until you get close enough to them."
Vladimir walked between the two dormant tikis. He continued to walk, and as he did so, the tikis to his side spat walls of fire. He continued to walk until a wall of fire came up before him, and though it did, there was no longer a wall of fire to his right, allowing him access to that direction.
"Maybe not so much a maze as a predetermined path, but I'm definitely going to have to take this slow and steady," Vladimir thought aloud.
Vladimir continued slowly making his way through the maze of fire, looking visibly uncomfortable as he did so.
"And on top of everything, just being near this fire is giving me heatstroke," Vladimir grimaced. "Maybe I should... no, someone might come in and see me. Better not risk it. Not to mention the cameras..."
Vladimir stopped to catch his breath.
Confessional:
Vladimir: Yeah, winning yesterday's challenge was definitely a fluke. I couldn't help but notice that the merge challenges have been way tougher than the premerge challenges. Which is yet another reason why it's imperative to take Reese and River to the end. I can beat them.
Joel and River exited the leftmost house, each with a green gem in hand. River had a couple arrows stuck into each of his arms.
"Well that room sucked," River griped.
"I don't know I kind of liked it it rewarded me for knowing obscure zodiac facts which I thought was kind of neat," Joel shrugged.
"Yeah, of course you liked it, you did the challenge flawlessly," River pointed out. "Meanwhile it was trial and error for me. With lots of error." River gestured at the arrows in his arms.
"If you paid attention in school then maybe you could have done it perfectly too," Joel said.
"They don't teach zodiac in school!" River pointed out.
"No but if you paid attention in school then maybe you'd have paid attention to me and the order I stepped on the tiles," Joel said.
"You went a mile a minute!" River said.
"Hey guys," Reese greeted as she approached the two with a blue gem in hand.
"Oh hey Reese how's it going nice blue gem," Joel greeted back.
"Shoot, that's right, I shouldn't be standing here and chatting," River remembered as he jogged to the middle house, prying arrows out of his arms on the way.
Once River was out of earshot, Reese handed her gem to Joel.
"Here. Take this. River and Vladimir want you gone tonight. You need it more than I do," Reese whispered.
"Whoa really I mean I'm not complaining but don't you want to win too?" Joel asked.
"I'm not a target tonight," Reese said. "At least I don't think I am. All I know is that River and Vladimir tried to get me to vote you out. I know I won't do it, but if they get Brittany to do it, you'd be in trouble."
"Well if you say so hey now that I have two gems I only need one more so why don't you join me in the last house that way we can both go for the last gem and give me more of a chance to win," Joel suggested.
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Reese chirped.
"Nice alright let's go!" Joel cheered.
Confessional:
Joel: Yeah honestly I probably shouldn't be surprised that River is trying to get rid of me though I wonder what Vladimir's beef is with me since I don't recall us ever not getting along in fact he seemed pretty cool with me this morning but hey if Reese is going to protect me then who am I to say no?
Reese: It's definitely risky sacrificing my chances of winning the challenge to help Joel, but I've been fine before, so I should be fine now. I hope.
As Brittany exited the middle house with a blue gem in hand, she came across Vladimir, who had returned from the right house with a red gem in hand. Vladimir noticed Brittany dripping with water and approached her.
"You seem wet," Vladimir noted.
"I am wet," Brittany said flatly.
"I assume there's water nearby? Where is it?" Vladimir asked. "I just came from that house over there. It's a maze of fire. I could use a way to cool off."
"Middle house right here," Brittany said as she gestured towards the aforementioned house.
"Bless you," Vladimir said as he gave a friendly wave before heading into the middle house.
"Fire maze, huh?" Brittany asked. "Doesn't sound friendly. I'll save that one for last."
With that, Brittany headed for the house on the left. She noticed the straight hallway that led to the pedestal of green gems.
"This seems... too easy," Brittany thought aloud.
She slowly tiptoed forward, not looking at the tiles on the floor. She stepped on the Capricorn tile, but the next tile she stepped on was the Taurus tile. She felt the unnatural click of the tile right as she stepped on it, and she jumped back to the un-tiled entrance before the resulting arrows could hit her.
"Okay, I should probably watch where I'm stepping," Brittany decided.
She paused to scan the tiles before her.
"Alright... this is the zodiac if I'm not mistaken," Brittany thought aloud. "I guess we have to go in their order on the calendar?"
Brittany stepped on the Capricorn tile, the very first zodiac tile. Before her were Aquarius, Taurus, and Cancer tiles.
"Pretty sure this one is next," Brittany said, unsure, as she stepped onto the Aquarius tile.
Brittany paused to make sure nothing would go wrong.
"Alright, so far so good," Brittany said, relieved.
Brittany then stepped on the Pisces tile before her, which also did not react to her weight. She then stepped on the Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius tiles in that order before stopping on yet another Capricorn tile. She stepped off the second Capricorn tile and stood before a pedestal with five recesses, four of which had green gems in them.
"Two down, one to go," Brittany grinned as she took one of the green gems.
She turned around and realized that the zodiac tiles were still there.
"I don't suppose the tiles know that I took a gem and will let me take the easy way out?" Brittany asked as she stretched her leg out and stepped on a blank tile. The tile clicked and arrows shot out of both walls on either side of the hallway.
"I guess that's a 'no'," Brittany deduced.
Confessional:
Brittany: Man, Scarlett wasn't kidding when she said getting the gems would be difficult and dangerous. Considering the island is apparently artificial, I can't help but wonder if she built these traps herself.
Scarlett: I did build those traps myself. Sadly, they were the only ones Topher would allow me to use. I had some great ideas that weren't greenlit. But I have to listen to Topher, otherwise I won't get paid, and considering how I was edited to look like some kind of monster in Pahkitew Island, I could use all the money I can get. It's not easy to get hired when people think you're a sociopath.
Vladimir entered the middle house to find River prying arrows out of his arms.
"Having a rough time?" Vladimir asked.
"No, I'm fucking peachy," River remarked. "You know anything about the western zodiac?"
"Not much, why?" Vladimir asked.
"Remember everything you ever knew about it," River said seriously. "Trust me, you'll need to."
"If you say so," Vladimir said. He began to look around the room. "I'm just glad there's water in here. The house I went into had me dealing with fire. Not my favorite part of the game, I must admit."
"Of freaking course there's fire now," River grumbled.
"Well, here goes nothing," Vladimir said as he entered the pool on the right.
River tore the final arrow out of his arm and he removed his hoodie, revealing a white undershirt. His arms were dotted with small bleeding holes.
"Geez Louise..." River winced. "I am praying that this is not salt water."
With that, River entered the pool on the left. He swam through the underwater path and resurfaced in a green-walled room. He exited the pool.
"Well, I don't want to scream my lungs out and kill myself. At least no more than usual," River said with a grim chuckle. "So it's not salt water at least."
River took the pool to the right.
Meanwhile, Vladimir emerged from his underwater pathway into a similar room.
"More branching paths, huh?" Vladimir asked rhetorically. "It's not painful physically, but I get the feeling that this will get annoying very quickly."
Vladimir sighed.
"Ah well. No point in dawdling," he decided.
Vladimir took the pool to his left. He emerged in a red room, which had two paths forward and a second path backward.
"What I'd give to be able to draw a map right about now," Vladimir muttered.
Meanwhile, River had emerged in a red room of his own, which was practically identical to Vladimir's.
"Geez Louise, this is going to be the death of me," River griped. He took the forward path to the left.
When River emerged, he was in a blue room, which was a dead end other than the two pools that one could take to enter it. At the dead end was a pedestal which housed four blue gems, and also had a recess which could fit a fifth.
"Oh hey, first try," River smirked as he swiped a gem from the pedestal. He turned around and looked at the two pools.
"...Now how the hell am I going to get back?"
Vladimir, meanwhile, emerged in a blue room of his own, which looked very similar to River's, only the pedestal had zero gems on it.
"What in the world?" Vladimir asked curiously as he approached the pedestal. "Where are the gems?"
Just then, a spring-loaded boxing glove popped out of the pedestal and hit Vladimir in the eye.
"Auck!" Vladimir cried as he stumbled backwards onto his rear. "There are less violent ways of informing me that I took a wrong turn, you know."
Confessional:
River: I like to think that my good luck in the water challenge made up for my awful luck in the tile challenge. Though there's still a fire challenge to think about... I'm not looking forward to it.
Vladimir: One benefit of being a master of disguise: you don't have to worry about bruises or black eyes. Any good master of disguise has makeup handy at all times, not that he'd need it if he's wearing a mask to begin with.
Joel and Reese, meanwhile, had entered the house on the right
"Whooooooooa what are all those heads?" Joel asked as he looked at the tiki pillars.
"Whatever they are, we should be careful," Reese warned. "I doubt they're here for no reason."
"Yeah probably but what reason could that be like as far as I can see they're just decoration and I can't really think of any other purpose they could have," Joel said as he approached the pillars, only to be cut off by a sudden wall of fire.
"That's not good," Reese shuddered.
"Well if they're just going to block us off like that what are we supposed to do to get to the gems?" Joel asked.
"Maybe we're supposed to stand on top of them?" Reese guessed.
"Hey you know what maybe that's it why don't you help me on top of this thing and I'll see if I can't jump across them," Joel suggested.
"That sounds really dangerous," Reese said worriedly.
"Well yeah but it's the challenge like what else am I supposed to do?" Joel asked.
"If you say so..." Reese said nervously. She approached one of the pillars, bent down, and cupped her hands together.
Joel used Reese's hands as a stepstool as he grabbed onto the top of the tiki pillar and hoisted himself atop it.
"I can't watch," Reese said as she shielded her eyes.
"Aw but I feel like a badass right now and you should totally watch me doing badass stuff," Joel pouted.
"I'm terrified, Joel!" Reese cried. "What if you fall?"
"I won't," Joel insisted as he hopped to the pillar in front of him. "See there's nothing to it."
"No, I didn't see, because I'm still not watching," Reese frowned.
Joel pranced from pillar to pillar effortlessly. As he traveled from pillar to pillar, no fire came out of the tikis' mouths.
"I'm totally doing it Reese come on you have nothing to worry about," Joel insisted.
"Nope. Nope. That's a whole lot of nope," Reese said as she shook her head.
"Please?" Joel asked.
"That is a big ol plate of nope with a side order of nope," Reese frowned. "Just get the gem and get back here already."
"Aw alright fine," Joel frowned as he hopped across the pillars and down in front of the pedestal. He took a red gem, pocketed it, and turned around. "Uhhhhhhhh Reese?"
"I'm not looking," Reese insisted.
"No no no no it's not that it's uh well how am I supposed to get back on top of the pillars because I'm not the tallest guy in the world and I kind of needed your help to get on top of the pillar in the first place," Joel admitted.
Reese removed her hands from her eyes and saw Joel standing at the far end of the hallway, waving awkwardly.
Confessional:
Joel: Part of me considered just chancing it and running through the fire but I think that if I did that Reese wouldn't let me hear the end of it plus also it would probably hurt like crazy so the risk to reward ratio doesn't really line up here.
Reese: First alligators, now fire-breathing tikis? This game's getting deadlier and deadlier by the day!
We cut to the Ruins' Helipad Zone, which was inside of the fourth house. The walls were dotted with torches and hieroglyphs, and the roof of the house was missing so as to allow the helicopter to enter and exit. Topher sat on a beach chair in the center of the Helipad Zone as he waited for someone to win the challenge.
"Topher. A word?" Scarlett asked as she approached the host.
"Scarlett? You've done your job for the season," Topher said. "You don't have anything else to do."
"I can't help but wonder why you would trust me to have a big part in constructing this challenge," Scarlett said matter-of-factly. "Not only this challenge, but the lake challenge and cavern challenge as well, as much as Max claims credit for the latter."
"Well, you're smart," Topher shrugged. "I figure that if anyone would know how to do it, it'd be you."
"You may not have been there, but recall that I did use those smarts to try and take over Pahkitew Island and claim the money early," Scarlett said as she removed her glasses, giving Topher a sinister leer. "What's to stop me from attempting to do so again?"
"The fact that the money isn't physically on the island, for one," Topher said.
"Wait, what?" Scarlett asked as she put her glasses back on.
"Yeah, we figured having it all in a case here on the island would be too risky, since that just leaves it prone to getting lost or stolen," Topher said nonchalantly. "The winner will get the money via check in the mail."
"...Oh," Scarlett said, sounding disappointed.
"Also I always got the feeling that you played up the evil thing for the camera in Pahkitew," Topher shrugged. "You seem too smart to play supervillain like Max does, and lord knows I definitely played some things up for the camera in that season."
"I see," Scarlett said professionally. "Thank you for your time."
"Yeah, no prob," Topher smiled.
Scarlett walked away from Topher and into the staff tent. She took a remote control from her pocket and pressed some of the buttons in sequence. A screen on the remote read "Bomb Deactivated".
"Someday... but not today..." Scarlett swore.
Meanwhile, Topher noticed the door to the Helipad Zone beginning to unlock.
"Hey, someone's here!" Topher noticed.
The door opened, and in stepped the immunity winner.
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"Congratulations, Reese!" Topher announced. "You have won the challenge and are safe tonight!"
"Yay!" Reese clapped.
Confessional:
Reese: Joel decided to toss all the gems to me and let me win. I was hesitant, because that means he's still vulnerable, but then he started throwing gems at me, so I didn't really have a choice.
Joel: So it turns out the fire didn't come out between every tiki and there were in fact safe spaces now if I'd known that before that would have been cool but oh well too late now I guess. Man I hope that doesn't screw me over.
Brittany: Well, time to make a decision... stay true with my promise to River, or take the safe route and stick with Joel. (She takes a deep breath.)
That night, the five explorers sat in the Tent of Shame. Topher entered the tent with four pillows in hand.
"Final five. Soon to become final four," Topher said. "You all know how it is by now. If you get a pillow, it means you're safe from the votes and are still in the game. If you don't get a pillow, then you have been voted out and have lost Total Drama Explore Party forever."
"Forever's a long time," Brittany remarked.
"Only one thing is for certain: Reese is safe," Topher said as he tossed Reese a pillow, which she hugged tightly. "Also safe..."
"River."
"Brittany."
Joel twiddled his thumbs nervously, while Vladimir remained stony-faced.
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"Joel," Topher finally said as he tossed the energetic boy a pillow.
"That's what's up!" Joel cheered as he caught the pillow.
Everyone turned to Vladimir to see his reaction.
"Well that's too bad," Vladimir smiled as he stood up.
"Please. At least you don't have to worry about being in an apparent three against one minority," River scoffed.
"No, but I was really hoping I'd win," Vladimir said. "I guess it's time to go."
"Guess so," Topher confirmed. "Vladimir, if you'll follow me. The rest of you guys head to the sleeping tent and get comfy."
Topher led Vladimir to a helipad just outside the Tent.
"This is the Helipad of Losers," Topher explained. "The Total Drama helicopter should be here soon."
Just then, a helicopter landed on the Helipad. A door on its side opened.
"I must admit, I never thought I'd have gone home so soon," Vladimir said.
"Well, you're taking your loss pretty well," Topher noticed.
"Oh, I'm absolutely pissed that I got voted off," Vladimir smiled. "Livid, even."
"You sure have a strange way of showing it," Topher chuckled.
"I have to be able to control my emotions," Vladimir said.
"I'm guessing that's a master of disguise thing?" Topher asked. "That reminds me, was it really a good idea to announce that you're a master of disguise on TV? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Now everyone will recognize you and know you by name."
Vladimir let out a loud, hearty laugh, taking Topher aback.
"Ohhh... Oh, Topher," Vladimir chortled condescendingly. "Surely you didn't think I used my real name, or my real face for that matter."
"Wait... what?" Topher asked.
"Must I spell it out for you?" Vladimir sighed. "Vladimir is not my real name. And this is not my real face. It's a mask."
"I knew what you were saying... It's just bizarre," Topher admitted.
"I wouldn't be caught dead letting my true identity go public," Vladimir chuckled.
"Well, despite all you've just revealed, you still lost," Topher said. "Time to get into the helicopter."
Vladimir chuckled as he entered the helicopter. The door shut behind him and the helicopter began to take off.
Topher turned to face the camera.
"And then there were four," Topher said. "We're getting ever closer to the finale, but only two can make it. Will River survive despite the odds being stacked against him? Will Brittany make up her mind about anything? Will Reese make any big moves? Will Joel learn what commas are? Stay tuned, dear viewers, for the next episode of Total! Drama! Explooooooooore Party!"
Votes:
River: I don't trust Joel, I don't like Joel, and I doubt I could beat Joel in the finale. Sorry bud, but your time is up.
Reese: I have to vote for Vladimir. I trust Joel, I sort of trust River, and Joel sort of trusts Brittany, but I don't think anyone trusts Vladimir.
Vladimir: Joel's continued presence in the game concerns me. I think we should nip this problem in the bud before it continues to sprout.
Joel: Well if River and Vladimir want to vote for me that's fine I mean it's the game and they have to vote for someone but with that in mind it's only fair that I retaliate and Reese would rather see Vladimir go so Vladimir it is.
Brittany: Yes, I messed up in not voting, and that did indirectly lead to Trinity going home. But I've never held any loyalty to River, even if Trinity did, and I get the feeling that he wouldn't be loyal to me either. So I'm siding with Joel, and voting for Vladimir.
A/N: Vladimir was a fun, different kind of villain to write. It's easy to write a villain who has a generally disagreeable personality, but with Vladimir, the goal was to write a villain who wasn't really mean or rude or confrontational or anything - if anything I dare say he was one of the most polite contestants in the game. He just had an agenda all his own and wasn't afraid to lie and backstab to realize that agenda. His easygoing demeanor also made it easy for him to downplay his own abilities in the game, which certainly worked to his favor for a while. It wasn't until the numbers began to thin out that people started to realize that Vladimir would be dangerous to keep around. From what I gathered, Vladimir had an overall positive reception, so I'm glad that readers enjoyed reading him as much as I enjoyed writing him.