"Okay!" Mike exclaimed. "I think we're all set to go!"
"Are you sure about this?" questioned Zoey.
Mike nodded with confidence. "Yes. Yes, I am!"
The four of them charged at Dawn, which began the battle.
Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
In this week's episode, it's the grand battle against Dawn! Let's just get right into it, shall we?
Disclaimer: The characters of the 'Total Drama' series belong to Fresh TV, Inc., Teletoon, and Cartoon Network, not me. Any songs used are property of the respective owners and such, except when noted as parody.
-
Total Drama: That's the Spirit!
Episode 10 [36]: Only in the Expansion Pack (12.03.12)
-
"My Master has ordered your end," stated an emotionless Dawn. "I must comply."
Zoey made the first move, using her rifle to fire a laser shot at Dawn. Dawn let out a small grunt as she was hit, taking 14 damage from it.
[Be careful!]
Dawn suddenly reached up to her own head and started shaking it.
"Be quiet, you! I must follow my Master!"
Cameron had a confused look on his face.
"Who is she talking to?"
Mike took his turn, deciding to summon up a spirit.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 16, ready to summon!
Ezekiel, the Homeschooled Guy! He is a spirit! Do not die!]
Ezekiel pulled out his scythe and immediately made a beeline for Dawn.
"Let's make this quick!" exclaimed Mike.
[Ezekiel's Attacks... Number 1! Early Exit!]
Ezekiel swung at Dawn's head, expecting to lop it off in one go. But his scythe met some resistance about six inches away from her neck. It hit an invisible barrier that became visible upon an attempt to breach it. Since the attack failed, Ezekiel grumbled in disgust before leaving the battle, with scythe in hand.
"HA!" laughed Scott from afar. "One-hit KO moves don't work on boss characters!"
"WHAT KIND OF VIDEO GAME LOGIC IS THAT?" Mike screamed in return.
Brick was up next. Like Zoey, he too took a shot at Dawn. His shot hurt her for 24 life points.
"If Master wishes it so," stated Dawn, "then so it shall be!"
[Wind Storm]
Dawn snapped her finger, and on command, a half-dozen eagles appeared, all hovering in front of her. They all started flapping their wings in unison, generating a strong wind storm that hit everyone in the heroes' party for a large amount of damage. Once the eagles had done their part, they flew back to where they had come from.
"If you think that's gonna stop us..." grunted Mike.
"Oh, I'm just getting started!" said Dawn, with an evil smirk.
[Be careful!]
"Will you be quiet?" Dawn snapped again.
"Who's she talking to?" asked Brick.
"Herself, I think," replied Zoey. "Though I don't quite know why."
As they tried to figure out what was going on, Cameron took his turn.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 14, ready to summon!
Katie, the Sweet Girl! She is a spirit! Do not die!]
"EEEEEEEE!" squealed Katie, as she appeared on the battlefield.
[Katie seems hesitant to battle.]
Katie passed on doing anything, instead deciding to just float around and hang there until Cameron's next turn.
[Heliosomo]
Zoey used a second-level healing spell, which restored one-fourth of each member's max life points to the party. Mike fired a shot at Dawn, but she dodged it.
"Time to get serious!" shouted Brick.
Brick pulled out his Spirit Marble and used it to summon the spirit from within.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 03, ready to summon!
Gwen, the Loner! She is a spirit! Do not die!]
"You've got five minutes," Gwen stated, "and then things get ugly."
She did not seem pleased to be summoned again, but Brick needed her power.
[Gwen's Attacks... Number 2! B.T.T.H.]
Gwen went up to Dawn and promptly gave her a boot to the head. It hurt Dawn a lot, as she took 70 points of damage.
"I can't let him down," groaned Dawn, as she thought out loud.
Dawn caught her breath, and then spoke once more.
"I must succeed!"
[Spirit Bondage]
A dark aura cloud appeared above Dawn. Then, without warning, four limbs sprouted out of it, one for each of the heroes. Each limb landed a hit on its target, but it did not dish out any damage. Instead, a dark red '3' appeared above their heads. One appeared above Dawn's head as well.
[Dawn's counter is at 3!
Zoey's counter is at 3!
Mike's counter is at 3!
Brick's counter is at 3!
Cameron's counter is at 3!]
[Spirit Bondage places a hex on participants of battle! The counter will decrease after each player's turn! If your counter reaches 0, you perish!]
"That can't be good," commented Mike.
"That's the exact definition of not good!" added Cameron.
"Why'd you have to go and ruin the surprise?" Dawn asked, before lightly flicking herself in the head.
[I will not allow you to manipulate my friends!]
"The cat may be out of the bag, but I'm confident that they will not be able to beat me."
[Princess! If one of you uses a spirit with earth-based powers...]
Again, Dawn flicked herself in the head.
"That's enough out of you!"
Zoey looked at her party. "Do we even have an earth-based elemental spirit?"
Cameron's turn began with Katie leaving the battlefield, having done nothing to help the cause. He pulled out his laser rifle and fired a shot at Dawn. It only hit for '9' points, though.
[Cameron's counter has been reduced to 2!]
Zoey took out her Spirit Marble and used it to summon Justin to the field.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 21, ready to summon!
Justin, the Eye Candy! He is a spirit! Do not die!]
Justin came out, ripping his shirt off immediately upon summoning. After flexing his muscles, he commenced his attack.
[Justin's Attacks... Number 1! Admire Me!]
Justin cast his spell.
[All female spirits are prevented from being summoned for 1 turn!]
[Zoey's counter has been reduced to 2!]
Mike and Brick each just shot at Dawn, taking off 17 and 25 points, respectively.
[Mike's counter has been reduced to 2!
Brick's counter has been reduced to 2!]
[Tiger Uppercut]
Dawn put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Out of nowhere, a bengal tiger appeared. Dawn pointed at her target, which was Cameron. The tiger, in response, leapt at him and mauled him to pieces. After being on the receiving end of a 99-point attack, Cameron collapsed.
"CAM!" Mike shouted.
[It's not right for you to use animals to hurt people!]
"Quiet, you! He was asking for it."
[Dawn's counter has been reduced to 2!]
[Helios]
Zoey spent her turn healing herself back up to near full-health, but...
[Zoey's counter has been reduced to 1!]
Mike shot at Dawn, but his shot was off-target, resulting in a miss...
[Mike's counter has been reduced to 1!]
Brick charged up for his most powerful attack...
[Brick's counter has been reduced to 1!]
And just like that, it was Dawn's turn again.
[Squirrel Medic]
Four squirrels ran up to Dawn, each holding an acorn-shaped pill. Dawn took the pills from them and quickly downed them. A green '50' appeared above her head, signifying that a quarter of her max life points had been restored.
[Dawn's counter has been reduced to 1!]
Zoey pulled out a Strawberry Sauce from her pack and tossed it at the fallen Cameron. It revived him instantly.
"I'm alive again!" Cameron squeaked.
[Zoey's counter has been reduced to 0!]
The dark aura cloud reappeared above Zoey. Dark raindrops started to fall from it, and if they were to hit anybody, it was instant death.
You can guess what happened next.
"PRINCESS! NO!" screamed Mike as Zoey fainted.
Mike opened up his pack to get a Strawberry Sauce. But before he could pull it out, he changed his mind about what to do. He instead took out a Spirit Marble.
"Please be good," pleaded Mike.
He threw the marble at his feet, with it colliding with the planks of the bridge. A white smoke cloud appeared, giving time for the spirit to be summoned.
[Accessing classical archives! Number 20, ready to summon!]
The smoke began to dissipate, and out of it stepped...
Courtney, the Type A! She is a spirit! Do not die!]
"I'm gonna win this!" Courtney declared.
Dawn gasped in shock. "Master! She is an earth-type user! What should I do?"
[How about you get out of my body, you poser!]
Mike ordered Courtney to attack Dawn.
[Courtney's Attacks... Number 1! I Rock, You Roll!]
Courtney materialized a box full of pebbles. She started chucking them at Dawn. Every single one of the five dozen pebbles hit her, each causing '1' point of damage. But Courtney was not done yet. She clapped her hands once, signaling for the other part of her attack to commence. Dawn turned around just in time to see a giant boulder roll up. It flattened her like a pancake.
Once the boulder had done its job, it rolled off. Dawn unflattened herself, then watched as a '50' appeared above her head.
"Am I good, or am I good?" asked Courtney, with her hands on her hips.
Courtney exited the battlefield; her work was done. Meanwhile, Dawn collapsed in exhaustion.
[Mike, Brick, and Cameron each received 242 EXP.
Mike leveled up!
Cameron leveled up!
Party received 3450 C for winning!
Party received Marble 09 - Harold!]
Mike, Brick, Cameron, and Zoey, who was revived off-screen, made their way to the end of the bridge. Zoey went over to her friend to check on her condition. Using both hands, she lifted Dawn's head and upper back off of the ground.
"Dawn! Dawn! DAWN!"
Zoey checked Dawn's pulse.
"It's weak! She's in trouble, guys!"
"Is there an infirmary in the next town?"
Zoey nodded. As the party tried to think of how to get Dawn there, Sam had, since we last checked on him, woken up. He had just finished traversing the bridge, and he immediately offered assistance.
"Allow me!"
Brick and Sam worked together to carefully pick Dawn up. They held her in such a way that her body was perfectly parallel to the ground.
"WAIT!" Mike suddenly recalled. "What about Scott?"
Mike and Cameron both looked back towards the far end of the bridge.
"HE'S GONE!" Cameron shouted.
"Forget about him," Zoey spoke up. "Right now, our only concern should be Dawn."
Everyone nodded. They then began the trek to the Town of Cold, which was an eighth-mile down the road...
Cold General Hospital...
Mike, Brick, Cameron, and Sam walked out from the emergency entrance.
"I'm so glad we got her here in time," Cameron said in relief. "They said that Dawn will make a full recovery."
"I can't believe that she was being drugged!" Brick exclaimed in disbelief. "Just like that McLean Army scum to brainwash people with illegal substances!"
"Never knew they'd stoop that low," commented Mike. "We'd better inform General Hatchet of this!"
"But we've been pretty much AWOL for a week! Will we be reprimanded for being out of contact for so long?"
"We have no choice, Brick. There's no way Dawn's the only victim, given how hard she was under Scott's control. If we tell our commander what we've learned, maybe they can search for other victims."
Sam clenched his fist in anger. "If they've gotten their hands on Dakota..."
Mike put a hand on Sam's shoulder to comfort him.
"If you want, I can request that they look for her."
But Sam shook his head in denial.
"No. My job was to protect her, and I failed. I'll never be able to live with myself if I asked for others to clean up my mess."
Sam started to walk away.
"Hold on!" Mike shouted. "What about..."
He pulled out Courtney's marble and held it out to Sam.
"It's too much to ask for a battle for ownership right now, so... how about I just give you this back. If we need it..."
"Keep it."
"Say wha?"
"Keep it. You need it more than I do."
"But what if Scott comes after you? How will you defend yourself?"
Sam grinned as he pulled out a Spirit Marble that had the number '07' on it.
"This guy's as strong as a Level 30 Warrior, so I should be good!"
"Level 30? I didn't know the levels went up that high!"
"Only in the expansion pack."
"The wha?"
"Never mind. It'll make sense later. Well, good luck, guys, and give my regards to the princess."
With that, Sam left. Mike turned towards his squadmates.
"I guess we'd better find a place to lodge for the night."
"What about Princess Zoey?" queried Brick. "You sure she's safe alone?"
"She can take care of herself. Besides, even if she needed protection, she wouldn't let us."
"You mean she wouldn't let you," said Cameron, with a giggle.
"Look, I'm sure this'll blow all over and I'll get a make-up kiss or something tomorrow! Let's just rest, okay? It's been a long day."
"Whatever you say, sir."
Inside the hospital...
Dawn was resting peacefully in bed, recovering from her injuries. Zoey was sitting in a chair next to her, keeping watch.
"I can't believe Scott did this to you. I could've stopped him. I should've stopped him from going off with you the day we broke up the research team."
Zoey reached over and clasped Dawn's right hand between her own hands.
"I feel this is my fault, Dawn, and I don't know what I can do to make it up to you."
She leaned in and started sobbing into her hands. Zoey continued to cry for quite a while, until she managed to tire herself out and fall asleep face-down in the sheets.
[Zoey! Zoey! Zoey!]
Once more within the white space of nothingness, Zoey heard that familiar face call out to her. But now she could put a name to the voice, as Dawn materialized before her, wearing nothing but a flowing white gown.
"Dawn!"
"Hello, Zoey. Long time no see."
The two girls shared a comforting hug.
"I'm sorry I worried you, Zoey. The last thing I seem to recall is Scott treating me to dinner the night the two of us left the lab. From that point on, I lost control of my own body to my dark side, which took over and willingly followed Scott's orders."
Zoey gasped. "You mean..."
"Yes. Scott made me do whatever he asked of me. Even..."
Zoey gasped a second time. "He didn't..."
"Nope. He decided to beat around the bush, as the saying goes, I believe. If I had defeated you though..."
Dawn shuddered at the thought of that outcome.
"So, when you wake up, you'll tell us everything?"
"Everything I know."
But Zoey was a little skeptical.
"Everything you know, or everything you think we should know? Because the guys keep thinking that I'm holding stuff back from them."
"Everything I know, I promise. Besides, I fear that we don't have much time."
"We don't? Why?"
"I'll explain everything. When you wake up, call the guys. They'll need to hear this too."
Zoey nodded. A few seconds later, the dream ended.
The next morning...
Dawn had woken up, and sure enough, Zoey had called the guys and they were all gathered around her bed.
"Thanks to you all of you for freeing me from Scott's drug-induced spell!"
"You're welcome," Cameron said, graciously.
"As you probably are all aware, I've been chatting with Zoey via a psychic dream link the past couple of nights."
"So is it true that to save the world," questioned Mike, "we DON'T need to find all the Spirit Marbles?"
"Yes. You only have to find eight of them."
"Okay. Which eight?"
"That's the thing. I don't know. I mean, I know a couple of them... Scott has been searching for them as well."
Zoey gave Dawn an intense look. "You MUST tell us what you know!"
"Okay. There's... the Geek. And... the Surfer Girl. And... the Cool Guy. And... the Arch Villain."
The gang thought for a minute.
"Why do those sound familiar?" thought Zoey out loud.
"Each of the spirits has a personality label. For example, the Geek is Cody, the Surfer Girl is Bridgette, and the Cool Guy is Trent."
Zoey pulled out the carrying case for the Spirit Marbles, and Brick proceeded to take out the Spirit Marbles containing Cody, Bridgette, and Trent.
"So we have three right off the bat!" Mike stated matter-of-factly. "What about the Arch Villain? Do we have that one?"
Zoey turned the case so that Dawn could see which marbles the team had. After looking them over, she looked at the party and shook her head.
"No. You do not."
"Well," Mike wondered, "can you tell us who the Arch Villain is so that we can find him or her?"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot."
"Aren't you psychic?"
"It doesn't work that way!"
"Then how does it work?"
"MIKE!" Zoey screamed.
Mike quickly backed away, cowering behind Brick for protection.
"If Dawn doesn't know, she doesn't know! We're just going to have to find him or her ourselves."
Dawn raised her hand in the air.
"If I may kindly make a suggestion..."
She motioned for Zoey to pull out her map. Zoey complied, and soon enough, Dawn was pointing out a location to the southeast of the Town of Cold.
"Anybody know Japanese?" questioned Brick, who recognized the characters as Japanese kanji, even though he had no idea what they meant.
Dawn playfully giggled. "It's okay. Translated, it's very long and hard to pronounce. So people just call it..."
"TORONTO!" yelled an Izzy lookalike with rainbow-colored hair, as she burst into the room.
Everyone looked at her strangely.
"WHAT? Vizzy had to get in this episode somehow!"
*** To be continued... ***