Total Shuffled All-Stars

by Fangren

[FIFTH IN THE SHUFFLED SERIES] Last year, Chris McLean was jailed for crimes against nature. But he's now free, and has brought 14 campers from both casts back to Wawanakwa to compete in the most dramatic season yet: Total Drama All-Stars. But these are not the All-Stars you know; they have been Shuffled through time and space. Season 5 AU; pairing and update info in first chapter.

11. Chapter 11 - Sundae Muddy Sundae

Author's Note

We're almost at the end, folks! I only have to write the last third of episode 12 (I'm...a little behind, ashamedly) before I start work on the Total Shuffled All-Stars finale. Jeez, it's so close I can almost feel it...hopefully I'll be able to do as good a job on it as I've wanted to. A season like this deserves a grand finale, after all.

But for now, there are reviews to answer. Luckily the chronic review glitch ended so I can actually read all of them!

Silver Writer 0927: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the Gwent moment.

Gage the Hedgehog: Oh, right, thanks for pointing that out! I managed to fix it pretty quickly. Anyway, have fun at camp!

P. T. Piranha: Awesome, I'm happy I was able to keep the suspense up for you last week. I am wondering who your favorite among the remaining cast is...but, well, I'm sure you'll let me know in time. And yeah, the politics was strong last week, but it had to be in order to justify Scott staying around as I didn't want him to suddenly become a challenge beast. And yeah, Alejandro did basically cause Scott's elimination back in season one, by ratting him out to Scarlett about all the sabotage he did. And yeah, this series has come a rather long way... Anyway, I hope you enjoy my take on the ice cream episode.

Animation Adventures: Yeah, thanks, I fixed that as soon as I saw the reviews. And yeah, talking was what really needed to happen for everything to go smoothly. But considering what the challenge was, I think it was fine. And hey, I was able to keep you guessing with how everything would go down, which is always a plus. I'm glad you enjoyed Gwen and Trent's reunion, and I hope you enjoy this week's episode as well.

BuckJohnson: Hah, yeah, can't believe we're at the Final Five right now... I'm glad you're okay with the lack of Scourtney, and that you like my portrayals of both halves of it in this series. I gotta say, it's been fun developing them. Same with Gwen, though perhaps to a lesser extent. Also, you're wrong - Jo made the Final Five in season one and won season two, meaning Shawn is the second person to reach that level.

TotalDramaSageOrSannin: Yeah, all three of them ended up falling for Scott's manipulations pretty bad, as did Courtney. But like you said, he no longer has a place to hide. If he thought he was in trouble before, he's in way more trouble now... The storm isn't quite over yet.

acosta perez jose ramiro: Thank you. There are times when Scott simply has to be devious, it's in his nature.

Derick Lindsey: Yup, I do pride myself in being a hard-to-predict writer. Of course, I also have to be consistent with the characters and story, so I can't be unpredictable all the time. I'm glad you enjoyed Gwen's bonus clip, but since Dawn already picked up Alejandro with Topher it's safe to say she won't be picking anyone else up. I'm glad you're looking forward to how this season ends.

Stereotypical Vampire: Yeah, I was sad to have to get rid of Gwen again, but it's what I thought was bets for the story. At least she got a nice ending with Trent. Interesting predictions regarding this week's elimination, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the episode.

OMAC001: Oh, I think he may have shot himself in more than just the foot. But who knows?

VIPGuest: Well, I mean, in my defense, the chapter needed a lot of Scott talking in order for it to work. Gwen was one of the more likable campers, people weren't just gonna vote for her without a reason. And since it was Scott, he had to do a lot of work to provide that reason.

Guest #1: He is the main villain of the season after all. You're not expected to like him.

Scissor-Snipper: Mm-hmm, it was pretty much Gwen's time to go after all. And yeah, Scott's in a pretty bad position right now, probably the worst he's been in all season. I hope you enjoy what happens!

bruno14: Ah, well, he is the villain after all - he's not meant to be very likeable. You're supposed to root against him, not for him. I'm glad to hear your thoughts again; having mixed feelings about last week's chapter is fair enough, though I do hope these last few chapters are more positive for you.

DSX62415: At least she wasn't betrayed this time. But yeah, Gwen's just not had as good a time in this show as she did in canon season one. Oh well, at least she does still have a loving boyfriend.

FOWLKON: Oh, definitely. Even with the line nominally being drawn in the sand one way, especially once Lightning aligned with Jasmine and Shawn, there was still room for things to happen within and between alliances. Scott was, of course, able to manipulate those relationships and possibilities to what he thought was his advantage; unfortunately for him, he was just a little bit off and so he just made everything worse for himself. I'm glad you enjoyed Gwen and Trent's bonus clip...I do hope you enjoy what those scenes are all leading up to.

Guest #2: Uhh, well, seeing how they all liked Gwen and none of them really liked Scott to begin with, it's only natural that they'd feel guilty about allowing him to convince them, by one way or another, to vote her off. And that guilt is gonna turn into anger real quick. It goes way beyond alliance matters - it's about recognizing that he's a shitty person, has always been a shitty person, and that they should have gotten rid of him long before now so he couldn't spoil their enjoyment of the game.

Meeeeeee: Good to hear. Don't count on Duncney ever being a thing in this series though; I don't think they'd ever even meet.

StayOuttaMyShed: Yeah, fair enough. I did go into the season wanting to give Scourtney a chance, but I didn't give them the right set-up early on and by the time I was ready to do it they just weren't in the right places development-wise. Still, I'm glad you enjoyed Scott's run this season. Interesting predictions regarding this week's elimination (as well as Shawn and Jasmine's relationship); I can't really say any more, obviously, but I am interested in hearing your reaction to how everything goes down. Regarding the bonus scenes, I will say that I decided to split Dawn, Sammy, and DJ up in them simply I know some people are a little tired of them; plus, not having them still form a pair means that particular relationship doesn't get emphasized over the trio as a whole.

The Prime Writer: Haha, yeah, these past couple episodes have been super intense. I'm kind of surprised more people didn't expect Blaineley too, but I think it was simply because she never really did anything in canon after World Tour, and her Shuffled fate wasn't really any different. Izzy...well, I'm most disappointed that I wasn't able to do more with her sooner into the season, but like you said she did have an enjoyable run and went out with style.
Regarding Courtney's list, I did consider making it at some point this season (I think I also made one last season too?), but I wasn't able to get around to it in the previous episode. As for the future...well, your thoughts and predictions are interesting as always. I look forward to your review next week, and I hope to see you again for TSPI when it debuts in August.

link9753: I don't think anybody really saw last week's twist coming. I mean sure, people predicted that Gwen was gonna be one of the next ones gone, but nobody really guessed at how it would come about. Sorry to disappoint you for not having Gwen do better. As for what happens next...well, I hope you enjoy it.

I. M. Poik: For the last time I am absolutely NOT blowing up the Mobile HQ. Now drop it.
I'd say I was happy you enjoyed the chapter, that I hope you like this one, and that I'm looking forward to hearing your reaction to it and all that stuff. but honestly I'm still pretty annoyed at you for your insistence that I blow the Mobile HQ up.

Frostmourne Hungers: Well, first of all, thank you so much for trying your best to make sure I see all of your review, even going so far as to PM me. Fortunately, the glitch ended. Moving on, fair enough about Izzy and I'm glad that you were still able to enjoy my interpretation of her. As for Shuffled RR, it won't be something I do for a while if at all; I plan on taking a break from fanfiction after TSPI to get my life actually sorted (and it's about damn time too, I'm 28 ffs). If another RR season comes out, it'll definitely make a Shuffled version more likely.
Anyway, I'm glad I was able to spice up last week's episode. Like you said, canon didn't have much to it - mostly just Alejandro failing to warn everyone about Mal, Mal doing Mal things, and Zoey continuing to be unreasonably gullible. Here, we have Scott basically setting up Gwen's fall, which ended up being a lot more than it might sound like.
I'm really happy with the direction I've been able to take Lightning throughout the series, from arrogant jock to lovable lug. And doing so, like you said, basically helped screw Scott over. Not much else to say about him, or even Jasmine and Shawn. Courtney, though...yeah, I was definitely implying that she's never really gotten much romantic attention from boys. She's certainly never had a boyfriend. And you're absolutely right that if it weren't for Trent, I would so be shipping her with Gwen. Hell, one of my scrapped subplots for last season was an explicit love triangle that would end up with Gwen getting fed up and rejecting Courtney AND Trent.
As for Gwen herself, well, I'm glad you enjoyed her run. She didn't do too well, especially compared to canon in a lot of ways, but I'm fine with that. I want to give other characters a time to shine...even if, admittedly, all five remaining in this season did well in canon. Not much to say about the bonus scene besides the fact that I wanted to split up Dawn, Sammy, and DJ among them which is why their appearances seem a little random.
Regarding Scarlett's attractions...honestly, I have no idea. I've never intentionally wrote her with any particular romantic or physical attraction in mind (a ship between her and Alejandro was briefly entertained in my mind but quickly scrapped). So I guess any interpretation of her in that respect is completely valid.

Jaspher 4 Me: Yup, every cloud has a silver lining as they say. I'm glad you enjoyed the strategy talk, and the backfire it culminated in. And...yeah, I really should've kept mentioning the pack. To be honest, I kinda forgot about them myself for a bit, sorry. I might go back and fix that at some point, but I can't really promise that I will.

Icetundra: Yup, Scott certainly did what he thought he had to do. And while sabotaging the course would certainly be in character for him, I figured he'd rather try and influence the votes instead since that would be more reliable in his mind. Except that he still messed up anyway. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I liked your predictions about what'll happen next. I look forward to seeing your next review.

Explorer of the Unknown: Yyyyup. I don't know if Scott is the most hated contestant in-universe, as he has to compete with Scarlett, among others, but he's definitely up there. He wanted to be taken seriously as a villain, more or less, and...well, he succeeded on that front. It just isn't gonna help him win. I'm glad you liked the guilt and realizations that followed Gwen's elimination; I do like the sweet stuff and redeeming people. I'm just a nice girl at heart, I suppose, who doesn't like keeping things dark for too long. I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to do with Courtney this season, and this week's episode is part of that. I'm glad you're looking forward to it, and I hope I don't let you down.

And that's the reviews done for this week, dear readers! As you all know by now, a TVTropes page for this series exists. A lot of great work has already been put into it, but with a new season comes so many new things to add. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all take from the story and add to the page!

The Final Five are, of course, as follows:

Boys: Lightning, Scott, Shawn

Girls: Courtney, Jasmine

And now we come to an episode that was much-maligned in canon. I'm not gonna lie, it won't be hard to do better than that. But more importantly, will it be as good as the rest of the season has been? That, dear readers, is for you to decide.

- Fangren

---

Episode 11 – Sundae, Muddy Sundae

"Last time, on Total Drama All-Stars!" Chris opened over a clip of Shawn crossing the well-named 'snapping bars'. "Lightning finally got a couple of allies in Jasmine,," the jock was shown talking to Jasmine in front of the loser cabin, "and Shawn." The former two were then shown talking to their scruffy third right before the challenge. "But Scott," the devious farmer gave an angry confessional, "hatched a plan to break them up." The next trio of short clips showed him talking to Lightning before the challenge, then Shawn and Jasmine at different points during it.

"Meanwhile, Gwen tried to get Scott voted out," the goth was shown discussing her worries with Courtney in private, then asking Jasmine and Lightning to vote with her as they all tried to cross the snapping bars. "Buuut, Scott was ready for that, too." Another of the schemer's confessionals was shown, followed by him talking to Courtney on the bars, acting like he was okay with going home if it meant his crush could get further. "What can I say," the host laughed over a shot of the redheaded villain smirking, "the dude was smoking it today." He laughed again over a clip of Scott being electrocuted by a poorly-insulated cable being used as a climbing rope.

"The Final Six ran the brutal Obsta-kill Course," the host continued as the montage flashed to the campers beginning their race. "And proved that the old saying is true: whatever doesn't kill you, makes you really, really sore." Courtney was shown running face-first into a surprise pole popping out of one of the tires; Lightning and Gwen were shot into the air by sudden geysers; and Jasmine was electrocuted by the same 'rope' that would later catch Scott. Chris laughed.

"The winner?" Chris asked as a clip of Shawn ziplining through the finish line played. "Shawn, thanks to Jasmine and Lightning's little twist-up." The next clip, of course, showed the jock and amazon colliding on the zipline, getting tangled together, and falling off in a mishap of physics.

"And thanks to all of Scott's masterful manipulations," Scott was shown talking to Lightning as the jock stood on the balcony; Gwen and Courtney were shown discussing the vote behind cover during the challenge; and Lightning approached a cautious Shawn and Jasmine while the sun set, "the flush-ee was none other than Gwen." The goth, and her main friend and ally, reacted with shock at the news while the three who'd voted for her looked ashamed and sorrowful.

"Too bad for Scott," Lightning confessed to having been manipulated by Scott, "it only made things worse for him." Scott laughed nervously as the others glared at him, then Courtney grabbed him by the collar to tell him off.

The montage ended with a flash, the scene moving to Chris on the end of the dock. "Only five players remain," he said. "Who will live to play another day? And who will go sight-seeing in sewer city," the shot cut over to the massive toilet, "via the dreaded Flush of Shame? Find out right here," the camera returned to Chris, "right now, on Total! Drama! All-Stars!"

xxx

(Fade to Opening Theme)

I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)

I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)

(Fade to Episode)

xxx

A soft tune with just a hint of underlying tension began as the episode opened on the spa hotel, the scene soon cutting inside to the dining room. "Look, Lightning wants to tell you again how sorry he is for what happened," the jock told Courtney in an extremely remorseful tone as the camera panned on to him following her to the table, a plate of food in each of their hands.

"I know," Courtney said with a hint of impatience.

"Lightning never meant to vote out Gwen," the jock continued unabated. "I mean he did, but not really..."

"So you've told me," Courtney replied.

"I mean, it was only cause of Scott that Lightning did it," Lightning said. "He tricked me into thinkin' it was my only chance!"

Courtney sighed, then spun around on her heel to face him. "Lightning, I know. You've told me about a hundred times since last night."

"...really?" Lightning said in confusion, immediately looking at his hands and silently counting on his fingers.

The ex-CIT grabbed him by the jaw and redirected his attention back to her. "Yes, really. But like I keep trying to tell you, I'm not mad at you or the others anymore. I mean, I am," she admitted, not meeting his gaze for a moment, "but I'm mad at myself too so it all evens out."

Lightning looked at her blankly for a moment, then stood up straight. "Well...okay then. Glad we got that settled." He walked past her, sat down, and started eating.

xxx

"Yeah, Lightning will admit he was a little scared that bossy girl was gonna hate him forever for voting out her friend," the jock admitted. "But just a little, I mean, this is the Lightning we're talkin' about."

xxx

Courtney sighed. "Honestly, as much as part of me wants to be furious at the others for pretty much ruining one of the main things I was trying to do this season, the rational part of me realizes that doing so would be pointless. With Gwen gone, my two top priorities right now are getting rid of Scott, and getting to the finale. Luckily, I think I have an idea that'll help with both of those."

xxx

The static ended, putting the scene back in the dining room as Courtney shook her head. "It's not settled just yet, Lightning," she said as she sat down next to the jock, who paused to look at her with a mouth full of bacon. "We need to plan ahead and figure out what's gonna happen from here on out. And that includes making sure Scott doesn't mess us up anymore."

/

The music turned ominous as the scene flashed to Boney Island, the fog parting as the camera slowly flew towards the skull-shaped mountain.

Another cut put the focus on a tall pine tree, the base of its trunk covered in claw and tooth marks. The camera panned upward to reveal a scratched and bruised Scott sleeping face-down on a branch. Most of his arms and legs dangling freely, the camera zoomed in as he began to murmur.

The entire scene shimmered, transitioning to a strange pinkish sky filled with clouds, an odd but serene tune playing in the background. A pan down showed Scott lazily drifting through, floating with his hands behind his head and a calm look on his face as though he were simply lying in bed.

"Aah, this is the life," he sighed. "Nothing to bother me and everything I could ever want. Money," a familiar-looking briefcase full of cash poofed into existence next to his head. "Food," several dishes of meat, corn, potatoes, and something that looked suspiciously like dirt appeared below him, and he causally swiped a sausage and took a bite out of it. "Girls..."

Another poof, and Courtney appeared above him in her swimsuit. She smiled flirtatiously at him, then blew him a kiss. He caught it with a cocky smile, then floated up next to the girl's image and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Just what I wanted...," he said, the shot cutting to a close-up as he closed his eyes and puckered up...

...and was promptly punched in the face. The sky and music turned dark and treacherous, and the camera pulled back out to show the image of Courtney – now in her usual outfit – scowling angrily at Scott with her arms crossed. "What do you think you're doing, traitor," the image asked him. "What makes you think slime like you can kiss me?"

"Uhh, because you're my girlfriend, duh," Scott told it angrily.

The image of Courtney sniffed. "As if. You're nothing but a little pest that I strung along until you got too big for your overalls." As she spoke she grew larger and larger, the perspective shifting to look down at Scott as he gaped at the ever-increasing shadow. The camera moved behind him to show the image of Courtney towering over him like he were some little bug, and with another disdainful sniff she flicked him away.

The camera followed him as he flew screaming backwards across the darkened sky until he collided with the suitcase full of money, now closed tight. "The million bucks," he said, quickly clinging to it excitedly...until it started to inflate like a balloon. "Huh?" was all Scott could say before it burst into a flash of light, which quickly faded to reveal the massive disembodied head of Ezekiel.

"I ain't surprised, eh," the image of Ezekiel said, glowering down at Scott. "The guy's never been good for nothing. He's a bad friend, and probably a bad boyfriend too, eh."

"Like anybody'd even wanna find out," the image of Courtney said, now just a massive disembodied head as well as it floated over to Scott's other side, prompting the farmer to turn around and gasp. "He's just a loser plain and simple. No way will he ever win."

"Ya got that right, eh," the floating head of Ezekiel said, drawing Scott's attention back to it. "The idea of him ever havin' money is just laughable, eh."

"Yeah," the image of Courtney said, and both began to laugh.

"No! I can win this!" Scott yelled at them as they began to circle him at rapid speeds. "I'll get that money, and then I'll be the one laughing!"

The disembodied heads of Courtney and Ezekiel only laughed harder and span faster until they were a blur. "No! NO!" Scott cried out in terror, before suddenly falling back-first through the darkened sky.

"NOOOOOO!" he screamed, the scene shimmering in the middle as he woke up...and discovered he was falling in real life.

He hit the ground on his back with a painful thud. The camera moved above him as he groaned...and the shot zoomed in as his eyes snapped open again, now full of fire. "I am not gonna lose!" he declared angrily, pounding the ground beside him angrily as a few ominous chants pulled the scene back out to the skull mountain of Boney Island.

/

The music faded into a more standard background tune as the scene flashed back to the common area. Another cut took the focus to Courtney and Lightning walking together along the edge of the forest. Upon reaching a familiar tree they stopped, and moments later Shawn and Jasmine jumped down to the ground in front of them.

"What's up?" Shawn asked, looking on-edge as his eyes darted around. "Is it zombies?"

"Has it ever been zombies?" Courtney questioned.

"Not yet," the survivalist said matter-of-factly, "but that doesn't mean we can afford to let our guard down." Jasmine stifled a giggle.

Courtney sighed. "Whatever. Listen. I, which is to say me and Lightning," she gestured to the jock standing beside her with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face, "came here to make a deal with you two."

"Deal?" Jasmine repeated, sharing a confused look with her ally. "What kind of deal?"

"The four of us are gettin' out Scott tonight," Lightning answered. "And nobody else."

Shawn and Jasmine shared another look. "Well yeah," Shawn said. "I mean, who else were we gonna vote for."

Courtney shook her head. "Well, there's more to it than that. The four of us have to make sure Scott doesn't win immunity tonight, and we all have to vote him out. We can't let that little rat hang around any longer and try to mess us up again."

Shawn rubbed his chin and nodded. "Reasonable."

"But that's not all you want, is it?" Jasmine added with a questioning look.

Courtney nodded, then took a deep breath. "You're right. After we get rid of Scott...then it'll be the two of you against me and Lightning in the Final Four." Shawn and Jasmine's brows shot up. "We force a tie, then it's may the best man – or woman – win for the tiebreaker. No hard feelings on either side."

"I...guess that means our alliance is done, huh Lightning," Shawn said awkwardly.

Lightning's determined look finally faded. "Look, I ain't got nothin' against you two," he said in a bit of a slump. "But Lightning wants to play fair from now on, no more tricks and no more schemin'. That means we play two-on-two for a shot at the Final Three, and stick together to try and get to the finale."

"So...," Courtney stuck out her hand, and looked sharply at Lightning so he did the same, "do we have a deal?"

Shawn and Jasmine shared one last look, and nodded. "Deal," they said together, Shawn shaking Courtney's hand and Jasmine Lightning's.

xxx

"There," Courtney said, letting out her breath. "Maybe now I can have some peace of mind again."

xxx

"I know it's not exactly the most favorable agreement for me and Jasmine," Shawn confessed, "but at this stage in the game I'll gladly remove some of the uncertainty from the competition. Besides, now I'll have more time to hang with Jasmine without having to worry so much about the game."

xxx

"Attention punching bags!" Chris called out over the loudspeaker. "Please gather in the forest clearing, and bring your padded undies, cause today's challenge," the shot cut to a scowling Scott being driven in on the back of Chef's jeep, "is a butt-kicker."

As the jeep passed by the other four campers, Chef shoved Scott out. "Aagh!" the farmer shouted in alarm as he landed in the dirt. He growled in annoyance, then looked up as the other four walked past him. "Hmph. Sorry to disappoint all of you, but I made it through the night no problem."

None of them reacted, simply walking onward without so much as a glance Scott's way.

The shot cut in for a close-up as Scott raised a brow in confusion.

/

A flash took the scene to Courtney and Lightning walking side-by-side down the forest path, a plodding tune playing in the background. They barely turned their heads as Scott came running up alongside them, but soon looked forward again.

"Hey," the farmer greeted them. "Just wanted to let you too know that if you're looking for a third to help vote off one of the nature-lovers, I'm your guy."

Courtney and Lightning just scowled, but sped up without taking their eyes off the path ahead. Scott scowled, then hurried up alongside them again. "Come on, Court," he told his former ally, putting an arm around her shoulder. "How 'bout we work together one last time, for old time's sake."

The shot moved in front of them as Courtney gave him a narrow and angry side-eye, then turned around and kneed him in the crotch. The shot returned to the usual side-on view as Scott dropped to his knees with a squeal of pain, and Courtney continued on with a sniff of disdain.

The camera followed Courtney and Lightning, and after a few yards they smirked at one another and bumped fists. "Man that felt good," the ex-CIT said.

"Too bad Scott disagrees," Lightning said, and the two laughed.

Courtney sighed contentedly. "But seriously, I think with a little work we'll make a great team. With my brains and your brawn, we should even be able to give Jasmine and Shawn a run for their money."

"Sha-yeah," Lightning said, flexing his arm confidently. "Girl, we shoulda teamed up sooner. Uh," he paused, realizing his gaff, "I mean, Lightning totally understands why you didn't."

"It's okay," Courtney said, patting him on the arm. "I was focused on rebuilding my relationship with Gwen. Looking back, we should've taken you up on your alliance offer back at the merge. Maybe then Gwen would still be here instead of Scott...," she said sadly.

"C'mon, don't be thinking like that," Lightning told her. "Loads of stuff coulda happened that didn't, and loads more stuff could happen that won't! So you gotta stop lettin' yourself get held down by the past, and start using it to fuel your blitz all the way through the present and into the end zone that is the future." He nodded decisively.

Courtney couldn't help but laugh a little. "Where'd you get that?"

Lightning puffed up proudly. "Lightning came up with it himself. He's gonna remember it for when he's a coach someday. You know, after he retires from bein' a star athlete."

His new ally laughed again. "Well okay then."

/

"Well, I guess this makes things easier for us," Shawn commented as the scene flashed to him and Jasmine walking down the path together, the background music becoming calm and flowery. "Unexpected, but I'm not complaining about bringing this back to a pure competition for once."

"Oh, definitely," Jasmine said, looking at him with a soft smile. "It'll be nice being able to focus on something other than strategy and who to vote out for once. There's just more important things to think about, y'know?"

"Totally," Shawn said, closing his eyes and nodding decisively. "I've been getting lax in my zombie preparation," he opened his eyes, darted them around, and waved his hands as though he were karate chopping a zombie. "What's the point of winning if I don't make it through the apocalypse?"

Jasmine snorted out a laugh. "True, I don't think you'd be able to spend the money on much," she said. "Although," she added with a bashful look, "I do hope you'll have time in your zombie preparation for...other things."

"Huh?" Shawn said in confusion before coming to a realization. "Oh! Yeah, yeah, definitely. Just because there's a significant chance the dead are gonna come and try to eat you doesn't mean you shouldn't try to enjoy life while you can."

xxx

"Okay," Shawn said nervously, "I'm pretty sure Jasmine likes me. And I'm even more sure I like her back. This isn't something that's ever happened to me before," he told the confessional camera. "I've always tried to avoid romance, since 73.6% of all men who die in zombie movies die because of it. But since it's Jasmine, I think I might not be at risk of that at all!" He sighed. "Only problem is, I really don't know how to go about this kind of thing. Guess I should just try being straightforward."

xxx

"Okay," Jasmine said confidently, "I think now's my chance to ask Shawn out."

xxx

"So, uh, I was thinking," the two survivalists said at the same time, briefly averting their gazes before looking back at one another and smiling. "Oh! You go first," they said at the same time again.

"No, you first, I insist," Shawn said next.

Jasmine shook her head. "No, what I wanna say can wait. You go first."

Shawn chuckled awkwardly. "Well then-"

"Outta the way, losers!" Scott interrupted with a strained and slightly higher voice than normal as he barged through between Shawn and Jasmine.

Both groaned and sent a scowl his way.

/

The scene flashed forward to show all five campers standing along a line of chalk, a small flag to the side of it along with Chris, an aerial map of the island on a widescreen television, and the two slender white interns looking ragged and drooping in exhaustion.

"Behold!" Chris declared, motioning to his underlings as a harsh and hollow note played. "My sad, skinny interns!"

The girl with the ponytail moaned. "I totally forgot to feed them this week," Chris explained, walking over between them and putting his hands on their shoulders.

Scott snickered, earning glares from Courtney and Jasmine.

Chris laughed as well. "I know, funny right? So, today's challenge is a race to make a delicious sundae, and serve it up to good ol'...whatshisname," he looked at the long-banged male, "and whosits...over here," he looked at the girl.

xxx

"Woo, yes!" Courtney cheered. "I know my sundaes," she added boastfully. "I worked in an ice cream shop for three weeks. Then I got fired...," she looked down thoughtfully. "Looking back that might have been my fault. But either way," she told the camera confidently, "there's no way Scott can beat me in this. I'm practically an ice cream professional."

xxx

"So," Chris said as Chef walked by in front of him carrying a stack of bowls, "to make this fun, for me, you'll have to travel to the most dangerous parts of the island to procure the ingredients of this dessert." He backed away as the camera zoomed in on the aerial photo of the island, a quartet of dark red X-marked circles appearing at various points with small blinking arrows pointing from them to specific landmarks: the thousand-foot-high cliff; the old mess hall; and two parts of the forest far from camp.

A flash of static cut the scene to a pan up the giant hill, its slope now covered in snow. "Your ice cream awaits at the top of the diving cliff," he explained, the camera reaching the top to show a generator-powered cannon-like device spewing ice and snow into the air. "Which the ice machine has been making nice and slippery for a while now."

Another bit of static took the scene to a bowl of cherries sitting on a flat rock in the murky swamp. "The Maraschino cherries are perched on a rock in the swamp," Chris explained, the camera pulling back to show more of the logs and cattails that ringed the greenish water, a chorus of frogs just audible below his voice.

"You'll find crushed peanuts in the old cafeteria," the host continued as the static brought the focus to a panning shot of a bowl of nuts sitting on an old oil drum in the middle of the decrepit building. "And, the final ingredient, chocolate sauce" another bit of static, and the camera panned leftward across a close-up of a bubbling brown pool with some sort of plant growing in the middle, "can be found in a pool surrounding a recently-planted mutant fire flower." The camera stopped on the foot of a bear, then pulled back as it stuck its paw into the pool and took a lick of the chocolate. The tubular orange flower reared back and shot fire at the bear, burning away its fur and leaving it confused and sizzling.

"Now that's just wrong," Lightning complained as Chef handed bowls to Shawn and Jasmine next to him.

"What can I say," Chris said, "prison changed me! For the better," he laughed. "The first person to have their sundae completely consumed by the interns wins," he explained as he walked back towards the campers and the interns, who had collapsed onto the ground. "On your marks," he told them, reaching into his back pocket.

A few drum beats played over a close-up of him raising his airhorn. He blew it.

The shot cut back outward to show the campers eying him warily. "What are you waiting for, they're hungry!" he yelled at them with a brief motion to his fallen interns. "Scram!" Tense challenge music rose up as he blew his horn again, the campers finally running off. He blew his horn at them again as they passed by out of annoyance.

The camera panned ahead to show Scott taking the early lead. "Oh yeah, I am so gonna win this!" he boasted confidently as Lightning ran up along side him.

"Dude, get real," the jock said with a scowl. "Ain't no way you're gonna out run the Lightning!"

A pan back to the left showed Jasmine, then Shawn, then Courtney at the very back. "Come on, Lightning!" she shouted to her ally. "Trip him up! We gotta make sure he falls behind!"

The shot cut back to Lightning as he raised his brow in a questioning manner.

xxx

"Normally, Lightning wouldn't bother playin' dirty like bossy girl is askin' him to," Lightning confessed. "One," he held up a finger, "because he don't need to. And two," he held up a finger on his other hand, "because Lightning's tryin' to be heroic. But since Scott's a villain and we're supposed to be makin' sure he doesn't win so we can vote him off..." Lightning paused and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

xxx

Lightning scowled determinedly as he looked back at Scott, then smirked. "Take this, sucka!" he said, turning towards Scott as if to trip him...

...only to trip himself with a sudden look of surprise, the shot cutting to his feet to show Scott's sticking out in front of them.

Scott laughed as he continued running, Lightning falling down and out of sight behind him.

xxx

"Please, playing dirty is what I do best," Scott boasted in the outhouse. "Heck, I've gotten so good at tripping people up I hardly ever get caught any more by the judges in the races at the county fair!" He sighed contentedly. "I even tripped up my own partner in a three-legged race once," he admitted, though his pride soon faded. "It...wasn't as funny as I thought it was gonna be when I fell too, though."

xxx

"Like I said," Scott called back to his foes, "I ain't losing this!"

The camera quick-panned back to Courtney, who was helping Lightning back to his feet. "Jasmine, Shawn, you guys are gonna have to do it!" she called out to the two survivalists, and the camera panned back to the right to show them listening.

"Well if we can't trip the little mongrel," Jasmine said.

"Then we'll just have to pass him," Shawn said, and the two sped up.

xxx

"Hey, a guy's gotta know when to be honorable," Shawn confessed. "Of course, that only applies to the living. And even then only when you don't have to compete for resources, or your lives. But when you're up against some like Scott, where 'dirty' is probably his middle name, then you should never try to beat him at his own game."

xxx

The scene cut to the snowy hillside, the challenge music quickly ramping back up as Scott trudged upward and onward. "Almost...there...," he said, taking heavy steps.

Shawn rushed past just then, knocking him into the snow. "Think again," he said as he continued on.

Scott pushed himself out of the snow with an angry sputter. "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The scruffy boy ignored him, quickly reaching the top of the cliff. "This just in," Chris announced over the camp loudspeaker as Shawn ran past the ice machine, "Shawn is first to reach the ice cream!" He grinned at the sight of the ice cream, which had been shaped into a snowman with vanilla base, chocolate chest and arms, strawberry head, licorice scarf, various toppings for the face and a cone for a hat.

"Oh yeah," Shawn said confidently as he tried to skid to a stop and grab one of the scoops sticking out of the snow...only to slip onto his butt and slide onwards with a wail. "Or not!" He slid all the way off the edge, but a close-up showed him grabbing on to an icicle just in time. The shot cut outward to show him hanging by one hand in the open air, and he gulped. "Welp, this isn't good," he muttered to himself in fear. "HEEEEELPPP!" he yelled, his voice echoing.

The shot cut back to Scott, snickering as he scooped ice cream into his bowl. "Later, suckers," he said, watching as Jasmine ran past with a concerned look on her face.

"Scott has scooped up first place!" Chris announced, the farmer dropping his scoop and running back the way he'd came.

"Oh, great..." Courtney muttered as the shot cut to her and Lightning climbing up on their hands and knees.

Scott reached the edge, and with a taunting cry of "Look out below!" he jumped into the air and started sliding down on his back. He blew a raspberry at Courtney and Lightning as he passed them.

"Why you!" Courtney growled, trying to lunge out at her former ally only to slip and fall. She yelped as the snow under her started to slide back down the hill, only for Lightning to reach back and grab her by the arm.

"Come on girl, no messin' around," he told her. "We gotta keep goin' and try to catch up."

"R-right," Courtney stammered.

xxx

"Okay, definitely glad I decided to partner up with Lightning," Courtney confessed. "I guess it shows how far he's come that he's the one keeping cool right now."

xxx

"Thanks," Courtney told Lightning, and the two resumed climbing.

The shot cut to the cliff's edge, Jasmine squatting at the end of it with her bowl on the ground and her arms reaching down. "C'mon, almost gotcha!" she called out, the camera panning down to show Shawn, his bowl on his head, trying to reach out to her. "Just a little more!" she added, the camera zooming in as Shawn grunted and stretched, their hands getting closer and closer.

A triumphant tune rose up as they finally clasped, Shawn exclaiming "Yes!" as he was rapidly pulled to safety. The shot cut to Jasmine as she brought him up, only to lose balance at the last second and fall backwards from the effort.

Shawn landed on top of her, their lips pressed together. A sweet, lilting tune played as they stayed that way for a couple seconds, before Shawn pushed himself up with a blush that was matched by his companion. "S-sorry," he stuttered, scrambling off her and towards the ice cream...only to slip and fall again. "Heh heh, whoops..." he said in embarrassment as Jasmine walked over to him.

"It's, uh, it's really not a problem," she said bashfully. "Any of it, that is."

"It isn't?" Shawn said in shock as he jumped back to his feet.

"Uh, excuse me?" came the mildly annoyed voice of Courtney and the challenge music with it, the shot panning over to show her and Lightning getting their ice cream. "One of us needs to actually beat Scott, remember?" she told them as her partner dropped his scoop and ran off.

"Oh, yeah, right," Jasmine said, blushing a little again as she ran back to the ice cream snowman. She arrived just as Courtney left, and began to to scoop.

The camera followed Courtney as she ran back to the slope. "With any luck something will slow Scott down," she called out. "But we need to be there to take advantage of it!" She jumped off and slid back down the snow, and moments after she left the bear that had been rendered hairless by the mutant fire flower earlier rose up from the far side of the hill, a curious look on its face.

Shawn arrived at the ice cream snowman just as Jasmine was getting her last scoop of strawberry. "You go on ahead," he said at her questioning look. "This won't take long."

"Right," Jasmine nodded before running off.

The shot focused in on Shawn as he bent down and tried to pull a scoop from the ground, only for it not to budge. "Aww man, of course I'd grab the one that's stuck...," he groaned before reaching for the one next to it and pulling it out with ease.

He stood up, saw the naked bear happily licking at the chocolate ice cream, and screamed. "N-nice bear," he told it with a wide and nervous grin. It merely gave him a puzzled look as he proceeded to take scoops of the vanilla and chocolate, but as he tried to take a scoop from the strawberry head he accidentally pushed it slightly.

The music struck a few deep and tense beats as the head wobbled a bit, then finally dropped onto the bear's head. It immediately reared up on its hind legs and roared in anger, and Shawn screamed.

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?!" Shawn cried out as he ducked under a swipe from the bear and ran off back towards the slope.

xxx

"Seriously, after all the times I've been attacked by a bear on this show," Shawn told the outhouse camera, "I'm starting to wonder if I should be preparing for them to take over instead of the brain-munchers."

xxx

The frogs and crickets were still singing as the scene moved to the cherries on their rock in the middle of the swamp. Scott breathed in deeply as he waded into view, saying "Reminds me of home, only wetter," as he made his way to the next ingredient.

"Scott's first to the cherries!" Chris announced over the loudspeaker. "Will he keep his lead?" he asked over a close-up shot of the farmer plucking a cherry from the top and putting it on his ice cream. "Not if Snappy has anything to say about it!"

"Snappy?" Scott asked in confusion, looking around as the camera zoomed back out. An alligator promptly rose to the surface next to him and growled. Scott screamed in fright, but the shot quickly cut to Lightning swinging blindly down on a vine and landing on the alligator.

"Sha-Lightning has arrived," the jock boasted proudly.

"Thanks for the save, man," Scott told him almost tauntingly, prompting the jock to look down at the alligator he'd landed on and palm his face.

"Aww man, Lightning totally botched the landing!" the athlete said.

"Well too bad," Scott said with a smirk, running past Lightning...only for the uber-jock to grab him by the back of his tanktop and pull him back.

"Oh no, you are not stayin' in the lead," Lightning said as he threw Scott down into the water near the cherries. "That belongs to the Lightning," the jock added, taking a cherry and adding it to his ice cream. "Sha-score~!" he said in a sing-song voice as he raced back to shore.

"And Lightning takes the lead!" Chris announced as Scott resurfaced with a splutter. He looked at his ice cream and gasped, a close-up revealing that it had been partially melted by the swamp water and that the cherry had disappeared. The shot cut back up to his face as he narrowed his eyes and growled.

xxx

"Alright, time to get even more serious than I was before," Scott angrily told the outhouse camera. "The rest of 'em will be lucky to get anything before I'm done with this challenge."

xxx

The static cut away to show Courtney and Jasmine making their way through the swamp, the former standing on a floating log. They soon reached the flat rock they'd been directed to...only to find it barren and empty with no cherries in sight. They gasped.

"What the? Where are the cherries?!" Courtney asked in shock. "Did we take a wrong turn?"

Jasmine looked around frantically. "No, this looks like the right place," she said before wading closer to the rock and checking around it.

"Maybe we should just use something else," Courtney suggested off-camera as Jasmine noticed a few small bubbles on the surface of the water near the rock.

"No, wait," she called back, the music rising as the upturned bowl the cherries had been in broke the surface of the water. Jasmine took it out, revealing a frog under it, and examined the empty, dripping vessel with a critical eye. "Looks like the cherries fell into the water," she said, the shot pulling back to show the ex-CIT standing beside her.

"Scott," Courtney said bitterly.

"No worries, though," Jasmine said, setting the bowl back on the rock then reaching down into the water. After a few seconds of searching she pulled up a handful of cherries.

"Ewwww...," Courtney said in disgust, taking one of them before Jasmine put the rest back in the bowl.

"Well, nothing a little rub can't hurt," Jasmine said, rubbing a cherry of her own on her vest.

"Yeah, sure...," Courtney said, giving her a strange look before dropping the cherry on her own ice cream.

xxx

"What?" Courtney asked the camera. "We were behind enough as it is, and I didn't wanna get my shirt wet. Besides, those interns aren't even gonna taste the swamp water."

xxx

A sharp dramatic note played as Snappy was shown approaching again, the shot cutting back up to Jasmine – her cherry now on her ice cream – taking notice immediately. "Err...c'mon, mate, you don't wanna do this now," she told it as the music continued building, backing up slowly through the swamp as it continued to approach her at a low hiss. "Not when my hand is tied up holding this bowl, right?" She flashed it a wary smile.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as it suddenly dove down, then lunged out of the water at her as the music peaked.

A pause icon appeared on the scene.

/

"Wow," Chris said as the opening notes of the capstone theme played, "she's just swamped!" He walked in front of the scene, laughing at his own joke and holding a remote. "Who will survive the sundae challenge?" he asked, the camera jumping backward to show him standing in front of the widescreen television. "And who's about to become tomorrow's wildlife leftovers? Find out after the break, on Total! Drama! All-Stars!"

(Fade to Commercial and Back)

The episode resumed from the paused scene of Jasmine and the alligator. The music boomed intensely as the alligator lunged with open jaws, but a cut to the amazon showed her scowling and drawing back a punch. "Haa!" she cried out, the camera following her fist as it connected with the alligator's lower jaw. The beast was knocked away with a startled whimper, landing off-screen with a splash.

"Well," Jasmine said, breathing a little heavily, "that takes care of that. Better get moving..." The background score trilled ominously as she grunted, lifting her leg with a squelching sound and turning around.

And then a scream came through the trees, the music spiking as Shawn arrived at a terrified pace and dove into the swamp. The hairless bear, still chasing him on its hind legs, blindly tripped over a rock and flew even further. A cut back to Jasmine showed the bear surfacing next to her just as the alligator returned with an angry growl; with a roar and a harsh tune the bear pounced on the alligator and started wrestling with it.

With a wary look Jasmine slowly backed away to the right, and soon bumped in to Shawn coming from the opposite direction. "Whoa!" she said, whirling around in surprise. "Oh, Shawn, it's just you. Are you gonna be okay getting your cherry?" she asked, both survivalists looking back towards the bowl – a quick-pan over showed the two predators launching themselves into the air over the bowl as they continued to furiously fight.

"Uhhh...," Shawn said uncertainly as the shot cut back to him and Jasmine, "probably?"

xxx

"I only said that because I think that alligator's got the bear distracted," Shawn confessed. "And I still don't really get what the deal with that bear even was. Why get so upset over ice cream?"

xxx

The next confessional was given by the hairless bear, now holding an ice cream cone with a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of vanilla. It tried to lick it only for the ice cream to fall off, and it roared in anger.

xxx

"And Lightning is the first to enter the crushed nut zone," Chris announced over the loudspeaker as the uber-jock ran up the steps and into the old mess hall, "where he'll face-off against the newly refurbished Total Drama Machine."

Lightning, who had been about to take a scoop of crushed nuts, paused and looked upward with a skeptical frown. "Sha-what? Lightning don't remember no Total Drama Machine."

Challenge music rose up as the camera cut to an upward-angled shot of the shadowy form of an advancing robot. With a whir it revealed itself as the old robot that had been used in a few of the season three Aftermaths, though its eyes were now glowing red and it had a large wooden mallet in place of its right hand. It raised the mallet to strike, but Lightning easily ducked around toward the camera with a startled "Sha-wheasy!"

The mallet hit the floor hard enough to send a flew splintered boards up into the air, but Lightning simply rolled around behind it. A shift in perspective to behind the bowl of nuts showed the jock pop back up and grab a few, the viewpoint returning to its usual position as Lightning darted away towards the kitchen and the machine turned to follow him.

A quick-pan back to the entrance showed Scott creeping in to the room with a devious smile, easily dashing over to the oil drum the nuts were on. "Come to Scottie...!" he said, waving his fingers eagerly as he prepared to grab his next ingredient.

Only for the shot to pan back to Lightning, his back to the wall as the robot approached. With a grunt and a strong kick to the machine's front he knocked it backwards on its wheels, and Scott looked up with a questioning grunt just in time to see it slam into him. "Sha-bye-bye!" Lightning taunted as he ran back through the room, the camera following him to show him passing a screaming Scott as he fled back to the right, the robot right behind him.

The shot cut to Scott running through the swinging saloon doors into the kitchen, the Machine entering moments later. There was a great crash of metal from off-camera, and soon after a terrified Scott vaulted over the counter Chef had once served meals at and ran back into the room. "Stupid Lightning...," he muttered, finding his anger again as a close-up showed him grabbing a handful of crushed nuts, then shoving the bowl onto the ground. "I'll show him!" He ran out the door, and straight into someone outside.

"Urggh, Scott!" Courtney grunted, the scene cutting outside to show her and the farmer on their butts on the mess hall porch. "Watch where you're going!" she added as they both stood up.

She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her arm. "Wait," he told her with an almost pleading expression. "I'm sorry about getting vote Gwen out, really. Heck, I'll even overlook that blow to the kiwis you gave me earlier! Just please, let me work with you! Or at least vote someone else out!"

Courtney scoffed indignantly. "I'm sorry, and why exactly should I believe a word you say?"

"B-because, I," Scott said nervously, "I think...I think I really, like, like you?" Courtney just crossed her arms and gave him a disbelieving look. "I, I mean, I more than like you, I-"

His crush cut him off by grabbing his tanktop and shoving him against the door frame. "If you really have feelings for me," she hissed at him in a close-up, "then you'd vote yourself out. Because the last person I want around right now is you."

"C-come on now, be reasonable!" Scott said nervously.

"I am being reasonable," Courtney replied. "Now get out of my sight," she said, throwing him to the side and walking into the mess hall.

The camera cut to a close-up of Scott, who had landed on the steps and was now rubbing his head. An ominous tune played as he opened his eyes, and glared.

/

A flash took the scene inside the cafeteria as Courtney noticed the nuts scattered on the floor. "Seriously?" she said, groaning in annoyance as she crouched down and began to pick them up a few at a time. She was quickly distracted by a metallic whir, and screamed as the Total Drama Machine charged at her from the right, its mallet raised high. "This can't be legal!" Courtney yelled, running back and forth across the room with the robot right behind her.

"What on earth...?" Jasmine asked in confusion as she walked into the room, looking from Courtney and the robot to the nuts spilled on the floor.

/

A jet of flame hit a large boulder just before Lightning got behind it. "And Lightning is the first to reach the chocolate fire zone!" Chris announced as the challenge music resumed.

"Sha-sweet!" the jock exclaimed.

"But Scott is hot on his heels with a fire in his eyes to match the flower," Chris continued, the shot cutting in closer to Lightning as raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "so, it's still anybody's game!"

The camera pulled back as Scott ran past, muttering angrily to himself. "Stupid Courtney thinks she's so hot...we'll see who she wants around once I win the million...whoa!" he said in shock, coming upon the mutant fire flower which stood just a few inches taller than him. "Since when do flowers get that big?!"

"It's that toxic waste crud, you sha-dingus," Lightning told him, joining him on the edge of the chocolate pool. "Even I know that..."

Scott sneered at him, but before he could reply the flower reared back and shot another burst of flame their way; the boys screamed and ducked, then Scott ran forward and around the pool. The flower's attention followed him and it soon shot another blast of fire that Scott had to hastily duck under, only for it to catch his hair alight.

As the farmer shrieked and tried to put out the small fire on his head, the shot cut back to Lightning to show him staring blankly at Scott while still crouched down. He shrugged, then scooped up some sauce with his hand and dumped it on his ice cream.

"Lightning exits the chocolate fire zone," Chris announced as the jock ran past Scott, who had put out his hair but now had to contend with blast after blast from the fire flower's signature weapon, "maintaining his lead!"

The flower stopped attacking, freeing up Scott to glare and growl angrily in the direction the uber-jock had gone.

/

The scene flashed back to the mess hall as Shawn finally arrived in the doorway. He lingered there to catch his breath but was only able to do so for a moment before something caught his attention that cause him to gasp and scramble out of the way.

The Total Drama Machine, now with a few dents and some springs sticking out of its head, was sent reeling back through the open door. Shawn looked from it to back further into the room, and the shot cut to Jasmine rubbing her left wrist, now hatless and sporting a black eye.

"Crikey that thing put up a fight," she commented before noticing Shawn dashing over with a concerned look on his face.

"Whoa, Jasmine, are you alright?" he asked her.

Jasmine snorted. "Yeah, I'll be fine. A bit sore maybe, but I guess that's what happens when you try fighting something made of metal. Not sure where my hat is, though," she said, feeling the top of her head. "Or my sundae, for that matter," she added, looking around with a frown.

"Don't worry, I've got them," Courtney said, attracting the attention of her comrades and the camera to the empty oil drum, which had tipped over at some point. Courtney stood up from behind it wearing Jasmine's hat and carrying a sundae in each hand, and walked over to the two survivalists. "Here, this one's yours," she said, offering the bowl in her right hand to Jasmine. "I can tell by how the ice cream is arranged, it's not as professional as mine."

"...right," Jasmine said, giving her a look halfway between amusement and disbelief while accepting the bowl and returning her hat to its rightful place. "We'd better get what we came here for," she told Courtney and Shawn, crouching down to pick up some of the crushed nuts, soon joined by the others.

/

"Crap...," Scott muttered as the scene flashed back to him taking cover behind a rock, the mutant flower shooting fire at him. "I gotta figure out how to get past that thing, stall the others, and catch up to Lightning before he wins."

He looked around in a panic, and the camera pulled back as he spotted something to reveal a fairly large stone sitting on the ground. "This'll have to do," he said, picking up the stone and abandoning his hiding spot. With a warbling battle cry he charged the plant, his ice cream held up high as he ran straight into a blast of fire. Though singed and smoking when the flame ended, Scott continued on and shoved the rock straight into the flower's 'mouth'. "Take," he coughed up a bit of soot, "that!" he told it before crouching down and scooping up some chocolate sauce.

Scott ran away cackling, leaving the plant to bulge and inflate as its fire built up, unable to get past the rock. The music peaked dramatically, and the fire flower exploded. A trio of gasps were heard as the smoke began to clear, a close-up of the edge of the smoldering pool showing three pairs of feet arriving. "Seriously?!" Courtney exclaimed as the camera pulled back to show her, Jasmine, and Shawn looking down in sheer disbelief. "What did Scott do now?!"

"Looks like he overcooked the chocolate sauce," Shawn said, getting down on one knee and scooping up a handful of blackened clumps. "We'll have to find some other topping," he added, dropping the lumps and standing back up, "unless you think the interns have a taste for coals."

"...well they are hungry," Courtney said, looking down uncertainly at the smoldering remains of the pool.

"Not enough to eat that," Jasmine said with a scolding frown. "Besides, they'd just slow the interns down. We need something they can eat fast."

"There's some berry bushes on the way back," Shawn said. "We can grab some on the way and squeeze them for juice. Come on!" he said, waving for the girls to follow him as he ran off.

Jasmine quickly followed, but the camera lingered on Courtney as she hesitated. "...I guess that'll work," she finally admitted before running off as well.

xxx

"For the record," Courtney told the outhouse camera in a calm and matter-of-fact tone, "I want it to be known that ignoring the chocolate sauce was not my idea. If Chris decides to penalize us for not using it, then I fully expect Shawn and Jasmine to take responsibility. You know," she said, "once Scott owns up to being the one to cause this in the first place."

xxx

The music became harsh and repetitive as the static gave way to Shawn, Courtney, and Jasmine racing down the path with their ice cream.

"Run faster!" Courtney shouted. "One of us has to beat Scott, and there's no guarantee Lightning's still in the lead!"

A quick-pan ahead showed Lightning running along as well, apparently alone. "C'mon, almost there!" he told himself, before to his shock Scott came running up alongside him.

"Would ya look at that, a shortcut!" he yelled tauntingly, laughing as he passed the momentarily stunned uber-jock. The shot cut to him whooping in celebration as he crossed the finish line barely a step ahead of Lightning, Chris watching with an impish smile while Chef just stared and the two interns moaned hungrily.

"NO!" Jasmine, Courtney, and Shawn yelled as they crossed moments later.

"I win!" Scott exclaimed excitedly. "Eat up, intern!" he added, thrusting his bowl of ice cream under the male intern's nose.

"Surpri~ise!" Chris interrupted in a singsong voice, stepping over and earning Scott's attention. "Change of plans. You have to eat your own sundaes," he explained over the tense opening bars of the ceremony theme, a pan across the faces of the others showing Courtney, Shawn, Jasmine, and Lightning all smiling at their bowls and voicing their relief and delight.

As the camera moved back to a panicked and angry Scott, Chris added "First to finish wins immunity." Scott glared as Chef stuck a spoon into his sundae, then moved along down the line to do the same for the others. "Everyone else is on the chopping block. So," the female intern moaned in the background, "dig in!"

The shot immediately cut to Lightning, Jasmine, Shawn, and Courtney quickly digging in happily, then back to Scott as he looked at them nervously.

xxx

"Even after everything I did to ruin their ice cream," Scott complained to the confessional camera, spreading his arms wide, "they're still eating it? And smiling?!" He growled in frustration, throwing his arms up then crossing them irritably. "Looks like desperate times call for drastic measures," he told the camera.

xxx

Another shot of the four non-villains showed them wordlessly and happily scarfing down their sundaes, then the scene panned back to Scott as he nodded in determination, then raised his bowl to his mouth.

He began to chug.

"Whoa-ho-ho," Chris laughed as the camera pulled back enough to show him and Lightning, "looks like Scott's pulling out all the stops on this one!" The comment caught the jock's attention, and he turned a wary gaze to the farmer even as both boys continued to eat. "The rest of you better hurry up if you wanna beat him!"

The focus moved back to the others four as they abandoned their spoons with nervous looks to one another and began to chug as well, but it was to no avail. "F-finished!" Scott called out to their shock and dismay, a cut back to him showing his eyes unfocused and his mouth lined with chocolate.

"Boom!" Chris said, a short tune of victory playing as Scott shakily raised his bowl and opened his mouth, both empty. "Just like that, Scott wins the challenge and immunity!"

Scott cheered weakly as the other four groaned and growled in anger, annoyance, and frustration. "Grr...I hope the brain freeze takes you out," Courtney snapped at him.

"Hah, like a little headache's gonna-" Scott began to say before suddenly freezing up in an odd position. He stayed like that for only a moment before dropping to his knees, clutching his head, and screaming.

Courtney let out a single, bitter laugh.

"While Scott deals with enough brain freeze to make him never wanna see ice cream again," Chris told the others as he walked towards them, "the rest of you eat up. You're not getting anymore food until you finish what you thought was good enough to feed my interns."

The four looked at one another. "See, I knew the berries were a good idea," Shawn commented before resuming his eating at a more leisurely pace.

"I guess so...," Courtney said, looking down at her bowl.

/

A tense tune played as the four losers walked together to the steps of the cabin, their bowls nowhere to be seen. "Man, Lightning can't believe he failed to win today...," the jock said, stomping in frustration as they came to a stop. "And when everyone was sha-countin' on him, too."

"We all failed to beat Scott...," Jasmine said.

"I guess there's nothing left to do but accept it, and hope whoever doesn't get voted out can get him next time," Shawn said as the camera cut in close to him, looking at Jasmine and clasping her hand.

"Yeah...," Jasmine said, meeting his eyes and smiling.

"Question is," Lightning said as the shot cut to him and Courtney, "who are they gonna be?"

"We should probably just do what we planned on doing at the Final Four," Courtney suggested. "Keep the pairs and force a tie. Though that means none of us is allowed to talk to Scott. He doesn't deserve to have any influence over the vote."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Shawn said, the shot cutting back to him and Jasmine as they looked over towards the spa hotel. A quick-pan over showed Scott walking towards it, drooping and groaning in pain. He bumped into the railing of the steps, and collapsed over it with another groan.

"Yeah, he's probably gonna be out of it for awhile," Jasmine said as the camera returned to her and Shawn.

"Good," Courtney said, her hands now on her hips as she and Lightning were shown looking towards the spa hotel as well. "With any luck he won't be able to guess who we're voting for."

xxx

"And I intend on making that guess as difficult as possible," Courtney confessed, the camera oddly zoomed-in.

"Sha-really?" Lightning asked, the camera zooming back out to show him sitting to the left of Courtney. "How's that?"

"Simple," Courtney replied. "We just figure out who he thinks we'll be voting for out of Shawn and Jasmine, and then vote for the other one."

Lightning's brow shot up, and he smiled. "Sha-plan!" he said, and the two high-fived.

xxx

"There's no way Lightning doesn't have the idol," Shawn said, sharing the next confessional with Jasmine. "And Scott would wanna try to get it played while he has immunity."

"True," Jasmine replied, "but would he think we'll vote for Lightning? We definitely don't wanna risk one of us going home because of the idol."

"Good point," Shawn told her with a short tilt of his head. "But then again, I don't think Scott would wanna vote out Courtney. I'm pretty sure he had some kinda crush on her or something."

"But what if he's mad enough to vote for her out of spite?" Jasmine pointed out.

Shawn raised an eyebrow, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Another good point. Man is it hard trying to figure out how Scott's gonna vote," he said, looking at Jasmine as she grabbed his hand. "But I'm glad I'm doing it with you."

Jasmine smiled softly. "Aww, me too," she told him.

They spent the rest of the confessional looking into each other's eyes.

xxx

A trio of quick, deep notes played over the traditional long-distance shot of the moonlit island. The scene soon cut to the campfire pit where the cast had gathered: Courtney and Lightning on the left, Shawn and Jasmine on the right, Scott all alone in the back row and still looking pained and haggard, and Chris standing by at his oil barrel podium.

"Elimination time!" the host announced as another deep note played. "Tonight, Scott has immunity despite the rest of you ganging up specifically to stop him." The farmer laughed weakly, then held his head and groaned in pain again. "One of you is going home tonight," Chris continued as the camera panned back onto the front row. "Will it be Lightning or Jasmine, our physical powerhouses?" The two in question were shown looking nervous. "Or will it be Shawn, the last former winner left in the game?"

The shot cut to the boy in question, who was now trembling anxiously. "Hey, that shouldn't count against me!" he said.

Chris just shrugged. "How about Courtney then," he suggested, the shot cutting to the ex-CIT as she suddenly stiffened. "She was originally a villain after all, and a pretty cutthroat one too. Might be a good idea to get her out while the gettin's good."

Courtney glared at him. "Excuse me, but I've changed thank you very much."

"If you say so," the host shrugged again before straightening up and smiling. "But hey, it's not my call to make. It's you guys', cause it's time to vote."

xxx

Scott opened his confessional with another pained groan, four photos spread out in his hands like playing cards. "Gotta...think...," he grunted. "No one'll vote for Lightning, so...gotta go with...Jasmine," he moved the photos to one hand and took out the marker, "she's the next biggest threat..."

As he moved in to make his mark, another brain freeze headache struck causing him to close his eyes with a wince. In his pain he allowed three of the photos to slip from his fingers, and blindly crossed out the one that remained.

"Urggh...," he said as he finally opened his eyes and saw what he'd done. "...crap...well, whatever, it's good enough..."

xxx

"Alright," Chris said as another trio of deep notes played, "I've tabulated the votes. Time to find out who's going home."

"Or who'll have to do a tiebreaker," Shawn spoke up.

Scott snorted, drawing all attention to him. "Like it's gonna come to that," he said. "It's either you or Outback Jas that's going home. Or did you forget about the idol that Thunder Boy or Courtney have?"

"What, this thing?" Lightning said, reaching into his pocket and taking out the idol – a few more deep notes playing as the camera zoomed in on it, clearly showing the line down the center where it had been cut apart and glued back together.

Only Chris gasped. "What happened to it?!" he exclaimed in shock.

"Izzy," Lightning told him bluntly.

A devious grin formed on Scott's face, and he turned it towards Shawn and Jasmine. "See? Jockboy just has to play it for himself or give it to Courtney, and then one of you two is gone for sure. And if he doesn't play it then you'll still have to worry about it tomorrow."

"Oh no," Lightning interjected with a shake of his head. "Lightning's not gonna play this thing. Not tonight, and not ever."

Scott gasped.

"In fact," the jock continued, clutching the idol tightly and bringing it up to eye level, "after all the sha-trouble this thing has caused he's gonna get rid of it!"

Scott's eyes bugged out, but he quickly regained his composure. "So what, you're just gonna toss it into the lake or something?"

Lightning shook his head again. "No way. Lightning knows that if he does that, you'll just go and fetch it like the dog you are. So instead..." The music peaked ominously as the shot zoomed in on the idol, Lightning tossing it into the air and the camera following it all the way into the campfire. "He's sha-burnin' it..." the jock said definitively as Scott and Chris gasped in alarm.

"The idol!" Scott exclaimed, the shot cutting back outward to show him and the host scrambling towards the fire pit.

"My beautiful face!" Chris cried out in horror, on his knees beside the pit but unable to reach into the flames. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Uhh, excuse me," Courtney spoke up irritably, "but could you go back to doing your job and read the votes?"

Chris sighed despondently and stood up. "Fine...," he said halfheartedly, his eyes still staring at the roaring fire. "Scott, Jasmine, and Lightning," he said the third name bitterly, "are all safe."

Shawn and Courtney looked at one another in determination and stood up as the elimination music began to quickly approach its peak.

"Bring on the tiebreaker, Chris," the scruffy survivalist said, not taking his eyes off his presumed opponent.

"Nope. You're out, Shawn," the host announced, finally taking his gaze away from the burning Chris Head Statue to look at the boy with annoyance. "Three votes to two."

Shawn groaned, and Jasmine cried out a despairing "No...!"

Both Courtney and Lightning were shown looking down and away with an awkward sadness, and the shot cut to Scott as he barked out another half-pained laugh. "Hey, looks like I got lucky with my vote..." he said with a devilish smirk.

/

The scene rotated about a central axis to the Flush of Shame, the somber farewell theme playing as Shawn and Jasmine stood at the edge of the dock with Chris.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way," Shawn told Jasmine, her hands in his. "I was really hoping we could go all the way to the end together."

"Me too...," Jasmine said sadly. She took a deep breath, then asked "When this is all over...will you go out with me?"

"Yes," Shawn answered with a smile, and a touching tune played as Jasmine crouched down, he stood up on his toes, and they came together for a kiss.

The shot cut to Scott, Lightning, and Courtney further up the dock, the latter pair looking sad with Lightning even wiping away a tear. Scott snorted uncaringly, and the jock shoved him off-camera with a single hand.

"Now win this one for me," Shawn said, the camera cutting back to show him climbing into the massive toilet bowl as his girlfriend watched on sadly.

"I will," Jasmine replied just before her boyfriend was unceremoniously flushed. She gave the camera a rather distraught look as the toilet's backsplash washed over her, the host raising his umbrella to shield himself as always.

"Okay then," he said as a deep note ended the somber farewell song, the camera cutting to the side as he closed his umbrella and walked up the dock with Jasmine right behind him. "Congrats on making it to the Final Four," he said as they reached Courtney and Lightning. "Scott, the spa hotel is yours to share with Lightning and nobody else," he told the farmer as he stood back up and brushed himself off. "Because from now on," Chris continued as he walked past the four giving him questioning looks, "winners can't take anyone along with them."

"A darn shame...," Scott said with a smirk as Lightning crossed his arms and huffed.

The camera cut back to Chris as he stepped onto the shore and stopped. "Only four competitors remain," he told the camera as the Final Four filed past behind him. "Who's gonna stay, and who's gonna get flushed away? Find out next time, on an all-new Total! Drama! All-Stars!"

(Fade to Credits)

/

/

/

/

[Bonus Clip]

The scene opened on some large body of water riddled with waves, the cries of seagulls in the background. The music rose dramatically along with a stream of bubbles, marking the arrival soon after of Shawn. Gasping for air the moment he hit the surface, he soon spluttered and looked around. "What the heck? How did I get here? Oh man, I better not have missed the zombie apocalypse while I was out..."

As he spoke to himself he remained unaware of the sound of crashing water rapidly approaching for several seconds, until he finally glanced backwards and gasped in alarm. The shot cut outward to show a large wave headed towards him, and while he desperately tried to swim away it didn't look like it was gonna be enough.

That is, until the whooping and hollering forms of Geoff and Bridgette arrived on surfboards, the party boy in front as he leaned down and scooped his friend from the water. "Whoa, dude! Great timing!" Geoff told Shawn.

"I'll say," the survivalist replied, clinging unsteadily to the taller boy. "What are you two even doing here?"

Bridgette laughed as they passed through the barrel of the wave. "Picking you up, obviously."

"And catching some gnarly Japanese tsunamis," Geoff added.

"I told you, tsunamis are something different," Bridgette corrected.

"Oh yeah," Geoff said with a somewhat blank look.

"Uh, that's nice and all," Shawn interrupted, "but why are you picking me up? And how did you even know I was gonna turn up off the coast of Japan?"

Geoff and Bridgette looked at one another, then together said "Dawn."

"Yeah, apparently she found out something, like, big is gonna go down at the finale," Geoff explained as their boards slowed, enough for the three to sit down on them.

"So she wanted all of us to be ready for it," Bridgette added. "Which has basically just meant us splitting up into pairs to go pick all the eliminated contestants up, but at least it's nice knowing that we're gonna be seeing everyone again pretty soon."

"...yeah," Shawn said with a smile. "I really hope Jasmine makes it all the way to the end..."

"Oh?" Bridgette said, smiling and raising a brow with interest. "I seem to recall you saying some good things about her after you did that cameo last year."

"Haha, yeah," Shawn said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and in doing so nearly falling off the surfboard. "She, uh, she kinda...asked me out. And I said yes."

The two blondes gasped in surprise and delight. "See?" Bridgette told her boyfriend. "I knew this was gonna happen!"

"Sh'yeah, I shoulda known better than to doubt you Bridge," Geoff replied. "Sorry, dude," he told Shawn, "but you're kinda squirrelly when it comes to the relationship biz. I didn't think you'd actually be willing to hook up. Heck, I think I just lost a bet with one of my buddies about it."

"Oh, uh, sorry?" Shawn replied awkwardly.

"No worries, bra," Geoff said with a wave of his hand. "Brody doesn't win many bets, so this'll probably make his day. Oh!" he said in sudden realization. "Hey, once this season is over, how about you and Jasmine and me and Bridge go on a double date?"

"Geoff, that's a great idea!" Bridgette said excitedly. "I bet it'll be amazing."

"Yeah, sounds great," Shawn said with a smile. "Hey, so, uh, where exactly are we supposed to be going right now?" he asked.

Bridgette and Geoff shared another look. "Back to Canada on the next flight we can catch, I guess," Bridgette said.

"Shame we gotta cut the Japanese surfing trip short, but we totally gotta get back to the rest of our Total Drama peeps," Geoff added.

"Hey, fine with me," Shawn said. "The sooner I'm back in Canada, the sooner I can see Jasmine again."

---

Author's Note - Post Script

Like many of you expected, it was finally Shawn's time to leave the show. Also as expected, he finally hooked up with Jasmine! I hope you all enjoyed seeing it finally happen.

As for the challenge...not much to say. Scott had to win, obviously, as I wasn't ready to get rid of him or have him steal the idol from Lightning. Still, things didn't quite go Scott's way - his attempts at sabotage didn't really mean much, the sudden rules change with the campers eating instead of the interns could have been his loss, and he ended up having to give himself some major brain freeze in order to win. Which, of course, then caused him to vote out Shawn by accident. Mostly because I didn't really feel like writing a tiebreaker challenge, but still.

Anyway, thus ends the saga of the idol. I didn't really want it to get involved in next episode, and since it wasn't needed for this episode I figured the best use was to show what Lightning was committed to, in terms of destroying the thing so it couldn't cause anymore trouble. I am admittedly unsatisfied with the scene, though; looking back I really should have given it more oomph and foreshadowed it a bit. Have Lightning take it out and question what he wanted to do with it, you know? Not entirely sure when, though. It may have been better to do last episode. But, well, that's a flaw I'll just have to live with for now, as I don't want to delay getting this chapter out any longer.

The Final Four have been decided. As I mentioned a few episode ago in a review response I think, I wanted all four of them to be seen as reasonable finalist choices. Sure, maybe not all combinations would work that well, but both in-story and within the context of the Total Shuffled series as fanfiction written by myself, all four of them are viable and deserving (in certain regards) contenders for a spot in the finale. Who will the Final Two actually be? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

After all, it all depends on who gets which challenge next week.

- Fangren

---

Appendix: TSAS Eliminated Contestants

Scarlett - (14th Place)

Sugar - (13th Place)

Harold - (12th Place)

Ella - (11th Place)

Alejandro - (10th Place)

Noah - (9th Place)

Justin - (8th Place)

Izzy - (7th Place)

Gwen - (6th Place)

Shawn - (5th Place)