In Luca, a vortex opened up, which the contestants and their hosts spilled out of. Chris walks up to a nearby camera and starts talking. "Last time on Total Drama Worlds Collide." Flashbacks of the previous episode start playing. "The contestants were forced to kill a bunch of undead monsters, which is something we totally haven't already done this season. We were some interrupted by a giant Hollow called Menos Grande, who took out everyone single competitor who realistically stood a chance against it. So imagine our surprise when Carly killed it, winning the challenge for her team. In the end, Wallace was eliminated. And after Haruhi worked so hard to keep him too." The scene cut back to Chris. "Can our contestants summon the strength to finish this challenge? What else needs to Besaid? And can we change the challenge so that it's not an episode three knockoff? Find out right now, on Total Drama Worlds Collide."
Intro song plays.
"So, going by what Chef said last episode, we're racing from Point A to Point B?" said Edward.
"No, we managed to organise a different challenge," said Chris. "A game of blitzball."
"That sounds extremely safe," said Annabeth. "So safe that, since you were the one to say it, means that it's suicidally dangerous."
"That's not true. We have yet to find a case of someone dying while playing blitzball," said Chris.
"How long have you had the records?" asked Haruhi.
"About twenty minutes," said Chris. "Anyway, let us proceed into the stadium." The group walked up a couple of flights of stairs, and emerged in the stands, looking at a giant glass ball. "This is the blitzball arena," said Chris. "Each time consists of six people . . ."
"We only have five people left," said Carly.
". . . and the team with the most goals wins," continue Chris. "Basically, it's this world's version of soccer."
"So, we need to play in that big glass ball?" asked Kathryn. "Due to it being summerlike weather here, wouldn't it be incredibly hot in there, to the point that it may be fatal for us?"
"So that's where the danger is," said Annabeth.
"Yes, it is incredibly hot in there," said Chris. "Which is why we need to do this." Chris pressed a button, and suddenly the large ball started to fill up with water.
"Oh, now I get it," said Lyra. "You fill the ball halfway, and we swim around in it."
"Swim around, yes. Halfway, no," said Chris.
"What, you mean three quarters full?" asked Draco.
"Nope," said Chris.
"You're not filling the whole ball, are you?" asked Dorothy.
"That's how it's played," said Chris.
"Not many of us can hold our breath that long," said Zidane.
"So?" asked Chris.
"We'll die and be unable to compete," said Shaggy.
"And?" asked Chris.
"The show will end and you won't get any more money," said Alice.
Chris suddenly looked alarmed. "You're right," he said, pressing another button. The water stopped filling the tank. "Okay, I didn't want another version of episode three, but your survival means so much to me."
"No it doesn't," said Haruhi.
"No it doesn't," said Chris.
"So, we're racing from Point A to Point B then?" said Edward.
"Yes, but with a twist," said Chris. "Until quite recently, this world used to be plagued by a giant monster named Sin, who needed to be defeated by a High Summoner. This is no longer the case, but we can still have you retrace the steps of these Summoners by . . ."
"Having us race from Point A to Point B," said Edward.
Chris glared at him. "Okay, yes, you will be racing from Point A to Point B," said Chris. "Obviously we're at Point A right now. Point B is a place in the north called Zanarkand."
"Alright, let's go," said Draco.
"Not so fast," said Chris. "Like the guardians of the Summoners, you'll have to choose a teammate to be protected AT ALL COSTS by the rest of you. The team with the Summoner who's healthiest at the end wins."
"Doesn't sound too hard," said Zidane. "We pretty much did that last time too."
"Yeah, this should be a breeze," said Peter. "And I think the obvious choice for our Summoner is Carly."
"What? Why me? Why not Lyra?" asked Carly.
"We may need Pan as an extra guardian," said Annabeth. "If something happens to Pan, something happens to Lyra."
"But what if Pan doesn't want to fight?" asked Lyra.
On cue, Pan appeared on Lyra's shoulder in moth form. "If I must fight, it will be to protect Lyra," said Pan. "If it protects Carly too, so be it."
"There's your answer," said Annabeth.
"Okay, I'll do it," said Carly. "What's the worst that could happen?" Meanwhile in the real world, the writer of this fanfic grins evilly.
"Our Summoner would either have to be Dorothy, Haruhi, Kathryn, or Shaggy," said Draco. "They're the least likely to be of any use in a fight."
"Gee, thanks," muttered Shaggy.
"I think Dorothy," said Kathryn. "She's the youngest of us, and the most opposed to violence."
"Oh my, there won't be any cause for any more violence will there?" asked Dorothy.
"Knowing Chris, violence is the least of our worries," said Haruhi.
"There will be people opposing us," said Alice, before looking blank again. "And some big blue guy."
"Okay contestants, you've picked your Summoners then," said Chris. "Are you ready?"
"They already left," said Chef.
"But I haven't said 'go' yet," said Chris.
"They got the gist of it," said Chef.
"Okay, whatever," said Chris, pulling out his phone. "Hey Cid? Can you give us a lift?"
Meanwhile, the teams were dashing through the streets of Luca. Suddenly, a large blue ball came out of nowhere and knocked Peter over. "Haha, still got it ya," came a voice. The contestants looked up to see a red haired man wearing some kind of yellow uniform holding another ball.
"I'll stop him," said Pan, turning into a falcon. He flew at the man, but was struck down almost immediately.
"Birds are my specialty, ya," said Wakka (though the contestants didn't know this yet).
"By holding us up, you've yet the other team get in front," said Annabeth.
"That's where the rest of the Aurochs come in," said Wakka. As if on cue, the other members of the Besaid Aurochs began pummelling the Pandas with blitzballs, however they continued running regardless.
"Come on guys, let's go," said Carly.
"Not so fast," said Wakka. "You haven't beaten me yet." And with that, he threw another ball at the team. Zidane managed kicking it away, which hit Letty and knocked him out. The ball came back at him, but Zidane punched it right at Botta's head. The ball again rebounded, and Zidane jumped into the air, spun around a bunch of times, and kicked the ball directly at Wakka's head. The blow knocked him out, and the Penguins moved on.
"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Lyra.
"I know a guy," said Zidane as they raced along.
Meanwhile, the Pandas had made good progress along the Mi'ihen Highroad. "Are you sure we're allowed to take these hovercrafts, and that we're not meant to walk?" asked Dorothy.
"Relax, Chris would probably approve of this," said Kathryn.
They continued past Rin's travel agency, and onto the narrow paths beyond it. Suddenly, the hovercraft started slowing down. "Hey, what's the hold up?" asked Edward.
"We have company," said the hovercraft driver, pointing ahead to a woman with brown hair and wearing a white dress.
"Our second challenger," said Draco. "And you are?"
"Yuna," said the woman. "Now, let's do this." Yuna suddenly glowed brightly for a minute, then appeared again with two handguns drawn.
"Did her hair just grow about five feet just now?" asked Shaggy.
"Who cares? We got a challenge to win," said Kathryn, grabbing the hovercraft controls. The hovercraft charged at Yuna, knocking her off the side of the path. Before she could hit the ground though, a yellow blur came out of nowhere and caught her. The Pandas stared at it in amazement.
"Is that a chicken?" asked Dorothy.
"That thing is way too big to be a chicken," said Edward. "It must be an ostrich."
"I've never seen a bright yellow ostrich before," said Shaggy. "Maybe it's a canary."
"Haven't you people ever seen a chocobo before?" asked Zidane as he rode past on another of these creatures. The one that had caught Yuna had Peter riding it, while Carly and Annabeth each had their own. Lyra was riding Pan, who had managed to mimic the chocobo shape with ease. The Pandas, distracted by these strange creatures, drove their hovercraft off the side of the road.
At the end of the Highroad, the Penguins dismounted their chocobos. "Thanks for the save," said Yuna. "Although technically I am supposed to stall you."
"You wouldn't do that to me, would you Yuna?" said Zidane.
"I said technically. I didn't say I'd do it," said Yuna. "Go on. Paine's up ahead."
"That sounds quite bad for us," said Annabeth.
"She's actually quite nice once you get to know her," said Yuna. "Although she doesn't let people get to know her very often."
"Well, I guess we better get moving then," said Peter, leading the team to Mushroom Rock Road. As they disappeared, the Pandas emerged from the Old Mi'ihen Highroad. Yuna drew her guns and aimed at them immediately.
The Penguins ran down the road until a girl in black blocked their path. "Not so fast," said Paine. "I'm meant to stop you getting any further. Honestly though, I don't care. That Chris guy seemed like a jackass."
"Tell us about it," said Peter. "So can we just go past then?"
"No, I might as well do this properly," said Paine, raising her sword.
"Oh, come on, you let the other team past," said Annabeth.
"What?" demanded Paine, looking around to see if what she said was true. At this point, Peter hit her on the head with a large rock, knocking her out.
"You know, in the time it took us to do that, the other team actually did pass us," said Carly. Her teammates looked down the road to see the Pandas disappearing around a corner.
"Like, how long until they catch up do you think?" asked Shaggy.
"Until Gippal stops us," said Alice.
"Who is Gippal?" asked Haruhi.
"I'm Gippal," said someone ahead of them. Gippal stepped out from behind a rock pillar and pulled out his weapon of choice.
"Is that a chainsaw?" asked Kathryn.
"No, it's a machine gun," said Draco.
"It can be two things," said Gippal, aiming it at them.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" yelled Draco, as he pulled out his wand. Gippal's chainsaw gun flew from his hands, and sent him sprawling backwards. As Draco was about to pick up Gippal's weapon, he felt a sudden weight upon his head. It quickly subsided, but was enough to push him into the ground. As he was about to get up, he felt another weight on his head that disappeared as quickly. He looked up to see Peter and Zidane running down the path, followed quickly by their teammates.
"Called it," said Alice, starting after them.
The two teams stayed neck and neck most of the way up the Djose Highroad. Soon, the two teams reached the Moonflow.
"We have to get across," said Lyra.
"Hold on," said Pan, currently in ferret form. He ran ahead of the group towards the water. He leapt towards it, and changed in mid-air to . . . some kind of green elephant.
"Pan, what are you? And where did you learn it?" asked Lyra.
"I'm not sure," said Pan, grabbing the team up with his trunk. "I just saw it over there." He pointed to the left, where there was another of the strange creatures. Pan moved away from the shore as quickly as possible, before the other team could climb on too.
"Now what?" asked Edward.
"We ask to ride the shoopuf," said Alice.
"The what?" asked Kathryn.
"The shoopuf," said Alice. The rest of her team stared at her in confusion. "The green elephant," she sighed.
"Are you sure they'll let us?" asked Shaggy.
"Ridess ze shoopuf?" asked one of the blue creatures standing around.
"I refuse to believe that worked," said Draco.
Meanwhile, the other team had crossed the Moonflow and were entering Guadosalam. "So, you've arrived," said an old man as they entered. "I am Nooj, and I'll be stalling you now."
"Umm . . . no offense, but you're an old man with a walking stick," said Zidane. "If this is the best Chris has to offer . . ."
"Of course not," said a female voice behind them. "We'll be helping Noojie-Woojie too, right boys?"
"Right boss," said two male voices simultaneously. The group looked around to see who had spoken. The woman was blonde and wore a VERY revealing dress (Zidane's jaw slammed into the ground at the sight of her). One of the men was extremely fat and carried a large shield on his back, the other was quite thin and had a gun in each hand.
"Do you really think we can't take you on?" demanded Annabeth, turning to Leblanc. Pan changed to a bear and charged at Ormi, while Zidane fought Logos and Peter took on Nooj.
The four of them fought for a few minutes, until finally Carly stepped in. "Guys, the other team went past here, like, a minute ago," she said, halting the fight.
"Like we care? We were just paid to stall you," said Ormi, advancing on them. Pan grabbed him, and threw him at the other non-Penguins. Nooj and the Leblanc Syndicate crashed into a wall while the Penguins ran on into the Thunder Plains.
Meanwhile, out in the Thunder Plains, the Pandas were making great time. "We might just win this thing," said Edward.
"Not if I can help it," said a girl's voice. The team looked up to see Rikku in front of them.
"Three . . ." said Alice.
"What's she doing?" asked Kathryn.
"Two . . ." said Alice.
"Something good for us is about to happen," said Haruhi.
"One . . ." said Alice.
"Like what?" asked Shaggy. At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and electrocuted Rikku.
"Like that," said Alice.
"Good job predicting that," said someone. "But did you also predict us getting back in front?" The team turned in time to see the Penguins run past them in the direction of Macelania.
"After them," yelled Draco, and the race continued.
The lead changed a couple of times whilst they were in Macelania, but it wasn't until they were outside Bevelle that anything interesting happened.
"I guess it's my turn then," said Baralai, their next obstruction.
"Not if we can help it," said Peter, firing a web at him. Baralai easily cuts through it with his staff, before striking him down. Zidane ducked under the staff, and managed to wrap his tail around Baralai's feet and trip him.
"The other guys are ahead. Let's go," yelled Lyra, leading the team into the Calm Lands.
Meanwhile in the Calm Lands, the Pandas continued towards the finish line.
"Such a wide open plain. Surely we'll see our next attacker before they can hit us," said Dorothy. As soon as she said this, she was struck by lightning.
"Who did that?" asked Shaggy.
"That would be Lulu," said Alice.
"And you couldn't warn us about this?" asked Kathryn.
"Magic doesn't miss in this world," said Alice. Suddenly, Alice caught fire.
"Here, take it easy Lu," said Alice, putting out the flames as quickly as possible. "I know you're meant to be distracting us, but I burn very easily."
"Sorry. Chris paid me to do that," said Lulu, stepping out from her hiding spot.
"Did he also pay you to let the other team go past?" said Edward, pointing to the other team as they were about to exit the Calm Lands.
"No he did not," said Lulu. The Pandas charged past her and attempted to catch up again.
The Penguins got through the cave leading up the Mt. Gagazet as quickly as possible, and soon reached a clearing. They were halfway across when they heard a roar. The Penguins looked around to see an army of large blue men surrounding them. One of them (shorter than most, but clearly a leader) stood before them and drew his spear. "Who goes there?" he asked.
"We're the . . ." started Annabeth.
". . . people who pushed Yuna off the Highroad," said Kathryn as her team caught up.
"WHAT?!" yelled Kimahri.
"No, we . . ." Annabeth tried again, but Kimahri's face was full of rage. He thrust out with his lance at the Penguins . . .
. . . and it went right through Carly's chest. Carly's face registered shock for a moment, before she slumped over and fell to the ground. The Penguins fell silent, while the Pandas slipped past and started up the mountain.
"Unpleasant," said Zidane.
"ZIDANE!" yelled the remainder of his team.
"This isn't just unpleasant, Zidane," yelled Annabeth. "Carly is *beep* dead! Not only will we lose the challenge, but we'll be down to three people by the end of this episode."
"What's going on here?" asked a familiar voice. The crowd of Ronsos parted to let Yuna through.
"Yuna! You not hurt," said Kimahri.
"Of course I'm not hurt," said Yuna. "Why would you think I am?"
"Contestant on other team tell me they push you off Highroad," said Kimahri.
"What? That didn't happen," said Yuna. "These guys saved me when I was pushed. By the other team."
Kimahri was speechless for a while. "Oh, *beep*," is all he said.
"Okay, so now that you're clear on us not having any involvement in Yuna being pushed, would you happen to know a shortcut?" asked Zidane.
"What's the point? We can't win," said Peter.
"We could hope for Dorothy to be killed and be in a worse state than Carly," said Zidane.
"ZIDANE!" yelled his teammates.
Kimahri pointed behind the Penguins. "That tile take you to cave at mountain top," said Kimahri.
"Hey, thanks," said Zidane, carrying Carly's corpse onto the tile. The rest of his team followed.
"Maybe I should have healed her before they left," said Yuna.
Meanwhile, the Pandas were just entering the cave at the top of the mountain . . .
"I'm really horrified at what you did," said Dorothy.
"How was I to know he'd do that?" asked Kathryn, dragging Dorothy behind her. "And besides, there's not much we can do about it now. Might as well keep going."
"Don't you have any sympathy?" demanded Dorothy. "Someone died, and you're acting like it's nothing."
"Don't you want to win?" asked Kathryn.
"I do, but . . ." started Dorothy.
"Well, this is how it's done," said Kathryn.
Confession Cam: Dorothy
"Oh my goodness, I never realised Kathryn was so . . . so cruel. She is a real bi . . ."
"Hey, is that the Penguins ahead of us?" asked Edward, pointing up towards the exit of the cave. Sure enough, the four living members (and one corpse) of the Running Penguins were almost at the exit to the cave.
"How did they do that?" asked Haruhi.
"Kimahri showed them a teleporter that took them to the top of the mountain," said Alice.
"I would doubt this, but that's the most rational explanation," said Draco.
"And more seriously, they're getting away," said Shaggy, charging up after them.
The Pandas caught up to the Penguins as they exited the cave into a clearing near the top of the mountain. Below them, the ruins of Zanarkand spread out majestically.
"Edward, stop them," commanded Kathryn.
"Sure thing," said Edward, clapping his hands together. He pressed both hands to the ground, and yelled 'stand back' as a loud rumble started. The Penguins looked around as they noticed a huge rockslide coming down the mountain. It hit them, and the team fell off the side of a cliff.
"NO!" screamed Dorothy.
"Oh, so now you're on their side?" said Kathryn.
"No, she's showing empathy for her fellow humans," said Haruhi. "But you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
Kathryn glared at both of them for a minute, and then started dragging Dorothy down the mountain.
At the bottom of the mountain . . .
"Nice save Peter," said Zidane, pealing himself off the web.
"What did you think I was going to do, let us fall to our deaths," said Peter, picking up Carly's body.
"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" screamed Annabeth, thrashing against the web. Zidane quickly cut the threads and helped her down.
"Zidane, is that you?" called someone. The team turned around and saw some kind of surfer dude approaching them.
"Hey Tidus, long time no see," said Zidane.
"I haven't seen you since the Dissidia war," said Tidus. "What's up?"
"Oh, you know, same old same old," said Zidane. "Listen, we're kinda in the middle of a challenge . . ."
"Yeah, I know. I'm meant to stall you, but I couldn't do that to an old friend," said Tidus.
"And we kinda desperately need a Phoenix Down. You wouldn't happen to have one would you?" asked Zidane.
"Sure thing," said Tidus, pulling out a Phoenix Down. "Don't want to repeat what happened with Cloud." Tidus threw the Phoenix Down at Carly, and suddenly she opened her eyes.
"That's amazing," said Annabeth.
"You might want this too," said Tidus, using a Hi-Potion on Carly.
"Thanks Tidus," called Zidane as he team left.
"Any time," said Tidus.
Meanwhile, the Pandas had entered the Dome at the end of the ruins.
"No, I refuse to go another step," said Dorothy.
"Why?" demanded Kathryn.
"It wasn't enough that you killed Carly, you then had to make Edward kill the rest of the team," said Dorothy. "No more. We're not going anywhere until we know they're safe."
And with the sort of timing that can only happen in works of fiction, the Penguins ran past at this exact moment.
"QUICK!" AFTER THEM!" screamed Kathryn, running as quickly as possible.
"Peter, block the doorway," said Annabeth as they entered the Cloister of Trials. Peter sprayed as much thick web as he could, then followed his team onto an already moving elevator. Kathryn's scream of frustration as she hit the web echoed through the halls, while the Penguins disembarked and made their way through the final rooms of the temple.
"The Running Penguins win again," said Chris as the team arrived. "Assuming the other team's summoner isn't too badly scratched up." At that moment, the Fighting Pandas arrived. "Hmm, both appear to be in good condition," said Chris. "Except this one has these." Chris showed everyone Dorothy's arm, which was covered in bruises from the blitzballs in Luca.
"So what? Their summoner died," said Kathryn.
"True," said Chris. "But they brought her back to life AND healed her up nicely. You did not. The Running Penguins win!" The Penguins celebrate at their unexpected win. "Pandas, see you at elimination."
Confession Cam: Dorothy
"Kathryn was so mean. She has to go."
Confession Cam: Kathryn
"Alice is definitely going to want to get me. I want her gone, but I can't resist a little rivalry between us. Instead I'll go for her little friend Haruhi."
Later, at the elimination ceremony . . .
"Okay, Pandas, you know how it works," said Chris. "There are seven of you, but I only have six marshmallows. If you receive a marshmallow, you are safe. For now. If you don't, you will be sent home via the Warp of Shame. Are you ready? The following people are safe." As Chris read each name, he threw them a marshmallow. "Draco. Edward. Alice. Kathryn. And Shaggy." The camera cut to a nervous looking Dorothy and Haruhi. "Campers, I have one marshmallow left. And it goes to . . ." The camera cut rapidly between Dorothy and ". . . Haruhi." The final marshmallow landed on her lap.
"But . . . why?" asked Dorothy.
"Yeah, I didn't vote for her," said Kathryn.
"Neither did I," said Alice.
"Same here," said Shaggy.
"Oh, right, forgot to mention," said Chris. "After Carly died, we decided that the losing team's summoner would be eliminated, just so the Penguins didn't lose two people in one week."
"Would have been nice to know this earlier," said Edward.
"Yeah, like, BEFORE we voted," said Shaggy.
"Hey, well, in any case, Dorothy's gone," said Chris, opening a vortex for Dorothy. "Well, there you have it. We killed someone. Can we go one better than that? Does one of the contestants really have an advantage in the next challenge? And can the writer of this fanfic stop leaving it until the last minute to finish an episode? Find out next time on Total Drama Worlds Collide."