Episode 9 - Merging Isn't For Everyone
So, chances are that the epodes won't be as long as they have been because of there being less people...so...yeah.
...
Nighttime had come again and the teams were off in sleep.
On Paraiso's side, Penny was quietly writing in her diary by a desk, hoping to get enough sleep for the next day.
Penny: (CONF.) I'm so upset that Kelsey quit...she was one of my best friends...but...I have to move on, like Nathaniel said! I've wrote a lot in my diary tonight about what has been going on and my hopes for the future. I hope they come true.
After finishing up her daily account, she closed her diary, placed it under her bed, and went to sleep, making sure to turn the lights off by the desk.
The cameras switched to the other side - the boys' part of Paraiso's cabin. Nathaniel was sitting by Ace's bed, trying his best to comfort the upset jock.
"Ace..." Nathaniel mumbles to Ace, who was crying, "Don't be upset. This was three hours ago, you have to rest and forget about it."
"But how can I?!" Ace says, turning to Nathaniel, "The only one I truly care about on this island is gone and it's because of me!"
"But we can't pity ourselves like this Ace it's not health for us! We can't be sad forever! Just keep your head held high and hope for the best!"
"But the best thing that has ever happened to me is gone! Why should I be happy?!" Ace says, starting to whine.
Nathaniel sighs, "Ace! Please! Listen to me for once! Kelsey is gone. So deal with it head on. Crying won't do anything about it. Would Kelsey want to see you like this? A strong guy like you crying in his bed?"
Ace shakes his head, "No..."
"See what I mean? Perspective!" Nathaniel says, heading to his bed, "Think about it tonight...goodnight!" Nathaniel turns off the light in the cabin and he goes to sleep.
The cameras go to Dahlia and Dallas, who were watching the stars on the beach.
"Beautiful," Dallas says.
"Yeah, sure are..." Dahlia mumbles. She turns to Dallas, "See what we're doing? Doing and enjoying something together. Something you never do!"
He laughs, "Okay. But don't assume I'll always be doing this..." he turns to his team's cabin, "What do you think of Hailey and Arthur?"
"A married couple who are the worst kinds of human beings," Dahlia quietly says, "You?"
"I think they're kinda cool."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Why would I?"
"Because you like them."
"So?"
"So...you're supporting horrible, evil people like them, why would you?"
Dallas sighs, "Just stop before I leave! I'm tired anyway, I'm sleeping! Night!" Dallas gets up to head back to his cabin, "See ya in the morning!" Dahlia watches her brother as he enters the cabin.
Dahlia: (CONF.) Finally! A successful time together! Does this mean Dallas is finally opening himself up to being a brother to me? YES!
...
The next day arrived and the teams were out doing what they wanted. Hailey and Arthur were drinking and eating their breakfast given by Manny.
"This sucks," Arthur states.
"Really?" Hailey asks, "Like no one's ever said that?!" Arthur laughs at Hailey's annoyance and continues to eat.
Dahlia was kicking water near the ocean, happily cheering, "Come on Dallas!" she yells to her brother, who was sitting on the sand, "Play with me!"
He shakes his head, "I'd rather not!"
"Please?" Dahlia begs, "Just for a bit?"
"Nope! Not happening!"
Dahlia kicks water on Dallas, scaring him, "You're no fun!"
Dallas laughs, "Ya think?" At that, they both laugh.
Paraiso were now the focus as well. Nathaniel had brought his team breakfast, and started unpacking stuff for them.
"Alright...Ace...you can have that...it'll cheer you up and Penny...you can have this orange juice!" Nathaniel crumples the bag of breakfast and throws it out, heading to sit with them again, "So...how was our nights?"
"Wonderful!" Penny cheers, "Just being alone in a cabin all by myself is so liberating! I can just do whatever I want with it!"
"That's great Penny!" Nathaniel happily states, "And Ace? What about you?"
He shrugs, "Did what you told me to do and...well..."
"And?"
"I guess I could pull through some more for myself..."
Nathaniel smiles, "That's great Ace, do what you do, okay?" He looks around, "Don't you think the beach is kind of empty?" They look around the beach and how secluded everyone was, "Feels kinda creepy, huh?"
Penny nods, "True...lonely...it's coming to an end now..."
Ace stands up, "I'm going for a walk, see you guys at the challenge..." he walks off, leaving the other two to talk some more.
Ace: (CONF.) *sighs* I've got a lot on my mind right now...can't relax...
About an hour later, Manny arrives, ringing his bell, "Everybody to where I'm standing! I've got a huge announcement!"
Everybody heads up to the host, curious to what was going on.
"You've all merged! Congrats!" Manny rings the bell some more, "Yay!"
The remaining seven breath a sigh of relief.
Arthur: (CONF.) Not surprised that I made it! Now, my eye is really on that prize!
Hailey: (CONF.) I wonder if I'm gonna have to step up that evil game...
Dahlia: (CONF.) So happy that I merged with my brother!
Nathaniel: (CONF.) I'm in the merge? Cool!
Penny: (CONF.) Not gonna lie, I'm so surprised that I merged! It feels so...weird and pleasant...
Ace: (CONF.) It's cool that I merged and all but...without Kelsey?
Dallas: (CONF.) Merging means nothing. Winning means everything!
"So, to congratulate yourselves for merging, we are now having a celebratory brunch!" Manny takes out a huge picnic basket and blanket and laid it on the floor, "Get to chowing everyone!"
The merged contestants head to the picnic and start eating, talking together.
"I knew you could make it this far Penny!" Nathaniel happily says.
Penny nods, "Yeah...thanks!"
Arthur looks to Nathaniel, "What's up man?!"
Nathaniel rolls his eyes, "Oh my..."
"What?!" Arthur yells, "We used to be best buddies! Why are you ignoring me?!" Him and Hailey laugh, leaving Nathaniel to be annoyed.
After the picnic was finished Nathaniel and Ace assisted with cleaning up with Manny, and they all stood together, awaiting Manny's next instructions.
"Alright, let's start this challenge...a bucket challenge!" Manny cheers, "Each of you guys will receive a bucket from me, and when I blow my horn, you will all run into the jungle to find a large swamp inside it! Whoever finds the swamp and puts some of the goo into their bucket and comes back to this place will win the challenge! And also, to scare you guys into winning this challenge, whoever is the last person to get back to this starting spot will be immediately eliminated!"
Everyone gasps in shock.
"Seriously?!" Dahlia yells. Manny nods.
Dahlia: (CONF.) We've gotta really step up our game for this merge!
Manny finished handing out buckets to each of the competitors, "Alright...ready? Set..." the horn is blown, "GO!" and everyone was off into the jungle, trying to stay at the front.
...
Everyone had already entered the forest, keeping close to each other. Dallas and Dahlia were in lead, competing to see which one of them would win, while Arthur and Hailey were behind them, and Ace, Penny, and Nathaniel were behind the other four.
"Keep running guys, don't give up!" Nathaniel encourages Penny and Ace, "Ace! You're an athlete! You should be ahead of us!"
Ace shrugs, "Not feeling it today, I guess."
The cameras show Arthur and Hailey. Arthur seemed annoyed that the siblings were in front of them, "Why are they ahead of us?! It needs to be us!"
Hailey groans, "Then do something about it!"
"Alrighty then..." Arthur thinks for a second, then yells to the ones in front of him, "Guys! I think the swamp is to the left os us! Not on this trail!"
Dahlia turns to Arthur, "Why should we trust you?"
Arthur shrugs, "If you wanna lose, go ahead!"
Dahlia looks to Dallas, who was listening, "Do you trust them?"
"No, but we might as well...we could all be taking the wrong path right now..." Dallas and Dahlia follow Arthur's suggestions and head to the left, running through thickets of grass and mud.
Arthur and Hailey laugh and hi-five.
"Awesome!" Hailey cheers.
"There goes their chance of winning!" Arthur adds in. The two continued running and disappeared from the camera, which soon put to focus the last three.
"Wait...stop guys...I...I'm tired!" Penny moans, halting from running.
"We can't though!" Nathaniel says, "We'll lose!"
"But Dallas and Dahlia ran off somewhere different from Hailey and Arthur!" Ace says, "Who do we trust?"
Nathaniel immediately answers, "Dahlia and Dallas. Come on," he assist Penny with running to where Dahlia and Dallas went off in. Ace followed behind as well.
The three started running down a dangerous hill.
"This...whoah..." Nathaniel moans, "Is really steep! Be careful...AH!" he yells, falling over with Penny down the hill, "AHHH!"
The two land next to a rock, groaning in pain.
"Ow...urrgh...P...Penny? You okay?" Nathaniel asks. He looks to her, who was getting up as well.
"I'm good..." Penny says, "But where's Ace?" Nathaniel looks around, "Ace? Ace!" Penny yells, "Where are you?"
"Maybe he lost us?" Nathaniel asks, "He can't be too far, let's walk around and see if we can find him..." the two get up and start searching for the jock.
Meanwhile, Dallas and Dahlia were walking through the deep forest, curious as to what was gong on.
"Those assholes!" Dahlia yells, "They tricked us! There's no way that there's so kind of swamp here! I told you we shouldn't have trusted them!"
Dallas rolled his eyes, "Calm down!" he looks around, "It's pretty dark and muddy around here...there might be a swamp around..."
"Yeah...like at home..."
He nods, "Yep. Home sweet home."
The two continue until they notice the lightening of the jungle.
"Hey, who did the brightness suddenly change?" Dahlia asks.
Dallas notices the change in elevation, "Wait...I think the path we were taking is just up there!" All of a sudden, Arthur and Hailey pass the trail that they were looking at, and disappeared, "There's Arthur and Hailey! Let's go!" Dallas leads Dahlia back onto the path and into the sight of the Evil Duo.
Hailey turns around, "Oh fuck...Arthur!"
Arthur turns around, shocked and annoyed at the siblings, "You're kidding me! GAHH! Hurry up! I see the swamp up there!" The race continues until they reached a clearing where a large swamp was located, filled with mud, gunk, and trash.
"Ew!" Hailey moans, covering her nose, "People threw trash here?"
"Yeah, and you're one of them!" Dahlia yells, shoving Hailey into the swamp. Dallas laughs, and even Arthur.
Hailey wipes her face, disgusted at the swamp, "Oh my...DAHLIA!"
"That's what you get for trying to sabotage us!" Dahlia yells. She heads to gather things from the swamp, but is shoved in by Arthur, "HEY!"
Arthur laughs more, "I'm sorry, but that was so funny! I had to do it again!" He looks to Dallas, "A'int it funny?!"
Dallas nods and laughs, "Sure is."
Penny and Nathaniel made their way out and had finally made it to the pathway that they were initially on.
"Look!" Nathaniel yells, pointing in front of them, "It's Ace! And he's all muddy and dirty and stuff!"
"He might've fell as well!" Penny adds in. The two run after Ace.
Ace finally made it to the swamp, surprised at the alligators who were blocking the others' ability to get goo.
"What's happening?" Ace asks.
"These alligators came out of nowhere and won't let us bucket their swamp. Assholes," Arthur says, "Maybe you could knock some sense into them!"
He shakes his head, "It'd be rude."
Arthur laughs, "Oh please, they're just animals!" He notices Hailey yelling at an alligator, "Sweetie! Don't yell! You're scaring them!"
Hailey turns around, "Shut up!" and continues working.
"Aren't you gonna help?" Ace asks Arthur.
"Naw," Arthur answers, "She's a pretty cool girl. She'd help me with anything."
Penny and Nathaniel finally arrived, panting.
"Ace...are...are you okay?" Nathaniel asks, worried.
"Yeah, are you guys okay?" Ace asks.
Penny nods, "Better than ever!" she takes her bucket out, "Will it be hard?"
"Hard for you!" Arthur answers, laughing.
"Hey!" Nathaniel tells Arthur, "Stop being mean!"
Arthur rolls his eyes, "Oh my...urrgh!"
Nathaniel: (CONF.) Why didn't they eliminate Nathaniel when his team had the chance?!
Hailey is then successfully able to scoop some goo up for herself and Arthur, "Got them, let's go!" Arthur grabs his bucket and they go off, running.
"Oh no you don't!" Dahlia yells, throwing an alligator to the side to scoop up her stuff, "Dallas! We can't let them win!"
Dallas, who has scooped up his goo, sighs, "Calm down. It doesn't matter if they win."
"But then they'll be here to wreck havoc even longer!"
"Oh my...Dahlia! Just run! We're wasting time!" Dallas grabs Dahlia and they head off.
Nathaniel tries to get some goo but is stopped by the alligators, "Oh no...urr...what should I do?"
Penny is shown to not know what to do either, "Not sure...I haven't actually done this before..."
Ace tried his best to push away the alligators, but they kept attacking, "Urrgh!" he moans, "Can you stop?!"
The cameras catch the race to the finish. Dallas and Dahlia were soon able to surpass Hailey and Arthur, who were getting tired.
"Gahh! They're ahead of us!" Arthur yells.
"They're from the country, they have no cars! They obviously are faster than us!" Hailey yells. She notices a long branch of a tree and rips it off as she passes it. Carefully eyeing Dahlia, she launches it to her head, making Dahlia fall to the ground. Dallas stops to aid Dahlia while Arthur and Hailey pass them.
"So long suckers!" Hailey says, laughing.
Dallas seems annoyed, "Seriously...man...Dahlia? You okay? Need me to carry you to the finish line?"
Dahlia's eyes were flickering, "Uh...um...yeah...yeah...go ahead...urrgh..."
She is picked up and Dallas starts running, "What happened?"
"Stuff happened," Dallas says, picking up speed.
Dallas: (CONF.) They better not fucking do that to my sister again for I'll fucking come for both of them!
Back at the swamp, Nathaniel caught his goo, "Penny! Let's share!"
"No!" Penny says, fighting with an alligator, "I'm good! Save yourself! Get to the finish line! I'll handle this!"
"But.."
"No buts!" Penny yells, "Finish this!" Nathaniel, despite being reluctant, heads off to the finish line.
Ace finally caught his goo and was on a run to the finish. At that same moment, Penny let go, making the alligator fall into the swamp. Penny collects her goo, and she starts her chase for the finish line.
Arthur lands on the finish line while Hailey gets in after.
"Congrats Arthur! You've won the challenge!" Manny pats Arthur's back.
Arthur cheers, "Oh yeah! A win for me!"
"And me?" Hailey asks.
"Oh yeah, you too!" Arthur gives Hailey a hug, making her feel a bit better.
Dallas gets to the finish line with Dahlia on her back.
"And Dallas and Dahlia are still safe!" Manny yells.
Dallas sighs out loud, "We survived today Dahlia!"
Dahlia, who was sitting on the floor, smiled, "Thank goodness."
Nathaniel made it in fifth.
"Nathaniel! Still in the game, great job!"
He nods, "Thanks but...my friends are competing to see who's gonna get out...how's that any fun?!"
Manny smiles, "Well, at least someone gets to go home! Which is something I want!" he laughs, "So, let's see...wait wait! Penny and Ace are on the beach, running straight for that finish line! Who's gonna make it here first with their bucket of goo!"
"GO GO GO!" Nathaniel cheers to his friends.
Nathaniel: (CONF.) No matter what happens, the elimination tonight is gonna suck so bad!
Ace looked behind him, and noticed Penny trying to catch up. He closes his eyes, sighing. He slows himself down, letting Penny surpass him and make it to the finish line first.
"Penny! Congrats! You're still in the game...for some reason that I do not know! And Ace? Well, it was nice knowing you bud but, if ya lose ya lose! Prepare yourself to leave tonight!"
...
(Elimination Ceremony)
Ace was sitting on the Raft Of Shame, awaiting for Manny to send him off.
Manny came in, noticing everyone had gathered, "Oh. I thought you wouldn't come."
"Why wouldn't we?" Nathaniel says, "Friends always support each other, no matter what happens!" Ace smiles at his response.
Manny talks with the contestants while Penny heads up to Ace, in tears.
"Ace...why did you slow yourself down to let me win? It's...it's not fair! For you! You deserve to be here, not me!"
"Penny..." Ace mumbles, "Eliminating myself is the only way I can make things up to you for what I said in the past. I'm sorry for not telling you that I had a problem with you from the start. I'm so sorry."
Penny was sniffling in a tissue, "I need to eliminate myself this just isn't..."
"Calm down!" Ace tells her, "It's okay. You'll do great. Nathaniel is by your side in this! And as for Kelsey..." he looks towards the ocean, "I'm coming for her." He pushes the Raft away from the beach and waves to everyone, "Bye!"
"Bye!" mostly everybody said. Ace soon disappears.
Manny nods slowly and looks to the camera, "Well there you have it, Ace is the first eliminated in the merge! Who's going next? Find out next time on Total Drama Panganib Island!"
...
So, was the elimination surprising to any of you guys? I hope you liked it, even if you liked him...
Here are some questions if you don't mind answering...
1. Who do you think is going home next?
2. Who is your final 3? (in your head)
3. What are you excited to see in the future?
Thanks for reading and comment on what you thought if you can and vote on the poll!
