(AN) When I've finished the first draft, it contained less than five thousand words. Guess word counts can increase for miles when adding details. Hopefully, it's a good sign of how much I've come a long way with my writing.
After working on this story for over three years, it received over two hundred reviews! What's a milestone! Let's see if we can gets it to three hundred! And also, this story now have over forty one thousand views! I'm thrilled to know that that many people takes the time to check out this story, even for a second. Thank you, everyone! Let's bring that views to eighty thousand by the end of the story! Starting with this chapter! Enjoy!
(Disclaimers) I do not own Total Drama or any of their characters.
Chris stood on the dock, whistling "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" while twirling his captain hat with his finger. Once he finished the song, he put it on his head and smiled. "Do I make a great captain or what?"
The cameraman opened his mouth to answer his question, but Chris cut him off. "The answer is yes, yes I do." He cleared his throat as the cameraman rolled his eyes. "Last time on Total Drama All-Stars! The final nine campers were in an all race for the machines, for the regatta to boat around Wawanakwa! But, some floated better than the others. For some reason-" He coughed. "Mal!" He coughed again.
"Sierra came up with some wicked ideas by forming an alliance with brute Eva, and using Scott and Fang as her motor." He laughed at the thought of Scott's terrifying state during the entire challenge.
"Brick, on the other hands, brought morality on board and confronted her about how it was wrong to put Scott at harm. Didn't he threaten him to apologize to Sierra one time? Oh, how much things had changed!" He chuckled. "And speaking of change, Zoey suffered a breakdown during the sleepover from the amounts of pressure and guilt from Mal. This caused Commando Zoey to make a surprising return to face off against Mal in an epic battle. The challenge had ended in a big bang as Trent was high on number nine again and supplied some dynamite entertainment, giving Mal the win. The only prize he won was a new cologne provided by a family of skunks. Good times." He thought about Bridgette get sprayed by skunks in season one.
"Eva would have gotten the flush, but she was saved by playing the Chef Power Vote and send Zoey packing. You know? The same girl who reminded her why nobody liked her?"
"Eight players move on. Soon, one more will be gone! Who will it be? Can Sierra and Eva's alliance triumph the others? Did Trent's action and smell make him an outcast? Can anybody survive the game without the idols? Stick around and see, here on Total! Drama! All-Stars!"
The Loser Cabins (Girl's Side)
Sleep was a necessity as it allowed people to rest and restore their energies, so they can put it to good use for tomorrow's deadly challenge.
The girls wouldn't be able to receive their needs if their aggravating neighbor kept trashing the Spa Hotel.
"You think Mal would've been so thrilled with Zoey's out of the game," Gwen said, pillow pressing against her ears.
"She did mention during the sleepover that Mal wanted to make her suffer," Courtney said, resting against the wall, folding her arms. "He can't do that if she's off the island."
"Yeah, well, we'll be in his wrath if we don't vote him off soon," Gwen said, scowling.
Courtney turned her head to the left, staring at the bed at the other side of the room, occupied by Sierra, who didn't appear to be bothered by the noises at all. "Maybe we should ask Sierra if Mal has any weakness. After all, she was the one who told us about Mal in the first place."
Gwen opened her mouth but was cut off by a loud thump in the Spa Hotel as if it was pushed over. She clenched her pillow, imagining she was strangling Mal. "I don't see why not," She said, talking through her teeth.
Courtney looked at Sierra. "Sierra? Do you have any idea on how to deal with Mal?" She spoke louder than usual since Sierra was quite far away from her. It didn't seem to work because Sierra had haven't moved an inch nor making any sound.
"You can't possibly be asleep with all these rackets," Courtney said, gesturing to the Spa Hotel. On cue, a series of chopping was heard before the sound of an object breaking into pieces. "What should we do with Mal?" Courtney asked.
Sierra remained still and silent. Frustration grew inside Courtney. She opened her mouth again and was about to climb off her bed, only for Gwen to interrupt her.
"If she's really asleep or isn't in a mood to talk, we should leave her alone." She removed the pillow from her ear, giving up on getting a good sleep.
Courtney sighed, leaning against the wall once more. "Fine. Perhaps she'll be in a better mood tomorrow if she gets a good night sleep." A window had shattered, and so did her patience.
"Which WE won't if a certain SOMEONE doesn't shut up!" She climbed out of her bed, stomped towards the door, open it, and stepped outside, facing the Spa Hotel. "CUT IT OUT WITH ALL THAT RUCKUS!" Her voice echoed throughout the campground. "WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP OVER HERE!"
She stood still, waiting to find out if Mal had received her message. With no more noises from the Spa Hotel, a small smirk crept on her face, believing it was a victory. She returned inside, slamming the door shut and went back to her bed. She closed her eyes, believing she could fall asleep this time.
Her eyes snapped open, and her scream overtook Gwen's, hearing a loud crash above her. She frantically sat up and looked up, seeing half of a large bed impaled the roof. Broken planks clattered onto the wooden floor.
They snapped their heads at Sierra. She still hasn't moved. They can hear her snoring.
"How d-did she sleep through all this?" Courtney asked, looking baffled. Her hand placed over her fast-beating chest.
Sierra can hear her question. In fact, she heard everything. Her wide eyes stare at the wall. She kept snoring to create an illusion she was asleep. But how can she when guilt was still plaguing her mind.
Confessional: Guilt – a side effect of having a conscious.
Sierra: What Brick said to me before is still fresh in my mind. It made me think about what I did to Scott during today's challenge. Was it really wrong of me to put Scott at risk? Would Cody be okay with that? (Her eyes watered and then stared at the floor)
Still recovering from shocks, Gwen and Courtney yelped when they heard a series of quick knocking on the door. They exchanged looks. They both believed it was Mal on the other side of the door, waiting to deliver a piece of his mind on them. They stepped off their beds and grabbed a weapon; stool for Courtney while a broken plank for Gwen. Feeling a bit safer, they stepped over to each side of the doorway.
With Courtney's hand gripping the doorknob, they exchanged a nod. She pulled the door opened, allowing Gwen to jump outside, swinging her plank at Mal's chest.
Only, it wasn't Mal as the girlish scream was what made Gwen realized it was Brick who did she hit. The cadet was lying on the grass, reeling in pain after falling down the steps.
"Brick!" Gwen dropped her plank, ran down the steps and kneel beside him. Courtney, Trent and Scott joined them a moment later. The goth lifted Brick's head. "Sorry about that. I thought you were Mal."
"It's fine," Brick said, giving her a reassurance smile. He gets on his elbows. "It's just a misunderstanding." He looked concern at her and Courtney. "What about you two? We heard-" His eyes shifted to something behind Gwen. "Oh, my gosh!"
They all turned their heads toward the bed sticking out of the roof. Brick stood up and looked at the girls again. "How did that happened?"
Courtney rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "That was Mal having a hissy fit."
"How the hell did his chicken arms threw that?" Scott asked, looking baffled.
"You want your answers?" Gwen said, jabbing a thumb at the Spa Hotel. Every window except the third floor had broken glass sticking out. The remaining pieces were surroundings the building, acting like a little sharp moat. There were planks floating inside the hot-tub. The balcony's rails were damaged – pieces laying all over the balconies and the grass below. Both potted plants at the front steps had shattered, causing dirt and plants laying around.
Brick shook his head at Mal's immaturity. "Damaging the Spa Hotel's property isn't going to benefit him. He's living in a place filled with luxuries!"
"I always thought Eva would be the one to do that," Trent said, before looking sullen. "Maybe he's destroying the place so WE couldn't have a luxury lifestyle."
Hearing Trent's voice for the first time tonight, Gwen turned to him. "That's surprisingly pessimistic of you." She sniffed once and noticed that Trent didn't reek with skunk spray anymore. She gave him a small smile. "You smell better."
Trent chuckled. "Yeah, the tomato soup worked. Got a craving for spaghetti, though."
"Want mine?" Scott showed him a plate filled with shoelaces and green spaghetti. "Being dangled above Fang made me lose my appetite."
One sniff of it was enough for Trent to look away, placing his hand on his nose. "Just lost mine."
"Disgusting food is the least of our problems," Courtney said, looking at the Spa Hotel. "We have to find a way to apprehend him."
"And we will," Brick said, looking determined. "There's no way he can keep winning immunity!"
"Then here's the first step; taking a nap," Scott said. He started slurping his green spaghetti, much to the other's dismay. He stepped inside the cabin.
"Sound like a good plan," Trent said, yawning. "Do you need help with that bed?" He pointed to the bed poking through the roof.
Gwen looked at the roof for a moment before facing the boys again. "It's covering up the hole. It's not a big problem."
"If you say so," Brick said. He blinked as a thought appeared in his mind. "Hold on… where's Sierra?"
Courtney jabbed a thumb towards the cabin. "She's sleeping inside."
Brick gasped in a melodramatic tone. "IN DEATH?"
"No, she was sleeping long before the bed crashed into our roof."
Brick gasped in a melodramatic tone once more, hands on his face. "SHE WAS DEAD FOR HOURS?"
"NO!" Courtney said, looking annoyed. "Apparently, we've learned she's a heavy sleeper."
"Oh, alright then," Brick said before saluting them. "You ladies have a good night."
"Night," Gwen and Courtney said in unison.
As Brick head back into the cabin, Courtney and Trent exchanged brief glances. No words need to be said between them as they knew what it means. With Courtney stepped inside, Gwen placed a hand on Trent's shoulder. She saw the brief exchange between Trent and Courtney. And from feeling the tense on his shoulder, she knew what it was about.
"Don't take it personally," She said to Trent. "What happened at the challenge was just universe's messing with you."
Trent shrugged off Gwen's hand off his shoulder and stared at her. "Is it?" He bid goodnight to Gwen and stepped into the boy's side.
Confessional: Number nine shall not protect the future.
Trent: If I haven't thrown that dynamite into Mal's boat, Zoey would still be here, and the Spa Hotel wouldn't turn into an abandoned mansion. All of this Mal's madness could've ended tonight, (He slumped, resting his elbows on his knees) and I blew it. Literally.
The McLean's Spa Hotel
All Mal could hear was the sound of his own breathing. He kept feeling his shoulders heaving, perspires trickling down his forehead, and itchy dark patches underneath his pits. He lifted his head and stared at all the damages he created.
The foyer, a magnificent setting who always greeted those who entered the Spa Hotel, giving them a taste of a luxurious life. One tantrum from Mal later, and it transformed into a place after party-goers had too many drinks. The grand piano was upside-down, a few keys had scattered nearby. Both couches and loveseats had several holes; stuffings were either sticking out or lying somewhere on the floor. A brass fireplace poker was sticking out of the plasma TV. Sharp glass scattered on the floor by the window.
None of them were contestants. He would have no problem unleashing his anger on them just as he did to the building. However, medivacking everyone would be too much for the show and have no choice but to disqualify him and send him back Juvie. The least he could do was to remove all aspect of luxury so they'd be miserable for the duration of this season.
Just as he was after Zoey had vanished inside the giant toilet.
He shook away that thought and spat on the ground. By the corner of his eyes, he saw something moving behind the damaged coach. He snapped his head towards the tip-toeing butler, who became frozen, just a moment away from escaping the room.
Mal extended a finger at him. "Don't you go anywhere," he whispered, but his voice was on the edge of breaking out in rage. "I want you to make me a pepperoni pizza in eight slices." His voice rose in volume. "Make sure each slice has the remaining contestants' faces, Mike included. NOW!"
Mal's voice boomed throughout the building. The butler scrambled into the kitchen to avoid becoming the next victim. The seventeen years old young man gritted his teeth, and his body started trembling.
Confessional: That Butler is entering Hell's Kitchen!
Mal: Fucking disaster. Those are the best two words to describe my situation. The last idol is gone, and worst of all; Eva used it to eliminate Zoey! Did I want her gone? NO! I needed her to stay so I can obliterate her and thus, bend Mike to my will for all eternity! Now I'll have to wait until AFTER the game to do it! (He growled. He clenched his fists. His nails were digging into his skins. Not enough to draw blood, though. He looked at the camera) The only thing that alleviates all this is that Eva is on Boney Island. She's probably become mutant food as we speak.
Boney Island
Mal couldn't have been any more wrong.
The camera panned towards the giant skull, where Eva was inside, resting against the rock. She just finished eating her second cooked fish. She stood up and stepped over to the firepit, where it was cooking another fish. She untied her food, put it down and then picked up another fish from a pile of recently dead fishes she fished earlier. Once she tied it over the firepit, she returned to her resting place. She took a bite, savouring the taste. A bit overcooked, but she didn't care. It was far better than any of Chef's fucking slob he called food.
Her mind drifted off to tonight's elimination. A smirk crept on her face. It couldn't have gone any better than she'd imagined. All the times, waiting for the right moment to play her idol had paid off. She thought she saw four, five photos against her in Chris's hand. That's when she realized she had gathered the most votes. Eliminating Zoey was one of her best choices in the game. She irritated the fuck out of her, telling her that she wanted to invite her to her sleepover because she knew what it like to be lonely. Who the hell did she think she was, believing they were stupid BFFs like Tweedle Idiot and Tweedle Dumb? She knew nothing about her! Lonely? Yeah, right! She's Eva! She's doesn't care if she's lonely! It never bother her!
She frowned. That feeling… it was making her chest tightened again - the same feeling from last night. She took a huge bite of her dinner, pretending she was chewing away any weakness that was starting to show up in her mind. She gulped and felt better. The feeling had been eliminated yet again.
There's just no way she couldn't show it to the world, certainly not to someone like Mal. A small smile appeared on her face. Her favourite part of the elimination was seeing Mal gets pissed off. It had that similar thrills to Heather's elimination where she'd played a part in eliminating her as revenge for taking her out second in season one. The only thing that could be even better if she could get Mal out of the game.
The thought of Mal going on a tantrum for messing with his game brought out a nasty grin from Eva.
She took another bite of her fish. Swallowed it and then sighed happily. Life was good right now.
The McLean's Spa Hotel
Mal was drumming his fingers on the only non-damaged table, waiting for his dinner. Like the foyer, the dining room was damaged. All the floor to ceiling windows had shattered with glass covering the floor. Most chairs were laying around in pieces. The buffet table had its legs missing, and the food spilled all over the floor.
The butler entered the room, holding a pepperoni pizza in his hands. He placed it on the table. Mal stared at the pizza before him. It was split into eight slices – each had a contestant's face designed by pepperoni, including Mike's. The butler walked away when Mal clicked his fingers and extended his hand. The butler gulped under Mal's glares and handed him the knife. He bolted out of the room as soon as Mal gestured him to go away.
He scowled at the pizza. His eyes rotated around the pizza like a working clock. He stopped at Brick and then struck a knife to his pepperoni face. He pulled it up, removed it from the knife and stuff it into his mouth. As he chewed, his mind drifted to Brick.
He'd called himself a cadet? He couldn't go one night without wetting his bed! He'd be dead long before he could step foot in the battlefield. And that's if he brought his mommy along! The game was going to get harder. If by any miracle he'd even REACH there, his stupid moral compass would order him to sacrifice the prizes to his opponent! Should that's happens, the only medal he'll win, is a face first to the ground full of shit!
Mal finished his first slice and then stared at Gwen. He struck a knife to her forehead and chewing her face tasted bittersweet.
He thought he could get on quite well with her because they shared the same pessimist view at life. But this show had changed her, disillusioning her into believing life would actually be filled with flowers and hope after all. There was no hope! All there was was a brutal meaningless life with a series of train-wreak happening left and right. It all started when a pretty boy showed up. Then, she broke up with him, only to get together with another pretty boy. Oh, wait? That pretty boy was going out with another girl. A small smirk appeared on his face, thinking about how heartbroken she was when she found out. And now, the goth had returned to this show, wanting to make amend for her action. He didn't know much about goth's lifestyle, but he knew that making amend wasn't one of them. She should've thought better.
As he finished thinking about Gwen, the knife seemed to have a mind of its own and struck at Courtney's forehead.
Good God, she was one of the most annoying people he's ever met in his life! She kept making herself a victim as if being cheated on was the worst thing it could ever happen to her. Stupid bitch. Couples break up all the times! If people stay together forever, and they'd get tired of each other, the murder rate would've been higher than your whiny attitude! Oh… his mind was running through the worst fates she could ever face – nuclear radiation, rape, murder, miscarriage, brain-dead, and so on. If she'd ever say she's a CIT again, he'd introduce her to the true meaning of pain. Plus, he always hated lawyers, along with anyone in the justice department. Seeing her losing it in the fighting challenge was exhilarating. That ought to make her looks bad for her career. He'd almost succeeded breaking up her friendship with the goth, but unfortunately, love triumphed everything. Bleh!
He grimaced as he swallowed his third slice, tasting lime jelly, even though there was no green jelly on the pizza. His eyes shifted to Scott.
A brain-dead redneck. That's all he was and ever will be. Sabotaging his own team was wasn't the plan he'd go through. Like most bad guys, he would want to avoid the elimination ceremony as long as possible. But not Scott. He liked how he created chaos amongst his team in season four, and catapulted most of them off the island. His favourite moment had to be Dawn gets stuffed into a garbage bag and then hearing her muffled screams as she was send off the island. If only she had drowned… The only thing he didn't agree with was him blackmailing Mike. He faced similar scenarios in high school, taunting him how they would tell everyone about his disability if he didn't do as they'd said. Of course, his alternative took over and beat the crap out of them. Luckily, Fang did his job for him and brought him into that chair. When he'd returned for another season, he still looked like crap, except he was no longer in that chair. And right now, he's his closest ally. Not his first choice, but hey, who cares if it means he can help him reach the finale.
After finishing his fourth slice. The next slice Mal stabbed was Trent.
He'd never seen him as a serious contender. He wasn't the muscle or a strategist. He wasn't even the most popular contestant. He'd be in the middle of everything. Or people would say, the sane one. Well, he can't be sane if he had an obsession with number nine. He wondered, though; did he brought it out after burning Trent's guitar into crisps? He was devastated when he'd found out. And it filled him with delight. He looked like he'd lost a loved one. It'd be fucking weird if that guy considered that instrument in that category. Afterward, he lashed out on his own teammates and pushed them away. Sadly, it was over after the challenge. Could he be provoked like last time? He'll put that into consideration.
As he continued to think about Trent, his eyes drifted to Sierra. In an instant, he struck her forehead. Thoughts about Sierra had entered his mind, and how much he loathes her.
On the last night as teams, Sierra played his idol to keep Duncan safe. The same idol he'd risked his life to get his hand on it. The mutant gophers still creep the fuck out of him. He was supposed to use that idol on himself as soon as he'd know he's a prime candidate for elimination. How fucking dare her for stripping away his power! NO ONE STRIPPED AWAY FROM HIM! And then on that same night, she and Eva used him as their personal punching bag. He clenched his knife and then stared out of the window's frame. He can barely see the Loser Cabins. Tempting… His eye became rounded as a moment resurfaced in his mind. Right before Eva knocked her out, Sierra said 'Woof, woof.' Did she know? There's no way she would've know! But it had happened before Malcolm showed up. She couldn't have gotten it from him. However… she's the ultimate fan of Total Drama. She'd do anything to know everything about the contestants. From stealing their dental records to interviewing- Wait? Did she meet him prior the show? Did she know the truth behind Mike's DID? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What if she decides to spill it to everyone here? What if she decides to blackmail him for her benefits? FUCK! It wasn't until he looked back at the pizza did he realized he slashed across Sierra's face on her slice.
He growled. He'll have to do something about her soon. He still planned on ruining her life. He'd never back down on his promises. He picked up the slice and put the whole thing in his mouth. Imagining he was chewing her into pieces, he scowled at the remaining slices, replicating the two worst people on this island. He picked up the one on the right and his hand holding the knife trembled like leaves on the cold, windy day.
The knife thrust through her face with the tip sticking out the other side. It then moved downward until it reached the bottom tip of the slice. Pepperonis and cheese were dripping onto the plate as if it was blood.
Too bad it wasn't her real face… Eva eliminated Mike's girlfriend, Zoey. No, it was more than that. She eliminated his one reason for staying in this game. With Zoey's gone, he had no reason to be here anymore. She'd be out of his grasp by the time he's eliminated. The others would hold him captive until a doctor or psychiatrist or whatever the fucking help would show up! How did a brainless brute like her had managed to fool him? Her way of playing the game was to beat up everything and everyone in her path! It's what had cost her her second chance in TDI! But… she did spend the longest on Boney Island. She wasn't able to leave until the next evening. It gave her enough time to find the Chef Idol. Somehow, she had bided her time and used it tonight… He put the pizza slice in his mouth, crunching and grinding, believing that it would give her night terrors for the rest of her life. It'd be karma for making him her personal punching bag and destroying his main goal.
All this for burning her MP3 player? Perhaps he should've burn her alive instead.
Finally swallowed Eva's slice, he leaned against his chair with his arms dropped to his side, still holding a knife. Feeling his stomach full and have no room to engulf more food, he stared at the last remaining slice on the plate – Mike.
He remained silent.
Using more force to express his feeling, he struck a knife to Mike's forehead. A small echo bounced off the walls as if he hit a large drum.
Inside Mike's Mind
As soon as Chester stepped into the next room, the door slammed shut and then vanished. They faced forward again, staring at the room they were in. They quickly realized they were inside a gymnastic. There was all kind of equipment for people to use from different sized trampolines to a large blue floor near the center of the room. Another noticeable thing was that there was no red alien-like ceiling.
"Oh, I'd better not be doing any of those jumping things!" Chester said, scowling at the large trampoline.
"This has gotta be where Svetlana is!" Mike said, looking around.
"That's right!" Dawn nodded. "Since we've met Chester in the previous room, we could be encountering the others in the order when you received your personality."
"Did you lose your noggin when you've entered here?" Chester said. "Mal was the first to show up!"
"I know what you means, Chester," Dawn said. "Perhaps Mal would be the last to encounter since he's currently dominating this subconscious. Freeing all of Mike's personalities may be the way to reach him."
"Kinda like a video g-" Mike's smile disappeared. "Wait a minute… if every room involves one of my personalities, and if it's anything like what happened in the graveyard."
Dawn and Chester remained silent, waiting for him to figure it out.
"Does that's mean I'd have to watch how I developed a new personality?" Mike said, looking nervous. "Including..."
He couldn't finish his sentence, but Chester and Dawn both knew what it means.
"Nobody blames you for being reluctant," Dawn said, placing a hand on Mike's back. "But the best way to conquer your inner demon is to confront it."
Mike remained silent, but he knew Dawn was right as always.
"Well, you'd better start now because something's happening!" Chester shakingly pointed to the judging panel.
Mike turned around and saw each figure rose behind the judging panel and then sit down. All three figures were completely black and identical. They had no faces, no clothes, nothing. He narrowed his eyes. "You're going down, Mal!" He roared, running towards them.
"Mike, wait!" Dawn held out her hand as Mike unleashed punches and kicks onto the judges. She noticed that the figures didn't look disturbed at all. It was as if someone pressed a pause button on them. She assumed it was Mal's doing. Nevertheless, she'd already figure out their purposes. "Mike, I don't believe they're here to harm us."
Hearing Dawn, Mike stopped attacking and looked at the judges. He moved his hand through one figure's head, discovering it was a hologram. "Huh?"
"Then what's the meaning of all these phantoms?" Chester said, looking wary at the unknown figures.
"They're sitting by the judging panel," Dawn said, walking over to the judging panel. "Assuming there's a task involve, you may have to perform for them."
"Perform?" Mike said, raising a brow at the three figures. "You're saying they want me to give them a good show?"
"That's appear to be the case."
"I don't know if I can do this," Mike said, looking wary. "I haven't had done any gymnastic since Svetlana showed up!"
"She's a part of you," Chester said. "Surely, that's enough to give you a woman's body!"
"Odd way to phrase it, but you guys are right!" Mike smiled. "I can do this!" He looked around, wondering where he should start off with. He walked over to the balance beam. Trying to remember which routine he did, he climbed onto the beam. One came into his mind.
He extended his arms out to balance himself and to show off to the judges. He walked across the beam. He stopped near the other end. He leaped and split his legs, looking like he was about to make a small, but majestic landing on the beam.
Dawn and Chester cringed as a thud was heard followed by Mike's screaming and then another thud. Well, if one would call landing on the beam by his groin was majestic.
Mike groaned, lying on the floor in a fetal position, hands clasping to his groin. He wished more than ever that his subconscious would make the pain go away.
He slowly lifted his head, seeing the judges each holding up a black card with a red X on it. He groaned, slumping his head on the floor.
"It's okay, Mike," Dawn said. "First time is always the hardest!"
Chester burst out laughing, slapping his knees until he felt a crack in his back. "Argh! My back!" He fell to the ground. Dawn immediately pulled him to his sitting position, rubbing his back. She looked confused as to why Chester laughed.
Biting his bottom lips from snickering at Dawn's unintentional innuendo comment, Mike slowly stood up. He walked back to the edge of the beam and climbed up again. One deep breath later, he was halfway across the beam. He leaped once more but managed to land both feet on the beam - for a second. His right foot was too far off the edge, so he lost his balance and fell to the floor.
The judges gave him three red Xs again.
Mike stood up and realizing that a balance beam may not be enough to impress the judges, he walked over to the large blue floor. He pressed on the floor, testing to see if he could make a good landing.
Standing by the edge, he raised his arms above his head and then run across the floor, making two backward flips before the last flip at the greater height. Surely this would be enough for Mike to impress the judges, right?
Chester and Dawn cringed, seeing Mike lying face forward on the floor. They can hear his muffled groans.
"We're gonna be stuck here for a while," Chester said to Dawn. He flopped onto the floor. "Wake me when he's finished." He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
Beach
Everyone on the Wawanakwa had entered their deep slumber. A few were having a good dream, and the rest were suffering a traumatic nightmare from their experience in this show.
In less than two hours, the sun would appear over the sea and shine onto the island. Another day filled with tortures, unnecessary over the top determination to win an immunity, elimination, and sending someone down a giant toilet.
A large life raft arrived at the edge of the beach. Everyone was wearing black clothing, concealing their entire body except for their eyes and hands. One of them jumped off and landed on the beach in a three points landing. It was wearing a black backpack. As they stood up and looked around the area, two more figures had also climbed off the boat. One was small, and one was large and tall. The latter extended a hand to the third figure who took its hand and stepped off the boat. The tall and slim gave it a grateful nod.
It was talking to the backpack figure when the large figure picked up two large bags from the boat and dropped it by the small figure. One bag had landed on its foot. Seeing it was about to scream, the tall figure pressed their hand against the small figure's mouth, gesturing to it to be quiet. The small figure meekly nodded and hopped around, gripping its foot in silent.
The large figure picked up another unknown figure from the boat and slumped it on its shoulder. Unlike the others, though, it was confined in rope and it was unconscious. One poke from their sharp claw had sent the life raft flying out to the open sea. It'd be at the bottom of the sea by the time anyone was searching for it.
Once the small and large figure held each end of a large bag, the backpack figure picked up the other large bag and then gave them all a thumb up.
The tall figure pointed at something ahead of them. Everyone ran out of the beach, running towards the forest. One would say they all looks like a bunch of ninjas. The tall and backpack figures exchanged a nod. The latter moved away from the others, heading towards the Spa Hotel.
Playa Des Losers
Three hours later, the sun was high in the sky, shining down onto a different island.
Yawning, Chef stepped into a room and then took a sip of his coffee. He was inside the production room at the Playa Des Losers. This was where the behind of scenes was. Everything that was needed for bringing Total Drama to life. The contestants were forbidden to enter the room. Rows of monitors embedded an entire wall. Each showed a different area from the beach to the McLean's Spa Hotel. There were about ten people in the room. Half of them were sitting by the opposite side of the room, typing away something on the computers.
Chef was usually one of the first to show up. His appearance on the show and fighting in a war made him a bit restless. Another sip of coffee had made him aware that a male intern, Billy, was frantically looking at every monitor. He walked over to him. "Hey."
Billy cried out, snapping his head at him. Chef frowned, seeing the young man's nervous face. "What's the problem?"
"It's probably that I'm man-looking, but I've noticed Chris isn't showing on any of the monitors."
Chef became wide awake now. "What do you mean he's not on them?"
Billy turned away from Chef's scowling, sat down and checked the monitors. "I've been checking every monitor, and I couldn't see him at all. And we're talking about the same guy who bought himself a mirror room."
"Did you checked his bedroom in the Spa Hotel?"
Billy typed for a moment. A screenshot of Chris's bedroom appeared on his screen. The bed was empty. Chef's eyes widened for a moment before relaxed. "He's in the bathroom. Must be taking his regular-" His eyes went rounded again, his heart started beating faster. He was staring at three objects sitting on top of the nightstand.
"Wait, zoom on that nightstand!" He pointed at the nightstand.
Billy for a few seconds before zooming onto the nightstand. Chef's face went pale.
The three objects laying on top of the nightstand were three different kinds of shampoo. And all of them had a picture of Chris's face on it.
Chef gasped in horror. "Those are his favourite shampoos! He'd NEVER leave those behind in the morning!" He gripped the staff's shoulder. "I want you to rewind the tape until you find Chris!" He said, growling.
Don't want to face Chef's wrath, Billy obliged and rewind the tape. Both of them stared at the screen for a couple of seconds.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Chef's sudden shout had brought everyone's attention towards him and Billy, whose ear was ringing from how close he was. The latter played the moment where Chef thought he saw Chris.
The host was snoozing away in his sleep, drooling onto his pillow. A window near him was opened and someone in black clothing sneaked over to Chris. It took off their backpack and brought out a potato sack. It removed the sheet from Chris and then pulled him into the potato sack. After tying up the bag, it threw it out of the window. It turned around and waved at the camera. How did it know where the camera was was beyond the men. It was irrelevant as the figure jumped out of the window and then closed it.
Chef and Billy gasped. The ex-military man stood straight and looked at everyone, who was still staring at him. "LISTEN UP! Someone kidnapped Chris! I want everyone to use all of their resources to find Chris! NOW!"
Words spread like wildfires and soon, every staff in the building was scrambling around, looking for a way to find Chris. The footage of the host being kidnapped was now showing on every monitor in the room.
Billy typed away on his computer once more and then gasped. "Chef, there's more of them!"
Chef looked up at the wall of monitors where the footage had changed to the beach.
The footage showed intruders arriving on a life raft. After gathering what they needed, one of them cut a hole in the boat, sending it flying. They all but one had run into the forest. The person who headed for the Spa Hotel was the one who took Chris.
This brought everyone into a frenzy as they were using everything in their power to find them. The idea of multiple unknown people was able to reach the island under their noses had frightened them.
"Nope. Can't find them on any of the footage," The male intern with a bang over his eyes said, deadpanned. Inside his mind, he was jumping for joy, hoping to witness Chris suffering a horrific death. It'd be payback for everything he did to him last season and this season. "It's like they've disappeared."
"Don't care!" Chef said, frustrated. "Find them now!"
"Should we send out a search party?" Billy asked.
"No. We have no idea who we're dealing with here; sending them out could bring them to their deaths." Chef rubbed his chin in thought. "What we need is a group of people who are capable of facing anything; somebody who would stare at death in the eyes and stab it for their personal gain."
A lightbulb flashed in his mind. A smirk appeared on his face. "And we've already had one on the case!" He looked at Billy. "First sign of their whereabouts, you reports to me PRONTO!" He ran out of the room before Billy could say anything.
Boney Island
Eva sat up, awakened by the increasing sound of whirring. "Already?" She said, annoyed that her sleep was interrupted.
She stood up and stretched, letting out a loud burp. "Those fishes were good food," she said, relishing the tastes from last night's dinner. She poked her head out of the giant skull's left eye socket and looked up to see Chef's helicopter hovering above her.
Chef pressed a button and lowered the claw. He then held up a megaphone to his mouth. "GRAB ON! NOW!"
Eva cringed at the volume of Chef's voice. She gave him a deadpanned look. "Alright, I'm getting on, asshole!" She placed her foot onto the claw and then gripped the rope.
Knowing Eva's secured, Chef turned the helicopter around and headed back to Wawanakwa Island.
Campground
The helicopter arrived at the campground and then started lowering towards the ground. Eva jumped off and hit the ground. She took several steps back and held one arm over her face as the winds blasted through her.
As soon as the helicopter had touched down and turned it off, Chef flew the door opened, jumped off and then sprint for the Spa Hotel. Wondering what got Chef all riled up like that, Eva followed him albeit walking.
Chef kicked the double doors opened and ran inside. Mal opened the door, only for Chef to run past him. Mal raised a brow at him and then saw Eva's walking upstairs, staring at the damaged he made last night. Her eyes reached Mal's and grimaced at the sight of Mal's skinny body.
"Ew, you're topless," Eva said.
Mal glared at her and then pressed his hands against his ears when Chef started talking through the loudspeakers.
"WAKE UP, VERMINS! I ORDER YOU ALL TO MEET ME IN THE LIBRARY AT THE SPA HOTEL ASAP!" Chef shouted.
Eva and Mal removed their hands from their ears. They exchanged glares before stepping into the library aka monitor room. They saw Chef snapping his head back and forth at the screens, typing away on the keyboards.
"What's the meaning of this, Chef?" Mal asked, still annoyed at him for hurting his hearing with his shouting.
"Just hush up," Chef said, stopped typing and picked up his mug of coffee. "You'll wait in a minute!" He took a sip.
Soon, the others showed up, still in their night attires. All, but Brick looked displeased.
"Why did you wake us up so suddenly?" Courtney said, rubbing her eyes. "And where's Chris?"
"That's the problem! No one knows!" Chef pressed a button, showing the footage of Chris bring kidnapped on screen. "Last night, someone kidnapped him."
Everyone gasped.
"We've been trying to find him, but we couldn't see him in any of our cameras!"
"And what this has got to do with us?" Scott asked.
"Your next challenge is to find Chris and stop the kidnappers!"
"And we should care, why?" Gwen asked, showing no desire in helping the sadistic host.
"Hey, if no one save Chris, there's ain't no show!" Chef said, annoyed. "Which means no winner, and no million dollars!"
"What?" Eva said, enraged.
"That's not fair!" Courtney shouted.
"Hold on!" Trent said, taking a step forward. "We accept this challenge, but only if the one who finds Chris gets immunity for the next vote!"
"And permanent residence in the Spa Hotel for as long they're in the competition!" Courtney said, folding her arms.
"And they get to send one person to Boney Island." Mal said, exchanging glares with Eva.
"Fine, deal!" Chef said, throwing his arms in the air. "Just find Chris!"
The video had changed, showing Chris squirming inside a potato sack. His muffled scream was heard. Before anyone could react, a tall kidnapper poked its head in front of the camera, waving at them. The video then went to static.
The contestants gasped. Chef spat out the coffee he was drinking, splattering it against the screen and dripping it all over the electronics. Everyone heard a loud humming as each monitor went down.
"I-that can't-ARGH!" Chef cried out, dropping the mug.
"That takes place in the mines," Sierra said, speaking for the first time since she's entered the room. "That's gotta be where Chris is!"
"To the mines!" Chef said, thrusting his index finger in the air.
Confessional: And no, there's no army of mimes inside!
Scott: So somebody has decided to kidnapped Chris and doing whatever the hell they want with him. Fine by me. That's for letting me became Fang's dinner and put me in that fucking chair.
Gwen: No amount of money is worth it if you're asking me to rescue Chris. Karma has been waiting to show no mercy since day one. If anything, I'm hoping whoever captured Chris would feed him to the flesh-eating mutants. The first to go would be his hair. (She showed a devious smirk)
After changing into their normal attires, the contestants and Chef stood outside the mine entrance. The last season's contestants were there right before competing in the underground challenge. However, the entrance was sealed off with rocks thanks to Chris's Operation Doomsday to sealed up the toxic waste.
"Huh, looks like it's still sealed up," Scott said.
"Maybe there's another way in?" Courtney asked.
"Then find it!" Chef tossed them flashlights. "I'm heading back to the hotel to see if I can get the monitors working." He ran off.
Mal exchanged glares with everyone else before he walked away.
"Should we stop him?" Brick asked, watching the retreating boy.
"There's no time!" Courtney said. "We need to put every minute into finding Chris."
Courtney, Gwen and Brick were walking for a moment when Trent caught up with them. "Hey, mind if I'd come?"
Courtney opened her mouth, but Gwen cut her off, giving him a smile. "Not at all. The more the merrier." She gave Courtney a stern look. The latter rolled her eyes.
Confessional: Let it go! Let it go! Can't let a petty grudge aside!
Courtney: He blew up, literally, our first chance to getting rid of Mal. Harsh as it is, Trent would be more of a liability than an asset.
Scott walked beside Eva, who was following Sierra about a hundred feet ahead of them. "Why are we following her?" Scott asked, scowling at Sierra.
"She's know everything on this island," Eva said. "Maybe there's a secret passageway."
Scott's eyes widened. "Eva, I've never thought I'd say this, but you're a genius!"
Eva pushed Scott behind one tree, while she's hiding beside one. Sierra kept walking, albeit heard everything between the pair. Yesterday's events were what kept her from running off.
Eva and Scott stepped out behind the trees and continued pursuing Sierra. Eva gave Scott a deadpanned expression. "So if I'm genius, does that's mean you're a moron?"
"Hey, whose moron sabotaged his whole team so he can pick them off by himself?" Scott showed a smug smile.
Eva stared at him.
Confessional: Are you smarter than a moron?
Eva: He said it. Not me.
Realizing what he's just said, Scott growled. "When Uber-Bitch finds a way in, we'll sneak up on her, hog-tie her and then leave her so Fang can collect his meal." He showed a nasty grin.
Eva thought for a moment before stopping Scott. "Here's MY plan, I'll keep following her while you go look for another way in."
"What?" Scott looked baffled. "I thought we're sticking together?"
"Not in this challenge," Eva said.
"Hey, where am I suppose to find another one?" Scott asked.
"You're a rat," Eva said, walking away from Scott. "You can find another one no problem."
Scott looked annoyed but walked the other way nevertheless.
Confessional: Here's a slice a cheese, ginger critter!
Scott: (He glared at the camera) Call me a rat, huh? Well, this rat now have a chance to find Mal and come up with a plan to bring everyone into a trap! (He slammed both hands as if it was someone's mouth)
Eva: I needed him out of my sight so I'd be able to talk to Sierra and see if she's got anything to benefit me. Or at least lets me do some of the stuff she wrote that on her list.
Mal kneeled down, feeling footprints on the ground. He looked up to see a small cave. He smirked and stood up. Right before placing a foot inside, he heard a voice calling out to him.
"Ya found one!"
Mal turned around to see Scott walking over to him. "You think that's where they took Chris in?"
"Thought you're with Eva?" Mal said, narrowing his eyes.
"She's pushed me away because she wanna follow Sierra by herself."
Mal raised a brow. "Why's that?"
"Because she thinks Sierra knows where the secret passageway is."
"We're at ONE of the secret passageways," Mal said, pointing at the small cave. "If you wanna beat her, let's go." He stepped inside.
"Right behind ya!" Scott followed him inside.
Four contestants stood on the hill, staring down into multiple holes in the ground. Courtney kneeled down, shining her flashlight into a hole.
"I bet this leads down to the mine!"
Trent stared down at another hole. "There's another hole here!" He said, before pointing at a different hole behind him. "And here too!"
"Wait a minute, doesn't these holes lead to dark places?" Brick said, biting his lower lips.
"Oh nononono, I can't go down a hole!" Gwen said, eyes widening. "I've been buried alive more than I'd like to in five lifetimes!" She walked away. "We should look for another-AGH!" She stepped onto a hollow piece of the ground, and it crumbled under her feet, sending her plummeting. Her scream echoed as she fell.
"GWEN!" Brick, Trent and Courtney shouted in unison, worried.
Before any of them could move to help Gwen, their combined weights had brought enough pressure for the ground to crumble underneath them, sending them all underground, screaming.
Sierra stood beside the stream that leading directly into one the mineshafts before her.
She felt a tap on her shoulders. Her body tensed, believing it was Scott. She turned around to see it was Eva. Only Eva.
"It's just me."
"Where's Scott?" Sierra asked, wondering if Scott was hiding behind a tree or a rock, or in the stream.
Eva raised a brow at her, mildly surprised. "You know?"
"Duh!" Sierra said, rolling her eyes. "I'm Total Drama's number one fan! I can recognise all the contestants' walking patterns."
Eva looked impressed albeit only a bit.
"That, and you guys were pretty loud."
Eva frowned. A small moment of admiration for uber fan had vanished. "I send him the other way. Don't want to risk catching us in the act."
"Oh, okay."
"So, this is how we'll find Chris?" Eva said, staring into the mineshaft.
"Well, it's a more appropriate and easier access for the kidnappers. I mean, it if was Ezekiel, he'd be burrowing through a smaller-"
"Let's get moving," Eva said, walking inside, already zoned out Sierra's talking.
Sierra followed her in silence.
Underground
Someone removed the potato sack off of Chris's body. He blinked, regaining his visions. He felt his body constricted by rope and noticed that he was dangling upside-down. Nevertheless, he chuckled.
"Hardy, har har, Chef, yep, you got me!"
"What makes you think Chef's behind this?"
Chris glanced at the person beside him. It was none other than hot model, Justin, who was in the same predicament as the host.
"He does this often?" Justin said, looking disturbed.
"N-no!" Chris said, looking away. "What about you? He admitted you're hot in season two."
Justin cringed. "Ew! I do NOT want any of those images to damage my brain."
"Since when you have one?" Chris said, chuckling.
"After I've left the show," Justin said, glaring at him. "Everything from my face to toes has been restored!"
"And I suppose dangling above the toxic waste is your way of restoration?" Chris looked at the massive pit of toxic goo underneath him. Several radioactive barrels lay beside it with toxic waste pooling underneath it.
"I couldn't care less if this is the end of you. I'm only a captive because-"
Justin's skin went pale, unable to finish his sentence. He and Chris saw a giant purple spider entered the room. Their eyes followed it as it crawled across the ceiling.
Utilizing its web string, the spider lowered itself, dangling in front of the men. It hissed at them.
Chris and Justin screamed. They stopped, once seeing it removing its headpiece, revealing another head. The ginger-haired girl showed a wild grin.
"Greeting, spider foods," Izzy said, snickering.
"Izzy?" Chris said, surprised before furrowing his brows. "Why am I not surprised?"
"The only thing that surprise me right now is the fact she still believed we were dating," Justin narrowed his eyes at her. "Which by the way, we never did!"
"I'd think twice before you say your next sentence, liar!" Izzy glared at the model. She then showed a grin that sent chills down both men's spines. "If you're dangling upside-down for an hour, the blood will rush through your heads. And when enough blood gets through, POP!"
Chris and Justin flinched.
"Your eyeballs will deflate like balloons, and you'll be forever known as Voidclops!" She let out a maniacal laughter. "Or should it be Blood Eyes? Both names sound epic!"
Chris and Justin remained silent.
"That's everything I need to monolog. So TTFN, ta ta for now!" Izzy put her spider head back now and crawled out of the room.
Realizing how deadly the situation he was in, Chris screamed. "HELP!"
"Not worth damaging my voice," Justin said, horrified at the idea of losing his eyes.
Confessional: Crazy girl's back!
Izzy: (Still wearing her spider costume) Hey, viewers! Spider Izzy's back! (She laughed) Oh, would it be really cool if we'd actually get to see Chris and Justin's eyes pop? They'll look like upside-down mummies! Izzy wonder if there are any mutated mummies? Have you guys seen the mutant's community? They're super civilized! Except they seem to be afraid of someone with a cool name called Noirwor. It's funny because I've never actually seen the guy, and I've been EVERYWHERE! (She chuckled) You think that's the faceless guy in a suit? Izzy wanna meet one!
Somewhere in the darkened tunnel, Gwen was lying on the floor, reeling in pain from her whole body. God, she's getting tired of Total Drama. Groaning, she placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself into a sitting position. She started rubbing her head to soothe the pain.
What happened? The last thing she remembered was leaving the hill. The next thing she knew-
Her hand froze, and eyes snapped open. Her pale skin became even paler.
She fell into a hole… and here she was, sitting on the cold ground in a place so dark, she couldn't see a hand in front of her face. She knew one thing for sure.
She was underground.
Her claustrophobia went off in her mind, telling her to get out of here before the whole place went crashing down on her, shattering all of her bones into smithereens.
Fear brought her to her knees and waving her hands all over the floor. She gripped on something smooth and rounded. Something that she believed it was out of place. She pressed a button and the whole room engulfed in light. She wheezed, sounding like a deflating balloon. She shone her flashlight to her surroundings.
"Trent? Courtney? Brick?" She called out, but she can only hear her echoes. There was no sign of them. Did they enter the same hole as she did?
She looked up at the hole in the ceiling where she came from. It was about ten feet out of her reach. There was no way she could get out that way - she unable to stop the whimpers escaping her lips.
"Gotta find a way out! Gotta find a way out!" She ran through the tunnel, hoping to find an exit. The sooner she'd find it, the better. Her pupils shrunken when the room started to flicker. "Nonononono…"
"Come on, work!" Gwen said, bashing her flashlight to get it to start again. That's when she noticed it. The flashlight had bent a bit. It must've been damaged from the fall. How did her bones didn't break was beyond her. All she could think of was escaping from her nightmarish hellhole.
"Okay, you can do this." Her breathing became frantic. "Don't panic."
Her flashlight went out for good, plunging her into an everlasting darkness. She couldn't stop herself from screaming.
"Hey, I've gotta ask, what's with the whole trashing the hotel thing?" Scott asked Mal as both of them were walking. "Thought you'd be thrilled to see Zoey's gone. Wouldn't she'd be the best person to cure Mike's funny disorder?"
Albeit a curious question, Mal was in his face, gripping his wife-beater vest.
"Cure?" He said, disgusted. "You don't cure mental disorders. If there is one, you think, during surgery, the doctors open up your brain and press an off button?" He spoke again just as Scott opened his mouth. "NO. No matter how hard you'd try, you can never remove it. Why? Mental disorders, like multi personalities, are part of you. It defines who you are for all eternity. Do you know what's the best solution for it?"
Scott remained silent, wouldn't even dare to blink.
"You'd confront it. TACKLE it to who prove whose boss. The fact Mikey never learn to is why I'm here. Perhaps you should take a page from me to face your owns."
He can feel Scott's trembling body as he scowled into his terrified eyes.
"Are we clear?" He said in an authority voice after catching someone red-handed; a technique he learned in the past.
Scott frantically nodded, causing Mal to smirk. "Good." He removed his grips off him.
Confessional: And that conclude today's lesson, canon writers!
Scott: (He was sitting in a fetal position, staring into the distance - all while shivering)
"With that discussion cleared," Mal said as he and Scott resumed their walking. "We need to discuss strategies."
"Y-yeah..." Scott said, still shivering.
"With both idols now out of play, the game is going to become much harder to accomplish. As much as I want to believe in my abilities to win, I can't win immunity every time. First chance they'd get, they'll try to vote me off."
Scott stopped shivering. "T-that's what I'm here for!" He said in a more confident tone. "I wanna keep ya around because most of them are way too nice to be eliminated."
"Should I be up for elimination, we need to move the target to someone else. There are six options, Trent, Gwen, Courtney, Eva, Sierra and Brick." Mal fingered off each name.
"Why not go for Eva? She would've been gone if the idol didn't save her ass."
He pursed his lips in thought. "True, but she'd be the next to go after me." He crumbled his face in disgust. "For now, she needs to stay. Sierra needs to stay as well." He looked at Scott, who had his mouth opened, but then closed it in disappointment. "If we can make her hate you more than me, it'd be one less vote we'd have to worry about."
"Won't that bring me closer to elimination?" Scott asked, wary.
"Better to have one vote instead of four. Now remind me again, who was the one blew up my boat yesterday?"
"Trent," Scott said. A small smirk crept on his face, thinking about how Trent managed to blow up a boat by lighting a dynamite.
"And do you see any sign of him looking distressed?" Mal looked at him.
Scott thought back to last night where he was sleeping in the same room as the musician. "He definitely didn't look too happy when you won."
"Was he liked that this morning?"
"How should do I know?" Scott said, looking weird out by the way Mal's staring at him. "I don't keep track of everybody."
"You were last season's main antagonist, you chose to eliminate Dawn because you overheard her confessional."
"Yeah..." Scott said, his mind drifted off to Dawn.
"We need to keep an eye on him to see if we can manipulate his emotions. And speaking of emotions, Gwen and Courtney will be hard to take down, especially after laying out my plan."
"What plan?"
"Ezekiel," Mal said, smirking. "Even after all he been through, he was still that same naive home-school who's married to prairies."
Scott looked a bit annoyed by the pride in Mal's voice.
"With all things considered, that leaves Brick. He was the one who created these 'night watch' crap. He did it to try and stop me and make the others feel safe. If he goes, law and morality would be destroyed, and chaos will rise." He raised a fist as if he imagined igniting the invisible torch.
Scott shrugged. "I'm all for it, but how you're gotta get him out?"
Mal thought for a moment before his face splitting into a nasty grin. "You remembered how Alejandro was eliminated?"
"You snapped his arms and legs like ma Uncle Prowler-" Scott stopped and his eyes widened. "You wanna do that again?"
"Chris knew I did it, but what did he do? Nothing. He encourages violence. If we find Chris and save his precious pathetic life, he'll be so thrilled he wouldn't bat an eyelash if someone sends Brick into a coma. It's a win/win situation."
Thinking through the possibilities, Scott couldn't help but show a massive grin himself. "A win/win indeed..." He stopped grinning when Mal stopped walking and snatched his flashlight.
"And the best part," Mal said, turning off Scott's flashlight. His flashlight illuminated his face as if he was telling a scary story. It brought out the shadows under his eyes.
"He won't see us coming."
He turned off his flashlight. Despite no longer seeing each other, they arched their backs and let out a maniacal laughter.
Brick's heart kept hammering. His feet moved in automatic to prevent himself from freezing in fear. His grip on his flashlight remained tight as if his life depends on it. Every time he blinked, a flashback of his previous experience in the mine appeared in his mind. Feral Ezekiel. A backpack full of bombs. Riding a minecart with his competitors.
However, for good reasons, most of it involved mutant gophers. Bashing a Guided Chris statue on a mutant gopher to save his friends. Using his smelly boot to scare away a mutant gopher. Being dragged down underground by a mutant gopher. Grabbing a few of their eggs from their nests. Being chased by an army of parent mutant gophers. Them surroundings him and Jo. He could still hear their demonic cry for their babies as he and Jo escaped for their life.
The darkness would always be his greatest fear, but each thought of these horrendous creatures was making his clattering teeth more audible. What if one of them decide to show up and drag him back to the others in the deepest depth of the cave system? He could feel their teeth and claws digging into him-
He stopped and frantically shook his head. "Man up, Brick. Your friends need you. Chris needs you." His face went blank, forgetting his fear of the dark. "Wait a minute, no, no, no. Oh, how about… stopping Mal from winning immunity!" His face lit up and showed a brave smile. "Yeah, just found my motivation! If I keep that thought in my mind, I'll be sure to conquer my fear for good!"
He resumed his marching, telling himself about stopping Mal. His confident grew as he repeated himself. The darkness may have had him shaking to his knees and wetting his cargo pant more times than he'd count, but not this time.
This time, he truly believed he can conquer his fear once and for all!
Click!
"What was that?" He stopped and shone his flashlight to find the source of that sound, but saw nothing.
Fear began to crept up his skins again as he resumed his walk. He repeated himself about defeating Mal once more, but in quieter tone this time.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
He halted. It was quiet, but he heard it. He shone his flashlight to his surroundings but still saw nothing. He opened his mouth to speak out in case it was one of the contestants. However, no word had come out.
For some reasons, he couldn't bring himself to utter a word. It felt like someone forced a rock down his throat and he was unable to swallow it.
Without a second thought, he resumed walking, increasing his speed this time. He remained silent, trying to make out any sound that wasn't his own. Was there someone close by? Something? Or was it him making all these sounds and it was all in his head due to his paranoia? He found his answer soon enough once he heard a familiar voice.
"Brick?"
He paused. All of his thoughts running through his mind had frozen.
That voice… How? Was it really her?
He slowly turned around. His jaws lowered seeing a person he didn't expect to see until he'd be eliminated or the finale. Standing there, fists resting on her hips. She showed a playful smirk.
Jo.
More questions crammed into his mind. How did she get here? Was she one of the kidnappers? Did she rejoin the game? Or it she's here to torment him? Right now, he didn't care. All he wanted to do now was go over to her and beg her to give him comfort.
He took a step forward when Jo blinked, and her eyes glowed green.
Before he could react, Jo's body swollen up like a balloon and then her clothes dissolved into the pale pink skin. She fell to her hands and knees, which had already transformed into claws.
Ignoring the growing dark patch in his cargo pant, and the warm liquid trickling down his legs, Brick somehow kept his trembling hand aiming the flashlight at the monster you'd see in a crappy alien movie, giving it its spotlight.
The transformation was complete. Jo's entire body had mutated into a mutant gopher except for her head. She lifted her head, staring her green eyes into a pair of petrified eyes.
His heart beaten against his chest faster than it had ever been in his whole life. His heavily breathing shaken. He was on the brink of passing out.
Jo let out a distorted shriek, spreading her mouth wider than no human could do. Brick could see the same ravaged teeth the mutant gophers have had.
He let out a shriek of his own. One that echoed throughout the entire cave system.
Confessional: I didn't expect the Thing to show up in a teen fanfic!
Brick: (Sitting on his side in fetal position, making incomprehensible words, eyes widened in traumatic terror)
Static
Brick: (He's in a sitting position) Now that I've got my traumatic moment out of the way, I can think more rationally. (His eyes went round) WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I've never seen ANYTHING like that in my entire life! Seeing Jo changed into some kind of monstrous hybrid must've given me at least three heart attacks! Right now, if I was told I'd be entering a dangerous country with a big chance being beheaded by terrorists, I'd still be less afraid than facing whatever the thing in that cave! Th-th-t- (He returned to his fetal position and screamed)
Fear pumped through his bloodstream, telling the cadet to run faster than he'd ever did. Not once had he looked behind to see if the hybrid had followed him. The flashlight continued to illuminate the pitch black tunnel. He let out an occasional scream, believing that the monster would jump out of the darkness and capture him.
He saw a hint of midnight blue. Unable to stop himself, he slammed into someone, sending them both to the ground. The flashlight flew out of his hand and rolled until it shone on the pair.
Brick rubbed his head, lying over someone's body. His visions came back and looked down into Gwen's face. Their eyes widened. Both of them crawled away from each other and started screaming.
Brick screamed.
Gwen screamed.
Brick screamed, pressing himself against the cavern wall.
Gwen screamed, wrapping her arms around her legs.
Brick and Gwen screamed non-stop as fear took over their bodies.
The McLean's Spa Hotel
Chef stared at the speaker in the library/monitor room. His eyes widened from hearing Brick and Gwen's non-stop screaming. "We've got sound! Now where's the damn picture?" He asked the overweight intern, who was kneeling down, fiddling with the electrical cords on the floor.
The intern pointed at the camera. Chef noticed it and annoyance appeared on his face.
"Oh, you want an update? I got no idea who the kidnappers are, what they're up to, where Chris is, where the kids are at, or why Cranky Girl and Pant Wetter Cadet are having a screaming contest!" He threw his hands in the air, still hearing Brick and Gwen's screaming at each other. "And I got no idea how we gonna figure out any of that with the monitors off!"
The intern stood up and coughed before speaking. "On Total! Drama! All-"
"Fix the monitors!" Chef shouted.
That's it for part one! The next chapter will be up eventually. Oh, by the way, there's a new poll saying how much you believe I've improve my writing. Be honest about it!