Total Drama Action: Second Season Chapter 21: The Eighth Gilded Chris Award Ceremony, a total drama series fanfic

The Eighth Gilded Chris Award Ceremony

The six castmates all sat on the bleachers, facing the stage. They were all tired. It had been one hectic day, the challenge was tiring, and they were glad that it was over. But everyone was also nervous, and showing it very clearly. Since it was the very first time that there was no Invincibility, they knew that any one of them could go home.

But out of all the castmates, the most nervous one by far was John.

The Goth sat in his seat, sweating hard and shifting in his seat. He knew now that since his tricks had been exposed, he was definitely on the chopping block, and could easily go home tonight. He glanced over at Daniel, sitting next to him. The jock didn't seem any better. He wasn't nearly as twitchy as John was, but he didn't exactly have an iron confidence, either.

Make-Up Confessional

John: Well, my time here was fun, eh. I met a lot of great people. I met the girl of my dreams. But I've got a lot to learn about how to get a girl to notice me, don't I? (Sighs)

Daniel: Am I too worried about my chances? No, not really. See, ordinarily I would, since I don't have Invincibility. But after seeing how Goth boy turned out to be the "Mystery Castmate," that instantly sealed his fate right then and there. His tactics since the first day are far worse than what I've done. Yep, he is so going home.

Mary: I guess it was a little sweet that John had me in mind when he pulled those tricks, but I don't think there can be anything between us yet; it's hard for relationships to last only a few hours.

Mark: So I'm looking at those two, and personally, I think that Daniel actually has a better chance. John's past actions were just plain low. Sorry, dude.

Violet: I can't believe it! The one day that Daniel has Invincibility, and someone else comes out and reveals that they've been doing all of that sabotaging since the season started?! Man, that guy has some serious luck. And we all kind of liked John. Ah, well. It's time for karma to catch up with him.

Madison: Wow. I've been here for only two weeks, and I've already earned a whole season's worth of drama! Even though I wasn't here for the whole time, I had learned about the whole "Mystery Castmate" thing. But I never would've suspected John, of all people! Talk about a shocker.

End

After what felt like hours, Chris and Chef walked onstage; Chris wearing the same outfit, and Chef in the humiliating pink and transparent dress, and holding only five Awards.

"The viewers have cast in their votes and made their decisions. And I can already say this for sure: This Ceremony is gonna be AWESOME!!! Man! After all these weeks, Daniel is finally vulnerable! But then John turns out to be the Mystery Castmate?! Oh, man! We have no idea who's going home tonight! Well, Jay, Chef, and I do, but you'll all have to find out!

"Anyway, you know the routine. There are only five Gilded Chris Awards tonight. When I call your name, come up and claim your Award. The castmate who does not receive an Award must take the Walk of Shame, to catch the Limo of Losers. That means that you are out of the game…and you cannot come back…EVER.

"The first Award goes to…Mark."

The optimist smiled as he ran onto the stage and grabbed an Award.

"…Violet."

Violet, unlike Mark, calmly walked onto the stage and picked up another Award.

"Next…I will call…Madison."

Madison also climbed onto the stage and snatched up a Gilded Chris.

"There are only three castmates left, but only two Awards."

John and Mary shared a nervous glance. John looked into her eyes. Now was the last time he could ever help her to win. After this, she would be on her own. He reflected on what little time they spent together, such as back on the island during the hunt for the million-dollar case, and when he had technically saved her life that same day. He had wanted to eventually reveal his feelings for her, but he felt that he had done it poorly earlier that day. And now he would not get another chance.

Likewise, Mary was also thinking about John. She had teamed up with him in the season finale, and he was always the one who could get the case for her. And he was still willing to split it with her, even though he did all the work.

Suddenly, only then did Mary realize something important: While John's tricks as "The Mystery Castmate" were a little unceremonious, they did help her team to win on many occasions. And come to think of it, she had been fairly unpopular in the first few episodes, considering her past actions in Total Drama Island and such. She now knew the truth: He was the reason that she had lasted this long. And after realizing it now, she realized that he truly had been trying to help her.

As she looked at him, and he looked at her, she smiled a faint smile at the Goth boy, just before the host called the next name.

"Mary."

Mary paused a moment before she turned away from John and walked onto the stage to claim one of the two remaining Awards. She quickly looked from the small statuette to the two remaining castmates.

"And then there were two." Chris announced. "Daniel…and John. This is the evening's final Gilded Chris Award." He grabbed the last Gilded Chris and held it high in the air for everyone to see.

"One of you has been chosen by our viewers, and will leave Total Drama Action within the next two minutes. The other will claim this final Award, and with it, the knowledge that they have survived. Now, I shall declare the loser."

The two boys' attitudes quickly changed as they realized now that they did not want to hear their names called. John continued to squirm, while Daniel focused hard on the final Award in the host's hand. He had now lost all of his confidence. The slight smirk on his face gone, his arms no longer crossed in his usual manner, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Tonight…the loser, the ninth castmate to be given the boot, and to be whisked away in the Limo of Losers, is…"

"…"

"…Daniel."

Everyone in the Theatre gasped as the jock's name was called.

"WHAT???????" They all asked incredulously.

"This…this can't be!" Daniel exclaimed.

John, still shaking, walked onto the stage and picked up the final Gilded Chris with trembling hands. He smiled a half-hearted smile.

"Sorry, dude. You're out." Chris said to Daniel.

"They STILL voted for me!?!?!?"

"Yep." The host simply responded.

Daniel then glared something fierce at John. Everyone, even John, Chris, and Chef were stunned, and took one step back when they saw the ferocity in the jock's eyes as he stared down John hard.

Daniel continued glaring evilly before he finally exploded. "AFTER ALL THAT HE'S DONE?!?!?!?! SABOTAGING THE OTHER TEAM SINCE DAY ONE, AND THEY STILL VOTE ME OUT?!?!? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! THIS IS DESPICABLE!! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! THIS…ISN'T…FAIR!!!!!!!"

Chris remained where he stood nonetheless. "Sorry, but for this season, what the viewers say goes."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Daniel screamed, followed by a long string of curses, all of which can never be repeated in a K+ fic.

Unlike Ruth's elimination, no one dared to interfere, as he was clearly much more vicious than Ruth could have ever been. Everyone just backed off and cowered in fear as he released all of his anger at once.

When he was finished, he finally accepted reality. Before he turned and stormed off to the awaiting Limo of Losers, he gave on final statement. "You just kicked off the one true, sure-fire way to bring in the ratings to this show; I hope you realize that!"

Daniel then stormed down the Red Carpet of Shame, his footsteps heavy on the velvet. He angrily shoved Jay aside and climbed into the Limo of Losers himself. The intern, seeming only slightly fazed, dusted himself off as the Limo sped off.

Everyone stared after him in complete shock and stupor.

The silence was broken when Mary walked up to John. It took a moment for the Goth to realize that she was next to him. He turned to face her.

"Hey, eh."

"Hey."

"So, uh, I guess I'm not out this week after all."

"Nope."

They looked at each other for a long time, once again at a loss for words. This time, however, they knew that words simply wouldn't be enough.

Mary slowly reached out and took his hand in hers.

John looked down at their holding hands, then back at Mary, and smiled at her. Then they slowly moved closer to each other…

Then (wouldn't you know it) Chris barged right in.

"Well, now that that's settled, it's time to put the items you each retrieved from today's challenge to use!"

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"Come, and I'll show you."

The host walked off the stage and out of the Theatre, with Jay, Chef, and the five castmates following. He led them all right to the Craft Services Tent.

Inside, the two tables were spread out, one on each side of the room. Each had its own stove next to them. In the center of the Tent was a small, round table with a fancy pink tablecloth, a glass vase with a flower in it, and fine silverware set before the single chair.

Against the back wall of the Tent was the table with the six items, the egg, the milk bottle, the cauldron, the time capsule, the briefcase, and the treasure chest, all lined up.

Jay and Chef each stood beside their own separate table, while Chris sat down at the fancy one.

"What's going on here?" Violet asked.

"Remember how Jay, Chef, and I were in this Tent for quite a while this morning?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, after a long…discussion, we eventually came to an agreement; the ultimate, the final way to decide once and for all who truly is the better chef: Chef or Jay. And the items today will help with the decision."

"How so?" Madison asked.

"Observe."

On cue, an intern walked into the Tent, and wheeled over the table with the items on it. He then started opening up the ones that needed to be, such as the time capsule and the cauldron.

"Have any of you noticed the one thing these items all have in common?" Chris asked the castmates.

"Um…they were all really hard to get, eh?" John asked, earning chuckles from several castmates.

"No. Observe, now, as our intern here opens them."

The intern then opened up the treasure chest, and pulled out a rectangular, yellow object.

"A bar of gold?!" Madison exclaimed.

"No…"

Then the intern peeled off the golden wrap, to instead reveal a stick of butter.

"Butter?!?!?!"

"That's right."

The intern placed the butter, the bottle of milk, the egg, and the cauldron side-by-side. He opened up the cauldron, and allowed everyone to have a look inside. Inside it was a white, creamy liquid.

"What's that?"

The intern ignored Mary's question as he moved to open up the time capsule. He twisted off the lid, and slowly flipped it open. He reached inside, then pulled out a small, glass bowl with a lid on it. Prying off the tightly-sealed lid, he showed everyone the brown, sticky substance that was inside.

"Is that…" Violet started. Then everyone finished. "…SYRUP?!?!"

"Correct again, my friends." Chris replied with that usual grin.

Setting the briefcase aside and lining up the other five items, the castmates all knew now what the items all had in common.

"Syrup, butter, an egg, milk, and that creamy stuff…pancake mix?! These are the ingredients for a pancake!!"

"Exactly."

With that, the intern poured the large milk bottle into two, smaller bottles, and handed each to Chef and Jay. He did the same with the butter; chopping it in half and giving each half to both men. He divided all of the ingredients among the two until they were ready.

"Put the pieces together yet? Chef and Jay here are going to have a cook-off, to determine for good who should be the permanent chef here. They are each going to bake their own batches of pancakes for me, and I shall determine which is better!"

"So…you're basically telling us that we went through that horrible challenge today purely to get these ingredients for you, when you could've easily gone to the grocery store instead?!?!?!" Mary exclaimed.

"Uh-huh. Now, if you'll all please to step back, and let these two get to work."

Chef glared fiercely at his opponent, then started to make his pancake. With the tools on the table, as well as the nearby stove, he was all set to go. He turned his back to everyone else as he prepared the pancakes.

Jay was unfazed by his opponent's ferocity, and quickly preceded to bake his pancake.

During the cooking, Mark casually leaned close to Chris, who by now had his silverware in his hands, napkin on his lap, and a bib on, and asked, "If they're all the same ingredients, then how can both pancakes be different?"

"You don't have to have different ingredients to make different-tasting foods, Mark. They can have their own special way of preparing it, they can have their own special ingredient, they can…"

"Your pancakes, sir." Jay presented the plate with the three pancakes on them. They had syrup spread around on their surface, along with a small block of butter placed in the middle of each one. They were a fresh, golden-brown color, and steam casually rose from them. They smelled perfect.

"That fast? Wow, you must be one heck of a chef, Jay. Better than our possible ex-Chef over here."

"I heard that!"

Chris ignored him and slowly took the plate of pancakes. He raised a fork in one hand, and a knife in the other. He placed the fork down near the edge of the pancake, and casually started sawing with the other. Soon, he had a perfectly triangular slice of pancake on his fork. He raised it to his mouth.

After putting it in his mouth, he slowly chewed, enjoying the delicious, perfect taste of the pancake.

"This…is…PERFECT! This is the most delicious, most elegantly-prepared, most scrumptious pancake I've ever placed in my mouth! Jay, you are an excellent chef!!"

Jay smiled; a small, barely-noticeable upward curve in his mouth, at the compliment.

Chef snarled before he rudely shoved his plate in front of Chris. Chris glanced at Chef disapprovingly, before cutting a slice out of one of his sticky, slightly-burned pancakes. He paused for a moment, eyeing the piece of pancake, before he ate it.

Almost instantly, the hard, charred surface burned inside his mouth. He gagged on it, trying to spit it out. But because of the syrup, it stuck inside his mouth, and started to slide down his throat.

"GACK! ACK…" He clutched at his throat as he almost choked on it.

Jay, familiar with the Heimlich Maneuver, was instantly behind his superior, putting his arms around Chris's stomach and heaving upward, helping him to spit it out.

After an agonizing moment, he finally succeeded. Chris spewed the burnt pancake piece out of his mouth. It shot across the Tent, heading straight for the nearby intern. His eyes widened, and just as he turned to run, the black piece of food hit him in the head, knocking him out.

The exhausted Chris, still gasping, placed one hand on the table to steady himself.

"Can I (cough) get a glass of water (hack!) over here?"

Jay quickly handed him one. Chris popped off the lid and chugged down half of the bottle before he was satisfied.

"Ah! That's better. Well," Chris cleared his throat. "I think, that after that near-death experience, it's obvious who the new chef is…"

"…"

"…Jay!"

The large man nodded in thanks, as Chris applauded quietly for him. The castmates and Chef were not so enthusiastic.

The castmates stood off to the side, amused by the cynical host practically choking to death. But when Chris made the announcement, they knew that it was just worse for them. But, of course, Chef was the most devastated.

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T REPLACE ME WITH THAT…THAT…TERMINATOR!!!!!! THIS…IS…A LOAD OF OUTRAGEOUS, UNACCEPTABLE, DESPICABLE…"

It was an exact repeat of Daniel's elimination just five minutes ago; the yelling, the ferocity, the curses, all of which left Chris and the castmates completely stunned.

Chef continued rambling on and on, and it was nearly fifteen minutes before he finally stopped, panting heavily, and still trying to go at it. "And furthermore (pant, pant) this is a disgrace (wheeze) to me and my family's honor as five-star chefs! You…cannot…replace…me!"

Chris waited for a moment, to make sure that Chef was done, before he finally spoke. "Sorry, ex-Chef. But it's really that simple: He's the new chef, and you're not."

"You're firing me, aren't you?!?!"

"Nope. You will stay on this show, but not as the chef; as an intern!"

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"It's the only other position you can have." Chris shrugged.

"NO! That's it! I'm done with this show! I quit!"

Ex-Chef angrily tore of his apron, curled it up in a ball, and threw it aside. At that moment, the unconscious intern was waking up. He slowly sat up and rubbed his head. "Ow. Where am I?"

The apron, rolled up into such a tight ball that it was rock-hard, and thrown so hard and fast, hit him in the head, and knocked him out again.

Ex-Chef also threw his hat to the ground and stomped on it.

"That's right! I'm out of here!" He turned and started to storm towards the Tent's exit.

"Sorry, but you can't do that either."

"Why not?!?!"

"It's in your contract."

Ex-Chef froze in place at the sound of the cursed word: contract. He turned to face Chris.

"No it wasn't! Unlike all of these little maggots," He pointed at the castmates. "I actually READ the ENTIRE contract! There was nothing about me not being able to quit! … Unless…"

"That's read, my dear friend: The fine print."

The following scream caused the entire vicinity to shake, loose objects to fall off of their tables, and even glass nearly a hundred feet away to shatter.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Author's Note: Yep, the whole Jay and Chef rivalry has reached a whole new level now. Jay may be the new chef, but that doesn't mean that ex-Chef's role in the story is over. What will happen next between these two? Will ex-Chef be able to regain his status as chef? Tune in next time to find out!

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: OK, readers. Fedora Kid has run out of challenge ideas once again, and you know what that means! That's right; please send in your ideas, if you want to, and Fedora Kid might be able to use them. He needs only four more ideas for the whole story before it's over, and remember the most important thing: they have to have a way for at least one person to win Invincibility. Thanks to all those that do!