Author's Note
It is done, dear readers. The finale of Total Shuffled Island has been written. I am incredibly proud to have gotten it done so quickly, both endings and all, and I really look forward to posting it next week. But before that, though, the semi-finals have to be posted, which is what I'm here today to do.
And, as always, before that there are reviews to answer:
Sleep Arypsure: I know, right?
Curcle: Thanks for the review! I'll try to check your story out when I find the time.
BuckJohnson: Yup! Jo and Bridgette...well, I liked the direction I've decided to take each of them in, and it's safe to say there's more to come from both girls.
Ddynamo: Yeah, Jo is someone I think has a lot of potential, and I'm eager to try to bring it out. As for the Revenge finale...well, considering who ended up getting shuffled into that season and what I plan to do for All-Stars, 'The Ultimate Showdown' is gonna be tricky to figure out.
Madison Wooten: hah, yeah, people have been wanting her gone for some time now. And as for who gets dared to do what...well, you'll have to read on!
ElizabethLifeStone: I certainly hope so, and thanks for the review!
acosta perez jose ramiro: Possibly, although there's also the possibility of Alejandro and Heather romancing each other to think about. If those were the final four, I probably would have tried to steer things in the direction of a Gwen-Shawn finale, and admittedly may have given the girls the win in order to give Alejandro the boot.
Identification: Well, you'll have to wait to see how well your prediction turns out!
Cole D. soul: True, although with so few people left it'll naturally be easier to predict who goes home next regardless. Thanks for the review!
Impoik: Well, looks like the finale didn't take too long, so now I just gotta hope the special doesn't take longer than expected either. And thanks for reading my other story!
FOWLKON: Huh, didn't know you actually had an account. And yeah, you hit the nail on the head regarding why I got rid of Jo - she was the Duncan of the final four, competing against the main villain, the female lead, and the male lead. Alejandro's berserk buttons definitely includes being called 'Al', and I will admit that I'll include it a bit more in the future. Your suggestion for Amy was on the table to begin with, but how exactly it goes down has yet to be written. And lastly, I have definitely been hoping this series gets a TVTropes page one day, but sadly it hasn't even gotten on the Total Drama Fanfic Recommendations page yet. Oh well, hopefully it's only a matter of time.
ultrablud2: Let's see, I guess I'll answer your questions in order. 1) I generally start by rewatching the episode I'll be writing, and breaking it up into smaller sections that will be my goal for each writing session. I also usually write down how particularly complicated scenes go down in canon, like the dares for this episode, so I can work out how to make things work for my version. Then I usually break the chunk of time I'm working on that session into each scene, figure out how long those scenes are, and then jot down some preliminary ideas for each one. And all the while I'm writing what I can. The process is a bit more complex and variable than this, but this should be a good general look at how I write.
2) Somewhere in the middle. I've thought up several ahead of time, but there's still some openings I want to fill in later seasons where the pairings don't quite come together naturally enough for me.
3) Well, technically there's only five since for some reason All-Stars and Pahkitew Island were grouped together for production purposes. But yeah, I really liked Island, World Tour, and Pahkitew Island; Action was okay; Revenge of the Island and All-Stars failed to live up to their potentials for numerous reasons, a big one being Mike.
4) Just checked Wikipedia and it says nothing about any future seasons of the main Total Drama series currently being in production, only that there may be more in the future. I probably won't end up including them in this series unless more than one finishes airing before I complete Total Shuffled Pahkitew Island, and even then I may still decline to do it. As for Ridonculous Race...I'm definitely looking forward to it, but whether or not I write a Shuffled version of it depends on which Total Drama characters return to participate and how important they are to the plot - if they're gonna be reduced to minor characters, I may not bother adapting the season to this continuity.
RedHornedUnicowz: Thanks!
Knifez: Well, I hope it lives up to your expectations!
Call Me Ishmael: Well, Alejandro's general gimmick has always been that he's so incredibly talented. For Bridgette, I'm really happy that I managed to make my decision to take her this far actually worked out the way it did; like you said, she's gotten some bad luck in canon. And as for Shawn...yeah, I really do like him, and he has a really impressive skill set.
Star Saber21: I'm glad you liked it!
TheCashewChef Hatchet: Wow, thanks!
Well, the reviews are out of the way, so here's a reminder of the Final Three:
Girls - Bridgette
Boys - Alejandro, Shawn
And with that said, get ready for the semi-finals!
- Fangren
Episode 25 – I Triple Dog Dare You!
"Last time, on Total Drama Island!" The recap footage began with several short clips of the handsome host standing in front of a tattered curtain that looked suspiciously like the one from the camp amphitheater. "Yours truly was off emceeing a swanky award show, so Chef took over as host," the footage switched to the kitchen scene from the beginning of the previous episode, with Chef cracking open the monster goose egg, "and maaaan was he bruuutal to the campers!"
"Not only did he dump them in the middle of the woods to fend for themselves," the bunk beds were shown getting carried away from the stranded teens, followed by the shot of Shawn looking through the stolen night vision goggles and eventually spotting a certain bigfoot and jock-ette running towards him, "but he left them alone with scary dude Sasquatchanakwa! They ran helter, they ran skelter, they ran into a crowded bat cave!" The guys were shown running into the cave, and the clips was followed by a shot of a group of eyes in the darkness before the four campers were chased out by the bat colony. "Massive mistake, I might add."
"Ultimately, the two teams decided to share their supplies for the night," Bridgette was shown convincing the others to band together for the night, "but while Jo was the first to try something underhanded," the jock-ette smirked upon seeing her rival seemingly fall asleep, "she was outfoxed by Alejandro," the footage cut ahead over Jo's sleeping form, showing the girls empty bag and the guys running ahead, "and the guys walked off with everything. Proving once again that the greatest villains always plan ahead." Alejandro and Shawn were shown reaching the totem pole first, while the girls got tangled up on the ground and Jo in particular vented her frustrations.
"In the end, it was the loud and bossy Jo who took the walk of shame," the jock-ette was shown passing the remaining three on the docks then getting onto the Boat of Losers, "leaving three glutton-for-punishment campers heading into our most exciting challenge yet." Shawn, Alejandro, and Bridgette were shown conversing around the campfire pit.
"Don't believe me?" Chris asked in a close-up on the Dock of Shame as the recap footage ended. "Then I triple dog dare you to watch this episode of!" He pointed two finger at camera as it started to zoom out in increments until the whole island was shown. "Total! Drama! Island!"
xxx
(Fade to Opening Theme)
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
You guys are on my mind!
Ya asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
I wanna be...famous!
I wanna live close to the sun!
Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won!
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
I'll get there one day.
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
(Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nananananaa)
(Fade to Episode)
xxx
A light and reverent tune opened the episode as the camera flew up from the Dock of Shame to the one remaining cabin. The scene cut to a seagull nesting in the horn of a loudspeaker, sleeping with a plastic soda pop bottle wrapper around its neck. It was rudely awakened by the high-pitched tone of the intercom switching on, which caused the bird to spit up a worm. "Welcome to the semi-finals!" Chris announced as the worm hit the ground and wriggled off, only to get eaten by another bird. "Today, we award our challengers with an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast!" The shot cut from the loudspeaker to a grumpy-looking Chef Hatchet standing in his kitchen next to a griddle and a stack of pancakes.
"That's right," the host continued as the cook flipped a pancake into the air, "genuine food byproducts served with fresh ingredients relatively close to their expiration dates." Chef continued to flip the pancake until eventually it stuck on the ceiling; he scowled and grabbed for a grimy flat-headed shovel, scraping it off with one hand and catching it on his spatula.
xxx
"I'm pretty happy I made it to the Final Three," Bridgette smiled in the confessional. "Just goes to show how far kindness and a positive attitude can get you!"
xxx
Alejandro admired his reflection in a hand mirror before turning his full attention to the outhouse camera. "It's only natural that I made it this far," he said confidently. "My only regret is that Bridgette and Shawn made it this far as well, but that mistake will be easy to fix."
xxx
Shawn began his turn by pumping his fist. "Oh yeah, almost there!" he cheered before rapidly calming himself down. "I can't let my guard down, though. The zombies have been suspiciously quiet lately."
xxx
/
The scene cut to the mess hall, the Final Three lined up silently in front of Chef's counter to get their breakfast. Alejandro was first, accepting a small stack from the cook without comment and walking back to the tables with a look of boredom on his face. Bridgette was next, and she grimaced when she saw what was put on her plate – the camera showed the top pancake covered in dirt, hair, and nail clippings. Though her eyes were wide she, too, walked off without a word.
The at last came Shawn, his eyes darting around even as Chef served him. "Hey, I don't suppose you've seen any zombies around, have you?" the scruffy boy asked, lingering at the counter.
Chef raised and eyebrow for a brief moment, then scowled. "Boy, I ain't ever seen a zombie, they ain't even real!"
Shawn scoffed. "Yeah, sure, that's what the government wants you to think while they try to cover up their covert research into-" he was abruptly cut off by another small stack of pancakes getting shoved into his open mouth.
"Shut up wit' your dang conspiracy theories," Chef yelled at him, "and go sit down!"
Shawn quickly swallowed the pancakes whole, but only narrowed his eyes as he turned and left the counter.
xxx
"I'd honestly be fine if I don't win," Bridgette admitted in the confessional. "As long as Alejandro doesn't get the money."
xxx
"Both Bridgette and Shawn have done well to get this far in the game," Alejandro told the camera, brimming with confidence, "but they're not really on my level. I'm the man to beat – not that they'll be able to."
xxx
"Y'know," Shawn scratched his chin in deep suspicion, "I wonder if Chef could be in on the zombie conspiracy..." He paused a moment, then smiled and shook his head. "Nah, he's just a cook!"
xxx
"If I do win the money," Bridgette continued, "I think I'll use it to help save the whales...or maybe just buy Wawanakwa and turn it into a nature preserve."
xxx
"If I can actually win this thing," the survivalist said, "the money is going straight into my zombie-proof bunker fund. A hundred grand won't be nearly enough to complete it," he explained, "but it'll be a good start."
xxx
"Once I win Total Drama," Alejandro said with a confident grin, "I think I'll relax with a nice vacation around the world."
xxx
Shawn had taken out several blueprints and was eagerly showing them off to the camera. "And this is where I'll grow my food," he said, pointing out a particular spot on his plans. "It won't be much, but I can't risk having an unsustainable food supply during an extended apocalypse."
xxx
"Honestly, I'll just be glad when this is all over," Bridgette told the camera. "You have no idea how stressful the past eight weeks have been, especially with all the backstabbing and strategy that's been going on. Don't get me wrong, Shawn's great, but I really miss having Geoff around." She blew the camera a kiss.
xxx
"I can't say I've enjoyed these past eight weeks," Alejandro admitted. "I've suffered far too much at the hands of the others. Fortunately, it'll only be a few more days before I never have to deal with them again."
xxx
"And this is the panic room inside the panic room," Shawn continued to explain, pointing to a spot on a different page of his blueprints than the one he was showing earlier. "Because really, you can never be too careful when you're dealing with the undead. Heck, I would've added a third panic room if there was enough space in the second!"
xxx
"I'll admit that Shawn has demonstrated a worrying level of skill in past challenges," Alejandro confessed, "particularly his bizarre tolerance of thingsnormal people would find absolutely disgusting." The handsome boy shuddered.
xxx
"And over here?" Shawn briefly looked away from his blueprints to smirk at the camera. "That's my septic tank-slash-emergency exit. I've taken enough precautions to make sure nothing can come back up it, so it should be a safe, if smelly, way out if I need one."
xxx
"Fortunately," Alejandro smirked, "his fixation on a fictional zombie apocalypse is something I can use against him. He really is a strange little man."
xxx
"It'll be a hard run getting all the money I need," Shawn said while looking proudly at his blueprints, "but it'll be worth it. I just gotta make sure I survive until then."
xxx
"As for Bridgette...," Alejandro paused a moment to think, "well, there's a reason she needs to go next. Her niceness, though completely naïve, does make her likeable enough to potentially earn more votes than me during the finale. Fortunately, she isn't much of a threat otherwise so I only need to convince Shawn to vote for her tonight."
xxx
"Alejandro is gonna be a tough one to beat," Bridgette said. "He's smart, he's athletic, he has so many talents it's almost ridiculous, and I just know he'd find a way to convince the others to vote for him to win. I just have to hope his ego and the few weaknesses he does have will be enough to take him down!"
xxx
Shawn put his blueprints away and his face fell. "I just hope that I'm not the only one who manages survive. I don't wanna be the only one who doesn't become zombie chow."
xxx
/
The confessionals finally ended as the scene cut to the lights hanging over the amphitheater stage. The camera panned down, showing the three campers – Bridgette on the left, Shawn in the middle, Alejandro on the right – sitting behind a makeshift table composed of a long cabinet and a crate, the host standing on the other side. "Campers!" Chris began, "Welcome to the semi-finals! The producers ran out of insane ways of torturing you, soooo," the three teens were briefly shown exchanging nervous glances with one another, "they asked the ousted campers for ideas. Turns out," he shrugged, "they had a lot. They provided us with the sickest, most twisted and insane dares imaginable in TDI's version of," he stepped aside as a smooth jazz tune began to play, "Spin the Bottle!" A large wooden wheel had appeared in the space between him and the campers; a comically large green plastic soda bottle was attached in the center in front of a red-and-white starburst pattern, and along the rim were photos of the nineteen former competitors.
"Starting with," Chris said as the camera flashed to focus on each person in turn, "Scarlett! B! Lightning! Topher! Beardo! Sierra! Sugar! Beth! Ezekiel! Sam! DJ! Geoff! Dakota! Scott! Dawn! Jo! Amy and Samey!," the twins' pictures seemed to be glaring at one another, "and the compulsively lying chatterbox, Staci!"
"Put 'em all together," Chris told the camera as it focused back on him, "and you have a high-stakes game of I," he sent the bottle spinning, "Triple Dog Dare You!"
"Seems a little juvenile if you ask me," Alejandro said as the smooth jazz ended and the camera panned to the contestants. "I had hoped the semi-finals would be more sophisticated than a child's party game, but I suppose that was too much to ask."
"Hey, as long as there's no kissing involved," Bridgette added, "I'm cool with it."
"Agreed," Shawn spoke up from his seat in the middle.
"Each player will take turns spinning the bottle," Chris continued without acknowledging the contestants. A snazzy game show tune began to play as the camera focused on the bottle spinning around and around, eventually stopping so that the open neck pointed at Ezekiel's picture, sandwiched between Dakota and Beth. "The camper that you land on determines the dare you'll perform." He walked over to Chef, who was wearing a sparkly pink dress complete with gloves, a pink chef's hat, and jewelry, and was holding a tray with three regular-sized soda bottles on it. "You can take the dare yourself and win a get-out-of-dare freebie," he said as he picked up one of the bottles, "ooorrr, inflict the dare on a fellow camper in hopes of booting them out."
"And what happens if we decline the dare?" Alejandro asked, eyes narrowed in cautious suspicion.
The game show tune ended with a deep and thundering beat as Chris smiled at the campers. "Oh, not a good option!" he waved off as an ominous tune rose in the background. "Anyone who chickens out of their dare will be sent directly to the Dock of Shame," the camera quick-panned to the pier with the boat already waiting, "board the Boat of Losers, do not go to bonfire," a dramatic beat as the focus moved back to Chris, "do not collect marshmallow," another dramatic beat, "and do not get to win one hundred thousand dollars!" He motioned to the side as a canoe filled with money dropped onto the stage, accompanied by a different game show-esque jingle.
xxx
"A sudden death elimination?!" Alejandro exclaimed in the outhouse confessional. "This does not bode well for me and my well-maintained body."
xxx
/
"Okay!" Chris said as he stepped behind an oil drum podium. "Who's ready to humiliate themselves first?"
A short, dramatic tune played as the three campers resolutely said nothing, the music acting as a timer before one of them finally shrugged. "Might as well get this over with," Bridgette offered, walking over to the wheel and giving the bottle a spin.
xxx
"Okay," the host explained with an excited grin, "so here's the deal." His eyes darted around the outhouse, and he lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "Chef and I have a little side bet going. Whoever pukes first has to pony up a hundred bucks."
xxx
"Okay, let's get this party started!" Chris exclaimed over a shot of Bridgette watching the bottle spin down. It landed on the left side of the wheel, pointing at a certain redheaded farmer. "Scott's dare," the host began to read off a note card. "Suck on one of Chef Hatchet's stinky sweat socks for ten seconds."
Dramatic beats were played as each contestant grimaced in turn – first Bridgette, then Alejandro, then Shawn. "Bridgette," the host said plainly, "you can perform the dare yourself, or, dare one of your competitors to do it."
The surfer girl slowly closed her gaping mouth, and donned a look of contemplation. "Either way," Chris laughed, "someone's getting a face full of sock in the next minute!"
"Well in that case," Bridgette smirked, "I'll dare Alejandro to do it."
The camera focused on Alejandro, who gulped and looked over at Chef. The hulking man grinned evilly as he pulled one of his combat boots off, and took off the visibly stinky sock underneath. He walked it over to Alejandro as the music became deep and tense. The tall boy's eyes went even wider as the sock was presented to him; he picked it up and slowly put it into his mouth. Ominous chanting was heard as he started to suck on it, the camera focusing ever closer on his grimacing face and the tears streaming out of his clenched-shut eyes.
A ding came from off-screen, and he spat the sock out and fell to the floor, clutching his mouth and gagging. The shadows of Chris and Chef fell onto his writhing form as the two began to chuckle. "Oh man," the host said, "that was sooo sick! I nearly puked!" Chef Hatchet gave him an inquisitive look, so he added a simple "Nearly." Chef nodded, and the footage cut ahead to the next dare.
/
Alejandro quickly gargled some water and spit it out as he walked up and spun the wheel. After a few tense seconds it landed on the picture of the braces-bearing wannabe. "Beth's dare is," Chris read off his cards, "re-chewing a wad of Sugar's gum."
Chef used a pair of tongs to hold up a mason jar with a wad of pink gum inside, and Alejandro raised his eyebrows briefly before narrowing them into a devilish look. "Bridgette," he told the surfer, "consider this my payback."
The blonde cringed, but nonetheless made her way up to center stage to where the gum jar waited on a small table. She looked at it warily as Chef stretched his pink gloves tight and took the wad out with his tongs, placing it inside an incredibly reluctant Bridgette's mouth as the boys watched in horror and disgust.
She chewed once, then recoiled. "Sugar, what kind of gum is this?" she moaned as the camera focused in on the pageant star's smiling portrait. "It tastes like cinnamon and meat."
"Just keep chewing," Alejandro told her with a dark smile.
The surfer obliged, the look of disgust never leaving her face. "Can I stop yet?" she said after a few more seconds. "I think I can taste Sugar's spit."
Chris and Chef cringed. "Yeah," the host told her, "I think it's safe to say you pass."
Bridgette immediately spat the gum out, and a spat few more times for good measure before going back to her seat.
"I wonder if Geoff will remember that the next time you two meet," Alejandro told her.
"And I suppose people will be lining up to kiss you?" Bridgette shot back coolly, earning a frown from Alejandro.
/
The game show tune began again as Shawn hesitantly stepped up and spun the wheel; it landed on the heiress who was blowing a kiss in her photograph. "Dakota," Chris announced. "Let Chef shave your head!"
Shawn was silent for a moment, then asked "That's it?" in disbelief.
"That's it," Chris repeated with a shrug.
"I'll take it then!" Shawn said in an almost eager tone, walking over to the chair that had been set up. His small smile faded as Chef approached him, a grimace on his face and a nasty-looking electric razor buzzing in his hands.
The camera panned away as Shawn's toque was tossed aside, and the sounds of hair being shaved were interrupted by the occasional pained cry. The two other contestants were focused on, both cringing but unable to take their eyes off the spectacle.
"Ouch," the surfer said after a particularly loud yelp. "Still, at least he didn't get anything gross. It's painful, but it doesn't seem that bad."
"Speak for yourself," Alejandro told her, still unable to tear his wide eyes away. "Unlike you two, I take pride in my personal appearance."
"Oh, so you're saying that would be enough to get you to give up?" Bridgette shot at him with a smirk.
"No," the charmer shot back, "I just don't believe it's as easy a dare as you say it is."
Bridgette gave him a suspicious look, but she didn't say anything else before the camera cut away. The electric razor had been turned off, and Shawn felt his tender head – Chef had been thorough in his efforts, and the survivalist was now bald. Notably, there seemed to be several small cuts on his scalp.
"And Shawn wins the first freebie!" Chris announced, handing the boy one of the soda bottles. "And a tetanus shot," he added nervously, "if you want. I really don't know where that thing's been..."
The newly-bald contestant looked up and felt his head again. "Yeah, probably not a bad idea," he told the host, accepting the freebie and picking his hat up off the ground.
xxx
"Alejandro cares a lot about his looks," Bridgette pondered in the outhouse, "I wonder if I can turn that against him?"
xxx
(Fade to Commercial Break and Back)
The scene faded in from black to show an aerial view of the island from a distance before cutting to the Chris' smiling face at the amphitheater stage. "Welcome back to TDI's semi-finals!" he announced as the game show music began to play again. "And a challenge we like to call, 'I Triple Dog Dare You!' Bridgette," he motioned to his side, "you're up next!"
The surfer spun the oversized bottle, and it went around several times before finally coming to rest on the toque-wearing homeschooler, Ezekiel. "Chew your own toenail," Chris told her, "sloooow-lyyyy."
Bridgette looked uncertain for a moment, but finally shrugged. "What the heck? I'll do it." She took a seat, removed one of her sandals, and stuck out her leg for Chef. The hulking man clipped her big toe and caught the nail on a plate, then wordlessly presented it. Bridgette picked it up, eyed it for a second, then tossed it into her mouth. The boys cringed, Alejandro more so than Shawn, as she slowly began to chew the tiny thing, and eventually swallowed it.
"That wasn't...sooo bad," she said forcibly, sticking her tongue out in disgust and accepting a soda bottle from Chris. "At least I got a freebie out of it."
"Indeed you did," Alejandro said as he stood up and moved out from behind his crate. "But I shall be the next one to earn a freebie." Brimming with stubborn confidence, he gave the bottle a spin; it landed on uber-jock Lightning.
xxx
"As much as I hate to," Alejandro admitted, "I need to do the dares I'm given if I want to stay in the game. As long as I have freebies, I'm safe from whatever the others dare me to do."
xxx
"You gotta chug a glass of milk," Chris announced with a milk carton in hand, "that's just a few days past its expiration date. Just enough to make it a bit chunky," he said with a chuckle, giving the carton a shake. He handed it to Chef, who began to pour it into a tall glass – several distinct plops were heard, each of which caused Alejandro's grimace to become more intense.
"I don't get disqualified if I throw up, do I?" Alejandro asked nervously as he accepted the glass from Chef.
"Not if you can get it all down first," Chris answered plainly.
"Right...," the handsome boy groaned. He gulped, then began to chug. The camera cut away, the sounds of him steadily swallowing loud and clear as Bridgette looked ready to vomit herself. It cut back to the empty glass, panning out and up to show Alejandro with a dazed look on his face – as well as a distinct milk mustache. His eyes twitched as he silently wiped it off, and then it all came back up in a stream of vomit that was hastily directed off-stage.
Chris was shown grimacing at the sight and sound, but he recovered quickly. "You still cool?" he asked his partner, who despite his horrified expression managed to nod.
/
The footage flashed ahead, showing Alejandro lying on a stretcher with a breathing mask over his mouth and nose and the telltale beeps of an electrocardiograph machine in the background. "Okay," Chris said, "we'll give Al a few more minutes on life support before we start the next round. Until then, Chef made snacks! Cookies and milk, anyone?" He motioned to his assistant, who walked up with a tray of cookies and several glasses of milk. Alejandro took one look and threw up again, but the two older men happily started to eat anyway.
/
The footage cut forward, showing the bottle landing on DJ's smiling portrait. "Well, this is probably gonna be another easy one," Shawn said, his knit cap hiding his baldness well.
"Your dare is," Chris told him, lingering just a few moments, "to do a lap around the camp, in your birthday suit."
"Wait, you mean I gotta run around out there naked?" Shawn asked in surprise.
"Well, you or one of the others," the host told him. "Or, y'know, you could just use your freebie, but I don't think that would be as, uh, memorable."
The bald young man tapped his chin in thought for a moment. "Yeah, I'll do it," he finally said. "Shouldn't be much different than running around fully-clothed, at least in terms of evading the undead."
Another skip forward put the focus on a pile of Shawn's discarded clothes; the camera cut to him but was careful not to show anything below his waist. "I'll be back in a bit," he said with a wave, the shot lingering on Bridgette and Alejandro's embarrassed looks before shifting to behind Shawn as he jogged away from the amphitheater, his butt thoroughly pixellated.
Several clips were shown of him running through or past familiar parts of camp were shown, including the cabin; the Dock of Shame, where a shark surfaced and blinked in disbelief at him; the boathouse; the totem pole, where a pair of squirrels started laughing the moment he was out of sight; and finally back to the stage.
/
Chris handed another freebie to Shawn as he put his shirt back on and took his seat, then Bridgette was shown spinning the bottle. It landed on Sierra's picture, prompting Chris to say "Eat a bark and mud sandwich." Bridgette smirked and looked straight at Alejandro, who recoiled in disgust.
"Eating bark isn't that bad," Shawn advised him, "at least, as long as you don't get any splinters."
"I...think I'll just use my freebie," Alejandro announced after giving the survivalist an odd look.
"Good call," the host told him as the charmer held up his soda bottle. The footage skipped ahead to show Alejandro standing next to the bottle as it spun again, eventually stopping at silent genius B. "Drink a kitchen grease and crab apple smoothie," Chris happily announced.
"Hmm," Alejandro said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Although it is tempting to keep the pressure on my opponents," he told the host, "I'd prefer having a freebie in case I need it. I'll take the dare."
"Hey, your choice," Chris replied with a shrug and a smirk, "and I bet you'll probably regret it pretty soon."
xxx
"So freakin' sick," Chris told the confessional camera in disbelief before donning a cocky smirk. "Chef's goin' down!"
xxx
The scene cut back to the stage as Chef dropped a blender – already filled with enough ice to make a smoothie – onto a small table. While both Chris and Alejandro watched on in disgust he poured grease into it from a large pot with the assistance of a funnel, then tossed both the funnel and the pot away. He then held up a handful of nasty-looking crab apples and added them one by one, and finally he blended it all up and poured it into a glass.
"That's so gross," Chris laughed as the glass was handed to a very reluctant Alejandro. The handsome boy pinched his nose and closed his eyes as he began to drink the greenish-brown mixture, the camera cutting to the disgusted reactions of Bridgette, Shawn, Chris, and Chef before showing cutting back to Alejandro just as he finished the drink.
He paused in a moment's stupor before his cheeks bulged and he leaned off-camera to vomit. The sound was enough to nearly cause both older men to retch, but they managed to forcibly swallow before allowing their bet to be decided.
/
The next scene showed Alejandro slumping against his chair, holding his forehead and groaning. The camera panned left as Shawn got up to take his turn, and Bridgette gave the disgusted charmer a surprised look.
"I can't believe you went through with that!" she told him. "I thought for sure I was gonna have to use up my freebie!"
Alejandro looked at her, burped, then groaned and slumped forward.
The camera cut over to the bald boy as her nervously spun the bottle for a third time; it landed on Sammy. "Eat cat food," Chris told him with an anticipatory look on his face.
"Cat food?" Shawn repeated. "Is it safe for, uh, human consumption?"
The host shrugged. "You've got a couple freebies you could use y'know," he told the boy, "or you could try daring one of the others for a change."
Shawn frowned in thought. "I guess, but I'd rather wait to do that kinda thing for when I have more freebies saved up. Guess I'm tryin' the cat food!"
Chris and Chef exchanged a shrug as the dress-wearing man opened a small tin of wet cat food and dumped it on a plate with a noticeable 'plop' that made Shawn wince slightly. He was handed the plate and a white plastic spoon, gulped, and shoved a scoop into his mouth. The other four were shown watching him in shock as he closed his eyes and got into forceful a rhythm – scoop, chew, swallow; scoop, chew, swallow. Soon enough, it was all gone.
"Surprisingly," he said with a disgusted grimace as he finally opened his eyes and wiped the last few bits of cat food off his mouth, "not the worst thing I've ever eaten." He burped, and the smell of it finally sent Chris over the edge – he leaned over the edge of the stage and puked, then handed a wad of bills to Chef. The hulking man's smile was soon destroyed as he, too, threw up the contents of his stomach, and that in turn set both Bridgette and Alejandro off. Neither had the time to leave their seats, though, and so were forced to spew their streams of vomit directly onto the stage.
xxx
"Okay," Chris groaned in the outhouse, "that was soooo groooss!" His cheeks suddenly bulged and he brought his hands to his mouth, but was soon forced to bend over and vomit on the outhouse floor. "Is there nothing these freaks won't do?!" he exclaimed, well out of sight of the camera.
xxx
/
A smooth jazz tune began to play over a montage of dares. The spinning bottle landed on Geoff, and the scene cut to the communal toilets as Chris poured a pack of powdered fruit punch into one of the toilet bowls, plunged it thoroughly, and stepped aside so Bridgette could drink it through a straw. The bottle landed on Topher, and Alejandro was shown riding on the back of a shark, rodeo-style. The bottle landed on Staci, and Chef handed a tray of ice cubes to Shawn who put a few into his mouth and began to chew hard.
The bottle landed on Amy, and Alejandro winced as he slowly placed a small, wrinkly green pepper into his mouth. He swallowed it, then clutched his throat as his face went red, his eyes watered, and for one brief second fire shot out of his mouth. The bottle landed on Jo, and Shawn was shown in full camouflage paint, wrestling a bear with a rope in his hands; he eventually managed to hogtie it. The bottle landed on Beardo, and Bridgette was shown putting on a blindfold and tiptoeing forward. The camera zoomed out, showing a number of rakes lying around the stage; the clumsy surfer stepped on the end of one, causing the handle to smack her in the face.
The montage came to an end, and with it the smooth jazz tune. "I can't believe no one's dropped out," Chris told them, "and Shawn already has seven freebies!"
"Heh, yeah," Shawn said sheepishly, "I guess I have been doing a lot of dares, huh?"
"Bridgette and Alejandro, not so much," Chris added while the camera zoomed out, showing a pair of freebies in front of the surfer, one in front of the charmer, and the host himself walking towards the campers. "But not to worry," he said while holding up his stack of note cards on which the dares were written, "there's still plenty to be motivated about!"
"Hey," Bridgette whispered to the boy next to her, "we need to start sending all our dares to Alejandro so he gets taken down!"
Alejandro overheard her, and leaned in to catch Shawn's other ear. "I hope you realize she's only saying that because she thinks you'll be easier to beat in the finale, amigo."
"Uh, excuse me?" Bridgette said, taking offense and leaning closer to Shawn. "If I only cared about who I could beat, I'd be trying to take you to the finale with me, not him. Or did you forget about all the people you've eliminated? Because I'm pretty sure they'd vote for me instead of you."
"If they do," Alejandro scoffed, "then they're poorer sports than I took them for. It's not like it was ever personal, it was just strategy!"
"Yeah, well, not everyone appreciates your kind of strategy," Bridgette countered. "Don't get me wrong, I get that we all wanna win, but that doesn't mean that people will overlook the fact that you used them. Because despite what you said, it is personal, Alejandro, it's always personal. Just because this is a game doesn't mean you can get away with pretending to like someone only to stab them in the back the first chance you get!"
"How can you be so naïve?!" Alejandro shot back, leaning in front of Shawn to glare at Bridgette. "Perhaps some may not be able to accept their loss, but most people respect the better players!"
:If that's really the case," Bridgette said as she, too, leaned in front of Shawn, "then why have you only been trying to get me out? Are you scared of going to the finale with me?"
Alejandro's glare and scowl broke with that comment, and he took too long to come up with a response. "Excuse me," Shawn interrupted, sliding his hands between the faces of his two competitors and pushing them away from him, "but could please stop crowding me?" Both Bridgette and Alejandro looked embarrassed and muttered apologies.
"Thank you," Shawn told them. "Now as for my strategy," the camper on either side of him listened intently, "I honestly don't know if I can beat either of you. But if I'm gonna be runner-up, I'd rather be runner-up to the girl who's been pretty good to me," he pointed a thumb at Bridgette who smiled happily, "instead of the guy who insults my body odor whenever he walks by and thinks I can't hear him." He leveled a light glare at Alejandro, who groaned and slapped his forehead.
"Uhh, are you all about finished?" Chris interrupted, the camera shifting over to show him still waiting on the stage. "Because I kinda wanna keep this challenge moving."
"Right, sorry!" Bridgette said, quickly dashing up to the wheel and giving the bottle a good spin – it landed on a certain redheaded brainiac.
"Scarlett's dare," Chris announced, "is to open the Mystery Box!" He motioned to Chef who was standing next to a small table, holding a cloth that was hiding something from view. With a savage grin he pulled it off, revealing an ordinary-looking cardboard box which was making a sound that was anything but.
"...is it ticking?!" Bridgette asked in the beginnings of panic.
"Don't worry," Chris told her, "Scarlett said it wouldn't hurt anybody...probably."
Bridgette shrugged uncertainly, then pointed at Alejandro. Chef carefully handed him the box with a pair of tongs, and the handsome young man silently decided to open it at his seat.
The moment he lifted a single flap, it exploded into a cloud of green gas. The camera panned down to show him crawling out of it on his hands and knees, coughing all the way. It dissipated quickly, but left behind a strong stench that clung to Alejandro. "Oh, it is on," he managed to say before coughing again.
Almost immediately after another montage of dares began, complete with the jazzy tune that had been used previously. First, Alejandro was shown in a close-up with a large spider crawling on his face; the camera pulled back and revealed that he had been covered with them. Next, the Sasquatchanakwa was shown sleeping on its side in a cave until a short buzzing noise woke it up; it turned and saw Alejandro holding an electric razor and a tuft of purple fur, then roared furiously. Bridgette was next, getting several pies thrown at her face; her obvious fear was unusual considering how normal they were, until one hit her and fell off, revealing a jellyfish on her face that promptly gave her an electric shock.
A few short clips were played of each contestant holding up a freebie before Alejandro was shown again hugging a large cactus which had gotten a smiley face drawn on it. Bridgette was shown again, crawling inside a barrel; the point-of-view shifted so that the surfer was shown inside the closed barrel as it started to shake and she scrunched up her face in fear and anticipation. The camera cut to the outside, revealing that her and her barrel had been brought to the top of the thousand-foot-high cliff by Chef, who promptly tossed her off.
The next clip shown began with a grumpy pig sitting next to a tall pile of manure; Chef scooped some of it into a bucket, then slammed the bucket onto Alejandro's head. The camera zoomed back, showing that a cannon had been brought on stage and the tall young man forced into the end of it; Chris swung the barrel to face the pile, then shot Alejandro – the bucket still on his head – waist deep into pig manure.
/
The music and montage ended, and it was once again Bridgette's turn to spin the bottle. She sent a confident smirk at Alejandro before the bottle landed on Sugar's happy grin.
"I...do not know if this is a good thing," Alejandro remarked with no freebies left in front of him, "or a bad thing."
"I'm gonna have to say bad," Chris said with a chuckle before reading off the dare. "Let Chef punch you in the face!"
"What?!" Alejandro exclaimed, eyes going wide with dread as the music spiked dramatically.
"Wow," Shawn said as Bridgette rejoined him, "that's...oddly direct."
"Yeah, seriously," the surfer added in mild shock.
Chef grinned, removing his pink gloves and cracking his knuckles. "I'm gonna enjoy this," he said slowly as he balled his left hand into a fist.
"So what's it gonna be, Al?" Chris asked as the handsome young man reluctantly stepped into center stage. "Are you going to do the dare," Chef's grin deepened enough that Alejandro flinched, "or take the Walk of Shame?" The camera panned over to the waiting Boat of Losers, which gave a few toots of its horn. The shot rapidly switched from Chef Hatchet's bare fist, to the canoe full of money, to Alejandro as he began to shake nervously, to Bridgette and Shawn as they waited with anxious expressions, and back again to Chef and Alejandro as the former finally swung.
"NOT THE FACE!" Alejandro cried, ducking under the punch and shoving his assailant in the stomach. Chef stumbled back a step and his grin became a scowl; he quickly readied his fist again and caught Alejandro with an uppercut as the young man tried to stand up. The impact was shown in slow-motion as the boy's handsome face contorted and a single tooth was sent flying. He fell to the stage floor; Chef gave him a look of contempt, snorted, and walked away.
The camera immediately shifted to Alejandro as he sat up and felt his mouth, quickly noticing the tooth missing from his upper jaw. "Wha-gah!" he exclaimed incoherently, quickly getting back on his feet.
"Wow," Chris said blankly. "Well that probably could have been avoided. Looks like Alejandro's out!"
"Excuse me?" Alejandro looked at him in outrage. "He punched me!"
"Yeah," the host told him, "but you didn't actually want him to, meaning you didn't accept the dare. If you hadn't fought back, you still would've been punched, but you would have at least still been in the game."
"Wow," Bridgette said, still stunned, "looks like we found Al's weak point."
"That was harsh," Shawn nodded.
Alejandro dropped to his knees and shouted loudly to the sky above. "NOOOOOOOO!" The anguished cry echoed throughout Wawanakwa, scaring birds into flight, squirrels into their tree hollows, and even catching the attention of the nineteen former contestants hanging around the pool at Playa Des Losers.
"You can't do this to me!" Alejandro yelled, grabbing Chris by the shoulders.
"Sorry," the host said as he brushed the hands away from him, "those are the rules!"
"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!" Alejandro angrily followed up.
"Yeah," Chris drawled, "I sorta forgot, sorry. But here's the rub: you lose, they win."
Alejandro growled angrily as Bridgette and Shawn jumped to their feet in excitement. "No way!" they exclaimed together as they began to celebrate. "We did it! We won!"
The tall young ex-camper grit his teeth and clenched a fist. "Very well," he said with an eery calm, "but mark my words, you will be hearing from my lawyers." He picked his tooth up off the stage, then stormed off.
"Yeah, I'm sure we will," Chris said as he followed the ex-camper, causally tossing a set of keys to Chef. "It's gonna be a long ride," he added, as Bridgette and Shawn stood and followed them off.
/
"Oh yes," Alejandro declared, now on board the Boat of Losers with the host and remaining contestants on the dock nearby. "a long ride awaits all who wrong Alejandro Burromuerto!" Chef, still in his dress, made his way into the cabin as the usual elimination music began to play in the background.
"And then there were two," Chris said as the camera panned to him and the boat departed, Bridgette and Shawn exchanging a happy high-five. "Tune in to see who will win the check for one hundred thousand dollars on Total! Drama! Island!"
With each word the camera zoomed out further, showing Alejandro standing stoically on the deck of the ship until it went out-of-frame, and the island in it's entirety was shown from far above.
(Fade to Credits)
Author's Note - Post Script
I hope that ending wasn't too, uh, blunt. I knew early on that I didn't want to do the same thing that canon did and butcher Alejandro's hair; he cares about his looks, but I wanted to do something different - thus, it was Shawn who got shaved instead. For Alejandro, though, I knew I wanted to hit him where it would hurt the most - his face. Deciding to make it be a punch to the face took a bit of thinking, though, but I believe it works.
Who would get the honors of creating that final dare took a bit more - since it was Lindsay in canon, I was inclined to have it be someone similar in this story, but there weren't really any good choices for that. But when I thought of the straightforwardness of the dare, I realized it would suit Sugar pretty well. And that, in turn, helped me decide on the order of the other dares - I based who created them off their spots in opening theme compared to who had those spots in canon. For instance, in canon the first three dares came from Duncan, Ezekiel, and Beth, whose spots in the TSI opening had been given to Scott, Beth, and Dakota. I wasn't able to follow that conversion scheme completely, but it worked for most of the dares.
Incidentally, I'm crediting FOWLKON for being the only person to actually suggest a dare on time. It was the one where Alejandro shaved the back of Sasquatchanakwa, and although it was only a minor clip it still needs to be properly attributed.
And thus, we now have our finalists - Bridgette and Shawn. I think a lot of people predicted this, and from my end I will state that I wanted the two finalists to be heroic from the beginning. Shawn was obvious, Bridgette not so much but once I realized that I wanted her to be part of one of the main pairings for the seasons, I realized that she would be a good female lead in Gwen's place. Based on the reviews it seems this decision was the right one.
The finale has been written, of course, and the canon winner has already been decided. I'll post that chapter once I'm halfway done with the special episode, which should probably be in six days. But until then, get hyped for the finale of Total! Shuffled! Island!
- Fangren
Appendix: TSI Eliminated Contestants
Staci - (22nd Place)
Dakota - (RETURNED)
Ezekiel - (21st Place)
Sugar - (20th Place)
Lightning - (RETURNED)
Amy - (RETURNED)
Scott - (19th Place)
Beth - (18th Place)
Sierra - (17th Place)
Topher - (16th Place)
Sam - (15th Place)
Beardo - (14th Place)
Dawn - (13th Place)
Amy - (12th Place)
Geoff - (11th Place)
Dakota - (10th Place)
DJ - (9th Place)
B - (8th Place)
Sammy - (7th Place)
Scarlett - (6th Place)
Lightning - (5th Place)
Jo - (4th Place)
Alejandro - (3rd Place)