Episode 11: The Not So Stealthy Ninjas
"Last time on Total Drama Action: You watched our final four castmates, John, Violet, Mark, and Madison, participate in a relatively simple task; writing a comedy skit. Once again, the guys were pitted against the chicks, and the skits had to impress our local resident judge: Jay.
"John went through a…transformation, if you will, and totally turned from all-out, doom-to-the-world Goth Boy to a regular, normal kid, who now has a lighter view on the human race. All courtesy of Mary's departure kiss at the end of the previous Gilded Chris Ceremony.
"The girls started off in a skit that completely mocked my good name, and made me look like a complete fool! Thankfully, Jay was quick to point out how distasteful that was, and failed them. However, the girls unintentionally set the example for the boys, inspiring to take a similar approach, and write a skit that made fun of someone. However, that someone was none other than Cameraman Hatchet!
"The skit was hysterically hilarious, and, though it failed to crack up Jay, he did approve of the guys' performance over the girls', and passed them, giving them Invincibility.
"That night, it was the greatest landslide vote in the history of Total Drama, in which practically ninety-nine percent of our viewers voted for Madison! It was so awesome! See ya later, sexist!
"So Mark and John have betrayed Cameraman, and their not-so-secret alliance. How will he manage on his own? Will he succeed in getting his job back? Or will he simply resort to setting more booby-traps like last time?!
"Uh, sorry. Anyway, so we're down to our final three: Mark, John, and Violet. As you all know, this will be Violet's second time of getting into the final three! But can she make it into the final two? There's only one way to find out: Sit back, relax, strap on your seatbelt, and get ready for the awesome semifinal episode of Total…Drama…Action!"
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Chris stood outside the Craft Services Tent, completely decked-out in a black jumpsuit, with a black, leather belt around his waist, a black mask in hand, and a katana blade in the other. He peeked in on the unsuspecting three castmates.
"Ho, ho, ho! This is gonna be SO good!" He chuckled to himself as he donned the mask, which had a rectangular hole in the front for his eyes to see through. He then reached into his suit and pulled out a small, egg-shaped device with a pin sticking out the top.
Meanwhile, in the Tent, the castmates were calmly eating their breakfast.
"Oh, I cannot wait for the challenge today!" Mark exclaimed. "It's gonna be cool to play in one challenge now without that sexist around anymore!"
"But didn't we play, like, the first six tasks without her before she came back?" Violet asked.
"Well, yeah. But that was before we found out how horrible she was. And then we would learn to appreciate her not being here anymore."
"I'm just glad to make it to the final three, eh." John admitted. "It's quite an honor."
"Yeah…you would say that." Violet muttered.
"Huh?" Both Mark and John asked.
"Neither of you have been to the final three before. I have. And…I don't know why…but I'm afraid that I'm gonna be kicked off in this episode again."
"Why would you say that?" Mark asked.
Violet shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, when I was in the final three last season, I was more than confident about my chances. But of course, I had Peter against me, so I never would have thought that-."
Suddenly, a Click was heard. The castmates turned as a small, egg-shaped object flew into the Tent, and landed in-between the tables.
Their eyes widened when they saw what it was.
"A GRENADE?!?!" They all simultaneously exclaimed.
The grenade then exploded in a massive blast of smoke, sending all of the castmates into an immediate coughing fit.
"Cough!"
"Hack!"
"Wheeze!"
"Ack!"
Just then, a dark shape moved through the mist, heading straight towards the teens.
"Who's (Cough) who's there, e-(ack!)-h!" John coughed.
Just then, one of the figure's arms instantly grew longer, with a pointed tip. Suddenly, the sharp blade came crashing down onto the table, slicing their dishes in half.
All of the castmates screamed.
"HA, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA! Hee, hee! Oh, that is rich!"
"CHRIS!!!!"
"Ha-ha! Did I scare you?" The cloud of smoke dissipated, and the host lifted up his mask.
"What was your first clue?" Violet asked. "Our all cowering in fear, or the loud screams of terror?"
"All fitting into today's part of the challenge." Chris then showed off his sword, twirling it around several times. "Castmates, for your semifinal task, you will be participating in an all-out, grueling, mind-bending, and physically demanding task. Today's genre: The ninja movie!"
"Oh, God."
"You will be leaping up great platforms, dodging flames, and even fighting each other to the death!"
The castmates gasped.
"Heh, heh. No, not really to the death. But the challenges will be all-out physical!"
Mark glanced down at his wrapped-up shoulder.
"Ninjas must be agile, fast, and able to beat the snot out of each other. Today, the three of you shall compete in three parts of the task. The first part: The Fire Leap!"
Gasps around the room, especially from Violet.
Make-Up Confessional
Violet: OH…he said that horrible "F" word! Fire. I knew this would happen – I just knew it! Fire's involved in the semifinal round again. I'm gonna be eliminated again, just like last season! (Sighs heavily, looks down at the floor of the booth) I was really hoping I would get farther…
Mark: Doing an all-out physical challenge…with a broken scapula? … … …No problem! What? You didn't actually think I was scared, did you? Heck, no! I don't care if it's a broken scapula or a broken back; I'll give it my all, no matter what.
End
Despite the horrified look on Violet's face, Chris continued. "In this first part, you must leap across many small, stone pillars, all the while jumping above and between huge bursts of FIRE!" The cynical host made sure to put great emphasis in the last word. "So get your butts ready, and try not to get burned to a crisp!"
Violet, still refusing to believe what she was hearing, fell out of her chair.
About ten minutes later...
Violet stumbled out of the infirmary, with Mark and John guiding her as she struggled with each step.
"Ooooooooohhhhhh… …" She moaned.
"Really, Chris; was that necessary?" John asked the host, who simply shrugged.
"I don't care who faints; ya still gotta participate in the challenge! It's either that, or you're outta here!" He jerked a thumb to the nearby Theatre.
"N-no!" Violet mumbled. "I will…I…will not lose!"
She then quickly brushed Mark and John away, and mumbled to the host, "B-br-bring it on!"
"Now that's the spirit, Violet." Chris said. "But first…you all have to wear these."
He then pulled out a bundle of black clothing and tossed it to them. They each ended up with their own jumpsuit in hand, just like the one he was wearing.
"Never thought I'd be wearing all black again this soon, eh?" John commented.
A few minutes later...
The castmates were all decked out in their ninja outfits, with only their eyes and a small part of their noses showing.
"I'm surprised that I can actually breathe in this thing." Violet commented.
"Now, brave warriors, it is almost time for you to begin your journey." Chris then folded his hands and bowed slightly. "You must first enter this cave." He gestured to the huge, yawning cave entrance next to him. "Once inside, you will come to a deep, deep canyon. There are many of those small pillars dotted throughout the canyon, and will serve as your only footing. Remember, a consistent line of fire is shooting below you, and vertical pillars of flame will also shoot up wherever, and whenever, you least expect them. Whoever reaches the end first will receive a special reward to help them with the next phase of the challenge.
"On the third count, you will all go."
Next to him stood Jay, wearing a massive black jumpsuit. His large muscles bulged underneath the outfit, making him look more intimidating than ever. He raised a huge blade into the air, readying it like a flag.
"On your mark…" Chris started. Jay had the blade exactly parallel to the ground.
"Get set…" Jay raised the sword really high.
"GO!"
Jay swung the blade down, creating a loud SWOOSH of air, as well as a brief flash of light reflecting the sun, which shot up into the air and blinded a passing eagle. The stunned bird fell to the ground, hitting the hard concrete after the castmates all reluctantly entered the cave.
Chris remained bowed until he heard the SPLAT! He looked over and saw the bird.
"Ah, darn it! Not again!" Chris stomped his foot angrily.
The castmates moved slowly into the cave, enveloped in darkness.
"Hello?" Mark called out, hoping his friends would hear him. His single call echoed across the whole cave, repeating itself at least five times before it finally died down.
"Mark? Where are you, eh?"
"I can't see a darn thing in here!" Violet called back.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar. The entire cave was instantly illuminated in a pale orange light. The castmates all found themselves not two feet away from the edge of a massive pit, and steady streams of fire shot out from it, almost as if the floor of the pit was the fire. They looked across, and could barely see the other side of the pit. They knew that it had to be at least 200 feet to the other end, and the depth looked to be over 100 feet. They could see the numerous stone pillars dotting the canyon, standing tall above the flames; safe havens from the fire. Each one was no more than two and a half feet in diameter; barely wide enough for one person.
"Whoa…" Mark muttered as he leaned over slightly to look into the pit.
Suddenly, a vertical pillar of fire shot straight up, missing Mark's face by a half-inch.
"EEEEEYIKES!!!!!!" He screamed and tumbled backwards. The heat was unbelievable, and, although his face wasn't on fire, it still felt as if it was burning. And the black mask sure wasn't helping.
"Aah! Hot! Hot!!!" Mark fanned at his face, shaking it side-to-side. John and Violet watched in horror, but saw clearly that their friend wasn't too damaged…except…
"Mark! Your…your mask has been burned partially off!"
"Oh, great." Mark reached up and felt his forehead area, and could, in fact, feel skin there instead of the black material. Then, when he removed his hand, Violet and John noticed something far worse about his face.
"OH MY GOD!" Violet screamed. "Mark…your face!"
"What about it?" The optimist asked nervously. "Is it all red or something?"
"Well, yes." Violet responded. "But that's not what I'm pointing out! It's your eyebrows!"
"WHAT?" He then reached up to feel where his brown eyebrows should have been. Instead…
"Th-they're gone! They've been burned off!"
"HA! Ha, ha, ha, ha, HAAAAAAAAAA-ack!" Someone laughed maniacally before coughing from laughing so hard. The castmates all turned to see Chris, standing off to the side. He was wiping a tear from the small hole in his mask. Behind him stood Jay. "Oh, that is rich! Your face looks so stupid without eyebrows! HA!"
Mark simply stood there, covering the spot where his eyebrows should have been with one hand.
"Hee, hee. Oh…anyway, onto the challenge. Now, as you can all see here, there is a pit before you, filled with incredibly hot flames. As demonstrated by Mark over here, these flames are hot to the touch! So…try not to get burned alive."
Violet swallowed loudly, nervously. Her throat underneath the black material moved slightly as she swallowed.
"You must jump across all of those tiny little platforms, trying to beat your fellow castmates to the finish. Remember, first person to get across gets a special prize to help them with the next part of the challenge. Now, if you please, it's time to begin."
Mark and John lined up at the edge of the pit, ready to start. Violet, however, hanged back.
"Um, Violet?" Chris reminded her. "Time to start now. Get into position."
Violet swallowed again, then took a step forward.
"Good. Now on your mark…"
Jay raised his blade again. This time it glowed a pale orange color from the fire.
"Get set…"
Jay had the blade high above his head.
"That's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready…"
"CHRIS!" The castmates yelled.
"And GO!"
Jay brought the sword down, and the castmates jumped over the edge of the cliff. Chris quickly looked to catch all three moments at once. Mark landed on his, stumbled a bit, then stood up straight to regain his footing. John not only landed on the first one, but had enough extra momentum left over to leap to the next one. Violet landed on her pedestal, and immediately stood straight up, standing as stiff as a statue (trying saying that fast five times).
"And they're off!" Chris declared.
Just then, Cameraman walked up to the host and Jay. He too was wearing one of those black jumpsuits, except for one very important factor: it was so small on his large frame that it had torn itself apart, leaving only a bit around his waist area, gloves on his hands, fragments on his feet, and the mask on his head. He looked incredibly humiliating (what else is new?).
"I…cannot…stand it!" He declared.
Make-Up Confessional
Cameraman Hatchet (still wearing the now-skimpy outfit): I just don't get it! How the heck did this size suit fit JUST FINE on Mr. Terminator, and yet it immediately destroyed itself when I put it on?!?! It makes no sense!! It's like the whole freakin' universe is out to get me!!!!!!!!!1
Jay: (Shrugs)
End
Violet stood absolutely still on the small platform, not moving an inch.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God… She leaned over slightly and saw the constant orange flames, still shooting out beneath them.
"I'M GONNA DIE NOW! I'M GONNA FRICKIN' DIE!" She screamed.
Meanwhile, John was moving like a real ninja as he leaped from platform to platform, landing effortlessly and catlike on each one. He was already halfway through the course while Mark and Violet were only about five pillars away from the beginning.
At one point, he looked back and saw his friends lagging behind. Mark was struggling to keep his footing every time he jumped, wobbling and nearly falling over every now and then. Violet was still on the one she had first landed on.
John paused for a moment, then turned and looked at a nearby camera. He shrugged.
"Hey, they may be my friends, but what else can a guy do, eh? It's bad enough that I was throwing challenges for Mary. So in case you guys see this later, sorry."
He then turned away, finished with his brief narration, and prepared for the next leap. However, just as he took off, Violet suddenly screamed, "I'M GONNA DIE NOW! I'M GONNA FRICKIN' DIE!"
Although she was nearly 100 feet behind him, the scream was still unusually loud, and echoed throughout the cave. It was so loud and sudden, it startled John in midair. He suddenly lost his airtime and barely finished the jump. He hit the side of the next platform, avoiding falling completely into the flames only by shoving his hands into a small crevice on the surface of it.
John was now dangling nearly 100 feet above nothing but a blazing hot inferno.
Oh no… "HELP ME!!!" Meanwhile, Mark was struggling with his fourth platform. After landing the jump, he wobbled briefly, sticking out his good arm to balance out his weight from the other arm. "Wh-whoa!" He stuttered as he wobbled. A moment later, he regained his footing. He sighed in relief, then looked ahead of him at the forty or so platforms he had to go. "Oh, geez." He swallowed again, then made another jump. Several platforms behind him, Violet was still standing stiff, refusing to budge. She didn't dare look down at the fire again, but the roar was unbelievably loud, and she couldn't drown out the sound. She shut her eyes tight, nightmares of both her "bad experience" with fire and her elimination in the last season came back to her. She then opened her eyes as she remembered something. Her determination. People always believed that those who made it far in one season was usually voted off early in the next season. Well, she was determined to prove them wrong. She wanted to win. She had promised Matthew that she would.
"I…will…not…lose…AGAIN!"
And with that, a burst of sheer willpower and determination hit her. She immediately bolted to the next platform, landing gracefully on it. She placed one hand forward and on the rock to steady herself before standing up again. She jumped, performed a flip in midair, then landed on the next one.
"Hey…I'm doing it. I'm doing it!" She now found herself more able to ignore the roaring heat about 100 feet below. She leaped from platform to platform, even skipping a few in the process.
"I can't believe it…it's usually never this easy!" She commented as she made another jump.
"Too easy?" Chris called from the sidelines. "I can help with that!"
The cynical host then pulled out a detonator-like device. There were many buttons on it, some with different colors, some with different numbers, and some with both. He pressed a yellow button that was marked "13."
A vertical pillar of fire shot straight out in front of the platform Violet was on. Violet was just about to make a jump, and if she had made it, she would have been incinerated. This experience immediately threw her confidence off a great deal, and she stumbled backwards.
"WHOA!" She waved her arms wildly as one foot lifted off of the platform, leaving only one foot to keep her in place.
"NO!!!!!"
Chris was laughing his head off at the sight of the struggling Violet.
"Ah-ha! Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, HO! Oh, that is rich! Ruining a castmate's performance by hitting them with their worst fear; I love my job."
Only about fifteen platforms ahead of Violet, John was still dangling over the edge. Even with his amount of physical strength, he was unable to lift himself back up. The crevice that he had hooked his fingers in was literally right on the edge of the platform, rather than towards the middle. Plus, he had only managed to get the tips of his fingers in. even his palms weren't level with the top of the platform.
The ex-Goth tried to flip one leg up onto the platform, but it fell right back down.
"No, no, no, no…come on! Please! Please!"
Even with his new optimistic and confident attitude, he was nervous. He could hear the raging flames below him, and he had overheard all of what Chris was doing to Violet, and had even seen some of it. He knew it was just a matter of time before…
"Oh, look, Jay." Chris said to his assistant. "John's having a little trouble, too."
He raised the control box.
John saw this out of the corner of his eye, and panicked. He started throwing his legs up towards the platform, one at a time, to get up.
"Let's see…which button ignites the fire closest to that platform…?"
"AUGH!"
John then lowered himself as far down as his straining fingers would allow. He then inhaled a great breath, then started swinging back and forth, back and forth repeatedly.
"Aha! Green button number twenty-seven!" Chris then slowly reached for the button.
John gave one last swing, then, with all his might, swung his left leg up as high as he could. At the peak of its height, his shoe's heel caught on the edge of the platform.
"Yes!"
He then started to pull himself up.
Chris, with the ever-hated sadistic grin on his face, pressed the button.
The column of fire started up, flaring straight towards John.
With both of his arms and his left leg on the safe rock platform, John yanked his dangling leg up to safety, microseconds before the flame shot up next to him. John was breathing heavily, sweating hard under his black suit, and inwardly cursing Chris.
"Aw, darn. I didn't get to see someone burn!"
As this drama was unfolding, Violet had regained her footing, and after a few deep breaths and mental reassuring, she started leaping from platform to platform again.
She was now only two platforms behind John, and seventeen platforms in total from the finish line.
John looked over at her and saw her fast approaching. He immediately jumped up to his feet, spun to face the direction he was heading, and also started jumping. Like true ninjas, they were leaping effortlessly from platform to platform, trying desperately to reach the last one first.
Only six platforms away, John turned to face Violet, and called to her, "Sorry, eh! You guys are my friends and all, but there's a challenge to win!"
"Sorry, John! But I'm determined to win this thing, too!"
"Oh, getting cocky now, are we? Sorry to say this, but you might as well kiss victory for this round goodb-."
At that moment, since John wasn't looking where he was going, he easily fell for one last trick that Chris MacLean had up his sleeve. He pressed a blue button marked "79", and a pillar of fire shot straight up under John while he was halfway between one platform and the very last one. He wasn't directly over it, so the worst of damage was avoided, but it did succeed in torching his backside.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" John screamed in agony and clutched at his burning butt. The shock sent him flying straight up into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" John flew up and into the darkness of the cave ceiling and out of sight.
Violet then had free passage to jump the last two jumps to the other end of the canyon.
"And we have our winner of the first phase of the challenge!" Chris declared, tossing his control box aside. "Violet, you actually managed to conquer the fire challenge, and you will be rewarded…"
"OUCH!"
Chris, Jay, Violet, and Mark all looked up in the direction of the sudden cry. In the darkness, they couldn't see what had happened, but John had flown straight up to the ceiling of the cave, and (wouldn't you know it) the set they were in just so happened to be made out of actual rock. His head left several large cracks in the rock ceiling.
A moment later, he fell free and headed straight back down towards the cluster of platforms, particularly heading straight for the one he was jumping to when he was burned.
The four onlookers all cringed in horror when John hit the platform, landing (again, wouldn't you know it) crotch-first.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-k!" He screeched in an unusually high-pitched voice as the unimaginable pain hit him like a bullet.
"Ooooooh!" Chris cringed. "That's gonna smart in the morning! Sorry, John; close, but no cigar!"
John's eyes crossed, and he swayed weightlessly for a moment until he fell forward, his face burying in the rock surface.
"Sickening, painful blow or not, we're still moving on to the next part of the challenge!" Chris declared. "Castmates, prepare for the second ninja movie task: the rock wall jump!"
"The what?" Mark asked worriedly.
"Come with me, and I will demonstrate."
After a few minutes of recovery and more strained jumping, John and Mark managed to catch up with the host, co-host, and brainy girl.
"Here we are!" Chris said, standing in an open plain.
"Where are we?" Mark asked. "This is just an open, empty area of the cave; there's nothing he-."
"Let…me…finish!" Chris interrupted. "Now, if you look above you, you will see what I am talking about."
The three castmates all looked up. They could see that the ceiling was much lower here, being barely ten feet or so from the ground. They could see a massive, perfectly square shaft rising up into the ceiling above them.
"You see that shaft above you? That's your next task. You must climb past fifty wooden platforms, sticking out from the walls on both sides. Bouncing off the walls with wall kicks can help, too."
"Say again?" John asked incredulously.
"It is exactly 200 feet high, and seventy feet wide. You must get to the top of the shaft, and to solid ground, within the five-minute time limit."
"And what happens if we don't make it in time?" Violet asked.
"The walls of the shaft will be closing in on you the entire time, from start to finish! If you don't make it, you will become pancakes!"
The castmates all screamed in horror, only for Chris to bust up laughing again. "Suckers! You actually fell for that one, didn't you? No, no. It won't crush in on you. But when it reaches the limit width of two feet, it will deliver a very painful electric shock to whoever is still stuck inside!"
"You're kidding me, right?" Violet exclaimed.
"You can't be serious!" John added.
"Don't worry, don't worry, we tested it earlier today to see that it is, in fact, safe."
Earlier that day...
Cameraman Hatchet climbed from one platform to the next, desperately trying to reach the top. The walls were closing in now, and he had barely thirty seconds.
"Augh! Chris, Chris! I really don't think I can make it, man! Seriously, now! Stop the walls! Stop the walls!"
"Sorry, you know the rules!" The host called up to him from below, using his megaphone. "We have to test this thing out, for safety!"
"But why can't you just get Terminator to do it?!?!"
"He's on a coffee break right now!"
"COFFEE BREAK!?!?!?!?!?!" Hatchet roared. "YOU NEVER LET ME HAVE A COFFE-EEEEEYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"
The walls closed in on him fully, when he was only four platforms from the top. His massive bulk was squeezed between the walls, and the electric shock was incredibly painful.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chris looked back down from Cameraman to one of the nearby cameras. He then shrugged. "Well, that seems safe enough." He then turned and walked off. "Hey, Jay! Save some coffee for me, will ya?"
Present day…
"How can you channel electricity through solid rock anyway?!" Violet asked. "It's physically and logically impossible!"
"No more questions? Good. Now, Violet, Since you won the first task, you get a special prize which should really (heh, heh), boost your chances. These state-of-the-art Bouncy Boots!"
He then gestured over to Jay, who held the pair of boots in his massive, gloved hands. They looked like a pair of regular, crummy hiking boots with two springs attached to the bottom of each one. There was a bandage stretched across the heel of one, and the other was missing its laces.
"Those are supposed to help me, how?"
"Uh, hello? You're the smart one here, you should know that they will help you bounce from platform to platform, giving you an advantage that could help you win."
"Are you kidding me? Those things look like they'll fall apart on the first bounce!"
"Look, just try them on! Trust me, wearing these will be one heck of an (giggle) experience."
Violet hesitated for a moment, then took the Boots from Jay. After stuffing them on her feet, she swayed and wobble for a bit, trying to stay balanced while standing on the springs.
"You have to keep moving to keep your balance!" Chris advised.
Violet stumbled for a bit more, then tried jumping. Almost immediately, she bounced right up and hit her head on the ceiling.
"OW!"
She fell straight back down, landing on her back. "Ooooohhhh."
"Well, they seem A O.K. to me." Chris commented.
Violet glared at the host as John helped her up. Nonetheless, she kept the Boots on.
"Now, castmates! Get into position!"
"Uh, where's our position?" Mark asked.
"Just stand over here." Chris gestured to a large, red circle on the floor, which, eerily enough, wasn't there a moment ago. They all stood inside it.
"Ready…and…raise platform!"
Jay, now holding the control box, pressed a large, red button with no number on it. Almost immediately, the circle rose from the ground, suddenly turning into a circular stone pillar. It rose straight up towards the shaft, and the three teens all stood closer to the middle, afraid of being on the edge. Once it rose to maximum height, a whole series of thin, wooden platforms suddenly jutted from the stone walls. It was a repeating pattern of one platform on the left wall, the next on the right wall, the next on the left, and so on. Each platform had a maximum height distance from each other of about four feet, and the edges of each flat piece of wood were approximately two feet apart.
Through the small cracks between the platform and the bottom of the shaft, they heard Chris's voice call, "Start climbing!"
They then heard a low rumbling sound. They looked on each side, and saw the walls starting to close in.
"Oh, geez…" Mark started.
"LET'S GO, EH!" John screamed.
The three castmates immediately started. Violet quickly got the lead, courtesy of her Bouncy Boots. She jumped to the first wooden platform, paused, then to the next. She caught the rebound when she hit more of the wall rather than the platform itself, and bounced at an angle straight to the next one.
John was also doing considerably well. He jumped clean to the first one, then to the second one, grabbing on with his arms and dangling halfway off. But in a matter of seconds, he was able to pull himself up.
Mark, as you can imagine, had the most difficulty. He could do no more than simply reach up to the first platform with his good arm, and use his upper body strength to pull himself up. He then stood up, faced the second platform, and jumped. But due to terrible judgment and timing on his part, his bad shoulder was the first part of him to hit the platform.
"AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!" He moaned in pain and tumbled right back down to the red circle at the bottom.
As he laid on the cold, hard, stone pillar, he mumbled miserably to himself, "How in the world am I gonna do this?"
Violet was bouncing off the walls and past platforms more like a Jedi knight than a ninja, effortlessly landing each one.
"Wow…these things actually work!" She chuckled and smiled as she continued bouncing. The time was down to four minutes and twenty-six seconds, and the walls were closing in ever so slowly, mocking the castmates as they continued climbing.
As Violet was up to the twenty-fourth platform, she started to grow tired.
"Oh (pant, pant) man! This is (pant) exhausting!"
As she started to tire, she lost her sense of coordination, and ended up hitting the edge of the next platform. Hitting it at a bad angle, she flew straight backwards and landed right on the one below it.
"Oof!"
She was stunned for a few brief moments. She then shook her head quickly and tried to regain her footing. However, due to the not-so-firm springs on the underside of her Boots, she wobbled and stumbled around on the platform.
"Whoa! WHOA! Oh…oh…!"
She stumbled backward, flailing her arms wildly, before she fell off the platform.
She screamed as she tumbled down, straight between the platforms, bouncing off the edges, hitting the back of her neck, then her stomach, then her knee (the last one really hurt). She finally stopped after falling past fourteen platforms. The thing that stopped her was none other than John.
"OOF!" Both teens grunted as they collided and tumbled back onto a nearby platform. Violet, underneath John at the moment, shook off the shock before she nudged her friend.
"John. John! Get up!"
"Oooohhh…whuh?"
"Would you mind getting off of me?" Violet asked again.
"Whoops. Sorry." He quickly got off of her, then turned to help her up.
"Thank you."
"Castmates!" Chris yelled through an unseen intercom system. "Get your butts in gear! You have exactly four minutes!"
John and Violet immediately went against each other once again, and started dashing up past the numerous platforms. Violet took the lead once again, but not by much. John continued climbing and jumping and bouncing from platform to platform, maintaining a steady pace of three platforms behind Violet.
And, about five platforms below, poor Mark was still struggling with each one, barely able to wheeze past the fifth platform.
Chris continued announcing the status of the countdown every fifteen seconds.
"Three minutes and forty-five seconds!"
"Three and a half minutes!"
"Three minutes and fifteen seconds!"
By the time it was down to three minutes, Violet was at the twenty-fourth platform, preparing to bounce to the twenty-fifth.
Chris, about 100 feet below her, saw her progress through a series of hidden cameras in the wall. Seeing her halfway finished and totally smoking the other two, he pulled out a small, remote-control-like device.
"Let's face it: those Boots of hers are too unfair an advantage. Time for them to go!" He then pressed the white button on the remote, which turned yellow on his touch.
The moment Violet set foot on the halfway-mark, her Boots exploded in a dusty, springy, clangy Bang! They instantly flew to pieces, bouncing off the walls and the platforms. Violet, completely taken aback by the suddenness of it all, immediately collapsed and fell to the wooden floor, stunned.
"What the heck just hap-."
Just then, one of the springs bounced off the wall at incredible speed from the explosion, and flew straight back at Violet, hitting her in the eye.
"AUGH! My eye! Get it out!" She reeled back in pain from the sharp, rusty metal lodged in her eyeball and tumbled backwards, falling off the platform.
"NOT AGAIN!" She cried as she bounced off a platform, then hit another, then landed on the further down twenty-first platform.
Along the way, John was climbing from the twenty-third platform to the twenty-fourth, and heard the destruction of the Boots. A moment later, Violet's voice above him cried out, "AUGH! My eye! Get it out! Get it out!"
Then, she fell off the edge of the platform above him, bouncing off the next one.
"Yikes!" John immediately doubled back and pressed up against the wall, dodging Violet as she nearly hit him for a second time that day. He watched as she fell back down, then continued climbing. He passed by the remains of the Boots on the way up. He looked at them for a moment, puzzled, then simply shrugged it off and continued on.
"Two minutes and forty-five seconds!" Chris declared loudly and menacingly.
John quickly picked up the pace, jumping straight up to the twenty-eighth platform from the twenty-sixth. He grabbed onto the edge with his hands, squeezing tight, then pulled himself up. Soon, he was already past the thirty-third platform, and climbing.
"Two minutes and thirty seconds, castmates! Unless you want to become barbecued chickens, you'd better pick up the pace!"
Violet, after recovering from her fall, continued bounding up the platforms, racing past the fragments of her Boots and continuing on.
Even Mark was a little more motivated, as he was rapidly climbing as fast as his physical ability would allow. Even his handicap didn't slow him down. He had just made it past the twentieth platform when there were only two minutes and fifteen seconds.
This continued for quite some time. After nearly three minutes into the challenge, John was already at the thirty-ninth platform. Violet, lagging behind by only seven platforms, desperately tried to keep up. Mark was past the twenty-seventh platform when Chris announced one minute and forty seconds.
John was in the lead, and obviously going to stay there. Before Chris could announce three and a half minutes of the competition had passed, he finally reached the top.
"YES! YES! I did it! Ha-ha! I did it, eh! YE-AH!"
"And John passes the second challenge! Congratulations, John! You, too, will be rewarded with a special item that will undoubtedly aid you in your next, and final, quest!"
"Great, Chris!" Violet called back. "Now how about stopping these walls?!" The walls were now barely fifteen feet from each other.
"Nope. Sorry."
"WHAT?!" All three of them simultaneously exclaimed.
"I hate to tell you this now, but those walls will not stop until all three of you escape. So…GET MOVING!"
Violet was motivated all over again, and with a tremendous burst of adrenaline and speed, she dashed past the remaining platforms. John quickly helped her out of the shaft when she reached the fiftieth platform.
"Phew! That was close." She sighed. "That…was…"
"MARK!" John shouted. "He's still down there!"
The two of them looked down the shaft again, and could see their crippled friend struggling at the twenty-fifth platform.
"Wouldn't you know it!" John exclaimed. "He's stuck at the point of no return!"
"ONE MINUTE!" Chris's taunting voice roared over the intercom.
"Oh, man! What are we gonna-." Violet suddenly felt a whoosh of air beside her, and when she looked at where John was standing two seconds ago, he was gone. She looked back down the shaft and saw him bounding back down into the shaft.
"Help!" Mark cried.
John bounced off the edge of the thirty-fifth platform.
"Fifty-two seconds, guys!"
John soared straight down through the gap in between the platforms, scraping his arms and sides against the edges as they started to close in.
He reached his friend, and immediately grabbed him by the wrist.
"Come on, eh!"
Mark barely had time to nod before John leaped back up to the next platform, pulling his optimist friend with him.
Since when was he so strong? Mark thought.
Since when was I this strong? John also thought.
He was able to help pull his friend up past several more platforms, but the walls were now dangerously close.
"Forty seconds, castmates!"
They were at the thirty-fourth platform.
"Thirty-six seconds!"
The thirty-sixth platform.
"Twenty-seven seconds!"
They jumped past the fortieth platform.
"Nineteen!"
"Eighteen!"
"Seventeen!"
"Sixteen!"
They were both growing tired, and nearly collapsed at the forty-third platform.
"Thirteen!"
"Twelve!"
"Eleven!"
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
They slowly struggled onto the forty-seventh platform.
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"TWO!"
Mark and John were now squeezing between the walls, which were barely two feet apart now. Violet reached a hand down to them.
"ONE!"
Violet quickly pulled Mark out, yanking him up onto solid ground. Meanwhile, John attempted to make a final jump, but was suddenly yanked back by an unseen force. Looking down in horror, he could see that his foot was caught between the final platform and the wall.
"TIME'S UP!" Chris declared sinisterly.
There was a brilliant burst of blue as the electricity surged between the walls, completely engulfing the two-foot-wide space and the single teen in it.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mark and Violet looked away from the bright light, unable to take the strain its brightness put on their eyes.
After nearly ten agonizing seconds of screaming, surging, and zapping, it all died down with a tiny, barely-audible fizzle.
Mark and Violet slowly looked back at their friend, who was now even more black than before. The electricity had completely scorched him, darkening the shade of black that his suit was, and also similarly blackening his eyes and exposed face area. He hung limply on the edge of the shaft, twitching and jerking.
"J-John?" Violet asked nervously.
"This…show…will…kill…me…(Urk)." He then collapsed.
Chris, watching this event on the cameras, cringed hard. "Yeesh! First the total crotch-hit, and now 5,000 volts of electricity surging through him? Yikes."
Thirty minutes later…
Chris, Jay, Cameraman, Mark, and Violet all stood in the infirmary, standing around the bed that John was in. He had a life-support system next to him, and he was breathing hard and raspy, almost like Darth Vader.
"Well, after this tragic accident, John has been allowed some time to recover in the infirmary." Chris explained the already-obvious to the camera. "But I think he's better now. Hey, John!" He slapped John's shoulder.
"EEEEEYYYYYAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!!! DON'T DO THAT, EH!" He roared as his shoulder burned in pain.
"Yep. He's better alright." Chris then snapped his fingers.
Cameraman walked up and grabbed John out of his bed, detaching the facemask that had been on the fried teen's face. He lifted him up and set him on the ground, standing straight up.
"Can ya walk, punk?"
John swayed for a moment, taking a step backward in the process.
"Yep, he can walk." Chris announced.
"You're kidding me, right?" Violet asked, raising an eyebrow.
"OK, castmates! Time to wrap up today's event!"
Chris led the reluctant castmates back into the cave set, not too far from the top of the shaft they had just escaped from.
About thirty feet from the top of the deadly shaft, there was a large, circular pit in the ground, similar to the previous one, only it was about seventy feet in diameter. There was a circular rock platform in the middle of the pit, only about twenty-five feet in diameter. The castmates were plunked down on the platform and left standing in the middle of the deep abyss around them.
"OK, so here's how this one works. Like all good ninja movies, there has to be a fight scene. And, in tradition of the old movies, you will be fighting it out on this unstable, precarious rock platform.
"Yeah, what else is new?" Violet muttered.
"You will be fighting each other with only your bare hands…except for our, uh, lucky winner here." Chris gestured to John, still dizzy and spinning around like a top.
"You will be given an advantage in this challenge. And that advantage is this!"
Jay immediately reached for the huge scabbard strapped to his back, and slowly unsheathed the massive, golden blade within.
The castmates gasped at the beauty of the sword, which glowed brightly in the dim cave.
"Geez…it's almost like it's real gold." Mark mused.
"John will be permitted to fight with this." Jay placed the massive sword's handle in John's crisp hand. He cried out in pain as the heavy metal pressed into his hand, dropping the sword.
"The goal here is to knock each other off this platform, and into the pit. But don't worry though, we've got plenty of mattresses down there to cushion your fall."
The castmates all leaned over the edge, and could barely see the numerous rectangular white objects below them.
"Let me guess: stained with God-knows-what and full of springs?" Mark questioned.
"Exactly. Now, without further ado, it is time for the battle to commence!" Chris folded his hands again, bowed slightly, then took several steps backward into the massive crane arm behind him, where Jay was waiting at the controls. As the massive man pulled a lever and the mechanical arm retracted, Chris called out to them, "Try not to miss the mattresses when you fall!"
A loud gong then sounded from out of nowhere, and the castmates all glanced nervously at each other before stepping forward, away from the edge. John slowly bent down and picked up his sword, holding it in as menacingly a manner as he could.
Violet paused for a moment, glancing back and forth between John and Mark. Finally, she stopped on John. "Sorry, but when I'm against you, it's more fair a fight."
She then immediately dashed towards him, raising a foot and leaping into the air in a semi-martial arts display. She delivered a flying kick to his shin, sending him to the ground.
"OW! That smarts, eh!"
John swung his sword out, attempting to swipe Violet's feet out from under her. She jumped up over the blade, coming back down and landing on it. This only provided a brief window of opportunity for John. With all his strength, he yanked the sword out from under her, tripping her up and sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Oof!"
He raised the sword again, but was suddenly interrupted from a sharp blow from behind. He crumbled to the ground, once again collapsing on top of Violet.
"OW! What was that?!" He turned and looked back up to see Mark with his cast jutting out like a weapon.
"Being rock-hard, this thing can be really handy."
John quickly jumped to his feet and swung the sword again. Mark ducked as it swooped above his head, missing his burned facial area by inches. He swung at a ninety-degree angle and elbowed John in the chest with his cast.
"OOF!" John gasped as he was winded by the cast.
"Ha-ha! Yes! Who says that this thing is such a handicap?"
Meanwhile, Violet had gotten to her feet and was quietly sneaking behind Mark. After a moment of hesitation, she jumped up and propelled both of her feet forward, kicking out the backs of both of his knees.
He crumbled like a piece of paper being wadded up as he slumped to the ground, moaning.
"Sorry." She then moved to grab him.
John quickly shoved his sword straight into the rocky surface with all his might, cracking it. The resulting fissure stretched to a length of nearly a foot and a half. It trailed directly underneath Violet's feet, and she lost her footing. She fell backwards, her head hitting the ground barely three inches from the edge of the platform.
As John moved towards her to defeat her, she spun around on the ground, swinging her feet around like a spinning saw-blade. Her feet came in contact with John's shins yet again, and he collapsed to the floor.
"EEEEEEE! You don't know it; that really HURTS! It stings like-."
Violet jumped to her feet and leaped up over Mark and John, landing on the other side of them. She quickly kneeled down and grabbed John by his feet. She started dragging him along the ground, scraping his burnt skin along the rock.
"OUCH! Oh-ick! (Gasp!) OWWWWWW!!!!!"
She then started spinning around in a circle, spinning him around on the ground. He flailed wildly, trying to squirm free of her grasp, but to no avail.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" He then swung the sword down in his flailing. As she spun him around again, the sword struck her in the shin, causing her to also collapse to the ground, clutching her stinging shinbone.
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHH-YACK! You're right, John! This DOES hurt!"
Suddenly, she felt a blinding force nail her in the back, pinning her to the ground. She tried to speak through the rock. "What the…?! Hey! Who is that?!"
"Me."
Then, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and yank her to her feet. Almost instantly, a large, hard object locked around her neck, holding her in place.
"ACK! Oh, (gasp!) That thing is (ack!) harder than the (gasp!) rock we're standing on!"
"I know." The voice behind her replied. She could easily picture the grinning face of Mark behind her, as he kept his cast around her in a chokehold.
"Ack! Mark!"
"Sorry, but like you said, there's a contest to win."
Then, for the first time, Violet looked down and saw the darkness yawning before her.
"Oh…dear…"
"Handicapped?" The voice cheerily said from behind her. "I don't think so."
And then, the rock-like object moved away from her throat, and she tumbled down into the darkness.
"GGGGGGEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Violet screamed all the way down as she fell the seventy feet to one of the mattresses, bouncing off of the mushy material, then landing back down on it again.
Once the whole event caught up with her, she could only stare up in shock and stupor. "…Whoa…"
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" A voice from above shouted. Violet looked up, and could see the dark, distant form of Mark fast approaching her. Her eyes widened, and she quickly rolled over to the next mattress just as the optimist who defeated her fell onto the mattress she was on just a moment ago.
"Ooooohhhh… …My shoulder…" He moaned.
Standing up on the edge of the platform, John looked down at the person he had just defeated as he fell into the pit. He raised the sword with which he had delivered the final blow onto his shoulder, and his pure white teeth flashed a toothy grin amidst the burnt, black skin of his face.
"AND WE HAVE OUR WINNER!!!!!" Chris declared as the crane arm returned, landing him and Jay back on the rock platform. "And with that, John has secured two out of three wins, thus earning him Invincibility for tonight!"
"Yes!" John raised his golden sword above his head in victory.
"Congratulations, my friend! You are safe…for tonight." Chris then leaned over the pit. "Mark and Violet! You will both report to the Theatre tonight! One of you defeated ninjas is toast!"
John looked at the back of Chris's head, then slowly let his eyes drop to the golden sword still in hand. He slowly looked back up at the host, completely and totally vulnerable.
"The wrath of our viewers will claim one more of you, and you will lose that one ultimate chance at one million big-EEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chris flailed wildly as he tumbled into the pit the moment John's sword came in contact with the back of his well-groomed head.
John raised the sword to his shoulder again, grinning more triumphantly than ever before.
Author's Note: O…M…G. Fedora Kid is SO sorry for the wait you guys had to go through. He caught something terrible at school, and he hasn't had time to be typing FanFiction chapters too much. Hope this is worth the wait!
And a special thanks to Terminator101 for the idea of the ninja movie genre used in this episode.
On an awesome side note…FEDORA KID IS SO EXCITED! He recently got a view of the first official trailer for the upcoming third season: "Total Drama, The Musical"! It's gonna be SO awesome! Owen, Harold, Lindsay, and all of our other favorites, PLUS all of those who didn't get to be in TDA! HECK, YEAH! It is gonna be so cool when it premieres! …Provided Ezekiel isn't voted off early again.