Disclaimer: Total Drama Island is copyright to Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch. Team Fortress 2 and its content is copyright the Valve corporation.
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"Defense" Noah said "is our greatest strength. Prepare for a domination, team!"
"The good kind" Justin asked "or the bad kind?"
"Sorry" Noah apologized. "I meant, prepare for a shut out!" The team cheered from inside the base. In a few moments the match would start, with Red attacking.
Blue is on defense! A superior guard against the superior attack. Courtney chose to have her team attack first to give them the time advantage. She was so sure that she would set the bar early on that she didn't seem to consider who she was going to be pressing against.
The teams were spawned in their respective map bases, Blue in the mechanical and air-conditioned storage shed at the far end of the map and Red down in the stuffy cavern they would emerge from. The disadvantage they had was obvious, but to Courtney it was just another obstacle for them to overcome.
"Alright team" Noah began as he approached the base's white board. "Here's our main plan." He pressed a button hidden as a metal stud on the black marker-holding bar and an outline of the map along with all its paths and obstacles appeared. Another map appeared representing the second-floor areas that overlapped the ground level points of the map.
"They will come from these three places" Noah said, marking the three main exits into the field from the Red area. "The first base, as you can see, is right here in this open shed. If all goes according to my own very logical deductions we can seal off some part of this shed and limit their access."
"So we station half the troops at the first base" Heather planned "and half at the back one, right?"
"Wrong" Noah said. "Dustbowl works as thus: Once the first base is captured, the second base becomes available for assault. Until then it is locked."
"Like base C in Gravel Pit" Izzy summarized. "That makes it easy."
"Somewhat" Noah added. "With Harold on their team and Courtney plotting away, they may very well come to realize the best strategy for a quick-cap. Put the spy at the back base and capture the first. That way the full map capture will start up immediately. It's a good strategy if you're desperate."
"But they'll use it anyway" Gwen said. "We should at least leave Heather there as a failsafe."
"Good suggestion" Noah said.
"No" Izzy said. She stepped forward and pulled down her mask. "I'll stand guard in her place." Everyone gasped.
"""
"Oh sweet Gouda!" Owen exclaimed. "With Izzy off the front line we won't have our phenomenal stopping power! Our offense will shatter without the most powerful attacker."
"""
"Don't do it!" Owen demanded. "I'll defend it instead!"
"Inefficient" Noah said. "Izzy can scavenge if Harold comes around. There won't be any ammo in the field for him anyway. Conversely, Owen, you have much more Health and a larger need of ammo than Izzy does. You'd need a dispenser to keep yourself up, and we need all the help up at the front lines. You're standing on the first point."
"It's okay" Izzy said, patting his back. "I've seen enough action for one life. Maybe next map you can hang back." Owen nodded in agreement, although slowly and somewhat sadly.
"""
"Seeing Owen taking such a huge interest" Noah began "in our strategy is heartwarming. At least he isn't the same as reckless, bull-headed Eva."
"""
Izzy pulled up her mask and gave Owen a kiss of appreciation on the cheek. He blushed and smirked at her as she drew her mask back down.
"Alrighty" Noah said. "With Izzy defending the rear base as a precaution, we can focus the rest of our forces around the forward base. Trent, take a knee as far back as you can with a good view of this exit." Noah pointed to the smaller exit that made a straight dash to the entrance of the base shed. Trent took a marker and circled the two ground entrances that led through the tunnels of the back base to the forward one.
"The left one, right?" Trent asked.
"Wise choice" Noah said nodding. Trent wrote a 'T' in the circle of green to symbolize himself and stepped back to the line of troops. Noah took a red marker and made a circled 'I' on the second control point. "Now then, regarding the first control. Cody, you and I are teaming up heavy on this one."
"Excellent" Cody said, giving a positive rock-on sign.
"Your turret will go here" Noah said, marking the exact point and position of Cody's turret on the flat step inside the base where the ramps met. His dispenser was placed at the wall beside him to prevent hostile fire on him as long as it held up. "I will build two turrets inside the base. Once covering the rear entrance, a level one, and another above the front door frame, a level two."
"A solid defense" Gwen pointed out "with barely any work. Nice."
"It may be solid" Noah said "but even solid can break. Gwen, I'll strap a dispenser to Owen's back so he won't need you all the time. You'll team up with either Justin or Beth and slow down Eva with explosives."
"Gotcha" Gwen said. "I'll team up with Justin, I guess." Justin cocked his brow and smiled.
"""
"I've got this in the bag" Justin said smugly. "They could barely stand up to me at the original finale. With my face as a weapon, no one will be able to deny me my proper spot in the big leagues. Look out world, I'm coming back!"
"""
Gwen made a passing smirk at Justin, but she kept it brief as her focus shifted back on her true man, Trent.
"Beth and Lindsay" Noah said. "You two will stay on recon. Make constant patrols between the entrances, watch over the lower one and fire at will."
"Aye aye" Lindsay affirmed.
"Leshawna, cover and fire" Noah said. She cocked her gun with a grin. "Heather, you're job is simple. Be a spy. Try to kill Harold so Izzy won't have to." Heather nodded and glanced over at her teacher. Izzy gave her a big thumbs up and winked at her. "That's that. If anything pressing comes up or something goes FUBAR, I'll radio in for back-up in the problem area. Our biggest threat right now, aside from Eva and Courtney's through-the-wall sniping, is the unknown new MVP. Now lets get ready for a good fight!" The team cheered and moved into position in front of the metal gate. The match would start in mere moments...
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Meanwhile, at the Red base inside a mine shaft cavern with a closed-off cart trail, the Red team prepared their Offense in three teams. According to the foreseeing Courtney this map would work in the same way as the first matches where only one base could be captured at a time, and the last one was locked until the first was captured. She claimed to have read it all in the pamphlet she was given as the leader, and no one questioned her.
"Okay Team" Courtney began with verve. "It's time to concoct a foolproof strategy!"
"If it's foolproof" Duncan began "then why is he on our team?" Courtney's team had her, Duncan, Tyler and Ezekiel, which was who Duncan was motioning to. Zeke was messing with the brim of his wool hat, paying little attention to the actual planning he was a part of.
"Zeke is an integral part of my plans" Courtney said. "Listen up. We're going to get the early push on those guys with our team."
"But we can't capture the second base" Tyler said "unless we get the first."
"That's what teams 2 and 3 will be doing" Courtney explained. Eva was in control of both soldier-medic combos with no medic of her own. She was raw power and the soldiers formed her explosively powerful flanks while the medics could switch between healing targets at any time. Harold and DJ were on their own to do as they saw fit. DJ would, of course, stay close to the largest battle and heal where he was needed. Harold's purpose was much more mysterious at this point in the planning, but he would no doubt try his best to be a danger.
"Noah and Cody are going to be our biggest walls" Courtney explained. "We need to use our engineer capabilities for offense to balance out a nearly impassible defense."
"How are we going to use it, though?" Tyler asked.
"Teleporters" Courtney said. "We'll have Zeke build an entrance down here, and an exit somewhere deeper into the map. Then we'll hide it somehow, behind some boxes or a tarp. With that in place we can have instantaneous access to the second point whenever we want."
"Awesome!" Tyler cheered. He noticed Zeke was tugging at the strings on his hoodie, still not paying attention to the conversation mostly around him.
"""
"Right now" Zeke began "I'm just hoping I'll get a chance to prove myself, eh? I mean, I usually get the bum end of the stick, right? I can do stuff for the team, I just need some practice. And I need to not die."
"""
"Alright guys" Eva began, "we're the main offense line here. It's our job to plow through and make sure the Blues don't have a leg to stand on when Harold and Courtney's team come through. Girls, you'll be entering at the far right exit."
"Wait a sec" Katie said. "We'll be entering or exiting at the entrance? Or the exit at the entrancing over...there?" Eva growled and smashed a hand to her forehead.
"So we'll go with you" Bridgette said, keeping an eye on the still confused girls.
"Yeah" Eva said. "I need at least one team to stick with me just in case. Geoff, if DJ's busy you'll have to bit the bullet for a while. Bridgette, heal me when I ask, but if I have to ask more than once you'll need more healing than anyone else."
"Got it, ma'am" Bridgette saluted calmly.
"""
"Eva's mostly huff and puff" Bridgette said. "She wants to win this war, and she knows injuring her own teammates isn't the way to go. Although, I'm sure she could make exceptions for Sadie and Katie."
"""
"Okay, we get it now!" Katie called.
"Sorry for getting so confused" Sadie added. "There's just so many places to go on this map. Plus, it's all new."
"I've been wondering about that" Geoff said. "Like, Courtney knew there were three entrances before we could see all of them. I thought there was just that one huge one there." Geoff pointed to the wide middle sliding doors to make his point. "How did she know?"
"The pamphlet" Bridgette said. "That's what she told us." Eva stared away from them both with a face of adamant sternness.
"""
"Sometimes" Eva said "it's okay to lie. If our President sees the need to withhold information, her General-at-Arms is going to make sure everything gets distributed on a need to know basis. However she knew doesn't matter as much as the fact that she knew ahead of time and had the time to plan with that knowledge. At least we're not so far behind Noah now."
"""
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"Okey-dokey teams" Chris began over the map-wide announcement system. "Here's how it's going down! The defenders will be given a minute of grace to set up and prepare in whatever way they want. Attacking team, you must capture both points in sequence to gain control of the map. The time limit will start at six minutes and add six more minutes with each capture that will carry over into the next match. As for the environmental hazards..." All the fighters waited with their breath held tight...except Noah and Courtney, who already knew what would be said next, "we can't get them to work right now, so consider them offline. The random grenade handicap will still be used, however, so expect that to happen soon!"
"Phew!" all the competitors sighed in unison.
"Those grenade things might still be dangerous, though" Noah said, almost mockingly.
"Yeah" Cody agreed. "Let's just hope Eva doesn't get the grenades. Knowing her strength already they'll probably end up being mini-nukes!"
"Ha!" Noah laughed.
"The match will start" Chris continued "in three...two...one!" The gates of the Blue base flew open. Cody immediately dropped a teleporter entrance as he ran out, as per the unspoken plan between he and Noah. Izzy ran into the second point base and gave a thumbs up. As they ran Cody stayed behind Owen, collecting metal, and built a dispenser on his back. Trent moved into position and clicked his communicator on then kept it on.
"Looks like Eva is at the right gate" he reported. He aimed down at the wide gate and saw Harold cloaking. "Watch out, Harold's invisible already. Weird, DJ is away from Eva."
"Headshot her ASAP" Noah said. "In fact, try right now. If they didn't make major changes to this map you should be able to shoot her through the meshing of the fence gate."
"Nice" Trent said. He fired and the shot pinged away. Eva noticed the danger, however, and moved back.
"Darn" Noah said. "Looks like they've gotten everything squared away. Alright, everyone to your positions and stay ready!"
"Uh, this is Lindsay" Lindsay began over the network. "Is this thing working? Anyway, Sadie and Katie are alone at the left gate. They were taunting me and Beth, mostly me, so we went away."
"Roger that." Noah said. He silenced his communicator and leaned in to Cody. "Should we go ahead and start using her nickname now?"
"Which one?" Cody asked. Noah whispered to him and forced a coy giggle out of his fellow engineer.
"""
"It isn't teasing" Cody said. "Lindsay finally embraced the joke yesterday so she let us come up with some new nicknames. I suggested the 'Melon Thief', short and simple while still sophomoric and tasteless. Owen came up with 'The Blond Blouse Stretcher', which I think is kind of long but still funny in a detached way."
"""
"Melon Thief" Noah hailed over the waves, "try to recon the rest of the Reds. We only have about ten seconds, so hurry up and get to cover."
"Roger, Tan Man" Lindsay answered back.
"Is that my nickname?" Noah asked.
"""
"I'm not tan, though" Noah said thoughtfully. "I'm part Inuit. I have naturally dark skin. Well...better than 'Blubber Lover', Owen's suggestion. It's cultural, but I don't think anyone else would get it without an explanation..."
"""
"Bat Eater in position" Gwen reported.
"Cover Shot" Justin reported "ready for the attack." He and Gwen had taken to the shed at the far left to ambush whoever exited from that way. "Sadie and Katie are going down."
"Fire Spinner and Guitar Man are ready" Beth reported, using Trent's name as well. She hung back at the other tunnel for long-range surprise rocket fire.
"Female Jason ready to buuuurn!" Izzy reported. She had never been assigned a proper nickname because she wanted her own. Everyone was unsurprised.
"Silent Fatality" Heather reported in a whisper from the tiny shed next to the right Red exit "ready."
"Big Bootyful" Leshawna said "here with Tan Man, Whiz Kid and Ton o' Fun. We're ready!"
"Sounds like we're all ready" Noah said. He hopped off of Owen's shoulder, as he was helping him quick-build the turrets he had set in the wall above the door frames. Owen moved backwards with his gun revving, ready to take on the world and more with a dispenser on his back. Noah had kept his own dispenser unbuilt for future plans. "Okay team, here they come..."
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"Okay team" Courtney said with great excitement, "here we go!" The gates opened and the battle was on. Eva immediately started sprinting out for the base when a sniper round got her right in the neck. It did major damage but it didn't stop her or even slow her down. Courtney ran close behind Eva so she wouldn't be shot and ducked out for a moment to shoot down Trent.
"Say goodbye" Courtney mocked. Her mocking proved to be her undoing, as her body continued running for a few steps without a head. Heather popped into view as the new Blue assassin and flipped gracefully away from Geoff and Bridgette as they noticed.
"Shoot her!" Bridgette said. Geoff tried but his rockets didn't hit the mark. Heather landed down below and encountered Tyler as he was running out. She made a few swings at him but missed as he ran away. She resorted to her knives and threw enough to send him tumbling away in death.
"Let's go, Katie!" Sadie shouted.
"We'll kill them, Sadie!" Katie affirmed. The girls rushed out roaring and made a sharp right for the shack. They encountered Gwen, who had her eyes closed, and Justin, who was posing with his shirt off. Sadie and Katie were dead standing with their mouths agape and tongues salivating. Justin killed them both with a few rockets and put his shirt back on.
"You done?" Gwen asked.
"Oh yeah" Justin confirmed.
"Eva's breaking through" Noah warned. "Wait, no, scratch that she's dead. Never mind, people."
"Wicked defense, dude!" Owen complimented.
"Has anyone seen Harold?" Heather asked.
"Look for him!" Izzy ordered. "If I kill him before you do you're ass is going back into the grinder!" Heather gasped shrilly and placed her hand on her mouth. She started running around hoping to see something invisible but started getting shot in the back. Ezekiel was making his heroic stand as he built a turret in the middle of the lower field.
"Take that, eh!" he shouted as he pistol-sniped Heather. "That's for killing me so many times!"
"Don't get too angry, dude" DJ noted. "I gotta go. Are you alright here?"
"Sure" Zeke said. DJ left from protecting Zeke and fled from Justin and Beth's tandem rockets to support Geoff and Bridgette in their push.
"""
"It may look bad now" DJ said "but I have faith in my team. We aren't the kind of guys who go down easy. We may have gotten shut out completely at the beginning but...um...yeah, anyway, I know we'll make it up in the long run."
"""
Harold stalked through the shadows of the map with ninja-like speed and agility. Upon seeing Izzy guarding the second point he confirmed his plans. With her out of the way there wouldn't be anything to stop him from doing what he set out to do: supremely outflank the Blue's point room and kill their leader.
"Excellent" he growled as he came to the tunnel linking the second point battlefield with the first point base. A mine cart trail built on wooden stilts was the only thing separating him from his goal. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as he crawled up to Leshawna's big butt and drew out his sword something metal hit it with a loud clang. He somersaulted back just as Heather climbed up with knives in her hand and Leshawna turned around.
"Were you trying to kill me?" Leshawna asked.
"Harold was" Heather answered. "Stay alert and keep the point guarded. I'll take care of him." Heather ran off to face the retreating Harold. At the same time, by some strange chance, loud explosions started echoing through the base from just outside the doors. Noah peeked out of the window and narrowly dodged one of Duncan's grenades. These grenades weren't timed but remote, so as soon as Duncan could he blew it up, severely injuring Noah to a near-death point.
"Thanks for the sudden assist, dude" Duncan said to DJ behind him. "Now, let's get some fireworks going on!" Duncan slammed the butt end of his sticky-grenade launcher into the dirt and looked through the scope. Through the magic of virtual-reality programming it showed where his remote mortars would land rather than the sky it was pointing to. He aimed it around until Trent's head was in view and he fired.
Seconds later Trent was hit on the head by something heavy and stood up, thinking he was shot. "I'm alright?"
"Guitar Man, eyes up!" Noah called. "Duncan is the MVP, he is firing on your position!" Too late. Duncan blew Trent up with the grenade on his head, instantly killing him. Beth suffered splash damage as well from her close proximity and was blown on her side. Duncan finished her off by lobbing a few normal grenades at her.
"Fire Spinner is down" Gwen reported. "We are en route to intercept, by which I mean kill, Duncan."
"Roger that" Noah said. "Everyone get ready. The first dead should be spawning soon. Red team has a ridiculously short respawn time on this map."
"No kidding" Gwen said. "Here comes Courtney already!" Courtney came charging out of the right gate with flaring eyes of rage. She dropped to a knee, knowing Trent was long gone, and aimed through the walls at Noah.
"Oh crap" Noah said, knowing full well who's gun was pointed at him.
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The match is off to an explosive start! Heather versus Harold, Duncan versus Noah's defense matrix, and now Courtney is royally pissed! What amazing strategies will Noah come up with next? Will Izzy have to kick Heather's compact butt for not killing Harold or is the ninja about to be out-ninjaed? Will Duncan's tenacity and skill turn the match around or is the mettle of Noah's metal too much for him? Find out next week on Total Drama Team Fortress!