Total Drama Danger Zones Chapter 21: The Amazing Labyrinth, a total drama series fanfic

Author's note:

Hey, hey, everybody! I just have one question to ask you...WHO'S READY FOR THE FINALE!

This episode has been a long time coming, and I'm so excited to be bringing it to you guys right now. I was so excited for it that I couldn't wait until morning for me to post it. So here it is for you.

A few things to go through first, of course.

First, SYOC apps for the sequel are still open, and there's still time to get them in. I've been extremely impressed with the ones I've seen so far, and I hope I get some more really great ones going forward. Sometime tomorrow I'll probably start getting word to those authors whose characters I'm going to be using so they know. To those authors, be ready to provide some extra information about your characters if I ask for it (nothing complicated, just a few brief things for most)

And now it's time to answer some reviews!

Lauta Romero: Yeah, when it comes to finales, it's either two extremely powerful contestants (as with Shawn and Sky's finale) or two contestants that are mediocre in skills. Those generally work best it seems.

Candela Monsoon: It's definitely nice to be right about predictions, right? I planned the double elimination a while ago, and when I saw your prediction a while back, I was thinking, "hoo boy, this guy's going to be so happy he was right."

Tempokeep: I do indeed like to keep people guessing if possible. Surprise twists make for some good storytelling.

With that out of the way, let's get on with the finale! See you at the end, fellow readers and writers!

EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: THE AMAZING LABYRINTH

This episode of Total Drama contains scenes of extreme stunts performed by animated teens. Do not try anything you see here at home. Seriously, you could get really messed up.

Chris stood in front of the dining hall. "Last time on Total Drama," he narrated, "The final four climbed to new heights in our ultimate mountain climbing challenge (clip of the campers climbing the mountain). Charlie struggled on the grease (clip of Charlie sliding down at the bottom of the mountain), while Alex just… (clips of Alex falling victim to the various traps) struggled. William dominated the challenge thanks to the bow he retained from the last challenge (clip of William using the bow and arrows to get up the mountain). And Lana found herself in a sticky situation (clip of Lana getting glued to the mountain side). In the end, William won invincibility (clip of William making it to the top of the mountain), and in a surprise twist that no one saw coming, it was both Charlie and Alex on the chopping block (clip of Charlie and Alex getting eliminated)."

The scene returned to Chris. "Which leaves our two finalists: William the Master Archer, and Lana the Nervous Wreck." Pictures of the finalists appeared on the screen. "Which one of these two losers will turn into a winner and receive a boatload of money? Stay tuned for the most dramatic finale yet right here on Total! Drama! Danger Zone!"

*Intro*

(As the intro music begins to play, cameras are seen appearing from above on a tree branch, from a sand pit, out of a small hole in a cliff, and from a pool of what appeared to be lava. The clapper clicks)

Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine

(Chris is seen flying by on his jetpack)

You guys are on my mind

(The camera pans up over a cliff and into a body of water that appeared to have steam rising from it)

You asked me what I wanted to be, now I think the answer's plain to see

(In the water, we see Quincy taking a picture of Fang before getting yanked up by a fishing hook before the mutant shark can eat him. In the next shot, the fishing hook is revealed to have been cast by Wendel. As he glares at Quincy, an explosion next to Wendel goes off, sending both boys flying past Theresa, who is too busy writing things in her notebook to notice Kyle watching her from a distance)

I wanna be famous

(An obviously cybernetic bear rises behind Kyle, who turns around in shock before an arrow shot by William destroys the robot. William gives Kyle a salute while Nicole lands next to him with a loving smile, making him a bit nervous)

I wanna live close to the sun

(Kaia and Desmond are seen arguing, unaware that they are half sunk in mud.)

Well pack your bags cause I've already won

(At the side of the mud pit, Todd is seen being forced by Colt to press a red button, which causes Todd to be flung into the air by a spring)

Everything to prove nothing in my way

(Alex is seen skating past on her skateboard away from a cackling Deedee, who has two torches in hand. Alex is then saved by Moira, who swings in on a vine and grabs her before Deedee can burn them.)

I'll get there one day

(The scene pans into the mess hall, where Dana is reciting an incantation over a cauldron before Chef pushes her aside and adds several rotting vegetables to the mix.)

Cause I wanna be famous

(Logan is running from Dana and Chef in fear before he is stopped Hannah. Behind them, a plane crashes through the wall where Logan would've been, and Amber falls out of the pilot's seat)

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

(Rob is seen attempting to do comedy to a clearly unamused Phyllis)

I wanna be. I wanna be. I wanna be famous. I wanna be. I wanna be. I wanna be famous)

(Marvin is seen quickly carving something out of wood, then painting it. As he turns to the side, Chris confronts him. Marvin shows him that he had made a lifelike mini replica of Chris. Chris smiles, but a jet of fire shoots out from under where Marvin is holding the replica. He throws it, now on fire into the air. As the fire rises then falls, the scene turns to night)

*Whistling the main theme*

(Lana is seen nervously looking away from Charlie as he meditates. The camera pulls back to reveal the entire cast around a campfire, with Chris off to the side. The title is seen above)

It was still the same night of the previous elimination. "I can't believe Charlie's gone," Lana said as she and William were heading back to the cabins.

"Look on the bright side," William told her. "After that last challenge, it's just down to us. Meaning that one of us—hopefully me—is going to be stinking rich after the next challenge."

"Assuming we survive," Lana muttered.

"Oh, think positive," William said, "No one's ever died in a finale before, despite Chris's best efforts. We could break every bone in our bodies, but we'll be fine."

Lana shuddered.

CONFESSIONAL

"I want to win," Lana admitted. "I really do. But the final challenge? I guess I just didn't think I'd make it this far." She sighed. "I don't know if I can do this."

END CONFESSIONAL

"Don't worry about it," William told her. "After I win, I'll invite you to my victory party. You're pretty cool. Plus, Nicole would probably want me to invite you too."

"What if I win?" Lana asked.

William chuckled. "No offense, but even though that ninja taught you a few tricks, I'm pretty sure I can take whatever Chris throws at us."

"Well then, bring it on," Lana said. "And may the best one win."

"Thanks," William replied. "I plan to."

CONFESSIONAL

William twirled an arrow. "So…I'm in the finale," he said. "I honestly didn't expect this. But I welcome this. Now all that stands between me and a million bucks is Lana." He chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, she's a good kid. But even after all the crap she's been through on this show, she's not going to be able to beat me. So bring it on, Chris. I'm ready for whatever you're going to throw at us."

END CONFESSIONAL

A twig snapped nearby. Lana jumped. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"It was probably some robot murder animal," William told her. "If it attacks, we just run for our lives."

No robot animals came at them, but a dart did. It hit Lana in the neck, and she went down instantly, unconscious. William reacted quickly by rolling behind a rock to avoid more darts that were now firing rapidly at him.

"Ha!" he yelled as the darts stopped flying. "You missed!"

The darts had indeed missed. But the frying pan that came at him from behind didn't.

When Lana woke up, she found herself next to an unconscious William surrounded by massive green hedges. She groaned, struggling to her feet.

William sat bolt upright. "What'd I miss?" he asked.

"A change of scenery, apparently," Lana said. "I think we just got sent to whatever death zone the final challenge is in."

"So…what are we supposed to do?" William asked. "Trim the hedges or something?"

A screen popped out of the ground and turned on, showing Chris wearing a party hat and blowing a noisemaker. "Welcome, finalists!" he boomed. "I hope you brought your A-game, because this challenge will be so dangerous that both of you will probably die."

"Is that why you're wearing the party hat?" Lana asked.

"No," Chris replied, "I'm wearing the hat because they just tripled my salary for next season. But yeah, your reason works too."

"How about you just get to the part where you tell us how we're supposed to win the million dollars," William suggested.

Chris frowned briefly. "Fine." He went back to flashing his signature grin. "First, say hello to the peanut gallery of the twenty losers behind me." He gestured behind him, where the other campers were sitting on two sets of bleachers. "They'll be cheering you on while wishing that they were in your positions and not on the loser's bench. On the right, everyone rooting for William. On the left, everyone on Team Lana. As you can see, it's pretty clear who most people want to win."

Indeed, it was clear that William had more of the campers rooting for him. On his side were Quincy, Rob, Phyllis, Wendell, Colt, Marvin, Amber, Dana, Todd, Desmond, Kyle, and Nicole, while Charlie, Hannah, Alex, Moira, Kaia, Logan, Theresa, and Deedee were rooting for Lana.

"At least some friends still support me," Lana said, glaring at Nicole on the screen, who winced sheepishly.

CONFESSIONAL

"I feel bad not rooting for my best friend," Nicole admitted, looking sorry. "But I have to side with my new boyfriend. I hope we can still be friends, Lana!"

END CONFESSIONAL

"Why exactly are we letting Ms. Stab You In The Back sit with us again?" Alex asked, pointing to Kaia, who was sitting at the other end of the bleachers away from everyone else.

"Just ignore her," Logan said. "She's still mad after we turned the tables on her little plan. Thanks to my sleuthing skills, of course." He pumped his fist in the air, then cried out in pain. "Ow!"

"Easy, Sherlock," Theresa told him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're still recovering from your injuries."

"And your contributions really didn't add up to a whole lot, lad," Moira added. "Since she broke the disk before it could be revealed to anyone."

"Keep prattling on, fools," Kaia called from where she was sitting. "Next time, you won't be so lucky."

CONFESSIONAL

"The only reason I'm rooting for that nobody rich girl is because William was the one that ruined my plans," Kaia growled. "Lana better not fail at crushing that idol hiding moron, or she'll pay."

END CONFESSIONAL

Chris let out a loud whistle. "Hey, loser bench! I was talking!" He turned his attention back to Lana and William. "Anywho, it's time for the final challenge: The Maze of Ultimate Death!"

"Really? That's the best name you could come up with?" Desmond asked.

"Shush!" Chris silenced him before continuing. "Lana, William, your task is to navigate through giant deadly hedge maze finding several keys hidden around the maze. The keys unlock an exit to the maze, and there are two of them, one of each of you. The first one of you that unlocks his or her exit with three keys will win the challenge, and the grand prize: One. Million. Dollars!" He held up the briefcase with the money as he said this.

"What kind of traps and monsters are inside the maze to stop us?" William asked.

"Oh, the usual traps, killer robot animals, and maybe a few riddles," Chris said.

Suddenly, a loud roar came from deep within the maze.

"Oh yeah," Chris added, "And watch out for the Minotaur."

"The what?" William questioned.

"Half man, half bull monster from Greek mythology," Lana explained. "Just run if you see it."

"Ready? Annnnnd…go!" Chris blew his airhorn, and the hedges on opposite sides of the small square of hedges the finalists were trapped in. Both Lana and William took off through opposite passageways.

On the loser benches, the eliminated contestants began cheering. However, Kaia's eyes never left the briefcase in Chris's hands.

CONFESSIONAL

"Never get in a show like Total Drama without a backup plan in case of surprise elimination," Kaia said with a smirk. "If I can't win the million by normal means, then it's time for Plan B."

END CONFESSIONAL

In the maze, Lana followed the open path, running as fast as she could. Suddenly, there was a loud rumble, and an entire section of the hedges moved to the side, causing her to run right into one.

"Ow!" she yelled, stumbling back and rubbing her nose.

Chris laughed. "Did I mention that the maze walls will move at random? My bad!" A new section of opened next to her, allowing her to continue running.

William was having the same problem with the shifting hedges. "This is ridiculous," he complained as the ground under him shifted and turned to face a different path.

A cannon popped from the ground and fired on him. He rolled under the cannonball and continued.

Back over with Lana, she was busy running when she came upon a large clearing that contained a fountain of lava and had a small key with a picture of her face on it.

"That must be one of my keys," she realized. "But how do I get it out from the lava?"

She then saw a coil of rope on the ground nearby. She quickly ran over to it and picked it up. Swinging it around in the air, she flung it at the key, yanking it off the top of the fountain while only burning the rope slightly.

"Yes!" she cheered as the key landed in her other hand. "One down, two to go." She coiled the rope around her shoulder as another path opened behind a hedge, which she then ran down.

"It's 1-0 in favor of Lana!" Chris reported, causing Lana's supporters to cheer. However, they were too busy focusing on the challenge to notice Kaia slipping away from them.

Meanwhile, William had come across a large moat in the middle of his path. He could just barely see his key at the bottom of it.

"Score," he said, diving down in the to moat and swimming down to the bottom of it. However, as he reached to grab it, he heard a growling sound behind him. He turned and saw Fang right behind him, teeth bared.

"Yipe!" He grabbed the key and swam to the other side of the moat, with the mutant shark in hot pursuit.

"1 all in the hunt for the keys!" Chris reported.

As there were more cheers, there came a loud clattering sound as Deedee dragged a large wagon filled with fireworks into the area.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Theresa asked.

"Preparing for the big celebration for when someone wins!" Deedee exclaimed. "I brought my special homemade fireworks for this! Watch!" She grabbed a firework and a lighter and set the firework off."

"Fire in the hole!" she cackled, throwing the firework in the air. It launched forward, hitting a tree and turning it to ash instantly.

"Whoops. Wrong one." Deedee rummaged around in the wagon and pulled out another one. "Let's try this one!" She lit it and threw up. This time when it launched, it hit a passing, whistling Chef. It exploded and coated the cook with ash. He froze for a moment, then collapsed.

"Nope! Wrong one again. How about—"

"Uh, why don't you go work on that…anywhere but here," Charlie suggested. "So it doesn't ruin the surprise."

Deedee cackled. "Whatever you say, ninja boy!" She ran off with the wagon, still cackling. The other contestants let out a collective sigh of relief.

Lana was moving through the maze, hitting another dead end. "Augh!" she complained. "I can't make heads or tales of this place. How am I going to find the rest of the keys, let alone the exit?"

There came a loud roar from over the hedge on her left. The hedge then shattered, revealing a large mechanical beast with a giant axe. It was huge, wielded a massive axe, and had a bull's head. It was the Minotaur.

It glared down at Lana and roared, breathing fire from its nose. Lana screamed in terror.

From outside the maze, watching everything on the monitors, Chris laughed. "Looks like both our finalists are facing difficulties from the two biggest monsters in the maze. Will William have a more Fangtastic job and claim victory? Or will Lana defeat all the odds and ride the bull to the million? Stay tuned to find out the answer to all these questions and more!"

The Minotaur swung his axe at Lana, who was barely able to jump out of the way in time. "Uh, nice Minotaur?" she asked.

The beast responded by roaring in her face, shooting fire from its nose. Lana decided then that the best thing for her to do was to run. She ran down an open path, with the Minotaur close behind her.

Elsewhere, William was still running from Fang, who was tying a bib around his neck as he was chasing him.

"What is your problem, fish face?" William called over his shoulder.

The shark, of course, ignored him, lashing out with his massive head to try to bite him. William dodged and continued running.

Up ahead, he could see a pillar with a short rope running from the top of it. An idea came to mind, and he ran at top speed towards the rope. As Fang lunged at him again, William jumped and grabbed onto the rope, using his momentum to swing around back at the shark.

"See yah!" he yelled, kicking the shark in the head and sending him flying into an open path, where a hedge popped up, trapping Fang behind it.

"That's for my girlfriend, you poor excuse for a maneater!" William yelled before continuing on deeper into the maze.

CONFESSIONAL

Nicole let out a dreamy sigh.

END CONFESSIONAL

Lana was still running from the Minotaur. "Augh! Leave me alone!" she yelled over shoulder.

The Minotaur roared and swung its axe at her, cutting the tops off the surrounding hedges.

Suddenly, a hole opened in front of Lana. Caught off guard, Lana stumbled and fell into the hole with a scream.

She hit the bottom hard and looked up to see the Minotaur stomping above past her, its heavy footsteps vanishing in the distance.

Lana breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

CONFESSIONAL

"I never thought I'd be thanking Chris for one of his crazy traps saving me at the last minute," Lana said, "But here I am doing it."

END CONFESSIONAL

Back over with William, he had stumbled across a large mechanical statue of Chris's head. As he approached, the head began to speak a riddle.

"What goes on four legs in morning, two legs at noon, and thee legs in evening?"

William smiled. "Really? That's the easiest riddle in the book. The answer is man."

The statue's eyes glowed red. "Wrong!" Its mouth opened and blew fire at William, forcing him to fall back and hide behind another hedge.

"What!" he complained. "But that's the answer to the riddle! Stupid Chris head is broken!"

The fire from the statue head burned down the hedge William was hiding behind. He yelped and rolled to the side to avoid more fire breath.

"Think, think!" he told himself. "What would Chris make the answer to a riddle that's supposed to be man?" Then he had his answer.

"Of course," he muttered. To the head, he called. "The answer to your dumb riddle is Chris McLean!"

The fire breath instantly stopped, and the head opened, revealing another of William's keys.

CONFESSIONAL

"Leave it to Chris to stoke his ego by making the answer to that old riddle himself," William said, annoyed. "Typical."

END CONFESSIONAL

"It's 2-1 in favor of William!" Chris announced as William's supporters cheered.

As Chris watched from his lawn chair, Kaia crept out of the bushes, making no sound at all. And, as the host was distracted by the campers in the maze, the villain reached out, grabbed the briefcase with the million dollars, and crept away.

Back with the other eliminated contestants, Hannah suddenly stopped cheering. "Someone's missing," she said aloud.

Charlie, overhearing her comment, looked around. "Uh oh," he said. "Where's Kaia?"

That got everyone's attention. "She was here a minute ago," Theresa said.

Kyle, with his enhanced eyesight, looked around. "She's in the woods," he said, eyes widening. "And she has the million!"

Charlie instantly guessed Kaia's plan. "After her!" he ordered, leaping to his feet. "Some of you, come with me. Everyone else, try to cut her off! Quickly, before she finds a way off the island!"

Everyone sprang into action, with Alex, Desmond, Nicole, and Logan following Charlie.

"The game's afoot as the scheming girl makes her escape with the grand prize!" Rob commentated.

"Shut up, twerp," Colt growled, shoving Rob aside.

Back in the maze, Lana climbed out of the hole and ran down the only open path on her right. At the end of the maze was a large treasure chest.

"I really hope one of my keys is in that thing," she said to herself, running towards the chest. As she ran, spikes shot out from the sides at her, nearly hitting her. But she made it to the chest intact.

"Please be in there, please be in there," she pleaded, opening the chest. Sure enough, one of her keys was in there.

"Thank goodness." She reached in and grabbed the key. But as she pulled up on the key, the rope it was attached to pulled up with it. A loud click was heard.

"Uh oh." The hedges that were surrounding the clearing she was in rumbled, and tiny robotic scorpions began crawling from them.

"Ah!" Lana screamed, yanking the cord off the key and running for her life, pursued by the scorpions.

Chris laughed at her misfortune before announcing, "It's 2 all! Both our finalists are neck and neck!" Then he realized that there wasn't anyone on the stands.

"Hey!" he complained. "Where'd everybody go?"

In the woods, Kaia ran with the briefcase, heading towards where the Boot of Shame was. "Just need to get that boot and I'm out of here," she said to herself.

"Hold it right there!" Charlie yelled, throwing a large stick at Kaia's legs. The blow forced Kaia to the ground, tripping her up and causing her to roll, the briefcase slipping from her grasp.

Kaia got up with a snarl, glaring at Charlie. "You," she growled. "It's always you."

"Step away from that briefcase," Charlie ordered as the other campers arrived, surrounding Kaia.

Kaia grabbed the briefcase again. "Never!" she yelled. "The million dollars is mine! It was supposed to be mine all along! But you all ruined it!"

"Man…talk about a sore loser," Theresa noted, jotting something down in her notebook.

"I deserve it more than any of you!" Kaia raged. "All my days plotting, planning, making you all turn against one another! I did way more than any of you! I played the game better than all of you! So, I'm taking the million dollars with me! And none of you will stop me—"

Moira swung in on a vine and yanked the briefcase out of her grasp.

Kaia screamed in rage. "No! No! No!"

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," Desmond growled with a smirk, smacking a fist into his palm.

"Allow me," Colt agreed, cracking his knuckles.

Kaia looked around at all the angry campers surrounding her. "See you later!" she yelled, bringing out a grappling gun and firing it at the tree above her. The line started dragging her up.

"Hey guys!" Deedee exclaimed, appearing then with a lit firework. "I think I finally got the right one this time!" The firework then ignited, launching from Deedee's hand and hitting Kaia.

The firework exploded right in Kaia's face. When the smoke and flame cleared, Kaia was covered in ash and soot. She groaned in pain and fell into a patch of some familiar looking flowers.

"Aren't those…" Nicole asked.

"Aye," Moira confirmed.

Kaia stood up, looking droopy and having a dopey smile on her face. "I like turtles," she slurred before she collapsed back to the ground.

CONFESSIONAL

Kyle laughed. "Serves her right, the backstabbing traitor."

END CONFESSIONAL

CONFESSIONAL

Alex smirked. "Karma. Gotta love it."

END CONFESSIONAL

CONFESSIONAL

"So much for her plotting," Hannah said. "Justice has been served."

END CONFESSIONAL

Back in the maze, William had hit yet another dead end. "Where the heck is that last key!" he yelled, ducking as a swinging sword tried to decapitate him.

With a roar, the Minotaur exploded through a hedge, roaring and spewing fire.

"Oh crap!" William ducked under the swinging axe and slid through the Minotaur's legs. As he leaped back to his feet, he caught a glimpse of the Minotaur's back, where he could see two keys embedded in it.

"Of course," he muttered. He grabbed his bow off his back and nocked an arrow. He took aim at the Minotaur and fired a single arrow. It flew true, hitting his key and knocking it free of the beast and impaling it into the hedge.

"Yes!" William jumped over the Minotaur's swinging axe and grabbed the arrow and the key. "Million dollars, here I come!"

Charlie handed the briefcase back to Chris. "Maybe you should keep a closer eye on this so that thieves don't try to steal it again."

Chris wordlessly took the briefcase back and went back to his lawn chair. "Looks like William's got all his keys and is now trying to find the exit!" he announced.

Charlie glanced at the monitors worryingly. "Come on, Lana," he whispered. "You can do it."

Lana was running, nearly getting launched by another hedge as it sprang up to hit her, when she ran smack into William.

"Sorry!" William yelled, getting up quickly and running past her. "Got some money to win! Also, you might want to run! The Minotaur's right behind me!"

Lana looked in the direction that William was running from and saw that indeed, the Minotaur was stampeding towards them. She screamed and started running the same way William was.

Suddenly, a hedge popped up in front of Lana, causing her to smack into it and trapping her with the Minotaur. She turned around to face the beast, trembling with fear.

She tried calming herself by taking a deep breath. She got into a fighting stance, just like Charlie had taught her. The Minotaur roared and swung its axe at her.

Timing her leap, Lana jumped at the last second, dodging the axe and rolling, ending up behind the monster. That was when she saw where her final key was.

"Uh oh," she said. "That's…difficult."

CONFESSIONAL

"I have to get my key from the Minotaur and still beat William to the exit?" Lana asked. "How am I supposed to do that?!"

END CONFESSIONAL

As she pondered briefly what to do, Lana suddenly had a plan. "Hope this works," she said to herself, grabbing the rope she had gotten earlier and swinging it, lassoing the Minotaur around the neck.

The beast roared and tried to swing her off, but Lana was already climbing, hanging on for dear life. Grunting with effort, she finally made it onto the Minotaur and used the other end of the rope to tie a line between the horns on the head.

As the beast continued to try to knock her off, Lana held on and looked around. She could see, in the distance, a stone wall with pictures of both her and William on it. And her opponent was already heading in that direction, though stalled at the moment by a blocked path.

"There it is," she said. She yanked on the rope line. "Mush, Toro!"

The Minotaur roared, but charged in the direction of the exit anyway.

CONFESSIONAL

"I don't normally use quips like that, but that actually felt really good," Lana said with a smile. "But still not really my thing."

END CONFESSIONAL

William sighed in relief as the hedge in front of him lowered. Now he too could see the exit. "Yes!" he cheered. "Victory is mine!"

That's when he heard the thundering sound behind him. "What the heck?" He turned around to see the Minotaur charging, with Lana on its shoulder.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding!" William took off at top speed towards the exit. The Minotaur—with Lana in tow—was right behind him.

Outside, the others were screaming their heads off.

"Keep going, William!" Nicole yelled.

"You've got this, Lana!" Charlie called.

The two reached the clearing with the exit at the exact same time. Lana slid down the Minotaur's back, grabbing her key out of it as she fell. "Thanks for the ride!" she called as the Minotaur slammed into the wall and collapsed, lying still as its eyes faded to black, having lost power.

Both William and Lana raced to their respective walls, shoving the keys into their holes and unlocking the exit. The walls dinged simultaneously and dropped, and the two burst from the maze.

The campers cheered as both finalists paused, panting.

"Who…who won?" William gasped.

"Let's check the instant replay!" Chris hit a button on his remote and the monitor rewound the footage until the moment when the exits opened. He then hit play, and the footage continued in slow motion, showing that the first person with their foot out of the maze was…

…

…Lana.

"Lana's the winner!" Chris announced as the campers cheered. "Lana's the winner!"

Lana stood there in shock. "I…I won?" she asked, not really believing it.

"You sure did!" Charlie ran over and embraced her. "You did it!"

Tears fell from Lana's eyes. "I…I won!" She let out a cry of triumph.

William reached out a hand for Lana to shake. "Congratulations," he said, shaking her hand. "If I had to lose to anyone, I'm glad it was you."

Nicole was next to embrace her friend. "I'm so proud of you!" she squealed.

"Weren't you on William's team though?" Moira asked.

"I was rooting for both of them," Nicole replied. "Both deserved to win."

Lana couldn't stop smiling as all her supporters came up to congratulate her.

"Nice going, kid," Alex said, giving her a fist bump.

"You did good, lass," Moira agreed.

"A victory for the ages," Theresa added.

CONFESSIONAL

Lana couldn't begin to hide her excitement. "I can't believe that just happened," she said. "When I first came here, I thought I had no chance at winning. But now, here I am, winning! I hope you see that I can handle myself now, Dad. Because I'm not giving this money to you at all. It's mine to use how I want. Got it?"

END CONFESSIONAL

Night fell as all the campers—minus Kaia, who was still passed out in the patch of Loopies—gathered at the elimination campfire one last time.

Chris appeared with a plate of one marshmallow and the briefcase. "It is my honor to award the spoils of victory to the last camper standing: Lana!"

He approached Lana, who was still overwhelmed with emotion. "Lana, the Final Marshmallow is yours, along with the grand prize of One Million Dollars."

Everyone applauded as Lana took both from Chris.

"What are you going to do with the money?" Nicole asked.

Lana thought about it for a minute. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I'm sure we can all come up with ideas together."

Charlie smiled. "That's my girl."

Deedee lit a lighter. "Let's get this celebration started!" she exclaimed, lighting the entire wagon of fireworks on fire.

As all the campers took cover, Chris turned back to the camera. "Well, that's it for another season and another batch of crazy teenagers," he said. But then he winked. "Or is it? But until next time, I'm Chris McLean, and this has been…" As he was about to do the outro, Deedee's fireworks went off and started exploding everywhere.

"Total! Drama! Danger Zones!" As the camera zoomed out for the outro, the fireworks could be seen exploding even in the distance above the island.

I'll talk about that ending in my closing thoughts. But first, here's the alternate ending of what would've happened if William had won...

Both William and Lana raced to their respective walls, shoving the keys into their holes and unlocking the exit. The walls dinged simultaneously and dropped, and the two burst from the maze.

The campers cheered as both finalists paused, panting.

"Who…who won?" William gasped.

…

…William.

"William's the winner!" Chris announced as the campers cheered. "William's the winner!"

William pumped a fist. "Yes!" he cheered. "Wooo!"

Nicole ran over and kissed him. "I'm so happy!" she cheered.

Charlie approached Lana. "I'm sorry, Lana," he said.

Lana shrugged. "It's okay. I finished the challenge and didn't give up. That's all that matters.

Charlie smiled and hugged her. "That's my girl."

William continued to cheer as his supporters came to congratulate him.

"Good job, dude," Rob said, giving him a high five.

"You showed that weakling who's boss," Colt agreed.

"Indeed, your victory here was quite thrilling," Phyllis added.

CONFESSIONAL

William was grinning. "Guess that just goes to show that even us archers can play with the best of them," he said. "Score a million big ones for me!"

END CONFESSIONAL

Night fell as all the campers—minus Kaia, who was still passed out in the patch of Loopies—gathered at the elimination campfire one last time.

Chris appeared with a plate of one marshmallow and the briefcase. "It is my honor to award the spoils of victory to the last camper standing: William!"

He approached William, who was standing hand in hand with Nicole. "William, the Final Marshmallow is yours, along with the grand prize of One Million Dollars."

Everyone applauded as William took both from Chris.

"What are you going to do with the money?" Nicole asked.

William thought about it for a minute. "I'm thinking a trip around the world," he admitted. "With my girlfriend, of course."

Nicole smiled. "That's so sweet of you, Will. Let's do it."

Deedee lit a lighter. "Let's get this celebration started!" she exclaimed, lighting the entire wagon of fireworks on fire.

"Total! Drama! Danger Zones!" As the camera zoomed out for the outro, the fireworks could be seen exploding even in the distance above the island.

ELIMINATION CHART

22nd: Quincy

21st: Rob

20th: Phyllis

19th: Wendell

18th: Colt

17th: Amber

16th: Dana

15th: Marvin

14th: Todd

13th: Hannah

12th: Deedee

11th: Theresa

10th Nicole

9th: Kyle

8th: Logan

7th: Desmond

6th: Moira

5th: Kaia

4th/3rd: Charlie

3rd/4th: Alex

2nd: William (Lana in Alternate Ending)

Winner: Lana (William in Alternate Ending)

Cue the fanfare! The most unlikely of contestants has won it all!

Right from the start, I knew that I wanted Lana to win. Everything else came in later, but her winning was the first thing I decided after the characters. And I directed the plot to sort of hint at that. She had the most plot and character growth throughout the entire story. And it was through this growth and her getting better and more confident in herself that allowed her to win.

The challenge I had here was, once again, revised from what I originally had in mind. Originally, I was going to do some weird episode before the finale and the actual finale was going to be a bunch of Minute to Win It challenges. But then I decided that a challenge loosely based off an old board game I have (called the Amazing Labyrinth) would be way better.

I hope you enjoyed the subplot of Kaia trying to steal the money and finally getting what was coming to her. Like Alex said, you gotta love karma.

Just the special episode left now. I'm very excited for that one too, because then you finally get to learn what exactly is in store for our campers and who exactly will make it to the next season, which is titled [REDACTED]

But until then, that's all from me. Make sure to hit that favorite/follow button to stay informed on future updates. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, reminding you that everything can explode with enough explosives. And I do mean everything...

Ciao!