Episode 3, more like "how about some replies?" ...That wasn't funny but we're doing them anyway.

Guest 1138- The bus is just taking them home, I don't have any aftermaths planned for this season. The Chef eraser thing was something that came to my mind as one of those stupid prizes a teacher would give you for wining Kahoot or something, so Susan handing those out fit perfectly.

lordgemini- Like Carter mentioned, Nolan has potential, but he's gotta actually choose to use it, which might be an issue for him. Susan's definitely a shady person and you'll see more on that today as well. Crazy finale guess, you seem to notice potential in Ben. Gianna was a blast to write but she definitely was designed to be booted first despite having a lot of plot behind her.

Okay, now it's episode 3 time.

Episode 3: Get Off My Chess

Susan stood in the front of the school, and it seemed the bus had finally returned to her. After hearing words from the bus driver, she nodded. "She was sent home safely?" She waited for another response. "Excellent. Send her...that thing, also." The bus driver nodded and the bus drove off, before vanishing again.

Over to her side, someone was getting grouchy. "Hey, you're on right now," Chef reminded her. "You gotta always remember you're on camera. You can't do your shady lady stuff all the time."

"Never call it that," Susan insisted. "Ahem. Last time on Total Drama Cultivated Will, the teams finally got to meet each other, and while it was a touching reunion for some," a clips played of Abigail bashing Jacob over the head with a container of water, "meeting up proved to be too hard for some." Another clip played of Leo yelling at Carter as he tried to squirm out of his grip. "We learned Celine's skills match her legacy, and that Nathan's complete disregard for the rules knows no bounds." The next two clips were Celine working hard in the kitchen, while Nathan was wandering alone in the basement. "Due to her unusual activity and overall suspicion, the Swift Goldfish elected to eliminate Gianna, who was our first student sent home."

The scene switched back to Susan and Chef in front of the school. "Today's challenge will push them even harder? Who's going to survive? Who will succeed? Find out today, on Total! Drama! Cultivated Will!" Susan let out a deep breath once she finished. "...How was that?"

Chef seemed genuinely impressed. "Well, it was certainly a step up," he admitted, "but you gotta be able to convince everyone you're into it, not just me." Susan let out a sigh. "You'll get there, maybe."

Intro

[An instrumental began, and cameras began popping out in different places, the first being out of a painting in one of the school's hallways. Another camera emerged through a dormitory dresser, bringing some random articles of clothing along with it. A third camera popped out of the top of the school, where a bell would normally exist. The camera began flying around, and eventually entered the school itself through the front doors.]

Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine

[In the main lobby of the school, Susan was seen frantically walking around the area, clipboard in hand, talking into a communication piece on her ear. She was barking orders loudly as she walked.]

You guys are on my mind

[The camera moved over to the art room, where Nala was seen designing a dress that was suspended from a hanger. She seemed very satisfied with her work, until Nathan had walked in the room. The boy scoffed at it before laughing violently and walking away, causing Nala to feel discouraged.]

You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see

[In a classroom, Peter had taken up almost the entire white board doing a math problem, and he was trying to explain it to Claire, who was evidently not paying attention. Instead, she focused exclusively on him, giving him a look of infatuation. Peter didn't notice this at all and continued explaining the math problem.]

I wanna be famous

[Carter was in the gym, using various punching bags, and as the camera settled on him, he gave out a good punch that launched the bag off of the chain. Carter only celebrated for a second, until an arrow whizzed by him, causing him to turn back and see Sharron, who was smirking at him. The two broke into a sprint after the arrow, and they were very close together as they did that.]

I wanna live close to the sun

[In a dark location. Brenna was conducting tests on some large contraption. She had notes littered all over the table. She appeared very worn out, until Ben ran up to her, out of breath, holding out a cupcake. Brenna accepted the gift and smiled at the boy.]

Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won

[In the dormitories, Leo was on top of Nolan's bunk trying desperately to wake him up. There were tons of different pots and pans around him, and as Leo reached down to grab an even bigger pot, it proved to by too heavy and caused him to fall.]

Everything to prove, nothing in my way

[In the kitchen, Chef and Celine were in the middle of a cook-off, with Celine looking extremely composed as Chef scrambled around for things on his table. Kris watched the two from afar, and while it looked like she was interested her eyes gave off something else.]

I'll get there one day, 'cause I wanna be famous

[Gianna was seen in the hallway talking on a tricked-out phone with someone, until the phone shocked her. She began tweaking it around a lot until it started working again, and continued talking with the person on the other line. As she walked through the halls, George had tried to stop her, but she ran right into him, and didn't stop walking even after he fell over.]

Na na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na na na na

[In the band room, Abigail was messing around on a paino, with a trombone out next to her. Jacob approached her to try and say something, but was stopped by a bucket of water falling on his head, drenching him. Jacob flicked some water off of his head, visibly mad, as Abigail cackled to herself. The two then began fighting with each other.]

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

[The camera flew down a set of stairs, and an apple flew through various different doorways. Brenna caught the apple, bit out of it, and threw it back in. The bite mark showed that it was the same apple as it flew through many different locations. A small, worn-out sign behind her read 'Ingress Academy']

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous! *whistling*

[In the auditorium, Celine and Kris leaned close to each other, until one of Peter's markers dropped on top of Kris. The two swiftly turned back, Celine looking angry while Kris remained calm. The camera zoomed out to everyone, whistling the theme as Susan snapped her fingers, causing the lights to go out.]

Room 1A, which belonged to the Parrot girls, still maintained its peaceful atmosphere it normally did. Sharron now had the bunk above Brenna's, hanging her bow and her quiver over the corner of the bed. She was the first one to wake up, groaning a bit as she sat up. Shortly after, everyone else was startled awake by an announcement coming from Susan. "Good morning, contestants, between the next two hours breakfast will be available. It's your choice to whether or not you want it, but I cannot imagine a reason you wouldn't."

"How odd," Brenna noted, fumbling for her glasses on the nightstand. "Do you think this nicer treatment is due to McLean's arrest last season?" Once she found her glasses, she put them on and stepped out of bed.

Abigail hopped down from the top bunk onto the ground. "I mean, we probably shouldn't complain," she suggested. "I just don't think Miss Susan has a full grip on the show just yet. There's no guaranteeing that this lasts forever."

"You're probably right," Nala mentioned, throwing her blue bunny headband on and getting out of bed. She looked up to the final bunk. "Sharron, are you going to come down with us?"

Sharron shook her head. "I actually don't think I will," she said cautiously. "If you guys need me, I'm going to be outside." The other three girls exchanged glances for a second before leaving her in the bunk to go get food.

Once they left, Sharron grabbed her weapon, threw the quiver over her back, and walked out, twirling one of the sharper arrows in her hand. It was clear she intended to go hunting for food instead of the free stuff that was being served.

Nala: "I'm concerned about Sharron," Nala said glumly. "I bet she's too nervous to hang out with us or something. Maybe Abigail could do something to lighten her mood." She paused for a second. "Actually, that's probably not a great idea."

In 2B, the Goldfish boys were also woken up by the announcement. Leo was the first one to get up, and quickly got out of bed into the front of the room. "Everyone, we need to get up and eat!" he demanded. "Nutrients are good to make people grow up!" He looked down at the two bottom bunks, and saw Peter getting out of bed slowly, while Nolan didn't even budge. "Come on, Nolan we need to go!"

Peter sighed. "Perhaps he needs sleep more than food," he suggested. "I've never seen anyone who does that, but maybe that's the case." They then looked up to check on Carter, but the two small boys were shocked to see he wasn't in his bed. "He followed us up to bed last night, right?" He peered out the window. "You don't think that he purposefully got up early and left us, right?"

"Seriously?" Leo complained, running over to the window to try and see out of it, but even Peter was too much for him to push out of the way. Once he confirmed for himself that Carter was neither in the room nor visible from the window he turned to the other two. "We have to stop him from taking over the team!" Leo decided. "I would be the best leader anyway, so it shouldn't be hard!"

Nolan was now up finally, and stumbled out from the top bunk, falling straight to the floor. "If anything, you'd be the worst choice for leader in here," Nolan argued, "Carter and I have strength, and Peter's at least got smarts." He turned to the bossy weakling. "What do you have?"

"I-I have stuff!" Leo said hastily. "Watch! I'll...I'll go and get breakfast before anyone here." He then quickly ran out the door and started running down to the room. Nolan rolled his eyes and proceeded to fall asleep right where he had dropped onto the floor. Peter was left alone, and with a sigh got up and walked slowly down to breakfast.

In room 2A, there were now only three people, due to Gianna's elimination the night before. "How peaceful it is now," Claire boasted, lying back on her bunk with a smile on her face. "Do you guys think Nolan is up yet?" She turned to Kris and Celine, who were sitting in their own beds, still waking up. "Also, what do you think about Carter, huh?"

Kris barely moved her face as she answered the question. "Dependable enough, but he's way too paranoid of us to do his job properly." She shrugged. "Not that I really care. He'd only hurt himself with that kind of trust problem."

Celine shrugged. "I don't think he's a bad person," she stated firmly. She peered down at Kris to see that her expression hadn't changed at all. "I mean, I don't want to disagree with you but he does seem like a good leader." She watched Kris's face and saw that still nothing changed.

Claire groaned. "Oh my god, you guys are soooo boring!" She sat up so she was now properly talking to her two roommates. "I mean, what do you think of him as a guy, not a leader." She smirked. "I think he's good-looking enough, but one of you should get the jump before I get bored of Nolan." Despite sounding like a school girl as she gossiped, Claire's face had nothing but seriousness on it.

Kris stood up and began putting her shoes on for the day. "I'm not here to meet people," she said dully, "I didn't think any of us were. So, that being said, he'll be my leader until we merge, then I don't care what he does." Her cold response shocked Claire.

Hoping for some sort of better answer from Celine, Claire turned to her with wild anticipation. "Oh, me?" Celine responded nervously. Claire shook her head violently, which made Celine even more nervous. "Um...he's alright, I guess?" Claire was disappointed by the responses she got, which caused Celine to try and make things less awkward. "No, no, we're not judging you for your choices," Celine promised, "It's just...I don't really...swing that way."

Claire thought about it for a second, then smiled. "Oooooh, then...do you wanna be my ally? You could totally mess with the guys all you want and not feel bad, right?" She smirked. "I'll still try and date one, but I'm okay messing with them."

Celine sighed. "No, I'd rather win properly. Maybe a little strategy here and there, but there's no reason to win if you're going to burn all your connections." She pointed at Gianna's empty bunk. "Because that's what happens when you do." Celine then opened the door to leave. "Well, we should get down there. Miss Susan seemed pretty serious about that two hour deadline."

As she walked out Kris suddenly stood up and started walking out. "I'm going to eat now too," she said plainly. "And don't ask me for an alliance either." She then shut the door, leaving Claire to leave behind them a few minutes later.

Claire: "What buzzkills," she complained. "'I don't care' on one side, and 'I wanna win fairly' on the other." She made air quotes with each of the phrases as she complained further. "Well, I guess we'll have different strategies. I'll have my massive alliance of boys once we merge, and they'll...have each other, if they even want to think about making alliances. Blegh."

Kris: "I've noticed an odd pattern," she said, "firstly, after Gianna got eliminated, Claire instantly began talking strategy. I don't know if she was nervous or not, but I don't think her plan will work." She shrugged. "I also noticed that Celine's been trying to correct herself around me more. That's dumb, she shouldn't need to do that." She sighed. "Probably because I'm too cold to everyone..."

In room 1B, Nathan was the first up, and he was already out of his bunk, observing what was going on around him. After a brutal battle the night before, Jacob and George had both fallen asleep on the floor, but Jacob eventually woke up in the middle of the night and climbed to the top on his own, technically making him the winner of that battle. But Nathan's interest was on Ben. He had blocked one of his attempts to grab him yesterday, with force he didn't think the kid was capable of. He was interested. Finally.

George was the next person to wake up, and the first thing he realized that had happened was that he was on the floor. "Ugh, how unbecoming," he muttered to himself, approaching Jacob's top bunk. "You! Relinquish your throne at once. It does not belong to you!"

Jacob woke up to George's angry face which gave him something to smile about. "You lost," he said calmly. "Don't you think it would be smart of you to understand your place among us?" George grimaced. "Yeah, that's right." Ben began waking up out of all the commotion.

Nathan scoffed at them. "You do realize the two of you are at the bottom of our team's pecking order?" he remind them, "I wouldn't want to be allies with anyone here, but maybe Ben."

"Why me?" Ben asked, "I can't really do anything..." He hung his head for a second, before realizing that Nathan was still staring at him. "What? D-did I do something?"

Nathan shook his head. "You've gotta be kidding me," he said to himself. "I need to find a way to pull that out of you again." He stared at the pushover. "I'm considering an alliance with you. This is your formal warning." Nathan then left and got himself breakfast, leaving the others to mosey around.

While everyone else was eating breakfast, Sharron was outside, peacefully hanging on the edge of a rock by a stream. The woods outside the dorms were very luscious, likely due to the fact that the place had been abandoned for a while. She had her bow drawn, and was standing perfectly still as she watched the water flow. After some time, she released the arrow into the water, and there was a small splash. Sharron jumped down and pulled the arrow out of the water, which had two fish stuck to it.

As she began pulling the fish off and preparing for a very odd breakfast, she was interrupted. "That's an odd choice for breakfast," someone had called out to her. Sharron swung her head around and noticed that Carter was sitting on a nearby rock. "Didn't like your team that much that you came out here?" He shrugged. "I guess I'm the same." Sharron paused for a second, unsure of whether she should speak to Carter. "Still doing that 'not talking' thing? Look, I don't care where you're from. I'm more interested in that." He pointed at the bow.

Sharron pulled out a box of matches and lit a fire, beginning to cook the fish. "What do you want to know about it?" she asked, "not like you're going to be using it." Once the fire was going, she started paying less attention to Carter and more to what she was cooking.

Carter was still eying up the bow. "I mean, where did you learn to do something that skilled? That's not something you can just self-teach." He pulled out a backpack that he had on him, and got out a slice of bacon he had taken from the breakfast area that morning.

Sharron shrugged. "As much as you'll probably cry about it, I am self-taught." She pointed to her fur jacket. "I made this, you know. First thing I ever killed in one shot." She pulled out some seasonings from her own backpack and began seasoning her fish. "I heard you made some pretty strong punches yourself," she noted, causing Carter to be surprised that she knew that. "Are those not self-taught? You seem to think that'd be impossible."

Carter shook his head. "It's not," he admitted. "I basically grew up on a military base camp for the first thirteen years of my life." He smirked. "By the time I was actually going to school I was able to fight people three grades above me." He watched as Sharron ignored his boasting and continued cooking. "Fine, but we should head back."

"Probably," Sharron admitted. "I guess I'll have to eat this on the way back." Sharron quickly stomped out the fire and put her cooking stuff in her backpack, walking back with Carter in silence.

Carter: "Sharron's more impressive than I thought, I'll admit," he said with a defeated tone. "That just means I can't go easy on her, which is perfect, since I wasn't going to anyway."

Sharron: "Carter's super arrogant, he's also constantly worried about himself or someone else showing up trying to manipulate him." She shrugged. "Oh well, at least I know the other leader's no pushover. That means I need to always be at the top of my game."

When the two entered back, Susan was waiting for them. "Glad you two are finally back," she said with a bored expression. "Everyone else is done eating, so we're going to begin the trip to the school for the challenge. A few of the Parrots looked around to see who was gone. "As you may have noticed," she said, this time addressing everyone, "Gianna was voted out last night. Try not to be like her." Once she finished speaking, the bus showed up. "Everyone climb aboard, I will meet you at the school."

"Hold on a second Susan," Nathan demanded, "how do you get to the school before us when we take the bus?" He eyed her down, hoping to try and intimidate her, but he couldn't get through the sunglasses.

Susan had disregarded him. "I will meet you there, that is all you're permitted to know at this time." She walked away from them, leaving the cast to go and board the bus.

Once everyone was on the bus, it once again began moving toward the school, taking the same route it took last time, but this was the first time the contestants got to be able to observe their trip there. "Susan continues to cover up something big," Nathan said with a scowl, carefully watching outside. He looked over at Ben. "Small guy, what's your thought on it?"

Ben cowered at Nathan yet again approaching him. "Umm, well, Miss Susan said we shouldn't look too much into it..." with every word he got quieter and more scared.

Nathan was about to open his mouth again when someone stepped in. "Nathan, leave him be," Brenna demanded. "You need to realize he's not interested in speaking with you." Ben smiled at Brenna as she stepped in to defend him, while Nathan simply scoffed and went back to staring out the window diligently.

Meanwhile, near the back of the bus, Kris was leaning on the window, like she was about to fall asleep, but she then noticed out of the corner of her eye that Celine was looking over to her every once in a while. She grumbled for a second, before taking a deep breath and turning over to her. When she did, the two made eye contact, causing Celine to blush and jump back in her seat. "Oh, sorry," she said, shuffling around. "I didn't realize I was staring right at you."

Kris continued her complete lack of emotion, but her words seemed important. "I don't want this to be a problem all season," she said bluntly, "so I'll be straightforward with it. Why do you continue to act so nice to me all the time?" Kris was interested in the answer, but it was impossible to tell.

Celine frowned for a second. "Well, I kind of just figured that you looked so...sad, I guess." She shrugged. "I'm sorry if I offended you, I just didn't want you to feel bad all the time."

Kris shrugged. "Don't apologize, I know where you're coming from. But, there's no need for that. I don't get sad." She paused for a second. "I guess that's a way to put it."

The master chef was confused, not really getting what Kris meant. "But...you don't seem happy at all. I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but for some reason I feel awful watching you look so glum, even if you aren't." She paused for a second, trying to word that better, but nothing came out.

The deadpan eventually relented. "Well, if you insist on it, I guess there's no stopping you. I'm not really offended by it." She then turned away to face the window again, which caused Celine to frown and look back out her own window. But, Kris wasn't actually just looking out the window, she had also turned away to hide a bit of red coming on her face.

Meanwhile, Peter was sitting in the back near them, watching everything. He peered back once or twice during the conversation, but had made sure to be laying low.

Peter: He had his white board in his arms, and he was making some notes. "If those two are going down the path I think they are, then this team's in trouble. I sense a powerful alliance going down, but I don't want to add myself into the equation until I'm certain that's what's happening. I need to subtract some variables and get more data. Hopefully I can do that today."

Eventually the bus reached a screeching halt, causing Nathan to blink wildly for a second. "H-how?" he stammered, "I was staring out the window the entire time and I noticed nothing!" He grumbled to himself as they all began to scatter off the bus.

Susan, as promised, was standing in front of them as soon as they arrived. "Excellent, everyone's here in one piece. Come, follow me now." She began walking inside the school, with Jacob and Leo promptly following her as ordered. The others paused for a second before going in with the group. As they walked through the hallways, Brenna began carefully looking around, trying to make sense of what she was thinking about.

Susan eventually brought them to the gym, where they were greeted by a giant eight by eight grid, and a scoreboard that was lit up. "Where are we?" Claire asked, "what's with all this mixed up decor?"

Chef then eventually came out from another door and stood next to Susan. "Separate by teams, now." Quickly trying to follow his orders the Parrots and Goldfish split up as fast as they could. "Today we see if any of your brains are actually worth it. We'll be playing chess." Brenna, Peter, and Nolan seemed to be excited, but the likes of Claire and Nathan were groaning.

Susan snapped her fingers, and two interns pushed a monitor in front of her before running off. "You will be testing your leadership as best as you can today, but not all the pressure falls on your teams' official leaders. If you choose, today you may elect a temporary leader. Jacob's and Leo's eyes lit up as soon as she said that. "You have three minutes to elect a king and queen piece for your board before moving on.

The Parrots instantly started breaking into chaos. "I don't think it's much of a decision," Jacob boasted, "I will gladly step in as today's leader-" He was promptly pushed out of the way by the royal boy.

"I don't think you realize how little you count as a leader," George criticized the band president. "I am the obvious choice to make a king. You won't be disappointed." He stared down Sharron, hoping for her approval.

Sharron rolled her eyes watching the two fight. "Fine, George, you're in, don't screw this up." Jacob pouted for a second as George beamed with pride. "But, I'm picking the queen myself." She quickly scanned around the team. "Brenna, you're a good tactical thinker, I presume?"

Brenna hesitated. "I...am. But, I don't think I'm ready to make big decisions like that. Sorry." Sharron nodded compassionately. "You should stay the queen anyway." Everyone else agreed. Sharron gave up with a sigh.

Over on the Goldfish, a similar banter was going down. "If we need someone in charge, it has to be me!" Leo called out. He tried his best to stand tall in front of them, but even Kris had an edge in height over him.

Leo was promptly pulled out of the way with one hand by Carter. "I'm the king today still. I don't trust someone like him to make these choices." He then observed the other team members. "I don't really care who's queen, you guys figure it out."

Claire instantly stepped forward. "I'll do it! I have to make Nolan proud!" Nolan didn't react to her, as he had fallen asleep again, having no interest in either royal position. "Aww, man."

Celine then raised her hand. "I'd like to think that I have a real shot of doing well too." She shrugged. "Sorry, Claire, but I didn't think you'd actually want to have a role in chess."

Peter watched the two bicker for a bit before making a move. "If I may, maybe someone should mediate. After all, we're running out of time." He turned to Kris. "Care to try and solve this? You seem to be the most composed."

Despite what Peter was hoping for, Kris shook her head. "Not really. Maybe you should." She earned a few nods in agreement from Nolan and Leo. "See? You offered, your job."

Peter tried not to look agitated, but hung his head. "So be it," he conceded. "Celine seems overall more dependable. If we need her longer I'd rather have her." Everyone else but Claire agreed. "I guess it's decided."

"Time's up!" Susan called out. "Kings and Queens, step onto the board." George and Sharron approached the board, but when Carter stepped up, Claire jumped in place anyway, despite what the team had decided, taking the Queen spot. "Alright, those decisions are final." A few of the Goldfish, namely Celine and Kris were shocked to see Claire act so rashly. "Okay, captains, please select your final pieces."

Sharron went first. She began scanning through her team, when Abigail caught her attention. "Don't put me with him," she pleaded, gesturing with her head over to Jacob.

Sharron eventually finished thinking. "I want Abigail and Nala as bishops, Ben and Brenna as knights, and Jacob and Nathan as the rooks." A few complaints were mumbled, but they each took their spots on the giant grid.

Up next Carter quickly decided. "Peter and Kris, you will be bishops. Celine and Nolan can be rooks." He watched as they went on and left only Leo to pick from. "I guess you're a knight, but this is severely unfair."

Chef brought one of the interns in. "You get him too. Have fun." Once the intern was on the board, the row in front of them opened up, and pawns also appeared on either side. "Your pawns can move automatically, but you gotta give out a decision." He stared down the royal members. "And here's the fun part. Only the kings and queens may speak, and the king's word is always final, meaning he gets total say." George jumped up and down in excitement, while Carter didn't react. The pawns in front of the Parrots were white, while the Goldfish had the black pawns.

Susan stood above them all in a press box, managing the scoreboard. "Sharron and George, you're up first. Make a decision that you will not regret." With that, the game had officially begun.

Sharron began studying the board. "If I had to guess," she muttered to herself, "based on what I know about Carter, he'd probably go for a head on assault." She paused again. "I need to be able to punish his rash choices." She turned to George. "Order the pawn on d2 to go," she told him. "We need to slowly whittle him down."

George scoffed at the archer's decision. "You clearly do not understand what is going on here!" he shouted. "This is a battle between two kingdoms! Who do you think goes on the front lines? Not some...foot soldiers!" He pointed over at Brenna. "You! Go to g3. That's my final decision!" Brenna wanted to try and argue, but George was so caught up in being a king he gave her no shot. "I don't remember you getting a choice!" Brenna relented, moving over to the spot the royal boy had sent him.

Brenna: "Life-sized chess would normally be a dream come true," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice, "but being subjected to...him, is a total step down. I'm not quite sure what led Sharron to do that..."

Sharron: "That was a lapse in my judgement," she admitted solemnly. "I could have let anyone else be in charge of the game and they would have at least pretended to listen to me. This...this will be fun."

Nathan: "Yep, we're doomed," he said hopelessly, shrugging as he leaned against the wall. "Best case scenario is we lose and I can go to sleep easier knowing there won't be two buffoons arguing in my room, just one."

Claire was now standing on her queen position, a bit confused. "Um, how did she do that?" she asked Carter, "she went through a piece, that has to be cheating!" She turned to Nolan. "What do you think?" Nolan was asleep again. "Oh, man!"

Carter rolled his eyes at the flirt. "Knight pieces can go through other pieces. They move one space forward then one diagonally." Claire's brain already looked fried. "This is why you shouldn't have taken the spot," he reminded her. "Do you know how to play?" Claire shook her head. "Your piece can move anywhere straight or diagonally. Your goal is to make him not be able to go anywhere." He pointed over at George. "Make sense?" Claire shook her head again.

The untrusting boy sighed, giving up on trying to explain anything else to Claire. "Let's just...move the pawn in front of me," he said, shaking his head with disappointment. "Maybe we'll be able to pull this off." As he spoke, the pawn right in front of him had been pushed forward one space.

Once the pawn had moved, Sharron instantly began speaking to George to try and dissuade him from his current course. "I don't know if you recall, but I am still in charge. We need to make a strong defense, not just send both the knight pieces forward!"

George shook his head. "Two knights have beaten entire armies in countless tales before. To say you don't think that our knights cannot do that means you don't have faith in our team!" George raised an eyebrow and smirked with a smug expression on his face. "Besides, you aren't in charge today. I am."

Despite thinking he had her got, Sharron still shot back at him. "If that's what not having faith in my team is, then I don't have faith in my team. But, surely you, who's making all the decisions, should think twice before sending two of our team members to get trapped and captured." She turned to the team. "Who's planning on voting this man out if we lose?" Everyone instantly raised their hand, with Jacob raising it before she added the 'if we lose' part.

George hesitated for a second. "Think what you want, but I'm not backing off." He pointed at Ben. "To c3. At once!" He banged the bottom of his staff on the ground as he made the order. "We will write history today, and I will be the ones to lead you to that!" Ben begrudgingly walked over to the assigned spot.

Abigail: "The current band president at my school is a delusional nut job," she said bluntly. "Because of that, I'm unable to just have a normal day of going in the band room and playing trombone." She shrugged. "But, from what I just saw, I now realize I could have had it a lot worse." She paused. "I won't forgive him for being a prick, still."

"How annoying," Carter complained, "he's moving too sporadically for me to actually counter his plan. It's clear he has some trick planned, but what is it?" He stared at the two knights that were out on the board at the time.

As he stood in his spot, Peter, who was right next to him, tapped on Carter's shoulder. Carter turned down and watched as Peter tried to distinguish with his hands what he wanted to do. "You wanna go?" he asked. Peter nodded his head. "You seem to have some sort of idea. I hope I can figure it out once you move." Peter nodded. Carter then looked up at Susan. "I am allowed to just let him move wherever he wants, right?"

"If you're willing to take the risk, yes," Susan confirmed. Once that was out of the way, Peter moved himself over to c5. Once he was there, he gave off a small smirk. He knew exactly what he was doing Brenna let out a small gasp, trying to stay quiet, but she also realized what was happening.

Carter watched as the boy stopped when he could have targeted Ben instead. "Odd, but I'm going to let him make that choice." Carter knew that it was a gamble, and while he didn't trust Peter completely, he trusted his intellect.

That left George to make the next move. "Another sporadic move from my enemy," he boasted, not seeing the irony in his words at all. "I'll have to make a move that will blow them away!" A few of the other team members rolled their eyes. "Now then, which of the knights can make the safest move..." He paused to think. Despite his strategy being horrible, he was thinking it through.

Then, someone broke the silence. "Move this thing out of my way, I want to get some action!" Nathan called out. He had a very tired and annoyed look on his face, and his words screamed with hostility.

Nala gasped and turned to the jerk. "You can't talk!" she whispered, trying to remind him, "Miss Susan said so!" she had a worried look on her face for the boy, who didn't even bother meeting her eyes.

"I don't care about some dumb rule," Nathan countered, "I want to do something. Waiting here is so boring, so kingly, make a move!" Right after he said that, he was shocked by the tile he was standing on.

The echoing voice of Susan sounded throughout the room. "I believe I made it clear the other pieces were not permitted to speak. Extreme punishment was prohibited in schools, but this is no ordinary school. So, enjoy the punishment." Nathan grumbled to himself as he fried. "And, I'm sorry, Miss Nala, but you also have broken the rules as well. Nala was then shocked, whining a bit as she hit the floor.

George made a loud cough to get everyone's attention. "Now that the peasant quarreling has ended, I'm ready to move. Since I was requested so nicely, I will move the pawn from a2 to a3." The pawn the moved itself forward a space. "You're welcome." Once Nathan realized he still wouldn't be able to go anywhere, he growled, causing George to laugh.

George: "I understand that Sharron temporarily serves as our leader," he explained, "but once I get my hands on victory today, I don't plan on letting it go. That is for certain. I will use my power to eliminate those who try to mock me, starting with that lowly peasant and the bully man."

Nathan: He was still a bit fried from the shock he had gotten a second ago. "I didn't think I'd be able to hate that kid more," he said with a surprised look, "but here we are. I hope he's ready for a beatdown." He punched his one fist into his other hand.

"Well, he's actually onto something," Sharron muttered. "If Peter goes rogue and tries to take that pawn, he goes down." She sighed. "Unfortunately that decision won't come to pass."

Carter watched the board carefully, trying to figure out how he could turn this into a win. From what it looked like, the game was at a standstill, but a strong move could win them the game. Then, he got tapped on the shoulder again, this time by Claire. "What?" he asked angrily.

"So...from the way you put it...I'm like the best piece ever, right?" Carter hesitated, but since she was technically right, he nodded slowly. "Right, now, I'm not really trying to put in a ton of work, but what if you put me like...there, or something." She pointed to a space two spaces diagonally. "Y'know, just to intimidate them." She then laughed. "Or charm them, whatever comes first." Carter rolled his eyes at her.

Peter glanced over at Carter from his spot, and while shocked, still gave him a thumbs up. Carter put his trust into Peter's intelligence again. "Fine, but you need to go right there, okay?" Claire skipped over to f2, and stopped at that spot. Brenna figured out the setup Peter was going for, and tried to signal George to realize it.

George, instead, was more concerned about the move at hand. "Only a coward would send out their queen so early in a siege," he taunted. "Truly you lack all kinds of chivalry." He smirked. "If you insist on attacking our knights, you will surely pay the price! Move Ben to-"

"No, Peter's setting up a fool's mate!" Brenna screamed, before being shocked right after. It didn't matter to her, though. It was far more logical to get those words out instead.

Sharron quickly looked over what was happening. "Oh, wow, you're right," she said, "thanks for letting us know that. She turned to the board. "George, we need to counteract this. We lose if you screw around again." It wasn't actually true, though. Sharron knew that where Brenna was, they actually were able to stop the tactic, but Sharron wanted to see if he'd continue on that path.

George chuckled. "Right, of course," he said boastfully. "Allow me to move one of the knights to a more strategic attacking position. They can scheme all they want, but we'll be victorious in the end, you'll see." He chuckled again, spinning his staff in his hand.

"I don't think you understand how important this is," Sharron told him. "You screw this up, and we lose, more specifically, you do." George peered around to see most of his team glaring at him.

George took a deep breath. "I won't stand down to peasants. Brenna, move to g5." Sharron smacked her forehead, while a lot of the team groaned at the decision.

Brenna shook her head. "I won't go there-" she paused to scream while she got shocked. "I'm the only thing- ow! Keeping us in the- ow! challenge!" Another final shock. "Ow!" George didn't back down on the decision, though. Begrudgingly, Brenna went over to the next space.

Sharron: "Even if he was just trying to keep the knights alive he would have failed miserably, he's being eaten away by his delusions." She paused for a second. "But, this challenge wasn't useless. I noticed that a lot of my team works well in pairs, and despite their inevitable protests, I want to keep it that way." She sighed. "Sorry in advance, Abigail."

Brenna: She was still smoking a bit from the shocks. "Despite all my efforts to try and save us today, we're going to end up losing. I don't get it! Everything about that boy is so...illogical!"

Carter was shocked at the utter chaos that was happening across the board from him. "Well, I suppose we're just going to have to take the win then," he said with a bit of hesitation. "Sorry, Sharron, this can't feel good for you." He pointed at Claire. "Go to f2." Claire simply stared at him blankly, not understanding what that actually meant. Carter groaned. "Go forward until you take the spot of one of those little pieces."

"You got it, boss," Claire said cheerfully, skipping over to the space with the pawn on it. "Woo!" she shouted as she threw the pawn off the board and stood on its space. "Now what?"

Susan had stepped down. "Well, you've won the game, I suppose," she said, writing things down on her clipboard. "The Goldfish have taken the win for today." The goldfish cheered, while the Parrots were left to sit in silence. "Please board the bus and head back, we will be voting after dinner again." The Parrots grumbled as they made their way out.

Carter made his way over to Nolan, who was still asleep on his tile. "Hey, get up," he said, shaking him awake. Nolan moaned for a second before sitting up. "You need to start being more active with us. From now on, you're staying awake, and I will personally make sure of that. Okay?"

"Sure..." Nolan said, not really hearing what he was saying. He just wanted Carter to leave. Carter then grabbed his arm and began to drag him out of the gym.

As the Parrots walked out, Brenna peered through a hallway and noticed something off. She was one of the first people in the challenge the day before, but today there was a part of the school they hadn't seen. "Ben," she said, asking the closest person next to her, "does this place look odd to you at all?"

"Not really?" he said, trying to see what she was seeing. "But I didn't see much of the school." He paused for a second. "Oh, but the basement place was weird. You're right, something's off."

Brenna sighed. "I thought so. I want to look more into it. This school defies all thoughts of logic." She sighed. "Do you think just the two of us could really figure that out, though?"

"W-what?" Ben asked, flustered, "j-just us? I don't know...I'm new to a lot of this." It was very clear that he had severely misinterpreted what Brenna was trying to say to him.

"You're right," Brenna said, not realizing what Ben thought she meant. "We need a team, but who do you think is dependable enough to actually help us?" She then figured it out. "The logical thing would be to recruit our own team members. But, they might think we're seeking alliances. We should ask people who have no prior knowledge of us, so we're mutually working toward the same goal." She paused, "but who?"

Once they teams hit the bus, Celine looked back over to the two Parrots behind her. "I'm sorry," she started off, "but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation in the hallway." She looked at them both. "I'm interested too. If you want help from someone, I'm in."

Brenna smiled. "That's incredible, thanks for helping out. But, you should ask someone else from your team as well. I don't want this group to be uneven." She looked at Celine. "Any ideas? I was thinking Peter."

Celine shook her head. "That's a good idea, but I think I have a better one. You're pretty smart, so I think we need someone who can handle intense situations that we might get into." She looked over at Kris, who was resting her head against the window and blankly staring out.

"That's probably a good idea," Ben said quietly, "because I'm not good in stressful environments. I'm not even sure what I'd be able to do..." He let out a sigh. He felt useless at the moment.

"Perfect," Celine said with a hint of excitement, "I'll let her know tonight. Do you think we should go sooner rather than later? I'd hate for one of us to be eliminated by the time we get some good info."

Brenna thought about it. "You're right, though I think there won't be much of an issue in that department tonight. If you can get Kris to agree, let's head out tonight. We should map the school out completely before anything. Something tells me that mapping it out will be a big challenge." She paused, seeing that the bus had arrived back at the dorms. "Well, I suppose we're back already. Will you be cooking for us again? Last night's meal was incredible."

Celine smiled at the logician. "Thank you, but I didn't have the chance to do it today. I hope I get another shot soon, but I doubt Chef will let me." She shrugged. "Oh well, his food can't be that bad."

Celine: "I really hope Kris agrees to this," she said nervously. "She just seems so out of it all the time. I'm hoping getting her involved in something like this will brighten her spirits. If it works..."

Ben: "Why did Brenna ask me to be involved in this...thing?" he asked the camera, sighing as he laid on the closet's bench. "Kris seems to be more level-headed than me, Brenna's smarter than me, and Celine's...well, she's probably stronger than me, most of the time."

Brenna: "Today was a busy day for me, I suppose," she said, "but I never really imagined that I had the confidence to organize this kind of investigation group. I just hope everything turns out okay. Surely it will, right?"

Once everyone was at dinner, Sharron discussed with her team. "I noticed something today," she told them. "While not a lot of you did stuff, some of you guys work better in pairs than others." This got the attention of a few of her teammates. "So, for future challenges, we should try sticking to those pairs as best we can. What do you guys think?"

"I like the idea," Nala responded quietly, "but, who would I be paired with?" She quickly looked around the table. Everyone else had either a better option or just wasn't good with her.

Sharron sighed. "Some of you may disagree with my choices, but I think this will help us out the best." She turned to the first pair. "Since this one's going to cause the least amount of trouble, let's do it first. Brenna and Ben, you two should stick together." The two nodded in understanding. "Okay, Abigail, I'm sorry, but your perfect partner is Jacob."

"No chance," Abigail swiftly protested, shaking her head violently. "I tried to come here to get a break from him, and he's here. The more I can avoid him, the better." She stood defiantly against the team leader.

Sharron shook her head. "I'm sorry, but this is the best option. If you guys really think it's such a problem, prove me wrong tomorrow. But, you have to actually try still." Abigail sighed in defeat, sitting back down. "Alright, the next pair is Nala and...Nathan." Nala let out a small squeal hearing the name of the hulking boy.

"Look, I try and let you do your leader thing, since Susan sort of made you," Nathan said with an annoyed tone, "but this has to be a lapse in judgement. You don't seriously plan on putting me with the starving artist, do you?"

Nala let out a gasp. "I'm not starving! You really don't have to be so negative!" Nathan rolled his eyes at her. "Like that! Why don't you just try and be friends with someone for once?"

"I don't need to be your friend, and I don't need your pity either," Nathan spat. "If Sharron wants us working together, fine, I suppose I have no choice if I want to stay in the game. But we're not friends, got it?" Nala frowned as Nathan stood his ground against her.

George smirked. "I suppose that leaves you with me then," he said confidently. "However, you should know that one of these pairs are sure to break within an hour." Sharron nodded. "Alright, just so you know."

Meanwhile, over at the Goldfish table, they were talking about their victory. "I've never played chess before," Claire said with a groan, "but that was fun! Are all the games that cool?"

Peter shook his head. "Most of them are actually a very small fraction of that size. It's a strategic board game, not a 'I walk around and win game'." He chuckled to himself. "Still, you should consider adding it to your game repertoire."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you plan on playing it with me? Oh, I'd be honored! It'd be so great to have someone as smart and confident as you to play with." Her words became extremely upbeat and even sing-songy. "But, you have to teach me how to play for real. Something tells me that today was a fluke."

Susan's voice suddenly interrupted them all. "Attention, Screeching Parrots, it is now time for you to decide the fate of your teammates. Head to the confessional to go vote now." The Parrots proceeded to get up and start voting.

Claire: "Oh, I'm not here to vote," she said playfully, "but I had to get something off my mind. Nolan is asleep for like, three fourths of the day. How am I supposed to work with someone like that? After that, there's Carter, who won't answer to anyone, and then there's Leo, and well, I have some standards. So that leaves my only 'love interest' to be...Peter." She said that last phrase in air quotes. "Surely there won't be any problems."

Abigail: "Every ounce of my body is screaming at me," she said angrily, "screaming at me to vote off Jacob, and I want to soooo bad. But, I can't, there's bigger fish to fry. For now."

Sharron: "I put him with me for a reason," she said, twirling one of her arrows between her fingers. "This will be satisfying."

Jacob: "This day has been upon you," he said angrily. "If you continue to challenge my rise to the top, I will destroy you. I made that promise to you already."

The eight Parrots gathered in the hotel lobby, sitting on the various couches in the lounge. Susan approached the team with seven Chef Hatchet erasers. "That was quite the quick voting," she said, "Ben, what are your thoughts?"

"I think we made it pretty easy tonight," he said with a bit of confidence. "I just hope that wasn't all a lie to trick me." He looked around, and no one seemed to be the backstabbing type.

Susan nodded. "Well, let's hope you're right," she said. "Remember, those who do not receive a Chef Hatchet-styled eraser will be sent to the bus to go home." A loud cough from Chef interrupted her. "Forgive me. Those who do not receive a Chef Hatchet-styled eraser will be sent to the bus of shame and be sent home. For good." Chef smiled and nodded in approval. "Right...Brenna and Sharron, you two are safe."

The logician and the archer walked up to grab their erasers. "Ben and Nala, you two are also safe." The pushover and the cosplayer walked up to grab their erasers as well. Ben fumbled his and dropped it on the way back. "Abigail, you're also safe." Abigail skipped up and grabbed hers quickly, smiling at the host.

That left three people to go: Nathan, Jacob, and George. "Nathan," Susan called next, letting the insolent get up and grab his eraser. He smirked, knowing that someone got picked over him. "George, you're in danger for your rash and quite irrational moves, while Jacob, you're in danger for your conniving attitude." Both of the two glared at each other. "The person being sent home tonight is...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...George." Jacob smirked at the royal boy, snatching his eraser out of Susan's hand. "Proceed to the bus of shame."

"How can this be?" he complained, livid at the thought of being eliminated. "You people seriously picked him over me? What on earth does he have to offer that I do not?"

"Everything you could ever hope for," Jacob said with a condescending tone. "You plan on being alone at the top, but when I get there, my best friend will be there to see it." Abigail gagged behind them. "So long, it was a pleasure facing you."

"I can't say the same," George mumbled, walking out to the bus and getting on it, before being driven away from the game for good. The other seven members of the team got up and began leaving.

Meanwhile, back at in 2A, Claire was off trying to learn chess with Peter, leaving Celine and Kris in the room. "Hey, I have an odd question," Celine asked, approaching the deadpan. "Two of the Parrots have asked us to go investigate something tonight, or rather they asked me, and I suggested you come along." Kris raised her eyebrow as Celine explained. "We're going to have to sneak off to the school overnight to try and map it out. Do you want to come?"

Kris sat up. "You said you're going?" Celine nodded. "Well, it'd be boring here without anyone, I guess. I can come along. Who knows, maybe we'll figure it out, and what's the worst that could happen?" She gave off the slightest bit of a smile. "Yeah, I'm in."

Back down in the lobby, Susan was getting ready to try and close off the episode, again. She sighed and went through her clipboard. "I take notes every time, but this is still so difficult!"

Chef was sitting on a couch nearby. "Try it again, but really think about what those kids at home are gonna see." He smirked. "You didn't think this through when you did your shady connection thing to get this job, huh?"

Susan took a deep breath in. "No, I have this. I don't need you teasing me like that." She took another breath. "Another stressful day for our competitors, but things are just getting started. Who will fall next time? Find out on Total, Drama, Cultivated Will!" She let out a sigh. "It feels so artificial."

"But it's getting better," Chef complimented.

Teams:

Screeching Parrots: Abigail, Ben, Brenna, Jacob, Nala, Nathan, Sharron

Swift Goldfish: Carter, Celine, Claire, Kris, Leo, Nolan, Peter

Eliminated: Gianna, George

Honestly, I don't think many people didn't see this coming. I hope he served his comedic role enough, but our royal boy George is off on the bus this week. You didn't think Jacob would go home now, did you?

Today's challenge was one of the first I thought of, and I really wanted to see how it would work out. When I got further into it, I decided that I needed to make a quick checkmate to allow the challenge to not get lost in translation, so I picked the second fastest checkmate, because a Queen's Gambit would take no time at all. Like I said before, each challenge related in some way to an academic skill, this one was tactical thinking, because reading for a challenge would be, well, boring.

Anyway, let me know what you guys thought about today, and who you think will go home next! I'm always super interested in reading predictions and whatnot, so reviewing gives me some neat theories (it also lets me know you're reading and that's really awesome). Anyway, see you next time!