Here comes the obligatory eating challenge (it's an unspoken rule that every season of Total Drama has at least one of these). Sorry this took so long to finish: I not only got writer's block, but also ended up scrapping a whole challenge idea before going with the one shown here. Let's respond to more reviews, and the feast will begin afterwards.
OmnipotentAbsoluteUIGodzilla: Thanks, and I have indeed heard about the series' renewal. In fact, that was mentioned when I posted Chapter 5.
Rockin' D-99: Sugar was more annoyed by Ella than jealous of her. Justin learned that body language alone isn't enough to get by, though still is overly reliant on his appearance. Rodney is the epitome of the "love makes you dumb" trope, and the canon writers should've given him more depth than they did. Oh well. Maybe he could've done well in a season with all guys and no girls, but I doubt we'll ever see that happen. Anne Maria had to swallow some pride and resents it. She dug her own grave here by initially trying to avoid a required haircut.
Eating time!
Clips were shown of 14 contestants all sleeping soundly. That ended with Chef using a megaphone outdoors to instruct "Everyone better be awake, because breakfast will be ready in 10 minutes, and I'm not waiting for anybody who's late."
Shortly afterwards, Chris could be seen looking at him angrily. He reprimanded "This megaphone is for me to use, not you!" while swiping it from his hands.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"Why can't my boss learn to share?"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards the cafeteria where every player could be seen eating pancakes. They were quite tasty, and none of the competitors had any complaints about this meal. Even McLean and his aid were enjoying those. With his mouth full of food, the host instructed "Once you finish up with these, meet me outdoors."
Within the next few minutes, everybody could be seen outside, except for Hatchet. Upon noticing that, Max inquired "Where is Chef, cooking up something EVIL for today?"
Chris answered with "It might not be evil, but he's looking for recipes that will be used today. Not a bad guess there."
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"The evilest food I probably gave contestants were those expired juggy chunks last season. Part of me wanted to use those again for ratings when everybody gets grossed out and barfs, but I got sued for that, so my lawyers insisted I provide things that won't give food poisoning this time."
(End Confessional)
Hatchet could subsequently be seen in the kitchen with a collection of cookbooks. He was trying to decide what to use. Back outside, his boss continued with "While we wait for our cook to decide on something, let me tell you how things will work for today. One member of each team will be randomly selected to prepare a recipe of his choosing. Those people will have to make a large quantity of that for everybody else to eat. Everyone else must consume their food in 20 minutes or less. If you vomit at any point, then you must go sit out the rest of the challenge. There will be a bench nearby for anybody who barfs. Whichever side finishes their food first or eats more of it before time runs out will win for today. Now is the time to ask any questions you have."
"Will we have anything to wash it down with?" asked Eva.
"Yes indeed." the host affirmed. "There will be a glass of water for every player, but you each only get one, so use it wisely and sparingly."
"I sure hope that's enough." said Dave, who sounded worried.
"Same with me." Beardo added in agreement.
(Begin Confessional: Jo)
"Maybe my team got rid of Sugar too early. I saw her win invincibility for finishing those disgusting juggy chunks before anybody else last season. She could've helped chow down things. Even though I wasn't one of the people who tried to vote off that fatty and still don't miss her, we may have put ourselves at a disadvantage."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Brick)
"Today doesn't sound easy, but I can stomach lots of things and am prepared to do just that."
(End Confessional)
Ten minutes later, everybody had gathered in the cafeteria again. The usual tables had been temporarily moved out so two larger ones could be used for this challenge. There was a gold tablecloth for the Leopards and a silver one for the Coyotes. Everybody could be seen sitting at their respective team tables. The second-in-command held a hat filled with names of contestants. He announced "Our Coyote cooking for today shall be…
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Blaineley! As for which Leopard will do the same, that is going to be…
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DJ! Follow me into the kitchen. Everybody else, please go wait elsewhere until you hear from Chris or me to come back here. It'll take at least an hour."
(Begin Confessional: Trent)
"DJ's a good cook, so I doubt it'll be too difficult to finish off whatever he makes, no matter how large the quantity is."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Blaineley)
"Another eating challenge is among us? I don't like the sound of that. Anybody who's watched World Tour will now why. Let's hope this goes better than the one from that or Pahkitew Island. At least I'm not obligated to consume anything for today."
(End Confessional)
The cameras showed Sam and Dakota swimming in the pool. Jo entered the scene and joined them. She told the couple "Good work finishing that climb quickly last challenge when prompted. You earned those gift cards. I might have something else in store for you both, but under one condition."
"Just spit it out already!" urged the gamer.
"Yeah, we'd rather not beat around the bush." His girlfriend added in agreement.
"Very well, and what I'm about to tell you should be kept secret from the other contestants." replied the jockette before gathering into a huddle, telling them something that was inaudible to anyone else.
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Jo didn't have a bad idea at all."
(End Confessional)
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"There was no way I could turn down this offer."
(End Confessional)
Over in the lounge, Brick could later be seen playing chess with Ella. He asked her "What do you think they'll end up serving today?"
She made a move before telling him "Check, and your guess is as good as mine. I just hope there's nothing too gross."
"Regardless, I don't plan on letting our squadron down. A good soldier should prepare for the worst." said the cadet while moving his king out of danger.
"That's a smart motto to live by, but knowing who's preparing the courses for us, I have a feeling we won't need to worry too much." Dawn remarked as she entered the area. "It's better than letting Chris serve us juggy chunks."
The princess shuddered at that thought and responded with "As much as I hated leaving so soon last season, one advantage is that I didn't have to eat those!"
(Begin Confessional: Dawn)
"While I wish I could've read the auras and DJ and Blaineley before we had to temporarily exit, I already sense neither of them would be cruel enough to serve anything that would make us ill, especially not the former. That would basically be asking to get voted off."
(End Confessional)
Over in the kitchen, both contestants selected to prepare dishes were seen working on different recipes. Mildred was working on jelly-filled donuts while her opponent baked cinnamon buns. She pondered aloud "How does Chef manage to pull off things like this every day?"
DJ's answer was "It gets easier to bake in large quantities with practice. That's something I learned from personal experience."
"You got that right." Hatchet affirmed while walking in to check on them. "Now you know what it's like making meals for everybody. I bet that makes you appreciate my efforts more."
"It most definitely does." Ms. O'Halloran told him.
(Confessional: Blaineley)
"After today's experience, I doubt I'll ever criticize others again for taking a long time to prepare any food for me."
(End Confessional)
Chris could later be seen outdoors with his megaphone. He used it to tell everyone except the ones cooking "Your challenge awaits! Please meet me in the kitchen."
Everybody gathered within two minutes. Once they did, McLean turned towards the gentle giant and Mildred and instructed "Bring out what you've made for today."
The named players complied, and everyone else was pleased to see something edible unlike what season 6 offered during its merge. Trent inquired "When should we begin?"
"That will be quite soon." the host answered before continuing with "Blaineley, please give your donuts to the Roaring Leopards. DJ, your cinnamon buns will go to the Howling Coyotes. The two of you are excused for the rest of the challenge. As for the others, Chef will fill them in on the details."
"Wait, how come we aren't eating what our own teammates prepared?" asked Leshawna. "I could've sworn that's where things were headed."
"That felt too predictable. We wanted to throw in a twist." Hatchet explained while pulling out a timer and subsequently instructed "Now, don't start until you hear a ding from this device, or you'll be penalized. Stop eating once you hear it buzz. You also cannot eat from anybody else's basket. Got it?"
All 12 eaters nodded in affirmation. McLean followed that up with "Very good. I'm setting the timer now." before pressing its start button, which made a "ding" sound.
They promptly began chowing down. Max began with a particularly large bite. He washed it down with some water before blurting out "Cinnamon, there is no need for you to be that spicy!", prompting Jo to snicker at his misfortune.
"Did someone put extra cinnamon on those buns?" McLean questioned. "Well played!"
"I snuck in a little something into both recipes after they were finished." Chef whispered with a chuckle.
Soon afterwards, the wannabe villain's other teammates were also struggling with the spice from their food. None of them were laughing now. On the other side, those with the donuts underestimated how much of a mess they'd make with splattered jelly. Not even Dawn—the first one to take a bite into those—anticipated this. Dave was sitting right across from this girl, and the filling from hers went straight into his eyes upon biting! He yelped in shock, though wasn't exactly traumatized. It wasn't even a tenth as bad for him as the vomit incident during their boat race. She felt bad about the splattering and blurted out "I'm so sorry for that! These are much messier than I expected."
Ella was sitting next to the blinded one and quickly wiped the jelly off with a nearby napkin so he could see again. The germaphobe smiled in gratitude and continued to eat a donut while thanking his admirer with "The cleaning is much appreciated." before telling the aura-whisperer "If you of all people couldn't foresee this, then there's no way anybody else would've been able to. Don't worry too much about it."
"Fair point. Now we better keep eating." said Brick, and they did just that.
It wasn't smooth sailing for anybody. In the first 5 minutes alone, one team quickly used up about half of their water supply while the other got jelly all over their table. Chris found their struggles hilarious. His aid at one point asked him "Do you really feel this something worth laughing your ass off over?"
The host affirmed "It totally is! I thought you had a sense of humor as well."
"Yes, of course I do, but it's not something that would make me crack up so much." Hatchet replied.
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"That boss of mine sometimes goes overboard with his schadenfreude. While I'm far from a softie, I definitely don't get as much joy out of others' misfortunes as he does."
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut towards the lounge, which featured both people chosen to prepare dishes for this challenge. Blaineley asked "Any idea how long it'll take people to finish off what we made?"
That was answered with "None, or I already would've shared them."
(Begin Confessional: DJ)
"I have to admit getting a free pass from eating in the challenge today was quite a stroke of luck. My only complaint is I didn't get to taste-test anything beforehand. Oh well. At least I don't have to worry about getting ill from overstuffing myself."
(End Confessional)
Back in the cafeteria, everyone else was continuing to eat as fast as they could without getting sick. It wasn't easy for any of them. About halfway through the time limit, one table started to look like it had a member who could soon throw up, namely Dakota. She did her best to fight back nausea. Sam noticed this and tried offer encouragement with "You won the mountain climbing challenge for our team, and that was definitely harder than this, so I have faith you can pull through today."
Shortly after swallowing a bun, his girlfriend replied "Here's hoping you're right. I do appreciate the gesture either way."
"Anybody who must blow chunks should exit the room. You'll find buckets with each of your names labelled on them. Do your best to keep your barf in your own bucket." Chef instructed.
The other side seemed like it was about to have a disqualification. Its princess slowed down and mumbled "I don't feel so well." before taking another bite.
Dave suggested "Maybe slow down a bit and pause between donuts. That could at least help delay any mess that comes up."
Not wanting to talk with her mouth full of food, Ella simply gave a shoulder shrug in response, thinking it was worth a try. She started to chew slower. While the nausea felt like it wasn't coming up as quickly, this couldn't entirely make the feeling go away.
(Begin Confessional: Leshawna)
"It doesn't take Dawn's aura-reading powers to sense how that suggestion on slowing down wasn't just to postpone or avoid any contamination from vomiting around him. He genuinely cares for her well-being and it shows."
(End Confessional)
A minute or two later, Ms. Milton couldn't hold back the sickness any longer. She got up and went for the cafeteria's exit. Chris taunted "We're about to have our first spewing of the day! It sucks to be you people right now."
Right after the host finished speaking, Dakota ended up vomiting on his shoes! Even though that was an accident, the girl didn't feel bad at all for doing so. She bitterly told him "You can go rot in hell!" before leaving the room and puking some more into a bucket.
McLean took off said footwear and requested "Reminder: please save your upchuck for buckets and not me or my clothing."
(Begin Confessional: Dakota)
"Did I mean to barf on Chris? No. Do I regret it? Not in the slightest! That serves him right for being such a jackass to us."
(End Confessional)
Roughly 30 seconds passed before anybody else needed a bucket. It was Ella, who apologized with "I'm sorry, but this is no longer avoidable!" before dashing off to heave, barely avoiding contact with Chris in the process.
This prompted him to remark "At least she kept all of her puke in the appropriate bucket. That's another person too sick to compete any further today. Chef, please keep an eye on the remaining players while I go put on something cleaner." prior to finding a pair of shoes that wasn't covered in vomit.
(Begin Confessional: Chris)
"I'm just lucky nobody puked on my pants or—even worse—my beautiful face!"
(End Confessional)
Outside of the cafeteria, those disqualified from eating further sat on a bench together. Ella lamented "I wish I could've done better today. With the dishes reversed, maybe we would have better luck, who knows?"
That prompted a response of "Same with me. Knowing my stomach, I probably would've gotten sick anyway when it was hard for me to digest so much food at once without throwing up, but it's still a nice thought. Oh well."
"Regardless, one upside is we don't have to overstuff ourselves any further." the princess commented.
Dakota concurred with "Good point, and I'm also grateful for that."
In the meantime, everyone who hadn't already gotten ill continued to struggle with eating what remained in their baskets. Chris returned to the area wearing clean shoes when the timer had somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes remaining before it expired. He asked his assistant "Did I miss anything big?"
"I assume you mean additional vomiting. The answer to that is no." Hatchet informed him.
Nobody uttered another word until the timer ran out. They were all too busy focusing on the food in front of them. Upon hearing the ding, McLean declared "Time's up! Let's gather your baskets and inspect those."
Both he and Chef took the baskets to another room to determine how much of the dishes had been consumed. Each of the contestants had at least 20% of their food remaining. It was a close call for which side ate the most. One minute passed before the cook informed them "We've examined your progress very closely, and determining the winner wasn't easy."
"Hold on, I'm supposed to give the verdict!" Chris interjected. "Now, without further ado, our winning team for today by a narrow margin is…
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The Howling Coyotes! By the way, this is a non-elimination challenge, so the Roaring Leopards won't send anybody home tonight. Consider yourselves lucky to catch a break."
Under normal circumstances, the winners would've cheered, but feeling so stuffed with food got in the way of that. They opted to clap instead while the losers took a sigh of relief when exempt from voting.
(Begin Confessional: Sam)
"Just to be clear, I love how my team has kept up its winning streak. It's too bad that today's events left my stomach feeling rather uncomfortable."
(End Confessional)
Later that day, Dave was seen in the contestants' hotel with a box of saltine crackers and two cans of ginger ale. He knocked on one of the doors and inquired "Is your stomach any better now? I have something that might help."
Ella responded from the other side with "A little, and while I don't mind you coming in, I also would hate to make a mess on you. Just be careful around me."
The germaphobe entered her room while stating "After you went out of your way to lend a hand with my seasickness, I thought I'd return the favor. Sorry you couldn't make it through the whole challenge. At least we don't have to worry about votes tonight."
"Why thank you David!" she beamed. "I didn't think any of that was left, but I sure am glad to receive it. Having an elimination ceremony now would be unfortunate when I have no doubt everybody else would vote me off for obvious reasons."
"My pleasure, and yeah we dodged a bullet. I'd hate for you to go home so soon. In the meantime, you should get some rest. The ale and crackers will be ready once you are." he replied before taking one of the cans with him and exiting.
(Begin Confessional: Ella)
"My prince checking in on my illness was quite welcome. He can be quite a gentleman. Is it just my imagination, or did that boat race change things between us? Ever since I prevented him from falling overboard and I washed off his vomit, I feel like our friendship has gotten closer than before. I don't want to jump to conclusions to quickly, but after that hug and being called 'an angel', something about the way David smiled at me when I cleaned his face earlier today and helped me during the mountain climb gives me an inkling that he may have begun to reciprocate my love. A girl can hope! If he has, then I should probably wait until he makes a move. I know that romance is a subject that can make him uneasy given past experiences. It feels too risky for me to make advances unless I'm certain he's ready for it, and today feels premature for that."
(End Confessional)
A certain gamer overheard that exchange was planning to do the same with his girlfriend. He crossed paths with Dave on the way over and said "Helping out your teammates is a good idea. I'm about to do so myself."
The germ-hater was somewhat caught off guard. Before taking a sip of ginger ale, he responded with "Well, she was feeling sick, and I wanted to return the favor after I got nauseous during the boat race and received her care."
"Quite understandable." Sam told him. "It's hard to go wrong showing a woman you care for her. After all, she's grown on you, right? Maybe you'll end up with something more than friendship."
That prompted the germaphobe to spit out his drink in shock! Dave blurted out "No, no, no, no, no! It-it's not like that! We're just friends and I'd hate to make a fool of myself again by trying to become anybody's boyfriend on this show. Besides, we're here for the money."
The gaming nut wasn't convinced. Before going to find Dakota, he simply replied with "Whatever you say. If you've learned from past mistakes, then you can at least work towards a better ending with her, romance or not."
(Begin Confessional: Dave)
"Sam had a fair point on learning from past mistakes. One thing's for sure: I absolutely do not want a repeat of what happened with Sky! To tell the truth, even though I'm not exactly ready to try dating anyone right now, I-I don't think Ella would make a bad girlfriend. Would telling her this put our friendship at risk, though? Our time together this season has admittedly made me see the girl in a new light. I'll have to give it more thought before deciding where to take things. She's proven herself to be valuable and I feel bad for previously underestimating her."
(End Confessional)
During dinner that night, the contestants were less enthusiastic than usual to receive a meal. Two different soups were being served. They could choose between either ginger carrot or chicken noodle. DJ and Blaineley were the only people to go for seconds when everybody else was still recovering from the challenge. The former inquired "Who would've thought nobody was going home tonight?"
Mildred's response was "Definitely not me, though we seemed to be off the hook regardless."
Nobody else was in much of a mood to talk due to feeling bloated. Chef picked up on this and said "The least you could do is show some gratitude. I specifically chose meals that were easy on upset stomachs."
(Begin Confessional: Chef)
"Does anybody appreciate the things I do to help on this show?"
(End Confessional)
The cameras cut to Chris outdoors. He signed off the episode with "The Coyotes got their third consecutive victory while the Leopards got off easier than usual today. Don't stop watching now! We've got plenty more coming up here on Total. Drama. Generation Showdown!"
You readers were probably expecting someone to get voted off here. I wanted to shake things up a bit so the challenge chapters don't feel too monotonous with eliminations. Anyway, the Coyotes take the lead with 3-2 after tying with the Leopards. Next chapter will have an elimination. I'm not spoiling who gets the boot.
Elimination Order:
Sugar (18th place), Justin (17th place), Rodney (16th place), Anne Maria (15th place)
Remaining Players:
Howling Coyotes: Beardo, Blaineley, Dakota, Eva, Jo, Max, Sam
Roaring Leopards: Brick, Dave, Dawn, DJ, Ella, Leshawna, Trent
Chapter posted: March 31, 2021.