Author's Note
I'm back! Man, it has been a while! The last hiatus was about 22 months long so by comparison, this one isn't so long (I last updated in April of last year). I've been busy with school and writing my own plays but as I said before, I fully intend on finishing this series, no matter how long it takes! I plan on going back to fix a lot of the spelling and grammar in previous chapters, but other than that, I'm here now!
Just as a reminder for any new readers, this story has been in my head since 2015. I began writing the first few chapters in 2018 and here we are three years later! I've polished a few things here and there but the boot order and general story should be about the same as it was six years ago. If you enjoy this chapter, please give me a review and tell me what you think! It definitely motivates me to continue the story out and it warms my heart to know that there are some of you out there. If you wish to contact me, please add me on Discord. I go by Jpeg#7978.
Anyway, sorry about the cliffhanger! I wouldn't have done it if I knew I would disappear for an extended period of time. My bad! It won't happen again!
Enjoy this chapter!
Heroes: Brick, Dawn, Noah, Tyler, Dave, Sky
Villains: Alejandro, Courtney, Jo, Lightning, Lindsay, Sammy, Scarlett, Scott,
"Last time, on Total Drama: The Island Strikes Back!" Chris started as footage was playing of the Heroes and the Villains. "Actually, I'm sure you already know what happened last time! It was only a week ago. Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?
xxx
(Theme Song Plays)
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doin' fine;
You guys are on my mind!
Ya' asked me what I wanted to be,
And now I think the answer is plain to see!
I wanna be… famous!
I wanna live close to the sun!
Well pack your bags 'cause I've already won!
Everythin' to prove, nothin' in my way;
I'll get there one day.
'Cause I wanna be...famous!
(Na-na nanananaa nanana-nanaa na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa nanana-nanaa na-nananananaa)
I wanna be! I wanna be! I wanna be famous! (Na-na nanananaa nanana-nanaa na-nananananaa)
(Theme Song Ends)
xxx
The episode began with a slow pan down to a familiar scene where the previous episode left off. The crackling embers of the campfire ascended into the dark night's sky as the elimination music began playing once again. The camera panned down to show the six remaining Heroes seated on their logs. Tyler, Dawn, and Brick were seated in the back row while Dave, Sky, and Noah were seated at the front. Tyler, Dawn, Brick, and Noah were all seen with fresh marshmallows in their hands while the final one was seen on Chris' plate.
Chris smirked, knowing that someone was about to leave unhappy. "Down to two, Sky and Dave. The star-crossed lovers who can't seem to shut up. Will it be delusional Dave or sadist Sky? The lesser of two evils. The-"
"Enough!" Sky pouted. "Let's just get this over with! At least I can take solace in the fact that regardless of who gets eliminated, the conflict will finally come to an end."
"Fine." Chris said as he rolled his eyes. "You've waited long enough. The fifth person eliminated from Total Drama: The Island Strikes Back is…."
"Sky."
Sky took a long exasperated sigh, followed by an immediate shrug. "I can't say I didn't see that coming. Take me away!"
/
Sky's head was poking out of the Sub of Shame's opening vault. She was biting her lip, trying her best not to say anything. Tyler and Brick were both having a hard time looking at her while Dawn looked as if she had just lost a close friend. On the other hand, Noah tried his best to be uncaring but deep down the guilt was beginning to consume him.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" Dave gloated. Sky rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm glad you're happy. The feud over, right? You got your revenge!"
"I guess so!" Dave shrugged. "It was fun while it lasted. Right, Sky?"
"Not really!" she replied as Chef kicked down the submarine's hatch. The submarine then began to slowly submerge deep into the water.
"And that's a wrap! Who will be the submarine's next victim and will the Heroes finally get their act together? Tune in next time on Total! Drama! The Island Strikes Back!" Chris announced as the screen faded to black.
/
The screen lit up again showing the four male Heroes in their cabin in their pajamas.. It had only been a few hours since Sky had been eliminated. Dave was looking very insecure and anxious.
"Everything alright, teammate?" Brick asked. "You aren't looking so good. You look like… well, I guess you look like me every time Jo picks on me."
"I'm fine. It's just… I've waited a whole year to get my revenge on Sky and now that it's over… I don't know. It wasn't as liberating as I expected. My heart isn't really in the game anymore."
"I know how that feels." Tyler groaned.
The camera focused on Noah rolling his eyes.
xxx
"I'm the furthest thing from a motivator" Noah deadpanned, while sitting cross-legged in the confessional. "But with the my alliance all down in the dumps, there's no way we'll ever get anything done."
The Schemer sighed as he took a deep breath and imitated gagging. "I'll have to take matters into my own hands…"
xxx
"Oh, cheer up everyone!" Noah chimed in, trying his best to sound enthusiastic. His voice was seething with his trademark sarcasm but no one seemed to notice. "Dave, you just got rid of the person who abused you for a whole season. Move on! That Courtney has been eying you for days, man. Tyler, I speak on behalf of the group when I say I promise to take Alejandro down after all he's done. And Brick? Jo's nothing compared to us! We're the Heroes of this season and we're here to make sure all eight of those cowardly Villains pay for their crimes!"
"Seven villains." Tyler butted in. "Sammy isn't like the others….Lindsay too"
"Whatever." Noah snarked. "Six villains then. It doesn't matter. Now who's with me?"
Brick and Tyler exchanged glances before standing upright, looking very patriotic and enthusiastic. Dave grinned for a few seconds before frowning once more.
"And how do I know you aren't going to stab me in the back?" Dave asked. "I'm outnumbered. You can cut me whenever you want."
"Well, if it means anything, even if we lose next challenge, you aren't going anywhere." Noah responded.
Dave thought for a moment. "Who are we voting out then?"
Noah wanted to facepalm him forehead very hard but did everything in his power not to. "The person who isn't in this room right now…" he replied, gritting his teeth, somewhat annoyed at such an obvious question.
The scene cut to show Dawn, the sole female Hero, sitting in a lotus position on her bed with her eyes closed and with a butterfly on her shoulder. Her calm face turned into quite an angry and annoyed one.
xxx
The aura reader stared at the camera, looking much more intense than usual. "Before she went, I promised Bridgette that I'd donate any winnings to help those in need of therapy after all that this perverse show has caused."
She took a deep sigh. "Noah isn't playing around this time. He's here to win and those four guys will take me out without question." She immediately made a fist. "But I swear on the great Mother Earth that I'm not going down without a fight. Not this time, anyway. You can thank Scott for that one…"
/
The scene now shifted to the Villains cabin. First the boys cabin where Scott was seen trying to eat his pillow, and Lightning doing push-ups in his sleep. Alejandro and Lindsay were seen outside on some comfy chairs, enjoying each other's company and giggling. Suddenly, muffled conversation was heard from the girls' part of the cabin. The puppetmaster put his finger to Lindsay's lips to shush her from the excessive giggling as the two eavesdropped on the conversation.
"Come on, Jo! She already bunked with you! Last night even!" Courtney whined.
"Yeah? Well, it's fun having her on the top bunk! I can talk about college football and she can talk about cheerleading! You'll have nothing to add other than your sad memories of always being a counselor-in-training and never the real thing." Jo mocked.
"Yeah? Say her name then." Courtney smirked while crossing her arms.
"Lamey, uhh.. Samey… oh wait, Sammy." Jo awkwardly shuffled, unable to turn off her famous zingers.
"ENOUGH! I've had it with the two of you! This same old drama happens every night!" Sammy scolded. "I'll just bunk with Scarlett and get this over with."
"SCARLETT?!" Courtney fumed. "Didn't she try to kill everyone in your original season?"
"Extremely unnecessary." Scarlett grumbled.
"What would you know? None of you watched my season! I've been a superfan for years! I've idolized every single one of you! And yet none of you even know who I am!" Sammy complained.
"Fine! Bunk with the psychopath. See if I care. No offense, Scarface" Jo quipped.
"None taken." Scarlett grunted, clearly not invested enough to even be offended, as she tried to go back to bed.
The camera cut back to a confused Lindsay and a devious looking Alejandro.
xxx
"Samey, Samey, Samey." Alejandro said in a sing-song manner. When will you ever find out that no one here truly cares about you? She's a smart one, that Samey. She saw through my facade yesterday and she's only now realized that Jo and Courtney are only pandering for her loyalty."
Alejandro crossed his arms, looking even more devious than before. "Jo and Courtney may be… muy estupido, but Scarlett knows what's up. Lucky for me, I have a plan. I've already told Lindsay to try and befriend her tomorrow. If I can get Samey on Lindsay's side, she's basically on my side as well. Mark my words, girls. Samey's going to be my puppet or my name isn't Alejandro Burromuerto!"
/
The screen cut to a scene deep in the forest. It was morning now. Brick was seen jogging through the thick forest. After taking a few wrong turns, he had managed to get more lost than any contestant had ever been lost before. The woods were dark and scary and he could see all the forest creatures and their scary faces. An owl hooted quite loudly which made him tear up in fear. He knew he was nowhere near the campgrounds but didn't want to risk Jo to see him in such a vulnerable state. He was very close too urinating in his shorts until a pleasant voice was heard.
"I know you're scared but I'm here now. I won't leave you."
Brick violently punched the direction from where the voice was coming from but managed to hit nothing. He looked down and noticed that the much shorter Dawn was innocently waving at him.
"Oh! Dawn… uhh... good morning!"
"It's mid-afternoon." she corrected.
"Oh. Really? How long have I been lost?"
"Three hours. Chris delayed the challenge just for you. He said that has just the plan."
"Great." Brick groaned. "Another way to get me embarrassed on national TV."
"We're on streaming services now but that's besides the point." Dawn said softly. "I know why you've been taking such an unusual route recently. You don't want to risk looking weak in front of Jo. It was all over your aura."
"Was?"
"My readings haven't been very clear lately. I'm not entirely sure why. Anyway, do you want to talk about it?"
"I would but… it's just… I don't know if I can trust you."
"You can trust me, Brick. You were one of the people that voted me out three years ago and yet I hold no hard feelings towards you. Scott manipulated you and that's that. There are some people, specifically on our team, that only pretend to be your friend, but I can say with great certainty that the two of us are friends."
Brick didn't know how to react to this sudden openness from the creepy girl he barely knew. The two hadn't shared too much conversation since the season started.
"...thanks, Dawn. That… really means a lot. I just… ugh! Jo always manages to humiliate me. She always treats me as a little kid, never an equal. It's embarrassing! Do you know what it's like to have all your friends make fun of you for losing every single time to a girl?"
Dawn raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, no offense or anything! I'm a cadet. The boys back home are a bit outdated with their standards. Look, the point is, I never wanted to come back! Winning the million would be great but I'm not ready for another month worth of feeling like a total chump."
"I know exactly how that feels. Do you remember the night I was kicked out back during our season? I was framed for something I'd never even dream of doing! I saw the darkness all over Scott's aura and I completely fell for his trickery! I was crushed for months! But that won't happen to me this time around and it definitely won't happen with you."
"You really think so?" Brick beamed.
"I know so. Who cares what your cadet friends think. Heck, who cares what Jo thinks?"
"...yeah! You're right! Thanks, Dawn! But, umm...can you lead us out of here? My bladder can't take this anymore…" Brick grimaced as Dawn nodded.
/
The scene then shifted to the mess hall where the thirteen remaining campers were all seen eating Chef's disgusting dinner. The next challenge was going to be set late at night and thus was set to begin in a few hours. Tyler was seen sitting all by himself looking pretty lonely. He had already finished his disgusting dinner of weird animal parts. Sammy took notice of this and brought her tray of slop over to him.
"Hey, Tyler! I'm not really hungry anymore. Do you want some of my dinner?" she offered politely.
"No thanks. I appreciate the gesture though" he groaned. "Wait! We aren't supposed to be seen together now that we're on different teams!"
"It doesn't matter. Besides, I'm so tired of being with the Villains 24/7. Alejandro, Jo, and Courtney keep on trying to manipulate me into voting with them but I'm not falling for it at all!"
"You know about Alejandro, right? How he's a slithering snake and all?" the jock asked.
"Of course I do! Everyone does!" the cheerleader replied.
"Yeah. Everyone except Lindsay."
Sammy held her head down, feeling terrible over how the state Tyler had been in all game. "Look, Tyler. I haven't spoken to Lindsay much, but I'll try my best to get her to remember you."
Tyler's face suddenly brightened up in relief. "That would mean the world to me! Thanks, Sammy!" He then reached out to embrace her, to which she gladly accepted. "I'm just worried about one thing.
"And what's that?"
"That this season is gonna be the last chance I get to spend time with her."
/
The thirteen campers were seen gathering around one of the long tables in the mess hall. It had been two hours since dinner ended and some were getting very drowsy.
"We better start soon! Lightning needs to lie down for daily recharge!" the athletic overachiever demanded.
"Daily recharge?" Lindsay innocently asked.
"He means sleep." Scarlett corrected. "Such an unnecessarily pedantic way to describe such a simple activity…"
Without saying a word, Chef begrudgingly walked in and tossed a tablet on the table before walking back into the kitchen. The tablet turned on to show Chris waving at the players.
"Greetings, campers!" he whispered. "Due to delaying the challenge to find Brick, I'm feeling pretty lazy tonight. Instead, I've decided to pre-record some messages for your late night extravaganza!"
"Let's just get this over with!" Courtney whined. "I just want to go to bed."
"Your challenge" Chris continued. "A scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs! Your locations? A haunted forest, a scary pet cemetery, and an extra spooktastic cave!"
"Hey, I've seen this one before!" Scott pointed out. "He's even reusing old footage!" Indeed, the campers noticed that some of the video was clearly recorded three years ago.
"Before you say it," present day Chris continued as though there had been no interruption. "Yes, we're recycling yet another challenge. Save your unoriginal zingers for some other time, Jo."
Everyone stared at Jo, amazed that Chris called her out before she could insult him. "He beat me by two seconds, okay?" she retaliated.
The footage back to Season 4 Chris. "First team to each location gets a special clue. But watch out for booby traps. I really went to town on them. So move fast and stick together! You'll be penalized for each player you lose."
The footage cut back to show present day Chris. "Yes, I know the teams are unbalanced. Deal with it! On your marks, get set, go!" The tablet then turned off.
"Brick, seeing as you've done this challenge before, why don't you lead the way?" Noah smirked, knowing full well that Brick was in a state of intense fear.
"Uhh, yeah! Right this way, soldiers!" he commanded as the five Heroes all ran out of the mess hall.
Lightning also began running out the exit but was quickly stopped by Scarlett. "What gives, Scary Girl?"
"Simple. We have the clear numerical advantage. If we split into two groups of four, that should maximize our chances of beating the Heroes. Not to mention helping us get this challenge over with." she calculated.
Courtney hastily nodded in agreement. "That's a plan I can get behind. What will our groupings be then?"
"Well, I'm sticking with Deadly Red… err… Scarlett!" Jo commanded. "And I recommend, Sharkboy sticks with us too."
"Why me?" Scott whined.
"Gotta keep an eye on you. Don't want you throwing challenges again, now do we?" the jockette responded.
"If I may volunteer, I'd like to help with the Scott surveillance crew." Alejandro offered. The other villains were all confused.
"Wow. That's like, the first time all season you've separated yourself from Lindsay." Sammy deduced.
"Why, yes! Yes it will be." the puppetmaster nodded, sneakily giving a wink to Lindsay. Lindsay winked back at him, much less subtly.
/
The scene cut to the Heroes walking into the forest. Brick was leading the pact while being followed by Tyler, Dave, Noah, and Dawn respectively.
"This should be easy. I've done this before!" Brick stated. "And the good news, unlike last time, Chris didn't mention anything about a mutated spider."
"Wasn't the spider just Izzy in a costume?" Noah asked.
"Hey, guys? I'd like to ask you something." Dawn requested. "If we happen to lose this challenge, I'm not the one going home, right?"
Tyler, Dave, and Noah all stopped dead in their tracks. Brick walked a fair bit ahead before realizing his teammates weren't following and quickly went back to the group.
"...uhh…" Dave mumbled, clearly not prepared for such a question.
"No, Dawn. Nothing is set in stone just yet. Let's just focus on winning the challenge for now." Noah answered. The three other guys audibly sighed in relief, none of them having the heart to answer that question.
Dawn raised an eyebrow and shrugged. She didn't need to be an aura reader to know that Noah wasn't telling the truth. "I'd rather not be the one in the back of the line. In my first season, I was the first one gone because of it."
"You can overtake me, Dawn." Noah suggested. "There shouldn't be anything kidnapping contestants this time. He would've mentioned it if there was."
The aura reader nodded and overtook Noah's position in the line. Brick awkwardly decided to start leading the pact again. No one really knew what to say for a good few minutes, all of them now aware that Dawn knew she was the next to go. It was so quiet that no one even realized that Noah mysteriously vanished before they arrived at the large tree.
/
An ominous tune played as the scene cut to a poorly-lit cemetery. Crosses and headstones, mostly of dead pets, were seen. Jo, Scarlett, and Scott arrived, fairly out of breath.
"Welcome to the Wawanakwa Pet Cemetery!" Chris greeted over a loudspeaker on top of one of the graves. Jo pushed it off its position, breaking it on the ground
"Blah, blah, blah. Look at me! I'm Chris McLazy and I love redoing old challenges without adding anything of value." Jo mocked.
"They're new to me! I've only seen these on TV before." Scarlett added. "Also, where's Alejandro?"
"Beats me. Doesn't really matter. Pretty Boy was only gonna weigh us down."
"Jo? I have something to ask." Scott coughed. "Why are you so obsessed with making sure I don't throw challenges? Who cares if I throw? We've only lost one time so far and Courtney's still here. She's the easy vote."
Jo scoffed and walked over to the dirt farmer. "Scott, don't you see? Scarlett and I have come up with a new strategy– keep all the threats around. You wanna know why it was so easy to rally people on Topher? It's because no one cared about him."
"It's true." Scarlett added, adjusting her glasses. "If I'm going to make the merge, I'd rather have villains like you, Jo, Lightning, Alejandro, and Courtney around. More threats means there's more wiggle room for survival. You throwing challenges means we risk losing a shield."
"Well, why didn't you tell me to begin with? That sounds like a pretty good strategy to me!" Scott chimed in. "I'm with you guys to the end." Scott stuck his hand out. Jo and Scarlett were taken aback by his sudden eagerness but decided to both accept the handshake.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's get this challenge over with." Jo suggested. "You remember this challenge from our first season, don't you, Farmer Scott?"
"Not really an insult, but yeah. Yeah I do."
"You remember the headstone with the skull and June 6, 1806 date, right? Go unlock it for us."
"But we need a key, remember?"
"Not to worry." Scarlett added as she pulled something out of her hair. "I'm sure a hairpin will do just fine." she handed it to Scott.
Scott ran over to the headstone and fiddled around with the hairpin for a bit. He was then greeted by a nasty surprise as he was promptly flung backwards out of sight by a large spring-loaded coffin that burst out of the trap door.
"We both were both planning for that to happen, right?" Jo chuckled.
"Precisely."
"I'm glad we have someone as expendable as Freckle Face as our new alliance mate."
Scarlett nodded in agreement as the two girls grabbed the flashlight souvenirs inside.
xxx
Jo stared directly at the camera. "Call me crazy but Scarlett isn't half-bad. We're both determined to win and don't care how many people we have to squish just to get what we want. I'd say we make a pretty good duo! She's the brains and I'm the brawn… though I'm not an idiot either."
She squirmed a little bit. "I'm not that confident that she won't snap one day, but having the most psycho player in Total Drama history around means that the target will always be on her instead of me. Plus, if she does go rogue again, having her as a friend makes her much less likely to go for me..."
/
The scene cut back to Jo and Scarlett heading towards the spooky cave early, eager to meet up with the rest of the Villains.
"Enjoying the challenge so far?" Scarlett asked.
"Meh. Takes me back to my first season but really nothing new." the jockette replied. Her face then grew stoic. "We forgot Ratface, didn't we?"
As if on queue, Scott was heard screaming in agony. Jo cringed and attempted to head back but Scarlett gripped on her arm.
"We can't waste any more time" the brainiac concluded. "Besides, he's probably alright."
"Yeah, I don't care about that! Chris said that we'll be penalized for every member we lose!" Jo responded.
"He's already gone. There's no point. Besides, like you said, he was expendable anyway." Scarlett echoed as she began walking offscreen, leaving a pondering Jo behind.
/
The scene shifted to show the other Villains group of Lindsay, Courtney, Lightning, and Sammy completely lost in the forest. Lindsay was seen trying to lead the pact, much to Lightning's dismay. They were looking for the big tree.
"So, like, I'm pretty good at directions. West is best but East is least so… North is nice?"
Courtney fake gagged while pointing at her mouth. Lightning let out a weird chuckle while Sammy felt bad on Lindsay's behalf. "As much as I'd love to relive our conflict from Season 2, let's just not." the brunette girl rationalized. "I'm just gonna cut to the chase and head to the spooky cave. Anyone want to come with me?"
"I'll come, but only if Lightning gets to be team captain!" the athletic overachiever responded.
"But we need him! He's the only one who did this challenge before!" Sammy pointed out.
"Huh? What challenge? Lightning don't remember this!"
"That settles it then. He doesn't remember so it doesn't matter! See you guys later." the tired Courtney added as the two of them began heading elsewhere.
/
The scene flashed to show Lightning and Courtney at the entrance of the spooky cave, patiently waiting for their teammates. Courtney was seen with her eyes occasionally drifting in and out of sleep.
"You can't be that tired, can you? My Pops always told me to never let your guard down!" the athlete said while flexing his muscles.
Courtney didn't respond for a few seconds before a brilliant idea popped into her head.
xxx
Courtney, now wide-awake and clean, began her turn in the confessional. "With Sky gone, Dave probably has nothing better to do but stalk me like the weirdo he is. I needed to find a way to get Dave off me and onto someone else instead."
"Now, Dave's obsessed with me and I'm sure Scott still has some feelings left. If I could get those two to fight over me, that'd be very helpful for my game. I might as well add a third victim to my 'Alejandro' strategy… but who?" she pondered.
Courtney then shifted position while giving a menacing glare. "And then it hit me– who's not only the easiest person to pin a fight on, but also dumber than a bag of rocks?"
xxx
"Oh, Lightning. You're always so full of advice. What do you suggest I do to stay up?" the ex-CIT asked.
"Huh. That's a tough one. I've never had to coach someone as frail as you." he retorted. Courtney did her best not to react to his comment.
"Can I lean on you then? Just for a few minutes?" she innocently asked while blinking.
"Uhh… sure. Lightning doesn't see why not." he muttered, returning any feelings. Courtney then began making weird snuggling noises as she positioned herself in Lightning's arms. Lightning raised an eyebrow.
xxx
"Back at home, Lightning's never had any trouble with getting a babe by his side." he confessed to the camera. "But, this Courtney girl… she's an sneaky one. One way or another, Lightning's gonna have a hard time returning any feelings! Lightning's got it all! I got the brains, the brawn, the beauty, and of course the mental fortitude to get past this!"
xxx
The scene flashed back to the four Heroes. Tyler had just finished wrestling the key from the tentacled monster and they began heading to the pet cemetery. Dave was lagging behind the others, until he heard odd noises coming from another side of the woods. Moaning noises. From a very familiar high-pitched voice that he was all too used to hearing.
"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up!" the germaphobe announced as he began splitting up.
"No can do, soldier. Never leave a man behind!" Brick declared.
"It'll just be two minutes, okay? I'll be back before you know it."
Tyler and Brick exchanged glances and shrugged before heading off. Dave took this opportunity to head deeper into the woods to find the source of the noises. To his shock and horror, he found Courtney lying in Lightning's arms, with the two making very suggestive faces. Courtney spotted Dave in the distance, and instantly went from a loving face to a more panicked one. She then silently pointed at Lightning, as if to indicate a subtle cry for help. Dave knew what he had to do.
"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU… YOU… YOU... MEATHEAD!" Dave hollored as he began charging at Lightning.
"Sha-waa?" the athletic meathead stammered before being head-butt by the scrawnier boy. The headbutt wasn't that strong, but it was enough for Lightning to drop Courtney on the ground in hesitation. "What was that for, Noodle Arms?"
Before Lightning could even react, he was met with another punch to the jaw. This one barely hurt either. Lightning instead eyed Dave, adjusted his head which then made a threatening crackling noise, and stared at him with his crazy eyes. "Oh, it's on."
Lightning pounced on Dave, putting them in a heated dogpile in the center. Courtney tried her best to hide away her laughter, enjoying the two boys ripping into each other in a cloud of mayhem. After a bit of a scuffle, Lightning managed to carry Dave's entire body over his head, and threw him against a the hard bark of a nearby tree.
Lightning whipped the dirt and dust off of his shirt. "And that's how Dave got struck by Lightning! Seriously! What got into that boy? Spending too much time with the Heroes made him more kooky than normal." Courtney shrugged, not wanting to say anything.
Out of nowhere, a wooden log came hurling towards Lightning's head, instantly knocking him out cold. Courtney stared towards the direction of the bush in shock as Dave emerged from the bushes with his clothes torn and bruises all over his skin. He slowly limped over to Courtney like a zombie. The ex-CIT wanted to run away in fear but decided to stay in place.
"Are you okay, Courtney? I hope he didn't hurt you." he groaned in pain.
Courtney pretended to brush dirt off her clothes. "I'm fine. Really! I just don't know what it is with me! Boys can't seem to take no for an answer. Duncan, Alejandro, Cameron, Scott, and now Lightning…"
"If anyone, and I mean anyone, attempts anything even remotely predatory on you, let me know!" Dave nodded. "Me and my slingshot are prepared for anything!"
Suddenly, a figure appeared off-camera, with its shadow so large that it covered Dave, Courtney, and the unconscious Lightning. Dave dropped his slingshot and let out a blood-curdling scream.
/
Sammy and Lindsay had been walking around, looking for the big tree for the last twenty minutes now. Sammy scratched her head. She then stared at Lindsay who was idly braiding her hair.
"You'd think Lightning would have some memory of his first season. He almost won it, after all!"
"Who's Lightning?" the airhead smiled.
"Does everyone this season have memory problems? First, no one seems to remember last season, now this!"
"Last season of what?"
"Total Drama!"
"I LOVE THAT SHOW!" she then gasped in excitement. "I was on it!"
"Yeah! Four times, actually! Gosh. You'd think you'd remember all the traumatizing challenges you've had to go through– ooooooohh….." Sammy finally pieced together. Lindsay sat down and began braiding her hair again. Sammy decided to sit by her and tapped her gently on the shoulder.
"Is everything okay, Lindsay? I'm not a therapist or anything but have you been… repressing memories? I've watched every season and you guys have really been through a lot… almost drowning, thrown off a plane, barely escaping an active volcano…" Sammy listed. "Do you remember anything from the last five years?"
Lindsay pondered for a moment before innocently shaking her head. Sammy bit her lip in sadness and embraced the blonde girl. "Every time you get brought back, Chris gets worse and worse, so you get more and more forgetful! No wonder! That's why you don't remember Tyler!"
"No! I remember Tyler! He was with us an hour ago!" the Airhead gleamed.
Sammy crossed her arms. "That is not Tyler. Tyler is on the Heroes. You've been hanging out with Alejandro, the most manipulative player in Total Drama history! Don't you remember him?"
"Jalapeño? The cute Spanish guy?"
"Yeah." Sammy deadpanned. "The cute Spanish guy."
"He says he's Tyler!"
"He's lying to you!"
"What if you're the one who's lying to me, huh?" Lindsay agonized, getting oddly defensive. "I've never even seen you before! What kind of made-up name is Samey anyway?"
"Made-up is right…" Sammy muttered under her breath. "But listen to me, Lindsay. You met Tyler on this island five years ago. Despite being on opposite teams, the two of you got along extremely well. You'd constantly forget his name over and over again, but no matter how long it took, Tyler didn't rest until you remembered."
Lindsay shook her head, still unsure what exactly was going on.
"Please, Lindsay. He told me that you forgot his name in front of his parents. Tyler's Mom didn't like having you around, but he stopped at nothing, and I mean nothing to be with you. You hadn't spoken in months until the season started and he's getting worried that this is the last chance he has before you go your own separate ways…" the cheerleader frowned, nearly breaking into tears. Lindsay still wouldn't budge.
"I know you don't remember who he is, and it isn't even your fault! Just… promise me you'll talk to him, okay? He needs his closure with you. I really care about Tyler and seeing him this depressed is starting to get to me…"
Sammy couldn't take it anymore and the tears began flowing down her face. Lindsay gave her another hug and pet her on the back. "There, there, Samey! You're a good friend to this… "Tyler" person… even though him and I are completely fine!"
"For the last time, Lindsay! He isn't Tyler! His name is Alejandro!"
"You mean the guy who's been hiding in the bushes for the last ten minutes?" Lindsay pointed out. The camera then panned over to Alejandro in a couple of shrubs. The puppetmaster facepalmed as Sammy's face went from despair to utter rage.
"You've been spying on us?! I'm always the nicer twin, but you've gone too far, Mister!"
/
The scene transitioned to show the three remaining Heroes at the pet cemetery. Dawn was having a hard time even looking at the graves of the deceased animals.
"You okay, Dawn?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Dawn replied. "I'm just really uncomfortable being where so many defenseless critters lost their lives."
"They didn't lose their lives in the cemetery, did they?" the jock asked politely.
"That's not what I'm sensing… it seems that some of them were buried alive! What a terrible way to go… spending your last days slowly rotting away, trapped in a wooden box, six feet underground…" the moonchild grieved. "I appreciate you asking though, Tyler! You've always had quite the positive aura around you, despite all your insecurities and troubled childhood.
Tyler scratched his head in embarrassment. Brick stopped looking around for a few seconds. "Aura Reader, what did we tell you about personal information?"
"My apologies! I didn't mean it! I don't socialize very often." the moonchild apologized.
"Affirmative, soldier. It's all good." the cadet pointed out. "Just don't do it again." Eventually, Brick spotted an open gravestone containing the Heroes' flashlights. Jo and Scarlett forgot to close it back.
"Two down, one to go!" Brick announced. "We might actually win this time! Go Heroes!" the cadet looked back and forth, noticing that they were down to only three members. "Where'd Skinny and Skinnier go?"
Dawn tilted her head sideways. "Nicknames don't suit you, Brick! You don't need to copy everything Jo does." Brick lowered his head in shame, not even realizing he was subtly trying to mimic her every move.
"Huh? Man, they were right here! How'd we lose them?" Tyler commented, not realizing that Dave and Noah had both been missing for a good while now. The only one who'd noticed beforehand was Dawn. She didn't feel like mentioning it as she got to spend precious time with the two people who would potentially change the vote in her favor.
"We'll have to go back and find them then." the cadet announced. "Never leave a man behind! It doesn't matter if we need to be in the scary forest for another hour. Dave and Noah need our help!"
"If we're going to go that route, I recommend you use the bathroom first." Dawn said innocently. Brick was slightly taken aback but responded with a thumbs up.
"Good idea. I'll be right back!" he approved as he swiftly walked behind a tree and began to relieve himself. Dawn looked over at Tyler, looking sad as usual.
"I'm sorry for what I said, Tyler." the moonchild apologized.
"It's okay, Dawn. Really! It's not like it was a secret or anything…" the jock responded.
"And you shouldn't feel insecure anymore. You won't be lonely forever. Someone here really likes you for who you are. She hasn't forgotten you ever since she laid eyes on you five years ago!" the moonchild teased.
Tyler began to ponder. "Huh? Hasn't forgotten me? What do you–" He was interrupted by a feminine scream in the distance. Instinctually, Tyler began heading off in that direction.
"Tyler? Where are you going?" Dawn asked.
"I'll meet up with you guys later, okay?" he replied without looking back.
Brick then returned after quite a lengthy time relieving himself. "What'd I miss?"
/
The scene cut back to Sammy with her fists clenched up. She was ready to punch Alejandro, who was seen in a squatting position in the bushes.
"Now now, Samey. I've come bearing gifts!" he proclaimed, showing off the souvenir key. "I didn't want either of you ladies getting hurt."
"Just quit already!" spoke up, quite hesitantly. She knew she had every right to be upset at the master manipulator, but she wasn't used to raising her voice at anyone. Even if they really deserved it. "You aren't fooling anyone, anymore!"
"TYLER!' Lindsay squealed as she ran over to Alejandro and gave him an odd embrace. "Samey's a total wannabe! She's trying to split us up like that mean, bossy, lying, two-faced Heather!"
Alejandro's face froze as his eyes grew wide. "H-heather? W-why would you mention that name?"
Sammy smirked and decided to take the opportunity. "She's right, Al. You really are acting like Heather. What would she think about you spending the last few weeks, pretending to be Tyler? Making puppy dog eyes with the girl that got her head shaved all those years ago! You think she's gonna take that lightly?"
Alejandro emerged from the bushes, walking directly in front of Samey and got scarily close. "She knows this is nothing but a strategy for the million dollars I was so devastatingly robbed of." he hissed.
"Are we talking about the same person?" Samey accused. "It's almost like you know nothing about her!"
"Back. Off." he hissed, puffing his chest as he was now just an inch away from her.
"I'm not scared of you, Al." the smaller cheerleader retorted, poking her finger at his chest. "Unlike you! You're terrified at the thought of losing Heather. Even more than the thought of losing to Heather."
In an act of pure unfiltered anger, Alejandro violently shoved Samey to the ground. Lindsay let out a loud shriek at the top of her lungs.
"TYLER! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?" the airhead scolded as she immediately went to Sammy's aid. Alejandro's face dropped as he realized that he had let his vicious impulses get to him.
Sammy grasped her sides, feeling the pain rushing to her. "You've known him for five years, Lindsay. Would Tyler ever do that to another human being?"
Lindsay tilted her head as if she was finally piecing the puzzle together.
/
The scene shifted to show Tyler, jogging as fast as he could to find the source of the scream. No matter how many branches or bushes hit him smack in the face, he didn't care. He knew he had to find Lindsay as quickly as possible. Eventually, Tyler reached the exact same location Alejandro, Sammy, and Lindsay were at seconds before. Even the spot Alejandro poked his head at was still perfectly intact. Tyler sniffed the air like a dog, as if to track their scent.
"Dang it, man! I wasn't good enough. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he complained in quite a defeated manner. He wasn't sure what had happened, but whatever it was, he couldn't make it in time to protect Lindsay.
The figure from before crept up behind him off-screen, only showing the ambiguous shadow cast on Tyler's frowning face to the camera.
"Just take me away, man. I deserve it." he sighed in defeat.
/
Back to show the Heroes, the duo of Brick and Dawn were seen trekking down the same spooky forest they were at just this afternoon. Both were seen holding flashlights.
"So, this cave. Know where it is?" the cadet asked.
"I'm afraid not. I was kidnapped too early the last time this challenge was done." the moonchild explained.
"Oh, yeah. I was kidnapped early too. But that was then and this is now! I was still a coward who wet his pants in the dark but these past three years have taught me valuable skills in endurance and bravery!" Brick explained with a strong sense of pride.
"There's no need to gloat about your achievements especially when they aren't exactly true, Brick" Dawn quietly spoke as she put her hands on his shoulder. "Your greatest moment will never come if you actively attempt to prove your worth. It needs to come from the heart."
"I guess that makes sense," he admitted. "Hey, was that some nifty advice or one of your psychic astral projection prediction things?" Brick finished while dangling his fingers.
Dawn giggled at the cadet's question. "If I say what happens, then it won't happen. Besides, I've been having trouble connecting with Mother Earth lately. What I said was the first thing I noticed from you when we met back in our first season."
"Huh! Well, that's pretty good to know! Say, Dawn? You're a pretty cool person to be around! I've been feeling pretty invincible around you lately!" Brick complimented to no response. The cadet turned around and noticed that Dawn was no longer with him. He started to look everywhere for the moonchild to no avail.
"Dawn? Dawn?! HELLO!?" he yelled as he began hyperventilating in pure terror.
/
The scene flashed inside the spooky cave to show Jo and Scarlett looking around in total darkness with nothing but their flashlights as a light source. "All we need to do is find the hook thingy to win, right?" Jo asked.
"Well, this is assuming that our other teammates managed to find the remaining souvenir. The key, I believe?" Scarlett remarked.
"Yeah, they probably blew it but two outta three ain't bad! Doubt the Zeroes have any better." Jo insulted while offering Scarlett a high-five. The red-haired brainiac glanced at it with an unamused expression and continued walking off. "HEY! That was a good one! Admit it!"
Scarlett gave a sigh that was a bit too loud. "Well, I suppose by your standards, it wasn't the worst I've heard."
"Baby steps, Scarface. Baby steps." Jo grinned at the half-baked compliment.
Scarlett rolled her eyes as the camera panned ahead to show a skull-like rock with two metal hooks sticking out. The genius pulled the hook from the rock and smuggly handed it to the jockette.
"Since you seem to want to take all the credit, why don't you take it?" Scarlett offered, trying her best to put a small level of emotion.
"Man! This was a team effort" Jo smirked. "Well, the only two competent team members, that is! Why don't we both share the glory?"
"If you insist…" Scarlett muttered impatiently as a growling noise was heard from the darkness. Scarlett and Jo both glanced towards the figure, both with unamused faces. The camera panned over to show a pretty obvious spider costume.
"You'll need to do better than that, McLame!" Jo mocked.
"Izzy, is it?" Scarlett confidently asked with an eyebrow raised. "We know it's you."
The music grew intense as the perspective inverted to show the person in the spider costume remove the head to show the grotesque face of a previous Total Drama contestant.
"MAX?!" Scarlett exclaimed in rage.
"MINION! IT'S YOU! I HAVE COME TO RECRUIT YOU TO MY CORPORATION OF PURE EVIL!" the wannabe evil genius bellowed. Scarlett grit her teeth together as her eyes widened and turned a dark shade of red.
Jo scratched her chin, having only skimmed through their original season. "...he's your boyfriend, right?"
"You think I'd be in a relationship with him? MAX? The person that screwed over any chance I had at going to university?" the brainiac growled as she began to grab her hair tie, ready to pull her hair down but Jo quickly stopped her.
"Scar...lett." Jo said while trying her best to put a concerned tone in her voice. "We talked about this, remember? The two of us promised to help improve our reputations this season. You want a job? To go to college? Well, beating Purple Dr. Evil to a pulp isn't gonna help your case."
Scarlett bit her lip and sighed, knowing full well that Jo was right. She reverted back to her normal persona and calmly walked over to Max.
"JOIN ME AND TOGETHER WE SHALL RULE THE ENTIRE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO!" he commanded his former sidekick. Scarlett rolled her eyes, walked over to him, and gave him a swift punch to the face. Max unconsciously flopped on the ground .
"What did I just say?!" Jo said in annoyance.
"One punch. And besides, we needed to neutralize him for the challenge anyway." Scarlett rationalized. "And speaking of the challenge, those are our teammates right?" she asked as she shined the flashlight up to show a large web suspended in the ceiling with Noah, Scott, Courtney, Dave, Lightning, Alejandro, Sammy, Lindsay, Tyler, and Dawn all captured but also all fast asleep.
"Four, five, six. That's our whole team up there." Jo counted. "We can't win without the other souvenir!"
"Very well." Scarlett groaned as she pushed her glasses up. "With Max unconscious there's no longer any threat. I'll collect the key. You wait here and...try to free the others?" she decided as she began to exit the cave
/
The scene cut to show the pitch black entrance of the cave as Scarlett walked offscreen. Once she was gone, Brick was seen slowly limping towards the entrance whilst shaking profusely despite having a flashlight on him.
"You've done been here before. Relax, soldier!" he began mumbling to himself as he entered the cave.
The shot changed to show him with his eyes squinted, inside the cave. After a bit of scuffling, he eventually managed to find the skull-shaped hook and pulled it out. He glanced aside to see the zipline over an underground cliff. He grinned as he slowly began marching over to it.
"This one's for you, team!" he announced a bit louder than anticipated.
"Keep it down, Sergeant Scardeypants. Help me out!" a familiar voice called. Brick glanced over to see Jo trying to free her sleeping teammates from the trap.
Brick stared at the zipline, then stared at the webs. He couldn't decide whether he wanted the victory or to follow his code more. He couldn't help but salute towards Jo.
"I'm not leaving my friends behind this time!" he announced as he walked towards Jo.
"Can't you see we're trying to sleep?" Courtney scolded from the webs, accidentally waking all the other players up, much to their annoyance. "Oops!"
"Sorry!" Brick apologized. "How can I help, Jo?"
"Say, Brick. You have all three souvenirs, right?" she grinned, hatching quite the plan.
"Correct!" the cadet confirmed.
"Well, I don't so…" Jo said while managing to quickly grab the key poking out of the pocket of Brick's cargo shorts. She then began dashing for the zipline.
"What are you waiting for? Get her!" Noah snarled.
"But the code! Never leave a–"
"GET HER!" Noah and Dave both yelled in unison. Brick gave a noble salute as he began sprinting down to get Jo. The scene cut to show Jo hooking herself onto the line and took off. The camera zipped back to show Brick sprinting, just a few meters behind. Unfortunately for him, he tripped on Max's unconscious body on the ground.
The cadet let out an ear-splitting scream as he was sent flying down the underground cliff. He closed his eyes in fear but was luckily enough to grab Jo's legs.
"Hey! Get off, Captain Crybaby! It's dark here! You should be terrified!" she yelled in annoyance, trying to shake Brick off her. Brick shook his head, refusing to give up.
"You cheated, Jo! And cheaters never win!" he retaliated as he used his upper body strength to slowly reach for Jo's pocket, containing the key.
Jo grunted but deep down was pretty impressed at his dedication. "Suit yourself, Lieutenant Loser! Hope you enjoy the fall!" she mocked as she began to swing her legs back and forth in an attempt to get him off. Brick still wasn't budging despite reaching his absolute limit.
The two had now entered a pitchblack portion of the cave, to which Jo was still swinging her legs around. Despite the dark, Brick had made his way to Jo's pocket and grabbed the key back. However, by using one of his hands to grab it, Jo's swinging launched him forward at a very fast pace.
"FOR THE HEROES!" Brick belted out mid-air. Unfortunately for him, the angle at which was launched meant he aggressively smashed the stalactite outside, just a few inches away from the clear entrance.
Brick's body fell to the ground with his body crooked and some teeth on the ground due to the forceful impact. Jo soon reached the end of the zipline, hopped off, grabbed the key from Brick's hands, and ran over to Chris.
"And the Villains win yet another challenge!" the host with the most announced, clearly ready to go to bed. "Jo may have the wrong team's key, but it looks as though none of the Heroes are able to finish the challenge!"
/
The scene was cut to show the rising sun on the beautiful orange sky. The Villains were all seen with blankets wrapped around them, looking slightly well-rested than before, seated in the peanut gallery. Only four of the Heroes were seen seated at the campfire pit, with Tyler and Dave sitting in the back and Dawn and Noah at the front. All four of them looked very guilty.
Chris sighed. "Due to the producers wanting to avoid any impending lawsuits, we've decided to pull Brick from the game for his own safety." Chef and an intern were seen carrying stretcher with Brick on it, completely covered head to toe with bandages except for his black eyes.
Tyler was the first to walk over and gently fistbumped the cadet's static hands. "I'm gonna miss you, bro." he weeped.
Noah walked over as well. "You were a loyal ally and I hate to see you go so soon." he deadpanned. Despite his tone, there was quite a bit of genuine emotion in his voice.
Finally, Dawn appeared behind Noah and held her hands above his injured body. "That was very brave of you, Brick. You should feel proud. Farewell, friend."
Chris yawned. "We're on a schedule, people! Does anyone else have anything sappy to say?"
Jo stood up from the gallery and went to the stretcher. "Hey, Soldier Boy. You stood up against me and gave one heck of a fight! Not to mention in the dark too! I'm impressed! Almost beat me at something' for once." she laughed. Brick weakly lifted his hand to give a thumbs-up. "Who's gonna be my worthy adversary now? Lightning? C'mon! I've already bested him in the all-star match!"
"On! A! Schedule!" Chris complained as Chef and the intern threw the stretcher into the Sub of Shame. The hatch was then closed as the submarine began descending into the water. The remaining Heroes and Jo all waved goodbye while the remaining Villains all looked ready for bed.
"Can we go now? In the last few days, I haven't slept for more than an hour!" Courtney whined.
"Patience, Courtney!" Chris smirked. "Wanna know who'll be the next one gone?" He turned to face the camera. "Well, here's some fun news! Now that we're down to eight Villains versus four Heroes, next time we'll be switching things up a notch!" the contestants all groaned at the thought of a team-swap but also because Chris' pun sucked.
"You'll have to come back and find out, right here, on Total! Drama! The Island Strikes Back!"
(Fade to Credits)
Author's Note:
AND THERE WE GO! It only took 14 months (almost on the dot!) but it has finally arrived! My writing skills have definitely improved over the course of the last three years and I'm looking forward to writing the remaining episodes.
I'd like to mention that with this chapter, this marks the end of Act 1 of the story! The next ten chapters will fill in the remaining two acts. I hope you all enjoyed the direction I'm going with some of the characters. I feel that I've done a pretty good setup for their roles in the succeeding act. Anyway, please let me know what you think about all the characters! Like or dislike how I wrote anyone in particular? Enjoying the Tyler-Lindsay-Alejandro-Sammy stuff? What about the Courtney-Dave-Lightning storyline? Is ScarJo a fun duo? What about Dawn vs Noah's short-lived battle for power? Please leave a review since it definitely keeps me motivated to write for you guys!
Anyway, I expect the next chapter to be out in a few weeks so stay tuned for that! This is a load of fun, especially knowing that Total Drama will be back on HBO Max for two new seasons! It's crazy to me that my motivation was halted back in June 2018 due to the lack of a competition season and we're now in June 2021 and my motivation is stronger than ever! Add me on Discord if you have any questions or you just wanna chat! I go by Jpeg#7978.
Get ready for the team swap! Take it easy!
Voting Chart:
Sky - Brick, Dave, Noah, Tyler
Dave - Dawn, Sky
Brick - (Medically Evacuated)
Elimination Table:
Dakota - (18th Place)
Shawn - (17th Place)
Topher - (16th Place)
Bridgette - (15th Place)
Sky - (14th Place)
Brick - (13th Place)