Chris whistled as he walked along one of the grassy paths of Atlantis, Chef trailing close behind him while Poseidon and Amphitrite were discussing the show's ratings. The group neared the entrance of the bubble, and Chris grinned as he noticed a submarine pulling into it. It landed right in front of them, allowing the door of it to swing open, and a crowd to burst out, each of the crowd's members with cameras and microphones in hand. Almost immediately, they managed to swallow up Chef with their mass, causing him to disappear from everyone's sight. Chris snickered to himself before leaping onto the top of the submarine so they couldn't get to him.
"Mr. McLean, Mr. McLean! What do you have to say about your new partnership with Poseidon?" The group of people shot questions up at him like clockwork, and every single one of them went unanswered as he grinned over at Poseidon and Amphitrite, both of which seemed to be worried for Chef's sake.
"Hey, quit shoving me, ya shitewagon!" Throughout the group, there was one singular person who seemed to stick out more than the rest. Her hair was ginger in color, with spiky tips coming off the longer top of it while it was shaved quite short on the sides. She pushed through the group, ending up in a clearing, where she could be seen in all her glory. She was pale-skinned, with freckles dotting all over her pasty face. She had a small scar above the left side of her upper lip, and her eyes were a mystifying green color. Her eyebrows were quite bushy for a girl, but she looked like she would pummel you if you mentioned it to her. She wore a white, long-sleeved blouse, leaving the top few buttons undone, a plaid, red skirt that went down to her knees, black socks that conveniently went up to her knees, and black and white running shoes. She was quite tall, being at least six foot, and she was built somewhat muscular with a flat chest.
"For f#ck's sake, I'm trying to find my wee cousin in this heap of sheep!" She stormed off from the group, shouting obnoxiously as she went looking for somebody. Chris shrugged his shoulders as she wandered away.
"Well, I wonder how that former contestant ended up back here, Anywho, last time on Total Drama: Lost City," Chris started his intro while Chef was struggling to save himself from death by paparazzi. "The contestants were still recovering from a good deal of awkwardness that came about from the whole March and Luna break-up, not to mention Thomas constantly harassing Flint and getting him injured. Oh, and the weird anime nonsense that went on in the beginning of the episode. I guess screwing over a contestant's chance to smooch the girl they like is always a plus for me, you're welcome, Taylor. Anyways, there was no beating around the bush when I let these sorry divers know that there was a challenge coming in fast, this being the first challenge that was outside of the bubble! I know, super scary endeavors in super strange places. The rules were simple enough, each team had to race a squad of dolphins to a marker and back, and the first team that made it back wins the challenge. Some people had an easy time coercing their dolphins to speed them to the front of the line, looking at you, Tony. Oh, and then there was Alexis, who just keeps accidentally doing things to help herself and injure members of the other team! First Flint, now poor Nicolás. Those cajones have to be hurting something fierce after that wicked blow, am I right? In the end, the Sharks pulled their third challenge victory thus far, they're really on a roll, and the Crabs had no choice but to eliminate Thomas, who just wouldn't quit attacking Flint. Natt was right, though, it was odd that every single vote, even his own, was for Thomas. And I've got no idea what him and his wackadoo girlfriend are up to, but I don't like it. Will the Crabs be able to snatch up their first win of the season in this paparazzi infested paradise? Find out, right now, on Total Drama: Lost City!"
The camera hovered over an ocean, quickly descending beneath the water and happening upon Atlantis, zooming in on the wreck of the Chris space station, where the host himself was on his knees, sad that there was an asteroid in his face, while Poseidon patted him on the shoulder and Amphitrite sighed in annoyance.
"Dear mom and dad, I'm doing fine," the camera quickly shifted over to the carnival zone in Atlantis, showing Natt and Anne on a large Ferris wheel, enjoying their time together until it suddenly fell out of place and rolled away.
"You guys are on my mind," down at the controls, Zachary and Amelia were revealed to be messing with them, laughing maniacally until Vicente came over and bonked both of them on the head with plastic baseball bats.
"You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer's plain to see," in one of the carnival tents, March and Luna watched Benjamin in awe as he rode a unicycle while bouncing on a trampoline, juggling bowling pins, and holding a torch with his teeth.
"I wanna be famous!" Tony tossed a frisbee at the wheel, causing Benjamin to fall on top of an unsuspecting Bonnie, and the torch to set his shirt on fire before the bowling pins landed on his head, which caused Liz to give him a thumbs up with an evil grin on her face.
"I wanna live close to the sun," out in the ocean, Alex was in his diving suit, trying to catch a sea monkey, but failing utterly, just like he had when it was a space monkey, while Dusty shook her head in disappointment, lassoing the creature back to them, but catching Jett instead.
"So pack your bags, cause I've already won," on the seafloor, Archie studied a squid closely until it shot ink all over his helmet's glass shield, which made Jianne giggle a little bit before wiping it off.
"Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day," not too far from where the two were, Damien and Gretchen ran away from a massive shark, which knocked them off to the side, showing that it was swimming away from Flint, who was throwing rocks at it while Alexis chased after him.
"I wanna be famous!" the camera switched gears to show a submarine, with arcade-esque machines in it that Taylor and Crustacean were fighting over.
"Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na," zooming into a "pod" of sorts near the arcade games, a virtual world that was full of immaculate fantasy aspects and monsters was shown.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" Nicolás, dressed as a knight, was running in fear as blasts of dark energy were tossed at the ground behind him, each blast destroying part of the ground.
"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!" the camera revealed Thomas, in dark mage garb, as the source of the blasts, floating in the sky and laughing maniacally until Maggie, dressed as a witch, flew over to him on her broom and tackled him to the ground, making out with him before he blasted the camera with one of the energy balls.
Afterwards, the whole group was seen on a nautically themed aftermath stage, which Sebastian and Haley were at the center of, glaring at each other while all of the contestants, accompanied by Maggie, who was hugging Thomas tightly, whistled.
Bonnie was whistling as she marched on through the halls of the boys dorm, on her way to go pester Benjamin. She reached the door to the Shark boys' room, but as she moved her hand towards it, she suddenly froze up. She couldn't explain it, but something felt...horribly off. She looked over the building's main entrance, her eyes widening as she noticed someone standing in the doorway. The same girl from before, the loud, ginger-haired girl. "Well, well, look what we have here, lads!"
She started running towards the much shorter girl, who looked absolutely terrified of her. "Oh no...what is she doing here?" She mumbled to herself before she was suddenly hoisted into the air by her. "Ack, Ginny! Let go of me, I'm in the middle of something!"
"Aye, little lass, that's no way to say hi to your beloved cousin, is it? You haven't seen me in such a long time, and this is the greeting I get after the long trek down here?" The girl, who was named Ginny, set her cousin down on the ground, faking some tears. She was a former contestant, one that competed with Belladonna while she was on the show. "Besides, what could be more important than reconnecting with me?"
Bonnie opened her mouth to say something, but then, the door suddenly opened up. Benjamin was standing in the doorway, shirtless, and rubbing his tired eyes. "Well, hello Bonnie! And...taller, more boyish Bonnie!" Ginny glared at the boy, glancing over to notice that her cousin was blushing brightly, and smiling as if she was in love. Then, a grin creeped up on the former contestant's face.
"Oh, I see what's going on! You're trying to fish up a catch with this boy, here, aren't you?" Ginny nudged Bonnie on the shoulder, who brushed her off before storming out the entrance door. "Aw, can't you take a little friendly jab here or there? You can't hide from me, BonBon!" She stomped on after her, leaving just Benjamin in the doorway, utterly confused about what was happening.
Confessional
"Every single time I see that stupid cousin of mine, she goes and messes things up for me! Especially when I am hitting on boys, for some reason, she never approves of the boys I like!" Bonnie crossed her arms and pouted in her seat. "It isn't fair, she always chases them away from me! I can't wait until she goes back home."
"There were two Bonnie's there...I'm not the only one seeing that, right?" Benjamin looked down at his hands, counting two on his fingers over and over again, suddenly noticing that he was still missing one of his fingers. "Oh, snap! I forgot about that thing! I don't even remember where I lost it…"
Confessional End
Damien wandered out of the room eventually, fully dressed and ready to start his day, when he suddenly encountered March on his way out of the building. He looked down at her, a frown popping up on his face. He really didn't want to speak to her, but he also hated to just blow somebody off without even seeing what they wanted. "...Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, I came to talk to you about something...do you have a second?" She tried to smile at him, though he didn't want to return the smile. He glanced around for an excuse to go elsewhere, but he couldn't seem to find one.
"I guess I do...what do you want?" March twiddled her thumbs for a moment before clearing her throat and looking back up at Damien.
"I know that...this is really, quite late after this happened, but I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you. I was really insensitive about it, too...and it took me way too long to realize that I needed to apologize to you. Is there any way that-" Damien quickly cut her off.
"Forgive you? Not a chance," March was taken aback by the sudden rejection, he didn't even let her finish what she was saying, but the look on his face showed just how serious he was. "March, you helped build up my self-esteem. You were a really good friend to me when I had a hard time making friends...and then you tore all that down. I was humiliated in front of the whole world...and an apology over a year after the fact just isn't going to make things go back to the way they were."
"Right…" She kept looking up at him, not even noticing his face flinch while he said his piece, but she understood. "I'm sorry for bugging you, then...I'll back off." Damien watched as she turned and walked right back out the main entrance, only sighing when she finally left the building.
Confessional
"Sure, maybe I wasn't the nicest in how I said that, but come on...that apology only came about because people have been nagging her to do it. You and I both know she doesn't actually mean to apologize, she just doesn't want me to be mad at her." Damien sighed again, shaking his head as he thought about what she had said. "She really hurt me...that's not something she can just fix with an, 'I'm sorry.'"
Confessional End
Suddenly, the loud speakers came on in both of the dorms, with Chris's…"lovely" voice blaring out of them. "Attention Atomic Sharks and Cosmic Crabs, please come outside pronto to report to me for a challenge. And if I were you...I would prepare for things to get messy." The host could be heard snickering for a small bit before the speakers shut off again. Gretchen was scratching her chin in confusion in the Sharks girls' room.
"Ay, what do you guys make of that?" The rocker glanced over at the other girls on her team, though most of them were hardly paying attention to the announcement itself. Taylor had Alexis in a headlock, and was singing a soulful rendition of some rock song, perhaps while inebriated. Anne was busy trying to make Jianne laugh with some goofy prop humor, though the latter wasn't having it, and just had a deadpan stare on her face.
Dusty, however, was actually listening to her teammate. She stood on top of her bed, cupping her hands around her lips to amplify her voice. "Hey, y'all! We gotta get our kiesters outside for a challenge or Chris is gonna just give those lousy Crabs a free win!"
"He wouldn't dare!" Taylor dropped Alexis to the floor, causing her to make a loud thud noise as she hit it. "I ought to beat him up for doing something like that!"
"Let's be honest, that's the only way that joke of a team is ever going to get a win. At least they're a more entertaining joke than Anne's material is." Jianne grinned at Anne, who sunk her head down sadly.
"Well, let's march our butts on outside so it won't happen, right, girls?" Dusty smiled as the four girls cheered in unison before heading out of the bedroom. She hopped off her bed, walking over to Gretchen and patting her on the back. "Ya ready fer another challenge?"
"Hey, as ready as I'll ever be." Gretchen giggled for a second, "You know, even though one of us is a day drunk, one of us keeps hurting people, one of us makes jokes about everything constantly, and one of us is obsessed with herself, I do really like being in this room with you girls. Everyone's fun in their own special way."
"Ya bet yer sweet molasses they are! Now, let's go kick some Crab butt, pardner!" Dusty rushed out the door, leaving Gretchen to smile as she ran after her.
Confessional
"Man, my team is really great! I kinda feel sorry for the Crabs, they're just really...well, dysfunctional!" Gretchen chuckled awkwardly, "I mean, you've got the broken up couple, the ticking time bomb couple, and that rat, Amelia. I guess, Archie, Natt, Flint, and Nicholás are super out of place there, yeah?"
Confessional End
Gretchen finally made her way out through the building's main doors, her eyes widening as soon as she looked on ahead. There were the other contestants, each of them equally as shocked as she was, but then, just past them, was a mob of ravenous members of the paparazzi. The only thing currently keeping them from bombarding the contestants with questions was Ginny, who was shouting at them as if she was babysitting a bunch of toddlers. Chris flew overhead, wearing a jetpack, and landed on top of the Sharks' building.
"Well, hello there divers!" The host shouted from the roof of the building, getting the lot of the contestants to turn around and look up at him. One look at his cocky smile was all they needed to know that today was going to be a painful day. "I see that you've already gotten a glimpse at the wonderful crowd of visitors we've got in store for during this amazing challenge! Don't worry, until I give the signal, that loudmouth is gonna keep them from tearing you guys limb from limb, heheh."
"'That loudmouth,' aye, I have a name ya pinchy shite." Ginny glared over at Chris briefly before turning right back to face the crowd again. "Alright, back it up or I'm gonna stomp ya down!"
"Alright, let's get this show on the road before even she can't hold them back anymore. This challenge is gonna be easy, some of you may not even have to do anything! The paparazzi is going to hound you guys with crazy questions that'll definitely get way too personal for your liking. I'm gonna start a timer for an hour, in that hour, you have to do whatever you can to get the paparazzi to go harass the other team. At the end of the hour, whichever team is surrounded by more members of this ravenous mob will lose the challenge, and thus, have to eliminate a member. Crabs, you guys have already got slim pickings as far as contestants go, so I would definitely try really hard to win this one if I were you."
"We know, we know," Liz groaned at the host, glancing over at Luna and March, "Having two people who are basically useless in every challenge certainly hasn't been helping our case."
"Blah, blah, blah, a little less blamey blamey and a little more actual working together to win something, m'kay? You could really take a lesson from the Sharks. Since, you know, three wins in a row and all." Liz growled back at the host, who, of course, loved the negative attention and all.
Confessional
"Let's face the facts, with two of us already gone, even though one of them was an overheated buffoon and the other was a ticking time bomb for disaster, these challenges aren't going to get any easier. We have to win the ones that we can take advantage of while we have this contestant deficit." Liz was gesturing to another chart that she had smuggled into the confessional. "I suggest we abuse the fact that the other team has, oh, I don't know, a famous rockstar as one of their members. Her also being the previous season's winner helps. What? I know, she's my...friend. But still, you need to do things that'll help you win."
Confessional End
The contestants started to brace themselves as they waited for Chris to signal the mob, and the uneasy feeling they all shared wasn't getting any smaller. "Alright, and the hour starts...now!" Chris shouted before taking off once again on his jetpack, leaving the contestants alone with Ginny and the mob. Of course, on that signal, Ginny stepped out of their way, allowing them to start charging towards the two teams.
"Oh, crap," Vicente murmured before he was surrounded by a small group of the paparazzi. He couldn't see anybody from his own team, much less the other team, as everywhere around him was camera flashes and microphones. "Ack, back off you crazy people!"
"Vicente, Vicente!" One of the paparazzi members shouted at him, barely being heard above the rest of the loud noise around him. "How does it feel to be one of the contestants from Space Station that hardly anybody talks about, despite having been on multiple reality game shows before this one?"
"Is it true that Zachary and Amelia spent the better half of this past year harassing you and even sharing your address to the fans that you had?" Another member of the paparazzi asked. The questions seemed to be getting too much for the boy to handle, when, suddenly, a lasso came out of nowhere, snatching him up and tugging him out of the crowd. He was being pulled through the grass, and he looked over to see that it was none other than Dusty.
"You're saving me from yet another tricky situation, I'm gonna have to start repaying that favor soon!" He blushed as she finally got him right to her. She pulled him up to his feet, tugging the lasso off of him and tapping his nose with her finger.
"I wouldn't say yer safe quite yet, Vicho! Take a gander at that, will ya?" Dusty gestured to another crowd that was now stampeding towards them, this one even bigger than the initial crowd that had him surrounded. "I got an idea here...just gotta hope it does the trick." She cleared her throat before cupping her hands around her mouth, yet again. "Hey, paparazzi fellers! Look over there, the little scientist just announced that her and Tony are getting married!"
Liz's eyes widened as the gaze of the paparazzi shifted over to her. She glanced over to Tony, who was standing next to her, only to see him running as far away from her as fast as he could. She sighed and narrowed her eyes at him, "Of course he did…" The paparazzi suddenly swarmed her, just like they had done to Vicente, and not a soul outside of the group could see her.
Confessional
"Alright, alright, maybe lying ain't the best way to solve an issue, but hey, it gets me some good payback on Liz for what she done did to me last season. Besides, I could've said worse….this'll serve as a lil' lesson for her." Dusty winked at the camera before snickering to herself.
Confessional End
Damien glanced around at all the members of the paparazzi, not exactly sure what to do during the challenge when, suddenly, Alexis ran up to him and pulled him off to the side. "Woah, what gives? What's with the...you know, pulling me away from the team and all that?"
Alexis sighed as she rubbed her brow. She glanced up at him, "Look, Damien, you were pretty helpful with getting through the mansion a few challenges back and all, so I'm not doubting your ability to help the team or anything...but I was kinda thinking...you should probably sit this one out."
"What?" Damien was taken aback by the suggestion, never before did he think that his team would want him to stay out of the action. "B-but, I can do what Dusty did! I can get them to go pester the other team instead of us! I'm an actor, I play roles I don't relate to all the time, lying isn't much different than that!"
"Ah, but you've got just one minor issue that you are overlooking. Damien, you're a walking case of drama. I mean, literally. Not only have you been in a lot of productions, but the whole...you know, situation from last year isn't something that is just gonna vanish. The paparazzi will see you, and they'll tear you apart. And between you and me, I think it would break Benjamin's heart to see you hounded like that."
"So, you're just shoving me out of the challenge? This is just...well, it isn't fair!" Damien crossed his arms, only to notice that there were a few more members of his team coming to speak with him. Alex and Anne, namely.
"Ah wish there was something else we could do, but if we wanna keep up this win streak, we're gonna have to do what's best for the team. And what's best for the team is not having you in on this one, pal." Alex patted the boy on the shoulder, trying to calm him down, but it was of no use. It was quite easy to tell just how angry he was getting about this whole sidelining thing.
"I mean, look on the brightside!" Anne tried to lighten the mood a bit, "At least, if you sit out, you'll get to take a nap or something! Naps always make me feel better when I'm upset."
"Whatever," Damien grumbled, soon feigning a smile on his face. "Sure, it's not like I wanted to be a part of the team or anything. Yeah, just go ahead and sideline me, super cool!" He turned away from them, storming off behind the Sharks' dorm building, and leaving the three of them behind in an awkward tension.
Confessional
"Sure, Ah do feel a bit bad about doing this to Damien, but really, we need to win this challenge!" Alex rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "B-besides, that guy's gone through for a good while, it should be nice for him to get some time off from having to worry about all the drama and everything! ...Right?"
"I know, I know, it really wasn't the nicest thing to do, but it's kind of a necessary evil at this point. Damien would just give the Crabs a free win if the paparazzi got a hold of him and...well, let's be honest here. Having a three team member advantage over them means nothing but smooth sailing for us all the way to the merge." Alexis winked, not necessarily proud of her brilliance, but knowing that she made a good call.
Confessional End
The three Sharks returned to their team after their little discussion with Damien, seeing that the level of chaos was pretty close to the way it was before. The paparazzi were surrounding a decent bit of everyone, but at the moment, Liz was completely hidden by them. "Alright, Sharks," Alexis cracked her knuckles with a massive grin sprouting on her face. "Time for us to do a little truth stretching! Hey, paparazzi! Did you guys know that Amelia is gonna be starring in a new movie pretty soon? I hear they're giving her another chance at being the lead!"
"They are?" Amelia perked up, not realizing what had just been said. She noticed that there was a group of the paparazzi that was storming towards her, and her eyes lit up. "Finally! My spot in the limelight is coming back to me!" They swarmed around her, though she seemed unphased by all of it, simply smirking as they began asking her questions.
"Amelia, what kind of role are you going to be playing in your big return to television?" One of the paparazzi's members asked. She leaned in towards their microphone, opening her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by another member of the mob.
"Amelia, Amelia! Is it true that you and Zachary are dating in secret? These are things the press just needs to know!"
"W-what? As if I would ever date that slob!" She scoffed at the question, crossing her arms. "I have refined tastes in the people I date, and Mr. Batguy isn't someone that would ever fit the bill."
"Miss Amelia!" Another paparazzi member raised their hand, garnering her attention before sneezing all over her face. She went wide-eyed as she became coated in snot. "D-do you have a tissue that I could borrow?"
"You...you beast! You just ruined my face, my gorgeous face, ruined! Oh, the humanity! It's wretched, it's putrid, I think my skin is about to melt!" She fell to the ground, rubbing her face all over the grass, trying to get the snot off of her, but it was to no avail. She was gonna need some high grade tissues for something like this.
Zachary snickered from where he was standing, giving a high five to Alexis. "Gotta say, I love that she's having it that bad. Nice work, Alexis."
Confessional
"My face, my beautiful face!" Amelia screamed as rubbed her face with a towel, furiously. "When I find that goon, I'm going to rip him a new one! How dare he sneeze on me like that!? Doesn't he know who I am!"
Confessional End
Zachary cracked his knuckles as he overlooked the other team's members. He pointed at each of them, as if he was deciding which one of them would make for a suitable target. "Eenie, meenie, minie...moe!" His finger landed pointing towards Flint, who was currently trying to outrun a ravenous group of paparazzi members already. "Oh, wonderful members of celebrity media! Did you hear about Flint? Apparently, he was involved with some scandal with Thomas last season! The fight was just a big act, they were in on the assassination attempt together!"
"What!? No I was not in on it with him!" Flint glared back at Zachary for a moment, before suddenly realizing that even more members of the vicious mob were hurdling towards him. It was as if he was trying to run in for a touchdown, and there was no way they were going to let that happen. They dogpiled on him, the larger members of the team holding him down to the ground by his arms and legs. "G-get off of me, you crazy people!"
"Flint, you were working with Thomas the whole time? What made you two decide to target McLean, was it some sort of hit you were trying to pull, or a personal vendetta?" A microphone was being shoved in the boy's face, and though he tried to turn away from it, another member of the paparazzi forcibly turned his head back to it.
"I was never working with him in that assassination attempt, I just got caught up in the middle of it! I'm innocent in this whole mess!"
"Why did the two of you end up fighting in the basement, anyways? Is it just for the cameras? Building up a crowd to make a bigger scene?" Another microphone was shoved right in his face as he struggled to break free.
"Let me go, this is just a bunch of nonsense! I fought him because he was trying to hurt Alexis, everybody knows that!"
"So, you're admitting that you're in a relationship with Alexis? Care to elaborate more on the status of your relationship? Are you guys still together, or have you since split? Is it true that you had a minor attraction to Thomas?"
Flint suddenly snapped up to his feet, defying all odds. He took hold of one of the microphones, glaring at the paparazzi with malice. "Alright, one or two bogus questions is annoying, but that is just unacceptable! I'll have you know that I never had any feelings of attraction towards that madman! Besides, I'm entirely straight! Thank you very much!"
One member of the paparazzi leaned over to another, whispering to them. "New headline, 'The Love is Gone: Flint No Longer Attracted to Thomas.'"
"You shut your mouth, I never was!" Flint snapped at the person in question, grabbing their microphone and throwing it halfway down the open field before them.
They went back to whispering to each other almost immediately. "Make sure to quote him on that. 'I never was.' This story is gonna be a hit!"
"Would you knock it off!?"
Confessional
"I hate the paparazzi!" Flint punched the door to the confessional before recoiling in pain. "What is this damn door made of, steel? Ugh! Stupid paparazzi ruining my whole day, Chris, you are so gonna get it for this challenge!"
Confessional End
Taylor was currently dodging her own mob of paparazzi members when her eyes suddenly landed on Natt, who wasn't even having a hard time with them. He blended in well enough, so they skimmed over him, looking for stories elsewhere. "Hey, what gives!? How come he isn't getting hounded down by you people?"
"Natt? He doesn't have any interesting stories, he's boring!" The paparazzi was quick to answer Taylor's question. "We would much rather hear about the newly forming relationship between you and Gretchen! How are things going between you two? Are you official yet, or do you still need to ask her out?"
"Well, that may seem interesting to you guys, but I assure you, Natt has got it going on way more than I do. For instance, he recently told me that he is only dating Anne out of pity." The paparazzi gasped as they heard that. Taylor smirked at them, no longer running, as they were no longer chasing her. "It's true, the guy said he felt bad because no one would laugh at her jokes. He didn't want her to feel lonely, like he did before he was adopted."
"Oh, snap! Guys, let's go squeeze some more answers out of Natt! This'll make for one hell of a story!" And like that, the paparazzi up and left her to go hound after Natt. Taylor chuckled at her little stunt, hardly realizing that Anne was standing right behind her.
"Ahem," Anne crossed her arms while Taylor turned to look at her. "I don't much appreciate you lying about him like that, you could've just mentioned his sister and they would've flocked right to him."
"Oh, calm down, Anne! It's just a little lie to get them off of our backs. You know nobody believes any story that the paparazzi puts out, anyways." Taylor patted the comedian on the head, though the glare on her face wasn't leaving. "Fine, be a grump about it, but you know I'm right. He'll be fine, anyways."
"Whatever, Taylor," Anne grumbled before stomping away from her. Taylor could only shrug, clearly not understanding what it was that was making her so upset about it.
Confessional
"I don't get it. Everyone on our team is doing this to one of the members of the Sharks. It was bound to happen to Natt eventually." Taylor scoffed as she downed a bottle of "water." "Eh, she'll get over it. It's nothing personal."
"Taylor's got some nerve, saying stuff like that about Natt and I. How would she like it if someone told the paparazzi about her alcohol addiction?" Anne crossed her arms, turning her head and raising her chin in a pouting manner.
Confessional End
Alex had made his way to the roof of the Sharks' dorm, looking down at the mob beneath him as they hounded him for answers. "Alex! How does it feel knowing that you were friends with an assassin for such a long time? Did his revelation break your heart?"
"Uh, well, you see...it was actually a lot worse for Nicolás, yeah!" The adventurer took a confident pose while the crowd murmured beneath him. "See, after little Nick went and made the spying app for Thomas, he had to live with the guilt of it all! Sure, he helped take the guy down, but I can't help but feel sorry for the bugger. He's got some form of PTSD because of this whole mess."
"How could we overlook such a huge story!" The crowd turned to look over at Nicolás, who could only gulp nervously as they started running towards him. "Nicolás, is it true that you essentially have survivor's guilt for aiding a criminal in an assassination ploy? Surely, you feel as though you should be charged for your part in this!"
"W-well, I wasn't actually helping him because I wanted to...h-he threatened me to make the app for him. If you would've seen the guy, you'd know why I couldn't just tell him no...I mean, h-he would've killed me!" Nicolás' answer didn't seem to be enough for the insatiable crowd. In fact, it only opened up many more questions that they had for him.
"But that fear you displayed was clearly an act. We all know that you pretended to be meek as an easy way out of the responsibility of what you did! Why else would you have let yourself be eliminated so early during the season?" The microphones were being shoved in his face, just like how they were for the other members of his team. He didn't know what to say as he sunk down a little where he stood.
Alex watched over the boy as he started making his way off of the roof, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Sorry, fella! Ah can't let you guys start winning challenges if Ah want any shot at winning this thing!" He calmly walked over to join some of the other members of his team, walking right past Jianne, who had a devilish smirk on her face.
"Hey, it's a little known fact, but since the two of us are dating, I can totally tell you guys! Archie actually has to sleep with a teddy bear each night! If he doesn't have it on him, he'll bawl like a baby! But it's okay, he'll come down once you give him his binky!" She shouted to the paparazzi, who clearly couldn't resist the temptation of such a juicy secret. They stormed off towards Archie, leaving her be.
"You think the other team is gonna be mad at us after this challenge is all over and done with?" Alex asked the narcissistic girl, though she could only shrug in response. "Ah mean, Ah at least think that Archie is gonna have a thing or two to say to you when he finally gets himself out of that situation."
"Meh, he'll live. Dude can be pretty tough, even if he is a 'binky-sucking baby.'" Jianne snickered at her own remark, aiming to get a fist bump from Alex, though he didn't seem all too amused with her. "Ugh, don't be such a party pooper, dude." She fist bumped herself before letting her arms fall back to her sides.
Confessional
"Ah guess Ah am being a tad of a hypocrite, considering what Ah just told them about Nicolás, but Ah couldn't imagine doing such a thing to someone that was dating me." Alex scratched his chin in thought for a moment, "Well, Ah suppose we are all just doing this to try and win, so Ah can't give her too much of a hard time for that."
"Oh, please, it's just a stupid challenge. And I know Archie well enough to know that he is just gonna do something to embarrass me as bad as I've embarrassed him." Jianne grinned devilishly, "He's got the same spark of competitiveness as I do, and I love that about him!"
Confessional End
Tony was whistling to himself as he noticed the other members of his team slowly getting swallowed up by the paparazzi. He could hear Liz shouting angrily from the center of the mob that she was stuck in, but there was really nothing he could do about it. "Heh, sorry, tutz! I'll make it up to you with a dinner date!" He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, blowing on it to dust it off. "Look, I got a coupon for a free meal at this three-star restaurant! Huh...it's expired. Oh well, I'll schmooze 'em and make it work!"
The conman snickered to himself while he tucked the coupon back into his pocket. Gretchen spotted him, as he was out in the open, and a grin creeped onto her face. "Hey, everybody! It's Tony, the face of 'Cheapskates Monthly!' If I were you, I'd try to get an interview in now before he manages to hide away from you again!"
"Hey, I was only the face of that magazine once!" Tony crossed his arms and looked away from the girl. "They canceled my subscription after I tried to negotiate them into giving it to me for free." He looked back on ahead, seeing a crowd coming right for him, and he knew that he was doomed right then and there. They swallowed him up, just like they had with many of his other teammates before him.
Confessional
"Hey, attention is something that Tony should love, right? It's all about making an appearance or whatever it is that he says, I honestly can't remember." Gretchen shrugged, but she had a smile plastered on her face. "Could've been worse, I could've lied about something he did, like some of the others. It just ain't my style to do something like that."
Tony gasped and heaved as he sat in the confessional. His shirt was torn up a bit, it seemed he had some fans in the paparazzi that just needed to get a piece of him to take home with them. "Heh, what a rambunctious crowd, am I right? Oh, I'm so gonna need a nice bubble bath after this." He pulled a bottle of bubble soap from his pocket, holding it up with a grin. "Convinced the folks I bought this from that the spout was broken, got a full refund for it!"
Confessional End
The only members of the Crabs that were still in the clear at this point were March and Luna, both of which were looking for some sort of way to get themselves in the clear. Luna noticed that Zachary was pointing right over at the two of them, an obnoxious grin on his face. "Oh no, I've gotta get out of here!" The model rushed towards a nearby tree, leaping up and grabbing onto a branch, which she held onto for dear life.
"Hey, look over there! It's Luna and March, the couple that just split up! I'm sure you guys have got a whole bunch of questions for them, don't you?" The paparazzi roared in excitement as the final group of them started their stampede on towards March, who couldn't find anywhere to hide. They surrounded her, just like they had with the rest of the Crabs. Zachary cakcled and dusted his hands off, happily skipping back over to join his grouped up team, all of which were paparazzi free.
Meanwhile, behind the Sharks' dorm, Damien was feeling himself growing more and more tired as he just leaned against the building. He tried to keep his eyes open, but they kept on closing, and slowly, he drifted into sleep, slumping against the building. His head drooped down, with his hair just peeking out the slightest bit.
Confessional
Zachary rubbed his hands together, boasting the same maniacal grin as before. "I gotta really congratulate myself on a job well done, I truly know how to divert attention. Hey, that's an incredible feat for an actor! We love the attention, we always want all eyes on us! But hey, look at me now! No one wants to pay attention to me! ...On second thought, maybe that isn't such a good thing for me to gloat about." He grabbed onto the camera, pulling it up close to zoom in on his face. "Please focus on me!"
Confessional End
Luna glanced around her to notice that her team was being all surrounded by the paparazzi, while the other team seemed to have a severe lack of them around. Every single member was swarmed, and the only thing keeping her safe at the moment was the fact that she had jumped into the tree. She found herself at a loss for what to do, when her eyes suddenly happened upon something that she hadn't noticed up until this point. Right behind a corner of the Sharks' building, she could see a tuft of dyed blonde hair. She knew exactly who it was, and it being that person brought nothing but a conniving little smile to her face.
"Oh, paparazzi, might I direct your attention to me for just a second?" Luna hollered at the ravenous group, who all soon looked over at her, in hopes to ask some of those invasive questions of theirs. "I'm sure none have you have noticed, but if you look right past that big red building, you'll notice that Damien is hiding behind it!" The Sharks gasped as they heard those words leave Luna's mouth, as the paparazzi all looked over at their dorm.
"Crap, how did she figure that out?" Alexis glanced over to see that Damien's hair was peeking around the corner. She slapped the palm of her hand against her face, groaning as she realized how obvious he had made himself. "You know, when I told you to hide from the paparazzi, I didn't mean to come back and check to see how the challenge was going!"
"Huh?" Damien suddenly snapped up, having fallen asleep against the side of the building. He looked back at his team to notice that the paparazzi was storming towards him. "Oh...oh dear…" He tried to run, but it was all in vain, since the entire lot of the paparazzi found their way around him, and he was effectively trapped by them. Many of the Crabs were ecstatic to see that they were all free, all except for one.
Confessional End
"Haha, this is just marvelous! Now, because they're all so busy talking to Damien, there is no way we can possibly lose this challenge! I know, I know, my genius can be quite frightening at times, can't it?" Luna grinned at the camera, proud of her deviousness.
"This doesn't sit right with me," March mumbled as she slouched in her seat. "Why do I feel like this is just...wrong?"
Confessional End
The time on the clock was ticking, there were only a few moments left on it at this point. The Sharks were currently swarmed by the paparazzi, considering the viscous number of questions that they had for Damien. "Haha, yes! We're going to win this challenge!" Flint cheered, raising his hand to try and get a high five from Amelia, who still looked absolutely mortified. "What's the matter with you?"
"That snot-nosed brat...he sneezed all over my face. My beautiful face...ruined by some paparazzi snot." She slowly sunk to the grass below her, only for Flint to sigh at her and leave her to her devices. Meanwhile, March was feeling entirely conflicted about what was happening with the other team at that moment. Archie and Nicolás were standing close by to her, both of them noticing that she had a look of uncertainty on her face.
Confessional
"Sure, I tried to apologize to Damien, and he shut me down almost immediately. I can't demand forgiveness from him...but maybe, just maybe...I can help him this one time." A sudden sparkle glistened in March's eye, and a proud smile found its way onto her face.
Confessional End
Damien was surrounded, without a single exit in sight, while the rest of his team was being shoved out by the paparazzi. He looked around from side to side, noticing that all of his teammates were gone, and that he only had one minute left before time was up. "Damien, Damien!" One member of the paparazzi spoke up among the rest. "Now that you know what it's like to have someone leave you for someone more attractive, how do you feel?"
"That's such a mean question!" Another member of the paparazzi snapped back at the first before turning right back to Damien. "Damien, did it just absolutely crush your soul when you saw her reveal she kissed Luna on the big screen?"
"Damien, do you still have nightmares about it? Does it make you feel insignificant? Damien! Damien! Damien!" Damien felt himself crumbled to the ground, trying to cover his ears while the paparazzi harassed him. He felt like all was lost, and he knew that his team would gun for him after something like this happened.
"Hey, paparazzi!" A determined sounding voice suddenly rose up above the madness, suddenly shushing up all of the members of the obnoxious mob. A glance over at the Crabs revealed that March was standing on top of a tree's thick branch, her arms crossed as she looked down at the paparazzi. The rest of her team and the other team, including the distraught Damien, looked up at her, all shocked by what she was doing. "You want a hot, juicy story? Well, get this! When I was in my relationship with Luna, I cheated on her with several other people!"
"Huh!?" The massive crowd echoed the single word, leaving all in silence yet again. Then, suddenly, they forgot about Damien, and came barreling towards the tree that she was in, shouting rambunctiously.
"Hm?" Flint glanced over to see the oncoming crowd, his eyes widening as he did. He rose his hands up to try and defend himself, but it was useless, as they trampled over him like he was nothing. They surrounded the tree, shouting questions up at the girl, who had a proud smile on her face.
"That doesn't make any sense...you never saw her doing that sort of thing, did you?" Nicolás asked as he glanced over at Archie, who looked puzzled for a moment.
"Not that I…" Archie looked over to see that Damien was slowly standing up from where he was being harassed, and then, it clicked. "No...she didn't do that...she's saving Damien." Nicolás looked back over at the sight, just growing more and more confused by the second.
Tony, Natt, Luna, and Liz were all in complete shock as they saw the paparazzi all around their team, rather than at the Sharks. "No, no, no!" Luna scuffed the ground with her shoe, irritated as could be. "After I got them to go over there and bother the other team, she goes and lies to get them back on over!? What kind of idiotic game is she trying to play!?"
Chris looked down at his watch, noticing that time was officially up. He blew his whistle loudly, attracting the attention of both teams as he started towards them with his megaphone in hand. "Well, folks, the challenge is all up, and there seems to be a clear difference in paparazzi members between both teams. In fact, every single one of these schmucks is hanging out by the Cosmic Crabs! So, it looks like...the Atomic Sharks win, yet again! What a shocker!"
The Sharks all bunched up together, cheering for their sudden victory. Benjamin pulled Damien in for a tight hug. "Oh, this is awesome! I don't have to lose you, now!"
"Heh...yeah. Right." Damien smiled awkwardly at Benjamin, but he couldn't help but glance over at March, a certain uneasiness plaguing him.
"Ginny!" Chris snapped his fingers, causing the former contestant to perk up. She was still standing with Bonnie, currently giving her a noogie. "Round them all up and get them out of here, the challenge is over."
"You got it, Chris!" Ginny shouted back at him, loud as ever. She released Bonnie from her clutches, starting to shove off towards the group before suddenly turning back to her cousin. "Oh, and BonBon!"
"What is it now?" Bonnie groaned while rubbing her aching scalp. She looked up to see a smirk on Ginny's face, which wasn't an unusual sight, but this one seemed a little different than normal.
"Good luck with that boy, aye?" She gestured over to Benjamin, who was still in the middle of giving Damien a bear hug. "He seems like a nice catch, hope ya can actually hook him in, aye?" Bonnie couldn't help but smile back at her cousin, blushing a little bit. Ginny waved to her one last time before turning back to stomp towards the paparazzi, starting to scream at all of them. "Alright, all of you, get your obnoxious asses out of here before I knock you all flat!"
Confessional
"That was really weird, March definitely didn't cheat on Luna with several other people...those two were really close, even if she did cheat on me." Damien looked down at the floor, completely confused at what had happened. He still didn't much like March after what she had done, but he certainly felt like something wasn't sitting well with him. "Why on Earth would she lie about that...clearly the only thing that came out of it was the paparazzi storming over to interview her about it. I guess I never really understood girls too well…"
"Ah, that stupid cousin of mine," Bonnie sighed, though she couldn't hide the smile on her face. Getting the approval of a member of her family wasn't normal for her, but it wasn't something she was against. "...Can't wait to see her again."
Confessional End
It was already the third time that the Crabs were together at the fish bowl where the elimination ceremony would take place. March could only smile to herself as she sat up tall in her seat, kicking her feet back and forth while the other members of her team glared over at her, except for Archie and Nicolás, who knew exactly what she did. Luna seemed to be especially pleased with how everyone else was looking at March.
Confessional
"I've made some pretty crappy mistakes while I was on the show, but it's all about working to fix what you've messed up, right?" March giggled a little, that gleeful smile not leaving her face.
"She took the dive to save Damien from losing the challenge for his team, that's gotta mean something, right? As March's close friend...that was probably the most March thing I have ever seen her do." Archie sighed, shaking his head a bit. He looked back up at the camera, a slight smile on his face. "Nice job, March. Nice job."
"I never really got to make a whole lot of friends when I was around the last season, but seeing people do things like what March did...is that what having friends is like?" Nicolás scratched his chin in thought, "And she did that for someone who hated her, there's no doubt about that...man, I have got a lot to learn about friendship."
"Oh, boohoo, I know that she was doing this all on purpose to try and apologize to Damien or whatever, so what?" Luna grinned as she checked her nails, which had just recently been painted. "The fact of the matter is that she lost the challenge for us, and there is no way that she's staying another night here."
Confessional End
Chris shook his head at the crabs whilst holding up a platter that only had eight bags of fish flakes on it. "Crabs, Crabs, I'm starting to get sick of seeing the same bunch of losers every elimination ceremony! Or maybe it's just that I'm getting sea sick? Bah, I don't care, either way, I'm sick! Now, you're definitely familiar with the rules, but I'm gonna rattle them off anyways. You lost the challenge like the bunch of failures you are, and so, you've had to vote for one of your teammates to kick on out of here. I'll start calling out names and passing out fish flakes to those of you who are safe. The diver that is voted out must take the Water Slide of Shame down to the Submarine of Losers to be taken away from Atlantis, forever! First up...Liz."
The host tossed a packet of fish flakes over to Liz, who swatted them off to the side. "Unfortunately, these flakes don't provide me much to use in my experiments. I already have two useless packets, I don't need another." Chris rolled his eyes as the short girl crossed her arms.
"Alright, whatever...buzzkill. Next up, we've got Archie and...Nicolás!"
Archie caught the fish flakes in one hand, still producing a slight smile on his face. Nicolás, on the other hand, had them hit him in the nose, causing them to fall down in his lap, since he wasn't paying attention much. "O-oh geez, I'm never actually gonna catch these right, am I?"
"Heh, if my aim stays as good as it is now, then definitely not!" The host jabbed at the nerdy boy, who sunk down into his seat with a slight frown. "Moving on, though...Natt and Tony."
"Jackpot, baby!" Tony snatched the bag of flakes, tucking it into his pocket. "I've got a great idea, special Atlantian Fish Food! Feeding it to your fish will increase their lifespan by a ton of years, no guarantee, of course. But you know people are just gonna eat that up!"
Natt shook his head at the conman while he caught his own packet of flakes. "You are just...awful, you know that?"
"Don't hate the player, hate the game."
"Well said, my man!" Chris aimed some finger guns over at Tony, who did the exact same notion back to him. "And also safe, we've got Amelia and Flint!"
"Well, of course I'm safe! What would my team do without me, dear Chris?" Amelia grinned as she caught her fish flakes, dropping them when she noticed that there was some snot on the packet. "Gah! Did that same snotty brat get his hands on these!?"
"Hey, at least you didn't get trampled today," Flint groaned while he raised his aching arm up to take hold of his packet of flakes. "Thanks for calling them right over to us, March."
Luna gritted her teeth upon noticing that she was in the bottom two with her ex, who was still smiling as gleefully as ever. Chris looked between the two of them while he held the last packet up. "So, it would seem that I've got one packet left, but two Crabs. Tsk, tsk, we all know where this is going. March, you said some clearly fake nonsense that drew the attention of every single member of the paparazzi right to you, getting Flint hurt in the process, too. I mean, you guys totally had that win on lockdown, but you gave it right up, and for what?"
"I just had to do what seemed right...but, uh...sorry, Flint." She nervously waved over to him, noticing the anger in his eyes that was directed at her.
"Well, be it the right call or not, it made your team lose, and because of that, this last packet of fish flakes goes to...Luna." The host launched the packet to the model, who caught it with the cheesiest grin she could muster. "Hope it was worth it, cause you just lost yourself another chance at five million big ones."
"Oh trust me, it was more than worth it." March happily stood from her seat, skipping on over to the hole in the ground, much to the dismay of Luna, who had wished for a more upset reaction. She turned around right before she reached it, waving to Archie, who waved back at her, both of them with teary-eyed smiles. Soon after, she hopped up, letting herself sink down into the hole, going down the slide and landing in the submarine below.
"Well, there you have it, folks!" Chris tossed the platter off to the side, accidentally hitting Flint in the head and knocking him out cold. He winced at the sight, but shrugged it off to return to the camera. "The Cosmic Crabs just can't seem to ever pull off a win, too bad for them, right? Oh well, they're down, eight to eleven, in this competition, and things aren't looking so good. Hopefully they'll pull off a miracle next time on Total Drama: Lost City!"
Author's Notes:
*Back at it again, and this elimination was just a nice one to be able to write after all the drama with March. Hey, she does what she thinks is best to help alleviate the situation, even though Damien still may not care for her. See you folks next time!
*Votes: March - Tony, Amelia, Luna, Natt, Flint, Liz; Luna - March, Archie, Nicolás
*Placements: 22nd - Crustacean; 21st - Thomas; 20th - March