Total Drama Towering Fortress Chapter 4: Ep2: Duel Faced, a total drama series fanfic

The scene pans in, giving the viewer a view in front of the fortress. Chris was standing in front of the moat, his award winning smile bright as ever as he began the intro. "Last time on Total Drama Towering Fortress…" He started.

"We brought in a new batch of victims to torture this season." Chris narrated as shots of some of the contestants meeting each other played. "And already, there were fights," A scene flashed of Caleb and Jeremy arguing. "Flirting," Then a shot of Jacque and Angel popped up. "And even a mix of both." Finally, a shot of Kit flirting with Felix, then Diamond getting in between the two was shown.

"Then, we decided to unload our first big twist of the season!" Chris told the audience. "There will be no teams this go-around!" A shot of Chris dropping that bomb on the contestants was shown.

"After that, the contestants had to make their way into the fortress without being the last one in." The host continued. "Most paired up, like the unlikely trio of sheisty dude Jacque, theorist Beek, and rowdy Kev, as well as a whole big group led by the sassy techie Diamond.

It came down to cunning blonde Erza, who spent most of her time trying to manipulate dorky gum-lover June, and Diamond, who took one for the team and helped her group get through." Scenes of Erza talking to June and Diamond letting the others go through the deactivated lazer wall were shown before flashing to Diamond being the last one into the fortress. "But in the end, Diamond just barely managed to squeeze by and caused Erza to be the first one eliminated."

The scene flashed back to Chris who had a smirk on his face. "Or was she? How will the lack of teams shake up the strategy? Which romances will blossom? And what exactly is the Redemption Dungeon? Find out, on this season of Total. Drama. Towering Fortress!"

~~~Theme Song~~~

The scene panned into the first floor of the tower, where the contestants had been staying currently. The main theme seemed to be 'white' as the whole floor was filled with white decor and white walls. It gave the floor a more futuristic appeal to it. The walls were aligned with sleek, but simple decorations.

There were multiple rooms as well to this floor, including bedrooms for the contestants, a kitchen, dining area, bathrooms, a common area, and even a small game room with some board games. Overall, the place looked quite nice, which was unexpected coming from Total Drama.

Despite all of the new things to do, a majority of the contestants were still chatting with each other. They did just meet after all, and it's a good way to start gaining allies. So far, they were being quite cordial with each other.

"What's fucking wrong with you!?"

Or not.

Sitting in the common area, Caleb, Kit, and Beek were discussing something very important. The conversation seemed to be getting somewhat heated, which with Caleb, are we really surprised?

"I don't eat them 'cause they're shaped like dinosaurs. I eat them because they're FUCKING CHICKEN NUIGGETS!" Caleb snapped.

Kit just gave a teasing smirk as Beek seriously pondered this clearly controversial opinion from Caleb.

"I dunno, I'm pretty sure being in the shape of dinosaurs makes them taste better." Kit told the chess player.

Caleb scowled. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"No, no… Kit's right." Beek said, being 100% serious about this topic.

"They're the same thing!" Caleb told them, his frustration starting to take over him. "The shape doesn't matter!"

"Oh, it definitely does." Beek responded.

Caleb let out a deep, stressed breath as Kit just laughed.

Confessional Kit

"Okay, that Caleb guy is kinda annoying, but, like, it's so funny to mess with him. He gets so worked up so easily."

End Confessional

Confessional Caleb

"UGH! What is with these people and being annoying!? It's like they're trying to tease me on purpose." He scoffs. "These dummy heads are really immature."

End Confessional

Felix walked up to the trio, with an apron tied around his waist. "Hello everyone, I was just about to prepare some brunch. Would any of you care for some?"

"Felix, you're a chef!" Caleb said. "Knock some sense into these idiots!"

"Yeah, knock some sense into us." Kit smirked, turning towards Felix.

The chef pursed his lips and gave Kit an unamused look before giving Caleb his full attention. "What seems to be the problem Sir Caleb?"

"These dummies are trying to say dinosaur chicken nuggets taste better than regular chicken nuggets when they're the fucking same!" Caleb told him.

Felix just looked plain confused. "I… do not see what sense that makes. While there can be certain dishes that can somewhat have the flavor changed depending on the orientation, chicken nuggets are not one of those dishes."

Kit just nonchalantly shrugged while Beek put her fist down onto the table. "I refuse! The dinosaur shapes totally make them better! It's a scientific fact."

"Ugh, I can't deal with you people!" Caleb yelled before storming off.

Felix just sighed. "Why must you torment him?"

"I wasn't tryna!" Beek said. "I'm just super passionate about dinosaur chicken nuggets."

"I was." Kit said. "What can I say, it's fun getting the little guy riled up."

Felix huffed to himself. "I'm sadly not surprised to hear that."

"Sheesh, we've only known each other for a day, and I'm already getting predictable. Gotta switch it up a bit." Kit told him, sending a wink the chef's way. "I'll take some of that brunch though."

Felix just rolled his eyes before walking away. "Coming right up."

Beek looked between the two with a growing smile on her face.

Confessional Beek

"Ok, so it's super obvious that to get far in Total Drama, you need to have some sort of plot going on! And those two, totally seem to be a couple in the making!" The wildcard smiled as she started to write in a notebook. "Looking at them makes me realize that I need to have some plot if I want to get anywhere in this game."

End Confessional

Confessional Felix

"I have to say, Kit has this ability to push all of my buttons. It is quite irksome… but I can't help but admit that he does have some charm to him."

End Confessional

Over in another part of the floor, Joshua had been sitting in a corner by himself with one leg sprawled out, just drawing in his sketchbook. Despite his usual anxious personality, he seemed to look tranquil. He was in his element after all.

Jeremy approached with his headphones on, listening to some music. The musical nerd hadn't noticed Joshua, and ended up tripping over his foot.

"Hey! What the heck?" Jeremy took his headphones off and glared at Joshua.

"A-ah! I'm sorry!" Joshua held his sketchbook up as a shield, while slightly trembling. "I didn't mean to trip you, I just had my leg out."

Jeremy's glare fell. "Eh, I guess it's okay since you didn't mean it." He then sat down next to Joshua. "So whatcha up to?"

Joshua's face flushed slightly. "Oh, I'm just drawing a little." He looked away, hoping Jeremy wouldn't ask to see his drawing.

Jeremy just nodded though. "Cool. I'm just gonna listen to my music. It's a nice corner here."

"Okay." Joshua responded.

Jeremy put his headphones back on and shut his eyes, getting back into his music.

Joshua glanced his way before turning back to his sketchbook.

Confessional Joshua

"Jeremy… kinda makes me feel at ease." Joshua gives a small smile. "He didn't just ask to see my drawings like people usually do. I feel like maybe we're similar in some ways."

End Confessional

Brittany marched down one of the hallways with a purpose. This hallway held the small bedrooms that the contestants got to sleep in for the night. Overall, the bedrooms weren't anything special. They were very small with a single twin sized bed in them. The colors throughout fit the ongoing white color palette the first floor seemed to be going with.

The mob boss reached a door and knocked firmly on it.

It took a couple seconds, but some muffling sounds could be heard through the door. Then, a couple moments later, Jacque opened the door to his room. Seeing Brittany at his door confused him. "Uh, sup?"

"Jacque Cortez Metoyer from New Orleans. You've been in and out of foster care all your life, as well as multiple stints in juvenile detention centers for things like petty theft. You currently reside in a lowly crack house with a couple of your friends." Brittany recited.

Jacque was taken aback for a moment, but then glared at the girl. "How the hell do you know all that?"

"That's irrelevant to you." Brittany told him. "The point is, I have a lot of dirt on you, and there's a lot more… incriminating things that I have."

Jacque scoffed at her, clearly not believing her. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" The mob boss took out her phone, and showed Jacque the screen. The sheisty dude's eyes widened in disbelief.

"How the hell did you get a hold of that?"

"I told you, that doesn't matter." Brittany responded.

Jacque leaned against his doorway, keeping his glare on the mob boss. "Alright, what do you want? You're not just coming here just to show me the blackmail material you have on me."

"It's simple, you're to give me your vote in this competition." Brittany told him. "Basically, you'll be my bitch here."

"Hold up, I'm not anyone's bitch." Jacque snapped.

Brittany just smirked. "Fine, I'll let you have that. But I'm serious about having your vote. If this photo were to get out… I think you could do some serious time."

Jacque crossed his arms, and scowled. He thought for a couple moments before responding. "Fine."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Metoyer." Brittany turned on her heel and started to walk away.

Jacque scowled at her retreating form before slamming his door.

Confessional Brittany

"I'm starting to lay out my groundwork for this competition. Even though the money isn't the main reason I came here, I don't plan on leaving without it."

End Confessional

Confessional Jacque

"Damn I feel like shit letting that broad talk to me like that. But I'll make sure she gets her own. I'll play along for now while I plan, but mark my words I ain't gonna play lapdog this whole competition."

End Confessional

June and Sharron were in the dining area with each other, just sitting at the table chilling. Well, Sharron was trying to, but June was talking her ear off.

"See, this game is kinda jank, but it still has this nice charm to it that makes me not be able to hate it, y'know?"

Sharron just sighed, not particularly invested in the topic at hand.

June didn't notice Sharron's lack of investment in the conversation, and continued to talk. "It's still so frustrating to actually play. I mean, playing a broken game is never fun, but like I said, the charm it holds just endears me towards it! Not to mention the community around the game is still popping." As she finished her sentence, June blew a bubble with her gum and popped it.

Sharron scowled slightly, getting annoyed with June. Just then, Angel walked in, carrying a tray with a teapot and some mugs on it.

"Hello darlings, I asked Felix if he'd prepare some tea for us, and he was nice enough to do so." The rich girl set down the tray on a coffee table that was located in front of the couch.

June smiled at the new person in the room, some gum stuck in her braces. "Thank you Angel, I really appreciate it!"

"Oh, no need to thank me." The backstabber responded. "Felix was the one to prepare the tea, after all."

"Yeah, but you requested and brought it to us." Sharron said.

June gasped at Sharron talking. "You got a British accent too!? Cool!"

Sharron scowled at this. "Really? Is that really what's so interesting?" The irritation in her voice was evident/

June looked at her, perplexed. She wasn't sure why Sharron was getting so upset.

"There's more to me than having an accent." Sharron scolded the gum lover. "Sorry Angel, but I think I'm going to drink my tea in my room."

"That's fine dear." Angel nodded, fully understanding where she was coming from. She poured a cup for the archer and handed it to her.

"Later." Sharron walked out, not waiting for a response.

June deflated. "What's her problem?"

Angel sat down next to the dorky girl and laid a hand on her knee. "Well, it is somewhat rude to point out a person's accent, even if you're being well intentioned."

"I didn't know. I wanted to be nice, I thought she would've liked me complimenting her accent."

"As someone from Britain myself, I have to say that it does get somewhat tiresome when that's the first thing people pick up on over on this side of the pond." Angel explained. "I would give her some time to cool down, then try and apologize later."

"Thanks Angel, you're a cool British person." June told her, giving an innocent smile.

Angel's eye twitched.

Confessional Sharron

"This is exactly why I try not to talk. Maybe I'm being too prissy, but ever since I've moved to Canada, all people want to talk about is my accent. There's more to me than just that!"

End Confessional

Confessional June

June sat slumped in the confessional, blowing a gum bubble before speaking. "Man between losing Erza and Sharron blowing up on me, I'm doing a bad job of making any friends…" She perked up. "But at least they're noticing me!"

End Confessional

In the game room, there was an old, beat up gamecube that only had a copy of Mario Party 5. Because if Chris was gonna give them a game system, he was gonna make sure that it would ruin their friendships. Currently, Diamond and Claire were in the middle of a game, and it was getting heated.

"Oh come on!" Diamond yelled. "The Miracle Capsule is such bs!"

Claire gave a good hearted laugh. "It really is. Tell me why we thought it'd be a good idea to put the CPUs on the hardest difficulty?"

"Because we didn't think." Diamond pouted, having gone from first place to last place.

"Well, the jokes on us I guess." The streamer said.

The programmer leaned her head back and gave a content smile. "Still, I gotta say that it's worth it since I'm playing an actual video game with the real CLAIREISDEAD."

Claire gave a sheepish smile, not fully knowing how to react.

"And like, I'm not even playing online! I'm playing the game with you right here, right now!" Diamond told her excitedly.

Claire rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Hey… uh, do you-"

The streamer was then cut off by the door to the game room slamming open. Though, it wasn't out of anger.

"Hey! How's she cuttin'?" Kev said in a boisterous tone.

Diamond pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Kev, you don't need to come in here making such a racket!"

"Aw, don't need to eat the head off me, I'm just here to say hi." Kev put his hand up in surrender.

Diamond sighed. "I know, but can you try and keep something of an inside voice?"

"Ye, I'll try. Sorry 'bout that." Kev looked at the tv. "What're you guys doin?"

"Playing Mario Party." Claire responded. "Did you want to join?"

"Hell yeah!" Kev's voice went back up in volume again, making Diamond frown. The rowdy Irishman jumped over the couch and landed in between Claire and Diamond. Claire laughed lightly while Diamond just sighed.

Confessional Diamond

The programmer was shaking her head. "Kev is definitely a large presence and a little too rowdy for me." She looks up at the camera. "Admittedly, my patience is wearing thin pretty quickly with him."

End Confessional

Confessional Claire

Claire sat in the confessional, twirling one of her pigtails. "I was gonna try and talk to Diamond about not just talking to me 'cause I'm semi-known, but I guess I'll have to postpone that conversation." The streamer sighs. "Maybe I'm jumping the bullet bill too quickly thinking that's the only reason she talks to me. I don't want to come off as rude."

End Confessional

In the kitchen, Felix was busy preparing some brunch for the others, playing no mind to the other person there as well.

Kevin sat at an empty counter with a knife in his hand and an apple next to him.

"Oh, is this apple yours, sir?" Felix asked, coming up next to the pessimist.

"No, take it." Kevin responded.

Felix gave him a smile and took the apple. "Thank you." The culinarian then went back to work.

Kevin looked down at his hand before laying it flat on the counter with his fingers sprawled out. He then started to stab the knife between his fingers and back. Why? Because he's edgy like that.

Kevin continued this motion until a voice ruined his focus. "Dude, what're you doing?"

The pessimist looked up to see Tess standing next to him with a confused expression on her face.

"What does it look like? I'm playing five finger fillet." Kevin responded, his deadpan tone imminent in his voice.

"But why, you can hurt yourself."

"I know, that's the point." Kevin responded. "The game makes it more interesting."

Tess snatched the knife from Kevin and gave him a disapproving look. "Dude, you shouldn't do stuff like that."

Kevin just shrugged. "Why not? It's my shitty life."

"Don't say that about your life." the artist said. "Life is only shitty if you make it shitty."

"That's a load of bs." he replied, getting up from the stool he was sitting on. "Stop living in this stupid bubble of optimism. You're just going to end up disappointed in the end." With that, Kevin walked away out of the kitchen leaving Tess to just sigh in defeat.

Felix came up to Tess, some plates in hand. "Oh hello Madam Tess, I have just finished preparing some brunch, you're welcome to join me and some of the others if you'd like."

Tess regained her normal smile and nodded. "Sure, I'm down. Let me take those plates, I'll help set them up."

"You have my gratitude." The culinarian replied, handing Tess the stack of plates he was holding.

Confessional Kevin

"People like that Tess girl irk me. They wanna look like a good person by preaching that 'everything will be better if you believe' bs, when it's a load of crap. If there's anything I've learned from my 18 years of living is that life will take any opportunity it has to just beat you down." Kevin rolled his eyes.

End Confessional

Confessional Tess

"People like Kevin really just make me feel sad for them. I couldn't imagine just going through life thinking so pessimistically. There's so much for the world to offer, you just need to be open to it."

End Confessional

The scene flashed to a couple hours later. Chris had gathered all of the contestants in front of a large metal door, and stood facing them. The contestants themselves had a different wardrobe than what we've seen them in so far. Rather than their casual wear, they stood in their swimsuits, waiting for what was next.

"Well I hope you all are enjoying your accommodations." Chris told them.

"Coming from you, I'm surprised at how nice they are." Jacque said, wearing a black wife beater and black basketball shorts.

"Tell me about it." Caleb agreed. "I thought we'd be sleeping in dog shit or something this season, but this place is nice!" The chess player was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of green swim trunks.

"Sheesh, I do something nice for once and you all still talk bad about me… Guess I'm never going to give contestants a nice place to stay after this season."

"Moving on, are you going to explain why we're in our swimsuits?" Claire asked, wearing a coral one-piece.

"You better not be perving on us!" Diamond scolded, sending a glare Chris's way. She had on a sapphire swimming top that had purple flowers on it, and black swim bottoms.

In her black two-piece, Brittany sent the host a similar glare. "Look at me like that, and I'll kill you."

Chris returned the glare towards the two. "That's not what those are for. You'll be needing them for your challenge today."

"I know I can't complain about the choice of wardrobe." Beek said, checking out some of the guys in their swimsuits. She wore a black one piece. June stood next to her, doing the same in a green one piece with a few dark green stripes on it and the Star Trek logo near her heart.

"Can you all just shut up!" Chris snapped, raising his fists in the air.

After that, not a peep was heard.

"Sheesh, this whole part got so derailed." Chris grumbled. "Anyway, as you now know we're going to be starting our next challenge today. But more on that in a second. If you all will, please step onto this elevator."

After he said that, the metal door started to raise. Some of the contestants looked a little impressed as behind the door was a large elevator, one big enough to hold all of them and then some.

"Meh." Kevin shrugged. He was wearing black swim trunks.

"Well, what're you all waiting for? Get on!" Chris pushed.

The contestants did as they were told, and all entered the elevator. Chris followed after them and once everyone was on, the door to the elevator closed and they started going up.

Once they reached the second floor, the door opened once more, and the contestants were given an extraordinary sight.

In his scarlet and gray swim trunks, Joshua gaped at the sight. "Whoa."

"How the hell did you manage this?" Kit asked, wearing black swim trunks with a barbed wire pattern on them.

Standing in front of the contestants was a small beach and a vast body of water that was about a mile in circumference. Somehow, there managed to be a bright sun and a blue sky above, and in the water were some structures which were presumably for the challenge.

Chris smirked at the gawking contestants. "Sheesh, this is only the second floor. You guys are way too easily impressed. But come along, we have a challenge to do."

The scene flashed to a set of 16 surfboards upheld above the water. They were arranged in two rows with eight in each row. Each surfboard held a contestant. On one side was Kit, Beek, June, Felix, Claire, Diamond, Brittany, and Jacque. On the other was Jeremy, Joshua, Caleb, Kevin, Kev, Sharron, Angel, and Tess.

In between the surfboards was a large platform that held Chris and Chef. The latter was sitting in a machine that looked to be a canon of sorts.

"Alright, so the first part of the challenge is pretty simple." Chris announced to the contestants. "Basically, whoever stays on their surfboard the longest wins a reward for the second part."

"Wait, that's it?" Kev, who was wearing blue swim trunks. "I would've thought it would've been harder than that.

"No!" Beek yelled. "Now he is going to make it harder!"

"Y'know, you're absolutely right Kev, it is too easy." Chris smirked. "To make it a little more difficult, your surfboards will be moving around and Chef will be shooting cannonballs at you. So make sure to dodge well if you don't want to feel the pain."

Jeremy, who was wearing a white t-shirt and Hawaiian swim trunks, sent a small glare towards Kev. "Nice going."

"Hey, c'mon he didn't mean to make it harder." Tess told the musical nerd. She was wearing a tye-dye bikini. "Chris was probably going to make the challenge harder anyway."

"That is most likely true." Felix agreed, wearing orange swim trunks and a black rash guard. "It is Chris we're talking about. I'm actually somewhat surprised he hasn't put sharks in the water."

"Yeaahhh, about that." Chris smirked just as a shark leapt out of the water just in front of the culinarian.

Felix screamed and ducked his head down to avoid getting chomped on. "I stand corrected!"

"Hasn't Total Drama done a similar challenge?" Angel asked the host. She was wearing a black bikini.

"Oh yeah, back in TDA!" Beek said. "The season that snail breath McGrady backstabbed LeWaifu!"

Chris shrugged. "Listen, you try coming up with 126 totally unique challenges! After a while, you end up having to take inspiration from older ones."

"Moving on, now that we have everything introduced, let's get this challenge started!" Chris said, taking out a remote and pressing the big red button on it.

The surfboards raised a little bit, and they started moving around just slightly. The contestants had an easy time keeping their balance so far. For a couple moments, no one even had an inkling that they were about to fall.

"Man, this is getting boring already. Time to turn it up a notch." Chris said, pushing the button on his remote. The movements of the surfboard started to become more erratic and jerked around more.

Felix, being clumsy enough on his own, wasn't able to keep his footing on his surfboard and fell off. The culinarian fell into the water, and poked his head back up moments later. "This was my challenge to lose." He sighed.

Then, a shark fin started circling him. "Uh oh." Felix let out a scream and started swimming towards the platform Chris was on as quickly as he could.

"Weak!" Caleb called out. "How are you going to fall off that soon?" Just then, the chess player was hit in the face with a cannonball, sending him to the water below.

"Ow!" He yelled, coming up from beneath the water. "What the hell!?"

Chris laughed at his misfortune, and gave Chef a high-five for his good aim. "Nice aim Chef. Now, be a dear and make these guys eat pain."

"With pleasure." Chef smiled before starting to shoot cannonballs at the contestants still on the surfboards.

Sharron, who was in a brown two-piece, was managing to doge every cannonball that came her way with ease.

From the surfboard next to her, Angel was keeping a watchful eye on the archer.

Confessional Angel

"Hm… Sharron definitely seems to be a threat when it comes to the physical challenges here. It's a good thing that she seems to like me a good bit. It'll be that much easier to jam the knife into her back.

End Confessional

On her surfboard, June was having trouble keeping her balance. The surfboard was jerking around a little too much for her.

"Careful there!" Beek called over. The wildcard was having a little trouble keeping her balance, but she had been doing better than June was.

"I'm trying, it's really hard though." June told her. "I'm- woah." June wobbled a little bit, but managed to regain her balance. "I'm really clumsy."

"You just gotta try and figure out how to bunker yourself down." Beek told her.

"I don't think I-" June gasped. "Wait! Idea!" The gum lover took out quite a bit of gum from who knows where, and shoved it in her mouth. June chewed up the gum then spit it out on the surfboard. She then stepped her feet in it to try and stick herself to her surfboard.

From across the way, Jeremy and Joshua cringed in disgust seeing June do this.

Confessional June

"Never would I have thought that my love of gum would come into use so much here!" June told the confessional camera. "This is the second challenge in a row I get to use it, crazy, right?"

End Confessional

Confessional Jeremy

The musical nerd still had a look of disgust on his face. "Did she really chew up a whole bunch of gum and step in it? Fuck me gently with a chainsaw, that girl is gross!"

End Confessional

Kev was having the time of his life on his surfboard. He was whooping and hollering, focusing more on having fun than actually winning the challenge. However, that seemed to be working for him as he was doing well. But, it wasn't making a lot of the others happy.

"Dude, can you shut the hell up?" Kevin told the rowdy Irishman. "You're annoying."

"No need to be rude bud, I'm just havin' some fun!" Kev responded. He dodged a cannonball that came towards him. "Holy mackerel that was a close one!" Kev cheered.

"Some of us are trying to concentrate!" Diamond called over. The programmer was having some clear trouble staying up on her surfboard. "Not yelling would be nice!"

"You all need to get those sticks outta your arses." Kev responded, starting to get angry.

"Screw this, I'm done." Kevin then jumped into the water and swam over towards the main platform.

Confessional Kev

"I don't get these other people here. I was tryna have a wee bit of fun." The Irishman huffed. "Is that really such a bad thing?"

End Confessional

Confessional Kevin

"Ugh, it's not hard to just shut up. He doesn't need to yell the whole time." The pessimist rolls his eyes. "I'm offended to share a name with that guy."

End Confessional

Tess frowned at what was happening. Between people getting on Kev's case and Kevin just giving up, she couldn't help but feel bad for what was going down.

"Guys, why don't we just focus on ourselves?" said the artist.

From across the way, Brittany just rolled her eyes. "Why don't you follow your own advice and just stay out of that mess. It'll do you good." From next to the mob boss, Jacque was hit into the water by a cannonball.

"I just don't see why we need to be at each other's throats. Kev was just enjoying himself." Tess responded.

Kev sent her a grateful smirk. "Thank you Tess."

"He was also distracting other people." Diamond told her. "That's pretty rude of hi- whoa!" Diamond finally lost her balance and fell into the water.

"Guys, let's just drop it!" Claire said, interrupting the conversation.

Tess just sighed before getting hit into the water by a cannonball.

Confessional Tess

"Y'know, I thought this would be a cool experience and a chance to meet some really cool people, but, like… a lot of these people are just kinda downers. We haven't even been here a full week yet and everyone is so on edge. It's kinda sad to see."

End Confessional

As this was going down, Sharron was still doing quite well at keeping her balance and dodging any cannonballs that came at her.

Next to her, Angel looked to be pretty solid as well, but nowhere near as good as Sharron was doing.

"I can't help but notice your dexterity." Angel told her fellow Brit. "I'm rather impressed."

Sharron smiled. "Thanks, it comes in handy with hunting."

In the background, Brittany was knocked off of her surfboard.

"Oh, a huntress are we? That seems to make sense." Angel laughed lightly before glancing June's way. "You know, I don't think June meant any ill will this morning."

Sharron frowned slightly before dodging another cannonball. "Still, it's annoying to have her point it out. She was getting on my nerves admittedly anyway, so that could have made it worse." the archer sighed. "Maybe I was a little too harsh."

"Oh, I disagree." Angel told her, dodging a cannonball. Doing so, the backstabber almost lost her balance, but managed to regain it. "After you left, she was saying you were being an unreasonable brat."

"Really!?" Sharron asked, raising her voice slightly.

Angel started to wobble, trying to fully regain her balance. "Yes, really." she responded. "It was quite rude honestly."

Sharron grit her teeth. "That annoying little-"

"Oh!" Angel then fell into the water below, leaving Sharron alone.

The archer sent a glare June's way, which went unnoticed.

Confessional Sharron

"Who is she to call me an unreasonable brat?" She yelled. "Ugh, I can't stand that little weirdo."

End Confessional

Confessional Angel

Angel snickered. "Oh this is too easy. Making sure Sharron keeps her anger towards June is important to keeping her focus elsewhere. That will give me a bit of space to start making my moves in this game."

End Confessional

Joshua was having a lot of trouble keeping his balance. He wasn't very dexterous as is, but with the added pressure of the cannonballs, it was a shock he has made it this far.

"Easy there dude." Jeremy called over to him.

"Ah, I'm trying." the coward responded. "It's really- whoa." He started to fall, but he tried to regain his balance. Luckily for him, he managed to keep himself up.

"Nice." Jeremy commented.

Joshua smiled to himself. "I did it! That was a close-" His mini celebration was cut off by a cannonball to the head. Joshua tried to catch himself again, but wasn't as successful. But instead of falling into the water, his swimming trunks caught on the surfboard. The artist was left hanging as two of the sharks started to circle below him.

Joshua screamed. "H-help!" His screams were cut off by a loud ripping sound.

Because we need some fan service, Joshua's swim trunks couldn't hold up his weight and ended up ripping. The naked artist ended up falling down into the water.

Seeing the sight in front of her distracted Beek enough to make her lose her balance as well and the wildcard fell into the water.

From his surfboard, Kit just snickered.

Confessional Kit

Kit sat in the confessional laughing. "Oh that was great." He wiped a tear from his eye before continuing. "I gotta say, that was a nice sight to behold."

End Confessional

Confessional Joshua

He held the brim of his hat down, trying to hide his face from the camera. "That was the most embarrassing moment of my life! Why me?"

End Confessional

Chris cackled at Joshua's misfortune. "Oh man, that's great. Well, I think it's time we speed up the process a little, I'm getting pretty bored." Taking out his remote, Chris pressed the button on it and the surfboards' movement became even more erratic.

Jeremy and Kit tried to keep their balance, but their surfboards jerked harshly, sending the two flying and smacking into each other.

"Ow…"

"Ugh…"

Brittany was trying her best to keep her balance as well. She managed to make it longer than Jeremy and Kit, however she was paying too much attention to keeping her balance that she didn't see the cannonball heading towards her.

It hit the mob boss in the side and she fell into the water. After resurfacing she pounded the water and growled. "Dammit!"

Then there were three, with June, Kev, and Sharron being the last ones on their surfboards.

Kev stopped focusing on having fun, and actually started focusing on winning this part of the challenge. He surprisingly had good balance for someone who spends half of their time drunk.

Sharron was more determined to win over June. Her dexterity was really coming in handy with this challenge, giving her the opportunity to keep her balance and dodge the cannonballs.

June was stuck real good to her surfboard. Is gum actually this sticky? Who cares, it's a fanfiction of a cartoon. Being stuck to the surfboard limited her mobility heavily, however, and she kept getting hit with cannonballs.

"Ow! Ooch, Owie!" The cannonballs kept coming, but she stayed on the surfboard.

Finally, Kev's surfboard gave an especially strong jerk, and flung him over towards Shannon.

The archer wasn't able to move out of the way, and Kev slammed into her.

The two ended up falling into the water together, leaving June to be the last person standing on her surfboard.

Realizing this, the gum lover cheered. "I did it! Woo hoo!"

"And June wins an advantage in the second part of the challenge." Chris announced. "Who would have thunk it?"

Some of the others looked surprised at the outcome as well. No one actually thought June could pull that off.

"Alright, June, Kev, and Sharron, make your way up to the platform over here so we can start the next part of the challenge." Chris called out to the three before the scene flashed.

All the contestants joined Chris on the main platform and had given him his full attention.

"For the second part of your challenge, you'll compete in a tournament style duel. You'll be given dueling sticks, and to move on to the next round, you'll have to knock your opponent off of the platform. The person who wins the tournament, wins invincibility." The host explained.

"Is this the platform we're dueling on?" Claire asked. "It's kinda big…"

"Nope, this'll be the platform you'll be dueling on." Chris told her as he took out his remote and pressed the button on it. This button has a lot of uses.

From behind him, a circular platform emerged from the water. It started growing in height until it was towering even over the platform they were standing on.

Claire gulped at the height of the platform.

Confessional Claire

"Ok, no cap, but I'm super terrified of heights." The streamer twiddled her fingers together nervously. "I don't know if I can do this."

End Confessional

"For winning the first part of the challenge, June you got yourself a ticket straight to the final round." Chris told the gum lover, who clapped excitedly. "You also get to choose one person to skip the first round."

"Oh, spicy!" June commented. She turned and looked at the others.

Confessional June

"Oh man, this is a tough decision! I mean Beek really helped me win this advantage, but if I give it to Sharron, then maybe it'll make her not be mad at me." She thought for a couple moments. "This is a toughie."

End Confessional

June stood, pondering her decision. She kept going back and forth between Beek and Sharron.

"June, I need a decision." Chris told her.

"Oh! Uhhh… Hm…" June looked back and forth between Beek and Sharron. "Erm… I-I chose… Beek."

The wildcard gave a bright smile. "Thanks!"

"You did help me in the first part." June replied.

"Alright, Beek, you'll sit out the first round of the tournament while June, you'll sit out until the final duel." Chris said. "Now let's find out who will be fighting who."

The camera flashed once again, and it focused on a tournament board with small headshots of each contestant. For the first round, it seemed the pairs would be Diamond vs Kevin, Claire vs Joshua, Angel vs Jacque, Jeremy vs Caleb, Sharron vs Kit, Felix vs Brittany, and Kev vs Tess.

"Up first is Diamond versus Kevin." Chris announced.

The two already took their places up on the tall platform, with their dueling sticks in hand.

Diamond sent a determined glare towards Kevin, who had a look of indifference on his face.

"All ready?" Chris called out.

"Ready!" Diamond replied.

Kevin responded with a simple shrug.

"Good enough for me." Chris said, taking out an airhorn, and raising it up in the air. "Go!" He pressed down on the button on the top and a loud horn blared out, signaling the start of the first battle.

Diamond charged at Kevin, raising her dueling stick up, ready to strike while the pessimist didn't budge an inch.

Once the programmer got within range of Kevin, she swung her dueling stick sideways, going for his side.

Rather than try and dodge, Kevin just lazily moved his dueling stick to try and block. Diamond's stick smacked into Kevin's, but the pessimist still was knocked back a bit since he hadn't really tried pushing back.

"Come on, are you not going to try harder than this?" Diamond asked.

Kevin shrugged. "Meh, I doubt I'll win immunity so what's the point?"

Diamond rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that's annoying." She took another swing at Kevin, who lazily blocked it again. But once again, he was pushed back some more. "Why are you even here if you're not going to try?"

Kevin shrugged. "I dunno. Does it matter?"

clank. Another swing, and another lazy block. "Yes! There are so many other people who wanted to be here instead, but you took their spot."

clank. Diamond swung, giving herself some more power in her swing. Kevin lazily blocked it once again, but was knocked back even further. "Well that's not my problem, is it?"

This pissed Diamond off. "You ungrateful-" The programmer shoved her dueling stick towards Kevin. Of course, the pessimist blocked it again, but instead of going for another swing, Diamond started pushing her weight against Kevin and pushed him towards the edge.

Kevin's eyes widened only slightly. He looked back, and saw how close he was towards the edge. He started to think if he should actually try and push back. Nah, it was pointless, he wasn't going to win. But maybe…

With one last push of force, Diamond shoved Kevin off of the platform. The pessimist fell into the water with a loud splash. He resurfaced with a deadpan expression, seemingly not caring.

"And the first round goes to Diamond!" Chris announced. "Would've liked to see more effort from Kevin though."

The programmer gave a proud smile. "You know it!"

Confessional Kevin

He sat in the confessional and rolled his eyes. "I don't get why that bitch got so pissed at me. I mean I wasn't the one who chose to be here, that was the producers. It's not my fault other people didn't get the chance. It's not like they'd have won anyway."

End Confessional

The scene flashed, and now Joshua and Claire were standing up on the platform. The streamer had a look of terror on her face, staring off to the side, looking at how high up they were. On the other side, Joshua had a similarly frightened look, but when he noticed Claire, his expression softened.

"Hope you guys are ready!" Chris said. "Cause it's time to go!" He once again raised the air horn into the air, and pressed the button on top, letting out another loud sound. However, neither Claire nor Joshua moved.

"Uh, hello? I said to go!" Chris called out to them, but he went ignored.

"Uh, Cl-Claire, are you okay?" Joshua asked the gamer.

She responded with a frantic shake of her head. "N-no! I'm terri-terrified of heights."

"Oh." Joshua responded, somewhat awkwardly.

And uncomfortable silence grew and Chris started to get impatient.

"Hello! You two are supposed to be beating each other with sticks." the host yelled.

"I don't think I can." Claire said. "I think I need to forfeit."

"No! Don't think that!" Joshua called out. "I-I know it's scary, but you should at least try."

Claire didn't look too convinced.

Joshua readied his stance. "I'm scared too, but, um… I'm not going to give up. You shouldn't either."

Claire looked at Joshua, and noticed his stance. He, to be frank, looked pathetic. Claire wasn't fully sure to trust him, but the gamer readied her stance too. "I'll try not to."

Joshua gave her a smile. He then went to take a step towards her, but all of a sudden, the platform became unstable.

"Ah! What's happening!?" Claire screeched.

Back with Chris, he had his handy-dandy remote in his hand. "Take this as a lesson kids, if you bore me, you'll have a bad time."

Claire was caught off guard, but with her gamer girl™ reflexes, she managed to steady herself.

Joshua's more klutzy nature came to bite him in the butt as he slipped, and started sliding around. "Ah!"

"Ah, Joshua!" Claire yelled.

However, she couldn't do much as Joshua managed to slide off the platform, falling into the water below. Once this happened, Chris pressed the button on his controller, and the platform became stable once again.

"I hope that sends a message to the rest of you to not dilly-dally." Chris told the rest of the contestants. They just shared awkward looks with each other.

Confessional Claire

Claire awkwardly rubbed her arm. "I always hated quick-time events in games, but I feel like they totally helped me out here. Speaking of, Joshua really helped me out as well. Admittedly, I thought he was just tryna jebait me, but I think I was wrong. He's actually kinda sweet."

End Confessional

The scene flashed, and the next dueling pair, consisting of Jacque and Angel, had taken their places on the tall platform.

Jacque sent a suave smirk Angel's way. "Fancy meeting you here, eh?"

The rich girl's lips curved up in a smile. "I guess so. I wish you luck."

Getting into a readied stance, Jacque replied, "Meh, don't think it'll be needed."

"If you say so." Angel replied, also getting into a ready stance.

"Ready?" Chris asked, raising his airhorn again. "Aaaand GO!" He pressed down on the button, and let out a loud sound to signal the start of the next round.

As soon as the horn blared, the two ran towards each other and smacked sticks. The two pushed against each other. Surprising Jacque, Angel was able to hold her own quite well as she gave a forceful shove, knocking him back a bit.

"Goddamn, you're stronger than I thought." Jacque told her.

Angel flipped her hair and sent a wink the sheisty dude's way. "Never underestimate a lady."

Jacque retorted with a smirk and a swing at Angel with his dueling stick.

The backstabber didn't react in time and took the full force of the hit.

"Don't underestimate a guy from the streets." Jacque snarked.

"Touché." Angel swung at Jacque, but the sheisty dude blocked the hit. He then shoved her back and went for another swing, but Angel managed to jump out of the way, getting closer to the edge.

Back down with the other contestants, Beek held her hand up to her chin. "Huh, they're pretty equally matched."

"I know, I wonder who's gonna win this round." Kit responded.

Back with Jacque and Angel, the sheisty dude went for another hit, but Angel managed to block it once more. The rich girl spun around, and managed to nimbly get behind Jacque. Angel hit him in the back with her dueling stick, and managed to knock him forward closer to the edge.

"Oh hell naw!" Jacque turned around, swinging his dueling stick to try and hit Angel in her side again, but he was blocked.

"Sorry dear, but I'm not going to let you hit me again that easily." Angel taunted.

"Bet." Jacque swept his leg forward and low kicked Angel's legs, knocking the backstabber down.

"Is he allowed to do that?" Brittany asked.

Chris shrugged. "I didn't say you guys couldn't."

"Point taken."

Angel tried pushing her dueling stick up to try and push Jacque off, but he ended up blocking it. The two pushed against each other again with Jacque on top.

Angel gritted her teeth, trying to push with all her might but Jacque was managing to over power her.

The sheisty dude smirked at her. "Je vois à travers ton faux sourire."

Angel looked up at him. "What was that?"

"I said I like this position we're in." Jacque told her. "It's French."

Angel's cheeks flushed, but the backstabber quickly regained her composure and gave a sickly sweet smile to Jacque. "How crude." She then kicked her leg up, hitting Jacque right in the family jewels.

Jacque recoiled, and fell to his side, clutching himself in pain. Angel took this opportunity to quickly get up and smack him off the platform using her dueling stick.

"Seems someone got a little too cocky." she gloated.

"And Angel wins the third duel!" Chris announced.

Confessional Angel

"'I like the position we're in,' hm?" Angel rolled her eyes. "Jacque really thought he was smart speaking in French, huh. La blague est sur lui, je la parle aussi." She crossed her legs and pursed her lips. "Admittedly, it's somewhat troubling that he can see through my act. He was right when he said I shouldn't underestimate him."

End Confessional

The scene flashed and the next duo of Jeremy and Caleb were up on the platform. The two scowled at each other, still holding some bad blood from the last challenge.

"At least this'll be easy." Jeremy muttered.

From off screen, Caleb yelled, "I heard that!"

Confessional Caleb

"These idiots probably just think of me as a stupid kid and are underestimating me. I'll show them how stupid they are. I may not be much physically, but I'm a whole lot mentally! And brain is way superior to brawn."

End Confessional

As soon as Chris blew the airhorn, Caleb, completely going against his confessional, decided to charge at Jeremy.

The musical nerd was slightly taken off guard by this, but he still had enough time to react. Jeremy stepped to the side at the last second and held his foot out, making Caleb trip. The chess player flew off of the edge of the platform, giving Jeremy an easy win.

Chris laughed at Caleb's patheticness. "Oh, that was great. Jeremy easily takes this round."

Caleb resurfaced and smacked his fists down on the water. "Dammnit!"

The scene flashed once again to the next duel between Kit and Sharron.

Sharron seemed fully ready, sending a determined glare towards Kit, who returned it with a lazy smirk.

"Try not to go too hard, I can be fragile, y'know." Kit teased.

Sharron just gripped her dueling stick tighter.

Kit's smirk fell. "Ah, tough crowd I guess."

Chris blew the airhorn, signaling the start of the match. Sharron swiftly went on the offensive and dashed towards Kit. She swung her dueling stick at him, trying to go for a quick hit.

The loner was slow to react, and took the hit full force. "Ah!"

Sharron went for another quick swing, but Kit was slightly more ready, just barely blocking it. Sharron still managed to push his forward a bit.

Kit tried to retaliate and raised his dueling stick to take a swing, but Sharron was too quick and took the opportunity to hit Kit again, knocking him closer to the edge.

"Jeez, I said to go easy dude." Kit said, blocking a swing from the archer.

Sharron stayed focused however, and continued to go on the offensive, and she kept pushing Kit back farther and farther. That is until she finally pushed him over the edge of the platform, sending him to the water.

"Sharron takes this round." Chris announced.

Confessional Sharron

The archer sat in the confessional and sighed. "Maybe I did go a little too hard on Kit. Admittedly I was letting out some steam from this morning. Well, that and I'm really determined to win this challenge. This first vote is going to be weird since we're all still getting used to each other, and I want to make sure I'm safe."

End Confessional

Kit made his way back up the platform with the other contestants. Once he got back up, he was met with Felix, who was trying not to laugh.

"You got a problem?"

"Apologies, but you were beaten pretty swiftly." Felix snickered.

Kit just rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you do better."

"Hmp, I shall." Felix raised his nose in the air, walking to get to the taller platform.

The scene flashed to Felix quickly getting thrown into the water, leaving Brittany as the easy winner of their duel.

Confessional Felix

"Okay, perhaps I deserved that for getting too cocky."

End Confessional

The scene flashed, and both Tess and Kev were standing on the platform.

"This is the last match of the first round." Chris said. "You guys better make it count."

Tess sent Kev a smile, and the Irishman returned it.

Confessional Kev

"I feel a bit sad that I have to go up against Tess. She was the one to stand up fer me in the first part of the challenge."

End Confessional

"Hey, good luck dude!" Tess told her opponent.

"Right back atcha lass." Kev replied.

The two got ready, and Chris blew the airhorn. They both ran towards each other, and met in the middle. They smacked their dueling sticks against each other and started to push. Between the two, Kev had much more strength, and he was managing to push Tess back.

"Dang man, you're strong." The artist said, trying to keep herself from being pushed too much.

Kev smirked and puffed out his chest. "Thank ya." He then used his strength to shove Tess away, closer to the edge.

The artist, having a fun time with the challenge, took a swing towards Kev, but the Irishman blocked it.

"Agh, I thought I had ya there!" Tess laughed.

"Gotta be quicker than that." Kev chattered.

He wound up his dueling stick, and took a big swing towards Tess. The artist blocked it, but the power behind the swing still managed to knock her back.

Despite still getting knocked back, Tess tried to take a quick swing at Kev, and managed to make contact with him.

"There ya go!" Kev exclaimed.

Tess went for another quick swing, but Kev saw it coming and parried her shot. The Irishman then wound up for another powerful swing and managed to push Tess off the platform.

The free spirit fell into the water, and when she resurfaced, she let out a light laugh. "Good game there Kev!" She called up.

Confessional Tess

"I know the downer Kevin told me that having a more optimistic look on things will just lead to disappointment, but I just don't agree. I mean, even though I didn't think I'd beat Kev in that duel, I still had so much fun.

End Confessional

The scene flashed to Chris standing in front of the tournament board. The winners of each duel had been moved up to the next level and Beek had been added to the board.

"So the winners of the first round who will be moving on to the next are Diamond, Claire, Angel, Jeremy, Sharron, Brittany, and Kev." Chris said. "Also, this round, Beek will be joining the array against Sharron."

The wildcard glanced towards the archer and gulped.

"But first up, is Diamond vs. Claire."

The scene flashed to the two girls on top of the platform. Once again, Claire seemed to be terrified to be so high up, but she seemed to be faring slightly better than last time.

Diamond sent a concerned look to her friend. "Are you doing okay there Claire?"

"I-I'm trying." The streamer replied.

"Fear of heights?"

Claire swiftly nodded her head. "Yeah… I think I'll be okay though."

"You sure?" Diamond asked. "If you want, I can let you win. I kinda feel safe coming into this-"

"No!" Claire snapped, cutting the programmer off. "I don't want any special treatment! I'm a regular person just like you, just cause I got a small following doesn't mean I should get any special treatment."

Diamond blinked. "That's not why I-"

Chris cut the programmer off with the sound of the airhorn, signalling the start of the duel.

Claire gripped her dueling stick, now becoming more determined than afraid.

Diamond on the other hand was just confused.

Confessional Diamond

"I don't get what Claire's problem is. I was just trying to be nice."

End Confessional

Confessional Claire

"Listen, I'm a competitive gamer. I don't want any handouts. I came here to compete and I wanna win on my own, not have the game thrown to me!"

End Confessional

Claire, jogged towards Diamond and went to swing her dueling stick at her opponent.

The programmer's reflexes were somewhat slower due to being confused at Claire's outburst. She tried to block the hit, but wasn't quick enough and took the hit, getting pushed back.

Claire went to go for another swing, but Diamond, being slightly more prepared, managed to block it.

The two started to push against each other with their dueling sticks.

"Are you okay?" Diamond asked. "What was that outburst for?"

"Focus on the challenge for now, and give it your all." Claire told her. "Please."

Diamond's jaw clenched and she nodded. "Alright." The programmer managed to shove Claire off of her, pushing the gamer back.

Claire smiled. "Game on!"

The two charged at each other, and started smacking sticks. Over all they were similarly matched, with Diamond having slightly more power and Claire having slightly more speed.

Claire grit her teeth, then started to send quick flurries Diamond's way, focusing on her speed than her power.

Diamond blocked every hit that came her way, but with as many hits that were coming her way, Diamond had to slowly back up with each hit to try and keep up.

This proved to be her downfall as Claire managed to get the programmer to the edge.

Diamond tried to block more of the hits, but they were coming too fast. Claire then managed to finally push Diamond off of the platform, and the programmer landed in the water with a large splash.

"Claire wins the first duel of the second round!" Chris announced.

"Poggers!" Claire exclaimed, raising her arms in the air.

"Alright, next up is Jeremy vs. Angel." Chris said.

The two glanced at each other before the scene flashed.

Jeremy and Angel faced each other, each having a battle ready stance ready.

"Good luck darling!" Angel called over to her competitor.

"Uh, thanks. You too." Jeremy responded.

Chris blew the airhorn, signaling the start.

Angel took the initiative and went on the offensive. She ran over towards Jeremy, keeping her dueling stick in front of her, ready to block.

Jeremy didn't move until the last second again, leaving his foot out for Angel to trip on. But the rich girl didn't fall for the trick like Caleb. She leaped over Jeremy's foot, and swung her dueling stick, hitting Jeremy in the back.

"Sorry hon, that isn't going to work on me." Angel teased.

Jeremy shrugged. "Worth a second try."

Angel went back on the offensive, and swung her dueling stick at Jeremy. The musical nerd managed to block it, but Angel was much stronger than he was. She managed to push him back a couple feet.

"You really played it smart to get to this second round." Angel told her opponent.

"Uh, thanks?" Jeremy responded, not sure how to take the back-handed compliment.

"But sadly, that won't work this time." The backstabber shoved her dueling stick against Jeremy, sending him back another couple feet.

Jeremy watched Angel and her moves intently. When she was in range, Jeremy raised his dueling stick high for a strike, but Angel was too quick for him, and hit him in the stomach with her stick, sending Jeremy into the ocean.

"It seems I win again." Angel giggled.

The scene flashed to Jeremy climbing up the ladder to get back onto the main platform. Once he reached the top, a hand reached out to him. Jeremy looked up and saw Joshua.

"Thanks." The musical nerd said, accepting the help.

Joshua helped Jeremy get back up, then rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Ah, you really took the plunge there." Joshua paused a moment before realizing how that sounded. "W-wait, I didn't mean to be rude like that. Sorry!"

Jeremy just chuckled. "I get it."

Joshua scratched the back of his head, thinking of what to say next. "Uh, Angel is kinda really good."

The two looked over to the rich girl, who was currently chatting with Sharron.

"Yeah…" Jeremy muttered. "Y'know… She kinda reminds me of my sister."

"Oh." Joshua responded, not really sure what else to say. The conversation died down between the two as Chris spoke up. "Up next to the platform is Beek and Sharron."

The scene flashed to the next two people on the platform. Beek had a somewhat nervous look on her face, having seen how quickly Sharron took care of Kit. Sharron on the other hand, looked more lax compared to how she was in the first round.

"Alright, aaand go!" Chris exclaimed, blowing the airhorn.

Beek surprisingly was the first to take initiative, running up and trying to go for a quick swing at Sharron.

The archer was slightly caught off guard, but her quick reflexes let her block the hit with ease. This didn't phase Beek though, as the wildcard went for another hit.

Confessional Beek

"Admittedly, I'm not the strongest, and Sharron is super good! But I realized that in a majority of the rounds in which one person took first initiative, had that person beating their opponent. So I'm trying my hardest to try and take as much initiative as I can, and maybe I can pull out a surprising win!"

End Confessional

The wildcard kept sending hits towards Sharron, who kept blocking them with relative ease. Beek was surprisingly starting to trap Sharron next to the edge of the platform.

Sweat started to pour from the wildcards head as she tried to be as speedy as she could with her hits. She managed to get Sharron really close to the edge when all of a sudden, the archer managed to finesse her way out of Beek's path. Sharron quickly went behind the theorist, and sent her over the edge with a strong, but quick shove.

"Sharron takes it once again." Chris announced.

Beek, who was now in the water, gave a small sigh. "Guess my plan didn't work."

The scene flashed once again to the next pair, consisting of Kev and Brittany.

"And for the final match of the second round, it's Kev vs. Brittany." Chris announced.

The two both got in a readied stance. Brittany sent Kev a glare, who surprisingly returned it.

"Annd, go!" Chris exclaimed, blowing the air horn.

The two bolted towards each other, and immediately pushed their dueling sticks against each other.

Kev, being a little stronger managed to start pushing Brittany back a little.

"You're not winning this you annoyance." Brittany sneered. The mob boss then shoved Kev back a couple feet, then went in for a hit.

The Irishman managed to block it though. Kev's nostrils flared up. "I don't get where you come off thinking you can insult me, but I ain't gonna allow it." He then raised his dueling stick, and swung it sideways towards Brittany.

The mob boss blocked the hit, but the force of Kev's swing still managed to knock her back a bit. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Kev wound up for another hit and swung. Brittany blocked the swing, but once again the swing was so powerful that she still got knocked back. She was getting dangerously close to the edge of the platform.

"No! You're not fucking beating me!" Brittany roared. She then low kicked Kev's legs, stealing Jacque's trick. The Irishman fell down with a loud thud.

Brittany took this opportunity to slide behind Kev and pushed her dueling stick forward with all her might.

Unluckily for her, Kev was agile enough to roll out of the way. Since she used all her force, Brittany almost ran off the edge. She started to wobble over the edge and tried her best to regain her balance.

Kev took this time to get up and to quickly push Brittany off the edge, into the water.

"And Kev managed to snag the win against Brittany!" Chris announced.

Down in the water, Brittany clenched her jaw, seething with anger.

Confessional Brittany

"That brainless idiot is so damn strong! He's a huge threat and he needs to leave!"

End Confessional

The scene flashed back to Chris on the main platform once again. "And that concludes the second round," he said. "Next up we have the semi finals: Claire vs Angel and Sharron vs Kev."

The scent flashed back to the larger platform with Claire and Angel standing on it. Angel beamed with confidence, while Claire was still a little nervous from the heights.

The streamer took a deep breath in. "You got this Moony." She told herself, strengthening her grip on her dueling stick.

Angel noticed how nervous Claire was, and sent her a smile. "Keep calm dearie, and good luck."

Claire returned the smile. "Yeah! Good luck to you too."

"Alright, ready?" Chris asked, raising the air horn in the air. "Aaand, go!" He pressed down on the airhorn, signaling the start of the match.

Once again, Angel immediately went on the offensive; dashing towards Claire with her dueling stick ready to swing.

Claire saw this coming however, and at the last second the gamer ducked under the dueling stick and swung her own at Angel's feet.

The rich girl fell onto the ground, giving Claire the opportunity to run behind her and shove Angel closer to the edge.

The backstabber wasn't going down without a fight though. She rolled to the left and quickly swung at Claire again. The gamer didn't have enough time to react properly, and took the hit full on.

She recoiled back and this gave Angel enough time to quickly get up. "I'm quite impressed, you really caught me off guard there."

"Same." Claire responded. "You're surprisingly strong."

The backstabber giggled. "Thank you." She sprung back into the fight, and took another swing.

Once again, the gamer was caught off guard, and she took the full brunt of the attack. "Oof." She stumbled back a bit, getting closer to the edge.

"Apologies love, but I did come to win." Angel told Claire before winding up her dueling stick to take another swing.

Claire's jaw clenched as she looked up at her opponent.

Confessional Claire

"Angel is a super aggro player I've noticed. I totally wouldn't have expected that from someone so dainty and nice. She outmatches me in speed and power, so I have to get a little creative."

End Confessional

Claire sent a small glare up towards Angel as the rich girl gave a low swing.

The streamer jumped over the dueling stick however, her gamer girl™ reflexes coming in clutch once again.

"Nice dodge, but how about this?" Angel immediately came in for another swing, this time swinging a bit higher. Claire quickly ducked underneath the dueling stick, letting it miss her again.

Angel pursed her lips, starting to become frustrated. She went for another low swing, which Claire jumped over. Then a high swing, which the gamer ducked under.

"Fine." Angel said, somewhat annoyed. "I'll try another way." She lifted her dueling stick up, and swung down as hard as she could.

Claire lifted her dueling stick to block the hit. She then pushed Angel's stick away, and parried her hit with a counterattack. Claire swung to the right, trying to keep Angel near the edge.

The rich girl took the hit full force and was knocked to the right a bit. She tried to swing with a counterattack of her own, but Claire blocked the hit. The gamer sent a strong hit Angel way. The power behind it was able to knock the rich girl's dueling stick out of hter hands.

"Time for my combo move!" Claire exclaimed. She then sent a flurry of hits Angel's way, and finishing it with a powerful swing that knocked the backstabber down into to the water far below.

"And Claire takes a surprising win against Angel!" Chris announced.

"Ah, I did it!" Claire cheered. "I'm onto the final match!"

"Yes you are." Chris said. "But first, we need to find out who will be joining June and Claire in that final match. Who will it be, Kev or Sharron? Shall we find out?"

The scene flashed once again to Sharron and Kev on top of the platform. The two had determined looks on their faces, and they looked ready to battle.

Confessional Kev

"I need to win this challenge so I can prove to these eejits I ain't one to be messed with."

End Confessional

"Alright, we have the last semi finals match between Sharron and Kev." Chris announces. "This is going to be a good one." He lifted his air horn into the air. "Ready? Aaaand, go!" He pressed the air horn and the sound alarmed, signaling the start of the match.

Both contestants went on the offensive, running towards each other. Once in range, they both swung at each other at the same time. Sharron's swing was slightly quicker, and she was able to get a hit on Kev first.

The Irishman didn't let that faze him much as he just went for another swing. This time his swing collided with Sharron, and the power behind it sent the archer flying back a couple feet.

"Holy crap." She muttered.

Kev jumped towards her and went for another swing. Sharron tried to block it, but his hit had too much power behind it, and the archer was still knocked back a bit, getting closer to the edge.

Confessional Sharron

"Man, Kev is really strong. I have some power in my swings, but it's nothing compared to him. Thankfully, he doesn't have a lot of speed in his swings, so I can take advantage of that."

End Confessional

Sharron tightened her grip on her dueling stick, and went in with a flurry of quick blows. Kev was too slow to block, so he ended up taking the full force of the assault. Sharron managed to push him back closer to the edge on the other side of the platform.

Kev got closer and closer to the edge. He started to get angrier, and he went for one last ditch effort. Kev took another brutal swing towards Sharron. The archer saw this coming, however, and managed to dodge the hit. She finished the Irishman off with a shove into the water below.

"And Sharron takes the last spot in the final match." Chris announced.

"Ah, damnit!" Kev cursed, pounding the water.

Confessional Kev

"Ah shite, that girl really ended up getting the better of me. On one hand, I'm pissed. On the other, I can't help but respect her fer it."

End Confessional

The scene flashed to the final match. Claire, Sharron, and June all stood on the high platform in a triangle formation.

June sent Sharron a smile, but the archer returned it with a glare. This confused June slightly, who didn't think Sharron would still be holding a grudge.

Claire watched this interaction, not fully understanding what was going on.

"Alright guys, this is the final match." Chris said. "Whoever is the last person standing on the platform wins invincibility. Oh, and since it's the last match, why not make this a little more fun, shall we?"

Chris smirked devilishly as he took out his remote control and pressed the same button as he always does. He pressed it, and the platform once again became unstable.

"Are you kidding!?" Claire yelled.

Chris shrugged. "You guys managed to make it to the last match, you should be able to deal with this." He took out his air horn and blew it for the last time. "And go!"

Sharron immediately targeted June, who was focusing more on keeping her balance. The gum lover looked up, and saw Sharron coming towards her.

"Ack!" She squealed, lifting her dueling stick up just as Sharron took a swing at her.

"Aw man, why me?" June whined, almost slipping.

"Why do you think?" Sharron barked, swinging her dueling stick again and hitting June this time.

The gum lover was knocked back a bit, but the instability of the platform made her fall on her butt.. "Look, I'm sorry for pointing out your accent! I didn't know that was a bad spot for you."

Sharron hit her again, pushing her closer to the edge. "I'm more pissed about you calling me an unreasonable brat."

"I didn't do that!" June pleaded. "I promise."

Sharron scowled at the gum lover and glared down at her for a couple moments before muttering, "Liar." The archer then swung her dueling stick again, hitting June and knocking the gum lover off the platform.

And then Sharron was pushed off the platform by Claire, who she completely ignored. The gamer was struggling to keep her balance, and almost slipped off the platform after Sharron. She managed to regain her balance, and smiled. "I did it! Poggers!"

"And Claire wins invincibility!" Chris exclaimed. "Kinda anti-climatic, but I can dig it."

Some of the other contestants cheered for Claire, being good sports about her win. But down in the water below, Sharron scowled at allowing herself to forget about Claire during the last match.

"Sharron, I promise I didn't say anything mean about you." June told the archer.

Sharron just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Confessional June

"I don't know why Sharron thinks I called her a brat, I never did!" June cried out. "I'm not lying I'm a super honest person… Well except for that time in 9th grade when I snuck into the guys bathroom for… reasons, and I got caught by Benneth, the most coolest guy in school. I told him it was an accident going in there, when it really wasn't."

End Confessional

The camera focused back onto Chris as the host started to speak. "Alright losers, meet me back at the elevator, and we'll go to the third floor. It's nearly identical to the first floor, just with an extra room for our elimination ceremonies. Speaking of, that will be starting a little later tonight. So make sure you try and keep yourself safe for tonight, or else you'll be trying out our new elimination method."

The scene flashed once again to what was apparently the third floor of the tower. As Chris said, it was nearly identical to the first floor, with it having the same plain white decor and filled with the same rooms.

Over in the gameroom, Diamond had gathered Claire, Felix, Kit, Tess, and Joshua on the couches, wanting to talk game.

"Alright, so I wanted to try and discuss who we are gonna vote tonight." The programmer said.

"Why should we all talk in a group like this?" Claire asked.

"Because, I was thinking we should make a big alliance." Diamond explained. "Without any teams, we really need to be thinking about sticking together."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kit spoke up, holding his hands up. "What makes you think we should all listen to you and pair up?"

"Uh, duh, I literally helped you all get through the first challenge!" Diamond responded sassily. "I mean you guys owe me at least that."

"We don't owe you anything." Kit told her. "I don't mind not voting for you this time as a thank you, but just because you helped us in a challenge doesn't mean we have to pair up with you."

"Uh, excuse me!" Diamond yelled. "You don't need to be rude, I'm trying to look out for us all."

"No, you're just trying to keep yourself safe." Kit said. "Like I said, I don't mind not voting for you this time, but I'm not joining an alliance."

"Fine, whatever." Diamond spat back. "At least I have the others. Right?" She turned towards the other four, three of which gave awkward expressions. "Guys?"

"I'll be honest, I don't really vibe with official labels." Tess told her.

"Ah… Kit has a point. We, uh… don't owe you." Joshua muttered, pulling the brim of his hat down to cover his eyes.

"I just feel it's a little too early to be doing this." Claire told her.

"What!? This is crazy, I literally put my spot in this competition on the line for you guys the other day." Diamond told them. "And you're just not going to do this one thing?"

An awkward silence filled the air.

The programmer scoffed. "Fine. Whatever." She then stormed out of the room.

"Ah, Madam, wait!" Felix exclaimed, chasing after her.

Confessional Diamond

"I don't get what just happened! My whole reason for helping all of them through that laser field was so I could make a strong alliance with them, but they don't even seem grateful!" She crosses her arms. "It's so annoying."

End Confessional

The four left stood in an awkward silence.

"I feel kinda bad…" Claire said.

"Don't, we don't owe her anything." Kit said.

"Kit's right." Joshua said, twiddling his fingers. "I-I mean we didn't ask for her to do that."

Tess sighed. "Man, this is stressful. I'm gonna go chill for a bit." The traveling artist walked out of the game room, and moved towards the common room. Once there, she noticed Kev sitting on the couch out there.

"Hey Kev." Tess said.

The Irishman perked up at being called to. He turned to Tess and waved. "Sup!"

The artist walked over and sat down next to him, sighing as she did.

"You all good?" Kev asked.

"Yeah, just kinda stressed. I don't know what I'm gonna do tonight." Tess said. "I mean, we're all still getting to know each other, and we're not in teams so we can't vote for whoever messed up the challenge. I feel bad for voting for anyone, dude."

"I get what ya mean." Kev responded. "Though, I already know who my vote is going to be."

"Who?"

"The other Kevin." The Irishman replied. "He's a dick, and I'm ashamed to share a name with that fucker."

Tess sighed. "He is kinda a downer. I might do the same."

Kev gave the artist a toothy grin. "Nice! Maybe if we see how things go, we could make an alliance."

Tess cringed slightly at being asked that question for a second time. "I mean I'm not really someone who likes to put official labels on stuff. I'm down to have your back though."

"Thanks, yer a real pal." Kev told her.

Confessional Tess

"Man, thinking about this vote tonight has my stomach churning." Tess told the confessional camera. "I don't know how it's going to go, and I kinda feel bad about having to vote someone out..." The artist sighed. "And I feel bad about that whole thing with Diamond since she did really help me out. But I just don't feel comfortable being committed to something like that. Man this is really stressful."

End Confessional

The scene flashed to a new room that hadn't been seen before. Instead of the usual white decor, the room looked to be a cave or a dungeon with rock walls and ceiling. The light source in the room came from the many torches that were hanging on the walls. There were 16 stone stools that all of the contestants were currently sitting on. In front of them was a burning fire, which crackled and popped every now and again. Chris stood next to that, facing the contestants with a tray of marshmallows in his hand.

"Welcome to the elimination ceremony." Chris greeted. "This is where your fate will be decided in this game. But to do that, we need to vote first. I'll call you up alphabetically and you'll go into the confessional to cast your vote. First up is Angel."

Confessional Angel

She holds up a picture of Sharron with the archer's face crossed out. "My vote is for Sharron. Why? Well she'll most likely think that June sent this vote her way, causing the divide between the two to perhaps deepen. With Sharron's sights focused elsewhere, it'll be easier for me to work my magic."

End Confessional

Confessional Beek

She was shown to have voted for Caleb. "I don't really have much of a reason to vote for anybody. But, I mean you said dino chicken nuggets aren't better than regular chicken nuggets, and that's unforgivable."

End Confessional

Confessional Claire

The streamer voted for June. "Ah, I heard while on the platform that June said some mean things to Sharron, and that's why she was angry. I guess I'll vote for June cause that's not very cool."

End Confessional

Confessional Diamond

Her vote had been casted for Kev. "I almost put Kit here, but Felix talked me out of it. Honestly, you're a lot to handle, and I don't think I can deal with you for this whole competition. Sorry."

End Confessional

The scene flashed back to the elimination ceremony with everyone having casted their vote.

"You all have casted votes and made decisions on who you want to leave the competition." Chris said. "Like past seasons, if you receive a marshmallow, you're safe. The one person to be left without a marshmallow will be eliminated, and will have to take our new elimination device."

Joshua and Jeremy gave each other nervous glances.

"With that said...as the winner of today's challenge, Claire gets the first marshmallow." Chris said, tossing the marshmallow to the gamer.

"Pog." Claire smiled, catching her marshmallow.

"Next safe is Joshua and Tess."

The two caught their marshmallows and shared a friendly smile.

"Jacque."

The sheisty dude caught his marshmallow expectantly.

"Kit."

The loner was somewhat surprised to not have gotten any votes from a certain programmer, but he didn't complain. Speaking of…

"Diamond."

Diamond caught her marshmallow and gave a sigh of relief.

"Beek. You are also safe."

The wildcard caught their marshmallows and smiled.

The rest of you have received votes. Everyone was caught off guard by how many people had votes against them, not expecting it to be so many.

Angel and Felix raised an eyebrow as Sharron glared at June, and Kev and Brittany looked pissed.

"But the ones with just one vote who are safe are Angel, Felix, Brittany, Jeremy, Caleb, and Sharron."

With each name called, Chris tossed each contestant their marshmallow. When they caught their marshmallow, everyone relaxed a bit.

That left Kevin, June, and Kev in the bottom three.

"The three of you racked up a couple votes each." Chris told them. "I'd say moving forwards, you're gonna want to sweet talk your competition a little better. The next one safe is… Kevin."

The pessimist caught his marshmallow uncaringly.

"This is the last marshmallow of the night." Chris said, holdin it up. "And it goes to…

…

June gulped, being very nervous.

…

...Kev was pissed to be in the bottom.

…

...

…

...June."

The gum lover gasped as the marshmallow flew at her. It flew into her mouth, choking her for a second before she spit it out.

"Ah, fuck this." Kev yelled, losing his temper. "The hell am I eliminated for?"

"You're too big of a personality." Diamond said. "You can kinda be a little annoying."

"Not to mention you're too strong. You needed to be taken out early." Brittany told him.

"Screw that, yer all a bunk o'pansies." Kev snarked before turning his attention towards Chris. "Where's the elimination thing?"

"Stand right over here." Chris said, pointing to a spot next to him.

Kev did as he was told and stood next to Chris. Then all of a sudden, the floor fell out from under him, and the Irishman plummeted down.

Some of the remaining contestants gasped.

"Introducing the Fall of Shame" Chris said.

"Isn't that basically just the Drop of Shame?" Kit asked, getting a shit-eating smirk on his face. "I was promised a new elimination method, I feel conned out of it."

Chris sent him a glare. "Would you also like to test it out? That way you can see how different it is."

"Nah, I'm good."

"I thought so." Chris said before turning towards the camera. "Anyway, that's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for more thrilling fun here on Total. Drama. Towering Fortress!"

The scene faded to black, but faded back in a couple moments later. We were back in the dark, dank dungeon that Chef brought Erza to last time this time with a worn out mattress on the ground. Speaking of Chef and Erza, the two were standing there, waiting.

All of a sudden, screaming could be heard far off in the distance. It became louder and louder with each passing second before Kev slammed down onto the mattress with a loud "Oof."

"Shite, that was a nasty fall." The Irishman mumbled, holding his head. His eyes opened, and he saw Chef and Erza standing there. "Oh hey, sup?"

"Huh, didn't think you'd get eliminated that early." Erza commented.

Kev frowned. "Yeah me neither… where are we?"

"This is the redemption dungeon." Chef answered.

"Don't expect a lot of info from him." The blonde said. "I've been trying to ask about what's going on since I got here."

"And I told you to be patient." Chef snapped at her.

"So, we're just going to be left in the dark?" Kev asked.

"For now, all you need to know is to be prepared for tomorrow." Chef told them. "You two will be battling it out for a chance to get back in the game."

"Wait, what?!" Erza exclaimed.

"Fuck yeah!" Kev grinned.

"I recommend getting your rest in tonight." Chef said. "Cause you'll need it for what's in store." The burly man started to snicker as he walked off, leaving Erza and Kev to give each other nervous glances before the scene faded back to black.

Reasoning: So with everyone being on their own, voting in the early game is going to be more chaotic and uncertain. Because of that, the bigger personality you have, the more you stand out, which will cause more people to vote for you since they don't know who else to vote for yet. That's pretty much what happened with Kev. Poor guy just made himself too known. But at least he has a chance in the redemption dungeon to return!

Votes:

Angel- Sharron

Beek- Caleb

Brittany- Kev

Caleb- Jeremy

Claire- June

Diamond- Kev

Felix- Kev

Jacque- Kev

Jeremy- Angel

Joshua- June

June- Brittany

Kevin- Kev

Kev- Kevin

Kit- Felix

Sharron- June

Tess- Kevin

Kev: 5 votes

June: 3 votes

Kevin: 2 votes

Angel, Brittany, Caleb, Felix, Jeremy, Sharron: 1 vote

16th: Kev

17th: Erza

Redemption Dungeon: Kev & Erza

Whew bitch, this took a hot minute. Summer proved to be a busy one as I started to work two jobs, and I had shit happening every week. So progress started to go slowly. But! I'm going back down to one job in a couple weeks, so that should help with progress. This chapter was interesting to write since the main challenge was more of an action one, and action isn't my strongest suit, but hopefully it's fine! Writing interactions with this cast is so fun, and I'm loving it. It's already hard to eliminate anyone. More plot threads started to make their way in this chapter, and there are still more to come. This is going to be a meaty season, but I think I can manage. Now onto the reviews:

Thunderstrike16: Yeahhh, sorry about booting Erza first. With so many antagonist types, at least one had to get the cut early. Erza just got the short end up the stick… but she does have a chance to get back in the game, so don't lose hope yet!

LaViolaViolaRosa: I'm glad you liked the portrayal of Brittany so far. Hopefully I still did well with her in this chapter.

Mr. Ruff: Man, yer makin me blush UwU. I really hope I'll be able to live up to your expectations with this story. The more scenic introductions was mostly since I've only ever did Island-esc ones, so I thought I'd change it up. I do quick like the scenic root better, so if I ever do another SYOC far off in the future, I may stick with that. And ah man, I love reading early chapter character analysis. It's interesting to see what you're prediction will happen and how spot on you are, or how very wrong you are. Thank you for that bud, and congrats on Jacque finally making merge… by default ;P.

BaseballCapClyde: Ah, it happens. Erza calling June different months seems to have been a popular little gag. So sad it had to end so soon.

9fluffycloud9: Ahhh I'm so glad you loved this! And thank you for the compliments on the art. Honestly, Claire definitely came out my favorite out of all the character portraits. I understand the nervousness and excitement that comes with having my OCs in SYOCs, that's part of the reason I love them so much. And Claire had a bigger role in this chapter and even won the challenge! So she's doing pretty good for herself so far.

Tempokeep: You hit the mark on why I didn't want to include teams. I really wanted to try to let every character handle themselves and get their own time to shine in this fic. Once again, I'm loving reading your thoughts on each character so far. I wouldn't count Sharron out just yet though, even if she's getting close to Angel. I'm glad you like how I've portrayed her so far, so hopefully that continued with this chapter and in the future.

Mystique Monroe: Poor Felix doesn't know what he's getting himself into ;)

Alexneushoorn: Thank you for still reading, despite your oc not getting in. I, myself, have been wanting to try and read more SYOCs without any of my ocs in, and I plan to do so when I get more time. As far as I know, there hasn't been a SYOC with no teams, so I'm hoping that I'm pretty original with that concept. Once again, I'm loving reading about what you think of the characters, though I do have to disagree with Tess not having much to do plot wise. In my years of submitting to and writing SYOCs, I've come to learn that every single character has a lot of potential, even if they don't seem like they would at first glance. As for Beek, I usually don't like relations with canon contestants much either, but I had an interesting idea with her. And lastly, our newly departed Kev. Yeah, him and Patrick were vying for the same slot, and Patrick may have suffered a similar fate to Kev, or maybe even would've made it slightly further. Also, thanks for the advice on bolding the confessionals. I took your advice, and I do think it makes it easier to tell when theres a confessional

xXAceofRosesXx: I'm glad I was able to keep you on the edge of your seat. Hopefully you're liking what I'm doing with Diamond so far.

Lordgemini: Not going to lie, the squirrel scene was one of my favorites too when writing so, we're on that same boat XD. We did actually see someone try and make a big alliance this episode, but unlucky for them, it didn't really pan out anywhere. Caleb has definitely been a blast to write so far, and I thought using his size to his advantage would make sense. Thank you for the review!

Incandescencing: Yeah, the length of the chapters is twice as long as what my last SYOC was, so it's kinda a lot. But it does give each character more times to shine, which was something I really wanted to focus on. A lot of people seemed to be shocked by Erza's departure, so it's cool that I managed to give a shocking first boot. I do hope to try and keep people on their toes with who is eliminated, but also make sure it makes sense. Kit and Felix as a duo has been really fun to write so far, and I'm not surprised that you ship them. Thanks for the review!

And that's that! Next chapter hopefully won't take as long. I don't think it will anyway. You'll see what I mean. Until then though, have a good day! ~MG