Chris, Topher, and Lindsay stood at the city limits of Drama City.

"Last time, on Total Drama Party with the Stars!" the three began in unison.

"Things heated up on all three teams as targets were thrown out into the open, and bonds were deepened," Chris grinned. "Following their last vote, Vladimir implied to Frita that he may have been one of her childhood friends that she hadn't seen since elementary school. We saw a few different sides of Frita after she heard that, though Cyan is skeptical that any of that is the truth."

"I sure hope it is!" Lindsay gasped. "There's just... no way it can't be! That'd be so wrong!"

"Still wouldn't be the most messed-up thing a contestant has done on this show," Topher snickered.

"With Brittany in Isolation Park, Dalit saw this as the perfect opportunity to try and get Hugh to flip on his ally," Chris continued. "She employed Louise, someone Hugh trusted, to try and talk to him about it. He wasn't super keen on the idea. Brittany, meanwhile, took advantage of the clue she got from Irving after the Aftermath show and would turn out to find the Godfrey Statue."

"I'm still waiting for someone who's in a bad position to find a statue," Topher mentioned. "We have five statues that have been found but not played if you're keeping track!"

"What if they all get played at once? That'd be funny," Lindsay giggled.

"Upon realizing that Kun had been playing the middle of the team, Bailey and Kiki attempted to throw him under the bus as a target to Quentin and Shadya," Chris carried on. "Kun checked in with Kiki, and the two of them hashed out their weird clash of egos. Vaguely. They seem open to working together. I think."

"They're both just shy, Chris! Don't rush them," Lindsay pouted.

"Or do rush them if it means some good drama," Topher shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

"We held a singing challenge that required our teams to write their own song and perform it in front of everyone," Chris recalled. "While none of them were particularly bad singers, the Proud Pegasi lost a good amount of points for not coming up with their own melody and writing mediocre lyrics, so they ended up at Elimination Station. With her neck on the line, Dalit aired some of Louise's dirty laundry in hopes that the coach's wishy-washy gameplay would make her a bigger liability to Brittany and Hugh than Dalit. Brittany considered it but decided to stick with the devil she knew, and Dalit was sent out of Drama City."

"She put up a stronger fight than she did in Alpha Party," Topher chimed in. "Though I'm not sure that's saying much."

"We've hit the back half of the game," Chris beamed. "And things can only keep heating up! It's all happening right now, on Total!" he began.

"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay continued.

"Party with the Stars!" the three concluded in unison.

The ten non-exiled contestants met up with Chris at McLean Park.

"Now what could we be here for?" Brittany smiled. "So early on in the day, too."

"Yes, good morning, all!" Chris beamed. "I'm sure I don't need to act coy and pretend like we're starting off with a challenge. You all know why we're here!"

The contestants began to clap, cheer, and high-five each other.

"That's right! We have merged!" Chris announced. "The Grand Gryphons, the Fighting Wyverns, and the Proud Pegasi are no more! From now on, challenges are for individual Invincibility and penthouse privileges, and everyone will be attending each vote. Everyone will be living in Blaising Tower from now on, as a treat for making it this far. As for Isolation Park, the person headed there each round will be whoever gets the second-highest number of votes against them at elimination. If it's a tie, then we'll choose randomly between whoever is tied."

"We're still deciding things randomly even after Nolan left, huh?" Kiki commented. "He's probably patting himself on the back right now anyway."

"At least we made it to the merge without losing a challenge since the shuffle," Quentin smiled.

"What about V-Vladimir?" Frita asked Chris.

"What about him?" Chris asked. "He's still in Isolation Park and will be until it's time for the challenge. That didn't change when we did the team shuffle, and it won't change now."

Frita gulped.

"I've survived worse odds," Brittany mentioned.

"Anyway, that's all I had for you at the moment!" Chris told the contestants. "Go mingle without the pressures of team lines! I'm sure you all have a lot of catching up to do, so get to it!"

Confessional:

Brittany: Ironically, I think the merge is where things got easier for me the first time I played. Other than... Trinity's elimination... (She clears her throat.) There are people I have not shared a team with, and allies I had on other teams. It shouldn't be too hard to get my ducks in a row and figure out a clear game plan out of the gate.

Frita: I made the merge somehow, and I can't even be happy because this is the worst time we could have merged! Devlin's in Isolation Park, and I'm sure Cyan's going to be telling everyone all these lies about him. Dalit just went home, too, so that's even fewer people I can trust! There's still Kiki and Quentin, assuming they still want to work with me. I wasn't even sure if they did before we shuffled.

Shadya: I don't know what you want me to say. Everyone knew I would make it to the merge, even with the few early hiccups my team suffered. I'll have to make some connections involving people with whom I have not yet had the chance. But that should also be of little issue for me. I do not make my claims of being human perfection lightly.

Louise: Last night was way too close for comfort, but hey, I made it to the merge this time! Which is good, because I would have been screwed if the Proud Pegasi lost another challenge. I can reconnect with the OG Wyverns and maybe we can get some good momentum going. We outnumber the OG Gryphons six-to-five, and one of them's in Isolation Park right now, so as long as we stay good with each other, we can ensure our own safety!

Hugh: (He cackles.) And people thought me making it so far the first time was a fluke. Think again, artards! Losing Irving sucks, but the girls and I are still going to do some damage! ...That's Brittany and Bailey, for the record. I trust Louise about as much as I trust a Hot Topic employee to leave you alone when you're just trying to shop, for fuck sake!

Kun: Honestly, um, after losing Joseph and Jean-Marie, I was fairly certain I was doomed. Maybe I would have been if my team hadn't won all those challenges. Still, I do, um, have faith in Quentin and Shadya. Perhaps I can get things working with Cyan and Louise again, too. I'll have to start keeping track of who wants to work with whom. Understanding that could be, um, key.

Bailey: The Grand Gryphons were a frustrating group to work with, to put it mildly. Other than Kiki, I don't think any of them were as willing to give me the time of day as they pretended they were. So the merge comes at a fortunate time for me. I'll do whatever it takes to keep things going as swimmingly as they can.

Kiki: My game's direction has been... uncertain, as of late. Thankfully, now I can reorganize and make sure I have everything and everyone I need to press ahead. Shadya should be a big target out of the gate if nothing else. And hey, I made the merge, something I just barely missed out on last time. That's a huge boost to my mood.

Quentin: You ever think about how pigeons are actually a lot smarter than most people give them credit for? People always call them rats with wings, but rats are smart too, right? Or am I thinking of something else? I think it's just because they're so common in urban environments where people don't want wild animals. ...I'm not sure where I was going with this. Just something I was thinking about this morning.

Cyan: I've had to work pretty damn hard to make it here when both my teams so far had some pretty strong players in it. We've still got a bunch of them here, so if I can get a group going against them, I should be able to keep riding my momentum. I don't know if Vladimir being in Isolation is good or bad for taking a shot at him. I'll play it by ear; like a good teal, I'm quite flexible.

Bailey followed Brittany and Hugh as the latter two moved their things from the motel to Blaising Tower.

"Welcome back to the fold, Bailey my dear," Hugh grinned.

"Please don't call me that," Bailey told him neutrally.

"So how were things on the Gryphons?" Brittany asked. "You guys never had to vote someone out, but I have to imagine that didn't stop you guys from making plans."

"You could say that," Bailey giggled. "Kiki and Quentin used to be allies, but after the Jean-Marie vote, they drifted apart. He ended up being friends with Shadya. I was already on good terms with Kiki since I switched to the Wyverns. Kun tried to play both sides, so Kiki and I tried shifting the target onto him. Shadya was not receptive."

"Shadya? Not interested in plans that aren't hers?" Hugh scoffed. "Color me shocked."

"Do you still think Kun is a good target for this round?" Brittany asked.

"Frankly? I don't see him as any sort of threat," Bailey stated. "I think Shadya should be our main focus."

"And if she wins Invincibility?" Hugh prodded.

"Maybe we can turn it against Vladimir. It's not as though he can stop us right now," Bailey smiled coyly.

"Yeah, honestly, fair," Hugh shrugged.

"How were things with you two?" Bailey inquired. "I notice we lost Steve Jenkins along the way."

"Believe me, I had that asshole right there in my pocket!" Hugh ranted. "And then he goes and keeps up his dumbass 'Brittany's a threat because she won' crusade when we could have just taken out the Wyvern minority!"

"Louise said she'd work with me and Hugh, although we did find out yesterday that she was considering joining up with Dalit to take me out," Brittany continued. "I don't really trust either of them, but Louise was at least willing to engage with me, whereas Dalit kept putting me down the one time I tried to open up to her, so that wasn't a hard decision."

"Brittany did find a statue, though, so that's good," Hugh added.

"Oh, yeah, the Godfrey Statue," Brittany confirmed. "It lets me double the value of one person's vote. I'm not sure why I wouldn't choose my own, but it's an option."

"There's probably a statue that nullifies someone's vote," Bailey deduced. "If someone used that against you, you could still help an ally out."

"You mean the Franklin Statue? I found that, too, actually," Hugh snickered.

Bailey froze. "...Can I see it?"

"When we get to Blaising Tower. It's hot out here," Hugh said as he pressed on without her.

Confessional:

Bailey: It seems like they've based the statues on how the contestant looked during their original season rather than now. He wears his hair in a buzz cut and has a leather eye patch now. At any rate, it's wonderful to reunite with my original group. I'll have to talk with Kiki about forming some larger group involving my allies and hers.

Brittany: I honestly don't know how thrilled I am at the idea of taking out more original Gryphons when the original Wyverns already outnumber us. That's the kind of momentum they can and probably will keep riding until we've all taken the Shackle of Shame. I know Bailey trusts Kiki, but I still don't know her or what she wants. At least Hugh and I have statues. (She laughs.)

Hugh: Look, those two are basically the only people I trust going into this merge. No, I don't expect Kiki to be my best friend by the end of the day, but if Bailey trusts her, I see no reason not to. It's not like there's any better options out there. Yeah, I had my phony deal with Shadya early on, but we both knew that was bullshit. It doesn't sound like Bailey got along well with her on the Gryphons either. As always, I'm going to do pretty much whatever benefits me most.

Frita and Quentin played video games in the fancy garage hangout.

"I missed this," Quentin smiled. "No one on the Gryphons ever wanted to play me."

"It's not like I actively want to play with you," Frita insisted. "But... most of the Wyverns didn't go out of their way for me, either. And D- ...Vladimir doesn't play video games that much."

"You hung out with Vladimir, huh?" Quentin smiled. "What's he like?"

"He's..." Frita blushed. "He's someone we can trust. Don't listen to what Cyan says, he's on our side."

"Well that's good," Quentin accepted. "As far as things went on my end, I'm pretty sure we can trust Shadya and Kun."

"Kun? Not Kiki?" Frita questioned.

"Yeah, she wasn't really happy with me voting for Bailey back in the JM vote," Quentin admitted. "We're on decent terms, but I don't know if we trust each other as game allies, you know?"

"I guess if Kun has nowhere else to turn, I see no reason not to trust him," Frita conceded. "I also voted for Bailey in that vote, so if Kiki trusts Bailey more than you, she probably feels the same about me."

The noise of the door opening stole the two's attention from one another. It was Kiki approaching the two.

"I thought I'd find you two here," Kiki smiled. "Quentin's been practicing. At least, I assume you're playing the same game. They all look the same to me."

"I practiced a little, but I didn't want to get too good," Quentin said, the faux-modesty evident in his tone. "I tried other games out, too."

"Well hey, I just wanted to make sure we're all still good to work together in the merge," Kiki told the two. "Losing Dalit is unfortunate, but frankly, the fact that she was able to make it through one vote when in a minority is a feat in itself. Especially since she took out an egotistical male in the process."

Frita and Quentin shared a glance, then returned their attention to Kiki.

"What did you have in mind?" Quentin asked.

"Well, first, I want to ask you, Frita, how you feel about the post-shuffle Wyverns who have joined her in the merge," Kiki offered.

"I don't think I'll be working with Cyan at this point," Frita sighed. "We had an alliance before the shuffle, but she was trying to pit me and Vladimir against each other yesterday. I do trust Vladimir, and I think Cyan was just jealous."

"You trust Vladimir?" Kiki parroted. "Interesting..."

Confessional:

Kiki: On one hand, it's pretty big that Frita, who has intense trust issues, has identified someone she can wholeheartedly believe in. Of course, I want to be happy for her. But on the other hand, that person is someone who's infamous for deceiving others and lying about who he is. I must figure this out quickly, for everyone's sake.

Frita: It's understandable that everyone's skeptical of Devlin. Well, they're skeptical of "Vladimir". Devlin told me during the challenge yesterday that he doesn't want me telling people about being my friend. It makes sense, but I can't pretend like he isn't the best thing that's happened to me in a decade. Either way, Devlin has a reputation, but I want to at least make sure everyone knows he's better than that.

Quentin: I don't know, it just seemed like Kiki wanted to work with Bailey more than me, and Bailey already had allies on the OG Gryphons, so what does she really need me and Frita for? Maybe she wants a big majority that no one can go against or something. Let's see, with me, Frita, Kun, Shadya, Vladimir... We'd need one more. Don't know if it should be Kiki, or what, but maybe a big majority isn't the worst way to go.

The marquee outside Hatchet's Diner read "To celebrate the merge, I ain't changing shit!" Inside the diner, Cyan, Kun, Louise, and Shadya all ate breakfast together.

"Well, um, it's good to finally reunite," Kun told Cyan and Louise. "And may our official alliance meeting, um, commence!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cyan," Cyan smiled at Shadya.

"I recall Irving facetiously claiming he was looking forward to playing with you again. I imagine you played a considerable role in his exeunt," Shadya told her.

"You could say that," Cyan chuckled awkwardly.

"We've never worked together before," Louise told Shadya. "We keep missing each other by that much. I think we'd get along, though, so I'm excited to do this!"

"In this game, people who are willing to stick with you are the most precious commodity," Shadya stated. "If you can do that for me, then I can do that for you."

"Wonderful," Kun smiled. "Now, um, with that established, we should, um, discuss potential targets."

"Cutting right to the chase, huh?" Cyan hummed.

"We ought be on the same page before we do anything else," Shadya agreed. "Kun and I are pushing a Bailey vote because she is the best option for all of us."

"Bailey, huh?" Louise asked.

"I understand she had an, um, alliance with you two prior to the formation of new teams," Kun explained. "But she also has allies on the original Gryphons."

"She worked closely with Brittany and Hugh. She will stick by them first and foremost," Shadya agreed.

"Brittany and Hugh were pretty close, in my experience," Louise admitted.

"Of course, um, if either of you has alternate ideas, we're open to, um, hearing them," Kun stepped in.

"Well, since you asked, I'm incredibly wary of Vladimir," Cyan said. "He's been lying to Frita about being her childhood friend or something, and she's eating it right up. It hurts to watch."

"If that is the case, then it wouldn't make sense to eliminate Vladimir at all," Shadya denied. "Based on what you said, getting rid of him would only turn Frita against us. Kun and I worked closely with Quentin on the Gryphons, and I understand that he's good friends with Frita. That's a connection we can work with, not one we should discourage."

"Us four, plus those three, is, um, a good majority," Kun nodded.

"So you'd rather take advantage of him manipulating her for their votes than to help her out when she's in a messed-up situation?" Cyan accused.

"Oh, wow, um, when you put it like that, it's, um..." Kun stammered.

"In case you've forgotten, the object of a game is to win," Shadya leered. "I will not play sub-optimally just because making the correct move might hurt someone's feelings."

"This goes outside the game!" Cyan objected.

"We are in the game. Ergo, it does not," Shadya denied.

"Well, if that's how you're going to play it, then I don't see why I should work with you," Cyan huffed.

She left the diner booth in a hurry.

"I'm, uh, I'm not comfortable with this either, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I still need to finish mine," Louise said as she took her plate and moved to another booth.

"They're not cut out for this game. That's why they didn't make the merge before," Shadya said to Kun.

Kun hummed in acknowledgment.

Confessional:

Cyan: Well, I'm glad at least Louise is still with me. This game's had more than its share of ups and downs, and having a stable ally like her is exactly what I need. I wonder if we can join back up with Bailey and Kiki. If anyone's going to sympathize with Frita here, it should be those two.

Shadya: I do not make compromises when it comes to my success. Anyone who wants to obstruct my success for any reason will not be tolerated. I didn't bend when Bunko chose to act self-righteous with me, and I won't bend when Cyan and Louise pick up where she left off. I'm simply doing what must be done to win. It's the reason I made it far last time, and it's the reason I'll win this time.

Louise: It's tough. I'm not in the best position after making Brittany and Hugh mad, and now I've got Shadya and Kun against me, too. I just want to set a good example. I don't like Shadya's philosophy that there's no moral boundaries in this game, and I don't think it's something we should be teaching our kids when the world's already as self-centered as it is. That's not the Total Drama I know and love.

Kun: Well, this is, um, a conundrum. As a leader, I should be doing whatever is necessary in order to ensure success for my people. But I also can't ignore the optics of my moves. I don't know enough about Frita's, um, situation with Vladimir to make an informed decision, but Cyan seems, um, passionate about it. I should look into it further.

Bailey and Kiki met up at McLean Park.

"Well, Frita and Quentin don't seem unreceptive," Kiki said. "Frita mentioned loyalty to Vladimir, which struck me as weird, but if that does turn out to be the case, then it could be another number for us."

"Brittany and Hugh are receptive to working with me," Bailey smiled. "Seven out of eleven should do us well."

"It's a lot of tabs to keep," Kiki fretted. "If there's one thing I know about this game, it's that you can't trust anyone completely. Anyone can always change someone's mind. What was your experience with Vladimir before you changed teams?"

"I was among the first to catch on to him not really being Barry," Bailey recounted. "He was my earliest target. I can't imagine he's forgotten that. That does make his loyalty uncertain at best, but if he lacks other options, then we can utilize that to our advantage."

"Well, I appreciate your confidence, but I also have my doubts about him," Kiki said. "This is Vladimir we're talking about. If there's one thing I know about men like him, it's that he thrives on the idea of being smarter than others, and will manipulate them in order to feel that way. Frita, for lack of a better word, is a very vulnerable person."

"...I can see that being the case," Bailey conceded. "I know from experience what it's like to be trapped in a toxic friendship."

"Believe me, so do I," Kiki said.

Kiki noticed Cyan walking through a nearby crosswalk.

"Oh! Cyan was on their team," Kiki recalled. "Hey! Cyan!"

Cyan turned her attention to the two and approached them.

"Hey, ladies! Long time, no see," Cyan smiled.

"It's fortunate that our paths have crossed at this exact moment," Bailey told her.

"Yeah, I could use a distraction from the conversation I just had," Cyan admitted.

"What happened?" Kiki offered.

"Asking her what happened isn't going to distract her from it," Bailey pointed out.

Kiki smacked herself. "Right, sorry," she apologized.

"Shadya and Kun tried to get me and Louise to team up with them and their allies to vote out Bailey, even after hearing about what Vladimir's doing to Frita!" Cyan ranted.

"Mm, Shadya is nothing if not consistent," Bailey sighed.

"That's actually something Bailey and I were curious about," Kiki segued. "Frita's interactions with Vladimir. She swears he's trustworthy, but I naturally have my doubts."

"Well, I'm glad someone does!" Cyan huffed. "He's convinced her that he's her best friend from childhood that she hasn't seen in years. And it's so sad because this is the happiest I've ever seen her, but someday she's going to find out he's lying, and I'm terrified of how she might handle that."

"She did seem noticeably less dour when I spoke to her earlier today," Kiki recalled. "You aren't wrong about how she may handle the truth. It's an incredibly delicate topic, no matter who's involved."

"If I may redirect the subject somewhat?" Bailey requested. "Sorry. You mentioned Shadya's and Kun's allies. Can you identify them? Considering I may be their target, I'd like to know who is involved in this arrangement."

"Well, Frita and Vladimir, maybe Quentin too," Cyan listed.

"That's bad," Kiki tsked. "Those two did seem to have Quentin in their corner back on the Gryphons. If Frita is sticking with Quentin, and Vladimir comes with her... Yeah, not good."

"The good news is, Louise and I are willing to side with you to take him out," Cyan told the two.

"I have Brittany and Hugh on my side," Bailey mentioned. "That's six. That's a majority."

"Didn't you say those two don't trust Louise?" Kiki pointed out. "Plus, there's no way Hugh cares much about this kind of issue."

"I'll talk to him," Bailey assured her. "I'd advise the two of you to get on his good side as well. I know he can be fickle."

"That's a hard 'maybe'," Kiki scoffed. "He's a known misogynist, so I'm only willing to vote with him at all because it's for the greater good."

"It is for the greater good," Cyan assured her. She extended her hand. "I am happy to work with you two, though."

Kiki accepted the handshake. "Good to finally have you on board."

Bailey awkwardly reciprocated her own handshake offer.

Confessional:

Kiki: It always irked me that Cyan and Louise were so hesitant to work with me before. I guess I was a bit more on-edge with Joseph and Jean-Marie around, but without them... well, Kun's still been an issue, but not by his own merits. The point is, things are finally looking up for me, and it feels great!

Bailey: It's starting to get on my nerves that everyone insists I stay the target despite me having yet to pull off a successful move. I could not get Vladimir out, I could not get Dalit out, and I could not get Shadya or Kun out, but because I was on both teams before the shuffle, I'm still the biggest threat by default? It all seems cowardly if you ask me.

Cyan: I knew I could count on those two. Part of me wants to say that I don't know how Vladimir managed to make it this far when everyone knows he's untrustworthy, but then... I trusted him. He's good, I'll give him that, but once everyone realizes that he's both really good and really bad, we should be able to get the votes going against him.

Shadya stood and folded her arms as Greg dusted the penthouse.

"I can do this myself, you know," Shadya told him.

"You have a game to play. I don't have anything else until the challenge," Greg stated.

"I also hate other people doing things for me that I myself can do perfectly fine," Shadya told him.

A knock on the door stole their attention.

"You have a game to play," Greg repeated.

Shadya rolled her eyes and went to answer the door. Opening it revealed Brittany and Hugh.

"Hey. Let's catch up," Hugh smirked.

"My excitement cannot be summed up with mere words," Shadya remarked.

"I do have something big planned that you're going to want to hear," Brittany said.

"This is the kind of game-changing thing that will define how the rest of the season goes," Hugh boasted.

"What do you think I've been doing this whole game?" Shadya dismissed.

"Listen, Shadya," Brittany sighed. "We're going into the merge with five original Gryphons and six original Wyverns. That may not necessarily mean anything on its own, but really look at how this game has gone so far. From the very beginning, strong players like us have been targeted for being, well, threats. We've already lost big names like Isidora, Ernie, and Irving. I've had a target on my back from day one for winning my first season. And that was among other people who made it far! Imagine how people who went home early and are just now getting their big second chance are going to feel about the idea of one of us winning. That's why the five of us should stick together for as long as we reasonably can. At the very least, we shouldn't let the Wyverns maintain a majority."

"You're right. I accept your proposal," Shadya complied.

"Hah?" Hugh reacted. "There's no way it's that easy, right?"

"Everything Brittany said is correct," Shadya established. "It's a simple plan with simple reasons. Not everything has to be complicated."

"I'm glad you agree," Brittany smiled. "I hear you got Kun and Quentin on your side? With those two, we should be able to take advantage of the cracks between the original Wyverns and get ourselves into an eventual easy majority."

"And I understand you two worked closely with Bailey before she changed teams," Shadya acknowledged. "She actively worked against me after the team shuffle. Can you ensure her adherence to the plan?"

"She'd be stupid not to," Hugh commented. "She's already a huge target from what I hear. If she doesn't want you and your buddies voting for her, she's going to play ball."

"I'll talk to her," Brittany assured Shadya. She smiled. "Happy to have you onboard."

Confessional:

Brittany: I'll have to start taking some serious initiative if I want my name and Bailey's name out of people's mouths. I've always got a reputation to dismantle. Before, I needed to prove I was more than just a pretty face. Now I need to prove that my first win, despite everything I've said about it before, was not just a fluke. Flexibility is key, here.

Shadya: Ordinarily I'd suspect disingenuousness from those two in light of an offer to work with me, but, if watching the Proud Pegasi has been anything to go by, I am their best option to turn to. I must admit that there's potential for bettering my own position through working with them, though I still hesitate to trust Bailey. Still, it's a step in the right direction.

Hugh: Brittany's probably the only person I fully trust in this game. I probably shouldn't, but hey, you've gotta trust someone, right? If I get a whiff that anyone in this plan is screwing me over, though, their ass is done for! This is the game-changing move we're making, and like hell am I gonna let anyone get in my way!

Frita, Kun, and Quentin all took seats next to each other at O'Neal Barcade's bar.

"It's, um, good to see you again, Frita," Kun smiled. "I know we weren't able to work together before, but if Quentin trusts you, then I trust you."

"Yes, it is good to see you again. All of you," Jayne smiled.

"Oh. Hi." Kun returned a smile awkwardly. "Uh, what have you been up to, Jayne?"

"Helping Greg through an existential crisis. Not much else," Jayne shrugged. "How about you? I missed you all."

"Did you guys never visit this place?" Frita asked the boys.

"I'm not much of a drinker. Or a gamer," Kun admitted.

"I like Street Fighter 5 better than 2," Quentin answered.

"Regardless of all of that, I, um, would be curious to know how things went down on the Fighting Wyverns, Frita," Kun requested. "If you're, um, comfortable with sharing."

"We can trust Vladimir," Frita said firmly.

"Cyan seemed to believe otherwise," Kun noted. "Um, n-not that I don't believe you, um, Frita, but..."

"I know she does," Frita frowned. "She's worried about her own position in the game. That's all it is."

"Well, if it's any, um, consolation, Shadya didn't seem to care too much what Cyan thought about it," Kun assured her. "And I feel we can trust Shadya."

"We definitely can," Quentin assisted. "So yeah, we've totally got your back!"

Frita smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Do you suppose we should, um, prioritize Cyan as a target?" Kun suggested.

"Hey, guys! Mind if I join you?"

The three turned around to see Louise approaching them.

"Oh, hey," Quentin smiled. "What's up?"

"We were on different teams for the past half a week, that's what's up!" Louise beamed.

She noticed Kun avoiding eye contact with her.

"I'm not mad at you for what Shadya said in the diner," she assured him.

"Thank you," Kun said with a relieved sigh. "It sounded like, um, a complicated subject, and, um, I don't want to speak on it until I know, um, everything about it."

"What did Shadya say?" Quentin asked.

"Uhhhh..." Kun and Louise glanced at Frita, then Quentin, then each other.

"Hello, Louise," Jayne smiled.

"Jayne!" Louise bubbled. "I haven't seen you in forever! Beer me, would ya?"

"Gladly," Jayne agreed warmly.

"But anyway." Louise took her own bar stool. "I wanted to see how you guys feel about the OG Wyverns sticking together. Six of us, and five OG Gryphons. The opportunity is right there in front of us."

The others sat silently.

"...That's... a lot of trust to have in a lot of, um, people," Kun admitted. "The six of us weren't close even when we were all on the same team. Now we've been on different teams for a while, and... Do you think we can do it?"

"Of course we can!" Louise grinned as she accepted a beer from Jayne. "We just need to come together and have faith in each other!" She sipped her drink. "Thanks, Jayne."

"Cyan doesn't even have enough faith in me to make the right friends, according to her," Frita scowled. "Why should I help her if she's just going to talk down to me and throw my friends under the bus?"

"You know about that, huh?" Louise winced.

"Know about it?! I was on her team the past four days. You weren't," Frita scoffed. "She threw a challenge so she could vote Irving out, and then stabbed her ally, Nolan, in the back the next day. By the way, she never thanked me for breaking the tie against Irving, even though Irving actually talked to me and she never did. So you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe Cyan actually cares about anyone but herself! It's all just fake sympathy bullshit to make herself look better!"

Frita threw her drink at the wall, shattering the glass and staining the painted stucco. Once this fact sunk in, she left the room in tears.

"Frita?" Quentin stood up and followed after his friend.

"...I commend you for, um, trying," Kun told Louise.

"Oh, dear. Mr. Nelson was very clear in how much he didn't want the drink glasses broken," Jayne fretted.

Confessional:

Frita: This is so stupid. I knew Cyan would throw Devlin under the bus, and somehow I'm still just as pissed as I'd be if I didn't know. The more I think about her, the... the worse my mental state gets. Maybe I should go to the museum. The statues... Oh god, what would Devlin think if he found out about this? What if I act like that in front of him? Why do I have to be like this?! (She tearfully leaves the room)

Kun: I see where Louise is coming from, but on a practicality level, um, I don't think things were ever going to be so straightforward. At this point, I trust Shadya more than a majority of the remaining Wyverns. To abandon her now for the sake of my own pride would prove that I've learned nothing since, um, Shuffle Party.

Louise: Well that didn't work. Maybe I should just stop dragging my feet with Brittany and Hugh. I said I'd try and mend things with them, but that was also before the merge opened everything up. Either way, it probably couldn't hurt, at this point.

Quentin: Frita's really taking this Vladimir thing seriously. I'm kind of worried about her to be honest, but I don't know how to help her through this. I get why Cyan and Louise and them are trying to help, but it doesn't seem like they know how to tackle this, either. Ah geez...

Bailey and Brittany met up in the latter's room.

"This must be important if it's just between us," Bailey surmised. "Is something amiss?"

"No. Actually, this is good for us," Brittany told her. "I've gone around a little bit, and it sounds like there's a common concern among the original Gryphons."

"The Gryphons? They're concerned about Vladimir, too?" Bailey asked.

"Vladimir? No. Vladimir is someone we should be helping out, not going after," Brittany clarified. "There's been a common theme throughout this game of going after the big, effective players. It happened on both original teams, and it happened on all three shuffle teams. Right now, the original Wyverns outnumber the original Gryphons, but it sounds like Kun and Quentin want to stay loyal to Shadya. I think the original Gryphons should watch each other's backs, at least for the first few votes. If we let the Wyverns keep up their momentum, it's going to be over for us. I don't see an instance where it isn't."

"I see," Bailey responded. "I do believe that Quentin wishes to stay with Shadya, though Kun made himself an enigma on the shuffle Gryphons. Can we rely on him?"

"There's a few factors we're just going to have to put some faith in," Brittany admitted. "But if the alternative is, what, eleventh place, seventh at absolute best? I think this rewards us way more than it risks us. Risks us? That doesn't sound correct, but you know what I mean."

"I do," Bailey assured with a smile. "Is there a concrete target in mind for this plan?"

"Not a concrete target," Brittany hummed. "Frita is close with Quentin, and you said you were close with Kiki. If we assume Kun is with us, then that just leaves Cyan and-"

"Hey, Brittany, are you home?" Louise's voice called from the other side of the hallway door, accompanied by harder knocks than were necessary.

"You should probably get that," Bailey told her. "I will away to the restroom."

As Bailey made her retreat, Brittany went to the door and answered it.

"What's up?" Brittany half-smiled.

"I don't think I got the chance to apologize about yesterday," Louise said seriously. "I was dishonest and threw you under the bus because I thought it'd be a good move, even though if I stopped and thought about it for five minutes I'd realize it wasn't. Probably didn't need Hugh to tell me that. Oh, and thanks again for saving me last night, too. You didn't have to do that."

"You weren't wrong about Dalit being a lot harder to get along with," Brittany told her. "That kind of thing can go a long way."

"You're telling me," Louise chuckled. "Oh, hey, while I have you here, have you heard about the Vladimir push yet?"

"I've heard that there is a push, but I don't know any details," Brittany answered.

"He's manipulating Frita, like, really bad," Louise explained. "He has her actually convinced he's her old childhood friend or something, and now she's obsessed with him. It's not healthy, you know?"

"And she believes that?" Brittany doubted. "Wouldn't that have come up in Explore Party? This is the first I'm hearing about it, and I'm still in touch with a lot of those people."

"I don't know the nitty-gritty, I got a lot of it secondhand from Cyan to be honest," Louise owned up. "But yeah, a clean, straightforward Vladimir vote should help us ease into the merge."

"Sounds good," Brittany smiled. "I'll see you around."

"Catch you later!" Louise beamed before setting off.

Brittany closed the door. Bailey emerged from the other room.

"So that's what you meant about Vladimir," Brittany hummed.

"Does that change things?" Bailey asked.

"No," Brittany told her. "If anything, it cements my plan as the best course of action.

Confessional:

Brittany: I don't put a lot of stock into rumors or hearsay. After all the ones that have been spread about me, both before and after the game, I'm just numb to it all at this point. Maybe Vladimir is messing with Frita, maybe he isn't. Louise's third-hand account isn't worth much. Either way, if he has eyes on him, then those eyes aren't on me. So that just confirms that I need to make sure he sticks around.

Louise: I'm glad Brittany was willing to let bygones be bygones. Now that we've merged, it's time to get, like, even more serious! ...I can't shake the feeling that she was kind of dismissive of the whole Vladimir thing. Which, you wouldn't think she'd be. I thought she didn't trust him at all. It's not like there's been any chance for that to change, right? I really hope I'm not missing something huge and just look like a complete fool.

Bailey: This does put me in an awkward position. Kiki, of course, opposes Vladimir and his relationship with Frita, but Brittany sees it as a positive for our alliance. I don't think either is necessarily wrong, so I need to do what truly is best for me. I'll have to hurt a friend, but that's... that's the game I signed up for. No, that's just life, sometimes. At least I have time to ruminate and discuss.

Hugh found Kiki eating alone at Hatchet's Diner and took a seat across from her.

"Can I help you?" Kiki asked dismissively.

"Look, you and Bailey are good, right?" Hugh scoffed.

"Oh right, she did say something about wanting you to work with us," Kiki groaned. "So, you're willing to help us vote out Vladimir then?"

"What?" Hugh enunciated. "Is that what Bailey told you?"

"Is it not what she told you?" Kiki leered.

"I haven't seen her since this morning," Hugh told her. "But Brittany's currently talking something over with her. And that's why I'm here."

"Is that so?" Kiki challenged.

"Oh it's hella so," Hugh sneered. "Bailey was tight with me and Brittany before she went over to your team. Brittany wants Bailey's old friends and your old friends to come together. Maybe get some folks on the side in some kind of bigger voting block so people don't suspect us."

"That's fine. As long as Vladimir leaves," Kiki said.

"Well hold on. Vladimir is one of the side folks Brittany was thinking of roping in," Hugh told her.

"Well then you can count me out," Kiki said firmly.

"He's close with Frita, and Frita's one of yours, right?" Hugh grunted. "Why the hell are you just writing him off like that? Scared Frita's more loyal to him than to you?"

"Scared for Frita's mental health which Vladimir is blatantly taking advantage of," Kiki corrected.

"You haven't even met him!" Hugh snapped.

"I don't need to," Kiki dismissed.

"Is this... um... a bad time?" Kun asked, having appeared near the booth with his own plate of lunch.

"If you can find a good time with Kiki, then right on," Hugh scoffed as he took his own plate of food and left the booth.

"Can I ask what he was talking to you about?" Kun inquired as he took the spot across from Kiki.

"Trying to rope me into some alliance that I am morally and logically opposed to," Kiki grumbled. "I wasn't even against working with him on principle, but if he's going to defend Vladimir, then I'm not going to associate with someone who's enabling abuse."

"That makes sense," Kun nodded. "What is your plan for the, um, future?"

"Right now? Vladimir's the priority," Kiki answered. "Going forward from there, I honestly think staying Wyvern strong is the right way to go. Counting Bailey as a Wyvern of course."

"That also makes sense," Kun acknowledged. "Well, um, do you think we can get the votes against him?"

"You, me, Bailey, Cyan, and Louise are easy," Kiki figured. "Frita's probably out. We'd need Quentin. You think you can pull him over?"

"I can certainly, um, try," Kun said.

"What kind of leader says that? Do or do not!" Kiki told him.

"Y-You're right. I'll do it!" Kun agreed.

Confessional:

Kun: I think staying close to the Wyverns is a smart move. Of course, I want to work closely with Shadya as well, but she doesn't seem to be, um, a priority. Whatever is best for, um, overall synergy, that's what I want. I still don't trust Kiki a hundred percent, but I trust her more than I trust most of the original Gryphons.

Kiki: I'm glad Kun's finally willing to engage with me. I guess we've both always tried to, but it was always difficult. Still, this is the first time I genuinely feel like he's going to follow through with his offer to work with me. This goes beyond the game, and I will not stand for Vladimir to keep preying on Frita!

Hugh: Well, you can't say I didn't try! Hopefully, Bailey can talk some more sense into Kiki, because losing Vladimir right now isn't going to help any of us out! Least of all, me! And I'm the one who matters most around here!

Cyan entered the Total Drama Museum and caught the sounds of angry shouting and something crumbling. She followed the noise to find Frita with a sledgehammer, destroying the statues of Cameron, Genesis, and Dunstan that the contestants had to rebuild previously.

"Frita? Hon, are you alright?" Cyan asked carefully.

Frita, panting, slowly turned her attention to Cyan. She dropped the sledgehammer and ran.

"Frita, wait! I just want to talk to you!" Cyan called.

She gave chase, but Frita managed to lose her.

"Frita, please!" Cyan exasperated. "Running from your problems isn't going to help anything!"

Confessional:

Cyan: I think Frita's been avoiding me ever since I came up to her trying to explain that Vladimir is just using her. I wanted to clear things up, but no dice. This could be my only chance to, since he's in Isolation Park right now. Maybe I'll catch her at the challenge.

Frita: I can't even sort out my stupid emotions in private without people making it a big deal. (She sighs.) What will it take? What do I have to do to satisfy these people?

Shadya found Quentin sitting on his own at the barcade reading a piece of paper.

"Quentin. There's a lot to discuss," Shadya began. "Have you been able to touch base with everyone yet?"

"Huh?" Quentin glanced up from the paper. "Oh, no, I haven't, sorry."

"What is that in your hand?" Shadya asked.

"A letter from home," Quentin smiled. "The Fighting Wyverns got letter-from-home passes in one of the early challenges. Frita was upset about something, and I wasn't able to catch up to her, so I was thinking about ways to cheer her up. Then I remembered these. I can't get hers for her, but maybe if she remembers they're there, she'll ask Jayne for hers."

"I see..." Shadya hummed. "They must have had letters prepared from early on. I wonder if there will ever be a way for me to see mine."

"You miss your family, too?" Quentin smiled.

Shadya hesitated before responding. "How much do you know about my family life?"

Quentin wracked his brain. "Nothing, as far as I can remember."

"Well, it's not exactly private information that I grew up raised by a single adoptive father," Shadya relayed. She cleared her throat. "Something that's less public is that my biological parents got in touch with me after Shuffle Party."

"Oh, cool!" Quentin enthused. "Your first time talking to them?"

"Yes," Shadya said flatly. She turned around, facing away from Quentin for a moment, and turned back around. "They are both very busy. Both have high positions in incredibly successful business conglomerates. I don't get to talk to them very often. If there's even a chance that my letter is from them..."

"Sounds like you look up to them a lot," Quentin deduced.

"The knowledge that my birth parents didn't want me has never sat well with me." Shadya exhaled sharply. "It's not something I wish to elaborate on further. I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place."

"That's alright," Quentin accepted jovially. "Want to read my letter?"

"Not particularly," Shadya told him.

"Yeah, fair enough," Quentin chuckled. "You said we had things to discuss, right?"

"Yes, the game," Shadya recalled. "You worked with Hugh in your prior season together, correct?"

"Kind of," Quentin admitted. "We weren't really close, and he threw me and Tori under the bus which got me voted out, but I don't hold a grudge or anything."

"Brittany wants an alliance involving you, me, Kun, her, Hugh, and Bailey," Shadya explained.

"I thought you didn't trust Bailey," Quentin pointed out.

"I don't. That's why I wanted to hear if you know of any better alternatives," Shadya told him.

"Me?" Quentin blinked. "Nothing major. Kun's still good. Frita and I met back up; we were good back on the Wyverns. I think she trusts Vladimir?"

"We should brainstorm potential alliance ideas," Shadya suggested. "Come follow me. We can use the notepad in my penthouse."

"S-Sounds good," Quentin agreed. He stored the note in his pocket and followed his ally.

Confessional:

Shadya: Quentin is the only person in this game I believe I can wholeheartedly trust. The hard part is figuring out how to balance his priorities with my own. I think Brittany's Gryphons-plus-two alliance is what's best for me, but it isn't best for him, and he would know that. Perhaps shorter-term planning is in order,

Quentin: Shadya's definitely better than I am at the strategy part of the game. Part of me feels kind of bad that she's doing most of the work, but I mean... she's just better at it than I am. I did see what I could do to make sure Frita and Kun are in on this, at the very least. You've got to be with people you can count on. Birds of a feather, and all that. (He laughs.)

Vladimir sat on a tree stump in Isolation Park. His elbows rested on his thighs, and his chin rested on his tented fingers.

"I can't keep Frita interested in my identity," Vladimir muttered to himself. "I either need to dissuade her somehow or just cut her loose."

He sighed.

"I really don't want to have to cut her loose. She's a reliable ally," he told himself. "Ugh, why did I quote that old inside joke of hers? I got sloppy."

He stood up.

"Might as well look for hidden statues," he concluded.

Confessional:

Vladimir: With me in Isolation Park, that just leaves Cyan and Frita as the only Wyverns out and about. There isn't much they can do but talk to each other, and I know Cyan has been sticking her nose in my business with Frita. That, more than anything, worries me.

The ten non-exiled contestants met up with Chris, Topher, and Lindsay at Isolation Park.

"And now, returning from Isolation Park, Vladimir!" Chris reintroduced.

Vladimir approached the group of players. He noticed Cyan and Frita not standing next to each other and raised an eyebrow.

"Welcome to the merge, buddy!" Chris slapped him on the back. "I hope you're ready for your first challenge... for individual Invincibility!"

"I see," Vladimir acknowledged.

"Now, if you guys will follow me to the location of our next challenge..." Chris prompted as he gestured for everyone to follow him.

Confessional:

Kun: Oh boy, first challenge of the, um, merge. Everyone's got some kind of plan going for them, but that can all go to waste if your target ends up safe. And that could mean the target, um, redirecting... possibly onto you. So I'd better do my best!

Shadya: I have perfect confidence in my abilities. And in the event that I somehow do not, I still have my David Statue, which will grant me an advantage in a challenge. Whatever the case, the only thing I should truly have to worry about is ensuring the eventual vote goes my way. Which, again, should not be too hard.

Vladimir: We're already merging, huh? I guess with two teams at three people, and the third team not looking like they're going to lose anytime soon, now's as good a time as any. That does grant me some flexibility, but, assuming Chris broke the news at the start of the day, everyone else has had a chance to set their plans in motion. So I've got some catching up to do.

Chris, Topher, and Lindsay led the contestants to a nondescript house.

"Once you guys step in here, your challenge will become apparent," Chris told the players.

"Oh my gosh, the challenge is having a kid?!" Lindsay clapped. "I'm so happy! Who's the father. Er, mother? ...Wait, how does a challenge get pregnant, anyway? Or... is it the father...?"

"If you ever have kids, you'll be a mother and a challenge," Topher remarked.

"Aw, thanks!" Lindsay smiled sweetly.

"Please, hurry," Chris urged the contestants.

The eleven entered the house. The interior was exactly as generic and unremarkable as the facade.

"Is the challenge to redecorate this place?" Kiki asked. "Because it could use some."

"Didn't we do that challenge before?" Quentin asked.

"Half our challenges have just been taking shit from one end of the city to the other," Hugh scoffed. "It's not like they've ever been full of ideas."

Suddenly, the floor dropped out from beneath the contestants like a trapdoor, sending them plummeting down.

"Ahhhh! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry, Total Drama gods!" Hugh panicked.

The players all landed on a series of large mattresses. As they gathered their bearings, they gathered that they were in a square, drab room with a colored door on each wall: either red, blue, yellow, or green. A wall-mounted television powered on, showing a large man with fluffy blue hair.

"What's up, bitches!" the man greeted jovially.

Shadya groaned. "The last thing I need to kick the merge off is you, Nestor."

"Rrreowr," Nestor purred. "Anyway, as you guys can see, you're trapped in the basement!"

"Yeah, just like you and the other fans of this show, what's your point?" Hugh chimed in.

"Well if you'll let me talk," Nestor pouted. "Your challenge is pretty simple. All you have to do is make it back outside the house. You see all those doors around you? All of them lead back above ground, but some of them are going to get you there faster than others, and none of them are going to be easy."

"So our challenge is a guessing game?" Brittany asked.

"Just like in Explore Party!" Nestor beamed. "No, but seriously, I've seen the paths you guys are going to be on. Luck in picking a good path is just one factor, trust."

"Well, I'm ready to take it on no matter what I'm up against!" Louise declared as she punched into her palm.

"That's what I like to hear, babes," Nestor said. "Oh, I really hope I'm the first one breaking this news to you: The first TWO people to complete the challenge get Invincibility!"

This drew surprised reactions and murmurings from the contestants.

"Will that be a thing throughout the rest of the season?" Cyan pondered.

"The way he worded it made it sound like it will be," Bailey figured.

"That could be, um, intentional misdirection, though," Kun proposed.

"Any questions, ladies and germs?" Nestor asked.

Silence.

"I miss that girl Wisdom sometimes," Nestor lamented. "Alrighty! The challenge is on!"

The moment the monitor powered off, the contestants each made a run for one of the doors. Once the doors closed behind them, they locked themselves automatically.

Confessional:

Quentin: Two people win Invincibility, huh? That could be pretty big! Usually in this game, if someone people want out is Invincible, then everyone will vote out their ally instead, but this way both people could be safe. And, uh, heh, that could be good for me since my best ally is Shadya.

Kiki: A physical challenge should be good for ensuring Vladimir is vulnerable tonight. Isolation Park takes a toll on you, and he won't be at his best coming fresh out of there.

Bailey: While Invincibility would be nice, it will not be easy to attain even with the second opportunity. I'm still going to give it everything I have, though. I can't relax for even a moment. Franklin wouldn't.

Brittany, Quentin, and Shadya came through the red door and found themselves in a room full of trampolines. Raised platforms that had trampolines of their own dotted the area.

"This looks... not safe," Brittany winced.

"If you don't want to take second place, nobody will make you," Shadya told her before running up and bouncing on a trampoline, doing a flip, and landing on the closest platform.

She used the momentum to bounce towards the next highest platform, and so on until she was quickly out of sight.

"I can't decide if seeing her do that so easily is encouraging or discouraging," Brittany commented.

"Well, there's no reason not to try, right?" Quentin figured as he took his shoes off.

"Any reason you're taking those off?" Brittany asked.

"Huh?" Quentin looked at his shoes. "...Force of habit, I guess."

"You have a habit of getting through rooms full of trampolines?" Brittany questioned.

"I grew up with a trampoline. You couldn't wear shoes in there, that was the rule," Quentin explained.

He ran to the array of trampolines and jumped. His foot grazed the platform's edge, causing him to trip and fall forward onto a trampoline up there, killing his momentum.

"I'm alright," Quentin assured. "I just need to shake my ankle out a little... ow..."

"I'll... keep my shoes on," Brittany decided. "Uh... whenever you're ready, Quentin. I can't really go until you're out of the way."

"Oh, right, my bad!" Quentin realized.

He stood himself up, only to lose his balance and fall backward onto his rear.

"I've, I've got this, I promise," Quentin claimed.

"Can you have it faster, please?" Brittany asked expectantly.

Confessional:

Brittany: Quentin doesn't seem to take... well, anything particularly seriously. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind. In fact, I admire his dedication to having fun. But if I'm going to rely on him for my plan to work, then his devil-may-care attitude doesn't speak highly of his willingness to take any sort of deal seriously. Ugh, maybe I could use a moment to take things less seriously, too. Just... not before I can establish myself in the merge.

Cyan, Hugh, and Louise, having gone through the blue door, found themselves in a room with a zigzagging, ascending obstacle course.

"Oh, geez," Hugh winced.

"This looks like fun!" Louise beamed.

"No sense in hanging around," Cyan decided as she ran towards the course.

"True that," Louise agreed as she followed close behind.

"Ughhhhh," Hugh groaned as he also followed.

The first ramp had parts of the wall pushing in and out of the path.

"What is this? Timing?" Hugh asked rhetorically.

Once the first part of the wall began retreating, Cyan and Louise stepped forward, stopped only by the second part. Hugh tried to join them, but, without enough room, he was pushed down.

"Gahhh!" Hugh shouted in frustration.

Cyan and Louise waited the moving wall out. When the right time struck, they moved on. The next ramp didn't appear to have any obstacles, so Cyan and Louise glanced at each other, shrugged, and pressed forward. A cannon in the wall across from them suddenly launched a dodgeball, hitting Louise and knocking her over.

"Oh my god! Louise!" Cyan cried.

"Eh, I'll be fine," Louise assured her as she rubbed her face. "Don't worry about me! No sense in hanging around!"

"If you're sure," Cyan agreed.

She ducked as another dodgeball went flying towards them. This led to the ball hitting Hugh in the face as he finally finished the first ramp, knocking him over.

"Gahhh!" Hugh yelped in pain. "That was my face, artard!"

Confessional:

Hugh: Man, I thought the city setting was supposed to reduce the chances of me getting hurt! What was the point of Chris's electroshock therapy if he's still going to put us through this bullshit?!

Through the yellow door, Frita, Kiki, and Vladimir found themselves in a shaft. Before them stood two metal poles, each holding platforms welded securely around them, ascending and descending.

"Ah, I get it," Vladimir nodded. "As the platforms raise and lower, we'll have to jump between the two columns. Eventually, we'll get to the top."

"Are you sure?" Kiki fretted.

"If nothing else, failure should lead to a gruesome death," Frita grinned.

"That's not an incentive!" Kiki objected.

Vladimir leaped towards one of the platforms and landed perfectly.

"There's definitely only room on these for one person at a time," he warned. "Careful."

"I... I can do it," Frita gulped.

She took a running start and, as the pole ascended, she landed on the platform right beneath him.

"Good job, Frita," Vladimir complimented.

"Th-Th-Thanks..." Frita flushed.

Kiki glared at Vladimir before hopping over to her own platform. Vladimir hopped over to a platform on the other pole.

"Oh no... which one is going to take me higher?" Frita asked as she looked at both poles.

"Just wait until the one you're on stops ascending, then jump," Vladimir explained. "That way, the other one will always take you a little higher once it stops."

"That makes sense... I think," Frita said with a deep breath.

"Yeah. Thanks for the tip, Vlad!" Kiki called out facetiously.

"No problem. Any friend of Frita's is a friend of mine," Vladimir assured her.

"I bet," Kiki scoffed under her breath.

Confessional:

Kiki: I wanted to see if I could confront Vladimir at some point during the challenge, but as long as Frita's here, that's just going to make things awkward. Calling him out in front of her would only cause her to become defensive and retreat further into her idea that he has her best interests at heart. That won't be good for anyone involved.

Past the green door, Bailey and Kun found themselves in a different shaft. This one had multiple ropes hanging from the ceiling. The ropes had knots throughout their lengths, allowing for easier climbing. In place of the floor was a large trampoline.

"Well, this looks, um, challenging," Kun murmured.

"It is a challenge," Bailey reiterated.

"Um, yes, but... Oh, there's no 'but'. I'm just not good at these things," Kun admitted.

"Neither am I, trust me," Bailey giggled. "That's not going to stop me, though."

"Oh, it wasn't going to stop me, either," Kun said, his fist clenched in determination. "A true leader never backs down."

"Who are you leading now that there aren't any more teams?" Bailey asked as she grabbed onto the nearest rope.

"Somebody someday," Kun insisted. "For now, I'll, um, focus on this."

He grabbed a rope of his own and followed Bailey's suit of climbing up.

"So, um, has Kiki talked to you about sticking together and taking Vladimir out?" Kun asked.

"Of course," Bailey confirmed. She struggled to pull herself up the rope. "Is now really the time for that, though?"

"Will we have another chance?" Kun asked.

"Kiki said Vladimir. I don't think that's going to change," Bailey figured.

"What if he wins Invincibility?" Kun asked.

"Can we please talk about this later?" Bailey grunted as she kept climbing.

"It seems important, but, um, if it would make you more comfortable to wait, then, well..." Kun stammered.

"It would," Bailey told him.

Confessional:

Kun: I want to make moves in this game. I just, um, haven't had many chances to do that yet. So I want to get as much concrete information as I can. Knowing is half the battle, they say. The other half is, um, using that knowledge and planning around it. And I'd be a lot more comfortable knowing Bailey really is willing to stick with Kiki instead of any allies she made on the original Gryphons.

Shadya bounced between trampoline platforms with ease, occasionally springing off the walls to redirect herself while maintaining momentum. In little time, she made it to a section of the room with a solid floor.

"That was easy," Shadya claimed as she cracked her neck and shoulders. "What's next, McLean?"

She looked up her next obstacle: a spiral staircase that extended up higher than she could see in the dimly-lit area.

"My calves are steel and my breath is inexhaustible," Shadya scoffed. "First place, here I come."

She began running up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Brittany and Quentin had a harder time getting through the trampoline platforms. Brittany had only barely managed to reach her intended destination by grabbing onto the ledge. Quentin missed his own jump and fell several meters down to the trampolined floor below. The fall was hard enough to spring him up to the platform right above it.

"Well hey, there's a silver lining. Heh," Quentin coped. "I only have to make up... four floors worth of progress instead of five."

"There's no way people in other rooms aren't closer to winning than I am," Brittany exhaled as she sat down. "But there's no way to know that for sure. For all I know, the other rooms could be even harder. Invincibility would be nice..."

She forced herself back onto her feet.

"I just need to catch my breath and keep going," she told herself. "Nobody ever got anywhere by sitting on their butts and complaining!"

Confessional:

Shadya: Much like in Shuffle Party, I expect I'll be on everyone's radar right out of the merge's gate. Anyone who's made it this far would be smart enough to recognize how big of a threat I am. Apoy Island's twist all but ensured my spot in the final six, but here, my only blessing is that second place is worth something. (She shudders.) Eugh, I feel dirty even implying that. Either way, my eyes are on the prize.

Hugh and Louise continued to struggle through the ascending obstacle course. Hugh had to cross an upward-sloping balance beam and kept slow and steady. Just ahead of him, Louise maneuvered through a greasy floor littered with shin-high blocks that further threatened her balance.

"Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy," Louise repeated as she struggled to maintain her footing. "The grease is tough enough, but-" She slipped into a block and stumbled over it. "Are those things really necessary?"

"None of this is necessary," Hugh panted as he stepped off the balance beam and arrived at the greasy floor.

"I don't know how Cyan cleared this so easily," Louise grunted as she grabbed onto the block to pull herself back onto her feet.

"She probably stepped over everything, stupid six-foot-tall-lookin'-ass," Hugh grumbled.

Louise raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not jealous!" Hugh insisted.

"A little bit of envy is good for motivating yourself to improve!" Louise proclaimed.

"Yeah, great, let me just apply that to being five-eight," Hugh remarked.

"So you are jealous?" Louise questioned.

"No! Shut up!" Hugh snarled.

Meanwhile, Cyan had made it to a safe zone of the obstacle course.

"Finally, I can catch my breath," Cyan sighed in relief. "What's... What's next?"

She looked at the wall before her, which had several platforms in a familiar zigzagging pattern. Ladders were the only thing that allowed ascent between the platforms. At the top of the area stood Jayne, standing next to several barrels.

"Hello, Cyan!" Jayne called down. "I'm going to try to stop you from coming closer. Please don't take it personally!"

"They're really doing Donkey Kong," Cyan commented.

Regardless, she pressed onward and jumped forward onto the first platform. Upon looking down, she realized that the floor below was at ground level with the first obstacle course. She gulped but ran forward regardless.

Cyan couldn't miss the loud thumps and rolling sounds of barrels above her.

"This feels like it's a lot easier when you're playing a video game and you can see the whole thing!" she worried.

Cyan increased her pace as she kept moving forward. Before she could reach the first ladder, a barrel landed in front of her, eliciting a scared jump and scream. She gathered her bearings quickly enough to jump over the approaching projectile, then promptly hopped onto the ladder and climbed.

Confessional:

Cyan: What I don't get is why Jayne specifically had to throw the barrels. They had cannons shooting the dodgeballs before. Maybe they just wanted to complete the Donkey Kong thing by having a person throw them. Or maybe Jayne was just bored. (She shrugs.)

Vladimir made it to the next section of his room, which wasn't much wider than the shaft, and didn't look to have anything in it, much less a way to progress.

"Well that's not good," he commented.

"What's not good? What's going on?" Frita demanded as she joined him.

"I don't see a way forward," Vladimir admitted.

"There has to be one, right? They wouldn't just make this a dead end," Frita figured. "Didn't Nestor say that every route would be a way out?"

"I believe so," Kiki recalled as she joined up. "The way out is probably just hard to find."

"Oh no, what if it was somewhere in that last part and we missed it?" Frita gulped.

"Sadly, we can't count that out," Vladimir tsked.

"Does anyone want to go test that educated guess?" Kiki offered. "As he's the only one who doesn't need glasses, I volunteer Vladimir."

"How do you know I don't need glasses?" Vladimir chuckled. "For my two cents, I just spent the first half of the day in Isolation Park, so I haven't had the chance to really talk to anyone yet. Frita, would you mind going back and looking? I haven't gotten the chance to really meet Kiki yet."

"O-Of course!" Frita gladly accepted.

She hopped back onto the fluctuating platform rods and descended.

"So, I'm told you and Frita are pretty close," Kiki said tersely.

"Where'd you hear that?" Vladimir chuckled. "Sure, we were teammates the past few days, but I was also teammates with Cyan, and I don't think Cyan likes me a whole lot."

"I wouldn't either if I knew what she told me," Kiki said. "Oh wait, I do know what she told me!"

"And what exactly might that be?" Vladimir frowned.

"That you're emotionally manipulating Frita by establishing yourself as a false figure of security and closeness that she hasn't seen in a very, very long time," Kiki scowled. "Tragically common in abusive relationships, preying on abandonment issues. And for what? A stupid game?!"

"Would you allow me to offer my account of all this?" Vladimir asked.

"If I hear a single excuse from you, I'm pushing you down this shaft," Kiki half-allowed. "There is no justification for emotional abuse!"

"I made no such claims of being anyone Frita knew in the past," Vladimir stated. He began walking around the area. "I mentioned a joke she and some old friends shared, that much is true. I've denied or evaded any questions from her end that I am who she thinks I am; I will always deny or evade any questions about my true identity. This first began during and after the Nolan vote, just a couple of days ago. And I've been in Isolation Park for a good chunk of that time. So I haven't been able to talk with Frita very much since this idea came into her head."

"And how would you know about that old joke?" Kiki challenged. "It sounds specific enough that she'd come to a specific conclusion. Was that not your plan?"

"I know a lot of things about a lot of people," Vladimir explained. "Hm? What's this?"

He knelt down when he noticed an air vent tucked into a dark corner of the room.

"What would you bet that this is the way we're meant to go?" he asked Kiki, rapping on the grate with his knuckle.

"I haven't seen any more logical alternatives..." Kiki conceded. "But can we open it?"

Vladimir pulled on the grate, which easily opened upwards on a hinge.

"Ladies first," Vladimir offered.

"I will not be patronized because of my gender," Kiki leered.

"Fair enough," Vladimir accepted as he moved down and began crawling through the vent.

Confessional:

Vladimir: Just as I feared, Cyan has dragged my name through the mud. If there's one thing the Vladimir of Explore Party taught me, it's that lying low and hoping that a bad reputation will just blow over does not work. I need to take action to better my position. The only question, of course, is "how?"

Bailey and Kun continued their arduous ascents up the knotted ropes in silence.

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"Okay, but if a statue is played, and, um, we have to break a tie we couldn't have seen coming..." Kun began.

"Not. Now. Kun," Bailey sighed, annoyed.

"Putting all our cards out in the open like that seems, um, dangerous, so..." Kun trailed off.

"Truer words have seldom been spoken," Bailey grimaced.

Confessional:

Bailey: I've been able to talk to Franklin every now and again, outside the game. I'm always elated to see him, and him to see me. We talk about everything that's gone on in our lives since we saw each other last. I remember one anecdote he let me in on. Was it two years ago? A young man, relatively new to the prison, was so scared of the other inmates that he became a yes-man to them all. He was so concerned for his own safety that he discarded the value of his own loyalty. This certainly came to a head when members of opposing gangs found out the same young man claimed to be working for both of them, and more gangs besides. More specifically, it came to his head.

Brittany kept up her determination to press on in the trampoline-laden room. After each successful jump to a higher platform, she quickly evaluated her surroundings and found the next viable spot.

"Alright. Almost there..." she told herself.

The final platform was just a few more jumps away, and these jumps were close to each other. Brittany shifted her weight repeatedly, began to ride this momentum, and began jumping, gaining more height after each landing. She jumped between nearby trampolines to gain horizontal momentum.

Once satisfied with her trajectory, Brittany jumped towards the next platform. Without stopping, she continued towards the next one after that, and the rest that followed. This continued until she successfully arrived at the spiral staircase.

"Alright... no more jumping," Brittany panted, struggling to stand up. "That was... a lot... Just need to... climb... stairs... Ho boy."

Intercom feedback crackled throughout the room.

"Attention, contestants!" Chris's voice sounded. "Shadya is the first person to make it back to the ground floor! She wins Invincibility and penthouse privileges, but there's still one more chance for you to win safety! Who knows, you might need it! And even if you don't, we're not going to magically get you guys out of here, so keep going!"

Brittany looked up at how high the spiral staircase went. In the darkness of the room, she could not see where it ended.

"Hey!" Quentin greeted as he landed next to her. "You catching your breath, too?"

"Not for long," Brittany said as she pressed on.

Confessional:

Quentin: You know, had humans evolved birdlike wings instead of the arms we did have... Well, I don't know if modern technology as we know it would exist, and there probably wouldn't be a Total Drama in the first place. But if there was still Total Drama, and we were still doing this challenge... well, alright, I don't know if they'd do this challenge in the first place knowing that flight was possible. Though, since it's mostly vertical, we'd only really get any kind of advantage if we were hummingbirds! Aw, man, as if racial divides weren't already uncomfortable, now we're bringing hovering privilege into it.

Cyan continued her ascent up the zigzagging platforms, occasionally jumping over the speeding barrels as they came.

"How are these things going so fast, anyway?!" Cyan panicked. "I don't think that's how it works!"

"Have you done this before?" Jayne called down sincerely.

Cyan jumped up onto a ladder and waited for a barrel to roll over it before continuing her climb. "I'm not doing it more than once, I can tell you that right now," she exhaled.

As she pulled herself up to the next level, a barrel immediately clocked her in the shins, causing her to fall onto her face.

"Okay, OW?!" Cyan winced. She let out a pained chest cough as she hobbled back onto her feet. "No wonder Mario dies immediately when he gets hit by one of those things. Geez."

"Who is Mario?" Jayne called down. "Is that a former contestant I did not have the chance to meet? I hope he rests in peace."

"You spend that much time in a barcade and you don't even know who Mario is?" Cyan muttered in confusion.

Meanwhile, Hugh and Louise struggled through the final parts of the first obstacle course.

"Hurry up, Louise!" Hugh shouted as he stood behind his opponent on another pushing-walls part of the course. "Cyan's going to get the other Invincibility!"

"I'm going as quickly as I can without just getting pushed!" Louise insisted.

She quickly moved past a wall during its retreat. After Louise safely made it across, Hugh tried to do the same. However, the wall had already begun pushing again, and it pushed him to a lower level just before he could clear it.

"I told you, rushing isn't going to get you anywhere!" Louise reiterated.

"Thanks for the input, Confucius!" Hugh snapped as he struggled to stand back up.

Confessional:

Louise: I always did want to be on one of those shows where people try and do the same super-hard obstacle course and only a few people can actually pull it off. I don't know if I could pull it off, but hey, you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket! ...That's not me condoning gambling, please be careful with your money.

"Is this a maze?" Frita asked, having joined Kiki and Vladimir in crawling through the vent. "I swear we just passed a detour."

"We did, but I didn't want to hold you two up by trying to make a sharp turn in a confined space like this," Vladimir explained. "You two don't have to follow me, of course."

"Splitting up probably wouldn't be the worst idea," Kiki acknowledged. "Especially because Vladimir being in front means he has the best chance of winning if we just follow him."

"I offered to let you go first," Vladimir said.

"I'm going this way," Kiki decided as she turned into the next detour the group passed.

After a moment of silence with Frita and Vladimir together, she spoke up.

"Do you think she'd still be able to hear us?" Frita asked.

"In a confined maze with metal walls? Probably," Vladimir figured.

"I just wanted to let you know that I missed you," Frita whispered. "Did you find a statue?"

"I'm afraid not," Vladimir said. He then lowered his voice. "Frita, people have been talking about our working relationship."

"I know. I'm pissed, too," Frita scowled.

"It may behoove us to distance ourselves from one another," Vladimir told her. "Focus on other allies."

"...I... I don't know if I can handle that..." Frita choked up. "You're the first person I've felt truly safe around in a very long time."

"What about Quentin? Kiki? I know she's gone, but Dalit?" Vladimir asked.

"I'm just a game ally to them," Frita dismissed. "You're my friend, Devlin."

"Never call me anything but Vladimir!" Vladimir scolded harshly.

Through the grave seconds that followed, only a sniffle broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," Frita squeaked.

Vladimir turned at the next detour he found.

Confessional:

Frita: I can't even like someone right! Even if I find the one person I can trust, he'll still find some way to tell me I'm a screw-up! What am I even doing here?! (She breaks into sobs)

Chris, Topher, Lindsay, Nestor, and Shadya sat in the house where the contestants originally entered, each with a cup of coffee.

"I'm just saying, Steve Jenkins was cute and all, but I'm cute and have game smarts," Nestor insisted.

"So do a lot of contestants. We wanted some wild cards to keep it from being all strategy all the time," Chris stated.

"And how did that work out?" Nestor doubted.

"It's not like there will never be another season. Just be patient," Shadya sighed, annoyed.

"There might not be, though," Lindsay piped up. "We barely got this season-"

Topher cut her off by putting his mouth over her hand. "We barely got this season finished on time because we had so many ideas for it that we weren't sure which ones to cut!"

"I'm convinced," Nestor jested.

"Look, we went through a lot of casting proposals, and I think this is a damn good season so far!" Chris insisted. "Keep it up and you'll never get asked back!"

"Like the fans would be okay with that," Nestor scoffed smugly.

"He's got a point. We're still getting letters asking why Eva never came back," Topher said.

"Mphmpmhpmhphm," Lindsay mentioned.

"Oh, sorry," Topher apologized as he took his hand off her mouth.

"Where on earth are the others?" Shadya asked flatly. "I know I pulled that challenge off flawlessly, but how hard of a time could they be having, really?"

"Your burning passion for everything drives me to keep going in my day-to-day life," Nestor fake-complimented. "Chris, where the hell is Hildegard?"

"Keep testing me, Nestor," Chris leered.

"There ain't a whole lot of spice left, I'm just saying," Nestor said as he put his hands up defensively. "I still run a blog, you know. I still know how the fans think."

"Hey, I'm enough spice for this whole show just by myself!" Chris insisted. "I have a whole second credit card under the name 'Mandeep Chaudhuri'! That way, take-out restaurants actually make my food as spicy as I ask for! That's how much the spice flows through me!"

"Is that legal?" Lindsay asked.

"Or even ethical?" Topher asked.

"Questions I've been asked many a time, and questions I will still dismiss with a proud 'Who cares?'" Chris chuckled.

Suddenly, a trapdoor in one corner of the room opened, and someone stepped out.

"Oh, hey!" Chris acknowledged. "Congratulations on winning second place Invincibility!"

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"Wait, seriously?" Cyan smiled, still trying to catch her breath. "Yes!"

Chris grabbed his phone, pressed a button on the screen, and spoke into it. "Attention, contestants! Cyan has won second Invincibility! At this point, you're just fighting for your right to, you know, not be stuck underground. Hehaha."

Confessional:

Shadya: It took a painfully long time for some of them to make their way out. From what I heard about the obstacles in the other rooms, I could have cleared them just as, if not more, easily than I cleared the ones I faced. But that's hardly a surprise to hear at this point. What may be surprising to hear is that it's impossible to hum while holding your nose.

Kun: Once Bailey and I finished climbing the rope, our next obstacle was, um, trying to get past Greg. He kept asking weird questions that I didn't feel qualified to answer. We tried stepping around him, but he was, um, persistent. I tried to help him out, I really did.

Cyan: Being safe is good, but all it does is make sure I don't get any blowback from throwing Vladimir's name out. Which, actually, now that I say that out loud, could make a pretty big difference. He is good at turning things around against others. At least that can't be me.

Shadya: (She hums while holding her nose.) Impossible, of course, for anybody but me.

Exhausted and wary, the eleven contestants stood in silence as the Elimination Station elevator took them back down underground. Some sought comfort in glancing at each other but most kept their eyes away from anyone else.

With a ding, the door opened, and the contestants shuffled into the ceremony room. What was once a serene blue starry night sky painted on the walls and ceiling was now outer space adorned with orange-and-red stardust. The players each took a lectern, while Chris sat in his usual higher chair.

"Man, it's nice to see all these spaces filled up again!" Chris commented.

"That's what she said," Hugh snickered.

"That joke's been dead for like a decade!" Kiki objected. "Not that it was ever funny to begin with."

"You know what's not funny?" Cyan huffed. "The walls are orange now instead of blue! That's such a downgrade!"

"Welcome to the merge, kiddos," Chris snickered.

"Well, there's no time to waste," Kiki began. "I assume everyone knows about Vladimir's transgressions by now."

"Oh, thanks for helping me clear the air, Kiki," Vladimir smiled.

"Mind games don't work on me," Kiki glared.

"I wasn't trying to play mind games," Vladimir said. "I had hoped that explaining my side of what happened would alleviate things."

"I don't care if it was your intention or not!" Kiki dismissed. "The fact of the matter is, you being here is hurting Frita, and that's not fair to her or to anyone!"

"Okay, listen," Brittany stepped in. "I get you're trying to help, but it sounds kind of patronizing to speak on behalf of both Frita and Vladimir. Especially when you weren't even on their team."

"I was. I saw everything," Cyan brought up.

"You didn't see anything!" Frita snapped. "You saw I was happy, and you decided that the fact that it was Vladimir who made me happy was inherently a bad thing for some reason! I know you're the grudge-holding type, but stay out of things that don't concern you!"

"Look, we don't need to yell, right?" Quentin mediated. "It's all just a big misunderstanding. If we can talk things out..."

"There's nothing else to talk about. Vladimir is abusing Frita. End of story," Kiki maintained.

"Can you prove that?" Brittany asked.

"Cyan's account is proof," Kiki said firmly.

"It sounds like Cyan was just worried that those two would have voted her out if the Wyverns lost again," Hugh spat. "How can we trust her?"

"Because you always trust allegations of abuse!" Kiki declared.

"Cyan isn't even a part of those two! She can make up whatever bullshit she wants!" Hugh argued.

"I strongly resent the implications against my character here," Cyan frowned.

"Come off it," Frita scoffed. "You threw a challenge specifically to get rid of Irving because you were still mad about what he did years ago. You're petty and self-serving. Of course you'd feel threatened by finding out I'm friends with Vladimir! Especially right after you voted Nolan out. Nolan, her ally, by the way."

"Alright, to be fair there, even if Nolan said he was willing to work with someone, his dice were behind his vote," Louise brought up. "As much as I liked Nolan, I don't think he was reliable."

"He was gunning for Vladimir, but Cyan decided Vladimir was worth trusting more," Frita relayed. "Until she found out that he and I were close. At that point, he suddenly became this abusive devil!"

"I'd like to point out, by the way, that reports of my and Frita's closeness have been greatly exaggerated," Vladimir mentioned. "I don't think we spoke once before the team shuffle. Not even during Explore Party, or at any point between that season and this one."

"You outright told me that you brought up something from her childhood that only one of her old friends would know," Kiki mentioned. "And we're just supposed to pretend like that isn't gross emotional manipulation?"

"I'll admit that I was worried that Frita might vote for me over Nolan during our last vote, and I acted out of turn," Vladimir confessed. "But that's all I can admit to."

"'Can', or 'will'?" Kiki doubted.

"While we know where Kiki and Cyan stand, I want to hear where Vladimir stands in this vote," Shadya decided. She turned to look at him. "You've been gone for most of the day. Where's your mind?"

"Well, as you said, I don't know a lot of what's been going on," Vladimir admitted. "I'm not very happy with my name being dragged like this, though, especially from someone who hardly knows me and someone who I thought I could work with. The latter has Invincibility, though, so if I had a gun to my head, I'd lean Kiki."

"I'm all for that," Hugh agreed. "I approached her wanting to work with her, but she refused just because I didn't want to vote you out. She can't be reasoned with!"

"Excuse me?!" Kiki snapped.

"She is not unreasonable," Kun frowned. "Despite, um, several disagreements between me and her throughout this game, I have talked things through and worked things out with her."

"Besides, I don't think it's unreasonable to gun for someone who's both good at the game and willing to hurt others," Cyan said. "Whether you believe he's messing with Frita or not, Vladimir's a strong player. That's something we all need to keep in mind. The man's a threat." Cyan pressed on her lectern's screen. The blue light that shone in its front turned red. "And that's why I'm voting for Vladimir tonight."

Kiki followed suit. "I will not stand by and enable this kind of behavior. Ever."

Vladimir cast his own vote. "Well, if you're going to be so adamant, I suppose all I can do about that is vote for Kiki in return."

Frita cast her vote. "You two don't know anything. Don't try and take advantage of the best thing to happen to me in years so that you can get some brownie points!"

Louise cast her vote. "Frita, I'm worried. You've been a lot angrier ever since this all came to light."

"Because everyone's wrong and nobody believes me!" Frita cried.

Hugh cast his vote. "Don't worry. I believe you," he said with spiders in his teeth.

Kun cast his vote. "I believe that you don't think you're in a bad place, Frita. But, um, I won't allow for any kind of misconduct between anybody."

"He hasn't touched me once!" Frita insisted. "Quentin, you believe me, right?!"

Quentin opened his mouth, but no words came. His face twitched and his hands shook.

"If I recall, Quentin doesn't do well with hard, in-the-moment decisions," Bailey mentioned. She cast her vote. "I suppose the rest of us should stop stalling."

Brittany cast her vote. "Agreed.

Shadya cast her vote. "Just go with your gut, Quentin."

Everyone's eyes fell on Quentin, the only one who had not yet cast his vote.

"Quentin, please..." Frita pleaded.

"Do what you know is right, Quentin," Kiki urged.

Quentin squeezed his eyes shut and cast his vote.

"And that's all of them!" Chris announced. "Unless someone has a statue to play before I read them, it's time to get to the juicy part!"

Much like in the elevator, all eyes directed to random parts of the room.

"First vote... Vladimir," Chris read. "Second vote... Vladimir."

Vladimir nodded.

"Third vote... Kiki," Chris continued. "Fourth vote... Kiki."

Kiki swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Fifth vote... Kiki! Sixth vote... Vladimir!"

Everyone looked up at Chris uneasily.

"Seventh vote... Vladimir... Eighth vote... Kiki..."

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"Ninth vote... Vladimir... Tenth vote... Kiki... That's five votes for Vladimir and five votes for Kiki. Only one vote left."

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"The tenth person voted out of Total Drama Party with the Stars... and the first member of our jury... is Kiki."

Kiki slumped over her lectern and buried her eyes in her forearm in an attempt to hide that she was crying.

"Of course. Of course!" Cyan ranted. "Who cares about hurting other people, it's all just part of the stupid game!"

"Nobody in this room is blameless in any regard," Bailey said. "If you dislike it, you may feel free to give up and let those of us who wish to keep playing do so unopposed."

"Bailey?!" Kiki gasped. "Don't tell me you..."

"A lot went into this decision," Bailey said. "I hope you understand that."

"It didn't need to be that much," Cyan protested.

"So this is it," Kiki said defeatedly. "This is what Total Drama has become. My only regret is that I couldn't do more to steer it in the right direction."

"Didn't you hear me? You're the first member of our jury!" Chris reiterated. "That means that, just like in Total Drama Action, everyone eliminated from here on out will decide the winner by casting a vote."

"Oh, wow," Kun reacted. "That could change things."

"So you'll see Kiki again at the next vote, don't you worry," Chris chuckled. "Until then, are there any last words from anybody before she goes?"

"We'll do everything we can, Kiki," Louise said. "Count on it!"

"I sure hope you can," Kiki sighed. "Just remember that it'll be an uphill battle. It always has been."

With no more words spoken, the ceiling opened up. The Shackle of Shame came down and grabbed Kiki by the waist. She squealed on contact but didn't react any further beyond that as she lifted off her feet and carried back above ground, at which point the ceiling closed once again.

"It was a close vote. Will things be that close again? I can't wait to see," Chris commented. "Vladimir, as the person with the second-highest number of votes, you'll be headed to Isolation Park! Lindsay will be right outside the building waiting for you. Everyone else, you're dismissed!"

Confessional:

Bailey: I did put a capacious amount of thought into the vote, that much is true. While I respected Kiki's willingness to stick to her guns and go against the grain, it doesn't benefit my game on a practical level. And I need to play well if I'm going to win this for Franklin. Therefore, putting my faith in the original Gryphons alliance seems the most reliable route. Sometimes, one has to make sacrifices for the greater good.

Quentin: I really am worried about Frita, and I don't think having Vladimir around is good for her, whether he's the one hurting her or not. She cares a lot about him, and that hasn't always been a good thing. This whole voting ceremony probably isn't helping much, either. At least she doesn't have to know I voted for him, right?

Vladimir: Well, I'm not thrilled to go back to Isolation Park. Sure, it's another chance to find a statue, but I'd really like to not be away from the others, especially now that we've merged. Or away from the diner, for that matter. I haven't had a real meal in over 24 hours. It's rough, to say the least. (He laughs awkwardly.)

Chris, Topher, and Lindsay stood outside the limits of Drama City.

"And with that, the merge, and the jury phase of the game, has officially begun!" Chris announced.

"If future votes are anything like this one, we're in for a hell of a time," Topher nodded.

"'Hell' is right," Lindsay whimpered. "I hope they can get along better in the next one?"

"In Total Drama? Doubt it!" Chris laughed. "How will the ripples from this vote affect dynamics between players?"

"Will any fancy new deals be struck?" Topher asked.

"Can we let Shadya have her letter from home?"

"What? No, she should have won it in the one challenge if she wanted it so badly," Chris answered. "But the answers to any other questions you may have, may or may not be answered, next time, on Total!"

"Drama!" Topher and Lindsay added.

"Party with the Stars!" all three finished in unison.

Votes:

Bailey - Kiki

Brittany - Kiki

Cyan - Vladimir

Frita - Kiki

Hugh - Kiki

Kiki - Vladimir

Kun - Vladimir

Louise - Vladimir

Quentin - Vladimir

Shadya - Kiki

Vladimir - Kiki

The Merge:

Bailey - The Pragmatic Poet

Brittany - The Loyal Bombshell

Cyan - The Sweet Madame Blue

Frita - The Morbid Artist

Hugh - The Head Villain

Kun - The Awkward Team Leader

Louise - The Friendly PE Teacher

Quentin - The Lucky Ornithologist

Shadya - The Genius Athlete

Vladimir - The Untrustworthy Impostor

11th: Kiki - The Strategic Hipster

Eliminated Pre-Merge:

12th: Dalit - The Social Media Model

13th: Nolan - The Wildcard Gambler

14th: Irving - The Chaotic Pirate

15th: Steve Jenkins - The Vlog Icon

16th: Jean-Marie - The Homeless Frenchman

17th: Ernie - The Lazy Law Student

18th: Joseph - The True Bro

19th: Isidora - The Asocial Bookworm

20th: Lilith - The Harbinger of Unrest

A/N: Insert Abi-Maria gif here. Kiki was always a lock for All-Stars, being one of the significant characters in House Party who didn't end up making the merge in a series of tragic events. I knew I wanted her to be a big, important character again, and while she worked better sometimes than she did other times, I think she served her role well. A part of me always wanted to make her the first juror as I wrote this season, though of course I went back and forth on it a lot, just like I always do. You can't say she didn't try her absolute best at all times, if nothing else, but sometimes things just fall outside of your own control. What did you think of Kiki this season?