Everyone step back, big day for replying.

lordgemini- If today is the merge, then we'll have to see how the two Parrots fit into the mix entirely, as they've both really kept to themselves. You've also made a pretty bold guess for the eliminations, let's see if I do both leaders at once.

Alright, get ready for episode 12!

Episode 12: Sportaneous Combustion

Susan was looking over footage from the previous episode with Chef. "That's what you were talking about?" Susan asked the cook as they watched Peter's screen go black. "You did that?" Chef nodded. "Right, thanks. I forgot she put herself as the founder. That's gonna be a legal headache at some point."

"Mhm," Chef told her. "But, you're in good shape. This season's almost over. You only got a few more days before you can go back to doing science in the back alleys of the world." Susan rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying you gotta stay, but after this kind of season, there's no way they don't put us in on one more. What would ya do then?"

Susan put her hand up to her chin. It was not something she had considered before. "I...I don't know," she said. "I would probably stay. I mean, I'm sure they could find someone better, but then some kids would have two or even three hosts."

Chef smiled. "Good, because they're gonna need you, assuming we don't get in too much trouble for all that portal stuff." He looked back. "Cameras are here, so you gotta do your job now."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Susan mumbled. "Last time, on Total Drama Cultivated Will, we went from tricking our contestants for safety reasons to tricking them for a challenge." The first clips were of everyone rushing to the top of the mountain to see Carter and Sharron 'injured'. "Thanks to Ben being oblivious to the simple trick and his decent first aid skills, the Goldfish won the advantage for part two, which we already told them about." The next clips were of Ben chasing Jacob around and Sharron making one final attempt to stop Carter. "Despite their...well, let's not call it best effort, the Parrots still lost the challenge, sending the three of them to a very intense elimination, that ended in Sharron's departure in a unanimous vote." She shrugged. "Well, that's not really my issue."

"We only have seven left in the game," Susan said, "five of them won't reach the finale, and we are nearing the end. Find out who loses today, right now, on Total! Drama! Cultivated Will!" She smiled. "This is gonna be a good episode."

Intro

[An instrumental began, and cameras began popping out in different places, the first being out of a painting in one of the school's hallways. Another camera emerged through a dormitory dresser, bringing some random articles of clothing along with it. A third camera popped out of the top of the school, where a bell would normally exist. The camera began flying around, and eventually entered the school itself through the front doors.]

Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine

[In the main lobby of the school, Susan was seen frantically walking around the area, clipboard in hand, talking into a communication piece on her ear. She was barking orders loudly as she walked.]

You guys are on my mind

[The camera moved over to the art room, where Nala was seen designing a dress that was suspended from a hanger. She seemed very satisfied with her work, until Nathan had walked in the room. The boy scoffed at it before laughing violently and walking away, causing Nala to feel discouraged.]

You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see

[In a classroom, Peter had taken up almost the entire white board doing a math problem, and he was trying to explain it to Claire, who was evidently not paying attention. Instead, she focused exclusively on him, giving him a look of infatuation. Peter didn't notice this at all and continued explaining the math problem.]

I wanna be famous

[Carter was in the gym, using various punching bags, and as the camera settled on him, he gave out a good punch that launched the bag off of the chain. Carter only celebrated for a second, until an arrow whizzed by him, causing him to turn back and see Sharron, who was smirking at him. The two broke into a sprint after the arrow, and they were very close together as they did that.]

I wanna live close to the sun

[In a dark location. Brenna was conducting tests on some large contraption. She had notes littered all over the table. She appeared very worn out, until Ben ran up to her, out of breath, holding out a cupcake. Brenna accepted the gift and smiled at the boy.]

Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won

[In the dormitories, Leo was on top of Nolan's bunk trying desperately to wake him up. There were tons of different pots and pans around him, and as Leo reached down to grab an even bigger pot, it proved to by too heavy and caused him to fall.]

Everything to prove, nothing in my way

[In the kitchen, Chef and Celine were in the middle of a cook-off, with Celine looking extremely composed as Chef scrambled around for things on his table. Kris watched the two from afar, and while it looked like she wasn't interested her eyes gave off something else.]

I'll get there one day, 'cause I wanna be famous

[Gianna was seen in the hallway talking on a tricked-out phone with someone, until the phone shocked her. She began tweaking it around a lot until it started working again, and continued talking with the person on the other line. As she walked through the halls, George had tried to stop her, but she ran right into him, and didn't stop walking even after he fell over.]

Na na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na na na na

[In the band room, Abigail was messing around on a piano, with a trombone out next to her. Jacob approached her to try and say something, but was stopped by a bucket of water falling on his head, drenching him. Jacob flicked some water off of his head, visibly mad, as Abigail cackled to herself. The two then began fighting with each other.]

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous

[The camera flew down a set of stairs, and an apple flew through various different doorways. Brenna caught the apple, bit out of it, and threw it back in. The bite mark showed that it was the same apple as it flew through many different locations. A small, worn-out sign behind her read 'Ingress Academy']

I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous! *whistling*

[In the auditorium, Celine and Kris leaned close to each other, until one of Peter's markers dropped on top of Kris. The two swiftly turned back, Celine looking angry while Kris remained calm. The camera zoomed out to everyone, whistling the theme as Susan snapped her fingers, causing the lights to go out.]

Abigail popped out of bed and looked around. She had been used to Sharron disappearing early in the day, so it wasn't so odd that she was by herself. "I'm the only girl on my team now," she said with a sigh, "my team of me...and him." She instantly frowned. "How on Earth am I going to convert that...thing?" She dug through her bag, which was running low on resources.

"I'm out of water balloons, out of construction materials thanks to that thing I did to Nathan..." she sighed. "I have some of these zappy things, and a firework or two, but after that I'm empty. Darn. I miss having water balloons." She picked up what appeared to be things that would produce shock on impact.

Abigail left the room, oblivious to the hole that Sharron had covered up the night before. She went up to the lounge to kill some time on the piano, but to her dismay, she heard trumpet already being played in the room. "I can do this," she told herself, "he's not scary...wait. Why do I need to prep myself? It's not like I like him or anything, I just need to bring him havoc." She threw open the door and waltzed in, but it seemed like despite her grand entrance Jacob was focused on the music he was playing.

Eventually, the band president hit a big enough pause to notice his surroundings. "You have got to be kidding me," he complained, putting a hand to his face in embarrassment, "that's a relatively new piece for me. I was not expecting anyone to have to listen to quite the atrocity just yet."

Abigail pulled out one of the zappy dome things. "Well, it wasn't terrible. If it wasn't you playing it, I'd even say I liked the piece." She let out a huff and stood up. "Are you done in here? I was going to spend some time on the piano." Jacob didn't budge. "That means you need to go." Jacob once again didn't move or respond.

Eventually, the prankster handed the zap dome over to Jacob. "Well, take this, I'm leaving. Susan said we needed them for today." Jacob reached for it unsuspectingly, then yanked his hand back is he was shocked at a very high amount. Abigail burst into a cackle, but it only came out as a slight giggle. "You make it too easy!" she cheered, "C'mon, you know you enjoyed that! I'm shaking it up!"

Jacob scoffed. "How dare you manipulate me like that! Now that I'm leader officially, despite what Susan says, I call the shots on our team. You won't last long if you think you're going to trick me like that again!"

"Where would you get the votes?" Abigail reminded him. "It's just us. No one else. Also, I have a second one of those, so you will be tricked in the exact same way at some point." She skipped out of the room. "See you later!" she sang before closing the door to the lounge. She paused as soon as the door shut. "Wait, I was supposed to be mean to him."

Abigail: She let out a frustrated sigh. "I know what it looks like," she admitted, putting her hands up in defense. "But, I don't like him, at all. In fact, I'm the only one who can see past his 'charming' facade. Yeah, I liked the music he was playing big deal, there's nothing that'll make me be his friend, because we're not." She put her hands on her hips proudly, before adding in, "I don't like him."

Jacob: "Now that we're a team of two," he analyzed, "I'd best work on my final target before having absolute dominance. Abigail will be met with a swift elimination today, causing me to be free of pain or distraction." He chuckled. "What a relief." He sat quietly for a second before quickly adding, "I just meant pain. She doesn't distract me."

Carter had already left the room for the morning. So, that meant that when Ben woke up, Peter smirked, recognizing the precious time he was given. "Morning," Peter said in a fake sleepy voice. "I was not able to sleep at all this morning, I even watched Carter get up." Ben tilted his head. "Yeah, you should have heard the things he was mumbling. Something about being disappointed in the whole team."

Ben shook his head. "Don't try that with me, you scoundrel. I'm going to expose you for everything you've got, and by the end of the day, you'll have nothing left!" Despite just waking up, the feud with the mathematician had put him in an intense mood.

Peter chuckled. "Yeah, you could do that," he admitted, putting his hands up, before quivering his lip. "But, all I have to do today, is act all weak and helpless like I've been doing all season. When they see you act so aggressive against such a helpless boy," he put emphasis on the word 'helpless', "I doubt that even the most stubborn people will not doubt themselves." He peered out the window. "Hopefully the challenge will let me do something like that." He paused for a second. "By the way, did you hear? Sharron's out of the game."

Ben shrugged. "So? That's not my problem anymore. I'm not looking for approval, I'm looking to make sure that you go down." He sighed. "Even if she didn't like me, I'm fighting you today with everything I've got, and thanks to Carter, it's a lot!"

The mathematician couldn't help but laugh again. "Well, I certainly hope you make it look as brutal and deadly as you paint me to be. After all, I'm such a horrible person for eliminating a few bad apples on the team. People have done worse things. That one girl, with the bunny headband. Someone schemed to get rid of her. That, was a savage elimination. I got rid of two hidden menaces, but I'm still the bad guy." He laughed again. "Well, I hope your delusional world is good, because I'll be taking care of you in this one." He walked out the door, leaving the pushover to seethe.

The skeptic sat down at the breakfast table this morning. Word spread relatively quick of Sharron's peculiar elimination the night before, and Carter looked even more angry than normal, wearing a constant scowl on his face in the morning. Eventually, a new face popped up near him, waving her arm. The musical prankster skipped over to him with her own plate of food, and sat right across from him. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "You look upset."

Carter simply grunted, not wanting to make conversation with her. "Look," she added, much to his dismay, "normally I'd mess with you or something, to try and get you to smile, but I'm kinda running low on things, so you're just gonna have to talk to me. My stuff I have left is reserved for another rotten boy who I very much dislike." Carter once again did not look up. "Hey, c'mon, what's got you so mad today?" She watched him for a bit longer. "Is this because of Sharron? The votes were unanimous, so it wasn't completely my fault. Jacob was going to-"

"This isn't about Sharron," Carter quickly interjected, trying to steer the subject off course. "You don't know me, so I wouldn't expect you to understand." He continued to eat his breakfast in as much silence as he could get, but every once in a while Abigail would hum to herself or poke him. "This is why I ate outside," he muttered.

"Oh!" Abigail said, "Now that she's gone, and since you're definitely not upset about it, can you tell me something? Sharron would never tell us where she went in the morning, always saying something about 'important business'." She did her best British accent to mock Sharron, but it was not very good. "So, were you two eating together?" Carter's face turned a little red, but he kept his head down. "Aww, that's cute."

Carter slammed his fist on the table. "It wasn't cute!" he countered, causing the prankster to fall back in her seat from surprise. His expression looked very angry at the girl. "Sharron was trying to put me in an alliance. You were smart to vote her off. That's all I have to say on the matter. Are we done here?" His tone was much sharper than before, and he sounded very annoyed.

Abigail frowned. "Okay, okay, yeah, we're done. I just kinda figured you could use someone bright to talk to." She winked at him. "But, I've lost a close friend on this show too already, so if you ever need someone to talk to about that, I'm here." She paused. "Well, actually maybe I shouldn't since we're on opposite teams and all, I just kinda figured that-" Carter continued to stare her down. "Okay, okay, yeah, I'm done." She skipped away quickly, trying to escape before he had the chance to get angrier.

Carter: "I'm allowed to lie," he said, "it's not against any moral code I have. Yeah, I'm a bit bummed about Sharron leaving, since...she was the only skill left in the game. My next best bet is probably Celine, then Ben, then Kris, then Abigail, then Peter, then Jacob." He shook his head. "I also have all that info Ben gave me from last night. Well, tonight should be an easy vote if we lose, and I'm willing to throw for that."

Celine was sitting quietly in room 2A. Kris was still asleep, and she sat there, waiting for some source of inspiration. Kris was tossing and turning in her sleep, no doubt stressed from the past two challenges. But, Celine waited closely, making sure that she'd be okay. After some time, she got out of her own bed and stared out the window. It was hard to really see anything outside besides the forest.

Eventually, there was a quiet knock on the door. Celine hesitated before stepping to the peephole and looking through. On the other end, she met eyes with a very impatient looking Peter, who stared at the door like he could see her on the other side. She took a deep breath and quietly opened the door. "What do you want?" she hissed, "Kris is still asleep, so I'd rather you shut up and left."

"Perfect," Peter decided, shuddering a bit, "I don't want her soulless stare haunting me this morning." He cracked his knuckles. "I have a proposal for you. Well, it isn't actually a proposal, but rather an addition of votes for me." He pointed down the hall. "Today, you will vote for Ben and help me throw the challenge today."

Celine let out a gasp and threw her arms up. "There's no way I'm voting for him over you, or even Carter. I have no idea how you plan on actually convincing us to vote for Ben, who happens to be much more of our friend than you." She narrowed her eyes at the mathematician.

Peter shook his head. "I was expecting that kind of reaction," he muttered. Then, his expression changed to a condescending smirk. "Funny that you said I'd have a problem convincing...what was the word you used...'us'?" Celine gasped again. "Yeah, I know you don't want your relationship to be public yet, congratulations by the way, good for you, but I'm willing to help expedite that process."

The master chef shook her head. "I can't give you those votes, but I don't think you're bluffing. Actually, considering what you've pulled so far, nothing you ever do seems like a bluff." She shook her head again. "This is a decision I have to discuss with Kris, and your company is not welcome during that discussion."

"Why wait?" Peter countered, causing Celine to raise an eyebrow. "I mean, is it really something to discuss? Isn't she the one who actually wants to keep this a secret?" Celine tried to cover her face so Peter couldn't get a read on her. "You were okay going public instantly, so why bother? That also gets rid of this whole issue for you, and now I'm in a pickle."

"Why would you tell me that?" Celine asked him, "to try and make us argue? You want to try and separate us so it's harder for us to move forward. You're messing with people's futures now too?" She scoffed. "Despicable."

Peter sighed. "Well, it was at least worth a shot. You can have your little discussion, but it better be ready for the challenge, because I am very much looking forward to today. I can just tell the sweet taste of victory will once again be parallel with me." The mathematician walked away from Celine, causing her to a fume a bit.

Celine shut the door and sat down on her bed, thinking about the 'deal' that Peter had just attempted to strike with her. It was going to be a very challenging day for everyone, whether they liked it or not. After letting it fester for a few seconds, she saw Kris mumble to herself as she woke up. "Nrgh..." the deadpan moaned, still exhausted, "is it morning already?"

Celine: "Peter has really been getting to me," she complained. "Since he heard everything on the mountain, he probably found out how much I hate the strategy part of Total Drama." She groaned. "That means the more he tries to manipulate me, the better chance he has at getting what he wants." She gave the camera a fierce look. "Well, I'm not going to be walked on by some pipsqueak. I'll make sure he pays for messing with me!"

"You're actually the last one up," Celine said with a giggle. As Kris adjusted to the day and began climbing out of bed, Celine cleared her throat. "Actually, Peter stopped by just a bit ago." She sighed. "He wants us to vote with him tonight for Ben, with of course the punishment being that he'll tell everyone about us."

Kris didn't react to the mention of the mathematician's blackmail at all. "Well, I guess we're finally turning on the other PIG members," she admitted. "We knew it was coming eventually, but did he consider every option? What if there's not five people voting tonight?"

Celine thought about what she meant for a second, before widening her eyes in realization. "You mean if we merge, then three votes wouldn't be enough anyway." Kris nodded. "That's genius. We can tell him we accept his terms, and then he's going to be voted off regardless of whether or not we vote for Ben!"

"We can't target him," Kris mentioned, causing Celine to gasp. "If he's eliminated, he outs us regardless. There's no way he wouldn't. People don't just leave knowing secrets without sharing them first." She sighed. "If we merge, we can propose a shift to Carter. He's easily the strongest threat, so I don't see a reason we should let him stay, even with Peter out of the picture."

The master chef hesitated. "But he's kind of our friend too," Celine pointed out. "He kept us around because he figured we were helpful to him. Do we repay that kindness by betraying him?" Kris simply nodded. "Ugh, I don't get it! Why does this game always have to turn into this kind of bloodbath?"

Kris put an arm around Celine's shoulder. "What matters now is that neither of our names are coming up in this discussion. It's down to us to keep it that way. Peter is dangerous, but so is Carter. We need to be at bay, but regardless of who wins, I'm pretty sure everyone on our team is planning on throwing today's challenge."

Right then, an announcement came over the speakers. "Attention, everyone. Chef and I need to discuss today's challenge with you. Please come down to the lobby in preparation to board the buses for today."

The deadpan stood up. "The way she worded that, it sounds like we're on our own today. If we just keep winning, we make the finale. You can do that, I'm certain." She didn't break a smile out, but Kris gave her a confident nod before walking out of the room to go down to the lobby.

Kris: "I'm surprised both Celine and I lasted this long," she said. "Well, to be honest, I was pretty certain Celine would make it, but I expected to make one too many rash decisions, simply be too stressed out to keep going. Plus, if Peter truly heard everything, he'll target me for sure. I have no reason to drop my guard. Everyone is my enemy now, well, except Celine."

The final seven gathered at the dorm lobby, where Susan and Chef were already waiting. "Congratulations on making it this far," Susan told all of them. "That's truly a testament to both your skills in challenges and in gameplay. All of you made it this far because you had what it takes, or there were simply better options each time." Everyone looked over at Jacob after that second statement. "Well, I'll let you judge which of those two you are."

Chef stepped forward. "We've done a lot of your dumb school time challenges," he told them, "but a school's more than a classroom. You gotta also be involved in clubs and whatnot. While you have companions in classes and during the school day, they can instantly become a rival once you enter a club room."

Abigail raised her hand, quickly making the connection about what was happening. "So, are you going to keep speaking in riddles or are you actually going to tell us?" She bounced up and down, clearly impatient with the long monologues that have been consuming their time.

Susan sighed as she put a hand to her face. "So be it, if you so desperately want us to spill it out, we can. As of right now, there are no more teams. You now face the end of the game by yourself. Congratulations on reaching the merge." After that announcement, there were several people who began murmuring.

Jacob: "It's just as I predicted yesterday," he said with a prideful smile. "Now it makes sense Susan was so insistent on not letting me be a leader. She knew the task would be redundant, seeing as teams have dissolved since then." He snickered. "Of course, I made preparations for both situations, but it's good to be on a path."

Peter: "This really isn't a surprise to me," he said with a shrug. "I had set up that blackmail with the knowledge that everyone was going to try and throw the challenge." He then hung his head. "Of course, hearing that we're going to steer off from academic challenges is a problem for me. That means my intellect will be less useful, and I'll need to resort to more scheming."

Ben: "Wow, I seriously merged!" he exclaimed, holding his head up high. "If you told me that'd happen at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have believed you. But, thanks to Carter, Sharron, and even Nathan a little bit, I feel way more confident than before, and I have someone I can use all that pent up strength on. Get ready, Peter, because I won't go easy on you!"

The bus ride up was even shorter than normal today. When the bus came to a full stop, everyone looked outside and noticed they weren't in front of the school. "What's going on?" Carter asked, instantly jumping to the worst possible situation. "What did we do to deserve three obscure challenges in a row?"

"That's not it," Chef said with a mundane tone. "We're not doing kidnapping or whatever you possibly could have thought of just 'cause we ain't in front of the school." He pointed to the other side of the bus. "Welcome to the Ingress Academy Sports Complex. We had to make some adjustments, as academics were the focus of this school, so the equipment was...not sport-like." He said the final part staring at Susan.

The host quickly jumped in to save herself. "What he meant to say," she said with some venom in her tone, "was that the complex was made for more than just sports, but we have adjusted such a task. So, today, you seven will compete against each other to see who is the most sporty. We will do six different mini-challenges, and each of you will compete until you lose. Then, you will be forced to watch the rest on the bleachers."

"This is absurd," Jacob complained. "How are sports part of a natural curriculum? I had my doubts about this school's academic excellence, but seeing that it endorses such barbaric activities makes me have even more faith in my suspicions."

Abigail proceeded to smack him on the back of the head for the stupid comment. "Our school has like three fields, dummy, and marching band rehearses on one of 'em. How dense are you? I oughta-"

Susan interrupted her to try and get everyone back on track. "Today you'll compete for individual immunity, and the vote will be with everybody. Everyone votes, only one person is immune. That means today you must fight with everything you have." She pointed to the back of the track area. "Our first event is shot put. Meet at the back of the field area where we will test your physical strength first." Everyone began to walk over, with Peter shaking his head and sighing.

As the now merged final seven stood at the shot put, a few people looked genuinely perplexed. Only Carter, Kris, Celine, and Abigail seemed to actually understand what was going on. Chef got in front of them to try and assist with showing them what to do. He held the shot put in his hand with a grunt. "This is a shot put," he told them, using a proper form to throw it as a demonstration.

"Why'd you toss it like that?" Peter asked nervously, "isn't an overhand throw the way to maximize distance?" Chef simply responded by handing him the shot put, causing the mathematician to nearly collapse under the weight. "This is a bowling ball if the volume was subtracted and the weight was multiplied!"

Chef snickered. "This might be the first challenge, but we ain't going easy on you." He pointed at Celine. "Cooking girl, you're up first. You'll all take turns throwing this thing, and the one who does the worst is out."

Celine hesitated, but eventually stepped up to the ring, getting a feel for the shot put for a bit. "This can't be fair," she muttered, "don't they separate men and women in these sports for a reason?" She launched it as far as she could, and everyone watched behind her. The scoreboard lit up, revealing that she had thrown 29.8 feet. "Well, that's not terrible."

Jacob was up next, and he haughtily grabbed the shot put, and kept his position despite clearly struggling with the weight. He hurled the shot put, but it landed significantly less distance than Celine's throw. "Nine and a half feet," Chef called out. "Not saying you stank, but that was pretty weird. Big guy, you're next." Chef pointed to Carter, who grunted as he stepped up.

"I can see why this is the first round," he muttered as he effortlessly handled the shot put. He took a few deep breaths, before shooting it much further than the first two throws. The scoreboard put him in the lead, with 54.9 feet. "Easy," he said with a grumble, "not like it's enough to actually matter, I just needed to beat nine."

Kris stepped up next, and stared blankly at the item in her hands. "Okay," she said eventually, stepping up and throwing it. While it looked effortless, the shot put didn't go nearly as far as Carter's, landing just before Celine's. The scoreboard read out 27.4 feet. "That's enough," she stated bluntly while walking away.

Abigail was up next, and she laughed as she held the shot put in her hand. "This thing's funny!" she exclaimed, "it's kind of like a bouncy ball, but it totally catches you off guard with how heavy it is!" Chef rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'll throw it now." She launched it as best as she could, landing in between Kris and Celine's throws, the scoreboard putting up 28.1 feet. "Awesome, I'm still in!" She stuck her tongue out at Jacob, who let out a huff in return.

Peter was next, and he had spent a while in the hot seat, staring at the shot put like he was trying to unravel it with his mind. Eventually, he took a deep breath, and ended up needing both hands to get it over just his shoulder. The shot put plopped right in front of him, and he collapsed from exhaustion as the scoreboard put out 4.8 feet. "That was downright sad to watch," Chef muttered. "Alright, Ben, you're up."

Ben stood proudly with the shot put. "This is a cinch now that Peter's out of the game!" He hurled the shot put as best as he could, and it landed just short of Carter's, putting him in second at 51.2 feet. "Awesome! He cheered." He stepped over to Peter. "Take that!"

Peter shrugged. "Alas, it seems this first challenge was too much for me." His expression darkened. "But, how long will you keep up that momentum? Are you going to be able to win immunity? People will turn on you if you try too hard, and Carter will be disappointed if you don't give it your all." Ben struggled to listen to what he had to say. "You're outmatched. Immunity is your only answer, and do you honestly think you have what it takes to save Carter and yourself. I win either way today."

Susan gathered everyone else once they were done. "With a far from even bad score of under five feet, Peter is, unsurprisingly, the first one out in the sports challenge, which means that we have five more games to go. Follow me to the track, we'll be competing in the hurdles race next."

Abigail: "Well, I think I actually have a shot," she argued with an optimistic tone. "I mean, I'm pretty consistent, and if Carter or Ben mess up once, then I can knock them out. Hopefully everyone else is on the same page as me, I bet Jacob isn't though, not that I'm thinking about him at all times or anything."

Peter: "My five minutes of suffering has come to an end," he said with a smirk. "While there was no way I was winning this challenge, I do have an advantage now. I get to sit back and watch everyone, and once that's over, I'll take who I think won't turn on me, and arrange the killer vote. Everything is falling onto my graph."

The six remaining players lined up at the lower front corner of the track, where a line of hurdles were set up. "The 110 meter high hurdles are a classic event in track," Susan explained, "requiring precise rhythm, pacing, and also needing the required jump height and speed to get over some of the highest obstacles you've seen."

Chef stood in front of them with the starter pistol as the six got ready to run and jump like their games depended on it. "Just like before, if you're the last one to the finish, you're out of the challenge. You can do anything you need to get to the end, just don't leave your lane." Jacob was in the first lane, followed by Kris, Abigail, Carter, Ben, and Celine. "On your marks...get set..." everyone got into position as Chef fired the starter pistol. "Go!"

Carter, Ben, and Abigail were the ones to take an early lead. They all had the jump height to make it over, and Abigail's strength in rhythm let her catch up to the other two, despite her being slower overall. Carter seemed to have his head fully in the game, rushing at full force until a jump was needed, where he leapt far higher than he needed to. Ben seemed to be right on pace with him, but he'd fall back a bit every time he landed.

In the back, Celine and Kris were right on pace with each other, while Jacob lagged behind a bit. Kris and Celine were able to get over the hurdles barely by kicking them over, but Jacob was forced to ease his way through each one, causing him to fall further and further back. "No," he called out, exhausted and out of breath, "I can't fall this easily!" He got up after tripping again and charged forward, his adrenaline keeping him from falling down anymore.

Back up at the front, the three leading runners were all tied up still, and they had all just jumped over their final hurdle, with Abigail the slightest bit in the lead. "Time to take this to the finale!" she called out, and began running a bit faster. The sudden increase in speed threw the other two off, letting her scrape by them just barely.

"Abigail wins this round, not like it matters," Chef called out, "Carter in second, Ben in third." He peered over to the back. "We still got a competition in the back there, who will be the one to lose this round?"

Jacob had now caught up with Celine and Kris, but they all had just made it over the final hurdle, leaving just the final sprint. As much as he tried, Celine and Kris simply ran faster than him, and Jacob, much like Peter did, collapsed right at the finish in exhaustion. "How vexing," the band president muttered, "this isn't how my glorious narrative is supposed to go..."

"Is he okay?" Abigail asked, running over to him. "I mean, I kinda want to be the one to knock him out, so we should make sure he's okay." She ran over to Chef. "Make sure he's okay." Jacob gave off a smirk as he saw Abigail in a frenzy before officially passing out.

"It doesn't matter," Chef muttered, "he's out of the challenge for losing. Anyway, there's water on the bleachers, unless Peter drank it all he should be able to recover there just fine." The cook escorted Jacob away, carrying him on his shoulder.

"Well done, you five," Susan told the remaining competitors. "There's four more sport games to go, so next up, head to the second field for a shootout." The five left began to walk over, Abigail occasionally turning her head back to see if Jacob was waking up.

Jacob: "I wasn't expecting to lose so easily," he said with a groan and a hand on his face. "To collapse like that was simply embarrassing, no way to sugar coat it. However, I got some crucial information from that. Abigail is clearly more fond of me than she likes to let on." He chuckled. "Excellent." After a brief pause, he reassured the camera, "because I plan to take advantage of it, of course. No other reason."

Over on the bleachers, Jacob eventually came to his senses, to see Peter sitting down next to him. "I've heard about your miraculous skill in leadership on the Parrots," he told him, "it's quite a shame I never could have added myself to your ranks."

Jacob groaned as he began to wake up a bit, but he quickly caught onto Peter's words. "If you have something to request of me, do it, I don't need flattery from one such as you." He returned the smirk to Peter. "I'm quite aware of your skill as well, but I have chosen to keep quiet."

Peter scowled. That was not an answer he was expecting. "Well, how would you like to take out one of your former team members?" Jacob raised an eyebrow. "I've acquired a large amount of votes, but thanks to the merge, I need one more to be certain. Despite the fact Abigail will surely vote for you again, I cannot take that kind of risk."

The band president sneered. "Abigail would never vote for me. After all, there's more to her than you'd be able to comprehend. She's done it in the past, but I can assure you that nothing would cause her to vote for me tonight. But, what's stopping me from eliminating you? After all, destroying you would put me in a much better position."

"You have a chance to think about it," Peter warned him. "Or, maybe your facade is more than just covering up your behind-the-scenes work." Jacob gasped. "Is there maybe someone you continue that facade for?" The band president growled, but Peter simply chuckled. "We can discuss later. For now, enjoy your rest from this challenge. I personally found it draining."

Susan greeted the remaining five on the second field. "Soccer, or as it's more prominently known by the majority of the world, and by a much more practical name, football, requires both skill and power to try and score a goal while someone actively defends it. You have to be able to send a ball in a way your opponent is not expecting."

Chef approached the goal and stood in front of it with a scowl on his face. "Get a goal past Hatchet, and you'll be safe for the round. If you fail, you're out. The order for this will be determined based on the race results of last round, so we will go Abigail, Carter, Ben, Celine, Kris." The five lined up accordingly. "The last person to be left without having scored a goal is out of the challenge and will join the other two on the bleachers."

Abigail was up first, and she stared at the soccer ball for a quick second. "Okay, I got this," she said confidently, before slamming the ball as hard as she could at Chef's face. The ball went in exactly the direction she wanted, but Chef simply caught it without moving. "Oh, yeah, he can do that," she mused. "Whoopsie."

Carter stared Chef down for a second, before aiming for the upper back corner of the net, and as he shot the ball, Chef watched as it was way out of reach, and quickly put itself into the goal. "Carter advances on his first shot," Susan noted, "the rest of you four might want to hurry."

Ben was up next, and while he looked terrified, Chef stared him down to try and intimate the pushover. Ben looked over at Peter, who held his smirk as he watched Ben struggle. That was all it took for Ben to fill up with rage and send a shot right above Chef's head. The speed of the ball was even faster than Carter's, and Chef missed it completely. "Another ball to catch Hatchet sleeping on the job," Susan pointed out, causing Chef to grunt in anger. "Next!"

Celine wasted no time on preparation, and simply charged right at the ball. "Here's something to think about when you're cooking!" she taunted as she kicked the ball toward the lower corner, putting some spin on it. Chef once again missed the block, and the ball shot into the net, which meant Celine was advancing. "Awesome!"

Kris was last, and unlike Celine, very much took her time staring down the ball. "Okay, here goes nothing, I guess," she said dully as she tried to kick the ball. It didn't nearly have the speed for Chef to miss it, and he was very much able to run over and catch it before it went in the net. "Oh well," she said.

Abigail was up next again. "Alright, I can't let you block this one..." she took out the second zap dome and attached it to the ball. "I guess Jacob will never get to feel the shock of that one," she lamented, as she kicked the ball right at Chef again. Chef noticed the zap dome sitting on the ball, and jumped out of the way. Once the ball was through, Abigail jumped up in celebration. "Woo! Still in it!"

"Kris you're out," Susan told the deadpan, who simply shrugged and walked over to the bleachers by herself. "That leaves four of you, so let's head over to our next event, which will be sure to be a fun one."

Carter, Abigail, Celine, and Ben went back to the first field, which now had a court in the middle of it, with several dodgeballs lined up in the middle line. "We'll be doing this tournament style," Susan explained. "Carter and Abigail will face off against Celine and Ben, and the losing team will proceed to face each other." Each pair went to a side of the court. "When Hatchet blows the whistle, get ready to throw."

The whistle blew and Carter rushed the center to grab as many balls as he could. Abigail sighed and followed him in. "This isn't a good idea," she suggested, trying to grab a ball before anyone had a shot at her. "Because," Celine and Ben rushed the center also, but were slower than them, "we could've been like them." Abigail took the ball and instantly threw it at Celine, knocking her out of the game.

"I don't need your strategic help," Carter said boldly, "and I don't need any of your help at all. Just stay out of my way and try not to be a nuisance to me any more than you already are." Abigail frowned as they got into a position to wait for Ben.

Ben backed up a lot as Celine began to walk off. "Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "If I knew they were going to do that I wouldn't have rushed the center. Hopefully you can still win this for us."

"Don't worry about it," Ben told her with a smile. "I got this. Just leave everything to me." He aimed the first ball at Carter and launched it, but Carter simply sidestepped it. "Wow, he's fast too," he mumbled.

Carter sighed. "Let's get this out of the way now. Sorry, Ben, but this one's going to hurt." He sent the ball right at Ben, who flinched as he stuck his arms out. When Ben opened his eyes, he hadn't moved an inch, and the ball was firmly between his hands. "Wow," Carter said with a surprised look, "maybe I shouldn't have trained you to do that."

"There's more where that came from!" Ben called out as Carter walked off the court. Ben threw a few balls at Abigail, but the prankster was nimble enough to dodge all of them. "How am I going to hit her?" he asked himself.

Abigail was meanwhile stuck dodging everything. "This is my chance to put him in a dangerous spot," she said confidently, grabbing a few of the balls he dodged. "I just can't let him catch them." She threw a bunch forward, and Ben began to scramble to dodge.

Ben let out a grunt as he made a dive away from one of the balls. "This isn't good," he muttered, "I'm on the ground, she can hit me easily." Abigail smirked as she threw out a final dodgeball, but Ben rolled to the side at the last second, and grabbed it with his hands instead, knocking Abigail out. "Yes!"

Susan nodded. "That does it," she said, Celine and Ben will be moving on to the penultimate challenge of the day, but Carter and Abigail now have to duel it out to see who will be joining them."

Abigail let out a nervous laugh as Carter stood there with his intimidating look. "I don't want to waste any time," he said bluntly, picking up a dodgeball. "You were pesky enough to me this morning, now you'll pay the price!" He launched a few balls at full power at the prankster who narrowly avoided them all, not even trying to catch them.

"Is this what this is about?" she asked in between movements. "You're mad because I brought up Sharron? I was trying to be nice, no need to get so mad just because I mentioned your little girlfriend...actually, she's not that little, she was kind of a force to be reckoned with, which is why we-"

"Enough!" Carter called out, throwing three more balls in Abigail's direction. "You know so little about that, it's time we shut you up!" He hurled a ball right at her, and it was so fast that Abigail couldn't dodge in time, knocking her back a lot and also knocking her out of the game.

Jacob stood up from the bleachers. "What a disgrace to the nobility of this game," he said with a scoff. "He had no need to be so brutish with her...or anyone else." He quickly sat back down, regretting what he had said.

Chef stepped forward. "She's fine, but yeah, that was kinda overkill." Carter gave off a shrug. "Well, it doesn't matter, she's out, there's three of ya left. Head over to the upper section of the track, you'll see Susan there for pole vault."

Abigail: "I might've crossed a line there," she said sheepishly. "I'm normally super good with not actually making people upset. Like Nathan was just mad, he never actually hated me. But, there's definitely a lot about that situation that I don't know. I'll leave them to it, since it doesn't really make sense to me."

Carter: He hung his head down. "I didn't mean to cause such a fuss there," he admitted shaking his head. "It's just that Sharron kind of drifted away during the last few days she was here, then left without any reason to. I don't trust anyone here at this point, but if I had to trust someone, it would have been her." He blinked a few times. "Let's not say that part out loud."

Susan greeted the final three members of the challenge with a pole in her hands. "I taught this while I was a guidance counselor at this school some time ago," she told them with no sincerity in her voice. "The rules are simple." She began running forward with the pole in her hands. "You run forward, and once you're in a solid position, you dig the pole into the ground, and attempt to go over the bar." Susan did exactly that, and landed cleanly over the bar. "If you knock the bar down, you'll be out."

"You're going in reverse order this time," Chef instructed, "so Carter, since you were on the losing team, you're first. Celine, since you lost to Ben, you're next, then Ben will go third, if he even needs to."

Carter simply grunted as he picked up the pole. He charged as fast as he could, planted the pole, and flung himself upward. He soared over the top bar, but ended up also breaking his pole in the process. He landed with a thud on the mat below, satisfied with his result. "That's good enough," he said angrily, stepping off the mat and going to the back of the line.

Celine watched Carter for a bit. "I don't know what's up with him today..." she said to herself as she picked out a new pole to use. She ran toward the planting point and put the pole in, but as she flew up, her height was not enough, and she ended up crashing into the bar, bringing it down with her as she landed on the mat. "Darn," she said with a groan, "I was doing so well today also." She got up. "Well, good luck to you two."

"That was boring to watch," Susan said with a shrug. "No passion in launching yourself in the sky at all. But, she's right, one of you still needs to win immunity. So..." she tossed each of them a blunt wooden sword, and pointed to the middle of the field. Ben and Carter exchanged confused glances before walking over to the middle. In an instant, the middle of the field rose up like a giant platform, and water filled the area below it. "I'm sure for those who watched last season's semifinals, this is a familiar sight."

"Rules are the same," Chef instructed, "knock the other guy off, you win immunity, and try not to kill each other up there. We don't exactly have perfect surveillance up there." He blew his whistle. "Now go."

Carter seemed to show no mercy toward his unofficial pupil, charging at him with full force. Ben held up his sword to block a few times, but the blows Carter delivered were far too strong for him to keep holding on for. "What's gotten into you?" Ben called out. "How are we gonna defeat Peter if you keep trying to kill me like this?"

Carter seemed to stop in his tracks. Everyone watching below stared as he simply stopped moving. "I'm...I'm sorry," he said, dropping his sword. "I got way into my head about what you told me, and with Sharron leaving yesterday. She was one of my closest confidants." He stepped toward the edge. "You should get the immunity. I don't deserve it if I'm going to behave like a child."

Ben shook his head and handed Carter his sword. "I don't want to win like that," he told him, "besides, you need immunity way more than I do. If you lose this, they'll probably all vote against you." He swung at Carter to force him to instinctively block. "C'mon, let me show you how strong I've gotten."

The skeptic smiled. "Thanks, but you're going to have to understand something." He kept swinging with the same force as before. "If I fight you with my full strength," he made a final blow and swiftly knocked Ben over the side, "I'm still going to overpower you big time." Ben fell into the water, leaving Carter on top of the platform.

"That does it," Susan announced. "The winner of today's sports festival is Carter, and he'll have immunity tonight, which means you can vote for him, but those votes won't count." Peter put a palm up to his face, upset with the result, but he was actually hiding a smirk.

Peter: "I may have done worse than a sack of wet mice in the challenge today," he admitted, "but I made up for it by playing mental gymnastics around everyone. Celine and Kris are under my thumb, Ben and Jacob are paranoid, and by leaving Abigail and Carter alone, it forced them to interact, creating results way more toxic than I was expecting." He smirked. "This was seriously the easiest elimination I've done."

The seven remaining players were sitting in the lobby of the dorms now, everyone already fully recovered from the day. "You all had a very trying day today, whether or not you realize it," Susan told them, "but at the end of every day, we send someone home." She pulled out six Chef erasers. "As a friendly reminder for those left, if you don't get a Chef Hatchet-styled eraser, you will be sent instantly to the Bus of Shame, with no chance of coming back to the show."

Everyone eagerly waited to see who was going to stay in the game. "Carter," Susan called first, "here is your immunity. You're in the clear." Carter simply put up his hand and caught the eraser, not responding to her. "Kris and Peter, you two are safe tonight as well." Kris grabbed her eraser, but Peter looked surprised to hear himself be called so early.

"Celine and Abigail are also safe." The master chef and the musical prankster smiled as they got their erasers, keeping them in the game. "Now," Susan said, "we're down to two, and most of you look pretty surprised, so I wanted to show off who voted for who, as a merge treat." Everyone gasped. "I hope you watched your mouths tonight."

First up was Ben. "I don't see a reason this doesn't go perfectly," he said confidently. "I'm voting for Peter, and there's no reason that people wouldn't do the same. If only we could have stopped him before we lost Claire or Nolan."

Celine's was next. "This...this hurts," she admitted, placing her vote. "Ben, I wish it didn't have to be this way, but if you knew why, I think you'd understand. This is hard for me, I hate this part of the show."

Jacob went next. "Just so we're clear," he announced. "Peter's 'persuasion' meant nothing to me today. I'm voting for Ben because should Susan reinstate teams he is a potential threat to my leader status, and that is the story I'm sticking with."

Fourth up was Abigail. "I can't do this anymore," she said frantically with a large amount of panic in her voice. "I need Jacob out of here, my head's being all messed up and stuff, I need him gone. Nothing personal, well, actually, all of it is."

Then Carter's vote played. "I figure this is who you normally vote for, so I'll help out." He put his vote down. "I'm voting for Jacob, I feel bad about how the dodgeball game went today. That wasn't my best. Hopefully this makes up for it a bit."

Next up was Kris. "If I actually explained my vote, it would undo everything that is the reason I'm voting for this person. Ben, I enjoyed our time together with our group, but unfortunately this has to happen."

Finally, Peter went. "I have absolute confidence things went the way I wanted them to go. Even if I voted for myself, I'd stay in the game. But, I don't like taking that kind of risk. I'm voting for Ben. You shouldn't have gotten rid of your immunity. You should have let Carter take that hit."

Everyone was silent when the recordings finished, but Peter broke the silence. "What gives, Hazel?" Peter complained in his actual tone. "You let me play my game for this long, what was the point in that?"

Susan shrugged. "I did it because those voting confessionals were simply very telling, and it will be excellent for tomorrow's challenge." She looked over at Ben. "Speaking of which...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...Ben, you're out of the game with four votes." Ben frowned and stood up. "Unlike last time, you're not going to get another chance. There's not even a team for you to go to. Your time on the show is done."

"That's okay," Ben admitted. "I really appreciate the second chance you gave me." He went over to Celine and Kris. "I'm not really sure what your reason was for doing this, but I take it it's important." The two of them nodded. "That's fine, I bet Peter had something to do with that as well." He pulled the piece of the note out of the pocket. "Well, I'm out of the game now. I think I'll give Brenna a call." He waved goodbye to everyone and got on the bus.

Carter sighed. "He took that really well," he pointed out. "And, at least now we have full confirmation that Peter's been a little weasel the entire time." Everyone glared at the mathematician. "You better pray you win immunity tomorrow."

Peter sighed. "So be it, I've taken on five people before. But, Ben was a threat, and now he's gone. For the weaker in the bunch, you're welcome." He stood up and left, leaving them all to stare at him as he walked out.

Once everyone left, Carter stopped Abigail. "I meant what I said," he told her. "Truth be told, you're annoying and I can't stand you, but you didn't deserve the kind of force I used today."

"Meh, I've been called worse," the prankster admitted. "But now we gotta work together, since we have that tiny kid to worry about." She shot him a wink. "You better be nicer tomorrow. I don't want to have to change targets again." She skipped off to go head up to her room.

"You really messed up that kid's game," Chef said with a laugh, "but I will admit, all those confessionals were really good." Susan sighed as he continued to laugh at her action she took during elimination.

She let out a huff. "You worked with McLean for years, this is exactly something he has done, and would have done in this situation. He's a criminal, but I have to respect some of the things he did to make the show more interesting."

The cameras came in and Susan got ready for her closing. "We're down to six, and we'll lose five more. Tomorrow will be easier for some, but even more challenging for others. See who wins and who loses next week, on Total! Drama! Cultivated Will!"

Teams:

Merge: Abigail, Carter, Celine, Jacob, Kris, Peter

Eliminated: Gianna, George, Leo, Claire, Nala, Nolan, Nathan, Brenna, Sharron, Ben

It pains me to say it, but Ben is out of the game and our first merged contestant to be eliminated. I really enjoyed his arc this season, and he definitely was awesome to write. Apologies to lordgemini who was rooting for him to win, it seems that won't be happening.

We did a giant sports gauntlet today, and while I was writing, I was reminded of the final 7 challenge from Tyranny of the Masses, which followed a very similar fashion, except they gambled in a casino, which is not an extra-curricular activity in schools.

Peter's finally outed, and it seems the tides of this game have changed once again. The reveal of the confessionals was a last minute decision, it was originally just going to be Ben telling everyone, but I much prefer his dignified exit to him ratting out the rat.

Now that we are over halfway done the season, I want to announce two characters per update that will be competing in next season, Total Drama Power Peak. The two I'm confirming for this week are Juan and Hannah.

So what did you think of this week? We're down to four chapters left now, and it is anyone's game at this point. Who do you think is going to win? Let me know what you think in the reviews! Even just to stop by and say you're reading and enjoying it, anything is appreciated! Until then, I'll see you next time!