Total Drama Sci-Fi Showdown

by XBloodLegendX

This new season of Total Drama involves a whole new cast and a whole new spot. Taking place inside a building called the Drama Dome, the 24 contestants will take on sci-fi based challenges in virtual reality for 1 million dollars. Will they be legends across galaxies, or fade away in stardust? Find out now, on Total. Drama. Sci-Fi Showdown!

20. Chapter 19: Truth and Lies on Trial

"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

---

"Last time on Total Drama Sci-Fi Showdown," Chris started off while grinning his signature smile at the camera. "Everyone put on their swimsuits and dove deep down into the sea for their challenge." The hologram showed numerous monster sea creatures swarming in numbers.

"They fought off the natives to reach the goal, which is the core of the alien planet of Piscciss." Chris chuckled. "Their challenge is to steal it, and the first person to do so wins immunity and of course a spot in the Sci-Fi Mansion." He said. The hologram now showed the contestants on board their mini vessels that served as their transport.

"They raced to the center of the planet, all while trying to stay alive." Chris stated, with the hologram showing footage of Felix ejecting from his vessel, Valerie's vessel being pummeled by the hostile sea creatures, and Lucy and Jude fending off the sea creatures. "Many failed to even get close, while some just had a poor strategy to begin with." He chuckled sadistically.

The hologram now showed Jude, Arnold, Tatiana, Nicholas, and Phoebe's portraits. "Those that did survive the first half did their best to steal the core. And in the end, it was Nicholas who swiped immunity." Chris announced.

"Strategy came into play that night, with alliances being tried and tested for the first time in a big scale." Chris said in a dramatic voice. "But the person who went home that night was the ace striker Arnold Kicksalot." He chuckled at the last part. "Man, I love his name. But anyways, who will win the next immunity challenge? Can Phoebe's asset be useful once again in the next challenge? And how will Lucy bounce back from last night's unfortunate elimination? Find out here on Total..Drama..Sci-Fi Showdown!" He finished with arms spread out dramatically.

---

(Sci-Fi Mansion)

Phoebe was walking around the garden to admire the flowers when she saw Nataline sitting down by the gazebo, plucking the petals off a sunflower with a furrowed brow.

"G-Good morning, Nataline." Phoebe greeted the other girl.

"Oh hello there, Phoebe." Nataline greeted back, her mood lightening when she saw the doll faced girl.

"C-Can I s-sit here with you?" Phoebe asked meekly as she motioned towards the seat across from the gazebo.

"Of course you can." Nataline smiled sweetly. Phoebe smiled back and sat down then looked at all the fallen petals on the ground beneath her.

"So why a-are you doing this to the f-flowers?" Phoebe asked with a slight frown.

"Sorry it's just that I'm not especially fond of them." Nataline sighed. "Yes I know that the best thing to do is stay inside, but for some reason plucking out petals calms me."

"Calms y-you?" Phoebe repeated. "Is s-something bothering you?"

"There's this competition." Nataline pointed out. "And the fact that people are going to target Nicholas and I because we won immunity at least once."

"I w-won immunity too and I d-don't see myself as b-being targeted." Phoebe frowned.

"That's because people adore you. But you never know, maybe Cyrus is out to get you." Nataline shrugged.

"I h-hope not." Phoebe cowered a bit.

"Calm down, I didn't mean to worry you." Nataline lightened up a bit. "But you can trust Nicholas and I. I know Nicholas was a bit blunt during the last challenge so I hope you'll forgive him."

"I u-understand." Phoebe nodded. "He's just trying to w-win too. I can't b-be mad about that."

"Have you ever gotten mad in our time here yet?" Nataline asked.

"I d-don't think so." Phoebe admitted after thinking for a while. She gave a shy smile. "I a-always get anxious a-anyway."

"That's good." Nataline giggled. Then quickly realized what she said. "I meant the fact you didn't get angry yet, not the other one."

Now it was Phoebe's turn to giggle. "What about you, N-Nataline? Have you gotten a-angry yet?"

"Countless times already." Nataline admitted with a shrug. "Not my fault Terrance pisses me off a lot."

"H-He does?" Phoebe blinked. "He isn't a-annoying me or a-anything."

"He doesn't have a reason to." Nataline explained. "But for me, one look and he's already on my case. I'd like to think he's simply jealous of me." She huffed. "I did nothing wrong to him on the first day we got here. He's in the wrong."

"I s-see." Phoebe said, not quite understanding everything she said. "W-Well I hope you two g-get along someday."

Nataline laughed as she stared down at the flower she held with only a few petals left intact. She plucked them out as well. "That'll be the day."

~Confessional~

Phoebe: I don't get w-why those two keep f-fighting, but I really h-hope they get along one d-day. They k-kinda look cute together. *she giggles softly*

Nataline: Phoebe really is an innocent girl, huh? Unlike me who's already seen so many horrors of this world, she's acting her age and just enjoying the game.

~End Confessional~

Nicholas explored around the mansion a bit more, looking at every nook and cranny as he did.

"I never got to get a good look at this place even since the hide and seek challenge." He noted to himself. "If I know Chris, he would have placed a few secrets in this mansion." The detective rounded a corner and went inside a bathroom to investigate.

"The trap door leading to the basement was one thing. I'm surprised Delilah even managed to find out about it." Nicholas pondered as he opened the cover of the toilet tank and found nothing suspicious. He then tried for behind the medicine cabinet but no such luck. He left the bathroom and continued on his way.

"Perhaps the machinery lab will yield better results for me." Nicholas muttered as he opened the door to the said room and entered. It was cleaned up after that challenge days ago, with the worktables all clean again and the tools well organized and neatly arranged. "If Terrance won a challenge, he would hole up in here I'd assume." He then picked up the terminator's head and inspected it. "Which is why he cannot be allowed to win once."

He left and went upstairs once again. If exploring the other rooms yielded no results, then it is about time he returns to the two suspicious rooms on the ends of the same hallway where the bedrooms were. He first approached the Silver Terminators' reward room.

"I wonder what is behind this door." He said to himself and entered. The asset room was exactly the same as when Phoebe entered it yesterday. Nicholas walked towards the center and gazed upon the pedestal. He pressed down on the red button, and the hatch slowly opened. "This is..." He tilted his head at what he got.

~Confessional~

Nicholas: After receiving the asset, I went to the other reward room. I got acquainted with the AI there before asking my question. I believe I have a fairly good idea on what the next challenge may be, and how I can win it.

~End Confessional~

---

(Conservatory)

Terrance was sitting under a small tree, staring at all his collected parts from outside.

"Just a few more bolts and maybe an extra metal sheet to be safe, and I can begin." The techie boy muttered to himself.

"What are you working on?" Valerie went over to him, waving flirtatiously.

"Something for myself." Terrance said. Valerie sat down beside him a little too close.

"Ooh~ Sounds really cool." Valerie purred. "Why not make me an asset too?" She winked.

"Sorry, don't have enough materials." Terrance grunted.

"You sound cold. What did I ever do to you?" Valerie pouted playfully.

"I'm just not comfortable around girls." Terrance sighed. "Nothing personal against you."

"But girls are nice. And hot." Valerie winked again and giggled cutely. This made Terrance blush a little but he held his ground. "You should give us a chance."

"Look I had enough girls get on my case, and not in a good way." Terrance told her as he picked up a small iron rod and a bolt to inspect it a bit.

"What do you mean?" Valerie blinked. "Oh wait, is this about you and Nataline?"

"Part of it, yeah." Terrance admitted.

"You mean there are others?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah, like I kinda pissed Tatiana off yesterday with what I said. I didn't even know she was listening in so it's not my fault!" The techie boy defended.

"Well some girls are that fragile with words." Valiere pouted. "And I didn't think Tatiana was the type to get pissed that easily. Good job."

"Thanks." Terrance said sarcastically as he adjusted his glasses.

"But really you should go and talk to her about it." Valerie insisted and tugged at his hoodie. Terrance just shrugged her off.

"I'll do it later after I finish this." He said dismissively.

"But you can make her feel better if you apologize." Valerie reasoned.

"Like I said, later." Terrance repeated with emphasis on the last word.

~Confessional~

Valerie: Terrance would rather go make himself an asset than go apologize to an adorable girl like Tatiana. And doesn't he already have an asset of his own? Why the need for another? Okay I get that winning the game is on his mind, but I know it'll leave a bad taste in his mouth if he doesn't fix his social problem first.

Terrance: Valerie is just being this carefree because she can just sit back and relax while her alliance does all the work. Me? I need these assets in order to stay in the game. Apologizing can come later.

~End Confessional~

Felix walked alone down the streets of the abandoned city. He kept his thoughts to himself as he kicked aside empty cans he happened to stumble upon.

"This sucks." The prankster said sadly. "So much for the underdog team." He sighed to himself.

"I think this goes over here?" He heard Tatiana's voice coming from a nearby car repair shop and peeked inside to find the gamer girl fixing up her mecha chocobo.

"Hey Tatiana." Felix greeted.

"Oh hey there, Felix." Tatiana greeted back but didn't look at him as she too busy fixing something from under the chocobo with a wrench.

"Repairing your asset, I see." The prankster grinned as he sat down on the spacious spot on the worktable.

"I have to. I wanna keep up with the rest." Tatiana said. "Plus Terrance isn't helping me so I'm doing this alone." She said sadly.

"Sorry to hear that. Guess you have it rough too." Felix sighed.

"Oh yeah, Arnold was voted off last night. You were pretty sad about that, huh?" Tatiana said as she sat up and looked at the prankster.

"Yeah. We were supposed to be the underdog team. You know, making big comebacks against Cassie's alliance. But I guess it isn't happening." Felix scratched the back of his head.

"You can always join my party along with Nataline and Nicholas." Tatiana offered. "But then again, I don't even know what they're up to nowadays."

"Sorry, I'm in an alliance with Lucy." Felix admitted.

"What!?" Tatiana gasped and stood up now, her mecha chocobo startled then letting out a squawk. "Why would you do that!?"

"Why not? She's pretty good at strategy." Felix blinked, confused at her sudden outburst.

"She's just manipulating you, just like what she's doing to Terrance." Tatiana pointed out.

"Really? That's why he's sticking by her?" Felix thought for a moment. "Well I still need her protection."

"No you don't. You can help me vote her out!" Tatiana exclaimed. "Come on! Red Sith for life, right?"

"But it's just gonna be the two of us, Nataline, and Nicholas." Felix counted off. "We're still in the minori- Wait a minute, no we're not." He realized. "Lucy would be left with just Jude and Terrance."

"See? We can work this out." Tatiana gave a toothy grin, clearly pleased with herself.

"I'll think about it." Felix said to her with a smile. "But I'm leaning towards this whole 'Red Sith for life' thing." He laughed.

"Thanks!" She beamed. "Oh, can you pass me that screwdriver?" She pointed at the tool beside him. Felix got it and tossed it to her, which she caught.

~Confessional~

Tatiana: Felix is a nice person, so I kinda feel bad for not including him in my party back in the beginning. But hey, it's never too late to recruit new party members!

Felix: Tatiana does have a good point. If I join them, I won't be in the minority anymore. But of course there is still Cassie's alliance to worry about.

~End Confessional~

Cyrus walked around the ruined park with a piqued interest. He inspected the abnormal state of the park's fountain.

"Why didn't I go to this part of the city?" He wondered in amazement.

"Because I usually dwell here in my free time." Lucy smirked from behind him. It startled the emo boy a bit but he quickly hid it before facing her.

"Oh it's you." Cyrus said in a deadpan.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing today. Still being the same old Cyrus I see." Lucy giggled in a sinister way.

"You laugh like that because you're on your high horse." Cyrus spat. "You never gave me any updates. Always having Marvin to do it for you."

"Really now?" Lucy looked surprised. "I didn't give Marvin any orders these past few nights since Jane's elimination." She said.

"I knew it. He was lying." Cyrus sighed. "Look I'm pretty much done with whatever you have to say. So just beat it."

"But this is my spot." Lucy said with an evil grin. "You're the one who should 'beat it'."

"But I'm getting inspiration from this park." Cyrus said with a glare her way. Jude walked towards them while whistling.

"Hey what are you doing here? Lucy, is this guy bothering you?" Jude asked his girlfriend while glancing at Cyrus.

"Yes he is. He won't leave me alone and was about to tell me to leave our favorite spot." Lucy said with a pout and looked down sadly. Jude clenched his fists and stormed up to Cyrus.

"You better apologize to her and leave." He demanded.

"I'll leave, but I won't apologize." Cyrus sneered and turned on his heel before leaving. However, Jude grabbed the back of his shirt and spun him back around. "Wha- Hey!"

"I said, apologize." Jude glared down at him while pointing at Lucy behind him, unaware that she was looking at Cyrus with a victorious smirk.

"Fine, dammit. I'm sorry." Cyrus said with fake sincerity. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah. Beat it." Jude said rudely. Cyrus turned and left, rolling his eyes and mimicking his face as he said, 'Beat it'.

~Confessional~

Cyrus: Lucy is that confident in herself that she would want to make an enemy out of me now? Well screw her! I don't need her! I knew I'm gonna be eliminated someday but first I want Phoebe gone and then her gone. I just wanted to be in the park for a few minutes. Nothing wrong with that. *he rolled his eyes*

Lucy: *her red eyes glows brightly* That Cyrus needs to learn who calls the shots here. Yes he got led on by Marvin these last few eliminations, but that's his fault for being so...distant from everyone else. No one will help him. No one will save him. What can he do but obey me?

Jude: I swear the next time I see Cyrus ever talking to Lucy like that again, I'll beat him up like last time. *his eyes suddenly widened* Wait a minute, am I turning into a bully? Naw, I'm doing it for love. It's justified. Right?

~End Confessional~

Marvin was in the geyser area, just looking at how it spews out as he pondered on a lot of things. Cassie approached from behind him, with narrowed eyes and a frown on her face.

"Marvin." She said. "We need to talk, ya hear?"

"Sure thing." Marvin turned around to face her with a smile, which dropped immediately after seeing her expression. "What's wrong?"

"Who did ya vote for last night?" Cassie asked him sternly.

"For Arnold." Marvin said honestly. "Phoebe told me about it."

"Well something's been bugging me last night." Cassie shook her head. "Especially after Nicholas n' Nataline said they voted for Desmond back then."

"And you believe them over me?" Marvin frowned. "I am your alliance member."

Cassie scratched the back of her head. "They ain't lookin' like they're lying though."

"And that's your only basis?" Marvin sighed. "Then believe what you want." He turned away and kept observing the geysers.

"Hey come on now. It's just a suspicion, ya know." Cassie reached out to touch his shoulder. "I still consider ya a friend."

"Me too, which is why I hope you can trust me." Marvin said without looking at her.

"Yeah I trust ya." Cassie smiled now.

"Thanks." Marvin smiled a bit. "If that's all, I just wanna be alone with my thoughts for now."

"Oh okay. Ya can talk if ya need anything, okay?" Cassie said as she walked away.

"Yeah. Thanks again." Marvin said as he heard her leave. "And sorry." He muttered to himself once she was out of earshot.

~Confessional~

Cassie: Maybe it was a bit much to doubt Marvin like that without proof or anything ya know. But it was just bugging me so I thought I could talk to him 'bout it.

Marvin: Every time I talk to her or to anyone else from her alliance, my heart beats faster. I start to sweat a bit too. They don't notice it so it's fine, but am I starting to regret what I'm doing? I wonder what the price I have to pay will be if they find out. And...is it really worth it?

~End Confessional~

Cassie found Lucy in the park, talking to Terrance about something.

"Howdy y'all." Cassie greeted.

"Ah, good morning." Lucy greeted, her red eye glowing a bit.

"Hey." Terrance greeted half-heartedly.

"Real close one last night." Cassie chuckled a bit. "Valerie almost went home last night."

"Almost? I'm sure the votes weren't that close." Lucy mused as she looked towards the ranch girl. "I think a few stray votes just made it's way to her."

"I guess." Cassie shrugged. "So who did y'all vote for?"

"We voted for Arnold, right Terrance?" Lucy turned towards the techie boy as her red eye glowed a bit and with an innocent smile, hoping he would take the hint.

"Uh yeah. We voted for Arnold." Terrance said while adjusting his glasses. "He's a physical threat after all."

"They say I'm a physical threat too ya know." Cassie pointed out.

"Yes but you are our ally." Lucy immediately said with a grin. "Why would we vote you out over Arnold?"

"Fair point." Cassie conceded.

"So who's the next vote?" Terrance asked Lucy.

"Either Nataline or Nicholas." Lucy answered. "I'm still weighing our options."

"Let's do one over Nicholas and send him home again y'all." Cassie suggested.

"But Nataline might make a comeback if she stays any longer. We should take her out first." Terrance argued.

"And this is why I'm still thinking about it." Lucy sighed. "Either option has its ups and downs. I don't want to make any wrong decisions."

"I get it." Terrance muttered.

"Ya got a point there." Cassie tipped her hat backward.

"But don't worry, I'll definitely make a decision by tonight." Lucy grinned.

~Confessional~

Lucy: Both Nicholas and Nataline are thorns in my side, but I must not rush with removing it or else the damage will get worse. I need to think hard about what to do, especially after Arnold's elimination.

Cassie: My gut tells me Lucy is up to something but I pay no mind to that. I mean I had suspicions about Marvin and I was dead wrong ya know so maybe trusting Lucy ain't so bad of a choice.

~End Confessional~

---

Chris called up the remaining contestants outside of the conservatory, and made sure to give a portal for the ones coming from the mansion. They all gathered up for their next challenge.

"Everyone here?" Chris looked around. "Good."

"I hope the next challenge is another physical one." Cassie grinned.

"Damn you and your strength." Cyrus rolled his eyes.

"Quiet!" Chris ordered. "You guys are really gonna want to hear about this challenge. Because it's simple in concept, but can wreck every foundation you have whether as an alliance, as friends, or as individuals." He said ominously then laughed sadistically.

"What?" Tatiana blinked.

"As an alliance?" Lucy narrowed her eyes at the host.

"As friends?" Marvin repeated then started wondering to himself.

"As individuals?" Nataline looked a bit nervous as Chris said that.

"So it's not a physical challenge?" Jude inquired.

"Nope, but I can assure you that it's mentally straining." Chris chuckled. "Prepare yourself either way."

"W-Wasn't the phobia c-challenge enough?" Phoebe said anxiously.

"In Total Drama, no contestant torture is enough." Chris laughed more.

"Then let's get right to it." Terrance sighed.

"That's the spirit! Follow me." Chris tapped something on a small blue hologram screen on his wrist and a portal appeared behind him. The contestants all filed into the portal one by one to go to the next location designated for their challenge.

~Confessional~

Marvin: This might be troublesome for me, or not. I don't know, depends on the challenge really.

Nataline: Wreck my foundation as an individual? What does that mean? I can already tell it's going to be a hard challenge but still.

Nicholas: Yes, I think I have a fair chance at winning this challenge with the asset I have. I simply hope the others do not take advantage of the opportunities too much.

~End Confessional~

---

The contestants all emerged from the portal and looked all around them. A spacious area, though obviously a closed one. Neon grid lines resembling that of data lines crawled along the walls and glowed a bright green. There seemed to be no entrance nor exit, and so they realize it's essentially a large steel box they're in.

"Dude, where are we?" Felix looked around in awe.

"Not somewhere we want to be." Lucy's red eye glowed as she narrowed her eyes at the center of the room. Twelve pedestals stood in a circle and rather close to each other.

"Come on. I'll show you to your pedestals. You can't just stand anywhere." Chris chuckled and motioned for them to follow him. Soon, they all stood on their respective pedestals. In clockwise order is Nicholas, Marvin, Nataline, Cassie, Phoebe, Lucy, Jude, Felix, Cyrus, Tatiana, Terrance, and then Valerie.

"Hey what are these?" Jude asked the host as he pointed at the alloy insignia atop the pedestal, with a small stand to keep it upright. His was a blue longbow that is shown drawing back an arrow, with lightning sparks instead of feathers at its rear.

"It's good you noticed that. Those are your emblems, representing you or your family and is basically there to remind you twelve are now part of the real merge cast." Chris grinned.

"It's stuck." Valerie pouted as she tried to remove hers from the pedestal but it looked like the stand is stuck to it. Hers is a scarlet lips that are puckered and formed a small heart in the middle.

"That's because all you can do is admire it, not take it back." Chris laughed sadistically. "You didn't think I'd let you have too much glory, now would you?"

"Ass." Cyrus muttered under his breath. His insignia was a dark crimson raven with its wings spread and its face pointing skyward with a skull mark on its chest. "It looked really symbolic too."

"Aw shucks. I wanna keep this too y'all." Cassie frowned as she stared at her insignia. It's the head of a brown bull with the horns curved downward and is wearing a cowboy hat. It also looked to have a golden nose ring.

"It would be nice, but I have one back home." Nicholas inspected his own insignia which was a round dark obsidian gem surrounded by a vortex of black fire that swirled menacingly. The intricacy of the gem looked so well made, one could assume it was alive.

"The same goes for me. Although, I could use one in my room." Nataline remarked as she stared at her insignia, which was the same as the pin on her dress, a big 'L' with a cross behind it and adorned with three roses at the bottom part.

"I find it c-cute." Phoebe said with a small smile as she looked at hers. Its a female white doll with a flowing yellow skirt and with its hands dramatically playing the violin, and small circles resembling the audience's heads are in the background surrounding it, watching the doll perform.

"Interesting too." Terrance adjusted his glasses as he stared intently at his insignia. It resembles a triangle, with the top point looking like the front end of a star destroyer ship, the left point looking like the psi-blade he has, and the right point being a blaster. All this connects through arcs of lightning that formed the triangle and the inside of it are circuit lines much like the ones in the area itself.

Lucy stared down at hers silently, and narrowed her eyes. It resembled a theater mask, but instead it was just a sad face with both a halo and devil horns on its head. The right eye was glowing red just like hers, while the left eye had a single tear streaming down the cheek. Jude noticed this and was about to say something when he saw her sad expression while looking at it and decided against speaking.

"Mine is so awesome!" Tatiana exclaimed with a grin. Her insignia is a circular outline with three hearts on the top part with the colors red, blue, and green. In the middle is a yellow chocobo head with a squawking beak, and a spearhead with the tip facing upwards in its background. "It's a chocobo!"

"Mine is pretty neat too." Felix smirked as he proudly presented his insignia by pointing at it with both index fingers. It's a jester running while holding a whoopie cushion with a mischievous grin on his face. On his other hand is a fake centipede.

"Hmm, not bad." Marvin looked at his insignia in wonder. It's a large green question mark upside down, with a figure in a thinking position sitting at the hook-like part of the symbol. The dot on the question mark almost resembled a small sun.

"Well enough of that. We still have a challenge to do." Chris got everyone's attention again. "But first, we have to introduce the one who's going to instruct you."

"Isn't that your job?" Cyrus raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, don't be an irresponsible host." Tatiana added.

"Look I don't know how to handle this properly." Chris frowned. "But this one is an expert. And for some of you, a familiar voice."

"A voice?" Felix looked confused.

"That is correct, Felix Henderson." The voice said in a monotone, echoing around the room.

"What the- Who's there?" The prankster looked around in a panic.

"It does sound familiar." Cyrus realized as he looked around as well. Everyone followed suit but found no one there.

"You will find nothing and no one with those eyes." The voice said. "To those who are not familiar with me, I am Marietta. I serve as the instructor for this challenge." Marietta explained.

"It's you after all." Nataline gave a small smile. "I think I know why."

"Who's this Marietta y'all?" Cassie scratched the back of her head in confusion.

"The AI who knows all about us." Nicholas stated. "Or so she says."

"Whoa, really?" Tatiana blinked, looking shocked.

"That's kinda embarrassing." Valerie admitted with a small blush.

"Sounds probable. But I'm not so sure." Terrance said skeptically.

"I assure you that my programming will prove useful in this challenge." Marietta assured the techie boy. "And when I prove that, you'll wish I didn't."

"Is the challenge that bad?" Marvin wondered aloud.

"We don't even know what it is yet." Lucy scoffed.

"Chris, I will take over from here." Marietta said to the host.

"Yep. All yours." Chris said and pressed something on his wrist again. Moments later, he disappeared in blue flickers.

"And now we may begin." Marietta said. "The challenge is to ask questions to your fellow contestants and they will answer it without lying."

"That's it?" Jude blinked. "That's simple."

"You're not thinking hard enough then." Lucy sighed and glared around the room.

"Ask them anything and the other person cannot lie." Cyrus repeated. "It does sound difficult if you're creative enough."

"What happens when that person lies?" Nataline asked Marietta.

"That is a good question. The walls in the room will shrink slowly until the truth has been spoken. As the walls shrink, points will be awarded to the one who asked the question and I will keep track of it." Marietta answered. This earned a few concerned murmurs from the contestants.

"I know I don't have claustrophobia but no way do I wanna get crushed." Valerie gulped.

"Wait, I have a question before we start." Marvin spoke up. "What happens if the person himself does not know he is lying? Like he said an answer he really believes is true even though it's generally a lie."

"Then the walls will not close in." Marietta answered. "I will not punish those who truly believe in something, a lie or not in an outside perspective. I will, however, declare the truth of the matter if it's a lie."

"I see." Marvin went back to his own thoughts, deep in thought about something.

"If there are no more answers, then may we begin?" Marietta asked them. Everyone looked at each other, some are nervous, others looked unfazed. It didn't seem like anyone has any more questions. "I will take that as a yes. Let the challenge commence."

The circuit grid lines suddenly turned blue, and a low whirring sound can be heard. In the center of all the pedestals rose a hologram table, with a thin blue light coming down from the ceiling.

"Everyone is allowed only one question to ask and the winner will be determined by how much the questioner made the walls shrink with his question. Which means if you do not want someone to win, you had best answer honestly." Marietta explained. "Nicholas, as the winner of the last challenge, you may start us off with your question." The AI said to the detective. Nicholas nodded and glanced at everyone.

~Confessional~

Nicholas: I'll get the truth out of certain people one way or another. I have an asset to help me prod and learn more about them while making sure they lose this challenge.

Lucy: *her red eye is glowing in a wrathful way* I better make sure I get an easy ride in this challenge, although I'm sure that detective won't let me go easily.

Valerie: Hopefully everyone just tells the truth so we won't get crushed. It's gonna be slow and painful and I don't want that. *she pouts*

~End Confessional~

Nicholas stared at Lucy with a poker face, then took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"I will now ask my question." The detective said rather coldly. "Lucy, are you truly the one here right now or is it the other self? The suppressed yet evil side of you?

"What?" Lucy glared at him and her red eye glowed.

"Aha! I knew something was wrong with her!" Tatiana exclaimed, clearly pleased with herself that she wasn't the only one who thought that.

"Hey, what kind of question is that!?" Jude demanded.

"Silence." Marietta said to the marksman. "Lucy will speak now."

"I..." Lucy glanced around at their faces, some curious, some confused, a few are terrified. "Yes! Of course I'm the Lucy you all know! There is only one after all." She suddenly blurted out.

Just then, the room began to shrink slowly. The whirring sound intensified as they all saw the walls slowly close in on them, the neon lights on the circuit grid turning red. Jude looked especially shocked by this and turned back to his girlfriend, who kept her glare on the detective while the latter returned her gaze with a steady look.

"I suppose we know what this means." Nicholas said. "But the challenge requires for you to admit it yourself."

"Shut up!" Lucy retorted. She then looked troubled a bit then glanced at Jude's hurt look. After seeing how much the walls are closing in, she softened her expression and sighed. "Fine, fine! I admit it. I'm not the Lucy you know. In fact, I'm not the Lucy you liked." She admitted while looking at the marksman. "Sorry Jude."

The walls abruptly stopped closing in but did not revert back to its normal state. The lights turned back to blue and the whirring sound stopped.

"And Lucy has told the truth." Marietta announced. A hologram appeared on the table before them and showed the footage of the phobia challenge, specifically what happened during Lucy's part of the challenge. "Lucy Woods was consumed by her other self during the phobia challenge, and now her evil side has completely taken control of her body."

"What?" Jude looked on in disbelief as the footage getting cut down by her evil self.

"She is now more aggressive, more intelligent, and sinister in nature." Marietta listed. "This is truly not the same Lucy that entered the game from day one."

"Is this true?" Jude asked her with a worried look. He tried to reach out and touch her but she instantly turned to face him, her right red eye glowing furiously.

"Yes it's true! I admitted it, didn't I!?" Lucy yelled. "But what of it!? This changes nothing."

"Yes it does." Nicholas said coldly. "It means you are a true criminal and a mastermind behind evil deeds."

"Evil deeds?" Lucy turned her head to face the detective with spite in her voice. "What are evil deeds here in Total Drama? Tell me! Because I played this game like everyone else. I did not cheat, and simply played to the best of my abilities! There is nothing wrong with that!"

"Yeah there is! You're manipulating my friends." Tatiana pouted.

"Shut up! You don't get to have a say in this." Lucy seethed angrily. "I'm not gifted with physical strength, and I'm not a social butterfly either! All I have are my wits. What's wrong with using that?" She glared at the gamer girl.

"Hey calm down." Terrance told her.

"Don't you start with me." Lucy turned towards the techie boy. "You've got a mind to invent assets! I don't. So what's wrong with what I'm doing? I want to win just as much as you all do, yet your moral compass is getting in the way."

"Moral compass? No, this is absolute justice we are talking about." Nicholas interrupted. "My justice dictates that criminals like you should be judged. You should have played with good intent. Or better yet, play the game without a criminal record."

"Um Nicholas?" Nataline tried to say. "That seems kind of harsh."

"The world is harsh, and some of us are trying to make this world a better place for the innocent. This girl here has hindered good and honest progress." Nicholas reasoned. "She does not deserve the million." He said coldly.

"Okay now that's really harsh to say." Felix frowned. "Back off dude."

"I swear I will fu-" Lucy started to say in a wrathful tone when Marietta's voice interjected.

"That will be enough, Lucy. You as well, detective." The AI said. "It is time we move on with the challenge."

"Phew, that was intense. And not in the way I like." Valerie sighed in relief.

"Is i-it over y-y-yet?" Phoebe asked fearfully, apparently crouched down to hide behind her pedestal.

"You got scared by the loud voices huh?" Marvin frowned a bit as he glanced at her.

"T-They were just s-so angry." Phoebe cowered.

"If you keep bickering like this, we will never finish the challenge. Save it for the elimination ceremony." Marietta said. Lucy still seethed with anger but said nothing else. Nicholas looked as calm and composed as always, as if the earlier ordeal didn't happen. Jude didn't know what to say to his girlfriend and didn't want to touch her for fear of her lashing out at him. Nataline slightly glanced at the detective, a bit concerned he was feeling unfazed.

"That was good drama. So who's next?" Cyrus snickered.

"Now it is Marvin's turn to ask a question." Marietta said.

"Oh? So we're doing it clockwise?" Marvin asked.

"That is correct." Marietta affirmed.

~Confessional~

Marvin: I wonder what I should ask. Should I ask a groundbreaking question like Nicholas? Or lay low and be mild about it?

Jude: I still can't believe what just happened. So I'm not dating the Lucy I asked out? That doesn't make any sense! Lucy is Lucy right? But I watched that hologram footage and if that's the truth then I don't know what to believe anymore.

Nataline: Did you see Nicholas after all that? It's as if it was child's play to him. It's impressive that he kept his cool, but it's concerning too. Almost inhuman if you ask me.

~End Confessional~

Marvin thought for a while about the question he will ask while glancing at each of the contestants. Finally, he spoke.

"My question goes to Cassie." Marvin said.

"Me?" Cassie blinked and pointed at herself.

"If ever things will go your way, who will you take with you to the final..." Marvin thought for a bit. "...two?"

"What!?" Cassie gasped. Everyone else started to murmur.

"That's a good question." Terrance said while nodding to himself.

"Such a cunning one." Lucy nodded in approval.

"I wonder what her answer will be." Felix said to himself as he looked at the rancher girl, who had her hat tipped forward and her brow furrowed.

"Well that's, um..." Cassie thought. She glanced at Phoebe for a bit, catching her gaze back at her. "Alright, I'll say it y'all. It's Phoebe." She admitted. The others looked around them, and noticed the walls did not close in.

"That is the truth." Marietta affirmed. "Cassie wanted to keep Phoebe in the final two for two main reasons, one being that she deserves to go that far because of all her efforts and hard work, and the other because she is a close friend."

"Well that's pretty biased." Valerie pouted, a bit hurt by what she said. "I'm trying too you know."

"C-Cassie? Is that true?" Phoebe frowned and looked at the ranch girl anxiously.

"Yes it's true." Cassie frowned. "But I really do want a fair finals with ya." She said to the doll faced girl.

"Yes you are honest with what you said." Marietta agreed. The hologram showed all those times that Phoebe trained by herself and the times where Cassie was there to help her out. "Taking Phoebe to the finals to have a fair match with her is exactly the truth of her words, and a way for Phoebe to see the fruits of all her efforts. A single and clean goal. And yet, wouldn't it be wiser to let go of Phoebe's hand and let her brave the merge with what she's learned?"

"Ya got a point." Cassie admitted softly. "Sorry Phoebe." She apologized to her friend.

"It's a-alright. I really u-understand." Phoebe tried to assure her. "I w-was just surprised, that's a-all."

"This is boring! Such lack of drama." Cyrus complained.

"Hey this is true friendship." Tatiana retorted. "Something you clearly don't have."

"I actually got a lot of friends back home." Cyrus countered. "More cultured than you all."

"I highly doubt that." It was Nataline's turn to retort.

"Shut up." Cyrus glared.

"Let us move on to the next person." Marietta announced. "Nataline, it is your turn to ask."

~Confessional~

Cyrus: Seriously? That was it? All was forgiven just like that? Come on people, this is Total Drama for a reason!

Cassie: I'm glad Phoebe forgave me like that y'all. I was shocked for a moment there, thinkin' we lost our friendship n' all but hey it all ended well and she's a good sport for taking it alright.

Phoebe: At l-least Cassie was honest w-with me about it. And I'm n-not really mad at h-her or anything. I still think she's m-my friend and she's just p-playing the g-game like the rest of u-us. I have to d-do my best too.

~End Confessional~

Nataline glared down at Terrance, who returned the gesture. She adjusted the pin insignia on her dress and then spoke.

"Terrance, have you ever seen the world through our perspective, the rich and arrogant as you like to call us, to have the right to judge us like you do?" Nataline asked coldly.

"I kinda expected this to be asked sooner or later." Felix remarked before glancing at the techie boy, who still maintained his glare towards Nataline.

"If only you knew." Terrance seethed. "Yes, I do know life on the other side of the divide for me to judge you. I learned that the hard way!" He banged his right fist, the one with his psionic gauntlet, down the podium hard.

"Terrance is indeed correct." Marietta announced. "At least in an objective standpoint." The table showed another hologram in a form of short clips from Terrance's school. The techie boy is walking down the hallway with a girl holding his hand and a dude beside him, chatting with excitedly. "It all came down to this one event."

"What i-is that?" Phoebe asked.

"Must be a blast from the past." Valerie exclaimed.

"It wasn't that long ago." Terrance said as he stared down at the hologram table in the center while it played the scene. "Two years ago in fact. I dated a girl in my high school, someone my best friend hooked me up with. It was all fine for quite some time."

"That's sweet." Valerie giggled.

"Most would think, yeah." Terrance admitted. "But there are a few who thought something was off as time went on."

"The cynics are always the best." Cyrus smirked.

"I disagree." Nicholas shook his head. "Please, go ahead with the story."

Terrance continued. "And they were right because something was indeed wrong. Apparently she cheated on me with my best friend." He said bitterly. "I guess she only wanted me around for all the benefits she gets like me doing her homework." He scoffed. The hologram changed the scene when Terrance caught his best friend and girlfriend making out in the gym's bleachers.

"That's h-horrible." Phoebe gasped.

"Watching this scene does make you angry." Jude shook his head as he saw the hologram. Nataline said nothing, her eyes fixated on the hologram scene with her fists clenched.

"She was rich and popular so she got all the support." Terrance glared at Nataline. "It's almost as if she's the victim in all this. I had no allies. Lost my best friend and girlfriend that day. Being treated almost like an outcast, do you know how that feels? You, who live in a nice mansion and always attended to, with everything in her possession? Who can take and take and take with little consequence?" He raised his voice now.

"Now now let's not-" Cassie tried to say.

"It's despicable! There's so much injustice and it's all because of people like you!" Terrance yelled. Nataline remained silent but glared at him still. "I vowed to do what I can to make their lives miserable. I worked in the shadows to manipulate things here and there."

"Sounds illegal." Nicholas said simply.

"You would say that, since you're a defender of the rich and noble." Terrance scoffed.

"You're wrong." Nicholas narrowed his eyes at him.

"That so? Where was your hand of justice everytime a nerd gets cornered and forced to do a jock's homework? Where's your justice when the bullied kid has to fork up his lunch money? And where was your justice when the new girl develops a low self esteem after getting overshadowed by the popular cheerleaders?" Terrance snapped. Nicholas kept silent but kept an even and unflinching gaze towards him.

"Terrance..." Tatiana said sadly. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Don't be. Girls can be despicable too. I haven't seen a man manipulate social status like that. It's always the girls to pulls on the charms, pulls out the money, and pulls in the popularity to elevate herself. I'm never falling for that again." Terrance adjusted his glasses.

"Hey now that's just stereotyping." Valerie pouted as she was genuinely hurt.

"Well that's-" Terrance was interrupted when Marietta spoke up.

"That is enough of that." The hologram scene turned off. "Time to move on."

"Hmph." Terrance grunted and crossed his arms.

~Confessional~

Nataline: Alright so he feels some pain and injustice. *she rolls her eyes* And yeah okay I see where he's coming from. I suppose that means I just have to show him that even I have a motive for all this. That he isn't the only one suffering here!

Lucy: Quite a backstory, and honestly now it all makes sense. I see why he's distant towards girls and where his hate on Nataline stems from. The past really does screw us over like that huh.

Tatiana: I didn't know it was this bad. I wish I could so something to cheer him up. We aren't all like that. *she grips her chocobo hat tightly*

~End Confessional~

"Cassie, you may ask your question now." Marietta told the rancher girl.

"Alright." Cassie nodded. "I got one for Cyrus."

"What?" The emo boy raised an eyebrow.

"Ya heard me. I wanna know somethin'." Cassie slightly narrowed her eyes at him and tipped her hat forward. "Why can't ya just accept that Phoebe is doing great in this game and stop gunnin' for her at every turn? Really it's pissing a lot of us off ya know."

"I agree." Valerie nodded. "As her friend and alliance member, it's really getting on my nerves too and I don't like so much stress in my life. It's bad for my beauty." She added with a wink.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "You're asking me why I'm not letting up on getting her eliminated at every chance I get? Really?"

"Just answer the question already." Jude scoffed.

"Well I mentioned this a lot of times in confessionals and even told it to some others but fine I'll repeat it. I don't believe she ever deserves to compete any further than she already has." Cyrus said adamantly. "That's also why I'm still annoyed why Cassie wants to promise final two with her. See everyone here clearly deserves better!"

"And what's makes ya say that anyway? Who gave ya the right to judge how another contestant performs?" Cassie demanded.

"Hey that's more than one question." Felix pointed out but Nataline looked his way and put a finger to her lips, signaling that he should let it be.

"Oh so it's alright if Terrance judges how Nataline plays and alright if Nicholas judges how Lucy plays but when it's me then I can't judge anyone? Wow that's rich. And I'm the discriminating one here." Cyrus sneered.

"I didn't say I condone what they're doing." Cassie frowned.

"But you're allowing it to happen. You aren't doing anything to tip the scales. Well unlike your passive ass, I have the guts to act on my words. I will eliminate Phoebe from this competition, one way or another." The emo boy narrowed his eyes at Phoebe, who eep'd and started to shake a bit.

"Looks like he isn't gonna change anytime soon." Marvin shrugged.

"And that's why I will never accept she's doing great, because I won't ever believe she's playing a better game than the rest of us who are actually trying with no hand to hold them." Cyrus turned his glare towards Cassie, who glared back at him.

"I mean, I don't wanna be that guy who's on his side, but you are kinda always holding her hand at every challenge." Terrance said slowly.

"Might have to agree with you there." Felix nodded solemnly.

"Shut up, you didn't these things happen. You were eliminated early." Lucy rolled her eyes at him. "But yeah he's got a good answer."

"W-What's going on?" Phoebe frowned and looked sad as she saw some people support Cyrus on his answer.

"Don't listen to them, Phoebe. They're just jealous that you're trying hard and doing your best out here." Valerie pouted at the rest of the contestants.

"She's right. You can trust us." Marvin added. This reassured Phoebe a bit.

"Soooo, no hologram to show anything?" Tatiana raised her hand.

"That will not be necessary." Marietta responded. "Let us move on to the next question."

~Confessional~

Felix: Yeah I got eliminated early so I don't really know where Cyrus' accusations are coming from, but I can imagine it must suck for some others to see someone drift through both the team phase and the merge with someone holding their hand. And if that someone is Casse, and by extension her big alliance, then things are definitely looking bad.

Nicholas: Cyrus brings up some interesting points. However, Phoebe is not doing anything bad to him directly or to anyone else which therefore means it will be difficult for him to find supporters in this endeavor.

Marvin: This is looking bad it seems. I saw some people agree with Cyrus' statement, so I guess I'm gonna have to expect people observing how Phoebe plays and her alliance protects her more intently. So much for drifting under the radar.

~End Confessional~

Everyone looked at Phoebe, who looked at them a bit anxiously.

"Hey dear it's your turn." Valerie told her.

"O-Oh yeah. I j-just, haven't thought of w-what to ask yet." Phoebe frowned.

"There's not a single thing you're curious about?" Marvin tilted his head.

"I'm sure there is, y'all. She just gotta think a bit." Cassie said optimistically.

"We don't have all day." Terrance pointed out in a bored tone.

"I h-have one now." Phoebe raised her hand to get everyone's attention.

"Go ahead." Marietta told her.

"M-Marvin, are you cheating o-on me?" The doll faced girl asked her boyfriend meekly. Everyone stood there in silence, blinking at the question that was asked.

"No." Marvin answered simply yet surely. As he expected, the walls did not close in on them.

"Are you for real right now?" Cyrus sighed exasperatedly.

"I mean it's good that you're keeping tabs on your relationship but still..." Valerie trailed off while scratching the back of her head.

"What a boring question." Lucy shook her head.

"Can't you think of something else?" Nataline frowned.

"That won't be allowed I'm afraid." Marietta chimed in. "We must move on to the next contestant."

"I'm s-sorry." Phoebe pouted and looked down shamefully.

"It's alright." Cassie tried to reassure her.

~Confessional~

Nataline: Phoebe is cute and innocent yes, but sometimes that is a bad thing to have. Like in this challenge for example.

Phoebe: I d-don't want to ask anything that w-will put anyone i-in a bad mood. I'm s-sorry if it was b-boring.

Lucy: Damn, someone better ask a good one soon or else Nicholas will win this challenge. So far only his question made the walls shrink and that's not a good sign. *her red eye glows* Oh wait...

~End Confessional~

"Lucy, it is your turn to ask." Marietta told the red-eyed girl.

"Finally." Lucy said softly yet held a sinister tone to it as she grinned.

"Lucy?" Jude looked at her in concern but she didn't pay him any mind. She glared at Nicholas, who returned the stare evenly and calmly. She opened her mouth but shook her head before scanning the other contestants.

"I have a question for Marvin." She said.

"Hmm? Sure." Marvin shrugged, but gulped a bit as he saw how she stared at him.

"Is it true that you have going against your alliance's back and engaging in side alliances?" Lucy asked with a smirk and sinister grin.

"Well that's another waste of a question because Marvin doesn't do that sort of thing." Valerie said confidently then looked at him. "Tell her I'm right."

"Y-Yes, Marvin would n-never do that." Phoebe frowned at Lucy.

"Let him answer it then." Lucy said, sure of herself.

Marvin stayed silent for a bit, but he started sweating and clenching his fist. "No...of course I wouldn't do that." He managed to say. For a moment there was silence, then the mechanical sound started again and the walls closed in.

"W-What?" Phoebe got scared as she saw the walls get nearer and nearer.

"Marvin?" Cassie gasped. "Ya lied to me!?"

"Well well." Lucy started laughing evilly at the events.

"She just threw him under the bus for this challenge?" Cyrus gritted his teeth as he looked back at the walls around them.

"Bold move, Lucy." Nicholas remarked then glanced at Marvin, who looked conflicted.

"At least it's interesting." Terrance grinned a bit.

"Getting crushed is interesting for you?" Nataline scoffed.

"M-Marvin?" Phoebe looked at her boyfriend with a frown, who then sighed and raised his hands up exasperatedly.

"Alright alright I admit it. I do go behind Cassie's alliance and make side alliances!" Marvin exclaimed. The walls abruptly stopped.

Marietta made the hologram show all the instances where Marvin worked together with Cyrus, Lucy, and Desmond in their side alliances, as well as voting their way every now and then.

"I did it all for you, Phoebe." Marvin turn to his girlfriend. "If I didn't, you would have been targeted sooner." He tried to explain.

"B-But how could you do this to o-our friends?" Phoebe raised her voice a bit, tears welling up in her eyes. "W-We trusted you. I t-trusted you."

"I know. I'm sorry." Marvin apologized. "But now I know that I got more competition than I thought." He glanced at Cassie. "She admitted that she'll take you to the final two, and so what about me? What about the rest of us who isn't strong or sociable or smart?"

"Marvin I-" Cassie tried to calm him down.

"I went into these side alliances for us, Phoebe." Marvin told his girlfriend. "Because this big alliance that girl has, it's too much. It'll all be too much sooner or later anyway."

"He brings up a good point." Felix muttered in agreement.

"Yeah but we're still your friends." Valerie pointed out.

"That may be true now, but it won't be when elimination comes. It's bound to happen anyway. I just had to think ahead." Marvin insisted.

"And yet looks like you're going to fail miserably." Lucy cackled.

"Not yet. I still haven't lost yet." Marvin frowned. He looked towards Phoebe for support, but the doll faced girl was just looking down and wiping some tears using her sleeve, not bothering to look at him anymore. "It isn't over yet." He muttered to himself.

"I'm disappointed in ya." Cassie shook her head.

"I'm just playing the game." Marvin defended. "And so are you."

"And now we must move on." Marietta intervened. "Things are starting to get interesting around here."

"Didn't know AI can be amused." Cyrus rolled his eyes.

"Oh I'm not amused. I don't feel any emotion." Marietta told him. "But look around you, it's full of emotion." Lucy grinned almost like a madman. Felix looks to be lost in thought. Tatiana and Valerie both look lost at what just happened. Marvin looked away from Cassie and her alliance and just frowned, while Phoebe still wouldn't look at him and isn't saying anything.

~Confessional~

Tatiana: That looked pretty intense back there. I hope Phoebe and Marvin will be alright. I know it's just a game, but there are times when games destroy relationships. I can definitely relate to that experience. *she scratches the back of her head*

Nicholas: It seems that Lucy will stop at nothing to win this challenge. She was willing to throw someone under the bus and destroy their relationship in order to reach her goals. Such is a criminal's way.

~End Confessional~

After a while, Marietta spoke again. "Jude, you may begin."

"Oh. Right. Got it." Jude cleared his throat. He glanced at Lucy, who looked at him and shrugged. "So I got a question for..." His eyes scanned the crowd, then landed on Cyrus. "You." He pointed at the emo boy.

"Oh good. Another one for me. How nice." Cyrus said disinterestedly. "Whatever."

"Why do you keep bullying some of us here?" Jude asked with a scoff. "Like, always getting in our way and being annoying."

"Sounds like another waste of a question." Cyrus deadpanned.

"Just answer it." Nataline said. "I wanna know too. Even though I have a faint guess as to why."

"Is it because you deserve to be annoyed?" Terrance guessed sarcastically.

"Terrance, that's mean." Tatiana pouted.

"I've always been like this." Cyrus suddenly answered casually. "Cynical, blunt, not impressed by mediocre standards. Not my fault you all get offended easily." He shrugged indifferently.

"You literally go out of your way to annoy us." Jude pointed out. "And won't apologize for it."

"I do apologize, especially when you force me to." Cyrus sneered. "So you use muscle and intimidation to get what you want and somehow I'm the bully?"

"Is that true?" Nicholas turned towards Jude.

"Shut up, it doesn't concern you. He was getting in my girlfriend's personal space earlier." Jude defended.

"That park isn't her personal space. It's for everyone to use and hang out." Cyrus pointed out. "You both decided it was your area, not me. And that's not fair. You don't own the place."

"Wait, they made the park off limits?" Marvin tilted his head.

"Oh you can visit alright." Cyrus rolled his eyes. "Just don't let bid bad Jude here catch you and make you apologize upon stepping on holy ground." He added with sarcasm.

"Hey that's uncalled for!" Jude shouted.

"And yet we cannot rule out his story." Nicholas crossed his arms and gazed at both Jude and Lucy. "I don't imagine it's beyond your capabilities as well."

"Of course." Lucy 'tsked' under her breath.

"Jude, why would you do that?" Nataline shook her head in disapproval.

"I don't have to answer that." Jude said quickly and looked away.

"All that aside, it is true that it is in Cyrus' nature to be all that." Marietta interjected.

"Show them a hologram clip or whatever about what happened at the park." Cyrus demanded.

"That will not be necessary, as it does not directly relate to Jude's question." Marietta denied.

"Damn it." Cyrus muttered under his breath.

~Confessional~

Nataline: I knew Jude was physically strong, but to think he uses it in that manner is simply unheard of. We may not talk much anymore ever since that...incident in pre-merge, but I do hope he isn't resorting to a more reckless and aggressive approach.

Jude: I imagined that question to have gone better in my head honestly.

Lucy: I don't care if Jude wastes his questions like that. It's a good thing for me because that means I'm that much closer at winning immunity, which I need if I want to get the jump on that detective. *her red eye glows angrily*

~End Confessional~

"Felix, you may ask your question." Marietta told the prankster.

"Oh cool it's my turn now." Felix rubbed his hands together and smiled as he looked around at everyone. "Um, on second thought, can I sit this one out?"

"You may not." Marietta answered him.

"But I haven't thought of anything yet." Felix pouted.

"Then think fast already." Cassie said.

"Yeah dude let's get the ball rolling." Jude added.

"Okay okay, geez." Felix grumbled and finally thought of a question. "Then I'll ask Valerie!" He said confidently.

"Really?" Valerie giggled and batted her eyelashes at him. "I'll do my best to answer honestly."

"Since you're so good at flirting, that means you probably worked your way around guys often." Felix started to say. "So I'm gonna ask, how many guys did you do it with already?" He exclaimed while pointing a finger at her.

"...Really?" Valerie blinked. She then cleared her throat and regained her composure. "I mean I can answer that. Yeah. Totally."

"W-Was that question r-really necessary?" Phoebe frowned. "Isn't t-that invading p-privacy?"

"Knowing her, she'll answer confidently." Marvin guessed. But when he looked at Valerie, the flirt seemed to be biting her lip. "I think."

"I totally did it with lots of guys, like maybe 8!" Valerie suddenly blurted out. At that answer, the walls started closing in again.

"This is concerning." Nataline muttered.

"Something is amiss." Nicholas thought to himself, unfazed by the walls drawing nearer and nearer.

"Alright alright fine! Just 2!" Valerie tried to say, but the walls kept closing in.

"Ya gonna admit the truth now?" Cassie asked her friend as she worriedly glanced back where the wall was getting closing to the contestants' backs now.

"One!" Valerie said again. But the walls didn't let up. "Okay I admit it, it's zero! Please stop." She begged and frowned. The walls stopped sounding and ceased closing in on them, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Honestly I didn't think Felix would get any points in this challenge. No offense dude." Terrance told the prankster.

"Hey I can try when I want to." Felix pointed out. "Although yeah I wasn't expecting that either."

"There will be no need for any holographic display." Marietta stated. "And I will affirm that despite Valerie's attempts at flirting she has never truly slept with anyone."

"That's true." Valerie sighed and looked downcast. "Nobody takes my flirting skill seriously."

"You call that flirting skill?" Cyrus scoffed. Valerie glared at him.

"Mark my words, someday it will work. I just know it." The flirt huffed and looked away.

"I think y-you're really p-pretty, Valerie." Phoebe said to comfort her. "You'll f-find someone s-someday."

"Aw thanks sweetie." Valerie giggled and smiled at the doll faced girl.

"Just try not to get too carried away, ya hear?" Cassie smirked and winked at her.

"No promises here." Valerie giggled. "That actually felt good to let out. Still not happy that I haven't made progress, but it's something."

"Indeed." Marietta said. "Felix has been awarded points for his question, and there are only a few people left who have yet to ask. Let us proceed."

~Confessional~

Valerie: I got such kind and sweet friends. *she giggles* But I was serious about my promise. I'll definitely make my flirting skills work someday.

Cassie: Valerie is a good gal and I don't know if it's a good idea for her to keep flirtin' like that, I mighty think she'll find someone soon ya know.

Felix: Yay I got points! *he beams*

~End Confessional~

"I believe that it is Cyrus' turn now." Nicholas deduced.

"Indeed it is." Marietta affirmed. "You may proceed, Cedric."

"Don't call me that." Cyrus groaned. "I got a question for you, Jude." He suddenly smirks.

"There's that annoying expression." Jude shakes his head. "Well what is it?"

"What is your greatest weakness you have as a person?" Cyrus said with a proud smile on his face.

"What!?" Jude exclaimed in surprise.

"Interesting." Lucy nodded in amusement.

"Whose side are you on?" Jude pouted at his girlfriend.

"I admit that is a good question." Nicholas admitted.

"Dude, what are you gonna say?" Felix turned towards the marksman, who narrowed his eyes at Cyrus.

"Screw you." Jude said to the emo boy.

"Was that the answer?" Cyrus smirked. Just then, the walls started to slowly close in once more.

"I swear Jude just say it!" Valerie exclaimed in fear as the wall pressed up against her back and she moved forward just to avoid it.

"It can't be that bad right!?" Nataline frowned as she moved forward to avoid the walls as well.

"I'm not academically smart!" Jude suddenly blurted out. The walls suddenly halted.

"That's it?" Terrance scowled. "You delayed your answer for that?"

"It's not easy to admit you know." Jude pointed out. "Not everyone can go make inventions like you."

"I do believe it can be used as a weakness as well." Nicholas said after some thought. "It might prove valuable information to the ones who are out to get Jude to fail."

"Thanks for that, captain obvious." Jude rolled his eyes.

"Jude has said his answer and is proven to be correct. He never did excel in academics, and made up for it in athletics and street smarts." Marietta said.

"Good to know." Marvin said softly.

"Shall we proceed?" Marietta asked the others and they nodded in response. Cyrus smirked while looking at Jude, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

~Confessional~

Cyrus: Looks like I got him this round. Now everyone knows his weakness. You're welcome. *he smirks proudly*

Terrance: I still don't really get it. So he doesn't pass his subjects with flying colors. Are we judging that as a weakness now?

Marvin: Not being academically smart would mean he won't do well in mental challenges. And these challenges are best fit for the merge. I wonder if it can be exploited someday.

~End Confessional~

"Tatiana Quinn Fitzgerald, you may ask your question." Marietta regarded the gamer girl.

"Hey you forgot one thing to announce." Tatiana pouted and pointed at her chocobo hat.

"Very well." The AI conceded. "Also known as the 'Chocobo Slayer'."

"That's more like it." Tatiana put her hands on her hips happily.

"Remind me again why you're proud of that." Felix chuckled.

"Because it's cool." Tatiana insisted.

"What?" Terrance made a face. "No it's-"

"I thought of one already!" The gamer girl exclaimed. "I got one for Nataline."

"Yes, Tatiana?" Nataline tilted her head at the other girl, a bit confused as to why she was chosen.

"I'm a bit surprised she picked her." Valerie noted, then glanced a bit at Terrance who didn't notice her gaze.

"Who do you honestly think are four people that have good chances to win Total Drama excluding yourself?" Tatiana grinned widely. Nataline blinked at her, not believing that was what she asked.

"Excellent question." Lucy grinned and laughed.

"No one asked you." Tatiana huffed. "I asked it so others can feel good about their chances in the game."

"I guess ya can see it like that." Cassie scratched the back of her head and tipped her hat backward. "Maybe."

"If you wanna be positive about it sure." Felix shrugged.

"I think i-it's a good q-question." Phoebe smiled optimistically.

"Aw, thanks Phoebe." Tatiana smiled at the doll faced girl. Nataline cleared her throat.

"I suppose I'd rather be honest about this." Nataline said slowly.

"Can't wait." Cyrus crossed his arms. "Obviously I'm not on the list."

Ignoring Cyrus, Nataline took a deep breath before speaking. "The other four people who I think have a good chance of winning this entire thing are Lucy, Terrance, Nicholas, and Marvin."

"Naturally." Lucy smirked and her red eye glowed a bit.

"Yes I suppose it is right for me to be included in that list." Nicholas nodded in understanding.

"Totally knew I was in that list too." Terrance bragged.

"Wait me?" Marvin blinked.

"Can you elaborate further?" Tatiana cheerily asked. Nataline shook her head.

"I answered the question. That should be enough." The lady frowned a bit.

"Then I will reveal why." Marietta mused as she interjected. "To make it more dramatic for you people."

"M-More d-dramatic?" Phoebe frowned.

"These answers Nataline gave are definitely stemmed from her own opinion, and I have analyzed and understood as to why." Marietta started. "For Lucy, it is because Nataline is concerned regarding the latter's immense strategic platform. She believes Lucy is a master manipulator who may potential win the game using wits and deceit."

"That had to be revealed." Lucy muttered under her breath, clearly not amused with all this.

"Nataline fears Nicholas as a player and as a person in general." Marietta continued. "He is strong, smart, and can be sociable and reasonable. She believes these are the traits of a perfect power player and therefore can win Total Drama."

"Fair points." Nicholas glanced at Nataline, who just sheepishly shrugged and smiled at him.

"Terrance is a great inventor, and has always made himself assets using resources from the world." Marietta said. "Nataline believes that will be his key advantage in winning the game, and therefore she does her best to eliminate him at every chance she has."

"That's pretty obvious." Terrance glared at Nataline. "Too bad you won't get rid of me that easily."

"I will in due time." Nataline said confidently.

"And lastly, Marvin." Marietta said. This made Marvin pay attention more and he glanced at Nataline, to which she caught him staring. "According to Nataline's way of thought, Marvin was only a contender just now replacing Cassie in the spot to be honest."

"Oh so it was s'pposed to be me?" Cassie pointed at herself.

"Indeed. However, this challenge and Marvin's confessions have led her to change that belief. Marvin's side alliances and cunning way to play might just be what he needs to win the game, assuming he has the heart for it." Marietta finished. Nataline sighed heavily.

"Well that all just got out." Nataline shook her head.

"I thought it was a positive question I swear." Tatiana frowned.

"And yet it only seemed to fan the flames and make everyone second guess on their priorities." Nicholas said as he observed everyone's cautious reactions towards each other, especially on the four people that was mentioned.

"At least it wasn't completely boring." Cyrus smirked.

"Please be quiet." Valerie said in annoyance.

~Confessional~

Nataline: On one hand, it bothers me how much Marietta knows about what we know. On the other hand, Nicholas is right. It might stir up the votes for tonight. Hopefully I can plan my strategy from there.

Cassie: I'm happy that I ain't included in the list but y'all can bet that I'll be doing some thinking come elimination time.

Tatiana: Why does it feel like tensions just got higher? I really thought it would make everyone loosen up and feel good about themselves you know. *she frowns in confusion*

~End Confessional~

"Terrance, you may ask your question now." Marietta told the techie boy.

"Well I know who he will ask." Nataline snarked.

"Shut up." Terrance rolled his eyes. "But yeah this question is for you."

"I wonder if he's just gonna return the question she asked." Marvin thought aloud.

"I h-hope not. It's n-not a positive question." Phoebe frowned.

"That's kinda the point of this game sadly." Jude shrugged and sighed.

"You're always so headstrong and competitive and it annoys me that you're trying so hard despite you being already rich." Terrance pointed and accusatory finger at Nataline. "So why? Why try so hard at this game when you were basically born with a silver spoon?" He demanded.

"Her motives huh." Cassie tipped her hat forward.

"I mean I'm curious about that too but I don't mind if Nataline compete." Valerie shrugged.

"E-Everyone should have a r-right to compete." Phoebe agreed. "T-Those that fall under the rules t-to join at least." She added sheepishly.

"Maybe she's secretly a hardcore gamer too!" Tatiana cheered and pumped her fist in the air.

"Or her family recently got broke so she's here to make ends meet." Cyrus chimed in. "Could be a good story to write."

"Don't make fun of money problems like that." Jude warned and clenched his fist towards the emo boy.

"Silence, everyone." Marietta spoke in a slightly raised voice, prompting them to immediately stop. "Let Nataline speak for herself."

"Speak for myself?" Nataline repeated softly to herself. "Alright I'll be honest about it. I'd hate to give that boy even a single point." She scoffed at Terrance. "I try hard at this game because everything you said about me, silver spoon and all, is all wrong!"

"Whoa so what if it is a money problem?" Felix gasped.

"I wouldn't go that far." Nataline pointed out with a frowned. "But I did live a simple life before. At least, before things turned bad." As if on cue, Marietta played a hologram footage. It showed a young Nataline crying while sitting on the ground, then an older man came into view and went to place a hand on her shoulder. "My father had to take me to Belarus to live with him in his estate with all his riches, and I thought things would look up for me there."

"It kinda should." Jude muttered under his breath.

The hologram now showed an older looking woman yelling and scolding at a teenage Nataline, who just frowned and tried to fight back tears before running down to the estate's basement. "I was abused and hated by my step mother, who said I could never have any right to inherit my father's fortune. Why? Because...because..." She took a deep breath. "Forget it. It isn't necessary."

"Aw." Cyrus sighed. "That might have been good."

"Will ya just shut yer trap?" Cassie told him in an annoying tone.

"I joined Total Drama to prove I'm not useless! To prove I'm not a burden!" Nataline blurted out, all while glaring at Terrance. "To prove I deserve that inheritance and my title as Lady Nataline Amity Louise!" She sharply inhaled and looked down at the hologram platform, which changed scene to something that resembles a forest and with a young Nataline and a servant boy strolling there.

"What is that?" Tatiana asked no one in particular.

"Because I doubted myself when my friend had to die to wake me up from my little fantasy of ever living a normal life." Nataline spat, looking on sorrowfully as the scene showed a couple of burly men drag the boy away and with the younger Nataline unable to do anything to help.

"Nataline..." Nicholas looked at his friend with concern in his voice.

Nataline looked towards Terrance and narrowed her eyes. "People have died and sacrificed what was important to them for my sake. Meanwhile some girl dumped you and now you have a hate boner of rich people and women."

"Ooooohhh." Felix a couple of short dabs which some of them saw and couldn't help but smirk and chuckle a bit. This made Terrance uneasy with the reactions and just grunted to himself.

"Hey Felix, that was rude." Valerie scolded but smiled despite herself.

"Gotta admit, it was a good bar." Felix grinned.

"Someone was sharing something emotional." Tatiana pointed out.

"Still a good bar to drop. Reality check right there." Felix defended.

"It did give us a better understanding of yourself and your motives." Nicholas agreed. "Thank you for sharing it."

"If I didn't, we would all get crushed." Nataline shook her head.

"Y-Yes, so thank you f-for being b-brave." Phoebe sighed in relief.

"Yes, Nataline has gone through a lot and therefore joined the competition to prove her worth." Marietta chimed in.

"It changes nothing." Terrance crossed his arms. "Having a backstory like isn't going to get you a million dollars."

"For once I agree." Nataline spat back. "But only because I intend to win with my skills and talents, not some backstory. You should be thankful I didn't lie at all!"

"That is enough of that you two." Marietta intervened. "Let us move on to the last question."

~Confessional~

Terrance: That didn't go as I expected it to, and her answer seemed to not really affect anyone to go against her. Damn it, there has to be a way. I'm...running out of time.

Jude: Wow, that's quite the backstory. I never thought I'd think anyone would be unhappy when they got so much money, but there definitely is more than meets the eye. So all her talk of degrading commoners, was that a negative trait she picked up back home too?

Nicholas: I did deduce she was going through something, hence her competitive nature and determined state even in unnatural circumstances. However, I was not truly prepared to hear this. I suppose injustice still reaches far and wide in this world.

~End Confessional~

"Valerie, you may ask your question. The last question for this challenge." Marietta announced. This made everyone turn towards Valerie.

"Oh wow, pressure is kinda real in here." Valerie blinked, a bit taken aback.

"Ya can do it." Cassie gave her a thumbs-up.

"Who w-will you a-ask?" Phoebe tilted her head.

"Maybe I'll go ask the good detective over there." Valerie winked in Nicholas' direction.

"'Good' is stretching it." Lucy muttered under her breath with a snarl.

"Have you done 'it' with the criminals you interrogate?" Valerie giggled mischievously.

"Really Valerie?" Cassie facepalmed.

"W-What kind of q-question is that?" Phoebe frowned.

"Can you answer that without lying?" Nataline asked Nicholas, who just nodded.

"Of course. I do not intend to lie regarding this." Nicholas told her. "The answer is yes." There was silence.

"Ooohkay then." Felix rubbed his hands together. "Are we done yet?"

"No hologram vid?" Valerie pouted.

"Valerie!" Cassie scolded.

"Okay okay I won't push it." The flirt giggled.

"There will be no hologram scene, for it is not proper according to the show's ratings." Marietta mused. "That being said, the challenge is officially over. And the one who won immunity is none other than Lucy."

"Of course." Lucy grinned evilly.

"Now I wonder if you'll ever be a good host." Cyrus scoffed. "At least Chris does better endings."

"Indeed he does, which is why he is the host and I am merely acting as your instructor." Marietta told him.

"Wow she did not take offense to that remark." Jude blinked in surprise.

"It's an AI. It's also not a 'she'." Terrance pointed out.

"Maybe Marietta wants to be identified as a 'she'." Tatiana mused.

"I do not care what you say about me." Marietta said simply. "Now, you are dismissed." The grid lines in the walls glowed yellow and reverted back to the original room size, giving the others more room to breathe and move around.

"F-Finally it's over." Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief.

A portal opened up on the same place where they came in from. Everyone looked towards its direction and started heading back when they heard a slow slashing and scraping noise. Looking back, they saw Terrance trying to use his psionic blade to slice off his emblem from its stand in the podium. He stopped and glanced at them.

"What?" He asked. He then glanced back at what he was doing then back at the others, who all had plastered smiles on their faces with a pleading look. With he sigh, he shooed them away. "Alright alright I get it. Just wait for me on the other side. Sheesh."

"Yay! You're the best!" Valerie chirped as she bounded for the portal.

"Thanks dude." Felix smiled and joined the others through the portal as well.

~Confessional~

Terrance: *is carrying everyone's emblems and is holding it using his hoodie* These things are heavier than it looks. And I swear, why would they want something that can only be enjoyed here in this virtual world? It's not like you can take these home or anything.

Nicholas: Lucy is immune? An unexpected development but I can work around this.

~End Confessional~

---

(Behind-The-Scenes Footage)

Terrance was the last to emerge from the portal, carrying the emblems with him. The other contestants were just hanging around waiting for him and watching out for Chris. A few cameras were around to capture this scene unfold.

"Cool you got them all!" Tatiana cheered.

"Of course, you are a reasonable man, yes?" Nicholas walked towards Terrance first and the latter raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" The techie boy asked cautiously.

"Though it may be a virtual item, I know you will not part with it unless something benefits you." Nicholas said evenly. "And I may not promise anything that will benefit you in this competition."

"Then I guess you can't get yours, detective." Lucy smirked, her red eye glowing lightly.

"You're wrong. I will offer something relating back to the real world." Nicholas proposed. "You have my word that should any one person from your school bully you when school resumes, I will have them arrested, tried, and convicted."

"What!?" Terrance exclaimed and blinked in surprise.

"You can't promise something like that dude." Jude pointed out skeptically.

"I am a Blackburn. We are the law." Nicholas said authoritatively and confidently. "Now, my emblem?" He held out his hand.

"Well...um, actually it's a good deal." Terrance admitted and handed him his emblem. Nicholas took it and shook Terrance's still outstretched hand.

"Wise choice." Nicholas gave a small smile before backing off to let the others get theirs. Lucy immediately went in next.

"Whatever. So he can promise you your classmates get criminal records." Lucy rolled her eyes as she said that. "Give me mine, and those bullies? They'll be gone."

"Gone?" Nicholas raised an eyebrow curiously.

"As in you'll never see them again." Lucy cackled. "That's a better deal right? Maybe I should pay Kelly a visit after all this." She winked at him and held out her hand.

"...Yeah I'm taking this offer too." Terrance shrugged with a smirk as he gave her the emblem. "At least let her disappear for the starting school week."

"Done." Lucy took it and went back to the others.

Cassie went up to Terrance and tipped her hat forward in greeting. "Howdy."

"So what can you offer me?" Terrance raised his eyebrow at her. Cassie thought for a bit.

"I ain't got a clue actually." Cassie admitted. "Perhaps if ya want, I can give up my ol' sawed off shotgun I got back home."

"You're giving me a gun?" Terrance blinked.

"Got a family member who got a license?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah my uncle." Terrance shrugged.

"Then ya can give that as a birthday gift or somethin'." Cassie grinned. "I heard it's great for collectin' too. But my family ain't too big on it so ya can have it. Better than it collecting dust."

"I guess it's something." Terrance considered it. "Plus I've never really seen or held one in real life. Deal." He gave her the emblem to which the rancher girl took it gratefully and went back to join her alliance.

"Give me mine and I'll give you a masterpiece when we get back." Cyrus smirked proudly as he went up to the techie boy.

"You mean some sort of emo art?" Terrance deadpanned.

"It's called gothic art and I'll have you know I'm quite good at making paintings of that genre." Cyrus insisted.

"You? Do gothic art?" Nataline chimed in. "That's rich."

"Shut up, like you can do it better than I." Cyrus scoffed. "I'll prove it when we get back. If you don't like it then burn it or whatever. I know not many people can appreciate a masterpiece when they see one."

"Well it's whatever I guess." Terrance sighed and gave Cyrus his emblem.

"The raven. Edgar Allan Poe would be proud of me." Cyrus mused to himself as he went back.

"Terrance!" Tatiana waved at him as she approached. "I have the best thing to give you that you won't say no to!" She beamed.

"Someone's pretty confident about that. Although Lucy's offer is still the best in my opinion." Terrance smirked.

"Oh yeah, well she didn't offer a Steam Wallet Code." Tatiana smirked proudly. "Which is exactly what I'm offering."

"Wait, seriously?" Terrance looked at her, surprised.

"Yeah and every gamer wants it so it's a really great deal!" Tatiana laughed.

"I guess so." Terrance thought for a bit. "How much?"

"Depends on how much money I have in my wallet." Tatiana shrugged. "I kinda forgot how much I brought with me for the trip."

"Fair enough. Just so long as I can afford a game or two with it." Terrance said and tossed Tatiana's emblem to her.

"Yay! Thanks so much!" Tatiana kissed him on the cheek and skipped off. Terrance felt flustered and pointed after her.

"H-Hey that was uncalled for." The techie boy sputtered out. He suddenly felt another kiss on his cheek as well as someone snatch an emblem from the pile. He turned around to see Valerie waving flirtatiously at him.

"And that's my offer." The flirt giggled and went back to the others.

"Wow really?" Terrance just deadpanned at that.

Jude and Felix went up to Terrance next. "Dude you just got kissed on the cheek by two cute girls. Why you complaining?" Felix smirked.

"Remember? The challenge?" Jude reminded him.

"Oh. Right." Felix remembered and scratched the back of his head.

"It's fine. Not like Valerie has anything better to offer on her behalf." Terrance sighed and shook his head. "So what about you two?"

"Alright you see, here's a good proposition for you." Felix wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "I'm a seasoned prankster and all seasoned pranksters know that they need the best tools to work with that fit in any kind of situation."

"Yeah...?" Terrance nodded slowly, unsure of where this conversation is headed.

"Tell you what, I'll give you a box of some of my finest tools for pranks and you can use them on all your school bullies. I'll even give tips on how to use it best when we get outta here. We got a deal?" Felix grinned and held out his hand for a shake. After some thought, Terrance smiled as well and shook his hand before giving him the emblem.

"It's a pretty creative deal. I like it." Terrance grinned and Felix nodded before he joined the others again, which prompted Jude to take his turn.

"So I just realized that I don't think I can offer anything that you might actually like." Jude said with a nervous chuckle.

"Really?" Terrance tilted his head.

"I mean you like these tech stuff and probably games too since I overheard what Tatiana said to you and even though I'm kind of a gamer myself I don't have anything of value." Jude admitted.

"What do you play anyway?" Terrance asked him.

"Shooter games mostly." Jude said confidently as he pointed at himself. "Like Call of Duty and Battlefield and lately I play Rainbow Six Siege. You play those too?"

"Yeah a bit. Not too invested though. It's hard to find good teammates." Terrance shrugged with a sigh. "Too many toxic people out there."

"Hey maybe I can offer that instead." Jude said with a side smirk. "I'll introduce you to some of my mates who I play with. They're great guys and pretty good too. We made it to the local tournament recently, snagged ourselves 1st place too." He bragged.

"Whoa, you really think it'll be alright?" Terrance asked.

"Sure why not? We don't normally take anyone under our wing but I can make a few exemptions. Plus I want us all to at least keep in touch. Maybe I can go invite Felix and Tatiana to join in too." Jude thought aloud. Terrance tossed him the emblem.

"You got yourself a deal. And a teammate." Terrance laughed and so did Jude. The marksman went on back to join the others.

"Hey man." Marvin greeted Terrance as he walked up to him next. "Guess I'm up next huh."

Nataline came up from behind him. "Hey I wanted to go first." She pouted.

"Well that's too bad." Marvin told her. "Now let me think." He tapped his finger on his chin in thought, thinking of what to offer to Terrance in exchange for the emblem he wanted. A moment passed. Then two. Then three.

"How long is this going to take?" Nataline asked while tapping her foot impatiently.

"Just a moment." Marvin stated.

"Dude its been how many 'moments' now." Terrance pointed out, clearly looked bored.

"I know but- oh hey I got it!" Marvin suddenly exclaimed. "I can give you this old music box I have back home. I find it creepy and so does the local pawnshop."

"And what makes you think I'll want it then?" Terrance blinked in shock. "No way man."

"It's like treating him like a pawnshop." Nataline chuckled. "Why not give it to Phoebe?"

"Why would I give her something that creepy?" Marvin asked back.

"Well doesn't matter. Go think of something else." Terrance said and shooed him away. Marvin grumbled but went back to think of something.

"Finally it's my turn." Nataline straightened out her dress and faced Terrance. "I'm offering something simple, as it is not really a service of any kind. I offer a bottle of Krambambula."

"A what?" Terrance scratched the back of his head, confused.

"It's my country's national drink. I'm sure you've never had it before." Nataline said simply. "It's alcoholic too. I can have a bottle delivered to your house, but I understand if you cannot hold your alcohol well. I can always think of something else." She mused with a devious smirk.

"No no, I'll take it." Terrance huffed and gave her her emblem. "There now go already."

Phoebe and Valerie went to approach Terrance, the former looking a bit nervous.

"Come on just ask nicely." Valerie encouraged the doll faced girl.

"He c-can't possibly just g-give it like that." Phoebe frowned.

"Then kiss him on the cheek like I did." The flirt suggested with a wink.

"E-Eeek! N-No way it's too embarrassing." Phoebe's face become flustered at her suggestion. Terrance and Nataline shared a look and shrugged as the two girls approached them.

"Heya again! Phoebe wants her emblem." Valerie announced as she nudged the doll faced girl forward.

"Um h-hello." Phoebe greeted meekly and shyly. She then suddenly held out both her hands. "M-May I please have my emblem?"

"Wow that was forward." Valerie blinked.

"Phoebe sweetie you're supposed to offer something in return." Nataline told her. "It's a give and take."

"O-Oh. Um..." Phoebe checked her dress pockets but found nothing there. "I don't have a-anything on me." She said sadly.

"Then just kiss him on the cheek." Valerie suggested with a giggle.

"What? No, you can't tell her to do that." Nataline shook her head in disagreement.

"B-But I have nothing e-else to offer." Phoebe frowned more yet still held out her hands. "I s-still want it. S-So please?" She asked nicely and solemnly to Terrance.

"Well...uh." Terrance didn't know what to say. He glanced at Nataline and at Valerie who both took pity on Phoebe and were looking at him expectantly. "You know what? Here." He handed her the emblem and smiled. "I don't need anything in return."

"R-Really?" Phoebe started to smile as she accepted it.

"Yeah. It's free. Just for you." Terrance insisted with a nod.

"T-Thank you so m-much! I w-won't forget this!" Phoebe bowed and happily went on her way. Valerie stayed behind and beamed at Terrance.

"Hey that was real nice of you." The flirt told him.

"Well she felt so sad. Didn't wanna look like a bad person." Terrance sighed.

"And just for that, I'll up my offer." Valerie winked. "If you want, you and me can have some one-on-one later tonight and maybe even-"

"Alright that's it. Time to go." Nataline suddenly announcement and dragged Valerie away from him. Terrance's face became flustered as he caught on to what Valerie was suggesting but just shook his head and went on to join Lucy and Jude away from the rest.

---

Chris had gathered everyone inside the conservatory for some announcements.

"Alright so as always, the elimination ceremony happens tonight." Chris started.

"What else is new?" Cyrus sighed in boredom.

"But," Chris said, irritated by the sudden interruption. "You only got twenty minutes to discuss the vote."

"What?" Lucy's red eye glowed in surprise.

"But that's not right." Nataline frowned. "We need more time to think."

"Especially with today's challenge opening up new perspectives." Nicholas agreed.

"Sorry guys, you all took too long in there." Chris shrugged. "That, and my massage therapist was late so that's why I came back late."

"This sucks." Felix shook his head.

"We'll manage, y'all." Cassie said to her alliance.

"Easy for them to say." Marvin muttered under his breath.

"Well that's all for the announcement!" Chris exclaimed and pressed something on his wrist. "Have fun strategizing." He laughed and disappeared in blue sparks.

"Guess we should just go." Terrance grumbled and went out of the conservatory, with Lucy and Jude following him.

"Wait I wanna come too!" Felix said and jogged up to follow the three.

"Come on, Tatiana." Nataline called out to the gamer as she and Nicholas started heading out as well.

"Coming!" Tatiana hummed and followed them.

"Y'all wanna talk about the vote here?" Cassie asked her alliance.

"Sure." Valerie shrugged.

"O-Okay." Phoebe said softly. "But d-do we include M-Marvin?" She glanced at her boyfriend, who stood off at the far end with Cyrus.

"Sorry darling but I don't think he'll talk to us just yet." Valerie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The challenge kinda shook things up in a not so sexy way."

"I u-understand." Phoebe frowned sadly but nodded. Cassie glanced at her then at Marvin, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

~Confessional~

Cassie: I'm startin' to doubt Marvin more than ever. It's high time that boy take the high road. It's best for our alliance's game right now as I ain't risking anyone betraying us.

~End Confessional~

---

Nicholas, Tatiana, and Nataline met up in the geyser zone to talk about their votes.

"I revealed Lucy for what she truly is back in the challenge." Nicholas stated. "The logical course of action would be to eliminate her now, yet she has won immunity."

"It wasn't the best way to announce who the winner was, to be honest." Tatiana said. "I've heard better announcements."

"Agreed." Nataline nodded. "Hopefully we don't get her as an instructor again. The way she knows all about us is kind of creepy and weird."

"Indeed. But that is what she was programmed to have. The curse of knowledge." Nicholas looked towards the geysers as he saw some shot out from the ground. "Back to the topic at hand, who do we eliminate?"

"Do you want to get Cassie's insight on this?" Nataline asked him.

"I have a fairly good idea on who they'll vote for." Nicholas told her. "I'm almost positive she and her alliance will vote for Marvin tonight."

"Wait does that include Phoebe? Because I don't think it includes Phoebe." Tatiana interjected.

"Even if Phoebe strays from the vote, who's to say that Cassie won't ask the other contestants to vote her way?" Nicholas said evenly. "I believe it is highly possible and therefore we should go ahead and inform her of how we vote. We should remain in her good graces for now."

"Or we can join the underdog team and vote alongside Marvin!" Tatiana exclaimed.

"I suspect he'll vote for Cassie tonight." Nicholas thought aloud. "Although, do we risk it? Marvin doing side alliances can be tricky business to handle. Cassie is straight forward. We can deal with her next time."

"Both options have good points to them." Nataline noted. "We should plan this carefully."

"But we don't have time." Tatiana pointed out. "I know! I'll go to talk to whoever I can find. See who they're voting." And with that, she ran off on her own.

"Wait, we don't know if we can meet again later!" Nataline called out to her but it was no use as the gamer girl kept running.

"I stand by my proposition." Nicholas stated to her. "I believe Marvin should be the one to go tonight."

"I'll vote that way too. As much as every fiber of my being wants to keep voting for Terrance." Nataline said through gritted teeth.

"I know the challenge took a toll on you, but we must remain logical about this. That being said, I doubt all of us here would be in their right mindset." Nicholas sighed.

~Confessional~

Nataline: I'll get rid of Terrance next time. I still got a game to play and it needs me to take out the other threats.

~End Confessional~

Lucy, Terrance, Jude, and Felix all met up at the eerie park.

"We have to vote for Nicholas tonight." Lucy seethed with a clenched fist. "It'll work. It has to."

"Yeah...of course." Jude said uneasily.

"You don't sound that optimistic. Is it our chances you're worried about?" Lucy asked as she slowly turned to face the marksman. Jude stared at her and noticed her glowing red eye then looked away immediately.

"It's nothing. I know we got this." Jude said with no enthusiasm as he went over to stand on the other side and look at the roots.

"Pretty sure the challenge got to him." Felix whispered to Lucy.

"I can see that." Lucy sighed in annoyance. "And that's that. Jude can be sorely emotional and that's a problem on my end. But he won't stray from the vote."

"You aren't gonna talk to him about it?" Felix tilted his head.

"Tomorrow. Tonight we have to focus. Sorry we can't all be carefree like you, Felix." Lucy shook her head and sat down on the bench.

"Hey I'm trying too you know. It sucks for me that Desmond and Arnold had to go home, and that Marvin is a traitor." Felix pointed out with a frown.

"And all we can do is deal with it." Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. "That's how it's always been." Terrance stared at her then at Felix before sighing to himself and leaving the park.

"Where you going, dude?" Felix asked the techie boy.

"Just gonna take a walk. And I wanna be alone." Terrance said with emphasis on the second sentence as he walked off.

"Well I guess I should just go too." Felix chuckled a bit, noticing the tense air all around.

He left the park and wandered a bit along the street where he found Tatiana this morning. The car repair shop's light aren't on and he kept on walking while wondering what else to do.

"Felix? Is that you?" Tatiana called out as she turned a corner and saw the prankster. "Hey it is you!"

"Yeah, just wanted a bit of a breather." Felix smiled a bit as she approached him. "Things are a bit intense back at the park."

"Really?" Tatiana tilted her head.

"Lucy's alliance is meeting there and well, things didn't seem so peachy." Felix scratched the back of his head.

"Hmph. I'm glad they aren't in a good mood." Tatiana crossed her arms. "But that's still sad to hear though. Mind telling me who you're voting for?"

"They told me to go vote for Nicholas." Felix said. "He's part of your alliance right?"

"Well yeah but I got a better idea!" Tatiana exclaimed. "I wanna show Nicholas and Nataline that voting alongside the underdog is much better and so I'm gonna be voting for Cassie!"

"Wait, huh?" Felix looked confused.

"Oh sorry I didn't tell you yet but my party wants to help Cassie's party vote out Marvin, but I said that it's not half as fun as voting against the bigger party." Tatiana explained. "Just imagine how shocked Marvin will be when he thinks he's about to go down and yet he managed to stay tonight."

"So that's the talk of the night?" Felix asked. Tatiana nodded vigorously. "That's actually pretty cool!"

"I know right! Come vote with me so I can tell my party to do the same." Tatiana urged. "Then I'll try to help you vote out Nicholas and get Nataline and Terrance on our side and it's back to being the Red Sith team."

"Are you sure that will work? With Terrance not really-" Felix started.

"Oh it's almost time for the ceremony. Catch you later!" Tatiana said and ran down the opposite direction.

"...liking Nataline all that much." Felix finished, blinking as he watched her go.

~Confessional~

Felix: Tatiana might just make this game more fun with her suggestion. It would be cool to avenge Desmond and Arnold by finally getting rid of Cassie. Yeah I think I might just do it. Lucy won't mind, right? She's a challenge threat too after all, plus she has a big alliance. Well, big-ish I guess.

Tatiana: Cassie better watch out because Tatiana is lending her blade to the underdogs! This is gonna be so cool.

~End Confessional~

Cyrus and Marvin were at one corner of the conservatory, taking occasional glances towards Cassie, Valerie, and Phoebe on the other side.

"Looks like you're screwed now." Cyrus smirked at Marvin as he leaned against a tree.

"Not yet." Marvin said firmly. "It isn't over yet."

"And what are you gonna do? Vote her out?" Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "Even if I will join you in this, we literally only have two votes against three."

"The others will do the rest." Marvin said.

"What are you talking about? You saw how the challenge went. You saw how they felt. There's gonna be confusion. People's votes will go haywire." Cyrus pointed out.

"Maybe. Or maybe not." Marvin shrugged. "Still curious on how this elimination ceremony will go, but I won't give up. So what do you say?" He glanced at the emo boy. The latter stared back at him for a short moment and sighed.

"Sure. Whatever you say." He patted Marvin on the shoulder. "I'm with you. Despite everything we've been through."

"Then I really hope Cassie goes home tonight." Marvin said and glanced back at Cassie, who caught him staring and adjusted her cowboy hat.

Meanwhile, Cassie, Valerie, and Phoebe were at the other side of the conservatory also talking strategy.

"Phoebe, we gotta have to talk about this." Cassie said solemnly as she looked at the doll faced girl. "Valerie and I have been talkin'..." She gestured towards the flirt, urging her to say something. Valerie sighs.

"We plan on voting for Marvin tonight." Valerie finished for her. "I know I know. It's not sexy that we're voting off your boyfriend. But it's just...he's been doing side alliances." She tried to explain. "He admitted as much."

"I k-know it's sad but I'm n-not sure." Phoebe frowned. "Can't w-we just talk to h-him? P-Please?" She pleaded.

"I wish we can." Cassie sighed and tipped her hat backward. "Really wish we can. But we're outta time and I ain't riskin' someone who does these nasty side alliances."

"Even though he is your boyfriend and part of the original Green Drell." Valerie shook her head and crossed her arms. "It's not easy I know. But I guess, I guess this is what it means to really be in the merge."

"The m-merge?" Phoebe considered them for a long moment. "I d-don't know. I still c-can't decide yet." She panicked and buried her face in her hands.

"Um, s-sure thing Phoebe." Valerie tried to calm her down. "Look you still got time to think it over before the ceremony starts. We just hope you'll make the right choice here." She glanced at Cassie, but the latter was busy glaring down at Marvin, who returned the gesture in silence.

~Confessional~

Marvin: I can't let her be the one to take Phoebe to the finals. Phoebe won't stand a chance against her!

Cassie: Marvin can say he be the one protecting Phoebe, but all he's tryin' to do is making her sad and worried. I ain't letting him get away with what he's done. Phoebe's gotta understand that.

Marvin: I have to make it through this ceremony. I only want what's best for Phoebe. I only want her to grow outside of Cassie's shadow. This isn't fair.

Cassie: I ain't got a clue what Marvin's issue is but it sure ain't helping us getting rid of the real competition like Nicholas an' Lucy. Doesn't he care about us anymore? Well he ain't getting rid of me that easily!

Marvin: This challenge was so confusing for me, but I can't let it distract me now. Especially not now, when I'm so close to getting Cassie eliminated.

Cassie: The challenge was tiring in itself but we all gotta face the elimination ceremony by the end of the day. Gotta stay focused for my alliance.

Marvin: Sorry Cassie but it's nothing personal really. You're strong and social, two dangerous traits to have in the merge. To top it all off you got a solid alliance. I wish I have what you have, but I'm playing my game differently. I won't run away now, so let's settle this.

Cassie: I really consider ya a friend, Marvin, so it's a mighty shame that it's gotta end this way. I hope yer quick on the draw, cuz there ain't any alliance that will save ya this time.

~End Confessional~

---

(Elimination Ceremony)

The contestants all gathered outside the conservatory, where twelve steel chairs are seen and with Chris waiting for them with a cart containing eleven space food containers. He grinned as the contestants took their seats, looking around uneasily and a bit downcast from the challenge earlier. Terrance and Nataline continued to glare each other down, Jude won't look at Lucy in the eyes and is keeping to himself, Marvin glanced at Phoebe who returned his gaze with a very emotional expression.

"Welcome final twelve!" Chris announced. "I see Marietta did a good job on the challenge if you're here looking worse than usual."

"I wanna go to sleep now." Felix sighed.

"You think you'll have a good night's sleep after everything that happened in the challenge?" Chris smirked.

"I'll have a good night's sleep once I know who'll go home." Lucy grinned evilly. "And I have a good feeling about this."

"We shall see about that." Chris chuckled. "When I call your name, you're safe and you get this space food container. You all know by now what happens if you don't so let's get on with this." Everyone nodded and waited for him to start. "Safe for tonight is obviously the one with immunity, Lucy." He tossed a container to her, who caught it and grinned.

"Also safe are...Nataline." The lady caught hers with a grateful smile.

"Valerie." The flirt got hers and kissed it happily.

"Jude." He got his and didn't react much.

"Terrance." The techie boy got his and adjusted his glasses as he just stared at it.

"Phoebe." The doll faced girl panicked a bit and failed to catch hers.

"Cyrus." Cyrus got his and casually threw it away shortly after.

"Felix." Felix grinned widely and caught his.

"Tatiana." The gamer girl happily got hers and tossed it in the air before catching it again.

"Nicholas, Cassie, and Marvin." Chris started. "The three of you have votes against you. But one who is also safe tonight is...Nicholas." The host tossed the container to Nicholas, who caught it easily.

Marvin and Cassie stared each other down, while some others looked confused at the development.

"What is happening?" Lucy narrowed her eyes at the scene, her red eye glowing.

"Hmm?" Terrance raised his eyebrow that the turn of events. "These two, huh?"

"I hope this works." Tatiana giggled to herself.

"Cassie, Marvin, one of you will be going home tonight." Chris said dramatically and slowly.

"Ya ready to settle this?" Cassie asked him.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Marvin shrugged.

"And the last person safe for tonight is..." Chris started.

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"...Cassie!" He announced and tossed the container to the rancher girl, who caught it in shock and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes!" Valerie exclaimed and hugged Cassie tightly. "You're safe!"

"As planned." Nicholas muttered to himself with a short nod.

"Sorry dude." Cyrus looked at Marvin, who was looking down at the ground. "And for once, I mean it. Sorry you had to go."

"It's alright." Marvin assured him. "I just hope she'll understand." He looked at Phoebe and the latter stared back at him, a look of sorrow in her eyes.

"M-Marvin..." Phoebe held back her tears as she rushed over to him and hugged him. "I'm s-sorry! I just...I d-didn't want you to do this anymore."

"What do you mean?" Marvin asked as he hugged her back. Cassie and Valerie went to see what was going on.

"You're s-such a good and k-kind person." Phoebe said. "I can't s-stand to w-watch you betray your f-friends like this. N-Not for me. Because i-it'll make you a mean p-person one day."

"Phoebe..." Marvin looked visibly sad and looked down. "I'm sorry for what I did. I know I betrayed the alliance. I voted out Jane and I make Cassie doubt our friendship. So I guess, elimination does suit me."

"Hey hey hey, don't say that." Valerie tried to console him. "Honestly you deserve to play more than some people I can name."

Marvin broke off the hug. "Thanks anyway. But I'll be fine now. No hard feelings, really. Nothing I can do about it anyway." He shrugged.

"Wow, that was so undramatic on your end." Chris yawned. "Hopefully the next elimination is better."

"Lay off him." Cassie frowned at the host.

"You're right." Chris chuckled. "I should get back to business. Marvin, you have been voted out and will leave this game at 12th place. Any last words?"

"I guess I wish the best for my former alliance." Marvin looked towards Cassie, Valerie, and then Phoebe. "And I just wanna thank Cyrus for also being my friend. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but honestly he isn't a bad person."

"Same here." Cyrus rubbed his arm. "Look I'm not good with this sappy farewell stuff, but still, hope you have fun in the resort."

"I'll try." Marvin said.

"Hey dude. Catch." Terrance tossed him his emblem, to which Marvin took. "At least hold on to it in your last moments here."

"You make it sound like he's gonna die or something." Tatiana frowned.

"Thanks." Marvin smiled a bit as he stared down at his emblem fondly.

"So long, Marvin." Cassie tipped her hat to him in salute and offered to shake his hand. Marvin was about to reach out to shake hers when the white light shone down on him and took his avatar out of the virtual world.

"That ruined the moment." Valerie deadpanned at Chris.

"If anything, it was dramatic. No closure means more drama!" Chris exclaimed. "And I can tell it affected at least one person."

"M-Marvin..." Phoebe was looking up at where he disappear with a downcast expression on her face.

"Lucy, you'll be joining the past immunity winners in the mansion. The rest of you can go." Chris said before opening up the portal that leads back to the sci-fi mansion.

~Votes~

Lucy: I vote for Nicholas and this better do the trick! I hate him even more now that he revealed what I am in the challenge. *her red eye glows angrily*

Nicholas: It is time for Marvin to go. Though Cassie may be a bigger threat, Marvin has a sound strategy that may benefit him greatly in the long run. I need to stop it while I can.

Nataline: Tatiana came up to me earlier saying how she has the votes to vote out Cassie, and honestly I wanna join her in this but the only other people that might tell her this are those from Lucy's alliance. I can't trust them so I'll stick to voting for Marvin. Hopefully Tatiana sees this too and votes correctly.

Terrance: My vote goes to Nicholas, as planned. Maybe with the confusion from the challenge, our votes might be the only ones on track and he'll actually leave. Because the sooner he goes, the sooner Nataline can go too.

Valerie: Sorry Marvin, really. But I gotta vote for you. Please please please no hard feelings. We can still be friends when all this is over.

Jude: Lucy wants to go vote out Nicholas so I vote for him. I wonder, I wonder if she's doing it for us or for her personal satisfaction.

Felix: I'm with Tatiana on this one so I vote for Cassie! Can't wait to see the look on her face.

Tatiana: Cassie won't know what hit her! I vote for her!

Cassie: Marvin, it's been really good that I met ya. Ya were a great alliance member and a friend. But ya went ashtray and now I have to vote you out.

Cyrus: Time to go help Marvin make his stand against his former alliance. It's good for inspiration but I actually do want to see him win this. I vote for Cassie.

Marvin: My vote goes to Cassie. I'm not gonna run around making alliances anymore. Time to end this now.

Phoebe: *she sniffs* I t-thought long a-and hard a-about w-who to v-vote for...and I t-think I will vote f-for Marvin. I'm r-really sorry, but I c-can't take it anymore. What h-he's doing, it i-isn't like him at all. W-What's wrong with h-him? W-What happened to h-him?

~Eliminated~

(24th place) Richard - The Maestro

(23rd place) Delilah - The Serpent

(22nd place) Harvey - The Chill Guy

(21st place) Betty - The Phone Addict

(20th place) Wesley - The Blue Blood

(19th place) Shane - The Lone Wolf

(18th place) Ivy - The Distant Cloud

(17th place) Sarah - The Rocker Girl

(16th place) Nelly - The Arrogant Nerd

(15th place) Jane - The Survival Expert

(14th place) Desmond - The Jack of all Trades

(13th place) Arnold - The Soccer Player

(12th place) Marvin - The Curious Man

---

Chris stood once more at the entrance of the conservatory, grinning widely at the camera. "With that folks, looks like Marvin isn't meant to be part of the real merge cast after all!" He laughed. "But worry not because more drama is yet to come! Will Phoebe manage to recover from this loss? Will Lucy ever get rid of Nicholas? Will Tatiana's asset ever be ready for action again? If you think Cassie and Marvin's endgame duel is good, just wait till you see what else is in store next time on Total...Drama...Sci-Fi Showdown!" He spread out his arms dramatically as the camera turned off.

---

Author's note time! Wow, says me who hasn't updated in nearly a year. But anyway, back to analyzing characters. Marvin was supposed to have this passive role in the story that turned major when he started making side deals. All this stemmed from his relationship with Phoebe, and without that, his existence as a character would practically be useless. As for his final duel with Cassie, I wanted it to represent a confused state from the others as well as a determined state from the both of them regarding Phoebe's future. Both had similar ideals yet different methods on how to achieve it and so it's up to you to decide whether what Marvin did was right or wrong. Sorry to all his fans out there, but he just wasn't too quick on the draw. Till next time. :) XBloodLegendX